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

[subtledoctor]

Good point. Yeah, this mod adds the wild talent check to every kit in kitlist.2da, so it should be installed after most kits. The exception is Might & Guile: that mod should be installed after this, and the kits MnG adds will themselves add the wild talent check if it detects WtP has already been installed. So my current install order looks like:

— stuff

— kits

— Will to Power

— Might & Guile

— tweaks

A note on playing with this mod: I just started a ranger/psion in BG2. Level 7/7 with 89K XP gives me 45 PSPs. The whole first level of Chateau Irenicus I used my abilities super sparingly, basically just Regeneration to heal and Mind Ward to not be Dire Charmed by Ilyich’s wizard. Otherwise I played it like a kind of weak fighter. 

That was a mistake! I got to the 2nd level and met Yoshimo and I still had 33 PSPs left - and realized that the 1st level is actually way harder! I should have been using psionics more to power myself up; even if I ended up running low on PSPs, you can still use psionics when you have no PSPs left! So don’t do what I did... use these abilities!

[Raduziel]

On 4/5/2020 at 12:47 AM, subtledoctor said:

you can still use psionics when you have no PSPs left!

What's the point of having PSPs, then?

An honest question, I'm not throwing rocks.

[subtledoctor]

1 hour ago, Raduziel said:

What's the point of having PSPs, then?

An honest question, I'm not throwing rocks.

Well, TBH the original design of this mod (on v0.8 and earlier - you can download and play that version!) didn't use PSPs.  I didn't have any way to track a number like that that I deemed sufficiently user-friendly.  (I've seen some Mana mods that use scripts and local variables, and you have to press a key or use an ability to see your current point total... I don't like that at all.)  But there is an easy-to-see point total that is always visible on the main game screen: your hit points!  So I conceived of psionic powers is being fueled by your health, and I created a pretty complicated system wherein the use of powers would reduce your *maximum* hit points by a set amount, and then it would slowly recover.  This made for a mana-caster-type class with a natural limit on the use of powers: use too many and you would become alarmingly vunlerable.  OTOH in particularly dire circumstances that might be worth it: if you knock yourself down to 3 hit points but your last bit of energy fuels an Ultrablast that neutralizes the dragon... that's dramatic and satisfying gameplay.  The psionicist was a thief kit which generally played like a fairly weak thief, plinking away with a crossbow 2/3 of the time and only using psionics a few times in any given battle.

Then, after various iterations of my spontaneous casting mods, I created my Mana Sorcerer kit, and realized I could use that system for PSPs.  So now, this mod has two parallel systems.  You have a (relatively small) set amount of PSPs, which do not regenerate until you sleep.  In my current BG2 game my Psypher has 45 PSPs, and low-level psionic abilities cost 6 PSPs each use.  If I played it like a caster, that amount of PSPs would only be good for 1-2 fights.  And these are not strong abilities: Project Force is weaker than Magic Missile, Immobilize is weaker than Hold Person, Molecular Agitation is weaker than Flame Blade, Metabolic Acceleration is weaker than Haste, etc.  The general designed usage of these abilities is the same as in 0.8: utility spells that can give you a slight edge. 

So my current concept is, rather than give you a ton of PSPs and play this like a limitless caster, give a small store of PSPs, but if you run out and are not in a position to rest for the night, you can then dip into the original health-based system for using powers - with all the attendant risks.  This means that, overall, you have the ability to use abilities more than in 0.8; to offset this, I have increased the cost of using powers and decreased the rate at which your health regenerates.  On an average day you don't want to be dipping into your health to use psionics; but if you've slogged all the way through Firkraag's dungeon and you're running on fumes but you really need to defeat Conster and finish the dungeon... you can.

Edited April 7, 2020 by subtledoctor

[Raduziel]

Oh, now I see the point. Thanks for taking the time to explain.

I'll try this mod in my next playthrough. Probably will give it to Imoen, though.

IIRC, PnP have a similar rule of turning HP into PSP but I haven't read the Complete Psionic Handbook in ages.

[subtledoctor]

Would be a good fit for Nalia, I think.  She fits the mold of an Agis of Asticles.  Could also be interesting for Eldoth. 

I'm, playing one with the protagonist in my current game, and I've noticed one or two issues in my current playthrough.  Nothing too major, just little glitches - like, once or twice it seems like Bioregeneration disappeared, but when I used restorative Meditation it returned.  Something to do with the 206 effect, I think I've sorted it out locally.  This will be a good opportunity to identify and fix bugs.

[subtledoctor]

Actually wait, hold that thought - I just noticed a pretty serious problem: the mod necessarily uses a LOT of files with particular 4-letter prefixes... and it has two groups of those files sharing the same prefix!  Which means one group is getting overwritten and deleted, and the mod is doing the wrong thing when you use maintainable powers fueled by hit points.

@Raduziel and @Lauriel

I don't know if a hotfix will be possible.  I'll update the mod ASAP, and I'm going to have to completely re-do my own install. 

[Lauriel]

3 hours ago, subtledoctor said:

I don't know if a hotfix will be possible.  I'll update the mod ASAP, and I'm going to have to completely re-do my own install. 

Well, pooh!  I am in the process of setting up my game .... again.  But I have other things I can do to stall the process.  How long do you think this will take?  Days?  Weeks?  Months?

[subtledoctor]

1 hour ago, Lauriel said:

Well, pooh!  I am in the process of setting up my game .... again.  But I have other things I can do to stall the process.  How long do you think this will take?  Days?  Weeks?  Months?

Hours.  If you're still setting up the game that's great.  I was afraid you were in chapter 5 or something.  (I'm early in Chapter 2, so it's not that bad.)  Should be updated tonight, hopefully.  I've already made the changes locally (and actually made a hotfix mod as well), I just need to quickly test the install.  As soon as I confirm everything is in place, I'll upload the update.

[Raduziel]

@subtledoctor Don't worry about me, I probably won't be touching any game until September. I'm just following this thread because Psionics really got my attention since I got my arse kicked by one in a PnP session - I wish Beamdog had the smarts to do an actual expansion adding this class, Warlock and Favored Soul.

I always give to Eldoth my Charlatan kit and Nalia is always turned into either a Bard or a Thief/Abjurer.

[subtledoctor]

Okay, I've updated the mod to v0.9.9, fixing that big issue and a couple other minor ones.

A note: in v0.9.9, I've got the 0.8-style aura cleansing working for psionic powers.  They have a casting speed of 2, and after using one you will have to wait one second to cast another one; if the second power you use is within six seconds of the last one, it will have a casting time of 4 (and thus a greater chance of being interrupted).  If you use a third power within 6 seconds of the first, it will have a casting time of 6 (so an even greater chance of being interrupted).  I don't think it's possible to use powers more quickly than that, so 6 should be the max casting time. 

EDIT - in fact it may be impossible to use powers more than twice within 6 seconds:

• t=0, start casting (casting time 2, or 1.2 seconds)
• t=1.2, power fires
• t=2.2, can start casting again (casting time 4, or 2.4 seconds)
• t=4.6, 2nd power fires
• t=5.6, can start casting again (casting time 6, or 3.6 seconds)
• t=9.2, 3rd power fires

Okay so it's possible to begin casting three powers within one round.  But that will put you on a rhythm in which they will have very slow casting times.  If you use powers sparingly you can use them much faster and be more reactive to what's going on around you.  Seems like a good trade-off.  (Could something like this be an interesting rule to govern all spellcasting?  Yes.  But AFAIK there's no reasonably easy or effective way to get AI casters to use this kind of schedule for casting.  )

All of that applies to Psionicists (thief/psions) and Soulblades (fighter/psions) and Psyphers (ranger/psions).  Cerebremancers (mage/psions) are bound by the normal "once per round" rule when using abilities.  The technical reason is, we need to prevent the abuse of using psi powers to give themselves alacrity for wizard spells.  The in-game lore reason could be, their minds are so rigidly used to casting spells with that rhythm, that they just cannot use psionic powers in any other way.  (If they actually use the Improved Alacrity HLA, it will work for both wizard spells and psionic powers.)

Carry on!

Edited April 9, 2020 by subtledoctor

[Raduziel]

@subtledoctor

I don't know if you are already aware but by PnP rules psionic powers actually have a casting time of 0. And, if my memory isn't failing me, what lately often happens, psionic-defenses (like Tower of Iron Will) may be activated up to three at once.

Not criticizing your mechanic, by the way, just giving a feedback.

[subtledoctor]

That’s how it used to be in v0.6. Psionics worked “at the speed of thought,” i.e. fairly immediately. 

But in PnP you still operate in a once-per-round structure. Here, where you are off the six-second clock, immediate casting is just too extreme. A short-but-nonzero casting time feels pretty good to me when I play it. A chance to be interrupted seems reasonable, when using powers presumably requires focus and concentration. And if you are interrupted, 1) you don’t lose PSPs, unlike spellcasters who lose their spell slot; and 2) you can try to use a power again one second later, unlike spellcasters who have to wait six seconds. 

I very much welcome the opinions of others on this stuff - I want to know how it plays within this engine, whether it seems fun or could be improved. It can be adjusted pretty easily. 

Edited April 9, 2020 by subtledoctor

[Lauriel]

3 hours ago, subtledoctor said:

Okay, I've updated the mod to v0.9.9, fixing that big issue and a couple other minor ones.

Thank you!

[Lauriel]

Found a bug - the installation hoses weapprof.2da by removing spaces from the header row. (EDIT: Clarification - just the spaces in the very front of the line)

EDIT: Any other 2da files I should check?

Edited April 20, 2020 by Lauriel

[subtledoctor]

3 hours ago, Lauriel said:

Found a bug - the installation hoses weapprof.2da by removing spaces from the header row. (EDIT: Clarification - just the spaces in the very front of the line)

EDIT: Any other 2da files I should check?

Any mod that alters weapprof.2da will do that. How is that a problem?  The number of columns in each row is unchanged.