Circle of Eight Modpack 5.9.x/5.9.xNC General Commentary & Discussion Thread

[gazra_1971]

I have not had any crashes to desktop so far while playing 5.9.2 NC.

The Improved Trip ability is WAY too powerful!

Some other players mentioned recently about having meat items in the game. I don't know if this is of any use to anybody, but Lodriss already sells a chunk of meat (see screenshot below).

My favourite combat in the game so far is the Nulb ambush. It was fun. I was disappointed at how easy the combat is with a largish (6+) party of player-made PCs. It would be a tough combat with a party of mostly NPCs though.

Is it possible to cast the spell Call Lightning indoors in this computer game? If so, then that is another spell that shouldn't work indoors.

The Amulet of Proof against Detection and Location that Rannos Davl has is worth approximately 31850 Gold Pieces. The value of that item seems to me to be way too high.

I wish that the last character in the party order was not repositioned at the front whenever the party enters a map where the party is immediately ambushed (e.g. the tower at the moathouse, the broken tower at the Temple of Elemental Evil, the player's house in Nulb, etc.). The game is penalizing the player through no fault of the player (which is unfair). Having to change the party order before and after these map-change ambush combats is a hassle.

There's another DO NOT USE bullet in the Boatmen's Tavern (see screenshot below).

Sitra Achara, when I uncompressed your 2010-10-08.part2.rar and 2010-10-08.part3.rar files (from the Lets talk about Lareth thread) (http://www.co8.org/forum/showthread.php?t=8463) into my Temple of Elemental Evil folder, I received the following errors (see screenshots below):

[General Ghoul]

Originally Posted by gazra_1971

T

Is it possible to cast the spell Chain Lightning indoors in this computer game? If so, then that is another spell that shouldn't work indoors.

What's the difference in chain lightning and lightning bolt? Both shoot lightning out youe fingers like Sith Lords.

Now Call Lightning and Lightning Storm (Druid spells) are a different story.

[The Royal Canadian]

Hi
According to d20 SRD Chain Lightning, Call Lightning, and Call Lightning Storm can be used indoors. The only outdoor rule is that if you use Call Lightning or Call Lightning Storm outdoors in a storm, the Lightning Bolts cause more damage.
The Royal Canadian

[Necroticpus]

There aren't any bulls in the game. The player shouldn't be able to use bull's strength.

[Ausdoerrt]

The Amulet of Proof against Detection and Location that Rannos Davl has is worth ~35000 gold coins. The value of that item seems to me to be way too high.

Or, hopefully, if that could be made to disappear like certain other items do on enemies, that'd be the best solution.

The Improved Trip ability is way too powerful!

Not really, considering you still have to roll successfully for it to work. It really requires a special character build and a strategy built around it to be effective.

[Sitra Achara]

Originally Posted by gazra_1971

Sitra Achara, when I uncompressed your 2010-10-08.part2.rar and 2010-10-08.part3.rar files (from the Lets talk about Lareth thread) (http://www.co8.org/forum/showthread.php?t=8463) into my Temple of Elemental Evil folder, I received the following errors (see screenshots below):

You're only supposed to actually extract part1.rar, while part 2 and 3 are present in the same folder. I had to split to archives in order to fit it into the attachments here (290kB, and was too lazy to use the FTP ).

[Gaear]

Originally Posted by Gaear

Can somebody tell me if you're properly getting the area description boxes in 5.9.2 (shopmap, etc.)?

Originally Posted by Necro

I am.

In relation to this, are players specifically getting the shopmap description box in 5.9.2? Black Jay's ring from the frogs, spiders, or bear? The proper starting money in the shopmap? Need feedback.

[cezmail]

Originally Posted by Gaear

In relation to this, are players specifically getting the shopmap description box in 5.9.2? Black Jay's ring from the frogs, spiders, or bear? The proper starting money in the shopmap? Need feedback.

For me, yes on all three.

[Gaear]

Thanks, I think I got it sorted.

[Shiningted]

There aren't any bulls in the game. The player shouldn't be able to use bull's strength.

The sooner someone remeshes gorgons and gives us bulls, the happier I will be.

[Necroticpus]

Originally Posted by Shiningted

The sooner someone remeshes gorgons and gives us bulls, the happier I will be.

Remesh the eyes of the deep first so we can have real beholders that shoot death 8 times per round!

[General Ghoul]

Originally Posted by Necroticpus

Remesh the eyes of the deep first so we can have real beholders that shoot death 8 times per round!

Remesh the hydra into a 12 headed Pyrohydra!

[gazra_1971]

Are players specifically getting the shopmap description box in 5.9.2? Black Jay's ring from the frogs, spiders, or bear? The proper starting money in the shopmap? Need feedback.

While playing 5.9.2 NC, my lawful good party got Black Jay's ring in one of the Large Spiders at Deklo Grove.

Whenever I start a new game with 6 or 7 PCs, I start the game with approximately 70-140 Platinum Pieces. I don't know what the "proper starting money" is. Could you explan what it is supposed to be?

I looked through my 170 or so saved games, and the following maps (that I've been to) display their location description properly in the saved game list:

HOMMLET
DEKLO GROVE
MOATHOUSE
MOATHOUSE CAVE EXIT
EMRIDY MEADOWS
HICKORY BRANCH
NULB
TEMPLE OF ELEMENTAL EVIL

The following maps (that I've been to) have a blank description (i.e. they do NOT display their location description properly) in the saved game list:

SHOP MAP
WELKWOOD BOG
RANDOM MAP
ARENA OF HEROES

After reading Gaear's question again, I now realize what he meant. I believe that I get all of the description boxes whenever I enter a new map that is supposed to have them (but I can't remember whether I did get description boxes for the shop map).

[gazra_1971]

I managed to win the third combat in the Arena of Heroes with 6 level 6 PCs on my FIRST ever attempt at it! I was quite proud of that achievement. Mind you, the only way that I was able to do that was because my characters made ALL of their Will saves during the combat against all of the deadly spells that the enemy wizards kept casting at my characters! I was EXTREMELY lucky! My level 6 cleric with the Sun domain and the Improved Turning feat destroyed 2 of the wizards with Greater Turning. Clerics of Pelor are SO HANDY in this computer game!

When my rogue has the Large Darkwood Shield equipped, he receives no penalty to attack even though he is not proficient with shields. Also, he receives a +1 bonus to Trip checks and Open Lock checks due to wielding the Large Darkwood Shield (see screenshots below). I checked the D&D 3.5 SRD and it states that Darkwood shields are only supposed to weigh half as much and have their Armor Check Penalty reduced by 2:

Darkwood: This rare magic wood is as hard as normal wood but very light. Any wooden or mostly wooden item (such as a bow, an arrow, or a spear) made from darkwood is considered a masterwork item and weighs only half as much as a normal wooden item of that type. Items not normally made of wood or only partially of wood (such as a battleaxe or a mace) either cannot be made from darkwood or do not gain any special benefit from being made of darkwood. The armor check penalty of a darkwood shield is lessened by 2 compared to an ordinary shield of its type. To determine the price of a darkwood item, use the original weight but add 10 gp per pound to the price of a masterwork version of that item.
Darkwood has 10 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 5.

I did some more testing of the prices that different vendors offer for different items and I found some anomalies:

* Armario offers to buy a Shield +1 for twice the price that he offers for a Shield +2.

* Mother Screng and Jakk Borton offer the same price for a Shield +1 as they do for a Shield +2.

* Otis, Ah Fong, and Brother Smyth offer to buy Lareth's Staff of Striking and the Barbarian Helm for twice the price that Mother Screng, Armario, Jakk Borton, Calmert, and Burne offer for them.

* Armario offers to buy a Masterwork Heavy Flail for twice the price that Mother Screng, Otis, Ah Fong, Jakk Borton, and Brother Smyth offer for it. Is a Heavy Flail a wooden weapon?

When an enemy wizard cast Stinking Cloud, 2 dead Owlbears in the area of effect of the Stinking Cloud attempted Fortitude saves to avoid the spell effect (see screenshot below).

The Help page for the Death Knell spell has an error (see screenshot below):
"Upon casting this spell you touch a living creature that has -1 of fewer hit points."
Should be "-1 or fewer hit points."

When you hold the mouse pointer over the Precise Shot feat in the feat list window of a character, the description for Precise Shot has an error (see screenshot below):
"You can shoot or throw ranged weapons at an opponent engaged in melee with taking the standard -4 penalty on your attack roll."
Should be "without taking the standard -4 penalty".

[gazra_1971]

When you hold the mouse pointer over the Haste spell in a spellcaster's spell list, the description for the Haste spell incorrectly states that it provides "+2 on attack rolls and AC." (see screenshots below). Should be "+1 on attack rolls and AC." The Help page for the Haste spell and the Rolls History windows for attack rolls and AC calculation all correctly show that the Haste spell provides a +1 bonus to attack rolls and AC.

[gazra_1971]

My lawful good-aligned party had Serena in my party. In the Snake Pit in Nulb, I talked to Ophelia but I was unable to initiate any quests from her. I suspect that this was due to my party's alignment. When I talked to Riana, she had the following dialogue options (see screenshot below). When I talked to Ophelia, she had the following dialogue options (see screenshot below), even though I had not initiated any quests from her at all. I was unable to initiate or complete any of the quests in the Snake Pit. Ophelia's dialogue options need correcting because she should not show the following dialogue option when I have not initiated the quest (that the dialogue option is associated with) from her beforehand:
"3. I'm still working on finding out about Jenelda for you."

[General Ghoul]

Just had a random encounter with 12 Doors (Boba Fett looking guys). How do I post a screen shot?

[gazra_1971]

Press the Print Screen key (it is just called PrtScn on my keyboard). Then run the image editing program Paint that comes with Windows (well, it does with Windows XP, I don't know about Windows Vista or Windows 7) (in Windows XP, you click on Start - All Programs - Accessories - Paint). Then click Edit - Paste. The screenshot should appear in the Paint program. Then you may have to crop the screenshot (by clicking on the broken rectangle icon, and then clicking-and-dragging the rectangle over the section that you want to keep of the screenshot, then clicking Edit - Copy (or right-click while the mouse pointer is inside your new rectangle and select Copy), then click File - New, then click Edit - Paste) so that the resultant image file will be less than 100 KB in size. Then save the image as a JPEG (.JPG) file. You can't upload image files larger than 100 KB to this website.

In this forum, when you click on NEW REPLY, click on the Manage Attachments button, then click on one of the Browse... buttons. Then select your new image file. Then click on the Upload button. Then click the Close this window button. Then click the Submit Reply button.

[edit]

Then delete all of the useless screen00xx.tga files in your Temple of Elemental Evil\modules\ToEE folder because they each take up a whopping 5 MB each!

[General Ghoul]

Thanks!

[Necroticpus]

12 zombie bounty hunter doors. That is cool. I wonder what other new monsters are in the game. Maybe some crawfish bounty hunter barrels or some such.

*edit*
Holy crap! I just realized something. The potion vendor at the moathouse respawn, her name is Thingizzard, just like it warns on the P&P map! Cool.

[Shiningted]

Thats 'Mother Thingizzard' to you. But it shows what an archetype the 'crone in the swamp' is.

[zebrainz]

Originally Posted by General Ghoul

Just had a random encounter with 12 Doors (Boba Fett looking guys). How do I post a screen shot?

I had the same issue, with the exact same screen as captured by GG (5.9.2 game), I avoided the encounter and it hasn't repeated yet. My game was after Verb., after Hedrack and pre-nodes at the time.

[Necroticpus]

I would like to humbly suggest that Gaear make a sticky thread that just has a title that says "Run As Administrator". I bet it would clear up 1000% of the new people's problems. Even if they don't open and read the post, just the title alone will make them think.

I know that there is already a troubleshooting instructions thread and windows compatability and whatnot but who reads those?! Run as administrator takes away all the heartbreak and anguish of having to read through a thread and learn of potential fixes for potential problems.

[General Ghoul]

Originally Posted by zebrainz

I had the same issue, with the exact same screen as captured by GG (5.9.2 game), I avoided the encounter and it hasn't repeated yet. My game was after Verb., after Hedrack and pre-nodes at the time.

They turned out to be 12 zombies, an unusual encounter, but all went down to a turn undead for 0 XP.

[gazra_1971]

Just had a random encounter with 12 Doors (Boba Fett looking guys). They turned out to be 12 zombies, an unusual encounter

(in reference to General Ghoul's screenshot) They don't look like zombies to me. They look like 12 knights that have been killed by and taken over by the Mandragora Helix.

are players specifically getting the shopmap description box in 5.9.2?

Yes. Below is a screenshot verifying that I got the shopmap description box when I started a new game in 5.9.2 NC.

I just experienced jerkstop for the first time ever. I had just rested for 8 hours upstairs in the Inn of the Welcome Wench and when I exited the inn, I immediately experienced jerkstop (see screenshots below). I eventually made my way back into the inn, and when I exited the inn again, I no longer experienced jerkstop. I am almost certain that I never used the Sign Posts in 5.9.2 NC (I did use the sign posts a few times in 5.9.1 NC). I have NEVER opened the command console in the game. My OS is Windows XP SP3. I am not using nor have I ever used the no-CD crack. I never experienced jerkstop in 5.8.1 NC.

The Dispel Magic spell is very messy with spots where a corpse has been animated because of all of the corpse's items left behind in a pile on the ground when the corpse is transformed into an undead creature (see screenshot below). Also, the door exit to the map is also numbered by the Dispel Magic spell as a legitimate target to dispel all magic on the target. Weird.

When my character did a critical hit while under the effect of the Prayer spell, the +1 damage due to the Prayer spell was multiplied by the critical multiplier of the weapon that my character was wielding (see screenshot below). I've looked at the D&D 3.5 SRD and it's not clear to me whether the +1 damage from the Prayer spell should be multiplied by the weapon's critical multiplier when a character scores a critical hit while under the influence of a Prayer spell. The D&D 3.5 SRD states:

Critical Hits:
A critical hit means that you roll your damage more than once, with all your usual bonuses, and add the rolls together.
Exception: Extra damage over and above a weapon’s normal damage is not multiplied when you score a critical hit.

Prayer:
You bring special favor upon yourself and your allies while bringing disfavor to your enemies. You and your each of your allies gain a +1 luck bonus on attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saves, and skill checks, while each of your foes takes a –1 penalty on such rolls.

What do you guys think? Does anybody know whether the Player's Handbook states more clearly whether the +1 damage from a Prayer spell should be multiplied by the critical multiplier of the weapon when determining the damage from a critical hit while the attacker is under the influence of a Prayer spell?

With regard to Lubash, Gaear, you are aware that the player can avoid Lubash altogether by going the other way through the moathouse dungeon (i.e. through the secret door in the pillar), and that the player can avoid a confrontation with Lubash by wearing the cloaks that are in the nearby chest? I don't see why Lubash shouldn't be allowed to fight the player's characters when the player's characters fire arrows/bolts at Lubash from outside his room. That's why I would like the situation with Lubash changed.

I also strongly object to the instant killing of one of the player's characters (without any saving throw) before the combat with the slave traders. It's just not fun. Gaear, will you PLEASE remove that from the game? It's not fair to penalize the player that drastically through no fault of the player.

The most amount of damage that one of my characters has ever done with a critical hit was 69 HP damage with a masterwork ranseur. I am EXTREMELY curious - what is the most amount of damage that one of your characters has done with one hit?

[General Ghoul]

Also a ranseur, but I believe it was +1 at the time, with a fighter with 20 STR.

[Necroticpus]

Originally Posted by gazra_1971

The most amount of damage that one of my characters has ever done with a critical hit was 69 HP damage with a masterwork ranseur. I am EXTREMELY curious - what is the most amount of damage that one of your characters has done with one hit?

My highest rogue sneak attack critical was 137 damage. These are the rest...

[Necroticpus]

Gaear, look at post #625, Gazra's post. There's a screenshot of him getting jerkstop. He didn't mention it but if you look at it, you can see water ripples in the ground under the signpost! BAM!

[Gaear]

That's in the jpeg image, so no ... but that's not to deny that you yourself had ripples.

I have a lot of catching up to do here but it will be a little bit. Busy ...

[Necroticpus]

It's right there! It's the only circle on the map! I'll bet a million dollars and Ted's reputation that it is a ripple!

Everyone, watch for water ripples in front of the inn! Especially when you get jerkstop!