Everquest RPG Spells/Mana Question

[Voadam]

Is there a pattern or formula to the mana costs of spells in the everquest rpg? In flipping through the spells I noticed that while a spell would be different levels for different classes, it would have the same mana cost.

 

[ced1106]

Is there a pattern or formula to the mana costs of spells in the everquest rpg? In flipping through the spells I noticed that while a spell would be different levels for different classes, it would have the same mana cost.

Not **quite** sure what you're asking, but, while D&D scales its spells per levels (eg. a 10th level MU casts a fireball for more damage than a 7th level MU), in EQ RPG, similar spells differing only in power are separate spells (eg. flame bolt vs. bolt of flame...), though are considered the same spell line. I remember reading the rationale in a promotional flyer, but can't remember it offhand. Maybe it forces players to continuously seek other mages for more powerful spells. Dunno.


Cedric.
aka. Washu! ^O^

 

[HellHound]

No, it isn't a case of direct scaling to level. There may be a formula deep within the system, but it would take a lot of work to find...

This is one of the aspects I love about this game.

For example, in the Lifetap spell chain we have the following

1. Lifetap - 2 damage siphon
2. Lifespike - 1d10+1 damage siphon
4. Lifedraw - 6d6 damage siphon
6. Lifeleech - 7d10x2 damage siphon
7. Siphon Life - 8d6 damage siphon
10. Spirit Tap - 8d10 damage siphon
11. Drain Spirit - 6d10x2 damage siphon
12. Drain Soul - (7d10+2)x2 damage siphon

The oddball here is obviously the level 6 lifeleech, being far more damaging then even the level 10 Spirit Tap and somewhat better than the level 11 Drain Spirit (except for save DC). The big difference is the mana costs.

1. Lifetap - 2 mana
2. Lifespike - 3 mana
4. Lifedraw - 10 mana
6. Lifeleech - 53 mana
7. Siphon Life - 12 mana
10. Spirit Tap - 24 mana
11. Drain Spirit - 32 mana
12. Drain Soul - 38 mana

So the anomaly of Lifeleech's high damage is countered by an anomolously high casting cost in mana. A higher level spellcaster will discard lifeleech in exchange for Drain Spirit or Drain Soul.

This is what I like about the system... you can get devastating spells at lower levels at a commensurate cost in mana. This would be like getting a level 4 spell in D&D that, when cast, also used an additional 6 or 10 levels of spell slots.