New advantages/disadvantages discussion

Talk about the mods you'd like to see in Daggerfall Unity. Give mod creators some ideas!
User avatar
Feralwarlord
Posts: 117
Joined: Sat Jul 29, 2017 10:08 am

Re: New advantages/disadvantages discussion

Post by Feralwarlord »

Narf the Mouse wrote: Sun Oct 21, 2018 9:58 pm Hmm... A perk system is another thing that could be layered on top. Organically grow your character in the direction you desire.

Actually, to take a bit from Battlespire - Ok, I've never played it, but I watched a Youtube review/summary - You buy advantages with points, and you get points from disadvantages. So, the idea:

You start with 1 point at level 1. Maybe you get 1 point per level, maybe 1 point per 2 levels; I dunno, that's details. You can take disadvantages to get more points, and you can spend points to get advantages.

So, your basic character could start with some sort of flavouring - Bonus vs Undead, or 1x Int in Magicka (is that too much? maybe x0.75 Int in Magicka...), or Adrenaline Rush.

Then, as they gain levels, they could add more perks. Maybe Bonus vs Daedra, or specialized Bonus vs Vampires, or Magicka Regeneration, or Regenerate Health (In General). Costs TBD, but some sort of ratio of dagger movement to points seems good.

Although, I must admit I don't like flat attack and damage bonuses. They're kinda boring. Bonuses versus specific creature types are less boring.
this could become a decent system
you could have X number of points at character creation, disadvantages give you more points. any points left over from character creation are lost but contribute to how fast the character levels up. you slowly gain more points as you level up which can be spent on more advantages. some advantages can only be assigned at character creation and others can only be unlocked by leveling up or meeting other conditions (eg. having 80 hand to hand skill whilst being a werewolf/wereboar)

Narf the Mouse
Posts: 833
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2015 6:32 pm

Re: New advantages/disadvantages discussion

Post by Narf the Mouse »

Feralwarlord wrote: Sun Oct 21, 2018 10:36 pm this could become a decent system
you could have X number of points at character creation, disadvantages give you more points. any points left over from character creation are lost but contribute to how fast the character levels up. you slowly gain more points as you level up which can be spent on more advantages. some advantages can only be assigned at character creation and others can only be unlocked by leveling up or meeting other conditions (eg. having 80 hand to hand skill whilst being a werewolf/wereboar)
Some advantages could be faction-locked. For example, a dangerous magical ritual which increases your magicka capacity (up to 3x Int), but requires a high rank in the Mage's Guild - And also a willingness to roll hmm...say, a mutation die for your character.

Which reminds me of Fallout 76 (a game whose reviews evoke a certain fondness for me, as it seems a cross between post-apocalypse and Minecraft)... Anyway, if your radiation level gets too high, you gain a mutation, which has upsides and downsides.

In this case, for example, you could gain a Magicka capacity of 3x Int, but also a Critical Weakness to Disease; or some other, comparable, downside.

If you had unsaved perk points, you could spend them during the ritual to get a safer result, or even a completely safe result (pay for the entire advantage with points). In that case, though, the difference between doing so is thematic... And the ritual would probably cost a sizable chunk of cash. So maybe that cash gets traded for 1 perk point's worth of increased Magicka capacity, or whatever you're aiming for, and pushing the ritual is what gets downsides? But then the costs should definitely scale exponentially; x2 to x3 should cost a lot more than x1.5 to x2.25.

On the fighter side of things, the Fighter's Guild offering training in various forms of "combat versus" and "combat with" for a steep fee, makes sense. Focusing your weapon skills on being really good with long blades is not the sort of thing that should come free. Add in some meditation stuff...

...Temples could offer blessings from various Aedra, and Daedra could also have their deals.

On the darker side of things, the Dark Brotherhood knowing foul and profane rituals which can increase your power in some areas (extra magicka in darkness, anyone?) at a steep price (ranging from lowered magicka in daylight to damage from holy places) also makes a lot of sense.

And what if factions are the only way to learn or gain some of these advantages? Sure, you have a perk point, but that doesn't mean you magickally know how to perform the Ritual of Supernal Magicka; just that you have gained enough free potency to undergo it.
Previous experience tells me it's very easy to misunderstand the tone, intent, or meaning of what I've posted. If you have questions, ask.

Usernamicus
Posts: 24
Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2017 4:28 pm

Re: New advantages/disadvantages discussion

Post by Usernamicus »

I really like the "sneak vs (enemy type)" Advantage/Disadvantage idea, as well as the Magic School-based ones. Unfortunately the Fast Travel one is already taken by the Akatosh Chantry (the higher rank you are, the more % of the travel time is shortened iirc). :P

NOTE: all names are placeholders

Here are some more ideas:

-Ability to hit/Phobia to (Harpy, Orc, Dragonling, Centaur, etc. Basically all the ones with language skills attached outside of Daedra which already has them).

This allows for better builds that focus on specific creature types (kinda like how Languages are supposed to be, but this way you could REALLY play as a character who is great with/terrible with specific ones). As these are very specific enemy types they'd only cost +1/-1 for the Dagger, but it's worth it for additional roleplaying options.

-Communicator (both a General option and individual Language skills)

This one gives the player a +10% skill increase rate for language skills (or -10% for a Disadvantage version). Each individual creature Language skill would be a +1/-1, Etiquette and Streetwise ones would be a +5/-5 (due to having far more utility), and "General" would be closer to a +10/-10. This is another roleplay option one that wouldn't necessarily be OP but would certainly add to playstyles in a potentially interesting way.

-Pickpocketeer

Likelihood of unsuccessful pickpocket attempts alerting the guards is reduced (probably by around 10-20%, possibly being influenced by Personality and Luck).

-Poor Enchanter (Disadvantage only)

When using an enchanted item, you have a % chance of accidentally using up your Spell Points by 30% of the enchantment's normal spell cost. If your Spell Points are at 0 then it's taken out of your Fatigue. The % chance is based on your Intelligence and Luck, with 100+ Intelligence & Luck resulting in a 0.1% chance of using up Spell Points, and 0 in Intelligence & Luck resulting in a 100.1% chance of messing up.

(technically 0 and 100 but the idea is to always add a 0.1 to the end of the formula so that even if you have 999 in both Attributes you'll always have some sliver of a chance to mess up).

-Bad Hearing

Disadvantage version of Acute Hearing, whereas Acute Hearing allows you to hear things coming from a larger radius - thus being surprised by enemies less during dungeon crawls - Bad Hearing lowers the hearing radius, thus causing enemies to seemingly "come out of nowhere" more often.

User avatar
Jay_H
Posts: 4061
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2015 1:54 am
Contact:

Re: New advantages/disadvantages discussion

Post by Jay_H »

These are some really great ideas. Lots of good stuff coming out.

Just wanted to mention regarding abusable content: I literally can't survive Daggerfall without a completely unbalanced character :lol: My old standard build was 3x magicka + weapon expertise + rapid healing + spell absorption - poison weakness exploit - disease weakness exploit, and then setting speed and strength above 90. I could never survive without it :P

Daggerfall by nature is really stacked against the player IMO. A system that lets you even the odds is a good fit, I think. But beyond that, a lot of the stuff you guys have listed here would make for some really, really fun combinations. This is really eye-opening.

Narf the Mouse
Posts: 833
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2015 6:32 pm

Re: New advantages/disadvantages discussion

Post by Narf the Mouse »

Jay_H wrote: Mon Oct 22, 2018 7:21 am These are some really great ideas. Lots of good stuff coming out.

Just wanted to mention regarding abusable content: I literally can't survive Daggerfall without a completely unbalanced character :lol: My old standard build was 3x magicka + weapon expertise + rapid healing + spell absorption - poison weakness exploit - disease weakness exploit, and then setting speed and strength above 90. I could never survive without it :P

Daggerfall by nature is really stacked against the player IMO. A system that lets you even the odds is a good fit, I think. But beyond that, a lot of the stuff you guys have listed here would make for some really, really fun combinations. This is really eye-opening.
Thank you. This thread has gotten a lot of wonderful ideas, far beyond my initial plan of "Think up new advantages and disadvantages". Or the original plan of "ask a question about a character build." :)

Thank you to everyone. :)
Previous experience tells me it's very easy to misunderstand the tone, intent, or meaning of what I've posted. If you have questions, ask.

User avatar
Midknightprince
Posts: 1324
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2017 6:51 am
Location: San Antonio TX
Contact:

Re: New advantages/disadvantages discussion

Post by Midknightprince »

Feralwarlord wrote: Sun Oct 07, 2018 8:04 am well this one is more for RP but how about an advantage that lets you start as a vampire/werewolf/wereboar
Me me me !!
Check out my YouTube Channel!

User avatar
Midknightprince
Posts: 1324
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2017 6:51 am
Location: San Antonio TX
Contact:

Re: New advantages/disadvantages discussion

Post by Midknightprince »

Heat vision (can only see warm bloodded stuff in the dark, no undead, no insects)...

Repairing weapons while you rest, curing des while you rest (but you take way longer to rest).

A theiving trait - you are naturally better at lockpicking, pickpocket, sneaking..etc....commoners and the like your friendlier with, shopkeepers, priests..etc...hate you more, and you have - 10 in rep with all provinces forever.
You could do that with probably five main class types - fighter, mage, thief, healer, monk, just call it "class type traits", that anyone can pick, and mix stuff up.

How about creature type friendliness traits, like giants like you more, pixies like you less, you can be friends with orcs, but imps hate you.

You are friendlier with all non human creatures (except undead), but all human types like you less (including Daedra).
Taming could be part of it, just give him a spell that doesn't use manna you can only cast once a day, per lvl, @35% chance.
We need a beastmaster in Daggerfall, always have..
Check out my YouTube Channel!

Narf the Mouse
Posts: 833
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2015 6:32 pm

Re: New advantages/disadvantages discussion

Post by Narf the Mouse »

I think a social skill for animals could work, but it outside the scope of this topic. :)
Previous experience tells me it's very easy to misunderstand the tone, intent, or meaning of what I've posted. If you have questions, ask.

User avatar
Midknightprince
Posts: 1324
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2017 6:51 am
Location: San Antonio TX
Contact:

Re: New advantages/disadvantages discussion

Post by Midknightprince »

Narf the Mouse wrote: Tue Nov 06, 2018 12:53 am I think a social skill for animals could work, but it outside the scope of this topic. :)
I know, I can't help it :lol:
I see the title, my mind starts taking off, and my hands just start typing.
Check out my YouTube Channel!

Narf the Mouse
Posts: 833
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2015 6:32 pm

Re: New advantages/disadvantages discussion

Post by Narf the Mouse »

Midknightprince wrote: Sun Nov 11, 2018 8:30 pm I know, I can't help it :lol:
I see the title, my mind starts taking off, and my hands just start typing.
I've been known to go off-topic. :)
Previous experience tells me it's very easy to misunderstand the tone, intent, or meaning of what I've posted. If you have questions, ask.

Post Reply