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Topics - Stratovarius

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1
Builders / Quick and Dirty Weapons of Legacy Guide
« on: April 12, 2022, 10:29:33 AM »
To add a Weapon of Legacy to the PRC, you'll need several things:
  • A compiling PRC and PRC SVN repository. There's already guides out there on this, so I'll assume you have it.
  • A competent text editor. I use Textpad. This will edit all files mentioned.
  • 2das: wol_items, feat, spell, iprp_feat, cls_feat_allBaseClasses (look in DevNotes)
  • scripts: wol_m, wol_t, wol_sla in scripts
  • includes: prc_template_con in includes
  • prc_consortium.tlk.xml
  • UTI: the actual in-game item

Note this will be a high level guide going over the basic work path. It assumes functioning knowledge of the PRC and NWN Scripting

For me, step one is always the wol_items.2da. Copy an existing item, add yours to the bottom, and fill out the lines (leave the TLK numbers blank for now). Resref is the resref of the item (the .UTI file). Slot is the inventory slot that the item will equip to. Area and Waypoint can be ignored. Cost and Least/Lesser/Greater are all given in the sourcebook, it's just copying those numbers over.

Next is wol_t_itemname.nss, first of the scripts. Note that everything here is what would cause the script to fail. So a minimum base attack bonus of +3 or greater is written as

Code: [Select]
    if(3 > GetBaseAttackBonus(oPC))
    {
        SetExecutedScriptReturnValue(X2_EXECUTE_SCRIPT_END);
    }
   
After this I do wol_m_itemname.nss. This is the script that does the heavy lifting. Note that all WoL use standard formats, so look around until you find an existing wol_m script that matches (or almost matches, sometimes a few things need to be moved a level), and use that as a template to build from. In general, poke around the other wol_m scripts to see how all the various features are added.

The final script is wol_sla_itemname.nss. This controls all the activated abilities for a particular WoL. Again, always start by copying from an existing wol_sla. If it's just casting a spell, follow existing formats. For unique abilities, there's plenty of examples to follow from as well.

This is a good time to do the item. Make the item in the toolset, making sure the resref is set to what is in wol_items.2da and the tag is the tag in wol_m and wol_sla. We just want to the raw .uti file, which can be snagged via the Temp0 method with the toolset open.

On to the TLK - At this point the coder should know how many entries they need for the TLK. They always need WoL name & description, and then feat name + description for each activated ability defined in wol_sla. At this point, feel free to update wol_items.2da with the WoL name and description.

Feat is next. As always, copy from existing feat entries, making sure to update names & descriptions with the new TLK entries, and grabbing the appropriate icon. Also adjust whether the feat targetselfs, and the UseAction column on the end. Casting spells and free actions do not use an action, everything else does, in general.

Spells follows, again copying from existing spell and ability entries. Update the TLK with the name (same the associated feat), spells don't need descriptions for WoL.

At this point, make sure to link spells.2da and feat.2da using the spellid column (feat.2da) and the featid column (spells.2da).

Copy all the feats into iprp_feat.2da at the bottom of the WoL section.

At this point, open prc_template_con in the includes and fill out all the necessary constants. These should be drawn from the names put into wol_m and wol_sla, and should match with the entries in spells.2da for the SLAs and iprp_feats for the IPFEAT constants.

The final step is updating cls_feat_allBaseClasses with the feats added to feat.2da. You will need to run update_all_base_classes.bat from the main PRC folder after this file is updated.

At this point, a full compile should hopefully see everything working. If not, debug away.

When submitting, only submit the files mentioned above - we don't need all of the updated base class 2das.


2
General Discussion / PRC 4.1.9 is Here!
« on: January 11, 2021, 03:57:36 PM »
Incandescent Champion prestige class
Necrocarnum Circlet, Necrocarnum Mantle, Necrocarnum Shroud melds
Rampaging Bull Rush feat
Whelm (by barmlot), Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, Blade of the Last Citadel, Unfettered, Hillcrusher (by barmlot), Desert Wind ToB, Faithful Avenger, Supernal Clarity, Kamate, Eventide’s Edge, Umbral Awn, Tiger Fang weapons of legacy
Sharakim, Underfolk, Extaminaar, Skulk, Doppelganger, Mongrelfolk races
Sudden Stalagmite, Bones of the Earth spells

Switch to EE only
Yrthak Mask Binds now work
Shaped Soulmeld feats are now properly cleared on resting
Unarmed damage is now more reliable
Sling of the Dire Wind is upgradeable
Incarnum Radiance now has proper duration
Vae School now checks for flatfooted
Cobalt Expertise has its proper name
Mass Charm Person no longer hits allies
Hospitaler is now much closer to PnP requirements
Weapons of Legacy will no longer ask you to perform rituals the weapon does not have, even if they cost nothing
Abj Champ now requires Combat Casting
Natural weapon selection is now less buggy
Soulborn can no longer bind melds it shouldn’t be able to when multiclassing
Somatic components now respects Still metamagic
Azurin, Silverbrow Human, Strongheart Halfling now have their bonus feat restored
Changed commoner from NPC to PC class, added Chicken Infested switch
Undetectable Alignment now functions more accurately

3
General Discussion / PRC 3.9.0 is here!
« on: April 15, 2020, 08:42:01 AM »
Magic of Incarnum
Spoiler (hover to show)
Marrulurk, Warforged Charger, Neanderthal, Frost Folk, Uldra, Crucian (by barmlot), Flind Gnoll (by barmlot) races
Animal Trance, Touch of Fatigue, Detect Magic, and Blink spells
Awesome Blow, Oversized TWF feat
Cadence of the Thunder Drake now exists
Piercing cold (and a host of other abilities) no longer work on item cast spells
Fist of Raziel now gets Sanctify Martial Strike at the right level
Vassal of Bahamut gains his armour properly now
Disabled Ghostwise Halfling for being strictly worse to base halfling
Death attack behavior fixed for all applicable classes (Assassin, Telflammar Shadowlord, Black Flame Zealot, Justice of Weald and Woe)
Correct behavior of Prismatic X spells (by AshLancer)
HotU should no longer break templates taken before starting the campaign
Feral Gargun now has correct stat bonuses to Dex and Cha
Assimilate only works on Living creatures (by AshLancer)
Share Pain, Forced now works (by AshLancer)
Truespeak is now listed as a class skill for all classes
Players can now be proficient in quarterstaffs
Undead Wildshape benefits should now end when the Wildshape does
Demilich is now takeable again
Shadow Garotte and Shadow Noose should only work on living targets. (by AshLancer)
Shadow Noose now checks for DexBonusDeniedToAC. (by AshLancer)
Feral Death Blow’s instakill effect no longer works on crit immune creatures. The extra damage should always be applied. (by AshLancer)
Hamstring was bugged and applying con damage to the initiator instead of dex damage to the target. (by AshLancer)
Sacred Vengeance is now a free action
Justice of Weald and Woe’s Lucky Shot is now a free action
Flesh Ripper strike wasn’t checking for crit immune (by AshLancer)
Martial Spirit will no longer heal when hitting doors and other placeables.
Multiple spells now respect corporeality (by AshLancer)
Epic Spellcasting feat requirements are now correct
OA Samurai Ancestral Daisho available at level 1 and based off of character level (by Barmlot)
Sunscorch Hobgoblin now mentions the level adjustment
Partial fix for custom cohort stack underflow (by DDopes)
Shadowmind’s Mind Stab now has infinite uses and triggers more accurately
Prismatic Spray PnPified (by AshLancer)
BioShifter petrify effects respect Living/Nonliving (by AshLancer)
Sonic Shield only triggers on the correct event
Fixed text error on Elemental Savant feats
Added bastard sword to snowflake wardance
Fixed hostility setting on Oak Body psionic power
Weapon and Torch is now usable
Fire Riposte no longer has permanent visuals

4
General Discussion / PRC 3.8.3 is Here!
« on: August 09, 2019, 07:31:06 AM »
Get 3.8 here!

3.8.0 Changelist
Weapons of Legacy
LA Buyoff
Added Black Blood Cultist and Unseen Seer prestige classes
Added Chitine, Taer, Mountain Spirit Folk, and Hagspawn races
Added Verminlord, Ice Troll, Wolf, and Ettercap Berserker feats
Added Changestaff and Rage spells
Runescarred Berserker requirements are now PnP accurate. Existing Runescarred will no longer qualify for the class.
Nimbus of Light now applies to the right skills
Henshin Mystic Riddle of Interaction now applies to the right skills
Ethran now applies to the right skills
Moradin’s Smile now applies to the right skills
Heartwarder now applies to the right skills
Orc Warlord requirements are now PnP accurate. Existing Warlords will no longer qualify for the class.
Disabled Parry, Taunt, Sap, Called Shot
Frightful Presence invocation no longer targets allies and is faster to cast
Damning Darkness should now work more reliably
Arctic Dwarf now has its Level Adjustment
Fixed a minor issue with Cause Fear
Corrected Ray of Enfeeblement duration
Changed Feeblemind to PnP spell
Stinking Cloud now applies concealment when inside the area of effect
Removed AC & Save bonuses for ranks in Tumble and Spellcraft
Added Fighting Defensively
Skarn now grants the right racial feat
Added 3.5 edition Two Weapon Fighting as a Switch (on by default)
Crescent Moon and Steal and Strike have the correct requirements
Gnoll now has its racial weapon familiarity
Dragonheart Mage now has the correct entry requirements
Dragonheart Mage now functions properly with all classes
Fixed Iaijutsu Master Canny Defense
Crusader strikes will no longer heal dead people
Battlesmith crafting now works
Fixed issue with LA races and feat enforcement
Contingent Resurrection now works on Outsiders and Elementals
Fixed a bug with EffectSickened(), standardized Sicken effects
Warlock’s Sickening Blast now has correct effect and duration
Hellfire Warlock now has PnP Ability Damage
All classes can take (Epic) Skill Focus: UMD
Added PnP Disarm switch that ignores the Disarmable flag (off by default)
Shadow Familiar feat now applies bonuses properly
Cold Endurance TLK flaw resolved
Corrected description and size for Arctic and Wild dwarves
Dark Discorporation no longer allows the player to deal damage on attacks
Imbue Item works for more item property types
Talontar Blightlord now gains the Skeleton template when using PnP Wild Shape
Grapple now ends when you die
Iron Heart Surge no longer strips the Expansion power
Animal Affinity no longer stacks with itself
Battlesmith no longer ignores spell requirements
Characters missing combat maneuver feats have them automatically added to their radial
Warchief now has epic levels (EE only)
Cohorts now are assigned starting gear. and equip it.
Spellsword channel spell will now trigger more reliably
Corpsecrafter now works
Warlocks can now take Skull Talisman
TN Desecrate and Major Desecrate now point to the correct abilities
True Necromancer Energy Drain now has correct Save DC, range
Corpsecrafter Hit Points now returns on rest
Corrected a number of issues with Amethyst-type dragon breath weapons
Amethyst-type now has draconic resistance
PRC Size changes don’t disappear on rest
Exhaled Immunity now defaults to the correct energy type
Added PnP-based resting limits (on by default)
Scythes are now martial
Changed negative energy burst to PnP
Dirgesinger abilities are no longer free actions
Hearing the Air no longer gives permanent true seeing
High Sword, Low Axe now usable
Kalashtar now count as a Psionic race
Bear Fang functions properly
Fixed Marilith summon
Scorpion’s Grasp now usable
Xeph is now medium
Adamantine Body now adds Damage Resistance
Combat maneuvers (Disarm, Grapple, etc) should not longer generate extra AoO

5
Builders / Adding a Passive Feat to the PRC [How-To Guide]
« on: July 25, 2019, 12:55:15 PM »
To add a feat to the PRC, you'll need several things:
  • A compiling PRC and PRC SVN repository. There's already guides out there on this, so I'll assume you have it.
  • A competent text editor. I use Textpad. This will edit all files mentioned.
  • feat.2da, in the 2das folder of the SVN
  • prc_consortium.tlk.xml, in the tlk folder of the SVN
  • prc_feat_const.nss, in the include folder of the SVN
  • prc_feats.nss, in the scripts folder of the SVN

The example feat we're going to add is Theocrat from Races of Faerun. It's a boring feat that adds +2 Diplomacy (Persuade in NWN), and +2 Knowledge (Lore, in NWN), but it's an easy example of the basics of adding a passive feat.

Open prc_consortium.tlk.xml, and find an open spot. There's a big gap around number 12940, so we'll go there.
A feat needs two TLK entries, one for the feat name, and one for the feat description.
Feat names look like this in the tlk.xml file:
Code: [Select]
<entry id="12941" lang="en" sex="m">Theocrat</entry> 
Note that the only two things that matter are the entry id, which should always be one higher than the previous item in the list and never match with another one, and the text between the > and <, which is what players will see in game.

Now we repeat the process for the feat description:
Code: [Select]
<entry id="12942" lang="en" sex="m">Type of Feat: General
Prerequisite: None
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on Persuade and Lore
Use: Automatic</entry>

With both the name and the description in place, we're finished with prc_consortium.tlk.xml.

Next, we open feat.2da. Now, how I normally go about adding a new passive feat is I go find another feat that's almost the same, and simply copy the text over an empty line, but since this is a guide, I'll go into a little more detail here.

Up at the top of feat.2da, there's a number of column headings. For a passive feat like Theocrat, there's a few that matter: LABEL, FEAT, DESCRIPTION, ICON, and ALLCLASSESCANUSE. And that's it. The rest of the columns actually don't help us out at all.

First, we need to find a blank row, one that isn't in one of the reserves, which are labelled with ###RESERVED at the top and bottom. There's a nice safe empty space at the bottom of the document, starting with row 24284.

Now we start filling this line out with what we need. LABEL is internal text for the human editing the file, and cannot have spaces in it. We put "Theocrat" here, without the quotes. Next is FEAT, which is the name text we added to prc_consortium.tlk.xml earlier. What is done to add a tlk entry to a 2da is to grab the line number (remember, ours are 12941 for the name and 12942 for the description), and add 16777216 to them. This tells NWN to look at the custom tlk, and not the Bioware tlk. We do that, and put 16790157 in the FEAT column, and 16790158 in the DESCRIPTION column. Next, we need an icon, which is what players see in game. Rather than create a new one, I always just grab an existing one from elsewhere in the 2da. Since Theocrat is vaguely religious, we'll put ife_X1Court (Courteous Magocracy) into the ICON column. Finally, ALLCLASSESCANUSE. This column is pretty easy. 1 is yes, 0 is no. Everyone can use Theocrat, so we put a 1 there.

With the columns filled out, we're done with feat.2da.

Now we go to prc_feat_const.nss. This gives the feat we just created a nice name for the rest of the PRC to reference. In here, we organize things by the book that they came from, so scroll down until it says "// Races of Faerun". You'll see a couple feats defined here. Below the bottom one, we're going to add:
Code: [Select]
const int FEAT_THEOCRAT                        = 24284;
This is now the clean name we can reference anywhere inside the PRC. We use these because a number doesn't tell us whether it's a feat, a spell, a class, or something else, whereas FEAT_THEOCRAT tells us it's a feat, and which feat it is. It also means if we ever have to move something, we can change a single constant file (prc_feat_const.nss), and everything else updates automatically.

And that's all we need to do with this file, so save it.

Finally, we're going over to prc_feats.nss. This file is a little bit complicated, because it controls a whole bunch of different feat types, but the important thing is this is what tells the game engine to apply all the bonuses from PRC passive feats. The particular function that does this is called "PRCFeat_AddCompositeBonuses". In PRC terms, a CompositeBonus allows us to stack multiple benefits together, so for instance, if a player has two different feats that grant +2 to Lore, they get the total of +4 they should, instead of +2 if they were applied separately. Either way, don't worry about how it works, just trust that it does.

Which means we're going to use it to apply the bonus to Persuade and to Lore. Which ends up looking like the little snippet of code below. We'll find an open space inside the PRCFeat_AddCompositeBonuses function (and definitely don't break up any of the existing if statements), and plop it in there.

Code: [Select]
    if(GetHasFeat(FEAT_THEOCRAT, oPC))
    {
        SetCompositeBonus(oSkin, "TheocratPers", 2, ITEM_PROPERTY_SKILL_BONUS, SKILL_PERSUADE);
        SetCompositeBonus(oSkin, "TheocratLore", 2, ITEM_PROPERTY_SKILL_BONUS, SKILL_LORE);
    }

And that's it. We save the last of our four files, compile it, and next time we play NWN with the PRC, Theocrat will be an available feat for us.

6
General Discussion / PRC Discord is here!
« on: August 26, 2018, 12:27:04 PM »
We all had so much fun back in the day on the IRC, we decided to bring it back to life in a modern form.
Come chat with us today on Discord!

7
You can get the Alpha on the Vault or Steam.

8
General Discussion / PRC 3.6 Changelist
« on: August 23, 2018, 03:26:00 PM »
These are all the changes/bugfixes that will appear in PRC 3.6 (if/when it's ever released).

New Classes:
Acolyte of the Ego Truenaming prestige class
Frostrager prestige class
Duelist prestige class - All existing Duelists characters will not work in 3.6 due to extensive bug fixing
Sacred Purifier prestige class
Serene Guardian prestige class

Bugfixes:
Fixed requirements error for Pale Master
Fixed Knight of the Middle Circle Combat Sense
Fixed Brimstone Speaker and Bereft not clearing their Law of Resistance/Sequence variables
Fixed Scout Skirmish damage on ranged weapons
Fixed Swordsage Insightful Strike requirements
Tweaked Duskblade Arcane Channeling to be more player friendly
Fixed Bowman's Focus not requiring a bow
Fixed Fist of Hextor Damage stacking
Fixed Contemplative DR not working
Fixed Sohei DR and Expertise attack bonus
Fixed Utterdark Blast healing undead
Fixed Package bug Beamdog introduced with PRC base classes
Fixed Swordsage maneuver recovery conversation
Fixed Control Object psionic power
Fixed Shadow Sun Ninja Unarmed Damage and Touch of the Shadow Sun
Fixed Shifting Defense maneuver
Fixed One With Shadow maneuver

9
General Discussion / I'm More Alive
« on: August 23, 2018, 02:23:48 PM »
I've started bugfixing a few minor bugs here and there, and will be uploading a PRC 3.6 Alpha to the Vault relatively soon so that people can try them out.

10
General Discussion / I'm Alive
« on: July 26, 2018, 04:28:10 PM »
I'm alive, although I've not touched the PRC in ~9 years at this point. I do occasionally see what's going on with it, but little more. Got different projects to keep me busy now, and to be honest I'm a lot older. I was a sophomore in college when I founded the PrCC (as it was then called), and it's 15 years later. Things change.

But I'm sure I can still remember a few bits and pieces if people need help...

11
General Discussion / So... Material Components
« on: August 14, 2009, 06:54:13 AM »
It's been discussed a lot on and off around the PRC, I know. Well, after a long talk with fluffyamoeba and dsabrae last night, I'm happy to say there is actually a system for material components in the PRC. It's 2da based, and will ship in 3.3G. Right now, we're letting dsabrae's PW test the system and fill out the 2da and create the items, and then we'll turn it round and ship it out to everyone. It's very simple to tweak, just editing values in a 2da and no need to alter the scripting at all.

Surprisingly, coding it only took about an hour, although I had figured it would be a lot more difficult to create. Just had to have the right idea about how to do it, I guess.

Below is the comment above the switch.
Code: [Select]
/** Material Components
 * Set switch to 1 to activate this
 * This allows material components in NWN through the materialcomp.2da
 * Just put the SpellID and UTC resref in, MINUS the .utc on the end.
 * This also requires the names of the items, formatted like so ("" included): "Object Name"
 *
 * Set switch to 2 to activate this
 * Deducts gold instead of requiring material components
 * Put the gold value in the Cost column
 
 * Set switch to 3 to activate both at the same time
 * WARNING: This will slow spellcasting down due to 2da reads and inventory loops
 */
const string PRC_MATERIAL_COMPONENTS                 = "PRC_MATERIAL_COMPONENTS";

12
Other Games / Sword of the Stars and Demigod
« on: August 12, 2009, 10:04:16 AM »
Several of the PRC members (mostly myself and Tenjac) play these games fairly regularly, including MP. Are there others around here who do as well?

13
We've got a few new toys for you today, starting with a new 3.3G Release Candidate. This has a few more fixes in it, including one for the pesky two two-handed weapons issue. It also has all the debug text turned off, as it's the last release before we push 3.3G out the door, and we'd like a few places to give it a go before we do.

We've also released an updated PRC Merge Hak, which is current up to the 3.3G RC3 release that we've pushed out, and can be used with that version of the PRC.

Finally, we've updated the Downloads page to include all of the links to our content on the vault. We sort of forgot to do that before now, which is a bit silly, but they are all there for NWN1.

Enjoy the new content,
PRC.

14
Base Classes / Warlock - My Thoughts
« on: June 17, 2009, 07:14:21 AM »
PRC 3.2 saw the debut of the invocation-using warlock.

As I have greatly enjoyed the warlock class as presented in NWN2, I was definitely looking forward to trying out the PRC's version of the class. To that end, I pulled out an old series of modules by Q: The Mines of Twin Summit (MTS) series. I used a character building mod to bring a fresh warlock up to 17th level (the recommended level for single players in MTS1), and just like that, I was on my way.

Overall, the NWN warlock is a joy to play. Chief among my reasons for enjoying the warlock is his access to invocations; while he does admittedly have fewer such powers available to him, compared to his other arcane (wizard, sorcerer, bard) and divine (cleric, druid) brothers, he does enjoy unlimited casting with the powers he does have at his disposal. As I've already noted in my invocations thread, this results in his needing far fewer resting periods compared to other spellcasters. That can be a huge advantage in certain modules (including the MTS series, which features a rather expensive bedroll and rations system).

As I've already mused over my experiences with the invocations in the above referenced thread, I won't repeat my invocation choices here. I will say that between my various choices of eldritch blast shapes, eldritch essences, and regular invocations, I rarely encountered a situation in MTS that couldn't be handled by my various invocations and/or eldritch blast. Yet I did run into more than one encounter for which my choices of invocations alone were not the best solution (e. g., many foes had a high AC which made it difficult to hit them- even as a touch attack- with eldritch blasts, spears or chains, and with Improved or regular Evasion would often avoid damage from eldritch lines or doom). At times like this, I found it was advisable- or, in somes cases, even mandatory- to take advantage of the warlock's more martial abilities.

I have always preferred beefing up my arcane characters (I primarily play wizards) with at least one level of a more martial class (typically fighter or ranger, though I'll try paladin as well- I went through SoU and HotU with a ranger/paladin/wizard). While this has always worked for me (granting him extra HP, access to all armor, simple and martial weapons and shields), I'll concede that doing so can curb the power of the wizard's spellcasting. (The warrior level doesn't really help the wizard's BAB that much, either.) By contrast, the warlock starts with higher hit dice (d6, to the wizard's d4), medium BAB, and access to simple weapons and light armor. Even better, the light armor worn by the warlock does not trigger arcane spell failure, so the warlock still has access to his invocations while wearing it. This makes gaining a level for my warlock in a martial class less necessary, in my mind (which is fortunate, as the warlock seems to work best taking only warlock levels); it also makes occasional hand-to-hand forays a plausible option for him. While it certainly wouldn't be the ideal solution in every combat, I like the fact that the warlock can fall back on his more martial talents from time to time- and do so effectively.

Levelling up is fairly painless for warlocks, as I noted in the invocation thread. The conversations for gaining invocations (via level or the Extra Invocation feats) worked flawlessly. One thing I did notice, though, was that at every fourth level, when a stat increase was granted, the default stat for the warlock was strength, rather than the preferred charisma. (I don't know if this can be changed for custom base classes; if it can, though, I'd love to see it updated in a future fix for PRC 3.3, if it hasn't been already.)

Distributing skills points as a warlock is likewise a refreshing change for me. I'm pretty much used to the Concentration/Lore/Spellcraft combination for wizards, with other possibilities only available as cross-class skills. As a warlock, while I was certain to keep these three skills max out, I also found myself exposed to more intriguing possibilities. Warlocks have two of the three social skills as class skills (Bluff and Intimidate), making them fairly effective at any social interactions a module might require. (With the beguiling influence invocation, he can even excel at the Persuade skill, assuming he spends a fair amount of skill points on Persuade and/or finds a magic item to boost that skill.) Unfortunately, the MTS series only uses one of the social skills in a couple of places, so the skill points I spent on the social skills were largely wasted. Warlocks do, however, also gain access to Use Magic Device. This granted me access to a fair number of class- and alignment-restricted items that otherwise would have been of no use to me (except as a source of cash). UMD also casts my warlock as an enchanter extraordinare, courtesy of the Imbue Item class feat. (At least, it should have. More on that a bit later...)

Choosing feats in my early levels has always been something of a headache for me, with or without the PRC installed. It always takes me a while to wade through all the various feats, to determine which ones would be most useful to my character. As such, I really appreciate the relative ease I experienced in choosing feats for my warlock. I had the typical quandary with the feats from my first and third levels. (I finally opted for Toughness- a feat I almost always choose for my characters at some point; Combat Casting- getting off my eldritch blasts and other invocations with enemies in my face was difficult enough without throwing in the -4 penalty to Concentration for not having this feat; and at third level, Weapon proficiency (scythe)- my favorite weapon, due to the potential for damage from criticals- though in retrospect I could have picked up something else, as I found I didn't use my scythes very often- and in any case, I found a way to get access to all exotic weapons later in the game.) Subsequent levels were much easier, as by then, I had access to a proper implementation of the Extra Invocation feat. (While NWN2 hackers have provided a version of the feat in which each possible invocation is tied to its own feat- myself included- I greatly enjoy seeing the PRC's version, which grants the new invocation after level-up, as it should be. Furthermore, it allows the various shape and essence invocations to be chosen here as well- something not possible in any of the NWN2 versions floating around, to the best of my knowledge.)

As warlocks are known as the ultimate enchanters- thanks to their Imbue Item ability- it was certainly tempting to sneak in some crafting feats during my non-epic levels to give the feat a try; as it happened, I proceeded with the feats noted above, delaying acquisition of crafting feats until my warlock reached epic levels. It's just as well that I handled things in this manner, as I discovered (to my great disappointment) that the Imbue Item feat did not appear to be working correctly. While its use did bring up a conversation to choose an arcane or divine spell, I would always receive a "UMD check failed" message, even though the actual check given in the conversation indicated differently. (I did get far enough to see that the Imbue Item system is tied to the sorcerer and favored soul spellbooks- an inspired idea, to be sure.) Fortunately, I see that the Imbue Item system has been fixed in PRC 3.3b.

In the meantime, I was able to simulate the Imbue Item feat as well as I could, using the PRC's impressive arbitrary crafting system. I ended up "majoring" in [Craft] Epic Wondrous Items- meaning the sky was the limit for such items [in particular, I ended up adding the various weapon group, armor and shield feats to a favorite bracer]- with a "minor" in Arms and Armor [used mainly to add reduced arcane spell failure and reduced weight to promising suits of armor]. While I would have preferred gaining access to such crafting via Imbue Item, arbitrary crafting proved a more than satisfactory venue for the expenditure of all the XP and gold one gains throughout the MTS series.

Meanwhile, my experience and interest in the warlock's pre-epic abilities are varied. Since I ensured that I would start MTS with a regeneration item (forged in the character building module I use to build characters and provide them with level-appropriate cash and loot), I never used fiendish resilience- though in a different module, I can see this getting a much greater workout. Similarly, I'm not aware of having used Deceive Item consciously (or unconsciously, for that matter). Probably the most interesting pre-epic ability for me was his resistance to two elements of his choosing. Admittedly, my resistances were pretty quickly eclipsed not too far into my MTS run (as I gained items providing complete immunity to certain energies); however, I believe I managed to get some use out of my chosen resistances early in MTS1 (my picks: fire and electricity), and I would consider them to be an invaluable ability in the right module. (Besides, they're part of the package...)

I found myself positively drooling, though, once my warlock hit epic levels; reaching 21st level potentially grants the warlock access to some of the best feats in the game for him. Even better, many of these feats have enforced invocation requirements, courtesy of the PRC's invocation system (which appears to be feat- rather than spell-based). I greatly appreciate the PnP authenticity of the feat requirements- something I have yet to see in any NWN2 hackpaks. By the same token, trying to organize your invocation picks to obtain as many of these invocation-required epic feats as possible can be more than a little maddening; it takes quite a bit of foresight (not the magical kind!) to ensure that you will be able to gain access to your favorite warlock epic feats when you want them.

I ended up taking four of the invocations-required feats, as well as Epic Extra Invocation several times and Epic Eldritch Blast once. Overall, I found that some of my epic feats were far more useful to me than some of my other choices. (In one case, I found my feat pick was actually far more powerful than intended.) Furthermore, I've found myself reflecting on all of the epic feats keyed just to the warlock, and which ones seem to have greater benefits for him compared to its requirements. Here, I'll explore both the epic feats I chose (noted in bold and italics) and the ones I didn't take (in italics only):

-Eldritch sculptor[/i]: In my mind, there is absolutely no reason for a warlock not to take this feat as soon as he can. Gaining a second eldritch blast every round is an absolute boon for him, as is the doubling of his range/AoE radius for his eldritch shapes. (I wouldn't have thought the +2 to ranged touch attacks would be that useful to him- but as I did run into some enemies who were impossible to hit even with that bonus, I'll take all the help I can get...) Signing up for this feat shouldn't be a burden, either, as the resulting shape invocations you receive allow you to tailor attacks to a variety of situations: hideous blow (combat face-to-face), eldricth spear (combat at a distance), eldritch chain (ranged combat against multiple easy targets), eldritch line/cone (handy for dealing with non-Reflex save crowds), eldritch doom (crowd control, up close and personal)- and the list goes on and on.
-Lord of all essences[/i]: Because I greatly enjoy the various eldritch essences I chose, qualifying for this feat posed no problem whatsoever for me. As with eldritch sculptor, it's one of the better feats available for the warlock. The ability to add two essences to each eldritch blast is invaluable. (Stunning fire blast? Blinding acid? Sickening cold? The possibilities are endless.) While certain ultra-powerful enemies would often resist the secondary effects of some of my blasts- or were completely immune to them- I can nevertheless appreciate the DC bonus applied to my blasts received when you take this feat. (Again, all the help I can get...)
[Sometimes, I must admit, I found that the lord of all essences feat, in combination with eldritch sculptor, appeared to behave in ways I wasn't expecting- and in some respects proved to be more powerful than intended. I discovered that when an energy essence, i. e., hellrime blast (cold) was paired with a non-energy essence (such as binding blast, which on its own does magical damage, as with the vanilla eldritch blast), all damage from from the blast was of the energy type only (in my example, cold). Based on the description of the feat, I was expecting half of the damage to be magical. Is this correct? Further, when vitriolic blast is used as the secondary essence for this feat and a different energy essence is placed first, damage is half of each energy type as normal; however, if the vitriolic blast is in the primary slot, the damage delivered is entirely acid-based. Finally, I found that when an eldritch chain delivered as part vitriolic blast and part non-energy blast (i. e., binding blast)- or with vitriolic blast as the primary essence paired with an energy blast (i. e., brimstone blast), if I have at least two targets, each target seems to be hit by far more than two eldritch blasts per attempt. I hope to look closely at all of these items- and the ones noted elsewhere in this post- once I have the chance to install PRC 3.3b...]
-Master of the elements[/i]: Probably the most useful of the epic feats not centered on the warlock's eldritch blast. I didn't find meeting the prerequisites to be especially painful; while I personally didn't use stony grasp very often, the other invocations required for this feat are quite useful, to varying degrees. The primary ability, though- to summon any one of four elemental champions- is an invaluable survival ability. (I didn't use this as much as I could have, since I was trying to maximize the XP my warlock gained; however, I did find myself using this in certain encounters where trying to muddle through on my own was not the best option.) I was less impressed with the dominate elemental ability; I tried using this several times against various opponent elementals (including summoned ones), but quit using it since none of my attempts were ever successful. Finally, I enjoyed the increased resistance to the five main elements (fire, cold, electricity, acid and sonic) provided by this feat. Again, this gain was largely outshined later in my MTS run (with various items that provide greater resistance- or even complete immunity), but I appreciated the fact that I wasn't completely defenseless with respect to energy.
-Shadowcaster[/i]: I found that while trying to qualify for three invocations-required feats isn't terribly difficult (thanks to the regular and epic Extra Invocation feats in concert with your own regular invocation picks), working on four or more such feats may really be pushing your limits (of sanity, if nothing else). As such, you really need to decide whether or not the benefits gained from a particular feat outweigh the invocation "gymnastics" you need to go through in obtaining it. While Shadowcaster[/i] isn't that bad in some respects- I came to appreciate having access to darkness and beshadowing blast, and I love dark discorporation[/i] now that I understand how it should work- I generally don't use enervating shadow, providing sufficent reason to reconsider going after this feat. Once I had taken the feat, I did enjoy having access to unlimited, 24-hour displacement (this being one of the few effects not readily available on an item in MTS). However, I found that if you already have retributive invisibility, you really don't have much use for the shadowcaster's displacement effect (since the end of the retributive invisibility effect also cancels the displacement effect as well- NWN not being able to distinguish between the two sources of displacement.) Finally, I must admit that I'm not sure how useful the shades effect might have been to my warlock, since he can perform many of its effects equally- or better- with other powers (i. e., wall of perilous flame beats a shades wall of fire). He might have had some use for the shades stoneskin, though. [As it happens, I was never able to determine this, as the option for shades effects did not appear anywhere on my radial.]
-Morpheme savant: While I could have pursued this feat late in my warlock's career, I opted not to do so. The prerequisites are only part of the problem; as I said in my invocations thread, I think word of changing would be a total gas to try out, and I did like using beguiling influence in the few places where such boosts were useful in MTS- but based on the description, I doubt I would ever use baleful utterance. More to the point, I find myself less impressed with the feat's primary ability (unlimited castings of power word stun and power word kill). Both powers require a maximum current hit point total, and most enemies in MTS would need to be "near death" to be anywhere near that total; I'm not inclined to pursue a feat ability that requires that much guesswork (especially when one of my eldritch essences- binding blast- duplicates one of these abilities without the HP requirement). Admittedly, the boost you gain to your beguiling influence invocation (adding double your Cha modifier to Bluff, Intimidate and Persuade checks if not less than +6) might be useful, in the right module. (Again, though, such checks were rarely used in MTS.)
-Paragon visionary: I was nowhere close to qualifying for this feat during my MTS run- and, truth be told, I can't really see myself going out of my way to try obtaining it. First, it seems to me that once you get all four invocations required for this feat, you effective have true seeing, the feat's primary ability. (Doesn't see the unseen plus voidsense pretty bring you up to that level of sensing?) Second, while I can appreciate the usefulness of some of the required invocations (especially see the unseen- great for pinning down arcane types- and dark foresight, essential in dealing with all those sneak attacking rogue-types), I'm less enthused by devil's sight (whose effects would seem to be eclipsed by voidsense). Finally- and most importantly- true seeing was a common item effect throughout the MTS series (and, I suspect, in many other adventures as well), which really negates the need to pursue the ability via this feat. Paragon visionary does offer an increase to Listen, Spot and Sense Motive checks based on your warlock's Wisdom score; however, it would really take some massive stat pumping (or magic item bonuses) in order to get any real benefit from this boost- and warlocks normally prefer to boost charisma, rather than wisdom. (Note that few modules will actually use the Sense Motive skill.)
-Epic extra invocation
: Because having only three invocations of each grade is nowhere near enough for me, I greatly appreciate this feat. Even better, as long as your warlock has kept up his Spellcraft skill (and he should, since many of the epic feats require it), you can start picking up extra dark (or lower grade) invocations the minute you hit epic levels.
-Epic eldritch blast
: Definitely worth investing in at least once. My warlock took this once; this brought his eldritch blast damage dice up to 20d6 (the equivalent of many 9th level wizard's spells) upon reaching 40th level. While far less flashy than some of the other feats within his reach, epic eldritch blast is no less useful because of that. Indeed, I can see an epic warlock investing all of his epic feats here (perhaps stopping only for eldritch sculptor- for double the [damage] fun!- and possibly lord of all essences- double the essence fun). Doing so would turn his eldritch blast into a true force to be reckoned with. (Unless, of course, you run into an enemy resistant to all of the energy essences at your command. Which has happened to me. Good thing I had my god-killing katana on me, eh?)

The bottom line: A couple of things, actually. First, while I greatly enjoyed reliving the madness in the MTS series (even with the heartbreaking bugs I found in MTS3, which forced me to abandon some quests which weren't necessary- but would have made my life easier and, I suspect, the ending a bit more satisfying), I must admit that I think I missed part of the warlock experience by playing a module with such a high starting level. While I don't think I'll abandon the MTS series altogether (it's a wonderful place to test a character's mettle), I do think I'll try taking future characters through a lower-level campaign before subjecting him to this one.

As for warlocks: A total gas to play, even with some of the issues I faced. The warlock definitely joins the wizard, shifter (PnP or Bioware) and psion as one of my favorite NWN classes ever. I'm definitely looking forward to trying out a new warlock at some point in the future, to check out some of the features that have been fixed in PRC 3.3b- as well as some of the invocations I missed on my first time out. (Welcome to the club, guy, and pull up a devil's brew. Oh, sorry- that's probably a touchy subject, isn't it?)

15
Other Features / List of Rings
« on: June 09, 2009, 09:49:54 AM »
The descriptions below are dumps from the tlk, and are approximations from the contents of the SRD. Comments, suggestions, corrections, etc. welcome.

Ring of Chameleon Power

Description:

Skill Bonus: Hide +10

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 3
Spell(s): Invisibility

Cost:

+12700gp


Minor Ring of Energy Resistance (acid)

Description:

Damage Resistance: Acid Resist 10 / -

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 3
Spell(s): Resist Elements

Cost:

+12000gp


Major Ring of Energy Resistance (acid)

Description:

Damage Resistance: Acid Resist 20 / -

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 7
Spell(s): Resist Elements

Cost:

+28000gp


Greater Ring of Energy Resistance (acid)

Description:

Damage Resistance: Acid Resist 30 / -

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 11
Spell(s): Resist Elements

Cost:

+44000gp


Ring of Energy Immunity (acid)

Description:

Damage Resistance: Acid Resist 500 / -

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 20
Spell(s): Protection from Elements
Epic

Cost:

+240000gp


Minor Ring of Energy Resistance (cold)

Description:

Damage Resistance: Cold Resist 10 / -

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 3
Spell(s): Resist Elements

Cost:

+12000gp


Major Ring of Energy Resistance (cold)

Description:

Damage Resistance: Cold Resist 20 / -

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 7
Spell(s): Resist Elements

Cost:

+28000gp


Greater Ring of Energy Resistance (cold)

Description:

Damage Resistance: Cold Resist 30 / -

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 11
Spell(s): Resist Elements

Cost:

+44000gp


Ring of Energy Immunity (cold)

Description:

Damage Resistance: Cold Resist 500 / -

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 20
Spell(s): Protection from Elements
Epic

Cost:

+240000gp


Minor Ring of Energy Resistance (electricity)

Description:

Damage Resistance: Electrical Resist 10 / -

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 3
Spell(s): Resist Elements

Cost:

+12000gp


Major Ring of Energy Resistance (electricity)

Description:

Damage Resistance: Electrical Resist 20 / -

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 7
Spell(s): Resist Elements

Cost:

+28000gp


Greater Ring of Energy Resistance (electricity)

Description:

Damage Resistance: Electrical Resist 30 / -

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 11
Spell(s): Resist Elements

Cost:

+44000gp


Ring of Energy Immunity (electricity)

Description:

Damage Resistance: Electrical Resist 500 / -

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 20
Spell(s): Protection from Elements
Epic

Cost:

+240000gp


Minor Ring of Energy Resistance (fire)

Description:

Damage Resistance: Fire Resist 10 / -

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 3
Spell(s): Resist Elements

Cost:

+12000gp


Major Ring of Energy Resistance (fire)

Description:

Damage Resistance: Fire Resist 20 / -

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 7
Spell(s): Resist Elements

Cost:

+28000gp


Greater Ring of Energy Resistance (fire)

Description:

Damage Resistance: Fire Resist 30 / -

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 11
Spell(s): Resist Elements

Cost:

+44000gp


Ring of Energy Immunity (fire)

Description:

Damage Resistance: Fire Resist 500 / -

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 20
Spell(s): Protection from Elements
Epic

Cost:

+240000gp


Minor Ring of Energy Resistance (sonic)

Description:

Damage Resistance: Sonic Resist 10 / -

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 3
Spell(s): Resist Elements

Cost:

+12000gp


Major Ring of Energy Resistance (sonic)

Description:

Damage Resistance: Sonic Resist 20 / -

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 7
Spell(s): Resist Elements

Cost:

+28000gp


Greater Ring of Energy Resistance (sonic)

Description:

Damage Resistance: Sonic Resist 30 / -

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 11
Spell(s): Resist Elements

Cost:

+44000gp


Ring of Energy Immunity (sonic)

Description:

Damage Resistance: Sonic Resist 500 / -

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 20
Spell(s): Protection from Elements
Epic

Cost:

+240000gp


Greater Ring of Universal Energy Resistance

Description:

Damage Resistance: Acid Resist 30 / -
Damage Resistance: Cold Resist 30 / -
Damage Resistance: Electrical Resist 30 / -
Damage Resistance: Fire Resist 30 / -
Damage Resistance: Sonic Resist 30 / -

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 20
Spell(s): Protection from Elements
Epic

Cost:

+308000gp


Ring of Universal Energy Immunity

Description:

Damage Resistance: Acid Resist 500 / -
Damage Resistance: Cold Resist 500 / -
Damage Resistance: Electrical Resist 500 / -
Damage Resistance: Fire Resist 500 / -
Damage Resistance: Sonic Resist 500 / -

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 20
Spell(s): Protection from Elements
Epic

Cost:

+2160000gp


Ring of Evasion

Description:

Bonus Feat: Evasion

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 7
Spell(s): Jump

Cost:

+25000gp


Ring of Freedom of Movement

Description:

Freedom

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 7
Spell(s): Freedom of Movement

Cost:

+40000gp


Ring of Invisibility

Description:

Use: Invisibility (3) Unlimited Uses/Day

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 3
Spell(s): Invisibility

Cost:

+20000gp


Ironskin Ring

Description:

Damage Reduction: +5 Soak 15 Damage

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 20
Spell(s): Iron Body
Epic

Cost:

+400000gp


Ring of Jumping

Description:

Skill Bonus: Jump +5

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 2
Skill: Jump 5 ranks

Cost:

+2500gp


Improved Ring of Jumping

Description:

Skill Bonus: Jump +10

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 7
Skill: Jump 10 ranks

Cost:

+10000gp


Ring of Protection +1

Description:

Armor Bonus: +1

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 5
Spell(s): Shield of Faith

Cost:

+2000gp


Ring of Protection +2

Description:

Armor Bonus: +2

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 6
Spell(s): Shield of Faith

Cost:

+8000gp


Ring of Protection +3

Description:

Armor Bonus: +3

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 9
Spell(s): Shield of Faith

Cost:

+18000gp


Ring of Protection +4

Description:

Armor Bonus: +4

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 12
Spell(s): Shield of Faith

Cost:

+32000gp


Ring of Protection +5

Description:

Armor Bonus: +5

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 15
Spell(s): Shield of Faith

Cost:

+50000gp


Ring of Protection +6

Description:

Armor Bonus: +6

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 20
Spell(s): Shield of Faith
Epic

Cost:

+720000gp


Ring of Protection +7

Description:

Armor Bonus: +7

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 21
Spell(s): Shield of Faith
Epic

Cost:

+980000gp


Ring of Protection +8

Description:

Armor Bonus: +8

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 24
Spell(s): Shield of Faith
Epic

Cost:

+1280000gp


Ring of Protection +9

Description:

Armor Bonus: +9

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 27
Spell(s): Shield of Faith
Epic

Cost:

+1620000gp


Ring of Protection +10

Description:

Armor Bonus: +10

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 30
Spell(s): Shield of Faith
Epic

Cost:

+2000000gp


Ring of Regeneration

Description:

Regeneration: +1

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 15
Spell(s): Regenerate

Cost:

+90000gp


Ring of Rapid Healing

Description:

Regeneration: +3

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 20
Spell(s): Regenerate
Epic

Cost:

+300000gp


Ring of Spell Turning

Description:

Use: Spell Turning (13) 3 Uses/Day

Prerequisites:

Caster Level: 13
Spell(s): Spell Turning

Cost:

+98280gp

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