Magefall Questions

[Pariah]

So I've always been a fan of magick in Arm, always liked the risk/reward of it for the most part, only thing I didn't like honestly was the superpowered t1 fighter mage combos that just decimated people if they had time to "mature" skillwise and spellwise.

I also know there are quite a few players who always hated that mages were never going to have high social status besides the "Oh shit he could kill me in one spell" way.

Seems like this is tweaking that quite a bit with clan hiring and such.

So without getting too "spoilery" will all the same protections of the gem extend to their new employers too?  Like the Byn and whatnot?

I can only imagine there are some purist folks who are all pissed off by this news, but I'm a little more laid back and figure what the fuck, lets see how this goes.

[Halaster]

As mentioned in the update #2, there will be some societal changes to Allanak that affect that standing of mages.  During the intervening 50 year period, they will have experienced a rise in social status, then getting knocked back down a bit.  When we open, some of these events will be semi-recent - in living memory.  So individual characters can choose how they view gemmed in the city.

There will still be plenty of elements in society that distrusts them, hates them, wants them dead.  And you can be those people.  There will -also- be plenty of elements in society that view them a bit more favorably, which you can also be if you choose.

When the game opens, there won't be any gemmed hired by the Byn, except one old guy who's been around since their status was at its peak.  The game will explore the new dichotomy of their sort of "mixed" standing in society.  So the first Byn sergeant will get to decide whether or not they're gonna start hiring gemmed (again).  Our first PC templars and AoD sergeants will get to decide whether they want to make use of gemmed more commonly or not.

It really boils down to this:  you won't get in trouble OOC'ly for having your character view the gemmed a bit more favorably than what we're all used to seeing.  You will have IC justifications for doing so.  And you'll have IC justifications for hating them with the heat of a thousand suns.

That make sense?

[Pariah]

Yeah, I think this is more along the realms of how things would really work if this place were real.

If I'm Jarod the hunter (Course I would be, it's 99% of my characters) in Zalanthas and I find out that Joe-Bob is a water witch and can fill my waterskin for free, and heal my back from damn near dead with little to no effort.  That benefit is going to outweigh the superstitious part of my mind, the benefit outweighs the con.

I feel like arm has sorta stagnated because of how magick was universally hated and they didn't allow you to evolve into understanding it's utility unless you just happened to be a Templar or AOD soldier.

I'm hoping this leads to more flexibility and not rigid black and white rules in regards to how you view magick.

[Lizzie]

Yeah, I think this is more along the realms of how things would really work if this place were real.

If I'm Jarod the hunter (Course I would be, it's 99% of my characters) in Zalanthas and I find out that Joe-Bob is a water witch and can fill my waterskin for free, and heal my back from damn near dead with little to no effort.  That benefit is going to outweigh the superstitious part of my mind, the benefit outweighs the con.

I feel like arm has sorta stagnated because of how magick was universally hated and they didn't allow you to evolve into understanding it's utility unless you just happened to be a Templar or AOD soldier.

I'm hoping this leads to more flexibility and not rigid black and white rules in regards to how you view magick.

My takeaway on the announcement, applied to your question, is this:

Your character can get that healing, and know damned well that if you manage to live past 40, your testicles will shrivel up and fall off, and all offspring your PC has had since the accursed healing will be magickers. Anything bad that happens post-heal, will be directly because of that healing. The water you drink for free this year and next from your vivaduan buddy, is what will cause you to die of dehydration after a day out in the salt flats, five years from now.

You can have your character believe that, because it's still part of the mythos of elemental magick. But if he doesn't believe that, it won't be an OOC faux pas.

[Pariah]

Well I tend to play mostly characters that believe "eternal oblivion" so once I'm dead, who gives a fuck, it's all over from my perspective,  but sure I guess if someone wanted to roleplay this scenarios and that strife sure.

[Riev]

I fully intend to be part of the group that wants you dirty, filthy magickers dead. All you've done is cause trouble, and while I can't prove it? You're the reason my cousin's third girlfriend's 2nd child was stillborn.

So. Here's a knife at your neck. I hope it pierces that dull black heart of yours.

[Lizzie]

I fully intend to be part of the group that wants you dirty, filthy magickers dead. All you've done is cause trouble, and while I can't prove it? You're the reason my cousin's third girlfriend's 2nd child was stillborn.

So. Here's a knife at your neck. I hope it pierces that dull black heart of yours.

My whiran is going to be your VBFF. Very Best Frenemy Forever.

[Valkyrja]

I fully intend to be part of the group that wants you dirty, filthy magickers dead. All you've done is cause trouble, and while I can't prove it? You're the reason my cousin's third girlfriend's 2nd child was stillborn.

So. Here's a knife at your neck. I hope it pierces that dull black heart of yours.

We definitely are looking for players to be on both sides of the political aisle. It's meant to be a contentious issue and we'd prefer players to explore the nuance once we get into Season 1.

[NinjaFruitSalad]

I don't really get why 50 years of two influential houses preaching and demonstrating in one way gets completely offset by a cabal of conspirators that pull off a bunch of wanton murder in a single night.

Surely with the abrubt deaths of so many powerful individuals, the economic effects would be immediately noticeable?

ie, if it is said that gemmed were the source of everyone's woes, wouldn't things dramatically improve with this many of them killed?  I know people in this universe are generally illiterate, but that doesn't necessarily translate to stupidity.

[Valkyrja]

I don't really get why 50 years of two influential houses preaching and demonstrating in one way gets completely offset by a cabal of conspirators that pull off a bunch of wanton murder in a single night.

Surely with the abrubt deaths of so many powerful individuals, the economic effects would be immediately noticeable?

ie, if it is said that gemmed were the source of everyone's woes, wouldn't things dramatically improve with this many of them killed?  I know people in this universe are generally illiterate, but that doesn't necessarily translate to stupidity.

Hey there! Great question. This is both something that will have more light shed on it when we release the full 50 Year History doc (which will also be teased more in the coming weeks) and there will be plenty of stuff to explore in game regarding this. Our goal is for players to understand the "culture shift" for every area they play in and also have some depth to "find out IC" depending on their role or proximity to such roles.

[papertiger]

Can I join the cult though? 

[Tuannon]

The cult of Snap, Tiger? Also I like that you are back.

[Bogre]

Although it does potentially add IC conflict, I really fail to see how it accomplishes the OOC goals of making magick -less- the center point.

With one of the complaints being 'magickers are too strong and can do stuff better' - again, not something I agree with because of the significant downside of being a mage culturally...how does making them socially more acceptable/useful not just push the focus to what a mage can do in the Byn/Tor/etc.

Now a mage character can have access to unlimited sparring, social climb, etc. why is this not going to turn into magicker cuddle puddle Byn squad in Allanak?

It just seems at cross purposes to blanket nerf mage characters and at the same time give them much more carte blanche to do stuff that will make people feel bad. I.e. A) take a central role in things over mundanes and B) be encouraged to PVP in interclan dynamics.

[Riev]

New docs will be interesting to see. I would like to see how Templar players interpret it now, since previous 'mage killings' tended to be chased down like treason crimes since the Templar liked that mage, etc etc.

Now mages are even more tolerated among some people, and may be regarded as 'tools' that don't necessarily ruin your political reputation? I am interested to see what happens.

However, @Bogre, I suggest you join me in my anti-mage cuddle puddle, where we do less cuddling and more spam-sparring and bandaging while begging people to provide mage-poisons (aka all the poisons)

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

Overall, I like this ... but I also like the idea that people didn't start just liking mages. It was a politically pushed rise in status. But the cult trims that newly-found status neatly. I DO think I'd work on the cult idea, and add in there that the "old-heads" of Nak, who didn't take the new word of the nobles that mages should be out and about, might've had a ton to do with it, and are part of the group who thinks that all mages deserve the knife.

Overall, though, I LOVE the idea that mages can be in shit now though, visibly.

I haven't looked at anything detailing power creep or anything, but mages might need to be limited, like 1 per 10 or something. Either way, really like this a lot.