So I've been thinking about this possibility of creating a new magic school called soulmancy (or something similar).
It's a rethinking of how magic combat can be done in skyrim, but only for this particular school of magic. I have a couple of ideas but looking for some feedback in terms of feasibility and fun.
The mage who trains in the soulmancy school is called a soul mage. Instead of just magicka, souls will be the primary resource for powering magic. Magicka cost = 0.
The idea behind this mage build is to create a path of magic that is entirely self-sufficient for combat. A mage would not need to rely on melee weapons or bows, but normal elemental magics are simple and too dull to put in much thought during combat. At the same time I don't want it to be like a conjuration or necromancy build where minions do all your work because that's too passive. So the soul mage is an offensive spellcaster who has powerful situational spells that can chain into each other. At its peak, a soul mage should be able to demolish an army with one spell if he has enough souls.
The first step to becoming a soul mage is creating an artifact named the black lantern. This artifact has to be crafted at an enchanting table, and is used to hold the souls to power soulmancy spells. Of course, soul trap is a prerequisite for this path.
When the black lantern is first created, it will need to be filled with at least 5 greater soul gems, or 20 common ones, amongst other ingredients (e.g. a lantern).
Once created, it can now act as a soul gem that accepts up to common souls with infinite capacity. The priority will always be first given to the black lantern when a soul is trapped, if applicable. As the soul mage progresses in the soulmancy path, the black lantern should unlock further capacity to accept progressively stronger tiers of souls i.e. greater, grand, black. Player is allowed to "feed" filled soul gems to the black lantern if they wish, but never beyond it's current level.
Souls are the resources that fuel soulmancy spells. Beginner spells are all geared towards collecting souls. All spells need black lantern equipped.
Novice tier:
Soul harvest
Enemy is paralyzed, while player continually casts the spell. After a certain number of seconds (determined by player current level vs enemy), soul will be harvested into black lantern and enemy drops dead. Only works on enemies with souls not higher level than what the lantern can contain, and leaves mage vulnerable to attack since both hands occupied. If soul harvest is used on a soul without a body, it will immediately trap the soul in the lantern.
This skill is pretty useless at low levels since soul trap is more convenient, but at higher levels, 1-2 seconds is enough to harvest a soul. This is the only spell that requires magicka.
Apprentice tier:
Haunt
Draws a soul from the lantern and fires it at an enemy. If it hits, soul stuns and damages enemy once every few seconds. Duration is around 20 seconds with 1 stun per 5 seconds. If enemy dies, its soul is trapped back to lantern.
Expel
Within a certain range, soul mage can point to an enemy whose soul is immediately expelled from his body to a few feet away. Expelled soul will either try to run away or run back to body. If body is killed, soul will be trapped into lantern. Does not work on a soul higher than current level lantern can absorb.
Adept:
Soul shriek
Draws a soul from the lantern and causes it to shriek. All beings in a radius surrounding soul mage will have their souls expelled from body. Does not work on higher level souls than lantern.
Soul vortex
Casts a vortex spell e.g. candlelight that svcks in nearby souls (souls within bodies are immobilized). If soul is svcked in, body dies. Souls are added to lantern.
Soul Flare
Uses the flame from the lantern to burn an enemy soul from within. Enemy will be paralyzed while taking damage continually for 5 seconds. If he dies, soul explodes causing AOE damage.
Expert:
Soul Blaze
Needs vortex and soul flare. Souls svcked in will explode when vortex ends causing AOE damage. Radius and damage depends on number and type of souls drawn into vortex. Souls will not be added to lantern.
Soul guardian
Through a special ritual, traps and converts the soul of a hated enemy into a ghost that can be summoned in combat. Cannot be killed but only summoned for a very short time e.g. 20 seconds. Damage depends on level of enemy when alive. Can summon up to 3 at once.
Soul shield
Needs continual casting. All souls without bodies within radius of soul mage will be drawn into a shield around him. This shield will damage anyone close to soul mage and takes on damage for the mage. Mage can move around. If mage stops casting, souls are not added to lantern.
Master:
Sea of souls
Releases all the souls in the lantern (probably with a maximum cap implemented), each soul attacks and self-destructs after 5 seconds.