Cain in the post described some of the mechanics and philosophies involving non-combat abilities and skills. The developer promises to make them useful on a regular basis.
The non-combat skills will cover four player goals: learning new things, traveling, acquiring new items, and party interaction. Skills that help the player learn will involve things like discovering the location of a town, discovering a potion recipe, while party interaction skills will help players recruit party members, keep them happy, and even keep them from dying.
Cain also stated that non-combat skills are completely separate from combat skills, so players will never have to choose between them, or sacrifice combat abilities so players can improve their mercantilism. They also won’t use the same resources, either.
Most importantly, non-combat skills will be useful during the entire game. There won’t be a skill that’s only useful twice in the entire game, for example. Non-combat skills will enjoy frequent accessibility, and they can even make combat unnecessary. ”Yes, we will have the standard methods of talking your way out of a fight or sneaking around an encounter,” Cain explained, “but there will be other ways too. Perhaps you can re-sanctify a desecrated cemetery to prevent any further undead from rising, or maybe figuring out a way across a ruined bridge will always avoid the bandits on this side of the river.”
Gamers interested in checking out Obsidian’s Kickstarter project can visit the official page here.
