Important Area or Code Upgrades

[Mask]

Story Council Updates

The story council have been given a few more new commands to help with mob animation: fsay, fsayto and fsmote. They do what says on tin: allow a SC member to put words in the mouths of NPCs.

For more information on the Story Council click here. For information on how to help out with the story council, click here.

[Harroghty]

Battlerise and Battlegate Castle

The hamlet is named for the hill crowned with a ruined castle that rises to the west of the Darkflow River just south of the Way of the Manticore. Monsters raiding out of the Vast Swamp and lizard men marauding up the inky waters of the Darkflow long ago reduced the population of this village to a few hardy turnip farmers and a lone waystable that stands inside its own palisade among the overgrown ruins of many abandoned cottages. There the Margar family trades fresh horses for weary ones or sells steeds outright to travelers on the road. - VGtC, p.77

This small village offer quests, accommodations, and subsistence. Locals do not welcome strange races and typically shoot goblinkin on sight. The abandoned castle of Battlegate, of course, has no such qualms about its visitors - they just shoot everyone. Whoever they are. The castle offers some minor subsistence (water) and training appropriate for levels 35 and up.

This is the border between Cormyr and Sembia.

[Raona]

Scoresheet Enhancements

Mask has enhanced the SCORE sheet by adding data on the threat and critical hit damage of your weapon(s). (Threat dictates on what d20 rolls you strike a critical hit; your damage in that case is multiplied by the multiplier specific to your weapon. These values tie into the efficacy of each weapon - that is, some weapons do little damage with routine hits but are devastating with a critical hit, or are more likely than most to score a critical hit.)

[Harroghty]

Hidden Violets Guild

A new organization has formed in the deep, dark city of Skullport. The Hidden Violets Guild is a den of thieves located behind a clever front of a trading guild. Such a trading guild is said to trade with the surface far above, but what they trade is anyone's guess. It is surprising to find any degree of elegance in such a city as the Port, but the members there have managed it, and strove for something more than what they were born to. They have come together to hide a sharp blade behind a charming smile, and try their fates against the Realms.

Congrats to new builder Melusine on her first area!

This is located in Skullport.

[Enig]

Critical Hits

Good news! Critical hits were broken, but now they're fixed! In specific:

* The improved critical feat wasn't adding as much of a bonus as it should, which is fixed. It's also been changed to work like 'weapon focus' where you'll need to pick a specific weapon type for the feat to apply to when you learn it- anyone who already has the improved critical feat will find the feat gone and the point refunded when this change goes live.

* Damage calculations for crits were just doubling a single damage roll rather than rolling twice, now fixed.

* Also, the calculations used to confirm a critical hit are fixed, too

* Finally, the improved critical feat will properly be reflected on your score sheet now

[Enig]

Concentration

More good news!

Mobs should now be required to make concentration checks while casting, allowing for their spells to be interrupted by sufficiently powerful attacks.

[Harroghty]

New Rat Hill

There is a new area in Waterdeep's Dock Ward. A steaming pile of trash and filth, New Rat Hill offers quests and training for low level PCs.

Congrats to Adabelle on her first area.

[Harroghty]

Blazing Sands Invoker's Guild

This guild is now in the game. It is a red needle in the great (lamia-filled) haystack that is the Calim Desert. Thanks to everyone who pitched in to get this into the game over the long while that it's been waiting in the wings.

[Harroghty]

Acid Aerie

Thanks to the prolific and excellent Solaghar for another Underdark area. The Acid Aerie is a mid-level training and quest area in the Underdark.

[Harroghty]

Ruins of House Oblodra

Thanks to Solaghar for getting this old area in progress from Jzexleth across the goal line. This area includes some mid-level quests for drow in the Underdark.

[Harroghty]

Pirates of the Sea of Fallen Stars

This area is not so much an area as a quest that runs through other existing areas. It also doubles as a little bit of a geography lesson of the area around the Inner Sea. This area relies heavily on Steven Schend's Sea of Fallen Stars and Curtis Scott's Pirates of the Fallen Stars. It is generally not very challenging, but there are some pretty intense combat scenarios and physical challenges (swimming, climbing, etc.) and therefore I still caution you; it is more like a Feebov's Mansion mid-level quest area than it is a Tombs of Tempus mid-level quest area.

[Lathlain]

In response to popular request, a recent copyover has brought in the following changes:

Evil characters now have 0 kismet requirement.

Half orcs may now start in Westgate, Zhentil Keep, Orc Camp and Waterdeep (as well as Skullport, as was previously available).


Both of these have been brought in tentatively. We don't foresee any serious problems, but the staff will monitor trends over the coming months to be on the safe side!

ps. Given the complex nature of the starting area and the near impossible task that is thoroughly testing the many permutations involved in the above changes, please report any problems to the bug reporting forum as usual!

[Mask]

Scrolls

Scrolls have been revamped, somewhat. Changes include, but are not limited to:

1) Read magic skill added to decipher scrolls (spellcraft still works to identify them, but in a slightly different way).
2) Identified scrolls describe what's in them when in inventory or held.
3) When reciting a scroll, you can specify which spell you want to recite.
4) If casting the spell would result in hitting yourself with an offensive spell, it will ask for confirmation first.
5) Should be able to use identify or area of effect scrolls correctly.

If any issues are detected (new or old), please report them in the Bug Reporting forum as normal.

Cheers,

M

[Raona]

Skills and Spells update!

A significant number of minor spell and skill changes have just been brought in. The types of weapons that can be used for SLICE will change. CURE POISON will now strip kython poisons. A few spells have been made to operate more in line with canon and/or their helpfiles.

If you notice a skill or spell suddenly not working as before (or at all), in a bad way, please report it in the bug reporting forum.

[Harroghty]

Blobdlipbop Harbor

From the author:

From the builder who brought you a bunch of other Underdark areas! This mid-level questing area in the Underdark is an attempt to provide a levelling area with a fun quest. Accessible to anyone who can get there, it's close to the Drow, and the Svirfneblin as well (when they come in.) A few shops and the like add a smattering of skills/feats, but basically it's a town with some stuff to do!

[Harroghty]

New Training Area for Waterdeep

Waterdeep will now have a more role-play driven starting experience. This will take a new PC through a learning quest in the cellars of the Inn of the Dripping Dagger and then turn you loose upstairs where there will be additional quests available (but only for graduates of the cellar). These new quests will be centered in an updated City of the Dead.

Therefore the Temple of Waterdeep (never a real thing anyway) will go away. The training area in the basement of the Font of Knowledge will remain open for a while, but you may not start there; you may only continue if you have started there already.

Please see this thread for comments or bugs found in the new training area experience. I hope that you enjoy it.


Also new...

Blingdenstone

The city of the Deep Gnomes is not well known among the denizens of the surface world. Blingdenstone is a hidden city, located somewhere in the Northdark, near to Menzoberranzan. The Deep Gnomes are a strange and mistrustful race. Isolated for millenia among the cruelest and most malevolent of Faerun's intelligent peoples, the Deep Gnomes have grown dour and taciturn, having little room left in their hearts for those outside of their own race. Known for their prowess in mining and metalworking and their kinship with the living stone superior to all but perhaps creatures of the elemental plane of earth, the Deep Gnomes, or Svirfneblin, are a diminutive yet proud and dangerous addition to the playable races of Forgotten Kingdoms. Blingdenstone and the additional area of Blingdenstone Mines is the new hometown for the Deep Gnomes, our newest PC race and a welcome addition to the Underdark. For new Svirfneblin players, you may find that the experience in your hometown is quite different from a standard newbie experience, Blingdenstone has no newbie temple, but instead a quest-based system to teach characters about life as a Deep GNome. Svirfneblin also have a number of exciting options available to them related to character classes and deities. I encourage anyone with 200 kismet and an interest in a unique RP experience to try one out, grab a few friends and enjoy life as a Svirfneblin!

[Harroghty]

Corm Orp

The village formerly known as Hillvale and located at the King's Forest in Cormyr has been moved to the Dusk Road in the Western Heartlands and renamed Corm Orp. Some minor changes in appearance also happened.

[Harroghty]

The Font of Knowledge

The Font of Knowledge training area is now closed. If you left a character in there then you will find one of two things when you next log in: you will be in the Snookery on Selduth Street (a smaller training area) or you will be able to exit only east into the aforementioned Snookery. The Font of Knowledge still exists, but only as a temple to Oghma. There will be some more updates there in time as I add some more utility to the scribe there.

[Mask]

Combat rounds

The combat system has had an overhaul to continue the changes begun with the combat initiation messages. The main features of these changes are as follows:

1) The addition of a 'surprise' round prior to the start of combat. If you 'surprise' someone, this will be indicated in the combat initiation message and you will get a free round prior to your target reacting.

2) Initiative is more important than before and is now fixed for an entire combat, rather than being re-rolled every round. If you win initiative, then you will act first in each round. Actions over the course of a round are spaced out a bit more to make this advantage a little greater.

3) Calculations for when sneak attacks 'go off' have been adjusted to more accurately reflect SRD rules. Thus, if a thief 'surprises' someone, they get a sneak attack in during the surprise round, but if they additionally win initiative, they will get a further round of attacks in.

4) Several actions (adjusting equipment, cast spells, using skills etc) will prevent you from also carrying out a full round of attacks, and instead you will get either a single attack or no attacks while performing whatever action. Several commands or skills will now provoke 'attacks of opportunity', that previously did not.

5) When executing an action, your initiative roll will determine when that action is executed. This means it won't happen when you type it in, but instead it will happen during the following combat round as appropriate for your initiative. For example, if you wanted to pick a weapon off from the ground, you would type 'get sword', you will be told that you 'Prepare to get sword'. When it comes time for your character to act, this action will 'fire'. If you change your mind about what to do in your round, you can change your action to something else. You cannot currently 'cancel' a round action.

6) Oh, 'casting defensively', a new combatmode does not currently work.

That's about all I can think of for now. Any questions, comments or suggestions, please post them here:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=15890

[Mask]

Casting defensively

This combat mode is now implemented, and is set via the cmode command as normal. Essentially what it means is that you can avoid an 'attack of opportunity' (ie, those 'attacks as you open your guard to cast' attacks) that might cause you to lose the spell by casting defensively. The downside is you need to make a concentration check anyway any time you cast.