Sorcery Overhaul

The harnessing and manipulation of nether.
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Karjus
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Sorcery Overhaul

Post by Karjus »

Intent
The concept behind this overhaul is to make Sorcery it's own unique thing in terms of ranged combat. Ranged Combat itself needs some tweaking anyway, but I was thinking about how to handle this specifically. Mostly in regards to the balance mechanic, and both opponents and the caster. To hit reliably and effectively, you generally need access to rerolls, and want to remove your opponents, otherwise it becomes a boring trading blows situation. However, when trying to think of ways for Sorcerers to gain balance, I just couldn't come up with anything that hugely made sense, at least not beyond the basic "Circle" everyone has now of trying to get into a better position on the battlefield. I felt like I needed a more bit jazz, hence the following.

Sorcery Skill
Raising this skill increases the rate of attunement a caster has with Nether currently, and it's cap. At certain thresholds it also allows the capability of opening more channels with Nether than the initial one.

-Attunement
A figure much like Energy, ranging from 0 to a cap based on the caster's Sorcery and Meditation. The number is increased by opening channels of Nether. The more channels open, the quicker the figure rises to the user's cap, and the more skilled the user in Sorcery the easier it is for them to raise it with minimal channels, or quickly flood themselves.

Attunement is then utilized much like a combination of Balance/Energy for Ranged Combat with Sorcery. Attacking with raw sorcery casts will use chunks of Attunement. The more channels open, the larger the cost of the cast. Also, the number of rerolls available will change based on current Attunement, and how many channels you have open. Using other Sorcery abilities beyond raw casts will also use Attunement, and can scale rerolls from this.

Being close to your maximum Attunement isn't a good thing. It's a hard art, and the best results come from when the Caster is in control and able to balance things. Being at your maximum Attunement should negatively effect rerolls, as the Caster tries to bring the raw Nether under their control. How negatively and at what point is based off the Caster's Meditation skill, reflecting their ability to focus and maintain the strain.

In this in mind as well, in terms of raw casts, more channels means less rerolls to hit. Damage is increased, and there may be other effects tied to it but in terms of pure ease of manipulation/accuracy, it's not quite as simple.

-Abilities
General sorcery abilities that weaken the opponent, like curses. Binding tendrils is a great example of a ability that slots really well into the ability for Casters to damage their opponents balance without doing Warriorish stuff like tackling/sweeping/feinting.

Other concepts could be spells which reduce the amount of balance opponents gain from their own abilities while also increasing the cost of spending it. The potential to sap the energy from your opponent but also leaving them slumped for a balance cost, and so forth. The way I see it, for a traditional Sorcerer (Nightblades would be an exception, or other hybrid builds) wouldn't ever have much balance themselves as they look to control the Nether instead for combat ability while also using that to hinder their opponents to make them easier to hit. A great combo for example might be getting high Attunement to use Binding Tendrils to knock an opponent down, and then using a 3x Channel Cast which while more inaccurate than a 1x Channel causes a lot more damage and could take advantage of the prone enemy.

When channels are closed, I think a Sorcery should keep access to their Attunement though it drains away quickly. I think it should let them be able to use it though, even if they don't have long to do so.

Hybrids however, would probably have to rely on a combination of more Physical abilities to keep their opponents unbalanced so they can utilize their Sorcery as they might lack the possibility of so easy rerolls due to Attunement Cap, and the fact that they might not be able to spend/manage it as well as a dedicated Caster.

Anyway, ramble over.
- Karjus

Speaking to you, XYZ says, "Never bother to wash it. It gets dirty again anyway."
Speaking to XYZ, you say, "I hope you don't treat your ass the same way."
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