Monte Carlo

This is the thread from the Planet Win. Fact.

Fat NPC FTW

You know Santa Claus? Don't try and marginalise large friendly men from Boreal regions with a propensity towards delivering gifts during Winterval. Who are you, Mussolini or something?

Wouldn't it be refreshing for this to be a joinable NPC? With a Big Fat Romance. Oh, yeah. Oh hell yeah.

You'll note that almost as many people want the game to mirror PS:T as want it to mirror BG2. If Fallout or Arcanum were on that list they'd take a lot of votes too. I refer you to my earlier answer.

Speaking as a stout Englishman I agree with the OP. Fattism is rife in CRPGs. When you make a 'big' character he just gets... muscled and stuff. When you go into taverns there are no low-alcohol or low carb options. When you go into stores there are no XXL armour sizes. When you meet elves they are all anorexic. I know a fat Elf. A really fat Elf. And what about body dysmorphic dwarves? Heh? Where's Anita Whatshername, the shouty girl, when you need her? Dammit, I'm off to form a pressure group, or maybe an ironic cultural studies type Kickstarter about fat video game characters.

This is why at weekends I wear fabulous shoes and insist on being called 'Margot.'

Hi. I was reading the thread about starting age for your main character, and although Hormalakh said it was a trivial matter, it reminded me of the old Sci-Fi RPG Traveller. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveller_%28role-playing_game%29 linkie in case any folks are interested. Anyhoo, in Traveller you had quite an interesting character generation process, as the game was predicated on your character starting as a retired veteran of the army, marines, navy, intelligence services of The Imperium (later on you could be a Merchant and all sorts of other backgrounds). It was classless, but your beginning skills were determined during this period. Oh, and you could die. In character generation. Now, I'm not going to bore you with the fine details (see the link and check it out, 'tis Thinking Gamer's Space Opera). Instead I'm going to posit what this would look like in a fantasy game: So you create a fighter called Tim. He's sixteen at the start of character generation and there are yearly cycles 'til age (for argument' sake) 21. You spend the first year training in your chosen field (gain random skill bonus) You are randomly assigned 'militia duty' for year two. This is pretty dull, but it's safe and you pick up (possibly) skills like spot / search / minor weapon bonus. These are randomly assigned. There is a pool of riskier activities and you click on these... you get 'caravan guard' which can be tough. You randomly win some gold, a small item, a bonus to survival but are injured. This might lead to stat loss, or a year's character development as you recover from your injury. Year three... you join a mercenary company. This might lead to all sorts of other variables, but also the chance of more injuries... So by the end of the character cycle you get a small tab on your character GUI outlining the first few years of your life. Tim became a warrior aged sixteen, kicking his heels training and doing militia duty. But caravan guarding beckoned, leading to skill with bow and spear and a love of the outdoors. Then came two years as a mercenary warrior, and an injury to his head! But along with this came gold, the ability to inspire his fellow troops and a dashing scar on his cheek. His last gig before becoming an adventurer was as bodyguard to a wizard, again quite dull but he learnt how to read and the best place to strike an arcane opponent... You still get to choose your skills etc, but this process adds an interesting twist on the usual character generation spiel.

I want to start the game aged forty. I've just left my wife, who has kicked me out of my crenellated condo. She also got both my horses and the magic boots I took of that Mind-Flayer in .92. Bitch. Anyhoo, I've just bought a new racing chariot, yeah I know younger adventurers like them but after I got that druid to cast a spell on my greying temples I just feel.... invigorated. That elf chick at the tavern has noticed too. So, here I am, aged 40, which is the new 20, right? Right? Can't wait to get into that dungeon. OK, that old arrow-wound to my knee plays up now and then, and I like to get home in time for eight hours sleep, but there's still plenty of life left in this old dog!

Bah I laugh at international shipping and Customs tariffs *bwaahahahhahahahaaa* I want a box, dammit. A box I can feel, touch and (occasionally) lick. * bwaahahahahaaaaa *

I don't know what the rest of you think, but this has been one of the best discussions around mechanics I've seen on the forums for a long time, and there are some interesting ideas here that have made me think about my own views on the subject. Two things have come to mind: (a) I'm more chilled out about the subject than I thought I would be, and like how the developers are thinking (b) Have noticed as much of a consensus as you'll ever get here amongst the community on the subject. Already looking forwards to the next mechanics discussion.

Sometimes I ask myself... WHAT WOULD A LARPer DO???

^ The developers accept that this was a major design fault with BG2. It needed better pacing, definitely. But the open world / quest aspect was still cool.

You want to hear what they say about the Swiss. Congratulations, you have won International Cliche of the Year Award. Yes, epic fantasy is often based on an objective view of moral relativism, viewed through the eyes of a Sociology junior.

I liked it when James Bond suddenly grew up and wondered WTF all the assassination, one-night stands and generally dicking around was actually for. A character that explores the point of 'The Life' of the archetypical adventuring hired sword might be cool.

Yes, you are obviously not a mage at all interested in weapons development. I, OTOH, would enchant several and use them against my pesky competitors.

Was Tony Montana a great villain? Yes. Anomie theory aside, he was just a coke-snorting PoS armed with a M-16 with an Underslung Grenade Launcher. Was Alan Rickman's German terrorist dude in Die Hard a great villain? Yes, he was just a bank-robber masquerading as a Commie revolutionary. Was Ivan Drago in Rocky-whatever-it-was a great vllain? Yes, because he was a totally 2D killing machine bred by a totalitarian state and equipped with a homo-erotic crew-cut. Was The Predator a great villain? Hell yeah, he was just a big game hunter with an adventure holiday complex gone badly wrong. Was Sauron a great villain? Definitely, and he's just this scary, inchoate floating flammable eye. He isn't seeking vengeance for his dead lover. He's just badass. Was Doctor No a great villain? God yes. He has a power-hand, a cat, an insatiable appetite for torture and world domination. Plus, he has a squadron of boiler-suited henchmen driving golf buggies. Was Al Capone in The Untouchables a great villain. Yep. Motivation? Money, power, broads, respect. Seriously, most villains are about Money, power, broads and respect. The rest is usually emo-posturing. Give us raw, evil, ball-wrenchingly hateful villains. When they beg for their lives as you gut them, and they cry for their mothers (they all do, btw, when it comes on top) it makes it all the more satisfying.

This idea that mages wouldn't enchant firearms because they might harm other mages is fallacious to say the least. If the history of weapons development teaches us anything, it is that it is incredibly neutral. Mankind designs the most optimal and deadly weapons it can across all spectrums in order to ensure battlefield dominance. It's only in the past fifty years that we have started to develop 'ethical' weapons (i.e. precision munitions specifically designed to mitigate against collateral damage and advanced ISTAR assets that allow for better targeting. The changing and increasingly asymmetrical nature of warfare also plays a big part in this). The only, amusing medieval example of ethics getting in the way of weapons development was the Catholic Church issuing a decree against crossbows (on the hardly egalitarian grounds that it allowed a peasant to slay a king). So a military mage would definitely enchant a firearm. Why? To allow his bodyguards, or a marksman, to kill an enemy mage so he didn't have to. The obvious corollary would be enhanced magical research to increase the power of the arcane veil (although a 'summon raincloud' spell would not doubt hamper a marksman with a 14th Century firearm!).

I love war-games. But the likes of CoD are brain-dead, borderline racist dreck that demeans every person who plays them.

Wow i got Dungeon-be-Gone *years* ago and just teleport out of Chateau Irenicus with all the necessary loot and XP. Although I had fun with Improved Ilyich too.

Funnily enough I'm deliberately playing BG1 all over again but with TuTu for this very reason. Am using a completely home-grown party as opposed to NPCs though (it's a fairly gonzo party of evil mercenaries led by a Half-Orc Ftr/Cleric). I will post my thoughts anon, mebbe when we hit Gurlag's tower (only level 4 at the moment so it might be a while!

Ah, accountancy. Always good for a rip-roaring forum experience.

Have recently been reading some Joe Abercrombie. You could do worse than world-weary berserker Logen Nine-Fingers, Scheming, sociopathic Magi Bayaz, hideously deformed torture victim-turned torturer Inquisitor Sand Dan Glokta and his horrible Henchmen, Practical Severard and Practical Frost. I commend all of his stuff to you, decent gritty low-fantasy in the spirit of Fritz Leiber, Glen Cook and Michael Moorc0ck.

DA2 LOL. Srsly.

Am bored of sensitive nuanced villains, in fact sympathetic 'explained' villains are a dominant paradigm. Let's have some good, old fashioned nasty bastards. Criminals, dictators, sadists to put to the sword.