Character's info

[Jang]

Hi,
I've ordered the full version yesterday, and, until I get it, i'm doing fights. I have a question : is there something above "unübertrefflich" ? Because,it sounds like being the last level and I've reached that point for some abilities. Therefore, I was wondering if it was useful to continue exercising...

 

[Wolf Mittag]

Hi Jang,

no, having the skill level 'unübertrefflich' / 'unsurpassable' just means that you are extremely unlikely to encounter anyone with as high a skill level as yours (i.e., it refers to how your skill level compares to the general population).

Your skills will continue to improve, endlessly. It takes progressively ever more work, i.e., while increases in skill level were easy and fast at the beginning, now, with your present skill level, you will have to do a great deal more to progress any further. But you still can do so. You won't get a new skill level name after reaching 'unübertrefflich' / 'unsurpassable', but all of your further skill gains will still be reflected internally.
(BTW, in DARGHUL, I've changed the display of your skills to something like 'experience: 100 (average)'; i.e., you're now told the numerical value.)

Speaking numerically, a skill level from 95-104 would be average, 105-114 acceptable, 115-124 good, 125-134 very good, 135-144 exceptional, >145 unsurpassable. I used intelligence IQ values as a yardstick; i.e. most people would have an IQ of 90-110; 80 would be rather dumb, 120 rather intelligent, >130 highly intelligent, and >140 a genius.

(The effect of a higher value rises exponentially; i.e. having an IQ of 140 wouldn't just mean you'd be 40% more intelligent than the average guy; rather, it's a different quality: even a dozen average guys combining their efforts would be unable to surpass you. Likewise, a sword fighter with a skill level of 140 should find it fairly easy to simultaneously defeat a dozen enemies with skill levels of around 100.)

Given this, I really didn't intend players to reach a skill level of >145 under normal circumstances. Do you use an old Teudogar version? (1.00? I think I increased progression starting in version 1.01.) Or did you cheat? Or did you just train excessively? If so, how many enemies did you defeat?

If you've defeated several hundred people in combat, maybe it's realistic you've attained such a skill level. However, from a certain point on, you shouldn't get much additional experience out of yet another won duel; so I guess I need to increase progression a bit further after, say, a skill level of 130, much further after 135, and even more after 140. Maybe I should also counter-balance your experience by causing some of the heavier injuries you suffered to permanently decrease your fighting abilities a bit (even after your health has been restored). I'll have to calculate and experiment a bit with this. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. (And, of course, thank you for ordering the full version! Your CD is already on its way.)

 

[Jang]

Given this, I really didn't intend players to reach a skill level of >145 under normal circumstances. Do you use an old Teudogar version? (1.00? I think I increased progression starting in version 1.01.) Or did you cheat? Or did you just train excessively? If so, how many enemies did you defeat?

In fact, I've downloaded the game three or four days ago and I'm no cheater (were your words an incitement to a duel ? ). Seriously, I just liked the game (and as an Elsass-Lothringer and a student in History, I have a great interest for old German history, and finding a game about it was a great joy), so I played a lot. I've defeated something like 218 persons and i've made "übungskämpfe" with all the warriors of the demo. By the way, I've only reached the level "ünubertrefflich" for the Schild defense (at this moment, my character is just "sehr gut" with a sword, but I intend to make it progress). I didn't thought that was rare and I was more impressed by Xiaora who gained a tousand gold coins in 3 days.

Maybe I should also counter-balance your experience by causing some of the heavier injuries you suffered to permanently decrease your fighting abilities a bit

Please don't ! It could be more realistic, but it also could discourage some players.

I have an other question : Is there some way to erase the disgraceful deeds ? Because I killed some fleeing robbers and now, I am not said as having led a faultless life :/

Thank you for having created this game and also for sending it quickly ! I've just get it and two days from Berlin to Strassburg, that's pretty cool (It's faster than the letters I get from Paris).

So, I must go, I've a game to play :D

EDIT (23h) : I've just finished the game. Cool ending...and with two wives :D

 

[Wolf Mittag]

> causing heavier injuries to permanently decrease your fighting abilities a bit:
I was thinking about e.g. keeping your vitality a bit reduced (not much, just a bit). You would effectively compensate this with your increased fighting skills. So overall you'd still get stronger and stronger, but by adding some small degree of frailty, you'd be prevented from reaching god-like levels too easily. Also, since there's some growth in strength/dexterity and vitality as well, you'd make up for the loss after awhile; so it'd be more of a setback than a permanent loss.

> erase disgraceful deeds (killed fleeing robbers / no faultless life):
Unfortunately, no. But never mind; slaying fleeing enemies isn't disgraceful from a Teutonic point of view (nor from a Roman or Greek one). Apart from, I think, a tiny reduction in charisma (more than made up by what you'd gained from winning the fight), you don't suffer any adverse consequences from this; just the opposite, I think it even increases Woden's sympathy for you. So it's not a blot on your reputation that messes up your resumee, but rather, just a detail that could be noticed about your character.

 

[Jang]

>slaying fleeing enemies isn't disgraceful from a Teutonic point of view (nor from a Roman or Greek one)
I had already read something like that, I think it was in Sallustius's Catilina, about the shame of dying with wounds on the back, instead of the torso and, also in Caesar, about the glory of pursuing and killing flying ennemies...

Thank you for your answers, this game is realy great and I am already waiting for a Teudogar II :D

In fact, I've got only one reproach :
since i've followed the "kick-the-romans -out-plot", I was expecting to fight many of them. Instead, even if, towards all the game you're preparing to fight them, you have only a few occasions (one or two) to do so ingame. I supposed it would not have been very difficult to sometimes encounters roman patrols instead of robbers. Would it have been historically right ? I suppose yes, because I've already heard about germans embushing roman patrols in the forest. But, somebody talked here of a roman camp, so I should follow the alliance plot...

About Teudogar II, even if I know you're concentrated on Darghul for now, do you arleady have an idea of what it could be : a sequel, a remake,... ? Because if it will be a sequel, would be nice to have the abilituy to use your old saved games.

Thank you one more time for your time and your answers.

 

[Wolf Mittag]

Hi Jang,

> encounter roman patrols instead of robbers. Would it have been historically right
In 12 B.C. (the year of Teudogar's plot), no. In this year the Roman invasion had only just begun, and the Romans still hadn't conquered any tribal areas. Sure, they'd just devastated and depopulated the Usipians' land on the Germanic side of the Rhine river. But this was a brief expedition, not yet a conquest. That'd only follow when all neighboring tribes were defeated; after all, what point would there be to occupying (and defending) a wasted, depopulated area as long as there were combat-ready enemy tribes nearby?
So from a Roman point of view, since there was no territory to defend or peace to keep, it didn't make sense to waste any soldiers by having small troops patrol anywhere, always risking to get ambushed. Only exceptions would be spies and scouts (who'd go hiding when they'd see you approaching) (and who'd mostly be natives, anyway), and, rarely, envoys or delegations on their way to allied tribes (these wouldn't be looking for a fight, either).

(This strategy changed marginally several years later, when all Germanic tribes had been sufficiently weakened to allow a permanent Roman presence on the Germanic side of the Rhine. But even then the Romans mostly relied on their local allies, and confined themselves to heavily fortified camps set up at strategic locations, where their presence would deter not-yet-defeated tribes from attacking Roman allies or tribes that had surrendered. The general Roman approach still was not to waste their own men on occupying territory; regarding hostile tribes, it was much better to fight a few large, decisive battle, kill most enemies and civilians, give the depopulated land to an allied tribe, and defend this ally from retaliatory attacks from other tribes by the simple presence of a legion in a camp. Only around a decade later, when all tribes had been defeated and had formally surrendered, and the area was declared a province, only then would the Romans actually put lots of troops and personnel on the ground. That'd be the period Teudogar II would be set it.)

> Teudogar II:
It'd be a sequel and would probably form the 2nd part of a 3-part-series (1-Alliance with Rome, 2-Roman Rule, 3-Rebellion against Rome), due to the timespan covered by the historical events.
There was a fairly long 'Teudogar 2'-thread about this in this forum; I just noticed this somehow got deleted (perhaps during manual spam-removal), so I restored it from what I had archived: http://rpgcodex.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=271659.