Heroes of 'Scape (RPG)

['Scaper94]

I like this! Keep it up, can't wait to see more!

[Kaiyu]

To finish up on my discussion about Classes, I just wanted to mention the Class tiers and their differences from the old game. In Heroes of 'Scape, choosing your beginning Class usually defines the role you play from the start. Past that point, changing Class either makes yourself slightly more focused in your role, or just stronger.

In the new game, every Race's starting Class is extremely generic. Any weapons or armors offered in the tier 1 Class will still be available for use in the higher tier Classes. The same can be said for any Skills offered in the tier 1 Class. The Skills will be very versatile and few in number.

The tier 1 Classes are meant to be a temporary state; you're not meant to stay there for long. Upgrading to tier 2 is where the first signs of specificity begin. Tier 2 is still generic, but begins to focus on some generic trait (ranged, melee, defense, magic, mobility, etc.) Finally, in tier 3, you reach full specificity. Your role in combat reaches full definition when you reach your tier 3 Class, and will also be at its most powerful state.

This new system allows for every player to hop in and not be overwhelmed by the choices. Some people I introduced to Heroes of 'Scape didn't have a problem saying that they'd prefer to be a ranged class or a melee class, but some who are not as good at making decisions found the vast number of Classes to difficult to sift through. Now they only have to choose their Race and jump into the game. They will be forced into a Class (with the exception of Human) and they will be left with only a few decisions when it comes to weapons and Skills. There will be a distinctively fewer Skills compared to Heroes of 'Scape in the starting Class, so even that decision will become easier for overwhelmed players.

Since upgrading Class is not something that is provided by level, but can be purchased at any point, experienced players can upgrade their Class early if they want to become less generic as soon as possible. All-in-all, the new system caters to improve the game experience for everyone.

[Kaiyu]

Even Special Powers are getting a re-vamp. The categorization has rearranged. There will now be Offensive, Defensive, Mobility, Support, Magic, and Utility. As they suggest, Offensive Special Powers assist your Hero when attacking and in doing damage, Defensive Special Powers assist your Hero when defending and in surviving, Mobility Special Powers assist your Hero when moving and in traversing the map, and Support Special Powers assist your Hero when supporting your fellow teammates.

Magic Special Powers are going to be a wide variety of abilities, and best saved as a topic for another post. Utility is going to be whatever is left that doesn't fit into these categories. This will also include 'Adventure' Special Powers that will help not in combat, but in playing an RPG, like lock picking, diplomacy, thievery, etc.

Each Hero will be limited on the number of Special Powers they can have in each category. This limitation will be dictated by the Class your Hero is in. For example: The Assassin Class is going to be focused on killing and mobility, so it will be allowed multiple Offensive and Mobility Special Powers, but few Defensive and Support Special Powers. Meanwhile the Warden Class is going to be focused on holding and defending a position, so it will be allowed multiple Defensive and Support Special Powers, but few Offense and Mobility Special Powers.

This change will ensure both a better balance as well more thematic Classes.

[Zettian Juggernaut]

Man, you keep making sweeter, I can't wait to try it.

[marrowick]

This sounds so much better.

[Kaiyu]

Expanding on the previous post, limitations on the Special Powers by category will not be straight numbers. When I first theorized this concept in Heroes of 'Scape (but never implemented) I imagined setting a restriction on the number of Special Powers. But in the new game, these restrictions will be based on the value of the Special Powers. As I stated before, Special Powers will be rated on a 100-scale. So as an example, an Assassin will be allowed something like 1000 Experience Points to be spent on Offensive Special Powers and only 300 Experience Points to be spent on Defensive Special Powers.

As you may also remember, Special Powers are also restricted by the Weapon your Hero has equipped. You must both own a the required Weapon to purchase the Special Power as well as have that Weapon equipped in order to use the Special Power in combat. Since in the new game you'll be limited on the amount of Special Powers you'll be able to have, and not all of these Special Powers will work for all of your Weapons, you'll have to keep in mind that your Hero can't be a master of all Weapons. You will most likely try to specialize in just one Weapon and have a few universal Special Powers that will increase the strength of your Hero's other Weapons.



P.S. -- Who is G-O?

[Zettian Juggernaut]

Originally Posted by Kaiyu

P.S. -- Who is G-O?

If you are referring to a user, then I think it's Gurei-Ornery.

[Kaiyu]

Something I may not have expressed clearly is variety of Weapons I will be offering. It will be more than just Melee Weapons and Ranged Weapons to choose from. There will be all different types of Weapons in just a category alone. Melee Weapons alone will offer things like swords, daggers, spears, axes, maces, two handed swords, two handed axes, and more. Ranged Weapons will offer things like short bows, long bows, crossbow, hand crossbow, throwing knives, javelins, etc.

Remember, Weapons influence the Special Powers that your Hero can purchase, so Weapons like one-handed maces will have different Special Powers than two-handed swords. And these Special Powers will be thematically based on the Weapon, of course.

I am still contemplating having varying degrees of power within a single kind of Weapon, allowing you to upgrade your strength by upgrading your Weapon. What I mean by this is that you might start off with a bronze sword in the tier 1 Class and by the tier 3 Class you will be able to purchase a steel sword that will do more damage or allow more Special Powers than the lower grade swords. This would be a nice feature to have implemented, but I'm not sure how viable of an option it will be.

Despite how many Weapons it may seem like there may be after talking about them, it still won't be an overwhelming amount or get in the way of simplicity of the game. The type of Weapons a Class has available will also depend on the theme of the Class, so this will slim down the number of Weapons to choose from. For example, a Ranger will be focused on swords and bows, but will still have the option for axes for those who don't want to use swords. The options for axe specific Special Powers will be more limited than those for sword specific Special Powers, thematically influencing where this class should be focused, without removing the option to branch out from the "norm." On the other hand, a Barbarian will probably have just as many Special Powers available for axes as it does swords.

[Killz]

Blimey, that is fantastic! I love the new idea, it has been a while since I checked on this thread, glad to see your back Kaiyu!
I like the limitation on powers, because in the old one, once you reached level 4, you were basically a god. I also like the new weapon system, very creative. Can't wait to see what happens!

One question though: Is it only going to be fantasy? Or will there be Soldiers, Deathwalkers, and the like?

[Kaiyu]

Originally Posted by Killz

One question though: Is it only going to be fantasy? Or will there be Soldiers, Deathwalkers, and the like?

For now, there is only plans to do fantasy. I would like to do a future/sci-fi edition some day, but I'm not even positive if it will be compatible with the fantasy edition. The problem lies in the fact that melee is a rare thing in the future/sci-fi scene, and part of my balancing of the fantasy edition comes in my balancing range with melee. And there is also the problem that, outside of Heroscape lore, it doesn't make much sense for those two to be used side-by-side (both in their lore, and in the fact that bows and arrows don't stand up too strong compared to laser rifles.)

[Kaiyu]

Another thing that will set the new game apart is really being able to see a difference in the different Races. The Races will much more strongly portray their own racial theme and you will, more-so than before, feel like it's actually a different Race. I'm trying my best to keep Classes and Class trees as unique to each Race as I can. Any shared Classes between different Races will still remain as distinct as possible.

Humans are going to be the most balanced and versatile of Races. Throughout the three different Class trees they have available, you'll be able to create any variety of Hero possible. Because of their focus on balance and versatility, they won't as readily reach any extreme. Human Wardens won't be as robust as Dwarf Wardens; Human Assassins won't be as agile as Dark Elf Assassins; Human Archers won't be as proficient at ranged combat as Wood Elfs Archers. However, Human Wardens will be more agile than Dwarf Wardens; Human Assassins will be more robust than Dark Elf Assassins; Human Archers will be more proficient at melee combat than Wood Elf Archers.

Some other tricks I'll use to keep Races thematic is the way I'll work the Class trees and Hero growth. The more barbaric Races, like Orc, will not have as sophisticated Class trees as the more advanced Races. The Orcs, for example, will go straight from Warrior to Champion. The Orc's growth will be faster, allowing them to become stronger than the other Races sooner, but they will hit their limit in strength sooner, meaning that an Orc Hero will not be as strong in the long run.

These changes should give each play-through a more rich experience and encourage players to give a different Race a try each time.

[Kaiyu]

Something that was a big problem with Heroes of 'Scape was how strong the Heroes got, and how quickly they got there. The Heroes of the new game aren't going to pack quite the same punch that they used to. The limiting of powers by category will help with that, but the total strength overall will be less. The new Class system and Special Power pricing should also work to slow down the growth of power without hurting that feeling of growth that you get when playing an RPG.

In light of this, the new game won't be designed in a way that is focused on each player having only one Hero. They are still welcome to do that, but I intend to open up players to controlling more than one at a time. Of course, players could always have done that before, but I never intended it that way and would occasionally rub against the grain to do so, especially because having too many Heroes on the board was simply too much power.

Additionally, since I will already be constructing the game with this in mind, I also plan on releasing the game with fully functioning customizable Squads, Common Heroes, and NPC Unique Heroes. This way, balancing the custom Heroes with classic Heroscape figures by their point system won't be a problem, because my new game will have its own built in system to weigh strength and provide an easy means to create scenarios of a difficulty of your choosing.