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I think the ultimate irony, and perhaps insult, would be for bad adventurers to reincarnate as town guards.

No, that's bad brother design.

Yeah, this is definitely a platform/version difference. On the Mac code, the routine that puts sleep status on monsters is aborted at the start if: (which_m->m_d.m_type == 8) (which_m->m_d.m_type == 10) (which_m->m_d.m_type == 11) But on the PC code, the same routine checks instead for: ((which_m->number >= 138) && (which_m->number <= 142)) (which_m->m_d.m_type == 8) Given that Jeff doesn't seem to know which version of the Mac code he released, and given that the Mac version went through upgrades both prior to, and after, the PC version was released, it's possible that different versions of either platform's game used the alternate code.

boot camp is terrific, seriously

Never in Geneforge, then, right? Because it DEFINITELY affected item drops in Exile, as in you can see the code for it.

I don't think it's actually been confirmed that it affected item drops in G1 -- that was just the assumption many of us had when we played that game.

You are thinking correctly on all counts.

Anecdotally no one has ever noticed a real damage increase. I don't remember seeing any actual test, though. It's possible the skill does SOMEthing, just probably not a flat +10 to damage.

What nation is there that is beyond mockery? Certainly not ours.

Disgaea is so close to being right, and yet is so wrong.

Shades are constructs, not undead. Actual undead are fairly rare in Geneforge but they do exist -- ghosts and the like. I don't think the ability applies to Golems, which are shaped, after all, albeit differently from normal creations.

Avadon is going to have a party system. You only have one character who MUST be in your party at all times, but it sounds like you'll be able to use the same three characters for almost all of the game if you want to.

Is that any less true of the American system, at least up to the level of a BA/BS? You can get a bachelor's degree with remarkably low grades and minimal effort, particularly if you're at a private university.

Both give you a 5% bonus your dodge rate. Dodge rate starts at about 50% and goes up for any dodge bonuses you have (mostly from Dexterity and the like) and down for any accuracy bonuses the enemy has. Accuracy goes up faster than dodge rate does, though, so by the end of the game (or very early on at high difficulty settings) dodge rate will be close to zero or below zero.

Just the qualifier "bothers to register a message board account" already restricts you to an extremely narrow slice of Avernum players. I think my problem with how much these "player choices" are hyped up, is that they have become extremely formulaic. Picking a side was new in A Small Rebellion, and it affected most of the scenario -- that was cool. In Nethergate, it was woven into the game mechanics and having it run for an entire game, that was new too. In Geneforge 1 the moral ambiguities and factions were new, and in Geneforge 2 there were yet more represented. But since then it has kind of been old hat: minor, uninspired variations on "faction 1 vs. faction 2" with most of the game identical, a series of uninvolved* quests particular to each faction, and then one or two endgame zones that are totally different depending on what you chose. There's nothing wrong with this, mind you, it's just hard to be excited about it any more, or see it as a real selling point.

The blessing offered by Major Blessing, IIRC, is problematic, as it SETS the bless level to 8 rather than raising it by 8. Since bless is actually broken in Exile, whereas Haste is just overpowered, this is a drawback. The other bless spells just boost the bless level.

Yes, it basically adds another die to the roll, and is similar to adding points to Spellcraft or a spell skill -- but it only boosts that one spell. It should also increase accuracy by 5%, but this is not relevant for most spells. That's all it does.

No, the stat formulas in those FAQs are not 100% accurate. They are close, but a few are off.

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan EDIT: Oh man, have I got to get a copy of this. "...three giant Qur'ans appear in the sky and fire energy beams..." oh man.

Yeah, I was just going to say, Nethergate has a very nicely done escort mission -- the one in Galag-Trav.

Originally Posted By: waterplant Concepts often predate proof, often by centuries. That's true. So we can enumerate the categories of things that lack proof as follows: (1) True concepts whose proof has not yet arrived (2) Untrue concepts whose proof will never arrive Since the second category is rather gargantuously larger than the first, that assertion doesn't really help support any unproven concept. Should we be open to a baloney concept someday being proven? Absolutely. Should we kowtow to it in the meantime? Nope.

That's not exactly what you said. You implied that the paths are of similar effectiveness; I disagreed.

One of my high school classmates is now Salman Rushdie's girlfriend. Strange, but true.

We've analyzed this before. You CAN have a shaper who uses batons effectively. Strictly speaking, it won't work as well as a shaper who focuses entirely on shaping, or who uses a bit of battle magic, and it will require greater investment than either. But it is possible.

I have less patience than Niemand and I'm just going to say it's baloney. Prove it, or it's baloney, because it sounds like baloney.