Dantius

Originally Posted By: Triumph Did they give up and leave through the gate? Linger on somewhere in Britain? Something else? I want to make a Margaret Thatcher joke here, but I really shouldn't.

Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES Ooh, I did forget Prazac. Prazac in E3 is a real exception, but yeah, she is weak and ineffective in the rest of the series. That mayor -- Evelyn I think? -- was possibly the least competent of any Avernum mayor ever: concerned solely, it would seem, with the magical jewelry that had enchanted her. You also forgot Danette: the greatest Shaper researcher ever. Also, Learned Pinner in G2 was pretty strong.

Originally Posted By: Randomizer Most of the quest information is available through the Walkthroughs and hints in the Exile Forum header. Also you can post questions here and sometimes get the right answers. What you get are maps, hints for doing the quests, and some other information depending upon the game all in a handy paper booklet. Monster and item information isn't included. I know that the Avernum maps are online, so it's probably a pretty safe bet that the Exile ones are online somewhere, so that shouldn't be a problem. And there are item lists and walkthroughs all over the Internet, so it's probably superfluous. That said, buy the guides anyways. It's a nice gesture of support for Jeff.

Originally Posted By: Triumph I would expect it to be for the offensive use of shields, given that there's never been any kind of armor-use skill in AIMHack up to this point... Roman training! It should totally be a skill in AIMhack!

Since it's apparent that this campaign is going for an Indiana Jones flavor, the question that's not being asked here is: Does Mote have Nazis?

Originally Posted By: Heindrich1988 Speaking of gender, have you noticed that females in this game are very powerful (Erika, Carol, Rentar-Irhno etc), and often in physical roles (Miranda and several empire dervish characters). If I didn't know the game was made by Jeff, I might've thought it was designed by a feminist. Well I suppose the alternative to Erika would be a Gandalf ripoff, so I'd rather have a female non-cliche than a standard troped up uberwizard.

Originally Posted By: DokEnkephalin "Why is Jeff still making these?" $125,000 a year for every new game, plus more $$$$ for newcomers buying old games, is a convincing argument.

Originally Posted By: Sarachim How would one person craft a zeppelin alone? Or fly it? Or get enough hydrogen to fill it? Or narrate dramatically as a level 1 wizard shoots it down with a single fireball? Oh the humanity! It's burning! It's burning! Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry, but I can't... I just can't...

Originally Posted By: Randomizer Originally Posted By: Spidweb Shaking down merchants for lower prices is an option in Avadon. I always giggle when I let players use their power in obnoxious ways. - Jeff Vogel What you need to add is a secret reputation counter so halfway through the game their behavior comes back to haunt them. The merchants suddenly are out of key items, shops are deserted, .... But but... then I can't extort people anymore! Extorting people out of stuff was FUN!

Originally Posted By: Triumph Yay humor! I love the dry humor in Jeff's games. Things like the "Violators will be Toad," outside the magi offices in Fort Emergence, or even the item description of a rock in Geneforge 1. I'm glad it will continue to be a feature of the games. His description of the tone of the choices is also interesting...I wonder how it compares to Geneforge in terms of ambiguity? My favorite was the description of pants in the Avernum games: This is a pair of pants. Many great adventurers also wore pants.

I still await the game where we work for Robespierre. I'd have preferred if we sort of got to watch someone spiral down from defender of liberty to tyrant. And then, of course, killed him off and replaced him .

Originally Posted By: The Ratt I would like to clarify my first post. The word I was looking for was coincidentally/coincidence. But long discussions of the grammatical use or misue of single words in isolated posts is practically what forums are for

Originally Posted By: Rowen Are you talking about how some spells require rare/hard to find regiments to cast? I was considering trying to give Kurex a few powerful spells that required expensive material components, long casting times, etc, but then decided that 1. I had no chance of that flying and 2. It contravened the personality of the character. That said, I think it would be interesting to try that, although I guess that's what epic spells are for,

You know what Mote hasn't seen yet? Evangelizing fundamentalists. WOOO!!!!

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan No wait, I got a better idea. Dantius, you like bards, right? I am intrigued by this idea and wish to subscribe to your newsletter. Mainly so I can follow the deliveryman back to you and throttle you for even suggesting it, but still.

Originally Posted By: Lilith Being a goblin farmer isn't as easy as just planting goblins in the ground and watering them every so often, you know. Yes, you need to fertilize them. And goblins need a lot of nitrogen fertilizers to grow to maturity, so some ammonia would be a good bet for nitrogen, although you'd still be potassium and phosphorous deficient. I'd bet just force-feeding them ammonia would make the grow real fast! EDIT: Goblins are green, aren't they?

Originally Posted By: Triumph Dantius, you need to play a goblin. They are underrepresented in Mote demographically. And I think it would be fun to see you play a goblin. Goblin fighter, done, goblin theif, cliche, goblin healer, done, monk, done. I seem to be out of ideas. Let me get back to you in the morning on that one,

Originally Posted By: Goldenking However, I think that it could be classified as iron-ic. I have now lost all faith in humanity.

Originally Posted By: Lilith Another character, this one from Nalyd. Dyen is a monk with a dark past: Click to reveal.. Name: Dyen Dawes Gender: Male Race: Elf Alignment: Enlightenment Occupation: Holy Man Deity: Imaunte Strength:3 Dexterity:4 Intelligence:3 Hit Points: 13 Martial(Unarmed): 3 Composure: 2 Perception: 3 Magic(Divination): 3 Stealth: 1 Streetwise: 1 Spells: Fated Strike: Dyen looks into his fate and sees how he will live and his opponents fall. He receives a large bonus to accuracy on his next attack. (Move-equivalent action.) Glimpse of Oblivion: Dyen shows a single opponent the emptiness of the universe, stunning that enemy or making them cower in fear. Feeling the Way: Dyen lays his hands on something: a wall, an object, or person, and is shown what fate intends for him to do with it. Where to go, what to say, how to use it. Results may vary. Backstory: Dyen Dawes was born to two deeply religious adherents of Mariona on a faraway island, who interpreted her domain of peace as being peace of the mind and the spirit, complete calm within and without, and saw a way to this peace in the pursuit of martial arts. They raised him until the age of 14 to also be a vessel for peace, until he was selected as one apprentice of many by a wealthy and powerful Mage-Prince. He chose to be trained in Divination, seeing it as another path to enlightenment and thus the inner peace of the spirit. That island was conquered by a neighbor when Dyen was 19, his parents, the Mage-Prince, and his fellow apprentices killed in the sacking of the city. Dyen, afraid, submitted to the invaders while defending the city and was captured to be used as a slave on the island of the invaders. While sailing back, Dyen used the magic he had hidden from the invaders to escape from his chains and swam for a day and a night to return to his home. He discovered only death there, as the invaders had butchered or enslaved everyone, and looted everything. The butchered bodies of his parents, peers, and benefactor showed him that peace is a lie, and Mariona is nothing but a cruel succubus, seducing her followers with that lie. His burned city and the island emptied of innocent souls showed him that there was no order to the universe, that only fate's whims meant anything. He turned from Mariona and to Imaunte, seeking no longer for inner peace but for oneness with fate, to be of it and know it, that he might change it. He made the shattered palace his home, watching as the wilderness slowly overgrew the ruins, meditating upon fate and using his magic to try and pierce it's shrouds. Travelers eventually came to the ruins, to scavenge or try to resettle, and Dyen became known as an Oracle of Imaunte. These travelers brought him news, and he gave them glimpses of fate. When that news they brought told him of the City of Hope, he looked into his own fate and saw that very place in his future. He heard the call of Imaunte, and as a holy man he wished to see the holy city. He knows not what he seeks, but knows that something awaits him in the ancient, risen metropolis. Agh! I was going to run a monk! Curse you!

Hm. Should I join? *rolls 1d20* Yes! I'm in! I'll send you a character sheet ASAP, by which I mean tomorrow.

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan Speaking of judges, now is the time for all good people to come to the aid of their community. Post here if you want to be a judge, and you'll be sent the contest e-mail password and further instructions once the submission deadline passes. Also willing to judge since I didn't submit an entry.

Originally Posted By: Lilith Oh, I thought that one ended already. Yeah, if you're going to steal my system you might want to at least have the courtesy to wait until it's forgotten so nobody notices

Originally Posted By: Nioca Two reasons: First, it inspires people to pump whatever Martial skill they have like crazy. Second, because to actually get any abilities, you'd have to follow a mindset like the one presented in my first point and blow skill points like crazy. Remind me why this is bad again? You were saying that this doesn't encourage generalization, but if you're getting abilities, then you can just use those to diversify your combat and perhaps noncombat prowess. Also, can we please just bite the bullet and call them "feats"? Because I'm tired of juggling abilities, perks, battle diciplines, and so on, when there's a nice word with all the connotations we want already perfectly formed.

Originally Posted By: Nioca Originally Posted By: Dantius So would wizards get these too? Because how would we draw an arbitrary line between "fighters" and "wizards"? If they have points in Martial, are they a fighter? If they have points in any magic skill, are they a wizard? How would that work? Who says a line would need to be drawn? I don't see why a battlemage couldn't have both spells AND martial abilities. This sort of thing would likely balance itself out; Yes, a battlemage would have both martial abilities and spells. However, because their martial skill isn't as strong, their abilities aren't as strong, and because they've got a martial focus, their spells likely won't be as strong and they'll likely have fewer spell slots. How about instead of basing it off level, you base it off of points in the requisite Martial skill? Perhaps skill/2 would be how many abilities you got, and so forth. That way you wouldn't have a level 12 wizard with a half dozen abilities even though he's only got 2 points in Staves.

I think we had a What Are You Listenng To topic, but it was either purged when Grneral was or is locked on page 12 or thereabouts. That said, I'm in a bit of a Rachmaninhoff (sp?) mood lately, mainly piano concertos number 2 and 3. I also listened to some Vierne pretty recently, although my heart still lies with Wagner and Liszt.