I think it would add fun and flavor to the game if you could select your character's background at the start of the game.
Your background could affect your starting inventory and also possibly affect some encounters as you progress through the game.
Some example starting backgrounds.... and possible starting equipment:
Merchant - cargo hold expansion and more starting credits
Soldier - improved weapon and millitary ID
Scientist - several barrels of armor enhancement gels
Miner - several rare and useful ores
Hacker - set of ROMs
Pop-up text at the start of the game could detail your character's background and also give basic details of the game's plot.
ex:
MINER--THE JOURNEY BEGINS...
You've worked in mines your whole life. Laser drills and antigrav clamps are like second nature to you, and your skills rank amond the best in the field. In fact, you can spot an ore vein in an asteroid better then the latest surveyor droid.
However, lately you've grown tired of the call of the ore. Last week, a chance encouter with a drifter from the outer rim has sparked a fire in your mind you have not felt in many years. His message, though given through a haze of synthahol, was clear as bell: "Great riches lie at the GALACTIC CORE... and even greater fame for the one who unlocks them."
You would have dismissed his words as the arrogant ramblings of a drunkard if not for the pendant he held in his hand.... a pendant engraved with alien heiroglyphs and made of a metal that even you, with your vast knowledge of minerals, cannot identify.
Using your life savings, you are able to purchase a small ship and outfit it with equipment suitable for a long journey. Bidding farewell to your coworkers and your dear old ma, you set out to seek your new destiny among the stars....
I was thinking that a "background" would be different then a "class"--a background being "where you were" (affecting your character's starting situation) and a class being "where you are" (affecting your character's abilities).
If you want an example of this in action, I know I saw an RPG a while back that had backgrounds and classes... Arcanum maybe?
And now that you mention modding... I think a cheesy version of of backgrounds can be done right now... you start with an item--a package from home, maybe--that when used goes to a dockscreen where you select your background, upon which the item is destroyed and you get the equipment relevant to your background.
Hmm... not very good compared to it being integrated into the start of the game, but it works. I might just mod that. I'll add it to my list.
I like backgrounds as opposed to classes. I think the player picks their own 'class' by what they do (want to be a "merchant"? Start trading. Tired of that? Start fighting) but having a "background" (which is really just a special set of items and nothing more) helps you do whatever you wanted to do faster.
OddBob wrote:having a "background" (which is really just a special set of items and nothing more) helps you do whatever you wanted to do faster.
Neat! I never thought of it as a "time saving" mechanism, but I guess that's what it is. I suppose if done well, it helps you get started on the right foot, according to how you like to play the game.
Any ideas for things you would like to see in your selectable "starter pack" of items?
