Unearthed Arcana present Tome & Blood: more options for arcane casters

[Caedwyr]

Edit: It appears my complaints are actually largely about the language used in the base game's kit description from the mage specialists.  It'd still be nice to clean these up a bit if it doesn't break anything else.

The kit descriptions for the Revised Specialist Mages all have a line that

Quote

Receives a -15% penalty when scribing spells from other schools.

What is this penalty to?  Is it to the success rate of learning the spell or to something else? 

As a drawback the specialist mages don't really have any thanks to the potions which let a character raise their intelligence up to godlike levels or the power of quicksave/quickreload.  I know the goal is to define the specialist mages through what they can do rather than what they can't, but the final balance of them compared to a nonspecialist mage is pretty imbalanced, which is a shame.

One thought would be to remove the extra spell per level and to list the drawbacks they share with the base mage.  Currently the specialist descriptions lack a lot of basic information about the kits like their hit dice, equipment restrictions, weapon training restrictions and probably some other restrictions.  Another suggestion would be to make the disadvantage something that remains a disadvantage and which cannot be bypassed by tiresome save/reloading or drinking a potion.  Right now the drawback is something that just annoys the player rather than something that actually forces a different playstyle/build approach.  Maybe consider giving them one fewer spell per level since they also have incredible flexibility with the spontaneous casting of any spell from their school of specialization.  This would be a balance measure against the trueclass mage (who gets more spell slots)

Something else to consider is giving something to the universalist that the specialist mages don't get.  Arcane Discoveries might be a useful resource for ideas.

Edited July 16, 2020 by Caedwyr

[subtledoctor]

8 hours ago, Caedwyr said:

Receives a -15% penalty when scribing spells from other schools.

This applies to your chance to successfully learn a spell from a scroll. Not only is it vanilla behavior, it is completely hard-coded vanilla behavior. I don’t have any ideas about what might be done about this, even if it were possible to do something about it. Personally, I think the spell learning chance is stupid and I just use “100% Spell Learning” from CDTweaks. 

8 hours ago, Caedwyr said:

Currently the specialist descriptions lack a lot of basic information about the kits like their hit dice, equipment restrictions, weapon training restrictions and probably some other restrictions.

This is standard - no kit of any class includes this stuff, it is only specified in the base class description. That’s why kit descriptions are structured as they are: they start from the baseline class description, and only show “advantages” and “disadvantages” that deviate from the base class. 

As for the Generalist mage, we thought about giving it an “AnySpell” ability - basically an NRD ability with no chance of wild surge. But we haven’t got around to implementing it. Since specialists have no disadvantages (apart from the spell learning nonsense), there’s no reason to play a Generalist. Any advantages we give to a Generalist would just be given to multiclass mages, and they are already powerful enough. If anything, what we really should do is remove trueclass mages from the single-class kit menus. 

Edited July 16, 2020 by subtledoctor

[subtledoctor]

Updated to version 0.8.53 with some small fixes, mostly relating to familiars.

[Guest Ront]

HEYA, 

First post in this topic. I m planning to start a new play through and I've got a doubt... my plan is to go for geomantic sorcerer kit mod.

 

But... I hate the flaws it has and after considering to remove the flaws myself, I m not sure it isn't ultra overpowered.

 

 

Is there something similar on your mod to geomantic sorcerer?

 

Also is there any sorcerer kit you suggest me to try? 

[Guest Ront]

Turns out some of my questions were already answered there..

 

 

The only question left is related to an alternative to geomantic sorcerer kit

[subtledoctor]

The Geomantic Sorcerer has always been silly and wildly overpowered. IMHO. You’re removing disadvantages??

There’s nothing like that in this mod. Unless you don’t care about specifics and are talking just about the most OP kit, in which case you might enjoy the fighter/sorcerer. Super gishy.

If you specifically want a spontaneous caster with earthy/ druidy spells, you should look at Faiths & Powers. Lots of options there: e.g. the Earth Mystic, which you can set to learn and cast spells like a sorcerer. I’m playing with a fighter/mystic with spontaneous casting right now, and it is boss. 

Or a druid, which can also use sorcerer-style learning and casting. FnP also has multiclass druids, so you could play a proper, legal druid/mage. Your druid/mage can decide to learn and cast its druid spells like a sorcerer, too.

If you install TnB multiclass sorcerers first, you can play a druid/sorcerer. And the druid/sorcerer can even cast its druid spells spontaneously... it’s slightly wonky in the UI but it works. 

Those options can be a lot of fun, and they are proper AD&D-valid class combinations, unlike the unholy abomination that is the Geomantic Sorcerer. (IMHO!)

Edited July 28, 2020 by subtledoctor

[Guest Ront]

 I never understood the differences between spontaneous and Vancian casting..  I will have to read readmes

To make sphere system work well, I take you also made new spells?

And yes, I m planning to remove the disadvantage of geomantic sorcerer because i find them silly. When I asked about something similar from you, I meant a flavourful sorcerer class, rather than a sorcerer druid *alternative*

 

[Caedwyr]

Yeah the Geomantic Sorcerer is wildly overpowered and very much intended as a "Hero Class".  I basically salvaged the non-functional Druidic Sorcerer mod and updated it to Weidu with some changes. I actually nerfed it a bunch compared to the druidic sorcerer.

In practice it isn't quite as broken as it appears because the individual actions that can be taken each round are still constrained and the casting speed slowdown is a pain, but I would use this as a CHARNAME class that definitely pushes the envelope for balance.  

 

Once you get to the HLAs I will make no claims one way or another on the balance.  It is probably stupid broken,  but should at least look pretty while doing so.

 

You might want to check out the Sylven sorcerer kit in Tome & Blood

Edited July 28, 2020 by Caedwyr

[subtledoctor]

21 minutes ago, Caedwyr said:

I basically salvaged the non-functional Druidic Sorcerer mod

Maybe the older druidic sorcerer is what I was remembering as silly. It’s been a very longtime since I paid attention to it, and I don’t play sorcerers so I never bothered to install it. Apologies if I gave offense based on inaccuracy.

4 hours ago, Guest Ront said:

When I asked about something similar from you, I meant a flavourful sorcerer

I have never made a sorcerer kit; but Aquadrizzt has included a bunch in this mod that seem very cool. The changes are relatively lightweight, more geared toward flavor than power. But there is a Sylvan Disciple (a bit of a focus on fey/deception magic), a Favored Soul (with a bit of healing magic), and a handful of Dragon Disciple variants which focus on different elements. 

Edited July 28, 2020 by subtledoctor

[Caedwyr]

3 hours ago, subtledoctor said:

Maybe the older druidic sorcerer is what I was remembering as silly. It’s been a very longtime since I paid attention to it, and I don’t play sorcerers so I never bothered to install it. Apologies if I gave offense based on inaccuracy.

I have never made a sorcerer kit; but Aquadrizzt has included a bunch in this mod that seem very cool. The changes are relatively lightweight, more geared toward flavor than power. But there is a Sylvan Disciple (a bit of a focus on fey/deception magic), a Favored Soul (with a bit of healing magic), and a handful of Dragon Disciple variants which focus on different elements. 

You were probably thinking of the Geomantic Sorcerer.  It is definitely on the OP side of things, so no offense taken.  I found the original druidic sorcerer fun in concept for a solo run, but it didn't work properly hence all the work I did to update it. The Geomantic Sorcerer is basically a Sorcerer/Druid multiclass (adds druid spells to the sorcerer spellbook) including a few custom spells.  It gets an expanded version of druid shapeshifting (which is only really useful at low levels, but likely has some overpowered forms).  At high levels it gets a smorgasbord of powerful HLAs.

Geomantic Sorcerer

Spoiler

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GEOMANTIC SORCERER: The cleric reaches out to a higher power. The wizard trusts only in eldritch tomes. The druid looks to nature for her spells. To the geomantic sorcerer, however, all magic is the same. Geomancy is the art of channeling magical energy from many sources through the land itself. The spells he casts through his connections with the earth are reflections of his own strength of will.

Advantages:
- Learns druid spells in addition to sorcerer spells and casts them from the sorcerer's spellbook.
- At level 8, can shapeshift into new druid animal forms, gains an additional use every 3 levels.
- Can learn high level Quintessence Magic.
Quintessence Magic draws directly upon magic in its basic form, free of intermediaries such as deities, the Weave, or structured spellcasting. It is an inherently intuitive blending of the arcane and the natural forces in the world and cannot be taught or granted.

Disadvantages:
- Has a 15% penalty to experience.
- Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity have a -2 penalty.
- Has a penalty of 1 to casting speed.

Requirements:
- 13 Wisdom, 9 Charisma.
- Must be of any Neutral alignment.

Restrictions:
- Sorcerer Item usage.
- Recognized as a sorcerer.

New spells are

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The following are the druidic and priest Spells added to geomantic sorcerer's spellbook. Descriptions for new spells and HLAs can be found below.

Level 1
Cure Light Wounds, Detect Evil, Entangle, Shillelagh, Wave Spray

Level 2
Barkskin, Charm Person or Mammal, Flame Blade, Goodberries, Resist Fire/Cold, Slow Poison

Level 3
Call Lightning, Hold Animal, Protection from Fire, Cure Medium Wounds, Cure Disease, Zone of Sweet Air, Summon Insects

Level 4
Animal Summoning I, Free Action, Neutralize Poison, Protection from Lightning, Call Woodland Beings, Poison

Level 5
Cure Serious Wounds, Animal Summoning II, Iron Skins, Pixie Dust, Insect Plague

Level 6
Cure Critical Wounds, Animal Summoning III, Conjure Animals, Conjure Fire Elemental, Fire Seeds, Dolorous Decay

Level 7
Heal, Conjure Earth Elemental, Sunray, Creeping Doom, Earthquake

Level 8
Nature's Beauty, Fire Storm, Regeneration

Level 9
Tornado, Summon Shambling Mound

Shapeshifting

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The geomantic sorcerer also gains a slightly larger set of animal forms:

Bear
A slow moving but powerful Brown Bear. (AC6, THAC0 13, 3 attacks per round-1d6)

Cat
Even this small creature has its uses. If ever in need of nimble movement, the druid can shapeshift into a cat and maneuver through obstacles as if hasted and affected by Free Action. (AC4, THAC0 17, 1 attack per round-1d2)

Dog
The Dog has little place in combat, but does possess great tracking abilities. Its acute senses can easily locate traps and enemies. (AC6, THAC0 16, 1 attack per round-1d4)

Leopard
Although similar to the Panther, the Leopard is a more consistent fighter. It is better suited for fighting in well-lit areas. (AC4, THAC0 12, 2 attacks per round-1d8)

Moose
A Moose can be a very dangerous foe when threatened. Although not the best for direct damage, it can knock opponents unconscious and backwards with its charge. (AC7, THAC0 13, 1 attack per round-1d6)

Panther
A combination of stealth and power. The Panther can use a special stealth attack each round with a 50% chance of success while outdoors. If successful, the panther will be invisible for a short while and will do maximum damage and attack with a +4 bonus to THAC0 for one round. (AC3, THAC0 14, 2 attacks per round-1d8)

Rat
Rats go unnoticed by most and are extremely hard to hit. If the druid is in need for some stealthy movement, they can shapeshift into a rat to avoid detection. (AC16, THAC0 20, 2 attacks per round-1d2, 90% physical resistances, invisibility, non-detection)

Snake
This enormous Snake has a weak bite, but can inject its target with poisonous venom with each hit. Those near it must also make a successful save versus spells with a +4 bonus or flee in terror. (AC4, THAC0 15, 1 attack per round-1d4)

Wolf
The Wolf is not a particularly powerful attacker. It compensates, however, by being able to call in a pack of wolves (1-5 wolves, once per day) for 30 minutes, if outdoors. (AC3, THAC0 15, 1 attack per round-1d8)

HLAs

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The geomantic sorcerer has a tiered HLA table with four paths and quintessence magic spells at the pinacle of each path.

Spell Casting Proficiency Path

Clarity (TIER 1 ABILITY)
With this ability, the geomantic sorcerer becomes immune to deafness, silence, miscast magic, feeblemind, and charm.

Vocal Lucidity (TIER 2 ABILITY)
Requires: Clarity
The geomantic sorcerer, having learned to deliver the vocal components of spells with greater efficiency, is now able to reduce all spell casting times by 2.

Spellcasting Mastery (TIER 3 ABILITY)
Requires: Vocal Lucidity
Your devotion to improving your spellcrafting has paid off. With this ability, all spells cast by you will have twice the duration as normal. Additionally, you are able detect dispellable magic in your immediate area at will once per round.

Union of Magic (TIER 4 ABILITY)
Requires: Spell Casting Mastery
(Quintessence Magic)
School: Any School
Duration: Instantaneous
Casting Time: 6
Area of Effect: 60-foot radius
Saving Throw: None

This powerful spell sends out a 360 degree shockwave, causing everyone within its radius to become vulnerable to magic in all its forms, whether it be weaponry or spellcraft. All magical defense spells are eradicated, magical damage resistance is made nonexistent, magic resistance is lowered to nothing for 20 rounds, and all dispellable magics are removed.

Arcane Knowledge Path

Bonus Spell Memorization (TIER 1 ABILITY)
Selecting this ability allows the magic-user to cast one extra spell per level.

Bonus Spell Knowledge (TIER 2 ABILITY)
Requires: Bonus Spell Memorization
With your increased understanding of magic, you are now able to learn new priest spells previously not given to druids. The new spells are:

• Level 1: Sanctuary
• Level 2: Silence, 15' Radius
• Level 3: Remove Paralysis
• Level 4: Defensive Harmony
• Level 5: Chaotic Commands
• Level 6: Greater Command
• Level 7: Physical Mirror
• Level 8: Shield of the Archons
• Level 9: Raise Dead

Spell Enhancement (TIER 3 ABILITY)
Requires: Bonus Spell Knowledge
Your greater understanding of all magical forces allows you to cast improved versions of several wizard spells. By selecting this ability, you may cast the following spells:

1. Mordenkainen's Multiplicative Magic Missile
2. Controlled Web
3. Improved Ghost Armor
4. Otiluke's Consistently Resilient Sphere
5. Cone of Freezing Cold
6. Major Globe of Invulnerability
7. Delayed Blast Explosion
8. Immunity to Energy

Essence of the Planes (TIER 4 ABILITY)
Requires: Spell Enhancement
(Quintessence Magic)
School: Any School
Range: Visual range of caster
Duration: 20 rounds
Casting Time: 9
Area of Effect: Special
Saving Throw: None

This spell summons an Orb of Pure Energy for 20 rounds. This Orb has many abilities, both offensive and defensive, and its mere proximity to both friend and foe has significant effect. The caster can shape its energy into many different uses, but must remain within visual distance to maintain control.

Close proximity to the orb will result in the following effects, occurring once each round:

Enemies:
Horror, Blindness, Ray of Enfeeblement, Remove Magic, Secret Word, Hold Monster, Miscast Magic.

All of these spells are cast identically to their wizard-spell counterparts as though the Orb were a 25th level wizard. In addition, all creatures of 8 hit dice or lower are instantly slain, as per the 6th level wizard spell, Death Spell.

Allies:
All friendly creatures slowly regenerate when near the Orb. In addition, they gain a bonus of 1 to their casting speed, a +1 bonus to all stats, a bonus of 1 to all saving throws, and a bonus of 1 to their speed factor.

The Orb is able to cast the following spells:

Elemental Phasing (four times per day)
The Orb selects a target and sends 10 magical orbs flying at it. Each of these orbs, upon hitting the target, will phase the victim briefly into one of the 4 elemental planes for a split second before bringing them back. These short forays will result in a small amount of elemental damage (1d2), although at the end of the journey there is a 20% chance that the target will be level drained (5 levels), feebleminded (4 rounds), or stunned (4 rounds) from the shock of travel. There is a 5% chance that the victim will not be able to withstand the shock and will die instantly.

Energy Shockwave (four times per day)
This spell sends all enemies near the orb flying backwards, dealing 1d20 points of damage and slowing their movement rate by 75% for 1 round.

Energy Exchange (four times per day)
All enemies within the selected radius will be struck by lightning bolts, each dealing 5d5 points of damage.

Ball Electricity (twenty times per day)
This is the Orb's basic attack which deals 3d6 points of electrical damage and 3d6 points of crushing damage to a single target.

Magical Defense Path:

Immunity to Level 1 Spells (TIER 1 ABILITY)
This ability confers upon the geomantic sorcerer complete invulnerability to all level 1 spells.

Magic Resistance (TIER 2 ABILITY)
Requires: Immunity to Level 1 Spells
By selecting this ability, the geomantic sorcerer will gain an additional 33% magic resistance.

Blessing of Nature (TIER 3 ABILITY)
Requires: Magic Resistance
High-level geomantic sorcerers maintain a closer link to Nature herself. This provides a stronger connection to the powers of Water, Fire and Air which grant the geomantic sorcerer a permanent +1 bonus to Wisdom and 10% bonuses to Fire, Cold, and Lightning resistances.

Arcane Futility (TIER 4 ABILITY)
Requires: Blessing of Nature
(Quintessence Magic)
School: Any School
Duration: 5 rounds
Casting Time: 1
Area of Effect: Self
Saving Throw: None

With this spell, the caster encases himself within a shell that prevents all magical energy from entering for a short time, regardless of its form. For 5 rounds, the caster gains complete immunity to magical damage, direct magical effects, and magical weaponry. In addition, it grants the player 100% magic resistance and immunity to timestop. Because of the power of the spell, all magical effects on the caster are dispelled upon casting, but for the duration of the spell the player is free to cast spells both within and outside of the shell.

Druidic Powers Path

Druid Immunities (TIER 1 ABILITY)
As a high level druid, you are immune to all forms of poison, disease, and level drain. Non-magical weapons have no effect upon you, and you cannot be forcefully put to sleep. In addition, you gain an additional 25% resistance to fire, electricity, cold, and acid.

Elemental Transformation (TIER 2 ABILITY)
Requires: Druidic Immunities
With this ability, the geomantic sorcerer will now be able to shapeshift into a 24 HD elemental of fire, air, earth, or water. These elemental forms have different strengths and weaknesses according to their nature. When the druid returns to human form, he is also healed 3d10 damage. The ability lasts 5 turns, or until the druid decides during the duration of the ability.

Earthly Planeswalking (TIER 3 ABILITY)
Requires: Elemental Transformation
Having mastered the elements, it is now possible for the geomantic sorcerer to meld into any terrestrial environment, moving through the ground or air at will, reappreaing anywhere onscreen in human form.

Torrential Cacophony (TIER 4 ABILITY)
Requires: Earthly Planeswalking
(Quintessence Magic)
School: Any School
Range: Visual sight of caster
Duration: 3 rounds
Casting Time: 9
Area of Effect: 45-foot radius
Saving Throw: Special

Harnessing the elemental powers of Air and Water, the geomantic sorcerer is able to unleash an awesome display of magical might. A storm of ice, electricity, and raging winds affecting everyone within a 30 foot radius, this spell is second only to its sibling, Fiery Cataclysm, in pure destructive potential. Although the mage must maintain concentration as he channels the spell and will not be able to move from his location, he will be able to maintain enough control to prevent any damage upon himself or his party.

When cast, a massive lightning bolt comes down and strikes the sorcerer, shrouding him in a field of electrical energy. At the precise moment of the blast, lightning bolts fly out and strike everyone within range, dealing 1d10 points of damage. Overhead, an Ice Storm will rage for 3 rounds. Every 4 seconds (for a total of 5 times), it causes 1d8 points of cold damage. Everyone caught in the storm will either be struck by a massive Lightning Strike, a large Ice Boulder, or be swept up by a small Whirlwind, once every 4 seconds (5 times maximum).

The Lightning Strike does 1d15 points of electrical damage and has a 75% chance of knocking all targets around it backwards.

The Ice Boulder deals 2d10 points of crushing damage and has a 50% chance of preventing its target from vocalizing spells for 2 rounds and a 25% chance of knocking the target unconscious for 2 rounds.

The Whirlwind deals 1d15 points of slashing damage while simultaneously blowing its target back. There is a 25% chance that the target will have his or her weapons blown off.

During this storm, the caster becomes a conduit of electricity and water. Each round, all enemies within the storm will either be struck by a Lightning Bolt, a Smashing Wave of water, or a Cone of Cold.

The Lightning Bolt behaves as a normal lightning bolt and does 1d10 points of electrical damage. There is a 50% chance that the bolt will create an Electrical Arc, which has a 50% chance to jump across all targets within the vicinity. The Electrical Arc deals 1d5 points of electrical damage to everyone it hits.

The Smashing Wave strikes a single individual, dealing 1d20 points of magical cold damage. This wave will wash the target back a good distance and, cause the target to move at half-speed for 2 rounds.

The Cone of Cold affects all enemies in its path, dealing 1d10 points of cold damage. This blast has a 25% chance of freezing its targets for 1 round.

There is no save.

Fiery Cataclysm (TIER 4 ABILITY)
Requires: Earthly Planeswalking
(Quintessence Magic)
School: Any School
Range: Visual sight of caster
Duration: 5 rounds
Casting Time: 9
Area of Effect: 45-foot radius
Saving Throw: Special

A devastating inferno of fire and rock that billows from the sky and grasps from the earth. It is the single most destructive spell available and will harm everything in its path save the caster. Fiery Cataclysm’s power rivals that of the Gods themselves, and has the potential to level small villages, let alone its occupants. The effects of the spell are automatically centered upon the caster for 6 rounds, but unlike other area effect spells, Fiery Cataclysm will move with its caster from round to round.

Once the initial incantation is finished, a massive column of flame will strike the player, encasing him in a globe of fire while sending out a massive explosion that deals out 2d10 points of damage in a 45-foot radius. Everyone caught in the blast will be knocked backwards and will either be struck by a minor fireball for 3d5 points of damage or a ray of flame (2d10 x 2 points of damage, target is pushed back by the flames for 1 round.) Four seconds after the first eruption, another column of flame will pour down, creating an identical explosion. Three seconds later, an additional explosion will erupt. A final explosion will follow five seconds later, and everyone within range will be struck by a another minor fireball.

At the start of the third round of the spell, the sky will begin to rain meteors, causing all within range to take 2d5 points of damage for every round that they are caught in the hail. Each round, every target will be struck by a massive meteor (3d5 points of damage in a 30 foot radius) twice and be blown backwards and possibly knocked unconscious (25% chance, save vs. spells w/ +4 bonus) for 1 round.

By the fifth round, after the last meteor falls, the ground will begin to shake violently for two rounds, throwing all creatures about for 1d10 points of damage each round and causing flaming rifts to open on the ground twice per round, crushing victims for 2d8 points of damage. Each round, the vegetation on the ground will also attempt to grasp at any living creature and hold it rigidly for one round with a 50% success rate.

At the end of the sixth round, a final column of flame will engulf the caster once again, sending out three massive fiery shockwaves that engulf its victims for 2d10 points of damage each.

 

So the versatility offered by Druid/Sorcerer is pretty powerful, but the drawbacks mean you will tend to fall behind other characters when leveling up as well as the physical stat restrictions and slower casting speed.  Its power can vary depending on how good you are at running a caster character but in many ways it is mostly just a Cleric/Mage like Aerie.  The larger concern is the shapeshifting forms at low levels before weapon immunity starts showing up in opponents.  In Baldur's Gate this is what would make it overpowered.  A smarter approach would probably be to introduce the different forms gradually rather than all at once, since it was originally "balanced" for BG2.  The HLAs are silly though, no argument about that.

The Druidic Sorcerer on the other hand gets all that plus druid weaponskills and studded leather armor, can cast in light armor, can wear both armor and robes simultaneously, gets a bunch of bonus spells for both Wisdom and Charisma (which offset the reduction in spells per level compared to a sorcerer.)

 

Edited July 29, 2020 by Caedwyr

[subtledoctor]

That actually doesn’t sound that bad; I only would limit the arcane spells to a certain few spell schools (Abjuration, Alteration, Evocation, Divination) and change the XP penalty from 15% to ~40%. Alternatively, I would just play a multiclass sorcerer/spontaneous druid, which is a real thing in FnP and 1) gets 6 spell slots for each class, rather than shared, but 2) is a real multiclass and must divide all earned XP, and 3) doesn’t get all those funky HLAs. But of course the sorcerer/spont druid has only been possible as of very recently, so was not an option before. 

(I don’t play much TOB and can’t begin to evaluate what those custom HLAs are like, but that “Torrential Storm” one did jump out at me - it looks like a better version of the vanilla Storm of Vengeance which I always felt was lame. Kudos.

[Caedwyr]

Most of the HLAs are ripped pretty cleanly from the Druidic Sorcerer, but I did do some fix up of a few that didn't work and replaced a couple others that didn't fit the theme or were not possible to work cleanly without relying on a lot of scripting, which used to be a lot more flaky with weaker systems.

Compared to other HLAs they are all pretty much overpowered.  But they have pretty graphics which *completely* justifies their unbalanced nature.

Edited July 29, 2020 by Caedwyr

[Guest Ront]

Caedwyr, I dont understand. Did you make geomantic sorcerer?

Or you tweaked it for personal use?

 

Also you mention druidic sorcerer: is it the mod for origina, bg or are you referring to something else?

 

Also I don't understand if subtledoctor likes the original kit or likes how you remade the class .. 

[Caedwyr]

I made the Geomantic Sorcerer 12 years ago.  I took the much older Druidic Sorcerer mod for the original BG2 which may have not had a weidu installer, or a non-functional at the time installer and used it as the base for the Geomantic Sorcerer.

The original plan was to just update the Druidic Sorcerer so it worked with other mods and fix some bugs.  However there were some problems with some parts if the mod and I ended up rebuilding a lot of it and making a number if changes.   Enough changes that I ended up changing the name of my version (though I never got around to changing the .tp2 or .exe filenames).

While I was away from the moďding scene others updated the Geomantic Sorcerer to work with the EE games (thank you).  Some components haven't been updated and I am investigating if making those work is possible.

Also while I was away it appears someone else updated the original druidic sorcerer to work.  Maybe?  I am not totally clear but there seems to be  some discussions of people using both and there would have had to be some updates because the Druidic Sorcerer class wouldn't work back when I did my version of it (which is why I did all that work).

I think Subledoctor thinks the original Druidic Sorcerer is overpowered and so is the Geomantic Sorcerer, but to a lesser degree.  That's a pretty decent summary,  although how much that matters will vary person to person.   At lower levels it is broken in a way that many players will not see because it requires greater mastery of the spellcasting system.  Once HLAs come into play it starts to become much more OP.

[Caedwyr]

Massive post from my other thread summarizing issues identified

Spoiler

1. The find familiar spell is still selectable at character creation and level up for a sorcerer (Dragon Disciple).  I think if it is turned into an innate it should probably be removed.  This was for the Artisan's Kitpack Dragon Disciple revision.
2. Speaking to the familiar and asking if it if has any advice gets a "NO VALID REPLIES OR LINKS" error.
3. Asking it if "everything is okay down there" gets a response of "I am a little hurt and the cuts sting and I am bleeding" when the familiar shows as uninjured. 
4. The familiar icons for the ferret, black cat, and rabbit are all summon monster icons.  Consider using a recoloured Cat's grace icon for the cat.  There was some discussion with Lava about obtaining a custom ferret icon for use in this component.
5. The Tome & Blood Arcane Crafting is obtained by the Dragon Disciple at level 5.  This isn't a bug but the readme indicates that only Wizards gain the skill and Mages get it at level 1 or 2.  They get the Brew Potion variant.  Xzar got the scribe scrolls variant.  If different classes get different variants, this should probably be listed in the documentation.
6. The summon familiar innate comes back after summoning a familiar once, since it is used for resurrecting a killed familiar.  Since

   Quote

   Yeah, once you choose a familiar the first time, you will be bound to re-summon the same one. But the sane actual spell is used in both instances, so I can’t rename it the 2nd time around. (It was fairly complicated to make that work, and I don’t want to mess with it.)

   If you don't go the route of changing the ability name after it is used the first time, then I'd recommend updating the description text.  I can provide revised text if desired.
7. Mystic Fire kit from Artisan's Kitpack and Tome & Blood interaction with the Choose Familiar component.  The Mystic Fire does not get to choose their familiar.  I suspect that the familiar is the base game version of the Pseudodragon. I'm not sure if this cross-mod interaction is something you care about subtledoctor.  Right now the current interaction is harmless.
8. Invisibility and Improved Invisibility portrait icons.  Remind me to load up bamworkshop and convert the existing spellbook icons to portrait icons.  I've done this type of editing before and if I recall correctly this type of adjustment is pretty simple for me to do once I remember the steps.
9. Bardic Casting in leather armor component gets overriden by Tweaks Anthology due to outdated compatibility code in Tweaks Anthology.
10. The Rat familiar's paw weapon does not have a description.  This matters a bit because you can now right click it to get more details.  It just shows as "Attack" with a blank information sheet.
11. The "summon swarm of rats" ability that the Rat familiar possesses actually summons a swarm of rabbits.
12. Imbue Familiar does not provide a description of what it does when you right click the ability.  Since it's a bit complex, this would be a good place to put this information.
13. Tome & Blood's Innate Cantrips are added to the Shade Warrior kit (I don't believe they get added to the Shadow Adept mage kit).  I'm not sure how thematically appropriate they are to add to this kit.  Might be worth some discussion between the two mod authors.
14. Tome & Blood's Innate Familiars are added to the Shade Warrior kit.  Since the Shade Warrior also gets a separate familiar as part of the class features, I believe that this is a bug and Tome & Blood should skip this kit when adding these options.
15. Tome & Blood's Innate Cantrips has same issue for the Shadow Enforcer kit
16. Tome & Blood's Innate Familiars are added to the Shade Enforcer kit.  Same comments apply as for the Shade Warrior.
17. Tome & Blood's Innate Cantrips has same issue for the Nightblade kit
18. Tome & Blood's Innate Familiars are added to the Nightblade kit.  Same comments apply as for the Shade Warrior.
19. Tome & Blood's Innate Cantrips has same issue for the Nightbringer kit
20. Tome & Blood's Innate Familiars are added to the Nightbringer kit.  Same comments apply as for the Shade Warrior.
21. Tome & Blood's Innate Cantrips has same issue for the Dark Justicar kit
22. Tome & Blood's Innate Familiars are added to the Dark Justicar kit.  Same comments apply as for the Shade Warrior.
23. The Conjure Rabbit cantrip summons a rabbit that has the name "Mmmm.... grog...." in my game.  My guess is that the name is not assigned and you've attempted to use a pre-existing string which has been scrambled during my install.  I think best practice to avoid things like this is to NAME1 the summoned creature during install.
24. The conjured rabbit sticks around a lot longer than 5 rounds.
25. Geomantic Sorcerer kit does not receive the innate familiar, innate cantrip, or innate sequencer/contingencies (with option 3 selected) abilities.

I will continue to update this post as I continue my testing.