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The College of Jewels (Magical Academy Quest)

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TotallyNotEvil said:
Nah, unless you've been training solely to, say, kill a firebreathing dragon or something what would require an atrociously high Elemental Resistance, it's a fairly dumb move.
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Eh. It's not always a terrible choice. Just from what you can see now there's a fairly powerful combo where you take the elemental pledge for fire and then specialize hard for elemental planar portal at which point you laugh and laugh and laugh, because you're basically going to be standing in the center of the elemental plane of fire and it's going to take some serious power to beat that.

If you don't either a. need the power immediately, or b. have a build in mind for it, it's probably a bad idea though.
 
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I'm actually kind of interested in seeing what sort of builds are available for abuse with Pledge. Even the single combo we have with it right now sounds rad.
 
I don't doubt there are all kinds of shenanigans one can pull with 3x Control and Resistance, but, well, while one trick might be powerful for its simplicity, it still makes one predictable.

Versus a high tier Enchanter, I imagine such a build would have a hard time, if the Enchanter was able to prepare. Or a DS with good gear.
 
tricholysis said:
I'm actually kind of interested in seeing what sort of builds are available for abuse with Pledge. Even the single combo we have with it right now sounds rad.
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You haven't seen it because it's way out of your budget right now, but there's elemental summoning as an option. The archmage, who thinks people who pledge are total scrubs, can summon something like the Burning Earth which is fairly serious face as these things go. If you pledge yourself to an element you can call on much bigger stuff than you would be able to otherwise. Plus, you can double down on pledging to an element and give up the rest of your magic for even more raw power and elemental goodness. Of course, the TA might murder you if you do that, but you know. It's an option.
TotallyNotEvil said:
I don't doubt there are all kinds of shenanigans one can pull with 3x Control and Resistance, but, well, while one trick might be powerful for its simplicity, it still makes one predictable.

Versus a high tier Enchanter, I imagine such a build would have a hard time, if the Enchanter was able to prepare. Or a DS with good gear.
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Accurate to a degree, although if you've specialized that much for Elemental Planar Portal, you've probably picked up other DS stuff along the way just because it's super cost efficient and there's no reason not to.

At high levels it mostly comes down to making smart tactical decisions in fights though. The Archmage's 'why specialize when I can just buy everything?' approach, Viola's 'magic doesn't exist for you and I've got so much enchanted gear I could supply several armies' approach, and Sammy's crazy divine empowerment are all roughly equivalent in a white room.

Except the Chairman. The Chairman doesn't lose. (And Diana runs away because lolcowardice)
 
Just curious as I don't know if you mentioned this these portals to nowhere. What is exactly there?

Because if these portals head to airless planes of infinite volume that is actually pretty terrifying as they would act as massive vacuums wouldn't they?

Or is the portal to a set volume of void the size of a closet or something so there is an initial sucking motion before the gases equalize?
 
reborn214 said:
Just curious as I don't know if you mentioned this these portals to nowhere. What is exactly there?

Because if these portals head to airless planes of infinite volume that is actually pretty terrifying as they would act as massive vacuums wouldn't they?

Or is the portal to a set volume of void the size of a closet or something so there is an initial sucking motion before the gases equalize?
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Nowhere is nowhere. When a portal opens it is to nothing, and when something goes through there is precisely enough space to fit that something. Somewhere is like Nowhere, but you can find it again if you want to, and even change it so that it has a volume and things inside it.
 
Wander said:
Nowhere is nowhere. When a portal opens it is to nothing, and when something goes through there is precisely enough space to fit that something. Somewhere is like Nowhere, but you can find it again if you want to, and even change it so that it has a volume and things inside it.
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Can we,at some point,gain enough control that we can make our own mini utopia in there?
 
[X] Plan TNE

[X] Planar Control 1 (3)
[X] Planar Teleport 1 (5)

[X] Novice Elemental Control (1)
[X] Elemental Protection (1)

[X] Minor Disruption (1)

Reasoning:

We're going to want to invest into elemental protection eventually anyway, and protecting ourselves from novice stuff right will help us in several ways, and just gives a bit more safety.

Similarly, Minor Disruption will give us a vital edge in the tournament, and countermagic is unpopular so we're unlikely to need redundant soon.

Regarding the volunteer, talking to him is all kinds of bad idea, as he is a social outcast, and we'd become a target by association. Don't even think about him, he has become an untouchable in the high-stakes environment of the college.
 
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Demonic Spoon said:
Regarding the volunteer, talking to him is all kinds of bad idea, as he is a social outcast, and we'd become a target by association.
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Ruby can handle that one. No one sane would target her.

We can do it quiet-like, too, by throwing a couple of bullies out of College during the tournament, since the system is set up in place anyway.

Besides, labeling one a social outcast based on a single encounter? That's pretty hasty.
 
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Wander said:
Nowhere is nowhere. When a portal opens it is to nothing, and when something goes through there is precisely enough space to fit that something. Somewhere is like Nowhere, but you can find it again if you want to, and even change it so that it has a volume and things inside it.
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Functionally this would seem to be the same as an airless, infinite void. If there is no resistance then air will continue flowing in indefinitely.

Note: Consider what would happen if you opened it underwater, the water would flow through the empty opening and create a draining vortex, the same principle applies to air.
 
Nevill said:
Ruby can handle that one. No one sane would target her.
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We are not with her quite all the time. Making ourselves a target is not a good idea.

We can do it quiet-like, too, by throwing a couple of bullies out of College during the tournament, since the system is set up in place anyway.
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You say that like the nobles haven't already rigged the tournament.

Besides, labeling one a social outcast based on a single encounter? That's pretty hasty.
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He got picked out by the archmage. No one wants the attention of the archmage. He is a pariah.
 
Wander said:
Viola's 'magic doesn't exist for you and I've got so much enchanted gear I could supply several armies' approach
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Viola is the TA, righ?
Wander said:
Except the Chairman. The Chairman doesn't lose. (And Diana runs away because lolcowardice)
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Is he the chairman of what? The city council?
Demonic Spoon said:
Similarly, Minor Disruption will give us a vital edge in the tournament
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I disagree, it's a very minor annoyance that is only really useful if the opponent is casting already unstable Magic. I'd rather cast something of our own than waste an action in avoiding Novice elemental attacks we could probably counter with a portal or with our own elements.
Demonic Spoon said:
We're going to want to invest into elemental protection eventually anyway, and protecting ourselves from novice stuff right will help us in several ways, and just gives a bit more safety.
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Yes, but, if we save that point in Elements, we will have just enough actions to confortably fit Apprentice Elemental Control before the first round of fighting. That sounds much better than such a basic Ward.
 
[X] Plan TNE
I'm curious,this plan has no 'talk to Ruby' but we are already somewhat freinds so will we still interact with her (sitting with her in classes etc) or ignore her for some reason.
[X] Plan TNE MAGIC
 
TotallyNotEvil said:
Viola is the TA, righ?
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Not exactly...
Wander said:
An interesting idea. You'll have to talk to the TA about that as well when you ask her about countermagic. "Who's Viola?" You ask absently as you consider what exactly would happen to say, an elemental, if they were hit by countermagic strong enough to effect them.

"Diana's personal bodyguard-slash-secretary-slash-stand-in-slash-whatever Diana wants her to be on a given day. She's the one who suggested I should study countermagic so I can be her stand-in if she's busy doing something for Diana. She was teaching me personally a lot, but apparently she doesn't have the time anymore. I think there's some big shake up going on behind the scenes in the city council from what I've heard her and Diana talking about."
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TotallyNotEvil said:
I disagree, it's a very minor annoyance that is only really useful if the opponent is casting already unstable Magic.
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It does, however, destabilizes existing magic, ruining one's aim. That's universally useful.

Seeing how people participating in the tournament are fellow first-graders, and how easily Ruby can mess with them during class, I'd say you are underestimating it.
 
TotallyNotEvil said:
It would destabilize extremely low level magic, going by how the system is set up.
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Extremely low level magic is what most combatants would have. Not everyone is grinding like mad - hell, not everyone even has talent for magic, unlike us who passed on our own merits.

By the way, why are we even practicing now if you are not planning to do Arena tomorrow? If we are planning to practice tomorrow the day after tomorrow, what was the point of wasting a slot today? :confused:
 
Vote Tally : Original - The College of Jewels (Magical Academy Quest) | Page 7 | Sufficient Velocity
##### NetTally 1.7.4

[X] Plan TNE
-[X] Tutoring with the TA
--[X] Dimensional Science
-[X] Talk to Henry
-[X] Dimensional Science TA's Class
-[X] Tutoring with the TA
--[X] Dimensional Science
-[X] Class on the elements
-[X] Dimensional Science Practical Class (Mandatory)
-[X] The Library
--[X] Ask Sammy about something (Her coolest past battles)
No. of Votes: 6

[X] Plan TNE MAGIC
-[X] Get Planar Control 1, Planar Teleport 1 and Novice Elemental Control.
No. of Votes: 5

[X] Plan: Social Combat
[X] Talk to Henry
[X] Explore the College (Random Encounter)
[X] Class on the elements
[X] You and Ruby look for the archmage's 'volunteer'
[X] The Burning Earth's Arena
[X] Dimensional Science Practical Class (Mandatory)
-[X] Practice Counterspelling Students
[X] The Library
-[X] Ask Sammy about something (Her coolest past battles)
No. of Votes: 2

[X] Planar Control 1 (3)
[X] Planar Teleport 1 (5)
[X] Novice Elemental Control (1)
[X] Elemental Protection (1)
[X] Minor Disruption (1)
No. of Votes: 1

Total No. of Voters: 8

@Wander

Nevill said:
By the way, why are we even practicing now if you are not planning to do Arena tomorrow? If we are planning to practice tomorrow the day after tomorrow, what was the point of wasting a slot today?
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I actually am planning to do Arena on friday, but wednesday's plan wasn't mine.

My math:
The way it works out, we do the my proposed plan tomorrow, friday we do Elements x2, Talk to Ruby (Counter Magic), DS Class or Tutoring and Practice, which allows us to buy Apprentice Elemental Control, Redundancy and Elemental Portals I.

We would have 2 open actions, probably 1 Socialize and Burning Arena to get the hand of combat.
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If you guys really want Minor Disruption, we can double down on Talk to Ruby (Counter Magic)

Friday would looke like this:
[] Talk to Ruby
-[] Learning countermagic
[] Talk to Ruby
-[] Learning countermagic
[] Dimensional Science TA's Class
[] Class on the elements
[] Study
-[] Elemental Magic
[] Practice
[] Burning Arena

We'd have Redundancy, Minor Disruption, Apprentice Elemental Control and one 5 point Planar upgrade. With a turn at the Arena, I think we'd be reasonably prepared for the Tournaments.
 
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TotallyNotEvil said:
Redundancy
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Quite frankly, Redundancy is very much redundant for this first tournament.

When the tournament rolls around, we'll have put in easily about 15 points into Dimensional Science, requiring a 15 pt dismissal to countermagic. I seriously doubt anyone in the first years will have anything close at this point :p

Minor Disruption is actually very useful for the upcoming tournament because of its absurdly short cast time.
It costs 1 pt, meaning that it takes 1 second to cast — in comparison, throwing up a portal to block takes 5 seconds.
TotallyNotEvil said:
we can double down on Talk to Ruby (Counter Magic)
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We also can't double down on actions actually, it's been stated by Wander previously. So you'll probably have to shift it to the afternoon period.
 
MrCogmor said:
Functionally this would seem to be the same as an airless, infinite void. If there is no resistance then air will continue flowing in indefinitely.

Note: Consider what would happen if you opened it underwater, the water would flow through the empty opening and create a draining vortex, the same principle applies to air.
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*waves hands*. Assume the pressure inside the portal is always magically equal to the pressure outside the portal.
TurtleDucks said:
So, what exactly is the TA's name? It would be kinda weird if Saphira spent so much time with her and didn't even learn her name.
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You know, she's never mentioned it.
TotallyNotEvil said:
Is he the chairman of what? The city council?
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Yes.
 
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Nevill said:
What is it with mages and hiding their names? Is there some kind of vulnerability involved? What about aliases?
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Nothing really. There's no common lore on it. The archmage doesn't give out his name, but that's mostly because he's kind of an asshole who wants to give people no choice but to think of him as 'the archmage.' You know the names of the rest of the infamous faculty and the TA you have for the elemental class (Brand, it's mentioned a few times.).
 
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