Magick Series: Shapers

This will be the first of a series of devblogs about the magick system in Tales of Zalanthas. As we work through other variations of the magick system, we'll have additional devblogs on those topics.

Basics

The first coded type of magick we have are called Shapers. A Shaper is a type of mage who doesn't cast spells directly, but instead takes a base element and shapes that into useful things. A Rukkian Shaper (Ruk is the name of earth/stone magick) may summon a bit of pure sand, then shape that sand into a piece of edible food, or a projectile weapon they can throw.

The primary skill of a Shaper is called Summon. This is what they use to begin the process of creating an item. As they progress in the skill, they find they can summon additional materials. Once the raw element is summoned, they use the Shape command to change it from the raw element into a basic geometric shape, such as a sphere, or a rod. From there, they use the Mold command to change that basic shape into something more useful, like a mace, or a shield. Finally, they use the Empower command to give the items various abilities, such as a stamina boost or protection.

So each shaped creation is defined by four parameters:

Tier - the material being used
Shape - the geometric base form
Purpose - what they shape it into
Empowerment - enhancements applied to the items

Command Flow

summon < material >
Example: summon clay

shape < material > into < shape >
Example: shape clay into sphere

mold < item > into < purpose >
Example: mold sphere into projectile

empower < item > with < empowerment >
Example: empower projectile with strength

Example Full Sequence:

summon clay
shape clay into sphere
mold sphere into projectile
empower projectile with strength

Each step has a short post-command delay. For the moment, only the summon command does a skill check, but we're still debating internally whether or not the shape, mold, and empower commands should, too. Also, there's currently no "cost" but we're figuring out what they might be. While a simple approach would be to use mana, we may go a different direction. TBD on costs and additional skill checks. We'll probably sort that out more during playtesting.

Tiers

A Shaper's ability is roughly divided into four tiers. As they progress in tiers, they are able to summon a larger variety of base materials, have more items in existence at once, and allow more empowerments on a given item.

As a Shaper advances in the skill, they're able to still summon previous materials. Each new material gives new shapes to make, new purposes for items, and new empowerments that can be added.

Note: Guardian can only have 1 empowerment. While some Purposes accept no empowerment at all, such as wall, workstation, and foundation.

Summon

The first step in the process, the Shaper uses this command to call forth a base material. It is a skill that they start with at apprentice level, and each failure or success will increment the skill. As a new rank is achieved, additional materials, shapes, molds, and empowerments automatically become available. The raw, elemental materials summoned do nothing by themselves and have no value.

Shape

The second step in the process is called Shape. The Shaper will change the raw material into a basic geometric shape.

As before, the shapes themselves have no purpose or value other than to be molded into more interesting purposes.

Mold

The third step in the process is called Mold. The mage will further refine the basic geometric shape into something that serves a useful purpose.

Tier 1: Sand

Tier 2: Clay

Tier 3: Rock

Tier 4: Crystal

Here's a list of each Purpose and what they do:

Shield: Creates a shield for blocking attacks.
Food: Creates a single-serving edible item.
Armor Piece: Creates a wearable armor piece for body, legs, arms, neck, or head.
Projectile: Creates a throwable, single-use projectile.
Club: Creates a club used to smack people.
Tray: Creates a floating tray that can carry items, a bit like a floating chest that follows the Shaper.
Crafting Tool: Creates a hand-held tool that can be used to replace certain crafting tools.
Hammer: Creates a warhammer-style weapon. Also used to smack people.
Wall: Creates a wall that blocks a chosen exit.
Manacle: Creates a manacle, which can be thrown at someone to snare them and prevent their movement.
Guardian: Creates a crystal guardian that follows and guards its shaper. It is not a command-able creature, but it does assist and guard. Note that it does not self-heal or regenerate in any way, unless it is specifically empowered to do so.
Workstation: Creates a crafting workstation.
Staff: Creates a staff. It too can be used to smack people, and is even better at it.
Foundation Piece: Creates a foundation piece for construction projects, such as player housing.
Shelter: Creates an enterable shelter with an interior space used to provide protection from the elements and as a place to rest.

Empower

Once an item has been given a purpose, the Shaper can then use the Empower command to somehow enhance it. Not all items can have all empowerments. Here is a list of the empowerments, what they can be applied to, and what they do:

Protection: Reinforces an item for defensive purposes.
    First Available at Tier 1
    Useable On:

Nourishment: Adds sustenance-based effects.
    First Available at Tier 1
    Useable On:

Strength: Adds force, durability, or power to items.
    First Available at Tier 2
    Useable On:

Quality: Improves quality of the item. For weapons that can have an increase in damage, for tools that can mean bonuses or being able to craft a specific recipe.
    First Available at Tier 2
    Useable On:

Stamina: Adds a bonus to max stamina to eligible defensive gear.
    First Available at Tier 3
    Useable On:

Regeneration: Adds healing or self-repair effects to eligible shaped creations.
    First Available at Tier 4
    Useable On:

Dismiss

A Shaper can dismiss their items at will, simply with the dismiss command. Dismiss all removes all of the Shaper's items from the world, regardless of where they are.

Conclusion

A Shaper may be known as other names by other groups, such as Weavers or whatever players may come up with. They represent one new approach to the magick system in Tales of Zalanthas. The idea behind it was to have them only create items and then modify those items in interesting ways. That's not to say we won't have a more traditional mana-mage for Ruk, our ultimate goal is to have several styles of magick. This is just the first we've fully coded.