Discard Armor/Book Casting (mod, half-way for EE)

[temnix]

Updated

Here there are two new abilities. Only Book Casting will be installed unless there is some kind of Enhanced Edition.

Discard Armor

I have always been very annoyed by the need to choose whether to put on armor or take it off before every fight when playing fighter/mages, mages/thieves, bards, rangers with their sneaking and so on. It has been one of the main arguments against playing them. So I made it possible to strip off armor even during combat. All armor will now have that special ability. After clicking on the button the character will become uncontrollable and spend the next round ripping it off. He will lose the Armor Class bonus right away, along with Dexterity pluses, if any, the saving throws will be at -4, and vision will be curtailed very nearly. To keep things interesting, every time there is a 1% chance the suit will end up junked.

I owe thanks to @Ardanisfor the macro used here and the explanation about how to use it.

Book Casting

An ability that works somewhat more smoothly under an Enhanced Edition. It is for all and only wizards from the 1st level on. Unlike powers in my other mods, this one is not given directly and can't be taught by characters to each other, it was simply added to the class ability tables. Therefore, level up to get it. Wizards will now be able to cast spells directly from their grimoires, without memorizing them. The casting time is RATHER prolonged, so this is not practical for fights, but it is useful when the character needs to cast Armor or something like that and there is no opportunity to rest. The wizard will take on a few points of fatigue every time and begin to kvetch and moan incessantly, which, I feel, balances this out enough. Masochists are welcome to exploit this power, though, to set up a googol of Skull Traps.

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Edited May 23, 2022 by temnix

[temnix]

Updated for extra kvetching.

[Guest Morgoth]

1) Do you realize that features such as this one

To keep things interesting, every time there is a 1% chance the suit will end up junked.

push people away from a mod? This is something that you could add in a tabletop game with a DM that adapts to what is happening, but in baldur's gate, you simply but the best armor and you're done. 

2) This mod also needs a few armor made by you with interesting concepts. Currently, I see no point on changing my armor midgame. It's simply the way it is.

[temnix]

If you don't want to change armor, then don't. Nobody is making you. *I* can't tell how many times I have wanted Montaron to drop his splint mail so he can run behind a corner, go into stealth and backstab someone or for my fighter/mage to be able to use his spells. Ditto for rangers. In practice this makes an enormous difference, because players no longer have to decide whether to head into a fight in the caster/sneaker mode or the tank mode. And it seriously reduces micromanagement. And about the 1% chance - I don't know if that's a likeable feature or not. I'm not auditioning for the role of the smiley face. The small risk makes the gameplay more interesting because there is a price associated with the convenience of dumping armor. Things must have an edge to be felt.

See, that's part of the difference between me and your basic guy. I know the psychological element. Without some feature like risk a mod like this would feel as another tweak and convenience, and nobody respects mere convenience (because the player is treated as a mere consumer). I discovered the mechanic for taking out armor and other items from slots a long time ago, I wrote about it on the board, but a mod wouldn't be worth making unless it changed the base.

[Grammarsalad]

Book casting is especially cool. I had planned to do a ritual thing where certain spells are able to be cast 'as a ritual' for priests and mages (and prob bards) if known but not currently memorized.

I wanted to do it only with 'certain spells' because, as you point out, this can be abused if broadly applied (even if coding the thing would be easier). 

Applying fatigue is a nice touch. I think I'll borrow that idea.