Curse (715)/saved posts
Curse/Nightmare Overhaul
Topic: Announcements
Message #: 11
Author: GS4-STRATHSPEY
Date: 11/30/2011 06:10 AM CET
Subject: Spell changes: Balefire and Nightmare
Two important changes have occurred in the Sorcerer base spell circle.
1) Nightmare, formerly 713, has been moved to the Curse spell (715). New nightmares have been added, and other minor cosmetic improvements to the spell have been made.
2) Balefire has been created as the new spell 713. Balefire is a plasma-based ball-type aimed spell. Like other aimed spells, Balefire will use the Spell Aiming skill, dexterity bonus, and other magical factors to calculate Attack Strength. A successful hit has the potential to injure multiple targets. Multi-Opponent skill will increase the minimum number of targets struck. Demonology Lore skill will increase the maximum number of targets struck as well as increase the spell's damage factor.
In addition, if the caster has a minor demon present, the demon can (involuntarily) contribute damage to the initial target of the spell. The chance that the demon will do so is improved with the caster's skill in Spiritual Mana Control and Elemental Mana Control. If the demon contributes damage, it will lose two mana points in doing so. The demon can only contribute damage if it has at least two mana points stored. The type of damage done by the demon depends on its native valence.
-Strath
Topic: Announcements
Message #: 10
Author: GS4-STRATHSPEY
Date: 11/30/2011 06:10 AM CET
Subject: New verb: CURSE, New Curses added
The Sorcerer's spell Curse (715) has undergone some changes that necessitate a new verb, CURSE. This new verb will allow casters to utilize new options with the spell and allow for new features to be added in the future. Casters may continue to use the CAST verb to cast this spell if they desire, but upcoming features will render this method less desirable.
Typing the CURSE command by itself without the spell prepared will give an ordinary and harmless response. In order to use the new spell options, first PREPARE the Curse spell, then use the syntax: CURSE [target] [cursename]. Additional help is available by typing CURSE HELP.
All curses now require a modicum of skills and abilities in order to use them. This is referred to by the system as Cursing Power. Cursing power is not expended like mana; it is simply a measure of the caster's strength. Cursing power is calculated according to the caster's sorcerer spell ranks, Spirit Lore: Summoning skill, Wisdom and Influence stats.
Two new curses have been added. One new curse is Nightmare, which was taken from spell 713. New nightmares have been added, and other cosmetic improvements to the spell have been made. Casters with enough cursing power can now select the nightmare that the target experiences. Customized nightmares are also available as a merchant service.
The second curse is the Curse of the Star, which curses the star under which the target was born. The effect is that the target loses an amount of Attack Strength equivalent to 10 plus caster's Sorcerer spell ranks (beyond 15) divided by 3. If and when the target dies and is still under this curse, that Attack Strength penalty is transferred to the caster as an Attack Strength bonus for aimed spells. The duration for the caster's bonus is stackable, and depends on the target's level.
-Strath
Curse Power v Curse Strength
Topic: Sorcerer Spells
Message #: 3473
Author: GS4-KONACON
Date: 02/08/2016 03:53 PM EST
Subject: Re: Curse/Remove Curse Wiki page clarification
- So is it DIS/AUR for Remove Curse and WIS/INF for Curse, and Remove Curse should be updated to reflect that?
Curse strength is what is used for determining whether the curse can be removed. Curse power is what is used for determining which curses the sorcerer has access to.
Essentially they're both right. Hope that clears it up! If not, let me know and I will try again.
~ Konacon
Curse of the Star
Topic: Developer's Corner - Sorcerers
Message #: 1144
Author: GS4-STRATHSPEY
Date: 11/30/2011 02:40 PM CET
Subject: Re: star curse change
> As far as I can tell with limited testing, Balefire is bypassing anti-magic shells!
It shouldn't be.
> It was planned that the rate at which demons follow would be increased. I don't think that was implemented.
Not yet.
> There was also a plan to give aishan demons a new ability, because they cannot hold mana.
Not yet. Tiqal had a neat idea a while back that I'm following up on.
-Strath
Custom Nightmares
Topic: Developer's Corner - Sorcerers
Message #: 1084
Author: GS4-STRATHSPEY
Date: 11/02/2011 07:56 AM CET
Subject: Customized Nightmares
The initial changes to Curse, updated Nightmare, and Balefire are going through some final checks. I want to get you all ready for an aspect of Nightmare I hope you'll like.
I've added ten new nightmares for your victims to cope with. Everyone will have one in particular that haunts them, just as with the existing nightmares. That means that everyone now actually has two nightmares that they will typically suffer from, one from each group of ten. Finding out which two are yours is an exercise left to the reader (have fun with that). The new nightmares are what I've been calling "situational" nightmares as opposed to the nightmare of a phantom creature attacking you over and over again. You'll be able to see a full listing of them with the new CURSE verb (unless you're not a sorcerer), but they include things like being trapped in a burning house, or suddenly losing all of your teeth. That last one ends a little more gruesomely than it starts out.
I also fixed a few incidental bugs in the old code, made the AS/DS message from the old nightmares actually show up, and modernized the way it looks so it appears like an actual XML-linked creature is in the room attacking. Victims will be seeing some pretty savage high-rank crits done to themselves along with heavy HP loss, while in reality they're only losing about 5 HP at a time. That was the way it was always meant to display. Please don't bug it when you see it. It's supposed to be lying to you.
The main thing I wanted to discuss was customized nightmares. I feel that the ones I wrote are fairly representative of the kinds of disturbing dreams that many people remember having. I've had a few of them myself. However, after seeing them, you'll probably think you can do better. There will be an option in the spell to cast your own pre-written nightmare at a target so you can unleash your own vision of horror on them. How do you pre-write it? There will be a new merchant service available to record your custom nightmare. This is much like SWEAR MINE, except that I'm hoping to make this available to as many people as possible. In fact, I'll be offering this service in the games in some kind of guise over the next few weeks, and periodically after that, so watch for announcements.
I expect this will be a slow process because it will basically be like writing a couple of long-description alters every time for each person. With that in mind I want as many people as possible to come prepared.
Here's my slightly silly custom nightmare in the dev game instance:
Holding you in his gaze, Strath utters a foul curse upon you in Elven.
CS: +509 - TD: +31 + CvA: +19 + d100: +69 - -5 == +571
Warding failed!
You shiver as a cold wind suddenly blows through the area. It was probably nothing.
>
An ominous black haze edges around your vision. As you struggle to focus, you suddenly feel yourself teetering in the top of a very tall tree.
>
The tree in which you're trying to keep steady is very ugly. Oh no, you just fell out! Your body crashes into the boughs and limbs as they rush up at you...
>
You suffer a devastating strike!
... 62 points of damage!
You are stunned!
S>
You are able to move again.
>
An incredible strike leaves you reeling!
... 66 points of damage!
You are stunned!
S>
etc. etc. etc.
You've got three items that you'll need to supply to the merchant. You'll need to supply the first paragraph ("An ominous black haze..."), the second paragraph ("The tree in which you're..."), and a word that fits in the generic damage messages that follow ("strike"). The first two paragraphs are separated by a few seconds of build-up time. You're allowed to get wordy here, but I don't recommend it because your victims won't have a lot of time to read. 300 characters for each paragraph is way more than enough to get your essential point across, but there's no hard limit. Be succinct and pithy anyway.
For the damage rounds that follow, I have no way of knowing what kind of nightmare you're going to concoct, so I avoided any standard AS/DS numbers, critical hit messages, or even mentioning parts of the body that are hit in order to make your nightmare as believable as possible. However, I left you one word in those lines to fill in that will tie them together with the vision. It could be "strike", "slash", "burn", "hiccup", or anything that would make sense when substituted with the above.
A necessary word of caution. These are supposed to be nightmares, and they are supposed to be scary and grim. I know a lot of you are gifted with some extra dark imaginations, which might be what brought you to choose sorcery in the first place. However, working within the framework of game policy, it should be obvious that certain subject matter that is truly horrific can't be allowed as a custom nightmare. I don't want to start a discussion about what is/isn't/should/shouldn't be acceptable here. That's for the policy folder. If you need to know whether a nightmare you wrote about is going to be acceptable, just ask yourself if I'm going to get legitimate reports about it being abusive or disruptive if you're discussing your idea on the amunet or in town square or something.
Whatever you make your nightmare to be, make it a good one because each player can only have one at any time.
-Strath