Elanthipedia - User contributions [en]

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-20T15:53:06Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Introduction */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===What Is This Guide?===

This guide is intended primarily for players new to both DragonRealms and to the Moon Mage guild. The purpose of this guide is to synthesize a breadth of information from other sources in a relatively concise presentation, so that the new Moon Mage player can decide which skills to train and receive some guidance on how to do so. While some overlap is unavoidable, this guide does not seek to replace the [[General_new_player_guide|New Player Guide]] and it is recommended that a totally green player start there.

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting those on the other side to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, the smallest of distractions, or the slightest mistake can all lead to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be), in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall.

Moon Mage lore is vast and immersive. Here we point you to some key information that you might find useful in shaping your character's personality and history.

==== Sects ====
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

These sects are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

==Training Philosophy==
This guide focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills. For example, you will find it easier to train your targeted magic and debilitation spells if your armor and parry skills let you survive in combat longer.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will recommending, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

==[[Combat]]==

The primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, but you should not let this deter you if you want to train ''your'' Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

===Non-Magical Defenses===

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]===
Armors and weapons tend to make for some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [[Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. If you train at least three weapons, you can expect to see your mastery skill stay upwards of 120% of the ranks of your highest weapon. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

==[[Magic|Magic Skills]]==
To circle you will eventually need to train every magic skill accessible to you except for [[Sorcery]]. There are eight of these, counting the unique guild skill [[Astrology]].

===[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]===
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

===The Five Disciplines of Magic===
There are five skills that govern the casting of your spells: [[Augmentation]], [[Utility]], [[Warding]], [[Debilitation]], and [[TM|Targeted Magic]]. Every spell belongs to one or more of these disciplines, and as a Moon Mage, most of your signature spells belong to the [[Utility]] school. You will eventually need to train all of these skills, though they need not be trained at the same level.

The [[Magic]] page has useful information about these skills. In brief, these skills are trained by casting spells, and the experience gained from each cast depends upon the amount of mana streams put into the spell. Combat spells require that you hit your target in order to train the skill, and the difficulty of the target relative to your skills determines how well the skill will train. Because of this latter fact, you may find that your combat magics ([[Debilitation]] and [[TM|Targeted Magic]]) will train within 10-20 ranks of your non-magical combat skills. It is therefore common that [[Augmentation]], [[Utility]], and [[Warding]] will eclipse [[Debilitation]] and [[TM|Targeted Magic]] in ranks.

===[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]===

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one ("power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

===[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]===
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

==[[Survival]] and [[Lore]] Skills==

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===
Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-20T15:32:12Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Signature Guild Abilities */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting those on the other side to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, the smallest of distractions, or the slightest mistake can all lead to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be), in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall.

Moon Mage lore is vast and immersive. Here we point you to some key information that you might find useful in shaping your character's personality and history.

==== Sects ====
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

These sects are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

==Training Philosophy==
This guide focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills. For example, you will find it easier to train your targeted magic and debilitation spells if your armor and parry skills let you survive in combat longer.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will recommending, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

==[[Combat]]==

The primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, but you should not let this deter you if you want to train ''your'' Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

===Non-Magical Defenses===

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]===
Armors and weapons tend to make for some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [[Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. If you train at least three weapons, you can expect to see your mastery skill stay upwards of 120% of the ranks of your highest weapon. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

==[[Magic|Magic Skills]]==
To circle you will eventually need to train every magic skill accessible to you except for [[Sorcery]]. There are eight of these, counting the unique guild skill [[Astrology]].

===[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]===
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

===The Five Disciplines of Magic===
There are five skills that govern the casting of your spells: [[Augmentation]], [[Utility]], [[Warding]], [[Debilitation]], and [[TM|Targeted Magic]]. Every spell belongs to one or more of these disciplines, and as a Moon Mage, most of your signature spells belong to the [[Utility]] school. You will eventually need to train all of these skills, though they need not be trained at the same level.

The [[Magic]] page has useful information about these skills. In brief, these skills are trained by casting spells, and the experience gained from each cast depends upon the amount of mana streams put into the spell. Combat spells require that you hit your target in order to train the skill, and the difficulty of the target relative to your skills determines how well the skill will train. Because of this latter fact, you may find that your combat magics ([[Debilitation]] and [[TM|Targeted Magic]]) will train within 10-20 ranks of your non-magical combat skills. It is therefore common that [[Augmentation]], [[Utility]], and [[Warding]] will eclipse [[Debilitation]] and [[TM|Targeted Magic]] in ranks.

===[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]===

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one ("power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

===[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]===
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

==[[Survival]] and [[Lore]] Skills==

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===
Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-20T15:28:30Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Roleplaying your Moon Mage */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting those on the other side to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, the smallest of distractions, or the slightest mistake can all lead to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be), in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall.

Moon Mage lore is vast and immersive. Here we point you to some key information that you might find useful in shaping your character's personality and history.

==== Sects ====
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

These sects are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

==Training Philosophy==
This guide focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills. For example, you will find it easier to train your targeted magic and debilitation spells if your armor and parry skills let you survive in combat longer.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will recommending, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

==[[Combat]]==

The primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, but you should not let this deter you if you want to train ''your'' Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

===Non-Magical Defenses===

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]===
Armors and weapons tend to make for some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [[Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. If you train at least three weapons, you can expect to see your mastery skill stay upwards of 120% of the ranks of your highest weapon. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

==[[Magic|Magic Skills]]==
To circle you will eventually need to train every magic skill accessible to you except for [[Sorcery]]. There are eight of these, counting the unique guild skill [[Astrology]].

===[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]===
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

===The Five Disciplines of Magic===
There are five skills that govern the casting of your spells: [[Augmentation]], [[Utility]], [[Warding]], [[Debilitation]], and [[TM|Targeted Magic]]. Every spell belongs to one or more of these disciplines, and as a Moon Mage, most of your signature spells belong to the [[Utility]] school. You will eventually need to train all of these skills, though they need not be trained at the same level.

The [[Magic]] page has useful information about these skills. In brief, these skills are trained by casting spells, and the experience gained from each cast depends upon the amount of mana streams put into the spell. Combat spells require that you hit your target in order to train the skill, and the difficulty of the target relative to your skills determines how well the skill will train. Because of this latter fact, you may find that your combat magics ([[Debilitation]] and [[TM|Targeted Magic]]) will train within 10-20 ranks of your non-magical combat skills. It is therefore common that [[Augmentation]], [[Utility]], and [[Warding]] will eclipse [[Debilitation]] and [[TM|Targeted Magic]] in ranks.

===[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]===

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one ("power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

===[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]===
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

==[[Survival]] and [[Lore]] Skills==

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===
Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-20T15:24:22Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Getting Started */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting those on the other side to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, the smallest of distractions, or the slightest mistake can all lead to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

Moon Mage lore is vast and immersive. Here we point you to some key information that you might find useful in shaping your character's personality and history.

==== Sects ====
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

These sects are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

==Training Philosophy==
This guide focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills. For example, you will find it easier to train your targeted magic and debilitation spells if your armor and parry skills let you survive in combat longer.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will recommending, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

==[[Combat]]==

The primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, but you should not let this deter you if you want to train ''your'' Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

===Non-Magical Defenses===

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]===
Armors and weapons tend to make for some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [[Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. If you train at least three weapons, you can expect to see your mastery skill stay upwards of 120% of the ranks of your highest weapon. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

==[[Magic|Magic Skills]]==
To circle you will eventually need to train every magic skill accessible to you except for [[Sorcery]]. There are eight of these, counting the unique guild skill [[Astrology]].

===[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]===
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

===The Five Disciplines of Magic===
There are five skills that govern the casting of your spells: [[Augmentation]], [[Utility]], [[Warding]], [[Debilitation]], and [[TM|Targeted Magic]]. Every spell belongs to one or more of these disciplines, and as a Moon Mage, most of your signature spells belong to the [[Utility]] school. You will eventually need to train all of these skills, though they need not be trained at the same level.

The [[Magic]] page has useful information about these skills. In brief, these skills are trained by casting spells, and the experience gained from each cast depends upon the amount of mana streams put into the spell. Combat spells require that you hit your target in order to train the skill, and the difficulty of the target relative to your skills determines how well the skill will train. Because of this latter fact, you may find that your combat magics ([[Debilitation]] and [[TM|Targeted Magic]]) will train within 10-20 ranks of your non-magical combat skills. It is therefore common that [[Augmentation]], [[Utility]], and [[Warding]] will eclipse [[Debilitation]] and [[TM|Targeted Magic]] in ranks.

===[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]===

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one ("power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

===[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]===
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

==[[Survival]] and [[Lore]] Skills==

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===
Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-20T15:22:28Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Survival Skills */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting those on the other side to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, the smallest of distractions, or the slightest mistake can all lead to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

Moon Mage lore is vast and immersive. Here we point you to some key information that you might find useful in shaping your character's personality and history.

==== Sects ====
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

These sects are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

==Training Philosophy==
This guide focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills. For example, you will find it easier to train your targeted magic and debilitation spells if your armor and parry skills let you survive in combat longer.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will recommending, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

==[[Combat]]==

The primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, but you should not let this deter you if you want to train ''your'' Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

===Non-Magical Defenses===

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]===
Armors and weapons tend to make for some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [[Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. If you train at least three weapons, you can expect to see your mastery skill stay upwards of 120% of the ranks of your highest weapon. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

==[[Magic|Magic Skills]]==
To circle you will eventually need to train every magic skill accessible to you except for [[Sorcery]]. There are eight of these, counting the unique guild skill [[Astrology]].

===[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]===
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

===The Five Disciplines of Magic===
There are five skills that govern the casting of your spells: [[Augmentation]], [[Utility]], [[Warding]], [[Debilitation]], and [[TM|Targeted Magic]]. Every spell belongs to one or more of these disciplines, and as a Moon Mage, most of your signature spells belong to the [[Utility]] school. You will eventually need to train all of these skills, though they need not be trained at the same level.

The [[Magic]] page has useful information about these skills. In brief, these skills are trained by casting spells, and the experience gained from each cast depends upon the amount of mana streams put into the spell. Combat spells require that you hit your target in order to train the skill, and the difficulty of the target relative to your skills determines how well the skill will train. Because of this latter fact, you may find that your combat magics ([[Debilitation]] and [[TM|Targeted Magic]]) will train within 10-20 ranks of your non-magical combat skills. It is therefore common that [[Augmentation]], [[Utility]], and [[Warding]] will eclipse [[Debilitation]] and [[TM|Targeted Magic]] in ranks.

===[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]===

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one ("power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

===[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]===
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

==[[Survival]] and [[Lore]] Skills==

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===
Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-20T15:20:08Z

KIGHTLEP: /* The Five Disciplines of Magic */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting those on the other side to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, the smallest of distractions, or the slightest mistake can all lead to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

Moon Mage lore is vast and immersive. Here we point you to some key information that you might find useful in shaping your character's personality and history.

==== Sects ====
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

These sects are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

==Training Philosophy==
This guide focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills. For example, you will find it easier to train your targeted magic and debilitation spells if your armor and parry skills let you survive in combat longer.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will recommending, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

==[[Combat]]==

The primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, but you should not let this deter you if you want to train ''your'' Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

===Non-Magical Defenses===

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]===
Armors and weapons tend to make for some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [[Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. If you train at least three weapons, you can expect to see your mastery skill stay upwards of 120% of the ranks of your highest weapon. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

==[[Magic|Magic Skills]]==
To circle you will eventually need to train every magic skill accessible to you except for [[Sorcery]]. There are eight of these, counting the unique guild skill [[Astrology]].

===[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]===
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

===The Five Disciplines of Magic===
There are five skills that govern the casting of your spells: [[Augmentation]], [[Utility]], [[Warding]], [[Debilitation]], and [[TM|Targeted Magic]]. Every spell belongs to one or more of these disciplines, and as a Moon Mage, most of your signature spells belong to the [[Utility]] school. You will eventually need to train all of these skills, though they need not be trained at the same level.

The [[Magic]] page has useful information about these skills. In brief, these skills are trained by casting spells, and the experience gained from each cast depends upon the amount of mana streams put into the spell. Combat spells require that you hit your target in order to train the skill, and the difficulty of the target relative to your skills determines how well the skill will train. Because of this latter fact, you may find that your combat magics ([[Debilitation]] and [[TM|Targeted Magic]]) will train within 10-20 ranks of your non-magical combat skills. It is therefore common that [[Augmentation]], [[Utility]], and [[Warding]] will eclipse [[Debilitation]] and [[TM|Targeted Magic]] in ranks.

===[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]===

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one ("power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

===[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]===
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

==[[Survival]] and [[Lore]] Skills==

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===
Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-20T15:19:47Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Magic Skills */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting those on the other side to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, the smallest of distractions, or the slightest mistake can all lead to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

Moon Mage lore is vast and immersive. Here we point you to some key information that you might find useful in shaping your character's personality and history.

==== Sects ====
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

These sects are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

==Training Philosophy==
This guide focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills. For example, you will find it easier to train your targeted magic and debilitation spells if your armor and parry skills let you survive in combat longer.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will recommending, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

==[[Combat]]==

The primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, but you should not let this deter you if you want to train ''your'' Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

===Non-Magical Defenses===

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]===
Armors and weapons tend to make for some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [[Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. If you train at least three weapons, you can expect to see your mastery skill stay upwards of 120% of the ranks of your highest weapon. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

==[[Magic|Magic Skills]]==
To circle you will eventually need to train every magic skill accessible to you except for [[Sorcery]]. There are eight of these, counting the unique guild skill [[Astrology]].

===[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]===
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

===[[The Five Disciplines of Magic]]===
There are five skills that govern the casting of your spells: [[Augmentation]], [[Utility]], [[Warding]], [[Debilitation]], and [[TM|Targeted Magic]]. Every spell belongs to one or more of these disciplines, and as a Moon Mage, most of your signature spells belong to the [[Utility]] school. You will eventually need to train all of these skills, though they need not be trained at the same level.

The [[Magic]] page has useful information about these skills. In brief, these skills are trained by casting spells, and the experience gained from each cast depends upon the amount of mana streams put into the spell. Combat spells require that you hit your target in order to train the skill, and the difficulty of the target relative to your skills determines how well the skill will train. Because of this latter fact, you may find that your combat magics ([[Debilitation]] and [[TM|Targeted Magic]]) will train within 10-20 ranks of your non-magical combat skills. It is therefore common that [[Augmentation]], [[Utility]], and [[Warding]] will eclipse [[Debilitation]] and [[TM|Targeted Magic]] in ranks.

===[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]===

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one ("power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

===[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]===
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

==[[Survival]] and [[Lore]] Skills==

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===
Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T03:51:55Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Survival Skills */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting those on the other side to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, the smallest of distractions, or the slightest mistake can all lead to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

Moon Mage lore is vast and immersive. Here we point you to some key information that you might find useful in shaping your character's personality and history.

==== Sects ====
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

These sects are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

==Training Philosophy==
This guide focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills. For example, you will find it easier to train your targeted magic and debilitation spells if your armor and parry skills let you survive in combat longer.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will recommending, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

==[[Combat]]==

The primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, but you should not let this deter you if you want to train ''your'' Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

===Non-Magical Defenses===

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]===
Armors and weapons tend to make for some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [[Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. If you train at least three weapons, you can expect to see your mastery skill stay upwards of 120% of the ranks of your highest weapon. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

==[[Magic|Magic Skills]]==
To circle you will eventually need to train every magic skill accessible to you except for [[Sorcery]]. There are eight of these, counting the unique guild skill [[Astrology]].

===[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]===
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

===[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]===

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

===[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]===
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

==[[Survival]] and [[Lore]] Skills==

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===
Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T03:45:55Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Sects */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting those on the other side to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, the smallest of distractions, or the slightest mistake can all lead to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

Moon Mage lore is vast and immersive. Here we point you to some key information that you might find useful in shaping your character's personality and history.

==== Sects ====
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

These sects are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

==Training Philosophy==
This guide focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills. For example, you will find it easier to train your targeted magic and debilitation spells if your armor and parry skills let you survive in combat longer.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will recommending, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

==[[Combat]]==

The primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, but you should not let this deter you if you want to train ''your'' Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

===Non-Magical Defenses===

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]===
Armors and weapons tend to make for some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [[Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. If you train at least three weapons, you can expect to see your mastery skill stay upwards of 120% of the ranks of your highest weapon. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

==[[Magic|Magic Skills]]==
To circle you will eventually need to train every magic skill accessible to you except for [[Sorcery]]. There are eight of these, counting the unique guild skill [[Astrology]].

===[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]===
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

===[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]===

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

===[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]===
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

==[[Survival]] and [[Lore]] Skills==

===[[Survival Skills]]===
Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T03:45:16Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Sects */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting those on the other side to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, the smallest of distractions, or the slightest mistake can all lead to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

Moon Mage lore is vast and immersive. Here we point you to some key information that you might find useful in shaping your character's personality and history.

==== Sects ====
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

==Training Philosophy==
This guide focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills. For example, you will find it easier to train your targeted magic and debilitation spells if your armor and parry skills let you survive in combat longer.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will recommending, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

==[[Combat]]==

The primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, but you should not let this deter you if you want to train ''your'' Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

===Non-Magical Defenses===

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]===
Armors and weapons tend to make for some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [[Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. If you train at least three weapons, you can expect to see your mastery skill stay upwards of 120% of the ranks of your highest weapon. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

==[[Magic|Magic Skills]]==
To circle you will eventually need to train every magic skill accessible to you except for [[Sorcery]]. There are eight of these, counting the unique guild skill [[Astrology]].

===[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]===
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

===[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]===

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

===[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]===
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

==[[Survival]] and [[Lore]] Skills==

===[[Survival Skills]]===
Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T03:45:03Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Roleplaying your Moon Mage */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting those on the other side to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, the smallest of distractions, or the slightest mistake can all lead to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

Moon Mage lore is vast and immersive. Here we point you to some key information that you might find useful in shaping your character's personality and history.

==== Sects ====
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

==Training Philosophy==
This guide focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills. For example, you will find it easier to train your targeted magic and debilitation spells if your armor and parry skills let you survive in combat longer.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will recommending, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

==[[Combat]]==

The primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, but you should not let this deter you if you want to train ''your'' Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

===Non-Magical Defenses===

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]===
Armors and weapons tend to make for some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [[Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. If you train at least three weapons, you can expect to see your mastery skill stay upwards of 120% of the ranks of your highest weapon. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

==[[Magic|Magic Skills]]==
To circle you will eventually need to train every magic skill accessible to you except for [[Sorcery]]. There are eight of these, counting the unique guild skill [[Astrology]].

===[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]===
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

===[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]===

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

===[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]===
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

==[[Survival]] and [[Lore]] Skills==

===[[Survival Skills]]===
Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T03:41:10Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Signature Guild Abilities */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting those on the other side to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, the smallest of distractions, or the slightest mistake can all lead to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training Philosophy==
This guide focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills. For example, you will find it easier to train your targeted magic and debilitation spells if your armor and parry skills let you survive in combat longer.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will recommending, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

==[[Combat]]==

The primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, but you should not let this deter you if you want to train ''your'' Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

===Non-Magical Defenses===

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]===
Armors and weapons tend to make for some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [[Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. If you train at least three weapons, you can expect to see your mastery skill stay upwards of 120% of the ranks of your highest weapon. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

==[[Magic|Magic Skills]]==
To circle you will eventually need to train every magic skill accessible to you except for [[Sorcery]]. There are eight of these, counting the unique guild skill [[Astrology]].

===[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]===
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

===[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]===

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

===[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]===
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

==[[Survival]] and [[Lore]] Skills==

===[[Survival Skills]]===
Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T03:40:07Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Signature Guild Abilities */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting those on the other side to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training Philosophy==
This guide focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills. For example, you will find it easier to train your targeted magic and debilitation spells if your armor and parry skills let you survive in combat longer.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will recommending, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

==[[Combat]]==

The primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, but you should not let this deter you if you want to train ''your'' Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

===Non-Magical Defenses===

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]===
Armors and weapons tend to make for some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [[Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. If you train at least three weapons, you can expect to see your mastery skill stay upwards of 120% of the ranks of your highest weapon. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

==[[Magic|Magic Skills]]==
To circle you will eventually need to train every magic skill accessible to you except for [[Sorcery]]. There are eight of these, counting the unique guild skill [[Astrology]].

===[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]===
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

===[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]===

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

===[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]===
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

==[[Survival]] and [[Lore]] Skills==

===[[Survival Skills]]===
Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T03:38:25Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Magic Skills */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training Philosophy==
This guide focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills. For example, you will find it easier to train your targeted magic and debilitation spells if your armor and parry skills let you survive in combat longer.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will recommending, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

==[[Combat]]==

The primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, but you should not let this deter you if you want to train ''your'' Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

===Non-Magical Defenses===

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]===
Armors and weapons tend to make for some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [[Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. If you train at least three weapons, you can expect to see your mastery skill stay upwards of 120% of the ranks of your highest weapon. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

==[[Magic|Magic Skills]]==
To circle you will eventually need to train every magic skill accessible to you except for [[Sorcery]]. There are eight of these, counting the unique guild skill [[Astrology]].

===[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]===
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

===[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]===

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

===[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]===
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

==[[Survival]] and [[Lore]] Skills==

===[[Survival Skills]]===
Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T03:27:06Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Weapons and Armor */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training Philosophy==
This guide focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills. For example, you will find it easier to train your targeted magic and debilitation spells if your armor and parry skills let you survive in combat longer.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will recommending, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

==[[Combat]]==

The primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, but you should not let this deter you if you want to train ''your'' Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

===Non-Magical Defenses===

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]===
Armors and weapons tend to make for some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [[Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. If you train at least three weapons, you can expect to see your mastery skill stay upwards of 120% of the ranks of your highest weapon. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

==[[Magic|Magic Skills]]==
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

===[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]===
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

===[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]===

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

===[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]===
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T03:24:59Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Weapons and Armor */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training Philosophy==
This guide focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills. For example, you will find it easier to train your targeted magic and debilitation spells if your armor and parry skills let you survive in combat longer.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will recommending, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

==[[Combat]]==

The primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, but you should not let this deter you if you want to train ''your'' Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

===Non-Magical Defenses===

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]===
Armors and weapons tend to make some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [[Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

==[[Magic|Magic Skills]]==
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

===[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]===
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

===[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]===

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

===[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]===
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T03:24:11Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Training Philosophy */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training Philosophy==
This guide focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills. For example, you will find it easier to train your targeted magic and debilitation spells if your armor and parry skills let you survive in combat longer.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will recommending, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

==[[Combat]]==

The primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, but you should not let this deter you if you want to train ''your'' Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

===Non-Magical Defenses===

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]===
Armors and weapons tend to make some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

==[[Magic|Magic Skills]]==
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

===[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]===
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

===[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]===

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

===[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]===
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T03:16:39Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Combat */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training Philosophy==
This guide focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

==[[Combat]]==

The primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, but you should not let this deter you if you want to train ''your'' Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

===Non-Magical Defenses===

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]===
Armors and weapons tend to make some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

==[[Magic|Magic Skills]]==
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

===[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]===
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

===[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]===

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

===[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]===
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T01:16:48Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Magic Skills */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training Philosophy==
This guide focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

==[[Combat]]==

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

===Non-Magical Defenses===

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]===
Armors and weapons tend to make some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

==[[Magic|Magic Skills]]==
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

===[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]===
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

===[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]===

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

===[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]===
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T01:16:08Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Skillsets */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training Philosophy==
This guide focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

==[[Combat]]==

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

===Non-Magical Defenses===

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]===
Armors and weapons tend to make some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T01:15:43Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Training Philosophy */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training Philosophy==
This guide focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

=== Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary [[Skillsets]] ===

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

==[[Combat]]==

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

===Non-Magical Defenses===

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]===
Armors and weapons tend to make some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T01:09:08Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Training your Moon Mage */

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T01:05:14Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Armor */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
In this section we discuss which skills we recommend training and offer some advice on how to do so. Our discussion focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

=== Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary [[Skillsets]] ===

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

===[[Combat]]===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

====Non-Magical Defenses====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

====[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]====
Armors and weapons tend to make some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

=====[[Weapons]]=====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

=====[[Armor]]=====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T01:04:59Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Weapons */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
In this section we discuss which skills we recommend training and offer some advice on how to do so. Our discussion focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

=== Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary [[Skillsets]] ===

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

===[[Combat]]===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

====Non-Magical Defenses====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

====[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]====
Armors and weapons tend to make some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

=====[[Weapons]]=====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T01:04:36Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Combat */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
In this section we discuss which skills we recommend training and offer some advice on how to do so. Our discussion focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

=== Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary [[Skillsets]] ===

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

===[[Combat]]===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

====Non-Magical Defenses====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

====[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]]====
Armors and weapons tend to make some of the most meaningful role-playing choices, and so we begin this section by reiterating that you should not let mechanics be the most important factor in your decisions. This is not to say that there's no such thing as a bad idea; if your heart is set on playing a gnome who wears full plate and fights with a two-handed maul, then you should very seriously consider joining a different guild. The weapons and armor we will recommend here are chosen to make your training easier, and we make every effort to explain why this is the case. The factors behind our motivation largely have to do with [[Hindrance|hindrance]], [Combat#balance|balance]], and [[Encumbrance|encumbrance]]; in that order.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll probably want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T00:24:06Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Weapons and Armor Skills */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
In this section we discuss which skills we recommend training and offer some advice on how to do so. Our discussion focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

=== Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary [[Skillsets]] ===

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

===[[Combat]]===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

====Non-Magical Defenses====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T00:23:05Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Training your Moon Mage */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
In this section we discuss which skills we recommend training and offer some advice on how to do so. Our discussion focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

=== Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary [[Skillsets]] ===

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

===[[Combat]]===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

====Non-Magical Defenses====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. You should also be aware that retreating gives you a significant, though temporary, penalty to your defenses. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T00:20:15Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Balance, Position, and Tactics */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
In this section we discuss which skills we recommend training and offer some advice on how to do so. Our discussion focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

=== Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary [[Skillsets]] ===

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

===[[Combat]]===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

====Non-Magical Defenses====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure that you keep your balance as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. This is not to say that you should avoid unbalancing attacks; these tend to do more damage and you should take advantage of that, but you do not want to stay in an unbalanced position for too long. After making an attack that hurts your balance, consider making balancing attacks until you have recovered. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T00:11:16Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Balance, Position, and Tactics */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
In this section we discuss which skills we recommend training and offer some advice on how to do so. Our discussion focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

=== Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary [[Skillsets]] ===

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

===[[Combat]]===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

====Non-Magical Defenses====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] and [[Tactics]] pages. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T00:10:36Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Balance, Position, and Tactics */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
In this section we discuss which skills we recommend training and offer some advice on how to do so. Our discussion focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

=== Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary [[Skillsets]] ===

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

===[[Combat]]===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

====Non-Magical Defenses====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] page. The [[Tactics]] page is also very useful. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T00:09:51Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Combat */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
In this section we discuss which skills we recommend training and offer some advice on how to do so. Our discussion focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

=== Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary [[Skillsets]] ===

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

===[[Combat]]===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

====Non-Magical Defenses====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] page; in spite of needing some updates, the information on this page is invaluable to anyone seeking to train an armor and weapon tertiary in combat. The [[Tactics]] page is also very useful. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-09T00:07:41Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Non-Magical Defenses */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
In this section we discuss which skills we recommend training and offer some advice on how to do so. Our discussion focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

=== Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary [[Skillsets]] ===

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

===[[Combat]]===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses. We will discuss how to do this here.

====Non-Magical Defenses====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. However, the other skills can still be very useful to you if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills at level, rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. To do this you'll need a thorough understanding of combat mechanics. We discuss this next.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] page; in spite of needing some updates, the information on this page is invaluable to anyone seeking to train an armor and weapon tertiary in combat. The [[Tactics]] page is also very useful. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-08T15:11:22Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Magic in Combat */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
In this section we discuss which skills we recommend training and offer some advice on how to do so. Our discussion focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

=== Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary [[Skillsets]] ===

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

===[[Combat]]===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses. We will discuss how to do this here.

====Non-Magical Defenses====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. The other skills can still be very useful to you, if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills '''at level''', rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. We will begin with a brief discussion about combat mechanics.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] page; in spite of needing some updates, the information on this page is invaluable to anyone seeking to train an armor and weapon tertiary in combat. The [[Tactics]] page is also very useful. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating, it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-08T15:10:04Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Non-Magical Defenses */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
In this section we discuss which skills we recommend training and offer some advice on how to do so. Our discussion focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

=== Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary [[Skillsets]] ===

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

===[[Combat]]===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses. We will discuss how to do this here.

====Non-Magical Defenses====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. The other skills can still be very useful to you, if you train them and use them correctly. Because their ranks will be lower than your [[Magic]] and [[Survival]] combat skills, you will need to take extra care to make sure you are using these skills to effectively complement your combat abilities. Doing so can permit you to train these skills '''at level''', rather than back-back train them, which means more efficient training. We will begin with a brief discussion about combat mechanics.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] page; in spite of needing some updates, the information on this page is invaluable to anyone seeking to train an armor and weapon tertiary in combat. The [[Tactics]] page is also very useful. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Lastly, Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-08T15:06:55Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Balance, Position, and Tactics */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
In this section we discuss which skills we recommend training and offer some advice on how to do so. Our discussion focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

=== Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary [[Skillsets]] ===

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

===[[Combat]]===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses. We will discuss how to do this here.

====Non-Magical Defenses====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. The other skills can still be very useful to you, if you train them and use them correctly. To do so, we will briefly discuss some combat mechanics.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
It is highly recommended that you read through the [[Combat]] page; in spite of needing some updates, the information on this page is invaluable to anyone seeking to train an armor and weapon tertiary in combat. The [[Tactics]] page is also very useful. We will briefly cover the most salient points here. Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance. Information about how different types of attacks influence your balance can be found in [[Combat#Maneuver_Chart|the relevant section]] of the [[Combat]] page.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Lastly, Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-08T14:56:24Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Balance, Position, and Tactics */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
In this section we discuss which skills we recommend training and offer some advice on how to do so. Our discussion focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

=== Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary [[Skillsets]] ===

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

===[[Combat]]===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses. We will discuss how to do this here.

====Non-Magical Defenses====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. The other skills can still be very useful to you, if you train them and use them correctly. To do so, we will briefly discuss some combat mechanics.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
Both [[Parry]] and [[Evasion]], as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Lastly, Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-08T14:54:25Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Non-Magical Defenses */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
In this section we discuss which skills we recommend training and offer some advice on how to do so. Our discussion focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

=== Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary [[Skillsets]] ===

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

===[[Combat]]===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses. We will discuss how to do this here.

====Non-Magical Defenses====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means this will be your strongest non-magical defense. The other skills can still be very useful to you, if you train them and use them correctly. To do so, we will briefly discuss some combat mechanics.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
The primary statistic governing your ability to [[Parry]] and [[Evasion|Evade]] is [[Reflex]]. Both of these skills, as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Lastly, Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-07T19:06:09Z

KIGHTLEP: /* General Combat Considerations */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
In this section we discuss which skills we recommend training and offer some advice on how to do so. Our discussion focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

=== Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary [[Skillsets]] ===

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

===[[Combat]]===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses. We will discuss how to do this here.

====Non-Magical Defenses====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means you will want to take full advantage of this skill in combat.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
The primary statistic governing your ability to [[Parry]] and [[Evasion|Evade]] is [[Reflex]]. Both of these skills, as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Lastly, Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-07T19:05:46Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Training your Moon Mage */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
In this section we discuss which skills we recommend training and offer some advice on how to do so. Our discussion focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

=== Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary [[Skillsets]] ===

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

===[[Combat]]===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses. We will discuss how to do this here.

====Non-Magical Defenses====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]], which means you will want to take full advantage of this skill in combat.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
The primary statistic governing your ability to [[Parry]] and [[Evasion|Evade]] is [[Reflex]]. Both of these skills, as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Lastly, Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===General [[Combat]] Considerations===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

====Non-Magical Defenses====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]]. A tertiary skill will have a smaller [[Experience|experience]] pool and will take longer to drain; i.e., you will get less for filling the pool and you will have to wait longer for it to clear. There are also other skill and skillset specific effects; for example, armor tertiaries will suffer more hindrance from the same armor with the same ranks as will armor secondaries and primaries, and will also receive fewer additional stance points. It is not all bad news for you, though. The size of an experience pool also has a dependence on intelligence and discipline, both of which should be high for a Moon Mage. Furthermore, [[Evasion]] is a very strong defense, and by keeping a close eye on your hindrance you can make sure to take full advantage of it.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
The primary statistic governing your ability to [[Parry]] and [[Evasion|Evade]] is [[Reflex]]. Both of these skills, as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Lastly, Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-07T18:57:13Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Training your Moon Mage */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
In this section we discuss which skills we recommend training and offer some advice on how to do so. Our discussion focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is seven magic skills, five survival skills, three lore skills, and additionally Astrology and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

=== Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary [[Skillsets]] ===

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===General [[Combat]] Considerations===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

====Non-Magical Defenses====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]]. A tertiary skill will have a smaller [[Experience|experience]] pool and will take longer to drain; i.e., you will get less for filling the pool and you will have to wait longer for it to clear. There are also other skill and skillset specific effects; for example, armor tertiaries will suffer more hindrance from the same armor with the same ranks as will armor secondaries and primaries, and will also receive fewer additional stance points. It is not all bad news for you, though. The size of an experience pool also has a dependence on intelligence and discipline, both of which should be high for a Moon Mage. Furthermore, [[Evasion]] is a very strong defense, and by keeping a close eye on your hindrance you can make sure to take full advantage of it.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
The primary statistic governing your ability to [[Parry]] and [[Evasion|Evade]] is [[Reflex]]. Both of these skills, as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Lastly, Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-07T18:48:38Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Skillsets */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
In this section we discuss which skills we recommend training and offer some advice on how to do so. Our discussion focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is 7 magic skills, 5 survival skills, 3 lore skills, Astrology, and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

=== Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary [[Skillsets]] ===

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shield_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===General [[Combat]] Considerations===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

====Non-Magical Defenses====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]]. A tertiary skill will have a smaller [[Experience|experience]] pool and will take longer to drain; i.e., you will get less for filling the pool and you will have to wait longer for it to clear. There are also other skill and skillset specific effects; for example, armor tertiaries will suffer more hindrance from the same armor with the same ranks as will armor secondaries and primaries, and will also receive fewer additional stance points. It is not all bad news for you, though. The size of an experience pool also has a dependence on intelligence and discipline, both of which should be high for a Moon Mage. Furthermore, [[Evasion]] is a very strong defense, and by keeping a close eye on your hindrance you can make sure to take full advantage of it.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
The primary statistic governing your ability to [[Parry]] and [[Evasion|Evade]] is [[Reflex]]. Both of these skills, as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Lastly, Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-07T18:47:53Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Skillsets */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
In this section we discuss which skills we recommend training and offer some advice on how to do so. Our discussion focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is 7 magic skills, 5 survival skills, 3 lore skills, Astrology, and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

=== Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary [[Skillsets]] ===

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===General [[Combat]] Considerations===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

====Non-Magical Defenses====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]]. A tertiary skill will have a smaller [[Experience|experience]] pool and will take longer to drain; i.e., you will get less for filling the pool and you will have to wait longer for it to clear. There are also other skill and skillset specific effects; for example, armor tertiaries will suffer more hindrance from the same armor with the same ranks as will armor secondaries and primaries, and will also receive fewer additional stance points. It is not all bad news for you, though. The size of an experience pool also has a dependence on intelligence and discipline, both of which should be high for a Moon Mage. Furthermore, [[Evasion]] is a very strong defense, and by keeping a close eye on your hindrance you can make sure to take full advantage of it.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
The primary statistic governing your ability to [[Parry]] and [[Evasion|Evade]] is [[Reflex]]. Both of these skills, as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Lastly, Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-07T18:45:20Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Training your Moon Mage */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
In this section we discuss which skills we recommend training and offer some advice on how to do so. Our discussion focuses on developing a balanced and powerful Moon Mage, and as such we will be recommending significantly more skills than the minimum required to circle, which is 7 magic skills, 5 survival skills, 3 lore skills, Astrology, and Scholarship (for details see the [[Moon_mage#Circle_Requirements| relevant section of the Moon Mage Page]]). Circling gives you Time Development Points, spell slots, and access to more powerful spells, but does not give you any advantage to the application of those skills. For example, the [[Moongate]] spell stipulates that you be circle 25 to learn it, but it will do you no good to rush to this circle if your [[Utility]] skill is too low to cast the spell when you get there.

=== Your Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary [[Skillsets]] ===

Moon Mages have [[Magic_skillset|Magic]] as their primary skillset, [[Survival]] and [[Lore_Skillset|Lore]] as their secondary skillsets, and [[Weapons_skillset|Weapons]] and [[Armor_skillset|Armor]] as their tertiary skillsets. A common misconception, from which you ought to rid yourself immediately should you share in it, is that tertiary skills are not worth training. Before deciding which skills to train and which to ignore, it would behoove you to understand exactly what it means for a skill to be primary, secondary, or tertiary. This information is in the [[Skillsets]] and [[Experience]] pages, but we will summarize it here. Relative to a secondary or primary skill, a tertiary skill has a smaller experience pool which will pulse more slowly. As a consequence, if you train a tertiary and primary skill to mindlock, the primary skill will clear faster, and give you more ranks when it does, than the tertiary skill. Furthermore, there are certain "perks" associated with each skillset being secondary or primary; for example, armor secondaries will gain more stance points and suffer less hindrance per rank in a given armor than will armor tertiaries. You should not let these facts deter you from training tertiary skills, however. Aside from being useful in their own right, many skills synergize well with skills from other skillsets, which means that training certain tertiary skills can actually help you better train other primary skills.

As a summary, here is a comprehensive list of the skills we will be talking about, arranged by skillset:

* [[Magic_skillset|Magic]]: [[Astrology]], [[Attunement]], [[Arcana]], [[Utility]], [[Augmentation]], [[Warding]], [[TM|Targeted Magic]], [[Debilitation]]
* [[Survival]]: [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]], [[Perception]], [[Skinning]], [[Locksmithing]], [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[First Aid]]
* [[Lore_skillset|Lore]]: [[Scholarship]], [[Appraisal]], [[Tactics]]
* [[Weapon_skillset|Weapons]]: [[Parry]], [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]], [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastey]], [[Small_Edged|Small Edged]], [[Small_blunt|Small Blunt]], [[Light_thrown|Light Thrown]], [[Bow_skill|Bow]], [[Crossbow_skill|Crossbow]], [[Slings_skill|Sling]]
* [[Armor_skillset|Armor]]: [[Defending]], [[Shields_skill|Shields]], [[Light_Armor|Light Armor]], [[Chain_Armor|Chain Armor]], [[Brigandine_armor|Brigandine armor]], [[Plate_armor|Plate armor]]

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===General [[Combat]] Considerations===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

====Non-Magical Defenses====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]]. A tertiary skill will have a smaller [[Experience|experience]] pool and will take longer to drain; i.e., you will get less for filling the pool and you will have to wait longer for it to clear. There are also other skill and skillset specific effects; for example, armor tertiaries will suffer more hindrance from the same armor with the same ranks as will armor secondaries and primaries, and will also receive fewer additional stance points. It is not all bad news for you, though. The size of an experience pool also has a dependence on intelligence and discipline, both of which should be high for a Moon Mage. Furthermore, [[Evasion]] is a very strong defense, and by keeping a close eye on your hindrance you can make sure to take full advantage of it.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
The primary statistic governing your ability to [[Parry]] and [[Evasion|Evade]] is [[Reflex]]. Both of these skills, as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Lastly, Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-07T17:01:30Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Defending Yourself */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
Take a look at the guild circling requirements. You’ll notice it’s pretty much all magic, all the way down. While you only need four magics trained up to 10th circle, you’ll quickly start needing additional magic skills. To this end, it is recommended that you select spells that will allow you to train each of the [[magic]] skills, [[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], and [[Warding]]. Since training [[Astrology]] is somewhat slow going at first, it is also recommended that you learn the spell [[Piercing Gaze]] to facilitate observations in cloudy weather.

Moon Mages are [[Magic]] Primary, [[Survival]] and [[Lore]] Secondary, and [[Weapon]] and [[Armor]] Tertiary. To that end, [[Magic]] will always be your strongest tool, while [[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] your weakest. You may of course train whatever you want, but it is advisable to focus on lighter faster weapons and less hindering armors.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===General [[Combat]] Considerations===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

====Non-Magical Defenses====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]]. A tertiary skill will have a smaller [[Experience|experience]] pool and will take longer to drain; i.e., you will get less for filling the pool and you will have to wait longer for it to clear. There are also other skill and skillset specific effects; for example, armor tertiaries will suffer more hindrance from the same armor with the same ranks as will armor secondaries and primaries, and will also receive fewer additional stance points. It is not all bad news for you, though. The size of an experience pool also has a dependence on intelligence and discipline, both of which should be high for a Moon Mage. Furthermore, [[Evasion]] is a very strong defense, and by keeping a close eye on your hindrance you can make sure to take full advantage of it.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
The primary statistic governing your ability to [[Parry]] and [[Evasion|Evade]] is [[Reflex]]. Both of these skills, as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Lastly, Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-06T18:29:58Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Magic in Combat */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
Take a look at the guild circling requirements. You’ll notice it’s pretty much all magic, all the way down. While you only need four magics trained up to 10th circle, you’ll quickly start needing additional magic skills. To this end, it is recommended that you select spells that will allow you to train each of the [[magic]] skills, [[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], and [[Warding]]. Since training [[Astrology]] is somewhat slow going at first, it is also recommended that you learn the spell [[Piercing Gaze]] to facilitate observations in cloudy weather.

Moon Mages are [[Magic]] Primary, [[Survival]] and [[Lore]] Secondary, and [[Weapon]] and [[Armor]] Tertiary. To that end, [[Magic]] will always be your strongest tool, while [[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] your weakest. You may of course train whatever you want, but it is advisable to focus on lighter faster weapons and less hindering armors.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===General [[Combat]] Considerations===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

====Defending Yourself====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]]. A tertiary skill will have a smaller [[Experience|experience]] pool and will take longer to drain; i.e., you will get less for filling the pool and you will have to wait longer for it to clear. There are also other skill and skillset specific effects; for example, armor tertiaries will suffer more hindrance from the same armor with the same ranks as will armor secondaries and primaries, and will also receive fewer additional stance points. It is not all bad news for you, though. The size of an experience pool also has a dependence on intelligence and discipline, both of which should be high for a Moon Mage. Furthermore, [[Evasion]] is a very strong defense, and by keeping a close eye on your hindrance you can make sure to take full advantage of it. Finally, [[Tactics]], a secondary skill for you, can be a powerful tool.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
The primary statistic governing your ability to [[Parry]] and [[Evasion|Evade]] is [[Reflex]]. Both of these skills, as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Lastly, Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-06T18:29:42Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Balance, Position, and Tactics */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
Take a look at the guild circling requirements. You’ll notice it’s pretty much all magic, all the way down. While you only need four magics trained up to 10th circle, you’ll quickly start needing additional magic skills. To this end, it is recommended that you select spells that will allow you to train each of the [[magic]] skills, [[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], and [[Warding]]. Since training [[Astrology]] is somewhat slow going at first, it is also recommended that you learn the spell [[Piercing Gaze]] to facilitate observations in cloudy weather.

Moon Mages are [[Magic]] Primary, [[Survival]] and [[Lore]] Secondary, and [[Weapon]] and [[Armor]] Tertiary. To that end, [[Magic]] will always be your strongest tool, while [[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] your weakest. You may of course train whatever you want, but it is advisable to focus on lighter faster weapons and less hindering armors.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===General [[Combat]] Considerations===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

====Defending Yourself====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]]. A tertiary skill will have a smaller [[Experience|experience]] pool and will take longer to drain; i.e., you will get less for filling the pool and you will have to wait longer for it to clear. There are also other skill and skillset specific effects; for example, armor tertiaries will suffer more hindrance from the same armor with the same ranks as will armor secondaries and primaries, and will also receive fewer additional stance points. It is not all bad news for you, though. The size of an experience pool also has a dependence on intelligence and discipline, both of which should be high for a Moon Mage. Furthermore, [[Evasion]] is a very strong defense, and by keeping a close eye on your hindrance you can make sure to take full advantage of it. Finally, [[Tactics]], a secondary skill for you, can be a powerful tool.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
The primary statistic governing your ability to [[Parry]] and [[Evasion|Evade]] is [[Reflex]]. Both of these skills, as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Lastly, Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Lastly, Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-06T18:29:28Z

KIGHTLEP: /* General Combat Considerations */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
Take a look at the guild circling requirements. You’ll notice it’s pretty much all magic, all the way down. While you only need four magics trained up to 10th circle, you’ll quickly start needing additional magic skills. To this end, it is recommended that you select spells that will allow you to train each of the [[magic]] skills, [[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], and [[Warding]]. Since training [[Astrology]] is somewhat slow going at first, it is also recommended that you learn the spell [[Piercing Gaze]] to facilitate observations in cloudy weather.

Moon Mages are [[Magic]] Primary, [[Survival]] and [[Lore]] Secondary, and [[Weapon]] and [[Armor]] Tertiary. To that end, [[Magic]] will always be your strongest tool, while [[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] your weakest. You may of course train whatever you want, but it is advisable to focus on lighter faster weapons and less hindering armors.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===General [[Combat]] Considerations===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

====Defending Yourself====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]]. A tertiary skill will have a smaller [[Experience|experience]] pool and will take longer to drain; i.e., you will get less for filling the pool and you will have to wait longer for it to clear. There are also other skill and skillset specific effects; for example, armor tertiaries will suffer more hindrance from the same armor with the same ranks as will armor secondaries and primaries, and will also receive fewer additional stance points. It is not all bad news for you, though. The size of an experience pool also has a dependence on intelligence and discipline, both of which should be high for a Moon Mage. Furthermore, [[Evasion]] is a very strong defense, and by keeping a close eye on your hindrance you can make sure to take full advantage of it. Finally, [[Tactics]], a secondary skill for you, can be a powerful tool.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
The primary statistic governing your ability to [[Parry]] and [[Evasion|Evade]] is [[Reflex]]. Both of these skills, as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance.

==== Magic in Combat ====
Lastly, Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
The primary statistic governing your ability to [[Parry]] and [[Evasion|Evade]] is [[Reflex]]. Both of these skills, as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Lastly, Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-06T18:28:59Z

KIGHTLEP: /* General Combat Considerations */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
Take a look at the guild circling requirements. You’ll notice it’s pretty much all magic, all the way down. While you only need four magics trained up to 10th circle, you’ll quickly start needing additional magic skills. To this end, it is recommended that you select spells that will allow you to train each of the [[magic]] skills, [[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], and [[Warding]]. Since training [[Astrology]] is somewhat slow going at first, it is also recommended that you learn the spell [[Piercing Gaze]] to facilitate observations in cloudy weather.

Moon Mages are [[Magic]] Primary, [[Survival]] and [[Lore]] Secondary, and [[Weapon]] and [[Armor]] Tertiary. To that end, [[Magic]] will always be your strongest tool, while [[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] your weakest. You may of course train whatever you want, but it is advisable to focus on lighter faster weapons and less hindering armors.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===General [[Combat]] Considerations===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

====Defending Yourself====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]]. A tertiary skill will have a smaller [[Experience|experience]] pool and will take longer to drain; i.e., you will get less for filling the pool and you will have to wait longer for it to clear. There are also other skill and skillset specific effects; for example, armor tertiaries will suffer more hindrance from the same armor with the same ranks as will armor secondaries and primaries, and will also receive fewer additional stance points. It is not all bad news for you, though. The size of an experience pool also has a dependence on intelligence and discipline, both of which should be high for a Moon Mage. Furthermore, [[Evasion]] is a very strong defense, and by keeping a close eye on your hindrance you can make sure to take full advantage of it. Finally, [[Tactics]], a secondary skill for you, can be a powerful tool.

====Balance, Position, and Tactics====
The primary statistic governing your ability to [[Parry]] and [[Evasion|Evade]] is [[Reflex]]. Both of these skills, as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
The primary statistic governing your ability to [[Parry]] and [[Evasion|Evade]] is [[Reflex]]. Both of these skills, as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Lastly, Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-06T15:27:58Z

KIGHTLEP: /* General Combat Considerations */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
Take a look at the guild circling requirements. You’ll notice it’s pretty much all magic, all the way down. While you only need four magics trained up to 10th circle, you’ll quickly start needing additional magic skills. To this end, it is recommended that you select spells that will allow you to train each of the [[magic]] skills, [[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], and [[Warding]]. Since training [[Astrology]] is somewhat slow going at first, it is also recommended that you learn the spell [[Piercing Gaze]] to facilitate observations in cloudy weather.

Moon Mages are [[Magic]] Primary, [[Survival]] and [[Lore]] Secondary, and [[Weapon]] and [[Armor]] Tertiary. To that end, [[Magic]] will always be your strongest tool, while [[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] your weakest. You may of course train whatever you want, but it is advisable to focus on lighter faster weapons and less hindering armors.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===General [[Combat]] Considerations===

While the primary focus of many Moon Mages may not be combat, you should not let this deter you if you want to train your Moon Mage to hunt. While it is true that both weapons and armor are tertiary skillsets for you, you have other advantages that will help you; mainly, you have access to a number of strong combat spells from all five spell skills, and you have [[Evasion]], [[Stealth]] and [[Tactics]] as secondary skills. The key to successful hunting is to take advantage of your strengths to bolster your weaknesses.

====Defending Yourself====

The non-magical defensive skills can be grouped into five categories:

* The [[Armor]] Skills, including [[Light_Armor_skill|Light]], [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]], [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]], and [[Plate_Armor_skill|Plate]] armor skills
* The [[Shield_skill|Shield Usage skill]]
* The [[Defending_skill|Defending skill]]
* The [[Parry]] skill
* The [[Evasion]] skill

Of these, the only one that is '''not''' tertiary for the Moon Mage is [[Evasion]]. A tertiary skill will have a smaller [[Experience|experience]] pool and will take longer to drain; i.e., you will get less for filling the pool and you will have to wait longer for it to clear. There are also other skill and skillset specific effects; for example, armor tertiaries will suffer more hindrance from the same armor with the same ranks as will armor secondaries and primaries, and will also receive fewer additional stance points. It is not all bad news for you, though. The size of an experience pool also has a dependence on intelligence and discipline, both of which should be high for a Moon Mage. Furthermore, [[Evasion]] is a very strong defense, and by keeping a close eye on your hindrance you can make sure to take full advantage of it. Finally, [[Tactics]], a secondary skill for you, can be a powerful tool.

===Balance, Position, and Tactics===
The primary statistic governing your ability to [[Parry]] and [[Evasion|Evade]] is [[Reflex]]. Both of these skills, as well as your chances of landing a successful hit, depend on your [[Combat#Balance_and_Position|balance and position]]. Balance, in turn, is determined by the type of attacks you make and the weapon you use, and position is a measure of the difference between your balance and your opponent's. You want to make sure your balance is as high as possible, by using the right weapon and choosing the right types of attacks, and that your opponents' balance is as low as possible, which you can influence through stuns and [[Tactics]]. [[Tactics]] is a secondary skill for you, and you should make full use of it to keep your opponent vulnerable and off-balance.

=== Magic in Combat ===
Lastly, Moon Mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. [[WD|Whole Displacement]] is a pulsing spell that will remove you from melee range; unlike retreating it will not impose a defense penalty and will not fail (though it has a maximum pulse rate, and so you may still find yourself in melee for a time before it pulses again).

You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells. Many of your [[TM|Targeted Magic]] spells, like [[Burn]] and [[DO|Dinazen Olkar]], also have a chance of inflicting a stun (especially when combined with effective use of the [[Tactics]] skill).

If you use your magic and tactics effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you will find that training your Moon Mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}

Moon Mage new player guide

2015-06-06T01:23:28Z

KIGHTLEP: /* Roleplaying your Moon Mage */

{{Merge|Kraggur's Moon Mage Guide}}
{{RTOC}}
==Introduction==

===Background===

Welcome to the Moon Mage guild. Here, you’ll find elegance, cleverness, a connection with something greater than the mere antics of a small world in a vast cosmos. If you want to make your foes explode in a shower of fire and ice, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to rely on the power of fickle Immortals, this guild isn’t for you. If you want to bludgeon your enemies to death with a clumsy weapon of steel, this guild isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you want to twist the very fabric of fate to your advantage, pick apart the subtle insecurities in your foes subconscious, and bend time and space to your very whim, then oh yes, you have come to the right place.

The path of the Moon Mage is not one of blood and glory and conquest, but rather of careful study, precise deliberation, and decisive action. We are the purveyors of the stars, of immense and ancient forces, predictable with enough study, but never controllable. Your power will wax with the rising of the three moons of Elanthia, and will wane with their setting. As you grow in power, you will learn to read the skies to your benefit and your enemy’s detriment, to cross the entire breadth of the lands in a moment. Welcome to being a Moon Mage.

===Signature Guild Abilities===

One of the hallmarks of the Moon Mage is her connection to the [[Plane_of_Probability|Plane of Probability]]. By studying the heavenly bodies, she is able to catch obscure glimpses of future events, permitting her to make [[Predictions|predictions]] to help her and her allies, or curse her foes. She has access to a unique form of [[Moon_Mage_Enchanting|enchanting]], used to inscribe the sigils of celestial bodies, rendering mundane objects into powerful magical artifacts.

The most famous attribute of the Moon Mage, though, is her capacity to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. At first, she may only have the power to [[Teleport]] herself a short distance to a strategically-placed [[Focus_Moonbeam|Moonbeam]], perhaps one that she has [[SM|shifted]] to a friend she has [[Locate|located]]. With training, she will soon find herself able to open a [[Moon Gate]], permitting others to travel as she does. An experienced Moon Mage can [[Astral_travel|enter and exit]] the [[Astral Plane]] through the shards of the shattered moon [[Grazhir]], connecting far-flung regions of the realms via a short (though incredibly dangerous) sojourn through another dimension. This art has the perhaps misleadingly-tranquil name of [[Astral_Travel|Walking the Ways]]. Powerful mages can [[Astral_travel|Walk the Ways]] from anywhere; these are true masters of inter-planar travel. The strongest of the Moon Mages can open [[Riftal_Summons|rifts]] as if from thin air, permitting friends (or brave foes) to pass through to the mage's location.

These powerful gifts come at great risk - making contact with another plane is an exercise fraught with peril. A momentary lapse in focus, or the smallest of distractions, may result in a mistake. Even the smallest of these usually leads to a violent and fatal end.

===Roleplaying your Moon Mage ===
The Moon Mage guild was originally founded by six groups, or [[sects]], of magic users that were unified by their prophetic ability and use of lunar magic during en event known as the [[Lunar Accord]]. Each [[sects|sect]] had a unique philosophic approach to the use of these abilities, and many of these differences persist to the present at least in part to the relatively recent [[Mirror_Wraith_Prophecy|re-emergence of the original sects]]. Although not every (or even most) students choose to join one of the [[sects]], studying the philosophy of at least one is an excellent way to explore ones' own relationship with fate.

The Current Sects Are: 
*The [[Celestial_Compact|Celestial Compact]] is a group of astrologers and politicians who seek to shape [[Kermoria]] with their knowledge of the future.
*The [[Fortune's_Path|Followers of Fortunes Path]] are often carefree, but occasionally fatalistic, wanderers who strive to follow the whims of fate.
*The [[Monks of the Crystal Hand]] are stoic and ascetic seekers of transcendence.
*The [[Nomads_of_the_Arid_Steppe|Nomads of the Arid Steppe]] are an association of tribesmen who seek guidance from the stars and their ancestors.
*The [[Progeny_of_Tezirah|Projent of Tezirah]] are masters of both shadow magic and backroom politics.
*The [[Prophets_of_G'nar_Peth|Prophets of G'nar Peth]] are seekers of Esoteric knowledge who many believe are afflicted with madness.
*[[Heritage House]] is an emergent [[sects|sect]] that strives to unify the divergent perspective of the guild into a single coherent philosophy.

There is a multitude of ways to shape the personality of your moon mage. Othoreke is a bookish gnome who spends all of his time in libraries and observatories, searching for answers to questions he has long ago forgotten - or was it that he hasn't thought of them yet? Though he largely eschews combat, he is no stranger to pain, having been torn limb from limb in the [[Astral_Plane|Astral Plane]] more times than he can remember (though his memory is not what used to be...) in his insatiable desire for greater and deeper knowledge. Beran is a Shaman from the Arid Steppe. A hunter and a tracker by nature, she is as skilled with a spear and a bow as she is with magical attacks. Preferring the open sky to a musty library, she is a scholar of the wilds and of the forces of nature; she goes where the stars guide her. Shhneri aar'Lanth is a Tezirite, drawn to the darker aspects of Lunar Magic, whose predilection for [[Teleologic_Sorcery|Teolologic Sorcery]] draws the ire of many of her mage counterparts too blinded by prejudice to see the true potential of her work. No matter, their ignorance may well prove to be their downfall...

==Training your Moon Mage==
Take a look at the guild circling requirements. You’ll notice it’s pretty much all magic, all the way down. While you only need four magics trained up to 10th circle, you’ll quickly start needing additional magic skills. To this end, it is recommended that you select spells that will allow you to train each of the [[magic]] skills, [[Augmentation]], [[Debilitation]], [[Targeted Magic]], [[Utility]], and [[Warding]]. Since training [[Astrology]] is somewhat slow going at first, it is also recommended that you learn the spell [[Piercing Gaze]] to facilitate observations in cloudy weather.

Moon Mages are [[Magic]] Primary, [[Survival]] and [[Lore]] Secondary, and [[Weapon]] and [[Armor]] Tertiary. To that end, [[Magic]] will always be your strongest tool, while [[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] your weakest. You may of course train whatever you want, but it is advisable to focus on lighter faster weapons and less hindering armors.

===[[Magic|Magic Skills]]===
This is what you will excel at. Your ability with [[Targeted_Magic|Targeted]] and [[Debilitation]] magics will always be better than your ability to swing a sword, and the [[Warding|Wards]] you create will be more potent than any armor. Train your magics, and train them hard. We'll talk more about spell selection later, but as an overview, some very potent and unique spells within the Moon Mage arsenal to look at are, in no particular order, [[Starlight Sphere]], [[Mind Shout]], [[Moonblade]], [[Telekinetic Storm]], [[Mental Blast]], [[Moongate]], and [[Invocation of the Spheres]]. Moon Mages have a unique way of training the [[Attunement skill]] using the [[Perceive command]]. For more details, see the article on [[Moon Mage Power Perception]].

====[[Astrology|Training Astrology]]====
The guild skill is [[Astrology]], which is trained by observing the cosmos and making [[predictions]]. You can start by OBSERVE SKY, which will show you all the celestial objects you can perceive. As you circle, your guild leader will teach you how to understand more and more celestial objects. If you OBSERVE a constellation you have been taught, you may learn something about it.

Each of celestial object governs a skillset, Defense, Event, Lore, Magic, Offense, Survival and All. Each time you observe an object, it adds a bit of knowledge to a prediction pool of that skillset. If you PREDICT STATE LORE, you will see how much you have learned about the Lore skillset from observing the heavens. Once a [[prediction]] pool is sufficiently filled, you can ALIGN to a given skillset or even a specific skill, and then PREDICT FUTURE <person>. This will give you a vision about the prediction, which may look something like this;

You look inside yourself in an attempt to see beyond the now. 
After a few moments, the mists of time begin to part. 
You see the midday sun warming you under its soft face. 
You see a young boy taking his vows of apprenticeship. 
A man stands in darkness clad in plate armor. 
A shiver runs through your spine. 
Roundtime: 10 sec.

Evaluating visions is a tricky business, but there’s some method to the madness. Read a bit about [[prediction]]. At 10th circle you can learn Event Prediction from another Moon Mage. This is a handy way of training Astrology without running the risk of cursing someone, and also a means of telling what is going on in the realms and what is to come. If you STUDY SKY, you’ll start filling your Event prediction pool. When you have studied the sky sufficiently, you can PREDICT FUTURE EVENT, which will give you a vision, and teach Astrology.

Soon, you’ll want to pick up a divining tool, like a set of bones to cast, or starcharts to study, etc. Each of these tools are affiliated with a type of Moon Mage, which is a primarily role playing choice, though there are some differences.

====[[Attunement|Training Attunement]]====

It is common, but by no means universal, for attunement to be a moon mage's first magic skill. Broadly speaking, attunement governs the size of your pool of available mana streams. This is of obvious importance: the higher your attunement, the more spells you can cast at a given harness before you need to recover. Training attunement is straight-forward, you simply PERCEIVE MANA in a room. There is a per-room timer on the training of this skill (120 seconds), which means that you will not learn from successive perceives until the requisite time has elapsed from the initial one. This suggests two methods to train attunement. You can move from room to room, perceiving the mana in each one (affectionately called "power walking"), and you can build perceive calls into a bigger training loop, for example by doing it every so often when you hunt, or after every pair of socks you knit.

====[[Arcana|Training Arcana]]====
If [[attunement]] tends to be the first magic skill, [[arcana]] is the second. This skill can be confusing and frustrating for new players, especially because for the first hundred ranks it may not feel like it's useful for anything. It is! Firstly, 100 ranks are needed for most magical feats (discussed below), and secondly, you will eventually want to use mana streams harnessed in [[cambrinth]], though it may not seem so when you're endlessly charging a little ring over and over. Eventually, some spells' maximum streams will be greater than what you can harness, and so to cast these at full power you will need first charge some streams in a cambrinth item. Furthermore, with the appropriate feat (Dedicated Cambrinth Use), you can use the mana streams stored in a cambrinth item to sustain cyclic spells. This way, when you hold open a moongate for an eternity while your slowpoke barbarian friend takes her sweet time crossing through it, you won’t have to step through after her into a room full of Giant Murdercats with your attunement shot to pieces.

To train arcana, you will want to charge and invoke [[cambrinth]] items. These come in all shapes and sizes, from a couple mana streams to over a hundred. The most efficient way to train arcana is to charge the item with as much as you can, on every cast. How much is this? Ideally, this will be the amount at which you wish to cast your spell, minus the minimum harness. You cannot prepare the spell at less than the minimum harness, and so this procedure puts as much into the object as is safe to do. There are two limitations to this, which are that you may not have the ranks in arcana to actually charge as much as you want into an item at first, and that the object you have may not be able to take all of the charge. Supposing you can cast a spell at M streams, with a minimum of m, then the general procedure will be to prepare the spell at m streams, charge the cambrinth item with (M-m) streams, invoke it, and then cast the spell when it’s ready. If you have a worn cambrinth item, like an armband, you will eventually be able to charge and invoke this item while wearing it, though at first you will need to remove it and hold it to do so.

===[[Survival|Survival Skills]]===

Moon Mages must train at least five survival skills in order to advance. You are a Survival Secondary, and there are many useful survival skills, so you have every reason to train more than five if you want to. [[Athletics]], [[Outdoorsmanship]], [[Perception]], and [[First Aid]] can all be trained out of combat. To train [[Evasion]] you’ll need to be in combat, and with the exception of a few NPCs, the same is true of [[Stealth]]. [[Skinning]] and [[Locksmithing]], while not trained directly through hunting, require dead things which are easiest to acquire by killing living things. Both of these latter skills also provide good sources of income. A reasonable conclusion from this information is that it is a good idea to train by hunting. In the subsequent sections, we discuss how to do so effectively.

===[[Lore|Lore Skills]]===
Being Lore secondary, you'll want to use combat [[Tactics]] to your advantage. You'll also probably want to pick up a [[crafting|craft]]. [[Forging]] isn’t a bad choice, as it will improve the power of your [[Moonblade]] if you choose to use it, though [[Enchanting]], a currently unreleased [[crafting|craft]], will likely be a better choice for Moon Mages. [[Scholarship]] can be earned from [[Scholarship#teaching|classes]] and studying star charts, [[Performance]] can be learned while playing instruments, and [[Appraisal]] can be learned either by APPRAISEing creatures or gear.

===[[Weapons]] and [[Armor]] Skills===
Being tertiary, these tend to be harder to move effectively for a Moon Mage than the other skillsets. In fact, many Moon Mages choose not to rely on physical weapons and armors, training them only for the TDPs. That being said, with careful planning and diligence, it is possible to train your combat skills well, and if you choose to do so you might find yourself at a decisive advantage in combat situations.

====[[Weapons]]====
A good set of weapons to train for a starting moon mage is [[Small Edged]], [[Small Blunt]], and [[Brawling]] for melee and [[Light Thrown]], [[Bow]], and [[Crossbow]] for ranged. The weapons that train these skills are less tiring to use, and are better for preserving or recovering balance. The consequences of this are that you will need to take fewer breaks to recover stamina, that you will hit more often, and critically, that you will be better able to maintain your position and hence get hit less often. Because almost all of your non-magical defensive skills are tertiary, this can make a big difference. Why train so many skills, as a weapons tertiary? Besides the TDPs, training multiple types of melee weapons is the best way to train [[Melee_Mastery|Melee Mastery]] (and likewise with ranged weapons for [[Missile_Mastery|Missile Mastey]]). These masteries give a bonus to any attack that trains a melee or ranged skill, respectively. Training multiple weapons can keep your mastery skills well above the individual weapon skills, which helps to bridge the gap between your magical and non-magical combat skills. This provides a way to train all of your combat skills together, at level, if you wish to pursue this training path.

What about heavier weapons? You should (almost) never let mechanical min-maxing stop you from role-playing your character the way you want to. If you want to use a spear as your main weapon, for example, then you should do so. In the event that it is difficult to train in the beginning, you can always focus on the weapons discussed above for a little while until it is safer to train with the weapon of your choice.

====[[Armor]]====
Heavier armor provides more protection at the cost of [[Hindrance]]. The severity of this hindrance decreases as you get more ranks in the respective armor skill. Additionally, your guild influences how much certain armor types will hinder you; this is in addition to the effects of the skill being tertiary. As an armor tertiary, this means that it is going to be harder to use heavier armor, especially in the beginning.

All of these considerations make [[Light_Armor_skill|Leather or Cloth armor (Light Armor)]] a good starting choice. You can swap in [[Chain_Armor_skill|Chain]] or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] armor for the TDPs, or even to get enough ranks in them to wear more of these types of armor. Since you’ll want to use [[Stealth]] if you’re hunting, make sure you’re in [[Light_Armor_skill|Light Armor]] when you hide on your foes. It is recommended that you also use a small shield. Different physical defenses are better suited for different types of attacks, and shields are good at defending against ranged. This is useful, beyond just the TDPs.

Later on, you’ll be able to summon a [[Shadow Servant]], which will allow you to hold a much greater number of objects, and keeping extra weapons and armor for training becomes much easier.

==Getting Started==

===Starting Spell Choices===
Choosing starting spells for a Moon mage can be a rather daunting task, especially considering that the sheer volume of paths one can take and that the number of prerequisite spells is large compared to other guilds. One first needs to make the decision if you are going to learn towards or away from combat, since Moon mages can be successful anywhere on the spectrum since they have no actual combat skill requirements. A neutral approach can also be successful and each has their own benefits and issues to deal with.

For the combat leaning Moon mage, the most common choice for a first spell would be [[Telekinetic Throw]] to start gaining ranks in Targeted Magic skill. However, [[Shadows]] is also good for those who wish to be more physical in combat and want to train stealth. If you choose your first [[Targeted Magic]] spell after you select [[shadows]], [[Dinazen Olkar]] is an excellent alternative to [[Telekinetic Throw]]. Late bloomers might even consider [[Partial Displacement]] if they select their first combat spell after 10th circle. If you are heavily interested in combat, selecting your first [[Debilitation]] spell early will help you avoid having this skill fall behind your combat skills. Although [[Mental Blast]] is the penultimate moon mage [[debilitation]] spell are you will likely choose [[calm]] or [[Dazzle]] first. [[Dazzle]] has perhaps more long term utility since [[calm]] will later be eclipsed by other spells (mostly [[Mental Blast]]), however it has the major disadvantage of being unusable underground or without the [[Sun]], [[Xibar]] or [[Yavash]] above the horizon. [[Calm]], on the other hand, is usable at all times and is a prerequisite for many other spells, including the [[Psychic Shield]], which will probably be your first [[warding]] spell.

For the (at least initially) non-combat leaning Moon mage, the common choice of spell is [[Clear Vision]], which allows access to many essential [[Augmentation]] and [[Utility]] spells. After that [[Piercing Gaze]] will pierce through inclement weather to allow you to train your [[Astrology]] skill even when clouds obscure the heavens. [[Aura Sight]] will boost your [[Attunement]] and [[Astrology]] skills, which will allow you to cast more spells without needing a break and improve the potency of your observations and [[prediction|predictions]]. All of the spells, are, unfortunately, [[Augmentation]] spells and you will likely want to train the other major non-combat magic skill, [[utility]], at some point. If you choose [[Shadows]] you can later learn [[Focus Moonbeam]] at second circle for no cost, which makes this path a very attractive alternative. [[Focus Moonbeam]] is also required for several different later spells such as [[Moonblade]], [[Moongate]], [[Distant Gaze]] and [[Shadewatch Mirror]] and is a major building block in your future repoire. In addition to this the spell [[Shift Moonbeam]] will allow you greater manipulation of your moonbeam allowing you to send it to other locations and facilitate easy movement through [[Teleport]] and [[Moongate]].

===[[Attributes|Statistic Training]]===
For stats, a good first goal is getting everything to a reasonable minimum (people often advocate 30). This will give you a good base.

Next, if you are combat focused, you'll probably want to keep [[Reflex]] high, as dodging enemies will be easier than surviving getting hit and let you stay in combat longer. [[Discipline]] will improve your ability to hide and your ability to target spells. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] will improve spell damage. All three [[statistics]] will improve your ability with [[contested_spells|Debilitation contests]]. [[Charisma]] will be helpful in [[Contested_Abilities#Contest Stat "Weighting"|charm vs mind]] attacks but [[Calm]] is the only such spell we have in our spell book. [[Stamina]] should not be neglected as it will improve your ability to withstand damage and avoid fatigue. [[Agility]] will aid in your ability to hit things, as well as help with parrying. [[Strength]] and [[Stamina]] are likely the stats you can train to a certain range and then ignore, as you will not need to rely on hitting things harder, nor surviving blows better, for some time. Strength affects how much weight you can carry, which may be useful until you can summon a [[Shadow Servant]].

Outside of combat one can choose to focus on mental abilities. [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] are very important in speeding your learning rate and should be the foundation of your abilities. [[Wisdom]] also improves the probability that a prediction will have a positive result. [[Intelligence]] and [[Discipline]] both increase [[concentration]] and are therefore very important in spell casting. Although it is often neglected, [[Charisma]] does improve your ability to [[Prediction#bonding|bond]] with [[Prediction#tools|prediction tools]] and strength of your [[predictions]] and can be useful. Basically, Moon Mages are the archetypal magical intellectual. You can and probably should focus principally on mentals, then on Reflex or Agility, and finally on Strength and Stamina.

===Starting Gear===
What weapons and armor you train is up to you, but initially sticking to lighter choices would be optimal. [[Small Edged]] and [[Small Blunt]], [[Light Thrown]] and [[Bows]] all make good choices. The obvious choice for [[stealth]] and low hindrance armor is [[Light_Armor_skill|Cloth or Leather]], though you can swap [[Chain_Armor|Chain]] Armor or even [[Brigandine_Armor_skill|Brigandine]] Armor if you're not training [[stealth]] at the moment. It might be worth mentioning that [[Moonblade]] can be shaped into a [[Small_Edged|Small Edge]], [[Large_Edged|Large Edge]], [[Twohanded_Edged_skill|Two handed Edge]], and [[Quarterstaff]] weapon, so if you enjoy using [[moonblade|Moonweapons]], training those weapons from the start is a good idea, though you'll probably want to pick up lightened versions of the heavier weapons.

You’ll want to find some starting magical items to train with, preferably a small [[cambrinth]], like a shard or a ring or a [[runestone]]. If you choose a [[runestone]] that contains a non-lunar spell you will also learn [[sorcery]] when you focus on it, although, unlike [[cambrinth]], it will stop teaching you around 50-80 ranks.

===General [[Combat]] Considerations===

[[Magic]] will be your strongest combat skillset. Training [[TM|Targeted Magic]] and [[Debilitation]] is straightforward: just cast lots of spells at the enemy. Characters defend themselves physically with armor and shields, and by parrying and evading. Of these, [[Evasion]] is the only one that is not tertiary to you. Consequently, you can expect this skill to move faster than the other defensive skills, and you should also rely on it more. [[Tactics]] is always a useful skill. For you it is secondary, and furthermore, you have a vested interest in making an enemy more susceptible to your attacks and less able to attack you effectively since your offensive and defensive skills are mostly tertiary.

Moon mages have access to a number of spells that make it easier to train Weapons and Armor skills. [[SEER|Seer’s Sense]] provides a large bonus to evasion; if you intend to train your mage in combat, do not overlook this spell. [[COL|Cage of Light]] provides damage absorption, and [[Shadows]] provides a bonus to Stealth. Using these and other spells effectively can make a huge difference. You also have several stuns available early on; aside from training your magic skills, these can help relieve pressure in a combat situation by restraining one or more enemies. Starting out, look in to [[Calm]], [[Dazzle]], and [[Sleep]]. These spells are also all prerequisites for more powerful spells.

If you use your magic effectively, choose your weapons and armor wisely, and keep a close eye on your balance and position, you may find that training your moon mage in combat is not as difficult as you may have expected.

===Now What?===
Holder

(more to come)


{{Cat|Player Guides,New player guides,Guild Player Guides,Newbie Guide Contest}}