[Spells] Rasputin's MajorMUD 2.0 Ideas

[Locke Cole]

I thought I'd post this here, some good ideas I thought (don't know how they'd apply to GreaterMUD, but it might be worth discussing). Note that Rasputin seemed to reply to this e-mail online, then replied again but in Outlook (so no quote characters were used, making my comments and his comments run together). I've highlighted Rasputin's comments in Lime. The subject and the timestamp of the e-mail should be a hint at how old this is.

Date: Sunday, March 8, 1998  8:51pm                           Electronic Mail
From: INT:morukai@dsoe.com                                       Msg#: 658731
  To: Edge                                                                   
  Re: RE: 1.1r backstabs and 2nd quest rewards                               
                                                                             
(N)ext, (P)revious, or (R)ead this message?

-----Original Message-----
From:   edge@boink.net [SMTP:edge@boink.net]
Sent:   Sunday, March 08, 1998 3:29 PM
To:   morukai@dsoe.com
Subject:   RE: 1.1r backstabs and 2nd quest rewards

MO>There will be at least 2 modules out before 1.2 a low-level-areas module
MO>(Levels 1-15) and a high-level areas module (Levels 30-75).

       I had a suggestion about level 51+ trainers I wanted to throw at
you real quick.  Maybe instead of making another trainer like the aged
titan, you should make more trainers like the fallen angel/Time Lord.
(ie: Each new trainer after 50 would be a boss/NPC combination, or
something of that sort.  In order to train to 52, you'd need to find
boss X, kill him, and train, and so on and so forth for 53, 54, etc.).
I think it'd make the higher levels more impressive and funner than just
earning exp and training at a one-for-all trainer.  (These trainers
should be spread out through out the realm, possibly being secret areas
added on to existing maps, like you did with Lava Tube, Frozen Lake, etc
in mod-4).  That's just my thought, of course. 

Funny you should say that, because in the high-level module (which will be the
only place you can train past level 51), you *will* have to do quests to gain
in levels. I'm not sure if it will be a new quest every level, but a the very
least it will be one quest every 5 levels.

MO>*The* major reason for 1.2 is a massive change to the spell system. All spel
MO>in the game will be changed, as well as the way you gain spells. And there w
MO>be level 30+ spells as well.

       Will the changes to the spell system also affect mana regen?  I
noted in the sysop forum that you asked for 3 ideas, and one of the ones
I hear the most from players on here (atleast spellcasters) is how mana
regen should be increased while resting just as it is for hit points.
Maybe change it so you get a normal tick (for example, 6 and then the
next tick is double, and alternate it until rest is broken, etc).

I'm not going to increase mana regen, but spells will have a reduced mana cost.

       About the changes to the way you gain spells, do you literally
plan on changing the current scroll system to something else?  Or just
that it won't be as simple as buying a scroll, but that you'll have to
possibly fight a monster and hope it drops the scroll?  The idea of
actually having to seek out an NPC and ask it about specific spells is
very compelling, and is much better than just buying them out of shops.
       I've got two last suggestions for you to consider; 1) Remove the
remainder of 'protected' rooms that you can't fight in (or change it so
if you're being attacked, you can't enter a protected room to flee) and
2) you might consider fixing the shadowy healer NPC.  When you greet
him, he says you can purchase healing, but none of the commands work in
that area.  (unless of course, this was intentional).
       Anyhow, that's it, thanks for the quick reply and answering all
my questions. 
Edge

There will be a few changes to the way spells are learned/obtained, most of
them for Mages and Priests, but everyone will be experiencing a major change.
Here are some of the changes:

All Classes:  Mana cost for spells will be reduced.  All spells will be
balanced according to a formula, new spells will be added, etc.  All classes
except for Mystics and Bards will have a maximum number of spells in their
spellbook based on their prime stats.  Mystics and Bards will get spells and
powers as they normally do, but *all* the current powers and bard songs will be
changed.

Mages:  Spells for Mages will now be grouped into Spell Circles, such as the
Circle of Fire, Circle of Protection, Circle of Necromancy, etc.  Mages, upon
gaining a level, will obtain a blank spell page which they may then use at a
special location (Mage Tower, Library, whatever) to scribe a scroll and thus
add it to their spellbook.  Basically this means Mages get one free spell per
level.  They will also buy scrolls and learn spells just as they do now, though
the cost will likely increase and some spells will need to be searched for or
gotten as treasure.  Some spells will only be learnable by someone that already
knows the "lower" level version of a similar spell-for example, a Mage will
need to know the Level 1 spell Flame Dart before he can learn the Level 5 spell
Fire Jet (not and exact case, but an illustration of what could happen).  This
will mean a Mage who wants to learn Dragonfire (now a Level 50 Fire spell)
will  have to know a lot more lower-level fire spells.  Not only does this make
more  sense but it also makes players "customize" their characters based on
their  preference of which spells they like.  Of course a player can always
purge  spells from his spellbook and learn new ones.

Priests:  Every single class with Priestly spells will have to choose a Deity
which they follow.  There will be five Deities: two evil, two good, and one
neutral.  Right now I only have the names for the evil and neutral ones, but I
know roughly what type of powers they will be:
   The Blood God (evil):      Spells concerning pain, war, destruction and bodily
control.
   The Dark One (evil):      Spells concerning death, the undead, corruption, and
darkness.
   Aerdwyne (neutral):      Spells concerning justice, defense, and knowledge.
   "The Righteous One" (good):   Spells concerning honourable battle, crusading,
and inquisition.
   "The Protector" (good):      Spells concerning healing, protection, and
enhancement.

Note that all of the gods will have access to most current priestly spell types

(healing, damage, protection, enhancement, etc) but that each Deity will have
extra-special spells based on their "focus" that I just outlined.  Priest-types
do not get blank spell pages, and can learn any spells allowed to them, up to
the limit based on their Wisdom.

Druids:  Sort of a mix between Priests and Mages.  They will have access to the
four elemental spell circles that Mages will get (Earth, Air, Fire and Water)
as well as having access to their special Druid-only spells that concern nature
and the animal world.  They learn spells like priests.

Bards:  Bards will learn songs from other bards, and will likely need their
instruments to play their songs (or else they'll get a penalty for just
singing).  Their songs will be both more interesting and more "bardlike", as
well as being more useful.

Mystics:  Mystics will gain their powers just as they do now, by training.
Probably all of the powers will be changed, dividing them up into two
groups-Powers and Styles.  Powers include skills such as Hand of Death,
Pressure Points, Blind Fighting, etc.  Styles include ones such as Way of the
Tiger, Way of the Dragon, etc.  Only one style may be used at a time, and each
style will have advantages and disadvantages, while the higher-level styles
will be more powerful overall.  For example, Way of the Monkey will make the
Mystic much harder to hit as he leaps around, will make his attacks less
predictable but will reduce the damage he does with strikes.  A Mystic may
switch styles each round if he so chooses, using whichever style is best suited
to his opponent.


That was just way too long. Heh...  Note that all of these changes are just
what I am *planning* on doing, any or all of these changes may be modified.

(R)eply, (E)rase, (C)opy, (F)orward, (B)acktrack, (P)revious, or (N)ext?

[The Crazy Animal]

I think I kind of like the way he was looking at the mage spell learning. I would suggest that a combination approach be taken though as any single method will get boring after some time.

[The Crazy Animal]

Taking a second look at this:

?All classes except for Mystics and Bards will have a maximum number of spells in their
spellbook based on their prime stats.?

I?m not sure if I like the spell book max idea spell idea as suggested each class has different prime stats which could easily unbalance their casting abilities by using a method like this. If something like this is done it should be done using an across the board method.

Provided the entire spellcasting system was being redone: One of the things I would suggest is giving players a way of using their magic ratings better. Perhaps the magic rating could be turned into a stat so that players could dump cps into it in order to gain spell book pages raise their base mana regen rate, base spellcasting skill and improve the type of spells they get. Each class would then get a range such as 10-50, 20-60, 30-70. Spells could then be coded to be come useable at different points in a magic users character?s life.  Extra stats like this could be viewed using a stat2 info page so that mega would not get confused by the new info.

Leveling and Spell power changes - I?ve said this before in another post:
From a magic based perspective, it makes me think that if switching the learning system around the actual coding system will needs updating too. Since most spells, make a call for the level of the player to decide its max effect. It might be a good idea to change a spell power gain from primarily level based to being spell casting based too. This would make a spell be more variable in it effects based on the casters skill rather than level alone. Secondly, the minimum damage a spell should do needs to be changed so that it will keep early-learned spells from being too overpowered.

About the mage portion:

?Spells for Mages will now be grouped into Spell Circles, such as the Circle of Fire, Circle of Protection, Circle of Necromancy, etc.?

This is good. 

?Mages, upon gaining a level, will obtain a blank spell page which they may then use at a
special location (Mage Tower, Library, whatever) to scribe a scroll and thus add it to their spellbook.  Basically this means Mages get one free spell per level.? 

One free spell per level is bad everything should have a cost! MMUD had a very bad economy system and things like this don?t help to fix it.

I like the idea about being able to scribe a scroll but I think this should be something that gets used across the board. Priestly characters should be able to go to monasteries and scribe spells out of holy or unholy books, bards should be able to go find new songs this way too.

?Some spells will only be learnable by someone that already knows the "lower" level version of a similar spell-for example, a Mage will need to know the Level 1 spell Flame Dart before he can learn the Level 5 spell Fire Jet (not and exact case, but an illustration of what could happen).  This will mean a Mage who wants to learn Dragonfire (now a Level 50 Fire spell) will have to know a lot more lower-level fire spells.?

I like this idea a lot it does make more sense and automatically creates some diversity in the realm between characters of the same class. Again though, I would suggest that this be a universal part of the magic system.

About the Priestly section:

?Every single class with Priestly spells will have to choose a Deity
which they follow.? 

I would like to see every class have to choose a Deity and that that Deity should effect both the combat skill and magic skill of the character. I would like to see more then just good and evil deities though. Each class group should have 3 main Deities and then there should be a few universal Deities open to all classes. War, Protection, Creativity, Life, Death, Illusion, Thievery, Sorcery, Pestilence, Famine, Rain, Day, Night? Deity should give rewards for worship based on their "focus" as suggested.

About the Druid section:

?Sort of a mix between Priests and Mages.?

I don?t really see it that clear cut ? Druids should be more defined as their own style while sharing some similar aspects to mages and priests:

?They will have access to the four elemental spell circles that Mages will get (Earth, Air, Fire and Water)?

I would suggest giving them a host of nature deities more so then what is provided to other classes: Water, Day, Night, Death, Life, Time, Forests and Trees, Sky, Mountains and Hills, Animals, Storms, Fire?  Each deity should add or remove different spheres of magic to their repertoire.

About the Bard section:

?Bards:  Bards will learn songs from other bards, and will likely need their instruments to play their songs (or else they'll get a penalty for just singing).  Their songs will be both more interesting and more "bardlike", as well as being more useful.?

I would love to see this work out for the bards? I would also suggest that they be given an ability called ?listen?. ?Listen? would let a bard learn a new spell from a song being used by an NPC or other bard PC. Second I would suggest giving using room spell events to such as birds chirping or rain falling, or swords clashing to also present opportunities to use the listen ability. What this would do is allow the bard to collect songs from the areas as they travel. This would be very interesting way to present hidden spells to a bard as if they came through inspiration.

About the mystic section:

?Mystics:  Mystics will gain their powers just as they do now, by training.?

I think we can make this much more interesting then just training.

?Probably all of the powers will be changed, dividing them up into two
groups-Powers and Styles.? 

Powers should be the only thing that is learned through training. I would like to suggest that mystics be given groups of trainers per level range. Each trainer would teach their own powers to the mystics using their training services. A mystic would be stuck with a single trainer until they master the whole of their powers.

Styles or as I would say forms should be learned dynamically like I suggested with the bard. Some type of event during or following a battle that could present the opportunity to learn a new form. I would suggest attach textblock spells to the death of a creature to be given at random and dependent on character level and or amount of the creatures killed that the mystic which was attacking. So if you wanted to learn form of a monkey you go kill a bunch of monkeys. To get the form of a rat you kill some rats. What this would do is make mystics need to travel around looking for these chances since they could be level dependent they would also need to re-travel old areas too.

?Only one style may be used at a time, and each style will have advantages and disadvantages, while the higher-level styles will be more powerful overall.?

This part I agree with

[DeathCow]

Did we read the same email?

[The Crazy Animal]

Did we read the same email?

what cha mean??? You should know by now that I always have a half a dozen ideas piled up.