Difficulty Level
beerflavour
Member Posts: 117
From time to time I replay IWD. The game is not too heavy on story and exploration. It is quite focussed compared to other infinity engine games. It has its share of combat and is quite enjoyable.
One thing doesn't really cut it for me. The available difficulty levels. I resorted to playing the game on "core rules". Lower difficulties are no real option. Higher difficulties don't make the game more challenging. The AI ist still as stupid as always.
You get more XP on higher difficulty levels. You get more XP per character when shortmanning. But to be honest D&D is a broken rules system. The higher in level you get the sillier it gets (see Thac0 advancement, AC advancement, development of number of attacks, itemization, etc.). Melee characters, ranged characters and casters have all issues of their own at different level ranges. It doesn't make the game more difficult simply beefing up encounters. It only determines which "exploits" regarding the NPCs and their AI work better. On top of that game knowledge trumps everything.
There are other things which have a bigger impact on the difficulty of a playthrough than the difficulty slider.
+ friendly fire
This makes certain abilities/ spells situational useful and the player has to take care of positioning the party. Combats in close quarters are more difficult especially if you have to kite monsters.
+ limited resources/ money
IWD has a rather compact game world and the number of vendors is low Especially in the early chapters money is sparse and you can't afford the best spells and equipment. Eventually this becomes a non issue because at some point you find enough loot and equipment so that money becomes useless.
+ encumbrance
Encumbrance determines what equipment, money and resources you can carry with you.
Money has no weight. OK, this makes this aspect easier to handle. Otherwise gems and jewelery would have more value due to their lesser weight compared to coins. On the other hand you have no barter system in the game.
Potions have a weight but when you put them into a potion bag they lose their weight. Scrolls have no weight at all. The same goes for ammunition stacks. The stacks are too big to actually carry them around (e.g. stacks of 80 arrows or bolts).
An inventory system like in Neverwinter Nights combined this weight aspect with the volume aspect. The inventory system is at it is and has a limited number of item slots slots which is good.
At some point you get a bag of holding and similar containers and can carry lots of things. This aspect only makes it a bit more difficult in the beginning of the game.
+ roll party stats outside of the game
Roll the party outside the game and then use the character creation of the game to import your "premade" party. Luckily this is supported by not being forced to spend all build points during character creation. The infinity engine character creation put race and class selection before rolling stats to ensure that you get stats that are allowed by the choice of race and class. If you roll stats first then you are limited in that choice. Which in turn can lead to interesting party setups. Certain classes will be rarer (e.g. ranger). Dual classing will be harder. Multiclassing will be easier.
Depending on the formula (e.g. 3d6, 4d4+2, etc.) you may get more average ability scores depending on the probability distribution. You can make high scores less likely or more likely. If you want to make it challenging then too high stats will not help.
2nd Ed. is tailored around "3d6" (see tables for ability scores). You will not have too many disadvantages for low or average stats. Benefits of high stats (regarding combat) can also be achieved by class selection and training (i.e. specialisation).
Like some previous aspects this will make only early game a bit more difficult. Once you are equipped and decked in magic items...You know the story.
+ availability of special weapons and immunities
If you want to be well prepared then you should train your party members in various melee and ranged weapons. When you first equip the party then each character should have 1 to 2 melee weapons (blunt and edged) and one ranged weapon.
A normal playthrough (core rules) is actually well balanced for a full party. You will get the loot you need. You will be of a level which can handle content. In time you find enough magic weapons to overcome the resistances and immunities of monsters/ opponents you face. Sometimes your characters may not be proficient with certain weapons nor will they be able to use all armor and items/ magic items.
Especially in the early levels you will be forced to use magic weapons you are not proficient with in order to overcome immunities. The higher in level your party is and the broader and specialized the training gets, the easier things get.
+ limiting resting
Currently you can rest as long as you want. Fight a group of opponents/ monsters then retreat and rest for the next group. In time winter is gone and springtime is here and we're waiting in Kuldahar for the summer.
The challenge can drastically be increased by limiting resting. Hiw this is acomplished is up to the player. Limit the number of rests. Set deadlines for finishing chaopters/ quests. Etc..
Then you would have to spend more resources on healing potions and scrolls. Alternativley have the monsters respawn when you take too long breaks and the area is not yet cleared. I doubt the game will get changed much. Thus it's up to the player to make conventions for increasing difficulty.
+ limiting reloads
I recommend to save the game on a regular basis and use the quick save feature. Anything else is naive for different reasons (e.g. technical issues or computer crashes).
On the other hand you can limit the use of reloading previous game saves. Accepting certain encounter outcomes (e.g. combat or dialog). Don't reload when a party member or NPC dies. Don't give up too early when a battle doesn't go as planned. Try to turn it around.
+ permadeath
Whether you do this or not is up to you. I'm no hardcore fan of this. If I include this I roll outside the game (see probability for resurrection survival). If the character succeeds the roll he/ she is returned and I lower the constitution score by 1 (i.e. with shadowkeeper). If the constitution reaches 0 it's game over for that character, if not sooner.
Regarding a total party wipe out it's up to you whether you reload before the combat or start a whole new game.
+ limiting spell access
Spell access for magic users is already implemented (number of spells and highest available spell level are tied to intelligence).
Sorcerors don't have such a restriction. I tend to apply a similar rule regarding highest spell level tied to charisma.
I only allow clerics, druids and shamans to access 6th level spells with a wisdom of 17+. 7th level spells require a wisdom of 18+.
+ learning spells
I keep record of a wizards level and the spells he/ she failed to learn. After leveling up that list is cleared. The wizard has another chance at learning spells he/ she failed before. You can use potions to temporarily raise a wizards intelligence. Your chances of learning spells increases. The number of spells a wizard can learn are still tied to the unmodified intelligence score. The maximum spell level is still tied to the unmodified intelligence score. This makes it easier to handle this aspect since the potions' effect doesn't survice a rest.
This way your wizards evolve differently between two games. It forces you to use the spells you actually could learn.
Sometimes I have additional restrictions on a wizard or sorceror depending on alignment, background and archetype (e.g. enchanter) even if they did not classify for being a specialist mage.
+ beefing up encounters and XP
Just do the math and make a statistical analysis of combat outcomes. Beefing up HP, damage and XP earned will only result in the D&D game system and the game to derail earlier.
If I would change some things it would rather be respawns of once cleared areas so you cannot just autorun from one end of the map to another.
When beefing up encounters I would not raise stats or damage. I would rather keep it the same as on core rules (see probabilitites). I also would not hand out more XP.
On core rules the monsters will be like in the monsters manual. On higher difficulties I would add random immunities or resistances appropriate to the party's level and itemization. The player should have a chance to react without the need to reload.
The more difficult parties/ monster groups are balanced groups, i.e. groups with meleers, ranged attackers and spellcasters. If I have to increase the size of an enemy group then I would add characters that complement the group. It's enough if the additional characters are of an equal or lower level than the original group. This is comparable to giving the opponent more dice in a dicing competition.
To make shortmanning more challenging remove the XP of the missing party members. If you go with a party of 3 then hand out 50% XP less than with a full party. If you go solo then hand out only 16% of the XP.
I don't see the point of soloing the game and kite+range monsters for minutes.
To sum it up: I would need a different "difficulty slider" to make the games more challenging and interesting for me.
One thing doesn't really cut it for me. The available difficulty levels. I resorted to playing the game on "core rules". Lower difficulties are no real option. Higher difficulties don't make the game more challenging. The AI ist still as stupid as always.
You get more XP on higher difficulty levels. You get more XP per character when shortmanning. But to be honest D&D is a broken rules system. The higher in level you get the sillier it gets (see Thac0 advancement, AC advancement, development of number of attacks, itemization, etc.). Melee characters, ranged characters and casters have all issues of their own at different level ranges. It doesn't make the game more difficult simply beefing up encounters. It only determines which "exploits" regarding the NPCs and their AI work better. On top of that game knowledge trumps everything.
There are other things which have a bigger impact on the difficulty of a playthrough than the difficulty slider.
+ friendly fire
This makes certain abilities/ spells situational useful and the player has to take care of positioning the party. Combats in close quarters are more difficult especially if you have to kite monsters.
+ limited resources/ money
IWD has a rather compact game world and the number of vendors is low Especially in the early chapters money is sparse and you can't afford the best spells and equipment. Eventually this becomes a non issue because at some point you find enough loot and equipment so that money becomes useless.
+ encumbrance
Encumbrance determines what equipment, money and resources you can carry with you.
Money has no weight. OK, this makes this aspect easier to handle. Otherwise gems and jewelery would have more value due to their lesser weight compared to coins. On the other hand you have no barter system in the game.
Potions have a weight but when you put them into a potion bag they lose their weight. Scrolls have no weight at all. The same goes for ammunition stacks. The stacks are too big to actually carry them around (e.g. stacks of 80 arrows or bolts).
An inventory system like in Neverwinter Nights combined this weight aspect with the volume aspect. The inventory system is at it is and has a limited number of item slots slots which is good.
At some point you get a bag of holding and similar containers and can carry lots of things. This aspect only makes it a bit more difficult in the beginning of the game.
+ roll party stats outside of the game
Roll the party outside the game and then use the character creation of the game to import your "premade" party. Luckily this is supported by not being forced to spend all build points during character creation. The infinity engine character creation put race and class selection before rolling stats to ensure that you get stats that are allowed by the choice of race and class. If you roll stats first then you are limited in that choice. Which in turn can lead to interesting party setups. Certain classes will be rarer (e.g. ranger). Dual classing will be harder. Multiclassing will be easier.
Depending on the formula (e.g. 3d6, 4d4+2, etc.) you may get more average ability scores depending on the probability distribution. You can make high scores less likely or more likely. If you want to make it challenging then too high stats will not help.
2nd Ed. is tailored around "3d6" (see tables for ability scores). You will not have too many disadvantages for low or average stats. Benefits of high stats (regarding combat) can also be achieved by class selection and training (i.e. specialisation).
Like some previous aspects this will make only early game a bit more difficult. Once you are equipped and decked in magic items...You know the story.
+ availability of special weapons and immunities
If you want to be well prepared then you should train your party members in various melee and ranged weapons. When you first equip the party then each character should have 1 to 2 melee weapons (blunt and edged) and one ranged weapon.
A normal playthrough (core rules) is actually well balanced for a full party. You will get the loot you need. You will be of a level which can handle content. In time you find enough magic weapons to overcome the resistances and immunities of monsters/ opponents you face. Sometimes your characters may not be proficient with certain weapons nor will they be able to use all armor and items/ magic items.
Especially in the early levels you will be forced to use magic weapons you are not proficient with in order to overcome immunities. The higher in level your party is and the broader and specialized the training gets, the easier things get.
+ limiting resting
Currently you can rest as long as you want. Fight a group of opponents/ monsters then retreat and rest for the next group. In time winter is gone and springtime is here and we're waiting in Kuldahar for the summer.
The challenge can drastically be increased by limiting resting. Hiw this is acomplished is up to the player. Limit the number of rests. Set deadlines for finishing chaopters/ quests. Etc..
Then you would have to spend more resources on healing potions and scrolls. Alternativley have the monsters respawn when you take too long breaks and the area is not yet cleared. I doubt the game will get changed much. Thus it's up to the player to make conventions for increasing difficulty.
+ limiting reloads
I recommend to save the game on a regular basis and use the quick save feature. Anything else is naive for different reasons (e.g. technical issues or computer crashes).
On the other hand you can limit the use of reloading previous game saves. Accepting certain encounter outcomes (e.g. combat or dialog). Don't reload when a party member or NPC dies. Don't give up too early when a battle doesn't go as planned. Try to turn it around.
+ permadeath
Whether you do this or not is up to you. I'm no hardcore fan of this. If I include this I roll outside the game (see probability for resurrection survival). If the character succeeds the roll he/ she is returned and I lower the constitution score by 1 (i.e. with shadowkeeper). If the constitution reaches 0 it's game over for that character, if not sooner.
Regarding a total party wipe out it's up to you whether you reload before the combat or start a whole new game.
+ limiting spell access
Spell access for magic users is already implemented (number of spells and highest available spell level are tied to intelligence).
Sorcerors don't have such a restriction. I tend to apply a similar rule regarding highest spell level tied to charisma.
I only allow clerics, druids and shamans to access 6th level spells with a wisdom of 17+. 7th level spells require a wisdom of 18+.
+ learning spells
I keep record of a wizards level and the spells he/ she failed to learn. After leveling up that list is cleared. The wizard has another chance at learning spells he/ she failed before. You can use potions to temporarily raise a wizards intelligence. Your chances of learning spells increases. The number of spells a wizard can learn are still tied to the unmodified intelligence score. The maximum spell level is still tied to the unmodified intelligence score. This makes it easier to handle this aspect since the potions' effect doesn't survice a rest.
This way your wizards evolve differently between two games. It forces you to use the spells you actually could learn.
Sometimes I have additional restrictions on a wizard or sorceror depending on alignment, background and archetype (e.g. enchanter) even if they did not classify for being a specialist mage.
+ beefing up encounters and XP
Just do the math and make a statistical analysis of combat outcomes. Beefing up HP, damage and XP earned will only result in the D&D game system and the game to derail earlier.
If I would change some things it would rather be respawns of once cleared areas so you cannot just autorun from one end of the map to another.
When beefing up encounters I would not raise stats or damage. I would rather keep it the same as on core rules (see probabilitites). I also would not hand out more XP.
On core rules the monsters will be like in the monsters manual. On higher difficulties I would add random immunities or resistances appropriate to the party's level and itemization. The player should have a chance to react without the need to reload.
The more difficult parties/ monster groups are balanced groups, i.e. groups with meleers, ranged attackers and spellcasters. If I have to increase the size of an enemy group then I would add characters that complement the group. It's enough if the additional characters are of an equal or lower level than the original group. This is comparable to giving the opponent more dice in a dicing competition.
To make shortmanning more challenging remove the XP of the missing party members. If you go with a party of 3 then hand out 50% XP less than with a full party. If you go solo then hand out only 16% of the XP.
I don't see the point of soloing the game and kite+range monsters for minutes.
To sum it up: I would need a different "difficulty slider" to make the games more challenging and interesting for me.
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Comments
However, if you beef up HP and damage of powerful monsters with special abilities, they can become nearly invincible. 😼
Take, for instance, Yxunomei in the Dragon Eye. On core rules , you can still go in a honest melee with her. But on Heart of Fury difficulty it would be almost a pure suicide, even with AC=-20 or better.
Also, try to complete Trials of the Luremaster on HoF difficulty, even with a party of level 30. Meanwhile, on core rules or insane difficulty, you can do it starting with a solo char of level 10. 👈