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[✗] [Magic Lore] Celestialism


Aelesh
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2 minutes ago, Gemini said:

I don't like this part. Voidstalking is a feat and this is a whole damn magic and 100% more powerful than stalkers haha. Calling them cousins idk 

 

"Cousins" simply refers to the way in which all Void mages are related to each other. Fire Evocationists are "cousins" of Sensory Illusionists, for example. Every Void mage is a "cousin" of every other Void mage, related distantly.

 

Calling them cousins draws no comparison in terms of their relative complexity.

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5 minutes ago, Gemini said:

I don't like this part. Voidstalking is a feat and this is a whole damn magic and 100% more powerful than stalkers haha. Calling them cousins idk 

 

This is a magic that takes upward to [2] slots, where-as Voidstalking is a feat that doesn't take anything. 

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5 minutes ago, ronin_champloo said:

 

This is a magic that takes upward to [2] slots, where-as Voidstalking is a feat that doesn't take anything. 

It still excludes a whole feat from partaking in this magic! 

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22 hours ago, Gemini said:

It still excludes a whole feat from partaking in this magic! 

 

Currently, only Voidal Scions and Artificers are able to become Celestial Arcanists, also excluding Voidal Eminence. Furthermore, Exalted Celestialism (the 2 slot version) precludes all capstone feats, including Scions and Artificers.

 

Voidstalking has not been singled out. I felt that Celestial Gardens were almost a feat unto themselves, and I wanted to prevent any issues surrounding being capable of doing too much. I'm very unsure on the slotting of things and want to hear back from people; your thoughts are welcome!

 

If people's feedback leans in the direction that having access to some of the feats is still reasonable and wouldn't be too much, I'd be open to changing what's currently written and opening some of the feats up.

 

EDIT: in response to some feedback, this has been made to include all capstone feats, whether or not a Celestialist is an Exalted Celestialist or not.

Edited by Aelesh
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Incredible concept in an elegant, pretty, and well-designed package! The support mechanics are solid and RP-focused, the whole lore screams flavor, and it all shows so much cultural potential.

This could help push for a much needed voidal magic renaissance.

Edited by tgrt
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47 minutes ago, TreeSmoothie said:

I love this!! Will give a full read later. however, not allowing certain dark magics such as necro and Mysticism, seems like a weird choice - no other void magic does it, even voidstalking, and I personally think void should remain completely neutral, though I do get the intention!

 

Yeah, I can totally see why it'd be strange for a traditionally neutral form of magic to take a stance on this kind of thing.

 

Celestialism hinges on a very particular mindset that allows its practitioners to break down their aura and meld it with other souls' auras. I just don't see this mindset being possible for someone who is afflicted with all the pain and suffering that comes with being a dark mage. These practices include some really horrific stuff.

 

More than that, a lot of dark magics are concerned with "mortal affairs", quite often in escaping from that mortality to become immortal. For a Celestialist, there's a need to distance oneself from mortal life and sufferings to come into a deeper understanding of the Celestials; that "walking away from the world" is what allows them to see life with renewed perspective, and welcome everyone and everything they meet back into it. If they were seeking power, immortality, or other earthly needs, that would really contradict this need to find a new perspective.

 

There's a lot of deeper philosophical stuff like that which I haven't included here for brevity (this got looooooong), but I mean to bring all of it up in the guide if/when I get to it.

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This Lore contains all of the essentials I’ve long felt that Void Magic deserved, but have not had the writing skills to bring to light. This is a commendable write Aelesh.

 

Let this be the standard of love and care by which our communities lore is held to. It deserves it.

 

Praise aside, it is definitely heavy ability wise even for a two slot magic and probably could use a touch more clarity in the abilities. Id also love to see some more interactions with Void Stalkers arise from this. Ive a headcanon that the neutrality of Void Magic is still divided into a further philosophical spectrum. <Celestialists - Artificers - Watchers - Void Mage - Scions - Emminents - Voidstalkers>
 

Note that the two are polar opposites.

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15 minutes ago, Luxury said:

This Lore contains all of the essentials I’ve long felt that Void Magic deserved, but have not had the writing skills to bring to light. This is a commendable write Aelesh.

 

Let this be the standard of love and care by which our communities lore is held to. It deserves it.

 

Praise aside, it is definitely heavy ability wise even for a two slot magic and probably could use a touch more clarity in the abilities. Id also love to see some more interactions with Void Stalkers arise from this. Ive a headcanon that the neutrality of Void Magic is still divided into a further philosophical spectrum. <Celestialists - Artificers - Watchers - Void Mage - Scions - Emminents - Voidstalkers>
 

Note that the two are polar opposites.

 

Thank you very much, that means a lot!

 

I definitely think it could lose some bits here and there without the overall usability of the lore taking a hit. I've been concerned that a lot of the really interesting stuff can be found through the rituals, which aren't the kind of thing someone is going to be doing every day.

 

For that reason, I've just kind of kept everything that stuck to the wall in here so that people can read and vote on "yes, that one's good, but no, this one is a bit out there". For instance, I think I could probably drop Bestilled items, but I've kept them in here for now since my preliminary feedback was that they were very, very cool. I might drop melding Celestials with enchanted items in the final rite, the Rite of Transcendence as well, and in terms of in hand spells, I think Expel could probably be lost without too much of an effect. It's really an event spell anyway, for fighting back the nasty tentacle-y things.

 

And that isn't even an exhaustive list, I could probably go through and find more things to trim. But here it all is for people to comment on, I'm looking forward to hearing things along the lines of "TOP 10 CELESTIALISM SPELLS - pssst, drop the bottom 3".

Edited by Aelesh
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oh my god.. what a great post- I find a lot of the lores for voidal magic lacking in general in terms of flavor and roleplay, but this is amazing. There might be some balance concerns when comparing this to other voidal feats, but it is slotted, so it's hard to compare them. Some of the aura effects and the celestial familiar, in particular, seem very, very strong, though of course I am perfectly fine with magics that reward good roleplay.. in my opinion, it might just warrant making this a 2-3 slot magic rather than a 1-2 slot.

 

(i'm not an experienced voidal player, take my words with a grain of salt)

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5 minutes ago, sam33497 said:

oh my god.. what a great post- I find a lot of the lores for voidal magic lacking in general in terms of flavor and roleplay, but this is amazing. There might be some balance concerns when comparing this to other voidal feats, but it is slotted, so it's hard to compare them. Some of the aura effects and the celestial familiar, in particular, seem very, very strong, though of course I am perfectly fine with magics that reward good roleplay.. in my opinion, it might just warrant making this a 2-3 slot magic rather than a 1-2 slot.

 

(i'm not an experienced voidal player, take my words with a grain of salt)

 

It doesn't matter whether or not you're experienced, thank you for engaging! I want to hear from everyone regardless of how long they've been around.

 

The intent was definitely to make the auras and familiar useful to make up for just how much of a detriment summoning your familiar is. I've refrained from reducing the number of wounds a familiar has below 10, since I want to avoid things quickly becoming very under powered, but I could definitely look into that. I could probably also think of some other circumstances in which it takes 2 wounds a hit, other than the listed materials.

 

I've wanted to turn choosing to use Void magic in combat into this really engaging choice for a Celestialist. Summoning their familiar makes them immediately vulnerable, and not just for that particular encounter. There's real character development and damage that can come about through permanently losing this cherished partner.

 

That being said, I can definitely see that a combination of reducing their wounds, making them slightly more vulnerable and/or nerfing the spells they can cast might be what's called for.

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I was under the impression arcanism and similar magics were never returning. Looks cool in theory but I’m not sure how it’ll turn out in practice

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23 hours ago, Moribundity said:

I was under the impression arcanism and similar magics were never returning. Looks cool in theory but I’m not sure how it’ll turn out in practice

 

I'd recommend giving the lore a thorough read; aside from Shelter and Barrage which do hearken back to the arcanism of old, this is a very different style of magic. It doesn't have any of the issues arcanism did in invalidating a lot of other evocationists by doing what they did, but better. This is now really focused on a supportive, utility based role that has a place in combat, but is really at it's best when it's solving problems away from the battlefield.

 

I feel it's in a completely different niche now to where Celestial Arcanism was before, and I hope that other people can see how much this write up differs from the original.

 

EDIT: I've now swapped both Barrage and Shelter out for two new spells, which I think have less to do with old arcanism! That should help with making them obviously distinct.

Edited by Aelesh
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He’s worked on this for a year +1

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Spoiler

Bind [Combat] [T3]  

By weaving their arcana into long strands, the familiar ensnares its targets in a magical rope trap.

 

Bind requires [4] emotes to cast (1 | Connect > 2 | Charge > 1 | Release).

 

Once cast, the familiar sends forth a stream of arcana which wraps itself around a target within [3] blocks, weighing them down with magically generated force. The target’s maximum movement is reduced to [2] blocks for the next [2] emotes, at which point the magical binds dissipate.

At [T4], this spell may target an additional target, totalling [2].

 

 ✦ These bindings can gain the following auxiliary effects through different aura colours:

If the familiar’s current aura colour is Green or Brown, the binds crystallise and harden around their targets. This lengthens the duration of the bindings by [1] emote, to [3] emotes.

If the familiar’s current aura colour is Blue or Purple, the binds are endowed with a mystifying veil of energy. When the duration of the binding ends, the target(s) are thrown [2] blocks in a selected direction.

 

The familiar cannot move, or take any other action whilst channelling this spell.

When utilising the auxiliary effect made possible through a Blue or Purple aura, the target(s) must both be thrown in the same direction.

In addition, this throw is not particularly strong or disorientating. It does not otherwise stun its target(s).


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Shimmer [Combat] [T4]  

By disassembling their arcana into a cloud of glowing particles, the familiar makes a swift dash to a nearby location, harrying those that it passes through.

 

Bind requires [3] emotes to cast (1 | Connect > 1 | Charge > 1 | Release). This spell has a [1] emote cooldown.

 

Once cast, the familiar breaks apart into an incorporeal stream of energy which surges to a new location within [6] blocks, reassembling into their corporeal form. For the duration of that emote, the familiar is invulnerable.

 

Those through whom the familiar dashes are briefly disorientated by the surge of energy. This stuns those targets for [1] emote.

 

 ✦ This dash can gain the following auxiliary effects through different aura colours:

If the familiar’s current aura colour is Red or Pink, the casting time of this spell is increased by [1] emote, and the targets through which the Celestial dashes are no longer stunned. Instead, upon landing at their target location, the familiar explodes with vigorous energy, knocking back all those within [2] blocks of its destination by [3] blocks.

If the familiar’s current aura colour is Yellow or Orange, the familiar can choose to take [1] wound to immediately dash again at half the distance of a regular cast of Shimmer.

 

The familiar is allowed to weave when dashing, allowing them to pass through multiple targets who are in a roughly straight line.

The familiar may pass through [2] targets at most.

The familiar immediately becomes vulnerable upon reassembling itself.

 

Familiar spell nerfs!

 

@Luxury@sam33497 What do we think with regards to making familiars a little more vulnerable?

@Moribundity I'm hoping that these are obviously very different from past forms of arcanism. I realise that the previous two were, a magic missile and a shield, the two spells which typified arcanism.

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3 hours ago, Aelesh said:

 

Currently, only Voidal Scions and Artificers are able to become Celestial Arcanists, also excluding Voidal Eminence. Furthermore, Exalted Celestialism (the 2 slot version) precludes all capstone feats, including Scions and Artificers.

 

Voidstalking has not been singled out. I felt that Celestial Gardens were almost a feat unto themselves, and I wanted to prevent any issues surrounding being capable of doing too much. I'm very unsure on the slotting of things and want to hear back from people; your thoughts are welcome!

 

If people's feedback leans in the direction that having access to some of the feats is still reasonable and wouldn't be too much, I'd be open to changing what's currently written and opening some of the feats up.

Personally I find that feats such as void-stalking are considerably anathema to what this magics purpose and reason for being is. Choices have consequences. 

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