Posted by Sivanne on October 30, 2000 at 05:52:51:
(Ok Im not an veteran player of CF by far, but i have read these board a lot the past couple months. If Im assuming anything wrong though, I would thank you to point it out to me :) ) Here’s an idea which I fancy might be a nice possible way to go in addressing the problem about the evil races not being popular because of their glaring vulnerabilities, which I read in a thread a bit below this one. Personally, I find that yes, its true, one just doesn’t see enough heroes from the ‘vulnerable’ races, and its often because people consider the particular element of weakness to be too easy to find to be worth choosing that race. As in, I want to fight a drow, its only a matter of finding a mithril axe before I go, which isnt hard, and the drow will always be at a disadvantage. Also people will _always_ discourage you from choosing these races when you ask for advice, for the same reason. Yet at the same time everyone agrees that they should have _some_ weakness, being what they are. Anyway how do we get around this problem without eliminating weaknesses altogether? What im thinking is this: The problem is really in that EVERYBODY KNOWS. Knowledge is power man, and when everyone knows the weakness you have, everyone will exploit it. The real idea in having a weakness in the first place is that people will have to find out what it is to work it against you! Think about it.. this is how it works in real life all the time. Knowing someones 'weak spot' before you even meet them is not realistic. But what about this: I roll a drow. Im asked for the usual stuff, but then… five choices pop up and an extra question: What will your weakness be. Tadaa… you’ve just added a whole level of depth and roleplaying to the class without sacrificing their role or the way they are played. There would be say 4 to 6 different choices for a weakness, all related to how drows live underground, like fire maybe, fresh water, holy or good aligned weapons, mithril of course, etc. The player would pick his weakness and from then of have to live with it. What will this do to the game? Think about it: you will have players who choose the rarest element to try to be safe. You will have players who choose a weakness and _develop their whole role around it_ and their RP will be A LOT better for it. You will have players who choose the usual weakness they’ve always had, like iron for half-elf, just because it will be the LAST one people will suspect them of having! People could start spying on each other to learn their weaknesses. Or say I know Bobby’s weakness, I could trade the info with someone else to get info about Sally’s weakness, who I want to hurt. There will be people who try to keep track of everyone else and bribe others with it. You will have to decide who you can trust with your weakness and who you cant. Rumors could be started about a certain player’s weakness to fire only to turn out to be completely false. Or you could get revenge on someone you hate by telling everyone else about what he falls easily to. Really the strategic possibilities for this are endless. The point is, that the tradeoff for having the advantages of say a drow wont be putting a sign on yourself saying Slay Me With Mithril, (which few people are willing to pay thus making the race underplayed) But to enter into a game of strategy, concealment, deceit (and maybe total defeat if youre foolish and let yourself be known about). It gives these races a layer of mystery and challenge that they were meant to have and are kind of lacking now. This drow could fall to mirthril, fire, water, or air, but which is it? This half-elf could crumble before iron, fire, poison, or cold, but what should I choose?? I know this goes against traditional Tolkienseque thinking, of this race, this weakness, period. But think outside the box. If CF was a traditional mud there would be no hope of this, But come on… traditional mud = boring mud. And CF is neither of these. Of all the muds ive knows this is the ones which could pull something like this off. Anyway I would be very grateful for feedback on this idea from anyone, players or imms. Ok, thanks for listening!