Trinity Spells/Skills

Objectives of the design for Trinity's new spells/skills:

- Bring Weaponcraft in line with the magical schools in terms of usefulness and number of skills.
- Fill out Jala.
- Increase the number of low-level spells to snag new users with easy-to-cast, low-impact but neat spells.
- Provide at least a small amount of growth for higher-level characters in the bigger schools.

A survey of current spells.

Recommendations based on that survey

note: * denotes a spell/skill which is for Insurrection, the first update.

Qor

Cloak (1) *

Malaise (1)

Contagion (2)

Eavesdrop (2) *

Silence (3)

Shal'ille

Breath of Life (1) *

Grin (1)

Seance (1) *

Resist Acid (2) *

Dazzle (3/4)

Sanctuary (3)

Faren

Fog (1) *

Glow (1) *

Mystic Touch (1)

Sweep (1) *

Combust (2)

Thunderclap (3)

Ring of Flames (4)

Kraanan

Free Action (1) *

Eagle Eyes (1)

Relay (1)

Fatigue (2)

Monster Treat (2)

[move Haste from level 3 to level 2, change name to Endurance]

Riija

Bogeyman (1)

Ventriloquism (2)

Haunt (2)

Aphasia (4)

Jala

Chant (1)

Distill (2)

Inscribe (3)

Teach (6)

Weaponcraft

Throw (1)

Evade (1)

Block (1) *

Counterstrike (2)

Disarm (3)

Bloodlust (4)

Fasting (5)

Quicksilver Tracery (5)

Second Wind (6)

note: spells in burgundy are for Insurrection.

Qor

Cloak: Gives caster a chance of deflecting a seance or hunt location hint, causing it to provide misinformation. Chance of deflection is 10-50%, depending on spellpower.

gameplay details:

- level: 1
- mana: 5
- vigor: 2
- trance: 3 seconds
- reagents: 2 elderberry
- type: personal enchantment
- increase chance: 20
- outlaw: no
- teacher: Zuxana
- duration: 5-15 minutes, depending on spellpower

art needs:

- spell icon.

Malaise: Makes all players in the room pout. Also worsens NPC mood (except for specials like Maleval, whose mood is used for other things), and sends an entertaining text message to the room ("A dark pall is cast over the area."). May not be cast if there are no players in the room (other than the caster, obviously), if there are no NPCs, or if the NPCs are 'capped out' at their worst mood.

gameplay details:

- level: 1
- mana: 5
- vigor: 2
- trance: 3 seconds
- reagents: 1 elderberry
- type: sorcery
- increase chance: 5
- outlaw: no
- teacher: Bone priestess

art needs:

- spell icon.

Contagion: Gives caster an infectious disease which is communicable to players and monsters through various means (offers, attacks, even close proximity). Causes a very slight stat loss (1 point, random choice of stat). When a player is first infected, there is a short period during which the disease enchantment is not visible to the player, but is highly communicable. The enchantment then shows up, the stat loss goes into effect, and the disease is still communicable but less so. There may only be a maximum of x infected players at a given time (limit and counter held in system's copy of the spell). A player may not be double-infected. Cure disease works on contagion. Note that newbies can cast this, and it's not an outlaw spell. As such, stat effects and duration must be minimal (the point is just the fun of infection... wheee!!).

gameplay details:

- level: 2
- mana: 10
- vigor: 5
- trance: 10 seconds
- reagents: 1 entroot berry, 1 elderberry
- type: personal enchantment
- increase chance: 10
- outlaw: yes
- teacher: Maleval
- duration: invisible for 1-5 minutes, visible for an additional 5-25 minutes, depending on spellpower and hp.

art needs:

- spell icon

Eavesdrop: Allows caster to hear anything which is said aloud in a particular neighboring room (randomly chosen from the yell-list). The speaker's name is stripped from the speech (A far-off voice says, "I'm hungry"). Lasts as long as caster holds trance.

gameplay details:

- level: 2
- mana: 8 initial, plus 2/second
- vigor: 4
- trance: perpetual
- reagents: 2 entroot berries
- type: personal enchantment
- increase chance: 20
- outlaw: no
- teacher: Roq
- duration: variable

art needs:

- spell icon

Silence: Swallows all says, yells, tells, and broadcasts originating out of and coming into the affected room. Lasts as long as caster holds trance. Only castable in kill zones. NPCs shut up too, except for the watcher (actually, test Arena cases thoroughly).

gameplay details:

- level: 3
- mana: 10 initial, drain depends on spellpower (4/second to 1/second)
- vigor: 10
- trance: perpetual
- reagents: 2 dark angel feathers
- type: room enchantment
- increase chance: 20
- outlaw: yes
- teacher: Miriana
- duration: variable

art needs:

- spell icon

Shal'ille

Breath of Life: Caster bestows some of his/her hp onto target player. Never brings caster below 10. Percentage of hp transferred depends on spellpower and karma (10-50%). Target may not be thus charged up past 1.5 times max health, or above 60 hp, whichever is less.

gameplay details:

- level: 1
- mana: 3
- vigor: 2
- trance: none
- reagents: 1 herb
- type: sorcery
- increase chance: 20
- outlaw: no
- teacher:

art needs:

- spell icon

Grin: Makes all players in the room grin for no apparent reason. Also improves NPC mood (except for specials like Maleval, whose mood is used for other things), and sends an entertaining text message to the room ("Happy days are here again."). May not be cast if there are no players in the room (other than the caster, obviously), if there are no NPCs, or if the NPCs are 'capped out' at their best mood.

gameplay details:

- level: 1
- mana: 5
- vigor: 2
- trance: 3 seconds
- reagents: 1 herb
- type: sorcery
- increase chance: 5
- outlaw: no
- teacher: Bone priestess

art needs:

- spell icon.

Seance: Caster communes with the spirit of the last murder victim, who has a chance (spellpower, karma) of informing the caster as to the location of the last murderer (but not the name). May also misinform! Only works if a revenant is currently chasing that murderer. Chance of correct information is 10-50%, depending on spellpower and caster karma. Note that the chance is low so that players must communicate to be certain of the divination. After casting, caster gains invisible enchantment (duration proportional to spellpower and karma - more accurate less frequently) which ensures that further castings will provide the same answer (to avoid player casting over and over to get the right answer).

gameplay details:

- level: 1
- mana: 10
- vigor: 20
- trance : 10 seconds
- reagents: 2 herbs
- type: sorcery (with associated enchantment)
- increase chance: 30
- outlaw: no
- teacher: Shal'ille priestess
- duration: 5-20 minute post-enchantment

art needs:

- spell icon

Resist Acid: Gives the caster resistance to acid attacks. The resistance value is 5-55, depending on spellpower. The duration 2.5-5 minutes at 1 spellpower, 7.5-15 minutes at 99 spellpower.

gameplay details:

- level: 3
- mana:9
- vigor: 2
- trance: none
- reagents: 2 herbs, 2 mushrooms
- type: enchantment
- increase chance: 30
- outlaw: yes
- teacher: Shal'ille priestess
- duration: see above

art needs:

- spell icon

Dazzle: Flashes opponent's screen white, gradually fading back to normal. Duration of complete blindness is 2-15 seconds (depending on spellpower and difference between caster and target karma), with gradual fade to normal sight over the next 5-15 seconds. Caster cannot target self, revenants, NPCs, or anyone already blinded.

gameplay details:

- level: 3
- mana:10
- vigor: 4
- trance: none
- reagents: 1 emerald
- type: enchantment
- increase chance:15
- outlaw: yes
- teacher: Shal'ille priestess
- duration: see above

art needs:

- spell icon

Sanctuary: Same as rescue, but sends player to their guild hall. Cannot be cast if player is unguilded or guild has no hall.

gameplay details:

- level: 3
- mana:16
- vigor: 2
- trance: none
- reagents: 1 emerald
- type: sorcery
- increase chance:10
- outlaw: no
- teacher: Jonas (only teaches if you give him a token)
- duration: see above

art needs:

- spell icon

Faren

Fog: Creates a 3 by 3 square of harmless fog elements in front of caster. Same as Poison Fog, including appearance of fog elements, except fog is harmless and animates slighty slower.

gameplay details:

- level: 1

- mana: 15
- vigor: 10
- trance: none
- reagents: 1 entroot berry
- type: summoning
- increase chance: 20
- outlaw: no
- teacher: Tenuv'yal
- duration: fog elements stick around 75% the duration of poison fog elements

art needs:

- spell icon

Glow: Enchants weapon to glow like a torch.

gameplay details:

- level: 1
- mana: 10
- vigor: 2
- trance: none
- reagents: 1 elderberry, 3 mushroom
- type: weapon enchantment
- increase chance: 20
- outlaw: no
- teacher: Jonas
- duration: same as light spell

art needs:

- spell icon

Sweep: Removes stuff that's lying around cluttering up an area (forces an auto-dispose). NPCs who haven't had their shop swept in a while (spam protection - 4 times a Meridian day) will give a newbie some coins for sweeping, if there's something to sweep.

gameplay details:

- level: 1
- mana: 4
- vigor: 10
- trance: none
- reagents: 2 mushrooms
- type: sorcery
- increase chance: 20
- outlaw: no
- teacher: Tenuv'yal? better someone else - Ran er hoth? everybody thinks he's crazy anyway.

art needs:

- spell icon

Mystic Touch: Transfers mana from caster to target player. % transferred depends on spellpower

gameplay details:

- level 1
- mana: 3
- vigor: 2
- trance: none
- reagents: 2 mushrooms
- type: sorcery
- increase chance: 20
- outlaw: no
- teacher: Tenuv'yal

art needs:

- spell icon

Combust: Destroys target flammable object (mace, herbs, etc), producing a miniature flame object which can only hurt small monsters (not large monsters, not players) such as baby spiders, rats, centipedes, and larval worms.

gameplay details:

- level 2

art needs:

- spell icon
- Can use new mini-flame art, or can use scaled-down version of old firewall art.

Thunderclap: Produces a loud clap of thunder, slightly damaging all occupants in the room and sometimes breaking trances.

gameplay details:

- level 3

art needs:

- spell icon

Ring of Flames: Produces a ring of firewall elements around the caster. The caster can be damaged by his/her own fire elements.

gameplay details:

- level 4

art needs:

- spell icon

Kraanan

Free Action: Reduces duration of hold and fatigue (10%-50% based on spellpower), and may even repell them completely (2%-10% based on spellpower).

gameplay details:

- level 1

art needs:

- spell icon

Eagle Eyes: Increases chance to hit with ranged weapons (throw, archery). Note that the effectiveness of the bow must be reduced to allow room for this spell.

gameplay details:

- level 1

art needs:

- spell icon

Relay: Transfers vigor from caster to target player. % transferred proportional to spellpower and inversely proportional to absolute value of difference between caster and target hp. Will never take caster's vigor below 20.

gameplay details:

- level 1

art needs:

- spell icon

Fatigue: Reduces monster movement rate, increases player vigor burn for running.

gameplay details:

- level 2

art needs:

- spell icon

Monster Treat: (change name) When spell is cast, caster gets a monster treat object. At that time, the nearest monster checks if they care about the treat. The chance depends on the difference in power between the monster and the player, as well as on spellpower (though it never works on supermonsters). So at 1 spellpower, the chance ranges from 1%-10%, and at 99 spellpower the chance ranges from 20%-70%. The chance is halved if the monster is currently attacking someone. If the monster wants the treat, it will chase it (or whoever is carrying it) until it reaches it, upon which time it will gobble it up and resume its prior behavior (probably attacking the caster). The treat evaporates after 1-5 minutes (spellpower). If the treat leaves the room, it evaporates. If the monster leaves the room, the treat evaporates.

gameplay details:

- level 2

art needs:

- spell icon
- treat object

[move Haste from level 3 to level 2, change name to Endurance]

Riija

Bogeyman: Target player has a chance of hearing the 'aware' sound for a random monster chosen from the monster list. The chance is 25-75%, based on spellpower. Critical failure results in a silly message (Aphasia says, "BOO!"; Aphasia makes a scary face; etc.). Casting in a non-monster room also results in a silly message (You hear the sound of chains clanking).

gameplay details:

- level 1

art needs:

- spell icon

Ventriloquism: Whatever the caster says aloud appears to originate from the target player, as long as the caster holds trance and the players remain in the same room. Faked text is obviously different from normal text: the whole message is indented one space, and all 'm's are replaced with 'n's. Every say checks against spellpower (5%-95% chance), and failure results in a revealing message (It's kind of strange how Aphasia's lips often seem to move when Gort is speaking). Dispel illusion results in the same message.

gameplay details:

- level 2

art needs:

- spell icon

Haunt: Creates a 1 hp revenant which chases the player around. Max of 10 revenants in a room.

gameplay details:

- level 2

art needs:

- spell icon

Aphasia: Target player's speech (says) gets forgotten (Aphasia says, "uh..."). Spells have a higher chance of failing (1.25-2 times, depending on spellpower).

gameplay details:

- level 4

art needs:

- spell icon

Jala

Chant: Bumps up spellpower for multicast spells (5%-20% based on jala spellpower), shortening their casting time.

gameplay details:

- level 1

art needs:

- spell icon

Distill: Allows players to distill potions. Must use empty flask and reagents for target spell. Distiller must have at least 75% in distilled spell. Caster permanently loses 1% off spell for each potion made. Potion acquires 25-50% of caster's spellpower in target spell, depending on caster's distilling spellpower. Only personal enchantments may be made in to potions.

gameplay details:

- level 2

art needs:

- spell icon
- A couple new potion bottles (we have two unused potion graphics already)

Inscribe: Allows players to inscribe magical scrolls. Must use a blank scroll and reagents for target spell. Inscriber must have at least 75% in inscribed spell. Caster permanently loses 2% off spell for each scroll made. Scroll acquires 25-50% of caster's spellpower in target spell, depending on caster's inscribing spellpower. Only area enchantments (and possibly summoning spells) may be made in to scrolls.

gameplay details:

- level 3

art needs:

- spell icon

Teach: Allows player to pass on spells/skills to other players. Cannot perform unless skill/spell is at a particular %, depending on spell/skill level (level 1: 50%, level 2: 60%, level 3: 70%, level 4: 80%, level 5: 90%, level 6: 99%). Successful teach brings both players to 10% in target spell/skill (this number should be adjusted for balance).

gameplay details:

- level 6

art needs:

- spell icon
- special floating 'book of Jala' which holds this spell. Similar to existing tome with pedestal, but floating with a wispy glow trailing below it. Floats in building husk in Cor Noth after destruction.

Weaponcraft

Throw: Allows player to throw stones, lettuce, tomatoes, etc. Ammo to be thrown is equipped (used), then the ctrl key attacks, as with any other weapon.

gameplay details:

- level 1

art needs:

- skill icon
- need stuff to throw (inv, dropped, broken, projectile)

- little stones
- big stones
- huge stones (or projectile art for ore chunk)
- lettuce
- tomato
- projectile art for spider egg
- throwing dagger
- poison gas capsules
- smoke capsules (can look the same as poison ones)

Evade: When player is successfully hit, there is a chance proportional to skill ability and to damage done that attacking player will be forced to untarget the player (5%-50% chance - skillpower and agility - 1.5 times the chance for ranged attacks). This works for physical and magical attacks.

gameplay details:

- level 1

art needs:

- skill icon

Block: Reduces damage done by weapons and some monster attacks. Also increases damage done to weapon used to attack player, proportional to skill ability and to damage done to player. If extra damage is done to attacker's weapon, blocker's shield takes 25%-75% (skillpower, might) of that amount as well.

gameplay details:

- level 1

art needs:

- skill icon

Counterstrike: Increases damage done by player following a striking physical blow by the player's target. Damage bonus is proportional to skill ability and to the damage done by the attacker. A missing blow by the player voids the effect for the next attack.

gameplay details:

- level 2

art needs:

- skill icon

Disarm: A successful blow by the player has a chance of unequipping the target's weapon. The chance is proportional to skill ability and inversely proportional to the damage just done. A critical hit (very low damage) may even force the target to drop their weapon. Inflicting very high damage increases wear on the player's weapon. Note that this skill has a greater chance of advancing with low-damage blows.

gameplay details:

- level 3

art needs:

- skill icon

Bloodlust: When the warrior drops to 1/3 of his/her hp or 10 hp, whichever is smaller, s/he goes into a rage in which all physical attacks temporarily receive a damage multiplier (dependent on skill and stamina) of up to double, after which the player begins losing hp unless s/he rests for a period proportional to the berserk period (proportional to skill and stamina). The skill only does an advancement check when it kicks in, so if you want to be strong in this, better live on the edge!

gameplay details:

- level 4

art needs:

- skill icon

Fasting: Alters the vigor rate regained by the player by resting, depending on skill and the length of time since the player last ate. Right after eating, the vigor regaining rate is much less than normal (almost zero). After a while, it is the same. After a while more, it peaks at a value higher than normal, then it drops quickly back down to almost zero. The height of the peak increases with skill. The timescale involved also increases with skill and stamina. The skill checks for advancement every time the player eats. The chance for advancement is very sharply peaked around the vigor regaining rate peak. To advance in this skill, a warrior must thus time his/her eating carefully, gradually stretching the fast to longer and longer periods of time.

gameplay details:

- level 5

art needs:

- skill icon

Quicksilver Tracery: A special brand of Kocatani bladework which allows the warrior to recover from a missing blow more quickly, turning it into a followup attack and thus increasing his/her attack rate by 125-200% (scaled by skill and agility). Note that this skill only checks for advancement on a missing blow followed by a hit, so advancement for experienced players should be difficult.

gameplay details:

- level 5

art needs:

- skill icon

Second Wind: When the player's vigor drops to 20, s/he gets a temporary boost to 40-80 vigor (scaled by stamina) and a 'vigor debt' enchantment. After a period of time proportional to the player's skill and stamina, vigor begins being drained at a regular rate until the vigor debt is 'paid'. The skill only checks for advancement when it kicks in, which should ensure that it advances very slowly.

gameplay details:

- level 6

art needs:

- skill icon