Search the Community

It’s that time of the month again & much like how Arcane Evocation was expanded I am now here to revisit shifting lore and find possible expansions. Currently shifting is pretty kick-ass and offers high mobility in combat situations, something that has been fun to play around with. However it has been sort of lacking in that it only can ever do a single thing. With its limits the only viable uses of the magic are to dodge attacks and escape or to use it as an engage. Going forward I like to keep to the support-style magic that shifting is and add some neat spells. Without further ado; -= Voidal Shifting Additions =- Shifting has long been the art of the nimble mobility mage but has been left largely undeveloped and left in the shadows of the once great magic, blinking. Now, with the magic grown, it's foundations researched and it's users experienced new avenues of usage are being discovered. Not from the actual act of shifting one's bodies but instead controlling the technique used to shift, the voidal anchor. The anchor is what a shifter casts in order to keep their forms from dispersing into the void, never to return. With each of these spells we see the energy output that would go into a shift instead heading between anchors directly. This rippling effect is no more harmful than shove but can cause debilitating slows and dazes to control the manipulate the movement of foes. It's weakness is in that it can deal no direct damage and has no power immediately knock-out or kill an opponent. Among the magics shifting requires extremely careful planning and precision but through the new spells there are now other strategies to explore as well as giving it a more defined purpose & role as a subtype. Voidal Anchor - The anchor is the integral function of voidal shifting and is what allows the caster safe-passage through the void. When cast on non-living objects, things without aura, the voidal anchor is almost invisible and represented by a feebly small black dot. It serves as a point of concentration and the end point for a mage as they shift through the void. Voidal Anchor II - Now void anchors can be cast on living objects, things that produce aura, and glows with the caster’s distinct aura color. The act of placing an anchor on a sentient being is not instant and instead of being able to freely attach one the caster must cast an anchor and launch it at their target. The projectile anchor, unlike a regular anchor, is visible. The small black dot (the anchor) is now about the size of an egg and glows with the caster’s aura color. An opponent facing a shifter would be able to notice the anchor being formed and if hit by it wouldn’t be injured. They would instead have energy glowing from where the area that was hit, signalling to both the caster and the victim that the anchor has been placed. Voidal Anchor III - Multiple void anchors can be placed. However if the caster wishes to cause distinct interactions other than shifting themselves they must place the larger anchors. A normal anchor is not able to be placed and then turned into a larger anchor either. Once multiple large anchors (noted by their visible glow) are hooked in the caster can proceed to perform an array of spells. Anchors share an invisible, non-binding, tether which acts as a focal point. Being affected by the ripple affect is like a concentrated earthquake is happening just over your body, restricting your ability to move your limbs to a degree. This means that the victim CAN still move but are greatly impaired and slowed while doing so. The reverberation only lasts a few moments though so a shifter using them is often less viable if they are trying to take on an opponent(s) by themselves. Voidal Pulse - Where a normal anchor glows, this spell requires an incomplete anchor to be formed and it pulses. This signals to both the caster and the opponent that an anchor is going to be thrown but it won’t hook into the target. Instead the act of shooting off an anchor but not allowing it to hooking causes a ripple in the void. The consequence of this is intense vibrations that catch up with the target area. While difficult to land a direct hit if an opponent is hit they will suffer the effects of the ripple in the form of impairment of coordination, causing potent slowness. The act of getting hit by a pulse is not life-threatening by itself but if landed near the head it can also daze the target, even debilitate. If the pulse does not land on a target and instead an obstacle or terrain the immediate area is affected by a pulse about half the strength of one that did hit a target Voidal Resonance - When at least two anchors are hooked in and within proximity of each other the act of sending a voidal pulse towards one will cause it to reverberate between them. The effect is similar to a voidal pulse but it is drawn out. One anchor will be affected before the energy is thrown to the next anchor freeing the previous one for a moment before the pulse travels back. It bounces between the anchors until the anchors are no longer in proximity to each other, or if an obstacle comes between them or the caster dissolves the anchor or if one anchor in the chain is broken. ( Proximity is best measured by blocks. 1-2 blocks between anchors causes almost constant reverberation. 3-5 blocks have a few second delay increasing a second per block after 6+ blocks and ending if more than 10 blocks of space are between the anchors. ) Leash - The caster can now launch and pull anchors towards other anchors. The caster is only able to drag one anchor at a time. One anchor is placed on a target or terrain and another is placed on a separate target. The caster pulls that second anchor towards the other, destroying the anchors, and in the process sending whatever it was attached to towards the other anchor. The heavier the target the less they are moved by the leash. The act of leashing does not cause injury but can cause the target to suffer from collisions. Bounce - The user can throw their bodies between set, hooked in, anchors. The act of doing this is much less controlled and can cause the user to be thrown from the void should their anchors become blocked by an obstacle. This allows the caster to transition between set points more rapidly. Likewise if the anchors are set on living targets a shifter can bounce between them destroying the anchors to cause a more intense voidal pulse, possibly knocking an opponent down. TLDR; - Two types of anchors. Personal anchors for shifting and hooking anchors. Hooking anchors are larger and allow different spells to be cast. - New spells cause debilitation if head hits are landed but mostly just used for slowing enemies and positioning control. Questions? This may be subject to change though I would like to have a talk with the LT per usual to hash out ideas. Shifting is over half a year old and suffers from what arcane missiles suffered from. It's currently a potent single spell. Sound magic is the inspiration as you can see. I think this may cause a larger draw and better define the magic. It's a position control magic. It has no direct killing power but can be devastating in team combat! Yas!