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Author Topic: Exceptional Characters  (Read 826 times)

RF

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Exceptional Characters
« on: June 12, 2011, 05:57:16 am »

Using the new caste system, it shouldn't be too hard to edit every race and add in an "exceptional character" caste for world gen. But what I'm suggesting goes beyond that.

My suggestion is that, upon occasion, characters are born that're "exceptional". They have no stat caps, special backgrounds ("was abandoned as an orphan", "parents were killed by goblins") and are given preference to taking positions of power. Yes, Dwarf Fortress allows characters to become very powerful from minor positions, but I'm suggesting genuine cliche fantasy heroes here.

Characters that rise up and do immensely bad arse things (leading rebellions and winning, for once? hell yeah) in order to facillitate massive changes in history.

Comments?
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Capntastic

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Re: Exceptional Characters
« Reply #1 on: June 12, 2011, 06:01:54 am »

DF's strength is that this sort of cool stuff comes about naturally, through normal play.  Why add in systems that detract from the main thrust of the core ethos of the game by essentially hardcoding it to happen 1 in x times?
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RF

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Re: Exceptional Characters
« Reply #2 on: June 12, 2011, 07:29:22 am »

DF's strength is that this sort of cool stuff comes about naturally, through normal play.  Why add in systems that detract from the main thrust of the core ethos of the game by essentially hardcoding it to happen 1 in x times?

Because a lot of cool stuff will slowly drip out as the game becomes more hardcoded with more systems. Like the fact there's a stat cap on stats at world gen now etc.
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IT 000

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Re: Exceptional Characters
« Reply #3 on: June 12, 2011, 09:42:22 am »

I have to go with the cap'n on this one. Tehsid and Sankis seem more heroic if they were just an average dwarf, they could have been farmers or haulers, but instead they were the heroes of their fortress. This seems a lot better and more story worthy then. "This dwarf is only BA because the gods of randomness smile upon him."
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Capntastic

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Re: Exceptional Characters
« Reply #4 on: June 12, 2011, 04:42:13 pm »

Because a lot of cool stuff will slowly drip out as the game becomes more hardcoded with more systems.

The game used to have a hardcoded undead invasion after a set number of years; it no longer does, and this sort of thing can happen when events lead to it.  The game also used to be hardcoded so that you'd always hit the river, the chasm, and the magma in that strict order, at semi-set intervals.  This is no longer the case.  Considering that Toady is striding towards breaking away from these sorts of hardcoded systems and making almost everything procedural, and capable of emergent gameplay, contradicts your assertion that "more hardcoded stuff is good" pretty solidly.
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RabidAnubis

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Re: Exceptional Characters
« Reply #5 on: June 12, 2011, 10:24:52 pm »

I'm not that much on the forums, but Captastic is right.  Did you read the 'blessings from the gods' thread?  I find it funny. 

"Well, he just did something for me?  What do I give him?"- Bear god.
"Hmm..... what would you give yourself Bear god?"

McAdventurer was found being eaten ten minutes later by bears.
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ETV

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Re: Exceptional Characters
« Reply #6 on: June 12, 2011, 11:52:48 pm »

PArt of the reason Dwarf Fortress is good is because this already happens, I like the idea of giving them speciality bonuses, but rather give these people those bonuses after they've earned it by either slaying some Godly badass titan/megabeasts/named creatures.

One of the things that I like about most 'heroes' of Dwarf Fortress is http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BadassNormal
What I'm agreeing with is yes, make it so specific sentience get huge bonuses, what I'm suggesting differently though is that they should not get these bonuses just by merely having been born, they'd do something incredibly badass to earn it and then become even more incredibly badass.


If these happenings weren't rare, they wouldn't be special in the first place.
« Last Edit: June 13, 2011, 07:12:07 am by ETV »
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Dutchling

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Re: Exceptional Characters
« Reply #7 on: June 13, 2011, 06:49:43 am »

I agree with cap'n and the others,
also: ETV, the hyperlink in your post is broken
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