15218 réponses à ce sujet

[Serg BlackStrider]

Corey wrote:
I had forgotten about that part of the Avatars run: More "corey like" stats then would be this:

STR 15 DEX 16 CON 16 INT 16 WIS 15 CHA 17

Got them, changed them - onward! And you are a *monster roll* indeed!

Alesia wrote:
And I am officially the worst roll of our forum regulars.

But then that doesn't prevents you to be the best (or at least the one of the best) of our forums regulars in terms of master the game!

Modifié par Serg BlackStrider, 23 juillet 2013 - 04:14 .

[corey_russell]

Serg BlackStrider wrote...

Alesia wrote:
And I am officially the worst roll of our forum regulars.

But then that doesn't prevents you to be the best (or at least the one of the best) of our forums regulars in terms of master the game!

Agreed. Okay, so it would be a disaster to put Alesia in the front lines - so what? She can just use her intelligence (which she has in spades concerning BG) and do some smart spell casting - us front-liners will appreciate her assistance!

[Serg BlackStrider]

corey_russell wrote...
Okay, so it would be a disaster to put Alesia in the front lines - so what? She can just use her intelligence (which she has in spades concerning BG) and do some smart spell casting - us front-liners will appreciate her assistance!

I should mention here that with her combat and spell protections (Stoneskins, Mirror Images, Blur, Pro vs Magic Weapons etc.) she could stand in the front lines much much better then say Krimlor (who proved to be quite *potions of healing dependent* when I put him in front lines with Cassia gone).


Concerning Invisibility 10' Radius - thank you, Alesia, for proving that it is indeed faulty. I dug through NearInfinity but couldn't find out how to fix that. Will continue as it is then (though it would be useful to not only have the whole party invisible while traveling - and that could be achieved with its current behaviour - but also to have the opportunity to make them all invisible quickly in cases of emergency - when they have all their protections removed at the start of combat, what the enemies are very fond of doing).

[corey_russell]

Serg, you do know there's a mass invisibility spell right? I think it's level 7, perhaps that could work, once you get it and are high enough.

[Gate70]

Another harsh lesson eh Grond0 - Sion and Ketta have given several of my recent solo runs a good kicking.

Serg BlackStrider wrote...
Editors note: I added Corey in *ToB-Style NPCs*[/b] manner and as all other Crue members have an average 3050000 exp I just SK 2950000 exp for Corey (a vanilla SoA cap or ToB starting exp level).

Just to say CHARNAME and NPC's all get 2.5m xp starting in ToB.

(Sarevok obviously gets 2.7m xp so he doesn't get scared when encountering Corey Russell in a street)

Modifié par Gate70, 23 juillet 2013 - 06:12 .

[Serg BlackStrider]

Corey wrote:
Serg, you do know there's a mass invisibility spell right? I think it's level 7, perhaps that could work, once you get it and are high enough.

Yes, I know of that spell and have it, and use it as a buff. It has a low duration compared to Invisibility 10' Radius though and I want a proper latter spell just in case of emergency use.

Gate wrote:
Just to say CHARNAME and NPC's all get 2.5m xp starting in ToB.

You are right indeed! Well, lets say, I just joined Corey with a bit less then average exp of other Crue members (or rather at SoA cap, which we already reached with Cassia still alive).

Modifié par Serg BlackStrider, 23 juillet 2013 - 07:05 .

[Satyricon331]

It's the spell's projectile that controls the area of effect, and PfEvil 10' Radius uses the same projectile that Mass Invisibility uses (even though MI affects 30'). MI's projectile has an area of effect of 256, which is roughly 3x the size of the area that Invis 10' Radius uses, which is 80. (I guess there are about 8 pixels to a foot?) So, it looks like Invis 10' is right and PfEvil 10' is bugged to be 30'.

[Blind_Visionary]

Welcome to the Avatar run, Corey!

Serg, I'm glad to see that Cassia has a powerful successor with excellent spatial reasoning and a good memory. In addition to chess, I bet those skills will come in handy when chasing vampires through a bloody room full of spike traps and whatnot.... Good luck, fellas!

Grond0, condolences for Poseur....

[Alesia_BH]

corey_russell wrote...
I believe a man's strength is to protect women - it would be easier to disable our opponents if I don't have to worry about your safety.

And I'm fair certain that there are women who can kick butt from here to Kalamazoo. I just don't happen to be one of them.

(I'm also fair certain that there are women who would kick you butt for saying what you just said! )

(I know you meant well though.)


Best,

A.

[corey_russell]

In general, men have more upper body strength than women, this undeniable (since we are talking about people, this means of course there will always be exceptions to this trend). It's for this reason the strength requirements for women fire-fighters is less than the one required for men (men are required to carry 150 pounds on their backs going up stairs) - if my initial statement wasn't true, there would be no reason for such a difference.

As for women beating me up for what I said, I must be true to myself. If I get beat up for being myself, so be it.

[Alesia_BH]

This is getting off topic, but of course: humanity is a sexually dimorphic species. Total body mass and strength are among the characterstics that display patterned variation across genders. On average, males are larger and stronger than females. Maximum attainable size and strength are greater amongst males as well.

It's important to keep in mind what that doesn't mean however.

A quote from the philosopher of biology Ernst Mayr is on point here: "Averages are merely statistical abstractions; only the individuals of which the population are composed have reality." And to the extent that we are constrained to think about populations of varying entities in terms of statistical abstractions, it would be wise to remember that the mean is but one moment of a distribution. To keep in touch with reality, we need to think in terms of the full depth and breadth of individual variation. When we think exclusively in terms of means -or over emphasize means in our reasoning- it blinds us to diversity and variation. And in doing so it blinds us to reality. 

Were we to find ourselves in a fight with "ruffians" I wouldn't mind having Cris Cyborg on our side. And if Seth Green were with us, I wouldn't fault him if he chose to join me in the hidey-hole rather than duking it out alongside you and Cyborg. 

Mayr refers to the error of mistaking a singular statistical abstraction such as a mean for reality -and the associated move of conceptualizing variation in terms of ideal types- as typological thinking. He contrasts that with population thinking: acknowledging the reality of individual variation -the reality of the entities themselves- and viewing statistical abstractions as tools that may be used to describe that reality. 

Mayr traces the origins of typological thinking through Platonism. It likely has a far deeper history than that however. Typological thinking is common in colloquial discourse and that isn't because the masses have been reading their Plato: It is merely easier to think in terms of singular ideal entities than distributions. Some find it prohibitively difficult to cognitively and linguistically manipulate disbtributions. That's understandable, though it does have some odious consequences- the phenomenon of sterotyping being among them.

Typological thinking can be forgiven to an extent in colloqial discourse (I'm not chistian, but "forgive them for they know not what they do" seems on point here). It can also be viewed as a harmless act of linguistic streamlining in some contexts. But when we think typologically about intra and inter gender variation -marshal that typological schema to construct gender roles- and then implicitly impose those roles on others through statements of generalization, we've not only engaged in sloppy thinking that suppresses the reality of individual variation, we've combined that with an un-democratic impulse to limit the ability of individuals to define themselves as they see fit. That's sexism. 

I say this not as a feminist, but as someone who values lucidity, truth and freedom. We all differ. We all have our individual attributes. And we should all have the freedom -the right- to use those attributes to define ourselves however we see fit- irrespective of the categorization schemas and role assignments that some may wish to impose upon us. Ruffians be damned.

I don't think you're a ruffian Corey: I still think you're a paladin. I just think that a slight shift in diction and conceptualization here would make you all the more chivalrous. 

Best,

A.

Btw. And yes this is totally 100% off topic. Sorry! We can and should move this discussion elsewhere.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 24 juillet 2013 - 06:29 .

[Grond0]

Gate70/Grond0 Multiplayer attempt 23 (3) - (update 10 - final)
Rue, human inquisitor (Grond0) & Murl, human monk (Gate70)

This duo had all the credentials to go all the way - except a bit of patience on the part of their controllers ...

Illasera and her reavers didn't last long and the first pocket plane challenge was negotiated fairly easily - Murl just getting drained once by Bodhi.  He was restored in Saradush; a bunch of backstabbers there did quite a bit of damage to both characters, but they survived to go on to Gromnir.  Rue spent time there with her finger on the screenshot button waiting for Murl to kill Gromnir - perhaps she should have used another GWW instead?

After her upgraded bracers resurrected Murl, the duo killed some soldiers on the way to a forest temple.  Rue said that paladins had no need for protection from undead scrolls there against the Master Wraith and his gang - and, surprisingly, was proved right for once!

On to the fire giant temple where a series of slug-fests ensued.  Both characters took heavy damage without ever quite being desperate as they worked their way up the temple.  Eventually Rue thought everything was done, when Murl mentioned he'd heard Imix lived there.  She couldn't then resist poking her nose into a remaining dark corner of the map.  She tried dispelling the fire shield of the elemental prince, but with no success (probably a permanent feature) and attacked anyway.  Only minutes before Rue had watched Murl standing in lava and noted how the lag meant no damage occurred initially - then about 5 lots stored up hit at once, almost killing Murl.  That meant she did have the danger of lagged fire shield damage firmly in mind.  Unfortunately I must have got carried away and attacked for too long (probably Imix's fire shield does rather more damage than I expected as well).  Rue was already trying to move away, at nearly full health, when I noticed her HPs dropping like a stone.  There was no time even to take a potion before she was dead.


Incidentally, Murl has been chasing Rue hard on the kills stats for a while now.  The last autosave showed that Rue was grimly hanging on to the lead at 914 vs 913.  That was before Berenn and his gang, so I think Murl had almost certainly taken the lead there - perhaps Rue felt life had lost its savour.

Modifié par Grond0, 24 juillet 2013 - 06:36 .

[corey_russell]

@Grond0: Sorry to hear of your guys run - by that point in the game, it's possible to get 100% fire resistance by equipment alone, why wasn't that done on the main character in such a fire intensive place as Yaga's Temple? It's an idea, anyways, since the equipment resistance doesn't get dispelled.

Even a mage can get 100% fire resistance via equipment - fire robe, fire resistance ring (Firkraag dungeon, Rakshaksha) and the nice ring (50% fire resistance) in the Illithid City.

@Alesia: I don't disagree with anything you have said. I acknowledged there was variation in my initial statement. I also certainly support whatever path a women chooses for herself, whether it is fighting with me, or being a fireman/firewoman or anything else. I certainly don't mean to limit any female's choices/decisions by my stereotype. If it can have that effect,I will refrain from voicing such stereotypes.

Having said all that, humans do use stereotypes often,and helps our survival (I do grant that wrong use of stereotypes can cause problems.). Example 1: You see what looks like a rock of a type you don't recognize on the ground - the previous things that looked rocks were hard, and would hurt if your body hit it. We eventually formed a stereotype "rocks are hard" - so you take care not to stub your toe, even though there does exist such as thing as soft rocks, so the stereotype isn't true per se. There are countless stereotypes like this that help us. Example 2. I am carrying very heavy loads from my truck to my house (a lot of loads), I could use some help. I do NOT ask a normal musculature female to assist me, even if she wants to help - she could be injured (pulled tendon, back pulled out of alignment, etc.). So in this case I'm using the previously mentioned stereotype to avoid likely injury to another. Granted she may try to insist on helping, but it''s my goods, and I get the final say in this case.

@Alesia: This is definitely off-topic, so if you have a rebuttal then PM me.

Back to the hypothetical fight with the ruffians, if you insisted on helping, I would let you choose your destiny, as I would have no authority over you. I would just have to make do the best I could.

*** Corgrunt Half-Orc Fighter Update *** Kangaxx
Traveling with: Minsc, Jaheira, Anomen, Yoshimo, Nalia

Corgrunt did obtain the Gaxx ring, but it was a nerve-wracking affair. The only fighter type with any skill with a quarterstaff (needed to use my only +4 weapon, Staff of Rhynn) was Jaheira, so she got the honor of trying to defeat Kangaxx. I used a pro-magic scroll, so I thought the only problem would be the djinnn that gets summoned - I had a fire resistance potion and haste potions to help with that. Well, Jaheira was not killing the djinni very well, she gulped a ton extra healing potions and the djinn still had lots of fight left. The Kangaxx lich apparently emptied his spell book, and tried to melee Jaheira. I didn't want to fight the demi-lich with the djinn around, so Jaheira ignored him. This was nearly fatal - Jaheira got held by Kangaxx (I suspect Kangaxx must have cast ghoul touch somewhere along the way)! The djinn was killing her - luckily the RoR managed to save Jaheira before she died - I'm not sure if that's a bug or not, but maybe it works because potions work (e.g., it's not a spell, though magical in nature) - of course, that's probably why the ghoul touch worked on Jaheira as well! The entire party attacked the djinn, including all melees. Fortunately, Jaheira finally shook off her hold - the rest of the party then retreated to the door and then Anomen and Nalia assisted with their long range weapons (they didn't even have move from their position by the door) against the djinn. Still took a while (Jaheira gulped more than 10 extra potions by this point, Corgrunt had to toss her more).

Once the djinn died, Jaheira then managed to kill the Kangaxx lich and demi-lich without any further incident.

Even though Corgrunt is already using the +2 protection ring, he got the Gaxx ring as he needs the save help - he's in the front-lines anyways, so I consider his choice of using it himself pretty justified.

The team is almost done with their chapter 2 stuff, going to leave Windspear Hills for when we return with Imoen.

Modifié par corey_russell, 24 juillet 2013 - 06:48 .

[Alesia_BH]

@Gate and Grond. Condolences guys.

@Corey. I think we've covered what we need to. Cost benefit analysis of different cognitive styles in an evolutionary context is among the things I studied in graduate school, so I get what you were trying to say about "stereotypes." I may comment on your second example in PM.  

Anyhoo: best of luck with your run!

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 24 juillet 2013 - 06:58 .

[Serg BlackStrider]

Feel sad of your loss, guys...

Modifié par Serg BlackStrider, 24 juillet 2013 - 06:45 .

[Serg BlackStrider]

@Corey: did you have a Death Spell or Death Fog by that moment? It would be a lot easier to eliminate that Djinni with them - and Death Fog would even hit the Lich himself - just protect Jaheira vs Acid and thats it.

[ussnorway]

Serg BlackStrider wrote...

Corey wrote:
Serg, you do know there's a mass invisibility spell right? I think it's level 7, perhaps that could work, once you get it and are high enough.

Yes, I know of that spell and have it, and use it as a buff. It has a low duration compared to Invisibility 10' Radius though and I want a proper latter spell just in case of emergency use.
snip...

If I understand you then the only thing you want to change is the radius of the spells effect?

The file you would need to edit is called “INAREASM.pro” and the “Radius” is currently is set to 80... download this Example (just drop it into your override folder) to try 180 which should be enough for your needs. 


I would personally change the name to “INAREASM2.pro” and set my invis 10’ to use this new file because that way I won’t accidentally alter other spells which may or may not use the same template.

[Alesia_BH]

Serg BlackStrider wrote...
Concerning Invisibility 10' Radius - thank you, Alesia, for proving that it is indeed faulty. 

I just noticed this comment.

To clarify, based on my experiments, it was obvious that Pro Evil 10' had a radius that was too large; It wasn't as clear that the radius on Invisibility 10' was too small in an absolute sense. It seems small relative to the height of characters (that was the source of the about 5' comment), but the animations could be too tall in terms of game world feet. An optical illusion is another possibility. 

I don't necessarily disagree with Satyricon's assertion that the Invisibility 10' radius may be fine and that the only problem is with Pro Evil 10'. 

Best,

A.

[Serg BlackStrider]

ussnorway wrote...

If I understand you then the only thing you want to change is the radius of the spells effect?

The file you would need to edit is called “INAREASM.pro” and the “Radius” is currently is set to 80... download this Example (just drop it into your override folder) to try 180 which should be enough for your needs. 


I would personally change the name to “INAREASM2.pro” and set my invis 10’ to use this new file because that way I won’t accidentally alter other spells which may or may not use the same template.

Aye, the only thing I want to change is the radius of the spell effect. I tried your file and it works fine! I've tried to change the name to INAREASM2.pro as well but I can't find out how to set my Invis 10' to use this new file... so I'll just use your file then (as the only other spell, which use that projectile is Repulse Undead - I didn't use it ever).

Thank you so much for your help!

@Alesia: got it! Well, I'll try to fiddle with ussnorway's file a bit then to make the spell's radius as *real* as possible (may be I should take a spell like Fireball as a measure). 

Edit: made a bit of research and Fireball (30' radius) has Trap size (Explosion size) value of 256 so looks like that Inv 10' radius indeed has a nearly correct value (80, should be 85 or so).

Modifié par Serg BlackStrider, 24 juillet 2013 - 09:58 .

[Alesia_BH]

Serg BlackStrider wrote...
Edit: made a bit of research and Fireball (30' radius) has Trap size (Explosion size) value of 256 so looks like that Inv 10' radius indeed has a nearly correct value (80, should be 85 or so).

Yeah. I've looked at a bunch 30' spells and they're all set to radius 256. Assuming they aren't all wrong, that gives us a way to calibrate the scale. And in that case the area on Invisibility 10' Radius is fine- even if it looks oddly small in practice.

We can all just have a group hug when you feel the need to cast Invisibility 10' on us. 


Best,

A.


Btw. Hold Person, which is supposed to be 5', is set to 64. Defensive Harmony, which is supposed to be 10', is set to 256. There appear to be a lot of inaccuracies here.

Abigail reaching the distant Jan with 10' radius Defensive Harmony.


Not that I'm complaining: a true 10' radius might be kind of annoying on spells like Pro Evil and D Harmony.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 24 juillet 2013 - 11:22 .

[Serg BlackStrider]

Alesia_BH wrote...
We can all just have a group hug when you feel the need to cast Invisibility 10' on us. 

Yeah  That's how it works for now - and no one seems to objects...

Alesia wrote...
Btw. Hold Person, which is supposed to be 5', is set to 64. Defensive Harmony, which is supposed to be 10', is set to 256. There appear to be a lot of inaccuracies here.

According to Jochem van 't Hull's Spell Reference guide:

The description of area radius is mostly incorrect. The proper radius in search squares has been included in the spell lists in this document.

and:

Defensive Harmony
A very useful effect, though offset by the limited duration.
Radius: 17.
Invisibility 10' Radius
Useful spell for the whole party. Lasts all day if you don't break it.
Radius: 6.

Both have radius 10' according ingame description. Splendid...

Fireball
One of the more popular area spells, though not justifiably so. Has more range and a bigger area than Skull Trap, but does much less damage at higher levels.
Radius: 16.

A 30' Fireball has less radius then 10' Defensive Harmony. Fantastic!

Modifié par Serg BlackStrider, 24 juillet 2013 - 12:24 .

[ussnorway]

Update 2.2; Trust Noone!

Sold the junk, paid the licence fee, parked Jaheira then said G’day to; Anomen, Nalia, Jan, survived an ambush & rescued Mazzy… kicked her again to unlock Trademeet.



Bugs;

‘Farsight’ crashes the game… replaced the file with my master to fix it.

Modifié par ussnorway, 24 juillet 2013 - 02:00 .

[Alesia_BH]

 Ashanti, Elven Beastmaster: Beginning at the Middle

Some of you may have been wondering about the hiatus in Ashanti's run. I've disappeared in the middle of runs before, but this one may have seemed different. Perhaps it hasn't seemed different. I can tell you that it has been different though. I've been sick: terribly sick. I seem to have picked up a chronic illness of some kind while I was in the Mideast. It's unfun. I'm trying to move on, but it's tough.   

For the past week I've been eager to get Ashanti back in action. One thing has been holding me back though: laziness. As you may recall, I hadn't been doing proper updates in Ashanti's run. And at this point, she's nearly halfway through SoA with nary a post complete. Getting her back in action and up to date therefore entails completing a massive update. I'm not really up for that at the moment.

In the interest of getting her moving again, I've decided to just start playing and then cover Ashanti's adventurers as they happen. Someday in the not-to-distant future I'll find time for a catch-up post.

Anyhoo. Here's Ashanti's current character record and inventory. The shots were taken in Aran Linvail's quarters after reporting Bodhi's death.



To really assess Ashanti's status, you'd need to know what's in that potion bag of hers. The answer is not much. In the interest of getting a more challenging playthrough, I've been restricting Ashanti's use of hit and run tactics. I've also been resticting her resting. That costs potions of course- especially if you are a beastmaster with a middling strength. 

Prior to Ashanti's break, I contemplated sending her off to Spellhold at her current modest experience level. I've decided against that. I'd like to see Ashanti prevail, and I'm willing to stack the deck in her favor by allowing her some extra experience. I haven't decided where she's headed next, but it most certainly won't be Spellhold: She needs to do some gold and glory adventuring first. 

I'll post again once Ashanti's adventures truly resume.


Best,

A. 

[ussnorway]

@Alesia_BH, Good to see you back... icecream makes it feel better m8.

[Serg BlackStrider]

@Alesia: feel sad about your Mideast ill experience... I wish you to recover as quickly as possible, and while I looking forward for Ashanti's run to continue your health state should be the prime importance. Take care of yourself!