Sensing aptitude

In Arcanum, when you walked into a store, the shopkeeper could usually 'sense' if you had a strong aptitude either way.
And that's what would happen if you were in this world. Since aptitude is actuallly an innate quality you have, rather than just a way of expressing your knowledge, and since the two interfere with each other, an advanced technologist would just be able to 'sense' and 'see' things that were magically inclined. They'd mess with his head.

Perhaps this shoud be a feature of Arcanum II. As your aptitude grows, the things of the opposite type become slightly tinted or glint somewhat, and more intensley as they are more advanced. Or both sides of the spectrum glow different colours in different ways.
By the end, if you became a poweful mage or technologist, your perception of the world as a character would be echoed in the players actual vision of Arcanum.

The idea is completley different to Octarine.

 

Very true actually. Right now you turn out to be the only mage-technologist in Arcanum not capable of sensing people's aptitude. Also, it would be reasonable if, suppose, the presence of a tech follower in your party was affecting the effectiveness of your spells, and your own magick aptitude would make his guns miss more often. Of course, it would somewhat limit the choice of followers, leading to exclusively tech/magic parties, but in terms of Arcanum it makes perfect sense.

 

You know, I wondered about that too...How come everyone but YOU can tell what someone's aptitude was...

It's the same thing with good followers griping about you attacking 'good' creatures. If they can tell what something's alignment is without a spell, why do you need a spell to do it?

But, it's very true that it would/should affect what followers will follow you, and may screw up spells/tech respectively.

 

People's alignments aren't usually obscure at first glance unless they're evil pretending to be good... In which case it's irrelevant or there's evidence on the body to prove their nefariousness.

How about technology of your followers can get messed up and bullets can go awry, but only whithin a sphere of a few feet around the mage character.
Would still make it completley plausable to have a tech in your party as a powerful mage, but adds an extra element to a battle if they're standing on your right and you get ambushed from the left.

 

If their alignments aren't obscured then why do you need a spell to see it?

Only way to see their alignment is to use a spell. If they attack/pickpocket you chances are their alignment's on the down side. Occasionally, a dialogue you strike up with them might hold a clue, but usually not. For example, the guy in Caladon who wants you to kill his father..well it's pretty obvious his alignment's not gonna be so good..I even had followers gripe about attacking the cursed paladins in the Bangellian Deeps. There's no way of knowing for you as the PC, yet all your followers magick and tech alike seem to know.
And there doesn't seem to be a tech equivalent of detect alignment. If there is, I missed it.

It's not a big deal, and in a game of sliding alignment, there has to be some kind of gauge for your actions, it just gets annoying hearing the followers whine about attacking good creatures. Even ones that attack you on sight. Although I don't think they whine if something attacks you first, but I'm not entirely certain if that's the game, or my paleolithic computer.

 

You don't need a spell to be able to tell and make a decision.
I can't think of one situation in the game where I could have mistaken someone seriously in their alignment.
Perhaps you have one which can upset my theory?

Your characters make their judgement on good and evil not from a direct sense alignment spell, but just from sight sound smell and taste (okay, not taste) and it's still up to you to not offend that judgement.

Exception: evils pretending to be good, which is the point of the sense alignment spell.
So why don't you characters get angry when you attack a evil pretending to be good? The evidence on the corpse. It's a bit odd that they know as soon as they bite the dust and you don't have to say 'See, Magnus, I told you he was evil' but I see that as a limitation of the simulation.

Exception: Really offensive goods. But still, sine you're upsetting good followers, this represents them not wanting to use violence against people unless it's really necessary, and still getting angry with you... Even if they suspected that the victim might have been evil.

Also, you might like to use sense alignment to see if a character who you know to be nefarious to be a -10 petty pickpocket with a miniscule mean streak, or a -98 dark master of a trap filled dungeon.

As for the Paladins. I see that as a bug. You should always be able to defend yourself without upsetting the party.

Perhaps this is the room for improvement in the second game: That the followers actually form opinions on people separate from good and evil, and you can ask them what they think about people in certain situations and what they think we should do, morally. Might get quite wily and confusing when different followers have different agendas.

 

Well, one case I ran into was with the Orc uprising in Tarant. The captain and guards were all good alignment, yet they deceived both the PC and Donn Throgg. And when Donn Throgg stepped outside, they gunned down an unarmed man, as he was trying to surrender. With no change in alignment. (I had the Sense Alignment spell)Then they turned their guns on me and the party. At this point I was 100 MA and their guns were useless on me. I retaliated, took a hit or three to my alignment, and the good party members had a hissy fit. One of them even left the party at that point. I think it was Magnus. I don't remember, I reloaded afterward.

Now I do realize there are other ways to go about this quest, and other outcomes. If you have the right stats. Which I didn't with that particular character.

I also took a bunch of hits to my alignment and listened to incessant whines during the Melee Master quest. Hell, by the time he finished telling the story of what happened, I was ready to kill him. But I finished the quest first. Then fought him. And listened to the party whine and moan.

Many of the guards in many of the cities, but especially Tarant, sport evil alignments. A good many dock workers as well. Admittedly, one doesn't often find oneself in conflict with them, being as they're 'extras' as it were.

It really is a question of computer vs human. Things like this are much better portrayed in tabletop with actual role-playing. It's one of those things that really doesn't translate all that well into a computer game. Something like alignment is full of grey areas, but a computer, really only sees in black and white. (or ON and OFF, if really want to be technical about it)

It is a good attempt, and I like the idea that your actions define your alignment, but there is some room for improvement on this feature. It seems like the alignment meter is based on the letter of the law, not a 'higher power' as it were. Picking a pocket doesn't make you evil, yet when you use pickpocket it affects your alignment. No matter who you pickpocket, or why. Killing or fighting a corrupt guard doesn't make YOU evil. Neither does accidentally hitting someone(non-party) who gets in the crossfire. Yet both affect your alignment. I know someone else mentioned that alignment is subjective, and indeed it is. Again this is something lost in a computer game. Computers aren't good at subjective. Unless of course it's an RTS game, and the computer starts cheating...but that's a rant for another day..

And the only case of an evil pretending to be good, that I've run across was the spirit of Bregho at the crash site.

I like your idea about followers forming opinions and asking them what they think. Could add some new depths to the game.