Spider Stomper
Posts: 236
Joined: Saturday, 2nd July 2016, 13:16
oka's heroism should ignore the SL 27 cap
As far as I can tell, the cap has two practical consequences:
(1) it makes Okawaru weaker in extended, and
(2) it incentivizes (though probably weakly) players to stop raising their non-magic skills over 22, and instead rely on Heroism for cases where the extra five levels would matter.
But (1) is unnecessary. While it's a good thing that Oka is weaker in extended, it would be weak enough without the Heroism cap: the real reasons why Oka is weaker in extended is that your equipment has gotten good enough that further gifts will be increasingly unlikely to matter, and that the tactical benefits of other gods matter more than the bigger numbers Heroism and Finesse provide. And (2) is both unnecessary--diminishing returns on XP are reason to diversify enough--and annoyingly meta-gamey.
On the other hand, removing the cap would have gameplay and thematic benefits. Gameplay-wise, all things being equal it's (a) good for abilities to have unified effects throughout the life of a character, and (b) good for gods to provide multiple ways of spending piety. Thematically, Okawaru is all about pushing your abilities beyond normal levels. It's both fitting and flavorful for Okawaru to grant the greatest worshippers the ability to transcend mortal limitations.