There’s some talk about a religious trait in this thread, if you’re looking for more inspiration: http://smf.cataclysmdda.com/index.php?topic=2990.0
I’m not sure how much of it is still relevant, but there are some decent ideas in there.
a bit tangential to the topic, but anyway…
i used to start a MMO by greeting the teams in general chat with “Iran is good”. (disclaimer : i’m not iranian, salam to those who are). Besides the homophobes and retards in dire need of internet attention, some of the replies were really worth the bother.
Like those :
“Persia was better”
“I keep my Koran wrapped in bacon”
“Nukes aren’t”
…
I guess armored books is a no-go. Sigh. I kinda kinda liked the idea of having a post-apocalyptic priest with an armored bible that had BLOCK3 and could be read to boost morale, kind of like a shield for body AND spirit, struck me as somewhat poetic.
I also wanted the book of pastafarism to have a built in hotplate and bowl, for the modern disciple in a dangerous world to cook pasta on the go (I assume cooking pasta is an important act for a follower of pastafarism, although I haven’t researched it, sorry)
I had ideas for some of the other faiths too, to try and show how the human spirit adapts it’s beliefs to survive in a new world it no longer controls or understands.
Is this whole concept just flawed, or was it only the overly violent part that was problematic?
For example, would it be acceptable to have a Koran that has been built into a blanket, that can be deployed like a rollmat for daily prayer as well as slept on?
I guess this is like the Heatblades again. I meant them to be a sort of utilitarian Swiss-army tool; they could cut up raw material for crafting, start a campfire, light the way at night, cauterize wounds, and bash an enemy or two in a pinch. All the kinds of things that might be useful to a lone survivor in a strange world.
I worked really hard coding in all that functionality; things like active Heatblades providing a light radius, being usable as a source of fire for things like fuses, and menus that link to the IUSE functions for knives and matches. Every single Heatblade has two unique IUSE entries, two base .json entries, and code that spreads over at least 5 or 6 .cpp files. Even the menu text for each one is unique, with specific themes to match the context of the base sword; everything from Monty Python to Cyberpunk to empty verse. For sheer data mass, Heatblades may be most complex inventory items in the game.
And all everyone saw was some silly flaming swords, just some idiotic Anime trope. Maybe my concept of unique items with lots of functionality and deep, under-the-the-hood complexity just doesn’t fit Cata.
Sorry but I really cant say yes to that. I mean we have rule of cool to justify the blade swords but an all in one religious multitool that can also bash skulls is very ridiculous, insanely ridiculous.
So for all the functionality and depth you planned the weaponized books to have, you didn’t bother to do any research and went with the shallowest possible understanding of each religion? And you aren’t sure why this is a bad idea?
You sure you aren’t all over-thinking this?
Explosive Quran = No and for good reason. Things like this are just pure religious flamebait.
Armoured book = Hardly a primary weapon except for RP runs. Give it a mediocre bash score, block and be done.
Come on, guys. Not like it’s gonna be a damn endgame+1 baseball bat.
By the way, having a Koran rollmat is again pretty bad taste.
Yes, I’m sure the flaming sword guy will implement the weaponized books with restraint and taste.
I mean the thing is insanely ridiculous, where on earth are you going to find a steel plated Quran? Why on earth would you do create one?
They could work as mods perhaps? I mean if you really want to Rp it why just not add a it to the file in your private game.
I fully support this,
“You start reading from the arcane book” “Aya cthulu, aya dag-ooo”
“Blub blub blub”
Game over.
I remember reading in an old thread that finding magical books of evil magicness was cool but obviously never accepted.
And yet we have magical temples of fire and snakes.
Necronomicon of death stills sounds fun to read.
Also armored books sounds fun, but many people would still prefer a machete.
Once this game gets its difficulty ramped up with realistic stamina, increasingly tough creatures, or even weapon durability, you won’t be running to the church or library 1st day.
At least the religion trait can add some cool flavor. I GUESS. ATHEIST YAY. SO FUN.
edit: lol book plate made from bibles GG
These were just off top of head suggestions, to see if anyone would be interested in having books with unique functionality as opposed to just general reinforced ones. They weren’t meant to be deeply thought out, more just proof-of-concept. If I actually decided to work on them, I would have done research to see what would have made sense for each religion.
The exploding Quran was meant as a joke; I wasn’t actually going to make one.
I think my final conclusion is that the idea of superbooks is really too out there; religion just doesn’t play enough of a part in Cata for these to make sense. Maybe when we have things like factions, there could be a group of modern-day crusaders that might carry their faith into battle with them like this, but that’s a long way away.
Although, a warrior-priest with an iron book could make a pretty cool profession, I might look into that.
I find that somewhat doubtful, given how you asked for input and started backpedaling once people vetoed the idea, but as it won’t be implemented I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt on this one.
Nature, when they start adding factions, you can probably create some cool faction weapons like you said.
It isn’t too far off from real gang behavior.
I remember watch a 30 min story of this drug trading gang that used this random fire god as their symbol and used a “wierd nightstick-ish” weapon as their main source of violence. The fire god used something like it.
Armored books and crucifix polearms would be totally acceptable with apocalyptic factions.
Wait what? NO
What is this? Some sort of cheap unimaginative anime?
Its one thing to have a religious Knights Hospitaler group and one having a bunch of guys swinging giant crucifixes in the air like morons, and no no way someone would shape a pole arm like a crucifix, youll lose all the advantages of having a polearm by doing that.
I use the same excuse Nature did for bomb book.
What do you got mister baseball bat man?
Well reality and logic for starters.
I have to agree that Weaponizing religious items is in poor taste, i wholly support their presence in the game, but leave them as what they are.
Why would you weaponize a book?
Because you can.
And also, it’s something I’d wanted to do when I was in middle school.
(Explanation: We were required to put covers on all our textbooks so they wouldn’t get damaged. I had wanted to use sheet metal for mine, but nobody would let me. I also didn’t have any sheet metal.)
You are a weird kid in middle school, NW.
Do I detect a case of bullying? If yes, I’m sorry for bringing it up again. I’ve been bullied too. If no, disregard this.
Anyway, I don’t think weaponizing books are really necessary. Unless we have a way of modding melee weapons…