Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-71.61.178.23-20130722105712/@comment-71.61.177.24-20131114051348

I don't think the variations of the armor should be terribly prominent in gameplay. Perhaps they could just be variants, not distinct types with their own names in inventory? Like the different variants of the Dawnguard armor - slight variations in the shapes and such, that you find on different items of the same type. I do think it's probable that every race would make armor slightly differently, but I don't think all Khajiit, say, would always make their armor "Khajiit-style", just as people who learned smithing from Khajiit or who grew up with Khajiit might make their armor "Khajiit-style".

It's not really a species thing, but a cultural thing - keep in mind, at least one person of any given race will have a very different culture from the culture of that race. Think of Brand-shei - he was adopted by Argonians, and has an Argonian name. If he were a smith, he might very well use Argonian style rather than Dunmer style, because of his upbringing. So it seems to me that there should be some sort of game-mechanics way to determine a character's culture, and use that to determine what variant their handiwork will be, and what variant you can learn from them.

I actually had something quite similar to this idea a while back: a culture-based fighting style system. Basically, the idea was that every race (or rather, person who possesses the culture of that race) would probably fight differently from any other, and that using different types of weapons (such as switching between a scimitar and a steel sword) would also require changes in style.

Off the top of my head, I can think of Ebony versus Glass, Dwarven, and Stalhrim Daggers. The Ebony Dagger has one edge - it's a weapon that should be used accordingly, in thrusts and downward strokes. The Dwarven and Glass Daggers are thick, double-edged weapons - they'd be wielded like the gladius shortsword of Rome, as small hacking weapons. The Stalhrim Dagger is somewhere between the two - it's thinner than the Dwarven and Glass Daggers, but is double-edged and generally shaped like them. Upward cutting blows, stabbing, and parrying seem most likely for it.

The cultural side seems a little obvious, but I'll explain anyway, just in case my oversight leaves anyone in the dark. Different cultures have different ways of fighting, sometimes with the same weapons. The only example I can think of would actually fall under the unarmed skill - there is literally a whole list on Wikipedia of martial arts, from different cultures all around the world - all of them different enough from the others to be considered different fighting styles. I'm more familiar with unarmed stuff, so I don't know much about cultural ways of fighting with weapons, but I do know they exist.

Sometimes, the two might overlap - for instance, the Alik'r will undoubtedly tend towards slashing or hacking blows, because that's what their most common weapons, scimitars, are designed for. Japanese sword-fighting (or Akaviri sword-fighting) is bound to be different from what we in the West consider "normal" sword-fighting, simply because katanas and their varyingly-sized ilk are shaped so differently from the European (or human-made Tamrielic) sword. This could apply to magic, too - I hardly think that everybody has exactly the same casting stance, or that everybody "throws" or "holds" their spells in quite the same way - but I don't see how we could apply that to the player in the way that I was thinking.

This curious line of thought gave rise to the idea that, quite apart from the different animation, you might have to learn the proper styles to use certain weapons without falling over your feet - and that the people who train you might influence which animation you use when you fight. For instance, there might be a "Weapon Style" spot on each combat perk tree, which would have several ranks for different fighting styles, but instead of unlocking it normally you could also have the option of unlocking it by training in that skill with a trainer with that style. Unlocking it normally would require that you've used that weapon for a while, or that you've fought many foes or watched many people fighting who use that style, the idea being that you've figured it out on your own.

The arnor styles reminds me of that, and I think it's a little funny how similar the ideas are. Not too major a role, just occassional aesthetic changes and a little cultural flavor to the smithing and combat skills.

The smithing part would probably rely more on the culture determining thing I mentioned earlier - that is, for NPCs selling stuff - but if it was a general merchant who didn't make their own wares, there would be no set pattern to the variants you'd find. Then the variants you make would be based on the trainers you have and the variant you usually wear. Your home province (not race, because as I said before there is no garuntee that an individual of a certain race will use their race's cultural style) would define your default styles.

That fire spell in the rain idea is quite a good one. I do think that spells would be affected by the environment - they already are, to a degree. You can't cast a fire spell underwater. (Actually, I don't think you can cast spells underwater, period.) The dungeons idea is even awesomer (which i didn't think would be possible), as is DCG's idea about using spells to bypass it - Levitate or Snowdrift would be perfect for the winter dungeons, and no ice shall block the path of a mage with fire spells.

202.156.8.9, firstly, here is an area paralasys spell. :)

Secondly, I am not so sure about your perk system and some of your spells. Namely Transparency, Concealment, Powerful Telekinesis, Soul Rip, Oblivion Thrall, Regeneration, Regenerate Other, Powerful Regeneration, and Invincibility, as well as most of the water spells. I actually intended the steam to be seperate spells.

However, you're not an awful idea-suggester by a loooong shot. Several of those water spells have given rise to a hybrid idea of mine, and many of your other suggested spells (that is, the ones I didn't explicitly name) are awesome.

The hybrid idea shall now be presented to you:

Steam Jet (A jet of steam, inflicticng burn damage.)

Water Jet (A jet of water, driving your opponent back, potentially staggering and/or disarming them, and makes them slower. If it's cold out, it will also do frost damage, and it will make them more susceptible to it for a set period - that goes for all non-steam water spells.)

Snowdrift (A snowdrift created with a steady stream of snow. Not really a water spell.)

Wave (A wave of water that works like Water Jet on steroids.)

Water Rune (Wave, only as a rune.)

Rain Cloak (I was inches away from calling this one Storm Cloak. Basically, a mini rainstorm - a very fierce one - that staggers your enemies, makes them slower, and does the universal frost damage if cold and weakness to frost damage.)

Fire atronachs would take damage from water spells, as opposed to other opponents who are only staggered, disarmed, and/or slowed down, or dealt frost damage if it's cold.

Steerable boats are a yes, as are closed-face helmets and the accompanying anonymity.

- WorshipsMeridia