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

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This is my attempt to combine the currently pinned proposal with the previous Minor Mental proposal
Current: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i0wcL8-_14v7Tzd15BPmlW0aomfSkfotoa0tXtNgk4Q/edit?usp=sharing
Mental: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17mOfhrbfK1kz_CSwFYN23ka-Pur6fmsYnwlUocG47UE/edit?usp=sharing

Changelog:

Bard Base Spells
Holding Song (1001) Attack
Vibration Chant (1002) Attack
Fortitude Song (1003) Defensive
Purification Song (1004) Utility
Lullabye (1005) Attack
Song of Luck (1006) Utility
Kai's Triumph Song (1007) Offensive
Stunning Shout (1008) Attack
Sonic Shield Song (1009) Utility
Song of Valor (1010) Defensive
Song of Peace (1011) Utility
Sonic Weapon Song (1012) Utility
Song of Unravelling (1013) Attack
Sonic Armor (1014) Utility
Song of Depression (1015) Attack
Song of Rage (1016) Attack
Song of Noise (1017) Utility
Song of Power (1018) Utility
Song of Mirrors (1019) Defensive
Traveler's Song (1020) Utility
Singing Sword Song (1025) Utility
Song of Sonic Disruption (1030) Attack
Song of Tonis (1035) Defensive
Troubadour's Rally (1040) Utility
Template:GS4ALASTIR/Bard Proposal base navigation
Holding Song (1001) is replaced with War Chant (1001).
Fortitude Song (1003) is replaced with Dissonance (1003).
Song of Luck (1006) is moved to Luck's Reverberation (1020).
Song of Luck (1006) is replaced with Etude of Certainty (1006).
Stunning Shout (1008) is replaced with Banshee's Wail (1008).
Sonic Shield Song (1009) is replaced with Sonic Armaments (1009).
Sonic Weapon Song (1012) is replaced with Arresting Aria (1012).
Song of Unravelling (1013) is replaced with Unraveling Cadence (1013).
Sonic Armor (1014) is replaced with Crescendo (1014).
Song of Depression (1015) is replaced with Requiem (1015).
Song of Rage (1016) is replaced with Traveler's Ballad (1016).
Song of Noise (1017) is replaced with Cacophony (1017).
Song of Power (1018) is replaced with Power Chord (1018).
Traveler's Song (1020) is moved to Traveler's Ballad (1016).
Traveler's Song (1020) is replaced with Luck's Reverberation (1020).
Singing Sword Song (1025) is replaced with Dancing Weapon (1025).
Song of Sonic Disruption (1030) is replaced with Sonic Disruption (1030).

Bard Songs Overview:

Template:GS4ALASTIR/Bard Proposal base navigation
Minor Mental Spells
Soothing Word (1201) Utility
Iron Skin (1202) Defensive
Powersink (1203) Attack
Foresight (1204) Defensive
Glamour (1205) Utility
Telekinesis (1206) Attack
Force Projection (1207) Attack
Mindward (1208) Defensive
Dragonclaw (1209) Offensive
Thought Lash (1210) Attack
Confusion (1211) Attack
Shroud of Deception (1212) Utility
Mind over Body (1213) Utility
Brace (1214) Defensive
Blink (1215) Defensive
Focus Barrier (1216) Defensive
Vision (1217) Utility
Mental Dispel (1218) Utility
Vertigo (1219) Attack
Premonition (1220) Defensive
Mindwipe (1225) Attack
Provoke (1235) Utility

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.