maggotheart

The Society of the Sword This faction started out as a group of honorable mercenaries for hire who wanted to advertise their services to the King and local nobles at a time when the Royal Army was weakened by the events of the Long War. Roving bands of amoral mercenaries were plaguing the country, extorting the king and locals and generally having free reign to do as they pleased while the military was otherwise engaged. They started the Society as a club whose members were bound by certain rules of honor, and who were required to meet certain standards of combat excellence. As time went by and their reputation grew, the King paid them handsomely to deal with the various mercenary bands and bandit gangs who were running rampant through the land, allowing them to expand. By the time the Long War ended and the military was restored to full strength, the Society was firmly entrenched as a feared and respected local force for stability and justice (albeit at the point of a sword). The members of the Society must be fighters, and they train constantly to keep their prowress in battle sharp. They are tough but fair, expensive but effective and neutral in political matters while supporting the stability of the cities where they have chapterhouses. In some places, they act as a local police force if there are none present (for a fee of course). Any member who breaks their rules (by drinking in public, engaging in any criminal behavior or doing anything else that might reflect badly on the Society) are severely sanctioned - up to and including the penalty of death, depending on the severity of the breach. The Society will not accept any mission that might tarnish its reputation or break any of its rules. Some of the best and most well known weapon masters in the land are a part of the Society, and members of the Kings Royal guard and other important positions are sometimes drawn directly from its senior leadership, and vice versa. While the Society is generally respected, there are those who opine that their modern incarnation are too close to the political leadership of the country, and accuse them of murder, deceit and complicity in other crimes. There have been many attempts by more clandestine organizations to tarnish and cripple the Society, or drive a wedge between them and the King. The symbol for the faction is a simple sword standing point up inside an iron ring, representing their martial prowress (the sword), determination (that it stands upright) and humility (the simple design of the sword and iron ring).

Gray Ones In certain places in the world, there are ruins of ancient civilizations. To explore them is to invite death - it is well known that unnatural forces lash them like a perpetual, silent storm. While these foul winds are incapable of disturbing the dust that thickens on the rocks, they can tear the very soul from a mortal body, leaving the flesh to starve. Despite the danger, there are some who choose to explore the ruins, and a very few who manage to return to tell the tale. It is these few who can tell the tale of the Gray Ones. Some creatures who are caught in the soul storms are too great to be simply washed away as humans and the other races are. Their souls linger, carried on the winds as they suffer a tormented half existence among the ruins. Among these, the greatest are the Gray Ones. Whatever these creatures once were, they are now only capable of manifesting as a collection of debris vaguely resembling their previous forms. They are tall, noticeably reptilian with great bat like wings and broad faces. The only part of them that retains any life are their eyes, which burn with light and seem real, not made of rock and earth. Survivors tell of their great hatred of intruders, finding those who escaped the storms and crushing them with their immensely powerful arms and tail. They have a terrible breath attack that alternately vomits masses of crushing debris, slashing rock shards and piercing stone spikes. When the foul winds pass, the Gray Ones bark to each other in gravelly broken voices, a language not spoken since ancient times. They then depart, even in the midst of battle, as though they were chained to the storms.

The First Lead Shot Long ago this land was a Magocracy ruled by a council of powerful wizards and their immortal leader, known as the Archmage. The Archmage was a tyrant, treating non magic users as chattel, and mages constantly fought to win a place on his council, bringing war and strife to much of the world. Though he was hated by the people and there were many assassination attempts, the Archmage was protected by a powerful magical veil that protected him from all weapons. Rebellions were crushed, and the suffering was great. The need to figure out a way to pierce the veil and kill the Archmage spurred the development of the first Flintlock Pistol. It was designed by human engineers, manufactured by Dwarves in secret and smuggled into the Archmages citadel by elves friendly to the cause. The pistol was given to a Godlike assassin, who was to be presented before the Archmage. When the time came, the weapon had its first field test, effectively removing the top half of the Archmages skull and completely wiping out his comically surprised expression. In the ensuing chaos, the assassin slipped away with the pistol but the Lead Shot bullet that killed the Archmage was embedded in the throne and declared a Relic of the rebellion. Since that time, the bullet has been found to possess some amazing properties. It is apparently indestructible, and no pistol has ever misfired when loaded with it. It will pass through any armour or magical protections, inevitably reaching flesh and bone: perfect for assassinations. The bullet glows faintly with a soft white light in the dark, and there is tiny dwarvish rune scratched onto it. It can always be recovered when fired to be used again. The bullet has had a storied history, being plundered from the ruins of the First Empire, resurfacing among the Orlan on the coasts, falling into the hands of the dread pirate Rob the Hateful and eventually returning to the inland countries whence it originated. It is currently on display in the great museum of the Capitol.

Ah yes, this debate: The co-op in Baldurs Gate and Icewind dale was terrible, you did not have fun playing them. It was so bad, it wasn't even a true co-op mode, so what you were doing wasnt even co-op. If you insist on telling me you liked it, you only thought you were having fun with the game because you liked hanging out with your friends. If you are adamant you liked the gameplay itself and not just the company of your friends, I will accept that but only with the caveat that you have terrible taste. Also, having co-op would totally compromise the game and ruin it. Finally, there is no way to make an IE type game with acceptable co-op, because reading is not a team sport. Bonus Points: all multiplayer is bad and is what is wrong with gaming. Double Bonus: The things I like should take 100% precedence over everyone elses preferences. I prefer spears, so all resources spent putting swords into the game is a waste that could have been diverted to spear development. People who like swords are wrong and bad and make me so angry.

This is so hideous and awesome, well done!

Swamp Lurker These beasts are related to frogs, but they are bigger and meatier with greasy brown skin and look vaguely humanoid. They sometimes lurk just under the surface of water, waiting for prey to walk by, but they will also shadow animal herds and look for an opportunity to pick one of them off. When it feels like it has an opportunity, it will ambush the herd and swallow one of their members whole, and then use its powerful, frog like legs to leap away to safety. In this way it can easily target healthy adult males without fear of injury. This animal becomes a problem for adventurers because it is easy for the Swamp Lurker to identify them as 'herds' and attack them. When this happens, one of the party members is swallowed by the Swamp Lurker who will then try to escape. The rest of the party must chase the creature down before it disappears with their companion. Swamp Lurkers are smart enough that they will try to lead any pursuing creatures into the territory of more dangerous predators. Humanoids who are swallowed by Swamp Lurkers are generally rejected (it cant process things like metal and wood) and can usually be found somewhere nearby, maimed and near death if the creature isn't captured and killed.

Can't let good blood go spurting off all willy nilly, can we?

This is what I was advocating above with Weapon Challenges, but I think it does encourage slaughtering everything which ultimately is a behavior they are trying to avoid. Adding a risk element would only lead to further farming or simple reloading. I think the only way to go about it would be to allow the player to spend gold to improve the weapon, which should keep it on par with the loot the rest of the party is getting. Instead of using a new sword from a dungeon, he sells the new sword and uses the money to pay for upgrades to his current one. The 'enchantments' on both are comparable. This way people can use weapons they find, upgrade and keep the weapons they have or fall somewhere in between and everybody is happy without one playstyle being more efficient or economical than the another.

Bloodsteel weaponry These magical weapons were developed by Monks centuries ago, before the various Monk orders became unified and banned the practice of forging Bloodsteel. There are a rare few insular sects that still produce it in defiance of the Strictures (such as the Brotherhood of the Black Lotus) but those weapons rarely fall into the hands of outsiders. With most of the ancient Bloodsteel weaponry destroyed, such weapons are now exceedingly rare. In fact, even using Bloodsteel weaponry is a serious offense in some places, and especially so to most Monk factions, among whom it is forbidden by the Strictures. Bloodsteel is forged in blood and is enchanted to literally drink it. Those who wield it must give up a portion of their Life (n% lower maximum life) to fuel the powers of the weapon. Once charged up from drinking the users blood, the steel becomes red and seems to burn with intense heat. When striking an enemy, the steel is able to drink the enemies blood as well and converts a portion of Life damage inflicted to the user. The heat of the blade causes additional FIRE damage to enemies and such wounds are known to be extremely painful. The user is not harmed by the heat and actually perceives no difference in temperature, and this immunity extends to his clothes and even his scabbard (or equivalent depending on the weapon) so the weapon can be sheathed and not harm allies or start any fires. (alternatively, it could require a special scabbard to contain it..) The configurations of the remaining weapons are limited to traditional Monk martial designs.

I don't know if any of you here have read the Thomas Covenant series by Stephen R. Donaldson, in those books there was a creature called a croyel that was a parasitic being who infested magic users, providing them with increased powers and longevity but stealing away their will. It would be cool to have such a creature in PE, a monster that threatens magic users with Domination in combat, which could turn their formidable powers against the party. A subplot concerning a mage whose strange behavior triggers an investigation by the party and culminating in the discovery of the beast and a battle against it would be awesome.

Personally, I like switching weapons and it sounds like the skill and armor system in PE will favor weapon - switchers. But, if some people feel strongly about it, I'd support figuring out some solution to make sticking with a single weapon an available option. Here's some ideas I had for personalized weaponry: 1. weapon mods Allow me to notch my shortsword, eliminate the guard on my dagger, and add spikes to my club. Silver coatings help against undead, while riphooks add damage to my whip. These modifications should have advantages and drawbacks. 2. weapon art You can engrave a name onto your sword, or any text message. You can also have a symbol sketched onto some weapons. You can have gems inset into weapons. 3. Weapon Challenges: unlockable enchantments There could be weapon challenges - kill 10 orcs with the same weapon, and it unlocks the Orcbane bonus, giving +1 damage vs orcs. 20 orcs is +2, and so on. Kill one of every type of monster in the Dyrwood to open up the Survivalist weapon bonus, Kill one of each kind of monster in the game to open up the Hunters bonus. Kill 100 monsters to open up the Bloodblade bonus. Perhaps it could work so that you play at a penalty compared to the player who switches out to better weapons, but end up on top in the end as you unlock all these bonuses on a single weapon.

Brotherhood of the Black Lotus The Brotherhood is a xenophobic order of monks who live in a mountaintop citadel that is only accessible by wicker basket. They are ancient exiles from a larger sect who came to this isolated place to nurture their dark secrets and escape persecution. In their cloud capped complex, the monks strive for ultimate power by training vigorously day and night and praying to their merciless god who they believe grants them their powers. The cruel training routines of the Black Lotus are the stuff of dark legend; the rigorous routines, harsh environment and reduced oxygen often kills acolytes, ensuring that only the very strongest advance to become full adepts. The rituals to advance in rank involve months of fasting, praying and endurance running, followed by days long stretches in the lotus position without any food or water, stretching their physical endurance to the absolute limit. New recruits are tattooed with a black lotus flower on their forehead, and teardrops running down the face indicate those of advanced rank. When the monks travel to settlements to get supplies, they are greatly feared by the locals as they are often arrogant and quick to redress any perceived insults with physical force. Their training gives them amazing endurance in the comparatively warm and high oxygen environment, and their combat skills are based on ancient, forbidden techniques and honed by a century of Black Lotus experimentation. The Black Lotus have many secrets besides their combat training, as they have delved deeply into the forbidden arts of resurrection. The monks have discovered a method to trap the soul before it can leave its body in a magical gem, eventually allowing the soul to control the body from afar - but there are some problems with the procedure. Firstly, the person must undergo a lengthy ritual designed to eliminate all traces of fat and water from the body, a process so agonizing and harrowing that only a long time Black Lotus devotee could hope to survive long enough to complete it. Once the soul is ensnared, it doesn't automatically have a strong enough connection to the body to direct it, which turns the body into an out of control killing machine - so the monks bury the body for years until the soul can form a connection. Finally, the method is not foolproof and does result in some degradation of the personality. In some cases, the subject must be destroyed as the person is too damaged to ever regain themselves. Despite these shortcomings, they have used the method to preserve their leader and he rules the Black Lotus to this day.

I think losing access to one or more party members for a short time could work. (party member is in prison, everyone is taken captive and one breaks free and has to free the others, etc)

I hope its not the last one JFSOCC I quite enjoyed reading your God posts

You know the debate about co-op has drifted into the Twilight Zone, when someone arguing against the idea admits to liking it because he got to hang out with friends while playing the game. Just in case you haven't yet worked it out Sherlock, this is precisely why people are hoping for it to eventually be in PE. I thought I enjoyed the co-op on the IE games until I came to these forums and discovered I was wrong. Today I learned that the game doesn't even support co-op!

I see no reason why you couldn't pay somewhere to study up on components #1 and #2, and even #3 is meant to be obtained from rare books or experts so that one could be studied too. I'm envisioning the rare monsters as being hard to find, so you'd have to ask around about them, figure out a thing or two about their habits before you'd have a substantial chance of finding and slaying them.

So I had this idea for how I'd like the monster compendium/beastiary to work in the game: Monster Lore There are 3 components of monster lore to each entry in the monster compendium; you are rewarded with XP for each component you unlock and gold from a quest node for completed entries. 1. Initial contact with the monster Whenever you meet a new monster you get an entry in the Monster Compendium, concept art sketches of it and a basic description. 2. Extended familiarity with the monster Discovering a monsters attributes or killing a number of them grants you another entry on the monster, detailing its strengths and weaknesses. 3. Obtaining expert research on the monster The final entry deals with the monsters behaviour and ecology or possibly some relevant history. This can usually only be obtained by finding expert field researchers or rare books on the subject. Rare Monsters There should be a few rare monsters that can only be found through exploration to give the monster hunters something to chew on. These don't have to be completely new models, using an existing model with a different color and a different set of attributes would work fine. These monsters could only come out at night, or have some other condition that might make them harder to find. Completion Reward Finally, you are rewarded with a special bonus from a quest node for fully completing all monster entries. It could be simple XP/gold, an item, a skill, a title, a pet or something else. I imagine it to be like a book and you flip through the pages, I think having the concept art would look really cool in this context and fit in well with the idea that your party is sketching and writing the 'book' as you go along.

Well I'm totally jealous, but I'd say you probably deserved it more if you grew up with Apartheid

Yeah, classic cover and monster. I think that Deathtrap Dungeon as my favorite book. Later on you get a chance to return to Deathtrap dungeon in "Trial of the Champions" which was also excellent. I also enjoyed " Creature of Havoc " where you awake as a monster and need to defeat Zharradan Marr( its amazing I still remember his name). This book was unique as you need to use a code to understand what people are saying, as initially you can't speak common tongue as you are a monster. I remember how hard it was. Do you guys remember the 4 part book series called Sorcery by Steve Jackson? That was my ultimate gaming book experience at the time , book 3 rocked!! The Seven Serpents was brilliant Pn lzb tr vfnf rdcb nrfbdt hj s! I used to collect the FF series and I have them all, including the Sorcery books - very unique flavor to them and not forgiving at all!

This is actually a great idea Lephys - if I'm running a fever, maybe I'm physically weak but it boosts the power of my fireball spell at the same time.

Like I mentioned in the other monster thread, I'm hoping they give us some really exciting and different combat situations - a chase scene is something they haven't done before, but I think could work really well, especially if combined with elements of horror and suspense. I made an argument somewhere that respawns could work in this regard too: you reach the bottom of some evil crypt and disturb a certain tomb, and an endless undead mob starts spawning - too many to fight, you have to escape and bar the door behind you. Indiras post about Deathtrap Dungeon got me thinking about another monster in that book (the one on the cover) How about a scenario where the monster is gigantic but mostly immobile, protected by (acid pools/minions/whatever) with only one vulnerable spot - the leviathan could turn over in its pool periodically, moving the target area (and splashing those nearby with acid) and so forth.

That's an interesting read, and suggests that having diseases start minor and gain strength over time, combined with some sort of gain as TRX describes above (extra disease resistance, lore, a chance to use noncombat skills) is the way to go. What other benefits could there be to becoming diseased? Disease resistance should reduce the severity of the symptoms, not provide additional chance not to be infected (that should stay reliant on constitution or whatever) Disease lore could increase with each infection, culminating in some sort of new skill that gives the character a daily chance to cure disease There could be a modest XP bonus applied once (or diminishing each time) for surviving each kind of disease - representing the characters increased knowledge of pain, suffering and weakness.

Funny you make it sound like it's only me, when, the reality is, the major portion of the gaming community have no care or want for such modes. Such modes, and the hardest difficulties are always the least used, least played and least cared about. Outside of the scope of a few loud mouthed elitists, and a few not-elitist, but very hardcore gamers, that is. Any time, manpower, effort and resources they could spend on a mode so few will use, let alone care about, could be infinitely better spent on features that the majority will actually make use of. It's the old MMO only 5% of players ever seeing the end game issue, why make content that only a tiny fraction of the total possible populatin will ever use? It doesn't make a lick of sense from any perspective, save for a few stuck in the constant, but loud, minority. Still, none of that matters. The original poster asked a question. I gave an answer, no one has to like or agree with my answer. He certainly didn't ask for answers that he'd like, and especially not for ones you'd like. Just for answers. I gave mine. It doesn't matter anymore than your answer. We have ironmad mode regardless. You don't have to like or agree with my opinion. I don't have to agree with yours, and I honestly don't care enough to like or dislike yours besides. So the game should be made entirely by majority opinion and if I like Ironman mode and/or complete the content in games I play I'm automatically an obnoxious elitist? It's not so much that I dislike and disagree with your opinions, it's that they are objectively bad opinions and it should be pointed out if you're going to come in here and post them.

This monster is part of a quest: A newly constructed and colonized port city becomes deserted and no one knows why. A contingent of royal troops sent to investigate and garrison the deserted city goes missing. The party is either sent to investigate or travels there hoping to plunder some unguarded loot. (or stumbles upon it by exploring) While there, they find a few surprises but nothing to explain the disappearance of all the missing people. That is, until the night of the tentacle. During certain nights of the year, a vast deep sea monster comes close to the surface and casts its feeder tentacles onto the surface to devour everything they can reach. These nights of the tentacle strip the beaches and nearby vegetation clean of any animal life. Naturally, the party is present for such an event and must fight through the streets and houses of the abandoned city to avoid being eaten. The feeder tentacles are fibrous and green like flowing seaweed. Some are featureless and are used to grab things, others have hundreds of tiny gnawing mouths that pursue meat with relentless voracity. They can smash through doors, discard large chunks of rubble and grab anything that tries to run away. The party can buy themselves some breathing room by cutting off or crippling the individual feeder tentacles, but they cannot prevail against the monster, only survive. After they escape, the party can use this information however they please, including warning factions they like of the danger, or encouraging a faction they dislike to send men there, or even figuring out some means of destroying the beast.

As someone who is considering backing, i'm interested in why you think that - would you mind elaborating? Thanks