First Aid skill: anything good about it?
| Author | Topic: First Aid skill: anything good about it? |
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Warrior
Member # 5415
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written Saturday, February 19 2005 13:59
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I know Jeff talks about working hard to balance game elements, but I don't get at all how First Aid skill is supposed to fit in. As far as I can tell, it has no redeemable value whatsoever. It: *Requires carrying around objects that need to be found or purchased that disappear upon use. *Can end up accidentally causing harm instead of healing, and at a rate that seems way too often. *Requires you to actually be standing next to the person you are trying to heal (heck, even unlocking doors can be done from across the room as long as one person is in the right location). *Is a skill that is a one-trick pony, unlike Priest Magic, which gives you access to lots and lot of spells with varying utility, but most importantly healing that doesn't accidentally harm someone, can be done across the room, doesn't require an item you have to carry around, buy, find and use up, and so forth. Is there any possible reason anyone can think of to allocate points to it? I just don't see it. Posts: 62 | Registered: Thursday, January 20 2005 08:00 |
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Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
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written Saturday, February 19 2005 14:26
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I think the general consensus has been that First Aid is pretty useless. -------------------- Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens. Smoo: Get ready to face the walls! Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr. Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00 |
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...b10010b...
Member # 869
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written Saturday, February 19 2005 14:40
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Technically, you can use First Aid without a first aid kit, but unless you put ridiculous numbers of points in it you're almost certain to do harm. -------------------- The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure! Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 247
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written Saturday, February 19 2005 16:18
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Yes itz a one of the most useless skills in the game. Except for the money that comes from selling first aid kits there's not any point in carrying them around. -------------------- The Knight Between Posts. Posts: 2395 | Registered: Friday, November 2 2001 08:00 |
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Warrior
Member # 126
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written Saturday, February 19 2005 18:32
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A small question dealing with First Aid: Would it be possible to tweak the First Aid skill in the BoA Scenario Editor to make it less useless? If you were in some sort of horrible cursed dungeon that keeps sapping all your spell points, it might prove to be a way to heal. Or would carefully placed caches of healing potions be a better way to accomplish this? -------------------- Fly beyond the ocean, over the mountains, past the moon and across the face of the sun, never to come home again. Posts: 161 | Registered: Monday, October 8 2001 07:00 |
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...b10010b...
Member # 869
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written Saturday, February 19 2005 18:43
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The only way to make First Aid more useful would be by specifically building features of the scenario around it. A powerful weapon with damage that depends on First Aid skill, for example. (Beware -- remember that Strength and Blademaster will also affect its damage, so don't make it *too* powerful.) -------------------- The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure! Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00 |
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Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
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written Saturday, February 19 2005 18:48
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A scenario without magic, perhaps. Then First Aid would become critical. -------------------- Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens. Smoo: Get ready to face the walls! Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr. Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 247
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written Saturday, February 19 2005 19:58
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That would actually be really cool Kelandon, no magic at all. Just pure steel against steel. -------------------- The Knight Between Posts. Posts: 2395 | Registered: Friday, November 2 2001 08:00 |
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BANNED
Member # 4
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written Saturday, February 19 2005 20:07
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An alternative would be to give the party a customized, script-based First Aid Kit that healed damage like so: (AID - 2) d 12 percent damage healed. (Meaning that, yes, damage could still be dealt, but only 2-20 percent of the person's HP if the user is completely inept.) (AID - 2) d 8 percent poison removed. (AID - 4) d 6 percent acid removed. (AID - 3) d 8 percent chance of healing paralysis. (And yes, this one has a chance of actually causing paralysis.) It would be a decent way to take care of multiple birds with one stone, and in doing so would be worthwhile. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
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Agent
Member # 2820
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written Sunday, February 20 2005 14:32
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You could have really nice first aid kits that weigh very little. They could be found in large quantities in certain parts throughout the scenario, and the priest healing spells would be temporarily removed to promote the skill. It would also be nice to script in a standard NPC ability to heal themselves. But yes, first aid is the most useless skill in the game. -------------------- Thuryl: I mean, most of us don't go around consuming our own bodily fluids, no matter how delicious they are. ==== Alorael: War and violence would end if we all had each other's babies! ==== Drakefyre: Those are hideous mangos. Posts: 1415 | Registered: Thursday, March 27 2003 08:00 |
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BANNED
Member # 4
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written Sunday, February 20 2005 14:47
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An idea would be putting this in the START_STATE of each scenario: if (tick_difference(last_abil_time,get_current_tick()) == 5) { pcs = 0; while(pcs / 3){ change_health(pcs,(get_char_status(pcs,17) * 5)); pcs = (pcs + 1); } last_abil_time = get_current_tick(); } So that characters with 4 First Aid skill would gain 20 HP every 5 turns. (Replace / with less than, since UBB is telling me that I'm actually making a devious HTML tag...!) -------------------- * Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
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...b10010b...
Member # 869
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written Sunday, February 20 2005 15:14
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Uh, TM? Use code tags. :P -------------------- The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure! Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00 |
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Skip to My Lou
Member # 40
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written Wednesday, February 23 2005 13:23
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quote:I really like that idea. In Exile I always gave my characters the Recuperation ability. Having something besides elusive and not so amazing rings of great health to up your HP recovery speed would be nice. -------------------- Take the Personality Test! Deep down, you wish you were a stick figure. Posts: 1629 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00 |