Magicians Game

il-volpe

'Nother thing -- you can take advantage of an element of the setting to slow down PCs magical-power increases while still letting them spend XP like mad. The characters in the books and show are mostly using spells, not just channeling their raw magical will over spheres-of-influence or whatever. These spells have insane prerequisites, so sure, you've got pyromancy level n and that's enough to cast this but you also need to speak Estonian at a y and of course manual dexterity at x to do that crazy shit with your thumbs, and you really need to be able to paint a half decent watercolour for this to work right.

faraday

@il-volpe said in Magicians Game:

Same here. Faraday is also very helpful. But you might want to be careful about Ares, since it seems really different to me and may limit your help, and certainly stop you from using stuff off mushcode etc.

Thanks, I do my best to help people get the initial 'out of the box' setup working, but you're on your own for any custom code.

Re: Ares, you're correct that the coding experience is extremely different and you won't be able to use any existing MUSHCode without rewriting it. But the intent is to make it easier to learn the code or to get help from friends who may know code but not MUSHCode. Also I am working on a comprehensive series of tutorials. So I think on the whole it will be easier to get help... otherwise I've done a very poor job with the project since one of the driving goals is to make it easy for a non-coder to run a game

That said, as @Auspice mentioned, it's still in beta and not ready for public consumption yet.

Arkandel

One of the really hard parts to convey in a game - because they are not difficult but hard - is just how dangerous magic was in the Magicians' universe.

Magic fucked you up. One slip and you were fucked. Entire classes had been known to disappear - and that's while they were getting tutored in prestigious schools, not picking up tricks by street wizards.

In games that ain't gonna happen because, well, risk.

Auspice

@Arkandel
I still intend to have a high risk level. Not 'your character might die at any moment' risk, but 'If you are ICly fucking around and Staff finds out, you may end up with consequences.' Might not be immediate (as it should in some cases), but maybe they catch the attention of something nasty that starts hunting them down.

I'm all about supporting peoples' fun, but I am also a supporter of ICA=ICC. People who want to be able to do whatever they want and violate whatever laws of physics and magic they want and always have happy fun sparkly times where nothing bad ever happens probably shouldn't play on a game I run.

@il-volpe & @faraday - TBH, since Ares uses Ruby, I might have an easier time. My best MU* coding was done in MOO, which is object-oriented programming. Part of my issue in MUSH is the way the code is written tends to confuse and frustrate me. I'm already (very slowly because work/school) working on learning Python. Adding Ruby was already a plan, long-term.

Arkandel

@Auspice Are you planning to support playable non-wizard specials? There were lots of really weird shit out there.

Auspice

@Arkandel said in Magicians Game:

@Auspice Are you planning to support playable non-wizard specials? There were lots of really weird shit out there.

Not out of the gate, likely.

The game will initially be at Brakebills and, until the first arch plot (to open the way to the Neitherlands) is done... the only place the RP will be.

After that, I'll likely see where characters go and what they do. Do they end up focusing on Fillory? Start crafting their own worlds to access via fountain? If there ends up being a lot of interest in Fillory, I'll probably start allowing Fillorian PCs.

(Also, in case anyone asks, re: Children of Earth ruling Fillory... That will likely be NPCs; probably ones already there.)

I feel dividing playerbases too early can hurt a game long run. And for a game that may be small (tho it does seem to have a lot of positive interest, based on this thread!), I think keeping things focused and accessible RP for all at the beginning can be important.

il-volpe

@faraday Oh, you've helped me with custom code. Not written it for me, but answered questions so I could cope with it.

And you win, 'cause I am a sucky coder at best, and run a game. Not the greatest game ever or anything, but I think it's been a success.

@Auspice Ares looks soooooo like MOO to me. We started out in the same place.

Also, I totally want to play a non-wizard special. They do have some as staff at Brakebills in the source...

Auspice

@il-volpe said in Magicians Game:

@faraday Oh, you've helped me with custom code. Not written it for me, but answered questions so I could cope with it.

And you win, 'cause I am a sucky coder at best, and run a game. Not the greatest game ever or anything, but I think it's been a success.

@Auspice Ares looks soooooo like MOO to me. We started out in the same place.

Also, I totally want to play a non-wizard special. They do have some as staff at Brakebills in the source...

I count Staff in the pool of wizard types, I guess. I'll totally be allowing people to app Staff at Brakebills, yes.

il-volpe

I meant that some of the staff at Brakebills are non-human magical creatures.

Zz

@Auspice In my mind welters seemed to be played on a field like chess or chinese checkers with the opponents set to squares. I'd imagine within the FS3 system you could roll the opposed turns as 'duels' with the players getting to @emit their 'magic act'. Then you wheedle it down to the final two players for the last 'squares'.

I can get more into this idea. Easily.

Zz

PS: I would totally play. Even if there are elements of that theme re: rape/child abuse that I personally would need the option to OOCly veer from.

il-volpe

Hmm. I don't see welters as being a player-to-player duel; it's about claiming the square by making something magic happen in it, but each square is enchanted so you must cast as if it's on the moon, or tuesday at 8:23 pm in midsummer, etc.

I do wonder very much how @Auspice is gonna do the magic system, 'cause I would be unable to resist the temptation to make it right complicated.

Zz

@il-volpe That's true. You could I suppose make the 'square' have a level that the magician must pass/fail to cast successfully or respective to its elements. I will admit I have only read the first book. (I am the opposite and all for making systems easy)

Mhmmm. Me too. That's one of the most interesting elements of the world.

il-volpe

If I were doing it, 'circumstances, adjusting for' would be a skill, and each square (and indeed, every situation in the world) would have a circumstances related difficulty modifier for casting, which the circumstances skill allows you to reduce. So to claim a square in welters you must be good enough at affecting whatever the square is made of to make something happen, know a spell to do something to that sort of thing, and be good enough at circumstances to overcome whatever odd difficulty mod has been set in place on that square.

Auspice

I have some thoughts on how magic will be handled/structured, along with circumstances (will require a fairly robust weather cost, lezbehonest).

But I also need time to flesh it out.

@Zz - I entirely intend to make it a sort of comfort level. As I stand now, Staff-run stuff won't veer there. PRPs can, but if it fits into <X categories, including those mentions>, players must basically sign off on something saying they're OK with it.

That way it's fully opt-in for things that go there as it were, but there'll still be plenty that doesn't.

Misadventure

Welters somewhat reminded me of The Game in Piers Anthony's Blue Adept series. mainly in that you had an idea of what it was, but you had to adapt on the fly either towards your own strengths, or at least away from the oppositions strengths. The latter doesn't apply I think.

In Ars Magica terms, i think of each square as being a test that has to be answered by a specific magic Verb or Noun (like Control, or Transform, or Knowledge, or Plants), and you ad on the other part(s) to get an answer. Unless you get the Golden Snitch, and win by destroying the board or what have you.

il-volpe

@Misadventure said in Magicians Game:

Welters somewhat reminded me of The Game in Piers Anthony's Blue Adept series. mainly in that you had an idea of what it was, but you had to adapt on the fly either towards your own strengths, or at least away from the oppositions strengths. The latter doesn't apply I think.

Sure it does. The goal is for your team to take more squares than the opposing team, and it would be better strategy to snatch away any squares that you thought were in their wheelhouse, while leaving to the last those that you felt pretty sure they'd have a tough time taking anyway.

Heh. Actually, not only an overcoming circumstances skill, but also possibly circumstances specialties, so somebody can be extra good at casting underwater or within 100 yards of an ash tree, or summat.

il-volpe

@Auspice said in Magicians Game:

I have some thoughts on how magic will be handled/structured, along with circumstances (will require a fairly robust weather cost, lezbehonest).

But I also need time to flesh it out.

It is my desire to horn in on this project and yap at you about how to do it.

Auspice

@il-volpe

Well, as I go along, I'll likely post for feedback on things like magic systems, rules for welters, etc.

lordbelh

A good way to add the thematic risk of magic is to allow 'pushing past your boundaries', ie, trying to cast magic that you're only so-so familiar with. But at higher difficulties (or perhaps adding power to your spell), and where if you fail you've accepted the consequence by trying. This gets around the really terrible mechanic of random dice destroying your character when she's trying to light a candle, while still allowing a sense of danger and risk if you really want to go the extra mile.