rjshae

Yeah, I'm not really seeing the benefit of a setting up a private backer's forum for a Kick Starter project. If anything, it would dampen the potential publicity that serves to draw in other gamers.

^^^^ Good ideas. I like the concept of a druidic companion that is first encountered during a spirit journey, then takes a physical form indigenous to the region. If the form is slain then the spirit is set adrift until the druid can find it a new host. (The host must be agreeable to being possessed by the spirit, so the druid needs to spend some time befriending it.) The companion then regains the knowledge it had before, but in a new, slightly altered form.

I don't think they have mentioned any specifics.

"Pause".

A more general focus on animism and shamanism, rather than a specifically celtic orientation, would be good. Druidism would then be one specific aspect of that more widespread practice. Basically a view of nature that consists of spirits, whether animals, plants, rivers, mountains, weather, or what have you.

^^^^ That's reasonable. However, the way that evil clerics are often portrayed is having truck with demonic forces: devils, demons, and the like. Likewise, other clerics can provide some protection from diabolism. It might make sense for evil priests to at least be able to co-exist with evil spirits like the undead and demons; not necessarily controlling them, but being able to pass through them unharmed. That might be less so for intelligent evil spirits, but at least these might recognize evil clerics as one of their own.

The association of clerics with laying the dead to rest has been around long before D&D came along. If you "de-couple" that from the priest class, you're basically removing a large part of why you even need a clerical profession.

I never liked that five second rest-pause system in the NWN2 OC. It looked completely ridiculous and implausible. Fortunately they improved upon it in the sequels, doing a fade out/in and a possible combat encounter while you were resting.

Okay, so that's at least two pacifists out of the 73,986 supporters. For me at least, a non-lethal RPG is basically an adventure game. If you're facing evil minions, diplomacy isn't always going to cut it.

I'd like to see a mechanic that differentiates comfortable rest in a warm Inn from just sleeping on the ground. Since rest is already going to cure your health damage, another differentiator is needed. The first that comes to mind is disease. Resting in a safe, warm, comfortable place should improve your odds of recovering from a bout of disease. In fact, resting up should improve your resistance to both disease and possibly poison as well. It should also clear your thoughts and rest your worn body, so it seems reasonable to allow a small bonus to skills for a day or two.

That'll teach me not to post on Christmas morning. This should have been on the Chanter thread. Sorry.

I'm not sure that an endless dungeon would be worth the effort. The game developers have enough on their plate.

I concur, but more importantly the events that follow your witnessing of the supernatural occurrence are what shape the plot. Hence, it's really your character's story that is being told.

Sigh. And another name goes into the Ignore prefs... bye Game_Exile.

I do hope they don't follow the path of those ridiculously overpriced backpacks in DA:O.

I have a notion for a Cipher-specific combat ability: Combat Lore. Each round that the cipher has been fighting a civilized or semi-civilized creature, he automatically makes a lore skill check (opposed by the opponent's intelligence and level). On a success, he recognizes specific aspects of the fighting style and preferences, allowing him to draw upon obscure knowledge and make crafty adjustments to his tactics. This grants him a +1 bonus to attack and defense against that specific opponent.

In that case, we may have a position open for you in upper management...

The scene flashes forward to your funerary rites. Your friends and companions are standing around your grave. Each, in turn, presents a eulogy in their own inimitable way; on the whole it is a sad, moving experience. Finally they wander off. You try to move your character, to cast a spell or sing a song, but nothing happens. Gradually the light fades into the evening twilight. A gloomy storm rolls in and the rain beings to fall. It grows every darker as night falls and the precipitation grows heavy. The seasons pass. Occasionally one of your friends drop by to leave some flowers and say a few words. But this happens less and less frequently. Spring turns to summer, then comes fall. The leaves from the towering oak gently fall onto your grave. Finally, your lingering soul loses its grip upon the mortal realm and returns at last to the great wheel.

But that (50% or less) is pretty much the tabletop gaming experience. I suppose if you were only going to play it through once then you'd want to hit most of it. That spoon-fed approach isn't for everybody though.

Merry Christmas everybody! Santa's on his way...

For me, the linear flow in IWD2 doesn't make an area feel better designed. It just feels pipelined like a factory floor. I've attempted IWD2 twice, but became bored from the linearity. The looser area designs of BG gave more of a sense of choosing my own destiny. Yes there were some bottlenecked areas leading to boss battles, but the looser mix of destinations felt a lot more like the table-top experience.

Yeah, that forest was a nuisance. But at least it was satisfying to finally finish it. I like forests in RL and the map for PE seems rife with them, so hopefully the game will include at least some wilderness exploration with multi-map forested areas.

Prior discussions mentioned Chanters being able to chain spells, so I'm pretty sure they will. If anything, I'd guess that blasts will be unique to wizards and that chanters will have some direct combat capability. I wonder though if by chaining spells they just meant a queue of spell actions, or if the chained spells would interact in some manner? Shrug.

The one exception I'd like to mention is that of skills that normally take an extended apprenticeship to acquire. Realistically, it should be decidedly difficult to acquire such skills, unless you've already attained them as part of your starting class.

A few points: Just to enhance the plausibility a bit, I think there should be some circumstances in which the party can not access their Stash. For example, if they step through a one-way portal into another dimension, there's going to be no way they can transport loot back to their resting place. Hence, any circumstance in which they do not have access to a resting spot, they shouldn't have access to their Stash. Likewise, any time they are operating under a countdown or when they are being held prisoner. To limit potential exploits, they may need to limit what you can do while your stash is open. For example, if you are placing new loot in your stash, they would need to prevent the older stash-based loot from being transferred or dropped. What I would like to know is whether you get access to your stash when you're at a store. Will you need to transport salable goods to the store, or will it always be available?