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Arjan
08-17-2003, 12:52 PM
I have been tossing with an idea for an online game.

A sort of fully automated pbem.

The idea is not to start in 551 MR as usual, but to start the game in 0
MA ( -1488 MR) The Flight from the Shadow.

You start with a character from one of the human tribes (including
masetian) in one of the first settlements of that race.

Then you are able to explore the continent to finally find a good spot
to start your own settlement.

Ofcourse other people can join your newly created settlement and help
you start building a realm.

In other words, you need assets for your cities, farmers, woodcutters
etc. if you don`t have enough food people will die etc, so you can setup
markets trade with other settlements etc.

So it`s a character based economic strategic massive multiplayer online
roleplaying game.

But what would a good online roleplaying game be without magic.


The elves did have leylines and sources they could tap into.

Back then azrai selected the most powerful mages and gave them the
abilty to do so aswell.

So I got a couple of questions to brainstorm about.

- what kind of realm spells would the elves have back then?

- Would it be possible for some unique humans to learn the
elven ways of casting realm magic.

- What would be a reasonable/believable way for humans to learn
realm casting without a bloodline (since bloodlines don`t exist yet)

Arjan

geeman
08-17-2003, 03:52 PM
3 +0200, Arjan wrote:





>So I got a couple of questions to brainstorm about.

>

>- what kind of realm spells would the elves have back then?



Well, not of the priestly ones, of course. Alchemy doesn`t seem a

particularly elf-like realm spell. Demagogue doesn`t seem like the kind of

thing they`d need, but it does suit their enchantment/charm emphasis, so

I`d give them that one. Death Plague might be a bit proactive for them, as

might Legion of Dead and Mass Destruction. Dispel Realm Magic is basic

spellcasting, so that`d probably be in the repertoire, as would Scry,

Subversion, and Warding. The others are kind of iffy, but I`d be inclined

to give them to the elves just to make the list of their spells a bit beefier.



>- Would it be possible for some unique humans to learn the

>elven ways of casting realm magic.



Yes, particularly since this is relatively early in the elven

disillusionment with mankind. What with their lack of a bloodline,

however, they`d be pretty much limited to Scry.



>- What would be a reasonable/believable way for humans to learn

>realm casting without a bloodline (since bloodlines don`t exist yet)



There`s been some speculation in the past that the effect of a bloodline

isn`t really access to the domain level, but the speed with which one

interacts at it. That is, a more "realistic" domain round would be in many

cases a season rather than a month. Allowing access to realm magic at the

seasonal level for unblooded characters might be a way to go.



Another is to have covens or other communal efforts by several

spellcasters, allowing such groups to cast realm spells as if one member

was blooded.



A third option would be to allow for realm magic, but at a higher

cost. x3, x4 or x5 the GB cost presented in the RB. Optionally, costs

could be the same, but the effectiveness of the spells decreased.



Gary

Landsturning
08-17-2003, 11:32 PM
Another limitation is to say that realm magic is something to powerful for humans to cast without divine aid, but with workarounds if you really want pre-Deismaar realm spells, or realm spells castable by unblooded in other continents.

Suppose the realm spells energies do d6 hit points per rp to cast, -1 per bloodline strength? Or -d6 per extra rp one can spend to buffer the effects of the energy on the human frame. Unblooded don't have rp as an option (but could have a bunch of clerics on standby to help survive this) and blooded spells would standardly now include rp enough so one doesn't kill oneself.

Next question: Do temples or gods directly cast divine realm spells?

Ariadne
08-18-2003, 12:50 PM
Originally posted by Arjan@Aug 17 2003, 01:52 PM
You start with a character from one of the human tribes (including
masetian) in one of the first settlements of that race.

Then you are able to explore the continent to finally find a good spot
to start your own settlement.

Ofcourse other people can join your newly created settlement and help
you start building a realm.

In other words, you need assets for your cities, farmers, woodcutters
etc. if you don`t have enough food people will die etc, so you can setup
markets trade with other settlements etc.
Cool, sounds a bit like a BR version of "Age of Mythology"...



- what kind of realm spells would the elves have back then?
I would give them nature oriented ones... There can be spells, that are forgotten until now (something like bane of humans are something)



- Would it be possible for some unique humans to learn the
elven ways of casting realm magic.
Why not, maybe a disguised human or a true elven friend could learn it...



- What would be a reasonable/believable way for humans to learn
realm casting without a bloodline (since bloodlines don`t exist yet)
Well, divine relam spells would not be the problem. Maybe only "exeptional" humans could learn arcane realm spells. Something like a "chosen of Vorynn", who was granted a divine gift and something similar a bloodline...

Arjan
08-18-2003, 06:02 PM
Originally posted by Ariadne@Aug 18 2003, 01:50 PM
Well, divine relam spells would not be the problem. Maybe only "exeptional" humans could learn arcane realm spells. Something like a "chosen of Vorynn", who was granted a divine gift and something similar a bloodline...
What about earning Favor? For example.
A lvl 0 temple holding -> 1 favor/turn
lvl 1-2 temple holding -> 2 favor/turn
etc etc...

Once a tribe earned enough favor from the god they worship the cab cast a devine realm spell. Some spells are more expensive then others.

to cast a Bless Land 5 favor for example

any coments?

Arjan

Mark_Aurel
08-18-2003, 06:15 PM
What about earning Favor? For example.
A lvl 0 temple holding -> 1 favor/turn
lvl 1-2 temple holding -> 2 favor/turn
etc etc...

Once a tribe earned enough favor from the god they worship the cab cast a devine realm spell. Some spells are more expensive then others.

to cast a Bless Land 5 favor for example

any coments?

Favor is determined by a fairly complex formula. I don't have it right here, but basically, it provides a high rate for the first praying peon, then a levelling off effect, with each additional praying peon producing less, before the curve flats out and each additional peon provides a roughly flat award. The rates are as follows:

1 vill - 0.108
2 vills - 0.100
3 vills - 0.060
4 vills - 0.050
5 vills+ - 0.042

As I recall, there's a bug in the game, however, meaning that praying with 4 vills gives you LESS total favor than praying with 3.

At 15 favor, praying with 3 vills, it takes 250 seconds to gather enough for a centaur; with a wood cost of 200, at a base gathering rate of 1.08 wood, that's an additional 185, for a total cost of 435 VS for a single centaur, as compared to 112 for a hoplite - you can afford about 4 hoplites per 1 centaur.

Just some utterly useless info, though it might be interesting if you play Age of Mythology.

Anyway, the idea you're proposing sounds good and interesting in principle. One of the things that could add some serious economic depth to a Birthright campaign, for those that desire that, would be to introduce multiple resource types, instead of the catch-all "GB." Might be something to consider a bit for a variant. Consider it stolen.

Osprey
08-18-2003, 08:59 PM
Would it be possible for some unique humans to learn the
elven ways of casting realm magic.

- What would be a reasonable/believable way for humans to learn
realm casting without a bloodline (since bloodlines don`t exist yet)

Try using the variant level-based rules for determining RP collection. That way unblooded individuals can still gain regency and cast realm magic. An easy explanation could be that mebhaigal is more easily accessible in those earlier times, before nature was plowed under by human colonists. Perhaps Deismar made arcane power a limited resource. An idea, anyways.
Osprey