Cyn
Denizen
Existence questionable.
98 posts
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Post by Cyn on Aug 4, 2015 11:07:19 GMT -8
So! Shielding adjustment to one post was awesome, that's a kickass step in the right direction for beefing up those poor dress-wearing ninnies. Nonetheless, I really think they could use some cool little fighting styles and trait-based skills to give them a bit more bang for their buck, considering they'll never be able to have the defensive abilities a Fighter will have. Linking those to a magic school or lack thereof could certainly make things interesting! I hope.
As an update, listed below are Trait-Based skills after a small rework. As mentioned in feedback, adding both Fighting Styles and Trait-Based skills would probably stack mages a bit too high, considering they already have magic schools to make use of if they like.
Supercharged!
Your prowess with magic has given you acute understanding of how to manipulate the latent magic of your shield, charging your body with its excess magical energy to increase your athletic ability.
Requirements: Magic 6, Reflexes 4, Resolve 4 - MUST be a Freelance Mage, Elementalist, or Predicant.
Benefits: When your Shielding spell is active on you, you may choose to spend 2 Hit Points of your Shield to add +1 to your Reflex roll to avoid a damage-dealing attack. This may only be used while your Shield has at least 2 Hit Points remaining, and may not be used while out of combat. This may not bring your Reflexes trait over 10.
I am Fire (or something else), I am Death!
Your understanding of your chosen element has gifted you with the ability to imbue your Shielding spell with that element to deter attackers.
Requirements: Magic 6, Knowledge 4, Resolve 4 - MUST be an Elementalist.
Benefits: May spend one extra point of Mana when casting Shielding to imbue your shield with your chosen element, causing it to deal Light damage to any person who lands a successful physical attack against you.
Glass Cannon
You like to live on the edge, and have mastered the secrets of channeling the energy from your shields into dealing excess damage with your offensive abilities.
Requirements: Magic 5, Knowledge 3, Resolve 5 - MUST be a Freelance Mage or Elementalist.
Benefits: When your Shielding spell is active on you, you may choose to spend 2 Hit Points of your Shield when casting a direct-damage offensive spell to add +1 to your Magic roll. This may only be used while your Shield has at least 2 Hit Points remaining, and may not be used while out of combat. This may not bring your Magic trait over 10.
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202 posts
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Post by alecksin on Aug 4, 2015 11:23:59 GMT -8
I love this! I LOVE IT!
As a freelance mage, I really like these ideas a lot. It gives those who cannot use armor at all a chance to be able to defend themselves more consistently and more aggressively. I know plenty of mage characters whose reflexes are absolutely abysmal (I am in this category) but pack a wopping amount of knowledge and magical power.
So yes, I think these are eggsalad ideas. I really don't have too much to say, they are basically really nicely made.
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Abaddon
Denizen
Fight me IRL, I'm ripped
21 posts
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Post by Abaddon on Aug 4, 2015 13:09:01 GMT -8
I'll be honest here: I don't much like the Blink trait. The magic stat already buys mages Fighting, Strength, Social Standing, Huntsman, and Shadows. I don't think it needs to count for reflexes as well. If there was some mana cost associated with it, though, like spending one mana each time you use Magic to dodge instead of using Reflexes, I'd be a bit more down to clown.
That being said, I really like the second two.
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3,197 posts
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Post by Lιттle Ƭree (Cedar Ashland) on Aug 5, 2015 3:15:35 GMT -8
I'll come back and look at these later today, but the schools of magic are honestly the general equivalent to martial fighting styles as it stands. They give bonuses, some of which can make the mage more resilient or more powerful in a very big way. So I don't know if I agree to fighting styles being needed for them.
Now should we have other schools of magic from which or players can choose? Yes, I think so and to this end we've already got something in the works. Just like how we could have more fighting styles for the martial characters to use.
But fighting styles for mages, in addition to their schools? Probably not. That said lol, I'll look these over later. Maybe there's a gem or two in here that could be nice in a new upcoming magic school.
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9,653 posts
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Post by Cailean on Aug 5, 2015 8:18:37 GMT -8
Interesting ideas. I agree with Abbadon on the first; magic is already versatile.
The I am Fire, I am Death is neat and will be considered.
Auto-crits are pretty strong though. Elementalists already drop 4 damage a swing, anyone dropping 5 damage a swing is kinda' op, even at half-shield.
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Cyn
Denizen
Existence questionable.
98 posts
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Post by Cyn on Aug 5, 2015 10:32:18 GMT -8
Thanks very much for the feedback! Yeah, you may very well be right - stacking these atop magic schools might be a bit much.
To update, I changed Don't Even Blink to only be usable three times a day after getting some feedback from Aba. The goal being to give mages a bit of a panic button when facing down a fighter who can deal 4 damage in one swing with 11 HP of their own. Mages of course can reach those HP and damage numbers (I'd done my math originally for Fae, hence the slight disconnect), the difference is in my eyes they require three turns to actually get their stats to that point. One for shielding, two for their first bolt spell. That's good of course, just some brainstorming to give them some extra tools.
Auto-crits may be a bit strong. Perhaps that theoretically should be limited to Bolt spells? Just to remove the potential for things such as lingering hex and summoned creatures to become that overwhelming when paired with other abilities.
Regardless, thanks for giving it a look!
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9,653 posts
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Post by Cailean on Aug 5, 2015 19:35:33 GMT -8
I'm still against having magic be the solution to everything. It's supposed to be miraculous, but not all-encompassing. As written, it can be used extremely strategically. Mage only has 4-5 reflexes? Sees someone drop a 100+ roll? Uses the trait to roll defense. Or if someone only rolls 30, they don't. The skill can and will be used as a 'I can make my rolls better three times when it suits me' and I think that's too good. Fae can start with 9 magic, having 9 point trait that can be used offensively and defensively three times is really strong. I don't know how to balance this down without putting up severe penalties, such as you can't attack your next post or something like that. I'd even go so far as to add a mana cost to using it along with this because of the tactical possibilities.
Autocrits for bolt spells is still strong in the hands of a battlemage or elementalist, swinging for 5 a round on hit. Especially in a group setting, where the mage may not even be attacked. Many fights so far involve one or more people, and the potential to one-hit-ko people is there as well.
When considering balancing things, consider it not just from the highest combative levels, (fighter with 14hp from armor swinging a massive weapon) for example, but also mid levels (fighters with only 8-9 hp swinging for medium or large), and of course the fact that in RP, gibbing non-combatant characters that want to participate in fights, is hella' lame sometimes.
As it stands right now, any combative character at even nearing full power is going to completely crush any non-combative character. That's probably how it should be, but be wary about widening this disparity.
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70 posts
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Post by equivocation on Aug 5, 2015 19:47:15 GMT -8
Re: Reflexes - As I pointed out while the system was still in the works, one stat should never be able to do everything. Resolve as the defense to everything, fighting as offense and defense, etc.... Those are all bad ideas because rolling your "win" stat for each thing you have to face, ever, allows minmaxing, which is bad design.
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Cyn
Denizen
Existence questionable.
98 posts
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Post by Cyn on Aug 5, 2015 21:48:50 GMT -8
Yeah, you've got a really good point there, my comparisons were definitely based on essentially 'min-maxed' trait spreads. A second run-through with the first and last style was not so kind on average opposition as it was on exceptional opposition, thanks for pointing that out.
I still intended to write a couple trait-based skills just for brainstorming, but I'm thinking it might just be worth scrapping the first and third ideas (or drastically reworking them) before doing so.
Good point Equi. It was poor math on my part, using only a pinnacle-trait fighter class as the target goal.
I'll give it another look-through. Worst case scenario, they're unworkable ideas in a suggestion thread. xD
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9,653 posts
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Post by Cailean on Aug 6, 2015 10:56:55 GMT -8
<3
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Cyn
Denizen
Existence questionable.
98 posts
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Post by Cyn on Aug 6, 2015 11:43:41 GMT -8
Belated comment, I relabeled the suggestions as Trait-Based skills and reworked the two that were severely unbalanced, for brainstorming purposes.
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9,653 posts
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Post by Cailean on Aug 6, 2015 19:28:46 GMT -8
Those are interesting, although they almost seem too weak this time. XD
Why would you spend 2hp to gain 1 reflexes when you might have a fair chance already at dodging the attack and not taking damage at all? Or spend 2hp and possibly miss your attack? An extra 1 to rolls isn't a very big increase; 2.3% to 3.4% increased chance of dodging or hitting for 2hp, iirc.
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3,197 posts
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Post by Lιттle Ƭree (Cedar Ashland) on Aug 14, 2015 13:39:44 GMT -8
Thank you for your suggestions!
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