Post by Pie on Feb 6, 2013 23:45:11 GMT -5
Magic 101
What is magic? That's the first question that needs to be answered before we can delve any further into this topic. Magic is a special power, that comes from within. In human history, it has known many names. Chi, energy, and chakra are just a few of these things. It is a power different from physical strength altogether, and comes from the soul of the person using it. In fact, magic is the art of using one's soul as a source of power. This makes it very strong, but also very dangerous. Those who are not well versed in magical arts will quickly tire themselves while trying to use magic. Mastery over one's soul is not accomplished overnight, and thus the pursuit of the highest levels of magic is a long journey.
Magic comes in many forms in this world, but they all effectively come down to one thing: using the energy of your soul itself for purposes it probably was never designed for. Common uses of magic include creating matter or energy, summoning powerful beings from other realms, absorbing the soul of a beast to become that beast, and plenty of others. In case it wasn't obvious, the laws of physics mean very little in the face of magic. This is a power that surpasses the written laws, but it still has plenty of limitations. There are many things magic simply cannot do, and those will be discussed in specific cases later on.
One of the most common forms of magic is the ability to create energy or matter of a single element. Examples of this in the anime/manga include ice-make magic, dragon slayer magic, and wind magic. There are plenty of types of magic beyond this, but because these types of magic are quite common, it is important to understand how the elements interact with each other. Some elements are stronger against other elements. For example, water is strong against fire. These differences can be overcome by a powerful enough mage (or a skilled enough roleplayer) but the advantage is significant. For now, just remember that an elemental advantage makes your magic twice as strong. Below is a table detailing what given elements are strong and weak against. This table is not exhaustive, and other elements may be created. This is simply a list of some of the common ones. Some uncommon ones are listed as well, because those are going to be implemented by at least one character for sure.
| Element | Strengths (2x) | Weaknesses(0.5x) |
| Fire | Plant Ice Iron | Water Earth Air |
| Water | Fire Earth Poison | Plant Lightning Ice |
| Earth | Fire Lightning Ice Air | Water Plant Iron Diamond |
| Lightning | Water Air Ice | Earth Plant Poison |
| Air | Fire Plant Poison | Lightning Ice Earth |
| Iron | Earth Poison | Fire Diamond |
| Poison | Diamond | Iron |
| Plant | Diamond Water Earth | Fire Ice Air |
| Ice | Water Air Plant | Fire Earth Lightning |
| Diamond | Earth Iron | Poison Plant |
| Light | Darkness | None |
| Darkness | Light | None |
Magic Mechanics
As you can see from the table, elements have varying amounts of strengths and weaknesses. Some elements, such as poison, only have a single strength, but they also have a single weakness. The only elements that have unequal strengths and weaknesses are light and darkness, which are both more effective against each other. That probably sounds confusing at first, but don't worry, it will be explained shortly! Before we can explain how elemental advantages really work though, the mechanics behind magic need to be explained. As a warning, this section will contain a bit of math. None of it is beyond an algebra 1 level though, so you don't need to run away screaming just yet!
We mentioned before that magic is the power of the soul, and this has already explained part of how magic works. Magic, and mages, are all ranked from D-class, which is the weakest, to A-class, which is far more powerful. Beyond A-class, there is S-class, which is the pinnacle of power that a player character can reach. There are SS and SSS classes as well, but these are the levels of power that only NPCs can obtain. These classes act as multipliers when determining the damage done by spells. Keep in mind that these are guidelines. Spells can be created that do no damage easily. In very limited cases, some spells may do more damage than the standard damage for that class. This always requires a significant drawback, such as the spell also harming the caster equally, or it draining far more stamina than usual. The standard classed damage is as follows:
In case the above table isn't clear, here is a quick explanation. The damage potential for a spell of a given class is equal to your character's soul stat times a given number. For D-Class spells, the damage potential will equal half of your soul stat. For S-class spells, it will be five times your soul stat! Again, these are the standard numbers, and are not applicable for all spells. Some readers of this passage have probably noticed some funny wording in this explanation though. I am referring to "damage potential." Damage Potential is the amount of damage a spell will deal to an unarmored opponent who takes the spell head on, without trying to defend in any way, without factoring in any kind of elemental differences.
Offensive spells vs defensive spells is generally pretty simple. Defensive spells have hitpoints equal to the damage potential of a spell of the same class, plus 50%. For example, a C-class spell would have 150 hp if you have 100 soul, because C-class spells have a damage potential equal to your soul (150=100+(100/2)). If the defense is reduced to zero HP, then the attack keeps going. When two attacks meet, their damage potential is compared. If the attacks are equal in strength, they cancel out, and probably cause some kind of explosion. The exact result depends on the techniques involved, and is left up to creative freedom. The only thing that is certain, is that the result will not harm either combatant. It might blow some dust in their eyes, but that's about it.
So what happens if one attack has more damage potential than the other attack? In most cases between equally matched opponents, probably nothing. However, if one attack has a 50% higher damage potential than the other side, that attack will obliterate the other attack. In order to do this, it will lose damage potential equal to the potential of the attack destroyed. For example, if RPC #1 launches a fireball with 20 damage potential at a dragon's fire breath that has 1,000 damage potential, the dragon's attack will obliterate the fireball, and be reduced to 980 damage potential. The attack will then continue on it's trajectory. This outcome makes it very hard for the mage whose attack was obliterated to dodge. The mage whose spell was obliterated wants to dodge in this situation, their attack will have to have been decently far away from them when it was destroyed, and they will still need a good mind and speed to dodge the attack. In the average case, the person whose attack was defeated will be hit, but exceptions happen.
Now, you're probably thinking, "Getting 50% more damage potential than my opponent sounds pretty hard Pie!" You'd be right most of the time, but there are circumstances in which the 50% difference is pretty easy to obtain. The first circumstance is that one mage is a higher class than the other. This means they will have higher stats, and access to higher class spells. In that circumstance, getting 50% more damage potential than the opponent is pretty easy. The other circumstance is the reason we launched into this discussion of damage potential: elemental advantages. When two attacks meet, if one is strong against the other: then its damage potential will be treated as double for that calculation. This means that even mages of a lower class can overcome their opponents if they have an elemental advantage! That is still somewhat rare, but it is possible.
There is one other thing worth nothing in this section: spell cast times. With rare exceptions (the main exception is spells that are purely for flavor and don't really do much of anything) spells are not usable instantly. Most spells generally take at least a few instants to activate, but this varies wildly with the nature and power of the spell. This logic is partially explained via IC mechanics, and partially via OOC ones. IC: most spells require their name to be called out in order to be activated. There are exceptions to this of course, but, in general, spells do not activate until their name is called out. OOC, spells need cast times for balance reasons. If all spells could be fired off instantly, then it would never make sense to use a more powerful spell. The way the system works, without spell cast times, someone could just fire off 6 C-rank spells to beat an S-rank spell. That doesn't really flow well writing wise, and just comes off as metagaming-tastic. If you're unsure how long a spell should take to cast, the main consideration is making the spell fair. Anything that would guarantee an autohit is generally unacceptable. As always, ask staff if you're unsure how to balance things.
We mentioned before that magic is the power of the soul, and this has already explained part of how magic works. Magic, and mages, are all ranked from D-class, which is the weakest, to A-class, which is far more powerful. Beyond A-class, there is S-class, which is the pinnacle of power that a player character can reach. There are SS and SSS classes as well, but these are the levels of power that only NPCs can obtain. These classes act as multipliers when determining the damage done by spells. Keep in mind that these are guidelines. Spells can be created that do no damage easily. In very limited cases, some spells may do more damage than the standard damage for that class. This always requires a significant drawback, such as the spell also harming the caster equally, or it draining far more stamina than usual. The standard classed damage is as follows:
| SSS-Class | 10x Soul |
| SS-Class | 7x Soul |
| S-Class | 5x Soul |
| A-Class | 3x Soul |
| B-Class | 2x Soul |
| C-Class | 1x Soul |
| D-Class | 0.5x Soul |
| E-Class | None |
In case the above table isn't clear, here is a quick explanation. The damage potential for a spell of a given class is equal to your character's soul stat times a given number. For D-Class spells, the damage potential will equal half of your soul stat. For S-class spells, it will be five times your soul stat! Again, these are the standard numbers, and are not applicable for all spells. Some readers of this passage have probably noticed some funny wording in this explanation though. I am referring to "damage potential." Damage Potential is the amount of damage a spell will deal to an unarmored opponent who takes the spell head on, without trying to defend in any way, without factoring in any kind of elemental differences.
Offensive spells vs defensive spells is generally pretty simple. Defensive spells have hitpoints equal to the damage potential of a spell of the same class, plus 50%. For example, a C-class spell would have 150 hp if you have 100 soul, because C-class spells have a damage potential equal to your soul (150=100+(100/2)). If the defense is reduced to zero HP, then the attack keeps going. When two attacks meet, their damage potential is compared. If the attacks are equal in strength, they cancel out, and probably cause some kind of explosion. The exact result depends on the techniques involved, and is left up to creative freedom. The only thing that is certain, is that the result will not harm either combatant. It might blow some dust in their eyes, but that's about it.
So what happens if one attack has more damage potential than the other attack? In most cases between equally matched opponents, probably nothing. However, if one attack has a 50% higher damage potential than the other side, that attack will obliterate the other attack. In order to do this, it will lose damage potential equal to the potential of the attack destroyed. For example, if RPC #1 launches a fireball with 20 damage potential at a dragon's fire breath that has 1,000 damage potential, the dragon's attack will obliterate the fireball, and be reduced to 980 damage potential. The attack will then continue on it's trajectory. This outcome makes it very hard for the mage whose attack was obliterated to dodge. The mage whose spell was obliterated wants to dodge in this situation, their attack will have to have been decently far away from them when it was destroyed, and they will still need a good mind and speed to dodge the attack. In the average case, the person whose attack was defeated will be hit, but exceptions happen.
Now, you're probably thinking, "Getting 50% more damage potential than my opponent sounds pretty hard Pie!" You'd be right most of the time, but there are circumstances in which the 50% difference is pretty easy to obtain. The first circumstance is that one mage is a higher class than the other. This means they will have higher stats, and access to higher class spells. In that circumstance, getting 50% more damage potential than the opponent is pretty easy. The other circumstance is the reason we launched into this discussion of damage potential: elemental advantages. When two attacks meet, if one is strong against the other: then its damage potential will be treated as double for that calculation. This means that even mages of a lower class can overcome their opponents if they have an elemental advantage! That is still somewhat rare, but it is possible.
There is one other thing worth nothing in this section: spell cast times. With rare exceptions (the main exception is spells that are purely for flavor and don't really do much of anything) spells are not usable instantly. Most spells generally take at least a few instants to activate, but this varies wildly with the nature and power of the spell. This logic is partially explained via IC mechanics, and partially via OOC ones. IC: most spells require their name to be called out in order to be activated. There are exceptions to this of course, but, in general, spells do not activate until their name is called out. OOC, spells need cast times for balance reasons. If all spells could be fired off instantly, then it would never make sense to use a more powerful spell. The way the system works, without spell cast times, someone could just fire off 6 C-rank spells to beat an S-rank spell. That doesn't really flow well writing wise, and just comes off as metagaming-tastic. If you're unsure how long a spell should take to cast, the main consideration is making the spell fair. Anything that would guarantee an autohit is generally unacceptable. As always, ask staff if you're unsure how to balance things.
Spell Ranks in Depth
Magic is finally starting to come together! At this point, you now know about the nature of magic, the kinds of power it can have, how elements interact with each other, and that spells are ranked. But, the explanations thus far have left out an important detail. Beyond damage, what should one expect from a given rank of spell? Let's start with an explanation of E-Class spells, since they are the clear outlier above. This is the only class of spell that can never do damage. So then, what is the purpose of an E-Class spell? These spells are more "feats of magic" than full on spells. These are little things, such as a wind mage manipulating wind currents to fly, or a fire mage lighting a candle. Surrounding yourself in a purely visual aura of magic would also be an E-Class spell. E-Class spells are mainly meant to give your characters some additional flavor, and are not designed to be game-changing in combat. E-Class spells are unique in that they only take up one half of a spell slot, meaning that you can have a lot of little feats your mage can perform. You can unlock these "half-spell slots" by having only 5 soul.
D-Class spells are where we get into the truly offensive magic. These spells are generally quite small, but are relatively easy to perform. Novice mages will still be relatively quickly tired by using these spells in succession, but high-class mages can utilize these spells with ease. D-Class spells might include things such as lighting your first on fire, telekinetically controlling a weapon, or creating a small ball of ice out of thin air. C-Class spells can are where seriously cool magic starts. This class of spells can include magically damaging projectiles ranging from basketball to human sized. B-Class magic is the start of most of the magic we see in the manga, where experienced mages go at it. This would include things like reequipping both a weapon and armor at once, a weak dragon slayer's roar, and some of the early takeover magic we see. A-class magic would be things like full-powered dragon slayer roars, ice bazooka, or summoning a weak celestial spirit. S-class magic are things that should end a fight in an instant, and are generally only survived by the strongest mages (in the show, this is read as plothax). Things like Azuma's massive fireballs, roar of the fire and lightning dragon, summoning Loki, and the Legendary Fairy Magics are S-Class.
One of the other important differences between classes of spells is how much energy they take to perform. E-Class spells barely take any effort at all, but an S-Class spell will probably leave in the most powerful mages panting a bit. Below is a chart detailing the stamina costs of the various classes of magic. For convenience, damage is also listed in this chart. Enduring spells will cost half as much as their initial casting cost per post by default, though this is variable based on the nature of the spell.
D-Class spells are where we get into the truly offensive magic. These spells are generally quite small, but are relatively easy to perform. Novice mages will still be relatively quickly tired by using these spells in succession, but high-class mages can utilize these spells with ease. D-Class spells might include things such as lighting your first on fire, telekinetically controlling a weapon, or creating a small ball of ice out of thin air. C-Class spells can are where seriously cool magic starts. This class of spells can include magically damaging projectiles ranging from basketball to human sized. B-Class magic is the start of most of the magic we see in the manga, where experienced mages go at it. This would include things like reequipping both a weapon and armor at once, a weak dragon slayer's roar, and some of the early takeover magic we see. A-class magic would be things like full-powered dragon slayer roars, ice bazooka, or summoning a weak celestial spirit. S-class magic are things that should end a fight in an instant, and are generally only survived by the strongest mages (in the show, this is read as plothax). Things like Azuma's massive fireballs, roar of the fire and lightning dragon, summoning Loki, and the Legendary Fairy Magics are S-Class.
One of the other important differences between classes of spells is how much energy they take to perform. E-Class spells barely take any effort at all, but an S-Class spell will probably leave in the most powerful mages panting a bit. Below is a chart detailing the stamina costs of the various classes of magic. For convenience, damage is also listed in this chart. Enduring spells will cost half as much as their initial casting cost per post by default, though this is variable based on the nature of the spell.
| Class | Damage | Stamina |
| SSS | 10x | 200 Stamina |
| SS | 7x | 150 Stamina |
| S | 5x | 100 Stamina |
| A | 3x | 50 Stamina |
| B | 2x | 25 Stamina |
| C | 1x | 10 Stamina |
| D | 0.5x | 5 Stamina |
| E | None | 1 Stamina |
One of the other things comes up is ongoing spells. There are three types of things to consider here. Ongoing attacks, ongoing defenses, and ongoing stamina costs. Ongoing defenses are simple enough. All defenses have a set number of hitpoints, and thus they don't need any additional stamina cost. Those hitpoints are equal to what the damage potential for the spell would be if it was an offensive spell + 50%. For defenses that can be maintained longer than usual, it would be possible to make one that you could "refresh" by paying the stamina cost again, but that would have to make sense based on how the spell works. Ongoing stamina costs are pretty simple as well. In general, the rule of thumb is that you pay the standard activation cost on a technique. Every post it lasts beyond the first one requires a stamina cost equal to the normal cost of a spell one class lower than the spell used. For example, if you use a C-class spell, it would cost 10 stamina on post one, and 5 stamina to keep it going each post after that.
There are a lot of exceptions to the additional stamina rule. Most obviously, E-Class spells. These would just have the standard cost paid every round, since it's only a single stamina point. You can also have spells that have persisting effects, without meriting an additional cost every round. For example, "Iron Make Sword" would be a spell that would simply last until it is broken. In addition, there are limits on how much moves can be made to persist. All techniques that last longer than a single post, and have a continuous effect, but do not have an ongoing stamina cost should have a maximum number of posts they last. As always, there are exceptions to this rule. It's mostly based on how the individual spell works. It's generally recommended that you talk to an admin if you're unsure whether or not your spell should have an ongoing stamina cost. As a rule of thumb, if your spell is changing anything in any way, it will have an ongoing cost. If it's a static object (such as Static Maker Magic) then it can probably just chill. For the record, Takeovers will ALWAYS have an ongoing cost.
One of the major exceptions to these rules is poison typed damage. Poisons come in two forms: instant and ongoing. Instant poison spells function just like anything else. Ongoing poison spells have a higher overall damage output, but are far weaker in spell vs spell confrontations, and are generally harder to land. Ongoing poisons need to physically enter the body of the target. This can be done through striking exposed skin, or sending it into an opening, such as the mouth. Ongoing poison only has 50% of the damage potential of normal poison, but it will do this damage when it hits, and then during the next two posts after the damage is taken. This means that ongoing poison will do more damage than other spells in the end, but it will take time to work, and will almost always lose in a spell on spell fight. Poison mages can still use instant poisons to effectively counterattack spells, so they aren't without options. It's just something they will need to keep in mind. Ongoing poisons cost no additional stamina beyond the standard cost.
Stat Increases and Decreases
One of the things that has come up is the ability to use your magic to increase your stats. A maker mage might want to buff up their defenses by wearing armor, or a wind mage might want to use wind currents to make themselves faster. In order to prevent this from becoming complete and utter cheese, stat increases need to be limited in some way. The way we have chosen to limit them is pretty straightforward. In general, you can only increase one stat at a given time. A given spell should also not increase all aspects of a given stat. For example, the wind mage would be making himself faster, not stronger.
The actual mechanics of how this is done is pretty straightforward. You can never use magic to directly increase a stat without those stats coming from somewhere. The only exception to this is a spell that grants you trait points, such as a takeover. Spells increase a stat should not also increase damage. If you are increasing a stat, then that value you are adding to that stat should be a portion of your soul stat. D-class spells can add up to 20% of your soul stat to a value, C-class can add up to 40%... up to S-Class spells being able to add up to 100% of your soul stat onto a given value. For spells that last longer than a single instance of attack, the stat increase should actually be subtracted from your soul. For example, if a mage with 100 body, mind and soul uses a spell to increase his speed by 50%, his soul should drop to 50. Spells that are only a single attack do not have this drawback.
Of course, there is also the flip side of stat increases: stat decreases. Decreasing a stat is harder than it is to increase one, because it's a lot easier to get twice as fast than it is to reduce someone's speed to zero. Stat debuffs should generally only reduce a value by 10%/20%/30%/40%/50% of the caster's soul at D/C/B/A/S classes of spells. This means that it is possible for a high-level mage to defeat someone who isn't balanced well simply by debuffing them to the point where their strength, speed, or mind reach zero. It is generally hard for equal class mages to do this to each other, but it can be done when there is a significant gap in strength relatively easily. One of the difference between these effects and stat increases is that you generally do not sacrifice your soul stat to maintain the increase unless the technique does not have a post-limit for it's effectiveness. In general, the recommended post limits for efficacy are 2/3/4/5/6 for D/C/B/A/S classed spells, but it varies by the spell. As with anything else, if you're having trouble working out the mechanics of a stat debuff, just talk to an admin.
Types of Magic
There are several types of magic in existence. They can be sorted into a handful of categories, some of which require special rules to handle properly. Below are a list of somewhat common magic types that have special benefits, restrictions, or rules.
Caster magic: This is the general magic that comes from within. The general form does not receive any special bonus or drawback.
Holder magic: This is magic that is used via items. The spells are inherent in the items themselves rather than being specifically learned by the user. Holder magic is generally not something that people specialize in, with the exception of Celestial Spirit Mages.
Dragon Slayer: for dragon slayers, slots are filled by first come first serve characters and dragons will be limited in quantity. Only first gen dragon slayers are eligible for getting to be 3rd gen dragon slayers. When acquiring 3rd gen the first generation slayers have to fight their own dragon in a DE thread. If the Dragon Slayer is killed then the 1st gen spot becomes open again. A list of dragons can be found in the NPCs section. Dragon Slayers all have motion sickness, and cannot take mechanized transportation. If they choose to force themselves to take transportation, they will arrive with only a quarter of their stamina, and this stamina cannot be regained for the next 4 posts.
- 1st Generation = They are able to consume their element in order to heal themselves and regain stamina. This ability will allow them to regain hit points and stamina equal to the cost of the technique they are consuming. If they consume an element that is not part of someone else's technique (such as fire from a torch) then they will regain hp and stamina equal to a technique of their class. If they successfully consume their element five times inside of one thread, they can enter the Dragon Force state. Dragon Force drains 10% of your stamina per post, but doubles all of your stats. There is a four post cooldown on the consume technique. First generation Dragon Slayers have met their dragon, and are able to attempt to become a 3rd generation Dragon Slayer upon reaching S-Class.
1st gen Dragon Slayers can also unlock dual-element techniques by consuming the magic of another Dragon Slayer. This must be done in a DE thread. The element you attempt to consume cannot be one that your element is weak against. Upon consuming this element for the first time, you will temporarily take damage equal to the damage potential of the spell you are trying to consume. Your stamina will also fall to 1, and you will be on the verge of passing out. You will stay vulnerable until your next post. If you are not incapacitated before your next post, your HP and Stamina will then max out, and you will awaken the power of two elements. All spells made with a dual element do not take up an additional spell slot, and are instead just one-class higher versions of your other spells. Dual element spells ignore elemental strengths and weaknesses.
After this first use, dual-elemental spells can be called up at will, however, these spells are generally incredibly exhausting. In fact, they are easily as exhausting as Dragon Force. In fact, both of these are so powerful, and so exhausting, that if dual element techniques are used in a fight, or Dragon Force is used, then the other specialty cannot be used in that same thread, unless an extended rest is taken. - 2nd Generation= These Dragon Slayers are made by infusing a Lacrima that contains the lifeforce of a dragon into a human body. They also get the special ability of consuming their element to regain stamina, but there are two key differences compared to the First Generation Dragon Slayers. These Dragon Slayers cannot obtain powerups from Dragon Force. Instead, their base state while using any Dragon Slayer magic resembles Dragon Force, and this makes their basic level of power simply more powerful than that of 1st gen Dragon Slayers. These dragon slayers can also never unlock the ability to use a dual element. 2nd Gen Dragon Slayers receive a 25% bonus to both their Body and Soul stats. This bonus is treated as a trait, and does not unlock more trait points or spell slots.
- 3rd Generation= These are the most powerful Dragon Slayers by far. They have been trained by a dragon, like the 1st generation, but they have gone beyond that. The 3rd Generation Dragon Slayers have killed the dragons that taught them, and absorbed their raw power. These Dragon Slayers can invoke Dragon Force at-will, and also have the 25% bonus to both their Body and Soul stats. These Dragon Slayers are the most powerful by far, but this power is earned. They have to defeat their dragon in a Death-Enabled thread. If they lose that fight, they die. This makes becoming a 3rd Generation Dragon Slayer incredibly risky, since dragons are some of the most powerful NPCs in existence, but the payoff if you succeed is huge. 3rd generation Dragon Slayers
lose the ability to use a dual-element if they had it, but theycan also reactive Dragon Force without taking an extended rest, so long as they have the stamina to do so.
Celestial Spirit Mage: All spirits have separate stats, including HP and Stamina. Celestial Spirit Mages do not pay any cost to keep a spirit summoned outside of combat. In combat, they pay half the normal cost of an ongoing spell activation. Celestial mages get 25% less hitpoints compared to others. The Zodiac Spirits are designed by the admins, and only one copy of the key to summon them exists. Other spirits can be created at will, and more than one copy of a given spirit can exist. The major downside of being a Celestial Spirit Mage is the inability to use any offensive magic yourself. You must rely on your spirits, and if your keys are stolen, then you are basically useless.
Summoning Magic in General: Some types of magic, including, but not limited to, Celestial Spirit Magic allow the caster to summon other beings. This is an incredibly powerful type of magic, as it turns a 1v1 fight into a 2v1 or even 3v1 fight. The way that summons work is pretty straightforward. For everything you want to summon, you need a spell slot. This is true even if you are using an item to summon a creature. You still need a spell slot dedicated to that item's spell. The summoned being must be fully detailed using the appropriate template (usually NPC or monster). A given summon spell will call out a being one class lower than the class of the spell. For example, an S-Class summoning spell will bring out an A-class creature. In addition, summons always require an ongoing cost to maintain while in combat. Outside of combat, they require no ongoing cost. Summons have limited personality points compared to full characters. Summons get 20 personality points at D-class, 40 at C-class, etc.
Requip: C-class cost to reequip weapons OR armor. B-class cost to reequip both at once. This cost is regardless of item class. Can have up to 10 full sets of gear readied each thread. Their drawback is that they cannot learn any spells beyond this reequipping. The exception to this, is the D-rank spell of requippers. They have telekinetic control over any gear that have readied for that thread via their magic. They can pay the D-class cost to telekinetically move one weapon they control at a speed equal to their soul stat. This ability requires a significant amount of concentration until the mage reaches C-class. They also have a far more advanced version of this ability later on, and this is their A-class spell. At this level, they can control a number of weapons equal to their soul stat divided by 10, and all can be controlled simultaneously. They can only telekinetically control their weapons inside of a range equal to their soul stat. Beyond that range, they will simply use the laws of physics to determine their trajectory. when reequipping weapons for duel wielding if the weapons are the exact same they both can be switched out at the C-class cost. if the weapons are not the same each weapon will be changed separately and will each have a C-class cost to switching them.
Takeover: 50% reduced cost for enduring spells. This allows the takeover mages to maintain their takeovers for a longer period of time. Partial takeovers require 2 spell slots, and full-body takeovers require 4 spell slots. However these abilities take more spell slots for a reason. Partial takeovers receive one spell that can only be used in that form, and full-body takeovers receive up to three spells that can be used in that form. As for how takeover forms actually work, they simply add trait points. D-class takeovers add 10 trait points, C-class takeovers add 20, etc. These trait points can be body, mind, or a mix of the two. Traits gained via takeovers ignore drawbacks that state "you cannot have this trait if you have this other trait," but you cannot exceed the normal maximum ranks in a given trait by entering a takeover.
Non-Specialty Magic
While, in general, you can only have one school of magic that you practice, some spells are so elementary that anyone can figure out how to use them. These spells all require a spell slot, same as always. If you have an example of a canon spell that is used by different types of mages, and should be on this list, let us know. We probably missed plenty of them! Alternatively, you can submit a custom one as well.
Name: Transformation Magic: Rank 1
Class: E
Cost: Standard
Effect: Can transform your physical appearance to match that of another person, but you cannot copy their items or their voice.
Drawback: The magic is only as good as your knowledge of that person's body. Any details you don't know properly will be filled in with guesswork, and may not be accurate.
How to Perform: Focus on the physical form of the person you want to transform into.
Notes: Has the standard ongoing stamina cost.
Name: Transformation Magic: Rank 2
Class: C
Cost: Standard
Effect: Same as Rank 1, but you can now copy everything about them except for their stats and magic. Basically, you can now copy their clothes and voice. If you copy armor they are wearing, it will be treated as E-class and have no special properties. Same goes for weapons.
Drawback: The magic is only as good as your knowledge of that person's body. Any details you don't know properly will be filled in with guesswork, and may not be accurate.
How to Perform: Focus on the physical form of the person you want to transform into.
Notes: Has the standard ongoing stamina cost. Requires Rank 1 to be known.
Name: Transformation Magic: Rank 3
Class: A
Cost: Standard
Effect: Your physical appearance and nature is altered to become like that of an animal. You gain all properties of that animal, but your stats stay the same.
Drawback: The magic is only as good as your knowledge of the form you want to transform into. Any details you don't know properly will be filled in with guesswork, and may not be accurate. You cannot use magic while a Rank 3 transformation is active.
How to Perform: Focus on the physical form of whatever you want to transform into.
Notes: Has the standard ongoing stamina cost. Requires Rank 2 to be known.
Name: Telepathy
Class: Special
Cost: None, but requires a half spell slot, same as an E-class spell.
Effect: Allows telepathic communication with anyone within your soul stat times 100 feet. Your random thoughts are not broadcast, and this cannot be used to read minds against someone's will. The telepathic link must be accepted, and you will only hear thoughts they choose to broadcast.
Drawback: People can disconnect from your spell at will. Some areas may cause telepathy to not function.
How to Perform: Concentrate on the person you want to talk to.
Notes: None.
Name: Telepathic Array
Class: Special
Cost: None, but requires a spell slot.
Effect: Adds the group-call feature to Telepathy.
Drawback: People can disconnect from your spell at will. Some areas may cause telepathy to not function.
How to Perform: Concentrate on maintaining the telepathic link. Place index and middle finger of one hand to your temple.
Notes: Requires telepathy.
Name: Thought Projection
Class: A
Cost: Special: See drawback
Effect: Creates an intangible image of yourself that can speak to others. When the projection ends, you will gain knowledge of everything that it experienced.
Drawback: While this spell is active, you are completely vulnerable. This spell costs 25 stamina to start, and 10 per post afterwards.
How to Perform: Concentrate on your own form and imagine it where you want the Thought Projection to form. You must remain in a state of concentration while the projection lasts.
Notes: The thought projection can be formed in any location you're familiar with. This spell can be maintained during posts of rest.
Name: Thought Projection Mastery
Class: SS
Cost: Special: See drawback
Effect: Creates an tangible clone of yourself. It has stats equal to yours, including a separate stamina pool. It can use any of your magic up to B-Class. When the projection ends, you will gain knowledge of everything that it experienced.
Drawback: While this spell is active, you cannot use any other spells. This spell costs 100 stamina to start, and 25 per post to maintain.
How to Perform: Concentrate on your own form and imagine a double beside you.
Notes: Requires Thought Projection is learned. This more advanced projection can only be formed near the user, but it can then go anywhere. This spell can be maintained during posts of rest.
Banned Magic
Any magic pertaining to controlling another player/person/NPC. (Ex.: Mind Magic, Blood-blend, etc.) It should be obvious enough why this is banned.
Airspace Magic this magic is invisible, instantaneous, allows teleportation, and basically makes you undefeatable if used properly. It primarily OP because of invisible autohits, but it can also teleport on top of that. Just not even fair.
Curse Magic this magic allows you to randomly break bones in your opponent. It's an autohit and completely OP.
Death Magic autokills are OP.
Demon's Eye a magic that does nothing but stat buffs is generally unfair.
Disassembly Magic being able to hard-counter all magic use and turn people into chibi's is overly strong.
Figure Eyes the common use isn't that bad, but this also allows you to suck out people's souls... just a bit strong.
God Slayer Magic There's no way to balance this magic without making Dragon Slayer's seem worthless.
Human Subordination See #1.
Immortality So I heard infinite hitpoints is OP...
Living Magic The ability to make demons like Delior and Lullaby? Nope!
Memory Control Hit the opponent once, and then they consider you an ally? Yeah, not happening.
Memory-Make The ability to make anything you can remember into reality is just a little on the completely OP side.
Possession Magic See #1.
Stone Eyes Instant-win magic is a no-no. Medusa is OP.
Ushino Koku Mairi (Doll Manipulation Magic aka Voodoo) See #1.