More unique Oblivion Magicka system

[Robok]

One of my biggest gripes with vanilla Oblivion was the fact that its magicka system was incredibly dull, this of course also applies to most of the other systems like armour and weapons and whatnot, but I felt magicka was the biggest let down. And to put it bluntly, no one really could rely on using magicka only in vanilla Oblivion, it was simply impossible to make use of it.

 

And don't get me started of how it was just basically numbers with shiny effects that mean nothing, the fireball spell was just a slower version of the frost spell, the lightening spell was just a faster version of the other two. Drain spells meant nothing since draining 5pts of someone speed wouldn't suddenly make them beatable, nor draining their strength (doing -5pts less damage won't stop them from cutting you into pieces). Fortifying your skills also meant nothing unless it was from an armour you were wearing.

 

Then you also have the fact that there is nothing unique about the magical effects.

I was incredibly disappointed when I picked up the amulet you get from doing that Crucible quest with that guy who wants you to kill him, and him saying the amulet is said to make him happy, only to find later that it merely has +10pts Personality buff, and here was I thinking that it would have been something unique :\

 

 

So what I'm suggesting is for someone (or some team) to do the following:

 

General changes

• First and foremost, magicka cost should be determined by percentage of players magicka and not by a constant value. This should factor in the player's skill in the school of magicka, the 'effectiveness' rating, how much magicka you have and of course the actual spell, this is to make sure that you WILL be able to cast the spell but for how many times, that is for the system to decide.
  
• NO numbers representing damage, instead, I think there should be a formula to randomize damage based on several factors including but not limited to: Skill in said magic school, luck, random modifier of limited range, current amount of magicka, intelligence and current health points.
  
• All offensive spells should do about 3 times the normal damage to enemies with weakness towards them.
  
• Resistances should be represented in two ways, the first if it's under 50% then it would simply lessen the damage taken to a maximum of third of the actual effect without resistance, and over 50% it would not only lessen the damage but also increase health.
  
• Healing spells should be redone to work like most other overhauls did, gradually healing instead of instant heal like it is by default.
  

 

Drain and Buff spells:

• Drain effect should be continuously increasing instead of static based on the fact that one of the people fighting inflicted with this would die and the one who casts it should have the advantage. The effect however would reverse itself after reaching its peak (0 would be the the lowest point it can get to, only attainable at expert/master levels). The magnitude of the spell name should determine the rate that this happens in
  
• Buff spells don't come in single effects, they should always come with a variety of effects coupled with each other, the deciding factor is for how long they last (always longer than a minute) and the maximum extent they can have.
  

 

Elemental spells

• Generally: Separate spells into two types, the first being normal spells and the second being area of effect spells.
  
• Fire spells: Some mods have done this, simply it needs to have a long-burning effect upon successful hits, and not just a fancy effect, I think they should start screaming or start running towards you (to burn you with them), or just stop, drop and roll! Area of effect fire spells should have a short lasting fire on the ground it hits, does damage to whoever comes close to it.
  
• Frost spells: They should have the effect of partial frost with a hit the speed of the affected enemy. Area of effect spells should also spawn ice spikes from the ground with frosting that do damage to anything caught within the area.
  
• Lightening spells: Can have one of two effects, a stun-effect or a knock-back effect (think of the out-of-fatigue type of thing), not much changed about how it works I guess besides that. Area of effect spawns an electric field on the ground doing damage to anything that comes inside it.
  

 

Shield spells

• Normal Shield: Instead of increasing the player armour, it should generate a physical shield around the player, something like a shape sphere shape comprised of small transparent hexagons all around it, this shield can take hits instead of you based on its magnitude, it will then go 'dormant' for a short while after being completely depleted, and then slowly regenerate back to its original form.
  
• Elemental Shields: Same as with the normal shield, except that it will cause damage with regard to its type and it will grant the same amount of resistance to its type.
  

 

Boss Spells

Granted to you upon achieving Master level in any specific school of magic, you don't need to buy/make them. They are the ultimate form of magicka, they consume all of your magicka regardless of how much you has (gets stronger with the more magicka you have) and can be caste only once a day, here are a couple of examples:

• Flame Tempest: A firestorm, does massive damage and knock back effect to anyone surrounding the caster, also capable of causing permanent burning to the death to anyone inflicted by it.
  
• Ice Age: Either partially or completely freezes anyone caught in a large radius around the caster, frozen creatures will shatter upon being hit, others act as normal frosted ones but they will gradually take severe frost damage.
  
• Lightening Storm: Spawns a stormy cloud jolting anyone caught in the area, inflicted enemies get continuous lightening damage while being stunned with a small chance of being fried immediately (insta-kill).
  

 

 

I know it sounds like a huge project, and if it was ever done it would probably be an overhaul (we probably have more than a few overhauls lying around), but I think it could work as an expansion of the current magicka system instead of replacing it. I also think this would be rather revolutionary and should bring the magicka system to life in Oblivion instead of being surrounded by boring numbers and clones of the same spells.

 

For future reference, when I do get into modding this might be my mod description :P