Post by Admin on Nov 26, 2012 9:11:58 GMT -5
0173 and I have been discussing something in our time for a bit now, and have decided to officially state a heretofore unclarified option for Magical Specializations.
In many magical sources, there are characters who start out with a Spoken form of magic, and then later gain the ability to cast the same spells without speaking. While we were debating the fairness of this, we've come to the conclusion that as long as the person
A: takes into account the weaknesses of Mental magic, such as it requiring more energy, being more ephemeral, and not being as strong as Spoken magic
and B: doesn't use it for casting some kind of confusing, massive spell, rather then speaking it aloud.
As a story element, we are rationalizing the latter as it being due to the nature of the brain. After all, controlling one's thoughts is hard enough. In a real combat situation, trying to think a paragraph of text straight would be frequently interrupted by "HOLY SHIT BOMB," "BLADE," "CRAP THAT HURT" and similar mental exclamations.
As a game mechanic, this is because spoken magic - a very broad, versatile form of magic - could be subject to high abuse if one was to try to create highly complex spells and not give some kind of warning to the other player. A visual display, like streaking magic bolts in the vein of Harry Potter, would be considerate.
To this end, if you fancy this kind of option for your Spoken magic character, then they can take a tier of Mental (Whatever-Their-Language-Is).
That's the important part. The Spoken form comes first, then the Mental form. As such, characters must obviously be at least Tier 2 for this.
Greenwich-trained wizards are probably well known for this option, but not everyone goes this route of course. A person would not be looked down upon because they weren't a "nonverbal" wizard.
If anyone would like to retcon their character to use this option, it's early enough in game to make that change with little to no strain. Please PM the admin account so we know.
In many magical sources, there are characters who start out with a Spoken form of magic, and then later gain the ability to cast the same spells without speaking. While we were debating the fairness of this, we've come to the conclusion that as long as the person
A: takes into account the weaknesses of Mental magic, such as it requiring more energy, being more ephemeral, and not being as strong as Spoken magic
and B: doesn't use it for casting some kind of confusing, massive spell, rather then speaking it aloud.
As a story element, we are rationalizing the latter as it being due to the nature of the brain. After all, controlling one's thoughts is hard enough. In a real combat situation, trying to think a paragraph of text straight would be frequently interrupted by "HOLY SHIT BOMB," "BLADE," "CRAP THAT HURT" and similar mental exclamations.
As a game mechanic, this is because spoken magic - a very broad, versatile form of magic - could be subject to high abuse if one was to try to create highly complex spells and not give some kind of warning to the other player. A visual display, like streaking magic bolts in the vein of Harry Potter, would be considerate.
To this end, if you fancy this kind of option for your Spoken magic character, then they can take a tier of Mental (Whatever-Their-Language-Is).
That's the important part. The Spoken form comes first, then the Mental form. As such, characters must obviously be at least Tier 2 for this.
Greenwich-trained wizards are probably well known for this option, but not everyone goes this route of course. A person would not be looked down upon because they weren't a "nonverbal" wizard.
If anyone would like to retcon their character to use this option, it's early enough in game to make that change with little to no strain. Please PM the admin account so we know.