IWDification

IWDification is a mod to bring some of the elements of Icewind Dale into the Baldur's Gate series of games. A lot of this project is based upon the work of the IWD-in-BG2 conversion project, which later formed the backbone of IWDEE. The mod adds various elements such as selectable bard songs, two-handed axes, and over 70 new spells into your BG2, Tutu, BGT, BGEE, BG2EE, or EET game.

IWDification works on all IE games that use the Baldur's Gate II engine, which includes the original Baldur's Gate II (Shadows of Amn with or without Throne of Bhaal), the Enhanced Editions of Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II, and the three major Baldur's Gate conversion mods (Tutu, BGT, and EET). Content will be adjusted as appropriate for the detected platform--e.g. no +5 items or ninth level spells will be added to a Tutu or BGEE game.

IWDification has several components, which can be installed completely independently of one another.

Miscellaneous Changes

Icewind Dale Casting Graphics (Andyr)

Also available in the Tweaks Anthology mod

When your character casts a spell, you get a pretty sequence of colors swirling around their hand depending on the school the spell cast came from. A necromantic spell, for example, looks quite different from creating an illusion. The Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale games use different sets of animations for the schools. This component changes the spellcasting animations to those of Icewind Dale. Note that this is purely a cosmetic change--the spells themselves function exactly as before. Screenshots for comparison are available in the Tweaks gallery.

Commoners Use Drab Colors

Also available in the Tweaks Anthology mod

Unlike Icewind Dale, commoners in BG2 wear brightly colored clothes. This tweak changes the random selections of colors for commoners to a drab palette. The dress of noblemen and noblewomen are not affected.

Two-Handed Axes

Icewind Dale also featured two-handed axes, as opposed to the strictly one-handed variety found in the Baldur's Gate series. This component scatters normal and magical two-handed axes throughout the game to make them available for players. Two-handed axes use the axe proficiency and have base stats of 9 speed and 1d10 damage. Spoilers about their precise locations are available on the forums.

Expanded Polymorph Self Options

This component adds three new forms to the arcane Polymorph Self spell: winter wolf, polar bear, and boring beetle (the boring beetle requires Infinity Animations on original BG2).

Use IWD Damage Animations

Enhanced Editions Only

When a creature is hit by elemental damage, a small animation plays on the target based on the damage type. IWD and BG2 use different graphics:

iwdification_damage_types.jpg

Fire and cold are very similar. While there's no default acid damage graphic in BG2 many spells/items play one manually, like Melf's Acid Arrow. The electricity animation is the biggest change. The accompanying sound effects are also updated.

Randomized Enemy Equipment

Enhanced Editions Only

Icewind Dale routinely randomized the weapons and other equipment of enemy mobs, e.g. skeletons in IWD could attack with just about any melee or ranged weapon in the game. This component does the same for BG and BG2 random enemies. It is limited somewhat by the animation system of the game: gnolls, for example, only support weapon animations for long swords and halberds so the randomization is limited. You can optionally install high-quality items--these are non-magical items that provide an additional +1 to-hit over their normal counterparts--to provide a little more variation. If the Two Handed Axes component is installed, these will also be added to the mix.

At present, this component only randomizes equipment on truly random mobs, e.g. most hobgoblins in BG will get randomized equipment but special, fixed groups (such as the ones with Joia's ring at the Friendly Arms Inn) will not. This is done primarily to avoid conflicts with other mods which may alter equipment. You can read more details about this on the relevant forum thread.

IWD Class Updates

IWD Class Updates: Bard: Add IWD Bard Songs (formerly known as Bard Song)

Bards in Icewind Dale gained different bard songs as they leveled:

  • The Ballad of Three Heroes - Available at level one, this provides all allies with +1 to hit, +1 damage, and +1 to saving throws.
  • The Tale of Curran Strongheart - Available at level three, this song protects the party from fear and removes any current fear effects.
  • Tymora's Melody - Available at level five, the party gains +1 luck, +3 to all saves, and +10 to lore and thieving skills.
  • The Song of Kaudies - Available at level seven, this provides a 50% resistance to sound-based attacks and spells such as power words, sirine charm, silence, and others.
  • The Siren's Yearning - Available at level nine, this song enthralls your foes, preventing action for five rounds on a failed save vs. spell.
  • War Chant of the Sith - Available at level 11, this provides +2 AC, regeneration of two HP/round, and 10% resistance to all crushing, missile, piercing, and slashing damage.

As the songs become available to the bard, the ability to freely switch between them is available through innate abilities. This component only affects trueclass bards, as the available kits use variants of BG2 bard song for kit advantages and/or disadvantages. Bards with these new songs will be able to pick Enhanced Bard Song as a high-level ability and it will appear as another option with the innate abilities for the other songs.

IWD Class Updates: Bard: Selectable Bard Songs for Jesters and Skalds

Requires Throne of Bhaal

This component allows Jesters and Skalds to switch their bard songs between their normal song and the new Enhanced Bard Song they can select as a High-Level Ability. Blades are skipped as their bard song is, in every way, inferior to Enhanced Bard Song. Truecass bards are also omitted--if Add IWD Bard Songs is installed they already have the ability to switch songs and, if it's not installed, then they're in the same situation as Blades in that the Enhanced Bard Song is superior to their normal song. This component is skipped if Rogue Rebalancing's Bard High Level Ability revisions component is installed as it provides a superior, kit-specific Enhanced Bard Song for both Jesters and Skalds and there would be no reason to switch back.

IWD Class Updates: Bard: Use IWD Spell Progression

Also available in the Tweaks Anthology mod

Bards in Icewind Dale could learn up to eighth-level spells and this component makes the IWD table available. This is also available in Tweaks Anthology as Alter Bard Spell Progression Table: Un-Nerfed Table. A comparison of the spell progression tables is available from the Tweaks documentation.

IWD Class Updates: Druid: Use IWD Shapeshifting and Ability Progression

This makes several changes to the druid class. Trueclass druids swap their BG2 shapeshifting (wolf, black bear, brown bear) for the IWD progression: winter wolf (level 5), boring beetle (level 7, but kept as black bear for vanilla games without Infinity Animations), polar bear (level 9), fire elemental (level 11), earth elemental (level 13), and water elemental (level 15). Immunity from poison is moved from level 15 to level 9, and instead of the BG2 elemental resists at levels 18/21/24, the druid becomes immune to fatigue at level 15.

IWD Class Updates: Druid: Allow Elves to be Druids

Enhanced Editions Only

As simple as it gets: this opens the druid class and fighter-druid multi-class to elves, but is only available on EE games.

IWD Class Updates: Paladin: IWD Abilities and Skills

The paladin's Detect Evil ability becomes an at-will ability, and Protection From Evil only protects the paladin but lasts 24 hours. Paladins can cast Cure Disease (per the cleric spell) once per day and Smite Evil once per day (does 1d6 plus 1d6 per thee levels of magic damage to an evil opponent). Paladins are now immune to disease and become immune to fear at level three. They also receive an expanded spellcasting table, being able to start casting spells at level 6 instead of 9.

IWD Class Updates: Paladin: Use IWD Spell Progression

Also available in the Tweaks Anthology mod

Icewind Dale expanded the level and number of spells high level paladins could cast. This component replaces the game tables with those of IWD-HoW. This is also available in Tweaks Anthology as Paladins Use IWD-HoW Spell Progression Tables (grogerson). A comparison of the spell progression tables is available from the Tweaks documentation.

IWD Class Updates: Ranger: Use IWD Spell Progression

Also available in the Tweaks Anthology mod

Icewind Dale expanded the level and number of spells high level rangers could cast. This component replaces the game tables with those of IWD-HoW. This is also available in Tweaks Anthology as Rangers Use IWD-HoW Spell Progression Tables (grogerson). A comparison of the spell progression tables is available from the Tweaks documentation.

IWD Class Updates: Thief: Evasion

Enhanced Edition Only

At level seven, thieves earn the Evasion perk. When a thief is hit by a spell that can be evaded (Fireball, Lightning Bolt, etc.), the thief is allowed a Save vs. Breath to completely avoid the effects. If the Saving Throw is failed, the spell works normally, including a save for half damage if the spell allows for it. A helpless thief (e.g. held, stunned, or asleep) cannot use Evasion.

Spell Packs

Arcane Spell Pack

This component adds more than 30 arcane spells from Icewind Dale. This component does not alter existing BG2 spells to match their IWD counterparts, except as noted below. Complete descriptions are available on the project pages as well as in-depth technical information.

  • Updated: Emotion, Hopelessness is updated to its IWD counterpart to match the other three new spells in the Emotion series. The fifth level elemental conjuring series is updated to its IWD counterpart to facilitate the addition of the water elemental spell. IWD has its own version of Mordenkainen's Sword which is brought into the game as Mordenkainen's Force Blade.
  • Level 1: Expeditious Retreat
  • Level 2: Cat's Grace2, Decastave, Snilloc's Snowball Swarm
  • Level 3: Icelance, Lance of Disruption
  • Level 4: Beltyn's Burning Blood; Emotion, Courage; Emotion, Fear; Emotion, Hope; Mordenkainen's Force Missiles; Shadow Monsters; Shout; Vitriolic Sphere
  • Level 5: Conjure Water Elemental, Demi-Shadow Monsters, Shroud of Flame, Summon Shadow
  • Level 6: Antimagic Shell, Darts of Bone, Lich Touch, Monster Summoning IV, Otiluke's Freezing Sphere, Shades, Soul Eater1, Trollish Fortitude
  • Level 7: Acid Storm, Malavon's Rage, Monster Summoning V, Mordenkainen's Force Blade, Seven Eyes1, Suffocate
  • Level 8: Great Shout, Iron Body, Mind Blank, Monster Summoning VI
  • Level 9: Monter Summoning VII

1 Only available for EE games
2 Only available for EE games OR vanilla games with TobEx installed

Divine Spell Pack

This component adds more than 40 divine spells from Icewind Dale and does not alter existing BG2 spells to match their IWD counterparts. Divine spellcasters will receive these spells, as appropriate, in their spellbooks as they level up. Joinable NPCs also receive updates to their spellbooks to account for the new spells. Complete descriptions are available on the project pages as well as in-depth technical information.

  • Level 1: Cause Light Wounds, Curse, Sunscorch
  • Level 2: Alicorn Lance, Beast Claw, Cause Moderate Wounds, Cure Moderate Wounds
  • Level 3: Cause Disease, Cause Medium Wounds, Circle of Bones, Cloudburst, Exaltation, Favor of Ilmater1, Mold Touch1, Moonblade, Prayer, Spike Growth, Storm Shell
  • Level 4: Blood Rage, Cloud of Pestilence, Giant Insect2, Produce Fire, Recitation, Smashing Wave, Star Metal Cudgel, Static Charge, Thorn Spray, Unfailing Endurance, Wall of Moonlight
  • Level 5: Animal Rage, Mass Cause Light Wounds, Righteous Wrath of the Faithful, Shield of Lathander, Spike Stones, Undead Ward
  • Level 6: Entropy Shield, Spiritual Wrath1, Whirlwind
  • Level 7: Destruction; Energy Drain; Greater Shield of Lathander; Impervious Sanctity of Mind; Mist of Eldath; Stalker; Symbol, Hopelessness; Symbol, Pain; Wither

1 Only available for EE games
2 Only available for EE games OR vanilla games with Infinity Animations installed

Expanded Portrait Icons

Non-EE Games Only

On the Enhanced Editions, all of the Icewind Dale portrait icons for the spells in the Arcane and Divine Spell Packs and the songs from IWD CLass Updates: Bard. Unlike the Enhanced Editions, portrait icons are limited to a fixed number of slots and, as such, many of the imported spells and bard songs do not get their unique portrait icons. These are made available as a separate component because there's no easy way to patch these into the game and this component will destructively overwrite changes made by other mods to expand the portrait icon system.