Unearthed Arcana presents Scales of Balance: a post-hac tweak pack

[subtledoctor]

 

On 8/7/2022 at 5:06 AM, Hubal said:

Is Shield Bashing configurable?

Not really...

On 8/7/2022 at 5:06 AM, Hubal said:

First pip gives 1AC and 2AC for misile, could you make second pip like 1AC and 4 AC for misiles?

You can do this yourself quite easily by simply editing STYLBONU.2da in NI or a text editor.

On 8/7/2022 at 5:06 AM, Hubal said:

Also Sword and Shield Style doesn't work for slings ang your one handed crossbows.

Styles are hard-coded to not apply when you have a missile weapon equipped. Nothing we can do about that. (Else you would get e.g. two-hand bonuses whenever you use a bow or crossbow...)

[kingzork]

I commented this already on the GitHub, but i feel i should comment the same here.

The Phoenix Guard enemy(PHEOGURD.CRE) spawns already dead in the game, investigating the creature file using EEkeeper, i noticed that the creature Dexterity Stat is really low( 3 points), with the changes made to armor in the armor revision component of the mod, and the fact that the creature uses plate mail armor( -5 minus Dex ), is possible that the resulting negative dexterity of -2 is causing the phoenix guard to spawn already dead. I changed the creature file to have a higher Dex stat (12) and the phoenix guard spawned normally. Please fix this issue, has it could be affecting other types of enemies with low Dexterity.

So far this is the only creature type i know to have this problem.

[subtledoctor]

I'll look into it. (Why is there a creature with 3 DEX? That's stupid.)

[Endarire]

How does Scales of Balance's revised ability score bonuses interact with Subraces in terms of EXP?  Certain subraces get an EXP penalty but this ability overhaul can grant an EXP bonus.

Thankee!

[subtledoctor]

XP adjustments don’t generally work well together IIRC. You may end up with super-powerful subraces that have no penalties to offset their bonuses. 

[Quester]

Hey doc. From the readme:

• Trueclass fighters and Kensai can attain Mastery (+++) at 6th level, and High Mastery (++++) at 9th level, in any weapons they focus on.

So, there is no grand-mastery achievable for fighters with this mod?

[GawainBS]

No, but the bonus from each pip is different.

[subtledoctor]

7 hours ago, Quester said:

So, there is no grand-mastery achievable for fighters with this mod?

Basically it puts grandmastery at 4 pips instead of 5 pips. Think about it: in the vanilla system classes can  reach 1 (non-warrior), or 2 (ranger/paladin), or 5 (fighter) pips. APR bonuses occur at 2 and 5 pips. So what is the purpose of the 3rd and 4th pips? Sure 3 pips gives a noticeable thac0/damage boost but the 4th pip does almost nothing. It is just a roadblock arbitrarily standing between you and grandmastery. What if instead of wasting that 4th pip on the weapon for which you will eventually have grandmastery, you could spend that pip to have specialization in a backup weapon?

My system makes every pip worth something. Classes can get 1 (mage), 2 (priest/rogue), 3 (ranger/paladin), or 4 (fighter) pips. APR and thac0 and damage bonuses occur with every pip. The effects of 3 and 4 pips are much greater than they used to be, so your ability to get them is delayed until levels 6 and 9 - the same levels at which you can get 4 and 5 pips in the vanilla system. This means at level 3 you'll invest in specialization in more weapons. You also get more  pips to spend at level 1, again to invest in specializing in more weapons. This means you can reach 4 pips in one weapon at level 9... but you will also have 2 and 3 pips in more weapons by then. So as you level up to 12, 15, 18, 21, you can bring more weapons up to the max mastery and you can be more flexible in which weapon you use at any given moment.

Edited August 23, 2022 by subtledoctor

[Quester]

Thanks for the detailed answer.

[Guest Hallz123]

Hello subtledoctor, me again. My sorcerer can't gain extra spell uses with charisma modifier, but gets with intelligence. The others bonus works. Using the mods: SR, SCS, faiths and powers, anthology tweaks, might and guile and tome and blood.

[Quester]

 

Quote

 

Stat Bonus Overhaul (SBO)

To make more meaningful differences between races, demihumans will have more stat bonuses and penalties. The racial maximums are now:

• Elves: 19 Dex, 19 Int, 17 Str, 16 Con
• Half-elf: 19 Cha, 17 Wis
• Dwarf: 19 Con, 17 Dex, 17 Cha
• Halfling: 19 Dex, 19 Cha, 17 Int, 16 Str
• Gnome: 19 Int, 19 Con, 17 Str, 16 Wis
• Half-orc: 19 Str, 17 Int, 16 Cha

 

The race descriptions at character creation do not seem to show these revised stat bonuses and penalties in my game. Is it just me or has anyone else noticed this?

[subtledoctor]

14 minutes ago, Quester said:

The race descriptions at character creation do not seem to show these revised stat bonuses and penalties in my game. Is it just me or has anyone else noticed this?

Upon investigating, this is the issue: in order to modify the race text, you need to edit the string references in RACETEXT.2da. This is simple.

But Beamdog added the new functionality of different "campaigns" - e.g. the Black Pits and BG1 are both different campaigns in BGEE. If you have a version of the game that integrates SoD, that is a third campaign. For whatever reason, Beamdog also made different versions of RACETEXT.2da - and other files like the basic class descriptions referenced in CLASTEXT.2da. So now, SoD uses its own versions of race and class descriptions, in SODRACE.2da and SODCLTXT.2da. Why? I have no idea. The classes are the same in each campaign, any class- or race-based modifications will affect all classes and races uniformly. So I can't see any purpose to having different .2da tables referring to the descriptions. Black Pits, quite reasonably, just uses the default RACETEXT.2da and CLASTEXT.2da.

So, a slight complication: a mod like SoB that alters race descriptions must modify both RACETEXT.2da and SODRACE.2da. Both CLASTEXT.2da and SODCLTXT.2da. Fine. SoB does this.

Then, along comes a newer complication: EET came along after SoB was made, and for some reason I don't understand, EET creates new, BG1-specific versions of RACETEXT.2da and CLASTEXT.2da. So now there is also, apparently, BGRACTXT.2da and BGCLATXT.2da to contend with. Again, I have no idea why - I don't think there is any facility to actually give races or classes different capabilities or bonuses in different campaigns.

But that's your answer: the text is unmodified because you are looking in EET, in the BGEE character creation. It will be properly changed if you look in the SoD or BG2 portions of EET, or in the normal BGEE, SoD, or BG2EE games.

Now just wait til other modders add more such content. IWD-in-EET is a separate campaign - does it need its own race and text string references? (No... but will modders add them anyway? I wouldn't be surprised.) TDD could be its own campaign; does it need its own race and class strings? Et cetera.

It is possible to find all these things programmatically by consulting CAMPAIGN.2da and finding all the files that need changing... but doing anything programmatically introduces the possibility of bugs - no matter how small - and I'll be brutally honest, taking time out of my day to adapt to changes made by other modders - changes which have no apparent identifiable purpose - is not super high on my list of priorities.

Easy fix in the meantime: open CAMPAIGN.2da in a text editor and change all instances of "BGRACTXT" to "RACETEXT" and change all instances of "BGCLATXT" to "CLASTEXT"  and Voila... your race and class descriptions will be correct in the BG1 portion of the game.

[Endarire]

Adding to the official mod documentation that excellent detail about the races and what constitutes a 'campaign' would help many!

[subtledoctor]

I'm thinking about making another revised proficiency system. I was reading "For Gold and Glory," the OSR version of 2E AD&D, and got some inspiration from its "Combat Skill Points" system which, like one of the variant 2E rules, lets you spend points to gain proficiency in larger groups of weapons. Kind of like the OBG1 grouped system, but even broader groups. Because why devote so much effort deciding on this or that particular weapon? Why not simplify things - like, vastly simplify things? Do away with this nonsense where you spend up to five points on a single weapon. Keep it simple, maybe 3 pips max.

Also, there has always been tension around the question of APR. Should APR bonuses be given for free to warrior classes, or should they be tied to one's skill with a weapon? Each has upsides and downsides, but how about this: what if we simply make bonus attacks a combat skill that you can spend points on? Maybe you want to limit yourself to basic proficiency with weapons, but spend your points on the 'Extra Attack' proficiency, to get high APR with all of them? And if we tie APR to a proficiency, then we can limit players' ability to spam it, by controlling with PROFSMAX.2da. So say you can put up to 4 points in 'Extra Attack,' for a total +2 APR; but we can limit warriors from getting 4 pips until 12th or 13th level - the same level they would normally get their APR bonuses. Something like that.

So basically this would borrow a lot from the Might & Guile feat system, but apply things via proficiency points instead. It might look something like:

• Large Swords (2H sword, bastard sword, long sword)
• Curved Swords (katana, scimitar, wakizashi)
• Small Blades (short sword, ninja-to, dagger)
• ...'Chopping Weapons?' (battle axe, war hammer, flail)
• Clubbing Weapons (club, mace, morning star)
• Polearms (staff, spear, halberd)
• Bows
• Crossbows
• Missile Weapons (sling, darts)
• Single-Hand Fighting
• Two-Hand Weapon Fighting
• Shield Fighting
• Dual Wielding
• Hurled Weapons (give a penalty to thrown daggers, axes, hammers which can be offset by this prof - sorry kensai)
• Dodge (AC bonus)
• Melee Training (melee thac0 (and damage?) bonus)
• Ranged Accuracy (missile thac0 (and damage?) bonus)
• Set Snares (moved from being a thief skill to a combat feat chooseable by spending prof points)
• Physical Fitness feats (conditioning, toughness, intestinal fortitude, unflagging determination, maybe also Quickstride)
• Fighting Postures feats (parry damage type, missile snaring, grapple, leadership, fighting dirty, spell evasion)
• Magical feats (Use Magic Device, Reflected Image, Color Spray, Blur, Glitterdust, Shadowstep)
• Miscellaneous feats (lore bonus, luck bonus, smoke bomb/grease jar, slippery mind, wild talent)

The last four feat proficiencies could let you spend a point and they would give you an innate ability, and the ability would let you choose a feat via dialogue. SO you could choose "Magical Feats" five times to learn five illusion spells (and cast any of them five times, sorcerer-style). Defining which kits could use these skills would be as simple as editing WEAPPROF.2da. So most fighters could point one or two points into 'Dodge' but Swashbucklers could put five points there. Maybe some rogue kits could put one point into 'Extra Attack' while rangers could put three and fighters could put four there.

Basically the idea is, spend fewer points and decisions worrying about which specific weapon you are skilled with, and spend more on focusing on the different styles and tactics you use when using those weapons.

Maybe this should be in Might & Guile, as a revision to the MnG feat system. I don't know. It's kind of a fusion of components found in MnG and SoB. (And ironically, they using to be a single combined mod!)

Right now it's purely in the planning stages. So don't hold your breath. But it seems like it could be a nice way to fuse weapon skills with other skills, rather than having two parallel-but-distinct systems (proficiencies and feats).

Like the MnG feat system, this largely ignores spellcasters. Giving some of these skills  to priests could make sense, but mages should basically get none. I thought about adding spellcaster feats - other mods dip their toes into those waters - but the more I think about it, the more I think mage just don't need that sort of thing. Warriors and rogues develop skills as they grow, to better respond to dangerous situations. Casters... well, casters use spells to respond to dangerous situations! Their spells let them temporarily grow and adapt  in each encounter; and they get more and stronger spells as they grow. So they don't need feats; they just learn more magic and that magic can simulate feats (plus so much more). Like, do mages need a 'Silent Spell' feat? They have Vocalize! Is the only point of a feat to obviate a single spell? Why obviate spells when spells are the  thing this class does?

So right now my conceptual model of this includes no feats relating to spellcasting. There is room to add them, and I could be convinced if people have good ideas. But right now spells occupy that role for casters, and the spells in these games are fantastic. So the  ideas would have to be pretty flippin' great to move my thinking here. Silent Spell, caster level bonus, the ever-popular casting speed bonus... these ideas just don't cut it. Every wizard would just  want all of these things, which means it will effectively be baked into the class -  in which case, just bake it into the class! They only need to be separate skills if they are chosen as an alternative to other skills. This is specifically about combat skills; Warriors and rogues and to a lesser extent priests might choose from among different varying combat skills; but mages don't have combat skills, so it doesn't make sense for them.

Anyway I think I have techniques to cover implementing all of this, so it's just a matter of resolving any lingering uncertainties, and finding time to actually do it.

[Endarire]

My attitude toward weapon profs has normally been this:  Give the benefits to either all weapons, or separately to all melee/ranged weapons - because, in practice, focusing on a weapon means you're focusing primarily on melee or ranged.