Ritual spells

[FireHorse]

Originally Posted by FireHorse

But the multi-layered web of interlocking circles and maddening geometric shapes that you spent a month carving into stone (and filling in the lines with molten gold), and then surrounded by a ring of 360 candles and 12 chanting acolytes… well, that circle is quite a bit more effective.

Maybe even effective enough to stabilize, maintain, and operate a Gate.

[TippetsTX]

Originally Posted by JLV

One suggestion that Joe made elsewhere is something I like -- a Ritual might be a good way to reduce Spell fatigue/mana costs. The longer the ritual lasts, the lower the cost. I think that might have some real possibilities. And making them cost 2 IQ points in order to gain that potential benefit would then make a lot of sense...

Actually, that was Mark Hill's suggestion and it would only work for me if there another cost in addition to time. Rituals should be hard, but that doesn't necessarily have to mean that the ST cost must be significantly higher than normal spells.

BTW, as an alternative to the increased IQ cost that I previously suggested, I'm also considering a model where rituals cannot be memorized at all. They are too complex and may only be cast from a scroll or spell book (which means that aquisition of the spell could become it's own in-game quest). I think this aligns nicely with the proposed requirement of an XP cost. Also, like certain talents, they would require knowledge of specific prerequisite spells.

[hcobb]

What if you had to research each ritual spell casting procedure for each target to be cast at an exact moment when the stars aligned?

[TippetsTX]

Originally Posted by hcobb

What if you had to research each ritual spell casting procedure for each target to be cast at an exact moment when the stars aligned?

I assume you are being facetious, but I certainly wouldn't want to take it that far in my own game.

That said, I'm not opposed to adding requirements that further the story. For example, what if there was a mass-creation version of the Zombie spell that could only be performed on the winter solstice under a full moon. This would provide the player characters with a clear deadline to thwart the evil sorcerer and if they can discover further information about the ritual, perhaps find other ways to disrupt the event.

[Senturian]

I'm also considering a model where rituals cannot be memorized at all. They are too complex and may only be cast from a scroll or spell book (which means that aquisition of the spell could become it's own in-game quest).
reminding me of the Heavy Metal movie: Den (John Candy) and the Loc-Nar. Back to the 80's. I just put the DVD in the Xbox.

[mark hill]

Originally Posted by TippetsTX

..what if there was a mass-creation version of the Zombie spell that could only be performed on the winter solstice under a full moon ..

THERE'S an interesting thought .. if Cidri is a heavily Mnoren-modified alternate earth .. is Luna identical to our Luna? with maybe a few Mnoren buildings added ..

[TippetsTX]

Originally Posted by mark hill

THERE'S an interesting thought .. if Cidri is a heavily Mnoren-modified alternate earth .. is Luna identical to our Luna? with maybe a few Mnoren buildings added ..

So it's a bit of a tangent, but yes, I have always assumed the Cidri has at least one moon. Given the implied size of the planet, however, someone smarter than me will need to figure out the size and orbit of the moon necessary to emulate our terrestrial lunar cycle.

[hcobb]

The most interesting question is if there are any mentions of eclipse on Cidri or is Earth unique?

[JLV]

Originally Posted by TippetsTX

Actually, that was Mark Hill's suggestion and it would only work for me if there another cost in addition to time. Rituals should be hard, but that doesn't necessarily have to mean that the ST cost must be significantly higher than normal spells.

BTW, as an alternative to the increased IQ cost that I previously suggested, I'm also considering a model where rituals cannot be memorized at all. They are too complex and may only be cast from a scroll or spell book (which means that aquisition of the spell could become it's own in-game quest). I think this aligns nicely with the proposed requirement of an XP cost. Also, like certain talents, they would require knowledge of specific prerequisite spells.

Hmm, I thought he'd suggested a variation on that. But, okay. I do like the second concept though -- that would make those spells even more rare and difficult to use -- which means they should be really something if someone can get something going! ;-) But, at the same time, it might make it a lot harder to do the really powerful things currently done in five seconds in TFT.

Originally Posted by hcobb

What if you had to research each ritual spell casting procedure for each target to be cast at an exact moment when the stars aligned?

Ahhh, Call of Cthulhu rears it's head again...

[mark hill]

the lunar cycle question has nothing to do with the diameter of Cidri , but everything to do with the orbit of Luna.

Earth has a diameter of slightly less than 8,000 miles .. it has 1 G in gravity (lol obviously)

Cidri is supposed to MUCH bigger .. lets say Jupiter sized (since we've no clues at all, and Jupiter is F***ING HUGE .. its probably big enuf) .. so Cidri has a diameter of roughly 87,000 miles. In order for it to have the same G as earth, it must be some hollow honeycomb structure in 99% of its guts .. totally man made, any 'natural' lava, volcanoes and strata etc are less than 1% of the planets depth, and an artifice for cosmetic purposes only .. then you must hit some 'god metal' layer that you cant descend beyond. Its probably almost all vacuum inside so it would be insane to try anyway lol .. punching a hole in it would suck all of Cidris atmosphere inside! end of the world :) .. note that this 'god metal' layer on Cidri is maybe 870 miles down .. on our earth wed hit lava only about 15-25 miles down .. so Cidri's cosmetic layer is plenty deep enuf

It wants to have the same G as earth, not just for the comfort of its earthy inhabitants, but because this G directly affects the orbital period of Luna .. which we want to stay at 28 ish days right?

The distance of Luna to the centre of Earth is about (roughly) 235,000 miles .. increasing the diameter of Cidri will make the moon appear some bit bigger .. standing on its surface, we are roughly 40,000 miles closer to Luna! Its now only about 190,000 miles away .. Id guesstimate it looks a bit less than twice its apparent magnitude from earth , or, put another way, its now almost 2x the apparent size of the sun! But its orbital period is still 28 days ish because its still being controlled by a 1 G gravity .. I think anyhoo .. << not a scientist :) also, my country uses kilometers (like all advanced countries) so this is hard maths for me lol

any physics nerds out there wanna adjust my conclusions? please do .. my hunch bone is telling me Im not terribly wrong .. however, cant stress this enuf .. << not a scientist