March 2018 Learn Update

## Change Log

### '**B' modifier Change When Casting Spells.**

* The 'B' modifier is no longer used when !casting spells of any kind unless affected by 'b' through injury or other duress.
* !learning researchable spells will require a 'b' modifier like normal, and you will lose b on your learns the same way as before, either through classes, a professor removing it, or being two years above the spell.

### **Proficiency**

* Proficiency in a spell means that you are guaranteed to cast the spell with your year modifier and your learn points.
* If you have Proficiency in a spell, you can teach it to others with an 'A', meaning mastery is no longer required to give an 'A' and everyone has the opportunity to give an 'A' on lower year spells with year modifier alone.
	+ This change affects Potion Spells as well.

## Importance of Learns In Lower and Upper Years

If you are familiar with the table below, then you should be familiar with how big the dice changes are as you advance through every year: your year mod, destiny points and your dice increases. This means that every IC year, it will progressively grow *easier* to learn spells. For a simple visual representation, click here.

Because of this, the most difficult time to learn spells is actually during the first year.

As an example, below is a table of some of the more popular spells during certain years and their success rates. These numbers take consideration of the year dice, maximum destiny points, year mod and the 'b' modifier for spells that are researchable within that year. They, however, do not take note of how many learn modifiers one possesses.

As you notice, learns only grow easier and become a less of a burden as time passes by, and 'A' modifiers lose mechanical value over time as well.

### **Year Modifiers**

In the future you will be able to cast lower DC spells through year modifiers alone. Because of this 'learns' in lower DC spells are not as important in the long run.

By year 4 you will have a +3 in year modifiers, meaning you can automatically cast *all* DC4 and lower spells outside of combat, which is something over 30 spells.

### **Destiny**

In the future, due to the amount of Destiny one will possess, some spells will be much easier to cast than spells in first year.

The highly sought-after spell Accio is a DC10 spell. By year three (when you can learn it), your dice will be a **1d8**, your year modifiers will be a **+2**, and you will possess **6** Destiny points to attempt to learn it. This means that even with ‘b’ you have a 75% chance of learning it correctly even with no learn points or A modifier.

### **Importance of Mastery**

* Combat is where mastery of a spell is more significant, due to The Combat System and how one must defeat their opponent's DC to successfully deflect the spell.
	+ However, combat is **optional** and it is up to each individual roleplayer to participate in duels or fights. Because of this, combat is a less common activity on the model.
		- To those who have little interest in dueling, or expect their character to be the type to flee rather than fight, they may end up never having to fight.
		- Those who are passionate about combat will also benefit from this change. It allows them to place more focus on combat spells, as fluff spells can be cast with ease in the future.
* Outside of combat, one can auto-succeed a spell without having to master it with Year Modifiers. Because of this, it isn't necessary to master simpler spells, and members of the Model should not be discouraged that they feel pressured to focus on more useful spells.
	+ Imberstatio is a DC5 spell and serves mostly as fluff. By fifth year, one will possess +4 in year modifiers, allowing a 100% chance of casting it.
* It can also be important to show that your character places a large personal significance on a spell, and this is most commonly shown through mastery. A character can display their proficiency and passion for certain spells by mastering them. However, this meaning isn't as significant when they master most spells.
	+ Spells don't always have to be mastered quickly, either. Sometimes it can be a fun character building experience to start with a higher DC first year 'spell', such as fly, and only get a minimal number of learns initially. This still allows your character chances at failure for the next couple of years, which can act as RP prompts and character building. Holding off on mastery for those few years and waiting for specific character beats to gain certain thresholds can be an excellent way to show how a character has progressed over years, rather than months.

### **Plots and Adventures**

It is heavily pressed that in Plots, the plotrunner will adjust to the participant's needs and not their own needs. If you don't have a single learn in a shield charm, then the plotrunner will change things up to ensure that you are still capable of doing something.

There is also a misconception that adventures must be dangerous. This is false and is one of the reasons why casual adventures exist.

### **Using Harry Potter as an Example**

Harry Potter may be the extraordinary wizard we all strive to become, but not even the protagonist himself has used his learns every day. Harry Potter has about **138 learn points** by the end of the series.

Under the assumption that a person uses a learn, every day, since the beginning of their time on the Model up to the end of their seventh year, they would end up with **213 learn points** in their spellbook.

* If one learns every day in one IC year, they would have a total of **30.5 learns**.
* If one uses the catch up system, they would have **98 learns**.
* If one only learned 2/3 of the time, they would have **140 learns**.

This table displays the learn points Harry displayed during the series.

This table was made with the considerations that:

* One-use spells were cast with Destiny.
* Harry's Potions learns are there for fluff, as it was a subject he hardly took interest in.
* Spells that were used out of combat took consideration of the year modifiers.
* Harry's Relashio modifier was massive due to Wand Affinity, allowing him to cast Expelliarmus against spells that had a much higher DC.

## Establishing the Problem

Over time Sir Cadogan, the spell bot, has taken on a different life in Model Hogwarts; initially the bot was made to add flavour to RP and nothing more, just a casual way to learn and cast spells. Adjustments to the spellcasting, learning, and combat systems lead to a gradual drift towards the system we have today, and the mechanical aspects of the bot are unable to support these systems without encouraging a stressful atmosphere.

Min-maxing and careful spellbook planning began feeling absolutely necessary to be able to cast and interact in the RP without struggling, and that makes missing learns feel punishing and creates an environment of pressure where not only do you have to map out your spells to maximize your daily learns, but taking a break is nearly impossible as you would fall behind. We feel this is counter productive to the atmosphere we’d like to foster in Model Hogwarts, and makes the RP feel more like a chore than it does something you can engage with when you want to. Taking breaks and being able to disengage is so important for such a large scale creativity-focused social server like this, and not being able to can lead to burnout and frustration in the long term, and should you take a break and fall behind on your learns, it can make it even harder to get back into the RP without feeling like you were punished for leaving.

We do not want any of these issues to be true with Model Hogwarts anymore, and the only way to try and fix these problems is by fixing the systems that lead to them in the first place, which we are doing using the changes outlined above.

### **How will these changes help?**

We are hoping these changes will help burnout and exhaustion of the players, as well as reduce some of the pressure of your spellbook.

For many members, the game-like aspect of learns has been more stressful than helpful, and anyone should be able to step back from the Model at any time. Just as a tree cannot bear fruit year round, so do people also need to allow themselves opportunities to recharge, but it is difficult to have that opportunity if you feel like you won’t be able to catch up again. Aspects of the previous system compounded on this by making a lack of learns feel more punishing, and we are hoping that the adjustments to the system such as B no longer being necessary casts unless injured or burdened will help enforce that daily learns are not critical to enjoying the model. Even if someone were to take an extended break, the year modifier will make sure they will not be behind.

Year Modifiers max out at +10, and by Year 7 with a +6 modifier you can autocast 77 spells outside of combat, and around 230 spells with either full or partial Destiny. Destiny will also be more readily available inside of combat as well, as you will rarely need to use all of it on a learn between the size of your dice and the year modifier.