Development Cycle Archive
Thread: IC4: Path of the Jedi
First I feel that the quests should be trials like you have with the intelligence and honor badges as with the hermit. There should be 30-40 trials. They should be based on two classes, Combat class and non-combat class. The artesian, entertainer, Politician, Medic and any skill based on these are non-combat. Brawler, Scout, Marksman, are combat class. There would be different trials for each class. Some can be the same but Combat would be based around combat mission types like killing a rare beast or criminal. The non combat would be based on crafting so finding rare resource and schematic and building something. Also if not a crafter they could locate the item and have a crafter build it for them this would then enlist help of others. For entertainer quest could involve finding a rare instrument or dance move then entertaining a certain number of people in different locations set when discovered. The medics. Could find rare medicines to help explorers in combat quest. In combat they should be based on solo and only get an item like medicine or a special crafted tool from another player. Some quest maybe very difficult and need to be a master CH or TKA or commando to complete or a group, like act III. It is difficult alone but can be done by some professions, or with a group. Some of the quest could be based on scavenger hunt type missions where items are dropped on planets randomly and an npc or the completion of a previous quest sets you in the direction of the hunt and how to complete it. So for combat, test exploration, hunting, fighting, courage, honor, intelligence. For Non-combat test, exploration, (crafting, skill level determines how fast something is done or how effective.)Intelligence honor courage. Those would be the base for the quests. After completing the quests there should be one last trial. You should have to find a certain NPC who would guide you thought the last trial. This trial would be more complex and involve like a theme park type trial. You would have certain test set to complete and would need certain skill level to complete like be a master in some profession to be able to attain the last quest. The npc would tell you must master a profession it would not matter what one as long as it is one of the type you on in the quest for non-combat or combat. This makes it so you have to be a master of something to complete. The quest would be easier for a master above the starting professions, but even a master of starting professions could complete with help. How ever it is done it should take sometime and effort not just be able to grind away at something with an afk macro. This is for Jedi and should involve time and effort in a fun way.
in the quest mabe having to do sumit like go against a stupid amount of npc's to complete the padawn stage? dumb idea i know the dark side now this is my best ideas yet = ) for the dark side of the quest mabe you could meet lord sidius he says sumit like "the force is stong in you" and he brings a soul of a past sith lord in a remote location when defeated the soul of the sith lord. mabe you were to go back to sidius and he then gives you a peice of dark sith history homework then he gives you about 50 or so untrainded padawns locations to defeat oly thing is these could be masters aswell as???? any ways theres my idea 1 q while im at it = p say ive done about 4 holocrons what would happen to all my hard work?This is what happens when you post at 3 am and not come back to check your posts, forgive the prievious formatting.
General Concepts:
- Becoming Force Sensitive: This should be kept as a solo process for the most part, achieved through a random series of Dynamic starting quests that are generated for each Player character server-side. Within these quests, different dialogue and situational branches would have to be added to make them more and more unique to each person. The player would have opportunities to encounter these quests in random areas, possibly checked for each time a different server boundry is crossed. They should not be something that activates as a quest objective for anyone except the player that triggers it. It will activate as a regular mission for anyone else. The character would notice by the dialogue that this is anything but a regular mission.
Finishing quests give the character 'FS Experience Points', a secret point value assigned to the many possible outcomes offered in a quest, this allows some choices to carry more weight than others, either slowing or accelerating the unlocking of the FS slot.
- One idea would be to break up the Force Sensitivity unlocking process into several long stages, with multiple missions each leg. The first half occuring before the Force Sensitivity is reached, the second half afterwards as the character quests to eventually learn the 'Novice' Jedi box.
- Unlocking Force Sensitivity / Stage One: "This was not a chance encounter"
(With the First Iconic quest,the character begins gaining FS Experience Points until the 100% mark is reached and the Unlocking occurs)
The introductory Quest Giver is stumbled upon. This would use the same mechanic as all the subsequent quest encounters, and would have an appropriately challenging start.
If an introductory quest is failed, Another randomized quest will still be stumbled upon at a later point. Once the first quest is finished, the FS Experience Points used to gauge progress down the unlocking path will first begin to accumulate as the character finishes more Force Sensitive related quests.
- Unlocking Force Sensitivity/Stage two: "Taking your first step into a larger world"
(This is the Second Iconic quest in the series, gained at 100% mark of FS Experience Point accumulation.)
You unlock Force Sensitivity through completing this last quest, allowing you to choose then and there if your unlocking character becomes Force Sensitive, or to make a newly created character who is.
(Note: The act of becoming attuned to the force at this point is really little more than a hook, a tease. It would mostly allow the character, established or newly created, to access the next layer of quests, dialogue and new encounters.)
- For the Unlocking Character who chooses Force Sensitivity for themselves:
This event would give you your paltry base amount of Force Power(100), your basic Force Power Regeneration(1),and the first basic abilities (And penalties) listed below.
- For the Unlocking Character who chooses to make a second, more vulnerable starting character that is Force Sensitive:
You make your new Character exactly the way that you would any other character, you choose a starting profession, etc. They begin with a larger base amount of Force Power(200), basic Force Power Regeneration(2), and the Force Sensitive abilities (And penalties) listed below.
Your first abilities as a Force Sensitive character:
- Attack Avoidance(+5): A defensive skill simular to Block, Counterattack, Dodge, etc. At this level, it mysteriously crops up from time to time to save your skin, showing up onscreen or combat chat as 'as so-and-so miraculously avoids your shot' or 'so-and-so instinctively dives out of the way' etc. This ability is very basic at this point and will not increase until actual training is unlocked.
- Feel Surroundings: The ability to feel disturbances in the force, this allows players to get "a strange feeling about" a place or situation (as explained in general comments above). It would, during the quest stage, allow you to access dialoge from NPC's that are secretly Force Sensitive to gather latter quests from. When approaching an Npc encounter anywhere, you could possibly get a message such as " You feel drawn towards (Insert Npc name here)' or when entering a town where a quest has been generated 'you have a strange feeling about this place' As this ability increases it developes into a system that could warn the character that an area contains a Force Sensitive antagonist or PC in a Manner simular to Ranger Tracking.
Your first penalties as a Force Sensitive character:
- Visibility Score: You gain the notice of larger forces at work in the galaxy. The Visibility score at this point would serve to determine the level of and frequency of FS and Imperial Npc adversaries actively hunting you down. once the first box of Jedi Initiate is gained, the visibility score extends to include player Bounty Hunter missions.
- The Death Penalty and Skill Decay: Whatever the Skill revocation system eventually evolves into will apply to the character now.
- And interesting option would be instead of a single skill box lost, have an Xp loss occur, if the Xp drops below what is required for a skill box, those abilities are disabled until the Jedi re-learns the Xp.
- This same percentage to determine the increase in skill Xp requirements can also be used as a negative modifier on the skill revocation system, the more you choose to stray from the path, the more that is lost when you die. The number of skill points spent outside Jedi skills on Elite Professions can boost the frequency and intensity of the revocation.
(These could involve any combination of)
- Discovering lore, rumors and the true history of the Jedi.
- Discovering Jedi hiding in obscurity, or a visit from a 'Blue Glowie', then fufilling the missions given by them.
- Recovering a Jedi-related family heirloom (Lightsaber, Holocron...*cough*.)
- Discovering the legacy of Force Sensitivity in your family (Maybe through the above events.)
- Aiding a Force Sensitive Npc fend off attackers, they reward you with what guidence they can give, and more quests of course.
- Facing Force Sensitive Threats and defeating them.
- Negotiating the release of hostages.
- Being recognised as FS by a FS advesary.
- The possibilities go on and on.
Sure, you have just become attuned to the living force, but what else happens from that point? You can now begin the next quest layers. Your path at this point is to find the training nessessary to become a Jedi.
The Path of the Jedi: "Learning the Ways of the force"
This new series of quests, continuing with either the unlocking character or beginning with the new one, will involve seeking the training in the ways of the force.
At the completion of each quest objective the Jedi will now recieve a small amount of Regular Jedi Xp based on the way the mission was completed (in the same manner as the FS Experience Points did previously.) This will eventually fulfill a 40k Xp requirement needed to learn the novice skill box of Jedi Initiate, (simular to the Apprenticeship Xp needed for Novice Politician.)
These quests mostly will involve continuing your training with the Jedi from previous encounters, although randomly generated events could unfold that drive them to another place, or even kill them. The character would then have to follow the guidence of a 'blue glowie' to another trainer. These quests will have some elements from 'The first quests' and should also include:
- Learning the concepts in the Jedi code and being made to act upon them in 'tests' given by the Jedi instructing you.
- Constructing your Lightsaber. This was an important task for the Jedi
These quests could be a great deal of fun if created properly.
a. Gain basic holo-texts Discussing Lightsaber Constructon and a learn of the required components, and from this build your basic saber crafting tools.
c. A quest to track down a working Jedi-issue Crystal Surveying Tool from the republic era. Fix an old broken one, or build one from scratch using a rare schematic gained from a quest target.
D. Survey for Adegan Crystals. (See below notes on Lightsabers and Crystals)
e. Build the separate components of the Saber: Body Housing (Same choices for styles, maybe additional ones as loot schematics), Power-core and Core Insulation, Crystal Chamber, Primary/Secondary crystals, Energizer Core, CPU/Activation Controls, Magnetic Ring, and the Emitter Arc Tip.
f. Assemble your lightsaber.
(Reaching the required amount of Jedi Xp through these 'tests' will qualify the character to learn the Novice box of Jedi Initiate.)
NPC's players might interact with throughout their quests:
- Antarian Rangers: An elite paramilitary group that had assisted the Jedi knights for over 600 years, providing military and logistical support for the order. At the time of the Jedi purge, they disbanded and went into hiding as they found themselves hunted also.
- Dark, Fallen, and Ex-Jedi: Jedi that have fallen away from the path of light to the Dark Side of the force are perfect encounters for the budding Jedi character. These encounters do not have to be combat based, quests taken to redeem a Dark Jedi could be very rewarding.
- Hidden Jedi: Discovering Jedi in hiding is crucial to the characters advancement and could happen most anywhere.
- Imperial Inquisitors: for a rebellion aligned Force Sensitive character, encounters with them can be bad. But for Imperial aligned or just the Dark-Sided at heart, it could branch off into quests allowing them to unlock the training nessesary to become a Force Sensitive Jedi-Hunter for the empire, the Imperial Inquisitor (Elite Profession.)
This section has been rethought a bit. I have addedsome very needed abilities of the Jedi.
- I truely hope the Jedi skill trees are included in the revamp. They are not very true to the series as they are, and I feel, need as much work as many of the other professions.
- Jedi should have access to any skills they choose to take, and will need them as a starting character to complete quests. They will learn that the more skills they take apart from Jedi, the less attuned to the Force they will become. (This can be reflected by using the amount of skill points spent on non Jedi Elite Professions as an increasing percentage penalty on how much Xp is needed to achieve the next skill box of any Jedi skill.
Basic Profession: Jedi
Novice Box- Jedi (Title: Jedi Initiate)
(The Jedi gains the basic Attack and Defence Skill Mods through this box. I also feel that they should be taught through Quests how to set up a basic camp, the reward being Camping +5. Then, another quest to learn to use basic medical equipment, the reward being Medicine Use +5. This way, the Jedi is not REQUIRED to learn other Professions in order to survive.)
(Note: The efficiency at which the Force is wielded and the rate that regeneration operates can and should be based on the characters Focus and Willpower).
Skill Tree I: Lightsaber Techniques.
(The Jedi gains further attacks, Defences and Skill Mods through this Tree.)
LightSaber Techniques I (Basic Form and Attack Deflection)
- Saber One-Handed Hit I: Allows the Jedi to do more damage with a Lightsaber.
- Attack Deflection I: Allows the Jedi to reflect ranged attacks when a lightsaber is equipped.
LightSaber Techniques II (Balance)
- Saber One-Handed Combo I: A rapid Attack that allows the Jedi to attack multiple points on a target. Doing more damage than a normal one-handed attack.
LightSaber Techniques III (control)
- Saber One-Handed Head Hit I: This attack allows a Jedi to perform a precise strike against the target's head, directly affecting its mind pool.
LightSaber Techniques IV (Advanced Stances and Attack Reflection)
- Saber One-Handed Hit II: Simular to Saber One-Handed Hit I, but allows the Jedi to do even more damage with a Lightsaber.
- Attack Reflection I: Allows the Jedi to reflect ranged attacks back at a target when a lightsaber is equipped.
Skill Tree II: Self Disciple.
(The Jedi gains healing abilities and physical training through this skill tree,it includesSkill Mods towards Terrain Negotiation and Burst Run Efficency. Not only is training in the force important to a Jedi, but also his physical skills, as seen in ESB.)
Self Discipline I (Celerity and Revitalization)
- Force Speed I: This allows the Jedi to use the Force to move at a great speed. Seems fine as it is.)
- Self Healing I: heals a small amount of temporary damage to health, action and mind.
Self Discipline II (Force Jump and Regeneration)
- Force Jump I: (This really needs to be in game.) This allows the Jedi to jump a great distance using the Force, gains a temporary +50 to Attack Avoidance for the duration of the leap animation. (note: This could just be a leaping and tumbling animation tied to movement equal to Force Speed, moving the Jedi in the direction faced, if Jumping cannot be implemented)
- Self Healing II: Same as Self Healing I, but also heals a small amount of wound damage to health, action and mind.)
Self Discipline III ( Mind and Body Fortification)
- Force Will I: Same as Teras Kasi force of will, but can break 'state' effects such as Dizzy, Intimidate, Battlecry, etc.
- Force Boost I: essentially the same as Teras Kasi Powerboost.
Self Discipline IV (Greater Celerity and Rejuvination)
- Force Speed II: This allows the Jedi to use the Force to move at greater speed than Force Speed I.
- Self Healing III: Same as Self Healing II, but heals a greater amount of temporary and Wound damage to health, action and mind.
Skill Tree III: Senses.
(The Jedi gains sensory and mental control abilities through this skill tree, along with Skill Mods towards Defence vs. Intimidation, Blind, dizzy, and Stun.)
Senses I ( Force Stealth)
- Force Stealth I: An ability simular in mechanics to Mask Scent, yet it works on NPC's along with creatures.
-InstinctsI: This ability allows the Jedi to gain a +50 bonus on his next attack by letting the force be his guide and trusting his instincts.
Senses II (Attunement)
- Force Attunement: An ability simular in mechanics to Ranger Tracking, yet only applying to FS NPC's and Factioned NPC Enemies.
Senses III (Force Empathy)
- Empathy I: This ability has a chance of rendering an aggresive non-pet creature non-threatening for a set amount of time.
Senses IV (Jedi Mind Trick)
- Affect Mind: This ability has a chance of rendering an aggresive non-pet NPC non threatening for a set amount of time.
Tree IV: Manipulation.
(The Jedi gains the ability to manipulate other object through the force, along with Skill Mods towards Defence vs. Knockdown, and Posture Change.)
Manipulation I (Lesser Kinesis)
- Force Push I: This attack will allow a Jedi to release a kinetic burst from their palm. This will not damage the target but will knock them down.
Manipulation II (Force Manipulation)
- Manipulate I: This ability would allow Jedi to manipulate basic controls (Terminals, Switches, Etc.) from a distance using the force.
Manipulation III (Greater Kinesis)
- Force Push II: A more powerful version of Force Push I. This attack will allow a Jedi to release a kinetic burst from their palm strong wnough to hit multiple targets. This will not damage the them but will knock them down.
Manipulation IV (Precise Force Manipulation)
- Manipulation II: This ability would allow Jedi to manipulate more complex controls through his link to all things through the force( Code-only Terminals, Locked Doors, Etc). (Obi-Wandid this in ATOC on Kamino, during his fight with Jango Fett)
Master Box- Jedi (Title: Padawan/Jedi Learner)
(The Jedi Padawan has completed the most basic training and is ready to move on. They gain further bonuses and Skill Mods along with the first of the Jedi Damage Mitigation and DefensiveStancesabilities.)
- Saber One Hand Combo I: Same as it is now.
- Saber one Hand Head Hit II: Same as it is now.
- Saber One Hand Flurry: Same as it is now.
- Saber Slash I: Same as it is now.
- Self Regeneration I: Simular to Self Healing II, but heals a small amount of temporary and Wound damage to all damaged pools.
At this point the Character must start a new series of progression quests to qualify to learn the Novice Box of their chosen Elite Force Sensitive Profession. AllForce SensitiveProfessions should require quests to learn the Novice and Master boxes at least, in order to help offset the power given to one (along with the death penalty of course)
Elite Professions:
(The Jedi has reached Padawan, they can follow quests towards a certain elite profession. Once a certain Xp requirement needed to learn the novice skill box is met of course. Some Elite Professions will be harder to follow due to extreme difficulty, such as the Imperial Inquisitor.)
(More information on these Elite Professions and other junk inlater posts)
- Jedi Guardian: Is identified by their mastery of the force and the Lightsaber's more advanced two-handed forms.
- Jedi Defender: Is identified by their mastery of the force and the more esoteric dual-bladed Lightsaber Lance.
- Dark Jedi: Known by their embracing of the dark side of the force, they develop the Lightsaber's more advanced two-handed forms and gain knowledge of the esoteric dual-bladed Lightsaber Lance. This seductive increase in skill comes at the cost of the improved healing abilities gained by followers of the light side.
- Imperial Inquisitor: Jedi and force wielders recruited by the empire to hunt their own kind. The Inquisitor gains further skill in the Lightsaber, but more importantly, they learn to track force users through the force itself.
Then last but not least:
- Jedi Master: (Requires Mastery of the Jedi Guardian or Defender Profession.)
- Dark Jedi Master: (Requires Mastery of the Dark Jedi Profession.)
- Emperors Hand: (Requires Mastery of the Dark Jedi or Imperial Inquisitor Profession.)
(I feel there should be a distinct difference in the skills learned by Light Jedi as opposed to what skills used by a Dark Jedi, darksiders typically have had lesser healing powers than lightsiders.)
- Instead of a single skill box lost upon death, have an Xp loss occur, if the Xp drops below what is required for a skill box, those abilities are disabled until the Jedi re-learns the Xp.
- This same percentage to determine the increase in skill Xp requirements can also be used as a negative modifier on the skill revocation system, the more you choose to stray from the path, the more that is lost when you die. The number of skill points spent outside Jedi skills on Elite Professions can boost the frequency and intensity of the revocation.
Lightsabers can be traded, yet will not function as an effective weapon except in the hands of a Jedi. For non-Jedi, it is always considered Uncertified (1/10th damage), and could damage the untrained wielder.This can be reflected in giving the target of an untrained lightsaber attack a temporary +100 counterattack bonus. (Assuming I understand counterattack correctly as reflecting damage back)
A Lightsaber should not be sliceable, period. This is simply explained by the force-related technology involved.
A Lightsaber should be Heavy Armor Piercing (considering a two handed sword is Medium), and do a great deal more damage at its base effectivenessthan they currently do.If a new damage type cannot be added, it should at least be changed to'Blast' energy. Some support from this could be found in Lightsaber blades being described as 'frozen blaster bolts'
A Jedi has only one Lightsaber, two handed moves should use the same Lightsaber as the one handed moves do, and the Skill Mods gained for Accuracy, Speed and Defence should stack.
Aside fom the two exceptions below, there was only One type of crystal suitable for Lightsaber construction in Star Wars lore and that is the Adegan crystal. Not Krayt Pearls, not randomly colored lumps of crystal from the pockets of Addogo (a meatlump buffoon), but Adegan crystals. Though sometimes called just by the name 'Adegan Crystals', they are actually identified by grades of effectiveness, quality, and of course, rarety.
They are:
- Kathracite: The most commonly found.
- Relacite
- Danite
- Mephite
- Pontite: The rarest and highest grade of natural Adegan known.
The exceptions (Good for possible loot)
- kaiburr (Kiber): Though these cystals probably have no relation to the Adegan, they were the most powerful ones recorded that could be used in the creation of lightsabers. At some point in the rough original screenplays, a 'Kiber' crystal was what Obi Wan sought out on the Death Star, not the tractor beam controls. The crystal appeared later in the book 'Splinter of the Mind's Eye' by Alan Dean Foster, as an Artifact on the world of Mimban, though it lost its healing powers when leaving that world, its shards had remarkable properties when used as a Saber crystal.
- Kellian: The only type of artificial Crystal known, It Was primarily used in Sith Lightsabers as only they held the secret of its creation. The Sabers made with Kellian Crystal are powerful, yet slightly less accurate, and give off an invariably red hue.
ANYWAY... the current way Crystals/Pearls are handled in game is terribly thought out. This system would require the Jedi to use their Crystal Surveying Tool to find trace deposits of Adegan Crystals through the same mechanics as regular surveying. The same differences in quality as normal minerals would be found, though quality of the Adegan found would classify it as seen above.
The Crystals, once located, are found in such small amounts that they can only be sampled by hand. The amounts would register to a harvestor as too low density for an extractor to be used.
Adegan Crystals are classified contraband. Any time this type of Crystal is placed on a Bazaar or Vendor, you would recieve a friendly 'visit' from Imperial troops, and the illegal gems are confiscated. If people must trade the small amounts they find, and I know they will, it will have to be by hand.
Joraan Sett, Corbantis Galaxy
Placing any type of time frame limit seems like a very bad idea indeed. We all pay the month cost to play a game and have fun. If that means playing 6 hours a day everyday, or playing 6 hours a month. The Devs should NOT place a means for us to be forced into not playing a character because we are 'full' of a particular XP and thus we cannot advance that Toon for X-days.
Seriously. You are going to tell me that after 1 day of hard-core grinding that I can't progress my Jedi any further for 10 days? Yeah ok. Are you trying to get more people to cancel their account? This will certainly do it.
That is the absolute worst idea I have ever heard.
The Jedi only server is a great idea. Whether it be in test or not. It would be extremely interesting to see the population of that server vs. the all/all servers.
I also like the thought of your jedi getting the badges that your non-FS character has gathered. It would also be nice to see them have some way to share the players bank and home.
If Jedi is the 'end game' of SWG. Then there needs to be a way for them be rewarded for reaching that state. Jedi only dungeons would be nice but instead of these places being static PoI's have the game generate them just like they generate creature lairs. All of a sudden some pit is in the ground. or some ruined stairs leading into a mountain. That way BH's are camping the static 'jedi' only spots.
These dungeons could also take care of alot of the item issues that Jedi have at pressent. Those being crystals, pearls, etc. You could also place jedi only equipment (or datapads with the means to create them) in these dungeons are rewards or random loot.
That being said it is also potential for players to Quest towards their dream of becoming a Jedi. This system must be built around a random system like the current Profession Mastery one so someone cannot determine a "Pattern" and have mass amounts of Jedi.
The quest system must be to a level on intricacy so as be tedius enough that the major of players would give up in frustration and only the most determine and Jedi focused would survive. Another key focus MUST be based on what players have done in the current "Profession Mastery" Holocron system. This must give a % credit towards the Force Sensitive character for each and every profession mastered beyond the 4 Holocron hint professions.
It should look like this:
Holocron professions mastered = 4 +25% complete to FS
2 professions after holocrons+5%more towardsFS (each add'l 2 professions)
Max bonus = 90% bonus towards FS character.
I suggest at least one final series of random quests (10%) to undertake for those players at the 30 professions mastered level.
Nothing should be gifted to them even though I could argue myself for this.
I suggest putting some time base on the random Quest System such as only being able to take 1 or 2 steps towards FS per week of RL time. This would stop Quest Grinding like happened with Professions and keep game continuity.
Cause random Quest spawns and not static ones. Make them dynamic so choices made on the quests affect your path later on to light or dark side. Some static spawns may be part of initial Quest System but some random factors must be introduced.
T.
Kenbow2 wrote:
#2) The best way to control Jedi population and be fair to the players is not permadeath, but rather to have a time suspension of 20 days for any Jedi that are killed. In other words, if you die as a Jedi , then you can't play that character for 20 days (or 10 days, 30 days, etc..whatever seems fair). Afterall, the players can just log on their original player and play them until the 20 days is up.
No one will agree to that...i mean y have a game if you cant play it...this is not a logical solution!!!
Again y have a game when u cant play it...ur ideas are fine but ur consequences are extremely unresonable to a players stand point....
There should be a so-called "Force Sensitive" profession tree before one becomes a Light-Saber wielding killer. WHen you unlock your FSCS, you get a character who is force sensitive, but cannot use the force really and cannot wield a light saber. This character would be where the long line of quests come into play. Maybe even have a few skill points they could have (like 50), in addition to minor force abilities they would get in this profession tree. The ONLY way to get exp in thisstage would be to complete the unique Jedi-related quests. A player could only do one quest evey 30 days. So, after completing a quest, one would have to wait 30 days to do the next quest. In the meantime, they would go back to playing their other character. If they fail the quest, then they have to wait 48 hours to repeat that quest.