CaptainManbeard

Qrowdell Academy (magical school RP)

This reminds me of an old idea I had for a dnd character once and I can probably adapt it to this

A warforged built by a cultist to server his god. He was found just before the machine was officially set loose upon the world, and the robot was put in a coffin or some other hidden compartment, and found way after. This machine was "coded" for lack of a better term to have forbidden magic up its sleeve, but doesnt really know how or why.

All he knows is that he has a weird innate ability to use these forms of magic, but for some reason he can't use any others. Likely because hes a literal robot and shouldnt have magic abilities anyway.

How viable is something like that?

@Blizz

That would not be viable at all for a freshman student at the Academy, but if you want to play a student who, like one of my characters, has parents in the Cult, then you could say the warforged was first built by a follower of Tiamat centuries ago, was placed in a coffin like you said, probably by followers of Bahamut, and then was somehow forgotten about. Centuries later, members of your character's family discovered him and now he's like a guard who is usually posted outside the Cult's secret headquarters. But when the five dark instructors go to the Secret Arena, they could bring him along keep an eye on the entrance and maybe help train the students.

Qrowdell Academy (magical school RP)

When the main thread goes up, I've decided the name is going to be changed slightly to: The Secret World of Arcanum: Qrowdell Academy. The part of their story that centers around them as students will be considered Volume I, and then once they graduate and the story moves away from their lives as students, I'll change the subtitle from Qrowdell Academy to whatever the title of Volume II ends up being, probably something like Civil War or Infernal Doom. Then Volume III might end up being called Vestiges of the Platinum Dragon. But that's a ways off, so we'll see XD.

Qrowdell Academy (magical school RP)

So for aspiring villains can we pick initiate in the infernal arts or do we need to wait until the secret classes start?

@PrankFox

That depends on whether or not they have a relative or previous mentor who is part of the Cult of Tiamat. Since one of my characters is going to be the child of cult members and doing the initial recruiting for the Secret Arena, they will be an Initiate in Infernal Magic. Though, since not everyone will be taking place in the dark magic class, that progression is separate from what I mentioned for the Academy-approved magicks. So, regardless of whether or not one is going to learn Infernal Magic, they still get the same starting options with the approved magicks.

And to give something extra for the non-villain characters, we could have those be the ones who join the Battlemancer team. So, in addition to what is learned in classes, the hero-leaning characters get combat experience in the Battlemancer League and the villain-leaning characters get combat experience in the Secret Arena, where the students are forced to fight each other, monsters, the dark teachers, etc. For that part, we can have some generic NPC student villains that each of us can control when writing the combat scenes. Sound good?

So, assuming we're all in agreement, I'm going to be less active on here for a few days while I focus on getting everything written and ready for the main thread. I don't have an exact ETA, especially with the upcoming week being fairly busy due to family stuff and Thanksgiving, but I'm hoping to have everything ready to go by Friday.

Qrowdell Academy (magical school RP)

Oh, and I realize overlooked something in my other post about magic levels: Universal Magic would be at Intermediate for everyone since that's basic every day stuff.

So, everyone should be at Intermediate for Universal Magic and one of the four elemental magicks, and then either Novice for one other or Initiate for two others.

As a reminder, Infernal Magic is forbidden at the Academy, so only those who attend the secret dark magic classes or were secretly trained before the Academy will know them. Innate Sorceries are purely elemental and universal, meaning only from the Elemental Planes of Air, Fire, Water, and Earth and basic Universal Magic. Cosmic Magic cannot be used innately and requires an Arcane Conduit, as does the more advanced abilities from the elemental magicks.

Qrowdell Academy (magical school RP)

I am going with the race of elves that can shapeshift. Apart from that, they mostly use their universal magic/cosmic magic. Telekinesis, projecting illusions to mess with people, telepathic communication, potential teleportation at some point.

In Pokémon terms, Taeral is a Psychic type. xD

@Crimson Flame

What were you thinking for the elemental affinity? I would suggest Air, because then they could eventually fly around as they're teleporting that would also pair well with telekinesis.

Qrowdell Academy (magical school RP)

<Snipped quote by CaptainManbeard>

He* is definitely going to need to reach that power fantasy later on as a goal both for himself and me. I think it will start out more of flavoring pyromancy as solar flames/heat rather than warping reality right out the gate. I think his initial/signature ability beyond the most basic pyromancy will be setting beacons of light that deal fire damage, and connecting them together with superhot lasers. Maybe he can have them orbit his body like a star system.

@Light

Yeah, totally! What we can probably do is play out their freshman year, go through all the holidays and classes and stuff, have the secret dark training for aspiring villains, and then have an epic climactic finale towards the end of the school year. Then, we can time jump to their graduation three years later and begin delving into a giant magical war brewing that sees them develop faster than average, ultimately culminating in them gathering the Vestiges of Bahamut to channel Chaos Magic and temporarily become like SUUUUUPER overpowered, LOL. To keep it under the Qrowdell name, we can say that once the war starts, the Academy is used as a secret headquarters for an organization similar to the Order of the Phoenix from Harry Potter.

Qrowdell Academy (magical school RP)

So, to make everything simple and give everyone a clear idea of how basic or advanced various magical effects are, we'll go with this:

All abilities are split into three categories - Racial Traits, Innate Sorcery, and Arcane Arts.

Racial Traits: Biological functions tied to one's racial bloodline. Similar to mutations in X-Men.

Innate Sorcery: Lesser magicks from the four Elemental Planes that one can command at will like an extension of their body. Similar to Bending from Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra.

Arcane Arts: Advanced disciplines requiring the use of runes from the Arcane Tongue to clearly define more complex magical effects and channeled through an Arcane Conduit, such as wands, rings, amulets, etc. Basically any item that you can engrave runes into marking it as a Conduit, or magical runic tattoos done with enchanted ink.

So, with that, the characters won't actually need the Conduit for the Innate Sorcery, only the Arcane Arts. As for levels of difficulty with magic, we'll just go with this:

Unlearned: No experience in this type of magic.

Initiate: Only recently began studying this type of magic.

Novice: A very basic understanding of this type of magic.

Intermediate: Considerable understanding of this type of magic.

Adept: Greater understanding of this type of magic, typically requires at least several years of formal education.

Expert: Advanced understanding of this type of magic, typically requires post-graduate training with specialized instructors and several years of real-world experience beyond just formal education.

Master: Complete mastery of this type of magic, typically requires many years of real-world experience using Adept-level spells beyond just formal education.

To keep us all on a similar level, I'm think everyone is an Intermediate in one of the four elemental magicks, whichever they are attuned to, and then they can be a Novice in one other magic or an Initiate in two other magicks. As for what type of abilities fall into which levels, I'll work on that and get back to you, lol.

Qrowdell Academy (magical school RP)

I've got it. Using the faceclaim I posted last night, I'm going to roll up a Fire primary character who's invests a lot into learning cosmic magic, as a sort of astrologer. I'm thinking big AoE wizard type, covering the battlefield with burning motes of starlight arranged in constellation patterns, obscuring smokey nebulas, and other sun/star/space magic.

@Light

That sounds awesome, but some of that you may want to save for later after she progresses more. Since she's starting out as a freshman, I don't think the Professors would enjoy her throwing down motes of starlight everywhere which may flood the school with solar radiation if not done properly XD XD XD. How much of that were you wanting her to have right at the beginning of the RP? I'm fine with her having had some very basic training in Cosmic Magic from a mentor or relative, but as an eighteen year old who is only just starting her formal academic college education, I don't want her to be too overpowered compared to the other students.

Qrowdell Academy (magical school RP)

So, for anyone wondering how to fit in your ideas from the original system to this new one, I'll translate the arts below:

Universal Magic now covers effects previously labeled under Cerebromancy.
Air Magic now covers effects previously labeled under Aeromancy, Electromancy, and Hydromancy (moisture droplets in the air/humidity).
Earth Magic now covers effects previously labeled under Geomancy and Ecomancy.
Fire Magic now covers effects previously labeled under Pyromancy.
Water Magic now covers effects previously labeled under Cryomancy and Hydromancy (larger quantities of water than used in Air Magic).
Infernal Magic now covers effects previously labeled under Necromancy, Hemomancy, and Osteomancy.
Cosmic Magic now covers effects previously labeled under Chronomancy and Psychomancy.

---

With this new system, we'll say some Magi learn basic Universal Magic from a young age, which covers any effects not tied to one of the four Elemental Planes, the Infernal Abyss, or the Cosmic Void. This can also cover minor healing abilities for mild surface injuries, cuts, bruises, burns, etc. Kind of like the magical equivalent of having an at-home first aid kit. For greater healing, people usually rely on Alchemy, which includes potions, herbology, and transmutation. Using that, they can brew healing elixirs and transmute damaged flesh back into healthy flesh. This would technically also fall under Universal Magic.

That being said, healing effects can also occur from using more advanced elemental affinities:

Air Magic can generate a healing water vapor that is inhaled and boost's one's own natural regenerative process.
Earth Magic can generate a healing bioluminescent light on the caster's palms that draws out or mimics the properties found within herbs used for regenerative potions.
Fire Magic can generate a healing flame that momentarily melts injured flesh and then restores it to a healthy state. However, this can be horribly painful if not done properly, so it's not often done outside a controlled medical setting or emergency situations.
Water Magic can generate a temporary liquid cast around an injured body part, drawing out the natural healing properties of the water and directing it to the wounded flesh.

Qrowdell Academy (magical school RP)

I’m behind on the Marvel TV shows. I’ve only finished Wandavision. I’ve seen all the movies.

I’ll have to think about that one. 🤔

@Crimson Flame

If you decide to have your character come from a race of shape-shifting elves, part of their society could be that everyone is treated as gender neutral when they're born until they get older and decide what gender identity best fits them (male, female, non-binary, genderfluid, etc).