Important Area or Code Upgrades

[Talos]

Griffoneers Guild

The Guild of Griffoneers is a loose affiliation of merchants and griffon
riders who run flying caravans protected by a trade-pax between several
cities and nations across the realms. Foremost in brokering these agreements
and sponsoring the guild have been Lord Rasavir of Waterdeep and Lord
Odessiron of Thay. For the right price one may purchase a ride on these
caravans, however they do not come cheaply or often. The Waterdeep
connection rests at the end of the Tower March street.

An alternative to caravans that stop everywhere, feel free to submit feedback via pm, this format of these flights may change depending on that.

[Talos]

False Beacon

A great number of lighthouses can be found perched atop the cliffs overlooking the Moonsea, carefully guiding them around the dangerous outcroppings lying just beneath the water. Recently, reports have made their way through the Dalelands of ship debris spotted in the Moonsea's waters, the ships themselves failing to make it to their intended ports. Amid these troubles, word has also spread of the increase in activity of the tribes throughout the broken moors of nearby Thar.

The second area from builder Myn.

[Talos]

ZK Cemetery

With the heavy turn over of prisoners and slaves, the Keep needs a place to
dump its continuous production of fresh corpses. The cemetery comprises
various states of expansion, restoration, and abandonment. Neophyte
necromancers and priests often practice the reanimating arts here; either
mastering them and leaving or failing and joining the shuffling ranks of the
undead. Going deeper into the cemetery is not recommended for younger
adventurers.

Expansion and new quests added.

[Talos]

Orkskreem Exterior

The woods forming the perimeter around the Orkskreem Camp in the east after Waterdeep leveled the old camp. The heavy logging by the orcs allows for easier passage here than through the greater forest itself. One may also find goblin sentries lurking about, waiting in ambush.

Area done by Vaemar, an addition to make travel through the forest and catching cows easier for low levels.

[Talos]

Scardale Town

Once a mighty city and the seat of the fledgling Dale empire of Lord Lashan
Aumersair before an alliance of Zhentil Keep, Cormyr, Sembia, and other
Dalelands smashed it and overthrew the lord. Now it is little more than a
minor trading port on the western coast of the Dragon Reach, still garrisoned
by its conquers as they vie amongst each other for pre-eminence.

This also adds some coded game boards for recording the states of rock paper scissors, tic-tac-toe, mancala, and peg solitare.

[Solaghar]

Bard Adjustments

For those who are unaware, bards have had some editing done to make them a bit more group-friendly. Bards have been given access to many mass spells which they previously did not have access to, and those at one level lower than other classes. For example, mass bulls strength is available to wizards and clerics at level 6, but to bards at level 5. Bards have also been given access to the new spell 'Shout' which can be found in a few places throughout the realms. There are other spells under design for bards, but we'd like to see how these new changes are working before new things come in to ensure that we repair the balance of the class rather than introduce new balance issues by going too far in the opposite direction. If you have had bards in the past and found them underpowered, you're encouraged to dust them off, try out these new spells, and remember that the key idea we're thinking of for the bard is someone who works best in a group.

New Summoning Spells

Many people have likely noticed, but summoning spells by the name of Summon Monster 1-4 and Natures Ally 1-4 have appeared at trainers throughout the realms as well. The natures ally spells were specifically formulated for druids, while the summon monster spells are tailored towards wizards and clerics. If these spells prove popular and well-balanced, the higher levels of the spells will be introduced one at a time, up to level 9.

Fixed Weird and Phantasmal Killer

It had been the case that phantasmal killer as defined by our spell system required only a single save, failing would result in death. For the level of spell that this was, this was both overpowered and not done according to the rules of the D20 spell system, which required two different saves for the spell to result in death. The spell on FK now mirrors the D20 spell exactly. I am certain some will find this change disappointing, but please remember that the spell was broken, and it has been repaired, rather than "nerfed" in the sense of making something unbalanced less powerful. The spell should have always worked in this way, as we try to make all of our spells conform to D20 in order to prevent balance issues. The same thing is true for weird.

Regarding all of these changes, if you see anything you find suspicious or out of the ordinary, please let someone know through a bug report.

[Solaghar]

The Underdark Wilderness

The Underdark Wilderness (the mappable area existing between the various areas of the Underdark) has been fixed. Previously, a serious stability issue existed which was causing the game to crash, so people were advised quite seriously to stay out of the Underdark. We're cautiously stating that this issue is solved, however we'd like people to be cautious along with us. Feel free to head into the Underdark, explore, interact, dust off those previous Underdark characters (Drow, Dwarven, and Svirfneblin) who you might have shelved due to the instability in the Underdark, or those surface characters who enjoyed exploring this unique environment. At the same time, if you are doing something in the Underdark and the game immediately crashes, please make a bug report giving the approximate area you were in and what command(s) you might have input. We've done our own testing and things seem stable, but the nature of the bug was not something which seemed stable itself, so just keep an eye out. Long live the Underdark!

[Harroghty]

Old Axe

A mining community in the shadow of Skull Crag has been long victim to raids from orcs and hobgoblins. The brutal and unforgiving terrain of the Storm Horns Mountains affords the miners some shelter even as it also brings the monsters from which they must shelter. (Help File)

This is the third training area in Cormyr meant to provide a cradle-to-grave training progression and relieve crowding in some popular areas. The Stronghold in the Goblin Marches covers Howling Peak to Friendly Arm Inn. The Hullack Forest Hobgoblin Camp goes from Friendly Arm Inn to Maos. This area, Old Axe Peak, is comparable to Maos with just a few NPCs of lesser experience. This new area is also feasible for mounted combat. There will be other training areas added to Cormyr, and other structure, too.

[Lirith]

Combat for thieves

The combat system for thieves has been revamped recently, with more opportunities for them to gain a sneak attack in a round assuming the correct conditions are met for the thief to gain the upper hand.

The duration of backstab has also been reduced. It will now last a much shorter time per backstab than the previous several RL hours (around 5-10 minutes each). This will not impact thieves' ability to cripple a foe, but will mean less inconvenience for anyone suffering the effects afterwards. Restoration will now remove the ability damage from backstab, bringing this in line with SRD 3.5e and providing an IC way to heal the effect.

[Harroghty]

The Ferryman's Refuge

For souls seeking refuge from their troubles, The Ferryman's Refuge at Waterdeep's and Zhentil Keep's Piers offers a chance for patrons from all walks of life to put their preoccupations on paper, and sail them off in paper boats to blissful oblivion, never to be seen or heard of again. It is thought that the notes, encased by straw dolls, would act as substitutes for their makers, symbolizing the release and relief from their struggles and pains. Run by the compassionate Darkcloaks, the Refuge is a neutral haven where care-seekers can receive counselling and relief, and where people can send mail directly to the Nightsinger's flock to request for an audience or advice.

This provides easier access for faith applications to Shar and opens up an avenue for communication with the faith. More additions to come for Darkcloaks in future. The area is built by Neleya.

[Harroghty]

Trade Bars

Grenwyn submitted a suggestion about exchanging money for an object which represents its total value and we have implemented that idea in a pilot capacity. Now PCs will be able to visit Waterdeep's main bank (at the Market Square) and exchange money with a merchant for trade bars in the following amounts:

25 gold (5 pp)
50 gold (10 pp)
100 gold (20 pp)
250 gold (50 pp)
500 gold (100 pp)

These are described by weight, but I have not made the weights accurate on them because, for example, 100 pp is lighter than 10 lbs and the idea is to make money less onerous to store. While, in real life, one bar about half a foot long would be an advantage for storage, a heavier object in FK is no advantage. Feel free to opine about this in this thread with your thoughts and we will expand this or adjust it as sensible.