Evangel

well. NWN had a developement team as well and many o fthe player created scenarios were much much more enjoyable , and in some cases technically more sophisticated than the already quite enjoyable main story of the game.

I ran a PnP game (ADnD, DnD, Champions, villains and Vigilantes, CoC, chill) for over 18 years, 12 of those with the same group and I wrote scenarios for those games myself which my groups enjoyed immensely (they still talk about one I wrote that dealt with court intrigue and political infighting that went way better than I expected!). I'm not saying I'm a fantastic writer, there are infinitely better writers and scenario developers out there who write and create for the love of creation and not as a career so, yes, I firmly believe that some of the player created content *will* rival , equal or better the content created by hte current Devs. giving these players a chance to showcase their talent is a great move on NCs part.

Of course, NWN had a load of farming modules created or empty rooms with treasure lying around for the taking (monty haul) and a ton of rubish/bugged or just very very immature (lets throw in a dragon to fight, that would be cool... actually 5 dragons as a random event would be even cooler!)

as proof of concept take a look a valkryst's beginner level co-op suggestion and his international airport suggestion. Both great ideas, both equal or better (on paper) than the current starting points, now imagine what he could do given the tools and the UI to achieve his goals ?

another iddy biddy addition...

power range markers and AoE templates.

seriously. nice to know how much a power can hit when placing mobs and how close is too close fo AoE effects

little onions of Seth ? shallots of evil ?

hehe..

worst slip I ever had was running a PnP game for a group that included a few females (one of whom was very very cute indeed) , (un?)fortunately she liked wearing low fronted tops. for the whole session the dungeon was lit by flaming brassiers....

though I still get a kick out of the land of evil make-up known as the rouge isles...

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I want them to open up the temple and fort areas in Cimerora - it seems a pity to have such big, unique maps just for the one TF

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The 12 task (forces) of hercules ?

it could be a little blue crying face icon called "monday morning"

hmmmmm, possibilities.....

I think I'm missing this badge, let me check and get back to you tonight.

Garage (multistorey)

knacker / joyrider ( + stealth , + movement)

only because it fits in with my main alt

hence the cut scene being at the bottom of my list however, an idea would be to have the "loading" screen stay up until the player clicks OK. that way any credits can be given, background can be put in, a picture can be included or even a map of sorts if thats required.

depends on what you mean by water powers though....

water jet , a geyser of boiling water streams from your hand to hit a target or

Evapourate: you suck the moisture from an area causing minor DoT to any in the AoE, in addition you cause them to be more susceptible to fire based attacks (Foe -res fire)

Water shield: you create a watery aura (a shifting shimmer of colour) to appear around the target ally giving them resistance to Fire, energy and smashing attacks but rendering them susceptible to Electrical attacks (-def) and cold (additional chance of slow).

tadaa

forgot to add in a point...

any addition to the game FOR FREE!!! is great. I mean, I pay subs for the game as it is, now I pay the same sub for more.

optional booster packs: I didnt bother with the wedding pack but I like the option to buy the cyborg one, depends on whats in it.

for me: I13 features:

Mission creator: dependign onthe flexibility and UI, excellent news. I loved the NWN scenario builder and whether or not I put missions up for others to play I'm sure I'll have many hours of fun making them up, but it wont be cutting into my game time

Crimerora missions: fair enough. always good to get something else to do

Shields: never really wanted these but now that they are coming I have an idea or two for a character

Pain Domination: I was happy enough with my MM as he was, but I can see the benefit of this.

QoL: cant wait to see what these are. hopefully will remove my niggling issues and then the game will be perfect.

bug fixes: same as above though I'm not hit by that many bugs tbh (except the map synch one which seems to have sorted itself out).

anyway, my €.02

way I see it, I like playing the game as it is now with a few minor niggles....

an issue that adds more stuff ? even if its stuff I wont intend using ?

Three thumbs aloft from me

problem with death traps is that well, authors are usually tempted to make them exactly that and "forget" ahem, to inlcude a way out that is discoverable.

I used to write and run PnP scenarios for various different games and it amazed me early on how what I thought were obvious clues were overlooked.

having said that, I've had groups repeatedly request that I run Temple of Elemental Evil specifically because no group has ever completed it (original or return) with me running it.... but I wasnt being evil, I was just playing the NPCs as intelligent rather than cannon fodder. Tomb of Horrors is another fine example of player death wishes....

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Now that my question was derailed, does anyone know if it will be possible to create a farming map?!

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depends. if they give us the croatoa tileset I would say a definite yes but if we are limited to indoor , hypdroponics might be your only option.

Ok, I know its just been announced but now that we have some details I thought I'd throw up a quick list of what I would really liek to see in it:

1. Customisable opponents: they dont count for badges anyway so how about a point based creature creator ? you get higher xp for higher point creatures and lower for lower point along with thresholds. eg:
minion : 5 point max , average = 3
lieutenant : 10 point max avg= 6
Boss: 20 point max
etc

zombie minion: slow (-1) , high HP - scrapper (+1) , melee attack - blaster (+0), ranged attack - defender (+1) , resistances (+1) , defense (+2). total: 4. you get higher than average minion xp for beating these guys.

this way, we can make missions truly unique and have some nice suprises for players beyond the "stock" mobs. variety is always a good thing. Stock mobs would also be available and could possibly be used as a template eg: armoured outcast shockers!

2. mappable terrain: like the base editor (only more usable) with the option of base defenses.

3. placable mobs: as I said in another ost, Crey Tank standing in a bottleneck, or CoT Death mages on a balcony out of easy melee range

4. scriptables: ambushes based on location trips, events based on time limits - too late to save the hostage? recover the body and punish the bad guy to salvage some of the mission!, event driven events... death of an NPC = stopping of bomb timer or instant timer to zero. all un-defused bombs go off.

5. Tokens: tokens that can be set for players and are stored. these can be used for a huge amount of features from PC (other than group leader) triggering events to dialogue options available or perhaps different treatment from NPCs ("you saved Betty's daughter, I owe you for that, here's what I can tell you about Captain Rotten's lair" leads to a map reveal of one level of enemy base.)

6. Mission intros: either still shots or full blown cut-scenes but something other than a text box would be nice and can really set the tone for a mission.

anyway, enough waffle from me. I'll wait and see what comes out in the issue

fair enouhg. I'll be around anyway so stick me down as a sub

and thanks to false_fiction anyway. much appreciated.

guess I'll explore the SS over the next few days to get a feel for it, just in case.

NWN was close to MMO but not quite MMO.It did do this 5 eyars ago and , while I am very happy to see the mission editor, it is the NWN editor that I will be comparing it to, so its got a lot to live up to

IMHO:

It has to allow for scripted events (triggered by player action , npc death and/or time) - button puching to open a door in another section of the map, the fantastic three levers trick where combinations open different sluice gates in a sewer giving access to different parts of the map, escaping a cave before the lava rises, bombs not found get detonated on the evil bombers death etc.

It needs to allow the option to actually design the level. a randomly generated tileset will never beat a carefully mapped floorplan. lighting etc can make or break a map withthe atmosphere it provides.

It should allow for the placement of actual mobs (freakshow tank in a bottleneck anyone?) rather than just spawn points

branching story arc: consequences for failing a mission eg:
mission 1: retrieve the necklace before the Cat burglar gets it
on success: bring the necklace to finny the fence and avoid the Cat Burglars minions
on fail: Intercept Cat burglars minions on their wa yto finny the fence

etc etc, so a series of fails would end an arc prematurely after giving the opportunity to get back on track. Yes this would mean that missions run the risk of never being played but it would give the arc replayability and a real sense of urgency (dont let him get away!!! I really dont want to have to crawl through the sewers again !!).

very good chance of me being there. will be seriously hungover though....

Evangel - blaster - AR/Elec (50) - flight/recall friend

you could target your team-mates hey, they have SS, they can catch up

the delayed reaction would be long enough to allow you to activate the power again withing a certain , short, time frame. any other power activation or action would break the delay and land the player in deep kaka....

yes, matter transference would require a target. Didnt notice that little pitfall... oops.

/unsigned

the ads are not the same in each area so while UK players may get loads of ads, a player in say, belgium, might only see one or two. this would make the badge biased toward countries with more ads which would almost punish players for being in a region with less.

think how you would feel if NC announced that they were giving free character slots to players from germany but not anywhere else ? Or a new mission arc only playable by players on the american servers ?

or I13 is US content only!!!

there was enough trouble when the offline costume creator was korea only, this badge idea is for all intents and purposes simply a lesser version of the examples above. not a bad idea, just a little unfair for my liking.

sorry I was a no-show. rl catastrophe (ok thats a bit exaggerated) involving leaking water pump and pending visitors....

pesky real life.

a teleport variant:

teleport moves you to an empty location but what if, instead of teleportation you used matter transference ?

power pool:
1. Matter manipulation: you can alter your own matter density slightly resulting in a tougher , more resistant body. Self: toggle: +res smashing/lethal , - jumping ,
2. Matter Dispersion: Target, foe -spd, foe knockdown/back/up resistance debuff
You can modify the matter density of a target slightly reducing its density and making it more susceptible to knck effects.
3. matter Transference: by targetting a mob/object in line of sight you initiate an exchange of matter and essentially swap places with the target. the sudden appearance allows the user to initiate a second transfer before any nearby foes have a chance to react (like the TP foe reaction delay). Foes transported have a high chance of disorientation.
4. Mass effect: you can compact matter into a pin point of super dense material causing a minor gravity effect in a local area. Any foes in or moving through the area of effect have a chance of being dragged toward the focal point. targetted AoE , foe slow, chance of foe knockback (toward the focal point).

I'm in for ITF.

Evangel 49 AR/elec blaster.

Spirit of the City or Monster House:

at random, a building in the city will be possessed by the spirit of the city or will become a monster house.

The door will start to glowy and emit a sound like the glowies in missions. If clicked on, the hero can enter the building. Only to discover that they cant exit.

the only way out is by being defeated (and getting emergency tp) or by destroying the centre of the beast. Any heroes, or villains, that enter the house after are similarly trapped in the same instance.

Creatures that spawn: devouring earth and zombies.
Spawns are random and persistent , except for guardians of the heart.

Once the heart of the building is destroyed the site becomes inert and the hero/villain can exit or they can clean up the spawns 9which are now no longer persistent).


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addendum.

what would really be fun is if the inside of the house was a PvP zone..... with the option of co-operation between sides or allowing heroes to fight heroes (or villains to fight villains).


anyway, no idea why I thought of it, especially as I'm currently beetling away on Jet Webadmin doing a printer audit.....

GMs:

they need a purpose. they need to actually be a threat.

Lusca for example just sits there and does nothing else. My suggestion:

Lusca goes on a rampage and attacks boats and anything on the shore. When she appears there is an event warning (make her appearances rarer though) and citizens start to run. have local bad guys (family and tsoo) try to hold her back as well. Lusca can also make appearances in the Rogue Isles (not fair that the heroes hog the good GMs ).

As for making her more of a challenge AND making her more unique:

1. shed loads of HP, she's BIG.
2. High regen rate (squid octopi heal pretty quick)
3. Ranged attack: water jet , huge range, knockdown and negate toggles, -fly / sj for 10 sec.
4. Ink Cloud: PB AoE , anyone in the area of effect cannot target due to the nauseating effects of the ink
5. Crush: grabs and holds a target with a tentacle causes damage and target immobilised. victim can be freed if x damage is done to the tentacle.
6. as an option after crush: 1. throw: throws the character a huge distance. flying characters that re-toggle fly in time can avoid taking damage. 2. Batter: hits the victim off surrounding walls, ships, other characters causing damage to both parties, 3. bite and throw: drags the victim to the mouth for a massive damage bite attack then throws away whats left.
7. Splash: PBAoE: slapping the water with all tentacles sends a massive splash that affects all targets in an area around Lusca: foe Knock Back, foe disorient.
8. Fire resistance: mucus coating gives resistance to fire based damage, Cold resistance: rubbery fat of the body is less affected by cold, smashing resist: rubbery body compacts well to absorb shock, lethal resist: the sheer size and the rubbery nature of the octopus makes Lusca able to shrug off most piercing damage. Electrical resistance: the mucus layer over the skin acts like a natural faraday cage dispersing electrical charges into the surrounding water before they can damage Lusca herself.
9. susceptible to energy damage and Psionic damage


Now, the above is a real monster that in my opinion fights like a giant octopus from 20000 leagues under the sea etc.

points can be awarded for evacuating people from the tankers and boats in danger on the water or guiding scared civillians to safety away from the area where lusca is attacking (click on the civillian to initiate rescue, option to carry (flier/SJ/tp) or issue "follow me" command). On shore, random bits of debris gets thrown and tentacles nearest the shore make random grabs for civvies and heroes.

maybe SStr characters can lift boats out of the water and fly them to safety.....

Badges:
Angler Badge for facing Lusca
Badge for being part of the team that defeats Lusca (have to have done some sort of damage)
Fishbait Badge for being defeated by Lusca x number of times
Coast Guard Badge for saving civillians from lusca's rampage

Accolades:
thrillseeker badge for facing all gms
Scourge of the Sea badge for defeating Lusca and Sally