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Yes. It should be easily accesed and everyday stuff, like in nethack or A.D.O.M.

21 (9.6%)

Yes. It should be hard to access and not typical say the magic word and you shoot lightning magic.

137 (62.6%)

I don't really care.

13 (5.9%)

Only in the form of reactions.

24 (11%)

No.

24 (11%)

Total Members Voted: 219

[Eric Blank]

It's yet another one of these threads licking the tip of the iceberg that is the magic discussions. Why don't you guys just use the search function (which is specific to the forum or thread you're in) to find the advanced ideas to improve and refine? Perhaps visiting Kohaku's threads on the matter as a starting point?
 It just feels like a waste to watch people posting near-verbatim of old posts and sentiments, except with less detail and less awareness.

Edit: I guess I should probably offer up some links. Here's the latest large magic thread, where NW_Kohaku focusing largely on basic life systems (flora and farming). Then there's two old threads I recall; an 11 page "'Magic versus Tech' Is Dumb" thread and an 8 page Metamagic thread, both of which start out rather wrong but get better.

Party murderer. I suppose I don't need to be so blunt, but until Toady decides on what HE wants to do, and does it, we're going to display our opinions, regardless of whether they're fully fleshed out. Our only mission is to give Toady ideas, not tell him what to do. The Ideas don't need to be advanced until he's sure that's the road he wants to take. That would in fact be counter-intuitive and a waste of time, so just show him what you think is a good road to take, and he'll build the interstate highway on the path he chooses. Don't come in here and treat people as uneducated, useless fools.

This is a poll thread. If nobody touched anything but the radio buttons and submitted it, it would be a potential nominee for Worst Poll Thread in Internet History. We can, and will, blab our nonsense until we drown in it, so if you like breathing so much, step outside.

If the number of threads is too high, then the next and last magic suggestion thread ought to be a list of ideas in order of post, nothing more, nothing less.

[Interloper]

Instead of magic being a combat system, I think it should be much more indirect.

Imagine having items that are cursed, so they bring good fortune but an inevitable death to all who wield them. Weapons of great power that eventually drive the holder berserk. Artifacts that attract megabeasts or swarms of vermin. Engravings that cause melancholy and suicide. Evil biomes could cause food to rot, crops to wilt, and miscarriages.  "Unlucky" dwarves would cause those around them to suffer gruesome accidents. Poisoned earth could carry plague until Urist McPriest exorcises it. Chained pets that panic and turn vicious when certain migrant dwarves walk by.

I think some ominous portents would fit the game's atmosphere well.

[Rushmik]

I think magic users should have a great deal of Fun consequences. Oh, you didn't cast your fireball correctly? !!BURN!!

[Nivim]

[...]

Threads are meant to develop ideas as well as list and organize them, but of course you know that, you just don't like the implied tone of my post, and wish to attack it mercilessly in defense of all that is Free and Good. =⌡ If people don't care about my points, they'll just ignore them, and they did until you posted. To the PMs!

 Anyway, it looks like the links I posted weren't very well chosen; here is the thread that made this thread seem like a pale copy. It's also the thread I have procrastinated on updating an organized compilation list in for...five months.

[GlaceonMaid]

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=59311.0
Hello.

[FuzzyZergling]

I think that the best kind of magic would be like existing "magic" (indestructable artifacts, demons and the like.), only more so.
Like, having an enchanted sword that's on fire, or demonic blood magic, stuff that seems to fit with the setting.

[Tsukana]

"Random" Magic systems include everything here.

I AM STILL THE WINNER.

Gimmie a hiface.

Edit: Now that my "spring is here and it's nice outside, let's be a nuisance, " mood is out of the way.

Brandon Sanderson had an interesting "magic" system in his Mistborn series. Consuming x reagent produces y effect. There are 6 (8, 10) reagents. One small (read: minuscule) group can use all reagents. Another larger (read: tiny) group can use 1, ( individual 1 can use x, individual 2 can use c.) All the "powers" are based in pairs. The pairs formed a section, like Physical internal/external, mental internal/external time(x2) internal/external (those specific powers let you see yourself as you could have been/were in two timelines, or somone else) aaaand another one I forget. For example, Iron and Steel. Ingesting Iron lets you Pull on metal, exerting your body weight on it. Smaller-than-you metal is effected as if you were using your entire body weight to move it (Thus coins and such shoot towards you at ridiculous speeds.) Heavier-than-you metals pull you towards them. Steel is the opposite, Pushing (interesting fact, those with Steel could "fly" by pushing off coins on the ground and the like. Basically making huge jumps because while the metal is smaller, the earth is not.)

In a procedurally generated df, number of reagents, reagents, and effects would be "randomly" generated.

Edit2: Also of note, the reagents "Burned" at differing speeds. Speeds of Burn could be generated.
OORRR.

I once played a game where words of power, which were described in the game manual, decided magnitude (trivial to godlike), target (Yourself, items, monster, world, area ect), effect(fire, water, wind, earth, death, life, ect), and so on.. I think there was like 8 levels each with 8 words. You had a (effectively) invisible 'level' in magic, effecting what spells you can cast based on those magnitudes, effects, and target things. How many spells you could cast, and of what power, was also based on your mana, which grew with your level. If you tried to cast too powerful a spell, your mana was drained, spell fizzles or backfires or some such, and you have to wait for three years irl to get your mana back. Unfortunately, having pirated the game, I did not have the game manual.

And thus the age of "Trial and Error" was born. The only game to rival the fun I had blowing myself up is DF.

In df, words of power, their number, magnitudes and their number, ect would be generated.

Course, these are frameworks that could be thrown in with the 100000 other frameworks and rules already suggested.

[Harry959]

Similar to the ideas mentioned by Tsukana, I'd imagine it as an open-ended magic system where you could several very basic spells each not doing very much, and each having a short casting time (For example, Create Rock, Create Heat, Move Object). When you combine them together, then you would end up with a spell more powerful, but taking a greater casting time as a whole (Example, Create Rock + Create Heat + Move Object = Rough Equivilent of a Fireball)

[Xelanthol]

I would enjoy a rune system--where we craft certain runes and depending how they are constructed next to each other they could have a variety of effects. Also, runic magic seems very dwarfy to me. Now while I realize this system would take alot of imagination (and math im sure) to throw together, it'd be quite exciting to say the least.

Either random-or "combination" magic is what i'm looking for. One of my favourite aspects of DF is the procedural generation of things.

[Draxis]

Maybe each race could have different magic systems, maybe the humans could have the combining-spells magic, the Elves could have power-word magic , and the Dwarves could have the powerful artifacts.  Also, the Artifacts would be by far the most powerful, because they are so rare, and the other two types would have some randomness, increasing with power, that could help or hurt the wielder or be completely unrelated.  Of course, that would be 3 times as much time/work/bugs.

[freeformschooler]

"Random" Magic systems include everything here.

I AM STILL THE WINNER.

Gimmie a hiface.

Since when was that an adventure mode forum meme? Stuff happens while I'm gone!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

But you're right. Random magic systems could potentially encompass all possible magic systems, thus why I support it. As I understand it Toady tries to move away from distinctions between things but hey hey no reason why you can't gen a world and the magic is race-dependent or something!

[Tsukana]

Hiface = arguably more intense than Chuck Norris.

I am so ridiculously excited to see what happens with magic :3

[Yoink]

I still want adventurers to start off with a deity... And that could sort of work with this.
I know when I'm using DF and swap adventurers to some pious type, when I press 'k' to talk I can target their deity.
Although talking to them crashes the game, that would be awesome if it worked... I just like the idea of dedicating all my pointless slaughter to some sort of god. Sounds amusing.

It wouldn't be good to make it too much like other games, but you could maybe get powers from your deity if you did enough in there name... Perhaps your deity could give you quests, like 'Smite yon blasphemer for taking mine name in vain, believer!', which would be FAR more awesome than simply offering tonnes of crap.

[onart]

magic would be awesome, especialy if it was rather very random and diverse. like smashing your enemy with an gigantic iron pillar you created of your very own body. or to be able to freeze water into epic weapons of doom. or to tear the flesh of your enemy with wind. also there should be something like that you need to be in good physical conditions in order to cast the spells at full power and you should become devasting should you either get enraged or go into an matrial trance. because magic doesnt cast itself: it needs some endurance and strength and maybe even agillity to be casten propperly.

[Urist is dead tome]

I think humans should have classical style magic, elves should use a pagan style, and dwarves should use science.

I can't really define science.