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[Tiruin]

Who doesn't like mech games? _{This reminds me, I really should update my own...}

I'd like to drop out of that game. Too much RP and not enough gameplay.

You...could actually tell him that -in his game- instead of doing that in a public thread. It has bad implications other than a well-meaning intent or request of leave, just to poke. (Though it is and sounds benign Just poking at the probable way it would sound...otherwise)

...Because it'd lead to discussion. Which is better to bring up in the specified thread, for one.
_{That, and addressing 'that' game instead of 'your' game sounds a lot like distancing. But that's a darker side of the coin...}

[Rolepgeek]

Who doesn't like mech games? _{This reminds me, I really should update my own...}

I'd like to drop out of that game. Too much RP and not enough gameplay.

To-too much RP?!?

What kind of madman are you!?!

[Remuthra]

Reminds me.

_{OI! STIRK!}

[Playergamer]

I don't see how that's extremely rude. I mean it's rude, yes, but USEC is in the thread right now.

[Andres]

Sorry, USEC. I didn't mean to sound rude or insult you, this just seemed like a convenient place to say it since the other thread was last posted on months ago and you're already "here". I didn't mean to say that it was a bad game either, just that it wasn't to my personal taste, though I enjoyed the gameplay segments a lot. I used 'that' game instead of 'your' game specifically because I wanted to address the game specifically rather than you and because you might've started other games I don't know about. No negative implications intended.

[Andres]

You know what I just realised? The mech game that USEC was talking about was entirely different to what I was thinking of. The one I played had kaiju XCOM in it. I don't think this changes anything but still.

[kj1225]

Oh yeah, Smurfs game. It could have been good but it was just... not varied enough in the beging for me.

On a side note, my magic girls thing combined with the mecha stuff in my head and resulted in a game that would follow robot ship girl things as they fight for control of the seas and against the evil down below™.

[Rolepgeek]

Oh yeah, Smurfs game. It could have been good but it was just... not varied enough in the beging for me.

On a side note, my magic girls thing combined with the mecha stuff in my head and resulted in a game that would follow robot ship girl things as they fight for control of the seas and against the evil down below™.

So basically Kantai Collection Gaiden?

[kj1225]

...
Yeah, basically.

[IronyOwl]

Meaning what? Broad ideas like "alchemy" or "cabalism," or actually making Enchanting a functional, balanced set of concrete values?

Expressions of those types of magic, basically. Assuming we're using Fire, a Direct expression will cast a fireball, an Enchant expression will light a sword on fire, a Scroll expression will record a fire spell in a scroll, etc. (Expressions aren't just limited to one action. Another Direct expression is a fire wall, or something.)

Wouldn't "Direct" be pretty much anything that isn't crafting or maybe trap-laying, then?

This is likewise hard to answer without context, but is there anything neat a spell could do for a player at that point? Heal them, stun enemies, become AoE, reroll 1s, ideally leaning towards "this is an extra effect I don't have difficulty remembering or applying" and away from "this is more numbers and they're awkward to do?" Limiting it to crits or high rolls (or low rolls, as mentioned) could help with both that and keeping it from becoming too powerful.

Well, fireball has a chance to set someone on fire but that's more unique to the whole element rather than just the spell. On being able to use Expert fireballs, the player can put lesser versions of the spell into staves (though this might not be unique to fireball), and a Master fireball explodes. I'd like for the bonus to relate specifically to fireballs so '+1 chance to setting people on fire' won't fit.

I'd probably lean towards spell-specific buffs/debuffs/effects, then, assuming you can make them not a pain to work with. Tracking who's stunned, bleeding, poisoned, and/or a newt at the moment can get old fast.

*loud sighing*

Who likes mech games?

I don't know. I've never actually followed one that didn't crash pretty quickly. :x

To-too much RP?!?

What kind of madman are you!?!

Oh, so y- wait, you are involved in those magical girl megathreads, aren't you.

Well... carry on then.

Oh yeah, Smurfs game. It could have been good but it was just... not varied enough in the beging for me.

On a side note, my magic girls thing combined with the mecha stuff in my head and resulted in a game that would follow robot ship girl things as they fight for control of the seas and against the evil down below™.

So basically Kantai Collection Gaiden?

Better yet, Pacific Rim: Magical Girl Edition.

[evilcherry]

Oh yeah, Smurfs game. It could have been good but it was just... not varied enough in the beging for me.

On a side note, my magic girls thing combined with the mecha stuff in my head and resulted in a game that would follow robot ship girl things as they fight for control of the seas and against the evil down below™.

So basically Kantai Collection Gaiden?

Better yet, Pacific Rim: Magical Girl Edition.

But that's a different beast! The world is so good with Nagato, Ayanami and Soryu finally referring to ships again!

[Andres]

Meaning what? Broad ideas like "alchemy" or "cabalism," or actually making Enchanting a functional, balanced set of concrete values?

Expressions of those types of magic, basically. Assuming we're using Fire, a Direct expression will cast a fireball, an Enchant expression will light a sword on fire, a Scroll expression will record a fire spell in a scroll, etc. (Expressions aren't just limited to one action. Another Direct expression is a fire wall, or something.)

Wouldn't "Direct" be pretty much anything that isn't crafting or maybe trap-laying, then?

That's what I'm trying to figure out. Maybe Familiars or Summoning can be another branch.

This is likewise hard to answer without context, but is there anything neat a spell could do for a player at that point? Heal them, stun enemies, become AoE, reroll 1s, ideally leaning towards "this is an extra effect I don't have difficulty remembering or applying" and away from "this is more numbers and they're awkward to do?" Limiting it to crits or high rolls (or low rolls, as mentioned) could help with both that and keeping it from becoming too powerful.

Well, fireball has a chance to set someone on fire but that's more unique to the whole element rather than just the spell. On being able to use Expert fireballs, the player can put lesser versions of the spell into staves (though this might not be unique to fireball), and a Master fireball explodes. I'd like for the bonus to relate specifically to fireballs so '+1 chance to setting people on fire' won't fit.

I'd probably lean towards spell-specific buffs/debuffs/effects, then, assuming you can make them not a pain to work with. Tracking who's stunned, bleeding, poisoned, and/or a newt at the moment can get old fast.

That's something I can do for mastery over an element as a whole, actually. I've also thought about your idea of rerolling 1s and I think I'm gonna have that with a -1 penalty per roll. If the resultant number is 1 or less, I'll keep rerolling until I have a good number. If the only number possible is a 1 or less, I'll treat it as a 1 because obviously the gods hate that person and they deserve to be punished.

In other news, I've finished up the first few playable races the players will have access to. All rolls are done with a d10. Any balance issues?

Code: [Select]

Humans: +1 divine magic, +1 INT.
 *Orc: +1 STR, +1 combat skills
 *Dryad: Nature magic when in high nature energy areas
 *High Elf: +1 INT
 *Pure: +1 divine magic

Orcs: +2 STR, +2 combat skills, +20% XP gain when competing, -2 INT.

Dryads: Nature magic, regeneration when in high nature energy areas, -2 to everything when in zero nature energy areas.

Dwarves: +3 STR, AGI and SPD halved, +3 crafting, (SPD penalty removed, +2 STR, and INT drops to 0 when health drops to 20% (berserker)).

Great Elf = Orc+Human hybrid
Nature Elf = Dryad+Human hybrid
High Elf = Normal elf

Great Elves: +1 STR, +1 combat skills, +10% XP gain when competing

Nature Elves: Nature magic when in low nature energy areas, better healing when in high nature energy areas

High Elves: +2 INT, +1 AGI

Goblins: -3 STR, SPD halved, INT halved, +2 DEX, +2 stealth.* The asterisk signifies that that human has X blood in them. Players can choose what ancestor they want.

EDIT: "When competing" means whenever they're in conflict, such as in combat.

EDIT2: High nature areas include forests and swamps, low nature areas include plains and farms, and zero nature areas include cities and wastelands.

[escaped lurker]

Huh. That "Expressions of magic" is a nice idea. Not sure I would like to make every spell into ~5+ ones though. Mad balancing... unless maybe it will always be coupled to the casters magic, which will transfer differently, but inherently the same way to each expression?

Maybe something like this?

Magic: Dmg Multiplier 1,5 - Effect Multiplier 0,7 - Preparation Multiplier 1
Faith: Dmg Multiplier 1 - Effect Multiplier 2 - Preparation Multiplier 1,5
Ritual: Dmg Multiplier 3 - Effect Multiplier 4 - Preparation Multiplier 5
Runes: Dmg Multiplier 2,5 - Effect Multiplier 2 - Preparation Multiplier 3

Allright, I pulled those scores out of thin air. Still, if you balance the "basic attributes" of each expression, the gameplay of casters will be far more fluid, without becoming too unfair. Plus, it is not one big balancing act, where you have to check each new spell through multiple systems, as to not break the same horribly.

[Andres]

That idea isn't bad at all. I probably won't do it exactly the way you suggested, especially Ritual (would be non-combat magic) and Faith (relies on a Fire god which doesn't exist), but Magic and Runes is definitely something I can use.

Revealing a bit more stuff about the world and the elements, to those who are interested.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

There are six gods, each one ruling over one domain (the following are not their names): Night, Weather, Fortune, Messages, Dreams, and Language. There used to be dozens more and whose domains were usually more interesting but they were all killed off.

The elements:
Fire - fast, easy to learn, burning
Frost - medium, solid, good against Fire, freezing
Storm (previously known as Lightning) - slow, strong, good against Frost, stunning

At first, I was going to have Life and Death magic be the focus of the game but then switched to basic elements due to balancing issues with Life and Death, or rather just Life, though the issues were fixed and now they're equally-focused. Unlike the elements, Life and Death was meant to be used purely with experience and mana rather than spells (not a problem) and that they each have control over their respective aspects (this is where the problem comes in).

With Death it was easy, just have them control dead things. The problem was with Life where they should hypothetically have control over living things, i.e. every animal and every sapient creature. I was going to drop the two entirely when I thought of applying undead-raising mechanics to...everything related the two types of magic, specifically the part about putting their own energy into the things they want to control in order to control them.

Life - control over living things; healing, cancer, high mana cost raise undead, mutation, body-controlling
Death - control over dead things; necrosis, low mana cost raise undead, golemancy

As it is now, I have Life being more versatile with Death being cheaper in terms of mana requirements. Life is associated with heat and Death with cold, mostly due to how their cancer/necrosis-making works, respectively. Life mages live longer while Death mages can become liches. Most critically of all, Life magic can manipulate and increase life while Death magic does the same with death. Neither type of magic can increase its opposite (a Life mage can't suppress or destroy life), at least directly.

So what's it called when you control another person's living body using magic? Puppetry? Body-controlling?

[Rolepgeek]

So what's it called when you control another person's living body using magic? Puppetry? Body-controlling?

Being a dick.