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Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura: Difference between revisions
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* [[And Your Reward Is Clothes]]: See [[Shout-Out]] below. The clothes happen to be the ones the mage was wearing.
* [[Anti-Villain]]: For most of the game, {{spoiler|Kerghan}} kills, tortures, and generally acts in an indisputably evil way. But when you are told his motivations for doing so, {{spoiler|particularly when Virgil confirms what he has to say}}, you can easily understand his point of view. {{spoiler|Which is kind of disturbing given that he's an [[Omnicidal Maniac]].}}
* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: {{spoiler|Kerghan wants to [[Omnicidal Maniac|kill everyone]] because he believes that the afterlife is better and more peaceful than life}}. Interestingly, that particular theory is somewhat confirmed in-game, since one of your party members {{spoiler|who dies and is resurrected}} agrees with him but still thinks that people should be allowed to choose their own fate.▼
* [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]]: {{spoiler|The writing in this game deserves credit considering that the completely sane Kerghan whose primary goal is to kill absolutely ''everything'' isn't a [[Complete Monster]] in any way, but this instead. He's decided that because being alive is painful, summoned spirits suffer terribly from the experience, and the final afterlife is perfect bliss, then the logical solution is end all life. He reasons that if living is unpleasant and death peaceful, then having to live must be a terrible crime to force upon a soul and one that must be permanently removed. Remarkably if the player can explain the flaws in his philosophy he'll willingly abandon his genocidal agenda and submit to having his soul banished forever. He even shows some slight regret that he never learned how to enjoy life himself: "Perhaps some souls are destined for death; they never know how to live"}}▼
* [[Omnicidal Maniac]]: {{spoiler|Kerghan.}}▼
* [[Nietzsche Wannabe]]: {{spoiler|It is more or less disputable what of the above Kerghan is or is only under certain circumstances. Least doubt should be about him being a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]], who pulls his conclusions from an [[Nietzsche Wannabe]]s point of view. Kerghan does not see a reason to live, which is nihilistic, but on the other hand wants to solve this problem in a constructive way, which would be the characteristic of an [[Anti-Nihilist]]. But if he was anti-nihilistic, he would do good after he understands his fallacies. He accepts then to be vanished forever, which is a nihilist action again. The existence of this specific ending also leaves doubt seeing Kerghan as an [[Omnicidal Maniac]] or [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]]. The possibility of convincing Kerghan that he is a [[Nietzsche Wannabe]], makes him one, if the player does so.}}
* [[Antiquated Linguistics]]: The manual is written like this. Mostly in an in-universe style.
* [[Apocalyptic Log]]: In Vendigroth you can find newspapers reporting about an elven wizard who threatened them and how they told him to screw himself. Vendigroth is now a giant lifeless wasteland -- guess who's responsible for that.
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* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: Gar the Orc AKA Garfield Thelonius Remingtom the Third. A child of two human parents physically identical to an orc. Introduced as a sideshow act; the "World's Smartest Orc". He was forced into indentured servitude after his genuinely caring parents lost their entire fortune trying to help him. The player may negotiate his freedom and gain him as a party member if they're intelligent enough to discern Gar's true nature.
* [[The Obi-Wan]]: Elder Joachim to Virgil.
▲* [[Omnicidal Maniac]]: {{spoiler|Kerghan.}}
* [[One-Gender Race]]: An in-game reason was made up to explain what amounted to space limitations. Dwarf women are rare (you never see one in-game, and bringing up the issue with male dwarfs can somehow [[Berserk Button|trigger homicidal rage]]), while gnome and halfling women apparently suffer from [[Stay in the Kitchen]] syndrome.
** Don't forget Half-Ogres, but it is never explained why in universe.
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* [[Wake Up Call Boss|Wake Up Call Level]]: While the game can be incredibly easy with the right character, the Black Mountain Clan Mines will absolutely murder a low level party. This is made all the more frustrating since the game's narrative actively pushes you to travel there in the early stages.
* [[We Buy Anything]]: Played with; vendors will only buy things related to their stock (smithy shops only buy armor and weapons, for example), except for the junk vendors, who will buy anything short of destroyed items. Get mastery in Haggle, though, and they will not only buy anything, they'll sell you the clothes off their backs.
▲* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: {{spoiler|Kerghan wants to [[Omnicidal Maniac|kill everyone]] because he believes that the afterlife is better and more peaceful than life}}. Interestingly, that particular theory is somewhat confirmed in-game, since one of your party members {{spoiler|who dies and is resurrected}} agrees with him but still thinks that people should be allowed to choose their own fate.
* [[When All You Have Is a Hammer]]: Virtually any problem can be solved with the right application of force. Locked door? Beat it down. Guy holding an item you like? Kill him. Interdimensional portal releasing demon hoards upon the land? Whack it closed. Note that while this method may work, it is not exactly the most ''subtle'' way of doing things. Also, some of the [[Golden Ending|Golden Endings]] for various places require that you be skilled in Persuasion, such as taking a diplomatic solution to the matter of {{spoiler|Donn Throgg}}.
* [[Wizards Live Longer]]: Played with; elves are both the most magically talented race in Arcanum, and have the longest lifespans (up to a millenium), and humans with a talent for magick live slightly longer than those without, [[All There in the Manual|according to the manual]]. On the other hand, dwarves and gnomes have respectable lifespans (600 years) despite having no natural affinity for magick, and orcs and halflings, thought to have been mutated by exposure to large amounts of magick, have shorter lifespans than the races they evolved from (40 years and 400 years, respectively).
▲* [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]]: {{spoiler|The writing in this game deserves credit considering that the completely sane Kerghan whose primary goal is to kill absolutely ''everything'' isn't a [[Complete Monster]] in any way, but this instead. He's decided that because being alive is painful, summoned spirits suffer terribly from the experience, and the final afterlife is perfect bliss, then the logical solution is end all life. He reasons that if living is unpleasant and death peaceful, then having to live must be a terrible crime to force upon a soul and one that must be permanently removed. Remarkably if the player can explain the flaws in his philosophy he'll willingly abandon his genocidal agenda and submit to having his soul banished forever. He even shows some slight regret that he never learned how to enjoy life himself: "Perhaps some souls are destined for death; they never know how to live"}}
* [[Year Outside, Hour Inside]]: Is the case inside The Void. {{spoiler|Stennar Rock-Cutter refers to the elderly Gilbert Bates as "the boy" because from his perspective it's only been a few months/years since he and his clan were banished, while it's been over half a century in Arcanum.}}
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