A really good idea hit me when i was looking at
this thread when a idea hit me; Larger amounts of player - item - spell interations. You all know that fire will melt ice and the water from the melted ice will put out the fire. This idea is similar to that fire-ice thing, but on a much larger scale.
Players could and should have various objects to focus their magical powers -- wands, staves, crystals, and many other objects would be able to be used as a focal point for some magics. A Red Way spell could be focused around a weapon or armor more effectively then a crystal or wand, because a weapon and armor is a symbol of strength. The player could then cast spells through his sword, and gain more power from casting from such a item. EX: Temporal/Ethreal items - items split between different planes of existance - would be highly powerful for the Red way, because their state is highly chaotic.
Objects like a crystal could be like floppy disks - they can be \"blank\" without magical power, \"programed\" with magical power, and \"reformatted\" of magical power reverting it to a \"blank\" state. The crystal\'s size could influence the ability of it to store magic, and the more crystals that are held nearby of the same type, the higher the power of those crystals become; but the more of the opposite type of magic, the lessend that power becomes.
To \"Program\" a blank cystal you would have to weild it while you cast the spell from your hands. To \"format\" or clear the crystal you could cast a spell to purify the crystal, unfortunetly, such purifications are imperfect, and the crystal will eventually become permenantly charged with one type of magic. Too many purifications or continual josteling in a sack or backpack may cause the crystal to shatter into multiple, smaller peices. The chance it has to shatter could also be based on it\'s purity - a highly pure crystal would almost never shatter and would be purified greatly and with ease; but just the opposite for a highly impure crystal.
Please note, that when i say \"crystal\" i can mean any sort of precious jem. However, some jems and crystals are better suited to one type of magic then another - Obsidian would be better tied to the Dark way, normally good in any other way except the Crystal way. Diamons would be just the opposite - good in the Crystal way, normal in every other way except the Dark way. Rubies would be good in the Red way and bad in the Blue way. Etc etc... Non-conflicting spells could also be put onto a crystal, however, they all compete for space.
Wands and staves are similar to crystals, except they act like batteries - they can only have one and only one way of magic programmed into them at a time, and once that charge is gone, you have to either recharge them with the same way of magic (lowering their capacity to a minimum) discard them or recharge them with a different way of magic. Recharging them with a different way of magic is a good course of action, because it doesn\'t degrade the storage capacity as badly (though it still degrades)
There is also a fabled magical device called a rod - it is said that rods never run out of a charge, and can thus only be programmed once, so finding a rod which isn\'t imbued with any way of magic is very rare, indeed. Unfortunetly, many rods seem to take on a life of it\'s own after such a long time of use and will only be used by a character which it \"likes\" (IE: Sufficient skill in the rod\'s Way of magic) Otherwise, it will not allow itself to be touched by such un-skilled hands and roll away from the pursuant. Possibly a ancient joke played by a master on his apprentice.
Now, if you\'re still reading this i\'m about 60% the way through. Continue on if you have the time. All these magical devices can be used in various ways in various methods - however they all emit their magic in a possibly highly visible way. A very powerful wand imbued in the Blue way will glow blue, for example. Anyways, back to how each is used:
Wands and staves are used in a simple way - you weild them, aim them, and then trigger them to fire. Some wands just require you to point them at a enemy or think of the enemy dying (you press the mouse button to make them die.
) and they go off automatically. Some, however, require a magical word to be activated. If you can identify what sort of wand it is, you can often identify the magic word with it, if there is one. A wand in the Red Way may have a magic word of \"Boom\" and cast fireballs, for example. Every time you use the wand, it\'s \"battery\" runs out just alittle bit more.
Crystals and jems can be thrown and broken to unleash their energy, or placed into objects to imbue them with the jem\'s powers for a short time, or simply weidled and used similar to wands.
Items like swords - and even rings - would be a enhancement to the spell cast, with the spell taking on some of the abilities of whatever that item weilded and worn had. A ring of ice would bring a chill to a windy spell, for example.
With that, i am nearing the end of the post. Just alittle bit more...
All of these can be combined and altered in some way. Lets use the following example:
Red decides to enchant some medium sized uncharged Rubies in his way (Red.) and drops them onto the ground in a rough octagon. The rubies glow and sparkle in a ominous deep, bloody red and he chants \"linking\" spell; a spell which is cast at a magical object (often of the same magical way) or object associated with a magical way, and then to another, drawing a line between them. it doesn\'t matter what the spell is, so long as it\'s a spell similar to the item\'s magical way...
1 to 8, all the crystals are \"connected\" with a red line glowing inbetween them drawing a octagon. Then, the player throws in a catalyst (a object to speed reactions) and because a sword is associated with strength and strength being associated with the Red Way, it is perfect for the spell. So, he throws in a short sword into the circle. Vertical lines then shoot from each of the crystals, but their glow is fading, and footsteps approach. Then, the final spell is cast - the aura spell. A spell with a area-effect, like fireball, sets the range and power of the aura. The Catalyst merely multiplies the strength of the aura spell. And because the catalyst was a good association with the Red way, the strength will be immense.
The footsteps are getting closer and several armored fighters apear from behind various trees. But they are too late; Red has completed his spell, and the ground is soaked in blood red. This is the aura spreading. Then red casts one of the weaker of his spells, but they become highly multiplied in power in the aura. Bolts of flame tear through and melt the footmen alive, leaving only charred, molten metal behind. Flames strike at random, and incinerate small rodents and insects. However, the crystal\'s charge is strained to critical levels and one-by-one they shatter. With each crystal destroyed, the range of the aura shrinks considerably, until nothing is left but a smoldering pile of shards.
Red smiles, gathers them into a pile, and firebolts them. They glow red once more, are scooped into a sack, and placed at his belt. But he takes one, flicks it at a tree, and it burns into the bark \"ReD wUz HeRe\".
A good story, and exactly how it would go down, too. Multiple mages of similar ways can cast mutliple aura spells within the same area but the strain on the magical devices
is substantial - put too much fuel onto a fire and it\'ll be snuffed out before it has a chance to ignite the log, you know.
As well, when conflicting auras encounter one another, various effects occur from smoke, fog, and pillars of light/darkness, to a simple rain storm or jagged spikes erupting from the surface. And not just jems and crystals can be used for such rituals - Wands, staves, and even un-enchanted equipment (IE: a gold ring) can be used to create such things. As well, each item used as a catalyst would require more magical energy to maintain, but impart some of it\'s effects on the aura.
For example, lets say Red tossed in a resist cold short sword of fire - he and anyone (friend or foe) in the aura would have a slight resistance to cold; but some things like a addon to a player\'s stats would be only for that player or party/allies; this means that the enemies in the aura would not get a bonus to fire attacks while Red would. There are also some spells to disrupt and possibly even draw upon the power of the crystals of the aura, shutting it down faster. However, rods have no end to their power, so the only forseeable ballance to using a rod would be that the mages would be required to regulate such a item by standing in or near the aura\'s center and continually re-aligning the energies with linking spells. As soon as the energy becomes unballanced the entire thing must be restarted.
So... Post now, if you\'ve read [even a slight portion] of this.
[been informed that Glyphs will be used, but this IS partially inter-changable WITH glyphs. Crystals/wands/weapons/whatever would have glyphs engraved into them, and then used in this, or glyphs alone could be used on the ground.
]
