Hyperdron

-- o O --- O o -- • ~ A Battlebard's Masterful Arsenal ~ • Combos for Creative Souls In the many decades of Bardmancy's fervent spread across the Aevosian realms, the magic has evolved in leaps and bounds - development of ever newer and grander techniques bringing more weird and wonderful ways to enhance one's practices and performances. Falling on the wayside, however, the great weaves that proclaimed Mastery over their Art Type found themselves stagnant, their spells far too complex to implement into the improvisatory threads of String Casting or bear the weight of Delayed Casting. The combative spells especially, meant to be favoured tools of the land's battlebards, saw their uniquely striking properties often disregarded for more mundane and less self-debilitating methods of manipulating a fight. And as such, these battlebards sought to find a new way to empower their weaves' utilities: a combination, focused entirely within the shared boundaries of the Mastery spells. First, it was a minstrel and their voice. Then, a dancer and their cloak. Slowly but surely, these complex tapestries of magic were unravelled by the various masters scattered through the lands, appraised, and threaded together once more - and this time, they bore both the weights of their greatest achievements, finally unlocking the new frontier these warriors sought. --==-- The following Bardmancy Mastery Spell additions take the two basic Mastery spells for each representative Art Type and combine their abilities into one more refined, yet costly alternative to the combative crowd control battlebards are well-known for. All of the Arsenal spells beneath cost [2 spell slots] to cast, and can only be cast once every 12 IRL hours each, much like the other Mastery spells - yet unlike those Mastery spells, these from the Arsenal share that 12 IRL hour cooldown with the two basic Mastery spells involved in its cast. You've got to have both locked and loaded to be able to pull these off! T5 Bardmancers with Mastery in the relevant Art Type need only to be taught the two basic Mastery spells, upon which the related Arsenal spell may be automatically learned. Bodies of Bewilderment (Combat) [4 Emotes: 1 Connection + 2 Channelling + 1 Cast] As opposed to making a creation on the spot through Shape of Beguilement, a Master of the Aesthetic Arts may instead choose to wield one of their premade Lifelike Creations, magically encouraging it to commit to the Performance of its lifetime (in more than one sense). Example Emotes: Muddling Masquerade (Combat) [4 Emotes: 1 Connection + 2 Channelling + 1 Cast] As opposed to using their own movements as a catalyst through Tilting Movement, a Master of the Movement Arts may instead delegate this task to their own performance instruments bound by Tether Dance, directing their paths in a disorienting disco to hassle those who put their Performance area in jeopardy. Example Emotes: Chaotic Cacophony (Combat) [4 Emotes: 1 Connection + 2 Channelling + 1 Cast] When seeking to produce a Discordant Noise, a Master of the Sound Arts may Perform with their own Self-Made Band to shape the resultant deafening din with ever stranger and more horrendous precision. The effects differ depending on whether the Bardmancer is bound to Instruments or an Accessory. Example Emotes: Record of Rapture (Combat) [4 Emotes: 1 Connection + 2 Channelling + 1 Cast] A Master of the Word Arts' Shouted Word of Ludicrous Volume will find their single-word Performance channelling a weirding power when releasing it with the dramatism of an Enthralling Story. Example Emotes: --==-- Purpose ((OOC)) Admittedly, one of the main impulses for submitting this addition was because I personally have been toying with a rough form of one of these particular 'combo' spells on LotC for a while now (though I will affirm this was only done with explicit permission from each event-runner), and tgrt kept idly suggesting I should make that combo spell properly canon. So - instead of just submitting that one combo spell, I figured it'd be nice to give each other Art Type a combo spell of their own too! The current ideal behind Battlebards/general battlebarding seems to be that they do not rise beyond a support role in combat considering the intended power level of the base magic, so instead of outright buffing the numbers, this lore submission aims to give each combination a unique extra effect or two that's characteristic of the Art Type (and non-combative Mastery spell) involved, enabling more diverse methods of disturbing the battlefield. In turn, the detriments have been increased - increased spell slot drain, loss of material/enchantments, or equalised recoils - so that they're not a 'perfect' upgrade. And of course, it's absolutely in character to develop more opportunities for creativity into our silly art magic! --==-- Credits and Thanks @Hyperdron - I wrote a majority (just about) of the words, but the rest was thanks to: Big up to @tgrt and co. for writing the actual Mastery spells! Thanks to @tgrt, @ShinyB and @UniBearse for chitter-chattering about these additions with me! And of course, credit to Bardmancy where it's due: https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/208560-%E2%9C%93-magic-lore-bardmancy/

A certain Av notes the missive during one of their - currently less frequent - wanderings, humming a little tune as they read through. "Well, there we go - finally official, eh?" he grins to himself, and carries on his way.

MC Name: Hyperdron RP Name: Av Persona ID: 73751

A certain Av reads the missive to themselves quietly as they sit in the sands of the Sanctuary's beach. While the 'ame allows a small smile, their gaze rises towards the waves; beneath that blue beyond, amongst the harrowed reef, lay the broken bodies of ships and sailors, destruction left in the creature's wake. A huff escapes them as they roll themselves to their feet, surveying the lapping shore. "Still work ta be done."

A wandering 'ame comes across the proclamation on their own journey to the Tree. "Ah - this was that thing Norra was talkin' 'bout...?" Scanning the words, he emits a small hum, seemingly satisfied by the information given - and heads on his way, now a little more enlightened. "Guess I'll have ta talk ta them a little more..."

yep trees yep trees 👀 Always down for a little more colour in our LotC foliage!

"Huh - guess they brought this back," an 'ame mutters with a slight smile, perusing the newsletter. "Well, it keeps things bubblin' for them. Almost feels like they're askin' me ta summon another one there, though..." He chuckles to himself, and goes on his wandering way, humming a peaceful tune for his sunset companion.

Like last time this was submitted, I'm glad to see things being developed to enable deep-sea exploration. This one in particular being locked behind Automaton Crafting, I'm not too bothered about - as long as other avenues are explored through other lore! I wouldn't want the playerbase that can do such exploration to be too restricted.

With a solid set of guidelines in place for oceanic lore/events, it'll make things a lot more cohesive across the server. Looking forward to seeing this (or a version adjusted under LT supervision) getting through the loremag.

BH half is out let's GOOOO - here's the results of my read-through, as I did with the Communion piece. General comments Just a minor gripe about the some redlines re-specifying emote counts (eg. Blooming, Fertilising) - if these are to imply that interrupting the spell before all the emotes are finished breaks the link, then you can just say that, otherwise it's repeating information already given in the mechanics section. OR the little lines breaking the emotes up into their constituents in the mechanics sections weren't meant to be there in the first place - in which case the redline is fine (it follows the sort-of trend the Communion rewrite does anyway), just remove the redundant information in the mechanics instead. Similar thing with the redlines 'Required to be T? in Blight Healing to be taught' - that information's technically already in the spell title, so it's not really needed. I noticed there's no given block ranges for the fauna-related spells (Regeneration, Beast Purging) and Decay. I half understand, given they're targeted spells rather than AoE, but I'd say they could still do with a maximum effective range (eg. line of sight within 8 metres like Beast Purging's current lore, or even touch distance). If you need to get close to the fauna/flora to do such spells, it leaves opportunity for interesting obstacles in events ("gotta climb this cliff to that little outcrop to heal this fella instead of standing at the bottom and pointing a bit" or "gotta cross this treacherous ravine to get close enough in time"-type interactions). Regeneration "The larger the wound the more staring it causes upon the druid casting" - I assume 'staring' is meant to be a different word, but my mind's blanking as to which. Either way, word probably needs a quick patch-up as this seems to be an important exhaustion function. (Edit: OH! Strain! I assume?) Also, asking to assume the same thing Jack's asking about assuming - no Epiphyte healing? If there is, would that come under Blooming instead, as it seems they're pinned as fae flora (the Cleansing/Beast Purging redlines distinction)? Beast Purging "a Druid may use an advanced form of Purging to heal" - assume you mean Cleansing, now that Purging is no longer the name of a spell in this write. Decay Interaction with Epiphytes/Soul Trees/husks? Since they don't really fall under 'descendants' in druid terms, and again the Cleansing/Beast Purging distinction makes it seem they'd be considered (fae) plants here. "This means is entirely peaceful to the Flora or Faune affected" - since you've been saying this is only applicable to flora, I think you know which bit I'd recommend you cutting from this redline! Grasping Feel like this should be a Combative spell, judging by, well, everything about how it's written. Sealing Is this the spell that'll cover voidal tears/Heith-Hedran rifts? Since I know druids' current mechanical inability to do much with those (beyond the aspect stones/dagger stuff, ouchie) has been a sore point. Would Sealing rid the world of the rift entirely, or is it more of a band-aid that leaves them susceptible to be torn open once more? (Or would that also be up to the discretion of the ET?) Good luck on the submission Mayyy! 👍

Much appreciate the clarifications! I'd second making those clarity edits to Passive stuff and the Exhaustion System - certainly at least clarify the difference between Passive and Non-Combative, as both seem to be used interchangably in the initial system description but then there's Passive on some spells and Non-Combative on others. Since Passive does seem to be referring to Combative abilities that don't cost Chords, probably would be better to slip it into the Combative section instead. Singing The two methods as written here at the moment honestly don't sound very different at all, which is what confused me. It just reads like a spot of bloat. If you want them to have distinct effects, the wording and mechanics should be adjusted to reflect that - for instance, you could specifically define the lesser one as being the outburst of feeling that's just a temporary flicker in the Song (for 2 emotes), while the greater one is the imposition that takes more effort to settle a more constructed presence for longer (the OOC day max). Centred Radius Stuff Doesn't even need to be a redline tbh, can just add 'centred around the druid' somewhere nicely fitting in the mechanics section. Shillelagh Issue's just a personal quirk of mine, then, since I don't think it sounds like a very 'Controlly' ability - but if it makes sense under your definition then nothing much more to say about it. The Infusion version's fine in my book of course! Tree Stride Awesome - would suggest defining their vision as blurring into momentarily blinding bright light then, because the vagueness of 'ethereal' as a word in magic fantasy land invites spiritual-vision shenanigans. "I saw a weird blurry ghost thing hiding just over there as I was shunting to the next tree, maybe it's an enemy!"-type deal. Just think it's worth being clear they're not meant to technically be able to see anything while Striding. Druidic Limbs Still curious about the magical flame stuff. Should that increased potency apply elsewhere as well (eg. Entlings), or be removed from this ability? Druidic Infusion Wanted to double-check if you could provide a response to the 'non-druids usage' redlines and the 'uncombinable with other enchantments'. I despair to assume the uncombinable aspect is a blanket ban, which I guess makes sense but is also a massive F in the chat for the wholesome inner-manapool magics (Housemagery and Bardmancy), since they aren't burdened by a "deity" or "dark" tag. Thumbs up emoji 👍

WOO REWRITE and the new spells are cheeky let's goooo I have a few observations I'd like to query: Generally, I notice some spells have their emote counts split into their constituents (eg. [1 connect, 2 buildup, 1 release] in Twilight's Shroud), but others are more vague (eg. Singing and Greensight). This makes applying the T5 'skip connection' buff to Communion hard to understand. I'd recommend going through and making sure all the consituents are there for consistency and ease of reference - ESPECIALLY clarifying if the skip connection buff is valid or not. Communion You state it only becomes 'passive' at T5, which becomes the 'skip connection' effect - it might be worth describing how 'connecting' during the first 4 tiers works, like how the current lore does, to avoid too much confusion over what stuff is actually passive or not. Might honestly be easier to bump Communion up to a 20 block radius so there's parity with #rp range, but note I didn't think about this suggestion very much balance-wise - just on an OOC easiness level. Deep Stride If this ability doesn't pass I will be Big Sad, let us make more RP underwaterrrr "Should a druid be knocked out within the waters their veil that sorrounded their form would dissapate as they are no longer able to cast. Leaving them to be effected by the elements unless." ... Unless what?! Singing Just curious as to the reasoning for having two methods (for 12x12 and 15x15). Also curious as to the choice of moving away from current lore's radius range (circle) and specifying a square area instead - recognising that Communion here is still a 15-metre radius range, I'm not sure how Singing's max range translates. Is this a square which a druid can plonk down anywhere within their Communion range? Or should this range always be sourced from the druid since they're the locus of the spell, ie. a 15x15 area centred on the druid? Greensight I think the general wording's currently a little unclear for this spell with regards to what blind vs. seeing druids are capable of (the description of the effects themselves are all peachy and cool). I assume the first paragraph is written more from a blind druid's point of view? And then the second paragraph specifies how a seeing druid could access a limited version of the ability. The last paragraph also reads like something that should probably be the first paragraph (20 block range vision but only 15 block range on Communion doesn't match and should be fixed, same with Projection's line of sight). Can Projection make use of multiple senses at the same time? If not, redline it. Why are people being sent to an alchemy post instead of just listing the induced effects in the lorepiece itself, if you want to be that specific? Flash powder's effects also contradict the 3 emote stun - eg. if affected by flash powder you can still move about and attack, you're just blurry-eyed. I think you should curate the effects you're looking for and put them into the spell description itself. Twilight's Shroud Similar thing to Singing - is this 6x6 area centred on the druid, or can it be plonked anywhere in their Communion radius? If interrupted during casting the spell, are the 4 Chords lost? (popular music in shambles) Does this apply similarly for any Chord-consuming abilities being interrupted? I think an answer of 'yes' falls in line with other magics. Shillelagh Just a mild curiosity - if Shillelagh is a form of minor infusion, why is it under Control instead of Nature Infusion? "Sheleighleigh" heh Gleaning 6x6 range for the 2-emote version is slightly unclear again - is that centred on the druid, or centred on the area being Gleaned? And just to check, the effects revert once the druid leaves the area? Entangle/Bramble Wall I saw the 'seeds as flavour' discussion above, I'd be careful with that in case people start carrying pockets around to places where they wouldn't usually be able to use the spell. Entling Creation How do you half three strikes to limbs in the case of azhl and thanhium axes? Round it up to two like the blunt force redline, or allow for a single strike chop? Similar thing for sword/spear+head, 5 emotes gets halved to 2 or 3? Tree Stride How does the 'ethereal' vision work? Should there be a redline against using that vision for metagaming? Druidic Limbs Magical flame mentioned! Does its increased potency apply to any other spells where fire damage is specified? Reversing the topic, does azhl and thanhium also destroy Druidic Limbs quicker? Druidic Infusion Power Sharing - this reminded me that kuila crystals will need a defined amount of Chords they can store as opposed to their current '4 free emotes'. Cleansing - boutta start using these bad boys like torches ngl (will assume the Blight Healing rewrite will expand more on how exactly this works and what limits it has) You started talking/redlining about whether non-druids could use certain infusions or not, but gave up 2 infusions in. That was a good idea, keep doing it!! (Oh you did it with Awakening too, nice) "Druidic infusions cannot be combined with other forms of enchantments" - I assume that's housemagery and bardmancy out of the window too :( Tier Progression The tier 3 -> tier 4 jump is a little confusing. 8 weeks stuck on T3-T4, while only 4 weeks stuck on T4-T5? I get that it's probably to better time the now-available learning of Blight Healing, so this is only a minor thing until that rewrite comes out for perusal. Also I'd imagine the abilities learned requirement is an 'in total' kind of thing rather than 'from the previous tier'? ok that's my thoughts done for now c:

While Aevos' landscapes look honestly incredible, it's an unfortunate side effect that it's all-in on the above-water verticality rather than striking a balance. The sea level is -15, like - nothing spawns in them but glow squids because it's too low for any fish or dolphins to naturally appear. Kinda puts a dampener on immersion in a weird sort of way. I appreciate at least that the builders have submerged a few things this map, ST seem to have some water events foreshadowed, all that. I'm just greedy and want more, and I want more opportunity for more. I welcome pieces like this that try to breach that accessibility gap, to make a step in a good direction - though in the end, each piece is only a step. I'd like to hope we could go much further than this, as long as the server's brave enough for it. Heads-up - I'd love to get in contact with you soon regarding an underwater world lore project of mine, as you expressed trying to enable access to such pieces with this lore. Since I made my server feedback thread regarding underwater accessibility in February, I've been slowly trying to build off that discussion and refine my ideas into readable pieces. If having a look-over or helping out piques your interest, lmk - banding together and pushing the niche as a collective will be easier than going it alone imo, so I appreciate any insights I can get.

A whim brought a certain wood elf to their mailbox one day, a welcome break from the Wisps' whirlpools of creating - only to be greeted with one of these postal cards. It takes them a moment to compute before quietly settling themselves on the grass, mind suddenly running blank. The first thing to fill that void, then, after so many minutes, was a certain roll of silk. "... Guess I'll make ya somethin'."

Gonna jump in quick to answer your particular worry here: I don't believe this is saying druids cannot heal 'the [specific]' source of blight [being focused on], rather it's saying that 'a [non-specific]' source of blight can still spread into/be spread in Restored land. Admittedly, though, the wording could be adjusted for clarity. For example: "Restoration can restore blighted land to its natural state, but does not make that land immune to being blighted again." Hopefully that would fix your concerns with this redline, but feel free to suggest a different wording. The rest of your points, I'll let the druid players continue to discuss! (I'll also take this opportunity to say thanks @WestCarolinafor letting me be a menace to yet another google doc)