Spells
Spells
Spells are all unique throughout the land. Each person has their own way of creating a spell but typically there are some common elements to it. Throughout history mages, wizards, warlocks, and other magic users have written their knowledge into tomes and books and finding these can contain amazing knowledge of how to manipulate the world.
/* This list only contains some of the spells that will be possible. Updated 16 Jan 2010*/
Spell: Fireball
Manipulation of heat to cause a ball of earth to become super heated and begin flaming. Thrust the ball with a force of wind to throw at a target. Adding in elements of pitch or tar can make the flaming mass stay light for longer.
Spell: Earth Construct
Form the body out of earth and bind it together with essence of spirit.
Spell:
All spells grow in power by the potential of practitioner. The stronger the will and mind of the practitioner the stronger and more powerful the result will be. It may also reduce the time it takes one to bind together a spell (this will also have a familiarity factor. The more you use a spell the easier it will be to cast it.)
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I think you all are getting to know what this line means but for the sake of repetition this line denotes the fact that this is a work in progress and that I will be changing it around at will or whim. If anyone is interested in contributing feel free to. If you wish provide feedback it will be read.
Something Like that
Much of my thoughts come from a combination of Aes Sedei from Wheel of Time and even the magic used in Inheritance Cycle. Though there is a lot of me jumbled into this.
One of the limiting factors will be Willpower which is derived from Endurance and Intelligence. The higher the score the easier it is to manipulate the world and the more experienced you are.
As for the mantras and spell books being how-to guides, that is one of the ways I have already seen it. Since I am a programmer I broke it from programming roots as well. I don't know how to program in machine code (one and zeros or binary) or even Assembly (second generation language still a lot like the machine code) instead I have several languages that are more like what I am used to using. Guides and how-tos. So it is in a way with the magic. A user can learn how to cast spells like someone can program in binary but it is a lot of work and very easy to get wrong.
With Spellbooks and mantras though a practitioner writes down his thoughts on how to use it. There only danger in this is if you don't think like the original caster you can do it wrong but I am not delving into that much.
As for mastery of the environment Yes. At least up to a certain point. It would take a lot to be able to manipulate time and space. Once again to use a thought pattern I am more used it it would be like trying to bring down the entire internet. It is conceivable but at the same time truly not possible unless you have thousands of people working with you.
At the same time a wizard of suffient power and inclination could make the ground form a castle for him like it was nothing. He would only have to focus on what he is doing and do it. It is taxing and that is where the characters are also limited. Not quite a mana pool but there is a drain for casting spells out of a pool of energy that is a representation of the character. The more spells he casts the more strain it puts on him. This is negated by being familiar with the spells as well as working with the right spells for the right area, IE cold spells somewhere where it is cold and fire where it is hot.
Consider this: it is thought that because particles inherently have no mass (derived from the higgs boson or strong nuclear force), and because the total energy of the universe seems to be zero, that reality is virtual. Therefore, is it so wild and exotic that intelligent beings will one day be able to manipulate reality with their minds?
That is part of what I am trying to show in this. I don't like the magic because I say some words it happens. I am a I manipulated the world and caused it to happen. I don't even like the Force from Star Wars even though they try and write it in. In D&D I have always liked playing a Psionist, didn't hurt that though he had to wear robes to cover his entire body due to being extremely sensitive to light his casting was rated at 8 levels above his own for purposes of evading and damage. It just feels more natural to me. Not ah I cast this because of some pool but I cast this because I manipulated the elements to create this and wow since it was my first time it wore me out... but now since I know how I did it it will be easier next time...
That is also something I want to apply to all the other fighting. I might know how to swing a sword because someone told me and I might have read a book giving me all these moves but now I need to learn how to do them all by practicing them. The more I use them the easier it becomes.
In-game magic use
Are you able to provide examples of magic use in combat yet? I'd like to so how it pans out, especially in regards to the balance between other character types.
Nope
This is the theory I have right now. I am trying to work on it and some of the things would be changed to add some of the balance to it. Luck, your ability scores, random chance, in the end a caster could be entirely too powerful if not balanced right but at the same time in the concept of everyone can access magic so theoretically enough people together have the power to bring down someone getting to strong.
It might be that to have the greatest abilities would require superhuman abilities in Intelligence, wisdom, and endurance
Thoughts
1. Have you figured out what the source of magical energy in your game is?
2. How was this source discovered, and how did people learn to manipulate it?
3. If magic is purely a function of the mind, wouldn't it be cool if humans evolved a new brain section that allowed the possibility for hyper-abstract thought, i.e. thought-to-reality translations?
Consider this: it is thought that because particles inherently have no mass (derived from the higgs boson or strong nuclear force), and because the total energy of the universe seems to be zero, that reality is virtual. Therefore, is it so wild and exotic that intelligent beings will one day be able to manipulate reality with their minds?
4. Perhaps verbal components of these spells are simply mantras to help the practitioners get into the proper frame of mind, and that magical tomes are how-to manuals on how to achieve that state with the proper focus and visualizations.
5. How far does mastery of the environment go? Can wizards manipulate time, space, or the four forces (electromagnetism, gravity etc.)?