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<H1>[MUD-Dev] Re: spell design systems</H1>
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<UL>
<LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI>
<LI><em>Subject</em>: [MUD-Dev] Re: spell design systems</LI>
<LI><em>From</em>: Travis Casey <<A HREF="mailto:efindel#polaris,net">efindel#polaris,net</A>></LI>
<LI><em>Date</em>: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 23:03:27 -0400</LI>
<LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI>
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<PRE>
On 22 September 1998, Vladimir Prelovac wrote:
> The spells are one of my concerns. I am looking for a spell system, that
> would be possible to code, and would let the spellcasters create new spells in
> the game. Something like spell researching.
> What I, so far, have in mind is making a base of 50 or 100 various effects
> that a spell may produce. Then making a base of 50-60 basic spells (as a
> combination of those effects) which the player can start with (finding runes
> near his village, a local wizard teacher, a wandering mage... ). ALL the other
> spells shall become to existance by the spellcasting players themselves (ie.
> after some time spend on research, mixing various material and such, a mage
> could come up with a new spell). He would then give it a name, write it to his
> spellbook, and maybe teach it to his friends. That way the new spell, carrying
> the name he gave it, would be tought in the lands for generations after. Do
> you have any ideas on this, advice or such. (I've downloaded the list archives
> and have just started browsing it, and didnt come to any such discussion yet.
> Heh, did you know there are more than 20,000 sheets of paper there? :)
There are a few different spell research systems that I've seen
used/proposed which could work. In the archives, you'll find a post
of SDL, a "programming language" for creating spells that was proposed
originally as a magic system for a paper RPG, but which should be
adaptable to muds.
WEG's Torg system had an excellent spell creation system in its Aysle
supplement; unfortunately, its no longer in print, so here's a quick
description:
There are four magical skills:
conjuration -- the ability to create things
alteration -- the ability to change things
apportation -- the ability to move things
divination -- the ability to gain information about things
There are 22 arcane knowledges, in five categories:
Essences
Death, Life, Time, and True Knowledge
Principles
Darkness, Light, and Magic
Mixed Forces
Inanimate Forces and Living Forces
The Seven Kindred
Aquatic, Avian, Earthly, Elemental, Enchanted, Entity, and Folk
The Elements
Air, Earth, Fire, Metal, Plant, and Water
A spell has three elements:
Pattern -- the raw material from which the spell is made
Mechanism -- the means used to manipulate the pattern to obtain an
effect
Result -- the final effect of the spell
The arcane knowledges are linked together in certain ways, which are
shown in a diagram which I can't easily represent here (if anyone's
interested, let me know... I ordered a scanner today, so I should be
able to put it up on Friday if anyone wants to see it). To figure
the difficulty of a spell, you trace a path along the diagram from
the pattern, through the mechanism, to the result.
Thus, for example, for a spell which turns a person into a frog, the
pattern would be Folk, the mechanism would need to be Life, and the
result would be Aquatic.
There are then several "theorems" which can be applied to limit a
spell in different ways, and thereby to reduce its cost. For
example, the theorem of contagion states that it is easier to cast
a spell if you have a physical object which represents the pattern
knowledge or the result knowledge. In the case of a person to frog
spell, you could make it require a piece of a frog.
The spell designer also chooses one or more of the range, speed,
effect value, volume, area of effect, minimum skill, casting time,
and several other qualities of the spell; which ones have to be set
depends on the spell -- e.g., a spell which only affects one object
doesn't need a volume or area of effect.
Lastly, there are certain modifiers to how the spell is cast that
can be chosen; these are:
impressed -- the spell is cast and impressed into a person or
object. It can then be released later with just a word or
two.
focused -- the spell is linked to another person or object than
the caster. Normally, a spell ceases when its caster is killed;
a focused spell ceases when the person it's focused into is
killed or the object destroyed.
wards -- wards are spells which are linked to a divination spell
and both focused and impressed into an object. Hence, they
trigger when the divination spell detects that the condition for
release has been fulfilled.
Certain modifiers may require more tracing on the spell diagram --
for example, if a spell is to be impressed, a path is traced from
the Folk knowledge to the pattern knowledge of the spell, and the
cost of that path is added to the spell.
On rec.games.design recently, there's been a discussion of ideas for a
game which involves mages designing and casting spells with runes -- you
might want to check it out.
--
|\ _,,,---,,_ Travis S. Casey <efindel#io,com>
ZZzz /,`.-'`' -. ;-;;,_ No one agrees with me. Not even me.
|,4- ) )-,_..;\ ( `'-'
'---''(_/--' `-'\_)
</PRE>
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<LI><STRONG><A NAME="01091" HREF="msg01091.html">No Subject</A></STRONG>
<UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> "Vladimir Prelovac" <tomcat#galeb,etf.bg.ac.yu></LI></UL></LI>
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<ul><li>Thread context:
<BLOCKQUOTE><UL>
<LI><STRONG>[MUD-Dev] Re: Affordances and social method (Was: Re: Wire d Magazine...)</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM>
<ul compact>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00425" HREF="msg00425.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Affordances and social method (Was: Re: Wire d Magazine...)</A></strong>,
Caliban Tiresias Darklock <a href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</a>, Thu 30 Jul 1998, 01:16 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00432" HREF="msg00432.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Affordances and social method (Was: Re: Wire d Magazine...)</A></strong>,
Koster, Raph <a href="mailto:rkoster#origin,ea.com">rkoster#origin,ea.com</a>, Thu 30 Jul 1998, 14:38 GMT
</LI>
</ul>
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00422" HREF="msg00422.html">No Subject</A></strong>,
J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</a>, Wed 29 Jul 1998, 23:33 GMT
<UL>
<li><Possible follow-up(s)><br>
<LI><strong><A NAME="01091" HREF="msg01091.html">No Subject</A></strong>,
Vladimir Prelovac <a href="mailto:tomcat#galeb,etf.bg.ac.yu">tomcat#galeb,etf.bg.ac.yu</a>, Tue 22 Sep 1998, 11:28 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="01119" HREF="msg01119.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: spell design systems</A></strong>,
Travis Casey <a href="mailto:efindel#polaris,net">efindel#polaris,net</a>, Wed 23 Sep 1998, 03:06 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="01120" HREF="msg01120.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: let's call it a spellcraft</A></strong>,
Vadim Tkachenko <a href="mailto:vt#freehold,crocodile.org">vt#freehold,crocodile.org</a>, Wed 23 Sep 1998, 03:13 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="01124" HREF="msg01124.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: let's call it a spellcraft</A></strong>,
Adam J. Thornton <a href="mailto:adam#phoenix,Princeton.EDU">adam#phoenix,Princeton.EDU</a>, Wed 23 Sep 1998, 04:43 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="01177" HREF="msg01177.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: let's call it a spellcraft</A></strong>,
Jon A. Lambert <a href="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</a>, Thu 24 Sep 1998, 05:23 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="01183" HREF="msg01183.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: let's call it a spellcraft</A></strong>,
Vadim Tkachenko <a href="mailto:vt#freehold,crocodile.org">vt#freehold,crocodile.org</a>, Thu 24 Sep 1998, 05:55 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
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