Quote:
Originally posted by Haddar - Servant of Talos:
And what about the magic? Wouldn't it be good if there was a chance that your spells would fail when you try to cast them? I mean, the more complex the spell, the harder to get it right. A very basic spell is easy to cast for an experienced mage, and thus the "spell failure chance" would be quite small. But basic spells is hard to get right if you are a beginner. Noone is born as a master, you know!
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I agree on this one. Magic is not that easy to use, or we'd all be magi. Depending on the nature of the mage, casting a spell in certain circumstances could vary as well. When everything is peaceful and the mage is going to do a Knock spell or something, he/she will be able to concentrate, whilst in the heat of combat (especially if the mage isn't standing in the back) some spells are cast too quickly and fail, whilst other spells don't do the damage they normally would. Then again, there are those who work well under pressure and those people exell at casting spells in combat.
You could take things even further than that. What if your character's nature depends on the actions you take, not just by saying that those casting more offensive spells become better at offensive magic, but that the way you react to things changes who you are, and thereby how well you preform in certain situations.
An example:
At the start of the game your thief is a bit of an all-rounder. There are no advantages and no disadvantages (or maybe there are) to fighting and stealing in different situations. Then you meet someone who asks you to steal a vase for him from a nobleman in the village. He tells you the house is heavily guarded during the day, but only lightly at night. Go in at daytime, and you'll become better at stealth as normal if you succeed, but you will also be seem as either more daring or more impatient. If (determined at random) you are seen as more daring, you will attract more dangerous quests whilst impatience means you are quick to act and therefore faster, but also more clumsy. Steal at night and it's a choice between being careful and protecting your own skin. There are less guards, so the theft is easier, so the long term reward for taking risks (more offers) goes past you on this occasion. Still, you seem to be able to bide your time and strike at the right moment, thereby increasing your chances to hit someone in combat.
It doesn't even have to be difficult to include such a thing in the game. Make a table of personality and advantages/disadvantages, and give each way you do the quest a number of points in the same way as you would for experience. Then you can move one or two spaces up or down the table if you've collected enough Personality Points (using positive and negative scores).
You could also include a modifier depending on your guild(s). After all, fighters are mostly combat orientated and are trained to do well there, whilst a thief is meant to do his things as stealthy as possible, keeping everything quiet.
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The last arrow of Legolas kindled in the air as it flew,
and plunged burning into the heart of a great wolf-chieftain.
All the others fled. -J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings