Finally getting the hang of my first ever Paladin in DDO. My only melee characters before then have all been Monks, and Paladins have a bit steeper learning curve. But, its actually getting kinda fun...
Also, as some of you may already know, I've been designing a game of my own for some time now. I've been hammering out the basic workings of the game rules themselves, but I've had a few other ideas that I figured I'd share behind spoiler tags.
Include joke spells/powers, similar to the Wabbajack in the Elder Scrolls, but they're something you can learn to use for yourself, I'll give ye an example...
Name: Bee Breath
Discipline: Conjuration(FUCKING BEES)/Metacreativity(FUCKING BEES)
Range: 60ft
Targets: 1+ (see text)
Components: V
Mana Cost: 25
Psi Cost: 25
Min. Skill: 50
Cast Time: 1sec
Refresh: 20sec
Description: You spew forth a horde of angry
fucking bees, which fly toward your target
and sting it for 1d3+1 bee damage every
second for 10+1/10 skill seconds. Should the
target die before the bees expire, the bees
will attack the nearest hostile target, and
will continue this process until either all
targets are dead or the bees expire.
Its like a dragon's breath, except with angry, angry bees. Magical bees. Magical bees that can kill even incorporeal creatures, and bypass all forms of damage reduction (ie: armor, tough hides, etc).
Also, I've been giving a lot of thought to reputation in games. In games like Skyrim, you have a single slider, a town or group either likes you, hates you, or is somewhere in-between. That's always seemed so...bland to me. It doesn't really reflect the player and their playstyle very well. I'm thinking of using a system similar to the early Fallout games; you have individual reputations with towns and organizations, overall karma, and titles you earn through actions. I'll give ya an example...
In mein game, intelligent enemies (like bandits), if brought to low enough health, will occasionally lay down their weapons and surrender, asking for quarter. So, you're faced with a choice...do you just kill the bandit outright, like you would in nearly every other RPG, or do you take him prisoner and turn him in to the nearest police garrison?
If you show him quarter and turn him in, you start earning a reputation as an honorable fighter, one who shows mercy to an enemy who has lost the will to fight. Generally, this is seen as a positive thing by people; a true hero shows mercy to those who ask for it. However, certain NPCs and organizations will treat this reputation negatively, thinking of you as weak or cowardly.
However, if you slay him outright, you start earning a reputation as a merciless vigilante. Generally, this is a profoundly negative thing; you're taking justice into your own hands and slaying an enemy who has lost the will to fight. The organizations that'd dislike you for being merciful will, instead, view you as strong and brave because you've helped rid the world of one more lawless villain.
BUT, I want to take this a step further...you see, one of the classes I'm including is Paladins, which are similar in respect to their D&D counterparts. Paladins in the game-world are warriors of good, protectors of the innocent, and champions of honor. Using the above example, earning the Merciless Vigilante reputation will cause you to fall, stripping you of your divine powers until you receive atonement and change your ways.
This way, the player is encouraged to role-play as a Paladin, instead of just playing as Generic Badguy Hunter 35. You have to keep to your code, which will be presented to you in the tutorial by your trainer, or you will be stripped of your divine powers.
Well, my Paladin hit level 6 today, and I -finally- got him a decent set of armor! Soooo...screenshots!