ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

Here's an idea for how the old unbeliever class could be represented in ToME 4, turning it into a single skill school that no class begins with, but rather has to be accessed with a sidequest.

The Quest

Once you are level 15, and you have performed the following:

• No spells cast (abilities that use mana)

• No scrolls used

• Angolwen not accessed

• Not a mage

You will be able to randomly encounter a new NPC in Middle-Earth.
(The scroll restriction will be the real hurdle here, just to make sure not every character tries getting antimagic.)

*A grim-looking fighter approaches you, clad in mail armour and a large olive cloak. He doesn't appear hostile - his sword is sheathed.*
"Brother/sister, I see that you trust the work of wizards as much as I. Our guild has been watching you, &playerrace&, and we believe that you have potential. We see that the hermetic arts have always been at the root of each and every trial this land has endured, and we also see that one day it will bring about our destruction, so we have decided to take action, training ourselves to combat those who wield the arcane. If you'd like to learn our ways, I could tell you where our guild's training camp is located..."
a] Seems good. Where is this camp?
b] I'm... not sure I'm interested.

(On agreeing)
*The fighter hands you a map. It shows a location to the north of Mirkwood forest.*
"Excellent. When you feel ready, come seek us for your training. I look forward to it!"

(On disagreeing)
"Very well. I will say that this is disappointing, but it is your choice. Farewell."

Agreeing reveals a location north of Mirkwood, the Guild Arena. On entering the location, you are greeted with this message:

The moment you arrive at the map's indicated location, you are grabbed by two olive-clad warriors and thrown into a crude arena!

*You hear the voice of the fighter you met previously ring above you.*
"Welcome, brother/sister! Your training begins! I want to see you prove your superiority over the works of magic! Fight!"

The arena you've been thrown into has a little bit of cover (not too much though) and several magic-based enemies; skeleton mages and the like. Once you defeat all the enemies an exit will be revealed, along with the following:

"Excellent! You truly prove that no mage-wrought flame or storm can stand against blade and arrow! Come, learn our ways. You are ready."
You are taught the secrets of antimagic by the mysterious guild!

Once you have left the arena and learnt the antimagic school, the restrictions are lifted and there's nothing stopping you from casting all the spells, reading all the scrolls, and unlocking all the Angolwens you like. As for using scrolls/spells during the arena fight, they could either try to kill you or just throw you out.

The Skills

Antimagic [Mastery 1.00] (generic)

Aura Of Silence (sustained)
Stamina Cost: 100
Cooldown: 50
Silences yourself and all enemies in a radius of X. Neither you nor your foes will be able to cast spells or use scrolls.
Higher skill level and willpower increase the radius of the aura.
(Maybe... 3x3 at its lowest and 15x15 at its highest?)

Resolve (passive)
Stamina Cost: N/A
Cooldown: N/A
Every time you are struck by a damaging spell, you generate X stamina/hate, etc., lose X equilibrium, etc.
Higher skill level increases the amount generated.
(A small amount, obviously. Just based on raw talent level?)

Spell Evasion (sustained/passive?)
Stamina Cost: 100 / N/A
Cooldown: 50 / N/A
Preternatural alertness allows you to dodge instantaneous attack spells with a chance of X%.
Higher skill level and dexterity improve the chance of dodging.
(Not sure how to work this one. It could either be passive with a low chance, 5-25%, or sustained with a constant stamina drain for a high chance, 75-100%?)

Resist Magic (sustained)
Stamina Cost: 100
Cooldown: 60
Completely negates the next hostile spell cast on you, ending the ability in the process.
Higher skill level and willpower lowers the skill's cooldown.
(Nice, long cooldown to make it non-cheap. Maybe get it down to 30 with max skill and sky-high willpower?)

Ohhh I love!

Sounds very interesting. But should it not be more hardcore? NO magic until you reach the required level. Including magical potions, magical armor, magical weapons, and any other magical items.

Resist Magic could be done like bone shield. I.E. talent level increases the number of times it soaks.

Another way to do it is make it cheaper, not sustained, and give it a duration. Let the duration increase with talent level. So basically you cast it before heading into combat and the duration determines your buffer time between casting and soaking.

A final way, have the talent level reduce the energy cost.

Spell Evasion should be able to work off the absorption mechanics I believe (though the gamelog would probably need to be changed).

Resolve doesn't work well with the rest of the tree. It gives you resources when you get hit by spells, the problem, the rest of the tree makes it so you don't get hit by spells. Maybe change this so everytime you kill a spell caster, or silence one? Or just replace it with something else...

Maybe a mana burn? Kinda like burning hex but on attack. So every time you attack someone they lose X mana and take damage equal to the amount of mana lost. (Would make an excellent skill for creatures too

@Mithril's comment.
For a more hardcore approach just make Aura of Silence passive instead of sustained. The trees still just as easy to learn but once you put a point into it you're done with scrolls period.

mithril wrote:Sounds very interesting. But should it not be more hardcore? NO magic until you reach the required level. Including magical potions, magical armor, magical weapons, and any other magical items.

Maaaybe. It's hard to tell with equipment egos; some are obviously magical, whereas others could simply be through good construction (steady egos for ranged weapons, shields of deflection, etc.). Potions, too, could sometimes be mundane. Although I didn't mention them before, wands are obviously out. Maybe jewellery too?

edge2054 wrote:Resolve doesn't work well with the rest of the tree. It gives you resources when you get hit by spells, the problem, the rest of the tree makes it so you don't get hit by spells. Maybe change this so everytime you kill a spell caster, or silence one? Or just replace it with something else...

Yes... I figured that although getting hit by magic is something you're zealously avoiding, it'd happen at some point anyway . But yeah, it could be changed.

Having just played Etrian Odyssey, I'd like to see a 'Gag' skill for whip-users to silence the magical.

Thinking further, what if resist magic just absorbed a certain amount of spell damage? That way, it could either be used to soak up a few manathrusts, or used to wade through corrosive vapours/infernos. My original idea would have it short out if you just get tagged by 0.01 damage from the edge of a vapour.

Thinking about aura of silence, even though I've never reached the endgame, would it be too powerful? It's two wizards, right? Once they're both in range of the aura they wouldn't be able to do much but get hammered. For all I know there's probably more dangers than the wizards. Heck, they might know disengage.

Perhaps resolve could also generate life, too? Next to useless for the big, one-hit spells, but it could considerably take the edge off damage over time. Also, a new resolve:

Resolve (passive)
Stamina Cost: N/A
Cooldown: N/A
Every time you are struck by a damaging spell, you gain [1-5]% resistance to all types of damage, up to a maximum of [20-40]%. This resistance decays rapidly over time.
Higher skill level and willpower increase the resistance gained and slows the rate it decays.

edge2054 wrote:you're done with scrolls period.

?Que lastima!

Done!

*epic glee*

darkgod wrote:Done!

I can not wait to try it out!

Sounds like this tree might finally make regular rogues playable

And wyrmics.
Antimagic is a wild gift (with a mean to regen equilibrium, do not worry) and it affects spells/divines/corruptions talents (and not wild gifts as they are not magic, they come from nature itself)

darkgod wrote:And wyrmics.
Antimagic is a wild gift (with a mean to regen equilibrium, do not worry) and it affects spells/divines/corruptions talents (and not wild gifts as they are not magic, they come from nature itself)

Maybe Fighters and Berserkers will now become too powerful?

Maybe Fighters, Berserkers need all the help they can get

Mithril wrote:Maybe Fighters and Berserkers will now become too powerful?

ohhh, antimagic wyrmic sounds fun to play

(although a 15 radius silence seems way too powerful...)