Suggestion for the Sorcery system: Use corruption as Mana/resource

First of all, and to be clear, since its the Hyborian age I assume that the magic system will not be focused on spamming fireballs and chain lightning but rather on advanced alchemy involving the black lotus, poisons, curses, illusions, necromancy and summonings using relics, demon blood/sacrifices on altars.

For the sorcery system I suggest that corruption is used as the main resource(mana).

The larger the mana pool the stronger spells can be thrown.

Example
I’m thinking that the Health pool that is corrupted defines the limit of what spells can be learned and used.

The more invested a player becomes in sorcery, the more corruption is required. Level of corruption could be tired based to open up for more powerful magic.

Examples
Tier 1 Dancing Lights, Light, Mending, Disrupt Undead, Advanced Potions/poison
Tier 2 Detect Undead, Feather Fall, Obscuring Mist, Silent steps, Summon Monster I
Tier 3 Spider Climb, Mirror Image, Obscure Object, See Invisibility, Summon Monster II
Tier 4 Invisibility, Gust of Wind, Haste/Slow, Control Undead, Summon Monster III
Tier 5 Mass Invisibility, Control Weather, Astral Projection, Summon Monster IV

(Note, the above are only examples but they all fit in the Hyborian universe)

An illusion - Light requires a minimum of 5 corruption points.
Mirror Image could require 100 and Summon Moster IV 400

The maximum “corrupted energy” mana available is what limits how much “corrupted
energy” the sorcerer can spend for a spell.

For instance, illusion - Light, if 10 “corrupted energy” is used when casting the spell it would last for 10 seconds. If 60 “corrupted energy” was used, it would last for 60 seconds.

A summoning would work in the same way, duration of how long the monster remains if not killed.
Potions could be more potent, poisons could be more effective. It would define how far and for how long you can travel in Astral Projection etc.

The Stamina pool that is corrupted would represent “energy available to cast spells”, it recharges just like the Stamina bar (but maybe slower, requiring specific food/drinks).

See image for clarification (i hope :))

This obviously comes with the drawback that Sorcery/Corruption lowers not only your maximum health pool but also your available stamina.

Strong sorcery will come at the price of a weaker body, this will create balance and increase the focus on team play. A fragile, but immensely powerful sorcerer will need protection, but can turn the tide of any battle using the powerful magic under its command.

Edit: Typos

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This was already the default ‘resource’ mechanic of sorcery was proposed during early access.

However; I would add the suggestion that tying in religion to sorcery also makes sense. Each tier of the religious perks could add a specific spell; with the religious spells being more expensive and effective to other spells within their tier/range.

In my opinion this would be a good place to tie in Age of Conan’s magic, albeit very differently than the spammy way it was put there. Right now we’ve got the Avatars; long rituals for big destructive bursts. My suggestion is to look at the Tempest of Set from Age of Conan.

Consider giving the level 50 Archpriest of Set a combat spell; a lightning strike similar to Age of Conan. This should have an extreme cost and a form of cooldown to prevent spamming, while also giving the Priest the chance to truly do some damage to anyone or thing struck by the lightning bolt.

Combat Magic is a rarity in the lore, atleast direct combat magic. So these should be T4-T5 spells with this proposal. And they really should be limited to a few options. IE: The Heartpunch from the books/comics, the odd ‘flashier’ spell, lifedrain, etc. Although this could also be explained with the weather control from the lore; just miniaturized into small area spells: a thunderstorm, a small sandstorm, etc.

In the lower tiers combat magic should be more along the lines of summoning, shapeshifting, and illusions.

And for the love of all things unholy: Give us Xotli as a religion for sorcerers. Flaming weapons buff please. :slight_smile:

Really? I didn’t find anything on that while reading the dev. diaries, did I miss one, or an interview? If you have a link please share it, would love to read up on it! :smiley:

I like the tie in with religion!

“Our sorcery system taps into the corruption debuffs that affect your character when they descend into the dark and corrupted places of the Exiled Lands. The more corrupted you are the more powerful your spells can become, but it also comes at a cost. To gain power you are forced to cut into your health and stamina, making your body weaker. The sorcery system will, in turn, give you access to necromancy and summoning rituals, letting you call upon evil, twisted creatures to do your bidding for you.”

https ://www.conan exiles. com/blog/look-things-come/

Bit of a pain in the ■■■■ to hunt down that article. But there’s the original quote. To fix the link obviously remove the spacebar, as we’re not allowed to post links.

Thank you Edreain, much appreciated! :+1: