I imagine there will be a lot of players suggesting things for implementation into Version 3 of Layonara, and that's always a good thing and can get some fun things going on. I think there are a few things worth mentioning when making one though, so I figured I'd point them out, even though I'm not the one having to go through them.
1)
Don't be afraid to think of something new. The spells and feats resources from D&D or the ones from NWN2 are great for ideas and in some cases even direct use, but ultimately we are not in PnP and we don’t have the same mechanics as NWN2, and with the V3 announcement saying we are moving from D&D (changes in the planes etc), there is no reason to take only from handbooks when the only reason we still have versions of their spells is because we're playing through the Neverwinter Nights medium.
Some of them are great and could be adapted, others are fun but are mechanically impossible to reproduce in this setting, and still others were fun there but are not at all how things work in Layonara even if we could swing it. When looking at a spell from there, think, "will we need to change this so much that it completely loses the purpose and origin of it?" because really you might as well link the entire spells list--everyone's going to be pulling from there anyway. They're good because obviously the stats and mechanical functions are already in place, but chances are they will need to be changed anyway.
If you're adding new things, you get to think of where it came from, how it's done, the places it's prevalent. Or change what is already borrowed so that it has firm roots in this world instead of another. Let's have the primary motivation behind a suggestion be Layonara, not "let's take this from here and that from there." There's a lot of this and that to include yeah, but Layo could use its own stuff, too.
2)
Shoot down your own ideas first. Yep... Be your own wet blanket and save everyone else the trouble. "Wouldn't it be super cool if we could blow up a lot of stuff by blinking like Jeannie? Prolly won't happen but I thought I'd mention it."
If it starts like that, you're probably right. Much like when filling out Grievances, if you've read before that it's not going to happen and you know there are a thousand reasons that it won't but you just really want it, don't just post hoping you get lucky; you won't. It'll just add to the pile of things to read. The more you dissect your own suggestion, the more specific about it you can be, and the less work someone else has to do, the less likely it is to be passed up immediately because it's unclear with obvious problems among many other suggestions. This isn't a request to
not post ideas, merely to try and find the problems with them ahead of time. It'll help flesh it out, or if nothing else help you toss an unworkable idea before posting it and find a better answer.
3) When doing so,
think beyond your character. There's nothing wrong with suggesting things for the class or race you play--that's what you're most familiar with, of course (for the people, by the people?). When you get suggestions from people in each class they're familiar with, you can get a general feel of what's lacking in each or what would be a cool RP toy for them.
But if it's a really specific change or addition, try making it something that would either affect more people, or spread some specific changes and additions around in other places too. It's a small thing, but this with the "wet blanket filter" is often the difference between adding a request for a bracelet or obscure spell for a character and suggesting an array of specific pieces to fit several niches, for more than a single person. Which sounds more likely?
A whole class tweak still affects a lot of people, but "I want this for my character" usually does not.
There's also a tendency for someone who feels that they have been wronged by something specific, to request that this one thing be changed for
everyone. When something like that has to go official, no one likes the result--often not even the one suggesting it.
Like I said, this isn't an official post or anything because I'm neither an official voice nor the one whose job it is to do these things, but the few minutes taken to think about something can make a world of difference in how favorably it is looked upon. It still might not (in fact I would venture to say 'probably' not) be in as you envisioned it or even at all, but if nothing else it's easier to deal with.
