subtledoctor

I don't think anyone is using that as the "base" for anything. Any mod being made takes place over 100 years before the 5E events, so... a hint or head-nod in its direction is all I would expect to see. (I haven't played Crucible yet, but from the review it sounds like that's what it does.) But at the end of the day it is canon, so it kind of makes sense to, at least, not pretend it isn't canon.

What exactly are you seeing? I just installed the latest version of the mod on BG2EE v2.6, and the files seem identical to the way they are in my current game, and I'm pretty sure the spell is working in my current game.

NGL the entire idea of "Imoen Romance" turns me off, to the point that I honestly haven't even investigated what, exactly it contains. Romance? With Imoen? No thank you, sir. (It's not just about that particular mod - I don't think Imoen is actually Charname's sister according to any reasonable definition of the term. But I install mods that turn off all romances, period. I'm bothered by the very idea of the way "romances" play out in the very short course of these games. In fact, in my current game I have been a bit concerned that there is a bug because Neera went from reliably and frequently interjecting to complete, stony silence. But I think it is just that the "no romances" mod stopped her from continuing her talks - I guess Beamdog only included romantic banters for her, and no friendship track? Which is rather stupid.)

Seems very (entirely?) dependent on how much you spam rest. Only summon one Planetar, and have to rely on lesser summons like Gate past that? This nerfs mages. Rest every encounter to summon planetars and cat Alacrity in every fight? This buffs mages. (But only very slightly, because in that case your spells are basically unlimited anyway.) Also, have you increased the level limit? Modded the mage spell table? The question is so heavily dependent on the nitty-gritty details of your mod loadout, that I don’t even consider it in those terms. I just think, do I want these to be treated as 10th level spells, with their own “spell slots” simulated by innate abilities, or do I want them to be treated as special 9th level spells that cannot be found on scrolls? Yes there are game balance consequences for each choice, but that does not mean one choice is more right than another. It’s a house rule; apply whichever version you prefer in your house. ** Actually, with my “semi-innate” function it would be quite easy to implement a third possibility: grant HLA spells as innate abilities/“10th level” spells, but only allow the player to cast one 10th level spell per day. This would be (I think) more in line with the 2E source material. But obviously would much more significant game-balance consequences.

I mean, BG1NPCProject gives her a bunch of lines, and the BG1 mod-added NPCs I’m using pay a lot of attention to her (especially Breagar, Brandock, Finch). In SoD/BG2 she is supposed to be absent for 75% of the game and a literal broken soul after that.

A little sus how you’re walking Imoen right up to him with no protections. looks like offering a sacrifice.

I don’t follow what you are talking about… what supplemental material? You mean the 5E adventures? Fair enough, but I don’t think that stuff was intended to extend the story of the games. WotC just wanted an evil God of Murder in their setting (for what reason, I don’t know, it’s actually a pretty dumb domain for a deity), so they contrived to bring back Bhaal.

I mean, WotC couldn’t move forward with the idea that Gorion’s Ward becomes the new god of death. Honestly, If I were to mod ToB I would probably take that option away. Granted, bringing Bhaal back was dumb and unnecessary… but WotC was always clumsy when it comes to Lore, compared to TSR.

Could be done with 7eyes.2da. Not completely, though. Apply a spellstate, and add a row to 7eyes.2da that blocks missile damage when that spellstate is in effect. When missile damage is applied, it is blocked but also removes the spellstate. Fiddly to get just right, to be sure. But possible. My mod has a feat which allows one missile attack to be blocked each round. It removes and reapplies the spellstate every six seconds. Adding a saving throw would be difficult, but not impossible. You could use a technique similar to my effect evasion function: the spell applying the spellstate would begin with a 177 effect calling an .EFF that blocks the spell; and has a 318 effect preceding the 177 which blocks the .EFF, but only on a failed save. Result: the spell takes effect only if you make a saving throw. Give it a 1-second duration and repeat its application every second, and you can block up to six missile attacks per round, as long as you make the saving throws. It’s not exactly the same as getting a save for each missile… but maybe it’s close enough. Caveat is, it only blocks missile damage. Fire arrows would still do fire damage, acid arrows still do acid damage. Etc. An alternative is to forget 7eyes: do the 177/318 reverse-save thing every second, but instead of in a spell that applies a spellstate, the spell could apply numerous op83 effects to block all missile projectiles. This would completely block the missile attacks… but if a mod comes along and adds a new projectile for some magical arrows or whatever, your mod might not include an 83 effect for it, and would therefore give incomplete protection.

Can you upload the 2da file? Look at LUABBR.2da, find ranger/cleric, then grab that file (with “LU” at the beginning) from /override. EDIT - sorry, read your other post. I guess you are dual-classed, so a kitless cleric? In which case find the basic cleric table in LUABBR.2da. EDIT 2 - my table with Refinements installed is LUD5_3.2da and it looks like this: .

Okay I realized that the projected image of Illasera is only there for conversation and then is never necessary again so… I just skipped it. Avdanced the WINerysMet variable to 4, advanced the BHBGQuest variable to… 8 I think, then met Illasera at the Elfsong and consoled in Nerys. Had the next conversation, went after Spider Man, then returned to Illasera. She told me to find Nerys at the Drakon Tavern. But, Nerys is not there. My global quiest variable is 11, but the next conversation with Nerys has a trigger requiring that variable to be at 13. I can’t tell if this is a bug, or just an inscrutable part of a mod with no direction and no journal entry.

I am playing EET right now, in the BG1 campaign, and I have not installed SCS "Wider Variety of random Scrolls" - to my dismay. But I am using SCS v33 (!) and I think the component was bugged so I am denying myself the variety. Here is what I am seeing: I get a metric crap-ton of scrolls for Identify, Chill Touch, Color Spray, occasionally Ghoul Touch... just absolute garbage. What possible use could I have for 29 scrolls of Chill Touch? I have Skie take the UMD feat so she can use scrolls, and I still am not using this junk. Just selling them. Admittedly, I am not save-scumming fights with trash mobs... This is such an insanely singular way to play the game. It is fine, don't get me wrong, but you have to understand.... nobody else does this. No modder is going to cater to this style of play. Further, there is no need to do this since by your own statements you want to have three casters with All The Spells, so you should only need to find one scroll beyond the two available in stores, no need to save-scum every fight. And still even if you really just enjoy getting those good scrolls... it just means that there is one component of one mod that is not well-suited for your particular and unusual playstyle. That is... not a big deal? I'm a bit confused as to why you are making such a big deal about it. Furthermore, DavidW has been very responsive to players in fixing and adjusting his mod. People mentioned some issues with the Wider Variety component being too stingy, and he updated the mod and now it is less stingy. The dude is going out of his way to accommodate people who feel like you feel. Neverthless, You would rather stick your fingers in your ears and scream about something that has already been addressed? Grow up, man.

Balduran's Sea Tower is very high quality and I'm not aware of any bugs. I am playing it now. Probably the single best content mod for the BG1 campaign.

Use the Item Revisions boots of Etherealness. Failing that... don't fight elder orbs? I'm pretty sure they are all optional...

Maybe it just needs to be more straightforward. Forget the misdirection, which never served a great purpose anyway. That was always a flaw in Mel's character. The other flaw was that she should come out of left field and adopt BOTH of the strategies already used by the excellent antagonists of BG1 and BG2 - she does a better job starting a large war than Sarevok did, even though he was an evil genius and spent years developing his plan; and she does a better job of using bhaalspawns' souls to become a god, even though she lacks Irenicus' demigod-tier magical talent and lacks any mechanism to take and use souls like Irenicus did, and lacks a divine trigger like Suldenesselar's Tree of Life. Instead of having her re-hash the same plots, give her a third, different twist on the same basic theme. Make it simple: she is the leader of a cult of the dead god Bhaal (we have seen hints of his remaining followers time and time again, especially if you have various mods installed) and she wants to bring Bhaal back. Again, I see nothing in Alaundo's prophecy that necessarily says Bhaal will return when the Bhaalspawn die, or that the last Bhaalspawn standing can take is place. Sarevok was an expert on such things and his plan was quite different. But Mel's take on the prophecy can be along those lines. Maybe she has a way - or thinks she has a way - to harvest the divine sparks of all the Bhaalspawn, and revert it to its original form: Bhaal himself. So you hear that someone out there is using divination magic to suss out Bhaalspawn, and is taking them out one by one. Some hide; some run, and are killed. The most powerful, though, begin to amass power around themselves. They are powerful, secure... but also paranoid. Mel cannot assault them directly, but she can turn them against each other. So task 1 for Charname is to survive some (more) assassination attempts, and build up power and security in your stronghold. Allies, magical wards, whatever. Task 2 is to reach out to other Bhaalspawn - The Five - and try to save them. Or at least talk to them. But they are not nice people, and maybe they would as soon kill you as roll the dice trusting you. So you ally with some, make enemies of others. And maybe move the Saradush portion to the end of the mod, because Yaga Shura is out of control, destroying Gromnir's whole town. So you go through the bit about defeating Yaga Shura by extinguishing his heart... but in this version someone gets it first! With so powerful a Bhaalspawn heart Mel has enough to enact the ritual. So now the race is on. You mobilize your allies, and the Bhaalspawn who refused to ally with you move against you. Have it use a counter such that one army always allies with you and two against you - so in one game it could be Charname and Balthazar against Abazigal and Sendai, while in the next game Abazigal could be aligned with you and the others against. Based on a combination of alignment and conversation options. In any event you have a major fight, two armies against two armies. Could even re-use the Bridgefort map for this, and when you bust through the enemy lines you find Mel and her Bhaalist cohort on Boareskyr Bridge - maybe her whole plan was inspired by witnessing you on the bridge, back in SoD. And it is a classic party battle to interrupt her ritual and prevent Bhaal from being revived. But you are too late - she vanishes, transporting herself to the Throne of Bhaal to revive him. There is a way, however: you can go through the Dragonspear gate to Avernus, and there find a portal to Gehenna, and if Crucible is installed fight your way to the Bhaal's fortress. And then finally fight Mel at the Throne.

Thanks. I'm mostly interested in the story... though I can also write a little mini-mod fixing the proficiencies, if it comes to that.

I wonder how crazy it would be to install this at the very end of the order for a game in progress. I don't usually ask questions like that, but my game is still in the BG1 campaign, I'm weeks or months away from ToB but I don't want to do an entire new install for it.

Ha ha, that's a very interesting idea. I would go a bit further than just transitioning straight to SoA. Probably a very short miniature transition mod - maybe an earthquake sequence in the temple when Sarevok dies, then outside the temple you get accosted by the Flaming Fist. They say they have evidence that you were in fact in league with Sarevok, and only betrayed him at the last moment to steal the glory for yourself. Planted evidence, of course, but Irenicus could do so quite easily. You protest that you defeated him but where is the body? No one believes you. The Flaming Fist captain is sympathetic, but he has orders. You can fight him, but there is an army on its way and you won't win. Or you can go with him and end up in prison, setting up the standard SoD prison escape sequence. Or he can report that he never saw you and you can leave the Undercity by a different exit and leave Baldur's Gate, find a safe place to hole up until cooler heads prevail. And this skips the prison escape but jumps you right to the cave escape and capture by the Shadow Thieves. Would have to add in something explaining how Jaheira/Khalid/Minsc/Dynaheir join up, but that can be done. Easy enough with more than the ten seconds thought I've given it so far. Then the various parts of SoD could be cannibalized for one-off adventures. If one were to chop up SoD I could see at least four really good mods that could be made from it. Maybe more: Stitch together the Coast Way Crossing, Coast Way Forest, Dwarven Dig Site, Korlasz' Dungeon, and Kanaglym for a BIG undead-centric quest mod in chapter 2 of SoA. Use the Troll Claw Woods and Forest of Wyrms as the basis for an expansion of the Ranger stronghold quests. Use Bloodbark Grove and Dead Man's Pass as the basis for an expansion of the Druid stronghold. A little mod about smugglers using the Underground River map. Use Boareskyr Bridge, Avernus, and the Temple of Bhaal for an SoA-ToB "interquel" mod. (Would need some more... maybe could scrounge from PS:T) The Coalition Camp and Dragonspear Courtyard could add meat to ToB itself, inserting some proper army-vs.-army battles. Would be a metric ton of work, though. And a bit ironic because, for all its imperfections, I think SoD is a better game than ToB.

There is an engine/UI bug that robs thieves of about 20 skill points if you drop them to level 0 and then level up normally. So that "Skill Focus" ability lets you put 20 points into one skill. (If you choose stealth, it puts 10 in HiS and 10 into MS.) The 'Memorize Spells' thing just applies magical Wish rest, so you can change out your prepare spells and then cast them right away. Once. It is especially handy if you have Faiths & Powers and/or 5E Spellcasting installed.

I didn't expect Baeloth to succumb to this: Good job, Neera! Black Pits done, Eldoth dead, I picked up Imoen and returned to BG to follow up on some quests for Balduran's Sea Tower and Black Hearts. Unfortunately, Black Hearts is hitting a bug where a variable isn't advancing as it should be, and Nerys' dialogue is breaking and preventing me from continuing with the mod. Seems fixable. EDIT - okay Nerys was an easy fix - C:SetGlobal("WINerysMet","GLOBAL",3) in the console and she correctly gives me the talk about Riezen. But then the projected image of Illasera appears and has odd dialogue, and tries to join my party (!) to the point where it actually softlocks the game in the party management screen. Sigh. I don't have high hopes for finishing this one... EDIT 2 - yeah it is totally busted. WIILLIMG.DLG looks fine to me in Near Infinity, but when the projected image is talking to me it bugs out every time and tries to join my party. For the life of me I cannot see what the issue it. But I think I am going to give up on it.

Okay, the more I think about this and read the discussion, the more I realize that I want to see two things. First, an "interquel" mod on the outer planes about how Charname gets back to Faerun from hell where you defeat Irenicus. (Which in the game files is actually called "The Abyss?" Is that actually supposed to be the Abyss, or is it supposed to be Bhaal's domain in Gehenna and the internal files just have a weird name?) I think there is fertile ground to be covered here, because you are in a very strange position: you were somehow pulled into the lower planes, but there was not exactly any gate that opened, so... did you actually travel? Do you have a body? Are you alive? Plus you only stopped him from becoming a god - you didn't necessarily get your soul back (again, there is no mechanism for that to happen, apart from hand-wavy story progression). It could be super cool to have a mod that spends a few hours in the weird solipsistic PS:T style outer planes, properly getting your soul housed and getting back to Faerun, and meeting/fighting some wild characters along the way. BUT, that could just get you right back to the beginning of ToB in the giant head grove. Just like how the Crucible inserts itself into the game but doesn't change you going from Point A to Point B, it only lets you play through that journey. So it doesn't have to replace ToB; in which case, second, there could also be a mod that improves ToB itself. (The problem here being, if I can't cannibalize the ToB areas, then I can't actually make that interquel mod. ) And yes, the stronghold should play more - much more - of a part. In fact I don't really see any reason to cut you off from Athkatla and the other SoA areas after you defeat Irenicus. Your stronghold should be assaulted, and there should be an large-scale battle like the one in SoD. If you are a fighter it could be soldiers on your side but if you are a ranger or druid you could have animals in your ranks and if you are a bard it could be the Athkatla City Guard, aided by bards and Cowled Wizards. I still can't see how to improve the meat of ToB itself, though. The Five are powerful warlords with entire armies, and most of the game involves your ragtag band of six peeps casually strolling into the heart of their powerful and destroying them. It's... dumb. I keep trying to see how the meat of the mod can be a compelling story, and I just can't. As has been said it's basically a series of cage matches; framing it as an actual series of cage matches a là Black Pits 1/2 would actually be better, because at least then the story would match the content.

Well then, in that case I guess I’m glad my attempt to get the file onto my iPad mid-game failed…

Oh. That's fair but Roxanne's mod inserted itself into the game itself, and derailed/throttled a bunch of characterization in the base game. And a bunch of content from other mods. I am indeed talking about a total conversion - an alternative to ToB. Like, imagine someone wanted to make an expansion for SoA where you not only send the Solamnic Knights home, but leave behind Faerun's drama and follow them to Krynn, and finish out your adventuring days ignoring Bhaal and instead striving against Takhisis. Or something like that. And given that your character would not ever end up in Saradush or Amkethran or even Suldenesselar, those maps could therefore be reused for this alternate-reality mod. (In fact Suldenesselar would be a great map to represent Silvanost or Qualinost.) Or consider how, in the actual Forgotten Realms lore, there is no such place as the Hand of the Seldarine. It was created from whole cloth for the IWD game. So a BG2 mod, with knowledge that Charname could never visit the IWD area, can repurpose that map. It doesn't break any lore apart from the lore contained entirely within the IWD game(s) and in Charname's experience there is no such thing as the IWD game. Likewise, reusing ToB locations does not break any lore apart from the lore contained entirely within ToB. So, the vanilla version of ToB is scrapped in favor of this total conversion, then the conversion does not break any lore. That is not a direction in which I would like to direct my efforts. And I will never touch anyone else's mod except maybe to mess around on my own computer and learn from them. (Even to the point where Lava does not want me to help make his IWD mods work on EET... I disagree with his stance, to put it mildly, but it is 100% Lava's decision and I would never go against that.) Of course. Unfortunately while my tinkering with Black Pits and IWD areas has enabled me to manipulate and use existing .ARE files, and I can pretty well work with .CRE, .SPL, .BCS, and .DLG files, the actual production of areas is simply not in my wheelhouse. So I could, e.g. grab an area from IWD2 or maybe PST (hint, hint) and convert them work work in a BG2 mod. But that's probably the best I could do without assistance. Very fair! But, honestly that's what ToB feels like to me These are very good points. I will say, my sentiments run toward the tragic, and the desire to finds one's companions is a strong motivation that appeals to me. However, yes, dealing with the vanilla character advancement and interrupted romances etc. is a tricky issue. (Of course, there is a part of me that retorts, all the character advancement we need happens up to and including the moving conversations at the Tree of Life - again, SoA contained all the ending I really need for this game.)

Veeeery interesting. Would it be outrageous to try to edit this in a Weidu mod? I don's suppose M_xyz.LUA files can work for this kind of setting - are they only for stuff that affects UI.menu? This is clearly way outside my area of expertise. Of course, even just for my personal uses, getting a modified version onto iOS is probably not easy. (Mmmmaybe? Huh, will look into it.) Thanks gentlefellows!