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Deviating from the usual schedule Pierre Begue produced a new development update early, explaining what he's done the last few months and what's next in line for Knights of the Chalice 2. Snippet:
Concerning spells, I have implemented all druid spells of level 1, 2, 3 and 4 plus some of the spells of level 5. Please see the Druid's spell list below and for the updated spell descriptions, see the Druid's webpage. I have found that the spells that take the most time to implement are spells that affect terrain like Quicksand, Insect Plague, etc. Because there is both the immediate effect of the spell and then everything else associated with the new terrain. As you can see in one of the screenshots below, squares can contain up to two effects, one on the ground (Spike Growth in the picture) and one in the air (Insect Plague in the picture).
Among the spells I implemented, the ones that may be the most interesting are Gust of Wind and Greater Gust of Wind. They push creatures back by a few squares, so it's nice to use in conjunction with dangerous terrain or terrain spells. Also, it will be fun to watch the computer use those spells smartly against the player.
Concerning summon spells, I've implemented all summon spells in the Druid's spell list. I'm thinking to add a 'Summon Monster' line of spells for the Wizard. I expect that it will include the following: Summon Skeleton at level 1, Summon Slime at level 2, Summon Gargoyle at level 3, Summon Babau at level 4, Summon Ettin at level 5, Summon Vrock at level 6, Summon Stone Golem at level 7, Summon Iron Golem at level 8 and Summon Marilith at level 9. There will be a gold and XP cost for the higher levels.
Hello there, here is a new update on KotC 2 development. In the past few months I focused on three things: 1) Implementation of Druid spells, 2) Implementation of monster abilities, and 3) Interface for activating spell-like abilities, breath weapons, magic items, learning spells from scrolls, and casting spells from scrolls, wands and other items. (Please click on a picture to enlarge)
Druid Spells from level 1 to 4
Concerning spells, I have implemented all druid spells of level 1, 2, 3 and 4 plus some of the spells of level 5. Please see the Druid's spell list below and for the updated spell descriptions, see the Druid's webpage. I have found that the spells that take the most time to implement are spells that affect terrain like Quicksand, Insect Plague, etc. Because there is both the immediate effect of the spell and then everything else associated with the new terrain. As you can see in one of the screenshots below, squares can contain up to two effects, one on the ground (Spike Growth in the picture) and one in the air (Insect Plague in the picture).
Among the spells I implemented, the ones that may be the most interesting are Gust of Wind and Greater Gust of Wind. They push creatures back by a few squares, so it's nice to use in conjunction with dangerous terrain or terrain spells. Also, it will be fun to watch the computer use those spells smartly against the player.
Concerning summon spells, I've implemented all summon spells in the Druid's spell list. I'm thinking to add a 'Summon Monster' line of spells for the Wizard. I expect that it will include the following: Summon Skeleton at level 1, Summon Slime at level 2, Summon Gargoyle at level 3, Summon Babau at level 4, Summon Ettin at level 5, Summon Vrock at level 6, Summon Stone Golem at level 7, Summon Iron Golem at level 8 and Summon Marilith at level 9. There will be a gold and XP cost for the higher levels.
For the Cleric, Druid and Wizard, I'm also thinking to have extra Summon Elemental spells: Summon Large Elemental at level 4, Summon Huge Elemental at level 7 and Summon Gargantuan Elemental at level 9. The elementals will be similar to those of the standard Summon Elemental spell, aside from a bigger size and slightly better ability scores.
I have also been tweaking the effects of the Druidic Spheres, one of the effects I'm planning to implement is an exclusive summon spell for each elemental sphere. See the Druid's webpage for details.
I will implement Wall of Stone soon; I'm thinking to allow the wall to be destroyed by normal attacks and damage spells. That will then require AI adjustments. When the player characters can be reached by the monsters, the monsters should ignore the wall. When the player characters cannot be reached because of a wall, the monsters should attack the wall. Finally, when the player characters can be reached but only by going through bad squares like a prismatic wall or a web, and a better path would be found in the absence of a wall, then it also makes sense to attack the wall rather than go through the bad squares.
Special monster abilities
I have always wanted to implement new monster abilities. The ones I have just implemented are the following:
1) Swallow Whole: a big monster can swallow an enemy creature whole. To do this, the monster must start a grapple with the target. Once they are grappling, the monster can attempt to Swallow Whole by succeeding on a grapple check.
If this succeeds, the target is removed from the battle field. It is not killed but it cannot do anything. It loses a random number of hit points every round. When the swallowing monster is killed, the swallowed character is brought back into the battle field at the position of the monster.
Depending on remaining Hit Points, the character can then continue fighting, or he is immediately processed as unconscious or dead. This is a fun monster ability because it creates a situation where a character is made prisoner and dies after some rounds, unless the swallowing monster is killed quickly.
2) Death Throes: Some monsters have the ability to explode when they are killed. Essentially, it's like a fireball spell centred on the monster getting triggered right before the monster dies from an attack (either a physical attack or a spell attack). However, the Death Throes damage does not have to be fire damage, it can be any of the five damage types, or force damage. In two of the screenshots, you can see the animation for a Death Throes dealing cold damage.
The radius and the amount of damage, for example 10d6 fire, can be set in the editor. Death Throes can trigger a chain reaction if several monsters with Death Throes are present. For example, killing the first monster triggers his Death Throes, thus killing a second monster with Death Throes, thus triggering a second Death Throes effect. The Death Throes ability is implemented as a scripted spell that is launched automatically.
3) Rend: A monster with this ability automatically deals extra damage whenever they hit with two or more natural attacks in a row. For example, a girallon hitting with two or more claw attacks deals extra damage. The extra amount can be set in the editor.
4) Skewer: A monster with this ability performs a critical hit whenever its attack roll exceeds the Armour Class of the target by a certain number, normally five. The critical hit still needs to be confirmed.
5) Reach: Big monsters can attack creatures within a certain radius, in addition to adjacent creatures. When they charge, they stop at the first square allowing them to attack the target. Players also gain Reach by wielding a reach weapon.
I want to implement a few extra monster abilities but I will limit myself to simple ones, like 'Regeneration x Hit Points per round' and the ability to destroy an item worn or held by the target on a successful attack (there will be a percentage chance for this to be triggered).
Interface for activating spell-like abilities, breath weapons and magic items
There are two aspects of this interface: what happens outside combat and what happens in combat. Outside combat, if you want to trigger an ability like Cure Light Wounds, you open the character's inventory and you click the button 'activate ability or magic item'; or you drag and drop a magic item onto that button. Then a window opens, displaying all possible abilities that can be activated and all magic items that you can activate. You click the one you want to activate.
During combat, you do not do this by going into the character's inventory. Instead, you click 'Activate Special' in the combat menu. The game then displays a list of the things you can activate while in combat and you click one to select it.
For example, a Drake player character has a breath weapon. Characters can also have several spell-like abilities. Some Druid spells, like Produce Flame and Call Lightning, grant a spell-like ability to the caster. I think Call Lightning is a really powerful spell. Clerics can also gain spell-like abilities due to their selected domains.
What's next in the development of KotC 2
Next I will continue implementing spells and other improvements. Most likely I will implement the cleric's spell list right after the druid's spell list, because many cleric spells are similar to spells in the druid's list. Then there's the paladin's list, ranger's list, rogue's list, wizard's list, psionicist's list and psychic warrior's list. Thank you for reading this update and for your continuing interest in this project! Feel free to post ideas and comments!
Level 1
Summon Wolf
Cure Light Wounds
Entangle
Longstrider
Enhance Weapon
Magic Stone
Fog Cloud
Produce Flame
Shillelagh
Animal Trance
Level 2
Summon Crocodile
Barkskin
Enhance Ability
Flaming Sphere
Lesser Restoration
Quicksand
Gust of Wind
Hold Animal
Protection from Energy
Level 3
Summon Scorpion
Freedom of Movement Personal
Call Lightning
Poison
Cure Moderate Wounds
Dominate Animal
Greater Enhance Weapon
Protection from Ability Loss
Spike Growth
Wind Wall
Babau Slime
Level 4
Summon Griffon
Cure Serious Wounds
Turn Pebble to Boulder
Dispel Magic
Flame Strike
Freedom of Movement Touch
Ice Storm
Disruption
Water Breathing
Mass Protection from Energy
Ice Lance
Greater Gust of Wind
Level 5
Summon Snake
Insect Plague
Baleful Polymorph
Call Lightning Storm
Cure Critical Wounds
Death Ward
Stoneskin Personal
Energy Wall
Wall of Stone
Confusion
Level 6
Summon Girallon
Sirocco
Greater Protection from Energy
Raise Dead
Slay Living
Mass Enhance Ability
Mass Cure Light Wounds
Greater Dispel Magic
Regeneration
Mass Hold Animal
Level 7
Summon Treant
True Seeing
Chain Lightning
Mass Cure Moderate Wounds
Fire Storm
Greater Ice Storm
Heal
Sunbeam
Mass Disruption
Level 8
Summon Roc
Mass Cure Serious Wounds
Mass Death Ward
Mass Greater Protection from Energy
ower Spell and Power Resistance
Earthquake
Blindsight
Mass Regeneration
Level 9
Summon Spider
Finger of Death
Whirlwind
Mass Cure Critical Wounds
Foresight
Mass Freedom of Movement
Sunburst
lol, I dont know. But I am excited for this to be released and hope people will create some of the old classic module series to bring a group from level 1-16 or whatever. Would be awesome.
