TRX850

I am soooooo looking forward to a WALL OF NUMBERS to understand combat. *cough* then switch it off *cough* maybe. Not sure.

Ok. Never mind. I think my high-horse-ometer was a little thrown. Passion Fruit it is, sir. / slice. Enjoy.

It's almost all gone. I still have some banana cake, or passion fruit with strawberries. There might even be a treasure map in one of them....!! Or not. That would be a health and safety risk.

Hormalakh, was that your sense of humour a few posts back? Cos I kinda knee-jerked to what I thought was yet another misrepresentation of legitimate concerns. Just so you know, I'm from a generation that remembers . Though I'm not from that country.

Might there be talents or skills like "Acrobat" that can reduce miss chance that scales with character level, or even just a fixed amount?

Hi Josh, is there any way that talents can be "smoothed out" so that instead of a sudden +2 or +3 bonus towards something every 3 levels, it's more like +1 per level so that the perception is one of regular advancement rather than big chunks? Just wondering.

Will monks have any form of spell resistance in P:E ? Or will this be more of a will power centric class?

I think I just punk'd myself.

I saved a piece just for you, Sacred_Path.

Coffee....coming right up. I don't know what just happened, but I suspect I'll feel conflicted for at least 8 hours.

This whole argument is wrong on so many levels. Terms used are frequently misunderstood or misrepresented. And I am disappointed with the way it has been handled. No one is arguing that black = white. We are all RPG fans with a common love. Some of us prefer the old way. Some want a change. But no one is cutting anyone's throat here. Please, let's show other game forums that we are better than them, and rise above this....in-fighting. Please. It's not how we want to be remembered, is it? Ok, I've dismounted from my high horse now. Who wants a cup of tea?

Favourite quote was from Xzar in BG1, if Montaron dies while in your party. "Montaron! I.....never loved you!" It made me every time.

Monks are often considered to be a "Decoy" type, which means their specialty is avoiding being hit. Once monks are mid level (traditionally) they should have enough innate AC and unarmed damage potential to stand toe-to-toe with front line warriors. It's a system that requires a lot of patience from the player, but the long term rewards are usually worth waiting for. I tend to build DEX based monks myself, with weapon finesse that allows fists as "light" weapons. It's all about increasing AC and increasing BAB, because their natural fist damage ultimately out-scales melee weapons.

My two cents. 11) Wherever possible, don't be afraid to include "Dynamically Generated Content" that tailors to the party with each playthrough. - Ammunition drops (use favourite weapon as a guide to keep archers/throwers restocked during encounters) - Cursed Weapons (no two playthroughs have the same cursed weapons or cursed weapon locations) - Villains (Stats and Character Build based on PC and party makeup, and party reputation) - Kindred Soul (a one-off NPC that provides quests and synergy with the PC) I've used the term "dynamically generated" in some of my posts. This is a summary of those and where I think it would best suit the game. Thankyou, drive through.

Huzzah! Your example could work equally well with Aloth if you wanted to gain wizard levels. Just camp, and while others are sharpening their weapons, repairing armour, and making trinkets, Forton asks Aloth about that hefty, well-thumbed tome he's reading. And off you go from there. Monk 4 / Wizard 1 and so on. Edit: Of course, the same options could be done in town at the local inn. But it would make sense to be able to learn new skills/abilities on the road if you spend enough time with your comrades.

You could still find magic bows or quivers that provide endless ammo, yes. My concern is more to do with "earning" your equipment, not it being handed to you for free. If you're going to climb Mt. Everest, wouldn't you feel better knowing you walked every step, rather than being flown to the summit via helicopter? It should be easy enough for the devs to design encounters that drop loot, dynamically calculated (in some cases), that adjust for your party's ranged weapon requirements.

I still think we're overcomplicating what should be a pretty basic design consideration, which is to have dungeons/encounters populated with ammo that you gather as you go. Maybe as a small compromise, have the game engine determine how many characters are regular ranged-weapon-users (and the type) and adjust the loot drops dynamically. So instead of enemies always dropping arrows, they drop a combination of arrows, quarrels, sling stones, throwing daggers, darts etc. But on the next playthrough, you have fewer archers, so the ammo drops adjust accordingly. It would at the very least provide the "illusion" that you were lucky enough to restock, having earned them, rather than giving them away for free. Edit: And yes, bring back STR damage bonuses for bows and thrown weapons.

The thing about the item value increase shouldn't be understated. Professions, even in the modern sense, are a way of providing income. In a medieval fantasy world, crafting, trading, and making a living through mundane means would be integral to the economy. If you're a potter, jeweller, clothmaker, or blacksmith, your chosen profession is what makes you money. If we can bring that concept into the regular sword-and-sorcery aspect of CRPGs, then it provides the party with options. While giving them "something to do", it's also feeding the economy and incentivizing them to improve and be innovative. Note: It's not really the same as magical crafting though, which was handled differently in previous games. But now's the chance to take another look at that, and maybe combine the two, a little, maybe?

Paladins or Monks should not auto-refuse payment for completed quests. Or bonus payments. I get that it's against their beliefs, but really, if they're your party diplomat, have a word with them beforehand so they agree to accept payment on behalf of the rest of the party. Please. This was a real headache in IWD2.

I wonder if each class could "train" other party members to perform minor cross-class feats? Something that builds slowly over time though. (Edit: using small percentages). A fighter could eventually train a wizard to adopt a more defensive stance in combat? (+1 AC?) or the ability to use shields? A wizard could eventually train a fighter to use low level wands? Magic Missile etc. Could be tricky, but as Osvir mentioned, if there was some kind of incentive to only "camp" every so often rather than constantly, it could be applied in a (semi-)realistic way. So classes act as mentors within the party.

I was trying to think of a way to combine concepts like Professions with Crafting and Economy and Resting, which are all valid and have been hotly discussed in the forums so far. Each concept comes with its own complexities, so it may take some time to fully realize just how well they might serve one another with all the synergy that adventuring choices provide. Great point about party morale too. Maybe campfires are needed to restore some of that old school roleplay feeling? Since it's likely you'll be spending a lot of your time in wilderness areas, perhaps we need something like this to break up the journey now and then? Maybe a place to level up too? Learn new spells in the wild, rather than mid-battle within a dungeon? I can hear people screaming already they'd prefer to level up on the fly. Maybe an option for a certain difficulty perhaps? Whether you choose your background profession(s) purely at character creation, or build on them during game play, if you can't use those skills to "earn a living" by providing a few coins, then they're not being fully utilized IMO. And as I said, if there were other aspects to each profession that allowed for perks or quest options later on, then all the better.

As a follow up to the discussion on Resting, I was thinking about the kind of useful/optional activities a wilderness campfire might provide for your party. These ideas are based on class skills and/or "Background Professions", which have been discussed in a few threads already. Campfire activities take place outside of cities, and are an abstract way of taking time to achieve a desired result. They also involve an element of pseudo-crafting that should save you money, compared to higher costs in a city. Examples: If you're a Ranger or have the Hunting Profession: - Previously killed wild game = Raw meat + Campfire = Cooked meat = 10 hp Ration Pack - Uncured Winter Wolf Pelt + Campfire + Successful Hunting check = Cured Winter Wolf Pelt = Increased resale value If you're a Druid or have the Herbalist Profession: - Misc. Forest Ingredients + Campfire + Successful Herbalist check = Antidotes / Herbal Remedies If you're a Fighter or have the Bladesmith Profession: - Dull/blunt weapon + Whetstone/Honing stone = Normal (sharp) weapon = Increased resale value If you have the Historian Profession: - Examine and identify certain special items combining the Lore skill. You may discover the actual (increased) resale value If you have the Jeweller Profession: - (Example only) 50gp gem + 10gp silver chain (or ring) + Campfire + Successful Jewellery check = 100gp silver necklace (or ring) = Increased resale value - A Jewellers' Toolkit might contain a basic soldering iron, crimping pliers/pincers, tweezers etc. If you have the Armourer Profession: - Minor armour repairs at campfire, providing there was a mechanism for them to be damaged in the first place. - Even plate armours have leather straps, buckles, and harnesses that can be repaired without a forge - An Armourers' Toolkit might contain a small dishing hammer, riveting tool, leather punch etc. - But you could only repair "poor" armour so it became "average" armour at campfires. You must go to a city to fully repair armour, via a forge or professional blacksmith, with an implied additional cost. - Maybe allow different "states" of armour repair, which also relates to resale value. - 75% - Good - 50% - Average - 25% - Poor The long-term benefit of any profession is to make you money if you intend to create/repair and on-sell mundane items. The suggestions above are only one side to having Professions (the economical side). We need to consider other useful aspects that may affect quest outcomes too. Would anyone use these options around a campfire if they wanted to rest in wilderness areas anyway?

This would be akin to the Cursed Berserking Sword example though, wouldn't it? Where your character goes on a rampage, attacking other party members. Of course, there may be some "untidy" ways to deal with this scenario. Cast Hold Person, Web, Ray of Enfeeblement, Sleep etc on the party member in question until the rage/curse effect subsides. But if it was particularly disruptive, a player might remove that member from the party until they could find a cure and return to the cursed victim. Otherwise, every encounter would mean having to scatter your other characters around the battlefield to avoid "friendly fire" as it were. That's the kind of game breaker I was trying to avoid. As for souls deciding the effect, that would make perfect sense in P:E based on what they've said so far. They could certainly design a quest around a "soul cursed" weapon, provided the trade-off was meaningful enough to affect the outcome of the quest, rather than be a total disruption the entire way through.

The real question is, out of the more interesting and/or devious cursed weapons, which ones are unequippable? Because if you can easily unequip a cursed weapon, they're not that much of a curse.

I'm seeing this idea work as a "Dynamically Generated Side Quest". That seems to be the right level. It shouldn't affect the design/structure of the overall story, nor the main quests. If, as pointed out, the "confrontational" dialogue options are already in, then it could easily utilize the reputation system to determine which path is "bad", because it might have less of an adverse effect if you're already playing a psychotic baby-eating nutter. Would a psycho-nutter only be given the most polite dialogue option when addressing a quest-giver? If they're given the "bad" option only, wouldn't that be what they would have chosen anyway? Princess: "Brave adventurer, I beseech thee to aid in our most noble cause!" Psycho-Nutter: "Back off, wench! Or you'll be pickin' up ya teeth with broken fingers, got it?" Princess: "I *beg* your pardon!?" Psycho-Nutter: "Did I say that out loud...??"