RavenRed: Moving this from the here to where I think it's proper place is. Here's MY take on what could be done with Runecrafting

Runecrafting 3.0.0

Runecrafting would become more like an enhanced floor inscription system, which would require a decent amount of time in order to work, but would be very powerful and very cheap in mana, as they work on a system similar to the Meta School "Spellbinder" spell. Once the rune is "set", the mana has been spent, and can be recovered, without the spell effect being realised. This potentially makes Runecrafters very powerful if they have time in which to set a series of runes.

Runes would become parchment based. Once they were read they are "learned" and added to the "bank" of usable runes. As with the present system, they would be divided into "Action" runes and "Type" runes.

Inscription

From the below (if known), the player can select the appropriate combination of two runes. These runes are then inscribed onto an appropriate floor tile, where they form a "potential" spell, which can be triggered by either the player or a monster who steps on that space. If a player triggers the rune, they have a choiceas to how/where the rune triggers. If a monster triggers it, then there's no discretion, the effect hits them right between the eyes.

This means that runes are traps as much as they are spells.

The base level of effect is the minimum mana requirement. The actual spell level is the actual amount of mana in the spell divided by the base mana requirement. The player can only create a rune with a spell level equal to his Runecrafting skill.

Inscription would not be automatic, but would depend on skill. with the failure rate being a generous %10 + (Spell Level-Skill Level). A failed inscription would also drain the mana on that square.

The player, however, has discretion to inscribe the rune at their desired level.

e.g. A basic fire-bolt costs 2 mana. To cast the spell at level 10 requires 20 mana. To cast a fire BEAM at level 10 would cost 60 mana.

Infusion

When I say an "appropriate" floor tile I mean one which has enough mana to support the inscription (see basic formula below). However, if a tile does not HAVE sufficient Mana, this is not the end of the matter. The player may INFUSE a square with Runcrafting Skill Mana per turn. This may, of course, totally drain the player's reserves, but since the square won't be instantly used, this is not a huge problem.

Runes

The Type Runes are (with base mana costs):

The Action Runes are (with multiplier):

Action Rune Effects

For the offensive spells, it's simple enough.

Light and Dark runes when applied to View will light and darken the room. Heal will (predictably) heal the monster at the appropriate damage level. Air does FORCE damage, water does WATER, while earth does SHARDS.

The effects of Self and Summon are somewhat different.

Conclusion

The strengths (as I see it) of this system is the fact that a player can set up an arsenal of booby-traps and activatable spells that can be cast without cost (so to speak). The ability ot set healing and teleport away sqaures up in advance is also a bonus. The player also has enough flexibility to choose the level of spell effect that they want.

The disadvantage is that things have to be done in advance. Creating runes in the midst of battle would be risky, as well as time consuming. Strategic planning would become a necessity, and "fallback" plans/magic would be essential. Acquiring all the runes would be a minor mid-game hump (Summon should be especially rare), but mangeable until then.

Chatter

IdeaArchive/Runecrafting for 3.0.0 suggestion (last edited 2005-02-10 06:54:10 by NeilStevens)