KickStarter Knights of the Chalice 2 Thread - Augury of Chaos

[JarlFrank]

Thanks to the power of AI slop we can make all kinds of tokens.

You mean the power of searching for art online and using MS paint to crop it.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-revolutionise-old-school-crpgs/posts/4262381

Update #89: KotC 2 Version 1.80 Adds New Feats, New Monster Ability and New Sprites!​

Hello everyone! In the past month, we had three updates for KotC 2. The latest version can be downloaded here for Windows and macOS, or from Steam and GOG.

Version 1.78 added the new monster special ability Ground Death Throes, accessible from the Feats & Special Abilities tab of the Creature Properties screen, in the Creature Editor. This ability produces a terrain effect appearing on the squares occupied by the creature when it's defeated. I'll be using it in the upcoming adventure modules.

The possible terrain effects are Fire, Cold, Electricity, Acid, Sonic, Prismatic Wall, Grease, Resilient Grease, Web, Resilient Web, Entangle, Wall of Blades, Spike growth, Quicksand, Fog Cloud, Solid Fog, Incendiary Cloud, Acid Fog, Stinking Cloud, Cloudkill, Psionic Fog, Antimagic Cloud, Darkness, Silence, Insect Plague, and Creeping Doom.

You can set the effect's parameters like the duration, the amount of damage, caster level and difficulty class. The new ability should help create memorable fights, as both the AI and player will get more use out of the Slide, Bull Rush, Pull and Throw Creature actions.

Notes for module creators: Please import the spell entry "Ground Death Throes" into your spell list if you'd like to use this monster ability. Also, if the effect you're using is Fire, you may want to add a Fire-based Death Throes ability to the creature so that any pre-existing Web or Grease squares will be destroyed before applying the Ground Death Throes.

Version 1.78 also added a new option under 'Display' allowing you to turn off token shadows.

Version 1.79 added new isometric sprites for Giant Crabs and Giant Snakes.

Version 1.80 added a new feat for the Gladiator (Shatter Image) and two new feats for the Samurai (Shatter Image and Mist Ronin).

I'm planning to implement at least one more improvement for the Gladiator character class. For example, there could be a Blinding Strike damage bonus equal to one point per level. Gladiators will also be able to use a restricted item, the Bolas.

Version 1.80 also upgraded the Way of the Pillar specialisation option of the Monk and improved the feats Forest Affinity, Water Affinity, Storm Weapon, Improved Storm Weapon, Improved Finger of Death and Greater Finger of Death. Thank you so much Christoffer for all your suggestions!!

In the last few days, I updated the KotC 2 web pages with the latest changes about feats, familiars and subraces.

Roguelike Tactical Game Giveaway on GOG: Oaken​

Before we go into the details of the latest KotC 2 updates, Brave Knights, some of you may be interested in a roguelike tactical game currently on giveaway on GOG: Oaken. The offer ends on 2 December.

Oaken features tactical battles on a hexagonal grid, a randomly-generated world map and a roguelike campaign with deck management.

Please see below for details about the changes introduced in KotC 2 1.80, 1.79 and 1.78.

List of Changes in KotC 2 Version 1.80​

• Added a new Gladiator and Samurai feat: Shatter Image. This new feat should help them fight mages. Also created a new help entry for the feat.
• Added a new Samurai feat: Mist Ronin. It grants the 'Fog Cloak' condition to the Samurai. Also created a new help entry for the feat.
• The Storm Weapon and Improved Storm Weapon feats of the Storm Warrior will now also apply to Flaming, Flaming Burst, Frost and Icy Burst weapons. Updated and improved the help entries for the feats Storm Weapon and Improved Storm Weapon and the weapon enchantments Flaming, Flaming Burst, Frost and Icy Burst.
• The Way of the Pillar specialisation option of the Monk will now allow you to use Stunning Fist against targets that are immune to both Stunning and Critical Hits. In that case, the Stunning Fist attack will apply the Slowed condition on the target instead of the Stunned condition. If the target is immune to both Stunning and the Slowed condition, the damage bonus from your Stunning Fist will increase from one time your level to 1.5 times your level rounded up.
• The feat Forest Affinity will now also improve the spell Summon Wolf from Move Action to Free Action. Also updated and improved the help entry for the feat.
• The feat Water Affinity will now also improve the spell Summon Crocodile from Move Action to Free Action. Also updated the help entry for the feat.
• The feat Improved Finger of Death will now improve the spell Finger of Death from Close Range to Long Range (up from Medium Range, previously). Also updated the help entry for the feat.
• The feat Greater Finger of Death will now increase the damage by 1d6 when the target resists the Death effect, in addition to making the spell Move Action. Also updated and improved the help entry for Greater Finger of Death.
• In the "Launch Module" screen, the Tutorial module will now appear as "Citadel of Shadows (Tutorial Adventure)". The module's actual name and folder are unchanged.
• Improved the AI for when enemies must deal with dangerous squares.
• Improved the AI for when enemies are far away from the party members.
• Added some optimisations to improve the speed of AI calculations.
• Fixed a combat bug with enemy mages casting multiple spells beyond the normal limit, under the Accelerated Spell condition. This could happen if the mage was blinded and the party members were affected by Acid Fog or Solid Fog, due to a variation of the acting combatant's remaining move points during AI calculations.
• Fixed a bug with distance calculation when considering a charge going through enemy creatures with the feat Graceful Charge. You move through enemies at half speed. The bug was affecting both the AI and the player.
• Fixed an issue with walk distance display when mousing on a square during combat before moving a character. After a right click, the distance was displayed as zero.
• Fixed a bug with Berserk archers being able to use a full attack and then move as if they had the feat Wade In.
• Fixed a memory bug in combat when the AI is considering a summoning spell. This could cause a crash.
• Fixed a bug with the quickbar that could happen when the player's spell, such as Acid Fog, would also affect the caster. This could cause a crash.
• Fixed the indigo ray of the spell Prismatic Void. It was causing Confusion rather than Berserk.
• Fixed the green ray of the spell Prismatic Void. It was checking for immunity to Ability Damage rather than immunity to Acid damage only.
• Fixed a typo in the help entry for Concealment, and added a link to the Fog Cloud condition.
• Added details in the help entries for Confusion and Berserk. Berserk characters with a ranged attack don't attack the nearest creature, they attack targets selected randomly.
• Fixed some issues with the Control+A shortcut keys to launch the quick save from the Module Editor, when pressed from within the Creature Properties screen and other screens. Please note: If your quick save is a saved game from the module currently being edited, pressing Control+A from a 'Creature Properties' screen will launch the quick save and open the character sheet for the creature that you were viewing in the editor. It also works from the 'Creature Inventory', 'Edit Item' and 'Edit Weapon' screens.
• Fixed broken links to the help entry for the feat Superior Throw Creature. Also added a link to it in the entry for Improved Throw Creature.
• Fixed links to the help entry for Excellent Two Weapon Fighting.
• Fixed a help entry issue when searching for 'two-weapon fighting'.
• Added a link to the feat Counterspelling Mastery in the entry about Counterspell.
• Fixed display issues in the 'Feats' tab of the Character Sheet when selecting the Monk's "Deflect Arrows" or the feat "Improved Draw".
• Fixed a display issue with the weapon's name in attack roll and damage roll modifier lists, including the ones that you can access from the 'Attacks' tab of the Character Sheet.
• Added the missing help entries for the Lich feats Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus. Also improved the various 'Spell Focus' help entries with links to the Greater version of each one.
• Improved the help entries for Storm Weapon, Improved Storm Weapon, Improved Elemental Weapon and Greater Elemental Weapon.
• Improved the help entries for the Monk feat Shattermantle Strike and the weapon enchantment Shattermantle.
• Added missing text in the help entry for the Foresight condition (you gain immunity to Critical Hits as well as a +4 bonus on Initiative Rolls).
• Improved the help entry for the Slowing weapon enchantment. On a Hasted creature, it removes the Hasted condition.
• Improved the help entry for the Monk's Stunning Fist with various links. Also improved the help entries for the Stunned condition and Slowed condition.
• Updated and improved the help entry for the Monk's Way of the Pillar specialisation option.

List of Changes in KotC 2 Version 1.79​

• Added the updated Spells.sml file required for the new Ground Death Throes special ability of monsters. I forgot to include it in update 1.78.
• Fixed a source of crashes upon loading a saved game in a map with large creatures. It could happen especially after having used the Module Editor.
• Added new large-size sprites for Giant Snakes and Giant Crabs. I created three colour variations for Giant Snakes and two for Giant Crabs.
• Added new tokens for Giant Crabs based on the new sprites, as well as a couple of Fire Snake tokens (the huge and gargantuan versions).
• Updated the modules Augury of Chaos and Tutorial to make use of the new sprites.
• Updated the engine so that summoning spells will make use of the new sprites.

List of Changes in KotC 2 Version 1.78​

• Added the Ground Death Throes monster ability. It can be selected in the Module Editor from the Feats tab of the Creature Properties screen.
• Improved the AI when performing the Ready Versus Spell action and a five-foot step cannot be taken.
• Increased the AI's avoidance of Stinking Cloud squares.
• Fixed a source of crashes in the Module Editor when setting a creature group after changing the unique name of a creature in the group.
• Fixed a button-display bug in the Script Editor in full-screen mode.
• Fixed a display bug with the 'bold text' button during dialogue when there isn't any dialogue icon.
• Fixed an out-of-combat bug occurring when a large creature is patrolling a map out of combat.
• Added a speed optimisation I had to implement for the execution of "Ground Death Throes" to be smooth.
• Fixed an out-of-combat slowdown issue when walking through Natural Fog squares.
• Added a check for duplicate item names or duplicate weapon names. Somehow there were two instances of the Silver Garlic Amulet with the same name in the item file of the Salthill Adventures module, resulting in a slowdown issue.
• Added some text in the Module Editor tooltip when pushing the control key in the Edit NPCs mode, as you can also use the control key to duplicate terrain types.
• Fixed a combat-log issue when drinking a potion.
• Fixed a bug where an enemy would move into a Stinking Cloud square, get the Nauseated condition, and still perform an attack immediately afterwards (in the same round), due to the game not immediately removing the creature's remaining actions for the current round.
• Mousing over Instant Death squares in combat will now display 'Instant Death' rather than 'Blocked Path'. Don't forget you can push enemies into this type of terrain.
• Fixed a display bug in the tooltip that appears when mousing over creatures in the initiative list, when displaying a readied action and no character condition.
• Added a new game option under 'Display' allowing you to turn off the outglow (shadow) around tokens. Please note: If there are some transparent pixels between a token and its outglow, it's because the token graphic has some transparent pixels on its edge that should be opaque. You can use a magic-wand selection around any of the tokens of the base game to see what pixels should be opaque. Simply click on the four corners using the 'add selection' mode to get the circle's edge.
• In the Game Options, added under 'Display' a duplicate line for the option 'Display The Injury Status of Enemies', which previously was only found under 'Difficulty'.
• Fixed a problem with map scrolling using the arrow keys when the map is smaller than the screen.
• Fixed a source of crashes when a script tries to start combat with creatures that aren't visible.
• The spell Ghoul Touch will no longer produce a Ghoul Sickness effect if your Touch Attack misses the target.
• Fixed a combat-log display issue with Death Throes and Splash weapon-enchantment effects.
• Fixed errors and improved the help entry for the Break Free combat action.
• Fixed some issues with some Spell Focus feats not being applied to the Break Free Difficulty Class of Web and Entangle (e.g. Ranger Spell Focus with Ranger Web spell, Druid Spell Focus with Entangle or Fungal Parasite). The break free DC from Glue Arrow will also benefit from Ranger Spell Focus.
• Fixed a bug in the Creature Wizard associated with the Mage Knight feats Spell Focus Wizard Evocation, and Greater Spell Focus Wizard Evocation.
• Added the spell class category 'Wizard [Astral]' in the Spell Editor (meaning a spell that could be used or learnt only by a mage without a celestial attunement).
• Fixed a combat bug that could occur when a character died or was knocked unconscious due to moving into an Acid Fog square and depending on the result of a saving throw.
• Fixed a tooltip error when mousing over squares affected by the spell Incendiary Cloud.
• Fixed a bug with the Search box of the Arcane, Divine and Psionics tabs of the Character Sheet.
• Fixed a bug with the damage of the psionic power Psionic Fog, and another bug with the combat-log display of Psionic Fog damage.
• Added Difficulty Class, Saving Throw chance, and expected damage information to the tooltip for Creeping Doom squares.
• Fixed an issue with the Module Editor not indicating a change in the current map after opening the Creature Editor by clicking on a hidden creature in the "Edit NPCs" mode.

Next Steps for Knights of the Chalice 2​

The main areas of interest include the encounters and scenario of the upcoming KotC 2 module The Dark Arena, new monster sprites, voice effects for Critical Hits and monsters, possibly some story voiceovers, and new items.

If you have any feedback, suggestions or bug reports, please feel free to let me know here, in the Forums, or by email at enquiries@heroicfantasygames.com. I really appreciate it!

Heartfelt Thanks, Valiant Champions of Destiny! May Your Quests Be Glorious!! ^_^

 

[mediocrepoet]

Thanks to the power of AI slop we can make all kinds of tokens.

You mean the power of searching for art online and using MS paint to crop it.

Not everyone understands the old ways. The traditions that forged us.