Life in Low Relief (mod for EEs)

[temnix]

Updated

The deep brown mud; the sagging, tiring floorboards softened by wood worms; the unexpected mousehole catching the toe of the boot; the broken, haphazardly laid tiles; the trail of feces left behind by a sick dog; the furrow; the very ordinary recession in the turf; "gravel collapses on the way, make a Dexterity check"; and on the other hand the small hillock; the helpful stone smartly installed by some stranger in the middle of the stream; the clean, well-brushed pavement; the overgrown trail surfacing underfoot and "you slide down the balustrade with ease": there are many unexceptional circumstances that now slow one down, now give a boost. This mod approximates a three-dimensional terrain for the world, out of doors and in. The uniform march on a geometric plane from one abstract point to another, from that doorway to this doorway, is no more. It is best to eject this notion as far away as possible and forget it to spare oneself consternation. There are corners and crevices. Party members and creatures will wander into zones of slow, sometimes struggling movement, and in other places run with a skip and a hop. As they follow different paths, some may become delayed while others charge ahead. The party does not fall apart from this, but it does now consist of individuals instead of dollies pulled across a flat background with an invisible croupier's rake.

Although this will have some, and most unpredictable, effects on combat (trying to run from a wolf in a spot may sometimes go in favor of the runner and sometimes the wolf), the intention is to bring realistic movement to the games. Some monsters are not affected by effects of terrain either way: ghosts and incorporeals of all kinds, will-o'-wisps, beholders, air elementals because they fly and earth elementals because they are one with the soil. Real, winged fliers have received a significant speed boost and are considerably more dangerous (this means wyverns, harpies and imps/quasits/mephits). In the party characters with free action effects should be able to benefit from convenient terrain while fluttering over boggy spots.

The centers of terrain patches can sometimes be made out. Elevated, favorable terrain is lighter, and foot snaggers are indicated by belts of dirt, though only out of doors. Both extend farther that these, though. Given different lighting and scenery, terrain changes are mostly invisible, and there is not much of a point to looking for them. One should simply accept that the world is not steamrolled, and that speed which is distance divided by time is in the legs.

Examples. A patch of easy terrain, which, however, happens to be under a wall lamp.

Difficult ground that way!

Update: The dirt patches are not always perfectly laid over the tileset. They may obtrude on some objects. If you prefer, you can eliminate them: put the files in the "No dirt patches" folder in override.

Also a warning: because terrain effects apply to everyone, not only the party, and are recalculated and reapplied all the time, areas with large crowds may put a strain on weak computers.

Download

Edited July 6, 2021 by temnix

[temnix]

I updated the file with some tweaks of the way bonuses are applied. There is also a folder with no-dirt versions of slow spots. They may sometimes be drawn incorrectly over map polygons.

[Endarire]

Thankee!