I understand that fact that some people can\'t type very fast and/or accurately, which is why I believe that some form of scripting would be extremely helpful if this system were implemented.
I think the following might be a good way to implement this:
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Spellbooks Ok, it\'s already been mentioned, but I\'m trying to keep this grouped together. A spellbook would have several pages in it (depending on how good/expensive/\'magical\' the book is) and each page could have a certain number of words that you could write your spells on to. I was trying to think of whether scribed spells should be permanent or erasable, but I couldn\'t decide
so I\'ll just say for now that your standard spellbook can only be written on, but more advanced spellbooks can have spells erased and new ones written in.
The catch is, it\'s a book (duh); you have to read it. Say you\'re in town, you scribe all sorts of neat spells into your book, and you bind some hotkey to them. Now you step out into the forest and you want to cast a spell that\'s in your book. You press the key that corresponds to the spell you want to cast. Your character then has to pull out their book, look up the spell, cite the incantation, and *attempt to cast spell*, *spell succeeds or fails.* However, it seems reasonable to assume that a mage has short-term memory, and so, based on their intelligence (or some other stat) can remember the last xx number of spells they have recited. So when you press the hotkey again, you will automatically start reciting the spell again. But if you try to call up a spell you can\'t remember, you have to pull out the book again.
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Magical Scrolls/OrbsThis idea\'s been poked around with a couple times, so I figure I\'ll post my version here.
So instead of reciting your spells in battle (which takes time, and has the chance to fail), this method would allow you to cast your spells in town, at home, in the tavern (drunk if you wish
), or wherever you would like where you are safe.
So you go to your friendly neighborhood magic shop (that would be me
) and pick up some blank scrolls. There would be different types, and each type would be capable of holding a certain length/difficulty of spell. You then proceed to cast the spell onto the scroll, either reciting it by hand or looking it up in your spellbook. Either:
>*attempt to cast spell*, *spell fails*, your scroll goes *poof*
>*attempt to cast spell*, *spell succeeds*, you now have an empowered (for lack of a better word) scroll
Once your scroll is empowered, you can go out into the forest, activate the scroll (via GUI or hotkey), select target if necessary, and *boom*, your spell casts instantly and your scroll goes *poof*. A great way to prepare spells ahead of time if you know you\'re going to get into a sticky situation.
Your friendly neighborhood magic shop also sells magic orbs. These orbs function just like scrolls, except that once the spell has been released, they don\'t disappear; you can reuse them again to hold another spell (they can still only hold one spell at a time). A failed spell cast upon the orb will not result in it being destroyed. Because of this, they will cost quite a bit more than scrolls, and will most likely weight a bit more. However, it\'s another way to cast spells
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Magical Staves I think a cool way to implement this would be a combination of spellbooks and scrolls. When you acquire a new staff it will (unless someone else has already used it) be nothing more than a walking stick. However, magical staves are able to have spell incantations scribed onto them, much like a spellbook (however, as anyone can use a pen to write in a spellbook, it may require a certain level of magical ability to scribe a staff). Each staff, depending on various type/quality factors, will have a maximum limit of words that can be scribed upon it (like the spellbooks). Staves will NOT have the ability to be erased; a spell scribed on a staff cannot be undone in any way. If you really don\'t want it anymore, get another staff and start over.
When it comes time to use it, simply bind a key to a spell on that staff, then press the correct key to cast the spell. Your character will then recite the spell (as if it were read from a spellbook, but no lookup time is necessary, and it does not interfere with remembering other spells), *attempt to cast spell*, *spell succeeds or fails*.
Summary:
- Spellbooks
> Holds a number of spell incantations
> Spells may be scribed into a spellbook by anyone
> Scribed spells may or may not be erasable (depending on the book, probably)
> Spells cast from a spellbook must be looked up prior to casting
> Spells still have a chance of failure
> A short-term memory would allow your character to remember the last few spells recited
> You could hold many spellbooks in your inventory, but only one would be your \'active\' spellbook. If you want to cast a spell from a different book, you would have to switch them out
- Scrolls
> Each scroll holds a single spell
> Spells are cast upon the scroll ahead of time
> A spell failure destroys the scroll, a sucessful cast stores the spell
> An activated scroll casts immediately
> The scroll is destroyed in the casting process
> You can hold as many scrolls as you like (providing you have the space/strength to carry them)
- Orbs
> Each orb holds a single spell
> Spells are cast upon the orb ahead of time
> A spell failure does not affect the orb, a sucessful cast stores the spell
> An activated orb casts immediately
> The orb can be re-used after the spell has been released from it
> Orbs would be more expensive and heavier than scrolls
> You can hold as many orbs as you like (providing you have the space/strength to carry them)
- Staves
> Each staff holds a number of spell incantations
> A certain level of magical ability is used to scribe spells onto a staff
> Scribed spells may not be erased from a staff
> A spell cast from a staff does not need to be looked up, but still needs to be recited
> Spells still have a chance of failure
> Reciting a spell from a staff does not affect your memory of other spells
> You could carry more than one staff on your character, but a staff *must* be your currently equipped weapon to cast a spell from it
*Whew*
I think this is my longest post so far. Please feel free to post your ideas about this, I\'d really like to hear them. I really think that a magical dialogue would make the game so much more interesting for mages
Plus, I want to have a staff with an orb on the top of it
