JFSOCC

I want the opposite. I want exactly those 3 things you don't. well, I do want merchants to be wealthy enough to buy a significant amount of what I have to sell them. Perhaps a barter system where if you sell it to him for a too high price he won't be able to resell it, and won't have enough money next time. So you'd have to use your appraise skill to sell it low enough that he can make a profit on it and can stay in business. That way, you'd have the tactical decision of asking for a lot of cash now, with the risk of not being able to sell something later, or a more modest amount, knowing this increases the wealth the merchant will have the next time. The appraise skill would finally be worth a damn. And the mechanic would finally be more than "the better you are at appraising, the more you can ask for it"

Because they aren't RPGs. They're action RPGs (and the RPG portions remaining are just BARELY there, especially in regard to nonsense like Mass Effect). Get that through your head. Action RPGs are not RPGs. The difference is obvious an action RPG is more reliant on the player, but it's an entirely different genre for that reason. Obsidian, by their own description of P:E, are making an RPG. Not an action RPG, just an RPG. That means the twitch elements, and elements that let the player overcome the numbers - like lockpicking mini games - have no place here. The character picks the lock. Not you. Their skill matters. Not yours. If you're looking for that sort of nonsense, games like Mass Effect are perfect for you, but if that's the sort of game you want then why in the name of everything and anything are you looking at an actual RPG in the style of older RPGs more true to the RPG concept than modern 'supposed' RPGs? It's like you've gone on a forum for an FPS and complained that it doesn't have enough RTS elements. How about this. Josh before mentioned as an example for a shortfall of skill, a player could have lockpicks. this comment was controversial enough to let that thread go on for ages. What if the minigames are possible for any lock where you have a small (very small) skill shortfall. In this case, it's still your character stats which determine what's possible, but for the most difficult tasks you can take over your character and do it. I see your heckles rising, but bare with me. You're playing that character, after all, and the option to play the minigame is only available because the skill shortfall is so small. (so determined by the character's stats) IE: if a lock requires 20 skillpoints to open, and you have 17, you can't open the lock. If you have 18, you can do a very difficult minigame, if you have 19, you can medium-hard minigame, and if you have 20 the lock opens no problem, no minigame. This would solve the pacing on minigames (not having to play a stupid game for EVERY GODDAMN LOCK) while still allowing you to enjoy a fun challenge if you so choose. Since this only allows for a small skill shortfall, it's entirely likely that you can also decide just to come back later when your skill has increased, in which case you can also avoid the minigame if you don;t care for it. So you'd have the elements of challenge, the ability to choose how you play, while respecting the limits of your character's ability.

This is my favourite update so far. I was wondering, will this system of melee engagement work with a zone of control? More damage done to unengaged characters within that range, or is it strictly impairment of mobility? "Rookie, throw the book at him" *puts on glasses* http://instantyeah.org/

rjshae, you're a masterful story teller

TIL Anal fistulas are a thing.

Please add some Moorish influences! Spain is more beautiful because of it!

I'm starting to realize that "heavy handed writing" is actually a code phrase every non-writer uses for "part of the story I didn't like very much." In this case it really was though, it was completely unavoidable despite you seeing what would happen from a mile away. And it was done for the obvious reason that you needed a free party slot if you wanted Imoen back in your party. That's more a fault of the game design only allowing 6 party members. At best you can "blame" the devs for taking the players into consideration and writing around that rather than any fault of the writing itself. Would you have thought the same if a completely different character betrayed you at a different point in time? That would be firmly in the realm of speculation. I don't know. It depends on how it was done.

I think both character skill and player skill is necessary, they're two sides of the same coin. One part is the role playing, the other part is the game playing. You need both.

You have my attention. Monte Cook wrote some of my favourite DnD supplements.

I like the pyre moth a lot! It's a flavourful creature.

You should watch that entire Argumental, it was hilarious.

do tell

Gater A Gater can lay "gate" traps, it can teleport short distances and it can teleport you short distances. It's also quick on it's feet. A gate trap teleports you to a marked position on the map, usually in a room filled with hostile creatures. Which isn't so great when you're the only party member to find yourself there. If a Gater teleports you using an activated ability instead of a trap, you are sent about 30 paces in a random direction, but on the map. A Gater uses this ability frequently and it has a very short cooldown. Further more, it can create gates only it can use. It uses this to position itself behind isolated party members and strike them from the rear or the flank. These are two way gates and a Gater can have three pairs of them active at any time. An example encounter: fail to find trap, lose rogue to goblin horde in the locked room next door, fail to find trap two, party tank finds itself crushing another party of goblins in the looked room behind the Gater. The monk moves in, finds itself teleported 30 paces along the corridor, unfortunately for him, this lures more enemies in. the cipher almost made it in, the Gater uses one of its gates and finds itself behind the chanter, strikes the chanter for critical damage. The cipher destroys the gate from his end, the rogue is dead, the fighter has slaughtered the goblins and is trying to bash through the door to rejoin combat, the monk needed to make a choice and is currently dealing with the new threat, the chanter turns around, and the mage is firing a missile, but the Gater has already teleported itself five spaces onwards and is now behind the mage, critical hit. the ranger gets teleported 30 paces, he's now in the room where the rogue died (random chance) and gets to deal with the goblins. As you can see, the problem with fighting a Gater is not it's impressive combat power, it's health or armour, nor it's devastating attacks. It's getting to fight the Gater. What's worst, a Gater which is nearing defeat will try to gate away. this is a slowly cast spell, but will allow the Gater to survive without dying. Abilities: Build Portal: A Gater builds a gate at its location, moves to a new location and builds another gate, the gates are linked. It can build 3 sets of linked gates. Only it can use it. These are only visible to those passing a search check, or when they're used up until 5 seconds after they're used. Build Gate trap: A Gater can build up to 3 trapped gates, these teleport any unsuspecting adventurers to the exit gate, these are one-way gates. Minor teleport: A Gater can teleport any target failing to pass a reflex save in a random direction for a random amount of paces (between 15 and 45) But only to a place which can be reached by foot. (for gameplay purposes.) Teleport Escape: A Gater can spend six seconds to call a gate to a safe location. It flees from the battle. Sneak Attack/backstab: A Gater is a rogue-like creature in that it will always try to flank and backstab for critical damage. A Gater is an intelligent creature and can accept orders. Therefore it can be encountered in a dungeon guarding treasure or critical pathways, or be part of a quest where it kidnaps and teleports away, tracking it down will be difficult enough. Cornering it will be hard. It's power grows in conjunction with other enemies nearby, even weak ones, or environmental hazards. The ability to break up a party and deal with them one by one is usually enough to make it a dreaded foe. It's capability to position itself on the fly makes it the scourge of the low-health lightly armoured support classes. If you can kill it before it flees, it's got some interesting magical loot. (those who wish to learn how to teleport would be wise to look for this)

http://news.discovery.com/animals/insects/spidey-silk-can-actually-halt-a-train-130225.htm#mkcpgn=rssnws1 So, spidersilk shirts, yeah? good. There's the light armour I desire.

I'm starting to realize that "heavy handed writing" is actually a code phrase every non-writer uses for "part of the story I didn't like very much." In this case it really was though, it was completely unavoidable despite you seeing what would happen from a mile away. And it was done for the obvious reason that you needed a free party slot if you wanted Imoen back in your party.

Now I wonder, will it be possible for Forton to die of auto-erotic asphyxiation? Anyway, I seem to be the only one here who actually likes having some kung-fu influences in a fantasy world. I don't need it to be completely Eurocentric. But that's a different debate. I like Chippy's example of KotOR 2, where your stances gave you different passive bonuses. I was a master deflecter in many playthroughs.

It's not a damn sim, you should be able to expect something from the player. If the player is a halfwit when his character is not, then that's too bad. Character stats should only determine the options you have available to you, but YOU must play your character.

that was an interesting perspective. I suspect he's closer to the truth than we give him credit for.

Heisenberg gets pulled over by a cop "Did you know how fast you were going?" the cop asks. "No," replies Heisenberg, "but I know where I am."

what I'm saying is that character skill may determine your options, you play them out. I may not be able to swing a sword and hit, but when I am able to, it is my actions that determine whether or not I swing it. In a similar vein, I think it's perfectly ok to determine the difficulty of lock-picking by character skill (or whether or not you can actually attempt the pick) while still letting the player do it. Just like combat, just like dialogue. Character skill may give you extra dialogue options, but you still pick them. And MANY games are played without twitchy nervy eye hand co-ordination requiring skills.

My father was and his family is catholic. Churchgoing family. There was a special mass in which his name was mentioned in the church of his home town, but since I've been to the previous four I didn't care to sit in a church bench waiting for a passing mention of his name, so I missed the mass. I'm not religious, so it has no significance for me. And pretty much what shadysands said. Also it's a good excuse to strengthen bonds with our family on his side. I run into that problem as well, because I refuse to add characters for the sake of other characters. Maybe that's why I haven't progressed writing either. I hope you managed to put something on paper.

Today was the fifth birthday of my father since he died, we(mom, sis and I) decided to celebrate by going to our family(my father's family) on the other end of the country, eat cake and reminisce. In other words, a fun day with the family.

This: is legitimate criticism. It's true I've focussed a lot on that, good point, I'll try to think of a better and different one the next time. However this: is spiteful and rude, and has no place here. If you think you can do better that what you've seen in this thread, I'm waiting. So far all you've done lately is piss on everyone else's ideas without contributing ****e yourself. So put your money where your mouth is. I expect a serious entry from you.