Some suggestions for an upcoming release

Hey guys, just wanted to let everyone know that i like the game, but mainly i LOVE what you have done with it! Im an old school D&D nerd, so i thought id offer you some suggestions on how to add to the continuity of the game as far as adhering to the core mechanics of the rules.

1. The reach weapons seem to be a little broken. The only weapon that should have both 5' and 10' reach is the spiked chain, but all reach weapons seem to be able to hit both ranges. In core D&D the reach weapons have a good tradeoff between versatility and raw damage, such as the spiked chain has low damage but both ranges, and the glaive has great damage and critical. The way it is now, more than half my party runs around with glaives because of the 10 sider and the X3 critical. There doesnt seem to be a reason to use much else

2. The two weapon fighting can be glitched if you use enlarge person. Once again, with the glaives being OP, If you cast enlarge person on someone, then make them dual wield glaives, when the spell wears off they retain the ability to hold both, and take penalties as if two one handed weapons were being wielded. Or a glaive can be considered a big scimitar if you use this strategy to combine it with a shield. At high levels, this really becomes an issue when a ranger gets up to 7 attacks with a crazy to-hit bonus (1d10 base damage + 1d6 fire + 1d6 frost + 1d6 shock +2d6 holy +2d6 lawful +3 magic +5 strength *average* X7 hits = 238 damage per round. ouch.) Maybe by force checking weapon size to calculate hit bonus would fix this?

3. If we can have +3 weapons that were intended for a 10th level campaign, why not allow +5 with a 20th level campaign? Plus i know im not the only one who would like to see vorpal XD

4. I played a mod before i discovered co8 that allowed brother smyth to sell masterwork items through a text menu instead of a shop menu. That eliminated the frustration of having to leave town, walk around, and come back to hope the weapon you want is there. Implementing something like that would really streamline trying to get equipment and let you get back to the action. Plus, who wants a masterwork halfling singham. really. That damn thing is always there. But i love the giants head idea

5. Although minor, maybe you should consider switching the 'engage' and 'avoid' buttons colors on random encounters. Ive facepalmed a few times because ive encountered the rare wandering party of PCs, and getting too excited about killing them and getting their loot, clicked the green button. I guess my brain just has a green means go section to it. That, or i just get too excited lol

6. When resting and getting a random encounter, ive noticed sometimes the bandits with the crossbows will get right next to you before initiating combat, then realize they need a 5-foot step before they fire their crossbows. You should try to put them about 20-30 feet away so they still get their sneak attack. To balance this, you should implement random encounters where the party notices some bandits making camp, and give them the chance to set up the same ambush type strategy. If you do this, then id also love to see a "who takes watch?" dialogue box before settling down for the night in the woods. Also, a shout/alert should be on the wheel to wake up characters who are under a non-magical sleep. DC 10 listen check should wake them up. Or just use subdual damage to wake up certain party members. Ive found in the tabletop setting, wizards get pissy when you wake them up for a goblin fight XD

7. Make sneaky thug-rogues have a little more time to shine. Maybe i just havent found it yet, but there doesnt seem to be much use for a sleight of hand check. Jewelry store maybe? or scrolls on display in a shop?

8. This may be a bit of a stretch, but prestige classes would be *awesome*

9. Although an awesome strategy, Ray of enfeeblement is a little broken in the sense that ability damage scores of the same type shouldnt stack. Ive used this strategy to kill the hill giant as low as level 1 with some good luck. No 1st level spell should be powerful enough to let 3 characters using it in a single round bestow a (up to) -21 to strength.

10. If a rogue takes 2 levels of fighter, then at rogue level 10 (character level 12) they can put feats like opportunist into the basic feat slot. If they were different colored (like the fighters bonus feats) then this could prevent a rogue from grabbing way too many awesome abilities too early.

Anyway, these suggestions are just that. Suggestions. I love the game as it is, and for what its worth, you guys have turned this game into a better one than NWN 1-2, POR, and any other D&D game out there! keep up the good work, and let me know what you think of these!

Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war
-runjumpswimgo

 

Some interesting ideas...I look forward to hearing from the experienced modders to see what are actually possible, given that we don't have the source code or editing powers on the exe

-EC

 

Most of these suggestions have already been mentioned before, in fact some have already been implemented I think.

1: Known bug in the game engine, would require a .dll hack. Unlikely to be fixed anytime soon unless Darkstorm gets his ToEE engine going.

2: I read about this not too long ago, and I think a fix has already been implemented (or will be in the next patch maybe.)

3: Would probably also require a .dll hack. (Spellslinger did some similar work a while back, but didn't get to this.) Would be awesome, though...

4: I think that actually was in an older version of the Co8 mod - probably won't resurface since they figured out the inventory respawn (which may be broken again in the current mod.)

5, 6, 7: Interesting suggestions all.

8: Would be great, but again probably not gonna happen unless Darkstorm's engine recreation project comes to fruition.

9: Very true, a powerful exploit if used that way.

10: Never seen that before, but sounds like an unintended exploit for sure.

 

Cool thanks for your timely responses. Ill keep my eyes open for any more glitches or ways to improve the play of the game as i beat this for the 6th time or so lol.