Everything posted by rjshae
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Overkills and loot destruction
If magical gear never requires repair, should it be looked at as self-healing? Does if draw upon the soul of the wearer to patch over those dents and puncture marks? Maybe magical gear should have its own rest system?
- Barbarians: inspiration and mechanics
- Update #34: FIRST ART UPDATE
- A Spell-free Project Eternity?
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Spell system
I wouldn't mind seeing a different approach to meta-magic than is used in D&D 3e. A spell is, in a sense an effect applied with a set of properties. Why can't I fiddle with those properties and enhance it in some manner while diminishing it in another? If I want to cast it silently, I could reduce the casting level, increase the casting time, diminish the effectiveness, make it cost an extra spell slot, or adjust some other factor.
- Barbarians: inspiration and mechanics
- Update #39: Non-Core Classes, Cooldowns, Attack Resolution, Damage vs. Armor and a Tileset!
- Update #39: Non-Core Classes, Cooldowns, Attack Resolution, Damage vs. Armor and a Tileset!
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Update #39: Non-Core Classes, Cooldowns, Attack Resolution, Damage vs. Armor and a Tileset!
This is something that needs to be done right, especially if people's screens continue to get bigger and the resolutions higher. When I watched the video the characters looked okay, but on a laptop or even a 20" screen it will be a bit hard to stand out for a character. P.S. Like 55 secs into the video somebody takes a snapshot of Josh, or are there will-o-wisps in the vicinity of OE's HQ? I played through BGEE recently; the wider view has resulted in the characters appearing proportionately much smaller. That's probably inevitable given the nature of the game and the trend in monitor resolutions. However, if you blow up Josh's sample viewing image to the dimensions of your display, I'll bet the figures will be large enough.
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Spell system
Yes the BG2 spell list was large and varied, but didn't most of us end up just using about 20% of the spells? Changing spells was a time-consuming process, so it was usually better to pick the most useful ones and occasionally tweak situational-specific spells (like invisibility purge/see invisibility vs. the sirens). It might be interesting if the magic system had a counter-mechanic for overuse of specific spells. Say, if you cast magic missile all the time, then your magical link to that pattern grew worn and the spell became weakened. Another approach would be to have fewer magical patterns (spells) but many variants. You learn one of those variants to start with, then gradually expand your repertoire and learn to adjust it situationally. For example, your magic missiles could acquire knockback capability, delayed activation, elemental aspects, morale-lowering shrieking sounds, and so forth.
- Update #39: Non-Core Classes, Cooldowns, Attack Resolution, Damage vs. Armor and a Tileset!
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Update #39: Non-Core Classes, Cooldowns, Attack Resolution, Damage vs. Armor and a Tileset!
Cool update! Thanks for all the interesting details. One issue occurs to me: I'd expect the three weapon types (crush, slash, pierce) to trend from good to bad or from bad to good as the armor ranges from light to heavy. That leaves you with four possibilities for damage against light/medium/heavy armor: 1) bad/bad/good 2) bad/good/good 3) good/good/bad 4) good/bad/bad Whichever three you choose (for crush, slash, pierce), one (or two) forms of armor are going to be better against more weapon classes than the other form(s) of armor. I.e. it leaves you with a certain lack of symmetry. I guess you could pick 1/2/4 and stack it in favor of light armor, with the counterbalance being that light provides less overall protection.
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Ciphers: Inspirations and their mechanics
I could see ciphers having a limited form of mental invisibility: causing a target to completely ignore his presence. Another power could force the target to focus completely on their current task, making it more vulnerable to flank attacks. The cipher might be able to drain the mental capabilities of a dying creature, gaining temporary skill bonuses. Ciphers could have a mental attack capability against any thinking target; success lowers the willpower defenses against other cipher powers. The drawback is that the attack takes time to be successful, and trained beings may have learned mental defenses that make the task even more difficult.
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Small suggestions. Easily implemented ideas, quickfire thoughts.
^^^^ Yeah, journal annotations would be nice. Not sure how implementable that is though, given the way that journal entries change up as you finish tasks.
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Small suggestions. Easily implemented ideas, quickfire thoughts.
Speaking of floating castles, check out Mokah's NWN2 screenies in this Bioware thread.
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Ciphers: Inspirations and their mechanics
Since they are mental-power focused, concentration should probably be a significant factor for maintaining effects. The more effects they maintain, the less attention they can pay to their surroundings. That would provide a vulnerability that necessitates teaming up with others. Otherwise I could just picture them taking control of everything behind the scenes.
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Favourite Companions
Well everybody has different experiences; Shandra was the one character in the NWN2 OC that I actually grew to like almost right away. Perhaps it was because she's an unpretentious farmer-turned-warrior character, and a genuinely decent person. Her fate was... moving... and something of a let down.
- Josh Sawyer on Miss and Hit
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Josh Sawyer on Miss and Hit
I think this goes back to the "mortification of the flesh" aspect of the monks. While I'm not sure how "true" this aspect is to all monks, I do know that some monks IRL actually do this. Shaolin monks as well as Christian monks train their bodies/self-flagellate to reach a higher spiritual level. I had the same experience with regards to the term "Wounds". It doesn't really imply a transformation or impulse transfer effect. Shrug. Not that it matters.
- A Spell-free Project Eternity?
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Josh Sawyer on Miss and Hit
There could easily be feats that allow them flexibility in damage types, or class abilities -- at least some of the archetypes of the Pathfinder monk did -- so that's probably a non-issue. Well it's an issue if you have to spend feats for the Monk to be effective in combat. But I'm sure it'll get worked out.
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Josh Sawyer on Miss and Hit
This is a ridiculously good idea. One question though - what happens if you have enough wounds to kill you in the next few seconds/round but you manage to finish off your opponents and combat right before wound damage would be applied and you'd die. Does the wound system automatically reset itself at the end of combat with or without you taking the damage from it? For me it does have the virtue of making the Monk class at least worth trying. But it may also depend on how well the unarmed Monk performs on the attack. Fighters will benefit from the versatility of choosing different tools for different enemies. How will the Monks fare in this regard? Perhaps they will only be optimal for unarmed (bludgeoning) combat against certain foes?
- Update #38: Meet the Developers with Mark Bremerkamp, Lead Animator
- Future title: Kotor 3?
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changes in the realms
I think I "get" why developers don't bother with the area updates once it's been cleared or the issues resoled: it's a lot of work for very little reward. Basically the developers almost need to develop the equivalent of an entire new area for no useful purpose.