Jump to content
Black Chicken Studios Forums

A few in game questions


Adrian
 Share

Recommended Posts

Legate! I thought you were sick or something, took you longer than usual to appear. Are you well?

 

On-topic:

 

If I get a sweet moving castle that dial has to be moved. Perhaps the bathroom.... Also I plan to moor it close to Freespace's home. For evil purposes. Muahahahah!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah. I confess I was taking the legate's speedy responses for granted and was going through mild response withdrawal during this downtime.

Anyways,

1. How does the Praetexta council rule on Gates and Mastery issues if no mage is allowed to know the pillars? Normally, some people who had such knowledge would have some weight in such matters? (at least preban) but how would those magics ever be unbanned if nobody who knows them are allowed to speak on the magic's behalf?

2. We got into a discussion on omnidisciplinarianism in the writer's corner on the thread for the spell I posted there. Could you perhaps elaborate on whether such magics, when blended, take on different forms than the sum of the original parts, or if it's just taking the bits and of parts you want to accomplish from all the pillars? It's kinda tough to put into words.

3. Can you negate behaviors in people within a certain area? (like a thieving impulse in a store)

4. Do air pirates fly jolly rogers, and if so how much do they vary? (in color to symbolism)

5. Does this kind of piracy exist?

 

Also I want to complain that I think another modification to the forum was done and I can no longer paste text properly nor press the link button without the browser freezing up. I managed to do linking and pasting by working in plaintext mode only. I know you have little control over it legate but if you could maybe send an official complaint to the people running it I would appreciate it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Free;

 

1. How does the Praetexta council rule on Gates and Mastery issues if no mage is allowed to know the pillars? Normally, some people who had such knowledge would have some weight in such matters? (at least preban) but how would those magics ever be unbanned if nobody who knows them are allowed to speak on the magic's behalf?

Usually, they work with Orders that specialize in rooting out these magics. As to how the magic was unbanned, that happened at the political level in the past.

2. We got into a discussion on omnidisciplinarianism in the writer's corner on the thread for the spell I posted there. Could you perhaps elaborate on whether such magics, when blended, take on different forms than the sum of the original parts, or if it's just taking the bits and of parts you want to accomplish from all the pillars? It's kinda tough to put into words.

They can be more than the sum of their parts, yes. :)

3. Can you negate behaviors in people within a certain area? (like a thieving impulse in a store)

An excellent question. The answer seems to be no.

4. Do air pirates fly jolly rogers, and if so how much do they vary? (in color to symbolism)

Yes, and they vary quite heavily.

5. Does this kind of piracy exist?

Sure. :)

Also I want to complain that I think another modification to the forum was done and I can no longer paste text properly nor press the link button without the browser freezing up. I managed to do linking and pasting by working in plaintext mode only. I know you have little control over it legate but if you could maybe send an official complaint to the people running it I would appreciate it.

Hmm, I don't think anyone on our side has done anything since the beginning of May, but I will ask!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1) Since Enchant and Orthography are believed to be the mix of two pillars. Do mages consider that the study of those pillars might ease the mastery of those skills? Can you remind us of the parent pillars of Enchant and Orthography?

 

2) Are there any other magic skill teached in academagia wich is believed to be a mix of multi pillars?

 

3) Does the Academagia have classes that teach how to blend pillars or maybe less ambitious like a spell with multi phemes pillar?

 

4) Am i wrong if I say that using spells with phemes of different pillars is more difficult than a spell with only phemes of one pillar and that the difficulty increase the more pillars are involved? like is way more diffucul to cast a spell with phemes of 5 pillars than say 2.

 

5) Is pillars blending considered as an important field of research and does the academagia have researcher studying that field? If not why so?

 

6) Are Pillar Masters regarded better than say an Enchant or Orthography master ? Since Aranaz fought hard to keep Orthography as a pillar me thinks those discipline are less prestigious than proper pillars.

 

7) Is the color green special for the setting? i mean seriously 4 of the 7 colleges have green dress.

Is it a special colour for magic? was the artist colorblind? maybe the favourite colour of the devs? Maybe something to do with the USD?

Something? :rolleyes:

 

8) As much a question than a suggestion: you already confirmed that the student portrait will be uptated for the fated to release next year each year. i guess it applies for the main character too.

-So may i suggest to have all the potrait avalaibe for each college? I see this as a nice way to have more choices with minimum effort.

- Will TheGame-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named have more portrait available than year 1? for the PC of course.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

isadorbg;

 

1) Since Enchant and Orthography are believed to be the mix of two pillars. Do mages consider that the study of those pillars might ease the mastery of those skills? Can you remind us of the parent pillars of Enchant and Orthography?

No, they are so specialized that the study of the parents seldom helps- that is the reason they were originally regarded as separate. I don't recall the parents off-hand, but you can see them in the Lores. :)

2) Are there any other magic skill teached in academagia wich is believed to be a mix of multi pillars?

Oh yes, as you will see.

3) Does the Academagia have classes that teach how to blend pillars or maybe less ambitious like a spell with multi phemes pillar?

Not as such, no. Freespace is lobbying for that, though. :)

4) Am i wrong if I say that using spells with phemes of different pillars is more difficult than a spell with only phemes of one pillar and that the difficulty increase the more pillars are involved? like is way more diffucul to cast a spell with phemes of 5 pillars than say 2.

It's not particularly harder, unless the Phemes themselves are in opposition.

5) Is pillars blending considered as an important field of research and does the academagia have researcher studying that field? If not why so?

Research does occur intra-Pillar, but it's not a specific field by itself. Most wizards approach it from mastery in one Pillar, and then adding others- the reason is the difficulty in acquiring mastery in many different Pillars.

6) Are Pillar Masters regarded better than say an Enchant or Orthography master ? Since Aranaz fought hard to keep Orthography as a pillar me thinks those discipline are less prestigious than proper pillars.

Yes, they are more prestigious as Pillars.

7) Is the color green special for the setting? i mean seriously 4 of the 7 colleges have green dress.

Is it a special colour for magic? was the artist colorblind? maybe the favourite colour of the devs? Maybe something to do with the USD?

Something? :rolleyes:

No, just a little historical influence from the lands and the Kings/Queens they are named after.

8) As much a question than a suggestion: you already confirmed that the student portrait will be uptated for the fated to release next year each year. i guess it applies for the main character too.

-So may i suggest to have all the potrait avalaibe for each college? I see this as a nice way to have more choices with minimum effort.

- Will TheGame-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named have more portrait available than year 1? for the PC of course.

 

That has definitely been suggested, and it's pretty certain all current portraits will be broadened for all Colleges. More portraits will be available, too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1) Can we grow the Acument Plant Seed in year 2 and could this plant then become a possible familiar?

2) Because we know already some items from Adventures are required to continue them in Year 2 I wonder if some items we got from a RE, like Jacedin, are also requirements for a year 2 adventure and if so could we get some hints?

3) Are there carts pulled by dogs in Mineta?

4) What other animals are used in the city to pull carts?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1. Do dragons innately know (some) magic when they are born, or do they teach their young? and if it is primarily taught, do they teach in groups or singles.

 

2. How recent are some of the draconic texts that a library that deals In such things might be likely to have?

 

3. Since dragons seem to have dictated instead of actually write their own texts (and probably were read to instead of actually read), does the dragon tongue (what is it's name btw?) have its own writing system?

 

4. Aside from Astrology, are dragons as a whole known to use magic from every pillar?

 

5. I am aware that some sections of the Wall are in bad shape, but it is still in mainly one piece, yes?

 

6. If a new emperor was crowned, after all this time, what would likely be some of the more important tasks that would need be done in the first few days? (I am referring to important duties that have been left unattended to since only an emperor could do it. Not really things of personal prerogative or things that the Captain has traditionally done in lieu of an emperor.)

 

7. How much weight would an emperor have if he wanted to unban the proscribed arts?

 

8. Speaking of the Captain, in some adventures he seems to be addressed as the captain of the guard. While that is certainly true, that does seem to imply that he is less important than he actually is, considering his rather high amount of political power (at least in theory) as well as having duties that no mere captain of guards would deal with. Can you clarify exactly how he should be addressed? I thought the Captain of Mineta was the correct way?

 

9. Out of curiosity, given the physical evidence, and historical records in setting, if a person was atheistic, (or at least did not care to deal with organized religion at all) can you explain how people would react to that person?

 

10. Actually, apart from an explanation of the gods of the setting, little on the organization of religion is clear to me. There is a fairly large pantheon, yet, there is an Imperial temple which implies a centralized church, which is kind of counter intuitive. Care to explain?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Schwarzbart;

 

1) Can we grow the Acument Plant Seed in year 2 and could this plant then become a possible familiar?

 

I think you can plant it, and it would be fantastic if it could become a Familiar. That would probably need to be Y3 and beyond, though.

2) Because we know already some items from Adventures are required to continue them in Year 2 I wonder if some items we got from a RE, like Jacedin, are also requirements for a year 2 adventure and if so could we get some hints?

 

There are a handful of REs which modify Adventures, but I don't think any of them specifically are prerequisites.

3) Are there carts pulled by dogs in Mineta?

 

There may be some, in the lower city, but human labor is better and inexpensive.

4) What other animals are used in the city to pull carts?

 

Oxen, for the most part. Stronger breeds of horses, too, but that's more rare.

 

Free;

 

1. Do dragons innately know (some) magic when they are born, or do they teach their young? and if it is primarily taught, do they teach in groups or singles.

This is unknown, but the myths and legends of the Exile in particular indicate that it is taught.

2. How recent are some of the draconic texts that a library that deals In such things might be likely to have?

Not recent at all...if they even have such books!

3. Since dragons seem to have dictated instead of actually write their own texts (and probably were read to instead of actually read), does the dragon tongue (what is it's name btw?) have its own writing system?

I don't know the name off-hand, but it does have it's own writing system.

4. Aside from Astrology, are dragons as a whole known to use magic from every pillar?

Yes.

5. I am aware that some sections of the Wall are in bad shape, but it is still in mainly one piece, yes?

It's fragmented, but the original foundation magics remain untouched.

6. If a new emperor was crowned, after all this time, what would likely be some of the more important tasks that would need be done in the first few days? (I am referring to important duties that have been left unattended to since only an emperor could do it. Not really things of personal prerogative or things that the Captain has traditionally done in lieu of an emperor.)

The Emperor has the power to dictate policies across the Empire, domestic and foreign. The Captain can only maintain what is currently law in the Empire as a whole.

7. How much weight would an emperor have if he wanted to unban the proscribed arts?

I imagine they would need a significant amount of support, but that's politics.

8. Speaking of the Captain, in some adventures he seems to be addressed as the captain of the guard. While that is certainly true, that does seem to imply that he is less important than he actually is, considering his rather high amount of political power (at least in theory) as well as having duties that no mere captain of guards would deal with. Can you clarify exactly how he should be addressed? I thought the Captain of Mineta was the correct way?

Either is correct. He is the Captain of the Guard of the Palace of Man, and the Captain of Mineta. The position itself is relatively low compared to the large amount of political power he has; this has made many people resentful...

9. Out of curiosity, given the physical evidence, and historical records in setting, if a person was atheistic, (or at least did not care to deal with organized religion at all) can you explain how people would react to that person?

I think they would believe them to be absurd.

10. Actually, apart from an explanation of the gods of the setting, little on the organization of religion is clear to me. There is a fairly large pantheon, yet, there is an Imperial temple which implies a centralized church, which is kind of counter intuitive. Care to explain?

 

The Imperial Temple is a centralized organization which worships the New Gods as a whole. You often find temples dedicated to a specific god or goddess, but they are all under the umbrella of the Imperial Temple. The head of the Temple is the Emperor, although that was figurative since the first or second century of the Empire. The Prelate of the Imperial Temple determine religious policy and organization, now and in the past.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Astrology is noted as being very random is the hands of a beginner by the ingame description. Is this actually accurate as far as game mechanics go? From what I can tell Astrology is actually one of the more predictable actions in the game, and a higher skill level actually makes it seem more "random".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think that it depends on what one's definition of random is. I was going to go on a spiel about the subject but it made no sense.

Legate, who is/was Vera di Cassatta?

Also, can you tell us about 'the Champion of the Wall and the Boy the Dragons Chose' at least the common knowledge bits that a first year would hear of if curious about it...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1. I'm honestly starting to suspect this is a case of game mechanics being unable to accurately represent the game's story - the results of a novice using Astrology are, in general, supposed to be all over the place and overwhelmingly negative, whereas a trained individual is supposed to generally end up with beneficial effects that cleanly fit within the theme of the active constellations. However, pre-defined reference tables being what they are, mechanically the player will not experience this when using Astrology. Is that reasoning correct?

 

2. Story wise, say a novice of Astrology tries to consult the stars and this person completely botches the Astrology check. Can it be assumed that the results of consulting the stars are, to put it nicely, unpleasant?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The problem with the game mechanics, as I understand them, is that the effects you can get from Astrology have thresholds that, if you manage to get a high enough Astrology roll, you get. Every effect you have a high enough roll for you get, in fact. Usually the better effects are unlocked last, meaning that they're hard to get and a novice can't roll high enough to get them outright, so novices will generally get bad early effects. The issue is that even a master of Astrology (cough 15 Astrology without using Create Star Chart cough) will still get the early bad effects, since you're guaranteed to roll high enough to pass the low thresholds. So yeah. Kinda makes the point moot.

 

This is most notable with the Ara Pacis constellation, since AP I increases your CoS at benificial actions by 2% (Insight/Astrology v2)...and AP III reduces that same thing by 10% (Insight/Astrology v4), meaning that if you roll Astrology and that constellation is active you're going to get screwed unless you roll Insight/Astrology 2 or 3 (AP II is beneficial, for the record). Is Astrology going to work differently in Y2, BTW?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK Legate, we need to talk.

The Amulet of the Six, says that it was "Named after the foundation of all magic--the Hexium"

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm a little confused on this seeing as there are other (illegal) magic pillars out there, and as a result HEXium, meaning six, would be... incorrect. Or does this imply that Gates and Mastery are totally unrelated magically to the other pillars? (unlikely)

Logically speaking it should be called an 'Octium' or whatever, and that removing those two magics from the equation would be disrupting balance in .... whatever magic is I guess.

As an Omnidisciplinarian I can understand quietly ignoring those two oh-so-inconvienient-to-the-authorities pillars but clearly there is inconsistency here and I would like-nay-demand an explanation for this! :angry:

 

Oh yeah, and while I'm on the subject, is that odd pillar out called Artifice or Enchant, and what is the correlation? (I only ask because all the other pillars are taught using it's name, and since there is no artifice class in Y1...)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I believe it's more likely that the contradiction with the name comes from tradition, and at best is merely record of outdated ideas. In much the same way that "October" isn't the eight month on a calender, I believe. Simply put, whoever coined the name of the "Hexium" mistakenly believed there existed only six pillars, and the name was never changed even after it was confirmed to be misleading.

 

Besides, if any pillar is the odd one out it'd be Astrology.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...