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The changes WotC demanded in IWD2 kept the forums busy:Josh SawyerPaperdolls
Where the paperdoll used to be, there will be the full size (big) portrait. You will see your avatar at regular size in the middle of the equipment window.
Armored Arcana Change
Let's do a mathematical analysis of the usefulness of Armored Arcana at its previous, 10%, value. A character with three ranks of Armored Arcana could wear Full Plate with a 5% chance of spell failure. Full Plate gives an Armor Bonus of +8, a max Dex bonus of +1. Assuming that the character had a 12 or higher Dex and a Ring of Protection +3, that would put the character's AC at 10 + 8 +1 + 3 = 22. Not too bad.
A character without any ranks in Armored Arcana can cast Mage Armor to gain a +4 Armor Bonus, use full Dex bonuses (with, say Cat's Grace) from a 20 Dex for a +5 Dex bonus and wear the same Ring of Protection +3. That puts the character's AC at 10 + 4 + 5 + 3 = 22. Whoops. How'd that happen? He or she also doesn't have any ASF chance, nor any penalties to movement skills, nor the penalties to attack that come with wearing armor in which you are not proficient.
If a wizard or sorcerer wants to wear armor and use the Armored Arcana feat without incurring any penalties to attack or movement skills, they will either a) have to take one level and/or combined feats in the various armor types or b) take all three armor prof. feats AND all three levels of Armored Arcana.
Does it still seem like a good deal? Will you be stocking up on AA ranks for that big FAT 5% reduction to ASF?
Either way, it's still worse to use AA even at 10% than to NOT use AA and simply cast Mage Armor and Cat's Grace. We're talking about three feats just you can still blow one out of twenty spells while wearing armor that gives you a total AC equivalent to the casting of Mage Armor and the use of Cat's Grace or a pre-existing high Dex. If you dream of adding a shield to such a character, you're going to blow one out of FIVE spells.
There are definitely feats that are more useful to a fighter, mage, or fighter/mage than one that reduces ASF by 10%. I imagine you can certainly find THREE that are more useful that that simply stacked three times.
Is anyone actually going to buy three AAs at 5% pops so your mage in full-plate can have a 20% chance of automatically losing any spell he or she casts? Anyone?
You have successfully argued for the usefulness of AA at 10% increments. It's certainly an interesting alternative to using Mage Armor and Cat's Grace. It gives the player more options for what to do, and depending on the player's goals, it might seem like a good thing.
But -- that's not how it's going to work in IWD2. AA is going to lower your ASF by 5% per rank, not 10%. In full plate, that's a 20% chance of spell failure. Add a shield and it's a 35% chance of spell failure -- a third of all your spells would be lost.
I believe that AA at 10% increments is just dandy. Not awesome, not horrible. If we go by the general "20" scale of D&D, all of the saving throw-mod feats increase the chance of success on a save type by 10% (+2). Skill focus increases the chance of success on a skill check by 10% (+2).
I believe that 5% just isn't worth it. I'd rather wear bracers and a Ring of Protection with Cat's Grace on top, then spend my feats on Dodge, Combat Casting, and Expertise.
I believe it is fair to compare one feat to another in the context of usefulness in the game. Though you cannot draw exact mathematic comparisons, you can certainly make approximations. Ideally, all feats should be of similar "objective" value. However, you can't be objective about their value, because their value has to be estimated within the context of the game environment. This is why people who have never played IWD2 (like everyone outside of the dev team) may go, "HOLY COW! +3 TO HIT AND DAMAGE VS. DRAGONS, CHIMERAS, HALF-DRAGONS AND DEMONS?! WOWIE ZOWIE!" Of course, if you're told that there are not that many dragons, chimeras, half-dragons and demons in the game, the bonus doesn't seem inappropriate at all (at least, it doesn't to me).
When I look at the game and consider the spells and items available, the penalties for wearing armor, and the relative value of feats, I believe that AA should take off 10% ASF per slot. I believe that 5% is too low, because the ostensible benefits of wearing armor while casting spells are really not that terrific when compared to the significant possibility of losing spells. Armor increases your Armor Bonus, but reduces your possible Dex Bonus. If you want to have AA and wear armor with no chance of failure, you will have to take all three ranks and wear armor no heavier than Studded Leather. That's not worth it to me, and as a designer, I have a feeling that it won't be useful for a lot of players. The feat is staying in the game, but I honestly do not believe that many people will select it. Using bracers, Mage Armor, Cat's Grace, etc. is simply a more economical solution from my standpoint. The decisions I make about balance in the game have to be made in the favor of balance for all of our players. 10% per slot seemed (and still seems) like an appropriate value. 5% does not.
More changes
What's to say? You can take a feat like Weapon Focus that gives +1 to hit vs. every creature in the game, or you can take a feat like Fiendslayer that gives +1 to hit and damage vs. 5% of all the monsters you encounter in the game. Which one sounds like the better deal?
Better yet, let's do some more math! As we all know, Still Spell in 3E is a feat that allows a caster to cast a spell without any chance of ASF, regardless of what type of armor he or she is wearing. In reality, the application of that feat is equal to two feats: Still Spell and one spell slot. As WotC laid out in Tome & Blood, one spell slot is equal to one feat (Extra Slot). So, for two feats, I can cast any spell below my highest level without any chance of failure, or for three feats, I can cast any spell I want with a 5% chance of failure in the heaviest armor. Sorry, I mean... I can cast any spell I want with a 20% chance of failure in the heaviest armor. Huh?
The Still Spell cost for "severely limiting" the number of spells is only done if the character absolutely wants to cast all of his or her spells in armor -- and if he or she does, it doesn't matter how MUCH armor it is. They could be wearing Half-Plate with a Tower Shield for a whopping 90% ASF and get their spells off with no problem. Wheee!
Fighters
Did you ever play a kensai? If so, did you ever not use the weapon you were best with? This is one of those "opt-out" penalties. Kensai and Red Wizards fall nicely into this category. "You suck at using the things you never use, but you're awesome with the things you use all the time." How is that really a drawback? There is no drawback to weapon focus; you simply take the feat and get the bonuses unless your character spasms and drops every item that you happen to be focused in. And heck, if we're talking about fighters instead of paladins (since fighters can't take either Heretic's Bane or Fiendslayer), what about Weapon Specialization? That's a flat +2 bonus to damage to everything while using that weapon type.
Damien Foletto (Puuk)Druid Prime Attribute
The prime attribute for a druid is actually Wisdom. A druid gets bonus spells based on Wisdom. Charisma only comes into play for Animal Empathy skill checks and Diplomacy (both are class skills for the druid) - Animal Handling is not in IWD2. So, if you want your druid to be able to get the diplomatic dialog options in the game (if they are the protagonist), make sure you put some points into your charisma. The game will check both your skill and your attribute modifier.
As for armor, the druid is restricted to light and medium armors - no metal armors for the druid.
Clerics are proficient in all armors and do not receive a casting penalty. However, they do receive all the normal penalties for armor vs. skill checks, like Hide, or Move Silently, etc.
Doug Avery (Wolf)Auto-scaling
Don't worry, no liches will pester you from the auto-scaling difficulty. What happens is when you go to an area with a party that is over the intended level for the place, there are more monsters and harder monsters to deal with. For instance, if you leave the town of Targos and head to the next area with a party of 5th level characters, it is going to be scaled to that party as opposed the the 3rd level characters it was originally intended for. These levels are only used for example, your mileage may vary.
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Icewind Dale II Forum Update
