Fixing Magic

[TyrannisUmbra]

Thanks to Kkat for her tolerance and for giving me the time to speak with her in detail. I will not be posting in this thread again. I wish you all good luck.

[Kkat]

But ultimately, doesn't the power come from Twilight? And if not, how would that work? How can a non-unicorn enhance a spell? Are there plans for such mechanics?

Because she is Pinkie Pie. And we are not even going to attempt to create mechanics for Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie defies mechanics.

[SilverlightPony]

Thank you! You win a half-dozen Littlepips for helping save my sanity!



So many hugs right now.

Hehe, you're welcome.

But ultimately, doesn't the power come from Twilight? And if not, how would that work? How can a non-unicorn enhance a spell? Are there plans for such mechanics?

It's Pinkie Pie. You should know by now that asking "how" in regards to Pinkie Pie only leads to headaches. She has repeatedly been shown doing things an Earth Pony (or a pony, period) has no business being able to do.

I meant the FoE Unity alicorns, though Littlepip herself is said to have her telekinesis comparable to Celestia at the end of her journey. Anyway, the spells of the Unity alicorns are based on unicorn spells, so I can't see why a unicorn couldn't have at least one of the spells just as good, such as lightning.

Unity Alicorns get a power boost by dint of being Unity Alicorns, and automatically get Expert-level spells. And as Kkat said earlier, their most hated and feared spells aren't their offensive, normal-damage-dealing spells, but rather the shield and the heart-attack spell. And Littlepip's Celestia-tier TK is only thanks to One Trick Pony and four levels of Mighty Telekinesis.

[LuckyLeaf]

It's Pinkie Pie. You should know by now that asking "how" in regards to Pinkie Pie only leads to headaches. She has repeatedly been shown doing things an Earth Pony (or a pony, period) has no business being able to do.

Yes, it's Pinkie Pie. She is one of biggest points of reference we have. I doubt she was the only pony in the equestrian history able to have these quirks. Of course, as Twilight, she is the most extreme example there is and nopony could get to that level, but the existence of something like the Wild Wasteland trait in the FoE universe could be traced back her at least thematically. Some other things can be discerned such as an extreme version of Pathfinder. The Pinkie Sense is clear on its workings, though it is vague can be misinterpreted (which is a good thing, game-wise). In the end, the vast majority of what she does can be linked to her declared element and virtue.

Well, I can understand not wanting to including anything like that, considering how unpredictable it can get, as she is herself. Some particularities create the possibility of bending other rules, so it would need a lot GM involvement.

[Kkat]

New spells are continuing to be created, and existing spells are being tinkered with for balance and usability. (Eldritch Knives, for example, got a massive overhaul as the original version was horribly weak.)

I have discovered that at least some of the complaints are coming from people who are not actually using this system, or who are trying to combine it with house rules or elements of other systems. If you are playtesting this system, it would definitely be helpful if you are using the spells and systems implemented. I know that the lack of spells has made this extremely hard, and we are working diligently to build the spell lists.

Please understand that we are building this system and its spells from the ground up. (There is no effort being made to make it compatible with Sunrise's original magic system.) We cannot be responsible for how well this system works for you if you begin introducing foreign elements that are not meant to be compatible.

LuckyLeaf:

The lightning bolt used by the Goddess' alicorns was expert-level Lightning Strike, a spell which in the game deals (Potency * 5) + 4d10 damage, has a range of extreme, and has a high chance of temporarily paralyzing your target.

This system is designed to allow players to have characters like Velvet Remedy, Rarity, Crane and so forth. Reaching the level of the greatest magical unicorns of an age, like Twilight Sparkle or Life Bloom, isn't really within the scope of the system (although you might come close).

TenMihara:

Blur already exists as a form of the Sensory Foil spell.
Thank you for the reminder on Phase. We will definitely include it in the Manipulation spell list.

[Damhoof]

As it stands, the only people who play a unicorn are those who don't know how bad it is, those who only want to play the one specific archetype that works, or those who want to play a gimped character.

As it stands, unicorns gain more DR than Earth ponies and bring more utility to the table through healing or various spells. I would not go so far as to call Unicorns gimped. Just that I have a hard time figuring out how they managed to hold the zebra tide if this was the extent of power the average unicorn could summon from their horn.

[TenMihara]

Blur already exists as a form of the Sensory Foil spell.
Thank you for the reminder on Phase. We will definitely include it in the Manipulation spell list.

Killer, glad to have found something new.

And now another idea has come to mind: The spell that, albeit by accident, caused Quanta of Stable 24 to fuse the animals together? I'm not sure this is applicable as it is, since it was a result of a magical burst that was out of control. However, the concept of a Spell that can fuse together objects (more than likely inanimate ones) or meld the properties of different things together would be an interesting idea.

Along those lines, what about the spell that was developed that turned Spike's mother into Mouse? Obviously this is far beyond the expert level, because it's implied that Gestalt and/or Mosaic had a hoof in it (as well as being an alicorn), but a similar spell was used by Twilight to turn some of Fluttershy's mice into horses (temporarily, as she said it wore off at midnight). On the inanimate side, Rarity was able to (presumably temporarily) turn one of Trixie's curtains into a complete and fully designed dress, even to the point of adding gold filigree.

Now, there's a spell that allows for protection from radiation exposure, but is there a spell that can purge existing rads? Either from one's system or from food and water. I would think there would be something to that effect, as radiation purging would have been the basis of RadAway, RadSafe, and one of the components of Gardens of Equestria. Same goes for Taint removal, but i could understand not giving that to PCs.

Is there a spell that can cause infatuation? Want-it Need-it instills a desire to possess an inanimate object, but what about something to cause insatiable infatuation with another pony.

That's all I've got for now, hopefully at least some of it ends up being of use to you guys. Good luck ^^

[SilverlightPony]

As it stands, unicorns gain more DR than Earth ponies and bring more utility to the table through healing or various spells. I would not go so far as to call Unicorns gimped. Just that I have a hard time figuring out how they managed to hold the zebra tide if this was the extent of power the average unicorn could summon from their horn.

Creativity. Often the most impressive victories are the result of finding unexpected uses for something everyone else thought was underpowered and/or worthless.

[TenMihara]

As it stands, unicorns gain more DR than Earth ponies and bring more utility to the table through healing or various spells. I would not go so far as to call Unicorns gimped. Just that I have a hard time figuring out how they managed to hold the zebra tide if this was the extent of power the average unicorn could summon from their horn.

Creativity. Often the most impressive victories are the result of finding unexpected uses for something everyone else thought was underpowered and/or worthless.

And that right there is pretty much the crux of everything Littlepip ever did, EVER, through her genuine cleverness and cunning, and maybe a bit of luck.

[icekatze]

hi hi

I know this isn't really my place to say anything, not being familiar with these rules and all, but I just wanted to say good luck and thanks. Magic is really hard, and I admit I've looked to the work other teams have been doing for inspiration myself.