[Gameplay] Be the Magic Master

What do you mean I can't learn them all? Am I stupid?

from Elemental Forums

I was thinking about some of my more favorite "Arch Type" of Wizards and Warlocks and you name it..etc etc. The kind that want to be "ALL POWERFUL" and know Everything There Is To Know. You know, the type that's usually the bad guy that it's all..

"I Shall Acquire ALL the Magical Power in the Universe!! MWhahahahah!!"...

Then I started thinking about Sov Customization and how much it would cost to buy All the Spell Books so you "could" learn Every Spell in the game. That eats up a whole lot of points and doesn't leave a lot for other things. Granted it's easy enough to change the point cap or mod in some more or "cheat" later on down the road. Instead of that though I'm thinking of a game mechanic that might eliminate that need and be "Fun" at the same time.

Say you go through Sov creation per-normal, play the game per-normal...but instead, when you capture a shard belonging to a magic type you don't need, instead of ignoring it or capturing it and not being able to use it, how about you be able to learn some of those spells you didn't buy spell books for? Not at Normal Cost, however. This wouldn't be fair. Why bother buying any spell books at all if I can do that? Oh No, learning a spell that is Outside of your Spell Books base of Knowledge should be Expensive!!! Also you should probably have to research additional magical research to be able to do this (late-mid/early-end game).

It should cost at least 3 or 4 times as much as it would normally cost to research the spell even if you had the book and the shard to research it. It wouldn't be cheap to do and in some games it might not even be a viable option because the game wouldn't last long enough, but it would be "Possible" for a Sovereign to Learn Every Spell In The Game. This way people can be that "Ultimate" Good or Evil guy that gets the Super Powerful Knowledge before he either saves or destroys the world.

This would make for a very climactic ending to those Epic games or Epically Long games. It provides a reason for a player to want to control Every shard on the map, even if they don't have the spell books to use those spells right away. It gives players a reason to reach the ultimate goal of any Serious Wizard or Sorcerer...to gain Ultimate Knowledge and Learn All there is to Learn.

Thoughts?

1,719 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

It's not THAT hard to get an excellent wizardry-type sovereign, at the moment at least. (All into intelligence and willpower, maybe take two points out of dexterity to put into charisma. You can get the +2 spell power every second bonus as well as all the spellbooks.)

You don't even have to particularly cripple yourself to do it. Maybe a tiny bit overpowered, in fact. (Since, if your sovereign's leading people into battle, it costs a LOT more points. To get a "perfect" warrior-type sovereign, you need to crush any spell using ability.)

I suspect the whole spells thing will have changed by the end of beta, at least in terms of acquisition, but we'll see.

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Autarkhos, reply 1
I suspect the whole spells thing will have changed by the end of beta, at least in terms of acquisition, but we'll see.
End of Autarkhos's quote

I'm pretty sure it will too, which is why I brought this up. I'm thinking when it comes time to refine Sov Creation we'll see the cost of Books go up some, if not go up a Good Bit. Plus finding those Rare spells that won't be on every map. But also notice if you make a Sov totally geared toward being the "Ultimate Master of Magic" then he tends to be gimped for combat, seriously gimped, like "killed by a small spider" gimped. Until you can get shards and research and cast spells often, testing out a more magically based Sov build will be kinda hard to speculate on, which is why I thought it would be important to bring this up now.

Also it brings up a good reason to capture that "Earth Shard" even though you don't have the "Earth" spell book. It adds more strategic value to holding and defending them....All of them, though some more then others obviously if you have learned the books and can research the spells for a "normal" price. I was also thinking adjusting it to be more like 10 times the original cost if you don't have the spell book learned. Something drastic and expensive that would "almost" make it not worth it unless the player was already close to dominating or in the process of dominating the map.

Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

I like the OP... how about having control of a shard and an essence cost? you have to pay for the new skill in essence... maybe even build a special building over the shard that can be captured and make you lose that magic skill? I'm assuming eventually it won't be possible to take all the research books and be viable... master of magic was fun for that reason (no archmages of everything without cheating, pick one skill to master or a few cantrips from several), but also limiting because there was little bending of the rules... (high level random loot of retorts being the only late game option)

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Dr, reply 3
I like the OP... how about having control of a shard and an essence cost? you have to pay for the new skill in essence... maybe even build a special building over the shard that can be captured and make you lose that magic skill? I'm assuming eventually it won't be possible to take all the research books and be viable... master of magic was fun for that reason (no archmages of everything without cheating, pick one skill to master or a few cantrips from several), but also limiting because there was little bending of the rules... (high level random loot of retorts being the only late game option)
End of Dr's quote

Those are all good ideas that could work here. I'm not really concerned with the "finer details" of how it's done, just that I think it should be "possible" to do. Everyone who's had the "Wizard" or "Gandolf" Fantasy has wanted to be "All Powerful" at one point or another.

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

You could simply categorize spells into cantrips: (fluff) flowers, meadow spells; Apprentice: (minor) firebolt, summon minor fire elemental; Journeyman: (moderate) Fireball, summon fire elemental; Adept and then Master.

 

Every sovereign could then be able to cast early spell but if he has the spell books the cost to learn is half the spell points and the power of the spell is fifty percent greater. That way it is still important that you have the books but the higher end spells are prohibitively expensive to learn and not nearly as powerful as the ones he would specialize in.