| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Sir Luther Cromwell |
Posted - 07 Sep 2005 : 16:56:08
I was just reading my new copy of 'The Underdark' for 3e, and it had this seciton on the phenomina known as Nodes.It describes nodes as "pools and streams of power that collect and run below the earth". Nodes, if used properlly, can increase the spell caster level of a casted spell. They sound a lot like as if they were nodes (pun intended) in the weave.
Does any one have any information/opinions on whether an earth node is simply a spot of highly concentrated weave? In a way, this makes sense since I've always seen Mystra as like Gaia, and Gaia is often interpreted as becoming more and more condensed as you reach closer to the center of the earth (any one who has seen Final Fantasy the movie knows what I'm talking about). Please, do tell, fellow sages, and thank you in advance for your two coppers. |
| 11 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Tifus Artwin |
Posted - 09 Sep 2005 : 11:05:27
Im sorry if I implied that Nodes was materia, thats not what I had meant to do.
I had meant that basicaly Nodes and Materia serve the same function as magical conduites, and from what I know thats where the simularitys end.
However, if you wanted to make the two closer, or to adapt Materia into your own game, it could easily be done with Gem Magic.
You would have to remove the system from an existing game however, and instead of Gems serveing as scroll-like spell holders, they would give you a spell-like ability useable from 1 time a day, to an at will effect. Thats a diffrent thread though, so I'll leave that for someone else to ponder.
At anyrate, Id see a Node as a 6-7' tall, 3-4' wide Crystal of say a violet colouring either floating or embedded within the rock of a given area, Such a crystal could form when powerful magic is used in an area, or when magic has let to "stagnant" in an area and crystalizes as an effect, a side effect of which seems to be an increase in magical power for those that know how to tap into the crystal.
Or maybe the Crystal was a naturaly forming crystal, that just happened to consist of just the right impuritys, meneral deposits, and formation, and when someone that knows how to tap into it really isnt increasing thier magical power, maybe its just the crystal/gem resonating aginst the magic and causing the inherent power of it to double, sort of imploding the spell before setting it off, you have the original spell, as well as a "wave" from the resonance that slides along with the spell, normaly it would have no effect, but since the spell is happening at the same time, then the waves of resonance causes the spell to act like it is being cast at a higher level when in fact there is simply a shadow spell going off at the same place with the same vibrations and thus does not register as another spell.
And now I will put my brain back into its protective casing and stop taking it out and playing with it for awhile, thanks for letting me ramble on, :D
~Tifus
P.S. That Sounds fun Cromwell, Let me know how it turns out. |
| Sir Luther Cromwell |
Posted - 08 Sep 2005 : 21:05:22
quote:
That sounds logical Sage, but for me I cant help be to see the Nodes as say .... Materia from FF7. Those that have played know what Im talking about, those that dont its kind of like the movie FF: the Spirits Within. Over time magical energys come together in one place and if left undisturbed long enough, the energy will crystalize and the formation of Materia/Nodes happens. I tend to see Nodes as happening like this as well.
Exactly what I was talking about in the original post (FF7 was amazing!). However, nodes aren't actually material.
On that note, what if there was a step higher than a node: materialized weave? (i.e. materia) I have always seen Mystra and the weave in the same sort of way that magic is interpreted in Square Soft's games. But materialized magic, now that's something the Thayans would like to get their grubby little Mulan hands on.
I think I definately will follow up on this. A mysterious woman in a pink dress, flowers, and a staff (Yes, I mean to make reference to Aerith) with levels in Wizard/Cleric of Mystra and Mystic Theurge wishes to discover the very secrets of why magic is concentrated in certain areas, and why so undergrounds. |
| Tifus Artwin |
Posted - 08 Sep 2005 : 08:44:26
That sounds logical Sage, but for me I cant help be to see the Nodes as say .... Materia from FF7. Those that have played know what Im talking about, those that dont its kind of like the movie FF: the Spirits Within. Over time magical energys come together in one place and if left undisturbed long enough, the energy will crystalize and the formation of Materia/Nodes happens. I tend to see Nodes as happening like this as well.
However, like I said in my first post, I know basicaly nothing about Nodes, and my knowledge of the rest of Toril is in truth just as limited. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 08 Sep 2005 : 02:28:34
quote:
Originally posted by Sir Luther Cromwell
Does any one have any information/opinions on whether an earth node is simply a spot of highly concentrated weave? In a way, this makes sense since I've always seen Mystra as like Gaia, and Gaia is often interpreted as becoming more and more condensed as you reach closer to the center of the earth (any one who has seen Final Fantasy the movie knows what I'm talking about). Please, do tell, fellow sages, and thank you in advance for your two coppers.
I've heard this theory before. It has some convincing points, but it's not something that I could accept for my interpretation of the Realms.
I see earth nodes as places where the Weave is somewhat more concentrated in a specific locality that provides benefits to those spellcasters who can make use of the highly localised energy of the Weave.
The power levels of each node reflect how concentrated and how localised the Weave is in a particular region. I sometimes utilise the "age factor" -- whereby young and newly formed nodes are incredibly powerful and resonant with arcane energy, while old and forgotten nodes are often left to decay. This decay is similar to the way in which a black hole eventually "disappears"... the energy the node radiates out leads to a relative decrease in it's overall power.
However I don't often like using it, simply because nodes, with their direct connections to the Weave, should have almost inexhaustible reserves. If I were to make extensive use of my theory above... I'd instead suggest that the connection itself is what decays, rather than the nodes energy levels.
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| DDH_101 |
Posted - 08 Sep 2005 : 02:27:45
Nodes aren't always part of Mystra or even the Weave at all.
In CoR, there were several nodes that were dedicated to evil deities and I think even one that was part of teh Shadow Weave. |
| Sir Luther Cromwell |
Posted - 07 Sep 2005 : 23:45:51
quote:
You know... Faerzress distorts magic in the Underdark. Maybe earth nodes are caused by faerzress -- the Weave is distorted in one area, so the distortion is expressed (and balanced) by magic being concentrated elsewhere, in a node.
'Tis a thought that just came to me.
That is very true Wooly. Albiet, Faerzress distort only divination and conjuration (teleport) magic, but they still distort the weave.
I like Tifus' idea of the weave being more condensed in areas that it isn't used in. As you go deeper, do the the earth being spherical in shape, the weave is much less spread out.
On the other hand, as Wooly said, no followers of Mystra would dare go so deep.
^spontaneous adventure idea^
what about a priestess of mystra who really wanted to test how powerful the weave is in the lower parts, and hired the players as guides/body guards to help her through the underdark? Sort of like Tauster's idea, only instead of a temporary NPC, make it an escort mission! |
| Tifus Artwin |
Posted - 07 Sep 2005 : 22:58:18
While Im personaly not familiar with Nodes, but from I can recall, and what Ive read here, Id see Nodes as condenced Magical energy, sort of like a forming Crystal. They would be more numerous in the underdark where the Weave was not disturbed as much by casting spells or drawing on the local weave to power a spell, instead of becoming stagnant however, Nodes would be Formed as the magical energy condenced and become more potent for those that know how to draw upon thier energys.
The same thing would happen on the surface as well, most likly in high mountains, fell swamps, and other out of the way places that magic isnt constantly being tapped, and thus a Node could form.
Another take might be that the Weave is like an elastic cover over the world, and when its not "stretched out" from time to time tends to "clump up" and as a side effect causing the local arcane energy to become more potent.
Just my two coppers, and please forgive me if Im way off my mark here on this one, just an outside veiw of things.
~Tifus |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 07 Sep 2005 : 22:54:11
You know... Faerzress distorts magic in the Underdark. Maybe earth nodes are caused by faerzress -- the Weave is distorted in one area, so the distortion is expressed (and balanced) by magic being concentrated elsewhere, in a node.
'Tis a thought that just came to me.  |
| tauster |
Posted - 07 Sep 2005 : 21:39:26
I too think they have more to do with the weave than with the depth they are found in. They could be related to the pools, iirc a phenomenon of "high-density magic", see the pools triology (Pools of radiance/darkness/twilight), or other places where magic is more concentrated (fey backroads and crossroads perhaps).
That they are found more often in the underdark doesnīt need to indicate that they are more numerous there; perhaps the probability of their existence is somehow linked to the tunnels of the underdark. Or itīs the other way round: tunnels are, for some inexplicable reason, more likely to run near nodes.
That might be a good subject for a researching NPC... imagine a sage (loremaster?) who is familiar with the realms below, travelling thought the underdark to find the answer to such a question. Of course (s)he knows lots of other "underdark-trivia" thatīs useful for your party... that could be an underdark random encounter of the most rare kind: a non-hostile one.  My players wouldnīt trust that one for one second. The longer the peace would hold, the more suspicious they would become.  |
| Talanfir Swiftfeet |
Posted - 07 Sep 2005 : 17:30:02
maybe nodes are the complete opposite of dead magic zones. Are there any complete opposite of wild magic zones, where the magic always works exactly the way it's supposed to (mind effectin spells allways work, invisibility spells are improved etc.)? |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 07 Sep 2005 : 17:16:42
I do see nodes as spots where the Weave, for whatever reason, is a bit stronger or more focused than elsewhere.
I don't, however, think it has anything to do with proximity to the center of the planet. The deepest regions of the Underdark are not places most of Mystra's followers would tread... |
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