Tsuga C

With any luck, never!

As do I. I was merely responding after an academic fashion to Giantevilhead's post regarding players being made uncomfortable by genuinely despicable options. That should've been clear from my last paragraph.

Every EA game will have micro transactions...And this is precisely why I'm here rather than on the EAWare boards. I loved the old BioWare (late '90s through Hordes of the Underdark), but when they devolved into EAWare I began withholding my money. It's a pity what they've become.

That's a tall order. I suppose it's best accomplished by having the evil path be more "evil-lite" than truly horrific. In my experience, evil typically involves a lot of what historian Paul Fussell described in his WWII book Wartime as chickens*** behavior. The American WWII GIs defined chickens*** as "...behavior that makes military life worse that it need be: petty harassment of the weak by the strong; open scrimmage for power and authority and prestige; sadism thinly disguised as necessary discipline; a constant 'paying off of old scores'; and insistence on the letter rather than the spirit of ordinances. Chickens*** is so called--instead of horse- or bull- or elephant s***--because it is small-minded and ignoble and takes the trivial seriously." An honest portrayal of evil would involve a significant amount of chickens*** being dished out by evil organizations and individuals. That might appeal to a limited element in the cRPG community, but I can't imagine it being a major draw for most of the players. "Evil-lite" or focusing on the glamour of evil as often portrayed by Hollywood might prove a superior tack for allowing the players to tickle themselves with the glamour of evil without feeling like abject scum. To use a WWII analogy, many more players would enjoy the look and fearful reaction from others if their character was all decked out as a Waffen SS tank commander, but they might not be so happy to spend time as a SS-Totenkopfverbände guard (Death's Head unit, genocide duty). I favor depicting evil in all its horror and wickedness as an antidote to the allure of its largely illusory glamour, but this wouldn't help players enjoy playing (in D&D terms) a blackguard or an assassin very much. More likely it would give a number of them a bit of a "spiritual cramp" (C.S. Lewis). Then again, I tend to favor realism to the detriment of fantasy more often than many who play cRPGs and RPGs. Ain't I a fuddy-duddy?

^ 120 degrees sounds about right. Solid suggestion.

I am melee Cornholio! Edit: And a very fine update this was, Josh. Thanks from the peanut gallery!

Yes. And was I the only guy who thought of the Numa Numa Guy when first reading of Numenera? Torment: Tubby Numa Numa!

Just a quick note using D&D terms for simplicity, not a full blown artifact level weapon. Should the "wounding" property be included in P:E as a high-level property, please don't let it be negated by any sort of low-level, common "damage reduction" spells or items. High-level effects should only be negated by similarly high-level (read expensive) magic or magical enhancements.

^ I concur with Umberlin and...have nothing to add with regards to lockpicking. *tips hat to Umberlin*

A fool? No, he's dedicated statist.

^ *clinkity-klangkity-clinkity-klangity* That racket would drive any party rogue worth his salt to drinking--heavily!

Yes. And given that they featured the estoc, I'm willing to bet that they're well aware of it being a fine bludgeon, too. One beats the opponent about the head and then smashes the weapon or shield arm of the opponent to the side, thus exposing the light chain that covers the joints in the armor. Nice and pointy, the estoc is used to impale the opponent and the tip is ground around in their flesh for maximum tissue damage and bleeding which puts said opponent into shock. Fight over.

A rifle with a barrel of less than 16" is illegal unless one has a special permit. Suppressors are illegal unless one has a special permit. I believe that both require a more extensive background check and paying a one-time $200 user fee for the enhanced background check. Carbines with barrels 16" and longer are perfectly legal, be they lever action, semi-auto, or bolt action. Edit: details are here.

Foot-in-mouth Joe Biden would be well served to read this article a few times and perhaps some sense might sink into his head.

^ Yep, I'm fine with the equivalent of Planetouched, too.

*shrieks from perch in tree* *throws poop*

Well said. It's my character and my hope for P:E is to let us closely emulate a tabletop gaming session. I've never used pre-rolled characters in AD&D/D&D 3.X because that'd undermine my agency as a player. Start to finish, my character is mine and the more this principle is diluted, the less attached I am to my creation. This is a single-player game, so it won't matter if two or three features are consistently selected by players in preference to others. I'm the only one who'll be staring at my screen, so it doesn't matter. If Obsidian has reservations about godlike characters being too similar, then let them offer a sufficient number of choices with panache that players creating a certain sub-type of godlike character won't all look alike.

I've always been left somewhat incredulous when I read that a large percentage of players do not re-play a solid cRPG game...or even bother to finish it once. "Casual gamers" be damned, I funded P:E because I wanted a cRPG worth at least two or three re-plays!

And near limitless numbers of people who have no business wearing them. *shudders*

Will the horns and ears of the god-like be openly selectable ? The particular god-like shown suggests some sort of bovine-like influence, more specifically a brahma bull judging by the horns and ears. Her divine patron might be a bovine goddess similar to the Egyptian goddess Hathor. Or will players select a deity during creation that determines the features or range of choices available for their god-like character? I wouldn't expect horns or antlers for the god-like characters whose patron deity is a god of predators, for example. They'd have a range of claws, talons, slit-pupiled eyes, tails, and/or prominent canine teeth to choose from--bestial features of predators, in other words. Antlers or horns would be inappropriate for them.

Let's just follow the KISS rule: One arrow type per quiver. Arrows are not reusable. Two standard, non-magical types: broadhead (piercing [primary] + slashing [secondary]) and bodkin (piercing). Non-magical arrows are limitless* per quiver and the full quiver weighs < 5lbs; magical arrows are limited and weigh the same per quiver. Arrows may be poisoned or have any magical property applied to them that is available to other piercing or slashing weapons. *Some might question this, but a dedicated archer on extended campaign shouldn't run out of arrows. This wouldn't be a problem if arrows were recoverable and/or plenty of arrows were available from fallen foes, but the limitless quiver for normal arrows obviates the necessity of either of these options.

Not a monster, as such, but a few things I found memorable (loved to hate) as a player and loved to inflict upon players as a DM when they grew too full of themselves. As I was usually the DM (90%), these are near and dear to my foul heart. Bebilith: ability to destroy armor. NWN1 series had the armor de-equipped and placed in the player's inventory. Adding suffocating bites to the throat by great cats (Reflex save to avoid; bonus from metal/magically tough armor to avoid; each + of Con. bonus lets player stay conscious for one round and attempt to break free [str.]; significant damage to great cat causes it to release hold). Nice kitty, nice kitty! *backs away* Substituting paralytic bites for blood (Con.) drain with giant weasels. Weasels seek to wrestle themselves into position to bite at the base of the skull (occipital condyle & just below) to sever the spinal cord (same rules as great cats; failure equals paralyzed player, immediate reduction to -1 hit point and countdown to death at -10 hit points). *points to elf* Elves are tastier and have thinner necks. *points again* Giant mantids, should both spikey tibia hit the targeted player, engage the weasel rules above. *considers imperiled and impaled orlan party member, vorpal bite of mantid, and own lack of bevor* Keep squirming, little orlan! *backs off and engages mantid with missle weapons* You get the idea. With lower level creatures a bite can be just a generic bite, but at higher levels they should pack more of a punch.

I'm not sure that I'd want the wizard to be able to run around after casting that one, but for Wall of Fire or Cloudkill, sure.

I have no problem with wizards using swords or maces, but I do have a problem if this is in service of an attempt to make a munchkin approved superclass. They should have to buy the martial training out of their skill or feat allotment and thus compromise their ultimate arcane ability.

I was reasonably satisfied with the interface in NWN2. If it doesn't drift too far from that, then I'll be pleased. Great rule for interfaces: KISS (keep it simple, stupid).