New spells

Discussion in 'General Modification' started by Shiningted, Aug 29, 2013.

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  1. Shiningted

    Shiningted I want my goat back Administrator

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    Vis-a-vis THIS thread, I made a couple of new spells to plug some domain-related gaps. Please give them a go so we can get any bugs sorted out before 8.0.

    INSTRUCTIONS:

    - Download zip
    - Navigate to Temple of Elemental Evil/data
    - unpack.

    This will add some new files and REPLACE some files such as narrative.mes, Spell137 - Divine Favor.py and others. If it doesn't work, unzip to desktop and move them over. The main file of note that is replaced is partsys1.tab, as I have done quite a nice custom effect for Sunburst.

    KNOWN ISSUES:

    - The sounds are not yet implemented.
    - Sunburst hasn't been specificated re particular monsters (Bodak, Gremlich, Zuggy).

    SPELL DESCRIPTIONS:

    Desctruction is as per the SRD (click HERE).

    Mislead is HERE in the SRD. The way I have done it - since a controllable doppleganger, while not by any means impossible, is sub-optimal due to taking up a slot in the party - is to implement a Mirror Image effect for the Doppleganger, along with the Greater Invisibility effect. Not perfect, but still useful, and in practise a very effective way of protecting your spellcaster. And it means a new spell for Sorcerers, Wizards, Bards, and the Luck and Trickery Domains. If you hate it, by all means say so, and if there is a consensus opinion it does not do justice to the spell I will remove it.

    Sunburst is as per the SRD HERE: see the discussion in the Domains thread HERE if it seems overpowered. Note it is NOT meant to have a sound: the PHB specifically describes it as 'exploding silently'. (But in future will have a launching sound if not an effect sound).

    Modify Memory is in the SRD HERE. Very happy with this as it is perhps our only RP spell (98%+ of current spells are, imo, combat: buff before, cast during, cleanup after etc). This spells allows you to permanently modify 5 minutes of an NPC's memory which I have implemented as:

    - remove KOS flag (assumes implanting of friendly memory, order not to kill, or whatever)
    - boost rep by 20 (assumes implanting of positive memory)
    - suppress heartbeat for 5 minutes (assumes implanting of memory as to why the heartbeat - usually an order to challenge the PC - doesn't apply)
    - leaves the target a little dazed for 5 minutes: -8 on Spot and Listen checks.

    A successful saving throw does not cause the target to attack you, but does put them on the alert - +4 Spot and Listen for 5 minutes.

    Its certainly a powerful spell, but being lvl 4, its what your bard uses when comrades are casting Flame Strike or Phantasmal Killer or Restoration or Ice Storm or Stoneskin or Animate Dead or... other powerful spells.

    OTHER CONTENTS:

    Scorching Ray fixed for Weapon Focus: Ray.

    Divine Favor fixed for higher levels: (previously maxed out at lvl 12, now goes through to lvl 18 (bonus +6) as per RAW.)
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Sep 6, 2013
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  2. Shiningted

    Shiningted I want my goat back Administrator

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    Ok, got Sunburst going (its just damage-by-type plus a blinding effect) and trying to get a decent particle effect to match. Question though: the PHB and SRD HERE say its an 80' radius, which is 4 times the radius of a Fireball (making for a pie-relatedly larger effect of several magnitudes) which is so big it is much larger than the screen. It still works, its a long range effect (400"+) so you can still throw it far enough that the party aren't caught up in it, but it still seems massively excessive. Is there a WotC errate for this or anything else anyone knows about, or should I just do it that way?

    Also, what sort of damage does a Light spell do? And what categories would cover 'A creature to which sunlight is harmful or unnatural"?
     
  3. Sitra Achara

    Sitra Achara Senior Member

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    Strangely, I've seen short descriptions of Sunburst that state "within 10 ft". But I haven't found any actual ruling to the contrary of the 80 ft. radius.

    Maybe it's done on purpose, so it won't be just an eigth level Fireball vs. undead.


    As for damage type, it appears the best fit is "untyped" :blegh:

    Creatures that are harmed by sunlight - Vampires and Bodaks, apparently. (others are rendered powerless or suffer penalties, but no actual damage is taken)
     
  4. Gehennis

    Gehennis Established Member

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    Will any of these be applied to the v.8 final Co8 release?
     
  5. Gaear

    Gaear Bastard Maestro Administrator

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    Likely.

    And ^ Gremlich!
     
  6. Shiningted

    Shiningted I want my goat back Administrator

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    Ok, I have updated the download in the first post: you now get 4 new spells and 2 bug-fixes. I was not, alas, able to get Sunbeam going, despite looking straight-forward: its not impossible but may require a cannier scripter than me.

    The new spellls are:

    - Destruction
    - Mislead
    - Sunburst
    - Modify Memory (turned out the bits I needed in protos.tab to make this work were already there :))

    See above for fuller descriptions. Also, I fixed the Weapon Focus: Ray bug for Scorching Ray and another limitation in Divine Favor. Can I just say in my defense that Scorching Ray worked with WF(Ray) with one ray and only got bugged with 2 or more rays (ie the sort of thing that only comes out in play, not testing).

    Soooooooo... PLEASE download these and give them a go so if there are any problems we can get on top of them before 8.0. No need to start a new game, they will just slot right in. Modify Memory is such a powerful and wide-ranging spell I am sure it will cause something unexpected somewhere: surpressing someone's heartbeat file will make a whole room full of monsters act wierd, or something, so please test and left us know.

    Also, please leave feedback if they work, not just if they don't ;)
     
  7. Krotos

    Krotos Member

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    This is my first post in here, so please take it with a grain of salt.

    I want to note that sunburst is listed as a level 2 spell for druid and can be memorized. You might want to have a look at that. ^^

    EDIT: I tested the functionality of Sunburst and other than being assigned to an incorrect druid level, it seems to work totally fine. My question is: why fire damage? In IWD and BG II Sunbeam and Sunburst did magic damage as far as I recall.

    I don't have access to level 7 spells yet so I'll edit this post once my cleric gets destruction.

    Wizard's mislead works perfectly fine. :p

    No idea about bard's spell as I don't have one. Somebody else will have to check it.
     
    Last edited: Sep 7, 2013
  8. sirchet

    sirchet Force for Goodness Moderator Supporter

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    Also let's not forget that the ultraviolet light generated by the spell deals damage to fungi, mold, oozes, and slimes just as if they were undead creatures, meaning they would get the full effect of the spell of 1d6 per caster level up to 25d6.
     
  9. Krotos

    Krotos Member

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    I tried to alter its (Sunburst's) level manually from 2 to 8 via a txt file in rules, but it didn't seem to have any effect. Is sunburst a level 2 spell in game engine for some reason or?
     
  10. sirchet

    sirchet Force for Goodness Moderator Supporter

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    I could be wrong, but doesn't a spell have a protos entry that effects it's functions?
     
  11. Shiningted

    Shiningted I want my goat back Administrator

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    No, its the text doc in rules/spells. If a Druid gets it at 2, its a typo: sorry. Thanks for the feedback though Krotos.
    Should work :shrug: Maybe test if you give someone else a few levels of Druid if they can get it as level 2.
    See discussion in posts 2 & 3. I thought about magic damage but in the end I did fire damage (since Sunlight burns, don't you know) for normal critters and Positive energy damage for Undead, as it seemed to just fit. I will change it to Magic damage if people are bothered by it, but as mentioned above, the PHB does not specify.
     
  12. Krotos

    Krotos Member

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    You're welcome, Ted. May I suggest reducing the Area of Effect to 40ft? 80 is so huge I always end up unable to cast it the way that'd let me avoid taking damage by myself. It's simply too much in general. I also spotted a bug with Sunburst's blind - it lasts 100 rounds / level apparently >and< doesn't seem to wear off by natural means (ticking down) - you have to rest to get rid of it. There's also no entry for Sunburst in the help menu.

    I also added this short description to Sunburst (the one that appears in the available and memorized spells menu):

    [Evocation] Creatures in area take 6d6 fire damage, may be blinded. Deals 1d6/lvl holy damage to undead and fungi, may destroy them.

    As to your suggestion - I'll give it a try and see if anything happens. Could be that my current level 11 druid will end up being overpowered thanks to tons of level 2 sunbursts. (which I'm not happy about, feels cheap :p )

    Oh, one thing more, although it's slightly off-topic: I changed the Tenser's Transformation short description a bit so that it reflects the loss of spellcasting ability in its short tip:

    [Transmutation] You gain combat bonuses but lose your ability to cast spells or use spell-like items and abilities.

    EDIT: Checked Sunburst with a new druid. It worked as intended aka it wasn't available to him. Now how do I get rid of sunburst on my level 11 druid....

    EDIT 2: I tried removing him, removing sunburst from memorized spells and resting, restarting the game after having it removed from memorized spells, even removing the entire druid and replacing him with his level 1 version. Nothing worked. Oh well, at least my druid won't have it if I decide to start the game anew. :p

    EDIT 3: About your problem with Sunbeam - have you tried basing it on call lightning / call lightning storm's code? Sunbeam on SRD sounds like it's using a charge system, so perhaps checking call lightning's / call lightning storm's code might prove helpful to you. The other option could be using produce flame's code combined with gust of wind's code. Already existing spells might contain info (and code lines) you're in need of. :p

    EDIT 4: Yay, lots of edits! I want to avoid multi-posting though. I was wondering - Druid seems to be lacking spells in general so does a Wizard when it comes to lvl 5+ spells. What if they were given a few wall spells? (wall of fire, ice, stone and thorns) There's a wind wall spell in ToEE, so you'd only need to add a few lines of code to the already exisitng one and quickly get the effects listed in SRD.
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2013
  13. Shiningted

    Shiningted I want my goat back Administrator

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    :blink: Crikey, you have been paying attention... excellent suggestions all! (I was working Sunbeam off Produce Flame, but I'll try Call Lightening). You know, I don't think I've ever cast Wind Wall...
     
  14. sirchet

    sirchet Force for Goodness Moderator Supporter

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    So, I said I could be wrong .... Does that mean I'm right, about being wrong? :p
     
  15. Krotos

    Krotos Member

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    Once again you're welcome, Ted. ^^

    I was looking at a "Summon Swarm" spell on SRD - if it were ever implemented, what would it be based on? Spiritual weapon? (invulnerable summon that attacks random enemies) Ice storm? (deals damage to enemies on summon and on entrance to its AoE) Or would it be possible to make it like Mordekainen's Faithful Hound? Or maybe like a smaller fireball but with a restriction on how many targets it can hit? Just throwing suggestions right now. :p

    EDIT: I browsed through druid and wizard spells and came up with an idea: what if we alter the rules slightly and change a few spells? E.g. Black Tentacles spell for wizard could also be a level 4 spell for Evil-aligned druid instead of sharp stones. Anyway, here's a list of spells which could be implemented quite easily for druid and wizard just by adding a clause to an already existing spell or by changing numbers:

    Druid:
    Flaming Sphere: you can base it on call lightning and make it work like a lightning bolt / gust of wind that can be activated every round/lvl.

    Wall of Fire: I guess that adding a clause about dealing damage to anyone who gets nearby and removing the part about deflections in wind wall's code will make it work.

    Wall of Thorns: I believe that adding an effect from spike growth (stop movement, slow) is all that is needed for this to work.


    Wizard/Sorcerer:

    Touch of Idiocy: Ray of Enfeeblement/Clumsiness but affects WIS, INT and/or CHA instead. Could be made to be choosable or reduce all three stats.

    Flaming Sphere: same as for Druid.

    Pyrotechnics: Base it on something like Sleep/Deep Slumber but instead of making targets fall asleep, it blinds them or creates a -4 STR&AGI zone in the area. (the latter could use the code from stinking cloud, web or entangle)

    Ray of Exhaustion: as far as I recall ToEE had exhaustion / fatigue effect in vanilla. It could be utilized via this spell.

    Black Tentacles: modify entangle to also deal slashing + bludgeoning damage whenever it attempts to entangle a target / a target enters the area. Boom, it's done. Could also become a spell for evil-aligned druid if we alter the rules a bit.

    Wall of Fire: same as above for Druid.

    Wall of Ice: You can base it on Wind Wall, although I'm not sure how to make it work. (the whole "you can attack me" thing)

    Wall of Stone: same as Wind Wall, but can be attacked. If you can make this one work, Wall of Ice will be a piece of cake. Perhaps creating a bunch of destructible containers (if that's possible in ToEE's engine) could do the trick?

    Nightmare: single target negative energy damage spell. I think that basing it on Magic Stone or Phantasmal Killer (so that it can be selected and treated like a spell instead of a ray) will make it work.

    Acid Fog: Adding acid damage on entry / to creatures staying in area at the beginning of each of their rounds to Solid Fog will make it work.

    Freezing Sphere: just base it on Magic Stone and voila, it's there. Or so I think. :p

    Incendiary Cloud: look at explanation for Acid Fog. All you'd have to do is remove the slow from it.

    Scintillating Pattern: looking at either Prismatic Spray or Color Spray can provide you with a proper code for it. After that you'd just need to change effects applied and creature die rolls.

    Meteor Swarm: I don't remember if it is in Co8 right now or not, but if there's a way to make it so that you can choose between 3 spell modes: AoE, multiple single target with splash (hitting 1 target many times) and multiple targets with splash (like chain lightning) [splash = deals some damage to enemies/allies around the target], it'd be great. AoE mode would need a combination of fireball and call lightning code + some randomization to make the meteors random, the 2nd mode could use a ray system while the 3rd mode would use the chain lightning / haste / etc. system. I wonder if it's possible to create the splash effect though.


    There were a few others I thought about, but I think they're much harder to do / would require some coding of its own. So for now feast on this! :p
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2013
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