I was hoping for others to comment on these too, including Forsaken



BTW, what's the hex for Joanne's text? I don't suppose I guessed it right lol. Thalia is just plain black, yeah?

She is busy working will tell her to check the forums.

You mean Thalia, Joanne is red, Thalia is black.

Let's try that again



Thalia=#000000

Joanne=#??????

Ok the actual color codes are:

Thalia=#302421

Kira=#416331

Joanne=#BE4A40

With all the previews posted, I've had enough inspiration to come up with a few more drafts. I noticed when I was done that I'd barely bothered to personalize the skill descriptions, partly 'cause improving the language and formatting took time enough

I quite like them although Thalia would never beg not to get a lecture. She would just tell Joanne not to give her a lecture. Outside of that, I think they're pretty good. Kira can wreak havoc without being drunk, though.

Some flavor text could use the exclamation mark(!), particular when a character is shouting or giving orders.

I agree it could be used, but I think each of them could be said in a less shouty tone too. I'm guessing you're talking about Kira's, so we'll have to see how inclined she is towards shouting her commands.



Still a nuance question though, I was more of thinking of replies like stop doing this you idiot, you're making them worse but I guess that sort of feedback has already been given once.

I like the concept and some of them are amusing (the law enforcement ones are phrased a little odd?), but I wish there was a better way to include them in the game. The UI looks a bit cluttered with so much text in all those different colors. Especially the skills that require two lines for an explanation.

(the law enforcement ones are phrased a little odd?)

Originally I phrased them as "Law enforcement by sober/drunken Kira", but I found I liked the comma better.

The UI looks a bit cluttered

Had me thinking, what if we had a story button for each skill? An optional read, accessible only in your skill tree and not getting in the way in combat. Could fit a much larger description into that. Although it will probably set the scene for endless cases of things like:



This is Joanne's favorite spell, one she has practiced to perfection and could cast effortlessly, even while harassed by Thalia.



But mechanically, she hasn't learned it because you haven't spent the skill point trolol.

Yes perhaps doing is as optional story/flavor text (like the "Lore" button on SOTW equipment) would be better, and keep the original skill description as they are now, with the effect description. So people who don't know what Burning does, see it directly in the skill description, and don't need to look elsewhere.

Yaysword, send me an email with only the flavor texts for each skill, I think will do that I'll also send them to Forsaken for final check/editing, since she knows better what each sister would say/do.

Yaysword, send me an email with only the flavor texts for each skill

I haven't written flavor texts for more skills than those I've posted. There's only so much inspiration I can derive from the character intros. Let this build up as we go through beta

Sure, there's time to add it later

(the law enforcement ones are phrased a little odd?)

Originally I phrased them as "Law enforcement by sober/drunken Kira", but I found I liked the comma better.

The way it is now, I keep thinking she's introducing herself to Law Enforcement. (Though, I guess if she's a thief, that might not be too far off base.)

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Okay, I almost fired up a whole how-does-magic-work-on-aravorn-i-want-all-the-rules thread, but I think I can keep it contained.



Normally, you do a good job of keeping some sort of theme within a character's spell selection. Rowinda's spells befit a warlock, etc. However, Joanne now has the demanding task of providing everything we've come to expect from Aravorn casters by herself. And that has me wondering about a few things. I'm probably asking Forsaken more than Jack...



1) Purify doesn't seem very mage-y. Is it possible to heal with arcane magic? Or does her religiosity empower her to do so, or is it simply a prayer answered?

2) Bramble Coat sounds very much like a druid spell. Is it? If it is, has Joanne dabbled in druidic magic? Or can magic simply not be categorized at all?



I'd prefer to just rename Bramble Coat to something less druidic. On that note, I'll probably be giving some of Thalia's skills new names too. I think they sound too violent for an acrobat.

For my point of view, healing is surely possible with Arcana magic. Remember Apolimesho Regenerate spell? It's probably harder to find than specialized healers like Paladins or, well, healers (like Saren/Elenor) but possible.

About the Bramble Coat instead you're right. I admit I just copied the skill from SOTW (obviously) and then forgot I wanted to rename it! I wanted a more magic-arcane name for it. Something like Magic Spiked Armor, but it's too long. Or could also be shockwave armor. Or something else, same principle/effect as bramblecoat but a different name/aspect.

Yeah I remembered that, but I wasn't sure there was much thought behind it. Anyway, from Joanne's intro:

From a very young age, she was able to instinctively use her abilities to all kinds of magic.

So I'm gonna do a 180 here and argue for actually keeping Bramble Coat's name. I mean, she never got an education, so it's just whatever she managed to learn on her own. Spells like tornado and earthquake feel druidic too, so it's not like it lacks company.

OK sounds good

While I'm not sure what Jack or the several writers for Aravorn games are inclined to, my thoughts were always that there is only magic. Wizards, Druids, Healer or even Demons use the very same magic. But each has a different representation of the fundamental way magic works.

Honestly it may not be the most helpful analogy but the different magic systems are like different base numbers. Anything you can do in base 10 you can do in base 2, but some things are easier or more natural. Doubling in base 2 is really easy for example, just add a 0 on the right, but is not very fun in base 3. The same goes for magic. Myrth has no idea how to curse someone, but calling upon the natural world around her is as easy as putting on a skirt. Literally. And of course they look very different. 10 base 2 is totally not the same as 10 base 10. But 10 base 2 and 2 base 10 are the same number.



Unlike the different bases in math the magic users in Aravorn don't know how to shift from one paradigm to the other (yet). And of course it's not like the different people are actually talking with each other much, least of all exchange actual secrets of their magic.

Not that it would be easy if they would. As jack11110110110 can readily attest.

Haha

Yes writing a series of games with all different writers it's not the ideal setup, I admit it

Anyway, I guess you're right, magic is magic. Also, things change based on WHEN the games take place. For example, while in the Amazons healing was rather unknown until Saren/Elenor, after that there will be magic healers in their ranks (still not as skilled as their warriors).

Similarly alchemy is still quite unknown, but by the time of Amber it will be common. And so on.

A different thing would be prayers instead. So far this aspect has been very marginal, I only recently added the various God/Goddesses in the wiki, but in future games I want to expand it. Especially since Nathir (the black Paladin) is going to be in Loren 2

as easy as putting on a skirt.

Well played :D



Then again, Myrth never wears a skirt. PLOT TWIST?



Now this turned into the kind of thread I was thinking about starting though. And yes, I was going to mention that there's always a different writer. Maybe Forsaken could chime in here, since she's the current one... magic is inevitably going to be discussed in every Aravorn game, so we should establish some basic rules so that we can be consistent later.

Well for the rules I can answer too

But what Anima said is quite good. Magic is magic - you can heal, harm, resurrect, etc. with it. There are schools of magic, and that's why you associate nature-related magic with Druid. It could be specialty, like it's a specialty a specific food recipe of a region/country and in Loren it's referred to "Dark Magic", but because it deals with Demons. But the basic source of magic is the same. I think it would be the best way to go with it.



Prayer is a bit different, and so far never implemented. It could grant some limited use of a skill no matter which class (a bit like D&D if I remember correctly).

Like a warrior could have a prayer to heal, but use it once each battle/day etc.