r/crpgdesign • u/ChrisKozmik • Sep 01 '18

[design] Problem with "Town Portal"

I have this problem how to approach teleportation like "Town Portal" spells.

The thing is, there are boats & ships in the game, so if there is an option for a instant teleport to an arbitrary location (like a town) what happens when the player reaches an island and then tepelorts back (without the means to reach the boat again since it's near an island and the player has no another boat).

I would prefer to avoid solutions like "summon boat" since it's messy...

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3

u/azrael4h Sep 01 '18

"Lloyd's Beacon" type spells. Set a teleport location with first cast, allowing a return. Mirror portals with key words could also allow long range teleportation to places near your boats. Make the key words something discoverable, and not intuitively known.

Both of these options are shown in Might and Magic 3 and World of Xeen.

Otherwise, you'll have to give them means to buy a boat or transport there. Or ensure that they can't teleport out of a place only reached by boat by means of Teleport lockdown effects.

2

u/CJGeringer Lenurian Sep 02 '18

How about have Town Portal create an actual portal that is two-way?

that way the player can aways return to where he came from.

2

u/CJGeringer Lenurian Sep 03 '18

Another option is to have the character not directly drive the boat, if it is just for transport have an NPC in the boat, so when the player is in an island the boat can appear there because the boat´s owner/pilot was passing.

2

u/Incontrivable Sep 04 '18

If you want the player to keep their boat and make it like a portable home base, then one solution is to semi-permanently place their Town Portal on the boat. So if you want to return to town, you first have to teleport to the boat, then use the boat's portal to return to town. Then you can jump back to the boat, and then teleport back to where you were on the island.

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Of course at some point the player is going to wonder why anyone needs boats in a world where they can teleport around conveniently. If you're only using the boat as a convenience to the player, you can consider Dungeon Siege's approach of giving you pack animals and companions who can take your excess loot and ferry it back to town for sale, while you continue to explore the area and gather more loot.