ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

Firstly, please check out this thread: http://forums.te4.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=27848

This is a spin-off rogue class. The description:


The wilds of Maj'Eyal are not a safe place. Untamed beasts and wandering dragons may seem a great threat, but the true perils walk on two legs. Thieves and brigands, assassins and opportunistic adventurers, even mad wizards and magic-hating zealouts all carry danger to those who venture beyond the safety of city walls.

Amidst this chaos wanders one class of rogue that has learned to take by force rather than subterfuge. With refined techniques, agile feats and brawn-backed blades the Marauder seeks out his targets and removes them by the most direct methods. He uses dual weapons backed by advanced combat training to become highly effective in battle, and he is unafraid to use the dirtiest tactics when the odds are against him.

Their most important stats are: Strength, Dexterity and Cunning
Stat modifiers: +4 Strength, +4 Dexterity, +1 Cunning

Life per level: +1
Starting eq: Iron longsword, iron dagger, leather armour, lantern
(maybe also a movement infusion for non-undead?)

Talent trees:
["technique/dualweapon-attack"]={true, 0.2},
["technique/dualweapon-training"]={true, 0.2},
["technique/combat-techniques-active"]={true, 0.3},
["technique/combat-techniques-passive"]={false, 0.0},
["technique/combat-training"]={true, 0.3},
["technique/field-control"]={true, 0.3},
["technique/battle-tactics"]={false, 0.2},
["technique/mobility"]={true, 0.3}, -- A new tree
["technique/thuggery"]={true, 0.3}, -- A new tree
["cunning/dirty"]={true, 0.3},
["cunning/tactical"]={false, 0.2},
["cunning/survival"]={true, 0.3},

Starting talents:
[ActorTalents.T_DIRTY_FIGHTING] = 1,
[ActorTalents.T_SKULLCRACKER] = 1,
[ActorTalents.T_HACK_N_BACK] = 1,
[ActorTalents.T_DUAL_STRIKE] = 1,

The new trees:

Mobility (dex-based, generic tree - could be an escort reward)

1. Hack 'n' Back (activated, 30 stamina, 14 cooldown)
Strike an enemy for (40-100)% weapon damage before leaping backwards up to (1-4) squares away.

2. Mobile Defence (passive)
Whilst wearing leather or lighter armour you gain +(10-40)% defence and +(6-30)% armour hardiness.

3. Light of Foot (passive)
+(0.1-0.5) stamina regen per step and suffer (2-8)% less fatigue from armour. You also have a lower chance of setting off traps.

4. Strider (passive)
+(2-10)% movement speed per talent level.
Decreases the cooldowns of Hack n Back, Rush, Disengage and Evasion by (1-5).


Thuggery (class tree, strength based)

1. Skullcracker (activated, 20 stamina, 10 cooldown)

You smack your forehead against your enemy's head (or whatever sensitive part you can find), causing (10-...) damage and confusing them for (3-7) turns.
The damage increases with your physpower, dexterity and headgear material.

2. Riot-born (passive)

Your attunement to violence has given you (10-50)% resistance to stuns and confusion arising in battle.

3. Vicious Strikes (passive)

You know how to hit the right places, giving +(5-25)% critical damage and +(4-20) armour penetration.

4. Total Thuggery (sustain, 40 stamina, 20 cooldown)

Every hit in battle has +(20-45)% critical chance and +(5-25)% physical penetration, but each strike drains (12-7) stamina.


The point of the class? It's a rogue that uses movement instead of stealth and traps. It's a fighter that uses movement instead of protection. It can close in quickly, flurry an enemy, and then hack n back and get the hell away. It can dance around enemies quickly, regenerating stamina and recovering cooldowns before closing in for the next round. It's stronger than a rogue, but weaker than the true warrior classes, relying still on clever and dextrous tricks for survival. It gets several mobility trees from the go that rogues don't get, whilst starting with three disabling talents and a movement/attack talent. The new trees help augment their other abilities, and give them a bit more hardiness in battle.

Thoughts?

Liking it a lot!

In terms of skills:
Mobile defense could perhaps increase your dex based defence gain by a % rather than a fixed defense gain? I just dunno if +20 defense is really *enough* at talent level 5.

Light of foot is not strong enough. Though a "step" while using a movement infusions sounds broken. But not setting off traps for a class that doesn't have trapping doesn't specifically sound that useful. I'd passively increase max stamina as well. And bigger regen, but only if you've not been "attacked" or targeted with spell/ability in the last 5 turns?

I like strider.

Skullcracker reminds me of Garkul vs Atamathon. I like it a lot.

Vicious strikes really synergizes well with total thuggery, I prehaps would've upped the crit damage and left out armour penetration, but as is looks great already.

Canderel wrote: Mobile defense could perhaps increase your dex based defence gain by a % rather than a fixed defense gain? I just dunno if +20 defense is really *enough* at talent level 5.

Agreed and changed.

Light of foot is not strong enough. Though a "step" while using a movement infusions sounds broken.

It's meant to be broken - well, not exactly broken, but it's to encourage the tactic of dancing around your enemies to recover before pouncing back in for the kill. A lot of moving around is encouraged for the class. Synergises with movement infusions and Strider for use with the classic roguelike tactics of hack n back and pillar dancing. However I admit that the talent isn't that strong when compared with the stamina recovery talent in the Combat Veteran tree. I've changed it to also reduce fatigue a bit, but other suggestions are welcome.


Also, I forgot to mention the unlock: Get the 600 damage achievement with a Rogue.

Talents icons:

Grey wrote: Also, I forgot to mention the unlock: Get the 6000 damage achievement with a Rogue.

*fixed*

No poisons/traps? Otherwise I really like it. Stealth can be fun, but sometimes I just want to crack some heads.

The +% armour hardiness on Mobile Defence... would that really add anything? Maybe I misunderstand the armour hardiness mechanic, but I thought it really only came into play at high level of armour. I like that Mobility is a generic tree. It'd be a nice tree for Temporal Wardens, too.

Poison might be appropriate, but traps certainly not.

It's possible to get decent amounts of armour even with light armour. The mobile defence talent is to try and keep players using light armour with the class, since there isn't the usual Stealth restriction enforced. It doesn't give as much hardiness as the heavy armour talent though.

Make up the unlock intro text and the locked description please

Riot-born needs riot tree. Here you go

Riot

1. Infighting <Sustain or passive, instant+low CD if sustain>
So long as you're adjacent to at least <(6-5-4-3-2)> enemies, you gain <10*tlvl> combat speed for <tlvl> turns. This effect ends if you attack the same enemy twice in a row (read: Spend two actions attacking the same critter).

2. Dogpile <Active>
You slam into a group of enemies, stunning them. Range 2+(tlvl-1), AoE 1 damage+stun centered on target. Stun duration is equal to 1 + (number of enemies hit - 1). Damage is increased based on number of enemies hit. Most any physical debuff could be used here, instead.

3. Crowdwalking <Passive>
Gain tlvl*10% movement speed for every enemy over 6-5-4-3-2-1 adjacent to you.

Edit: An alternative to this would be rename it plain Crowdwalk and turn it into an active. Would be a low CD (1-3 turns), low stamina cost talent that basically let you gem-portal through actors, confusing them and giving minor, stacking, evasion. Only usable when adjacent to at least two enemies. Would become instant at tlvl3 or 4.

4. Riot <Sustain>
Enemies that attack you or are attacked by you have a 10*tlvl% chance to change targets to the nearest creature not hostile to them, causing the two to become hostile to each other.

Basically a tree about being in the middle of a fight, and reveling in it.

please don't make the unlock 6000. How about a smaller one like 1500 or 2k or 3k. It's not in everyone's ability to build a lvl 45+ rogue.

Also as previously mentioned, poisons please.

I'm not sure encouraging the class to be next to numerous enemies is so wise. It's still a rogue, relying more on hit and run tactics than direct confrontation with groups. Thuggery adds a bit of bullishness to the class, but is more for helping against tough bosses. I like the idea of gem-porting through a crowd though :)

Unlock text:

return "New Class: #LIGHT_GREEN#Marauder (Rogue)",
[[Some rogues live by strength rather than cunning, relying on vicious attacks instead of stealth and subterfuge. These bandits maraud the land, lightly armoured and wielding dual weapons, taking what they can by force.

You have learned the value in causing sheer damage in combat and can now create characters with the #LIGHT_GREEN#Marauder class#WHITE#.

Marauders are highly mobile rogues with a range of dextrous techniques and tactics at their disposal. Class features:#YELLOW#
- Move with ease around the battlefield, dancing around your foes and avoiding their attacks
- Wield dual weapons and unleash devastating techniques on your opponents
- Rely on pure thuggery to cripple your enemies before taking them down#WHITE#

Marauders use stamina to fuel their techniques, which replenishes slowly over time.
]]

Locked description:

[[I will not hide and I will not sneak - come dance with my blades and we'll see who's weak. Snapping bone and cracking skull, it's the sounds of battle that make life full!]]

Oh, and if the class is given Cunning/Tactics then a couple of its talents will need to be changed to not be exclusively unarmed (I think Edge was a little worried that'd make Brawlers start using weapons, but I can't realistically see that being a problem when so many of their other talents rely on being unarmed).

I don't think Poisons fit the class myself. Too sneaky and cowardly like traditional rogues.

then make the poison mastery lower. 0.9 or even lower?

I can absolutely see the bandit lord finding a marauder useful in his team, and teaching poisons.

1.0 and locked would be okay, I guess.

Marauder sounds like a fun new class.

If rogues get some attention, though, it might be nice to boost some of the suckier talants discussed here
http://forums.te4.org//viewtopic.php?f=39&t=25487

I just think there's something wrong with this picture: a new rogue class whose specialty is killing things doesn't get the Cunning/Lethality tree. Not even locked.

added