The Reverend

Watch out, two pincer robots are trying to steal your potato chip ...

The study lead also says it's possible (but unlikely) that " The very first whiskery hairs may even have sprouted on reptiles". He's probably never been to Avernum to study Sliths, though ... "Texture Packs" to "Reptilian Hair Genes". Excellent topic drift!

http://news.national...izard-hair.html "But the origins of hair date back to an unknown reptile ancestor that lived more than 300 million years ago, in the Paleozoic era, the new study says."

My apologies to any Slithzerikai I may have offended with my facial hair commentary ...

Is it shaving under its chain? I didn't realize Sliths grew hair there ...

After how well the humble bundle sold last week, maybe he doesn't need any more money ...

I believe there is just one other dragon, unless I missed something very big and scaly!!

If this were the cheesy pickup line thread, I'd answer: "A living tool, so I could unlock the mysteries of your heart..."

I think there are a small number of enemies that can basically only be harmed by physical damage (I want to say a couple of Grah-Hoth's summons fall into this category, but I'm not sure about this). So if you're going for an all-magic party, you'll probably need some skills in secondary disciplines in order to get by those types of enemies.

Yes, it will be. Edit: And just so I'm not accused of spamming the thread, I'll express my opinion that you should follow the Avernum series roughly in order, so that you can experience the true saga of the underground kingdom. I.e., A1 or A:EFTP, followed by A2-6 in order. Some have said you can skip around without losing much, but I disagree ... Yes, the games are self contained, but there's something to be said for following the full story arc in its intended order. That said, if you do skip any, skip A4 - it adds the least to the story arc, IMHO. A5 is kinda the same, but it introduces some important characters.

Extra gold enables additional training, which will make your party more powerful ... but as long as you don't go overboard, I don't think the impact will be too great. And it could certainly make the game go a bit quicker (not having to hunt around for random encounters in order to scrape together those last few gold you need to buy another level of training, etc). For secondary disciplines, giving a fighter some priest spells and spellcraft can be powerful. Healing doesn't depend on intelligence, so a fighter can make a decent back up healer (or even primary healer if you want to use your priest as an offensive spellcaster - dinine retribution is awesome at the top of Hawthorne's tower), and doing this allows them access to the resistance skill, which is great for reducing damage to a tank-style character.

Each time your characters level up, they get an automatic boost to one of their four primary stats. The particular stat that is boosted rotates - first level up you get strength, then the next level up dexterity, then intelligence, then endurance, then it repeats. This is in addition to the stats and skills that you get to choose to boost at each level up.

Maybe Jeff should add a "con artist" skill to a future game ... If you train enough points you can skip the quest altogether and just claim the reward! Sort of like a sleazier version of Geneforge's "leadership" skill, I guess ...

Heh, that sounds like something I would do. I've never actually had high enough tool use to use that switch, though - what does the fountain do for you if you use it three times?

Look where my mouse arrow is pointing. As I mentioned in my previous post, the switch only shows up if you hover your mouse at the right spot, since it is completely concealed by one of the statues. Also, you need a high tool use skill to use the switch.

I'd post a screenshot of the switch (I just went and took one), but I can't figure out how to upload images here ... If someone could let me know, I'd be happy to post my shot. In the meantime, the tricky thing about the switch is that it is completely hidden by one of the statues. It only shows up if you hover your mouse right over its location. Trying moving the pointer around the statue until it shows up. Also, the switch requires a high tool use to open, so even once you find it, you may not be able to use it.

Sparing the runners does make the ending better for Dhorl Stead, so if you care about that, spare them.

Kids these days are spoiled ... hot keys? When I was young, "hot keys" was what happened if you left your keyboard in the car on a summer day ... <end grumpy old man rant> Edit: I was going to make some joke about attractive keypunch operators, but I'm not *quite* old enough to remember those days ...

At first I misread and thought this was a thread about MacGyvers. How can I escape from this burning building with just duct tape, a tooth brush, and five fig newtons ...

If I didn't already own the entire catalogue, this would be a great way to ensure that I never finish my dissertation!!

This will be our first 4th in the USA since our first kid was born, a little over 4 years ago. We've always been worried about the fireworks waking the kids (they don't start until close to 11 around here), so we often head up to Canada. But lately (the past year or so) our oldest has been a very deep sleeper, and our baby usually has her final feeding of the night around 11:30, so we think it'll go okay this year. And we should be able to see at least some of the fireworks (the higher ones) from our bedroom ... Our four-year old was also very excited to hang the flag last night, because she had learned in school that the 4th was "America's birthday". I think she thought we'd have cake and candles, too ...

Thanks for the tips Randomizer and Curtis. One more question - I've been reading the strategy central threads (and playing with the character building screen) to attempt to make a list of the effects of each of the stats, and from what I've been able to ascertain, Druidism gives you everything that Intelligence gives you, and also gives you magic resistance and enables raising the spell circle skills. If the threads I read were correct, both increase spell points by the same amount, both give identical mental resistance, both give a boost to the effectiveness of all spells, and both improve rune reading. Since Druidism starts cheaper, it would seem that it makes sense to raise Druidism until it's cost is higher than INT before starting to raise INT. Or am I missing something that INT gives you which Druidism does not? For my starting party, I'm thinking a swordsman (initial stats 4 strength, 2 endurance, 4 melee, 5 armor use, and 6 roman training, and the mighty warrior and fast on feet traits), a spearman (initial stats 4 strength, 2 endurance, 4 spears, 4 armor use, and 6 roman training, and the mighty warrior and fast on feet traits), a druid (initial stats 7 druidism, 4 health circle, 4 war circle, and 2 armor use, and the druid mastery and limitless energy traits), and a ranged weapon user who will initially refrain from specializing in either slings or javelins and instead dedicate initial points to DEX and Roman Training (initial stats 6 dexterity, 2 armor use, 2 defense, and 5 roman training, and the mighty warrior and fast on feet traits). The ranged weapon user may specialize later if I decide I prefer one or the other - it appears javelins do more damage, but there are issues with running out of ammo. Or I may just have them use mostly slings, and switch to javelins for the toughest fights where the extra damage will be helpful. They will also be a test for the effectiveness of evasion from dexterity and defense.

I'm looking to replay Nethergate: Ressurrection for the first time in many years, this time as the Romans, on Torment difficulty. My previous playthrough (when the game first came out) was with the Celts on hard, but I've forgotten almost everything about the game mechanics in the intervening years. I've browsed through Strategy Central, but still have a few questions: 1) What weapon type (or types) are most effective (for a Roman party, if that matters). Are swords and spears equally good? Or is one notably better? How about the ranged weapons? Are they mostly a waste of time like in many Spiderweb games, or is it worthwhile have a dedicated Javelin thrower (or sling user)? 2) Is evasion an effective defensive strategy? E.g., can I pump dexterity (and defense?) and avoid most hits even in the late game, or does it get too expensive to pump these skills enough for this to be effective? 3) How do trainers work in this game? Do I need to avoid spending skill points on a skill if I intend to purchase training in it later? 4) With my old Celt party, I think I had two fighters and two druids. Is this a good mix for the Romans as well, or does their weaker magic make a 3 fighter/1 druid party more effective? Thanks for any tips!

This has got me thinking about Nethergate, and inspired me to try another playthrough of N:R. Maybe I'll try to actually finish a playthrough as the Romans this time (previously the only playthroughs I completed were as the Celts).

A sewer system does not necessarily mean they had toilets - many older sewer systems were initially created to carry storm and flood waters (storms would not be an issue in Avernum, but perhaps river flooding was, depending on the source of the underground rivers). Chamber pot contents that were tossed out the window might also get washed down the storm drain at the next heavy rain fall (on the surface) or flood .... As for mushroom fertilizer, I would imagine (and hope) that they utilize cave cow and lizard manure, rather than human manure.