[✗] [Amendment] Transfiguration - Abjuration

[Yuln 265]

 

Abjuration Rework

OOC reasoning:

Ward Shield reads like it should be the general purpose Abjuration spell, with the second abjuration spell (confusingly named ‘abjuration’) being the more specific counter-spell effect. Ward shield’s phrasing and context also implies that it should be usable in combat, but in its current form it is much weaker than similar spells like Earthen Wall, Vortex or Air Barrier, primarily due to its limited use cases. So my goal here is to bring it in line with those spells and make it a more general purpose defensive magic.

As a throughline from that, I wanted to outline warding enchantments to be clear in how they should work.

Lastly, I propose the spell abjuration is rebalanced to be more generally useful in light of other defensive magic, and possibly more balanced. And it gets a tiny rename to distinguish it from Abjuration as the group of magic.

 

I sincerely believe that without this, or a similar rework to abjuration, the spell Ward Shield might as well be removed.

 

General Redline Adjustments

- Remove: “You cannot Ward and Abjure magic that you, or someone accompanying, do not have an MA in.” (See reworked effect in the individual spells)

- Remove: “You must master a magic (Be tier 3 at least) in order to ward/abjure it. You cannot pick up an MA and drop it a week later and be capable of warding/abjuring it.” (See reworked effect in the individual spells)

- Remove: “You cannot cast other magic alongside your Wards and Abjurations.” (This is needlessly punishing and irrelevant for the abjuration spell, as you are already actively casting that anyways)

- Remove: “If the product of an enchanted object comes into contact with a Ward Shield, it will not deactivate the enchantment, but it will decrease the ward points by the corresponding tier of the enchantment.” (Point system removed)

 

 

Reworked spells to replace the current Abjuration spells:

Ward Shield [C] [Deployable]

Using the concept of expropriating mana to pull apart one’s spells, they can shape this disruptive mana into a protective barrier of distorted, yet glistening air. In some cases tinted in the colour of the mage’s aura. If a spell were to hit a Ward Shield, it would fizzle out into particles of its respective element/magic. Under some circumstances, it may bounce off the barrier.

 

Spoiler

Mechanics (Alternative): 

The mage conjures forth a barrier made of disruptive mana. It can be formed as either a shield, barrier or dome and takes the form of whatever the mage perceives as their defender, such as a castle wall or a group of soldiers. It is transparent, like high-quality glass, and does nothing to obscure vision, but it does block magical effects from being cast beyond it. It does not stop any mundane physical attacks or objects from passing though. Enchanted objects and voidal entities like Jing or Atronachs are stopped by the barrier. Strikes from an Atronach or enchanted weapon may break the barrier in a number of hits equal to the tier it is cast at.

 

When casting, the mage chooses what tier they wish to cast it at. The Ward Shield nullifies any voidal magic of the same tier or lower, it is broken when it is hit by any spells of a higher tier. A [T5] ward shield is broken after being hit by 2 spells of its same tier. Whenever the Ward Shield is broken by any external force the mage is stunned for 1 emote.

 

It can be cast in the following forms:

 

Shield: Ward Shield manifests as a movable shield 3 meters wide and 3 meters tall. 3 emotes. This spell can be sustained for 4 emotes, with every 4 emotes afterwards costing the same as a new spellcast. [1 connect + 1 charge + 1 cast].

Barrier: Ward Shield manifests as a vertical wall 6 meters long and 4 meters tall at max. 3 emotes. This spell can be sustained for 4 emotes, with every 4 emotes afterwards costing the same as a new spellcast. [1 connect + 1 charge + 1 cast].

Dome: Ward Shield manifests as a dome of a 4 meter radius and 4 meter height at max. 4 emotes. This spell can be sustained for 4 emotes, with every 4 emotes afterwards costing the same as a new spellcast. [1 connect + 2 charge + 1 cast].

 

Redlines:

- Shield and Barrier allow the mage to move around while it is being sustained though the latter limits them to walking pace. Dome requires the mage to remain stationary.

- Ward Shield is not a physical barrier and cannot block any non-voidal effects or attacks.

- Any outside force breaking the Ward Shield will daze the mage for 1 emote.

- The mage may stop sustaining the Ward Shield at will, causing it to instantly disappear.

- Ward Shields cannot deflect spells at people. Deflection is a flavor spell and cannot do any environmental damage without RO permission.

- You must remain connected to the void while sustaining Ward Shield.

- War Shield is Deployable, meaning it costs no emotes to maintain its effect for the duration that it is active. Unlike other deployable spells, you are able to cast any other spell (not limited to only transfiguration) or use enchantments as normal while sustaining Ward Shield, but your spells or enchantment effects cannot pass through the barrier.

- Ward Shield does not impede vision, but it does impede line of effect, blocking spell effects that might otherwise be able to be cast behind it.

- Moving through a ward shield while maintaining or charging a spell immediately disconnects you from the void.

- Purposefully moving a ward shield through a hostile mage that is casting a spell breaks the Ward Shield and does not disconnect them from the void.

 

Ward Enchantment [NC]

A mage may store a warding effect in an enchanted object to protect the bearer of the object against a certain type of magic

Spoiler

Mechanics:

The mage invests the object with an aura of disruptive mana. Upon activation (3 emotes), this encapsulates the bearer of the object for 4 emotes. The disruptive mana stops the bearer from connecting to the void and disables any other enchantments on the person’s body, including other wards.

 

When creating a ward the mage must choose a type of voidal magic they know and have an MA in of at least [T3] or above, or have an accompanying mage that knows said magic at the appropriate tier. The ward is as strong as the tier of the mage enchanting it and will nullify any magic of the warded type below that tier. If the ward is hit by a spell of equivalent tier to its strength, the enchanted object shatters and is rendered unusable, stunning the bearer for 1 emote in the process.

 

Redlines:

- You may only create ward enchantments against voidal magics you have at least a [T3] MA in. Or have someone coenchant with you with said MA.

- You may only have one active ward on you. Carrying multiple active wards will disable all your wards, though still you will still be blocked from casting magic.

- Ward enchantments against evocations will repel their related constructs (Jing/Atronachs), but don’t dispel them.

 

Abjure [C] (Renamed from Abjuration)

A similar process to casting a Ward Shield, although rather than distributing the disruptive mana out into a barrier, it is compacted into a base-ball sized concentration of distorted air (or the mage’s aura) and launched as a projectile at an opposing spell, travelling at the speed of an arrow. Upon impact, the Abjuration will take control over the spell’s mana makeup, returning it to the void.

Spoiler

Mechanics:

The transfigurationist creates a projectile of disruptive mana that nullifies another active or charging spell. In creating their abjuration they must choose what kind of magic they wish to target. If the target magic is of a sort the mage has an MA of at least [T3] in, casting Abjure takes 3 emotes (1 connect, 1 charge, 1 cast). If the mage lacks a suitable MA, casting Abjure takes 5 emotes (1 connect, 3 charge, 1 cast).

When the projectile hits the target spell it consumes the mana of both spells’ mages and ending both spells. The abjurer loses as much mana as the tier of the abjured spell. If Abjure hits a spell of a type not targeted (i.e. it hits a water projectile, but it was targeted towards fire evocation), nothing happens to either spell and both remain active and continue their trajectory.

 

Redlines:

- You must RP your mana being consumed when you Abjure a spell. If the spell is only half formed and gets hit with an Abjuration, only half of the mana the spell would cost would be drained from the Transfigurationist’s mana pool. This acts as a soft mana system.

- If Abjure hits an enchanted object, it will disable the enchantment for a number of emotes equal to the tier of the mage times two.

- Abjure may destroy an enchanted object after a mage has identified it using Voidal Feeling at a mana cost equalling the tier of the enchantment.

- Ward Shields are immune to Abjure.

 

Summary

- Removed redlines that limit Abjuration spells from only protecting against magics you already know, and removing redlines that stop mages from casting other magic while having Abjuration spells active, turning it into a more general purpose defense magic.

- Removed Ward Shield’s point system and reworked its potential forms.

- Clarified ward enchantments.

- Gave Abjure an option to dispel magics the mage does not know at the cost of more emotes.

 

 

Changelog

Spoiler

- Removed point system from Ward Shield to make it simpler to RP with.

 

Edited March 3 by Yuln
Formatting

[Yuln 265]

An alternative way for Ward Shield to function:

You choose the tier you cast Ward Shield at. It blocks all magic from that tier and below. If a spell is cast at it a higher tier, that instantly shatters the shield, stunning the mage for a round. A T5 ward shield can take 2 hits from T5 spells before it shatters.
The shape of the shield is no longer determined by the tier, just by the choice of the caster, with their different sizes having different benefits and drawbacks.

That would simplify its logic during roleplay and means you no longer have to keep track of points.

 

[Edit: Implemented!]

Edited March 3 by Yuln

[Pallodium 3775]

This lore has been denied.

 

At this moment, LT are not interested in giving vehemently buffing changes to abjuration, especially considering it now exists in a 1-slot magic and not in a 2-slot one. The severe changes here both involve overtly fixated buffs which are not balanced in the modern lore environment within CRP whatsoever, whilst further diluting the general  core 'downside' of Abjuration away- you need to know something to abjure it. This further also aides towards a slow bloating of Transfiguration- as such, we sadly will not be considering this amend or future iterations of it for submission.