User:Blash/magic system proposal A - description

Crush's ideas are a good starting point for my ideas, but the following list are my ideas:

Magic Energy

• Found in all living things, including you (mana)
• Found in large amounts in crystals
• Seeks to flow from highly concentrated areas to low concentration areas (like wind, electricity, etc.)

Runes

• Runes have a strength/will and a capacity/power for magic energy
• Runes are conductors of magic energy--magic energy is attracted towards them
• Runes like to chaotically release elemental energy (lightning, wind, fire) as soon as they absorb magic energy.
• Runes derive their will from the the will of the rune crafter
• Runes derive their capacity from the rune's craftsmanship quality
• Its capacity is the amount of magic energy it can draw and release as elemental energy, per unit of time
• There is only one kind rune for each element type, not many.
• Runes can be refined to increase their power.
• There is no such thing as multiple "fire spells"--there is only being able to redirect fire energy strategically for the same effect, or getting a more powerful rune.

Mana

• The character's mana auto-recharges
• The character's mana store comes from a combination of vitality, willpower, and intelligence

Intelligence

• Dexterity for spells
• The ability to finely manipulate the discharge of a rune's energy, and the discharge of your mana.
• Allows one to use strategic energy-discharge patterns to direct the influence of elemental and magic energies.

Willpower

• Willpower is the strength of player to control runes though mental exertion of will over them.

What happens

Unless overpowered by your will, or the will of a crystal, runes will endlessly suck magical energy from your mana and discharge the energy chaotically (not controlled, directed, or useful). Will is your resistence to being sucked mana out of. It also allows you to control when a rune discharges its magic energy it has sucked.

• With no will, no intelligence:

Runes will suck your mana and discharge it as they see fit (chaotically). Weapons with runes on them can still do damage bonuses, but the effect is uncontrolled and random, and it can damage you also.

• With will, no intelligence:

A greater will allows you to exert control over the rune--it lets you choose when to release its energy (cast it). A greater will constrains a weapon's rune and directs its energy discharge towards the intended purpose of the weapon. Once you have willpower, a sword with a fire rune inscribed will do what you want it to (damage your enemies) with more consistency in proportion to your will vs. the rune's will when you slash. A wand will direct a rune's energy to where you point it (picture a water hose, or a flamethrower, or a laser pointer). However, without intelligence, you can't learn any special or strategic skills in directing the fire of the sword or the wand. In the case of the sword, it simply burns the victim on strike.

• Will and intelligence:

You can not only tame the rune, but direct its energies--you can do tricks such as heating the sword to increase damage, giving burning slash marks to your enemies, or using your sword to cut ice, etc. Other examples of using intelligence include:

 * directing lightning towards specific targets
 * having fire only burn the door of a house, but not the house
 * making smoke signs with the clouds using wind

• master will and master intelligence:

Being able to completely command the element of the rune, you will be able to make:

 * fire can burn ice
 * wind can crush mountains
 * water can cut stone

Notes

Occupations/skills are time-consuming (taking hours of work) and boring and monotonous (making trips, buying, selling, waiting, clicking the mouse). Under no circumstances should one be forced to spend hours and hours, day in and day out, doing something boring, just to get good at a game. Consequently, rune-crafting should either be a mini-game or should take no time, and there needs to be a way for non-rune-crafters to buy runes they want.