Fu Sonzai no Gensō: An Urban Fantasy Mystery RP

[Maki Casanova]

What kind of defensive spells could there be? I'm kind of confused on this one, sorry. D: I need a little help.

[Goldmyr]

I'm not opposed to that, being given a ring or something to allow me to use my powers.

Regardless of magic object or no, his powers will have the affinity of "shadow". Without much preparation, aside from a short incantation, he can use spells that focus on simple mind tricks, like shapes passing across the corner of your eye on in dark places, or ventriloquism like sounds coming from the distance. By writing a spell on a solid surface, he can cover an area in supernatural darkness, blocking the vision of supernatural beings. With a lengthy ritual that involves scribing a phrase on the people he wishes to hide, he can unnoticeably block the sight of supernatural beings, similar to how normal people cannot see the supernatural. A different spell can make this work in reverse. With a long, repetitive chant, he can bring down magical hiding spots. The stronger the illusion, the longer the chant takes. As such, he could notice a weak spell right away, but a powerful one could go unnoticed without hours of repetitive chanting. By putting a spell phrase on a normal person and reciting a long spell, he can unveil the fog for them so that they can see the supernatural world.

Finally, the most obvious characteristic of shadows is that they take on the forms of real objects, as such, his most powerful ability is Mimicry. After seeing a spell performed, he can do it himself, just not as well. It is just an imitation after all. He can't use it indefinitely, either. The more powerful the spell, the shorter the time frame in which he can mimic it. Similar to how you can see or read about how to do something, and do it yourself, but forget how to do it later.

Would these abilities be in line with the campaign's power level?

[VitaVitaAR]

@Maki Casanova: Well, the most basic would be a magic circle in that deflects most normal damage. Then there's ones that fall in line with the user's affinity which would be more powerful, or actually use their affinity in some cases. There's a lot of variance in what could be a defensive spell really. ^^;

@Goldmyr: While I don't have an issue with illusions(Toshiko can do them after all, just not very spectacularly), I have to point out that the setting's masquerade is not simply a matter of making the supernatural invisible to mortals. Some employ illusion spells to hide their places of work and such, like Toshiko, but this isn't the main policy. The supernatural community has to be careful not to do anything unusual in front of normal people.

It makes it a lot more fun if it's not just invisible to normals.

[Goldmyr]

Ah, I see. I take it you didn't have a problem with a magic ring for my powers then? I think I have enough information to start working on my character sheet.

[VitaVitaAR]

@Goldmyr: We'll see when you have it written up. If it doesn't work out we can tweak it until it does.

@Art of Fun: I'm sorry, there's some things I missed the first time I read your bio. ^^;

Firstly, thinking about it I think that you should probably make the affinity just either Severing or Binding and have the other practiced extensively. Also there should probably not be a whole community practicing this magic if the bloodline is wearing thin unless you weren't intending that to be truthful. He also should probably have a cover name since a name in a dead language would draw in some suspicion which magi don't want. And, um, you should probably explain how he came to believe the materials he wanted were in Japan, as well as why he can speak fluent Japanese.

These are all fairly minor I think so hopefully it won't be a big change to implement them. ^^; Sorry for not catching any of this earlier.

[Maki Casanova]

Yeah, but force shields are a no, you said. :/ Which I kinda don't understand why. I can work around that by having a defensive spell which makes him send out a wave of force outward to deflect spells or physical objects. Idk if that's ok or not.

I also looked up the physics sense of "force", and friction and velocity (the manipulation of static and dynamic states) fall under this category. In that case, he can slow down and speed up himself or the things around him. "Force" can be general, but I plan to narrow his powers' limitations to friction, velocity, being able to power up physical objects or the spells of others (to a lesser extent) by making them stronger.

I already have majority of the CS going, I just need the clarifications and confirmations of his power.

[VitaVitaAR]

If it works like that it's okay.

Though i'm not quite sure how it applies to spells.

[Art of Fun]

Changed! That was my bad, didn't think that through enough. Breadth of languages was intended to be part of his skillset, but I sort of forgot to put it in alongside the written part. I figured that command of spoken languages as well as written would be useful for someone who creates items with lengthy rituals with heavy vocal elements. His actual reasoning may not be the whole truth, but it's the story he sticks to anyway.

[VitaVitaAR]

Could you PM me his full reasoning? ^^;

Thank you for your cooperation, as well. I'm very happy when my players are willing to work with me.

[Art of Fun]

Done. And it's no problem, I enjoy working with GMs to get the most out of a character and RP.

[Maki Casanova]

He reinforces the spells with his own Force spells. It only works with spells that have the trait of destruction though, like fire. :D When a destruction spell is launched, he sends a force spell right behind it, making it gain velocity and power.

TECHNICALLY, gravity also falls under the physics sense of force, but then my character would be a little too OP. :P

[VitaVitaAR]

@Art of Fun: I'm very glad about that.

@Maki: Hmm. I'm just confused as to how spell-buffing pertains to force though, but there might be something I'm missing. ^^;

[Maki Casanova]

Uh, I posted my explanation JUST before your reply, LOL.

[VitaVitaAR]

Ohh, I see. Hmm.

That doesn't quite work with every spell, though. I'd think it would only work if the product of the spell was a projectile. And... I could be wrong but I think it would have to be solid?

If you want the character to do buffing it probably works better if they learned buffing spells outside of their affinity. It'd be more versatile. ^^;

[Riegal]

VitaVitaAR said
Okay, it's a bit late so I might be missing something, but it doesn't look like his spells involve actual spells. More just touching the objects. There needs to be some kind of spell there, even if he recites it in his head. It's how Western Magic(and onmyodo sort of) work.

So all I need to do is add some sort of incantation? The way his magic works beyond that is fine? That should be simple enough to add, I just need to think of something for him to say.

Oh, and can a Magi recite an incantation once and use the corresponding spell multiple times without having to re-say the incantation, or would that require a Magic Trait?

[VitaVitaAR]

It depends on if the spell is built for multiple uses out of a single incantation, really.

... Probably should mention this in the OP, but a spell is most effective when spoken or written or initialized with some kind of ritual. The name at least for writing or speaking. Mental casting is weaker.

[Maki Casanova]

Things don't have to be solid to have force. Also, like I said, it only works for destruction type spells that are pure projectiles I guess. I want to be creative and a little bit flexible with my character, lol.

[VitaVitaAR]

Hmm, let's see what you write up for it, then.

[Maki Casanova]

In my CS or in my posts?

[VitaVitaAR]

Your CS.