Tsuga C

One or two of the godlike or elsewise non-standard races will be plenty. Sigil was the portal nexus of the multiverse, so weirdos galore was the rule of the day. Unless we're looking at some sort of Sigil analogue in P:E, a party approaching what was possible in Planescape: Torment would be a travelling freak show guaranteed to attract too much attention from local authorities to accomplish much of anything. Besides, how am I supposed to be "special" when everyone else is just as "special"?

You were thinking of a poleaxe. Though similar at first blush, the poleaxe had a much shorter and thicker cutting edge on the axe head than the halberd and a shorter spike or spear-type point on the end. The shorter, thicker head and spike were specifically designed to crush/punch through fully articulated plate and thrust into the joints in knight-to-knight combat. The halberd, though quite capable, was more of a generalist and was meant to be used in mass.

Thanks, but no thanks, to anything that smacks of grinding. If these repeatable quests are in, then Obsidian will have to implement far more scaling than I care to have in the game in order to accommodate the people who will repeat the same damn quest 1,001 times for the coins and/or experience.

I want the P:E experience to be about my character as defined by the choices, class, race, gender, statistics, and feats/skills that I select. In D&D 3.X terms, I'm perfectly content to have a +1 main weapon (e.g. battle axe) and a smaller +2 back-up (e.g. light mace) weapon when some of the opponents I'm encountering require a +2 or better weapon to bypass their damage resistance. The same goes for special materials to overcome damage resistance--steel main weapon and silvered or cold iron back-up. In short, the experience should focus very heavily upon my character and far less upon the nifty swag my character earns, steals, or crafts over the course of the adventure. Anything else degenerates into an attrocious Monty Haulish arms race to be won by the character with the best Death Stick.

I'll take the NWN2-style portrait that reflects what the avatars actually look like in the game. I ended up using the "blank face" option in NWN1 quite a bit as the supplied portraits simply didn't reflect my character concept, so I'm content to let A = A in this case.

If the various companions and scenarios that change depending upon our in-game decisions allow for a half dozen play-throughs without the experience becoming stale, then I'll be very well satisfied. I'm big on replay value, so I say, "The more, the merrier when it comes to engaging replays!"

I dread such a prospect as the companions I'm fondest of, given my luck, will be the ones last made accessable.

Truth be told, I have no idea at this point as there's next to nothing specific known about the various races, classes, and combinations thereof. I'll just have to wait and see, but I usually (~ 2/3 of the time) start off playing a human druid.

And even if you do, all shall not be lost as you'll be able to make your own companions in the Hall of Adventurers. They might be a trifle taciturn, but them's the breaks when you're finicky regarding the personalities of those around you.

I hunt, so I'm well aware of what death by violence looks like and I don't need critical hits from my blade to "chunk" my opponents into a fountain of gore, particularly if the blade in question happened to be a mere mundane dagger. Certain spells might do so, and I have no problem with that at all.

Ah, I see. My interpretation of the OPs question was a smidge different. Carry on.

I hope you're right, as I do thoroughly enjoy detailing my characters to the Nth degree, but I'm not at all skilled with programming and suchlike skills.

Might you have accidentally tranposed those figures?

None of the above. I don't mind starting alone, but neither would I mind starting off with a temporary companion of some sort. In D&D terms, d4 and d6 characters are fragile and prone to ending up in the Dead Book right quick, so a fighter or cleric as a temporary companion would be appreciated. Additionally, I'd like to request that all of the companions be located within the first 25% of the game. This will give us the most time to come to know them via extensive interactions and to form our party as we see fit. If the companion clashes with our PC too much, it's best that we find this out early and locate a replacement or create one in the Hall of Adventurers as soon as possible. We'll be leveling them up ourselves, right? If so, then it behooves us to incorporate them into our party ASAP in order to shape their skills and feats to our needs early on. If my PC is a healing-focused cleric, I don't need another healer and would want any potential cleric companions to specialize in something else. The best way to do this is to make sure that I encounter and recruit the other cleric early on in the campaign, so please let us do so.

Oh, please, please, please... Audiophiles like me crave high-quality sound both in the music and the sound effects. No matter what the graphics look like, I'm still staring at a screen, but exceptional sound speaks directly to the soul.

Eight companions is more than enough if Obsidian chooses to invest a lot of zots into fully fleshing them out and actualizing them as individuals. Give us one each of the Core Four, all solidly grounded in their core function and adaptable/easy going enough to accomodate a wide variety of PCs. Then have fun with the remaining four by using them for flavor. Let the former group form the foundation of the party and the latter group spice things up with distinct and opinionated personalities that are guaranteed to clash with PCs of extreme "alignment".

Hands down, I favor quality because I'm an adult out in the working world. I don't have hours upon hours to sift through medocrity in search of a handful of gems. If they have enough good, solid material for a 65-hour game then that's plenty enough for me. I don't want them to pad it to stretch it to 75 or 80 hours just for the sake of creating a longer initial installment. Rather, I'd have them give me a highly satisfying 65-hour game with plenty of re-play value stemming from choices that actually make a difference within the game world. As Bilbo noted, being stretched like butter drawn over too much bread is an unpleasant state of being. End the story properly and move on to an expansion pack with a new storyline or the second, non-stretched & non-padded installment of the original storyline. Always, quality > quantity.

All in good time. They're still hung over, so let them recuperate fully before you pepper them with more demands for information.

Stamina and HP both derive from natural ability and physical training, so I'd prefer that there were two (or more) variables that go into their determination.

Go, Sylvius, go! The Madman cometh and all illogic falls before his vorpal scrutiny.

Oh, and as a follow-up to my previous request, I'd like to add that romances either take the entire game to reach some sort of conclusion (acceptance or rejection) or that they continue on after consummation in the case of an earlier acceptance. Having the dialogue arbitrarily stop or become locked into the same conversation choices post-coitus is profoundly unsatisfying. Bedding the L.I. should start a new chapter, not end the experience. Furthermore, I wouldn't mind seeing a romance potentially stretch into the expansion pack to reach the point of acceptance or rejection. Should they be offered, please craft them with care.

Merchants, thieves, assassins, mercenaries, teamsters, wizards, etc.--bring on the guilds, but making them mandatory is a bit of a stretch. They should have substantial influence in some cities, of course, but don't let them become the end-all, be-all of the political and social maneuvering.

Although P:E won't include D&D alignments per se, I'm sure that a fair number of their NPCs will fall into one of the nine traditional alignments. Most of the time I play a good or neutral character, but every now and then I do attempt to play an evil one and am generally disappointed by the lack of intelligent, suitable options. I'd like to put in my request for a more or less Lawful Evil romanceable companion. She can be wicked, but she needs to generally keep her word and be relatively disciplined. Otherwise she'd not be worth the hassle and she'd be likely to cut your throat or sell you out in some manner if you no longer served her purposes. Official Request: a L.E. female L.I., please.

OP: no, thanks. Familiars and animal companions as per D&D 3.X sound fine, but not a "pet" for everyone.

Yes, they're in, so you just need to relax an get used to the idea. The firearms will be wheel locks, an early form that was often unreliable in ignition and sometimes prone to blowing up because of metallurgical inconsistencies. Rain was particularly problematic for them because they didn't have a frizzen covering their pan, so rain and water spells should negate the use of firearms in this game. So long as this is incorporated into the gameplay, I have no problem with the inclusion of these early firearms.