Nioca

Witch Hunt by Nioca BoA Small Newcomer Download @ Nioca's Citadel, Tyranicus' Scenario Archive, or the Blades Forge Out of curiosity, does Newcomer mean any scenario made by an author who hasn't done an annual contest before, or does it mean the author's first scenario?

First - Blades of Avernum Does BoA not even exist anymore? I mean yeah, sure, it's not part of the series, and it (mostly) isn't canon, but it's still an Avernum game. With the best rendition of the original trilogy engine, never-ending material, and general creativity and replay value, this easily ranks at the top of my list. Second - Avernum 3 This was the first Avernum I ever played. A decent engine, plot, and just a huge world full of stuff to find, I always enjoy a trip through this one. Third - Avernum 4 I'm almost certain that a few members will be shaking their heads at this, but I found A4 enjoyable. Despite being a repeat of A3's plot and using what effectively is the Geneforge engine, this game was still enjoyable. There was plenty of action, too, and it didn't get overly repetitive. Plus, I still think Rentar-Ihrno is the best villain in all of the Avernum games. Fourth - Avernum 2 The plot was fine in this one and there weren't any serious flaws in the design, save for one: it tried to be both linear and open simultaneously. The vahnatai appearance provided a sense of urgency that quickly petered out on the exit of the third chapter (the Empire's invading! But they're going to wait for you to kick their tan butts before they do anything else!) It went from being forced down a river to being free to do what you darn well please, which I think broke the atmosphere. That, and it was way too easy to get lost and turned around. Fifth - Avernum 5 Simply read here for my thoughts on A5. Sixth - Avernum 1 I'm sure it's great, but I just couldn't get around the engine. Probably as a result of doing A3 first.

Originally Posted By: Silver Shadow Maybe the Awakened will join the Trakovites, really. Can't see why they would disagree with each other. Well, the fact that the Awakened support shaping might be a bit of a sticking point.

Ah. Thank you. I'll have to look in Amon Sul, then.

Yeah. It could do a total of only about 400 damage a round. If I wanted that, I could just keep my regular wingbolt, haste it, and dodge all the fire resistance prevalent in the end game, all with only a fraction of the essence. Now, if it did 400 damage per hit, I'd use it. Also: Originally Posted By: Gandalf the Purple Although an Unbound kill in two hits is a little overkill. That's the idea behind a Charged Creation! They should be overkill! After all, their lifeforce is actually fueling their attacks, so it should be something really over-the-top for its tier (especially considering how pricey they are in terms of essence).

Okay, I have no idea where it's located or how to get it, but I know it's in there somewhere. Where/How do you get the Defender's Blade in Frostbite?

Meh. I thought that the charged creations weren't powerful enough. They were short-lived, to be certain, but that only achieves half of the short-lived glass-cannon equation that's supposed to be the Charged Creation. If my creation is burning its lifeforce into pure firepower, then I'd like it to be something that'd knock down an unbound in two or three hits. I mean, the Unstable Firebolt was such a disappointment.

Yes, they do. I once had a L60 monster beat out my entire party for tool use (and this was with a Nephil that had about 15 levels of tool use).

Originally Posted By: Turtle You have to talk to the traveling priest. FYT.

There is not enough profanity in the English language to express my incredible distaste for this idea. Which, for my sake and the sakes of everyone under 15 here, is fortunate. To put it bluntly, I've always liked the BoA engine as it is, save for some annoying glitches that could be fixed, and I don't want to see it tinkered with (except to remove aforementioned annoying glitches).

In the poll? Gazers. However, I've always been partial to Clawbugs, Rotgroths, and Wingbolts. All three are pretty effective (I've always found the Clawbug to level up well, Rotgroths have a freakishly powerful acid attack, and Wingbolts can annihilate anything that gets in their way). Additionally, I find that Gazers don't compare to a Wingbolt well in terms of essence efficiency, except maybe in melee. But then, I rarely take Wingbolts or Gazers into melee, so that's a moot point.

Originally Posted By: Sleeping Dragon But yeah, it would be nice if the Shapers would give the serviles freedom and equality in exchange for helping them fight off the drakons, then the best of both sides would win. That's the sort of ending I envision. The Awakened get their in with the Rebellion becoming the greatest threat to everything good and holy. They offer firepower and tactics in exchange for a treaty, and the two sides live out in... well, maybe not harmony, but cordial coexistence, anyway. Eventually, Awakened ways start to rub off on the Shapers, and they all live happily ever after. Happily being relative to the stuff happening now.

Wow. That's um... that's interesting. Someone's certainly got some time on their hands.

Oh yeah. Lazarus did it in TftTI. Ripped apart the original party, cut it down to one member, then put it back together again once the scenario was over.

Because it was Lazarus's second scenario, and no one had done that before.

Another way is to save under a new name after entering such a scenario.

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Context, Slarty, context! Here's what I actually said: Originally Posted By: A Great and Wondrous Icon of Spiderweb Software and the World Three rats at a time does not constitute a free-for-all. That's not to say A5 didn't have its free-for-alls. I just think they were executed better in A4. In A4, you had mobs. Sometimes, you could get swarmed by up to eight or nine enemies simultaneously. In A5, you got stragglers that typically came in groups of three or less. There were almost never more enemies than you could handle at once, and when there was, they were usually limited/nerfed in such a way that, in the hands of a competent player, the party was never in any real danger. There were only a few truly overwhelming moments. Thuryl then responded with this: Originally Posted By: A very Thuryl person Uh, swarms of weak monsters with nothing unique about them aren't challenging. At all. Ever. Especially in A4, when Parry was so broken that you could just send out one fighter into the middle of combat and let him get attacked 8 times per round for a total of about 20 damage. I then replied with: Originally Posted By: A Icon, Part II Who said anything about swarms of weak monsters? I didn't say a word about making them weak. In fact, the implication in the part you quoted is anything but.

Originally Posted By: Thuryl Originally Posted By: Nioca Three rats at a time does not constitute a free-for-all. That's not to say A5 didn't have its free-for-alls. I just think they were executed better in A4. In A4, you had mobs. Sometimes, you could get swarmed by up to eight or nine enemies simultaneously. In A5, you got stragglers that typically came in groups of three or less. There were almost never more enemies than you could handle at once, and when there was, they were usually limited/nerfed in such a way that, in the hands of a competent player, the party was never in any real danger. There were only a few truly overwhelming moments. Uh, swarms of weak monsters with nothing unique about them aren't challenging. At all. Ever. Especially in A4, when Parry was so broken that you could just send out one fighter into the middle of combat and let him get attacked 8 times per round for a total of about 20 damage. Who said anything about swarms of weak monsters? I didn't say a word about making them weak. In fact, the implication in the part you quoted is anything but.

Raise magic shaping. Wingbolts are better than any other (stable) creation in the game, and, despite their frail appearance, can take a surprising amount of punishment before going down. In fact, that seems to be a common vein in magic creations. Despite in-game claims that they're frail, every magic creation can hold its own when it comes to taking punishment. Heck, in GF3, I actually used Artilas as meatshields along with the usual acidic bombardment.

Originally Posted By: Slarty I have never really understood why VoDT is insulted so much in the Blades community. Insulted isn't the best term for it. It doesn't receive the awe-inspiring derision that Z-KR gets; it's just that most Blades designers consider it mediocre. I agree that it's a fun romp, but it's not something I want to play on an even semi-regular basis. Give me APF or WH instead. They're shorter, the former is considerably better, and both will level you up several times. Most people like ASR. I count myself amongst them, but not to the level of its greatest fans (or even its better fans, for that matter). I think Z-KR is fun, but that there's way too much room for improvement there. And I think DwtD has been on the short end of the stick.

Three rats at a time does not constitute a free-for-all. That's not to say A5 didn't have its free-for-alls. I just think they were executed better in A4. In A4, you had mobs. Sometimes, you could get swarmed by up to eight or nine enemies simultaneously. In A5, you got stragglers that typically came in groups of three or less. There were almost never more enemies than you could handle at once, and when there was, they were usually limited/nerfed in such a way that, in the hands of a competent player, the party was never in any real danger. There were only a few truly overwhelming moments. That's not to say that unique fights are bad. However, I consider typical RP mobs the bread of RPG combat, and unique fights the butter. Loading butter on the bread is fine, but simply spreading butter on the counter where a slice of bread should be is not.

I was really disappointed, because my first impression wound up being better than the game was. The demo was excellent, but the rest went downhill. Maybe its my BoA critiquing kicking in, but after the demo, everything felt like filler (in fact, I'm pretty sure it was filler). Slay this mage, kill this bandit, destroy this golem, and so forth, all of it only very loosely connected to the actual plot. Which, coincidentally felt like a minor revision of every other Avernum previous, IMO. Please, Vogel, I'm begging you on my hands and knees here: Do NOT create yet another villain that just sits in his/her fortress/castle waiting for you to meander on over and beat him up in a final climatic battle. Rentar-Ihrno, in my opinion, stood out because, in both A3 and A4, you could directly interact with her long before the final fight. She was the best villain in all of the Avernum games for this very reason. She wasn't a static chunk of game-winning HP; she was an actual character. Additionally, despite the "improvements" in A5's combat, I actually preferred A4's battles. Sure, individual, unique fights are fine... until they start getting stacked one after another. Suddenly, boss fights and high-level fights lose their uniqueness, and then you've just got a whole new (and, in my opinion, far worse) breed of grinding. For me, part of the excitement of a boss fight was that it'd usually be something entirely new and different. It would stand out from the rest of the game in a way nothing else could. Now? It's just another enemy, with a bit more HP and a little more firepower. Suddenly, I had nothing to look forward to at the end of an area. Sure, the engine had a couple of improvements (the battle disciplines were nice), but this didn't overcome the fights themselves. Sometimes, nothing beats a good old-fashioned free-for-all with a mob of rats. I, like many others here, also miss exploration. The linear model works well for Geneforge (though I have to admit, I liked GF1 and GF2 considerably more than I did GF3 and GF4; guess where the plots became linear ), but it does not work with the Avernum series. The entire original trilogy was based on exploration; that's why A3 is still my favorite (not counting BoA). Even Nethergate and N:R are exploration-based. Even A4 had a degree of exploration; nothing as grand as the original trilogy, but it was still there. Yet in A5, I felt suffocated by the almost straitjacket-like design. If I didn't do something, I was instantly barred from proceeding. So, in closing, I actually consider A5 a step down from A4, and I actually liked A4 more than I did A5. Here's to hoping that Jeff comes back from this to blow us away with A6.

First off, know that you're going to be gently toasted by the lasers once or twice. If I remember this puzzle correctly, you use the easily accessible mirror to free up the harder to reach mirror (they both face different directions), and then push the harder mirror into position to destroy the machinery. That's the best I can give you for now; I'll look the puzzle over and see if I can be more specific. AMEND: I almost forgot. Welcome to Spiderweb Software, and welcome to the BoA community. Are you interested in designing scenarios?

Uh, Thralni? Have you forgotten El Presidente? That was only one town, so that would be your shortest scenario ever.