Weapon sheathing

[Hassat Hunter]

Hey, cities are dangerous you know... especially Baldur's Gate.

 

I don't really mind. It would be nice, but could think of way more better things to prioritize on instead...

[elminster]

I'd like it but I think other aspects like differences between races are more important.

 

If sheating is easy to integretate and dont need much time / ressources they should do it.

[Mikaw]

I think its an important thing to have since we're talking about a rpg. Having a weapon sheathed or not can mean something depending on where you are. Obviously the characters will have their weapons unsheathed when they're exploring a dangerous place, but walking in a city, sword in hand can mark you as a trouble maker and can affect NPCs' reactions. Maybe unsheathing your sword or dagger during a conversation can add more dialogue options or affect diplomacy or intimidation rolls.

[Monte Carlo]

Hi.

 

I was reading the thread about starting age for your main character, and although Hormalakh said it was a trivial matter, it reminded me of the old Sci-Fi RPG Traveller. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveller_%28role-playing_game%29 linkie in case any folks are interested.

 

Anyhoo, in Traveller you had quite an interesting character generation process, as the game was predicated on your character starting as a retired veteran of the army, marines, navy, intelligence services of The Imperium (later on you could be a Merchant and all sorts of other backgrounds). It was classless, but your beginning skills were determined during this period.

 

Oh, and you could die. In character generation.

 

Now, I'm not going to bore you with the fine details (see the link and check it out, 'tis Thinking Gamer's Space Opera). Instead I'm going to posit what this would look like in a fantasy game:

 

So you create a fighter called Tim. He's sixteen at the start of character generation and there are yearly cycles 'til age (for argument' sake) 21.

 

You spend the first year training in your chosen field (gain random skill bonus)

 

You are randomly assigned 'militia duty' for year two. This is pretty dull, but it's safe and you pick up (possibly) skills like spot / search / minor weapon bonus. These are randomly assigned.

 

There is a pool of riskier activities and you click on these... you get 'caravan guard' which can be tough. You randomly win some gold, a small item, a bonus to survival but are injured. This might lead to stat loss, or a year's character development as you recover from your injury.

 

Year three... you join a mercenary company. This might lead to all sorts of other variables, but also the chance of more injuries...

 

So by the end of the character cycle you get a small tab on your character GUI outlining the first few years of your life.

 

Tim became a warrior aged sixteen, kicking his heels training and doing militia duty. But caravan guarding beckoned, leading to skill with bow and spear and a love of the outdoors. Then came two years as a mercenary warrior, and an injury to his head! But along with this came gold, the ability to inspire his fellow troops and a dashing scar on his cheek. His last gig before becoming an adventurer was as bodyguard to a wizard, again quite dull but he learnt how to read and the best place to strike an arcane opponent...

 

You still get to choose your skills etc, but this process adds an interesting twist on the usual character generation spiel.

[Sacred_Path]

Doesn't work too well in a CRPG, as proven by MegaTraveller 1&2. I could never remember the 'career path' my characters had, they were just old farts with a bunch of numbers assigned.

[Thangorodrim]

Yes ... I remember that game ... I still have the manual stuffed in a box somewhere ... actually if we went with a game where the main character isn't Destiny's Child (hmmmm ... why does that sound familiar ) as some people want ... then this approach would actually work quite well ... although it would have to be managed for balance

[UncleBourbon]

Sounds good to me. I also liked how it worked in System Shock 2, though that was a bit more toned down.

[Amentep]

Sounds like it could be a cool way of doing character creation to me. Can't imagine it'd be easy to implement, though.

[Water Rabbit]

The original Traveller character generation was tedious and capricious. It was rightly dumped as complete drek. Hell why don't you bring up C&S or Space Opera as well for model character generation systems. Bleh.

[mcmanusaur]

Hmmm... I've pondered something similar, but this does have costs with regard to how much freedom there is in designing the plot of the game, and how the protagonist's past might play into the plot.

[Amentep]

Hmmm... I've pondered something similar, but this does have costs with regard to how much freedom there is in designing the plot of the game, and how the protagonist's past might play into the plot.

 

I dunno, seems like its an only slightly more complex version of Arcanum's backgrounds, only one that tries to apply more scenario based elements into the chosen background.

[JFSOCC]

If you are unsure how you want to play the game, this can be an interesting way to let the game help you decide. For more experienced RPG players I reckon they want to decide for themselves what character they roll.

[Grand_Commander13]

I love lifepaths. It's a fun way to distribute stats besides point buy, and gives your character a background that can be referred to whenever it makes sense in-game.

 

I'd recommend lifepaths without any stats attached though, since the ones that boost combat stats will be most popular. Unless you made every path just about as good at boosting combat stats, but I just really want to see us able to color in our characters' backgrounds in this game.

[Blodia]

I love lifepaths. It's a fun way to distribute stats besides point buy, and gives your character a background that can be referred to whenever it makes sense in-game.

 

I'd recommend lifepaths without any stats attached though, since the ones that boost combat stats will be most popular. Unless you made every path just about as good at boosting combat stats, but I just really want to see us able to color in our characters' backgrounds in this game.

 

Agreed. Having them just as a purely role-playing choice is a great idea. Picking things like this just because stats help your preferred playstyle is wrong.

[kabaliero]

yeah, sling state would be really nice

in fact, alarming guards with drawn weapons is one way to interact

Edited November 4, 2012 by kabaliero

[Adhin]

I'm hoping for some out of combat sheathing or 'relaxed' (like larger 2H stuff carried on a shoulder). PST had it, and its a bit easier to handle with 3D as it doesn't require the absurd amount of sprites to accompany that many more animations. Which is ultimately why BG/IWD didn't have them. D1 did but they had a far less complex animation setup, D2 did which technically had a far 'more' complex setup with the crazy amount of layers and anytime your in town you had a separate neutral stance for standing and walking, but not running, and awkward none of that involved sheathed, just a more relaxed stance.

 

Aaanyway I pray they get sheathing in, and hopefully actual sheaths. Or at least a weapon belt loop..guess I don't care which. But something would be very welcome, definitely adds more to it. Absolutely love that aspect of Torment, the 'getting ready'... thugs pull out there weapons as you walk by, your whole party readies up and its fightin' time!

Edited November 4, 2012 by Adhin

[Jymm]

I find that as game development has come along and graphics have gotten more detailed these little seemingly insignificant things become more obvious. So seeing adventurers walking through town in the same "armed and dangerous" stance as their dungeon crawl was easily excused in 1995 because in your head you just corrected the image. But now with less and less left to the imagination we become irritated by these incongruous behaviors. "Why aren't I getting arrested walking around whiffing this glaive past everyone's face?"

 

On the totally off-topic conversation about the Traveller character creation mechanics it reminds me of Twilight 2000, one of my all time favorite games. Same concept where you start as a youth but you don't know how old you'll be when World War 3 kicks off. So you might have a strong, fit, but inexperienced teenager if war breaks out after round 1. Or you might have a weakened but fantastically skilled veteran if you last to 55. Its party-based, so you can roll up a whole bunch of these guys and keep the mix that makes the most sense. Maybe its nostalgic, but I enjoyed it.

[tabulius]

Dragon Age did this well I think. Similar system would work in PE.

[jivex5k]

This one be one of the greatly appreciated little details.

[motorizer]

Dragon Age did this well I think. Similar system would work in PE.

I thought dragon age did it badly, I don't want to see stuff stuck to my back apparently by magnetism (Although if you're in a zoomed out view like P.E it probably wont matter as much)

 

Skyrim did it better for one handed stuff, as did mount and blade, though they still had 2 handed swords stuck to your back as if by magic

[Karranthain]

Dragon Age did this well I think. Similar system would work in PE.

I thought dragon age did it badly, I don't want to see stuff stuck to my back apparently by magnetism (Although if you're in a zoomed out view like P.E it probably wont matter as much)

 

Skyrim did it better for one handed stuff, as did mount and blade, though they still had 2 handed swords stuck to your back as if by magic

 

I've mentioned it before, but I'll add it again (if only to post another great picture of a Landsknecht) :

 

 

Resting great weapons on the shoulder is the best way I reckon. Looks great.

[Hassat Hunter]

You wont really see it in isometric view though...

 

Anyway, while it would be important for, say, The Witcher II to have sheeting look 'on the character' the PE devs could easily take the easy path out and have them "floating" behind them. There is no need to go through all the trouble of making it look good up close when you never see it up close.

 

As for sheating itself... the world is dangerous. Cities are dangerous. You might end up getting killed when breaki... ehm... entering the wrong house. So it makes sense for me that expert adventurers keep their weapons at arms at all times. Bar fight? Stab a sword into the person still needing to grab his weapon. Ambushed? The unsheating time may be the difference in life and death.

So as such I really didn't see an issue with adventurers always being on guard in those games. It comes with the profession...

[Wench]

Floating on the back/on left thigh is the easiest way to avoid annoying clipping issues with armour and is easy to implement

[Wulfic]

Sheathing is a must have. I hate when I have to roam the streets of a big city with a weapon drawn. Unsheating and sheating should be automatic. In dangerous places the weapons should be always drawn or the characters should have their hands on the sheath in case they know they will or may have to draw it any minute.

[Pidesco]

Dragon Age did this well I think. Similar system would work in PE.

I thought dragon age did it badly, I don't want to see stuff stuck to my back apparently by magnetism (Although if you're in a zoomed out view like P.E it probably wont matter as much)

 

Skyrim did it better for one handed stuff, as did mount and blade, though they still had 2 handed swords stuck to your back as if by magic

 

I've mentioned it before, but I'll add it again (if only to post another great picture of a Landsknecht) :

 

 

Resting great weapons on the shoulder is the best way I reckon. Looks great.

 

Amusing

will follow.