Duelling research (2)

The following is a follow-up of the tests I made with Gznang some days ago. In the previous post I included the attack and protect messages that were generated.  Here I'll list the results of the combats. The idea is to find out if specific elemental attacks can beat (or fail to) some elemental protections. My working hypothesis is that Some elementals have 'an edge' when fighting others, but that the specific elemental attack/protection that gets evoked has a different effect. A rough calculation for the 2x4= 8 attacks and a hypothesized 6x4 = 24 defenses there might be yields a total of 192 possible combinations.

From this basic research, it seems there might be even more to it (bonuses? chance?) as I found out that the same combination of elemental attack + elemental protection sometimes yields different outcomes.

Fire attacks

Attack                                    Protection                            Result

barking dog (F)                       long flame (F)                      flame wins

fire dragon (F)                        ? (F)                                      dragon wins

Water Attacks

Attack                                    Protection                            Result

grey cloud                              disc of ice (W)                      cloud wins

grey cloud                              jet of air (A)***                    cloud wins

grey cloud                              large rock (E)                        rock wins

grey cloud                             ring of flame (F)                    ring wins

large hailstone                      ball of dirt (E)                        hailstone wins

large hailstone                      ball of dirt (E)**                    ball wins

large hailstone                      long flame (F)                        hailstone wins

Air attacks

Attack                                    Protection                            Result

smelling gas                            gust of wind (A)                  gas wins

smelling gas                            gust of wind (A)                  gust wins

smelling gas                            wall of water (W)                gas wins

smelling gas                            wall of water (W)                wall wins

smelling gas                            spark (F)                              gas wins

yellow butterfly                      stalactite (W)**                   stalactite wins

yellow butterfly                      fireball (F)                            fireball wins   

yellow butterfly                      ? (F)                                     butterfly wins

yellow butterfly                     pebbles (E)                           butterfly wins

yellow butterfly                     pebbles (E)                           pebbles win

Earth attacks

Attack                                    Protection                            Result

terracotta warrior                    great wall (E)                       wall wins

ball of rock                               clod of dirt (E)                     clod wins 

ball of rock                                fireball (F)                            ball wins        

    

Duelling research - preliminary tests

As magical duelling remains the undiscovered country, I have decided to start a research program around it to see what its possible patterns were, and ideally, get some confirmation from experiment and tms. The starting hypotheses are as follows:

-The skills employed for duelling are magic.items.held.wand, or magic.items.held.rod or magic.items.held.staff, depending on the choice made by the two duellists on what to employ. Required levels should be low, although my sparing partner had at least one fail with the wand (+200 bonus range?). Then, perhaps:

magic.methods.spiritual.summoning (for demon strength and initial health, maybe?)

magic.methods.physical.healing (for healing the demon, one of three choices during every combat round. To get any success using this, you probably need over 200 bonus levels)

-For the main activity in dueling, which is making attacks and protections using elementals you obviously will employ:

magic.methods.elemental.air

magic.methods.elemental.earth

magic.methods.elemental.fire

magic.methods.elemental.water. 

Tm range would be interesting - I guess it should be rather low, in the 200s.

-When making an attack and a protection, some sort of rock, paper, scissors element must be at play. Results seem moderately determined by skills bonuses, but not to an overwhelming degree.

-There is probably a limited number of different attacks and protections for each of the skills (2 different attacks, 4 different protections per skill?).

After a light lunch, I got my research started with the kind cooperation of a fellow Circle wizard from the Counterweight Continent, Gznang, whom I wholeheartedly thank in advance. I got an iconograph to take a picture of us while we were at work:

The following is the list of all the attack and protect messages we got for all the 4 elemental skills:

MESSAGES: ATTACK

Fire 

Concentrating carefully you conjure up a small barking dog and light its wick with the tip of your dueling wand. 

Chanting magical words and vigorously rubbing his dueling wand, Gznang constructs a small dragon from fire. With a majestic wave of his hand the dragon flies towards the foul midnight black demon.

Earth

Drawing in power from the room, you tap the floor with your dueling wand. The room shakes and a small terracotta warrior erupts from the floor and marches towards the vile grey demon. 

Muttering to yourself you draw in background magic with your dueling wand and create a huge ball of rock which you hurl at the vile grey demon. 

Water

Using the ambient magic you skillfully create a fluffy grey cloud at the tip of your dueling wand which blows towards the vile grey demon.

Gznang holds his dueling wand out horizontally. A large hailstone forms at its tip and starts to zoom towards the foul midnight black demon.

Air

You concentrate on tofu and cabbage, drawing in magic from the room. Suddenly a puff of foul smelling gas errupts from your dueling wand and moves towards the vile grey demon.

Gznang lifts his dueling wand up and down in a flapping motion and suddenly a small yellow butterfly pops into existence. 

MESSAGES: PROTECT

Fire

Using his dueling wand Gznang produces a long flame which he points at the opening of the barking dog. 

Muttering magical words and vigorously rubbing your dueling wand you construct a small dragon from fire and set it flying with a lazy wave of your hand.

You quickly rub your dueling wand, generating heat through friction, until a small ball of fire forms at the end. Drawing your hand back, you hurl the fireball at the butterfly.

Gznang chants a magical verse and creates a spark from his dueling wand.

You create a circle of fire around the foul midnight black demon using your dueling wand. 

You rub your dueling wand and use it to draw a circle on the ground. Suddenly, a ring of flame springs up around the foul midnight black demon. 

Using your dueling wand you create a large fireball which flies towards the huge ball of rock.

Earth

Using his dueling wand, Gznang creates a small version of the great wall of Agatea around the vile grey demon. 

Gznang creates a large clod of dirt with his dueling wand which zooms towards the huge ball of rock.

Gznang quickly points his dueling wand at the butterfly and shoots a a stream of pebbles from the tip. Using his dueling wand, Gznang creates a small mountain in front of the vile grey demon. 

Using your dueling wand, you solidify the background enchantment into a large rock which you hurl towards the fluffy grey cloud. 

Gznang produces a ball of dirt from the tip of his dueling wand and magically hurls it at the hailstone.

Water

Gznang conjures up a disc of ice which hovers over the vile grey demon like an umbrella.

Gznang conjures up a large hailstone which he hurls at the other hailstone.

Gznang conjures up a huge wall of water around the vile grey demon with his dueling wand. 

Time seems to speed up as drops of water fall from your dueling wand, forming a sharp stalactite on the very tip of it. You break the stalactite off and throw it at the butterfly. 

Gznang uses his dueling wand to create a protective wall of ice around the vile grey demon. 

Air

You produce a huge gust of wind from your dueling wand and send it towards the foul midnight black demon.

Drawing on the background enchantment, you create a small tornado which circles the foul midnight black demon.

You produce a jet of air from the tip of your dueling wand and point it at the fluffy grey cloud.

There indeed seem to be two possible attacks per element, and possibly, one weaker than the other. The case for the protections seems much more confusing. I would be there is the same number for each, but in 34 rounds I had with Gznang I only got these: 7 for fire, 6 for earth, 5 for water and 3 for air. I mean, this could be correct, with different numbers of defenses per element, but most likely, I have to duel some more and getting the missing defenses in the list.

I'll also be posting soon the results of those 34 rounds, with the pairs attack/defense and the results, to see if we can form something like a predictive table with them.

Billiards - Green, Purple and Violet balls

I'm not sure what's the skill that actually *moves* these, as there's no tms to take into account, and the effects could be confusing. From a careful reading of them, the magic that is most likely used is animating.

1) 10-pointer: hover. "Holding Erratic Mechanic Exoth's sycamore walking stick firmly, Erratic Mechanic Exoth hits the cue ball towards the green ball. / As they hit the green ball leaps into the air and hovers, breaking many laws of physics but obeying the laws of magic, only to land in a side pocket a moment later".

2) 15-pointer: weave. "Greybeard Nimboos the Wise taps the surface of the table with his Cheese Hammer causing both the cue ball and purple ball to start moving. / They weave in and out of each other on a reckless path across the table until the cue ball finally hits the other ball and pushes it into a corner pocket".

3) 20-pointer: leap frog. "You hit the cue ball with the end of your blackened iron staff sending it towards the violet ball. /As it approaches the other ball they start a game of leap frog until the violet ball hops into the side pocket".

4) 30-pointer: spell name. "Savant Starwiz of Demons stares intently at his red staff and touches it to the cue ball. / The ball rolls slowly towards the violet ball and hits lightly. / As though shocked, the violet ball leaps into the air and spells out Starwiz before landing in a corner pocket."

Billiards - Aqua, Cyan and Blue balls

This set is affected by the water skill. Results in each class have been confirmed, although I haven't obtained all of the possible results in any single ball (missing one of the 10-pointers and two of the 30-pointers).

1) 10-pointer: pond. "Erratic Mechanic Exoth taps his dark brown oak staff on the cue ball. / It springs into motion and hits the blue ball into the side pocket, which has taken the form of a small pond, with a splash"

2) 15-pointer: hailstone. "You hit the cue ball with the end of your blackened iron staff. / It rolls down the table and hits the aqua ball which turns into a huge hailstone and zips into the side pocket"

3) 15-pointer: jet of water. "You line up your blackened iron staff and shoot a fine jet of water at the cue ball setting it into motion. / It gently knocks the aqua ball into the side pocket"

4) 20-pointer: jet of steam. "Savant Starwiz of Demons touches the table with the end of his red staff causing the surface to bubble as though boiling. / The cue ball is suddenly propelled upwards as a jet of steam erupts from beneath it. Its trajectory changes in mid-air and it lands on the cyan ball which is pushed into the side pocket"

5) 30-pointer: wave. "You rock back and forth on your heels while cradling your blackened iron staff and staring at the table. / The surface of the table is briefly transformed into a pool of water. A huge wave rises up, causing the cue ball to crash down onto the aqua ball, sending it spinning into the corner pocket"

Billiards - Grey and Black balls

This set is affected by the air skill. Results in each class have been confirmed, but as yet I haven't achieved with grey the 10 pointer and the 30 pointer effect. Full parallelism with the black ball is almost certain.

1) 10-pointer: fart. "Erratic Mechanic Exoth thinks about baked beans and points his sycamore walking stick at the cue ball. / A rude sound and a jet of air with the stink of a hundred privies comes from its end and pushes the ball towards the black ball. / The two balls collide and the black ball zooms into a corner pocket"

2) 15-pointer: jet of wind ("Greybeard Nimboos the Wise produces a jet of wind from his Cheese Hammer and points it at the cue ball. / The cue ball slams into the grey ball, knocking it into a side pocket") and wings ("As you point your blackened iron staff at the cue ball it grows two tiny wings and flies straight towards the black ball. / The balls collide and the black ball rolls into a side pocket.").

3) 20-pointer: tumbleweed. "You hit the cue ball with your blackened iron staff making it roll towards the grey ball. / As the two balls collide the grey ball turns into a tumbleweed and is blown into a corner pocket by a magical wind."

4) 30-pointer: whirlwind. "You spin your blackened iron staff round and round before briefly touching it to the cue ball. / A huge whirlwind erupts beneath it, picking it up and dropping it on the black ball before dissipating. The black ball is forced into motion and rolls into a side pocket."

Billiards - Beige and Brown balls

This set is affected by the earth skill. Until very recently, I ignored the 10-pointer message, but thanks to Exoth I have stumbled upon it at last. He also got a tm from it too, definitely confirming the suspicions.
All results have been confirmed for all levels.

1) 10-pointer: fresh earth. "Erratic Mechanic Exoth hits the cue ball with his dark brown oak staff, sending it towards the beige ball. / The two balls collide and the beige ball rolls into a corner pocket leaving behind only the smell of freshly dug earth."

2) 15-pointer: rock. "Krotos taps the cue ball with his Nonsense, sending it rolling towards the brown ball. / As the balls collide, the brown ball turns into a perfectly spherical rock and rolls into a corner pocket."

3) 20-pointer: zombie hands ("You hit the cue ball with your blackened iron staff. / Suddenly, a row of tiny, and rather zombie-like, hands rip through the surface of the table. / The cue ball is picked up and passed from hand to hand until it is dropped on the beige ball which rolls into a corner pocket.") and mountains ("You hold your blackened iron staff horizontally above the table and mutter a few words. / The surface of the table is briefly transformed into a miniature mountain range and the cue ball rolls down a mountain, hits the beige ball causing it to zoom into a corner pocket.")

4) 30-pointer: earthquake. "You hold your blackened iron staff aloft and bring it straight down, striking the floor with it dramatically. / A minor yet highly localised earthquake shakes the room, causing the table to rock and the cue ball to knock the brown ball into a side pocket

Billiards - Red, Orange and Yellow balls

This set is affected almost surely by fire. No tms have confirmed it, but the output messages are quite clear. This is also the set that has the higher number of possible effects, as there are quite a lot of levels that have two effects per point class. This happens at 15, 20 and 30 points.
I've only achieved all possible results for the red ball. The 30-point effects for yellow and orange are based on analogy.

1) 10-pointer: few sparks. "Erratic Mechanic Exoth manages to produce a few sparks from his mahogany staff and they nudge the cue ball forward. / The cue ball hits the red ball, propelling it into the corner pocket".

2) 15-pointer: few sparks (same as 10-pointer message) and burst of sparks ("You use a burst of sparks from your blackened iron staff to propel the cue ball towards the yellow ball. / The balls hit and the yellow ball shoots forward and lands in a corner pocket")

3) 20-pointer: flame-soot ("You hit the cue ball with your blackened iron staff, sending it towards the orange ball. The two balls collide, causing the orange ball to burst into flames, leaving a trail of soot leading to the side pocket") and stream of sparks ("You hold your blackened iron staff above the cue ball and send out a huge stream of sparks from one end. / The cue ball leaps into the air and lands on top of the orange ball, causing it to bounce into a side pocket")

4) 30 pointer: volcano ("The cue ball is transformed into a tiny volcano, which rumbles and throws out sparks before sending a little river of lava down. / The lava slowly prods the red ball into a corner pocket") and pyrotechnics ("You rub your blackened iron staff vigourously and point it at the cue ball, igniting it with a white flame. / The still burning ball zips across the table at an incredible speed, hitting the red ball and causing it to rocket into a corner pocket with a small pyrotechnic display ")

Billiards - Magenta, Mauve and Pink balls

We continue with our research efforts in the field of magical billiards. Although there's still many gaps to fill in, a sort of chart is already appearing from all the testing...

Balls seem to work in groups - that is to say, a certain group of balls are affected by the same skill check (or checks. I personally suspect it is always the same one, as results seem to be pretty consistent, but as there is some variation, it can't be ruled out that there's perhaps 2 or 3 possible skills tested per hit, with one skill being the more frequent, like it happens with the top hat).

The set composed by Magenta, Mauve and Pink seem to be ruled by conjuring. That seems to fit with the only tm that has been confirmed as yet, with the description of the effects and the fact that I quite consistently get the 30-pointer effect with them, having high levels in the said skill (highest of all spirituals).

The ladder of points/effects, for which I have gotten results in all the levels and for all the balls implied, would be as follows:

1) 10-pointer: Grasshoper. "Krotos sends a spark of magic from his Nonsense to the cue ball which starts moving towards the magenta ball. / As the balls touch the magenta ball is transformed into a small grasshopper which hops into a side pocket".

2) 15-pointer: There's two effects here, Rabbit and Dove. "The cue ball flies off the table, rebounds from the wall and hits the mauve ball which turns into a cute, fluffy bunny rabbit. The rabbit twitches his nose before hopping into a corner pocket". "You skillfully hit the cue ball with your blackened iron staff, sending it zooming towards the pink ball. / As the balls collide the pink ball turns into a white dove which flies around the room before diving into the side pocket".

3) 20-pointer: Demon. "Using your blackened iron staff you conjure up a small and angry demon who takes out his displeasure at being pulled from whatever he was doing by kicking the first thing he sees: the cue ball. / The ball is propelled off the table where it hits the wall and, with remarkable luck, lands on the magenta ball, setting it rolling into a side pocket. /The demon vanishes with a pop".

4) 30-pointer: Egg & Eagle. "Savant Starwiz of Demons waves his red staff over the cue ball, briefly transforming it into a large egg. / As the egg cracks, a huge eagle emerges from it and starts to fly around the room. / The eagle suddenly swoops to the table, picks up the pink ball and deposits it into a corner pocket before vanishing".

Billiarding!

I was pretty sure I had spoken some time before about Wizard's Billiards, but after a cursory glance at the older entries, it doesn't seem to be the case. Let us therefore proceed our exploration of this issue...

Wizard's Billiards are a game you can play in the Bes Pelargic Wizard's Guild. From the central tree, go to the room to the north and you'll be in a lounge with a billiard table, among other amenities. Upwards there is another easily to use room. East and west of the upper room there's two more exclusive lounges (The Exclusive Lounge of Reckless Encouragement and The Exclusive Lounge of the Venerable Ancestors ) that provide good alcohols beside the tables...

As for these, they look as follows:

This is an elegantly crafted billiards table in a majestic Agatean theme. The wood which is used seems to be a type of rowan and the top is covered in a well-kept, royal blue velvet. The legs are made to resemble those of dragons, complete with claws. The scrollwork on the outside of the table is fit for the Emperor himself.
It occasionally pulses with octarine light.
On the billiards table are a beige billiard ball, a grey billiard ball, a black billiard ball, a mauve billiard ball, a pink billiard ball, a magenta billiard ball, a violet billiard ball, a purple billiard ball, a cyan billiard ball, an aqua billiard ball, a brown billiard ball, a blue billiard ball, a green billiard ball, a yellow billiard ball, an orange billiard ball, a red billiard ball and a white cue ball.

To start playing, you first need to be get hold of a staff. Then, you need someone against whom to play. You the proceed to invite, or be invited, by you rival with the line: "play wizards billiards with xxx".

Now, the game starts! If you look at the table, you'll see the balls that are still available. To hit one, the line is: "hit cue ball at xxx (the colour) ball on table with staff"

Depending on skills, different hits will have different effects (with a sum of 10, 15, 20 or 30 points). You can check how things are going by 'looking' the board.

Those are the basics. In following entries I'll speak about what my research and suspicions are about the skillchecks involved in the balls (or sets of balls) and the messages you get for each kind of hit.