~ Suggestions & Improvement ~

[Legate of Mineta]

Lilette;

 

I will certainly ask!

 

Schwarzbar and albertt;

 

That would be really neat.

[Schwarzbart]

Student Adventure Els Rottmundyn 06 could the exit rewards reworked so that no longer the SS are given as reward that we had to roll with a difficult of 22?

Also maybe we should be informed about the wand and a relation boost with Els even just 1 or 2 point should also be there.

[Legate of Mineta]

Schwazbart;

 

Hmm, all reasonable suggestions- I'll send them to the Team!

[Schwarzbart]

As sad as it is but at last in my opinion Correspond complete lost its meaning because Parental Approval can to easy got by other ways without spending a extra timeslot.

So I would suggest to increase the Parental Approval to at last 5 or better 10 but in return Correspond can only be used once per week.

[Metis]

Mind that if Correspond (Action) is changed than Write Thoughtful Letter (Action) should get rebalanced as well .

[Legate of Mineta]

Schwarzbart & Metis;

 

I'll point these two out.

[Schwarzbart]

Random Event Theatre 1 should inform about the Tickets to the Show as it is really strange to not know what show they are for.

[Legate of Mineta]

Schwarzbart;

 

Yeah, good point!

[Albert]

Maybe a new skill that speeds up the drawing of Phemes and spell casting etz.

 

More advanced spells takes more phemes and it's hard to get the advantage of casting them(and it being worthwhile) if they take forever.

In Ilaros and the Legates duel it was also said they were casting very fast, meaning they had some kind of skill at drawing phemes and casting spells very fast.

 

Maybe an extra pheme(per round) for every two or four/five of a "Swift Casting" skill. Maybe it could be an enspell skill or something like that.

Or an advanced skill of the Enspell parrent skill, which might requier some knowledge of the other basic skill's in the parrent tree to have an easier time or even ability to learn it.

[Legate of Mineta]

Albert;

 

You can speed it up, but only through more advanced techniques- these do have Skills, though.

[Albert]

One thing in particular that made me think about this was The Wheel of Fire or whatever the spell was called that The Watcher gave as it's Incantation spell.. It takes 5 Phemes to cast, but drawing those five seems to take time in Year 1's duel system, so it would have been more efficient to just draw a couple of lightning strikes or something that takes two or three phemes.

There should be some benefit to casting those more complex spells, also, if they take forever to cast then they don't seem very useful. Those "Advanced" spells needs either a specific speed boost or more power, or possibly, they could be harder to counter or resist/avoid. Or some kind of combination.

If added skill and knowledge doesn't pay off then it would be somewhat of a let down. I realise this mostly affects combat and emergency situations where time is limited. But some kind of "Combat casting swiftness" skill would make sense. Focusing on training your speed. Being good at incantation could help you get faster at casting it, but training your casting speed would be similar to a wild west quickdraw scenario(and work on all schools of combat spells), and training for it.

Maybe Demi-tour as a dueling skill could modify your pheme drawing speed as you get better(at higher skills)? It would also expand the skills usefulnes in both combat and emergency situations where you got limited time. In an emergency it might actually help you get two spells of to save the day rather than one that just manages to do half the job.(when there is an emergency and very little time) Or an advanced version of Demitour.

 

I would even consider an ability awarded at around 15-20 in Demi tour that greatly speeds up your casting for a few hours but inflicts a point of stress for each spell cast.

Alberts Alacrity

Though I doubt a lot of people would actually take the time to learn it, unless they really want to get good at dueling.(They would also need good stamina and endurance so they don't collapse from the strain, the enemy could also use it to their advantage and cast stress inducing spells on you to everextend you and win that way)

[Metis]

The highly specialized art of gaining initiative in a duel or combat setting is rarely useful outside of these settings, yet those who are skilled in the art of Demi-Tour often find themselves getting the upper hand over those who fail to study the art in many aspects. As everyone is likely to find themselves engaged in a duel at one point or another in their lives, it behooves all to at least gain a basic understanding of this narrow skill, if for no other reason than that gaining the upper hand against a powerful opponent may at least give one the chance to strike first and get in a lucky shot.

 

If there's a general "fast casting" skill I think it'd be Instinct. Draw Phemes without having to spend effort on actively remembering how those Phemes are drawn should, in theory, be faster than drawing straight from memory. Mind you that this would require quite the high skill level with that magic as well as Confidence, possibly Enspell as well.

[Albert]

I'm not sure if Syncronisity skills should be something people would "need" or want too badly for non-sync skills.

Imo it makes more sense to have a combat initiative skill boost speed than a specialized medical use mastery skill. Even if the reasoning is convinsing.

 

Or maybe more than one skill could add to it. I guess it would be fair to reward different skills and abilities.

[Schwarzbart]

I serious doubt that any Syncronicity or Duel skill have magical use outside of their own magic but if so it will be the non magical SS of Syncronicity and for sure not any SS of duel.

[Metis]

I'm not sure if Syncronisity skills should be something people would "need" or want too badly for non-sync skills.

Imo it makes more sense to have a combat initiative skill boost speed than a specialized medical use mastery skill. Even if the reasoning is convinsing.

 

Or maybe more than one skill could add to it. I guess it would be fair to reward different skills and abilities.

I serious doubt that any Syncronicity or Duel skill have magical use outside of their own magic but if so it will be the non magical SS of Syncronicity and for sure not any SS of duel.

Instinct is a non-magical skill by itself, and honestly, when I look at Instinct's skill unlocks it looks more like it's own skill filed under Sync than just one of Sync's sub skills. Free Running (Ability), Collect Yourself (Action), Constructive Unease (Ability), Lightning Reactions (Ability), none of which have anything to do with Sync specifically, yet it is what the skill unlocks. That's why it's called "Instinct" and not "Synchronicity Methods".

 

Mind you, I agree that having one of Sync's subskills act as a/the speed boost skill is inconvenient at the very least. Filing it under Enspell is probably a better idea mechanically, and besides which, shouldn't you get faster when you're doing something you've practised anyway?

[Schwarzbart]

Metis because the non magical SS of Syncronicity are giving many passive bonus for non magical actions I already limited my statement above to the use of magic.

[Albert]

The reason I thought it belongs to duel skills is because it's obviously a combat oriented skill. It's not needed for a ten pheme treehouse building spell. In that case it doesn't matter if it takes 5 seconds or 10 minutes.

While one can expect your speed to increase from experience in the pillar you're using, it makes sense. One would think that wizards who take their combat skills and combat casting seriously would practice their "Quick draw" to become the next quickdraw legend. Which would involve both readying your wand and efficient, fast and reliable pheme drawing using the most efficient techniques. There is the reliable techniques of the every day wizard and the techniques of the hardened battlemage who needs to go to those extra extremes just to ensure they are ahead or at least keeping up with the competition.

 

You get your wand holster to make you draw your wand faster and improve your speed. It adds to your Duel skill.

 

 

 

It's definitely specialised to combat and emergencies.

 

In many cases you're in no hurry, but there are times when it might matter, dueling is definitely where it matters. Least that's my reasoning. You don't pickup Syncronisity or Botany to be the fastest wand in the Academagia. You pickup Duelig skills and keep practicing your stance, wand movements and speed.

 

Granted, I can see a high Instinct skill giving a +1 bonus to Demitour or casting speed, call it combative instinct or defensive instinct or whatever, dueling instinct?

 

Casting speed isn't necessarily useful outside of duels or extreme emergencies, it might impress a bystander however, I guess.

 

 

 

And... Epic quickdraw.....

 

 

really... That's the result of years of practice...

[Albert]

 

5 targets in 0.88 seconds.... That commes from specialised training, that's my reasoning for duelign skills being linked to some kind of spellcasting speed bonus. Technique and training to the extreme.

 

Real or not, training does make a difference, and specialised training certainly makes for a difference.

That's where my reasoning is comming from, there is a difference between specialised practice and non-specific training that adds to reaction times. Even if both would add something, I would say that specialized training is what makes the big difference. Instinct would just, possibly add a small bonus point to the skill. Synergy effects and all that.

 

Which would still be a very nice thing. Least that's how my reasoning goes. For whatever reason, Illaro and the Legate were castign very fast in their duel, something like this would make sense beyond just being very good Incanters and what not.

[Schwarzbart]

The problem of Duel is that it appears a strong ritualised form of combat and things that working within the rules of a duel are not necessary working outside.

Especial considering that already setting up the rules of the duel is part of the fight where you have try to get the advance over the opponent.

[Albert]

The problem of Duel is that it appears a strong ritualised form of combat and things that working within the rules of a duel are not necessary working outside.

Especial considering that already setting up the rules of the duel is part of the fight where you have try to get the advance over the opponent.

I don't think there are any rules agaisnt speeds, otherwise the Legates and Illaros duel wouldn't have progressed at that speed. Also, while it could be used outside of duels and combat it wouldn't be significantly superior outside of a fight or emergency where the roof is falling down and about to crush you.

 

It won't make much of a difference when you want to heat a cup of tea or use revision in crafting.

I'm not sure what you're getting at, it's mostly for duels and emergencies in adventures where it could provide an additional exit option.

Maybe you're thinking about the definition between instant cast spells and those that are harder and take more time? I havn't thought about those that much in this case, maybe it could have an effect on that aswell, but it probably wouldn't affect complicated rituals that are assigned several hours of spell casting.. for whatever reason.

You can't cast Master, in a duel forexample, since it takes too much time, maybe it requiers some components or other time consuming techniques like meditation or something to establish a bond and control over that other person(which would make it impossible to use in a duel).

 

Which would put spells into two categories, draw and shoot, and draw +/ritual and activate(which would requier more work and time).

While those more time consuming spells might indeed be activated by a set of phemes, they might requier some rituals and perhaps mental focusing to accomplish the desired effect on the desired target. They are more Spell crafting rather than shooting spells(lightning bolts) from your hip.

[Schwarzbart]

I just said in other words what is in the description of Demi-Tour "The highly specialized art of gaining initiative in a duel or combat setting is rarely useful outside of these settings".

And even in combat settings I have my doubt it works as well as in a duel because in a duel you only have 1 opponent to watch while in real combat if you just focus on 1 opponent you already lost if there is more then one. Also in a duel have a specific start time and you also know hours in advance at what distance you will start from your enemy etc.

Take the duel Ilaro vs Orsi there the Legate managed to include the player into the duel and Ilaro don't pay attention to the player maybe he isn't even aware of this part of the rules in this specific duel. (but over all the fight Orso Orsi vs Ilaro sound more like a combat then a duel according to the duel rules to me)

[Albert]

I just said in other words what is in the description of Demi-Tour "The highly specialized art of gaining initiative in a duel or combat setting is rarely useful outside of these settings".

And even in combat settings I have my doubt it works as well as in a duel because in a duel you only have 1 opponent to watch while in real combat if you just focus on 1 opponent you already lost if there is more then one. Also in a duel have a specific start time and you also know hours in advance at what distance you will start from your enemy etc.

Training still gives you a speed and technique advantage. Someone who has been practicing fencing for competitions would likely do better in a duel or sword battle against 2 or 5 people than someone who has never held a sword before.

Rarely doesn't mean never, it means it isn't as useful for incanting or enchanting your dishes as it is in a combat or emergency setting. That doesn't mean you aren't at a dissadvantage when outnumbered but your training should give you a better chance than someone who hasn't had any training at all.

Most of the events our characters face in year one arn't time limited to the extreme, therefor the speed or even combat techniques arn't very useful when you lost your Rimbal and decide to revise a rock to become a Rimbal.

 

Also, Wizard duels tend to involve more than one person, it's usually the two duelants and their seconds. Often the second of a wizard is their familiar or even a friend.

 

In the triplets adventure the PC and whoever we went with kind of became seconds who guarded the dueling circle and enforced the rules set by the circle... Which was very exhausing for two so young and inexperienced wizards.

 

Rarely is good wording when you think about it, combat and extreme emergencies where time is of the essence do seem rare in Academagia, atleast in year 1.

[isadorbg]

Even tough I agree that fast casting is an advantage. I don't visualize it as you do.

 

"Quick draw" for exemple just give you an edge and not make an auto win as a gun would.

 

The problem I see is that even if spell had only one pheme. It would still take some time to draw the palette and then cast the spell. Of course your skill probably mean that you will be the first to cast but with "one pheme" spell I wonder if you can really knock out your opponent.

 

I would think you need more powerfull and slower spell for that (not necessarily ten but a good 4-5 seems good),

 

And that's not even taking in account the magic protection that your oppenent might have and need dispelling first or more powerfull spell.

 

That's why I imagine magic duel more like "sword play" than "gun duel". Of course being the faster one give you a good advantage but it won't necessarily means you won.

[Schwarzbart]

isaborbg I don't know if you ever played a duel in year 1 but you need there 1 action for each pheme +1 to actual cast the spell so even a very fast dispel (2x Dispel pheme) need 3 actions.

[Albert]

I agree, speed is an advantage, but it's not an automatic win. In this setting getting slashed or stabbed by a Longsword does 3 damage and your character can have 50 Vitality or even more, I forgot how much my character had, Vincent Eins had massive hitpoitns in my playthrough, Stamina and Endurance through the roof.

 

One of those Gun powder guns might do 3 or 4 damage, who knows, but it's not an automatic win in that combat system. Same with arrows and anything else.

 

But for wizards to be as impressive as depicted when they age and evolve they will need to be able to cast that 5 pheme spell that does 7 damage before a sword wield has hit him 6 times with his 3 damage longsword to even be impressive.... 7 VS 18 damage. It stands to reason that wizards get faster and better at casting spells over time. Right now our students are kids who have just started to dabble in the arts. People in general arn't that very much afraid of first year students, but they know they can sting a little and they can be annoying.