Re: [Adonthell-general] Races and their Items

[Kai Sterker]

Am Dienstag, 20.01.04 um 20:10 Uhr schrieb Andrew Michael Phillips:

> On Tue, 20 Jan 2004, Kai Sterker wrote:
>
> > Hm, since their magic is conveyed through songs, would it make sense 
> > to
> > allow them to sing _and_ to fight at the same time? That would
> > certainly remove any disadvantage in case of an ambush. It would again
> > be an advantage over Elven magic, which probably needs some
> > concentration and time to perform.
>
> I think it fits quite well, for Half-Elves to sing (incantationally or
> otherwise) and fight at the same time. We actually have records of them
> doing it during the Magick Riot. I think for the sake of gameplay, we
> might have to split singing and fighting into discreet actions, but
> perhaps not.

I could imagine that singing is much like a fighting feat, which can be 
'activated' and is then carried out 'in the background'. There are 
differences, though, which had to be taken into account. Singing costs 
mana, and unlike a feat, songs only have a limited duration.

So singing might rather use the same mechanics as spell-casting (as its 
effects are more similar to that), but take place on the instant (or in 
the backgound), leaving the singer free to fight or walk while the song 
is going on. That would also mean that only one song (per singer) can 
be sung at any time.


> > OTOH, I guess that Elven magic lasts after being cast, regardless of
> > the caster's state. Any effects achieved through song would vanish 
> > when
> > the song stops. In that respect, I imagine that something like a
> > 'healing song' is out of question.
>
> I see it differently.

Yeah, you are right in most parts. I feared that all of a sudden, 
Half-Elves get too powerful, so I tried to come up with some 
restrictions. Anyway, I guess it is too early for that. It will be 
easier if the stuff is implemented, so we can see how it turns out in 
the game.

But how about that: any song that is sung sort of 'charges' its target. 
Either the effect sets in immediately, or with a slight delay to allow 
for enough magic to built up. The longer the song lasts, the more magic 
will be there to let the effect endure for a while. Obviously, it also 
depends on how much magic the effect consumes. That would allow 
multiple effects, even though singers are limited to one song at a time.

At the same time, singing would use up the singer's Power, although 
possibly more slowly than Elven magic does. I think the Power used when 
singing would be independent from the song, while Power used for 
casting spells will depend on the spell. That means, the energy for a 
spell comes from the caster himself, while the energy for a song effect 
comes from the environment.

As for healing songs: I guess forbidding them would be too much a 
restriction. I can imagine that a song might somehow activate the 
natural self-healing abilities of the target, increasing them far 
beyond the usual rate, thus achieving near instant (and permanent) 
restoration of health.

Kai