IR V2 release

[Demivrgvs]

GLOBAL CHANGES

 

Bonus Merchants

Due to compatibility issues with SCS, until DavidW is back I cannot move some items from Didre, but her stock list is temporarily reduced to Balduran's equipment, Zerth Blade, Vhailor's Helm, and unfortunately Robe of Larloch. You can move the last two with the respective SCS's componens, and I'd obviously recommend to do so.

Joluv instead has lost all his items, and temporarily he'll sold plain +2 enchanted weapons...

 

Re-allocation

Previously unused items, the new flails, and bonus merchants' items will be re-allocated.

 

 

Optional Components

 

Backstab Penalties with unappropriate weapons

• No penalty for: dagger, short sword, wakizashi, ninja-to, club
  
• -1 penalty for: long sword, katana, scimitar
  
• -2 penalty for: axe, bastard sword, mace, morning star, quarterstaff, warhammer
  
• -3 penalty for: two-handed weapons, flails
  

ITEMS (only the most noticeable changes)

 

Amulet of Spellwarding Done

Special Abilities (once per day):

Spell Deflection

 

Notes: temporarily solution to avoid all the issues caused by its V1 version.

 

Girdle of x Giant Strength

I'd like to make them a little more "unique". Frost and Fire ones may just have something like elemental resistance, I don't know about the others.

 

Belt of Inertial Barrier Done

Equipped Abilities:

Saving Throws: +3 bonus vs. breath

Missile Damage Resistance: +20% bonus

Inertial Barrier: opponents within 10 feet must save vs. breath each round or be slowed

 

Notes: To make it a little more cool the slow effect is applied every second instead of every round (else opponents sometimes would be able to approach and attack the wearer before making the first save), though obviously I've make sure targets have to save only once per round.

 

Axe of the Unyielding +3 Done

Equipped Abilities:

Armor Class: +1 bonus

Maximum Hit Points: +10 bonus

Regeneration: 3hp/turn

THAC0: +3 bonus

Damage: 1D8 + 3

 

Notes: both versions now grant +10 hit points instead of +1 CON. Removed the Glow effect.

 

Axe of the Unyielding +4 Done

Equipped Abilities:

Armor Class: +1 bonus

Maximum Hit Points: +10 bonus

Regeneration: 4hp/turn

THAC0: +4 bonus

Damage: 1D8 + 4

 

Notes: the +4 version no longer grants +2 to AC but "only" +1, the blade of the axe now has a white glow (due to the vorpal effect).

 

Flail of Ages +3 Done

Combat Abilities (20% chance each):

Cold Head: 1D3 additional cold damage, slow target for 3 rounds

Fire Head: 1D3 additional fire damage, -2 penalty to THAC0 for 3 rounds

Acid Head: 1D3 additional acid damage, -2 penalty to AC for 3 rounds

Note: targets can save vs. spell at a -2 penalty to avoid the secondary effects but will still suffer elemental damage.

THAC0: +3 bonus

Damage: 1D10 + 3

 

Notes: elemental damage reduced, effects now allow a save.

 

Flail of Ages +5 Done

Combat Abilities (20% chance each):

Cold Head: 1D5 additional cold damage, slow target for 3 rounds

Fire Head: 1D5 additional fire damage, -2 penalty to THAC0 for 3 rounds

Acid Head: 1D5 additional acid damage, -2 penalty to AC for 3 rounds

Poison Head: 1D5 additional poison damage, further 1hp/sec for 2 rounds

Electric Head: 1D5 additional electrical damage, stuns for 1 round

Note: targets can save vs. spell at a -4 penalty to avoid the secondary effects but will still suffer elemental damage.

THAC0: +5 bonus

Damage: 1D10 + 5

 

Notes: now both elemental damage and save penalties improve when FoA is upgraded.

 

Kiel's Morning Star +3 Done

*CURSED*

Equipped Abilities:

Berserking: the wielder goes berserk and totally out of control whenever a fight takes place

Whirling Frenzy: +1 attack per round, +1 bonus to AC, but -2 penalty to attack rolls while enraged

THAC0: +3 bonus

Damage: 2D4 + 3

 

Notes: I've chosen to make Whirling Frenzy the hard way, bonusue/penalties are only applied during combat. If you think it's not necessary, I may just apply them to the item right away, slightly making it more "low-pc fiendly" (though I don't think it makes any noticeable difference), and making sure it will avoid Raj's issue of this type of effects sometimes lasting a little after unequipping the item.

 

Skullcrusher +3 Done

Added "Impact: +5% chance to score critical hits" to make it slightly more powerful.

 

Mauler's Arm +1 Done

Enchantment level reduced by 1, as it's too easily available from Bernard.

 

Ardulia's Fall +2 Done

Enchantment level raised by 1, as it's a "hard to obtain" quest reward item.

 

Gnasher +2 Done

Slivers damage has been reduced from 2hp/round for 4 rounds to 2hp/round for 2 rounds.

 

Flail of Submission +2 Done

Combat Abilities:

Domination: 5% chance target must save vs. spell or be dominated for 5 rounds

Fear: 15% chance target must save vs. spell or flee in terror for 2 rounds

THAC0: +2 bonus

Damage: 1D10 + 2

 

Notes: I've combined two different player's suggestions into one.

 

Defender of Easthaven +2 Done

Equipped Abilities:

Armor Class: +1 bonus

Slashing Damage Resistance: +10% bonus

Piercing Damage Resistance: +10% bonus

Crushing Damage Resistance: +10% bonus

THAC0: +2 bonus

Damage: 1D10 + 2

 

Notes: it now has a nice background that perfectly suits its current abilities (I guess keeping them was the best solution). I've halved physical damage resistance, which is still quite powerful if combined with the right equipment or if the wielder is a barbarian, and I've reduced enchantment level by one to allow it to be found in SoA chapters without being overpowered.

 

Taralash +5 Done

The upgraded version currently now grants Rapid Shot (+1apr), but I'd like to find something different.

 

Gauntlets of Parrying Done

Equipped Abilities:

Parry: +1 bonus to AC (none vs. missile)

 

Notes: replaces Gauntlets of Weapon Skill's +1 THAC0.

 

Gauntlets of Power Attack Done

Equipped Abilities:

Power Attack: melee hits deal 2 points of additional damage, 5% chance to knock back target unconscious for 3 second

Note: performing power attacks causes a -2 penalty to off-hand THAC0 and a -1 penalty to backstab multiplier.

 

Notes: replaces Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise's +1 THAC0, +2 damage.

 

Gauntlets of Extraordinary Specialization Done

Equipped Abilities:

THAC0: +1 bonus

Attacks per Round: +1/2 bonus

 

Notes: removed the +2 bonus to damage.

 

Sylvan Chain Mail +2 Done

Equipped Abilities:

Nature's Bless: +2 bonus to AC and saving throws vs. unnatural creatures

Armor Class: 3

 

Notes: replaced +1 DEX, and immunity to entangle with a more unoque and powerful ability. Unnatural creatures include any monster and undead creaure, which mean the vast majority of opponents in BG.

 

Cloak of Displacement Done

Special Abilities (once per 5 turns):

Displacement: additional +1 bonus to armor class (+2 vs. missile weapons), 100% miss chance against the first attack

Equipped Abilities:

Armor Class: +1 bonus

 

Notes: I've decided to move its current ability to the Cloak of Mirroring (it should be a great way to nerf it while keeping it very special) and revert it back to something more similar to its AD&D version.

 

Cloak of Mirroring Done

Equipped Abilities:

Reflected Image: 50% miss chance

 

Notes: I'd like to have some feedback on this, but I do like this solution now.

 

Robe of the Good/Neutral/Evil Archmage Done

Equipped Abilities:

Magic Resistance: +5% bonus

Saving Throws: +1 bonus

Spell Penetrate: opponents within 30 feet have their magic resistance lowered by 10%

Armor Class: 5

 

Notes: it was missing one PnP feature which isn't easily reproducible in BG, the wearer of an archmage robe shall overcome target's magical defenses more easily (-20%/-4 magic resistance/saves in AD&D, and +2 to spell resistance checks in 3.5 edition). I've implemented it as best as I could, hope you like it. Multiple Spell Penetrate auras aren't cumulative.

 

Dgger of Venom +2 Done

Combat Abilities:

Poison: creatures struck by the weapon must save vs. poison or suffer 1 point of damage each second for 3 rounds

THAC0: +2 bonus

Damage: 1D4 + 2

 

Notes: compared to vanilla's one it inflicts +3 poison damage now, but allow a save to avoid the poison. Previously overpowered for BG1, and even in the first part of SoA imo.

 

Stiletto of Demarchess +2 Done

Bleeding damage halved, this dagger was too powerful.

 

Spider Fang +3 Done

Removed Immunity to web effects, as this dagger is already very powerful, and that immunity is granted by a few other items.

 

Helm of Glory Done

Equipped Abilities:

Charisma: +1 bonus

Valiant's Blessing: 5% chance when struck the wielder is affected by a battle fervor. For 5 rounds he gains +2 bonus to attack rolls and inflicts maximum damage.

Armor Class Bonus: 1

 

Notes: replaced the aura-like bless effect with a chance to trigger a sort of limited Righteous Power.

 

Helm of the Rock Done

Equipped Abilities:

Aura of Fear: any who strikes the wearer in melee must save vs. spell or flee in terror for 1 round

Armor Class Bonus: 1

 

Notes: replaced elemental damage resistance with the Aura of Fear effect. The upgraded version can cast three times per day Defensive Harmony, but I think we should add something more.

 

Staff of Air/Earth/Fire +2 Done

Now usable by all classes, I've slightly changed the Air and Earth specimens replacing their equipped effects with combat ones, respectively:

"Whirlwind Attack: +1/2 extra attack per round, 20% chance on hit of gaining +1/2 additional attack per round for 2 rounds" and "Entangle: offshoots branch out wrapping the target and holding it fast for 1 round (save vs. breath neg.)". I think these staff can still be slightly improved.

 

Staff of Rynn +3 Done

Combat Abilities (ranged only):

Magic Attack: deals 1d4+1 points of magic damage

Note: the staff can be used to fire magic missiles from it as ranged attacks. The wizard retains the weapon's +3 bonus to attack rolls, and each missile is considered to be of +3 enchantment to determine what it can hit.

THAC0: +3 bonus

Damage: 1D6 + 3

Usable by:

Bard

Mage (single class only)

 

Notes: for something completely different, feedback on this one will be very useful.

 

Staff of the Ram +5 Done

Equipped Abilities:

Physical Resistance: +10% bonus

Combat Abilities:

Knockback: target must save vs. death or be knocked back unconscious for 1 round

THAC0: +5 bonus

Damage: 1D6 + 11

 

Notes: reduced damge by 3, but now the upgraded version gains the physical resistance of the Roranach's Helm, the component used to upgrade the staff itself. Now it's both useful as an offensive and a defensive weapon.

 

Serpent Shaft +3 Done

Added 1D6 poison damage on hit to make it both more powerful and more appealing.

 

Sword of Balduran +3 Done

Equipped Abilities:

Immunity to disease

Combat Abilities:

Silverblade: +2 bonus to THAC0 and damage against lycanthropes & vampires

THAC0: +1 bonus

Damage: 1D10 + 1

 

Notes: previously unused in BG2 (which instead added another Sword of Balduran from a bonus merchant) and a plain bastard sword with +4 thaco/damage vs. lycanthropes. I've done it in a hurry, let me know if you have any better suggestion.

 

Rashad's Talon +2 Done

Combat Abilities:

Cleave: with each succesful hit there's a 10% chance of gaining one extra attack in the next round

Sunder: each hit reduces target's armor class by 1 for two rounds

THAC0: +2 bonus

Damage: 1D8 + 2

 

Notes: Cleave chance has been reduced by 10%, and Sunder effect lasts 2 rounds instead of 5.

 

Kundane +2 Done

Combat Abilities:

Quickness: +1/2 attack per round

THAC0: +2 bonus

Damage: 1D8 + 2

 

Notes: attack per round bonus reduced by half.

 

Illbratha +1 Done

Special Abilities (once per day):

Mirror Image (1 turn)

Equipped Abilities:

Translucent: +2 bonus to AC

THAC0: +1 bonus

Damage: 1D6 + 1

 

Notes: blur effect replaced with a translucent one, which grants +2 AC instead of V1's +3, but now stacks with a Blur spell.

 

Blade of Roses +1 Done

Equipped Abilities:

Charisma: +1 bonus

Combat Abilities:

Singing Sword: when swung in battle the blade sings, granting +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls, and +1 bonus to saves vs. spell to wielder and allies within 20 feet

THAC0: +1 bonus

Damage: 1D8 + 1

 

Notes: I've removed the Immunity to Silence (too much), reduced the Charisma bonus ("exploitable" for an easy discount) and I've changed the aura-like effect from an equipped ability (aura-like) to a combat (on hit) one.

 

Namarra +2 Done

Combat Abilities:

Keen: +10% chance to score critical hits

Wall of Silence: emanates silence within 15 feet on each hit, opponents must save vs. spell to avoid being affected for 2 rounds

THAC0: +2 bonus

Damage: 1D8 + 2

 

Notes: Wall of Silence has been changed from an equipped ability (aura-like) to a combat (on hit) one.

 

Belm +2 Done

Combat Abilities:

Quickness: +1/2 attack per round

THAC0: +2 bonus

Damage: 1D8 + 2

 

Notes: attack per round bonus reduced by half.

 

Purifier +4 Done

Equipped Abilities:

Magic Resistance: +10% bonus

Combat Abilities:

Holy: deals 3 additional points of damage against all of evil alignment

Cleansing: 15% chance evil creatures hit must save vs. spell at -4 or be purified by this blade, suffering various effects depending on their level

Target's Hit Dice - Effects of Cleansing

14 or more - Deafened

<14 - Blinded, and deafened

<10 - Paralyzed, blinded, and deafened

<5 - Killed

THAC0: +4 bonus

Damage: 1D10 + 4

 

Notes: damage vs. evil creatures halved, dispel on hit replaced eith the Cleansing ability.

 

Purifier +5 Done

Equipped Abilities:

Magic Resistance: +15% bonus

Combat Abilities:

Holy: deals 6 additional points of damage against all of evil alignment

Cleansing: 15% chance evil creatures hit must save vs. spell at -4 or be purified by this blade, suffering various effects depending on their level

Target's Hit Dice - Effects of Cleansing

19 or more - Deafened

<19 - Blinded, and deafened

<15 - Paralyzed, blinded, and deafened

<10 - Killed

THAC0: +4 bonus

Damage: 1D10 + 4

 

Notes: Cleansing ability, damage vs. evil creatures and magic resistance improve as the weapon gets upgraded.

 

Sword of Chaos +2 Done

Equipped Abilities:

Immunity to fear

Combat Abilities:

Anarchic: additional +6 points of damage against lawful creatures

THAC0: +2 bonus

Damage: 2D6 + 2

 

Notes: I've changed it at players request, and I didn't liked it to have vampiric effects at all myself

 

Spider's Bane +2 Done

Equipped Abilities:

Immunity to web effects

Immunity to poison effects

THAC0: +2 bonus

Damage: 2D6 + 2

 

Notes: added the immunity to poison, "nerfed" Free action to protect only against web effects.

 

Carsomyr +4 Done

Special Abilities (3 times per day):

Dispel Magic: dispels all magical effects upon any creature in a 30' radius (25th level of the caster)

Equipped Abilities:

Magic Resistance: +20% bonus

Combat Abilities:

Dispel: removes all magical effects upon the target (save vs. spell neg.)

Holy: deals 3 additional points of damage against creatures of evil alignment

THAC0: +4 bonus

Damage: 2D6 + 4

 

Notes: I've reduced Magic Resistance by 5% (down to 20% which is still a great amount), and the damage vs. evil creatures is reduced from 6 to 3 (still better than vanilla's +5 vs. chaotic evil only).

 

Carsomyr +5 Done

Special Abilities (3 times per day):

Dispel Magic: dispels all magical effects upon any creature in a 30' radius (30th level of the caster)

Equipped Abilities:

Magic Resistance: +25% bonus

Combat Abilities:

Dispel: removes all magical effects upon the target (save vs. spell at -2 neg.)

Holy: deals 6 additional points of damage against creatures of evil alignment

THAC0: +5 bonus

Damage: 2D6 + 5

 

Notes: The upgraded Carsomyr will have +5% magic resistance, +3 damage vs. evil and the old improvements to Dispelling abilities. I had to remove the "cast spell on condition" effect, thus no more Holy Aura. It's still the most heavily enchanted 2handed sword, but I think now it finally is "balanced".

[Jarno Mikkola]

GLOBAL CHANGES

Bonus Merchants

You have to make sure that the people have the Bonus Merchants in their games, so could you have a component that add them, if they don't?

ITEMS

Amulet of Spellwarding Have you any suggestion about the latter?

Immune to level x spells and below.

Robe of the Archmage ...aura which reduces opponents magic resistance and or saves?

Just make sure the auras don't cumulate, or it will be fun to see dragons getting nailed by fireballs send by 6 Archmages.

Helm of the Rock... immune to fear...10 feet radius,

Too small, as the enemies can be about 20 feat in diameter, and they do indeed use the fear. 30 Feats would be enough, but the other aura could be much smaller(10 feat).

Kiel's Morning Star...+1 AC...

As if, the user won't mind if s/he is hit, as long as s/he hit's the enemy more, so a positive AC suits better, 4 added to AC(so he is hitted more, not less). Also I would increase the enhancement level by 1, and make the user have a 5% change to berserk on hit or something.

[Demivrgvs]

You have to make sure that the people have the Bonus Merchants in their games, so could you have a component that add them, if they don't?

It doesn't matter, if they aren't there IR will add the items anyway, in the new locations.

 

Amulet of Spellwarding

Immune to level x spells and below.

Yeah, I thought about it, but an armor already does that. Will think.

 

Robes of the Archmage

Just make sure the auras don't cumulate, or it will be fun to see dragons getting nailed by fireballs send by 6 Archmages.

Indeed they wouldn't be cumulative.

 

Helm of the Rock

Too small, as the enemies can be about 20 feat in diameter, and they do indeed use the fear. 30 Feats would be enough, but the other aura could be much smaller(10 feat).

30 feet is way too much, it would mean the character causes fear on pratically everyone on screen! 20 feet is already quite extended,three times higher than Cloak of Fear.

 

Kiel's Morning Star

I would increase the enhancement level by 1, and make the user have a 5% change to berserk on hit or something.

You would make it +4? Its current enchantment level is already extremely high for an item that can be found in BG1. The user currently goes berserk on enemy sight, as per vanilla's item.

[Leomar]

For once, I've thought about making Deidre "specialized" in wands and Juluv in potions (I have to say Mike doesn't like it ). Let me know what do you think about it.

If you don't need the merchants, because you add the items of them anyway, but don't know if other mods are needing this merchants, you can left them in the game without the removed items and without other items like your wands or potions. Perhaps some normal arrows or stones... If someone talk to the merchants they can say, that they are sold off...

 

Greetings Leomar

[Raj]

If you buff the robes of archmagi can I suggest to move the good one to a different location? It doesn't make sense it's sold by a smith and that's availabe so early while you have to wait the underdark for the evil one and tob for the neutral one That and other items from the bonus merchants could suit well the svirfneblin or duergar merchants in the underdark. the -10% sr aura sounds fine anyway, as long it doesn't stack with other robes but stacks with spells that lower the sr.

 

flail of submission: no fear plz, it's annoying to run after scared enemies

 

flail of ages: elec head doesn't need further nerfs, it's found after abazigai and at that stage of the game there're few beings vulnerable to stun anyway.

 

helm of the rock: it's very easy to upgrade, afaik you find both the helm and the horns in the same level of the watcher keep so the difference between the unupgraded and the upgrade version shoudn't be drastic. Being worn by a fire giant I'd say leave the fear aura on the unupgraded one if it affects the party during that fight.

 

amulet of spellwarding: give it immunity to level 1-2 spells and give the revised gorgon plate a 10% mr to differentiate them both.

 

taralash: one extra attack/round on the upgraded version, etherealness x/day on both

 

belts: hill giants one doesn't need any buff, being sold by ribald; stone giants one is found in suldanalessar so a mini-stoneskin won't prove itself unbalancing I think ( like the ring of earth control )

[Jarno Mikkola]

Helm of the Rock

30 feet is way too much, it would mean the character causes fear on pratically everyone on screen! 20 feet is already quite extended,three times higher than Cloak of Fear.

Read it again, I said:

Too small(for the immune to fear aura), as the enemies can be about 20 feet in diameter(dragons), and they do indeed use the fear. 30 Feets would be enough, but the other aura could be much smaller(10 feet).

And with the other aura I meant the fear causing aura.

[Demivrgvs]

Robe of the Archmagi

If you buff the robes of archmagi can I suggest to move the good one to a different location? It doesn't make sense it's sold by a smith and that's availabe so early while you have to wait the underdark for the evil one and tob for the neutral one That and other items from the bonus merchants could suit well the svirfneblin or duergar merchants in the underdark.

I would have liked to move it anyway, too easily available imo, and clearly a smith isn't the most appropriate place to find an archmage's robe. Regarding the "neutral" version you're right, it shouldn't be so much more difficult to find than the other two. Being these robes the most powerful ones available (except the Larloch's one obviously) the Underdark, or Ribald's special wares seem appropriate.

the -10% sr aura sounds fine anyway, as long it doesn't stack with other robes but stacks with spells that lower the sr.

 

Flail of Submission

no fear plz, it's annoying to run after scared enemies

I can understand, any suggested replacement?

 

Flail of Ages

elec head doesn't need further nerfs, it's found after abazigai and at that stage of the game there're few beings vulnerable to stun anyway.

I was asking more in general if the FoA +5 seems ok, but I suppose only actual playtesting can attest it.

 

Helm of the Rock

Sorry Jarno, I have misunderstood. I think courage and fear auras' area of effect will probably be 20 and 10 feet radius respectively, but I haven't decided yet.

 

Amulet of Spellwarding

give it immunity to level 1-2 spells and give the revised gorgon plate a 10% mr to differentiate them both.

I fear it would be too much for an amulet. I'd prefer to select a limited number of spells against which the wearer is protected, but I'll keep this option in mind too.

Regarding the Deep Guardian's Armor, +10% magic resistance is too "common", the armor's background requires something more special imo.

 

Taralash

one extra attack/round on the upgraded version, etherealness x/day on both

Tuigan bow was considered one of the most powerful bow in vanilla's game despite having only the apr bonus...long story short, it would make this bow too powerful combined to its current bonuses and abilities.

 

Cloak of Displacement

I've decided to move its current ability to the Cloak of Mirroring (it should be a great way to nerf it while keeping it very special) and revert it back to something more similar to its AD&D version. Unfortunately it's probably impossible to reproduce the "first attack always misses" effect, thus the cloak will be very similar to vanilla's version. At least I'd like to implement it so that the blur effect will take place only in battle.

[Raj]

I don't see immunity to 1-2 so powerful, considering enemy (SCS2) mages mostly throw at you doom, magic missles, hold persons and melf acid arrow; your party could use grease/stinking cloud/web and you being immune to those is a nice thing too ( but there're tons of items with freedom and a spell for it ), and that's it; by the time enemy spellcaster cast level 1-2 spell the fight already took too long, and the plate and the amulet are both underdark items, where there're nastier mages than the common bandits.

Making it 1-3 would change a lot of things anyway

 

Bows ( let alone xbows ) are so sadly underpowered ( and bad implemented if you ask me ) in BG2 that I don't really mind about taralash, it's not my style.

Still it's a bit sad to have the tuigan bow availabe five minutes after escaping Irenicus dungeon and keep it the whole game. After defeating level 4 WK, a thing I usually do late in ToB, + having reached Akhmetran I'd hope a bow user *coff*wuss*cough* could finally get a decent weapon.

 

Flail of Submission: where did you find the background for it? I see no flail with that name in the nwn toolset. The Writ of the Vizier looks similar.

 

edit: couple flails i found on nwn

 

Heirs of Osiris

Items from the Old Empires are difficult to catalog, because they deal with events unknown to much of Faerun. For example, these flails may date from the Orcgate Wars and the killing of the deity Osiris. At the moment of the god's death his avatar fell also, shattering his weapon. When Osiris was resurrected, each piece of that broken flail supposedly became a diluted duplicate of the original, though none of this can be proven.

It's a +1, +4 vs undead weapon.

 

Kintharsta

A performer with the Circus of the Rose, Kintharsta offered a challenge to any member of the audience: to trade blows, their weapon versus his, until he or they conceded. He offered good odds and had many takers, but few could have hoped to win, thanks to the magic of his flail. He was paranoid of being caught without it, and had several copies crafted. Ironically, he was caught with the ringmaster's wife in the one situation he went unarmed, and was murdered with his flail just out of reach.

It's +2 with a blindness on hit effect.

 

The latter seems more unique and more useful.

[Demivrgvs]

Amulet of Spellwarding - Deep Guardian's Plate

I don't see immunity to 1-2 so powerful, considering enemy (SCS2) mages mostly throw at you doom, magic missles, hold persons and melf acid arrow; your party could use grease/stinking cloud/web and you being immune to those is a nice thing too ( but there're tons of items with freedom and a spell for it ), and that's it; by the time enemy spellcaster cast level 1-2 spell the fight already took too long, and the plate and the amulet are both underdark items, where there're nastier mages than the common bandits.

Making it 1-3 would change a lot of things anyway

Immunity to lvl 1-2 spells isn't too powerful per se, but it's probably too powerful for an amulet imo. The same effect has a different impact depending on the item that grants it. Having it on a heavy armor means only some characters may have it, and that they're "stuck" with that armor's AC and encumberance. Having it on an amulet instead means every character can have it, and that is much more "easily combinable" with other magical items.

Furthermore I've just remembered that "immunity to spell level" makes the wearer immune to friendly spells too, thus it doesn't suit too much the amulet, while it is perfect for the current armor's background.

 

Taralash

Bows ( let alone xbows ) are so sadly underpowered ( and bad implemented if you ask me ) in BG2 that I don't really mind about taralash, it's not my style.

You're right (with the exception of the Archer kit which rocks), but ranged weapons in IR are much more powerful, as most of them now have new special abilities, and magical ammos are improved too.

Still it's a bit sad to have the tuigan bow availabe five minutes after escaping Irenicus dungeon and keep it the whole game. After defeating level 4 WK, a thing I usually do late in ToB, + having reached Akhmetran I'd hope a bow user *coff*wuss*cough* could finally get a decent weapon.

It will be a powerful weapon.

 

Flail of Submission

where did you find the background for it? I see no flail with that name in the nwn toolset. The Writ of the Vizier looks similar.

Sorry, it was Club of Submission, but I only cared for a good background/name anyway.

[Demivrgvs]

Ok I've started to seriously work on things. I've updated the first post and will continue to do so to keep track of everything that has been done and has to be done.

 

I'd like to discuss an item which is currently very powerful but quite lame at the same time imo.

 

Belt of Inertial Barrier

I've done some research and I've happily discovered that AD&D version of the Inertial Barrier psionic power was much more interesting than its later incarnations. In 3rd edition the barrier just provides physical damage resistance to all type of weapons, while in AD&D it did the following things:

 

1) absorbs some of the potential damage from normal, magical, and magically created missiles (but not missiles conjured from pure magic/made of magical energies)

2) protects from flames (but not raw heat)

3) absorbs some of the potential damage from breath weapons

4) absorbs some of the potential damage from acid

5) slows gas (e.g. a Cloudkill would take some time to "penetrate" the barrier)

6) absorbs the impact of a fall, halving the damage

7) slows anyone entering the barrier, which has a 10 feet radius

 

This can be translated in a quite unique item imo:

 

1) as I supposed/hoped vanilla's resistance to magic damage/magic missile is clearly wrong, the resistance to missile damage instead is very appropriate

2) and 3) a good bonus to saves vs. breath is once again very appropriate

4) I don't know why it should protect from acid

5) I guess it's impossible to implement it, though it would be quite cool

6) obviously not something we need to talk about in BG

7) this is potentially the most interesting ability, it would be a small aura which slows down anyone but balancing it can be tricky (I would allow a save to avoid being slowed, and we may also make it so that the first succesful save makes the target "immune" to the barrier slow effect for the rest of the encounter)

 

I'd like to hear your opinions, but I think we can make this item much cooler than vanilla's one.

[Icendoan]

The slowing is a great idea IMO, and could really revolutionize the BG2 Tank.

 

Another interesting idea, but probably not for the belt, is to X/Day cast a spell (or even have a spell) that slows every enemy within 10' and teleports 20' away. It would be great for a getaway type spell.

 

Icen

[Salk]

I really like ability 7!

 

It *is* cool and original at the same time.

 

Let's see if you can find a way to make it happen!

[Dermit]

You mentioned perhaps changing the Blade of Searing before, going to do anything with that yet?

 

Is it possible to make a weapon disrupt regenerative effects? If so that would be in keeping with the "searing effect" idea, as something like that would cauterize wounds (Think of the Hydra). I'm not sure if that is even possible though so a simple bit of extra damage vs regenerative creatures might make sense.

[Icendoan]

With the Amulet of Spell Warding, a fun thing to do is have a chance when hit with a spell to hit the attacker with one of X spells, randomly.

 

The spell which hit you would be defused and the energy reused for your spell, so, effect, you could get hit by an Imprisonment and return a Color Spray, in effect.

 

What would be even more fun, is to choose something like 20 spells which would be reflected, randomly at install.

 

Icen

[Demivrgvs]

Belt of Inertial Barrier

Equipped Abilities:

Saving Throws: +3 bonus vs. breath

Missile Damage Resistance: +20% bonus

Inertial Barrier: opponents within 10 feet must save vs. breath each round or be slowed

 

Notes: To make it a little more cool the slow effect is applied every second instead of every round (else opponents sometimes would be able to approach and attack the wearer before making the first save), though obviously I've make sure targets have to save only once per round. I have few little things to set up which takes only seconds after being decided:

- should the slow effect also applies -1 to AC and THAC0?

- should Inertial Barrier bypass magic resistance?

 

Kiel's Morning Star +3

*CURSED*

Equipped Abilities:

Berserking: the wielder goes berserk and totally out of control whenever a fight takes place

Whirling Frenzy: +1 attack per round, +1 bonus to AC, but -2 penalty to attack rolls while enraged

THAC0: +3 bonus

Damage: 2D4 + 3

 

Notes: I've chose to make Whirling Frenzy the hard way, bonusue/penalties are only applied during combat. If you think it's not necessary, I may just apply them to the item right away, slightly making it more "low-pc fiendly" (though I don't think it makes any noticeable difference), and making sure it will avoid Raj's issue of this type of effects sometimes lasting a little after unequipping the item.

 

 

Is it possible to make a weapon disrupt regenerative effects? If so that would be in keeping with the "searing effect" idea, as something like that would cauterize wounds (Think of the Hydra). I'm not sure if that is even possible though so a simple bit of extra damage vs regenerative creatures might make sense.

I tried to implement this very effect long time ago for Werebane dagger, but I found out it doesn't work quite well. I don't remember what was the problem, I may try to give it another chance, but probably I had a good reason to abandon it.

 

With the Amulet of Spell Warding, a fun thing to do is have a chance when hit with a spell to hit the attacker with one of X spells, randomly.

This would have to be done via script, and I'm not too into it, sorry.