Jamboxdotcom said:
interesting reads. however, i didn't see if you said you were doing this for game design or for a novel. if this is for a novel you're working on, i hope you'll share more with us as it progresses!
Oh, I never answered this. See, I came back here because I have a much more solid working on my theories now, but ran into a new problem.
But to answer your question, months late, it's sort of for both. I've almost got the basics of the game down, and there's a three-book series working (along with a few others that use it in reference)... and by working, I mean whatever the writing-term is for pre-production. Basically, I've got almost everything planned out for it, or at least all the aspects I need to get into it, I just
haven't yet, out of sheer placidity over it, and laziness to back it up.
So both, really, but before I work on the books, I'd
really like to iron out the kinks in the game, since that's the world that the books take place in.
So, to the general populous, I have come to a better understanding of the whole system that contradicts some of what I made up earlier. I also would like input that fine tunes my research, because as much as I would like to understand thermodynamics and electromagnetism to their full extent, I simply do not have the capacity... well, maybe more enthusiasm. I don't have as much of that as I need. But enough with the stalling, here's the revamped version.
Alright, there are 8 major skill trees I won't get into, one of those is Magic. Each skill tree has four categories, and each of those categories has whatever number of skills I haven't determined yet, because goddamn that's hard. But Magic's different, I was dedicated to finishing this.
There's Magic. Magic divides into the four categories; Material, Ethereal, Physical and Energetic.
Material has two subsets; Sorcery and Runecraft. Material magic is magic that is basically magic that needs apparatus. Sorcery most often deals with massively powerful spells, or ones that walk the line of power, such as long-distance teleportation and reviving the dead. Runecrafting is pretty much what it sounds like, though it includes glyphs as well. Basically, symbols that inherently channel magic. For the most part, runes can't do something "on command". They tend to have a passive ability, though glyphs are more spontaneous.
Ethereal has four subsets, but I'm
sorta' working on that right now. It's something I'll probably be able to work out later, and it's not my main problem right now anyways.
Physical has six subsets: Biotic, Chlorokinesis, Elementalism, Temporal, Spatial, and Telekinesis. Oh boy, here I go.
Biotic deals with the manipulation of the user's body. This is the one that would include things like shapeshifting, or affecting the body's systems to behave how you want them.
Chlorokinesis is sort of an offshoot, but deals almost specifically with plants. This is the naturalist's specialization of choice. Essentially it's total dominance over plantlife, not much else to it.
Elementalism is basically the matter-bender's school. All about air, earth and water (fire is in the Energetic category). It also includes metals, and crystals, but honestly, I don't know how deep this rabbit hole goes, and I would appreciate some help in classifying it.
Temporal and Spatial are pretty much what they sound like. They're both offshoots of Telekinesis, but very specific. Temporal is some essence of time control, usually within personal range, with big timeline-altering spells mostly covered in the deepest roots of Sorcery. Temporal mages can do things like, well, mess with the time of a controlled area. For this reason, it's usually done in synthesis with Spatial magic, which... You know, you guys aren't all four, I don't have to explain this too far. If you'd like me too, lemme know.
Telekinetic... yeah, you get it. Though I will say, telekinesis has difficulties that make Elementalism its own school. Telekinesis can't really "dig into" something. You can move a boulder, but to raise a chunk of dirt from the ground itself, you're not having it. It only has dominance over things dislodged. It's almost impossible for it to move water, unless you're moving
all of it. You can't pull water from a lake, for instance, you have to lift the lake. Telekinesis
can however, mess with gravity to reasonable limits... etc.
And then the problem child, Energetic. Energetic currently has seven subsets, but I really would like to add an eighth, because I am insane and love torturing myself.
Energetic's current subsets are: Illusions, Light, Dark, Cold, Radiation, Fire, Lightning. This is gonna take a minute...
So, basically, broken up between heat and light here. Illusions are pretty much what they sound like, bending light in ways that allow you to make people see things you want them, or don't want them to. A good choice for stealthy types who want to cloak, or who just like screwing with the minds of the seeing.
Light magic and Dark magic don't seem like much regularly, but they have some practical applications, usually for conflicts against each other (but suitable for most cases). Dark magic can essentially conjure a "nothingness". Something like a black hole, but without a gravity. Simply a vortex, a dimension. Dark mages will commonly use this like a transport, to move from shadow to shadow, however, it's pretty clear where they're coming out of, because the shadow will turn pitch black when in use.
Light magic is often able to dissipate dark magic, depending on who's stronger. It's a useful magic for exploring dark places, because it uses much much less energy than holding a fireball. Light magic actually has rather similar properties to Dark magic, in that it can be used for short-range transportation, and will often be used to blind adversaries if necessary.
Oi... this part is the tricky bit. Alright, so Cold is pretty straightforward, in theory, but there's an explanation to be had here. When casting cold magic, one
can freeze the water in the air, or condensate it for ice, but it's much more common, and practical, for an ice mage to just freeze... well, their own mana. They basically secrete it, in an already frozen form, and can then manipulate it. Though a Cold mage can only excrete mana in frozen form, unless they study in the Ethereal school, which as I said, is sort of under construction right now.
Then radiation, well, also fairly straightforward. Casting out heat to the point where it ionizes, causing some serious damage, from radiation poisoning, to intense burns, to straight up disintegration when strong enough.
Fire and Lightning are interesting. Now, I was looking up stuff about electromagnetism, basically a charge has to be made, and the electric field from Point A to Point B has to be intense enough to ionize the air, turning the air into a channel for a spark to go through. Please fix me up if I'm wrong about this, I appreciate it. So basically, the Fire mage will cause a spark by building up a charge between two points (I don't think this is thermal anymore, but rather electromagnetic, but I'll keep it here in Energetic), usually the fingers and thumb or something, and then, like the cold mage, excrete mana to act as a fuel, that ignites upon contact with the spark. A lot of fire mages, therefor, prefer to use something like gloves with flint, just to make it easier. Anyways, controlling the flow of mana, you control where the fire goes, and how hot it is when it gets there.
Electric magic is basically expanding on the spark principle, by generating a charge, and then exuding ionizing levels of heat in the direction they want to cast the bolt until it reaches the object. It takes a lot of skill to do this, and in the earlier stages of study, time. Eventually the process comes naturally, and one can cast bolts of lightning. It wouldn't be uncommon for a lightning mage to carry a length of metal wire, for just such an emergency.
Anyways, I gotta run to work, help me out if you see some major flaws, and I'll be back later tonight to see if any progress is made. Don't worry about the Ethereal school for now, I'll probably work that out in my free time.
So yeah, mainly, I want an eighth subset for Energetic. I was kinda thinking "Sound", but I wasn't sure if that would fly. Gotta run, thanks anybody!
