Utterly irreversible!

[Burninator]

So here's my question: what's the best way to represent a truly irreversible spell in this system? I've recently picked it up (and fallen in love with it) and it seems like the Arcana element can potentially be used to break the effects of spells that have a duration longer than instantaneous (and could thus break a spell with a permanent duration).

But how does one represent a spell that though it has a permanent effect, isn't in danger of being broken by just any other mage? I have some truly nasty transformative magic in mind, specifically. Things along the line of petrification or changing a character's form--something truly big and meaningful to the world I'm creating that can't just be easily dismissed by any other wizard worth his salt.

So is this accomplished by listing the duration of a spell as "permanent" still, or would it require something else like an instantaneous duration, but a long-term after effect?

Of course, I'm open to the possibility that I'm simply misremembering the exact text, or just carrying over too much assumptive baggage from D&D. Either way, thanks for addressing my question!

[Kaare Berg]

Go to the Downloads section of this web-site. Download the abstractions and burn up a transformspell that uses the Arcana element to jack the obstacle for dispelling through the roof.

My first thought.

My second thought is why?

Give us some details from your work, or examples of what you are thinking of. And more importantly, why this is important to the world?

[Burninator]

Go to the Downloads section of this web-site. Download the abstractions and burn up a transformspell that uses the Arcana element to jack the obstacle for dispelling through the roof.

My first thought.

My second thought is why?

Give us some details from your work, or examples of what you are thinking of. And more importantly, why this is important to the world?

Well, there's a "villain race" that primarily reproduces via transformative magic. Although there's a more complex change involved than the following, I'm basing certain thematic elements off of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" in that there's been some terrible violation that's occurred, and there's no easy cure for it.

By making it so that reversing the effect is either impossible, or at least requires the casting of a very rare and difficult spell (or a sufficiently high use of Faith) I think it preserves the sense of threat about these creatures by ensuring that there is something very viscerally threatening about what they do, and also ensuring that one can't just walk up, cast an Arcana spell on a group of them and completely eliminate their threat one single casting of a spell at a time.

Like I said, I think it comes down to the idea that it results in their presence meaning something, and moving them away from just being a dull threat whose abilities are "just a temporary condition" for characters to get better from, and anyone would have to truly give thought to taking them on.

[stormsweeper]

Of course, I'm open to the possibility that I'm ... just carrying over too much assumptive baggage from D&D.

Like that NPCs can't do anything player characters couldn't? :P While it's probably a good idea to work out the effects of such a spell, I wouldn't say you need to make it "legal" if only NPCs will be using it.

[24 Oceans]

Being only casually informed about BW's magic (as well as, you know, in high anticipation of a certain forthcoming book...), I could be totally off but based on my old Ars Magica background, I'd say work in something with the Instantaneous duration:


If an instantaneous effect spell creates a solid object like a stone or
a phenomena like a gust of wind, these things come and go quite
quickly, but any effect they had on the surrounds lasts as long as it
naturally would.