A few in game questions

[Schwarzbart]

@Querlan

 

How about Puppet Strings?

 

Tale of Element Master Gavis VIII

 

"Gavis' tale turns tragic for he revealed to the Emperor his true reason for desertion. He had learned the day before that he and his brother were in fact born with a cursed body that made them unable to cast any magic. It was through a spell of darkness concocted by Mavis during their childhood that gave them their power. A bonding spell with a creature from a different dimension known as Puppet Strings, it was a special practice Mavis learned from their father. Their father was a servant of Puppet Strings, and it appears this servantry extends to Choris and a few people within. This time, however, the few had control of an army."

[Dreamweaver]

Maybe my memory is a bit faulty but I think I almost remember something about familiars being able to access "residual energy" from their wizard, to perform magic tricks similar to but not exactly the same as actual spells, is that right?

 

And that, provided they can perform the actual gestures they can cast real spells as well?

 

Anyway I don't think many (any?) of the familiar adventures feature actual spells being performed though many do involve magic of sorts. If you know any with spells I'd like to read it.

[Schwarzbart]

@Dreamweaver the first thing I found was Familiar Adventure Toad 01.

But as far I remember I had to teach most of the exotic Familiar I got magic skills that they can use them to get trough their familiar adventure.

 

Edit: Familiar Adventure Platypus 04 are the next

[freespace2dotcom]

1. Can you explain how summoning chalk could be legal.

 

2. Would an item that obviously belonged to a proscribed school be legal if all the enchantments on it were broken?

 

3. Regarding Gates and Mastery separately, how risky is negating these schools? Does the chaos factor affect negated Gates? And how likely are you to screw up a person's mind trying to negate Mastery? What is the skill level you might expect to see in a person that would be assigned to do such negating?

 

4. What are some subtle telling signs that an island is controlled by dragons? say if you were a traveler and wanted to avoid any encounters with one, what would you keep a eye out for aside from the actual physical presence of one?

 

5. I know that customary units of measurement are mostly used, but what about older ones not often used in modern times? like leagues, fathoms, cubits, stone, etc, and would they use a short ton or a long ton?

 

6. Magical counterfeiting of coins is obviously illegal, but have any governments ever tried to do that themselves and pass it off as genuine?

 

7. If I recall, there are two main types of casting glamours; basically direct and indirect with the difference being the way an object is perceived or else the way a person perceives it. Is it possible to combine those two philosophies for a better overall spell, even if it would be more difficult to do so?

 

8. If a student was found giving an actual lecture-styled class of his/her own in the night hours on some very questionable arcane magic in some old classroom.. (Nothing Illegal per-se. I would imagine Rui teaching the finer points on stinkbomb scent construction, or perhaps my teaching Omni discipline spells) how hard would the campus crush that? It would be forced to stop sure, but would punishments extend past curfew violations?

 

9. Would there be an area of magic casting that Legate Orsi would rather defer to one of the other instructors in its execution?

 

10. I know the rules regarding incanting food, but do all of those rules apply in the same manner for Gates food summoning? (if you attempt to unsummon eaten food, what would happen?)

[Legate of Mineta]

Free;

 

1. Can you explain how summoning chalk could be legal.

If it wasn't a true summoning (did not use Gates), or if it was through an old enchanted item from the pre-Ban era.

2. Would an item that obviously belonged to a proscribed school be legal if all the enchantments on it were broken?

If Mastery, yes. If Gates, the enchantments would not necessarily need to be broken at all.

3. Regarding Gates and Mastery separately, how risky is negating these schools? Does the chaos factor affect negated Gates? And how likely are you to screw up a person's mind trying to negate Mastery? What is the skill level you might expect to see in a person that would be assigned to do such negating?

It is risky, although as always it depends on the Spell, both in terms of possible bad effects and skill level.

4. What are some subtle telling signs that an island is controlled by dragons? say if you were a traveler and wanted to avoid any encounters with one, what would you keep a eye out for aside from the actual physical presence of one?

Dragons don't usually rule subtly; they like to let the world know. That doesn't stop some of them from being tricksy, of course...you have to figure out the signs for yourself.

5. I know that customary units of measurement are mostly used, but what about older ones not often used in modern times? like leagues, fathoms, cubits, stone, etc, and would they use a short ton or a long ton?

Yes, their equivalents would be used as well- as with the real world, alternate forms of measurement are found in different areas. I don't think those have been fully described, though.

6. Magical counterfeiting of coins is obviously illegal, but have any governments ever tried to do that themselves and pass it off as genuine?

Never, I am sure. Heh, heh.

7. If I recall, there are two main types of casting glamours; basically direct and indirect with the difference being the way an object is perceived or else the way a person perceives it. Is it possible to combine those two philosophies for a better overall spell, even if it would be more difficult to do so?

Yes.

8. If a student was found giving an actual lecture-styled class of his/her own in the night hours on some very questionable arcane magic in some old classroom.. (Nothing Illegal per-se. I would imagine Rui teaching the finer points on stinkbomb scent construction, or perhaps my teaching Omni discipline spells) how hard would the campus crush that? It would be forced to stop sure, but would punishments extend past curfew violations?

It would depend on the Professor making the discovery.

9. Would there be an area of magic casting that Legate Orsi would rather defer to one of the other instructors in its execution?

You would have to ask him.

10. I know the rules regarding incanting food, but do all of those rules apply in the same manner for Gates food summoning? (if you attempt to unsummon eaten food, what would happen?)

Sort of. Gates food is permanent, but it *is* possible to send Gates summoned items back to wherever they came from. In that case, it would work similar to incanted food.

[Dreamweaver]

Gah, I'm getting the urge to play Academagia but I want to wait for the new content pack. Freespace's questions inspired a few of my own:

 

Dragons

1. Back in the good ol' days before the humans rebelled how common were the dragons? I mean were there thousands of them or just a few dozens more or less all of them ruling an area?

 

2. Did the dragons form a separate society and suppress humans together or was it always individual dragons carving up a fief of it's own?

 

3. Is anything known about the internal hierarchy among dragons?

 

Orso Orsi

4. I'm getting the impression Orsi's skills at least according to student knowledge is very high in all the legal schools of magic. Is he known to be especially skilled/specialized in any of the Pillars?

 

5. Did he attend the Academagia? What did he specialize in during his own education?

 

6. According to what might be gleaned from a student's rich upperclass parents, would Orsi appear to have a fully spotless reputation? Does any rumours, malicious or otherwise, hint at knowledge of forbidden magics as well?

 

7. Orsi's description implies his skillful rule makes Academagia HIS school "moreso even than his predecessors". Who was his direct predecessor (not Mjolnir, right?)?

 

Gates

8. If you send a gated item "back where it came from", assuming you don't have any clue where that is, would it still likely return to the exact same location or just somewhere on the same plane?

 

9. When using gates does the object to be transferred need to be transported whole or can it be used for destruction say be only transferring half of something? Like instead of breaking a lock you just teleport that section away or teleport about a meter worth of wall away from the citywall or even malicious stuff like using it on enemies?

 

10. Could the "random" element of Gates mean something is only partially teleported, or that perhaps it was teleported into something (probably destroying both)?

 

11. When using gates to summon something, like food, you'd often be rather unspecific about where you want it to come from (else you'd need to have prepared it earlier yourself), does this mean that somewhere in the world, that meal or other object just disappeared into thin air?

 

12. Are random summonings typically derived from the same plane the summoner resides on or is the object normally just summoned from "somewhere else" that no one knows where/what is?

 

13. If an object were to disappear in front of you, would you be able to magically confirm that it was Gates, and would you be able to track the lost object to it's new location (presumably where the summoner is)?

[Schwarzbart]

@Dream I try to answer some of your questions.

1) Most likely no more uncommon then they are now in the territories below

2) Dragons are lone wolf that only get together for mating.

3) If there is something its most likely the rule of the strongest

 

5) If I'm not mistaken all Professor and Regents of Academagia we know so fare including the Headmaster are former Students of Academagia.

 

8)-10) Redacted

11) to my knowledge it disappear somewhere but not necessary from the same plane you are on.

12) more likely "somewhere else" that no one knows where/what is

13) Any good Negation Mage probably can confirm it was Gate Magic but to trace where the object is gone to you most likely need Astrology or know Gate Magic your self.

[freespace2dotcom]

actually, for 8 it is known that while it is possible to send something back exactly from whence it came but there is no guarantee that is what will happen and sometimes that can also cause problems.

 

 

edit: I'm waiting for the Dlc also. the wait is getting me sick!!

[Legate of Mineta]

Dreamweaver;

 

For the unanswered/modified questions:

 

Dragons

3. Is anything known about the internal hierarchy among dragons?

They had a king, and a court of nobles; no one knows if those institutions remain.

Orso Orsi

4. I'm getting the impression Orsi's skills at least according to student knowledge is very high in all the legal schools of magic. Is he known to be especially skilled/specialized in any of the Pillars?

No, no known specialization.

6. According to what might be gleaned from a student's rich upperclass parents, would Orsi appear to have a fully spotless reputation? Does any rumours, malicious or otherwise, hint at knowledge of forbidden magics as well?

No, his greatest fault from rich noble parents is that he does not give them enough due.

7. Orsi's description implies his skillful rule makes Academagia HIS school "moreso even than his predecessors". Who was his direct predecessor (not Mjolnir, right?)?

I can't recall the name of the predecessor (definitely not Mjolnir), but Orso has placed his stamp very firmly on the curricula.

[Schwarzbart]

So except for 3 I got everything right? Nice.

[Legate of Mineta]

Schwarzbart;

 

Yep!

[freespace2dotcom]

will we see legal Gates items in Y2? I very much would like to own something like that which the professors couldn't take away despite their opinions of students using indirect gates magic. ehehehehe....

[Legate of Mineta]

Maybe. Maybe you've already seen some in Y1...

[Schwarzbart]

Freespace I don't know how exact they will get my year 2 adventure in but it might give a way for a legal item but I said nothing

[Schwarzbart]

1) Where there people in the past who managed to do a full 5 year focus on two skills of different college like Astrology and Negation?

2) If you don't mind can you share the name of this people who for sure have achieved some kind of fame doing so?

3) What region are the different Academy placed? I ask that I can put the suitable Heritage to a character who i.e. visited the Chameil School.

[Legate of Mineta]

Schwarzbart;

 

1) Yes.

2) Sure, I'll ask!

3) That's a good question, I'll have to ask that, too. I know there's one in Auncesay, and Chameil is in Meril, I think? I'll see.

[Dreamweaver]

Orso Orsi attended the Academagia and he is skilled in all the (magic) fields of study, so surely he must have studied and excelled with several Pillars during his education.

[Schwarzbart]

Yes but I don't expect a Omni Disciplinary Mage to do focus deeper then 3-4 years per magic path trough their time at Academagia. The 5. year then more likely will to be a focus on Enchant, Enspell, Alchemy or something like this. Someone must be extraordinary to Focus on 2 different Magic discipline for all 5 years because to my knowledge the last year usually focus on a single skill that you learn under the supervising of a single professor.

But more important the 5th year usually only focus on skills of your college focus.

[Dreamweaver]

Is that a requirement? Much as I like Aranaz I'd rather study Negation or some sort of magic with combat-related potential.

 

Unless there are significant changes from year 2 already, I also have the impression that player character skill levels will involve matching or surpassing Orso Orsi before we are done.

[Schwarzbart]

Dreamwaver from what I could get so fare it will even nearly impossible to reach the 50 maximum in a single SS trough year 5.

At last from what I read about year 2 we have to still increase the maximum from 10 upwards using research or favour to get to the new limit of 20!

And yes you will more and more limit to the speciality of your College over the years that's a given fact but I don't think Orthography is a bad choice.

But year 5 is so fare away in RL time that if BCS have planed it out now like I say it can end up complete different.

Still I wouldn't pick a College with a focus I don't like!

[Dreamweaver]

As I understand it Orthography is a somewhat less useful version of Enchant, which is mostly studied because it works differently and has a few applications where it's slightly better, also a degree of stubbornness. A worthwhile study perhaps, but I'd prefer a few more possible choices, like negation/revision/glamour. Also if it's individual tutelages with a teacher, one wonders if there are enough Orthography teachers in the first place, and whether currying favor with another instructor can't get you an apprenticeship.

 

I prefer Aranaz because I like the students and attitude not because I'm a fan of Orthography, though I suppose we haven't seen much of that yet anyhow. I guess switching college will be a possibility but I wonder how they will handle the robes on the portraits then...

 

If the NPC students will generally reach 20 in a class I'd be surprised if the player can't reach 20 in 3-4 classes. Then again maybe everything is much different in the year 2 engine, I look forward to it's eventual release.

[Schwarzbart]

It was already mentioned the class of year 2 will be mostly new Skills or Skills that wasn't trained in year 1 in addition to be able to do the year 1 classes you didn't take in year 1.

[isadorbg]

Dreamwaver from what I could get so fare it will even nearly impossible to reach the 50 maximum in a single SS trough year 5.

At last from what I read about year 2 we have to still increase the maximum from 10 upwards using research or favour to get to the new limit of 20!

And yes you will more and more limit to the speciality of your College over the years that's a given fact but I don't think Orthography is a bad choice.

But year 5 is so fare away in RL time that if BCS have planed it out now like I say it can end up complete different.

Still I wouldn't pick a College with a focus I don't like!

 

Indeed. I see Magic as a very broad subject like for exemple in real life "Science" is with substudy like mathematics, physics biology etc.. .

It not that difficult to get basic knowledge of every fields wich is what is for me the year 1 magic classes however i suspect that when we advance in year and experience, each pillar will need more and more investment and time to master them.

I for exemple wouldn't be surprised that in year 3 or 4, a single pillar would have 5 or 6 classes alone thus a student who want to truly master a pillar has to almost exclusively gets only pillar classes.

 

Adding to that, that mage are not really open to share their knowledge and i suspect that to truly be a pillar master will require more than being a class genius.

the requirement for year 2 classes is a big hint for me as you'll need close relationship with your regents to gets the advanced classes. I see the Academagia only offering the basis knowledge of magic thus a student who've done the standard cursus (no advanced classes thus the majority) will get solid knowledge of the pillar he chose to study but nowhere near expert level and certainly not a master.

Thus the path to mastery will take a lot of dedication, pleasing professor so they share their secrets, discovering forgotten magic trough adventuring or exploration etc.

So yeah being in the college of the Negation is a huge advantage if you wish to master the pillar maybe it will be possible to have other paths to achieve the same goal but i don't think it will be as "easy" and you may loose a lot of time because you weren't in Durand.

 

With my personal theory i totally get what the legate meant by saying it won't be easy to be a master of a pillar and will take a genius to master 2.

Also i wouldn't discard Orthography so easily, we don't know much about the discipline but I can already tell it's biggest advantage: it's rarity and rarity in academagia world is a synonym of valuable.

[Legate of Mineta]

isadorbg;

 

As you note:

 

" mage are not really open to share their knowledge"

 

...that will increasingly grow to be a problem.

[Dreamweaver]

Thus the path to mastery will take a lot of dedication, pleasing professor so they share their secrets, discovering forgotten magic trough adventuring or exploration etc.

Involving the professors like Tom Riddle with the Horcruxes? Risky.. Well studying Mastery will no doubt require great dedication and secrecy..

 

With my personal theory i totally get what the legate meant by saying it won't be easy to be a master of a pillar and will take a genius to master 2.

Also i wouldn't discard Orthography so easily, we don't know much about the discipline but I can already tell it's biggest advantage: it's rarity and rarity in academagia world is a synonym of valuable.

If all Aranaz students study it then it is not particularly rare. They are one of the most populated colleges.

 

Even if it did require 5 classes per Pillar I think 3-4 Pillars might be manageable depending on how much more difficult skill levels are gained as compared to year 1.

You make some fine points though, I guess we'll see how the details pan out when it's released.