Jim
Adept
I started a new topic because this goes beyond the scope of debating to keep spell books or not. These are my ideas for making spell books cooler/more involved. I'm not particularly advocating making these changes, but the topic got me thinking.
Goals: Make Spell books a more integral element in Alliance as they are in the high fantasy genre. Make spell books unique so there is a point in having them, particularly your own.
Spell books form a unique bond to a caster. No two casters can memorize from the same book. You may still copy spells as normal. Glyphs/Runes/Sigils (whatever you want to call them—see below) cannot just simply be copied.
Spell books are a symbol of the caster’s early learning of magic. As such, they are a required focus for ritual casting. Perhaps a very cool looking spell book can net you more rp “points” with the new ritual manipulation effects.
You must be formal capable to understand any Glyphs/Runes/Sigils (whatever you want to call them).
Ritual Power Glyphs/Runes/Sigils (whatever you want to call them) can be penned into the spell books. You may have 1 Ritual Power Glyph per five levels of ritual magic you posses. At the time you gain the glyph, you choose the formal scroll attached to it. You must have that scroll in your possession at that time. Perhaps you need a Copy Formal Scroll to do this. Once you have a particular Ritual Power Glyph (i.e. Ritual Power Glyph: Summon Magical Creature or Ritual Power Glyph: Planar Asylum) you can now cast that ritual at 1 less difficulty.
High Magic effects must be penned into a book before you can take them.
High Magic Power Glyphs can be penned into the spell books. You may have 1 High Magic Power Glyph per 10 levels of ritual magic you posses. At the time you gain the glyph, you choose the High Magic ability attached to it. Once you have a particular High Magic Power Glyph (i.e. High Magic Power Glyph: Oak of the Arcane or High Magic Power Glyph: Rebirth) you can now purchase that High Magic ability for one less High Magic point.
Elemental Burst Power Glyphs can be penned into the spell book. You may have one for every 10 levels of Celestial Formal Magic you posses. For each one you have in your spell book you gain +20 to your Elemental Burst Pool. Yes, this can increase your wand damage, but not above the +3 limit.
Healer’s Resolve Power Glyphs can be penned into the spell book. You may have one for every 5 levels of Earth Formal Magic you posses. For each one you have in your spell book you gain +1 healing to your Healer’s Resolve. If Healer’s Resolve ends up becoming a pool (and I think it should) this will look far more like the power above.
Battle Magic Power Glyphs can be penned into the spell book. For every 9th level spell slot you posses, you may have a Battle Magic Power Glyph. Battle Magic Power Glyphs only exist for curative healing spells and their damaging necromantic counterparts, destroy and harm undead spells and their necromantic counterparts, and all evocation spells with the exception of Magic Storm. At the time you gain the glyph, you choose the spell attached to it (i.e. Battle Magic Power Glyph Dragon’s Breath or Battle Magic Power Glyph Cure Serious Wounds). From then on you may choose to spend 3 High Magic points at logistics to activate the Glyph and may cast that spell once for 50% more damage or healing. After performing the incant and throwing the packet, you would shout “Empowered” followed by the new damage/healing. If touch casting, there is no need to shout. For instance is you had your Dragon’s Breath active, you would shout “Empowered, 60!” If you had your CSW active you would shout “Empowered, 15!” Yes, undead would double the empowered number.
Battle Magic Potency Glyphs can be penned into the spell book. For every level of magic possessed, you may learn a Battle Magic Potency Glyph; for instance, if you have learned up to a 7th level spell, you can have seven Battle Magic Potency Glyphs in your spell book. A Battle Magic Potency Glyph allows you to select a battle magic spell at the time you gain the glyph and from then on you can brew a potion or scribe a scroll of that spell for 1 less production. Standard restrictions apply (i.e. you can’t brew a death potion, you can’t make a purify scroll or a stone bolt potion, etc.)
Aphonic Glyphs can be penned into the spell book. For every 5 levels of formal magic you possess you may have an Aphonic Glyph. At the time you gain the glyph, you choose the Battle Magic Spell attached to it. An Aphonic Glyph allows you cast a spell wordlessly. From then on you may choose to spend 2 High Magic points at logistics to activate the Glyph and may cast that spell once as Aphonic. This would be represented by calling “Aphonic Stone Storm” or “Aphonic Death” and then throwing your packet. You must still have your arms free to cast the spell; however you can cast it while silenced. All standard spell defensives still apply.
Obviously this is like a silent spell, but I chose aphonic because we already have a silence spell and wanted to avoid confusion with verbals.
Spell Mastery Glyphs can be penned into the spell book. For every 10 levels of formal magic you possess you may have a Spell Mastery Glyph. At the time you gain the glyph, you choose the Battle Magic Spell attached to it. From then on you may choose to spend 5 High Magic points at logistics to activate the Glyph and may cast that spell once with an arcane delivery.
New Formal: Know Ritualist. This would be a fairly simply formal that targets a spell book. When cast it reveals the last ritual cast with that book as a focus. For increased difficulty the last 3 or 5 could be detected. Also, having the spell book of the BBG lets formalists know what glyphs she has, what he can cast as aphonic, mastery, empowered, etc. Not to mention, you have the BBG’s spell book and now she can’t memorize! At least not his specialized stuff. I imagine everyone can have a standard, back-up spell book.
Now all of these Glyphs/Runes/Sigils (whatever you want to call them) would yes mean the spell book tags would need to be changed and yes, this likely will add work for both logistics and plot teams. Logistics teams will have more to track and plot will have to create a local dragon mage, shadow mages, old hermit on the mountain/in the swamp/etc., cool guild mistress, visions, special ink merchant, etc. so people can learn these things.
And does it simplify game? No. However these effects are not meant for the new player and the things that do change a standard at least come with signifier (Empower) and the damage, which is more than is required for standard spells. Didn’t spell casters just cool High Magic stuff? Yeah, they did and I tried to make this so it’s a choice… either take a bunch of this or a bunch of High Magic or balance it. And maybe how you get the glyphs need to be more defined as one plot time could make it super hard and another could make it a cake walk. I’m not sure; I’m just tossing out ideas. I’m not married to any of these ideas, but I had fun coming up with the list.
You could easily make an alchemy version and even special etchings for weapons for fighters and rogues, but that begins to affect the game play at an earlier level and more wide spread. This was easy to do because of ritual magic. Maybe there can be some funky high end blacksmithing and alchemy stuff that can be developed to allow fighters and rogues to do some different but equally neat things that scholars/formalists get to do with formals/high magic.
Goals: Make Spell books a more integral element in Alliance as they are in the high fantasy genre. Make spell books unique so there is a point in having them, particularly your own.
Spell books form a unique bond to a caster. No two casters can memorize from the same book. You may still copy spells as normal. Glyphs/Runes/Sigils (whatever you want to call them—see below) cannot just simply be copied.
Spell books are a symbol of the caster’s early learning of magic. As such, they are a required focus for ritual casting. Perhaps a very cool looking spell book can net you more rp “points” with the new ritual manipulation effects.
You must be formal capable to understand any Glyphs/Runes/Sigils (whatever you want to call them).
Ritual Power Glyphs/Runes/Sigils (whatever you want to call them) can be penned into the spell books. You may have 1 Ritual Power Glyph per five levels of ritual magic you posses. At the time you gain the glyph, you choose the formal scroll attached to it. You must have that scroll in your possession at that time. Perhaps you need a Copy Formal Scroll to do this. Once you have a particular Ritual Power Glyph (i.e. Ritual Power Glyph: Summon Magical Creature or Ritual Power Glyph: Planar Asylum) you can now cast that ritual at 1 less difficulty.
High Magic effects must be penned into a book before you can take them.
High Magic Power Glyphs can be penned into the spell books. You may have 1 High Magic Power Glyph per 10 levels of ritual magic you posses. At the time you gain the glyph, you choose the High Magic ability attached to it. Once you have a particular High Magic Power Glyph (i.e. High Magic Power Glyph: Oak of the Arcane or High Magic Power Glyph: Rebirth) you can now purchase that High Magic ability for one less High Magic point.
Elemental Burst Power Glyphs can be penned into the spell book. You may have one for every 10 levels of Celestial Formal Magic you posses. For each one you have in your spell book you gain +20 to your Elemental Burst Pool. Yes, this can increase your wand damage, but not above the +3 limit.
Healer’s Resolve Power Glyphs can be penned into the spell book. You may have one for every 5 levels of Earth Formal Magic you posses. For each one you have in your spell book you gain +1 healing to your Healer’s Resolve. If Healer’s Resolve ends up becoming a pool (and I think it should) this will look far more like the power above.
Battle Magic Power Glyphs can be penned into the spell book. For every 9th level spell slot you posses, you may have a Battle Magic Power Glyph. Battle Magic Power Glyphs only exist for curative healing spells and their damaging necromantic counterparts, destroy and harm undead spells and their necromantic counterparts, and all evocation spells with the exception of Magic Storm. At the time you gain the glyph, you choose the spell attached to it (i.e. Battle Magic Power Glyph Dragon’s Breath or Battle Magic Power Glyph Cure Serious Wounds). From then on you may choose to spend 3 High Magic points at logistics to activate the Glyph and may cast that spell once for 50% more damage or healing. After performing the incant and throwing the packet, you would shout “Empowered” followed by the new damage/healing. If touch casting, there is no need to shout. For instance is you had your Dragon’s Breath active, you would shout “Empowered, 60!” If you had your CSW active you would shout “Empowered, 15!” Yes, undead would double the empowered number.
Battle Magic Potency Glyphs can be penned into the spell book. For every level of magic possessed, you may learn a Battle Magic Potency Glyph; for instance, if you have learned up to a 7th level spell, you can have seven Battle Magic Potency Glyphs in your spell book. A Battle Magic Potency Glyph allows you to select a battle magic spell at the time you gain the glyph and from then on you can brew a potion or scribe a scroll of that spell for 1 less production. Standard restrictions apply (i.e. you can’t brew a death potion, you can’t make a purify scroll or a stone bolt potion, etc.)
Aphonic Glyphs can be penned into the spell book. For every 5 levels of formal magic you possess you may have an Aphonic Glyph. At the time you gain the glyph, you choose the Battle Magic Spell attached to it. An Aphonic Glyph allows you cast a spell wordlessly. From then on you may choose to spend 2 High Magic points at logistics to activate the Glyph and may cast that spell once as Aphonic. This would be represented by calling “Aphonic Stone Storm” or “Aphonic Death” and then throwing your packet. You must still have your arms free to cast the spell; however you can cast it while silenced. All standard spell defensives still apply.
Obviously this is like a silent spell, but I chose aphonic because we already have a silence spell and wanted to avoid confusion with verbals.
Spell Mastery Glyphs can be penned into the spell book. For every 10 levels of formal magic you possess you may have a Spell Mastery Glyph. At the time you gain the glyph, you choose the Battle Magic Spell attached to it. From then on you may choose to spend 5 High Magic points at logistics to activate the Glyph and may cast that spell once with an arcane delivery.
New Formal: Know Ritualist. This would be a fairly simply formal that targets a spell book. When cast it reveals the last ritual cast with that book as a focus. For increased difficulty the last 3 or 5 could be detected. Also, having the spell book of the BBG lets formalists know what glyphs she has, what he can cast as aphonic, mastery, empowered, etc. Not to mention, you have the BBG’s spell book and now she can’t memorize! At least not his specialized stuff. I imagine everyone can have a standard, back-up spell book.
Now all of these Glyphs/Runes/Sigils (whatever you want to call them) would yes mean the spell book tags would need to be changed and yes, this likely will add work for both logistics and plot teams. Logistics teams will have more to track and plot will have to create a local dragon mage, shadow mages, old hermit on the mountain/in the swamp/etc., cool guild mistress, visions, special ink merchant, etc. so people can learn these things.
And does it simplify game? No. However these effects are not meant for the new player and the things that do change a standard at least come with signifier (Empower) and the damage, which is more than is required for standard spells. Didn’t spell casters just cool High Magic stuff? Yeah, they did and I tried to make this so it’s a choice… either take a bunch of this or a bunch of High Magic or balance it. And maybe how you get the glyphs need to be more defined as one plot time could make it super hard and another could make it a cake walk. I’m not sure; I’m just tossing out ideas. I’m not married to any of these ideas, but I had fun coming up with the list.
You could easily make an alchemy version and even special etchings for weapons for fighters and rogues, but that begins to affect the game play at an earlier level and more wide spread. This was easy to do because of ritual magic. Maybe there can be some funky high end blacksmithing and alchemy stuff that can be developed to allow fighters and rogues to do some different but equally neat things that scholars/formalists get to do with formals/high magic.
