wackypanda

Ganduv's Inventory Editor, linked from the G5 strategy central, can give you living tools. You could use it for that and not anything else.

I'd like a way to switch the default attack of ranged creations from ranged to melee. If I'm fielding cryoas and fighting cold-immune shades, for example, it's annoying to manually make the cryoas close to melee. Also, there should be a way to switch Greta's attack types when she upgrades. It was annoying to face so many magic-resistant enemies right after upgrading her from Firebolt to the magic/acid Searer.

Yes, the G2 creations were all rebel designs. In G4 the Shapers could plausibly catch up, as other posters explained earlier, since in G4 the Shapers are managing to push the rebels back. It just seems odd to me that the rebels apparently haven't made anything new (apart from the Unbound) since G2, even in G3 when the rebels are at the peak of their military strength (and it seriously does no credit to the Shapers or the rebels that this peak was achieved basically by spamming spawners). Re: combat disciplines/combat activated abilities, they would also add to the game by increasing the temptation to use canisters when playing a combat-strong class. A combat-weak class (Shaper/Lifecrafter or Sorceress) wants to learn both spells and creations, while a combat-mid or combat-strong class doesn't get as much use out of one of those spheres and can more easily afford to go without canisters.

That also makes sense. I guess I'd just like to see one or two (if not all) of the new creations being rebel creations, since that was supposed to be their advantage, while the Shapers' main advantage is their greater experience. Re: combat disciplines, I haven't played the Avernum remakes, so I have no informed opinion about whether I'd like that system. I believe someone suggested earlier that they could be essentially spells which get bonuses from Melee Weapons and Missile Weapons. The other thing that would make combat-heavy characters interesting is if offensive consumables (wands, crystals, etc.) scaled with Missile Weapons. When playing as a servile in G4, I really liked the variety of effects I could pull out of my pack that way. I'm aware that offensive consumables have generally not scaled with any stat in the games made since then. Was this done for balance reasons? That one change in G5 was the major reason I did not play a combat-strong class (warrior/guardian or servile) in that game.

If this thread is open to story suggestions as well as mechanics, I'd like there to be more consistency about the Shapers' and rebels' military strengths and weaknesses, especially in G3 and G4. In G2 the rebels are the ones who designed the new creations that weren't in G1, which makes sense because they are the ones with the gene-reading magic. It's emphasised that creating new creation types by magically altering genes is much easier to do and to track than the old way of mixing and matching patterns of magic to see what sticks, hence why the rebels so quickly became a credible threat to the Shapers. Yet in G3 we see the Shapers losing ground to the rebels, who are using the revolutionary tactic of... spamming spawners. Both sides can do better than that. If, say, the rebels were doing truly unconventional things like releasing shredbugs, or releasing viruses that infected people with high essence stores (i.e. high-level Shapers), one can see why the Shapers would have trouble fighting them. (A mind-eating virus with the same effect as Greiner's shade would be interesting to see.) Also in this vein, in G4 it's the Shapers who designed the wingbolt and kyshakk while the rebels copied them. I think it'd make more sense to be the other way round, which would also explain one of Alwan's lines in G5, where he says that his success defending the Storm Plains was due to using wingbolts and kyshakks instead of only older creations - the previous defender of the Storm Plains would have been reluctant to use "rebel" creations, while those who actually fought in G4 realise that as long as they can be made loyal, it makes no difference. I also find it a bit difficult to believe that the Shapers managed to design a virus against the Unbound in a matter of weeks, when the speed of adaptation of their art (or relative lack thereof compared to the rebels) was supposed to be their one weakness. Mechanics-wise, I'd like the quick item slots to support switching non-weapon equipment.

How far can one go with Alwan's quests before switching to Taygen's faction? I'm assuming that destroying/releasing the Purity Agent will block Taygen's faction. Thanks in advance.

Does anything you do to Rawal's servants (e.g. Juergen: Helft papers and Trahan: Lost sheep) influence Rawal's "ending"? I'm guessing it doesn't. I'm trying to collect all the endings, but I also want to know whether I can get away with killing Trahan.

Fair enough. I'd still prefer an explicitly opposing option, like how Shaper/rebel conflicts tended to be in G4, but that becomes a matter of personal taste more than illogic. (Although I'm not sure how the rebels got themselves into this situation where you have to undo their efforts on other fronts to do what they want you to do...)

To ensure that your triumphant victories are suitably delicious.

That is isolation - they can spy on him but he doesn't have any connections to the wider Shaper society that could be infected with his ungoodthink. The choices also don't occur in the places you expect them to. Using Greiner's quest as an example, I'd expect the rebels to ask you to press their advantage, but they don't say anything and you end up always doing what the Shapers want, for that quest.

My major beef with Geneforge 3, after some thought, is that it doesn't really achieve what it tries to do. In G4 and G5 the major themes of the beginning of the rebellion (which should therefore be explored in G3), according to the characters, are: 1. The Shapers initially lost a lot of ground due to their arrogance/inflexibility in fighting an organised enemy that could Shape (this is objectively true - the rebels are shown to be losing ground in G4, which they had to have taken from the Shapers initially) 2. The Shapers didn't care about outsiders, at least from the outsiders' point of view (G4's Zakary's anecdote about the famine in his village, G5's narrator commenting on the Hall of Appeals) 3. Creations were oppressed #3 is explored in G1 and G2, and to some extent in G4 and G5, so it doesn't matter as much if it's downplayed in G3. However, while G3 tries to explore #1 and #2, it mainly does so by telling the player about them, instead of allowing you to play through them. The story suffers as a result. To break it down island by island: To me, the conflicts of G3 should feel like things that could be turned into soundbites by the Shapers and the rebels (e.g. "Remember Greenwood Academy!" "When I was on Harmony Isle the Shapers left us to die!") but for that to work the conflicts have to be engaging and tie into their issues with each other, which... they don't.

Hm... that is where we differ. If the following conversation (in whatever level of detail) were in the game: "Shaper Diwaniya won't protect us from the rogues, so we need that canister to have the power to kill the rogues." "Shaper Diwaniya has ordered me, as a Shaper, to take care of the rogue problem." "That doesn't help us, because [insert BS]" ...then I would agree with you. As it is, there is no indication in any of Lankan's dialogue that he has any ulterior motive besides getting rid of the rogues. The only reason to conclude that he won't agree with Diwaniya's plan (whatever the reason) is that the game doesn't allow you to propose it. Hence, I don't like Lankan, but I'm not willing to say it's completely his fault. I haven't seen that, so I'll take your word for it. But if I wanted to write a game plot about the impossibility of compromise in war, I could: A. Write about two or more groups with mutually exclusive goals, and ask the player whose goals they wish to support. B. Write about two groups with a misunderstanding over the means of achieving an ostensibly shared goal, have the side that can be expected to know the most about the PC's capabilities propose that the PC attain that goal, then prevent the player from checking whether the other side is aware of this proposal, not even as a means of determining whether their true goal is different from what was previously stated. I know what I'd pick, but I'm not Jeff.

I think that Lankan's major flaw is that he is badly written, which is distinct from being a stubborn idiot per se... the evidence being the complete absence of any dialogue branch with him that even touches on this (e.g. "As a Shaper, I am going to take care of your rogue problem."). This is the most obvious thing to say to him, and his response would be enlightening. (Did he not bring it up because he's a stubborn idiot? Simply didn't realise that this was a viable solution? Or does he have a more plausible reason for rejecting this solution?) Not being able to say this and see Lankan's response is pure railroading. In fact, it's worse because the game explicitly gives you this solution in the form of Diwaniya's orders, so wondering why it's off the rails to propose a solution that the game itself does adds to my frustration. The issue of whether Lankan should surrender is secondary to the railroading issue, as the reason he gives for not surrendering is that Diwaniya won't solve the rogue problem if he did - the obvious response is the same and is still absent.

Do the Council factions' (Astoria, Alwan, Taygen, Rawal) endings require the rest of the Council members to be alive? Does killing one Council member anger the others? There are a few in particular I want to kick in the teeth, but if the answer to the second question is yes, I need to rethink that plan.

Many thanks.

Fairly sure that the ones for different games are scattered in different topics, which I can't find at the moment. In any case I'm most interested in the one for G4.

There is still a lot left to do, and she's worthless anyways but I want her for story reasons.

Hm... Shotwell also permanently leaves if you try to assault the Western Morass with her around. Is there anything I can do to make her respawn so that I don't have to use an earlier save?

Random thoughts: the people telling you to overthrow Redbeard seem to be approaching from wildly different angles. On one hand you have the Tawon Empire and its lackeys, who would rather that the Pact not exist at all. If I were this type of rebel, becoming Keeper would be a prelude to welcoming the new Tawon overlords. On the other hand you have people like Miranda who tell you that Redbeard is too tyrannical to protect the people of the Pact (implying that Avadon is intended to serve this purpose and that you as Keeper can do it better). If I were this type of rebel I would show mercy where I can, while still maintaining the Stone Wall (which would mean killing the Duke, which the rebels keep telling you not to do). Or maybe I just want the big chair for myself, in which case it will not do to have any of these rebels hanging about. I find it interesting that there are so many possible reasons for overthrowing Redbeard, yet none of them would satisfy the rebels completely.

What effect does killing the Dhorl Stead runners and/or the Duke have on the rebel ending? I spared the runners and killed the Duke on my first (loyalist) playthrough, so if there is no significant effect I would do the opposite on my second playthrough.

For 1) and 4) the point of the Barrier of the Winds is not to impress the Shapers or outmatch them in an arms race, but to be a barrier that the Shapers cannot overcome without concerted effort. Then, the best-case scenario is that the resources and lives the Shapers throw at it give leverage to any rogue Shapers (like the apprentices in mindset) to point out that they should leave the Awakened alone. The question then is whether this could happen before the other stuff catches up to them. I generally side with the Awakened because that gives them one more Shaper to possibly keep the other stuff in check. (Of course, their ending is not canon...)

Thanks. Does that mean just the stores in Dhorl Stead, or all the stores in Khemeria (like the underground shaman who sells charms)?

Should I buy everything I want from them before my 3rd... visit? I've read some spoilers but I don't know the extent of the problem.

Is there anything that can cause these companions (Khur and Shotwell especially) to freak out and leave you? If I remember correctly, Khur freaks out if he's around when you betray the Safehouse. Are there any other triggers like that?

Upon Mars' site is more of an extensive Geneforge fanfic than a compilation of the canon lore.