Anyways moving right along. Scholomance has some fun stuff and some bad stuff. One of our main bottlenecks always seems to be getting spell approval. Being half asleep and crazed from caffeine withdrawal I decided to come up with a system to fix that.
In the spoiler is that system. All the recent stuff with Shannon and the Headmaster finally motivated me to post it. So take a look and tell me what you guys think.
Spoiler: show
There are a number of assumptions here that I will attempt to explain.
First the assumption is that all spells cost at least one point in mana to initiate and start. However from that initial cost the particulars of the spell change and increase the cost of the spell. By going through the list one can figure out a basic mana cost on the fly. Or that is the intent.
The second assumption is that all spells can be shoehorned into a certain set of descriptions.
Basic Cost for all spells: 1
Immaterial: +2
Material: +4
Immaterial is used to refer to things like mind magic and spirit magic. Anything that does not change the physical world is considered to be Immaterial. Since it lacks a concrete reality or set pattern it is assumed to take less power to insert a change for Immaterial categories than material.
Adding: +6
Manipulating+3
Subtracting: +6
Creating or destroying matter and energy is assumed to be more power intensive than simply manipulating it.
Energy: +4
Combination: +6
Matter: +2
Energy lacks a set form that is easy to manipulate. Being something that is largely in flux it is assumed that it is harder to force it into the patterns you want. Matter although somewhat more fixed is easier to visualize and force into patterns and is assumed to be somewhat easier to use magic to change as a result. Using both costs more than either alone.
Internal: +4
Mixture: +7
External +3
Internal magic is very delicate and the users own magic fights it off. The body being able to auto correct many changes back into it’s original form is also a problem. Because of this it costs more to alter the self than it does to change things outside of the self. Again using a mixture of both costs more than either alone
Range: +2 per five ft
Duration +1 Per Minute
Subatomic +12
Size: Atomic: +8
Molecular: +6
Fine: +4
Very Small: +2
Small : +1
Medium: +2
Large: +4
Very Large +6
Huge: +8
Colossal: +12
So as an example from my own invisibility spell which could be considered to have these categories applied to it.
Material, Manipulating, Combining, External, Medium
So before adding range and duration we get.
1+4+3+6+2+2= 18
Range is probably 10ft or so. So 20 more Mana
Duration is 5 minutes. Going by that we get a mana cost of
18+20+5=43 mana cost before mitigations.
Mitigation Guide
So from this we get fairly steep power requirements.
The biggest one is that mitigations of the same pattern or theme have a secondary mitigation effect on top of the original mitigations. So saying a spell fully in Greek would gain this benefit while using Greek and Latin would not. It is up to the Head Masters discretion how much this ‘thematic’ mitigation is worth.
The second assumption is that repetition has a progressively weaker effect. Saying that Greek Spell a second time would only produce half the result of the first time in terms of mitigation. Saying the Greek Spell a third time would only have half the effect of the second time and so on.
Ex:
Spell phrase: 2 mitigation
1st repetition: 1 mitigation
2nd repetion: 0.5 mitigation
Ect....
Mitigations have been divided into 5 categories
Ritual, Somatic, Verbal, Material and Symbolic.
Furthermore each category has it’s own power levels.
Rituals are spells that have been cast before by others previous to the current caster. Depending on the power of the original discover and previous users. Ritual inherently carry at least 2 mitigation under this system.
Symbolic are items that has been used or created by previous casters that carry their own intrinsic power that helps mitigate the cost of the spell. This category also includes magical writing systems such as runes. . All symbols carry a minimum of 1 point of mitigation
Both Rituals and Symbols are categorized along two separate lines. How well known they are and how powerful the original caster/maker was. The higher both categories are the higher the amount of mitigation involved.
Unknown and low powered= 2
Unknown and medium powered=4
Unknown and high powered= 8
Semi-known and low powered =3
Semi-known and medium powered= 6
Semi known and high powered= 10
Well-known and low powered=4
Well-known and medium powered=8
Well-known and high powered=14
Somatic is gestures or movements. Each one handed gesture carries half point of mitigation. Two handed gestures carry a full point of mitigation. Movements are small or big and have the same cost. Small movements have half a point and big movements have a whole point.
Verbal components are phrases not words. Depending on the length of the phrase the mitigation amount changes. The phrases must make sense and be applicable to the situation at hand. If you over-run the word limit for one phrase category it defaults into the next. However if the phrase goes over the limit for long phrases. No more mitigation is granted.
Short Phrases(1-4 words) carries 1 mitigation
Medium Phrases (4-8 words) carries 2 mitigation
Long Phrases (8-12 words) carries 3 mitigation
Materials: Mitigations that directly relate to the particular spell at hand. Material mitigations are also divided into categories. Material mitigations all carry an intrinsic mitigation of 2 points
The categories for material mitigations are
Very Minor= 1 mitigation: These are only tangentially related to the spell in question. As an example if casting a scrying spell and you used silcon beads as a mitigator.
Minor= 2 mitigation: These are connected but it is not something you would normally think of for the spell in question. Going back to the scrying example using say a microscope
Medium= 3 mitigation: These have a definite link but lack a specialization to that particular spell. For example for your scrying spell you use a bowl of water. It's connected to scrying but you could also use it for healing, potion making ect.
Major= 4 mitigation: These are focused and connected to the spell in question and thus very powerful. For example using some of the herbs that the Oracle at Delphi used would be very useful for our scrying spell.
Very Major=5 mitigation: These are permanently linked to a spell and couldn't really be seen as useful for anything else. Going back to the scrying having the skull of the Oracle at Delphi would be a great motivator
Each material component gives a separate bonus to mitigation.
Experience and Power
Naturally the more you practice a certain spell the better you get at it. Having more mana helps in casting it too as your magic becomes used to going in certain paths to rewrite reality.
So for each level of competence you get +1 multiplied by ⅓ of your mana pool. You can only go one step above your year.
(So Level 1 at year 1 would give you +3, In second year you would get +4 and so on.)
Level 1: Cast the same spell 64 times
Level 2: Cast the same spell 256 times
Level 3: Cast the same spell 1024 times
Level 4: Cast the same spell 4096 times
Level 5: Cast the same spell 16384 times
Level 6: Cast the same spell 65536 times
Level 7: Cast the same spell 262144 times
Level 8: Cast the same spell 1048576 times
Level 9: Cast the same spell 4194304 times
Now that number might sound like a lot and for pure grinding it is. But a really commonly used spell should reach the upper limit by the time you reach final year.
Thematic Mitigation.
The idea here is that doing things within a given theme empowers the caster’s belief and abilites to make the spell even easier. How much mitigation is given by a general theme is up to the Headmaster
First the assumption is that all spells cost at least one point in mana to initiate and start. However from that initial cost the particulars of the spell change and increase the cost of the spell. By going through the list one can figure out a basic mana cost on the fly. Or that is the intent.
The second assumption is that all spells can be shoehorned into a certain set of descriptions.
Basic Cost for all spells: 1
Immaterial: +2
Material: +4
Immaterial is used to refer to things like mind magic and spirit magic. Anything that does not change the physical world is considered to be Immaterial. Since it lacks a concrete reality or set pattern it is assumed to take less power to insert a change for Immaterial categories than material.
Adding: +6
Manipulating+3
Subtracting: +6
Creating or destroying matter and energy is assumed to be more power intensive than simply manipulating it.
Energy: +4
Combination: +6
Matter: +2
Energy lacks a set form that is easy to manipulate. Being something that is largely in flux it is assumed that it is harder to force it into the patterns you want. Matter although somewhat more fixed is easier to visualize and force into patterns and is assumed to be somewhat easier to use magic to change as a result. Using both costs more than either alone.
Internal: +4
Mixture: +7
External +3
Internal magic is very delicate and the users own magic fights it off. The body being able to auto correct many changes back into it’s original form is also a problem. Because of this it costs more to alter the self than it does to change things outside of the self. Again using a mixture of both costs more than either alone
Range: +2 per five ft
Duration +1 Per Minute
Subatomic +12
Size: Atomic: +8
Molecular: +6
Fine: +4
Very Small: +2
Small : +1
Medium: +2
Large: +4
Very Large +6
Huge: +8
Colossal: +12
So as an example from my own invisibility spell which could be considered to have these categories applied to it.
Material, Manipulating, Combining, External, Medium
So before adding range and duration we get.
1+4+3+6+2+2= 18
Range is probably 10ft or so. So 20 more Mana
Duration is 5 minutes. Going by that we get a mana cost of
18+20+5=43 mana cost before mitigations.
Mitigation Guide
So from this we get fairly steep power requirements.
The biggest one is that mitigations of the same pattern or theme have a secondary mitigation effect on top of the original mitigations. So saying a spell fully in Greek would gain this benefit while using Greek and Latin would not. It is up to the Head Masters discretion how much this ‘thematic’ mitigation is worth.
The second assumption is that repetition has a progressively weaker effect. Saying that Greek Spell a second time would only produce half the result of the first time in terms of mitigation. Saying the Greek Spell a third time would only have half the effect of the second time and so on.
Ex:
Spell phrase: 2 mitigation
1st repetition: 1 mitigation
2nd repetion: 0.5 mitigation
Ect....
Mitigations have been divided into 5 categories
Ritual, Somatic, Verbal, Material and Symbolic.
Furthermore each category has it’s own power levels.
Rituals are spells that have been cast before by others previous to the current caster. Depending on the power of the original discover and previous users. Ritual inherently carry at least 2 mitigation under this system.
Symbolic are items that has been used or created by previous casters that carry their own intrinsic power that helps mitigate the cost of the spell. This category also includes magical writing systems such as runes. . All symbols carry a minimum of 1 point of mitigation
Both Rituals and Symbols are categorized along two separate lines. How well known they are and how powerful the original caster/maker was. The higher both categories are the higher the amount of mitigation involved.
Unknown and low powered= 2
Unknown and medium powered=4
Unknown and high powered= 8
Semi-known and low powered =3
Semi-known and medium powered= 6
Semi known and high powered= 10
Well-known and low powered=4
Well-known and medium powered=8
Well-known and high powered=14
Somatic is gestures or movements. Each one handed gesture carries half point of mitigation. Two handed gestures carry a full point of mitigation. Movements are small or big and have the same cost. Small movements have half a point and big movements have a whole point.
Verbal components are phrases not words. Depending on the length of the phrase the mitigation amount changes. The phrases must make sense and be applicable to the situation at hand. If you over-run the word limit for one phrase category it defaults into the next. However if the phrase goes over the limit for long phrases. No more mitigation is granted.
Short Phrases(1-4 words) carries 1 mitigation
Medium Phrases (4-8 words) carries 2 mitigation
Long Phrases (8-12 words) carries 3 mitigation
Materials: Mitigations that directly relate to the particular spell at hand. Material mitigations are also divided into categories. Material mitigations all carry an intrinsic mitigation of 2 points
The categories for material mitigations are
Very Minor= 1 mitigation: These are only tangentially related to the spell in question. As an example if casting a scrying spell and you used silcon beads as a mitigator.
Minor= 2 mitigation: These are connected but it is not something you would normally think of for the spell in question. Going back to the scrying example using say a microscope
Medium= 3 mitigation: These have a definite link but lack a specialization to that particular spell. For example for your scrying spell you use a bowl of water. It's connected to scrying but you could also use it for healing, potion making ect.
Major= 4 mitigation: These are focused and connected to the spell in question and thus very powerful. For example using some of the herbs that the Oracle at Delphi used would be very useful for our scrying spell.
Very Major=5 mitigation: These are permanently linked to a spell and couldn't really be seen as useful for anything else. Going back to the scrying having the skull of the Oracle at Delphi would be a great motivator
Each material component gives a separate bonus to mitigation.
Experience and Power
Naturally the more you practice a certain spell the better you get at it. Having more mana helps in casting it too as your magic becomes used to going in certain paths to rewrite reality.
So for each level of competence you get +1 multiplied by ⅓ of your mana pool. You can only go one step above your year.
(So Level 1 at year 1 would give you +3, In second year you would get +4 and so on.)
Level 1: Cast the same spell 64 times
Level 2: Cast the same spell 256 times
Level 3: Cast the same spell 1024 times
Level 4: Cast the same spell 4096 times
Level 5: Cast the same spell 16384 times
Level 6: Cast the same spell 65536 times
Level 7: Cast the same spell 262144 times
Level 8: Cast the same spell 1048576 times
Level 9: Cast the same spell 4194304 times
Now that number might sound like a lot and for pure grinding it is. But a really commonly used spell should reach the upper limit by the time you reach final year.
Thematic Mitigation.
The idea here is that doing things within a given theme empowers the caster’s belief and abilites to make the spell even easier. How much mitigation is given by a general theme is up to the Headmaster