Respec?

[Somna]

Changing gear does not count as respeccing and never has, and actually it shows how respeccing can ruin the impact of gear has upon an encounter: if you can respec yourself to fit an encounter then picking the right equipment for the task at hand is no longer as important. Why take along that mace that kills undead when you can respec yourself to have that anti-undead power that lets you take along that more powerful sword and then imbue it with anti-undead with your respecced powers that you wouldn't normally take because they are so situational?

 

Pretty much. The whole argument itself is popping up because of a fear of extremes--while it's understandable that you may want to respec because the ability you chose to specialize in turned out to not work as expected for your character, it's not fun if the game is designed around being able to hyperspecialize for every single major encounter in the game.

 

In D&D terms, having a spellcaster respeccing as a specialized item crafter during downtime for the cheaper and custom magical items when you have down time, then replacing away all those feats and current skills with ones that help with diplomacy to get past those encounters, then replacing those feats and skills with abilities to make your spells more effective fighting a major encounter would be an example of what respec opponents DON'T want to see happen.

[Somna]

I like making choices. I like the finality of choice because it is (for me) what creates some kind of identiy and therefore a very important feature in rpgs. But also having some interchangeable features can be quite fun.

 

Nobody of the death-to-respec people seems to be concerned about the fact that you could respec your gear in BG2 anytime you want (exactly like skills in D3) and this was a really cool thing, because it added some tactics and freedom to the game.

 

Gear is a big part of character customization and its usually completely interchangeable.

 

Think of the anti-undead mace you found during the second Bodhi encounter, the fireweapons against trolls, the club/mace thing with golems and the anti-mindflayer sword found during the events of TOB.

 

Another example is the magic system in BG2. Think of the Priest, Wizard or Druid they could choose before each rest a couple of spells they wanted to use. This system of memorizing was indeed a form of "respec".

 

So these were both core features of BG2 that I liked a lot. And therefore my question:

 

Why not add a couple of skills to each class that you can change from time to time (visit tronghold, take rest)?

 

This is a great way to add tactical complexity to the game, because people have to think about possible combinations to solve harder encounters. Also I don't think it would destroy roleplay, if there were enough other decions (race, gender, class, a couple of combat talents, tradeskills) that are final.

 

If you don't like that idea, please point out why that is something different of the examples shown above.

 

Changing gear does not count as respeccing and never has, and actually it shows how respeccing can ruin the impact of gear has upon an encounter: if you can respec yourself to fit an encounter then picking the right equipment for the task at hand is no longer as important. Why take along that mace that kills undead when you can respec yourself to have that anti-undead power that lets you take along that more powerful sword and then imbue it with anti-undead with your respecced powers that you wouldn't normally take because they are so situational?

 

Please read my post carefully. And yes There where completely situational spells in BG2. You could respec your mage very nicely for an undead-encounter. How about:

 

Hold Undead (Necromancy)

Range: Sight of caster

Saving Throw: Neg.

Casting Time: 3

Area of Effect: Special

Duration: 2 rounds/level

 

?

 

[Edit: I just saw that you quoted my unedited post. My fault, sorry, didn't want to offend you with this "read carefully" thing..]

 

Changing your spells prepared and gear equipped is not a respec. "Respec" came from MMOs, where people used to make permanent choices on abilities. Changing your prepared spells is a class feature of mages.

 

Changing your spells available on a Sorcerer, on the other hand, would probably count.

[Osvir]

If you want to be able to respec your sword and board character into a dual wielder then you can feck right off, as it should only be used for when you have made a mistake not to essentially create a whole new character. You may be thinking "Waah whats it to you what I do with my character??!1" well if you can completely respec your character like that then it means that the game can no longer be written with the assumption that you will always be that same 'character', that storylines can no longer be constructed for particular builds because now you can suddenly change what you are half way through the game. I've always wanted a game that takes into account how I've built my character, I'm not being deprieved of it so that some twinks want to min/max their gibbons!

 

Good point. I agree with bold underlined and italic entirely. But, ideologically speaking, how could a game like P:E actually benefit if it were in the game?

 

However,

 

When I talk about re-specialization I do not think "I pay this guy 5k gold to get all my X amount of skill points back and re-arrange them to my command! Have at thee game mechanic! My character forgot how to use a sword and shield and is now a master with the halberd harr harr!!". I am talking about a respec that is hard work, in a way where you have to earn the right to become a master with the halberd, at the cost of abandoning your knowledge, memory and skills with the sword.

 

Maybe a single Wizard Rare NPC could erase the characters actual combat knowledge and wisdom in the soul (specifically combat skills and magic skills, not thieving or any lore skills or any personality memory loss, however an attempt gone terribly wrong setting your character to a very low level and with a dimwitted personality would be hilarious too), costing you between 1-3 levels (decided by a dice roll) once(?) a game. Perhaps even a multitude of respecs would naturally make your character dumb (which Tim Cain said they wanted to include). You can only choose one of them (combat skills or magic skills).

 

Perhaps an Intelligence point *wink wink* is removed every time you get a respec, apart from the hefty gold you have to spend (and perhaps even have to fetch pesky tedious ingredients each time?). Maybe the Wizard could even relocate at certain points in the game, aah I don't know :D probably not, but it would be cool <3

 

If you are going to play on super hardcore mode, maybe it would even be wise (tactically) to respec once or twice because enemies are immune to a certain type of damage. Getting to and soloing Diablo II on Hell is most difficult.

 

EDIT: Diablo II on Hell with a Paladin who got Lightning Strike attack and Zeal because I thought that attacking as fast as possible would be fun and effective... how many times did I attempt to take down Diablo in Act 4 because he one shotted me). At that time there was no respecialization included in the game (or I completely and obliviously missed it, it is a possibility). It took me some hours to take Diablo down, where I still had to die and loot and die and loot for a while longer because my build was completely off. Had to pick up everything I found to get cash for the gambler because he had all the weapons.

 

Hoarders are hoarders though but then we are getting into Inventory management, that's for another thread. Unless the game limits you to how much you can carry (much more than Baldur's Gate), so you mechanically can't grab those 15 extra Leather Armors for some early starting gold+extra potions~

 

I see respec as an option because I reckon that many mobs of enemies in P:E might be more aggressive (monsters) and have no moral dilemma or care about your actual skills, it only sees flesh and primal glorious rage that it so much enjoys. Remember Psycho Mantis from Metal Gear Solid? Perhaps one enemy is story woven into the story of respeccing.

 

Baldur's Gate and all of the IE games, in my opinion, holds the most in its exploration. It wouldn't be the same if you could only follow one path (linearly through the story). Firewine Bridge, optional, Durlag's Tower, optional, south western area of the map, optional, heck most of the game is pretty much optional if you play objectively main quest. Several more areas completely optional. In my opinion it is the entirety of it that is great. Its not like the respec guy would stand holding a sign and have God's embracive~ light shining down upon from the very heavens. There could be a chance you don't even see him or find him in one playthrough (unless you aspire a more Detective Sherlock Holmes approach to the game on your first run or if you, say as you do, roleplay you would presumably explore the world with more than one character).

 

In D&D terms, having a spellcaster respeccing as a specialized item crafter during downtime for the cheaper and custom magical items when you have down time, then replacing away all those feats and current skills with ones that help with diplomacy to get past those encounters, then replacing those feats and skills with abilities to make your spells more effective fighting a major encounter would be an example of what respec opponents DON'T want to see happen.

 

Good point. I agree.

 

What about a re-specialization that downgrades your character's experience level entirely? I reckon this could easily be resolved if only your main character is the one able to "re-specialize" in this way.

Edited October 31, 2012 by Osvir

[Tsuga C]

In D&D terms, having a spellcaster respeccing as a specialized item crafter during downtime for the cheaper and custom magical items when you have down time, then replacing away all those feats and current skills with ones that help with diplomacy to get past those encounters, then replacing those feats and skills with abilities to make your spells more effective fighting a major encounter would be an example of what respec opponents DON'T want to see happen.

 

Bingo!

[Nteger]

In D&D terms, having a spellcaster respeccing as a specialized item crafter during downtime for the cheaper and custom magical items when you have down time, then replacing away all those feats and current skills with ones that help with diplomacy to get past those encounters, then replacing those feats and skills with abilities to make your spells more effective fighting a major encounter would be an example of what respec opponents DON'T want to see happen.

 

Bingo!

 

I find it strange that most of the people posting in this thread are of this mindset, but most posters in the thread about powergaming are of the mindset that, since it's a single player game, who cares?

Edited October 31, 2012 by Nteger

[Tamerlane]

In D&D terms, having a spellcaster respeccing as a specialized item crafter during downtime for the cheaper and custom magical items when you have down time, then replacing away all those feats and current skills with ones that help with diplomacy to get past those encounters, then replacing those feats and skills with abilities to make your spells more effective fighting a major encounter would be an example of what respec opponents DON'T want to see happen.

 

Bingo!

 

I find it strange that most of the people posting in this thread are of this mindset, but most posters in the thread about powergaming are of the mindset that, since it's a single player game, who cares?

Well ****, ya beat me to it.

[Tsuga C]

I find it strange that most of the people posting in this thread are of this mindset, but most posters in the thread about powergaming are of the mindset that, since it's a single player game, who cares?

 

To the extent that the powergamers and respec-ers return to the forums after having de facto neutered the difficulty of the game and attempt to influence the developers to jack the difficulty level of the expansion packs through the roof, I object to respec-ing and powergaming. If they wish to ruin their own experience, fine. Just don't attempt to cajole the developers into accommodating such inane behavior and we'll all get along just fine.

[Frenetic Pony]

Just make it an option that's not available in "expert" mode.

 

In the normal game, you go throw money into some magical wishing well, and then BOOM! The character that threw money in can respec. In expert mode the well isn't there and there's no respecing.

 

I mean, respecing can, after all, just be used for cheating. "Oh no, this boss is weak to this type of attack and I'm too low a level to boot! I can just respec all my characters to do that thing the boss is weak to and win, yay!" That's fine with me, even if I don't want to play it. I want a challenge, others don't or can't handle that challenge. An option makes us all win.

Edited October 31, 2012 by Frenetic Pony

[Frisk]

If (as I hope) the game does not offer any kind of respeccing, those who want this feature probably do not have to worry too much - I am pretty sure someone will write a character editor or a save game editor that will allow people to shift abilities and stats around, change their gear, or start the game wiith 4294967295 coins in their pockets.

[Somna]

Good point. I agree.

 

What about a re-specialization that downgrades your character's experience level entirely? I reckon this could easily be resolved if only your main character is the one able to "re-specialize" in this way.

 

Experience/Level costs are only meaningful if there is a limited amount of experience you can get in the game. Otherwise, people are actually encouraged to respec because they will have hit the cap.

 

I'd say it's possible for Respecs to be done and done well, but we'd really need more information about the game to really get anywhere. In the current stage, it's just one side wanting it because of X reasons that aren't related to the actual game and the other side not wanting it because of Y reasons not related to the game.

[MaximKat]

In D&D terms, having a spellcaster respeccing as a specialized item crafter during downtime for the cheaper and custom magical items when you have down time, then replacing away all those feats and current skills with ones that help with diplomacy to get past those encounters, then replacing those feats and skills with abilities to make your spells more effective fighting a major encounter would be an example of what respec opponents DON'T want to see happen.

One respec per character per game. Problem solved.

[Osvir]

Good point. I agree.

 

What about a re-specialization that downgrades your character's experience level entirely? I reckon this could easily be resolved if only your main character is the one able to "re-specialize" in this way.

 

Experience/Level costs are only meaningful if there is a limited amount of experience you can get in the game. Otherwise, people are actually encouraged to respec because they will have hit the cap.

 

I'd say it's possible for Respecs to be done and done well, but we'd really need more information about the game to really get anywhere. In the current stage, it's just one side wanting it because of X reasons that aren't related to the actual game and the other side not wanting it because of Y reasons not related to the game.

 

I disagree with that underlined, I am discussing speculations, thoughts, ideas and suggestions even and we could probably reach the moon and beyond with our thoughts and imagination of a valid functional satisfactory Respec system (e.g., "What would I want my Respec to be like in a game like P:E if I got to choose?", "How do I prefer my dish served?", slightly unrelated but personally I prefer lots of spice ). The game is still in a very early phase, and perhaps Obsidian has a completely fleshed out idea on their tables, or maybe they only have 10% briefly outlined (about respec). I think that us discussing actually helps Obsidian in their internal discussion, I might be wrong of course, some statements by Obsidian says otherwise though.

 

Josh asked for input on the Armor Design he presented in Update 29. Chris Avellone also mentioned (not literally, but the jist of it) "people talking on the forums helps us with our discussions" in a recent interview (the Awesome interview with Avellone thread).

[Somna]

Good point. I agree.

 

What about a re-specialization that downgrades your character's experience level entirely? I reckon this could easily be resolved if only your main character is the one able to "re-specialize" in this way.

 

Experience/Level costs are only meaningful if there is a limited amount of experience you can get in the game. Otherwise, people are actually encouraged to respec because they will have hit the cap.

 

I'd say it's possible for Respecs to be done and done well, but we'd really need more information about the game to really get anywhere. In the current stage, it's just one side wanting it because of X reasons that aren't related to the actual game and the other side not wanting it because of Y reasons not related to the game.

 

I disagree with that underlined, I am discussing speculations, thoughts, ideas and suggestions even and we could probably reach the moon and beyond with our thoughts and imagination of a valid functional satisfactory Respec system (e.g., "What would I want my Respec to be like in a game like P:E if I got to choose?", "How do I prefer my dish served?", slightly unrelated but personally I prefer lots of spice ). The game is still in a very early phase, and perhaps Obsidian has a completely fleshed out idea on their tables, or maybe they only have 10% briefly outlined (about respec). I think that us discussing actually helps Obsidian in their internal discussion, I might be wrong of course, some statements by Obsidian says otherwise though.

 

Josh asked for input on the Armor Design he presented in Update 29. Chris Avellone also mentioned (not literally, but the jist of it) "people talking on the forums helps us with our discussions" in a recent interview (the Awesome interview with Avellone thread).

 

I'm not saying discussion is useless. It's just that without more information, we're just cycling through the same stuff over and over at this point -- posts of "I want it, and he agrees with me" countered with "I don't want it, don't make it a part of the base game." Speculation only goes so far without something to back it up -- I know I would consider it a waste of time exploring a tangent that may not even be an issue in the first place. As a result, it would be helpful if we had a few more details thrown our way.

 

For example, would they be using something like the trait system in Pathfinder, for example, where you start with a base race and traits and can apply customization to the traits? You can have an elf character that swaps in the ability to use stealth while running and, as a result, loses a standard trait that grants a +2 bonus on spell resistance checks and Magical item ID checks -- something a stealthy, non-spellcaster would probably jump on in a heart beat. (You will have to scroll down to Alternate Racial Traits to see this.) That is something that, if available, would be in the realm of what people expect to be able to change in a respec. Or using something else?

 

Would they be using the equivalent of kits again?

 

Would they be using something like proficiencies again, or doing away with it entirely?

 

How are they determining the requirements for using abilities in the game? it could be point based, where your number of points in a field determines what abilities you get, or could be inherent in the class (and thus significantly harder to argue a respec for).

 

Heck, how many options are already pre-packaged anyway?

 

Then there would be questions on if certain options were pre-packaged, on whether an actual respec would let you substitute options and other billions of possible questions that are a waste of time to postulate without more information. Or maybe the whole respec process is how people get "fragmented" souls in the first place, so you can respec but end up with a reputation hit each time until you're shunned.

 

With the armor information, they've given us a lot of information and explanation about their thinking process for it so far, to the point where people can provide more relevant feedback. We haven't seen anything like that about respecs yet.

Edited November 1, 2012 by Somna

[Osvir]

Interesting thoughts and questions also, point taken ^^

 

Would they be using the equivalent of kits again?

 

I would personally want to do away with Kits and let you explore options by playing. A Fighter becoming a Wizard Slayer mid-game rather than choosing it at start.

Edited November 1, 2012 by Osvir

[Karkarov]

Respecs of any kind is a resounding no. This is not a multiplayer game when you might need a different set up cause today you are pvp'ing instead of tanking. You have a full on party of dudes at your disposal, you should have all the bases covered. If the game is well made there will also be no such thing as a "useless" spec, maybe a sub optimal one, but not downright worthless. Even if there is such a spec I imagine you would probably have to go out of your way to achieve it by choice, not by making a couple build mistakes. Everyone knows 18 strength and 10 intelligence isn't good for a mage in D&D.

[Osvir]

Respecs of any kind is a resounding no. This is not a multiplayer game when you might need a different set up cause today you are pvp'ing instead of tanking. You have a full on party of dudes at your disposal, you should have all the bases covered. If the game is well made there will also be no such thing as a "useless" spec, maybe a sub optimal one, but not downright worthless. Even if there is such a spec I imagine you would probably have to go out of your way to achieve it by choice, not by making a couple build mistakes. Everyone knows 18 strength and 10 intelligence isn't good for a mage in D&D.

 

What makes the characters in Baldur's Gate is not your "Stats" entirely, but the gear you wear, the magic in your scroll books and how you have prepared for adventuring. Planescape: Torment too (referring to the Obsidian Front Page poll). Though Planescape: Torment introduced "Statistical" additions (STR, DEX etc.) when you level up every now and then.

 

The weight of your party doesn't rely on how many skill points you spent (Not even in Icewind Dale II, where it is most apparent) but positioning, Equipment, pre-combat management and placement of spells.... running around in circles it relies much more on your own imagination.

 

EDIT: Thinking about it I'm leaning more towards no.

Edited November 1, 2012 by Osvir

[Sylvius the Mad]

I am concerned that designing a respec option (even judiciously, as Sawyer describes) into the game will eliminate any strong desire on their part to document the game's mechanics as thoroughly as they might otherwise have done. If poor decisions are not irreversible, there will be less need to ensure that each player has access to all of the possibly relevant mechanical knowledge when he makes the choice the first time.

 

It should be possible to make good decisions on our first try by applying knowledge gleaned from the game's documentation without having to do any trial and error. It's fine if there exists a dungeon whose creatures are not as vulnerable to my combination of abilities as I had hoped (even if that lack f vulnerability was not foreseeable), but my characters' abilities should always work exactly the way the documentation says they do.

 

The game's mechanical documentation should be precise and unambiguous in all cases.

[Utukka]

Not sure respec is overly necessary in a game like this, especially if it's gonna be anything like BG2. What would you even respec besides a few attribute points, weapon proficiency, theif abilities, or race/class? If it's similar to diablo or torchlight where you're leveling up skills or adding statpoints, then sure, a few reasonably placed respecs would be fine. For example, 1 respec available upon creation, 1 earned upon defeating the game on "x" difficulty, and MAYBE an expensive in game way such as huge gold sink. That would give 1 free respec, roughly 3 earned respecs by defeating the game modes, and of course, potentially being able to spend a good sum for 1-2 more totaling 5 available with some effort put in.

 

The main thing to remember.....balance the game as if respecs of any degree don't exist. Once they start influencing decisions towards gameplay or story, it can become a slippery slope.

[Larkaloke]

I don't like having a respec option. I would certainly never use it, personally. Changing the stats and abilities of a character around completely or even mostly just feels very odd to me, and I prefer the initial decisions made to be final. Suddenly changing from being strong but frail to being weak but tough, for instance, isn't going to happen without some magic involved; similarly, completely unlearning one fighting style in favor of another.

 

I suppose it might be harmless as an easy-mode sort of option, so long as it didn't have any effect on anything else (as in, if gameplay was not balanced around it and documentation didn't assume you were going to use it). I still don't see it as necessary or even desirable, though.

[Karkarov]

The weight of your party doesn't rely on how many skill points you spent (Not even in Icewind Dale II, where it is most apparent) but positioning, Equipment, pre-combat management and placement of spells.... running around in circles it relies much more on your own imagination.

 

EDIT: Thinking about it I'm leaning more towards no.

True but every one of those games is based on D&D second edition where "builds" were a practically non existent thing. The only difference between Fighter A and Fighter B from a mechanics standpoint in 2nd Ed is what class kits they had (if any), secondary skills (minor at best), and what weapon they chose to specialize in.

 

This game is going to be a touch more modern than that I hope. More like Dragon Age 1 where a Fighter might be a unkillable tank with a tower shield and 1 hand axe that can stun enemies, or a two hand killing machine that can turn etheral and cut through plate armor like it was butter.

[Osvir]

The weight of your party doesn't rely on how many skill points you spent (Not even in Icewind Dale II, where it is most apparent) but positioning, Equipment, pre-combat management and placement of spells.... running around in circles it relies much more on your own imagination.

 

EDIT: Thinking about it I'm leaning more towards no.

True but every one of those games is based on D&D second edition where "builds" were a practically non existent thing. The only difference between Fighter A and Fighter B from a mechanics standpoint in 2nd Ed is what class kits they had (if any), secondary skills (minor at best), and what weapon they chose to specialize in.

 

This game is going to be a touch more modern than that I hope. More like Dragon Age 1 where a Fighter might be a unkillable tank with a tower shield and 1 hand axe that can stun enemies, or a two hand killing machine that can turn etheral and cut through plate armor like it was butter.

 

League of Legends does it great with Masteries, Rune Pages, Skill Upgrades and Equipment. You don't learn a new technique, but you make your QWER techniques stronger. League is 18 levels, P:E 12~ or so.

 

In Baldur's Gate your character (If Fighter) doesn't have much of a QWER usage which I could see him/her have.

 

I hope that the game is going to be a touch more modern as well, but if stats and Level Up Points become too much of a focus it might ruin what your character is. In Baldur's Gate stats define your character and you don't level it up by leveling, but by the use of equipment and tomes.

[Juneau]

I'm looking forward to a game I can enjoy, that has a decent difficulty and learning curve that I can lose hours upon hours in pretending i'm some awesome dragon killing hero. Because you know, been some form of cross between it consultant/programmer and part time salesman isn't exactly awesome.

 

What I would like to do is be able to partially respec - More for if/when I miss spend a point rather then - I don't like been a purely aoe sorcerer I want some cool defense spells and debuffs so my party member can own everyone easier.

 

I can understand why people don't want the option in at all but considering it is going to be a single player game, there are plenty of people who are accustomed/use to the ability to tailor gear/respec abilities to suit a play style that evolves and changes as they learn the game then I don't see why we shouldn't have some form of respec option that you can you know - turn off or you know perhaps just ignore...

 

Saying that though IF PE ends up having no story or lore based way in which a respec is viable in a way that it makes sense then I won't mind if its not in the game - Which if you read what I put on post 3 is what I said the first time around.

 

However I can't see anyone whos against or anyone whos for changing their minds and considering there are plenty of reasons on both sides of the fence so I'm gonna drop out of this thread ^^ I've shared my opinion of somewhere in the middle ground.

 

edit : LoL does it fantastically though I dunno how that system would work in an rpg like this.

 

Personally I like the Elder Scrolls way of doing it once you leave the "introductory/starting area" just incase you know - what you thought on paper looks good didn't quite work as expected & allows you to make a few tweaks after an hour of game time.

Edited November 2, 2012 by Juneau

[Osvir]

Personally I like the Elder Scrolls way of doing it once you leave the "introductory/starting area" just incase you know - what you thought on paper looks good didn't quite work as expected & allows you to make a few tweaks after an hour of game time.

 

I like TES system where you grow in what you do, but perhaps it is a bit exaggerated and could be toned down and applied to a slower experience like Baldur's Gate. I also like the idea at the end of it a la "Do you like what you chose? Want to change?". This could've been a good feature somewhere in the end portion of Irenicus dungeon (perhaps there's a button in there that you press out of curiosity and it surges all of your power somehow and you get to do an actual respec.. do you even get a level if you do the Irenicus dungeon? (Obviously I don't care about leveling much on my current playthrough, because I just finished the Irenicus dungeon a couple of hours ago today, I'm more interested in the world).

 

One way to do it: you don't "skill up" as fast. Your character would need to defeat 500 enemies to gain 1 point in sword fighting, in TES you'd get it in like 5 seconds.

Edited November 2, 2012 by Osvir

[Malkin]

I think it's a terrible idea to allow respec. In my opinion It goes along the lines of games are too hard/challenging so lets make them easier on the player. I'm not saying the game should be impossibly hard to beat/frustrating in the extreme. I just miss the strategizing and planning that made "old school" games so fun to play. It makes every point a tactical decision rather than a meaningless choice.

 

For me it also indicates that you have a broken skill/stat system set up. If you are constantly respecing it shows that certain skill are pointless to have, and that most characters will fall towards the "broken skills" that are required in order for your build to work. .

[Somna]

A full respec is definitely highly under debate, but I'm starting to think that a partial respec can actually fit in very well in very specific circumstances.

 

Think of this scenario:

 

Let's say that they start up character creation with a set template. All you are picking is the character name, race, base stat distribution and the character class...and that's pretty much it. Events progress in the game to the main event that kickstarts the actual game, and the event that occurs is what lets you break your template mold, so to speak, and respec your race/class/feat/skill characteristics to what you actually want them to be. You can keep the default settings for the class, or you can customize it as you see fit. You already had time to play around with the available customized equipment and spells, so you should have some idea what is going on even if you didn't RTFM.

 

The downside would be that this obvious tutorial section would be very annoying subsequent times through if there wasn't a skip option available. The upside is that this respec would not be viewed as a respec because it'd be treated as an extended character creation process.

Edited November 2, 2012 by Somna