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[Ange Musicien]

MOD PROGRESS : ~60% complete

 

Rules changes : Design 100% - Code 100% - Debug 80%

Kit : Design 100% - Code 100% - Debug 70% [todo : new icons + debug HLA because of changing the mod prefix + glitterdust infinit casts]

Items : Design 100% - Code 100% - Debug 70% [todo : new icons + bug correction from Beamdog on missile weapon damage]

Romance/Friendship : Writing 65% - Code 65% - Debug 0%

Banters with party NPCs : Writing 35% - Code 35% - Debug 0%

Encounters : Writing 20% - Design 10% - Code 10% - Debug 10%

Translation to English : 0%

 

 

 

So, it's been 10 years since the last time I tried to make a mod. Forgive me but I will need your help !... A lot of help to get started. I have no clue where to begin.

 

 

 

First of all, THIS TOPIC IS FULL OF SPOILER ON HEXXAT (BG2EE) ! Don't read it if you didn't finish Hexxat recruitment quest !

 

 

 

 

Now my grandfather was a sailor 
He blew in off the water 
My father was a farmer 
And i, his only daughter 
Took up with a no good millworking man 
From massachusetts 
Who dies from too much whiskey 
And leaves me these three faces to feed 

Millwork ain't easy 
Millwork ain't hard 
Millwork it ain't nothing 
But an awful boring job 
I'm waiting for a daydream 
To take me through the morning 
And put me in my coffee break 
Where I can have a sandwich 
And remember 

Then it's me and my machine 
For the rest of the morning 
For the rest of the afternoon 
And the rest of my life 

 

 

 

 

The goal here is to make a NPC MOD about Clara, the girl who die in the beginning of BG2EE when recruiting Hexxat. I'll update informations on the first post, and pose questions on the following.

 

With this mod, the player can chose wich character, between Clara and Hexxat, he wants to keep in the party. The other one is made forever unavailable.

 

 

Clara's Stats & Class :

- Mistshadow (thief kit)

- Human

- Chaotic Neutral 

- Strength 9 / Dexterity 17 / Constitution 10 / Intelligence 14 / Wisdom 21 / Charisma 17

- Special : Clara begins with exceptionnal 5 points in darts.  

- Can be dual-classed in a cleric if she manage to get 1 INT point somehow. 

 

The Mistshadow (Thief kit) :

=== Advantages === 

- Can achieve Mastery in quarterstaffs, darts, daggers and crossbow (***)

- Gains 10% in detect illusion per level.

- Gain access to a wide variety of unique HLA.

- Can cast some mage spells :

>>> Level 1 : Can cast "Blindness" 1/day (than 1/day more per 2 levels, up to a maximum of 5/day at level 9)

>>> Level 2 : Can cast "Friends" 1/day

>>> Level 4 : Can cast "Glitterdust" 1/day

>>> Level 6 : Can cast "Shadow Door" 1/day

>>> Level 8 : Can cast "Mirror Image" 1/day

>>> Level 10 : Can cast "Mislead" 1/Day

>>> Level 12 : Can cast "Blindness" at will. (no longer limited to 5/day)

>>> Level 15 : Can cast "Maze" 1/Day

>>> Level 20 : Can cast "Power Word: Blindness" 1/Day

 

Note: dual classing from Mistshadow requires 15 INT and 15 DEX. A mistshadow can only dual class to cleric.

 

 

=== Disadvantages ===

- Must be Chaotic Neutral or Neutral Strict

- Cannot be proficient in any weapon except quarterstaffs/darts/daggers/crossbows.

- Lore doesn't increase with level. 

- Backstab multiplier increases at a slower rate than traditional thieves.

- Their HLA pool doesn't include some of the best thief HLAs : Use Any Item / Craft Potions / Craft Scrolls / Time trap / Explosion trap / Spike trap.

 

 

HLA Table : 

4 thief HLA

- Assassination (thief table) - backstab on every attack for 1 round

- Avoid Death (thief table) - HP+20, protect from death, 5 bonus saves vs death - for 5 rounds

- Evasion (thief table) - AC -4, saving throws -2, duration 3 rounds

- Greater Evasion (thief table) - AC-6, saving throws -3, movement+2, immune to normal missile, duration 5 rounds

4 new base HLA

- "Mistcaller" - May cast "Shimmerdust" at will. Shimmerdust is a slightly harder to resist glitterdust. Also opens the path to Lies & Madness masteries. Exclusive with Gambler.

- "Fog of War" - Reduces casting speed by 2. (Note: base cast speed of mistshadow spells is identical to their mage counterparts : Blindness 2, Friends 1, Glitterdust 2, Shadow Door 2, Mirror Image 1, Mislead 1, Maze 3, PWBlindness 1, Shapechange 9, Simulacrum 9)

- "Shapechange" - May cast "Shapechange" once per day. Can be taken multiple times.

- "Gambler" - May cast "Simulacrum" once per day. Also opens the path to Doubt & Bluff masteries. Exclusive with Mistcaller.

4 "Mastery" paths (12 total HLA, only 3 of them can be taken, only once each)

- "Doubt Mastery" - Grants 1 additional use of "Maze" per day. (exclusive with other "Mastery" HLA.)

- "Doubt High Mastery" - Grants 1 additional use of "Maze" per day. (require "Doubt Mastery")

- "Doubt Grand Mastery" - Grants 2 additional use of Maze per day, permanent +2 points in Wisdom, permanent +4 on all saving throws. (requires "Doubt High Mastery")

- "Madness Mastery" - Grants 1 additional use of "Mirror Image" per day. (exclusive with other "Mastery" HLA.)

- "Madness High Mastery" - Grants 1 additional use of "Mirror Image" per day. (require "Madness Mastery")

- "Madness Grand Mastery" - Grants 2 additional use of "Mirror Image" per day and permanent +2 points in Strength. (requires "Madness High Mastery")

- "Bluff Mastery" - Grants 1 additional use of "Mislead" per day. (exclusive with other "Mastery" HLA.)

- "Bluff High Mastery" - Grants 1 additional use of "Mislead" per day. (require "Bluff Mastery")

- "Bluff Grand Mastery" - Grants 2 additional use of "Mislead" per day, permanent +2 points in Charisma, permanent +2 movement speed. (requires "Bluff High Mastery")

- "Lies Mastery" - Grants 1 additional use of "Power Word: Blindness" per day. (exclusive with other "Mastery" HLA.)

- "Lies High Mastery" - Grants 1 additional use of "Power Word: Blindness" per day. (require "Lies Mastery")

- "Lies Grand Mastery" - Grants 2 additional use of "Power Word: Blindness" per day, permanent +2 points in Intelligence and Immunity to abjuration spells. (requires "Lies High Mastery")

 

 

Clara's Plot & Personnality : 

- The mod gives you the possibility to save Clara when she's about to get attacked by Hexxat. You can say something to Hexxat which will distract her an instant. (or you can keep quiet and Clara really dies) She'll bite Clara anyway and Clara appear to die. But Hexxat doesn't regain her freedom back and doesn't understand why. She's infuriated that her plan didn't work, and decide to attack you and use your blood instead. She's empowered by her semi-ethereal nature and the helm she still wore and is pretty hard to "kill".

- After Hexxat is defeated, Clara appears from nowhere. She's freed from Hexxat control but she's  only slightly different than before - her true self is still cloudy and overall strange. She explains she tried to play a game against Hexxat and lost, in the end. It defines her well - Clara is a gambler, but Clara is a loser, a beautiful loser. She's not great, she's not heroic - as Hexxat said, she's "not great, but passably skilled." Melancholic, slow-speaking, sometimes lost in its mind up to a point you don't understand what's she's saying. She might be a little mad, or she might be totally faking it. 

- If you take her in your group, you'll learn more about Clara. Most of what Hexxat said is true - she's the daughter of a farmer. Went to Athkatla to become an actress. Failed, mostly due to lack of confidence and charisma - and maybe talent, though she seems a good singer an an impressive actress. Maybe it wasn't what she expected anyway. She began to sell her body. She tooks drugs. In the end, Clara is a loser, but there's something strange about her - Clara is decieving. Clara is impossible to guess, to touch, to understand. You're not sure if she's totally stupid or smarter than you. If she's totally naive or sexually depraved. You're not sure if she lost faith in life or if she's enjoying it. Even her humour is strange - dark, spicy, always moving. Clara is doubting. Always doubting. Always questionning reality. If there's a truth, she lost it a some point - and you may lose it too. You might end up discovering she worship - though worship is not the good word for it - a small divinity lost and forgotten, killed by mask long ago. Named Leira, but that doens't ring a bell. 

- Clara has no special quest - her quest ends with the death of Hexxat. However, Clara has a special power : she lies and bluffs on a regular basis. It's not really a power, just a lot of banters in a lot of places. She helps spread the doubt in the enemy's mind ; and sometimes it might help a lot. Sometimes it might just get you in more trouble. Heh.

 

 

Rules & Items changes :

- Darts & Thrown Daggers balancing : all darts and thrown daggers now benefits from APR increase of any sort. (in fact it only really affect darts, since the only good thrown daggers were already taking full benefits) However, it is no longer possible to equip shields while darts & thrown daggers are equipped. (they are classified as 2 handed they disallow shields)

- Item in Shops : Darts+2 and +3 can now be bought in Ribald shop and Bernard shop.

- New Item : Silk Gloves (sold in thieves guild). +0.5 APR. May only be used with Darts, Daggers, Thrown Daggers, Slings and Crossbows.

- New Item : Black Velvet Gloves (obtained through a Clara banter in Brynnlaw). +1.5 APR, +2 damage with missile weapon, +2 luck. May only be used with Darts, Daggers, Thrown Daggers, Slings and Crossbows. Only usable by Clara.

- New Item : Darts of Fog +3 (sold in Ribald secret shop and on the road to forest of mir - costs a lot, but great number available). thac0 +3, damage 1D3+3. Hit target must save vs. breath weapons with a penalty of -3 or be confused for 3 round.  

- New Item : Cespenar can now modify the cloak of the stars into Cloak of the Fallen Stars to make it create 30 +5 darts per day. The cloak also grants +2 Thac0 with ranged weapons. [Cost: CloakOTS, scroll of meteor swarm, 10 000 PO]

- New Item : Cespenar can now modify the Crimson Dart +3 into Ember +3. Ember +3 deals 1D3+3 damage, +1 fire damage, and lower the fire resistance of the target by 15% for 4 rounds each time it strikes. The user can cast improved hast once per day. [Cost: Crimson Dart, scroll of fire protection, 5 king's tear, 10 000 PO]

- New Item : The "Thousand Kisses +5". This item can be found in the forest of mir. It's a Dart+5 which dealt 1D3+5 damage, +10 cold damage. Attacks per round are set to 10. The wearer takes 1 cold damage every time it strikes. The item is cursed and the wearer will go berserk every time he enters battle, attacking foes and allies alike. Can only be removed with a remove curse spell.

 

 

Banters "Lies/Bluff/Taunts" :

- In Brynnlaw, Clara has a banter in the tavern where she can taunt the assassin, saying something along the line : "don't move. I'm the second fastest dart thrower of amn. Just kidding, I'm the first." This will actually get the assassin to flee, which is a success - though it actually has an unexpected effect - there's a deadly pirate which actually IS the fastest dart thower of amn in the room. And it find the thing amusing. It immediatly attacks, throwing darts 5 times per round and can go up to 10 times per round at some point, using poisoning/stunning dart and invisibility potions. If defeated, the player can retrieve "black velvet gloves" on his cadaver, as well as some classic but nice items and a large collection of stunning darts and other kind of darts.

- [...] WIP

Edited by Ange Musicien, 16 December 2013 - 05:49 AM.

[Ange Musicien]

My first question is : what's the best way to do a cleric/thief kit ?

 

Should I make a "hidden kit" following Zyraen work ? (so dual class ?)

Should I make a thief kit and forget about cleric spells ? (which would be a little sad, but not a problem)

 

I don't want the kit to be grossly overpowered - in fact I want to make a subtle kit, so if the kit gains 1 level of each class per level, I'll need to tone down a lot of advantages. 

 

Second question is : any advice on where I need to begin ? I have really no idea of what I should do first, and how. ^_^"

Edited by Ange Musicien, 15 November 2013 - 04:45 PM.

[Dommi]

First of all, I was truly disappointed by the twist of Hexxat's quest (even if I applaud it, objectively). And all I can do now is to enjoy your project and hope you'll done it. 

 

I'll try to give my opinion even if I don't know exactly the D&D's rules.

 

About the kit, I think you should do simply let her be a pure thief. With maybe some special abilities relative to her beliefs.

I haven't finished the dialogues with the true Hexxat, so if she talks about Clara and her personallity, what I'm going to say is null and void. But why change her alignment to a neutral one ? I don't think that is necessary, when we recruit her, she is Neutral Evil (even if she appeared me more Lawful Evil). I don't see a reason to justify this changement.

 

For your second question ... Well, I'm not a modder, but I think that you must read some very long tutorials   (I know none of them in english, sorry). And your first task should be to create the character.

 

Anyway, good luck and courage for this mod !

[Ange Musicien]

Hey thanks ! Working on tons of tutorials right now.

 

To me, her alignment is just the reflection of Hexxat one. I don't see her as evil.

 

The same thing might apply to her stats by the way. If her stats are just the reflection of the ones Hexxat has with the cloak, I might as well change them. 

Edited by Ange Musicien, 16 November 2013 - 09:44 AM.

[Dommi]

Ah, I haven't seen this like that. A sort of a vampiric mind control ? Yeah, it's a good justification. I'm not agree with that (for some reasons like she is still a vampire minion and the fact that there is so few good evil thief (even with the mods) in the game). But it's a good justification.

 

Here two questions that I don't find the answers in your text :

-Is she a vampire or the Hexxat's bite doesn't work ?

-Are you planning a romance ?

[Ange Musicien]

Not a vampire. The general idea is that the little distraction gave by the PC allow her to create an illusion - and that's the illusion Hexxat is finally biting. That's the current version. Still working on it though.

 

I like the idea of a cleric/thief as it allows me to do 3 things at once :

- a neutral cleric, which doesn't exist right now in game (except, well, Anomen, but anomen is... well anomen)

- another thief, this game has not enough thieves

- a Leiran character, and I looove Leira. Plus it works nice with the idea of a rogue wanting to be an actress and the way I can develop the character

 

Not planning a romance at this point. Might happen at some point, I have no idea right now. 

[Ange Musicien]

Added some new informations regarding kit, items, banters.

 

After thinking about it a lot, I decided :

- to change base stats (as actual ones are most likely Hexxat ones and are not interesting at all)

- to change the whole thing to a thief kit, as a cleric/thief would have needed some cheesy workaround ; and bard would have added little interest in the end. 

- to make more interesting passive and HLA, but this will come at a later time - I need to think more about it

Edited by Ange Musicien, 17 November 2013 - 12:50 AM.

[Dommi]

She is not a vampire ? Good.

I stay on the idea that she sould be a thief, with kit or not, there is so few thief in the game.

 

I like the idea of her banters, you're doing a great job. I keep an eye on this subject and wishe you again good luck and courage.

[Ange Musicien]

Well, I agree, she will be a thief kit. Only dual-classable to cleric, ONLY if 1 point of Intelligence is found somewhere. Might be from HLA, from Lum the mad machine... If it's from HLA, though, you can't get wisdom bonus AND intelligence bonus, so you might prefer to use the Lum the mad machine. In every case, it implies to dual-class her very late in the game (unless you're ready to clean the watchtower early, which might prove being hard)

 

I added HLA design. 20 total HLA, 4 from thief, 4 new basic ones, and 4 "paths" of 3 HLA, where you can only take 1 path. (once you've chosen your mastery, you can't put points in any other) Masteries path specializes you in one of your most powerful spells, increases one attributes and grants you one special bonus. (except madness where the strength bonus is enough already)

 

HLA masteries paths are : 

- Doubt : Maze / Saving Throw / Wisdom

- Madness : Mirror Image / Strength

- Bluff : Mislead / Movespeed / Charisma

- Lies : Power Word Blind /  Abjuration Immunity / Intelligence

[Ange Musicien]

Due to some technical restrictions, I had to slightly change HLAs. It's for the best anyway as this new version is better.

 

"Simulacrum" is replaced by "Gambler". The Gambler is specialist in Doubt and Bluff. Confers 1 use of Simulacrum per day and opens the path to Bluff Mastery and Doubt Mastery. Exclusive with Mistcaller.

 

"Mistcaller" doesn't change either, except it now opens the path to Madness & Lies. It is now exclusive with Gambler.

 

The other ones does not change.

[Ange Musicien]

Well, if you're wondering, I might have done my job well.   

 

(don't get me wrong : she IS a girl that didn't even know what to do with her life and made lots and lots of poor decisions in life. No twist.) 

[Ange Musicien]

Well, she surely is a complex character. I don't work on simple characters.   It sure is a challenge, especially given that I never wrote a BG2 mod before and have to learn everything the hard way. That might take me some time. (time I'm not spending on my real job - which is also writing dialogs and other stuff for games, but has the clear advantage of earning me money  )

 

I'm ok with a romance option, my main problem is the time. Romance takes time, and I have already a ton of dialogs to write. Plus, I'm not sure wether or not I can meet romance expectations since romancing clara is like romancing a breeze. Her romance might be quite fun to write and to read, but I'm not even sure it can be called romance.

Edited by Ange Musicien, 20 November 2013 - 11:34 PM.

[Dommi]

I don't put romances in the case "Most important thing for a NPC mod", especially for the characters like Clara (because of her personality) where I could find more interest in classic banters and dialogs than a romance. But I never say no for one, and I have a request : it's your choice of course but if you do a romance, can you do a romance not only for female characters but for male too ?