New Ability: Rasui's Cryosorcerous Disc

[Rias]

Rooks can now learn Rasui's Cryosorcerous Disc!

This spell concept and design was suggested, researched, and presented by Rasui's player. He put a lot of thought and effort into not only coming up with the spell design and how it would work mechanically, but also the logic behind the spell regarding in-game lore, and roleplayed out a lot of his research and sharing it with others to get further information and opinions, etc.

[Lae]

Awesome! Way to go Rasui!!

I always love it when a player influences the world like this.

[Evelyn]

Niftyness! Well done Rasui, you rock!.

[Rias]

This ability has been restored, and updated a little! Instead of being based on Sorcery and Cryomancy skills, it is now based on 50% Sorcery and 50% Shield Use (the cryomancy isn't doing anything regarding the positioning of the disc after all). Successful blocks against sufficiently challenging attacks will result in Shield Use skillgains.

For those who find it too inconvenient to have to actually be channeling beforehand for this ability to work, I recommend the new Reflexive Channeling ability which will cause the Rook to automatically open the required channels when attacked (by something blockable) if the channels are not already open. Note that normal channeling restrictions apply - if iron or one's armor interferes with the opening of the channels, the block defense won't be available.

[jerc]

With this ability having been revised, and the "one hand either empty or holding a channeling focus" left in, can we infer that we'll be getting foci at some point in the future to somehow make channeling easier?

[jerc]

After playing with this for the last week or so, I've got some thoughts, or at least one main one and some ideas along for the ride.

While it makes sense to have some tradeoffs vs a traditional shield, things still seem skewed in favor of traditional shields. Using a wooden round shield as the benchmark, we're trading an ability point, 0.2 guaranteed rerolls, 1.2 rerolls vs ranged attacks, ~20% die size, and a channeling requirement for flavor, 3lb of carry weight, and the opportunity to spend yet another ability point to auto-ready the shield. There's also the sorcery-skill-as-defense benefit, but since you're probably going to want your defense rolls to be roughly the same as your offense rolls, you end up having to train your shield use up to the same level anyway, so it doesn't really factor into the tradeoff in my mind. Overall, it doesn't feel like a fair trade. If I'm giving up an ability point, it should feel like what I'm getting is at least as beneficial as the free option. Most other abilities are strictly additive, but this one feels like I'm losing more than I'm gaining.

To even things up a little, I would:

1. Give it medium shield base rerolls (0.2)
2. Add the 1.2 reroll bonus vs ranged attacks that all shields get (as far as I'm aware)
3. Fill in that die size gap somehow. Could be 25% of melee skill like with traditional shields, an extra 25% of sorcery or shield use, or maybe 25% of cryomancy?

Then the tradeoff is an ability point and a channeling requirement for 3lb and the opportunity for the reflexive channeling ability, which seems much more in line with the value of an ability point.

[Mystry]

I've also been playing with this ability and its attached ability (Reflexive Channeling). And I love the ability for the RP and backdrop of magic that it is; namely that of using spooky cold nether magic as a shield rather than lugging an actual shield around. However, I do also have to agree with Jerc. I kind of sort of regret having invested the two ability points into it, when I can just carry a regular shield around and get better rolls without needing channels open. In fact, I even disabled Reflexive Channeling as it has a bad habit of turning channels on when I'm moving past a monster that takes a swipe at me as I travel, then not noticing as I continue on, ending up with low energy when I finally notice I've been moving around with channels open.

I'm very conscious of the fact that we only have 21 ability slots total and, at least as of now, no means of unlearning an ability, so I have a low grade fear that I might have just wasted two slots on something I can just use a shield item to get the same effect of.

Still a huge fan of the theme of it though.

[jerc]

In fact, I even disabled Reflexive Channeling as it has a bad habit of turning channels on when I'm moving past a monster that takes a swipe at me as I travel, then not noticing as I continue on, ending up with low energy when I finally notice I've been moving around with channels open.

Hah, this is what prompted me to add a kubernetes-style reconcile loop for channels. I declare the channels I want open, and my scripts make it so. Channels opened that I didn't explicitly ask for? Closed ASAP.

[Rias]

To even things up a little, I would:

1. Give it medium shield base rerolls (0.2)
2. Add the 1.2 reroll bonus vs ranged attacks that all shields get (as far as I'm aware)
3. Fill in that die size gap somehow. Could be 25% of melee skill like with traditional shields, an extra 25% of sorcery or shield use, or maybe 25% of cryomancy?

Whoops. It was supposed to have all these standard shield properties (the last being 25% of the best of the defender's Ranged or Melee skill). So now it does! (As do the Elemancy conjured block defenses.)