If Beamdog wants to change the spell from the way has been for the last 15 years it can.
agreed.
equally, if a player wants to play a version of the game where this spell is the way it's been for the last 15 years - he can.
This answer seems as meaningless as the "if you don't like it, don't play it" you often get from people. There is a very superficial truth in it, obviously. Nevertheless, the devs should and probably do welcome even pointed critical feedback over people just going "oh, I will only play the old version instead", which also means not buying the new one.
equally, if a player wants to play a version of the game where this spell is the way it's been for the last 15 years - he can.
Actually, I can't. If I could have uninstalled the patch I would have but there isn't a "revert to previous patch" option.
If you mean I can play the gog version then that is just a 'love it or leave it' "argument" which I've never found very persuasive.
It's a major change, it wasn't intended -- making a bug -- and I'd like to have it fixed. In less than 10 months And, those who like the bug can ask that it enabled. Everyone gets what they want.
And from a RP perspective -- the opponent is at your mercy so if the player says "okay DM I cut the artery" it should be instant death.
you're right, it's a bug. but restoring the original functionality becomes questionable under these new circumstances since we have a differentiated effect - should now it be total unconsciousness, should it be sleep, or should it now be something in between
have in mind that the description doesn't say "unconscious" but mentions "the affected will lie down" and "This will last for the duration of the spell"
however that which will last for the duration of the spell is the disturbed emotional state, not the circumstance of lying down (the spell doesn't target the body, but the psyche)...there are some things in the mind that are stronger than emotions. as resigned as you feel, once you're prodded with something sharp, your nervous system is going to react and cause you to move. actually, when you're in a compromised emotional state, such as depression, the perception of pain is *amplified* not decreased...
so with all this said. this is how i think the spell should work:
on spell hit - creature lies down after that when damage is dealt - the creature "panics" (in reality it instinctively reacts to danger), runs around a bit but quickly lies down again and the process repeats
this reduces the yawn-inducing automatic hit effect
also, another way to implement this is keeping the creature lying down but no automatic hit (there would be an ac penalty instead)
I recently saw an SCS mage use Emotion on my solo monk and was struck by how ineffective it was.
The whole enemy party except for a fighter and the mage were under the effects of Horror and were running around elsewhere, leaving the mage and fighter alone. Immediately after the mage knocked me out, the fight took a swing at me, ending the Emotion spell. In the end, all it did was guarantee them one extra hit on me.
Then I realized they could have absolutely destroyed me had they used a better plan than just attacking me right after I failed my save: 1. Wait until the rest of the party recovers from Horror. 2. Expend all the party's disablers on me. 3. Conjure summons. 4. Expend all the party's buffs on themselves. 5. Surround me so I get pinned in place and cannot run away. 6. Attack all at once.
This would have ensured that the enemy party only confronted me when they were at their most powerful, I was completely unable to fight back, and I was unable to escape. They could have killed me several times over, easily.
The change to Emotion makes it only marginally less useful for the player, who knows how to maximize its power. But it's far less useful to enemy mages, who lack the AI to take advantage of the spell's possibilities.
Comments
equally, if a player wants to play a version of the game where this spell is the way it's been for the last 15 years - he can.
If you mean I can play the gog version then that is just a 'love it or leave it' "argument" which I've never found very persuasive.
It's a major change, it wasn't intended -- making a bug -- and I'd like to have it fixed. In less than 10 months
And from a RP perspective -- the opponent is at your mercy so if the player says "okay DM I cut the artery" it should be instant death.
have in mind that the description doesn't say "unconscious" but mentions "the affected will lie down" and "This will last for the duration of the spell"
however that which will last for the duration of the spell is the disturbed emotional state, not the circumstance of lying down (the spell doesn't target the body, but the psyche)...there are some things in the mind that are stronger than emotions. as resigned as you feel, once you're prodded with something sharp, your nervous system is going to react and cause you to move.
actually, when you're in a compromised emotional state, such as depression, the perception of pain is *amplified* not decreased...
so with all this said. this is how i think the spell should work:
on spell hit - creature lies down
after that when damage is dealt - the creature "panics" (in reality it instinctively reacts to danger), runs around a bit but quickly lies down again and the process repeats
this reduces the yawn-inducing automatic hit effect
also, another way to implement this is keeping the creature lying down but no automatic hit (there would be an ac penalty instead)
The whole enemy party except for a fighter and the mage were under the effects of Horror and were running around elsewhere, leaving the mage and fighter alone. Immediately after the mage knocked me out, the fight took a swing at me, ending the Emotion spell. In the end, all it did was guarantee them one extra hit on me.
Then I realized they could have absolutely destroyed me had they used a better plan than just attacking me right after I failed my save:
1. Wait until the rest of the party recovers from Horror.
2. Expend all the party's disablers on me.
3. Conjure summons.
4. Expend all the party's buffs on themselves.
5. Surround me so I get pinned in place and cannot run away.
6. Attack all at once.
This would have ensured that the enemy party only confronted me when they were at their most powerful, I was completely unable to fight back, and I was unable to escape. They could have killed me several times over, easily.
The change to Emotion makes it only marginally less useful for the player, who knows how to maximize its power. But it's far less useful to enemy mages, who lack the AI to take advantage of the spell's possibilities.
Well, that's different, then.
Carry on!