magicidea

Parley on 14 hours ago

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Magic is OP. Especially when it comes to combat and unicorns (and other similar creatures). Their ability to lift and wield things with their magic is broken af, and getting into a fight with one is super unfair. :c

This is my attempt to fix that.

Type A Levitation: Focused magic necessary for complex tasks requiring concentration and control. i.e., wielding weapons and tools. The range/reach is limited and equal to the reach of the foreleg/arm. Extending beyond that is extremely difficult, diminishes the ability to control and focus it, and risks disrupting the magic. (It’s also possibly a concrete "rule" of the world, essentially impossible for anyone that isn’t Twilight because the setting said so.) Note: Levitation users still have superior manoeuvrability and dexterity, but they can’t just reach around with their magic and stab you from behind.

The focused magic has a visible trail/thread/link/whatever you want to call it. It’s either a visible magical trail/wispy thread or a subtle shimmer/air distortion. Either way, the point is that it’s almost as easy as tracking someone’s sword arm. A user can’t just sneak a knife into your side; you’ll see the magical "arm" attempt that attack. The link is vulnerable, and striking it will disrupt the magic and briefly stun the user. It’s not as damaging, but the point is that you’re getting a somewhat similar result to striking someone’s sword arm.

The focused magic can’t wield many items nor hold much weight. Someone skilled could improve past this (or maybe it’s another rule of the world), but the idea is that the limit is typically two objects at most, and it depends on weight. Wielding two swords isn’t the same as wielding two big war hammers. A user can’t just levitate multiple objects and attack you with something impossible to avoid. Attempting to levitate too many (or heavy) things disrupts the magic and leaves the user vulnerable.

Type B Levitation: This is essentially what everyone uses normally. It’s for carrying things and simple tasks that don’t require much concentration and control. It’s easier to carry multiple objects and handle greater weight. The reach of the magic isn’t as limited, and there isn’t any connecting link/trail. (Maybe still some light air distortion?) However, attempting anything that requires precision and control will disrupt the magic, and you will need to switch to Type A. It’s for sipping at your boba, not writing with a pen.

This is just a rough concept, and there are some things I need to touch on, like casting a spell while in focused mode and what happens, (maybe you can’t do both at the same time, or you gotta’ reduce how much you’re doing, like if you’re holding two swords, you gotta’ put one away to be able to have the available focus to cast and use whatever you’re holding) but I enjoy what I’ve come up with. :3

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4/6

Icy Creation

I honestly don't think levitation is as broken naturally as you think it is. The vast majority of unicorns shouldn't be able to use telekinesis in an actual fight anyway, at least not we'll enough to use a weapon with it. Telekinesis in the show was never especially reliable, there were moments wher... View More

Like 1 10 hours ago Edited

Parley

1. Wielding melee weapons in the mouth is something I really, really despise. It's worse than mouth triggers. Manoeuvrability issues aside, you're just opening yourself up to get fuckin' decapitated or your neck broken. It's not safe. That's how you die. I think resorting to that makes less sense th... View More

Moondancer's breaking down (full scene) youtu.be

Like 1 8 hours ago Edited

Icy Creation

Edit: Note: I have in fact not spent 2 hours coming up with this, in fact I spent less than twenty minutes typing this. There are probably a lot of holes in it- I've passively thought about a lot of this since finding MLP, but I'm not exactly smart or good at condensing passive thought into valid th... View MoreEdit: Note: I have in fact not spent 2 hours coming up with this, in fact I spent less than twenty minutes typing this. There are probably a lot of holes in it- I've passively thought about a lot of this since finding MLP, but I'm not exactly smart or good at condensing passive thought into valid theory (I'm also not putting much effort into it) 1 - Honestly I don't really enjoy mouth weapons either, but there is zero way for earth ponies to actually fight otherwise except for martial arts. Aside from, like, specialized technology, and that's not really something we see. And if earth ponies can do it, unicorns can do it but worse. Not to mention if mouth weapons are a thing, it's not like they're fighting humans with human fighting styles. They'd have evolved their own method of using weapons to deal with the way other ponies use weapons- its not like a human is any less dead soon after if their arm/hand gets broken or chopped, the thing holding our weapons. But the way pony fighting styles might evolve based on different evolutions of pony technology isn't really something I think I'm qualified to think about. 2. https://youtu.be/KeGQt74eUSY You could easily say that this spell is from Sombra's control, but it also means they can cast it, even if the ponies themselves haven't learned how outside Sombra's control. He isn't enhancing their power, after all. I do agree 'beam spell' isn't a one-size-fits-all combat spell, but telekinesis isn't much better. Numerous times ponies have just grabbed stuff out of a telekinesis field. Not to mention the times its been dispelled by contact with the horn, or surprises, or probably a couple other things, the show has over two hundred episodes. Beam spell is perfectly reliable, and up close you have a spike on your head. The very second episode shows a pony about to skewer another. Which I kind of forgot about in my initial reply, unicorns probably don't need mouth knives. As for mental preparation... Yes? I guess, that makes sense. It does remove one aspect of unreliability to tk, but not all of them. Pretty much any pony is going to be able to cast telekinesis, for sure, but the average murder attempt isn't really a fight. 3. Absolutely. The show is not consistent in the slightest with fights and it upsets me. One of my favorite things about MLP is extrapolating from it, but some of it just doesn't make sense no matter what. Not that it needs to make sense all the time, theorycrafters are not the target audience in the slightest, but still. On the other hand, what does Moondancer's breakdown have to do with anything? I'm definitely missing the point there, I need the relevance explained. It just feels like normal-if angered- telekinesis. She just happens to be holding a bat at the time.

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The Mane Six vs. the Sombra Fied Horde (The Beginning of the End) | MLP: FiM [HD] youtu.be

Like 5 hours ago Edited

Little Leaf

I really like the magic system that Sui Generis/Exanima uses which this reminded me of. It's honestly how I'd rather look at magic instead of spells as incantations, but rather energy manipulated through focus to get an intended effect. It takes practiced skill to create advanced forms or have conti... View More

Like 2 9 hours ago

Silent V Dusk

( Well, Silent is 100% a skilled Type: A user. But does that apply to weapons conjured with magic? An example would be maybe a katana summoned with the ponies' very essence. Would that apply to this? Because if not, Silent is then just a Type: A user. ) Edit : ( I know the disorientation thing will... View More

Like 7 hours ago Edited

Yearling Writer

I personally like the magic system with weapons. I've written my character facing down unicorns who use magic with their weapons while fighting as a means to teach myself to not write myself into a corner. One thing I've assessed is not every unicorn is adept with magic enough to weild a weapon like... View MoreI personally like the magic system with weapons. I've written my character facing down unicorns who use magic with their weapons while fighting as a means to teach myself to not write myself into a corner. One thing I've assessed is not every unicorn is adept with magic enough to weild a weapon like an expert, but it gives them enough of an advantage to match those who are experienced and don't use magic. Since fighting with magic involved is an inevitability, the idea isn't to necessarily put a restraint on magic, but to make a creative way of fighting it. For instance, a rule for characters experienced in fighting them would be to never fight a unicorn with a weapon directly. Use the environment to your advantage or avoid fighting a unicorn on an open field if you can help it. Try to overwhelm them or overload their senses to break their concentration on their spell so that you can knock the weapon out of the equation or attempt to land a finishing blow while they're disoriented. Generally, fights will inevitably end up unfair, but such is the way of fights in general, especially in a world of fantasy. Not everything will be balanced and not everything has an obvious answer. This makes it more rewarding when those characters can pull off a win through wits. In fact, one of the key villains I've written is a unicorn and my character, a pegasus who can't fly, has to find a way to overcome his spells on the fly as well as well as anything else that's thrown at him, and the only way he can ever hope to reach his end goal of beating this threat is to have at least some wits and experience in fighting powerful and experienced unicorns. Of course he has other certain things that give him an edge, but it also makes him a bit more careless in fights against unicorns too, making for a very good back and forth. I might come off as a bit preachy here, but I can't exactly articulate myself too well since I'm also fighting off a migraine, lol. If you'd like, I could delve a bit deeper into it or give some answers to challenging combat regarding unicorn magic. It's personally been fun to use unicorns as a heavy threat regarding any form of combat in general.

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Like 6 hours ago Edited