Avernum 3 - Effects of Passage of Time/Days (Complete Town List)

[mikeprichard]

EDIT: Complete town list moved to top of forum topic for easy reference. (2/12/2015)

Thanks to qella and alex for additional Slime/Roach plague data below!

 

I've done some extensive (obsessive-compulsive) testing using the Character Editor to edit the in-game day for all friendly towns in Valorim; here are the results. I'm 99% confident in the below information, with two caveats:

 

1) After you eliminate the monster plague for each town, that town will no longer suffer any further damage (damaged buildings, occupation by monsters, etc.). However, even though I solved all five plagues before any related towns suffered any damage, when I then cheated the day to 500 (the max), there were several NPCs (including "generic" shopkeepers like tailors, fletchers, Merrys, etc., as well as NPCs with specific dialogue and possibly quests like Father Oriathon in Hectar, Spurn in Bavner, Shahpur and others in Angel's Rest, etc.) missing in the smaller towns. Therefore, it's best to clear any quests involving NPCs in the smaller towns (i.e. other than the provincial capitals of Krizsan, Shayder, Sharimik, Lorelei, and Gale, which don't seem to suffer this "disappearing NPC" problem) as soon as possible.

 

2) I didn't check for any further damage past day 501 (the max in the Character Editor), but I'm pretty sure after around day 250, every town is as busted up as it can ever get.

 

On to the info. Friendly towns that suffer damage due to a related unsolved plague do so in two or more "phases." To take a simple example, from days 0 through 110, Aminro is in its initial "OK" state, but from day 111 onward, it's destroyed and occupied by troglos. However, most damaged towns have three or more such states (with various buildings/NPCs gradually getting damaged/killed/displaced as time goes on, until the related plague is solved). According to the below, if you want to avoid any town being damaged at all, you must solve the slime plague before day 11, the roach plague before day 51, the troglo plague before day 76, the giant plague before day 101, and the golem plague before day 141. The alien beast plague won't spread to any friendly towns if left unsolved - at least as of day 501.

 

TOWNS AFFECTED BY SLIME PLAGUE (once plague is solved, towns suffer no further damage)

 

Krizsan

Phase 1: Days 0-10

Phase 2: Days 11-25

Phase 3: Days 26-55

Phase 4: Days 56 and later

 

Delan

Phase 1: Days 0-40

Phase 2: Days 41-60

Phase 3: Days 61-65

Phase 4: Days 66-70

Phase 5: Days 71 and later

 

Delis

Phase 1: Days 0-60

Phase 2: Days 61 and later (town is destroyed)

 

Silvar

Phase 1: Days 0-40

Phase 2: Days 41-60

Phase 3: Days 61-70

Phase 4: Days 71-80

Phase 5: Days 81 and later (town is destroyed)

 

Inn of Blades

Phase 1: Days 0-100

Phase 2: Days 101 and later

 

Bolton

Phase 1: Days 0-40

Phase 2: Days 41-60

Phase 3: Days 61-75

Phase 4: Days 76-85

Phase 5: Days 86-90

Phase 6: Days 91 and later (town is destroyed)

 

TOWNS AFFECTED BY ROACH PLAGUE (once plague is solved, towns suffer no further damage)

 

Shayder

Phase 1: Days 0-50

Phase 2: Days 51-70

Phase 3: Days 71-105

Phase 4: Days 106 and later

 

Hectar

Phase 1: Days 0-70

Phase 2: Days 71-85

Phase 3: Days 86-105

Phase 4: Days 106 and later (town is destroyed)

 

Bavner

Phase 1: Days 0-75

Phase 2: Days 76 and later

 

Kuper

Phase 1: Days 0-90

Phase 2: Days 91-105

Phase 3: Days 106 and later

 

Port Townsend

Phase 1: Days 0-75

Phase 2: Days 76-85

Phase 3: Days 86-95

Phase 4: Days 96-105

Phase 5: Days 106 and later

 

TOWNS AFFECTED BY TROGLO PLAGUE (once plague is solved, towns suffer no further damage)

 

Sharimik

Phase 1: Days 0-95

Phase 2: Days 96-130

Phase 3: Days 131-170

Phase 4: Days 171 and later (town is partially occupied by troglos)

 

Angel's Rest (yes, there really are 10 phases - the changes are subtle)

Phase 1: Days 0-80

Phase 2: Days 81-90

Phase 3: Days 91-100

Phase 4: Days 101-110

Phase 5: Days 111-130

Phase 6: Days 131-140

Phase 7: Days 141-150

Phase 8: Days 151-170

Phase 9: Days 171-190

Phase 10: Days 191 and later (town is occupied only by friendly guards)

 

Aminro

Phase 1: Days 0-110

Phase 2: Days 111 and later (town is occupied by troglos)

 

Gidrik

Phase 1: Days 0-75

Phase 2: Days 76-100

Phase 3: Days 101-120

Phase 4: Days 121-135

Phase 5: Days 136-160

Phase 6: Days 161-180

Phase 7: Days 181-200

Phase 8: Days 201 and later (town is occupied by troglos)

 

TOWNS AFFECTED BY GIANT PLAGUE (once plague is solved, towns suffer no further damage)

 

Lorelei

Phase 1: Days 0-120

Phase 2: Days 121-165

Phase 3: Days 166-210

Phase 4: Days 211 and later (town is partially occupied by giants)

 

Softport

Phase 1: Days 0-100

Phase 2: Days 101-120

Phase 3: Days 121-190

Phase 4: Days 191 and later (town is largely destroyed, but not occupied by giants)

 

Malloc

Phase 1: Days 0-210

Phase 2: Days 211 and later (town is largely destroyed, but not occupied by giants)

 

Bremerton

Phase 1: Days 0-200

Phase 2: Days 201-220

Phase 3: Days 221-245

Phase 4: Days 246 and later (town is occupied by giants)

 

Bengaro

Phase 1: Days 0-110

Phase 2: Days 111-120

Phase 3: Days 121-125

Phase 4: Days 126-130

Phase 5: Days 131-185

Phase 6: Days 186 and later (town is occupied by giants)

 

Dellston

Phase 1: Days 0-110

Phase 2: Days 111-135

Phase 3: Days 136 and later (town is occupied by giants)

 

Poulsbo

Phase 1: Days 0-120

Phase 2: Days 121-150

Phase 3: Days 151-170

Phase 4: Days 171 and later (town is occupied by giants)

 

TOWNS AFFECTED BY GOLEM PLAGUE (once plague is solved, towns suffer no further damage)

 

Gale

Phase 1: Days 0-140

Phase 2: Days 141-200

Phase 3: Days 201-250

Phase 4: Days 251 and later (town is partially occupied by golems)

 

Greendale

Phase 1: Days 0-165

Phase 2: Days 166 and later (town is occupied by golems)

 

Mernia

Phase 1: Days 0-150

Phase 2: Days 151-180

Phase 3: Days 181-210

Phase 4: Days 211 and later (town is occupied by golems)

 

Spineridge

Phase 1: Days 0-250

Phase 2: Days 251 and later (town is occupied by golems)

 

TOWNS NEVER ALTERED BY ANY PLAGUE (FROM DAY 0 THROUGH DAY 501), WHETHER OR NOT ANY PLAGUES ARE SOLVED

 

KRIZSAN/KARNOLD PROVINCES

Pergies

Farport

Porter's Retreat

Golddale

 

ISLE OF BIGAIL

Fenris Port

 

FAR SOUTHEAST VALORIM

Libras

Lost Isle

Storm Port

Gebra

Squiggus

Lennus

 

FAR NORTHWEST VALORIM

Wainscotting

Calloc

Marish

Dorngas

Moon

 

FAR NORTHEAST VALORIM

Tevrono

 

 

ORIGINAL POST (6/13/2013):

 

I'm replaying A3, and would appreciate some specific info on how the passage of in-game days affects the game world:

 

1) Do all towns/cities in Valorim become more damaged (dead NPCs, ruined buildings, etc.) with the passage of days, or are only the provincial capitals (Krizsan, Shayder, Shamirik, Lorelei, Gale) affected?

 

2) Do these affected towns/cities have only two states (undamaged vs. damaged), or are there several phases of damage as time goes on? E.g., is Krizsan "undamaged" until day 10, "somewhat damaged" from days 10 through 20, and "fully damaged" after day 20? Even better, if anyone knows and could post the damage "trigger" day(s) for each affected town (assuming the related plague isn't yet solved), that'd be great.

 

3) I really don't want to miss out on any NPCs or quests, so I'm tempted to use the character editor to reset the in-game day to a low number (10 or so - I'm already in the 30s and still in Krizsan). What negative in-game side effects might this have?

 

Thanks all!

[Lilith]

1) Most towns are affected to at least some degree.

 

2) There are multiple phases.

 

3) Events that have already triggered might not get un-triggered just because you set the date back. Ones that haven't triggered yet probably won't until the appropriate date arrives, though.

[mikeprichard]

Thanks, Lilith!

[adc.]

Time affects cities. Like in Krizsan, slimes relentlessly attack the city. They infiltrate sewers and climb up to people's bathrooms. It isn't particularly changing the major storyline, but affect things little by little. I once went to a beautiful inn at Krizsan, but after several days, it got destroyed. So I took revenge by starting again and dumping unlimited skill points to my party members. We completed the task in three days.

-----

This is one feature I liked than other Avernum games. It makes it feel like reality.

-----

-Nightwatcher

[Tirien]

How is becoming insanely powerful and god like because a nice inn got destroyed like reality?

[mikeprichard]

EDIT: Complete town list moved to top of forum topic for easy reference. (2/12/2015)

[Lilith]

Wow, it must have taken you a while to collect all that information. Nice work.

[mikeprichard]

Yeah, it took about 4 hours, but like I say - I'm OCD. I guess that's why I like these games so much.

[Questionably Legal]

How is becoming insanely powerful and god like because a nice inn got destroyed like reality?

Why, I do that all the time in my day to day life, don't you?

[EZSPECIAL]

I'll give you a better estimate of the Kriznan Province, I started playing Avernum 3 about two days ago and did everything I could in Upper Avernum first, I got to Kriznan by day 12, it was already with the walls busted up, I don't even know if it's possible to beat the Slime Pit before damage occurs since it happens so early. I've just beat the Slime Pit by day 18 and as far as I know no further damage occured. Off to the Tower of Magi and all that extra stuff before attempting the Roaches, but when I do get there I'll write here what I found out. Thanks for the work after that part of the game, it helped me plan a route so I can keep the world pretty, of course Kriznan already has holes

 

EDIT: Beat the Roaches Plague by day 35, no cities were damaged at that time. So adding to those times I would say we have Slimes - Day 10; Roaches - Day 35 (maybe 40-50)

[Alex]

Colchis changes earlier than that - between day 1 and 2, although it's probably a glitch (the helpful shade and most of the slimes are absent on day 1).

 

Around day 10, Kriszan gets slightly damaged: The boat repair shop gets destroyed, and there is also some minor damage to some other walls, IIRC. Some time later, the unicorn horn questgiver and some shopkeepers get killed. However, you can beat the slime plague long before day 10.

 

Bolton does get affected, at least if you don't solve the slime plague.

 

Shayder is hit hard by the roach plague and Sara the mage disappears.

 

Hectar is destroyed.

[qella]

Magic numbers for the first two areas. A * means the town is destroyed.

 

 

SLIMES

 

Krizsan (11, 26, 56)

Delan (41, 61, 66, 71)

Delis (61*)

Silvar (41, 61, 71, 81*)

 

Inn of Blades (101)

 

 

ROACHES

 

Shayder (51, 71, 106)

Hectar (71, 86, 106*)

Bavner (76)

Kuper (91, 106)

 

Port Townsend (76, 86, 96, 106)

[The Mystic]

Colchis changes earlier than that - between day 1 and 2, although it's probably a glitch (the helpful shade and most of the slimes are absent on day 1).

IIRC, Colchis is destroyed on day 2. You're not expected to go there on day 1.

[mikeprichard]

IIRC, Colchis is destroyed on day 2. You're not expected to go there on day 1.

 

I resurrected this thread to edit my list above with the slime and roach plague numbers (thanks qella!), and also noticed this issue - but just remember, "unfriendly" towns like Colchis aren't affected by the plague, so they're intentionally not mentioned in the list.

[Mark Dubya]

Wow Mikus, this is really helpful - just started A3 (and can't wait for the remake in a year or two...) and had to bump for usefulness. Thanks!

[Jerakeen]

Welcome to the forums, Mark Dubya! You're right that this is a useful topic, so I've added a link to it in the forum header. Now no-one will have to bump it again.

[mikeprichard]

Mark - welcome; I'm glad you found this useful. And Jerakeen, thanks for linking the topic in the header - I'm actually thinking of another playthrough of A3 myself, so this is a good refresher. Cheers -

[Thaeris]

I'm happy to say I've been playing this for the first time since I downloaded the demo in, like, 2008.

 

One of the principal problems I noted having with the demo was the loss of the boatyard in Krizsan. Is there anywhere else to buy a boat on the continent?

[Ishad Nha]

There are no boats at all, except for use only inside one town or in the Upper Avernum area.

[mikeprichard]

Now that I've started my third playthrough of A3 (I just finished A2:CS, and am back in the Avernum zone), I've decided to perfect my old list, which I've now moved to the top of the forum topic for easy reference. I've added the correct Bolton timeline to the slime plague section in the list thanks to alex's old tip; I'll also be updating the list soon with final confirmed data for the few towns I hadn't tested two years ago when I first started the topic. Cheers!

[mikeprichard]

Edited the OP based on my further testing to emphasize that even after timely solving a related monster plague, the smaller towns in each region, while not suffering further structural damage or occupation by monsters, will still suffer from missing NPCs as time goes on. This is important, as several NPCs in the smaller towns (Spurn, Shahpur, etc.) are involved in quests, so if you wait too long to resolve those quests, you risk being unable to complete them at all. Of course, you can always try to reset the day in the Character Editor, but that comes with its own risks.

[Mea Tulpa]

Since there is no Strategy Central for the first Avernum trilogy, I've pinned this thread.

[mikeprichard]

Thanks, Slarty! Too bad you and Randomizer et al. weren't working your magic to Strategy Central-ize these older titles back in the day, but hopefully this info is useful. Note that a site admin did add a link to the sixth post in this thread (which should probably now just point to the first post in the thread due to my recent edits) to the header of the main First Trilogy forum a couple years ago, but pinning it is very convenient. Anyway, cheers.

[Randomizer]

Most of the information is buried in the Walk throughs for the games.

 

I know from doing the Strategy Central for A4 that if you have to go back through the topics instead of doing it near the game release that it can take 10 or more hours to find the most useful topics.

[mikeprichard]

Yeah, that's what I'm finding, too. But the A3 remake should be coming out in about two years (after Avadon 3), so I'll be looking for you fine folks to do your thing then. I'll probably revisit this list to update it for the remake as well.

[Ishad Nha]

On day 1, Colchis has no human inhabitants, so it is destroyed from the very start. It has a few slimes but no shade in the hidden room.

[mikeprichard]

Right, Colchis (like Appleton, Erox, Execa, etc.) wasn't included in the list, as it can't ever be considered a "friendly" town. Unless you consider the slimes friendly...

[ĐªгŦĦ Єяŋϊε]

They're just misunderstood. They really are friendly and just want to share acid with everyone they meet.

[mikeprichard]

Avernum 3 remake: Giant Intelligent Friendly Talking Slimes. You heard it here first.

[Lilith]

They're just misunderstood. They really are friendly and just want to share acid with everyone they meet.

 

remember, you're never fully dressed without a slime

[Earth]

and chitrachs just want to hug you.

[Jerakeen]

A hug is just a strangle that you haven't finished yet.

[Ishad Nha]

If you finish the rest of the game before around day 160 you will need to advance the game day to trigger the Tower of Magi quest. Tables above give you an idea of what might then happen.

[Meri20098]

What about the invulnerable Raksas?? They were insane!!!

[Randomizer]

For Rakshasa, you just insert the pointy end of a weapon in one and repeat until dead.

[ĐªгŦĦ Єяŋϊε]

repeat until dead.

repeat until dead.

repeat until dead.

repeat until dead.

repeat until dead.

This is more like how it feels

[Hyena of Ice]

I've been playing this for the past week, and my experience with Krizsan has been that the dates are not absolute-- it seemed like there was a random factor involved, but that the further the date progressed, the more likely the town was to suffer damage. (I kept a backup save in case the town got wrecked, and another backup that I occasionally saved over.) It sucks that the timeline affects things in this way-- makes the game a lot less fun. How are you supposed to clear every possible dungeon and complete every possible non-courier quest if this happens?

 

Edit: The random element may only apply to the second and later ruin stages-- the first stage of ruin, for all I know, could be fixed.

[Ishad Nha]

I think you are meant to be able to clear most of the dungeons, there will just be a lack of sages and shopkeepers.

[Randomizer]

All important NPCs will be alive, but some move to new locations.

[mikeprichard]

Hyena - just checking in for a bit, and not sure if you're still around, but to confirm: from my previous extensive testing on two different game files, there's no "random factor" in the town destruction schedule.

[luan22]

It took you a long time to find such information, good bro