Vaults Vanquisher
Posts: 463
Joined: Monday, 20th July 2015, 04:01
Demigods
Demigods have no advantages outside of sustain abilities, so their high stats are never called into question by the game. This is a very smart design choice IMO which is why it baffles me that they have nothing else. Their high stats and Robust trait aren't advantages, and I'll explain why below.
But first, let me just go out and say they have nothing else. They are mediocre to bad everywhere else.
- They have bad apts. Not terrible, definitely not as bad as Tr or Mu, but they still have one of the worst spreads.
- They level slowly. Slower than any other race.
- They can't have a god.
- They're boring because the disadvantage directly above this one isn't offset by something that makes them interesting. This is the big reason why no one minds the crappy Ds apts, because that race is extremely interesting to play.
Now, all of you are probably wondering why I haven't mentioned Robust and their high stats (only referencing sustain abilities) as advantages.
That's because they aren't. They're crutches that offset an otherwise absolutely terrible race. They're SUPPOSED to enjoy two really nice advantages, but...
- Robust is offset by the fact that they are a lower level than everyone else in the dungeon. For those who're still getting the sleepies out of their eyes, lower level = less HP.
- High stats are offset by bad apts. High stats only make it so that Dg don't need their skill levels as high to get the same EV as Hu, the same spellcasting rates as Hu, or the same armor penalty reduction as Hu. However, because their aptitudes are worse, they still require a similar amount of experience.
Regardless of whether or not my numbers are a little off for the previous two statements, I believe the point is clear. The simple fact of the matter is that Dg's disadvantages counteract almost all of their advantages on some level.
Last I checked, the main conduct demigods have is supposed to be godlessness. Why do they have these other penalties? I listed reasons why gameplay-wise this is a strange decision, but even flavor-wise the reasons don't make sense. Shouldn't a Dg should be better than a Hu at everything except god worship?
My proposal is similar to one made prior, only I take nothing away from Dg in return. It's just a straight up buff. I want to change the apts to the following:
Fighting: 1
Short Blades: 1
Long Blades: 1
Axes: 1
Maces & Flails: 1
Polearms: 1
Staves: 1
Unarmed Combat: 1
Throwing: 1
Slings: 1
Bows: 1
Crossbows: 1
Armour: 1
Dodging: 1
Stealth: 1
Shields: 1
Fire Magic: 1
Ice Magic: 1
Air Magic: 1
Earth Magic: 1
Poison Magic: 1
Spellcasting: 1
Conjurations: 1
Hexes: 1
Charms: 1
Summonings: 3
Necromancy: 0
Translocations: 1
Transmutation: 1
Invocations: N/A
Evocations: 2
Experience: 0
This is similar to the topic linked below but there are a few changes.
- Experience as a +2 apt is a little ridiculous tbh. +1 is still a little ridiculous. 0 seems fine, as, like I said, it shouldn't be hindering the usefulness of their Robust by being -2 or even -1.
- Spellcasting is 1 because it's neat to have that as an advantage.
- Summonings is 3 because killing with summons results in reduced exp. Flavor plays a part too, but I strived to make sense of it.
- Necromancy is 0 because it is universally wanted, especially considering literally every Dg should be using magic. Again, flavor does admittingly play a part, but this has gameplay implications as well.
- Stealth is 1 because there's no reason for it to be higher. The original proposal had it as 2 (and Spellcasting as 0) because that proposal was basically every Hu apt +1 (except Evocations I think), but this strives to put more thought into it.
Lastly, Evocations remains at 2 because there's a lot of encouragement towards investing in magic, so Evocations needs a higher apt to give players a competitive alternate choice for their exp.
Reference topic. There's no need to read it to understand anything in this topic, but it's here for historical purposes.
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=12057