Legion Saga X - Episode One: The Children of Prophecy

One of the standards of the Legion Saga games is the Orbcraft system. Originally introduced in Legion Saga II, Orbcraft replaced the basic spell casting system of RPG Maker, and in Legion Saga, with a system that loosely emulated Suikoden's Rune system - by equipping characters with magical orbs, they could learn new spells. The orbs were upgradable by going to an Orbcraft shop and going through a somewhat tedious set of upgrade menus, with the upgraded orbs providing new and better spells. There were two types of Orbs: White Orbs and Black Orbs. For the most part, White Orbs were used to cast spells that helped your party, particularly healing, while Black Orbs were used for offensive magic. Some characters could equip no orbs, some could equip only White, some only Black, and, in very rare cases, some could equip both.

In Legion Saga III, the system was altered slightly. Characters could now only equip one magical orb, with the second orb slot being reserved for a new type of 'influential orb' that had special effects. Characters would learn spells at the same rate, regardless of who they were or what orbs they possessed, and at level 32, they would unlock all the spells in the game, so long as they had an orb equipped.

In Legion Saga R, the system was, once again, changed. Orbs were divided once more into two types, Attack and Defense, and each orb was to come in both flavours - Attack orbs were to be equipped to your weapon and would raise attack, while Defense orbs were to be attached to your armor and raise defense. Spells were learned based on the character's Magic trait - as a character's Magic trait rose, they were learn new spells.

So, that left me with a question - what direction should Orbcraft go in Legion Saga X? Legion Saga R brought the idea of orbs to the Midlands several years before the events of Legion Saga II, which insinuates that the idea originated recently and in the nations discovered there, changing canon entirely. I chose to stuck with this change - Orbcraft does, in fact, exist long before the events of Legion Saga II. I've stuck with the canon 'creation' story that the orbs originated when Geradoma's original master orb was shattered.

As for the system, I've chosen to go with a mixture of Legion Saga II and Legion Saga R. There exist on every character two Orb slots - one for White Orbs, and one for Black Orbs (there are some Orbs which fit into the Accessory slot, but I'll talk about them another time). Some characters can equip no orbs, some can equip only White, some only Black, and some both types. New spells are learned as the character's Magic trait increases and, thanks to some tinkering with the systems, I can tailor each individual spell's minimum Magic trait requirement. Many spell names have been borrowed from across the games, with a vast majority lifted from Legion Saga III.

All first level spells are available as long as you have, and can equip, the orb. For an example, let's look at the Burning Orb, which Durane begins the game with (he also comes equipped with a Tranquil Orb for healing). As he can immediately equip it, he learns the spell Burning Rush, the simplest fire spell. At Magic 80, which, without assistance, Durane will reach at level 11, he'll learn the next level of spell, Dragon Breath, a multi-target version of Burning Rush. As he continues to level, at level 25 he'll top Magic 160 and learn the next spell, Hellfire. Finally, when he reaches level 39 and tops Magic 240, Durane will learn the ultimate fire spell, Flames of Judgement.

While these levels hold true for Durane, characters with higher Magic traits will learn these spells sooner, as they'll reach the required trait far sooner. Some characters may never even reach a high enough trait to get more than the third, or in some cases second, level spells - a new Legionnaire being introduced, the young Meluvetian commander Logan, would find it impossible to learn Dragon Breath until level 22, when he finally reaches Magic 80. Luckily for him, however, he has another type of Orb up his sleeve...

But I'll save that for another time.