SPECIAL and Bobbleheads Redone

[TheGrimblade]

I want to redo the way the game deals with SPECIAL and Bobbleheads to add an additional layer of RPG elements. I brainstormed what I wanted to do a few months ago, and now I am going to try to go about making some of it a reality.

 

Here is the concept:

 

 

 

Level Up

1. When you level up, you do not automatically receive an increase in Hit Points.

2. You can no longer choose to increase your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats through the use of a perk.

3. Instead of the original system, at each level, you will receive 2 "Conditioning Points" and 1 Perk Point:

A. S.P.E.C.I.A.L. still ranges from 1 to 10, but instead of spending a Perk to increase S.P.E.C.I.A.L., you must spend 3 Conditioning Points.

a. Conditioning for each S.P.E.C.I.A.L. will be stored as a separate value or hidden perk, and ideally, will be displayed as a second set of star ranks below the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stat's rank itself.

b. Once you have spent 3 ranks of Conditioning into a S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stat, the stat will update, and the current Conditioning Rank will reset.

c. Additionally, although the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. still cap at 10, you will be able to continue spending Conditioning Points after a S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stat reaches 10, and will cap at 10 Conditioning Ranks.

B. Each spent Conditioning Point also grants an increase in a Derived Attribute of the corresponding S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Attribute:

a. Strength increases Carry Weight by 5 per point.

b. Perception increases V.A.T.S. accuracy by +2%.

c. Endurance increases Hit Points by 5.

d. Charisma makes Speech and Barter better by +2%/+2%.

e. Intelligence makes XP gain 1% faster.

f. Agility increase Action Points by 3.

g. Luck increase Critical Refill and Critical Damage by +2%/+2%.

In the spoiler below, I have created tables to show the values for derived attributes as a function of S.P.E.C.I.A.L. and Conditioning.

The images are not appearing correctly, so for now, here are links:

http://imgur.com/xo4SPVj

http://imgur.com/xBexW2Z

Bobbleheads & Collectibles

1. S.P.E.C.I.A.L. bobbleheads in addition to their +1 bonuses to their corresponding stat, will now also give a "Synergy" bonus. More on this below.

2. "Skill" Bobbleheads have been altered so that you must activate them at a Bobblehead Stand, to be indicated by a glowing effect. You can only activate 3 skill bobbleheads at one time.

3. To make up for this change, the bonuses given have been greatly increased, and Synergy bonuses have been added for players with certain combinations of bobbleheads.

A. Synergy occurs when 2 or 3 activated skill bobbleheads are governed by a particular S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stat.

a. In the special case of Luck, synergy occurs when there are no more than 1 skill bobbleheads chosen which are governed by a S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stat.

C. In order for there to be balance across the first 6 SPECIAL (S.P.E.C.I.A.) there would need to be 18 skill bobbleheads, with 3 Skills under each S.P.E.C.I.A.L. In Fallout 3 and New Vegas, there were only 13 skills, and the skills removed from previous games would not fit as well into Fallout 4's setting. By taking Fallout 3's 13 and adding New Vegas' Survival, we have 14, so we still need 4 new skill bobbleheads.

a. Strength, in Fallout 3 and New Vegas governed only Melee Weapons; In Fallout 1 and 2, it also governed Unarmed. I propose Strength will govern Melee Weapons, Unarmed, and a new Smithing bobblehead.

b. Perception can govern Explosives, Energy Weapons, and Lockpick.

c. Endurance adds a new problem as we have removed Unarmed from it, leaving it with Big Guns. I propose that we add a Survival bobblehead and a new "Athlete" bobblehead.

d. Charisma governs Speech and Barter, and I propose we add a new "Leadership" bobblehead.

e. Intelligence governs Medicine, Repair, and Science.

f. Agility governs Small Guns and Sneak. I propose we add a new "Acrobat" bobblehead.

D. The effects of all of the bobbleheads are summarized below:

S.P.E.C.I.A.L. bobbleheads

Strength - +3 Strength Conditioning, +2 Synergy: Bashing will significantly stagger enemies, +3 Synergy: Bashing will knock enemies down.

Perception - +3 Perception Conditioning, +2 Synergy: While Hidden, V.A.T.S. hit chance is significantly increased, +3 Synergy: Any enemies targeted in V.A.T.S. will be marked by a red outline, and further hits in V.A.T.S. will be significantly more likely to hit.

Endurance - +3 Endurance Conditioning, +2 Synergy: When your health falls below 10%, health will regenerate quickly back to that amount, +3 Synergy: Once per day, health will automatically refill when it goes below 10%.

Charisma - +3 Charisma Conditioning, +2 Synergy: All Settlements produce 10% more of every resource, +3 Synergy: All companions do +20% damage and gain +15% to all damage resistances.

Intelligence - +3 Intelligence Conditioning, +2 Synergy: All crafting requires one less item, +3 Synergy: Obtain remaining HP as bonus experience after every combat ends.

Agility - +3 Agility Conditioning, +2 Synergy: Sneak, walk, run, and sprint 5% faster; jump 5% higher. +3 Synergy: Gain a free rank of Moving Target. If Moving Target is maxed, gives 1 rank further (Rank 4) granting invulnerability for the first second of sprinting.

Luck - +3 Luck Conditioning, Luck Synergy: Grants 1 rank of Richochet. If Richochet is maxed, gives 1 rank further (Rank 4) with a further increased chance.

Skill bobbleheads

Strength Governed:

Melee Weapons - +25% damage/ +50% critical damage with melee weapons.

Unarmed - +25% damage/ +50% critical damage with unarmed weapons.

Smithing - While active, all weapons that you have modified deal +10% damage, and all armor that you have modified gives +10% damage resistance, energy resistance, and radiation resistance.

Perception Governed:

Explosives - +40% Explosives damage. Increased chance to cripple with explosives.

Energy Weapons - +25% damage/ +50% critical damage with energy weapons.

Lockpick - Easier Lockpicking; Picking a lock will cause distant enemies to lose sight of you.

Endurance Governed:

Big Guns - +25% damage/ +50% critical damage with heavy weapons.

Survival - Food and drink items give enhanced bonuses. +10% damage when Well Rested.

Athlete - Walk, sneak, run, and sprint 10% faster. Jump 10% higher. Sprinting costs 25% less Action Points.

Charisma Governed:

Barter - +15% better prices. Tracking added for wandering merchants.

Speech - +15% easier speech challenges. NPCs with active speech challenges will be highlighted in blue.

Leadership - Settlement defense items all give +2 defense. Settlers and Companions do 15% more damage.

Intelligence Governed:

Medicine - +15% effectiveness for all Chems.

Repair - Receive better yields for settlement scrapping. Fusion cores last 10% longer. Additional feature to come with another mod.

Science - +1 Hack attempt. Additional feature to come with another mod.

Agility Governed:

Small Guns - +25% damage, +50% critical damage with ballistic weapons.

Sneak - +25% harder to detect/+25% easier pickpocket.

Acrobat - Jump 20% higher. +50 to all damage resistances while sprinting, jumping, or falling.

Okay, so I have not made any mods which were good enough to upload. I think this will be a difficult mod for me to make, but I also think it should be possible (at least for the most part). I am hoping to get some advice on a couple of things though, and this is my main reason for posting here.

So, for the initial version of this mod, I think I will focus on getting the numerical effects of the skill bobbleheads changed, that should be no problem. I am looking at the different Bobblehead Perks under Actors>Perks in the CK, and it looks like Bethesda made it really easy to change the values for these perks. Some of the perks are slightly more complicated, but that should not be a major issue to figure out.

Where I am really seeking help, right now, is figuring out how to add the additional effects that were not originally included. I am just hoping for some pointers.

In order to implement the secondary effect of the lockpicking bobblehead, I need to be able to apply the invisibility spell upon successfully picking a lock. Could anyone point me in the right direction as to how this can be done?

I am not even going to touch the conditioning or synergy concepts yet. The focus, for now, is on the bobblehead effects.

Anyway, please provide feedback and suggestions. Am I way too in over my head, or is this do-able? I should mention that I am an engineering students, so I am already familiar with programming.

Edited April 30, 2016 by TheGrimblade

[TheGrimblade]

[changelog]

Implemented Melee Weapons, Explosives, Energy Weapons, Big Guns, and Unarmed Bobblehead effects and in-game messages. Started work on Lockpick Bobblehead, but ran into issue.

Added description to US Covert Operations Manuals to show 4% increased stealth rather than a vague description. (Just because)

Edited April 30, 2016 by TheGrimblade