Jump to content

Recommended Posts

If this idea has been utilised already in the Crystal Souls version of Avernum 2 (though I doubt it considering how the inherited narrative is structured) then please disregard my thought experiment, (and also let me know because that would actually get me to buy the remake) if not... well buckle in, I have an idea for the inevitable remake of the third game.

 

I've always considered it a wasted opportunity that we never had Vahnatai as one of the selectable races during character creation in Avernum 3-6, even during their heel-turn moments the Vahnatai have seldom presented a unified front, some have remained friendly... or at least not blindly falling into line behind Rentar-Ihrno. And indeed having a Vahnatai party member during 3 would present quite the crisis of conscience for them, at the very least a bit of flavour text in some interactions.

 

Having one Slith, one, human, one Nephilim and one Vahnatai would present quite a bit of variation in party members, rather than the usual spare duplicate human I usually end up with.

 

There is also strong precedent for the nature of their racial bonuses, Swords, thrown weapons, mage spells, and due to their long lifespans and the many years of hard training they spend to obtain that mastery, giving them the greatest growth rate penalty of any of the races makes sense both narratively and for game balance.

 

The only sticking point I see is the traditional Vahnatai weakness to sunlight, which would of course be especially relevant in the third game, but not insurmountable as the third game shows us with some encounters with Vahnatai foes outside. A thick cloak, a unique situational debuff, or a weakness to fire damage if we're fudging things a little... or we could ignore that aspect entirely if it's too fiddly as a little detail.

 

If the racial traits have been changed in Crystal Souls then this idea would have to be heavily reworked, but I believe the core concept is sound.

 

If anyone in these forums thinks this proposal has the ear of a member of Spiderweb's dev team then I would appreciate this idea being passed along to them, I don't feel like personally pestering the devs on twitter or what have you, so I present it here for the consideration of the community.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jeff Vogel, head of Spiderweb Software, has said previously that this won't happen because he thinks it'd make the Vahnatai feel less strange and alien if you could play as one. It wouldn't be the first time he's said he wouldn't do something and then done it after all, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...