shockedfrog wrote:I'm not too keen on this whole 5-people-needed thing. For the sake of making a village it makes sense, but limiting the availability of gear in this way sucks. Can I at least assume that I'll be able to wear this gear if I steal it from someone, as with everything else?
The gear will, indeed, only be wearable by those in the appointed position. I can see that you do have a point in it being a bit boring to restrict gear to people living in villages, but I do think that the right solution to that would be to focus, instead, on making gear and powers for people living alone, instead. It is good that you brought it up, because I hadn't thought of it explicitly (I don't know if Jorb has thought about it).
I do think that it is reasonable to limit certain gear and/or powers to some people with certain characteristics -- in fact, we are planning to make character development focus more on specialization than it does now -- but that people living other lifestyles should have their own gear and/or powers to balance it for them.
I think including some type of special gear for solo players or tiny enclaves is a great idea. How the game is played is a matter of personal preference and choice. There should be trade offs, different advantages and disadvantages, but no direct penalty for the decision.
Regarding theft of special gear. Though it may not be directly useful to the thief, it would be a nice ransom item, not to mention bragging rights.