Credits List
@MrYes for designing Water Magic
Obviously, none of these will ever be added to Arcane Odyssey. Yet it is pleasing sometimes to envision concepts of what a system which focused on the Original Seven would look like. Thus, this topic presents just that.
Each magic in this system is made primarily to have self-synergy and to be unique in and of itself, rather than being focused on how it works with other magics. I think the design philosophy of making a synergy-based system is a fundamentally flawed one as it leaves anyone using a singular magic to boredom, and most synergies are simple damage boosts or stuns. Thus, this system allows the user to dictate how their own magic interacts with itself which varies on each magic.
This system would also be made so that magics can be customized, gaining new gimmicks to compound their original ones. This would effectively work like a tradeoff system, where the player will never be able to choose all of the available options, and instead must make choices and sacrifices.
Fire
The first weapon of man, banisher of the darkness and wild, yet wielding a savage will of its own to ruin and burn, uncaring for its wielderâs whims.
The magic of aggression. Low base damage, but grows to be monstrously powerful on repeat hits, doubly more so if the user is willing to get in close and sacrifice some HP.
Gimmicks
- Low Base Damage. Attacks are intended to hit repeatedly for snowballing effects.
- Burndown. An amplifying status effect inflicted on hostile targets.
- Kindling. A tit-for-tat effect which is inflicted on the user when they cast an attack too close to themselves.
Burndown
Burndown is an effect which is applied when Fire Magic hits a target. Each stack lasts 10 seconds, and a stackâs duration is independent of one another. There is no limit to the amount of Burndown stacks that a target can receive. Burndown is visible on the target via lapping flames which grow more intense with further stacks.
Each stack of Burndown increases the damage of all incoming fire attacks by 3%.
Having 5 or more stacks of Burndown causes NPC targets to lose accuracy over longer-range attacks. Most NPCs will either try to get in closer or will break off to let the stacks deplete.
Kindling
If the user is caught in the hitbox of their own attack which hits an enemy, they receive a stack of Kindling. For every stack of Kindling, the user takes 2.5% of an outgoing attackâs damage, and that attack gains a 5% damage increase. Each stack of Kindling lasts for 8 seconds.
Charging an attack fully causes all stacks of Kindling to immediately be removed, dealing 5% of the attackâs damage per stack instead, but increasing the attackâs damage by 7.5% per stack.
Example Modifiers
- Reckless Burn. Attacks made in range to cause Kindling to self-inflict causes an additional stack of Burndown on the enemy target.
- Smolder. Burndown lasts twice as long, but has half the effect.
- Slow Burn. Burndown now deals Damage over Time for 1.1x the base damage of the attack, but Fire Magic attacks no longer deal damage on-hit. For imbued weapons, this causes half the damage to become a DOT multiplied by 1.1.
Lightning
Heavenâs fury, molded into blazing bolts of the divine which crash down in terrible judgement.
The magic of control and restraint ere immense, dominating power. Requires that the user limit themselves to get itâs full effect, but doing so can let you end fights against common enemies way earlier than any other magic.
Gimmicks
- Charge. A setting selected on all lightning moves.
- Charge Meter. A meter which can build in one of two directions, depending on what Charge the target was hit by.
- Neutralizing Shock. The devastating consequence of a target gaining a polarized Charge Meter and having it corrected.
Charge
All Lightning Magic spells must select one of two Charges, those being Positive Charge or Negative Charge. Once a spellâs Charge is selected, all spells made of the same type must use the same Charge. Switching the Charge of one will change it for all spells of that type (for example, a x3 blast and a x1 blast must use the same charge).
Positively Charged Lightning spells take on a paler, less saturated color, making a lighter-pitched noise. These spells are fast, traveling more quickly and having less startup, but also having less power.
Negatively Charged Lightning spells are more vividly colored, and leave deep cackling noises in their wake. These spells pack a punch, but arenât quite as speedy.
Charge Meter
When a target is hit by a spell of one of the two Charges, it affects their Charge Meter, shifting it in one direction or the other. Positively-Charged spells move the meter towards positive, with the opposite being true of Negatively-Charged spells.
The Charge Meter is visible over the targetâs head, or underneath their boss bar if they have one.
Neutralizing Shock
If the Charge Meter goes above 25% in either positive or negative charge, any landing attack of the opposite charge will reset the meter, and deal bonus damage to the target depending on the Charge Meterâs polarization.
The bonus damage is dependent on the damage of the incoming spell, and equals.
[Damage] ⢠( | n ⢠2 | )
So for example, if the Charge Meter equals 50% Positive, and youâre hit by a Negative attack dealing 100 damage, youâd take 200 damage in total, as the Neutralizing Shock would deal 100 damage.
If the Charge Meter is above 50% in either direction, it additionally inflicts a brief stun. If itâs above 75%, it instakills non-boss NPCs left with less than 1/4th their max HP after the damage is dealt.
Example Modifiers
- Ionized. The Charge Meter can no longer be Neutralized at less than 90% charge. However, this means that you can use opposite-charged attacks amid the charge, only lowering said charge instead of completely depleting it.
- Lightning Rod. Reduces the maximum polarization on a target to 50%. However, you can âdetonateâ their meter with a guaranteed-hit at any time if itâs above 25%. This hitâs base damage is slightly less damage than Blast spells.
- Heartstopper. Increases the threshold for insta-kills to be 1/2 HP, but Neutralizing Shock no longer deals bonus damage against normal NPCs. Allows the instakill to apply to players and bosses, but only at 1/4th HP.
Water
The great progenitor of life itself, molder of the Beloved and Beloathed, domain of the Earthshaker. Water wears down the makes of man and the formations of earth alike in its inevitable reclamation of what it once made.
Waterâs forte does not lay in raw power. Rather, it excels in setting up the environment to gradually move to the userâs favor, before inevitably wearing the enemy down.
Gimmicks
- Depths Puddles. Magic-imbued puddles created by spells. Used for Spell Redirection and to control the arena.
- Spell Redirection. Allows the player to spawn homing, empowered spells upon making a sufficiently large Depths Puddle.
- Soaked. Stackable catalyst effect that can be triggered with water spells
Depths Puddles
When a water spell detonates, either from hitting a target, landing against terrain, or from the attack itself, it bursts, creating a Depths Puddle on the ground in correspondence to the spellâs power. These puddles will absorb nearby puddles as they grow, provided said puddles were made by the same player, or by a player allied with their creator. Depths Puddles make the movement of anyone who steps into them slippery, along with causing enemies (but not the user or allies) to receive a movement penalty when moving on them.
NPCs will generally avoid Depths Puddles if they can. Some may attempt to destroy or diminish them, which can be done if said puddles are hit directly by magic attacks.
When big enough, Depths Puddles will create a magic circle at their center, indicating that they are now valid for Spell Redirection. This usually is done after said puddle has absorbed 4-6 spells.
Spell Redirection
When casting a spell at a Depths Puddle with a magic circle on them, the player can choose to hold Right Click to instead fire the spell out of the Depths Puddle. Doing so places the spellâs origin at the surface of the puddle, and grants the spell homing, targeting whoever last damaged the player. In addition, the spell will gain power dependent on the size of the puddle. At the minimum size, the damage will increase by 25%, to a maximum of a 50% at the highest size.
Using a Depths Puddle like this will deplete around half of the puddle, though the spell itself can make a new puddle, though only at the standard rate for the spell, ultimately resulting in some loss.
Some spells have different interactions with Depths Puddles, and some may not be able to be casted via the puddle.
Though not all spells can be reasonably replicated, incompatible spells will instead increase the size and by extension duration of puddles hit
Soaked
When a player is hit by Water Magic, they gain a stack of Soaked. Soaked stacks up to 10, with each stack decaying over the course of 5 seconds. Soaked has limited use by default, but is heavily used by Modifiers.
Example Modifiers
- Split Stream. When using a Depths Puddle to redirect spells it will fire out a copy of the spell a half-second after redirecting your spell. This copy deals half the damage of the redirected spell, and creating it consumes the remainder of the Depths Puddle.
- Ebb and Flow. Depths Puddles, when prompted to redirect a spell, will first either create a geyser or a whirlpool, dependent on if the target is grounded or airborne. Whirlpools will pull the target in, whereas geysers will put a cap on their velocity, preventing dodges from going as far. These effects get stronger the more stacks of Soaked the target has. This does add a 0.2 second delay to the spell, though, making it less likely to hit targets too far to be hit by either the geyser or whirlpool.
- Stormy Tides. Water spells will now inflict âVicious Currentâ when hitting someone with 5+ stacks of soaked. Vicious Current is a fast ticking, low damage DoT that doesnât consume stacks when applied. VC will cause soaked stacks to decay 50% faster while in effect, though as long as the target has stacks of soaked VCâs duration wonât begin to tick down
Earth
The ichor and bones of the world, rarely swift, rarely subtle, but as unrelenting as Her rage, caring not for any creation of man, crushing them all the same.
Ferociously powerful, though not-at-all fast, Earth Magic encourages a more grounded, defensive playstyle. Itâs also be more modifier-oriented than the others.
Gimmicks
- Earthâs Embrace. The earth itself sustains and empowers you.
- Sturdy. The earth comes to your aid for defense.
- Earthborne. Youâre more mobile and powerful on the ground.
Earthâs Embrace
Alongside your Magic Energy meter, you have an additional bar which indicates your earthly connection. This bar depletes quickly (in about 5 seconds) if you are no longer touching something which qualifies as âearthâ (so, if youâre mid-air, swimming, or on a ship), and recharges (over about 15 seconds) while touching earth.
This meter is used for your magicâs other features, but is not directly used for spells.
Sturdy
You can block while attacking. Doing so only lasts for 1 second, depletes 50% of your Earthâs Embrace meter regardless of whether youâre hit, and it can never count as a parry. If you donât have at least 50% of Earthâs Embrace, you cannot do this. Visually, this throws up a shield of rock around you.
Additionally, this only uses your standard blocking power (55% DR), ignoring modifiers.
Earthborne
Your running speed on the ground is increased by 20%. Additionally, grounded dashes cause you to use the earth itself to propel you, increasing their distance by 33%.
The size and damage increase that charging applies to your spells triples while grounded, though charging consumes Earthâs Embrace by about 33% for a fully charged attack while grounded.
Finally, most of your spells now originate over your head while grounded, instead of in front of you. They still aim at your crosshair, but now begin higher to prevent them from hitting the terrain. (Honestly, maybe this should just be an option for all magics)
Example Modifiers
- One Bird, Two Stones. If you land two attacks in a row against an opponent before they touch the ground, the second deals 15% more damage, and throws them to the ground.
- Weighdown. Every time you land a hit against a target, rubble builds up on them, increasing the stamina cost of high-jumps by 33% per stack (or increasing their cooldown for NPCs by 50%). Each stack lasts until they high-jump. Caps at 3 stacks.
- Kronos. Hitting a target within a 30° angle of being directly above you restores 5% of your HP.
- Return to Earth. All of your projectiles now have gravity, but are much faster.
- Rockslide. Grounded dashes are now slower, but cause you to slide along the ground twice the distance of a normal dash, and can be canceled to stop immediately.
Wind
Demure one day, a tempest of death the next. Stygian and blistering in equal measure, wind may not possess the sheer might of other magics, but nothing can escape its grasp.
The magic of rough control and manipulation. Has more factors than the other magics to juggle, more settings to mess with. Universally, though, it can be used to forcefully reposition the opponent.
Gimmicks
- Compression.
- Temperature.
Light
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Shadow
The essence of the dark and damned, an inescapable hunter of all life, and the eternal companion of the souls in Hades.
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As you may have noticed, some of these are incomplete. That is because I ran out of ideas, and figured that the community would be a good resource for developing more. Plus, if we have nothing to talk about, this topic will likely drop and sink with minimal interest.
Thus, I ask anyone who has ideas to submit them below.
