rjshae

It's easy enough to come up with non-copyrighted monsters that serve the same ecological roles as the Illithid and the Beholder. They could even combine elements of the two: a single-eyed, pale-fleshed humanoid with waving, tendrillous stalks protruding out of their scalp. Each tendril possesses a unique Cipher-like power, and the number of tendrils increase as the creature gets older. Known as the Vassil, it is normally found in small communities located deep underground... Perhaps give it little suckers along its hands and feet so it can move along the sides of tunnels, plus a puckering mouth orifice so it suck out people's brains once the skull is cracked open.

I think that really depends on the variety of tiles they decided to use. Not enough and you end up seeing the duplication everywhere. Too much and you might as well draw the whole picture as one unit. There must be a happy median in there somewhere. Then use non-periodic tiling!

The practical aspects of the weapons are what tie them into role playing. The rapier is a civilian weapon, intended for unencumbered combat; whereas the longsword or warhammer are meant for warfare. The latter in particular is primarily for use against plate armor. It's not a contradiction to have a soldier carry a warhammer into battle then later roam the city streets carrying a rapier.

If you've played Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Temple of Elemental Evil, or Neverwinter Nights, you've played D&D. Otherwise... what are you doing here?

Loose it? Mmm, I hear that eating a lot of fiber usually helps. This is all a lot of misplaced nonsense anyway.

Or guarderobe, as it was once called...

From what I've read it seems like they want much of the flavor of D&D, but with their own unique rules set. That would give us the Baldur's Gate-like experience and allow them to escape the licensing baggage. However, that does leave them with the problem of having to re-invent a lot of the meat of the D&D system: the spells, creatures, classes, magic items, and rules set.

If it doesn't, I'll bet some mod will come out to support it. Maybe they can make the font an option so it can include OpenDyslexic for those who struggle with that issue?

That's where Torchlight kind of got it right: sending off your pet to sell your extra loot. Too bad that mechanic is completely implausible.

Some damage avoidance can come from armor designed to deflect weapon blows, like angled surfaces on plate armor. But yeah, armor should mainly be about redistributing energy and reducing penetration.

If they have background feats, then a nice touch would be to have the pick also determine your starting equipment.

Don't be so sure On the other hand, I'll bet weresnarks haven't been snatched up yet. I call for a weresnark hunt!

I'm fairly sure that the Romans "power gamed" their way into owning an empire. Their tools and tactics were steadily optimized over time, and if something didn't work they changed it. I don't think there's anything intrinsically wrong with building your character with the optimal set of skills to be an adventurer. But it is more fun when there are a number of different optimal paths, just like there are a number of different ways for a player to contribute to a winning sports team.

Tough. Fine weapons and armor being priced out of reach of a peasant character is realistic. So is having to scavenge for some extra cash. What, do you want everything handed to you on a plate? Sheesh, suck it up.

They could simulate a lot of weapon variety with a min and max weapon strength ratings: below the min you start taking a penalty; above the max you stop receiving additional Str bonuses (because otherwise you might break the weapon).

D&D 'Armor Class' is an archaic approach that deserves to go into the dustbin of history.

I really like the GURPS approach to combat, with the swing/thrust attack forms, parry/block defenses, and the bash/slash/pierce damage types. Once you have a general mechanism like that in place, then implementing distinctive weapon and shield variety isn't a big leap. In practice, of course, the mechanics would be handled by the characters so you don't have to micromanage everything. But it would present some tactical decision making with regard to your weapon and shield selections.

Crowded wilderness areas just feel highly unrealistic. A more time-based approach rather than a spacial approach would give it a better feel. I.e. each time you wander the map, you'll bump into different things.

Yes, that second city seems like the biggest back-breaker. It probably means they won't be able to spend much time on the smaller settlements. I'd have preferred several small towns and villages; more of a medieval feel. But we'll see...

This should be easy to model: if the party has somebody with a 'survival' skill then the corpse leaves a skin. Drakensang simulated it in more detail by giving an 'Animal Lore' skill. But that's perhaps too detailed for this type of game.

I'd be okay with managing the stock ammo at the party level, with unique ammo being managed at the individual character level. I.e. have a pool of shared, low level ammo but allow individual overrides for high end ammo.

If they work on building an enjoyable game that is representative of a Baldur's Gate brought up to the present state of the development art, then under two years. If they try and satisfy every single input from all posters on this forum, then at least double that time. Plus they will greatly exceed their budget, resulting in a calamitous failure and the end of Kickstarter. Well... maybe not quite that bad, but they surely won't be able to please everybody.

I'm quite happy with the artwork for the mega-dungeon. But I don't think that continuing to extend the drawing is necessarily the best use of resources. If you are feeling bitter about the lack of visible feet then I think you are in a really strange place right now.

I just hope they don't feel like they need to stock every little nook and cranny of a wilderness area with something to do. That just feels very unrealistic.

From what I've heard you'll be travelling from location to location, rather than in a sandbox environment. There's bound to be at least a few locations that you only find out about through exploration or as a quest.