Perks?

[lavagninogm]

I think a perk system would really help in defineing individual characters. Honestly I loved the old rpg fallout 2 (another squad based rpg) and the perk system gave each character their own feel. As far as kenshi is concerned I would not expect as in depth a perk system, but the feature itself I feel would help the player feel more attached to each character and their development, and therefore more protective over their people (which is crucial in a game like kenshi) Perks are also a great way to incorporate personality into otherwise copy and pasted characters in a world as broad as kenshi.

[Jake_j_a]

Cant argue with the logic here, FO2 (and 1 for that matter) was a phenomenal crpg, though "squad based" is not especially accurate, certainly not to the extent as Kenshi. As you stated, nothing as drastically meaningful as fallout, but just enough to individualize characters a little more would be nice.

That said, Kenshi is not really supposed to be about the 'character' as it is about the faction as a whole. With that, perhaps it might be better to not individualize too much. For myself, being a veteran rpg player, I have no trouble investing into characters individuality and personality as the game stands.

So I guess I'm kinda undecided with this particular idea.

[Ajakestr]

I totally agree with perks. That would allow a more strategic approach to all obstacles and opportunities. As of now, any warrior role team member can be the exact same statistically as another preventing more depth in the combat. If there is a perk system, you could tailor one soldier to be a tank styled (armor can do this) soldier with possibly an aggro system where he pulls more opponents towards him, and on the other hand, specifically with maybe a katana/light armored opponent can gain a bonus towards back-stab or distracted opponents. Or maybe a scientist has the opportunity to find vitals more efficiently. Or out of combat, laborers can yield an extra piece of substance while working, or on the other side, work 10% faster. This would further individualize each character (given a balanced and detailed perk system) and really make them valuable to the team. I lost a soldier the other day and wasn't hard pressed to rescue him at the moment because I had another four soldiers that were relative to his skill level, a bit higher. But I would have been more inclined to rescue him if he could do something that not every one else could.

[lavagninogm]

I lost a soldier the other day and wasn't hard pressed to rescue him at the moment because I had another four soldiers that were relative to his skill level.

That is precisely why I think that the character development needs a little more personality to it. while I do understand that kenshi is focused on the faction as a whole, what is a faction made up of if not of a large group of characters brought together under one purpose. I think it would be a huge loss to the depth of this game if each character did not feel important in their own way.

The reason I mentioned the perk system was not neccisarily to make certain characters 'stand out' from the others, but for each one of the individuals in your faction to feel unique, and even perhaps behave in unique ways during combat or base building, making each person memorable.

[Ajakestr]

Well, the characters should be unique and stand out each in their own way because when some one gets downed, I want to say. . . Man, I really need to save that guy! I need him for "this or that." Not just revolve the game around my first two or three characters made. But If it ends up that more people agree with a perk system, what kind of perks should be implemented? And I think they should be a great contrast to another perk chose almost like a tree.

Perks like, Super Strength!!, where heavy weapons are used more efficiently and you have a 5% reduced encumbrance.
In contrast, Ninja, where light weapons are used more effectively and if you have a character with less than 30% encumbrance, you gain an additional 2% increase with attack, 20% encumbrance - 3%, 10%- 4%, and 0% - 5. ect.
Experienced builder - Allows buildings to be constructed 10% faster
Resourceful - Buildings costs reduced by 5% (rounded of course)

[iSuck345]

I see where you all are going with this. In fact, when I played other RPGs without a perk system, I allways felt my character was not... "unique" and that something was missing.

Perks like Persuasive: bonus to bluffing skill
War veteran: bonus to fighting and tactic skills
Sharpshooter: bonus to accuracy when using ranged weapons

[Marilous]

This could get unwieldy if the game gets to a place where you have a faction that is upwards of 200 people which I believe is the way things are supposed to go in the future. I do like the idea though. One thing in staying with the flavor of the game though I think the perks should be things that auto-acquire like the skills do at certain points, which would save you from having to hunt down guys to give perks to and be kind of a milestone to set these guys apart that they earned those perks because they've survived a long time...Or maybe they did a lot of farming and are now a perky farmer.

[Blackbird]

a faction that is upwards of 200 people which I believe is the way things are supposed to go in the future.

I really hope that's not the end goal. A 200-500 person faction doesn't say "Squad-based RPG" to me. It says RTS with severe micromanagement issues.

[Smiley]

Well i grow attached to characters ive played the longest with not because i give em perks.
Hmm the way i see this now is ive got 20 chars atm, like a medic for healing 2 engineers if i have to build then some designated fighters and others i farm with, then a few people with merchant bags to run and sell stuff.

Offc when u have more characters then 20, ull never be as attached to the 1s that follow as with ur strongest 1s but the weaker 1s do get to do the lesser assignments most of the time.

Also the chars with heavy weapons get more exp(in strenght) while fighting with em so isnt that a perk in a way theyll have more strenght the more they fight in comparison to those with katana's.

unless ur going to tell me u let all of ur chars run around with overloaded bags to get more strenght.(speeding up the game coz it goes to slow otherwise?)

[iSuck345]

But it's not like we pick the perks, we only get them if we for example are sucessefull in alot of atacks against other factions or being really sucessefull in doing certain actions.

There should be negative perks too, hey who said it wold be easy?

There should also be a way of losing them.

[lavagninogm]

When I started this topic, I knew it would be under the influence of the kenshi world I knew that every perk would need a drawback or a catch in exchange for the positive

for example: a perk could grant +10 to the science skill, but would cost -5 to weapon skill and -5 to defense. the perk could be named "frail worker" or something like that, therefore the character would have a chance to become an invaluable scientist but become almost defenseless on their own.

another example: a warrior you have after gaining +20 points to his attack skill gains the option to gain the 'perk' for +5 to all weapon classes but lose -5 to science/engineering and the perk could be called "bloodthirsty" .

What I was getting at was that the perks would lead to more of a personality for each character. the perks would themselves need a per-requisite and have a drawback. making the character divide himself/herself from a cookie cutter build to a more personality based set of skills.

[Ishaye]

My guys have perks now because I've trained my guys for the perks they have. Oh and perk is just another word for stat btw.

[SirChuckles]

The biggest problem would be that there are no levels...

[lavagninogm]

I'm pretty sure Chris has mentioned before that levels will eventually be implemented for characters. If not the normal level system we usually see in RPGs I'm sure there will be a relatable level system implemented.

[Smiley]

i Guess this might help look for Chris his posts in this.

http://www.lofigames.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=105

[lavagninogm]

Wow thanks for that link! I had no idea Chris had already mentioned perks as being on his to do list I like how he even referenced fallout for them.

Well now that we know Chris has perks planned, what are some perks that you all would like to see implemented? Ill reply with a few of my ideas after work. Maybe we could help give Chris a few ideas