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

[subtledoctor]

2 hours ago, Roto said:

Sorry for the double-post, but I just wanted to let you know that it, unfortunately, does not work in conjunction with the multikits mod.

These kits are just normal kits, they will work with anything else normal kits work with.  But I don't know anything about the multikit mod. I suppose it might only work with vanilla kits, not mod-added kits?  Or maybe it doesn't work with sorcerer kits, because sorcerers cannot be multiclass?

I don't use the multikit thing because I have a bunch actual multiclass kits in my game, to me that seems like a better approach to giving kits to multiclass peeps...

 

...............................................

 

Is anyone using the Arcanist?  Drop a note if so. I'm working on a sort of big thing, and a consequence of publishing the new thing is that I might be removing the Arcanist from TnB. Drop a note if you have a problem with that.

[Endarire]

@subtledoctor
Since I have Edwin planned for an Arcanist, I object.  I liked how Arcanist and Mana Sor were merged into T&B for convenience and comprehensiveness!

[subtledoctor]

1 hour ago, Endarire said:

@subtledoctor
Since I have Edwin planned for an Arcanist, I object.  I liked how Arcanist and Mana Sor were merged into T&B for convenience and comprehensiveness!

Well, the planned release is a full 5E spellcasting conversion. So every spellcaster would be able to cast like an Arcanist. Which would make the Arcanist as a standalone kit pretty obsolete!

I suppose I could leave it as-is, for people who only want one kit... seems kinda silly though.

[Endarire]

Well, if you plan to do the spontaneous/prepared casting for everyone, then the Arcanist can leave.  I'd prefer it to stay as an option for those who want a more Pathfinder feel or the title of "Arcanist."

Thankee!

[subtledoctor]

Actually once I get the 5E code tested and tightened up, it looks like it should be trivially simple to use it in particular kits, like an Arcanist. So I guess it can stay.

[Endarire]

Alleluia!

[subtledoctor]

Got a working beta done!  It's pretty cool, I'm excited about this.  It could open up a bunch of new modding possibilities as well, like a new take on divine spell spheres. 

[Endarire]

Alleluia!

[subtledoctor]

Okay I've made a relatively major update, to v0.9.6.

First, the Readme is greatly expanded. Check it out, it has lots of important information, especially about the new stuff.

Small stuff:

There is now a settings file, "TomeandBlood/qd_TnB_setting.ini." The first use of this file is with the Improved Identify spell: it changes Identify to a 2nd-level spell by default, but you can edit the settings before installing to set Identify to whatever spell level you want. (Maybe you want to keep it at 1st level, etc.)

The Revised Invisibility code is slightly changed, in ways you hopefully won't notice, apart from this: "Nondetection" is renamed "Protection from Divination" to better reflect its actual function.

The new familiar choice icons are reduced and should hopefully look normal now.

Bigger stuff:

I have completely rewritten the back-end code for the Arcanist kit, turning it into a series of portable functions that enable 5E-style spellcasting on a per-kit, per-class, or game-wide level. (More about that later.) The Arcanist generally works more reliably, and will not require in-game "initialization" of its abilities, and will not have its memorization slots or casting slots messed up on leaving and re-joining the party. When you start the game just wait a few seconds, you will see your "cast spell" button go dark and then be reenabled. This will happen every time you rest, as well. Further, instead of having casting slots controlled by static code, the Arcanist's casting slots are determined by a normal-looking spell table, found at "TomeandBlood/data/arcanist/d5cstarc.2da." By default this table roughly matches a Dragon Disciple's casting slots, but you can modify the table before installing the mod, and the kit's spellcasting slots will follow suit.

The same system governs the spellcasting slots for multiclass sorcerers, but they rely on the standard MXSPLSRC.2da table. So Multi Sorcerers can now have their casting slots match vanilla sorcerers - AS LONG AS and changes to that table get made BEFORE you install multiclass sorcerers.  I know it's a pain to install a little bit of Tweaks Anthology before TnB and the rest of Tweaks Anthology afterward... but for best results, that is necessary.

The "Make Bonus Spell Slot Items Work with Arcanist/Multi Sorcerers" component will now reduce all bonuses from each item to +1; so for example the BG2 Ring of Acuity will only give +1 2nd-level slot instead of +2. There shouldn't be many such changes, and they are minor; in return, these items will be consistent across all kinds of casters, whether traditional mages and sorcerers or multiclass sorcerers or new 5E-style casters like the Arcanist.  The two "double spell slot" items I'm aware of  - the Evermemory ring and IWDEE's Kontik's Ring - will have that effect replaced by an item ability that, once per day, restores all spell slots of the relevant spell levels. This ability, too, works consistently for all of these different kinds of casters.

Edited March 8, 2021 by subtledoctor

[Endarire]

@subtledoctor
What about adding a component to your UA mods that acts as the Tweaks Anthology tweak you mentioned so all the spell progression changes are within your mods?

[subtledoctor]

20 hours ago, Endarire said:

What about adding a component to your UA mods that acts as the Tweaks Anthology tweak you mentioned so all the spell progression changes are within your mods?

If the Tweaks components were broken out into proper functions in their .tp2 file, I could just call those functions as long as the Tweaks mod folder was in the game directory at the time; but as it is, it would require copying and pasting a bunch of code that 1) I didn't write; 2) I don't have permission to copy; 3) I don't necessarily understand; and 4) may be subject to changes and fixes in that mod, and then the code in this mod would be out-of-date and buggy, and I may not even know that or be equipped to fix it. It's not a route I'm comfortable going down.

The best solution would be for someone to take a long hard look at the stuff in Tweaks Anthology, as far as whaat component need to be installed when, and maybe break it down into two or more mods that can be set at different places in people install order lists.

Or Tweaks could incorporate more code that specifically looks for and works with aspects of this mod. I can write that code (it's only 8 lines) and make a pull request, but Tweaks would have to vet it and accept the request and publish a new release. Don't hold your breath.

I'm working on an ad-hoc solution. But there's only so much I can do. If players really want to get things right when installing lots of mods, ultimately they're going to have to pay close attention and jump through a few hoops. If they don't, it's going to be their problem.

Edited March 9, 2021 by subtledoctor

[Endarire]

@subtledoctor
To clarify, I mean these Wizard traditions by spell school.

[subtledoctor]

TnB has a bunch of abilities for specialists, described in the new and improved Readme, that are similar in tone but different from the 5E abilities (because those are designed for tabletop narrative game, while ours are designed for BG). If you have suggestions for more/better specialist abilities, we are certainly open to hearing them!

TnB specialists can also convert their spell slots to spontaneously cast any spells from their chosen school. Specialists in the 5E system will get free access to their school spells without having to prepare them, which is basically the same as spontaneous conversion but with a much easier UI mechanism. 

[subtledoctor]

I want to strangle whoever thought it would be a good idea to have the trueclass Mage, the trueclass Sorcerer, and the Wild Mage all share a single class ability table.

That is all.

[Necromanx2]

Hi Subtledoctor,
Thanks for your great work!

 

I setup the latest version (0.9.6) on BGEE and started a new game as an Arcanist and here is what I see.

1) The change prepared spell special ability is a blank icon. It works fine.

2) I have the add bonus spell slots for high abilities installed (installed next to last with no spell table changes after it). At character creation (18 INT) I was able to select 4 spells, but after starting only 3 were available to cast.

3) I put on Evermemory and I got one additional spell cast (as was expected) as well as one extra prepared spell (not expected).

I'm early in the game so I will post any other observations as I see them.

Thanks again for this great mod!

Edited March 15, 2021 by Necromanx2