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rjshae

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Everything posted by rjshae

  1. rjshae
    On a second thought, yes, a bit more subtlety would immensely benefit the flavor of the class. But that would limit its tactical versatility, I guess, so... meh. Along these lines, one thought that springs to mind is that the ciphers could have invasive powers that don't always trigger combat. I.e. you can see where an arcane missile is coming from so you know who to attack, but if a mental thrust invades your mind you might not know the source. It may make a target more watchful, but he wouldn't necessarily go after the party (unless they are the obvious source). Likewise, the same powers could be used against the party to soften them up before they even know where the attack is coming from.
  2. rjshae
    we know little about them outside of combat, maybe that's where they're more interesting. What the heck is "standard magical fare". I have to admit I've never run across it, but perhaps I've just spent too much time in reality. AoE damage, debuffs over time, some sort of necromantic life drain spell, etc. Well, to give a mundane analogy, hand grenades, sonic projectors, artillery shells, and mini-nukes all produce AoE damage, but you'd hardly consider them the same, would you? I'd expect the different forms of soul-based magic to vary at the detailed level--in how they are powered, how often they can be used, under what conditions, their targeting methods, special effects, and so forth. What I'm wondering is in what specific manner would you expect the soul-based powers of a cipher to differ from the other classes?
  3. rjshae
    we know little about them outside of combat, maybe that's where they're more interesting. What the heck is "standard magical fare". I have to admit I've never run across it, but perhaps I've just spent too much time in reality.
  4. rjshae
    Honing Our Skills, update #36: news about attributes, skills, and the pending beta release.
  5. rjshae
    A primarily drama-based show like Cowboy Bebop wouldn't necessarily translate well into a computer game. The scope would likely need to be significantly modified.
  6. rjshae
    According to Josh Sawyer they are. Most of the anecdotes are over at Something Awful though, but Gamebanshee's Project Eternity social round-ups catches some of the quotes usually. What I've read from Josh says rogues are better at "spike damage". High level rogues in D&D were better too, assuming they got a backstab.
  7. rjshae
    How about: Soul Shield - the cipher surrounds his form with a field of parasitic energy. Whenever he is struck by a melee weapon, the field wraps itself around the weapon, drawing Focus from the soul of the attacker.It's a bit monk-like in that it would allow you to generate Focus by being struck, so some might find that objectionable. But it would be a means to regenerate Focus against a powerful opponent (assuming you survive).
  8. rjshae
    I had something of a ghastly thought regarding this class: an evil-natured cipher may keep a stock of imprisoned victims handy from which he can readily draw energy for his Focus. He might establish a supposed "sanitarium for the insane", which he uses to power up his fiendish experiments. Each victim he cracks becomes another insane resident, maintaining the powers of the cipher as the older residents are burned through.
  9. rjshae
    I have to wonder whether rogues are a better damage dealing class than fighters. The high damage from rogues sounds like it is based on special attacks, rather than being relatively consistent like a fighter. On average then, fighters may be the better overall damage dealing class, whereas rogues may be better in brief encounters such as an ambush. It's hard to tell though until we actually get the game.
  10. rjshae
    To agree with Zeno would be splitting hairs...
  11. rjshae
    It does. To me that does make a huge difference. Plus you have the fact that the Monk powers up by being hit, while the cipher powers up by doing the hitting: these call for quite different battlefield tactics. For example, you could send the cipher after wimpy opponents with poor deflection bonuses or use reach/ranged weapons, whereas you probably want the monk to mix it up in close combat with enemies who can dish it out.
  12. rjshae
    A mage and a fighter walk into a fisherman's bar. The discussion turns to rods and reels...
  13. rjshae
    Well hopefully their powers will work with a reach weapon, so they can poke from the second rank then weaken or damage the opponent with their soul powers. IIRC, 'adra' was an artificial material created by the progenitor race, and that is the look created in the scene: unnatural stones. Like the kind you'd put in an aquarium.
  14. rjshae
    For their time period, there were a lot of things to enjoy about the BG series: The sense of being to creatively control tactics at the squad level. The mood music and atmospheric sounds were almost consistently good. Some of the creative quips spoken by the NPCs helped maintain immersion. The fog of war effect provided a strong sense of exploration. The cut scenes held the plot together and provided a story for your character. A few of the things I didn't like: The cookie-cutter feel of many of the NPCs and creatures. A few of the tunes grew repetitive, such as in the taverns and inns. Poor walk-pathing in constricted areas. The unnecessary clutter of items in your inventory, such as potions and notes. The enemy A.I. can be pretty stupid at times.
  15. rjshae
    I like the current approach of providing talents (feats) to create some degree of class focus, without being enough to overly blur the distinctiveness of each class. I.e. you can build a fighter character that is 15% mage, or a mage character that is 15% fighter, but neither will be fully up to the job of the other and you'll lose some alternative benefits in the process. Hence, I'm fine with not including the prestige class cludginess of D&D.
  16. rjshae
    Interesting stuff. Love the extra-creepy Vithrack concept art! I would think that Ciphers, with their bent for soul invading and psyche scrunching powers, would have devised some type of defenses against those same powers. No doubt they have a higher than normal psyche defense rating, but perhaps something akin to active psychic defenses that can be raised during a Cipher to Cipher battle? Anyway, great update and I'm looking forward to trying the cipher character in the game. Thanks!
  17. rjshae
    I just finished another reply of BGEE. An interesting element for me was to compare the behavior of the non-hostile NPCs in the game to those of more recent systems such as Oblivion, and see how the art has progressed. In other respects, the game has stood the test of time quite well, even if the AD&D class system kind of blows.
  18. rjshae
    Here's the description from update #36: In terms of the defensive penalties and bonuses described, perhaps the type is determined by the familiar chosen? I.e. a cat could provide a Reflex bonus/penalty while an owl could modify Pysche. It's unfortunate that gamer biases get formed in this manner, when this is actually a completely different type of game. The lack of mounts for non-party members in the IE/NWN games was a misrepresentation of the medieval culture. I'm fine with party members not needing mounts, but they should definitely be available to road patrols and enemy forces.
  19. rjshae
    Arch Soul: the Eternal Redemption
  20. rjshae
    Am I crazy, or does JES misinterpret the question? It seems that they are asking about the length of time, on a fresh round, to cast / activate an ability. The answer seems to mingle durations (first sentence) and casting time (third sentence), and is not clear. No, I think he tried to answer the question. It's mildly confusing because he says 'ability use' rather than 'ability activation'. But the clue is in the E.g., where he compares 'ability use' to 'casting time'.
  21. rjshae
    That's... determination.
  22. rjshae
    What if it is an actual opera in space? Then nobody will hear the fat lady sing before she explodes like a potato in the microwave...
  23. rjshae
    To me a reasonable course would be to have a deity that wreaks torturous vengeance upon wanton child slayers. Go ahead and let the children be slain in the game, then have an appropriate nastiness visited upon the player's PC at a later stage. As long as there is a clear connection between the two, then it can fit within the framework of the game and will make clear the abhorrent nature of the act inside the pantheon's morale structure.
  24. rjshae
    Being able to assign a nickname to each of your companions. This nickname would then show up during interactive conversations whenever you are addressing the character, possibly with amusing effect.
  25. rjshae
    Sure, something gritty and Lensman-series like, with space pirates, inertia-less hyperspace drives, psi corps, blasters, force fields, pleasure droids, anti-gravity systems, weird alien psycho-active drugs, progenitor relics, mind control devices, huge space battles, and galactic empires. If it was done well and had squad-level combat, I'd snap it up.
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