D&D 5E (2014) Solasta 2 Announced!!!

[doctorbadwolf]

I didnt think the characters were ugly at all, in fact I thought they looked better than most games. A lot of games give you full control which often means you gotta hunt for the good looking characters amidst an ocean of ridiculously goofy looking characters.

This game restricted your ability modify appearance enough that it didn't really seem possible to make really bad appearances. I'd like more options, like hair and such, but like face design is fine for me.

I mean some people like making absolute goblin looking humans with hyper exaggerated features, and to them like, more power to them I say. Just not something I seek out as a perk myself.

Facial hair is rough, but rough in that way that almost every game with a character creator is rough, so I'm not gonna get on their case specifically over it.

Dude Solasta has uglier face models with fewer options than DDO. It is bad. Nearly every face is actively ugly, and gets worse once the character talks or makes an expression.

 

[saviirkad]

Can't say I really played around with the character creator screen long enough to see what kind of weird or bad faces you can make. I picked the three points, did some tweaking to get a face I was good for, and that's really it. So that just wasn't my experience.

 

[Silam]

What issue do you have with 2024 backgrounds.

I find them too restrictive, and often don’t give a flavor I want for my characters.

Like, why is it that the background that mechanically best fits a Dwarven Cleric is the Farmer? No way, my Dwarf is not going to be a farmer. (No offense to farming, it’s a great profession, but I just don’t see that particular character fitting into it)…

The backgrounds feel like everybody’s got to have a regular job. How did so and so join the clergy of Moradin? Oh, you know, the usual, he was tilling his land, then suddenly realized growing turnips was not his thing, and that he actually belonged in a tunnel 2 miles underground slaying dark elves and what not.

There isn’t really a good background to do a classical Elf either. The origins chapter is basically a compendium of Human plumbers, electricians, grocery bagger… oh, and the noble who’s main skill in life is throwing dice … almost feels like a meta dig.

It’s totally fine for those who want to have that kind of backstory, but for those looking to weave an epic fantasy story it doesn’t always do it.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

Like, why is it that the background that mechanically best fits a Dwarven Cleric is the Farmer? No way, my Dwarf is not going to be a farmer. (No offense to farming, it’s a great profession, but I just don’t see that particular character fitting into it)…

Because statistically most people in history were farmers, therefore it stands to reason that most priests and clerics originated as farmers.

The backgrounds feel like everybody’s got to have a regular job. How did so and so join the clergy of Moradin? Oh, you know, the usual, he was tilling his land, then suddenly realized growing turnips was not his thing, and that he actually belonged in a tunnel 2 miles underground slaying dark elves and what not.

How about "everyone but the richest nobles and burghers grew up on a farm, working that farm from the second they were off the teat, but my character wanted something more for himself and the only options were the clergy or the military"

 

[Silam]

Because statistically most people in history were farmers, therefore it stands to reason that most priests and clerics originated as farmers.


How about "everyone but the richest nobles and burghers grew up on a farm, working that farm from the second they were off the teat, but my character wanted something more for himself and the only options were the clergy or the military"

But like… do denizens of the Underdark farm at all? Maybe they farm mushrooms, but typically most agriculture requires daylight. Most of the Underdark races either have the magical ability to produce light but are sensitive to it, or aren’t really into magic. So I thought the species living underground were rather carnivorous, e.g., fishing weird stuff in underground lakes, or eating other critters, and the occasional shroom too, why not. And then maybe getting some of their food from trade, in exchange for the raw materials and manufactured products they produce from mining, forging, etc. I just don’t see dwarven agriculture being a big thing. But maybe I’m not open minded enough

 

[Azzy]

But like… do denizens of the Underdark farm at all? Maybe they farm mushrooms, but typically most agriculture requires daylight. Most of the Underdark races either have the magical ability to produce light but are sensitive to it, or aren’t really into magic. So I thought the species living underground were rather carnivorous, e.g., fishing weird stuff in underground lakes, or eating other critters, and the occasional shroom too, why not. And then maybe getting some of their food from trade, in exchange for the raw materials and manufactured products they produce from mining, forging, etc. I just don’t see dwarven agriculture being a big thing. But maybe I’m not open minded enough

Mushrooms and other fungus are an the obvious choice, but perhaps a dwarven culture also practices agriculture on terraces above ground on the mountains, like the Andean cultures.

 

[Silam]

I don’t mean to say that it’s absolutely implausible to find a way to make the backgrounds fit. I can improvise and spitball some connecting dots as much as the next fellow. My point is rather that most of the basic backgrounds are not that inspiring.

Like, if I look at the 2e edition kits, a lot of them had top notch flavor. They gave a sense of incredible destiny, either because the character had some sort of innate ability that made them get chosen by a selective guild to learn their path, or else had to dedicate inordinate effort and years or even decades to learn their craft. The class and the kit and the race, that was the whole background, and it felt really special. If you wanted to also have been a sailor, that was fine, you could add all the fluff you want, but the mechanics need not be intertwined with it. Contrast with 5.5e where you are a generic sailor + generic fighter (or whatever) and eventually you’ll grow into some slightly differentiated subclass (kit).

I think as more splatbooks come out there’ll be more backgrounds and it will get better… and they will also probably come out with slightly looser background, e.g., the "classical elf" background lets you raise dex and/or two other stats, gives you performance and another skill, any feat, etc.

 

[Pale Violet Light]

Considering the size of their team and their budget, I enjoyed the game. Don't expect AAA writing from a AA game.

I expect AA writing from an AA game, and Solasta was at a C- at best. It’s not even the writing I really object to, and the setting is fine, but the Soraks themselves are just stunningly uninspired. Even something unoriginal like a horde of Orcs, spooky skeletons, or off-brand vampires; they’d all be better as a main threat than some trans-dimensional skinks.

 

[humble minion]

I expect AA writing from an AA game, and Solasta was at a C- at best. It’s not even the writing I really object to, and the setting is fine, but the Soraks themselves are just stunningly uninspired. Even something unoriginal like a horde of Orcs, spooky skeletons, or off-brand vampires; they’d all be better as a main threat than some trans-dimensional skinks.

I think the big issue I had with the Soraks was that they were just so unvaried. They had the occasional big one who was tougher, and some spellcasters here and there from memory, but they were just lizardman poison enthusiasts in the end, they were a bunch of undifferentiated fanatics so there weren't any of them who you could talk to or understand their point of view or negotiate with/manipulate, and there wasn't even a single memorable boss enemy in the final fight. They were just dull, both narratively and mechanically.

(Funny you mention off-brand vampires - Solasta 1 had one of those in the library I think, and for me it was the toughest fight in the game and gave me the only TPK after a couple of fumbles early when i was still learning the system. Even the final fight I got through ok, despite not taking my vast store of hoarded potions before getting too close and rolling initiative, and despite one of the 'friendly' dragon allies reducing my monk to single-digit hp with a breath weapon in the first round of combat...)

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I would suggest adding you would like “custom background” in the feedback. It wouldn’t be technically difficult.

I notice backgrounds in Solasta 2 have a tragic backstory attached - the party were all raised together in an orphanage. Ergo their species doesn’t matter, since they were not raised by their own kind.