A coldly logical voice enters your mind with a familiarity that imparts the notion that it has always been there and always will. The voice says, simply, "The contract is signed."
A profusion of cold white starlight explodes out from Chris' Mass to engulf the entirely of the heavens, its overwhelming brightness blinding you! As your vision clears, an uneasy stillness settles over the area.
Trader Magic is now on preview in Platinum and Prime.
First, a few notes of thanks. While I've been the public face of this project, I in no way did this alone, or even did a majority of the work. I thank GMs Grejuva and Duscot (you don't know him yet) for massive help designing and implementing the Trader spellbooks. GM Persida was invaluable for lore and event support. GM Raesh had a big hand in the original design and conceptualizing of the system.
With that said, let's talk a bit about magic & you.
If you've never played an MU before, I recommend checking the guides on Elanthipedia. The magic system is reasonably complex and there is not enough room in this announcement to include a primer.
Traders are now MUs with the full suite of features that normally implies. Note that specific magical devices may need to be updated to recognize Traders, since not everything (especially older items) use the standard mechanics for determining such things. In addition, they are Lunar casters with access to much of the same PERCEIVE features Moon Mages have. They do not have access to PERC PERSON, but they have the new PERC AURA instead (more on that in a few paragraphs).
Due to the nature of how Traders acquired magic in the setting, a few special features apply.
1) There is no grandfathering. You are all new at this and your previous accomplishments at Trader-ing does not equate into experience with magic.
2) There are no Magic reqs. The guild does not recognize magic use as a needful thing to measure for your growth as a Trader.
3) Trader Guildleaders do not teach magic. They are as clueless as you are. Instead, snoop around the Crossing guildhall for something new.
The Trader confound is the Starlight Aura, the ability to siphon the supernatural energies of the stars through their minds and around them for later use. This is done automatically under the correct conditions, but may be augmented by the Noumena and Stellar Collector spells. Many Trader spells have environmental requirements which Starlight Aura can substitute for.
Generally speaking, Trader spells fall into four type of environmental requirements:
None: Can be cast freely.
Stars / Bright Moons: Must have access to starlight or the light of Xibar/Yavash.
Stars: Must have access to starlight specifically.
Moons: Like a traditional Moon Mage spell, requires one of the three moons. Starlight aura cannot subsitute for this requirement.
During this preview you will have access to all 21 spells, but due to spell difficulty only certain spells will be successfully castable by you to begin with. Essentially, you should be able to cast all Intro spells (easily) and Basic spells (with the chance for random oopsies) immediately. I've listed the spells in order of difficulty below:
FABRICATION
Trabe Chalice [Warding] (Intro)
Crystal Dart [TM] (Basic)
Arbiter's Stylus [TM] (Intermediate)
Regalia [Utility] (Intermediate)
Starcrash [TM] (Advanced)
Stellar Collector [Utility] (Advanced)
Avtalia Array (Metaspell)
Bespoke Regalia (Metaspell)
ILLUSION
Fluoresce [Debilitation] (Intro)
Blur [Augmentation] (Basic)
Avren Aevareae [Augmentation/Debilitation] (Intermediate)
Mask of the Moons [Warding] (Advanced)
Elision [Warding] (Esoteric)
NOEMATICS
Noumena [Utility] (Intro)
Finesse [Augmentation] (Basic)
Last Gift of Vithwok IV [Augmentation] (Basic)
Membrach's Greed [Augmentation] (Basic)
Nonchalance [Warding] (Basic)
Turmar Illumination [Augmentation] (Basic)
Platinum Hands of Kertigen [Augmentation] (Intermediate)
Resumption (Metaspell)
While most of the actual spell effects are currently PAFO, one thing I will note is that due to Avtalia Array being on preview you will notice some oddities with cambrinth. This is intentional, please see the Avtalia Array description in-game for more information.
Have fun, and happy holidays from all of us at DragonRealms.
-Armifer
"Perinthia's astronomers are faced with a difficult choice. Either they must admit that all their calculations were wrong ... or else they must reveal that the order of the gods is reflected exactly in the city of monsters." - Italo Calvino
