Death and Resting

[jmanreis]

Make death matter. No respawning - must get raised in a temple.

 

Make resting risky and limited to safe areas. No kneeling down for 5 seconds to get all of your health and abilities back.

[Ieo]

Go read Update 24.

[Osvir]

On Death... read some Kickstarter updates, death is common and you can't resurrect at a temple... please do read up on updates etc. etc. there's other mechanics:

 

This is a good read (probably the best for all collected information):

http://www.sorcerers...ead.php?t=58186

 

^That is really all you need but throwing in some more links.

 

Kickstarter:

http://www.kickstart...roject-eternity

 

There's also a "Known Informations" thread but it's not updated:

http://forums.obsidi...wn-information/

 

Also the Eternity Wiki:

http://forums.obsidi...-eternity-wiki/

 

The "Day by Day" link in my signature has pretty much all the threads that has been discussed here at these forums... uuhm... Marceror's thread over at the Sorcerer's Place is probably the best yea.

Edited November 14, 2012 by Osvir

[Osvir]

I'll just do like this:

Life and Death in the Dyrwood: A Lore Update that Discusses the Topics of Life and Death In Project Eternity, Limited Medicine, and the Rarity of Curative MagicProject Eternity is a fantasy RPG inspired by several A/D&D-based settings in which death is, for those with means, a temporary setback (for the Nameless One, it's even less problematic). The priests of the Forgotten Realms run around with boatloads of cure x wounds spells, the ability to banish disease, and even the power to bring the dead back to life.

 

In Project Eternity, prospects are not so bright. And when death comes, some try to stay, some choose to go, but most people believe that once they make the trip to the other side, there is only one way back: to begin a new life.

 

Common Mortality

Project Eternity's world is one with limited medicine and medical understanding. Unlike many fantasy settings, there is very little access to curative magic. Remedies for health problems often have only a palliative or placebo effect at best, owing their continued use more to folk beliefs and tradition than any basis in scientific methodology. Though soul-based magic has helped the great exploring cultures from suffering massive pandemics and has helped some individuals overcome illness over the long-term, there is no quick magical "cure" for disease or illness. Most people go through life and death in the ordinary way -- unless they put themselves in harm's way, that is.

 

Stamina and Health

In Project Eternity's combat, players need to be concerned with two elements of a character's vitality: Stamina and Health. The majority of damage a character takes is subtracted from his or her Stamina. Stamina represents how much general abuse a character can take before falling unconscious. Characters lose it quickly and regain it relatively rapidly, even without assistance. Soul-based abilities are able to help replenish or regenerate Stamina and are often used on the battlefield to turn the tide of combat. If a character hits 0 Stamina, he or she is knocked out. Intervention from another character can bring an unconscious character back into a fight.

 

For players, the Health of their party members is a tether that makes them consider how far they are willing to venture from a safe resting spot. Though Health is typically lost at a lower rate, when the PC or a companion hits 0 Health, he or she is maimed (in standard play) or killed (in Expert mode or as an option in standard play). Magic may help mitigate damage to Health and slow the tide, but once characters have died (in Expert mode), there is no known magic that can bring them back.

 

A Lottery of Souls

The world belongs to mortals. As time has progressed, mortals have lifted themselves out of ignorance and into ages of increased self-awareness, harnessing the power of their own souls to amazing effect. So... why worship the gods, anyway? For many mortals, worship is a matter of respect and tradition. They consider their gods (or, in some cases, all gods) to be their creators. They follow the guidelines of religion because history tells them that the gods have punished individuals -- and entire nations -- for ancient episodes of religious disrespect and dismissal.

 

For others, religious worship is a matter of karmic self-interest. Often, people believe that if an individual's soul arrives in the realm of a pleased god, the god will place that soul into the body of someone who will have a good life. To such believers, choosing to not worship or is to risk spiritual confusion and aimlessness in the afterlife. They speculate that the faithless are entered into a "lottery of souls" from which many will wind up no better -- or much worse -- than they did in their last life. Some of the same faiths also believe that religious apostasy or lax observance is a cause of soul splintering upon death, which many consider to be an even worse fate.

 

Gods for All Seasons

People worship many gods, but usually the ones who are most associated with their way of life. Farmers may worship gods of light, growth, or storms. Warriors worship gods of battle and fortune. Though some faiths are exclusionary, most people will say a prayer to any god when the circumstances are right -- farmers praying to a god of battle when their lands are invaded, warriors praying to a god of growth when they're starving in the wilderness.

 

Sometimes the same god -- or gods -- may have a different identity in a different part of the world. The most notable is one of the most widely honored, if not warmly embraced. Called Berath in Aedyran and Cirono in Vailian, it is the god of cycles, of doors, and of life and death itself. People commonly place or carve the figure of Berath in doorways, windows, and other "portals" from one place to another, figurative or literal.

 

In Eír Glanfath's ruins, explorers have discovered two common figures, Caoth i Bhád and Bád i Caothaí (Life in Death and Death in Life, respectively), semi-skeletal female and male figures who occupy positions opposite each other in doorways -- like a twinned display of the split aspects of Berath/Cirono.

 

Necromancy

Despite the assumed natural cycle of things, there are individuals in the world of Project Eternity who either want to know more about that cycle or who choose to alter that cycle. Broadly speaking, "necromancy" refers to any attempt to do either, whether that involves speaking with the soul of a dead mortal, attempting to tap into the unconscious past lives of a living soul, or to bind soul energy or a complete soul inside of a dead body.

 

These acts are viewed with differing levels of criticism depending on the culture. Many folk share the interest of necromancers and would like to understand more about the eternal cycle, but are also afraid of what they might learn. Some extremists are opposed to any and all necromancy, and tales say that a quiet and powerful cult that has worked for centuries to discredit, trap, and even murder necromancers for their efforts. To the people who oppose necromancy with such violent passion, mortal understanding should have limits, and they fear the consequences for the world should those limits be unraveled.

Edited November 14, 2012 by Osvir

[jmanreis]

Thanks! This is looking better and better.

[Gfted1]

That healing / resurrection mechanic sounds terribad to me. Nothing like having to lug 2-3 dead party members (and all their gear) back to a temple after a few fights just because were tryin to keep it realz, yo. Just think about how many times you or a party member died in the BG series and how "fun" it would have been to be unable to heal / ressurect in the field.

[Osvir]

I view it like:

 

Stamina = Health

Health = Mortality

 

I'm probably going with mortality on, permadeath yo.

 

Hmm curious, how many are going to go with all Hardcore Options On on their first playthrough?

[Gfted1]

Well with only 6 companions to choose from youre going to be a pretty lonely fellow by the end of chapter 1.

 

Me, I want a toggle entitled: "Plays exactly like BG2 / ToB"

 

And below that I want another toggle to enable boobplate.

[Jojobobo]

Hmm curious, how many are going to go with all Hardcore Options On on their first playthrough?

I don't know I do prefer to set all my difficulty settings to the hardest, but if they have both HoF mode, Ironman and a FO:NV style hardcore mode I don't think the game would actually be enjoyable with all of these features turned on at once. It really depends how they do things.

[Karkarov]

As long as combat is fair and the saving system is open I am all for tough death rules. But if fighting one standard group of enemies leaves me 25% or more down every single time I hope Obsidian realizes I will find a way to back out and heal up regardless of how time consuming it is.

[Alchymist]

Not convinced by description of maimed at present.  Fine for frontline fighters, probably good enough for archers who will not be able to hit a barn door.  It's not clear how it will affect spell slinging classes though.  Perhaps maimed should be implemented like level drained in D&D, particularly if level 0 characters exist.  I've never liked the idea of recovering from death after one night's sleep, either.  As a minimum, force characters to rest in a hospital/temple rather than lying on the ground in a campsite.

[Boox]

Hmm, I don't think I will play with permadeath on but I'll wait until we see the system in action before I make a definitive choice. 

 

Osvir, thanks for the links!

[Jobby]

It would be nice if there was a compromise, i.e. BG2 Core rules, with permadeath being possible if the characters body was obliterated but most 0hps resulting in requiring a temple.

Shouldn't complain too much though at least there is a permadeath mode.

[Mor]

Not convinced by description of maimed at present.  Fine for frontline fighters, probably good enough for archers who will not be able to hit a barn door.  It's not clear how it will affect spell slinging classes though.

For some classes that use soul magic/abilities like Monks and Ciphers, staying on the sidelines will weaken them severely. As for Wizards... I don't know but those grimoire look mighty heavy

 

Personally, I think that the Stamina/Health system is very well thought out(at least on paper)