Ra wrote:So, since you said as much, Adam, what magical powers does Lord Adam posess?
All righty then, it is rather extensive (the A'millians in my head started off as a Final Fantasy / Star Trek hybrid, and of course, grew from there extensively over the years, but the beginnings are still seen in many places.)
Something that I've been wrestling with for a long time is how to make the Final Fantasy battle mechanics fit into a sci-fi universe without tipping balances of power or blatently violating things like conservation of energy / momentum, and my explanations are rather convoluted, so I'll give the abridged version here.
Most the magic powers he has are designed toward shattering the magical powers of another mage, or reinforcing your own magical powers, so the other mage cannot smash your own powers. Against non-magic users, this whole category of powers has no effect, so I will not expand on them now.
The powers you could actually see that affect non-mage objects are:
1) levitation of himself (flight) and objects in his direct line of sight. He can't fly much faster than he can sprint, nor levitate objects tremendously heavy (like he can't uproot a building or toss ships around, but can throw rocks or knives pretty easily).
2) Lightening bolts. These happen as described in my last post in character, and there are three levels that can affect real world objects. Level one brings a strike from above, magically gathering electrons. Thus, if the target has metal shielding or a lightning rod, this is rendered blocked. This takes a couple seconds to charge and execute, during which time, the spell can be interrupted.
Level 2 adds to that, but after the first external bolt, another bolt forms from inside the target, and strikes upward. This can fry the inside of shielded things. This takes a couple more seconds to execute than level 1.
Level 3 forms a third bolt in addition to the first two that comes from the caster's hand to the target, accompanied by a pressure wave that knocks it backward (and the momentum from this pressure wave knocks the caster backward too, making it dangerous to himself if he makes an error in execution). Again, this takes a couple more seconds to execute than level 2.
3) Fireballs. There are again three levels that can interact with real world objects:
Level 1 causes a brief flame to materialize on the target, possibly causing burns, but then it magically dissipates, so it cannot be used to start a fire that will spread.
Level 2 causes the same flame as level 1, but the flame lasts longer and moves in circles around the target.
Level 3 throws a fireball from in front of the caster's hands toward the target, and explodes on impact. This takes only a couple seconds to cast and is rather destructive, making it possibly one of the most dangerous spells he has available to him.
4) Wound healing: this is not very effective. It requires physical contact with the area and is very limited in scope. However combined with precision levitation, it might be able to buy some time for emergency medical personnel to arrive.
5) Pressure waves. There are only two of these that works on the real world. The first is called a 'psyonic wave' and it fires a wave forward and backward (both directions needed for conservation of momentum) that send objects flying. Unlike the other spells listed above, this can cause costly internal damage to buildings, and its use is frowned upon.
The second is the Kamehameha wave as seen in Dragon Ball,
sans wank. It takes a significant time to charge and precise movements, which are easily interrupted, foiling the spell. After preparation, it fires from the caster's hands, and may be redirected mid flight, if and only if the caster is still sustaining it. If the caster stops sustaining it, the wave quickly dissipates. It can do rather significant structural damage and makes a good battering ram alternative, but is also very tiring on the caster. Maximum damage possible by one is about what a wrecking ball can do, and may also incur collateral damage to objects behind and under the caster (thanks to conservation of momentum).
6) Teleportation. This can occur on the caster himself (and any people in physical contact with him, if he so desires) or on a small object in his line of sight to another location, also in his line of sight. Teleporting himself takes negligible charge time (however, he is vulnerable during the execution time), but teleporting another object takes a second to prepare.
It consists of the caster (or target) fading away then instantly fading back into reality somewhere nearby (within about 80 metres in any direction). The destination must be in line of sight for an external object, but need not be for the caster teleporting himself (so long as he has a mental image of what the destination looks like, he can do it).
Nothing may teleport inside a solid object, but something may teleport
though a solid object (disappear next to a wall and reappear on the other side).
Lastly, 7) shielding and walls. A magical barrier can be erected in the mage's line of sight that can stop objects, similar to how the technological body shields work, but may also be projected, whereas the tech shields are form fitting.
Both stop physical objects, although in different ways (momentum is still transferred to the wearer with a tech shield, it is redirected elsewhere with a magical shield). The differences come in energy: the magical barrier stops magical energies rather effectively (such as incoming magic streams preparing for a spell), whereas the tech shield does not (however, it might stop real world magic effects like it would any other energy). Both glow slightly when they come in contact with other matter (like Star Trek forcefields, but prettier).
A difference is the magical shield does not stop non-magical energy at all. Laser beams, for example, would pass right through it like it is not there.
The magical shield also needs to be sustained by the mage, else it dissipates.
Also illusion which can also do invisibility.
All spells take a drain on the caster's power (different drains for different spells) (Magic Points if you will). The power is recharged while he is at rest. If the caster runs out of power, he becomes physically weak and cannot cast any more spells for some time. Lord Adam is a highly experienced mage, and has a high limit on power he can use, but it is not unlimited. (Also other things can occur as side effects, but none of these things will happen in Phoenix War, since they are entirely irrelevant)
Any other feats you see him do, such as the Voice for controlling someone or the very fast lateral movements he can do during a sword fight, have some magical basis, but are mostly non-magical. These feats are nonetheless important, so my next information post will detail them.
In almost all cases, a tech shield is a better choice than a magic shield, a tech gun is better than a magic gun, etc when dealing with real world objects. The magic is a non issue most the time, unless dealing with another mage or when otherwise unarmed.
:thumbsup