So, I put this into Elliot's profile and it's the basis of how he uses magic at all- ergo, basis for my character himself. It was approved, but I don't see it in the Library of Treasures. The description for this subforum says that all treasures have to be put here instead of in character threads so I thought I'd put it up for completeness' sake. `Magic Crystal Original- Blonde Panther (Elliot), magic-tier, utility. [Conjuration], [Magical], [Single-use] 5 Rupees per crystal Originally developed as a solution for mages who have trouble drawing magic power from their bodies, Magic Crystals are small crystals filled with magic, which must be prepared beforehand and cannot be made on the fly because of the time it takes. They are shaped like eight-sided dice, with a ‘1’ engraved on six sides, a ‘2’ on one side and a ‘0’ on the last side. There are three reasons why a mage would want to go through the arduous and delicate process of creating magic crystals. Firstly, mages who can’t draw magic from their bodies for use in spells quickly enough to be effective in battle may want to use the crystals. Better yet is that the mana used to create the crystal, is regenerated naturally. It should, however, be noted that the total mana contained within the crystals can never exceed the total amount of mana the user's body can hold on its own. So in total, a crystal mage can only control up to double his or her normal mana at any one time. Lastly, due to the die-like nature of the crystals, it is possible to increase the power of a spell cast with them. When a crystal is used to provide the magic required for a spell, it is thrown. Either landing on the ground or hovering in the air as if it was on a solid platform, the crystal will land on one side, showing a number. Most often, the crystal will give a 1, casting the spell with normal power. However, on occasion, it will give a 2 instead, doubling the power. Care is to be taken though, as a 0 will mean the spell fails and the magic power is lost… as well as possibly backfiring, in a way dependent on the spell itself. Note that only the creator of a magic crystal can use it- a different mage would experience more trouble from the conflicting mana form and subtleties than it's worth, and a non-mage trying to use it would not be pretty.
Just to check; no matter how many crystals a person possesses, the combined magical power of the crystals can never exceed the user's? Basically, if one crystal can hold the total power of the user, can the user buy three or four? Also, the crystals are shattered upon use, but they can only be used for a single spell. I'm having trouble seeing how this would work in with the "stored mana" idea (does Zelda have mana?), since you can have your body's worth of magic stuffed into a single crystal, but then have all that power used when you cast "spark." The spell would be no more powerful than normal (unless it hits a 2), which doesn't really seem to work well with the idea of "all my magic is in that crystal." So, my question is, how would that work?
Does me setting a maximum of 20 crystals at a time fix that problem? The idea is that with the maximum amount of crystals on hand, the caster has double his usual MP/mana available, but the contents of each crystal vary. I could make it so that all standard spells use 1 crystal and Major Treasures 2 to represent the strength difference. I dunno if Zelda itself has mana, although it might just be a different name for the MP Link has in OOT, MM, LTTP and TWW. I see your point, but it was one of those things where I say 'don't think too much about it.' Truth be told that entire line was something I added in to avoid people stocking up to INFINITE MANA. It was never meant to say that each crystal holds as much mana as the caster's body, just that the combined total in all crystals the caster owns can't exceed that limit.
The ways people channel their magic are different. Some characters use incantations. Others channel their power silently through their hands. Still others utilize staves. If you want to have your character "store magic power and activate it through crystals" instead of "utilizing the natural magical power within us all," that's up to you. You shouldn't need to create a treasure for something so personalized. Now, the "double or backfire" idea... that's interesting. If you wanted to shift the focus to that, it'd be cool to discuss.
Hmmm. I guess I'd be fine either way, but I do kinda want to keep them around, if only to set a challenge for myself to limit the amount of spells he can use in one RP. I guess we can shift the focus to the dice effect though, since that IS a big part of it. The trade-off for the limits on how often my character can cast.
I'm honestly not sure what you said for most of that. I got the "sure" part, though, so if you can write up a draft and post it we can start going over it. Thanks!
How's this? `Magic Crystal Original: Blonde Panther, Spell - utility [Conjuration], [Magical], [Single-use] 5 Rupees per crystal Magic Crystals are small, blue crystals in the shape of a regular 8-sided die, engraved with numbers. While six sides of the crystal show a 1, one side shows a 2 and the last side a 0. While they do not come cheap and are slightly risky to use, Magic Crystals can greatly enhance the power of a spell cast. In order to use a Magic Crystal, it is to be tossed or rolled like a die. It will finally fall flat, either on a surface or on thin air, the number engraved on the showing side glowing brightly. Most often, the crystal will show a 1, casting the intended spell at normal power. However, on occassion it will show a 2 instead, doubling the spell power without taking any more effort on the mage's part to cast. The danger rests in the 0, which causes the spell to fail and backfire. Magic Crystals shatter upon use, regardless of what number is shown.
I like this, and I can't see any real problems with it. I liked how you left the details for how the dice worked unsaid- it's more room for the RP'ers this way. My only problem is that this is largely impractical for a character to buy. The only reason, after all, for them to spend the money on a crystal is for the 2x bonus. Now that the "stored mana" reason is taken out, there's no reason to get this other than for the chance at the 2x effect. A 1/8 chance that the desired 2x effect will happen isn't really enough for a normal character to buy it, especially when there's an equal 1/8 chance that the spell will blow up in their face or ruin their lives in some other hilarious way. So, I'm proposing we raise the stakes a little. Make it more of a "double or nothing" thing, but also maybe still with a "dud" option of a 1. The odds for rolling a "2" and a "0" would be higher, thus increasing risk and the likelihood of doubling power. Since the "mana store" part has been taken out, the modifier needs to have heightened results to make the treasure seem worthwhile, you know? Thoughts?
Hmmm, okay. I see your point. Like we talked about, I'll change the crystals already in Elliot's possession to mundane-tier crystals unrelated to this treasure which can't double or backfire a spell, and the treasure will change to something like this: `Magic Crystal Original, Spell - utility [Conjuration], [Magical], [Single-use] 5 Rupees per crystal Magic Crystals are small, blue crystals in the shape of a regular 8-sided die, engraved with numbers. While three sides of the crystal show a 2, three other sides show a 0 and the last two a 1. While they do not come cheap and are slightly risky to use, Magic Crystals can greatly enhance the power of a spell cast. In order to use a Magic Crystal, it is to be tossed or rolled like a die. It will finally fall flat, either on a surface or on thin air, the number engraved on the showing side glowing brightly. If this number is a 2, the spell power is doubled without additional effort on the mage's part. However, if it is a 0, the spell fails and backfires, instead. Should the crystal show a 1, the spell is cast at normal power and nothing else happens. Magic Crystals shatter upon use, regardless of what number is shown. However, this does mean that I've lost interest in acquiring this treasure, so refrain from adding it to the library until someone else expresses interest.
As I'm reading this, I feel like it would make a lot of sense for this to be converted into a [Stock] treasure. If people want their spells to backfire, they can do it without a treasure, so I feel like if people are buying these 1 at a time, this will lose its purpose as a sort of tension device. It's also tedious to have to track them one at a time. My proposal is thus: W5: 50 Rupees W4: 75 Rupees W3: 100 Rupees W2: 125 Rupees W1: 175 Rupees
`Magic Crystal Original, Spell - utility [Conjuration], [Magical], [Stock] W5: 50 Rupees W4: 75 Rupees W3: 100 Rupees W2: 125 Rupees W1: 175 Rupees Magic Crystals are small, blue crystals in the shape of a regular 8-sided die, engraved with numbers. While three sides of the crystal show a 2, three other sides show a 0 and the last two a 1. While they do not come cheap and are slightly risky to use, Magic Crystals can greatly enhance the power of a spell cast. In order to use a Magic Crystal, it is to be tossed or rolled like a die. It will finally fall flat, either on a surface or on thin air, the number engraved on the showing side glowing brightly. If this number is a 2, the spell power is doubled without additional effort on the mage's part. However, if it is a 0, the spell fails and backfires, instead. Should the crystal show a 1, the spell is cast at normal power and nothing else happens. This treasure provides the user with an effectively unlimited supply of Magic Crystals.
