[OOC] Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

[Rtron]

Also, @Freeshooter92 , you need to add your CSes for Grey and Alaira too the CS tab.

[Rtron]

Uicle is waiting on Baulder to respond,

Althalus is getting ready to tell Alaira that the meeting between him and mar will be private. And very alone.

Ssarak and Merien are spending time together.

Annabeth and Aramir are getting drunk while playing chicken.

Tyrael is getting ready to interrogate Darius.

Mar is chillaxing.

Grey is talking to his axe.

Lucillia is talking to diplomats.

Leith is wandering around.

Ovak and Khan are both getting ready to be yelled at by Uicle, with Baulder likely in tow.

Did I miss anyone?

[Fallenreaper]

@Luna, @Vesuvius00, and @Ryonara: After some thought and time, I'll be making a small post that sort of glosses over the collab and event in the fire scene folks. Namely as Ves has had RL poking her in the ass and needs her attention, meanwhile Luna hasn't gotten back to me at all so I'm assuming the same has happened to her as well. Hence their PCs will be sidelined for the time being and we'll start demos soon. So any interactions you aim on might be best if you wrap it up sometime next week or put it in a memory post because I plan, key word, to have the demos started before Friday but can't be sure due to rp activity lately wih all my rps. XD

[Freeshooter92]

[Rtron]

@Freeshooter92

*Coughs Meaningfully*

Also, @Freeshooter92 , you need to add your CSes for Grey and Alaira too the CS tab.

@Rtron

[Vesuvius00]

@Luna, @Vesuvius00, and @Ryonara: After some thought and time, I'll be making a small post that sort of glosses over the collab and event in the fire scene folks. Namely as Ves has had RL poking her in the ass and needs her attention, meanwhile Luna hasn't gotten back to me at all so I'm assuming the same has happened to her as well. Hence their PCs will be sidelined for the time being and we'll start demos soon. So any interactions you aim on might be best if you wrap it up sometime next week or put it in a memory post because I plan, key word, to have the demos started before Friday but can't be sure due to rp activity lately wih all my rps. XD

@Fallenreaper

Thank you Fallen.

[Fallenreaper]

<Snipped quote by Fallenreaper>

Thank you Fallen.

@Vesuvius00

No problem Kiddo. :p I figured it would be less stress and worry due to school, and when you and Luna gets stuff sorted than you can bump me. Then we'll pick it up where we left off and finish the scene, putting it in a memory.

[Fallenreaper]

@Konan375

Lyn bumped into Leith, feel free to stop her fall and bring her back up to her feet hun. <3

[Rtron]

ATTENTION ALL!

These are Freeshooter's suggestions/goals for cleaning up the mage bloods.

Well, first thing that should be done is making sure every segment is fully fleshed. Some segments *Cough*Pyromancy*cough*Herbamancy*Cough* are really... crap. Putting it bluntly. So those need to get fixed. Anyway, different classes all need to have... goals. A niche to really differentiate them, both in and out of combat. So, let's go through some sample design goals.

Vitamancy: Provides utility and defense while not skimping on combat effectiveness: Offensive spells are risky to pull off but devastating and difficult to resist, while also being terrifying to behold. Though ultimately its defensive aspects are the main draw. Also, the standard all things will be balanced against.

Pyromancy: Provides the best long range offense available, akin to living artillery. Though fireballs require decent aim. Gouts of flame provide close-range power as well, and Pyromancers absolutely MURDER armored opponents. Unfortunately, Pyromancy is not quite as potent outside of content. Useful, but not overwhelmingly so. (I would drop the Arcanite thing altogether: Only masters could do it it seems, and it doesn't seem to make much sense despite being a cool idea. I see that it's intended to give a pyromancer support options, but Pyromancers can learn a little vitamancy on the side, so they shouldn't need to worry. Perhaps make creating light a high-level subtype? Stuff like simple light to lasers? Just a thought.)

Hydromancy and Cryomancy: The two are comparatively weak alone, however quite potent when combined. Hydromancy lacks offensive power and has little in the way of variety: You can move liquids. Now, only an idiot will tell you that you can't do much, but it all boils down to moving liquid in some manner. Balance is an issue thanks to controlling blood: I advise that blood is excessively difficult to manipulate if it's... you know, in someone. And Cryomancy can do arguably less, as your only power is to drain heat from things... Combine the two, and you can create, shape, and manipulate ice to your will, in addition to the other things. Hydromancy primarily offers mostly defense and utility, while Cryomancy can be used to lethally chill someone at a somewhat short distance given time and line of sight. Which doesn't require aim, but still puts you at risk while you perform it.

Aeromancy: Provides extreme mobility, as well as large area effects, though somewhat lacking in raw killing power until you get to the good stuff. Attacks (wind blasts and tornadoes, not movement stuff like high jumps) are taxing, however.

Electromancy: Fast death-dealing and oddball utility. While shorter ranged than most Pyromancy spells (With weakening effects the further you go) Electromancy travels faster than Pyromancy and is thus more accurate at those short ranges. Attacks are much more taxing than Pyromancy however, and it can be unpredictable: There's not always a guarantee that the lightning won't be drawn to something else before it reaches its target. Master Electromancers have access to Plasma or 'hand-lightning', which can be described as 'Turbo-fire' Said energy is hazardous to the health of anyone nearby, and horrific backfires can occur if care is not taken or the attack is disrupted.

Geomancy: Incredibly versatile and potent magic... most of the time. Geomancy varies depending on the terrain in question. In general, Geomancy offers brute force in combat, and a great amount of creative potential as well: Art, construction, etc. Attacks are slow, but potent. Geomancy is always limited by materials on hand, however, and it relies on the creativity of its user to become truly effective.

Herbamancy: Provides survival and oddball combat. A weird magic with weird spells, never fights in any way one would call conventional. However like Geomancy they too are limited by what is physically available to them.

Necromancy: Necromancers make their own damn friends, and their specialty is minions. However, while not defenseless a necromancer is far weaker on his own. Necromancers can exert their will on inanimate objects, but unless said object has been ritually prepared it is not easy to do so.

Demonomancy: Demonomancy offers potentially more powerful minions, but also considerably less loyal and far more dangerous ones. It also lacks flexibility comparatively, as you can't simply have demons custom made. One may also take on demonic aspects. (I also believe the 'Inferno magic' section should be removed: Demonomancy is already rife with opportunities for abuse, giving people hell-flavored spells from other bloods is not a particularly good idea, or an easy to balance one)

Psychomancy: Provides incredible opportunities for manipulation, misdirection, and all manner of sneaky bastard things. However, It is either one of two things: Easy to resist yet cheap to cast, or difficult to resist and very dangerous and taxing to cast. It either works all the time at great cost, or is very cheap in terms of blood even though it fails on occasion. I'm not sure which one would be best to go with.

Noxomancy: This requires more in-depth retooling, which we should cover later.

Anyone else have any suggestions?

[cqbexpt]

The reason Inferno magic was even put in was because apon creating my character I kept pointing out to Lucius how I could abuse it. (and others could.) Not having it or simply baring demonmancers from summoning demons that can use other elements would nerf them quite a bit. The Inferno magics were designed to be different from the normal magics because they were more limited and specific in scope to all the mage bloods.(not to mention Baulder couldn't exist) So removing it would be a horrid idea as it would either by proxy buff or nerf Demonmancy quite a bit.

Though I agree with Noxomancy needing to be retooled, it honestly seems borderline useless right now. I like the idea of plague crafting but they need something else to do as they arn't terribly useful in combat (unless your a master) and only really seems suited to be used by a big bad mage blood.

Having Cyromancy and hydromancy taught at the same time to students would be a good buff for them as like you said their better together. Though it might seem weak do to a lack of creativity, because if you really wanted you could just rip Sub-zero's moves from Mortal Kombat and have a bad ass ice ninja.

I honestly think Pyromancy and electromancy should should both either merge with each other or the thing they accompany as they again are both useful in combat and not much outside of. Hell these problems might be fixed by allowing people to specialize in the school rather than either of them individually. (this would require that demonmancy and necromancy be split up though as OP.)

[EliteCommander]

Here are my thoughts. I of course think that all characters of all bloods should feel like they can be useful, in roughly the same proportions. There shouldn't be one that really dominates, but I think you might be going about that the wrong way. I don't think it is worth it to lose variety in favor of closing off every bit of potential for abuse. We're all friends here, after all, and we can deal with those issues individually.

I think it might be possible to "over-balance." To think about every detail of what every blood can do that you drive yourself crazy. Personally, I like the potent magic. I like the idea that we have this great potential. When I see a fight between a master aeromancer and a master geomancer, I'd like to see a mage bringing down the sky to meet the earth rising up against him. I'd like to see the forest turning against a pyromancer who is scorching the earth hot enough to melt the rocks as they try to get to the herbamancer. When we get all of these master bloods fighting with and against each other, I'd like it so seem like reality is tearing itself apart, because I think that it would make the RP all the more interesting. I like being able to be creative with my abilities, and it really does not matter how much power our characters can potentially have, because the enemy has mageblood too. They will have all the same powers and abilities as us, if not more.

Instead of trying to nerf everything into balance, I say "balance-up." Make sure that every mageblood has some kind of strong defense against other magebloods, some way to absorb or avoid damage, so that master level fights don't end in two seconds. I haven't had time to think in depth about every single blood, but I'm certainly willing to. If we work together, I think we can make sure that each blood has a compelling and potent defense against each of the others. That would certainly be easier than trying to rebalance everything.

[Fallenreaper]

Hard and Fast Ruling in Mage Dueling

These were limits for master level, which also works for the other various stages though their power level will still be determined by the 'level' they are at. These limits were made based on trust between both a GM and a player, hence why they are general and aren't so overwhelmingly detailed or exact.T These were made a while ago when some players showed concerns over the lacking limits on masters and why they didn't take over the world... these are why folks.

Limitations:

Focus and Concentration: A mage has to 'target' an individual in order to cast magic strong enough to kill. In addition the more tasks of a different varieties a mage is focusing on than the weaker their power is and lower success xir magic is powerful enough to accomplish this. For a total success, a mage would have to focus on nothing besides the effects of the spell which leaves them vulnerable for outside attack either by blade, magic or other means. This makes it impossible to dodge, to either lessen or avoid damage, without breaking concentration and weaenking the spell from an insta kill. The alternative would be taking taking the hit which would increase chances of injury and possibly risk death.

Natural vs Manipulated Arcanite: With magics that can directly manipulate a mage, both mind and body, there is a slight delay and resistance in the beginning against living and sentient beings.This is because Mages are trying to alter the natural state of a complicated being and that isn't an easy feat, causing just enough time to quickly react. At most, several moments to only a second depending on the subject's reaction speed. This can range from a several moments to a second, though success is not always plausible.

Sight: If a mage can't see xir target, either through magical means or others, then they can't target a subject for a heavily damaging spell. However, glimpses and brief spotting can allow it at points xir eyes set onto the desire target. This can cause heavy damage, though never an insta kill, and if done well can seriously cripple an opponent.

Distance: A mage's spell is most powerful within their direct location, the closer xe are to a target the stronger xir magic is. Direct touch to the target is the strongest, short of insta kill, a master can accomplish while gained distance will weaken the power. When the target is out of sight, usually 500 feet, than xir out of range of the mage's influence.

[Freeshooter92]

Here are my thoughts. I of course think that all characters of all bloods should feel like they can be useful, in roughly the same proportions. There shouldn't be one that really dominates, but I think you might be going about that the wrong way. I don't think it is worth it to lose variety in favor of closing off every bit of potential for abuse. We're all friends here, after all, and we can deal with those issues individually.

I think it might be possible to "over-balance." To think about every detail of what every blood can do that you drive yourself crazy. Personally, I like the potent magic. I like the idea that we have this great potential. When I see a fight between a master aeromancer and a master geomancer, I'd like to see a mage bringing down the sky to meet the earth rising up against him. I'd like to see the forest turning against a pyromancer who is scorching the earth hot enough to melt the rocks as they try to get to the herbamancer. When we get all of these master bloods fighting with and against each other, I'd like it so seem like reality is tearing itself apart, because I think that it would make the RP all the more interesting. I like being able to be creative with my abilities, and it really does not matter how much power our characters can potentially have, because the enemy has mageblood too. They will have all the same powers and abilities as us, if not more.

Instead of trying to nerf everything into balance, I say "balance-up." Make sure that every mageblood has some kind of strong defense against other magebloods, some way to absorb or avoid damage, so that master level fights don't end in two seconds. I haven't had time to think in depth about every single blood, but I'm certainly willing to. If we work together, I think we can make sure that each blood has a compelling and potent defense against each of the others. That would certainly be easier than trying to rebalance everything.

@EliteCommander

That's called 'power creep'. Why nerf things when you can buff things instead? Well, the issue right now is some bloods are much more potent than others. Let's take psychomancy, for example. With current psychomancy, a master duel wouldn't be the awesome thing you described, but it would be the non-psychomancer opponent collapsing to the ground and just having a seizure.

Things need to fit more defined roles. Pyromancy and Electromancy are functionally identical right now, with those they serve different functions in combat.

As for Inferno magic, they give a Demonomancer far too much variety. Not only can they summon very powerful minions and physically alter themselves into mighty demons themselves, but they can also basically cast slightly gimped hell-versions of most anything they want. And there's only so much we can jack up the cost for spells.

We have to retool everything. Look at Herbamancy and tell me that's acceptable. And if we're gonna do some of them, we're gonna do all of them. Masters are hardly being affected, it's less 'Nerf' and more 'refocus'.

[EliteCommander]

I disagree with you. This isn't a video game, power creep isn't really a bad thing here. Our enemies are as tough as the GMs want to make them, so having more capabilities just gives us more options. Reworking so many things isn't necessary, we just have to make sure that each blood has some good defenses.

[Freeshooter92]

My goal is not to simply nerf everything into the ground, I actually feel a few bloods need a boost. The only thing in real, desperate need of nerfing is Psychomancy and Hydromancy blood manipulation.

[Freeshooter92]

I disagree with you. This isn't a video game, power creep isn't really a bad thing here. Our enemies are as tough as the GMs want to make them, so having more capabilities just gives us more options. Reworking so many things isn't necessary, we just have to make sure that each blood has some good defenses.

@EliteCommander

Ah, but is it fair that one player is far more effective than another? What's the point of being an Herbamancer when you can just be a Psychomancer and have free, easy access to a cheap way to basically kill anyone?

[EliteCommander]

<Snipped quote by EliteCommander>

Ah, but is it fair that one player is far more effective than another? What's the point of being an Herbamancer when you can just be a Psychomancer and have free, easy access to a cheap way to basically kill anyone?

@Freeshooter92

It would be, if that were actually the case.

[Freeshooter92]

<Snipped quote by Freeshooter92>

It would be, if that were actually the case.

@EliteCommander

What's the one thing that defends against Psychomancy? A thing that only mages can learn that requires specialized schooling that takes time away from actually learning how to use your blood. And, additionally, Psychomancers are the best at it, naturally, so a Psychomancer is the best counter to a Psychomancer.

[EliteCommander]

Wards are the defense against psychomancy. It is a specialized defense that any mage can access, in addition to the abilities of their own blood. All of the teachers and high level mages have them, and it hasn't seemed to have affected their learning.

[EliteCommander]

I was under the impression that anyone could have wards, and that it wouldn't detract greatly from one's learning. If not, well...that's how it should be.