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Post by Admin on Sept 25, 2015 10:38:22 GMT
Ok, onto the next level of cleric spells... (I just realized I should be looking in the DMG section on spells, as well as the PHB) These pages here compile both the PH and DMG info, as well as adding in notes from Sage Advice (a column in Dragon magazine), as well as commentary by Gygax himself: dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22333214/1/2ph/stc.htmAtonement
- undoes magical alignment shifts (Which means keeping track of the original alignment). Apart from that, I don't fully understand what this spell does. Do you? You've got the gist of it. Undoes the effects of a helm of alignment change, etc. A character who has lost their class status because of a magical alignment change (eg. paladin, ranger) will regain their class status after receiving atonement. Commune
- Lets you contact a deity and ask a question that can be answered with yes/no...what we need is a preset list of questions the cleric can ask about the adventure, that can be answered programatically by just searching information about the adventure. But I'm struggling to think of really good ones. Things like 'Is there a secret door/dragon/demon on this level', 'Is NPC X chaotic evil/dead/alive/nearby?' This question list is easier to make once one has the adventure in hand. Here is another example of how adding in certain spells is going to make adventure design a little more difficult. Insect Plague- ' a horde of creeping, hopping, and flying insects swarm in a thick cloud. These insects obscure vision, limiting it to 3". Creatures within the insect plague sustain 1 hit point of damage for each melee round they remain in it due to the bites and stings of the insects, regardless of armour class. The referee will cause all creatures with fewer than five hit dice to check morale. Creatures with two or fewer hit dice will automatically move at their fastest possible speed in a straight line in a random direction until they are not less than 24" distant from the cloud of insects. Creatures with fewer than five hit dice which fail their morale check will behave likewise'
Fun for the whole family. It has combat effects easily implementable within the current system . Remember the scarab beetles from the movie 'The Mummy'? Yep. great movie. Plane Shift
- implies we need to implement the entire AD&D multiverse. Oh boy. The more I think about it, the more it seems FRUA 2.0 needs to include a complete gameworld(s) (and multiverse!), into which people add their own dungeon modules, rather than FRUA's approach of each module being the entire universe for the game. - I just realized you can cast it on unwilling victims in combat, effectively wiping them out of the game universe, unless they have interplanar travel abilities. If it happens to a PC, it's worse than killing them - they can't be raised. Maybe we could include divination and planar travel spells from temple services and friendly mages so the party could go and retrieve their lost party member. With regards to your first comment: Yes, exactly this. What would be needed would be a lot of overland maps with random encounter tables, to start. With regards to your second comment: This is interesting, as it raises the question of split parties, and, the ability to DROP characters from the party. In standard UA, if you DROP a character from the party, they're out of the game. In UA2.0, one should be able to ADD someone who has been dropped from a party. Theoretically, commune could be used to find a party member lost via plane shift: eg. Is the character on the upper planes? Yes/No. If yes --> Is the character in 7 Heavens? Yes/No. If yes --> Which plane of the 7 Heavens is the character on? etc. Of course, the process could be simplified by the casting of multiple commune spells at once (like FIX), though this could get quite pricy. Problem is that commune isn't on the list of spells available in a TEMPLE, from the DMG: dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22333214/1/3dmg/hnctcsoud.htmTrue seeing
- the all purpose anti-illusion, anti-invisibility, anti-secret spell. Easy enough to implement. Designing good support for illusion spells like phantasmal force is going to be much harder. I'm pretty sure that this spell was in the Eye of the Beholder series. Anyway, I will get to the level 6 spells soon. Thanks again for posting! Prespos
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Post by Admin on Sept 25, 2015 12:41:26 GMT
* From here on in, I'm going to try to think of each spell from 3 different points of view. 1) Programmer's point of view 2) Adventure designer's point of view 3) Player's point of view I might not always have something to say for each of the 3 categories, but at least the above 3 provide a mental structure for thinking about these spells. Level 6 Cleric Spells** Aerial Servant ** - This is basically a fetch spell. Compare to the source code for locate object and assassinations (assassinations in the sense of hiring an assassin to take out an NPC - cf. PH.27). I think we would need some kind of a primitive search engine. - Of course, the aerial servant would have to be defined as a monster. - What happens when an NPC is brought back by the aerial servant? - Note that this one is not a combat spell: it's much harder to implement than something like conjure animals. - Can you ask the aerial servant to fetch artifacts and/or major magic items and/or quest items? - Encamp only. ** Animate Object ** - This would require making some monsters. - I do remember furniture appearing on some of the Gold Box combat maps. - See here for a list of General Furnishings. - Combat only. ** Conjure Animals ** - Very easy to do, once the animals are all statted out. (Yes, we would need a full Monster Manual done). - Compare to the source code for monster summoning. - There could be a prompt: ENTER ANIMAL NAME: If the player types in ELEPHANT, an ELEPHANT appears. - The concept of a ENTER prompt might see use for illusion spells (eg. phantasmal force etc.) as well as polymorph spells, too. ** Find the Path ** - This would have been a godsend back in the day! Remember being lost, and wandering around for hours? Spending thousands of dollars on graph paper? Literally, this one is the answer to the prayers of many UA players. - The laziest way to do this would just be to give access to the AREA map for 1 turn/level. ** Part Water ** - This one should be coded hand-in-hand with raise/lower water. - This is another example of how the game needs to be designed in cubes, not squares. From a design perspective, compare: 5x5 square = 25 square feet 5x5x5 cube = 125 cubic feet 10x10 square = 100 square feet 10x10x10 cube = 1000 square feet We would need: * air cubes (normal cubes, the default) * water cubes * earth cubes * fire cubes - Note that there are 3 modes of movement in AD&D: walking (earth), flying (air), swimming (water). - As well, we would need rules for drowning (these are in the DSG & WSG). Basically, it is CON/3 (if the character can take a deep breath), or CON/6 (if the character can't take a deep breath). This is the number of rounds that a character can survive. - Dark Queen of Krynn had underwater areas. Do you remember how it was handled in this game? ** Speak With Monsters ** - Compare to the source code for spells like tongues and speak with plants. This is another example of a TALK spell. ** Stone Tell ** - Here is another spell that places demands on the adventure designer. I would recommend applying this to an AREA map, and giving out hints. Compare to commune. Basically, there are several spells in the game that can give valuable knowledge about an AREA, and this is one of them. ** Word of Recall ** - This is going to use similar code to that of the teleport spell. - Compare to the notes for plane shift, with regards to split parties. - For the player, they need a sanctuary. Perhaps the requirement to SETTLE and then BUILD a square (cube) on the Overland map.
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Post by marainein on Sept 26, 2015 0:31:17 GMT
This question list is easier to make once one has the adventure in hand. Here is another example of how adding in certain spells is going to make adventure design a little more difficult. Which is why we need to handle as much of this as possible in the game engine, rather than pushing that complexity onto people writing adventures (although adventure writers should be able to add custom questions and answers to this list for each adventure). So, TODO - compile of a list of questions that are (1) yes/no answerable (2) generic, but useful enough that players might actually want to ask them (3) can be answered by pulling data out of the currently running game in an automated way. Did you have any particular game world(s) in mind? I've always wanted to play the classic adventure series (Temple of Elemental Evil/Slavers/Against the Giants/Drow/Queen of Demonweb Pits/S Series) in Greyhawk, and also the various Mystara modules, but never had the chance - when I got into gaming, it was all about 2E (and eventually 3E) and Forgotten Realms. I'm all for making the multiverse, and making it unlimited with randomly generated content. The sort of monstrous offspring you'd get if you crossed a roguelike game with Planescape Torment. It's something I've been thinking about for a very long time. But it's a truly epic task. Indeed. And in turn raises the question of multi-player support, and how to do it in a FRUA style game. Just like 'Guess Who?' but with extra-dimensional planes of existence, played against a god... Yes it was - and Baldur's Gate and NWN - having a spell cancel the effect of existing spells is easy.
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Post by marainein on Sept 26, 2015 1:57:59 GMT
* From here on in, I'm going to try to think of each spell from 3 different points of view. 1) Programmer's point of view 2) Adventure designer's point of view 3) Player's point of view I might not always have something to say for each of the 3 categories, but at least the above 3 provide a mental structure for thinking about these spells. Good thinking. We may want to build this into a chart eventually, with a column of notes for each of those topics, so we can see where the gaps in our grand vision lie. I'm confused by this spell - first it says the Aerial Servant won't fight, it just grabs its target, but what if the target fights back when grabbed? What's to stop me summoning one during combat and telling it 'go fetch me that mage's head'? Re: NPCs brought back - if they're considered subdued, they could be treated like captured monsters, which we talked about before. Anyway, we're looking at a feature that lets NPCs undertake quest like behavior - 'go to place X, get item Y' or 'find person Z, kill or kidnap them'. This isn't an impossible feature - real time strategy games have had similar features for many years, but it does mean having more AI than is currently in FRUA. NPCs would have to have their own activities within the game, rather than sitting passively for the players to come and interact with them as in FRUA. They'd need pathfinding abilities (probably not too hard in a FRUA style map system), be smart enough to use their special abilities to overcome obstacles in non combat situations (eg a thief needs to see that by picking a lock, he can get to his target. Or a mage casting knock). And figure out when they're stuck and need to give up or run away and report failure. 'Here, take this One Ring and go drop it into Mount Doom' Agreed. I've already mentioned the need to have proper support for items appearing in the world, objects/furnishings is just more of the same - and they'd need to appear on the combat maps as well as in the first person view. It sounds like we're going to need 3d models of every item in the game - although there are a lot of freely available 3d models on the internet we could use. I think furnishings in the gold box games were just graphics you couldn't move through...but it's a start, and adds some tactical complexity to combat. Ultima VI had an animate object spell, which made objects move around like NPCs. Or if we have pathfinding so that NPCs can move around, we could use that to tell the caster the shortest route out of the current area. I agree with everything you've said here. I'd like to do full support for underwater adventures as per the DMG pg55. And I haven't really played DQK, much as I should. And while we're on the subject of 3d - how about sloping/uneven floors and ground. Dwarves can detect sloping tunnels, which implies FRUA 2 should have sloping tunnels...for whatever reason. Is it going to interfere with FRUA's step based movement paradigm? Or we could just describe what's on the other side of the wall ("a 30'x50' room containing goblins"). And it could give information about wandering monsters in the region. So it's kind of like speak with plants, except with stones. On the subject of area view - what do you think of replacing it with an automap feature that maps out where the party has been? There could be an option to disable at the start of the game, for those people who like doing their own mapping. Divination spells could add areas to the automap where the party hasn't been yet. The spell description doesn't actually say the sanctuary needs to be the cleric's base though - just well known to the cleric. Maybe once they can cast 6th level spells, they can get a Designate Sanctuary menu option in Encamp, which needs to be set before this spell will work. Aside from that, I'd like to have the player's able to build or buy bases - where they can rest, store stuff, add fortifications, have guards and so on. (I just remembered, one of the first crpgs I ever played, way back in the 90s, a game called Deathlord had this spell in it.) Arbitrary destination teleportation spells are rare in computer rpgs, probably because a lot of plots are designed around restricting access to certain places until a given plot point has been reached.
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Post by Admin on Sept 26, 2015 2:22:00 GMT
Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Dragonlance, Kara-Tur, Lankhmar. I'd also think about making area maps for the areas in the Deities & Demigods (eg. China, Greece, India, etc.).
I'd interpret this as just as a simple check to escape for those with 18/01 STR or greater. Success = freedom, Failure = target is helpless.
The reason that aerial servant isn't great for combat is that it requires the drawing of a magical diagram.
Gradual slopes, such as those that take a dwarf to detect, wouldn't really affect movement. Steep slopes, as detailed in the WSG, are another matter entirely (according to the DSG, they require DEX checks to safely traverse).
Automapping is a great idea. However, I would disable this if the party is in darkness, and they can't see.
Anyway, thanks for the questions. If you can get the 7th level spells done, I will continue next with the 1st level druid spells.
Pres
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Post by marainein on Sept 27, 2015 0:53:38 GMT
Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Dragonlance, Kara-Tur, Lankhmar. I'd also think about making area maps for the areas in the Deities & Demigods (eg. China, Greece, India, etc.). Aren't there already areas that would be suitable for these pantheons? IE - Kara-tur for Japanese + Chinese Deities? We should make a list of 'orphan' pantheons from DDG which don't really have a home in any AD&D setting. I was thinking would there be any implications at all to gradually sloping tunnels? All I can think of is that it confuses map making. Because if there aren't any real implications to it, then being able to detect them is a useless ability. And possibly make them buy parchment to actually map stuff on. Pre-made maps themselves could become important quest goals.
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Post by Admin on Sept 27, 2015 1:08:37 GMT
One could fit the Chinese and Japanese pantheons into Kara-Tur, but technically, the pantheons of Shou Lung/T'u Lung and Kozakura/Wa are different (though there is some real-world overlap). The pantheons in the DDG (excepting the Nehwon pantheon) don't really have much of a presence in the official TSR worlds.
Good question. Why sloping corridors? It's an old concept right from the beginning of the game, when play revolved around megadungeons where each level was progressively more difficult as you went down.
If one took the stairs down to level 2, they would know that they were entering a more dangerous area. However, with a long sloping passage that slowly descends, the player would be none the wiser, and still think they were on level 1. That's the general concept, and the origin of the idea of sloping passages in (A)D&D.
Pres
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Post by marainein on Sept 27, 2015 1:10:06 GMT
Clerical Spells, 7th level edition - our motto: 'Almost at divine level guys! Just got to get to the 8th level clerical spells!'
Already in FRUA:
Resurrection
Restoration
Needed:
Astral Spell - are you an expert on extra-planar travel Prespos? As I understand it, you can move into the astral or ethereal plane while remaining close to the prime material, thus able to see what's going on there. Does this mean the astral and ethereal run entirely parallel to the prime, and are reacheable by moving in a 4th or 5th dimension?
- the PHB, DMG and of course MOTP all include a great deal of rules for extra-planar travelling that need pondering. Random encounters, psychic winds, differences in passage of time, and the all important question of 'what does this place look like?'
Control Weather - We're going to need a weather system! Wind, fog/mist, rain/snow/hail, humidity, and temperature (these can also affect your chances of contracting diseases).
Do we want it to visibly effect the terrain in the 3d view? Trees bending, flags wavering and blowing in the wind? Rain splashing over stone walls and forming puddles on the ground?
Stuff like that could be done by passing the 3d models of the walls/ground/furnishings into blender, and having it apply effects like fluids and wind to the model, and having it render a few frames to play in a loop. That could be done in the background while the game runs.
Or we could just have a message saying 'it's raining' and play some rain sounds .
Earthquake - this one would be traumatic in a dungeon. Dynamically deforming terrain is certainly possible, as is bringing down the roof so it touches the floor , changing floor levels, opening up pits in the ground. Putting cracks in or breaking apart 3d models is really a job for for 3d modelling software like blender, although it's possible to start blender in the background, have it change the model, then import the cracked/broken model back into the game while the game is still running.
- buildings need to take damage and fall over. There are rules for structure damage in the DMG, we'll probably want it integrated with our map editor so that every wall and building placed has damage points it can take.
- you mentioned fire, water, earth + air cubes before...it now looks like we're going to want mud and swamp as well...different types of earth (clay, sand, mud, rock of various types as per DMG pg106)
Gate
- Finally, a use for the beings in DDG! We'll need a way for any gods or demons summoned to decide whether they like the caster and his situation enough to help out. A point system, maybe. Fighting powerful beings of the opposite alignment would be bonus points, as would the caster having a similar alignment
- Do we need a name generator to give names to all the legions of hell? I'm interested in writing one anyway. We could also keep track of what demon names the spellcaster knows and can potentially summon.
- Should you be able to use gate outside of combat? Can you summon Orcus or Demogorgon just to have a little chat?
- What does an AD&D gate look like?
- to me, this is what high level AD&D is all about. Spend years of work, passion, and imagination building up a high level character of, grow attached to them so they're like an extension of yourself, then foolishly summon an extra-dimensional entity whose incalculable power you cannot even begin to comprehend, and have your immortal soul dragged down to the lower planes for an eternity of damnation. Yeah!
Holy Word - another easy to implement combat spell. Although I'm not sure what deafen does in game terms
Regenerate - regrows lost body parts...keeping track of which body parts you have and have not isn't hard (I think some of the Phantasie games from the 80s did it), but how do you lose them in AD&D?
Symbol - 3 effects
- hopelessness: makes victims flee in combat, can be used to be block the party's movement forward past a point out of combat
- pain: easy to implement combat penalties
- persuasion: like charm person + change alignment
Wind Walk - fast movement. Does this imply that the caster can fly? Squeeze through tiny gaps as in gaseous form? Can they still be attacked and pick things up? Can they be blown away by a Gust of Wind spell?
I've got some other commitments coming up, so I'll have to take a break from this spell stuff for a few days.
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Post by marainein on Sept 27, 2015 1:21:40 GMT
One could fit the Chinese and Japanese pantheons into Kara-Tur, but technically, the pantheons of Shou Lung/T'u Lung and Kozakura/Wa are different (though there is some real-world overlap). The pantheons in the DDG (excepting the Nehwon pantheon) don't really have much of a presence in the official TSR worlds. In that case our multiverse might include a mythic earth, based on ancient historical earth, but with magic and gods and stuff. Not unlike what Gygax did with Mythus. Which I think is sort of what you were suggesting? We could even have a modern day version of it, where hardly anyone believes in magic any more, except people who sit around playing video games and tabletop rpgs too much risk getting sucked into one of the magical settings.
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Post by Rystellin on Sept 27, 2015 1:43:40 GMT
I like the map deal. In Stone Soup, when you went to the next floor, you could see 6 squares in all directions, and as you moved, the minimap filled out your LOS permanently unless you were blinded. The Darkness isn't quite Fog of War in the same sense, and it could be Magical Darkness maybe? or extremely dark? Also, maps! I love maps. Drawing out maps is fun, and it should be easy enough if the gameboard is grids. Pre-made acquired maps is always a boon. Zelda-style Dungeon Maps? Heck yeah!
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Post by marainein on Sept 27, 2015 2:37:30 GMT
I like the map deal. In Stone Soup, when you went to the next floor, you could see 6 squares in all directions, and as you moved, the minimap filled out your LOS permanently unless you were blinded. The Darkness isn't quite Fog of War in the same sense, and it could be Magical Darkness maybe? or extremely dark? Also, maps! I love maps. Drawing out maps is fun, and it should be easy enough if the gameboard is grids. Pre-made acquired maps is always a boon. Zelda-style Dungeon Maps? Heck yeah! Ok, I'm going to find some youtube videos of people playing this paragon of roguelike games, and then try playing it, so I can have informed conversations about it.
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Post by Admin on Sept 27, 2015 12:52:16 GMT
Astral Spell - are you an expert on extra-planar travel Prespos? The name "Prespos" comes from a wizard of the Forgotten Realms, see here: forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/PresposAs a planewalker, I would imagine Prespos to be an expert in such matters, yes. Myself, I'm not an expert, and I'm supposed to be working on Manual of the Planes, the 11th AD&D book, to 'complete' the 1eo(1eOnline) site. Basically, I am held back by technical issues, in 'Limbo' right now, if you will. * Ethereal: Yes, you can see into the Prime, if you are in the Border Ethereal. * Astral: Generally, you can't see into the Prime. (The exception is Color Pools, see MP.62) Note that both run parallel to the Prime. Planescape provides a lot of detail for the planes, and it is compatible with 1E. Adding a rain or snow effect shouldn't be that difficult. In terms of design, I would just make it a priority to emulate the 1st Ed. AD&D rules, within reason. Graphics should be a secondary consideration. Once the source code is complete for the game (the difficult part), it's fairly easy for a third party to update the graphics. Note that both the WSG and the World of Greyhawk box provide weather systems. Probably not. Many of these are named in the MM2. For random fiends (see Appendix D of the DMG), a name generator would be most useful, though. Sounds like a good idea to me. Basically, up to you. I imagine it as a circle of light. Vorpal swords & swords of sharpness both can sever limbs. There is also a monster that can do this as well (Slicer beetle in the MM2). Yes, I would allow vertical movement. Yes, I would subsume gaseous form in the wind walk spell effect. No, they can't be physically attacked. No, they can't pick things up. Yes, they can be blown away by a gust of wind. That's how I would adjudicate wind walk. No worries, take your time. I'll start on the Level 1 Druid spells ASAP, in the meantime. Prespos
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Post by Admin on Sept 27, 2015 17:49:47 GMT
Druid Spells, Level 1
* I'll skip spells that were covered before. * Remember that druids need mistletoe to use their spells effectively.
Animal Friendship - this is a TALK spell. allows the druid to acquire a 'familiar'.
Detect Snares & Pits - a limited form of find traps.
Locate Animals - this will use the same same scripts as detect undead (I think there was a detect undead spell in Dungeon Hack).
Pass Without Trace - for this to be useful, there needs to be a tracking skill for rangers.
Predict Weather - this ties into the weather generation system.
Purify Water - same as purify food & drink, but only works on water.
Shillelagh - easy enough to do. enhances a club for 1 round/level.
Pres
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Post by marainein on Sept 28, 2015 4:12:37 GMT
Druid Spells, Level 1* I'll skip spells that were covered before. * Remember that druids need mistletoe to use their spells effectively. Sounds like we're going to want some tree + plant + herb support Right, like the magic user find familiar. And kind of like henchmen/followers. The gold box games limit you to 6 PCs + 2 NPCs, but there's no reason to stick to those limits. Also, what are your thoughts on multiplayer? I'd like to have a collection of pre-made traps, and solutions for overcoming them, included in the game, rather than have adventure builders have to do all the work. You know of any great lists of traps? Dragon magazine articles? Supplements? Recording tracks isn't hard to do - just have a list in every terrain cube of every being that's ever passed this way, update it every time someone moves, with time/date and direction, along with any obscuring events that have covered up the tracks (eg rain).
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Post by Admin on Sept 28, 2015 4:29:13 GMT
Also, what are your thoughts on multiplayer? I've never played the original Neverwinter Nights, which was hosted on AOL, I think. I would be interested to see how multi-player play works with the Gold Box engine. The basic list of traps is in the DMG, Appendix G. However, we'd have to come up with the game effects for these traps. Pres
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Post by marainein on Sept 29, 2015 9:57:29 GMT
Druid spells level 2 - Oak-Seer edition
Fire Trap
- a simple magical trap, the only complication being the caster and the object trapped are unaffected. Not hard.
Heat Metal
- temperature, which we already want for weather - but now it has to be attachable to objects, not just the environment. We'd also need to keep track of what objects are made out of (wood/metal/stone/bone etc - and most objects have several parts)
- it'd be awesome if this spell and other heat effects caused the metal to glow red/yellow/blue. - can also be reversed to create cold - and hey, look, there's a way to lose fingers/limbs through frostbite. How could I ever have doubted the usefulness of Regenerate?
Locate Plants
- you start off building a game about fire breathing dragons and dank dungeons and somehow end up doing botany. I wonder if there are free 3d models of common plant species on the internet?
- i suppose we could just have images of random plants, and use text to inform the player that this green stuff is really mistletoe/pine/oak/banyan/nightshade/athelas, and be randomly placed around forest maps
Obscurement
- pretty similar to darkness, but with a different look. We'll need volumetric fog, but I think that's common on 3d graphics engines
Produce Flame
- essential an attack spell, with bonus light effect. We'll need support for fire (whether objects/walls are flammable, flame travelling to adjacent things, flame being influenced by the presence of wind, air and liquid in the cube, how long until they burn up, and in the case of walls/roofs what happens when they get burned to collapse, also heat and light generated)
Trip
- another trap really. Useable both in combat and non-combat, I suppose. It's neat that not all traps have to be damage causing to be interesting. Are there game mechanics which will make us need support for creatures changing positon (prone/sitting/kneeling/standing etc?)
Warp Wood
- lets you wreck anything made of wood - doors, many weapons, boats, trees (treants?). If we have a world built of 3d models, it's easy enough to deform them programatically by applying shears or rotation curves to their meshes
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Post by Admin on Sept 29, 2015 16:28:12 GMT
* Barkskin & Charm Person or Mammal were left off of your list. These two are already 'done', in the sense of the Ironskin spell and Charm Person. It will be a simple process to modify the code for Ironskin and Charm Person to Barkskin & Charm Person or Mammal.
* Locate Plants: I'd like to all of the AD&D plants included. See DMG.J for a list. As well, different types of trees are mentioned in one of the upcoming druid spells.
* Obscurement: This spell relates to Wall of Fog.
* Trip: Yes, the AD&D combat rules account for prone combatants.
* Warp Wood: Vs. a treant? I have never thought of this before, but I don't see any reason why not. Kudos for creative thinking, here.
And, now, without further ado, here are notes on the Level 3 druid spells.
Druid Spells, Level 3
Call Lightning - Combat spell, only usable outdoors. Note the excessively long casting time (1 turn).
Hold Animal - Just a variant of Hold Person. Easy to do. In 3E, monsters have 'types' like Undead, Animal, etc. etc. We're going to have to add some kind of 'type' field to the monster stat-blocks.
Plant Growth - Basically, a combat spell that creates barriers.
Protection From Fire - This should be easy to do. I think there is already a ring of fire resistance in the game.
Pyrotechnics - Another combat spell. Note that this one has 2 forms: fireworks and smoke.
Snare - cf. Detect Snares & Pits. I'd define a snare as an outdoor trap. - Note that it is permanent until triggered, just like Fire Trap.
Summon Insects - I'm pretty sure that I remember this one from the Baldur's Gate series. A simple summoning spell for combat.
Tree - Turns you into a tree in combat. You can't attack, but neither can enemies attack you. (??)
Water Breathing - See previous notes about underwater adventuring. I'm pretty sure that there were items that granted water breathing in Dark Queen of Krynn.
Prespos
PS. See PH.40, CHARACTER SPELLS, 3rd last paragraph. Here, it is written into the game that we have some leeway with spell effects. In terms of UA2 design, this is an important concept.
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Post by marainein on Sept 30, 2015 8:47:05 GMT
* Locate Plants: I'd like to all of the AD&D plants included. See DMG.J for a list. As well, different types of trees are mentioned in one of the upcoming druid spells. I'm all for including that appendix, and every appendix. But how is it linked to the game mechanics? Or the game? FRUA and the gold box games already had a field for each monster class...it goes something like this: giant, dragon, undead, troll, snake, plant,animal. I had a more complete list from my research into poll of radiance's data structures, but I can't find those notes now. AD&D 1E didn't have a formal monster type system, did it? We may need to give it one. On the subject of lost notes - did you find the lost notes of yours that you mentioned? These spells are actually already in FRUA, to support high level rangers: frua.wikia.com/wiki/TABLESThat's a crazy casting time in a game where a lot of fights are largely decided in the first few rounds (if not the first few segments). Are we sure it wasn't a misprint? Druids do seem to love their trap spells, don't they? Ok, we're looking at the ability to create breakable barriers, both in and out of combat I presume. Non combat barriers could be handled as newly created walls, that don't completely block you, but instead require you to hack through them to pass. Much like locked doors are already handled. Ditto for the various Wall Of X spells I know are coming up in the magic user list. Yeah, I know about the quirky multiply ranges by 3 rule in outdoors situations, but it doesn't hurt to have reminders You left out Stone Shape, which has fairly epic in-game implications - the caster can basically rebuild the dungeon, subject to spell limitations. We'll want to know what each wall is made of, which I think I've already mentioned, and how thick it is (1 or 2 feet sounds right for a wall, provided there's an empty space on the other side). It occurs to me that we may gain useful insights if we actually played these games as we're designing the ultimate one. I'm going to finish Temple of Tharizdun, then tackle one of the Krynn gold box games.
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Post by marainein on Sept 30, 2015 10:00:48 GMT
Druid Spells, Level 4 - Radagast Edition Animal Summoning I- Summoning spells are easy to implement and fun in tactical combat. I can't understand why the gold box games didn't have more of them. Call Woodland Beings
- Another summon spell. In non-combat situations, it lets you have a friendly random encounter with certain forest beings? Also, the DMG classifies forests into 3 types. I presume WSG goes into more detail? Control Temperature, 10' Radius
- As previously mentioned, we need temperature support - Also, how do we give feedback to the players about temperature levels/changes? Hold Plant- According to Gary, fungi are plants. Although biologists would disagree, it does make this spell more useful. Useable against green slime, molds, shambling mounds, shriekers etc. Hallucinatory Forest
- Feels real to touch! We'll need a forest terrain generator, if I haven't already mentioned that. Plant Door
- Now this is what I think of when I think of druid spells. What does it look like? Do thickets and undergrowth bend and writhe and warp to form a tunnel of tendrils for the druid to saunter down? - Can I just say what a big fan I am of the door-in-a-creepy-old-tree trope? I now want to write an adventure based around this, somehow. Produce Fire- Sounds a lot like a puny version of fireball. Seriously, why would any high school career counsellor recommend students go into druidism rather than magic-userism, with spells like this? Protection From Lightning
- I guess each form of damage should be tagged with a damage type (lighting, fire, acid etc) , as well as intensity (normal fire, smelter heat, dragon fire) Repel Insects- This time Gary is in concordance with mainstream biology, and 'insect' here does not include spiders or centipedes/millipedes. We'll need separate monster classes for each of the arthropod subphyla.
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Post by Admin on Sept 30, 2015 11:43:56 GMT
Here's a version of the WSG: dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22333214/1/10wsg/wsg.htmI made an attempt to re-format it, and, sorry, some of the pages are a bit of a mess. Druid Spells, Level 4 - Radagast Edition Call Woodland Beings
- Another summon spell. In non-combat situations, it lets you have a friendly random encounter with certain forest beings? Also, the DMG classifies forests into 3 types. I presume WSG goes into more detail? - I do remember using this spell in BG2. Yep, this is easy to implement. - Interesting idea about friendly encounters. - The WSG basically denotes 3 forest types: taiga, temperate forest, and rainforest: dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22333214/1/10wsg/forest.htmI'm guessing that the DMG classifications are: heavy, medium, and light. We're going to need a statblock for each square on the wilderness map. Also, note that there is a bit of a disconnect between the PH/DMG and the WSG in some places. - Here's the WSG on temperature effects: dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22333214/1/10wsg/eote.htmHowever, see this one first: dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22333214/1/10wsg/wsgwii.htm#definitionThere are 3 types of temperature: effective, actual, and personal. It's personal temperature that the PCs need to be cognizant of. If you can see the UA screen in your head right now, you'll see a list of the party members, with 2 columns beside them (AC & HP). In theory, add a 3rd column for PT (personal temperature). If the person is taking heat damage, the number is in red. If the person is taking cold damage, the number is in white. - Here again is another disconnect between the WSG and prior sources, specifically Endure Heat/Endure Cold in UNEARTHED ARCANA, iirc. - With regards to the implementation of the WSG, I would suggest that we do UA2.0 (PH+MM+DMG), 2.1 (DDG), 2.2 (FF), 2.3 (MM2), 2.4 (UA), 2.5 (OA), 2.6 (DSG), 2.7 (WSG), 2.8 (MP). - Note the mention of oak and ash - See Tree. At that point, I was thinking that a person in Tree form can't be attacked, but it looks like we will need a "MM" entry for trees. - Change the dimensions to 5' wide, 10' high, and 10' per experience level long. - In terms of UA, when the druid is the active character, on the combat map, he can erase squares with vegetation in them along the path. Maybe just highlight the squares in green. As you can tell, I'm not thinking of graphics: The closer it looks like to chess, the better (theory: this is just a polarity to be considered, not a rule of any kind). - Yep, kinda puny but remember that a hit should force item saving throws under "Fire, magical". - Yep. For fire, the division in the DMG is simply "Fire, Normal", and, "Fire, Magical." - Yep. This is another example of the need for types & descriptors for each monster, as was done in 3E. Also, see the Sage in the DMG: dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22333214/1/3dmg/dmg.htmThree other notes: * I've noticed that you are over at the FRUA forum, too. Great forum. What I like about it is that people are working together, instead of getting into arguments over petty stuff like on some other boards that I won't mention here. * I've also noticed that Dungeon Craft has reached v1.00. (Sorry, I've been living in a cave for the last year or so). This is great news. My current idea is to work with the Dungeon Craft sourcecode, and the folks involved in it's creation. * Also, in terms of education & computer programming: this project would be great teaching tool. It would be interesting to get computer science faculties from universities and college onboard. How long has wikipedia been around for? Look at how big it's become. Big things can happen quickly, if one can get a large number of people working together. Any thoughts on this? Next post: Level 5 Druid spells. Prespos
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Post by Admin on Sept 30, 2015 12:42:41 GMT
Level 5 Druid Spells Animal Growth- Compare to Enlarge. No need to graphically represent this. - Level x2, HP x2, damage x2. Easy stuff. Animal Summoning II- Animal Summoning provides the base code for this. Anti-Plant Shell- Again, the need for types/descriptors in the statblocks, like in 3E. - Note that this spell provides protection from arrows and crossbow bolts. - 16' diameter, change to 15'. Commune With Nature- Outdoors only. - This can simply provide knowledge of what's in a square. - Again, each square on the overland map is going to need a statblock. Control Winds- How do we depict wind speed? I am thinking of a simple non-graphical representation. Think of the combat map. There's a lot of empty space on the right-hand side, under the name of the active combatant. We could post environmental data there. - Note that both the WSG and The World of Greyhawk set have rules for wind. Pass Plant- Note the different tree types. - Basically, this is like Dimension Door. Shouldn't be too hard to do. - Remember my earlier mention of a statblock for each wilderness square? The two basic fields will be Climate & Terrain. If terrain is forest, the types of trees will have to be noted. Transmute Rock to Mud- This is difficult, as we have to relate to what happens on the combat map -- to what happens in the 3D view and on the Area maps. I'm simply thinking of blocked or muddy cubes. - We will have to add weight to the monster statblock, or, at least, size. - Ceiling: causes a collapse - Floor: basically creates a quicksand pit. - Here's a note about the relation between UA scale and 1E scale. This spell reads 2" cube per level. That's a 20x20x20 cube in 1E. However, in UA, that is going to be a 10x10x10 cube. Basically, 8 combat cubes. This will translate to 4 cubes on the area map. - OK, we have have created ceiling collapses and quicksand pits. Both of these are going to block movement. Problem. What is the solution? READY rope & READY iron spikes? Fly or levitate on the DISPLAY screen? Wall of Fire- Probably not too hard to draw a red line through some cubes. - What we need to resolve is translating circles into cubes. (This relates to things like diagonal passages and circular rooms). - As a fire spell, this is going to involve Item Saving Throws. (This involves containers like backpacks and sacks, which protect the items within them). Prespos Time, Space, and The Four Elements
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Post by marainein on Sept 30, 2015 20:56:22 GMT
Note: I accidentally edited this post. I hit "EDIT" when I was trying to hit "QUOTE".
My apologies, Admin
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Post by marainein on Sept 30, 2015 21:44:31 GMT
Commune With Nature- Outdoors only. - This can simply provide knowledge of what's in a square. - Again, each square on the overland map is going to need a statblock. Then we'll need a thorough list of what goes in that statblock Out of combat - with words - I suggest using the ones on DMG pg 54. Also, we'll want wind direction. It can go next to the compass...somewhere. Also - sound effects for strong winds. And clouds in the skybox can scroll with an appropriate direction and speed. In combat, I suggest using graphic icons, like existing spells such as stinking cloud. Remember, Control Winds has an area of effect, and we need to communicate to the player which squares on the combat field are affected. Ok, climate, terrain, flora + fauna (and random monster encounters) Yeah...the mismatch between first person view scale + combat scale could create problems. What happens when you try and cross a 10' square in first person view that has had a 5'x5' subsection turned to mud or partially blocked by a wall of fire? I guess it depends on the size of the creature moving through the square. Should really big monsters be blocked from moving down 10' wide corridors?
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Post by Rystellin on Sept 30, 2015 21:56:43 GMT
Ok, why not just have a key to bring up the (individual, group?) character sheet/statblock? That can track more menial values like temp, while things like HP etc that are important occupy "real estate". If, for example, the PC enters an area where temp is important, why not have a temporary box pop up in the corner and update. As they leave the area, it goes away. Also, is this single player or multiplayer? Is it realtime action, or step-by-step rounds? I ask, because if human Pc's moving 6" is a single step, then would something moving 12" move 2 steps in a single round? Or do they each move full movement every round? and wouldn't that also make minimum movement difficult? I dunno. You may have these answers already. Also, check out gamejolt.com/ an indie-game site where developers post their content and the community is effectively alpha/beta testers. May be worthwhile to look into for a number of reasons, and maybe post the game there someday (unless it just skyrockets to actual publication, which we can hope for!)
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Post by Admin on Oct 2, 2015 13:09:19 GMT
But how is [Appendix J] linked to the game mechanics? Basically, it isn't. The original attempt to do something like this is found in Best of Dragon IV, in the article " Wounds and Weeds". (Original issue: Dragon 82). When I was at Dragonsfoot, I wrote a 24 hour post, straight off the top of my head, attempting to define the DMG.J herbs in terms of game mechanics. See here: prespos.freeforums.net/thread/852/df-dmg-simple-ad-herbalSimply, it just gives characters more items to find. I've heard that the Elder Scrolls game had a lot of herbs in it. Is that correct? Nope. I've attempted to address this, here, to a certain extent: prespos.freeforums.net/thread/670/df-monsters-official-hardbacks-compleatNot yet. They may be in a box of hand-written notebooks that I have over at my Dad's place. I'll check when I'm over there on Saturday. I checked the 2E PH, and the casting time is listed as "1 turn" in there as well. Yep, seems so. Perhaps useful when the party chooses the REST option. Excellent point. I'm just waiting for the new computer to arrive, before I fully jump into DUNGEON CRAFT. Prespos
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