Mysticism

[theJalden 21]

There is no denying that mysticism has played a huge part in history, and as a role-player, I have a huge respect for the metaphysical.  I would like to see some form of mysticism implemented into TFC, not only for the role-playing potential, but to serve a purpose.

 

As it stands, players tend to rack up a pretty large amount of food in a pretty short amount of time.  With the new update food is a bit harder to come by.  But once things get moving it isn't hard to reach a surplus of food.  In addition to this, piles of junk like rotten flesh, bones, saplings, among other things take up valuable inventory space.  So I believe mysticism in TFC should be primarily sacrificed based.

 

An alter block should be able to be crafted after unlocking ceramics.  Each sacrifice would bring a "buff" to the devotee.  Minor sacrifices, like bone and rotten flesh would give shorter, or less effective buffs, while food sacrifices (perhaps in a combination system like the meals) would give stronger buffs.

 

Some ideas for buffs, the names don't have to stick:

• DIvine Fortune:  Random chance of increased yield while mining/digging/gathering wood
• Religious devotion:  Ability to work faster, break blocks in a shorter amount of time
• Asceticism:  Reduced hunger/thirst
• Warrior of the faith: Attacks slightly stronger, defence slightly higher

Buffs like Warrior would be especially important early game, as fighting 1.6.x mobs has become a big grievance.

 

This idea sticks interests me because there would always be a question as to what to put your resources towards.  As it stands metal always goes to tools.  But if metal sacrifices were implemented, you might be tempted to save the metals for the gods.

[Clearshot126 2]

I will make sure that I sacrifice my goats to Odin, as we can see in TFC he is clearly doing a very good job at keeping away the frost giants.

[Khalkists 10]

There have been a general consensus for TFC V1 to avoid the mystic.

It was considered in the now-canceled TFC2 project.

That doesn't mean that "magic" isn't an option, but not in the traditional RPG approach. When they speak of the arcane, they mean when advancements no longer follow an established logical path.

 

All of our history is based on steps of the "arcane". What we know is proven wrong, and that new knowledge is used to establish new technology. To those remembering this old "knowns", this sudden change in direction makes little sense. That is the type of arcane that bioxx stated he would follow, if possible. The problem with that though, they would have to keep information of the "arcane" age unposted on the wiki. If we can look at something and know what needs to go in to it, we incorporate it in to our understanding. Part of "magic" is the mystery.

 

 

 

Now, buffs can be justified as a psychological phenomenon. Faith has an uncanny ability, often allowing people to do more than they should be able to, but pushing your body's boundaries is never accomplished without sacrifice. For example, under religious fervor (and/or various hallucinogenic substances), nordic warriors were known to perform inhuman feats of strength. The problem with that was, it would damage their bodies.

 

Strength now magnifies damage on a multiplier, so it would be usable in TFC.

One way to represent this is, attacking with the strength effect causes minor damage to you. You are using faith and/or substances to push the normal limits on your muscles, so you can draw a bit more from them, but it is damaging.

[theJalden 21]

Now, buffs can be justified as a psychological phenomenon. Faith has an uncanny ability, often allowing people to do more than they should be able to, but pushing your body's boundaries is never accomplished without sacrifice. For example, under religious fervor (and/or various hallucinogenic substances), nordic warriors were known to perform inhuman feats of strength. The problem with that was, it would damage their bodies.

 

 

That is pretty much the feel I was going for.  Incorperating "TerraCraft Gods" would become dogmatic, and letting them bestow you with divine graces is rediculous.  The concept of mysticism, while not realistic, is at least belivable.  The theme that if you sacrifice now, then you will be rewarded later permeates all eras of human history.  It would also add a mechanic to the game that is totally optional, but adds functionality.  Both through buffs and through getting rid of pointless junk.

 

I think it would be interesting.  I play on a PvP server with a few friends, and I could see dragging prisoners up to some altar, and sacrificing them for divine favor. Or reenact the end scene from the Wicker Man.  I could also see a food sacrifice after harvest, the decision to keep or sacrifice the food, and figuring out what the balance would be could be an interesting decision in a game.

[Khalkists 10]

That is pretty much the feel I was going for.  Incorperating "TerraCraft Gods" would become dogmatic, and letting them bestow you with divine graces is rediculous.  The concept of mysticism, while not realistic, is at least belivable.  The theme that if you sacrifice now, then you will be rewarded later permeates all eras of human history.  It would also add a mechanic to the game that is totally optional, but adds functionality.  Both through buffs and through getting rid of pointless junk.

 

I think it would be interesting.  I play on a PvP server with a few friends, and I could see dragging prisoners up to some altar, and sacrificing them for divine favor. Or reenact the end scene from the Wicker Man.  I could also see a food sacrifice after harvest, the decision to keep or sacrifice the food, and figuring out what the balance would be could be an interesting decision in a game.

 

It is a touchy subject. To avoid "magic" they would have to incorporate those same buffs, potentially with less input/penalties, later on in development in an explainable way. It would be like, early vanilla giving easy access to strength with a penalty; through the sacrifice of some items.

Later in vanilla, you have access to strength as well, without said penalty, through the use of science (brewing)

 

It would need to be unexplainable early on, with room for refinement and understanding in the future.

 

I think it would go better in an alternate route. Finding herbs that bestow "magical" effects when eaten, with short durations and compounding penalties. It would later be refined through cooking, etc. to be a bit less hazardous.

 

But we already have a similar system with meals, except base foods confer no buff.

[transcengopher 349]

I will make sure that I sacrifice my goats to Odin, as we can see in TFC he is clearly doing a very good job at keeping away the frost giants.

You can sacrifice any death or battle to Odin. Just make sure to hang the living things. If crows show up - your sacrifice is accepted.

[HunterKain 32]

I'm curious as to how far we can go defining things as mysticism before its considered out of TFC's zone. A huge part of mysticism would be sculptures and effigies. They take skill to make, and patience too, and it would give chiseling stone a reason other that aesthetics. Different symbols for different buffs. Different ritual/sacrifices for different levels of buffs.

[Artyom Shegeda 2]

Does your pray help you in the termination of rain or felling trees?

Mysticism is for you as for plyer but not for your character in game

[Sting_Auer 59]

I'm not a fan of an "altar" block. I don't think it should be done that way; it seems too mechanical.

 

I think instead, it should be done with a more "fluid" and "natural" mechanic. Here's some things I think would work well:

 

1.) Patron Spirits:

 

Upon world generation, "Patron Spirits" would be generated and tied to regions. These regions should be defined by biome and waterlines (beaches, rivers, etc). These patron spirits would have different "likes" and "dislikes" that trend towards being related to each other, but can be completely random. Players have no way of knowing what a Patron Spirit's likes and dislikes are, or even if one exists in their region.

 

Patron Spirits would have "Favors" and "Blights" that they would inflict based on their opinion of the local players, and their general demeanor. These could range from bad weather, to disease, to increased mob spawning/strength/armor wearing rate/item pickup ability rate, among other things. These would all be randomly generated and tied to that specific Patron Spirit, but multiple spirits could have the same effects.

 

 

2.) Rituals and Sins:

 

"Rituals" could be carried out that would change the opinions of Patron Spirits. These rituals would be randomly generated and tied to the spirits, but would trend towards certain characteristics related to the environment and the demeanor of the specific Spirit. Rituals could be reciting certain words and phrases (which would be procedurally generated from logical combinations of words), they could be sacrifices of certain items (trending towards being related to the demeanor of the Spirit, or the environment), or they could be creating structures out of certain materials. Sacrificing items could be as simple as leaving them out to decay over time, throwing them in a fire, or leaving them in a chest sitting someplace. Leaving them within a certain distance of a type of block or land formation could also be an aspect of it.

 

On the flipside of Rituals, there are certain behaviors that are frowned upon by Patron Spirits, or downright hated by them. These are called Sins. maybe the Patron Spirit of a forest dislikes a specific kind of tree being chopped, but enjoys them being planted. Maybe a patron spirits has extreme disdain or Bismuth Bronze, but enjoys people wearing steel. It could be even something as ridiculous as a Spirit auto-aggroing Endermen on anyone who has built with Aspen planks within the last 24 hours.

 

 

 

Extreme examples like that last one would be exceedingly rare, of course. These are just examples of things that would be possible with a modular, procedurally, and randomly generated Mysticism system.

 

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Methinks I Need ot post this in its own thread...

[transcengopher 349]

Does your pray help you in the termination of rain or felling trees?Mysticism is for you as for plyer but not for your character in game

It actually does, albeit not physically. We peoplez are funny like that.