Conversation with Chris on skills

This is the way I see it. I'm a Fire/Water/Earth magic user with sword and bow skills. I see enemies in the distance and hit them with arrows. Unfortunately some of them shrug the arrow attack off so I set my next round aflame - no penalties since it's fire magic that's combat oriented. The survivors come too near so I set aside my bow and bring out my sword. I use ice magic on the blade so that every hit not only wounds them but slows them down. Again no penalties. Having dispatched this small party of hostiles, I look up only to see myself surrounded by even more enemies who are enraged that I've killed their colleagues. I take my sword and thrust it into the earth and with both hands on the hilt cast a greater spell that causes the area around me to shake and crack open. Enemies now swallowed by the earth or unconscious, I sheath my blade and grasp my amulet - casting upon myself a spell of healing.

This scenario makes sense to me, not quite sure how mages go about it

 

This is the way I see it. I'm a Fire/Water/Earth magic user with sword and bow skills. I see enemies in the distance and hit them with arrows. Unfortunately some of them shrug the arrow attack off so I set my next round aflame - no penalties since it's fire magic that's combat oriented. The survivors come too near so I set aside my bow and bring out my sword. I use ice magic on the blade so that every hit not only wounds them but slows them down. Again no penalties. Having dispatched this small party of hostiles, I look up only to see myself surrounded by even more enemies who are enraged that I've killed their colleagues. I take my sword and thrust it into the earth and with both hands on the hilt cast a greater spell that causes the area around me to shake and crack open. Enemies now swallowed by the earth or unconscious, I sheath my blade and grasp my amulet - casting upon myself a spell of healing.

This scenario makes sense to me, not quite sure how mages go about it
Numa
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I like it, but it needs a soundtrack....

~Time Lord~

 

It's a latish breakfast over here & that video (plus the coffee) really woke me up - thanks

I was thinking that the reason mages/wizards use staffs is that it's a generic conduit for magical power , doesn't matter whether it's combat or healing magic. Can't imagine casting a healing spell using a stilleto for example, it's too associated with violence & death but a wooden staff?

 

The "Pounding Point" here seems to be the types of weapons used...err...umm... "what they are made of" seems to me to be the central theme of the healthy rhetoric.

Suggestion;
Could it become possible if common swards of iron could not channel magic, yet other swards made from a higher substance add a sort of "level up" within it all? or possibly (I think it's been suggested already) that the lesser skills of magic yes or .... maybe those metal wielding warriors could be made to "pre-package" and bought from an alchemist those spells to be able to be quickly cast?
I'm not saying I like this or don't like it, but if there's an idea here we are missing....
~Time Lord~

 

Never underestimate a staff's ability to crack open your skull. I think it's more a question of material than form. Magical staves and wands are often made from very special woods or woods that have gone through special treatments (or both). Just any ol' stick never quite seems to get the job done.

 

Gnarled wood from an sacred tree :>

 

Many a skull have the shillelagh cracked. Unfortunately, I have personally witnessed it's destructive power. It isn't pretty.

 

A healing backstab, now that's something that hasn't been done! For the devotee of humility, the ultimate in stealth-health!

 

Isn't blood-letting a form of healing?

 

Harmful in the long term, yet helpful in the short term I like it !
More Blood Letting Please!
~Time Lord~

 

I was thinking about this a little this morning. Perhaps its just a matter of animations.

Right now, it looks very strange to see a fireball jump from the hilt of a sword you happen to be wielding. But this could be improved using some type of animation leading up to the actual casting:

• For "mage" weapons (staff, wand, etc), simply lift the weapon and point it to the target. The spell is channeled through the weapon.
• For other weapons, perform the sheathe animation, then the cast animation, then unsheathe. Essentially the same thing as forcing the hand to be empty, without affecting player choice.

Now that rigged avatar's are available, I believe it will be easier to get community animations created (although I'm not a modeler or animator, so take it with a grain of salt). Would this be enough to satisfy the "realism" requirements?

 

@Browncoat,

It would certainly look better. I wouldn't necessarily agree that its the best way to make magic work in the game.

Player choice really isn't affected either way, though; players would have choices either way. I don't know if players would enjoy waiting through the sheathing animation, and that's another issue.

 

The problem can be easily resolved if they use the weapon as a conduit -

I think that animations look great - they only look weird because of the effects it places on the hands when you cast specific spells.

Also the sigil - is a bit large

- a simple solution would be for the magic to shoot out of the sigil

 

True, they may not. But that's the choice they have for wielding that weapon. If they don't like it, use a different weapon.

I doubt the sheathing animation will be overly long. Probably not enough to adversely affect the casting speed of most spells. So power-wise, it should have no effect. Just animation.

 

This is part of actual folklore, btw, for those that are unfamiliar. Trees that had gnarled branches and roots were often considered sacred, and this usually meant the tree was ancient, although even young trees could be gnarled. They were revered by druids, and later associated with witches. The wood was said to contain and channel magic.

 

I really do want to see casting with weapons... Hexblade, Spellblade, Spellslinger, etc, etc are some of the msot fun hybrid style classes to play (online or on the tabletop)

 

From the central theme of what is being discussed;
I could see where any weapons enhancing spells (there is no stone tablet of any spell yet) could be a Knights way through the focusing on the weapon and any healing spell the same with no sheathing necessary. I can also see the same being used by the Mage.

As long as the central theme remains standing in this conversation;
A Knight's outward enemy impacting spells should require the sheathing, because Magic is not his "Killing Weapon".
While the Mage's staff (wand whatever) could channel some or all of his powers through it, or leave some heavy spells or a plus+ factor for those Mages of open hand, because magic is the Mages "Killing weapon"

"Thus some division could cause the combat to become more alive through the separation of primary killing methods", Knight/Mage Le' Difference
Just thoughts and grasping's through what I'm reading here...
~Time Lord~

 

True, but normally you use a healer's/doctor's knife for that. There are stories about the centuries old japanese katanas, it's said that some are so full of the vibrations of bloodlust of former owners that you can feel it the moment you touch the hilt. Could be pretty distracting if you"re trying to heal someone using such a blade since magic is supposed to be a mind thing.

 

I would prefer that they not be in the game either, but I think a good compromise would be to allow them with restrictions, the more (larger) weapons that a person has the harder it is to cast successfully, just like armor.

Also, your avatar picture rocks.

 

I think you misread his position.