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rjshae

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Everything posted by rjshae

  1. rjshae
    But do they twitch when you lightly touch their ear hairs?
  2. rjshae
    Historically, there was also an element of social and legal conformity associated with worship of the gods. Even to the point of being put to death for the crime of blasphemy or apostasy.
  3. rjshae
    Then why add it at all in a game based on a tabletop where creative roleplaying, regardless of alignment, can yield rewards. This seems like a copout idea of their intentions, or, if accurate, a copout on their part. Yes, awarding XP for "good" or "evil" behavior is an odd thing in itself. Unless the decision resulted from a skill check by the character, experience comes from dealing with the consequences of the decision, rather than from the decision itself. But then I suppose it could be viewed as an abstraction of sorts -- payment in advance for the consequences of your choice.
  4. rjshae
    For me this is low priority. PE doesn't enjoy the budget of a DA:O. Background feats are okay, but a limited set of deep background stories seems of little benefit.
  5. rjshae
    Having deity-specific feats that can only be acquired as a divine act (and taken away as an act of divine retribution) may be a nice way of signifying the favor of a god. For example, a person in the particular favor of Woedica may gain a feat of Inspired leadership that allows the character to rally the party from a fear effect, once per day.
  6. rjshae
    Being mildly artsy, I like to notice where the lights and shadows are placed. In this case, the Orlan appears to be back-lit by a cooler-hued light source that is most probably a moon. (Candles are a little warmer, me thinks--like the light in the window.) Certainly the reflection on the puddle at lower left is oddly placed, since it intersects the building, but perhaps that's an optical effect from water ripples. At least we know the setting most likely has at least one moon, plus stars of course. I guess the window ledge to the upper right, along with the bricks, are meant to give a sense of scale. Can anybody make out the wording on the sign near the top? It appears to be a hobby-horse. I'm not sure what to make of that.
  7. rjshae
    Speaking of 4e, it'll be interesting to see how the Pathfinder MMORPG Kickstarter works out. At first I was expecting a port of Pathfinder, but their description reads otherwise.
  8. rjshae
    ^^^^ I kind of think that's what most people signed on for: an IE-like experience in a new setting. But the updates just cover the gaming area, so that doesn't rule out other possibilities for elsewhere.
  9. rjshae
    It could simply be a heraldic symbol of the local town or barony.
  10. rjshae
    Okay, so no turn-based post-apocalyptic combat involving automatic weapons. Got it.
  11. rjshae
    Letting my imagination run a muck... In the lands before time there was many a fell creature, the likes of which are not seen in these modern times. Most such beasts well foul and unclean, claiming an inheritance of blood and pathos. Yet amongst these there were a sacred few who achieved a blissful state of ascendancy: the golden-souled ones. These superior beings took the form of the wyrm, a powerful reptilian beast with a sinuous body who could ascend the winds merely by channeling their inner spirit. Time passed and the newly-ascended gods grew jealous of these mighty creatures, whereupon they dragged many a wyrm down by tainting their precious souls with foul desires. The spirit of these corrupted immortals ran red with a burning desire for retribution, and their souls lost the golden-hued aspect. These fallen wyrm now seek to corrupt and destroy those younger races that were created by the gods. Such wyrms are few now, but are still to be greatly feared as their tainted souls are far more powerful than any mere mortal. They be devious beings, these wyms, spinning complex plans in a web that can require many a lifetime to come to fruition. But wherever they intercede in the affairs of man, you can be sure that their ultimate goals do not favor the civilized races. The tainted wyrms are not to be confused with reptilian beasts that bear their likeness, but lack their power. Such mundane beasts dwell in remote locations, where they prey upon other creatures much like any predator. Likewise, there remain yet a few golden-souled wyrms that remain above the fray, seeking only a greater enlightenment through contemplation and learning.
  12. rjshae
    Nice update! I enjoyed both the tantalizing illustration and the description and implications of Woedica. Thank you.
  13. rjshae
    I had this idea for a talent ladder that would provide the equivalent of a spell-casting multi-class enhancement. Basically you're giving up a series of talent-like class enhancements in exchange for gradual learning how to cast spells like a wizard or priest: Dabbler -- you learn the rudiments of magic. This gives you the ability to cast low level spells off a scroll of that class. You also learn to cast first level spells as the chosen caster class, advancing at the rate of one caster level per four class levels. Requirement: minimum ability score for caster class. Novitiate -- somebody has taken you under their wings and instructed you in proper magic fundamentals. This gives you the ability to use basic magical items and to cast mid-level spells off a scroll. You also learn to cast first and second level spells as a caster class, advancing at the rate of one caster level per three class levels past first level. Requirement: Dabbler talent. Adept -- your skills have advanced to the point where you are a competent caster, although not quite up to the level of a dedicated member of the class. This gives you the ability to use magical items allowed by the class. You learn to cast 1st-4th level spells as a caster class, advancing at the rate of one caster level per two class levels past second level. Requirement: Apprentice talent and the ability to cast two different spells. Invoker -- you now have the skill level of a dedicated spell caster. You learn to cast spells as the caster class, advancing at four levels less than your net class level. You can now craft items as a spell caster of the same class. Requirement: Adept. This incremental method is intended to reflect the lengthy process of mastering a spell-casting ability; something that I don't think is served proper justice with the D&D multi-class approach.
  14. rjshae
    ^^^^ This. I don't think adding stretch goals has become a well-defined science yet; most are probably the product of a b.s. (brainstorming) sessions, which produce ideas that may not scale proportionately in the budget sense. I wasn't really enraptured by many of the stretch goals for PE, but I understand why others really like them. We haven't had a poll yet to list our favorite stretch goals. Might be interesting to see what the results would be...
  15. rjshae
    I seem to recall that a decision had not yet been made, but that they were looking at making the classes flexible enough so that you wouldn't miss the ability to multi-class. Not sure if that has changed in the meantime; guess we'll find out.
  16. rjshae
    I don't think we've heard anything about the patching method yet, but it's probably too early in the process to determine that. I agree with the OP that a simple patching process is usually a good thing.
  17. rjshae
    The original goal was to shorten combat. But if both your party and the opponents suffer significant equipment degradation, then the net effect may be the opposite of what you want to achieve. I think you will probably want to introduce factors that will incrementally speed up the damage rate. Usually this happens when you've whittled down the opponent's forces and can better concentrate attacks on the few left standing. But perhaps there are other approaches that can be taken? Personally I don't have a problem with combat taking as long as it does; this is mostly for the purpose of discussion.
  18. rjshae
    From what I've read, familiars with be fairly fragile and you'll suffer a price for their loss, albeit briefly. For that reason I suspect that you wouldn't want to be putting your familiar in harm's way. That being said, I don't know why they couldn't include some selectable 'talents' for making familiars more useful. Alternatively, as you suggest, they could include one or more arcane tomes, each with the real name of a specific summonable being. But they could make actually summoning such a creature more difficult. Maybe you need to build a summoning circle in your stronghold first, then you must also sacrifice an object of value?
  19. rjshae
    That's not an unreasonable approach. But I suspect that all these degradation effects will accomplish is to drive players to carry plenty of extra weapons around. Hmm... then again, maybe certain classes will have spells of item repair (or protection) that can be cast during combat? That would help minimize the issue during lengthy battles. There could also be oils of weapon damage resistance.
  20. rjshae
    I see nothing wrong with allowing players to decide for themselves how much control AI should have over their characters. If players want to play by allowing AI to choose the weapons of the party at the start of combat, then that's a perfectly viable approach. There are players who prefer to focus on other aspects of the game. It's hardly idiotic; merely a personal preference. For example, I may choose to play the game by letting some NPCs switch weapons automatically and then fine tuning where I see fit. If that makes me an idiot... so be it. As for Valorian, well... I'm unimpressed. But perhaps time will expand his horizons.
  21. rjshae
    I keep thinking that there must be some way to manage all of the logistics and upkeep/maintenance of the party without it becoming onerous. Your typical adventuring party is going to be taking along a bunch of gear and supplies for each expedition, as well as possibly collecting low-value loot. In an IE game, much of that was abstracted, but what if there was some way to handle it through a higher-level logistics interface? For example: you go into a town, search out vendors who will contract with you to sell supplies of various general type, quality, weight and lifetime. That could consist of three or four types of camp supplies, and those in turn would provide various benefits at your camp. Those show up in your logistics interface as a stack of packages, with columns for each type and color codes for the quality. Maybe low quality armory repair gear gives a slight (~5%) benefit to simple weapon and armor performance, which can then be lost through combat (until you return to camp) as a random outcome. The higher quality gear gives a benefit to increasingly better weapons and armor; while the benefit lasts longer on the lower quality gear. Other gear can give improvements to recovery from poison/disease, endurance of the elements, travel rate, and so forth. If nothing else, it would give you a reason to talk to different vendors besides the armor/weaponsmiths.
  22. rjshae
    I don't understand what you hope to accomplish with pure, mocking sarcasm. Does it just make you feel better? Do you need that to get through the day? I know you are quite intelligent, but your voluntary actions don't always show it. He already acknowledged the folly of that particular suggestion here: How constructive is it to basically rub it in? Ah... well I missed that one. That's the drawback of having somebody in an Ignore list, I suppose.
  23. rjshae
    ^^^^ Err... dude? Lighten up will you? Sheesh.
  24. rjshae
    I had a similar idea. The initial decision might take some thought, but if we automate it to that degree it turns into "why have the mechanic in the game in the first place?" Well... having separate boxes for the character's pre-selected light/medium/heavy weapon would at least make it easy to switch during the combat. it lets you perform some tactical planning prior to getting into an extended run of combat.
  25. rjshae
    ^^^^ They could perhaps a lot of the supposed tedium by having a light/medium/heavy weapon slot for each character (allowing for possible duplication of weapon). The AI could then be set to selecting the appropriate weapon at the start of combat, based on knowledge of the opponent type. If the opponent is unknown, then the AI could be set to choose the favorite, general-use weapon.
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