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The question pretty much sums it up: what was the character (class) you decided to roll for your first play through? As I personally remembered it from Baldur's Gate, the first one is always special. Feel free to elaborate in the comments if you wish. (By the way only 10 options in the poll so I joined Barbarian and Fighter...) In BG my first character was a ranger which ended up as a tank / dual wielder. In PoE I wen't with a ranger as well, with a similar goal...

I want to just start with a bunch of Adventurer's Hall Characters, but I don't know how to remove the default party members. Is there a way to do that?

Is the experience cap only 28,000 i.e just hitting level 8 ? if this has been written else where, I did not find it when I did a search. Thought the cap as 12, that i have read, but in the beta (If I can say this here) it was/is currently 8 levels.

I excluded Priest from the poll due to the 10 choice limit per question. I figure that as the only true healing class most party's will include one regardless of usefulness. That said, please feel free to tell everyone if the Priest is awesome or terrible in the comments!

Hi! I don´t know about you guys but personally I would have loved to see some more options during character creation regarding scale. An example could be: Character frame: Small, Medium, or large. This should be fairly easy for a programmer to create at low cost with the existing assets: Just input the different scales to the entire rig or character asset and speed up the animations accordingly to prevent sliding? What do you guys think about this? Cheer´s!

Hi! So I got Wasteland 2 from Steam and absolutely loving it. It feels slick! Regardless, that's not what I wanted to talk about. Character creation. Some backstory to the idea: Wasteland 2 has a very nice chargen, there's lots of pieces you can put together to create the character. I do have one issue with Wasteland 2's character creation, and that's the biography/history section where you can write your characters history yourself. Wasteland 2 has a very open ended beginning so your character can truly be anyone... but who is anyone in the Wasteland 2 world? When did the fallout begin? What are the factions? What are their roles? What's the timeline? I had no clue at first (I have now both looked it up and got some ideas from some replies on the same issue on the WL2 forum). Regardless, these are important things for the Player to be able to insert their character into the world authentically. The idea for Pillars of Eternity & Wasteland 2: Make it a bit easier, accessible, for the Player to write their backstory. Give some pointers or hints about the world in some descriptive tooltip-box of some kind during Character Creation. Hover over a "?" (Questionmark) and some text pops up. Maybe have a bullet-point list of some important things~ I don't want to write "My character is an X coming from Y" and then when I play the game/progression I don't want to encounter something pointing out my own created loopholes or flaws in the story saying "There hasn't been anyone coming from Y being an X" if you catch my drift. In my opinion and experience, I find it way more fun to play as a character that makes some sort of "sense" that they are in the world. I get more invested and immersed writing a backstory. The thing is, I don't think the majority of gamers will alt+tab out of the game and research the story/lore to be able to write a "proper" character or even write anything at all. I have created many characters in Wasteland 2, but only written what I think is a proper story for 1 character. I know Pillars of Eternity will have some sort of banter early-game that creates your characters backstory so maybe this idea isn't entirely actual for Eternity, but I wanted to throw the ball here as well as I think it's a valuable addition... just in case it works. It's an "Easily Implementable Idea" as well. I think it is something to consider... what do you think?

In old IE games when you wanted to create a character with whom you could really role-play your way out of situations and unlock special dialogue options that made the story deeper you just had to pump charisma up. That of course gave you a weaker character in many situations as for many classes charisma was a dump stat. So basically some roles were more appropriate to become a role-playing character and this in some way forced you into making certain choices if you wanted to role-play. Now in PoE, because the focus has been put on giving us the chance to have all kinds of viable character types a real question is: If you want to have a role-playing-heavy character which attributes should you concentrate on? At first glance it seems that, out of the 6 attributes, the most important one will be intelligence for obvious reasons, then maybe perception, which apparently permits you to open-up new dialogues through noticing some details. Might and dexterity could be useful in some instances requiring a skill-check action. Resolve is a tricky one, it says it's basically a leadership skill but will that influence any interactions? It seems like an important one anyway. And finally constitution is the obvious dumb stat here....(or is it? ) Also, from what we can see from the latest gameplay vids, it seems that usually an attribute has to be around 14 to be able to enable certain options in interactions... Here's an attribute distribution I'm thinking about (for now) for a role-playing oriented char (total should be 71): Might: 8 Constitution: 7 Dexterity: 14 Perception: 14 Intellect: 14 Resolve: 14 So basically if you dump constitution and another sacrificed attribute you can pump all the rest of them...but of course one wonders if there is indeed a such a threshold as 14, and if it is interesting to have an attribute higher for example. But it seems you can basically get a "smart" character if you dump the "physical" attributes.. According to that, an "ideal" class it seems (at least for now) would be a non-combat oriented character, so the obvious, number one choice, would be chanter in my opinion, then priest/wizard/cipher, then it's a little more tricky.. So for now, although I'm not really complaining about this, it seems that the basic rule of intelligent-oriented characters being better role-playing characters is still valid. But for the definitive answer we have to wait for the game to release, it will all depend on what skills each class has, because this will make an intellect build viable or not. I would love to have an Aragorn-like rogue role-player who could use his intellect to pump one of his skills up in combat..

Hello, and welcome to the Eternity Showcase Character Enrichment Thread. Perhaps one day you were walking on the street or doing whoever knows what, and thinking of the standard thing (Pillars of Eternity, of course!), and you got a really cool idea for your main character. This is the thread where you try to delve back into your memories and bring out the amazingness you dreamt up on a whim. Furthermore, if you need ideas or just want people to see the glory you have invented, then this is the place! Indeed, the Eternity Showcase Character Enrichment Thread is just that! A thread where you showcase your character to enrich them. Some of you may ask "But random guy who just made his second post, isn't PE just too young for us to start? We just don't know enough about the world!", or perhaps, the primeval, "Your thread sucks!" this may be true, but remember that the way a character is made (I.E. At the beginning of the game) no one technically knows anything about the story anyway, so any such casus belli is futile. This thread isn't only for those who have made a full character complete with a genealogy and biography to boot, but also those who just have an interesting character concept that they want to share, or perhaps a rough-around the edges character they've been using since pen and paper. Anything goes here, so long as your character isn't uber haxor l33t and all that nonsense. Nobody likes a 'perfect' character. I'm looking at you Godlike players. (I kid, I kid) So, where do we all start? I'm sure you all got your thinking caps on and your keyboards ready to be mashed with all the keyboard warrior skills you have acquired on this forum. Well, the only place TO start is to sneak off to another forum filled with PnP enthusiasts trying their hand at a virtual approach to their madness, and requisition a character template for you guys to use. It is important to reiterate that this template is entirely optional, and only serves to help you guys organize a befuddled mind in need. Some of these options aren't even available to use yet, for instance, a complete list of deities or languages is simply not present. That's fine, we'll get that as-we-go, we can do without until those are a thing. Hopefully this thread will last until PE releases, and maybe longer. Well, that's all there is to it. Let's hope we see some awesome characters and such.

Companions are, and have been integral parts of party based ©RPGs for as long as I can remember. It's already been discussed to great length that, for any companion to stand out, they need an enticing back story and have some sort of meaningful relation to the story yet to unfold. The above problem is usually handled fairly well, with specific honors going to Mass Effect 2 (Garrus, Tali), Planescape: Torment (Morte, Dak'Kon) and Baldur's gate II (Several characters) However, more often than not, and not to knock those examples specifically, characters in RPG's are only really interesting from a Story & Dialogue perspective. Bioware games in my opinion are the biggest offenders of these all encompassing class systems, with Mass Effect, Baldur's gate, and Dragon age all suffering from samish companions during combat and gameplay. As an example, the Dragon Age: Origins characters all share the same skillsets, depending on their predetermined class (Rogue, Mage, Warrior) Leliana and Zevran, while both rogues, each have a different specialization initially with the former being a Bard that specialises in ranged combat and the latter being an assasin that specialises in dual wielding. They can however, given enough time to advance in level, take over each other's specialisations. Essentially everyone in their respective class has the same options of advancement. This isn't inherently problematic from a gameplay perspective, but they can all pretty much be molded into what you want them to be while you're able to carry the most desired characters into battle based on their personalities, rather than their skillsets. (ideally you'd balance both) In the aforementioned game there are two exceptions to take note of: Your Dog and Shale (a golem) both defy the class systems and have a skilltree of their own. As a Result no other companion can provide what they each provide, and vice versa. This makes them unique tactical party options. it also makes them more interesting. Games to this very day are still struggling with this very problem. If we look back, However, Planescape: Torment already did differentiate between companions & their mechanics in a big way. In planescape, the first companion you meet (and get forced to party up with) is a floating skull with, I believe one or two equipment slots, very similar to the Dog from Dragon Age in that respect. This skull, Morte, has a bunch of Unique-to-morte damage reductions as well as a taunt skill called Litanny of curses. If someone in the planes were to curse excessively, Morte would take notes (how?) and improve his taunt ability. Morte improves his attack if you manage to equip different sets of Teeth on him, and Morte can further improve his statistics through story elements and Dialogue choices, as well as the good ol` experience based levelling system. Morte is a Fighter by class, but unlike any other fighter. The next Fighter you meet is Dak'Kon. This guy is a Githzerai, a race who live in Limbo and place great emphasis on holistic knowledge and *knowing*. Anyway, this guy is actually a Fighter/Mage, but the way he operates is, he learns spells through advancing through dialogue choices involving the circles of zerthimon, if you manage to help him come to terms with the teachings of zerthimon you can further increase his stats, evolve his character bound weapon, and increase his arcane knowledge, as well as providing you, the Nameless One, with the ability to learn spells unique to this Gith, provided you're playing a mage. (and you should be) He, again, is nothing like the other companions. What both of the above have in common though, is that their advancement and unique traits are meshed into the game's story and dialogue mechanics as well as combat. They also aren't balanced perfectly in comparison to the other companions, and those two facts create a more immersive and interesting gaming experience. For the same reason Brothers: a tale of two sons was so well received. Making them diverse not only in dialogue and story, but also mechanics adds an extra layer of depth to characters, and increases player immersion and attachment to said characters. I'd like very much for this to be a bigger concern in Pillars of Eternity, as it is in my opinion, even more so than the expert writing, what sets planescape apart as a masterpiece even to this date.

So, as of the latest update (I think?) it's been a pain in the ass to move my character around (w/ mouse+keyboard). He doesn't move at all (or just barely) unless I hold down the sprint-button, and even then I can almost only move him left and right. Up and down is still a major issue. So I decided to try out my Xbox 360 gamepad instead. You'd think that this'd work better since the game was designed for use with gamepads. Nope. Wrong. No cigar there. I can't even move him an inch now. He's just tapdancing on the spot. And even when I do manage to move him, it's like trying to run through thick mud or something. Snail pace. I'm not using any emulation software, the gamepad is a wired one and I'm using the latest drivers (1.20 something). Somehow, I need to enter the options menu in the game's Main Menu, change something and then change it back (and confirm it) to be able to control the game with the gamepad. I couldn't select any choices in the menu without doing that first. Help?

A psuedo-introduction thread, because psuedo makes everything sound cooler! I believe that "Everything" is "Material". Reading some on the P:E Wikia I see relations between this board and what is being said there. I don't know if it is one way or the other (we are inspired by the Wikia or the Wikia is inspired by the forums). If the Wikia is inspired by the forums then your username and how you write here is also possibly an inspiration to characters and the world itself in P:E. So who do you see yourself as in P:E? Or as an inspirational material, what type of character would you be? Are you one of the Gods, one of the Companions? The bar owner? Are you the jester? How would you see yourself? Let me explain, when I went theater class we did some Commedia Dell Arte which is about putting on a "mask" and acting on the mask. The mask doesn't necessarily have to be like the picture seen below (there are millions of different masks, what kind of mask are you?), it could be a person, you put on and act on a different body language than your own really (Method Acting). We had one class where our homework was to go out to town and research, watch people and find one person to imitate (body language) then twist it up a notch making it hilarious and exaggerated (could get really awkward too if not authentic). A casual step forward could become a long slow motion awkward step forward. It was super fun to work with. Basically this is a thread about everyone. If you are imitated into P:E and exaggerated/twisted/tweaked similarly as explained above, do you have any "demands" on how you would wish to be presented or do you give Obsidian free reign? Getting to that awkward part where I haven't thought out ways I see myself and getting to that awkward point of presenting myself (which feels rather awkward)............. So... thinking about it a little bit, how do I see myself? As a Chanter, Cipher, Druid, Wizard or Monk. Tinkering and thinkering, friendly and passionate. A philosopher, necromancer in a sense, a Socratic individual (Socrates had to drink a vial of poison because his philosophy was not welcome, he was executed for his ways, I'd say that could be seen as "necromancy" in the eyes of the people who wanted him dead e.g., authority). Socrates was also believed to be a mad man by everyone, yet he is one of the most important historic figures for us today in philosophy. Irony right? I absolutely love to travel, Druidic and nomadic in that sense that I love the land. I intend to travel Europe next summer. When I was in Boulder, Colorado last spring I hiked a lot in the mountains and camped out as well. Boulder, Colorado is absolutely gorgeous, and they've got some pretty sweet rock climbing spots. "So Crat Es" in Latin translates to "So was the art". I like cryptic and deep riddles~information. Something that is more than meets the eye, something that can transform from one thing to another and/or deconstructed and then constructed again. I want to have an open mind and an open heart, often deciding to be positive before reading anything. A title in the Forum saying "Mini-Game", I can decide if I'm going to think "Not going to touch that blegh!" or "Oh! Mini-Games, I already get 11 ideas by the title itself!!". I've taken apart many computers just to put them back together just because I was curious. Self-aware and conscious what I am writing, how I am wording and how it is structured (where I put comas and parenthesis as well). I edit a lot post-posting because I notice structural failure when I've posted (In a sense it is like "production complete" and then I can work on polish/details). As long as the post isn't posted it is a work in progress, and there is a sense of relaxation and "rewarding success" when you've actually posted. A post is like a program, you won't notice some bugs until you've actually released it (because you didn't have the same mindset or whatnot pre-posting). I was asked once by a stranger (who felt like my sister) what my superpower was, and I told her "Kindness". I only want good. I stand with two feet on Mother Earth, and not with two feet in a country. I feel we are all family and friends on one planet, a floating big ball in space. I'm definitely a Chanter, being singer-songwriter. I like everyone here on the forums and think everyone has interesting points, thoughts and ideas Alignments A mix of Chaotic Neutral and Chaotic Good, trying to be True Neutral. Sometimes gets bitten by Chaotic Evil (in essence, being a selfish jerk), though I dislike being bitten by it and always feel bad about it (it happens you know, sometimes you've got a good day sometimes you've got a bad day). I feel strongly for having honor and a sense of duty, but not enough to touch Lawful Good. Osvir is a well thought out screen name, which started on a roleplaying board as "MaskedMan", wherein Os Vir literally translates to "Bone Man". It's my "Avatar"/"Alter Ego", like a character in World of Warcraft is (otherwise I would display my real name, I have told Obsidian my real name because they tell us their names, just felt it respectful). Os by itself can translate from Latin to English as "Mask", but seems to be more related to "Speech", "Mouth", "Lips", "Bone", "Source", "Mien", structure and presentation. Os is also "Opening", "Effrontery", "Impudence" and "Countenance". Vir can be "Lover", "Husband", "Virility", "Soldier" and "Manhood". ^I relate who I am to these, which is pretty funny and coincidental to me, been using the screen name Osvir for a couple of years now and I relate to the Latin translations. I'm a crazy and confused individual from time to time, and do weird things, but I'm not harmful, I don't bite (hard ). I'm just human like all of us. In video games I always play the good character for a more Passive Story Playthrough, and an evil character for Hack & Slash Action Playthrough and laughs. Laughs for both actually (Good/Evil). Who are you?

Hi there I heard about Pillars of Eternity about 6 hours ago, checked it out about an hour ago, and now I've thrown my money at you. There are many things that I love about RPGs, needs that I am confident will be fully satiated by this game, but the one desperate desire I wish to express this: give me one or two memorable and, hopefully, utterly mad (but in a nice way) characters. My favourite part of playing Baldur's Gate, and this is one of the best games I've ever played so there was a lot to love, was directing dearest Minsc, and his mighty Space Hamster Boo. I don't know how many times I heard him shout "Go for the eyes, Boo, GO FOR THE EYES!" but it just never got old. The thought of this Juggernaut and his two-handed death-dealing sword, tenderly taking care of a hamster (who was obviously a total badass, but no-one was capable of understanding his full badassness) made Minsc one of my fondest characters from ANY game I have ever played. Please ensure that I have at least one character, he needn't be epic in any way (the rest of the team will just have to cover), that can give me the warm fuzzies and the constant mirth that that poor, deluded, insanely strong and gentle madman gave me all those years ago. Much love

I don't think the devs have talked too much about how the character creation will be yet, but one thing I loved from both arcanum and fallout were the different strengths/flaws/perks that could make your character feel much more unique. Often times though, they are usually made to make the character stronger in some way, with only a small penalty at something at most (since most people don't want to gimp their character voluntarily). While I would like that too of course, I would also be happy to see some more serious flaws. I actually googled a little about this and found this page: http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/3.5e_Flaws Some examples from there are: 1) Favorite target = For one reason or another, you find yourself the chosen target of the enemies your party fights. 2) Fear of magic = You find magic incredible frightening. 3) Narcissistic = Your devotion to your own beuty tends to be distracting 4) Pyromania = You love setting things on fire and watching it burn! Now, I can think of a few ways on how to go about this. Either once could simply be FORCED to pick at least, say 2 of these traits to continue the character creation, so one would normally pick the least worse traits for the character they are going to build. OR, you woud at the end get these 4 traits chosen randomly for you. Of course, there should be a button to "reroll". Kinda like the dice rolling when doing your stats in the Baldurs Gate games. Usually I hate dice rolling for stats, but I think I would like a system like randomizable traits like these for some reason. To make an example for the latter, say that we are trying to do a sorcerer of some kind. Trait (1) is obviously quite the weakness for a very squishy character, and um, trait (2) would certainly be an "interesting" choice for a sorcerer... (3) Is a really small weakness, and can even be "desired" for your character depending on how you want to roleplay. Trait (4) would probably add some extra damage to your fire spells, and might also lead to some extra conversation options... Or lack thereof, if you see a village burning you cant bring yourself to stop it, and instead just admire it... Now, imagine the same scenario, with the difference that we are trying to build a tank like character. Suddenly (1) becomes a strength and not a weakness, while the others become mostly smaller annoyances to different degrees. Of course, there is one major weakness with a system like this: You might WANT to play a narcistic character, but keep clicking the "randomize traits" button over and over without it ever showing up - and when it does, the other traits are the worst possible for your specific character. It might be an idea to give the OPTION to select these traits manually, one by one. Maybe letting this be an option unlocked after the first time you beat the game? Thoughts?

I was wondering if it's possible for players to complete the game while using only your main character. I understand that a lot of these kind of games are suppose to be played with a group of characters. However, I was wondering if its even possible to go around solo. I personally like to invest in choices for just a single character, I tend to have a really hard time focusing on what every character is suppose to do, and keeping track of how i had planned to level up every single character in the party. Also, when you have like a 6 man party your main character kinda boils in the middle and loses its identity. I kinda stop feeling like that is my character in the world and i'm just playing multiple characters at the same time. Don't get my wrong, I'm not complaining about these mechanics, they are purely rightful of being in the game, and this is totally my problem. I'm just wondering if the possibility for "lone wolf" gameplay is in the game. Either that, or being able to program your companions like in the "Dragon Age" series would be pretty neat. That's actually one of the reasons that made the 1st Dragon Age a really enjoyable experience for me. It felt like I was playing co-op with the AI, giving my companions even more personality. Thanks for reading.

I don't actually make it a habit to playing games through multiple times, but like many of you when I do so I try some things differently the second time around. However, the issue I often run into is that there is a latency period at the beginning of the game before my character has had the chance to make any choices, or at least before those choices have had a chance to affect the gameplay experience. Even if later on in the game's trajectory a lot of differences do come into play, the beginning of successive playthroughs always seems to feel the most repetitive part and skipping through the same exposition cutscenes becomes a chore. Thus I wonder whether people could see the main character's backstory being customizable in the manner described in this thread, or if it's something that people feel is out of PE's scope or is undesirable regardless. Given the amount of effort being put into PE's setting, and the fact that it features multiple races, I thought it would be cool if certain elements of your character's background could even affect your character's starting location. The first objective could still be "report to large city X" or whatever it is, but this would definitely add a lot more variety in the game, as long as we were willing to part with a bit of linearity. I realize that this may interfere slightly if most locations are designed around relevance to specific quests that you're not supposed to reach until later in the game, but one would hope that there are at least enough self-justifying locations that a handful of them could be used as starting locations.

I've found the following site to be an extremely useful tool for the conceptualization and building of characters for NWN2. It's my hope that P:E includes something very similar to enable us to plan our characters from start to end. People have asked for the ability to "respec" their characters, but if one can plan the growth arc of a character properly ahead of time, this would eliminate a great many mistakes that lead to the call for "respecing". http://nwn2db.com/

What the title implies. What kinds of characters interest you. What characters you ran across that are awesome/badass/funny/great/whatever and you'd love if the develoeprs make something similar. So post here. What are some of your favorite characters. Give the writers ideas and inspirations. Me? I'd want to see something like King and his 2 bodyguards (Niels and Bohr) from Exiern. They are utterly awesome. Here are some of their moments: http://www.exiern.com/?p=1023 And if you're lazy to read to 5 strips that follow..the conclusion http://www.exiern.com/?p=1034 http://www.exiern.com/?p=1040 http://www.exiern.co.../?p=1667��(king being himself - 4 strips) http://www.exiern.com/?p=907 king and guards - 1 strip http://www.exiern.co...rn.com/?p=968�� - king beein creepy (6 strips) http://www.exiern.co....com/?p=1303��- Niels being awesome http://www.exiern.com/?p=2285 - some side humor http://www.exiern.com/?p=1083 - Bhor the maginifcent http://www.exiern.com/?p=1334 - more from king and his guards (6 strips) http://www.exiern.com/?p=1373 - "evil" Niels http://www.exiern.com/?p=2270 - Niels talking

Different types of paths and/or professions. Starting off as nothing but a commoner, the Event might not have happened or it is what happens on Square 1, opening scene or whatnot. Regardless, I'll use the "commoner" because I think that appeals to most different styles as possible. I had this idea for a mod for Baldur's Gate, instead of starting off as a "Fighter", you start off as a commoner. Going to Winthrop could make you a Bard, to the Priest and you can become a Cleric etc.etc. different types of professions instead of "just a class" that you choose during character creation. Being a commoner, we're in the first city, money is low and need cash. These different "Professions" wouldn't just be the "Class", but it could be woven into "Factions" and "Economy" as well. Having a "Proffession" generates "Income". But not only that, a different approach, from a different angle depending on which Profession/Faction you choose (to a start, you could always switch, what with Reputation). You could become a Guard, and your quests would be related to patrolling the streets, which would lead into deeper conspiracy, like the cop in L.A. Noire you start to suspect your superiors or whatnot. Anyways, your Fighter class getting stronger. Likewise, if Economy+Food also gets important somehow, becoming a Thief pickpocketing could also be a "Profession" and a way to get an "Income" going. The Thief would in turn also go his/her own path, perhaps through the Thieves Guild or even through stumbling into a Noble's house that happens to be woven into the grander scheme. With "Professions", there could be several different paths. As a Wizard and a magician, you might be granted audience with the "King", whilst a Thief might be visited by an associate to another King, when the Thief has been thrown in "Jail", leading to another "Faction". A Chanter or a Bard might seek work on the streets, or at Church, earning some little copper and in turn gets discovered by some aristocrat who pulls the Chanter in. Or perhaps you can go about and learn to master "Ancient Poetry" and spreads wisdom and investigates deep ruins. A treasure hunter who goes down deep dungeons and across land to find treasures dug down in the earth. Following in-designed riddles and clues. Some of the treasures being tied to an even greater plot. All part of the same grand plot, but simply different paths. Too much? Thoughts? Do you have any more paths that could be explored? Other Professions? Regardless if it would be too much for P:E, could it serve as inspirational material? Please, share your ideas for different types of "Fantasy" professions. Perhaps a "Monster Hunter" could be an actual profession, and at the top of it's "quest tree" you become a "Dragon Slayer" or as some would like it "Mythical Creature Slayer".

Forum search didn't turn up much specifically for this, so I thought I'd start my very first topic. (I got the idea from the Barbarian thread, 8P) What kind of problems and qualities are there in various racial bonuses and traits (sometimes penalties, for balance) from previous games, and, naturally, how could this help determine how to handle them in P:E? Personally, I'm not a fan of the "this race is basically meant to be these 2 classes, and that's it" "bonuses" that are sometimes seen in RPGs. "Sand Elves -- Suffer an inherent -3 to STR, but get 150 bonus mana!" That's basically saying "You want to make a Sand Elf Warrior? *snicker*... okay, you totally can... *snicker snicker*" Really, I don't think the penalties are even necessary at all. I mean, if a Half-Giant gets +3 to STR, then everyone else automatically gives up a +3 STR bonus by picking something other than a half-giant. A Sand Elf with no STR penalty will still always be 3 STR weaker than a Half-Giant. And bonuses shouldn't be quite so narrow, I don't think. Especially in a game based so heavily on souls being a common source of ability power, regardless of class, it's probably much less restrictive (yet still varietous) to grant our fictional, example Sand Elves +10% soul energy or something, which would apply to all classes (still hypothetically, as I have no idea how soul power will mechanically function.) I just mean that the lore would support something like that. Racial bonuses should allow for some kind of benefit to almost any class, even if it's not the same for each one (Just like a common bonus to Soul Energy might allow a Rogue to maintain Stealth for longer, whereas it might allow a Wizard to cast more spells at once, or even target more enemies with the same spell at the cost of additional energy... the mechanics of soul energy could be different for each class.) Similarly, weapon proficiency bonuses should be decently varied, if they exist, so as to account for a variety of class choices. If you grant Sand Elves a bonus to effectiveness with wands, staves, and tomes, you're basically making any non-caster class choices pointless. I mean, even if it's possible, no one's gonna make a Barbarian who runs around dual-wielding wands... So, just thought I'd strike up a communal brainstorm on the matter.

So does the game end or can we continue to treck on in the world? This could go in the category of "Narrative Second Wind" but wanted its own topic. What I am suggesting is that the main characters role is rather slim and it is the party's role that is overcome objects. Not only does this add more intensity to a solo play, but I think it might create some pretty interesting plots. And hey, if you die with your character on a solo play that's pretty much that anyways. Basically, your main character dies, and you can continue the game with the party that you have (No Gameover). With the Adventurer's Hall, some might say "That's abuseable!" but if hiring companions at the Hall actually costs gold (and more gold for higher levels) you wouldn't be able to do it over and over and over again (too much). Story-wise, one player loses his main character early game, another mid-game and someone late-game. Most people probably don't. But for those who enjoy experiencing a story (in a game) it could be a twist to the player story and adds for lots of replayability. This would mean that other party members could act as the "Front figure". Taking over the "Choice" mechanic basically. However, if one of your characters has a high reputation and dies your average party reputation should lessen (which is another question) Individual reputation? E.g., Forton has 4 Reputation, Cadegund has 3 Reputation, some Party Math Stuff makes some average rounded down to 3 Party Reputation.

I've had some thoughts on experience (most of it gathered up in my wall of text in my signature though) and how I view experience. I am slightly concerned about P:E (as thus far revealed) being tied to Objective Based experience. I like it a lot, but I'm also scratching my head about it; "Are there more ways to improve it?". Now I don't realize to what extent this is going to be implemented and "How", merely just discussing and sharing some thoughts on what I see could be an issue.. to the point: Being rewarded after getting from point A to point G. I experience a lot during the journey between A and G (B, C, D, E, F), but I will only be rewarded at G, when I have fully completed the objective. Which to me feels more like a "temp-work" kind of dealio. I contracted this job and I will only be paid at the end of it. That is what concerns me. My character going through the dungeon, facing enemies, solving mysteries and riddles, finding books, items and equipment making my character slightly stronger, but won't level up until I have finished the dungeon and returned to the surface. I view the "Objective/Quest Experience" as "Character/Player Experience", or even "Spiritual Experience". Life Experience. Insight Experience and so on. I would like to see the Character Experience and the Combat Experience differ, being two different experience tables. What your character does in the world, in terms of quests and objectives, makes your character grow in knowledge, in reputation (how the world sees you), in insight, understanding of the world, exploration and so on. Your character becomes more devoted into their Class, their way of life, as they explore the world. All "Character Experience". It doesn't define any "Physical Aspects" but only the "Mental Aspects". Knowing in theory how to swing a sword will make it easier for you to understand how to swing a sword, but will you swing a sword better because of it if you've never swung a sword before? No. You're going to be a noob like everyone else, you might be a better noob or a worse noob, the point is that you are still going to be a noob with that sword. You might learn faster, or you might learn slower depending on pre-knowledge and research. The concern I have is exactly that, with a Quest based Experience system the issue could become that my character is suddenly a Master Swordsman, regardless of Class. "Poof" like a magical smoke out of nowhere. Drawing a parallel to Baldur's Gate: Baldur's Gate has both, that both defines Character Experience and Combat Experience. It is one pool. What I am suggesting is splitting up the character in 2, but keep the way experience is gained like the IE games. BG: Quest+Combat = Leveling up 1 Experience Pool. The proposal/Suggestion: Quest = Levels up the Character/Class Combat = Levels up Combat skills -------------- Conceptual (Numbers are conceptual as well): In the IE games you take down an enemy to get 15 Experience. Your character has now 15/1000 experience to level up. As proposed, you'd still be at 0/500 experience to level up your character, but have 15/500 on combat aspects. Experience Graph IE: 15/1000 Experience Proposal: 15/500 Combat Exp 0/500 Character Exp P:E (as far I know it): N/A Combat Exp -------------- Likewise, in the IE games, finishing a Quest in those games you get perhaps 450 Experience, adding up with the pool of defeating monsters you would be at 465/1000 Experience to level, whilst as proposed you would have 450/500 experience to level up your Class, and 15/500 experience to level up your weapon. Experience Graph IE: 465/1000 Experience Proposal: 15/500 Combat Exp 450/500 Character Exp P:E (as far as I know it) N/A Combat Exp 450/1000 -------------- Perhaps the level of the Character could decide (accordingly) how fast your Combat experience grows. If you have a Level 4 Sword Experience and a Level 8 Fighter, but you want to play with a Mace instead (and it's level 1), the Mace could grow at x2-x3 times experience up to a certain point (so that Bandit that gave 15 experience is instead giving 30-45 experience). Just to make you be able to catch up with another weapon and specialize in more than one combat aspect. How does this balance the game? More importantly, how does this balance the classes? Your Rogue can be a level 5 Rogue, with specialized Combat making your Rogue a more adept sneaky bastard or a straight out close-combat martial artist. It could even make your level 5 Rogue an Adept in Magic, a Rogzard (Rogue/Wizard). Your Fighter would become a level 5 Fighter, but not at all specialized in close combat, or just so. Perhaps being an excellent tank, or a weak magical buffer. Or heck, even your level 5 Fighter is a Fighter but roleplayingly he could be seen as a Level 5 Paladin Trainee (due to his combat prowess and direction you chose to upgrade/level him).

Brainstorm = Cipher ability Hi I've had some thoughts on a system lately and it's starting to form more and more. The only issues with it (until I get feedback from lovely you ) is the Non-Lethal path (which wouldn't get as much combat skill or armor, not in the same way). First of all I've got thoughts on an Experience gain for more than just the Character and/or Out of Combat (coming soon in another issue of the WoT). Here goes: Growth Weapon Experience Sword Level 1 67/500 to Level Up (Caps at Level 5) So enemies, regular enemies, give experience, but only to the weapon you are wielding when taking down enemies. When you gain a level in the Weapon you could gain an "Ability" or choose between 2 (X-COM style). Having a weapon in your Off-Hand levels both that Weapon and your Off-Hand. In essence this is what the Baldur's Gate "experience" really is. Gain experience when you've taken down an enemy, not by slashing. Off-Hand Experience Off-Hand levels in a way which gives you a better Shield-Arm, or a better Dual-Wielding experience. Magic Tools do not grow in Experience in the same way. Off-Hand can be split up into 3 4 5 6 Sections (you know what? Let's just say "Undecided"). Works just like Weapon Experience in that you "Gain Experience in that you are Wearing". If you choose to have 2 Swords you'll get Dual-Wielding Experience, having a Two-Handed Weapon gives you Two-Handed Experience. You can't get Experience for 2-Handed when you've got a Sword & Board etc. etc. if you get Level 3 with a Sword and Equip a Sword on an Off-Hand would give the Sword Experience on the Off-Hand a Penalty (based on Dual-Wielding). If Dual-Wielding is Level 3 and the Sword is Level 3, no penalties, but if Dual-Wielding is Level 2 and Sword is Level 3, the off-hand Sword becomes Level 2. Simple? Magic Wielding works in the same way differently and covered throughout the post. - One-Handed Experience (One weapon, 1 Sword) - Sword & Board Experience (In Essence Sword & Shield) - Two-Handed Experience (Single Two-Handed Sword, Staff is a Hybrid) - Dual-Wielding Experience (Two Weapons, Sword/Sword) - Magic Wielding Experience (Off-Hand Grimoire/Magic Tool, Staff is a Hybrid) - Unarmed Experience (Fighting with knuckles, a Hybrid with a Grimoire) Spell Experience Is different, and based on your Character Level and resources (finding scrolls/buying scrolls at a merchant/Wizard) as well. A Magic Missile would shoot 2 Missiles at Character Level 3. But! Magic Wielding Experience makes Spells stronger and leveling up Magic Wielding could give you 2 abilities to choose from (X-COM style) to determine Effects of the Spell (Fire Magic Missiles? One Large Magic Missile that is charged longer?). Armor Experience The Armor is purely resource based like Spells. But more like a Skill Tree in your Inventory/Equipment screen. You slay a Bandit, you grab some resources to be able to Upgrade your own armor in your inventory (No "Light Armor, Medium Armor or Heavy Armor Skill" <- Based on Character Level). Some Armor Upgrades must be done by a Craftsman in town, whom you must pay gold to Upgrade your Gear. Armor has no Levels entirely, but that [Tier] Armor would have 3 slots that you can upgrade in 2 different ways each (X-COM style). Unlocking more Armor (Higher Tiers) requires Character Level Growth. Finally, it's not like you are going to be able to strap on that guys armor that you just cleaved in half. Character Level This is purely dependent on Questing, "Experience is only gained at the end of a Journey when you Understand it". This level determines the Armor you can wear (Tier 1, 2... 4) Weapons you use (Tier 1, 2... 4) Spells you can cast (Level 1, 2... 9). General Strength Growth. More Armor slots in your Inventory (Helmet, Gloves) a linear simplified License System (FF12). Progression/Summary You have to take down enemies to get resources, taking down enemies makes you better at wielding your weapon and looting enemies gives you better equipment. To be able to wear more equipment, or better equipment, you have to do Quests to grow in Level. As a Level 1 character you are limited to the gear you are Limited to basically. This system is very combat centric, like every system out there really. Non-Lethal Approach (Feedback and thoughts needed!) Work in progress. This is difficult because from my perspective it is a playstyle, the stealth approach. I would play with 3 party members, max 4, in a stealth approach. Mostly light armor wearing characters, more than that would feel more and more as an "attention" gatherer (Really, 6 party members in a City and specially in a dungeon would gather more attention). Stealth is a difficult matter regardless in a Party-Based game like P:E, Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment. It is doable of course, but designing an open world with it in consideration I believe is very difficult, it's like building one game inside another games. Magic & Tools Next on the list is Magic and Tools of Magic. How do you use Magic and what are the tools for it? Who can use it? The Grimoire of Dark Arts All Magic, Arcane, Blood, Elemental, Necromancy and so on. Needed for the most powerful ritualistic Magic. These examples below portray the "Main Weapon" Strength, the Grimoire is really the Power tool and the Spells within it. Grimoire+Hand would throw spells from the Grimoire real fast, but it would also be weaker than throwing spells with a Wand. Having a Sword in your Main Hand would allow you to cast spells with the sword at a long range but it would really be weak. You could send your Sword (Force Throw) at enemies, enchant the Sword with powerful Magic and so on. * Hand & Grimoire: Arcane, Fastest & Weakest. * Wand & Grimoire: Arcane, Fast & Weak. * Dagger/Sword & Grimoire: Blood Magic. Weak Arcane Magic. The Crystal of the Mind Mind-Magic/Psionic, a Cipher's tool. Usable by a Wizard too. Holy Scripture and the False Word/Song Paladin, Chanter and Priest. Using a Grimoire on a Paladin/Chanter/Priest makes them "Fallen" or "Corrupted" in the Eyes of their Faith. Poems, Songs, Chants, Partiture The Chanter's tool for singing, a Rogue, Monk and a Priest can use it well too. Staff * The Druid's Tool of choice. Strong Elemental Magic, if Staff's aren't necessarily 2-Handed (putting a sword in an off-hand) the Magic would be weaker but the Wizard/Druid could fight close range better. A Grimoire and a Staff would cast slow strong Magic. Only having a Staff on a Wizard would let him cast the strongest Low-Tier to Mid-Tier as well as some limited High-Tier Magic. Mon, Druid, Wizard and Chanter preference. * A Monk could use the Staff to channel Elemental Magic for close range (Hitting the Earth with the Staff sends an avalanche or a rock slide towards the enemy). This is really interesting (IMO) for a Monk because the Monk doesn't necessarily "strike" the enemy but asks for the aid of the Soul of the Land. A horizontal wavering with the Staff could send a Wind Slash at enemies. * The Wizard would use the Staff as a power tool, whilst the Druid uses it as a Naturalist. Using the Nature in combination with their Faith, giving and taking. A Wizard would only take from the land when using Elemental Magic, without giving anything back (Which could give other consequences). A Druid could very much dislike a Wizard holding a Staff. * Chanters use the Staff to vibrate their voices, as if tuning, enhancing their voices and/or in a way to shatter bones and nerves with a powerful verse of sound, vibration and frequency. Metal Staff's purely. With this list went through, could Items determine the Class? Multi-Classing I've got a Fighter, I go through the first prologue area (take down some enemies along the way) I get slightly better with a Sword & Board (not even close to leveling it up, 1/5th of the first level perhaps), got some better gear from the resources I gathered. I get to town, finish the first initial Quest and I gain 1 Character Level (Now Level 2). I remember Obsidian saying something about "Quick fast early levels". I'm in the first town and I've got some gold so I can upgrade my armor at the Craftsman, maybe there is 1 Companion or 2 in this town that I can recruit as well. As the Equipment Screen is like a "Skill-Tree" I choose to go to the Wizard and upgrade my Off-Hand to a Grimoire instead, so now my Fighter is in essence a Fighter/Wizard. I can keep a Shield in the inventory and switch around for situations between Grimoire and Shield. Likewise, if I make a Wizard and I pick up the Sword I suddenly have a Wizard/Fighter. Using the Grimoire in battle and taking down enemies would not give me Sword & Board experience (as it isn't equipped) but instead experience in Magic Wielding. With Items and Equipment being tied to Classes, you could make a Chanter a Chanter/Druid, or a Druid a Druid/Barbarian and so on and so forth. Being able to upgrade the armor accordingly to your "Build". In Baldur's Gate there is a limited amount of experience that you can get, so choosing a Build early is important for the Growth of your character (Unlike TES, where Experience is Abundant and you could become a Master at Everything). Have a great wonderful day And of course... thoughts?

Hello all, Just a thought that would add a lot of detail into character creation... What if we could choose the race of the parents and grandparents of your character, to produce a more diverse character? Ex - human and elf grandparents, human and human parents = 1/4 elvenkind. Thoughts?

What information is available on this? For some reason ive seen little discussion on the topic. Can we expect sliders, portraits or a choice of premade faces and minimal alterations? If there's one thing modern rpgs have done right, it must be the ways we can customize our characters appearance, deepening the immersion and personalization of the game. If i missed any obvious choices, do tell.

I hope that our soul is not just a mere plotdevice and that it has a significant impact on gameplay mechanics. I think it has potential to offer a complete unique gaming experince. The perspective our devs have i hope is more on line with P:T and MotB. My thoughts about a "Soul" progression starts with "Soul Aspects" and a "Soul Map" Like this there could be beacons to show you on which path your soul is wandering. Imagine this, You start at the center of the "Journey" your soul takes Your actions, how you treat, talk to other NPC's in regard of those aspects will move your soul in the related areas. How near your soul moves to those aspects will grant your character bonuses even extra attributes. (Each aspect should reward you in some way) The NPC's would probably react to your "soul" some positive , some negative . It would depend on the NPC's character The downside is, this kind of a system renders alignment selection obselete, since you are determining who you are through your actions. Is this kind of a system a good idea? Would you like to see something like this? If yes, what Aspects and bonuses would you like to see?