ex post slarto

The map is actually pretty accurate -- once you figure out which part of the icon that shows your location actually points to your location. It's not obvious (and I don't even remember without looking at it).

Standard text-messaging speak? Good god, what has the world come to, that the heritage of teletypes and relay chats is mistaken for text-messaging.

So basically, non-humanity would be a trait. Sounds balanced. In A4, 2 trait humans would be chosen over 1 trait nephils, but 2 trait nephils and 3 trait humans would each offer advantages.

TSR certainly didn't help anything -- and neither did WotC for that matter -- but I think it's the gaming community as a whole that is sexist. It's a very different kind of sexism from what we have in business or politics, one that comes more from confusion and awkwardness than domination or hatred; but it's no less ugly in expression.

Personally I'd just be happy if the Nephils weren't overwhelming better than the Sliths. Although having playable humans would be nice.

You can play with humans -- they're just close to 100% inferior to Nephils. In the end this doesn't make a massive difference outside of Torment, though.

No, you can't do that. The only games that list stuff like that in accessible text format are the Avernumscript (BoA, N:R) and Geneforge engine (G1-4, A4) games.

A lifecrafter who invests heavily in spells, and an infiltrator who invests more in Int and creations, are very similar. IIRC, the lifecrafter only starts with 1 more Int than the infiltrator does. The essence multiplier is more significant, but not hugely so, and the infiltrator does have better return on skill points for magic skills. The infiltrator will be a little hardier, which can make her a bit more flexible. The extra bit of essence for the lifecrafter can on the other hand give him a bit more brute offensive power.

Ragnarotghroth? Jormunglaahk? Qiyamahshakk? Apocavlysh?

If the Drakon is Global Wyrming, presumably the Artila can be Global Worming.

Interesting. I always compared Exile with Ultima 3, but it never occured to me to compare Avernum with the later isometric Ultimas. Huh.

What I like is the return of the old "Fly: Ceiling too low." message. Also being able to shoot melee-based monsters from the air for free. Although having an atlatl with unlimited ammunition is a little strange. I'm also confused about how getting 20 Gymnastics allows you to Fly, but getting 20 Sharpshooter just gives me this lousy "Kag Shot" battle discipline that always misses.

Parry is broken.

Nephil's Gambit, Nephil's Gambit, and Nephil's Gambit.

Camp Samuels moving is one of the more egregious differences. Most other movements can be explained by the different ways the map is represented in the games. It's unlikely that the cave walls are moving around, however slightly, either, so when Blosk moves a little west, it's not hugely noticeable. Given that the stalagmite field by the ToM in E/A 1 was supposedly built to keep the tower hidden, this seems an intentional change. However, Camp Samuels moving a long distance across a river is a bit of a stretch.

The Nine-Headed Cave Cow frowns upon thee.

#3 didn't actually have new creations. #2 did. The only new things in #3 (as far as game mechanics go) were the anvils, and Alwan and Greta (unique to #3).

A lot of quests in A4 do not affect dialog at all, particularly Job Board quests. A little message will show up when you click on the person INSTEAD of the dialogue box, saying something like "You show Jeff the Nephil's severed head. Jeff hands you a pouch of 300 coins and a silver bracelet." Are the quests still listed in your quest log? For the bat bits quest, note that you need multiple bat bits and you are not guaranteed to get one per killed bat. You may need to visit the area repeatedly to get enough.

To clarify, crystal wands are a missile weapon found late in the game; I'm not talking about wands that can be used as a potion or scroll.

Well somebody's a Ziggy fan.

Rational Mind characters can still use Crystal Wands, though, can't they? No lamps but crystal wands is hard to reconcile.

Well, Roman singletons can, it just requires an obscene number of potions and scrolls, and is much harder even with them.

Not on Torment they aren't!

Charm Beast works wonders because it also means the uncharmed monsters might attack the charmed one instead of you. The crystal equipment did not seem to offer very much protection against stoning when I tried it out (I tried it a lot) despite the claim of 80% on its info box. Anyone know what if anything it does?

Constructive criticism is one thing, and stubborn negativity is another. Personal attacks, however, are against the code of conduct. Consider yourself warned.