Spell effects adjustements
Blash
Member Posts: 248
Please would you revert the changes made to the "Entangle" druid spell? I'm referring to the fact that now it affects party members too.. it was an essential spell, now it makes Jaheira a far less useful member.
Post edited by Blash on
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Comments
Read here: https://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/19961/spell-mod-bg1-style-entangle
If anything, I would rather have more AoE spells that affects party members, because it makes tactics important.
Edwin : I'll show those dragons... I'll show them all!
CHARNAME : Noo Edwin, didn't you read the patch notes!?
Korgan : Mwahahaha, Diee!
Viconia : I can understand if Korgan didn't bother with the patch notes, but i'm suprised Edwin didn't read them either.
*Edwin releases Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting*
[Game Over]
Now...that said....
the spell IS supposed to be stronger then it current is. Currently has a +3 save bonus, which is cripplingly bad and makes it significantly worse then Web (-2)
It's supposed to just be a flat save vs spells.
AND any creature attempting to move across the area of effect must do so at 1/3 their normal speed, no save or magic resistance allowed, due to the shear volume of vines and roots they have to wade through (this is also supposed to apply to web as well). Though creatures with str greater then 18/00 are completely immune to the spell.
One thing I've noticed is that A LOT of 1st level spells have penalties they shouldn't have. Chromatic Orb currently has a +6 save bonus, where as most of it's effects are supposed to have save penalties (the 2 blind orbs and the pain orb save at -2) or just a flat save. (and the instant death orb should be at lvl 9. Black Orb, Deals no damage. Target must save vs death or die. If they survive they are stunned for 1d4 rounds. And the spell itself should be Evocation, Alteration making it available to all specialists).
Charm person currently has a +3 save bonus, where it's just supposed to be a flat save. (Dire Charm is supposed to be at -2). On the other hand, no charm effect should grant you control of a target, just make them friendly to you and act accordingly (with a save once per 24 hours to attempt to break the effect or as long as 3 months between saves if the target has 11 or less int, or unless attacked by the caster or their friends).
Domination effects are the ones that gives direct control. The fact that charm is stronger then it should be cheapens the distinction between the two and makes Domination look REALLY bad.
Entangle is already mentioned.
Magic stone is supposed to create 3 stones to throw (sets apr to 3), instead of 1. (and they deal double damage vs undead).
Sanctuary is supposed to require a save vs spells any time the priest enters an enemy's LOS , which if successful allows them to attack the priest.
Protection from evil, I can't remember if it's working correctly or not. It's supposed to prevent charm or domination from working against the warded target. It doesn't outright block the spells, but prevents them from working as long as the creature is warded.
P.S.: I changed the title of this topic ;-)
I agree that charm spell shouldnt give control of victim like domination.
@Dee, can you do anything?
I mean, also considering Jaheira is in the canon party.
(I'm working on a PnP-accurate version at the moment, but it's slow going since this is the first time I've tried to change a spell this drastically.
Also, keep in mind, CO requires lvl 9, which makes it roughly equivalent of a 5th level spell. Phantasmal Killer is 4th and only allows a intelligence check to avoid dying.
Keep in mind, Finger of Death should actually be lower level then it currently is, because it's missing it's OTHER effect. Permanently reanimating the slain target as an undead under the casters control (though the resulting undead is capped at 5 HD, no matter how many the creature had).
Say, taking 2 weeks to memorize EACH instance of Dragon's Breath.
Since the undead wouldn't be permanent nor could they leave the area, I see nothing wrong with instant animation, hell just make it summon a skeleton warrior if kills the target. It's 2 levels higher then animate dead, and would basically just be Slay-living + Animate Dead (Similar to Mislead being Imp Invis + Spectral Force), which is what the PnP version essentially is.
Hell nearly every Animation spell is supposed to have a permanent duration, as is the evil cleric's Command Undead turning effect. Being able to keep a permanent entourage of undead servants is kind of the main perk of being a Necromancer.
Your choice of argument seems to depend on which outcome you prefer in a particular case. Which makes the whole argument a lot weaker.
A large majority of the spell can, and should function as their PnP version.
Finger of death as implement should not be a 7th level spell due to lacking it's main effect...the instant death is NOT the main power of Finger of Death, since that is easily found on much lower level spells. Allowing for the animation of a powerful undead servant is the main draw of Finger of Death.
The undead created by Finger of Death is a VERY strong undead creature (MR and some other special powers), and is a permanent companion until destroyed. BG can't do that and thus it would only be a temporarily short-term animated minion, which makes it acceptable for it instantly raise a minion (Animate Dead's skeleton warrior is basically what the FoD animated creature would be, except not a skeleton).
I actually want to revamp all spells to make them fully PnP accurate, but currently it's about working in small steps. Some spells due to the engine require a LOT of work to make them fully PnP accurate, so it's better to find an easier but fair compromise for those spells.
While spells that can be easily implemented accurately, such as Chromatic Orb should do so (it would function almost identically to Enchanted Weapon, except the list of Orbs it can summon grows larger as you level, up to 9, but only the caster can throw it (replacing their current weapon until thrown). this is an important change, because while it seems like the Black orb would be the only version you use, the other orbs have a bunch of different and situationally useful effects, allowing any slot spent on CO to be used no matter what the situation is, and is that way by design as it gives any mage no matter their specialization (since no mage or specialist loses both evocation and alteration), access to a wide variety of effects (Blindness, direct damage, burning, weakness, magnetism, slow, stun, death, petrifying)