RuneScape's Great Magical Debate!

Welcome to the central hub of magical ideas, mine and yours (alike)! Magic is my favourite class within RuneScape; I just wish that it'd work better! Over the past two years I've probably written at least a dozen ideas for the glorious skill/class! So I decided to piece together a montage... filled with eleven ideas (at the moment), ten my own, and one of yours! But I hope to expand and include a few more of your ideas!

So, if you have any particularly good Magic ideas, either on the forums or in your brain, please mention them and I'll may add a summary of your idea to this thread (I've left room for expansion).

Otherwise, please just copy the answer sheet (before reading) and get reading! Then all you need to do is paste it into your reply and comment where you see appropriate. Please be constructive whether you agree or not; feedback gives me something to work on. Many of the ideas are quite radical, but they are all sound! However, if you'd prefer for Magic to remain mostly unchanged in terms of spells, robes, etc, then there are still ideas for you!

Please answer with either; Agreed, Disagreed, Undecided.
• Two skills?
• Conjuring skill?
• New power skills?
• New stat system?
• Freecasting?
• Spell launchers?
• Gemstone Robes?
• Mini-Spellbooks?
• Spell Scrolls?
• Gabill50's Mana skill?
• Psyche energy?

I authored all ideas aside from those specified otherwise. However, Dark War 123 contributed a large amount towards at least half of my ideas.

Many would agree that Runecraft is a production skill. But others, me included, reckon that it's a resource-gathering skill. You harvest the magic released from altars with essence; creating runes. The energy within runestones can be used raw, which is why it’s often considered a production skill. But it's like throwing logs or bars, or hitting people with 'em. They’re not manufactured. We're missing a skill here; more in paragraph three.

The Magic skill is divided into two distinct themes; manipulation and conjuration. Manipulation is mostly non-combat (alchemy, enchantment, teleports), but includes curses and binds. Anything which manipulates an object or person; whether relocating it, enchanting it, or immobilising it. I propose that this skill be separated from the conjuration magic. I propose the name; "Sorcery", but I'm open for ideas. Sorcery wouldn't affect the combat level, and doesn't favour any class – like Herblore. The other theme of magic, conjuration, would remain within under the name of Magic, or by the name Wizardry.

In Magic, whilst you could argue that you're manipulating energy, you're using the energy in a very basic form; simple projectiles. But this – relating to the first paragraph – is where a new skill could come in; one which allows you to shape the energy into shapes. Using lecterns, you can bend the energy into equipment. Predominantly taking the shape of melee weapons (includes armour), conjured equipment works scarcely different from spells. Though it may look like a sword, it isn't a melee weapon. Conjured equipment requires Magic to wield, inflicts magical damage and earns Magic exp.

What does Melee have which Ranged and Magic do not? Hint: it's the most obvious dissimilarity. Strength! Melee has an independent skill to controls maximum damage! Whilst a Magic thread, I must be impartial, so I'm going to suggest two more skills! They would both function the same as Strength, each controlling a different class; "Mana" for Magic, and "Marksmanship" for Ranged (please feel free to suggest alternate names).

New attack styles and bonus statistics would accompany the update. Weapons would all have "Accurate", "Aggressive", "Controlled" and "Defencive" battlestances (meaning you could train your Defence-pure with a bow). Magic and Ranged would receive new attack styles, instead of Stab, Slash and Crush, Magic would have Focus, Psych and Banish, and Ranged would have Pierce, Splice and Impact. Darts would be better at "Pierce" than axes. "Farcast" and "Ranged" to match the Strength stat.

Offensive Stats
• Melee - Stab 0; Slash 0; Crush 0; Strength 0;
• Magic - Focus 0; Psych 0; Banish 0; Farcast 0;
• Range - Pierce 0; Splice 0; Impact 0; Ranged 0;

Defencive Stats
• Melee - Stab 0; Slash 0; Crush 0;
• Magic - Focus 0; Psych 0; Banish 0;
• Range - Pierce 0; Splice 0; Impact 0;

Other Stats
• Prayer 0; Summoning 0; Weight ??kg.

Melee armour: high melee and range defence, low magic defence, negative all but melee attack.
Magic armour: high magic and melee defence, low range defence, negative all but magic attack.
Range armour: high range and magic defence, low melee defence, negative all but range attack.

The defence in a class' weakness could be negative, but a negative offence kills hybrids sufficiently to leave it as "low".

Still think projectiles are all Magic should have? Well, do not fret, I have ideas for you two!

Freecasting is a simple idea to make staffs more magical, and reduce cost. Each staff would be given a selection of free spells (depending on the type of spellbook it can autocast). These require levels to cast and earn experience, but have no rune-cost! However, they don't last infinately, as the orb atop the staff will slowly lose charge (special staffs, such as Zurial's and Ahrim's, do not have charges as they break by their own effects). Combination, battle and Mystic staffs all freecast; the better the staff, the more charges.

• Magic Strike, Bolt, Blast and Wave
• Arcane Rush, Burst, Blitz and Barrage
• Astral Spike, Surge, Storm and Cascade

Spell launchers are primitive firearms. No more deadly than crossbows – they catapult magical ammunition (which release the contained spell upon impact). Unlike staffs, spell launchers offer multipliers towards accuracy, speed, damage and the range of a spell, using basic principles like; speed loses accuracy and damage costs speed (eg. the "Needle Shot" fires fast but inaccurately, whilst the "Boomshot" fires slowly but powerfully). Launchers are made from Smithing, with a clockwork mechanism from Crafting. The ammunition is made by casting spells on a stack of "blanks" (small shards of essence). Each spell charges up to 15 blanks, effectively reducing the cost of combat magic by 1/15th! Ammunition has no requirement, like spell tablets, but the weapon has limitations (like bows).

Coming soon...
The FairyDust Launcher, Gnomish MountedArm and Dwarven MultiCannon (and their sequels).
The Rune Pouch and belts!

Three independent ideas;

Magic needs a defence, and whilst my Conjuring idea a few posts up does have a few pieces for Defence, not all wizards like the melee-look. Some like robes! Wizard Cromperty has been busy mixing science with magic, and has invented the Magiscope. This Magiscope allows you to transfer the magical energy you get when enchanting gemstones, and coat robes with it; Sapphire Robes, Emerald Robes, etc. Better gemstones offer better bonus stats! The thread also improves the bonus stats on existing magical robes, on the bases that they are magical and not just bog standard fabric that a butter-knife can cut through.

Mini-spellbooks are held in the off-hand. These volumes, aside from a few bonus stats, offer the player a handful of extra spells - all of which require runes and a level to cast. The tomes are usually based around a specific theme, rather than a random assortment. Callum 2789 made a comparison to Arcanists, Jagex's popular multiplayer-strategy game on FunOrb. Obtained mainly from quests and monster drops, but there could be an incomplete book obtained from Treasure Trails that you can slowly fill with pages. To access; select an icon in the spellbooks panel when wielding a tome.

Spell Scrolls are unique spells stored within parchment; tear to release. They are tradeable when obtained from monster drops and treasure trails, but can also be obtained from quests. The come in two main categories; fun, and useful. Fun Scrolls include "Flaming Steps", which adds a small smoldering trail when you walk, and "Smokescreen". Useful effects are those whose effect would be overpowered with infinite access to; "Higher Alch", for example, or "Double EXP" effects. Useful Scrolls have a *high* value!

Both ideas only aid combat spells.

Suggested by Gabill50;
"Mana" is a skill which allows you to cast spells without Runes. Gabill50 even found lore to support this! To cast a spell without runes you require both the Magic and Mana level (Mana shares the same required levels as Magic). If your Magic is too low, you cannot cast it anyway, and if your Mana is too low, you must use Runes. Mana drains like prayer - being decreased doesn't affect your usage - but it recovers by itself (like energy). Mana experience is earned as you cast combat spells.

Suggested by Psychoboy8;
Alternatively, Psyche energy? Like Running Energy, it's always there and not directly connected to any skill. Turning on Psyche allows you to cast spells without runes. All spells would be given a drain rate, similar to a prayer; 3% per cast, for example. Your Magic-Attack stat, or "Farcast" with the new bonus stat system, would control this drain rate (again, similar to Prayer). With a high bonus, weak spells could be cast nearly infinitely without hitting 0% Psyche, whilst fast-draining spells would be slightly slowed. Psyche recovers by itself, but at a speed slightly slower than energy. If your Psyche hits 0%, you cannot re-enable it until it's at a minimum of 50%.

Eating fresh fruit restores your Psyche energy, but as with hitpoints, the amount is low; Psyche Restore potions (regular and super) restores larger amounts. Carrying a basket of strawberries is no longer so useless! Psyche can be turned on from the settings panel, and via a bubble around the map. Possible new prayer; Rapid Recovery (2x restore rate of energy and psyche). Other items, such as jewellery, could be added.