Where is the line drawn between infusion, enchantment, and runecrafting magic?
Short version: Infusion stores raw power as a raw material. Enchanting stores simply arranged power as a static object. Runecrafting stores complicated power as a simple device.
Somewhat more involved: Infusion requires a more compatible base item, something that has some mystical potential for the final product. Enchanting or Runecrafting both benefit from suitable materials, but you can technically try to enchant a river-worn rock with fire; Infusion has nothing to work with there. Infusion's end result is generally a magical receptacle used to power other things rather than a finished product in its own right.
Enchanting shrouds a thing in simple persistent magical energy. It's typically fairly homogeneous, but can have specific effects and tends to make for poor power storage. This makes it good for enchanting rocks to be on fire, but doesn't usually provide enough raw power to effectively fuel other things, and can't do complex effects, like a rock that only lights on fire when you tell it to.
Runecrafting imbues complex persistent magical energy into an item. It can't make a rock on fire at all times, but it can make a rock burn when in sunlight; frequently its conditions and the nature or power of its effect are tied together, which gives it some more leeway (and pitfalls) than Enchanting. As with Enchanting, it doesn't really provide the raw power to be used by other forces, and has the added issue of its base enchantment being fairly complex, which further hinders efforts to break it down for a particular type of energy.
For instance, let's say that I use my blue magic to siphon some destruction magic from a demon and put it in a stick. Which of the above magic types would let me create a wand of magic missile? What about a rod that boosts destruction magic? A laser pistol?
In this case, none of the above, because if your Blue Magic can siphon enough power from a demon to enchant an item with it's clearly way too broad and/or efficient to work; if you're grabbing enough destructive energy from a demon's spell to create an item that's suspiciously efficient, and if you're grabbing it straight from the demon that's a stupidly broad reading of "outside magics."
However, if for some reason you got a hold of some destructive energy and wanted to focus it into an item:
-A wand of magic missile would probably require a combination of Infusion to produce a power source, and Runecrafting or Artifice to channel that source into bolts. A simple gate-valve style mechanism to just let the power out might make do with Runecrafting, but you'd probably need skill in Enchanting as well if you wanted it to "process" the energy in any way, including shaping it into proper bolts, since that'd require a more nuanced transfer of energy.
-A rod that boosts Destruction skill or effects would probably be Runecrafting, to get it to activate and enhance or otherwise process the energies when they're detected. For a pure refinement tool you might need Enchanting to know how to make the magic flow properly through the device, and for a brute-force booster addon you'd presumably need Infusion to make it batteries and possibly Enchanting to properly channel both sources of power. Additional skill in other fields might be advisable depending on its exact mechanism.
-A laser pistol as in a fancy gun would probably want Runecrafting to focus energy into bolts and Infusion to produce a power source, though as with the wand you have some leeway in how exactly you want to release the energy. A laser pistol as in a continuous stream of power would most definitely want Runecrafting and Enchanting to properly focus the beam from an Infusion-built battery.
As a note, Infusion isn't
strictly necessary for any of this, because there are other ways to produce or acquire power sources. It's usually by far the most convenient, though.
Also, does gating magic let you create wards that keep what you gate in from killing you (Magic Circle Against Evil and the like), or do you have to use protection magic for that?
Nirur's got the right of it. Gating handles getting it there and some of its limitations encourage situations where your product won't immediately kill you, but otherwise you're on your own for that part.
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Topic: Arcane Exile [Early Spring, Week 2: Burst] (Read 23070 times)