Busy. No, really.
Feb. 7th, 2010 08:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethSo far this weekend I have read the essays for class on Monday and read a whole lot of GURPS Magic rules, then figured out a set of spells for a priest of Janus.
Clearly this is a productive use of time. *nods*
Ethan's spells are hard to model because there's a half a dozen spells that almost but not quite do what he did, and also because he cast a spell on a whole town at once, which has power requirements that are off the scale. Assume the Hellmouth is a Very High Mana area (so absolutely anyone can cast spells, and mages have a lot of bonus), and that Janus did most of the lifting. I still don't even know how to start calculating the costs. Impressive, anyway.
Ethan: very strong indeed.
But we knew that.
The other thing about spells is they all have the same names, but to ally them with specific gods you really have to think about the tone or flavour of things. Like the spell 'Drunkenness' has effects kind of like getting every adult to act like drunk teenagers, but being drunk isn't especially associated with Janus. Getting people to express their repressed sides *is*, in the Buffyverse. So you rephrase it just slightly, and it's a spell with the right theme. Weaken Will works too. Emotion Control and Suggestion don't quite cover it, I think. Madness, being really specific, with a Delusion, is probably enough... but it's really rather thorough. And to incorporate real world knowledge like Xander's soldier did would require a ton of Knowledge spells too. Basically you pretty much have to say 'A God Did It', but it's hard to game that.
Ethan: god likes him. His god, anyway.
Which leaves you to wonder why a god of doors didn't bust him out of prison.
But Planar Visit (Dreamlands) treats the dream worlds as an actual world as real as the demon dimensions, so getting to wander around in there is pretty powerful of itself. And since you leave your body behind it don't much matter where you left it. Unless you're worried about the damage...
I had mostly set out to invent some characters to throw at each other in an original story world. I got a couple of people, but then I thought of Ethan, and, well, it's not like I've any particular reason to focus. Ethan is fun. Storytelling gold.
I should probably sleep at some point.
Clearly this is a productive use of time. *nods*
Ethan's spells are hard to model because there's a half a dozen spells that almost but not quite do what he did, and also because he cast a spell on a whole town at once, which has power requirements that are off the scale. Assume the Hellmouth is a Very High Mana area (so absolutely anyone can cast spells, and mages have a lot of bonus), and that Janus did most of the lifting. I still don't even know how to start calculating the costs. Impressive, anyway.
Ethan: very strong indeed.
But we knew that.
The other thing about spells is they all have the same names, but to ally them with specific gods you really have to think about the tone or flavour of things. Like the spell 'Drunkenness' has effects kind of like getting every adult to act like drunk teenagers, but being drunk isn't especially associated with Janus. Getting people to express their repressed sides *is*, in the Buffyverse. So you rephrase it just slightly, and it's a spell with the right theme. Weaken Will works too. Emotion Control and Suggestion don't quite cover it, I think. Madness, being really specific, with a Delusion, is probably enough... but it's really rather thorough. And to incorporate real world knowledge like Xander's soldier did would require a ton of Knowledge spells too. Basically you pretty much have to say 'A God Did It', but it's hard to game that.
Ethan: god likes him. His god, anyway.
Which leaves you to wonder why a god of doors didn't bust him out of prison.
But Planar Visit (Dreamlands) treats the dream worlds as an actual world as real as the demon dimensions, so getting to wander around in there is pretty powerful of itself. And since you leave your body behind it don't much matter where you left it. Unless you're worried about the damage...
I had mostly set out to invent some characters to throw at each other in an original story world. I got a couple of people, but then I thought of Ethan, and, well, it's not like I've any particular reason to focus. Ethan is fun. Storytelling gold.
I should probably sleep at some point.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-09 12:36 am (UTC)But we knew that."
WE did, but the people who wrote him, not so much. It's like they don't even think! Everything he did requires a lot of power and knowledge.
"Ethan: god likes him. His god, anyway."
I doubt he works with just the one...
"Which leaves you to wonder why a god of doors didn't bust him out of prison."
And I did.
Especially as there was, in some article, something about a myth involving Janus and Cardea/Carna and door hinges.
Hey, the current wiki for Janus has something about "the growing up of young people".
no subject
Date: 2010-02-12 04:06 pm (UTC)If Janus is the gatekeeper of the gods then working with Janus would get access to the whole pantheon, but not necessarily their favor.
Modern type chaos magic would have a whole different flavor, of course.
Busting out of prison would be way more fun. Why make choices that shut off story? Boo. I haven't really read the comics, mostly cause they did that and I got bored.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-12 07:24 pm (UTC)Even if they treat Ethan as a simple plot device, he'd still be ten thousands kinds of fun and handy for various plots. They're kinda stupid. I thought for ages that they were better than that, but.... Well.