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Various minor ideas


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#1 Gay Lord

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Posted 17 February 2016 - 07:14 PM

I don't know which forum is the most active.  Is beamdog more active than here?  G3?  Anyways, I wanted to share some ideas that have been bumping in my head

 

1) Candlekeep illusion party

Several years ago I tried to change the illusory training party you can get in the prologue.  I wanted to change them into a 2nd level Order of the Stick party, with Haley, Durkon, V, Belkar and Elan, some "cameo" work before their main appearance in OOTS.  However the game kept crashing when I tried to use the altered files.  I'm guessing it had something to do with the fact that you aren't supposed to be able to keep the party or their items, and changing them screwed with the script(s).

 

2) Plot with Firehair and Tethtoril

Why on earth are Firebead and Teth examining an ID scroll? Sure, you could say there's an RP reason... maybe it's from another culture, another plane, uses different gestures, etc... it IS Candlekeep so perhaps they're interested in some obscure aspect of the scroll.  If you put that aside however, it seems odd that two very powerful mages would otherwise care about a simple 1L scroll.  If the scroll is rare enough to merit their attention though, why are they passing it through YOUR hands??  I have always found the whole thing highly suspicious.

 

What if T is actually sending a secret message to Elvenhair?  In PNP there's a spell called Secret Page, which lets you create an illusion over a document so it looks like something else.  This would explain why they wouldn't want to be seen together, why they have somebody else carry the message.  It could be as simple as that, but since you're involved, what if it's even more?

 

What I imagine is a scroll like this:

 

"Elvenfire, the day has finally come.  IT is leaving Candlekeep, and we will finally be able to sleep easy at night.  Gorion is leaving with it today, but he refuses to divulge his plans.  Though we will now be safe, we cannot remain ignorant of what is to come.  I have enchanted this scroll with a tracer spell so that when it is accepted, the spell will strike.  In this way it will be marked.  Of course, we won't be able to track it from here, Candlekeep's wards will block the spell.

 

I need you to pack your things and leave as well. Go to our chapterhouse in Beregost.  From there you can track it's movements and learn of how it is affecting the Sword Coast.  Send regular reports!  My tracer spell was rushed, as I have only just learned of Gorion's departure, so it will not last long.  Prepare an item in Beregost with a stronger tracer, and find some way to get it to accept it from you if it should visit."

 

For most characters, this would appear to be a regular ID scroll for which Elvenbead will give his standard reward.  For characters with a certain class/ kit/ stat, or if perhaps they took it to the priest of Oghma, they might learn the truth.  Whether there's anything further to this idea is up for inspiration, but it would not only help to explain why they're having you pass on this scroll, but give some foreshadowing that powerful people have their eyes on you, even if you don't know why yet.

 

There could also be something in the scroll indicating that it was T who allowed Shank and Carbos entry to the keep to kill you, or he hired them from a caravan, or whatever.  Hairbead doesn't agree with T's plan to kill you, but can't directly oppose T either, so he gives you an invisible "boost" with his spell to help you out.

 

It might also be nice for Firehair to have a custom spell with a much longer duration.  I think the vanilla spell barely lasts long enough to exit the inn, and while SR gives a longer duration, it still might not be long enough for a casual newbie gamer who's taking his time exploring.

 

3) Carbos and Shank

How did they get in??  Entry to Candlekeep is supposed to be tighter than an elven arse, yet these two goobers made it in?  How???  One idea is mentioned above, that T (or some other monk), let them in to kill you.  Another idea is this:

 

Carbos and Shank are actually high level thieves in a BG guild.  They are competing for an "officer" position in the guild.  The guildmaster, looking for a difficult task to challenge them, sees this recent posting for a bounty on some child in Candlekeep.  He says this is their task.  The 50gp bounty for killing you is not their real reward, it's the high ranking position in the guild.  The challenge, of course, is getting in.

 

Now the guild has long known of Candlekeep's defenses, and it's weaknesses.  Wards and spells that can block archmages aren't impervious to thieves.  The trick is how the wards work.  The spells on the keep keep out the powerful.  The higher your level, the stronger the barrier becomes.  The weaker you are, the weaker the barrier, which is how peasants and farmers are able to bring in food and supplies all the time and not be kept out.  What the thieves have to do is drink a special potion from their guild alchemist that temporarily drains them to zero level commoners.

 

So they travel to the keep, drink their potions, and walk in through the front gate.  They then slip away and hide out, waiting for you.  However, they underestimate just how much the potion has weakened them, so when they attack you, they miss a lot, hit for only 1 damage, and die very easily.  Perhaps one or both could have the remains of a bounty notice on you, as well as a letter from the alchemist explaining for them to be VERY CAREFUL about how weak the potions will make them.

 

As with idea #2, it's just about adding a letter to their inventory, nothing fancy.

 

4)  Some mod has introduced bracers and girdles that don't do anything and are just for decoration.  What if they did?  What if there were bracers that gave -1 bow speed, girdles that gave +30 carrying capacity, boots that gave -2 speed to stop low AC mages from constantly running ahead of the slower warriors in armor, and circlets that gave infravision?  Minor convenience items.

 

5) FAI Porter

Create an NPC called "porter" or somesuch, just inside the common room of the FAI.  When you talk to him, for a small fee (10gp), he will teleport your party to the southern part of the FAI map, and will also spawn a copy of himself.  Talking to the copy will teleport your party inside to the first porter.  This would be a simple convenience mod for those who tire of trudging back and forth and back and forth between the map entry and the taproom.

 

The second porter can't appear until after the party goes inside first, so as not to bypass Tarnesh.  The only flaw with this is that it would allow the party to skip other events in the courtyard, if any, afterwards.  I'm not aware of any, but there may be mods that add something.  Still, I think it would be a nice timesaver.

 

Perhaps there could be something similar on the Nashkel map, something that could teleport you from the bottom of the map to near the inn, but not too close so as to avoid Nimbul.

 

6)  Balance the ammo APR

I'm well aware that 2E says bows have 2 Attacks Per Round.  This makes them too good compared to other missile weapons IMO, especially slings.  Does anyone think that bows should drop to 1 APR, or that others should go up?  The 1d4 of slings is pathetic, surely they should be 2 APR at least?  What about something like this:

 

Darts................... 4 APR, 1-3 dmg, no STR, short range

Throw daggers... 2 APR, 1-4 dmg, STR, short range

Slingstones.........2 APR, 1-4 dmg, no STR, med range

Throw axes.........1 APR, 1-6 dmg, STR, med range

Bows...................2 APR, 1-6 dmg, no STR, long range

Crossbows..........1 APR, 1-10 dmg, no STR, long range

 

 



#2 Fiann of the Silver Hand

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Posted 17 February 2016 - 11:54 PM

Beamdog might be busier, for sure. Newer modders and mods especially. Active people at the "old" sites (SHS, G3, PPG, etc) tend to be crusty veterans mostly doing compatibility, though you do get the occassional new guys (but I seriously suspect they are simply old modders with a new name). Either way, you are 1000 times more likely to be the only one to implement your ideas than anyone else, so discussion is the most to expect in any forum.

1. The crash almost certainly had nothing to do with changing the NPCs, and more likely to do with something common like an invalid item in the wrong slot.

2. The information shared would have to be something not easily conveyed in person, since both could easily find a private spot for a chat. It seems complicated for the sake of something extra, but hardly makes any more sense than a basic delivery quest. Maybe a opportunity for some humor, like they're secretly sharing cookie recipes?

3. Carbos and Shank come off as not just ineffective, but stupid. Them being high-level anything, even in a weakened state, really pushes the boundaries of plausibility. I think the easiest explanation is that they are merely basic workers (stable hand, janitor, cook, etc) who were bribed/threatened by Sarevok very recently. It would be nice if their background were explained a little more.

5. baldur.ini --> Debug Mode=1 --> control-J

6. Your proposal is based on the premise that equal investment = equal production. Some weapons just suck, and should. That said, I think the *Revision mods go to great pains to make every item and spell worthwhile. You'd have to investigate that, as many that have the same aim as this use that mod, and there's ample overlap.

#3 Almateria

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Posted 18 February 2016 - 12:39 AM

Re:1
Did you use the bald guy portrait to play as Roy?

#4 Roxanne

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Posted 18 February 2016 - 01:35 AM

Beamdog might be busier, for sure. Newer modders and mods especially. Active people at the "old" sites (SHS, G3, PPG, etc) tend to be crusty veterans mostly doing compatibility, though you do get the occassional new guys (but I seriously suspect they are simply old modders with a new name). Either way, you are 1000 times more likely to be the only one to implement your ideas than anyone else, so discussion is the most to expect in any forum.

This is the worst insult I ever received since I joined SHS and posted my mod here, and so completely unnecessary, unqualified and void of any respect for those who keep this game alive.

 

A thousand CtDs to you.



1. The crash almost certainly had nothing to do with changing the NPCs, and more likely to do with something common like an invalid item in the wrong slot.

2. The information shared would have to be something not easily conveyed in person, since both could easily find a private spot for a chat. It seems complicated for the sake of something extra, but hardly makes any more sense than a basic delivery quest. Maybe a opportunity for some humor, like they're secretly sharing cookie recipes?

3. Carbos and Shank come off as not just ineffective, but stupid. Them being high-level anything, even in a weakened state, really pushes the boundaries of plausibility. I think the easiest explanation is that they are merely basic workers (stable hand, janitor, cook, etc) who were bribed/threatened by Sarevok very recently. It would be nice if their background were explained a little more.

5. baldur.ini --> Debug Mode=1 --> control-J

6. Your proposal is based on the premise that equal investment = equal production. Some weapons just suck, and should. That said, I think the *Revision mods go to great pains to make every item and spell worthwhile. You'd have to investigate that, as many that have the same aim as this use that mod, and there's ample overlap.

The Sandrah Saga

another piece of *buggy, cheesy, unbalanced junk*

 


#5 Fiann of the Silver Hand

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Posted 18 February 2016 - 01:49 AM

That's no insult. It's advising him that outside of a very few, Beamdog has such an outlandishly higher number of active users, that posting here is going to attract a significantly smaller number of responses. It has nothing to do with what gets posted here. Maybe stick to the topic at hand, or use a private message next time.

Edited by Fiann of the Silver Hand, 18 February 2016 - 01:54 AM.


#6 agb1

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Posted 18 February 2016 - 06:00 AM

Re 5 (porter) - as this convenience issue applies to the whole game, I'd like a tweak to have a passive movement speed boost on the whole party at all times EXCEPT during combat

BiG World Fixpack (community collection of mod fixes and compatibility patches, with user-friendly cross-platform script)

 

BiG World Setup (tool to automate best-practice installation of Infinity Engine mods on Windows, with conflict analysis)

Latest version:    https://bitbucket.or.../get/master.zip


#7 grammarsalad

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Posted 26 February 2016 - 07:16 PM

"
Re 5 (porter) - as this convenience issue applies to the whole game, I'd like a tweak to have a passive movement speed boost on the whole party at all times EXCEPT during combat"

This would be cool...I always cula in boots of speed for everybody because they walk so darn slow.

Also, I would like to have a few porters that only bring you to areas you have already visited

Edit: can't seem to get quotes to work

Edited by grammarsalad, 26 February 2016 - 07:18 PM.