Custom Lineage Guidelines & Template

To design your own custom lineage an Ancient Scroll must be acquired. Ancient Scrolls are items that enable their user to design and ultimately create their own custom lineage for their character. Ancient Scrolls can be acquired via purchase in The General Store or the VIP Shop. Once acquired, one can post a custom lineage of their design, tailored to the character in question, in the WIP Lineages subforum of the site. When finished, one may hand in their custom lineage for grading by an Administrator in the Lineage Approval Thread.



Naturally, there are some guidelines one must follow when creating their own custom lineage. Generally, all lineages should follow the Magic and Spell Rules as well as the Tables and FAQ Section of the forum, but they allow for the user's own creativity to supersede certain aspects of the rules. Custom Lineages are, in that regard, a "sandbox" limited only by the creativity of the player designing them. The stronger and more impactful abilities in custom lineages are, however, the more adjustments and downsides they will require to be approved, and the Administrator grading the custom lineage will balance these types of abilities accordingly. Game- or Rule-breaking abilities and effects will be denied. Some abilities, like base increases to stats, for example, can only be obtained in custom lineages and require an equal trade-off by default.

Lineages can contain up to 10 "Lineage Effects". Lineage Effects are essentially slots taken up by certain abilities, stat increases, modifications to your character, and so on and so forth. An example for this would be a user-rank passive buff ranking up with the user until reaching S rank, which would take up 1 lineage effect. One can lower the Lineage Effect cost of abilities and the overall number of Lineage Effects contained in a custom lineage by including sufficiently impactful mechanical drawbacks and downsides in the lineage. Plot downsides are not taken into account in these types of calculations. Lineage abilities usually do not cost MP to use, but an MP cost may naturally be incorporated as a downside. Usually, when stats are taken into account, custom lineage abilities and effects scale with the user's own rank up until S rank, though this may be modified via the use of Lineage Effects.

Players may include as many aesthetic / non-combat / plot abilities in their custom lineage they wish. Custom lineages may also be created as statless and do not necessarily have to incorporate the use of number-based statistics, should the player creating them so desire.

Below you can find some examples of what one could include in custom lineages and associated Lineage Effect costs to get a better idea of what is and is not possible:

• Additional Spell Slots - Players may grant themselves additional spell slots to be added to one or more of their magics. Their lineage effect cost is entirely dependent on the rank or the rank scaling of the added spell slots, with higher ranking spell slots taking up more lineage effects. A single additional S+ rank advanced spell slot, for example, will require the expenditure of 1 lineage effect.
  
  
• Base increases - Players may grant their characters percentage increases to their base stats such as HP, Spell Damage, etc. via the use of custom lineage abilities. These follow all rules for base increases as specified in the Magic and Spell Rules as well as the details outlined above. A single base increase to a given stat will require the expenditure of 1 lineage effect in addition to the equal trade-off it requires as a downside by default.
  
  
• Passive or Active buffs - Regular passive or active percentage increases to stats that every player has access to. Usually, one active or passive buff equal to the user in rank will cost 1 lineage effect to use.
  
  
• Jewel Increases - Users may increase the number of Jewels gained by completing jobs by up to 100% (and no more than that). An effect like this will require the expenditure of 1 lineage effect. Increases to EXP gain are not permitted.
  
  
• Spell Effects - Regular spell effects one can find in the Effect Rules section of the Magic and Spell Rules. Usually, one (user-rank) spell effect, such as a debuff, a drain, etc. will require the expenditure of 1 lineage effect.
  
  
• Modifiers - Modifiers to existing Magic Rules, Spell Rules, and so on when applying to your character. These will be judged on a case-by-case basis depending on what exactly the specific ability in question does and may require extensive balancing by an Administrator if not properly balanced by the Player themselves.
  
  
• Custom Effects - Custom abilities or effects possessed by or applying to the character in question. These will be judged on a case-by-case basis depending on what exactly the specific ability in question does and may require extensive balancing by an Administrator if not properly balanced by the Player themselves.
  

Code:

[b][u]Lineage Name:[/u][/b]
[b]Wielder:[/b] (Your character name here)
[b]Purchase Proof:[/b] (link to scroll purchase or trade)

[b]Description[/b]
(Include a description of your character's lineage and the powers contained therein here. You can include as much or as little information about the lineage and your character as you wish)

[b]Abilities:[/b]
[list]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[*]
[/list]