The aim is to create a magic fantasy MMO with two types of currency: Gold (limitless just like other MMOs, available in game) and Mana Crystal coins (these can be converted to rare arcane magic and other things). The Mana Crystals (MC) have an initial limited supply which will deflate. In order to balance Pay2Win, anyone utilizing Mana Crystals to unlock the highest level of magic books (called "Forbidden Books"), will suffer from permadeath when killed. Lower level Forbidden Books will have more minor penalties. This will serve to deflate MC as Pay2Win mages die (due to permadeath), and increase open market value of MC crystals. If MC becomes too valuable in the real world, then people will be too fearful to use MC (for fear of death) and will stick to in-game gold instead and won't study the forbidden books.
Please PM me your qualifications if you're interested in joining the team. Below is a brief outline of the initial books of magic, and a complete list of spells from one book of magic (Book of Energy, except its Forbidden Chapter which will require MC to study just like all Forbidden Chapters). In-game mechanics and white paper will be released within 6 months after team is put together. 20% of MC crystals will be reserved for the team. 20% will be used for in-game generation from special mining that everyone playing the game can access. 60% allocated in a future ICO 6 months from now.
The game will draw influence from - D&D, Guild Wars, DotA, Shadowbane, tabletop games, LOTR, blockchain tech, and its own originality.
CONCEPT
MC will deflate over time as its used, barring the capped in-game generation from the 20% reserve outlined above. MC can be mined and salvaged from certain things (such as some buildings), however if its used by a magic wielder, it is permanently destroyed. MC will never inflate, it has a fixed cap. Any in-game generation of MC will be from the reserved 20% for in-game acquisition, which will gradually deplete.
Over time, powerful MC-based magic, structures and political might will decrease as the MC supply decreases and it becomes more expensive to purchase these things. This may eventually result in very rare and powerful magic wielders that have attuned themselves into various forbidden schools of magic or other disciplines requiring Mana Crystals, with more common magicians using non MC based magic, or only very limited MC magic.
Players can create a character for a one time fixed price (such as $5). They may be incentivized to purchase MC from the open market for more power later in their progression. This is Pay 2 Win, but at a cost.. Pay 2 Win will involve permadeath in many cases and loss of MC upon using powerful abilities. Non-MC characters will not suffer permadeath penalties. The accumulation of MC itself through the game via natural means and from other players will allow the MC to be tradeable on the open market for other cryptocoins such as Bitcoin or ETH.
The following two cycles of the game will take place naturally over time -
Genesis
The creation of the game universe where MC-magic is everywhere. MC is in abundance. Many powerful mages. Fortresses easily created. The exploration phase. Truly God-like MC-mages will not exist yet however, as it will take a lot of time and discipline to specialize along such paths. Many MC-wallet mages will perish during this stage, deflating the coin supply. A minority will continue to become very powerful.
Steel Age
MC is now incredibly rare. A few people may wield incredible power either through magic or political/structural might. Legends may be told of occasional wizards with extraordinary powers, but such wizards would be wise to always protect themselves and keep a low profile, least they suffer permadeath. Strong cities would also be wise to not create too many enemies and to also be ever-vigilant to the growing number of weaker masses looking to salvage MC-based riches, such as castle keeps. Politics and charisma will go far for the elite looking to survive and maintain their control, since there are no guarantees.
As the price of MC increases, so too does the incentive for the masses to resort to desperate attempts to acquire MC. Political betrayals may become more likely, and mage/witch hunters may start investing heavily in professionalising their craft to destroy any God-like magic wielders and salvage some MC from their corpses. Yet nothing is certain in this era. Some magic wielders may.. or may not, reach near immortality. Nothing is impossible on either end of the spectrum.
Mage classes:
Wizards can memorize 300 spells, and are exhausted after 30 mana.
Sorcerers can memorize 50 spells, and are exhausted after 100 mana
Sorcerers generally have restrictions on some books and abilities.
Both sorcerers and wizards have the lowest hit point and natural attack gain. Gaining 3HP per level.
Compared to a Warrior class with an average between 8-12HP per level.
Warrior and other classes to be updated
Warrior classes have cooldowns after each use. Magic classes have no such cooldowns, however have an expendable mana pool.
Classes can evolve into advanced classes with more specialized and greater abilities using MC. Such advancements almost always require a permadeath pact.
Wizard class progression -
Village Magician
Access to 3 Arcane Books, level limit: IV. Accessible Books: Chaos, Elements, Energy, Darkness, Light, Wisdom, Transmutation. Not accessible: Summoning, Forbidden Levels
TO BE UPDATED
Books of Arcane (Arcane Magic)
Book of Energy (Levels I – IX) – Forbidden Level: X
Book focusing on pure form raw arcane energy, for both offensive and defensive purposes. Has the highest damage and defenses for pure arcane spell types. Covers a huge variety of other use cases, but may lack very deep specializations. Nevertheless, contains some of the most powerful spells. Highly accessible to most magic wielders.
Book of Conjuring (Levels I – VI) – Forbidden Levels: VII, VIII
Calls upon many forces ranging from demonic, undead, right through to spiritual. Contains unique and powerful instant spells and summonings, but primarily focuses on long rituals for calling forth more powerful entities. Not accessible to most magic wielders unless they specialize in this path.
Book of Chaos – (Levels I – IX) – Forbidden Level: X
Utilizes the more disruptive forces of arcane magic to create uncertainty, illusions, and can even disrupt the very bindings of arcane magic itself by mixing different fields of arcane together, allowing some spells to reach unpredictable levels of power and utility. The spells in this book have the potential to be the most powerful form of arcane in some very specialized and select use-cases. This usually comes at a cost however. Many spells have unpredictable side-effects. Mostly reserved for the more outside-the-box thinking magicians wanting to outsmart more conventional arcane magic wielders. Users of this book should be very experienced with arcane before tampering with it. As mysterious as it sounds, this books power still comes from the arcane, and so its benefits and weaknesses are still related to arcane.
Book of Elements – (Levels I – IX) – Forbidden Level: X
Standard and widely accessible book of magic calling upon all the elements of the world, from fire to water, wind to earth. Spells provide for interesting mixtures of the elements, as well as raw specialization in individual elements. More advanced spells in this book can have effects upon the weather, and can call forth great natural disasters at will for the magicians benefit. Spells can also be used for defensive purposes. There are some spells with very specialised and interesting use-cases. There is a heavy cross over of the utility of some of the spells in this book with the spells in the books of Energy, Summoning and Chaos, particularly at the earlier to medium levels of those Books.
Book of Darkness– (Levels I – IX) – Forbidden Level: X
Primarily focuses on death magic and arcane curses, and even cheating death itself in some circumstances, although it has spells focusing on other interesting things to do with shadow magic. Opponents that fail to survive against a death magic spell are killed instantly, whilst those whom are cursed can have curses lingering from a few seconds, right up to days, or even permanent curses that remain unless cured by an appropriately qualified magic wielder. Curses are wide ranging and provide many unique and different problems to a foe. The book contains spells to also debuff and provide some forms of specialized protection. A well rounded and very dangerous book in the hands of the right magic wielder.
Book of Light – (Levels I – VIII)
Provides incredible healing magic, removal of many curses, diseases and ailments, protection, arcane shields, visibility during night, heavy buffs, and the most powerful form of arcane damage against undead or dark forces. There are no forbidden levels in this book, and acceleration through it is usually easier than the other arcane books, making it a common favorite amongst healers. Magicians are usually limited in the levels available to them in this book, whereas clerics and priests are more prone to master it in addition to their native specialities. Serves as a hard counter to most levels of the Book of Darkness, although is not so strong against Forbidden levels in that book.
Book of Wisdom – (Levels I – IX) – Forbidden Levels: X, XI
The blue mages are said to the be wisest. Rather than calling upon arcane for purposes of offense, they use the power of arcane for greater purposes such as teleportation, conjuring of the strongest buffs, intelligence gathering, understanding of lore, rune-reading, puzzle-solving, shape-shifting, and even bending peoples minds and changing their behaviour. This book also contains the most powerful counterspells out of all the books of arcane. The use cases for the spells in this book are vast and non-specific, and are a reflection of the true potential of arcane magic outside of its damage potential. There is plenty of room for very deep specializations within this book, with some specializations leading to incredible good, or incredible darkness. The book itself is neutral and amoral. The individual wizard decides for what purpose his knowledge will be used. Combined with the other right books, a wizard has unlimited potential. The higher levels of this book are reserved for study by only the most advanced wizards.
Book of Transmutation – (Levels I – VIII) – Forbidden Levels: IX
The magic wielder is able to temporarily turn both themselves and others into many different beings and objects. Indeed, even objects themselves can be transmuted. Life itself can be created in the right circumstances. It is also the only arcane book able to provide utility for profit. This book contains the most powerful spells for enchanting weapons and armor, and even buildings, both temporarily and permanently. Its use in raw battle however should not be underestimated, as it can rival all the other books in its offensive capabilities. The frail, arm-chair magic wielder may transform into the strongest of warriors with the most powerful of weapons, even if only temporarily. The greatest practitioners within this book are said to even be able to temporarily transform into powerful dragons, spirits, even demi-Gods. Secret spells leading to quasi-permanent transmutations are possible at the forbidden levels, among other things.
Book of Countenance – (Levels I – X) – Forbidden Levels: XI, XII
This book maximizes the use of arcane purely for the sake of defense against non-arcane magic, and various deities. Whilst nearly useless against another arcane magic wielder, it will provide vital assistance in defense against non-arcane and unknown magic, such as the magic arising from demonology, gods, spirits, even forest magic. In the world, not every powerful magical force is related to arcane, and some magical forces may be stronger than arcane itself. A wizard dealing with magical forces not from the arcane realm would be wise to specialize in this book. Whilst a wizard that is a master in this book won't have complete protection against masters of magic that don't come from the arcane realm, it will protect him and give him victory over the non-masters, and hopefully at least give him a fighting chance against the masters. Studying forbidden countenance levels can offer a wizard transcendance from normal arcane protection, converting the very non-arcane forces he seeks protection from to protect him instead, rendering many demons and gods powerless against him. A wizard at this level of mastery may be easily defeated by a fellow arcane practitioner, or a common soldier, but may be seen as an indestructible God by demons and dark mage hunters. This book does not provide protection against forces that are not based on magic, and does not protect against arcane magic. It also lacks offensive magic and general utility spells.
Books Of Nature (Nature Magic)
Book Of The Forest– (Levels I – V)
Book Of Animals (Levels I – V)
Book Of Shamanism (Levels I – VII) – Forbidden Level: VIII
TO BE UPDATED
Books of Spirits (Ancestral Magic)
Book of the Dead (Levels I – VII) – Forbidden Level: VIII
Calls upon dieties within the underworld to resurrect the dead in various forms, and make certain pacts. Can be used for dark summonings, types of black magic (with some spells similar but different to the arcane Book of Darkness), and can even have spirits perform specific tasks, both combat and non-combat related. A huge variety of use cases are contained in this book.
Book of Ancestors (Levels I – VII)
Calls upon ancestral heroes to perform certain tasks for the magic wielder. Each ancestral hero has a different roll to play, from providing lucky charms, to assisting in combat, to bringing forth an army of spirit warriors to assist in a siege. The ancestral spirits are powerful and serve many use cases.
Books Of Demonology (Demon Magic)
Book of Balzarab – (Levels I – IV)
Calls upon the demon Balzarab to assist with various forms of blood magic. The wielder becomes possessed and has access to various spells and abilities depending upon the level of the Lore studied.
Book of Blood Magic – (Levels I – VIII)
Available to both demonologists and evil magicians who have made a dark pact, this book covers a variety of spells that transfer life between an enemy to the magic wielder. Contains life stealing, life regeneration, and immortality spells. A powerful and deadly book.
Books of Ascent (Divination)
Book of Clerics – (Levels I - IX)
Every cleric must study from this book to become familiar with the most holy forms of smiting, healing, and cleansing. This books contains divinations for the holy battlemages, paladins, and clerics of the world. Some of the most dangerous and heavily offensive spells are contained within this book, including death magic. Divinations from the gods are powerful and wide-ranging, with many overlap with traditional arcane and other types of magic. Divinations cannot be counterspelled by magicians.
Book of Priests (Levels I – IX)
Priests and clerics have a lot of crossover, however priests are not concerned with offensive spells much. This book contains all the divinations a priest requires, and provides the most powerful forms of healing and protection in the world. They are also capable, if appropriately advanced, of relieving nearly any curse. The strongest of curses however usually require some cost from the priest.
Books of Hexing (Hexes)
Book of Withcraft (Levels I-IX)
Hexes are not magic, and can pierce through most magic immunities. Whilst witches were traditionally associated with both demonologists and the female version of warlocks, they are neither. Witches draw their power not from the arcane realms, nor the demonic realms, but from a much less understood form of raw power that manipulates all forms of life itself. Only direct intervention from the gods via Divination Books are capable of stopping hexes. To argue whether a hex or a spell is more powerful is a nonsensical argument. They serve entirely different purposes. Hexes rarely deal the mass, raw damage of spells, nor provide anywhere near the utility use cases that spells do. Even arcane curses and hex curses are different in their effects. Hex curses may be more difficult to get rid of, but have more subtle, and often entirely different effects. In essence, witches and wizards have two entirely different domains of use. In a head to head battle, a powerful wizard would almost always win against a witch, however the witch can cause far more indirect destruction through subtle curses that can turn entire cities upon themselves, and addle the minds of leaders with even the strongest of minds.
Book of Mesmerism (Levels I-IX)
The most powerful yet difficult book of study. It focuses on defeating nearly any adversary that relies upon arcane magic. In addition, mesmers can utilize illusions to defeat most other foes that are foolish enough to toy with them. Mesmers are the most adept masters of hexes, far more so than witches, and are said to be more intelligent than even the greatest wizards, although perhaps not wiser. Mesmers specialize in one thing above all else: countering arcane magic. They are a jack of all trades at everything else, but complete Grand Masters at absolutely and utterly destroying arcane magic in all its forms. For them, arcane magic is a childs game, and they defeat wizards by using their own powers against them, or by just disabling them completely if a wise wizard out-tricks the mesmer in order to avoid otherwise certain death. They are a magician's worst fear, and the best a magician can usually hope for against an equally powerful mesmer, if they are very lucky and out-think them, is a stalemate.
A mesmers' greatest weakness is that they lack direct, unconditional damage hexes and spells. Nearly all of their strength comes from their enemies making foolish mistakes. If their enemy is smarter than they are, and anticipates the mesmers moves, then a mesmer is useless, even against arcane spell casters. It is the intelligence and correct use of mind-games that make an effective mesmer, rather than any particular combinations of spells. A mind that cannot outwit his enemies in various dimensions of mind games is a mind that should not venture into this book. The mind that can do so, can disable and defeat anyone in individual combat. An exception here are Divinations, which the mesmer cannot counter.
PREVIEW OF SECOND COMPLETE BOOK: BOOK OF DARKNESS (CHAPTERS I - IX) -
(Book of Energy preview removed due to message character limit)
Book of Darkness (arcane magic) – Level I
Note: Dispels and Heals do not remove curses, only direct curse cures can remove them. Poison and Disease created by magic can be removed by dispels, Strong Heals or specific removals. Poison and Disease created by non-magic can only be removed by Strong Heals or specific removals, not dispels. (strengths of this book: death magic, death shields, curses/disease, slowness. Weaknesses: lack of dispels, utility)
Frail Walk (Target: Enemy, Curse) Range: 600
Target enemy experiences a 20% slow for 5 seconds.
Frail Hands (Target: Enemy, Curse) Range: 600
Target enemy is cursed with a 30% miss chance for their attacks. Lasts 10 seconds.
Dark Pulse (Target: Enemy) Range: 800
Target enemy is dealt 4-7 dark damage.
Maggot Infestation (Target: Enemy) Range: 600
Target enemy is diseased and infested with maggots. They suffer 2 damage per second for 10 seconds, experience a 10% movement slow, and have their strength and constitution both reduced by 3. Counter: Weak dispel, Strong Heal.
Toxic Spray (Target: Area, Enemy) Other Books: Energy (Lvl II)
Sprays a magical toxin over an 800 area frontal arc. Anyone caught in the spray becomes diseased and suffers 1 damage per second over 30 seconds, and has their movement speed reduced by 5%.
Darkness (Target: Area) Range: 600, Radius: 1200
Surrounds a 1200 radius with darkness, which has an equivalent effect of it being night time. Does not prevent natural or magical lights from shining through the darkness. Lasts 60 seconds.
Lesser Dark Cloak (Target: Self, Ally) Range: 800
Cloaks the target in darkness. The target has 1-2 damage reduction from every attack, and this blocked damage is reflected as dark damage to the attacker. Works against both spells and physical attacks. Lasts 10 minutes.
Shadow Merge (Target: Self, Ally) Range: 800
The target has 8-15 dark damage reduction in areas of darkness or very low visibility. Lasts 20 minutes.
Lesser Shadow Shield (Target: Self, Neutral/Ally) Other Books: Energy (Lvl II)
Cloaks the target with a shadow shield, granting them 15% evasion from all physical attacks for 5 minutes.
Book of Darkness – Level II
Fear (Target: Enemy) Range: 600
Target enemy experiences Fear for 3 seconds.
Cloud Of Deceit (Target: Ground) Books: Energy (Lvl III), Darkness (Lvl II)
Creates a 1200 radius blue cloud that lasts for 30 seconds. For every second a non-ally remains in the cloud, all of their stats are reduced by 1, and their Will is reduced by 3.
Lingering Curse (Target: Enemy, Curse) Range: 600
Target enemy must pass a Will save of (½ Caster Level) + d8 or become cursed. If cursed, for 20 seconds the target suffers 2 damage per second, has all their stats reduced by 5, and experiences a 20% movement slow. At the end of the 20 seconds, the same Will check is conducted again. The curse lasts indefinitely until a successful Will save, a d8 roll, or the curse is cured. Dispels and Heals do not remove curses, only direct curse cures.
Lingering Disease (Target: Enemy) Range: 600
Target enemy must pass a Constitution save of (½ Caster Level) + d20 or become diseased. For 20 seconds the target suffers 2 damage per second, has all their stats reduced by 5, and experiences a 20% movement slow. At the end of the 20 seconds, the same Constitution check is conducted again. The disease lasts indefinitely until a successful Constitution save, a d20 roll, or the disease is cured. The disease can be removed by any weak dispel, Strong Heal, or other disease removal.
Maggot Plague (Target: Enemy, Area) Range: 600, Radius: 800
Target enemy and any enemy/neutrals within an 800 radius of the target are diseased. Those diseased suffer 3 damage per second for 30 seconds, experience a 10% movement slow, and suffer a reduction of 5 to both their strength and constitution. Counter: Weak dispel, Strong Heal.
Sickness (Target: Enemy, Curse) Range: 600
Target enemy is cursed with Sickness. Once every 10 seconds, target enemy has all their stats reduced by 1. Sickness lasts for 20 minutes, or until removed via curse removal. An enemy cannot die from Sickness, rather their stats can be reduced to a minimum of 1.
Life Siphoning (Target: Enemy) (Channeled. Duration: 1-10 seconds) Range: 1200
(Also avail. Book of Energy Lvl. II)
Siphons the life force from the target enemy. For every 2 seconds the siphoning is channeled, the target will take 10-16 (pure) damage, up to a maximum of 50-80 (pure) damage at 10 seconds. If the spell caster takes 10 damage during the channeling, the channeling is cancelled.
Shadow Circle (Target: Self) Radius: 800
Casts a shadow circle in an 800 radius around the caster. Enemies affected by shadow circle immediately lose one buff and take 5 dark damage. This effect is re-applied every 3 seconds the enemy remains within the Shadow Circle. Bypasses Spell Block however cannot debuff Spell Block.
Death Magic Block (Target: Self, Ally) Range: 800
If the target is going to die due to death magic, then the death magic is instead blocked and this spell ends. Takes priority over Spell Block. Lasts 30 minutes.
Weaklings Doom (Target: Enemy, Area, Death Magic) Range: 800, Radius 800
All enemies in an 800 radius with less than 7 constitution or 10 current HP are killed instantly.
Lesser Dark Shield (Target: Self, Neutral /Ally) Range: 600
Cloaks the target with a dark shield, granting them 25% evasion when in darkness for 5 minutes. Shadow Shield and Dark Shield cannot stack. Casting one will replace the other.
Summon Dark Zombie (Target: Self) (Target: Self)
Summons a 45HP zombie minion with 12 attack damage and dark magic immunity. Lasts for 60 seconds or until unsummoned/killed.
Book of Darkness – Level III
Dark Infusion (Target: Enemy) Range: 800
Deals 18-25 dark damage to the target, and causes a 40% movement slow for 2 seconds.
Blindness (Target: Enemy, Curse) Range: 800
Curses the target enemy with blindness, causing them to miss 100% of their attacks and experience darkness. Lasts for 10 seconds.
Greater Darkness (Target: Area) Range: 600, Radius: 1600
Surrounds a 1600 radius with a magical darkness, which has an equivalent effect of it being night time. Prevents all magical and natural lights from piercing the darkness. Can be dispelled only via an area-of-effect dispel of medium strength or higher. Lasts 2 minutes.
Phantasmal Nightmare (Target: Enemy, Death Magic) Range: 600 Also available: Book of Energy Lvl. IV
A phantasm tests the Will and current Health of the target enemy, and rolls dice of luck. If the enemy fails all three tests, they die instantly. If they pass a single test, they live.
First test: Enemy Will must be greater than 10+d10
Second test: Current enemy health must be greater than 30+d50
Third test: A d6 dice is rolled. Any odd number fails the test.
Doom (Target: Enemy, Curse) Range: 600
Target enemy is cursed with no ill effects. If the curse is not removed within 2 hours, target enemy dies. Bypasses death magic immunity and all checks.
Black Death (Target: Enemy, Area) Range: 800, radius: 1200
Enemies within a 1200 radius of the target location are afflicted with the Black Death disease. For five minutes, every 10 seconds the afflicted suffer 30-40 dark damage and have their constitution reduced additively by 3. Additionally, there is a 20% movement slow. Constitution can only be reduced to a minimum of 1, however the damage dealt can kill. At the end of the five minutes, those afflicted must pass a Will save of (½ Caster Level) + d10 in order to be naturally cured. Those failing the save will die. Bypasses death magic immunity. Requires a medium dispel or higher to dispel, a strong heal, or disease removal.
Ghost Army (Target: Area) Radius: 1200
Ghosts appear in a 1200 radius of the target area and begin to attack every enemy and neutral. The ghosts have 100% evasion, 15HP, 8 attack damage, and are spell immune. If an enemy dies, the ghost moves to the next target. The number of ghosts spawned is equal to the number of enemies/neutrals within the area. After 10 seconds, the ghosts disappear. Ghosts will follow enemies outside the radius. Ghosts cannot be dispelled.
Dark Cloak (Target: Self, Ally) Range: 800
Cloaks the target in darkness. The target has 3-6 damage reduction from every attack, and this blocked damage is reflected as dark damage to the attacker. Works against both spells and physical attacks. Lasts 30 minutes.
Shadow Shield (Target: Self, Neutral/Ally)
Cloaks the target with a shadow shield, granting them 25% evasion from all physical attacks for 30 minutes.
Circle Of Disease (Target: Ground) Radius: 800 (Avail. Book of Energy Lvl IV)
A circle of dark arcane disease is created around the caster that lasts 30 seconds. If any enemy/neutral enters the circle at any time, they will suffer from the disease even if they leave the circle afterwards. The diseases deals 5 damage per second and slows movement by 20%. The diseases expires via a Strong Dispell, Strong Heal, or after 2 minutes.
Book of Darkness – Level IV
Shadow Orbs (Target: Enemy), Range: 800
Five shadow orbs are launched at the target enemy, dealing 5-8 dark damage each and reducing all enemy stats by 1 each. Stat reduction lasts 20 seconds.
Harm (Target: Enemy), Range: 800
Deals 30-45 dark damage to the target. This damage is doubled in darkness.
Curse of Affliction (Target: Enemy, Curse), Range: 800
The target is cursed and takes 5-8 dark damage per second, has all stats reduced by 8 (to a minimum of 1), and has a 30% movement slow. The curse expires after 2 minutes or until removed via curse removal.
Crippled Walk (Target: Enemy, Curse) Range: 800
Target enemy is cursed and experiences a 60% slow for 5 minutes. In complete darkness, this slow is increased to 80%.
Crippled Hands (Target: Enemy, Curse) Range: 800
Target enemy is cursed with a 70% miss chance on their attacks. In complete darkness, the miss chance is increased to 90%. Lasts 10 minutes.
Addled Mind (Target: Enemy, Curse) Range: 800
Target enemy is cursed and has a 25% chance to fail any spells they cast. In complete darkness, the fail chance is increased to 40%. Lasts 10 minutes.
Dark Shield (Target: Self, Neutral /Ally) Range: 600
Cloaks the target with a dark shield, granting them 40% evasion when in darkness for 30 minutes. Shadow Shield and Dark Shield cannot stack. Casting one will replace the other.
Maggot Mind (Target: Enemy) Range: 800
Target enemy is diseased and becomes infested with maggots in their mind. Their intelligence, wisdom and charisma are all reduced by 15. Lasts for 30 minutes. Counter: Medium dispel, Strong Heal, Disease removal.
Mia's Judgement (Target: Enemy, Area, Death Magic) Range: 800, Radius 800
The evil Goddess Mia judges all enemies in an 800 radius. Any enemy with less than 2 of any stat are killed instantly.
Book of Darkness – Level V
Shadow Pain (Target: Enemy, Curse) Range: 800
Target enemy is cursed and takes 12-20 dark damage per second. Lasts 5 seconds.
Death Circle (Target: Enemy, Area, Death Magic) Range: 800, Radius: 1200
A circle of death is created at the target location. Anyone within the circle or entering the circle must pass an immediate Will save of 14 + d12 or die instantly. Those remaining in the circle take 10-15 dark damage per second. The circle lasts for 30 seconds.
Sphere Of Darkness (Target: Area), Range: 800, Radius: 1600. Elite
In a 1600 radius, the caster summons a Sphere of Darkness. Greater Darkness is present within the sphere. In addition, all types of damage from all sources are converted into dark damage. Lasts 2 minutes. Dispellable only via a strong area-of-effect dispel.
Soul Drain (Target: Enemy) (Channeled. Duration: 1-10 Seconds) Range: 800
The caster drains the soul of the target enemy via channelling. For each second the draining is channelled, the target loses 2 of all of their stats and these stats are added to the caster. In addition to this, pure life transfer takes place at the rate of 6HP per second which is also added to the caster's current HP, however cannot surpass the caster's maximum HP. The transferred stats last for 20 minutes until being returned to the target. Within these 20 minutes, the soul drained stats cannot be returned, cured or removed from either the caster or the target via any dispel, curse removal, or any other type of affliction removal, since they are not counted as a buff or debuff. The caster retains the drained stats for the 20 minute duration even if the target dies.
Greater Shadow Shield (Target: Self, Neutral/Ally) (Avail. Book of Energy Lvl. VI)
Cloaks the target with a shadow shield, granting them 40% evasion from all physical attacks for 1 hour.
Greater Dark Cloak (Target: Self, Ally) Range: 800
Cloaks the target in darkness. The target has 7-12 damage reduction from every attack, and this blocked damage is reflected as dark damage to the attacker. Works against both spells and physical attacks. Lasts 1 hour.
Death Ward (Target: Self, Ally) Range: 800 (avail. Book of Energy Lvl. VII)
Grants the target immunity to death magic. Lasts 5 minutes.
Death Barrier (Target: Self, Ally) Radius: 1200 (avail. Book of Energy Lvl. VII)
Creates a 1200 radius death barrier. The caster and all allies cannot die from death magic whilst standing within the barrier. Lasts 5 minutes. Dispellable only via a strong area-of-effect dispel.
Mass Blindness (Target: Enemy, Area, Curse) Range: 800, Radius: 1200
Curses the target enemy/area and all those within a 1200 radius with blindness, causing them to miss 100% of their attacks and experience darkness. Lasts for 20 seconds.
Book of Darkness – Level VI
Cursed Ray (Target: Enemy, Curse) (Channeled. Duration: 1-10 seconds) Range: 1200
Channel a cursed ray at the target enemy. During the channeling, the enemy experiences a 20% slow. After the channeling, the enemy is cursed. The cursed enemy has all their stats drained by the amount of 5 + d3 * Channel Duration. The enemy also experiences a movement slow of 9% * Channel Duration. The curse ends after 30 minutes.
Ailment Of Parlang (Target: Enemy, Area) Range: 800 (Avail. Book of Energy Lvl 7.)
Parlang is called forth from the arcane realms and inflicts his disease upon all enemies and neutrals within an 800 radius. There are no checks to prevent the disease. Those suffering from the disease will go through three stages. The first stage lasting 2 minutes will be symptomless, with only a movement slow of 20%. The second stage lasting 10 minutes will cause the diseased to suffer 40 damage per second, with a movement slow of 50%. The final stage of the disease lasts for 30 minutes and will deal 120 damage per second, with a movement slow of 80%. Those who are not cured from the disease and manage to survive the full 30 minutes will die instantly, without any checks being conducted. This disease bypasses death magic immunity. Dispelable via: Greater Healing, Cleansing, and Strong Dispels.
Death Bolt (Target: Enemy, Death Magic) Range: 800 (Avail. Book of Energy Lvl VII)
The enemy's Will must pass a check of 12 + d8 + (½ Caster level). If the check fails, the enemy dies instantly.
Dark Confusion (Target: Enemy, Area) Range: 600, Radius: 800
Enemies within a 800 radius must pass a combined Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma Check of 18 + d20 + (1/2 Caster Level) or become stunned for 3 seconds and take 60-90 dark damage.
Greater Shadow Merge (Target: Self, Ally) Range: 800
The target has 100-150 dark damage reduction in areas of darkness or very low visibility. Lasts 2 hours.
Greater Dark Shield (Target: Self, Neutral /Ally) Range: 600
Cloaks the target with a dark shield, granting them 60% evasion when in darkness for 1 hour. Shadow Shield and Dark Shield cannot stack. Casting one will replace the other.
Corrupt Weapon (Target: Self, Ally, Enemy, Weapon) Range: 100
Causes a weapon's physical damage to instead be dealt as dark damage. Lasts 2 hours.
Summon Shadow Beasts (Target: Self)
Summons two 20HP shadow beasts with 50 attack and the Life Siphoning ability. Shadow Beast is invisible and has 100% evasion in areas of darkness, and does not lose visibility whilst using Life Siphoning. Invisibility is lost if Shadow Beast attacks. If invisibility is lost, it is regained after 5 seconds. Shadow Beast has 5 health regeneration per second. Life Siphoning recharges every 1 minute. The shadow beasts last for 2 hours or until unsummoned/killed.
Dominate Undead (Target: Neutral/Enemy) Range: 800
Gain complete control of target undead minion with a maximum level equal to 10 + (1/2 Caster Level).
Book of Darkness – Level VII
Hells Curse (Target: Enemy, Curse) Range: 800
The caster curses the target enemy with Hells Curse. Whilst cursed, the target is set on fire, taking an initial 1 fire damage, which doubles every two seconds, to a maximum of 256 fire damage per second. The curse lasts for 20 seconds. This curse can be removed either via Burn removal or Curse removal.
Greater Harm (Target: Enemy) Range: 800
Deals a direct 150-210 dark damage to the target. This damage is doubled in darkness.
Curse of Greater Affliction (Target: Enemy, Curse), Range: 800
The target is cursed and takes 20-30 dark damage per second, has all stats reduced by 20 (to a minimum of 1), and has a 50% movement slow. The curse expires after 2 minutes or until removed via curse removal.
Demonic Nightmare (Target: Enemy, Death Magic) Range: 600 (Avail: Book of Energy Lvl VIII)
A demon tests the Will and current Health of the target enemy, and rolls dice of luck. If the enemy fails ANY one of the three tests, they die instantly.
First test: Enemy Will must be greater than 16 + d12 + (½ Caster level) or the test fails
Second test: Current enemy health must be greater than 200+d100 or the test fails
Third test: A d8 dice is rolled. If the number rolled is 1, the test fails.
Mia's Wrath (Target: Enemy, Area, Death Magic) Range: 800, Radius 800
The evil Goddess Mia unleashes her wrath on all enemies in an 800 radius. Any enemy with less than 15 of any stat are killed instantly. Those surviving take 150-220 dark damage.
Frail Life (Target: Enemy), Range: 800
Target enemy becomes diseased, experiencing a 30% movement slow, and has all stats reduced by 1 every second, until the enemy dies with 0 constitution. The disease remains indefinitely until the target dies or is cured via a Strong Dispel, Strong Heal or disease removal.
Haunting Visage (Target: Enemy, Death Magic), Range: 800
Target enemy must pass a Wisdom check of 10 + d18 + (½) Caster level or be attacked by an invincible spectral ghost. The ghost slows the target's movement by 30%, causes the target to experience darkness, and deals 15-25 dark damage per second. Every 10 seconds, the haunted target must make a will save of d16 + (½) Caster Level or die to the ghost's death magic touch. The ghost disappears after 1 minute.
Curse Item (Target: Item)
The caster curses the target item, converting it into an unidentified item. The caster can pick the identification level from between level 3 to level 6. If someone identifies the item, the curse is activated and transferred to the identifier. The curse initially gives the identifier a 30% slow lasting 10 minutes. If the curse remains after 10 minutes, the cursed begins to suffer 10-20 dark damage per second, with the slow increasing to 50%. This lasts a further 10 minutes. At the end of this duration, if the curse remains the cursed must make a Will save of 30 + d16 or die instantly to death magic. If the cursed passes the Will save, they live and the curse is removed.
Undead Insurrection (Target: Area), Range: 800, Radius: 1600
An army of 20 uncontrollable Dark Zombies arise from the ground over a 1600 radius, following and attacking any enemy or neutral in sight. The zombies will always return to the initial radius once their target is eliminated, or no targets exist within a 3000 radius. The Dark Zombies last until killed or disintegrated after 30 minutes.
Book of Darkness – Level VIII
Balrons' Curse (Target: Enemy, Curse, Death Magic), Range: 800
Target enemy must make a Will save of 20 + d14 + (½ Caster level) or die instantly. If the save is successful, the target must make a Strength save of 20 + d16 + (½ Caster level) or suffer 30-50 dark damage per second, experience a 40% movement slow, and have all stats reduced by 20. If the Strength save is successful, the target must make an Intelligence save of 20 + d16 + (½ Caster level) or suffer 15-25 dark damage per second, experience a 20% movement slow, and have all stats reduced by 10. If all saves are successful, the target experiences only a 20% movement slow. The curse remains for 5 minutes or until removed.
Decay Area (Target: Enemy, Area) Range: 800, Radius 1600
All non-undead life within the target area and a surrounding 1600 radius begins to decay and experience an initial 5% movement slow, and 1 stat reduction. Any undead within the area experience a 5% movement increase, and 1 increase to all their stats. Every 4 seconds, these amounts are doubled. If all of Decay Area is in darkness, then the doubling takes place every 2 seconds. Lasts 30 seconds. Dispellabe via a strong area-of-effect dispel.
Mia's Stare (Target: Enemy, Death Magic) Range: 800
The evil Goddess Mia stares into the soul of target enemy. The enemy must make both a Will save of 32 + d24 + (½ Caster level), and have at least 10 in all their stats, or die instantly.
Lost Hope (Target: Enemy, Area) Range: 1600
A great shadow encompasses a 1600 area. All enemies within the area lose 8 Will every 2 seconds. Lasts for 2 minutes. Dispellable via a strong area-of-effect dispel.
The Dark Crippling (Target: Enemy, Curse) Range: 800, Radius: 1200
All enemies/neutrals within a 1200 radius of the target are cursed with a 90% slow. In darkness, the slow becomes 200%. Lasts 5 minutes. Note: 200% slow helps overcome speed buffs such as Haste
Cheat Death (Target: Self) (Elite)
Whilst this buff is active, the caster is able to move within the realm of death and temporarily foresee his own demise. Whenever the caster would die from any source, that source is negated and instead the caster receives invulnerability for 2 seconds and this effect ends. Cheat Death remains active until triggered or for 3 hours. Dispellable via strong dispel.
Summon Dark Witch (Target: Self)
The caster crosses over the arcane realm into the very ethereal existence of matter itself, and calls forth a dark witch from an extra-dimensional plane. The dark witch is adept at both hexes and dark arcane magic. She has 300HP, 5 attack, 60 mana and access to Levels I – IV from the Book of Witchcraft, and levels I – VII from the Book of Darkness.
Book of Darkness – Level IX
Death's Touch (Target: Enemy, Death Magic) Range: 10
The caster touches the target enemy with a finger of death. The target must make a Will save of 50 + d30 + (½ Caster level) or die instantly. If the target survives the save, they are frozen for 2 seconds and take both 50-100 cold damage and 50-100 dark damage.
Omnipotent Evil (Target: Enemy, Area, Death Magic) Range: 800, Radius: 800
All enemies within an 800 radius of the target area must make a Will save of 40 + d30 + (½ Caster level) or die instantly.
Mia's Doom (Target: Enemy, Area, Curse) Range: 800, Radius: 1200
Mia curses all enemies in a 1200 radius of target area, causing all their stats to be reduced by half, and their movement speed reduced by 30%. Whilst those effected are in darkness, their movement speed is reduced by 60% instead of 30%. Anyone effected by the curse that does not remove it before its expiration will die, bypassing death magic immunity and other saves. Lasts 30 minutes.
Undead Form (Target: Self) (Elite)
The caster enters into an undead form. Movement speed is decreased by 30%, however all forms of dark damage heal instead of harm the caster, and the caster is immune to death magic. Healing from dark damage bypasses all forms of damage reduction. All AoE dark damage is also dealt to the caster, regardless of the spell description or source. Lasts for 10 minutes. Cannot be dispelled or purified, only naturalized.
Note: Dark damage always heals undead. Any ally undead are healed from AoE dark damage even if they are not in the spell description. Enemy-only spells that can heal undead may be targeted on Ally undead. However curses and other spells that involve checks cannot be cast on ally undead.
UPDATE -
Book of Darkness chapters I - IX completed. Preview updated above. Book of Energy preview removed due to message limit.
With regards to Forbidden levels. A single forbidden level will usually involve a heavy MC penalty on death, such as loss of the forbidden chapter. This is to reflect the upset to the balance of the powers that studying a forbidden chapter has. Two forbidden chapters will usually result in complete permadeath and permadestruction of that character upon death. This is to reflect the outright god-like power and reversal of counters that a second forbidden chapter usually provides.
A Forbidden Book is a book comprised only of forbidden chapters. This is reserved for true Demi-Gods and will be restricted in supply, and have huge MC cost. Hopefully no one will buy these books other than donors looking to deflate the supply, or some very keen minds thinking they can play power politics and return a profit with their god-like powers. This is where nothing is certain, and the game world and player pacts will determine the course of both in-game politics and external real-world value of the MC token.
Of course perma-death will begin from Chapter I in Forbidden Books. There will be only two types of Forbidden Books yet to be determined. Over time, as MC supply decreases, there may no longer be enough MC to study any forbidden chapters or books anymore. They are a transient thing that will have an expiry at some point in the future as MC supply diminishes and becomes more valuable. At this stage, the God-like mages will become extinct or nearly extinct. Only the smartest, and luckiest, would most likely survive, and they would be wise to protect themselves with trusted alliances rather than foolishly show off their powers and create enemies. However anything is possible, including tyrants. But every tyrant would most likely only have one life, and with a high loot bounty.
All lives will cost the equivalent of $0.20 in MC at current exchange rates which ALL players must pay every time they die. This serves both realism purposes for everyone and deflates MC supply. Lives can be bought in bulk to prevent MC fluctuations. New players may play on a tutorial island with limited progression to familiarize themselves with game mechanics before venturing into the real world where their first life will cost $0.20 in MC.
All deaths in the game will be automatically reversed if there is any issue with the central server connection (which will automatically be logged in networking logs). No deaths will be reversed due to a player's own Internet connection troubles. If MC is refunded, it must be refunded from the player who acquired the MC since MC cannot be generated from thin air, as it is a blockchain token. This will create troubles when refunds are necessary, particularly if another player has looted the dieing player's MC. As such, manual refunds will be very rare and should almost always happen on an automatic server level.
Each player will have 30% of their spent and permanently destroyed MC since their last death infused on their corpse when they die. This MC is lootable by anyone, and provides an incentive to organize clans together to kill Demi-God players who would have a very high MC bounty. Nevertheless, Demi-God players may destroy entire clans too and loot all of the MC from their corpses (which might be only in small amounts compared to the Demi-God player).
Eg: Scenario 1) Player A purchases a Forbidden Chapter costing 300 MC and one life which might cost 0.5MC ($0.20 USD equivalent exchange) = 300.5 * 0.30 = 90.15 MC lootable upon this player's death. The 300 MC value of the Forbidden Chapter is destroyed since the Forbidden Chapter itself is destroyed upon death, so there is no free creation of value anywhere, but rather a net destruction of 70% value. This will deflate the 300.5 MC by 70% in this scenario, or 100% if the corpse expires with no one looting the 30% MC left behind by Player A.
Scenario 2) Player B purchases a permanent thing such as an Inventory Slot increase with their MC instead of their gold. This costs them 20 MC. If the player dies, there is no destruction of MC value since the player retains the Inventory Slot increase, even through death. Thus, if they die, their corpse would only have a lootable 0.5MC (cost of their life) * 0.3 = 0.15 MC. The 20 MC is not included in their lootable corpse since their last death since the 20 MC value is retained.
In Scenario 1, The Forbidden Chapter is destroyed upon death, so its value is lost and thus 30% of its value is transferred to the corpse bounty of Player A. In Scenario 2, the Inventory Slot increase is not lost upon death, so no MC invested into it is transferred to Player B's corpse bounty.
Caveat: If Player B was to go forward and make a permadeath pact later in the game, then the accumulation of all their spent MC including Inventory Slot increase would now be allocated to their corpse bounty, since now their Inventory Slot increase is eliminated upon death (since the character is permanently killed).
There is just one simple rule: 30% of any purchased MC-value is lootable upon player death if that MC-value is not retained in any way after death.
This system provides both an incentive to loot MC and provide real world advantages to the politics and power that take places within the game, and also serves as a deflationary model for circulating MC supply, which should increase the value of MC tokens as supply diminishes
Note: PvP will be restricted to certain open world resource-rich areas, duels, and arenas/tournaments.
..... Have a look at the ICO in my signature, if you