Pillars
There are a few pillars behind how the professions are setup:
- Professions should not be required for completing dungeons at a PC's current level, with the exception of "end-game" content.
- Professions should enable the economy by being the primary source of item valuation increases, along with consumable creation/distribution.
- Note on distribution: The intent is for NPCs that distribute consumables to act as a 'highest price' for consumables, which enables players to operate the economy while still providing a lever for solo players, or in the event we see lower-than-anticipated player volume, players the chance to obtain consumables to use throughout the world.
- Professions are, by design, a grind mechanism on TDN due to their significant impact on item power and consumables.
- Long-term: Professions will be a cornerstone in the mechanical "end-game".
- For example, a large-scale dungeon that features significant fire damage may require players to invest in +Save vs Fire enhancements.
Profession Details
Professions on The Dragon's Neck exist in two categories: Primary & Secondary Professions. Primary professions are limited to two per PC, whereas there is no limit to Secondary professions. However profession levels must remain within 2 levels of the PC's (Civilians are immune to this restriction and can advance professions regardless of the 2 level rule).
We've opted to avoid the traditional route when it comes to professions commonly seen on PWs (i.e. Tailoring, Smithing, Mining, etc), in favor of professions that are directly focused on useful item aquisition. Should more professions be added later, they will be fit alongside our current batch. It is important to note that item properties do not stack from Reforging or Enchanting [For example, a +1 AC Enchant on an item with +1 AC will not result in +2 AC.]. Furthermore, TDN has limitations on Ability Score increases, Skill Bonuses, and more. So purely stacking a single skill will not be an optimal route mechanically as you will hit the skill cap. We will list these caps before launch.
We want items to feel 'lived in' and critical to a player's story as their lifetime progresses. Item power is intended to move laterally, rather than vertically, wherein the quantity of affixes will increase, however the strength of the affix itself will cap. In essence, a player may find a magical item with 2 affixes, and rather than improving those affixes that already exist, they will aim to add additional, alternative affixes to the item to make it more dynamic.
Primary Professions
Reforging [Production]
Reforging on TDN is the act of taking raw materials, along with trace amounts of unique ingredients (such as iron, steel, etc.), and infusing them into various armors, clothing & weapons. Reforging is supported primarily by the Scavenging profession, however some materials involved may come from merchants, from smelting, or in rarer cases, alchemy.
Examples of affixes added from Reforging:
- +X AB vs Race (or vs non-evil Alignment). [Max +3]
- +X Damage Bonus. [Max 1d4]
- 15% Immunity vs Damage Type.
- +X Enhancement Bonus vs Race (or vs non-evil Alignment). [Max +3]
- +X Enhancement Bonus. [Max +2]
- Spell Resistance.
Scavenging on TDN is the act of finding and gathering materials from compacted debris, or small chunks of ore from ore veins. Scavenging offers players the chance to generate additional loot/wealth for their PC, and/or generate materials commonly used in the Reforging profession. As a player increases his/her profession level, the likelihood of uncovering loot inside of debris increases.
Augmentation / Disassembly (Production/Gathering)
Augmentation is intended to be a flexible term, encompassing both enchantment and artificing, and more. Augmentation functions two ways. An augmenter can disassemble a magical item, in order to create the raw materials that can be recycled into Augmentation recipes. Augmenters can then augment an item with select options of Item Properties (affixes) which can then boost the overall strength of the item (similar to Reforging). An important distinction between Augmentation and Reforging is that disassembling an item destroys the item completely, thereby driving the investment into Augmentation to be more significant.
Examples of affixes added from Augmentation:
- +X AC vs Race (or non-evil Alignment). [Max +3]
- +X AC. [Max +2]
- 1/day Spells of various kinds.
- +Saving Throws. [Max +4]
- + Select Skills. [Max +5] -- Note: TDN has a Skill bonus cap of +8 for balance purposes.
- Resist: Death or Fear or Disease, etc.. [Max +4]
- Various Immunities.
Alchemy functions as a major cog in the profession system. Recipes generated by Alchemy can be used in both Reforging and Enchanting. Additionally, the benefits from Alchemy items can give a significant advantage in-combat. Alchemy is primarily supported by the Herbalism profession. The idea behind Alchemy's flexibility is to allow unique approaches to item improvements over time. As an example. Rather than an Alchemist pursuing a +Damage bonus against Giants affix from Enchanting, they may instead choose something else, and fuel their damage bonus via Bane Oils (which can grant a similar damage bonus to the item property for 5 minutes). This concept applies to many different affixes and item properties that exist.
Types of Alchemy products:
- Ammunition.
- Consumable: Drug.
- Consumable: Potion.
- Consumable: Poison. [Weapon enhancement].
- Grenadelike.
- Oils. [Weapon Enhancement].
- Touch/Kits.
Base herbs can offer minor buffs to an Herbalist, however the true strength of the Herb wouldn't be realized until worked into an Alchemy recipe. Herbalists will be the primary contributor to an Alchemist's efforts to create a number of consumables. That said, a good herbalist can help out in a pinch with herbs that can heal, have a chance to remove disease, and more.
Secondary Professions
Fishing [Gathering]
Fishing will provide players the opportunity to find a variety of ingredients for Alchemy, and for Cooking. It also may provide a relatively decent source of income dependent on the player's profession level. Fishing can take place at select locations near streams, and the catch you find will be based on fresh water and salt water locations.
Cooking [Production]
Various meals that can now be consumed upon resting will result in a number of different buffs that can last anywhere from 1 hour, to 8 hours. While the initial quantity of recipes at launch will remain around 15, these will expand as time progresses.