175 replies to this topic

[T.G.Maestro]

And i still havent seen something for my LN monk to take since he isn't pure enough to want to take Golden Bell ability nor is he the type to want to poison people.

There is a problem with this Jinnai: while I can set the LUMO0.2DA to have a good-evil pair (excluded by each other), the tables cannot be set to add neautral abilities. Take a look at Planetars/Devas/Divine Interventions... only good-evil versions are present, neutral characters mostly get the (great!) opportunity to choose from the two options.

[Feanor]

Instead it becomes *very* powerful when the Monk is teamed with a Mage or Sorcerer. With one person controlling both the party can have two members acting in a friendly Timestop. Plus since everyone is 'held' in a Timestop all the Monks blows would hit....

And remember that Monks could be teamed not only with sorcerers or mages, but with thieves and their Timestop traps as well. That would be devastating for 99,99% of your foes...

[Schatten]

i already mentioned something like that to tgm from an "official" 3ed rulebook.

[Jinnai]

And i still havent seen something for my LN monk to take since he isn't pure enough to want to take Golden Bell ability nor is he the type to want to poison people.

There is a problem with this Jinnai: while I can set the LUMO0.2DA to have a good-evil pair (excluded by each other), the tables cannot be set to add neautral abilities. Take a look at Planetars/Devas/Divine Interventions... only good-evil versions are present, neutral characters mostly get the (great!) opportunity to choose from the two options.

I thought i read that there was a way to make abilities accessable or work only for very specific alignments (Like FE LG as oppessed to Any G).

[T.G.Maestro]

I thought i read that there was a way to make abilities accessable or work only for very specific alignments

If there is such method, please share the details .

[Jinnai]

I thought i read that there was a way to make abilities accessable or work only for very specific alignments

If there is such method, please share the details .

From what i understand, its been a while, the DLTC modders came up with a way because it was essential, atleast for spells, that certain spells used by those who are evil not be used even by those who are natural, same thing for netural and good.

[T.G.Maestro]

This doesn't help much at the moment.

[Jinnai]

This doesn't help much at the moment.

I'll try to get more info, but especially on their spell system they're pretty tight on how they do stuff.

[T.G.Maestro]

I'll try to get more info

That would be halpful, thanks Jinnia! Please contact me (or Littiz) via PM as soon as you find out somthing useful !

[T.G.Maestro]

I changed a few of my ideas. The new monk HLA table would have the following modifications:

Removed HLAs:
- Deathblow;
- Greater Deathblow;
- Snatch Arrows.

New abilities:

Diamond Soul (or Perfect Self)
The monk has turned himself with training and quasi-magical abilities to the point that he becomes a magical creature. For instance, 1st level spells won't affect them anymore and they can only be harmed by weapons of +2 nchantment level, or higher.

Inner Time
Inner Time is clearly the pinnacle of the monk's mental abilities. Having achieved perfect focus in their body and soul, the most experienced monks are able to slow their inner time to the point that they sense every second as a full round. This state allows them to judge things wiser and react to the surrounding world much more faster and effective.
In addition, Inner Time not simply hastens the mind, the body of the monk becomes faster too . Every spectator would find his movement and actions incredibly fast, his fists will become more dangerous than any other weapon: he gets 8 attacks/round, his damage and THAC0 get a 4 points bonus, he can catch missiles and throw them back to the attacker with the same move, and will become protected from backstabs as well.
After the duration of the ability expires (which is 3 rounds), the monk will become winded and will be unable to use any special attacks or abilities for 3 rounds.
Note that there are a few -mostly magical- creatures that are "immune" to the effects of Inner Time, since they have a similar perfect (or inborn) inner harmony.

The "Good" from the pair of Good/Evil abilities were replaced by Second Wind. The "Evil" is still Finger of Venom.

Second Wind (Good only)
*** I'm not entirely sure how to set this HLA. The first option would be to make it a vanilla Heal innate (on self only), useable once/day. The second option is to make it somthing similar Balthazar uses - it would useable once/day, and it would only activate itself if the monk gets below 25% of his max HPs.

Finger of Venom (Evil only)
Evil monks can direct their innate Ki energies in the most harmful ways. Concentrating their rage in one attack, they can transfer a deadly magical poison into the victim's body through their pointing left forefinger. If successful, this vile attack immediately reduces the target's Constitution by 5 (no save) for 5 turns. Furthermore, the creature struck by this attack will lose another point of Constitution every 2nd round for 1 turn (save vs. death to avoid this effect entirely). The monk has 1 round to make a successful attack before the harmful energy dissipates. Finger of Venom can only be chosen once.

*** About the Stances: Since I don't want to copy Balthazar's Stances and the ideas for new ones were not that fitting until now, I decided to drop the Stance concept for a while. Instead of them, I designed a new bonus HLAs, and added the Golden Bell, now available for all alignments:

Golden Bell
Monks can develop this ability after many years of training and meditation. It requires the purest of minds to achieve this state, that is why only a few experienced monks can use it.
By activating this superhuman power, the monk's body becomes nearly invulnerable to weapons for a short time - only weapons with an enchantment level of +5 or higher can harm him. The only possible drawback of this ability is that it requires significant concentration (1 round) to be activated and lasts only 3 rounds.

Insignificance
With proper and undisturbed concentration a monk can slip into a state where he becomes nearly non-existant for its surroundings, as if he would be invisible. Opponents will ignore the monk even if they stand beside him. While in this state, he can explore hostile areas, regenerate or heal himself without being noticed or attacked. Any offensive action from the monk brakes the effect of this ability. Insignificance lasts 1 turn.

Edited by T.G.Maestro, 17 May 2004 - 07:36 AM.

[Rathwellin the Bard]

I like the sounds of these HLAs. Second Wind activating automatically sounds really cenematic to me! How many times in the movies do you see the good guy get beat to a pulp, take a deep breath, and then start kicking tail himself like nothing happened.

I like it.

[T.G.Maestro]

Just created/tested the beta of Second Wind: it works wonders ! But to make it a bit more balanced, I set the HP value that triggers it to 10% instead of 25%.

Something else: I have a few problems with Diamond soul. I'm not sure, I think I'll drop the protection from +1 magical weapons effect - it isn't really fitting, and we already have a way more powerful version of this in Golden Bell. There is smothing that bothers me with the another effect though, the immunity to 1st level spells. Wouldn't this cause the 1st level innates of the monk to become unuseable?

[Rathwellin the Bard]

Just created/tested the beta of Second Wind: it works wonders ! But to make it a bit more balanced, I set the HP value that triggers it to 10% instead of 25%.

Just out of curiosity how does this make it 'more balanced?' I don't get it....

Something else: I have a few problems with Diamond soul. I'm not sure, I think I'll drop the protection from +1 magical weapons effect - it isn't really fitting, and we already have a way more powerful version of this in Golden Bell.

I can agree that it isn't needed.

[T.G.Maestro]

Just out of curiosity how does this make it 'more balanced?' I don't get it....

The 10% setting makes it harder to use, but makes it more effective at the same time. Remember, this IS a powerful ability (completely heals the monk and removes most negative effects), and its automatic nature and 0 casting time makes it VERY useful in deadly situations. But 25% can be reached quickly - 2-3 hits from a tougher opponent and woosh, there goes your Second Wind.
This is why I set itto 10%. This way it is a bit less reliable, but heals more.

[T.G.Maestro]

Since there were no bugreports in the last few days, I had a few hours to work on these modifications and test them in-game.

- I removed the weapon immunity bonus from Diamond Soul.

- Finished and revised the Finger of Venom HLA. It looks nice, with brand new inventory icons too. Note that now this ability works similar to touch attack spells like Chill Touch or Harm!

Evil monks can direct their innate Ki energies in the most harmful ways. Concentrating their rage in one attack, they can transfer a deadly magical poison into the victim's body through their pointing forefinger. If successful, this vile attack immediately reduces the target's Constitution and Saving Throws vs. Death/Poison by 5 (no save) for 5 turns. Furthermore, the creature struck by this attack will lose another point of Constitution every 2nd round for 90 seconds. The victim is entitled to a save vs. death every second round to avoid this effect. The monk has 1 round to make a successful attack before the harmful energy dissipates. Finger of Venom can only be chosen once.

- I think Golden Bell will be removed, and monks will receive a special version of the Ethereal ability (just as they should according to 3rdE). This Ethereal HLA is more powerful than Balthazar's Shadow stance, but is weaker than the similar Ethereal ability used by Illasera or Imoen.
As for the technical details:
Ethereal grants the monk complete invisibility for 4 rounds. His AC is lowered by 4, just as by the Improved Invisibility spell. Furthermore, because of the ethereal state he will become immune to weapons with +4 enchantments (and weaker) for 2 rounds and becomes immune to all Divination effects for this duration too. The drawback of the ethereal state is that the monk cannot use any of his innates as long as the 4 rounds expire.

[Feanor]

This Ethereal HLA is more powerful than Balthazar's Shadow stance, but is weaker than the similar Ethereal ability used by Illasera or Imoen.

Imoen with ethereal ability ? Where she gets this ability ? In Ascension (I played Ascension with a self-created party, so I don't know what bonuses Imoen has...) ?

Furthermore, because of the ethereal state he will become immune to weapons with +4 enchantments (and weaker) for 2 rounds

Isn't that too much for a warrior class, Maestro ? I mean, in TOB, only the Demogorgon and the Absolute Immunity spell have this immunity ? (I'm asking your opinion, Maestro, I don't want to impose anything, so don't snap me... )

[T.G.Maestro]

Imoen with ethereal ability ? Where she gets this ability ? In Ascension

Yes, in Ascension. Illasera and Imoen share this ability, it is a unique Bhaal-power. The original monkish version is weaker in many points however. Illasera's and Imoen's versions grant immunity to +5 weapons too, and immunity to all schools of magic at the same time. They receive additional 50% resistance against all forms of damage. Illasera's Ethereal is the most powerful, since she can still cast spells and use innates in that state.

Isn't that too much for a warrior class, Maestro ? I mean, in TOB, only the Demogorgon and the Absolute Immunity spell have this immunity ?

No, not for 2 rounds. It is incredibly short, and I'll make it sure that you won't run around in ToB with too many Ethereal HLAs...

[Schatten]

+1 round activation time like golden bell for etheral, please.

[Rathwellin the Bard]

+1 round activation time like golden bell for etheral, please.

I would never use it if it had this.

1 round activate for something that only lasts two rounds is too much IMO.