Ghostworld/Metaworld Options

[Zerotacg]

comming from the idea of permadeath we came up with another thought that could integrate permadeath into the advancing process of the character

when dieing a permadeath you'd get a ghoststyle charackter and a whole new layer of the world would open up to you, depending on your living charackter and the lvl etc the ghost/demon char could start off with better stats and some skills or at least simmilar ones.
ghosts could be able to appear, and with lots of afford get physical for limited time to effect the physical world, or posses things with lesser willpower then they have (eg animals, sleeping players maybe).
This would give a nice impression seeing deceased chars and stuff, and open up a whole new skill tree for magicians (eg ghost banning/barriesrs n stuff, summoning to "help" them get physical, or maybe even let them posses you)
ghosts them self could play/lvl in there world getting mighty demons or what ever.
for roleplaying ghots could haunte a house/pub making some noises, letting the door swing, ghost stuff
the ultimate end of being a ghost could be to get reborn as the incarnation of your ghost/demon stronger then your previous living charackter.
This way permadeath would integrate in the normal advancing, you should still be able to choose if yu permadie or not so you can advance your living charackter to the max to start as a strong ghost etc.
It would also open up for lots of interessting magic applications, ghost hunting, barriers, summoning.
possessing animals for a ghost could give nice xp when defeating a player maybe , that way the mobs would get incredible AI, cause a real human would play them from time to time.
A part of the world could be "haunted" where lots of ghosts are, the lvl ground for ghosts maybe where you could easily get posses by a ghost player/npc and stuff.

all in all that would take some of the fear of permadeath
1. you could get your equipment back, if you stored it somewhere safe while living, when getting to stage 3 where u get reborn
2. as you would keep some of your knowledge when getting a ghost, even though some skills might be not useful for a ghost, since it's still you u might as well take that knowledge to the reborn state
3. permadeath opens up a new scale of skills aviable cause you get the ghoststuff, and some ghost-physical combination when getting reborn

reborn charackter could still have the possibility to see ghosts etc


some credit goes to corman since he mentioned the ghostworld thingy first

[glibdud]

Neat idea. It's worth some thought. Keep in mind that it's going to affect the lore of the world a lot, though. If the world works that way, then characters are going to have memories and skills from a number of past lives, as well as the knowledge that they got from one to the next. It will have big effects on how the game society treats a person's death.

I'll try to post some more substantial ideas later.

[Alexander]

Nice idea, loving it!

Perhaps the spirit/ghost of the deceased could come back to life if it had collected (drained) enough energy from the living. It's an all too common thing for incorporeal undead to have some sort of energy draining ability with which they sustain themselves.

This ghost world could pose as a last chance barrier between true perma-death and life. The ghost's energy (perhaps its soul) could start to weaken over time rapidly because it no longer has a living body to reside in. Draining other living creatures could be the means to sustain themselves and perhaps allow to come back to life altogether.

Possessing material non-living objects might be effective to stop their decay of energy but since its not a living body it will never allow them to recharge with it, only draining the living will. Perhaps forcefully entering another player's body will allow you to take over control permanently if you can hold on to it long enough.

Remember that there are many different types of incorporeal undead known already in fantasy, so perhaps the manner of your death will matter in what kind of a ghost, spectre, wrath, shadow, etc you will become.

[Honis]

I like where the PvP is going in this.

Imagine a pack of wolves getting possesed by a ghosting guild and raiding a town. It would open player made live content!

Ghost race was discussed here (its locked so feel free to repeat in here): http://www.projectwish.com/index.php?showtopic=2465

[glibdud]

That's kind of in the same vein as LotR Online's PvP system (at least from what I gathered from the short pre-release period I played in). All the main characters are "good", but through play the players can unlock monsters they can use for PvP against other players' mains.

As PvP systems go, that sounds interesting enough that I'd almost be tempted to partake.

[Alexander]

Well I'm again having the ghost as a race one could selected to play from the start unless the lore of the world works well for it. I think ghosts are just one of those states/creatures you can eventually become under the right circumstances; they are more a template or transformation.

But lets not forget that there are quite a few incorporeal creatures already in existence and not all are undead. They come in all form, sizes and types so it such be possible to make or find something that will work as a start-up playable race for people that like to play it.

Still, like the other topic said (Honis link) there shut be serious (logical) disadvantages for them. It’s basically a creature type/state of being that is most useful to spellcasters and sneaks/assassins. The invurnabilities and undetectablility of the incorporeal state easily lent themselves to those professions.

However if incorporality is incorporated into the game I also want to see the "Ghost Touch" type items and spells that more then easily take them out. Being incorporeal shouldn’t be as great as people think it is. You shut not be able to wear armour for example unless it was made especially to be carried by ghosts, this property alone shut make all the items they want to carry with them more expensive.