Hogwarts Sect of Witchcraft and Wizardry
- Thread starter Karf
- Start date
- Fantasy
Quidditch idea that builds on the already solid Status Quo plan:
Our seeker and one of our beaters play to harass Harry so he doesn't catch the snitch (Priority #1), while the other beater plays to harass Wood (Weakness #1) and thus score more points with Jeremy+Randy (Priority #2) because they're comparatively better than Bell+Spinnett in their match-up against us/Rei (Priority #3), while our remaining chaser, Roger Davis (Ace #1), either outplays or neutralizes theirs, Angelina Johnson (Threat #1). This forces the Weasley twins to split (Weakness #2) in order to help out, if they don't want to leave either disadvantageous situation alone.
Add to that:
-create a simple system of callouts and signals that includes codes and deception, especially but not limited to snitch-related matters.
-reprise our role as added chaser/quarterback of sorts.
-expand upon our Transfiguration-based tricks (asking the team if our new ideas would be allowed, first - Edit: I didn't specify any ideas, jusk like for the system of callouts/signals, so that you're free to do whatever you want, @Karf , but if you'd rather we came up with them, let us know).
-tell the team about Harry's techniques (no need to tell them how we know).
[X][Quidditch] Outplay and Outsmart
What do you guys think?
Our seeker and one of our beaters play to harass Harry so he doesn't catch the snitch (Priority #1), while the other beater plays to harass Wood (Weakness #1) and thus score more points with Jeremy+Randy (Priority #2) because they're comparatively better than Bell+Spinnett in their match-up against us/Rei (Priority #3), while our remaining chaser, Roger Davis (Ace #1), either outplays or neutralizes theirs, Angelina Johnson (Threat #1). This forces the Weasley twins to split (Weakness #2) in order to help out, if they don't want to leave either disadvantageous situation alone.
Add to that:
-create a simple system of callouts and signals that includes codes and deception, especially but not limited to snitch-related matters.
-reprise our role as added chaser/quarterback of sorts.
-expand upon our Transfiguration-based tricks (asking the team if our new ideas would be allowed, first - Edit: I didn't specify any ideas, jusk like for the system of callouts/signals, so that you're free to do whatever you want, @Karf , but if you'd rather we came up with them, let us know).
-tell the team about Harry's techniques (no need to tell them how we know).
[X][Quidditch] Outplay and Outsmart
What do you guys think?
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- Location
- The US
Seems fine. I do think that just having a plan is probably more important than the exact details of the plan, so I'm willing to vote for almost any quidditch write-in. We are in a very similar position to where the Canon Gryffindor Quidditch team was at the end of Prisoner of Azkaban, so maybe we can lift some tactics from that match.
Also, remember to edit the rest of your votes into your latest post because right now the tally has you only voting for quidditch
I'm still fairly confused about what having aspected dice actually does. Can you clarify further, or are you saving that for us to find out later?
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Thanks! I think I'll just make a new post that includes the Quidditch vote. Might as well do it now.
[X][Quidditch] Outplay and Outsmart
[X][Lightbringer] Chroma-caller technique
-The best option as an artist.
-Useful for so much more than the other options, which have a narrow focus.
[X][Charm] The little towel that could
-The best option mechanically.
-Useful in daily life and can be used creatively, as well (can double as an eraser for our artistic endeavors, just as an example).
-Earth aspected, which synergizes with our double-Fire aspected Light Bringer technique.
[X][Transfiguration]
--[X] Whip Shear Technique
-The most meridians, which means the most improvable one.
-Useful in a lot of different situations, including daily life, combat (canon) and Herbology (mentioned by Elder Sprout).
-Metal aspected, so more synergy because of the generating cycle going Fire->Earth->Metal.
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CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Here's where we're at so far.
Added a link to the Quidditch plan post in the actual option for convenience's sake.
Added a link to the Quidditch plan post in the actual option for convenience's sake.
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- Location
- The North
- Pronouns
- She/Her/It/Its
[X][Lightbringer] Chiaroscuro technique
AzureShogun
Tanks are better than Mechs
- Location
- United Kingdom
[X][Lightbringer] Chroma-caller technique
You'll tread the middle path - between white and black is a myriad of beauty, and it'd be a shame to leave the twin halves separate. If you can emit every color, or none, then it stands to reason that you can also pick and choose which wavelengths get absorbed and which can reach your eyes. A transfiguration of color is the natural endpoint of the humble law of light.
This feels good to me. I can see it leading to us listening to Radio naturally, microwaving food with a wave of our hand, and giving Voldemort cancer by shooting him full of gamma rays whenever we see him
You'll tread the middle path - between white and black is a myriad of beauty, and it'd be a shame to leave the twin halves separate. If you can emit every color, or none, then it stands to reason that you can also pick and choose which wavelengths get absorbed and which can reach your eyes. A transfiguration of color is the natural endpoint of the humble law of light.
This feels good to me. I can see it leading to us listening to Radio naturally, microwaving food with a wave of our hand, and giving Voldemort cancer by shooting him full of gamma rays whenever we see him
- Location
- Ostren
[X][Lightbringer] Chroma-caller technique
[X][Charm] The page-turner
[X][Transfiguration]
--[X] Whip Shear Technique
[X][Quidditch] Outplay and Outsmart
[X][Charm] The page-turner
[X][Transfiguration]
--[X] Whip Shear Technique
[X][Quidditch] Outplay and Outsmart
While I think that at some point we will have access to mechanics meant to influence the aspect of at least some of our dice, I now see, after rereading what the QM posted about it, that whether a die is Fire, Earth, Metal, Water or Wood is determined by a random roll.
With that in mind, it seems to me like it would be best to have all the elements covered, rather than specialize like I previously suggested.
@Karf , can you tell us how Charms' advancement works? Is it like techniques (you invest more milestones in them to expand their effects, up to their meridian limit), like potions (you get what you get and future milestones give something new, with improvements coming from Herbology at some point) or in a totally different way?
Also, could you confirm whether crafting charms counts/will count as crafting for the purpose of rerolling 1s thanks to our Bag of Holding?
With that in mind, it seems to me like it would be best to have all the elements covered, rather than specialize like I previously suggested.
Beside runes (a subject we will get to study from third year and on), this is the only option that mentions more elements than just the one its mechanics affect (earth, in this case).
@Karf , can you tell us how Charms' advancement works? Is it like techniques (you invest more milestones in them to expand their effects, up to their meridian limit), like potions (you get what you get and future milestones give something new, with improvements coming from Herbology at some point) or in a totally different way?
Also, could you confirm whether crafting charms counts/will count as crafting for the purpose of rerolling 1s thanks to our Bag of Holding?
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FriedIce
The Authentic Fake
- Location
- Hyperreality
As always @Karf, a great update. I continue to love how you make the results of each training action truly interesting. There's none of the normal 'I sat on a rock and meditated for a month' that you find so often in Xianxia.
I'm probably too late to influence the vote but I want to take a look at the techniques we have available and discus them. Before I go in though, I will say that I don't think we should get too caught up in elemental cycles and the like - we're still very early in our education and people routinely specialise in Xianxia. Having a unifying theme is often more essential than elemental compatibility.
- The disillusionment charm from canon
- Pretty useful both in combat and just generally going forwards
- Might give us an edge in Quidditch as it'll be harder for Charlie's Angels (love that name btw) to figure out which hoop we're defending
- More of a passive combat bonus
- Naruto clone technique but more spooky
- Basically only has combat uses but will be very useful there
- Will be very helpful in Quidditch as we can basically have a silhouette defending each hoop, or play other visual tricks
- Not that helpful in either combat or general life, but potentially very helpful in art
- Pick this if you want to pick up more Light techniques in the future.
What artefacts might benefit from however (I say, shamelessly ripping from ACS) is being of a Qi type that is fed by your cultivation. So I'm this case, since we're currently pure play Fire we should pick Earth. But again, I don't think it's super important at this point so I'd just pick the one which you like the bonus/description of.
Now, onto the Laws I think are worth considering for our next Transfiguration technique
- Tickling Hex from canon (I think? Might be from fanon)
- More Fire Qi so no synergies or anti-synergies
- 4 meridians so pretty solid development potential
- From the description it sounds like this is all about interacting with other people's Qi systems
- Would let us test the Hogwarts School motto
- Water suppresses Fire so anti-synergy with current Laws.
- Only three meridians, and likely to be mono-element
- Low meridian count is actually potentially pretty useful as it means we'll be able to master it and get a second technique next year (trading some depth for a bit of breadth)
- Actually pretty useful more generally though - being able to generate water on command is an underrated superpower
- Sounds kinda like it might be a foundational Water Law that gates other Water stuff
- Metal Qi is suppressed by Fire so anti-synergy but has enough meridians I wouldn't be surprised to find other elements there
- Meridians for days. We could potentially turn this into something monstrous.
- If we want to master this Law we won't be picking up any new transfiguration Laws next year.
- Decent general use case (e.g. Herbology) and amazing combat potential.
- Busting out high level cutting techniques is a bit straight to lethal for something like a friendly duel, but given where Harry Potter canon goes and what Xianxia is like it's probably better to have lethal options than not
- Wood Qi which feeds Fire giving synergy and given the emphasis on weight is likely to also have Earth Qi which is fed by Fire also giving synergy
- 4 meridians means decent development potential
- Good general use case and limited combat potential (*cough*Ron and the troll*cough*)
- Might potentially allow us to do funky stuff with weight and gravity eventually
Personally out of the Laws of offer I'd pick either White Feather's Flight, or Separating Void Paradigm
I'm probably too late to influence the vote but I want to take a look at the techniques we have available and discus them. Before I go in though, I will say that I don't think we should get too caught up in elemental cycles and the like - we're still very early in our education and people routinely specialise in Xianxia. Having a unifying theme is often more essential than elemental compatibility.
- Capstone of the tree is an advanced technique
- The disillusionment charm from canon
- Pretty useful both in combat and just generally going forwards
- Might give us an edge in Quidditch as it'll be harder for Charlie's Angels (love that name btw) to figure out which hoop we're defending
- More of a passive combat bonus
- Capstone of the tree is an advanced technique
- Naruto clone technique but more spooky
- Basically only has combat uses but will be very useful there
- Will be very helpful in Quidditch as we can basically have a silhouette defending each hoop, or play other visual tricks
- Capstone of the tree is unifying theory
- Not that helpful in either combat or general life, but potentially very helpful in art
- Pick this if you want to pick up more Light techniques in the future.
I think people are massively overstating the importance of the Charm decision and the degree to which it synergises with out technique picks. The Feng Shui elemental cycle (which the Qi cycle is clearly based off) in Xianxia can't normally have a gap in the harmonious cycle slotted in by an artefact or talisman (which Charms seems to be focussed on producing). It's about active Qi use or ambient Qi.
What artefacts might benefit from however (I say, shamelessly ripping from ACS) is being of a Qi type that is fed by your cultivation. So I'm this case, since we're currently pure play Fire we should pick Earth. But again, I don't think it's super important at this point so I'd just pick the one which you like the bonus/description of.
Now, onto the Laws I think are worth considering for our next Transfiguration technique
- Adroit Crimson Exciter sounds like a cultivator XXX rated movie
- Tickling Hex from canon (I think? Might be from fanon)
- More Fire Qi so no synergies or anti-synergies
- 4 meridians so pretty solid development potential
- From the description it sounds like this is all about interacting with other people's Qi systems
- Would let us test the Hogwarts School motto
- The water generation charm from canon
- Water suppresses Fire so anti-synergy with current Laws.
- Only three meridians, and likely to be mono-element
- Low meridian count is actually potentially pretty useful as it means we'll be able to master it and get a second technique next year (trading some depth for a bit of breadth)
- Actually pretty useful more generally though - being able to generate water on command is an underrated superpower
- Sounds kinda like it might be a foundational Water Law that gates other Water stuff
- Cutting Charm from canon
- Metal Qi is suppressed by Fire so anti-synergy but has enough meridians I wouldn't be surprised to find other elements there
- Meridians for days. We could potentially turn this into something monstrous.
- If we want to master this Law we won't be picking up any new transfiguration Laws next year.
- Decent general use case (e.g. Herbology) and amazing combat potential.
- Busting out high level cutting techniques is a bit straight to lethal for something like a friendly duel, but given where Harry Potter canon goes and what Xianxia is like it's probably better to have lethal options than not
- Levitation Charm from canon
- Wood Qi which feeds Fire giving synergy and given the emphasis on weight is likely to also have Earth Qi which is fed by Fire also giving synergy
- 4 meridians means decent development potential
- Good general use case and limited combat potential (*cough*Ron and the troll*cough*)
- Might potentially allow us to do funky stuff with weight and gravity eventually
Personally out of the Laws of offer I'd pick either White Feather's Flight, or Separating Void Paradigm
The quidditch cup is getting handed out next update. Barring some unforeseen circumstances, that's also the time for the general plan for June, which is the place for you guys to spend or keep your points. So technically, if you're behind by more than 14 (7 subjects, 2 overall, 3 90+ socials, 2 unspent points), you can't win (not counting the points you may or may not get in May). A more reasonable approach takes into account that getting 14 points in a turn for Ravenclaw is pretty much impossible odds, so you might want to pick your own threshold at which you go for it or declare it a lost cause. The actual standings will be included at the end of the chapter, same as last time. The Hufflepuff students probably know they're not winning, but I think everyone else is still a viable opponent.
This is a given regardless. Rei will try to make full use of her arsenal. If you have ideas about how exactly she should to that (i.e. what I should include), then make mention of it to improve your odds further. For example I think that for the moment, I've milked the basic Lumos pretty dry, but maybe someone else has a black swan approach that never occurred to me. Bringing something like that to my attention would be fun for everyone involved, I hope.
Mechanically it's another lever for me to play with. There are pros and cons to specializing and banking on stacking a single element versus covering your bases and building all of them up over time.
You'll note that so far, transfiguration choices have been purely narrative, with me only hinting at future mechanical benefits. Technically the same is true for charms, but you're close enough to year 2 material that I didn't see a point in obfuscating it any more. That's the core purpose of having aspected dice.
It's also an implicit part of the premise of this story - "Harry Potter is a xian-xia setting" - so having elements play a role is something I wanted from the get-go.
If your question was more about how they present themselves in-universe, then to that, the answer is indeed that I'm saving that for later.
This is the crux of the issue I'm currently struggling with. I want each skill to have a niche, both in application and in advancement. For potions, that's alkahest and combat. For transfig, it's meridians and bonuses to progress. For herbology (since I've given enough away about it already), it's other skills' results, which is broad enough to stand on its own, or potentially a profit motive (it's been mentioned a few times that herbology can be lucrative). For charms it's manipulating the pool dice and... I don't really know yet.
As I've written it so far, a charm is a one-and-done object, but at the same time I want to have a way to incorporate bigger projects for Rei to tackle. The current fore-runner is a sort of banking system, where you can choose to add more to a charm, with progressively more impressive benefits at the cost of not having access to it until it's finished. Pulling that off, however, is proving quite tricky to me.
So for the moment, it's somewhere inbetween transfig and potions, which I realize isn't in any way a satisfying answer, sorry.
The process for that went something like this:
*Read comment* Oh yeah, totally should affect crafting.
*Take a moment to consider the process and justification for it in story* But wait, first bit of charms is theory.
*Proceed to be completely confident and equally completely wrong that the 1 was in the first action, not the second one* Not gonna reroll it. Haha, I'm so clever.
The last bit was sarcasm.
Somewhat tangentially, but related to the above, in the depths of disorganized notes, the following sentence applied to potions at one point (it never has in the published story):
"Can fail? - Rolling too many critical failures in the pool may ruin the potion? - Better ingredients improve amount required for failure?"
And then I completely forgot about that line (probably for the best) and gave you a starting trinket that makes failing potions impossible anyways. Still, perhaps it's been eating away at my subconscious and making the bottomless bag feel more impactful than it is.
In the future, all rolls of 1 in a pool for herbology, potions and charms training actions are to be rerolled once. Sorry for any confusion.
- Location
- Earth
[X][Quidditch] Outplay and Outsmart
[X][Lightbringer] Chroma-caller technique
[X][Charm] The little towel that could
[X][Transfiguration]
--[X] Whip Shear Technique
[X][Lightbringer] Chroma-caller technique
[X][Charm] The little towel that could
[X][Transfiguration]
--[X] Whip Shear Technique
FriedIce
The Authentic Fake
- Location
- Hyperreality
On a side note, given this is Xianxia Harry Potter and we know the five elements cycle is included what's the odds that Yin/Yang Qi splits are a thing too?
Also, votes.
[X][Quidditch] Outplay and Outsmart
[X][Lightbringer] Chroma-caller technique
[X][Charm] The little towel that could
[X][Transfiguration]
--[X] Whip Shear Technique
You could always lean into the Artefact comparison and have the progression element be building a panoply. Give us, say, 5 Charm Slots and let us swap them in and out based on what bonuses we want in a given turn. That way the progression is building up our collection of tools and giving us more options. To limit the spam of low tier Charms you could also maybe include an option to 'reforge' Charms created at a lower skill threshold, to keep them viable later on if we like the bonus theme?
Also, votes.
[X][Quidditch] Outplay and Outsmart
[X][Lightbringer] Chroma-caller technique
[X][Charm] The little towel that could
[X][Transfiguration]
--[X] Whip Shear Technique
- Location
- Wörms, the half continent
I'd be a bit worried, if we were inclined to aspect ourselves one way or the other at this point. As you said, wuxing is all five elements in harmony, and the human body needs all five in balance.
Anyway, Seperating Void seems like it might have the most esoteric applications, and it's huge. We might actually need to go searching for meridians to anchor it too (which is something McGonagall implied can happen with higher level techniques). I'm also not too worried about lethality - everyone at hogwarts is a body practitioner, so we're going to need a fair bit of impact once we start getting higher anyway.
Picking the towel just for the Thomas reference, choo choo!
[X][Quidditch] Outplay and Outsmart
[X][Lightbringer] Chroma-caller technique
[X][Charm] The little towel that could
[X][Transfiguration]
--[X] Whip Shear Technique
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[x][Lightbringer] Chroma-caller technique
[x][Charm] The self-filling bottle
[x][Transfiguration] Wing Floating Technique
[x][Charm] The self-filling bottle
[x][Transfiguration] Wing Floating Technique
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I can see many applications for changing and hiding color even beyond art and aesthetic purposes: camouflage or even mimicry, sleight of hand and general deception tactics, blinding, night vision and weirder, more specific sight-based powers are some that come to mind, and I'm sure we could (should) brainstorm others.
Any new Lumos-based tricks for Quidditch, guys? So far, we've lit our weapon, ourselves, and the quaffle plus a fake light-quaffle to blind/confuse the opponents. Can anyone think of anything else? What about Nox tricks? Chroma-caller and Whip Shear ones (since they are the techniques posed to win their respective votes)?
We'll know more when the Dramatis Personae page is updated, but it sounds like one of the benefits of Apprentice and later stages of Transfiguration will revolve around meridians, which could mean that the ones we need to improve that technique will come naturally as we unlock the milestones.
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Honestly, the only thing I could think of doing would be to make the hoops them selves seem either Slimmer(the actual metal bit, to Hopefully get people to misjudge and hit it) or smaller(Decrease the area where people are throwing to)(Of course this only works with the colors upgrade). But I dont know how much that could actually do, It might throw the oponents off since there going fast and wont be paying super close attention, Or With how much they've practiced and its just an illusion them just throwing it and not being thrown off because of muscle memory.
Basically it could be useful but its just as likely as to be a waste of energy to do.
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CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
If we spot the snitch, we turn it sky-blue.
- Location
- United Kingdom
Nah, we don't want to make the Snitch more visible. We want to flash a signal when it's been spotted, then flash another signal in code that only our team can understand saying where we saw it.
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
I said sky-blue to try and make it blend in with the sky. When it's near Harry at least.
Once it's close to our seeker, we should be free to unhide it or something.
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