[Alex W]

I believe that in order to proceed with the development of more complex systems like combat, we have to iron out some basics, and start adding in some numbers. One of the most important aspects is the set of four base stats, and the "meters" they affect. So far we have:

STAT ---- METER
Strength - Health
Agility - Stamina (Stamina is about to be reworked with strength and agility, more on that later)
Intelligence - Mana
Discipline - Composure

Tonight I'm going to work on what will most likely be the most complicated stat-meter combo, Discipline and Composure. This will be edited as the system is refined, and eventually worked out into something concrete.

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Stat - Discipline: The measure of a character's general mental focus, clarity and resolve. It should almost be called self-discipline, as that is how it is most often trained, but it does have this in common with the actual (out-of-game) definition:

"Training expected to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior, especially training that produces moral or mental improvement."

With emphasis on the last part. A certain amount of discipline will be naturally inherent to any beginning character, based on their personality and upbringing, but it can be trained further by employing rigorous self-control. Methods may vary among different classes, but here are some common means of improving one's discipline:

Asceticism - withdrawing from the enjoyment of rich foods, material goods and gain, fancy clothing, etc, all takes discipline to achieve. Living such a lifestyle over an extended period of time assists in achieving a clarity of mind unobstructed by thoughts of material goods. The game takes note of such practices, and boosts discipline accordingly.

Meditation - meditation is doubly good for discipline: doing it will maximize the benefits of discipline and composure over an extended period, and it will improve the discipline stat over time slowly, while bringing up the composure meter relatively quickly. Also, the more disciplined one is, the easier it is to fall into a successful meditation.

Means of meditation vary, but can include such practices as focusing on an object or physical feature, repeating a mantra, or simply holding a posture and attempting to clear one's thoughts for a long period. Also, meditation can be disturbed or interrupted by events around the character, although greater discipline may help prevent this.

Prayer - undirected* prayer is akin to meditation (especially with mantras, which are a combination of both), except that it is a direct attempt to clear the mind while achieving communion with one's god. Prayer may not raise discipline as effectively as meditation, but it has the advantages that it raises favor with one's god, and that its effectiveness can increase in groups of characters.

*undirected means any prayer where the character is not attempting to achieve an effect, wish, combat maneuver, etc, through petition of the god, or use of his/her granted power.

Some Effects of Increasing Discipline:
-increases maximum composure proportionately.
-slight increase in rate of composure regaining.
-ability to control one's emotions, and in some cases the effects of them.
-less chance of being distracted from one's task by environmental factors, in any situation.
-greater resistance to fear, shock, or poor environmental conditions.
-greater self-control in chaotic battle situations.
-May increase the character's drive to fulfill certain ambitions.
-has slight positive effect on chance of successful meditation (though this is primarily decided by the character's composure at the time)
-greater ability to deal with and focus god-granted power, and employ this power effectively in both combat and everyday life. Essentially, too much power may drive a disorganized mind mad, thus it takes discipline and focus to handle it.

That last one is the big one, as it ties into the monk/priest class, whose primary strength is discipline, of course. I will go into this in much greater detail later in this thread, but first:


Meter - Composure

Composure is simply a measure of your character's mental health and relative comfort. Your character's maximum composure increases in direct proportion to the character's discipline. This simply means that the greater the discipline a character has, the harder it is to discomfit them. Simple as that definition is, this is the most complicated meter in the game, because many different things will influence it. Here is a list of the types of factors that can affect composure:

Environmental Factors - the character's surroundings will affect them, as all races and beasts are more amenable to some environments than others. For instance, Yetis would be at ease in a snowstorm, as they're adapted to that sort of thing, but the same would not hold true at all for a Hellion. Different environmental factors include weather, temperature, elevation and environment type (desert, forest, underwater cave, etc). A special subset of environmental comfort goes to residences; how at home a type of dwelling will make a race or beast.

Equipment - Clothing, armour, equipment worn and load carried will effect composure, especially over extended periods. A roughly-hewn robe might itch, which is a very slight detractor, whereas an incredibly heavy set of armour will detract from composure much quicker. Some clothing or items will offset other composure effects, like environment.

Health - The physical health of a character, including any conditions they suffer or benefit from, may have positive or negative effects on their composure. This, of course, is just a glossing over of this category, but there are all sorts of states the character can be in. This includes certain mental effects that are physically based, such as shock.

Fulfillment - Lastly, the character's sense of ambition, achievement, and even perhaps self-worth will weigh in on the character's overall happiness. Being generally happy and fulfilled not only is the last key ingredient to a full composure bar, but this element will also multiply into other factors, causing them to either increase or decrease, based on how high the happiness is. I realize this is confusing, so I'll give a couple examples:

[Terra]

Great to hear some more information on Discipline and what it does, as I plan to play as a monk initially.

I do have one question though: when you are discomforted, how does that affect gameplay? Would your attacks be less effective..? Your movement slowed..?

[Gex]

Hmm, I like, but I have one suggestion. Doesn't discipline also tie into attack efficiency/strength and such? I mean, it's an integral part to almost any fighting style, especially unarmed combat. I recommend putting in a slight effect to these areas (perhaps more in unarmed than armed), though not so much as to unbalance it.

[Kostas V2]

By the sound of Asceticism it sounds like it would work both ways, correct? If you choose to live a lavish life style in a castle with treasure and fancy stuff would your discipline decrease or just not increase? Regardless I kept thinking of Jedi from Star Wars while reading the topic, well Jedi and Discipline do go hand in hand.

[8bit]

[Alex W]

Okay, to continue... I did a lot of editing of posts to make the stuff in between shorter, but everything is still there. Sorry I didn't continue on the first post, Steel, but it really is too long already.

Some Effects of Composure:
-One's mental state. Although there are many states a character can be in, in general the lower the composure, the more prone to panic, fear, stress etc a character is.
-By proxy, the effectiveness of almost all actions, including combat skills. While this is weighted so that low composure won't make you -zero- percent effective, it can have a large effect. Certain skills will be more reliant on a collected state than others. For instance, in crafting a very fine gem, you should be calm and collected if you want to make a good cut. In running the heck away from an army, you don't need good composure. Being panicked might actually help.

The monks/rogues have somewhat of an advantage in this. Though they may not always be as strong as warriors or as agile as rogues, they can often make the best of their abilities, and are even less prone to loss of composure from their surroundings, through training of discipline. Additionally, some monks fight bare-handed, which is heavily reliant on good composure -and- discipline.

More to follow....
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<homestar14> What is the first thing that need to be coded?
<Alex||> the intro video where thugs steal your girlfriend and you come out of the garage

[Arcadian]

I believe Intelligence should effect the rate of change in composure.

An Ogre isn't going to care if his clothes are tattered and that people find that repulsive in society. Whereas a more intelligent entity would find their lack of fashion somewhat distressing.

In essence, "Ignorance is Bliss."
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Bamf! Claw! Fang!
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[Alex W]