Quazimodo
10-29-2006, 07:23 PM
In Conan's Hyboria, arcane magic is deemed dangerous and foul and is very often focused around the manipulation of artifacts, more than the simple channeling of energy. To simulate this we are playing around with a system called "Soul Corruption" that will determine the degree to which you have sold your soul for power. Naturally, for most, this will be fatal and something to be avoided. For others, walking the edge is the only form of true excitement there is, and is, by far, the most efficient way to gain maximum power. It is still uncertain if "Soul Corruption" will make it all the way to the final game, though.
The users of magic fall, as normal, into two main categories, the ones with magic being offered from their gods or the earth, and the ones where magic is created through rituals and bargains with darker powers. In both cases, you memorize spells into your spellbook, and use mana to cast them.
They have designed a system where magic spells and effects can be combined by the user to get new results called Spell weaving. These "combo spells" can be further combined with new deadly effects, allowing the casters to experiment - but at their own risk. One of the concepts used to moderate this risk taking is something very familiar to the fans of the Conan world. Magic is dark, and always with risk, and as the casters walk that edge of deadly power, they will accumulate something called Corruption of the Soul. Naturally, having a corrupt soul might make bargaining with demons, different.
The spell weaving is a brand new system where players use their spells as COMPONENTS to a larger, more devastating spell effect – perhaps one that's too large for them even… Maybe it might blow up in their face, taking the wizard down in a blaze. That's the dark side of magic truly unique to the Hyborian world.
Spellweaving
In Age of Conan magic reflects the world in which the game is based. Dealing with the arcane arts and siphoning the power of ancient gods is not something to be taken lightly. Just like The melee system, The magic system will also call upon the skills of the player. The player learning to balance their lust for powerful affects with the dangers that calling upon such extraordinary magic incurs.
There will of course be a number of simple and straightforward spells that casters can call upon, as you would see in other games. These though are merely the common incantations and curses that every young acolyte is taught, mere parlour tricks compared to what is possible with the magic in Age of Conan! Whilst useful in and of themselves the basic spells are merely the prelude to the true power that can be channelled – channelled through the art of spellweaving.
The spellweaving system calls upon the caster to effectively weave an intricate series of incantations and spells into one final spell that can be unleashed to smite their enemies or aid their allies. It could be as short as weaving two simple spells together to boost their effect through to the fine art of combining up to twenty spells into a devastating blend of mystical power.
How Spellweaving Works
The player will start the spellweave by activating their spellweave ability. This places them in a trance-like state where they cannot move and the only actions they are allowed to perform is adding more components to the weave.
Once in the spellweave the player can add as many spells into the weave as they can manage or want to. The maximum number of spells that can be called into a weave is dependant on the players level.
Then once the elements are all added they can end the weave by deactivating the ability and the weave will fire off at its target as the caster leaves the trance and is free to move around again.
The spellweaving system allows for some truly awe-inspiring effects to be invoked. This allows the caster to tailor a specific incantation best suited to their current target. Whether it is combining debuffs or enhancing your damage, or even a combination of the two - the spellweaving system will allow casters to adapt their strategies to the situation at hand!
The depth of the system lies in figuring out the best combinations for the weaves and how best to avoid the darker side of Hyborian magic, because spellweaving does not come without risk!
Dark and Dangerous: Ill-effects and magical burden
Using the ancient magic’s of the gods is far from a trivial matter, and spellweaving opens up the caster to the dangerous elements that dabbling in such arcane arts invariably attracts.
Spellweaving is almost a balancing act. How much power can you summon forth without incurring some ancient curse or other mysterious ailment?
When a caster performs a spellweave there is a chance that they will suffer ill-effects from the process.
The risk of this depends on how powerful a weave they are performing based upon the power of the spells they are trying to combine and their level. Stray too far beyond what you are capable of and you will run the risk of incurring one of these side-effects!
The weave is not an exact science and even the mana cost of the weave will vary from that of its base components and whilst the system even allows for a caster to use more mana then they have, a heavy price might be paid for delving too deeply beyond those magical reserves.
The other element to spellweaving is a characters magical burden, every time a weave is performed they incur a magical burden, a dept as it were that weighs upon them. If too many weaves are attempted consecutively, or they attempt a weave that pushes their limits the burden will increase their chances of incurring ill-effects on the next weave. This burden naturally decays when a caster is not in a spellweave.
The users of magic fall, as normal, into two main categories, the ones with magic being offered from their gods or the earth, and the ones where magic is created through rituals and bargains with darker powers. In both cases, you memorize spells into your spellbook, and use mana to cast them.
They have designed a system where magic spells and effects can be combined by the user to get new results called Spell weaving. These "combo spells" can be further combined with new deadly effects, allowing the casters to experiment - but at their own risk. One of the concepts used to moderate this risk taking is something very familiar to the fans of the Conan world. Magic is dark, and always with risk, and as the casters walk that edge of deadly power, they will accumulate something called Corruption of the Soul. Naturally, having a corrupt soul might make bargaining with demons, different.
The spell weaving is a brand new system where players use their spells as COMPONENTS to a larger, more devastating spell effect – perhaps one that's too large for them even… Maybe it might blow up in their face, taking the wizard down in a blaze. That's the dark side of magic truly unique to the Hyborian world.
Spellweaving
In Age of Conan magic reflects the world in which the game is based. Dealing with the arcane arts and siphoning the power of ancient gods is not something to be taken lightly. Just like The melee system, The magic system will also call upon the skills of the player. The player learning to balance their lust for powerful affects with the dangers that calling upon such extraordinary magic incurs.
There will of course be a number of simple and straightforward spells that casters can call upon, as you would see in other games. These though are merely the common incantations and curses that every young acolyte is taught, mere parlour tricks compared to what is possible with the magic in Age of Conan! Whilst useful in and of themselves the basic spells are merely the prelude to the true power that can be channelled – channelled through the art of spellweaving.
The spellweaving system calls upon the caster to effectively weave an intricate series of incantations and spells into one final spell that can be unleashed to smite their enemies or aid their allies. It could be as short as weaving two simple spells together to boost their effect through to the fine art of combining up to twenty spells into a devastating blend of mystical power.
How Spellweaving Works
The player will start the spellweave by activating their spellweave ability. This places them in a trance-like state where they cannot move and the only actions they are allowed to perform is adding more components to the weave.
Once in the spellweave the player can add as many spells into the weave as they can manage or want to. The maximum number of spells that can be called into a weave is dependant on the players level.
Then once the elements are all added they can end the weave by deactivating the ability and the weave will fire off at its target as the caster leaves the trance and is free to move around again.
The spellweaving system allows for some truly awe-inspiring effects to be invoked. This allows the caster to tailor a specific incantation best suited to their current target. Whether it is combining debuffs or enhancing your damage, or even a combination of the two - the spellweaving system will allow casters to adapt their strategies to the situation at hand!
The depth of the system lies in figuring out the best combinations for the weaves and how best to avoid the darker side of Hyborian magic, because spellweaving does not come without risk!
Dark and Dangerous: Ill-effects and magical burden
Using the ancient magic’s of the gods is far from a trivial matter, and spellweaving opens up the caster to the dangerous elements that dabbling in such arcane arts invariably attracts.
Spellweaving is almost a balancing act. How much power can you summon forth without incurring some ancient curse or other mysterious ailment?
When a caster performs a spellweave there is a chance that they will suffer ill-effects from the process.
The risk of this depends on how powerful a weave they are performing based upon the power of the spells they are trying to combine and their level. Stray too far beyond what you are capable of and you will run the risk of incurring one of these side-effects!
The weave is not an exact science and even the mana cost of the weave will vary from that of its base components and whilst the system even allows for a caster to use more mana then they have, a heavy price might be paid for delving too deeply beyond those magical reserves.
The other element to spellweaving is a characters magical burden, every time a weave is performed they incur a magical burden, a dept as it were that weighs upon them. If too many weaves are attempted consecutively, or they attempt a weave that pushes their limits the burden will increase their chances of incurring ill-effects on the next weave. This burden naturally decays when a caster is not in a spellweave.