MagicalMaster wrote...
Given The Amethyst Dragon's suggestion here, I figured I'd try it. Essentially, a friend and I are looking for a PW we can play on occasionally. We don't object to haks or rule changes (if anything we'd prefer them). The following are criteria which interest us - though a PW wouldn't necessarily have to meet all of them:
1. Generally action focused. We're fine with some RP but we want the focus of the world to generally being adventuring, exploring, and defeating formidable opponents (preferably in groups).
Shadows of Tilverton is RP-focused, but we believe that good mechanics and quality RP are not exclusive - you can play the role of a dungeon crawling adventurer who explores and defeats formidable opponents.
2. Level cap of at least 20. We're fine with a level 20 world, level 80 world, or anything between. We do want an "end-point" to the leveling so it is easier to find other characters to do max level content.
The level cap on Shadows of Tilverton is 30. It should be noted that every base class, especially those underpowered in neverwinter nights default, has a range of new options and powers, so a level 30 Shadows of Tilverton character has a much richer repertoire of powers and abilities than a level 30 character on most servers.
3. We want max level content, not "hit max level and start a new character."
4. Leveling should not be incredibly slow - we don't mind potentially a few hours per level on average, but we don't want to spend 20 hours trying to get from level 3 to 4.
These two are closely related. We recently relaunched Shadows of Tilverton, and the leveling speed has been increased - most people can get to level 9 in a day or two if they put their minds to it. Leveling does slow down after that - it will probably be a few more weeks before anyone reaches level 30. Right now there's no need for endgame content since no one is level 30 yet, but as people approach level 30 we'll unlock more endgame content: the intent is absolutely for there to be fun things to do and challenging dungeons at every level including 30. We also have other things to do that add a bit of variety - DM events, player housing, minigames, and so forth.
5. Dying should not have severe penalties. We're fine with a penalty but not to the point where we're afraid to explore. Losing items permanently (or for long enough to make progress extremely difficult/impossible due to not being able to replace the items) or hours worth of experience is not acceptable.
The death penalties on Shadows of Tilverton are fairly small - just some experience and gold that can be re-earned quite quickly. It is cheaper to take the caravan back to town than to intentionally die so you can respawn as your means of traveling back though =p.
6. We should not ever feel like we might as well AFK during a fight. A mage being more effective versus a particular enemy than a fighter is fine and vice versa. The mage going AFK because none of his spells can scratch the enemy (or the fighter going AFK because his attacks can't scratch the enemy) is not enjoyable.
Many enemies on Shadows of Tilverton have different strengths and weaknesses, but most classes also get a broader range of abilities to choose from, so it's generally the case that everyone can contribute to a fight in one way or another. For example, higher level rogues can select an ability they can use to briefly remove sneak attack immunity from an enemy, allowing them to use their primary class feature even in undead-filled dungeons.
7. There should be some direction. We'd prefer quests to experience the world or at least some directions to level relevant zones.
In general, the dungeons tend to get harder the further you go away from the server hub in Shadows of Tilverton. Some dungeons are more 'on the beaten path', while others may require a bit of exploration to find, but there's usually several options for characters of any given level.
8. Fights should not solely be about stacking a particular damage immunity/resistance. Fire immunity/resistance helping versus a red dragon is fine. Pretty much instantly dying if you don't have sufficient resistance/immunity is not, especially if there's no clear way to obtain the items needed.
Most dungeons support multiple approaches. For example, it's viable for an assassin to cut down a necromancer before the necromancer casts its deadly spells, a cleric or wizard to ward against death magic, or an exemplar could use an ability that allows rerolls of failed saving throws. Having a decent armor class tends to be quite important overall, though there tend to be many different ways to get decent armor class, and there are a few build options that can work even without high armor class.
9. There should not be incredible difficulty spikes. We should not be adventuring and slaughtering orcs with 5 AB and 10 HP and then get slaughtered by the orc chief with 25 AB and 200 HP. Challenge is fine, we like challenge. But that's not challenge.
Most, but not all, dungeons have a fairly steady progression of difficulty on Shadows of Tilverton. The sharpest difficulty spike I can think of is one of the low to mid-level vermin dungeons that has a 'bonus' area with golem spawns, but that's the exception rather than the rule.
10. As said earlier, rule changes are fine (even preferred) - but we do want documentation on exactly how things were changed.
We've made a huge number of mechanical changes on Shadows of Tilverton, and you can find them in the documentation on our forums. We also have a 'build test' area where you can try out leveling a character up to level 30 to see how the build looks and how its abilities work, though you can't enter the game itself with characters leveled up in this fashion.
- People just sitting in town all day talking about their feelings
We do have people who enjoy in character banter as an end in itself, but they're also perfectly willing to run a dungeon or two if anyone asks. As I alluded to in the beginning, I don't think that quality roleplay needs to detract from quality mechanics or vice versa.
Shadows of Tilverton meets some but not all of the things you are looking for, and has a very active development team (check the rate of updates in the module changelog!). If you want to learn more just check out our forums.
www.shadowsoftilverton.comEdit: I just saw the date of your post. So maybe you're not looking anymore. Still, maybe other people are wondering similar sorts of things.
Modifié par Solus1290, 16 juillet 2013 - 09:01 .
