Shadow magic, how to "Use" it.

I em having small problems right now with Shadow magic, there are many places where they explain what it is but never, how to use it.. Mending it into a Shadowball for example, or what about some spells?
Questions.
- What spells are there.
- How do they work.
- What effects do they have.

- Martha Moonshadow.

How you 'use' it is up to you.

What spells are there?

Take a look through this thread. Reading through, you'll see that whilst some prefer to rely on game mechanics to determine their spells, others like to emote spells that work for their RP. I'm of the second school of thought, that the book of spells is never ending and game mechanics only serve as a basis for us to expand on.

How do they work?

Again, that's up to you. You may be drawing upon the chaos of the Nether, the antithesis of the Light. You may be drawing on the Light itself, using its more destructive elements to do the Lights work. It's all about how you RP it, and justify it to the community. Feel free to be an evil bad person with Shadow Magic, but that's not how you're forced to RP it.

I remember a thread on the WoW forums a long time ago that speculated that Night Elf SPriests may be a smaller community in the Sisterhood of Elune. The actual thread had a small story accompanying it about a Priestess who was losing her faith, and rather than deal with it, she ran out into the forests in the middle of the night. As she ran, she found that Elune (read: The Moon) no longer shone upon her, giving her more reason to believe that Elune had abandoned her. She was there for so long, that predators had found her in the undergrowth and were staring at her with open mouths and hungry bellies, brazenly stood there in Moonlight whilst the Priestess wallowed in the darkness. As they pounced however, they were rebuked by the shadow that was cast on the Kaldorei, leading the Elf to realise that sure, Elune was a shining light, but Elune also casted shadows. I did find this post that explained it alot better than I though;

Night Elven shadow priests can be said to reflect all phases of the moon. When the moon is whole and full, it bathes us all in it's light, giving it equally to all. When the moon is new, the land is bathed in darkness, and darkness reigns.

Night Elven priests are not evil, by any means. The power that fuels them cannot be twisted and perverted like the Light can. They are simply reflecting the moon in it's darkest phase.

Where a full moon can be said to heal and bathe all in it's glory, a new moon allows for total darkness, where the avengers of the land can go forth silently and invisibly and bring justice to all who trespass.

Consider certain abilities within the tree to simply be game mechanics(because they are), and you're golden.

And I agree with the last sentence especially. Considering game mechanics to simply be game mechanics, and not the be all, and end all of RP.

What effects do they have?

Hey, guess what? It's all up to you again. If you've got the imagination to do something, you inherently have to think about what that 'something' is going to do and what it is. Sure, form a big shadow ball in your hand, but what is that shadow ball? What will it do if it touches someone? Will it tear them apart, will it demoralise their spirit, will it simply just splash onto them and leave a purply kind of juice stain on their pretty robes? It's all up to you, just be fair to those you're RPing with, and don't become a Mary Sue with your abilities.

http://www.defiasrp.com/t5475-the-magnificent-manual-of-mastering-mysticism-a-guide-to-magic?highlight=guide+magic

This guide made by the eminent Drustai might also provide some help.

1) What spells are there:
Whatever you want. As long as you understand the way shadow works (void, leeches from everything around it to empower itself, thus causing physical or emotional decay), you can pretty much come up with anything that follows those basic traits.

If you're worried though, then just stick with the spells you have in-game, as those are obviously shadow spells.

Essentially, all spells used by shadowpriests are shadow spells, many spells used by necromancers and shadowmages are shadow spells, and some used by Affliction warlocks are shadow spells.


2)
ARCANE SHADOW:
Like any arcane magic, use of arcane shadow magic is about knowledge and intellect. It's about piecing together ingredients and commanding the universe to realign and cause a magical effect. Thus arcane shadow magic will rely on reagents and implements that represent both shadow traits (void, decay, death, etc) as well as the specific traits of the spell you want to accomplish. A poisonous mushroom, for example, might be the reagent for a spell that causes a person to become nautious and sick.

When casting a spell in this manner, you assemble the proper reagents, making a gesture in the air (which functions like an impromptu rune pattern, shaping the spell), and then speak an incantation that commands the spell to activate.

DIVINE SHADOW:
Like all divine magic, divine shadow magic is much more loose and free. Divine magic is about faith. It's about your sheer willpower. In the case of shadow magic, this is typically faith in yourself. Divine humanism. Believing that you yourself are a miniature god, and that you exert your influence on everything around you (which all exists solely to fuel your ascension).

Actually casting divine shadow magic is, again, about firmly willing it to happen. However, for you to properly cause a change in reality, you first have to cause a change in yourself. Thus shadowpriests are likely to be very much like Dark Jedi from Star Wars. "Give in to your anger. Let it flow through you!" You must fully believe and experience what you wish to cast.

As a result, shadowpriest spells are typically not going to be projectiles. Shadowbolts are usually a product of arcane magic. A shadowpriest on the other hand builds a sheer hatred of their target within their own mind, and through that hatred and the strength of their faith and will, cause a magical effect on the target that represents their personal thoughts at the time.

To dumb it down, a shadowpriest essentially goes, "I hate you," which causes the victim to suddenly fall to their knees as their mind is flayed by shadow energy. They point at a person and think, "I want you to feel PAIN," and that person suddenly screams and spasms as pain begins to wrack their body. The magic is caused by the sheer faith and willpower of the shadowpriest, by the raw dark emotions he builds within himself and "projects" onto his victim.

Someone in shadow form is going to be literally seething with pride, hatred, anger, and perhaps even fear and pain too (which only makes them even more angry, building each negative emotion atop itself). It's essentially like being consumed by a sha, except that the shadowpriest's dominating willpower maintains control. They would then project these dark emotions onto any victim unfortunate enough to get in their way, spreading their anguish and hatred to everything around them, leaving a trail of destruction and hopelessness in their wake. Touching them is pretty much going to turn your hand into a withered husk, as they have become a living manifestation of void energies.

As such, divine shadow magic, like all divine magic, can often be very imprecise. Arcane magic is a tool, while divine magic is a state of being. With divine magic it is very easy to cast a different spell than you intended, based on your frame of mind.


3) See my first response. Shadow is about void, destruction. It drains energy from everything around it to empower itself. It causes the body to age and decay, and it causes the mind and heart to lose all love, life, and hope. On objects, it will cause them to decay and grow bitter and fragile.

Physical wounds from shadow magic will typically be an acute development of necrosis at the direct site of impact as all the life is suddenly sucked away (this can also result in diseases). General spells could drain years off a person, causing them to grow old and decripid. Other spells could have more of a gravity-like effect (focusing on the void and vaccum idea) that causes blunt trauma (bones shattering as they are thrown and ripped apart about like rag dolls).

Mental wounds will be the generation of dark emotions and insanity. Happiness and love are replaced with sadness and hate. Courage is drained away until there is nothing but fear. The mind is torn apart and broken, with very powerful spells having the potential to leave permanent psychological damage. It's also possible to read and control minds through this matter, as it is essentially raping the mind for your own benefit, stealing thoughts and memories.

I would advise working with wards and powering the spells through other means than your own mana as the shadow will corrupt and age/sicken you otherwise.

Lexgrad wrote:I would advise working with wards and powering the spells through other means than your own mana as the shadow will corrupt and age/sicken you otherwise.

Source?

I am the Lexadin, I need no source! The Lexadin knows his shadow!!!!!

Lexgrad wrote:I am the Lexadin, I need no source! The Lexadin knows his shadow!!!!!

And you wonder why people think you're crap. Answered your own question.

Lexgrad wrote:I would advise working with wards and powering the spells through other means than your own mana as the shadow will corrupt and age/sicken you otherwise.

Aye. Shadow is the energy of death, decay, and destruction, and it will always leave its mark. This is especially the case for shadowpriests who allow it to consume themselves (of course, many of them are seeking to ascend anyway, to become beings of pure shadow), but also happens to arcane shadowcasters. It often causes people to grow old before their time, to grow frail and weak, to become depressive and hateful, and in extreme cases to even mutate into an undead creature.


@Raene: The primary direct source is the WoWRPG core rulebook. However there are many indirect sources in WoW itself that corroborate it. Good and noble shadowcasters are very few and far between.

On a thematic level, a shadowcaster should never be able to just use it willy nilly without any fear of consequences. It is dark, vile magic, that should inevitably leave its mark on you no matter how careful you may be.

Hey, I'm not argueing, I'm asking for the source for my own knowledge!

I like to learn new stuff, this is fascinating to me.

Well, Drustai just mind raped me and Lexgrad gave me an idea while Raene gave me hope...

New questions:

- Negative and positve effects of being in the "Divine" Shadowfrom.
- If I were to use Divine shadow magic inside the prison of the Stormwind Regiment, would the Wards prevent me and if so why?
- If I where to use Divine shadow on a person in the middle of a tavern wile hiding in the corner of it. Would someone know it was me killing him, and if so.. Who and how?

Vangrel Lansire wrote:

Lexgrad wrote:I am the Lexadin, I need no source! The Lexadin knows his shadow!!!!!

And you wonder why people think you're crap. Answered your own question.

I dont ever wonder that Eph. I manipulate people into doing what I want and rage at anyone who does not conform to my wants... no wait... I dont do that either.

Another indirect source for shadow magic being corrupting:

"Its worshippers warn against shadow priests embracing its dark magic wholesale, for it is often too hard to find one's way back from the deepest reaches of the darkness." - WoW Magazine Issue 4

Raene wrote:Hey, I'm not argueing, I'm asking for the source for my own knowledge!

I like to learn new stuff, this is fascinating to me.

Well I cant offer a source really as I kinda make up magic RP XD

I operate that all magic is like an electric circuit, Needs a power source (Mana from the caster/taps into leys or the use of crystals as batteries ect) Then needs some wiring (think here like magic circles, glyphs, runes, inks and stuff ect) Finally It needs an output, ie what is the spell to do.

My other rule is that one mage cant sustain or wont want to sustain a long term spell so, if I was a shadow caster and I wanted to use a shadowy ward to protect a camp I would not use my own mana but maybe tap into the world if it was a strong place in shadow, like the plaguelands or if it was close to strong magical sources (note that to do this I might make a few spells to correctly attune my tap into the world). Then I would use that to set up the ward.

As for shadow corrupting, I remember reading somewere a theory that all biology on Azeroth was based on magic, life magic gives life and the shadow took it away/turned it back to zero. So you could argue that everyone on Azeroth is being corrupted by shadow, unless you want people to die and keep to the "natural" order in which case the shadow in its natural form is fine.

The most important thing with all RP tho is not to worry about lore so much, it is more important that you can sell to others the idea that your char is a shadow mage rather than getting minor geeky points for doing magic exactly as some minor lore char does.

"The ultimate arbiter of good RP is selling the concept. I am not against any concept, even the "heretic" Dragon RPers if they can make me believe my char is talking to a dragon"

The Lexadin

(Quoted myself cos im that much into me)

Martha Silverlight wrote:- Negative and positve effects of being in the "Divine" Shadowfrom.

Positive: Your shadow magic becomes much more potent, and easier to make manifest upon your victims. Your physical body also becomes a thing of void and darkness, so it resists physical damage and can even destroy things that directly touch it.

Negative: You become consumed by shadow energy. Your mind will be filled with dark emotions that could cause you to lash out at everything around you, even if they're your friends or if it's unwise to do so. Shadowpriests need very strong wills for a reason.

Additionally, the natural corruptive effect of shadow magic is going to do havoc on your body and soul. Keep rule of drama in mind here. Consider how you character will deal with fact that they are regularly infusing yourself with the energies of destruction, death, and decay. Consider how that would affect your physical and mental state, using the examples posted above.

- If I were to use Divine shadow magic inside the prison of the Stormwind Regiment, would the Wards prevent me and if so why?

Yes, they would prevent you. They are anti-magic wards and they prevent all magic. Holy magic might be able to penetrate them (because holy magic is truly divine, and therefore can break the laws of the universe), but even that is not likely outside of extremely exceptional, miraculous circumstances (which would need to be discussed with the Regiment OOCly to make sure everything is okay). No other element is truly divine (divine shadow is faith-based shadow magic, not godly magic capable of breaking the laws of the universe in the way holy does), and would thus be prevented from working.

If you need a better explanation, just consider this fact: Holy magic is the only magic that was impossible to resist. You could build resistances to Frost, Fire, Nature, and Shadow, but never to Holy. Holy breaks the laws, shadow magic does not, even when wielded by shadowpriests.

- If I where to use Divine shadow on a person in the middle of a tavern wile hiding in the corner of it. Would someone know it was me killing him, and if so.. Who and how?

It is possible to hide magic use, but it is difficult. Most magic, even divine magic, requires gestures and incantations (hence why Silence effects prevent even divine classes from casting for their duration). The person being targeted might not know who is targeting them if there is no visible link, but anyone in visible or auditory range of the caster would.

Negative: You become consumed by shadow energy. Your mind will be filled with dark emotions that could cause you to lash out at everything around you, even if they're your friends or if it's unwise to do so. Shadowpriests need very strong wills for a reason.

Not a necessity actually. It's more about willpower rather than negative emotions themselves, one can be a kind individual but still have the willpower to draw upon the Shadow.

Also, as a side note Martha, your true option is to embrace undeath and worship the Shadow in your purest form.

Serving the Queen too of course.

In order of importance;

1) Breaking out of Stormwind Prison - I'd assume that all schools of magic that Humans can control would be heavily warded against. Even Druidism as of late (Worgen). The only thing I reckon the prisons would struggle against is Shamanism, but it wouldn't be too far out of the realms of possiblity that Stormwind has its own Shamans asking the Elements to keep the Prisoners in. One Shamans word/skill against anothers. That being said, Druids and Shamans should be more focused on their jobs as Shamans/Druids instead of breaking the laws. (That doesn't stop Raene, but at least she accepts when she's done wrong and stays in prison or pays her fines).

2) Effects of Shadowform - First of all, ask why you're doing it. If you're following the path of Lex/Dru with their; Evil = Detrimental kind of thing, then yeah, it's going to mess up your character. Even I've played it that after using a lot of Druidic magic, Raene is left in a sort of tranquil peace, at one with the 'balance', looking positively glowing and happy. Let your actions shape your character, and that works for spells too.

3) Attacking people. - So many people claim to be able to smell Fel (What the hell does Fel even smell like?), so who's to say that other RP'ers might suddenly feel the anger and darkness that you're casting? That weirdo in the corner in the dark robes, someone's looking like they're falling over dead, and everyone feels a sudden horrific shift in the mood of the room like a grey cloud hanging overhead. Paladins and Priests may be able to sense it, and those especially versed in Shadow would be able to know it out of familliarity.

Palas and priests and DKs could prob justify it, and magi if they know what they are looking for. Do note it is not illegal or anything just to know about it, it is using it that might lead to shit for you.

As for the guards, they have a thing where they ward their prison against most things just to stop people blinking/death gating away and stuff so I would check with them for more info.

Vangrel Lansire wrote:

Negative: You become consumed by shadow energy. Your mind will be filled with dark emotions that could cause you to lash out at everything around you, even if they're your friends or if it's unwise to do so. Shadowpriests need very strong wills for a reason.

Not a necessity actually. It's more about willpower rather than negative emotions themselves, one can be a kind individual but still have the willpower to draw upon the Shadow.

I personally like to play with the idea that the willpower is so necessary because you're building these dark emotions deep inside of you and need a ton of self-discipline to control them. I'd personally think that even that kind individual is going to be a power-hungry divine humanist deep inside, he just has such a strong mind that he is able to hold it back and present a kind facade to the people around him.

But YMMV, I can see how the cold, pure unrestrained willpower thing could be intriguing to play as well.

Also, as a side note Martha, your true option is to embrace undeath and worship the Shadow in your purest form.

Serving the Queen too of course.

I agree. Except for the Queen part.

Thanks every one!

New questions.

- How would divine Shadow magic work on the Dead, for example Deathknights.
- How should you explain it to others?
- What is the maximum power I should RP? Can I take control of a city like stormwind (Which I really doubt) or only one person at a time?

- How would divine Shadow magic work on the Dead, for example Deathknights.

This actually highly depends on which interpretation you take of the divine shadow. The Hand of Nightmare guild on DB preached a very moderate, passive alternative to the Holy Light, one which can be compared to the original Islam v Christianity debate, or you could take the rather extreme approach offered by the original scriptures of the Forgotten Shadow as preached by the Forsaken.

- What is the maximum power I should RP? Can I take control of a city like stormwind (Which I really doubt) or only one person at a time?

Completely up to you and those you role-play with to be honest. If every single role-player in Stormwind agreed to let Martha expand her mind so much that you would be able to manipulate their minds then sure, why not? Explaining it after would be tedious and might put you in a bad position to be accused of power gaming.

Divine shadow magic does feed off negative emotions, but will power and discipline play a huge role, thus for example if your opponent has weaker will power than your own character, it would be easier to dominate his/her mind. Physical attacks also would weaken ones ability to defend their mind against mental assaults.

I would imagine that priests and paladins would be your toughest cookies to crack.

No offense Martha, but I'm getting the feeling you're letting us make your character here for you. Are these questions being asked because you're geniunely stumped on how it would work? Or because you are looking for lore/opinions to back up your way of RP, or even giving you ways to RP?

I'll answer regardless, but I would like your input on your own questions, and why you're asking them.

- How would divine Shadow magic work on the Dead, for example Deathknights.

Using death to attack death? Largely ineffective. If you're attacking the matter of which an undead are made up of, then you might fare a little better... You know, tearing apart their physical being and all, but if you're just assaulting their mind or body with necrotic energy you're wasting your mana.

How should you explain it to others?

Explain... What? How your spells work? Well, that's up to you. You decide your own RP style, and it's up to you to elaborate on how your own spells work. Be fair, be respectful, and don't godemote, that's all.

What is the maximum power I should RP? Can I take control of a city like stormwind (Which I really doubt) or only one person at a time?

And I'll reply with;

Be fair, be respectful, and don't godemote, that's all.

If you read the thread I linked to in my first post here, it discusses RP fighting and conflict. If you're trying to take over someones mind, it's a conflict, and conflict is a two-way street. You have to respect the other players wishes, and in the same breath they've got to respect your RP attempts.

That being said... It would be one hell of an awesome event if your character tried to take over a large percentage of the populace in Stormwind using Shadow Magic, and people signed up for it on their mains. Man, that would be awesome...

Martha Silverlight wrote:- How would divine Shadow magic work on the Dead, for example Deathknights.

Depends. Shadow magic can both empower and harm death knights. Essentially, spells designed to heal the undead (such as dark mending, vampiric embrace (which requires feeding life off a victim and siphoning it to your target), etc) will heal them, while spells designed to cause damage will damage them (though they'll have some resistance to it).

Mental spells on the other hand are a bit more limited. Weaker spells often can't affect the undead, because they're a much different creature than a living being and have strong resistance to shadow energy. Stronger spells can, though. (Mind Control could not affect undead. Dominate Mind can. The latter is a more powerful version of the former)

Fear and charm spells typically do not work on the undead. They almost never work on mindless undead like zombies and skeletons. Occasionally it's possible to affect sapient undead like forsaken and death knights with these spells (as they actually have a mind to affect), but they can often just shrug them off (Will of the Forsaken, Lichborne).

Essentially, undead in WoW often go by the resistant rather than immune argument. They are resistant to damaging shadow magic and to mind-affecting spells, but not entirely immune to them.

- How should you explain it to others?

Explain what?

- What is the maximum power I should RP? Can I take control of a city like stormwind (Which I really doubt) or only one person at a time?

Typically only one person at a time is best. While it's possible to do more (never to the degree of an entire city, though), for someone new to it I highly recommend starting out on the weaker side.

You'll also want to acknowledge that your target could have strong enough willpower to resist your mental attacks. The chance of success will be highly variable depending on their natural strength of will and their current state of mind. Someone drunk or depressed will be easier to affect than someone that is happy and confident. In my own case, my rogue Saphra has very weak will and would always be dominated, while Drustai is about average. Areyah on the other hand has an iron will, so it'd be very difficult to affect her with mental magic unless you find a way to break through her defenses (getting her drunk would be the easiest way).

Thank you so much for your answers so far
This time I wont ask any questions because it is late and I have sleep to catch up with but I will answer some questions from you, especial the one from Raene for that one interested me a little to.

No offense Martha, but I'm getting the feeling you're letting us make your character here for you. Are these questions being asked because you're geniunely stumped on how it would work? Or because you are looking for lore/opinions to back up your way of RP, or even giving you ways to RP?

To be honest I have no idea why I ask you these questions, its like in Portal II, you know you are testing but you don't know the greater purpose of it.
I em asking because it is in my nature and because it just feels good to know what the others know and the different opinions. Of course some times I notice a thing or two that I can use but that is only to be expected when people like Drustai and yourself answer.

- How should you explain it to others?

Explain what?

I was asking for how I "Should" Explain how I could have taken over the mind, but Raene already answered me on that, thanks any way.

One question tho..
- Could some of you ask a question? something you are wondering about in Shadow or maybe the meaning of life?

Drustai wrote:Another indirect source for shadow magic being corrupting:

"Its worshippers warn against shadow priests embracing its dark magic wholesale, for it is often too hard to find one's way back from the deepest reaches of the darkness." - WoW Magazine Issue 4

There's a magazine?!