Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity [BETA RELEASED, GO TO THE NEW THREAD]

[imweasel]

All the D&D speak in a game that isn't D&D kind of makes me despair. Oh well.

What baffles me is why they're not just using D&D when they copy almost all the functionality and all the terms from it.

I suppose copying D&D (well, almost everything except for the challenge xp) and naming it "Josh's Kewl System for PE" makes them feel special.

 

[suejak]

All the D&D speak in a game that isn't D&D kind of makes me despair. Oh well.

What baffles me is why they're not just using D&D when they copy almost all the functionality and all the terms from it.

I suppose copying D&D (well, almost everything except for the challenge xp) and naming it "Josh's Kewl System for PE" makes them feel special.

And allows them total creative freedom with full rights to the profits? Yeah, I guess that's pretty special.

 

[Cosmo]

I suppose copying D&D (well, almost everything except for the challenge xp) and naming it "Josh's Kewl System for PE" makes them feel special.

Or is it because the game is supposed to be an homage to Baldur's Gate and other D&D games ?
But it's true that, despite it being clearly stated multiple times, understanding that would require using ones brain and it can seem a little overwhelming for some people...

 

[imweasel]

All the D&D speak in a game that isn't D&D kind of makes me despair. Oh well.

What baffles me is why they're not just using D&D when they copy almost all the functionality and all the terms from it.

I suppose copying D&D (well, almost everything except for the challenge xp) and naming it "Josh's Kewl System for PE" makes them feel special.

And allows them total creative freedom with full rights to the profits? Yeah, I guess that's pretty special.

Well, that is obvious. We were just being sarcastic.

 

[suejak]

You can easily argue that an even better homage to BG would be to use the same rules it did, the AD&D rules. In fact, that's what Grunker is typing right as you read this.

The actual point is for them to have a fully homegrown IP that will bring phat lewt and hot bitches.

 

[imweasel]

The actual point is for them to have a fully homegrown IP that will bring phat lewt and hot bitches.

Only if the game is a success. Otherwise RIP Obsidian. And Sawyer could pass out flyers for KFC.

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.formspring.me/GZiets

 

[Roguey]

So I realized that if those black and white pics of aumauas are companions, all of them are now accounted for. Looks like they've doubled-up on mages so I'm assuming the elf guy and the aumaua guy are mutually exclusive. Classes not accounted for would be rogues, druids, chanters, and paladins.

What baffles me is why they're not just using D&D when they copy almost all the functionality and all the terms from it.

Because D&D is shit. See the last two quotes in my sig. Or better yet the page where they come from http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/35419-does-anyone-else-share-my-dislike-of-d20/page-7
I'm fond of

Planescape: Torment does a pretty good job of avoiding and sublimating 2nd Ed. rules to the point of near-irrelevance. I can take a ride through paradise in a crappy Chevy Cavalier. My environment does not diminish the crappy nature of the Cavalier.

but my sig's big enough as it is.

 

[imweasel]

What baffles me is why they're not just using D&D when they copy almost all the functionality and all the terms from it.

Because D&D is shit. See the last two quotes in my sig. Or better yet the page where they come from http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/35419-does-anyone-else-share-my-dislike-of-d20/page-7

Sawyer luvs D&D though. At least that is what he says. I dunno which version though.

 

[Roguey]

He'll play it with friends if he likes his friends or the settings. He doesn't care so much for the rules as-is.
http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/35419-does-anyone-else-share-my-dislike-of-d20/page-8#entry391718

Most settings created by TSR during the 2nd Ed. days can and are used in other game systems. The systems don't make the settings good, though the use of a crummy system with a good setting can hurt the overall impact of the experience.

His preferred version of D&D is 4e. http://www.formspring.me/JESawyer/q/641429588

 

[imweasel]

He'll play it with friends if he likes his friends or the settings.

Sawyer only plays with his friends if he likes them?

Ohhh, poor unliked Sawyerfriends.

 

[Grunker]

Sawyer actually likes D&D settings? That explains alot, I guess

 

[Lord Andre]

Who is this Sawyer dude and why should I care what he thinks of d&d ?

He likes 4th edition ? Oh my, how terribly droll.

 

[Harg Harfardarssen]

The actual point is for them to have a fully homegrown IP that will bring phat lewt and hot bitches.

So true. All of my billion or so super hot girlfriends each require that I homebrew them their own personal rpg system and setting. It's exhausting. Don't tell the N-Zs that I just copied the ones I did for the A-Ms.

 

[Bilgefar]

"Portfolios" for gods is huge derp and sickens me.

Why?

Because it awkwardly and unnecessarily separates the person from the persona and turns being a god from a natural privelege into a fucking job. Ares wasn't a/the god of war because that's what his resume said; he was the god of war because that's what he fucking was. He was a god who liked combat, encouraged conflict, and was a martial badass. That some mortal could come along with similar characteristics and actually depose him and take his portfolio ("DEY TUUK ER JEBZ") is fucking ludicrous. Congratulations to Ed Greenwood for drawing a map, but that entire world and the systems he devised for it are sheer fucking stupidity.

Eh, I don't know about this. Remember that Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades had a backstory to how they became the gods. They had to overthrow the Titans to gain that status. Even more importantly to this debate, after they won, they drew lots to determine what their domains would be. Poseidon wasn't god of the sea because he was the god of sea, it was what was assigned to him based on the draw (or as you put it, that's what he resume said).

 

[Irenaeus]

"Portfolios" for gods is huge derp and sickens me.

Why?

Because it awkwardly and unnecessarily separates the person from the persona and turns being a god from a natural privelege into a fucking job. Ares wasn't a/the god of war because that's what his resume said; he was the god of war because that's what he fucking was. He was a god who liked combat, encouraged conflict, and was a martial badass. That some mortal could come along with similar characteristics and actually depose him and take his portfolio ("DEY TUUK ER JEBZ") is fucking ludicrous. Congratulations to Ed Greenwood for drawing a map, but that entire world and the systems he devised for it are sheer fucking stupidity.

Eh, I don't know about this. Remember that Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades had a backstory to how they became the gods. They had to overthrow the Titans to gain that status. Even more importantly to this debate, after they won, they drew lots to determine what their domains would be. Poseidon wasn't god of the sea because he was the god of sea, it was what was assigned to him based on the draw (or as you put it, that's what he resume said).

Great first post, welcome to the Codex.

 

[Dorateen]

I give it a week before people mod it in anyway.

There will be an Adventurer's Hall sprouting up in the starting area, or its proximity, if I have anything to say about it.

 

[Bilgefar]

Eh, I don't know about this. Remember that Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades had a backstory to how they became the gods. They had to overthrow the Titans to gain that status. Even more importantly to this debate, after they won, they drew lots to determine what their domains would be. Poseidon wasn't god of the sea because he was the god of sea, it was what was assigned to him based on the draw (or as you put it, that's what he resume said).

You do know that all gods had typically more than one domain right? Most gods had 'portfolios' based on their likes. e,g Poseidon was ALSO a god of horses etc.

That's true. Not sure what it has to do with my point, but it is indeed true.

Great first post, welcome to the Codex.

Thanks bro.

 

[Murk]

The portfolio aspect is important in any setting that requires gods to be overthrown -- for example, D&D in which you too can become a god if you are hardcore enough.

If the portfolio is based on some inner concept that is unique to that specific being and no other being, then no gods can ever be replaced and things like ...well the entire backdrop and basis for Baldur's Gate or Mask of the Betrayer is now gone. Stories of how Vecna, St. Cuthbert, Cyric, or Kelemvor became gods are all dependent on the idea that at some point a god either goes "I'm done" (like Jergal) or is killed (like Bane).

 

[Harg Harfardarssen]

Eh, I don't know about this. Remember that Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades had a backstory to how they became the gods. They had to overthrow the Titans to gain that status. Even more importantly to this debate, after they won, they drew lots to determine what their domains would be. Poseidon wasn't god of the sea because he was the god of sea, it was what was assigned to him based on the draw (or as you put it, that's what he resume said).

Yahweh was just one of many dime-a-dozen storm gods until he ordered everyone to ignore all other gods and then absorbed their portfolios.

I always thought that portfolio had become a generic term for the areas in which a god was focused or exerted influence. How that focus and influence work can vary across settings or systems. In other words, just because someone uses the term portfolio doesn't mean they are going to use a DnD style of pantheon.

Although I will say Forgotten Realms handles divinity in a kind of derpy way generally, but its the same derpiness that afflicts the setting as a whole; a wild mishmash of all possible fantasy tropes and real world cultures leading to a setting that's simultaneously convoluted and generic.

 

[imweasel]

Yeah, portfolios are just fine.

Here is an example:

One of the Dead Three, Bhaal was originally a mortal, who along with Bane and Myrkul took the portfolios of the ancient deity Jergal. Despite his most common title, Bhaal was the god of Murder, but he especially favoured violent or ritual deaths.

Bhaal helped to kill Jergal and received one of his portfolios because he wanted to become the god of murder.

 

[villain of the story]

Eh, I don't know about this. Remember that Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades had a backstory to how they became the gods. They had to overthrow the Titans to gain that status. Even more importantly to this debate, after they won, they drew lots to determine what their domains would be. Poseidon wasn't god of the sea because he was the god of sea, it was what was assigned to him based on the draw (or as you put it, that's what he resume said).

You do know that all gods had typically more than one domain right? Most gods had 'portfolios' based on their likes. e,g Poseidon was ALSO a god of horses etc.

Plus, their domain and how they came to be at all varied between cultures, even under the same name. Comparisons to divinities and pantheons in real history is therefore irrelevant. Game developers are too busy creating mega-derp clear-cut backstories with very literal realities and without room for interpretation. Elder Scrolls lore used to be way cool, before they "Christianised" it all in Oblivion.

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.formspring.me/GZiets/q/421400801852813913

Does Lord Ao have a counterpart in PE?

Probably not.

 

[Murk]

Bhaal helped to kill Jergal and received one of his portfolios because he wanted to become the god of murder.

They never killed him. According to the random book in-game Jergal made them a deal by playing games with them. Jergal was just tired for he had grown too powerful and become apathetic to... existence (I'd say life, but he was a god of death so... ya know).

 

[Dorateen]

Probably not means possibly maybe.

I really don't have a preference for the direction they take. It's just the overuse of qualifying adjectives and equivocating mealy-mouthed public relations speech grates on me sometimes.