Arcana OOC and Q&A

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

Umm...I just released my airships article to the public....

[Marwin Luminarias]

Hurrah! Go Arcana!

I can't wait for Bards to create Airships

[Arthus Orion]

I have a question and this seems as good a place as any to ask...

Are there any guidelines on developing new arcane techniques?

Not spells but along the lines of Circle or Dispel. My character wants to be a mage (as soon as I track down a teacher, so on and so forth) and I have ideas for abilities I'd like to develop, that aren't strictly spells.

[Amber Brightwing]

You'd best discuss them here first. As far as developing IC... I'd guess making new techniques would be something for Master level.

[Marwin Luminarias]

*nods*

What techniques are you thinking of?

[Gossamer]

I have a quick question. Bards... what are their equivalent of 'Staff of Arcana'... and if its an instrument, what about those bards that are using Voice as their primary? What do they do in that instance? Any thoughts?

[Raliric Ered`Gard]

A pitch tester? Its like a harmonica, and they blow into it so that they can hear the note that they need to start singing in?

[Marwin Luminarias]

They should be able to make a Stave of Arcana, Goss Any mage can. As long as Bards can imbue

[Gossamer]

Yes, but my point is.... thats sort of ridiculous to have a bard dragging around a staff. They are bards and drag around a lot of stuff beside that. Can staffs take other forms beside staffs? So... if an item is made of enchanted wood, can it still function as a staff even though it has a different shape? And what about mass? Is there a mass of enchanted wood required to make a staff or can they be any size. The documentation is weak on this.

[Raliric Ered`Gard]

Aderyn's stave is a ring on his finger.

I think that pretty much means that the stave, once the rituals are completed, can take the form of anything, it just depends on the person the stave is meant for. The staff is supposed to take the form of something unique to that particular person. Be it their instrument, which is what I would have thought for a bard, or a stave itself.

A Vocalist could probably use a staff though, he just stands there with it and sings, his hands are free to do with as he pleases. However, I'd say a whistle or some sort of tone/note object would be more progressive to role play.

[Gossamer]

That answers my question. Thanks Raliric!

[Marwin Luminarias]

It shouldn't be too hard for a staff to become a violin. Of course, you'd have to put the strings in there yourself

The stave can be almost anything given that it's still wooden and approved by a GM.

[Arthus Orion]

Originally Posted by Marwin Luminarias

*nods*

What techniques are you thinking of?

A few ideas I've considered:

-An "Arcana Knife" which is basically a blade of energy that cuts arcana. Essentially a Dispel but can be used more efficiently (multiple spells on a single use, quicker) at the risk of having spells blow up on you and limited range.

-Looking into manipulating Vis more directly, to let mages transfer it to one another. Or to create attacks that would attack/drain another mage's vis.

-A way where a mage can set a spell to trigger under certain conditions. Not an imbuement/enchant but a delay that only lasts for a more limited amount of time and expends a single spell.

-And specific to Elementalism, a refinement where a mage can say create a specific stone or metal with an Earth spell.

[Erenthril Mael'tharias]

-How do we enchant techniques? I've been told repeatedly I can't. -__-

-Hmmmmmm. Supposedly there are ways to do this, but they're messy and often involve death.

-Uhhh.........this might be possible, but 'set' spells are usually described as imbuements/enchantments...so why not take the time to just imbue?

-Already done. By moi.

[Arthus Orion]

Originally Posted by Erenthril Mael'tharias

-How do we enchant techniques? I've been told repeatedly I can't. -__-

-Hmmmmmm. Supposedly there are ways to do this, but they're messy and often involve death.

-Uhhh.........this might be possible, but 'set' spells are usually described as imbuements/enchantments...so why not take the time to just imbue?

-Already done. By moi.

I think you are misunderstanding on the first, while I called it a knife it wouldn't be an enchantment of any sort. I picked knife to describe what it might look like and what its purpose was.

For the second, ehh

And the point would be if only a short time was availible or the need was simply low enough that a less intensive technique is simply more efficient. Like say, warding your room against intruders at an inn while you go out shopping. I'm under the impression even imbuements take a couple hours though

And can't say I'm suprised, seemed to me to be a fairly basic idea for elementalism.