Re: Re: [Adonthell-general] Items

[Nils Fohrbeck]

I have written a few more texts (mostly brainstorming). I thought I just 
relerase them now (as early as possible) to get the discussion going....

What do you guy think? shower me with comments!

Nils
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Notes on Ben:

- actually we could call the 'enhanchements' forging (forge weapons, forge 
armour) (and make one entry out of them?)

- all in all I think the whole system is a little too complicated. As far as I 
understand it learning all these talents can only be learned by 'making 
friends' with the teachers (and no advancement points are needed). I think that 
is definately a good idea (especially in 0.4, which will not be that complex 
all in all, and which should be fairly accessable for new players). What I do 
not understand is why we need the availability (that long table). I propose 
that we can just have the faction alignment handle all that (I think faction 
alignment can be quite a powerful tool!). And in some cases the characters can 
just tell the character that she can not learn something (at least for 0.4 this 
should make sense). So If Marcela helps the Green sisters, she might actually 
learn a few songs, but then the dwarves might decide that she is just not 
technically minded enough to advance to the higher ranks of mechanics...

In 0.4 the monks could teach you some fighting feats, the smith would be able 
to teach you some mechanics, the rangers some other fighting feats (mostly 
ranged combat) ect. 

We should also add effects and devide these into temporary and permanent 
effects). Permanent effects last until they are removed (for example a curse 
that can only be healed by a specific person), while temporary effects only 
last for a (relativly small) amount of time (these include spells).


All the rules can be roughly devided into 3 categories:

roleplaying: these are the skills, factions, background ect. 

combat: these include the attributes, as well as level, experience and all the 
other stats

inventory: this also includes the talents and abilities Ben mentioned (they 
govern which items a character can use)

This division is only formal (in fact I propose it only because it might make 
the implementation easier). And of course these categories do also mix. I just 
thought if we have them more or less independant, we can test them independent 
from one another, and try out different approches for the different categories.

Up to now, the Roleplaying part is already pretty strong (we already have a 
very good diallogue system!). I think in this category the skill system might 
be the next thing to implement. In fact I had a few more thoughts on that (most 
of this is old stuff though. See Skills 2.txt! We have not done much in the 
Combat front, which should not matter much, because as all the different 
categories can be tested independently, we can easily add that later on...

I know this text is fairly mixed up. I basically wrote down ideas as they came 
into my mind. And it should not matter too much, after all it is meant as a 
means to fuel the ongoing discussion...







\subsection{Skills}
Skills are used for roleplaying purposes, and since Adonthell is a roleplaying 
game skills are an important part of the system. They describe the character's 
strengths and weaknesses away from the battlefield. Just like the (primary) 
attributes and abilities a character's proficiency in a skill is measured in 
ranks.  In contrast to the abilities though a character can directly benefit 
from a rank improvement in a skill (he does not need to find any 
items/feats/spells etc.). A character can have 0 to 5 ranks in any given skill. 
Every rank stands for one of the following proficiencies: 0=Unskilled; 
1=Novice; 2=Trained; 3=Professional; 4=Master; 5=Extraordinary. 

\subsubsection{Skill Descriptions}
\begin{description}
\item [Body Control] How well the character can control his body. A high body 
control rank can reduce the damage a character takes when falling, representing 
him rolling off.

\item [Charm] Use your charm to influence and impress others. The more ranks a 
character has in this skill, the more favourable NPCs will react. 

\item [Climb] This represents how well a character can climb.

\item [Diplomacy] A character with enough ranks in diplomacy can convince 
others of his opinion during a discussion. More ranks in diplomacy can open 
more dialogue choices.

\item [Disarm traps] Some treasure chests or areas are trapped, use this skill 
to render these traps useless.

\item [Drinking] The more ranks a character has in drinking the better she can 
consume alcohol. Use this skill to win drinking contests, a very popular sport 
amongst young dwarves. 

\item [Entertain] Earn money with juggling, instruments or by telling tales. It 
is also possible to contest against other entertainers.

\item [Haggle] This skill allows a character to pay less in shops. The more 
ranks a character has in haggle, the lower the prices she has to pay.

\item [Herb Lore] Allows the character to find and use healing herbs or 
poisonous berries.

\item[Identify Items] The more ranks a character has in identify items the more 
likely it is that she can determine the properties of magic items.

\item [Luck] This skill represents how lucky a character is and whether she 
gets out of tricky situations unharmed or not.

\item [Open Locks] Use this skill to open locked doors and treasure chests.

\item[Pick Pockets]This skill represents how well a character can steal from 
others without them noticing. It is also used to determine how dexterous a 
character is with his hands.

\item [Spot] A character who has ranks in spot may notice traps or enemies 
hidden in ambush.

\item [Others] These are all the skills we have come up so far. We can still 
add more, or not implement others. For 0.4 we should try to implement the 
general framework and a few skills (we can always add new ones as the need 
arises)
\end{description}

\subsubsection{Skill Implementation}
Whenever it is necessary to see whether a character succeeds in using one of 
his skills, a skill check is made. There are two types of skill checks and 
depending on the situation a \textit{fixed skill check} or a \textit{variable 
skill check} is used. 

A fixed skill check is made whenever the outcome of a skill check is plot 
dependant, or an important one time decision is made. An example: The character 
wants to enter the guild of arts. In this situation a certain rank in entertain 
is required, so a character with 3 or more ranks is admitted, while one with 
fewer ranks always fails the skill check. Whenever a fixed skill check is made 
a the character's rank in the correspnding skill is multiplied by 6 and then 
compared with the tasks difficulty. Most tasks have a diffifulty between 3 and 
30 (3,6,9,...,24,27,30). 

A variable skill check is made whenever a character tries to accomplish a task, 
such as earning a free meal by dancing in the inn. Again, this requires a skill 
check, but the result can differ from time to time. The character might excel 
in his task or just have a bad day and utterly fail. To represent this a random 
value is generated as follows: Per skill level a character adds up a random 
value from 1 to 6. So with rank x in a certain skill x random values from 1 to 
6 are individually generated and then added up. The result is then compared 
with a score which is specified before the test is taken. This score can vary 
from situation to situation and it represents the difficulty of the test. If 
the generated random value beats the score (is greater or equal to), the test 
was successful. If it is lower than the score the test has failed. In the above 
example this means that a character with 3 ranks in entertain has a value of 
$3(1 to 6)$, and she has to beat a score of 9 to impress his audience and get 
his free meal (or 15, or 18, depending on the audience). If the character fails 
a \textit{variable skill check} she has to wait a certain time until she may 
try again. The amount of time a character needs to wait depends on the skill 
and/or the situation.

\subsubsection{Gaining new ranks}
In order to raise the ranks a character has in his skills he has to earn 
advancement points (which he gains, when he gains a new level). The number of 
points needed depends on the rank the character already has. If a character 
wants to gain 1st rank in a skill he has to spend 1 advancement point. In order 
to advance from 1st rank to 2nd rank the character has to spend 2 advancement 
points. In order to advance from 4th to fifth rank 5 advancement points are 
needed. This represents the fact that it is relatively easy to become a novice 
in something and much harder to master a skill.

\textit{Side notes on the implementation of skills: 

Because most of the skill checks are used in dialogues, we should check if the 
skill implementation can be incorperated into the dialogue system(At least in 
the beginning, just so we can do some testing with skills (in much the same way 
as that jump test alex did))(This is mere speculation). For example when you 
walk up to a locked chest and push the action button a dialogue could come up 
and give you the option of searching for traps or of opening the lock on the 
chest. But then I do not know how the dialogue system works (how did it store 
which person you talked to in waste's edge? Couldn't a skill rank be stored in 
the same way?)}

Items and Inventory:

Item Name: This is the identifier for items. Each name is unique and clearly 
marks the item!

Icon: Each item has an icon (a picture of the item). Icons have the same size 
for all items, no matter if it is a healing potion or an armour.

Category: Each item is assigned to a certain category. By assigning an item to 
a category, you also define how the item can be used and how it interacts with 
the character/environment/spells ect.

EQUIPABLE:      amulet
                ring
                belt
                gloves
                cloak
                boots
                bracers
                earings
                tatoo
                ...

All of the above can be equiped and have no effect on their own, if they do not 
hold any enchantments (we can add to/substract from  this list as we see fit). 
In fact I think we should really limit the list because that means the player 
will have to make more strategic decisions. We could even make certain items 
race or gender specific, saying for example that only males can have tatoos 
while only females can have earrings. 

I think a character can only have one item from each of these categories 
equiped (ring is an exception, you can wear 2 of them). 

The following are the combat relevant items. Whenever they are equiped they 
modify one of your stats. Of course you can only equip one armour at a time. 
Because it makes programming easier and leaves the player with more strategic 
choices I would allow the player to equip one ranged weapon, one shield and one 
melee weapon at the same time. 


armour: gives you a bonus to your (who would have guessed) armour value

shield: gives you a bonus to your parry percentage

melee weapon : gives a bonus to your  melee damage value

ranged weapon: gives a bonus to your ranged damage value / as well as your 
attack range


USABLE ITEMS: some items can acctually be used on their own, however they are 
used up (or lose a charge) in the process. These include potions, torches, 
scrolls, charged wands ect. I would suggest that the player can use them (since 
they can not be equipped they can use the same button as the equip button for 
other items), and then their effect takes place over a shorter or longer time 
period (interally the engine could treat them the same way as spells). For 
example, whenever a character uses a torch one charge could be depleted, giving 
the character some extra light for 5 minutes. When the character has used up 
all the charges, the item becomes useless and disappears. Some very powerful 
items (such as a powerful wand) could even be recharged after they are "empty". 
  

BACKPACK ITEMS : these include books, keys, gems, herbs and all kinds of other 
icons that can not be equiped or 'used' directly. These items are stored in the 
backback, they are not assigned to any one of the characters. Of course all the 
other items can also be put in the backpack (which is in fact the party 
inventory) but then no character profits from them.   

Description: This is a short note giving backgrond info, as well as game 
relevant information (and the text of a book). 

Prequisites: Whenever you want to equip or use am item the engine checks 
whether you meet the prequisites or not. If you do not meet them you can not 
equip/use the item. The prequistites can be any combination of minimum level, 
ranks in an ability, a specific alignment or a certain value in one of the 
attributes. 

Special Properties: Only equipable items can have special properties. As long 
as the item is equiped the special properties apply. These include 
enchantments, blessings, curses and all other kinds of special properties. 

Price: This is the unmodified price, the amount of money the item should fetch. 
Of course traders will offer slightly less when they by the item and charge 
slightly more when they sell it. The price is modified by demand, your barter 
skill and how well the person you are trading with likes you. 

Specific Situations/ Game Implementation: There are a lot of items that can 
only be used in certain situations. One example are keys. Instead of giving the 
player the option to use them, whenever the certain situation occurs (in this 
case the character tries to open a locked door), the game checks whether the 
required icon is in the backpack (in this case it could be 'rusted key' or 
'key34'). The same works for reagents. They are not an item category on their 
own. Instead when your character uses an anvil a dialogue window opens (so 
internally an anvil is just a verrrrrry dull person), and checks whether you 
have ore in your backpack or not. Depending on this check the dialogue window 
could either read: 'I do not what I could be doing here'. Or a choice of 'I use 
my ore to forge a magic hammer' and 'I use my ore to improve my armour'. Of 
course the same applies for enchanting items.  


Example Items:

 
Rune of Sharpness:
useable/ Requires: weapon improvement 2 ranks/Desc.: your weapon carries the 
rune of sharpness. It can be activated once, then it diminishes. When activated 
the your melee damage increases by an extra 8 points./ Value: 0 gold

Heavy Waraxe:
melee weapon/ Requires: melee weapons 2 ranks/Desc.: A very large and effective 
weapon that originates from the common lumberjack's axe. Melee Damage (2-12) / 
Value: 65 gold

Fireball:
Attack Item/ Req.: fire magic 2 ranks/ Desc.: A huge ball of fire blasts from 
your hands to burn everything in its way. Uses 5 power when cast, has a hit 
chance of 75%, deals 1-12 points of fire damage. / Value: 100 gold

Recipe for medium poison:
backpack/ req.:alcheny 2 ranks, 2 bitter leafs (activates when you talk to an 
anvil) / Desc. Use the knownledge written down in this recipe to create poison. 
Uses 5 power when brewed, consumes the 2 bitter leafs. Creates a potion of 
medium poison. / Value: 45 gold

Medium poison:
usable/ req.: alignment =< 2 (how do you do an equal to/smaller as symbol?) / A 
vicious poison that severly harms the opponent, and would only be used by the 
most evil of characters. When used one charge is depleted (starts with 10 
charges), and your weapon is coated with poison (+2 to damage for the next 
hit). 5% chance that your alignment value is reduced by 1. / Value: 30 gold