Mage Blade

[Johnny Angel]

"Yes, I was agreeing with that and tossing out ideas for how I think it would work well with advantage enhancements. "

thanks

sorry... sometimes it's hard to pick up on context on a message board

I get so accustomed to people being negative on other fora that sometimes I forget that it's possible to receive honest constructive criticism here.

[Captain-Captain]

Originally Posted by Mark Skarr

That is a ridiculous amount of damage for a fantasy game. That’s ST 33/34 swing damage for a Magery 3 character (with an Armor Divisor!), and ST 22 swing damage for a Magery 2 character. You suddenly become the party damage dealer. Who cares t hat it costs you 2 FP per 2.5 minutes . . . that’s longer than the fight is expected to last, and, once they see your weapon, they’re not likely to want to continue fighting.

Unless the other characters are packing ultra-tech weapons or armor, it’s drastically unfair.

It's not that out of whack relative to some other spells. M3 characters can do up to 9 dice ranged, this is like Flame Jet without the long staff range.

The Magery and Mana level interaction makes things too much bother to use.

Standard penalties for mana apply: -5 to skillo in low mana, Any failure is a critical failure in Very High Mana.

Duration should be 1 second, same to maintain, as per Flame Jet. 3 pts per level of magery. a 9d attack has reach 1 To evaluate requires paying the 9 FP (adjusted by skill) for each turn of evaluation (oww) or you evaluate thine cast the spell treating it's creation as a successful fast draw.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by Johnny Angel

The idea of having different mage blades be different depending upon the style/school of magic is something I really like.

Here's a few examples of what I'm picturing for this (prerequisites = Magic Talent 1 / Level):

Fire Blade:

Innate Attack: 2d Burning / Level (Destructive Parry +10%, Incendiary +10%, Can Be Stolen w/ ST But Not Used -15%, Costs 1 FP/Minute -5%, Magical -10%, Melee Attack: Reach C,1 -20%)

Cost: [7/Level] or w/ MM [6/Level]

~~~~~

Wind Blade:

Innate Attack: 1d Crushing / Level (Cosmic: No Active Defense +300%, Double Knockback +20%, Jet +0%, Can Be Stolen w/ ST But Not Used -15%, Costs 1 FP/Minute -5%, Magical -10%, No Wounding -50%)

Cost: [17/Level] or w/ MM [4.2/Level]

~~~~~

Meta Blade:

Innate Attack: 1d Burning / Level (Affects Insubstantial +20%, Armor Divisor: 10 +200%, Costs 1 FP/Minute -5%, Magical -10%, Melee Attack w/ No Parry: Reach C,1 -25%)

Cost: [14/Level] or w/ MM [9.6/Level]

Notes: Tight-Beam Burning.

~~~~~

Necromancy Blade:

Innate Attack: 1d Toxic / Level (Cosmic: No DR +300%, Extended Duration: Permanent +150%, Side Effects: Temp Disadvantage: Total Unhealing +80%, Can Be Stolen w/ ST But Not Used -15%, Costs 1 FP/Minute -5%, Magical -10%, Melee Attack w/ No Parry: Reach C,1 -25%)

Cost: [23/Level] or w/ MM [11.34/Level]

Notes: The Side Effects of this attack prevent normal healing indefinitely, but may be cured
with a Remove Curse spell. Magical healing functions normally against the wounds it inflicts.

~~~~~

Body Control Blade:

Innate Attack: 1d Impaling / Level (Side Effects: Temp Disadvantage: Hemophilia +80%, Can Be Stolen w/ ST But Not Used -15%, Costs 1 FP/Minute -5%, Magical -10%, Melee Attack: Reach C,1 -20%)

Cost: [10.4/Level] or w/ MM [7.7/Level]

Notes: This blade is solid enough to parry attacks and penetrate normal objects, but it works much better against living flesh, may target vital organs, and causes the target to bleed uncontrollably if the side effects are successful.

~~~~~

Mind Control Blade:

Innate Attack: 1d Fatigue / Level (Malediction +100%, No Signature +20%, Side Effects: Stunning +50%, Can Be Stolen w/ ST But Not Used -15%, Costs 1 FP/Minute -5%, Magical -10%, Melee Attack w/ No Parry: Reach C,1 -25%)

Cost: [21.5/Level] or w/ MM [12.15/Level]

Notes: This attack bypasses all DR with a contest of Skill vs Will.

[Dwarf99]

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

I'm pretty sure that's what we're all talking about here.

I meant as in the objects and methods of players constructing them.

[Ze'Manel Cunha]

Originally Posted by Captain-Captain

Duration should be 1 second, same to maintain, as per Flame Jet. 3 pts per level of magery. a 9d attack has reach 1 To evaluate requires paying the 9 FP (adjusted by skill) for each turn of evaluation (oww) or you evaluate thine cast the spell treating it's creation as a successful fast draw.

That seems a bit too FP heavy for what the OP is looking for, how about something along the lines of:

Mage Blade

Enchantment

Enchants a weapon hilt which allows a mage to focus his Magery and project a magical blade from the hilt.
Many mages use various Limiting enchantments so that others can’t use their blade – but this is not automatic.
Mage Blades are generally given Power equal to their wielder's magery +1 and are rarely found with less than 3 Power, without that Power a mage must spend 1 FP + magery level per minute of use.

Magery 0 - 1d (.5)
Magery 1 - 1d
Magery 2 - 2d
Magery 3 - 3d
Magery 4 - 3d (2)
Magery 5 - 4d (2)
Magery 6 - 5d (2)
Magery 7 - 5d (5)
Magery 8 - 6d (5)
Magery 9 - 7d (5)
Magery 10 - 8d (5)


Item
Bladeless weapon hilt as an enchanted focus. Usable only by mages.
Energy cost to create: 50.

[Jeminai]

Originally Posted by Mark Skarr

That is a ridiculous amount of damage for a fantasy game. That’s ST 33/34 swing damage for a Magery 3 character (with an Armor Divisor!), and ST 22 swing damage for a Magery 2 character. You suddenly become the party damage dealer. Who cares t hat it costs you 2 FP per 2.5 minutes . . . that’s longer than the fight is expected to last, and, once they see your weapon, they’re not likely to want to continue fighting.

Unless the other characters are packing ultra-tech weapons or armor, it’s drastically unfair.

I disagree. If a mage casts a fireball and has Magery 3 he can make it a 9d fire ball with the advantage of delivering this damage at a distance. If he does it with an explosive fireball he can do it at a distance and over an area. A Mage Blade still only allows you to do this intense amount of damage in melee range.

Mages already can be uber-powerful, this one thing will not be the item to make them over the top.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by Jeminai

I disagree. If a mage casts a fireball and has Magery 3 he can make it a 9d fire ball with the advantage of delivering this damage at a distance. If he does it with an explosive fireball he can do it at a distance and over an area. A Mage Blade still only allows you to do this intense amount of damage in melee range.

Mages already can be uber-powerful, this one thing will not be the item to make them over the top.

The item breaks any niche protection you might want fighter-types to have, plus it is doing a large amount of damage at a miniscule FP cost. Fireball casters have to build up those large bombs over time and with a proportionally large cost in energy.

[Johnny Angel]

Sorry for the thread necro. This is an old idea which has again been in my thoughts.

(It is also interesting to see how my style of writing has changed drastically since this original post.)


When building a lightsaber, a Jedi needs to built the saber and attune to it. That is the general idea I had before. Now, as I consider it again, I think it could be used to explain needing to sacrifice some of the user's life energy (FP) to power the blade.

A question which arose before was what happens if the blade is broken. Some manner of mental stun seems appropriate because the blade is part of the user's mind and body channeled into an item.

The damage still needs to be lower in a non-DF game. Though, I am still unsure what style of setting I am attempting to write. I have a few ideas.

My most recent idea is a somewhat blatant Star Wars knockoff, but refluffed to be "fantasy." Blasters and similar things would exist but explained through a fantasy aesthetic, instead of futuristic sci-fi. (i.e. space travel is reduced to being on one planet; space ships become airships, zeppelins, or flying fantasy creatures; aliens become fantasy races).

I am leaning toward a mix of fantasy and After the End, loosely influenced by things such as Thundarr the Barbarian, some of Fallout's weird-fantasy touches, Star Wars, and the Jetsons.

Off the top of my head, the starting point is a city built atop a gargantuan mushroom. Some time ago, the mushroom was grown by druids to escape a cataclysmic event which polluted (and still pollutes) the ground level of the surrounding area. Mushroom cities (or other ways people escaped/survived the catastrophe) exist elsewhere.

Mage Blades would exist as part of the setting, along with Jedi/Sith* analogues.

*Though, I do not see it being as binary as good versus evil. I see it more as different schools of magic (as discussed earlier in this thread) and like different martial arts schools.

[GnomesofZurich]

Pyramid #3/76 Psychic Slayer might be worth taking a look at. It uses an advantage-based forcesword thats damage is limited by Will.

[AlexanderHowl]

I have to agree. If it is purchased separately as a magical ability, perhaps with the maximum level being (Magery+2), then it would be fine. If you want to spend 75 CP on your magical force sword, I doubt that anyone would mind.