Classes and how to make them fit.

This is a thread on some ideas I had on how to make certain classes better, or more useful. Namely this will be focusing on the ones that "need fixing" in people’s opinions.

Diplomat:
Implement a [b:bobpci66]Diplomatic Points System[/b:bobpci66] (DPS) – This system is an overarching system that doles out points based on your faction, your diplomatic skill, your faction’s popularity on the current planet, and how long your faction has controlled the planet. DPS is a pool that is planet based, and any diplomat within a faction can pull from this pool and use diplomatic skills from them. Use of DPS could lower popular support on the planet slightly, which would be another limiter.
1. [b:bobpci66]RestrictLaw[/b:bobpci66] – Diplomats are masters of bureaucracy, so a Diplomat can use this skill to temporarily mark an area PKSafe. Basically this could summon a police officer/security officer of the planet to that location as a sentinel and no one can initiate combat in that room. This is balanced by the fact that it would have some lag in ‘casting’ (or calling the officer) and costs Diplomatic Points (DP).

2. [b:bobpci66]Diplomatic Immunity[/b:bobpci66] – As a diplomat (main?), you can be on an enemy planet and no enemy NPCs can attack you, neither you can attack them.
a) [b:bobpci66]Override Immunity[/b:bobpci66] – A diplomat of sufficient level an override a diplomat’s immunity and attack them. This does not set the enemy NPCs to agro on the diplomat, however.

3. [b:bobpci66]Archives[/b:bobpci66] – This is a command to bring up a shipyard database that a Slicer has on [b:bobpci66]FILE[/b:bobpci66] with a planet you control.

4. [b:bobpci66]Smear[/b:bobpci66] – This is a dirty diplomatic tactic which is used to lower a persons popularity with a planet’s citizenry, thus making them unable to pull as many Diplomatic Points, and making their Diplomatic skills less effective.

5. The core of the idea here is that diplomats would be more free to walk around unbridled by combat for their diplomatic status. However, other diplomats can render a diplomat ineffective through Smear and other methods. This could be a very deep system, added to the PlanetGame system that would make diplomatic mains very deep and fun to play.

Medical:
Medical needs a revamp over cyber and clones. My idea is to give it stat buffs/debuffs. This can be done already through the [b:bobpci66]Inject[/b:bobpci66] command. However, I suggest a [b:bobpci66]MakeDrug[/b:bobpci66] system for the Doctors.
[b:bobpci66]MakeDrug[/b:bobpci66] Adrenaline/Tranquilizer/Stim/etc.
These could give stat boosts to Str/Dex/Con and be made from refined spice. That would give smugglers a market to sell refined spice to. You can take spice raw, but it usually has addictive effects, although a medical use of it would eliminate some of the side effects, but mix them together to make all kinds of neat things.
[b:bobpci66]MakeDart[/b:bobpci66] – After you’ve made a drug, you can load it into a dart, and shoot that effect at someone. This way, you could debuff people by giving them -Str/Dex/Con and all that, as well as use any ranged attack (snipe) to target someone. Doctors could make dart ammo for combat characters or hunters that would assist in taking victims alive.

Doctors would be a great support class to assist and buff people for combat and out of combat purposes, as well as providing a market for enhancement drugs (training enhance?) and raw spice.

Smuggler:
[b:bobpci66]FakeLog[/b:bobpci66] – This puts in a fake entry into the Landing Log or deletes the entry entirely. This makes Smugglers under the radar for the slicer skills. This also works with Disguise, being as it is hard to figure out who someone is from a Slicer’s Database records if they have a different appearance.

[b:bobpci66]LowBlow[/b:bobpci66] – This skill stuns your target for a few seconds, allowing the smuggler to run away.

[b:bobpci66]TrackSpice[/b:bobpci66] – This would allow Smugglers to "smell" out spice on the world, leading them to where they could mine or buy it.

Smugglers specialize in staying "off the grid" as well as finding and refining spice and illegal goods.

Slicer:
This is a tough one, but the core of these skills all deal with information.
[b:bobpci66]Landing Log[/b:bobpci66] – gives you the names and owners of all ships that have launched/landed on that landing pad in the past day. Beams it to a slot on your Datapad.
[b:bobpci66]Database[/b:bobpci66] – Files your Greets/Dubs as <Name/Dub> – Short Description. Can be [b:bobpci66]Filed[/b:bobpci66] to an [b:bobpci66]Archive[/b:bobpci66]
[b:bobpci66]DecryptComm <channel>[/b:bobpci66] – Hooks your comlink to your datapad and tries to decrypt the encryption code spoken on a comlink channel. The more things said on the channel, the better chance of decryption.
[b:bobpci66]ScanFrequencies[/b:bobpci66] – monitor all the comm channels at the same time, slight chance of hearing what is said on any channel.
[b:bobpci66]RecordComm <on/off>[/b:bobpci66] – records what is said on comms to a memory slot on the Datapad.
[b:bobpci66]File[/b:bobpci66] – Files a memory disk into an [b:bobpci66]Archive[/b:bobpci66] on a planet or clanbase for Diplomats to use.

The core of the slicer is that a lot of their skills are informational, and a lot of them should download into memory slots on the datapad, for sharing. This would make slicers have a prime market for sharing information, and be selling a lot of disks. This also makes them important to Diplomats for Filing info to the planets archives.

Engineer or Slicer combat skill – [b:bobpci66]Pulse <victim>[/b:bobpci66] – Small scale Electro-Magnetic Pulse that shorts the battery/power cell on a blaster or vibroblade. This would render it ineffective. Requires object (emp?) that you can make with MakeEMP or MakePulse.

There’s a lot more I could think of, but the core ideas are to put more combat into non-combat professions (or alternative non-combat in the diplomatic profession) and to put some roleplaying/non-combat skills in with the combat ones. (I was thinking about some kind of intimidate skill for combatants/BH)

All I can say is awesome…Being a Medical main and Diplomatic Main in the past these ideas rock…But not sure how they would be coded.

[quote:keyzpiwa]
Diplomatic Points System + Smear[/quote:keyzpiwa]

This could get very interesting. I would take it a step further by giving characters a ‘popularity’ rating from 0 to 100. The higher a diplomat’s popularity, the more effective their positive commands would be and the less effective smear attacks would be.

[quote:keyzpiwa]Slicer[/quote:keyzpiwa]

There is a possibility for giving them some edge in PK as well, which I feel is an overarching theme with all your suggestions. The ability to short circuit character’s shields in combat, over-ride droids (and make those more important/functionable!), take control of droids and so on.

The idea for some of these class design suggestions is to add more roleplay to "combat monster" classes, and to add some teeth to "roleplay" classes. In this way, you can give some diversity to the styles of combat different people have, and make for interesting roleplay, even if you are a "combat" class. Also, groups of interrelated skills (Slicer’s Database / Diplomat’s Archive) that promote interaction with other players.

A few other suggestions is to give Combat mains a couple of roleplaying skills like the following:
[b:dsel7ets]Bodyguard <Target>[/b:dsel7ets] – Any attack made on your assigned target puts you into combat with the attacker. (backstab and attacks from stealth circumvent this skill). Also, could be a percentage chance that some of the attacks still get through, etc, etc.
[b:dsel7ets]Headbutt[/b:dsel7ets] – Dazes target and intelligence debuff and/or higher percentage of failing on complex skills.

More ideas to come, but I’m getting off work now. <!– s:D –><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!– s:D –>

Slicers should definitely be able to power up droids. Donno that I’d agree with the rest though. Not everyone should be able to do everything… If there are three classes that should have good combat skills, it’s combat, BHing, and smuggling. If there’s a fourth, it’s espionage. But espi should probably be closer to sneaky kills, like a garrote skill or something. Smuggling could have like, finesse skills. Make them good with a single pistol, etc.

It’s not that you give Every Class combat skills. More like you would give each class some sort of &quot;trick&quot; they can do that makes them at least capable of defending themselves in the right situation. Like for Diplomats it would be their immunity, for leaders it could be increased combat effectiveness for the group they lead. Slicers it could be short circuiting a blaster. Or Engineers its combat droids. The concept is not to really level the playing field (because there are classes that will always be great at combat) but to give roleplaying and PvP more dynamics, even group dynamics. It would be nice if each class had its &quot;niche&quot; in and out of combat. That you would bring an engineer along because they have the skill to set up a mobile blast shield/force field that covers your group. Maybe you could bring along a Diplomat if you’re just looking to talk without combat. Maybe you’re not a combatant and you would like a soldier to bodyguard you. There’s a lot more depth to be explored in group PvP dynamics with allowing different classes to be more powerful as a diverse group than a dozen combat mains. And its also to take those combat mains that are great in combat, but spend most of their roleplaying time sitting around, looking tough, and waiting for a fight so they can use their skills, it lets them explore more depth to their characters and give them more out of combat use. Maybe have a skill for bounty hunters or combat mains called [b:3edz8skl]Brace[/b:3edz8skl] where you can block an exit and people couldn’t push you out of the way, but it only lasts for a short period of time, and drains movement or something. Also with the Bodyguard skill, and other things, you can really make soldiers into great noncombatants.

What I’ve found from playing MUDs and being an Immortal on one, is that diversity of classes and races assists in broadening the depth and breadth of roleplaying. From my experience here, every time I’d meet an alien race I did not know, I was looking it up on wookiepedia to get a picture and the &quot;general knowledge&quot; about their racial heritage. It’s good to learn about things, and to be surprised by people both who follow the racial heritage routes, and those who are exceptions. My class suggestions are just ideas I have that you sit down and think &quot;Wouldn’t it be cool if…&quot; and find out what is really appealing about that class to people, and from that, to make those things better.