Obfuscation
The character is less likely (relative to the other characters Obfuscation values) of being targeted by foe attacks. The statistic basically changes the target selection from a uniform distribution over the actors in a group to a weighting for each one that is 1/(1+Obfuscation). For example, in a party of two where one character has 0 Obfuscation and the other has Obfuscation +1, their weightings will be 1 and 1/2.
The modifier name is shamelessly borrowed from White Wolf's Vampire system. The Ninja gets this modifier out of the box.
Shadowmaster
This property gives the character a bonus to all the critical hit modifiers (melee, thrown, ranged) based on the amount of black magic present.
Again, this one goes to the Ninja.
Charmed Destiny
This property gives the character a bonus to Obfuscation, To-Run-Away and Resist Energy based on the amount of Purple magic present. The Gypsy gets it, her first really useful special ability. That's right, Gypsies are going to be aces at running away, and probably less likely than the Ninja to be targeted by foe attacks.
The modifier name is of course a nod at the show Charmed. Glad I finally managed to work a reference in.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Get Your Special Abilities Here
Deadly Aim
This modifier expresses a % chance that the character will automatically do maximum damage with a ranged weapon (although not the ammunition, if any). The Amazon gets this, in homage to her AIM special ability in Magic Realm. Possibly the Scout and/or Ranger will get it too.
Master Thief
Vendors will never catch the character stealing. The Thief class gets this ability.
Poison Touch
Melee attacks by the character have a % chance of infecting the victim with a poison whose strength is based on the attackers character level. The Blackguard gets this ability... and it's worth noting that with this change all of the XXX_TOUCH modifiers now apply through all melee attacks, not just unarmed attacks. The Cultist can now deliver her hex touch through a weapon.
This modifier expresses a % chance that the character will automatically do maximum damage with a ranged weapon (although not the ammunition, if any). The Amazon gets this, in homage to her AIM special ability in Magic Realm. Possibly the Scout and/or Ranger will get it too.
Master Thief
Vendors will never catch the character stealing. The Thief class gets this ability.
Poison Touch
Melee attacks by the character have a % chance of infecting the victim with a poison whose strength is based on the attackers character level. The Blackguard gets this ability... and it's worth noting that with this change all of the XXX_TOUCH modifiers now apply through all melee attacks, not just unarmed attacks. The Cultist can now deliver her hex touch through a weapon.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
More New Special Abilities
Displacer
A character with this property get the option to swap positions with one other character each combat round before the combat round starts. Usually formation changes only take place at the end of the combat round.
A bit more complex to implement, and it uses up another precious button on the combat options widget. But worth it for a fun special ability.
The Shugenja class gets this ability. I usually picture the Shugeja class as something like the spy Dakuan from Ninja Scroll. Finally the class has a special ability that captures that sort of vibe. He disappears... an interesting tactic.
Parry
Simply a modifier expressing a % chance to parry a melee attack, works as long as the character is armed with a melee weapons. The Shugenja gets this one, perhaps Knave will too.
Melee Master
Grants the charater +1 attack rate for every foe present. The Hero character class gets this ability, who else? One man faced by seven will always win.
A character with this property get the option to swap positions with one other character each combat round before the combat round starts. Usually formation changes only take place at the end of the combat round.
A bit more complex to implement, and it uses up another precious button on the combat options widget. But worth it for a fun special ability.
The Shugenja class gets this ability. I usually picture the Shugeja class as something like the spy Dakuan from Ninja Scroll. Finally the class has a special ability that captures that sort of vibe. He disappears... an interesting tactic.
Parry
Simply a modifier expressing a % chance to parry a melee attack, works as long as the character is armed with a melee weapons. The Shugenja gets this one, perhaps Knave will too.
Melee Master
Grants the charater +1 attack rate for every foe present. The Hero character class gets this ability, who else? One man faced by seven will always win.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
New Special Abilities
It's been open season on new special abilities, as the character class refactor continues.
Deadly Strike
While the modifier is classed with the properties modifiers, it expresses a percentage chance (modified slightly by the melee critical hit modifier) that a melee attack from the character will do double damage. That's it, straight up double damage chance for fighters.This one will go to the Blackguard (what the Assassin class will be replaced with, a combat focussed black magic hybrid to balance the Ninja) and possibly the Knave (new name of the Rogue) and/or Monk.
Dodge
The Dodge code is back, this time fronted by a modifier that expresses a percentage chance (modified by the attackers anti-dodge modifier, which is still there) that the defender will dodge any melee or missile attack. This one will go to the Monk.
Master Archer
This character adds his or her level to the to-hit roll with bows, crossbows and modern weapons. The Ranger gets this ability.
Divine Protection
Grants the character a defence bonus in combat based on the amount of White magic that is present. The Adept gets this ability; handy for a specialist caster.
Ki Fury
Grants the character an attack rate bonus in combat based on the amount of Green magic present. The Sohei gets this ability.
Fey Affinity
This character gets a magic point regeneration bonus depending on the amount of Gold magic present. The Illusionist gets this one.
Arcane Blood
The character gets a hit point regen bonus depending on the amount of Red magic present. This one is for the Warlock.
Deadly Strike
While the modifier is classed with the properties modifiers, it expresses a percentage chance (modified slightly by the melee critical hit modifier) that a melee attack from the character will do double damage. That's it, straight up double damage chance for fighters.This one will go to the Blackguard (what the Assassin class will be replaced with, a combat focussed black magic hybrid to balance the Ninja) and possibly the Knave (new name of the Rogue) and/or Monk.
Dodge
The Dodge code is back, this time fronted by a modifier that expresses a percentage chance (modified by the attackers anti-dodge modifier, which is still there) that the defender will dodge any melee or missile attack. This one will go to the Monk.
Master Archer
This character adds his or her level to the to-hit roll with bows, crossbows and modern weapons. The Ranger gets this ability.
Divine Protection
Grants the character a defence bonus in combat based on the amount of White magic that is present. The Adept gets this ability; handy for a specialist caster.
Ki Fury
Grants the character an attack rate bonus in combat based on the amount of Green magic present. The Sohei gets this ability.
Fey Affinity
This character gets a magic point regeneration bonus depending on the amount of Gold magic present. The Illusionist gets this one.
Arcane Blood
The character gets a hit point regen bonus depending on the amount of Red magic present. This one is for the Warlock.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Refactoring Saving Throws and Resistances
I'm in the process of dropping all of the saving throws (Save vs Beguilement) in favour of the resistance modifiers, and refactoring the resistances to be basically the same as Wizardry 8.
I thought I was being clever way back when I designed it, but it turned out that I was wrong.
Some things just don't need to be changed.
Yes, Energy replaces Divine from Wizardy 8. It's still basically the same thing.
Resistances to damage from different types work the same way; i.e. reducing said damage by the resistance % modified by stuff like Power Cast. Saving throws against binary effects (blinded/not blinded) are now based on the same %, modified by more or less the same stuff.
This means all of the condition templates and items that grant bonuses to saves and resistances get an update. Effect types pretty much line up with Wizardry 8: poison is mostly an Air effect, acid is a Water effect, lightning is a Fire effect, etc. It also means that currently the spell school types (Beguilement, Illusion, etc) are not used for anything. Maybe one day they will be. Caster magic points are still just one big pool, perhaps in future they will be divided up into differnt pools as in the wizardry series.
This also means that for the first time I can go about balancing the class/race resistances and the foe resistances. Happy days, this is a long overdue change. With a bit of luck, the character statistics display screen will get an update too. Some nice colourful resistance bars to use the new screen space freed up by trashing all those confusing modifiers.
I thought I was being clever way back when I designed it, but it turned out that I was wrong.
Some things just don't need to be changed.
| Old Modifers | New Modifiers |
|
|
Yes, Energy replaces Divine from Wizardy 8. It's still basically the same thing.
Resistances to damage from different types work the same way; i.e. reducing said damage by the resistance % modified by stuff like Power Cast. Saving throws against binary effects (blinded/not blinded) are now based on the same %, modified by more or less the same stuff.
This means all of the condition templates and items that grant bonuses to saves and resistances get an update. Effect types pretty much line up with Wizardry 8: poison is mostly an Air effect, acid is a Water effect, lightning is a Fire effect, etc. It also means that currently the spell school types (Beguilement, Illusion, etc) are not used for anything. Maybe one day they will be. Caster magic points are still just one big pool, perhaps in future they will be divided up into differnt pools as in the wizardry series.
This also means that for the first time I can go about balancing the class/race resistances and the foe resistances. Happy days, this is a long overdue change. With a bit of luck, the character statistics display screen will get an update too. Some nice colourful resistance bars to use the new screen space freed up by trashing all those confusing modifiers.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Berserker
The berserker special ability is in the depot. At the end of each combat round, and at some stages during the round (taking damage or killing a foe), a berserker has the chance of flying into a berserk rage that lasts until the end of combat or the berserker is knocked unconscious.
While berserk, the character can only take attack actions. He or she does benefit from an impressive list of positive and negative modifiers. The most notable positive is the fact that all attacks do double damage. The most notable negatives are probably decreases to defence and stealth.
The chance of berserking is closely tied to how much damage the character has taken. Characters with this ability will usually go berserk as their hit point drop towards zero.
In line with the character class refactor mentioned earlier, the Warrior now gets this ability. Berserk makes a good synergy with this class's existing immunity to KO. I'll probably add this special ability to one of the standard races too (they'll be getting two abilities each too) - maybe the Troll or the Yeti.
While berserk, the character can only take attack actions. He or she does benefit from an impressive list of positive and negative modifiers. The most notable positive is the fact that all attacks do double damage. The most notable negatives are probably decreases to defence and stealth.
The chance of berserking is closely tied to how much damage the character has taken. Characters with this ability will usually go berserk as their hit point drop towards zero.
In line with the character class refactor mentioned earlier, the Warrior now gets this ability. Berserk makes a good synergy with this class's existing immunity to KO. I'll probably add this special ability to one of the standard races too (they'll be getting two abilities each too) - maybe the Troll or the Yeti.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Lightning Strike
I've implemented the lightning strike special ability. It comes in seven varieties - one for each type of melee weapon (axe, dagger, mace, pole arm, sword, spear, unarmed). I will need to add something comparable for missile weapons, but haven't decided what yet.
When using a weapon of the chosen type, the character has a chance on each attack of "moving with blazing speed" and making 2-4 extra strikes. The base chance is about 2%, modified upwards for skill and initiative, and downwards with encumbrance and the weight of the weapon.
Monsters can perform lightning strikes too; theirs always keys off the "unarmed" modifier (consistent with the tireless modifiers).
As part of the character class rework I am aiming to give each class two special abilities instead of just one. The Samurai gets his first: in addition to being tireless with swords, he can now lightning strike with them too.
When using a weapon of the chosen type, the character has a chance on each attack of "moving with blazing speed" and making 2-4 extra strikes. The base chance is about 2%, modified upwards for skill and initiative, and downwards with encumbrance and the weight of the weapon.
Monsters can perform lightning strikes too; theirs always keys off the "unarmed" modifier (consistent with the tireless modifiers).
As part of the character class rework I am aiming to give each class two special abilities instead of just one. The Samurai gets his first: in addition to being tireless with swords, he can now lightning strike with them too.
Monday, May 2, 2011
v0.901 Released
Primarily a bugfix release, plus most of the Stealth Point Refactor.
I have stopped shipping the "Windows sans JRE" release, if you're interested in a build that runs on Windows but do no want to download the JRE with it, grab the platform independent version and write some .cmd scripts.
Get it at the SourceForge page.
I have stopped shipping the "Windows sans JRE" release, if you're interested in a build that runs on Windows but do no want to download the JRE with it, grab the platform independent version and write some .cmd scripts.
Get it at the SourceForge page.
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