Torment Torment: Tides of Numenera Pre-Release Thread [ALPHA RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Blaine]

I think Dipshit McCaricature is also ignoring the fact that this isn't going to be a combat-centric game.

Your choice of party members barely mattered at all in the original Torment. Either way, you mostly just herded six little cats against some other cats and waited for stuff to happen—although T:ToN is going full turn-based, so that will be inclined.

 

[Sensuki]

is one of those Patrick Rothfuss' character? The sybil certainly sounds different, so maybe that's his?

 

[Kem0sabe]

How many of those are fuckable? Thats the interesting question.

 

[tuluse]

Roguey it's been announced that InXile is totally redoing the combat system, and that the character system is going to receive heavy trimming and modification. Since you can't really have a make your own ability in a cRPG anyways.

This is not exactly following your be totally resaonable guidelines.

 

[Sensuki]

new? (I don't subscribe to RPS, I found this during a PE google search)

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/06/17/torment-tides-of-numenera-interview-1/

 

[Ninjerk]

How many of those are fuckable? Thats the interesting question.

Not enough, I'll wager.

 

[tuluse]

new? (I don't subscribe to RPS, I found this during a PE google search)

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/06/17/torment-tides-of-numenera-interview-1/

The date says June 17th, so probably new.

It has to be Grayson, sigh.

 

[Crooked Bee]

The interview questions are surprisingly alright, though.

 

[Zed]

We have a lot of influences for turn-based. One that stands out is Temple of Elemental Evil. I hadn’t played this game before the combat vote, but as soon as I did I knew this was a good foundation for Torment. Specifically the way they handled gridless turn-based, move vs. attack actions, and a wealth of tactical choices for the player

I wrote this every opportunity I had during the combat discussions. Glad to see they realized this too.
ToEE is garbage but the gridless combat has a lot of potential.

 

[Excidium]

Hexes or get the fuck out

 

[roll-a-die]

New criticism

It's that every fighter ability is "do more damage" while the wizard gets unlimited Hold Person spells with no resource cost at level two. And the fighter/wizard is 95%+ copy/pasted abilities from the other two classes.

But that's the banal bad part. The painful part is how there ARE some really cool character creation concepts that are so wide open it seems like the game is begging you to make up your own stuff. But then they are completely unbalanced, very crunchy and often a grab bag of loosely-themed powers rather than something tightly designed. That leaves you without appropriate guidelines on how to invent your own and creating them takes a lot of effort given how crunchy they are. And they really are a kitchen sink so the game ends up feeling like RIFTS: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Fun to look at but you wouldn't want to play it.

Time to blow the dust off of "banal shit boring."

Well yeah, the Glaives concept is being really good at fighting, not being magic at fighting.

Okiedoke, lemme open my book again to see the unlimited hold person spell. The hold person spell is practically worthless for anything other than delaying things. And it only works on things your size.

Here's the text to prove a point,
Stasis(3 Intellect Points)
You surround a foe
of your size or smaller with scintillating energy,
keeping it from moving or acting for one minute
as if frozen solid. You must be able to see the
target, and it must be within short range. While
stasis, the target is impervious to harm, cannot
moved, and is immune to all effects. Action.


Congrats you just took a minimum of 1 damage. To make something invulnerable to harm, and you likely endangered yourself doing it to get into short range(5-10 feet). Also it prevents you from putting damage out this round.

I'm predicting the class balance will be not unlike Dragon Age: Origins. Three classes and yet the spellcaster is the undeniably superior option. Completable with no spellcasters, but a party full of 'em for the instant win.

http://a.pomf.se/hrpkod.webm

Reminder that ToN has a max party size of four or five at the most, also not unlike DA:O.

You are quite the little agitator aren't you?

 

[Excidium]

Glaive's problem to me was less being weaker and more being boring as fuck. Most of their class abilities were +1 to damage or something like that.

God, thanks for reminding me Numenera is shit

 

[Nihiliste]

Honestly couldn't care less about the class mechanics of the Numenera system in general. The writing team they've put together will ensure that the player character is an interesting one to play.

It's nice that this is a storyfag game because it means that the amateurish implementation of systems in W2 should have little bearing on my enjoyment of this game, especially with some more experienced guys behind the helm here to polish the edges.

 

[Hobz]

HEY ADAM ARE YOU PLANNING TO MAKE THE NANO RIDICULOUSLY OVERPOWERED AND THE OTHER TWO CLASSES USELESS??

No.

That's a nice brofist per written character ratio you got there. I'm quite jalous.

 

[Visperas]

Hexes or get the fuck out

Gridless is better.

 

[Excidium]

No way.

 

[tuluse]

Grids are cool, but I'll accept gridless too.

Just make it fun~

 

[Roguey]

BTW, I think people may have forgotten what Torment's companions are going to be like: http://numenera.gamepedia.com/Companions

• A fallen priest who pulls his writhing tattoos from his arms to spill horror upon his foes
• A cold, calculating jack with a blade in her pocket and acid in her soul, who caries mind-altering mists around her neck, and who has found a way to control light and shadow.
• A sybil whose visions of the world refract through her madness and who can see your other castoff siblings for what they are.
• A crippled beggar who devours magic to feed his addiction to the energies that flow through the numenera - and who can call upon that power to blast his foes with waves of pure force
• An ultradimensional traveller who peers through the veil of flesh to the life forces beneath, and who is capable of snuffing those forces with a thought
• The Toy is a changing ball of goo.

How many of these sound like a vanilla "Glaive/Jack/Nano" template even applies to them? They're going to be specced up the wazoo with Numenera artifacts and have all sorts of unique abilities.

Class balance just isn't that relevant here, because everything is so suis generis. It's the companions themselves who need to be balanced, and all the artifacts you can find in the world to kit them out with.

Most of those sound like nanos to me.

 

[tuluse]

Most of those sound like nanos to me.

Maybe InXile's plan to fix it is to make all characters nanos

 

[Excidium]

Most of those sound like nanos to me.

Those descriptions sound just like foci to me

 

[pakoito]

I lost it 3 comments ago. What is a nano and a foci.

 

[Excidium]

I lost it 3 comments ago. What is a nano and a foci.

Nano is one of the three classes of the game. There's Glaive (Warrior), Nano (Mage) and Jack (Hybrid)

Foci are a part of the character system that you have in addition to your class and unlocks a bunch of special powers as you level up.

 

[Infinitron]

I lost it 3 comments ago. What is a nano and a foci.

Monte Cook tutorial: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...er-update-5-monte-cook-explains-it-all.81215/

 

[Blaine]

A class-less, level-ess point-buy system would have been ideal for Numenera. Cook just didn't have the mivonks to stray far from the tried and true, which is kind of funny given how yooneek the setting's supposed to be.

Also, playtesters over at RPGnyet suggest that Nano isn't overpowered.

 

[roll-a-die]

Glaive's problem to me was less being weaker and more being boring as fuck. Most of their class abilities were +1 to damage or something like that.

God, thanks for reminding me Numenera is shit

Yeah, it's no worse than Pathfinder though.

I lost it 3 comments ago. What is a nano and a foci.

To paraphrase the RPG system, your character is made up of 3 things, a descriptor, this is pulled from a list of a lot of things, like agile, or brainy, or brawny. This provides an initial bonus to your character. Stat points are common, as are things like more equipment. You them have your type, this is a choice between, fighting directly and upfront, as what is called a Glaive, fighting indirectly, as a Nano, or as a jack of all trades, referred to as a Jack. These are your basic classes. Fighter Mage Thief in essence. Finally you have a focus, the best way to describe a focus, is that it is an additional modifier to your snowflakeyness. These are things like Bears a Halo of Fire, or Rides the Lightning. Howls at the Moon, or Fuses Flesh and Steel. These provide bonuses and abilities AS you level. In addition to your classes innates.

Together these three components form what Monte Cook describes as the Cypher system. You are a (Adjective) {Noun} Who [Verbs] You are a Clever Mage who Crafts Unique Objects, or perhaps You are a Strong-Willed Warrior who Talks to Machines.

It really is a game system that is incredibly easy to get into, with just enough depth and customization to draw both power gamer munchkins, and story fuck sluts.