Baldur's Gate The Baldur's Gate Series Thread

[Voids]

One of my biggest worries: it's no big secret that WoTC has gone full SJW inclusion in their products. It's how they advertise themselves and a big part of their community outreach. Now personally I don't care if some people are hyper liberal and totally into identity politics; honestly, a lot of it gets overblown on both sides. However, in a game like this, I worry about how WoTC is going to insist on elements being changed, added, etc in order to be more "inclusive" - not really because they truly care about those issues, but because they care about appearing that they do. It'll be on the nose and obnoxious.

Watch as we get closer, there will be "leaks" about how inclusive the game is, about this character or that character, mainly to stir up controversy and to sucker mindless SJW types to rally round the game and buy it in large numbers when it comes out.

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

It is not hard enough to require AI scripts either.

It is however tedious enough for that.

Anyway, BG is not conductive to tactical gameplay, since even the most obvious applications of tactics (like scout ahead, apply AoE artimagic to hostiles) are likely to break the game.

Quit 'yer bitchin' an play SCS then. Character so listen, your thief will fail their move silently check, and casters will employ divination spells. Casting fireball from the fog of war will also cause them to disperse and call for help.

 

[Cael]

One of my biggest worries: it's no big secret that WoTC has gone full SJW inclusion in their products. It's how they advertise themselves and a big part of their community outreach. Now personally I don't care if some people are hyper liberal and totally into identity politics; honestly, a lot of it gets overblown on both sides. However, in a game like this, I worry about how WoTC is going to insist on elements being changed, added, etc in order to be more "inclusive" - not really because they truly care about those issues, but because they care about appearing that they do. It'll be on the nose and obnoxious.

Watch as we get closer, there will be "leaks" about how inclusive the game is, about this character or that character, mainly to stir up controversy and to sucker mindless SJW types to rally round the game and buy it in large numbers when it comes out.

The silly part is that there is no real need to be "inclusive" to that degree. Anyone who had ever read an Ed Greenwood FR novel would know that FR is into lesbianism, stronk wymmyn and all that since the 80s. Just read Spellfire and its sequel Crown of Fire. No one really gave a freaking crap about the whole thing until fucking millennials got into the damned act.

 

[Theldaran]

Shandril is a piece of work.

 

[chuft]

Slow spell doesn't seem to affect wyverns. They don't even have to make saves against it. Strange. I wonder if this is related to the Spell Revisions mod.

 

[Jason Liang]

Keep your mod install package as simple as possible. Spell Revisions is definitely not worth it. The big Thief mod is pointless unless you actually play a thief PC and even then it doesn't play nice with SCS.

 

[chuft]

Not using SCS. I thought Spell Revisions was pretty popular.

 

[chuft]

Had my first crash to desktop last night, in Chapter 6, fighting random wyverns. At least, the journal says it is Chapter 6, but it started once I cleared the Cloakwood Mines. Which means it should be Chapter 5. Odd.

I am playing Baldur's Gate Trilogy mod, maybe it changes chapter numbers for some reason?

Edit: yeah it's a BGT thing.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...mbered-incorrectly/+&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

(Spellhold is still down, so cached)

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

Keep your mod install package as simple as possible. Spell Revisions is definitely not worth it. The big Thief mod is pointless unless you actually play a thief PC and even then it doesn't play nice with SCS.

Not using SCS. I thought Spell Revisions was pretty popular.

Spell Revisions is outstanding. I liked v2 best because it pumped mages a bit, but v3 is probably better because they toned down things a little. They felt having a -6 penalty on things like Wail of the Banshee was a tad too much, lol. I haven't tried v4 which is still technically in beta. I'm not sure I will use it, as they have made some fundamental re-balances to the spells which took them too far from the original for my tastes. V4 is where it has begun to really take a life of its own.

I strongly encourage you to use SCS. Something to keep in mind, is that SCS is intended to use Spell Revisions, while the base game does not. The AI and some encounters may suffer for it if you're only using Spell Revisions v3 or greater, as the AI and memorized spells will function under different assumptions.

 

[chuft]

I tried SCS and didn’t like it, too hard. Kept having to spend all party gold on Raise Deads and couldn’t buy any items.

 

[Grunker]

git gud

 

[chuft]

Someone at Gibberlings Three said wyverns are immune to slow, even in vanilla.

 

[octavius]

Someone at Gibberlings Three said wyverns are immune to slow, even in vanilla.

Let's ask our lvl 36 AD&D Wizard if that is per the pen&paper rules.
Zed Duke of Banville

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Someone at Gibberlings Three said wyverns are immune to slow, even in vanilla.

Let's ask our lvl 36 AD&D Wizard Magic-user if that is per the pen&paper rules.
Zed Duke of Banville

There is nothing specific to wyverns that would grant them immunity to a slow spell.

 

[chuft]

those lying pigs

 

[chuft]

The Slow spell says enemies have a -2 to save against it. Yet Ettercaps save on a 6. wtf

 

[Dzupakazul]

The Slow spell says enemies have a -2 to save against it. Yet Ettercaps save on a 6. wtf

Clearly the answer is to roll with a Transmuter for that -2 malus to saving throws against your Transmutation spells.

 

[Chippy]

“For me, that moment came shortly after we teased the site BaldursGate.com. There was an outpouring of love from people around the world telling us how much Baldur’s Gate had touched their lives," Tofer says. "It’s especially strange to me, since the story of Baldur’s Gate is based on a tabletop D&D game we played back in high school, DM’d by James Ohlen...Back then I never thought [my character] Minsc would travel farther than my home on the Canadian Prairies - so it’s surreal to know he’s now beloved around the world."

So why did you hand it over to Amber Scott?.

The impact of the love fans had for Baldur’s Gate stayed with Tofer when he and BioWare co-founder Trent Oster founded Beamdog in 2009. Their studio has remastered Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate 2, as well as classic PC RPGs like Icewind Dale and Planescape Torment, releasing Enhanced Editions of each. The process of remastering these games was based less on nostalgia and more on the desire to explain why people were so nostalgic for these titles.

So why did you hand it over to Amber Scott?.

“What did we learn? Expectations. People want more of kind of the same. It's hard to describe. It's like I want more and I want different. Yeah. So it's just like, don't give me the same stuff, don't give me different stuff...The familiarity is so important. You play Baldur's Gate, you loved it, and then you think about coming back, it's like what was there?”

...

Spoiler

 

[chuft]

Does anyone know how magic resistance is implemented in the BG2 engine?

Like how is “5% magic resistance” actually implemented?

 

[Grunker]

Does anyone know how magic resistance is implemented in the BG2 engine?

Like how is “5% magic resistance” actually implemented?

Are you asking about the way it's programmed or the way it works mechanically?

Mechanically it's a 1d100 roll, if it hits target or below, the spell has no effect.

 

[chuft]

In AD&D 1st Edition magic resistance assumed an 11th level caster with a 5% adjustment up or down per level of difference. So 5% magic resistance against a 6th level caster was really 30% magic resistance.

 

[Grunker]

In AD&D 1st Edition magic resistance assumed an 11th level caster with a 5% adjustment up or down per level of difference. So 5% magic resistance against a 6th level caster was really 30% magic resistance.

BG uses AD&D 2nd ed. as a baseline, and though I'm not sure about the implementation of MR in 2nd, and I don't have my PHB handy, I'm fairly sure MR in the actual video game isn't modified by caster level. It's just a straight roll.

 

[Cael]

In AD&D 1st Edition magic resistance assumed an 11th level caster with a 5% adjustment up or down per level of difference. So 5% magic resistance against a 6th level caster was really 30% magic resistance.

BG uses AD&D 2nd ed. as a baseline, and though I'm not sure about the implementation of MR in 2nd, and I don't have my PHB handy, I'm fairly sure MR in the actual video game isn't modified by caster level. It's just a straight roll.

It is. That is why Viconia ignores 50% for all spells regardless of the other guy's caster level.

 

[chuft]

Makes those Robes of the Archmagi kinda crappy.

 

[Cael]

Makes those Robes of the Archmagi kinda crappy.

By themselves, they are not that great. But added to things like the Cloak of Balduran and other MR gear, and they do add up fast. Doubly so if you make Viconia into a Cleric/Mage and have her wear the Robes plus Cloak in BG1.