The most powerful background.

Discussion in 'Arcanum Discussion' started by Dark Elf, Jul 22, 2009.

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  1. evil cookies

    evil cookies New Member

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    I'd beg to differ. Very powerful yes, but still far from nigh-invulnerability. Health damage is no longer a problem but fatigue damage (and subsequent unconsciousness) makes it less that stellar.

    EDIT: Whoops, unintentional thread necromancy...
     
  2. Mesteut

    Mesteut New Member

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    Think discussion like this aren't subject to necromancy laws.

    Also, I still go for "Born Under a Sign" in almost all cases... +1 Stat bonuses with almost no penalty are also good (Raised by Monks).
     
  3. Narmy

    Narmy New Member

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    Oh man, I just made a dwarf tech character that mainly uses guns and I chose "magicka allergy" instead, for the tech aptitude.... was that a bad idea?

    I actually picked "raised by monks" for a few of my character prototypes, but I changed it for a reason I don't remember.
     
  4. Muro

    Muro Well-Known Member

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    Frankly, tech aptitude gives you hardly any bonus. "Magickal allergy" isn't worth much in terms of utility, but it's certainly a climatic background, much more than being rised by monks, if you would ask me.

    I don't like the "rised by monks" background. Sure, its gives you something for practically nothing, but that something is so damn small. I prefer those backgrounds that give you a big bonus in exchange for being harshly crippled. You have no legs, but have four arms, that sort of thing.
     
  5. Xiao_Caity

    Xiao_Caity New Member

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    I like my Cute Scholar, dammit. Yay for rroyo making our backgrounds work! Good-looking and brainy, shitty eyesight and crappy health. It's like a little me. Who can cast Fireflash.
     
  6. Ramidel

    Ramidel New Member

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    I'm for Only Child, since mages don't need charisma or persuasion. They just need to be walking nukes.

    For a techie, Beat With An Ugly Stick is pure, unadulterated twinkage. (Raised by Orcs if you must be a gunman.)

    P.S.: If you wanted to make a little you, you'd need to make female gnomes and halflings first.
     
  7. Muro

    Muro Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for reminding me, I nearly forgot about those ones. It's ,nice knowing that I'll have the possilibity of playing my own background when I will be trying out A:WIP, whenever will that be.

    Oh, but they are already there, they just aren't playable. Yet I'm sure a well build mod would do the trick.
     
  8. rroyo

    rroyo Active Member

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    Thank you. :)

    Sorry - No can do. The little females don't have anywhere near enough pix to be anything more than NPCs.
     
  9. Muro

    Muro Well-Known Member

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    They don't have propably sprites other than for walking, running, fist fighting and dying (or at least not much more). Yet if crawling, using weapons and wearing armor was either disabled or altered in such a way that crawling would look like walking, while the PC would always look like an unarmed halfling woman no matter what weapon/shield/armor would she be currently wearing, it would be technically possible, would it not?

    Not that I would ever want to put it into effect, mind you. But a "yes" would be a proof showing that creating a female halfling Xiao is not an impossible task, and I dream of nothing more on this topic.
     
  10. rroyo

    rroyo Active Member

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    It's not completely out of the question, but making the halfling female usable, even the way you described, would be quite a chore.
     
  11. Hawkthorne

    Hawkthorne New Member

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    I've actually gotten pretty good results with Miracle Operation.

    For a gunfighter, the bonuses are great. Especially if you want to mess around with gunsmithy and explosives. The physical drawbacks don't really matter if you have a decent pistol and some stun grenades.

    For a mage, the CN penalty is a drag... but that's what fatigue potions are for. Just use the CH bonus to recruit a lot of followers to run interference for you while you stand back and cast Fire Flash. The IN bonus makes it easier to go the persuasive route on several side quests, and for only one CP you can maintain three spells.

    At least in Vanilla Arcanum, higher IN helps with combat, so that's a nice little side benefit.

    Having to uses something lightweight like a rapier as your backup weapon is a bit of a drawback, but I can handle that.
     
  12. Xiao_Caity

    Xiao_Caity New Member

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    Oh, real goddamn funny guys. Can we please drop the short jokes for just ONE WEEK? That's all I ask.
     
  13. Muro

    Muro Well-Known Member

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    A week sounds good. I think I can make it. I'll call it a challenge, that's what I'll do. Strong will, strong will :walks away and mumbles to himself: strong friggin' willy will...
     
  14. Hawkthorne

    Hawkthorne New Member

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    Interesting...

    I suppose there must be some dialogue options that keep things from sucking too much with either of those backgrounds until you can get to Tarant and buy a smoking jacket.

    Of course, as a female character, you could just wear the fancy dress to reduce the odds of people attacking you randomly or whatever...

    I've had some good results with Raised in the Pits, but the IN penalty is more of a drawback than being ugly or having lower CH. The last time I tried that background, it seemed like I was getting an unusually high amount of critical failures. So, starting out with better strength and dexterity wasn't as awesome as I expected.

    Although you can't go wrong with having Expert training in combat skills without spending as many CP as another character would have to. That's always nice.

    You're making me want to try a new character.
     
  15. Dark Elf

    Dark Elf Administrator Staff Member

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    Poor beauty is not a problem at all, actually. If people sneer at you, staring them down or apologizing for your inferior being usually does the trick. Beauty is pretty much a dump stat, only truly useful if you want to roleplay.
     
  16. Hawkthorne

    Hawkthorne New Member

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    That's very true about beauty.

    I had similar experiences with a couple of female half-Orc characters.

    I played a Lady's Man once and about the only good thing about it was that I got some cool magic robes at the Crash Site. Women reacting so well to me was kind of neat for a little while, but the background doesn't really do anything for you other than making it easier to get good deals in shops.

    I guess if you wanted to play the kind of character who would master gambling and haggle so you could see some different quest endings, it might be worth it. Otherwise, the only benefit is that you'll probably find some neat magical weapons that are too heavy for your character to use.
     
  17. Muro

    Muro Well-Known Member

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    I DID IT!!
     
  18. rroyo

    rroyo Active Member

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    Just to make a short wrap-up of the previous discussion, a diminutive PC female just isn't practical.
     
  19. Xiao_Caity

    Xiao_Caity New Member

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    Oh, goddammit. *resists the urge to cause some serious pain - just*
     
  20. Dark Elf

    Dark Elf Administrator Staff Member

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    True.

    Fiddling with all those sprites would sure be a tall order.
     
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