Of Topology and Other Demons

Chapter V, Where the Voices Whisper of the Small Border Town, Three Laughing Skulls and the Voodoo ______________________________________Part 2____________________________________________

________________________________Body and Soul________________________________________

Quite typical idea - some casters (say, Helbound, St´rm or Banshee) could feed on enemy souls or blood, and depending on number of enemies killed/sous consumed their strength would grow significantly. They would be able to either unleash it with brief but huge DPS/healing increase, or to keep moderate buff. The added strength could be either measured by a simple soul/kill counter or they would be forced to approach enemy´s corpse and harvest/drink by channeling Drink Blood/Siphon Soul (with the eventual option to make, say, Bloody Mary or Soul Bite and snack some later).

• Souls could be used to fuel various synergies, for a random example: two or more banshees using souls to become a giant multi-headed leech (with their own heads on - they would still target and cast independently), with increased range/power and connected healthpools. They could also have a silly option to feed on friendly souls, inflicting appropriate tradeoff (bane + boon, with vampiric bite mark on the neck!?) and friendly player would have the option to accept/decline their A Little Deal!?

Speaking of souls, let´s illustrate a simple measure (probably very well known, but anyway) against soul Inflation. Say, Bridge Guardian scales with number of souls invested – +50%(of something...) for first 100, +30% for second 100, + 15% for third 100... and similar for repairing/crafting soul-consuming items, spells... point being - you can always add a bit more, and people will, naturally, be tempted to burn their extra souls for bit more damage or healing. This would also make players want to “grind” more, and - grinding souls is RvRvR! (for more about the economy of souls – see Chapter I).

Another idea is Voodoo Doll – crafted (expendable!?) item requiring enemy´s soul or blood as fuel. Voodoo Doll would „remember“ caster´s victims, or at least the ones whose blood/soul were consumed (add a silly option to buy someone´s soul from friendly player and bounties connected to that !?) and enable him to see/manipulate/briefly swap bodies with/debuff/hurt on distance etc. the enemies from doll´s soul reservoire: say, the ones in the same area or in (significantly increased) range, or simply giving +5-10% more damage against (and/or 5-10% less damage recieved from) that enemy.

• For example, putting needles through the doll would cause pains/debuffs to any „victim“ in increased (double, triple the normal) range. During manipulation (or, in victim´s case - for some period after death, or while being dead!? or by using magic etc.) both the victim and the caster should be able to clearly see each other on the map. Killing the caster would free the soul and render further manipulation impossible (untill...), while killing the same victim numerous times would accumulatively significantly increase the negative effects of manipulation.

• More straightforward application would be to have the souls „marked“ – that is, one´s spells and attacks would be („automatically“, without the doll) especially potent against players whose souls he consumed (or bought!?) previously, and this should be made clearly visible to both attacker and the „victim“ (say, through clear visual signs, visible only to both of them) making it all quite personal.

• The visual signs could tell even more, say: „You see that enemy sword...? Well, it is empowered by YOUR soul!“ or „You see that guy? Well, he was the one that scavenged your corpse, scalped you and pulled out your golden tooth!“ Also, putting enemy scalps or even heads of your favorite enemies on pieces of gear or on pikes of your keep or using these - for fun - on scarecrows in your corn field would be another silly option.

In general, mutual kill/death ratio could somehow buff/debuff healing & damage against each other or (for simpler variation) the number of kills against race, faction or class could have the same effect (say, 100 and more kills giving +5%, 1000+ giving +10% and 10 000+ kills – talk about grind! – giving 15% more damage).

• It would naturally go with appropriate title or, even better (and much more intuitive!) forget about titles and make members of endangered race/class see (togglable on/off, or just in combat, or just if attacked directly or if targetting that enemy - to reduce the calculation and overwhelming visuals) physical marks/tatoos/glowing runes or Laughing Skulls!? – 1,2,3 skulls for +5,10,15% bonus on/above their nemesis.

• This would be another way to level/develop character and earn reputation, and this kind of „grind“ would take years. Imagine, say, Luchorpán seeing Berserker with 3 laughing skulls overhead approaching – little one should seriously consider teleporting home (unless he wants to get a free one).

Tanks or healers could have appropriate variation of this, buffs being +5, 10, 15% less damage taken or more healing done when in fight against class/race X (or for some time after being hit by... or after healing/guarding target that is hit by...etc.)

• Determining who is tank/healer/DPS could be done based on current predominant specialisation/skill progress, or simply all 3 counters could be on simultaneously;

• The counter would be triggered after engaging and surviving fight against class X or after soaking significant amount of damage from that class and/or performing significant amount of healing/guarding on targets of that clas etc. Naturally, these would also take months or even years to max out.

Finally, I secretly hope for seasons and weather, especially the latter (cough overtaxing, cough particles). Imagine fighting in the rain with lightning flashes behind (and the terrrain slowly becoming muddy, slippery/sticky), moving through falling snow and leaving traces or hunting your enemy while manoeuvering through a foggy swamp... Maybe this (or at least some elements) could be a part of some future stretch goal (and same for, say, refined/deeper/diversified gathering)!? The idea of taking a rest/sleeping after logging out in bed (or while sleeping in any way, or even just after loging out) and getting Rested buff after a couple of hours, or after finding a safe spot in game and sleeping „online“ for 5-10 minutes!? Also - underwater fight, exploration, gathering, hunting & building!? Sea battles!? Shapeshifting race/class (Loki)!? Some nice shapeshift ideas can be found in various mythologies, say http://listverse.com/2009/10/26/10-mythological-creatures-and-shapeshifters/ - anything BUT Vampire and Werewolf. I hope that at least Berserkers will be as described in mythology...bulls, wolves, bears...that would be quite cool! Talking about cool things I want, here is a little farewell tale:

__Conclusion, Where the Voices Whisper of Dreams and Reality__
_(Tragicomical one-act draMMOa, based on a true story)__

C haracters:

Cool Kid (his body is 15 but his mind is 5; favorite quote: “Dragons are cool!”) Dev (once upon a time, he also thought dragons are cool) Prelude: Cool Kid - the proud owner of Frost Breathing Spider and Zombie Robot Squirrel mounts - just noticed that the new cool game (available on Steam) has no mounts...

          **Cool Kid** *(enters the stage)*: I want to ride a fire breathing dragon. Dragons are cool!

(But this is what actually happens - in slow motion): Cool Kid : ...Fiirre-brrreeathiinggg… Dev: Noes! Particles!! (in the second row, someone screams) Cool Kid: …ddrrraaaagooonnn! Dev: OMG!1!!1!! Rend…(server crashes) Cool Kid (sad voice): Eh...maybe this game is not so cool? (rides off into the sunset on his Zombie Robot Squirrel).

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/r/CamelotUnchained Thread