ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

Just a place to track my ideas / gnotes on an addon I am considering starting to build (Thanks to StarKeep who convinced me we gneed more races!) and also get feedback and gauge interest.

What race is this you might ask?

Why, gnone other than the gnotorius, gnoble, gnerdy, gnoteworthy Gnomes!!!!

We all love Gnomes! Gnow (there is a chance if I actually get started on this and can figure out how to make the second talent work) you will be able to play as one!

Below are my ideas and gnotes so far. Things inside of parenthesis with ???'s are items im not really sure on yet.

Gnomes arent really meant for raw power, but instead will excel in sheer survivability and escape tools.
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Gnomercy Gnotes

Gnomes are an extremely reclusive race, rarely seen outside their dwellings in the far north. Some explorers have refered to Gnomes as "Anti-Yeeks" due to their obsession over Magical Forces instead of Mental. They dedicate their lives to the scholarly pursuit of understanding The Aether, the magical force that permeates everything.

Racial Talents

Race / Gnome
a. You have studied the Aether for years and it has finally paid off. You finally understand how to directly contact the Aether Realm itself. Further studies of the Aether could only improve your understanding and Contact with the Aether.

1. Magically Inclined
Passive.
Increase Mag and Cun by +2 per level

Nothing fancy here, we haven't studied the Aether that deeply yet we just happen to be a gnome who is racially inclined towards magic

2. Aether Gate
Cooldown: 45/40/35/30/25
Range: (??? 3/5/8/12/16 maybe? maybe shorter?)

Open a Gate into the Aether and step through it. Further study into this technique will improve it.
At talent level 1: A short jaunt through the Aether. Opening a gate to the Aether creates a powerful rift of force in the physical world and will draw all creatures within radius 2/2/3/3/4 to the location you were in when you used this talent.
At talent level 2: Your gate grows in size and power. When emerging from your Gate you knockback all creatures within a radius of 1/1/2/2/3 from the location your Gate opens.
At talent level 3: You now have control over where your gate opens.
At talent level 4: Your constant close contact with the Aether has adapted you to the power it holds. When using Aether Gate you gather a small amount of Mana to refuel your powers, restoring (???) mana.
At talent level 5: You exit your Gate with such force that you bring a blast of the Aether with you. Targets within radius 1/2/3/4/5 of the location you exit will suffer (???) Arcane damage.

Each point in Aether Gate also increases your Arcane resistance by 2% per level, due to your close contact with the Aether.

3. Magically Gifted
Passive.
You are a truly gifted in the ways of Magic. Each point in Magically Gifted increases Mana Regeneration by .25, and will also increase Arcane damage by 2% due to your natural insight into the Aether.

4. Aether Walk
Cooldown: 65 (??? Maybe higher?)
Range: Self

Your further study of the Aether has taught you how to remain within the Aether realm for an extended period of time. Instead of a quick jump through the Aether, you now phase into the Aether realm and may walk freely within, although not for extended periods of time lest you are torn asunder by the forces within.

Activating Aether Walk grants Invsibility (Power ???), 50% resistance to all damage, increases movement speed by 20%, decreases your damage by 90%, and increases mana regeneration by (??? 5? 10?) for 4/5/6/8/10 turns. (Maybe also: Just before leaving the Aether you gather some of the energy and cloak yourself in it, granting a 50/100/150/200/250 point shield to yourself that lasts for 4 turns)

Each point in Aether Walk increases your Arcane Resistance Penetration by 2% due to your mastery of the Aether

I've been considering adding Gnomes as a lost dwarven settlement in the Far East.

After being beaten up by the invading Orcs, they retreated under the ground and abandoned the steel and metalworking that failed them. Instead focussing more on magic and mental powers.

I hadn't really thought about racial talents yet.

The gnome is too focused. Basically your options are Gnome Archmage, and almost anything else is a waste. Higher was just recently adjusted so that its damage boost worked for other mage classes, and it's still useful for non-mages. If possible I would change magically inclined, stat boosts are lame, and just because it's used before doesn't mean it's good for this. I'd either remove the mana regen or change it to regen all resources.

Aether gate does just too much and is too complicated, and the range is far too large. >10 skills are a rarity and 16 is unheard of. Teleport is the only exception but even with high points it has a lot of variance. I also don't think you want both this and Aether walk, considering that means that even with no runes some classes will have up to 3 or 4 escapes. 1 is the most I'd say for a race. Personally Aether walk is more interesting. As for the shield on that I'd just say give the invisibility (with 50% damage output reduction, not 90%) and speed boost (definitely make this a lot higher) for a few turns (like 2-4 depending on rank) as well as a 50% shield for X damage that lasts 4-7 turns or so. Scale the speed boost and invis power to cunning or dex.

You could maybe add a smaller blink that helps the survivability without being too abusive. Maybe have a passive ability: When you are hit by an enemy, if this is not on cooldown, blink to a nearby location up to 1-3 tiles away, and recover X mana, Y vim, Z positive and negative energy, W psi and V hate

Yeah I think Umbrall makes good points. Maybe something like:

1: Aether Door - like the Phase Door spell, and you can control the destination at rank 4.

2: Void Walker - there are already a number of "on teleport" effects in the game, like new effect reduction and the defense & resist bonuses, so give more of that. This boosts any class which gives a teleport (archmage, corruption & paradox guys), and it boosts anyone who chooses to go with more Runes over Infusions (valid for any class). If these effects are too small, you could also give 5-25% resistance to darkness or cold (or both), or at rank 4 you could have any teleport remove a negative magical effect, or something.

3: Vanish - works like the Invisibility spell or an Invisibility rune.

4: Unseen Mastery - passive bonus to Stealth, Invisibility power (talent, rune or spell), infravision radius, and Invisibility detection power. When you use Vanish, you regain some Stamina, Mana, and Dark points.


The above would make for a great Mage or Rogue, and would be useful even on a Berserker or Summoner.

Yeah I didn't think about this: Make the blink when hit, but give another passive that gives resourced whenever you teleport, with probably another boost to the resources as well, increasing caps is safe enough for all of them. Also that blink when hit should be a sustain not passive, though reasonably you could do the same cooldown check, as putting it on would need it to be able to be used anyway and if it's instant it wouldn't matter.

(Also as a small note to stem any confusion and/or confirm any suspicions I am Null from DoD and not this guy, assuming I remember correctly who you are Sradac)

Umbrall wrote:(Also as a small note to stem any confusion and/or confirm any suspicions I am Null from DoD and not this guy, assuming I remember correctly who you are Sradac)

I will confirm that I am not Umbrall, and the only DoD which I know about is the one in Washington DC.