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This isnt a mechanic thing, but a lore/customization thing. Because this is gonna be subject to opinions Id like to hear yours on this. Observe the map: That’s a lot of water. Ocean, rivers and lakes. We can see that coastal settlements are very common. Observe the Aumaua. An entire player race defined by their affinity with water. The dwarfs and elves who share many arctic regions. Then you have the Moon Godlikes. Observe the location origins available. The gulf nation of Rauatai, the Deadfire Archipielago, The Living Lands (which are in a large island), the cracked arctic The White that Wends...that’s 4 out of 7 origins and the Aedyr Empire is centered on a tropical equator. These are mostly locations one would assume to have many fauna that had an affinity for water; fish, amphibian, mammal and reptile alike. Then theres the whole Moon mythos and the Tides. The point is: Many of the cultures are located in places near oceans and large bodies of water. Druids and Rangers are the classes that deal more with the natural fauna of the world and which have a more tangible representation of this fauna for the player to interact with. Currently it is entirely comprised of forest and plain-based fauna. For the Druid´s Spiritshift they has these options: Bear. Boar. Lion. Stag. Wolf. For the Ranger´s animal companions these are the options: Antelope. Bear. Boar. Lion. Stag. Wolf. What I’m saying here is that for a world so filled with water fauna there isnt options that reflect that affinity. An Island Aumaua Druid from the Archipielago Spiritshifting into a huge Aligatorman or Walrusman feels better than the same fishface Druid becoming a Lionman. The Boreal Dwarf Ranger having a Polar Bear or a Moose as a companion would make more sense than him having a Boar or normal Bear (though that’s far more reasonable than the islander having a stag of course). So, I think it would be pretty neat to have more Animal Companion and Druid Spiritshift options to reflect the world better. These do not need to have new mechanics (though they could), they can simply have the same as the current options only with a visually different portrayal. An Aligator/Crocodile can have the Bear´s Damage Threshold or the Lion´s Roar. A Giant Gecko could have the Wolf´s movement speed. An Iguana could have the Boar´s Might. You could even have Giant Platypuses. You get the idea I think. And yeah this may be a low priority thing almost equivalent to "add more portraits", or something for an expansion but Id like to muse about it now and bounce ideas around. So, what do you guys think? TL;DR: World has loads of water-based fauna, races and cultures. Would like to see more of it represented/acknowledged in Animal Companion and Druid Spiritshift options since they are more fauna-based.

Hey all, I was thinking about how the various 'powers' of classes (like powers from Fighter, Barbarian, Paladin, Wizard, etc.) might be able to be used out of combat in something like an Infinity Engine game. That is, for the non skill, non healing or restorative,usually 'clickable' abilities of characters to have some use outside of combat. Video games have a large set of abilities where people use various superpowers from one source or another in ways that are useful outside of combat, but those generally aren't Infinity Engine-like games (they are often sandboxes and such). Still, I have a few ideas, so far: -Various sources of trapfinding, eg, certain types of magic-oriented characters should be able to see magic traps / magic auras. -Various character types can bash through or blow apart certain types of walls, bypassing areas in some dungeons -If a character has a charm, beguiling, telepathic, or an emotion sensing, or a lying sensing ability, they might be able to determine when someone is telling a partial lie, if they are doing the speech, or they would have the option of using magic to charm someone in combat -Various methods of disguise and social coersion, both magical and mundane, should allow someone to try a 'social' way of getting through a dungeon What I am thinking of is things like the Deus Ex games, where there are SEVERAL ways of using your superpowers or even traditional skullduggery to solve a given problem, and many of them aren't violent. If these characters have lots of superpowers, or even are really competent at having normal abilities, this sort of thing should be a viable and interesting option, you know? And there should be a reason to do a nonviolent way to get through a level; even if you don't get to loot everything from the cooling corpses of the dungeon, perhaps the person who gave you the job will give you extra rewards for not being so 'kill them all!' in your methods. Does anyone have any thoughts about ways that this sort of thing might be posssible in an Infinity Engine like game? Also, does anyone have any idea about ways that the world itself might be made a bit more 'living' or interactive or 'real', like the old Ultima games? Where you can click and interact with many more parts of the world, and people have their own schedules and do their own thing? Heck, the dungeons having actual *sleeping quarters*, kitchens, etc. for the people living in them, which get used would be fantastic, or if you make a large commotion, the entire dungeon going onto lockdown or the alarm going up and everyone going to defend it would be great...

Obsidian has said that there will be many complex and difficult choices that can make significant changes to your playing experience. So what is everyone's opinions on how big of an effect these choices should have? And how should they carry over to future expansions/games? Should you be able to cause major changes within a society? Perhaps by helping to liberate an underclass, or change their system of government, or maybe even set a civilization on a path to destruction? Should you be able to change the course of nations? Should you be able help an occupied nation overthrow its invaders or convince a nation to invade someone else? How should that play out in future games? If you help one nation or one major faction defeat another, then that has the potential to cause huge changes in a future expansion or game even if a sequel takes place in another part of the world. How fast should you be able to cause these changes? For example, if you're trying to help an occupied nation overthrow its invaders, you might not be able to completely succeed in one game. Maybe you can help liberate one city in the first game, then you can spread the rebellion throughout the entire nation in an expansion, then you can fully liberate the nation in a sequel, and in the third game, you can help that nation either rebuild or perhaps launch a counter-attack against their invaders. I would of course also love to hear how far the developers are thinking in terms of all the potential ramifications of the player's choices, their effect on the game world and future games.