Equipment and Souls

[Draconis]

Greetings,

 

I'm a long time lurker but a first time poster on this forum (or any other forum for that matter xD). Anyway indroductions aside the reason I'm making this post is I wish to discuss equipment and souls in PE.

 

Since in this game souls will have a strong connection with the world I was thinking that it could be for equipment as well.

 

That got me thinking in what other fantasy universe other the IE games have i seen souls connected with equipment and 2 universes poped into my mind. The first is an Anime called Bleach and the second is the King's Bounty games.

 

This is a copy paste from a wiki regarding the weapons in question from the anime:

 

The Zanpakutō of low-ranking Shinigami are called Asauchi and don't have names, but the Zanpakutō of Shinigami of rank have names. In its sealed state, a Zanpakutō has the form of a Japanese sword. Such weapons are unique swords generated from their owners souls. Its shape differs depending on its owner.

 

Zanpakutō are the trademark weapons of the Shinigami. Capable of cutting spiritual bodies, they are amongst the few weapons which can be used to combat Hollows. Each Shinigami carries a Zanpakutō, and each Zanpakutō is unique: as the swords are both reflections of a Shinigami's soul and power, and sentient beings unto themselves. The Zanpakutō's name is also the name of the living spirit that empowers the sword and lends its strength to the Shinigami who wields it. These beings can vary greatly in appearance and have their own distinct personalities which match their owner's.

 

A Zanpakutō's shape and abilities are based on their Shinigami's soul. Once a Shinigami learns his/her sword's name, they are able to communicate with one another and grow stronger together. Zanpakutō are born with their Shinigami and they die along with their Shinigami. Shinigami use them in battle as a reflection of their heart. When released, they can display a vibrant power. They are one with the Shinigami, and they share a Shinigami's conviction.

 

Inside each Zanpakuto is an incarnation that manifests itself upon the Zanpakuto's transformation. The first step is to acquaint oneself with this incarnation.

 

Normally, the Zanpakutō spirit can only be seen by its wielder. Otherwise, they dwell in their own "inner world", created within the minds of the Shinigami who wield them. As such, each Shinigami's inner world is drastically different from another Shinigami's and is unique to themselves. A Zanpakutō's spirit can bring its wielder into its inner world, though Shinigami can voluntarily achieve this simply by meditation.

 

And in the second one you as a character pick up various gear in the game and some of them have the ability to be upgraded by fighting the keepers of the weapon, which takes you and your army in a pocket dimension which exists within the weapon. After a successful battle the weapon becomes stronger but the weapons also have morale not just these but other powerful weapons and have an allegiance to a certain race and if you keep killing that specific race the weapon will rebel and you will be forced to subdue it with force.

 

That got me thinking into some game mechanics in rpg that are just tedious a boring for me personally and that is having to go to the city, village, trade outpost to sell your junk loot. So I was thinking instead of every enemy dropping the same axe, sword, shield, armor etc.. only a few items will be dropped and those will be magical items which react to the soul of the user.

 

So for example you fight a group of 5 bandits instead of getting the loot of the likes 3 bows, 3 quivers, 3 leather armors, 2 long swords, 2 plate mails and gold you would get a sword hilt, bow string and gold. Now you’re asking yourself what use is a sword hilt and bowstring to you, well what if those 2 items are attuned to react to someone with a strong soul and materializes into a full weapon when held by such character (could also be an explanation why you can carry more then a few items and not be encumbered).

 

My idea is that the main character, your companions, powerful allies and powerful enemies would all have some sort entity which resides inside them as a manifestation of their soul and each would have something special about their abilities.

 

Now for enemies or allies it will serve mostly to give them unique flavor but for your party it could mean much more. For example you could have a special leveling for your character and for your manifestation and leveling it as in you would have to face certain trials within your own soul that could vary from puzzles, deep philosophical debates or just plain old hack and slash and this could be completed alone or maybe in special circumstances with another party member.

 

Now this could just be a mechanic for the main character and it would be done in the background for your other companions or it could be fully fleshed for them as well since I think I would make a great way to tell their story.

 

Also to provide an explanation why enemies don’t drop more gear it could be said that normal materials can’t withstand the force of souls based weapons/powers and are destroyed in combat.

 

Now on top of all that we could also add in normal intelligent weapons which would be an individual’s soul trapped in a weapon. This could also make a great story mechanic in which the weapon argues with your manifestation over various things and drives you insane or maybe he doesn’t like you killing those gnomes and goes berserk on you and you have to pacify it xD

 

Also by adopting this mechanic it would be possible for players to use weapons or armor which they like and not just what has the best stats or in some cases you just can’t find that spear, katana, bastard sword you specialized in because you can’t find any or they are only low level weapons and unusable due to combat difficulty on higher levels.

 

To prevent wielding the same weapon and armor the entire game limits could be put on weapons on how much of your soul the items can withstand and would need be either upgraded or replaced with a better version of said weapon, armor etc.. from the latest baddie you killed.

 

So that’s it I hope I didn’t wall of text you too much. Would love to hear some input on the subject maybe some different ideas or something similar you liked somewhere else and would like to see in some way or form in this game xD

[HangedMan]

I like the idea itself, but I don't think I'd like it in PE.

[Atreides]

Inside each Zanpakuto is an incarnation that manifests itself upon the Zanpakuto's transformation. The first step is to acquaint oneself with this incarnation.

 

Normally, the Zanpakutō spirit can only be seen by its wielder. Otherwise, they dwell in their own "inner world", created within the minds of the Shinigami who wield them. As such, each Shinigami's inner world is drastically different from another Shinigami's and is unique to themselves. A Zanpakutō's spirit can bring its wielder into its inner world, though Shinigami can voluntarily achieve this simply by meditation.

I like the idea of self-discovery, but rather than tying the soul to a physical item it could be an internal journey. The soul's probably a lot more experienced than the current reincarnation, so you'd want to tap into its knowledge after you discover it, then learn to master it.

 

It's something like how Planescape's TNO learned from his previous selves, each with its own personality. In fact, the "evil" ones may try to reach out and influence you with promises of power, or even take over if you overestimated your willpower.

[Chilloutman]

Too big wall of text but from what I have read it resemble me blade what Dak'kon wear in PS:T. I dont have anything against it but I think that it was great because it was unique for him/his race. On the other hand I think that 'soul' doesn't have to by only human soul but it can be manifested by lesser spirits and souls of multiple living things or maybe even events?

[HansKrSG]

Having your soul powering an item sounds interresting, though I admit I didn't have time reading everything in your post. (I am working )

[Draconis]

Inside each Zanpakuto is an incarnation that manifests itself upon the Zanpakuto's transformation. The first step is to acquaint oneself with this incarnation.

 

Normally, the Zanpakutō spirit can only be seen by its wielder. Otherwise, they dwell in their own "inner world", created within the minds of the Shinigami who wield them. As such, each Shinigami's inner world is drastically different from another Shinigami's and is unique to themselves. A Zanpakutō's spirit can bring its wielder into its inner world, though Shinigami can voluntarily achieve this simply by meditation.

I like the idea of self-discovery, but rather than tying the soul to a physical item it could be an internal journey. The soul's probably a lot more experienced than the current reincarnation, so you'd want to tap into its knowledge after you discover it, then learn to master it.

 

It's something like how Planescape's TNO learned from his previous selves, each with its own personality. In fact, the "evil" ones may try to reach out and influence you with promises of power, or even take over if you overestimated your willpower.

 

I didn't mean for the soul to be represented by an item but items being powered/enhanced by the soul. I meant for the character to delve deep within himself to obtain greater power/knowledge learning from past selves like you mentioned. And the whole idea of it having multiple personalities is awesome maybe the personalities would vie for control amongst themselves and your choices would decide the outcome.

 

Too big wall of text but from what I have read it resemble me blade what Dak'kon wear in PS:T. I dont have anything against it but I think that it was great because it was unique for him/his race. On the other hand I think that 'soul' doesn't have to by only human soul but it can be manifested by lesser spirits and souls of multiple living things or maybe even events?

 

The reason I didn't make it unique to the character is because, we know that our character will not be the chosen one/special and because it was already stated in the lore that characters that remember their past souls will be more powerful (unless I'm just imagining it). The whole lesser spirits/multiple souls idea is interesting maybe that could be used for the intelligent weapons/items.

Edited November 16, 2012 by Draconis

[Somna]

Zanpakutous are simply intelligent Weapons of Legacy that use Incarnum.