GnomishGesturer
2017-02-02, 08:42 AM
For those of you who are familiar with the Ketty Jay books (I'm guessing not many), this question is pretty straightforward: How do I create a magic system that closely emulates Daemonism without sacrificing usability?
For those of you who are not familiar with the steampunk Ketty Jay novels, you can still help! Daemonism is not very well described in the novels, but as far as I can tell it has the following properties:
- Preparation: Daemonists can do nothing on the fly. They need to get materials and properly set things up in order to summon a Daemon.
- Music: Daemonism has something to do with sound. Primitive Daemonists use music to summon Daemons, modern ones use complex resonators and advanced mathematics.
- Intelligent: Daemons are intelligent, ranging from ones with the brainpower of an insect to those many times more intelligent and cunning than any human.
- Persecution: Daemonism is highly frowned upon in the main setting, punishable by near immediate death.
- Effects: Daemonism has varied effects. The ones we actually see are:
- A skeleton key that unlocks most things given time.
- An intelligent cutlass with innate skill at swordfighting that allows a near novice to fight toe-to-toe with a master swordsman, deflect a bullet and has limited mobility on its own.
- A golden tooth that mesmerizes the weak minded, allowing the tooth-wearer to give them subtle suggestions.
- A golem. This is the most advanced Daemonism we see in the novels, which required a great expenditure of money and effort. The golem has more intelligence than any dog, but is strongly influenced by emotion. It is ten feet tall, and armoured like a tank.
- Communicators that look like earrings and function kind of like little Bluetooths with limited range. Also used as eavesdropping devices.
- Drainage: Using Daemonic devices quickly drains the stamina of the user, with the little communicator totally exhausting a strong man in a minute or two. Trained Daemonists are much better at taking the strain, but are still limited.
- Skill: Daemonism is entirely based on skill and intuition. All the Daemonism we see in the book originates from a single source, Crake, who is only moderately skilled. It is possible that much, much more can be done with optimal equipment and a master Daemonist.
So, how do I create a playable magic system with these qualities? Don't worry about making Daemonists underpowered, the system is designed to be pretty gritty, ranging from levels 1-10.
Note: I accidentally posted this first in the normal RPG forum.
For those of you who are not familiar with the steampunk Ketty Jay novels, you can still help! Daemonism is not very well described in the novels, but as far as I can tell it has the following properties:
- Preparation: Daemonists can do nothing on the fly. They need to get materials and properly set things up in order to summon a Daemon.
- Music: Daemonism has something to do with sound. Primitive Daemonists use music to summon Daemons, modern ones use complex resonators and advanced mathematics.
- Intelligent: Daemons are intelligent, ranging from ones with the brainpower of an insect to those many times more intelligent and cunning than any human.
- Persecution: Daemonism is highly frowned upon in the main setting, punishable by near immediate death.
- Effects: Daemonism has varied effects. The ones we actually see are:
- A skeleton key that unlocks most things given time.
- An intelligent cutlass with innate skill at swordfighting that allows a near novice to fight toe-to-toe with a master swordsman, deflect a bullet and has limited mobility on its own.
- A golden tooth that mesmerizes the weak minded, allowing the tooth-wearer to give them subtle suggestions.
- A golem. This is the most advanced Daemonism we see in the novels, which required a great expenditure of money and effort. The golem has more intelligence than any dog, but is strongly influenced by emotion. It is ten feet tall, and armoured like a tank.
- Communicators that look like earrings and function kind of like little Bluetooths with limited range. Also used as eavesdropping devices.
- Drainage: Using Daemonic devices quickly drains the stamina of the user, with the little communicator totally exhausting a strong man in a minute or two. Trained Daemonists are much better at taking the strain, but are still limited.
- Skill: Daemonism is entirely based on skill and intuition. All the Daemonism we see in the book originates from a single source, Crake, who is only moderately skilled. It is possible that much, much more can be done with optimal equipment and a master Daemonist.
So, how do I create a playable magic system with these qualities? Don't worry about making Daemonists underpowered, the system is designed to be pretty gritty, ranging from levels 1-10.
Note: I accidentally posted this first in the normal RPG forum.