Six's thoughts & input

[CamDawg]

Yes, it worked fine and dandy on my box as well.

[NiGHTMARE]

IIRC, the problem is something along the lines that the engine doesn't like it when according to MxSplxx.2da a character should have at least 1 spell slot in a given level, and some item/spell/whatever reduces it to 0. In such a case, it starts removing memorized spells of that level.

 

However, I don't think there would be a problem if the character is never meant to have any spells in that level anyway.

[SixOfSpades]

Heh, I hadn't realised that Mustard Jellies had MR quite that high. May look into balancing it somewhat.

The MJ form from the Cloak of the Sewers is weaker than normal; its resistances are not as high. The version of MJ from Polymorph Self creates the true version, although for a limited time, so 3 or 4 castings are required to clear an entire Beholder hive. I believe all Druid Shapeshifting forms are of unlimited duration. In terms of pure cheese, however, the power still lies with the Mages (so what else is new?), since while they're having fun with the Sling of Everard, they can also be wreaking wholesale destruction with Wands of Fire and Cloudkill....to which they are, of course, immune.

Since the Mustard Jelly form is so extremely powerful (a Level 4 spell that renders all enemy Mages completely helpless, except for the fact that they can still damage you with Melf's Minute Meteors), I for one would not mind reducing their Magic and perhaps even Piercing Resistances to, say, 80%. But more greatly to be desired is a way to make the "paws" of shapeshifted forms non-dispellable. (You think the Mustard Jelly's bad? You should see the Rat.)

 

Why do you say any druid will be protected from critical hits? They can't wear helmets, so it'd have to wait until Ioun Stones ot the like. Adding Backstab immunity would make sense (though it is exactly as hard to code for as Critical Hits).

Well, since almost all of the Helmets in the game are metal (the only non-metal one I can think of is the Skull of Death), flagging them as Unusable for Druids would make sense, but this would be news to me. I can find Protection from Backstab among the opcodes in IEEP, but not Protection from Critical Hits....though perhaps the more hardcore modding tools have it.

 

I may post a revised description at some point soon, though I'd try to make it not too complex (i.e. not a massive sprawl of bonuses and penalties, as it is in danger of becoming).

You mean....like the Monk?

 

a TN Ranger could be made but would still be able to Fall.

Another question about Falling: Does the engine cause the PC to Fall automatically, or can that process be halted entirely, for both Paladins and Rangers, and replaced with a scripted command to cause the character to Fall? If the latter, the amount of control we could gain should be well worth the trouble.

 

It might also be tricky to allow up to level 5 spells; we could add them but would have to patch other Ranger kits with spell slot removal

Or perhaps embed Priest versions of the Extra Level X Spell into the Journeyman's .2DA file (although that would only work if there's also a command to activate Levels 4 and 5). Journeymen don't gain bonus spells for high Wisdom, so we won't need to worry about that painful little wrinkle.

 

In addition, I think the 2 free dual-wield points is automatic for Rangers.

I may be wrong, but I don't think Archers get it.

 

Spell restriction is a nice idea though we'd probably want to streamline it and just quote spheres (plus whatever other Wizard spells there are).

Whatever works. I just wanted to keep the spells simplistic and nature-oriented: all elemental-type spells deal with either Fire or Cold, with Call Lightning being the sole exception. Nothing as esoteric as Repulse Undead, or Khelben's Warding Whip. Protection from Normal Weapons might be worth considering, though.

I think, for every spell level, I chose 2 spells from the Druid area, 2 from Cleric, 4 from Shared Priest, and 5 from Wizard.

 

The idea sounds vaguely similar to a kit Nick proposed called the Seeker, so you may see more of that in the future.

I'd like to see that. Though, personally, I think the Journeyman name is better, at least for my vision of the kit as a true jack-of-all-trades: Not only does it relate very well to the idea of the Journeyman as a wanderer, but a "journeyman" is a craftsman who has not yet completed learning his trade--a middle rank between apprentice and master.

[Andyr]

Falling is automatic and fairly hardcoded (which has caused headaches for my atttempts to create both any-alignment-Rangers or a decent Blackguard kit).

 

It's not possible to not give bonus spells for high WIS, either (unless you made it so nobody gets bonus spells).

 

Yeah, and activation of level 4 and 5 spells would open it to all Ranger kits so we'd need to use the opcode-which-makes-problems to remove them again for other kits (so something to idally avoid).

 

If you're right about the Archer, though, then perhaps we can use that kit flag to stop the proficiency points. Though that's linked to item restrictions too, so.

 

I just checked the IESDP and can't find the critical hit opcode either offhand, so either the kit does not in fact give you immunity (in which case it probably is backstab) or it is listed somewhere else and I just can't find it now.

[SixOfSpades]

Falling is automatic and fairly hardcoded (which has caused headaches for my atttempts to create both any-alignment-Rangers or a decent Blackguard kit).

Pity. And I had such hopes for the (apparently) scripted Falls in Hell and Rises in the Paladin and Ranger stronghold quests.

 

It's not possible to not give bonus spells for high WIS, either (unless you made it so nobody gets bonus spells).

Umm....I can see that being true for a Cleric or Druid, but this is a Ranger we're talkin' about here.

 

If you're right about the Archer, though, then perhaps we can use that kit flag to stop the proficiency points. Though that's linked to item restrictions too, so.

Happily, the Archer and the current design of the Journeyman share the exact same usabilities. Though I have strong doubts about the Journeyman ever seeing the light of day, due to all the rules I'm trying to break.

[Andyr]

Well, there are scripting commands to cause Falling and regaining status, but the Reputation causing Falling is the hardcoded bit.

 

What's your point re: bonus spells? Do Rangers not get bonus spells for high WIS or something (I forget)?

[SixOfSpades]

Well, there are scripting commands to cause Falling and regaining status, but  the Reputation causing Falling is the hardcoded bit.

 

What's your point re: bonus spells? Do Rangers not get bonus spells for high WIS or something (I forget)?

But the entire thrust of the Virtue mod shows that the whole Reputation variable can be circumvented, or at least in a sense.....blaaaaaaaaargh. I'm fine with the orignal boolean state of whether or not something is hardcoded an inviolable, it's this blasted grey area that leaves me unsure of where I stand.

 

Paladins and Rangers do not gain any bonus spells for high Wisdom. Never did.

[Andyr]

Oh, I didn't realise that.