Osvir
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I'll just do like this:
Life and Death in the Dyrwood: A Lore Update that Discusses the Topics of Life and Death In Project Eternity, Limited Medicine, and the Rarity of Curative MagicProject Eternity is a fantasy RPG inspired by several A/D&D-based settings in which death is, for those with means, a temporary setback (for the Nameless One, it's even less problematic). The priests of the Forgotten Realms run around with boatloads of cure x wounds spells, the ability to banish disease, and even the power to bring the dead back to life.In Project Eternity, prospects are not so bright. And when death comes, some try to stay, some choose to go, but most people believe that once they make the trip to the other side, there is only one way back: to begin a new life.
Common Mortality
Project Eternity's world is one with limited medicine and medical understanding. Unlike many fantasy settings, there is very little access to curative magic. Remedies for health problems often have only a palliative or placebo effect at best, owing their continued use more to folk beliefs and tradition than any basis in scientific methodology. Though soul-based magic has helped the great exploring cultures from suffering massive pandemics and has helped some individuals overcome illness over the long-term, there is no quick magical "cure" for disease or illness. Most people go through life and death in the ordinary way -- unless they put themselves in harm's way, that is.
Stamina and Health
In Project Eternity's combat, players need to be concerned with two elements of a character's vitality: Stamina and Health. The majority of damage a character takes is subtracted from his or her Stamina. Stamina represents how much general abuse a character can take before falling unconscious. Characters lose it quickly and regain it relatively rapidly, even without assistance. Soul-based abilities are able to help replenish or regenerate Stamina and are often used on the battlefield to turn the tide of combat. If a character hits 0 Stamina, he or she is knocked out. Intervention from another character can bring an unconscious character back into a fight.
For players, the Health of their party members is a tether that makes them consider how far they are willing to venture from a safe resting spot. Though Health is typically lost at a lower rate, when the PC or a companion hits 0 Health, he or she is maimed (in standard play) or killed (in Expert mode or as an option in standard play). Magic may help mitigate damage to Health and slow the tide, but once characters have died (in Expert mode), there is no known magic that can bring them back.
A Lottery of Souls
The world belongs to mortals. As time has progressed, mortals have lifted themselves out of ignorance and into ages of increased self-awareness, harnessing the power of their own souls to amazing effect. So... why worship the gods, anyway? For many mortals, worship is a matter of respect and tradition. They consider their gods (or, in some cases, all gods) to be their creators. They follow the guidelines of religion because history tells them that the gods have punished individuals -- and entire nations -- for ancient episodes of religious disrespect and dismissal.
For others, religious worship is a matter of karmic self-interest. Often, people believe that if an individual's soul arrives in the realm of a pleased god, the god will place that soul into the body of someone who will have a good life. To such believers, choosing to not worship or is to risk spiritual confusion and aimlessness in the afterlife. They speculate that the faithless are entered into a "lottery of souls" from which many will wind up no better -- or much worse -- than they did in their last life. Some of the same faiths also believe that religious apostasy or lax observance is a cause of soul splintering upon death, which many consider to be an even worse fate.
Gods for All Seasons
People worship many gods, but usually the ones who are most associated with their way of life. Farmers may worship gods of light, growth, or storms. Warriors worship gods of battle and fortune. Though some faiths are exclusionary, most people will say a prayer to any god when the circumstances are right -- farmers praying to a god of battle when their lands are invaded, warriors praying to a god of growth when they're starving in the wilderness.
Sometimes the same god -- or gods -- may have a different identity in a different part of the world. The most notable is one of the most widely honored, if not warmly embraced. Called Berath in Aedyran and Cirono in Vailian, it is the god of cycles, of doors, and of life and death itself. People commonly place or carve the figure of Berath in doorways, windows, and other "portals" from one place to another, figurative or literal.
In Eír Glanfath's ruins, explorers have discovered two common figures, Caoth i Bhád and Bád i Caothaí (Life in Death and Death in Life, respectively), semi-skeletal female and male figures who occupy positions opposite each other in doorways -- like a twinned display of the split aspects of Berath/Cirono.
Necromancy
Despite the assumed natural cycle of things, there are individuals in the world of Project Eternity who either want to know more about that cycle or who choose to alter that cycle. Broadly speaking, "necromancy" refers to any attempt to do either, whether that involves speaking with the soul of a dead mortal, attempting to tap into the unconscious past lives of a living soul, or to bind soul energy or a complete soul inside of a dead body.
These acts are viewed with differing levels of criticism depending on the culture. Many folk share the interest of necromancers and would like to understand more about the eternal cycle, but are also afraid of what they might learn. Some extremists are opposed to any and all necromancy, and tales say that a quiet and powerful cult that has worked for centuries to discredit, trap, and even murder necromancers for their efforts. To the people who oppose necromancy with such violent passion, mortal understanding should have limits, and they fear the consequences for the world should those limits be unraveled.
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On Death... read some Kickstarter updates, death is common and you can't resurrect at a temple... please do read up on updates etc. etc. there's other mechanics:
This is a good read (probably the best for all collected information):
http://www.sorcerers...ead.php?t=58186
^That is really all you need but throwing in some more links.
Kickstarter:
http://www.kickstart...roject-eternity
There's also a "Known Informations" thread but it's not updated:
http://forums.obsidi...wn-information/
Also the Eternity Wiki:
http://forums.obsidi...-eternity-wiki/
The "Day by Day" link in my signature has pretty much all the threads that has been discussed here at these forums... uuhm... Marceror's thread over at the Sorcerer's Place is probably the best yea.
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I really only have an input on the Rangers for now. I would like to gain a favored enemy through the course of playing the game, instead of choosing it right off the bat. If I made a Ranger in Baldur's Gate (mind you he's been living in Candlekeep his entire life) how could did he decide when he read some old history book that "I really hate Undead!!!!" and just naturally becomes stronger at taking them down?
Minsc favors taking down Gnolls, but he did favor killing them before Dynaheir was captured?
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I think the idea seems cool, but is it effective? Is it easy to create?
An area that is devoted/designated to this type of thing could be cool though, a mysterious wilderness area stretching across 2-3 map locations that acts like a puzzle and you can't get out of it until you've finished it (Which would make it a linear quest, but perhaps you could solve the "riddle" in more than one way?). When you return later, after finishing it, I think it should be an open area, perhaps with new encounters and new quests. Good way to make use of 1 area more than once *shrug*
In Baldur's Gate I felt that many of the "Side"-Areas were "Explore Once" then I never returned to it because I didn't see any need for it.
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I'd agree with most... good for TBS, not so great here.
The height advantage could be good, I don't really see the rest. Especially as one cannot handle where one is. If on a forest map, it would suck if all your rangers instantly became useless since "trees = no ranged combat", wouldn't you say? It's not like you can park them out the forest if the map is forest.
Fine with druids having certain bonus to certain terrain (perhaps chosen on creation, so you can pick forest or water or something else, instead of having all)
Well, if Trees are props of sorts in P:E, then if I'm behind a tree the arrow (as a projectile) should have a chance of hitting the tree instead of hitting me. IF the tree is a placeable prop. And pulling down a couple of trees with my Druid to create Ents (or move the trees to the sides like Moses would) and shoot a Power Arrow to the face of my opponents would be sweet too.
But I see where you're going at. Trees = perhaps not no ranged combat but it sure does give more of that "guerilla" feeling, and it gets much harder to hit too (Paintball in a forest with lots of trees, doable, but you're mostly going to hit trees).
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^I expected this when I saw that it was you who replied, now what that means is something you get to think about yourself
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From Marceror's Thread (see signature):
- Orlan
Orlans are a race of people found mostly in northern, temperate climates but also as far south as the Dyrwood. Physically, they are notable for their small stature, two-toned skin, and exceptionally large, hair-covered ears. Due to their size, orlans have been victimized and marginalized by most of the cultures with whom they have come into contact. As a result, it is rare to find large communities of them and they have progressively retreated into heavily wooded environments over the last few centuries. Many orlan communities have also adopted brutal guerilla tactics including heavy use of traps and poison in the surrounding environment. As a result, even orlans raised in urban cultures often share their rural kin's nasty reputation.
- Aumaua
Aumaua are larger than humans and are found in a lot of coastal and island areas. They look somewhat "different" but are still a bipedal race. (From Josh Sawyer during the 10/12/2012 PC Gamer Live Chat)
This is what I'm thinking about when I read these descriptions.
Orlan:
Aumaua:
- Orlan
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One of the only good things about Final Fantasy XII
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There is a simple fix for this.....a Magical Effects slider.
Incremental stages x1,2,3,4,5 etc slide it up or down in the game options to decide how many spell effects you want to see on screen at once, priority given to persistent area effect spells or offensive spells directed at the party.
For those that want it, you crank that sucker up to 11, for those that don't you drop it down to 1 or 2.
11? How about "all"? A slider / other variable option would be nice, but I don't think it would be exactly easy to make...
Then again, I would more prefer "full shiny effects" as were in NWN2, then some "decent effects" which would make shield spell a barely visible ball (maybe just air jittering, something) which would flash a bit when hit. But that would, again, require double the work. Oh and then "No effects except for projectiles" for effect haters
I'd like to see something like this, seen on these shields:
http://www.scguidebook.com/wp-content/uploads/45ec47bc6f336c7.jpg
I think the shields on the Immortal "flashes" up differently depending on which angle it gets attack at as well *shrug* would be cool to see.
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Because tabbing in and out is annoying.
Would be very welcome
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perhaps the Godlike vary depending on which god they were "touched" by...
certainly leaves the door open to further elaborate on their appearance, if not in this game then in future installments.
So.. an evolving race? Stays Blue throughout P:E but in P:E2 they will "Hatch" and get wings or become more corrupted?
On one of my Baldur's Gate playthroughs in the past I used this character concept: 2nd in the middle-row ninja~blue
I was going to start over from the beginning with an entirely new character (new class, new portrait etc. etc.) when I started Baldur's Gate 2 (or just customize his Portrait into this). Soul Reaver. Where my Hero now has become a foul beast of his former self, corrupted and evil, in reflection to his good deeds in Baldur's Gate as a Paladin (basically a now Fallen Paladin). Never got around to finish BG1 on that playthrough though.
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Didn't they say already that godlike might be like DnD's Aasimar or Tiefling races. Pretty much look like other races with minor differences like tails, glowing eyes, horns etc. I'd say that is what we will get because anything too big, like wings or extra arms, would be too much with regard to armors, combat mechanics etc
Aerie is a winged elf whose wings were cut off, that's how they worked that into the game without worrying about graphics too much.
Exaggerated over reaction:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbeR6uYxU50
Normal real reaction:
Okay fine *goes and sulks in a corner* 6 arms would be cool though
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What do you mean with ancient Greek heroes? Supply linkage because I don't really understand (Most of the Greek heroes were ordinary muscular humans). I personally wouldn't want to see Blue Template A that turns all your characters Blue, or Green Template which turns you into a Green character. Something that relates to Godhood somehow... a Human with wings? Sure. Aerie is a Winged Elf is she not? Doesn't show.
What else could there be? Darth Maul? Meh. I'd personally want something more Hades-y.
And a Yeti race would be so awesome... anyone remember this guy?
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How do you view the Godlike races? Should it be simply a Human/Elf with another skin-color or a vast difference in appearance? Could one Godlike race be more akin to a monster? Yeti? Fishman? Bumblebee? Wolf? Mummy? (Aumaua?) Cats?
Thoughts?
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I didn't vote.
I want a "WTF!?" ending. The good kind. The one that makes my jaw drop. Doesn't matter if it is random, happy, sad, romantic, terrorizing, weird... just make it good, usually I feel that something that was revealed to you early game and have had you wondering the entire game wtf it is being revealed somehow is a great method. Full Metal Alchemist had a great ending (Manga). Icewind Dale had a good ending... Final Fantasy VI. Tales of Destiny... uhm.. haven't finished PS:T, IWD2 or BG2 so I can't say anything about them (I reckon PS:T and BG2 has great endings as people are commending them for great stories, and IWD2 having a not as profoundly great one)...
I've said in a post before, don't get me stuck with the Last Boss and I don't have a way to defeat him. In Icewind Dale I hadn't prepared well enough, I guess... couldn't defeat the last boss, couldn't go back or leave the final dungeon. I liked that I couldn't leave but it was frustrating that I couldn't defeat the last boss. The game was a breeze, heck the last boss was a breeze too, I stood and chopped at him for 30-40 minutes, half that time he was down at "Almost Dead" and I was out of spells, items and weapons to damage him. He was pretty much immune to my damage and I was pretty much immune to his.
I tried re-loading an earlier save (right before the boss) and run around the final dungeon in search for anything that could damage him (I tried looking for items, potions, scrolls/spells, a vendor etc. etc.). I don't recall finding anything so I said "F- it" and watched a "Let's Play" of it. Could've reloaded an even earlier save too but I didn't want to re-play everything.
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We could have a Zepipad (Helipad) on the roof of our Stronghold for our own constructed Zeppelin <3
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Hopefully the Aumaua will know how to gurgle a message to the Weresharks, "Don't eat us, we taste like rot".
I think given PE's funding having the characters (or party) only understand certain languages used by monsters or various factions would be interesting. You might take the Monk in a certain region because he could speak with the raiders. You might take the ranger because she can commune with the dryads. Want to talk to the giants? Take the Aumaua.
Perhaps the Cipher could speak all languages through telepathy.
Can we please not let the potential deadness of the Latin language derail this thread?
This would promote the use of different classes and different races for a more broad playthrough. My last Baldur's Gate gameplay was... 1 Half-Orc, 3 Humans, 2 Elves... and I usually go about that type. Seldom do I use the Gnome, or the Dwarf, tbh. Likewise, having 4 Humans and 2 Elves in your group would give you an entirely different playthrough than having 1 Orcs, 1 Human, 2 Elves, 1 Dwarf and 1 Gnome. It would give more replayability (I think).
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But this does bring up the thought of crafting as a team.
So if you have an alchemist and a herbalist, they could team up to brew potions neither of them could do alone?
Or armorer + enchanter, working together could enchant the sword while it's being cast,
make the forge work better and craft the sword in such a fashion it's more receptible to enchantments?
It's often been a production line type thing, where one character does his bit and passes the item to the next one.
But I don't remember ever seeing a setup where 2 (or more) professionals take part at the same time.
^Pretty much this is what I'm going for, .Leif. and it's not about having 1 Class being Inclusive and then Excludes all the other Crafts, more like "The Wizard gets +2 to Alchemy but -2 to Smithing"~
@Jarmo: Glad someone saw it
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Before anyone thinks about creating gold (which you should be able to do at max Alchemy level... if you've read the "Alchemist" you know what I'm talking about, it is not just the point of getting "rich" but it is spiritual as well).
Another thought about it:
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Can't Edit no more but.... what about dreads?
Original picture:
If Forton is going to be Friar-y I suggest "The Left Hand of God" as inspiration, brilliant trilogy (in my opinion, me and the reviewer don't entirely agree but I see where he is coming from, don't know if the 3rd one is out yet, I engulfed myself in the 2 first books)
Half-monastery, half-military training ground, the Sanctuary is a place of unbelievable deprivation and cruelty. It's run by the Redeemers, religious fanatics who regularly perform Inquisition-style tortures, and who, in fact, have "the right to kill instantly any boy who does something unexpected".
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What I really hate is when the developers clearly have decided the enemy is clever and charismatic and cool and awesome.
You just know million miles before that whatevery you're doing is not going to catch him by surprise or work,
you'll just get some stupid ass cutscene where he'll give this awesome speech and then walk away.
Without you getting any chance whatsoever to stop him and then you're dropped down the hatch or something.
Repeat a couple a times. In the end battle he's shooting awesome death rays and has billion hit points and invulnerability.
You're fighting as a team, he's alone and you still have to chug down bucketfuls of potions and cheats before winning.
Because he's so cool and charismatic and the devs like him much better than you and your stupid weak character.
This is pretty much Haitani in a nutshell, except the author let's us see the Hero at least try. I think these types of villains are awesome because they frustrate you, and the 3rd time you meet this villain you could even see the "Light" as you are sent into a fighting mode and get to attempt to fight this villain. You can't lose or win by the way, just an interactive story segment, the real part is giving you the illusion that you have a chance, giving you hope which is then snatched away from you and you get frustrated, you start to really dislike this mysterious villain with a deeper agenda.
You could run after this guy, attack him and he just teleports somewhere else and continues his speech without pausing, even looking away from your group and you try to hit him again but he just teleports again somewhere else. He could appear behind one of your characters, whisper some icy words and then appear somewhere else. An omnipresent figure that gets on your nerves, you know that one day you are going to face off against him and take him down, but leading up to that point he "needs" to have some sort of effect on you, making you love to hate him type of thing...
Haitani, as an example, believes that the Evol race stand higher than the human race. That they are Gods whilst humans are their minions that should pray to them (i.e. be dominated by them), Zetman (the protagonist) is also part of the Evol race but he is different (human ties). He was created to be a "Godslayer" in a sense, to destroy the Evol race. Haitani sees this as an opportunity to use Zetman for his own purpose, to destroy the current pacified leaders of Evol and take control.
He is a Loki-type character (from Mythology, not Marvel) and he is badass. Loki is a great enemy concept. The best thing about Haitani though, is that he is more of a Mid-Boss, he rebels against the Main Boss, fights against his own faction (kind of creating his own faction from within, mutiny, starting a coup to overthrow his own government and every government. He is a revolutionary, a visionary, a middle-man, he works for himself). Kind of like Tom Cruise in "Interview with a Vampire", you don't know if the Hero is going to take this fool down or not, or if he should, you just dislike this guy's arrogance. I like some loose, open, ends.
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Generally speaking, I am not for this idea. I can see how people with more magical power would be better at making things with magical components, like magic items and potions for example. I can also see it be restricted or enhanced by other stats that seem important to the skill in question, like strength or endurance for smithing for example. Limiting it by class though, I can't get behind.
Well not limiting but benefiting certain classes. One class being better at Alchemy than the other, doesn't mean that the other can't do Alchemy. You are going to have 6 party members (Unless you play Solo of course, which still would allow you to craft everything, just not as good as having a 6 man party). If Crafting is a Craft Skill for your party, I almost expect that the game is going to be designed that it would be wisest to scatter the Crafting on all of your characters to get a "Full Picture" instead of having 1 Rogue that is 120% Utility and Support and he knows Smithing/Alchemy/Herbalism/Enchanting/Trap-Making etc. etc.
I feel like I'm behind the idea of having Craftsmen scattered out in the world more though, and even Craftsmen (X-Com Engineers) that you can hire and bring to your Stronghold. If most Engineers (I'm just gonna call it that) are generic "Hirelings" there could be 1 or 2 Epic/Important Engineer(s) in the world that you can hire/quest to hire. Likewise if P:E will have anything like "Scientists" as well (though that would take it one step further which could get complicated), it'd be cool to have some Necromancers in the basement of the stronghold that studies the spiritual realms of the soul
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I think this is a topic that shouldn't taken lightly since P:E will most likely focus a lot on dialogs with NPC's.
I consider decent character expressions a very important part of those dialog interactions.
At least important NPC's should have different expressions, either via different character portraits or 3D heads.
Though 3D heads only work if they are good which was NOT the case in NWN2 but in Dragon Age (especially with beauty mod) or Vampire Bloodlines.
I also wonder who came up with this nonesense that different expressions are an JRPG thing.
Fallout had fullscreen faces ages ago and most games with 3D engines have it those days.
They should at least make portraits with different expressions for important characters.
The "over the top" expressions are kind of jRPG. There are jRPG's that have a mix of Strong Big Emotions/Expressions and subtle expressions, in my Theater Class we used to call this something you do on Theater, you exaggerate your motions to create an illusion for the viewer, but Theater is live action which is way different than a movie or a game, there is no direct contact/direct feedback in a video game from the actor. We used Big Expressions and Exaggerated Movements to catch the crowd's attention and get them into the show we were moving our mouths when speaking, articulating more clearly, a casual hand motion became a big hand wave instead etc. etc.
Some jRPG's go with the theatrics (Big motions) and it works, for them.. would it work with P:E? No, but if it would be kept realistic, Edair closes his eyes thoughtfully then he could express that authentically imo.
Anyways, the whole idea with this thread, and my own suggestion, is to give a little more life to the portraits which in turn will give more life to the characters. I have no doubt about it.
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Inspiration for Godlike-races
in Pillars of Eternity: General Discussion (NO SPOILERS)
Posted
Cthulhu humanoids
I second this. I think that Genesis (DAZ Studio) allows this fairly easy, you make one Squid template (with face and all) and then you can apply it to a big figure (human), a small figure (dwarf), thin figure (elf) etc. etc. so I don't know if any "fine" tailoring is entirely 100% required. I don't think they need to make 1 Cthulhu for Humans, 1 for Dwarves etc. etc. *shrug* I might remember that pitch video on Genesis wrong though hmm..