KickStarter Solasta: Crown of the Magister Thread - now with Palace of Ice sequel DLC

[Lhynn]

Khelgar Ironfist was a legit portrayal of dnd monk. The only one I can think of, in fact.

He just was impressed with how strong he thought monks were, so he wanted to become one. Funnily enough turning him into a monk makes him shit.

 

[Faarbaute]

It's a simple but effective, satisfying development arc for a character. One that is quite fitting the pseudo-metaphysical theme of monks in dnd. He starts out on a quest to learn how to brawl like a monk, but, unbeknownst to himself, is actually on a journey of enlightenment.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

From what I understand the class was designed based on a bad actor making bad martial arts movies back in the 80s that had some ties to dnd at the time. Its been a while since I read the story and cant seem to find it, but it seems like the monk class was designed to take the piss out of this person.

In every edition since its conception the monk has been a horribly designed weak class, so the theory seems to track.

The monk class (along with the assassin class) was introduced in Supplement II: Blackmoor back in 1975.

gygax regretted including the monk and wanted to remove it in 2E
it was based on the TV series Kung Fu.

Gygax noted that the monk class had already been transferred to Oriental Adventures (released in 1985) and fit in a setting and rules based on eastern Asia rather than the standard D&D rules based on late-medieval Europe.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

From what I understand the class was designed based on a bad actor making bad martial arts movies back in the 80s that had some ties to dnd at the time. Its been a while since I read the story and cant seem to find it, but it seems like the monk class was designed to take the piss out of this person.

In every edition since its conception the monk has been a horribly designed weak class, so the theory seems to track.

The monk class (along with the assassin class) was introduced in Supplement II: Blackmoor back in 1975.

and it was a mistake

 

[Faarbaute]

Btw, Khelgar, as an npc, offers more in terms of roleplaying for the player than Solasta does in its entirety.

I'm still upset about this.

 

[Desiderius]

From what I understand the class was designed based on a bad actor making bad martial arts movies back in the 80s that had some ties to dnd at the time. Its been a while since I read the story and cant seem to find it, but it seems like the monk class was designed to take the piss out of this person.

In every edition since its conception the monk has been a horribly designed weak class, so the theory seems to track.

The monk class (along with the assassin class) was introduced in Supplement II: Blackmoor back in 1975.

gygax regretted including the monk and wanted to remove it in 2E
it was based on the TV series Kung Fu.

Gygax noted that the monk class had already been transferred to Oriental Adventures (released in 1985) and fit in a setting and rules based on eastern Asia rather than the standard D&D rules based on late-medieval Europe.

The ascetic traditions of the Orient were not unknown to late-medieval Europe. In some sense they were central to the early development of the Christian Mysticism that later moved many Medieval men and even some women.

But yeah Hong Kong Phooey probably wasn't the ideal implementation for the setting.

 

[Acrux]

Wow - monks (eastern variety), bards, and warlocks. Three classes I don't allow in my games. Pass.

 

[lukaszek]

tldr: is lost valley better than original campaign? Looks like it also starts from lvl1 so it got me interested, even if it falls apart half way through due to scaling

 

[Larianshill]

Yes, but it's not a high bar.

 

[Infinitron]

https://af.gog.com/game/solasta_crown_of_the_magister_inner_strength?as=1649904300

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tacticaladventures/solasta-crown-of-the-magister/posts/3664161

Inner Strength Release Patch Notes​

Hey there folks!

The Inner Strength DLC is now available, with an extra serving of free update on the side! So, what's new? What changed? Everything will be revealed in the wall of text below.

17 New Feats (Free):​

• Arcane Appraiser: Magical Items are automatically identified when put in your inventory
• Badlands Marauder: Gain +1 CON, resistance to poison damage and advantage on rolls against being poisoned
• Forest Runner: Gain +1 DEX and +2 cells movement speed
• Mightly Blow: When attacking with a melee two-handed weapon, deal additional damage equal to half your Strength modifier (rounded up)
• Cloak and Dagger: After hitting an enemy with a light weapon, gain +2 AC until the start of your next turn (doesn't stack)
• Distracting Gambit: After hitting an enemy with a one-handed weapon, they lose -1 AC for 1 minute (doesn't stack)
• Forestalling Strength: Gain +1 AC while wielding a two-handed weapon
• Mender: Stabilizing an ally with a Medecine checks heals them by 1 HP
• Blessing of the Elements: When taking fire, cold or lightning damage, you can use your reaction to become resistant to those damage types until the start of your next turn (once per short rest)
• Trip Attack: Enemies hit by a melee Ready Action must make a contested roll (against shove) or be knocked prone
• Daunting Push: Successfully shoving an enemy makes them lose half of their movement speed until the end of their next turn.
• Ready or Not: Gain advantage on attack rolls when using Ready Action
• Toxic / Melting / Burning / Icy / Electrifying Touch: The first time you deal damage with an unarmed or weapon attack each turn, deal additional poison / acid / fire / cold / lightning damage equal to your proficiency bonus (can't select Touch feats multiple times)

3 New Backgrounds (Free):​

• The Ascetic : Gain 1 language and proficiency with Survival, Insight and the Herbalism Kit
• The Artist: Gain 1 language and proficiency with Persuasion, Deception and Performance
• The Occultist: Gain 1 language and proficiency with Arcana, Deception and the Scroll Kit
• Note: Unlike previous backgrounds, these 3 new backgrounds do not have a special quest in the Crown of the Magister campaign.

Gamepad Support (Free):​

• You can now play with controllers on PC! Hurray!

Dungeon Maker Improvements (Free):​

• Boss Monsters can now be used in the Dungeon Maker. Legendary actions included. In case you didn't suffer enough.
• Many monsters and items which were previously missing have now been added too!
• Honestly though, for those of you who haven't already - go try out some Custom Dungeons made by the community. Most are really great!

3 New Classes (Inner Strength DLC required):​

Detailed information about each subclass can be found in the following threads:

• Bards: College of Lore, College of Hope, College of Heroism, College of Tradition
• Monks: Way of the Open Hand, Way of Survival, Way of Light, Way of Freedom
• Warlocks: The Fiend, The Hive, The Timekeeper, The Tree

1 New Race (Inner Strength DLC required):​

• Everyone say hello to the Dragonborn! These fellas get +2 Strength, +1 Charisma, Damage Resistance and a Breath Weapon linked to their Draconic Ancestry. For example, a Black Dragon grants resistance to Acid and an Acid Breath, while a Gold Dragon grants resistance to Fire and a Fire Breath.

General Improvements (Free):​

• Enemies who are immune to certain conditions will now display a text feedback instead of leaving the player to wonder if they are immune or if the spell is just bugged.
• Clicking the "Light" button shortcut (bottom left) while having a light active will now extinguish it.
• Four types of instruments can be found for the Bard to use as spellcasting focus: a Flute, a Lute, a Drum and a Horn.
• Added a "Toggle" Icon for Sorcerers' Metamagic. While toggled off, you will no longer be asked to select a metamagic option every time you try to cast a spell.
• Unidentified magical weapons will now properly inflict magical damage. The fact of not knowing its nature does not make it any less magical, after all.
• Ready Action will now trigger when invisible enemies come out of invisibility to attack you.
• Added Eldritch Blast, Viscious Mockery, Hellish Rebuke, Malediction, Dreadful Omen and Hilarity spells to the game (Bard & Warlock)
• Added a "Fast Loot" system: looting crafting components out of bushes / flowers no longer opens a loot window.
• Buffed most Kindred Spirits base AC, HP and damage as they were a little too weak.
• Added some missing Primed Weapon / Armor to merchants in CotM and Lost Valley. If some are still missing, please do reach out to us!

General Bug Fixes (Free):​

• Fixed new Temporary Hit Points overriding old value even if the previous amount of Temporary Hit Points was higher. It should now always keep the highest amount.
• Fixed a rare bug where Kindred Druids could no longer summon their pet until they leveled up
• Fixed Heat Metal not working properly after the first few rounds. Now you can get back to cooking those Veterans alive, you monster.
• Fixed a couple of range miscalculations where a spell's range would be slightly lower than intended.
• Fixed Shield of Faith preventing the caster from casting Shield. "Because that would be too many shields, and THAT'S ILLEGAL!" - no it isn't, get back to casting Shield you dumdum.
• Fixed a rare instance where shoving could cause an error. Shove off, error.
• Fixed AC stacking incorrectly in some instances. Bygone are the days of Barbarians running around in their fancy Empress Garb for crazy amounts of AC.
• Fixed allied NPCs sometimes making ranged attacks by hitting air with their melee weapon. That's... that's not how it's supposed to work Beryl. Use your crossbow.
• Fixed some tooltips which were showing duplicate and/or empty strings
• Fixed multiple Hunter's Mark (from multiple Rangers) not stacking properly on the same target
• Fixed Greenmage's Leaf Scale feature activating when they get counterspelled. Which made no sense.
• Fixed Bracers of Archery granting damage bonus on melee attacks. AGAIN. HOW MANY TIMES MUST WE FIX YOU.
• Fixed Ranger Marksman's Reaction Shot not triggering against spells.
• Fixed Greenmage's Leaf Scale also not triggering properly against spells.
• Fixed Dragons missing their Blindsight feature
• Fixed Shapeshifting as a Balance Druid while another character is dead to suddenly trigger a game over if no one else could cast Revivify. Basically the game went "wait, Druid can revivify, but Bear no can revivify. Druid now Bear, so revivify not possible now. Dead person no can be saved, game over". Oh game, you did your best.
• Fixed Law Cleric's Holy Retribution text string - and hopefully it should no longer randomly deal damage to the Cleric instead of the attacker.
• Fixed an issue where Confrontation (Lost Valley) could become impossible to complete if Karelia was killed
• Fixed an issue where The Lost Apprentice (Lost Valley) could bug out if Lysantir died before reaching Orenetis or Hasbrudal
• Fixed an issue which could prevent the completion of The Lost Book (Lost Valley)
• Secret Report (Lost Valley) will now properly fail if you previously killed Cafrain's contact
• Fixed Berserker Barbarians' saving throw against Frenzy not taking into account their magic items' bonus
• Fixed bonus cantrips gained from subclasses being into account in the total number of cantrips known when leveling up (preventing the spellcaster from learning more cantrips)
• Fixed Confusion's area of effect not increasing when upcasted
• Fixed Marksman Ranger's Recycler not working properly while traveling on the World Map
• Fixed several issues with Chinese and Russian where some text wouldn't appear
• Barbarian Rage should no longer work when wearing Heavy Armor
• Fixed an issue where Wind Druid's Sheltering Breeze could only be used once per long rest
• Fixed an issue where Hunter Ranger's Whirlwind Attack would do absolutely nothing when used. Well that was disappointing.
• Fixed an issue where... alright where do I start with this one. If your character falls unconscious while you had their inventory open, and you then use an item from there while unconscious, game goes boom. Congrats to that one guy for finding this bug.
• Slashing, Piercing and Bludgeoning damage inflicted by spells should now be correctly considered "magical damage" for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity. Because one could argue that spells are, I don't know, magic?
• Fixed a weird interaction between Rogue's Evasion and Draconic Sorcerer's Elemental Affinity that would prevent Evasion from triggering.
• Fixed Marksman Ranger's Fast Aim being completely busted and targeting every enemy you hit previously on your turn. It should now correctly only target the last enemy you attacked.
• Fixed Giant Crows' disease not doing ANYTHING AT ALL. Y'ALL SHALL NOW SUFFER AT THE HANDS OF THE GIANT CROWS.
• Fixed Barbarian's Rage not correctly ending when they don't attack nor take damage for a round. C'mon they're strong enough already in Solasta, no need for freebies.
• Fixed an issue where some Kickstarter backers' names were overlapping in Caer Cyflen's monument
• Fixed an issue where ability scores would sometimes be unable to go above 20 even when intended (like with a Potion of Cloud Giant Strength)
• Fixed Judgment Paladin's Aura of Righteousness not providing its bonus correctly on spells with multiple projectiles
• Creatures under the effect of Hideous Laughter will now properly roll a saving throw with advantage when damaged
• Fixed a case where characters would not become immune to Dragons' Frightful Presence after succeeding their saving throw
• Fixed A Giant Step (Lost Valley) being stuck if you free Rugan after failing a Persuasion check
• Fixed Grappled / Constricted conditions not being correctly removed if the character is forcefully moved (teleport / shove / etc). GET DOWN MISTER PRESIDENT!
• You know how in most tactical games, flyings units take extra damage from bows? Well apparently, in Solasta flying units' weak point was... doors. They would INSTANTLY DIE if you close a door on their face instead of being shoved away. That should no longer be the case. The door meta is over, time to find another exploit against flying units.
• Fixed a rare case where Kindred Druids' pet would lose their damage bonus. C'mon they are already weak enough
• Fixed a couple of animation delays that would occur in special circumstances with opportunity attacks, prone opponents etc.
• Fixed an issue where The Prisoner (Lost Valley) could soft lock if you killed Orenetis prior to starting the quest
• Failing to convince Orenetis in an important dialog towards the end of the game will trigger the battle as intended
• Attacking Marin Ving at the end of the game will teleport Cafrain to the combat so he no longer blocks the fight by being out of reach
• Fixed Oblivion Cleric's Herald of Pain's saving throw to trigger at the end of the enemy's turn instead of the beginning.
• Spells cast from inside a Globe of Invulnerability can longer be counterspelled from outside
• Fixed crafted item disappearing if the crafter is over-encumbered when the crafting completes
• Fixed being able to cast Black Tentacles in the air
• Fixed not being able to leave Black Tentacles' area of effect after failing a saving throw once. What is it with you, Black Tentacles? Why are you causing so many problems?
• Fixed some calculations which made certain spells range slightly lower than intended
• Fixed Pass Without Trace missing from the Druid's spell list
• Fixed a bug where Mardracht would be missing from his own cutscenes (wut?)

Multiplayer Fixes / Improvements (Free):​

• Fixed a bug where items could disappear when using "Loot All" if it would make the character over-encumbered
• Fixed a desync that could occur when a player triggered fast travel while already moving through the blueprint
• Fixed more desyncs that could occur when manipulating items in the inventory
• Fixed a rare issue where the party could get stuck in a location if the host tried to leave the area exactly when another player started interacting with something else
• Fixed another desync that could happen when giving items to the different factions
• Fixed an issue that could prevent players from joining a lobby when the password was more than 20 characters. Wow those are some long passwords you got there.
• Fixed a desync that could occur if a narrative sequence triggered while one person is still loading
• Fixed a funny bug where if a shop is opened while you're checking another player's inventory, both character models would fuse into some nightmarish amalgamation. Ed...ward?
• Fixed an item duplication exploit which could trigger when multiple players had their inventory open at the same time
• Clicking on a player's position icon will now move the camera to them
• Fixed pinging on controller sending multiple pings at once

Dungeon Maker Bug Fixes / Improvements (Free):​

• When playing Custom Campaigns, the game will now also auto-save after changing location / finishing a long rest (5 min cooldown)
• Fixed the camera behaviour while in dialog in Custom Dungeons
• It is no longer possible to name a Custom Monster with an existing internal monster name, which would cause other custom campaigns using the same monster to be hidden. That one took some time to find out, thanks to every creator involved!
• Mana Lamps can now be set as on or off in the Dungeon Maker
• Fixed loading screens between locations always being the same
• Fixed an issue where a dialog could be stuck if no matching role was found within the party
• Added many monsters that were previously hidden in the Dungeon Maker
• Added many items that were previously hidden in the Dungeon Maker

Known Issues:​

• There is a long delay whenever quitting the Dungeon Maker before returning to the main menu.
• The Kindred Spirit Druid has a bugged Spirit option with a weird name - do not pick it, it's a placeholder we'll remove in a hotfix!
• Kindred Spirit's description text still show the old AC, HP and damage values instead of the buffed values
• Some test characters we played with decided to stick around and made their way into the pregen category, they will be dealt with soon. Those characters are: Corthyn Dosa, Jane Storm, Iela Olfborn, and at higher levels the aptly named Lore08 Bardy and Hope08 Bardy. There are also 4 level 12 characters Burg Dormer, Esbery Dudley, John Guert and Ros Hasting that shouldn't be there because... well who's going to play with max level characters anway?
• Monks don't get their bonus action attack when attacking while holding a torch. Apparently kicking with a torch in hand is not considered a Martial Art?
• When picking up loot from the ground, you will often see the message "some items can't fit the inventory" - don't worry, that's a text bug. Unless your inventory is truly full, the items are actually picked up.

Alright folks, time for you head back into Solasta! If you're looking for people to play multiplayer co-op with, make sure to drop by our Discord Server to meet new friends!

Article by Tactical Myzzrym

 

[0sacred]

wait so Dragonborn are the new brutes of D&D


are we to assume that dragons interbred with humanoids consensually this time or is it a case of ((((magic))))

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Well, construction set allows boss set ups it says.

 

[Infinitron]

Dragons in the Solasta setting appear to spend a lot of time polymorphed as elves.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

So, the dragons know elves ain't getting any action and are tired of horny lizard fuckers out there. Knowing elves get zilch, they poly into elves to avoid lizzy rape? I'm sure there is a cartoon vid on this somewhere explaining it.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Dragons in the Solasta Dragonlance setting appear to spend a lot of time polymorphed as elves.

I don't usually write "I fixed it for you", but I fixed it for you. Many of the apparent oddities in Solasta's setting can be explained with the realization that they attempted to create a version of the Dragonlance campaign setting without the license.

Pictured above: Silvara and Gilthanas by Larry Elmore, from DL7 Dragons of Light and the gamebook Lords of Doom.

 

[PulsatingBrain]

Have they announced any more DLC? I'm considering getting what's available now, but if there's more to come I'll wait

 

[mediocrepoet]

Dragons in the Solasta Dragonlance setting appear to spend a lot of time polymorphed as elves.

I don't usually write "I fixed it for you", but I fixed it for you. Many of the apparent oddities in Solasta's setting can be explained with the realization that they attempted to create a version of the Dragonlance campaign setting without the license.

Normally this sort of thing makes you think, "Oh wow, it makes so much sense now."
In this case it's like: Yeah, I can kinda-sorta see that... but it makes the Solasta setting so much worse somehow. It's like someone tried to do a Paint-by-Numbers, but most of the colours were missing and they had a sneezing fit while painting.

 

[Artyoan]

Have they announced any more DLC? I'm considering getting what's available now, but if there's more to come I'll wait

Not officially. Though some in-the-know people on the discord said they are working on a third campaign. The type of people who beta test for them, so likely true. Also, the game has a load of custom made player campaigns, one of which is in my signature.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Who'd of thunk that WOTR would get a second season pass? I guess they're pushing levels to the limits... and maybr beyond.

 

[Orud]

Wow - monks (eastern variety), bards, and warlocks. Three classes I don't allow in my games. Pass.

Now now, support the small indie devs. They've already paid their dues by giving us Paladins and Barbarians, so they get my support.

 

[PulsatingBrain]

Is the elven racial trait still OP as fuck? Also, do the expansion campaigns add onto the main campaign or are they seperate?

 

[luj1]

This game improved a lot?

I see the main complaint is linearity

 

[Cryomancer]

I honestly din't liked much the WLK pacts, IMO DDO has much better warlock pacts, Fey, Fiend, GOO, Celestial, Abyss & Carceri Storm, while solasta has fiend(ok), tree and hive(too druidesque, wlk should fell more otherworldly) and timekeeper(again, doesn't fell otherworldly). The point of warlock patron is that his master is an outsider force. This since complete wizard's handbook in 2E.

 

[plem]

are there any good custom adventures that take you to level 12? I wanna try the new classes but can't bring myself to play the OC again

I honestly din't liked much the WLK pacts, IMO DDO has much better warlock pacts, Fey, Fiend, GOO, Celestial, Abyss & Carceri Storm, while solasta has fiend(ok), tree and hive(too druidesque, wlk should fell more otherworldly) and timekeeper(again, doesn't fell otherworldly). The point of warlock patron is that his master is an outsider force. This since complete wizard's handbook in 2E.

DDO gets to add those since they're official D&D things, Solasta has to come up with something new. Hive and Timekeeper do feel appropriately otherwordly IMO, and mechanically Timekeeper is the coolest anyways. The Tree is obviously supposed to be a Fey analogue.

 

[Cryomancer]

Solasta has to come up with something new.

Yes, but they could picked something new which fells more otherworldly, like for example, a cataclysm warlock. As for DDO, last time I checked, there is not "carceri storm" warlock pact in PHB and is my favorite WLK pact in DDO. Warlock point is to fell otherworldly and weird.