ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

Zonk wrote:Why gods (which you yourself mention don't exist) when it could be 'spirits' or specific stars / planets or something?

I mean, I am not 'sold' on the class concept, since thematically it's a Solipsist (they do things with pure willpower), but they get celestial powers. Except you mention a 'Queen of the Forest' who doesn't sound very celestial (more like a Wilder thing, in fact).
So I am a bit confused by the class idea.

edge2054 wrote:I like the concept.

Reminds me a lot of how magic is presented in Shadowrun/Earthdawn (which I'm sure I borrowed heavily from for Solipsists).

That said I see were Zonk is coming from. Celestial Magic really isn't divine. It was at first but that stuff's been scrubbed pretty hard. You could think of Light and Dark as additional elements in a 'Mage' sense.

Another way to handle this would be as a sort of manifester Psion class. Solipsists use this schtick heavily but there's no reason you couldn't manifest yourself Gods rather than thought forms.

edge2054 wrote:You could still use Light or whatever element you wanted. I think there's a lot of room for imagining stuff into existence as a Psion that doesn't go the route Solipsists do.

Like I don't think Solipsists are really self-deceiving. They're tapping into the power of the collective unconscious, hence the emphasis on dreams etc. When their Psi gets low they fall into Nihilism/Solipsism but that's more that I wanted that trade off and because I was wrestling a bit with those philosophical issues myself when I wrote the class.

The idea of a powerful Psion that has no idea they're even psionic and is making very powerful imaginary friends I think would work quite well. I don't know that I'd call the class a Cleric at that point though.

But if you wanted to keep the priestly niche you could work in a flock of some kind. A self-deceptive Psion that's drawing power not just from their own belief but from the belief of others as well.

Anyway I think the idea does have potential

Of course another route is just 'lore be damned'. It's an addon. Part of what makes addons great is the freedom to make stuff that doesn't have a place in the canon game lore.

Someday I may just do a silly joke addon class full of bad puns

NemesisZeru wrote:

edge2054 wrote:You could still use Light or whatever element you wanted. I think there's a lot of room for imagining stuff into existence as a Psion that doesn't go the route Solipsists do.

Like I don't think Solipsists are really self-deceiving. They're tapping into the power of the collective unconscious, hence the emphasis on dreams etc. When their Psi gets low they fall into Nihilism/Solipsism but that's more that I wanted that trade off and because I was wrestling a bit with those philosophical issues myself when I wrote the class.

The idea of a powerful Psion that has no idea they're even psionic and is making very powerful imaginary friends I think would work quite well. I don't know that I'd call the class a Cleric at that point though.

But if you wanted to keep the priestly niche you could work in a flock of some kind. A self-deceptive Psion that's drawing power not just from their own belief but from the belief of others as well.

Anyway I think the idea does have potential

Of course another route is just 'lore be damned'. It's an addon. Part of what makes addons great is the freedom to make stuff that doesn't have a place in the canon game lore.

Someday I may just do a silly joke addon class full of bad puns

Fair enough. I was thinking that, as a Psionic class, I'd have to change it all to Mind stuff, which might have gotten a bit bland. I'm probably taking metaclass stuff a bit too harshly, haha.

That said, the priestly bit can be dropped. Although I like the whole 'deity' thing, using that doesn't lock me into it, y'know? Not sure how I'd do the damage trees without the priest angle, though. I could keep the holy stuff as like, borrowing the 'deity's ' divinity or something, but I dunno.

I guess a possibility could be like each tree summons a deity/mythical creature/whatever, and the following three talents buff them/give them new skills or something?

malboro_urchin wrote:

NemesisZeru wrote:

edge2054 wrote:You could still use Light or whatever element you wanted. I think there's a lot of room for imagining stuff into existence as a Psion that doesn't go the route Solipsists do.

Like I don't think Solipsists are really self-deceiving. They're tapping into the power of the collective unconscious, hence the emphasis on dreams etc. When their Psi gets low they fall into Nihilism/Solipsism but that's more that I wanted that trade off and because I was wrestling a bit with those philosophical issues myself when I wrote the class.

The idea of a powerful Psion that has no idea they're even psionic and is making very powerful imaginary friends I think would work quite well. I don't know that I'd call the class a Cleric at that point though.

But if you wanted to keep the priestly niche you could work in a flock of some kind. A self-deceptive Psion that's drawing power not just from their own belief but from the belief of others as well.

Anyway I think the idea does have potential

Of course another route is just 'lore be damned'. It's an addon. Part of what makes addons great is the freedom to make stuff that doesn't have a place in the canon game lore.

Someday I may just do a silly joke addon class full of bad puns

Fair enough. I was thinking that, as a Psionic class, I'd have to change it all to Mind stuff, which might have gotten a bit bland. I'm probably taking metaclass stuff a bit too harshly, haha.

That said, the priestly bit can be dropped. Although I like the whole 'deity' thing, using that doesn't lock me into it, y'know? Not sure how I'd do the damage trees without the priest angle, though. I could keep the holy stuff as like, borrowing the 'deity's ' divinity or something, but I dunno.

I guess a possibility could be like each tree summons a deity/mythical creature/whatever, and the following three talents buff them/give them new skills or something?

I like the whole priestly cleric idea, and I certainly think it could be done in a psionic fashion, if you're not opposed to that, NemesisZeru. You could flavor it as someone channeling their ideals (whether they be holy retribution, earth's embrace, or burning vengeance personified) into reality using Psi.

malboro_urchin wrote:This is my take on it, obviously feel free to disagree or discard whatever you wish:
The nice thing about psionics is the whole 'mind' thing, because while true gods may be dead, that doesn't make it impossible for someone to envision an avatar or personification of a deific concept. Add in strong adventurer's willpower and you have a cleric!

I wouldn't worry about damage types too much; these clerics are very strongly dedicated to their beliefs, and this dedication manifests itself through mind powers appropriate to each deity.

A curious thought: I know you have a nature theme somewhere in here, would you make those only mind powers and specifically not nature gifts?

NemesisZeru wrote: Hadn't thought of talent types yet, admittedly. Probably would be mind powers, since it's still ultimately psionic in nature.

malboro_urchin wrote:

NemesisZeru wrote: Hadn't thought of talent types yet, admittedly. Probably would be mind powers, since it's still ultimately psionic in nature.

I see what you did there

NemesisZeru wrote:

malboro_urchin wrote:

NemesisZeru wrote: Hadn't thought of talent types yet, admittedly. Probably would be mind powers, since it's still ultimately psionic in nature.

I see what you did there

I don't, haha.

NemesisZeru wrote:

malboro_urchin wrote:

NemesisZeru wrote: Hadn't thought of talent types yet, admittedly. Probably would be mind powers, since it's still ultimately psionic in nature.

I see what you did there

I don't, haha.