[✗] Void Magic Lore - Electrical Evocation

[TaytoTot 1127]

I love disco I love her ideas this is 10/10 I want to become pikachu thank you

[TeawithFrisket 2616]

Really cool Lore!

 

This post is In R for me atm tho more on it later BUT REALLY ******* COOL TIME FOR PICKACHU RP

[JustMeMorgan 1000]

+1

I don't play but I like the idea of people zapping the **** out of each other again, like the good old days

[alexmagus 575]

On 3/31/2023 at 12:14 AM, Dyl said:

if this passes, can i have my lightning axe back? i lost it when the magic got shelved

DENIED!

[DISCOLIQUID 1956]

 

On 3/31/2023 at 5:46 PM, Luxury said:

 

Typically I wouldn’t agree with the notion that Elemental Evocations should have any hidden effects outside of the effects of the elements they represent (such as a bludgeoning rock blast causing space cancer too…) But you may actually be hitting on something here; If it is supposed that the power of a natural lightning bolt is beyond the scope of Descendant control - then it could be that they draw more influence from the Void for these spells, making it that suggested ‘void flavored lightning’. 
 

Have this magic steer into the power fantasy trope in an unprecedented way, and do so not by making it powerful and flashy, but by dipping it more into the Void than other elemental evocations do.

 

Lightning should therein be colored by caster aura.

 

Aesthetics are being currently considered, aura is a factor, as are the effects of how a mage looks while casting & how a target looks while being struck. I am also considering the aesthetics of voidstalker, eminent, and artificer spells. 

 

On 3/31/2023 at 3:15 PM, Mannamannaa said:

I mean, it's not just lightning but "Void-charged" space cancer entropy lightning, right? Makes sense that it would eat away or similarly screw with beings that run on magic or other Mana substances just as well as living flesh and bone?

 

Also: Are there any weird interactions with storm (lightning) animists? Would be neat from a flavor standpoint if not a mechanical one.
(Force Lightning duels would be fun)

 

Yes, I believe this interpretation is balanced & lends itself to this write. Rather than electricity being a real life copy of a wall socket electrical shock, these voidal lightning bolts focus on disrupting their enemies. This is held up internally by the lore as well, forcing electrical mages to deal with an inability to use potions due to the volatile disruption of their spell's static charge. 

On 3/31/2023 at 1:53 PM, The King Of The Moon said:

@DISCOLIQUIDmake it so I can defib people thanks

 

Your wish is my command, Spark of Life added to the Neutral Spell list for a total of 8. 

 

Change Log & formatting now out. 

[josefwho02 18]

+1

[_Grey_W0lf_ 598]

+1 for sure

[sam33497 2749]

I’ve reread it and have come to give comprehensive feedback.

 

This is an amazing write and is probably the most comprehensive mechanical write ever made for a Voidal magic that I have seen.

 

In general, some pieces are a bit strong, and some need slight clarification. Specific feedback is as follows.

 

Status Conditions:

 

Zapped- It should probably be specified that you cannot move 8 blocks as opposed to the normal 4 in balance default as that extra movement is considered a major action. Or write an exception if you don’t want that to be the case, but I think it’s logical that it would be that way.

 

Just a note for status conditions - my initial thought is that having these different classifications for statuses might make it a bit tedious to RP against electrical evo as you have to learn their effects, but I do think in practicality it will be fine, as the mage should be able to easily communicate the effect of their spells. I just really worry in general that this magic is EXTREMELY easy to powergame, and that the only people who could use this magic effectively are lore-avid or otherwise lore-competent players. I don’t know what the solution to this is; lowering the magic’s complexity kind of defeats the point. I do think that this should still be given a chance as the write itself in extremely sound and can certainly be used for great effectiveness on the server, so long as users of the magic are kept to the high standard of knowing and communicating their lore well.

 

Spells:

 

Split-Shock: I think this spell is just a tad problematic. It’s a long emote count, so abusing it isn’t super easy, but its effect is rather potent. It can be defeated by just pulling out another weapon, but it could be really dumb in a situation where someone relies on a certain weapon (like a MArt or some carbaurum sword or something) and it’s taken out of their hands. It essentially immobilizes them for those two emotes or forces them to abandon their weapon altogether if they wish to continue combat. In general, I don’t think there are lores that displace items from a person as their primary effect - I think there’s a reason for this; it shuts down people’s gimmicks and kind of impedes their RP. This spell is a rather egregious expansion of that, not allowing them to pick it back up. I’d say get rid of that effect and maybe add a Zap to the spell so it’s still usable with the basic disarm that allows them to pick it back up as a major action, essentially rooting them for an emote if they wish to retrieve their weapon (but also providing the additional effect of having them drop their weapon in cases where that might be useful). Disallowing them from retrieving their weapon is a bit much.

 

Numbskull: The range of this spell shouldn’t be capped at 10 blocks. It isn’t very useful like this - once you start charging it (your 10-block anchor being your first charge emote), the target can easily reach you in the meantime. This range cap makes the spell almost completely useless in a normal combat situation.

 

Rebounding Bolt: The spell is so cool, but again I don’t think its range should be capped. Also, it seems like it would take a lot of explaining to everyone around every time this spell is cast, another manifestation of the original problem that I mentioned. Easy to misinterpret or powergame, since it’ll rely on the mage to explain the spell’s complex effects.

 

Scatterspark Field: The range is way too low for this spell to ever be meaningfully used in a direct combat situation, especially since the spell is placed in a certain small radius on the first charging emote.

 

Double Charge: No feedback, just wanted to say this spell is just extremely cool in the way it interacts with the positive/negative charge system. This write is awesome.

 

Lightning Whip: I heavily recommend restricting movement to 2 blocks on the same emote or disabling it entirely the emote the user swings the whip, as an 8 block range is rather potent for a damaging attack you can do every emote. It’s already 3 blocks for the T5 spell, but there’s some weird kiting potential still there. This spell seems to border on OP…. but I think it’s actually fine, just a very potent spell that can do an effect that’s rather unique. I can’t actually think of a reason that it’s strictly OP. It’s gonna be a rather strong enchant, though. That’s a little worrying.

 

In general, you should probably add one more offensive spell that’s capable of burning the enemy or something, just so Lightning Whip isn’t the only spell that does any damage, as it’s rather odd thematically that this is the case. I think you can get a spell like this in that isn’t just a lightning bolt that instakills you, since you’ve perhaps wisely rebranded the magic as electrical evocation.

 

Great job with this though, after learning the server’s lore and having to deal with contradictory and poorly thought out mechanics for a while, this shit is a breath of fresh air.

[DISCOLIQUID 1956]

5 minutes ago, sam33497 said:

I’ve reread it and have come to give comprehensive feedback.

 

This is an amazing write and is probably the most comprehensive mechanical write ever made for a Voidal magic that I have seen.

 

In general, some pieces are a bit strong, and some need slight clarification. Specific feedback is as follows.

 

Status Conditions:

 

Zapped- It should probably be specified that you cannot move 8 blocks as opposed to the normal 4 in balance default as that extra movement is considered a major action. Or write an exception if you don’t want that to be the case, but I think it’s logical that it would be that way.

 

Thought I did, it's currently clarified in the guide I am workshopping. Might edit for clarity, though word economy concerns me. 

 

5 minutes ago, sam33497 said:

 

Just a note for status conditions - my initial thought is that having these different classifications for statuses might make it a bit tedious to RP against electrical evo as you have to learn their effects, but I do think in practicality it will be fine, as the mage should be able to easily communicate the effect of their spells. I just really worry in general that this magic is EXTREMELY easy to powergame, and that the only people who could use this magic effectively are lore-avid or otherwise lore-competent players. I don’t know what the solution to this is; lowering the magic’s complexity kind of defeats the point. I do think that this should still be given a chance as the write itself in extremely sound and can certainly be used for great effectiveness on the server, so long as users of the magic are kept to the high standard of knowing and communicating their lore well.

 

It's two conditions that are mostly common sense. Powergaming the magic is notoriously difficult given the clarity of the immunity window & the lack of damage caused by lightning. If someone didn't know the lore & started insisting the lightning gave 2nd degree burns, or that Zapped/Stunned overlap, it addresses most of this. I suppose your point is that people can get confused and powergame it, but that's on them. If they start imagining lightning has additional riders other than numbness, they're cheating. That said, someone using air evocation has to explain how their air bursts can stun people, so I don't imagine it's too, too complicated. 

 

5 minutes ago, sam33497 said:

 

Spells:

 

Split-Shock: I think this spell is just a tad problematic. It’s a long emote count, so abusing it isn’t super easy, but its effect is rather potent. It can be defeated by just pulling out another weapon, (prepping with auric oil too) but it could be really dumb in a situation where someone relies on a certain weapon (like a MArt or some carbaurum sword or something) (Extreme Knight L) and it’s taken out of their hands. It essentially immobilizes them for those two emotes or forces them to abandon their weapon altogether if they wish to continue combat. In general, I don’t think there are lores that displace items from a person as their primary effect - I think there’s a reason for this; it shuts down people’s gimmicks and kind of impedes their RP. This spell is a rather egregious expansion of that, not allowing them to pick it back up. I’d say get rid of that effect and maybe add a Zap to the spell so it’s still usable with the basic disarm that allows them to pick it back up as a major action, essentially rooting them for an emote if they wish to retrieve their weapon (but also providing the additional effect of having them drop their weapon in cases where that might be useful). Disallowing them from retrieving their weapon is a bit much. (Disagree, have a second sword.)

 

If you have a MART & it's shocked out of your hands, sucks to suck. There are already multiple weapons that are immune to this. Weapons can't be stolen if they're soulbound, and no exception should be given to players who already have powerful items in their disposal. If anything, this allows for the successful counter of otherwise overpowered MArt weapons, which are generally bad design in the first place. And no, no one is immobilized by split shock. If your precious weapon is so valuable that you can't leave it behind, you have to make that choice as a player. People shouldn't have unanswerable gimmicks, and they should be shut down. Combat gimmicks are the bane of the system, and having common answers to over-tuned weapons is the #1 way to make people respect lightning evocation beyond "it kills you" (which it doesn't).

 

The idea that the other evocations don't logically knock weapons out of people's hands (being smashed by 100 pounds of earth, being thrown 15 feet by air, being deluged by a bathtub of water, being exploded on by a bomb) is an extension of how egregiously overprotective melee combatants on LotC are of their gear, unless it's just another nameless ferrum sword. I have almost never seen a knight willingly lose a piece of gear unless the spell literally says they must, and even then, they rarely would rise to actually allow anyone to emote taking the weapon or separating them from their item. 

 

There's also a million spells that let you bind your overpowered Draan Scion thanhium boomsteel aurum Templar mace that let you draw or store it in a single emote. This is a defensive counter reply to one of the most common combat issues: people with overtuned weaponry being able to stomp mages. 

 

I understand your points but I think the spell is clear & balancing it so that it benefits people with carabarum or MArt weapons just isn't in my heart. I genuinely hope the magic makes people think twice about unsheathing their special weapons. 

 

5 minutes ago, sam33497 said:

 

Numbskull: The range of this spell shouldn’t be capped at 10 blocks. It isn’t very useful like this - once you start charging it (your 10-block anchor being your first charge emote), the target can easily reach you in the meantime. This range cap makes the spell almost completely useless in a normal combat situation.

 

Voidal Focus 20 blocks. Balanced around this. 

 

 

5 minutes ago, sam33497 said:

 

Rebounding Bolt: The spell is so cool, but again I don’t think its range should be capped. Also, it seems like it would take a lot of explaining to everyone around every time this spell is cast, another manifestation of the original problem that I mentioned. Easy to misinterpret or powergame, since it’ll rely on the mage to explain the spell’s complex effects.

 

Stunned is easier to understand in my opinion than Void-Stalker cripple or Mystic cripple or Necro Darkening. Yeah, I think it's a little harder to get than "I burn your whole body off with blue fire" but when you as a player aren't being asked to grapple with total incineration, but rather, the eponymous "chain lightning", I think people will take more time to understand. Genuinely, as the effect does not straight up kill people, I believe it operates in better faith & can be a little more complex. 

 

5 minutes ago, sam33497 said:

 

Scatterspark Field: The range is way too low for this spell to ever be meaningfully used in a direct combat situation, especially since the spell is placed in a certain small radius on the first charging emote.

 

Voidal Focus, and I may up it to 3x3. I also just buffed this spell today from 3 emotes cast to 2 emotes cast. 

 

5 minutes ago, sam33497 said:

 

Double Charge: No feedback, just wanted to say this spell is just extremely cool in the way it interacts with the positive/negative charge system. This write is awesome.

 

Thank you! I tried really hard to prevent specific use case abuses with general & thematic writing. 

 

5 minutes ago, sam33497 said:

 

Lightning Whip: I heavily recommend restricting movement to 2 blocks on the same emote or disabling it entirely the emote the user swings the whip, as an 8 block range is rather potent for a damaging attack you can do every emote. It’s already 3 blocks for the T5 spell, but there’s some weird kiting potential still there. This spell seems to border on OP…. but I think it’s actually fine, just a very potent spell that can do an effect that’s rather unique. I can’t actually think of a reason that it’s strictly OP. It’s gonna be a rather strong enchant, though. That’s a little worrying.

 

Sure, channeling the whip might be best to reduce movement by [1] block, but while you're focusing on the enchantment I think you're already down to [3] anyway. I don't mind spiting enchanters to [2] blocks, but I think 8 blocks is pretty close to get to someone as a voidal mage. Keep in mind scions won't be able to cast this anyway. I guess with enchants, though. It's worth some nerf considerations, sure. 

 

5 minutes ago, sam33497 said:

 

In general, you should probably add one more offensive spell that’s capable of burning the enemy or something, just so Lightning Whip isn’t the only spell that does any damage, as it’s rather odd thematically that this is the case. I think you can get a spell like this in that isn’t just a lightning bolt that instakills you, since you’ve perhaps wisely rebranded the magic as electrical evocation.

 

Yeah, I wanna add a lightning drill or some type of attack that doesn't rely on stun/zap in combination, but I worry about the length of the list. I also dislike relying on "second degree" burns, etc, as I think those effects are nebulous. I just hate the idea of lightning bolt lances, and I explained earlier why a "hybrid list" of damage & crowd control might wind up being harder to balance than a single shot thematic. 

 

5 minutes ago, sam33497 said:

 

Great job with this though, after learning the server’s lore and having to deal with contradictory and poorly thought out mechanics for a while, this shit is a breath of fresh air.

 

: )

[Zolla_ 947]

+1 love it n well balanced

[sam33497 2749]

So Erm Are We Forgetting About This Beautifully Balanced And Well Designed Lore Can We Accept This Already

[squakhawk 7303]

This lore has been denied. You will be sent a forum PM regarding the reasons for denial within the next 24 hours.