The MMO is a Skill Based Game that encourages RP

[Leanthar]

In the MMO you will be able to create any character that you can think of and this means that you are no longer limited by a class with arbitrary skills and/or attributes/stats that you must adhere to via coded systems. For instance if you wanted to create a red haired Dwarven Berserker then you would create your character and through the course of the characters life equip him or her with the items that are associated to the skill(s) you wish to improve upon (more about this coming in future posts) and have fun. Almost any combination is possible, which gives you (the player) a great deal of freedom in creating a very personalized character.

See the image below for one possible dwarf character.

SOME of the possible Main Skills (as equipped):
- Defense
- Offense
- Dodge
- Light Blunt
- Axes
- Light Armor
- Spellpraying


SOME of the possible Refined Skills (as equipped)
- Battle Focus
- Cunning
- Disarm
- Execution
- Fracture
- Frontline Fury
- Hamstring
- Improvisation
- Leg Sweep
- Misdirection
- Mutilate
- Off-Hand Attack
- Parry
- Quick Strike
- Ravage
- Sunder
- Surprise Attack
- Weaken Armor
- Weapon Master

Possible General Skills
- Any

[ycleption]

First, I am very glad the team has gone in this direction rather than a class-based system (I'm not going to launch into my class-based systems rant here), however, I have a few concerns. First, some classes in the current system not only are a set of abilities and training and such, but also represents a certain role within the world; paladin and cleric are the ones that spring most obviously to mind. Will the MMO have some way of representing this kind of role at character creation, or have certain skills that are exclusive to those fulfilling certain roles? I would hate to see the prestige of having a touch of divine favor go away to accommodate a more open character system. Many of the established organizations (monastic orders, paladin orders, etc) are only open to certain classes currently; will the MMO have some way of limiting membership of these organizations, or will the lore that is based around them change?
What I really would be sad to see happen is the flexibility of the system you seem to be describing abused to make super characters without regard to RP decisions. It's a little harder to do that in nwn, because of multiclass restrictions, the character submission process, etc.Will there be equivalent limitations to prevent rp-ignoring godly cookie cutter builds from springing up?
Thanks.

[vgn]

Seeing as how the goal of the game is to promote RP, I doubt we'll see Roles like Priest and Paladin going away. I can't speak for the team and this is by no means any official answer, but I would venture the following guesses:

Roles/Titles/Group-Membership will likely be defined by certain rule sets.
For example, a priest of Katia:
1. Has a neutral-ish alignment.
2. Has skills focused on divine nature magic (plants, animals, earth, etc)
3. Might have developed skills to speak with animals.
4. Has skills in using leather or cloth armors.
5. Has skills in using a staff as a weapon.
Anyone declaring devotion to Katia and having some (or all) of the above could be a "priest" and through RP and development of those skills to higher levels different titles could be granted, etc....

Second example, a paladin of Toran:
1. Is Lawful and Good.
2. Has focused in fighting skills like heavy armor and long sword.
3. Has focused on horse riding skills.
4. Has focused on protection and possibly healing (laying hands?) divine spells.
Anyone declaring devotion to Toran and having some (or all) of the above skills could be at least a holy warrior of Toran. I'm not sure if a title such as "paladin" will continue through but if so, I would imagine titles like Paladin, Champion, etc, would be earned through RP and development of skills.

If it's not like that....well then I'm sure there is some way to have those roles, but that is how I imagine it would work well with the system Leanthar hinted at.

[zenvidar]

So, it has certain similarities to World of Warcraft and Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. Then I could easily create a character similar to a monk, or some sort of broader stealthy character.

[lonnarin]

Originally Posted by vgn

Seeing as how the goal of the game is to promote RP, I doubt we'll see Roles like Priest and Paladin going away. I can't speak for the team and this is by no means any official answer, but I would venture the following guesses:

Roles/Titles/Group-Membership will likely be defined by certain rule sets.
For example, a priest of Katia:
1. Has a neutral-ish alignment.
2. Has skills focused on divine nature magic (plants, animals, earth, etc)
3. Might have developed skills to speak with animals.
4. Has skills in using leather or cloth armors.
5. Has skills in using a staff as a weapon.
Anyone declaring devotion to Katia and having some (or all) of the above could be a "priest" and through RP and development of those skills to higher levels different titles could be granted, etc....

Second example, a paladin of Toran:
1. Is Lawful and Good.
2. Has focused in fighting skills like heavy armor and long sword.
3. Has focused on horse riding skills.
4. Has focused on protection and possibly healing (laying hands?) divine spells.
Anyone declaring devotion to Toran and having some (or all) of the above skills could be at least a holy warrior of Toran. I'm not sure if a title such as "paladin" will continue through but if so, I would imagine titles like Paladin, Champion, etc, would be earned through RP and development of skills.

If it's not like that....well then I'm sure there is some way to have those roles, but that is how I imagine it would work well with the system Leanthar hinted at.

Indeed, what I like most in a skill-based system is that it doesn't make you nerf your character advancement and power just to conform to the religions. Clerics in Layonara's NWN version need to often take extra feats just to use one specific weapon, or deal with horribly offset stats skewed so that a cleric in robes or light armor just isn't feasable. With light armor, unarmored and heavy variants all being skills you can work on in your own leisure, you can have a whole lot more flexibility in matching the archetypes of a religious order without sacrificing much needed eschew feats or spell power feats just to be accepted as one of the order. Now we can actually have those ilsarian clerics who excell at archery on par with a ranged specialist, or a high attack-rolled and beefy Voraxian warpriest who isn't limited by low HP or a limp wristed attack roll. And if we get unarmed and unarmored skills in the mix, Aeridenites can finally fulfill their vows not to bear weapons and LIVE to brag about it!

[Dorganath]

There will be some skills/items/etc. that have explicit deity restrictions. Most are without such restrictions, however. Also, there are unarmed skills, and other skills that require that one is unarmed to use them and are more effective for someone with a high unarmed skill.

[freemen2]

Ok now I'm drooling LoL