Report 370

Report #370
Skillset: Totems Skill: New
 Org: Serenguard Status: Rejected May 2010
Furies' Decision:
We do not find this to be necessary.
Problem: Right now, the disparity between influencers (especially in village
revolts) is made very sharp by the presence of the Laetitia ritual. Having a
chanted ritual on a target that restores ego allows for one person, even a
shattered person, to constantly chant Laetitia at a target that is either
debating or influencing a denizen. This problem is increased for the forests now
that there are two new cities that get access to Laetitia, making it all the
more likely that forest influencers will go up against it. The counterskills
that the forests have access to (Light and Penumbra) just don't compare, as
Penumbra costs 5 power and Light's effect is minimal, and both take a coven to
use.
Solution #1: Create a new skill in Totems (we were thinking Lion) with the
 ability to, for the purposes of example ROAR <target> to inspire
 them and fill them with self-confidence, thus restoring their
 ego. Slightly weaker than Laetitia, with the same usage
 restrictions, given that more guilds per forest have access to
 Totems than the guilds in the cities do. (Wiccans, druids, and
 warriors versus guardians and warriors.)
Solution #2: As above, but as strong as Laetitia to balance out the number of
 cities with Laetitia versus the number of communes with Lion. It
 would be six guilds with access to Lion and currently six guilds
 with access to Laetitia at the writing of this report, although
 that will grow to at least eight.
Solution #3: Make a person shattered in a debate not be able to chant
 laetitia. First, if laetitia is a problem, the commune could
 theoretically shatter the chanters to hinder it, and second of
 all, that way people that were shattered would be as useful as
 shattered communemembers would be, to even things out.
Player Comments:
---[Nejii on 4/19 @ 15:34 writes]:
The number of guilds with access to it are not that important because only one
or in some circumstances two people using laetitia can have any effect (and the
effectiveness of the 2nd person is majorly reduced.) So if there's a reason to
make it weaker, that isn't it.
---[Ilaveuse on 4/19 @ 16:02 writes]:
We've talked about some other balancing factors like high-charisma races in the
forests, and a few ego boosts here and there. Talan suggested a different fix
that I feel is acceptable, I'll post it as solution 3.
---[Ilaveuse on 4/29 @ 16:17 writes]:
Oh, and to clarify, since I've been asked a few times, the points regarding the
number of guilds that have access to the skills affects the odds of having
somebody to chant laetitia based on proportions to the total population and
sheer number of guilds with the skill, not the number of people you can have
chanting at once. Basically what I mean is that with six (to be eight) guilds
with laetitia, you have a high chance of being allied to an organization that A)
has access to the skill and B) will have somebody present who can.
---[Viynain on 5/9 @ 07:58 writes]:
I wouldn't mind seeing more Great Spirits found in the histories being
incorporated into the Totems skillset.
---[Jayden on 5/14 @ 15:41 writes]:
Communes already receive passive ego from sun totem. Perhaps instead of adding a
new skill, sun could be changed from passive to active ego healing.
---[Inagin on 5/17 @ 01:14 writes]:
I think I would be okay with solution 3 if communes couldn't perform covens for
Penumbra and Light while shattered too.
---[Fillin on 5/18 @ 06:38 writes]:
This might be a wild idea, but why not make a laetitia dingbat artie? The same
has already been done for a few skills in totems, and I see doing similar for
rituals as a better alternative than just directly handing totems a skill from
rituals.