"Magic" Expansion with Witches and Other Spellcasters
So some time back in February, shortly after Vampires came out, there was a fabulous thread dedicated to everyone's ideas for Witches. As a proud member of #TeamSupernatural, you can imagine I had a lot of ideas to contribute. So, once again, I figured these suggestions belonged in the Ideas Forum, so I'm posting a copy of my own ideas here, where hopefully, the devs will read and consider them. You can find the original glorious thread here: http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/913471/lets-start-discussing-witches/p1
I feel that they should drop the theme of "witches" and expand it to something more general like "spellcaster" or "magic user". Then we could have a variety of Casters that we could make. Perhaps the type of Magic User would determine the power path. We could choose to play witches, wizards, voodoo priests, sorcerers, hedge mages, necromancers, alchemists, etc. Why not have it all? They could have certain default powers be exclusive to each category, and then have a selection of spells that we could buy (like the vampire pack) to customize our Casters. Sims should be able to become a Caster through studies, enchantment, birth or apprenticeship, as well as be created in CAS.
I also feel that some of the powers should include raising the dead, for both bringing sims back to life and also creating zombies. I'd personally love a mummification ritual too, so we could have mummies back, and perhaps a way to create golems and creatures like Frankenstein's Monster (which would have been great with careers in Get To Work, but wasn't included.) Rituals should be a thing for the "magically imbued" that can be studied and learned by any Caster.
Potions are a must, and I'd like to have elixirs that transform sims as well, not just into frogs and such, but also in a Jekyll and Hyde way, maybe giving them a dark form similar to a vampire, that maybe tweaks their behavior somehow. Various potions should also be able to cure vampires (and other supernaturals) and be learned without vampire lore, and perhaps give some skill boosts and freeze need decay for a time, among other things.
I'd like to see various tools for different Casters too, like wands and cauldrons, staffs and scepters, bones, tarot, candles, tomes, etc., and also a way to purchase the ability to cast using just their hands.
I'd like to see wards that work like lot traits that prevent supernaturals from entering homes, brooms that can be enchanted to clean, and spells that conjure meals and repair things.
Honestly, there is so much infinite potential when magic is involved that I feel it's too big for just a game pack. But maybe we could have an expansion that is like two game packs put together, and we could have the other supernaturals that I mentioned, plus a cool new full map with bayous, castles, and weird places, and a bunch of new build/buy stuff. It could be an expansion in which magic in general is the main theme. (Kind of like Makin Magic)
Back when I used to play Dungeons and Dragons 2nd edition (dating myself here, haha) there were "schools" of magic, that were like categories for spells. They included Enchantment/Charm, Necromancy, Illusion, Summoning/Conjuring, Divination, Evocation/Invocation, Alteration/Transmutation, and Abjuration. Now, in the very famous Harry Potter story, they had something similar when students attended Hogwarts, and they took a variety of classes that taught specific types of magic. Transfiguration, Charms, Divination, Astronomy, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Care of Magical Creatures, Runes, Potions, etc. Also, there is a huge variety of fantasy fiction and media that references a plethora of magic types like elemental, nature, spirit, forces, mind, time, etc....
Now, I know that the devs can only put so much into a pack, so I'd really love to see a bunch of these categories kind of condensed into a variety of magical paths that make sense for the Sims world, that the spellcaster could choose from. It would be similar to the Vampire powers, of course, but I feel like it should be a little more branched out because, after all, magic encompasses an enormous potential. I'd like to see a way to "specialize" in a certain category, if it's possible. I brought up previously that I'd like to see a variety of spellcaster types, like Witches, Wizards, Voodoo Priests, Druids, etc. who, when chosen, came with a default spell or two specific to their type, that they wouldn't have to purchase with points. For example, a Druid might come with an ability to make garden plants evolve faster (need that! ;) ), but it could still be a purchasable power option for other spellcaster types. Maybe the type of caster also determines what kind of implement they have options to use, or what kind of visual effect appears when they cast. In the same example, the druid might have an option to use a knotted staff, and/or maybe a whoosh of leaves appear when they cast. I know that might be a little too ambitious for development, but I'd still like to see it if it were possible. I suppose that implements could also just be cosmetic accessories in CAS for people who really want them. That said, I do think there should also be a way to play a spellcaster without a category, like a "wild mage" or "hedge mage", and they would just cast with their hands and maybe start off with the ability to buy a low level spell to start.
But I was thinking, also, of some cool things that spellcasters could do in game, but some of these things would be dependent on other expansions, so I don't know if it would go over well, but it would give the pack the potential to really branch out and I'd love the options to be there for "crossover" spells. Examples: If there was a "Celestial" path, it might be able to summon aliens, get someone abducted, banish aliens, etc. (Would require Get To Work). There could be a "Fauna" path that deals with the control of sims and animals, (would require pets and/or werewolves) could summon pets, maybe turn someone or themselves into an animal, turn someone into a werewolf, etc. An "Elemental" path could manipulate the weather, (would require a weather pack and/or seasons) as well as cause fires, freeze, blow sims down with wind to be dazed, etc. A "Necromancy" path could bring a Sim back to life, turn them into a ghost, vampire, mummy or zombie, or turn them back into a normal Sim, (would need, of course, other supernaturals like zombies), and change a Sim's age, etc. In any case, this would mean that a spellcaster/magic pack would have to come after some of these other things were already released, or have them included with the pack somehow.
Anyway, I have a bazillion other ideas but this post is already pretty long, so I'll leave it at that for now. But I do really want to see voodoo and druids and necromancy included somehow. Pretty please? :)
P.S. Familiars! Both animal and undead (zombies), plus control a pack of animals or summon "minions". And we must have new travel powers! ...On brooms, teleportation, mystical gateways, and elemental travel!
ALL OF THE MAGIC! <3
I feel that they should drop the theme of "witches" and expand it to something more general like "spellcaster" or "magic user". Then we could have a variety of Casters that we could make. Perhaps the type of Magic User would determine the power path. We could choose to play witches, wizards, voodoo priests, sorcerers, hedge mages, necromancers, alchemists, etc. Why not have it all? They could have certain default powers be exclusive to each category, and then have a selection of spells that we could buy (like the vampire pack) to customize our Casters. Sims should be able to become a Caster through studies, enchantment, birth or apprenticeship, as well as be created in CAS.
I also feel that some of the powers should include raising the dead, for both bringing sims back to life and also creating zombies. I'd personally love a mummification ritual too, so we could have mummies back, and perhaps a way to create golems and creatures like Frankenstein's Monster (which would have been great with careers in Get To Work, but wasn't included.) Rituals should be a thing for the "magically imbued" that can be studied and learned by any Caster.
Potions are a must, and I'd like to have elixirs that transform sims as well, not just into frogs and such, but also in a Jekyll and Hyde way, maybe giving them a dark form similar to a vampire, that maybe tweaks their behavior somehow. Various potions should also be able to cure vampires (and other supernaturals) and be learned without vampire lore, and perhaps give some skill boosts and freeze need decay for a time, among other things.
I'd like to see various tools for different Casters too, like wands and cauldrons, staffs and scepters, bones, tarot, candles, tomes, etc., and also a way to purchase the ability to cast using just their hands.
I'd like to see wards that work like lot traits that prevent supernaturals from entering homes, brooms that can be enchanted to clean, and spells that conjure meals and repair things.
Honestly, there is so much infinite potential when magic is involved that I feel it's too big for just a game pack. But maybe we could have an expansion that is like two game packs put together, and we could have the other supernaturals that I mentioned, plus a cool new full map with bayous, castles, and weird places, and a bunch of new build/buy stuff. It could be an expansion in which magic in general is the main theme. (Kind of like Makin Magic)
Back when I used to play Dungeons and Dragons 2nd edition (dating myself here, haha) there were "schools" of magic, that were like categories for spells. They included Enchantment/Charm, Necromancy, Illusion, Summoning/Conjuring, Divination, Evocation/Invocation, Alteration/Transmutation, and Abjuration. Now, in the very famous Harry Potter story, they had something similar when students attended Hogwarts, and they took a variety of classes that taught specific types of magic. Transfiguration, Charms, Divination, Astronomy, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Care of Magical Creatures, Runes, Potions, etc. Also, there is a huge variety of fantasy fiction and media that references a plethora of magic types like elemental, nature, spirit, forces, mind, time, etc....
Now, I know that the devs can only put so much into a pack, so I'd really love to see a bunch of these categories kind of condensed into a variety of magical paths that make sense for the Sims world, that the spellcaster could choose from. It would be similar to the Vampire powers, of course, but I feel like it should be a little more branched out because, after all, magic encompasses an enormous potential. I'd like to see a way to "specialize" in a certain category, if it's possible. I brought up previously that I'd like to see a variety of spellcaster types, like Witches, Wizards, Voodoo Priests, Druids, etc. who, when chosen, came with a default spell or two specific to their type, that they wouldn't have to purchase with points. For example, a Druid might come with an ability to make garden plants evolve faster (need that! ;) ), but it could still be a purchasable power option for other spellcaster types. Maybe the type of caster also determines what kind of implement they have options to use, or what kind of visual effect appears when they cast. In the same example, the druid might have an option to use a knotted staff, and/or maybe a whoosh of leaves appear when they cast. I know that might be a little too ambitious for development, but I'd still like to see it if it were possible. I suppose that implements could also just be cosmetic accessories in CAS for people who really want them. That said, I do think there should also be a way to play a spellcaster without a category, like a "wild mage" or "hedge mage", and they would just cast with their hands and maybe start off with the ability to buy a low level spell to start.
But I was thinking, also, of some cool things that spellcasters could do in game, but some of these things would be dependent on other expansions, so I don't know if it would go over well, but it would give the pack the potential to really branch out and I'd love the options to be there for "crossover" spells. Examples: If there was a "Celestial" path, it might be able to summon aliens, get someone abducted, banish aliens, etc. (Would require Get To Work). There could be a "Fauna" path that deals with the control of sims and animals, (would require pets and/or werewolves) could summon pets, maybe turn someone or themselves into an animal, turn someone into a werewolf, etc. An "Elemental" path could manipulate the weather, (would require a weather pack and/or seasons) as well as cause fires, freeze, blow sims down with wind to be dazed, etc. A "Necromancy" path could bring a Sim back to life, turn them into a ghost, vampire, mummy or zombie, or turn them back into a normal Sim, (would need, of course, other supernaturals like zombies), and change a Sim's age, etc. In any case, this would mean that a spellcaster/magic pack would have to come after some of these other things were already released, or have them included with the pack somehow.
Anyway, I have a bazillion other ideas but this post is already pretty long, so I'll leave it at that for now. But I do really want to see voodoo and druids and necromancy included somehow. Pretty please? :)
P.S. Familiars! Both animal and undead (zombies), plus control a pack of animals or summon "minions". And we must have new travel powers! ...On brooms, teleportation, mystical gateways, and elemental travel!
ALL OF THE MAGIC! <3
