Weapons and Armour

Forum for the Loren Amazon Princess spin-off games
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Anima_
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Weapons and Armour

Post by Anima_ »

As everyone probably already knows I wanted to reduce the equipment slots to weapon and armour. And thanks to my diabolical plan of simply waiting until Jack tires of complicated systems it looks like I'll get my way. :twisted:
In addition I'm going to brutally dumb down the weapon system. Every weapon in the same category (Sword, Axe, Spear, Dagger, Shortbow, etc.) has the same attributes. The plan is to make the categories more distinct though.
Of course we all love our loot, don't we? And there should be some special weapons as well.
For that we plan on using an enchantment system. Every armour, weapon and shield can have enchantments placed upon it. For that two things are required. An enchantment or rune and an open slot on the item. Enchantments can be removed from the item and reused in a different one. To open up new slots you simply need to visit your friendly local enchanter. And bring gold, lots and lots of gold.
The cost depends on the number of enchantment slots already opened on the item. While the first slot is relatively cheap the price escalates quickly.
We might have to restrict the maximum slot number by chapter as well. And of course there will be a hard limit as well. Probably something around 4 slots. Shields may get less. And of course weapons can mount offensive runes and shields and armour defensive runes.

In addition some items are inherently magical. Crafted by true masters they are imbued with their own peculiar magic. Often stronger than common enchantments and always permanent. These inherent magics do not count against the maximum enchantment limit but will raise the price for opening up new slots. Some of these are true relics rumoured to be gifts from the heavens.
These artefacts are rarely if ever sold for mere coin. Instead they must be earned by glory and deed. (Yeah they are quest rewards only.)
Some enchanters provide ready made weapons already enchanted with matching runes. (Just a convenience, it's for those who don't have interest in the enchantment game.)
Seasoned veterans instead swear upon their favourite weapons and strengthen them whenever they liberate a new rune. Those weapons often begun their life as regular army issue (Basics weapons will be really cheap or even free) but manage to get a name and a history of their own. (I really want to allow you to name generic weapons during enchanting. And maybe even have a history tab where the battles your armour has seen you trough and the mighty foes your blade has slain are recorded.)

Currently I'm also thinking a lot about elemental weapons. They were always a bit inconvenient in Loren and mainly a hassle. This time the elemental strike enchantments may not actually change the skills element on their own. Instead they allow skill boosts. So you have full control over when your weapon will burst into flame (or song). Some boosts may not only change the damage type but also change other things. For example allowing you to attack the rear or dealing splash damage or inflicting a status.
While obviously only one elemental enchantment can be used at the same time nothing will prevent you from having several enchantments on the same weapon. That can give fighters the same elemental coverage as mages. Though of course at a price. Any slot with an elemental strike is a slot without a more general rune.

That's mainly my current thoughts about equipment. We might add a jewellery slot, but only if we come upon something specific that needs to be on a separate item. So until then we have only the main hand, offhand and armour slots for equipment.
What do you think?
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jack1974
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Re: Weapons and Armour

Post by jack1974 »

Anima_ wrote:As everyone probably already knows I wanted to reduce the equipment slots to weapon and armour. And thanks to my diabolical plan of simply waiting until Jack tires of complicated systems it looks like I'll get my way. :twisted:
W SIMPLE GAMES!!!!!! :o :twisted:
The enchant/socket system is cool. I am using it (in a very limited way) in QoT, and I think is really interesting, so I approve.
Anima_ wrote: Currently I'm also thinking a lot about elemental weapons. They were always a bit inconvenient in Loren and mainly a hassle. This time the elemental strike enchantments may not actually change the skills element on their own. Instead they allow skill boosts. So you have full control over when your weapon will burst into flame (or song). Some boosts may not only change the damage type but also change other things. For example allowing you to attack the rear or dealing splash damage or inflicting a status.
While obviously only one elemental enchantment can be used at the same time nothing will prevent you from having several enchantments on the same weapon. That can give fighters the same elemental coverage as mages. Though of course at a price. Any slot with an elemental strike is a slot without a more general rune.
Had to read it twice, but I think I understood now. Seems interesting/powerful :)
Anima_ wrote: That's mainly my current thoughts about equipment. We might add a jewellery slot, but only if we come upon something specific that needs to be on a separate item. So until then we have only the main hand, offhand and armour slots for equipment.
What do you think?
I would maybe like to add it, if it provided some unique boost not obtainable anywhere else. Like gain 3% more EXP from encounter, or something like that. Not sure yet :)
Troyen
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Re: Weapons and Armour

Post by Troyen »

Anima_ wrote:Currently I'm also thinking a lot about elemental weapons. They were always a bit inconvenient in Loren and mainly a hassle. This time the elemental strike enchantments may not actually change the skills element on their own. Instead they allow skill boosts. So you have full control over when your weapon will burst into flame (or song). Some boosts may not only change the damage type but also change other things. For example allowing you to attack the rear or dealing splash damage or inflicting a status.
While obviously only one elemental enchantment can be used at the same time nothing will prevent you from having several enchantments on the same weapon. That can give fighters the same elemental coverage as mages. Though of course at a price. Any slot with an elemental strike is a slot without a more general rune.
A lot of this will come down to monster and fight design. Late game in Loren/SotW, there was an obvious spell to use for each mage - the one element the foe had the least resistance to (or in a tie, go for the one that gave a better debuff). If every monster has some kind of elemental resistance, I think there's a similar risk in that you would be simplifying the battle tactics into "use only the appropriate elemental skill" for the fighter line too. If only the occasional monster has elemental resistance (like demons and...elementals), then it would diminish the importance/need for element choice and may allow for experimentation with different skill combos, runes, and spells that aren't all the same except for the color of their damage.
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Re: Weapons and Armour

Post by Anima_ »

jack1974 wrote:I would maybe like to add it, if it provided some unique boost not obtainable anywhere else. Like gain 3% more EXP from encounter, or something like that. Not sure yet :)
Is there any reason not to make that a rune or an inherent enchantment?
Troyen wrote: A lot of this will come down to monster and fight design. Late game in Loren/SotW, there was an obvious spell to use for each mage - the one element the foe had the least resistance to (or in a tie, go for the one that gave a better debuff). If every monster has some kind of elemental resistance, I think there's a similar risk in that you would be simplifying the battle tactics into "use only the appropriate elemental skill" for the fighter line too. If only the occasional monster has elemental resistance (like demons and...elementals), then it would diminish the importance/need for element choice and may allow for experimentation with different skill combos, runes, and spells that aren't all the same except for the color of their damage.
True. Though I think the most important part is that the skills differ in more ways than just their damage type. And of course that no character will have complete elemental coverage anyway. With a maximum of 4 offensive skills and 6 elements there are at least two uncovered. And that's assuming all skills have a different element. I'm definitely giving Draco two fire spells. :twisted:
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jack1974
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Re: Weapons and Armour

Post by jack1974 »

Anima_ wrote:
jack1974 wrote:I would maybe like to add it, if it provided some unique boost not obtainable anywhere else. Like gain 3% more EXP from encounter, or something like that. Not sure yet :)
Is there any reason not to make that a rune or an inherent enchantment?
Yes, what I meant is that if we add jewelry, they should provide some unique bonus not obtainable with weapon/armor. To make it different. In SOTW they would boost more or less same stats, and I think in this game instead should do something else. But we can also live without jewelry to be honest :wink:
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Franka
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Re: Weapons and Armour

Post by Franka »

Legendary Butter Knife of Supreme Song incoming!
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