Perks, Talents and/or Traits

[Gabriel77Dan]

So.

Quick question, should Wasteland 2 have something "more" to it's reward system?

I'm a Fallout fan so I'd love to see Perks in the game, doesn't have to be perks that one chooses at leveling up though, could be perks you gain from doing quests or things in the gameworld.
Like gaining a perk called Sharpshooter for killing a humanoid NPC instantly with a Sniper Rifle from the longest distance away as possible. (Just an example)

So, what does the rest of you think? Should there be a form of "perks" or "talents" or whatever you wanna call them in the game or should it solely be based on skills, attributes and gear?

[Layle Baker]

I really really hated perks in FO3 and on. Ok... ok.. they were "fun" but seemed to make no sense on why I had these perks.

FO1 and 2 - I hated them a bit less (maybe because you only got them every 3 levels, or 4 if you were "Skilled" (correct?)), I liked them more in FO1 than FO2.

Traits... I like traits, that rounds out a character at creation time, and it give an advantage/ disadvantage.

Wasn't the Perk system in FO1 a hold-over from using GURPs' advantages and disvantages mechanic?

[Gabriel77Dan]

Wasn't the Perk system in FO1 a hold-over from using GURPs' advantages and disvantages mechanic?

No idea, and I'd like Fallout 1/2's system of once every three levels, FO3 and New Vegas both devalued perks by allowing us too many of them.

Hmm.
Perhaps pick a Trait every three levels?
(For non-Fallout players: Traits give a benefit and a drawback, so Bookworm would give you +1 Intelligence but -1 Strength)
Completely optional of course, like in the older Fallout games, if you don't want to pick a perk(trait) then simply exit the perk window and move on.

[Lirpakkaa]

I really like things like perks in FO1/2, (dis)advantages in GURPS, Feats in D&D, etc. since they give a wide range of options which really exclude each other, it's interesting to pick them.

[PiPboy]

I loved Perks.
But I loved the perks you could only get if you did something. Not by "Choosing it"
For example you killed 1000% Humans - you get the Death Bringer Perk
You killed 500 bugs - Bug Stomper Perk.

You sleep with 5 women you get the Gigalo perk.

Traits was also fun, giving each character a unique advantage starting off, as well as a disadvantage.

[oldmanpaco]

I would probably want both. It's another way to customize your characters beyond skill/stats. With a party of 4/6 each PC could take divergent perks to really customize your team.

Of course balancing would be hard. The Gifted trait was so overpowered it was not funny.

Oh and acquired perks/taints are awesome.

[Celtic927]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Perks, but.........I wonder if they fit into Wasteland....its a tough call. I think we need to examine how well they worked in FO Tactics to appreciate how they work in the park dynamic. Maybe they should have Skill pre-req-ed SO that they don't Overload your party too much...Meaning a Dr. Char will have a Perks available that are general to everyone and HEALING based perks as where the Demo guy might have some of the same General perks (like weight carrying or HP based perks) but his skills with explosives will opened the ability to take Grenade DAM perks instead of healing Perks. That's my call

[eternality]

I loved both perks and traits, they made the character more unique and fun. They also brought some choices to the otherwise somewhat linear character progression.

[Gabriel77Dan]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Perks, but.........I wonder if they fit into Wasteland....its a tough call. I think we need to examine how well they worked in FO Tactics to appreciate how they work in the park dynamic. Maybe they should have Skill pre-req-ed SO that they don't Overload your party too much...Meaning a Dr. Char will have a Perks available that are general to everyone and HEALING based perks as where the Demo guy might have some of the same General perks (like weight carrying or HP based perks) but his skills with explosives will opened the ability to take Grenade DAM perks instead of healing Perks. That's my call

Of course, a lot of perks in Fallout have skill and/or stat requirements.
Meltdown in New Vegas requires Energy Weapons.
Cowboy requires Melee and Guns.
Lifegiver requires Medicine.
Rad Child requires Survival.

All perks should have requirements so that you can specialize your characters.
For a Sniper character, do you want a perk that gives you better hit chance or a perk that lowers the amount of action points required to shoot by 1 or 2?
You won't be able to pick every perk available on leveling up so one must be careful in designing the party's advantages.

I think it worked like that in Tactics but it's been a long time since I played it.