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+--- Thread: Arcanist Gloves (Item Concept) (/showthread.php?tid=14197)
Arcanist Gloves (Item Concept) - Merak - 11-07-2015
Designed by Reinard Ackerman, it started as an experiment on 'readily available spells', arcane equations and geometries imprinted on articles of clothing and readily available for use by an arcanist when a grimoire was unavailable. The idea evolved in time, however. As Reinard shifted his focus of battle from 'long range tactical support' to 'front line tactical strikes', a normal spell's cast time became an inconvenience. This provoked a new direction for the project, where upon the Arcanist Gloves were first conceived. It refers less to the gloves themselves and more to a process that when applied over handwear, will allow the user swift access to a small array of pre-determined spells.
The process can be applied to standard gloves. The gloves themselves must have specific traits: For instance they can not restrict movement, on neither forearms or hands and fingers. They must have a minimal length of two ilms before the palm and they must cover the whole of the palm and back of the hand. It's also advised to use gloves with fingers, though fingerless gloves at times work as well so long there is a length of one ilm of cover over the fingers, from the knuckles. Completely fingerless (stopping on or just past the knuckles) will not do. Gauntlets or arm bracers are optional and for the most part, irrelevant. That said these gloves need not be gloves at all: They can be the glove end of a leather gauntlet that covers the whole arm, or even made of metal, so long as they don't restrict movement as mentioned. With a pair of gloves choosen, fine circuits are traced over their surface area in very specific patterns. This can be done either through engraving on hard surfaces or threading over soft. The important part is that the pattern is maintained, from the rear edge of the glove towards the tip of the fingers, or in case of fingerless gloves, some length towards the fingers, and that these imprints are done with aether conductive material such as enchanted ink-soaked threads or enchanted ink itself. At the fingertips or the finger edge of the gloves, 'connectors' will be installed, using of the same aether conductive material.
The pattern themselves determine what spells the user will have at their disposal, for during combat the user will funnel their aether into their gloves, the aether will follow through the imprinted conduits and reach the connectors. This is called an 'activation sequence'. Alone each glove is useless, but by joining of the hands and linking the connectors together in a specific manner, a pair of sequences will form a full circuit, an aetherical equation. Depending on the spell desired, further equations are required, requiring additional activation sequences. Be mindful that the user can not just activate the gloves in any manner or pattern they desire. When completing the aetherical equation, a simple gesture of the user's preference will be enough to launch the spell. The user must be aware of the specific imprints on their gloves and full circuits formed by each active pair, as well as the complete aetherical equation they desire to form, and perform the proper connections at each activation sequence to reach the desired outcome. With training, an arcanist can swiftly produce a number of aetherical equations in a short amount of time and cast a spell from them, while retaining the freedom of use of their hands, allowing them to arm themselves with any weapon they desire.
This design is not without its drawbacks however. Because of the imprinted nature of the 'aetheric conduits', a set of gloves, once made, can not be modified. Likewise the array of spells a set of gloves allows for is limited and decided upon the imprinting process, severely decreasing a spellcaster's versatility when using the gloves as opposed to a fully stocked grimoire or a mage's staff focus, as there are only so many combinations and patterns that can be safely imprinted on such a limited surface area.
Curiously enough this design has one extra benefit that was not initially conceived. For individuals without the ability to channel and manipulate their aether, the gloves, when modified with the inclusion of ceruleum cells and a trigger linked to the aetheric conduits, allows for these individuals that are usually unable to conjure their own spells, to use the gloves as any other person would. This benefit has only been contemplated on and not actively tested, but the theory is solid.
OOC Gibberish Area: Okay, translating all of what's written above into a 'long story short' version, is that these gloves provide the equivalent of non-ninja ninjutsu. As it happens my character started as an arcanist, yet I found myself playing ninja more than ever during its release. I didn't want to abandon the magic caster background and I didn't want to become a ninja, so I had him design these gloves which allow for the user to make some hand gestures while fueling aether through them, and cast spells as a result, allowing for ninja 'spellcasting' visuals in game, without being a ninja. This in no way makes one stronger or weaker than actual ninjas or other spellcasters, it's merely an alternative way to cast spells using ninja idea as a base. How strong or weak your spells, well that's up to you. In theory the same could be applied to other classes as well, but I didn't give it too much thought to those.
The whole 'People unable to cast magic' part came up a bit later when I thought of how Garleans are supposedly unable to cast magic, but with this, and a ceruleum fuel cell which they're so good at making, they probably could! Of course they'd use up the ceruleum cell after X uses, but hey, still neat, and it opens the doors for those Garlean characters.
Finally, while in the description I said that my character created it, well, I just did that so I had a point from where to start this description post. I'm not gonna be difficult about it and prevent others from using this idea for themselves, even on Balmung where I play. This is an item concept that it is openly offered to others. My little contribution if you will. Though, if you're on Balmung and you like this idea and you'd like to explore it by coming to my character about it, that'd make me happy. Always looking for new people to RP with and Reinard wouldn't have a problem with sharing this with others. We can make a plot out of it! A very small one, I guess, since in theory they're not that hard to make.
Ok, enough ranting. Hope you like it.
RE: Arcanist Gloves (Item Concept) - Jana - 11-07-2015
People have tossed around the idea of using gloves/clothes/tattoos to cast arcanima before, but the folds in cloth and leather clothing is something that would usually mess up the geometries used in casting. And while we don't have many in-game examples of what these geometries actually look like, they're probably too complex to "mix and match" using hand signs on gloves. It's not the best example but the Sphere Scroll from the relic quests made through arcanima is pretty complex.
![[Image: sphere_scroll2aso4.jpg]](http://abload.de/img/sphere_scroll2aso4.jpg)
(thanks google)
RE: Arcanist Gloves (Item Concept) - Merak - 11-08-2015
(11-07-2015, 09:30 PM)Jana Wrote: People have tossed around the idea of using gloves/clothes/tattoos to cast arcanima before, but the folds in cloth and leather clothing is something that would usually mess up the geometries used in casting. And while we don't have many in-game examples of what these geometries actually look like, they're probably too complex to "mix and match" using hand signs on gloves. It's not the best example but the Sphere Scroll from the relic quests made through arcanima is pretty complex.Hmm, that's a good point, but as far as Sphere Scroll goes, I'd bump that to 'Its a horrible example': That's a scroll containing arcana meant to absorb soul power through 'Light' and later infuse that power into a physical medium through means known only by Thimvarian (Spell check?) scholars. The singular purpose and the complexity of the task that scroll is made for means that it is on a whole new level, making it incomparable to basic-level spells, which is what Ninjutsu is in my eyes--Throw a fireball, create ice around a target, make water gush from underneath the enemy, and so on--which the gloves in this idea emulate.
(thanks google)
As far examples of arcane geometry, I'd just fall back onto the drawings of the book models in game and the little effects that materialize off them during spell cast.
RE: Arcanist Gloves (Item Concept) - Oli! - 11-08-2015
The question I have (which is the same question that I always have when it comes to this sort of thing) is that if it's so much easier to use, and simple enough that anyone can think of it, then why hasn't it been in practice for generations or more?
RE: Arcanist Gloves (Item Concept) - Merak - 11-08-2015
I don't really think its easier to use. As I described in the post, it would be an alternative for magic users who also choose to take a more direct (like melee) approach to combat, using the Ninjutsu mechanics as visual representation. Another way to see it is, a way of 'acting Ninja' ICly without actually BEING a Ninja.