AN IDEA FOR A NEW TYPE OF MAGIC USER (GREY WIZARD)

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Killer Wolf
1235
07/19/2012 10:56 PM
author=Trihan
That's a really cool idea, Killer Wolf.

My take on it is that magic (or spellcrafting as it'll be known) is only possible by having imprinted gems/runes/macguffins surgically implanted into the body, which draw their power directly from the spellcrafter's vitality to facilitate the effects (making the user physically weaker to the point where using conventional weaponry would be useless, and they're unable to support their weight in heavy armour) Most go with the forehead because it results in the most potent links, but there may also be minor spellcrafters who just have it done on the wrists or ears.

The procedure for implanting them is brutal and extremely painful, so only a handful of people have ever been known to have it done.

That's not as cool as your thing. :(


I was doing a write up for a game world that was very heavy into Rune usage, but outside of that there wasn't much magic. Essentially, the Runes were the language of magic and they were left behind by those who came before. People could enhance their bodies by getting Runes inked on them. For the course of the story, the main bad guy was a hulking brute who loaded up on speed Runes, so he was as agile as cat burglar.

Of course there were also a lot of people who drew fake runes on themselves to look tough or scare other people.

It was pretty much just a workaround to allow "cybernetic" enhancements in a medieval fantasy setting, without involving the words "Gnomish" or "Contraption."

Back on topic -

As an explanation for how a Grey Wizard gets started, maybe death/near death isn't a bad idea. They are taken to a point where they can see both sides of the veil, which alters their understanding. They no longer view the world in absolutes, blacks and whites, but instead Grey.

They could gain new power by assisting the dead/dying or releasing trapped spirits. I'm kind of tipping my hand about something I'm doing in my current main project, but I'm pretty sure I don't hold the exclusive rights to that idea, so if it sounds like something that might work - go for it!
Jparker1984
2008
07/20/2012 08:09 AM
author=Killer Wolf
I'm a little late to the party, but here we go:

The "Grey" Jedi path in Kotor was interesting. They could use both lightside and darkside, but with an increased cost.

Maybe a way of balancing the Grey Wizard is to make duplicates of the skills that have a higher casting cost, or a slightly reduced effectiveness.

In one of my back-burner projects, the mage characters must make contracts with spirits to earn new spells/powers. It was my way of explaining away why so many magic user archetypes can't use bows, swords, armor, etc. The spirit/devil/demon/entity/willed essence that the mage makes a contract with has conditions. That way, the mage characters in my game could have started off with the same equipment potential as anybody else, but in order to gain more magic power they have to give up on things.

One spirit requires that the mage never uses a potion (draught, elixer, whatever you want to call it) during battle. If he does, he loses the favor of the spirit, and thus the spells associated with it. It sort of makes any trying situation a test of faith. Does the player stay true to their promises, or abandon the old ways in favor of science/chemistry and anger the spirits/gods.

It would be left up to the player to decide if the really powerful magics justify the most strict of prohibitions the spirits can demand.

Of course, this was tied to the theme, partially. The only reason the spirits of the old ones helped people in the new era gain magic power was because they liked being able to exercise control from beyond the Veil. The hope was that mages would lust after more and more power, giving up more and more of their free will in the process, until the mage would finally give up their own spirit in exchange for power, thus allowing one of the entities to possess them and escape the void.


You're a genius, you have just gave me my idea. Not exactly like yours, more of a variation.

Thanks for all the input guys, I appreciate it.
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