CLOK BBS

I'll admit this is a selfish request, but I think it could really apply to other people as well. Please don't take it as a demand, I just thought there would be no harm in suggesting it.

I was pondering what kind of defense to use, as Rasui is an old and feeble man. Even though I don't intend him to be heavy into combat, I don't plan on him avoiding it all the time, either, and would like him to have some kind of viable defense. However, things like dodging, using a shield, and parrying all seemed a bit out-of-character for an elderly mystic type. I had him ask for someone to pull a handcart for him earlier today, to emphasize his elderly and feeble state.

So, considering he has some mystic powers at his disposal, I was wondering about the possibility of a magical form of defense, but still using the regular forms of defense calculations (dodge, block, parry). Here's what I came up with for Rook Parlour, considering the powers they have at their disposal: Some kind of "frozen nether shield" that could be summoned up quickly to block an incoming blow. I noticed that combining cryomancy and sorcery results in "freezing nether" attacks. So the idea is that you conjure up some nether in a rough disc form (similar to a buckler or round shield), then use the cryomancy to temporarily freeze it solid enough to effectively block an incoming attack like a shield would.

To make it fair, it would require several skills in order to be effective: Sorcery, Cryomancy, and possibly Marksmanship? To help calculate the trajectory of the incoming attack and best position the shield. It would also require at least active channels of both sorcery and cryomancy to work at all, so you could potentially be caught off-guard and be missing out on your defense (maybe an ability somewhere down the line that you could toggle for a chance to auto-channel to block an incoming attack if you weren't already, at the expense of an initial extra energy cost).

This frozen nether shield would use the standard block mechanic like shields do, so it wouldn't require a whole new mechanic, just a new way to come up with the appropriate block value.

Elemancers in a similar situation could use geomancy, or maybe even, less effectively, aeromancy or hydromancy in combination with the Compression Pattern, for a similar method of magical defense.

Thoughts, critiques, and balancing suggestions welcome.

Elemancers, as far as I'm aware already have shield spells. Just not quite like shields. They could be adapted for sorcery purposes as well. I might be wrong though... Where's the ele Guru?

Yep. We have an elemental shield pattern which basically makes a sphere of X element around us.

None of which give a defense style of its own such as Dodge, Block or Parry.

Yes, this is designed to be a stand-in for the dodge/block/parry mechanics, not damage reduction (we have Shadow Martyr for that) or alteration of already-existing dodge/block/parry.

Another requirement I thought of would be that you would be required to have empty hands, or be holding non-defensive items (so no weapons, which can parry). This would make it so you can't "stack" it on top of other defenses (normal parrying with a weapon or blocking with a regular shield) which might make it too powerful.

Ah. I see.

I like it. It'd probably require at least one open hand. Nether doesn't actually freeze solid (it maintains its state sub-zero) but we can make something work, I think.

Moisture in the air, gathered by the nether then frozen with cryomancy. Very complex thus filling the high level requirements.