It had been learned that the legendary Horn of Fate might be sounded within the twisted Heart of the Prismatic Veil to calm the Veil and its chaotic effects upon magic and reality throughout Thera.

The only problem: to enter the Heart of the Veil was certain death to all.

Learning that the secretive warrior-monks of the Order of the Macalla had been keeping guard over the Horn, a way to contact them was sought. A group of adventurers, allied with the fire dancer Asmeida, managed to recover the goddess Iunna from the Eternal Flames. A highly favored student of the Macalla, she was able to persuade them of Thera's need for the Horn. A tournament was announced, with the winner to claim the Horn of Fate.

Meanwhile, ways to survive in the Heart of the Veil long enough to sound the Horn were pursued.

The Battleragers believed that if they could achieve the flawless immunity to magic once possessed by the original anti-magic army of the First Age, they could weather the chaotic magic of the Veil long enough to sound the Horn. They learned that a vial of blood sacred to the ancient Battle goddess, Stormace, had been among the items safeguarded in the Vault of Nyastren. If drunk by a Battlerager, this blood would give them the ability to weather the Veil for a few short hours. After much searching and trial, they obtained the vial.

The Nexuns, in turn, believed that a bonded pair could survive the Veil by achieving a form of equilibrium with its rapid changes, harmonizing with the Veil's energies rather than resisting them. Indeed, this was the very reason for their resurrection. Researching the history of the Nexus of the past, they learned of a pair of stylized serpent belts sacred to the goddess Jazur which might fortify the bond for the Veil. They made some headway in discovering the location of these items, but failed to obtain them.

The day of the Tournament of Fate came. Setting honorable terms, a monk of the Macalla set all takers in a race to be the first back with an item from within the oasis of Nonviel. Blood aplenty was spilled on those inhospitable sands as many great heroes struggled against each other. Lauraine, Cardinal of the Golden Sun, returned with the sought-after bracelet and was awarded the Horn of Fate.

Unable to sound the horn themselves, the Fortress debated what to do with the Horn. Ultimately they were persuaded that it should be sounded by the Nexus. Delving into the depths of the Inferno, the Fortress obtained the crimson devouring-serpent belt. Diving beneath the Sirine Island, Lauraine acquired the golden devouring-serpent belt.

Armed with Horn and the paired belts, Fadderth and Shubtar ignited the Bond of the Nexus. Although impeded by a force of the Battleragers led by Azilaph, they had the powerful assistance of the Fortress of Light and made their way into the Heart of the Veil, harmonizing with it and surviving its energies as planned.

The Battleragers yet had a card to play. Drinking the sacred blood of Stormace, Azilaph and Grimbledorf awakened the secrets of their Villages' ancestors, briefly gaining a total immunity to magic. They rushed into the Heart of the Veil, pursuing the Nexuns! Unfortunately, Azilaph had imbibed the blood too early and its effects were too brief; the Veil still destroyed him. Grimbledorf, however, survived and struck the Nexuns even as they sought to sound the Horn! Though he fought bravely, alone he was unable to match the two. He fell, crushed by the coils of the anaconda near the Vault doors.

At last, Fadderth sounded a note on the Horn of Fate heard across Thera. The fury of the Veil began to calm, and a new Age was born, one in which mortals would determine the fate of magic and their world...

I'm not big fun of rp. Mostly because i don't even understand what's going on. But i thank you Nepe and rest of Staff for the great job you do!

.

I dislike an idea that I can die just because my 100% word(quaff potion;zap wand;brandish staff) failed because of some 'new' dinamic. That will frustrate me to no end like death in link dead does (and deaths to gangs will never do). I think that will give us much more rage deletations.

So I will not take high risks if I know that my teleport can fail and I will be frustrated because of such ####. You will not see such great fights as I had with Greddarh when I worded out battle with 4 or 5 ragers in just 42 hp. Though it is just me and my love to shinies :)

I think that it would be great to have some things like longer/shorter magic duration, mana cost, form weakens or improvements, some things for rager and such but not the fails of escape abilities.

P.S. Empower chars should overpowered now! :) If that change did not harm them also.

P.S.S. I have no much info about currient changes so don't eat me alive for my comments.

>I dislike an idea that I can die just because my 100%
>word(quaff potion;zap wand;brandish staff) failed because of
>some 'new' dinamic. That will frustrate me to no end like
>death in link dead does (and deaths to gangs will never do). I
>think that will give us much more rage deletations.
>
>So I will not take high risks if I know that my teleport can
>fail and I will be frustrated because of such ####. You will
>not see such great fights as I had with Greddarh when I worded
>out battle with 4 or 5 ragers in just 42 hp. Though it is just
>me and my love to shinies :)

You do love shinies. :)

There's one big difference in the Veil as it stood a week ago and as it stands today that I don't think anyone has commented on. Simply, it's more or less trackable and predictable. A week ago magic was varying widely and could jack up and down with no warning at any time. You could notice when it happened, but it could happen at an inopportune time.

Conversely, now (or once people start to figure out how things work), you'll know whether teleport is reliable or not. The Veil is not really going to spontaneously thin and strand you in the middle of fighting 4 or 5 ragers.

Incidentally, I've been tracking things over the last seven hours, and it's ranged from "Magic is a little weak, but only a Nexus mage would probably notice the minor effects" to "Magic is a little strong, but probably only a Battle character might notice the minor effects." In other words, pretty close to balanced. That's going to shake up a bit as the week goes on and some things come to light, but probably not a ton as a matter of course.

I'm a bit off CF nowadays.
I need some elaboration.

Did I get this right?
If ragers are in power it is good time to roll a rager, because your powers will work very well. And it is bad time for a mage because his skills will be crippled?

And if mages dominate the world it is good time to become one of them because your powers will be at the pinnacle?

Tell me that the Neo-Nexus is going to kill mages or ragers ( depends who is in power now )
or I will agree with Shadowmaster... that is the dumbest change in CF for years }(

For the class-balance purposes I would implement different scheme:
When there are too many mages their power is crippled ( magic power is divided between too many individuals bla bla bla ).
And when ragers are in power, every new mage get some boost to his powers.

I'm going to spend more of my time tonight working and making things happen than talking about it. You'll just have to play and see. ;)

I'm not that young and I don't have necessary time figure such kind of things by myself. :(

After all, your answer wasn't "No", so I afraid that, IN GENERAL, what I've said is right }(.
This changes provokes bandwagon'ers!

At first blush... possibly!

In practice... we'll see! I'm not entirely without my devious plotting.

In a sense, this has been my baby. If you hated the whole thing or are angry about some part of it and want someone to blame, I'm probably at least partially responsible. Direct your hate mail at me.

In a larger sense, though, this has been a labor of love in some way by a large chunk of the staff. Some helped me out by writing objects, NPCs, room descriptions, etc. that needed to be ready to go to run some part of the quest. Some helped out with the running of the quests themselves, either by handling a crucial NPC or running an entire chapter alone. Many contributed into the development of the general plot/story. Many others picked up the slack on things I or others had to let go by the wayside a bit because we were focused on questing. Thanks, all of you. It's been a lot of work, but it's been a lot of fun too and it couldn't have happened without you.

Thanks as well to all the players involved, from the characters who were movers and shakers at some point or another, to the newbies who got splattered by being in the wrong place at the wrong time and took it in good cheer, to everyone who fetched something for a member of the Consortium, to everyone who became involved, really involved with the story in some way. It couldn't have happened without y'all either.

Nep/Daev seems reticent to admit this, but this is more than just "mostly him". Dude totally made all of this happen. Let's just list off what this whole thing really entailed:
1. Idea for a "new" cabal. I say "new" because some of the hatahs out there will say that Nexus isn't new.
2. Coding powers for a new cabal.*
3. Overseeing creation of a new cabal area, cabal helpfiles, cabal echoes, cabal dogma, cabal rules, etc.**
4. Coding progs for a new cabal area.*
5. Outlining/scripting a massive overarching quest that involved at least 50 different PC's at various times.
6. Running roughly 60-75% of the quest, either in person or directing other imms (quite possibly a low % estimate).
7. Creating some very cool custom items to disperse when the Vault blew open.
8. Coding mageplague and uberplague.
9. Creating a potentially massively game-altering mortal-controlled dynamic in the form of the magic-power fluctuation.
10. Rewriting his own Imm-character into (yet another) new form.

All while continuing to do other imp-ly stuff such as immstaff evaluations, bugfixes, roleplay enforcement/encouragement, game balance evaluation, etc.

So - if you see this man and have the chance to, give him some props. Preferably rather than complaints. :)

As for myself, I want to give him a big thank-you: As a player, an Imm, and a friend. Steve, you're one of the biggest reasons I decided to come back. No lie.


*Caveat - I do not know how much help NepDaev got from the rest of ye olde coders. I presume not a lot, as they have all had their hands into other cookie jars (rangers, etc.) but I might be wrong. If I am, you may soon see new code that makes any Immortals from my IP speak backwards, or something like that, as they get back at me. :)

Twist tells you '?he naicigam a eb ot tnaw uoy oS'

**Yes, this is an area where admittedly NepDaev got a lot of help from the rest of the staff. But he still had to put in the time to wrangle all of it, add his $.02, etc.

Typically speaking, quests are something that are planned out to give the players a decent storyline. If there was something I wanted to do for a player, it generally means I need to come up with a beginning, middle, end and reward. I then would have to get an okay to run said quest. Don't get me wrong, I have never been told no to a quest idea, but, you really have to think about what objections might come up so that you can "fix" it before you ask.

Nep/Daev created an age of chaos that allowed immortals to go nuts with the players and fly by the seat of our pants.

Everytime I asked if I could do something, he said, "Have at it! If so and so asks, tell them I gave you the okay."

In the past three months, I heard more 'Thank you' prays for the fun time they had that night then I have since I have been an imm.

I ran more off the wall quests in this period of time than I have done in three years. The good news is that I plan on doing a lot more because it went so well.

I think I ran a dozen off the wall quests from the time the mage plague got started. I did countless echoes for no apparent reason other than to give the players something to think about. I got to bring a dragon out of hell, I got to have devils rescue the fortress from confused angels, ents attacked Galadon and quite a bit more.

I want to thank him for all the fun he created by letting me loose.

I read these forums and I see some people whining and complaining about something they only think they know about. When this thing gets going in full blown mode, the wars are going to be so intense compared to what they are now. I am so pumped for CF right now. Granted, I am a bit more in the know. I know what it's like to have kids who say "I don't like that" pointing at some food they have never tried before. That's exactly what the complainers sound and look like to me.

Seldom can a reader of a good story be assured that the author(s) read their fanmail that is sent, but you guys put together a great storyline that has consumed me for a long time now. The energy you expended in its planning and execution far exceeded any expectations I had, and your collective roleplay put to shame my feeble efforts the few times my characters interacted with yours.

I have no idea what plans you hold for this Fourth Age, and I'm sure there will be much debate over the changes which are in store for us, but I'm excited and immensely pleased that I was able to be a part of it, however insignificant my contributions were.

Congratulations on a job well done.

Lots of things. But, off the top of my head:

- Nexus will have a cabal HQ and begin operating more like a normal cabal. Theoretically that would've been tonight, but I'm beat and there's a tiny bit of cleanup/massaging left from all of this stuff to be done before it can be put live. Expect to see this fairly soon.

- The main thrust of this ongoing story/quest begun in July has reached its conclusion. You'll still see some things yet to happen that in some way relate to these events, such as a number of loose ends involving the contents of the Vault of Nyastren. You haven't seen the last of the Eldritch Consortium -- indeed, we planned for you to have seen more of them already, but it didn't quite happen that way. Soon.

- The big one is this: the Veil still holds sway over the strength of magic (among other things) in Thera. It no longer shifts in huge increments and erratically; rather, it is the actions of mortals that will define its strength or weakness. If you are a mage or sympathetic to them, it is possible for you to make magic stronger across Thera. If you are a Battlerager or sympathetic to their cause, it possible for you to make magic weaker across Thera. Most likely, you've seen some of the effects of this strength or weakness already. Nexus, Battle, and some other characters are sensitive to large shifts of the Veil in one direction or the other. The ways in which the Veil is influenced will most likely be discovered by mortals in the days immediately to come.

I'm probably forgetting something, but there's a start.

Am I right to assume that Scions too are sensitive to these fluctuations of magic, similarly to Nexus?

>Am I right to assume that Scions too are sensitive to these
>fluctuations of magic, similarly to Nexus?

Currently, no, except those that can already tell as part of their class abilities or otherwise. (Nexus gets to be a little special due to the story to this point and ultimately the nature of their cabal area; the swings of magic also affect them a little more strongly than most characters.)

My ultimate plan is for them to gain a little more help in this respect from their cabal area, and for some forms of their divination power to provide additional information. These will probably be loose ends dealt with by the Scions in one way or another soon.

The disposition of the Ebony Scepter, of course, is material to the fluctuations of magic, as are the state of the omens the Scions read...

What exactly would have proven to be different in all the above if the character of Grimbledorf had been able to kill the two Nexus characters?

Quite the burning question really. At least from where I am sitting.

It's funny that you ask that, because it really could have easily gone the other way half a dozen separate times. Going into the night I really thought Battle was going to win.

I'll never tell. :) I'll only say that while the overall effects would have been similar if Battle had sounded the Horn instead (e.g., the Veil calms, fluctuations of magic become less erratic), I was prepared for Battle to win and some meaningful things would have been different right away, the kinds of things people not playing Battle would probably be bitching about right now.

' it really could have easily gone the other way half a dozen separate times. '

So I noticed alright. Especially during the events which would eventually be leading to the emergence of the Psuchae Imm character. However it was the notion that the majority of the quest now has reached its final conclusion that made this question suddenly so burning to me.

' I'll never tell. :)'

Eheh. I'll be going from the assumption that the basic core of most of the material that didn't end up being applied will head for recycling and then for storage, to be used in some other shape or fashion somewhere down the road when the appropriate moment(s) arrive(s).

' the kinds of things people not playing Battle would probably be bitching about right now. '

I'd say that is all the more reason for me to take as much joy out of that squeeze as I currently am already doing. I'm truly looking forward to seeing the new game dynamic in action.

A heartfelt 'Thank you!' for all the hours of planning and code that you and your peers have put into this.

>
>Eheh. I'll be going from the assumption that the basic core
>of most of the material that didn't end up being applied will
>head for recycling and then for storage, to be used in some
>other shape or fashion somewhere down the road when the
>appropriate moment(s) arrive(s).

Yeah, that's about right. It's more about IC bragging rights and what gets done before what other thing than what the game will look like in a year.

(n/t)

?

As I've never been part of a board where the basic message that I was trying to convey suffers so periodically from Lost in Translations as on this one. It's a little disturbing really.

Nepenthe, to clarify beyond any and all doubt, here and now;

1) I am enthusiastic about this new game mechanic that has been added. I was not in any way being snide or cynical about it. What I in particular admire about it is how it can potentially make uncaballed characters become more closely involved in certain parts of the cabal warfaring, without these characters necessarily having to become one of the infamous 'flunkies'.

2) I loved watching this entire quest unfold from A to Z. My only regret is that the community has brought forth so little first person view logs of all that they have been involved in.

3) When I said I wanted to give you and your peers a heartfelt 'thank you' for all the work that you've put into this project, I meant that in the most literal sense possible.

I swear, it must the black & reddish background of this forum. I never have these problems on Dioxide's page.

On a small sidenote; in the case I managed to get any of the nuances wrong in my most recent additions to the Wikipedia article on these changes and additions to the gameplay, then remember than any one can freely edit on this website as needed. I remain convinced that this article can help to draw more attention to the Carrion Fields from the mudding community at large and thus fuel the total numbers. It's part of the reason why I've spend some time on cleaning it up to the best of my ability.

Now I'm confused, because I think in the grandparent post I was saying that, yeah, you're right, probably a lot of the stuff that would have come out if things had gone the other way will come out eventually anyway... just not in the same way.

Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy from my part. I think we had best draw a line under this immediatly before we both end up with something of a headache.

"If you are a mage or sympathetic to them, it is possible for you to make magic stronger across Thera. If you are a Battlerager or sympathetic to their cause, it possible for you to make magic weaker across Thera."

So let me make sure I understand. I can now make magic less or more reliable, depending on which side of the fence I am on?

If that is the case, my days of playing mages is over. Yay.

>So let me make sure I understand. I can now make magic less or
>more reliable, depending on which side of the fence I am on?

That's roughly correct. However:

- This means magic can also work better than the standard. Imagine a global spellcraft-like effect on all spells cast. Imagine unpredictable but nonetheless striking effects of high magic. Imagine a tougher ram or dolphin than you've ever seen laying waste.

- This also means you can make Battle powers more or less reliable depending on which side of the fence you're on.

So Graatch can't cry about spells not failing?

Pardon me if I think this is the worst change to CF since I came here.

Hopefully I'll be wrong.

>So Graatch can't cry about spells not failing?

Because it's an interesting mechanic that I haven't seen the like of anywhere else.

>Pardon me if I think this is the worst change to CF since I
>came here.

I won't.

Do you prefer the sugar-coated stuff? I am being honest here. I have issue with one particular change, is it better to just shut up then be critical?

I am sincere in my question.

I prefer honest feedback, when it comes from knowing what the #### you're talking about.

If I'm thinking about going to a movie, I might read a movie review. I prefer it to be honest. I don't want to read a "review" of some guy bashing the movie who didn't even go to see it but heard a two-sentence summation of the plot and thought it was dumb. It's like that.

.

Just ####ing try something out before you start complaining about it.

Jesus, some days I feel like a kindergarden teacher in here.

I played a mage during this quest, but was not involved in it. All I saw was me getting ####ed in relation to how things had been. Failing spells/skills that in the past had never failed.

Now you tell me that other mortals can now decide whether or not this 'affect' happens, and also can do it to Battle.

Well as a mage player, who may not love cabals 24/7, all I see this as is "Expect spells to have a chance to fail now". From an RP standpoint, I see magic is so frigging weak that any jerk-offs with a big enough group can now decide whether its weaker or stronger, I guess its the lightswitch of doom, eh?

You can understand why from a mage player (and yes I admit my perspective here is limited) standpoint I don't jump for joy over this change.

Now all that said. Maybe 2 years from now the subtle nuances will be visible to me that are visible to you, but right now, all I see is "Expect spells to have a chance to fail now" oh and you can weaken Battle, but not as much as if you had the head.

I understand I am coming off angry. It's not because I am in a bad mood IRL (though I am), it's because I don't agree with the change from my limited perspective, either from a fun standpoint or from a 'was needed' standpoint. Thats just me though. I hope it turns out great, honestly and sincerely. The quest was really cool FWIW on an epic and rp scale. I am just not a fan of the end result. But that happens :)

>Well as a mage player, who may not love cabals 24/7, all I see
>this as is "Expect spells to have a chance to fail now".

God, no. Transportation spells, sure.

>Now all that said. Maybe 2 years from now the subtle nuances
>will be visible to me that are visible to you, but right now,
>all I see is "Expect spells to have a chance to fail now" oh
>and you can weaken Battle, but not as much as if you had the
>head.

Sure, taking the head is always best if you can do it. At least now there's something you can do if you can't.

.

You realize I'm now convinced you're twelve years old? Seriously.

I forgot my own advice of "If you can't say something nice". Sorry about that. I look forward to seeing if these changes invoke derision or congratulations and will weigh in when I know more.

Thanks for a great game and sorry to litter this board with complaints.

...as I bring far too much baggage to the table.

Having said that, I think you are missing one very big thing here, sir. To wit, what is the most likely practical result of all this? A *benefit* to mages.

Why, you ask?

Well, the way it is being described, magic will either strengthen or weaken (though how much is not known yet, so it might all be a tempest in a teapot no matter how it works out) by action of the players. Meaning, those players who support magic can enhance it. Those who oppose magic, can weaken it.

Who opposes magic? The village.

Who supports magic? Every####ingbody else. Literally.

Where do you think the likely status of magic will be, on a day to day basis, when the entire playerbase but for the small subset of those who are playing villager/villagerwannabe roles uses, depends, wants and generally strongly supports magic?

Frankly, I'm not convinced this isn't a *bad* thing for ragers, and going to end up weakening them and strengthening mages.

I will not judge until it plays out of course, because none of this is terribly difficult to figure out and it's entirely possible that Nep and co. figured out a way to give the villagers some balancing power to make it so they can check magic the same amount the rest of the world can expand it. We'll see.

Bottom line: The whole world (of Thera) likes magic. Not just mages, everyone. Everyone buys their potions, their scrolls, their roots, etc. They all want them to work. Only the village doesn't. Who is going to win that battle? Don't waste too much time thinking on that one...

Which is why I worry about this new change.

Kudos to the IMMs for having the creativity and effort to implement this, however. I will take Forsaken's advice, and trust in Nepenthe that everything will be alright :).

Instead of things simply being Cabal X vs Cabal Y, we've introduced another factor, magic. In essence, those who promote and those who are opposed to magic have another 'item' to manipulate in the question that may or may not be directly related to how large the cabal is, the range of its members, or pk strength.

For all I know, all cabal powers, including that of the Village, will ebb in flow in a direct relationship to how successfully the Village can put the lid on magic--that is, if they can successfully surpress magic to where preps and spells don't work as well for everyone else, they too will be more like an unprepped warrior.

I don't see any point in panicking just yet.

Well as a mage player, who may not love cabals 24/7, all I see this as is "Expect spells to have a chance to fail now". From an RP standpoint, I see magic is so frigging weak that any jerk-offs with a big enough group can now decide whether its weaker or stronger, I guess its the lightswitch of doom, eh?

It can do considerably more, in both directions. It's not like "transportation spells" is the only variable we can or did tweak.

It's not because I am in a bad mood IRL (though I am), it's because I don't agree with the change from my limited perspective

Meaning, you're completely ignorant of the relevant details, yet you've come to your conclusion. Do you understand why we don't give a rat's ass about that kind of opinion?

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

"Meaning, you're completely ignorant of the relevant details, yet you've come to your conclusion."

Daevryn just said teleportation spells can now fail. Thats all the relevant details, that I need to know of, to know I don't like the change.

This may shock you, but I do disagree with some decisions around here. No, I don't pretend you give a rat's ass about my opinions. No, I don't think this particular change will make me quit yet. Yes, it does mean that I will still voice my opinion in public forums where discussion is sought. I do hope this helps you to understand my stance. Not that you give a #### about it, but at least you understand it now :)

Based on your comments, you clearly have no clue what this change entails. You have some vague inkling the Veil changes magic somehow. Yet you already know it's the "worst change to CF". This is why I (and I don't think I'm alone here) don't often take you very seriously.

If you're just mocking the "complain first, think later" crowd with an intentional overreaction, however, that's my gig and you need to find your own. :P

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

You snort with derision and then make fun of me. Thats how this works here :)

Is to do what the #### your told, and ask questions later.

How about you try and EXPERIENCE the changes, and then bring up your questions/comments/concerns... In a tactful ####ing manner. Is that so difficult? Grow up. You ####ing heathen.

"This also means you can make Battle powers more or less reliable depending on which side of the fence you're on."

Couldn't I make them non-existant by just taking the Battle item?

>Couldn't I make them non-existant by just taking the Battle
>item?

In theory, yes.

If you're a character who's free to raid Battle. (Fortress mage, for example, is almost never in this position. Uncaballed mages/warriors who might want to fight Battle often aren't.) And if you're able to keep the item from Battle. (Scion, for example, is rarely in this position... they're a small cabal and it's hard for them to cover all level ranges effectively at once for long.)

I am going to make a prediction......

Flunky chars are going to turn to the old Nexus ways. The players that dont take the time to learn the true goals and tiny details of what just happened. This is going to turn into a mages/warriors that like magic vs Battle. We are going to see Battle getting ganged like mad by the Cloud giant bash whores and their pack of gnome shifters/vokers.

I always hated most players attitudes that play Battle anyhow...so I think it will be a awesome change. MAGIC vs. Battle on a widescale.

I am not even playing at the moment but the amount of bitching Im getting via email...ICQ...ect. Its very weird.

Nepenthe, I dont think people understand yet what you are doing and are instead just making judgements based on a few rumors and/or few vague Nepenthish lines you have written.

Post some logs of the Veil/Horn event!! I am fighting hard not to play, so logs are easing the suffering.

Now wouldnt it have been easier just to bring back MASTERSII, then we can all just beatdown villagers and collect shinies without all the thinking that is involved with Nexus? Heh

>We are
>going to see Battle getting ganged like mad by the Cloud giant
>bash whores and their pack of gnome shifters/vokers.

I know you're being semi-facetious, but it's been interesting to me that a lot of people are already gravitating towards the 'old Nexus' character archetypes, despite my specifically saying a few weeks ago that I took a good look at what was and wasn't tough in old Nexus, brought the power of a couple things down, and the power of most other things up.

I mean, do you think I made Nexus warrior or shifter tougher? Bonded, at least, not so much.

>Now wouldnt it have been easier just to bring back MASTERSII,
>then we can all just beatdown villagers and collect shinies
>without all the thinking that is involved with Nexus? Heh

Sure would've, but I wasn't interested. I'm sassy that way.

I ask this mainly to make people think for a moment.
(If I'm wrong in the assumptions made, oh well.)

Does all this stuff also mean that if a large group of people are
out to help battleragers (or are at least in line with thier aims)
that even without the head that it would make magic weak and them
stronger.. (or at least by weakening magic easier to get the head
back) ???

If that's so then really all it's doing is putting Thera spinning on
another axis. Light/dark, magic/no-magic, I am not sure if law/chaos should be included.. but with the outlanders....

Spinning like that is just dizzying for a while, sure you may vomit a few times, but after you get used to it you'll be fine. Don't like magic? Start rolling battleragers.. don't like the village? start rolling mages.. Don't like cabals but want to effect things? roll whatever you like. Don't like cabals, don't want to get involved, and don't want to be affected by all of this? roll something that is unlikely to be affected. So your preps won't work well if battle is in full swing... neither will the other un-caballed guy's.

Anyway the point is that of the people against the change, it's going to work for you as well as against you.. pretty much just like all the other 'swings' cf goes through. Half of you will log off if it looks bad, the other half (maybe I'm being overly-nice here) will stick it out and force a swing to the other side.

Okay too much background stuff.. derailed my train of thought somewhere back there. I gotta run.

You're correct in that magic/battle is, in essence, a third (if a little different) balance statisic we're keeping track of, the other two being good/evil and order/chaos.

I'm pretty excited at the possibilities this infrastructure provides for a lot more than Nexus.

But maybe we should actually wait and see how this will effect people before we start to complain? I admittedly haven't played much since Spenner, but I'm willing to give things a try and see how they are before griping.

I *thought* it seemed like ALL magic was strengthened including NPC magic. Is this the case, or overactive imagination? The reason I ask is that some NPC's are damn near unkillable with baseline magic abilities, and I shudder to think of their power with enhanced magic. Is this more the realm of "deal with it or work towards balance?" Obviously before mages didn't gain an advantage against NPCs, but given the high level and damage of some NPC spells, it seems (to me) that no matter how much badder my mage is, the NPC improvements will be insurmountable (can only gear for saves so high).

Enough rambling. NPC's share magic boosting benefits or neh?

That's a pretty good question because I didn't know the answer without looking. :P

I don't think it would be as bad as all that, but the short version is, in the general case NPCs don't get boosted/dropped right now, and I'm not sure there are any non-general cases. As things shake out I'll consider changing that.