Tuesday update delayed till Sunday

Update: Sorry, this week has been a mess. I'm getting close (and going through some more bugs that were reported) and I've just about cleaned up the warlock code base changes from DB (separated them out since they aren't going to be part of the baseline).

Blaster Improvement Project

After 1.46 this is something I would like to look into further.


The goal here is to provide an across the board toolkit for blasters that provides a single
elemental damage spell of each spell type for each spell level that is valid. This spell will
have full support for energy substitution (fire, cold, electricity, and acid).


Each spell will have a default element that is varied between levels (largely cosmetic but
picking all fire for every spell level would be cheesy). The new spells will be named "Elemental
" plus their type except when the spell already exists (such as fireball). I may try to come up
with a 9 word progression system (Least, Lesser, Greater, Superior) etc to give each spell level
an adjective as well.


The VFX for each spell will be updated to support the 4 elements (pretty sure this was already done by Brian Meyer and made available to the public already).

Spell Types
Bolt - 30' line from 1-4, 60' line from 5-9, Reflex for half
Blast/Orb - RTA, No Save
Cone - 30' cone, Reflex save for half
AE - 20' AOE, Reflex save for half
PBAE - Relfex for half, d8 instead of d6
Volley - Up to 5 missiles, each with a RTA
Cloud - Area damage for up to 10 rounds
Missile - No RTA, No Save, lower damage, elemental magic missile
Wall - Reflex save for half
Storm - Half blunt, half elemental, No save, lower damage cap than AE (one tier less)




Bolt Example: Lightning Bolt
Blast/Orb Examples: Polar Ray, Orb of Fire
Cone Examples: Burning Hands, Cone of Cold
AE Example: Fireball
PBAE Example: Fireburst
Volley Example: Flame Arrow
Cloud Example: Incendary Cloud
Missile Example: Magic Missile
Wall Example: Wall of Fire
Storm Example: Ice Storm


General Notes:
Bolt, Cone, AE, PBAE, Cloud, Wall, and Storm will start with level 2 to 9 spells.
Blast, Volley, and Missile will start with level 1 to 9 spells.


Table: Maximum Damage for Arcane Spells
Arcane Spell Level Max Damage (Single Target) Max Damage (Multiple Targets)
1st 5 dice  —
2nd 10 dice 5 dice
3rd 10 dice 10 dice
4th 15 dice 10 dice
5th 15 dice 15 dice
6th 20 dice 15 dice
7th 20 dice 20 dice
8th 25 dice 20 dice
9th 25 dice 25 dice


Table: Maximum Damage for Divine Spells
Divine Spell Level Max Damage (Single Target) Max Damage (Multiple Targets)
1st 1 die  —
2nd 5 dice 1 die
3rd 10 dice 5 dice
4th 10 dice 10 dice
5th 15 dice 10 dice
6th 15 dice 15 dice
7th 20 dice 15 dice
8th 20 dice 20 dice
9th 25 dice 20 dice

New feats page updated

http://kaedrin-nwn2.blogspot.com/p/new-feats.html

The list has been updated with just about everything except for the thrown weapon feats and the new armor/shield fields that should be part of a Knight base class.

It's still very much a potential list which I'll try to work with the servers and see which ones make the most sense to prioritize.

Kobold is apparently going into the new races pile and I'm still working on cleaning out the unfinished/excess stuff from my pack for a full public release. Slowly but surely now that I'm back at it. I've also had a few ideas for a crafting system and new content for it.

New Races

Part of the work I did for a new PW (that ended up not working and was based on what I wanted to for a Moonshaes PW). I'm trying to work out what I want to include in the core pack and what parts I want to make an optional download.

***

This is an optional download that includes some new races and rebalances. It was intended for a new server that didn't happen.

All races lose "favored class", all base classes lose the experience penalty.
Green are new bonuses.
Red are removed stats.
Races not listed aren't changed.

Gold dwarf: +2 Con, +2 Wis, -2 Dex
Shield dwarf: +2 Con, +2 Wis, -2 Cha
Sun elf: +2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Con
Wood elf: +2 Str, +2 Dex, -2 Con, -2 Int
Wild elf: +2 Dex, -2 Int, +2 Con
Rock Gnome: +2 Con, +2 Cha, -2 Str
Deep Gnome: -2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma, No Slippery Defense, No Spell Resist, no ECL
Half-elf: +2 Con
Half-drow: +2 Con
Strongheart halfling: +2 Dex, -2 Str, +2 Con
Lightfoot halfling: +2 Dex, +2 Cha, -2 Str
Human: +2 Con
Aasimar: +2 Wis, +2 Cha, no +1 ECL
Tiefling: +2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Cha, no +1 ECL
Air genasi: +2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Con, no +1 ECL, No -2 Wis
Earth genasi: +2 Str, +2 Wis, -2 Cha no +1 ECL, No +2 Constitution, No -2 Wisdom
Fire genasi: +2 Dex, +2 Cha, -2 Wis, no +1 ECL, No +2 Intelligence, No -2 Charisma
Water genasi: +2 Dex, +2 Wis, -2 Str, no +1 ECL, No +2 Constitution, No -2 Charisma
Deep Gnome: -2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma, No Slippery Defense, +1 ECL (down from +3)
Star Elf: +2 Int, +2 Cha, -2 Con
Painted Elf: +2 Con, +2 Dexterity, -2 Cha
Yuan-Ti: +2 Dex, +2 Int, No Spell Resistance, No AC bonus, No +2 Cha, No Alertness, No +2 ECL
Goblin: +4 Dexterity, –2 Strength, and –2 Charisma, Small race
Hobgoblin: +2 Dexterity, and +2 Constitution, Medium sized Goblin
Kayal: +2 Dex, +2 Cha, -2 Wis
Imaskari: -2 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Con
Spellscale: +4 Cha, -2 Con, -2 Dex
Feytouched: +2 Cha, +2 Dex, -2 Con
Mountain Orc: +4 Strength, –2 Intelligence, –2 Wisdom, and –2 Charisma
Surface Drow: +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence -2 Constitution, No Spell Resist, No +2 Cha, No +2 ECL
Oakling: +2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma, Humanoid Plant: While technically a plant, an oakling has more in common with most humanoids. This commonality precludes them from having the same level of immunities as other plants. Variation 1 of a plant race
Volodni: +2 Wis, +2 Con, -2 Int, -2 Cha, Humanoid Plant: While technically a plant, an oakling has more in common with most humanoids. This commonality precludes them from having the same level of immunities as other plants. Variation 2 of a plant race
Lythari: +2 Con, +2 Int, -2 Dex, Wolf Shape (no bonuses on transfer, not wildshape)
Zenythri: +2 Dex, +2 Wis, -2 Cha (law planetouched)
Svartalfar: +2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, -2 Constitution

Kayal: Known as Fetchlings by humans on the material plane. Descended from humans trapped on the Shadow Plane, fetchlings are creatures of darkness and light intertwined. Generations of contact with that strange plane and its denizens have made fetchlings a race apart from humanity. While fetchlings acknowledge their origins, they exhibit little physical or cultural resemblance to their ancestors on the Material Plane, and are often insulted when compared to humans. Some members of the race also take offense at the name fetchling, as it was given to them by humans who saw them as little more than fetchers of rare materials from the Shadow Plane. Most fetchlings instead prefer to be called kayal, a word borrowed from Aklo that roughly translates to “shadow people” or “dusk dwellers.” Infused with the essence of the Shadow Plane and possessing human blood commingled with that of the Shadow Plane’s natives, fetchlings have developed traits and abilities that complement their native plane’s bleak and colorless terrain. Though most fetchlings treat the Shadow Plane as home, they often trade and deal with creatures of the Material Plane. Some fetchlings go so far as to create enclaves on the Material Plane in order to establish alliances and trade routes in areas where the boundary between the two planes is less distinct. These fetchlings often serve as merchants, middlemen, and guides for races on both sides of the planar boundary.

Spellscale: Among the humanoid races, spellscales are the most creative, experimental, and varied. Most generalities about spellscales collapse under examination, because each spellscale displays a unique philosophy and behavior. What's most true of them as a group is that these dragonblood humanoids have a very strong racial inclination towards sorcery.

Feytouched: Feytouched are a widely varied group of beings — some are wispy and beautiful, while others are ugly and brutish. Some resemble elves, with pointed ears and almond-shaped eyes. Others look more like trolls, with warty skin and disproportioned limbs. Regardless, all feytouched have at least one feature or characteristic that is out of the norm — vibrantly colored hair, feathered eyebrows, or a propensity for speaking in rhyme, for example. Despite their actual appearance, all feytouched are highly charismatic beings that draw attention wherever they go.

Feytouched have no cohesive culture; either they become isolated loners, or they immerse themselves in cosmopolitan society, sampling everything life has to offer. They are also drawn to the same natural settings that other fey called home. Most fey respond favorably to feytouched and consider them distant cousins. Feytouched that seclude themselves in nature are usually druids or rangers. Feytouched clerics are rare, since most fey have a strong aversion to the worship of gods.

Imaskari: Secret and few, the deep Imaskari are heirs to the lost empire of Imaskar. One of the earliest human empires, Imaskar rose in what is now the Dust Desert and Plains of Purple Dust. Wizard-kings of heady power, the Imaskari were destroyed by the slaves they had abducted from other worlds (who eventually became the folk of Mulhorand and Unther) and the machinations of unusual creatures of their own creation (the phaerimms). The Imaskari faded away into history as their empire crumbled, leaving behind nothing but mysterious ruins. A secret few, however, charged with epic wizardry, managed to preserve themselves and their kin. Fleeing deep into the bowels of the earth, they sealed themselves away from both the knowledge and the recriminations of the surface world.

The deepest fissures of the earth have long hidden an ancient secret: The descendants of the Imaskari still live. Thousands of years of isolation combined with purposeful magical modifications have transformed these deep Imaskari into a human subrace adapted to life underground. The deep Imaskari have long managed to conceal the existence of their hidden kingdom even from other Underdark races by enforcing complete separation. Now, however, deep Imaskari isolation is coming to an end. The magical seal that so long protected the kingdom of Deep Imaskar has been breached, and a few deep Imaskari have begun to wander the deep ways of the world that their ancestors fled long ago.

Oakling: Oaklings are unusual plant creatures distantly related to treants, though much further removed from the forces of nature. While a fairly new race, their origins are a mystery even to themselves. The first oaklings crept from the darkest forests en mass a little over a dozen decades ago, with little memory of or interest in where they came from.

Lythari: Lythari (originally Ly-tel-quessir) are good-aligned elven lycanthropic wolves, similar in appearance to werewolves and often mistaken as such. Lythari differ from werewolves in that they have no hybrid form and are friendly and companionable when in lupine form. Although much less numerous than werewolves, a lot of Lythari are sponsored by the church of Selûne.

Svartalfar : Svartalfar are the descendents of fey who settled on the Plane of Shadow. By bonds of oath and bonds of blood, they became servants of a dark god. They can be found anywhere the dark god’s work is being done. Often they take the role of the leaders or protectors of cults dedicate to dark gods. Other times they use their darkly seductive natures to torment others, preferring to inflict spiritual pain over physical. They are often blamed for bringing nightmares or tragedy, even if they had no role in the events.

http://nwn2customcontent.wikidot.com/wip-new-races

Trying to catch up!

Title says it all. Working through emails and looking at content to see where I'm at with an update.

Still working on the update and other news

I'm still working on the update (trying to test 200+ new blueprints takes time).

In other news, two existing PWs are looking to add some content (spells for Tales of Moonsea and Ninja for Baldur's Gate) from my content at some point.

I'm also going to help a new PW with content which should help accelerate the release of new base classes, feats, and spells for everyone while helping keep me tied to the community. The new PW is set in Waterdeep and their forums can be found here for those interested: http://forum.thecityofsplendors.com/

I'm going to keep working on the single player and multiplayer versions of course, so that Trinity, Dalelands, and any other PWs can continue to add content from the pack.

Beastmaster Question

I ran into a wall this past weekend and I thought I'd ask for opinions before I choose an approach to resolve it. So the question is: should I go with Solution A, B, C, D, or E?

Problem: I tried to use the Familiar slot for the second pet so that you can visually pick your second pet and get to name them uniquely. This failed because the AI of the familiar is such that it runs from combat/tries to stay out of the way. In addition, the Beastmaster ONLY companions are visible to Wizards/Sorcerers because the engine isn't respecting the feat column in the familiars table.

I think I found a way around the AI but I can't resolve the engine ignoring the damn feat column of the 2DA file.

Solution A: Let the player pick the second pet visually using the familiar slot. Sorcerers who pick a Beastmaster pet (clearly marked as such with the description) will instead summon the beetle. Dung for the lack of reading comprehension! If you pick a non-beastmaster familiar you get a boar. Truffles for you!

Solution B: The player's second companion is identical to the first and it's name is "X's twin" where X is whatever you named your first pet. Simple, to the point, and no reading required. The player does not get a familiar at all.

Solution C: The player's second companion is identical to the first and it's name is "X's twin" where X is whatever you named your first pet. Simple, to the point, and no reading required. The player does get a familiar so they can have a non-combat cute fuzzy to go with the pair of non-cute fuzzies.

Solution D: The player picks the second companion type from a bonus feat list while leveling up (probably at level 1). The familiar GUI is available and it is only used to let them name their second pet. No familiar is available to the player.

Solution E: The player picks the second companion type from a bonus feat list while leveling up (probably at level 1). The second pet's name is "X's twin" where X is whatever you named your first pet. They get a familiar as well for the cute-fuzzy aspect.

Edit:

Ok, a different way to look at this and a much simpler question:
Do you want a familiar?

If so, your second pet will not have a unique name.
If not, your second pet will have a unique name.

Regardless, you will be able to pick whatever type you want for each companion (such a spider and lizard, or wolf and cat).