SR Revised V1.3.900 (2022 August 8th)

[Bartimaeus]

The official version is indeed broken; the latest repository version is not. Why? Well, a hex-view comparison of the two files shows a few differences...but the key one being that the 321 opcode is set to a target of 2 in the old version, and a target of 1 in the new version. One quick test confirms that that is the issue causing the problem. To my surprise, this is already fixed in SRR's version of kreso_ee.tph...since October 10th of 2021, a couple of weeks before grodrigues made a similar change in the official repository version of SR. Well, I wish I'd remembered that we already solved this and avoided all this trouble about it, .

Edited August 12, 2022 by Bartimaeus

[subtledoctor]

Really need to make a release, even if it’s a “beta” or “pre-release” version, of 4b19. I keep saying “use the latest master commit” but that only goes so far. People need an easy download link for a version that has all the fixes we put together. 

I haven’t looked at it in a good while, except for a Sleep fix PR a few weeks back. I don’t remember if there are any outstanding items that haven’t been done… 

[FixTesteR]

14 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

I don't mind SR-specific problems being posted here if you're looking for specifically my help/input

Your input was exactly what I'm looking for So far you've had handy answers and solutions for just about anything SR-related.

 

10 hours ago, subtledoctor said:

FixTesteR is using an older version of SR

I don't know how to check my version. Offficially, SR's latest version is 4, right? What I can say, though, is that my megamod install happened on Jan 25th 2021. A year and a half ago. That's when spwi301 is from in the override folder. Quaintly, the one from spell_rev folder is even older... from November 2019...

Spoiler

From the start of covid the virus!

14 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Try this: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/ndzp496wribqud6/spwi301.spl

Thanks! Let me check it out right away. I'll overwrite the one in spell_rev folder. And I'm back. It only worked after I replaced the one from the override. Thank you, it's wonderful! Where else could I get a solution like that!?  On a side note, I'm still keeping your POTN47.ITM because my megamod broke that antidote from BG city, as well. And I reckon the new install might make the same problem. I really should learn how to troubleshoot myself, or at least how to find out which mod is the culprit so I can report it to their respective owners.

10 hours ago, subtledoctor said:

you're better off combining Shield-Blur-Clairvoyance-II for a monstrous AC bonus - 11 points? is that right?

Emmm. Shield gives 2 AC bonus for melee (4 for missile). Blur gives 3 penalty to enemies' attacks. Clairvoyance gives 2 AC bonus. In total 7 AC bonus vs melee and 9 vs missile. However, I don't know what "II" in your sentence means. Casting Clairvoyance twice, no pinky-promise?

6 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

To my surprise, this is already fixed in SRR's version of kreso_ee.tph...since October 10th of 2021, a couple of weeks before grodrigues made a similar change in the official repository version of SR. Well, I wish I'd remembered that we already solved this and avoided all this trouble about it, .

Meaning the newest SR and SRR versions have this fixed already?

Guys, thank you very much!

[FixTesteR]

Now that that's over with, I'm wondering if anyone has any input on these question.

If I changed the M/GoI behaviour to protect against DM also, would SCS know how to handle it? I'm asking because it seems AI usess DM almost exclusively to dispell just about anything. And due to a higher level of the enemy caster compared to my party, the dispell is pretty successful. So I don't really see Secret Word, or Spell Thrust, being used at all.

One of my characters got polymorphed into a squirrel. Since I use SR, I don't think I had any way to dispell that effect, other than taking him to temple. There was of course, a buggy way to do it by using the item that transforms a user to a troll, and then revert him back, which gave him the natural form.

You've thought much about Goodberries, and what I'll suggest may have been thought of before. Make them unusable during combat but be able to heal a substantial amount outside of it. Or, maybe they could give the user +1 attack for one round so that they could eat a berry and not lose a turn.

Is Polymorph self ever useful? It seems those alternative forms don't really help much.

Could Know Alignment be changed so that it would reveal more about enemies than just a moral alignment? It would be nice to have a spell that points to immunities of the enemy, or his AC or THAC0. Chaotic/Lawful. I personally prefer to learn about enemies by playing, and not looking everything up online. Helps with immersion.

While playing, I always think about spells that just aren't ever useful. Among them are these. I really like what was done with Know Opponent spell.

In SR, how does one dispell a combo of improved invisibility plus non-detection? Detect Invisibility, Oracle, True Seeing don't work, nor should a thief's Detect Illusion. Are we left with just Spell Thrust and the powerful Dispel Magic? And hope the target doesn't run away since you can't target them directly? I wonder how an AI spellcaster does away with that. EDIT: Don't tell me it's a level 3 Invisibility Purge.

Edited August 12, 2022 by FixTesteR

[subtledoctor]

26 minutes ago, FixTesteR said:

about Goodberries, and what I'll suggest may have been thought of before. Make them unusable during combat but be able to heal a substantial amount outside of it.

I've made a tweak that does exactly that.

27 minutes ago, FixTesteR said:

changed the M/GoI behaviour to protect against DM also, would SCS know how to handle it? I'm asking because it seems AI usess DM almost exclusively to dispell just about anything. And due to a higher level of the enemy caster compared to my party, the dispell is pretty successful. So I don't really see Secret Word, or Spell Thrust, being used at all

if you find the current mage battles to be a bit annoying/one-sided/etc. then you might like my mod to streamline them. It changes Dispel/Remove Magic to make it less of a "higher-level mage wins everything" button.

30 minutes ago, FixTesteR said:

In SR, how does one dispell a combo of improved invisibility plus non-detection? Detect Invisibility, Oracle, True Seeing don't work, nor should a thief's Detect Illusion. Are we left with just Spell Thrust and the powerful Dispel Magic? And hope the target doesn't run away since you can't target them directly?

IIRC Non-Detection protects the enemy's invisibility from being dispelled, but if your caster casts Detect Invisible or True Seeing, then that caster (only!) can target the invisible enemy while the enemy stays invisible. Then you can hit them with a Spell Thrust or Dispel to get rid of the Non-Detection and then you can dispel the invisibility to let your friends see them.

Alternatively, leave the invisibility intact - just cast Detect Invisible and then blast away at them because now you can see invisible things! Remember it this way: Non-detection stops invisibility being dispelled; but Detect Invisible/True Seeing don't dispel invisibility, they simply let you see through it. So Detect Invisible and True Seeing bypass Non-Detection.

Also you could try Glitterdust and/or Faerie Fire at the vicinity of an invisible enemy... I don't recall off-hand whether they are blocked by Non-Detection since they are not in the divination school....

I also made a mod that goes a step further than SR's invisibility handling, and makes it all a bit more uniform. That one also changes the name of Non-Detection to "Protection from Divination" to make it a bit more clear exactly what it does.

Finally, my Random Tweaks mod, the first one linked above, has a tweak to make Spell Thrust targetable, so that you don't miss enemies with it. (You may need to cast Detect Invisible first, in order to target invisible enemies.)

[Bartimaeus]

4 hours ago, FixTesteR said:

You've thought much about Goodberries, and what I'll suggest may have been thought of before. Make them unusable during combat but be able to heal a substantial amount outside of it. Or, maybe they could give the user +1 attack for one round so that they could eat a berry and not lose a turn.

Subtledoctor does it one way (making them more of an out-of-combat spell), SRR does it another because I value having them at least somewhat usable in combat:

"Casting a Goodberry spell creates 3 magical berries that the caster can carry with them or give to others. When consumed, these berries restore 5 hit points and one additional hit point for every three experience levels of the caster, up to a maximum of 10 at 15th level. The berries last for 24 hours or until eaten." Basically, a lesser healing potion and not quite so ridiculously bad as the SR version of the spell.

4 hours ago, FixTesteR said:

If I changed the M/GoI behaviour to protect against DM also, would SCS know how to handle it? I'm asking because it seems AI usess DM almost exclusively to dispell just about anything. And due to a higher level of the enemy caster compared to my party, the dispell is pretty successful. So I don't really see Secret Word, or Spell Thrust, being used at all.

1. M/GoI isn't dispelable via Dispel/Remove Magic in BG2; SR makes it so that it is for some reason.
2. You have SD's solution to change how Dispel Magic works...but there are also a few SRR-specific options as well:

dispel_globes (default 1)
When set to 1, globes of invulnerability cannot be taken down by dispelling effects (e.g. Dispel/Remove Magic, Carsomyr, etc.), but the globe will not protect the rest of their spells from being protected (vanilla BG2 behavior). When set to 0, the globe can be taken down as well (vanilla BG1 behavior). When set to 2, the globe cannot be dispelled and will protect all other effects on the protected creature from being dispelled as well. With any setting, globes will still be taken down with normal anti-magic (e.g. Secret Word, Ruby Ray of Reversal, etc.).

spell_protections (default 0)
When set to 1, all spell protections (e.g. Globe of Invulnerability, Spell Deflection, Shield of the Archon et al.) will protect against Dispel and Remove Magic as if they were any other 3rd level spell.

alternative_dispel_magic (default 0)
When set to 1, Dispel Magic (arcane, divine, Inquisitor's, and Yeslick's) no longer uses the caster level vs. target level mechanics as per vanilla, but instead a simple saving throw that scales with level (-1 for every 5 levels of the caster, up to a maximum of -4 at 20th level). When set to 0, the vanilla dispelling mechanics are used. When set to 2, Dispel Magic becomes a sort of lesser Breach AoE effect - one combat and one specific protection are removed from each creature, growing to two of each at 10th level, then three of each at 15th level.

4 hours ago, FixTesteR said:

Is Polymorph self ever useful? It seems those alternative forms don't really help much.

I don't remember much about SR's Polymorph Self, but I put in some effort to try to make them more useful for SRR for at least a single-class mage or maybe even mage-cleric:

Quote

When this spell is cast, the wizard is able to assume the forms of six creatures: that of a mustard jelly, an ogre mage, a salamander, a sword spider, a troll, or a winter wolf. For the duration of the spell, the caster may transform into any of the new forms at any time, as many times as they wish. Physical characteristics are altered to that of the new form, and the caster gains their natural attacks but cannot cast spells while shapeshifted. However, the caster's mental characteristics are not affected, and nor is there a risk of changing their mental capabilities or personality. Additionally, any natural protections that the new form offers are conferred to the caster.

Mustard Jelly (7 HD):
STR 14, DEX 10, CON 10
AC 4, THAC0 13, APR 1
5D4 Acidic (Corrosive Spore +2)
SR 30%, CR 30%, PR 100%, MR 85%
FR 0%, CR 50%, ER 100%, AR 0%

Special Characteristics:
Magic Resistance: 100%
Protected Against: Backstabs, Disease, Level Drain, Normal Weapons, Petrification, Poison, and Stun
Mind Shield: conferred protection against many forms of mind-affecting magic, such as charm, command, confusion, emotion, domination, fear, feeblemind, hold, sleep, stun, psionics, and other similar effects
Slowing: target is slowed for 1 turn (save vs. breath at -2 neg.)
Venomous: target suffers 2 poison damage every round for 5 rounds (save vs. poison neg.)

Ogre Mage (7 HD):
STR 18/100, DEX 10, CON 16
AC 2, THAC0 12, APR 2
1D10 + 3 Slashing (Katana +1)
SR 0%, CR 0%, PR 0%, MR 0%
FR 0%, CR 0%, ER 0%, AR 0%

Special Characteristics:
Regeneration: 1 hp/round
Spellcasting: spells can be cast in this form

Salamander (7 HD):
STR 18/76, DEX 19, CON 15
AC 2, THACO 13, APR 2
1D6 Piercing (Spear +2)
SR 0%, CR 0%, PR 0%, MR 0%
FR 100%, CR -50%, ER 50%, AR 0%

Special Characteristics:
Fiery: target suffers 1D6 fire damage

Sword Spider (5 HD):
STR 17, DEX 16, CON 15
AC 3, THAC0 15, APR 4
2D6 Piercing (Legs & Bite +1)
SR 0%, CR 0%, PR 0%, MR 0%
FR 0%, CR 0%, ER 0%, AR 0%

Special Characteristics:
Protected Against: Poison and Web
Venomous: target suffers 1 poison damage every second for 2 rounds (save vs. poison neg.)

Troll (7 HD):
STR 18/00, DEX 16, CON 20
AC 4, THAC0 12, APR 3
1D6 Piercing (Claws +2)
SR 0%, CR 0%, PR 0%, MR 0%
FR 0%, CR 0%, ER 0%, AR 0%

Special Characteristics:
Regeneration: 1 hp/second
Mind Shield: conferred protection against many forms of mind-affecting magic, such as charm, command, confusion, emotion, domination, fear, feeblemind, hold, sleep, stun, psionics, and other similar effects

Winter Wolf (6 HD):
STR 15, DEX 17, CON 15
AC 5, THAC0 14, APR 1
Frostbite (Breath +2)
SR 0%, CR 0%, PR 0%, MR 0%
FR -25%, CR 100%, ER 0%, AR 0%

Special Characteristics:
Frostbite: target is blasted with icy breath, suffering 6D4 cold damage (save vs. breath half)

 

4 hours ago, FixTesteR said:

In SR, how does one dispell a combo of improved invisibility plus non-detection? Detect Invisibility, Oracle, True Seeing don't work, nor should a thief's Detect Illusion. Are we left with just Spell Thrust and the powerful Dispel Magic? And hope the target doesn't run away since you can't target them directly? I wonder how an AI spellcaster does away with that. EDIT: Don't tell me it's a level 3 Invisibility Purge.

What SD said - also, again, SRR provides a settings.ini tweak for allowing all anti-magic spells to always pierce improved invisibility:

anti_magic_spells_pierce (default 0)
When set to 1, all anti-magic spells will always pierce through (i.e. be able to target creatures with) the improved invisibility status regardless of Detect Invisibility/True Seeing status. This applies to Spell Thrust, Secret Word, Pierce Magic, Ruby Ray of Reversal, Khelben's Warding Whip, Pierce Shield, and Spellstrike. When set to 2, Breach is also included.

Some of these things have been pretty common complaints by other people over the years, so I try to provide ways of making things easier for players who want things to be just a little simpler...

Edited August 12, 2022 by Bartimaeus

[FixTesteR]

Thank you for such an elaborate answer.

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

The berries last for 24 hours or until eaten." Basically, a lesser healing potion

Lesser healing potions are only viable in BG1 and possibly some SoD. And SRR berries heal about a half that of a potion while still taking a whole round. On paper, that doesn't seem viable. Have you tested it in your playthrough? I should try that in action but I usually have quite enough potions and I mostly use them when I need to rapidly increase my lost health. So anything worse than a lesser healing potion is kinda questionable to me. I think in my next playthrough, I'll test and see if you've buffed them just enough not to make them OP.

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

When set to 2, the globe cannot be dispelled and will protect all other effects on the protected creature from being dispelled as well.

Can SCS enemies handle that, or will they keep casting dispell magic in vain?

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

With any setting, globes will still be taken down with normal anti-magic (e.g. Secret Word, Ruby Ray of Reversal, etc.).

So it seems logical that MGoI can be taken down by Secret Word, because it is L4. But GoI actually blocks up to L4, so that should make SW useless against GoI. Agreed? Though ... What about Spell Thrust, then? That spell is specifically aimed at spell protections. Well, so is SW. Sigh ...

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

1D6 Piercing (Spear +2)

I think spear is supposed to be 1D8. You think you want to upgrade the Salamander attack? And his fire damage?

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

SR 0%, CR 0%, PR 0%, MR 0%
FR 0%, CR 0%, ER 0%, AR 0%

What does SR mean here? Magic damage resistance?

Why does Troll have mind shield? Is that in the DND rules?

Do you know if SCS can handle II+Non Detection? Or does SCS just cheat so it's pointless to do it?

[FixTesteR]

6 hours ago, FixTesteR said:

I don't know what "II" in your sentence means.

Oh yes, @subtledoctor, it dawned on me. So II means Improved invisibility. Then yes, the total AC bonus is 11. Woo-Hoo!

[Bartimaeus]

39 minutes ago, FixTesteR said:

Can SCS enemies handle that, or will they keep casting dispell magic in vain?

SCS would not be able to discern, but unless you're playing solo, it doesn't really matter - the dispel will still work against your other characters. If you are playing solo, then you probably don't really mind Globe of Invulnerability being a little too powerful in the first place, considering the types of tactics you have to use to successfully solo the game anyways.

39 minutes ago, FixTesteR said:

So it seems logical that MGoI can be taken down by Secret Word, because it is L4. But GoI actually blocks up to L4, so that should make SW useless against GoI. Agreed? Though ... What about Spell Thrust, then? That spell is specifically aimed at spell protections. Well, so is SW. Sigh ...

No sir, anti-magic spells (with the exception of Breach and possibly the anti-combat protection half of Pierce Shield?) are always effective against all spell protections (Globe of Invulnerability, Spell Trap et al.), even if they don't actually dispel anything (i.e. casting Secret Word against a creature only protected by Spell Trap would have the Secret Word bypass the Spell Trap, even if there's nothing low enough level for the Secret Word to be effective against).

39 minutes ago, FixTesteR said:

I think spear is supposed to be 1D8. You think you want to upgrade the Salamander attack? And his fire damage?

Spear is 1D6 piercing in BG1/BG2; I think Salamander is already one of the better forms with the good AC/dexterity combo and damage output, all things considered.

39 minutes ago, FixTesteR said:

What does SR mean here? Magic damage resistance?

Slashing Resistance, Crushing Resistance, Piercing Resistance, Missile Resistance
Fire Resistance, Cold Resistance, Electrical Resistance, Acid Resistance

Magic damage resistance would be noted in special characteristics as its own thing if a creature had any; there are no creatures in SRR or IRR that do.

39 minutes ago, FixTesteR said:

Why does Troll have mind shield? Is that in the DND rules?

No idea, but it's given to all trolls within the game (you can't confuse, charm/dominate, hold, etc. any trolls), and it makes the form more interesting for the player.

39 minutes ago, FixTesteR said:

Do you know if SCS can handle II+Non Detection? Or does SCS just cheat so it's pointless to do it?

If I recall correctly, what will happen is that SCS will mildly cheat because if they don't have Detect Invisibility or True Seeing, they will force target the player with anti-magic spells (e.g. Secret Word) in order to try to dispel the Non-Detection even when they shouldn't be able to...but otherwise, I think it should work.

39 minutes ago, FixTesteR said:

Lesser healing potions are only viable in BG1 and possibly some SoD. And SRR berries heal about a half that of a potion while still taking a whole round. On paper, that doesn't seem viable. Have you tested it in your playthrough? I should try that in action but I usually have quite enough potions and I mostly use them when I need to rapidly increase my lost health. So anything worse than a lesser healing potion is kinda questionable to me. I think in my next playthrough, I'll test and see if you've buffed them just enough not to make them OP.

I like them a lot better now, but it's ultimately a level 1 spell aimed for use with fighter-types that can use them in the middle of combat when you'd like to get some extra healing in before you need to use a potion of extra/healing. Being able to create them before combat means not having to use a round of casting for a Cure Light Wounds as the alternative.

Edited August 12, 2022 by Bartimaeus

[FixTesteR]

Hi. Isn't Sanctuary supposed to protect against any harm? Ulitharid attacked through it, causing 2 crushing damage, devouring brain and killing my party member. Ideas?

[Bartimaeus]

7 hours ago, FixTesteR said:

Hi. Isn't Sanctuary supposed to protect against any harm? Ulitharid attacked through it, causing 2 crushing damage, devouring brain and killing my party member. Ideas?

The very first line of Sanctuary:

"When the priest casts a Sanctuary spell, it causes all opponents to ignore their existence, as if they were invisible."

Doesn't sound much like complete invulnerability to me, . Some creatures, such as the psychic mind flayers, are less subject to this type of protection than others.

[ratatosk]

In my installation of SRR + SCS, minor globe of invulnerability is blocking Comet and Dragon's Breath. Has anyone else noticed this bug?

[Bartimaeus]

50 minutes ago, ratatosk said:

In my installation of SRR + SCS, minor globe of invulnerability is blocking Comet and Dragon's Breath. Has anyone else noticed this bug?

It is an issue with the AoE Spell Deflection component, which I have now fixed. If you want me to fix it for your current game, upload SPWI925.spl and DVWI922.spl from your override.

[ratatosk]

Thanks! I was actually trialing a newly modded installation, and I'm still configuring SCS to my preferences, so I've temporarily uninstalled it. Is it ok if I upload the override files just with SRR installed (including the aoe spell deflection component in question)? If so, here they are.

dvwi922.spl spwi925.spl

[Bartimaeus]

22 minutes ago, ratatosk said:

Thanks! I was actually trialing a newly modded installation, and I'm still configuring SCS to my preferences, so I've temporarily uninstalled it. Is it ok if I upload the override files just with SRR installed (including the aoe spell deflection component in question)? If so, here they are.

dvwi922.spl 202 B · 0 downloads spwi925.spl 202 B · 0 downloads

Yeah, these repaired files should do it if you drop them into your override: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/fe4tzni97aiw5aa/dvwi922.spl + https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/szfaikheyfw3ic1/spwi925.spl