On The New Way To Learn Spells by James "Tao" Murphy

At Feast of Eagles Rook I did not have my two-point armor (it had to get fixed). I dug out my old (made in the 80’s old) armor that is only one point and thought I would hang back and do the archery thing.  I also had my car that day, in which my 6’6” "questy axe" does not fit very well. When I got on site a friend questioned what was up with the armor.

He asked, “Why don’t you go one-path for the day?”
I replied, “And go around with one spell?”
“No, use the new system and lean as many as you can."

I had grandfathered at Highbridge and unlearned my spells the next day at Northern Spring Tournaments. I decided to try it. Since we were short of blacksmiths, and I had a spell mastery path of Blacksmith, I chose that path.

My plan: Blacksmith, 1 path, free armor, Light weapon restriction
Pool: Repair Armor
2: Repair Item
3: Heal Limb (without it, what good are you?)
4: Enchant Armor
5: Mystic Forge
6: Combat Raise Dead

I was able to get my daughter to teach me Repair Armor, I know her spell list (sorcerer) and knew that would be the only spell she could teach me. Step one done.

I should note at this point that I was using a sharpie and an omnibus that I had with me. I made a legal spellbook by putting the necessary info on the front cover and noted the page numbers for the spell. I wrote out my verbals on the page listed.  Not sure how I feel about doing this for a permanent spell book, but for this experiment it worked. Now I will have to combine three spellbooks into one, the next time I get the chance.

With the pool spell out of the way, it was time to find two people who knew Repair Item. This took a while. It is not as common a spell as I thought it would be. Eventually I found one player, and I paid a mercenary (who later turned out to be brigand) to teach me the spell.

Heal Limb was the easiest spell to get the three people to sign off on. I just asked people who were obvious spell casters if they had blacksmith spells; if they said no, I asked them to teach me Heal Limb.

I then spent the next three hours getting the last spell I was able to learn that day, “Enchant Armor." I needed four people who had not taught me anything else that event. I knew that Mystic Forge was going to be difficult with the player mix we had so my original plan was to save my self-taught slot for that spell.

I was surprised to find out how many one-paths with the free armor do not have Enchant Armor. I eventually found two players (one working in the kitchen in garb), one NPC (who can bargain quite well) and myself to sign off on the spell. I should note that the NPC who taught me Repair Item, and the NPC who taught me Enchant Armor were not the same NPC, and were not played by the same person.

So by the time I stopped, I had learned four spells, had ten teachers, and had confused a lot of people. If I had tried for the Mystic Forge I would have needed five new teachers.

It was an interesting experiment.  It was a semi-capped feast event so we only had about forty-five or so players (and more staff, I think about sixty people on site). I feel I could have learned the entire path at a tournament event where we would have more blacksmiths. If I was going for Healer I definitely think I could have filled all six spell circles.

I like the new learning system. I know a lot of the Realms population. I could go up to anyone there, ask for help, and if they could help they did. I was also very happy when experienced players challenged me on my knowledge of the spell they were teaching. They did not just sign off, but asked me questions making sure I knew what I was doing. I think that a newer player without the experience of having seen a spell cast on them multiple times would probably not be able to learn a full path of spells because they would not know who to ask, or have the connections to get the right teachers.

I can see the value in being more useful than five Armor Repairs at my first event as a spell caster. I like the idea that to learn spells you have to go up to a variety of people and interact with them. I do feel that we should put a six-spell cap per event on it. This does put a higher penalty on breaking your restriction vs unlearning spells.

And as a final thought, no, it’s not going to stick. The knee still works. I will be a fighter for as long as I can be.

An Atypical View

Happy Independence Day!

We at the View wish you all a happy, safe, and healthy holiday weekend. Tune back in with us on Monday!

What You Missed - Gilded Lion Summer Festival (photos)

[All photos by Jason Rosa except those marked with (*), by Jesse Gifford]

The pavilion in Southland, Rhiassa stands ready to welcome guests

The Jomsvikings, led by Ulric, appear in the Realms*

The challenge board *

Wedges compete for the favor of Tyr, god of war

A tasty lunch is served - four different varieties of wraps

Ullr's challenge begins under the watchful eye of the Jomsviking Ayze

An Invictus wedge works on a puzzle of Magni, god of strength

Azure Guard waters plants during the challenge of Freyr, goddess of fertility

Ashenmark matches wits with the Loki boxes

Throwing weighted balls during Magni's challenge

Composing a song on the Norlund dulcimer for Bragi, god of poetry & music

Folkestone art skills on display during Baldur's challenge

Working silently & diligently on Hoenir's challenge, god of creation & silence

Ezra meditates to learn the secret of the gate stones

The gate is complete, allowing the Jomsvikings to return to Norlund...for now

What You Missed - Gilded Lion Summer Festival by Christopher "Janus" Donnelly

Rhiassa invited us to a festival, and of course the heroes of the realms showed up to partake in the festivities.  Early in the morning, Tao ran the casino while only Areni was there on the behalf of Rhiassa to greet us.  She informed us that Aeston took many of his countrymen to investigate lightning strikes, but that he should be back shortly.  As she was starting to explain the food she had prepared for the day, a large band of armed people dressed in furs crested the hill asking if they had found "the Realms."  As we prepared for battle, the one addressing us, who I later found out was called Ulric, continued that he was looking for us as his lands were in great trouble due the aftermath of what we presume was Bedlam.  You see, in his lands, the Norlunds, every so often an event called Ragnarok would occur leading to the death and rebirth of the world.  On the day this started the darkness attacked them, destroying many of their gods, such as Odin and Freya, during the war.  Then one day, the darkness stopped, and the few oracles they had amongst them were able to divine that the Realms was the reason that the darkness stopped attacking.  He then stated that some of the surviving gods had sent him and the Jomsvikings here to seek aid from us, as if we could stop the darkness, we may be able to help restore the land, and allow it to begin the cycle once more.

Of course, there was a catch.  They needed to construct a Vanfrost to return to their world, and to allow us to follow them in the future.  Their gods would help us construct the Vanfrost, but we had to earn their favor first.  We were instructed to form groups of three, a group called a wedge which is the formation favored by the Norlund gods.  Wedges not only fight well together, but know each other and know how to work together.  A group that is bigger than the sum of it’s parts.  We were allowed to sign up our groups for two or three quests to prove ourselves to the gods.  When not proving ourselves on a wedge, we could prove ourselves to Tyr, the god of war, in combat tournaments.  Winners were granted a circular rune on a piece of paper with a Furthark rune in two corners.  

Out of the eight gods, my wedge went to Baldr, Loki, and Hoenir.  For Hoenir, god of silence and creation, we had to show our ability to cooperate by assembling a boat without talking.  For Loki, god of trickery and secrets, we had to overcome his tricks and uncovering his secrets by getting inside of giant puzzle boxes, and for Baldr, god of art and beauty, we had to show the true understanding of art and beauty in our creation of a painting of the Norlunds from the description provided.  Any wedge that was successful in their endeavor earned a marble pillar with elaborate circular runes on it.

Over dinner, which was a fantabulous create-your-own hamburger bar, people worked on translating the runes on the marble pillars.  Ulric informed us that to form the Vanfrost, we have to compose two larger pillars that formed rhyming couplets.  After composing it, the Vanfrost opened, and Ulric led the Jomsvikings back to Norlund to find out how we can help repair their world to the way it used to be.  He will be calling us this autumn when he knows the next step.

What you Missed: Good Old-Fashioned Entrepreneurial Recovery

Photo by Michael SWOOP Zajak

Photo by Michael SWOOP Zajak

Photo by Michael SWOOP Zajak

Photo by Michael SWOOP Zajak

Photo by Michael SWOOP Zajak

Photo by Michael SWOOP Zajak

Photo by Michael SWOOP Zajak

Photo by Michael SWOOP Zajak

What You Missed - Good Old-Fashioned Entrepreneurial Recovery by Michael "Swoop" Zajac

*A slightly charred scroll arrived at the View today, the distinct smell of sulfur emanates from the parchment as it is unrolled*

Dear Readers of the View, 

​Greetings from the base of a very active volcano! Quite the adventure was had Sunday assisting a little baby dragon recover some lost treasure from a much larger, angrier dragon deep inside its fiery lair. Adventurers from across the realm gathered to reclaim the lost loot within the volcano and of course, slay a very angry dragon. I, Swoop, will regale you with tales of our adventures as the first group to enter the treacherous mountain and, thanks to a little salamander on the wall, will tell of how the later groups fared in the depths.

​Cutting our way through thick spider webs, the group found themselves in a dark room, with a semicircle of statues holding riddles and curious puzzle pieces blocking our path. While answering the riddles caused the statues to drop their puzzle pieces, they would shortly animate and attempt to reclaim their lost possession! Through a bit of luck, our group found certain statues were vulnerable to specific types of damage, and therefore we managed to stop some from attempting to reclaim their pieces. My salamander friend tells me other groups were not as fortunate, but their strategy of answering all of the riddles at once and frantically depositing the pieces into the receptacle worked with only minimal bodily injury. This completion of the puzzle opened a doorway to one of the three separate dungeons within the volcano.

​For us, the next room led to a long protracted fight with a hostile goblin tribe. The goblins seemed endless until we realized they were being revived at three points within the room, at which point we realized scalping them was out best option. We also discovered a strange little human, who had somehow risen to a rank of leadership within the goblin tribe after living amongst them and possibly believing he himself was a goblin. He joined us on our quest, offering healing and resurrections via a seed of life that he somehow learned from within the goblin culture. My little friend tells me that the other groups fared similar yet different engagements once they progressed pass the statues. The second group also seemed to encounter a hostile goblin tribe, but after realizing half of their party had been thrown in the goblin ice box, realized they needed a different approach besides brawn. Using a bit of magic and a whole lot of mischief, the boys (and girl) in Green and Black and associates managed to fast-talk the goblin leader in releasing their compatriots and guiding them onto the next section of the dungeon. The third group, however, ran into a very different group of goblins, ones that seemed more intent on partying than fighting, as the adventurers walked in amidst a goblin dance party, quite a sight to see. After completing some competitions against the goblins, the goblin chieftain agreed to guide them to the dragon.

​Fighting through trolls and bats and uncomfortable doses of personal space invasion and body odor, all three groups fought through a tight corridor and then quickly sprinted through the door as a rockslide collapsed part of the path behind them. A ring of lights needed to be activated, much to the displeasure of the local populace, which then opened a pit of lava, infested with fire throwing sprites. My salamander compatriot wishes for a moment of silence, as 3 of his brothers were slain here and butchered for their claws that the adventures used to throw the fireballs back at the sprites. May they rest in peace.

After the sprites were dealt with, a terrible roar came from the far side of the room, and the dragon emerged from its den! All parties emitted similar cries of surprise and terror as they lept to their feet. I am unsure how it been concealed from me, but a massive spear was produced amongst the fighters in our group, which required 6 men to wield! The spear was thrust into the dragon’s slithering form, hot blood pouring from its wounds. My salamander compatriot tells me the others fared similar battles, with Neden utilizing its extensive knowledge and weapons of dragon-slaying and the third group empowering the goblin chief to have him tackle the dragon head on! Each group fought a mighty battle, and casting aside the possibility that NedenALMOST took all the loot and were about to leave with the dragon still alive, each group conquered the mighty foe. The dragon’s horde was then raided by each group, a veritable wealth of money, items and trinkets left as spoils for the party. The loot was well worth the risk, and each party managed to escape the volcano with only a few burns from the hot lava erupting around us.

​In conclusion, a great time was had by every adventurer! The thrill of danger, the great battles and the gaining of loot always stirs the hearts and gold pouches of the heroes of the Realms, and this occasion was no different. My little salamander friend says that while the mountain is quite for now, who knows what dangers still lurk within the fiery halls.

​​​Yours truly,

​​Swoop of Clan Riverhawk

​​

​*A small paw print has also been dabbed underneath Swoop’s signature*