need help, my game uses a decimal leveling system. instead of leveling up 1,2,3,4,5. it goes 1.1,1.2,1.3,1.4,1.5, etc.
and your spells max level is based off of the spell itselfs max level and your max casting level. all elves and their subraces except the Katar elf has the ability to cast at .2 higher spell levels(blood elves at first level can cast at 1.4 instead of 1.2 like normal elves, and Katar elves at level 1 cast at 1.0)
I have a system for spell creation, making the minimum spell level based off of all its effects, and what the spell does, and the max level you assign it. meaning if a spell was created and it equals level 1.4 only the blood elf could cast it, but if a spell equaled .8 (i havent fully gone over the whole system, but I believe this is the lowest possible spell level right now, but that is okay.) than anyone could cast it at first level.
I also have a system to determine the casting cost of a spell, as I am using a mana based system.
but my one problem is...
I can't seem to figure out how to level the spell appropratly
If i were to use logic, the more you use a spell the better you got at it, thus the spell would gain experiance per use. but what about those spells with more specific uses, that can not be used in every situation but may be very vital spells? they would hardly gain any experiance with this system, and and when used would hardly give as good as an effect as it could at the appropriate level.
but if they gain experiance per event/encounter/battle than it would kinda kill my idea of the game...
as you can only learn spells at their minimum level (Meaning if two players were teaching eachother spells, and one player taught the other a level 2 spell that he casts as a level 6 spell, the learner would learn it at level 2)
ALSO
it would be better to use the idea that unlike players, spells gain their abilities per full level rather than per .1 level correct? Meaning a spell that did fire damage started at level 1.2 wouldn't gain its next damge or so until level 2.2 right?
also I was a bit unsure of how I should calculate spells abilities per level.
as in how much better should each spell get per level?
distance,damage/healing,etc. should say a summoning spell gain double its level of creature summoned per level? meaning a level 1 summoning spell at level two would summon a level 2 creature at level two? and if say damage is calculated into the created cost, it should double the damage? that would seem fair to me, as a low level damaging spell versus a high level damaging spell would not be as comparable, the higher level spell would do more at its levels than the lower level spell at an equal level.
and should higher level starting spells level slower than lower level starting spells? as they will most likely be more powerful?
i need to be able to calculate this stuff into the spells so that a player can create a spell. as the idea of magic is that not everyone is gonna know the same spell, and everyone who does know a similair spell would probably have slight variations of each spell.
also I asked a friend, and he said it was illogical to calculate the distance of a spell into its cost, as it wouldn't take much energy to toss or release a spell, so much as just creating the spell.
so i made it where the range cost is based off of whether it affects a touched target, or if it has distance at all, not if it can go say 30 feet, or only 15 feet.
though I still have it where area effect spells add to the cost, so do line affecting spells, and spells that affect multiple targets.
shazzaz
there are 4 subracial elves, high elf, wood elf, dark elf, and katar elf. all elves have a bonus to casting except the katar elves, who are attuned to fighting especially with two weapons, and the blood elves have the greatest bonus to magic.
though this may change, right now my races arent set in stone, and I only have about 5 of the races I intend to have that are ready to be tested. of course I won't add/take anything to/from my world that isn't/is in my book that I am basing this game of off, so as long as my book and its world are incomplete, so is this game
I havent made a max level as of yet, and so far what I have made using the decimal levels isn't 60 pages long for each full level, every class has a gain based on every X.X levels
for example the mage gains
+1 mind every .3 levels
+1 spirit every .4 levels
+1 body every 1.2 levels
+1 reflex every 1.5 levels
for his/her saves
as for distances, there is self,touch,range,are of effect,line.
I am also using the unrealistic 5 foot distances, like in D&D, and other similiar games. as its much easier to judge distance in five foot intervals rather than 1 foot intervals...
I mean I know that I can NOT step 5 feet in one step, and I know a person who is 6 feet tall, and most people taller would have an almost difficult time stepping that far, especially in combat, and I am 5'5" and Its my torso that is short not my legs.
(and believe it or not I actually did a whole little practice in my backyard, using various areas with my various sized friends, and I found out just how unrealistic 5 foot intervals are, and it irks me to use it, yet its so much simpler, especially if your mapping something out on graph paper, as it takes less room.)
taavet
could you perhaps give me a little more info on how that would work? as that is interesting, but im not sure if i get it fully. (your alternate leveling idea)
I actually can almost see that working, I guess it would be a type of specializing, and each player would have to choose, it would also add to the depth of strategy and tactics, and force players tothink on their stype of play.
as for spells starting levels yes there are spells that start at higher levels, its all based on how you put together a spell, everything from damage and the dice used to element type is calculated in to determine the level and cost.
and when I say logic and magic...thats a rather tough thing to say, as in our world most people that accept magic as a probability, more than likely disregard the idea of shooting fire from ones hands, and tend to tie in the tranfer of energy, or the change of whats required, and perhaps the control of whats inside ones own body, whilst other people may believe whole heartedly that a fireball can fly from ones hands, and wont burn the caster, but wouldn't know where to start. whereas a fantasy world it is possible and everyone knows this, the only real thing they need to know is, how do I channel my inner energies? and once they learn this through practice they would cast bigger and better spells.
so for the most part, as long as you have the energy and the magical practice, the type of the spell only matters a little, if its divine or arcane.
and for relexx
that is not a bad idea, as I like the idea that as a person casts a spell they become more atuned to casting that spell and so they get better and better at casting it, so using your idea, the spells that would be used less often grow faster, and the spells used more often grow slower.
so my only problem with this is, even though I could make the gain based on the type of spell, the fact that the players could add everything at once (making their spell one hell of a weird spell, doing damage, summoning, teleporting, causing ability damage, moving, mind controlling, etc. lol, this would probably make the spell weak and high leveled, so the likely hood a player would do this is very low, or so I hope)
I guess I could make a rate based off of the type, and have it change based off of what other things it can do, this way if a telekinis spell could lift 300 lbs. worth of weight, and do 1d6 damage, and it lasted a number of rounds, than it would level slower than say a spell that lasted a set time and lifted 300 lbs of weight. or a spell that had an affect such as growing a beard would level faster than a spell that did fire based damage.
also I wasn't sure about the touch versus self spell, before I took advice from my friend, I had them seperate for now I have them the same, but I guess releasing energy upon yourself would be less work than reaching out and forcing the energy into a touched target.
seo
that is an interesting way to look at it. I may have to look into making a system based off of that concept.
in general---
also I suppose I should say this, my game is based off of a book that I am writing, and magical energies fill all beings, and so even a fighter can cast magic, but no one casts magic better than a spell-caster, I already have a system made to determine the difference between a mage casting a fireball, and a fighter throwing a fireball, or a cleric healing and a barbarian healing, its all possible but never will be as good as a spellcaster.
I need this game for my book almost as much as I need my book for my game XD
and as for playtesting, I would prefer to playtest in real life, but as it is about as hard to get my friends together as it is to get a sheep to stop following, or a goat to stop having fun, (sorry I am a goat rancher, all my metaphors are about animals) than I would need to playtest online...unfortunantly I am having about as hard a time finding a good site to playtest on as I would get my friends together...
Thank you all for your help, I may have to see how some of these ideas fit into my system, and perhaps blend some together.
and as always everything could stand a little tweaking now and then,
and as my book is only in the middle of chapter five, I outlined the book back in chapter 3, and have the whole book and its future outlined...I even proceeded to outline a book two and three, and two sub stories based in the same world...so I pretty much already know what is in my world, I just need to add it to the book and the game. the world itself is incomplete, or to me it is, when my friend looked at what I had written down, he said I was an idiot to think so, and that I had too much written down, and had enough stuff to literally recreate a whole planet...
but thats how I have always been, everytime I make something, I go way in deep, I once had a D&D world that was over 300 pages worth of stuff... unfortunantly since I took the time to write it down and not type all of it up, the one time I had a bad rat infestation ruined the majority of it, so I threw it all into the dump...
but now I realize I am writting too much, I do that alot, get too into whatever I am doing...lol
and once again, thank you everyone, and if you actually read all the way from top to bottom...well I wish I could give you a prize for that, because I think that would be something else...