Ability Ideas

Rangers, bards, treasure hunters, rogues - anyone with a love for the adventurous lifestyle beyond the town walls.
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Rias
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Ability Ideas

Post by Rias »

Here's the thread to post your ability ideas for the Adventurer Guild and/or its class specializations. The Adventurer Guild is largely utility-based, members expected to be out doing things in the world but not necessarily fighting all the baddies to be found out there. As such, I'm not really looking for combat-based abilities, other than perhaps some defensive ones to help them survive out there. For the most part though, I want to give them handy adventuring utilities.

For reference, the current classes are:
- Bard: The ones interested in acquiring lore and knowledge, and the most occult-inclined. Not required in any way to be singers/musical, though have some inclinations toward performing abilities and some esoteric occult abilities related to such.
- Ranger: The rugged outdoorsmen, survivalists, explorers, and the most combat-apt Adventurer class.
- Rogue: The stealthy, shady vagabonds often getting up to trouble and constantly getting into places they shouldn't be. Not assassins!
- Treasure Hunter: Like it says on the tin. Particular experts with locks and traps.
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Wish
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Re: Ability Ideas

Post by Wish »

I'm likely going bard at some point. I look at them as support characters that are fierce in their own way and meant for heavy RP.


Some ideas:
a performance idea that boosts their abilities- such as a quick juggling burst that maybe helps focus them on hurling for a while. Looks fancy schmancy and has a function!

(possibly)- mimic. Maybe have a long cooldown, but allow them to mimic specific other class abilities. Not all of them- and only for a really short burst. Such as berserking. However.. this would have to be carefully considered to avoid abuse or being OP.

I need to think on more.


Edit: I am thinking of mimic as in, mimicking an ability someone else in your party just used. It would be super short and with a long cool-down.
Agelity
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Re: Ability Ideas

Post by Agelity »

Ranger ability idea:

Eagle Eye
Passive effect: Can PEER in adjacent forested rooms (be able to more easily discern shapes through the trees)

Active effect: As much as I want to have a SQUINT command for this occasion, I feel like there's a better command to use, I'm just drawing a blank. The syntax would be SQUINT DIR NEAR/FAR. DIR would be any direction one can normally peer. NEAR is to see just one room over (any environment) like a regular peer but also gives a chance to see details in other low-visibility environments (mist, fog, low-light, etc.), FAR would be to see two rooms over in an unobstructed environment, but unable to see extra details from that far out like NEAR would.

Reasoning: Very real benefit for hunting, scouting, etc. which fits the Ranger archetype quite well, and helps set them apart from other adventurers.
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Irylia
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Re: Ability Ideas

Post by Irylia »

Much as I want this to be a thing because I hate that we can't peer through dense forest rooms and without a bigger map to reference sometimes exploring is quote claustrophobic, I'm not sure how practical it is. The problem isn't that someone has better or worse eyes regardless of training or being used to a certain environment, but that the trees just mean there's no line of sight to peer at distance. I think the low-visibility idea is pretty neat and I could see someone who spends a lot of time outdoors where there isn't constant man-made lighting having developed better night vision, but those fog-related conditions mentioned would really affect everyone fairly equally. Maybe an alternative would be something like rangers get a bonus to passive perception and active "search" rolls because living out in the wilds has made them more alert and aware in general.

So my suggestion would be more along the lines of:
Passive low-light visibility bonus (basically bumping anything that isn't complete darkness up one notch on the "darkness" meter)
Passive perception bonus when entering a room or if something hidden enters the room
Active perception bonus to searching (could see this kind of benefit going to treasure hunters as well)
Navi
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Re: Ability Ideas

Post by Navi »

I feel like the ranger ability suggested could be tweaked to identify possible tracks passively from the room you’re in and that lead off in other directions if you can’t peer a direction. I.E. Peer east in a wooded area would tell you if something recently went that way, perhaps the perception level would determine if you were able to tell the difference between human or animal, but I don’t think it should be much more specific than that. Bards strike me as more of the folk who go around listening and repeating stories they hear, rather than the ones to do much actual adventuring, so I’m not really sure that mimic is a good fit.
I would love to see a rogue ability that lets them create smoke bombs with a riln cost in a suitable room, or perhaps right in the adventure’s guild hall. I suppose they could buy them as well, but I like the idea that they’re buying the materials and making them themselves. They could also perhaps have special recipes that allow them to use their trap skill to create various types of traps. This could be shared in a limited sense for rangers too I suppose.
An obfuscation ability for rogues to either slip out of combat completely using nearby objects like trees, debris, or structures would be nice, or even a decoy ability that allows them to transfer the next attack into another target in the room. I.E. bandit one goes to strike rogue, rogue decoys bandit 1 into attacking bandit 2. Could have a minimal chance of making bandit 2 attack bandit 1. Something like this really strikes me as a roguish thing to do. Though you might be asking, if the rogue can slip out of combat, why would they make smoke bombs! Answer, smoke bombs affect the whole room, which is a pretty nice bonus for any other stealthy combatants. It would also be a guaranteed escape. Where as the other ability would be specific for the rogue only, and cost them nothing, requiring only a stealth vs perception and luck check.
Tresure hunters could do with an ability that let’s them track down treasure. Like treasure sense. Head this direction to find treasure! I don’t really know how this would work code-wise, but perhaps the ability scans the area you’re in for possible treasure spawns and if they haven’t been searched already, points you in that direction. If you’re on the over-map, it could present a list of areas that might have treasure, but not necessarily where to find the area itself. I’ll post more abilities as they come to me.
One additional concern is the lack of uh, adventuring there is in the world. Once you learn the areas in game, it just kind of becomes mechanical. It sorta loses my interest after a while, though the trapped lockboxes are rather fun. However, some kind of general adventure sense ability that allows you to track down random encounters might also be nice. Random adventures could range from uncommon sightings of rare beasts in near by woods, bandits/highwayman on the roads, or abandoned haunted ruins or something. Just a suggestion for the future really.
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stratcat
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Re: Ability Ideas

Post by stratcat »

Distraction: Throw a rock (or small explosive?) in the specified direction to create some noise! Most mobs will flock there to check out what's up.
Group stealth: Help a group of adventurers you're leading find a good hiding place and walk them through sneaking about an area. Could simply be a bonus to the group's stealth or something more involved. Probably best for rangers and/or treasure hunters, as I think they'd be the more guide-y types.
Some sort of boost to climbing based on agility? Probably for rangers.
Eyes Peeled: See what's happening in adjacent rooms.
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Lexx416
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Re: Ability Ideas

Post by Lexx416 »

Hidden Cache

It'd be nice if there was a way to build a semi-permanent little cache out in the wilderness that serve as a a way to store items, to help keep down on item clutter (since people are using hidden items to store their gear anyways, and sometimes I search in a room and am beset by FIFTEEN HIDDEN THINGS at once). It could have code similar to Snares, making it so you can only have a finite number. I also think it'd be nice if different specializations got different bonuses to this - Ranger caches being extra hard to find in the wilderness (and maybe letting them have more in rooms that can feasibly hide caches easily, like Forests and Swamps and Jungles), Rogue Caches being particularly hard to find in Urban environments (and even allowing them to set a cache in a non-abandoned Urban room, like cities, outposts and villages), etc.

It'd also be awesome if there was a way we could also flag a particular cache as "friendly" to certain people - this would primarily act as a way to be able to tell people "I have supplies hidden in X, check behind That Specific Rock", while giving them a bonus to finding the cache when they search the room.
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alila
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Re: Ability Ideas

Post by alila »

Chat recently inspired several of these!

Bardic Renown
A riln discount on services at inns, taverns, and other social establishments across the Lost Lands. Some kind of bonus when gathering rumors there, whenever rumors happen. Maybe with an additional bonus for a short while after storytelling there? It could be extra useful if at a certain skill level, members of a group you lead gain fractional benefits as they are bolstered by your reputation.

Thief's Mark
It would necessitate the fixing of the watch command, but this ability would allow rogues to use it without the target being notified, with increased duration maybe? And also glimpse whatever items player transfer around or take from their containers--including approximate riln numbers!

Pickpocketing
For rogues only, some kind of bonus to stealing rerolls while hidden without the target knowing you are there, or while under the silent walking effect?
As a silly side note, I had originally thought to suggest the opposite--that a rogue gain the benefits of stealth or silent movement for the purposes of stealing even while not under those conditions, but then discovered there were none. It seemed more interesting to have an ability which added to the versatility of situations they could operate in, rather than pushing them into more predictable steal-tactics.

Locksmithing Expertise
Some kind of straightforward passive dice reroll type bonus to locksmithing for rogues and treasure hunters? Maybe a tiered version, where treasure hunters also apply this ability to disarming traps?

Locksmith Crafts
A treasure hunter ability for crafting locksmithing equipment? It could be a nice way to mechanically support their locks and traps focus, and encourage them to provide for their other non-treasure hunting locksmithing friends.

Wayfarer
A number of bonuses when traveling through the wilderness: a very tiny fractional nutrition bonus from food, or maybe possibly some kind of resistance to morale loss from less tasty food somehow? more benefit from warm clothes, and maybe some kind of skill roll to reduce travel roundtime? This could be for all adventurers; making adventurers being the best at exploring seems reasonable to me.

Investigator
Possibly for bards and treasure hunters, and also sadly the hardest on this list to work with. It could be the closest thing to an urban tracking ability, but instead of revealing specific sets of tracks to follow, it might mention how well traveled different paths seem, if there are any signs of recent combat in the immediate area, and what might inhabit whichever ruins or caves you happen to be investigating? Something to the effect of noticing resen slime, or streaks of nether scarring along the walls from nethrim brushing against them, or the smashed bones of a nearby skeleton? This is almost certainly more of a dream than a possibility, but I would still be delighted to see something like it!

Forest Walker
A channeled ranger ability which makes them especially hard or impossible to track in the same terrains covered by woodland stealth, with the exception of rooms with a road through them? Maybe extra-difficult to track through the wilderness and trackless in non-wilderness areas. I had thought to suggest it as a druidry ability, but it seems not fair to tracker types to make this widely available, making it channeled with a generous cooldown seemed like a nice balancing factor, and rangers are the scouting experts, so it made sense it could be something special to them?

I wanted to propose some kind of poison making ability to rangers and rogues, but maybe this is straying too close to combat abilities.

Practiced Scanning
Something for rogues and treasure hunters, requiring the Treasure Hunter's Eye ability and high perception: it would work like peer, but incur double or triple the regular search roundtime, and 'search' at the destination to reveal hidden things.

This has maybe been suggested already, but an ability for rogues and possibly bards, to use some percentage of their acrobatics for climbing checks?
Ephemeralis
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Re: Ability Ideas

Post by Ephemeralis »

I'm a big fan of the general idea of having an ability that allows someone to glimpse into the inventory of another character, even if it's just a partial thing. Could see many, many ways to use that for dodgy, rogue-y shenanigans.
Agelity
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Re: Ability Ideas

Post by Agelity »

I was thinking about different ways a more sneaky type (hi rogues!) would appreciate being able to get some notification that someone is nearby, and thought a tripwire idea might be nice. However, I haven't fully thought through whether this is something that'd be best as a part of some basic trap sort of ability that certain specializations have access to (certain adventurers, nightblades, etc.), or whether it'd function as its own ability. Additional thoughts and insights into how this idea could be actualized are appreciated! But for the core of the ability:

Tripwire

Description: A simple contraption built of minor components that will trigger an effect when crossed. This can be comprised of some thread, something that can function as a chime when its triggered (mug full of nails, windchimes, snapping branches, etc.) to alert those in nearby rooms that someone has tripped the wire. This can be used in urban or wilderness environments, but requires different components/skills to use effectively.

Effect:
On success - Causes surprise for 3s and alerts those in nearby rooms that the wire has been crossed (haha you got bamboozled)
On partial failure - reduces surprise time based on roll (1-2s), alerts people nearby (happened to catch it right in time but not before you got a little surprise)
On total failure - notices the tripwire and can decide to bypass or attempt to disarm without causing noise to be made

Urban environments
Components: thread, metal pieces (to make a sound, either by jingling or dropping from a higher spot like a door)
Skills for offense: artifice, perception, agility/intuition attributes
Skills for defense: artifice, perception, awareness/agility attributes - when disarming, intuition would hopefully play a role

Wilderness environments
Components: thread, branches (that can snap back or something when crossed), maybe some tinder or something to cause items to fall, or even some spider webs because they're spooky and icky (Aranas fans rejoice)
Skills for offense: bushcraft, perception, agility/intuition attributes
Skills for defense: bushcraft, perception, awareness/agility attributes - when disarming, same deal as urban environments

Regarding skills for the above, I was mulling over whether tracking could play a role, but I feel like that'd be best for tracking the direction the individual went afterward more so than noticing the trap, though how useful that'll be in the moment would be up to the individuals in question.

At minimum I thought the urban variety would be good for rogues, treasure hunters, and perhaps nightblades (they just get everything, don't they) while the wilderness variety could be by rogues, treasure hunters, rangers, and maybe even primalists (I bet they're smart enough to put a little trap together). Where I was stuck was whether this should be under a basic trap ability and whether bonuses were afforded to the aforementioned classes or whether there should be tiers for other additions to the trap to occur (perhaps something more deadly for those with much higher skill in bushcraft/artifice or something). Either way, I do think having a component-based tripwire ability would offer some neat avenues for the disarming and perceptive types to have a little extra usefulness and fun, and for the more sneaky types (in their respective environments) to give themselves a small edge in being alerted when unintended visitors stop by and getting a chance to hide and GTFO.
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