Randomizer

Identify in Exile 2 did each item for a separate cost, where E3 did all items at once so it paid to save up a bunch for one time identifying. Avernum makes it based upon a formula of intelligence, mage level, and arcane lore so you should get better as the game progresses. A4 eliminated it completely. Actually I liked how high barter allowed you to sell junk and cursed items so you didn't waste your effort.

A First Expedition game would have no matter what you do you wind up facing a horrible death. You get to choose between: rejected by Motrax, facing sliths in the Mertis Spiral, battling demons, facing the combined nephil and slith forces, trapped in the Crypt of Drath, etc. I'd rather the first Avernum exiles establishing and mapping the caves. At least there you can survive.

You are probably just unlucky in locating him. Just check for him every time you pass through the city to look at the job board.

Actually there is a warped way to link the worlds. Consider the Vahnatai to be descendents of the original inhabitants of Sucia Island. The inhabitants split into two groups following the disaster with the ones following organic manipulation going off to the mainland to be come shapers. The ones that followed traditional inorganic crystal shaping go underground and evolve into the Vahnatai. Now the current war between the Shapers and the drakon rebels destroyed the surface world and ends organic shaping. The surviving creations either die off or evolve into the Avernum monsters. Shaping magic is lost or deliberately forgotten in the aftermath that send technology back towards the Stone Age. Some magic remains among the humans that were far enough away from the fighting like the Sholai. Since the Vahnatai go through resting periods to allow their caves to replenish, several thousands of years have past between the two periods of Geneforge and Avernum.

Shapers can create food crops, as in GF2 beyond Drypeak. The question is whether there will be unintended consequences that have occured in other shaper plants. The crops might over run the area and cause new problems. Of course there is always vlish if they can make it delicious.

You need orders and have to talk to a guard near the gate to get let inside.

Not to mention that you have to have the cursor centered on the coins to sell. If you are off too much it ignores you or tries to move the item.

I said before you have to compare the old and new creations to determine which is better. In the first few areas of GF2, I was increasing by fire creation skills faster than my creations were leveling up so it paid off to replace my cryoa with a more powerful version for the same amount of essence. It doesn't always work so you have to decide based upon your individual circumstances.

Allowing access to shaping technology to anyone with the resources to develope it would be a disaster. The Sholai when they discovered Sucia Island started experimenting without the safeguards that experienced Shapers used. This resulted in some Sholai researchers being killed by their new modified creations. That is why Shapers have so many sealed labs and barred areas to contain their mistakes until they can be dealt with safely. Even under controlled conditions mistakes escape into the world. The disease that infects the man in Fort Kentia (GF3) is one example. The trees in Drypeak (GF2) are another where something got out before it was fully tested. A war between geneforge enhanced people who are fully trained would unleash more terrors than benefits. In the rush to defeat the others there would be less concern with adequate precautions.

From Valley of the Dying Things you get some indications that the Empire was for gathering specimens and studying them. They didn't seem to care how the specimens felt as in the case of those left behind when the school closed. Although it was interesting that the Alien beasts were already being studied at the school years before the Vahnatai let them loose as a plague. This implies that R-I used existing creatures for all the plagues and that Avernum could run into those slimes and other creatures as they explore the caves. The Empire probably encountered the Vahnatai as they were setting up bases ahead of the invasion. They would have been looking for secure sites and alternate routes that they could move armies through. I wonder where the Empire teleporter base in the Vahnatai lands is located.

Not too bad, although I remember having to face a few Empire mages and golems in my fight. Still as a version of what happened it has all the main pieces of information and the important characters. It could use a bit more in the prologue explaining Erika's motivation. After all it was personal for her since Hawthorne was the one that ordered her exile.

If I remember A1 correctly, one of the rewards that King Micah offers the adventurers is to name them as heir in place of Chevyn. This shows that Micah is already looking for an alternative to his current presumptive heir. No one wanted that idiot in charge except Chevyn who was too stupid to notice how people felt about him. Even Chevyn's lizard is avoiding him, although the way the lizard's been dressed makes this understandable. By A2 when you find Chevyn's lost ring he is lacking in gratitude. He still feels that he deserves to be heir by birth. The Castle is being used as a posting for people that need to be kept out of the way from interferring in the Empire War. There is no mention of Chevyn by A3 so maybe a solution has been found. Some convient "accident" to end the question of his inheritance permanently.

ET - GF2 has a lot of descriptions of how shaper power fails to promote the improvements that you think will happen. Drypeak is being overrun by a shaper created tree that can grow, but doesn't produce useful products. Sucia Island shaping did produce a green area beyond the secret tunnel, but it is too early to tell how stable the creations will be. There are enough creation failures running around to say that opening up shaping skills will benefit more than harm. As to war producing more than peace, it depends upon the technology that you are talking about. WW II brought us the nuclear bomb, advances in radar, some improvements in medicine to keep soldiers alive, and other things to aid the war effort. In peace there is a different emphasis in how to allocate research resources. Opening up technology to everyone works only when there is a strong system in place to check abuses. That's why there is the worry about Iran getting a nuclear bomb. Having someone in control of a major destructive technology that believes he is doing God's work by using it and that surviving it this world doesn't matter doesn't compare to the Cold War where both sides wanted to survive the use of the bomb. Cannister addiction and using the Geneforge both tend to produce insane individuals that now have a different perspective about the lesser creatures (humans) that are bothering him.

I don't think the Cauldron bones come that far into Mertis unless they are chasing you. It wasn't much of a quest in terms of experience or treasure.

Kind of disappointing ending. Getting it over was a relief to me too. Someday I'll go back and finish testing another singleton.

I didn't have much trouble in Exile 3 getting around the summoned creatures, but then I hugged the walls alot until I needed to get to the controls. Going into the fight with Major Blessing, major hastes and blessings makes the party move fast enough that I could clear the distance in less than 3 turns before ending combat mode. You have to be selective in targeting only summoned creatures that block your path and forget the rest.

If there is one thing about the Council of Avernum, it's that most of the mayors hated their jobs. Blosk is a great example where the mayor would rather run her inn. Almaria as the largest city is the only one where the mayor seems to like power. Silvar's mayor is overcome by paper pushing. Cotra is mostly paralyzed. Formello relies upon the First Expedition necklace to control the people and none of the mayors there stay in power for long. Dharmon is mostly run by the military. Mertis was more concerned with business and the reoccuring undead problem. King Micah was needed to keep a central government running with a bunch of people that questioned authority. Otherwise Avernum would dissolve into a group of city states that would barely help each other against the Sliths and Nephils.

Try to get some message like the controls shut down and then start over inputing the codes from each chair. It can be frustrating because it must be done in the right order. Exile is worse than Avernum because it allows you to make more mistakes. In Avernum you can't use the controls without all the earlier quests and info. Did you find the scroll with the instructions hidden in an office? That might be causing a problem because there are some hidden flags where you have to do minor things even when you know the answers.

Use the tab key to identify people. Vorhees tends to be in the northeast corner, but he moves around. Alorael mentioned this months ago.

GF1 said that the crazed Taker cultist gained some magic powers by following a regime similar to Shaper agents. By GF2 they were altering serviles in order to bypass the rigorous training that was driving them crazy. It didn't do that much for their sanity. Loss of sanity seems to be a byproduct of gaining power without the training to prepare oneself. Maybe if properly trained one could use a geneforge without losing control.

It's part of Aran's new strategy of domination. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. With everyone using his site he can monitor the situation until the time is right.

Dorikas was just the leader of the last Darkside Loyalist base that was discovered in A4. It's implied that he was not the head of a much larger group mostly working in the Empire. After all that is the largest area and population. To them Avernum is something to keep weak and disorganized until it will be eventually crushed for killing the Great Hawthorne. Still the Darkside Loyalists had much greated potential as villians because they were a new unknown force. You didn't know until meeting Dorikas who they were and what was their goal except overthrowing Avernum. All you knew was that they were infiltrating Avernum and gaining allies. R-I was the same powerful revenge filled mage from Avernum 2 using her power to get back at whomever had taken the Soul Crystals. She didn't even care if she got the right people the first time, as long as she eventually got them.

Linda claims responsibilty for creating most (she claims all) of the plants that are credited to the Tower. She also used magic to bring the libraries of spell books down from the surface. Linda seems to have been involved from the beginning.

You have to enter the codes in the right order in order to get the message that the Portal is opening. I think you start with the south chair for entering the instructions. It took me a few tries to get it right.

There was one really good thing about Exile/Avernum 3 and that was time was important. The longer you took to get to an area and remove the plague source, the more damage the towns took. People that you needed to see would move on to new locations. Jeff would hate the extra work, but having the scripts tied directly to a day counter could alter what you have to do in the game. Take too long to reach a city and you find the Darkside Loyalists have taken control. Not this secret forts where they are plotting, but have them running things. Then you would have to sneak into a hostile area with maybe some people that might help you out and assassinate the Loyalist leader to regain control. The game would change with how long you took to play it. If you race to reach someplace earlier, then you would be weaker, but facing a different quest. Delay until you are stronger and now face a harder challenge. Now the NPC actions would have greater importance and you would have to react to their plans. No more I died in this area so I'll come back later and try again. You would have to find a solution with what you have now.