Luck: What it is and how it works

gorgonzola · April 2019

BUMP
can please @JuliusBorisov , @semiticgod or an other moderator create a pinned tread with a link to this and other treads that give so useful and detailed information on technical aspects of the game?
i can put them in my bookmarks, but new forum users risk to never find them once they are buried under many new treads.
thank you very much if you do it. if the pinned tread is created every forum user can propose in it, in the tread or sending to the creator a pm, to insert other links as he find relevant treads searching in the forums. the creator has not to do the work himself, even if i am sure that both of you already know about some thread where some thecnical aspects of the game are explained in a detailed way.

AndreaColombo · April 2019

^ Good idea. It would be great to have a sticky with links to threads that explain game mechanics, and threads that explain combat tactics and strategies (plain or exotic though they may be.)

gorgonzola · April 2019

yep, also some treads like @semiticgod's unusual tactics deserve to be easily available for all. i remember also some threads comparing the different ranged weapons output. as long as the directory pinned thread don't become too crowded, but only the very relevant threads are linked, it would be a great help. it would also possibly prevent forum users asking questions on topics that have been covered in a detailed way. not all people use the search feature, and even doing it is not easy to get the right results, but everyone should notice a pinned thread and find in it if there is still information on their questions. to answer over and over to the same questions is time consuming and boring for who has the knowledge to do it...

Alonso · April 2019

Bubb wrote: »

I have some more findings. The luck effect, does, indeed, have some say in thieving abilities:

Actions:

#18 (0x12) - Hide()

- Rolls a 1d100 in order to test for critical failure, (this being a roll of 100). Any amount of positive luck will remove the chance of critical failure. Negative luck will "shift" the probabilities slightly out of your favor. For example:

Luck -20 Critical Failure Probability: 21%
Luck -1 Critical Failure Probability: 2%
Luck 0 Critical Failure Probability: 1%
Luck 1+ Critical Failure Probability: 0%

#28 (0x1C) - RemoveTraps(O:Trap*)
#145 (0x91) - PickLock(O:Object*)
#148 (0x94) - BashDoor(O:Object)

- Rolls a 1d10 to add to your base ability score when calculating success. Each point of luck will "shift" the probabilities slightly in your favor. For example:

Luck 1 Probabilities:
1 => 0%
2 => 10%
3 => 10%
4 => 10%
5 => 10%
6 => 10%
7 => 10%
8 => 10%
9 => 10%
10 => 20%

Luck 9 Probabilities:
1 => 0%
2 => 0%
3 => 0%
4 => 0%
5 => 0%
6 => 0%
7 => 0%
8 => 0%
9 => 0%
10 => 100%
Negative luck has the same effect, but in reverse.

Opcodes:

#252 (0xFC) Spell Effect: Set Trap

- Engine rolls a 1d100, and if the roll is less than the character's Set Traps skill it fails succeeds. Each point of luck will "shift" the probabilities slightly in your favor. For example:

Luck 0 Probabilities:
1 => 1%
2 => 1%
3 => 1%
4 => 1%
5 => 1%
6 => 1%
7 => 1%
8 => 1%
9 => 1%
10 => 1%
11 => 1%
12 => 1%
13 => 1%
14 => 1%
15 => 1%
16 => 1%
17 => 1%
18 => 1%
19 => 1%
20 => 1%
21 => 1%
22 => 1%
23 => 1%
24 => 1%
25 => 1%
26 => 1%
27 => 1%
28 => 1%
29 => 1%
30 => 1%
31 => 1%
32 => 1%
33 => 1%
34 => 1%
35 => 1%
36 => 1%
37 => 1%
38 => 1%
39 => 1%
40 => 1%
41 => 1%
42 => 1%
43 => 1%
44 => 1%
45 => 1%
46 => 1%
47 => 1%
48 => 1%
49 => 1%
50 => 1%
51 => 1%
52 => 1%
53 => 1%
54 => 1%
55 => 1%
56 => 1%
57 => 1%
58 => 1%
59 => 1%
60 => 1%
61 => 1%
62 => 1%
63 => 1%
64 => 1%
65 => 1%
66 => 1%
67 => 1%
68 => 1%
69 => 1%
70 => 1%
71 => 1%
72 => 1%
73 => 1%
74 => 1%
75 => 1%
76 => 1%
77 => 1%
78 => 1%
79 => 1%
80 => 1%
81 => 1%
82 => 1%
83 => 1%
84 => 1%
85 => 1%
86 => 1%
87 => 1%
88 => 1%
89 => 1%
90 => 1%
91 => 1%
92 => 1%
93 => 1%
94 => 1%
95 => 1%
96 => 1%
97 => 1%
98 => 1%
99 => 1%
100 => 1%

Luck 20 Probabilities:
1 => 21%
2 => 1%
3 => 1%
4 => 1%
5 => 1%
6 => 1%
7 => 1%
8 => 1%
9 => 1%
10 => 1%
11 => 1%
12 => 1%
13 => 1%
14 => 1%
15 => 1%
16 => 1%
17 => 1%
18 => 1%
19 => 1%
20 => 1%
21 => 1%
22 => 1%
23 => 1%
24 => 1%
25 => 1%
26 => 1%
27 => 1%
28 => 1%
29 => 1%
30 => 1%
31 => 1%
32 => 1%
33 => 1%
34 => 1%
35 => 1%
36 => 1%
37 => 1%
38 => 1%
39 => 1%
40 => 1%
41 => 1%
42 => 1%
43 => 1%
44 => 1%
45 => 1%
46 => 1%
47 => 1%
48 => 1%
49 => 1%
50 => 1%
51 => 1%
52 => 1%
53 => 1%
54 => 1%
55 => 1%
56 => 1%
57 => 1%
58 => 1%
59 => 1%
60 => 1%
61 => 1%
62 => 1%
63 => 1%
64 => 1%
65 => 1%
66 => 1%
67 => 1%
68 => 1%
69 => 1%
70 => 1%
71 => 1%
72 => 1%
73 => 1%
74 => 1%
75 => 1%
76 => 1%
77 => 1%
78 => 1%
79 => 1%
80 => 1%
81 => 0%
82 => 0%
83 => 0%
84 => 0%
85 => 0%
86 => 0%
87 => 0%
88 => 0%
89 => 0%
90 => 0%
91 => 0%
92 => 0%
93 => 0%
94 => 0%
95 => 0%
96 => 0%
97 => 0%
98 => 0%
99 => 0%
100 => 0%
Negative luck has the same effect, but in reverse.

I've been reading and re reading this a lot of times, but I still cannot understand it. Can you write a version of this for non modders, a version that the rest of us can understand?

JuliusBorisov · April 2019

@gorgonzola Feel free to create such a thread (to summarize all "interesting" discussions), tag me, and I'll pin it.

gorgonzola · April 2019

i will do it boss, but not today

gorgonzola · April 2019

@JuliusBorisov , @moderators, @everybody
after further thinking i will not do it, and the reason is simple: constancy is not one of my virtues.
some times i log in every day, but i can pass whole months without logging in and such topic deserve a constant maintenance. that is not a hard work, the OP has only to read the new posts and add the links to the first post, maybe after checking that the proposed threads are really relevant, something that is worth to be put in that pinned directory.
i think that can be annoying to search and propose links to have them added only 2 or 3 months after cause i am not in the mood to log in. it has happened in the past that i had not logged in for even longer periods, up to 6 months, and i can not be sure that it will not happen again.

so if somebody that log in often without the big holes i sometimes have want to open the thread in my place please feel free to do it, the purpose of it is to give a service to the forum users and i am happy if some other person can grant that the service is better maintained, even if the idea is mine i don't claim any "copyright" on it...

if no one will do it i probably will end in doing it myself, better a bad maintained thread then no thread at all.

GLoBaL · June 2019

Where can you see/find a character's current luck score/status?

kjeron · June 2019

@GLoBaL Requires Debug mode:
Cursor over Character -> Ctrl+M

GLoBaL · June 2019

@kjeron thank you very much.

makes me wonder why it isnt in the stats page somewhere...

domitri · November 2019

Good day )
I don’t know asked this question or not.
Is there any way to see the luck parameter of my character that he received when creating?

semiticgoddess · November 2019

@domitri: Welcome to the forum! To answer your question, your character won't have any luck modifiers right after character creation unless you have a mod installed. If you do have a certain mod installed (I believe Scales of Balance is the one that grants luck bonuses for high Charisma), then you can use CTRL-M on your character to produce a list of stats in the dialog box. One of those stats should be labeled as your current luck.

domitri · November 2019

Hi!
No, I do not use the charisma mod. I read that when creating a character, he is immediately assigned some random luck parameter. This is a hidden characteristic. Luck can be, for example, +1 or -5. I do not mean the luck that he can get thanks to objects or magic.

Tell it true or not)?

Grond0 · November 2019

domitri wrote: »

Hi!
No, I do not use the charisma mod. I read that when creating a character, he is immediately assigned some random luck parameter. This is a hidden characteristic. Luck can be, for example, +1 or -5. I do not mean the luck that he can get thanks to objects or magic.

Tell it true or not)?

Not true. In the absence of mods, spells, abilities or items, everyone's luck is at 0.

ithildurnew · December 2019

At this point, can the OP in this thread (last edited in may 2019 apparently) be considered accurate and up to date (as much as reasonably possible)? Some of the posts in the thread seem to flat out contradict the edited OP; I'm assuming that these posts were found to be inaccurate, and the final, confirmed results are in the edited OP.

gorgonzola · December 2019

the OP was active last time on august 14, so he surely did not update the first post of the thread after that date, but usually was quite diligent in doing it, this is not the only thread opened by him dealing with technical aspects of the games.
so i assume that everything posted before that date has been integrated in the first post, everything posted after is not.
i don't know the reasons why @Alonso is not logging in any more, i hope that all is good in his life and that he simply needed a pause and will join again our community in the future.
EDIT: the op post was edited last time on may 4, so everything posted after that point is not included in it.

pochesun · May 2020

Good day. I have been trying to delve into this Luck story and revealed for myself a lot of interesting things. The point i am writing this is i am playing BG with Spell Revisions Mod and the Luck spell states: "The recipient of this spell is lucky in everything that they do for the next hour. The affected character receives a +1 or 5% bonus to all of their actions, including THAC0, damage, AC, saving throws, and thieving skills. Multiple casting of this spell are not cumulative."
I have been ok with everything in this discription except for AC. I have tested everything else (THAC0 etc) and all modifiers seem to work fine, but i can't understand AC clause. In what sense AC could be affected, are there any AC rolls? (i am pretty sure there are none) and how AC could be an action (obviously, Luck spell does not confer the recipient with bonus AC by default). Anyone familiar with the mod or anyone having a clue what this AC thing all about - please answer me

Thank you.

jmerry · May 2020

Spell Revisions did that, presumably by explicitly adding an AC bonus to the Luck spell. The vanilla version of the Luck spell doesn't boost AC, and doesn't do anything to improve your chances of not being hit.

gorgonzola · May 2020

i am not familiar with that mod so i can not tell anything about it, but
"The recipient of this spell is lucky in everything that they do for the next hour. The affected character receives a +1 or 5% bonus to all of their actions"
and AC does not involve an action, is a static value vs an action done against you, the enemy rolls to hit.
but it is not completely true as dex is a modifier for that static passive value, and dex is related to action, to dodge or parry.
also the ST are a static passive value, and even more then AC as here no action is needed, the only action is by the enemy.

so, imo like in other cases in this game, the spell description is wrong and misleading, and should be reworded into something like " "The recipient of this spell is lucky in everything that happens for the next hour. The affected character receives a +1 or 5% bonus to all of their actions".

jmerry · May 2020

The spell description of the vanilla spell:

"The recipient of this spell gains extraordinary luck for the next 3 rounds, receiving a +1 bonus to <PRO_HISHER> Saving Throws, attack rolls, and minimum damage/healing rolls as well as +5% to all thieving skills. Furthermore, damage dice for all effects outside a weapon's base damage is reduced by 1. For example, a 6d6 fireball will do 6d5 damage, and a flaming long sword that deals 1d8+2 slashing plus 1d3 fire damage will deal 1d8+2 slashing plus 1d2 fire damage instead."

Notice what's not there? The version @pochesun quoted is different. A mod, presumably Spell Revisions, deliberately changed the description, and not just the vastly increased duration. Assuming the description of the effect is correct, the modded spell also added an effect to improve AC.

gorgonzola · May 2020

true, and i was talking of the description in the mod, that talks of actions, while ac and st are not actions (is not the character doing the roll), but passive abilities, static values used in the calculation of a roll done by the enemy.

in this case is the description of a spell from a mod, but as also some vanilla descriptions are imho misleading and not very precise i made a generalization telling "like in other cases in this game", even if i admit that in this particular case the flaw in the description comes from a mod and is not there in the vanilla game.
so i was not very accurate in my statement, i agree.
but if the descriptions would be accurate, in game or at least in the game manuals, we should not need threads like this, that is now 7 pages long, to understand what luck really does in the game...

pochesun · May 2020

Thx for the answers. Just few notices. AC is not added to either character screen or inventory screen when Luck spell is applied. Thieving skills bonus and ST bonus are shown in character screen with Luck applied, 1 extra THAC0 roll is granted in roll result shown in console when Luck applied, bonus to phisical damage granted with Luck applied (for instance, character with Luck always does 2 fist damage on successful hit while damage inflicted by character without Luck varies from 1 to 2) and by doing multiple testings i figured that indeed Luck reduces damage from magic spells. So it looks like AC is the only thing that does not make any sense here (unless AC bonus is considered to be a damage reduction from magic spells, that is, again, a discription issue). I even tried to test it with Jaheira (THAC0 15) punching MInsc (8 AC) : first i did it without Luck on Minsc and the lowest hit roll to succesfull hit was 7 (as it should be), then i thought probably Luck could give a bonus AC value when the dice is being rolled and it will automatically extend the margin to be hit by 1, i casted Luck on Minsc, same story - the lowest total roll to hit was 7. So i assume its just a discription issue as @gorgonzola mentioned.

Luck: What it is and how it works

Comments