Forums » General Pantheon Discussion

Celestial bodies

    • 223 posts
    September 25, 2019 6:00 AM PDT

    I always thought in an mmo when you looked up in the sky and saw moons and stars and day/night cycles that it would be interesting to have these bodies involved in quests such as star and planet alignments that would correspond with portals opening, or revelation of secret doors. Of course I have no clue of how challenging and time consuming this would be to implement since there would be lore, sky rotation, maps, observatories and other things to tie in and program.

    Just posting this as a fun discussion on ideas and maybe someday we can wish upon a star :)

    • 20 posts
    September 25, 2019 6:36 AM PDT

    love this idea! I also love the idea of multiple moons and suns - but perhaps I just read too much Sci-Fi :) Maybe a wizard or druid (probably wizard) could open a portal at the right time and right alignment to one of the moons? Secret moon dungeon!? YES PLEASE!

     

    • 3852 posts
    September 25, 2019 7:46 AM PDT

    Going from Diablo with a secret moo dungeon to having a secret moon dungeon? Oh well - just a one letter difference.

    Maybe when a red giant is in the right position a portal can lead to an otherwise unavailable giant area and when a whote dwarf is there all dwarves get a teleport?

    Reminds me a bit of EQ2 where at the right time of the month druid rings appeared opening the way to small dungeons with some nice things in them.

    • 624 posts
    September 25, 2019 7:49 AM PDT

    Be careful what you wish for...a strange, rare celestial alignment could bring the next great collision!

    • 755 posts
    September 25, 2019 8:07 AM PDT
    Ohhhh sounds fun. Even if it is an artificial side-effect of a quest i think there should be something like this. Not just the words in the script but the art of the sky changes for a cycle....
    • 1436 posts
    September 25, 2019 10:27 AM PDT

    i'm all about 'celestial bodies'

    (͠≖ ͜ʖ͠≖)

    • 2419 posts
    September 25, 2019 11:48 AM PDT

    Yaladan said:

    I always thought in an mmo when you looked up in the sky and saw moons and stars and day/night cycles that it would be interesting to have these bodies involved in quests such as star and planet alignments that would correspond with portals opening, or revelation of secret doors.

    Or during a new moon or very overcast night the Undead populations skyrocket and during a full moon with a clear sky the are less populous. During a triple moon alignment (if there were 3), beings infected with lycanthrophy become stronger, more dangerous.  Any number of effects upon the wildlife/creatures could occur ast he objects it the sky, or cloud cover, changes.

    If nothing else, I would want to see a new moon or overcast night be very dark, far darker than normal and severely reducing our visual range.  Basically dark needs to be dark.

    • 191 posts
    September 25, 2019 11:50 AM PDT

    Reminds me of Kithicor forest at night, or the Doors of Durin from LoTR.  The alignment of the stars might predict where a wandering portal to a raid zone will manifest next and the guild with a resident lore dork would have an advantage because they could predict its arrival!

    Solving seemingly mysterious phenomena by studying the cosmos would be a really neat experience.

     

    Yeah, very cool idea!

    • 1785 posts
    September 25, 2019 12:34 PM PDT

    I would love to see ideas like these make it into Pantheon and be tied to event triggers and the like.

    Legend says that when both moons are full at the same time, the gates to the Underworld open, and a terrifying beast will appear.  Of course no one knows if the legend is really true since the last time both moons were full at the same time was nearly 30 years ago.  So it's probably just a story someone made up.

    Although come to think of it, wasn't there that big fire 30 years ago?  The one that destroyed the old fort up in the hills?  I'm sure that was just a coincidence though.

    So yeah, probably just a story.

    • 103 posts
    September 25, 2019 2:05 PM PDT
    Yes definitely, nice idea. Doesn't seem like it would be hard to implement but what the hells do I know.
    • 624 posts
    September 25, 2019 2:20 PM PDT

    Nephele - you are my hero!

    • 370 posts
    September 25, 2019 5:19 PM PDT

    I always loved looking up at the moons in EQ1, clocking the lunar cycle in UO, and really seeing a cool views in Elite Dangerous in VR.

    Lets make the moons have a real environmental impact on the game world.

    Imagine a moon causing a tidal flood, shifting climates in affected zones. Blooming an otherwise desolate desert, while flooding other lowlands and rivers and lakes causing some sort of toxic swamp bloom in  otherwise non-toxic zones. Tie all that sort of stuff into the acclimation system. 


    This post was edited by arazons at September 25, 2019 5:22 PM PDT
    • 223 posts
    September 25, 2019 8:17 PM PDT

    Vandraad said:

    Or during a new moon or very overcast night the Undead populations skyrocket and during a full moon with a clear sky the are less populous. During a triple moon alignment (if there were 3), beings infected with lycanthrophy become stronger, more dangerous.  Any number of effects upon the wildlife/creatures could occur ast he objects it the sky, or cloud cover, changes.

    If nothing else, I would want to see a new moon or overcast night be very dark, far darker than normal and severely reducing our visual range.  Basically dark needs to be dark.

    I love this idea as well many others posted.

    Think of also multiple locations opening up portals or secret doors that have to be opened in different zones to trigger a major multi guild spawn. So much to dream about.

    • 125 posts
    September 25, 2019 8:50 PM PDT
    This stuff is definitely plausible, there’s already a weather system having a profound effect correct? I’m sure the code for celestial/ seasonal mechanics would be the same or very similar.

    Ontop of celestial stuff there could be seasons, I might be mixing games up but I think it might already be in the air.

    Imagine being a forager and having to forage in a zone one a Monday night/Tuesday/Wednesday morning because that’s The spring and when the rare item fruits.

    Ever rl week is a year. What if a place like throne fast sees snow for Sunday and Monday. Continents are opposite seasons so a cold geared character can be forced to migrate hunting grounds throughout the week. While a well rounded player may be able to hunt the same dire location season round.

    Then epic quest forages are like an in game morning during a specific season after a night rain, or something real particular like that.

    That’s still a ton of stuff though even if they use the weather code as a foundation, maybe not. Maybe someone can figure out a quick way to do it based off the weather or something- really really cool idea for mechanics to be released in an expansion or something though, atleast something worth considering I’d say.

    On top of all the farmers almanacs with cool stuff like “and on the fourth moon after the solstice the god <> will bestow her grace upon ” and the evil one where some portal opens and abominations are unleashed upon the land.
    • 2756 posts
    September 26, 2019 1:35 AM PDT

    I really love this idea.  Weather systems, day-night cycles, all that stuff is very immersive and dynamic, but truly intrinsic to a mystical feel of an 'old' style world is the actions of the stars upon the peoples below.

    I'm not into astrology, but I fully appreciate the allure of its mystical nature.

    Excellent idea - I would love to see this developed.

    • 223 posts
    October 4, 2019 8:02 PM PDT

    Grime said: This stuff is definitely plausible, there’s already a weather system having a profound effect correct? I’m sure the code for celestial/ seasonal mechanics would be the same or very similar. Ontop of celestial stuff there could be seasons, I might be mixing games up but I think it might already be in the air. Imagine being a forager and having to forage in a zone one a Monday night/Tuesday/Wednesday morning because that’s The spring and when the rare item fruits. Ever rl week is a year. What if a place like throne fast sees snow for Sunday and Monday. Continents are opposite seasons so a cold geared character can be forced to migrate hunting grounds throughout the week. While a well rounded player may be able to hunt the same dire location season round. Then epic quest forages are like an in game morning during a specific season after a night rain, or something real particular like that. That’s still a ton of stuff though even if they use the weather code as a foundation, maybe not. Maybe someone can figure out a quick way to do it based off the weather or something- really really cool idea for mechanics to be released in an expansion or something though, atleast something worth considering I’d say. On top of all the farmers almanacs with cool stuff like “and on the fourth moon after the solstice the god <> will bestow her grace upon ” and the evil one where some portal opens and abominations are unleashed upon the land.

    I like the idea of the foraging aspect of it as well, I would love to see buffs that could be activated, of course all this knoledge should be found in books, rare manuscripts  and other drops of course with a puzzle-like implmentation.

    • 347 posts
    October 5, 2019 10:06 AM PDT

    In case you're wondering. 

    Also, ignore the 400% illuminated moonlight.


    This post was edited by Janus at October 5, 2019 10:07 AM PDT
    • 417 posts
    October 5, 2019 11:55 AM PDT

    Definitely would be cool if these ideas could be implemented in game.

     

    @janus Love that picture!

    • 1281 posts
    October 7, 2019 6:10 AM PDT

    Hmm, is Terminus a moon of another planet?

    But it would be cool to have spells that were better if certain constalations were visible. Super old school right there but probably a little too design specific for what they are going for.

    • 2138 posts
    October 7, 2019 7:28 AM PDT

    I always thought a Pantheonized version of Horoscopes would be cool- but with a twist because terminus is a hodge-podge of other planets.  Those Planets having celestial orientations elsewhere.

    Recent Developers conversation on Abilities- are they spells? or abilities?

    Personal association from watching Critical Role and a flash on cantrips and how they are defined in DnD as single use instant spells if I am not mistaken but in a certain order so....

     

    Given the new celestal bodies surrounding Terminus, this allows new horoscopes to be discovered or crafted? (with or without an old posts angry dust because horoscopes was a good idea - just say so!) and sticking to DnD methods maybe horoscopes not called horoscopes but instead called cantrips? or something pantheony.

    My original idea was they would be specific , either small personal or area of effect buffs creatable only when certain celestial bodies were in alignment. so when the moon was full they could be created and used later, or only used when the moon was full. The kick would be; the crafter can make a horocantrip to improve romantic luck for instance, but the owner would not know what direction that luck would take untill they open it. Or a community thing where each race would need their piece of a horocantrip to open/use on a certain day to make such-and-so-happen.

    For instance, improved bad luck in romantic endeavors, or improved romantic luck with dark Myr <- which would almost negate itself, lol or make for some interesting sandbox attempts(faction for quests? perception queue's? something along the bohemian french vein? you know like that snippet in Rattatouille? the bohemian french couple, horizontal stripped shirts and beret's, knives brandished behind the back but kissing, then succumbing to passion). Or money luck, you wont know if its good or back luck (but still better luck as defined, even if bad ho-ho) untill you absorb the horocantrip or allow yourself to be influenced by it by opening it. Kind of like craftable fortune cookies with oomph