Ideas for New Udemi Abilities

Reynard · Post by **Reynard** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 6:01 pm

Sorry if these names are horrible.

Call Of The Wild
For the duration, animals are more likely to move into your current cell.
Alternatively, a random area-appropriate animal appears in your cell. (No promises that its friendly.)

Thorn Flare
While channeling Druidry, melee attacks made with wooden weapons have a chance of doing extra damage.

KianTheArcher · Post by **KianTheArcher** » Sun Apr 01, 2012 3:31 pm

[quote=Reynard]
While channeling Druidry, melee attacks made with wooden weapons have a chance of doing extra damage.[/quote]

I'd love it if Druidry had a flare effect like Aeromancy does.

Reynard · Post by **Reynard** » Sun Apr 01, 2012 8:05 pm

That's the purpose of the ability. (Hence the name.) But as it was explained to me earlier, Druidry and Elemancy are fundamentally different. Requiring abilities for spells seems to be Druidry's thing.

There should probably be some advantage to Thorn Flare to make up for this (as well as the limited weapon selection).

Reynard · Post by **Reynard** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 11:51 am

Druidic Detection

Communication with Gaea is bidirectional, and with practice you've learned to hear the faint echos of nearby druids. You've also learned to utilize this to route messages through Gaea.

"listen Gaea" lists all players currently channeling Druidry. Potentially offers other information about them as well. You also gain a spell that sends a brief message (10 characters per channel) to one/all of these players.

Rasui · Post by **Rasui** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 11:59 am

Interesting idea. Maybe it could also have a passive effect, while channeling druidry, to detect hidden animals in the area, like those mountain lions that pounce on you in the canyon.

Reynard · Post by **Reynard** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 12:07 pm

Only if those mountain lions are channeling Druidry. =P
That sounds like something seperate.

Jaster · Post by **Jaster** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 1:47 pm

Yea. Perception. Lol

KianTheArcher · Post by **KianTheArcher** » Sun Apr 08, 2012 9:28 am

Overgrowth
One of the most impressive uses of Druidry known to the Udemi is the Overgrowth spell. Overgrowth calls upon the power of the Earth, and lend it one's strength to cause a great growth of life in the immediate vicinity. However, the growth cannot sustain itself, and without directly aid from the Udemi it will wither back shortly.

Prerequisites:
Druidry: 150

Mechanic Notes

This was a neat skill that would help the Udemi a LOT when tasks take them into Towns, or if there's troublemakers in their local home town. Basically it shifts a room (temporarily) to an "outdoor" environment. The more you channel druidry upon the initial casting, the closer to a true forest the room becomes. The spell's duration is equal to either as long as the channels are maintained or a time equal to (10 + (druidry/2)) seconds, so that the minimum amount of time it would last is 85 seconds.

Post by **Rias** » Sun Apr 08, 2012 9:59 am

I see a couple problems with Overgrowth, even though it is a cool idea.

First, it wouldn't be able to create plant life from nothing. So in Shadgard, for instance, most of the place is bare stone and clay. If there aren't any roots or plants already existing, there's nothing around that can be made to grow into larger plants and foliage. I suppose there could be some tiny scrubs or seeds or something here and there, but even then, they wouldn't really be able to grow through tougher terrains like rock (a limitation of a single focued Tangle Root, let alone a whole roomful of foliage). If it's said that the stuff would be strong enough to grow and break through, that leads to the second point...

Second, causing a bunch of plants to spontaneously grow up from the ground in areas that aren't earthy or grassy (assuming they're strong enough to break through, where Tangle Root has a specific limitation saying it's not) would likely cause some structural damage. Casting it inside a building, for instance, would probably ruin the flooring as the plants burst up from the ground below.

I think I'm more keen on the seed idea that was recently posted, where you bring some special seeds with you, which can be enhanced via druidry for usage in spells like Tangle Root in areas where the spell normally wouldn't work.

While we're on the subject - which spells aside from Tangle Root have terrain/location limitations?

Reynard · Post by **Reynard** » Sun Apr 08, 2012 2:07 pm

It's not a spell, but Windreading.

Also, thanks. =3

edited to add:
I'd love more Druidry spells. Druidry is pretty cool.

Reynard · Post by **Reynard** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 11:49 am

Nature's Guardian

Creates a contruct from plant matter. Its power is dependent on your Druidry skill and how many Druidry channels you currently have open. If you ever drop down to zero druidry channels, then the construct falls apart (or is given energy degeneration). The spell can only be cast in the same areas as Tangle Root, but may be mantained in all areas. (Possible energy degeneration outside of Tangle Root areas.)

Post by **Rias** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 11:57 am

Udemi will have "minions" in the form of advanced animal companions, rather than plant-constructs. Plants don't have their own consciousness, and druidry, unlike sorcery, isn't in the business of infusing individual consciousness into constructs or other forms.

Isiaa · Post by **Isiaa** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 12:00 pm

Grove

A druid creates a deep bond with the land around him, usually a forest although other terrain types are also viable. While within the grove the druid recovers energy faster and may use a number of grove specific abilities.

Shockwave

Cause the ground in your grove to shake and hurl everyone out of your grove in a sudden violent move.

Nature's bounty.

Cause the trees in your grove(If there are any) to bear fruit which you may then pick to feed yourself. I suggest making this all one action so that druids aren't badgered into giving others free food and the like. Possibly a more powerful version would feed everyone in the grove at once.

Heavy undergrowth.

Temporarily cause the undergrowth to thicken in and around your grove, causing anyone inside to be unable to leave and keeping everyone else out. (Note that shockwave will still send people flying out, in fact if this is used with shockwave the peoples legs ought be damaged.)

Reynard · Post by **Reynard** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 12:26 pm

[quote=Rias]Udemi will have "minions" in the form of advanced animal companions, rather than plant-constructs. Plants don't have their own consciousness, and druidry, unlike sorcery, isn't in the business of infusing individual consciousness into constructs or other forms.[/quote]
Oh, sweet.

I rationalized the moving plant matter as the druid animating it through Gaea rather than granting it its own consciousness. (Hence why it falls aparts once you stop channeling and why more channeling equals more power.) Totally honest question to help me better understand druidry and come up with better ideas in the future: Is that outside the bounds of what druidry can do?

Post by **Rias** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 1:02 pm

Summarized from the Scrolls Some Druid Wrote (something like this will be touched up, expanded and put into documentation in the future - this is just a hasty write-up):

Plants aren't meant to be active and moving, and only do so in specific cases by direct intervention of the Gaea, requiring an inefficient amount of energy and effort - usually on behalf of those entreating the aid of the Gaea, as such swift action and impatience is not the way of the slow and ponderous Gaea. If there is work to be done requiring swift action rather than the infinite patience of the Gaea and its plant-life extensions, that is the realm of the animals, blessed with wisdom and sentience to instinctively handle such matters.

Reynard · Post by **Reynard** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 3:54 pm

Veil of Feathers
Calls a flock of birds distract and disorient the target. Can only be used outside.

Biomancer's Gaze
Passively increases your First Aid when channeling Druidry. (Bonus based on Druidry.)

KianTheArcher · Post by **KianTheArcher** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 2:13 pm

Beast Speech(Revised)
Amongst the allies of the Udemi are the animals of The World. An Udemi skilled in the channeling of Gaea Spirit can ask the animals of the World for direct aid, searching and questing for targets, relaying information back and acting as spies.

Prerequisites:
Druidry :125
Minor Taming

Mechanic Notes

Basically, this is a Scry-like effect. It wouldn't be able to give exact details, and could have a precast lag timer, as well as a cool down timer, in order to balance with the potential 'abuse' it could have. Essentially, the Udemi would have to cast this in either 1.)A Sacred Grove (see my Sacred Grove idea, for special woods), or 2.)Out in the woods in general. Depending on both the cast location AND the cast "destination", the animals used would be different (such as crows, foxes, wolves, rats, basically any clever/intelligent animal would be possible).

This would give more and more accurate information the higher the combined Channeling and Druidry skills are of the caster, as well as how many channels of druidry the caster has open.

However, the information overall would be very basic. Something along the lines of

"The murder of Crows reports that Acarin is lurking near Mistral Lake", which would suggest 1.)Acarin is around/in Mistral, and 2.)Acarin is in Stealth mode.

Another consideration I thought would be good to include would for the actual detection of the "scrying spell" to be based on one's Perception. So a low Perception means that you don't notice any foxes/crows/wolves/rats staring at you strangely.

Reynard · Post by **Reynard** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 2:30 pm

Oh god, is that what that coyote was doing yesterday? Kakoon, stop spying on us!

Post by **Rias** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 4:26 pm

A problem here would be that the animals would have no way of knowing where the target character is, and animals don't have any special form of detection beyond their own mundane senses. If you had an item that was recently in Acarin's possession, I could maybe see a canine creature following the scent. I'm guessing this is a Saruman-inspired spell idea, but unless you have access to an enormous amount of birds and a heck of a lot of patience, sending birds to randomly sweep the land for the presence of an individual wouldn't be very practical.

There was another thread about scrying a couple days ago, and I'll remind you that I stated I'm not very keen on the concept. Any scrying that's implemented is likely to be very limited and situational.

KianTheArcher · Post by **KianTheArcher** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 4:30 pm

I saw the post, and that's why I tried to make it fairly situation based, it'd be time consuming, and be limited by animal intelligence. And yes, it was Saruman inspired.

But no worries! It was just a neat idea I had, that I thought would be worth a try posting.

Post by **Rias** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:26 pm

Along similar lines, I do have plans for a "Tracking" ability for Udemi. It would be limited (you wouldn't be able to tell whose tracks they were), but I think it could be fun and useful, if you know how to use it correctly and in which situations.

Maybe a perk to choosing a canine Animal Companion is that it could help you track.

I know I've been shooting down a fair number of suggestions, but please continue to post them! I'm a horrible stickler about what I let through, but a good amount of abilities in the game are things players have suggested.

KianTheArcher · Post by **KianTheArcher** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:28 pm

Is tracking going to be Udemi purely, or available to everyone?

Post by **Rias** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:36 pm

I was planning on keeping it a unique guild ability.

Post by **Rias** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 6:03 pm

Just for you folks' information, here are some ideas I really like that I'm going to propose to Rithiel and see if she approves their implementation. All based on player suggestions, I've altered some of them.

- Root Seeds: used for Tangle Root in unaccommodating terrain - buy with rec points. Multiple seed types? Normal seeds just to be able to use tangle root anywhere, thorn seeds to to damage to target's legs over time while rooted, poisonous plant seeds?

- Summon Mount (needs a better name): In appropriate environments, call an applicable animal type to ride as a mount. Would not be war-trained. Would leave when the rider dismounts.

- Dust Cloud: AoE dirtkick utilizing aeromancy

- Aimed Shot: after a few second of prep time, fire a shot with a large accuracy boost, including chances to hit the spot aimed for. Getting attacked during the prep time would cancel the attack.

- Call of the Wild: After casting, while maintaining at least one druidry channel, there are chances for local fauna to show up who are friendly to the caster.

- Druidic Link (or something): While channeling druidry, caster can detect who else is currently channeling druidry, and can send brief messages to them every X seconds. Individuals could set a toggle to mask themselves from this detection.

- Sacred Grove: Create a room in forested areas. Trees will sprout from the ground around the caster and his/her group, creating a sort of sanctuary that keeps others out. Would be extremely draining to cast, possibly requiring more than one druidry channeler. The grove would be permeated with energy from the Gaea, providing increased energy regeneration, and wounds would heal over time (slowly, as if bandaged with a poultice). Perhaps some special healing herbs would sprout up in the area as well. Aside from being a safe place to rest up and heal, the Grove could possibly provide further use from other druidry spell down the line. Would be on a cooldown timer.

KianTheArcher · Post by **KianTheArcher** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 6:23 pm

A poisonous plant seed would be nice, and I'd still really like to see a Resen specific fungicide based thing for the Udemi. A type of tangle seed that does damage specifically to Resen infected would be really nice, maybe at a discount from normal poison or damage seeds, since it only targets one specific creature.

**Edited to add**

What about an ability to be able to cause attacks down with wooden weapons to inflict poison on successful strikes in general? Would include arrows AND staves.