[✗] [Lore Amendment] Blood Magic - Ensorcell Material

[rdowdy 236]

In the "Ensorcell Material" redlines of Blood Magic include the addition of

"Non-blood mages may use Ensorcellments, but are required to activate it by feeding it blood. This price can be paid by taking one emote to cut your hand and smear blood across the ensorcelled item, it may also be activated by wounding a recently incapacitated target, or killing a target with the ensorcelled object. Well the ensorcellment is active the wound cannot be closed and blood would continue to travel from the wound to the ensorcelled item making it obvious to any that blood is powering the ensorcelled item. A person would begin suffering the effects of mild blood loss at 6 emotes, and major blood loss at 12 emotes, a player would fall unconscious from blood loss after 18 emotes. Any ensorcelled item being activated would double this effect.

My Reasoning

Spoiler

After Squak's recent post that Blood Magic ensorcellments were almost as common as Voidal Enchants (I hate the void). I thought (a rare thing for me) how can so many people be using Ensorcellments when it's a Dark Magic? That's when it hit me, it's not only Blood Mages using ensorcellments but like regular people. So, I wrote this amendment with the idea that first off
1) This isn't a problem with Blood Mages, it's a problem with the community outside of it.
2) Blood isn't a real requirement for using most ensorcellments, the ones that do requite blood are predominantly non-combative, and even among those that do require blood it doesn't specify an amount. Technically a drop of blood could do it.

3) And lastly, that a greater fix solving the idea with Blood Magic as a whole is unlikely to come soon as the lore likely needs a full rewrite.

With this is mind, I wanted to make something that doesn't effect Blood Mages, and does make Blood Magic Ensorcellments bloody!

Changelog

Spoiler

Added "This redline does not apply to Light, Mist, or Particle." since they are non-combative and already require the use of blood to do. 
Edited Formating and reasoning

Edit from "Non-blood mages may use Ensorcellments, but are required to activate it by feeding it blood. One genus of blood will power the ensorcellment for 10 emotes. This price can be paid by cutting your hand and smearing your own blood across the ensorcelled item, thus paying the required Genus. It also may be activated by dealing the killing blow on an enemy, or taking two emotes to smear the blood of an incapacitated enemy or a willing donator onto the ensorcelled item. This redline does not apply to Light, Mist, or Particle."
To the current. 

 

LET THE BLOOD FLOW! BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GODS!

[hemomancy 2850]

there is nothing wrong with the current ensorcell material? what is the reason even for this? it's created via a ritual, by a blood mage, in a circle of blood, with a ritual powered by blood. they're all, mostly, activated by blood.

[MeteorDragon 2826]

18 minutes ago, rdowdy said:

you don't actually need to use blood to really power these

Spoiler

Quote

Fire: the object becomes blunted and slightly lighter in the spirit of burnt wood. Weapons are dulled and yield imprecise, uneven cuts and are flammable; if touched by fire or wet with a touch of blood it will ignite with mundane flame sustained for up to 4 emotes or 5 narrative minutes. Armor will be resilient to the cold, offering its wearer perpetual heat allowing them to be comfortable in a frigid climate; it too cannot withstand battle and easily splinters and tears.
-Objects may have only certain areas burn as to allow for safe areas to hold.
-The flame is mundane and can be extinguished by normal means, including vigorous swinging. Rain will extinguish the flame in 2 emotes whereas submerging in water is instant.

-The blunting of weapons cannot be negated through metal ensorcellment.

Water: the object becomes hydrophobic and buoyant, able to keep its wielder or wearer dry and afloat. If ensorcelled with another object of similar shape and/or size the two combine and like water may fluidly transform between its two forms with 1 emote when wet with blood. If the object is combative in nature (weapon or armor) it transforms over 2 emotes. Armor will be resilient to heat, offering its wearer perpetual coolness allowing them to be comfortable in a sweltering climate
-The object will not repeatedly transform back and forth when wet; after triggering once the wielder/wearer may will it back and forth so long as it is bloodied and held/worn with the same emote count.
-When approved by ST, water ensorcellments must be screened to ensure the objects in question are roughly equivalent. Ex: umbrella/sword/cane, helmet/hat, spyglass/dagger, boat/cart, etc.

Earth: the object becomes cumbersome and strongly sound-resistant in the spirit of heavy earth. Weapons and armor become twice as heavy but twice as durable, making weapons difficult to swing but yield increased force and armor burdensome yet more steadfast.
-The object’s magical heaviness may force the wielder or wearer to be unable to utilize quick reaction time if the object’s new weight is too heavy for them to efficiently use, making them unable to reactionarily parry if held or dodge if worn. For example, contrary to common depiction in media the average sword is 3lbs / 1.3kg and doubling it would make the sword far less wieldy; the average claymore is 5.5lbs / 2.5kg and it becoming 11lbs / 5kg would make its use far less viable for the average person. Guts’ sword is fantasy.
-Durability is limited to: cloth becomes like leather, leather becomes like chain, chain becomes like plate, and plate becomes akin to thick stone that requires orcish+ strength to even move in.

Air: the object becomes light and graceful like a bird. Weapons and armor are half as heavy but half as effective; weapons swing much easier and strike with precision and agility but create wounds and cause damage far less lethal whereas armor is noticeably more practicable but is less protective and more easily dents or tears.
-Weapons do not gain supernatural accuracy their user is not capable of. As well, their strikes should be treated as if dealt by someone young or feeble to represent their lessened force.
-Effectiveness is limited to: extreme armor (e.g. excessive metal, stone) becomes like plate, plate becomes like chain, chain becomes like leather, leather becomes like cloth, and cloth becomes like paper.

 

Metal: the object becomes lustrous or sparkly and mildly conductive; metal objects ensorcelled with metal become extreme conductors and may inadvertently call down lighting during a storm. If wet with blood the object becomes honed as if sharpened by a smith and retains and restores its edge.
-In no way can the conductive effect of the object be used to weaponize lightning not already in the user’s arsenal, meaning without lightning evocation or storm elementalism this is irrelevant outside events.
-Objects ensorcelled with metal can still break, bend, or otherwise be damaged but blood will restore their sharpness.

Ensorcellments that are aesthetic in nature and are irrelevant to combat may have up to 2 of the following elemental effects, some requiring more study due to their paired rune requirements:

 

Lightning: the object flickers or flashes like a bad light bulb and emits a shrill and sharp pop and crackle when drug against metal or metal ensorcelled objects. Weapons and armor give off a static shock when wet with blood that lingers for 4 emotes until the blood burns away in sparks wherein skin contact with the object delivers a numbing zap that deprives all sensation for 2 emotes where touched.
-The shrill screech effect is not deafening or painful, only alarming. As well, blood that contacts the objects burn away in sparks that cannot blind or harm.
-The numbing effect is surface level, meaning it does not incapacitate or paralyze a person when touched and only removes their sense of feeling in the area.

 

Dark: the object becomes visibly shaded as if underwater and instead of reflecting light on its edges it instead ‘glows’ with shadow and has dark patches. Shadows subtly tug towards the object as if reaching out to caress it and if wet with blood becomes completely and utterly jet black.
-Only shadows within 5 blocks may lean towards the object and by no means enables stealth.
-This cannot be paired with the light ensorcellment.

Light: the object has no shadow and intensifies light sources nearby, kindling torches or aggravating lanterns. If wet with blood the object sheds a glowing light ranging in intensity from moonlight to a torch for up to 2 narrative hours or 30 OOC minutes of any one singular color or it may repeatedly shift between two.
-The object cannot emit light greater than a torch’s light and therefore cannot blind unless forced into someone’s face to fleeting effect.
-This cannot be paired with the dark ensorcellment.

Mist [T2]: utilizing a rune of power in the circle the object may emit steam with a rune of fire and water conjoined, fog with a rune of air and water, or smoke with a rune of fire and air conjoined. This mist may be one singular color or it may shift between two if created with the light ensorcellment. It is only mildly obstructive and imparts mild heat and/or mild fumes. If desired, the aesthetic of the mist may match another effect (e.g. lightning + mist may create a stormcloud sort of look around the object when triggered by blood).
-Steam cannot burn or otherwise cause harm, at most producing a sweat from prolonged contact. Smoke cannot cause harm other than very mild eye irritation and/or coughing. None of the types of mist can be used to create smokescreens or mimic the effects of deadbreath.

Particle [T2]: utilizing a rune of power in the circle the object may exude ash or cinders with a rune of fire and earth conjoined, mud or filth with a rune of water and earth conjoined, or dust or sand with a rune of air and earth conjoined. These particles may be one singular color or it may shift between two if created with the light ensorcellment. They flake, drip, or fall from the object and leave trails that do not and cannot amount to any additional effect such as starting a fire or making the ground slippery.  If desired, the aesthetic of the particle may match another effect (e.g. water + particle may create a briney sludge effect dripping off the object when triggered by blood).
-The object exudes the effect without additional effect, especially combat. Cinders cannot start fires, mud cannot make a floor slippery, and dust cannot blind someone.

 

 

[Ztrog 1031]

Just now, MeteorDragon said:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

So true, so real

[rdowdy 236]

1 hour ago, MeteorDragon said:

  Hide contents

 

 

 

Combative 
Fire: Doesn't need blood, can be activated using mundane fire. 

Earth: Doesn't need blood

Air: Doesn't need blood

Metal: Needs blood, but blade durability isn't a thing. 

Lightning: Main effects doesn't need blood. Activated effect needs bleed and actually does something. (Please someone buff this. Coating a blade in Frostvine salve does the same effect except better and free)

Dark: Main effect doesn't need blood. Activated effect needs blood but is purely cosmetic.

Non-Combative
Water (yes, I consider this Non-Combative. It needs a buff. Having Air Condition doesn't protect against literal fire): Main effect doesn't need blood. The activated effect is kind of just... worse Athin. Ouch. Someone give this man a buff.

Light: Valid. Not really CRP related.

Mist: Valid. Not really CRP related.

Particle: Valid. Not really CRP related.

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!

[MeteorDragon 2826]

20 minutes ago, rdowdy said:

-snip-

 

I think it's fine as is, to be honest, as the ritual itself is done with quite a bit of blood. Sure it doesn't specify how much blood is needed to activate these things, but I don't really think that's much of a problem. Dark, Light, Mist, and Particle are all aesthetic runes, and technically Lightning even though it has non-aesthetic uses. Then you have to think about things like Earth and Air, those are fine as just passive effects, they don't need to be activated with blood imo. At best, I could see an argument for Fire being changed to have it so it can only be activated by blood rather than Fire and blood, but the others don't really need it.

 

Instead, the issue with Ensorcellments is that people, sadly, mass produce them and some people even sell them. I wish there was a better way to tackle this without generally nerfing the already not too powerful abilities these all have. Potentially, a line could be added to specify a "non-insignificant amount of blood".

[rdowdy 236]

7 minutes ago, MeteorDragon said:

 

I think it's fine as is, to be honest, as the ritual itself is done with quite a bit of blood. Sure it doesn't specify how much blood is needed to activate these things, but I don't really think that's much of a problem. Dark, Light, Mist, and Particle are all aesthetic runes, and technically Lightning even though it has non-aesthetic uses. Then you have to think about things like Earth and Air, those are fine as just passive effects, they don't need to be activated with blood imo. At best, I could see an argument for Fire being changed to have it so it can only be activated by blood rather than Fire and blood, but the others don't really need it.

 

Instead, the issue with Ensorcellments is that people, sadly, mass produce them and some people even sell them. I wish there was a better way to tackle this without generally nerfing the already not too powerful abilities these all have.

I don't disagree in a perfect world, and I think the options should still be entirely open to Blood Mages hence why I'm asking for the population able to use them to be nerfed, not the ability itself. But at current unless we can force blood magic to actually be Taboo ensorcellments will continue to be used this way. Hopefully this will also help push the narrative of Blood Magic being a dark magic since it actively requires sacrificing your own blood or stealing another's in a bloody manner.

I also do think at a later date, with usage being decreased we can look into further enhancing their abilities. I think water needs a buff, I think metal needs to actually do something, but let's stop the misuse before we buff it.

[Johann 1418]

A bit of a heavy-handed and reactionary amendment. I wholly agree that BM has conceptual issues, but this is not the bandaid fix it needs at the moment.

[rdowdy 236]

2 hours ago, GrowingIvy said:

there is nothing wrong with the current ensorcell material? what is the reason even for this? it's created via a ritual, by a blood mage, in a circle of blood, with a ritual powered by blood. they're all, mostly, activated by blood.

Yeah, for Blood Mages this isn't a problem. Hence why this nerf only effects the population using Blood Magic without any of the Taboo that actually comes with using Blood Magic. I honestly think down the line Water and Metal (and probably Lightning) should be buffed to have legit effects. 

Edit: Also they aren't mostly activated by blood. The three non-combative ones are. So are Mild Air Conditioning (water) and Lightning but that's not "all, mostly..."
 

37 minutes ago, Johann said:

A bit of a heavy-handed and reactionary amendment. I wholly agree that BM has conceptual issues, but this is not the bandaid fix it needs at the moment.

Is someone actively working on the rewrite that will be released soon? Are there plans to conceptually change Blood Magic in the near future? 

Make no mistake, this is a Band-aid fix, but that's what a Band-Aid is for, stopping the bleeding well you figure out how to deal with the issue. You'll also notice that this change doesn't effect Blood Mages in the slightest.

If someone makes a Blood Magic Rewrite in the near feature to alter this and therefore make this worthless? Awesome, it means the problem has likely been solved, which is kind of what this is all about.

[Benleft 887]

1 hour ago, rdowdy said:

So... is someone actively working on the rewrite that will be released soon? Are there plans to conceptually change Blood Magic in the near future? 
Make no mistake, these are a Band-aid fix, but that's what a Band-Aid is for, stopping the bleeding well you figure out how to deal with the issue. You'll also notice that this change doesn't effect Blood Mages (except maybe their profits). 

No rewrite of blood magic will come quickly. I'd say I'll have one ready in six months if I don't run into crippling roadblocks, but keeping true to the vision Zarsies and Mordu had in mind with my philosophy towards lore is difficult. 

 

This bandaid is trying to fix a problem that does not exist. Resticting who can use them does not change the bad qualities of the enchantment. That being said, Ensorcell Material is a poor spell because it gives power increases that cannot be predicted or "played around" which is poor interaction and borders on bad-faith.

 

Below I've attached my lore manifesto and a discussion of why the current state of BM is not particularly helpful for the server. Cheesers disregard. 

Spoiler

Below is an imagined discussion between Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima to better help you understand my thoughts on lore.

 

"All lore should be treated like games with rules and options. Spells and abilities are options for players to express themselves within the game. Rules restrict their expression to minimize undesirable behavior within the game. Rules should be put in place to prevent the kind of gameplay that hurts the experiences of others, and is fundamentally unfair. For example, a rule may be that Paladanism is incompatible with all Dark and Deific Magics. This prevents Paladins from engaging in gameplay that would deviate from what is obviously that of a Paladin as a holy-purifier of one cause.

 

"Think of a hypothetical Magic A. Magic A has the spells Rally, where a caster may buff up to two allies near them, Shield, where a caster may absorb a hit easily, and Fatality, where they may strike with great strength, and if one ally is also casting the spell at the same time the strength of each Fatality is doubled. If Magic A has a "Holy Magic" ruleset (it cannot be used with other deific or dark magics and feats), then its players will not be able to engage in the kinds of play allowed by other magics.

 

"Magic A's abilities give options for players to express themselves that grow more powerful from being near allies, but not near too many. After a a critical mass of players gather, a player using Magic A will not be able to protect all of their allies and too many people will be casting Fatality at the same time to get the full benefits from it. These cues give players options that are encouraged to be distinct, and unique forms of interaction. 

 

"Lore, and especially magic should be built with these considerations in mind. Build the rules of your game, then offer selected forms of expression that are otherwise unavailable. 

 

"In terms of what lore should and should not encourage, interaction should be paramount. If lore creates scenarios in which only one person has options, it is bad. Blood Magic's Ensorcell Material is a good example of lore that creates an unequal combat scenario. Someone cannot know an item has an Ensorcellment until it has literally hit them in some circumstances. There is no tell to the Lightning Ensorcelled sword on its first swing, and there is no way to know what comes out on the other side of the Water Ensorcelled staff. This creates a gross inequality of options.

 

"Voidal enchantments have (generally) cumbersome activation times to disincentivize the option of using them, requiring very specific conditions for them to be useful in combative scenarios. They are the exact opposite of the potential for "hidden weapon," and generally offer unique options that express the rich setting LOTC provides.

 

"This brings me to what I think is the second most important consideration for lore: Visibility. If lore does things and nobody knows that it is from a lore piece, that is not good. To pick on Ensorcell Material again, someone not being allowed to know that the club that is absurdly heavy and powerful is from Blood Magic is bad because it does not say "BLOOD MAGIC MAKES THIS POSSIBLE! BLOOD MAGIC! BLOOD MAGIC!" It says "My club is very dense, and so is the pool of blood from your broken skull." One of these is obviously preferable to the other. Concealed and invisible lore is unhealthy and frustrating.  

 

"Too much of Blood Magic suffers from both bad rulemaking, poorly defined options, inequality of options, and invisibility. Most of Blood Magic is not seen by the wider server. The last time it was, it got shitposted on for a week because a player used an invisible spell which did not give other players options of engagement. "Vyr entire noble court must emote njose bleeds fyr two emotes now, kya-kya-kya," is harmful to the server. I think Blood Magic can have a much more visible and interactable place in the sun. 

 

"Obviously it is easy to say that Blood Magic sucks because of the people who have it, which while true is a lazy argument that does not get at the core of the problem. Lore should always be written to bring up the least-common denominator and should not rely on gatekeeping, hyper-specific lore knowledge, or unspoken rules of play to create desired gameplay scenarios. Lore should be accessible. Lore should be visible. Lore should be fair. Lore should be fun. Blood Magic is only fun, fair, visible, and accessible to a minority of current Blood Magic players and the wider server. 

 

"Lore shouldn't be cookie cutter, but these are guiding principles I really wish were core to the philosophy of lore on this server that I think you, lore-writer could experiment with. Maybe your lore is good as is and doesn't need all of these, as they are very very idealistic! But maybe it does need them......."

-Kiryu

 

 

Edited July 10, 2023 by Benleft

[HIGH_FIRE 4118]

At the end of the day ensorcell material is a very easily accessible spell that you can only make four enchantments with every two weeks. Any T1 blood mage can make this with four emotes and their own blood, it makes sense that it's not insanely hard to bring the enchantment to fruition. I don't see any need to make the magic less accessible, whether to others or blood mages.

 

It's baseline magic, adding in redlines that essentially gatekeep the use of the ensorcellments for it, purely because we don't want it to be common seems both unneeded and unfair.

[Songwitch 1440]

the only problem bm has is that too many (bad) people have it, simple as

[NLThomas 1065]

As much as I would love to see Ensorcell material be more responsibly used... This doesn't quite feel like a fix and is at best a temporary bandaid to me.

[Traveller 2180]

i wish BM players would just stop spamming ensorcellments, the unique effects aren't cool if everyone and their nan has one. BM is literally one of the most open, creative and unique magics on the server and all you do is make your sword glow. use some of the other spells.

[rdowdy 236]

So. Just to recap the last comments

 

"Ensorcell Material is a poor spell because it gives power increases that cannot be predicted or "played around" which is poor interaction and borders on bad-faith."

"The only problem BM has is that too many (bad) people have it"

"...I would love to see Enscroll Material be responsibly used...

"I wish BM players would stop spamming enscrollments, the unique effect isn't cool of everyone has one."

 

So, of the last 5 comments. 5 have stated they see a problem with Blood Magic. 4 specifying an issue with Ensorcellments. With only one person in this entire comment thread making responses actually relevant to the post (Thnx Meteor. <3)

Benleft, I appreciate the clarity on how long a rewrite might take and the general information your provide, the argument quoted litteraly specified that some Enscrollments are nearing bad faith RP becuase you can't actually identify the qualities. It's almost like seeing blood actively flow to the weapon might help with that an extent, but its also not the point I'm try to remedy.

 

Blood Magic is Dark Magic. Why are Ensorcellmemts as freely accepted as Voidal Magic Enchants? You'd think anyone using a literal dark magic artifact preying on the life force of other people would be seen as something unacceptable. So, let's shut down the bad faith Roleplay and make blood magic bloody.

This still allows dark characters who aren't blood mages to use the enchantments for something narratively interesting through the use of self-sacrifice, or the active drawing of blood from their enemies (or allies.) Wanna use a Blood Magic as a normal person? Consider Murder.

 

So far I've seen one argument actually criticizing the peice. And the rest agreeing "Well I don't think this is a problem. Sure maybe Blood Magic is bad but Ensorcellments are just a part of the greater community issues. So let's just... not fix it." So ya know? If everyone is agreeing its over-used and the lore is so prone to bad faith Roleplay why does it still exist? Personally I'd rather try to fix the problems than just agree "Lore Peice Bad, but let's not fix it anytime soon"