Perks and Drawbacks

KianTheArcher · Post by **KianTheArcher** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:46 pm

So, this idea has been in my head for quite some time now. I think it would help to create more varied characters, and perhaps give incentive to roleplay out certain things like near sightedness, or injuries that didn't quite heal correctly by rewarding them with other bonuses.

The system would be fairly simple. A maximum of 10 points worth of "perks". But for every point of "perks" you take, you have to have an equal or greater number of "drawback" points. So to get 10 points worth of perks, you'd need at least 10 points worth of "drawback points". Drawback points would have no maximum amount, but anything over 10 would NOT allow you to take more than 10 points worth of perks.

Perk Examples
*Slightly increased stamina regen (moderate cost of points, perhaps 3-5)
*Slightly icnreased body part HP (moderate-high cost, 6-9)
*Increased skillgains in one "combat" skill (moderate cost, 3-5 points, would only increase skillgains by a percent or two)
*Increased skillgains in one "magic" skill (moderate cost, 4-6 points, again would only increase gains by a couple of percent)
*Increased skillgains in craft skills (lower-moderate cost, 2-4 points)
*Increased skillgains in surval skills (see craft)
*Increased skillgains in General skills (see craft)
*With many other possibilities.

Drawback Examples
*Walks with a limp (Adds 1 RT to all movement, worth 2 points)
*Unattuned (Finds it difficult to learn channeling, worth 2-4 points, penalty of 2-5 percent to channeling skill gains, with a slight increased risk of dropping channels)
*Eye Injury (Flat % penalty to perception, 2-4 points)
*Frail (Slightly decreased body part HP, 5 or so)

The other thing ths could possible tie into is package deals with the affliction system, but I'm not sure if that would mesh terribly well. There could, obviously, more drawbacks and perks, but this is just what I've come with up with at the moment.

Makkah · Post by **Makkah** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 7:38 pm

Absolutely love the idea. Would help individualization since we don't have statistics. Needs a lot of fleshing out though. Seems very Fallout, lol.

Selene · Post by **Selene** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 8:18 pm

The one thing I dislike about this suggestion is it would encourage getting 'drawbacks' that aren't really drawbacks, like unattuned for a non-magic-user, etc. In the same vein, taking perks that don't make sense to your character, just because they're the 'best'.

I do like the idea of individualizing as a whole, and this idea has a lot of merit, but I'd prefer if it had some measures to prevent the above.

Post by **Rias** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 9:19 pm

I'm on the fence. One reason I strongly dislike stats and significant racial bonuses is because it encourages a "min/max" behavior, rather than focusing on character development.

KianTheArcher · Post by **KianTheArcher** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 9:15 am

The min/maxing came to mind, and that's one of the reasons that there aren't any set bonuses to any of the perks, in the form of actually increasing the skill. Instead, all of the skill related perks increase the pace at which it would be learned by, at most, perhaps 3 percent or so.

In terms of the drawbacks, like I said they were just rough ideas off of the top of my head. I tried to come up with suggestions that were, in terms of point cost, fairly rough. Unattuned, admittedly, wasn't the best of the ideas. And after I posted it, I started to think about how it wouldn't effect non-casters all that much.