Globe of Blades, but only affects enemies, only affects one target at a time, only fires when in combat

[subtledoctor]

This is driving me crazy. I've got a 'stance' that thieves can adopt, which is supposed to represent something like using a 5E-style bonus action to do stuff like trip an opponent, or throw sand in their eyes, etc. To that end, I want it to be a passive state that fires once every round at a nearby enemy. It works by casting a repeating spell (op232, fires once/round when hit points < 102%), targeting self.

The repeating spell has two effects: cast SubSpellA and cast SubSpellB. Both are target at Self.

SubSpellA has the 'non-combat only' flag and uses op206 to block SubSpellB, so SubSpellB should only fire when combat is occurring.

SubSpellB acts kind of like Sunfire: cast at self, using a projectile to affect nearby enemies. The projectile has a small AoE (explosion size 65) and is set to 'single-target' and values set to 1d1 targets. It also has the 'affects only enemies' flag.

The effects triggered by the projectile are preceded by an op318 effect blocking SubSpellB from affecting 'non-enemies.'

So the actual final effect should trigger once per round, only when in combat, and only affect one person, and should only affect enemies (by the projectile flag), and should further not affect non-enemies (per the op318 effect).

What I'm seeing: the effect is triggering once per round (good), but it is firing on blue-circle thieves when not in combat (bad), and is affecting green- and blue-circle people (bad).

I'm tearing my hair out here. Any ideas as to why the projectile flags seem to be failing, the subspell with the non-combat flag is being ignore, and the op318 effect isn't working?

[jmerry]

For the "one target at a time" part of things, the fireshield projectiles seem like a good starting point. One target at a time, limited to  relatively small area, won't trigger extraneous messages for anyone too far away. They just need a little addition (a new projectile) to only affect enemies.

On that noncombat flag ... I suspect that block of flags only applies if a creature uses an actual "cast spell" action. Cast it instantly by opcode, and the whole thing is ignored. For example, the subspell of Blade Barrier has the "break sanctuary" flag, but casting Blade Barrier and then Sanctuary doesn't break the sanctuary when the subspell triggers.

Given that, I don't think there's any way to check for actually being in combat. Even if you sort out the targeting issue, the spell will still go off at all times. Try to sneak past an enemy under stealth, automatically mess with them while invisible. Well, actually, you could set up a "not if I'm invisible" check. That's a checkable stat. The global "in combat" state is only really reliable from the player characters' perspective, and only checkable by scripts.

Checking the projectile format ... only hitting enemies is a combination of two flags in the "area effect info". Flag 6 on, flag 7 off. Flag 6 and 7 both on to target only allies, flag 6 off to be indiscriminate.

[subtledoctor]

Hmm... I wonder if the problem is with the allegiance of the caster. It has been working in my tests, but my tests all involve applying the skill to a party member and walking them up to enemies. But in order to have enemies use this passive ability against players, I have applied it to all .CRE files that are in the thief class. This affects thieves like Gaelan Bayle who are blue-circle. Maybe the allies/enemies logic is simply not applying to blue-circle thieves. Because it is blue-circle people who are causing trouble in my game...

Hm. At least in the short-term, maybe I'll just make all blue-circle thieves immune to the subspell. That would prevent it from working on thieves who start as blue but then turn read (Mae'Var, other thieves if you side with Bodhi, etc). But in the short term that's an acceptable sacrifice.

[jmerry]

An allegiance filter based on SPLPROT, such as a 318, is going to use allegiance from the player's perspective. Not useful if you're applying it to various creatures across the allegiance spectrum. The projectile flags for allies only and enemies only work from the caster's perspective, and I'm not aware of any other way of getting at that.

[subtledoctor]

Yeah, but what does "ally" or "enemy" mean for neutrals?

An op318 effect blocking the aura for EA / NEUTRAL should hopefully put a stop to randos walking around tripping each other... (also I just updated the mod to only apply the aura to EVILCUTOFF)

[subtledoctor]

Okay, part of the source of my confusion is: I had a saving throw on the op318 effect on the subspell. And even though the projectile has 'enemies only' in the AoE flags, all of the nearby tavern patrons were showing saving throws in the logs, which I thought were saves against the aura effects. Taking that saving throw out of the file, now the 318 effect is applied fully, and they are properly immunized against the effects. So I think it is working now.

But, according to the projectile flags those blue-circle tavern patrons should not even have been subject to the 318 effect with the saving throw. So I have to question if that flag is in fact reliable.