Oh my, I didn't expect responses anymore, but good to see there are people interested.
One tricky thing though, I also posted an interest check on another site. So it may or may not be hosted on gateway, but you'd all be welcome either way.
Lily Evans wrote:Ooooh I would be very interested in doing this - either with a bunch of people, or 1x1.
That's great. I'm aiming for this to be a group RP, though.
Leli wrote:I would feel let down if you don't make this. Sounds like some good grade fantasy /sci-fi finally rearing a head around here. Albeit I would question the intelligence of the programmers if they forgot a log out feature.
Hey now, UI design is very difficult!
phoenixheart wrote:This sounds amazing. It looks like a great deal of effort and planning went into this but you've still left players room to stamp their mark. Consider me interested.
That's the plan. Well, more than that actually. I might be setting up the beginning and a couple universe rules and systems so that everyone is on the same page regarding some game conventions, but I hope to be less and less of a GM as time goes on. It's a bit of an experiment, though I have high hopes for it :D
Anyway. Here's some of the systems I've been working on since. Excuse me if it's a bit messy, the code between sites is different (RPG y u no have spoiler-boxes!) and I've been a bit lazy. Still. Let me know what you guys think.
In TDO, there is a political system. Rather than NPC's ruling the world; areas are controlled by guilds (or in rare cases, incredibly OP or rich solo players.) There are a lot of advantages to controlling an area, both in terms of finances as plain power. Players can fight for control of an area, or trade rights. A list of benefits is as following;
- Ruling players can put a tax all trades. Between players, this means the rulers will take away a certain percent of the gold paid, whereas NPC stores will raise or lower their prices depending on the set taxes. This also applies to inns.
- When players or guilds use housing (build or purchase their own house) they need to buy the ground to do so from the ruling class.
- Ruling players can force entry fees for their areas. Maybe it costs gold to go to the best hunting grounds, or setting up shop in the market place will cost you a couple credits.
- Ruling players can forbid certain players or even entire guilds to access the town; allowing them to control an area without outside influences.
- They can also do this on a smaller scale, preventing rival guilds to spy on one another, or organising the market place by level, price and quality of items. Hell. Ruling players can set privileges, such as only allowing their friends to visit the spa's and inns that yield the best rested XP bonus.
- For the right price, ruling classes can lure NPC's to their areas to set up shops. A medical tent far out in a training field? An extra weapon store in town? You name it.
- Ruling classes can either make their towns safe havens, or lawless PK-zones. This requires a full day to change, however, giving players a chance to get out or get in before such a change happens.
- They can also set privileges to players that allow them to initiate duels; allowing for either police forces removing bad influences, or bullying anyone they like, depending on whether the ruling class in benevolent or malevolent.
- Ruling classes can set bounties, allowing all players to initiate fights with those with a bounty on their heads. This requires a reward, though.
- Ruling classes can set up events, like fighting tournaments or cooking contests or a hide and seek game. This requires a reward like bounties, but the cost can be mitigated by asking for entry fees.
- Ruling classes get to alter the area for these events and temporarily force NPC co-operation. Maybe you want to have a gladiator match in a bath house? A foot race through the market place? Hide and seek in the dojo? Go for it.
As you can imagine, having all these rights gives ruling classes a big advantage. However, they need to use their privileges wisely. If a big enough group of players (20% of the 'population') decides to band together; they can attempt a
coup d'etat. They may siege the ruler's palace, guild hall, or whatever base they operate from, and if they kill the ruling class, they can form their own. This means that the ruling class either has to keep their population happy, or rule with iron fist (read: PK-galore).
The ruling class can also be initiated by outside parties. This is called a
faction war. If you think another area would be a great location for your new trading center, you can declare war on the rulers of the area you want. Perhaps the ruling class treats it's players unfairly and they enlist your help. Or maybe you are just bored and out for a fight.
During a faction war or coup d'etat, regardless of normal rules, the warzone becomes an open PK-zone. Even unaffiliated players can (or are forced) to join the fight. This can be a blessing, if they like you enough they come to help, or a curse if they agree it's time for a new rule.
Although not a system, forming relations is most important in the political realm. Forging strong bonds may allow allied factions to come to your aid, or give certain trading guilds more favourable tax rates (every area has exclusive materials). Or you can organise inter-faction tournaments to promote your friendship or train your best fighters. Or... Maybe you have a common enemy you want to attack together! Should the game venture into the political; relations will play a crucial part in your success...
There are twenty available classes in TDO, divided in four archetypes. Players get to mix and match by multi-classing, and our beta-testers can pick two classes to start out with as long as they're within the same archetype. All classes have their own strengths, and TDO recognises five roles;
- Damage Dealer โ These classes deal damage, and lots of it. They possess the strongest attacks and are needed to take down enemies fast
- Tank โ Tanks are those who stand between the onslaught of bosses and the health bars of their party members. They can force enemies to focus on them and absorb or avoid damage better than other classes.
- Support โ Support is varied in that there are two kinds. One is focused on making the party stronger, by either healing or increasing their abilities, the other on lowering the stats and abilities of enemies.
- Crowd Control โ Stuns, snares, silencing; anything that (temporarily) prevents an enemy from acting is considered crowd control.
- Utility โ Everything that is not directly combat-related falls under utility. This role rarely contributes to making fights easier, but have their own unique strengths to make up for it.
Each class has a primary and secondary role. The primary is always more powerful than the secondary, meaning that, for example, a Warlock is better at Crowd Control than a Berserker, but the Berserker deals more damage, even though both can fulfil both roles.
The up close and personal bruiser. The warrior archetype excels at melee range and deals physical damage. Warriors can wear heavy armour.
| Class Name |
Berserker
| Class Equip |
Sword, Axe, Mace
| Class Role |
Damage Dealer, Crowd Control
| Class Special |
Dual wield (attack speed buff) or two-handed wielding (damage and range buff)
| Class Description |
The pinnacle of strength, berserkers are fell warriors that dual wield for a blinding flurry of attacks, or wield massive two-handed weapons that can knock any lesser being off their feet. Brute force is the name of their game and their skills focus on dealing damage and breaking through defences with interrupts and knockdowns. Their own defence however, is rather lacking...
| Class Name |
Knight
| Class Equip |
Sword, Polearm, Shield
| Class Role |
Tank, Support
| Class Special |
Provoke (automatically forces enemies to face the user when close)
| Class Description |
The defensive behemoth, taunting death itself with their high survivability. Knights provoke enemies into targeting them and keeping them busy. Knights can keep their allies safe with a multitude of skills and are the only class able to use the shield offensively, but give up damage potential in the process.
| Class Name |
Monk
| Class Equip |
Knuckle, Staff
| Class Role |
Crowd Control, Damage Dealer
| Class Special |
Qi (increases status resistance, critical hit resistance, critical hit chance)
| Class Description |
Monks are extremely close-range fighters, but masters of pressure points. Their skills deal damage while debuffing their enemies abilities, or even paralysing parts of their body. Their Qi enhances a monk's resistance to status effects and critical hits, while increasing their own critical chance.
| Class Name |
Templar
| Class Equip |
Sword, Dagger, Shield
| Class Role |
Crowd Control, Support
| Class Special |
Rune Blade (drains half damage as MP when an attack connects)
| Class Description |
Where traditional warriors are weak versus mages, the templar turns the table. Templars are capable of splitting spells in two, reflecting magic or using silencing debuffs. They are also an excellent sub-job for any class that fears running out of MP, thanks to their special ability. However, they lack both the offence and defence to go toe-to-toe with the other warrior classes.
| Class Name |
Soldier
| Class Equip |
Pole-arm, Shield
| Class Role |
Support, Tank
| Class Special |
Morale (increases effect of buffs when allies are close)
| Class Description |
The whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. The soldier finds his place on the front-line by increasing their own stats as well as those of their allies by giving orders and creating formations. They are also able to manage aggro this way, by quickly switching positions with their allies and taking the heat off of them, but soldiers are not as sturdy as knights...
Slippery and quick, that's the rogue's bread and butter. They are more opportunistic than other archetypes, but also most versatile. Rogues wear leather armour.
| Class Name | Assassin
| Class Equip | Dagger, Throwing Weapons, Short Bow
| Class Role | Damage Dealer, Support
| Class Special | Stealth (ability to temporarily turn nearly invisible at the cost of movement speed, up until using a skill or getting hit)
| Class Description | Burst damage at it's finest; assassins deal powerful single hits before vanishing into the shadows. They are the go-to class when it comes to quickly killing or weakening single targets with deadly blows and poisons. Although assassins have high damage potential, an assassin is best played with great care as their skills cannot be thrown out carelessly.
| Class Name | Thief
| Class Equip | Sword, Dagger, Shield
| Class Role | Tank, Utility
| Class Special | Lockpick (able to open all chests and doors)
| Class Description | Thieves might not be dealing much damage, but make up for it with crazy mobility skills and the ability to rob enemies blind. Their dodging ability is on par with a knight's ability to parry, giving them great survivability in the hands of a skilled player. Heck, the way thieves can dance around enemies is a taunt in and of itself. In the hands of a lesser one however... They're quite fragile, so watch your step!
| Class Name | Ranger
| Class Equip | Longbow, Gun
| Class Role | Damage Dealer, Crowd Control
| Class Special | Detect (can see through stealth and discover traps)
| Class Description | Possessing pinpoint accuracy and powerful ranged attacks make the ranger a deadly adversary. However, their skills root them in place, trading mobility for sheer power. Besides arrow and bullet volleys, a prepared ranger can use traps to slow an opponent's advance and can train avian pets to fight besides them. A ranger's narrow range has them at a severe disadvantage against melee classes.
| Class Name | Bard
| Class Equip | Dagger, Lute
| Class Role | Support, Utility
| Class Special | Catchy Songs (buffs and debuffs inflicted by bards cannot be dispelled)
| Class Description | Like the soldier, the bard boosts the morale of the party, but can also lower that of the enemy. They have unique buffs and debuffs and can even heal with their skills. To do so, they sing songs, but only one song can be active at a time. Additionally, bards can have out-of-the-box abilities, such as soothing enemies to prevent encounters.
| Class Name | Scout
| Class Equip | Dagger, Shortbow
| Class Role | Crowd Control, Damage Dealer
| Class Special | Scan (Allows the user to see an enemy's stats)
| Class Description | Meet your kiting class; scouts are able deliver rapid ranged attacks while mobile. Scouts augment their arrows and blades with poisons, and are well equipped to scout ahead and test the strength of enemies. Scouts can also hold their own with good damage dealing potential and access to pets like wolves and cats, but lack the range and power of a ranger.[/center]
Masters of the arcane, mages tab into an otherworldly realm to deal magical damage or support their allies. Except for clerics, all mages wear robes for armour.
| Class Name | Cleric
| Class Equip | Mace, Staff, Shield
| Class Role | Support, Tank
| Class Special | Prayer (nearby allies have a chance to take less damage) and heavy armour equip.
| Class Description | Your bread and butter healer with some nice defensive capabilities. They restore health, cure status and provide defensive buffs. Unlike other mages, clerics are not fragile; capable of equipping heavy armour and shields. They can absorb physical and magical damage alike, but have poor movement and little control over other monsters, so are better off as off-tanks.
| Class Name | Elementalist
| Class Equip | Tome, Staff
| Class Role | Damage Dealer, Support
| Class Special | Spellforge (spells can double as enhancements to weapons or armours of other classes)
| Class Description | Sling fireballs, rain down thunderstorms, tear apart the ground itself and crush foolish foes under avalanches. Elementalists use magical attacks from mid-range to great effect, but can also use their magic to improve the elemental offences and defences of their allies. While Elementalists wield large and devastating AoE spells, they are slow to cast, flimsy and lack mobility, making them a poor solo-class. Also knowing enemy weaknesses is crucial to playing them well.
| Class Name | Warlock
| Class Equip | Axe, Throwing Weapons
| Class Role | Crowd Control, Damage Dealer
| Class Special | Decay (Increases the effect of debuffs)
| Class Description | Warlocks rely on the dark arts to keep them alive on the front lines. They are able to lay down devastating magic circles that drain or weaken enemies, or disable their escape. They can even summon undead minions. They are also able to deal magical damage with melee weapons, but more importantly; stack devastating damage over time effects. Unlike other mages though, they can't cast from afar...
| Class Name | Weaver
| Class Equip | Dagger, Tome
| Class Role | Support, Utility
| Class Special | Good touch (slowly regenerates health when linked with allies) or Bad touch (slows the movement of enemies)
| Class Description | An unusual mage class that links threads of mana between allies or enemies, allowing them to temporarily exchange abilities, transfer buffs and debuffs, or even trade places. The weaver doesn't create anything new, but relocates existing traits, making them the most versatile of all classes.
| Class Name | Sage
| Class Equip | Throwing Weapons, Tome, Staff, Shield
| Class Role | Tank, Crowd Control
| Class Special | Knowledge (consumes a third less MP than other classes)
| Class Description | Able to use pure forms of magic, the sage channels their power into physical manifestations. They can chain enemies to them or one another, defend their selves with barriers or blast them with shock-waves. They can keep opponents at a distance with high knockback skills, harass them from afar and are extremely resistant to magical damage. When caught into a scrap though, the sage's physical defence can prove somewhat disappointing...[/center]
The science part of science-fantasy, the technicians rely on... Well, technology. Bringing with them a variety of tools, they can turn the tide of battle. Technicians wear heavy armour.
| Class Name | Desperado
| Class Equip | Gun, Dagger, Polearm
| Class Role | Damage Dealer, Utility
| Class Special | Motor Whistle (able to summon mounts outside of dungeons)
| Class Description | The desperado is the closest thing you'll get to a space cowboy. On the offensive side, their skills focus on quick drawing and expert gunslinging, using rapid salvo's rather than nuking abilites to deal damage. They're also masters of mounted combat, able to use their skills while riding their hover-bikes. Desperado's are also the go-to class when your party needs to travel from A to B fast; hover bikes for everyone! However, as they rely on speed and distance or party members to keep them safe, a cornered desperado is a dead desperado.
| Class Name | Engineer
| Class Equip | Gun, Mace
| Class Role | Jack of All Trades
| Class Special | Frankenstein (Able to fuse creations with allied players)
| Class Description | Although unable to perform as well in a particular role as other classes, the engineer is highly versatile in that it can play every role decently. Engineers build robot pets, turrets and medic drones to do their dirty work for them and can have up to three of them summoned at once. They can even sacrifice one of their creations to fuse it with an allied player! However, being a jack of all trades means being a master of none, and an engineer can't do anything without it's toys. Toys that are unaffected by heals except the engineer's repairs... Which are exclusively close-range and cannot heal players.
| Class Name | Medic
| Class Equip | Throwing Weapons, Knuckle, Shield
| Class Role | Support, Crowd Control
| Class Special | Anti-bodies (Curing a status effect will grant temporary immunity)
| Class Description | The medic is your close-range healer. They're particularly quick, requiring no casting times, but need to be in the thick of combat to be effective. Fortunately, the same technology they use to heal can be used to inflict a high amount of status effects on their enemies...
| Class Name | Cyborg
| Class Equip | Knuckle
| Class Role | Tank, Damage Dealer
| Class Special | Weight-increase (twice as heavy as other classes) Wind Resistance -20.
| Class Description | Combining advanced technology with the human body, the cyborg is the next step in evolution. With skills to withstand a lot of damage and repair it's cybernetic parts and hide weaponry like tazers and flamethrowers in it's body, the cyborg is kind of a super-soldier. Though often a lot stronger than their flesh and blood counter-part, the cyborg sports a weakness to electricity (wind-elemental) attacks.
| Class Name | Agent
| Class Equip | Mace, Gun, Shield
| Class Role | Crowd Control, Tank
| Class Special | Sharing is Caring (Allows allies limited use of the Agent's grenade-skills)
| Class Description | Armed with tear gas grenades, flash-bangs and shields, Agents are at their best when they need to subdue crowds and can withstand and deflect decent amounts of damage, courtesy of their protective gear. However, Agents aren't too good at sealing the deal, as they're trained to discourage rather than to kill. [/center]
As you can see, I only got eighteen classes at the moment, so there's two more tech classes to come. Input is most welcome, as well as for other classes. Keep in mind though that they're rough outlines, and you can design your own skills to fit the classes. So for example, Johnny's Berserker might have an AoE spin attack that knocks people over, while Billy's berserker focuses on a bunch of self-buffing shouts.
In this RP, your characters will become more powerful over time. You can do this simply by posting, or by defeating enemies or by earning achievements. These actions will award you experience points, often shortened to EXP or XP. Experience points determine your progression towards your next level. For every 10 XP you gain a level and with this level you gain 5 points to distribute amongst STR, VIT, INT and WIS. Alongside your stat bonus, you get a new skill for each job you have every 5 levels, so level 5, level 10, level 15, etc. The values of XP you're awarded differ.
- Normal posts gain you 1 XP each.
- Battle posts gain you 2 XP each.
- Defeating an enemy gains the entire party XP at the end of the battle. The amount of XP is determined by the enemy in question.
- Clearing a story arc awards everyone involved with a whopping 50 XP. That's right; 5 whole levels right there, I just guaranteed you a new skill.
- Achievements may award you with anywhere from 2 up to 10 XP.
Enemies in TDO are conveniently ranked by power level. Starting at โ
โโโโ, all the way up to โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
. Each have an amount of base XP, which will increase or decrease depending on the difference between enemy and player level. So for example; when base
XP = 10 and there is no level difference, the full 10 XP will be awarded. However, 20% is added or subtracted, depending on the level difference, up to 5 times. So if you are 4 levels higher than this enemy, you'll only gain 2 XP. If the enemy is 2 levels higher, you are awarded with 14 XP for defeating them.
As for enemy ranks; here's what you can expect;
- โ
โโโโ A weak enemy with stats much lower than yours. It can be one or two-shot by most characters, but often comes in hordes. Their base XP is 0.1, meaning you'll have to defeat a lot of them to gain XP.
- โ
โ
โโโ This is an enemy that may be weaker than you, but can scratch off a good chunk of HP if you're not careful. Some of them possess special skills and most come in small groups. Their base XP is 0.5
- โ
โ
โ
โโ These are enemies are your equals in stats and often have special skills of their own, meaning that you can't simply mash attack and expect to win. Use your skills wisely. Their base XP is 1.
- โ
โ
โ
โ
โ This rank poses a threat, as they are stronger in stats than your characters, but also possesses various special skills. These take teamwork to take down efficiently, but can technically be solo'd be a skilled player. Their base XP is 3.
- โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
The mightiest of the mightiest, reserved for only special and boss class enemies. Gear up, party up and strategise for these guys, because without it your chances of winning are extremely slim. Their base XP is 10.
I don't know if any of you own an xbox or playstation, but if you do you might be familiar with the system. Upon playing a game, you unlock certain achievements for doing certain actions. Likewise, achievements in this RP are rewards for good and varied play. Saved your friend from trouble? Have some XP. Died in battle for the first time? Have some XP. etc. Good, varied play will get rewarded, whereas bad or one-dimensional play will have you lag behind your co-players.
You can only earn one achievement per post, even if meet the qualifications for two different ones. I'll roll a dice or something to tell you which you earned. Achievements can also only be earned once, so keep track of them! The requirements for an achievement will initially be hidden, but they will be revealed to everyone if a player earns it.