After much consideration and deliberation, we have decided that, overall, we like how races work in Lusternia. Thus, rather than any wide sweeping changes or new systems, we have decided to tackle the question of racial rebalancing with a light hand. We have decided on the following changes:

• Global: DOWNGRADE effectiveness of balance and equilibrium advantage/disadvantage (lvls 1/2/3)
• Global: DOWNGRADE effectiveness of elixer advantage/disadvantage (lvls 1/2/3)
• Titan: DOWNGRADE to +1 on stats.
• Titan: DOWNGRADE to lvl 1 regen on other planes
• Demigod: DOWNGRADE to +2 on stats.
• Demigod: DOWNGRADE to lvl 1 regen on all planes
• Dwarf: INCREASE Strength to 15
• Dwarf: NEW: ALCOHOL TOLERANCE LVL 3: Reduce effect of alcohol. The more drunk you are, the more you absorb damage.
• Dwarf: REMOVE Have slower balance, level 1.
• Dracnari: NEW: ALCOHOL TOLERANCE LVL 1: Reduce effect of alcohol. The more drunk you are, the more you absorb damage.
• Igasho: INCREASE: Are susceptible to fire, level 3.
• Trill: INCREASE Charisma : 14
• Trill: NEW: Seduction Influencing, lvl 2
• Viscanti: INCREASE: Resistance to blunt damage, level 2.
• Viscanti: INCREASE: Resistance to cutting damage, level 2.
• Viscanti: NEW: Resistance to magic damage, level 2.
• Viscanti: NEW: Intimidation Influencing, lvl 1
• Viscanti: NEW: Village Influencing, lvl 2
• Kephera: NEW: Are susceptible to fire, level 1.
• Kephera: NEW: Are susceptible to cold, level 1.
• Illithoid: NEW: Intimidation Influencing, lvl 3
• Illithoid: NEW: Paranoia Influencing, lvl 3
• Illithoid: NEW: Village Influencing, lvl 3

We added only two new features: Alcohol Tolerance Advantage and Influencing Advantage. The alcohol advantage is simply as described: you can hold your booze a little more and the drunker you are, you naturally absorb more damage. As for the Influencing Advantages, a specific influencing skill gets more poweful attacks. The biggest impact of a change will most likely be the retooling of balance and equilibrium advantages/disadvantages as they are now noticeably lessened. Because of this we didn't make radical changes to races that some people may have thought were overpowered (i.e., mugwump and faeling). The other change that will have a big impact is the downgrading of the stat increases and regeneration of titans and demigods. It was felt this was skewing races too much and needed to be watered down.

The above changes are not live. We would like to have you test them first and give us constructive feedback. You may log into Roark's test server at: mooter.no-ip.org port 23 -- feel free to bug any bugs on the test server. However, for design discussion, post your concerns and comments here.

I love you


I mean.. erm.. NICE!!

Am I to understand, this means if my dwarf is drunk, he gains some physical defence?

Why are Igasho slated to be made weaker? I've never heard people complain they were too strong for their disadvantages. Ever.

I just want to say NO to bonuses to village influencing. Especially when the races that will get them are viscanti and illithoid.

Also, with the balance/eq downgrades, does it mean the ones with slower bal/eq will also become a bit faster?

I know why this was done, but as a sub demi aslaran, it sorta worries me. I'm already squishy, and have a sip penalty. Any chance for the afflicted races to see toughening up, if this goes through? Maybe an equivalent reduction in sip penalities? It always seemed to me to be more of an issue at the real extremes anyway, but prior to demi (which of course I can't comment on personally), I definitely feel the trade off, both in combat, and when I assess people.

Ok, so now that there's even LESS of a point for non-physical classes to get demigod (less con), can we make int increase magic damage a little more? Warriors seem dandy right now, but the mugwump speed is a pretty huge nerf to affliction classes.

I can only assume that this is working on the assumption that charisma affects village influencing. If that's the case then it's quite fair for those races to have a better chance in village influencing.

Other influencing, not so much, but that also matters much less.

I understand why Illithoids get Paranoia and Intimidation, but why village influencing? They're ugly, and people don't like them. It also kinda sways the scale towards Glom and Mag, since Seren and Celest ban the races.

Alcohol Tolerance eh?

*Drunken Master Dwarf* hehehe

love the changes though, looking forward with it.

Additionally, if these buffs are about the same in impact as dramatics performance types, I don't think it will be terribly imbalancing. I have a hard enough time seeing much benefit from dramatics as is right now.

Need to try it out on the test server before condemning it.

Question: Does the Influencing advantage effect the speed of those attacks, or just the power? Cause if it doesn't effect the speed, then it's kind of pointless for Illithoid, because they're so slow that it's still not efficient to influence with them, given that mobs actually have a chance to respond and deal extra damage, thus increasing the drain on their ego and requiring more use of bromides and such. Not to mention that slower speed means they're going to do less damage than a faster influencing race anyway, even if that race doesn't have the bonus.

Perhaps give them some sort of Influencing speed bonus tied to their Inner Worm? The more psychic energies they've absorbed, the faster their influencing speed?

Regarding illithoids, as I explained to the envoys, we didn't want to give up the rp of low charisma in those races but understood the need to boost some influence skills for those races. (The alternative would have just been upping their charisma.) It's not the speed of influencing, but the strength of influencing that is upgraded. Thus, basically illithoid will be ok at village/weaken/paranoid influencing and suck at begging/seducing/empowering.

Ok, I can live with that.

I like the way this is looking.

yeah, the server is great..except I found a grodak in the inner sea, and it FOLLOWED ME TO BALLACH, and then killed me

Also: no thoughts at all on monk (kephera/illithoid or standard) or bard (standard) spec races?

That would be an RP choice, not a game mechanic, now wouldn't it?

I know this seems annoying, but is this the final call? I think Trills could probably use a bit bigger boost since they really have NO combat viability, and Faelings are better influencers by far.

I never understood how a super psionic race could suck at influencing, personally. Yeah, they may be hideous and have no charisma, but they can bend your frick'n mind to their will. If only there was an extra kind of influencing that was like "Dominate" and then, once you beat them, you could pick the effect of one other sort of influencing to have take effect :-p

I just thought of this so may as well jot it down. I haven't really thought this through.

Regarding how people believe that the biggest draw of titan/demi/ascendant is the increased stats for the con, what about instead of increased stats, they get a static boost to their health/mana/ego. Maybe 500 at titan, 1k at demi, 1500 at ascendant? (Just examples of numbers to throw out.) Again, the stats would remain the same, just their base health/mana/ego get a static boost.