This was the first GW2 design document, which I created jointly with Rotain and Kastagaar. Sadly our preferences were very different, and we had to make so many compromises that in the end none of us were enthusiastic about the project. The whole thing lost steam and eventually ground to a stop. KaVir. ________ .___ __ __ .___.___ / _____/ ____ __| _/ / \ / \_____ _______ ______ | | | / \ ___ / _ \ / __ | \ \/\/ /\__ \\_ __ \/ ___/ | | | \ \_\ ( <_> ) /_/ | \ / / __ \| | \/\___ \ | | | \______ /\____/\____ | \__/\ / (____ /__| /____ > |___|___| \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ * The home plane The state of immortality is granted by merging with a plane of existance. This plane then becomes that immortal's anchor to reality, so that should he or she die they will be reborn within that plane rather than passing on to the next life (as a regular mortal would do). When a character is first created, s/he automatically begins play with a small (3x3x3) plane of existance. As s/he grows in power, the plane grows larger. * Manifesting a body Immortals may create a body if they do not have one, or repair their previous body if it has been badly damage or killed. They may also modify their body freely as long as they are within their own plane. Without a body, an immortal may not leave their plane of existance - they are pure energy, and do not conform to the laws of reality anywhere else. * Manipulating reality Within their own plane of existance, an immortal is - quite literally - god. They control the laws of reality, may invite or banish other immortals freely, and can adjust the landscape on a whim. Objects and creatures can also be willed into existance, and some of these - like the immortal's physical body - can even be transported into other planes of existance. * Familiars Each immortal may possess a single familiar, which usually serves as a mount. The familiar is only available after one of the appropriate powers have been learned, and is the only creature (apart from the immortal themself) who may leave the immortal's home plane. On some planes of existance, this familiar may assume a non-organic form (such as a motorcycle). * Planes of existance There are countless planes of existance, each of which have their own laws of reality. Here are some of them: o HOME: The home plane of the immortal, where s/he is effectively God. o PANTHEON: A pantheon plane, where limited manipulation is possible by all members. o ELEMENTAL: The elemental planes are where immortals gain their magical powers from. These planes are either fire, air, earth or water (although special "rare" planes may be added later). o NEXUS: The gateway to all other realities (the main purpose of this is to have a neutral meeting ground for everyone). o PREHISTORIC: Cavemen, perhaps dinosaurs (unrealistic, but fun), that sort of thing. Weapons limited to spears and clubs. o MEDIEVAL: Knights in shining armour, swords, shields, that sort of thing. o MODERN: Basically modern day. When an immortal enters a plane of existance, it is created specifically for him/her (think in terms of a private Diablo game), although others may be invited. The idea behind this is that there are infinite possible realities, making it practically impossible to land in the same one as someone else (unless you have specific tracking powers). Each plane has a number of quests which can only be performed once by each player (think Diablo "acts"). While it is still possible to return to those planes, you cannot repeat the quests - they are one-player-one-shot deals. Obviously this doesn't apply to owned planes or the nexus (the latter is a non-violent socialising place, the former MAY have things to kill - but that is up to the owner). The number of quests a player has performed determines the maximum that s/he can train his/her stats. * Elemental planes Elemental planes are generated completely randomly with the difficulty level depending on the power of the plane. As the player wanders around the plane, each room is randomly generated on the fly (but remains persistant). When monsters are killed, there is a chance of them dropping some nice item - including an elemental heart. If the room the player has just entered is the last unexplored room in the plane, an elemental heart is automatically created. Each elemental heart possesses a single power, although these powers are stackable (so if you had three Elemental Heart's of Fireball that would give you a level 3 fireball spell). These hearts therefore become the basis of each player's magical powers. * Quest goals Each quest within each plane has one or more parts, assembled from the basic building blocks described below: o FIND: Find a specific object (special quest objects cannot be dropped/etc). o DELIVER: Give a specific object to another mob. o USE: Use a specific object. o VISIT: Visit a specific mob. o KILL: Kill a specific mob. o RESCUE: Rescue a specific mob. o TRAVEL: Travel to a specific location. o ESCORT: Escort a specific mob to a specific location. o RETURN: Escort a specific mob to another specified mob. The parts will form a quest. For example you might have to VISIT the innkeeper who tells you that his daughter has been kidnapped. After you RESCUE her the evil baron turns up, forcing you to KILL him. This might be coded something like: #QUEST 1 TASK Visit the innkeeper, south of the market square. @VISIT 3 (the innkeeper) ACTION 3 say My daughter has been kidnapped! You must help me, {name}! ACTION 3 emote wipes the tears from his face with the back of his hand. ACTION 3 say I think she was taken into the Black Forest! TASK Rescue the innkeeper's daughter from the Black Forest, west of town. @RESCUE 4 (the innkeeper's daughter) ACTION 4 say Thank you SO much for rescuing me! I cannot...wait! Who's that? SPAWN 5 (creates the baron) ACTION 5 emote steps into the room with an evil chuckle. ACTION 4 say Help! The evil baron has returned! ACTION 5 say Indeed I have. Prepare to die, {name}! ACTION 5 kill {name} TASK Kill the evil baron. @KILL 5 (the evil baron) ACTION 4 say Oh thank you, {name} - you have saved me! ACTION 4 say Please...would you escort me back to my father? ACTION 4 follow {name} TASK Escort the innkeeper's daughter back home. @ESCORT 4 3 (the innkeeper's daughter to the innkeeper) ACTION 3 say My daughter! I had thought never to see you again! ACTION 4 say Oh father I was so scared - but {name} saved me! ACTION 3 smile {name} ACTION 3 say Thank you, {name}, you have my eternal gratitude. ACTION 3 say Please, take this small gift as a thank you. REWARD 3 (creates a random reward and gives it to the player) TASK Quest complete. @END * Starting the game When you first log in, a (temporary) personal plane of existance is created. Your character is simply referred to as "God". There is no actual creation process as such - you telnet in, and you're straight into the game. In order to make yourself a permanent part of reality (ie be able to save!) you must give yourself a "true name". Once you have a true name you are able to start customising your plane and can create a body as well as equipment to wear on it. Players are able to specify a "default" set of equipment which can be loaded up at will (when on their own plane) - this default IS initialised when the character is first created. Once you have a body, you are able to travel from the entrance to your plane (which is defaulted to the single starting room in your plane, but which can be changed later) to the Nexus. From the Nexus you may then enter portals to the other planes - or enter another player's personal plane. If two players wish, they may create portals directly between their own personal planes, but this requires the consent of both players. * Combat To configure your fighting style, you are able to specify a percentage split between your left hand, right hand and body. This might look like: Right hand : 40% : Slash Left hand : 40% : Parry Body : 20% : Dodge The left and right hand can each be set to one of the following: Smash: Smash/crush your opponent (use flat of the blade, if bladed). Thrust: Thrust/stab/pierce your opponent with the point of your weapon. Chop: Chop/slice/slash your opponent with the edge of your weapon. Pummel: Pummel your opponent with the hilt of your weapon. Hurl: Throw your weapon at your opponent. Parry: Attempt to deflect your opponent's attack. The body can be set to one of the following: Dodge: Attempt to dodge your opponent's attack. Distract: Attempt to distract your opponent. Headbutt: Headbutt your opponent. Kick: Kick your opponent. Dirtkick: Kick dirt into your opponent's face. Slam: Slam yourself bodily into your opponent. Players are able to train their weapon skills and stances through use. The weapon skills will use a tree structure, so that if you master the longsword you'll also be good at shortswords and okay with axes. The stances will most likely be similar to the 120 Last City ones, although it would be nice to have the "advanced" stances too. This could be done by simply allowing people to combine two existance stances, so you might have the "crane and viper stance". A player can learn up to 10 basic stances, which are then used to determine the "advanced" combinations (up to 10 more advanced stances are possible). This means that there are 7140 possible advanced stances! In addition, players who have mastered an advanced stance will be able to create their own specialist fighting techniques. Each technique gives a set of bonuses (depending on the stances used, but fairly customisable like superstances), and can be researched (and named) by each player. Each player can have up to one per advanced stance. Each time the technique is used on someone, there is a small chance that their opponent will be able to learn it. A technique will not work against someone who knows it. If you learn someone else's technique in this way, you cannot use it yourself, nor can you teach it to anyone else - and you can only remember the last 10 techniques you've seen other people use. This encourages people to use a little variety in combat. * Magic styles (improved through use) to help keep some of the old GodWars feel Blue - Healing, defensive. Red - Offensive. Green - Personal (on self). Yellow - Enchantments (on objects). Purple - Global (no target). * Elemental Magic (rough categories) Fire - Offensive. Air - Transportation, speed, vision. Earth - Strength, resilience, defensive. Water - Shapechanging, healing * Pantheons Anyone can create a pantheon at any time. When you create a pantheon you are assigned another plane of existance (just as small as a starting home plane - although it can be increased by clan members tithing soul points). Once you have placed an elemental heart in your plane, you are then able to recruit new clan members. A new recruit has no additional powers or benefits other than being associated with other players. Upon placing an elemental heart in the pantheon plane, however, the recruit becomes a full clan member and receives the associated bonuses (the leader may also require soul point donations as well). A pantheon leader has a number of options available, such as induct (let someone join the pantheon), outcast (kick someone out of the pantheon, but they DO keep their elemental heart, so use with care!), promote (give a clan member a higher or lower rank), tax (setting a soul point tax), etc. Clan leaders may also specify up to ten different elemental hearts which a recruit may donate in order to become a full member. A promoted member gains no extra powers, but does get the ability to recruit new members, etc. Just as you receive magical powers according to the number of elemental hearts in your home plane, you also receive magical powers according to HALF the number of elemental hearts in your pantheon plane (rounded down). Thus if your pantheon plane has 10 elemental hearts of fireball, each clan member automatically receives 5 stackable points in fireball (which can be added to any additional hearts they have in their home plane). Not only does this encourage people to form large pantheons, but it also encourages each pantheon to specialise in certain types of magic. * Stats. Each body possesses the following stats: o STR (Strength): The raw physical might of your body. Each point of strength gives you one point of HEALTH and three points of DAMAGE. o DEX (Dexterity): The agility and hand-eye coordination of your body. Each point of dexterity gives you two points of ATTACK, one point of DEFENCE and a third of a point of SPEED. o STA (Stamina): The toughness and overall fitness of your body. Each point of stamina gives you seven points of HEALTH. o SIZ (Size): The physical size and reach of your body. Each point of size gives three points of HEALTH, one point of ATTACK and one point of DAMAGE. o WIT (Wits): The mental alertness and reaction speed of your body. Each point of wits gives you two points of DEFENCE and two thirds of a point of SPEED. Each stat can be in the range 1-10 and you have 25 points to distribute between them. Each quest completed gives an extra 5 points to distribute and raises the stat maximums by 1. Stats can be rearranged freely while in your home plane. * Classes o Ancients: To some we are demons, to others angels, yet both concepts are nothing more than inventions of the limited mortal mind. We are the Ancient Ones and we have existed since the dawn of time. Born in another realm of reality, we are facinated by these fragile mortals. Sometimes we aid them, at other times we hinder them, in the same way as a mortal child might help an ant by providing it with a bridge to cross a puddle - or crush the ant underfoot without a second thought. Mortal terms such as "good" and "evil" do not apply to us. Perceive Gatekeepers as wraiths, ghosts, etc, and Atlantians as sorcerers. o Gatekeepers: We are the gatekeepers to the underworld, the ferrymen between the mortal world and the afterlife. Perceive Ancients as demons/angels and Atlantians as sorcerers. o Atlantians: Many thousands of years ago our civilisation almost destroyed the entire planet during a bitter civil war. Now we are the guardians of the rest of humanity, protecting them from destroying themselves. Although human, our technology has advanced to such a degree that we ourselves are effectively immortal. Perceive both Ancients and Gatekeepers as alien lifeforms. * Immortal hierarchy There are seven "levels" of god: Named God: Mastership over Nexus, class and personal plane. Supreme God: Mastership over Nexus, class and personal plane. Greater God: Mastership over class and personal plane, with 1 blessing. Lesser God: Mastership over class and personal plane. Greater Godling: Mastership over personal plane, with 2 blessings. Lesser Godling: Mastership over personal plane, with 1 blessing. Immortal: Mastership over personal plane. At the top of the chain are the three of us, as "named" gods (as opposed to generic god titles). We can banish other players from the Nexus and our class plane. We may also bless players - and if we bless someone from our own class, they are immediately promoted to "Lesser God". Blessing someone from another class doesn't do much, other than indicate that we're giving them our "vote". Beneath us are the Supreme Gods. These players - like us - have control over the Nexus and may banish people from it, or silence them from the global channels. They also hold the same power within their own class plane. Of course in order to attain such power, the player has to have been voted in (ie blessed) by all three of us. Next come the Greater and Lesser Gods. These players have control over their class plane in the same way as the Supreme Gods, but within the Nexus are no more powerful than any other player. The only way to become a God is to be voted in by your class leader (so only I could make Demon "Gods", etc). The difference between Greater and Lesser is purely cosmetic - it simply indicates that the player has a vote from one of the other class leaders. After the Gods come the Godlings. These players have no additional powers over a normal player, but their status indicates that they've been given a vote by one or more of the other class leaders. Last - and least - come the Immortals. These are just regular players, who have no special powers outside of their personal planes. The control structure looks like this: Nexus: KaVir, Rotain, Kastagaar, Supreme Gods Underworld: Kastagaar and his Gods Personal: Owner of plane Atlantis: Rotain and his Gods Personal: Owner of plane Hell: KaVir and his Gods Personal: Owner of plane Note that we cannot banish people from their own home plane, but we CAN trap them in it (although they could still travel to the personal planes of other people, if those people agreed to it). Global channels (chat/gossip and class channels) can also be controlled in the same way as plane access - so one of my Gods could prevent a regular player from using demontalk.