Difference between revisions of "Transcendent Pneumatic Alleviator"

Revision as of 03:46, 21 May 2021

Transcendent Pneumatic Alleviator (abbreviated as TPA) is a first order defensive spell which creates a magical impact shield around the caster.

The barrier functions as a force field that will completely absorb most forms of damage until it is destroyed.

Casting

This spell costs 45 GP to cast and takes up 25 units of mind space.

Skills

The following skills are used in the stages of this spell:

• Magic.methods.physical.evoking
• Magic.methods.elemental.air
• Magic.methods.physical.chanting
• Magic.methods.physical.enchanting
• Magic.methods.mental.channeling

Components

• A handful of fine white, grey or black ash (consumed)
• A shield (not consumed)

If the shield used is not a combat shield (i.e., one that cannot be used for blocking), the spell will be much weaker. The lightest proper shield currently in the game is a small leather shield - if using a shield that cannot be used to block, the cast message will state that everything around you flashed a strange yellow, instead of the usual red.

Casting messages

Casting

You consider the function of a shield.
You try to sense the nature of the air around yourself.
You recite a rambling roll of rustling rhymes.
You lift the ash and scatter it around yourself.
You channel magic to form an impact shield around yourself.

Success

With a noise that sounds like "Plink!", everything around you flashes red for a moment.

Failure

One of standard spell failures, ash is consumed.

Bad shield that cannot block used

With a noise that sounds like "Plink!", everything around you flashes a strange yellow for a moment.

To the target

Caster appears to be thinking about something.   or   Caster looks pensive for a few moments.
Caster seems to be looking at something near you.
Caster whispers something to himself.
Caster blows some ash into the air around you.
Caster concentrates for a moment.

With a noise that sounds like "Plink!", everything around you flashes red for a moment.

To others, when cast on the caster

Caster seems to be looking at something near herself.
Caster whispers something to herself.
Caster scatters some ash around herself.
Caster appears to tense momentarily.
With a noise that sounds like "Plink!", the air around Caster flashes red for a moment.

End of spell

There is a sudden white flash.  Your magical shield has broken.

Effects

When cast, this spell creates a magical shield which unconditionally absorbs almost all types of damage that strike it.

Shield health and buffering

TPA buffering and shield health simulation

This shield has two aspects associated with it

• The shield's total health, which is the total damage it can absorb.
• The shield's buffer, which is a proportion of the current total health.

The shield's total health degrades:

• At a steady rate as time passes.
• Whenever the shield absorbs damage.

The buffer fills up whenever the shield takes damage and, if filled past capacity, causes the shield to break. While the shield is not taking damage, the buffer slowly empties. The colour of the shield is an indication of how full the buffer is. The shield colours are as follows, in increasing order of fullness of the buffer:

• Colourless/invisible.
• Dull red
• Bright red
• Wobbling orange.
• Flickering yellow.

As a practical example, at a high defensive bonus of around 600, a TPA can take approximately ~4,500 HP worth of damage on a freshly cast shield in a single rapid burst within a few seconds before breaking. However, if left to recharge naturally back to "Invisible" between each hit before taking damage again, the shield can sustain a total of over ~40,000 HP worth before breaking in a single hit from invisible. The time factor would also constantly be reducing the maximum strength of the shield during that period. Re-casting the TPA while invisible resets the shield back to fresh again.

Defensive layering

This shield is layered beneath the following:

• Endorphin's Floating Friend
• Grammer Scorbic's Household Guard
• Dodge, parry and block.

It is layered above:

• Major Shield and Minor Shield.
• Armour
• Chrenedict's Corporeal Covering.
• Heezlewurst's Elemental Buffer (probably, as fire weaponry isn't blocked by TPA after passing HEB).

Component Shield

The Small leather shield is now the lightest shield that can be used to give a full strength TPA.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Discworld MUD cre blog

Notes

• This spell is a more powerful version of Sorklin's Field of Protection.
• Re-casting while a current TPA is present but "Invisible" will result in a completely fresh TPA as if new.
• Re-casting while a current TPA is visible (dull red or worse) will only add a very small amount of strength back to the current shield, approximately 10%.
• The exception to the above two is if the existing TPA is a "fluke" TPA, in which case the original will be kept and the new one silently discarded.
• This spell has superficial similarities with Mama Kolydina's Instant Infestation, but differs in various important ways:
  • Mama Kolydina's Instant Infestation does not use a buffer.
  • Transcendent Pneumatic Alleviator does not counterstrike against attackers.
  • Transcendent Pneumatic Alleviator is easier to stack than Mama Kolydina's Instant Infestation.
• If Transcendent Pneumatic Alleviator and Mama Kolydina's Instant Infestation are cast on the same person, then the latter shield will rapidly weaken the former until the former breaks.

See also

• Sorklin's Field of Protection
• Mama Kolydina's Instant Infestation

External links

• Discworld spell help: Transcendent Pneumatic Alleviator
• Disc Wizards: Transcendent Pneumatic Alleviator