Ideas for New Items

Alright, I need a base idea for a bunch of swords. There are like 20 swords that will all going to be based around these stats, then edited for specifics. Like all the swords will start with 15 speed but one might be slightly faster so I'll change it after. Like racial modifiers for swords.

So I want to run the stats by you guys, so you think they are decent. I don't want them to be too good, but they are going to be fairly powerful blades.

hp: 120
price: 5,000
Weight: 80
Damage: 4-18 (+2)
Fatigue Damage: 6-10
TH: +5
Min ST: 12
60 Magick
5% chance of appearing in the shop

 

I think everything other than the damage and the TH should be upped. like:
hp: 240
price: 7,500
Weight: 120
Damage: 4-18 (+2)
Fatigue Damage: 6-10
TH: +6
Min ST: 16
60 Magick
10% chance of appearing in the shop
I think that is a good basis for a nice sword... if your making a crappy one then drop the stats massively, and if your making an awesome sword up the stats immensely. btw, what're you using to create the items?

 

Magick.

This isn't a 2-handed sword, just so you know. I thought that those were decent for a one handed. I don't like the 16 min ST, if it's a magick weapon, I want a mage to be able to use it without investing an unreasonable amount of points in St.

The 240 hp is excessive, but if you think I should raise it it could go to 150 or 160.

I would do 10% but only at 8,500 gold. Maybe 7% for 7,500. The TH+6 is fine, if you think the extra 1 matters alot.

The problem is I want very DECENT weapons, but not crushingly powerful ones.

 

you could make therapeutics more interesting...

you could add a rufie gun somewhere along the schematics tree before the tranq gun. it could do no damage and have 10 range but cause enough fatigue damge to knock someone out in say 4/5 hits? at 2 shots a turn for the average speed player??

 

Some suggestions:

Found schematics for making Sharpshooter's pistol yourself. Possibilities:
Fine Revolver+ Looking Glass or Fine Revolver + Marksman Rifle

Tranquilizer Pistol
Damage: 1-4 +FT20-40. Speed 8. Range 15. MSR 6. Weight 80. Hit points 80.
Schematics: Hand Cannon + Anaesthesizer

Pyrotechnic pistol
Damage:1-15+FT 1-5+Fire damage 1-15. Speed 8. Range 15. MSR 8. Weight 90. Hit points 90.
Schematics: Hand Cannon+ Magnesium.

Battle Torch (one handed tech melee weapon)
Damage: 1-4 FT 1-6 Fire damage 5-20 (+50% against Undead). Speed: 10 MSR 9. Weights 110. Hit points 110. Requires 1 fuel per strike. (Optional: on a critical success animals who suffered a Battle Torch hit gain fear and flee from the wielder for the duration of one combat turn).
Schematics: Quality Mace+ Fire Obstruction or Quality Mace + Kerosene

 

I think it's a well-tuned weapon for the mage, and allows you to run a spellcaster who's something other than pure (and puny) or a bruiser with supplemental spells. On a continuum of mage types from A to E, with decreasing spells and increasing phyiscal power, I'd put it around a B.

The problem is I want very DECENT weapons, but not crushingly powerful ones.

Good on you. So many mods turn players into gods, and while that might be fun for the modders and their friends, I suspect a lot of us would prefer the challenge beating games on their developers' conditions, rather than as gods.

 

How about a true magic sword- the one that is worthless for anyone non-magic? A small regular damage + huge MA depending bonuses?

 

Solaris, if you notice the only magic bonus is a +2 damage bonus.

Also, that 60 magick might be misleading, all the swords following this path won't be magick, for tech swords it'll be 60 tech with better add ons. Don't bother making specific swords man, this is to just help me get a general idea for how to make my swords. When I start to make a specific sword, these stats are going to be changed to tailor the specific sword I have in mind.

Sorry Darkelf, those aren't the types of blades I'm looking for, not going for racial blades, although it is a good idea.

 

I'm afraid I don't get the concept behind your request. What are you trying to create? Good magic blades? Blades that can be used by mages and technologists equally? There isn't really a point in making a powerful sword with a tiny magic bonus. Its just as absurd as adding 1 point of fire damage to the Tesla gun.
Have a look at the way the melee weapons are made in the existing version of Arcanum. There are three distinct classes- magic, tech and neutral. High basic damage is typical for neutral blades- because they don't get bonuses. The highest basic damage a tech blade does is 1-16, damage of the magic blades without bonuses is (with VERY rare exceptions) about 1-10, and the exceptions are all cursed. What you're suggesting is a weird cross between magic and neutral, not between magic and tech, and I don't see what you seek to gain by making it.

 

No, what I'm just asking if this is a fair sword, good but not overwhelming. This exact sword is never going to appear in anything I make. I plan on making swords, which are based around these stats, but changed depending on what type of sword it is. That is probably where I'm going to add the magical bonuses, if I'm making a fast weak sword, I'll lower the strength of the weapon, but add a magical boost to speed.

I think it's stupid that I have to conform completely to Arcanum's mold anyway, it's a good game, but I feel that some strong magic or tech swords would be a good addition.

Forgot to mention to all you peoples, I am not going to deal at all really with the tech tree, or schematics at all. The weapons I make will either be found or bought; I already spent two weeks figuring out how the hell to make em, I don't want to spend another 3 trying to edit the schematic tree.

 

There is no such thing as a "fair" sword. The question will always be- fair for WHO?
A neutral weapon like the Barbarian heavy blade or the Katana sword is equally useful for mages and techs, this is the closest to "fair" you can get. Making a "fair" sword with a magic bonus makes it "unfair", because a mage using such sword will have advantage over a tech with an equal weapon. A tiny magic bonus is a plain mockery- if its so small, why even bother adding it?
I advice you study a little more the balance of the weapons in the original Arcanum before making your own designs. If you want to see the way weapons are being balanced in the game, compare the Filament sword (weaker bonuses avaliable at lower MA, but still making a huge difference from the basic stats) vs. the Arcane sword (big bonus only fully avaliable with very high MA). Early in the game a Filament sword deals significantly more damage, but as your character gains higher MA, an Arcane sword becomes more useful. In fact, the Filament sword is an ideal study case for you, as it is one of the most effective magic weapons in the game in general, and well designed for characters who aren't overly strong or magickally talented.

 

Solaris, are you even reading my posts?

These stats are going to be used for all my magick swords, but each individual sword is going to have specific bonuses. My big giant sword is going to start at this, then I'm going to lower it's speed and give it a magical boost to damage. I just want to establish if this is a good base line, or if it's too powerful so as to make the game unfair, or too weak as to not be effective.

The best connection I can give is racial bonuses. Like everyone's base stats start at 8, these will be the baseline for swords. But if you have a half-ogre, in comparison the big giant sword, it has additional St and lower In.

While it's speed 15 and damage 4-18 (2) now, when I start making specialized swords, I might have:
speed 15 (+10), 1- 12 damage

I only bothered with adding all the stats because if I don't touch a specific stat when I'm editing, like the only factors I care about are hp and speed, then damage is still set.

Maybe fair was a bad choice of words, balanced is better. The second you get this a sword like this, I'll try and make all the swords balance out to be this good, will the rest of the game be a cakewalk? Or is this just an insanely expensive, magical, large pipe? Or is it a sword that you would use, if you're character suited it, but you still would have to actually play the game, not just waltz through hacking everyone up.

 

Well, 4-18 (+2) with speed 15 makes 104 damage per turn (with character speed 25 and without taking the character's strength into account). It more or less equals to an Arcane sword with fully used magic bonus. I'd say it is fair.