Hehe don't look back Orpheus. Would be cool if the spirit world was like a "punishment" for dying... Like, almost a way to respawn. So if you had already built a portal to the spirit world, reincarnating would be easy, but without one...
I just like the idea of harsh death penalties haha... How will death be treated in Mythruna?
Yeah, in fact that has been discussed as one option.
I still haven't decided how death will be handled or how many levels of death there will be. Here are some things I know for sure:
-I want to get the player away from where they died. The respawn + attack + die + respawn + attack + die until foe is vanquished thing just isn't cool.
-I want the player to keep their items. I don't want them to have to rush back to the location before their stuff gets stolen/destroyed.
-I want to make it sting. Dying should really suck but not to the point of rage-quitting.
I'd also like it to be interesting. Current thinking is along the lines of death having multiple "levels", such as:
-body death: You are essentially dead but your spirit is still tied to your body. This is kind of like bleeding out. Your heart and brain might still be alive but you aren't letting go yet. Other players may still be able to revive you with enough healing. At this point you have a choice to move to one of the other levels. Basically, you have a "Roam" tool in your left hand and an "Ascend" tool in the right hand.
-spirit roam: you unhook your spirit from your body and can wander near your corpse and communicate to some extent. You may have some basic attack capabilities when right near your body... because other players will be able to move or loot your corpse in this state.
-ascend: body and spirit move to the spirit plane. You are dead-dead at this point. This is different than visiting the spirit plane... you are corporeal in the spirit plane. If you find a teleporter endpoint then you might be able to move to the mundane plane again but only as a non-corporeal being. You essentially move back into a "spirit roam" state hooked to the teleporter.
While in the spirit plane as a spirit...
Presuming the spirit plane is at all interesting then there could be some adventures, etc., there.
Other players can still resurrect you but you cannot communicate with them unless you find a way back. Your stuff is protected, though, because your body ascended with you.
The only other way out of the spirit plane would be to make a deal with one of the spirit lords. The simplest deal is to buy your way back if you have enough loot or gold. Perhaps they evaluate your total worth and charge you a percentage of that based on how many times you have died (up to a max percentage that doesn't strip you completely). There would be places to trade your items for gold. Exchange rates will be good but it's probably worth shopping around for some things.
If the above is true then merchants in the spirit realm are kind of like merchants on the mundane plane in that they will give you better deals if they like you. So doing favors for them could be some of the spirit plane quests.
I think this sort of thing satisfies all of my goals. Death can get expensive if you want a quick way back but there are still plenty of less-quick ways if time is less important than gold and possessions. It also opens up the chance that enough questing gets you back for free.
...and I potentially get to make some really wild areas not based on the classic terrain.
