User talk:GS4ALASTIR/Between a rock and a Bard place

This is my attempt to combine the currently pinned proposal with the previous Minor Mental proposal

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i0wcL8-_14v7Tzd15BPmlW0aomfSkfotoa0tXtNgk4Q/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/17mOfhrbfK1kz_CSwFYN23ka-Pur6fmsYnwlUocG47UE/edit?usp=sharing

Combat Instruments:

• New weapon type that functions nearly identical to a runestaff.
  • Usable only by Bards.
  • Can be played like a musical instrument.
  • Trading also counts for magical ranks when determining runestaff defense to make up for their lower skill cap compared to pures.
  • Parry messaging is more magical, such as the Bard summons musical notes from the instrument that distract away the blow.

• Runestaff Conversions
  • Any two-handed instrument can be used as a combat instrument once converted to the new base. Any combat properties that work on runestaves would also work on combat instruments.
  • A few of the spells of war in the Bard Base work with combat instruments.
  • Bards will be able to put a runestaff and an existing instrument into a converter container and it would take the combat properties of the runestaff and apply them to the instrument.
  • Note that there will be a lot of restrictions on this converter to not inadvertently break items, so we will run a few conversion merchants within the month after release of these updates.

Sonic Armaments:

• Sonic armaments (1009) will be able to take upgrades from other services.
• Sonic armaments refers to a weapon, shield and armor.
• This includes:
  • Weighting, Padding, and Sighting
  • Enchant (925)
  • Ensorcell (735)
  • Sanctify (330)
  • Resistance (620)
  • Certain subscripts may be eligible.
  • Creature Bane
  • Standard Flares
  • Temporary upgrades such as Bless (304).

• Each upgrade is limited to a single gear subtype within each category, e.g., if you ensorcell a short sword it will not apply to a broadsword. Tuning Forks may be consumed to apply the full bonus to the weapon, or may be kept separate as a prop to function as they do today. Sonic Gear is capped at +50 from all sources the same as any other gear.

• This change means that Bards will be subject to the 25% damage resistance penalty from undead, but will be able to bless their gear like any other to avoid this penalty.
• Finally, Sonic Armaments are immune to dispel attempts and song renewal failure checks.

Spell Song Mechanics:

• Bards will no longer manually use the renewal system.
  • Instead, any spell with a duration of “song” (e.g., Song of Valor (1010), Song of Mirrors (1019), etc.) has an indefinite duration similar to focus songs Mind Over Body (1213) and Focus Barrier (1216), but without the mutual exclusion component.

• Renewing spells no longer cost mana, and instead reduce the maximum mana available to the Bard based on the number of songs active.
• All spells with the duration of “song” cost maximum mana at a rate of ROUNDUP(Spell Level / 5)).

Song Name:	Mana Cost:
Etude of Certainty (1006)	2 max mana
Kai’s Anthem (1007)	2 max mana
Sonic Armaments (1009)	2/3/3 max mana
Song of Valor (1010)	2 max mana
Song of Power (1018)	4 max mana
Song of Mirrors (1019)	4 max mana
Song of Luck (1020)	5 max mana
Dancing Weapon (1025)	5 max mana
Song of Tonis (1035)	7 max mana
Total to maintain all songs	39 max mana

• Songs will continue to have an automatic renewal every 60 seconds. If the Bard is unable to concentrate the song can still fail.
  • Bards have a chance to resist renewal failure (while incapacitated?) at a baseline percentage equal to their Discipline Bonus.
  • Mental Lore: Telepathy also increases the chance songs are maintained through being incapacitated at a rate of 1% per rank.
  • Sonic Armaments are not subject to the renewal failure.