Celestial Summoner

[Planetus]

So I had an idea recently and I wanted to know what people think. I'm tentatively calling the class the Sun Caller. Lore-wise, Sun Callers are Anorthils who dedicate themselves to the sun only and, in doing so, can glimpse some of the shattered fragments of the old sun god. They learn to imitate these fragments with their magic, and this is the center of their summoning abilities.

Mechanically, they would be like a celestial blend somewhere between Summoners and Necromancers. They'd be able to summon 'radiant shards' of several types which imitate features of sun power. Like Summoner minions, these would come one at a time and last for a certain time before they disappear. Unlike the Summoner, the Sun Caller would be able to (and have as a central mechanism) reliably summon another one, maybe even two, before the first of that type disappears. They would then have another tree that lets them bind several shards together into an Archon (which can't heal, but is persistent, and semi-disposable), more like Necromancer minions. Cunning would still limit the total number of minions, and maybe Archons would count as two or even three. The Sun Caller would also be able to use light spells as well, maybe Sun and Sunlight, Radiance and Glyphs, all light powers only. I'm thinking the shards and Archons would have 100% light resistance, maybe even light affinity, so the Sun Caller could safely blast through them. Advanced trees could even take advantage of that with interactions between the summons and spells. This makes the Sun Caller more like a Necromancer in that they can summon and blast.

I'm picturing three shard times. First would be a caster-type, probably immobile, with Sun and Sunlight spells. Second would be a shield-type with abilities from the shield path of the Sun Paladin. Lastly would be a Berserker type with Sun Paladin two-hander abilities. Several of these could be combined into an Archon, which could have two types: a more powerful caster with shorter spell cooldowns and the Lights shield spell and a warrior with a greatsword in one hand and a shield in the other, using both shield and two-hander Sun Paladin abilities.

What do people think? Should I develop this more?

[Davion Fuxa]

Sounds like a cool idea, but a key question to ask when adding in new classes is how similar they might be to existing classes. It sounds to me like this would sort of play like a Necromancer in effect - you are capable of essentially spawning meatshields for yourself while blasting away at enemies - though instead of Cold and Darkness you would likely use Light (and Fire?) against your foes.

You'd likely have to tell a bit more about the playstyle you envision here.

[astralInferno]

I don't consider overlap as much of a problem, as playing a necromancer 'but a celestial!' is pretty cool to me in of itself.

My concern would be with lore. The gods in tome are not particularly friendly.

[Radon26]

well, pretty sure he said the god was dead, and this celestial summoner is summoning just the fragments of his remains, so, i dont think you need to worry too much about whether the god in question is wiling or not.

[Planetus]

Davion, I see this as somewhere between the Summoner's "summon them one at a time from the back as soon as you see enemies, but they're ultimately basically free" and the Necromancer's "you can get persistent creatures that follow you around". The shards would be summoned one at a time and would definitely be number limited like a Summoner's summons, and they would only cost positive energy which is easy to get back in massive numbers. The Archons would be the most like the Necromancer, just in that they would actually follow you around and move from level to level and region to region. I'd think either they cost as multiple individual summons, which limits both the number of Archons AND the number of shards you could have with them, or they don't count against the shards count, but have a separate limit, probably 1-3 based on some talent level.

In short, I see:
You encounter an enemy, some distance off
You summon shards, one at a time, and it feels like playing a Summoner for now
After your defenses are up enough, you can either blast the enemy with spells or condense some extra shards into a powerful Archon
Carrying on, you maintain the shards and maybe replace Archons, firing off a few light spells as much to restore positive energy as to do damage
After the fight, your shards disappear, but your Archons follow around with you, wounded if they were wounded, but not disappearing with time.

astralInferno, IIRC, in ToME, all the gods are dead, killed by the Sher'Tul ages ago. With the possible exception of the god still running for his life in the Infinite Dungeon, of course. In this case, you aren't so much summoning the pieces of the sun god, which would be immensely powerful by themselves, but also very limited, as you are imitating them. Basically, you summon fake shards of the sun god.

[Radon26]

" all the gods are dead, killed by the Sher'Tul ages ago. "
They tryed, but i am pretty sure TWO of them ARE still alive.
the demon god, (who survived through being sealed) and the one who made infinite dungeone, MIGHT be still alive.

if these two survived, there might have been other ssurvivours... somewhere.
shetul were efficient, yes, but they aren't omniscient. one or two more could have slipped by.

[Planetus]

Ok, to clear it up a bit, the Sher'Tul killed all (except possibly the running one) the gods of Eyal. The 'demon god' Urh'Rok is actually the lead/sole god of another world, Mal'Rok (or do I have those two names backwards). His world was almost destroyed by the Spellblaze reaching through the farportals (apparently was a LOT worse on every other world the Sher'Tul had visited) and now they're coming to Eyal for revenge. They weren't sealed away or anything. The demons aren't really from a 'hell' theme. They're actually aliens who's world has been turned to flame and dust.

But yeah, the sun god (and I thought his name was part of the title Anorthil, but now I can't find that lore) is also dead.

[rexorcorum]

Anorithil is just "sun-moon" in Sindarin . Probably one of the few remaining Middle-Earth relics in Eyal .

[Radon26]

the shertull killed all gods on ayal (with possible exception of the running one), and THEN they went to the stars, hunting other gods.

The demon god survived not because he was on the other planet, but because when the shertull came in out of nowhere guns first demanding his head, demons decided "what if we seal him instead?". For some reason, shertull have agreed, and from then on he was sealed. until the spellblaze that is.
Not entirely sure if the event itself broke the seal, or the panicking demons released him, but that's how it went, if i remember the lore correctly.

either way, pretty sure he is still alive.

[astralInferno]

astralInferno, IIRC, in ToME, all the gods are dead, killed by the Sher'Tul ages ago. With the possible exception of the god still running for his life in the Infinite Dungeon, of course. In this case, you aren't so much summoning the pieces of the sun god, which would be immensely powerful by themselves, but also very limited, as you are imitating them. Basically, you summon fake shards of the sun god.

Cool. Thumbs up.

[nsrr]

But yeah, the sun god (and I thought his name was part of the title Anorthil, but now I can't find that lore) is also dead.

The Sun/God is named Shandral

[Planetus]

nsrr: awesome, thanks. Shandral's shards, then.

So, for talents, I was thinking something like:

Sun?, Sunlight, Radiance, Glyphs, Light, and Chants all unlocked

Shard Calling - Mag
Shield Shard - Call a sword&shield summon, 100% immune to light, probably fire, maybe some light affinity, can use Sun Paladin shield and Shield Offense abilities. The number of skills and their talent levels increases as you invest. It should last 1 turn longer than the cooldown at TL 1 and go longer from there.
Staff Shard - Call a caster summon, similar immunities/affinities, can use Anorthil and Sun Paladin light spells (no negative energy). The number of skills and their talent levels increases as you invest. Similar duration and cooldown.
Sword Shard - Call a 2-hander summon, same immunities/affinities, can use Sun Paladin sword and 2-hander talents as well as 2-handed offense skills. The number of skills and their talent levels increases as you invest. Same duration and cooldown.
Not sure about talent lvl 4, but probably some passive or sustain that boosts all of them, or maybe something like Summoning Frenzy

Archon Calling - Mag
Summon Archon - Fuse several shards into a powerful archon. At first, it's random whether it's a warrior (both S&S and 2H at the same time) or caster (Staff Shard plus something else, Fire spells? Illusion spells?). At a higher level, maybe lvl 3, you can select which one, giving you two talents on the same cooldown. Archons are permanent, but can't heal at all, kind of like the Necromancer's Husk. Unlike the Husk, the Archon would be easy to get and you could have more than one.
Other talents should all focus on the Archons, passive or sustained boosts or special additions, active powerful boosts, maybe including increasing how many you can have at once.

Light Manipulation - Cun - Possibly locked
This tree would focus on the interaction of your light spells and your shards/archons. I'm thinking things like any shard/archon hit by light damage radiates that damage out in a radius, or they reflect a beam out to another archon, and another, and another, a certain number of times, hitting all enemies in the lines.

Solar Power - Mag - Generic
Light Feeding - Gain 1-5 light for every turn you end on a lit tile. Radiance doesn't contribute to this, but a light source can.
Other benefits of being on lit tiles, or ability to create legitimately lit tiles, or maybe consume lit tiles around you (making them unlit for a certain number of turns, lowering your light radius to -1000).

[astralInferno]

You might want to look up Gardener for the interaction trees...