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

[Quester]

Opinion on WPO: Fighting Style Overhaul: Two-Handed Weapon Style seems very strong in comparison to Single-Weapon Style. To bring them more up to par, my suggestion would be to add +5% crit chance to (++) in Single-Weapon Style. That way it would be:

Quote

 

Single-Weapon Style: now called "Fencing"
– (+) = +1 thac0, -2 to weapon speed, +2 to saves vs. Breath Weapon
– (++) = APR increased by .5,  +5% crit chance

Two-Handed Weapon Style: now called "Two-Hand Style"
– (+) = +1 thac0, +2 damage, +5% crit chance
– (++) = additional +1 thac0, +2 damage, and +5% crit chance

 

 

[subtledoctor]

More APR plus more crits plus more thac0 is too much, I think. Most styles have several benefits:

- SnS: better melee and missile AC, shield bashing

- SWS: better thac0, more APR

- DW: better melee AC, doubly more APR, worse thac0

- 2HW: better thac0, more damage, more crits

Each has its niche: SWS is great for rogues since it improves their chances to hit and bumps their APR. SnS is great for any kind of tank. DW is a good all- around style, with both defense and more APR - as long as you have a good enough thac0 to utilize it well. And 2HW is for bruisers who just want to smash things without regard to self-preservation. 

Maybe +10% crit chance is too good for 2HW. Maybe it should just be +damage at 1 pip, and +5% crit at 2 pips…

[Quester]

Seems strong to me, but I haven't yet played with it too much.

On a related topic, there are two typos in the description of Shield-Fighting: "knocking the nearest attacker of his or or feet" -> "knocking the nearest attacker off his or her feet".

Edited September 8, 2022 by Quester

[Quester]

 Some confusion around Weapon Proficiency Overhaul. Readme says:

Quote

Warriors, rogues, and priests start with 5 proficiency points; wizards, sorcerers, and shamans start with 3. Warriors receive up the 3 more proficiencies, chosen by dialogue, if their INT score is 11 (+1), 12 (+2), or 13 (+3).

Intelligence stat table says:

 

Quote

 

13:	-	+1, +1 per 9 levels
14:	-	+1, +1 per 9 levels
15:	+1	+2, +1 per 7 levels

 

So, a warrior with 15 INT will get +2 proficiencies at lvl 1? Or +3?

I noticed with Khalid in my game that he starts with 4 proficiency points already invested. Then I am allowed to advance weapon proficiency 5 (!) times. So a total of nine points, at lvl 1. Considering he has an INT score of 15, at the most he should be getting 5 + 3 (from INT) = 8 points total. Or 7, depending how you interpret the above.

[subtledoctor]

4 hours ago, Quester said:

Some confusion around Weapon Proficiency Overhaul. Readme says

The Weapon Proficiency Overhaul gives you bonus proficiency pips for having 11/13/15 INT. So yes Khalid with his high INT score gets three pips on top of the four that his CRE file already has allocated.

The Stat Bonus Overhaul - a separate component - gives bonus proficiencies for 13/15/17 INT. I haven't looked at these in a long while so I just installed them now and tested, and in fact these two components do seem to result in cumulative bonuses. So the Readme, it would seem, is accurate. This gets Khalid nine proficiencies at level 1 (four already allocated, plus five bonus ones), plus another one every three levels as a fighter, plus a bonus pip at levels 7, 14, and 21 for having high INT.

So, it all seems to be in working order?

It's a lot, but weapon mastery is one of fighters' major bonuses, and the goal of the mod is to allow fighters to enjoy that bonus with a variety of weapons.

[Quester]

Oh, I see. Thanks for explaining. All is good then.

[Quester]

Very minor WPO thing. This should say "Advance to Specialization (++) with Bows". Not Short Bows.

Edited September 14, 2022 by Quester

[subtledoctor]

45 minutes ago, Quester said:

should say "Advance to Specialization (++) with Bows". Not Short Bows.

Yeah, it's a long-standing issue that has not been solved yet. I can't just sub in the word "bows" - the dialogue pulls the string from game files, and that string is unchanged in the game files. I'm aware of it, but it is not the highest priority right now.

[Quester]

Ah, I see. I didn't know it was an already known issue. 

On 8/27/2022 at 5:15 PM, subtledoctor said:

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.

I forgot to thank you for this detailed answer. Helpful as always, and sure enough that did the trick. I do understand your reluctance to adapt to changes made by other modders. At the same time, I think many or perhaps even most users of your mod will be using EET and starting from BG1, same as me. So in this instance I think it would be a more or less necessary fix for the mod, to have your race changes display as intended. I have done several re-installs over the past weeks and every time I initially forget to do the manual fix. 

Edited September 15, 2022 by Quester

[Endarire]

I agree that adding the race text for EET would be very useful to help assure us that the install worked!

[subtledoctor]

Okay I have been working through some of the concepts for my idea of, in essence, merging a revised proficiency system with a feat system. The inspiration was the way the 'reborn' 2E AD&D system in "For Gold and Glory" handles weapon proficiencies as "combat skills." This is where I'm at right now:

STAT:    Combat Skill:
  89  =  quarterstaff
  90  =  bastard sword + longsword
  91  =  short sword
  92  =  axes
  93  =  greatsword
  94  =  katana
  95  =  scimitar
  96  =  dagger + dart
  97  =  war hammer
  98  =  spear + halberd
  99  =  club + mace
  100 =  flail
  101 =  sling
  102 =  bows
  103 =  crossbows
  104 =  Weapon Speed (+.5 APR, choosable several times depending on spec/mastery APR bonuses)
  105 =  Dodge (AC bonus, choosable up to 5 times (Swashy))
  106 =  Backstab Bonus (instead of improving automatically)
  107 =  Set Snares (instead of getting them automatically)
  108 =  Ranged Accuracy (missile thac0+damage bonus, choosable up to 5 times)
  110 =  Hurled Weapons (offset normal thac0 penalty for thrown weapons)
  111 =  Two-Handed Weapons style
  112 =  Weapon+Shield style
  113 =  Single-Weapon style
  114 =  Two-Weapon style
  115 =  Fighting Postures (dialogue to choose one of ~7 stances/styles)
  124 =  Physical Fitness (dialogue to choose one of ~7 health feats)
  127 =  Miscellaneous Skills (dialogue to choose one of ~7 random feats)
  134 =  Magical Skills (dialogue to choose UMD or one of ~7 illusion spells)

Fighting Postures:
 - Leadership (like an always-on bard song)
 - Grapple (...maybe, Slow nearby melee opponent?)
 - Precise Strike (+5% crit chance)
 - Parry slashing attacks (block 1/round)
 - Parry piercing attacks (block 1/round)
 - Parry crushing attacks (block 1/round)
 - Missile Snaring (block 1/round)
 - Fighting Dirty (chance to apply random penalty on hit)
 - Spell Evasion (IWD-style evasion of magical projectiles)
 
Physical Fitness feats:
 - Health Conditioning (+7 hit points)
 - Toughness (10% physical DR)
 - Weatherproofing (10% elemental DR) (okay I need a name for this one)
 - Quickstride (toggle movement speed bonus)
 - Intestinal Fortitude (extra chance to save vs. poison/disease)
 - Unflagging Determination (extra chance to save vs. sleep/paralysis/fear/stun)
 - Strength training
 - Dexterity Training

Miscellaneous Skills:
 - Lore Bonus
 - Tracking
 - Flaming Weapon
 - Smoke Bomb/Grease Jar
 - Escape Artist (chance to get free whenever bound/webbed/entangled)
 - Slippery Mind (extra chance to save vs. charm/confusion/feeblemind/maze
 - Luck Bonus
 - Psionic Wild Talent

Magical Skills:
 - Use Magical Device (scrolls + wands)
 - Shadowstep
 - Reflected Image
 - Color Spray
 - Blur
 - Glitterdust
 - Knock
 - Luck
 - Sanctuary

So basically you can spend weapon proficiency pips to advance your skills with a weapon, or fighting style, or to gain other skills.

Here's thing thing I'm wrestling with at the moment: I had set up the "melee training" feat to improve melee thac0, basically to simulate something like the Swashbuckler's inherent bonuses. But then there are also the various weapons styles, and I've always had a problem with the "two handed weapon" style with is simply always applicable when you have a two-handed weapon, unlike the other three  styles which change depending on your weapon loadout.

And it occurs to me... why not merge the "single one-handed weapon" style with the "single two-handed weapon" style as a broader "one weapon and no shield" style? And then, why not use the three fighting style  in place of this broad "melee thac0 bonus" feat? So there would be four (EDIT - or maybe five) "fighting style" proficiencies available:

• single-weapon melee
• two-weapon melee
• weapon+shield melee
• ranged accuracy
• hurled weapons

Each of these could have ~4 ranks, and each could give thac0 bonuses like the 'melee training' feat, and also give other bonuses as well, appropriate to the style of fighting. Basically incorporate the existing SoB revised weapon styles: weapon+shield could allow a shield bash, two-weapon could give melee AC bonuses, and single-weapon could give an APR bonus for one-handed weapons and damage/crit bonuses for two-handed weapons (one proficiency would get you both alternative bonuses). Ranged accuracy would get you Archer-like bonuses with launchers. I would apply a natural ranged thac0 penalty to any thrown weapons (daggers, darts, hammers, axes) but choosing the "hurled weapons" skill would progressively remove those penalties so you can throw like a pro. That would allow you to actually specialize in thrown weapons, and ensure that kits like Berserkers and Cavaliers are actually at a disadvantage with thrown melee weapons.

Edited October 3, 2022 by subtledoctor

[Endarire]

Elemental Resistance or Energy Resistance instead of Weatherproofing.

[Quester]

That system sounds interesting, doc. Looking forward to trying it eventually.

I think at 10% Physical DR, Toughness is something every melee oriented warrior will take. A random idea is to instead make it tiered; so you can choose to spend one, two or three feats on it (or none of course). The important thing then is to have it give diminishing returns, so you really have to invest if you want to be the toughest. First level of Toughness could give 6% DR, second level 4%, third level 2% (possibly + some additional small effect). Total possible physical DR would then be 12%, which shouldn't be too much even with your armor overhaul.

Just an idea.

[subtledoctor]

Curious what people think of the idea of merging two-hand weapon style with single-handed style. Does it make  sense? Would it be too powerful? I would have to do  something tricky like detect when you have one  pip in SWS, and then behind the scenes apply one in 2HS. It would be simpler in a technical sense to leave 2HS as its own thing.  But if they are merged,they can take the place of the "combat training" feat  where increasing ranks gives you thac0 bonuses. This would sort of be the default way of raising thac0 overall; then it would leave shield-fighting and dual-wielding as more unusual and specialized 'styles' to use in the alternative.

16 hours ago, Endarire said:

Elemental Resistance or Energy Resistance instead of Weatherproofing.

That sounds like a spell. Not to get too caught up in "guy at the gym" debates, but this is meant to be something achievable by normal, nonmagical training. Like, you can make yourself tougher, or improve your health, or train yourself to avoid falling asleep, etc. This is similar - training yourself to better withstand cold and heat.

3 hours ago, Quester said:

at 10% Physical DR, Toughness is something every melee oriented warrior will take. A random idea is to instead make it tiered

Tiered skills have their own stats though, like Dodge and Ranged Accuracy and weapon specializations. I don't think I want toughness to be like that, but to be an alternative to the other physical fitness feats. 10% is indeed good (I often choose it for most warriors in my current game), but 5%  is fairly meaningless. I want to effect  to be noticeable. Maybe 7-8%? (But then it's a bit weird to deviate from using 5%  increments...)

[Endarire]

10% physical resistance is about the minimum needed to notice a difference.