WHile I love the idea of having ABS dished out for every mage on a whim, it does create an unbalance in the grand scheme of things. There are 10-15 hardass non-mage players, that either play (Imperials-with prep knowledge, or hard-ass villagers). For mages to compete and hold their own, they must use ABS. It is not an 'I win' button agaisnt these type of chars. Take a giant sword berserker for example. I have used every conceivable prep at my disposal and still lost one on one fights, agaisnt the best of the best.

My idea regarding ABS is to bring roleplay and magery back to the forefront. PK whores that rank up to hero in 15 hours, and nab some ABS from OOC means, are just plain wrecking the system. THat being said, people should not have to search, area after area, sometimes going over the same place, time and again, to get this part of their char. out of the way. We already have a great system of limited wands, for freaks like me, that enjoy doing this.

I propose a graded system, where the spell is learned starting with shield. Mages that roleplay well, obtain a certain amount of exploration points, have been engaged in battle for long periods, should gain some mastery into the mana weave to protect themselves. Something like the timer on shifter forms. You would feel yourself getting a stronger connection to mana, and wham, the ability to shield yourself. This would encourage, fighting, exploring, and magery (invention, writing works on magic, thesis papers, battling villagers).

That being said, SHield should come relatively easy. AUra, Barrier would follow, and could trigger based on the mages age in Thera. I used to play D&D off an on when in college. I had a really skilled DM that actually made a dice-paper game extremely fun and exciting to play. Ancient archmages should be deadly.

This proposal would disuade power-gamers. Sure you can grab some limited wands and roll up your gnome offense-air. But to become an elite mage, you would need show Thera through action that you are deserving.

On a second phase of this, put timers on how much use the spells can be cast. Devils advocate: A smart villager would hit the outer guardian, know that defenders are going to cast their spells of protection, and then be useless for 48 hours once it runs out. Give the mages the ability to withdraw the spell. If they keep barrier up for lets say 8 hours every 48. You could put it up quickly, and be ready to rumble. If the villager runs off, you withdraw it and now have 7 hours of use over the next period.

Their is lots more tweaking and work needed of course.

This system would give players the option to jump in and play the game to get rewarded and stronger. Instead of searching/gathering boredom which it appears many of our players dispise.

Really interested in your opinion.