Twilight Forums

In discussion we were talking about sidekicks. All of the people involved liked the idea of each class being able to get it's own sidekick. At this point Naturalist and Psions can both summon their own sidekicks, but Gadgeteers and Elementalist can't. Considering the current Itom and other things, maybe it's time to fill a couple of those unimplemented skill sections. Of course before we bug the hell out of Rhyme with this, maybe we should see if everyone is in favor, and of course what ideas people for the skill.

For the record, I think the elementalist being able to summon an elemental is an incredibly obvious fit, just not yet sure what I'd recommend for specifics.

Just so you know, while I do weigh public opinion, I won't necessarily make a design choice based solely on a poll, however lopsided the results come out.

That said, I certainly see a narrative case for gadgeteers to be able to build a sidekick. Elementals, though -- it just doesn't seem to fit. Also, elementals I think are considered among the more powerful classes at the moment, so they probably need less attention than the other classes at the moment.

Also, the practically free sidekick I just added is designed to be available to anyone at almost any time, so elementals and gadgeteers can have one for minimal cost at this point, even if they aren't unique.

Fair enough Ryme. Don't fear that I'll whine if it doesn't get implemented. Still this is a nice, polite way for us to let you know what we are interested in, and a good place to steal ideas from. After all some of the ideas for sidekicks could show up as items instead of powers, or simply give you ideas of things to beat up on us. I'm mainly curious as to how my fellow players feel.

I agree with Ryme, actually.

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I've won the 100k DD bet so many times, I should have the title "Mr. Luck"

Sadly yes - no sidekick can ever match Lifeblood manipulation.
Gadgeteers being able to build something would be cool - I feel like they are lacking in the actual gadget realm a bit. I want to see more random things snapping together (and then falling apart).

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Moar Lock's Quest references!!!

Fantastic game about being a "archineer" a person who builds things against an army of clcokwork gadget monsters. It's quite entertaining and awesome.

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Vote for TH on global rankings!

I definitely think Gadgeteers should have sidekicks, and I think there's a narrative case for Elementals to have them too. That class shares its name with magically summoned spirits created from the four elements, small creatures which are ideal for sidekickness. The original elementals were sylphs (air), gnomes (earth), salamanders (fire) and nymphs (water).

For some reason I just have to laugh at the thought of a gnome sidekick. This is despite the fact I don't see any problems with water buffalo, little kids, and crows. But gnomes? Heh.

Well, Underground Intelligent Terrans are like gnomes, right?

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Well, I've got a hat!

He could stab enemies with his pointy hat!

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The churches are empty / The priest has gone home / And we are left standing / Together alone
--October Project: "Dark Time"

I think gadgeteers should have their own sidekick, and... they should be able to make some other kind of "gadgety" stuff... as far as I know the only thing they can build (that nobody else can) is the positronic computer...

and elementasl with sidekicks, well... the wind warriors sounds more "elemental" than "psion" to me, I have nothing against psions..

and I think that the earth elemental being were golems and not gnomes.. tee hee

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Actually the Golem comes from a legend in Jewish folklore that a Rabi supposedly created an invincible man from clay that was animated by the word of god.

Elementals can create golems, and gadgeteers can weld various metals to them to make them more badass?

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The churches are empty / The priest has gone home / And we are left standing / Together alone
--October Project: "Dark Time"

yeah.. well.. anyhow.. I htink clay is a variation of earth.. isn't it?

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Yes it is, but Darkorinth is correct. Golems have nothing to do with elementals. But well done on posting something that's not more-or-less spam.

Elementals should be able to summon any one of four elemental sidekicks (perhaps from a submenu), each with different powers. Defining them is left as an exercise, except that one of them should be Wind Warrior.

As a psion, Wind Warrior has never made any sense to me, that the illusion of a warrior would be able to inflict real damage. Also, I don't get how the Warrior hologram is supposed to work. Also, I've never been able to figure out what Wwarrior.gif is supposed to be a picture of, if anyone can help me out with that. So it wouldn't bother me if elementals got Wind Warrior, if psions could get something that makes sense, to compensate.

Wind Warrior is a spell from the Bard's Tale computer game series. It's a psychic spell that causes damage to your opponents if they fail to resist the illusion. "Wind" in this case is an alliterative and figurative way to say "illusionary". They deal damage the way any other psychic weapon deals damage: to the mind.

I've been thinking.. a gnome sidekick... it could find the items that the foe's drop.. y'know.. since... he is really close to the floor...

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WIWA, wasn't it?

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The churches are empty / The priest has gone home / And we are left standing / Together alone
--October Project: "Dark Time"

Probably. I used the mac click interface and didn't spell them out much.

Ah. I played 3 first, and usually typed in the letters. Then again, there were something like seven or eight mage classes, so there were a lot of spells.

Um... er... [/threadjack]

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The churches are empty / The priest has gone home / And we are left standing / Together alone
--October Project: "Dark Time"

Since Elementals can summon the forces of nature, and well all four or five. Then why not summon either Captain Planet like sidekick (without the heart mind you, which in and of itself is one hell of a setup for a funny summoning) or a planeteer, that way Ryme doesn't have to write script for different elemental damage from one sidekick and eveyone wins.


Also the Gadgeteer could have a skill Jury Rig (my gadgeteer actually) which allows him to create longer standing robots. :twisted

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Assemblers Avenge!!!!!!!!!!!

I like the idea of more sidekicks, and can definately see how they would fit with the Elementalist class. I think, though, that Gadgeteers should have the ability to weld or build special equipment from other common items that would grant them certain benefits. They would fall apart after a certain amount of time, unless they had some sort of ability to repair them. I'm thinking Summon Night, where you would build your equipment, and it would have a durability that would drop with use.

Blatz

The problem I have with these sidekicks is that none of them are really sidekicks in the proper superhero tradition. They're all just random creatures we happen to run into from time to time, use up and throw away. A real sidekick is someone you care about when the adventure is over.

A real sidekick is not an anonymous teenager hired at the local pizza joint for sub-minimum wage. He (or she) needs a back story and a potential future. Rand, Susan Novak, or even Melody (of Melody's Musictorium ... remember her?) would fit the description. Rand, with all his cop skills, would be a competent fighter. Novak could give tactical advice in combat, and might be good for extra XP. Melody ... has lots of room for growth.

I imagine Susan (for example) messaging you to complain about yet another thug terrorizing the University, and she needs to go on patrol with you in order to identify the miscreant. Together you solve her problem, and find that she has a taste for a life of adventure. You develop a master/apprentice relationship, and occasionally she would call you with further mini-quests.

At first, Susan would be about as useful as the freelance teenager, and as often as not cause you problems (she could wander into your line of fire and cause you to fumble, for example). Her advice would be mostly theoretical, but as she gained practical experience over time, she would be able to offer more immediately useful advice, and also learn to stay out of your way in a fight. Eventually, she might even take an active fighting role.

It might make no difference to gameplay whether you get your tactical advice from generic boxing coach or from Susan Novak, but it makes a big difference to the story, and for me it's the story that sells the game. That's really all I'm saying.

I support that idea.
but apparently most of the creatures that walks with us fit much more on the companion term...
the idea of a sidekick with a back story like in the old comics (I'm thinking about Daredevil's Elektra, the well-known Batman's Robin, etc) is real awesome


and... please.. forgive my Ignorance... who's Melody?

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Yeah, I didn't think anyone would remeber Melody. You rescued her in the "Trouble in the Galleria" quest, Remember now?

Another way to make sidekicks more interesting is if we could be each other's sidekicks. Any two live players could register a partnership for the following game day, and would get simulacra of each other to put in the sidekick slot. This wouldn't require the active participation of the partner - rather, the simulacrum would do stuff appropriate to its class and level, according to whatever AI Ryme cooks up. At the end of the day, you would get some XP (and perhaps some loot) from your partner's adventures, and your partner would get some from you.

This idea would obviously require a lot of work in development, but could potentially be fun.

I always wanted to be Cristiona's Sidekick.. but she always rejected me... I don't know why...

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Sidekicks have a future!

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This is a difficult question to answer - I feel Gadgeteers should get sidekicks, while Elementalists should not. So there's no good way to answer this poll as it is currently phrased.

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Alexander Cherry
Twisted Confessions

That's the reason why I didn't vote either.

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Pupper er poesi!