neo6874

I think it's because of how fast the reaction is happening. For numbers, let's say a fireball does 10d6 damage, and a flame sword spell does +1d6 and lasts for 10 rounds. Overall, you (the wizard) have used the same amount of "magic energy" but have curtailed "how fast" it's actually going to "burn" once the spell is completed. For D&D et. al. using "rounds" makes sense (rather than charges) because you always know how long your spell will last (1 minute / 10 rounds). Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a record of a finite burn time buff that can be applied to a sword whenever. You can craft a weapon with the "Flaming" property (it's permanent between the command word for "on" and "off" being said) for a cost of "+1 bonus". "Standard" Fighter can do 2 (+1), 4 (L6 -- +6/+1), 6(L11 -- +11/+6/+1), or 8 (L16 -- +16/+11/+6/+1), assuming attack rolls grant a hit. Note, this is using normal D&D rules of "1 round is approx. 6 sec". Epic levels (21+) continue this progression. Remember, my example was a 10 day trip between two towns on a regularly patrolled road (e.g. Suzail to Arabel), so you won't have much in the way of mooks to kill. If you're out on an actual adventure for a month ... well, that's different. Now, granted some of this is thought out on a PnP scale, rather than a cRPG scale -- for example, in BG1 it was 1 day (approx) from Beregost to Nashkel ... it's ~120 miles, and walking that distance should take 5-10 days (3(.5)E rules, based on your slowest party member) when traveling 8h/day. In general, it seems cRPG take a much shorter amount of time than it "should" -- but that might've been a limitation of the coding when BG1 was written (IIRC, IWD you would get "travel took a week" notes). I've never sharpened a sword before, but I have a few camping knives that require sharpening every so often (would probably need more if I used them more than one or two weekends/year). Sharpening them "in the field" is harder because The table is almost never level I don't have my "nice" stones (1x2x8), but rather "travel sized" ones (0.5x1x4, synthetic "stones") Taking this to a ©RPG, maybe it means that you only have a 1x2x6 stone (or whatever size), but even being experienced, it's still a bit unwieldy to keep things at "100%" ... which is why you take it to the weaponsmith to get sharpened -- he's got a shop, and doesn't need to lug around his 100 pound sharpening bench (interchange-able sharpening wheels, and adjustable fences to always guarantee the finest edge in Cormyr). That said, I think you've missed where I was going with the "keen edge durability" An "Iron Sword" would have 100 KeenCharges, and use 1 charge/atk (because even if you miss, they're parrying or it's hitting their shield/armor). "Steel" is exactly the same, but has 50% chance of not using a charge (d% 51-00)."Adamantine" has only a 25% chance of using a charge (d% 75-00). Every night, during "rest", you can add up to 1d8+DEX charges back, due to maintaining the weapon, bound by tens -- so if you have a sword with 76 charges, and (1d8+DEX) = 10, you will end up with 80 charges (80% "Keen bonus", so + -- if you drop to 69 charges or below tomorrow, then you can top it up to 70. 100 -> 91 = 100% 90 -> 81 = 90% 80 -> 71 = 80% 10 - 1 = 10% 0 = 0 (duh) When you get to a town/city with a weaponsmith, they can re-edge your sword for 100GP-(charge % remaining) ... so if you had a 90% sword, it'd cost you 10 GP ... if you had 10%, it'd cost you 90GP. <-- totally made up and random because I can't think of anything better

no, it was good -- I picked up on one specific point where it looked like you misunderstood where I was going with the whetstone/sharpening ... but then realized I was reading what you said backwards (also, WTF obsidian not letting me edit my own posts now ... grrr)

totally re-thinking this ... back later.

Okay. My point of view is: Those are limitations because they limit you in some way; but that can also be a good thing in some cases. I don't think that a DM is a negative limiting factor, he's an important limiting factor, just to name one example. I saw anameforobsidian's post just as a very neutral listing of things that limit possibilities in PnP (with a focus on spellcasting). As I understood him, the only negative bits were that a PnP game can be unfair to players who aren't as imaginative as others (although that could, of course, be considered a positive thing because it's supposed to be part of the learning curve) and that cRPGs necessarily have to impose limitations that will feel unsatisfying in certain situations. I think you, me, and anameforobsidian are looking at the "limit" differently and getting hung up on the whole thing because of the ambiguity of the English language (or, more precisely, the inability of it to concisely convey complex ideas when they span multiple "realities*" at the same time). *NOTE -- "Reality" might not be the best word -- I just mean the perspectives of characters "ingame" (or in-world, when applicable -- e.g. Faerun in all the books, or Middle Earth, or whereever), players "out of game", and developers "metagaming" (i.e. making "[spell] have [target, range, effect, limitations] because of [gameplay reasons]") I think, at least for the sake of discussion, we can all agree that "Magic" as experienced firsthand by characters (PC, NPCs) ingame and within the world at large (outside the limits of "the game", but still in Faerun, or Middle Earth, or where-ever) is basically "unlimited" for all intents and purposes from the perspective of the mere mortals the world is viewed through. Gods and demigods might actually see the limits, but rarely, if ever seem to reveal them to the afore-mentioned mortals. From here, then, I think we can agree that a particular character's USE of that magic is bound ("limited") by the following things: Character (Player) Traits - imagination, good/evil, lawful/chaotic, intelligence (because 10+ spell level req'd) Character (Player) choices - Abjurer (prohibited school: Necromancy), etc. "Soft" rules - using spells "inside the box" (e.g. always casting "summon boat" over water, and not thinking it'll make a great deadfall trap to drop on a dragon as a last ditch "OMGIDONTWANNADIE" effort). "Hard" rules - "Floating Disk" can only carry 100 pounds per caster level "Design Constraints" - (cRPG only) - computers are dumb, and making deformable terrain, etc is "difficult" ... so these are additional forced limits either to spell capabilities, or to its availability in the first place (e.g. no "stone to mud" spell) DM requests - Stuff that you "the player" are requested to curtail, without actually being told it's forbidden.

Overall, I'm getting hung up on 1. The idea that because a person/player is limited, something that's bigger than them also must be. It's akin to saying "$Deity can't be all-knowing, because I'm not". 2. Just because someone is paid for something, they automatically know more about it, and will have loads more ways to "get around" the rules than I can. 3. That because the DM has to look out for the interests of everyone, they're an "artificial limit" on things that can be done while "inside" the game -- or rather, in my experience, the DM's I've played with are usually permissive "inside" the game, and will only pull you (the player) aside while "outside" the game if you're negatively impacting everyone else "outside" of the game (e.g. wasting an hour of the play-session for whatever reason).

"Catholic Guilt" is weird -- you're (apparently) just as much a sinner for thinking something as doing it ... but then again, I'm not exactly a shining example of being a "pious" person...

...it's a limitation of the magic of the wielder of said magic, yes. You're not disagreeing with his point here at all. All he does is count the ways in which a spellcaster is limited by the PnP system, and one that's important is "he can only find uses for his spells that his player can think of". That is a limitation of the player, not of the magic. The magic itself is still unlimited (beyond the rules that create set "limits" -- e.g. "You can only lift an object with Prestidigitation if it's less than a pound"). It's like saying a Ferrari is limited to 100 KPH. (Note - I fully realize that the computer can be told to limit the car to e.g. 150KPH, but in that case, "The computer" is acting as a hard limit similar to limits written into the rules for magic ... anything other than that is NOT a limit of the car) ...unless the designer makes the spell waterproof, i.e. gives it additional limitations. Again, you're not disagreeing with anameforobsidian. anameforobsidian said ...a designer, who's a professional at imagining uses for things...can either come up with more ways to break the system than we could..." To which I responded with the quote you're arguing against. READ FURTHER, where I mentioned that "Gygax probably never envisioned someone dropping a galleon on a dragon, or casting grease underwater". tabletop -> players "redesigned" the "Conjure Galleon" spell to make a "deadfall trap" and the "Grease" spell into a "kill underwater sea-beasties" spell cRPG -> "You can only conjure a galleon on water" and "You can only use 'Grease' to make a 10x10 square slippery on land. In general, we're not talking about Medieval Europe. We're talking about PnP and while his points are still valid in a sci-fi or steampunk setting, yours is very, very specific. (It's also weak, as knowledge of the body as in "stab it here or there to make it dead" was pretty common even in the Middle Ages.) You can try to explain a design element away with "the people in that setting do not know about that possibility", but that doesn't make it less hackish. And of course, it's also a limitation. You're practically forbidding your spellcasters to ever accidentally find out about certain ways they could wield their magic. That was poorly worded on my part, and should have probably read "Medieval Europe levels of technology/medicine". It's definitely not 20th century medical knowledge where "hey, if you put a bubble of air in his bloodstream here, here, here, or here; the BBEG will die". Yes, a fighter in Medieval Europe would know "stab/cut him here, here, or here, and he's dead in 10 seconds flat" ... but the knowledge of WHY that was true wasn't known til much later (mid/late 19th century - I mean, seriously, "go to the barber, get the bad blood removed, and you'll be fine in a few days" was sound medical advice up to the mid/late 1800s). Aspirin wasn't "discovered" until the 1760s (or rather, the chemical that made it work), and it wasn't synthesized until the 1890s -- BUT "Willow bark" was known to help ease pain since antiquity (see: Hippocrates, ca.460-377 BC) The other settings you mention would depend on where their "core rules" came from (e.g. AD&D, or 3E or something else entirely). Most people here seem to be keeping with AD&D or 3(.5)E rules for the sake of discussion ... Brilliant. So... my point is, anameforobsidian made a good list of limiting factors in a PnP game, and you try to disagree with him for some reason, and I really don't understand why you would want to do that. I guess it's because you want to make the point that cRPGs are inherently more limited than PnPs, but that's obviously true, and nobody's denying it. How about you finish that quote, huh? The DM is not a limiting factor of the magic. HOWEVER, they can (and will) limit what you can do in the interests of keeping things fun for everyone else. Wanna drop a galleon on the red dragon? Sure go ahead (but next dragon will have heard of the adventurers who dropped a galleon on the other one, and will be flying). Wanna drop a galleon on every band of "generic bandit mooks" you come across? Stop that. Wanna cast [set of spells] to make some influential person think you're (patron god[dess]), and get the information you need? Sure, go ahead. Wanna do that to every random villager, and burn a RL hour of play time? Stop that.

Combining spells seems like a presentation issue a "crafting" system for spells(I am certain it was done before) and sword breaking spells is easy to add behavior, iirc you already had a shock sword dropping in BG. Unless its a spell this effect a built in mechanic like disposition and dialogue option are already planed with mutliple options, something like that will be very time consuming. Which is why we don't see too much freedom in video games, a computer don't do loose interpretations of the rules, to address any quirk of imagination we might have takes will require huge amount of effort and time for very little gain. Which is why we go by what we can quantify into the general system and AI routines we are all familiar with. Actually the "bluff scry" wouldn't be too hard to do -- NWN PW servers had "similar" stuff in them. was always a chat dialogue, but, hey, that's OK setup: (chat choices, get to a "here, lemme show you" choice) Spell: Cast "Clairaudience/Clairvoyance" (IIRC it was a "personal" spell, so the listener had to just check that the spell was cast on ~something~) New dialogue opens: (some random "wow!" type comment from the NPC) Options: See, timmy is fine ... I/we know those caves, and will get the bugbears who have him locked up [bluff/lie] See, Timmy is fine ... he's playing in the caves

In other words, you want a palette-swapped fire spell relabeled "ice." Ignoring the fact that nitrogen is an element and fire is just the heat and visible light released by certain chemical reactions, of course. I think what Lephys is getting at is "have the magic ice-fire spell" look and behave like a propane fireball -- where it's not "just" a jet of heat and light, but it's almost alive looking. Ice on the other hand is cold and hard and lifeless ... so switch it up -- make your ice spells "look" like fire (because you're a wizard and you can) but still have the same effect. For example: "As AGX finished his incantations, there was a quick rush of air. Looking back over his shoulder, Lephys could see tongues of living flame shoot from AGX's hands, and even standing nearly 20 feet away could feel the bitter chill in the air as the Cone of Cold engulfed the lizard archers" This is not a limitation of the magic, just the wielder of said magic. "Players" will always out-design a designer -- Going back to your above example, I doubt that Gygax forsaw some smartass conjuring a galleon on top of a red dragon ... or casting grease while underwater to suffocate a kraken. The biggest difference is that for a tabletop game, the designer only sets base limits (e.g. "Grease can make a 100 sq. ft. area slippery, or a specific item"), but leaves very much up to the player (or DM) after that (see example below). A cRPG is the exact opposite -- you can only do that which the designer has expressly allowed (e.g. "Grease" only works on the ground). "P&P Grease Example" Well that's more a limit of knowledge of the body -- I mean, in general we're talking Medieval Europe here, where medicine is "here, have this willow bark tea ... it'll make you feel better" without knowing that the tea contains acetylsalicylic acid (AKA aspirin). Well, also that you're not allowed to make holes with prestidigitation. DM wouldn't necessarily have a problem with "oh, I'm gonna open an extradimensional space beneath this guy ... and then let him suffocate." I would argue that the DM is not a limiting factor in a tabletop game. Yes, they will limit you if you're going overboard with things -- but rarely have I run across a DM who imposes the same kind of hard limits on magic that a cRPG "DM" (i.e. the game mechanics) do. Usually a DM in a tabletop game will award you extra XP for being a crazy person and thinking outside the box ...

Well, NWN2 you had no "relevant" history to what was going on around you, at least up until middle of Ch2, IIRC. Or rather, whenever you found out the truth about the githyanki sword fragment lodged in your chest. You were a "new adult" reveling in the last year you're able to participate in the harvest festival, having a good time celebrating everything with friends for the night. Go to sleep, and middle of the night your little village is getting stomped by Githyanki and other bad things. You get a hurried explanation of "some item" in the swamps after doing what little you could to help the townspeople get to safety, and are tasked with taking the thing to Neverwinter to (IIRC?) "Uncle Sand" who was a long time friend of your father's. Agreed, although the trouble with games that take this route are that they like having some sort of twist in them (KoTOR -> you're Revan; KoTOR II -> You're the "Anti-Force"; NWN II -> You have part of the sword in you; MoTB -> you're the Betrayer; and others I'm forgetting...)

Um, "Limited" ... I don't think that means what you think it means... Prestidigitation, etc. are "unlimited" in possibility for a PnP game (barring limits imposed in the rulebooks -- e.g. Prestidigitation could only make "small" things [under 1 pound] move, or clean/dirty things, or make food taste better -- essentially little magic tricks to entertain kids, or sweep dirt under a rug, make life suck less for an hour, etc). They're severely limited in a cRPG, because you cannot say "oh, hey, I'm gonna make [thing] dirty because it'll make the staff focus on it, and the rogue can go grab the back door key" or "gonna entertain the kids here to keep them (more or less) quiet and forget they're forced to hide in a basement while the rest of the party gets child-stealing slavers out of the house" or whatever else thing you could think up to use one of them for. Your example works too ... making people have "religious experiences" wouldn't be allowed in a typical cRPG (granted, a DM would probably tell you [the player] to cut it out eventually). 4E in itself is rubbish IMO ... it tends WAY too far towards turning D&D into "WoW on paper".

Also... guess where that came from. Yup, DnD. And guess what you could do in Dnd. You guessed it: sleep for a variable amount of time. You were a Mage and didn't get any spells for that 7-hour sleep? Sucks to be you. You could still do it though. And there were reasons to do it. Which is exactly why I think that's a terribly arbitrary design. Well, really the "preparation" time is only about an hour (assuming "all spells" are to be replaced/re-learned) ... but there's actually two components to preparing spells in D&D 3.0 (see way below for the actual text from the rule book). Games just whittle it down to 8 hours, instead of resting for 9 -- probably because the non-AD&D players of BG, IWD, NWN, etc wouldn't understand WHY having a wizard in your party makes you rest 9 hours instead of 8 hours when you only have non-spellcasters. This is ignoring, ofc the fact that you would actually be 'resting' 10-12 hours in a D&D-style game (depending on DM, OFC) because: Taking the tack off horses, and any other care (brushing, etc) (0.5h?)* Feeding/watering said horses (0.5h?)* Removing armor (1h) Prep Dinner (1h)* Eat (0.5h) SLEEP! (8h) Feeding the horses (0.5h?)* Breakfast (1h)* Eat (0.5h) Saddling horses and any other care(0.5h?)* Donning armor the next morning (1h) Prepping spells(1h) Stuff with asterisks is "field only" or "optional" -- e.g. if you're traveling by foot you don't have horses to care for; or if you're staying at an inn, it's a good bet the food's been prepped and you've stabled your horses for the night, so you don't have to do that stuff (although, you might end up eating drinking at the inn/tavern longer than dinner while camping out) Although with a 4+ member party, things could overlap when camping: Horse care & feeding (1-4) (30 mins/horse*, each person cares for 1) - Total Rest Time = 0.5h Armor off (2,3,&4) while (1) is making dinner (1h for the armor, 1h to cook dinner) - Total Rest Time = 1.5h EAT! (1-4, 30 mins) - Total Rest Time = 2h Sleep (1-4, 8h) - Total Rest Time = 10h Spells (1), while (2 &3) are taking care of the horses (2*30 min) and (4) is making breakfast - Total Rest Time = 11h EAT! (1-4, 30m) - Total Rest Time = 11.5h *not sure if this is "accurate" or if it actually takes longer to care for a horse after a day's ride. Now, I'm ignoring time to make & break camp ... which would probably take another half hour or so (15 mins to setup/tear down the tents, get a fire going, etc).

Totally random game that did something like this was "Folklore" (amusing, "RPG" kinda in the style of pokemon). Your "codex/PokeDex" was a BLANK book, but you could find pages scattered around every level, and it wouldn't TELL you what to do, but rather show you in a picture. For example, there was this really quick/easily frightened thing (think like a deer in the woods). so, if you found the page showing you how to catch it, it would just be a stylized picture of the deer thing in your codex, and which other pokemon thing to use against it so that you could catch it.

These work great in PnP. Prestidigitation from me, while the rogue pickpockets the captain of the guard's keys* (because why would a half-orc [our party member] be protecting that serving girl from the unwanted affections of those drunkards ... stupid backwater town and their prejudices)... *Chaotic Neutral FTW, just don't tell the Paladin of Tyr what we did ... ... and we should probably get an early start tomorrow... no, no reason, just wanna get back on the road is all... Or, perhaps you need to keep the BBEG from [heinous act requiring a fragile item] ... so cast grease ON THE ITEM and he drops it (shattering the thing). And then taunt him for being a butterfingers for added effect Or something else where you're not limited to what the game thinks you should be allowed to do ... e.g. had a 4th or 5th (caster level) wizard in a game, locked door, with the party rogue behind it (forget why) ... guards are in front of the door, buuut there's a hallway that is right next to the cell (or whatever), so ventriloquism/ghost sound over thataway (or hell, just "invisibility")... sneak past the short hallway where the guards are... transmute stone to mud on the wall waltz in (SHHH!! KEEP IT QUIET ROGUE!) untie him and waltz out without the guards even noticing. Maybe add an Alarm spell to the door/threshold so we know when they've opened the door (uhoh, they know he's gone now) Continue onward to thwarting BBEG, or finishing this side dungeon crawl because "oh hey, that abandoned castle looks awesome, and who in their right minds would set up a cult here" (That's right folks, followers of Bane ) a CRPG (likely) wouldn't let you do that, because the terrain is (more or less) static, and not to mention, there's few (if any) of those type of "utility" spells ever in a cRPG. Thing is, they have almost no usefulness when the game is only going to take 150 hours* to get through (assuming "all" of the side quests and everything is done, and you're not just blitzing everything or skipping over the pointless quests for the companions you don't like), as compared to a PW or PnP game where you might "always" have one of those spells in your back pocket (even if for the PW the DM tells you "okay, if you want to use this spell which isn't in the game, you'll need to leave a [spell level] slot blank, or keep this [item of negative slots] on you, so we keep things proper. We'll track what you have spell-wise in DM-chat and on paper") for nothing more than those once in a while situations. Hell, I'd permanently blow a 3rd or 4th level slot for one of the inter-dimensional safe-resting places instead of having to deal with "... aaaaand ambush!" every howevermany times we rest in "unsafe" areas because we're three days from town and still in the middle of tracking the hobgoblins that kidnapped the Mayor's daughter... *a totally made up number.

Problem with DA:O was that the vast majority of the history stuff only mattered at the beginning of the game (i.e. one of the opening quests before getting requited to be a warden). Sure, playing a human meant that (overall) you were liked more than the Dwarf or the Elf, but I don't recall in any of the play-throughs that as a Dwarf or Elf your questline was any different than a human -- if the quest was "obtain the 3-headed monkey statue, get it back here so I can finish the voodoo spell" all three races were "waltz in the front door, kill all the guards, kill BBEG, take the thing, return to the voodoo lady" BG was good, you're an orphan being raised in Candlekeep, though don't really know anything (because Gorion sheltered you from who/what you really are). NWN was also pretty good -- you're a wanna-be adventurer answering the call of Neverwinter to help end the Wailing Death, and, well, we don't care about your past. NWN2 was alright, a bit too lax on thanking Tymora that you somehow survived the fight that lodged the thing in your chest though. Haven't yet started BG2 or IWD/IWD2, but I'm gonna assume they follow some of the same progression of "we don't care about your past -- you should know enough about FRCS to figure it out" (although, I wouldn't be surprised if BG II was a direct followup to the BG storyline, since it stayed with Bioware/Black Isle rather than getting shipped off to another group. TBH, one of the better "you know nothing about your past" storylines I've played recently has been Arx Fatalis ... although I'm not that far in, at least the other "main" characters you keep running into have the same story for me -- "oh, yeah, the Goblins probably whacked you a bit hard"

First off, this is a great additive pass to what's already been done (Obsidian's already stated they haven't done the final paint passes yet). 1. Agreed, either they should remove the logs, or remove the extra stuff (bushes, whatever) from the fire-pit. 2. (comment below) 3. Actually, no ... the first pass looked better for a "late spring" (or "summer") version of the trees. 4. (comment below) 5. nice, though you missed the wings (I'm assuming they're actually on the ground, and not still held in the air) 6. maybe, maybe not -- depends how far away from a town this is. 7. (comment below) 8. (comment below) 9. Really this part looks more like sun-burnt grass (that you'd see during mid-late summer when there hasn't been enough rainfall)... Points 2, 4, and 7 you seem to be missing "oh, and dragons have burnt down the forest about a year ago" that you mentioned in point (6)... so it's kinda hard to say that these features are "wrong" given the timeframe -- it really depends how long this particular stretch of road was too dangerous to travel. If we're to assume it's been 1+ years, then the narrowing of the road, and quick takeover by some larger plants makes sense (i'm thinking "tall grasses and weeds" more than "bushes" -- like what you'd see in a meadow during the summer if it's left untended) For point 8, a boulder works, although since "nothing" is there right now in the picture, it makes more sense that there was maybe a particularly large tree there at one time, which got mowed down by the dragon as it crashed/died, although it's a little far "left" for that -- removing the two "bottom" trees near (7) and making the road curve there would make more sense (also, the upturned roots of the former massive tree, maybe even taking part (all) of the road with it.

That's kinda the point Lephys (and I, I think ...?) are trying to make. BG1 (and IWD, as I recall) have "you traveled for 1d and 0h" (e.g. from Nashkel to the Friendly Arms Inn) and as soon as you arrive at F.A., your party starts whining about "I am le tired". We're trying to flesh out an idea such that if you choose a trip that's going to take you that long (or long enough that you're "fatigued" at the end) that you can choose to rest along the way so that your party isn't fatigued as soon as you get somewhere and have to fight with fatigue penalties as soon as you get to the area, because "well, we're gonna put assassins in the inn because **** you, that's why"

I kinda like the charges thing, and where you're going with it ... though, I was thinking more along these lines as to how it would work... So, you're at town, get your Iron sword re-sharpened after a month-long adventure ... Pay him 100GP to get it totally fixed. Your sword has 100% "Keen bonus". NOTE --> "Keen Bonus" just means whatever benefit you get from the bonus. I like that "10% chance of bleed", so we'll use that. Now, while you're in town, you heard of a caravan going to the town that you normally winter at; so you sign on as a mercenary guard, and will make it to town in a tenday. End of Day 1, you didn't fight anyone, and you're just maintaining the sword -> 100% bonus End of Day 2, you had a fight with some bandits ... you dropped the sword to 75% bonus. Once you sharpen it with a whetstone, it'll max out at 90% (as sharpening will only get you to ([previous_max] - 10) Day 3 morning (i.e. after you rested on Day 2) -> you've restored the sword to 85% bonus (say lack of skill, or just a "bad roll" on the maintenance check. no bandits today. Day 4 morning (i.e. after you rested on day 3) - you've restored the sword to 90%... (more days) Day 10, morning. You've had a few more fights, and have been dutifully maintaining your sword, it's down to 60 or 70% as the "base chance" now. You should make it to the destination town by the end of today, and tomorrow you'll be able to stop by the blacksmith so he can fix all the dings and whatnot you weren't able to while you were on the road. Now, different materials (steel, adamantine, etc) are stronger, and keep the edge longer ... so instead of it being 1 charge/attack ... maybe steel has a 50% chance of using a charge per attack, and adamantine only 25%. Though the whetstone works the same way. Obviously you only "lose" the max bonus if you're under the next step ... so a quick fight with a steel or adamantine sword might only drop you to 95%. When you rest, you'll still care for the sword, but you won't drop to 90% until you fight another group of bandits.

Totally agree where you're coming from Lephys. I didn't run through the Witcher always checking on "did I remember to sharpen the blade". Most of the things died pretty quickly just so long as you used the right style for it. I would only use the "special things" when there was a big fight, or a chance of it getting out of hand -- e.g. the Drowned Dead (and minions) or Ghoul that you gave to the huntsman in the first town. Let's say this then ... "Maintenance" is performed when you rest (abstracted, you just need the item(s) in your inventory). For numbers, let's say you can use a whetstone daily (it's not destroyed), and it'll keep your sword in top-shape for a tenday under "normal" circumstances (e.g. traveling between Town A and Town B, camping every night, and the occasional group of bandits). Adventuring circumstances might reduce the logevity by half (barring one of the "better" materials). Soon as you get to town, you can stop off at the blacksmith for a proper sharpening and the edge is restored. All the above thoughs posted without the aid of caffeine, and are probably completely crazy .. I'll probbaly come back and edit later

I'm kinda hoping they add in ones where it's "ok, sure we'll help you out ..." (time ... "bad guys" show up)... then quick dialogue showing they're either innocent, or you trying to be like "settle down ppl, we can sort this without bloodshed" ... Yeah, those ones are usually short (filler) and pointless, but they have always been more interesting than "go here, kill 8 rats, get gold"

I like how BG1 does the side quests. Yeah, there were the "fetch stuff, get XP" ones, but the writers at least tried to make it less of a grind than it really was. F. A. Inn -> old lady in one of the houses, a ring got stolen from her by the bandits. "If you happen to find it, that'd be awesome" (rep points) Beregost -> Find the crazy necromancer and smite him (though I never could figure out how a necromancer capable of summoning that many undead could be killed by a party of L1 scrubs barely able to hold a sword) Nashkel / Mines -> Find my huband ... you'll know him by his ring. There's also the "find the captain of the guard" one. All of them end in pretty much the same manner - you can be nice and give the thing(s) back for XP/gold/rep ... or you can use the item(s) yourself -- the things aren't just miscellaneous quest trash...

yeah, same -- I just ended up rolling a thief because annoying party members.

Really, it was just something I threw in there as another discussion topic because I keep slipping into thinking "PW setting". If we pull it out (because it's not in PE) and just use "durability" as "how long will it keep a keen edge(*)", then that's fine too. *I'm thinking like in the Witcher -- you could always fight, but you could take a whetstone to the blade and get a bonus for an hour or two.

Even if "travel time" doesn't matter so much (unless "the stronghold is gonna be attacked in 3d" type scenarios), I would still like to have it "matter" insofar as fatigue. Yes it was annoying to work with, and keep tabs on "how long have we been up now?" but it helped me feel more like a part of the party rather than some guy playing a computer game (because the whole "play as the whole party" thing is a bit jarring to me).

Same here, though more because "now WTF am i supposed to go ...?" and "maybe that guy is over here .... or over here ... or over here ... "