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I have this character concept of a cipher who have a perception filter similar to grieving mother but a little more complex, that gives him the appearance that would matter to observer so she can learn more about people, changing his race and sex to the eye of who sees her. Could someone please make this possible? maybe changing these traits so they can be added by console like with classes

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?

We have several sort of brainstorming threads in here now, for various things (wondrous items, creatures, factions, etc.), and I just thought it might be fun/interesting to brainstorm some traits. Since we don't know exactly what all mechanics will exist to be affected by traits, or exactly how they will work and be affected by things, the general idea of how a trait will work is what I'm going for. An idea that can be adapted to mechanics, even if it has to be less vague until we know more specifics. They can be more like backgrounds (as in Arcanum), or simply character qualities (like in Fallout). I personally love the Shadowrun PnP style of having both positive and negative traits (Edges and Flaws), separately, that one must balance out in a given character. So, here are a couple from my mind (Keep in mind that I'm separating them into positive/negative effects, a la Shadowrun; If you have 5 points worth of positive traits, you have to balance that with -5 points of negative ones, in that system, just for example. Many of these could be paired into a single trait, like in Fallout): Clumsy (detriment): You tend to fall more often than stumble. You generate more noise than the average person, while sneaking, and you suffer a penalty to disarm and knockdown checks. Your attack rolls below 5 result in the fumbling of your weapon, costing you one attack's worth of delay in order to retrieve it. Keen Aim (benefit): You are particularly steady-handed and sharp-eyed when it comes to combat. Your base range with all ranged weaponry is 15% greater than other people's. Arachnophobia (detriment): Arachnids instill a terror into your very marrow. Whenever you are within 30ft of an arachnid, your panic results in penalties to both attack and defense (does not stack with multiple arachnids). Whenever an arachnid enters your melee engagement radius, you will automatically target that arachnid, and cannot offensively target anything else until that arachnid is either dead or once again outside of melee engagement (you can still move/flee and target allies/yourself with abilities). NOTE: Obviously, this one would only be possible if arachnid enemies were at least fairly common throughout the game. Silken Voice (benefit): The very sound of your voice is soothing. Those who converse with you tend to be calmer from the start, and slower to anger or agitation whenever emotions are sparked.

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.

Okay, I can tell I'm going to make a fool of myself and my limited knowledge of the DnD system used by the games that have inspired Project Eternity, but oh well. Traits and statistics. The qualities and numbers, respectively, that define our characters. What would we like to see in Project Eternity? It might be intuitive to think that Project Eternity will mirror the classic cRPGs in this regard, but there is always room for innovation. ============================================================================= Statistics broadly fall into two categories: basic and derived. Basic statistics tend to be ones that you the player can directly change during character creation or leveling, whereas derived statistics are things like Hit Points, Fatigue, Mana/Magicka, saving throws, and combat statistics like attack/to hit and armor class/defense scores. I'll admit, I'm not an expert on the latter in the DnD system (though I generally find the trifecta of Hit Points, Fatigue, and Mana to be sufficient), and this post is primarily concerned with the former. Among the most commonly used statistics in video games are those concerning fundamental attributes/ability scores; Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma in the familiar DnD system. This scheme is tried and true, but there is no reason I see why it cannot be deviated from. It's not as simple as coming up with words that sound nice, though; if one attribute is less utilized than the rest, it will inevitably become a worthless dump stat. The current system works because each ability score is equally integral, and I like to think they can be further broken down to reveal their true essence. Evidently one could probably decompose "attributes" endlessly in this manner ("what is running speed but the combination of leg muscle and reflexes?", etc.), but at some point we must draw a line and ultimately ask whether the groupings are logical. Here is a likely incomplete list of what these actually measure in my opinion, or rather things that an ideal system could possibly measure: Physical: Raw physique (which influences melee damage, ability to perform physically demanding tasks, and maximum encumbrance), endurance (the attrition rate of fatigue), balance, speed (in the form of acceleration and agility), "dexterity" (as I describe manual skill and/or hand-eye coordination), reflexes (reaction speed, dodging), "constitution" (innate resistance versus poison and disease), sensory acuity, and physical attractiveness. Mental: Willpower (volition), concentration (focusing of attention, and I suppose discipline is also related), creativity (use of the imagination), memory (though this is typically not included in video games), reasoning (including all high-level cognitive function), wisdom (for the sage archetype just as reasoning is for the tinkerer), awareness (by which I mean perceptual awareness of surroundings), intuition (which I suppose is social awareness), charisma (persuasive ability), and I suppose something that represents degree of attunement to magic or whatever. Obviously I have just included magic as a mere afterthought, so the system isn't perfect, but I think that touches on quite a few things the DnD system leaves out, or perhaps includes in the form of traits instead of statistics. Is there some way we can better group these characteristics, that will give us more precise control over our character, or open up new possibilities? Do we really need separate derived statistics like saving throws, or can ability scores be rearranged to render them obsolete? Historically, some aspects such as memory and creativity have gone completely ignored, in theory left up to the player I suppose; is that how it should be? Is character movement too neglected, and we should actually add agility separate from manual dexterity (which would still be useful for ranged attack and trade skills). Or perhaps add an Awareness attribute (I can hear the hardcore DnD crowd wincing)? Are balance and concentration best left as passive skills, and sensory acuity best left as trait modifiers? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The other predominant form of statistic is the "skill", which can denote combat skills, trade skills, survival skills, social skills, among others. This is one part of the DnD system that I find particularly deficient, with little distinction made between the very different types of skills. Typically, at any rate, these skills contain some kind of ability check (reflecting the above attributes) and are leveled up through experience. So far I believe we know that Project Eternity will contain trade skills unlike some of the other cRPGs we know, but we don't know much else. I'm not going to go into detail regarding which skills I'd like to see as that deserves its own thread and this one is long enough, but there is one thing I wish to harp on with regard to skills. Skills in real life are the result of knowledge and experience. Disappointingly, however, I have yet to see a game really get this right. Many games just forgo knowledge altogether, and ultimately become a game of how quickly you can collect X experience orbs to level your character, or at least their skills. While I can see this for overall leveling, for individual skills it just makes little sense to me; I think leveling all manners of skills should have a knowledge component and experience component. To this end, there should be teachers/trainers throughout the world along with a wealth of books or another medium by which knowledge is transferred, which is just as important to character advancement as grinding. That's something I'd really like to see with Project Eternity. Also with regard to skills, in particular practical skills, I'd like to see some kind of profession/occupation field on the character sheet if the trade skill system is as good as I'm envisioning (which for one thing would be better than vanilla Skyrim's). Most tradeskills should involve multiple steps of transforming raw materials into finished goods, but each of these steps doesn't necessarily need its own skill for leveling. In fact, some steps of the process could have no skill check (yet still give experience), but complexity is immersive. Just as a brief overview, I could see various DnD-esque skills but a wider variety. Individual combat maneuvers (parry, disarm, shield bash), mercantile skills (appraise, haggle, bribe), stealth skills (pickpocket, sneak), various persuasive tactics (bluff, intimidate, charm, deceive, etc.), leadership skills (rally and other things to make up for lack of bards), survival skills, along with trade skills. Perhaps movement skills like swimming, climbing, and jumping, or perhaps those would be best left as derived statistics. ================================================================================== Whereas a statistic is quantitative, a trait is qualitative (though it often has a numerical impact on a relevant statistic). However, traits can range from racial bonuses and penalties to feats, and also conceivably include physical and personality traits. Notably, keenness of the senses has usually been relegated to trait status, which I suppose makes some sense since they can't be readily improved. On a side note, why limit it to race? Perhaps we should choose our characters age, height, and weight during character creation, and those should confer certain physical and mental bonuses and penalties. More importantly, I'd personally like to see the use of traits widened substantially in Project Eternity. I know this would be quite difficult to implement and nigh impossible to perfect, but perhaps have us select from a list of traits in character creation that merely influence what kinds of dialogue options are open to our character? Things like attractiveness (if that doesn't become an attribute), sense of humor, body language, etc. ================================================================================= Even with all the traits and statistics in the world, there are some aspects of characters that can't be captured in numbers or single words (here I maybe reveal that I sort of come from a roleplaying angle), and it would be cool if there were various ways to define one's character and some aspects of their past outside of "We choose your character's story, and you put a name and a face on them". Perhaps things like socioeconomic status, level of education, religious beliefs, etc. or am I asking too much? What character creation/progression system would you like to see in Project Eternity? Does the classic DnD system cut it for you? Should attributes be rearranged? Should skills be grouped in any way, or should they all draw on the same allocation pool? Should skills in Project Eternity reflect both knowledge and experience, or should they stick to experience? Do you wish for more freedom in defining your character's various non-quantifiable traits? Did you actually read this whole post, or did I waste my time writing it?

Should there be funny (but useful) perks and traits available when creating and leveling your character? And should abnormally low stats/skills (e.g., intelligence) affect dialogue and gameplay in a humorous and not-necessarily-game-breaking way? Finally, should there be items/consumables/wearables that affect gameplay in a humorous way as well? For example, in the Fallout games, there were perks and traits that would give you bonuses (e.g., to defense and bullet resistances) while lowering your charisma (essentially a terminator-like perk) -- or ones that would cause you to leave a bloody mess wherever you went, or ones that gave you bad luck, etc. A couple ideas that would be silly but might still fit within a Project Eternity world might be: A Tarzan-like Attack/Defense bonus for barbarians that fight naked or in their undies (pixelated); can significantly affect dialog options and wandering around a city may cause swift fines and a difficult time talking to anyone, including party members. Depending on charisma and gender, may result in different reception from other characters -- e.g., you may be thrown in jail for indecent exposure. (Idea from here) A cursed trait that affects everyone else around you, but not so much yourself. Similar to 'Jinxed' from Fallout, but essentially affecting others a little more than yourself. This also makes it much harder to recruit and keep companions (either willingly with you, or alive). Can also affect dialog and plot/story options, for example a seer or tribal elder might chase you out of a village or city on account of you bringing bad luck wherever you go. Maybe even a lot of bad luck, depending on how long you stay in a place -- or maybe this could even be rolled into the overarching plot. As for stats/skills, in Fallout if your intelligence was too low, your sentences would be slurred and speech would take a significant hit. Should something like this be present in Project Eternity? Should abnormally low stats/skills affect gameplay, but not necessarily in a game-breaking manner? For example, if you had really low intelligence, perhaps your other party members (the few you were somehow able to convince to join you) would speak more often instead of you for dialog with other NPCs.. or maybe they'd be more likely to scheme against you or otherwise be more likely to try and use your quest to their own advantage? Similarly, perhaps having low-intelligence might make otherwise dangerous encounters somewhat less dangerous -- perhaps NPCs would believe your character too stupid to understand what they are doing, and less likely to try and kill your character or throw them in a dungeon? Finally, should there be items or wearables or consumables that affect gameplay in a humorous (but potentially useful) way? For example, maybe there's a particular type of food made in the Swamplands of Whatever, which, when consumed, causes the character to smell so badly that their entire party will be forced to follow at a significant distance. Walking into a city square will cause residents to flee, and any attackers with working sinuses will likely hesitate before attacking you, and will always prefer to stay far away rather than be overwhelmed with your 'odor'. Dogs, wolves, and most other normal animals will also opt to run away from you, potentially making it a useful tool when trying to access otherwise inaccessible (or very dangerous) areas. This item might even be part of a quest (rather than something you can purchase in a store).