Just wanted to express my view that having shadows and trolls as random encounters is a little too hard imo for the levels at which they appear. My 2nd level party fresh out of Hommlett was attacked in their very first encounter by four shadows. Shadows are can only be hurt by magical weapons (of which my party had none) and being unable to escape, my heroes were simply slaughtered. My fourth level party was attacked by three trolls who, while at least damageable, were still far too much for my little party to handle. Sure, I can reload, but like Cpt. Kirk, I don't believe in "unwinnable" situations. Just my two cents.
This sounds like a problem with your install, or you party is not the average level you claim it to be. For a party with an average level of 4, the most trolls the code will allow is 1. For a party with an average level of 2, the most shadows the code will allow is 3. I agree that this may be a little high, but then shadows do pathetic damage, and it is entirely possible for the party to have at least 1 magic weapon by they time they leave Homlette.
I hope it's not the install, I hate doing massive deletion/installation. Let me ask you, when calculating average level, can this increase based on number of members? For example, would a full party of 8 2nd lvl chars (PC and/or NPC) count as "higher" than say, a single char of 2nd lvl? What about companions, such as controlled undead, animal companions, charmed NPCs?
I had a druid and barbarian in the party and was given the option on most encounters. I wasn't with the shadows and went right into combat. I couldn't avoid them and I couldn't escape them. The trolls came while camping.
Don't camp if you're low level. I've noticed that too, occassionally as a low level i've seen some high level encounters. however, i always have one character endowed with the ability to find bad guys on the road. i usually just avoid them. the moat house has got some fearsome bad guys, especially after you clear it and return. I kind of like that, though i was totally unprepared for it. that made it fun. I can't seem to find the c08 5.01 mod. where is it posted. you guys rule. thanx for giving me some more milage out of TOEE. i love Dnd but can't really play it with a family and all. Plus i just moved to a small town. i'm not sure if there are any dnd players out here.
Average party level is calculated like this: Level = sum of the levels of everything in the party; PCs, NPCs, animal companions, summoned and charmed creatures, rebuked undead, etc. In short, if it fights for you, it's added in. I am fairly confident that it only takes into account character levels, and not hit dice. Count = the number things considered for Level Average party level = (Level + (Count/2))/Count The average is rounded down to the nearest whole number. So yes, the number of things associated with your party does affect it, but the rounding down makes that almost nil. Camping uses different enemy lists than random encounters in certain areas, but it uses the same equation for determining the average party level.
Hm, I've never seen shadows this far (and my party is now level 5 if I remember correctly (haven't played in the last few days), but Trolls are indeed a bit hard, yes. Even with my party having level 4, I had many problems with the two Trolls I usually see. Could also be a case of the group's formation, who's hit more often, but I'm not quite sure about this. Usually, the two trolls take the fighter into their middle, and beating him until he dies, totally neglecting any other party members. The party must acxt quick then, or he has no chance (except of running away early).
Perhaps a game should have a chance for monsters to win over you. There's also a 1-level spell "Magic Weapon" which you may remember or scroll. I realized that giving my cleric the Scribe Scroll feat is great thing to play honestly. Now I always have plenty of cleric scrolls that are vital but never needed in every battle. As for trolls, I never saw more than 1 yet up to 6 level parties. And encountering just 1 troll is a great gift to my ego (he-he). He may be hit endlessly to increase statistics for numbers of critical hits and damage... The bad thing that my ego also has the greatest number of critical misses... but...
I've never actually gotten Magic Weapon to work right for me. The last time I had it, I put a Masterwork greatsword in my cleric's inventory. When I used the Magic Weapon spell, it took me into my Cleric's inventory. I tried to select the masterwork greatsword, but it didn't effect the thing whatsoever.
I don't this. I have killed 4 Trolls, with a level 5 Party. That was long before I learned how to make Items. (Using Protos Edit.) Shawdows are hard, but not that hard. Not that I have had Shawdows for a random encounter. Maybe it is a good thing I ran 3 Fighter Types at the time. LOL. As for the Captian Kirk thing, you should know that Kirk reprogramed the Test, so he could win.(i.e. He Cheated, just like I did to beat the Adult White Dragon. LMAO.)
As is, a Giant can't fight a Dragon in Fog, so the are one in the same. So, don't fight a Dragon in Fog, ( or any flying creature) if you are Enlarged. As for Kirk's Test, they cheated to make it unbeatable, so Kirk justed evened it out. LMAO. Shadows are very annoying though, as I can kill Ogres quicker. Something about damage reduction, I think.
Does your cleric use the greatsword? As far as I know, he should use the enchanted weapon only by himself. Also often enchanting of masterwork weapons with Magic Weapon spell is not rewarding, because this doesn't add any damage or attack bonuses. But using Magic Weapon spell for common weapons is a very nice thing.
