[SPOILERS] Co8 v7 Beta Testing Thread [SPOILERS]

TN half orc barbarian/druid Bruin Brokentooth

Huge and tremendously strong, he is an outcast from both human and orcish societies for his mixed heritage. Though not quick-witted, he displays deep wisdom from long pondering his own thoughts during long sojourns in deep wilderness. He longs for a Grove to call his own, to live within in peace. He is friends with J'allan.

CG half elf ranger/bard J'allan UlDragos

An outcast from his Elven lands, known as a half-breed, and preferring the life of an adventurer to add to his tales and skills - J'allan travels the lands in search of his half brother Aerich Dragonsbane. He is a gifted bard in search of fame and fortune. He found Onyx wandering in the woods outside Hommlett, and for the time being is serving as her protector, as her oddness attracts those that would persecute her for the spirits that follow her.

CN gnome cleric of Obad Hai Onyx Ebonstone

Having wandered from the Gnomish caverns where she was born, Onyx is like a lost child, and is often mistaken for one because of her tiny stature. She searches for "shinies" - though her traveling companions are not sure if by this she means the elemental and natural spirits that follow and speak softly to her, or sometimes fear her; or if she might be referring to her penchant for collecting gems of all sorts. Mysterious and ethereal, she speaks often in dreamy and inscrutable riddles. She is a cleric of Obad Hai, with supernatural talents in the domains of Earth and Plants. Bruin looks on her as his tiny adopted sister to be taken care of.

CE elf dark cleric of Nerull/necromancer Morgana Ravenblade

The jilted ex-lover of the ignoble villain Lareth the Beautiful, she swears his demise and destruction at ANY COST. An accomplished wielder of the Elven longsword who has become a cleric of the god of Death Nerull, she now seeks the even darker arts of Necromancy as she believes this will give her the true power to utterly destroy Lareth and any he has allied himself with. She found Onyx in the wilderness with her companions, and believes the odd little gnome can help teach her these dark arts after viewing the elemental spirits following her. She had tried and failed to learn these arts while under Lareth's tutelage, and he spurned her haughtily and cast her out. Left alone to die, the group comes upon her in the wilderness and heals her. She abruptly invites herself into the group when she finds they have a common enemy in Lareth. If possible, she is even more vain and self absorbed then he is, and it is to be seen if this nearly lost soul of hers can ever be redeemed from its mire of burning revenge...

I was trying to think of a reason why these VERY different individuals would ever travel together on ANY quest. The "Lareth's destruction" plotline tied it up nicely.
As they have limited rogue skills in this group, I will first recruit Furnok, then release him from service and use Serena instead when I get to Nulb.

**** @ Gaear: I second emo_ome's question - at any time would we be allowed to have more than one NPC? If i add Serena, I'd like to add her sister Reina(sp?) if allowed... Otherwise that can wait until the full-release, or after testing has been concluded. Kinda liking this CN party concept actually...!

Looking forward to getting started with testing!

So ...This is an uneasy alliance at best. J'allan is protecting the childish innocence of the gnome, supporting the cause of Good from his point of view and seeking to protect Nature's balance for his friend the half-orc druid outcast with whom he has shared many a trail ... and he is keeping his eye on such a dangerous and powerful revenge driven individual as Morgana. She believes she is the leader of this group, and tolerates each individual in the group for their skills in achieving her revenge. For now, with the menace of Lareth's forces marshalled in the Moathouse and the rumor of the "rising Temple" ... they combine their forces despite very different outlooks and goals.

 

OK, I'll take the Neutral Good then.

Party:

Chet ... NG Human Fighter
Lady Wanda ... NG Human Cleric
Tasslehoofe Burfoot ... NG Halfling Rouge
Raistlin Magerie ... TN Human Wizard
Elmo ... Human NPC

I'm soooooooo original with the names, eh? :roll:

EDIT: Didn't read everything and had to remove one of the party in order to add an NPC.

 

Gaear,

I am ok with 5 characters but do I have to use one NPC? I hardly ever use NPCs and, I may be a crybaby at this point, dont want to start now

 

Gaear, I'll be using Lawful Neutral,

LE Human M Fighter, (Eriogo Greyhawk)
LG Human M Cleric, (Tyrien Lightfist)
LN Human F Rogue, (Altaris Swiftblade)
TN Elf F Wizard. (Selene Nightfang)

Edit:
My NPC would be Meleny:hug:
Is it a must that we use only 1 NPC or can we recruit more?

 

@ sirchet: haha digging the Dragonlance references dude. Raistlin Majere and Tasselhoff Burrfoot The lost adventures in Hommlett... Tas is still looking for that wizard with the woolly mammoth, Raistlin searching for Fistandantilus's lost tomes... good times. :yes:

sorry Gaear for the "off topic" post!

 

Should we keep a running average count of "extra" XP earned, as in approximate how much generated from random encounters? that would not be too hard to estimate.

I assume it would go without saying NO console use permitted unless you ask us to check something, to reduce chance of any randomized errors being generated. It's kinda cool not to have to put any crafting feats on the characters, as that frees up the chance to select other more useful combat feats instead.

Also, if intending to do Welkwood (I am), are we permitted to do certain specific Hommlett related quests that open up new shop options - such as the Deklo Grove, Healing Bing, or Ring for Black Jay...? or delivering Terjon's medal from Emridy Meadows. These have useful rewards, and are less "Fed Ex" than most... as in more direct.

I can document all such undertakings, if needed. Or perform them after the Moathouse is cleared, for example.

 

Some more questions on beta testing...

Another question regarding NPC, do we need to stick with the NPC we chose till the end or can we recruit another NPC only if we're going to replace the old? Pertaining to the Things to do #2, I think this is permittable since getting my NPC (Meleny) would require/hit some of the fedexing quest such as the Flirting With Disaster, Carpenters Dilemna and Terjon Want's More Followers. These would be the last fedexing quest I'll be doing before heading straight to WB.

Gaear, which will you prefer an open ended reporting or closed reporting? Open ended will discuss all of the things we do in game such as talking, fighting, looting, gaining exp and more. I am thinking that the disadvantage of this is that it would point out some less/unecessesary details that you might not want to know. While Closed is the opposite, pointing out only the major details.

*These are just examples, the XP's I've entered are just samples even for the bugs *
(Open Ended Example)
I start the Lawful Neutral Opening Vignette quest, finished it and got 50 xp, then I start the Flirting With Disaster quest, talked to Meleny... finished the Flirting With Disaster quest, I got 50 xp. I went straight to the Blacksmith, talked to Brother Smyth and take the lead on WB, went straight to Renton and skipped the story, accepted the quest. Readied my spells and Rested for 8 hours at the inn then save. Leaved Hommlet with PC 195 xp and NPC 0 xp / Both PC&NPC Level 1. Went straight to WB, avoided Random Encounter. After I arrived at Welkwood Woods, got my rogue talked to Captain Asaph and decline his offer then proceeded to the Welkwood Bog. Fought my way through the group of kobolds on the south got a 45 XP, looted their corpse then fought again a group of kobolds through the north got another 45 XP, looted their corpse then save. Proceeded to the next map, while I fought the goblins I encountered a problem. My wizard can cast magic missile with a 1/256 charge, casting more than 5 magic missiles causes CTD. I reload the game and tried the spell, surprisingly it returned to it's normal 1/5 state. I finished the goblins in the Welkwood Island looted their corpse, got 175 xp then save. Moving on to Welkwood Ruins, I've encountered another problem, jerkstop. I've quitted the game then reload, The problem still exist, reload then entered different route... Finished Mathel and his minions gained my 2nd level looted their corpse and Mathels lock chest then save. Went back to Hommlet with PC 1145 xp and NPC 850 xp / PC Level 2 and NPC Level 1.

(Closed Example)
Hommlet
- got 50 xp on (LNOV).
- got 45 xp on Carpenter's Dilemna.
- got 50 xp on Terjon Want's More Followers.
- got 50 xp on Flirting with Disaster.
- leaved Hommlet travel to WB. PC 195 xp NPC 0 xp.

Welkwood Bog
- avoided all random encounters
- got 90 xp on kobolds at the map of Welkwood Bog
- possible bug, magic missile 1/256 charge. current map; Welkwood Bog (casting magic missiles causes CTD).
- got 175 xp on goblins at the map of Welkwood Island
- encountered jerkstop at Welkwood Ruins
- ... etc... ... ...
- gained level 2 after fighting Mathel and his minions.
- leaved WB travel to Hommlet. PC 1145 xp NPC 850 xp.

Also, how many times should we test a NC if its working or not? I mean that all requirements are set to activate the NC (ex. WotGS), though it does'nt work at the first two tries then is there a possibility that it would work on the third try, therefore should we state that it does'nt work at all?

Gaear this will be all, sorry if I asked too much. I just want to have a good run testing the beta without a doubt in my head.

 

Haha OK, understood.
I just always roll with an 8 person party, and look for all the XP i can in playthroughs, so i was trying to make sure i understood the rules and intent behind playtesting with a 5 person party. No problem!

all i had for breakfast today was coffee, by the way. LOL :coffee:

 

But ... I don't even eat breakfast, guess I'll just have to settle for reporting simple straight forward facts of the mod as my party progresses.

 

I'd like to remind you of a testing tool I wrote back in the day for testing XP progression -

http://www.co8.org/forum/showthread.php?p=92571#post92571

It already includes all the vanilla content, and some additional stuff like the Moathouse Ambush + Trader's Revenge.

If you want it to simulate WotGS and Verbobonc and the rest of Co8, it needs to be updated with the new monster/quest CRs, and the encounters need to be added.

I think the format is fairly straightforward to understand if you look at the file, inside the xp_calc function:

1. First add the CRs to the big CRs_ lookup table (including monsters and quests; make sure to calculate monster CRs correctly, including Character Levels they might have).
2. Then, add the encounter definitions (following the preexisting examples)
3. Finally, insert the encounters into the Game_Encounters array in the order in which you wish them to appear.

Then run xp_calc(0.6, 5) for a calculation with 60% experience modifier, size 5 party. A report is generated at the modules\ToEE folder.