View source for Post:An overview - 09/02/2012 - 14:02

{{Post
|a=DR-RAESH
|t=An Overview
|d=09/02/2012 2:02 PM CDT
|n=842
|f=The Moon Mages \ The Heavens, Predictions, and Divination Tools   Post
|c=d,m
|p=Enough of the system is done at this point I'm going to give a broad view of how the new system is different than the old. Keep in mind that this is all subject to change and while I would like feedback, please wait to judge some of the changes I assume will be less popular too harshly until you try it for yourself. (No, it's still not on test. RL has been eating more of my time than I'd expected but we're getting very close to having the core + bones on test. All that's left is a few last mechanical hooks and some messaging).

'''Observations'''<br />
This will remain as is for now. I may review this in the future.

'''Align'''<br />
Will no longer require a quest, you'll just be able to do this. Gaining the split and transmogrify options discussed previously.

'''Predictions''' (in general)<br />
The end result will behave very much like it has in the past. Be warned that the hard cap on ranks is coming down slightly (Though it's still in excess of most bonuses in the game) and the soft cap is now properly enforced AFTER tool bonuses.

On the upside what you see is what you get, there is no longer the possibly to "misread" tools.

Astrology will play a much stronger role in your results in general. Wisdom will also be helpful.

How full your prediction pool is will play a very strong roll exp awarded as well (This should make it more rewarding to do big pool predictions than many small predictions).

'''Visions'''<br />
These will run through the same mechanics as tools, so you can align them now and your astrology will be roughly analogous to tool bonding. The idea here is that for an unskilled mage they'll be about as useful as a brand new tool, and for a very skilled mage they'll be more useful than a brand new tool, but pale compared to a properly cared for tool.

'''Tools''' (overview)<br />
Entirely redone. They all run through central mechanics now so they'll behave more predictably and have less "quirks" from tool to tool (And by quirks I mostly mean bugs). All of the potential bonuses are now in sync so bones should no longer out perform everything else.

--Verbs--<br />
Study: Shows you what verbs you can use on a tool.<br />
Look: Just displays what the tool looks like.<br />
Analyze: Shows you the status of the tool (What the old look did). Tools no longer have hidden qualities.<br />
Invoke: Used to form the initial bond with the tool (The way rub use to) as well as remove it as it always has.<br />

--Mechanics--<br />
Each tool now has a "strength" which is something the tool is better at then any other tool. I'll leave these as PAFO for now, but may discuss them more in the future. Otherwise all tools have the same theoretical possible range of values, bond rates, curse rates, etc.

Tools no longer spawn with random values. Store-bought versions of a tool will default to certain stats depending on the type of tool, unless specifically set up to be better than this (Such as the HE tools). This will prevent the need to buy a giant pile of tools and cherry pick the best.

Tools now have an overall craftsmanship. This represents how resistant the tool is to damage.<br />
>''The overall craftsmanship is poor and the bones should prove rather susceptible to damage.''

Physical properties of a tool are no longer considered part of "bonding". Instead these craftsmanship values are set during tool creation and influence how likely the tool is to bond to you. These will decay over time as the tool is used, and this decay rate is slowed by high quality.<br />
>''The Krr-tich bone is notably off-balanced.''<br />
>''The Sek-rith bone is notably off-balanced.''<br />
>''The symbols on the Moon Sphere are nearly impossible to differentiate though the weighting of the bone is fair.''<br />
>''The lacquer unevenly coats the Sun Disk, which is slightly off-balance.''<br />

Bonding no longer controls the "Accuracy" (as in if you see what the prediction is actually doing or if you get the wrong message), but now are the aspect of the tool that provides the actual bonuses. In the case of bones this is your attunement. The polarity also now has a bond and craftsmanship aspect when it use to only have a physical aspect (Though it was usually messaged like a bond. Confusing, I know.)<br />
>''A narrow conduit of probability flows through the Krr-tich bone.''<br />
>''A massive conduit of probability rages through the Sek-rith bone.''<br />
>''A delicate conduit of probability flows through the Moon Sphere.''<br />
>''A delicate conduit of probability flows through the Sun Disk.''<br />

Bonding never decreases (except in the case of a fumble, we'll get to those) and can never penalize you. Like before, bonding starts at 0 with a new tool. What this means is that even the most amazingly crafted tool will not give you any benefit until you've used it for awhile, but it will bond to you much faster and suffer much less damage in the process.

Tools never break.

Tools '''can''' suffer damage now outside of a fumble. As mentioned the overall craftsmanship of the tool helps avoid this. What this means is that over time your tool IS going to decay and eventually become very hard to bond. This works as a sort of soft cap to bonding. A higher quality tool will have a better chance to bond for longer and be much more likely to reach equilibrium at at higher bonding state.

Tool repair is not currently possible. It may be in the future after they become craftable, but we're going to have to approach it very carefully since tool damage is the main thing that keeps a store-bought tool from eventually matching The One Tool To Rule Them All.

Bonding is also going to feel '''slow''' at first. I'm being very cautions to aim low initially since I've removed most of the existing balance features (Negative bond values, negative bonding, tool breakage) and will uptweak if needed.

Fumbles will only occur if you were going to get a curse anyway (Align curse beware!) and will cause significant damage to the tool, weaken your bond with the tool slightly (Unless your tool has reached maximum bonding, in which case it will stay there -- this is to prevent a really spectacular tool from eventually decaying away due to fumbles) and produce an awful curse.

Crits will only occur if you were going to get a bonus anyway and will result in an awesome bonus. They will '''not''' increase the physical properties of your tool, but they will make bonding on that particular prediction notably more likely.

All tools will be able to turn a bad prediction good (So will your observations). This is actually already the case, but most tools don't message it. What is new, however, is that if you align curse these same factors can turn a bonus into a curse ::evil grin::

All tools now track both how new they are:<br />
>>''The bones are rather new.''

And how much they've been used:<br />
>>''They appear to have never seen use.''

While I'm not going to give you the new bonding formula I'll say that in general a prediction is far more likely to result in bonding if you have good craftsmanship, a full observation pool, and to some degree charisma.

'''Bones'''<br />
As mentioned, these are no longer the odd duck out in about a half dozen different ways.

'''Charts'''<br />
These are going to have a new verb to use them instead of "Study". I haven't settled on what yet.

'''Prisms'''<br />
These can now predict on others.<br />
<br />
There are likely some other changes I'm neglecting to mention, but this is the core of it.
|sub=Moon Mage, Prediction, Prediction Tools, 
}}