Agelastos
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Posts posted by Agelastos
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I enjoy Tolkien-type elves just fine. But it would be kinda cool if for once in a game they were more like...oh, I dunno, maybe like this:
...I'm not, btw, a Potter fan. Dobby's actually a little too "child like" for my tastes (the huge eyes). I just like the idea that Dobby is a "house elf." eg elves could be short, a little weird looking rather than some kind of humanoid ideal, physically weak, magical, and perhaps even timid/shy until circumstances finally push them towards action.
That is a depiction of elves that fits with real world mythologies, pre-Tolkien/Bowdler.
I hate to repeat myself, but:
I wouldn't consider those to be the "original" elfs. The álfar were twisted into what you described after the christianization of Scandinavia. The álfar actually had, or has, more in common with Tolkien's elves than they do with the pixie-like elfs of Medieval folklore. They are semi-divine beings closely associated with the Vanir (Norse gods of fertility and wisdom, distinct from the Aesir) and are described as more beautiful than any other people.They also looked like humans, only more beautiful (not in an androgynous way). They didn't have pointy or leaf-shaped ears, and the males had no problem growing beards.
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The "physically weak" part was invented by D&D for the sake of game balance. It has no foundation in Norse myth, or Tolkien's mythos for that matter.
I've personally always hated the frail and slightly effeminate elves of most modern fantasy settings.
I've never had the impression that such elves are actually "frail" - just slender and agile. You don't need to be Conan to be fair in physical combat, even if you won't ever be a serious tank.
I have not seen (playable) Elves like Dobby from Potter in D&D cRPG's that I've played (not that I've played a great deal of them), so I'm not sure what you're referring to about my post, exactly. When I'm thinking of physically weak, I mean pretty much useless in physical combat, period. Child-like size for one thing, generally just not strong musculature for another. eg, like Dobby in the picture.
I wasn't the talking about house elfs. I was talking about modern post-Tolkien fantasy elves always being portrayed as physically weak in comparison to humans, which wasn't the case in Norse mythology, or in Tolkien's mythos for that matter. I also dislike the fact that modern artists tend to interpret them as androgynous.
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I'm assuming Ashtoreth =/= Astarte?
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Hey, thanks!
@knee: yes, it could, but it does seem like it's attached to the pants all over its surface. Ancient greaves for example do go up over the patella, but not quite that far and they do indeed provide a comfortable range of movement.
Found a version which corrects this mistake; it's pretty nice overall I must say - the bow's much better as well and the armour looks neat.
Even though I find it very odd. It has the same problems that basically every fantasy armour has. It doesn't know what to do with the legs. It's always a weird skirt-leggings-combination.
I don't think that's a skirt/kilt. I think it's just the lower part of the cuirass.
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They should* still be multiple choice, but the correct answers should only be available if your Intelligence score is high enough
* That should read "could". It's not that I want multiple choice (as I said in my first post, that usually makes the riddles way too easy to solve), but I'm struggling to think of a better alternative.
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Yes, yes & yes!
Throw away Black Isle's combat system (Pause/Unpause) and bring some Xcom to PE. Realms of Arkania or Fallout Tactics are good examples for a decent xcomish system.
Because that's what people funded, right?
People funded an old-school, isometric, party-based tactical cRPG in the same vein as the old Black Isle games. That doesn't mean that it has to be mechanically identical to the IE games or the original Fallout games. If Obsidian thinks that it can improve upon the concept by borrowing ideas from other games, then they should do so. At least IMO.
That said, I don't want them to get rid of the RTWP combat system.
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I'm not suggesting that the riddle should be solved automatically if your INT score is high. That's why I want multiple choice, and why I don't want the correct answer to be marked with [intelligence], like in so many other games, unless your INT score happens to be VERY high (e.g. 18+ in D&D terms) - maybe not even then. I want to be challenged, but I also want it to make sense roleplaying-wise. Stats like Intelligence and Wisdom should matter. They should open up new dialogue options and affect your problem solving abilities, not only grant stat bonuses to a few skills and/or determine how effective spells are.
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I like pretty much all kinds of puzzles. What I don't like, at least in cRPGs, is riddles. Why? Because it's almost always multiple choice, and it's usually extremely easy to figure out which answer is the correct one. They should at least let stats like Intelligence and Wisdom figure in somehow, otherwise it's just pure metagaming (a D&D character with an Intelligence score of 7 should not be able to solve the Riddle of the Sphinx, even if the player knows the answer).
Which I guess they did on a few occasions in PS:T, but then you only got two alternatives instead: the right one, which was only available if your Intelligence score was high enough, and "I don't know".
Here's how I think riddles should be handled instead: They should still be multiple choice, but the correct answers should only be available if your Intelligence score is high enough (they should not be marked in any way - e.g. [intelligence]: "Blue").
If your Intelligence is almost high enough, but not quite, incorrect answers that sound plausible should become available. If your Intelligence is very high (several points higher than what's required to unlock the correct answer), then - and only then - should the correct answers be marked with an [intelligence] or other giveaway.
Of course, companions with high Intelligence scores should be able to chime in and help stupid PCs - if they are loyal (high Influence/Friendship score), that is.
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As we all know too well, dolphins are bull****.
<snip>
Wow! That was... horrifying.
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Never trust a dolphin. Those arrogant bastards are up to something. If you ask them, they won't even try to deny it, just laugh that annoying chattering laugh at you and then swim away.
Well, guess what? No more mackerel for you, dolphin!
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"Less sense than usual"? Have you read anything about medieval hedge witchcraft, ceremonial magic such as theurgy or goety, or even your own country's tradition of stave magic?
Material spell components are vital in all of them, even if they don't all use herbal reagents. Fetishes, sigils and other foci are spell components.
And the fact that magic in P.E. is soul based doesn't really change anything. The soul/spirit, and it's various cultural equivalents, is the source of magic power in a lot of real world magic systems. Most of them, probably. That doesn't change the fact that there are extremely few, if any, forms of magic that are practiced without the use of material components of some kind.
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Most of them are obviously not designed for precision marksmanship, but by Odin's empty eye-socket, are they pretty to look at!
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...I'm not, btw, a Potter fan. Dobby's actually a little too "child like" for my tastes (the huge eyes). I just like the idea that Dobby is a "house elf." eg elves could be short, a little weird looking rather than some kind of humanoid ideal, physically weak, magical, and perhaps even timid/shy until circumstances finally push them towards action.
The "physically weak" part was invented by D&D for the sake of game balance. It has no foundation in Norse myth, or Tolkien's mythos for that matter.
I've personally always hated the frail and slightly effeminate elves of most modern fantasy settings.
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While gun-combo weapons such as the above pictured side-sword/rapier doesn't seem to have appeared until the mid-16th century, and were more curiosities than weapons you'd see on the battle fields, I would personally love it if there was at least one of these available in the game as a unique weapon (it could even be locked to a specific character).
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That's it. I'm moving to Bhutan.
Oh, wait...
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I'll be playing Monk so that I can solo the game as Forton.
As Forton? Forton is a companion, I doubt you will be able to make him the player character.
Or did I misunderstand what you were saying?
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You could always ask your trusted mabari to lick you clean.
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In AD&D, paladins were originally essentially the group censor/parole officer who would kick your ass any time you tried to do anything he didn't approve of. Because it was the class that demanded the highest stats and was unabashedly the most powerful, but with the stipulation that you had to be good. So you essentially had one goody-two-shoes moralizing jerk-bag threatening to smite anyone else in the party who wanted to loot bodies or get ahead through duplicity, most old school D&D players have a few horror stories to that effect.
Sounds more like Lawful Stupid than Lawful Good. Characters like that are just annoying.
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Or the offspring of a human and an elf isn't a hybrid, but a full-fledged human or elf. Like in the Lord of the Rings mythos
uh WUT ?
Apart from being forced to choose between immortality and a finite life span, Tolkien was (intentionally) vague about the nature of half-elves. At any rate they could not choose to be more or less elf- or human-like. But he does designate them specifically as half-elven, while there is no mention of i.e. dwarf-hobbit offspring.
Apart from that, I don't think that's how it worked between Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens
They do choose whether to be human or elven. That's what the choice between immortality and mortality is all about.
If they choose immortality they're counted as one of the Eldar, if they choose mortality they're counted as Edain.
It doesn't matter how miscegenation works in real life. There are many examples of fantasy worlds in which elves and humans produce fully elven or fully human offspring.
In The Elder Scrolls, where pretty much all races can interbreed, the offspring is always the same race as the mother. In Dragon Age, any and all children born to a human and an elf will be human.
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What I like about this particular design is the contrast between the very ornate and sophisticated armour (particularly the gemmed cuirass) and the cloak fashioned from a lion's skin, which gives it a more tribal feel. I'd assume it'd be heavy as hell though. But such is the price of looking menacing
Wearing the pelts of big cats and other large predators over sophisticated armor was fairly common in real life too, even during the Late Medieval/Early Modern period (which is the period that P.E. supposedly is based on/inspired by).
At least in Eastern Europe and Western Asia.
]
Winged hussar
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Since half-elves aren't mentioned anywhere they obviously can't interbreed, so there should be some outward signs of difference between them.
Or the offspring of a human and an elf isn't a hybrid, but a full-fledged human or elf. Like in the Lord of the Rings mythos, The Elder Scrolls, or Dragon Age.
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A decade ago, several cRPGs and MMORPGs had 6-8 slots just for armor, and some even let you don a robe or tabard over the armor. And then there were all the dyes...
I really miss that.
Sure, there were usually a lot less unique-looking armors available, but at least you got to mix and match different pieces to your heart's content.
Now I always have to spend hours, or even days, in Blender and Photoshop just to get a suit of armor that feels right for my character.
Hopefully, because of the locked isometric perspective, I won't have to obsess over every little detail about my character's appearance in P.E.
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Hm. I may just have to play a paladin instead of a fighter in P.E., now that they're not necessarily religious knights or paragons of virtue any more.
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I don't know if I want romances. They usually feel very contrived in games. Sure, there are some exceptions, but overall...
I would like the opportunity to develop special relationships with some of my team mates, however. Not everyone should become a best friend and confidant just because you get enough Influence points or w/e. Some could become rivals who stays with you out of a grudging respect, drinking buddies to just shoot the breeze with without ever delving into "feelings", mentors, mentees, or... pretty much anything - depending on their personalities, how you treat them, the moral decisions you make throughout the game, etc.
Sure, some relationships could even be flirtatious in nature, but they don't have to evolve into grand love stories.
But, as long as there are more options than just Best friends, Neutral, and "I hate you and/or disagree with your actions, so I'm going to leave/kill you", I'll be satisfied.
Magic and ingredients
in Pillars of Eternity: Stories (Spoiler Warning!)
Posted · Edited by Agelastos
Functional magic may or may not be real (probably not), but magic is still very much real - at least in the anthropological sense.
Personally, as a life-long student of occultism, I would like it if Obsidian would at least try to emulate real world magic systems.
I can't think of a single cRPG that's tried to do that in the last 10-15 years...
Maybe a reagent system isn't the way to go, but magic should require some kind of material component IMO.