Godlike Races and Demi-God Stature

[Osvir]

Baldur's Gate, I really enjoyed and loved everything about the Bhaalspawn.

 

In Neverwinter Nights 2: Not so much.

 

Being a Godlike race is like its own "section" in itself and feels to me like something more "cool" than actually story-driven in NWN2.

 

I'm wondering if the "Godlike" could be a stature, or a "title".

 

Something you "ascend to become" by playing, but not particularly have to do. Starting off as a "Demi-God" right off the bat feels like cheating imo (I'm aware that you start off as one in Baldur's Gate, but it isn't revealed until late game~beginning of Baldur's Gate II, which is a sequel). Could you start off as a mere human (without any ties to a God) and work yourself up Mount Olympus to challenge the very Gods and in that way become one of them? (Kratos is a Demi-God by the way, it just isn't revealed until God of War 3... or somewhere in the 2nd installment?).

[Hellfell]

I guess Godlike race will have several "subraces" which will have different advantages and disadvantages and a unique selection of appearance features and possibly racial traits. One godlike race could be human-angelic type with glowing eyes and fair hair, another race is like "demonspawn" with dark features etc.(yeah, pretty much like d&d plane touched) the possibilities are limitless.

 

I don't think godlike will have a unique story or subplot with ascending. It sounds like exclusive content which is not very cool considering that majority of players will be standard human or elves.

Edited November 6, 2012 by Hellfell

[Sacred_Path]

Godlike races are a gamble, if they're just another race it's pointless to have them. I don't like how trivialized they are in DnD. The (dis)advantages should be more drastic.

[Pope]

I'll just repeat what I've said before:

 

I really really hope the godlike races are themselves subraces of the standard races. It never made sense to me that I couldn't be an aasimar elf or an earth genasi dwarf.

[Gibbscape_Torment]

Has it been confirmed that the God races are playable? I was under the impression they were few and would be more so involved with important quests than just simply populating towns.

 

Having a demi god as a playable race doesn't sound like a good idea at all imo.

[Hellfell]

You don't have to be a demigod to be godlike. And yes, they are playable

[Michael_Galt]

What I would like would be serious "power gaming" advantages to them, in the sense of innate abilities or bonuses, but that would be offset by some major disadvantages. Meaning, people's reactions to them would vary GREATLY, more than any other race, and sometimes that could help, but a lot of times it could complicate things, by making them unwilling/afraid of speaking with you, or in awe, or distrusting, or something along those lines.

 

Maybe some real significant natural weaknesses. Like, you might have advantages to strength as a certain godlike sub-race, but you would also have some sincere susceptibility to magic. So against fellow fighters, you would own them. But you would be very fearful of encountering magic users... Or, you could have automatic resistances to magic, but perhaps you automatically incur penalties to some of your other attributes (really doesn't matter, provided it is something important, like constitution, strength, dexterity, or intelligence/wisdom). Or maybe you get major wisdom/intelligence bonus, at the cost of constitution/strength. They have capabilities that you won't be able to achieve playing another race. So perhaps an elf can have 2 higher total dexterity than a human, while a __ godlike race can have 4 higher dexterity, but will automatically have less strength/constitution/intelligence/etc. Perhaps no other race can get innate magic resistance, and you want to become a "witch hunter", so it would make perfect sense for a godlike race character to follow that path. Or have the godlike genius cipher that is the equivalent of Sherlock Holmes.

 

I guess I want them to essentially be "min/max" type of characters, where you can really excel in something specific, but only at a cost to something else important, so they are challenging to play. And for the game to actually recognize them as being different in concrete ways.

Edited November 6, 2012 by Michael_Galt

[Tsuga C]

Aasimar and tieflings were just fine in D&D and could make for some interesting characters with all of the pointed social interactions and moral/ethical dynamics you could ask for if the DM knew what he was doing. Half-celestials and half-fiends were everything the aasimar and tieflings were, only more so and they were best suited for NPCs or player characters in decidedly high-power campaigns.

 

Just as a gut reaction and not knowing all that much about the design of P:E at this point, I'd say that the aasimar and tieflings are the way to go. Yes, they're "spicy", but they won't completely overwhelm and dominate all the action in a party of conventional mortals.

[NerdBoner]

you guys seem to be a little confused..."godlike" races are probably going to be similar to the plane touched races of DnD which were not demi-gods by any stretch of the imagination.

 

Hell, even only a small handful of the Bhaalspawn ever truly unlocked their divine heritage to its fullest in order to become true demi-gods (in power, rather than just name) despite there being hundreds of them.

Edited November 6, 2012 by NerdBoner

[Osvir]

you guys seem to be a little confused..."godlike" races are probably going to be similar to the plane touched races of DnD which were not demi-gods by any stretch of the imagination.

 

Hell, even only a small handful of the Bhaalspawn ever truly unlocked their divine heritage to its fullest in order to become true demi-gods (in power, rather than just name) despite there being hundreds of them.

 

The thing is, P:E being inspired by many things, doesn't mean that it has to be inspired by many different things. We know there are going to be Gods and Deity's in P:E, and "Godlike" to me when I heard it the first time was either "Demi-God" or a very powerful "Godlike" race (not Aasimar or Tiefling but "Godlike" as if cheating on early Quake games).

 

Just looking at the word, sorry for being literate or anal but I feel it necessary: God-like (which means "Similar to Gods"). Planetouched sounds to me like someone who has been born into this world who have "touched" another realm during his or her "creation". A magical spell that hit the mother when she was pregnant that altered the child perhaps. I know little of what Planetouched really is though.

Edited November 6, 2012 by Osvir

[Tsuga C]

From Update #9:

 

Along with these modes, we also want to introduce the Godlike races. These folks have been described previously as being similar to the humanoid "planetouched" in D&D: aasimar, tieflings, and genasi. That is a good high-level description of them, but they are viewed differently by various factions, faiths, and cultures in the world of Project Eternity. Godlike were "blessed" before birth by one or more of the meddling deities of this world. Though their appearances vary, they are unmistakeably otherworldly when anyone gets a clear look at them. Sometimes, the reaction they get is overwhelmingly positive. Many times, the reaction is overwhelmingly not. For better or worse, the physical "gifts" that mark them as Godlike always come with supernatural blessings (and curses) of their own.

 

I think that quotation by and large settles things.

[Quadrone]

From Update #9:

 

Along with these modes, we also want to introduce the Godlike races. These folks have been described previously as being similar to the humanoid "planetouched" in D&D: aasimar, tieflings, and genasi. That is a good high-level description of them, but they are viewed differently by various factions, faiths, and cultures in the world of Project Eternity. Godlike were "blessed" before birth by one or more of the meddling deities of this world. Though their appearances vary, they are unmistakeably otherworldly when anyone gets a clear look at them. Sometimes, the reaction they get is overwhelmingly positive. Many times, the reaction is overwhelmingly not. For better or worse, the physical "gifts" that mark them as Godlike always come with supernatural blessings (and curses) of their own.

 

I think that quotation by and large settles things.

 

[/Thread]

 

Storm in a teacup, just like usual.

[rjshae]

From Update #9:

 

Along with these modes, we also want to introduce the Godlike races. These folks have been described previously as being similar to the humanoid "planetouched" in D&D: aasimar, tieflings, and genasi. That is a good high-level description of them, but they are viewed differently by various factions, faiths, and cultures in the world of Project Eternity. Godlike were "blessed" before birth by one or more of the meddling deities of this world. Though their appearances vary, they are unmistakeably otherworldly when anyone gets a clear look at them. Sometimes, the reaction they get is overwhelmingly positive. Many times, the reaction is overwhelmingly not. For better or worse, the physical "gifts" that mark them as Godlike always come with supernatural blessings (and curses) of their own.

 

I think that quotation by and large settles things.

That does imply there may exist a multiverse of extra-dimensional planes. I wonder if it will be D&D-like or a different concept altogether?

[Karkarov]

The problem is you consider those races "godlike" they aren't. Tieflings are not descended from gods, they are descended from demons. Aasimar are not descended from gods, they are descended from what I will call "angels" just to keep it simple. They are officially referred to as "planetouched" in many D&D reference books for a reason.

 

Reading the explanation from the Update also makes no sense because "Godlike" is clearly the wrong term. "God Touched" maybe a little more accurate. As the post says they are children that were marked by a god in some way when born. So obviously they are human or whatever else for the most part.

[Jymm]

The problem is you consider those races "godlike" they aren't. Tieflings are not descended from gods, they are descended from demons. Aasimar are not descended from gods, they are descended from what I will call "angels" just to keep it simple. They are officially referred to as "planetouched" in many D&D reference books for a reason.

 

Reading the explanation from the Update also makes no sense because "Godlike" is clearly the wrong term. "God Touched" maybe a little more accurate. As the post says they are children that were marked by a god in some way when born. So obviously they are human or whatever else for the most part.

 

I think they are calling them "godlike" for lore reasons. Suggesting that people of the world of PE refer to these individuals as godlike. Nothing more. And they've made it clear through that update and other places that these are mechanically like tieflings and aasimar, even if the lore basis for their existence is slightly different. I'm personally OK with it. I think tieflings / aasimar are kind of fun.

[.Leif.]

I would like to emphasize the extent to which it makes sense for Godlike to be a template applied to other races. The Bhaalspawn wasn't just a generic human-centric tiefling, he/she could be a Dwarf, an Elf or even a Half-Orc! Unless there is some extraordinary lore-reasoning, I can't see any reason for Godtouched to be human-based. Let me be a Godtouched Elf!

Killing a God (or three) by the end of the game would be great, especially if I could inherit their domain and powers.

[Felithvian]

Starting off as a "Demi-God" right off the bat feels like cheating imo (I'm aware that you start off as one in Baldur's Gate, but it isn't revealed until late game~beginning of Baldur's Gate II, which is a sequel). Could you start off as a mere human (without any ties to a God) and work yourself up Mount Olympus to challenge the very Gods and in that way become one of them? (Kratos is a Demi-God by the way, it just isn't revealed until God of War 3... or somewhere in the 2nd installment?).

 

Just like in Morrowind, where Almalexia, Sotha Sil, Vivec & Dagoth Ur were found to have attained great, even god-like, power.

[Jorian Drake]

A good concept would be to take a hint from greek mythology, and be a child of a god without knowing it at first, if the gods from this game will love ...mortal pleasures as much as Zeus and company did, then the setting would be easy to imagine and also it would be easy to throw in a thousand or more godlings/half-gods/bastard gods/juvenile gods

 

EDIT: or consider something like the Japanese approach, let there be millions of various strong or weak gods for every tree, town, river, and whatnot

Edited November 9, 2012 by Jorian Drake