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Old 04-18-2019, 06:03 PM   #1
TippetsTX
 
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Default Alternative Mana Sources

In another thread, the idea of deriving magical energy from non-wizardly sources (for the support of 'gate' networks) was teased. This got me thinking...

Has anyone attempted to implement such power sources into their games? For example, Rolemaster had earthblood and earthnodes which mages could draw upon and the concepts of ley lines, geomancy, and 'places of power' are fairly common in fantasy worldbuilding. Obviously, such elements could be extremely unbalancing given the default assumptions of TFT magic, but I can also see them as an interesting and dynamic addition with the proper controls.
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Old 04-18-2019, 06:28 PM   #2
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Default Re: Alternative Mana Sources

I have yet to play The Fantasy Trip at all (still reading and familiarizing), so I haven't got any real experience with its regular magic system, let alone a modified version… however, if one were concerned about extra sources of mana unbalancing the game, one could simply restrict those sources to special applications.

In the case of the PORTALS (Publicly-Operated Rapid Transit Adventurer Launch System, as opposed to normal spell-created Gates) in Cidri, maybe those ley line intersections (or big deposits of magic crystals, or whatever) only work for teleportation magic. So yeah, there's a bunch of magic power concentrated there, but you can't use it for anything else. Maybe that's why they built the Gate there in the first place, instead of building a keep and manning it with a bunch of combat Wizards. (Free recharging stations in the lobby!)
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Old 04-18-2019, 06:56 PM   #3
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Default Re: Alternative Mana Sources

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Originally Posted by FireHorse View Post
... maybe those ley line intersections (or big deposits of magic crystals, or whatever) only work for teleportation magic. So yeah, there's a bunch of magic power concentrated there, but you can't use it for anything else.
You could restate this as "The ST cost for Gate Spells is reduced by n here, due to the unique blah blah blah". Then you wouldn't have the side effects of cheap and abundant magic being used for other things.
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Old 04-18-2019, 08:34 PM   #4
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Default Re: Alternative Mana Sources

Yes, my initial thought was to apply the idea of ley lines to gate networks as a way to potentially increase stability while also lowering the maintenance requirements (Hcobb's proposed guild-managed gate stations, for example, are certainly a logical extrapolation of RAW, but the image doesn't appeal to me).

Beyond that, however, I think I would like to come up with an optional system to allow wizards to tap into mana from their environment under certain conditions.
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Old 04-18-2019, 10:46 PM   #5
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Default Re: Alternative Mana Sources

I never really thought it thru or anything, but I was always under the impression that while the Gate spell is well known to and widely used by the W. Guild, Mnoren inter-alternate-earth Gates were actually a tech thing .. possibly Security Station influenced me (it definitely did actually, it rocks), possibly the World of Tiers books (which are not attached to TFT in any OFFICIAL way .. yet the influence of 'Lords' on 'Mnoren' is not easily ignored, any more than 'hobbits' on 'halflings' ) .. so yeah .. always thought that was some mighty machine born of 'super-science' (love that term), rather than magic

Does the new version TFT Gate spell allow an inter-earth Gate to be built? .. (or like Hawking's time-machine wormhole, must both ends be constructed simultaneously, which is for all practical purposes effectively impossible? like .. youd need a Gate to that world already, in order to build a Gate to that world?)

theres also an idea that if a Wizard was on a 'high-magic' world, or in a high-magic zone, fatigue would regenerate far faster .. if mana level was high enuf, one might have effectively unlimited ST available every turn .. as you say :) crystals, ley lines, whatever rationalisation strains you the least :)

is TFT mana in the new rules based pretty well on GURPS mana? I dont think its mentioned in the original TFT at all, but a lotta guys here seem to be talking about it ..

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Old 04-19-2019, 05:04 PM   #6
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Default Re: Alternative Mana Sources

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Is TFT mana in the new rules based pretty well on GURPS mana? I dont think its mentioned in the original TFT at all, but a lotta guys here seem to be talking about it ..
In TFT the term 'mana' is primarily used in conjunction with the new (wizard) Staff spells, specifically in describing the ability they have to store magical energy. The implication seems to be that 'mana' is simply what ST is called if it exists outside of the wizard.
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Old 04-19-2019, 11:27 PM   #7
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Default Re: Alternative Mana Sources

Well, I suppose if you wanted to power up truly evil cults or something, you could go with "sentient being sacrifice," but honestly, I think exploring such possibilities is best done off these forums, give the touchiness about some topics here...

You could also experiment with "ritual" magic -- some long, drawn-out process that eventually yields extra mana for magical spells in some way -- though maybe they have to be "put into" a powerstone or something similar. I'm thinking it would take some serious time and thought to come up with something that doesn't completely skew the "economics" of the magic system...
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Old 04-20-2019, 06:17 AM   #8
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Default Re: Alternative Mana Sources

I think murder, horror and any sort of violence are fine to discuss here, as is ritual killing to obtain extra mana for spellcasting .. I discussed it elsewhere without attracting any problems or censure

its other, much less easy to predict things, that are viewed as objectionable .. it might be wise to cultivate an extreme caution discussing anything at all

it could be because Im foreign (?) .. dont completely understand the local .. social mores and expectations

sometimes I see others censured, and can puzzle it out, why, after the fact (even tho I wouldnt have predicted it) .. other times Im completely mystified, cant figure out what the problem was

obviously, anything one might see in say, Game of Thrones is no guide to whats acceptable here (lol) .. but neither are the standards applied to video games any help .. or the subjects routinely covered in a classical or medieval history book

eh different cultures .. whaddaya gonna do lol .. to some extent our builds of Cidri and our views of the TFT rules must remain isolated it seems .. and a few of the more um, introverted folks driven away

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Old 04-20-2019, 03:21 PM   #9
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Default Re: Alternative Mana Sources

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Originally Posted by mark hill View Post

sometimes I see others censured, and can puzzle it out, why, after the fact (even tho I wouldnt have predicted it) .. other times Im completely mystified, cant figure out what the problem was

obviously, anything one might see in say, Game of Thrones is no guide to whats acceptable here (lol) .. but neither are the standards applied to video games any help .. or the subjects routinely covered in a classical or medieval history book

eh different cultures .. whaddaya gonna do lol .. to some extent our builds of Cidri and our views of the TFT rules must remain isolated it seems .. and a few of the more um, introverted folks driven away
There is one member of the SJG staff who regularly monitors the TFT forum. I've had one run in with him, and he only posts when he is berating someone. I don't know if that is his sole function, or if it's just what he likes to do.

What I do know is that anything he is associated with becomes tainted in my eyes because all I ever see him do is be critical of other people on the forum.

I'll sit back now and wait for the next broadside.
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Old 04-21-2019, 01:05 AM   #10
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Default Re: Alternative Mana Sources

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Originally Posted by mark hill View Post
I think murder, horror and any sort of violence are fine to discuss here, as is ritual killing to obtain extra mana for spellcasting .. I discussed it elsewhere without attracting any problems or censure
Yes, but to be brutally frank, you seem to get away with things on these forums that would get me tempbanned, or at least "admonished" in a heart-beat. Hopefully it's because they cut foreigners more slack than us Yanks (though that is patently unfair treatment for us Yanks, of course).
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