My idea for elements to add to the game is a perk system you can use to further customize your character, complete with race specific perks. To further expand upon my idea I had in mind, my ideal system would have three perks, two character perks and a boon. Character perks would increase stats or enhance mechanics in place. You would choose two and while many perks would run along the usual lines of "Warrior, Rogue, wizard" vibes, mixing and matching while choosing your two perks would more than make up for this. Some examples: Offensive: Fighting is easy when you shoot before they do. Increase attack by 15%, decrease defense by 5% Defensive: Move, dodge, redirect, strike. Increase defense by 15%, decrease defense by 5% Finders Keepers: Oh look, a pixel. You gain 10% more pixels whenever pixels are earned (not crafted) Energetic: *twitch* Increase energy recovery rate by 20% Strong Legs: Gatta go fast! Increase movement speed and jump height by 10% Hide and Seek: SSsshhhhh... When crouching, enemies are less likely to notice you (effected by light levels) Photosynthesis: As fun as watching grass grow When in direct sunlight, health slowly increases (+2 per 5 sec) and energy regeneration increases (+5%) I could think of others to add or borrow from other RPGs, and some of the values would have to be tweaked and balanced, but I think having additional options would enhance the creative experience and add more replay value. As for the boon, it would just be an item that you had stowed away on your ship before running out of fuel. Where's my pants? You start with a copper chest armor. Where's my shirt? You start with a copper pants and helmet. Scoundrel You start with a basic laser pistol. Delivery Boy/Girl You start with enough food to last you days. (30 steaks) Heavy Sleeper You start with a (race) bed in board Miner You start with several explosives on board Again, there are dozens of more boons you could think up and give clever titles. Either way, I think these options would speed up the introduction and also improve replayablility because no one wants to do the beginning zone that often. Questions, comments, concerns, insults?
The Starbound devs for some absurd reason decided not to make the races different from one another in any non-visual way (Even the visuals are quite similar if you think about it), I think adding selectable RPG elements that are in your control and not tied to a race would be a great compromise. 10/10, I'm totally in favor of the idea. If the devs want "balance" and don't want any race to be better than another in any areas, then this is a fantastic idea. The choice isn't bound to a race, but a choice.
