KOTS Challenge!

Hi

While waiting on my wife 2.5D isometric design of the Cormyr adventure I decided to try and port KoTC to ToEE engine.



As you may know, Knights of The Chalice has very difficult first battle at the entrance of home castle. So I decided to repeat that in ToEE.

Here is working version of this encounter: Release ZMOD KOTS v0_1

I strongly recommend using Point Buy 32 for this epic first level battle. And I challenge you guys to win it with 4 PC!

@Shiningted, @Sitra Achara, @_doug_ , @FDR4PREZ, @Sagenlicht, @dolio and anyone interested!

And btw, when I use Maximized Window with 1152x648 Grease will not hit under targeted cursor. Setting back from Maximized window to Normal will do the trick.

Update 1:
Encounter holds 4 Orcs, Orc Cleric, Orc Wizard, Orc Leader and 5 Gnolls. All stats are random(8-14) plus racial bonuses, except for the Leader which has Elite Array. You can use Inspect context menu option to see stats of a NPC.
8 Guards will help you. But you and your allies are surprised at the beginning.
All HP is random dice rolled, not average.

 

Oh, nice!

I really enjoyed Knights of the Chalice. As I recall, it really had much more interesting/challenging encounters than what you tend to get in ToEE. Should be fun to see them with amped-up graphics and the lack of a strict grid.

 

In pen and paper ToEE the outer walls of the Moathouse had arrow-slits that made everything much more exciting

 

@anatoliy
Knights of the Chalice seems like a wonderful game to port to T+!

 

A nice battle, thanks.

Can you change the AI for the wizard and the cleric so they don't run up immediately after they cast their spell(s)?

Maybe give them a ranged weapon instead of a melee weapon, so they have no reason to run to the front line of the battle.

 

Your wife is helping out with modding? Very nice!

Are you using the dev build or official release?

 

Well she is trying)) As am I. There are obstacles in isometric design. Most important - 45 grad vs ToEE isometry. I will post about this in other topic.

Both releases has problems, just checked. I will post video later, with exact nature of the problem. It seems that sector data plays role.

 

Few things to take into consideration.

Orc Cleric has only two spells: Bless and Bane. Bless is initial spell. But Bane will be called only on round 3. This is due to the fact, that Bane best works near epicenter of a battle, it has range.

Orc Wizard also has two spells: Mage Armor and Grease. Notably, in KOTC OC has Entangle (homebrew) and Darkness. I even thought replace Wizard with Druid, will see. And yes, Grease will take place in 3rd round as well, on low ac target.

Both Orc Wizard and Cleric have their stats random (8 - 14) and primary minimum 12 (Wiz - Int, Clr - Wiz). Essentially they would have similar attack, HP, AC and damage as ordinary Orc. So granting them would change nothing. They will not add anything to the table after first two spells.

You can play with spell list as well, let me know if you are interested, I will describe in detail how to change AI in ZMOD games.

Your notion inspired me too. I'm thinking of granting Orc Wizard 3 Acid Splash. I laso can play with Darkness, which will look like mist (do not know how to make it right) and orcs will have Darkvision.

Although I do not know why, it is quite difficult as it is now))

 

WOW!

From like 15 replays I only managed to win once. And the trick was in dice rolls for sure

Can you describe your party maybe?

1. Go to https://github.com/anatoliy-savchak/toee.zmod.kots/tree/main/zmod_kots_core/scr/tpModifiers, save inspect.py as "Temple of Elemental Evil\modules\zmod_kots_core\scr\tpModifiers\inspect.py (make dirs if needed).
2. Go to the Keep (initial map - Shop Map does not have inspect yet)
3. Click on Context Menu / Skills / Inspect and pick a PC
4. Press Close on the dialog, file My Documents \ Inspect.txt will be created. If not then look into %userprofile% folder.

 

Well, I ran through it. I technically won, but two of my guys died in the process. I think think I could have won cleaner, but there was an early critical hit on my fighter that did 23 damage, which was enough to kill him outright.

Half-orc fighter with a guarisame (he only got a couple attacks in, though).
Dwarf cleric
Gnome illusionist
Halfling beguiler

I think the beguiler was the reason I was still able to win. 3 sleeps and 5 dazes at level 1 is crazy if you dump it all in one battle.

Edit: Oh, by the way, I think you've mistakenly given Wizards "Knowledge (Dungeoneering)" as a class skill instead of "Knowledge (Arcana)".

 

Wizards should have all Knowledge skills as class.

 

Nice!

Perhaps you could retry with clean results?

Overall KOTC had this battle for several reasons. First as a warning - heavy combat ahead, so plan accordingly. Second - equip your party from the start.

In this module - Knights of the Sword, I also plan to use this incentive and ability to equip better.

The most straightforward would be a dude who plays dices and bet 50 gp. Winning more than some sum (3k for example) would give players an achievement.

Another means would be to rob this joint, especially the barracks. Stealing would be also interesting.

 

My PC builds.

In nutshell:

• Tank, Half-orc fighter X. Initially with Bastard sword and heavy shield, but eventually upgrade to Greataxe.
• Agile fighter, human fighter X. Initially Longsword and Heavy shield, but eventually Guisarme plus Improved Trip. Could also go two handed weapon, especially from level 12 or so, when Holy property could be added to both weapons.
• Magic Cleric, human female cleric of Boccob (Magic, Trickery). She will rarely fight. Having ability to use arcane devices (wands and scrolls) she will be second Wizard. Mostly doing Haste, protections and healing. Sometimes Fireball as well.
• Mage, human female wizard X. Damage dealer and crafter. Shoot from Wand of Scorching Ray in most times.

Code:

Curt
Male fighter 1
G Medium humanoid (human, orc)
Init +1; Senses: Listen +1, Spot +1 
---------------------------------------------------------
AC 18, touch 11, flat-footed 17
hp 13 (1 HD)
Fort +5, Ref +1, Will +1
---------------------------------------------------------
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Melee: Bastard Sword +5 (1d10+3)
Base Atk +1
---------------------------------------------------------
Abilities: Str 19, Dex 12, Con 16, Int 7, Wis 12, Cha 6
Feats: Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Bastard Sword), Power Attack
Skills: Tumble -3(+2)
Possessions: Gold Plate Boots, Gold Breastplate, Large Steel Shield

Code:

Don
Male fighter 1
G Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses: Listen +0, Spot +2 
---------------------------------------------------------
AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16
hp 12 (1 HD)
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +0
---------------------------------------------------------
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Melee: Longsword +4 (1d8+3)
Base Atk +1
---------------------------------------------------------
Abilities: Str 17, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 8
Feats: Cleave, Power Attack, Combat Expertise
Skills: Balance -5(+2), Spot +2(+2), Tumble -5(+2)
Possessions: Splint Mail, Large Steel Shield, Gilded Plate Boots

Code:

Claire
Female cleric 1 of Boccob (Magic, Trickery)
G Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses: Listen +3, Spot +3 
---------------------------------------------------------
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14
hp 10 (1 HD)
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +5
---------------------------------------------------------
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Ranged: Light Crossbow +2 (1d8)
Base Atk +0
---------------------------------------------------------
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 12
Feats: Spell Focus (Conjuration), Augment Summoning
Skills: Bluff +3(+2), Concentration +6(+4), Diplomacy +5(+4), Sense Motive +4(+1)
, Spellcraft +5(+4)
Possessions: Chain Shirt, Gilded Plate Boots, Quarrel of Bolts

Code:

Tiffany
Female wizard 1
G Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses: Listen +1, Spot +3 
---------------------------------------------------------
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14
hp 6 (1 HD)
Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +3
---------------------------------------------------------
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Ranged: Light Crossbow +2 (1d8)
Base Atk +0
---------------------------------------------------------
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 17, Wis 12, Cha 9
Feats: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
Skills: Appraise +5(+2), Concentration +6(+4), Search +5(+2), Spellcraft +7(+4)
, Spot +3(+2), Tumble +4(+2)
Possessions: Monk Boots, Monk's Outfit, Quarrel of Bolts