5. Races & Magic
Sort of races
There will be three difference races upon the launch of Age of Conan. The world of Hyboria, a fictional representation of our own earth some 10.000 years BC, is a vast place. As such, there are also a huge number of different races that inhabits the world and its numerous nations. In Age of Conan the three nations that are planned for launch are Aquilonia, Cimmeria and Stygia. You will be able to explore these lands and meet their people, but on your travels you will also meet a myriad of other people from all over Hyboria.
Upon character creation, you will be able to choose being Aquilonian, Cimmerian or Stygian. Other races may be available in the future, but these are planned for the launch.
No elves, dwarves or gnomes
Hyboria, the world of Conan, is not your typical fantasy world of orcs and fairies. There are certainly a myriad of mystical creatures, terrible monsters, exotic races and mighty gods, but you will not find all the typical high-fantasy elements. One term often used to describe the world of Hyboria and its setting is “magical realism”. The world is gritty, harsh and real – but is still filled with magical locations and fantastic beings.
Advantages or disadvantages of races
The three playable races have their strengths and weaknesses, and some of them are better fit to certain classes than others. The Cimmerians, for instance, are known for their skill with the blade, while the Stygians are renown throughout the world for their magical powers. Selecting one races will have implications towards how the game will play out for you, not only when it comes to the look of your character, but also what choices will be available to you.
No evil races
There are no playable “evil” races in Age of Conan. But, of course, every people have its bad apples and there are plenty of no-good characters in all the lands of Hyboria. And one nation's opinion on another can also differ greatly.
Power differences between male and female
Both men and women have equal strengths.
Magic
Magic is a vital part in the Hyborian world. There is a fully functional magic system that closely relates to the Conan lore and the original books of Robert E. Howard. Just as we're making huge advancements in the field of combat in massive online games, we're also handling magic and spellcasting quite differently than other games in the genre. Spellcasting will not only require certain skills and feats of your character, but there is also a very interactive system to it that will take human skill to master.
It is true that we try to make the visual look and feel of magic in Conan different from what you have seen in other games. The traditional fireball-tossing magic users in pointy hats, with puffs and multicolored robes, are not part of the Hyborian universe. In Conan's age, magic is dangerous, hidden, and dark. Men who meddle with dark magic may fall to its temptation and powers, so magic uses you as much as you use it! Naturally, the ultimate power comes when you are able to walk the fine line--the one between destruction and creation.
Cast spells
In Age of Conan we're introducing something called spellweaving. Spellweaving is the art of stringing together a series of spell to create one massive spell that will produce devastating and otherwise extreme results. Spellweaving is an art that will take skill to master, and it is very much a tactical and strategic part of the game that require planning and thinking to carry out.
Spellweaving
Spellweaving is the art of combining multiple spells into one big spell. The player will start the spellweave by activating their spellweave ability. This places them in a trance-like state where they cannot move and the only actions they are allowed to perform are adding more components to the weave. Once in the spellweave the player can add as many spells into the weave as they can manage or want to. The maximum number of spells that can be called into a weave is dependant on the players’ level. Deactivating the ability will then cast the spell and produce the results.
As to dangers associated with spellweaving, Spellweaving is almost a balancing act. How much power can you summon forth without incurring some ancient curse or other mysterious ailment? The risk of this depends on how powerful a weave you are performing based upon the power of the spells you are trying to combine and their level. Stray too far beyond what you are capable of and you will run the risk of incurring one of these side-effects! Using more mana than what you have can also be devastating.
Spellweave as much as you want
You can spellweave as much as you want, but there are penalties if you are spellweaving too much and too often. The other element to spellweaving is a characters magical burden. Every time a weave is performed they incur a magical burden, a debt as it were that weighs upon them. If too many weaves are attempted consecutively, or you attempt a weave that pushes your limits to the burden, you will increase the chance of incurring ill-effects on the next weave. This burden naturally decays when a caster is not in a spellweave.
Mana
Mana is the currency, so to speak, that is used to pay for casting spells. Your mana pool works much the same way as your health pool and when you cast spells this pool is emptied depending on how much mana each spell needs. Your mana pool grows over time as your character develops.
Demons and other creatures summoning
Some of them certainly will. There will even be classes dedicated to this form of magic, and spellcasters can create special formations called summoning circles. By doing this, they can summon special types of demons and creatures that could never be summoned by one spellcaster alone. Again, this is a dangerous art and as with all spellcasting in Hyboria, and it could lead to disastrous results if not done right. It all relates to your skills and powers.
Magic revolution
Not all magic revolves around death and destruction and you will find a wide array of spells you can perform. There are spellcasting that involves healing people, giving them benefits.