SubtleMods: Will to Power, a 2E-inspired psionics mod

[subtledoctor]

2 hours ago, Guest Cerebrius said:

But I was wondering, how hard would it be for a noob like me to modify the PSP economy to reduce numbers definitively?

Not sure exactly what you mean by that. The mod only give you 100-120 PSPs, at that only happens over 20th level, which as a multiclass takes quite a while to get to. You should only get about 4-5 PSP's per level.

I notice you mentioned EEKeeper a couple times. I know EEKeeper can have a bad  habit of removing some permanent effects on a characters. It's possible some effect was removed that resulted in your PSP total being added to  a previous day's total, instead of being restored to the total? Something like that. Just wild speculation, though.

[Guest Cerebrius]

@subtledoctor already investigated that road & i don't think so. Because 1)I'm aware of that possibilie issue, and it doesn't seem to be the case, as my PSP number is stable 2) the exact same happens if I use ToB to create a new high level character or use the console to get XP in Candlekeep, without touching the save with EEKeeper. 3) If I use most but not all PSPs the rest doesnt carry other even when resting at low health, it just works normally.

I didn't have that many PSPs, 36 on Cerebrius, 68 on the dummy ToB Cerebremancer. For now my best explanation is that my game treats each PSP for each ability as a spell and 36*how many faculties I have > 255. This might be confirmed by the fact if I put a psionic in one of my favorite spell slots then it costs me only one PSP to use them.

Hence I though maybe making it so it's 1 PSP per level, Devotions cost 1, Sciences 2 & hight sciences 4 would alleviate the issue while roughly keeping the same economy.

[subtledoctor]

On 10/23/2022 at 11:48 AM, Guest Cerebrius said:

Hence I though maybe making it so it's 1 PSP per level, Devotions cost 1, Sciences 2 & hight sciences 4 would alleviate the issue while roughly keeping the same economy.

Problem is you can learn 40-50 powers. To keep it below 255 memorized abilities, you could have a max of… 5 PSPs. 

What you could do is remove the ability that grants new PSPs, and set your PSPs to 1, and just use the mod the old way, where it uses your hit points to fuel the abilities. It’s riskier to use powers, but still totally viable. 

Hm, maybe I should make that an install option…

[Endarire]

I agree with this install option.

[Endarire]

Request:  Add a Psychic Rogue.  One of my friends loved his supernatural Rogue-types and this is the sort of thing that suits him and that I didn't see yet for WtP.

Thankee!

[subtledoctor]

There is already a psion/thief, seems like  you can already make something like that? Just focus on telekinesis and biokinesis powers. 

[Endarire]

I didn't see that in the documentation until you mentioned it.  I was expecting it to be labeled something like "Psychic Rogue" or "Soulknife."

Still, why is this kit prevented from picking pockets or setting traps?  I know set traps is potentially powerful, but M&G and Song & Silence surely boost non-psionic thieves in spiffy ways!

Thankee!

Edited February 16, 2023 by Endarire

[subtledoctor]

10 hours ago, Endarire said:

Still, why is this kit prevented from picking pockets or setting traps? 

I made it a long time ago, and honestly I don't remember. I think the basic answer is, it is designed to be a psionicist with some extra thieving abilities - not a thief with some psionic abilities. (For the latter, you can install the MnG Feats or SoB Combat Skills and get a 100% chance for a Wild Talent. (In fact, this mod gives Haer'Dalis a 100% chance of having a Wild Talent, because he is weird and awesome and I wanted to make sure people could get a taste of this brand of psionics even if none of their other NPCs roll a Wild Talent.))

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

Neither here nor there, but the Cerebremancer psion/mage kit has me in the frame of mind to add some Dark Sun-style 'psionic enchantments' - the Dark Sun way of getting 10th-level spells before Skills & Powers and TOB came out.

The psionic enchantments in the Dragon Kings sorucebook are not really relevant to a BG game - becoming an avangion or Athasian dragon takes years, and most of these spells have casting times of days or weeks. But in the context of this mod, maybe it would make sense to have some spells - say, one for each school of magic - that are akin to the TOB HLA spells. Very vague initial thoughts:

• Enchantment: a no-save Domination spell
• Alteration: a no-save 'polymorph other'
• Abjuration: ...Disjunction? Something like, AoE Spellstrike?
• Necromancy: a Simulacrum spell, but your simulacrum is a lich
• Evocation: ...maybe an enhanced Energy Modulation - party gets total energy immunity and does double energy damage?
• Illusion: ...?
• Conjuration: ...?
• Divination: ...?

EDIT - for those who haven't read Dragon Kings, this was a time when AD&D was still very strict about the "no 10th-level magic" rule. Skills & Powers had not come out, and the Forgotten Realms products were just starting to explore stuff related to Netherese magic and elven mythals. In the Dark Sun context, the idea was that some who mastered both magic and psionics (20th level in both classes) could combine the two forces to create effects much more powerful than even 9th-level spells. Some examples:

• a no-save Domination spell that can last months or years, (and takes seven days to cast)
• an Earthquake spell with a duration of four months (!)
• a Globe of Invulnerability the size of a building with a one-day duration
• a version of Enchanted Weapon that can outfit an entire army
• a spell to animate several thousand skeletons or zombies
• a spell that makes an entire city accept you as their ruler and have a good opinion of your policies
• a spell that instantly creates a fortress on a mountain or an oasis in the desert
• a spell that turns sentient beings into extensions of your body, letting you see through their eyes, take control of their bodies, etc.*
• a spell that makes a small forest of 36,000 trees spring to life or create a "ring of enormous mountains"
• etc.

Like I say most have little relevance to BG2 gameplay. But maybe we could implement the basic idea of spells that are both magic and psionic, and are stronger than either could be on its own.

* fun fact, BG already has this spell, it is actually what is cast on Charname at the entrance to Candlekeep when the game first begins

Edited February 16, 2023 by subtledoctor

[Endarire]

Abjuration: I thought spellstrike was disjunction.  Still, an AoE disjunction seems apt.

Conjuration: Summon or gate in a horde of illithids or illithid liches (alhoons).

Divination:  Perhaps be able to see the entire map and target everything for your party.  A super far sight.

Enchantment: I called this, 'Conscription.'

Illusion: Mass blindness and deafness and silence, either with a massive save penalty or no save.

Transmutation: What about polymorph any object or mass immunity to time stop?

[Endarire]

In your suggested install order, why put Will to Power before your other kit mods like T&B?  I thought the point was to allow wild talents for all classes.

I also want to ensure your Scales of Balance's listed install order is correct, since before I recall installing T&B after F&P in a previous version.

Thankee!

Edited March 11, 2023 by Endarire

[subtledoctor]

On 3/11/2023 at 1:06 AM, Endarire said:

why put Will to Power before your other kit mods like T&B?  I thought the point was to allow wild talents for all classes.

My kit mods have special handling to support WtP wild talents. It might work either way. Or maybe there was a specific reason to put WtP first, and I don’t recall it now. All I know for sure is that I installed it this way, and it works. 

On 3/11/2023 at 1:06 AM, Endarire said:

also want to ensure your Scales of Balance's listed install order is correct, since before I recall installing T&B after F&P in a previous version.

Ditto. Nobody can tell you a “correct” install order, only an install order that works. Could it work to install TnB after FnP? Maybe! They largely modify different things, so maybe it doesn't matter. 

But I’ve always installed TnB first, and I know that works, so that’s what I can say works. 

[Ebonslayer]

On 2/16/2023 at 12:20 PM, subtledoctor said:

* fun fact, BG already has this spell, it is actually what is cast on Charname at the entrance to Candlekeep when the game first begins

Really? I always thought it was a Protection from Evil spell.

[subtledoctor]

3 hours ago, Ebonslayer said:

Really? I always thought it was a Protection from Evil spell.

Was just joking about how the player is supposed to be Charname and the other party members are all supposed to be independent characters with their own personalities, and yet you have complete control over them and can see through their eyes, for the duration of the game.

[subtledoctor]

I have updated this mod to version 2.5 - adjusting PSP costs for powers, replacing Detonate with Repulsion, and improving the function of Inertial Barrier.

Also I would still love it if a moderator would move this thread over to the “Miscellaneous Mods” forum…

[mickabouille]

Hi, this pull request offers a translation for WtP (up to date for 2.6) : https://github.com/UnearthedArcana/Will_to_Power/pull/4