elemental manipulator

[Cloud]

How would the ability to take an element (like fire perhaps) and manipulate it. Meaning that the element must be present in order to be used, but the user can shape it in to whatever (from flaming wolves to adding fire on his blade). Just a cool ability i want to implement to my Miasma rpg.

[Clay]

The easiest way would be to buy Magic, Arcane and then the Weakness "Focus: Magic requires [element]."

There are surely other ways to handle it. (Abilities that allow Perks and Flaws can simply use the "Requirement" flaw.)

Hope that helps!

[Cloud]

cool. That should work pretty well actually. Oh, do you know the elemental relationships between the four elements?

[Clay]

I haven't really studied the lore behind the four elements, but I'd assume it's Fire > Air > Earth > Water (Fire consumes air, air beats down earth, earth saps water, water puts out fire).

There's arguments for other orders, of course. If I were going to seriously make a setting involving the elements, I'd go ahead and try to research it. Google is your friend.

[Cloud]

I dont know, your explanation looks good to me.

[Clay]

Well, it works to some degree. As I said, there's arguments for other relationships. Water also beats down earth (maybe more so than water). Likewise, earth can put out fire better than water can.

But the order I gave seems the most obvious and easiest to understand. Magic is magic after all, not science.

[Inquisitor Melchior]

My favorite elemental system was always: Fire burns Earth (since wood and coal are both attributed to Earth. Metal can be attributed to Earth or Aether, but is still melted by Fire), Earth impedes Air (Earth, being the most solid, has the greatest effect upon Air, the least tangible), Air compels the Water (the ancient notion being that waves in the ocean are created by the wind, thus giving Air dominance), and Water dowses Fire. Additionally Fire and Air are complimentary (they work especially well together, particularly as lightning), as are Earth and water (creating mud and, in some mysticisms, flesh and blood). You can also add Aether, which is thought of as being composed of the other elements, and is complimentary with all of them, but is weaker than those raw constituents alone (Aether being the 'spiritual' foundation of matter, and the element of light and dark, but nowhere near as dramatic as Fire, Earth, Air, or Water alone). Though this is just my preference, and there are dozens of possible elemental systems (more if you add oriental elements and fantasy game elements to the formula). You could also add a 'Dimension' element which corresponds to the Miasma (This might be an interesting power to give an Elementalist villain or a Miasma wondering nomad).

When you work out a system for the Elemental Manipulator I wouldn't mind seeing a sample character (to be honest I'm just learning the OVA system and have only recently begun to experiment with character creation, so I would be greatly interested in seeing more of what other players have done with the system).

[Cloud]

Ok, i will see what I can do. But i must say i like your explination (sorry, cant spell)!

[Cloud]

Sorry that took so long to respond, but I am back for the moment... Anyway here's what i came up with. I followed what clay wrote previous and made a sample character that fit into my story. Let me know what you think.

Name:Aire
Health: 30/30
Endurance: 80/80

Abilities Level
Acrobatics 2
Barrier 2
Beauty 3
Defense 2
Magic Arcane 4
Position of Power 2
Vitality 3

Weaknesses Level
Absent minded 2
Code of Conduct 2
Focus (Barrier, Magic Arcane) (Wind) 2
Frail (-10 Health) 1
Hatred (nonwindy days) 1


Background:
Aire was raised on the southern edge of the mainland. As a young girl, she found that she had a talent for starting gusts of air. As she got a bit older, her lack of disipline got the best of her and she blew away a small hut, completely destroying it and ruining a family's home in the process. The experience left her devestated as she ran away and lived off the land for 2 years. Eventually, as the demon mist started surpassing her ability to quell it, a man showed up and took her to the kingdom of Raylite. There, she studied and trained her abilities and became one of the four elementals of Raylyte.

[Inquisitor Melchior]

I too have to apologize for the delays in my posting. This has turned out to be a far more hectic month than I originally thought it would.

I had intended to ask you whether the class (or job, I'm not really sure what to call vocation templates in OVA) was more like a Final Fantasy Geomancer or like a channeling elemental sorcerer. In other words do they simply cast spells based on the 'soul' of their environment, and the elements therein, or do they have to actually channel and amplify the elements around them?

By the way, I like the character; simple and elegant, yet quite playable (I've been experimenting with a few designs myself, but everything I make seems far too convoluted. I just can’t seem to settle on a simple list of abilities for my characters ). I do have a few questions though. What is her code of conduct? Aside from being absent minded, what is her personality like? Aside from being exceptionally beautiful, what does she look like? I get the idea that she's somewhat young (or at least was before studying in the land of Raylite), but how old is she actually?

All in all, quite a good job though. I hope, if you have the time, that you'll be willing to post a couple more.

[Cloud]

Thanks for the npc props. Oh and I totally agree with you about attributes. I have another NPC I created sometime before Aire and I may redo him. He is meant to be a competent fighter but I think I over did it...

But anyway, I am going to try to field all your questions. Elementalists in my campaign must manipulate an existing element around them (I am pretty lienent about it though, like the sun's rays may be enough light to convert to heat and then to a low level fire spell). Elementalists have a school located in the imperial grounds of the castle. There are a few students who study magic this way, but a special place is held in the top ranking military forces of Raylyte. In all, there are four people who represent the four elements(Fire, air, water, earth) and a grand master who serve the Raylyte military.

Currently, we havent played much so Aire still has yet to be introduced. I do plan on her debut soon though. Ok, so she is 23. She is tall, fair skinned with long flowing violet hair (so dark it could pass as black). Her natural hair color is white, but she dyed it to fit into her new culture. She has a free spirited nature and loves to have a good time with friends and colligues (cant spell). Since she has begun her new life as an Raylyte elementalist, she has to adhere to a more strict lifestyle of study and mannerisms. She cant seem to shake old habbits though, so she is often seen as the funnest of the elementalists, yet is often scolded by the grand master Yuukohn.

[Inquisitor Melchior]

Elementalists in my campaign must manipulate an existing element around them (I am pretty lienent about it though, like the sun's rays may be enough light to convert to heat and then to a low level fire spell).

That's more-or-less how I suspected it worked, but I wasn't wholly certain.

she is 23. She is tall, fair skinned with long flowing violet hair (so dark it could pass as black). Her natural hair color is white, but she dyed it to fit into her new culture. She has a free spirited nature and loves to have a good time with friends and colligues (cant spell). Since she has begun her new life as an Raylyte elementalist, she has to adhere to a more strict lifestyle of study and mannerisms. She cant seem to shake old habbits though, so she is often seen as the funnest of the elementalists, yet is often scolded by the grand master Yuukohn.

That pretty much fills in the details. Though she seems good as is, there are a few things that came to mind that I thought I would suggest.

You may want to consider using Servitude, instead of Code of Conduct, to represent the authority the Raylyte empire and the elemental grandmaster have over her. I suggest this as it seems to me her new lifestyle is more a mandate of Raylyte, and a requirement of her studies, than a self-imposed philosophy (though I suppose it could easily be both). It also seems to me that a level of Naive might fit nicely with her background, and a level of Guy Magnet would aptly suit her current situation (and her abundant ranks in beauty), though, a rank in Guy Magnet could also cause some unwanted complications in an extended campaign (since she's an NPC I suppose it all depends on whether or not you want to put her through the hassle of attracting unwanted attention). I don’t see any of these suggestions as being essential, however, so feel free to disregard them, or just consider them a result of my tendency to add too many attributes .

[Cloud]

When I thought about her defects, I came across both guy magnet and naive. In the game, I wanted her to be desirable, but I thought that by her having guy magnet that she may take too much away from the players if i over did it. So i left it out as a precaution. Since she has yet to see any play, i might just add it to her sheet as the gender magnet abilities generate a lot of comical cirumstances. As for Naive, i think it would fit with her situation (being in a foriegn land and all). I dont know if it will work with her powers though since she has since had better (if not formal) instruction in her powers.

[Inquisitor Melchior]

In the game, I wanted her to be desirable, but I thought that by her having guy magnet that she may take too much away from the players if i over did it. So i left it out as a precaution.

That's why I was a little wary of the suggestion when I made it. The guy/girl magnet ability can add an interesting comedic touch, even to an NPC, but if overdone it can consume too much game time, diverting from the players. The ability can also cause a lot of competition for the character, which can be detracting for those players interested in having their characters pursue her. And while the ability might create some amusing interactions in Raylyte, It would likely become superfluous during extended missions into the Miasma and its surrounding regions. Like I said, the suggestion wasn't really an essential one, and while a level of Guy Magnet could be fun to play around with, Beauty 3 is more than sufficient to indicate her allure.

As for Naive, i think it would fit with her situation (being in a foriegn land and all). I don’t know if it will work with her powers though since she has since had better (if not formal) instruction in her powers.

I was thinking it would tie in nicely with her rural upbringing and her levels in Absent Minded (I guess I'm assuming her town was rural from the term 'hut'. If I'm mistaken I apologize). Rather than inferring a lack of understanding of her powers, I thought it would just represent a tendency to be more easily persuaded by the Raylyte court. But I suppose, with her being in a position of some authority herself, it could cause trouble if she is too easily misled by the intrigues of those in power.

I would suggested a rank in Smart, though, as this would help offset her ranks in Absent Minded, showing that she's an excellent learner, even if a tad scatterbrained at times.


On a different note, a sentence from your previous post caught my attention...

Eventually, as the demon mist started surpassing her ability to quell it, a man showed up and took her to the kingdom of Raylite.

Does the Miasma actually diminish the elementalist's access to usable elements (by absorbing them or making them inert), or is it just that she used to push back the mists with gusts of wind, but as the mists grew more powerful she found she could no longer repel them? I ask because if the mists neutralize elements she could end up relying quite a bit on the players, but if the mists don't I can see the players looking to her for assistance if they ever need to confront the Miasma.


Since you seem to have a firm grasp on creating magic using characters (and I've yet to find a playgroup, so I have little real experience with OVA), I was also wondering if you could tell me approximately how long most battles with magic users tend to take, and how much endurance most magic users need to be effective (I know this is a little off-topic, but I thought I might as well ask anyway)?

[Cloud]

I have found that magic usage can be a bit intense in OAV. But it all comes down to which attributes you emulate and at what level. But things can be expensive. It is always a good idea to supplement magic attributes with levels of vitality (a duh answer). The first attack used by a character to attack an opponet he ended up instantly buring the enemy up dealing 70 points of damage (he is a monk that can manipulate fire and he choose to use the cerimonial fires they were prepairing that night).

In my campaign, the myst is a real pain. First it shuts down a character's endurance rejuvination completely! Second, it subtracts 1 point of endurance from a character when they are supposted to gain some back. Therefore simulating a wasting effect on humans who are in the myst. Most monsters create the myst as a byproduct of breathing carbon dioxide, but its not enough myst to be in the air permanantly. Lager sized monsters do expel enough myst to be in the air for a long period of time. It must sound a lot like Legend of Legia (i havent played that for a few years so there ) But when the monster leaders of an area have been efeated, the lesser monsters retreat back to Lord Pain for new orders.

In order to combat the harshness of the myst, I plan on having quite a few city based adventures so that way the myst mechanics i made dont drive my players insane... anyway, Aire was in the area and constantly pushing away the myst that monsters expelled and clearing it away. eventually enough monsters came into the area that she could not control the advance of myst (she began to feel weak and it was a day of light wind). Oh and I think I will add a point of smart and Naive level 1 (i like your reasoning).