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Josh Sawyer had the following to say the last days on the Icewind Dale II forum:About the reasons to not implement all 3E rules:
1) Feats. Take a lot of time, hard to implement well.
2) Skills. Not so much programming time, a lot of designer time.
3) True 3E multiclassing. A hell of a lot of programming, design, and QA time.
Those are the three main reasons. If we could implement those, we'd only be missing bits and pieces -- oh, and attacks of opportunity, which I doubt many people would miss.
About the powerful Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting spell:
Abi-D's Horrid Wilting is a ridiculously powerful spell. In fact, I'd argue that it is among the most powerful standard spells in D&D literature. Allowing it to be a friendly spell makes it even more powerful.
I still love the screenshot from HoW taken during the Hosttower Hit Squad battle.
PC Mage casts Abi-Dahlzim's Horrid Wilting.
Hosttower Wizard takes 82 magic damage.
Hosttower Wizard takes 78 magic damage.
Hosttower Fighter takes 84 magic damage.
PC Thief evades the effects of Abi-Dahlzim's Horrid Wilting.
Did I mention that we are using 3E saves and DCs? When a spell is cast at a character, their saving throw must meet or exceed the DC of the spell being cast. The spell DC is 10 + spell level + ability score bonus.
Ability score bonus is the 1 for every two points above 10, -1 for every two points below 11. It is based on your class. A mage with an 18 intelligence increases the DC of his or her spells by +4. A bard with a 16 charisma increases the DC of his or her spells by +3.
A mage with a 20 intelligence casting Abi-D's Horrid Wilting would force a save with a 10 + 5 + 8 = 23 DC. High level characters have a good chance of making the save, but the difficulty does increase.
On some of the new spells that are in:
Ice Knife is in, though it is weaker than the MoF version (way weaker). So are Gedlee's Electric Loop, Death Armor, Blink, Melf's Minute Meteors, Fireshield, Dismissal, Ball Lightning, Vipergout, Flensing, Executioner's Eyes, Mass Dominate, and a bunch of other new or BG2 wizard spells.
Armor of Faith and Faerie Fire are two new priest spells. Cloudburst was moved to 2nd level. We also have Spell Shield, Tortoise Shell, Snakebite, and a few other new druid and cleric spells.
About a new kit as a replacement to the mercenary kit:
This is the idea we came up with for a replacement to the mercenary kit, as previously discussed:
Captain/Myrmidon/Brigadier/Lieutenant/DRAGOON/whatever
Advantages:
* 1st Level: Forced March: The captain can negate the effects of fatigue on a character 1/Day.
* 3rd Level: Bolster Ally: The captain possesses the ability to inspire an ally with 8 bonus hit points and +1 to attack, damage, and saving throws. The effects last for five rounds, plus a number of rounds equal to the character's charisma bonus. This ability gains additional uses per day every three levels.
* 7th Level: Allegiance: The captain can negate the effects of charm, dire charm, domination 1/Day.
* 9th Level: Defensive Coordination: The captain possesses the ability to sacrifice his or her own safety for the protection of his or her allies. He or she loses 4 points from his or her armor class. Allies within 10' of him or her (except him or her, of course) gain a 2 point generic bonus to their armor class. This is a modal ability that lasts from round to round.
Disadvantages:
* The captain may not specialize at first level (OR maybe he only starts with 2 slots).
* The captain only gains additional proficiency slots every four levels.
With respect to damage reduction/magic weapon immunity:
BTW, the whole damage reduction/magic weapon immunity stuff is 3E-style. Monsters often have damage reduction that uses the following format:
5/+1
10/+2
15/+3
20/+4
25/+5
The first number is the amount of physical damage negated, the second number is the enchantment value required to eliminate the damage reduction entirely. 5/+1 means that the character will ignore the first 5 points of physical damage (crushing/slashing/piercing) from any given attack, unless the weapon being used has a +1 or better enchantment value. Iron golems have 15/+3, which is pretty severe. However, you still have a chance of hurting them even if you don't possess +3 weapons.
Elemental damage resistances also follow 3E style. BG and IWD used percentage resistances. IWD2 uses damage point values on an instance basis. If you have 5 fire resistance, you ignore the first 5 points of fire damage from any single attack. If a fireball causes 32 points of damage, you take 28. If a burning hands causes 4 points of damage, you take no damage. A fire resistance of 30 allows you to ignore most small fire attacks, but the big ones can still break over your limit by a large margin.
P.S.: Stoneskin and Protection From Missiles both use damage reduction now instead of granting complete immunity. Stoneskin is 10/+2 vs. all physical attacks. Protection From Missiles is 10/+2 vs. all missile damage.
About the changes to the avenger (druid kit)and kits in general:
We made the changes to the avenger to keep its feel as a militant druid, not a druid/mage. The avenger gets two uses of each druid spell power each day, as opposed to the single uses that the aes dana and shapeshifter get for their unique powers.
I hope that everyone understands our design goals with kits, even if they don't necessarily agree with them.
* Kits should be seen as an alternative to playing the base class, not superior to the base class.
* Kits should be roughly equal to each other in terms of raw power, with player opinion being the deciding factor in their usefulness (e.g. a player never uses a druid's shapeshifting powers, so the aes dana and avenger are logical choices when compared the base druid and shapeshifter).
* The powers that a kit receives should, when possible, replace the acquisition of the powers that the character loses for taking the kit (e.g. the avenger gains powers at 3rd, 5th, and 7th level, instead of shapeshifting abilities at 5th, 7th, and 9th levels).
I think the aes dana, avenger, and shapeshifter all come close to accomplishing these goals. |
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From the Icewind Dale II Forum
