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[WB] Competitive Spell Casting ideas

TotesBurger

Money, Hoes, Bionicles
Banished
Joined
Aug 19, 2013
Been working on a setting and mechanics for a 'Magic meets Sports Anime' type deal and this is what I have so far. It's inspired by games like Splatoon and Ninjala.

For centuries, Mages have wielded powerful magic to shape the world as we know it. However after a brutal war that raged on for 100 years, the United Mages Institute was founded to keep magic use in check.

In modern times, magic use and spell casting has become a popular sport for young adults. Utilizing their latent magic abilities, players use devices Tomes. Tomes are essentially digital books that grant the user unique spells, and soon multiple manufacturers have become popular for making their own unique takes on Tomes

Tome mechanics.

Tomes are small phone sized devices that look like books. When used in a Magic Bracer, they allow the user to wield up to three spells from that Tome.

All players are required to have
3 different Tomes
A Tome belt
A Magic Bracer.

To activate a Tome, the player must first open the front of the Tome before sliding it into their bracer. At any time a player can swap tomes, however once a Tome is closed, it can’t be used again for a period of time. Also some spells have a cooldown period

In order to use a spell, one must gain Mana. While Mana passively regenerates, players can find ‘Mana Wells’ that randomly appear to gain a big boost

Within a Tome are three different spells as well as a passive ability. While there are nuances and variants and even combinations, most spells can be categorized into different types.

Shot
Strike
Support
Movement
Volley
Trap
Summons
Weapon
Area

~Example Tomes~

Fierce Dragon
Cover: A dragon covered in flames
Color: Red and Black
Spells
Flare Shot: A shot spell that fires a spread of fire like a shotgun
Drake Blitz: Charge forward in a blast of flame
Flame Carpet: Cover a large area in fire
Passive: Heating up! Each time a spell is used, the Grimoire will begin to heat up and after a period will explode.

Fairy Hospital
Cover: A fairy in a nurse’s outfit
Color: Green and white
Spells
On Call: Summons a fairy nurse that will passively heal the user or can be locked onto an ally
Medical Cache: Creates a Mana Well
Special Medicine: Creates a Volley (Multiple shots that can be fired individually) of healing shots that lock onto allies.
Passive: Pick Me Up: Upon being healed, gain a temporary movement speed boost.

Franken Buster
Cover: A Frankenstein like monster in a wrestling outfit
Color: Yellow and Green
Spells
Electric Strike: Throws a powerful electric punch
Franken Cage: Creates a temporary cage around the player and opponent, hitting the sides will cause light damage.
From the top rope!: Summons Franken Buster to perform a devastating elbow drop
Passive: Tag Team Supreme: When Franken Buster is being used any dormant Grimoires will recharge faster

Gallant Knight
Cover: A knight in shining armor
Color: Gold and White
Spells
Vanguard: Creates three shields that circle the player, when hit with a spell a shield will break but will fling the spell back at the opponent.
Excalibur: Creates a holy sword
True Guard: Creates a brief shield that when timed right will parry an opposing spell and follows it up with a devastating strike
Passive: A Knight’s Code: When below 50% health, receive a temporary defense boost

Little Trickster
Cover: A cartoony devil
Color: Purple and Black
Spells
What’s this?: Flings out a random item that could either aid you, hurt you, aid the opponent, hurt the opponent, or all of the above
Sabotage: Place a trap on the ground. If triggered by an opponent, their current grimoire will be locked for a period of time
Decoy: Creates three decoys that explode when hit.
Passive: Prankster: When absorbing a Mana Well, Little Trickster leaves a ‘fake’ mana well that explodes when an opponent tries to absorb it.

The SWARM
Cover: Several menacing Insects
Color: Green and Brown
Spells
Attack Drones: Sets up a Volley of insects that can be fired to seek out the opponent.
Beetle Strength: Summons a large beetle to rampage for a period of time
Spider's Web: Summons a large spider a sticky trap that wraps an opponent in a web.
Passive: The Queen: When using The SWARM, a queen insect will hover around the user. When the Tome is knocked out, the Queen will fly towards the opponent and explode.

Matsuri-Shuriken!
Cover: Japanese Ninja and Festival floats
Color: Purple and Red
Spells
Decoy: Whenever a the user is attacked while Decoy is activated, they'll disappear and reappear behind the opponent as a block of wood appears in their original location
Shinobi-Banzai!: Sets up a volley of shurikens
Nippon ICHI~!: Dashes forward in a straight line while razor sharp winds surround the user.
Passive: Way of the Ninja: Dodging a spell at just the right moment will grant bonus Mana.
~~~~~~~

Official game rules set by the UMI.

1. Matches can be either one on one, four on four or four player free for all.
2. While none of the spells are lethal, they can still simulate the impact of an actual spell
3. Only three Tomes may be used.
4. All bracers, Tomes and Tome belts must be checked by an official during tournament play.
5. During a match, all players start with a max of Eight Mana points. Using a spell will use two mana. Mana regenerates over time.
6. When a player is hit, their Tome will take 'Damage'. At a certain point, a Tome will be 'Knocked out' and cannot be used for the rest of the match. A player loses when all three of their Tomes are knocked out.
7. Players are free to use any object in the stage to their advantage, for cover, high ground, positional advantages, etc.
8. During team matches, when a player is 'Knocked out', they are to return to the side line benches immediately. Attacking a 'Knocked out' player will incur a penalty.

~~~~~~
Notable Leagues

Mage Pro League: The premier league. The NFL, NBA and NHL of this setting if you will. Every seasons teams will compete and score points. At the end of the season, two teams will compete in the Chalice Bowl to become the world champions.

Elite Mage Casting: A sort of WWE/AEW equivalent where mages take on colorful personas and gimmicks. Most of these matches are either fully scripted or just partially scripted

Junior League: A more softer league meant for grade schoolers. These are usually more independent and community run but can be a good start to become a pro player.

High School League: Done by regions. It's possible to obtain a scholarship by playing. At the end of the season, the top four schools will compete in a national tournament.

College League: The ultimate chance to be picked up by a sponsor or by a team.

Ultimate Free For All: A once a year event that's both invitation and open to the public. As the name implies, this is a massive free for all battle with around sixty players.
 
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Some more Tome ideas

Benkei's Armory
Cover: A cartoony depiction of Benkei
Color: White and Black
Spells
Onigiri: Equips a katana that sends out razor winds when swung.
Tenpo Hamma: Equips a heavy hammer that causes tremors when slammed on the ground.
Storm of Yari: Sets up a volley of spears
Passive: Master of Arms. When Bekei's Armory is dormant or active, all Weapon based spells have decreased mana costs.

Groovy Golem
Cover: A golem wearing a disco outfit and disco ball
Color: Purple and Blue
Spells
Jam Rockin': Creates a blast of sound around the user
Beat Thumpin': Creates a series of Tremors
Groovy Mixer: Summons various rocks around the user that circle around them.
Passive: Keep the Rhythm: When using a spell, the user can press a button on Groovy Golem and extend the spell by keeping rhythm.

Spooky Castle
Cover: well.. a spooky castle
Color: Purple and Red
Spells
The Spooky Three: Summons three ghosts that seek out the opponent and drains their mana.
Big Guy: Summons two large zombie hands that smash the ground and tries to grab the opponent
Vampire Bats: Sets up a volley of bats.
Passive: Haunted Curse: Opponent spells have a chance of not activating when a Spooky Castle spell hits them
 
Well what are the actual mechanics of it here? For example, they have a maximum mana, but is that just a rule of the game, or a physical limit? Are there spells that can raise the limit, even if just as a side effect?

And when people naturally regain it over time, again how does that happen? Any way to speed it up, or cut your opponent off from it?

And if so, would there then be a whole field of magic dedicated to anti-mana and anti-anti-mana, etc?
 
Hm good points... I spent a bit thinking about this.

Alright how about this?

So as for how Mana works. It's a rule of the game. By default all players have eight points of Mana. Honestly it would be better to make it more of a rule than a physical limit to allow some more 'support' related tomes that can mess around with Mana regen and disabling.

Every player has a base regeneration rate of 1 point per 5 seconds (okay so the math may be SUPER FUCKING WONK but numbers aren't my strongest suit). So if you were completely out of mana it would take about 40 seconds to regenerate your mana completely.
Now like I said, math... not my best suit so whatever numbers would work better in your head jus' lemme know.

And yeah, there would be tomes more suited to messing with Mana and such. I've got a new batch of tomes i'm working on but i'll post them later.
 
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