The Bound Part #2: Corrupt Enchantments - Community Theorycraft Project

The Bound Part #2: Corrupt Enchantments

Greetings Devpeoples,

This post is part of the Community Theorycraft Project. Something where multiple members of the community gather together to discuss existing and potential new additions to the different elements of this wonderful game. Things we would like to see, we would like to change, and ways to go about doing so.

This topic of focus is The Bound, the gruesome creatures unleashed by the Pale. We dive into the wonderful theme and flavour presented by them. In fact, so captivated were we by this particular topic, we may have overdone it slightly, exceeding even our own estimates of total content. This has resulted in this submission being the largest one from the CTP to date.
As such, we have decided to split this into multiple separate topics, and link each one within the forewords so those interested can travel from post to post with ease.

As always, we would like to thank you for your time and continued development of this wonderful game.

Bound Posts:

1. Bound Part #1 - Materials of the Bound
   Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-416

2. Bound Part #2 - Corrupt Enchantments
   Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-417

3. Bound Part #3 - Existing Bound Changes
   Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-418

4. Bound Part #4 - New Melee Bound
   Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-419

5. Bound Part #5 - New Ranged Bound
   Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-420

6. Bound Part #6 - The Accursed
   Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-421

7. Bound Part #7 - Quest 1: “A Shot In The Dark”
   Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-422

8. Bound Part #8 - Quest 2: “The Binds That Break Us”
   Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-423

Corrupt Enchantments

This particular post deals with providing the Player a means of accessing the foul magick behind the Bound. We have taken a brief view into some interesting and thematic new Enchantments, themed on some of the magickal energies the Player has seen the Bound themselves use.

We feel that casting a corrupt enchantment should differ from regular enchantments, as they should come with a cost greater than simply stamina. In replace of stamina, each casting of a Corrupt Enchantment drains the health of the caster, dealing Maleficium damage over time to them for the duration of the enchantment, as the Pale saps their strength.

Note 1: The health drain could potentially increase with the caster’s magick power / charging, as the stronger the magick, the greater the cost.

Note 2: An idea we had with regards to the repeated use of Corrupt Enchantments, was for a means behind the mechanical veil that tracked how many Corrupt Enchantments the Player had cast, and that interacting with certain NPC’s may present different story-based results, as they notice the Player’s physical appearance giving away their use of dark fae magick. Such physical changes (purely referenced in text and not on the actual Player model, though that would also be cool!) could be referenced as bloodshot eyes, pale skin, gaunt/haggard musculature, etc.

Results could be that certain NPC’s will be less trusting of Players, even potentially refusing to work with someone who felt no compunction toward the use of such nefarious magick as that which consumed the Earth.

Having there be story repercussions to such things, rather than simply mechanical, gives a great deal of weight towards a Players actions, and Players may be enticed to do a ‘nefarious’ play through from such options becoming available, using darker, more underhanded means to journeying through the Realms.

Note 3: Following on from the idea of lingering effects, it may be that the Player accrues a debuff that weakens them after repeated castings, lowering their resistances across the board, which grows more pronounced the further down the dark magick path the Player travels. Whether such a debuff is permanent, or only reset upon resting, we are unsure with regards to balance and what would also be an enjoyable, but thematic, experience.

List of Enchantments:

Cloak of Shadows

This enchantment shrouds the caster from sight within a cloak of dark energies, then teleports them to a nearby point in the direction they are facing. The distance teleported increases with the caster’s magick power.

Note: For this, we image the teleporting to be like travelling a straight line, adjusting for height depending on where the caster is looking. If they are looking above the ground, they can appear above it, and if doing so, begin falling normally. If this is not manageable system wise, then just a random point nearby should suffice.

Corrupted Caress

This enchantment shrouds a tool in a foul corruption, dealing Maleficium damage in a small area around the target on the next hit, and may be charged for multiple hits. The damage dealt and the distance away other creatures take damage increases with the caster’s magick power.

Pool of Corruption

This enchantment conjures a pool of vile corruption which seeps up from the ground in an area, dealing Maleficium damage to all enemies within it each second and slowing them. The damage and radius of the pool increases with the caster’s magick power.

Spectre’s Kiss

This enchantment hurls a bolt of foul magick at a nearby target. On a hit, it forms a bond between the caster and the target, draining the targets health and healing the caster for a portion of the damage dealt. The damage, healing, and duration increases with the caster’s magick power.

Contributors:

Apothete, Double Space Su, Kahz, Katari, Phylon, Shrike