Shattered Kingdoms

While I remain overly addicted with SK, I thought of making a suggestion. Not in the fashion of install it now of course; I am merely providing food for thought and long term planning for the game.

Right now, the only mechanism bonus provided to someone playing a character over a long time, is mentor system. Mentor points are however hardly acquired (from my own witness at least). (Btw, the mentor system is easy to abuse)

There is also the age ticks mechanism which however only favors specific classes (I like age ticks, to make it clear).

How about adding a new concept that would improve a class's certain skill/spell over time. These bonuses should not be overly strong through. Just a small buff.

Here are some examples I have thought:
-Necromancers could become more proficient with raise undead as time passes. Don't give them 8 undead from day 1. Give 8 animates only if they are fully experts/proficient with this skill.
-Paladins could get an improve in bolt of glory (less casting time) or combat casting (more attacks while casting) perhaps.
-Sorcerors could get charm improved (less concentration needed for example) or mirror image (more images).

I am sure I am not the proper one to propose what each class should get. To make it more interesting, you could instead compile a list of skills/spells that can be buffed with this expertise concept. The list should contain the spell/skill and what to do with each one. Then the player himself will pick.

You could even spend this loyalty points on this system. For example make is that up to three can be spent onto this system. Again, it should not grant huge bonuses, just an interesting buff.

Some of the benefits of such an idea would be:
-Players would get an inceptive to dedicate more time to their current characters (I am always having trouble doing so )
-It will add more specialization to the game, leading to unlimited possible worthwhile builds for each class.
-As a result, it will add renewed interest to new and old players alike.
-You can use the system as a base for more interesting things in the future.

As topic title claims, it would be best that such a system is solely based on years.

(edit: fixed typos)

I kind of like this idea.

So does my 218-year-old elf.

Which brings me to: Only -played- years should count, to stop evena's 218-year-old elf (and any other elf/delf) gain an unforeseen advantage!

I play her!

Jerk!

<3
It's unfair, admit it! Elves / Delves would start with 100 years of stacked experience

No, they wouldn't.

It should start at the age of creation and end at the age of death. Yes, elves and deep-elves would end up with more of a bonus over time, but they're PLAYED for longer, and they should.

I like this concept. I think it has the best chance of getting implemented if it can be done with existing code. For instance, you could just get an attribute point at each age tick. That would be the simplest way to encourage and reward longevity.

Going the route suggested by the OP would be arduous to code. It would be easy to implement for spells and could be done in a generic way (effective caster level raised by 1, for instance), but it would be tough to do for things like track or zap or butcher or skirmish. I can't think of a good generic adjustment you could make for skills. I don't think simply raising the effective level of skill use would give the same results as raising effective caster level would for spells.

I think it would promote longevity if you couldn't actually master any skills until your first age tick. But I can already hear the sobbing starting, so I will just stop there.

LOL! Massive QQery, indeed. However, I don't think it would actually promote longevity. I think people would be more easily fed up and quit, but that's just my take.


(P.S. -- sorry about spilling on a quest in that other thread. I didn't realize I was doing so. )