Due to my recent trouble with the spell as some of you may already know, I've thought about changes to the spell so that it may be more practical, more active in a mage's arsenal, and less painful to myself (…and possibly others.)

As Warding Sigil stands: The spell casts a character-specific symbol (flag) on an object so that if anyone other than the caster 'takes' the object the flag will disappear and damage taker. It does low to moderately-fair damage. The flag cannot be seen unless by others unless they have true seeing (I think) or if the object is identified.

Please correct me if I'm wrong. I believe the spell is meant to protect yourself from attackers or take immediate revenge on looters. It can even be used to deal intentional harm to others. hehe. Ahem…the problem with the spell is that using it as protection, revenge, and intentional harm alike have all failed.

Protection: Warding your EQ or your inventory items doesn't protect your mage in the sense of survival. The best protection that it provides is just a warning to others. So warding? I don't think so.

Revenge: Take all corpse is no longer available so the chance of your sigils killing your mage's murderer is slim to none. On top of that, most people who attempt PKs are able to see the warding sigil flags and are strong enough to take that type of damage. Revenge? The first sentence pretty much sums it up.

Harm: This has become the single most effective way to use this spell. Albeit, it was still horrible even though I had fun being a terrorist for awhile. The damage isn't nearly high enough to kill the bigger ones (who can see the flag) and just enough to kill the small ones (who probably can't see the flag and is illegal). If the spell was born as a way to attack someone then the name of the spell seriously needs a change.

Idea #1: The spell now works like any area/room spell (ie nuclear wasteland), however it can only be casted in rooms with solid ground. No flying only rooms, swimming only rooms, or muddy ones. Anyone or anything (objects thrown or dropped) that touches the warded floor except the caster will be forced to the floor. The sigil only stays active if the caster is currently in the same room. Activating the sigil roughly 3-5 times will remove the ward from the room. So anyone walking into the room or stands from flying or stands from resting will activate the sigil. Waitstate for the victim is very small and there is no damage. It's an elaborate way for a mage to knock someone down and use it to their advantage during battle. This is my least favorite. Any change to what happens upon people touching the sigil would probably be better.

Idea #2: It's essentially an upgrade on the current warding sigil. The spell is cast only on objects but can only be cast on a certain number of objects at one time. The affect lasts awhile and the maximum number of sigils allowed is 5 or 6, if there are six objects with your character's sigil on it in the mud then casting is prevented (like repulsion field.) The sigil flag can only be seen by the caster or through identify. Anyone who isn't the caster that tries to take the sigil'd object will be deflected and be unable to take anything at all until the next tick. The basis of the idea was the stall looters so that you would have more time to retrieve. There would be ways around this and I can't think of one to stop them so it's not a very good idea. Though, it's still an idea and it could improve.

Idea #3: The one I like the most. The casting works just like in idea #2, however the affect is different and it can only be casted on one worn object at a time. If any damage is focused on the location where the sigil'd EQ is worn then the attack is repelled completely and the sigil will disappear. So any type of damage that hits the sigil'd spot will activate it and repel the damage. For example, you sigil your loincloth and if you were to be PULVERIZED on the crotch then the damage will be negated; you take no damage. It's the same for skills like groinkick; the sigil will activate and disappear and you take no damage. This is where the spell shines. Regular attacks will set off the sigil but mana shield stop regular attacks from hitting body parts (at least 100% does). So with mana shield, warding sigil can be used to prevent major damage from a single spot. (Keep your head, keep your spine dagger-free, keep all your fingers, stay male, whatever!) Yeah, it's not like mages need more defenses. But I still like this idea.

I've gone on long enough. Please bring the criticism and your own variations.

I was thinking that the spell could be more true to the idea of a ward in our current pk system with the following changes.

Say you can cast 1-3 of these sigils depending on your generation, each can be cast on a different room, and that when one is triggered it acts as a clairvoyance on that room as well as dealing damage (again depending on generation). More importantly it would show the caster where the target is. This could be used as a warning system for those leveling, or a dueling technique.

Maybe the wards could last a while but get weaker (damage wise) the longer they sit.

What do you think the mana cost of this should be?

This could be a player vs player only weapon and not triggered by mobs or it could be triggered by either.

Thoughts?

Here is my idea.

Warding sigil casted once on a item would make the item !steal. Also, the spell will no longer do damage. I have seen mages use warding sigil to kill mobs. All the problems would be fixed if it simply did not do damage to anyone.

So not only will the item be !steal, but it can only be worn by the caster. If anyone else trys to wear it, it will zap them causing 0 damage. This makes the mage's items usless for everyone else. You can remove the sigil by casting warding sigil on the item a second time. This will remove the sigil flag, !steal flag.

I also think a combo of Deneb's idea mixed with mine would be a good balanced plan. The idea of not taking damage when hit in that spot is very unbalanced. If you still took the damage, but your object does not take damage. That would make more sense for item with a magical sigil spell on it.

So in short, warding sigil will protect the item from breaking. It gets weaker the more times it gets hit. Once it takes X ammount of damage the warding sigil wears off and is no longer protected by damage. Warding sigil does no damage to anyone. Items with the warding sigil can only be worn by the owner and can be removed if the owner cast the spell on it a second time. Other mages should be able to remove the warding sigil if they are higher level or higher generation then the oringal owner.

This fixed the problems with rep, this stops mages from abusing the spell to kill people or mobs, and this still ends up being a useful spell for mages in a balanced manner.

Want to add one thing to that, warding sigil also should help protect against magical spells only. So when casters try to damage the mage, it is slightly reduced. Maybe being able to cast this spell on yourself for added protection from spells.

Your idea of clairvoyance is good but the damage part can get a bit sticky. It's due to the issue of unintentional harm and it's more prominent in a spell that's casted on a room instead of an object. Anyway, a spell that casts clairvoyance for you when someone walks into a room should at least cost more than clair. Now, comparing it to bard's rhythm of alarm it seems to do the same thing except the mage's spell casts clairvoyance which can easily be blocked by shroud (in my opinion, not a very good idea for a remort spell.) Aside from all that, if you want a spell like this it can't be called WARDing sigil.

No thoughts on my ideas, Bry?

I have to agree with Deneb on this one. No comments about my ideas Deneb?