Protos question

Discussion in 'General Modification' started by ConjurerDragon, Mar 18, 2013.

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  1. ConjurerDragon

    ConjurerDragon Established Member Supporter

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    In my current game I had several encounters with monsters that had no loot, but ought to have some according to the RAW (e.g. Troll, Seahag).

    When I open the protos tab with the Protos Editor and simply copy the value 125
    from line 4249 Ogre, row 044 NPC inventory to 4262 Troll - would then the Troll have the same loot as the Ogre? Or isn´t it that simple?
     
  2. Gaear

    Gaear Bastard Maestro Administrator

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    Are you using ProtoEd to edit protos.tab? The more modern (suite of) tool(s) is Agetian's WorlBuilder, available in the Downloads forum, which includes an excellent proto editor. I'm not familiar with what lines are which in ProtoEd anymore.

    However, assuming that line 'row 044 NPC inventory' is in fact the value that IDs a proto's invensource entry, then yes, you are changing the correct entry. But it is indeed not that simple, except for mobs generated on the fly, such as in random encounters. Already existing static mobs such as most all those you encounter in various places throughout the game would then need to have their inventories repopulated. (You could also use WorldBuilder for this.)

    The bottom line IMO is that if you are serious about becoming a modder as opposed to a player, fine, then start to learn the basics of modding by reading basically all the sticky threads in the Modding forum and in the WorldBuilder forum, as well as Shiningted's tutorials and anything else you can get your hands on to bring you up to speed with the fairly unorthodox way this game works. If this is instead just a sort of casual or idle interest you have in tweaking something, you can probably find much more user friendly areas to dabble in than working with mobs directly.

    I should also point out some further risks ... you'll be sort of 'on your own'* once you start modding stuff in that you no longer enjoy the Co8 support of the modpack, being as you'll no longer be playing the modpack technically; it's easy to have your changes undone if you're not real familiar with what you're doing - e.g. if you were to mod something, then not back up your mods somewhere other than the ToEE directory, then activate another module (such as the next version of the modpack), all your changes would be long gone; more of those sorts of things ...

    The main reason I mention all that is not that I'm trying to discourage you, but that in my estimation you are fundamentally a player, like 99% of the ToEE gaming community (nothing wrong with that - I wish I was one of you ;)), and those 99% are really best off just playing the game and letting little pet peeves and whatnot slide. :)

    * this doesn't mean that we will ignore you, but you should be aware that myself and likely most modders don't have the time and resources to hold your hand throughout a complete ToEE education. Many have tried that and almost always gone away feeling dissatisfied and neglected. Sorry, it's just the way it is. If I can tutor you (or other member x) with my limited time or produce the next version of the modpack for however many hundreds/thousands of people, I'm going to do the latter.
     
  3. ConjurerDragon

    ConjurerDragon Established Member Supporter

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    If ProtoEd is obsolete shouldn´t the basic modding tutorial here
    http://www.co8.org/forum/showthread.php?t=966
    that still links to ProtoEd be changed and the link either removed or an remark added that there is a newer better tool?

    That is exactly what I wanted - adding treasure to monsters that had none but according to the RAW ought to have some (e.g. Trolls, Seahag). I already mentioned that in one of the discussion threads but as no reaction came to change it I wanted to see how it works.

    That is quite clear. Then it would be better if those changes would be added to the next version of the mod to prevent that.

    Looking at protos.tab using Worldbuilder the changes would be to Proto 14262, 14691 and 14279 (first two trolls, last Seahag) and changing the empty field "Container Inventory Source" to 125.

    125 is the entry that the Ogre uses and is only some coin and considering the CR of Ogre/Troll/Seahag rather low. But it´s simple and better than empty Trolls/Seahag.
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2013
  4. Gaear

    Gaear Bastard Maestro Administrator

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    Not really ... that thread was one of the first real help threads at ToEE so it's got some purity of history behind it. Also everything there still holds true today - a modder can get a good start with ProtoEd.

    Well there are likely a lot of treasure-free monsters out there. Why trolls and seahags in particular?

    Good work. :thumbsup:

    Bear in mind that we can make new invensource IDs, so we could give them anything we want.

    Anyway, I'll think about it ...
     
  5. ConjurerDragon

    ConjurerDragon Established Member Supporter

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    I´ve got nothing against treasure-free monsters that are in the RAW in the Monsters Manual listed with treasure: none (e.g. Owlbears). But Trolls and Seahags are listed with treasure: Standard.
     
  6. Gaear

    Gaear Bastard Maestro Administrator

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    Are they the only ones missing treasure?
     
  7. ConjurerDragon

    ConjurerDragon Established Member Supporter

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    I noticed Trolls and Seahags lacking treasure because I encountered them ingame which raised my interest. I didn´t scan the entire database for lacking treasures, but looking at the tab there seem to be several more that lack treasure but should have some according to the MM.

    However I haven´t encountered all of them yet ingame so I have no idea if they are random encounters that should have treasure and where which of the different ones is used.

    e.g. there are 3 differnt ghasts
    Protos
    14111 Noble Salamanders - should have double treasure, only non-flammables and a +3 longspear
    Ghasts are listed in the MM as having Standard treasure
    14135 Ghast
    14136 Ghast
    14137 Ghast
     
  8. ConjurerDragon

    ConjurerDragon Established Member Supporter

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    The link to the dlg-editor in post 6 of the basic modding tutorial is broken
    http://www.co8.org/forum/showthread.php?t=966
     
  9. Gaear

    Gaear Bastard Maestro Administrator

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    Okay I fixed that, thanks. Also note that you can find a variety of modding tools in the Downloads forum here, and a template that is apparently meant for the dialogue editor here (I've never used it I don't think).
     
  10. Gaear

    Gaear Bastard Maestro Administrator

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    Alright CD, I'm going to make you a deal: I'll add treasure to the protos for trolls and ghasts, which will give them treasure when you encounter them in REs, but I'm not going to scour the entire game looking for existing mobs and repopulate their inventories. However I will do that for the seahag. I think we'll leave the noble salamanders alone.

    You have to tell me what you think trolls, ghasts, and the seahag should have though. It can be a range of coins, incidentally, so each time a troll for example is generated in a RE, it will have a different-ish amount. e.g. you can set it to 10 - 20 gold, and any time you run into a troll it will have anywhere from 10 - 20 gold, or 11 different possible values.
     
  11. Daryk

    Daryk Veteran Member

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    The first seahag might be a good place to inject a Helm of Reading Magic as treasure (vice a merchant). As a CR 4 monster, she should have about 1,200 gp worth of treasure. As implemented, a Helm of Reading Magic is about a 1,000 gp value item, but perhaps a little more since it can identify potions too.
     
  12. ConjurerDragon

    ConjurerDragon Established Member Supporter

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    Would there be a problem simply using the existing entrys 124 or 125 (Ogre or Ogre Chief) for Trolls? Ogres are CR 3 and Trolls CR 5 and both are large/Giants so it would at least make some sense to find an Ogres Club and some coins on a Troll too.

    For Sea Hags perhaps a new entry with a chance for some potions or elixirs of hiding 33,8026/Sneaking 33,8034 and some ragged clothes 75,6123?
    If that wouldn´t break the quest add a 50% chance for a swamp lotus 50,12900 so that a party could have one for Ami and a 2nd to sell to the Swamp Mother later ^^

    like that?
    {597}{Seahag: 33,8026 33,8034 75,6123 50,12900 silver,4-48}

    Can a range of coins like silver,4-48 be combined with a chance like that for items so that we could simply duplicate the range of treasure from table 3-5 in the DMG to create a generic treasure for CR3 monsters?

    Can a treasure check for skills of the party? e.g. when Survival > 10 find a chunk of meat on bears and boars? Or have skilllevel% chance,8005?
     
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2013
  13. Gaear

    Gaear Bastard Maestro Administrator

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    Why would a seahag be carrying around a helm of read magic?

    It would not be a problem, but I don't think trolls should carry ogre clubs.

    I don't think I want to fool with the swamp lotus, as that's been a long-established thing now. I guess we need to figure out just what a seahag really is. (I don't see it in the SRD.) Mindless creature? Semi-intelligent? Nuclear physicist? If it's mindless, the only reason it would carry potions is by coincidence. We need to stay within the confines of D&D 'reality.' Also, why the ragged clothes? I understand that by appearances, it is wearing ragged clothes, but clothing items are not necessary always included in a monster's inventory. Ragged clothes would be worthless and no one would bother looting them, I suspect, so it would just be an immersion thing. Is that worth it, and if so, shouldn't kobolds, goblins, et al have ragged clothes as worn underneath their armor? Etc., etc.

    That would be the correct format, yes.

    Yes.

    No. Also, I'm not sure it's desirable to find chucks of meat in bears' inventories for the reasons listed above.
     
  14. Daryk

    Daryk Veteran Member

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    Here's the link (they're under "Hag"): http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/hag.htm#seaHag

    As magic using creatures (see "Hag Covey", below the description), why wouldn't Sea Hags carry something useful like a Helm of Reading Magic? Troika implemented them rather differently than RAW (poison, more than twice the HD); maybe they shot for Annis instead?)
     
  15. ConjurerDragon

    ConjurerDragon Established Member Supporter

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    Well Lubash the Ogre carries a Hill Giant Club so Giants don´t seem to mind that much... ;)

    A Seahag has an INT of 10 so it´s not mindless but has the same INT as an average human. The Monster Manual and the SRD mention that Hags usually rely on camouflage and like to strike from hiding so that would be a reason for a chance of hiding / sneaking potions/elixirs.

    The ragged clothes are there for the apperance and with a 75 before the entry no everytime but only 75% - could as well be 50 or 33 as I suggested for the Potions. Goblins already have leather armour in their loot for what they wear so no need to have clothing in addition to that. But not having clothing for being worthless - should then we remove all non-magical robes/slings/clubs from all found treasure for being worthless? It´s an atmosphere thing to find what could be expected in the situation and if the player decides it´s not worth enough to take it then he can leave it.

    If the Swamp lotus should be unique to torment the player with the choice to either save Ami OR to sell it I´m fine with that. Perhaps give the Seahag a semi-precious stone instead as the Seahags description mentions their "magic eye" and it looking like such a stone?
    50,12010 for a 50% chance of an emerald?

    {597}{Seahag: 33,8026 33,8034 75,6123 50,12010 silver,4-48}

    How would an entry look for a chance to find a range of coin?
    Simply 20,silver,5-100 or is it more complex than for items?
     
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2013
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