If you recognise the spell in the title you already know where I'm going with this.
There was a little gem of a game back in the late 80's that had a words of power style system.
Although in that game you were given access to all the words with vague explanations on thier meaning and had to work out what combinations of spells would result in useful effects.
each symbol had a written/spoken component and by combining them together you get the spell zo, kath, ra = zokathra.
Got me thinking as an optional addtion to the words of power for pathfinder. Give each component its own unquie 2-3 letter word which can be combined into a full word spell.
For example , close blast target (e.g. Sol) with acid effect (e.g. Ka)
combined create the close blast acid spell SolKa
I know what game you mean. :)
(Stumbles in searching his old gaming magazines while searching for appropriate runes)
Regardless, nothing beats good old Ful Ir :D
Also first word/syllabe who provided no effect except setting level of power - would it be that each spell level was specific word in Words Of Power mechanics?
This kind of reminds me of that Races of Destiny race with the glowing sigils circling their heads.
This kind of reminds me of that Races of Destiny race with the glowing sigils circling their heads.
Illumians. Awesome.
Wow, haven't heard of that game in years! Just brewed a few Mon Vi potions to drink at your health!
...hey what d'you know, just leveled-up as priest!
'findel
Does this mean i can pelt things to death with screamer slices again to level my ninja skills? :P
Yum! Screamer slices!
Aren't we <munch-munch> a bit off-topic? <munch-munch>
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Off topic.
I've been working on a 'magical language' for a character I'm writing. The spells are Vancian, not WoP, but they have some themes that link them.
Alset = electrical
Sac Si = force
Aegis = shield
Krats = armor
etc.
So when Talyn calls out Sac Si Aegis! and the axe heading towards his head is blocked, it's a 'force shield' (shield spell). If he cast mage armor it's going to be Sac Si Krats. etc.
In the Dresdenverse, the words they use are to focus the mind, so the power being channeled doesn't burn them out. Harry uses faux Latin, Elaine uses Egyptian, etc. They aren't really 'words of power' either, since Harry uses Forzare for wind magic, but it doesn't have a specific effect.
For a 'Pathfinder RPG' book, I don't think the WoP should have actual sounds/words. That's more campaign world oriented. A sidebar/table maybe, 'Words of Golarion' but not a 'language'.
I know what game you mean. :)
What game was it? It sounds so familiar, I know I played it but can't place it. Was it one of the Ultima games?
EDIT: Ah, thanks Mama Loufing. That was a fun game. I put hours into it, but that was so long ago - and I played so many RPGs that they all start to blend together.
Ah... I loved that game. My brother and I will swipe things from each other once in a while, and screech "MINE!" while we do it. We never forget...
This was back in the days before looking up cheats/walkthroughs online, too. I remember, about a week into playing the game (restarting over and over to try out new options), I said "screw it!" and sat there with a new game going through and finding every single successful combination you can make with those words.
Made a fancy sheet in "Paint Shop Pro" with graphics from the game too, and printed it out as a personal cheat sheet.
Did the same thing with Master of Magic. Learned what the symbols were for the "unknown magical writings" that replaced each letter in the text, and made a cheat sheet so I could load up a game and look into my spellbook to see if I got the spells I wanted (since the game auto generated a list of spells you can research based on the spellbooks you chose at creation).
There was a nice combination of Nature and Life spells, along with the Warlord special ability, that could let you make some very powerful Ultra-Elite units, buffed up to the gills.
I still haven't found games to replace those kinds of gaming experiences.
Another game that dealt with words in a power sense was Diablo II. They had a much more "celtic" or "european shaman runes" style to them. RalOrtTal, TalDolMal and JahGulEth are still embedded in my memory banks... I used those so much.
I agree that this is very setting flavour specific, so I don't think I'd expect to see "special names" for the words in the general rules they are making for the book. As a sidebar, or for future books on Golarion, I could see it adding a nice twist to magic.
Dungeon Master II: The Legend of Skulkeep
I loved it.
Roll that back 5 years before; that spell system was developed for the original Dungeon Master in '87.
For anyone who wants to revisit thier youth or never got the chance to play it in the first place
includes all the games in the series. even has an editor