One thing that bothers be about this game is the way crafting skills work. They each have their own tree, and they all give stats, which are nice, but boring. This mod adds two new classes, each of which eventually gives you a variety of interesting skills, penalizes some of your stats, has interesting flavor text (I hope!) and boosts your crafting skills. Both skill trees add a total of +3, meaning that if you take both, you'll be able to craft anything. Old way of being able to craft anything: Costs 20 level ups, 4 skill trees, gives lots of stats New way of being able to craft anything: Costs 14 level ups, 2 skill trees, takes away stats, adds some interesting skills. This is my first mod, so any suggestions are highly appreciated. I'll probably post it for download in a week, once I've made some art, balanced everything, and made the storybook hero skill tree more interesting. Munchkin Level 0: Extra Curricular Learning Your dad said "You will go to school!" then cast a spell on you to back it up. To bad he didn't think to make you go more than once. +3 +5 +1 +1 Level 1: Alchemical genius Why work hard or read books when you can drink a magic potion and become a genuis? Note to self: mercury is a poison. Look at all you've learned!" -2 -1 +2 Allows the spell "Gem Transmutation" Level 2: Oops While trying to polymorph into a dragon you had an... accident. On the plus side, your skin is rather sturdy now. On the minus side, when you sneeze, you catch fire. Gives a skill called sneeze that does a little fire damage. +1 +1 +5 +1 +2 +2 +1 Level 3: Speed Reading You found a spell to instantly read any book! Too bad it fries your brain. You use it anyways. -5 -3 +1 +1 +1 +1 Level 4: Divine Power You pray to the gods for vast powers, and one answers your prayer! The diggle devil, unfortunately. Now when you kill diggles, a black portal opens and drags their screaming, wailing souls down into the fires of hell. On the plus side, you learn a lot by watching. -3 Gives extra 16 xp for every diggle kill, as well as a minor debuff that stacks, lasts 5 turns, and gives +1,-1,-1, -1,-1 level 5: Party God Patron Why waste precious time learning healing or mana recovery when you can eat and drink your way back to full health? Summons tasty supplies. Lets you summon vodka and cheese roll every 100 turns. -1 -1 level 6 :I Feel Smarter Already It's time to fix all that brain damage you've caused in your search to ultimate power. Obviously transcranial stimulation is the answer! And besides, tinkering with circuts and soldering stuff together to create your stimulator is fun! -2 -1 +2 +2 +3 level 7: Ultimate Power Finally! After many dead ends, you've found a wand that grants the wish spell; ultimate power is yours for the grasping! Just make sure you word your wish carefully... +2 I'm going to add a spell called wish here, just as soon as I figure out a fun thing for it to do. Storybook Hero You are the chosen one, destined to save the world (This skill is a little boring at the moment. I'm going to add some more stuff here, just as soon as I get some good ideas). Level 0: Call to adventure Deep in the night, you dream of a lost dungeon, filled with treasure and monsters. And at the bottom, a horror that cannot be allowed to live. You swallow your fear, and set out on the journey of a lifetime. +3 +1 Level 1: Supernatural Aid The goddess of crafting tells you of a secret blade that can slay the foe, and of the lost arts required to forge it. You dedicate yourself to delving the secrets of this place. +1 +1 +1 +1 Level 2: Crossing the Threshold You plunge deeper into the dungeon, truly alone for the first time in your life. It is here, in the darkness, where you discover fear that makes you tremble with weakness, and courage to assault the gates of hell. -1 -1 -1 -1 -2 Every time you're struck, you have a 20% chance of getting the buff courage, which adds back all the stats this skill removes. Courage lasts 10 turns and stacks twice. Level 3: Belly of the Whale You lie hidden in an empty coffin, wounded and trembling with fear, when you hear the name of your foe spoken for the first time; Dredmore, foul lich whose powers animate all of this fell dungeon, whose eyes pierce every fog, whose hate drives the vast army that hunts you through this endless tomb. +3 Level 4: Road of trials You press deeper, growing harder and stronger every step. Then, deep in the heart of an abandoned library, you find the secrets you have long sought; the sword of the hero. The blade will be reforged! +1 +1 +1 +1 Adds a recipe that turns the sword in the stone into the hero blade. The hero blade does slashing damage, and adds 1 magic power and 1 nimbleness Level 5: Apothesis You stand before the final foe, sword drawn. But he merely laughs, and with a word and a gesture shatters the sacred blade. You feel a fragment of cold steel from the shattered blade pierce you. It seems this is where it ends. -5 Level 6: Ultimate boon You draw the shard of the broken blade from where it pierced you, wet with your blood, and feebly scratch your foe. He screams in surprise as your blood catches fire. You rise from your knees, and slaughter him at the foot of the tomb from which he crawled so long ago. Adds recipe blooded hero blade, which is the hero blade, but with +3 and another Level 7: Master of Two Worlds You return home, laden with the many books and spells taken from your foe, and turn secret knowledge and grim power into tools in the furtherance of peace and light. At long last, all is well. +1 +1 +1 +1
I don't think the negative stats are really all that necessary. Crafting trees suffer from a little bit of diminishing returns. If you have enough Smithing to craft a full set of armor, a weapon, and a shield, you don't need Alchemy or Tinkering for that, leaving them much less useful. A 7 level tree with +1 +1 +1 +1 in each level and no skill gains would be perfectly balanced, imo. Maybe an 8 level tree with a blank 0th level, but there's no need for all those dead levels and stat reductions.
I think the crafting aspect of the trees is too forced. Crafting is not everything, and other crafting trees provide resources to start you off.
