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

[Infinitron]

Is that stuff only on Something Awful and if so, why?

Sawyer: Something Awful ~ inXile: RPGCodex

 

[Kirtai]

Sawyer: Something Awful

Now that makes an excellent out of context quote :D

 

[Kem0sabe]

I wish developers would stop posting at Something Awful...

 

[Duraframe300]

Sawyer's been a goon for a long time. Before RPG Codex was even around IIRC. (Currently don't have access to SA)

 

[Sensuki]

I don't think I'm alone in the "2E was the most fun version of D&D", anyone else find that as well ?

 

[Jaesun]

I don't think I'm alone in the "2E was the most fun version of D&D", anyone else find that as well ?

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/why-d-d-3rd-edition-was-part-of-the-decline.82537/

 

[Blaine]

I don't think I'm alone in the "2E was the most fun version of D&D", anyone else find that as well ?

The most fun version of D&D is using GURPS instead.

 

[Crooked Bee]

The P:E discussion on the SA forums has been interesting for the last few pages. I have been bashed to Oblivion for liking the Infinity Engine UI, not liking Action Queues or Action Bars and for dissing D&D 4E ... lol

FFS, the anti-dice rolls guy :facepalm:

Yeah been reading that thread myself. There's a veritable goldmine there!

Oh I didn't mean to deny they have some good discussion going there. In fact, it is definitely among the best CRPG discussion threads I have read on any forum.

It's just that a lot of the opinions in that thread are reeeally well-suited for the Best Thread Ever.

 

[Hormalakh]

J.R.R. Sawyer.

:brofist:

 

[Hormalakh]

Hey Jaesun, here's your answer.

other than testing your game/battle mechanics after they're implemented in the game, how else do you test to see if the game mechanics are fun for PE? Do you play PnP versions of the game?
We don't play tabletop versions of PE's mechanics. They're really not designed for tabletop use. Attack/defense resolution uses a 100 point base scale, which IME gives people a lot of headaches. Worse than that, a lot of bonuses and penalties are percentile modifiers. That really slows tabletop combat to a crawl.

The best way we have to see if PE's mechanics are fun is to implement and use them in the game.

http://www.formspring.me/JESawyer/q/455173715819263334

 

[Roguey]

Where's this quote from ?

YCS. You need an account to read the forums.

The P:E discussion on the SA forums has been interesting for the last few pages. I have been bashed to Oblivion for liking the Infinity Engine UI, not liking Action Queues or Action Bars and for dissing D&D 4E ... lol

The IE UIs had a lot of problems, there's nothing wrong with action bars as long as they're pleasing aesthetically, and 4e is is pretty good.

 

[Jaesun]

Obsidian ‏@Obsidian4m
#ProjectEternity Update 52: Monk! with Tim Cain, also new 'culture' concept art from Kaz. http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/63765-update-52-monk/ …

Update by Tim Cain, Senior Programmer and Designer

Hello! I'm sorry I haven't done an update in a while. I've been working on classes and everything related to classes: abilities, skills, spells, combat...you know, the good stuff. For the past several months, Josh and I have been refining the designs for the non-core classes, the classes that are most unusual, classes like the chanter and the cipher and one of my favorites, the monk.

Monks in Eternity are different than you might expect. There are no restrictions on armor and weapons – you could wear plate and use a sword, if you wanted to, and the talent system is flexible enough so you could build a great monk that specialized in that gear. But at the core of this class is a little rule about how monks take damage. You see, when a monk gets hit, only part of the damage is inflicted on him or her immediately. The rest is redirected to a Wound, which is an effect that causes damage over time (called a DoT effect) to the monk. That slowly-ticking Wound would only seem to be delaying the inevitable result except for one thing: the monk can get rid of that Wound by using special attacks.

The monk gets all kinds of cool special attacks that do extra effects beyond simply damage and, as a side effect, also eliminate his Wounds. Some of their special attacks include:

• Torment’s Reach - this ability increases the range of melee attacks by 200% for a short duration. Enemies between the monk and his or her target are also attacked. Costs 1 Wound to activate.
• Turning Wheel - if the monk suffers from a DoT effect (including Wounds ticking down), he or she adds a proportional fire bonus to his or her melee damage. This is a passive ability which works automatically whenever the monk has any DoT effect.
• Clarity of Agony - when used, this ability cuts the duration of hostile status effects in half. It lasts for a brief amount of time, halving both incoming effects and ones that are currently on the monk. Costs 2 Wounds.

Each of these attacks makes monks stronger in battle, and many also consume their Wounds, hopefully before those Wounds have done the damage the monks were originally supposed to take.

And as monks level up, they get more than just these special attacks. They can gain room for more Wounds, so they can have more of them at once to use at the same time for an extraordinarily powerful attack or use them across multiple special attacks. Monks can also change how their Wounds function. For example, they can choose to have their Wounds do less damage at the start and more at the end, so getting rid of them faster is advantageous. Monks can also choose to do their damage sequentially, letting the monk build up a lot of Wounds to fuel a crazy powerful ability and not take much damage for doing so.

So as a monk, your goal is simple: you want to take damage, so you get Wounds, so you can perform extraordinary attacks. But remember when I mentioned the monk in plate mail using a sword? Sure, you can do that, but that plate armor will inhibit your ability to get Wounds, which means you don't get as many special attacks. And unarmed attacks are among the fastest types of attacks, so a weaponless monk can get rid of his Wounds faster than any armed monk, so he will suffer very little of their damage-over-time effects. That's like having extra hit points for free! FOR FREE! Who wouldn't want that?!

This is why you see a lot of unarmed and unarmored monks running around. Not because the rules say you can't use those items, but because in most situations it's one of the best ways to play. An unencumbered monk can be a terror on the battlefield, a nightmare that just won't seem to die, no matter how hard he gets hit. Blows that seem like they should kill him only serve to make him stronger.

Trust me, you are going to love playing a monk. But if you ever feel the need to use a magical sword for its raw damage potential or wear enchanted mail to gain fire resistance for battle with a dragon, you can do that too. Because Project Eternity is all about bending the roles of each class, so you can play how you want, resolve conflicts how you want and solve problems how you want.

After all, this is *your* game.


Culture Concept


Concept artist Kaz Aruga has been developing the look of some of Project Eternity's various cultures. So far, he's created concepts for people from the Dyrwood, the Vailian Republics, the Aedyr Empire, and the Valley of Ixamitl. We hope you like the range we've come up with. Let us know what you think!

 

[Cynic]

Because Project Eternity is all about bending the roles of each class, so you can play how you want, resolve conflicts how you want and solve problems how you want. After all, this is *your* game.

This sounds bad. This sounds...really fucking bad. What is the point of a class if I can just turn it into another one? It doesn't bode well for a deep system if the only thing differing your class from another is skills and loot. Sounds like Diablo 3.

Edit: okay just read the sentence about plate inhibiting you from getting wounds. Raging a little less now. But those ideas surrounding bending roles of classes sound really fucked.

 

[FeelTheRads]

Hi guise yur real love to play a monk as a fighter/maeg/rouge/saumrai btw how to grapple ooze????

 

[Hormalakh]

This sounds bad. This sounds...really fucking bad. What is the point of a class if I can just turn it into another one? It doesn't bode well for a deep system if the only thing differing your class from another is skills and loot. Sounds like Diablo 3.

Edit: okay just read the sentence about plate inhibiting you from getting wounds. Raging a little less now. But those ideas surrounding bending roles of classes sound really fucked.

Edit: there has already been a lot of talk about this in the past. They are not allowing multi-classing in this game, but there is the ability to share certain skills between classes. However, choosing a certain class at the beginning allows you distinct advantages over choosing another class and then cross-covering a different set of skills.

For example, only mages will be able to cast wizard spells. I bet monks will be the only ones who will have wound capabilities.

 

[Roguey]

Because Project Eternity is all about bending the roles of each class, so you can play how you want, resolve conflicts how you want and solve problems how you want.

If you want rigid class roles goback2DragonAge2 or whatever.

I'm really digging those fancy darkies and that kufi-wearing whitey. Meanwhile, the Dyrwood folk are all boring and brown, as expected. European forest dwelling losers.

 

[Hormalakh]

European forest dwelling losers. Roguey's gonna Roguey even when zhe's 5/5/odd.

 

[Cynic]

This sounds bad. This sounds...really fucking bad. What is the point of a class if I can just turn it into another one? It doesn't bode well for a deep system if the only thing differing your class from another is skills and loot. Sounds like Diablo 3.

Edit: okay just read the sentence about plate inhibiting you from getting wounds. Raging a little less now. But those ideas surrounding bending roles of classes sound really fucked.

Edit: there has already been a lot of talk about this in the past. They are not allowing multi-classing in this game, but there is the ability to share certain skills between classes. However, choosing a certain class at the beginning allows you distinct advantages over choosing another class and then cross-covering a different set of skills.

For example, only mages will be able to cast wizard spells. I bet monks will be the only ones who will have wound capabilities.

So something like core skills can't be transferred but non core skills can? Hmmm...

 

[Jaesun]

Let's keep the digit shit to feedback thanks.

 

[tuluse]

So something like core skills can't be transferred but non core skills can? Hmmm...

I don't know what you mean by "transferred". Wearing armor and using weapons are not class skills in PE.

 

[Hormalakh]

So something like core skills can't be transferred but non core skills can? Hmmm...

I bet that's how it's going to work. I remember reading something to this effect when Sawyer talked about mages...

 

[Excidium]

These are probably the worst Monk mechanics I've ever seen in an RPG. Just rename the class to masochist or something. Monks should be avoiding attacks, not getting slapped on purpose so they can do a shoryuken.

 

[evdk]

Let's keep the digit shit to feedback thanks.

Ha, nailed it.

These are probably the worst Monk mechanics I've ever seen in an RPG. Just rename the class to masochist or something. Monks should be avoiding attacks, not getting slapped on purpose so they can do a shoryuken.

I could swear I've seen a similar mechanic somewhere but can't remember where.

 

[Cynic]

Because Project Eternity is all about bending the roles of each class, so you can play how you want, resolve conflicts how you want and solve problems how you want.

If you want rigid class roles goback2DragonAge2 or whatever.

I'm really digging those fancy darkies and that kufi-wearing whitey. Meanwhile, the Dyrwood folk are all boring and brown, as expected. European forest dwelling losers.

Defined class roles allow for parties where each member has a distinct role to play in combat thereby forcing the player to use each member in a specific way. This encourages thinking and planning, in other words TAKKKTIKS. I didn't play assfuck age 2 past the shitty demo so I don't know anything about it.

Multi classing in D&D had clear advantages and disadvantages which made multi classed characters a distinct class in of themselves. If they can manage to pull that off with their new system then of course I'll be happy.

 

[Excidium]

Because Project Eternity is all about bending the roles of each class, so you can play how you want, resolve conflicts how you want and solve problems how you want.

If you want rigid class roles goback2DragonAge2 or whatever.

I'm really digging those fancy darkies and that kufi-wearing whitey. Meanwhile, the Dyrwood folk are all boring and brown, as expected. European forest dwelling losers.

Defined class roles allow for parties where each member has a distinct role to play in combat thereby forcing the player to use each member in a specific way. This encourages thinking and planning, in other words TAKKKTIKS. I didn't play assfuck age 2 past the shitty demo so I don't know anything about it.

You don't need rigid classes, or even classes at all to have that.

Multi classing in D&D had clear advantages and disadvantages which made multi classed characters a distinct class in of themselves. If they can manage to pull that off with their new system then of course I'll be happy.

Haha