That chainmail bikini comment puts into perspective your intent video. Even people in the same room as you will assume your intent based on their own worldview and experiences.
In my fallout inspired ttrpg I have a trait called “Hey, Watch the Hair” where if you don’t wear a helmet you can use charisma instead of agility to determine armor class. There’s also a perk you can take later called Smooth Operator which adds your half of your charisma to your armor class, with a small bonus if you have the other trait.
What really engaged me in this idea is just generally opting for the overall consensus that opening up roles & classes is just possible, a non combat character suddenly has (as others have already stated here) Plot armor, which kind of makes sense, them being the Main Focus point from a narrative point of view, if they most of the time are being the face of the group, they can chip in when it comes to combat now, as it is less dangerous for them. Other ways around, having certain perks like Strength, helping your to win speech checks, because you just terrify everyone! What I can take from here is that toying and experimenting with ideas that open up the established tropes down the line of a game is just a cool spin for players to try a new approach. Thanks for the insight! Really inspirational!
This is a great topic and good advice for anyone making RPG systems. Having perks/feats that slightly alter your core game mechanics makes them much more interesting than flat bonuses.
For the TTRPG I contributed to (I wrote short stories for it), I suggested adding a feat that allows players to use their WIS modifier for Persuasion/Intimidation, as though the PC's charisma came from their font of worldly knowledge and awareness of who they were talking to. I love feats that inform the character's personality and allow for more flexibility.
About the time I was playing D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder, I realized that I far preferred the Feats (perks) that let you play the game in a different way, far more than the "minor incremental increases". I feel like a perk should feel like you have it after you get it. Noticeable. Oh! And about the Charisma fighter that uses bluff or deceptive movements to avoid getting hit, or landing attacks that negate the opponents ability to dodge it, etc. That's a really valid idea for games. The drunken boxer, the swashbuckler, the joking fool, the wildcard or lucky bastard, lol. All great themes.
Almost anything is better than having to think about those ridiculous list of feats when you level up. But yeah, the impact of well-designed perks is definitely one of the enjoyable aspects of games like Arcanum and Fallout - New Vegas.
I noticed this playing Skyrim for the first time just recently. Changing gameplay esp. in-character more important than stats. Han Solo was my example.
"I realized that I far preferred the Feats (perks) that let you play the game in a different way" Also true for those rogue-like games that let you pick upgrades every now and then. Trying to find OP combos or fun interactions makes everything more engaging.
Hey Tim. Just sought out your "Receiving Criticism" video. What I'd like to know is: What is and is not appropriate communication with the player base? Should a studio address technical issues, criticism, praise, or trolling? Should a specific marketing specialist handle the public? Should responses be a global post or should respond to individuals directly? Thanks for reading!
I hate to be vague, but the answer to all of those is "it depends". Some of the variables include how big is the company, how did the player communication arrive, and how much time/money is there to devote to these issues.
These are genius ! I allowed a friend to make INT checks for throwing during combat in a TTRPG, because he wanted to be a nerd that threw stuff, so i just said "yeah you calculate the trajectories of what you're going to throw, you're good at that" but i never thought "oh he had the nerd ninja perk". You actually gave me the perfect way to implement a character i call the "moneymancer" in my games and it took the wording of "overriding mechanics" for me to get it. Moneymancer would be a perk that allows a character to have extra dialogue choices (not affected by stats) but by money. Goes like: "Oh i'm surrounded by bandits !" ->Fight them ->Diplomacy (Int/charisma check) -> [moneymancer] Throw money at their feet So you throw money at the ground and the bandits just start fighting each other for the coins.
Hilariously, almost all the perk ideas you mentioned (and various other variations of them) are present in D&D 3.5e. I used to LOVE doing exactly what you're talking about. I looked through all the books, dug through errata, etc. to make a character that looked and felt and played like I wanted them to. It always felt amazing when you hit that magic level when you had the right feats, and the right skills, and the right equipment, and it just clicked, and suddenly, that's your guy. That's the idea you had in your head, and you made it happen. I know a DM could always just...bestow whatever on you with house rules and what-not, but it always felt more like you earned it when you did all the research and rule finding and sheet building on your own, and then made it happen. Especially when the rest of the group didn't necessarily expect it. All of a sudden that "lucky klutz" is a drunken master. Or the guy who just always believed he was untouchable (but always got beaten up) suddenly _WAS_ untouchable. Great moments, every one of them. So, even if these didn't make it into all your games, I'm glad there are people like you out there thinking of these things, because it's always fantastic to encounter them in the wild.
I've always loved RPGs with perks. They should be used in character creators to describe and define your character's physical traits. For instance, if your character is really attractive, you might be able to purchase that perk in the character creator, which changes how NPCs interact with you. And if you don't have enough points to purchase a perk, you could add flaws too, which gives you more points, like weak eyesight or something.
@@anonymouslee8542 Yes! That's where I got the idea from. Love that game. New Vegas also had something a little similar with the Four Eyes perk, which gives you +1 perception when wearing glasses and -1 when not wearing any. I think this system could could be used in a RPGs too.
@@slynt_ What I like about CK3's character creator is that it allows you to blow the budget, so to speak. You can make a god character, if you so desire. Or you can adhere to the points system and make a more balanced character. I also like that there are different tiers to congenital traits. So there's a "physique" trait, which goes from negative three (weakest) to positive three (strongest). Perhaps you might have a quest or a mission in an RPG where you have to act as a bodyguard for somebody and when the bad guys arrive, you can scare them off if you picked one of the positive physique traits in the character creator. For RPGs with perks, I like for them to change how the world (NPCs, terminals, obstacles, etc.) interacts with the player, not only how the player interacts with the world. It has to go both ways.
I really like these. The abundance of perks in a lot of mainline RPGs has led to some overall generalizing that discourages individualized gameplay in my opinion. I particularly like the idea that as you play in the game world you can make these type of adjustments that you would not necessarily be aware of at first.
Interesting. A tabletop RPG really popular in Brasil uses this defensive Charisma mechanic on some classes and Charisma is not just you appearance. It's your inner inate strength. Love to see this being a good idea.
Your take on perks is the best i've ever heard. Of course sometimes it's ok to have customisation or progression perks, like in 3.5 when you invest into fighter styles to define your focus on weapon or playstyle, but the perks which have mechanical impact are the best. Like the one perk who lets anyone cast a couple of low-level spells from 5e -- these are the most common in my games. People love having a trump card or just a nice "nuance"/"sugarcoat" to their weaker stat.
Very fun perk ideas, Tim :) Someone is too attractive physically or socially that the enemy doesn't want to hurt them as much so they hold back a bit. Or the other end of the spectrum with someone so hideous that you have trouble looking at them so you can't focus your hit well on them.
Oddly enough, D&D 5e uses this a lot. Monks and Barbs both get bonuses to AC from their classes' main stats if they're not wearing armour, and even in the basic mechanics, you're supposed to balance heavier armour with how it limits a bonus to your AC from dex, and some weapon types have the special quality of letting you attack with dex instead of str, and some classes explicitly get to substitute their primary stat for certain actions (e.g. artificers can use their Int bonus for their weapon attacks, representing that they're using cool gear they built themselves, a lot of cantrips let casters use their casting stat for weapon attacks). I suspect it's to try and avoid the plague of MAD in older editions (the 2024 rework has modified one of the most useless cantrips in base 5e into one that will basically allow Arcane Trickster rogues to attack with Int, and I'm very excited).
Pathfinder - monks get wis to ac just like 5e but scaled fist monks use cha instead. Playing the crpg wrath of the righteous one of the most optimal dips is scaled fist. If you look up pretty much any build guide you will see a scaled fist dip.
@@davidtreece3922 arcane tricksters can depend alot on how the dm rules with illusions, with them serving as out of combat utility mostly but overshadowed by just being a bard. Generally if youre going for the archetype of a nimble gish id say your better off with a swords bard or hexblade lock, even an eldritch knight fighter. 5e has a lot of problems with its 1/3rd casters. Honestly 5e has problems in general. Most the changes bg3 made were things I(and many dms) essentially had as house rules already. Run RAW 5e is meh, martials literally only attack, except bm fighters. And the disparity between casters and martials is insane at higher levels. Casters are just leagues above martial only classes.
@imALazyPanda are mono class rogues in general as bad as they are in bg3? After like level 5 because they don't get extra attack and the sneak attack scaling reaaaaly drops off later levels combined with super lame cap stone abilities make mono class rogues not a good option at all which is kinda lame imo. Is it like that as well in tabletop.
If so how would you fix it. My idea is if they aren't gonna get extra attack there later levels sneak attack needs to jump up in damage by a large margin to encourage sticking with the class after level 3
I consider it to be both, depending on the character. Whether they’re leveraging beauty to receive favor, or particularly eloquent and convincing with their words. Or a combination of the two. I think both are valid interpretations of the skill.
Dungeons and dragons Online has, over the many years it has been around, added so many mays to use different attributes for rolls that it has allowed a ton of fun and mechanically interesting or thematic builds. My fav is doing something like a wizard speccing in to harpers agent for intelligence to hit and damage, pale master for an undead form like wraith or lich, take a level or 2 of fighter for armor and weapon proficiencies, and then use a greatsword while casting negative energy spells to damage enemies and heal yourself, while being a beast in melee.
My biggest gripe in RPGs is how often they neglect characters who wear clothing items or items with no armor stat. Games like Morrowind and Skyrim do a pretty good job with having the Unarmored skill and Mage Armor perk, but sometimes the process of making such a character viable adds too much friction and takes away from the fun of playing and experimenting with different archetypes. I actually had an idea to make a mod for Fallout 3 that buffs the DR rating & stats to different clothes depending on the appropriate perks. For example, the roving trader outfit gains DR for every rank of Scoundrel you take (0/3). That way it incentivizes you to spec into your characters respective stats and rewards you for doing so. Clothes deserve more love!
For anyone wanting to see this kind of thing in a game I believe Owlcat Games has the “replace stat with another” mechanic in Pathfinder: WotR and Rogue Trader. It’s a super cool idea
Seems that one of the devs from D&D 5e must have heard you speaking a few decades ago. My 5e main is a monk, and I really love this type of AC rule. 8:30 The 5e rule makers seem to be following this principle because I've heard them many times repeating the phrase "the specific beats the general." It's a principle I try to use for my own homebrewing, and now I recognize its implementation often as I replay some of my favorite older games.
First thing I thought of for the charisma dex swap was a jester character- the better they are at tricks and gags, the harder they are to hit, not because of agility necessarily, but because of "social misdirection".
I've always like the idea behind perks that help characters be less MAD, but it almost feels like a band-aid on classes that need too many ability scores. It always seems like it becomes a necessity or it's not worth taking.
I think perks that let you build for low stats are a super interesting idea, and I'd love to explore that more. I believe Fallout (I know Fo4 has it, can't remember if it was in earlier games) has a Luck perk that increases its bonus the lower your Intelligence. It's sort of an "anti-build" concept, and I can't think of too many RPGs that have done anything like it. Imagine a character that gets a charisma bonus for being weak, because nobody takes them seriously enough to consider them a threat? Or a charcter that, in the absence of a crafting system, boosts other stats and skills by leveling intelligence? Or how about a character that can use perception as a crutch for charisma, by watching and mimicking others? Truly, a lot of untapped potential here.
i love making my favourite characters in RPGs, and so I immediately thought of Spider-Woman/Jessica Drew and Red Sonja - they'd benefit from that charisma/dex perk. So, chainmail bikini did technically spring to my mind first, but in a good way lol
Not really on the topic of what you were describing but I was pretty big on Conan comics for a while and he FINALLY started wearing armor in the Conan the King comics when he took over the kingdom of Aquilonia but the armor was closer to Greek and Roman style armor so tunics with bare legs, maybe a shin guard and short sleeves (although his elite guards, the Black Dragons, who got wiped out fairly early on, wore full armor), so they were still showing off his rippling arm and leg muscles and he'd periodically toss off his armor for any number of reasons and still fight in the wooly trunks. You can put armor on the barbarian but you can guarantee it stays on!
With 5th edition's Unarmored traits. Your character examples are pretty covered. But I do see other perfect examples for making charisma the AC stat. The main characters from Road to Eldorado, and characters that would dance to dodge attacks in a fight. I have also done the opposite. I have run it that a gladiator, a strongman, or a pro wrestler type character could use their strength instead when making performance, persuasion, and intimidation checks.
I've heard this kind of thing about Swashbucklers in D&D. The idea being they can influence and manipulate the enemy's movements by performing and communicating, like throwing spicy insults, taunting, ridiculing, etc.
Should really look into Pathfinder 2e as a TTRPG inspiration as it embraces this idea fully as there are all kinds of feats that are not about a pure math change but let you do something different - class, ancestry, skills, general feats. So the math does not break but there is all kinds of customized character variety. There is a current kickstarter for a CRPG using the system - of course they have to practically limit the feat selection but they had stretch goals to add more.
ADD, the DnD version I started with, had the AC calculation backwards (from nowadays point of view): the lower your AC was the better. All those Conan/Amazon/Scalemail Bikini tropes where just "AC 0" characters in some sense ;)
I think these perks where a deep negative turns into a big positive have a whiff of similarity to putting points in energy weapons in Fallout 1 and then having to wait for a while before finding any. You have to run with a gimped character for some time until it suddenly becomes strong.
The topic and mentioned ideas reminds me of the idea/concept for the Outer Worlds. When creating your character you have enough points to make every attribute "Good" (by adding one point). What would happen If you made every one of your attributes below average by subtracting one point? It is of course impossible in the game but I think it would be a fun idea to make a total klutz character or homer simpson who is not good at anything (unless script writers give him a moment of skilful genius). Such character would fit in the world of TOW and as a hero who would save the colony.
I love these perk ideas, but I feel like I'd want to split that base perk up into 2 or 3 for verisimilitude purposes. Perhaps the first perk makes your CHA apply to AC for humans/humanoids, and the second makes it apply to monsters. To me, this reinforces the idea that you're charismatic enough to win over and influence people, but not animals or monsters necessarily. It also means a player could take the second perk that only applies to Animals to create a "Beastmaster" character whom animals don't like attacking because of their force of personality.
i thougth the charisma armor would be to characters like mermaids, dryads or children, characters that are hard to hit because you dont want to hit them monks already use perception to increase dodge and this is why their armor class is high, just like spiderman they are hard to hit because they can predict when you are going to attack
I am having a hard time understanding the basis for this perk's existence, except for gaming purposes obviously. Conan's and Monks' dodge bonus comes from their exceptional dexterity/agility in my opinion. Maybe they have a perk that doubles their DEX AC bonus when they are not wearing armour at all?
Greetings again! If someone were to make a video game for you as the primary target demographic and you weren't working on it, what are the main things you would want included and excluded? In addition, what platforms would it be on, what would the control scheme be, how often could players save, and so on? What are your thoughts on game mods as a game player and maker? How much official mod support do you prefer for games, and what game types benefit least and most from mods? Why? Do you accept gifts of food, video games, etc.? If so, where should we send them? Thankee!
This Friday I will post a video about every feature I find worst in RPGs. I’ve posted a video on modding. I’ll look it up if you need me to. And I don’t accept gifts, but thank you.
Hi Tim! Could you talk about LOS and FOV? I'm implementing it for for my hex tile based game and I'm currently going down that rabbit hole. btw it seems bresenham's algorithm (even supercovering version ) is not good because it leaves 'islands' of vision in edge cases like slits. thanks !
i played stick of truth it was so great then i played butwhole once and i remembered you describing a fighting method in which when you move you stay there after each turn(for the first south south park), my point and question being do you think they took your idea was used for the combat in fractured butwhole ? (btw it was horrible) ? it looks much like what you did describe
There are a few mods I use for New Vegas that change the perks a lot just to make them more interesting. Another trait mod as well to add more and change existing ones. I really hate flat stat boost perks, they are really boring to me these days. It does feel very lazy as well seeing the same perks across multiple games. +5% to reload speed or +5% to weapon damage type crap. That stuff is boring as hell and not very complex or interesting. They aren't exactly called perks but Elden Ring does it really cool with Ashes of War that you add to weapons, they change a lot of things like animations which have an effect on gameplay and do cool things like different damage types that you can alter with Talismans and other things. Keeps things more interesting. In those From Soft games a lot of people don't wear any armour or clothes sometimes, it's superior for some builds because you are more agile.
Hi Tim, how would you resolve conflict between charisma been must have stat for protagonist for purposes of persuasion/intimidation checks and general roleplay as a leader and the "face" of the party and being a dump stat for purpuses of minmaxing combat abilities?
Yeah historically peoples of africa, and celts, and most people in the bronze age didn't wear armor. African Wars till very recently didn't wear armor, being naked they said gave them strength.
Speaking of DnD-like stuff, how do you feel about railroading a player to maintain some narrative? Stuff like NPCs rerolling the dies of players to better suit them?
@@CainOnGames Just to be clear this is for a live DnD session, not computer games. Let's say as DM I want to do an Arsen Lupin-like robbery, where the robber informes the party when it will happen. However the party intervenes and through sheer force of rolls kills the robber. Why shouldn't I use some PC abilities like rerolling players dies (Portent dice) to adjust it?
@@FathDanielBecause the players managed to do something unplanned. That’s the essence of live role-playing. Go with it. Don’t undermine them in favor of a storyline you are trying to force happen.
@@CainOnGames this (players managed to do something unplanned) is the holy grail of gaming, something is super hard to achieve in videogames but quite feasible in table-top.
I like the idea of using perks to be exceptions to the rules but wouldn't it require a lot of systems knowledge for players to use the perks correctly and doesn't the player has the least understanding about the game systems when they are making their character at the start of a game? I think that can be mitigated but its something to think about (maybe perks are only available on a second playthrough or on high difficulty?). Although I always think its worth it to look for ways to support more character archetypes. I think there is a bigger question about the perception of balance here too; I would think building characters with these sorts of flaws should require less points; but actually building that system is kind of complicated (on top of it being complicated for the players to use). Maybe this sort of thing is best left as an expansion/DLC. Although, it might be interesting to do something as a zero cost perk? what would that be?
I see perks as something the players are buying for their characters after character creation. So they should understand many of the system mechanics by then. As for zero-cost perks, we did those in Fallout. They were called traits. They gave you something good and something bad.
Just a one and done question if I may good sir: According to your Wiki page, you were working on something consistently it seems from 1986 to 2004. But then there's a 10 year gap until 2014 when you did Stick of Truth. What was going on during those 10 years career wise for you? Thanks for the daily dives into your life and career, I look forward to these every day 💖.
That gap is when I closed Troika, worked on a theme park design, worked at Carbine for six years, then went to Obsidian. You can get more details in Career Summary 1981-2023 th-cam.com/video/d3Udo6XjMhY/w-d-xo.html
Why am I getting the feeling the guy that said the charisma perk was misogynistic was also the same guy that also wanted to remove ammo from outer worlds? :p
Yeah i dont think charisma works with armour stuff imo; jackie chan and Spiderman are acrobatic (strength) l, conan and Amazons are just human tanks (strength/endurance). The strength one makes sense. Id say, have something for perks for armour lightness to allow for some things like that too.
Hi, Tim! Great video, and it reminded me of those feats in D&D3e that made you use wisdom for ranged attacks or dexterity for small arms. But unrelated to this, I was just now recommended a video about what makes chocolate have such varied taste. Naturally, I thought of you and how you've opened my eyes to the differences in chocolate. Link below if you're curious to see it. 😊 th-cam.com/video/ndEnTvis78Q/w-d-xo.html
On Charisma-based armor 1:33: interesting thought, but those examples still feel Dex-based to me (unless you mean looks making people less keen on hitting). Charisma-based armor for me would be something like a musketeer throwing insults to make opponents miss (though I could see a barbarian scaring foes for the same results at 6:17). Also, I dislike the mix of charisma and looks and prefer a GURPS-like approach where they are separate but can complement each other (where charisma can be improved but good-looks are innate). Btw 8:19 is just giga-brains awesome 🤯.
The new D&D has some classes that add other attributes to armor in addition to dexterity when unarmored: Monks add wisdom, Barbarians add constitution, Wizard subclass Bladesinger adds intelligence, and Bard 2024 subclass draconic adds charisma.
I am still trying to understand how his idea fit the characters he mentioned, what would be happening in the setting's world? Yours on the other hand, makes more sense,
@@yurisc4633 yup i have no idea how jackie chan and bruce lee both use charisma, maybe he is thinking bruce lee uses intimidation to make enemies reluctant to attack, but jackie often uses the enviroment to get cover from attacks, enemies dont care at all that he is trying to talk them out of a fight, if i would make a perk for jackie chan it would be improvised weapons and shields give bonus armor because the oponent isnt used to fight against a ladder wielding oponent
@@CainOnGames Thinking on how I might implement this perk in F:NV, since it lacks an Armor Class equivalent "While wearing no armor you get bonus DT equal to your Charisma Score" Should be simple to make a perk like that in the game.
@CainOnGames i suppose but i feel like the negative perk aspect of it would sort of keep it in check. I could also see it be really broken tho if certain stats are considered unimportant
I was thinking this. Normally when some weirdo screams about "woke" they're upset that people are pointing out the chainmail bikini trope, not the one pointing it out. Then again, the word was originally slightly jocular slang for "aware that racial prejudice exists" in AAVE, so using it for the kind of thing that gets reactionaries mad is sort of accurate, even if it might be a little obtuse from not being the way the word's widely understood.
Woke and antiwoke are two sides of the same coin. They'll claim X is "woke" or not depending on if it benefits their narrative. There is no real consistency to most of them.
@@SenkaZver I think Tim just misspoke there. Tim's idea is not woke (and indeed could actually be perceived by "modern woke" people as misogynistic). Avoiding the "sexualization" of (mostly women) characters is the modern woke trope.
The argument against the bikini armor never made any sense, when the guy who stands next to her is completely topless. Especially if the argument is gender equality. So let's make it equal then, remove the bikini armor and both are equally topless. Or we get ridd of that stupid discussion once and for all. Everyone can say they don't like it, that's completely valid, but the argument is plain and simple wrong. They tried to start a fight with God of War, where the main character just has a loincloth and was less clothed than the female examples and also with Quiet from MGS5, where in the very same series Raiden was completely without cloths in MGS2 and you even can control him around. It's the same series and therefore the same standards, because without that we have a double standard and there's not much I h*te more...
Not a big fan of semi-naked barbarians, but it could be fun if vowen into lore. Problem is not about sexualising women per se, because most healthy women are sexy even in everyday clothes. It is more like needlessly exposing them under a pretext that doesn't make sense (like with mail bikini). Unless artists, writers, game designer manages to make it look natural to the world they inhabit. In my opinion it is hard to justify because if we compare games and films with real world with real physics then it becomes obvious how little love proper armor gets nowdays (everyone wants to play rouge or barbarian or wizard). Proper armor is already sexy by itself.
I'm too pretty to be hit. :D
"Not the face! Not the face!" - your character when their CHA bonus is what causes an enemy's attack to miss
The Johnny Bravo perk.
Or low charisma, he/she is too smelly to be near... XD
Certainly would have been useful to have in Arcanum.
@@burningsheep4473 But there the beauty stat could have been used.
That chainmail bikini comment puts into perspective your intent video. Even people in the same room as you will assume your intent based on their own worldview and experiences.
AC from Charisma?
I believe the technical term for that is 'plot armour'
Exactly, I was thinking of every action movie star ever … in fact the first character that came to mind was Han Solo 😄
In my fallout inspired ttrpg I have a trait called “Hey, Watch the Hair” where if you don’t wear a helmet you can use charisma instead of agility to determine armor class. There’s also a perk you can take later called Smooth Operator which adds your half of your charisma to your armor class, with a small bonus if you have the other trait.
Great minds think alike!
Thanks for the insights! I'm a Skyrim mod author and this video is just perfect as I'm working on new perks myself.
Intelligence stat replacing Dex bonus is literally just "You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses?"
In war games, better trained troops are harder to hit.
"Lucky Klutz" - Finally, i can play as Rincewind ...
Charisma offers the greatest armour of all.
Plot armour
I thought you were going to say Followers because that is how my Arcanum Charismatic Necromancer used to roll.
What really engaged me in this idea is just generally opting for the overall consensus that opening up roles & classes is just possible, a non combat character suddenly has (as others have already stated here) Plot armor, which kind of makes sense, them being the Main Focus point from a narrative point of view, if they most of the time are being the face of the group, they can chip in when it comes to combat now, as it is less dangerous for them.
Other ways around, having certain perks like Strength, helping your to win speech checks, because you just terrify everyone!
What I can take from here is that toying and experimenting with ideas that open up the established tropes down the line of a game is just a cool spin for players to try a new approach.
Thanks for the insight! Really inspirational!
Its so nice to hear "Hi everyone. Its me, Tim". Could hear that in my head before u spoke 😁 Please keep doing what you do
Now I really wanna see the Vault Boy illustrations of these perks
This is a great topic and good advice for anyone making RPG systems. Having perks/feats that slightly alter your core game mechanics makes them much more interesting than flat bonuses.
For the TTRPG I contributed to (I wrote short stories for it), I suggested adding a feat that allows players to use their WIS modifier for Persuasion/Intimidation, as though the PC's charisma came from their font of worldly knowledge and awareness of who they were talking to. I love feats that inform the character's personality and allow for more flexibility.
About the time I was playing D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder, I realized that I far preferred the Feats (perks) that let you play the game in a different way, far more than the "minor incremental increases".
I feel like a perk should feel like you have it after you get it. Noticeable.
Oh! And about the Charisma fighter that uses bluff or deceptive movements to avoid getting hit, or landing attacks that negate the opponents ability to dodge it, etc. That's a really valid idea for games.
The drunken boxer, the swashbuckler, the joking fool, the wildcard or lucky bastard, lol. All great themes.
Almost anything is better than having to think about those ridiculous list of feats when you level up.
But yeah, the impact of well-designed perks is definitely one of the enjoyable aspects of games like Arcanum and Fallout - New Vegas.
I noticed this playing Skyrim for the first time just recently. Changing gameplay esp. in-character more important than stats.
Han Solo was my example.
"I realized that I far preferred the Feats (perks) that let you play the game in a different way"
Also true for those rogue-like games that let you pick upgrades every now and then. Trying to find OP combos or fun interactions makes everything more engaging.
Hey Tim. Just sought out your "Receiving Criticism" video. What I'd like to know is: What is and is not appropriate communication with the player base? Should a studio address technical issues, criticism, praise, or trolling? Should a specific marketing specialist handle the public? Should responses be a global post or should respond to individuals directly? Thanks for reading!
I hate to be vague, but the answer to all of those is "it depends". Some of the variables include how big is the company, how did the player communication arrive, and how much time/money is there to devote to these issues.
These are genius ! I allowed a friend to make INT checks for throwing during combat in a TTRPG, because he wanted to be a nerd that threw stuff, so i just said "yeah you calculate the trajectories of what you're going to throw, you're good at that" but i never thought "oh he had the nerd ninja perk".
You actually gave me the perfect way to implement a character i call the "moneymancer" in my games and it took the wording of "overriding mechanics" for me to get it. Moneymancer would be a perk that allows a character to have extra dialogue choices (not affected by stats) but by money. Goes like:
"Oh i'm surrounded by bandits !"
->Fight them
->Diplomacy (Int/charisma check)
-> [moneymancer] Throw money at their feet
So you throw money at the ground and the bandits just start fighting each other for the coins.
Hilariously, almost all the perk ideas you mentioned (and various other variations of them) are present in D&D 3.5e. I used to LOVE doing exactly what you're talking about. I looked through all the books, dug through errata, etc. to make a character that looked and felt and played like I wanted them to. It always felt amazing when you hit that magic level when you had the right feats, and the right skills, and the right equipment, and it just clicked, and suddenly, that's your guy. That's the idea you had in your head, and you made it happen. I know a DM could always just...bestow whatever on you with house rules and what-not, but it always felt more like you earned it when you did all the research and rule finding and sheet building on your own, and then made it happen. Especially when the rest of the group didn't necessarily expect it. All of a sudden that "lucky klutz" is a drunken master. Or the guy who just always believed he was untouchable (but always got beaten up) suddenly _WAS_ untouchable. Great moments, every one of them. So, even if these didn't make it into all your games, I'm glad there are people like you out there thinking of these things, because it's always fantastic to encounter them in the wild.
I do like the lucky clutz perk. It has a "Saturday Morning Cartoon" feel that I can get behind and spawn a role playing personality off of.
I've always loved RPGs with perks. They should be used in character creators to describe and define your character's physical traits. For instance, if your character is really attractive, you might be able to purchase that perk in the character creator, which changes how NPCs interact with you. And if you don't have enough points to purchase a perk, you could add flaws too, which gives you more points, like weak eyesight or something.
You ever played Project Zomboid?
@@anonymouslee8542 Yes! That's where I got the idea from. Love that game. New Vegas also had something a little similar with the Four Eyes perk, which gives you +1 perception when wearing glasses and -1 when not wearing any.
I think this system could could be used in a RPGs too.
Crusader Kings 3 character creator is another good example of this
@@slynt_ What I like about CK3's character creator is that it allows you to blow the budget, so to speak. You can make a god character, if you so desire. Or you can adhere to the points system and make a more balanced character.
I also like that there are different tiers to congenital traits. So there's a "physique" trait, which goes from negative three (weakest) to positive three (strongest). Perhaps you might have a quest or a mission in an RPG where you have to act as a bodyguard for somebody and when the bad guys arrive, you can scare them off if you picked one of the positive physique traits in the character creator. For RPGs with perks, I like for them to change how the world (NPCs, terminals, obstacles, etc.) interacts with the player, not only how the player interacts with the world. It has to go both ways.
I really like these. The abundance of perks in a lot of mainline RPGs has led to some overall generalizing that discourages individualized gameplay in my opinion. I particularly like the idea that as you play in the game world you can make these type of adjustments that you would not necessarily be aware of at first.
These are really great ideas!
Interesting. A tabletop RPG really popular in Brasil uses this defensive Charisma mechanic on some classes and Charisma is not just you appearance. It's your inner inate strength.
Love to see this being a good idea.
Your take on perks is the best i've ever heard. Of course sometimes it's ok to have customisation or progression perks, like in 3.5 when you invest into fighter styles to define your focus on weapon or playstyle, but the perks which have mechanical impact are the best. Like the one perk who lets anyone cast a couple of low-level spells from 5e -- these are the most common in my games. People love having a trump card or just a nice "nuance"/"sugarcoat" to their weaker stat.
Very fun perk ideas, Tim :)
Someone is too attractive physically or socially that the enemy doesn't want to hurt them as much so they hold back a bit. Or the other end of the spectrum with someone so hideous that you have trouble looking at them so you can't focus your hit well on them.
Tim your a legend!
I just check out the 5th edition DM manual last night. I am definitely inspired to start a new dnd group!
I like the charisma affecting AC, Intimidation is definitely something that would affect the stage presence of the character
Oddly enough, D&D 5e uses this a lot. Monks and Barbs both get bonuses to AC from their classes' main stats if they're not wearing armour, and even in the basic mechanics, you're supposed to balance heavier armour with how it limits a bonus to your AC from dex, and some weapon types have the special quality of letting you attack with dex instead of str, and some classes explicitly get to substitute their primary stat for certain actions (e.g. artificers can use their Int bonus for their weapon attacks, representing that they're using cool gear they built themselves, a lot of cantrips let casters use their casting stat for weapon attacks). I suspect it's to try and avoid the plague of MAD in older editions (the 2024 rework has modified one of the most useless cantrips in base 5e into one that will basically allow Arcane Trickster rogues to attack with Int, and I'm very excited).
Pathfinder - monks get wis to ac just like 5e but scaled fist monks use cha instead.
Playing the crpg wrath of the righteous one of the most optimal dips is scaled fist. If you look up pretty much any build guide you will see a scaled fist dip.
Baldurs gate needed that last one cuz arcaine tricksters are essentially usless in the game. Not sure if thats how it is in tabletop as well tho.
@@davidtreece3922 arcane tricksters can depend alot on how the dm rules with illusions, with them serving as out of combat utility mostly but overshadowed by just being a bard. Generally if youre going for the archetype of a nimble gish id say your better off with a swords bard or hexblade lock, even an eldritch knight fighter.
5e has a lot of problems with its 1/3rd casters. Honestly 5e has problems in general. Most the changes bg3 made were things I(and many dms) essentially had as house rules already.
Run RAW 5e is meh, martials literally only attack, except bm fighters. And the disparity between casters and martials is insane at higher levels. Casters are just leagues above martial only classes.
@imALazyPanda are mono class rogues in general as bad as they are in bg3? After like level 5 because they don't get extra attack and the sneak attack scaling reaaaaly drops off later levels combined with super lame cap stone abilities make mono class rogues not a good option at all which is kinda lame imo. Is it like that as well in tabletop.
If so how would you fix it. My idea is if they aren't gonna get extra attack there later levels sneak attack needs to jump up in damage by a large margin to encourage sticking with the class after level 3
For those of you that don't know what Charisma is, it's the old-timey way of saying rizz.
The group I play with always took Charisma to mean physical beauty. I prefer to think of it as force of character/personality.
I consider it to be both, depending on the character. Whether they’re leveraging beauty to receive favor, or particularly eloquent and convincing with their words. Or a combination of the two. I think both are valid interpretations of the skill.
*acid reflux*
Don’t you dare
Dungeons and dragons Online has, over the many years it has been around, added so many mays to use different attributes for rolls that it has allowed a ton of fun and mechanically interesting or thematic builds. My fav is doing something like a wizard speccing in to harpers agent for intelligence to hit and damage, pale master for an undead form like wraith or lich, take a level or 2 of fighter for armor and weapon proficiencies, and then use a greatsword while casting negative energy spells to damage enemies and heal yourself, while being a beast in melee.
My biggest gripe in RPGs is how often they neglect characters who wear clothing items or items with no armor stat. Games like Morrowind and Skyrim do a pretty good job with having the Unarmored skill and Mage Armor perk, but sometimes the process of making such a character viable adds too much friction and takes away from the fun of playing and experimenting with different archetypes. I actually had an idea to make a mod for Fallout 3 that buffs the DR rating & stats to different clothes depending on the appropriate perks. For example, the roving trader outfit gains DR for every rank of Scoundrel you take (0/3). That way it incentivizes you to spec into your characters respective stats and rewards you for doing so. Clothes deserve more love!
For anyone wanting to see this kind of thing in a game I believe Owlcat Games has the “replace stat with another” mechanic in Pathfinder: WotR and Rogue Trader. It’s a super cool idea
Thanks Tim, this video really perked me up.
I have so many documents called "Perk Ideas" for so many games. I love this video
Seems that one of the devs from D&D 5e must have heard you speaking a few decades ago. My 5e main is a monk, and I really love this type of AC rule.
8:30 The 5e rule makers seem to be following this principle because I've heard them many times repeating the phrase "the specific beats the general." It's a principle I try to use for my own homebrewing, and now I recognize its implementation often as I replay some of my favorite older games.
First thing I thought of for the charisma dex swap was a jester character- the better they are at tricks and gags, the harder they are to hit, not because of agility necessarily, but because of "social misdirection".
I've always like the idea behind perks that help characters be less MAD, but it almost feels like a band-aid on classes that need too many ability scores. It always seems like it becomes a necessity or it's not worth taking.
I think perks that let you build for low stats are a super interesting idea, and I'd love to explore that more. I believe Fallout (I know Fo4 has it, can't remember if it was in earlier games) has a Luck perk that increases its bonus the lower your Intelligence. It's sort of an "anti-build" concept, and I can't think of too many RPGs that have done anything like it.
Imagine a character that gets a charisma bonus for being weak, because nobody takes them seriously enough to consider them a threat?
Or a charcter that, in the absence of a crafting system, boosts other stats and skills by leveling intelligence?
Or how about a character that can use perception as a crutch for charisma, by watching and mimicking others?
Truly, a lot of untapped potential here.
i love making my favourite characters in RPGs, and so I immediately thought of Spider-Woman/Jessica Drew and Red Sonja - they'd benefit from that charisma/dex perk. So, chainmail bikini did technically spring to my mind first, but in a good way lol
Not really on the topic of what you were describing but I was pretty big on Conan comics for a while and he FINALLY started wearing armor in the Conan the King comics when he took over the kingdom of Aquilonia but the armor was closer to Greek and Roman style armor so tunics with bare legs, maybe a shin guard and short sleeves (although his elite guards, the Black Dragons, who got wiped out fairly early on, wore full armor), so they were still showing off his rippling arm and leg muscles and he'd periodically toss off his armor for any number of reasons and still fight in the wooly trunks. You can put armor on the barbarian but you can guarantee it stays on!
I love the charisma idea I hate having to deal with dex when I’m playing a paladin or barbarian 😂
With 5th edition's Unarmored traits. Your character examples are pretty covered. But I do see other perfect examples for making charisma the AC stat. The main characters from Road to Eldorado, and characters that would dance to dodge attacks in a fight.
I have also done the opposite. I have run it that a gladiator, a strongman, or a pro wrestler type character could use their strength instead when making performance, persuasion, and intimidation checks.
i like the strength adds crush resistance. and the low charisma making you so repellent that things dont even want to hit you >.>
I've heard this kind of thing about Swashbucklers in D&D. The idea being they can influence and manipulate the enemy's movements by performing and communicating, like throwing spicy insults, taunting, ridiculing, etc.
And it's not even pure fantasy, one could argue Anderson Silva did a lot of this effectively in MMA.
I could see this working with Luck instead of Charisma.
Should really look into Pathfinder 2e as a TTRPG inspiration as it embraces this idea fully as there are all kinds of feats that are not about a pure math change but let you do something different - class, ancestry, skills, general feats. So the math does not break but there is all kinds of customized character variety. There is a current kickstarter for a CRPG using the system - of course they have to practically limit the feat selection but they had stretch goals to add more.
ADD, the DnD version I started with, had the AC calculation backwards (from nowadays point of view): the lower your AC was the better. All those Conan/Amazon/Scalemail Bikini tropes where just "AC 0" characters in some sense ;)
I really like the lucky klutz idea
I think these perks where a deep negative turns into a big positive have a whiff of similarity to putting points in energy weapons in Fallout 1 and then having to wait for a while before finding any. You have to run with a gimped character for some time until it suddenly becomes strong.
So, will we ever see a ttrpg from you, Tim? I would love to play a no compromise, full on, Tim style pen and paper rpg with my friends.
The topic and mentioned ideas reminds me of the idea/concept for the Outer Worlds. When creating your character you have enough points to make every attribute "Good" (by adding one point). What would happen If you made every one of your attributes below average by subtracting one point? It is of course impossible in the game but I think it would be a fun idea to make a total klutz character or homer simpson who is not good at anything (unless script writers give him a moment of skilful genius). Such character would fit in the world of TOW and as a hero who would save the colony.
That would have made an interesting flaw. It reduces ALL attributes to below average. Maybe in return it gives three perks instead of just one.
@@CainOnGames You can get that flaw at the very start of the game when you leave the pod. Your descent was less than perfect and you hit your head.
I love these perk ideas, but I feel like I'd want to split that base perk up into 2 or 3 for verisimilitude purposes. Perhaps the first perk makes your CHA apply to AC for humans/humanoids, and the second makes it apply to monsters. To me, this reinforces the idea that you're charismatic enough to win over and influence people, but not animals or monsters necessarily. It also means a player could take the second perk that only applies to Animals to create a "Beastmaster" character whom animals don't like attacking because of their force of personality.
In Pathfinder, I believe that there is a type of monk in pathfinder that uses charisma (instead of wisdom) for their AC bonus.
Everyday Heroes is a 5e version of D20 modern, and it has ways for every stat to boost AC.
Spider-Man was the wrong example, his DEX is ♾️ 😄
No matter how much charisma he has, his Spidey senses and reflexes are better IMHO
He’s charismatic though, it’s still a fair idea.
Deadpool might be a better example?
i thougth the charisma armor would be to characters like mermaids, dryads or children, characters that are hard to hit because you dont want to hit them
monks already use perception to increase dodge and this is why their armor class is high, just like spiderman they are hard to hit because they can predict when you are going to attack
I am having a hard time understanding the basis for this perk's existence, except for gaming purposes obviously. Conan's and Monks' dodge bonus comes from their exceptional dexterity/agility in my opinion. Maybe they have a perk that doubles their DEX AC bonus when they are not wearing armour at all?
Greetings again!
If someone were to make a video game for you as the primary target demographic and you weren't working on it, what are the main things you would want included and excluded? In addition, what platforms would it be on, what would the control scheme be, how often could players save, and so on?
What are your thoughts on game mods as a game player and maker? How much official mod support do you prefer for games, and what game types benefit least and most from mods? Why?
Do you accept gifts of food, video games, etc.? If so, where should we send them?
Thankee!
This Friday I will post a video about every feature I find worst in RPGs.
I’ve posted a video on modding. I’ll look it up if you need me to.
And I don’t accept gifts, but thank you.
The charisma instead of dexterity perk should be called "plot armor"
The lucky klutz sounds hilarious
Yeah i wanna play with a drunken master build now. ☺️🍺
Hi Tim! Could you talk about LOS and FOV? I'm implementing it for for my hex tile based game and I'm currently going down that rabbit hole. btw it seems bresenham's algorithm (even supercovering version ) is not good because it leaves 'islands' of vision in edge cases like slits. thanks !
I think low dexterity increases charisma might be even better, maybe theyre inverse
i played stick of truth it was so great then i played butwhole once and i remembered you describing a fighting method in which when you move you stay there after each turn(for the first south south park), my point and question being do you think they took your idea was used for the combat in fractured butwhole ? (btw it was horrible) ? it looks much like what you did describe
Especially curious if the brainstorming notes had any ideas and names for these perks. Confidence man? Alexandrian? Fake it to make it?
Isn't that the fun part? You can rename them to whatever you like?
at first I thought it said pork ideas because I I'm hungry
There are a few mods I use for New Vegas that change the perks a lot just to make them more interesting. Another trait mod as well to add more and change existing ones. I really hate flat stat boost perks, they are really boring to me these days. It does feel very lazy as well seeing the same perks across multiple games. +5% to reload speed or +5% to weapon damage type crap. That stuff is boring as hell and not very complex or interesting.
They aren't exactly called perks but Elden Ring does it really cool with Ashes of War that you add to weapons, they change a lot of things like animations which have an effect on gameplay and do cool things like different damage types that you can alter with Talismans and other things. Keeps things more interesting. In those From Soft games a lot of people don't wear any armour or clothes sometimes, it's superior for some builds because you are more agile.
Have you tried Pathfinder? They have a lot of subclasses that do a lot of these perk ideas and it makes multiclassing really interesting and fun
I thought he was going to provide a list of ideals rather than that one.
Hi Tim, how would you resolve conflict between charisma been must have stat for protagonist for purposes of persuasion/intimidation checks and general roleplay as a leader and the "face" of the party and being a dump stat for purpuses of minmaxing combat abilities?
By adding perks like I describe in the video, that let other stats come into play for those specific purposes.
Yeah historically peoples of africa, and celts, and most people in the bronze age didn't wear armor. African Wars till very recently didn't wear armor, being naked they said gave them strength.
Speaking of DnD-like stuff, how do you feel about railroading a player to maintain some narrative? Stuff like NPCs rerolling the dies of players to better suit them?
I am not fond of reducing player agency to force a narrative. The player is in a game to make a story, not follow one.
@@CainOnGames Just to be clear this is for a live DnD session, not computer games. Let's say as DM I want to do an Arsen Lupin-like robbery, where the robber informes the party when it will happen. However the party intervenes and through sheer force of rolls kills the robber. Why shouldn't I use some PC abilities like rerolling players dies (Portent dice) to adjust it?
@@FathDanielBecause the players managed to do something unplanned. That’s the essence of live role-playing. Go with it. Don’t undermine them in favor of a storyline you are trying to force happen.
@@CainOnGames Exactly! I want more games like that.
@@CainOnGames this (players managed to do something unplanned) is the holy grail of gaming, something is super hard to achieve in videogames but quite feasible in table-top.
Cool shirt Tim
I like the idea of using perks to be exceptions to the rules but wouldn't it require a lot of systems knowledge for players to use the perks correctly and doesn't the player has the least understanding about the game systems when they are making their character at the start of a game? I think that can be mitigated but its something to think about (maybe perks are only available on a second playthrough or on high difficulty?). Although I always think its worth it to look for ways to support more character archetypes.
I think there is a bigger question about the perception of balance here too; I would think building characters with these sorts of flaws should require less points; but actually building that system is kind of complicated (on top of it being complicated for the players to use). Maybe this sort of thing is best left as an expansion/DLC.
Although, it might be interesting to do something as a zero cost perk? what would that be?
I see perks as something the players are buying for their characters after character creation. So they should understand many of the system mechanics by then.
As for zero-cost perks, we did those in Fallout. They were called traits. They gave you something good and something bad.
Just a one and done question if I may good sir: According to your Wiki page, you were working on something consistently it seems from 1986 to 2004. But then there's a 10 year gap until 2014 when you did Stick of Truth. What was going on during those 10 years career wise for you? Thanks for the daily dives into your life and career, I look forward to these every day 💖.
That gap is when I closed Troika, worked on a theme park design, worked at Carbine for six years, then went to Obsidian.
You can get more details in Career Summary 1981-2023
th-cam.com/video/d3Udo6XjMhY/w-d-xo.html
Sick shirt.
Could any of the npc have reactions to the perks usage?
8:00 Mr.Magoo build
Why am I getting the feeling the guy that said the charisma perk was misogynistic was also the same guy that also wanted to remove ammo from outer worlds? :p
Yeah i dont think charisma works with armour stuff imo; jackie chan and Spiderman are acrobatic (strength) l, conan and Amazons are just human tanks (strength/endurance). The strength one makes sense.
Id say, have something for perks for armour lightness to allow for some things like that too.
Hi, Tim! Great video, and it reminded me of those feats in D&D3e that made you use wisdom for ranged attacks or dexterity for small arms. But unrelated to this, I was just now recommended a video about what makes chocolate have such varied taste. Naturally, I thought of you and how you've opened my eyes to the differences in chocolate. Link below if you're curious to see it. 😊
th-cam.com/video/ndEnTvis78Q/w-d-xo.html
Tim you are so handsome 😊
On Charisma-based armor 1:33: interesting thought, but those examples still feel Dex-based to me (unless you mean looks making people less keen on hitting). Charisma-based armor for me would be something like a musketeer throwing insults to make opponents miss (though I could see a barbarian scaring foes for the same results at 6:17). Also, I dislike the mix of charisma and looks and prefer a GURPS-like approach where they are separate but can complement each other (where charisma can be improved but good-looks are innate). Btw 8:19 is just giga-brains awesome 🤯.
The new D&D has some classes that add other attributes to armor in addition to dexterity when unarmored: Monks add wisdom, Barbarians add constitution, Wizard subclass Bladesinger adds intelligence, and Bard 2024 subclass draconic adds charisma.
I am still trying to understand how his idea fit the characters he mentioned, what would be happening in the setting's world?
Yours on the other hand, makes more sense,
@@yurisc4633 yup i have no idea how jackie chan and bruce lee both use charisma, maybe he is thinking bruce lee uses intimidation to make enemies reluctant to attack, but jackie often uses the enviroment to get cover from attacks, enemies dont care at all that he is trying to talk them out of a fight, if i would make a perk for jackie chan it would be improvised weapons and shields give bonus armor because the oponent isnt used to fight against a ladder wielding oponent
Would you mind if someone (me) used these ideas for modding?
Not at all! Have fun with them!
@@CainOnGames Thinking on how I might implement this perk in F:NV, since it lacks an Armor Class equivalent
"While wearing no armor you get bonus DT equal to your Charisma Score" Should be simple to make a perk like that in the game.
What about a perk that increases dt for every negative perk
While I really like meta-perks, they have a tendency to break things.
@CainOnGames i suppose but i feel like the negative perk aspect of it would sort of keep it in check. I could also see it be really broken tho if certain stats are considered unimportant
There's a good word for 'lucky klutz': serendipity
10:40 - wait, wouldn't that be the literal opposite of woke?
No. For some strange reason the identity politics is strangely puritanical, so a Conan or Red Sonya are considered misogynistic.
I was thinking this. Normally when some weirdo screams about "woke" they're upset that people are pointing out the chainmail bikini trope, not the one pointing it out.
Then again, the word was originally slightly jocular slang for "aware that racial prejudice exists" in AAVE, so using it for the kind of thing that gets reactionaries mad is sort of accurate, even if it might be a little obtuse from not being the way the word's widely understood.
@@FathDaniel you thoroughly misunderstood because you didn't watch the video
Woke and antiwoke are two sides of the same coin.
They'll claim X is "woke" or not depending on if it benefits their narrative. There is no real consistency to most of them.
@@SenkaZver I think Tim just misspoke there. Tim's idea is not woke (and indeed could actually be perceived by "modern woke" people as misogynistic). Avoiding the "sexualization" of (mostly women) characters is the modern woke trope.
The argument against the bikini armor never made any sense, when the guy who stands next to her is completely topless. Especially if the argument is gender equality. So let's make it equal then, remove the bikini armor and both are equally topless. Or we get ridd of that stupid discussion once and for all.
Everyone can say they don't like it, that's completely valid, but the argument is plain and simple wrong.
They tried to start a fight with God of War, where the main character just has a loincloth and was less clothed than the female examples and also with Quiet from MGS5, where in the very same series Raiden was completely without cloths in MGS2 and you even can control him around. It's the same series and therefore the same standards, because without that we have a double standard and there's not much I h*te more...
Too many percs
What about prec ideas, when you lose your mind on a perc 30
Not a big fan of semi-naked barbarians, but it could be fun if vowen into lore. Problem is not about sexualising women per se, because most healthy women are sexy even in everyday clothes. It is more like needlessly exposing them under a pretext that doesn't make sense (like with mail bikini).
Unless artists, writers, game designer manages to make it look natural to the world they inhabit. In my opinion it is hard to justify because if we compare games and films with real world with real physics then it becomes obvious how little love proper armor gets nowdays (everyone wants to play rouge or barbarian or wizard). Proper armor is already sexy by itself.
I think we all know what Tim was envisioning when he thought up the charisma/dexterity swap perk
no? Pls explain
Pretty sure it was a gay joke. Just not sure if it was a wink wink nudge nudge playful one or the less charitable option.