new races, classes, and such...
Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 2:39 am
I realize that suggestions for new races may not go over well, since there are already many, and more art would be needed, but at the same time, new races and classes are fun, and these are only suggestions, to be used as one sees fit.
I think that character race selection would be easier for the player if the selection process was revamped to use a grid - one column for humans, one column for demihumans (elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings), one column for goblinoids (halforcs, trolls), one column for serpents, etc. I think that it would be quicker to pick out a race if the choices were sorted.
Anyways, without further ado, new race suggestions:
Half ogre: Same stats as troll, without the vuln:fire or regen. Ability to use large weapons one handed, or with a weapon speed bonus.
Pixie: Large penalty to str, con, penalty to wis, bonus to dex, levitation and invisibility as abilities.
Minotaur: Shares a dragon's corpse-eating ability.
Turtle man: Can't wear armor (can use shields), but has a high natural armor.
Snake man: Poison as an attack type.
Dark elf: Same stats as the elf. Attack penalty in lit areas (may take some implementing), starts with sorcery, detect magic, and darkness spells.
Dragons: Make the fire hatchling start out as a generic hatchling. A dragon would have to become a fire dragon by consuming the right residue, just like any of the other types. More types of dragons would be good as well, as would more complete lists of abilities (Poison seems shortchanged compared to Lightning, for instance).
Human: Make a second class of human, identical to the normal one, but with a no face change set, and an image of a woman hero. This would be the easiest way to allow for male/female characters without redoing all of the artwork and redoing the character software.
Goblin: Only for completeness.
Elementals: Stalker(air), sandman(earth), ???(water), elemental spirits which are the equivalent of the fireborn for the other three elements.
New classes:
Bard: Starts with the personality skills (bargaining, oratory, singing), as well as a musical instrument with some special ability.
Scholar: Starts with minimal combat skills/equipment, but gains all of the identification skills. Also starts with a stylus and library card.
Necromancer: Makes sense in conjunction with a necromacy school of magic.
Hunter: Simple class, like the warrior, with an axe, plus the starting skills/equipment of the elf.
Mystic knight: A luxury class. Generalize the ability gaining of the dragon to create a class which gains a new ability/spell/item/title every level, along with a change in appearance to match change in rank. Maybe make it available in-game to unclassed characters with enough wealth who've gained a title in the Scorn castle.
Equipment:
Starting equipment: Make pouches and keyrings starting equipment. A newbie shouldn't have to quest for a pouch. Maybe make flint and steel starting equipment as well. Lower the value if necessary to keep it from being an exploit.
Library card: Lower the price of the library card or make it free, since library cards are usually free anyways. Give library cards away as starting equipment to classes such as the alchemist or devotee.
Dark equipment: Used by dark elves, have a penalty in lit areas, and a high bonus in dark areas. Dark equipment is also very light.
Holy books: Some books should have detailed descriptions of what the features (restrictions, protections, enemies, holy items, etc.) of each of the religions are. These books should be found in the temples of their respective gods, so that players have a way to know about the religion that they are choosing, rather than leaving it to trial and error. It may be useful for the NPC priests to grant this information as well.
Skills:
Paired weapon fighting: Create a skill for using two weapons at the same time, so that the swashbuckler class can finally use both of his weapons.
Oratory: Perhaps bolster this skill so that it doesn't become worthless at higher levels.
Magic: Maybe rework the magic system to allow for a greater number of more specialized schools of magic (ie necromacy, enchantment, psionic, elementalism, divination). My suggestion is to gain experience by a major school of magic (ie elementalism), but keep a flag to keep track of which subschools (ie pyromancy, geomancy, aquamancy, aeromancy) are known.
I think that character race selection would be easier for the player if the selection process was revamped to use a grid - one column for humans, one column for demihumans (elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings), one column for goblinoids (halforcs, trolls), one column for serpents, etc. I think that it would be quicker to pick out a race if the choices were sorted.
Anyways, without further ado, new race suggestions:
Half ogre: Same stats as troll, without the vuln:fire or regen. Ability to use large weapons one handed, or with a weapon speed bonus.
Pixie: Large penalty to str, con, penalty to wis, bonus to dex, levitation and invisibility as abilities.
Minotaur: Shares a dragon's corpse-eating ability.
Turtle man: Can't wear armor (can use shields), but has a high natural armor.
Snake man: Poison as an attack type.
Dark elf: Same stats as the elf. Attack penalty in lit areas (may take some implementing), starts with sorcery, detect magic, and darkness spells.
Dragons: Make the fire hatchling start out as a generic hatchling. A dragon would have to become a fire dragon by consuming the right residue, just like any of the other types. More types of dragons would be good as well, as would more complete lists of abilities (Poison seems shortchanged compared to Lightning, for instance).
Human: Make a second class of human, identical to the normal one, but with a no face change set, and an image of a woman hero. This would be the easiest way to allow for male/female characters without redoing all of the artwork and redoing the character software.
Goblin: Only for completeness.
Elementals: Stalker(air), sandman(earth), ???(water), elemental spirits which are the equivalent of the fireborn for the other three elements.
New classes:
Bard: Starts with the personality skills (bargaining, oratory, singing), as well as a musical instrument with some special ability.
Scholar: Starts with minimal combat skills/equipment, but gains all of the identification skills. Also starts with a stylus and library card.
Necromancer: Makes sense in conjunction with a necromacy school of magic.
Hunter: Simple class, like the warrior, with an axe, plus the starting skills/equipment of the elf.
Mystic knight: A luxury class. Generalize the ability gaining of the dragon to create a class which gains a new ability/spell/item/title every level, along with a change in appearance to match change in rank. Maybe make it available in-game to unclassed characters with enough wealth who've gained a title in the Scorn castle.
Equipment:
Starting equipment: Make pouches and keyrings starting equipment. A newbie shouldn't have to quest for a pouch. Maybe make flint and steel starting equipment as well. Lower the value if necessary to keep it from being an exploit.
Library card: Lower the price of the library card or make it free, since library cards are usually free anyways. Give library cards away as starting equipment to classes such as the alchemist or devotee.
Dark equipment: Used by dark elves, have a penalty in lit areas, and a high bonus in dark areas. Dark equipment is also very light.
Holy books: Some books should have detailed descriptions of what the features (restrictions, protections, enemies, holy items, etc.) of each of the religions are. These books should be found in the temples of their respective gods, so that players have a way to know about the religion that they are choosing, rather than leaving it to trial and error. It may be useful for the NPC priests to grant this information as well.
Skills:
Paired weapon fighting: Create a skill for using two weapons at the same time, so that the swashbuckler class can finally use both of his weapons.
Oratory: Perhaps bolster this skill so that it doesn't become worthless at higher levels.
Magic: Maybe rework the magic system to allow for a greater number of more specialized schools of magic (ie necromacy, enchantment, psionic, elementalism, divination). My suggestion is to gain experience by a major school of magic (ie elementalism), but keep a flag to keep track of which subschools (ie pyromancy, geomancy, aquamancy, aeromancy) are known.
