Bump

That's it, OP?

I want to see if there's any interest before I start posting ideas

Oh also i missed a thread:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/1813027/

I can't be assed to read anything other than the 1d4chan article, but it seems pretty shitty.

So it's a wizard school where being smart is good? ...and?

Scholomance has always been a favorite of mine.

I once talked with the creator of the thing. He and some other guys had some crunch done up for it, but apparently it's been lost to the ravages of time.

>>12597834
Imagine harry potter meets sith academy.

>>12597853
Not doing anything for me. Seems like it might make for an interesting Harry Potter deconstruction book, but not so much else.

>>12597834
Don't think you read it very close.

It's grimdark as fuck. Murder of other students is all but encouraged (so long as you're good enough to not get caught). Magic is dangerous - when casting a spell, if you fuck up, you could easily get yourself killed.

The described magic system itself is all kinds of fucking cool. You're just a shitty magic student, so you can't just make things happen - instead, you have to go about using ritualized magic to mitigate the difficulty of casting the spell, such as using objects that resonate with the spell's concept. Don't migate it enough, and the spell won't work properly (fireball will just fizzle, the binding circle won't hold the summoned demon) - but migate it TOO much, and overshoot the spell's difficulty, and it'll work too well (fireball becomes a raging inferno that likely consumes the caster being the obvious example).

That's just off the top of my head, I haven't read these threads in months.

What i was thinking was that, seeing as we dont have any of the crunch, we dont have any of the documentation people made and we have no way of contacting the creators, it would be easier to start by wiping the slate clean and starting again, using ideas from the old threads.

So /tg/ rewrites the school of Necromancy in the WoWverse for standard TT gaming? Alright.

>>12597873
A few more things which popped into my head: As important as magic skill is, it's not the only tool you'll need - a few well placed words in the right ears can do just as much as an artifical monstrousity. Manipulation, alliances, backstabbing - all necessary parts of the Scholomance lifestyle. Even if you're not engaging in intrigue yourself, you must beware of higher students who intend to use you as a pawn in their own games.

Also, the castle itself serves as a character - the castle is practically infinite, stretching as far as anyone has ever ventured. Though one must be ware - reality seems less stable the further you venture from the populated area....

>>12597880
Actually a lot of the basic crunch (though not how it would be holistically implimented alongside character advancement) is already in those threads. Some of it is too good to throw away. I'll see what I can dig up...

>>12597890
>Implying wow didn't take that name from folklore

>>12597890
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholomance

hurpaderp

>>12597900
didn't you just describe VtM?

>>12597930
Sort of? The social/political aspect is certainly there in both games. But playing this sort of game as an immortal vampire is certainly different from doing it as a university student, I'd think. Especially given the how different the world would work.

Even if it is similar, so? It's not like there cannot be two games involving social dickery.

You know, I'm beginning to think that this setting would pretty good for an RPG, but COMPLETELY FUCKING AMAZING as an MtG set. The academy itself would be a pocket plane, with high-level mages being planeswalkers. Spells invented by Scholomance mages would form the core of the set, so it would obviously be instant and sorcery-heavy, but there's room for shitloads of summoning too.

>>12597969
It'd be pretty fucking weird as an mtg set... Given that your POV character is supposed to be an apprentice mage.

I guess you could accomplish the feel of the mechanics by using various artifacts/other permanents with cost reducing abilities, then overpricing sorcies and instants. That doesn't really cover the part where you might mess up your 'math' (I use that term as loosely as possible) and have the spell fail.

>>12597984

I envision it more as the apprentice mages being summonable creatures, representing the players being "higher-level powers" playing out proxy duels through these minor mages.

I think we need to avoid the problem that plagues many /tg/ homebrew projects of trying to throw too many ideas into the fluff and having a 'Thats cool, throw it on the pile' mentality with regard to the system. We need to structure the fluff and the crunch. First of all we need to work out how characters work, what stats will you have? there's the obvious proficienciesin various schools but what about stats that help with the backstabbing and intrigue side of things?

>>12598004

Lay out a system, I'm sure /tg/ will follow. Here are my two cents though.

If you want backstabbing and politicking to be important tools in the setting, the important thing is to limit the role of magic. Since you can potentially use it to solve whatever problem you have, there need to be safeguards in place. I don't think we need to go the Warhammer route and make it deadly and dangerous as much as unreliable and prone to failure: if you make it so that a mage needs to construct his spell, tailor it to the specific circumstances of the environment as well as to the task he wants the spell to perform, for instance, you make casting more complex. From there it's easy to limit spellcasting by making more powerful spells increase in complexity and failure rate. This will incentivize players to seek out other options for problem-solving.

>>12597993
Interesting. You could do it, but you'd probably need to introduce some sort of social mechanic to use a cost, representing debts and obligations etc.

But in any case, I'm mostly interested in this an RPG setting, so I'm getting to work on that.

>>12598004
Yes, I read that thread too. But the thing that kills most /tg/ projects ISN'T feature creep - it's apathy.

Besides, I don't think you understand what I'm saying. The basis for this system is practically already laid. All that we really need to do is relearn the stuff that's spelled out in the threads, then assign the specific crunch values. That's not to say we can't come up with new stuff, but I think it's pointless to ignore stuff that's already done for us. I'm going to re-read all the old threads, then reguirgitate their summarized mechanical contents into this one (...but I'll probably get some sleep first).

Another thing that I remember: The spell creation system is ridiculously flexible. You can create spells for almost any purpose. It just takes lots and lots of planning. The system REALLY emphasizes preperation above all else - battles should generally be decided before they even begin, by the weapons, countermeasures and counter-countermeasures created ahead of time.

>>12598044
If we're following the ideas of the original (and I'm going to try, because I dearly love the concept), intrigue isn't the focus of the setting, rather an inherent element. It's just something that happens, as a byproduct of the setting and the people who inhabit it.

You should really read the threads. They're a pretty decent read, honestly.

>>12598068

>If we're following the ideas of the original (and I'm going to try, because I dearly love the concept), intrigue isn't the focus of the setting, rather an inherent element.

Yeah, and I'm saying it needs to be represented in the mechanics so that the players don't magic their way through everything.

>>12598093
But the primary focus of the game is the intense back and forth battle of magic - due to the flexibility of the magic system there are a million ways to attack your opponent and a similar number of ways to defend yourself from his attacks. It just happens that by persuading or conning a fellow student into the game, you may be able to tip the balance in your favor, or just accomplish something with less risk to yourself.

Consider the social dickery not a primary focus of the setting, but an extension of the 'just as planned' mentality of the setting.'

That said, magic IS dangerous. As i've said a few times, if you miscalculate, you're in trouble.

One last bump before I head to bed.

I'm going through the archived threads and compiling whatever info seems relevant. I'll probably finish and post it tomorrow sometime, either in this thread or a new one.

Gonna give this another bump to keep it alive.

Scholomance sounds nice, but somewhat to smart...
bump

I'm going to bump this and wait for the guy who said he was finding all the crunch from the previous threads.fr

rolled 10, 10, 43 = 63

Bumping again

Ok, having read through the threads a little I think it would be a good move to scrap all that crap about immortal, insane humans working the grounds. It just seems a bit stupid to me. Although if anyone wants to defend it I'm open to suggestions.

bump for potential

Also having seen what crunch was decided on I'm not sure an entirely diceless system is necessarily the best thing to use. It totally does away with the 'chance that you might have made a tiny error in calculations and suddenly a demon eats you soul' sort of thing. I think it could be partially diceless but there has to be a random element in the magic system.

im willing to help with what i can, just tell me what to do and i'll do it. I can write moderately well, and i can map pretty well.

>>12602681
Actually, I think we should probably try and get a map of the school grounds going, if that would be possible. Although I dont know what needs to be included. Have you read the archived threads? There is a lot of stuff there about the sort of architecture and styles that are used in the school.

Alright, I've finished going over the threads (sorry for sudden departure last night - I had a test I somehow forgot about. Talk about a cram session...). I'm writing everything up, sit tight. Then we can pick and them, refine them, and work with what we want

Well, I'm going to sleep for a bit now, if this thread is still up when I wake up I will keep posting in it otherwise I will just have to make a new thread, just in case I'll archive this now.

1. Fluff

Okay, let's get started. First thing that occurs to me is that unlike the whole typical Hogwarts style setup, Scholomance is a university, not a high school or whatever. This is reflected in the huge degree of freedom students are granted. There's no mandatory attendance for class - as long as you pass your finals/dissertions, you can do whatever the hell you want.

Speaking of which, the actual end of year event was not entirely established. The general idea was that there would be something at the year's end that would determine if the student passes or not (with failures meeting unfortunate ends, I'd presume). Some people suggested that there'd be some sort of test that would be carried out at year's end, with the actual content of the test being dependant on your year. Personally, I prefered the dissertation model... to quote the original post:

>Are you aware of the concept of a University Dissertation? While at the end of most 2-year courses (in England at least) students are graded on an extended essay or presentation in which they attempt to answer a fundamental or poignant question relating to their subject.

>I was thinking that for the Academy that this would be the only requisite for passing the academic year; one must successful present one's paper or practical demonstration to the examining body and they must deem it suitable.

>What happens between the start of the year and your exam is of no consequence, lectures and classes will be run and help offered but it's entirely voluntary. What you do and how you secure your... research material is up to you."

Essentially, you have to present a spell or something (perhaps a research paper of some kind) that is judged sufficiently advanced for a student of your year. The material for this presentation could be something you worked out yourself... or it could be stolen from another student.

>>12604204
Second is the nature of the school itself. The Scholomance is basically a pocket dimension that can be accessed from a number of hidden doors/gates/portals from all over the world. We should also decide if it stretches across time as well (meaning you could have people from all different time periods inside the school, which personally seems a little silly to me). The school more or less just IS, rather than being built. It's also an increadible mishmash of all sorts of architecture.

The basic maintence needs and other menial tasks are fulfilled by the bound souls of failed students. The school itself is powered by a diabolic engine - quite literally a demon bound to some sort of abominal machine. The staff of the school are alumni who've decided they'd rather
stick around than return to the real world. There are a few awesome staff members fleshed out
in the threads.

As previously stated, students do murder each other. Murder is not punished unless you are discovered. Running to your teachers to tattle, however, is punishable. Gotta solve your own problems. However, death isn't the only way to do things. Just because you aren't explicitly discovered doesn't mean people won't find out what you've done - magic's involved, after all. Having the reputation of a serial killer will do wonder for your social life. And if you kill someone with the wrong friends... better watch your back. In any case, more subtle methods will often suffice. Domination, black mail, even just showing someone that you COULD have them all have their uses.

There's more fluff (some loose stuff about demons and stuff) but I'm tired of this part, so moving on to mechanics...

>>12604315
>We should also decide if it stretches across time as well
No. Just no. I can count about one time-travel done right and that's one in Back to the Future.
Just make he School very old with pockets of slow time, if you really really really need some faggy ancient egyptian in the campaign. Though it's still silly. The setting is about STUDENTS OF MAGIC, not circus rabble.
>a demon bound to some sort of abominal machine
Fuck that too.

>Scholomance
>Instantly think of the World of Warcraft Dungeon

OP, You need the guy that ran a game of it. He had to fill in the space in the rules and fluff to do it

Have you ever read the Mask of the Sorcerer?
Because this is basically a rpg of it.

Thread summarizer here. Had to take care of some shit. Gettin back to work.

>>12606168
Never heard of it.

>>12605527
I agree on the time part (though really you can have people from any point in history inside scholomance - the school's OLD, and once you become an accomplished enough caster, death can be permanently denied. The biggest reason I dislike the time idea is because it just makes things silly and looks like time paradoxes in the making.

I personally like the infernal machine powering the school, but it's not really important. It's just a small fluff detail. Feel free to disregard it, it's not at ALL important.

Now I'm going to type up some shit about the magic.

Bamp

Ok, I'm back. Looking good so far, I agree with the removal of the time travel bit, doesnt really fit. Perhaps time could be slowed a little in the school though, it strikes me that not many people would be in each year if they were only the people from each earth year. Maybe one year in scholomancer is a centruy in our time?

Bumping, just to avoid a 404

>>12609223
1:100 ratio doesn't really work. I say the 1:10 ratio works. The eldest students are from 70 years ago, which was 1940. Of course the staff members are older, from at least 80 years ago if not longer, as seen with the Headmaster.

This does complicate things when you FINALLY graduate only to find the world has changed. However I would say that Sorcerers unless killed can live for centuries (perhaps 500 years).

The rules seem a bit wonky, with the mitigation, and while diceless systems do work it's just that rules are needed. So unless OP or someone comes out with a chart stating the rules of mitigation I propose tying it in a dice game.

bump

>>12609223
Just make time normal. Assuming you succeed, you're only in there for four years unless you want to stick around.