Report 271

Report #271
Skillset: Tarot Skill: New
 Org: Cacophony Status: Completed Oct 2009
Furies' Decision:
Dreamer tarot created that drains mana and ego.
Problem: City bards have limited choice in tertiary skills because tarot is
lacking for bards on several fronts when compared to glamours. One of the main
issues is that tarot is the only bard tertiary skill that has no DMP like charms
in ecology or a damage reduction skill like illusoryself in glamours. It makes
choosing tarot a pretty tough choice and not really viable for people interested
in combat.
[A: 0 R: 0] Solution #1: A new tarot card temperance. Temperance is the card
 of moderation and harmony, for 5 power when used it
 would provide 10 DMP to all damage sources but only
 when the person is captivated by bardic music.
 Captivation is easily striped by other bards (by
 individual or room wide attacks) and requires the
 presence of a bard to work which would make it very
 impractical for non bards to use.
[A: 0 R: 0] Solution #2: The same as solution 1 but with a different thematic
 suggestion/justification. The major arcana deck has
 22 cards, there are only 21 in the current skill so
 adding one would correct that. Currently 8 of the
 council of 9 vernal gods are represented on cards so
 call this new card the Dreamer or Daydreamer and have
 Vestera protect those captivated by music.
[A: 0 R: 0] Solution #3: Like solution 1 but without the captivation
 requirement and it only lasts an hour staying at the
 5 power cost
Player Comments:
---[Xenthos on 9/29 @ 22:59 writes]:
Have to keep in mind that both Nihilists and Celestines get tarot (and it's a
very popular choice for these guilds). Celestines especially already have some
nice defensive work (sacraments is more defensive than offensive). Just a
comment to keep in mind, I do see that your thing is still under construction.
---[Xenthos on 9/29 @ 23:00 writes]:
And a card that only works for bards and not for guardians... hmm.
---[Llandros on 9/30 @ 15:46 writes]:
Thank you for your advice Xenthos, my goal here is to lessen the disincentive
that city bards face in taking up tarot. Tarot is a pretty sound skill and like
you said popular with guardians. This, combined with Estarra having said in the
past she wasnt in favor of tarot specs, requires creative, yet balanced,
solutions. Without a spec option I want to minimize anything that would be
-completely- useless to guardians. They could perhaps make use of this if they
were hunting with a bard for example. I would really love to see combatant tarot
bards come to pass and will eagerly and constructively work with any of you on
with concerns or ideas!
---[Romero on 9/30 @ 22:45 writes]:
I honestly don't see a reason that Guardians can't use more DMP. Being a Demigod
Viscanti (race buffs) in splendours with trans resilience, almost trans magic,
what might be called top tier equipment, I can easily take 1-2k in damage in a
single hit dependent on the attack/spell. Damage doesn't scale well at all as
has been said and I can't imagine how hard smaller people get hit for or if they
don't have splendours. Because guardians have an adequate offense, doesn't mean
they can't use more defense, they have a hard enough time fighting against
groups compared to other robe wearing guilds. I wouldn't like to see a music
captivation on requirement on this. Maybe if the DMP only lasted an hour instead
and was still 5p and had to be reraised?
---[Llandros on 10/1 @ 23:00 writes]:
Added in Romero's suggestion, not sure how that would work out though since
celestines are a lot tankier than nihilists
---[Lendren on 10/2 @ 20:34 writes]:
It seems the requirement of captivation is an attempt to limit the ability to be
useful for bards only. If that's not adequate, make it limited to if you're
captivating yourself, so only bards could use it. That might seem like a slap
to the other Tarot users, though, which might be eased by making it another
function of an existing card. Perhaps add to Healer that if you fling it at
yourself while you're captivated by yourself, it gives you a defense that gives
DMP? (And once you have that defense, subsequent flings at self work as usual.)
That way the other Tarot users might not feel so slighted.
---[Akui on 10/5 @ 15:51 writes]:
Llandros was told over envoys that he needed to be more bard specific with this
after the last rejection. I think what he's done with solution 1 accomplishes
that nicely.
---[Ceren on 10/15 @ 14:54 writes]:
I still feel that guardians have pretty weak dmp, but since we've already
decided this ought to be bard specific I support that. Solution 2 > solution 1
for flavour.
---[Ilyarin on 10/17 @ 12:50 writes]:
I think solution 3 would be good. But agree with Ceren, if not, that #2 has a
stronger foundation than #1.
---[Zynna on 10/23 @ 15:25 writes]:
I support Solution 3. Tarot bards definitely could use DMP and, as guardians
overall don't have much in the way of dmp defenses, allowing all tarot users the
benefit of the extra dmp should not be unbalancing.
---[Nienla on 10/29 @ 15:43 writes]:
Guardians have plenty in the field of DMP. Halo, Dragonscales, Numen,
Demonscales, etc.
---[Xenthos on 10/31 @ 16:30 writes]:
Yeah, I'm not sure about this "overall guardians don't have much in the way of
DMP defenses." Way more than I do as a Crow warrior. :/