Day 15: Madness Overhaul / Professions - Part 2: Professions
What It Does: At level 5 the madness craving is always the same, but has several options as to how to meet it. The option you choose opts you into your Profession Path. The level 10 madness craving is like level 5, with several options to fulfill it. The option you choose will opt you into your Profession.
A note on the difference. There are Profession Paths and Professions simply for organization and expand-ability. I know this may make things more confusing but I would like to tie these Paths to Christianity's Cardinal Sins. This is purely for thematic reasons.
So the Pride Profession Path would unlock Artisan types Professions like Chef, the Jeweler, Blacksmith, Tailor, etc.
Lust would have Astronomer, Alchemist, Witch
Greed would have Merchant,
Wrath would have Huntsman, Dragoon, Weaponsmith
Envy would have Politician
Sloth would have Footpad
Gluttony ?
These are off the top of my head, but there is obviously room for more.
What is a Profession? Once the level 10 madness craving is met, it unlocks the that profession's skill which gives bonuses and builds and crafts only available through unlocking that skill.
The level 6-9 Madness cravings will be progressively harder be related to the Profession Path, meaning unlocking a profession requires a the player to work towards it. After reaching and meeting the level 10 madness craving you will get a new madness craving once a week, generally just the easier 1-5 ones, but with a few hard ones, and a few profession types mixed in, so maintaining your profession also requires an effort. If you fail to meet your craving you will lose your profession and reset to level 0 madness. This is a steep price, but the benefit is that it allows the player to explore a new profession relatively easy.
Why it's Good for Salem: Thematically it feels right, to master a craft you have to be a little mad, but the real benefit is that it adds a lot of mid and late game content and lets players individualize their characters which adds a lot of diversity to Salem. The fact one player can only have a single profession at a time adds to economy and gives more reasons for players to make towns/work together.
I am also suggesting that the killing blow be attached to a couple of professions, rather than being a store bought item or a skill you can unlock normally. This is a small ways curbs murder alts as Killing Blow requires more effort to obtain, but nowhere near the degree learning Cain and Abel naturally does. Additionally you probably noticed Witchcraft is unlocked this through this system. I will talk more about witchcraft at a later date, but this would be different as you once Witchcraft is learned it would be permanent, and no other professions could be learned while that player is a witch.