Character Classes
- Creating a Character
- Character Persitence and Customization
- Character Attributes
- Team Class Composition
- The Character Classes in Realm Wars
Creating a Character
Step 1 - Choose a Class: Begin by choosing a starting class for the character. This class might be Orc Warrior or Elf Sorceress for example. Each class has a unique combination of meshes, skills, allowable weapons and statistics.
Step 2 - Name the Character: If the character is meant to be persistant, a password or unique identifier might also have to be supplied.
Step 3 - Choose Skills and Default Loadout: Each character class will have a default set of equipment that may be altered within certain bounds. For example an Orc Warrior may be allowed to choose between a Sword and Shield or Axe and Crossbow. (This loadout can be altered between play sessions, not just character creation.) It may also be possible to choose character skills at this point. (Also can be altered between session.) However it may be more interesting and RPG flavored to have skills power-up during play, spending resources (the same resources that buy weapons/items in-game) on skil enhancements. This would be more interesting in that players can choose on the fly based on how combat is going and what they need, and would also liven things up a bit in combat while adding a bit of RPG flavor.
Character Persitence and Customization
Until we have the resources to host robust character servers the amount of persistence we can provide for characters will be very small. We do want to keep our future persistence plans in mind however while implementing the more base functionality.
At first character persitance will consist of stat-keeping and clan membership without persistant items or skills. Later we would like to add the ability to earn customizations to character look and feel (beyond the standard customizations that can be kept client-side) and some mixture of persitent inventory and skills, that would diversify characters without greatly imbalancing them. (Perhaps allow people to trade away skills for other skills, keeping the total number of skills roughly the same but allowing for greater customization and tayloring of the character to the tastes of the player)
Class Attributes
These are the ways in which classes will differ.
- Looks - Different meshes and skins.
- Size - A small character can hide behind obstacles easier, go under objects that larger characters cannot, etc
- Allowable weapons/items - different classes will have different possible equipment configurations. For exampel an Elf Sorceress will not be able to use a 2-handed axe
- Spells/special abilities - some classes may have no spells, while others may be based around spells. Some classes may have spell-like special abilities, IE Troll Regeneration. Spells may also differ in the casting method, IE is MP needed or does the spell take a certain amount of time to cast?
- HP and MP totals and regeneration methods
- Resistance to physical/magical attacks
- Movement speed - jump height and distance, movement in all directions, water movement, etc. (Stone golem might sink, for example
- Strength based damage - melee weapons will do damage based in part on the strength of the user. A giant using an axe would do more damage than a human with the same axe.
- Accuracy - cerain classes like Orcs may be able to use ranged weapons but suffer from unsteady aim, for example no crosshair or a jittery crosshair.
Team Class Composition
As the number of classes in Realm Wars grows, it may be possible to have sides or races a la Warcraft for example. However initially the number of classes will be low enough so that teams must allow all classes to ensure decent character variety. (A team of 16 people is going to look pretty boring in every character is say either human male or human female)
The Character Classes in Realm Wars
The first six classes in Realm Wars will be male and female versions of Orcs, Elves and Humans. (What role these classes will be, such as fighter or magician, is to be determined) After the initial six classes are complete we will work to diversify the classes with lesser-known or invented character classes, such as Trolls, Golems, Ratkins, Demons, etc. However to start off it makes the most sense to begin with classes that players can recognize, and that artists can model without lengthy specifications.
The classes have not been exactly determined at this point but here are my thoughts at this time:
Orc Warrior: A versatile fighter who can use both mid-range and melee weapons. Can soak a lot of damage, but has no magic and little in the way of special abilities.
Orc Shamaness: Possesses a variety of support spells. This will be a "skill" class, as the spells will not be straightforward like "fireball." For a magic user the Orc Shamaness can fight reasonably well and has high durability.
Elf Sorceress: An offensive magic user. Terrible durability and poor overall fighting ability.
Elf Archer: The best ranged fighter of the original 6 classes.
Human Rogue: Quick, agile, with back attacks, smoke bombs and mid-range fighting ability. A quick and viscious up-close fighter but lacking in pure durability.
Human Saint: A fighting cleric. Has healing and buffs ability, as well as good durability. Focuses more on melee combat than an Orc. Can take considerable damage but deals less than many other classes.
Continue to: Weapons and Items...
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