The origin of magic:
The Magic on Io comes from ores, extracted from the ground. No one knows where this magic came from, but it has been used to great extent on the planet. Hundreds of years before the current present of Io, the time period in which Syne lives, there were great wizards who could draw out the power from the ore and use it. There were greater wizards who could put the power back in to stone, and use the stone as a power source and a weapon that could cast magic. These stones were called tablets. The greatest of these tablets were created by a wizard named [wizard name]. In the times of war, he advocated peace. To force a resolution and treaties around the planet, he created the strongest magical tablets ever known. Threatening armies with it, he finally ended the fighting and the world came to a rest. But [wizard name] was smart, as well as powerful. He knew that if he did not hide or destroy the tablets, others would eventually use them for evil once he died. So he attempted first to hide them, in case the planet ever saw another world war. But adventurers and other mages were constantly on the search for them, and he decided to destroy the tablets instead. Unfortunately, the first tablet he attempted to destroy was the strongest one he had – the tablet containing the powers of death and destruction. The destruction of the tablet was successful, but disastrous. Because [Wizard name] did not release the magic in it correctly, the tablet shattered, releasing its power in an explosion the shook the world. [Wizard name] was killed, and half of the world blackened to a crisp. Fortunately, there were survivors that continued the human race, though no mage had lived through the explosion. Technology was lost. Wizardry was lost. Hope was lost.
For hundreds of years, the tale of the tablets was forgotten. But one species remembered. Without the technology of their human counterparts, they were forced to extract magic from ore in a crude and inefficient manner. But they remembered. They remembered the technology that extracted ore. They remembered the harnessing of lightning that powered the planet. They remembered the combination of lightning and magic, to create an amazing source of power. They remembered the technology that enabled the creation of tablets, using these tablets. It would take a thousand years to reach this level of technology again. But this time, it would be the Antaerians that ruled Io. This time, they would be the masters.
Syne’s time:
Technology was progressing. Mines were being built, and drilling stations were used to mass-extract ores. The magic from ores powered buildings, stations, and the dwelling of the current ruler of Io, an Antaerian named Kydran. But technology on Io would soon take a leap. For Kydran had finally figured out the location of the legendary tablets. He would use them advance technology quickly and efficiently. And then he would rule. He would punish the humans for their cruel treatment towards the Antaerians hundreds of years ago. They would suffer what his ancestors had suffered. But first… he must find the tablets.
Magic Battle System:
There are several groups of magic.
(This is my idea – other prefer classifications other than elemental)
Start of Post:
Hmmm...
I've been working on the magic system, and I was thinking:
"White"
magic comes from ores. Basically, white magic is a mixture of all magics, (all colors
mixed together give white), and Ore/White magic is your basic mp source.
Then, in
special places, locations, you can get different color magic. (instead of ABCs,
let's use color!)
Brown
magic is earth magic. It's also (physical) defensive magic, as well.
Blue
magic is water and ice magic. It's also healing, since water is so important to
life.
Red is
Fire. It's (physical) offensive magic.
Yellow
is wind, and lightning. It's also perception and time, and (physical) speed.
Finally,
Black magic are the death spells, and draining magic.
(Physical)
means that it temporarily increases your stats. Increase (physical) Attack
means you do more damage with your physical attacks for a few rounds.
Blue
magic comes from water, brown magic comes from the ground (and is present in
some ores. It's the weakest magic, because it's very common, but it should have
a really high-damage ultimate spell, that requires a ton of Brown MPs). Red
from Lava, Yellow from Clouds, Black from... well, I don't know.
Then,
there's a secret magic, where you go on a quest and get green magic. Green is
for nature and life - It has the powered up versions of life spells.
I think
I've explained this before in the older post, but this is how it works exactly:
Your
basic MP is White. You do basic spells with it (like Fire1, Fire2, Fire3,
Lightning1, 2, and 3, etc). This is individual (everyone has their own supply
of mp), because White magic comes from within. (Technically it comes from ores,
but the magic "seeps" into you from the ores)
You can
also collect Non-white mp, but it is a collective mana pool. That means
everyone draws from the same amount. There's a limit to how much nwmp you can
hold, because you have a "container" for it. But you get larger
containers throughout the game, so you can hold more. (and maybe an infinite
container near the end of the game)
You draw
on the nwmps mainly to boost a white spell. If you have Fire3, and cast it, and
draw from your fire pool, you have a Fire4 attack.
You can
also draw purely on the nwmps, which, since it's purely of that element, does a
ton of damage, but since you don't have white mps to support it, you require a
lot of nwmps. Ie. MegaFlare attack - requires 100 FMps, does lots of fire
damage. (Note - because this is pure fire element, immunities and resistances
are reduced. Ie. a 100% immunity goes down to 75% resistance. 50 goes down to
25, and 25 down to 10. (resistance of 75% means instead of receiving 10,000
damage, you only get 2,500)
To gain
mps, you have to do several things...
For
white, the easiest way is to go to a mana inn. These inns are built on pillars
of mana that draw mp straight from the ground (they were built by ancient
wizards).
But
also, white mp comes from inside of you, so when you meditate or rest, you
regain some mp. Not much, though. Say, 10-20% of your mp each time you go to an
inn. Of course, there will be items that increase that percentage, and items
that regenerate your mana (maybe a chaos emerald! j/k). But, to gain your
non-white mps, you have to do other things.
There
will be mana rocks/orbs/flaming stones/balls of water that you can collect, and
go to a wizard to draw the magic out of them (or you can sell them). Also,
these wizards will be able to sell non-white mps to you (because other people
sell magical objects to them), but they only get those like, once per 2 hours
of play (real time), and they are usually small amounts (but, there will be
wizard shops scattered around the world, and each one gets small amounts, so it
kinda adds up a bit, like you can get 250 MP of magic per 2 hours (of each
type, so it adds up)(Note: Green magic is special - they never sell it).
Of course, some magics are more common than others, Brown, they might have
400-500 per 2 hours, while black, they'll have 75 per 2 hours.
Also,
you can revisit caves, and occasionally, you'll find that a treasure chest
reappears in it, and you can find a stone in it (somewhere around 100-500 MP).
But these chests only reappear about 3-5 hours after each time you collect one.
And
there might be special places that you can visit (paying money, of course)
where you can drain some special objects of mana. And there will be objects
that will regen mana (but very slowly), say, 1MP a minute. Some might go a bit
faster, some slower. (1/45 seconds, 1/90 seconds)
End of Post
Additional ideas: 2 people could combine magics. Each person could have a different magical forte (Syne could specialize in earth), and they could combine their magics together. However, there are some requirements. Water/Ice cannot be combined with fire, since they neutralize each other. Ground can be combined with Air, but not effectively. Ground and Life go well together, Air and Fire go well together, Water and Ground do not go well together (resulting in an attack weaker than Ground or water alone), Death does not work with other magics. These are examples. However, it may not be a good idea, due to the fact that cross-summons and team-ups exist already, and additional magic combination may be too much.
Summons:
Io contains magical animals dependant on mana as a source of life force. Gryphons, dragons, unicorns, and the legendary Phoenix were all part of Io. But the Wizards of the past used these animals cruelly, as weapons in wars, where they were usually injured or maimed, and sometimes killed. Finally, the Wisest of the Phoenix decided to hide all of the magical animals, where humans, elves, and their mages could not find them. For a long time, they lived in peace. Then, the shattering of the tablet ruptured their shielding, and they were exposed again. Fearing that the humans had finally found a way to pursue them, they fled into the forests, the oceans, and high in the skies to avoid further persecution. But when none came, they began to calm down, after a hundred years.
One day, a young unicorn, exploring the forest, met a young [elf] who was lost. Not knowing what to do, she brought the elf home, to the shock of the other unicorns. They were afraid for their lives, until the young elf revealed that they had been forgotten, except as stories, along with the other mythical beasts. It was then decided that the elf be brought to the Wisest to decide what was to be done.
And the Wisest decided that it was time for the hiding to end. They could become the allies of the humans and elves, not their slaves. This would end the persecution forever. The young elf was taught a spell, then sent home to his worried parents. For twenty years, he did not speak of the beasts. He grew old, married, and had children. But one day, an army invaded his forest. The elven resistance was pitiful, but the, he remembered the spell. And he summoned a mythical beast. It was the unicorn he had met, a long time ago. Seeing a mythical beast, whose powers were horrible in the legends told everywhere, frightened the superstitious invaders, who threw down their weapons and fled.
The spell was passed on by the elf, from generation to generation. Only a few know the spell. Only a few can teach it. And only a few of those few can summon the aid of the most powerful being on Io: the Phoenix.
Summon Battle system:
Based on the idea of teamwork, the summons system provides a great deal of variety.
Each character has 5 different summons. Two people can combine the summons to summon an even more powerful beast. Similar to the magic system, Fire cannot combine with Ice, etc. Each summons has a different element. Some people specialize in a specific element. For example, Syne’s first summons is the hippogriff, a flying horse of air elemental. It is weak, a lvl. 1 summons. His most power summon, at lvl. 5, is Mud Golem, a beast almost invincible to physical attacks, and with a high resistance to physical. Syne is weak in Air, but strong in Earth. Also, the 5 summons are all of different elements. Two people can combine their summons, to create a more powerful summon. Here is Gilgath’s post on this topic:
Start of Post
Hey, I
like that idea!! The joint-summoning....
I think 5 is the right number for the 'summons assigned to players.'
Heheh...Dev said he hasn't even worked summons into the plot or game at
all...kind of disappointing seeing that the summon threads are the most popluar
by far...
On the assigned summons idea, i think that Syne is reserved to have the
powerful non-elemental summons like Bahamut and and KoR equivalents.
For the joint-summoning:
1.Syne - select command summon - select "Dragon"
2.Delloran - select command summon - select special 'joint' sub_command -
select "Gryphon"
3.Syne's "Dragon" becomes "Pheonix"
The
joint sub-command would only show up if a joinable summon was already being
summoned and the active character had a summon that could join to it.
Oh yes I think we should have a summon countdown meter, like ff8 except they
don't take the damage. In which case, for the example above, both Syne and Dell
would get Phoenix meters that go off at the same time.
Once the meter goes off, the original summoner (in this case Syne) would be
replaced by Phoenix. Pheonix would act like a character...you select attacks
and targets. It would have a regular Claw attack, the spells
"Revive," "Firaga," and "Float." It's other
command would be "Ability" which would cast 'Phoenix Flame' - the
revive-all + fire damage summon. After using the Ability command Phoenix would
disappear and return Syne to battle. There's one other option, that is a Limit
Break for Phoenix. Same kind as ff7, you take damage and fill up the gauge,
when you do it replaces the Attack command until you use it. Phoenix's Limit
would be something like Great Gospel + Meteor. say..."Fury Surge." It
heals all characters, makes them temporarily invunerable, then uses a Meteor /
Firaga cross-spell. Summons would disappear after using a Limit Break as well.
The final option is "Recall" which returns the normal character to
battle.
End of Post
I have my own suggestion for a summons as well. It is the “Tree of Life” – A defensive summons. The tree tangles the opponents, gives the characters boosts in speed, defense, offense, and intelligence, and then leaves (Ability). (Note: the Tree of life is based on Avendesora, from the Wheel of Time series. Just thought I’d let you know.)
The battle system seems particularly complex at first, but is really quite simple. The post:
Start of Post:
Battlefield:
You can use the scenery to your advantage, surround the enemy, be surrounded by
the enemy. The enemies have different armor in different places (Front, Side,
Back), and sometimes different resistances. I think Petrola should be
vulnerable to fire in the back, because a good flame would ignite some petrol.
Piercing arrows would go through the first person and hit any people behind.
My
Battle System suggestion:
We have something called AP: Attack Power. With each 5 seconds, AP goes up a
point. Different weapons and their attacks have different AP requirements. For
example, A crossbow would require 10 AP, because of loading times, while Bows
would only require 3 AP. To do special attacks, or combos, you'd need lots of
AP.
For
example, Syne has a staff with a blade on one end and a tangling chain on the
other.
He gets 30 APs, and uses it: Staff Attack (Blunt damage), Slash (Blade), Pierce
(Blade again), Tangle (Chains)
However,
it is dangerous to store APs. Each time an enemy hits you, your AP drops,
between 5% to 75%, depending on how hard you are hit. This can be remedied,
however, by having a person hide and gain APs while the other two distract the
enemy boss. Then, that person does a nice multi-damage combo (And combos not
only do all the damage of the series of attacks, but also has a bonus damage
hit for each attack. 2nd attack has a +10%, 3rd has a +20%, 4 has +30%, 4th has
+40%, etc. Of course, some attacks, like Syne's Tangle, would not permit any
more attacks after it (since Tangle is not a direct damage attack, but more of
a holding attack, which keeps both Syne and the enemy occupied, and the other
players can attack the enemy.)
End of Post
Please Note: AP is not a MP count for attack, you normally start out with a fixed amount of AP at the start of each battle, double that if you surprise the enemy, and none if you are surprised. With passing time, your AP meter increases. Then, you can use it to do attacks, which have different requirements depending on how slow they are. A big gigantic sword is very heavy, and requires a lot of energy to swing. A nice small bow shoots quickly, and can be loaded quickly, and thus requires less AP.
:::AP
is not MP, It is a representation of time passing, weariness and the time
needed to recover from it and attack again.:::
Sorry to say it so many times, but some people didn’t understand it the first time.
To summarize this Battle system, which may seem complex:
You can use scenery (hide behind rocks, have your back to a cliff), and place your characters in different locations.
The AP system: It takes effort to fight. You have to build up strength, especially after you make a strike. If you save up enough energy, you can chain up attacks, and additional attacks do additional damage, because they consist of striking in rapid succession (and thereby weakening defense with each hit)
Other Ideas:
1. Cirrus Lonewolf’s Post:
Start of Post:
I got an
idea...how about the characters being able to do teamups? It could just be
like, if you use two (or more, maybe) characters in a certain number of battles
together, they can learn a teamup...either that, or when two get a limit break,
you can choose to do a teamup, and they'll use a different teamup, depending on
which limit breaks tehy use...if that's confusin, tell me...
End of Post:
2. Coordinated attacks:
You attack an enemy, distracting him, and he faces you. At the same time, a person has been sneaking up behind the enemy and he strikes, with additional damage for a back strike. However, if the enemy is aware enough, he could use something like a tail lash to counter, and the attack will be lost. It depends on the element of surprise.
3. Battle orders:
Based on Secret of Mana (aka Seiken Densetsu), and Tales of Phantasia:
The only person you really control is Syne. You do control other people, sort of, but via a menu. Before battles, each person is given a tactic that they usually follow –
Delloran, attack with attack A.
Enna, Always save up AP for combos, consisting of B and C.
Etc.
They are smart enough, however, to use variety, and use other attacks. (No AI needed, just randomize 7 or 8 out of 10)
Also, in battle, you can give orders to move to a specific spot, use a specific attack. When one person gets a limit break, he doesn’t use it, just attacks, until you give a command.
Exceptions: Syne may have a rival.
A rival would not obey the orders all of the time (only 5 out of 10), and have a lower randomize for sticking with tactics. However, rivals are not forever.
To increase trust, you have to do things, like be nice to your rival, etc. Also, in some cases, rivalry factor will drop automatically, due to pre-planned plot. (You save the rival’s life, and then fight boss together) Eventually, they’ll trust you and your commands.
Enna (Character C) is a rival at first, being a leader and all.
The theme of Fate of Io is teamwork. The complex battle system enhances this, because of the attacks that involve two people or more, and the order system. It is about building trust and working together to fight better and more efficiently.
Idea:
Halfway through the game, Syne and co. (Characters A-D) meet up with Kydran. They use teamwork to defeat him once, but Kydran is not eliminated.
Here’s a post:
Start of Post
In the
final fight, Evil boss (Kydran?) has gotten the tablets, and uses one to
generate a shield. The shield is amazingly powerful, and Syne and co. attack
without success.
Then,
someone has the idea of combining summons or combining magic - 4 person cross.
This is so powerful that the shield is blown apart, but syne and co. are
drained of energy after that and cannot do a 4-person cross tech (We can have a
beautiful attack - really pretty. Hey, it'll only be used once, so we gotta
make it as nice as possible!) anymore. So it's a normal battle after that, but
their mp/summon points are restored to them because the destruction of the
shield releases a great deal of mana that they absorb. (BTW, the tablet that
created the shield is broken)
Kydran,
of course, uses the other tablets, which do high damage, so this will be a
tough boss fight.
End of Post
This was a nice idea, but it can be even better. What if this battle is only halfway through the game? Then, Kydran realizes that their teamwork is what makes them so strong, and he separates them, sending them to different parts of the world. Or even better, different times (Time Travel!). Then, they have to find a way to get back, and stop Kydran from doing evil things. And in these different time streams, everyone finds a friend (Characters E-H), and they work together to get back in time, where they defeat Kydran again, for the final time. (Maybe for the final battle, we could have a Non-Playable Battle, where all 8 people combine energies to make a big summon or a big magic spell (Like maybe summoning the Wisest of the Phoenix, or Armageddon.) to destroy Kydran’s enhanced magic shield. Then, 4 of them (most likely the original 4) work together to finish him off.
EOF
This is version 1.0, expect updates when I find out what I’ve forgotten and left out!