Twisted Mind
ADHD Man!
- Location
- The Walled Commune (Florida)
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I just found this quest and i love the story. this quest is awesome!! 
Vorstallen Magic Preparatory - The Third-Best School for Young Mages in the Nation! Enrol Today!
- Thread starter occipitallobe
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
- Location
- Straya
I've decided to post this turn bit-by-bit. If it winds up being unwieldy or confusing I'll go back to single posts and write it all up behind the scenes, but I like the idea of more, smaller posts (at least in theory). This post is otherwise for rollz.
(ignore that last dice on study group, I forgot how dice roller worked)
edit: Ugh, the problem with being lazy and not updating your character sheet years ago is now I have to keep rereading stuff to make sure I'm not stiffing Ulos on his stats massively.
(ignore that last dice on study group, I forgot how dice roller worked)
edit: Ugh, the problem with being lazy and not updating your character sheet years ago is now I have to keep rereading stuff to make sure I'm not stiffing Ulos on his stats massively.
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7.1.1 - Week 7 and Magical Theory
- Location
- Straya
Current: +26 Lore: Magical Theory (1/35 next level)
Study Group Rolls - (4+1 = 5 x (4 Intelligence) = 20
Magical Theory now +26 (21/35 next level)
-----------------------
Ulos returned to the study group, Henrietta and Abraham having not yet heard about his... misadventures. He hadn't told them. Who wanted to hear about their good friend being humiliated, being looked down on like that? For the first time since coming here he'd felt stepped on again, like he was invisible. No more than a piece in the games of others. That was what being a flit in the Empire was, and it's what Ulos was determined to escape.
The study session did not go badly - there were no new insights for Ulos, but Abraham and Henrietta took up the information he was giving to them voraciously. He started talking about runes, and practical examples of theory with the brick spell he had learned. Halfway through, though... Ulos found it hard to continue. He looked morosely at the table. It was Abraham who asked first.
It all came out, after that. The high hopes for the weekend. The excitement, the thrill of spying and learning and being seen as an up-and-coming mage in his own right. Then the fall, the humiliation. Paraded in front of other mages as a pawn in some petty game. Like he didn't even exist except how he might be used against or for someone.
Henrietta was nodding along at first, and then more and more fiercely.
"I know, Ulos. I know. People like Madavian.."
Ulos opened his mouth to reply, but she held a hand up to forestall him, and shook her head.
"He's a friend of yours, I know, and Junotrin and Aufstadt are allies. And he's charming. But Junotrin didn't become foremost among the Five Families by simply being charming, if you understand me. I don't hate him, as much as he annoys me. I just... whenever he's around I feel outmanoeuvred, like I'm a piece on someone else's board. He's a Scion, and he might well head up Family Junotrin if things go his way enough. He moves pieces like me. I'm Aufstadt in name, Ulos, but I'm not Aufstadt like Madavian is Junotrin. Which means I was sent here because it wasn't worth getting me into, say the Collegium, but I could be of use to other Aufstadt Scions here. It's better than what they do elsewhere, and it means I'll never want for anything, but... I understand. What's the point of..."
Her voice trailed off and she gestured around her room, but Ulos understood - at the Preparatory, at the magic they were learning and mages who taught them.
"All this, if not to be our own people?"
Relationship Rolls: (79 + 10 modifier for Sympathy - Humiliation) = 89 vs DC 80. Henrietta now a Friend (Intellectual Rival). (83 + 30) = 113 vs DC 80 )Abraham. Success (maintenance, Abraham at max. Decay timer lengthened)
-----------------------------
Current: Magical Theory now +26 (21/35 next level)
Tutoring By Edward Rolls - (4+5+1+2+1+1+1+1) = 16 x (4 Intelligence) = 64
Magical Theory now +28 (15/35 next level)
Edward was morose when Ulos saw him next. The tutoring session was fairly efficient, but not the usual sort of far-ranging questions Edward would ask. Instead, Edward sketched problem after problem on a blackboard and had Ulos solve them, nodding along.
"Good. These are problems of my own design, that... well, if you can figure out what they're for than perhaps I'll let you know more."
Problem Identification roll = 37 + 28 (Magical Theory) = 65 vs DC 110. Failure.
Ulos wasn't able to puzzle out what Edward was doing, to Edward's satisfaction.
"To be honest with you Ulos, another year of training is what I'd expect before you were able to understand this. Now, solve these."
Another array of problems, harder than the last. For all he was learning, Ulos was fairly certain Edward was just using Ulos to check Edward's work.
Study Group Rolls - (4+1 = 5 x (4 Intelligence) = 20
Magical Theory now +26 (21/35 next level)
-----------------------
Ulos returned to the study group, Henrietta and Abraham having not yet heard about his... misadventures. He hadn't told them. Who wanted to hear about their good friend being humiliated, being looked down on like that? For the first time since coming here he'd felt stepped on again, like he was invisible. No more than a piece in the games of others. That was what being a flit in the Empire was, and it's what Ulos was determined to escape.
The study session did not go badly - there were no new insights for Ulos, but Abraham and Henrietta took up the information he was giving to them voraciously. He started talking about runes, and practical examples of theory with the brick spell he had learned. Halfway through, though... Ulos found it hard to continue. He looked morosely at the table. It was Abraham who asked first.
It all came out, after that. The high hopes for the weekend. The excitement, the thrill of spying and learning and being seen as an up-and-coming mage in his own right. Then the fall, the humiliation. Paraded in front of other mages as a pawn in some petty game. Like he didn't even exist except how he might be used against or for someone.
Henrietta was nodding along at first, and then more and more fiercely.
"I know, Ulos. I know. People like Madavian.."
Ulos opened his mouth to reply, but she held a hand up to forestall him, and shook her head.
"He's a friend of yours, I know, and Junotrin and Aufstadt are allies. And he's charming. But Junotrin didn't become foremost among the Five Families by simply being charming, if you understand me. I don't hate him, as much as he annoys me. I just... whenever he's around I feel outmanoeuvred, like I'm a piece on someone else's board. He's a Scion, and he might well head up Family Junotrin if things go his way enough. He moves pieces like me. I'm Aufstadt in name, Ulos, but I'm not Aufstadt like Madavian is Junotrin. Which means I was sent here because it wasn't worth getting me into, say the Collegium, but I could be of use to other Aufstadt Scions here. It's better than what they do elsewhere, and it means I'll never want for anything, but... I understand. What's the point of..."
Her voice trailed off and she gestured around her room, but Ulos understood - at the Preparatory, at the magic they were learning and mages who taught them.
"All this, if not to be our own people?"
Relationship Rolls: (79 + 10 modifier for Sympathy - Humiliation) = 89 vs DC 80. Henrietta now a Friend (Intellectual Rival). (83 + 30) = 113 vs DC 80 )Abraham. Success (maintenance, Abraham at max. Decay timer lengthened)
-----------------------------
Current: Magical Theory now +26 (21/35 next level)
Tutoring By Edward Rolls - (4+5+1+2+1+1+1+1) = 16 x (4 Intelligence) = 64
Magical Theory now +28 (15/35 next level)
Edward was morose when Ulos saw him next. The tutoring session was fairly efficient, but not the usual sort of far-ranging questions Edward would ask. Instead, Edward sketched problem after problem on a blackboard and had Ulos solve them, nodding along.
"Good. These are problems of my own design, that... well, if you can figure out what they're for than perhaps I'll let you know more."
Problem Identification roll = 37 + 28 (Magical Theory) = 65 vs DC 110. Failure.
Ulos wasn't able to puzzle out what Edward was doing, to Edward's satisfaction.
"To be honest with you Ulos, another year of training is what I'd expect before you were able to understand this. Now, solve these."
Another array of problems, harder than the last. For all he was learning, Ulos was fairly certain Edward was just using Ulos to check Edward's work.
- Location
- Lasha Tumbai
So uh, those Edward training rolls are pretty awesome even when we roll utter garbage. And it's nice to see us working on our friendships (successfully, too!). Hoping we do well on Studying our Magic Pool, I am interested in making progress on our goal of not being cursed.
- Location
- Straya
Yeah, turns out being first in Magical Theory really pays off. Bear in mind it's really just doubling your rolls for Willpower as you could normally do for a training roll (2 Magical Theory training rolls instead of 1), and using an extra slot to take more Willpower-enahnced classes - the only part of it that's really good is the +1 to all rolls. Given the expected value of a D5 is 3, increasing that to 4 is essentially another roll and a third over four rolls.
Plus the opportunities, of course.
As an aside, keep in mind an average student might have, say, 15 Magical Theory rolls (1 per week from class plus maybe 5 study sessions over the course of a term), with an Int of 3 which gives roughly 15x3x3 = 135 points of progress. Over the course of four terms, that's roughly 500 points of progress. The average student might get 13, 14 in Magical Theory by the end of term. Ulos has 28. (5x5 + 5x10 + 5x15 + 5x20 + 5x30 + 3x35) which is 505 points of progress. He's roughly where you'd expect the average student entering second year to be at this point, two-thirds of the way through Term 1.
In a technical sense it does, but it's just a list of exercises and instructions that Ulos has already learned in class. Ulos at this point is *through* the Magical Theory textbook, which is why it doesn't merit a mention. Vorstallen teaches primarily by examples and tutors - magic is only really starting to be codified properly so the textbook tends to be more 'lists of exercises' than 'fully theoretical explanation of everything'.
- Location
- Straya
This is correct, but given the thread decided to do 2 Willpower Study Groups I figured it'd be easier to do each one by type rather than split them both up. Results will be the same in the end, though.
- Location
- Lasha Tumbai
I was curious how we stacked up compared to other people at our point, that's pretty great. Does feel like we're a bit behind on the crafting and casting side of things though since this is week 7 rolls and we're less than half that in those. Does make sense though, with the trash that is our (current) Channelling.
Am I misunderstanding how that works, then? We got '4+5+1+2+1+1+1+1' for our rolls with Edward, if we were getting +1 to all of those wouldn't it mean we couldn't actually get a 1 with them?
- Location
- Croatia
It's 4 rolls, and each one gets + 1. So it is 4 (First Roll)+5 (Second Roll)+1 (Third Roll)+2 (Fourth Roll)+1 (First Bonus)+1 (Second Bonus)+1(Third Bonus)+1(Fourth Bonus)
Edit: Nevermind, that was apparently my plan 3 years ago, and it was a perfectly valid one. I just completely forgot about it. It is perfectly possible. It's also called Draught of Wakefulness. Costs 22 coins.
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- Location
- Croatia
Shouldn't levels 10-15 be 20 progress and 15-20 25 progress (as far as I can tell from posts and character sheet)? Meaning we actually have 50 progress more.
So average student would be indeed be at 13, while we at 28 (570 exp) with predicted to have over 750 progress at end of term (3x(48 (average of tutoring) + 24 (2 Willpower infused Study Groups)). And as I recall there are 3 terms + summer break (from the Termtable Info post), meaning we should be equivelent of a bad finished second year at end of our first semestar (we would have 5.6 semesters of Education in Magical Theory of a average student).
Apologies if it is a bother.
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- Location
- Straya
This is actually something I've been struggling with.
When I wrote this originally I had a bunch of word docs with a lot of backstory and setting stuff - and a spreadsheet with the levelled system I'd worked out so that skill levels made sense in light of how long students spent studying a subject. I distinctly remember setting milestones and using those to put in some discontinuities in the progress per level charts to ensure everything matched up with what I wanted.
That was all lost when that computer's HDD died - thankfully setting and story stuff really sticks in the brain, but spreadsheets... well. Three years down the line I'm not sure if this is a discontinuity I put into my system deliberately or just a mistake. I'm still mulling over what to do with this, but I'm leaning towards 'treat it as a mistake'.
edit:
Looking at the skill list, it seems to be 5 points, 10 points, 20 points, 25, 30, 35 thus far (every skill at lvl 10-14 has a 20 point levelling requirement), so I am assuming I've done what I've done by design.
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- Location
- Croatia
As far as I can tell there are discontinuities in both systems, it's just that the one from 3 years ago put it earlier (at Skill levels 10-15) then you put it now ( Skill levels 20-25). It would be reasonable if you put in a extra Exp jump rather soon (30-35), since we officially reach "Journeyman" status with our skill at 30, and I'd expect a jump in knowledge requirements needed till we reach Expert (since as I can recall, 60 is considered a Master, which I would expect our teachers to have). From what I gather, Magical Theory also branches out in Language class skills later on according to the intro, so it's not like we are going to reach maximum potential into it anytime soon.
As a side note, I've noticed we actually unlocked "Sucking up to Souls teacher" 4 weeks ago in-game, but never actually got that option to select. Not like it has any chance of winning, since we are rather starved for actions, and are more or less set for Runes due to previous decisions.
And our rolls suck today. That is a average of 2 on a d5.
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7.1.2 - Other class
- Location
- Straya
The study group met up again, but little enough happened.
Current +7 Lore: Six-Fox Pact (3/10)
Study Group Rolls - (2+1 = 3 x (4 Intelligence) =15
Lore: Six-Fox Pact now +8 (8/10)
They discussed history, Abraham and Henrietta sat at first in silence.
Relationship Rolls: (33 + 15) = 48 vs DC 80. Henrietta no change - currently a Friend (Intellectual Rival). (68 + 30) = 98 vs DC 80 )Abraham. Success (maintenance, Abraham at max. Decay timer lengthened)
Ulos spoke up, after a second.
"Abraham, I know we focus on Narubar. Is there anything you think you might want to look into?"
Abraham shrugged.
"I enjoy this, no matter what we do. It's just good to spend time with friends."
He smiled.
"I trust you'll find something interesting for us to dive into every week."
Ulos smiled back. It was good to spend time with friends. They spent the rest of the study group chatting, Ulos telling them stories of his travels all the way from the Undying Empire, Henrietta speaking about her grandmother's Alchemy achievements. Abraham after speaking his piece sat in silence, just listening to them talk, letting the atmosphere wash over him.
Not very productive, but not everything was about squeezing every last minute out of every day. As Henrietta continued to talk in her animated yet poised way, his smile widened slightly. He was glad to have made the friends he did.
-------------------------------
Current +8 Lore: Six-Fox Pact (8/10)
History Class Rolls - (2) = 2 x (4 Intelligence) = 8
Lore: Six-Fox Pact now +9 (6/10)
History was perhaps no more interesting. Professor Junotrin, however, started talking about the intricate structure of Narubar's navy, and why this was important.
"...and you see, a navy with the input of freemen and free mages is far more effective than one built by flits and manned by throwaway Imperial combat mages. The First Battle of Crakon Bay was an exercise in the superiority of quality over quantitity. The Pact fleet was outnumbered eight to one, and with inferiority in ship power per vessel besides. But their better weather magic allowed them to repeatedly strike at a relatively immobile Imperial force, and the use of alchemy to enhance magesight to allow for hits from further away meant the Imperial fleet could be whittled away at. Almost fourteen thousand Imperial sailors and thirty mages lost their lives in First Crakon Bay, against a single Narubite vessel and one hundred and thirteen sailors. This devastating defeat did not discourage the Empire, however, as evidenced by Second Crakon Bay, Third Crakon Bay, and Fourth Crakon Bay..."
---------------------------
+11 Lore: Souls and Spirits (8/20 next level)
Class Roll - 3 = 3x (4 Intelligence) = 12
Lore Souls and Spirits now +12 (0/20 next level)
The droning voice of the replacement teacher went on, and on, and on. Binding circles. Theoretical binding circles. Examples of real failed binding circles. Sketching ten of these before the end of class. The sort of drudgery that, Ulos was certain, Madavian would simply fail at. He continued, though, as boring as it was. There was no useless knowledge.
--------------------------
+6 Spellweaving (7/10 next level)
Class Roll = 2 = 2x (2 Physical Ability - can use this in place of channeling due to class Artifact!) = 4
Spellweaving now +7 (1/10 next level)
Weres sat down next to Ulos, and sketched a sigil in the air. It flared briefly and the noise of the class faded away.
'I talked to Inukar. He gave me a notion of what happened."
He sighed.
"Don't get me wrong, Ulos. You're hardly one of my prize students - the fact that you're in this class at all should speak to that. But when these things happen, they humble not just you and Inukar but they tarnish the reputation of the school I teach at. Let me give you some advice - it's much easier to trick the conscious mind than it is to trick the unconscious mind - trying to trace a spell you barely know is easy enough for a talented mind mage to stop, but if your hands know the motions, it's much harder. Even if you never become an exceptional spellweaver, knowing a few spells that you can cast almost unconsciously is worth a great deal."
Weres took a long swig from a flask on his hip.
"Normally I wouldn't bother trying to push advice on a student with your limited potential, but Inukar is an idiot. A genius, mind you, but an idiot. The Collegium has tried to hire him twice. He stays here - says its about principles and being able to push for the sort of theory he thinks is correct. That being said, he has an eye for talent - that Edward boy is one of my best as well as his. So, here's my advice. Leverage your advantages to cover your disadvantages. Right now getting extra access to train isn't something I'm interested in using favours with others to grant you. But if you're good at one thing, you can often turn that into being good at two, and it compounds. If you're talented enough, you'll accrue favours. Think of using some of them to shore up this glaring weakness of yours."
He turned to go, but spoke as he did.
"Oh, and Ulos. They'll be posting exam schedules and information at the end of the week. Make sure to go over them all carefully."
Current +7 Lore: Six-Fox Pact (3/10)
Study Group Rolls - (2+1 = 3 x (4 Intelligence) =15
Lore: Six-Fox Pact now +8 (8/10)
They discussed history, Abraham and Henrietta sat at first in silence.
Relationship Rolls: (33 + 15) = 48 vs DC 80. Henrietta no change - currently a Friend (Intellectual Rival). (68 + 30) = 98 vs DC 80 )Abraham. Success (maintenance, Abraham at max. Decay timer lengthened)
Ulos spoke up, after a second.
"Abraham, I know we focus on Narubar. Is there anything you think you might want to look into?"
Abraham shrugged.
"I enjoy this, no matter what we do. It's just good to spend time with friends."
He smiled.
"I trust you'll find something interesting for us to dive into every week."
Ulos smiled back. It was good to spend time with friends. They spent the rest of the study group chatting, Ulos telling them stories of his travels all the way from the Undying Empire, Henrietta speaking about her grandmother's Alchemy achievements. Abraham after speaking his piece sat in silence, just listening to them talk, letting the atmosphere wash over him.
Not very productive, but not everything was about squeezing every last minute out of every day. As Henrietta continued to talk in her animated yet poised way, his smile widened slightly. He was glad to have made the friends he did.
-------------------------------
Current +8 Lore: Six-Fox Pact (8/10)
History Class Rolls - (2) = 2 x (4 Intelligence) = 8
Lore: Six-Fox Pact now +9 (6/10)
History was perhaps no more interesting. Professor Junotrin, however, started talking about the intricate structure of Narubar's navy, and why this was important.
"...and you see, a navy with the input of freemen and free mages is far more effective than one built by flits and manned by throwaway Imperial combat mages. The First Battle of Crakon Bay was an exercise in the superiority of quality over quantitity. The Pact fleet was outnumbered eight to one, and with inferiority in ship power per vessel besides. But their better weather magic allowed them to repeatedly strike at a relatively immobile Imperial force, and the use of alchemy to enhance magesight to allow for hits from further away meant the Imperial fleet could be whittled away at. Almost fourteen thousand Imperial sailors and thirty mages lost their lives in First Crakon Bay, against a single Narubite vessel and one hundred and thirteen sailors. This devastating defeat did not discourage the Empire, however, as evidenced by Second Crakon Bay, Third Crakon Bay, and Fourth Crakon Bay..."
---------------------------
+11 Lore: Souls and Spirits (8/20 next level)
Class Roll - 3 = 3x (4 Intelligence) = 12
Lore Souls and Spirits now +12 (0/20 next level)
The droning voice of the replacement teacher went on, and on, and on. Binding circles. Theoretical binding circles. Examples of real failed binding circles. Sketching ten of these before the end of class. The sort of drudgery that, Ulos was certain, Madavian would simply fail at. He continued, though, as boring as it was. There was no useless knowledge.
--------------------------
+6 Spellweaving (7/10 next level)
Class Roll = 2 = 2x (2 Physical Ability - can use this in place of channeling due to class Artifact!) = 4
Spellweaving now +7 (1/10 next level)
Weres sat down next to Ulos, and sketched a sigil in the air. It flared briefly and the noise of the class faded away.
'I talked to Inukar. He gave me a notion of what happened."
He sighed.
"Don't get me wrong, Ulos. You're hardly one of my prize students - the fact that you're in this class at all should speak to that. But when these things happen, they humble not just you and Inukar but they tarnish the reputation of the school I teach at. Let me give you some advice - it's much easier to trick the conscious mind than it is to trick the unconscious mind - trying to trace a spell you barely know is easy enough for a talented mind mage to stop, but if your hands know the motions, it's much harder. Even if you never become an exceptional spellweaver, knowing a few spells that you can cast almost unconsciously is worth a great deal."
Weres took a long swig from a flask on his hip.
"Normally I wouldn't bother trying to push advice on a student with your limited potential, but Inukar is an idiot. A genius, mind you, but an idiot. The Collegium has tried to hire him twice. He stays here - says its about principles and being able to push for the sort of theory he thinks is correct. That being said, he has an eye for talent - that Edward boy is one of my best as well as his. So, here's my advice. Leverage your advantages to cover your disadvantages. Right now getting extra access to train isn't something I'm interested in using favours with others to grant you. But if you're good at one thing, you can often turn that into being good at two, and it compounds. If you're talented enough, you'll accrue favours. Think of using some of them to shore up this glaring weakness of yours."
He turned to go, but spoke as he did.
"Oh, and Ulos. They'll be posting exam schedules and information at the end of the week. Make sure to go over them all carefully."
- Location
- USA
Well what he's describing is what we were trying to do! Use our excellence in Magical Theory to increase our Spellweaving.
We have a decent start to Runes and Spirits, I'm can't seem to remember exactly how spirits works again though. It has two parts: one is charisma dependent(bad for us) and one isn't. I just can't remember what the second part keys off of, and what it allows us to do. Don't think we've seen much of what spirits do though if I remember right.
We have a decent start to Runes and Spirits, I'm can't seem to remember exactly how spirits works again though. It has two parts: one is charisma dependent(bad for us) and one isn't. I just can't remember what the second part keys off of, and what it allows us to do. Don't think we've seen much of what spirits do though if I remember right.
- Location
- Straya
The core of Souls and Spirits is binding a spirit.
This is charisma-bound but the further you get from what the Spirit wants the more you're going to need raw magical skill to make up for your lack of negotiation skills.
It's also the theory of souls, though. Souls being the rough conceptual concept of what mediates the flow of magic from the Primordial Ether through a mage into the world. I believe the thread took it to investigate the Curse of Transferal that Ulos is subject to.
This is charisma-bound but the further you get from what the Spirit wants the more you're going to need raw magical skill to make up for your lack of negotiation skills.
It's also the theory of souls, though. Souls being the rough conceptual concept of what mediates the flow of magic from the Primordial Ether through a mage into the world. I believe the thread took it to investigate the Curse of Transferal that Ulos is subject to.
Shard
One and Many
- Location
- Malaysia
Kill evil lich, become god. That's the arc of this quest!
- Location
- Croatia
Yes, as I recall we took Souls so we would learn more about the curse. The fact that Spirit Magic is Charisma Based means we aren't going to be very good at it. History was taken to reduce our Diplomacy malus, since it brings three lore skills.
We later took on meditating to also learn more about the curse on the tip of our combat teacher. As I recall it only has a chance, and no guarantee to work (but it did get mentioned we could recover weekly Willpower if we get good enough, which could be a good efficiency).
Edit: Also the lich isn't exactly "evil". It payed for our magic, taught us some things and let us go. We just find the contract no longer to our liking. We took care of our family and are getting a top notch magical education in return for it. So we are the baddies (and the future contract breakers).
We later took on meditating to also learn more about the curse on the tip of our combat teacher. As I recall it only has a chance, and no guarantee to work (but it did get mentioned we could recover weekly Willpower if we get good enough, which could be a good efficiency).
Edit: Also the lich isn't exactly "evil". It payed for our magic, taught us some things and let us go. We just find the contract no longer to our liking. We took care of our family and are getting a top notch magical education in return for it. So we are the baddies (and the future contract breakers).
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Barondoctor
The things I chase come to me.
- Location
- The other side of the mirror
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
Well, to the teacher's thoughts: we are good at Int and Will. We are good at theory and lore (souls, necromancy).
What can these be expanded to? How do we turn knowledge into power? Could we, after class, ask that teacher and see what he says?
What can these be expanded to? How do we turn knowledge into power? Could we, after class, ask that teacher and see what he says?
- Location
- Croatia
Willpower is a Alchemy stat. Intelligence is a knowledge stat which applies to everything. Runes are Knowledge stat for learning and Physical stat for crafting. Same with Sigils (to a degree), but we are also far more affected by our lack of Channeling ability (which can be sidestepped in Runes by having good friends). Souls is Charisma based, with some Intelligence and Channeling mixed in. So if we are going by stats, the most optimal solution would be going Alchemy. Alchemy can also be powered by other alternative means then our Channeling, meaning that Spirits are a good side job in it.
That being said, going into Alchemy is a bad idea currently. Our major rival, Thomas has taken Runes and Alchemy as his optional classes. We have also taken all his equipment, and we actually sold/traded everything Alchemy related on the market and bought some Rune lessons. So we would need to reinvest all our coins into buying that equipment, at a loss, while having our main rival above us skill wise and capable of sabotaging our work. Alchemy is apparently a very sensitive subject in terms of precision and a mistake or sabotage can be our end. In Runes we would have our two friends to cover our backs if nothing else.
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Barondoctor
The things I chase come to me.
- Location
- The other side of the mirror
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
- Location
- Croatia
Runes are material specific. There are paper runes, clay runes, metal runes and wood runes from the known ones (there are stuff like water runes mentioned, but I'm not sure how that would work). Our only known rune is actually written on a piece of paper, and we then transcribed it to clay upside down (and failed that crafting check, getting us nothing). It would still be a Craft:Rune check for them, and they aren't necessarily better at it then us at this point (Well Abraham has 5 Physical so he gets a flat +25 bonus from that, if he has Craft:Rune 1 which enables him crafting he is better then us). Rune classes so far have been only theoretical.
Still, it's not so bad in regards to crafting runes. We roll a d100 + Crafting:Rune + Physical Stat + Bonuses (so +25 for Clay/Paper, and +15 for everything else) against a DC. We can just get better equipment (or work on undoing physical part of the curse) to compensate. Since Rune:Crafting is learned via a Int roll, it means we gain it the fastest out of our friends.
The main problem with runes is the fact they consume our magic pool, which is very very low for us. We can sidestep that with our friends, but only up to a level. As we craft more stuff, we will need to sacrifice our older runes.
In regards to that comic, we can more or less do a less lethal version of that with a brick. Now if only I could convince people to craft them. For more lethal stuff we have the hammer.
If people do plan to vote for runes, we do have a "speculated" list of classes here. Honestly, if you plan to "ace" runes, it may be worthwhile getting 4 more Classes on Lore:Runes, so that we are up to par with people who are taking Rune classes this semestar (and amongst them are Madavian, Abraham and Thomas). We can take a Metal Runes class, which would levelup our crafting skill and let us learn 3 new runes. The combat one is useless for us (our Hammer does it better), but the other two are utility and have their application. We should also be capable of visiting the library to learn Runes.
All that said, I'm still sad that 3 years ago we took such action that we are running the efficiency of Alchemy down for us.
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Barondoctor
The things I chase come to me.
- Location
- The other side of the mirror
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
Hammer? That isn't on the character sheet that I saw. What is this hammer thing?
Also, I think setting ourselves up in Runes would probably be the best way to go about it.
Until such time as we can get Thomas out of the way, Alchemy (being the finicky-est of magics) is not really an option for us. Runes, however, seem like a reasonable way to translate knowledge into power.
Also, I think setting ourselves up in Runes would probably be the best way to go about it.
Morrowind (as an example) has multiple different methods of accessing the same sort of magic; scrolls, enchanted items, physically casting the spell, and potions.
Scrolls are single-use and require almost no skill (they're cheap and easy to make because of being single-use);
Enchanted items operate on their own capacity pool; enchanting an item requires knowing how the spell works and improving one's enchantment skill (improving both crafting of item and recharge speed of pool), higher-quality items are better able to hold an enchantment;
Actually casting the spell requires having mana and committing to casting the spell in time (improved success rate with increased skill; stronger effect is a higher difficulty and more mana, so higher skill can also lead to being able to do stronger effects);
Potions are done through the alchemy skill with specific ingredients (higher skill gives a greater success rate in creating the potion and a stronger effect; this stronger effect is also affected by alchemy equipment)
Scrolls are single-use and require almost no skill (they're cheap and easy to make because of being single-use);
Enchanted items operate on their own capacity pool; enchanting an item requires knowing how the spell works and improving one's enchantment skill (improving both crafting of item and recharge speed of pool), higher-quality items are better able to hold an enchantment;
Actually casting the spell requires having mana and committing to casting the spell in time (improved success rate with increased skill; stronger effect is a higher difficulty and more mana, so higher skill can also lead to being able to do stronger effects);
Potions are done through the alchemy skill with specific ingredients (higher skill gives a greater success rate in creating the potion and a stronger effect; this stronger effect is also affected by alchemy equipment)
Until such time as we can get Thomas out of the way, Alchemy (being the finicky-est of magics) is not really an option for us. Runes, however, seem like a reasonable way to translate knowledge into power.
- Location
- Straya
Whoops, haven't updated the inventory yet. It's now in there!
But yeah, sigils and runes are different.
They're the two most similar forms of magic, but they're probably better thought of as 'spellcasting' and 'enchanting' as their most similar D&D analogues.
tl;dr
Sigils care about stroke order, and must be written a certain way. You then infuse them with magic and they take effect immediately. Writing a sigil on paper is basically a spell scroll. If you want a more durable sigil you can do whatever you want with it - cast it into bronze, write it in clay, etc. They're all single-use though.
Runes don't care about stroke order (if you can see a rune you can copy it, which is why you can go buy a bunch of pretty solid sigil scrolls from the store because fucking up the stroke order might kill you - they have built in magic DRM, but nobody sells top-tier runes to anyone they don't trust implicitly), but care about what they're on. They can be reused indefinitely, though they leak magic depending on how well they're carved/written/forged. High-end Runes from a master runesmith might lose 1 point of Magic Power per year. One forged by the King of Bones might lose 1 per five or six centuries.
Sigils and Runes both basically transfer power from the Primordial Ether through the mage into the spellform chosen. However, sigils have the disadvantage that once powered they're used - if you have 1 Channeling and a magic pool that's more a puddle then you can't reasonably use sigils reliably. However, with runes you can get someone else to power them so you're all good on that front.
Spirits let you skip the finicky mage step. In theory you don't even need to be a mage to work with Spirits if you're good enough at diplomacy, though in practice this doesn't really work.
Alchemy is the magic of transferring and transmuting stuff - the philter of awareness encountered earlier in the quest transfers rabbit hearing to a human being. The main weakness of Alchemy is that it tends to demand weird precision in things like temperature, measurements, stirring times, etc, etc, etc. Alchemy can make you really rich, but also tends to demand expensive equipment and expensive reagants - the magical power needs to come from somewhere and magical ingredients with usable Ether aren't cheap. That being said, you do have a rich friend...
That being said, it might be worth knowing that Thomas isn't going to do Alchemy next term - or at least, not in the re-run 'Intro to Alchemy' course.
- Location
- Burgundian Netherlands
Hm, our Souls and Spirits class is seriously lagging behind, even though we had an amazing head start in figuring out the spirit's trick. If we want more advanced soul classes for our curse, we should probably start taking it a bit more seriously. Leverage our existing advantages to their maximum and all that.
That reminds me, @occipitallobe:
These things haven't really shown up in our char sheet or our vote options. Does it have to do with the fact that there's now apparently a sub instead of Miranova?
That reminds me, @occipitallobe:
These things haven't really shown up in our char sheet or our vote options. Does it have to do with the fact that there's now apparently a sub instead of Miranova?