Luck and Cave Lore

[WolfSpider]

If one person learns it in the party, does the whole party benefit from it?  Cave Lore states the more of it in your party the better, but does each member have to have it in order for it to work or one person in the party, could in essence, just load up on it and it would count for the whole party?  The Luck description does not state specifically the party will benefit.  I am just confused on how this works in game.  A little bit for each character is better, than just the one loading up on it?  Thank you.

 

Edit:  Mostly asking for Avernum: Escape the Pit, but if it changes between games of Avernum, perhaps best to know for each.

Edited December 24, 2020 by WolfSpider

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

Cave Lore is cumulative for the whole party. Luck is cumulative for the whole party for making certain encounters go better, but it also has individual benefits in combat.

[Edgwyn]

For cave lore in A:CS, I had just one character with it and it worked fine.  With that said, I was only looking for the ability to find caches.

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

Yes, you can put it all on one character if you want but it's not necessary. Depending on your play style and playing ability, sinking that many skill points into it on one character may detract from other skills your character may need to survive though.

Edited December 24, 2020 by The Almighty Doer of Stuff

[Quiconque]

You can and should buy Cave Lore points with money instead of training them.  You can buy 8 of those, and there's also one free point from a quest, so you really only need to train 3 points in it to max it.  (You don't need more than 12 total for anything.)  Of course, spending those last 3 points isn't required either.

[TriRodent]

1 hour ago, Sealing Librarian said:

You can and should buy Cave Lore points with money instead of training them.  You can buy 8 of those, and there's also one free point from a quest, so you really only need to train 3 points in it to max it.  (You don't need more than 12 total for anything.)  Of course, spending those last 3 points isn't required either.

 

I would say the same (at even less a priority) for First Aid.  Other than one person getting one point near the start (to get a little bit of recovery while out & about), if you really want the HP/mana recovery, wait until you can buy a few levels as skill points could be better applied elsewhere.

 

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Also, by spreading the points in 'x' around the party it will cost fewer skill points in total that it would if you just had one person stack the skill high. (the first couple of points generally only cost (from memory) 1-2 skill points each or 8 in total for the party.  If you put them all in one character, by the time you get to 5-6 points, each additional one will cost you 4+ or closing in on 20 points in total to get to 8 for that character).  Assuming of course that you're ignoring SL's advice about buying/training & using skill points...

 

[Quiconque]

TriRodent, are you thinking of the original versions of Avernum and not the remakes?  It sounds like you're describing the old skill point system.

[TriRodent]

10 minutes ago, Sealing Librarian said:

TriRodent, are you thinking of the original versions of Avernum and not the remakes?  It sounds like you're describing the old skill point system.

 

Yep, you're right (as far as point costs).  Was replaying A4 a little while ago & that system was at the top of my mind.  Buying the points (at least in things you don't plan on training in) is the way to go regardless.

[Lucidus]

Someone double check me (because I am also currently playing the original versions), but one effect of luck for an individual character is that occasionally, even though your hit points may drop to zero, if you're lucky you might not die. Good luck also seems to reduce the odds of being petrified, but I have no idea how the math works.

[Randomizer]

Luck keeping you from death went back to the oldest games, but I think it got eliminated from the remakes. Same with petrification, but that still had an effect with resistances.

[Quiconque]

The PC/stat system in each iteration (Exile, Avernum, Avernum Remakes -- we're discussing the latter here) are completely different.  Luck does different things in each iteration.  It will no longer save you from death.