draconis nematoda
09-05-2003, 08:02 PM
Crossposts by Nilven on Minor Summoning.
I. Design Intent
It is our intention for Minor Summoning to bring several things to the sorcerer profession through this release.
Firstly, we feel Minor Summoning is an important step in the continuity of the sorcerer profession and its progression up its base list. We feel that the ability to summon a very powerful demon at level forty without prior forays into demonic summoning, except in a very limited fashion (Cloak of Shadows and Torment), does not make very much sense and it seems prudent that a sorcerer would engage in various safer forms of summoning before attempting to summon beings capable of large amounts of destruction.
Secondly, it is important to us that this release is not solely mechanics based but adds a large amount of depth to the sorcerer profession from a role-playing prospective. In an effort to accomplish this we plan to release a fairly large amount of in-game documentation describing the various valences that sorcerers will be able to pluck demons from and the demons that they will be able to pluck. This will occur shortly after the mechanical release of the spell in GS4.
It was our hope to release the documentation concurrently with the opening of the spell for testing but after considering the unique position that GS4 presents (as opposed to releases taking place in a live game) we felt that releasing the spell itself prior to the availability of documentation was very important for the purposes of thoroughly testing the mechanics. We don''t believe it will infringe on the suspension of disbelief of the world because we plan on releasing the documentation before GS4 goes live. GS4, prior to its live release, is just a game instance for testing and the lack of RP documentation to back up the spell release isn't relevant to the main goal of testing the spell in GS4.
Nilven
II. Summoning Process
We had originally planned to allow the spell to be cast without the use of any type of components under the stipulation that the demon would need to remain close by to the caster so that the caster could maintain his control over the being.
As the spell progressed we realized that we did not like this design and did not feel it would be appropriate that a lesser form of the process that resulted in the end of the Undead Wars be able to be accomplished willy-nilly. The process is still fairly easy and simple but it has a sense of realism to it now. With the advent of a summoning process we also felt that the stipulation that the demon stay close by was no longer necessary
The summoning process involves creating or procuring a runestone like those used in the Scroll Infusion spell. There are two types of runestones; runestones with one rune and runestones with two runes. Those with one rune just represent a particular valence. Runestones with two runes represent a particular valence and a particular demon archetype from that valence, the first rune represents the valence, the second the actual demon archetype.
Use of the first type of runestone will allow a sorcerer to randomly pluck a demon from the specified valence while use of the second will allow the sorcerer to target a specific archetype (imp being an archetype, for example).
Use of the second type of runestone is much more difficult than use of the first and is very difficult without any demonology skill but still possible.
Use of the first type of runestone is fairly easy without any demonology skill whatsoever but there is a possibility of failure with even that type of runestone with no demonology skill. Despite this, you can still succeed a majority of times using the first runestone with absolutely no skill.
It was originally our intent to allow use of the first type without any chance of failure but we came to the decision that this would defeat the purpose of the second type of runestone because if the second required skill and the first one was failure-free then players would simply obtain a valence runestone for the valence they wanted and would simply cast the spell until they got the demon they desired.
For those valences with only two archetypes it would take an average of two casts before one obtained the demon they wanted with absolutely no skill. We did not go this route with Spirit Servant runestones because the differences between various spirit servant types are just cosmetic and role-playing related. The differences between various demon types will be mechanical. For example, one demon archetype is exceptional at guarding its master from thieves much more than any other demon. But as a trade off it cannot deliver messages at all. Other demons can make use of all abilities but are mediocre at all of them, for example.
To summarize even someone with no demonology skill can summon fairly successfully but they cannot do it as precisely as someone with demonology skill. You can still narrow down the demon you want fairly specifically though because you are specifying valence for every summoning attempt.
A sorcerer with no training in demonology starts off with a roughly 50% chance of succeeding when using a runestone that is only valence-specific. There is a specific room in each sorcerer guild that also greatly increases this percentage. I'll let you guess which one it is but it is blatantly obvious. Using this room increases your chances of success for both types of runestones. Failure results in damage to the caster but it is not bad enough that it can result in a death by critical. It can however result in death by HP loss if you have a fairly low amount but this should not be a problem for any sorcerer old enough to cast the spell.
Nilven
III. Miscellany
We wanted to make this a fun and enjoyable release while at the same time we wanted to prevent turning demons into common pets that are seen at every corner of town. We also wanted to maintain their image as presented up until now by the various histories.
To accomplish this goal there is a wait time associated with failing a summoning before another summoning can be attempted. This wait time is fairly short and very reasonable. This was done both to prevent demons from becoming commonplace and also to prevent valence runestones from becoming more useful than those runestones that are valence and demon specific.
There is also a wait time associated with a successful cast before another demon can be summoned. This is shorter than the failure wait time and is less than the duration of the spell itself. This was done to prevent those sorcerers with enough demonology skill to use the valence runestones but not enough to use the valence and demon-specific runestones just repeatedly using the former, releasing their demon, and then recasting until they got the demon they wanted.
Subsection A: RP Considerations
It is still our official OOC stance that demons are not inherently evil but merely ticked off at the summoning they had to be subject to. However, political and cultural organizations within the world of Elanthia cannot be expected to be as tolerant, understanding or enlightened as we GMs are.
Extensive Faendryl research into the matter has shown that demons cannot be accurately labeled as evil or as having any particular innate affiliation but other Elanthians can hardly be expected to believe "darkies." Do not expect most races to be very tolerant of the practice within their town walls. While bringing a demon into town walls will not be illegal in all towns, expect it to be so in a good majority of them.
Elves are particularily disdainful of the practice and consider it a much more serious offense than other towns and principalities. It may be a very high crime indeed in Ta'Vaalor, while in the Landing it may only be slightly worse than disturbing the peace.
However, have no fear -- sorcerers are hardly willing to see their hard summoning work go down the drain as soon as they enter the confines of some hay-littered city. Sorcery is above the law of mere mortals. Various sorcerer guilds have become very skilled at the teaching of optical and auditory illusions that can cause demons to appear very different from their true form. Many a sorcerer have been known to illusion their imps as small flower girls when behind those walls unfriendly to the Art of Summoning. This will not be released initially with the spell itself.
Nilven
[Edited on 9-6-2003 by draconis nematoda]
I. Design Intent
It is our intention for Minor Summoning to bring several things to the sorcerer profession through this release.
Firstly, we feel Minor Summoning is an important step in the continuity of the sorcerer profession and its progression up its base list. We feel that the ability to summon a very powerful demon at level forty without prior forays into demonic summoning, except in a very limited fashion (Cloak of Shadows and Torment), does not make very much sense and it seems prudent that a sorcerer would engage in various safer forms of summoning before attempting to summon beings capable of large amounts of destruction.
Secondly, it is important to us that this release is not solely mechanics based but adds a large amount of depth to the sorcerer profession from a role-playing prospective. In an effort to accomplish this we plan to release a fairly large amount of in-game documentation describing the various valences that sorcerers will be able to pluck demons from and the demons that they will be able to pluck. This will occur shortly after the mechanical release of the spell in GS4.
It was our hope to release the documentation concurrently with the opening of the spell for testing but after considering the unique position that GS4 presents (as opposed to releases taking place in a live game) we felt that releasing the spell itself prior to the availability of documentation was very important for the purposes of thoroughly testing the mechanics. We don''t believe it will infringe on the suspension of disbelief of the world because we plan on releasing the documentation before GS4 goes live. GS4, prior to its live release, is just a game instance for testing and the lack of RP documentation to back up the spell release isn't relevant to the main goal of testing the spell in GS4.
Nilven
II. Summoning Process
We had originally planned to allow the spell to be cast without the use of any type of components under the stipulation that the demon would need to remain close by to the caster so that the caster could maintain his control over the being.
As the spell progressed we realized that we did not like this design and did not feel it would be appropriate that a lesser form of the process that resulted in the end of the Undead Wars be able to be accomplished willy-nilly. The process is still fairly easy and simple but it has a sense of realism to it now. With the advent of a summoning process we also felt that the stipulation that the demon stay close by was no longer necessary
The summoning process involves creating or procuring a runestone like those used in the Scroll Infusion spell. There are two types of runestones; runestones with one rune and runestones with two runes. Those with one rune just represent a particular valence. Runestones with two runes represent a particular valence and a particular demon archetype from that valence, the first rune represents the valence, the second the actual demon archetype.
Use of the first type of runestone will allow a sorcerer to randomly pluck a demon from the specified valence while use of the second will allow the sorcerer to target a specific archetype (imp being an archetype, for example).
Use of the second type of runestone is much more difficult than use of the first and is very difficult without any demonology skill but still possible.
Use of the first type of runestone is fairly easy without any demonology skill whatsoever but there is a possibility of failure with even that type of runestone with no demonology skill. Despite this, you can still succeed a majority of times using the first runestone with absolutely no skill.
It was originally our intent to allow use of the first type without any chance of failure but we came to the decision that this would defeat the purpose of the second type of runestone because if the second required skill and the first one was failure-free then players would simply obtain a valence runestone for the valence they wanted and would simply cast the spell until they got the demon they desired.
For those valences with only two archetypes it would take an average of two casts before one obtained the demon they wanted with absolutely no skill. We did not go this route with Spirit Servant runestones because the differences between various spirit servant types are just cosmetic and role-playing related. The differences between various demon types will be mechanical. For example, one demon archetype is exceptional at guarding its master from thieves much more than any other demon. But as a trade off it cannot deliver messages at all. Other demons can make use of all abilities but are mediocre at all of them, for example.
To summarize even someone with no demonology skill can summon fairly successfully but they cannot do it as precisely as someone with demonology skill. You can still narrow down the demon you want fairly specifically though because you are specifying valence for every summoning attempt.
A sorcerer with no training in demonology starts off with a roughly 50% chance of succeeding when using a runestone that is only valence-specific. There is a specific room in each sorcerer guild that also greatly increases this percentage. I'll let you guess which one it is but it is blatantly obvious. Using this room increases your chances of success for both types of runestones. Failure results in damage to the caster but it is not bad enough that it can result in a death by critical. It can however result in death by HP loss if you have a fairly low amount but this should not be a problem for any sorcerer old enough to cast the spell.
Nilven
III. Miscellany
We wanted to make this a fun and enjoyable release while at the same time we wanted to prevent turning demons into common pets that are seen at every corner of town. We also wanted to maintain their image as presented up until now by the various histories.
To accomplish this goal there is a wait time associated with failing a summoning before another summoning can be attempted. This wait time is fairly short and very reasonable. This was done both to prevent demons from becoming commonplace and also to prevent valence runestones from becoming more useful than those runestones that are valence and demon specific.
There is also a wait time associated with a successful cast before another demon can be summoned. This is shorter than the failure wait time and is less than the duration of the spell itself. This was done to prevent those sorcerers with enough demonology skill to use the valence runestones but not enough to use the valence and demon-specific runestones just repeatedly using the former, releasing their demon, and then recasting until they got the demon they wanted.
Subsection A: RP Considerations
It is still our official OOC stance that demons are not inherently evil but merely ticked off at the summoning they had to be subject to. However, political and cultural organizations within the world of Elanthia cannot be expected to be as tolerant, understanding or enlightened as we GMs are.
Extensive Faendryl research into the matter has shown that demons cannot be accurately labeled as evil or as having any particular innate affiliation but other Elanthians can hardly be expected to believe "darkies." Do not expect most races to be very tolerant of the practice within their town walls. While bringing a demon into town walls will not be illegal in all towns, expect it to be so in a good majority of them.
Elves are particularily disdainful of the practice and consider it a much more serious offense than other towns and principalities. It may be a very high crime indeed in Ta'Vaalor, while in the Landing it may only be slightly worse than disturbing the peace.
However, have no fear -- sorcerers are hardly willing to see their hard summoning work go down the drain as soon as they enter the confines of some hay-littered city. Sorcery is above the law of mere mortals. Various sorcerer guilds have become very skilled at the teaching of optical and auditory illusions that can cause demons to appear very different from their true form. Many a sorcerer have been known to illusion their imps as small flower girls when behind those walls unfriendly to the Art of Summoning. This will not be released initially with the spell itself.
Nilven
[Edited on 9-6-2003 by draconis nematoda]