Aldin

I could sort of see a tactics-style idea work for Avernum, though it would mean having fewer characters that are 'yours'. Imagine an Avernum that puts you in the position of one of the castle's agents who goes into various areas of Avernum to stamp out trouble. You are given your mission and the ability to assemble your team from NPCs in the castle and potentially in the area you are going to. Any NPC that joins becomes a PC until you dismiss them. Certain skills and abilities would be more useful for certain areas, so there would be a reason to pick different people for different missions. Some 'in the area' NPCs might come back to the castle to be available permanently for future missions depending on how their plotlines resolve. XP would need to be re-tooled as well as some way to keep equipment/inventory from becoming a hassle. I do think it could be a lot of fun, actually. Among other things, it might give us a chance to play other races without having to worry so much about balance (because we couldn't twink the stats). ~Aldin

Stocking up on advantaged Nephil... +45% Giving them all archery... 20 Skill Points Providing bows... 200 Cash Never getting riposted again... priceless ~Aldin

In the giant area along the north wall is a cave with someone in it you should talk to. ~Aldin

So I elected to follow the Vahnati through the path of least resistance, and we were joined by the two fighter types as we went. I noticed the path to the south as we went by, but figured I'd just come back to it later. Now comes the question of whether I was unlucky or whether this is designed. After fighting the two demons at the bridge (same map) and finishing the fight on the far side, the two vahnati fighters planted themselves right on the bridge and would not move away. Anyone else had this experience, or were they both trying to get to the other side and it just happened to be my misfortune that they stopped in the middle? ~Aldin

Hmmm, I just might reload to kill the pylons on the way in, but probably won't - especially knowing that their range is less than mine, which is a nifty fact I wish I'd tumbled to much earlier. Thanks for the support and advice! ~Aldin, who noted in an earlier thread that he has been doing the Alorael sig thing since previous incarnations on other boards and likes Alorael partly because he does it too

So I set off the Rentar Ihrno trap and am rather annoyed. It's not that it isn't surviveable - it's just that it's SO much harder than almost anything else so far. I guess I kinda saw it coming, but still... ~Aldin, who already hated pylons _before_ the trap

I looked at two FAQs but couldn't find anything - mebbe there's nothing to find. The question is this: Are there weapon effects that aren't listed in the text box? I'm thinking of the Blessed Shortsword I just got. It's nice and all, but my steel broadsword is doing similar damage (per the text) even though it's only worth about half as much. Also, I read a comment somewhere that halberds do x4 damage? Is that right? What are the multiples for other weapons? ~Aldin

So I forgot to save the textbox I got by the door in the NW section of the chitrach underground. It said something like 'you see a map with a star marking the dead end of a cave tunnel north of Formello'. I went back and looked and found a testing area I'd missed (which maybe wasn't available before?), but no textbox that indicated I had found the same place the map had marked. I could also perhaps see this note sending you back for a certain secret there (ultimately gets you into Fort Avernum) on the off chance you'd missed it. Am I still missing what the map is refering to, or have I found it, one way or another? ~Aldin

*chuckle* 'Get naked so we can figure out what you're really worth' just seems SO inappropriate ~Aldin, who has both natural traits and is gonna have a hard time figuring out what's really going on here

*chuckle* 'Get naked so we can figure out what you're really worth' just seems SO inappropriate ~Aldin, who has both natural traits and is gonna have a hard time figuring out what's really going on here

jelly, As a fast cursor guy myself I know what you're talking about and I couldn't find a 'fix' that makes the cursor move faster. On the other hand, MANY of the things you want to do are available via keyboard. In particular, casting spells and getting items by keyboard are a BIG time savers. The only thing that kinda kills me on the mouse speed is travelling long distances where going back and forth from the main map and mini map to click through the screens is a bit annoying. ~Aldin

I'll have to say, after thinking about this thread I started watching for the effect by comparing the cost of the spells to what was actually used. Generally, at ME 9 I saved a point per spell so that level is worth about a 10-20% increase in the number of spells you can cast before a refill. As an effect of equipping items it's pretty nifty. As an effect of spending precious skill points... probably not so much. On a side note, what IS the base requirement for Magery in A4? I thought it was Int 8 / Mage or Priest 6, but that doesn't seem to give my Hedge Wizard access. ~Aldin

I'll have to say, after thinking about this thread I started watching for the effect by comparing the cost of the spells to what was actually used. Generally, at ME 9 I saved a point per spell so that level is worth about a 10-20% increase in the number of spells you can cast before a refill. As an effect of equipping items it's pretty nifty. As an effect of spending precious skill points... probably not so much. On a side note, what IS the base requirement for Magery in A4? I thought it was Int 8 / Mage or Priest 6, but that doesn't seem to give my Hedge Wizard access. ~Aldin

I have a Hedge Wizard who, between items and traits has a Magical Efficiency of 9 at level 12. Party First Aid is at 13 and, with less than 150 spell points, she NEVER runs out even though she is the sole spellcaster. Just my anecdotal evidence. ~Aldin, who has always been a fan of the post-signature blurb and is happy to see Alorael is also a fan

I have a Hedge Wizard who, between items and traits has a Magical Efficiency of 9 at level 12. Party First Aid is at 13 and, with less than 150 spell points, she NEVER runs out even though she is the sole spellcaster. Just my anecdotal evidence. ~Aldin, who has always been a fan of the post-signature blurb and is happy to see Alorael is also a fan

Quote: -Alorael, who thought about adding "except basic decency and respect for life." Then he realized that adventurers are habitually lacking in both. Which, I think, is why I get such a kick out of the woman south of Formello. ~Aldin, professionally inspecting the contents of every cupboard since 1983

Great info, thanks to all! ~Aldin

Thanks for the quick response - I understood most of that ;-) Could I clarify just a tad further though? Say a goblin is worth 12xp. My four member party kills it and gets 3xp each, right? What if one member was dead at the time the xp is rewarded - is it: a) 3xp each including to the dead dude 3xp to each living member, 3xp is lost c) 4xp to each living member, reward divvied by current party configuration Also, xp is awarded after a battle for the whole battle, right? (Or is it 'as you go'?) Finally, by your answer to my #2, the only time that, say, tool use, would give xp is if the skill use filled some other quest-type requirement. Is this correct? ~Aldin

While I am certain this must have been discussed in the past, a brief scan of the last few pages didn't turn anything up so I'll try for a new thread. Could someone clarify for me how experience works? I have several specific questions: 1) Is experience a pool that is split equally between members or is it individual based on kills? 1a) If it is a pool, does that mean that running a solo character would mean that charcter got 4x the experience they would have had as part of a 4 person team? 1b) If it is a pool and someone dies in a fight is their experience lost or is it divvied up among the surviving members? 2) Is experience given for exercising skills such as tool use, nature lore, etc? Thanks in advance for the help! ~Aldin

This may not be particularly helpful to hear, but I have no issues Alt-tabbing A4 on my XP system. ~Aldin

Just to confirm Pheonix' comment, after I registered he did NOT magically appear. No idea why he was absent. Ah well, minor speed bump in an otherwise great game. ~Aldin

Hmmm, that's unfortunate, because that looked like a likely niche to me and I know I've searched it at least five times. I'll have to check yet again, but I have little hope. Without spoiling, how important is this quest in the overall scheme of things? Is it worth restarting a game where he might exist? (I'm at the demo limit right now) ~Aldin

I suspect (having scoured Grindstone's mine) that Stanos is missing in the demo. I simply cannot find him, tab key or no tab key. When I get my registration key from Jeff I'll post again to this thread to confirm if he suddenly shows up. ~Aldin