Minor, Major, and Specialist schools of occult arcana

Discussion about the occult and arcana in general. (Don't call it "magic" if you want to be taken seriously by scholars.)
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Rias
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Minor, Major, and Specialist schools of occult arcana

Post by Rias »

After much deliberation over just how to set up availability of occult powers, I've decided to take inspiration from (COUGHcopycatCOUGH) a system I've experienced and enjoyed from another game, and will be setting up 3 types of spell lists - Minor, Major, and Specialist.

Minor schools will be available to anyone, provided you can get access to a trainer. No Guild or Society affiliations required, though some trainers might require some RP for the initiate to prove themselves before they start giving away the secrets to their craft. As the term "minor" suggests, these will be spells of lesser potency, complexity, and overall impressiveness.

Major schools will be spell lists of greater potency and complexity that are potentially shared across multiple Guilds and/or Societies. For instance, the Major Sorcery school might be shared between both the Scholar Guild and the Rook Parlour (a Society). Both would have access to the full list of spells.

Specialist schools will be spell lists available to only one Guild/Society. For example, the Rook Parlour's exclusive list of particularly potent sorcerous rituals.

A character can only access one school of occult arcana per 100 points in the Arcana skill (thresholds subject to change upon further testing and consideration). Therefore, it won't be possible to dip into multiple schools without a significant skill point investment, so consider carefully before you start down a path.

Some spell lists I've already done a significant amount of work on:
- Minor Sorcery
- Major Sorcery
- Rook Parlour (Sorcery)
- Minor Druidry
- Major Druidry
- (As-Yet-Unnamed Druidic Society)

I'm still eeehhhhh on the classical elements (water, fire, air, earth). I know they're classics, but they're also just so ... eeehhhh.

Thaumaturgy, being associated with subjective matters such as ethics and concepts like compassion, was always controversial and caused a lot of drama with players, practitioners and otherwise. It caused me no small amount of frustration as well in its original implementation. It still exists, but may well be exclusive to NPCs this time around to avoid all that mess.

And while we're on the subject of occult practitioners, it should also be noted that these spells should all be considered rote, rigid, single-purpose, specific-outcome spells - that is, each is a specific spell designed to produce a specific outcome: no more, no less. When a channeler casts a spell to, say, conjure a little ball of white light that floats just over their shoulder, the spell does that and that alone. The channeler does not have the ability to direct the ball of light around at will, brighten it, dim it, change its color, cause it to pulse, appear as a flame instead of a ball, or anything else. If the description of the spell is that it will conjure a ball of white light above the channeler's shoulder, then that is the limit to what can be done with that spell.

That said, there may well be discoveries that lead to some ways for occultists to modify such spells within certain parameters.

As to where these rote spells come from, I'm not quite ready to say - still hammering out some of the lore.

Also: Channelers able to perform more freeform and at-will castings on the fly, based on their own desires and mental manipulations rather than single-purpose rote ritualistic spells, are purported to exist - particularly some particularly prominent magi of Nuum, sorcerers of Tol Rhun, druids of Tyr-Gwyrd, and theurges of Constantia. Not to mention the controversial "Ascended Immortals" such as Crowhaven and Owleyes. These are rare cases (and some would say dubious claims) however, and PCs cannot be one of these individuals as this MUD environment with pre-coded mechanics and rules would not be able to effectively accommodate such a thing without constant GM attention.
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Candelori
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Re: Minor, Major, and Specialist schools of occult arcana

Post by Candelori »

I look forward to seeing this implemented. I imagine it will relieve some of the development load to be able to share many of the spells across guilds, and it will be good to have some available outside guilds at all, as has been frequently requested in the past.

I must admit that I am somewhat disheartened to hear about thaumaturgy, though I certainly do understand the reasoning behind it, and do not disagree with the decision. I do not know how well it might reconcile with the existing concept of thaumaturgy, but I would like to suggest perhaps a small lesser school of thaumaturgic effects that could be considered drawing from a collective resource of thaumaturgic energy rather than one's own personal reserves. Significant actions against the thaumaturgic discipline might still result in being cut off, while not being under as high a degree of scrutiny as channeling one's own personal power.
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Re: Minor, Major, and Specialist schools of occult arcana

Post by Rias »

Candelori wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 8:58 amI would like to suggest perhaps a small lesser school of thaumaturgic effects that could be considered drawing from a collective resource of thaumaturgic energy rather than one's own personal reserves.
I've been trying for a while to think of a way to allow some thaumaturgy use by PCs with lesser restrictions/oversight, while keeping the core concepts of thaumaturgy fully intact. I'll continue to brainstorm, but for the time being I'm erring on the side of caution. The last thing I want to do is pull a World of Warcraft and devolve a more nuanced and unique source of channeling into just another power source that can be manipulated by anyone, regardless of its original disciplines and limitations.
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Re: Minor, Major, and Specialist schools of occult arcana

Post by Candelori »

I agree wholeheartedly with your aims and concerns regarding thaumaturgy. Thank you for being willing to consider the matter further.
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Re: Minor, Major, and Specialist schools of occult arcana

Post by Rastaban »

Do you have any ideas what more schools there will be? Illusions, force, telepathy, translocation, transmutation?
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Re: Minor, Major, and Specialist schools of occult arcana

Post by Rias »

Nothing that I'm quite committed enough to share just yet.

Of your examples:
- I'll say that translocation is out - I'm not a fan of teleportation and the like. Cheapens too many situations, too easy a workaround to most obstacles.
- Transmutation probably won't be a school of its own, though Druidry is fairly heavy on self-transmutations like taking on various animal aspects/enhancements that physically alter the body.
- Telepathy I could see as the more broad mental/emotional type of powers that people like Mummers/Bards would use. (Note: Not linked to telekinesis)
- Illusions, there's a lot of potential for. I have a number of spells ready that could fall under this umbrella, but I will probably narrow the scope/term to "light" in particular. Photomancy?
- Force: I've gone back and forth on this one. To be determined. Assuming you mean things like ... Jedi-like stuff, I guess. A force-assisted jump, force pushing someone, a defensive wall of force, etc.
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Re: Minor, Major, and Specialist schools of occult arcana

Post by Rastaban »

Very good, thank you! I will await further news when you are ready.
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Re: Minor, Major, and Specialist schools of occult arcana

Post by ocayucos »

Please continue to consider the classical elements! I know a lot of people loved elemancy in CLOK because of how you could mix elements and get different results. For myself, I would be heartbroken to not have any water magic.
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Re: Minor, Major, and Specialist schools of occult arcana

Post by Dennis »

Rias wrote: Thu Nov 29, 2018 8:44 am
Candelori wrote: Wed Nov 28, 2018 8:58 amI would like to suggest perhaps a small lesser school of thaumaturgic effects that could be considered drawing from a collective resource of thaumaturgic energy rather than one's own personal reserves.
I've been trying for a while to think of a way to allow some thaumaturgy use by PCs with lesser restrictions/oversight, while keeping the core concepts of thaumaturgy fully intact. I'll continue to brainstorm, but for the time being I'm erring on the side of caution. The last thing I want to do is pull a World of Warcraft and devolve a more nuanced and unique source of channeling into just another power source that can be manipulated by anyone, regardless of its original disciplines and limitations.
5 year necrobump, but with the shifting gears into merging worlds, will we be seeing thaumaturgy brought back in some shape or form?
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