wesnoth magic system
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ChrundleTheGreat
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wesnoth magic system
hi everybody, i'm trying to adapt the lore of wesnoth into a tabletop rpg (any volunteers are welcome) and right now i'm trying to come up with a magic system, there are many races that use magic in different ways, i noticed most of them (except humans) are shamans, i understand the idea of a shaman is intrinsic with spirituality, so there is the question of does their magic come from a real spiritual entity? or did they discover a peculiar force of nature that they now understand as coming from a spiritual place?(or maybe both??)
AFAIK arcane, is basically synonymous with mysterious, so the arcane attacks are only a type of magic that has been kept a secret because of its mystical properties, such as its effectiveness fighting the undead (necromancy being another type of magic), i'd like to believe that all arcane magic is coming from eloh or the gods, and that the "faerie" is a mystical force of life and nature, this being the reason why the undead, whose existence goes against the nature of life and existence itself, are affected by this force. the fact that the elves are so close to nature as a species and culture is the reason why they can harness the power of this force and create bursts of energy, as well as channel their connection with this force to strengthen the link between a creature to life itself. this (AFAIK) doesn't apply to beings who already left the realm of the living, as their "soul" (even though their bodies remain and their essence can be brought back) is gone, the essence of all of life that lies within all of us, has passed on to become something different (like a tree, a rabbit or a mushroom), and the stubborn denial of this "flow" of energy, of this change and progresion, is what we would call necromancy, a practice that by using the misunderstood forces of nature that we call magic, (although not the mysterious ones directly linked to existance, and life itself) can "animate" a body lacking vitality, or even bring back/retain a "soul" that belongs elsewhere now, typicaly a painfull procces with an (athough sometimes not noticeable) agonising result.
To me magic in the world of Iryda seems to be all about consciously manipulating the flow of energy and forces that cannot be observed, although their effects are quite visible. the "faerie" seems to have a will of its own, attending to the natural way of life, while other secondary forms of energy (those of all things who are not alive) can (through skill and by having natural connection to this forces) be "pushed" "pulled" into many types of "acts'' (i'm not fully sold on the word spell, because in some cases this acts might not be verbal and may not involve words).
i think what a force does (i.e. the consequence of it) is movement, so by controlling the flow within say the electromagnetic field (if i remember correctly the strongest one), a novice mage could create electric misiles to blast their opponents with, or an experienced red mage could use gravity (i understand the weakest one) to agitate particles to the point where they create fireballs and then toss them away to their opponents.
Life and consciousness might be the fifth force of nature in this world and maybe that is what white magi as well as the elves tap into, although they see it as different types of magic and maybe in some ways they are, they're both fundamentally tapping into the same force.
Chill waves could be created by pulling away all heat from an area and then proceeding to push the cold matter that occupies that area into the enemy.
"shadow" magic seems to be another manipulation of the life force, as experienced "dark" sorcerers can conquer the conscious will of this force, and use this corrupted part of it for themselves (note that the game establishes a clear connection between light and life, although i believe it to be metaphorical, and more about the experience of vision than photons themselves).
the order of the silver magi is a little trickier, their magic also seems to be about movement, but maybe through different spatial dimensions? wormholes could be involved, maybe they've learned to bend space in a way they can send energy and matter across great distances.
Either way i think more spells would be needed to make for a robust magic system, so if anybody has any suggestions please let me know, this is the thread for brainstorming ideas for a rpg magic system in the battle for wesnoth's universe, also if you disagree or want to add/comment on my thoughts, please do, i really could use some help defining what magic can do and how it works.
thanks for reading.
--chrundle
AFAIK arcane, is basically synonymous with mysterious, so the arcane attacks are only a type of magic that has been kept a secret because of its mystical properties, such as its effectiveness fighting the undead (necromancy being another type of magic), i'd like to believe that all arcane magic is coming from eloh or the gods, and that the "faerie" is a mystical force of life and nature, this being the reason why the undead, whose existence goes against the nature of life and existence itself, are affected by this force. the fact that the elves are so close to nature as a species and culture is the reason why they can harness the power of this force and create bursts of energy, as well as channel their connection with this force to strengthen the link between a creature to life itself. this (AFAIK) doesn't apply to beings who already left the realm of the living, as their "soul" (even though their bodies remain and their essence can be brought back) is gone, the essence of all of life that lies within all of us, has passed on to become something different (like a tree, a rabbit or a mushroom), and the stubborn denial of this "flow" of energy, of this change and progresion, is what we would call necromancy, a practice that by using the misunderstood forces of nature that we call magic, (although not the mysterious ones directly linked to existance, and life itself) can "animate" a body lacking vitality, or even bring back/retain a "soul" that belongs elsewhere now, typicaly a painfull procces with an (athough sometimes not noticeable) agonising result.
To me magic in the world of Iryda seems to be all about consciously manipulating the flow of energy and forces that cannot be observed, although their effects are quite visible. the "faerie" seems to have a will of its own, attending to the natural way of life, while other secondary forms of energy (those of all things who are not alive) can (through skill and by having natural connection to this forces) be "pushed" "pulled" into many types of "acts'' (i'm not fully sold on the word spell, because in some cases this acts might not be verbal and may not involve words).
i think what a force does (i.e. the consequence of it) is movement, so by controlling the flow within say the electromagnetic field (if i remember correctly the strongest one), a novice mage could create electric misiles to blast their opponents with, or an experienced red mage could use gravity (i understand the weakest one) to agitate particles to the point where they create fireballs and then toss them away to their opponents.
Life and consciousness might be the fifth force of nature in this world and maybe that is what white magi as well as the elves tap into, although they see it as different types of magic and maybe in some ways they are, they're both fundamentally tapping into the same force.
Chill waves could be created by pulling away all heat from an area and then proceeding to push the cold matter that occupies that area into the enemy.
"shadow" magic seems to be another manipulation of the life force, as experienced "dark" sorcerers can conquer the conscious will of this force, and use this corrupted part of it for themselves (note that the game establishes a clear connection between light and life, although i believe it to be metaphorical, and more about the experience of vision than photons themselves).
the order of the silver magi is a little trickier, their magic also seems to be about movement, but maybe through different spatial dimensions? wormholes could be involved, maybe they've learned to bend space in a way they can send energy and matter across great distances.
Either way i think more spells would be needed to make for a robust magic system, so if anybody has any suggestions please let me know, this is the thread for brainstorming ideas for a rpg magic system in the battle for wesnoth's universe, also if you disagree or want to add/comment on my thoughts, please do, i really could use some help defining what magic can do and how it works.
thanks for reading.--chrundle