What schools of magic should do you want to see in the game?

[Badmojo]

I would like to see more slower spell casting system from those what we usually see, like runic magic, where spell casters can write spell runes on their flesh, armour, weapons and other items. Runes can any sort of efects, for example they can add armour's protective capacities or make sword burn every one it touches or they can be one use invokations which gives their wearer nice edge in battle when one can call fireball from rune. Or ritual magic, where spell casters can do massive spells, but they take time, for example summoning demon, elemental or some other planar greature to help you can take a day forth of rituals, but in fight they give your party an superior edge. Or spell caster can bind animals to help him in battle, but this needs that spell caster first catch animal in question. Or mage can call ghost and sent them haunt his/her enemy which causes that said enemy nearly mad and fatiqued to protect him/her self when adventure party attacks his/her castle.

 

One thing what I don't want see is resurrect dead spell which can return dead to life without major disadvantages. Because then one must ask why important peoples can be killed in that world. For example if king , queen or noble is killed, why his/her family/supporters just make some one to resurrect him/her. This is one thing which has mystifyed me in Forgoten Realms games and books. http://www.dandwiki....RD:Resurrection

 

Also I would like see non-combat spells. In BG/BG2/PS:T/NWN/NWN2 and many other games I was bit bothered how there was only couple spell which haven't meant for combat (and those were Knock and Find Traps). Arcanum was in this sector somewhat better as it has much more non-combat spells, like Conjure Spirit which I loved most as it gave you ability to speak for dead and you found couple very hilarious dialogs this way.

 

I actually mentioned in another thread that I think bringing someone back should have a cost depending on the school.

 

 

Necromancer

Low level - can create a gate to the deadlands, a small dimension where you can fight weak monsters to bring the soul of your companions (or other) back. You can get loot and XP along the way.

 

High Level - trade a captured soul (or human sacrifice) for payment exchange of a soul of the dead person to bring them back to life. You can also try to bring them back without paying, but there is usually a consequence. For example, a random person the character have interacted with dies in the world and the characters will know, Someone else comes back to life, someone (usually an enemy) possibly comes back as a vampire/zombie, the character you bring back comes back wrong and is a vampire/zombie/etc

 

Demons/cult/priest - could bring you back, but there is always a price you have to negotiate.

[ashendare]

Instead of traditional schools, I would love to see a game where the "magic" is from the culture's heritage - an martial culture would focus more on focusing "magic" through martial arts - like spellsblade for example -

 

In today's world, when you look at different cultures and how "magic" was in their past, you'd see that different regions had very different views and usage of magic.

 

africa - voodoo(vodoun), thakathi, sangoma, inyanga were distinct from each other but still similiar

europe - wiccan/druidic/sorcery/wizard

Americas - native americans had a huge variety of unique "magical" folks that worked in different ways

asia - shinto was shamanistic to some extent, mambabarang/mamalarang in filipino (used beetles for their magic), suangi in new guinea (somewhat blood/soul cannibalism related magic), and quite a few others

 

All of those different ones would have different things that they claim are achievable, but do it in very different methods with various beliefs related that would make it so that they really couldn't learn many others due to belief conflicts.

[Paul D]

I'd certainly like to see the ability to combine spells into more powerful ones, potentially from across spell categories. For example, one spell to make yourself invisible/silent, another to stun & de-buff over time, and another to apply elemental forces to the unfortunate victim. Can turn a mage into a sneaky assassin

[Ayonnis]

 

Entropy (death, undeath, decay)

 

 

Entropy isn't the art of decaying things? Remembers the good words from our venerable factol Pentar : "Everything decays"

(and actually I hope there will be some adaptation of the Doomguard which had entropic power without use of magic).

[Jumble Murdersense]

Taking the question too literally, I would ask for a department of post-mortem communications.

[Rink]

I would like to see some ways to specialise your mage. I don't care if this is done with creation of the mage (like partially in BG) or with a skillpoint system (like in many other games). It just would be nice to see mages differ and not every mage have the same spell arsenal and being able to use all spells. I am not specially fond of magic myself (i am more of a lotr guy that thinks magic should be used a lot less than in classic RPGs) but I think it adds a lot more to the game if you know what you are fighting against by looking at spell arsenal, of course the opponent mage shouldn't be totally predictable through that, but it is just more interesting if you then can talk to your friends about the crazy necromancer or illusionist below the bridge on the graveyard instead of the "mage" below the bridge if you get my drift.

I would like to see specialisations that make sense (I never really got the difference of all the schools in d&d, like others said here, the classification of spells isn't always easy) and add a lot of variety to the game. For me heal/nature is speciality of clerics and druids, wouldn't include that here. So I would pick (ideas taken from first post):

 

For all magic users: Basic magic (magic missile, magic field, magic weapons)

- Dark Magic (out of combat ability: talk to the dead. Combat: cursing attacks/weaken souls, steal lifeforce if it fits to the setting, horror attacks, summon dead (as zombies), call skeleton, zombie, demon, shadow)

- Elemental Magic (out of combat: make fire. Combat: storm (lightning, snow, water, earthquake), fire, ice, call elementars)

- Control/Mind/Illusion magic (out of combat: force to tell the truth, make people forget. Combat: manipulate and take over people, stun/confuse people, fear, control people, and illusion magic, because that has to to do with the mind of the opponents as well for me: timestop, become invisible (gate), disguise yourself as an opponent and thus not being attacked, multiply (mirror/duplify with controllable second mage))

- Creation magic (make potions, make magical traps, make better magical weapons (temporarily), increase strength of weapons (temporarily), make golems)

 

But I am sure I can live with whatever they come up with ^^

Edited October 16, 2012 by Rink