v35 comments / questions (report a bug in a new topic, not here)

[Anterwaare]

9 hours ago, DavidW said:

Not intended, sounds like a bug.

Any chance there's an easy fix I could perform locally?

[DavidW]

Probably but I don't know what it is yet; I'll get back to you.

[Galactygon]

I have some comments on the new Stratagems of Mystra spells (if I may without having downloaded the mod), assuming you are intending to be faithful to the 2nd edition and then 3rd editions.

• Ice Knife: There's a 1st level spell in the source material called "Ice Shard" that does exactly what your spell does, but for some reason it didn't make it to the Spell Compendiums. It's in Dragon Magazine Issue 243, page 90, see attached snippet pdf. In 2e DnD, Ice Knife is a 2nd level spell which PS:T faithfully implemented.
• Stonefist: In 2e DnD, there's a 1st level alteration spell "Fist of Stone" that does something similar, though it's a more persistent effect. See attached snippet from Spell Compendium vol 2 with description. I suggest either renaming this spell to the ADnD version or renaming it to something completely different so no confusion happens in case there's another mod introducing "Fist of Stone".
• Turn Pebble to Boulder: In 2e, this spell is level 4 rather than level 3. I think there's already a few mods that introduce the spell at level 4 so this would cause confusion unless you rename the spell to something completely different. There's a 2nd level spell called "Threestones" which is also similar, see attached snippet from Spell Compendium vol 4. I couldn't find anything similar in the source material for level 3 at the moment.
• Storm Bolts: Currently this spell sounds like what the 3rd level "Scintillating Sphere" spell does but at a much higher level. Then there's also an 8th level spell called "Web of Lightning". Would it make sense to rename this spell to "Sphere of Lightning" or "Storm Sphere"?
• Veridon's Icy Ray: Could I suggest renaming this completely new spell so it sounds more "oomphy" in the English language? Currently it sounds like a trivial low-level single target spell, just based on the name. Some alternatives: Veridon's Polar Beam, Veridon's Deep Freeze, Veridon's Frigid Beam, Veridon's Binding Beam. AFAIK there's an 8th level "Polar Ray" spell in 3rd edition, though it's single target.
• Fiendish Warding: There's actually an evil version of "Shield of the Archons" spell in DnD lore. It's called "Shield of the Tanar'ri".

 

 

Dragon Magazine_no243_p90.pdf

[Bozerg]

I've been trying to get a working EET install going with SCS v35 and have been updating some other mods (relative to past installs) at the same time. I've hit a few different issues.

On the first install, component 2060 failed with

INSERT_BYTES out of bounds - file is long 1090, point given is 3106
ERROR: [DSWRLSTF.ITM] -> [override/DSWRLSTF.ITM] Patching Failed (COPY) (Failure("INSERT_BYTES out of bounds"))

On the second install I removed component 2060 and then failed on component 2520 with

Copying and patching 1 file ...
ERROR locating resource for 'COPY'
Resource [.spl] not found in KEY file:
    [./chitin.key]

On third install I removed both components 2060 and 2520. This one made it to the end with no installation errors, but upon trying to launch (install has EEex) I get a pop-up with the following error:

{string "L_en_US.lua"]:810: '}' expected near 'DW_EASE_OF_USE_HOTKEY_TOGGLE_MELEE_AUTOATTACK'

which I assume is related to (or at least directly adjacent in the file to) something related to stratagems ease-of-use AI.

L_en_us.LUA Setup-stratagems.debug WeiDU.log

[DrAzTiK]

impressive update, thank you David. It is very tempting to launch a new game.

For people who struggle in some fight, I would recommand not always rushing main quest and  to farm some XP with some additionnal mods. 

There is some hiddens gems here and here  that only ancients of BG are aware about , like  for BG 1 :

https://github.com/GraionDilach/BGEESpawn/releases/tag/0.7

https://github.com/SpellholdStudios/BGSpawn/releases/tag/1.3.2

I remember playing BGT 10 years ago  with BGspawns and SCS and enjoy it a lot.  I  always play BG reducing XP of creatures by 2 and I manage XP with these mods witch offer optionals fights. 

Oh and for BG2, you can try Butchery mod made by your faithful servant

Sorry if I am a bit off topic.

Edited December 3, 2023 by DrAzTiK

[subtledoctor]

The addition of a spell pack is interesting. But it sounds like it may complicate things for the AI component. Formerly the AI handled more or less three spell systems: 1) vanilla; 2) vanilla + IWD spells; 3) vanilla + Spell Revisions.

Does v35 still handle those three systems, with and without the new spell pack?

[DavidW]

The AI still handles those three systems. It uses the new spells too, but only if you have the IWD spells installed.

[DavidW]

19 hours ago, Galactygon said:

I have some comments on the new Stratagems of Mystra spells (if I may without having downloaded the mod), assuming you are intending to be faithful to the 2nd edition and then 3rd editions.

• Ice Knife: There's a 1st level spell in the source material called "Ice Shard" that does exactly what your spell does, but for some reason it didn't make it to the Spell Compendiums. It's in Dragon Magazine Issue 243, page 90, see attached snippet pdf. In 2e DnD, Ice Knife is a 2nd level spell which PS:T faithfully implemented.
• Stonefist: In 2e DnD, there's a 1st level alteration spell "Fist of Stone" that does something similar, though it's a more persistent effect. See attached snippet from Spell Compendium vol 2 with description. I suggest either renaming this spell to the ADnD version or renaming it to something completely different so no confusion happens in case there's another mod introducing "Fist of Stone".
• Turn Pebble to Boulder: In 2e, this spell is level 4 rather than level 3. I think there's already a few mods that introduce the spell at level 4 so this would cause confusion unless you rename the spell to something completely different. There's a 2nd level spell called "Threestones" which is also similar, see attached snippet from Spell Compendium vol 4. I couldn't find anything similar in the source material for level 3 at the moment.
• Storm Bolts: Currently this spell sounds like what the 3rd level "Scintillating Sphere" spell does but at a much higher level. Then there's also an 8th level spell called "Web of Lightning". Would it make sense to rename this spell to "Sphere of Lightning" or "Storm Sphere"?
• Veridon's Icy Ray: Could I suggest renaming this completely new spell so it sounds more "oomphy" in the English language? Currently it sounds like a trivial low-level single target spell, just based on the name. Some alternatives: Veridon's Polar Beam, Veridon's Deep Freeze, Veridon's Frigid Beam, Veridon's Binding Beam. AFAIK there's an 8th level "Polar Ray" spell in 3rd edition, though it's single target.
• Fiendish Warding: There's actually an evil version of "Shield of the Archons" spell in DnD lore. It's called "Shield of the Tanar'ri".

Thanks for this; I'll mull over it (though right now I'm prioritizing bugfixing). In general I'm keen to conform to D&D (2nd edition, failing that 3rd) provided it doesn't conflict with other goals. A few quick comments:

- Can't remember why I used 'Stonefist' rather than 'Fist of Stone', and 'Ice Knife' instead of 'Ice Shard' or (3e) 'Ice Dagger'. No very good reason I think. (That said, I think multiple spell-adding mods that add a thematically very similar spell have some level of compatibility problem whatever happens with the formal namings.)

- I think I thought about 'Shield of the Tanar'ri' but I didn't want to preclude the spell being used by lawful evil creatures.

- 'Stormbolts' is a Pathfinder name (not that that's a particularly good reason to use it here, it's just where I got it from).

- I moved Turn Pebble to Boulder down to 3rd level because I needed a third-level elemental-earth spell (Talents of Faerun introduces elementalists and I needed at least one elemental spell of each level).

[Galactygon]

Thanks for considering. The rest of the spells that I didn't comment on seem good from a naming/lore perspective.

@ Fiendish Warding

"Shield of the Tanar'ri" makes sense in terms of symmetric naming consistency in this case, since Chaotic Priests aren't prevented from using "Shield of the Archons" in BG2. If we were to insist on having spell names that is neutral in the Lawful-Chaotic spectrum then they could be something along the lines of "Shield of the Celestials" and "Shield of the Fiends". I think either method would work fine in BG2 if the naming is consistent. ("Healing Mist" is a good replacement for "Mist of Eldath" imo)

@ Pebble to Boulder

It might make sense to invent a new spell name i.e. "Rock Shards", "Rock Missiles", "Lance of Stone", or reuse the level 1 spell "Stone Missiles" name from 3rd edition. Another possibility is to consider Melf's Minute Meteors both an Earth and a Fire spell, which has a great deal of overlap with Pebble to Boulder.

Here's what I found in DnD lore when it comes to direct-damage Earth spells. Not much on level 3 apart from "Dacul's Elemental Earthen Blast", unfortunately. See below.

Cone of Earth

Spoiler

Name: Cone of Earth

Level: 5

Area Of Effect: (5' long x 1' wide)/lvl

Casting Time: 5

Comp: V, S, M

Duration: Instantaneous

Range: Cone

Save: 1/2

Description:

This spell lets the caster shoot forth from his fingers a Cone of Earth 5' long and 1' wide in diameter per level of the caster. The cone inflicts 1D4+1 damage per level of the caster, to a maximum of 10D4+10 at 10th level.

Creatures of up to Large size struck by the cone are partially buried and must spend 1D2 rounds digging out. During this time, victims are +3 on their initiative rolls and considered held as by a Hold Person spell or similar effect. (See the combat modifiers section in the PHB.)

Those victims who make a successful Saving Throw -vs- Spell suffer half damage and are not buried. Huge and Gargantuan-sized creatures cannot be buried by this spell.

The caster must be standing on earthen ground, not rock or sand, for this spell to function.

The material component of this spell is a small piece of fool's gold.

School: Invocation/Evocation

Type2: Elemental Earth

Dacul's Elemental Earthen Blast

Spoiler

Name: Dacul's Elemental Earthen Blast

Level: 3

Area Of Effect: 25' diameter globe

Casting Time: 4

Comp: V, S, M

Duration: Instantaneous

Range: 10 yards + 10 yards/lvl

Save: 1/2

Description:

This deadly spell was designed by Dacul to combat those who where immune to both fire and cold. He came up with this spell after he saw the success of his Elemental Shards spell against most targets. When cast, he gates in a solid 6" ebon black sphere from the plane of mineral. This sphere shoots forth toward the target area. When it reaches it destination, it explodes from the inside out. This causes small shards of the ultra-hard mineral to rocket out from the detonation point in a spherical pattern. Note that for each three full levels that the mage has attained, an additional die of damage is caused by this spell (2D? at 4th-5th, 3D? at 6th-7th, etc.), to a maximum of 10D? at 20th level.

Note that the number of die rolled for each target stays the same, but they type of die rolled is entirely dependant upon the target's distance from the detonation point. This is due to the rapid loss of momentum of the shards as they travel from the epicenter.

The die type starts at D10 and is reduced by D2 for each full 5' radius from the center of the attack point the target is (5' radius, D10; 10' radius, D8; 15' radius, D6; 20' radius, D4; 25' radius, D2; with any target further away not being harmed by the spell).

The knockdown die is based on whether the target makes their save. The target suffers a negative penalty based upon their distance from the center of the blast for this save (this single save functions for both damage reduction and this check against the chance for a knockdown). At 5'-10', they suffer a -2 to their save. At 15'-20', they suffer no penalty. And at 25', they gain a +2 to the save. If they fail their save, the DM must roll a die size equal to the damage die size. If the number rolled is high enough to require a Save -vs- Death, then they must make such a save or be knocked down. if the die roll is not high enough for their body size, then no additional effect occur.

Note that this damage will bypass most forms of magical protection. The missiles created by this spell are not magical and therefore, are not stopped by protections that stop them. Nor are they considered Magic Missiles, so that will not help either. Protection from Normal Missiles will stop them, but Minor Globe of Invulnerability and Globe of Invulnerability will be of no help. A wall would also provide protection and provide a bonus to the target's save (bonus at the DMO).

The material component is a small ball of bat guano mixed with phosphorescent chemicals, placed within a hollow (or porous) volcanic rock.

Note: This spell is almost exclusively unique to Dacul. He has given it to only a vary few select mages and Paladins (some paladins are also spellcasters).

School: Invocation/Evocation

Type3: Elemental Earth

Type2: Dimension

Dacul's Elemental Shards

Spoiler

Name: Dacul's Elemental Shards

Level: 2

Area Of Effect: 20' diameter target area

Casting Time: 3

Comp: S, M

Duration: Instantaneous

Range: 30 yards + 3 yards/lvl

Save: Special

Description:

Originally designed to be a superior replacement for the 1st level spell magic missile, this spell does in fact prove to work better with that spell as a long/short-range attack combo, than as a base-level replacement. Together, they provide the ability to strike at targets even if protected by magic that would defeat the other spell.

This spell creates 2 shards per level that each causes 1 points of piercing damage. There is an upper limit of 40 missiles at 20th level. For each three shards fired at the area of effect (round up), the caster gains a +1 To Hit using a Fighter's THAC0 to strike. Add this number to a normal THACO roll. This is the caster's unmodified "To Hit" number which is then, after being modified by the saves described below, compared against the target's Armor Class. If it is good enough to hit them (a natural roll of 1 misses everyone), after all modifications (saves, bonuses to hit for number of missiles, cover, etc.), then they are struck by a number of missiles dependant upon their body size.

Each individual within the 20' diameter target area may roll a Save -vs- Breath Weapon. If it succeeds, then may they roll another, and another, and so on. Once they fail a save, they are done. Total up that individual's number of successes, and that number functions as a negative penalty to the base THAC0 number rolled above, for that target only, to hit them with this attack. If they roll a natural "1" during the process of making these save(s), then the whole attempt to dodge the missiles fails and they are automatically hit by the number of missiles according to their body size as described below (even if the attack does not damage them, they are still hit).

Note that the missiles themselves are not magical, but are able to hit and damage creatures only hit and damaged by +1 or less magical wepaons. The magical level of effectiveness increases by +1 per 5 full levels of the caster (round down). So, a 9th level mage casting this spell could hit +2 or lesser magical beast with this spell.

Target's struck are hit by a number of missiles based upon their body size. Target's are hit by a number of missiles as listed below.

Tiny 1 missile

Small 1D3

Medium 1D6

Large 2D4

Huge 3D4

Gargantuan 3D6

 

Target within the area of attack are hit based upon their size. The largest are hit first, rolling their numbers to see how many missiles hit them, then subtracting that number from the number of remaining missiles. When all the missiles are gone, or all subjects in the target area have be struck or missed, it is over.

This spell gates in these missile from the quasi-elemental plane of mineral. When gated in, they shoot out of individual micro-gates to streak towards the targets. The gates themselves are simply small pale blue vertical slits in the dimensional fabric which allow the material to slip into this dimension. The missiles themselves look much like armor-piercing arrowheads, however, the tapering end of them has been stretched out to almost three inches and they have been thinned down to only 1/8 an inch in overall thickness (hence the minimal damage per missile).

When cast, the mage can do as little as flick his wrist toward the target area and have the missiles gate in or he can sweep his arm across a 140_ arc and the missiles will gate in on a basic plane following his arm. Note that this spell generates missiles which, once through the gate, are no longer magical. They are not stopped by spell which negate Magic Missiles, nor are they affected by spells which negate magical weapon attacks. However, spell which have no effect on magic missile, such as Protection from Normal Weapons and Protection form Normal Missiles will reduce or stop this attack. Shield has the same effect against this spell as it would against other non-magical missiles.

Note that the damage potential of this spell may seem high, or its abilities may seem to exceed that of a normal 2nd level spell. However, this is not true. The damage of each missile is minimal at best. The fact that most human sized targets would only be hit by 1D6 of them (and only a vary few man-sized targets would be effected by the spell until very high levels) limits this spell to the back row for most combat oriented mages as there are may other 2nd level spells which provide much more damage at much longer ranges. Even if you think that the 40 points of maximum possible damage is excessive, look at Magic Missile, which, by 9th level, is causing up to 25 points of damage with a minimum of 10. This spell, at 10th level, only causes 20 points of damage at best, with a high chance of those in the target area not being affected at all (by 10th level, mages are facing targets who can make enough saves to make this spell all but worthless).

The material component of this spell is a piece of shale in the shape of an arrow head and a diamond, valued at 500gp or more. For each casting of this spell, a shale "arrow head" is required and the diamond is reduced by 50gp in value. When it reaches 0gp in value, it is a worthless lump of coal. Lack of either of these components makes the spell uncastable.

Note: This spell is almost exclusively unique to Dacul. He has given it to only a vary few select mages and Paladins (some paladins are also spellcasters).

School: Invocation/Evocation

Type3: Elemental Earth

Type2: Dimension

Hail of Stone

Spoiler

Name: Hail of Stone

Level: 1

Area Of Effect: 5-ft sq/level

Casting Time: 1

Comp: V, S, M

Duration: Instantaneous

Range: 120 yds

Save: None

Description:

Upon casting this spell, the wu jen summons a rain of stones in the area of effect, causing damage to creatures and objects within the area. An attack roll is made against every creature in the area of effect, at the caster's chance to hit. A hit means the creature has been hit by one or more stones falling from the sky. The damage caused is 1d3 points per level of the caster (10d3 maximum). Any number of creatures can be struck by these stones if within the area of effect.

The material component for this spell is a piece of jade worth at least 1 ch'ien (5 gp), which is thrown at the desired target.

Notes: Common in oriental settings; otherwise very rare.

School: Conjuration/Summoning

Type2: Elemental Earth

In 3e, there's a 1st level spell called "Stone Missiles" which functions as Magic Missile (source: Dragon Magazine vol 285)

Spoiler

STONE MISSILES

Evocation

Level: Sor/Wiz 1

Components: V, S

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)

Effect: Missiles of rock

Duration: Instantaneous

Saving Throw: None

Spell Resistance: Yes

A number of small stones fly toward 1d4 targets. You must succeed at a ranged touch attack to hit each target. A single creature cannot be made a target more than once per casting. The stones inflict 1d4 points of damage per level of the caster (maximum 5d4) per target. The stones disappear after striking their target or flying to the maximum of their range, whichever comes first.

 

[Daulmakan]

1 hour ago, DavidW said:

- I moved Turn Pebble to Boulder down to 3rd level because I needed a third-level elemental-earth spell (Talents of Faerun introduces elementalists and I needed at least one elemental spell of each level).

[testlum]

Since IWD's Mist of Eldath has been renamed, for consistency reasons I'd suggest doing so for Ilmater's Favor too. Martyr's Favor could be a more generalized name.

[DavidW]

I was reluctant to do so because the spell is so clearly and visually associated with Ilmater, but certainly I see the argument.

[agris]

On 11/29/2023 at 8:14 AM, DavidW said:

That's fairly persuasive. And my original playtesting of that component is ancient, and probably in a period where BG1 creatures were using a narrower range of high-level spells. I'll consider a level adjustment.

Yes (I hope) though my thoughts of incorporating aspects of your component got triaged on time grounds, sorry. Possibly next version...

For what it's worth, when I replayed BG1 with SCS earlier this year, this is the only part that seemed wrong to me. That Aerial Servant completely changes the encounter in a way that screams "modder content".

I play my IE games for tough, tactical fights and tight resources. I would recommend either bumping his level down so that he can't summon it, or give him more bespoke AI that precludes the summoning of the Aerial Spirit entirely.

This, and the ogre mages outside of Candlekeep. Those two optional encounters felt off to me. I liked the tougher kobolds.

[DavidW]

I've split a few bug reports off to separate threads. Again, please don't put bug reports here.

[jmerry]

On that bit where Bassilus might summon an Aerial Servant ... you know, part of the problem is that the stats are out of whack. Aerial Servants are just plain beefy. Here's a comparison of the three elemental-summoning spells priests get at level 6 and 7 (Aerial Servant, Conjure Fire Elemental, Conjure Earth Elemental). Vanilla game stats.

All three spells have a 1 turn per level duration. All of the elementals summoned have one attack per round and deal primarily crushing damage, with a +4 enchantment level.

Aerial Servant (cleric only, spell level 6):

16 HD (128 HP), AC 3, requires magic weapons to hit, starts invisible. 23 STR, 4d8+11 damage, final THAC0 0.

Conjure Fire Elemental (druid only, spell level 6): 60% chance of 12 HD, 35% chance of 16 HD, 5% chance of 24 HD. Stats below.

12 HD (96 HP), AC 2, requires +2 weapons to hit, immune to fire. 14 STR, 3d8 damage + 1d6 fire, final THAC0 9.

16 HD (128 HP), AC 2, requires +2 weapons to hit, immune to fire. 20 STR, 3d8+8 damage + 1d6 fire, final THAC0 2.

24 HD (192 HP), AC 0, requires +2 weapons to hit, immune to fire. 23 STR, 3d8+11 damage + 1d6 fire, final THAC0 -5.

Conjure Earth Elemental (cleric or druid, spell level 7): 60% chance of 12 HD, 35% chance of 16 HD, 5% chance of 24 HD. Stats below.

12 HD (96 HP), AC 2, requires +2 weapons to hit. 19 STR, 4d8+7 damage, final THAC0 6.

16 HD (128 HP), AC 2, requires +2 weapons to hit. 19 STR, 4d8+7 damage, final THAC0 2.

24 HD (192 HP), AC 2, requires +2 weapons to hit. 20 STR, 4d8+8 damage, final THAC0 -3.

 

The Aerial Servant isn't quite as tough as the other elementals in some ways. Slightly worse AC, and you can hit it with +1 weapons. But 60% of the time, you're only getting a 12-HD elemental out of those other two spells, and the Aerial Servant is always 16-HD so it can take more punishment. And then, on offense ... 23 strength. For some inexplicable reason, this particular air elemental is stronger than any of the earth elementals. Or, for that matter, the air elementals that the wizard Conjure Air Elemental spell summons for its much shorter duration (17, 19, or 22 strength, with the same 60/35/5 probability split). And those don't have the invisibility perk.

I'm thinking ... if the Aerial Servant was nerfed to have a no-bonus strength stat, the spell would be about on par with Conjure Fire Elemental. Which, as anyone who's played a druid can tell you, is still a fantastic spell.