CONDUCTOR KIT (BARD) Release v1.00 by Zyraen zyraen@hotmail.com 1. Introduction This mod introduces a new Kit for Bards to the BG2 ToB, details as follows : CONDUCTOR Every Conductor sparks a most enchanting charm that they use to electrify their audiences in every sense of the word. Just through their performances, Conductors can channel electricity and possibly even set alight all those who incur their wrath, and their mastery of Electrical and Lightning spells is unparalleled even when compared against Mages. However, their limitations are many. Their art requires use of small single-handed weapons, the proper timing means they may not be quick on their feet while performing, and since their calling is to be the centre of attention, a Conductor can never use invisibility of any sort. Advantages : - Damaging Bard Songs progressing as follows 5 : Bard Song damages nearby opponents for 1d6 electrical damage on failed Save vs Spells 9 : Bard Song damages nearby opponents for 2d6 electrical damage on failed Save vs Spells -1 14 : Bard Song damages nearby opponents for 2d6 electrical damage and 2d6 fire damage on failed Save vs Spells at -2 - Gains 10% Electrical Resistance every 5 levels, up to 50% Max - Auto-Learns special Electrical / Lightning Spells at various levels - HLAs includes Conductor Song Upgrades, Conductor Resistance, Proficiencies, and Conductor Spell Upgrades Disadvantages : - Bard Song sets the Conductors movement speed to half of normal - may not have Proficiency Points in any weapons or styles except Short Sword, Dagger, Single Weapon Style. - may not ever become Invisible, Hidden, Unseen, or anything to the effect of making them invisible - Offhand Thac0 has a permanent -7 Penalty - HLAs excludes all Use Any Item, all Traps, standard Enhanced Bard Song, Alchemy and Potion-making NOTE : That while some effort has been made to balance the Conductor, it is probably somewhat more powerful than a normal Bard, possibly closer in power to say an average Mage. If you feel that Bards should be good in melee (ie. Blade), be magical midgets and what not, this Kit is not for you. NOTE : If you are aiming for a Solo, the Conductor is probably most enjoyable as a ToB-only Solo. SoA may still be tough, but challenging. 2. Conductor Special Spells Perhaps more than the kit itself, or even as part of it, the charm of a Conductor lies in his unique spells. And here they are, a brief description fo what to expect. - Charged Magic Missiles (level 1) : 1d4 Electrical Damage per missile. learned only at level 9. - Lightning Glyph (level 2) : Wizard version of Glyph of Warding - Conductor's Insulation (level 2) : grants 70% Electrical Resistance. lasts 10 turns. - Lightning Blast (level 3) : Everyone in a 30' radius of caster, including allies, takes 10d6 Lightning damage. - Conductor's Chain (level 4) : same as normal Chain Lightning, just 2 levels lower - Lightning Storm (level 5) : Wizard version of Call Lightning, except it is usable indoors - Conducive Surge (level 5) : single target spell, target takes -4 to Save vs Spells, -30% Lightning Resist, -30% Fire Resist, lasts 15 rounds. Note that the only Saving Throw used in these spells (if any) is a Save vs Spells. 3. Conductor Special HLAs (Innate) These HLAs only need to be learnt once and thereafter will always be in effect. - Innate Insulation : grants 3 AC and 30% Lightning and Fire Resistance. - Weapon Specialisation : grants +2 Thac0 and 2 stars in Shortsword, Dagger, Single Weapon Style - Weapon Mastery : grants +2 Thac0 and 3 stars in Shortsword, Dagger, Single Weapon Style. requires Weapon Specialisation - Conductivity : Bard Song upgrade I. Increases damage to 3d6 Lightning and Fire and target must Save vs Spells at -4 to avoid damage - Explosive Ensemble : Bard Song upgrade II. Increases damage to 5d6 Lightning and Fire. requires Conductivity - Virtuoso Vibrance : Bard Song upgrade III. removes the slowing effect of the Bardsong. requires Explosive Ensemble As of this release, there are no level restrictions on Any of these Abilities. 4. Conductor Special HLAs (Spells / Abilities) - Overcharged Magic Missiles (level 2) : 2d5 Electrical Damage per missile. does 10d5 Electrical damage to the caster - Conductor's Insulation 10' Radius (level 5) : Every ally in 10' radius of the spell gains 45% Electrical Resistance for 15 rounds. requires Innate Insulation - Mass Conducive Surge (level 6) : Every enemy in 30' radius of the spell takes -4 to Save vs Spells, -30% Lightning Resist, -30% Fire Resist, lasts 8 rounds. requires Conductivity - Lightning Fury (level 6) : Every enemy in 30' radius around the conductor takes 10d10 Fire and Lightning Damage, and are stunned for one round. They may Save vs Spells at -4 to halve damage and not be stunned. The Conductor takes 5d10 Fire and 5d10 Lightning damage. requires Explosive Ensemble - Lightning Wrath (innate) : This potent spell causes the Conductor to unleash to unleash 2 blasts of AoE lightning for every ally in a 30' radius. Each blast does doing 8d6 damage to all targets in range, friend and foe alike, with Save vs Spells to halve damage. On the enemies, the spell bypasses Magic Resistance. The Conductor takes additional 16d6 Lightning damage and falls unconscious for 18 seconds (3 rounds). requires Lightning Fury and may be learnt five times. - Lightning Tempest (innate) : The ultimate Conductor ability, this spell unleashes a separate chain lightning at every enemy in 30' radius of the caster, each chain doing 8d6 on the first wave. The Conductor takes 16d6 Lightning damage and falls unconscious for 18 seconds (3 rounds). requires Lightning Wrath and may be learnt twice. 5. Haer'Dalis the Conductor To make the Kit more playable / accessible, I have included an installation turning Haer'Dalis into a Conductor, and modifying his Short Swords so that he can still use them. However, his dual wielding is severely affected and he will probably be effective with only one of his two swords at any one time. His base Electrical Resistance is also reduced from 25% to 10%, in order not to add too much his Conductor Electrical bonus. This also makes me smile because Haer'Dalis was one of the NPCs I felt most resembled the Conductor and should not just be a Blade. Being an non-Prime, it also makes sense that he would have some specialised magical abilities on his own, not accessible to normal mages, and he appears to be the 2nd-in-charge of the entire Sigil troupe as well as the main star of the show. Personally, I didn't feel he suited a melee character, yet at the same time he would be someone to sow mass chaos, perhaps through mass damage, and be near the frontlines attracting the ire of his foes. All of this suited the Conductor kit admirably. In fact, to some extent, Haer'Dalis inspired the Conductor kit. NOTE : I didn't know about the Haer'Dalis romance at all, but it might be fun playing a 2 person party, say PC as F/M, M/T or F/T, while Haer'Dalis plays as a Conductor. 6. FAQ This section will probably be vastly expanded in future as required. Frankly, I'm not sure what to write. Q : Why can't I install the mod ? A : You need to have BG2 and ToB installed for the mod to install. Q : How do I make a Conductor? A : Create a character as per normal. Q : Why doesn't my Conductor have Charged Magic Missiles? A : You need to be level 9 to get it. Q : Why doesn't my Conductor have (the other Conductor) Spell? A : You need to have access to that spell level to get that Conductor spell. Eg. you need to be able to cast Level 4 Mage spells in order to learn Conductor's Chain. Q : My Conductor is the right level, why doesn't my Conductors have (the other Conductor) spell yet? A : Try levelling up once more. The Conductors need time to shape the new powerful spell, you know. Q : My Conductor special spell works just like the plain old vanilla BG2 spell! Is there some mistake? Probably a human error rather than a mod error. The Conductor special spells use the same display icons in your spellbook as your vanilla BG2 spell. Your character probably memorised or cast the wrong spell. I suggest erasing the vanilla BG2 spell (if you don't want it) from your spellbook to prevent confusion like accidentally casting Magic Missile instead of Charged Magic Missile, and Lightning Bolt instead of Lightning Blast, etc. If you have difficulty figuring out which spell is which, hold the Tab button while mousing over the spell icon. Please send me feedback if you'd like to recommend other Spell Icons for the various Spells and HLAs. Q : I accidentally erased my special Conductor spell from the Spellbook. Is there a way to get it back? Not in the game, no. I suggest reloading. Q : I cast Conductor's Insulation on myself / party member and the Electrical Resistance is less than what I expected, only 127%? The game has a maximum Electrical Resistance of 127% per character. Hence, you can't get higher than 127% even if you should get more. Q : Why doesn't my Conductor have his HLA spell in his spellbook after I learn it? A : Try looking in your lower level Wizard spell slots. Overcharged Magic Missile is level 2 and Conductor's Insulation 10' radius is level 5. Q : Why doesn't my Conductor have Lightning Wrath / Lightning Tempest after I learn the HLA? A : Try looking in your Innate Spell slots. Q : I cast Lightning Wrath / Lightning Tempest and my game slowed down, then I Crashed To Desktop (CTD). What gives!? A : I'm afraid both spells are extremely graphic intensive, and more graphics (ie lightning arcs) are generated with each CRE within range of the spell. My suggestion is to use it when less Creatures are around (less than 5 should be safe), and/or shut off background programs when casting it so that your BG2 won't crash. If this still fails, don't use these abilities at all or try on a better computer / operating system. Q : Why isn't Haer'Dalis a Conductor? A : Try installing the component that makes him one. Q : Why isn't Haer'Dalis a Conductor after I install the component? A : You're probably playing a loaded game where Haer'Dalis has already been created as a Blade. You need to create a new game or load one where Haer'Dalis has not already been created, and he'll be a Conductor. 6.0 Credits Many thanks to - K`aeloree / Liam for offering encouragement for me to get back to modding, and for taking effort to do up the 12 Days of Christmas. If not for that I wouldn't have felt an urge to get this little tidbit of a mod done. plus all the encouragement for my other long-time-in-the-closet mod projects. - Eric P. We hardly talked about the Conductor at all, but your undying interest in BG2 even when I was not going to the forum and continued presence on MSN gave me someone to talk to and kept me from Ctrl-Deleting the whole game from my HDD. Thank you! - Berelinde for your feedback and interest in the early stage of the project. I was surprised it managed to catch your notice and get a relative decent thumbs-up. as mentioned in the topic, I didn't implement the chainmail restriction as item restrictions just suck to do for Kits plus most bard armor in BG2 is chain. I did however follow your suggestion and not implement the weapon restrictions (like I said, kit restrictions suck), but the proficiencies are still stringent. - Everyone who Installs This Thanks for still enjoying and playing BG2 and mods. It means a lot to have players feedback on the balance and games, and makes modding even more worthwhile. Cheers! Remember, any feedbag, bugs, issues (like the Conductor spells EVER showing up in the Spell Selection Screen, that IS a bug), please email me at zyraen@hotmail.com ( the rest for discussion purposes) 7.0 Balance Notes Please feedback your concerns and experiences on the Conductor's useability / balance to me in email as well, or on the forum. Here are some notes for reference, but they could be wrong. SPELLS - Charged Magic Missiles : less damage than normal magic missiles. not very useful - Lightning Glyph : your Cleric already has like 5-6 of these, so a few more on the Conductor wouldn't hurt. last I checked their damage doesn't stack. - Conductor's Insulation : as if anyone needs Electrical Resistance in BG2. until Abazigal, or in some fights you fail to backstab some wizard and he gets a Chain Lightning off. - Lightning Blast : this is really an untargetable version of a Fireball, except it does Electrical damage. 10d6 is the same damage as a Fireball cast by a level 10 wizard, and the Conductor will be almost level 10 or so when he gets Lightning Blast anyway. - Conductor's Chain : this may be slightly overpowered, I assume a Conductor has about the same number of uses as an equi-level mage. He'll get there a bit faster, but Stoneskin is probably foremost on the Conductor's mind. Feedback is welcome, perhaps to reduce the damage done or increase to level 5 in the Wizard's spellbook? - Lightning Storm : very powerful spell, hardly used in BG2 because 99.99% of the fights occur indoors. makes it useful, nice to see it in action like an extension of the Conductor's song. perhaps a little powerful but its almost untargetable. Feedback is welcome, perhaps to reduce the damage done or increase the level in the Wizard's spellbook? Note I can't control the waves and frequency of being "struck" though. - Conducive Surge : this is a lot less useful than it looks. the specific decrease in resistance makes the target's innate Magic Resistance still block off damage from spells, plus only one Saving Throw is affected, making its help to the party overall very limited. Its main use is to quickly cast at a Boss CRE, and then just have the Conductor play his bardsong for the rest of the fight. If you're lucky you disrupt his spells. I trust there's not much of an issue here. BARDSONG & UPGRADES - regards all versions of the songs, inclusive the HLA upgrades, please feedback on the power of the song, if you feel its overpowered - also feedback if Spellcasting should be disabled once the song is in effect. I wanted to implement this but later changed my mind, as I felt it made the Conductor too weak and players would want the Conductor to be more versatile and able to react with spells to suit the situation. hence the result would simply be that most would hardly use the Bardsong unless the Conductor has nothing else to do. HLA SPELLS - Overcharged Magic Missiles : I'm not sure if this is too powerful. It does 10d5 damage to a single target, but that's less than Lightning Blast and its a level 2 HLA spell. There's some potential for cheese but not more than anything else already in BG2. plus the backlash is a pain. In my mind, there's only one proper use for this spell :) - Lightning Fury : Comet without a Magic Resistance bypass, without a knock-away ability, plus it self damages the caster and cannot be targeted. I think that's all right compared to what Mages have. - Lightning Wrath : its all about collateral damage. NOT. This spell is possibly more powerful than Lightning Tempest in situations where you have less enemies, since you "use" your party members to fire off more Lightning. - Lightning Tempest : this is where it gets real tetchy. My argument for this spell goes like this - use it to knock out the masses. You'll kill them anyway, it'll just let you do it much faster (unless your computer crashes). Its almost useless against bosses so its no big deal. The only bosses who will die quickly to this one is probably ****** (figure it out), because they have a whole bunch of folks to help them. With Lightning Tempest, they'll likely only help him get killed. If Lightning Wrath and Lightning Tempest bug you, drop me a note and also in meantime, choose not to use them at all in your game.