cronicler
Lurksalot
This is a collection of rip-offs from a couple of games and discussions that I'm hoping to package into a little mod of my own. I guess a concept document of some sorts.
This concept is more or less designed to suit my tastes so I would really like to see your suggestions and criticisms about it as second and third opinions.
Story so far:
The "Den" (As in "bear's den" as their faithful wives call it to poke fun at them) is the result of *David (Dave) Dvorak and *Robert (Rob) Wilson's little project that got a bit out of hand. It is a (not so little) bolthole in the mountain region, nested next to a national park, with it's fortified cave system, civilian built hydrophonics, stocks of supplies, the Den is almost completely self sufficent. Almost.
But, at the end of the day, it is just a Civilian shelter with limited sustainability. And unforseen events can make it cause some need for scavenging and foraging.
(Yes, the concept is direcly ripped from the start of David Weber's "Out of the Dark" standalone novel. Might change the names thou )
The player is a relative of one of the "Adults" of the shelter. S/He was a soldier who had stopped to visit them while on his/her way to a new posting when the things hit the fan. This was roughly about 2 years before the game's start. The game will start with a scavenger hunt quest for improving the "Den" (New seeds, rolls of cable, intact or repairable pre-war tech like foor purifiers, water pumps, mobile generators, weapon caches and such), a quest to recon the immidiate area and a quest about certain briefcase the Soldier was carrying to his/her bosses at new posting.
The Mechanics:
The first thing, I want to do is to seperate Stats from Skills. The stats will provide static bonuses or penalties to check tresholds but they won't be effecting your skill level in any way. The skill levels (0 to 100) will (still) be the main factor in determining success.
*All stats will have a couple of speech options based on high stat
Str:
-Carry Weight
-Base melee and unarmed damage
-Steady effect per each point of str above reqirements
Per:
-Provides DT reduction for each attack
-VATS range
-Disarm checks' treshold
-Cash, bullets and junk from certain containers
End:
-Resistances (Rad, Poison)
-DT against certain damage types (fatigue, stun)
-Base HP
-HP gain per lvl
-Increases effectiveness of chems and lessens their side effects
Cha:
-Social Interactions
-Nerve
-Increases rep gain and decreases infamy gain
Int:
-Skill Points
Ag:
-Movement Speed
-Attack Speed
-Reload speed
-Bonus DT from light armors
Lck:
-Bonus to Base Skill lvl
-Crit Chance
-Adjust resources found
The Skills:
As I mentioned above, the stats themselves will not be determining the base skill levels. Instead I'm planning to use a JA2 like form to determine the characters history. This form will determine your history, your basic Skill set (roughly ranging from %10 to %30), your starting specilisations, your starting gear and your unique piece of equipment. I might give 1 lvl worth of free skill points for further personal choices but that's a grey area for now.
-Name:
-Surname:
-Callsign:
-Childhood?: City Slicker / Farm Kid / Mining Townie / Coast Comber / Military Brat
-Basic Education?: Homeschooled / Nerd / Jock / Greaser / Rich Kid / Odd one Out
-Kid Stuff?: Boy Scout / Little Leauger / Amateur Radioman / Bookworm / *special
-Achievement?: Won spelling bee / Killed me a Boar / Was a motorcycle racer / ...
-How did you become a soldier?: The Judge said / Drafted / Volunteer / College Tutiution / There was this girl and then there was her dad and a 12 gauge...
-Which branch?: NG / Army / Airforce / Navy / Coast Guard
-What role?: (Army) Trooper / Ranger / Radio Operator / Support Gunner / Mechanic/ Quartermaster / Medic
-How did you get in trouble with MPs?
-Where were you stationed
-Did you see any action
-How are you related to Veronica or Sharon?
-How come you were at the "Den" when the end came?
-What were you carrying?
Based on my personal preferences and the general tidiying / expanding the survival/scavenger aspects, The skillset will also change a bit.
-Barter: Barter rates
-Pistols: One handed weapon accuracy, additional damage for convenional pistols
-Rifles: Two Handed weapons, additional damage for convenional rifles
-Support Weapons: Heavy Weapons, Grenade Launchers, Grenades
-Close Combat: Melee and Unarmed rolled into one skill
-Explosives: Mines, Explosives, Explosive Traps
-Lockpick:
-Medicine: F/A only without certain perks
-Repair: Crafting and Maintenance (slower item decay)
-Science: Deciphering Blueprints, Computers, Bonus to Energy Weapon Damage
-Sneak:
-Speech:
-Survival: Effectiveness of food and water, crafting, mechanichal trap damage
Weapon skills will work roughly in this formula:
-If your skill < required weapon skill, you will have less accuracy and penetration.
-If your skill = required weapons skill, you will have %100 efficiency with "base weapon" properties.
-If weapon skill = 2x required weapon skill, you will have %100 efficiency and have all the weapon bonuses associated with the weapon. (some weapons will have a very long vats range, others increased crit chance and so on)
Weapons will also have repair and science (if it is an energy weapon) requirements, which will determine how effective the weapon is (science) and how fast it wears out (repair)
Repair, Explosives and Science will also determine the effects of homemade ammunition.
At the beginning of the game, you will not have access to every function you can have from a skill. For example, if you didn't take Medic background (Perk: Field Medic Training), you will be limited to basic first aid actions with
your Medicine skill. To access additional functions, you will need to find training, (army manual (requires relatively high skill level) or a real doctor (requires lower skill level))
Gear:
The "magical" clothing aspect will also be handled differently than NV. Instead of switching into a lab coat here and utility jumpsuit there, to get bonuses, You will start with your "basic kit" consisting of odds and ends that allow you to access to basic actions (pick mechanical locks, make basic maintenance on weapons, decipher printed schematics). As you travel, you will come across stuff that you can add to your kit (an illegal electronic lockpick, hacking tools, a Personal Information Processor), which allow you to attempt more complex actions and lower the reqs. for more simple ones.
Similarly there won't be skill books (temp. or perm.) in the game. Instead there will be schematics that you can decipher with science. These schematics will lower difficulty tresholds for their related items, allowing you to hack or repair with less skill. (when you find a basic schematic for a RoboCo terminal and decipher it, you will discover a neat little trick of flashing the bios manually to open basic interface, which is much more easier to hack then
the additional 3rd party security programs the last users installed. -%10 to RoboCo Terminal hacking tresholds)
As a replacement to perm. skill books, there will also be certain "experienced" npc's in the game that you can recieve training from.
Edit: I wonder if putting some "ranged" weapons under survival would be logical... Bow and Arrows, maybe throwing knifes and tomahawks and stuff...
Crafting and Recycling:
Similar to breaking down ammo, I'm intending to add a system to break down armors and weapons. This will yield spare weapon parts (normal, energy), spare armor parts (leather, metal, composite) and certain unique parts.
Similar to jurry rigging perk, the generic parts will be used to repair and maintain player's weapons and armor.
Unique parts like lightweight body, scope, lasersight will be usable to mod other weapons.
The MAP:
This story will a world map for travel and seperate local maps where the action will take place. By using seperate (relatively) small maps, I hope to give the illusion of size and have the ability to allow multiple people to create content without (too much) conflicts .
The Pip-boy
It needs to will have to be changed. This project needs an interface that uses keyboard shortcuts and doesn't require hours of scrolling.
Edit 2:[spoiler:8f7d0089b8]I am planning to have this story take place in 2079 or 2080 (2 or 3 years after the great war, the one that turned everything into rubble.)
The Den is the self constructed hidey-hole of 2 guys for themselves and their families. There are 6 adults (3 families), 1 teenager, 4 or 5 kids and 2 dogs in this personal shelter (not a totally enclosed bunker). The place is "technichally" designed to survive for 5 years without needing outside supplies on it's own gardens and recycling.
The soldier is a relative of one of the Adults (4 different families altogether.). Depending on your answer to the form, you were on your way from one posting to the other (on the other side of the country). On top of the travel time, you manage to "acquire" a couple of free days, which you decide to spend with your relative (and raid her/his kitchen and beer) . It is blind dumb luck that you were all at the "Den" (actually they were showing off their man toys to you but nevermind ) when the WAR took place.
Edit: there isn't any real urgency to your departure. The Den was designed (not that it was calculated in detail or anything) to house 10 people for 5 years "if the sky fell down". Instead it housed 12+1 people, 2 dogs and I have no idea how many puppies. (You weren't even supposed to be in the country, let alone at the Den)
The rad counters were nearly 0 and they didn't want to eat em-rats, mres or their seed seed, so the Den opened up, started replenishing it's stores. Everyone except you (fathers, mothers, kids) had stuff to do. Besides you were bored I think..
The starting scavenger quests are just there to get the ball rolling (and get you into the wasteland). The briefcase and it's content (changes based on your branch and answer to q13) is actually completely irrelevant to your romp. You can "solve" it by some detailed prospecting trips but it's sole reason is to stand in your quest log and drive you nuts (and keep you moving ) [/spoiler:8f7d0089b8]
This concept is more or less designed to suit my tastes so I would really like to see your suggestions and criticisms about it as second and third opinions.
Story so far:
The "Den" (As in "bear's den" as their faithful wives call it to poke fun at them) is the result of *David (Dave) Dvorak and *Robert (Rob) Wilson's little project that got a bit out of hand. It is a (not so little) bolthole in the mountain region, nested next to a national park, with it's fortified cave system, civilian built hydrophonics, stocks of supplies, the Den is almost completely self sufficent. Almost.
But, at the end of the day, it is just a Civilian shelter with limited sustainability. And unforseen events can make it cause some need for scavenging and foraging.
(Yes, the concept is direcly ripped from the start of David Weber's "Out of the Dark" standalone novel. Might change the names thou )
The player is a relative of one of the "Adults" of the shelter. S/He was a soldier who had stopped to visit them while on his/her way to a new posting when the things hit the fan. This was roughly about 2 years before the game's start. The game will start with a scavenger hunt quest for improving the "Den" (New seeds, rolls of cable, intact or repairable pre-war tech like foor purifiers, water pumps, mobile generators, weapon caches and such), a quest to recon the immidiate area and a quest about certain briefcase the Soldier was carrying to his/her bosses at new posting.
The Mechanics:
The first thing, I want to do is to seperate Stats from Skills. The stats will provide static bonuses or penalties to check tresholds but they won't be effecting your skill level in any way. The skill levels (0 to 100) will (still) be the main factor in determining success.
*All stats will have a couple of speech options based on high stat
Str:
-Carry Weight
-Base melee and unarmed damage
-Steady effect per each point of str above reqirements
Per:
-Provides DT reduction for each attack
-VATS range
-Disarm checks' treshold
-Cash, bullets and junk from certain containers
End:
-Resistances (Rad, Poison)
-DT against certain damage types (fatigue, stun)
-Base HP
-HP gain per lvl
-Increases effectiveness of chems and lessens their side effects
Cha:
-Social Interactions
-Nerve
-Increases rep gain and decreases infamy gain
Int:
-Skill Points
Ag:
-Movement Speed
-Attack Speed
-Reload speed
-Bonus DT from light armors
Lck:
-Bonus to Base Skill lvl
-Crit Chance
-Adjust resources found
The Skills:
As I mentioned above, the stats themselves will not be determining the base skill levels. Instead I'm planning to use a JA2 like form to determine the characters history. This form will determine your history, your basic Skill set (roughly ranging from %10 to %30), your starting specilisations, your starting gear and your unique piece of equipment. I might give 1 lvl worth of free skill points for further personal choices but that's a grey area for now.
-Name:
-Surname:
-Callsign:
-Childhood?: City Slicker / Farm Kid / Mining Townie / Coast Comber / Military Brat
-Basic Education?: Homeschooled / Nerd / Jock / Greaser / Rich Kid / Odd one Out
-Kid Stuff?: Boy Scout / Little Leauger / Amateur Radioman / Bookworm / *special
-Achievement?: Won spelling bee / Killed me a Boar / Was a motorcycle racer / ...
-How did you become a soldier?: The Judge said / Drafted / Volunteer / College Tutiution / There was this girl and then there was her dad and a 12 gauge...
-Which branch?: NG / Army / Airforce / Navy / Coast Guard
-What role?: (Army) Trooper / Ranger / Radio Operator / Support Gunner / Mechanic/ Quartermaster / Medic
-How did you get in trouble with MPs?
-Where were you stationed
-Did you see any action
-How are you related to Veronica or Sharon?
-How come you were at the "Den" when the end came?
-What were you carrying?
Based on my personal preferences and the general tidiying / expanding the survival/scavenger aspects, The skillset will also change a bit.
-Barter: Barter rates
-Pistols: One handed weapon accuracy, additional damage for convenional pistols
-Rifles: Two Handed weapons, additional damage for convenional rifles
-Support Weapons: Heavy Weapons, Grenade Launchers, Grenades
-Close Combat: Melee and Unarmed rolled into one skill
-Explosives: Mines, Explosives, Explosive Traps
-Lockpick:
-Medicine: F/A only without certain perks
-Repair: Crafting and Maintenance (slower item decay)
-Science: Deciphering Blueprints, Computers, Bonus to Energy Weapon Damage
-Sneak:
-Speech:
-Survival: Effectiveness of food and water, crafting, mechanichal trap damage
Weapon skills will work roughly in this formula:
-If your skill < required weapon skill, you will have less accuracy and penetration.
-If your skill = required weapons skill, you will have %100 efficiency with "base weapon" properties.
-If weapon skill = 2x required weapon skill, you will have %100 efficiency and have all the weapon bonuses associated with the weapon. (some weapons will have a very long vats range, others increased crit chance and so on)
Weapons will also have repair and science (if it is an energy weapon) requirements, which will determine how effective the weapon is (science) and how fast it wears out (repair)
Repair, Explosives and Science will also determine the effects of homemade ammunition.
At the beginning of the game, you will not have access to every function you can have from a skill. For example, if you didn't take Medic background (Perk: Field Medic Training), you will be limited to basic first aid actions with
your Medicine skill. To access additional functions, you will need to find training, (army manual (requires relatively high skill level) or a real doctor (requires lower skill level))
Gear:
The "magical" clothing aspect will also be handled differently than NV. Instead of switching into a lab coat here and utility jumpsuit there, to get bonuses, You will start with your "basic kit" consisting of odds and ends that allow you to access to basic actions (pick mechanical locks, make basic maintenance on weapons, decipher printed schematics). As you travel, you will come across stuff that you can add to your kit (an illegal electronic lockpick, hacking tools, a Personal Information Processor), which allow you to attempt more complex actions and lower the reqs. for more simple ones.
Similarly there won't be skill books (temp. or perm.) in the game. Instead there will be schematics that you can decipher with science. These schematics will lower difficulty tresholds for their related items, allowing you to hack or repair with less skill. (when you find a basic schematic for a RoboCo terminal and decipher it, you will discover a neat little trick of flashing the bios manually to open basic interface, which is much more easier to hack then
the additional 3rd party security programs the last users installed. -%10 to RoboCo Terminal hacking tresholds)
As a replacement to perm. skill books, there will also be certain "experienced" npc's in the game that you can recieve training from.
Edit: I wonder if putting some "ranged" weapons under survival would be logical... Bow and Arrows, maybe throwing knifes and tomahawks and stuff...
Crafting and Recycling:
Similar to breaking down ammo, I'm intending to add a system to break down armors and weapons. This will yield spare weapon parts (normal, energy), spare armor parts (leather, metal, composite) and certain unique parts.
Similar to jurry rigging perk, the generic parts will be used to repair and maintain player's weapons and armor.
Unique parts like lightweight body, scope, lasersight will be usable to mod other weapons.
The MAP:
This story will a world map for travel and seperate local maps where the action will take place. By using seperate (relatively) small maps, I hope to give the illusion of size and have the ability to allow multiple people to create content without (too much) conflicts .
The Pip-boy
It needs to will have to be changed. This project needs an interface that uses keyboard shortcuts and doesn't require hours of scrolling.
Edit 2:[spoiler:8f7d0089b8]I am planning to have this story take place in 2079 or 2080 (2 or 3 years after the great war, the one that turned everything into rubble.)
The Den is the self constructed hidey-hole of 2 guys for themselves and their families. There are 6 adults (3 families), 1 teenager, 4 or 5 kids and 2 dogs in this personal shelter (not a totally enclosed bunker). The place is "technichally" designed to survive for 5 years without needing outside supplies on it's own gardens and recycling.
The soldier is a relative of one of the Adults (4 different families altogether.). Depending on your answer to the form, you were on your way from one posting to the other (on the other side of the country). On top of the travel time, you manage to "acquire" a couple of free days, which you decide to spend with your relative (and raid her/his kitchen and beer) . It is blind dumb luck that you were all at the "Den" (actually they were showing off their man toys to you but nevermind ) when the WAR took place.
Edit: there isn't any real urgency to your departure. The Den was designed (not that it was calculated in detail or anything) to house 10 people for 5 years "if the sky fell down". Instead it housed 12+1 people, 2 dogs and I have no idea how many puppies. (You weren't even supposed to be in the country, let alone at the Den)
The rad counters were nearly 0 and they didn't want to eat em-rats, mres or their seed seed, so the Den opened up, started replenishing it's stores. Everyone except you (fathers, mothers, kids) had stuff to do. Besides you were bored I think..
The starting scavenger quests are just there to get the ball rolling (and get you into the wasteland). The briefcase and it's content (changes based on your branch and answer to q13) is actually completely irrelevant to your romp. You can "solve" it by some detailed prospecting trips but it's sole reason is to stand in your quest log and drive you nuts (and keep you moving ) [/spoiler:8f7d0089b8]