Drayk Armitage

Against anything that isn't demonic, the Venomous Blade and Oozing Sword will usually cause more damage. The Frozen Blade does nearly as much as Demonslayer, plus has a better hit bonus and causes cursing. And if you have very high scores in Strength, Melee, and Blademaster, a Stick will do more damage.

Out of curiosity, what suggestions *has* Jeff taken?

Boy, do *I* smell a pointless challenge. "How many iron bars can you collect over the entire game?"

"If players could see Garzahd burning down giant lizards, raping houses, and riding off on women, defeating him would be more satisfying." Actually, Garzahd gets a lot of these details. I'm not sure a cutscene of him "riding off on women" would be such a good idea, hehehe. But Enla talks about his womanizing, and various others talk about what he's done, most major NPCs really. It's quite spread out, but I think Garzahd's actually one of the better developed characters in the series. Especially considering he was only really in one game

"For example, someone like Lord Rahul gets little backstory other than that he is a big, powerful shaper. Had we known more about him, his personality, etc. Rahul would certainly have been interesting and crticism far less." I want to highlight this point. Not every character needs to have an interesting story and personality, but SOMEBODY should. In Exile I and II, these people were everywhere. G3 really only has two (Litalia and Khyryk), and A4 has practically no one besides Rentar-Ihrno. Previously interesting characters, like Solberg, were shuffled into corners, if they weren't eliminated entirely (Patrick, Aimee, the dragons, for example). BOB doesn't need to have a huge backstory, but he needs to be somehow differentiated from everyone else. "I have been thinking of someday writing a whole new humorous rpg series. And, when I do, there will be a chain of quests given by Ambrose The Talking Brick." IMHO, Ambrose the Talking Brick would make a MUCH more compelling Bob than any Bob we've had since the Three Crones. Avernum has weird magic. If there's room for GIFTs surely there's room for a talking brick. (Do I smell a Sylak crossover? In all seriousness, I REALLY hope you write the humorous RPG series, Jeff! I think it would bring out some of your best assets as a game-maker.

Wow, this has turned into a really great conversation. I think Stareye's analysis is spot-on. I would add, however, that even a game that has this kind of repetitive and unoriginal general construction CAN be a really cool and creative game -- but there has to be something else about it that makes it cool. Lufia II, for example, has a basic structure more blatantly and stupidly repetitive than anything I've ever seen, and it has awful cardboard characters, yet it's a celebrated game because the combat is challenging, it has interesting widgets, and the characters do unusual things like cry, a lot, and have children. Avernum IV was Jeff's 13th game. All his games have been remarkably similar as RPGs go -- probably because he works alone. I don't think any other game designer has produced more than two or three games all by himself. The trend, however, is that the games have been getting more similar. With the exception of Geneforge 1, there haven't been any real paradigm shifts, either in terms of gameplay or story, since Nethergate (game #5). Everything has been getting more streamlined... so there is less room for cool stuff, for experimentation. It also seems that he's under a lot of time pressure. I salute him for his ability to force himself to publish. It's something that's very rare, and damn straight it's the reason Spiderweb has been so successful. But it does seem like this schedule, with close to 2 games per year plus ports, may not be the most conducive thing for innovation -- or for humor, or for intricacy of worlds. Intricacy does not mean putting in lots of details that don't matter -- a shirt and pants in every drawer that you can pick up. It means all the personal details E/A 1 and 2 had. All the wrinkles. One last comment: Avernum does seem to be picking up a little bit of that D&D good vs. evil vibe, doesn't it? Av1 (and its prehistory) are all about Grah-Hoth, and then Garzahd and Rentar-Ihrno both merge with demons... huh.

*nod* Wise words from Alo. A few bones to pick, though: Exile *2* had tuneups. Exile 3 changed things entirely. The graphics were completely redone. If you thought seeing the trees mutate in A4 was a shock, imagine having the pale gray cave floor suddenly turn neon blue. Neon blue! Every piece of text in the engine changed font and size, often drastically. Loads of new mechanics were introduced, including Spiderweb mainstays like acid and one-shot widgets like owning a house and the first job system. Athron had a sex change. The list goes on... A4 basically has a linear plot surrounded by exploration elements. I agree that the linear plot actually works decently, and I suppose it is more creative than the surface plagues. There are some nice touches, like Almaria. The problem is that the without the underlying need to gather information about a mostly unknown world in order to accomplish your goals, as in the first two games, the exploration gets extremely, extremely repetitive. Oh look, another bandit. I'll kill him. Oh look, another demon. I'll kill him. Let's find a quest reward. Anyway, I really disagree with your comment that A1 (and mostly A2) have no plots. A1 has a marvelous plot, which unfolds at the pace of the player. You're thrown into the underworld - minor plot point there! - and you gradually become more and more involved in a huge tapestry of events: the nephil and slith wars, Sss-Thsss, the legacy of the First Expedition, Erika and the other wizards, Grah-Hoth and Adze-Haakai, the destruction of Fort Remote, the Abyss and the Scimitar... it's simply that instead of moving from A to B to C to D and so on, there are a number of different plot tracks that you can follow simultaneously. In the end, most of them crisscross. The big difference is really that there's nobody telling you "now go do this." A2 preserved this "gather information and resources from all over the place" format while centralizing the main threads. The Olgai Council, Mahdavi, Micah, and Erika help frame things, but without linearizing the story. Finally, while the tactics are definitely a step up from previous games, I hesitate to call them better than fine. They are sometimes more interesting, but they are also sometimes more repetitive. That's what happens when you give all the monsters more HP than usual. Okay, I have now officially turned into an old geezer rambling about the good old days, so I'm gonna shut up.

Years ago, a foul incantatrix put a curse on all the caverns, making potions, herbs, and small items of all variety take on a different appearance every time somebody looks at them. No doubt this was part of the reason identification was so necessary in the early days of the kingdom. We should all be thankful for Rita and Patrick's scholarship -- but even they were not powerful enough to break the curse, it seems.

Alo said: "other Avernums have been more interesting in the plot department, although I think that A4 is actually better than A3 there." Dikiyoba said: "I think old-timers, if I may use that word, I disappointed because A4 is very different than the Avernum series..." Well, if you guys are old-timers, then what the heck am I? A mummy? It's worth remembering that A4 is basically the first new Avernum story that Jeff has created in almost NINE YEARS. E3 and BoE came out in 1997, and while A1-3 and BoA contained new embellishments, the vast majority of the story is not new. No doubt the man behind the curtain is very different now. I agree with Alo that A4 is on par with A3 plotwise. Actually, it reminds me a lot of E3 in general: E3 had comparable upgrades to the graphics and changes to the engine that not everyone liked, but which ultimately were very important for the longevity of the series. The story was a natural continuation of the previous game without the sorts of contextualized details that made the world of Exile so rich. It will be very interesting to see what happens in A5. Whereas A1 and 2 had heaps of loose threads leading into the next installment, A4 has pretty much nothing. The multiplicity of endings means that it will be hard to do much with a certain archvillain, and the whole Dorikas thing is frankly less interesting than the A1/2 plots that *didn't* get followed up on.

It's definitely possible to lose more than 1 AP per round, if you're heavily stunned.

The Quicksilver Bulwark. +1 AP is easily, easily, easily the most powerful item ability in the game. The Bulwark still lets you use a top caliber weapon, and it doesn't penalize your strength or deny you Gazerskin Sandals.

Also, stunning often persists for more than one round. Like all status effects, it will weaken with each passing round. However, it's cumulative, so the more heavy hits you take, the more stunning you will accrue.

*nod nod* It's very reassuring to hear you don't like the chitrachs, either. If you put more time into the graphics, though, the PC graphics should *really* be the first ones to work on. The nephil and slith graphics are nicely done -- but it's frustrating to see so many available for enemies and so few for the party. Particularly when nephils are almost categorically the most advantageous race -- 2 options leaves a lot to be desired. If nothing else, why not allow each race to choose any graphic? A nephil in a suit of armor is going to look more like an armored human graphic than a furry nephil graphic anyway. -- who you may want to ignore, since he's one of the silly people who still prefers pre-Exile III graphics. They created such a great atmosphere.

Yeah, I have to suspect that Jeff isn't alone in his misanthropy, to what degree it exists.

Yeah. Come on guys

Yeah. Come on guys

Aaahh! Synergy, I should never have doubted you. Something foul is at play here. The manual is wrong. I added a line in the door script on my testing copy of A4 to tell me what my Unlock strength is. The result goes up 1 for every point of Tool Use, and goes up 2 for every 3 points of spellcraft/etc! Synergy was correct. It also gets a bonus of 1... or a bonus of 2, with 2 points in Unlock Doors. I don't know if this is really a +1 bonus, or just a +.66 bonus -- it was enough of a chore walking through walls to Formello to buy the first two levels (hey, it's a testing copy). However, it is definitely an UD level bonus and not a flat +0.75 like the manual says.

Aaahh! Synergy, I should never have doubted you. Something foul is at play here. The manual is wrong. I added a line in the door script on my testing copy of A4 to tell me what my Unlock strength is. The result goes up 1 for every point of Tool Use, and goes up 2 for every 3 points of spellcraft/etc! Synergy was correct. It also gets a bonus of 1... or a bonus of 2, with 2 points in Unlock Doors. I don't know if this is really a +1 bonus, or just a +.66 bonus -- it was enough of a chore walking through walls to Formello to buy the first two levels (hey, it's a testing copy). However, it is definitely an UD level bonus and not a flat +0.75 like the manual says.

I'm not so sure. I think the base .75 might just be referring to the .75 you get for the first point of Unlock Doors, which you must have if you're casting the spell. If you look at Synergy's excellent data here (you may want to ignore his slightly less excellent conclusions ) we see that a level 35 door was opened by Edit: See below. Synergy's conclusions turned out to be excellent as well.

I'm not so sure. I think the base .75 might just be referring to the .75 you get for the first point of Unlock Doors, which you must have if you're casting the spell. If you look at Synergy's excellent data here (you may want to ignore his slightly less excellent conclusions ) we see that a level 35 door was opened by Edit: See below. Synergy's conclusions turned out to be excellent as well.

I believe the bonus works the other way around, Aloreal. When picking a lock, you can open a lock of strength: = Tool Use When casting Unlock Doors, you can open a lock of strength: = Tool Use + ( (Mage Spells + Spellcraft + Magery + Unlock Doors level) * 0.75)

I believe the bonus works the other way around, Aloreal. When picking a lock, you can open a lock of strength: = Tool Use When casting Unlock Doors, you can open a lock of strength: = Tool Use + ( (Mage Spells + Spellcraft + Magery + Unlock Doors level) * 0.75)

The script files contain almost all information about item types, terrain types, creature types, and attack types (except for the graphics). They also contain combat scripts and dialog. They do NOT contain information on actual terrain placement, object placement, character placement, etc. and so on. That stuff is stored in non-text form. Good luck finding and/or editing it. You won't.

1. Open up the Scripts folder (preferably on a copy of your game, and not the original) and look for "av4itemschars.txt" -- this stores most information about items. Find the entry for an item you want to modify (say, a hatchet) and then find the entry for an item that does what you want it to do (say, a stick). Most of the parameters have pretty obvious names, so just change what you need to to make the hatchet function like the stick, and voila. (One important note: if you see "import = XX" that item will "import" the parameters from another item to use as a base. If you don't, it will import the parameters from the item right before it in the file.) 2. Doubtful. 3. Also doubtful. I don't think any characteristics related to PC race are stored in the scripts.

It sounds like you may have played some of the Exile games? If that's the case, you'll be up to date on the story as the story is almost exactly the same in each of the original trilogy games. Avernum 4 tends to hit you over the head repeatedly with summaries of what happened in the older games, so you won't be confused. What you will miss out on are all the details of the world of Avernum. Avernum 4 tends to skim over many of these things. If you like intricately developed fantasy worlds à la Lord of the Rings, you might prefer to play Avernum 1 and 2 first -- the Sliths will seem less barbaric, the names of the powerful wizards you keep hearing about will mean a lot more to you, each city will have its own character, and (perhaps most significantly) the Vahnatai will seem like a real people and less like weird cartoonish supervillains.