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Defensive Magics

PostPosted: Wed May 17, 2017 1:51 pm
by Dragovar
So a bit of a worrisome trend has been noticed by myself and others. A small exercise in OOC knowledge bleeding IC during combat dice situations. When one is proficient in both Physical and Magical combat often times they will deliberately choose the opposite one depending on if their opponent uses a defensive spell to counter one or the other. So, consider the following:

I propose a small alteration to the current combat protocol. Defensive Magics need not be revealed with their spell name for two rounds.

This would promote a bit better RP I feel, because it would make one learn their opponent and look for cues after a spell has been cast. I would say that this could mean that a few spell descriptions need to be amended to include clear, obvious, tells.

Physical Armor perhaps giving off a red shimmer rather than the current nondescript shimmer, and Magical Armor giving off blue. The cues would be required rather than the spell being outright said. This might be more work than is feasible however.

Re: Defensive Magics

PostPosted: Wed May 17, 2017 2:02 pm
by Angst
Well that would make things difficult if we, as officials, don't know how to properly calculate. Especially if we're watching the rolls OOCly.

Re: Defensive Magics

PostPosted: Wed May 17, 2017 2:48 pm
by Dragovar
Hmm.. a simple PM could fix that one. Perhaps a single round? That would merely prevent exploitation immediately.

Re: Defensive Magics

PostPosted: Wed May 17, 2017 3:13 pm
by Angst
And having people keep track of their own stats and enchants for comparison? I, for one, like to see everything.

However, that is not the point, I suppose. The issue is the OOC knowledge being used IC, right?

Re: Defensive Magics

PostPosted: Wed May 17, 2017 4:10 pm
by crow
Before we even class this as a problem, is it really OOC knowledge?
I don't believe any rule exists which suggests characters must be are unaware of the spells being cast?

One might suggest we hide the spell and post only hints towards it's nature that would allow one to identify the spell, but surely that is already assumed to be the default state of an aware character in a combat situation, and the IC reason for the OOC knowledge of the spell?

Re: Defensive Magics

PostPosted: Wed May 17, 2017 5:32 pm
by miyuka
Spells are not subtle. The only subtle spells are those belonging to the seductress sphere. Spells require the use of your voice as well as hand gestures. Your opponent is going to be very aware of a spell you've casted. A battle hardened character should know what spell is what. A non seasoned character should RP accordingly if it is their first time seeing specific spells.

Re: Defensive Magics

PostPosted: Wed May 17, 2017 5:33 pm
by Angst
I'll be honest. I haven't noticed such things but then again I don't pay much attention to the IC posts unless someone points out an issue to me. I focus more on the rolls and keeping track of numbers when I'm officiating matches.

Re: Defensive Magics

PostPosted: Wed May 17, 2017 7:06 pm
by Naomh
To add to Miyuka's post, enchantments have a similar translucence to them. You need both hands and voice to activate enchantments. They are far more simple than spells, hence why armour does not interfere with activating enchantments even if it interferes with spellcasting, but.

Re: Defensive Magics

PostPosted: Wed May 17, 2017 7:10 pm
by Dragovar
I suppose that spells themselves are obvious, which one however is not so easy in my opinion.

Gestures AND words are always left up to the caster as far as I am aware. Dragovar particularly speaks in Drakonic when he casts magic.

As for it being obvious what the spell is being cast, both Physical Armor and Magical Armor have the exact same description. To. The. Letter. Switching only Magical and Physical damage.

When a mage casts this spell, a shimmering in the air appears around them for a moment before dissipating. This spell reduces the magical damage that the caster takes.

There is no outward difference to anyone viewing the caster.

Re: Defensive Magics

PostPosted: Wed May 17, 2017 7:34 pm
by Farvel
Even if we assumed knowledge of a particular defensive spell was OOC rather than IC (which as this discussion shows, is debatable by itself), it would still be mostly a matter of poor roleplay (using OOC knowledge IC) rather than the fault of game mechanics. It would be no different from, say, choosing to use a Ranged Physical Attack because you know your opponent has high RES and low AGI.

Re: Defensive Magics

PostPosted: Thu May 18, 2017 3:16 am
by miyuka
if we made a rule up for every instance of perceived poor RP we'd have a litany of red tape surrounding so many aspects of the game and every little thing someone does. The answer is no. We are not making such a rule or mechanic for spells or abilities or for even just knowing someone's stats. The very idea is borderline ridiculous in my honest opinion.

Re: Defensive Magics

PostPosted: Thu May 18, 2017 6:17 am
by Adonai
And, honestly, while fighting another, trying to guess which defensive spell? I mean, if I fought a heavy armor laden character like Abby, it would be obvious I would cast Physical Defensive spells of some type, granted there are like 2 or 3. I mean, without using OOC for IC knowledge. I would hope people that work for the Arena as gladiators could at least discern, what the opponent uses by the armor they wear, the fame of their name, and or the weapons they have.

Re: Defensive Magics

PostPosted: Thu May 18, 2017 7:45 pm
by Farvel
miyuka wrote:if we made a rule up for every instance of perceived poor RP we'd have a litany of red tape surrounding so many aspects of the game and every little thing someone does. The answer is no. We are not making such a rule or mechanic for spells or abilities or for even just knowing someone's stats. The very idea is borderline ridiculous in my honest opinion.

If that was directed at me, I believe you misunderstood my post. :wink:

Mine was a response to Dragovar, stating pretty much the same thing you did: that this is mostly an isssue of RP etiquette rather than faulty game mechanics, and thus not something that can be fixed by changing the mechanics, just like you can't use mechanics to prevent combat choices being made based on knowing the person's stats.

Re: Defensive Magics

PostPosted: Fri May 19, 2017 4:04 am
by miyuka
in response to whomever made the original post and I think Dragovar's