Six's random blatherings.

[Salk]

Shadow Armor +3

What I'd do is to leave the armor with both the thieving abilities bonuses and allowed spellcasting, since it makes sense and it doesn't seem overpowered to me, but I'd definitely make it cost a lot more (say ~20.000 or ~30.000 instead of ~10.000), and maybe moving it from Taerum to the thieves guild's shop.

 

This would be a very reasonable solution (well, the price should not really be higher than 20.000 though).

why is that? there is np way you can have 20k gp in the first half of the game (considerng you also spend your money on other things like spells and ammo) playing with 4-6 characters IMO.

 

This armor in the present state is so good (the very best for a spellcaster for the whole BG1 campaign) that it deserves that you make big economic sacrifice to obtain it.

 

And it is very possible to raise up that amount of money. But at the end, if you can't afford it, you just don't buy it (you could try stealing it).

[kthxbye]

Shadow Armor +3

I think you can't steal neither from Taerum nor from the thieves guild's shopkeeper, so you have to pay for the armor.

I've always found that in BG1 it's really easy to make a lot of money - Bassilus have a 5000gp reward for his holy symbol alone, plus his equip, for example - so leaving the armor to Taerum and raising the price wouldn't change things so much, as the player will be able to buy it after having explored less than a quarter of the whole BG1 world - not counting the big city and the Candlekeep catacombs.

Moving it to the thieves hideout in the big city makes a little more sense to me, and makes it impossible to buy the armor until cloakwood mines are cleared, and especially with some tactic mod installed, it requires a bit of exploring and experience beforehand. Raising the price would also be nice, seeing the powers of the armor. Plus, the thief shopkeeper sells high to a party with high rep if I remember it right.

In my playthroughs, I usually reach the big city after having explored at least half of the world map: acquiring the armor at that point would mean that I had to act very carefully while using my M/T, and will have to be careful enough even with it equipped since I'd have to do the catacombs and the high level quests in the big city.

 

Heh, just trying to explain why I'd move it to the thieves guild while keeping the spellcasting ability, since Demi said he doesn't know BG1 that well - hope I made my point clear.

[Demivrgvs]

Shadow Armor +3

Heh, just trying to explain why I'd move it to the thieves guild while keeping the spellcasting ability, since Demi said he doesn't know BG1 that well - hope I made my point clear.

Yeah, forgive my ignorance. Moving it to a thief related store, or better on a powerful thief foe would be the best solution yes. Anyway, I'd like to discuss these things in the respective topic.

 

 

Helm of Resilience

Good, but too powerful to be picked up for free in Jon's Dungeon. Are you planning to move it somewhere? Druids can wear Helmets, and there's not a one to be found in the Grove--wait a minute, that one armored Fighter/Druid that (briefly) helps you fight the Trolls. He'd be a good candidate.

Actually within IR druids can't wear metal as per PnP. I may add it to the list of things in search of an appropriate place.

 

 

Helm of Balduran

It's very arguably the best helm in the entire saga, and it's just sitting on a shelf getting dusty? Slap that thing onto Ilyich's head, pronto! (And include a note in the README that IR should be installed after Improved Ilyich.) Also, in keeping with the "artifact" status of the Helm, I disagree with its enchantments conflicting with a piddling little spell like Aid.

Well, it grants +1 AC, +1 to thaco, +1 to damage, +1 to all saves, and +5 hp...making it not stack seemed the best way to nerf it a little, as most SR players considered this helm too powerful. I find interesting to beef up an opponent with it, though I'm not sure if Ilych is the right one (again, let's discuss these things elsewhere to keep track of it).

 

P.S The more I know players via PMs and feedback the more I learn that most of them really don't care about the Readme, thus adding a compatibility issue may not be so easily handled.

 

 

Helm of Glory

Wait--did you restore the original animation, or just the Inventory icon? It makes a big difference, to those of us with a sense of style.

It's clear you never played with IR. I always try to make bams/paperdollos match the avatar's animations, and that also involves color editing too.

 

Anyway, the Blessing is too strong, especially considering how often one can be hit. I would rename it to "Valiant's Retribution" and shorten the duration to 1 round, but also confer immunity to Fear during that round.

Immunity to fear is already granted by both Kiel's Helmet and Dragon Helm. If we find a different solution for the Dragon Helm what about making Valian't Blessing a permanent Bless + Immunity to fear?

 

 

Helmet of Defense

I actually preferred the +1 to Saves--protecting your weaker party members from physical blows is manageable enough, but Save-or-else AoE spells are a different matter entirely. It's also consistent with the Helm providing elemental resistances instead of physical ones.

All magical helmets within IR have the +1 to AC, and this helmet seems powerful enough without adding the save bonus (it has a +3 enhancement bonus just like most helmets).

 

 

Dragon Helm

You might make the Fear immunity be a 1x/day casting, but non-dispellable for uniqueness, and add a hefty Save vs. Breath Weapon bonus, to help ensure they keep the thing on (if it's just the +2 THAC0/Damage against Dragons, I'd still prefer to wear Balduran, even against a Dragon).

It's +2 to AC/save, not THAC0/Damage. Save vs. breath is already granted by another item of the Dragonslayer Set (Dragon Helm + Dragonslayer + Dragon Scale Shield), and I think it is much more appropriate for the shield. A twist may be to actually give it a gaze of fear effect, but the original concept is to have it protect from dragon's abilities instead of emulating them imo.

 

Also, change its location to ANYWHERE in the game rather than right before you fight a Dragon. Perhaps to Firkraag's hoard, to show that he's not a complete moron?

We already discussed this, and in theory this helmet is buried in a deep pit. Furthermore moving this particular item would be annoying because it is granted via scripts. Anyway, I'm open to discuss these things, but this is not the place to discuss them.

 

 

Skull of Death

The description says it was used to slay the enemy "commanders," plural, so perhaps it would be better to allow the Death Gaze 3x/day, and remove the death-magic immunity.

I'm starting to annoy myself by saying that "permanent while equipped effects have a lot more priority than x/day abilities within IR". I don't want this helmet to be equipped only to cast Death Gaze and then be replaced by Helm of Balduran during the fight.

 

 

Helm of Brilliance

I think Sol's Searing Orb, usable 1x or 2x/day, would be more appropriate than Prismatic Spray . . . and the +40% Fire Resistance is a little much.

Actually I think Searing Orb is not so appropriate. The concept is that the helmet itself radiates light (thus False Dawn or Sunray) or scintillating lights (Prismatic Spray, perhaps Color Spray).

 

IR's extended description: "This helm appears ordinary until its true nature is perceived. Made of brilliant silver and polished steel, the Helm of Brilliance is set with diamonds, rubies, fire opals, and opals, each of large size and enchanted. When struck by bright light, the helm scintillates and sends forth reflective rays in all directions from its crown-like, gem-tipped spikes. The jewels allow the wearer to cast a variety of powerful spells and can absorb significant amounts of fire damage.

The few such helms reported to still exist have been traced back to a great cleric of Lathander from Baldur's Gate named Ergelion. Ergelion equipped his companions with these helms to turn back a horde of undead swarming out of the Troll Hills to the north. Though the horde never reached Baldur's Gate, none of that band of adventurers was seen or heard from again."

 

 

Helm of Darkness

Give it to the Shade Lord, and move the Cloak of the Stars to . . . Anishai? Hmm. Actually, the Helm of Opposite Alignment, is implemented in BG1, it's just nearly impossible to obtain.

Isn't the Shade Lord a mage?

 

 

Vhailor's Helm

Just to make sure you know, the Helm of Balduran's icon in BG1 wasn't the one used by vanilla BG2 Helm of Glory: It was . . . oh wait, go here: http://mikesrpgcenter.com/bgate/armor.html

 

 

Roranach's Horn

YES, thank you, I might even wear it now. Although to make it more fun, you might add a 1x/day Headbutt ability, with the same effects as a full hit from the completed Staff of the Ram.

I think it's fine as it is, but a "charge" ability is not bad conceptually.

 

 

Thieves' Hood

Considering it's competing with every Helmet and Ioun Stone in the game, even the upgraded vanilla version is laughably pathetic. I would put the Backstab immunity on the first version, along with some decent boosts to Find Traps and Detect Illusions, for those parties stuck with Imoen or Nalia as their Thief. Add the AC, Poison immunity, & True Sight in the upgrade, and you've got a good Thief hat.

What you suggest is more or less what we already did. Anyway, your suggestion actually makes me think about replacing True Seeing with something else, because adding a consistent bonus to Detect Illusion may actually make TS redundant (the thief's ability is even potentially more effective).

 

Helm of the Rock

Considering when you get it, it seems that most enemies who are able to get through your AC are almost guaranteed to make a simple Save vs. Spell, and that's on top of the fact that landing a successful hit usually has the effect of increasing your courage. Instead, I'd have the basic Helm grant immunities to Sleep, Fear, Charm, and Confusion, and with the upgrade it casts both Resist Fear and Horror every round, both with a 15' radius (Save on the Horror to be determined).

I previously made it work as a Resist Fear + Cloak of Fear aura, but unfortunatley aura-like effects cause various issues, and I had to restrict them as much as possible. I may use it as a x/day ability thought.

 

 

Adventurer's/Knave's/Traveler's Robe of Cold/Electrical/Fire Resistance

Considering that these robes will almost certainly be worn for just the first 4 or 5 days of the game, are you sure it's worth the effort of tweaking them? This is almost a BG1-only change, as that's pretty much the only setting in which they'll be used. Regardless, the upgraded enchantments are decent, but even in BG1 they're blown away by the Archmagi Robes . . . but then, they're supposed to be. I have to say, though, that I don't like the Movement Rate bonus on the Traveler's Robe: It means my Mage wanders out in front and gets his ass shot off.

Even if it was for BG1 only I would have tweaked them anyway, whereas Robe of Archmagi is really too powerful for BG1 imo!

 

But the real change I want to talk about is that I've always considered that the lesser Mage Robes should be wearable by everyone, including Monks, Kensai, and Shapeshifters. If they are no more restrictive than regular clothing, and ALL characters wear clothing, why would these classes/kits shun them? Even Wizard Slayers would tolerate the enchantments on all but the Traveler's and Adventurer's Robes. As for non-Mages not "knowing how" to wear the Robes or being "rejected" by them, I can easily see that happening for potent items like the Archmagi Robes . . . but not for this low-level stuff.

Except allowing Kensai to wear them, I may be amenable to this, as it seems something that pops up quite often in suggestion threads.

 

P.S allowing Shapeshifters to wear them may cause issues with Refinement's shapeshifter tweak.

 

 

Robe of the [Alignment] Archmagi

What do you mean, "unchanged?" Where did this Spell Penetrate come from--I assume it's a 1x/day ability with no Save? If so, that seems okay . . . makes handling Drow a bit easier, at least.

It's an aura-like effect right now, as armors are the only place where I still allow aura-like effects (except the Belt of Inertial Barrier).

 

 

Oh yes, Vhailor's Helm and Robe of Larloch: "As per SCS, but I have to wait for DavidW." I seem to recall that SCS moves the Robe to Watcher's Keep Level 5 or thereabouts, and I have no idea about the Helm. Is that correct?

Correct, and the helm is moved tto ToB, used by Gromnir (which is a cool thing).

[SixOfSpades]

About buying (as oposed to looting) powerful items

Naturally, important items deserve to be worth the effort of obtaining them, and the classic way of ensuring this is to have to win them through a difficult victory. It's a very good method, I'm certainly not disputing that, I'm just saying that overreliance on that one method gets tiresome and can lead to things like the "gold problem" in BG1: Once you've purchased the Full Plate, the Shadow Armor, an Archmagi Robe, and possibly the Dagger of Venom and/or the Crossbow of Speed (in other words, once you return from the Cloakwood), gold essentially becomes irrelevant because there's nothing left to buy. The economy of the whole game rests on just 5 items, and when you get down to it, BG2 isn't much better--although along with roughly doubling the number of "must-haves" in stores, it also has the advantage of spreading them out through the various Chapters, so you aren't stuck with BG1's problem of having nothing worth purchasing in the entire 2nd half of the game.

 

Especially when considering that the people selling those items, once attacked and defeated, manage to take all those items with them in the underworld.

Damn . . . I was going to suggest giving all shopkeepers a non-Pickpocketable, super-heavy, Container-type item that, once dropped, allows access to all the goods remaining in their former owner's store, for free. Unfortunately, you apparently can't have one .sto file (with a price modifier of 0%) point to the inventory of another. Crap.

 

BG1 Shadow Armor

I'll support moving it from Taerom's store to the Thieves' Guild for several reasons. It's more appropriate there (both because of its setting and because Taerom obviously didn't make it himself) and eases the "gold problem" by putting a must-have item slightly later in the game. Also, it implies slightly more background for Husam, one of the Thieves there, who we later find out is actually an Amnish Shadow Thief who's infiltrated the Guild in BG--we'd be implying that his mission is to recover the Shadow Armor. The only problem lies in moving it to Black Lily's store: If the Guild owns such an important item, why is it sitting in a store instead of being worn by their leader, Alatos? So, to be correct, we should probably put it in both places.

If anyone's still considering making the Shadow Armor allow Wizard spellcasting in BG1, direct your thoughts toward a suit of Elven Chain instead. It would make having a Bard (or Fighter/Mage, etc.) in BG1 a good deal more tolerable.

 

BG2 Shadow Armor

Actually [by making it allow Wizard spellcasting] I turned it into something custom made for any Shadowmaster (it would be great on Aran too), and I remained quite true to the original spirit of this armor. Shadow Armor's background tells us these suits are created exclusively for Shadowmasters, and if 2 of the 3 Shadowmasters you face in BG are M/T I think my changes are very appropriate.

2 out of 3 guild leaders in Athkatla are Thief/Mages, yes--but not only are there a lot more Shadowmasters out there in Amn, but I have to suggest that BioWare made Aran and Mae'Var T/Ms mostly for combat reasons, to make them more formidable opponents. (Aran's class might also have been determined by canon lore, but I strongly doubt that the same would hold true for Mae'Var.) Heck, if the game pushed you to attack Renal, he might have been made a Thief/Mage too.

So your "remaining true to the original spirit of this armor" is questionable, but I'll tell you one thing that isn't: You can be even truer to its original spirit by changing it back. Having it worn only by Renal is just fine, and it solves the "too similar to Armor of Deep Night / vanilla Night's Gift" problem simply because it isn't available until Chapter 6 (although Renal does deserve to be added to the Bodhi mission that takes place in his own dang guildhall).

 

Wizard Slayer item restrictions

Class-appropriate Carsomyr

I won't be discussing these any further here--I'm doing them in my own mod, so why put any more effort into trying to convince you [and Mike]? It's not like we need the negativity.

 

Darkmail+3

Don't you think fire resistance is really too common as magical enhancement?

I do, but it makes sense for this item, and in a very real way the practice of making your Tank immune to Fire and then launching Fireballs with abandon is the "traditional thing to do." Some may argue that this is a pattern that should be broken, but I'm rather neutral about it.

 

Jester's Chain+4

The elemental resistances are tied to the Prismatic effect. Anyway I thought too about making it allow spellcasting, but then I would have to restrict it for bards, and I actually discarded the idea only because we already have tons of elven chains.

I'd still argue for Elven, because the item implies that he was a Jester, and why would his "friends" give him an item that would block one of his main talents and (I assume) a big chunk of his stage show? Elemental resistances are nice, yes, but they're just not as flavorful as being able to ignore projectile vegetables and win any drinking contest there is.

 

Radiant Plate+3

Spellcasting level cannot be modified, and reducing spellcasting failure doesn't seem a great effect, is it?

Hmmm, very odd: I hadn't noticed that the opcode of Casting Level Modifier[191] mentions that "The use of this effect is unknown," even though it then goes on to tell you how to choose between affecting Priest or Wizard spellcasting. Either way, allegedly Spellcasting Level is affected for Wild Mages, so theoretically it can be explored for other classes as well. Theoretically, wink wink, nudge nudge.

Reducing the odds of Spellcasting Failure is just a nice little tweak, insurance of not being completely screwed if you get hit with an Insect Plague or Miscast Magic or whatever.

 

Shuruppak's Plate +5

Shakti Figurine already do what you suggest, and I don't think players (an me) would like to have an armor which is used only to summon a custom creature, without even equipping it...

The Shakti Figurine is just as memorable as, and worth every bit of, the trouble you went through to obtain it: Not much. Using an armor to create a Summon that's actually wearing the armor, however, is a step toward what a lot of people would regard as an ideal that BG just doesn't support: Being able to equip one's Summons just as well as one's own party members. With Simulacrum being the only exception, you're stuck with a Bag full of kickass items and no extra hands to wield them--regardless of how many extra hands you might actually happen to have at the moment. Anyway, I just thought it was an interesting idea, certainly unique in BG. I don't think this is likely to become another "drag it along just for the Summon" item, because it's still a great armor even without that ability, and I only suggested the "activation even from Inventory" feature because you mentioned that Shuruppak himself likely couldn't have worn it.

 

Pride of the Order+2

Bless would be appropriate yes, but isn't this armor already quite heavily enchanted?

Enchantments always become more flavorful when they've got the name of a spell attached to them. As for overall power level of the armor, consider when in the game you're likely to obtain it, and also that it takes a LOT to convince players to abandon the good old unenchanted Full Plate & Ring of Proection+2 combo. You don't want to encourage Paladins to win this honored, heirloom treasure of their Order . . . and then turn around & sell it.

 

Death Knight Armor+3

Having the armor grant the wearer a permanent 1d4 additional cold damge on hit is not particularly appropriate imo, and quite too much.

That's fine, I'm prefectly amenable to nerfing it, whether through amount, %chance of it firing, or both. I just like the idea of an aura of chill Evil that radiates along the user's weapon.

[mercurier]

Adventurer's/Knave's/Traveler's Robe of Cold/Electrical/Fire Resistance

Except allowing Kensai to wear them, I may be amenable to this, as it seems something that pops up quite often in suggestion threads.

If kensai is inappropriate, then likely too. Monks attack with many parts of their body, like elbows, knees, waist, etc., robe may hinder such actions.

 

Kachiko's Wakizashi +3

Vanilla one drains WIS, which is either exploitable or useless. So how about grant it x% blinding target and y% deafening target on hit (save allowed), since WIS is related to perception? And for its location, I'd suggest giving it to Koshi. Note: an additional wakizashi for a dual-katana samurai is not redundant, as katanas are for fight, and wakizshis are for suicide, self-defence or last resort.

[SixOfSpades]

Helm of Resilience

Actually within IR druids can't wear metal as per PnP. I may add it to the list of things in search of an appropriate place.

Does that include Fighter/Druids as well? Even if it doesn't, that's going to be an awful lot of Druids fighting over one helmet--the only nonmetal Helm I can think of is the Skull of Death, unless you count Roranach's Horn. And if you're outlawing metal Helmets, I hope you're doing the same for metal Scimitars as well, as it would seem terribly inconsistent otherwise.

 

You can ignore all my mentions of item locations from here on in--I'm using them mostly as notes to myself. When I'm done with my suggested changes, I'll run through the thread and post my thoughts on location in the correct thread.

 

Helm of Glory

I always try to make bams/paperdollos match the avatar's animations, and that also involves color editing too.

w00t

 

Immunity to fear is already granted by both Kiel's Helmet and Dragon Helm. If we find a different solution for the Dragon Helm what about making Valian't Blessing a permanent Bless + Immunity to fear?

Yeah, permanent Bless + Resist Fear is okay, the reason I suggested Fear immunity only in response to a hit was just an additional way to make a (relatively) common enchantment more interesting.

 

Helmet of Defense

All magical helmets within IR have the +1 to AC, and this helmet seems powerful enough without adding the save bonus (it has a +3 enhancement bonus just like most helmets).

Come again? "Enhancement bonus?" +3 to what?

 

Skull of Death

I'm starting to annoy myself by saying that "permanent while equipped effects have a lot more priority than x/day abilities within IR". I don't want this helmet to be equipped only to cast Death Gaze and then be replaced by Helm of Balduran during the fight.

I shall try to refrain from any more x/day abilities that cast prebuffs. But as this modified Finger of Death can only be cast during combat, I'm not going to worry about players equipment-swapping in mid-battle. I'm not the police any more than you are.

 

Helm of Brilliance

The concept is that the helmet itself radiates light (thus False Dawn or Sunray) or scintillating lights (Prismatic Spray, perhaps Color Spray).

Hm! Interesting. I almost want to suggest that every round, it has a small chance to cast Color Spray at the nearest creature . . . mostly for cosmetic reasons, but that might backfire as some players might simply find it annoying.

By the concept you describe the False Dawn & Prismatic Spray are fine, but I don't see why you kept the Fireball, it's certainly less fitting than Searing Orb. And I do want to tweak the description: I'd change the "fire opals" to "sunstones," lose the line about how the helmet appears "ordinary" (right before it describes how unusual the helmet looks), and is the story of Ergelion canon? It sounds like he heard about the undead army and suddenly hey presto, he whips up a batch of enchanted helmets.

 

Helm of Darkness

Isn't the Shade Lord a mage?

Since he's possessing the body of Merella, I believe he's technically a Ranger. Shadowkeeper lists his class as [shadow].

 

Roranach's Horn

YES, thank you, I might even wear it now. Although to make it more fun, you might add a 1x/day Headbutt ability, with the same effects as a full hit from the completed Staff of the Ram.

I think it's fine as it is, but a "charge" ability is not bad conceptually.

I've experimented with ramming/charging, and it just doesn't work well: You can't know how far away you were to start with, so you either stop before you even reach the target, or you do reach the target, you both stand there for a second, and then he goes flying away. Melee-range Shieldbash looks much better.

 

Adventurer's/Knave's/Traveler's Robe of Cold/Electrical/Fire Resistance

Except allowing Kensai to wear them, I may be amenable to this, as it seems something that pops up quite often in suggestion threads.

P.S allowing Shapeshifters to wear them may cause issues with Refinement's shapeshifter tweak.

Why not the Kensai? Since the vanilla robes conferred almost no AC change and yours aren't much different, I don't see how that violates the rules of "unarmored" combat. mercurier has a point about Monks and kicking, but heck, maybe they tuck the skirts up and wrap them around their legs or something.

I don't know anything about the Refinements Shapeshifter. I looked up their README and it just says "Shapeshifting fix, Complete fixes for all druids' shapeshifting forms." And that's right before it mentions "Universal Lesser Mage Robes," allowing the Robes I just mentioned to be worn by more classes, including Monks.

 

Robe of the [Alignment] Archmagi

Robe of Archmagi is really too powerful for BG1 imo!

I never saw them that way--their only meaningful enchantment was the AC, and it's not like you were Tanking with your Mage. It saved you from the occasional stray arrow, but not heavy combat.

 

Kachiko's Wakizashi +3

Hey, this is my thread. GET OFF MY LAWN, YOU KIDS!

Regardless, the vanilla description is so lame that I really don't give a flying fart about staying true to whatever "ethos" it was supposed to have.

Historically, though, samurai did not usually commit seppuku / hara-kiri with the wakizashi, they much preferred to use their tanto (dagger). One particular anecdote tells how a group of captured samurai had their tantos confiscated, with the express purpose of preventing them from killing themselves. But they still had their longer swords (I forget whether they were katanas or wakizashis) and were left alone for a few minutes, so they wrapped the blades in paper or cloth to serve as makeshift handles, and killed themselves that way.

Also, samurai never dual-wielded two katanas, a katana + wakizashi was the limit, and only masterful or exceptionally strong swordsmen would attempt it--and then usually only in a large battle, when two swords were necessary if you wanted to capture a prisoner and still defend yourself from others.

[Shaitan]

the whole idea come up when we were discussing about set items a la Diablo

 

You know there's a mod (short one) at SHS which adds 100+ items and BAMs from diablo into BG2. Try to glance at them.

 

Cheers

[kthxbye]

@Demi: I've posted in the Item Reallocation topic as a reminder for the Shadow Armor +3.

 

"Spellcasting" shields

Just a reminder for one or two spellcasting shield to be implemented, like suggested here.

[Demivrgvs]

About buying (as oposed to looting) powerful items

Naturally, important items deserve to be worth the effort of obtaining them, and the classic way of ensuring this is to have to win them through a difficult victory. It's a very good method, I'm certainly not disputing that, I'm just saying that overreliance on that one method gets tiresome and can lead to things like the "gold problem" in BG1...

I second this.

 

 

BG1 Shadow Armor

I'll support moving it from Taerom's store to the Thieves' Guild for several reasons. It's more appropriate there (both because of its setting and because Taerom obviously didn't make it himself) and eases the "gold problem" by putting a must-have item slightly later in the game. Also, it implies slightly more background for Husam, one of the Thieves there, who we later find out is actually an Amnish Shadow Thief who's infiltrated the Guild in BG--we'd be implying that his mission is to recover the Shadow Armor. The only problem lies in moving it to Black Lily's store: If the Guild owns such an important item, why is it sitting in a store instead of being worn by their leader, Alatos? So, to be correct, we should probably put it in both places.

We'll discuss it in the right place, but I wouldn't go with having two of them within BG1.

 

If anyone's still considering making the Shadow Armor allow Wizard spellcasting in BG1, direct your thoughts toward a suit of Elven Chain instead. It would make having a Bard (or Fighter/Mage, etc.) in BG1 a good deal more tolerable.

Actually I think most of us prefer to keep SR's Shadow Armor as it is.

 

BG2 Shadow Armor

Having it worn only by Renal is just fine, and it solves the "too similar to Armor of Deep Night / vanilla Night's Gift" problem simply because it isn't available until Chapter 6 (although Renal does deserve to be added to the Bodhi mission that takes place in his own dang guildhall).

Why removing it from Mae'Var considering it now is a great asset to him? And I really don't think that having it available only later would solve any similarity. If two items do the some thing, they do it regardless of where you find them!

 

 

Wizard Slayer item restrictions

Class-appropriate Carsomyr

I won't be discussing these any further here--I'm doing them in my own mod, so why put any more effort into trying to convince you [and Mike]? It's not like we need the negativity.

Regarding WS restrictions I?m not particularly against it, but one thing is allowing lesser robe to be worn by most classes, another thing is to completely revolutionate the WS kit. For Carsomyr, I may actually try to implement your suggestion, as I do try to make class-related items for any class/kit, simply because it adds variety imo.

 

 

Darkmail+3

Don't you think fire resistance is really too common as magical enhancement?

I do, but it makes sense for this item, and in a very real way the practice of making your Tank immune to Fire and then launching Fireballs with abandon is the "traditional thing to do." Some may argue that this is a pattern that should be broken, but I'm rather neutral about it.

I don't have anything against such tactics, it's not an exploit at all imo. Anyway, fire resistance is granted by tons of items and spells, thus I prefer more unique solutions.

 

 

Jester's Chain+4

I'd still argue for Elven, because the item implies that he was a Jester, and why would his "friends" give him an item that would block one of his main talents and (I assume) a big chunk of his stage show? Elemental resistances are nice, yes, but they're just not as flavorful as being able to ignore projectile vegetables and win any drinking contest there is.

I'll think about allowing spellcasting, but as I said, then I would probably like to restrict it to bards.

 

 

Radiant Plate+3

Spellcasting level cannot be modified, and reducing spellcasting failure doesn't seem a great effect, is it?

Hmmm, very odd: I hadn't noticed that the opcode of Casting Level Modifier[191] mentions that "The use of this effect is unknown," even though it then goes on to tell you how to choose between affecting Priest or Wizard spellcasting. Either way, allegedly Spellcasting Level is affected for Wild Mages, so theoretically it can be explored for other classes as well. Theoretically, wink wink, nudge nudge.

It wasn't possible till yesterday...then my hero Taimon decided to create a patch to make opcode (191) working as intended. I'll have to test it.

 

Reducing the odds of Spellcasting Failure is just a nice little tweak, insurance of not being completely screwed if you get hit with an Insect Plague or Miscast Magic or whatever.

Ahhh, it took me sometime to understand what you meant. You wasn't referring to arcane spellfailure but divine one! Anyway, this armor is really too suited to be tied to Lathander imo, I cannot ignore it.

 

 

Pride of the Order+2

Bless would be appropriate yes, but isn't this armor already quite heavily enchanted?

Enchantments always become more flavorful when they've got the name of a spell attached to them. As for overall power level of the armor, consider when in the game you're likely to obtain it, and also that it takes a LOT to convince players to abandon the good old unenchanted Full Plate & Ring of Proection+2 combo. You don't want to encourage Paladins to win this honored, heirloom treasure of their Order . . . and then turn around & sell it.

Just so you know, within IR a single Ring/Amulet of Protection can be worn together with a magical armor.

 

 

Adventurer's/Knave's/Traveler's Robe of Cold/Electrical/Fire Resistance

Except allowing Kensai to wear them, I may be amenable to this, as it seems something that pops up quite often in suggestion threads.

If kensai is inappropriate, then likely too. Monks attack with many parts of their body, like elbows, knees, waist, etc., robe may hinder such actions.

mercurier has a point about Monks and kicking, but heck, maybe they tuck the skirts up and wrap them around their legs or something.

I consider the kensai a monk which relies on weapons rather than his fists, but I do think the former still practice martial arts and use them in battle together with his weapon skill. What mercurier is suggesting is why those long robes doesn't fit too much the two classes imo.

 

I don't know anything about the Refinements Shapeshifter. I looked up their README and it just says "Shapeshifting fix, Complete fixes for all druids' shapeshifting forms." And that's right before it mentions "Universal Lesser Mage Robes," allowing the Robes I just mentioned to be worn by more classes, including Monks.

Refinements has Shapeshifter kit use a permanent invisible armor, probably assuming such slot would not be used by anything else.

 

 

Robe of the [Alignment] Archmagi

Robe of Archmagi is really too powerful for BG1 imo!

I never saw them that way--their only meaningful enchantment was the AC, and it's not like you were Tanking with your Mage. It saved you from the occasional stray arrow, but not heavy combat.

Well, it grants almost the same AC of the best light armor in BG1 (Shadow Armor has AC 4 instead of 5), and it grants it to to a class who normally can't use any armor at all (single class mages), making even the best pair of Bracers of Armor obsolete (AC 6). On top of it you have +1 to all saves and 5% magic resistance (both are a lot more important tha +1 AC for spellcasters). If you considered Shadow Armor overpowered than these are even more overpowered.

 

 

Kachiko's Wakizashi +3

...vanilla description is so lame that I really don't give a flying fart about staying true to whatever "ethos" it was supposed to have.

Yeah.

 

Also, samurai never dual-wielded two katanas, a katana + wakizashi was the limit, and only masterful or exceptionally strong swordsmen would attempt it--and then usually only in a large battle, when two swords were necessary if you wanted to capture a prisoner and still defend yourself from others.

That's why within IR katana's proficiency makes you proficient with wakizashi too. Furthermore, dual wielding 2 katanas within IR causes a -2 penalty to off hand thac0 (a -1 for each katana, a total of -4 penalty with +++ in 2w style), whereas using a wakizashi grants you a +1 bonus to off hand thaco (balancing the -1 penalty caused by the main hand wielding a katana).

 

 

Helmet of Defense

All magical helmets within IR have the +1 to AC, and this helmet seems powerful enough without adding the save bonus (it has a +3 enhancement bonus just like most helmets).

Come again? "Enhancement bonus?" +3 to what?

I forgot not everyone here are familiar with this. I use a sort of enhncement table to determine how powerful an item is (and thus its value, lore, etc.). A +1 to AC is the equivalent of a +1 enhancement bonus, just like +1d4 elemental damage, +1 to all saves, +3 to one specif save, +20% resistance against one specific type of damage, abd so on.

 

In this case you have +1 AC (+1 bonus) and +10% resistance to 4 elements (+2 bonus). You may now notice that almost all SoA helemets have a total enhncement bonus of +3.

 

 

Skull of Death

I shall try to refrain from any more x/day abilities that cast prebuffs. But as this modified Finger of Death can only be cast during combat, I'm not going to worry about players equipment-swapping in mid-battle. I'm not the police any more than you are.

In fact I'm not against x/day abilities per se, I'm just saying that having good reasons to keep the helmet equipped is much more important to me than raising the x value.

 

 

Helm of Brilliance

The concept is that the helmet itself radiates light (thus False Dawn or Sunray) or scintillating lights (Prismatic Spray, perhaps Color Spray).

Hm! Interesting. I almost want to suggest that every round, it has a small chance to cast Color Spray at the nearest creature . . . mostly for cosmetic reasons, but that might backfire as some players might simply find it annoying.

Stick a note for yourself with the following: < "cast spell on condition - every round" causes various issues. Must be used very rarely, with caution, and possibly only on armors >.

 

By the concept you describe the False Dawn & Prismatic Spray are fine, but I don't see why you kept the Fireball, it's certainly less fitting than Searing Orb.

Neither of them are particularly appropriate but the Searing Orb is even less, as it creates a gem in the wielder's hand (who then has to throw it) instead of working by itself due to the helmet's properties.

 

And I do want to tweak the description: I'd change the "fire opals" to "sunstones," lose the line about how the helmet appears "ordinary" (right before it describes how unusual the helmet looks), and is the story of Ergelion canon? It sounds like he heard about the undead army and suddenly hey presto, he whips up a batch of enchanted helmets.

I don't know if NWN lore is canon. Replacing fire opals with sunstone gems is a very nice touch (I like these things even if it's almost impossible a player would ever notice it), and fire opals are sort of included in the generic "opals" which are still mentioned.

 

 

Helm of Darkness

Isn't the Shade Lord a mage?

Since he's possessing the body of Merella, I believe he's technically a Ranger. Shadowkeeper lists his class as [shadow].

I'm quite sure both Tactics and SCSII make it a mage. Other than that it would be quite fine, though perhaps I'd prefer such a powerful helmet to be available later on (its good aligned version is available in chapter 6).

 

Just to show you once again how much I care about an item's lore: "This helm only takes its true form when the user first perceives its true nature. Made of blackened silver and steel, a newly created helm of darkness is set with thirty-six black opals along its lower edge and a great black sapphire in the front. Such helms are rumored to slowly corrupt their wearers to bend to Shar's whim, so that ultimately the Dark Goddess gains a powerful follower by greatly warding the victim in what her clerics often refer to as the subject's "infancy."

The helm is capable of absorbing significant amounts of cold damage, and with a command word, it can bring forth a darkness effect, a power that issues from the sapphire itself. The wearer is also immune to blindness and can see through any form of darkness as though it were daylight."

[Ardanis]

Roranach's Horn

'Headbutt' ram ability seems great.

 

Lesser wizard robes

I'll only repeat myself from about half a year ago - I see them, especially resistance ones, as kimono, not as 10' long tangle of hoods, laces, etc. Therefore I see no reason why kensai can't wear those.

[SixOfSpades]

BG1 Shadow Armor

We'll discuss it in the right place, but I wouldn't go with having two of them within BG1.

Just for BG1 information purposes, Alatos "Ravenscar" Thuibild, the leader of the Baldur's Gate Thieves' Guild, wears plain old Leather+1. Finding a roleplaying reason for killing him is somewhat awkward, but it can be done . . . perhaps if it had been more likely that you would fight him, BioWare would have put more throught into his equipment. (But even Alatos's item selection isn't as dumb as putting one of the famed BG1 Tomes just lying in a container, for free, while standing right next to it is a shopkeeper who'd almost certainly be capable of recognizing its true nature, and selling it for some hefty moolah.)

 

Actually I think most of us prefer to keep SR's Shadow Armor as it is.

As I said in another thread, changes should be determined by sense, not consensus.

 

BG2 Shadow Armor

Why removing it from Mae'Var considering it now is a great asset to him? And I really don't think that having it available only later would solve any similarity. If two items do the some thing, they do it regardless of where you find them!

Finding the Shadow Armor in Chapter 6 means it's only noteworthy for nostalgia purposes, like seeing Varscona in Ribald's shop window. And Mae'Var would be just as happy with a simple suit of Elven Chain, or a Mage Robe, or even throwing his armor to the ground like he does in Tactics.

 

Jester's Chain+4

I'll think about allowing spellcasting, but as I said, then I would probably like to restrict it to bards.

I'd be fine with that--even if only some parties consider giving up the Boots of Speed, that's at least better than vanilla. (I wonder if we should make the optional enemies summoned through the Gem Portal drop a few additional mithril tokens.)

 

Radiant Plate+3

It [Casting Level Modifier] wasn't possible till yesterday...then my hero Taimon decided to create a patch to make opcode (191) working as intended.

All praise to His Noodly Appendage!

 

Anyway, this armor is really too suited to be tied to Lathander imo, I cannot ignore it.

Well, personally I'd say it takes a lot more than simply being gold and shiny to identify an item with Lathander. But it's not critical.

 

Pride of the Order+2

Just so you know, within IR a single Ring/Amulet of Protection can be worn together with a magical armor.

The armors are not listed in itemexcl.2da? Wouldn't that allow the AC bonuses to stack, instead of just the Saves?

 

Adventurer's/Knave's/Traveler's Robe of Cold/Electrical/Fire Resistance

I consider the kensai a monk which relies on weapons rather than his fists, but I do think the former still practice martial arts and use them in battle together with his weapon skill. What mercurier is suggesting is why those long robes doesn't fit too much the two classes imo.

I agree that the Robes do not seem tailor-made (both literally and figuratively) for Monks/Kensai, even if they do seem to magically alter their cut to fit the wearer (Aerie lends her robe to Kelsey, and the robe mysteriously senses that the citizens of Amn don't really want to see that much of Kelsey's thigh). Ideally, Kensai and Monks should have gis, essentially Mage Robes with a more combat/oriental flavor . . . but until there are a few gis lying around, it would be a nice gesture to at least let them wear something. If players disagree with the idea, no one's making them equip a Robe on their Monk.

 

Refinements has Shapeshifter kit use a permanent invisible armor, probably assuming such slot would not be used by anything else.

Oh, okay. So the "incompatibility" would be in the text only, where we say that anyone (even Shapeshifters) can wear the Lesser Robes, and then the player finds out that Shapeshifters can't wear jack. I've got no real problem with that. Incidentally, I think that the Shapeshifter's undroppable "armorless armor" shouldn't be invisible--it should be called "Clothing" and show, say, a tunic and breeches, as I was going to mention in Kit Revisions in regard to how we should set up a system of armor restrictions for all possible kits. But this is getting way off-topic.

 

Robe of the [Alignment] Archmagi

Well, it grants almost the same AC of the best light armor in BG1 (Shadow Armor has AC 4 instead of 5), and it grants it to to a class who normally can't use any armor at all (single class mages), making even the best pair of Bracers of Armor obsolete (AC 6). On top of it you have +1 to all saves and 5% magic resistance (both are a lot more important tha +1 AC for spellcasters). If you considered Shadow Armor overpowered than these are even more overpowered.

The AI of BG1 isn't smart enough to realize that attacking the party's Tank isn't the wisest thing to do, so the AC of non-Tank characters is never really called into play. Then again, I don't know what SCS does, so it might be relevant in that case. Still, I've no real objection to weakening the Archmagi Robes by a point of AC or two, though as they're only 1 point away from the best pair of Bracers (which you would get at about the same time anyway) I don't think there's much real motivation for change, especially as that would create inconsistency with BG2, and AC 5 is balanced for BG2.

I never considered the Shadow Armor overpowered (I called it a "must-have," which is slightly different), I simply regard allowing spellcasting as an ability it should not have.

 

Katana & Wakizashi

IR katana's proficiency makes you proficient with wakizashi too.

I know there was a mod that did something with Wakizashi and probably Ninja-to, as well as moving Morningstars into the Mace proficiency . . . I thought it was the G3 Fixpack, but there's nothing like that in their documentation. Watch, it'll be an earlier version of IR and I'll look like a dork.

 

Furthermore, dual wielding 2 katanas within IR causes a -2 penalty to off hand thac0 (a -1 for each katana, a total of -4 penalty with +++ in 2w style), whereas using a wakizashi grants you a +1 bonus to off hand thaco (balancing the -1 penalty caused by the main hand wielding a katana).

Although dual-wielding a Katana & Wakizashi looks cool, and I can easily see a ton of players going for it, it really should be quite awkward, and difficult, to actually accomplish. It's essentially the same as dual-wielding a Bastard Sword and Longsword.

Although the wakizashi was called a "companion sword," it was definitely NOT thought of as merely a watered-down version of the real thing, it was considered a fully fledged sword in its own right--it was the sword samurai carried when indoors (it was impolite to hold on to your katana, so you left it at the door), and also popularly worn by those who were not samurai.

 

Helmet of Defense

I use a sort of enhncement table to determine how powerful an item is (and thus its value, lore, etc.).

Ok, gotcha. No more "Two-Handed Swords+1 require much more Lore than Arrows+1," eh? About time.

 

Helm of Brilliance

By the concept you describe the False Dawn & Prismatic Spray are fine, but I don't see why you kept the Fireball, it's certainly less fitting than Searing Orb.

Neither of them are particularly appropriate but the Searing Orb is even less, as it creates a gem in the wielder's hand (who then has to throw it) instead of working by itself due to the helmet's properties.

Yeah, and the helmet is studded with all kinds of gems, so why can't one of them store the heat from all the Fire damage it's been absorbing, break off in the wearer's hand, and grow back the next day? Just a thought. Although come to think of it, this helm has enough Light-related properties that I wouldn't be sorry to see it lose all of its Fire-related ones. (Obvious contender for not being able to Stealth while worn.)

 

Helm of Darkness

Since [the Shade Lord is] possessing the body of Merella, I believe he's technically a Ranger. Shadowkeeper lists his class as [shadow].

I'm quite sure both Tactics and SCSII make it a mage. Other than that it would be quite fine, though perhaps I'd prefer such a powerful helmet to be available later on (its good aligned version is available in chapter 6).

If he's a Mage, then he's casting spells through the Leather armor that Merella's wearing . . . and I'd consider the "Shadow--Helm of Darkness" affinity a great deal more important than the "Mages can't wear Helmets" rule.

But you do have a point about its Light counterpart. One possible delayed location for the Helm of Darkness would be in the Viconia Romance, bestowed in Chapter 5/6 by a servant of Shar, in gratitude for having killed so many of Lolth's followers. (True, not everyone can obtain it, but remember what the helm used to be.) Alternatively, we could move the Helm of Brilliance to an "earlier" spot in the game . . . perhaps instead of giving you the Saving Grace (which has absolutely nothing to do with him or his portfolio), Amaunator could give you the Helm, or even cause it to appear in the Temple of Lathander, ominously hovering well out of reach of anyone who tries to grab it, until you walk by. I see the Helm equipped on an unarmed Doomguard, so all you see is the Helm, floating directly at you. I realize that this would mean changing scripts & dialogue, of course, not merely items--I'm just on a "wouldn't it be cool if" kick.

 

Okay, time for more items.

 

* * *

 

Reflection Shield +1

You turned it into a Buckler? Don't you know that'll make the user more vulnerable to missile fire?!? Seriously, I'm fine with it. As you say, the game needed an interesting buckler. Does the name still say "Shield," though?

 

Kiel's Buckler +2

If it's so light as to enchance the wearer's DEX, I personally think it shouldn't cause spell failure at all.

 

Shield of the Lost +2

Any better suggestion?

The human & animal hair bound together allows you to summon a Hair Elemental. Seriously, I got nothin'. Unless you'd consider a small Movement Rate bonus (from "nomadic") or a small Lore penalty (from the general air of forgetfulness around the item).

 

Dragon Scale Shield +2

Hold the Line: wielder is immune to everything, magical and otherwise, that pushes him away

Immunity to sleep & unconsciousness

Saving Throw: +2 bonus vs. breath

Goody. Since Dragon scales typically carry elemental resistances, though, you might mention that "all of the scales used in the construction of this shield are damaged in some way--as if the only scales that could be used in the construction of a Dragonbane Shield were those through which a Dragon had recieved mortal wounds."

 

Saving Grace +3

Significantly better than the original, but I'm tired of the huge overflow of anti-Undead stuff in the game. As I said above, what the hell is a Bane-identified item doing in a Temple of Amaunator, and the name isn't very suggestive of Bane either: It implies +1 bonuses to Saving Throws, DEX, and CHA. (This would tie it more to Sune than anyone else, which again isn't appropriate for Amaunator.)

 

Shield of Balduran +3

This item has always bothered the hell out of me. I want to know why *I* get the experience for killing Beholders when it was actually my Shield that did all the work; all I had to do was carry it around. And what the F#%$ was Balduran doing with an Anti-Beholder item in the first place? Encounter many of them on the high seas, did he? Seriously, this thing needs to be dragged out and shot. Repeatedly. You can't change wa2shiel.itm without borking DavidW's code (they'll act like the item will reflect their rays, when actually it won't), so the REAL Shield of Balduran will have to use a new filename.

 

The REAL Shield of Balduran+3

Special Abilities: Casts Haste, Slow, and Gust of Wind, each 2x/day

Armor Class Bonus: 5

Miscast Arcane Magic: +15%

Yes, I'm a bad boy, I gave an item x/day abilities. But they're what makes sense for Balduran: Either he fought off pirates or he was one himself, and either way it'd sure be nice to make your your entire crew fight like the dickens while miring the enemy in treacle. Plus, you can help get your ship out of the doldrums.

 

Sentinel +4

My bad--it was actually Taerom Fuiruim's father or grandfather who made this, not Taerom himself. Anyway, the Starfall Ore imparts properties of electrical resistance & damage, so why not 25% Electrical Resistance and anyone who strikes the wearer in melee takes 1D6 Electrical? As for the "Sentinel" name, how about the shield actively keeps watch for incoming missiles, effectively granting 2 stars in Sword & Shield Style while equipped?

 

Shield of the Order +4

Considering it's equipped by a Giant and the Darksteel Shield is carried by a Dwarf, I'd switch their sizes--this one is Large and the Darksteel becomes Medium. As for additional effects, I've got 3 ideas:

1) +2 THAC0/Damage against Demons, but a -1 WIS penalty.

2) +1 to STR/DEX/CON, but -1 WIS.

3) Grants Grandmastery in Axe & Warhammer, and immunity to Throwing Axes & Hammers. (Protection from Projectile (Any) [83], with the parameter AXE. No, I'm not sure this will work.)

 

Shield of the Falling Stars +1

Notes: removed the +4 bonus to AC vs. missile in favor of the new abilities inspired by its description. I'd like to find a better name for it...

Actually, the events in the description occured while the shield was still unenchanted, so the abilities needn't reflect it precisely. It looks balanced even for BG1--makes you decide whether you want 10 extra hp or an additional point of AC.

 

Fortress Shield +3

Nice, but how are we keeping all the Physical Resistances from reaching 100%?

 

Darksteel Shield +4

You've got a mistake in the Item Index:

Notes: previously +10% resistance to fire, cold, acid and poison. I've increased the overall level of resistance and changed poison one into acid.

Anyway, I feel 20% is a little high, I'd prefer the 10 or 15%. Also, for Large Shields, I think a Movement Rate/DEX penalty is more appropriate than a THAC0 hit.

[SixOfSpades]

Shield Amulet

I too would prefer a constant AC bonus, largely because I seem to never use items with charges: If they can run out, I prefer to save them for later, and of course later never comes. I do the same with potions, too. Anyway, I'd make it grant a -1 AC bonus while equipped and the ability to cast Shield 1x or 2x/day. Besides, a permanent -2 AC would be quite unbalancing for BG1, which sounds like it's already going to have some trouble dealing with Large Shields.

 

Silver Amulet

True, mostly defense properties make sense for an amulet, but the whole Wolfsbane idea is too good to lose. Besides, it's got to be more than just silver, or every ordinary, 2gp Silver Necklace in the game would have similar properties. So I'd go back to its original name, have it grant -2 AC (but not Saves) vs. Vampires & Lycanthropes (not just shapeshifters, unless you want to include Doppelgangers and the like) and a backlash of 1D4 Magic damage against any V&L that touches you, and 1x/day it can Create Ammunition: The necklace secretes 5 extra silver beads, which drop off and can be used as Sling Bullets. These Silver Bullets strike as +3 weapons and have no THAC0/Damage bonus against most targets, but against V&L they have a -3 THAC0 bonus and do 2D4+6 (double the amount of a Bullet+3).

 

Amulet of Metaspell Influence

Nice, and blanced for BG1, too.

 

Greenstone Amulet

Notes: minor fixes.

Do these minor fixes affect the original's "(Note: Does not confer COMPLETE immunity to psionics)"?

 

Amulet of Magic Shielding

Good. I take it Energy Resistance is Magic Damage Resistance? Although I disagree with the Amulet of 5% quickly becoming obsolete: If I were soloing, sure, but with a full party there's always another neck that could use a little more MR.

 

Kaligun's Amulet of Magic Resistance

I've forgotten what SR does to the Magic Resistance spell: What's the end result of a Level 15 casting of MR? I'd rather not see this amulet become a 1x/day Warrior HLA.

 

Periapt of Life Protection

Hey, you gave it the very properties I was planning to add to the Amulet of the Seldarine. Oh well, they fit here too. Anyway, I'd be against adding a 2nd one, both because I'd like to see these enchantments (and more) on the AoS, and because I believe having class-specific parts of the game is a good thing.

 

Necklace of Form Stability

. . . many spell-like abilities that simulate/use disintegrate and petrification don't allow a save vs. polymorph (e.g beholder's ray use a save vs. spell). Furthmore it should be more user-friendly allowing a character to be immune to annoying romance/loot breaking deaths.

Yep; BG1 Basilisk gaze uses Save vs. Death. Anyway, you're not quite immune, Vorpal hits still chunk the body too--but yeah, this is way better than vanilla.

 

Amulet of Spell Warding

What happens if you have Spell Deflection and Minor Globe on simultaneously? Do low-level spells count against your Deflection, or does the MGoI stop them first? Either way, I think it'd be fun to have the Amulet grant Deflection + MGoI 1x or 2x/day, plus a -1 bonus to Save vs. Spell. Either that, or the Save bonus + immunity to 1st-level spells . . . not that enemies cast many.

 

Amulet of Power

Too powerful, at least for Cleric/Mages. I would break it into two items, each of which is created by the other: One grants extra Priest spells, the other Wizard spells. There could also be a 3rd version, that grants +1 spellslot of Levels 1-5 of both types.

 

Amulet of Cheetah Speed

Nice, but if it's no longer as fast as the Boots of Speed, I'd be expecting a little more . . . an ApR boost would probably be too much, but how about a Speed Factor bonus and additional AC vs. Missiles (by the time the missile gets to you, you're not there anymore)?

 

Amulet of Seldarine

"Bear witness to the physical embodiment of the gratitude of an entire Elven nation--redeemable for 25 Pepsi Points© at your local Texaco station."

Yeah, you're damn right I'd like to add something better. Along with the MR, Saves, and WIS bonuses, I'd add immunity to death magic and level drain (because you'd been essentially dead for days, due to having your soul sucked out of you), and also +10 max. hitpoints and Regeneration of 1 hp/round (feel free to tweak, I haven't gotten to your regeneration adjustments yet).

 

Amulet of the Master Harper

I agree, the AC boost was way too powerful, making the other enchantments, so lovingly mentioned in the description, pretty much worthless in comparison with the boost to Tanking power. I would bring back the Vocalize (who cares if another amulet has it as well) because it's perfect for the idea of a Singing Bard (even though Silence doesn't actually block Bard Song, we should roleplay and pretend that it does). Neither Bards nor Thieves would need the Lore, but it adds flavor. Instead of boosting specific Thieving skills, most of which are useless to the Bard, I'd have it confer +1 to DEX and +20% Pick Pockets. As for AC, here's an idea: Each time the wearer is hit by an enemy in melee range, he gains a -1 AC bonus that lasts for 1 round.

And now to the "highly sought after by both thieves and bards, though for different reasons" part, the only way to get around Use Any Item: Using EFF files to ensure that only specific classes get the benefits of certain enchantments! Bards can use the Amulet to cast Lingering Song 1x/day: All allied creatures within 30 feet gain the effects of a Level 20 Bard Song. These effects last for 1 turn (during which the Bard can fight, cast spells, or even stack another Bard Song) and are not dispellable. Thieves, meanwhile, can lay an additional 4 regular Snares per day. If either class attempts to use the abilities of the other, the attempt will simply fail.

Oh, and instead of a -2 bonus to Save vs. Spells, I'd like -1 to Death and Polymorph, and -2 to Breath: A Rogue's worst Saves.

[Demivrgvs]

Shadow Armor +3

Actually I think most of us prefer to keep SR's Shadow Armor as it is.

As I said in another thread, changes should be determined by sense, not consensus.

Well, obviously I'm talking about a consensus on something that makes sense.

 

Why removing it from Mae'Var considering it now is a great asset to him? And I really don't think that having it available only later would solve any similarity. If two items do the some thing, they do it regardless of where you find them!

Finding the Shadow Armor in Chapter 6 means it's only noteworthy for nostalgia purposes, like seeing Varscona in Ribald's shop window. b) And Mae'Var would be just as happy with a simple suit of Elven Chain, or a Mage Robe, or even throwing his armor to the ground like he does in Tactics.

a) Why should I waste an item for nostalgia purposes? b) Another Elven Chain? These armors are supposed to be rare, and used only by elves, instead we found them everywhere in BG, and the Shadow Thieves would seem to me the Elven Thieves of Amn! If you ask me it would make much more sense to replace Aran's Elven Chain with a Shadow Armor! Regarding Mae'Var dropping his armor before fighting I can only say it's so silly that I can't even take it into consideration.

 

 

Radiant Plate+3

Anyway, this armor is really too suited to be tied to Lathander imo, I cannot ignore it.

Well, personally I'd say it takes a lot more than simply being gold and shiny to identify an item with Lathander. But it's not critical.

"This brilliant golden armor has a short history. A priestess of Lathander named Iraeni of Suzail had it constructed for the champion of her church, a warrior-priest named Beldan Miller. Beldan employed the armor frequently, as Iraeni was often attacked by agents of Myrkul. After twenty years of serving Lathander, Iraeni decided to step down from her office, as did Beldan. They were married shortly after. Beldan gave the armor to an errant paladin of Lathander, who is believed to have died fighting a powerful undead creature in Amn".

 

 

Pride of the Order+2

Just so you know, within IR a single Ring/Amulet of Protection can be worn together with a magical armor.

The armors are not listed in itemexcl.2da? Wouldn't that allow the AC bonuses to stack, instead of just the Saves?

Yeah, like in 3rd edition. A single AC deflection bonus works along with magical armors, but multiple bonuses don't. In terms of balance is quite fine imo because Ring of Protections are surely not more enchanted than many other rings.

 

 

Katana & Wakizashi

IR katana's proficiency makes you proficient with wakizashi too.

I know there was a mod that did something with Wakizashi and probably Ninja-to, as well as moving Morningstars into the Mace proficiency . . . I thought it was the G3 Fixpack, but there's nothing like that in their documentation. Watch, it'll be an earlier version of IR and I'll look like a dork. smile.gif

Yes, IR does this.

 

Furthermore, dual wielding 2 katanas within IR causes a -2 penalty to off hand thac0 (a -1 for each katana, a total of -4 penalty with +++ in 2w style), whereas using a wakizashi grants you a +1 bonus to off hand thaco (balancing the -1 penalty caused by the main hand wielding a katana).

Although dual-wielding a Katana & Wakizashi looks cool, and I can easily see a ton of players going for it, it really should be quite awkward, and difficult, to actually accomplish. It's essentially the same as dual-wielding a Bastard Sword and Longsword.

Actually a Wakizashi is more similar to a short sword than a long sword, and dual wielding such swords surely makes much more sense than dual wielding two katanas like most vanilla's players.

 

 

Helm of Brilliance

Although come to think of it, this helm has enough Light-related properties that I wouldn't be sorry to see it lose all of its Fire-related ones.

But fir resistance is the only while equipped effect, and the helm must have at least an equipped effect.

 

Obvious contender for not being able to Stealth while worn.

Probably yes.

 

 

Helm of Darkness

One possible delayed location for the Helm of Darkness would be in the Viconia Romance, bestowed in Chapter 5/6 by a servant of Shar, in gratitude for having killed so many of Lolth's followers. (True, not everyone can obtain it, but remember what the helm used to be.)

 

I see the Helm equipped on an unarmed Doomguard, so all you see is the Helm, floating directly at you. I realize that this would mean changing scripts & dialogue, of course, not merely items--I'm just on a "wouldn't it be cool if" kick.

 

 

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Reflection Shield +1

You turned it into a Buckler? Don't you know that'll make the user more vulnerable to missile fire?!? mischief.gif Seriously, I'm fine with it. As you say, the game needed an interesting buckler. Does the name still say "Shield," though?

Isn't a buckler just a very small shield? I actually think it's a nice touch to have the shield not grant AC vs. missile and then reflect them!

 

 

Kiel's Buckler +2

If it's so light as to enchance the wearer's DEX, I personally think it shouldn't cause spell failure at all.

Mmm...but, wasn't Kiel a Berserker? If such having his shield allow spellcasting doesn't make much sense imo, though you do have a point.

 

 

Shield of the Lost +2

I take it you're at loss like me at finding a good enchantment for this.

 

 

Dragon Scale Shield +2

Goody. Since Dragon scales typically carry elemental resistances, though, you might mention that "all of the scales used in the construction of this shield are damaged in some way--as if the only scales that could be used in the construction of a Dragonbane Shield were those through which a Dragon had recieved mortal wounds."

Wow, you're more pedantic than me!

 

Saving Grace +3

Significantly better than the original, but I'm tired of the huge overflow of anti-Undead stuff in the game. As I said above, what the hell is a Bane-identified item doing in a Temple of Amaunator, and the name isn't very suggestive of Bane either: It implies +1 bonuses to Saving Throws, DEX, and CHA. (This would tie it more to Sune than anyone else, which again isn't appropriate for Amaunator.)

Let's just say that having played at least one version of IR would make your work easier, you're understimating how much work has been done on the lore system.

 

This is the extended description of this shield within IR: "Shields like this are first mentioned in ancient liturgies of Amaunator, in which the god's champions bear radiant shields against an infestation of undead. The shields made their first appearance in modern times in dramatic fashion, appearing miraculously at the altars of several of the deity's temples in the Year of Smoldering Spells, 1020 DR. Since that time a number have been lost in battle, and not a few were stolen by foul creatures to prevent their use.

Once a holy artifact used by the elite sect of clerics and holy warriors called Sunmasters, most of the enchantments fled with their god's demise. The basic magical protection still remains, making it useful for any adventurer."

 

 

Shield of Balduran +3

This item has always bothered the hell out of me. I want to know why *I* get the experience for killing Beholders when it was actually my Shield that did all the work; all I had to do was carry it around. And what the F#%$ was Balduran doing with an Anti-Beholder item in the first place? Encounter many of them on the high seas, did he? Seriously, this thing needs to be dragged out and shot. Repeatedly. You can't change wa2shiel.itm without borking DavidW's code (they'll act like the item will reflect their rays, when actually it won't), so the REAL Shield of Balduran will have to use a new filename.

 

The REAL Shield of Balduran+3

Special Abilities: Casts Haste, Slow, and Gust of Wind, each 2x/day

Reflects beholder rays and gaze attacks

Armor Class Bonus: 5

Miscast Arcane Magic: +15%

Yes, I'm a bad boy, I gave an item x/day abilities. But they're what makes sense for Balduran: Either he fought off pirates or he was one himself, and either way it'd sure be nice to make your your entire crew fight like the dickens while miring the enemy in treacle. Plus, you can help get your ship out of the doldrums.

EH? I don't get it, you say his shield was broken and then you add 6 per day abilities on top of it?

 

 

Sentinel +4

My bad--it was actually Taerom Fuiruim's father or grandfather who made this, not Taerom himself. Anyway, the Starfall Ore imparts properties of electrical resistance & damage, so why not 25% Electrical Resistance and anyone who strikes the wearer in melee takes 1D6 Electrical?

 

 

Shield of the Order +4

Considering it's equipped by a Giant and the Darksteel Shield is carried by a Dwarf, I'd switch their sizes--this one is Large and the Darksteel becomes Medium.

Such giant is not equipping the shield (it's in the inventory), and even a large shield would probably make little sense for a giant (would it a laset work as a buckler? ). Anyway, I'm surely not going to switch the two shield's backgrounds. The former shield has a rather short but fine description, while the latter now have an incredibly extensive description!

 

As for additional effects, I've got 3 ideas:

1) +2 THAC0/Damage against Demons, but a -1 WIS penalty.

2) +1 to STR/DEX/CON, but -1 WIS.

3) Grants Grandmastery in Axe & Warhammer, and immunity to Throwing Axes & Hammers. (Protection from Projectile (Any) [83], with the parameter AXE. No, I'm not sure this will work.)

1) as I said for armors, additional thac0/damage is unappropriate imo, AC/saves would make a lot more sense. Not to mention that the former don't stack making such effects sub-optimal because of vanilla's Cavalier/Undead Hunter bonuses. Anyway, considering its background anti-demon properties are very appropriate.

2) Mmm...a sort of Draw Upon Holy Might? I'm not sure I like it but's it's somewhat appropriate.

3) No.

 

 

Shield of the Falling Stars +1

Notes: removed the +4 bonus to AC vs. missile in favor of the new abilities inspired by its description. I'd like to find a better name for it...

Actually, the events in the description occured while the shield was still unenchanted, so the abilities needn't reflect it precisely. It looks balanced even for BG1--makes you decide whether you want 10 extra hp or an additional point of AC.

Yeah, I like it, unfortunatley I probably have to make its aura like effect a x/day ability rather than an equipped effect because of aura-like issues. We'll see.

 

 

Fortress Shield +3

Nice, but how are we keeping all the Physical Resistances from reaching 100%?

For example by lowering % on various items: Defender of Easthaven grants 10% instead of 20% within IR, and I'm going to reduce Ring of Earth control's bonus from 10% to 5%. Then if necessary I always liked that in 3rd edition large shields are restricted to fighters, and at at least preventing the Barbarian kit from using them makes quite sense imo.

 

 

Darksteel Shield +4

You've got a mistake in the Item Index:

Notes: previously +10% resistance to fire, cold, acid and poison. I've increased the overall level of resistance and changed poison one into acid.

Anyway, I feel 20% is a little high, I'd prefer the 10 or 15%.

Yeah, at first I felt shields were hugely underpowered in BG, but on this one I may have overdo by making it so highly enchanted. Anyway this is intended to be the "ultimate shield", and it's acquired so late (Sendai enclave) that I'm not too much worried about it being incredibly powerful.

 

Also, for Large Shields, I think a Movement Rate/DEX penalty is more appropriate than a THAC0 hit.

No, and no. Not because they didn't make sense (they do) but because they would work in a worse way imo. Dex penalty would cause the shield to have different AC values depending on wielder's base dex, and coupled with armor's dex penalty may cause issues. Movement Rate penalty is something that many many players hate, you don't know how many players complained about heavy armors slowing down their fighters.

[Demivrgvs]

Shield Amulet

I too would prefer a constant AC bonus, largely because I seem to never use items with charges: If they can run out, I prefer to save them for later, and of course later never comes. I do the same with potions, too. Anyway, I'd make it grant a -1 AC bonus while equipped and the ability to cast Shield 1x or 2x/day. Besides, a permanent -2 AC would be quite unbalancing for BG1, which sounds like it's already going to have some trouble dealing with Large Shields.

Yeah, +2 to AC may be slightly too much, but at the same time a simple +1 to AC isn't great either. Anyway, better than nothing, and I don't have many ideas to add features for a force shield like effect (additional AC vs. missile is rather classic).

 

 

Silver Amulet

True, mostly defense properties make sense for an amulet, but the whole Wolfsbane idea is too good to lose. Besides, it's got to be more than just silver, or every ordinary, 2gp Silver Necklace in the game would have similar properties. So I'd go back to its original name, have it grant -2 AC (but not Saves) vs. Vampires & Lycanthropes (not just shapeshifters, unless you want to include Doppelgangers and the like) and a backlash of 1D4 Magic damage against any V&L that touches you, and 1x/day it can Create Ammunition: The necklace secretes 5 extra silver beads, which drop off and can be used as Sling Bullets. These Silver Bullets strike as +3 weapons and have no THAC0/Damage bonus against most targets, but against V&L they have a -3 THAC0 bonus and do 2D4+6 (double the amount of a Bullet+3).

Well, the old name would have left very little space for anti-vampire effects imo (Silver Charm? Silver Periapt?). Regarding the AC/save bonus one implies the other (the opcode is hardcoded). The backlash effect is something I thought too, but I'm quite afraid about introducing too many fire shield like effects. The Silver Bullet part is rather nice.

 

 

Amulet of Metaspell Influence

Nice, and blanced for BG1, too.

Good, I was going to ask players if it was too powerful for BG1. In that case I'd probably remove the casting speed bonus.

 

 

Greenstone Amulet

Notes: minor fixes.

Do these minor fixes affect the original's "(Note: Does not confer COMPLETE immunity to psionics)"?

I did it so long ago I don't rememebr right now, but looking at it I'd say it now confers immunity to at least 99% of psionics (e.g. Detonate too).

 

 

Amulet of Magic Shielding

Good. I take it Energy Resistance is Magic Damage Resistance? Although I disagree with the Amulet of 5% quickly becoming obsolete: If I were soloing, sure, but with a full party there's always another neck that could use a little more MR.

By obsolete I mean that another item of the same type does everything the former did and even more. A must have for me is for these things to never happen. Energy resistance includes elemental and magic damage, but not poison damage.

 

 

Kaligun's Amulet of Magic Resistance

I've forgotten what SR does to the Magic Resistance spell: What's the end result of a Level 15 casting of MR? I'd rather not see this amulet become a 1x/day Warrior HLA.

I've simply changed the spell from "set" magic resistance to "increase" magic resistance. Yeah, equipping this amulet and casting its 1/day ability works as the similar warrior's HLA. There's really nothing wrong about it as such HLA simply mimics a 5th level arcane spell.

 

 

Periapt of Life Protection

Hey, you gave it the very properties I was planning to add to the Amulet of the Seldarine. Oh well, they fit here too. Anyway, I'd be against adding a 2nd one, both because I'd like to see these enchantments (and more) on the AoS, and because I believe having class-specific parts of the game is a good thing.

Me too.

 

 

Necklace of Form Stability

. . . many spell-like abilities that simulate/use disintegrate and petrification don't allow a save vs. polymorph (e.g beholder's ray use a save vs. spell). Furthmore it should be more user-friendly allowing a character to be immune to annoying romance/loot breaking deaths.

Yep; BG1 Basilisk gaze uses Save vs. Death. Anyway, you're not quite immune, Vorpal hits still chunk the body too--but yeah, this is way better than vanilla.

 

 

Amulet of Spell Warding

What happens if you have Spell Deflection and Minor Globe on simultaneously? Do low-level spells count against your Deflection, or does the MGoI stop them first? Either way, I think it'd be fun to have the Amulet grant Deflection + MGoI 1x or 2x/day, plus a -1 bonus to Save vs. Spell. Either that, or the Save bonus + immunity to 1st-level spells . . . not that enemies cast many.

If my tests and Ardanis ones are correct the Globe of Invulnerability is taken into account before Spell Deflection, which is good. Regarding the bonus to saves my small complains are that such effect is rather unoriginal, and that it actually protects from non-spell effects too.

 

 

Amulet of Power

Too powerful, at least for Cleric/Mages. I would break it into two items, each of which is created by the other: One grants extra Priest spells, the other Wizard spells. There could also be a 3rd version, that grants +1 spellslot of Levels 1-5 of both types.

Interesting suggestions though I quite like it as it is. Anyway, if Taimon patch works (I'm going to test it tonight) this amulet may be the right place to implement an "Increase Caster Level" effect.

 

 

Amulet of Cheetah Speed

Nice, but if it's no longer as fast as the Boots of Speed, I'd be expecting a little more . . . an ApR boost would probably be too much, but how about a Speed Factor bonus and additional AC vs. Missiles (by the time the missile gets to you, you're not there anymore)?

Just so you know, it never granted more speed than it currently does. I've added everythin else on top of the old +2 to movement rate. I was thinking myself that considering how late you get it making it more powerful wouldn't be a bad idea, but an apr bonus would be too much (unless I make it a la Grandmaster's Armor - non stackable with haste), and speed factor has a small issue with monk and kensai (multiple speed factor bonuses don't stack).

 

 

Amulet of Seldarine

"Bear witness to the physical embodiment of the gratitude of an entire Elven nation--redeemable for 25 Pepsi Points© at your local Texaco™ station."

Yeah, you're damn right I'd like to add something better. Along with the MR, Saves, and WIS bonuses, I'd add immunity to death magic and level drain (because you'd been essentially dead for days, due to having your soul sucked out of you), and also +10 max. hitpoints and Regeneration of 1 hp/round (feel free to tweak, I haven't gotten to your regeneration adjustments yet).

You should know by now how much I hate lesser/greater versions of the same item, and thus I'm quite against the immunity to death and level drain effects. Additioanl hit point may be fine, and regeneration too, but the latter is already used by too many items for my tastes. If it has to be regeneration I would use a much slower rate (1hp/round is a +3 enhancement bonus for me). What about adding a +1 to dex? Seems quite appropriate for an elves related amulet, though it surely isn't a unique effect. Anyway, unless we have further suggestions I'll try to find a solution with these effects.

 

 

Amulet of the Master

I agree, the AC boost was way too powerful, making the other enchantments, so lovingly mentioned in the description, pretty much worthless in comparison with the boost to Tanking power. I would bring back the Vocalize (who cares if another amulet has it as well) because it's perfect for the idea of a Singing Bard (even though Silence doesn't actually block Bard Song, we should roleplay and pretend that it does).

I care! Amulet of Metaspell Influence is there to achieve what you're suggesting, it's perfect for a bard, and we don't need another amulet to do the very same thing imo. This amulet is now "thief-only", because as you noticed yourself making it work for both classes was rather difficult, and I've replaced the silly description with a more interesting one which at least gives us a minimum background: "Ciressa Gind'ra was a cunning arcane trickster who infiltrated the Night Masks for the Harpers, before she was found drowned in a two-inch puddle outside her residence. To infiltrate them, Ciressa created an amulet that allowed her to boost her abilities to that of a master thief. One night she used it to break into the Night King's private quarters. She didn't anticipate the Night King's personal guard, who had a permanent detect magic spell surrounding the room. When the Night King was finished with her, he took the amulet, and since it had qualities useful for many adventurers, he made copies of it, which he sold throughout the land."

 

As for AC, here's an idea: Each time the wearer is hit by an enemy in melee range, he gains a -1 AC bonus that lasts for 1 round.

I'm not sure how this would play out, and actually I'm not even sure I understand the concept itself.

 

Oh, and instead of a -2 bonus to Save vs. Spells, I'd like -1 to Death and Polymorph, and -2 to Breath: A Rogue's worst Saves.

Mmm...I would have to adjust the background for such change.

[SixOfSpades]

BG2 Shadow Armor

a) Why should I waste an item for nostalgia purposes? b) Another Elven Chain? These armors are supposed to be rare, and used only by elves, instead we found them everywhere in BG, and the Shadow Thieves would seem to me the Elven Thieves of Amn! If you ask me it would make much more sense to replace Aran's Elven Chain with a Shadow Armor! Regarding Mae'Var dropping his armor before fighting I can only say it's so silly that I can't even take it into consideration.

a) Because it's so similar to the Armor of Deep Night and the vanilla Night's Gift that having a Shadow Armor available in Chapters 2/3 creates the "yet another Leather with Stealth bonuses" issue. If you only come across it in Chapter 6, it's more of a "Oh so that's where my old armor went," and less of something you would actually consider equipping.

b) Actually, there aren't that many . . . there's Aran, Lord Alibakkar, Aawill, Illasera, and Nizi if you count him. I may be forgetting 1 or 2, but I really doubt there are any more (and Illasera is even an Elf). The vast majory of Elven Chains are worn in Suldenessellar, the Underdark, and its Exit. Regarding replacing Aran's Chain with a Shadow Armor: You do realize, don't you, that this whole debate could be solved to pretty much everyone's satisfaction simply by not using the name "Shadow Armor?" If Mae'Var were wearing "Casting Leathers+3" or something like that I would have no complaints at all . . . although I would still like to see the BG1 version reverted back, players like kthxbye who like spellcasting in the armor can use an Archmagi Robe just as easily.

Actually, I could see Mae'Var trying to conceal his Mage abilities, keeping them a secret in order to surprise Renal with them during his assassination attempt, and openly wearing no-spellcasting armor in order to promote this idea. But you're right, that theory is somewhat farfetched.

 

Radiant Plate+3

"This brilliant golden armor has a short history. A priestess of Lathander named Iraeni of Suzail had it constructed for the champion of her church, a warrior-priest named Beldan Miller. Beldan employed the armor frequently, as Iraeni was often attacked by agents of Myrkul. After twenty years of serving Lathander, Iraeni decided to step down from her office, as did Beldan. They were married shortly after. Beldan gave the armor to an errant paladin of Lathander, who is believed to have died fighting a powerful undead creature in Amn".

Hmmm . . . its BG1 description has the item made by Dwarves of no particular religion, and it ends up sealed in the depths of Durlag's Tower. Would you object to changing the last line to "Beldan sold the armor to a rather nomadic Dwarf, who is believed to have died fighting a great evil in lands to the north."?

Also, I wonder if the drink Suz-Ale comes from the land of Suzail.

 

A single AC deflection bonus works along with magical armors, but multiple bonuses don't. In terms of balance is quite fine imo because Ring of Protections are surely not more enchanted than many other rings.

Hm, so the only items that conflict with each other are Protection items. Interesting, and another mark of differentiation for the Wizard Slayer, as he'll be the only character left who has any love for unenchanted Full Plate.

 

Helm of Brilliance

But fir resistance is the only while equipped effect, and the helm must have at least an equipped effect.

Immunity to Blindness, or at least Globe of Darkness. If the Hold and Level Drain effects caused by Shadow Fiend/Wight attacks used specific spells, the Helm could grant immunity to them as well.

 

Kiel's Buckler +2

Mmm...but, wasn't Kiel a Berserker? If such having his shield allow spellcasting doesn't make much sense imo, though you do have a point.

Yeah . . . just the normal Spellcasting Failure of Shields is simply a side effect of their encumbering the hand, this particular Buckler's lack of Spell Failure is simply a side effect of its actually INcreasing agility. Kiel wouldn't care either way, of course.

 

Shield of the Lost +2

I take it you're at loss like me at finding a good enchantment for this.

Yup. I considered a "Land Familiarity" ability that reveals the whole map area, but even that seems lame.

 

Dragon Scale Shield +2

Wow, you're more pedantic than me!

Possibly. I'm something of a cross between a pedantic demagogue and a didactic pedagogue.

 

Saving Grace +3

Let's just say that having played at least one version of IR would make your work easier, you're understimating how much work has been done on the lore system.

More lore is excellent. I don't think I like receiving just a plain Medium Shield+3, though, considering that the entire quest gives notoriously poor loot for its difficulty.

 

The REAL Shield of Balduran+3

EH? I don't get it, you say his shield was broken and then you add 6 per day abilities on top of it?

DOH! My bad, I thought I'd deleted that line. I meant to say it should have those abilities instead of anything Beholder-related. I've edited my post accordingly.

 

Shield of the Order +4

Such giant is not equipping the shield (it's in the inventory), and even a large shield would probably make little sense for a giant (would it a laset work as a buckler?). Anyway, I'm surely not going to switch the two shield's backgrounds. The former shield has a rather short but fine description, while the latter now have an incredibly extensive description!

Oh, I wsn't suggesting switching their backgrounds or locations, just their sizes. As for Yaga-Shura not having his Shield equipped, I knew he wasn't the wisest member of the Five, but I wasn't expecting him to be a flippin' idiot. Then again, the Fire Giant animation might crash if it tries to display a Shield, even if it's in a no-animation slot like a Ring . . . but we could always make an undroppable Shield of the Order with no animation, and have Yaga use that while still dropping the other.

 

Fortress Shield +3

Defender of Easthaven grants 10% instead of 20% within IR, and I'm going to reduce Ring of Earth control's bonus from 10% to 5%. Then if necessary I always liked that in 3rd edition large shields are restricted to fighters, and at at least preventing the Barbarian kit from using them makes quite sense imo.

A slippery slope, that. Well, we do what we can . . . I do think Paladins (or at least Cavaliers) should be allowed to use Large Shields, though.

 

Silver Amulet / Wolfsbane Charm

Well, the old name would have left very little space for anti-vampire effects imo (Silver Charm? Silver Periapt?). Regarding the AC/save bonus one implies the other (the opcode is hardcoded).

Well, maybe the anti-Vampire effects could be less pronounced than the anti-Lycanthrope ones, as if the wolves were getting the full blast of silver + wolfsbane and the vampires were only feeling the silver, and they're not reflected in the name because they're more of a side effect. Pity about the AC/Save thing: It's not supposed to help you resist Vampire Domination or whatnot, only to make them less willing to touch you.

 

Amulet of Magic Shielding

By obsolete I mean that another item of the same type does everything the former did and even more. A must have for me is for these things to never happen.

Hmmm . . . I agree with your reasoning but not your conclusion. I'm fine with instances of "Item X is everything you liked about Item Y and even more" as long as there's a healthy span of time between X and Y, and as long as such instances are rare. So you're set on "never," but I'm okay with "seldom." Since they're separated by pretty much the entire length of SoA, what's wrong with Karajah's Armor being something like a lesser version of the Grandmaster's? And even those items completely outgunned by another (such as the Periapt of Life Protection vs. my suggestions for the Amulet of the Seldarine) can still be farmed out to other party members, as long as their original properties keep them useful.

 

Amulet of Spell Warding

Regarding the bonus to saves my small complains are that such effect is rather unoriginal, and that it actually protects from non-spell effects too.

Which is why I kept it as small as possible. Gotta have a decent "while equipped" effect, ya know.

 

Amulet of Cheetah Speed

. . . speed factor has a small issue with monk and kensai (multiple speed factor bonuses don't stack).

So have it grant a -10 bonus to SF, so anyone who wears it will have a SF of 0 with any weapon. A bit extreme, sure, but at least people might actually give the Amulet a moment's thought.

 

Amulet of the Master (Harper)

I would bring back the Vocalize (who cares if another amulet has it as well) because it's perfect for the idea of a Singing Bard (even though Silence doesn't actually block Bard Song, we should roleplay and pretend that it does).

I care! Amulet of Metaspell Influence is there to achieve what you're suggesting, it's perfect for a bard, and we don't need another amulet to do the very same thing imo.

Even though I'm suggesting retaining the Vocalize purely for flavor purposes, I hardly think that including it on the AoMH is going to marginalize the AoMI in any way. Even Bards might choose the AoMI over the Rogue-targeted AoMH, simply because they know how powerful a -1 to Casting Time can be. As long as the two amulets have completely different ethoses, and the large majority of their enchantments are wholly unlike each other's, I really don't see why they can't both have a low-level effect like Vocalize.

 

"To infiltrate them, Ciressa created an amulet that allowed her to boost her abilities to that of a master thief. . . . the Night King made copies of it."

. . . I would have to adjust the background for such change [to the Saving Throws bonuses].

The ethos I was aiming for was that it helps both types of Rogues be a bit more "legendary," to keep pace with the Warriors & Wizards of the party. Combat-wise, this means that they dance through melee . . . not as battle-resistant as a Tank yet strangely more difficult to kill. This was what I was trying to achieve with the AC bonus: They can get a rock-bottom AC score but they're never completely immune, as it only fires in response to a hit. (For it to have any real effect, though, it needs a duration longer than 1 round, maybe 3 or even 4.)

I don't like the idea of making the amulet Thief-only; Bards get almost no love, especially since the game practically strongarms you into playing a Thief yourself. Besides, by this point in the game, it's concievable that Nalia could still get some benefit from the Locks & Traps scores, but that leaves you with the "equip only when you need it" pattern you hate, with Nalia wearing the amulet only when she needs to be a Thief for a minute. Any other Thief wouldn't need any of the skills granted by your version of the AoMH. Besides, while your description does have a good deal of atmosphere, it makes it sound like creating a very powerful item like this is something that one does to pass an idle, rainy afternoon.

 

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Girdle of [X] Giant Strength

I'd ask more players for their thoughts on the relative merits of the three systems ("Set STR to 19 while equipped" vs. "+2 bonus to STR while equipped" vs. "User's STR increases by 20% while equipped"), except that by this point, it seems to be just you & me reading this thread, Demi. Yeah, a small amount of Resistance (around 15%) seems good for the Frost & Fire Giant belts, and Stone could cast Stoneskin (1 skin) 3x/day, but what could Hill possibly have? Physical resistances, of course, but then you run smack into the Barbarian Problem. Say, what about denying Hardiness to Barbarians, or only giving them a weakened version? Still, that makes IR rather dependent on KR, which might not be installed.

Anyway, the STR belts. They could also impart a small bonus to Save vs. Death, reflecting giant-like fortitude as well as strength. Just a possibility.

 

Girdle of Trollish Fortitude

Nice. I never used the original. (Did anyone?)

 

Belts of Inertial Barrier

"Belts"? Is that a plural or just a typo? Either way, I'd prefer an AC bonus vs. Missiles to Resistance to them, both to avoid possible 100+% Resistance issues and because it's easier to imagine the wall of air deflecting arrows from their path than outright slowing them down--and you know, this trait should really apply to missiles leaving the wearer, too. I can easily see your reasons for removing the Magic Damage resistance, but how about replacing it with immunity to cloud-based spells like Acid Fog, as in the wearer has a permanent, personal Zone of Sweet Air? That would keep it "useful against spellcasters" enough to let Wizard Slayers continue to use it, which is somewhat important because it's the only Belt that they'd even consider wearing.

 

Boots of Speed

My problem with the original Boots was not that they made you too fast, but that there were so many of them: It was literally possible (in ToB, at least) to equip your entire party with them, and with Item Upgrade installed, there was little reason to wear anything else. Frankly, I don't see your reason for slowing them down, and I disagree with your having done so--I expect many others feel the same way, and I think that a big reason why you haven't recieved more negative feedback on the subject is because most players rationalize that they can just Upgrade to the Stormlord's Heels (or whatever) and get the Movement Rate bonus back. I dislike the change because it's important that the party Tank not be just a little bit faster than the rest of the party, he has to be much faster: Pathfinding in this game being what it is, I find that my Tank frequently gets "tangled up" in the party formation if everyone's moving at roughly the same rate. So if either a) everybody's wearing Boots of Speed, or b) the Boots are nerfed and wearing heavy armor imposes Movement Rate penalties, the result is the same: Aerie blunders her way to the front of the party and gets a faceful of arrows.

I realize that limiting the number of available Boots in the game is not within the scope of this mod, but what could be done is to take one of the Boots, give it a new filename (all the Boots currently in-game are boot01), and give it exactly the same properties as the vanilla pair brought from BG1--for continuity purposes, this should be the one on Renal (which means you can't get it until Chapter 6, if at all). All the other boots, meanwhile, get a new description, stating that "Ever since the boots known as the Paws of the Cheetah became a virtual household word among assassins, many enchanters have sought to duplicate the effect. So far, few attempts have proved successful, with the best results producing footwear that accelerates the wearer to only 3/4ths the rate as that achieved by the original Boots of Speed. Although these copycat boots are usually viewed as failures by their creators, they are rather popular among experienced adventurers, as the increased running speed is still useful. One interesting quirk of the enchantment is that these "lesser" boots are not hindered by the effects of the spell Free Action, a trait that the original Boots did not possess."

 

Spider's Boots of Stealth

I thought these were fine in vanilla. The Web immunity isn't overpowered in BG2, but it certainly is in BG1--almost an entire area of the Cloakwood would be pretty much nullified by either of two pairs of Boots easily obtainable in Chapter 1 by a Level 1 party. Granted, both pairs deserve more worthy guardians, but I don't really know if IR is going to be altering item placement in BG1.

 

Boots of Elvenkind

Nice. Clearly superior to the Boots of Stealth, but then they have every right to be, and even then the difference isn't too great.

 

Boots of Phasing

Where should I restore them?

They only make sense for a Kensai or possibly Cavalier . . . Koshi would be too much, of course. None of the Tieflings in Watcher's Keep are Kensai, but two of them are Assassins: One in one of the Wild Magic rooms and one with Aesgareth. Then again, the Boots might already be restored by UB, I forget. As far as the Boots themselves are concerned, I almost want to give them a Teleport Field ability, maybe 2x/day, as that would make for one hell of a crazy fight, when the random-teleportation area is itself randomly teleporting. It also might make it more useful for Assassins: You appear next to an enemy, you get your Backstab in, and before he has a chance to mount much of a reprisal he gets teleported away, and you have another round to Stealth/drink a Potion before you land next to another enemy. CA-RAAA-ZY.

 

Boots of Etherealness

Exploit: Use it against a Lich to make him waste 5 of his best spells on you. Then again, SCS Liches probably detect Magic Resistance pretty quickly. Is the Etheral effect Dispellable? Can you turn it off if you want, or are you stuck for the full 5 rounds?

 

Gargoyle Boots

"The mage who created this magical footwear trapped the spirit of an actual gargoyle within these boots, which might have helped protect the wizard from the lethal vengeance of the gargoyle's mate if he had still had them in his possession at the time. The boots carry some unusual defensive magics derived from the soul of the creature sealed within: While worn, they prevent the wearer's body from being turned to stone, and they grip the ground so tightly that the wearer is able to withstand even gale-force winds. The wearer can also mimic the gargoyle's ability to suddenly turn into a statue: They are held rigidly immobile and they appear to turn to stone--enemies that witness this usually assume they were hit by a Petrification spell and move on to the next target. After one round, the wearer is able to move again, although if they should attack or cast an offensive spell, the trick is immediately percieved. Even so, their stony form is highly resistant to attack for a short while: They become substantially more difficult to hit, strikes that land in vital areas curiously land only non-lethal blows, and several successful hits must be made before the wearer feels any damage at all. As a result, the Gargoyle Boots have become a much-desired item among adventurers--and those who would do them harm.

Equipped Abilities:

Immunity to Petrification and Knockback effects

Special Abilities:

Stone Form, 2x/day. Grants Sanctuary, a -4 bonus to AC, 5 Stoneskins, a -3 Dexterity penalty, and immunity to Backstab. All effects last a maximum of 11 rounds, although the wearer is Held for the first of those.

 

About the extra boots: Flametoe Boots.

"The vast majority of magical items are crafted for power, or for influence, or for security, or for revenge. These boots, however, were created out of guilt. The master smith, Gudrunn Catchglint, once had an apprentice named Orval, who was competent enough at placing small enchantments upon items during forging, but rather ham-handed at the metalwork itself. One day, Orval lost his grip on the tongs and spilled an entire crucible full of molten copper. Gudrunn's thick apron shielded her from most of the searing droplets, but she had the misfortune to step right in the blazing puddle, quickly burning away her shoe and a good portion of her foot. After cleaning up the damage to the equipment as best he could, Orval fled the town in shame.

Evidently he held on to his talents in enchanting items, but pursued them through the considerably safer vein of tooling leather, as four years later, these boots appeared one morning at the door to Gudrunn's forge, a token of her former apprentice's apology. Along with making the wearer a bit more resistant to all forms of heat, the boots themselves are completely impervious to any kind of burning: It is possible to stand in molten metal or even lava and feel no ill effects, as long as the pool is rather shallow. A side effect of absorbing all that heat is that it sometimes escapes in a sudden burst of flame from the toe, usually in response to a kick--the local dogs and cats quickly learned to steer clear of Gudrunn when she was in one of her cranky moods.

Equipped Abilities:

+15% Fire Resistance

Lava Walk (does not protect from flames that touch the rest of the body)

Special:

25% chance of adding 1D4 Fire damage to each successful melee hit (Monks only)"

Monks use their jump-kick animation roughly 1/4th of the time, right? The boots grant immunity to the spells spwi022 and spin561--the spells used by the pools of lava in the Temple Ruins & Marching Mountains.