Statistical Sorc 2

Note: Magic metal only applies to armor and shields, not helmets. You may only use a metal if your level is at least half its bonus. For example: A character must be 3rd level or higher to use Mithril, 10th to use Vultite. Imflass is the lightest (lowest round times); next lightest is vultite. Ex. Aardwyn carries an imflass shield with no enchantment, and has 20 points of Shield Use. He has a RFLX Bonus of +8, STR of +10, normal leather armor, a mithril axe and 25 points of edged weapons skill.
Stance Defensive Stance Offensive AS = 0% x (10 +25 + 5) + 0 = 0 AS = 100% x (10 + 25 + 5) + 0 = 40
Base DS = 8 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 8 Base DS = 8 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 8 RH DS = 100% x (10 + 25 + 5) = 40 RH DS = 0% x (10 + 25 + 5) = 0
LH DS = 20 +12 +0 +[25% + 75%] [20/100 x 32] = 38.4 LH DS = 20 +12 +0 +(25% x 20/100 x 32) =33.6
Total DS = 8 + 40 + 38 = 86 Total DS = 8 + 0 + 34 = 42
You can attack a monster by using the ATTACK command. Notice that your weapon must be in your right hand, and your shield in the left to use them - if not, SWAP them. Round time is an interval between attacks when you cannot perform another action. Heavier weapons, encumbrance, and wearing armor for which you haven't trained, will increase your round time. A lower round time mean more chances to attack.
You can be totally unencumbered if you do not carry more than [15 + STR Bonus]% of your body weight. Racial stength bonuses are ignored here, except for dwarves, who gain +5% for being "solid" individuals. Encumbrance will increase roundtimes by one second for every 5% of your body weight that your load is over this amount.
Some creatures use attacks that are not based on your DS but on your maneuverability. Low encumbrance, aggressive stances or Combat Maneuvers skill helps you avoid them.
% CM Bonus = Ranks in Combat Maneuvers x CM Stance Modifier % (rounded up)
CM Stance Modifier: OFF= 0.125 ADV= 0.200 FOR= 0.275 NEU= 0.350 GUA=0.425 DEF= 0.500
Ex. Celowyn has two trainings in CM and is in Stance GUA. She avoids 0.85% more maneuver attacks
Armor
sorc spirit elem action RT
AsG hinder% hinder% hinder% penalty Adder CvA AvD 1 0% 0% 0% 0% 0 25 36
Normal Clothes None, Robes, Jerkin
5 0% 0% 0% 0% 0 20 36
Leather Light Leather
6 0% 0% 0% 0% 1 19 35
Leather, A Full Leather
7 1% 0% 2% -5% 2 18 34
Leather, A and L Reinforced Leather
8 2% 0% 4% -8% 2 17 33
Leather, H, A and L Double Leather
9 5% 4% 5% -5% 2 11 36
Scale Leather Breastplate
10 6% 5% 7% -7% 4 10 34
Scale, A Cuirbouilli Leather
11 7% 6% 8% -10% 6 9 32
Scale, A and L Studded Leather
12 9% 8% 10% -13% 6 8 30
Scale, H, A and L Brigandine Armor
13 10% 8% 12% -10% 3 1 37
Chain Chain Mail
14 12% 10% 14% -12% 6 0 33
Chain, A Double Chain
15 13% 11% 15% -15% 9 -1 29
Chain, A and L Augmented Chain
16 18% 15% 20% -18% 9 -2 25
Chain, H, A and L Chain Hauberk
17 15% 15% 15% -20% 4 -10 36
Plate Metal Breastplate
18 20% 20% 20% -25% 8 -11 30
Plate, A Aug. Breastplate
19 22% 22% 22% -30% 12 -12 24
Plate, A and L Half plate armor
20 27% 27% 27% -35% 12 -13 18
Plate, H, A, and L Full plate armor
(A = Arm Protection, L = Leg Protection, H = Head Protection) (AvD is for a Broadsword)
Armor is arranged into Armor Sub-Groups. Heavier armor reduces the AvD (Attack vs. Defense) and Damage Factor of the attacker's weapon, diminishing its chance to hit and amount of damage. For example, a character with a rapier attacking a creature in full plate may suffer a large negative to their attack roll, since the rapier is unlikely to penetrate or cause much damage. The same creature might not be so lucky if the character then cast a lightning bolt at it!
Certain armor also protects specific parts of your body. All armor (except AsG 1) provides torso protection, and others may protect additional areas of your body. You may attach certain items to these locations to decrease the rank of damage you sustain from attacks there, but this will not change your AsG, as most believe. Be aware that attaching items to locations not already covered by your armor will increase your rate of spell failure equivalent to the same AsG that has that type of protection.
Ex. Pfoofel wears light leather armor, AsG 5, which provides protection to her torso. She decides to add leg greaves to reduce damage she sustains from injuries to her legs. Her AsG remains 5, but she now has a 1% spell hindrance for sorcerer spells. Adding arm greaves wouldn't increase hindrance.
You will notice that heavier armor greatly increases the chances of spell failure. Many sorcerers will not accept any chance of spell failure, and will only wear up to AsG 6. If the sorcerer wishes to wear full leather - the heaviest armor without any spell hindrance, training in Armor Use four times will remove the one second roundtime associated with some physical activities.
Magic
Mana
Your sorcerer has a maximum amount of mana based on the following formula.
Mana = [Character Level / 10] x [(AURA STAT - 40)/2]
Note: The expression, [(AURA STAT - 40)/2] rounds down
Casting spells will generally cost 1 mana point/spell level. Casting a spell that requires more Mana than you currently have will put you into shock!
Mana regenerates over time at the following rate:
Mana Regeneration Rate = 1/10 Total Mana every two minutes, rounded down
ex. Sorcerers with 19 Mana regenerate 1 point/2 minutes. 20 Mana regenerate 2 points/2 minutes
Mana and Spirit Regeneration Rates double at Mana Foci or Nodes, like the Town Square.
Scrolls and Wands
To use a scroll of wand, a sorcerer must first activate it. Scrolls must be INVOKED, wands WAVED, and an activation roll over 100 must be obtained.
Scroll Activation Roll = 1d100 + Scroll Reading Training + Know Spell? - Spell Level
Wand Activation Roll = 1d100 + Magic Item Use Training + AURA Bonus + Know Spell? - Spell Level
Note: Know Spell? (Yes = 30, Not Yet = 10, Can't Ever = -20 )
A failed roll does not remove a charge. After an item is activated, resolution is determined just as if you were casting the corresponding warding or bolt type spell.
Sorcerer Spell Lists
701 Blood Burst 101 Spirit Protection I 401 Elemental Defense I
702 Mana Disruption 102 Spirit Barrier 402 Presence
703 Forget 103 Spirit Defense 403 Picking Enhancement
704 Phase 104 Disease Resist 404 Disarm Enhancement
705 Break Limb 105 Poison Resist 405 Elemental Detection
706 Mind Jolt 106 Spirit Fog 406 Elemental Defense II
707 Eye Spy 107 Spirit Protection II 407 Unlock
708 Pain Infliction 108 Stun Relief 408 Disarm
709 Quake 109 Dispel Invisibility 409 Elemental Blast
710 Energy Maelstrom 110 Unbalance 410 Elemental Wave
711 Limb Disruption 111 Fire Spirit 411 Elemental Weapon
712 Throes of Pain 112 Water Walking 412 Weapon Deflection
713 Nightmare 113 Undisease 413 Elemental Saturation
714 Life Burst* 114 Unpoison 414 Elemental Defense III
715 Curse 115 Spirit Burst 415 Elemental Strike
716 Disease 116 Locate Person 416 Piercing Gaze
717 Evil Eye 117 Spirit Strike 417 Elemental Dispel
718 Torment 118 Web 418 Mana Focus
719 Dark Catalyst 119 Herb Production 419 Mass Elemental Defense
720 Implosion 120 Lesser Shroud 420 Magic Item Creation
725 Demonic Summoning* 125 Call Lightening 425 Elemental Targeting
130 Spirit Guide 430 Elemental Barrier 150 Wall of Force
* unimplemented at this time (6/97)
Casting Spells
Magic spells can be cast from your own Mana, or by activating an item such as a scroll, wand, or other magical item. You must first PREPARE (spell number) (or activate from magical items, wands and scrolls), before you can CAST AT . Spells have a prep time, based on your level and the spell level. If you do not specify a target, the spell will be cast on you, so BE CAREFUL! Casting a spell without enough mana is also dangerous, so keep an eye on your Mana with the EXP or POW commands.
Spell is 6 + levels below your level 0 second prep time
Spell is 3-5 levels below your level 5 second prep time
Spell is 0-2 levels below your level 10 second prep time
Warding Spells
The bulk of the sorcerer's abilities come from warding spells, which affect the target without aiming.
CS - TD + CvA + 1d100 = results
CvA is the Cast vs. Armor factor, and TD is target defense. CvA's do not alter whether you cast a MnE, MnS, or Sorcerer spell (see armor table for specific values)
CS (Sorc Spell) = (Level x 3) + (AURA + WIS)/2 + # of Sorcerer Spells + (# of MnE)/2 + (# of MnS)/2
CS (MnE Spell) = (Level x 3) + (AURA) + # of Minor Elemental Spells + (# of Sorcerer Spells) / 2
CS (MnS Spell) = (Level x 3) + (WIS) + # of Minor Spiritual Spells + (# of Sorcerer Spells) / 2
Note: MnE/2 and MnS/2 in CS (Sorc) round up independently
Ex. Arenia is a 12th level Sorcerer with 12 Sorcerer spells, 12 Minor Elemental spells, 3 Minor Spiritual Spells. She is a Dark Elf with a 98 AURA (+34 Bonus) and a 87 WISDOM (+23 Bonus).
CS (Sorc) = (12 x 3) + (34 +23)/2 + 12 + (12/2) + (3/2) = 36 + 29 + 12 + 6 + 2 = 85
CS (MnE) = (12 x 3) + 34 + 12 + (12/2) = 36 + 34 + 12 + 6 = 88
CS (MnS) = (12 x 3) + 23 + 3 + (12 /2) = 36 + 23 + 3 + 6 = 68
Target Defense = (Level x 3) + Stat Bonus ( + any spells in effect, of course)
Note: For MnE Spells, Stat = AURA. For MnS, Stat = WIS. For Sorcerer spells, Stat = (AURA + WIS)/2
Casting a CS spell at yourself give you a -50 TD
By examining the CS formula, you can learn a lot. First, warding spells are not dependent on stance. This is a big advantage to the sorcerer, who can maintain a guarded stance while casting these spells. Second, Warding Spells do not require a healthy DEX Bonus - so you may decide to concentrate your points toward more effective warding. Finally, notice that CS is not based on a skill. Therefore, at very high levels, sorcerers do not suffer the diminishing returns effect that other classes do by purchasing skills. While a warrior's 41st weapon's training may only be worth +1 to his AS, at that level we still get a free, +3 just for advancing a level, plus we add to our CS by whatever spell training we do.
Bolt Spells
Bolt Spells are the basis for most wizard spells. Bolt spells are aimed, and combat resolution is calculated much like melee combat.
AS - DS + AvD + 1d100 = results
Bolt Spell AS = Stance x (Spell Aiming + DEX Bonus)
Bolt Spell DS = Base DS + Total Shield Value + (Total Shield Value x Stance) + [25% + (75% x Stance)] [(Shield Training/100) x Total Shield Value]
It should be pointed out that very few spells a sorcerer can learn are bolt attacks, and most of the bolt attacks a sorcerer will make will be by using magical items such as wands. Most sorcerers tend to avoid this area to save many things, like a nice high statistic when starting, skill points that would have to go toward spell aiming every year, and never needing to rely on "stance dancing." Others like flexibility, especially at higher levels, so this decision is more a matter of characterization than of necessity.
Combat Results, Damage, & Experience
Successful attacks cause damage, and enough damage will kill a monster (or your character!). Your character can withstand only as many points of damage as his or her Basic Health Point Total (BHPT). Additional damage accrues when a heavy blow causes a critical strike, which can cause stunning, bleeding, losing a limb, or even instant death. You may monitor your condition by typing HEALTH.
If you lose all your Health Points or Spirit Points, you will die. Your totals are:
Health Points = (STR STAT + CON STAT) / 10 + (Physical Trainings x Racial Modifer)
Spirit Points = AURA STAT / 10
Killing a monster will give you treasure and experience. SKINning a creature gets you no experience, but most pelts can be sold for profit. After skinning, SEARCH the creature, and GET your treasure.
Field Experience = 100 + 10 x (Monster Level - Your Level)
Characters gain levels by collecting sufficient experience points. Sorcerers earn Field Experience by killing monsters, disarming and opening chests, imbedding, as well as performing quests. Your mind can only hold a certain amount of field experience:
Total Field Experience Capacity = 800 + DISCIPLINE STAT + LOGIC STAT
As you collect more Field Experience, your capacity will fill. When you reach your limit, additional field experience you obtain over your capacity will simply be lost. You may monitor the percent of your capacity that is filled by typing EXP.
0% Clear as a Bell
0 - 25% Fresh and Clear
25-50% Clear
50-62% Muddled
62-75% Becoming Numb
75-90% Numb
90-100% Must Rest
Field experience is gradually processed into experience points at a rate determined by your LOGIC Bonus, INTELLIGENCE Bonus, and whether your character is at a node. GM's occasionally give Role Playing awards for outstanding characterization, and these magnify the processing rate as well.
Don't miss the opportunity to team up with other adventurers in Elanthia! Characters may hunt as a group, and if they do their fair share of damage, they all receive full experience. JOINing others will make hunting easier in groups.
Final Thoughts
There is a lot in this manual, but I left a lot out too. It is up to your character to solve the mysteries of Elanthia. Questions like, "Why are 'Deeds' so important?" "Where should a level 8 sorcerer hunt?" or "What does a twisted wand do?" should be uncovered in the lands by talking with the inhabitants. These types of questions are at the heart of Elanthia, and I encourage you to enjoy the richness of the world and it's people.
This guide will always be a work in progress. Please eMail any comments, corrections, or contributions to Sylvendale@aol.com or look for Lord Sylvendale in the lands.
Let me begin this post by thanking all those who undertook the tedious task of gathering data for the experience experiment. Much of what follows would not have been possible without your help.
Please also note that this post is intended for those with little knowledge of experience absorption and may reiterate a great deal of common knowledge. The intent is to educate even the novice to the subject and I apologize to anybody who is bored by my pedagogy, but I assure you that this post is worth taking the time to read.
That being said, I would like to announce a major breakthrough in Elanthian science. After hours and hours of research, number crunching, frustration, and elation, I feel confident in stating that one of the most vexing questions in all the lands has been answered. We have derived the formulae for experience absorption.
As most people know, when a monster is killed, an adventurer gains an amount of field experience that is stored in his or her brain and is absorbed over time. There is, however, a maximum amount of experience that a character may store at one time. The experience storage capacity of a character is a constant value:
Capacity = 800 + LO statistic + DI statistic.
Although it has been postulated that one can never reach this state of "super-fried" and can only gradually approach it, this is not true. This maximum is simply a ceiling. What this means is that if you have a 75 Logic and a 95 Discipline, you will be able to store up to 970 field experience points at a time. If you currently have 935 experience points in your experience "bucket" and kill a creature that would have netted you 150 experience points, you will only gain 35 points and have refilled your bucket; 115 points will have been lost in the ether.
The experience you have stored is then absorbed in discrete packets once every minute (or so) at what have become known as experience pulses. Although a person cannot discern the exact amount of experience yet unabsorbed in his or her mind, by taking an experience reading, one can get a general, non-quantitative description of one’s state of mind. The names of these "classifications" and what they signify are as follows:
Classification Percentage of total capacity
Must Rest 90-100%
Numb 75-90%
Becoming Numb 62-75%
Muddled 50-62%
Clear 25-50%
Fresh and Clear 0-25%
Clear as a Bell Zilch
(Note: These numbers are Sylvendale’s and I have not checked them. If they are off, which is unlikely, yell at him.)
Although one can still absorb field experience in the Must Rest state of mind, the amount absorbed, barring intervention from the gods, cannot exceed your maximum.
Now comes the complicated part. The rate at which your experience will be converted from stored field experience to earned "true" experience is based upon a number of things. The most significant distinction for most people is whether she or he is on an area where experience absorption is accelerated, also know as an experience node. On a node, the amount of experience a person will absorb is:
INT(Amount in Bucket/(50-INT(Level/6))) + 12.
where the function "INT" means to round down to the nearest integer.
To determine your own rate, begin by finding your divisor, which is 50-INT(Level/6). This means that your divisor will be 50 for levels 0-5, 49 for levels 6-11, 48 for levels 12-17, etc. You then divide this number into the current amount in your bucket and chop off the decimal.
For example, a 26th level Dark Elf Wizard with a Logic of 71, an Intelligence of 65, and a Discipline of 100 will have a storage capacity of 971. His divisor will be 46, so if he is "super-fried" on a node, he will absorb INT(971/46) + 12 = 33 experience points on his first pulse. His next pulse will be INT(931/46) + 12 = 32 experience points.
Off of a node, the amount that a person will absorb is:
INT(Noded value * (50 + Intelligence Bonus + Logic Bonus) / 100).
You find your own rate by first determining your modifier, which is (50 + Intelligence Bonus + Logic Bonus) / 100. This modifier cannot be greater than one, meaning that even a Halfling Wizard with a 100 in both the Intelligence and Logic statistic will not absorb more off of a node than on. You then multiply this modifier by the amount you would have absorbed if you were on a node (see the above formula) and round down to the nearest decimal.
Taking our Dark Elf Wizard from above, if he were to move from the node to a non-node after two pulses (if, say, he were pushed off the ledge in Shadow Valley by a Dark Elf Sorcerer), he would need to compute his modifier, which is: (50 + IN bonus + LO bonus) / 100 = (50 + 12 + 10) / 100 = .72. Now, he would compute the amount he would have absorbed if he were still safely on a node (and not at the bottom of the abyss, being eaten by night hounds), which is INT(899/46) + 12 = 31. Multiply this 31 by the .72 factor and round down to get 22, the amount he will absorb.
This discovery has a great number of implications for stat placement in the future. For example, despite a recent statement in the Wizard folder that Logic is a largely useless statistic, Logic is actually very important. It is the biggest statistical factor in determining experience absorption since it helps determine both the maximum amount of field experience one can store and the rate at which that experience can be absorbed. Future generations may choose to give more attention to the Logic statistic than we have in the past.
However, the single greatest factor for experience absorption is level. Level, it seems, determines the maximum rate at which a character can absorb experience on a node, which in turn determines the non-noded rate. Taken to its logical conclusion, a 275th level character with a steady supply of creatures to kill will actually reach the next level faster than a second level character, even though she will need 5 times the experience to progress, because she will be able to absorb 200 experience points per pulse whereas the 2nd level character, even with maximum Discipline and Logic, will only absorb 32 per pulse. This also means that Banthis’ statement that Gemstone is a 400 level game is incorrect; it is a 300 level game.
This is all presuming that this can be taken to its logical conclusion, and that remains to be seen. The equations you see above have been tested rigorously for characters in the 0-35 range and have held true without exception. It may be, however, that these equations do not hold true for higher levels.
Before I end this post, I would like to make a special request. No doubt, there will be a great number of you who will see this formula and will immediately want to test it upon yourself, and this is certainly to be encouraged, especially for those elders who would like to verify the "level" portion of the equation. However, I would ask that if you find that your results deviate from those predicted by the formulae above rather than post a message about that experience, please attempt to contact myself or Sylvendale first. If there is a deviation, either the data is wrong or the formula is wrong. Please give us a chance to eliminate the first possibility before we are forced to consider the second.
Once again, let me thank those of you who sent in your data. Your assistance was indispensable in making this discovery possible.
Shytok OfGhul
(This information is being cross-posted in the Sorcerer, Wizard, and Experience boards.)

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