To begin with, big thanks to all for the help and suggestions.
@cds13
"Actually I always drag some low level weapons from the adv. halls of training. Hope this doesn't unbalance the difficulty lvl set for your mod."
- If these weapons are not of the magical sort, you are welcome to use what you want.
@henesua
"Glad to see that you are still working on this."
- Working, yes ;-) "Whack a Hole" is slowly approaching release (95% complete).
Some updates (thread end) here:
social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/193/index/16435264@rogueknight333
" This system could perhaps be improved by adding a bit more variety in what one finds in the various recycled areas (e.g. perhaps in some one could search out plants with medicinal properties, rather than only dealing with animals)."
- I intend to have something like that in the next version. Perhaps the Trade Post could also specialise in apothicary remedies and medicinal plants, this could add interest for druids and magic users not well versed in hunting arts...
*****
Warning: spoilers area. Don't read this if you intend to play *****"1) The two special items you find among your uncle's effects (compass and boots) are initially not identified, and one must spend some time hunting hides to gain enough gold to have them identified and thus usable. Is this intentional?
It would seem that the compass, at least, ought to be usable from the start, though perhaps you wanted to make players appreciate it by the time they are able to use it by first spending some time trying to keep track of exactly where they are in the woods on their own."
- Yes, it is intentional and No, i don't want the compass to be useable from the start. My idea is for the player to try to reach the native encampment without compass one or two times at first. The player can have the necessary positional info talking with Thomas and if he become lost in the forest, that will teach him some respect for the huge wild outside and reinforce that "last human civilised refuge" feeling i intend to tie to the trading post (ambitious, he...
'>.
"2) Boots that provide Haste represent a massive increase in character power, especially for the low level PCs for which this module is designed. I can understand that with all the traveling a character is expected to do that there is a reason to provide a boost to speed, but such an over-powered item risks completely breaking the combat balance. Combat was at a reasonably challenging level before identifying those boots, but mostly quite easy afterwards."
- You are right. I will reconsider the boots affair... Perhaps boots with a limited haste spell (using charges) will be better balanced, as they need to be activated and you have to spend wisely the charges. In this case, do you think, it will be a good idea to add a way of recharging exhausted boots (native chaman, magic battery, etc.) ? On the other side, my future long term plans for this module are to push the PC to make deep travels in the forest farther than Ka land's to hunt exotic beasts and i fear boring travel times.
"3) The area where one ultimately finds the treasure on the other hand, seems like it could potentially be excessively difficult for certain character types. First there is the graveyard area, where one encounters monsters like Allips and Shadows that possess Damage Reduction (in a module that apparently provides no magical weapons to bypass it). This is not a problem for high-strength PCs, who can do enough damage to win in spite of the reduction, and probably not for most casters either, but some others might have problems. Then one has to worry about Ju-ju wandering around the area (I am assuming combat with this mighty bear is best avoided - at any rate I played a stealthy PC who did so). Those who can sneak around will be fine, but what do you expect those who cannot to do? (Not saying I could not find some way to defeat the bear, just that it seems like it might call for a geater than optimal amount of cheesy tricks to pull off.) "
- The graveyard and Ju_Ju are not a problem. Don't forget this is a module where you can freely navigate around and enter the area of your choice from the orientation (North, South...) you like AND at the exact place you like (proportional to the entry point in the "move to area" Trigger). What i am trying to say is that you can easily bypass dangerous parts of an area and enter unnoticed throu the benign parts (stealth helps but is not required if you play it right). Fights are not compulsory to finish the game. If you want to fight the Allips, perhaps i can make Chellec help with some protection spell or spirit protection object. Yes if you choose to do it, the Ju-Ju fight is a tough one, doable at level 4 or 5 but you will probably need to use tricks if you are a feeble character.
"Likewise, actually finding the treasure seems to require success at what appears to be some kind of search check: how will those who lack ranks in this skill deal with it? If they fail the check will they just dead-end at that point, with no clear idea of what do do next?"
- Yes, there are a few search checks, but as there is no limit to the number of check try (i twisted AD&D rules a little here
'>, it can be done by anybody even without search points (i completed all the game with a barbarian sporting a -1 search attribute !). All that a "low search points" does is to increase the time needed to check and recheck the suspicious places. With a zero or lower in search skill, you will always have a 1/20 chance to find the hidden things....
"Several other minor issues:
*Chellec will allegedly trade a badger hide for a knife, but did not actually do so. The other trades all appeared to work.
*It seems one could easily click on the mushrooms outside the trading post before realizing what they are and receive some spoilerish info without intending to. It might be better to convey this information by starting a
conversation that gives an option like "Are you really sure you want to do this?"
*there were a fair number of spelling errors and such (did not really keep track of them, unfortunately)."
- It's normal behaviour. Chellec furs and hide inventory is dynamic. Every day the native hunters gives him a random numbers of pelts for every sort of animal. In a bad hunt case where no animals were killed, Chellec could perfectly have nothing to sell. If you don't find the fur you are after, try another day. (note: Chellec fur inventory is cumulative, what you don't buy will add to the next pelt delivery).
- You are right about the mushroom, i will add something like you suggest.
- Sorry for the spelling. Its not my strongest point i suppose. Pity, you didn't keep track of them. If anyone could help me with this, this would be much appreciated.
@MagicalMaster
"I'm going to skip playing the most recent version for the moment but I will agree with everything that rogueknight333 said since 95% of it is the same. If you release yet another version I'll play through it but
swamped atm.
I also found the combat much easier with the boots, though I figured it was intended. I killed the bear with a fighter character, though I think I was level 7-8 or something. That said, it was a reasonably tough fight and I suspect most players would have simply died -- are you intending them to have to grind out more experience and level even higher?"
- No problem, you are welcome to play next version. Yes, fights are (probably too much) easier with the boots. I killed the Ju-Ju with a level 5 ranger and some (cheesy) tricks but it was a very hard and long fight. A frontal fight would probably need a level 7/8 character (0.75 Ju-Ju is different from the 0.55). There is no intended real experience cap for this module. When to attack (or not) the Ju-Ju is the player choice.
*****
Spoilers area END *****
Modifié par CaveGnome, 12 octobre 2013 - 11:27 .
