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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2013 7:34:55 GMT -8
Thanks, I'll tweak the phrasing to clarify. Both apply - they must be able to hold the Focus and wave it around, and their other hand must be free. Think 'wizard and wand.' As to the disk, it isn't a holy symbol. I was going with the traditional trappings of the 16th century ceremonial lodges in respect to the elements. The traditional disk was about eight inches across, the size of a small plate. The disk works like all the others - it is held in the hand while being used. Fluff wise, I suppose you could say that they channel the energy through the focus. The idea is that, for the vanilla elementalist, being able to switch between trappings is powerful. The requirement of switching between tools (like switching between weapons) is a counter to balance that out. This, by the way, is an example of the type of disk I'm talking about. I'm not sure which museum it is in. This one's probably wax rather than metal, as they were originally only for temporary use, and usually destroyed afterwards.
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Post by jazzisblues on Jan 31, 2013 12:53:39 GMT -8
Interesting. You might want to have it such that every elementalist even a vanilla one must declare a "native" element, and with that they could be +2 and with the opposed -2 at all times regardless of other considerations.
Just a thought.
JiB
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2013 17:51:32 GMT -8
An opposed element might be a good way of balancing them out should they end up being too powerful, although I think a flat +2 would be too much - it would end up being an across-the-board +2 to all of his primary combat skills, which would be a much bigger bonus than a -2 to one quarter of them (that he could easily ignore) would counter. All of the element-specific elementalists already have a balance - they can't take any other trappings, ever. Aquamancers will get that nice bonus to water spells, but they will never cast anything but. Damp understands.
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Post by jazzisblues on Feb 1, 2013 7:31:46 GMT -8
A generalist would (imo) never get bonuses to any of them. If I understand what you're driving at correctly.
One might also apply penalties if there was more of the opposed element were more abundant in the area where the elemenatlist was operating.
Example:
An earth elementalist is on a raft in the middle of a lake. There happens to be a sand bar nearby and he wants to manipulate the earth. Because there is so much water around and the earth of the sandbar is so saturated with water he can do it but it makes it more difficult.
Just random thoughts as they occur to me.
JiB
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2013 10:50:25 GMT -8
A generalist would (imo) never get bonuses to any of them. If I understand what you're driving at correctly. The only 'bonus' that the general elemtentalist has is that he can change between the four elemental trappings on the fly. He learns 'bolt' and has all four versions of it. He pays for this by not being able to take any trappings other than the 'big four', and by having to switch between tools (costing an action) to switch between elements. It isn't that big of a bonus. A bolt still does 2d6 for 1 Power Point. He just gets to choose whether he wants the earth, air, fire, or water 'tweak' when he casts it. All of them are also hindered by the fact that A) they have to have a tool of some sort, which means readying actions are necessary in combat, B) they have a very limited spell list, with fewer spells to choose from than any of the other caster variants. In fact, when their bonuses haven't kicked in (the geomancer is in a boat, the pyromancer at night), they become one of the weakest forms of caster, as they have all the limitations but no bonuses.
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Post by jazzisblues on Feb 1, 2013 12:11:44 GMT -8
Makes sense to me.
JiB
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2013 12:31:31 GMT -8
Thanks for all the input, by the way. I've been playing Savage Worlds for a while, but never in a setting with significant powers, so I haven't seen all of the mechanics at work.
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Post by savagedaddy on Feb 8, 2013 20:12:19 GMT -8
You might want to consider a 'different approach'. Check out www.godwars2.org/SavageWorlds/SavageArcanum.pdf Savage Arcanum has a system for building custom Arcane Backgrounds. One of the things I like about it is Skill-Based Trappings. With this rule, you choose to apply trappings to skills instead. You can then use any of your available arcane skills to cast a spell, and apply the trapping for that skill to the power. You could have 'Pyromancy' and 'Hydromancy' as arcane skills instead of 'spellcasting'. Then, you characters buy powers and 'channel' them through their arcane skills. A character with the bolt power could cast it as firebolt or a waterbolt, depending on the situation. There are rules for creating Arcane Backgrounds, similar to the Race Creation Rules in Savage Worlds Deluxe
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