Feo Takahari

I actually think of the characters by their default names--the shaper is "Andras" and so on. I do rename my creations, however. For instance, my most common fyora name is "Rex."

Actually, there's one other factor. In G1-3, Shapers get bonus essence compared to Guardians and Agents. It gets a bit more complicated in G4--check Matt P's walkthrough.

Originally Posted By: Vergil "Friends are just enemies who don't have the guts to kill you." Alright, I say we nominate Vergil for the "canned" title . . .

Well, people sometimes get a black screen when they buy the demo and somehow go beyond the area where the demo ends . . . Not that that necessarily has anything to do with anything, but the way these topics are set up means that if nobody responds to something, it's harder to notice that a new topic was even added and people tend to ignore it (and I have a feeling only a couple people will know enough to respond to this.)

Come to think of it, it's funny how in the early games, it takes a lot of luck and patience to steal anything valuable, but in the later games, all this stuff marked "NY" is out where you can easily pick it up and sell it for significant profits with no negative effects. Except in the case of that fellow who stops buying crystals from you if you rob him--maybe this is intended to be a lesson that stealing is wrong even if it gets you phat loot or whatever.

Originally Posted By: Rent-an-Ihrno I don't think christian symbols should be a part of Avernum. And how the hell are you supposed to fight an all-poweful god anyway? Though I really, really miss the "good vs bad"-feeling of A1+A2, bringing in angels and stuff like that would be overkill. Just having some fun--I'm a Satanist, remember? As for how one could kill a god, I remember someone posting, in response to a remark I made about religious blather in Final Fantasy IV, that the aforementioned FFIV was nothing compared to a lot of Japanese RPGs where you end up killing God in the end. Seeming Japanese might help get more people to buy Spiderweb's games (it certainly works for cars.)

Alorael: How in the name of the Divine Lucre did you find this bit of writing? I say this after learning that it is on the web page of a computer science teacher in Belgium.

Regarding plot possibilites: someone, at some point, said the only thing left to resolve is Bassikava and the Darklings. I just thought of one other thing--the original Avernum had Gra-Hoth as a mere lieutenant in a massive war between demons and . . . well, something (presumably angels.) This war has never been mentioned since, and seems to have left Avernum behind, but maybe it could return with a bang. I mean, what greater final boss to end a series than the devil himself? (Or God himself, if you choose the evil path.)

Well, in A2 I saw a bat pick up and drink a healing potion . . .

The Warrior seems to be a bit unpopular, but I like him because he so fits the way you have to play him in G4. He's this dorky-looking guy in goggles who looks like he'd be better off coming up with tactics than trying to fight an army solo, and while everyone else is commanding hordes of monsters or setting enemies on fire, he is completely outmatched by everything he faces. Yet this makes his every victory an honorable one, obtained by tactical skill rather than supernatural force, and in my opinion makes him the most fun to play of any character in any Geneforge game. I also like him because the default name "Tristam" completely fits him--Tristam was the second-best of Arthur's knights, and our own Tristam is second-best in every way, but still a hero.

Originally Posted By: Evnissyen Ghaldring: Having to plod through 10-12 areas where you get 0 XP because you didn't realize you'd been "meant" to go through there many levels earlier... is not fun... and, to be honest, it's not good game design. That's weird. I only had one such level (the one where you find the boat that attacked you in the beginning.) Maybe it's because I didn't travel in a straight line?

How do we access this thing?

I'm pretty certain Matt P did a free online walkthrough for this game. Try an internet search for "Avernum 4" walkthrough.

Trying a bit of John Varley recently. My first encounter with his work was when I found a copy of Steel Beach in the library. I only picked it up because of a cover quote from Spider Robinson saying that not even he would have attempted the opening line, which is really something considering that Robinson once began a book, "It was a dark and stormy night--when suddenly the snot ran out . . ." Anyways, Varley's opening line turned out to be "In five years, the penis will be obsolete." I'll let you decide whether that's a recommendation or a warning.

Go to the maximum distance at which your ranged attacks are effective, then count how many squares away you are.

Nobody mentioned how freeing the drake rather than killing it for its skin gets you the Farsight Cap. It's a lame item, admittedly, but it still sells for 500 coins.

Originally Posted By: Toby-Linn I don't like the weird meat either, you don't know what's in that stuff. If the monsters are eating it, then it can't be good Ugh, thanks for reminding me of Garzahd's "pantry." Just to spread the pain: inside are a whole bunch of corpses with Weird Meat piled on top of them. In theory, you could pick it up and eat it . . .

Originally Posted By: Zeviz Does having 20 luck make you completely immortal in Avernum trilogy? I thought that was changed between Exile and Avernum. Pretty much. Somebody put up some stats for it somewhere around here, I don't remember where, and it was completely broken. Then again, he didn't test it up to 20--there might be a maximum beyond which it doesn't improve your chance of ignoring blows that would kill you.

Actually, now that I think about it, it was kinda cheap plotwise to make madness a natural side effect of canisters, given that the canisters are supposed to be more than technology gone wrong and be somewhat along the lines of humanity gone wrong. It would have been much more daring to have the canisters not directly cause madness, but cause it indirectly, with the force of elevation to superiority leading by itself to contempt for the inferior. (Then again, get too daring and people quit playing in disgust. I would have quit playing something that assumed people were so easy to convert into monsters. But the popular success of quite a lot of nihilist books would seem to put me in the minority there.)

Well, it is something that you apparently use up from your body. Come to think of it, that shade on Sucia Island that talks about how the first Shapers destroyed themselves doesn't say how Shaping was invented--maybe we can argue that the first Shapers modified themselves to have some sort of essence-producing gland. If our dear Mr. Vogel permits, come the non-promised but financially likely Geneforge 6 we'll be able to stab enemy Shapers in it and make them bleed essence everywhere.

Doesn't the (one and only, as far as I can tell) online player-made walkthrough for Avernum 3 say that Elite Warrior stops improving your damage once you reach a certain maximum attack power? Apparently, no one else has experienced or heard of this, but I just thought I'd bring it up. (I'm certain this doesn't apply for 4 and 5, though, so Elite Warrior is definitely worth it in those two.)

On my way to apply for a job, I passed a bookstore and noticed that their display of recommended books had a single copy of Orcs by someone named Stan Nicholls. Intrigued by the cover quote "Buy now or beg for mercy later," I purchased it, and stayed up till midnight reading the whole thing. Overall, I highly recommend it, particularly since I think there'd be a large overlap between people who like Avernum and people who would like this book. Do be warned, though: I have never read anything more tasteless in my life (and that includes Portnoy's Complaint.) As for what I will be reading, I just checked out thirteen books from my local library. The only one anyone here would be likely to recognize is Darkly Dreaming Dexter (the source material for a certain TV show), though I think some of you might know the Otherland trilogy by Tad Williams. Before I read any of that, though, I need to make fifty-five flashcards and write ten one-paragraph essays due Monday for my history class.

As I recall, there's some way to reach every dead body in the entire game. And yes, I would notice--dead bodies are counted as containers, and I'm always mocked by unreachable loot. As for your specific question, wall-bump all over the place for secret passages, and if there's an "other side" to the mass of rock you see, try wall-bumping there as well. Those islands had a rather complicated geography.

Brilliant in terms of plot, but the classes don't sound very balanced. In particular, the Artila sounds a lot like the "Sorceror" that has been repeatedly suggested but never included in the game because it would be overpowered.

I think a lot of people might not have noticed this post, so I'll bump it up a little. As for your request, look around the previously posted topics--there seems to be a bit on the subject already.