Sign Up/Discussion Luminous: An RP With A Convoluted DM-Ran Magic System

All right. I'll do my best to write her.
I'll be respondin next, so everyone else, get ready.

 

Oh, by the way, in case text description wasn't great - here's a visual image of the diagram that Elio found. Please imagine the flower is drawn with better detail.

Spoiler: The handwriting is so bad you can't read the scribbles

 

@WavePearl @ID Zeta @Jupjami @SAF @122 Generation
Heads up, probably gonna skip my turn since I don't have much to add (the current conversation is mostly intra-party, I'll wait for y'all to catch each other up with the information and probably make a decision bout what to do next before I respond?) Just keep postin y'all.

 

Right, so that means I'm up next? I'll get that in a mo I suppose.

 

Ok uh I don't mean to be rude and I apologize in advance but I'm not sure if I got this clearly enough across the first time I vetoed:
- Please keep OOC posts to the OOC thread because every time you post OOC in the IC thread I will count that as your turn, meaning you've just passed up an IC chance
- Since you seem really wanting to have a bow ASAP I'll just spoil this + - the rest of y'all will get proper weapons once you get in the Guild   and TLDR, it is not yet time, please give some flexibility
- Funny enough I have the trees named in the first post (chestnut and oak, probably some other smaller fruit trees)
In conclusion:
I have not planned on giving out weapons this easy and this early, please just try to work with what you have (the potion, the sticks I've confirmed are there twice, hell you can fill the satchel with pebbles and use it as a flail), and finally, just straight up PM me or ask in this thread if you ever want/need any hints

 

Well, Lassus and I have run into problems here about powercrafting before, so let me just... talk with y'all about what you guys are envisioning your powersets to be like. This is just to work through some concepts, and also for the team to talk among (don't say it) yourselves to figure out how you want to build the party.
@ID Zeta @Jupjami @SAF @122 Generation @WavePearl

Thought points:
- What role does my character want to play/what kind of playstyle do I want? (DPS, support, scout/sneaking, trickery/party face, defense, etc). Keep in mind you've already told me the magic school you're looking at, so unless you want to re-clarify, you don't have to.
- What role do I absolutely want to avoid?
- What kind of spells am I thinking of having my character learn? Keep in mind that I'm running Luminous as more DnD like where I'll give you a set amount of spell slots/power limits and you'll work around them.
- Does your character have a theming? Maybe even just a sort of visual you want, or a constant you want to have throughout their spells?
- I'm not going to craft a specific DMPC to run with y'all, by the way. You can collaborate with NPCs every now and then but they're not going to accompany you all the time in every fight, so keep that in mind for role balance.

Spoiler: Examples of responses, and you can use these for inspiration (warning: still long)

"I'd like to be a speedy, combat-focused Battlemage, focusing mostly on DPS with a bladed weapon. Spells I would like would be to teleport my weapon to my side or myself to my weapon, speeding up the way I can swing it, and enhancing its range with an aura or something. If I take any other spells outside of my school, I might try some Vitality or Transmutation spells to enhance my speed and haste, so I can zip around my enemies."

"I want to be a Terraformer with a focus on stealth and plant-based powers. My character could move trees to hide myself in the shade or lengthen grass to do my bidding without people noticing before it's too late. If I take a secondary, I could try Transmutation to camouflage my character and hide in the shadows."

"I'm thinking about a Vitality character that focuses on AOE healing. I would set up auras around myself or the battlefield to support my allies. If I take a secondary it might be Summoning or Alchemist so that I can create zones or constructs ahead of time. Other than healing spells I would also like some light-based utility spells for my character theming, maybe some minor illusions and the like."

"I want to play a Bard that focuses on connection and persuasion, working one-on-one with other characters through song. My spells will be building up towards a mind reading ability, with other spells including silencing, telapathy, and something akin to an enhanced intuition. I will also take some Vitality to buff my allies in combat, or Terraforming/Summoning to communicate with even inanimate objects and make them do my bidding."

"I kind of want to learn a little bit of everything and be a jack-of-all trades. I don't mind getting very basic spells that aren't very personalized. I'll might dance around Battlemage, Duelist, Terraforming, Bard, Vitality and mostly Alchemist - the last two classes (Summoning and Transmutation) seem like they can be sorta restrictive, so I'll probably focus more on picking up more spells than working with those specifically."

If you want some ideas for your character or just want to make sure something would be okay to run by me, just DM me or also speak up in this thread. And if you're still feeling kind of lost as to what you want to run for your desired class, I can help generate a few ideas for your desired classes.

Finally, take your time. It is still a little while before you even get your first spells.

 

@WavePearl
Right, so about the and/or that will likely end up being an "or". For a more damage-oriented build, I would recommend learning further into Battlemage spells focusing on your archery, whilst keeping the more bardic/theatery aspects more for flavor than in gameplay, like doing tricks in between firing projectiles.

Spoiler: Here's a few spell ideas for a Battlemage focused build:

- Making arrows homing instead of aimed
- Multiplying arrows while in the air for a sort of spread shot/arrow rain ability. Earlier variations of this spell might be just firing more than one arrow at once, whilst the last could be a very high-level spell
- Of course, you can apply spells you already know to your arrows, so that gives you some thought if you want to pick up that elemental idea you had earlier

For the "damage and heal" I could run some spells that are essentially "heal via damage", sort of like a leech effect. Naturally, these abilities would have less offensive capability, traded for more support.

Spoiler: And for the hybrid healing/support build:

- Magic projectiles that restore vitality to one ally or their Luminous upon damaging an energy
- Making an arrow heal rather than damage and firing it at ally Luminous
- Something similar to the Dancing Arrow from Miitopia, which could debuff an enemy somehow upon hitting (sleep, paralysis, etc)

You can consider some of these spells if you like them, or build up something entirely on your own when the time comes.

Keep in mind, many of the above are almost strictly combat spells - I'd recommend also picking up a few utility spells as well. If you want to add more to the Bard side of Kanaru you could pick up a few things like illusions or telepathy or something else.

Oh, and for those of y'all confused about me saying "spell level" and all that - don't worry about it for now, but essentially, there will be leveling up a la DND with plot milestones. I hope all of y'all are okay with that.

 

@WavePearl I'd be more worried about gameplay variability and interactivity with other elements of the game rather than balance if it's a pure damage build. After all, in a world where combat can be defused at any moment by blowing up the room, just running, talking your enemies down and a whole lot of other free choices, a raw combat focused build would find much more limited use. Do remember to include a bit of utility in your spells rather than focusing on pure damage - you will find a lot more mileage from those.

I'm gonna give a moment's breather to let some other players respond with their own theoretical builds.

 

To start some talkin I will remind you have literally negative knowledge about Final Fantasy so the most I know about "red/white/black mage" is "oh wow the guys from Mario Sports Mix next to the cactus". I'm dead serious, that is all I know, so I don't think the description helps me at all.

For the "False swipe" idea, rather than making that a specific spell on its own, Elio could have one or two damage-dealing spells, but just as a personal quirk, try to control any of those so that they never do more harm than he can revert. Of course, there's always the danger of if it goes just out of control and spirals a bit further than intended, but I can take the personal quirk and run any bad rolls to be more "less effective" than "out of control damage".

As a reminder for Luminous duels, though, a fight is considered over when a Luminous is dissipated, which only leaves the user weak and fatigued. Going any further is, you know, bit frowned upon in universe as it means "I'm literally going to kill you", and there are laws against murder : D
If Elio's worried about going up against an unarmed person, though, that's another story, but the above paragraph deals with that.

I can't say I have any recommended spell ideas or concepts at the moment for Elio in terms of just a "general support", because again, spells are not only for combat but also utility, more like DnD than a video game - you're gonna want to have a spell that's flexible for more situations than one if you can. Anything from summoning fog to creating illusions to mind reading to conjuring something to telekinesis could really all be classified as support. From the class you've chosen (Vitality) I can imagine Elio will have at least one or two spells for healing both physical wounds and recovering Luminous stamina, and maybe a resistance spell to buffer damage taken for either.

If you just feel like you're lacking inspiration for the kind of spells, take your time. You'll also get to see multiple examples presented by others before you get to pick your first spells (which in themselves won't be too specific, though it's good to think ahead when building your spells.)

 

@SAF @WavePearl
Ah. Well first before I respond to 122, let me say this - spells in Luminous can and probably should do more than just hurt and/or heal. I would advise you from limiting yourselves to just those, or you'll really find yourself falling behind the telepaths, waterbenders, and the like. That's not to say damage-based abilities can't be used creatively, but if you have a skill tree of just using a sword or healing your allies you're gonna find yourself a little lost when it comes to crossing a chasm or the like.


As for Robin's concepts? @122 Generation .

It looks like in terms of Terraforming he's mostly focusing on the earth and moving it? Shaping stone and the like. Some other conceptual uses for your proposed spells including maybe using the rock pillars/raised earth itself as an attack to throw enemies off their feet or like Stone Edge in the Pokémon anime, or throwing mud and soil at people to blind them and throw off their aim, etc. And an early version of the spell would be controlling smaller rocks, either a large barrage of small ones or a single medium sized one. Even if it's somewhat tentative, I do think what you have is pretty solid actually.

I do have to clarify one thing - tomes don't exist in Luminous, as all spellcasting focuses outside of the Luminous itself are one-time use - so a "spellbook" on its own would quickly turn into just "a pair of bound covers" or explode when closed incorrectly. What I can do to harken back to Robin's origins, though, is have his Luminous (the focus), as it levels up, take the shape of a book for visual flair, only it will be glowing and made of light. As for Battlemage, I think most of the Battlemage-type skills will be similar to some I've named earlier - but there is also the possibility to take on enchanting your weapons, armor, and the like. Which, given as we almost have three Battlemages, could be a consideration.


Funny enough, both the highschool aged people in the party are white-haired dudes. Imagine people mistaking them for brothers or at least cousins despite the fact that they're not even from the same universe. Robin's gonna take on a part time second sibling. Or if you're Wakeng, maybe third sibling LMAO