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Hey Even though we have no specific information regarding how magic system will exactly work, I have been thinking about what magic systems I would like to see get some attention. Buffs - My main problem here is the time spent applying buffs on a regular basis after rest/before battle/before conversation/pick you system. Can we have some buff-dedicated slots that would refresh automatically as long as I have the spell memorized? I had an idea that would work in BG - Imagine sacrificing one spell slot to have one spell permanently(within limits) activated. I would gladly sacrifice a LVL1 and LVL2 slots, to have for example Shield and Blur always active. Magic balance - I admit this is a very difficult thing to do, but I would like to see it get some attention. My problem here is the difference between melee classes and magic classes in regards to their hindrance in the world. Through the dozens of RPGs I have played as a caster, you find more than one enemy that is immune or extremely resistant to your magic however you never encounter an enemy that would be immune to melee. Of course there are exceptions to both sides (but these are rare and usually include very powerfull enemies that would have both immunities) however I feel that the enemies that are immune to mgic outweigh hose that are immune to melee. What other magic system do you feel you would like to have removed/added/adjusted?

Like the title says I would love to hear your builds that would fit well together. 1 Tank 1 Melee DPS 1 Ranged 1 Magic 1 Healer Custom characters all. Thanks in advance!

Since I last started the game, the area of effect templates when placing spells have completely disappeared. This is quite bad for gameplay, since I don't know which targets I'm hitting. Is this a known bug? What can I do? Or is their something in the settings that causes this? (can't remember I changed anything, though) I use the game with GOG Galaxy, so all updates should be there and I even repaired the installation but nothing changed. Please help!

Because atm they are underwhelming and un-fun. Complained in 1 about that as well. Saying this after a complete playthrough. DnD spells (in any DnD game up to now) were impactful - they felt powerful. PoE spells (except the best spell in the game- chill fog), even with a large amount of perception and accuracy, are unreliable and not worth casting except for crowd control in some situations. See much better results with non-wizards in my party. And the new grimoire/spell system is not intuitive at all. Every grimoire has assortments of spells that I don't like tbh and re-training seems a must for every wizard. With these spell/element resistances in the game, if wizards can not versatile, they end up being useless in half of the fights. Why not let us write our own grimoire and use that as a gold sink as well?

Hi Everyone ! [& Devs included, if you're coming by ! ] Josh was recenty talking about Quarterstaffs & I wanted to talk about Magic Staffs (in D&D type of Game). For 20+ Years now, we've always had those "Two-Handed Melee only Staffs". Moreover, most of them where somehow, kinda Sh**ty in my opinion. But here's the thing, we've never had Big "Ranged" Magic Staffs, that shoots Magic Bolts of whatever you want (Let's say Minelotta's type of projectiles, would be a perfect exemple for that). Pillars Of Eternity was the perfect Game, & perfect Setting (with Archmages being around & quite common in Eora), to finally introduce this ! But it's not here, & I think it lacks a lot. It would bring more Diversity, Unique Playstyle, Unique Visual Animations, Awesome Epic Loots for Mages (Unique Skins for big Archmages fights), diverse types of damage, (just random guessing here but for exemple : Ice, Corrosion, Fire, etc). Instead we continue to get these Short unappealing Sticks, Wands, Rods, or whatever they're called. I have to insist on "Unappealing" because... Really, these things are not that cool. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From a Visual standpoint only, it would feel more Rewarding, & especially "SATISFYING", to see Aloth (or PC) wearing one awesome Magic Two-Handed Ranged Staff, instead of those Sushy-Grabber Sticks we're always getting. Plus, I'd assume it would be wayyy easier for a developper to make a Gorgeous Unique looking Skin for a Big Magic Staff, than it is to make one for a Short Wand that we can barely see In-Game anyway. I'm really wondering why bother making unique visuals for Sticks, that we can't see most of the time In-Game. But anyway... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I asked Josh about this & (Thanks to him), he responded : But again, "Rods" translate as Short Wands (Baguette Magique) to me, like, something small. I don't know if you get the difference I'm pointing at, between : Une "Baguette Magique" & Un "Bâton Magique" So, there you go, I think Ranged Magic Staff lacks a lot, & are very interesting. In terms of : Mechanics it can bring. Auto-Attacks Animations (you can create really Stylished Moves & Cool Projectiles). Probably Easier to work with, when it comes to create Unique Skins. Are Visually, a lot more Satisfying & Rewarding to wear on a Character. Repeating myself, but Pillars was the perfect New Game coming around (at the time), to introduce this. I hope they'll take a look at it, iterate on it, & maybe consider this in the future. Thanks for reading ! PS : I think visually Unique Mage Robes were lacking aswell, but hopefuly they'll do something about this in Deadfire !

I think this subject may interest some people, One of my concern on the 1st Pillars Of Eternity was that we'd get to know & see, every possible Enchantments we could do, like, from the very begining of the Game. And never had the opportunity to find that great treasure containing that awesome new Recipe for Weapons, Armor, Shields or Hats. Pretty sure it was a lack of time and ressources problem for you to make it happen. But now, killing Concelhaut, or Any Archmage should have this feature in Deadfire. Sneaking in his/her own private Library, looking for Unique Spells & Enchantments that only a powerfull Archmage know about. If I'm a Rogue, or have a Rogue, and sees that, an Archmage keeps his personal Grimoire in his desk. I'd like to have the possibility to sneak in at night, and steal it ! Obviously, Yselmir should manisfest & tell the Hero : "Hey, why not steal this Grimoire from him ?". Of course, Aloth, like the p*ssy he is, (I like Aloth...^^) would instantly disagree : "You can't do that ! it's one the most powerfull Mage's Grimoire in Eora, he must have protected it with all kinds of dangerous spells ! Even put a Curse that prevent others to use it !" etc, etc. Ok, all of this to say, I'd like Unique (hidden) Recipes in terms of Enchantments primarily, and maybe Weapons & Stuff in Deadfire. I hope they will be able to push that feature further this time around.

I hope we'll have a great Spell System, similar to what was done in Tyranny. Also from Tyranny, the whole "Cooldown Ability" thing was good aswell. & what about this :

After playing through Pillars, my opinion on standard Vancian casters sorta changed: the basic impression remained the same, but the usefulness of them did shine through. I am still not impressed by a Priest(just take a Paladin...? Seems more useful), but the other two are just fantastic. So where is the problem? Chanters / Ciphers / Monks etc. Per encounter resource builders as opposed to standard Vancian casters. This is the part of impression that remained the same. Let me elaborate: I feel that Vancian casting systems(Druid etc) should exist only in Vancian settings. What are those settings? Those are settings that allow you to rest whenever, wherever as long as there are no enemies nearby(think BG, NWN etc). This is important because of one thing I'll mention here. In semi Vancian settings(say Pillars), you have TWO LAYERS to spellcasting: STRATEGIC(long term resource management) and TACTICAL(what to use, when to use etc...short term in battle decisions) layers. Strategic layer exists because you can't just rest whenever / wherever(camping supplies). This part of equation is completely VOID / "LACKING" in a standard Vancian setting. Thus you have only one layer to it that is often very fun: TACTICAL. Thusly, you can freely buff your party, debuff enemies, fling fireballs etc as you wish.You CAN'T do that in Pillars(unless Cipher, Chanter etc). And this is one of those things that, rightfully if you ask me(though I do understand why it is in there: kickstarter backers requested it), infuriated a lot of players: even with AI, you can't use "per Rest" abilities as you would in, say, BG II or NWN. Then I saw the Gamescom Tyranny video and I noticed there are no Chanters / Ciphers etc. Only spellcasters(Entropy / Frost etc). This made me think: will Obsidian make the right choice and abandon Vancian casting for good? I mean, it's not like Obsidian has ANY links with DnD anymore, thusly they can FREELY ADAPT the rules(think of Homebrewed Warhammer Fantasy 9ed rules or the difference yet eerie similarity between WHFB and Warmachine). And why would they use Vancian rules in a system that actively suppresses it? edit: I agree that adding in a strategic layer is ok as opposed to simply spamming(basically) willy nilly, but this way does not work imo. What do you think? Should Vancian spellcasting remain a part of future Obsidian RPGs or should they adapt Cipher etc mechanics and go full tactical mode? Is Vancian spellcasting antiquated?

I don't know if it's how the rules work, if it's a bug, or just me not using the interface right so I'm asking this here: Ezren's Expanded Spellbook lets him try to draw a spell each time he uses an Arcane spell. But when he uses a spell that's displayed for the turn (like stat boosts or mirror image), it doesn't really work. I think that I sometimes get to use that power when the spell is recharged at the end of his turn (never at the end of someone else's turn). Shouldn't Ezren get to use the Expanded Spellbook when he casts the spell, rather than when it ends? Similarly, if I use an attack spell, I don't get to draw until after the fight is finished and I'm doing the recharging roll, which is a problem when the upcoming card was an Armor spell that I'd have needed.

Hello I have some questions about Wizard in general, and some tips for my kind of vision about my character. In general i want a Wizard, that stays mostly at secound or even third line, but deals much demage and here i have some questions. 1. What is the best (in you opinion) stat menagment for this kind of build, i know that probably Might, but im asking about more stat distrubution in general, for example if you where playing this kind of a wizard, how many might, intelect, resolve, dex you would you take ? 2. What type of armor would you guys recomend for this type of character ? Im personaly thinking about something between Robe and Breastplate, im not asking of course about protecion and speed reduction only, but also about possible enchantments good for Wizard, from what i seen in wiki, Robes have best enchantments for Wizard ? Im right ? 3. I know that weapon is not most important thing about mage, especially at later levels. But at the begining weapon is possibly some times life saver (Becouse lack o spells), im personaly thinking about gun Blunderbuss, is taking this weapon for mage have any sense ? 4. If my build in general would be a mage in robe with blunderbuss what type of talents would you take ? 5. Skill question, I knew that takeing few point in athletics is a good idea, also lore seems to look good. My question is about Mechanics (in witch Wizard gets one) and survival, which is better in your opinion ? I personaly dont see my Wizard disarming traps, sneaking etc. If i take Athetics (4 point) Lore (10) and rest to Survival it whoud be good option ? Im asking not only about cold tactical calculation, but alsto about how many times those skills are used in dialog ? 6. Dream Team, what is your perfect team for a Wizard, expecionally Wizard with a Gun, and also how whoud you equip/ and develop rest of your team ?

And I think the Magic Missile spell is a good example of what I don't like about magic in Eternity. (For those who don't know, Magic Missile is a D&D level 1 spell that most wizards or sorcerers start out with). The Magic Missile spell was awesome in the old IE games because it scaled with your level--the higher your level, the more missiles you could shoot, the more missiles you could shoot the more damage you could do. It was great. That made the Magic Missile spell useful even at high-levels. It was also a great visual indicator of character growth. When I hit level 2 in Baldur's Gate, for example, I don't feel like I'm getting stronger because I can do slightly more damage and have slightly better stats--I feel stronger because instead of shooting out one dinky missile, I shoot two. And then hours later when my wizard is blasting 10 missiles from each fingertip--that feels truly badass. Which brings me to Pillars of Eternity. None of the magic (that I've seen so far) scales with the player, so low-level spells very quickly lose relevance. There are also no visual or mechanical changes to the spells... and that's really disappointing to me. I love Pillars of Eternity, don't get me wrong: it's almost everything I'd hoped it would be. But I always play a wizard/sorcerer character in games like this, so it's disappointing to see that Pillars of Eternity is yet another in a long list of CRPGs that simply fails to (even try to) reach the same level as the old IE games.

Hey all! I know these "choose my class" threads are painful, but as I wasn't around for the beta test, I'm gonna need you scholars to aid me in my quest. So my favorite game of all time is BG2: SoA and my favorite class by far is the Sorcerer. I love being able to snare and nuke enemies with all sorts of shiny spells and see my enemies laying before me when the dust clears. Would the obvious choice for this be wizard? I also read somewhere that druids were better for exploding enemies more efficiently from a DPS standpoint. What do you guys think? Also, any recommendations for a fight/cleric type class. My second favorite would have to be a flashy melee type fighter that can buff and charge in chunking enemies like a pro. I guess pally would be ideal? Thanks a bunch all.

Hey guys, by now you have probably noticed my tendency to sporadically put up very generalized polls, and this is my latest effort. Essentially, I'm asking everyone to think very hard about why fantasy appeals to us, being fully honest with ourselves in the process. I think that we often tend to fall prey to the allure of crusading under the "fantasy" banner, without really considering what it is about fantasy that specifically appeals to us. There are many potential answers for this, and I believe that they have different implications for design philosophy, so I think it's important that this is considered. Poll answers are anonymous for the record.

Hey I what to know 1 thing. What do you thing about Priest that are devoted to "Mystical magic gods" ... It allways has weird to me that they can use fillplates and only have "some" of mistical spells. What about priest/wizard crossovers.. So masters of spells, with no abilitis in fight and hp points. The first that will die in a 1-20 lvl and the most powerfull in 30lvl beyond .. what do you think about adding possibility of playing this type of chars (useing both devine and mistical spells) ?

This is a bit of musing on crafting, but I just thought of some interesting things lately. I've been playing a lot of Minecraft lately, with basically a magical-stuff mod, and you have to research to discover specific recipes, and you craft things with a combination of traditional crafting (assembling physical items according to a recipe) AND magical crafting (almost alchemy; you break things down into fundamental components, called "essentia," and you reassemble these essentia into altogether different materials/objects). Most of the time, it doesn't really have anything to do with physical crafting. For example, you can "invent" the magical-affinity metal, Thaumium, via research. Then, you can make from it anything you can make from any other metal (swords, tools, armor, etc.). So, 2 main things here: 1) Crafting like this could address a lot of the "why would you go from being a nub to being a master armorsmith?" concerns and such involved with "regular" crafting. You could, for example, invent something like Thaumium, then take that, as simply a raw material, to someone who actually is a master of shaping it and crafting actual equipment. And/or, you could get equipment made, then modify it using magical means. 2) Research could be a very nice change from the typical "here are the recipes for things, and you just learn them as you improve your skill" thing. You'd start with basics, and you could advance what you want to advance through research. Want to learn how to make all the best metal/material enhancements? Research metal and materials. Want to make all the best potions? Research the various animal parts and herbs and such. You could still find/acquire any number of recipes through other means (and I sure hope you do, regardless of whether or not anything even resembling research is in as one method of finding out some grouping of recipes). Another notable thing? This gives loot items in the world value, besides just typical loot sale value. Two values, in the case of the Minecraft mod. A) I can use up things to research, based on their various magical aspects (fire, metal/ore, earth/soil, animal/life, etc.), and B) I can break those things down into those essentia if I need to make other things from them. In fact, these things don't even have a sale value in Minecraft. There's not really anyone to sell to. You can barter some things, as far as I know (somewhat random offers), but you can't ever acquire money that you then use to spend universally on any other things. So, it's interesting. I loot all the stuff I need, and the rest? I couldn't care less about it. "I've already researched the crap out of that... don't need it anymore." Or "I've got plenty of stuff made out of fire essentia, so I don't need that." Etc. I'm not saying we copy Minecraft here, and just use the exact same system. But, it did get me thinking. It's not your super-typical, bland "I just make slightly better swords and armor as I go along, out of slightly better and better metals" crafting, and it brings a lot to the table that could, at the very least, be considered and utilized to varying extents. Thoughts?

What sort of rare magical items would you like to see in P:E? Here are some ideas. Lantern of Soothing Light - Regenerates HP over time. 10 ft. radius. Lantern of Searing Light - Harms Undead, as the spell. Lantern of Blinding - Medium range. Fort negates. Censer of Disease Protection - +4 Fort vs Airborne Disease. 10 ft. radius. Skull of Undead Detection - Long range. Emits creepy low frequency choral effect. Cube of Fiend Summoning (Hellraiser) - Requires Intelligence check and Will save to operate. (Some items must be equipped in either the main-hand or off-hand to activate). Other possible items: Let your imagination run wild! Orb / Sceptre / Statuette / Figurine / Idol / Book / Tome / Prayer Beads / Decanter / Jug / Tankard / Goblet / Candle / Periapt / Charm / Stone / Seal / Tablet / Skull / Creature [-Head / -Organ / -Eye] / Gem / Prism / Incense / Mirror / Chime / Egg Example - Censer of Disease Protection (active while equipped in off-hand).

Define immersive and don't forget to explain why that should be a goal of every role-playing game, then maybe I'll be able to see the logic. [above quote taken from "Obsidian why you stop?] This exchange struck a chord with me because I'd been pondering similar in my local tabletop group. It seems to me that what they are actually debated is computer-assisted immersion versus human-generated immersion. The former is unlikely to ever completely replace the latter. Game design, dialogue, plot, tropes, all of these are equally important. So that's one question: is artificial reality a chimaera? My second question is the old social one: is the drive for augmentation producing 'flabby' minds? That is, children derive a healthy benefit from using their imaginations, and heavy computer-augmentation of fantasy is weakening development?

This is just a poll to see what people's general preferences are in terms of how much "magic" is necessary in the fantasy genre, and whether certain forms of magic are preferred to others. As such, the poll questions do not directly pertain to wishes or expectations to Project Eternity, but I feel it would be worthwhile to survey the community anyway; the results should prompt interesting discussion regarding Project Eternity. I had to rush the poll a bit, but hopefully it suffices.

I am not going to make a poll in this thread but the recent update by Tim Cain does raise questions about the intended direction of economy in Project Eternity. There hasn't really been a thread on this before (There's been a couple on specific elements such as economy related to magic or difficulty, or currencies), but not a discussion of the economy in itself. So I am making this thread for us to discuss economy in Project Eternity. To start off the thread properly I'll need to do a fairly good main post so I'll try to cover everything I can think of. I'll try and open the discussion from the perspective of the player's wealth as it is really the only thing that the designers have to be weary of in the game. We know the inputs to player wealth in the game (perhaps not all of them, but enough to talk about) - so I think the discussion should be about the value of those inputs, the outputs of which the player spends their wealth. Inputs to player wealth: Items found Money found Skills (Crafting, Stealing etc) Quest rewards Outputs from player wealth: and as per this post on the Something Awful forums it seems that one of the purposes of it is as a money sink for players who don't necessarily do much with the Stronghold Buying new items Paying for Crafting Paying for magical service (Healing, Restoration, Identification etc) Repairing items (currently) Player House Player Stronghold Quest inputs (eg. Paying the Shadow Thieves for transport to Spellhold in BG2) I don't think this discussion should be particularly about multiple currencies or anything specifically but by all means feel free to talk about them. My input I'll start off by saying I'm not a huge fan of Item Durability proposed in Update 58 and as per this post in the Something Awful forums it seems that one of the purposes of Item durability is as a money sink for the player in case they do not invest in the Stronghold. My suggestion here would be to remove item durability from the game and focus on other outputs from player wealth instead. Is it important that if a player does not invest in the stronghold that there be other money sinks in the game to circumvent the amount of wealth they will still have from doing so? Should the economy be balanced so that if the player wants to invest in the stronghold they might have to sacrifice other outputs? Outputs themselves are also probably affected by skills (such as bartering might reduce the cost of items or increase the cost of sold items etc, we can't be sure until we see the full skill tree). Here are some brief suggestions to get the ball rolling Buying items should be expensive Having a vendor craft items for you should be more expensive than doing it yourself for the convenience it offers Paying for magical service should be expensive There should be hopefully many quest options where you can use player wealth (paying for bribes etc) to garner specific outcomes. "Conscience do cost." Selling items should get you a minimal fraction of the item cost, perhaps influenced by reputation or a skill such as bartering if one exists Keep the money you find or are given in the game down Artifact crafting could have a high money cost like BG2 Limit the junk item sell value to 1gp or currency equivalent in game Expeditions: Conquistador also had a nice price/demand system for their trading that might be worth considering. Personally I don't think the player having excess 100K gold is an issue, but there are definitely ways to bring that number down excluding Stronghold investment. Anyway there's some points to discuss. I'm sure everyone else has heaps of ideas as well. Bring on the micro/macroeconomics enthusiasts etc.

What do you fink about power limits in eternyty shoud it be like jrpg 1 hit everythng burns or more realistic ?

Just had some ideas about the wizard and Druid classes and wanted to see what people thought. It's been mentioned a few times that the class's are adaptable so I was wondering what people thought of being able to focus the wizard more on their familiars creating a sort of summoner/Pokemon trainer class. How vulnerable will familiars be in game could they be used melee combat or would they be to easily destroyed. How many familiars can you have at once would having several engaged in combat unbalance the game. Could they be used out of combat for non combat skills (like having a flying creature carry you) Could you use a grimior to summon powerful limited time creatures I would like to see more diversity in the kinds of creates you can have beyond the basic glowing animal kind of thing but I'm not sure what direction it should go For Druids it has been said that they take on different forms but the whole turn into a wolf thing has been done to death I think it would be more interesting if they took on aspects of different animals like claws of the wolf for melee combat, speed of the hare as a boast. It would also be a lot easier to represent this in game because you could have something like a set of ghostly claws appear over the characters hands similar to a piece of equipment rather than the full transform.

Mog is one of my favorite characters ever, and his dance abilities are really powerful. Not really advocating for a "dance" but the thing about it that made it special (in my opinion) was how it changed the "environment". Could illusion spells be visually stunning? When the Wizard casts the illusion the calm wooden area transforms into a fiery scenery or burning hell, panicing the enemies. Or Horror makes it look like ghosts are floating spectrally in and out around them. How mean can the illusions be, and could they also be so great that they could extend someone's life, enhancing the willpower of others. Or to escape. It'd be fun with an illusion where you create pitfalls, and if an enemy walks into it they stumble and get stunned laying on the ground for 1 turn~. An illusion that makes them encumbered, making them believe they are wearing more than they can, as if the metal armors suddenly began to wear a couple of tons each. TL;DR: Environmental and Visual/Graphical Illusion Spells. Thoughts?

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?

In D&D, resurrection needed diamonds. Some other games made spells require ingredients as a general rule. In P:E, what do you guys think about some higher level spells requiring ingredients? Or lower-level spells requiring ingredients? Middle-level spells? All spells? Any spells? Perhaps these ingredients are similar ingredients used in enchanting or crafting. Maybe not. What do you think?

Casting Spells. Throwing spells. Not summoning spells (unless, a Summoner of course...). My point is should the Wizard lunge a fireball? Should he wave his arm horizontally as he shoot out an energy flux of magic missiles? Should the Wizard "dance" as he's pulling the forces of the mysterious unknown? Avatar: The Last Airbender, springs lots of thoughts. I'm personally standing on the "if resources allow" side. But damn.. it would be so freaking badass cool... http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=oCXHi0kFucc#t=78s EDIT: Not that^ flashy, look at the movements of the characters. Reduce it reasonably to a fantasy setting like Baldur's Gate. I think the animation in Baldur's Gate is some singing hand magic jazz hands, in Dragon Age: Origins (and World of Warcraft), Skyrim too, the Wizard lifts one arm or something and that's that.