New Artifact-Karlen's Circlet

[AerynB]

So drathe and I have been brainstorming a new Wizard's artifact for doubling spells. It came about from drathe's homebrew rule that Wizards can have all spell groups x2 (while the Elf can still pick one of the four elemental groups or the elf group) and I wanted a Wizard-only artifact that would increase his body points and defense dice (a little like the Amulet of the North from the BQP or the Elven Bracers from the EQP). Here's what we have so far, Karlen's Circlet and 7 gems which double spells.

I came up with circlet name and some of the gem names, but drathe did all the images, card layouts, and a lot of the wording. I'm really, really happy with how this turned out.

http://www.yeoldeinn.com/downloads/card ... t-gems.pdf

I'd still like to come up with some gems that add body or mind points (like the barbarian's and elf's specific treasures), and maybe something to increase defense dice. But that's easily done by creating another Wizard-only equipment or artifact. Perhaps modifying the EU exclusive bracers to be Wizard-only. Since we have two other settings to play with, we could make one an Amethyst of Health and another could be a Peridot of Intelligence, maybe.

As for when to find this artifact, I was thinking the circlet could be found in quest 7, "The Lost Wizard." The Ruby of Fire best goes in quest 8, "The Fire Mage." The other three aren't so obvious. I was thinking the Amber of Earth could be a special treasure in quest 9, "Race Against Time," where you're stuck underground trying to find your way out. The Pearl of Air could go in quest 10, "Castle of Mystery," since you're basically teleported everywhere (like a tornado, maybe). The Sapphire of Water is the hardest because there aren't a lot of quests that deal with water. Of the last four, "Bastion of Chaos" seems the most likely. You pick up the Wizard's Staff in quest 12 and the Spirit Blade in quest 13 and you fight the Witch Lord in quest 14. And even though quest 11 doesn't have to do with water, maybe the marauding orcs and goblins stole the Sapphire. Anyhoo, I think that's where I'll put mine.

We haven't come up with places to put the Wizard Spell gems yet either. Obviously in the Wizards of Morcar/Zargon quest book, just not sure which specific quest yet. Any suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

[Goblin-King]

These are some pretty neat items.

I think you should just add the BP,MP, +def etc you want on the spell gems. e.g. Ruby of fire gives firespells AND +1 MP.
Just figure out how powerful you want a maxed out wizard to be and distribute the bonuses evenly out.

However... I couldn't help but thinking that this would be an even more exciting item if it only had say 5 slots and you had to choose which gems to use. Fire spells could just be double fire spells while the arguably weaker divination spells could also have an additional +2 BP bonus. Just a thought

by the way... the wiz having 2 of all spell decks?! Sounds very VERY powerful?! What kind of quests is this intended for?

[AerynB]

The Wizard having 2x all spells is a homebrew rule of drathe's, and as far as I know he uses it with all his HQ groups. He'll clarify if I'm wrong, but the thinking behind it was to make the Wizard more attractive to players. He's very, very weak to start out with, and doesn't have many opportunities for advancement, unlike the rest of the Heroes who can buy lots of equipment and use a lot of the artifacts. Besides, here in North America, the monsters are pretty dang tough with their multiple body points. These spells also help a ton in later quest packs with Ogres and the Evil Wizards' elite armies.

I think reducing the number of jewel settings did cross our minds at one point. Giving the Wizard the chance to mix and match the different gems. Might be a good way to make sure he isn't too overpowered. Maybe along with the reduced number of settings, there could be gems that increase attack dice and defend dice. So the Wizard could decide beforehand if he wants to concentrate on being more of a fighting Wizard or more of spell-casting Wizard.

[Sjeng]

I wanted a Wizard-only artifact that would increase his body points and defense dice (a little like the Amulet of the North from the BQP or the Elven Bracers from the EQP)

This is my solution for that: (equivalents for EQP/BQP)



I love the circlet though. Nice idea. But I understand the Wizard may still only choose THREE groups of magic, right? Because all 8 spell groups times 2 would make him more powerfull than Morcar ánd Mentor lol.
I'd create a rule that the wizard may only wear one head-ornament at a time, so either the circlet with the extra spells, or the hood with the +BP/+MP bonus. Not both. That would make the other heroes very jealous.

[AerynB]

I should really let drathe reply since it's his rule, but I'll try to think it out a little more. I think he once said that he noticed Wizard players hoarding their spells for boss fights at the end of quests. If the Wizard discovered a room with a bunch of monsters, he usually waited around to let the other beefier Heroes take on the monsters, with the mindset of conserving his limited spells. Doubling the Wizard's spells lets him be more active in the main exploration part of the quest, going off on his own or with a buddy to fight baddies. The Wizard player has more fun this way being able to actively participate in the quest instead of being relegated to trap-searcher or secret door-searcher.

I don't think the other Heroes would get jealous of him at all, even if he got to wear the hood and the circlet. They've got Borin's Armor, the Spirit Blade, battle axes, crossbows, all kinds of things to increase their attack and defend dice. Though maybe the hood could be introduced in Wizards of Morcar/Zargon instead of in the Main Game System quests. Perhaps the Dwarven Runestones could be added to Against the Ogre Horde.

But back to the spells. Honestly, doubling the Wizard's spells is a very simple way of getting him some advancement without creating new artifacts or adding lots of new rules. I for one am having a lot of difficulty trying to figure out GIMP and how to make new cards. My mind points must be very low. Haha.

EDIT: Oh, almost forgot, drathe (and I use this idea too) increases boss monsters' BP so that they can withstand a Hero onslaught. It's helpful for using all the cool Chaos Spells.

[torilen]

Don't know if you would've seen my own creations on here...here is a link for you, in case you're interested.
I always like to see more variations on a theme or idea...mine is a wand. A "neck spot" is good, too.

viewtopic.php?f=34&t=1201&p=13333#p13333

[Daedalus]

I think the points AerynB brings up are all valid. To make a Wizard fun to play, he/she needs more spells. Instead of doling out the spells as artifacts, I went with a progression system for attaining them that includes spending gold coins. In my opinion, this alternative is way better than buying overpriced, one-off potions or mercenaries (no magic fun there).

[AerynB]

Daedalus, that was actually one of my ideas before Karlen's Circlet came about, letting the Wizard buy the ability to cast spell groups twice at like 100-200 gold coins per group. I thought that would let him spend his gold coins on something instead of just lending them out to the rest of the Heroes. What I didn't like is what would happen if the Wizard died. Would the new Wizard have to wait til he collected enough gold so he could have double spells too. Actually, that's not too terrible an idea, but anyway, this way if the Wizard dies, you just have to make sure the other Heroes are around to pick up his equipment.

[Daedalus]

Wizard death is a good point to bring up--I hadn't accounted for that. My first response is to make the extra spells part of a costly technique that is somehow magically transcribed into his spellbooks as a ritual. This is basically as I envisioned my system working, but an added proviso is needed stating that the enhanced books are transferable as a result of the ritual. Or maybe he invests the power into his staff or a talisman, making it a kind of self-made artifact with a production cost. This would go along the lines of Wizard-exclusive Bracers of Defense. Whatever the method, I think I'd prefer the spells to be transfered. Following a Hero death, other starting Heroes don't automatically get reset to starting level power, so I feel the Wizard should enjoy the same benefit.

[AerynB]

Exactly. I think you're on the right track. Whatever enhancements we come up with should definitely carry over in the event of an untimely death. There's still the possibility that equipment/artifacts could be lost if surviving Heroes don't pick them up. But that's the case with every Hero's death so it's an acceptable issue. No one should go off adventuring all on their own.