RangerWickett
Legend
If you recall the Pixar movie Inside Out, there are five basic emotions.
Joy
Sadness
Disgust
Fear
Anger
Obviously this is a bit of pop psychology, but let's run with it.
I've been trying for the longest time to come up with a game system for psychic combat (and various soft magic systems that are influenced by will) that models how it actually works in literature and film. As a quick example, consider X-Men: First Class, where Erik Lensherr (Magneto) starts off able to basically never run out of stamina for his mutant powers because he's fueled by a deep well of bitterness and rage, but he is limited in how much he can do at once. It's only when Charles Xavier helps him tap into an memory of mixed joy and sorrow that Erik is able to move something truly massive.
Or how in Frozen, Elsa's ice powers go out of control when she's afraid, but when she decides to "let it go" she can do amazing things. (Although to be sure, she benefits from the power that musical numbers provide.)
Meanwhile in Star Wars, anger or fear let you tap into the dark side for more power, while serenity lets you control the force. Or maybe the dark side lets you get power faster, while the light side gives you more power? It's sort of unclear.
And that's what I'm trying to handle: to create a comprehensive concept for how emotion influences powers. If I can come up with something that works for psychic combat, ideally it would also work for non-magic-users. A bard's "inspire courage" could have some benefit for both casters and warriors. An evil sorcerer who fills you with fear would make life hard for both adventurers who do stabbing and those who do chanting. And getting the cleric angry could be useful just like it is for the barbarian, maybe.
Moreover, it can create a bit more drama and counterplay to mental combat. Rather than simply having an enchanter cast suggestion and you hoping you roll well for your saving throw, we can start having some of the "save or die" spells require a bit of set-up. To use suggestion, for instance, maybe it has to tap into some emotion the person is feeling. The enchanter might use some psychic cantrip to do some mild damage and implant an emotion on you, and then on the next turn they give you a suggestion, but if you or an ally has a way to change your emotional state, you can break out of the suggestion.
Ideally, the effects of any two emotions won't ever be mirrors of each other, so that we can even have complex emotional states made up of two emotions at once.
I'm not sure this works in the existing ruleset of D&D or Pathfinder. I'm envisioning something closer to the Elements of Magic - Revised magic system from 3.5 D&D. In those rules, magic had, like, four parameters.
First, you knew a limited number of spell elements (like 'fire attack' or 'create shadow'). You had some flexibility to combine effects from all the elements you knew. You learned more as you leveled.
Second, you had a pool of Magic Points (MP), which replenished with a long rest. You got more as you leveled.
Third, you had an MP limit, which was the maximum MP you could spend on a given spell. You got more as you leveled (and certain character choices might increase that limit for a type of spell that you were focused in).
Fourth, you had a small number of 'signature spells.' You built those spells in advance and could cast them more easily. Any spell you made on the fly took two turns to cast; signature spells just took one.
So I'm wondering if maybe
Fear gives you access to a new spell elements (matching the classic trope that trauma triggers your powers; but you can only do this every so often, and once you do, you have to choose that element the next time you gain a level)
Sadness might give you free MP each round (encouraging you to wallow)
Anger increases your MP Limit (making you willing to fight things you shouldn't)
Joy lets you cast a spell any spell as if it were a signature spell (because you are open to new experiences and ideas)
Disgust is the odd one out. Maybe it gives you better defenses?
That's some positive benefits of these emotions, but I wonder if there would be negative ones too. Maybe the first step of each emotion is good, but if you end up 'double angry' you lose control of yourself and must fight? (Rage is auto-attack, Terror is auto-flee, Despair stuns you, Prejudice makes you willing to attack allies, Ecstasy makes you willing to do whatever someone tells you?)
And this is just the very baseline; how do you actually turn on these emotions in a game? Can you just decide to be happy? Do you need a feat for that? Do depressed people become OP because they can wallow in despair and cast spells constantly?
Thoughts?
Joy
Sadness
Disgust
Fear
Anger
Obviously this is a bit of pop psychology, but let's run with it.
I've been trying for the longest time to come up with a game system for psychic combat (and various soft magic systems that are influenced by will) that models how it actually works in literature and film. As a quick example, consider X-Men: First Class, where Erik Lensherr (Magneto) starts off able to basically never run out of stamina for his mutant powers because he's fueled by a deep well of bitterness and rage, but he is limited in how much he can do at once. It's only when Charles Xavier helps him tap into an memory of mixed joy and sorrow that Erik is able to move something truly massive.
Or how in Frozen, Elsa's ice powers go out of control when she's afraid, but when she decides to "let it go" she can do amazing things. (Although to be sure, she benefits from the power that musical numbers provide.)
Meanwhile in Star Wars, anger or fear let you tap into the dark side for more power, while serenity lets you control the force. Or maybe the dark side lets you get power faster, while the light side gives you more power? It's sort of unclear.
And that's what I'm trying to handle: to create a comprehensive concept for how emotion influences powers. If I can come up with something that works for psychic combat, ideally it would also work for non-magic-users. A bard's "inspire courage" could have some benefit for both casters and warriors. An evil sorcerer who fills you with fear would make life hard for both adventurers who do stabbing and those who do chanting. And getting the cleric angry could be useful just like it is for the barbarian, maybe.
Moreover, it can create a bit more drama and counterplay to mental combat. Rather than simply having an enchanter cast suggestion and you hoping you roll well for your saving throw, we can start having some of the "save or die" spells require a bit of set-up. To use suggestion, for instance, maybe it has to tap into some emotion the person is feeling. The enchanter might use some psychic cantrip to do some mild damage and implant an emotion on you, and then on the next turn they give you a suggestion, but if you or an ally has a way to change your emotional state, you can break out of the suggestion.
Ideally, the effects of any two emotions won't ever be mirrors of each other, so that we can even have complex emotional states made up of two emotions at once.
I'm not sure this works in the existing ruleset of D&D or Pathfinder. I'm envisioning something closer to the Elements of Magic - Revised magic system from 3.5 D&D. In those rules, magic had, like, four parameters.
First, you knew a limited number of spell elements (like 'fire attack' or 'create shadow'). You had some flexibility to combine effects from all the elements you knew. You learned more as you leveled.
Second, you had a pool of Magic Points (MP), which replenished with a long rest. You got more as you leveled.
Third, you had an MP limit, which was the maximum MP you could spend on a given spell. You got more as you leveled (and certain character choices might increase that limit for a type of spell that you were focused in).
Fourth, you had a small number of 'signature spells.' You built those spells in advance and could cast them more easily. Any spell you made on the fly took two turns to cast; signature spells just took one.
So I'm wondering if maybe
Fear gives you access to a new spell elements (matching the classic trope that trauma triggers your powers; but you can only do this every so often, and once you do, you have to choose that element the next time you gain a level)
Sadness might give you free MP each round (encouraging you to wallow)
Anger increases your MP Limit (making you willing to fight things you shouldn't)
Joy lets you cast a spell any spell as if it were a signature spell (because you are open to new experiences and ideas)
Disgust is the odd one out. Maybe it gives you better defenses?
That's some positive benefits of these emotions, but I wonder if there would be negative ones too. Maybe the first step of each emotion is good, but if you end up 'double angry' you lose control of yourself and must fight? (Rage is auto-attack, Terror is auto-flee, Despair stuns you, Prejudice makes you willing to attack allies, Ecstasy makes you willing to do whatever someone tells you?)
And this is just the very baseline; how do you actually turn on these emotions in a game? Can you just decide to be happy? Do you need a feat for that? Do depressed people become OP because they can wallow in despair and cast spells constantly?
Thoughts?
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