A few in game questions

[isadorbg]

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

 

Well depends how you see it. Don't forget that there are other schools out there if as i supect only in academagia orthography is taught then that make a lot of mage who never studied it. Anyway i remember a post of the legate stating that the study of orthography is rare. I agree with you that ortography seems less useful than enchant as for now but i suspect that there is more to it for one and it's very rarity make its attractive afterall ortography masters ought to be even rarer not so much for enchanters.

 

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

 

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.

 

Well didn't say it was impossible either . The legate insisted many times that the mastery of a pilar is a difficult task for a y5 student and that mastery of 2 pillar can only be achieved by a genius: Now i have no doubts that us player can achieve this. My little theory is just how i imagined how bcs could achieved that. with the 5 pillar classes you can see how it's near impossible to get 3 pillar mastery and the class system is just an exemple i gave. I would not be surprised if some "extra point" could not be earned by conventional manner maybe in adventure in replacement of attribute or other way, who knows what bcs have in store for us .

No doubt year 2 will give us a clearer perspective.

 

 

Edit: i just wanted to add that it seems full mastery of a pillar is expected to be quite an achievement in itself most ai students in y1 will certainly not go that high except maybe those who are already lovers of a pillar.

It seemed it will take a lot of investment to master every singe aspect of a pillar but that doesn't mean we will be forced to do that we will have to make choice being a master of a pillar or maybe two but only and only this? or maybe good knowledge of all of them like free but a master of none ? maybe our character will be more interested about the "end" and learn the necessary "means" like wanting to be a good healer which require some part of negation, revision, glammour (just an exemple) and try to learn those aspect while leaving the rest? Or you want to be an excellent duelist with the relevant part of incantation, negation... . And so on..

At least that's how i see the comming years !..

[Metis]

Asking here since it's more on topic, I got a question about the so-called Maelstrom:

 

mael·strom

[meyl-struhm] noun

1. a large, powerful, or violent whirlpool.

2. a restless, disordered, or tumultuous state of affairs: the maelstrom of early morning traffic.

3. ( initial capital letter ) a famous hazardous whirlpool off the NW coast of Norway.

 

Is the maelstrom only shaped like a whirlpool, or does it actually suck things down into it towards the centre like I think a normal whirlpool does? If the latter, is this an educated guess, or has someone/something actually fallen into the Maelstrom and lived to tell the tale?

 

EDIT: typos...

EDIT 2: Also, remind me: We'll get a new mod base with DLC 16, but we won't get fixed mod tools until Y2, and a mod made with the current tools won't work with the fixed tools, right?

Edited March 27, 2014 by Metis

[Legate of Mineta]

Metis;

 

It's used in this sense:

 

"a restless, disordered, or tumultuous state of affairs"

 

...due to the winds in those regions.

 

I do not know the answer to the second Edit, alas! They may work, but I cannot guarantee it.

[Schwarzbart]

Is the Sphinx again a 4 SS training in DLC 16 or will it stay a 3 SS one?

[Metis]

Ah, okay. I'm not a native English speaker so I always get tripped by exact definitions (at least when I bother to look them up, most the time I just smile and nod).

 

Pity about the mod tools. I don't think I'm done with typing adventures yet but fixed mod tools would really help, if only help the team from having to piece things together themselves. My most recent dabbling definitely won't affect DLC 16, though, since for one I'm going on a week-long trip in, say, 5-ish hours, and for another I think I'll focus on Y2 adventures from now on. Y1 kinda has enough, if not too many already.

 

Not sure if the Sphinx is back to 4 SS, but she(?) should. As is the 3SS/action isn't really impressive, it's just Library of Longshade Mark II for people that have maxed out Concentration with a ludicrously hard roll attached. You have no idea how consistently I fail that roll until I train my Familiar up to Bond/Wits 6. Having to go through an adventure only to then start the dice rolls really pushes 3SS/Action Sphinx into the "only worth it due to lack of competition" category. Incidentally, is the DLC going to add any more ways of getting the Certificate of Imperial Favor other than Early Empire 8? The Wits roll is hard enough, but with the Chance of Discovery the Sphinx is borderline unusable without save/load cheese.

[Schwarzbart]

@Metis I don't know how they implement my child debate master background but this should give the certificate and possible the 4 slot Sphinx with the downside that it only teach already known Skills and need debate instead of wits.

[Metis]

Eh, no deal. Background points are in limited supply and I need my starting attributes, besides which I tend not to play the kind of characters that would roll (I assume) Charm/Debate anyway. IMO having to go through an adventure just to unlock the chance to wrestle with Insight/Wits v15 and either CoD 15/Early Empire 8/1 Background Point is enough to justify a 4SS Sphinx. At 3SS that kind of effort is really only worth it because there's no alternatives, and even than only if you've gotten all the necessary skills and the Certificate beforehand to minimize time wasted on failing rolls. Thankfully there's always the Mantle of Stars, Manetele and Longshade to provide some worthwhile (if temporary) opportunities to train skills before the Sphinx opens up. Really wish the Mantle of Stars would give +1 SS to two Astrology skills rather than +2 SS to one, though. All those wasted points drive me nuts...

 

Actually, hell, if I want an alternative so badly maybe I should just write one myself. No chance in hell that could be done in time for DLC 16, if ever, but eh, not like publishing and posting a mod is, you know, hard. How to make that balanced without being able to lock it behind an adventure (broken mod tools) I don't know, but eh, I'll maybe think of something.

[Schwarzbart]

That's right you just have 10 Background points + some extra from flaws. For me this is enough to get all 7 attributes to 2 and have some interesting other backgrounds but if you need higher attributes then you have less points free for other backgrounds.

 

Before it get lost here again my question from the last page:

Is the Sphinx again a 4 SS training in DLC 16 or will it stay a 3 SS one?

[Legate of Mineta]

Schwarzbart & Metis;

 

You know, I'm not sure- I think it's back to 4SS, though.

[Schwarzbart]

If we don't get a new Modbase can you look for us in the modtool as soon you get the new version if the Sphinx is still 3 Slot or again 4 Slot?

[Legate of Mineta]

Schwarzbart;

 

Sure! I actually already wrote.

[Dreamweaver]

Ah, okay. I'm not a native English speaker so I always get tripped by exact definitions (at least when I bother to look them up, most the time I just smile and nod).

 

Pity about the mod tools. I don't think I'm done with typing adventures yet but fixed mod tools would really help, if only help the team from having to piece things together themselves. My most recent dabbling definitely won't affect DLC 16, though, since for one I'm going on a week-long trip in, say, 5-ish hours, and for another I think I'll focus on Y2 adventures from now on. Y1 kinda has enough, if not too many already.

 

Not sure if the Sphinx is back to 4 SS, but she(?) should. As is the 3SS/action isn't really impressive, it's just Library of Longshade Mark II for people that have maxed out Concentration with a ludicrously hard roll attached. You have no idea how consistently I fail that roll until I train my Familiar up to Bond/Wits 6. Having to go through an adventure only to then start the dice rolls really pushes 3SS/Action Sphinx into the "only worth it due to lack of competition" category. Incidentally, is the DLC going to add any more ways of getting the Certificate of Imperial Favor other than Early Empire 8? The Wits roll is hard enough, but with the Chance of Discovery the Sphinx is borderline unusable without save/load cheese.

 

You can get much higher than 10 in Wit in a fairly consistent and easy manner, buy a Book of Puns (almost free though it does cost an action) and get Test Taker's Mind, that's 12 and obtain the "Bon Vivant" emotion it's pretty easy to get you just need about 7 playfulness and below 4 stress and voila 13 wit. I also tend to get the Gryphon Feather quite a lot so that makes 14.

 

I was quite certain that the certificate was obtainable by searching the Room of Decrees, but I don't remember testing it. Does anyone know what decrees you get? I imagine the certificate would be one of them. I think I once had 2 Certificates or maybe I just remember wrongly.

[Dreamweaver]

In the second year, as I understand it, each magical Pillar will feature several skills which will need to be mastered in order to progress. When you then put your new skill to use casting spells, will the difficulty be drawn from one of the new skills you learned or will it be taken from the old one?

 

For instance, you obtained +2 modifier for Incantation in year 1, then in year 2 learned new skills with new spells, if they are still related to incantation will they use your old incantation bonus as well or is that bonus only for "simple" 1st year spells?

[Legate of Mineta]

Dream;

 

That bonus is only for "Incantation" spells, which *may* include some of the ones you learn in Y2 and future years, but does not include more specific sub-sets of Incantation.

[Metis]

I have returned! And no DLC16. I'd say I'm surprised but, eh, I'm kinda not .

 

 

You can get much higher than 10 in Wit in a fairly consistent and easy manner, buy a Book of Puns (almost free though it does cost an action) and get Test Taker's Mind, that's 12 and obtain the "Bon Vivant" emotion it's pretty easy to get you just need about 7 playfulness and below 4 stress and voila 13 wit. I also tend to get the Gryphon Feather quite a lot so that makes 14.

 

I was quite certain that the certificate was obtainable by searching the Room of Decrees, but I don't remember testing it. Does anyone know what decrees you get? I imagine the certificate would be one of them. I think I once had 2 Certificates or maybe I just remember wrongly.

 

I never really go item hunting simply because I have no idea what I can get, where I can get it, what's necessary to open up that shop/catalogue, and than some. I do tend to get a decent Familiar and attend Zoology, though, so Improved Familiar Handling works wonders.

 

And the Certificate may be obtainable by searching the Room of Decrees, the mod tools aren't exactly clear on that, but that takes Bureaucracy 10 to unlock and a Luck/Bureaucracy v13 (the wiki says Intelligence, the roll actually checks Luck in the mod tools) to have an, at most, 1/6 chance of getting the Certificate, if you can even get it from that area. And note that without the certificate the Room of Decrees has a 15 CoD, so you're risking detention as well every time you try. Incidentally, the Certificate's description claims that the PC got it from studying the Early Empire.

[Schwarzbart]

So time again to put my unanswered questions to the top

1) Can you share some common historical year 5 focus for each College?

2) Can you share the name of people who managed to focus on two or even more skill sets (i.e. Astrology and Negation) of different college for all 5 years instead of just one?

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.

4) When will we finally see the Advanced class requirements for year 2?

5) What familiars can speak the human language and what familiars might be able to learn speaking it with enough teaching?

[Legate of Mineta]

Schwarzbart;

 

I have some answers for these, but not all:

 

1) Can you share some common historical year 5 focus for each College?

 

None yet!

2) Can you share the name of people who managed to focus on two or even more skill sets (i.e. Astrology and Negation) of different college for all 5 years instead of just one?

 

Poliseno Cassattano, the legendary Bulwark of the South, came out of the Academy a master of Glamour and Astrology - skill sets that allowed him to turn back the Saisyne Armada without ever raising a wand in anger. Salvatore di Cossa was a prodigy in Enchantment and Revision. Elspetha of Thewkes, the Fire Dancer, doubled in Glamour and Incantation and somehow still managed to graduate a year early. And, back in the days when Icanicix was still an active College, there was an entire semi-secret society - the Twisting Way - devoted to helping kids double up on Gates and Revision.

 

Of course, most of the famous wizards that emerged from the Twisting Way are more notorious than famous now. That includes Urbanus and Karolina Schohanwicht.

 

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.

 

Baltagio is in the Duchy of Ceada. Blackheath is hidden away in the Wortham Fens. Chameil is (despite the name) in Wiesbruck. Safaviore is just a magical jump from Mineta. Vihuela is on a small island not far from where Monteon used to be.

 

4) When will we finally see the Advanced class requirements for year 2?

 

Not sure yet!

5) What familiars can speak the human language and what familiars might be able to learn speaking it with enough teaching?

 

No answers yet.

[Schwarzbart]

Thanks for the answer finally my list got a bit smaller.

 

2) I hope some player chars can put their name beside them after we finished year 5

3) What Regions are this as I asked because of the Heritage Backgrounds?

Safaviore is then Renaglian but for the rest I'm not sure.

 

edit 2)

Wait what? So even if this no longer official is possible all Secret Background player have to master something similar to the Twisting Way.

[freespace2dotcom]

Soooo. On top of Salvatore di Cossa being able to Master a Dragon, and being at least knowledgeable in Gates, he was also a prodigy in Revision and Enchantment...?

 

Gosh, talk about a bad role model for me.

[Legate of Mineta]

Schwarzbart;

 

I'm not clear on your edit- what is the question there?

[freespace2dotcom]

I think he's asking if it is mandatory for all players who take the secret heritage background to do the twisting way, or something like it....

 

Legate, how much of the edges of the islands are fenced over?

[Schwarzbart]

the only question was, sorry for be confusing

3) What Regions are this as I asked because of the Heritage Backgrounds?

Safaviore is then Renaglian but for the rest I'm not sure.

[Legate of Mineta]

Free;

 

Oh, no, not mandatory (I don't think.)

 

The islands are fenced very little, except when there are cities.

 

Schwarzbart;

 

Baltagio is in Strozza.

Blackheath is in Auncesay.

Chameil is in Staade.

Safaviore is in Mineta.

Vihuela is in 'Monteon'.

[freespace2dotcom]

Are there any groups like the twisting way that don't deal with illegal magic? I'd even love to found one for omnidisciplnarians in Y5..

[Legate of Mineta]

Free;

 

I believe there are several magical groups or associations. Most do not stand the test of time, but they do exist. I think you can join some in Y2.