• RavenRed
• PipeDream
• Magic

Spell Ideas

Mana

• On second thoughts, there will no longer be any school known as Mana. Yep. It's gone. Gone as gone can be. Some of the spells will be shifted to other schools, others abandoned to the void for Melkor to gnaw on for all eternity...

  • - Manathrust (school level 1) Gone. Yes... gone... Geyser will now becmoe the primary low-level attack spell, included in beginner's cantrips...

  • - Drain (dual school level (Mana/Udun) 1) shifted to become Udun/Meta

  • - Remove Curses (school level 10)

  • - Fire of Mithrandir (dual school level (Fire/Mana) 15) Now "merely" a fire spell.

  • - Elemental Shield (school level 20) Shift to Geomancy, which is a far more appropriate place to put it, really.

• - Disruption Shield (school level 45) Gone. But see "Time Stop" in Temporal, below.

Fire

• Perhaps gives a few too many weapons to this school with Fire of Mithandir. The changes to Globe of Light will somewhat compensate, however. No longer is it a potent offensive spell.

  • Globe of Light (school level 1) No longer lights the room at Level 1. Yes. You heard me. Instead, a large (Rad = 2+Spell Level @ 15) Dam 1 cloud effect (GF_LITE_WEAK... er... I think) centred on the player, will persist for Spell Level Turns. This will allow you to see within the globe, but once it's gone, it's gone. Damage becomes Pure Light @ L15, which will perma-lite the floor tiles. However, lighting the room has to wait until Spell Level 25. Additionally, Scrolls of Light now only fire a rad 5 pure light ball rather than illuminate the room. To compensate somewhat, all light sources have their radius' doubled. The Phial of Galadriel once again becomes a must-have article.

  • Fire Golem (dual school level (Fire/Mind) 7) Unchanged

  • Fireflash (school level 10) Unchanged

  • Firewall (school level 15) Unchanged

  • + Fire of Mithrandir (dual school level (Fire) 15] Becomes a Fire-only school spell

  • Fiery Shield (school level 20) Unchanged

  • Flame of Udun (dual school level (Fire/Udun) 35)

Water

• Two changes, one of which which makes you a far less attractive Melee target to those pesky Hell Wyrms...

  • Geyser (school level 1) Finally, it will become a REAL Geyser. Changed so that does additional +10% heat (fire) damage (at L10) and +10% force damage (at L20). The latter is a substantial power-up, so the damage formula will have to be tweaked downwards.

  • Vapor (school level 2)

  • Ent's Potion (school level 6) Unchanged

  • Tidal Wave (school level 16) Unchanged

  • Storm (school level 22) Changes as per this idea

Air

• Here's where things get funky. Several minuses and a couple of pluses change the "feel" of this school markedly.
  • - Noxious Cloud (school level 3) Moves to Nature
  • - Poison Blood (school level 12) Moves to Nature
  • - Invisibility (school level 16) Moves to Mind

  • + Strike (school level 1) Moves from the earth skill, and is de-powered somewhat, starting as a rad-1 centred on player ball adding a radius every 12 levels, and becomming targettable at Level 23.

  • Sterilize (school level 10) Moved down in levels a fair way

  • Wings of Winds (dual school level (Air/Conveyance) 15) Improved as per this idea... Zoooooom! (has also been level-reduced)

  • Thunderstorm (dual school level (Nature/Air) 25) Unchanged

Earth

• This is a school I'm a little unsure about. It needs another attack spell, even though the addition of stun to Shake will help with this.

  • Stone Skin (school level 1) Will now give Resistance to the "Mundane" damage types (CRUSH, PIERCE, SLASH)of (Spell Level/2)% and will also lose the damage aura.

  • Dig (school level 12)

  • + Fissure (school level 19) Opens a deep crevasse in the earth, swallowing monsters within it. Similar to the old "Abyss" Necromancy spell, this beam spell creates "dark pit" squares in its wake, swallowing non-flying monsters. No XP for them, of course. Will also be tactically useful in preventing monsters from crossing.

  • Stone Prison (school level 25) Unchanged

  • Shake (school level 27) Changed (as are earthquakes) as per here.

  • - Strike (school level 30) Moves to Air

Meta

• Ain't messin' with what I don' use... (with the exception of moving RCurses)

  • Recharge (school level 5) Unchanged

  • Disperse Magic (school level 15) Remove Curses from the defunct Mana school now shifted to this spell, additional to its other effects

  • Spellbinder (school level 20) Unchanged

  • Tracker (dual school level (Meta/Conveyance) 30) Unchanged

  • Inertia Control (school level 37) Unchanged

Conveyance

• A couple of changes here. Nothing earth-shattering, but noticable

  • Phase Door (school level 1) No more Between Gates. Instead as per the Mindcraft module, Probability Travel effects at L25

  • Disarm (school level 3)

  • True Aim (school level 7) Stolen from the Mindcraft module. Kicks in earlier so as to be somewhat useful to those who gain conveyance through FF / as a minor skill.

  • Teleportation (school level 10) As per the Mindcraft module, directed (general direction) and targetted teleportation at higher levels

  • Wings of Winds (dual school level (Air/Conveyance) 22) Changed as per above

  • Teleport Away (school level 23) Unchanged

  • Recall (school level 30) Unchanged

  • - Probability Travel (school level 35) Moved to within Phase door

  • Banishment (dual school level (Conveyance/Temporal) 30)

  • Tracker (dual school level (Meta/Conveyance) 30) Unchanged

  • Wraithform (dual school level (Udun/Conveyance) 30) Unchanged

Divination

• All unchanged

  • Sense Monsters (school level 1)

  • Sense Hidden (school level 5)

  • Identify (school level 8)

  • Reveal Ways (school level 9)

  • Vision (school level 15)

  • Greater Identify (school level 35)

Temporal

• New spell - Time Stop gives a new terror to this school...

  • Magelock (school level 1)

  • Slow Monster (school level 10)

  • Essence of Speed (school level 15)

  • Banishment (school level 30)

  • Grow Trees (dual school level 6)

  • + Time Stop (school level 36) Gives the player a speed of 9999 (or whatever the hardcoded max is) for 1d10+Spell Level Turns. This effectively "freezes" time around the caster. Disruption shield effects apply, though, so you had better think carefully about your next move, as once you make it, things will snap back to normal.

Mind

• Totally Reworked. This now becomes a potent (if limited to the minded) offensive school. Much of it is nicked from the Mindcraft module. Which is handy, as the skill mindcraft no longer exists.

  • - Charm (school level 1) Removed

  • + Neural Blast (school level 1) As coded by the magnificant Massimiliamo Marangio, this runs the gamut from bolt through to ball through to LoS. Does a fair whack of damage, too.

  • + Armour of Fear (school level 5) Same as the current spell, though available a bit earlier.

  • - Confuse (school level 5) Removed

  • Fire Golem (dual school level 7) Unchanged

  • + Domination (school level 9) Once again as coded by MM, this starts off as a GF_DOMINATION ball 0 spell, then becomes possession as per the Melkor school Mind Steal spell at Spell Level 16.

  • - Stun (school level 15) Removed

  • + Flare Aura (school level 30) Stun them with your domineering personality! A LOS spell that has GF_DOMINATION to start, then at Spell Level 10 becomes LOS Charm.

Nature

• Reworked to become far more offensive. Everyone's favourite breeder-cleaning spell is now resident here. Healing and recovery has been moveed to the new school of Meditation.
  • + Noxious Cloud (School Level 1) Moved from Air. Pure damage will go down, but this will be compensated by the new, ultra-nasty poison system. Also becomes a Wave effect, rather than a lasting cloud.

  • Grow Trees (dual school level (Nature/Temporal) 6)

  • - Healing (school level 10) Removed

  • + Poison Blood (school level 12) Moved from Air, also changed in accordance with this...

  • - Recovery (school level 15) Removed
  • - Regeneration (school level 20) Removed

  • Summon Animal (school level 25) Unchanged

  • Thunderstorm (dual school level (Air/Nature) 25) Unchanged

Meditation

• New Skill, slightly different from that implemented in the now-ubiquitous mindcraft module. Still available only to Priests. No more sanity healing
  • Meditation (Level 1)
    • Cost Spell Level Mana The caster focuses their mind upon healing body and mind. The effect requires a quiet location.
    • After 10-Spell Level/5 turns, regenerates Spell Level HP per turn for Spell Level turns
    • At level 5 also cures cuts
    • At level 15 also cures poison
    • At level 20 Regains Spell Level Sanity Points per turn
    • At level 30 also restores drained stats
    • At level 35 can continue under movement
    • At level 40 also restores lost experience
    • At level 50 cannot be turned off by hits or anything else.

Mimicry

Mimicry will be overhauled, moderately seriously.

The number of slots available to Mimicked creatures will be severely reduced, there will be substantial skill penalties to those things that really,really need opposable thumbs as well as a more general Magic Fail penalty.

However, this WILL Be counterbalanced by a significant powerup in mimic forms (not forgetting Beornings) including HP Multipliers.

Also, there will be a spiffy new combat system which will mean that snakes will bite, eagles will tear with talon and beak and clouds of vapour will try to choke the unwary. This will require a new skill "Mimic-Form Combat" which will supersede Bearform combat.

Details of Mimic-form changes to come…

Necromancy

Will cast using Intelligence now, not Constitution.

Geomancy

• Nothing major here. The main change will actually be in the skill area where Geomancy will no longer give huge knock-on bonuses to the four elements. However, the plus side is that Geomancer's mods in those skills will be raised substantially. Therefore you have to choose which specialty you go for, rather than being equally focussed in each.

  • Call The Elements (Level 1) Unchanged

  • Channel Elements (Level 3) Unchanged

  • + Elemental Shield (Level 20) - Shifted from Mana, this will give 66% Base resists + Spell Level. Becomes 4 x base immunities at L50. Nifty, eh?

  • Elemental Wave (Level 15) Unchanged

  • Elemental Minion (Level 20) Unchanged

  • Vaporize (dual school: Geomancy/Air level 4) This power isn't amazingly believeable / thematic / logical, but I love the effects, so I might as well leave it.

  • Geolysis (dual school: Geomancy/Earth level 7) Unchanged
  • - Dripping Tread (dual school: Geomancy/Water level 10) Bit of a dud power, sadly. Adieu.
  • Grow Barrier (dual school: Geomancy/Earth level 12) No change.

Tulkas

• A couple of power-ups, to make Tulkas Worshippers Whirling Dervishes of Pure Fury

  • Divine Aim (Level 1) Unchanged

  • Whirlwind (Level 10) Increases the number of max blows by 1 every five levels. Yes, this means 9 Attacks per Square, per casting at L50.

  • Wave of Power (Level 20) At Spell Level 40, becomes a beam. Ouch. (See the musician-assassins in "Kung Fu Hustle" for an example as to how this might look)

Yavanna

• Something to make Yav Worshippers playable

  • Charm Animal (Level 1) Mana cost becomes capped at 10, at L25. Radius of Charm starts at 2, rising to four at L20 becoming LOS at L25. The specificity of charm animals makes this not too abusable.

  • All other spells unchanged

Other Magic Ideas

Chatter

KhymChanur: If Invisibility is now part of the mind school, does that mean that it doesn't affect mindless creatures? If the spell/ring/artifact-effect is supposed to render your body completely transparent, rather than prevent the minds of enemies from perceiving you, then shouldn't it be in a different school?

RavenRed: Well... at present NO_SLEEP gives Monster Level +10 to the "resistance" to Invisibility. I personally think Invis. is more of an intelligence effect rather than a visual effect, which is why I've put it where it is. I don't think it's an air effect. Perhaps limiting the effect in the C source will give a more accurate description (mindless creatures either immune or severely limiting the effect)? Personally, I reckon the AI needs to have something done to it other than random movement during invisibility, but...

(PS Sorry about the delay. New ADSL connection at home refused my access to all secure sites... <sigh>)