70 réponses à ce sujet

[Quixal]

I only had a little time tonight but I was able to confirm that the ziggurat exit is still bugged.

[Gilradthegreat]

Re-downloaded the files you linked me to, same issue.

But that console command should act as a pretty good "panic button" in case I stumble across any other broken exits, thanks!

edit--I'll just add any minor errors I run across into this post as I play your mod, if you don't mind! Spoilers might end up there in case anybody else cares about that!

--You have an open tag in the conversation with the gnomes who built the golem in the aforementioned sewer; it's the alchemy skillcheck conversation option.
--To echo the previous statement about rest areas in the sewer, I got a "this could be a safe place to rest" in the middle of the battle with the golem. But now that everything is cleared out I am unable to rest.

8/5
--All of the open field encounters near Soubar have the enemies start too far away from the party. Because of this it is possible to pick them off one-by-one with ranged weapons and spells without the whole group coming after you (maybe more of an AI issue?). The encounters across the bridge seem to have the perfect distance, where the whole mob rushes you, but you still have a round and a half to prepare.
--Also, with my party starting at level 7 (which was what they were leveled to when I created it), the encounters seem rather difficult and I find myself slowly grinding low-CL mob groups to the next level because crossing the bridge leads to encounters with a CL that I certainly can't beat. Don't know how you feel about grinding as a gameplay mechanic, but I thought I would let you know.
--Upon leaving the temple of pain through the entrance I came from (I didn't start a fight or anything), I found myself back at Soubar

--In the underdark market, when using the (lore) conversation option with the Steeder Keeper, there's a grammar error: "I bring a few up to market when there (should be they're) ready and sell to the merchants and travelers down here."

8/6
--In those encounters where you are given lots of room, those maps are also rest-okay. Meaning you have a guaranteed rest option available. But then again, considering how 90% of the time I leave a battlefield with an enemy SOMEWHERE on the screen (even if they haven't spotted me and are almost off-screen) and thus can't rest in the field, I'm not complaining too much on that
--The cave where you run into Drizzt also teleports you back to Soubar.
--The Ziggurat too
--Yuan-ti temple too

8/7
--The area outside the quarry seems to have some environment tags that are a bit off; I have EAX sound turned on and sounds and voices are echoing as if inside a cave.
--Occasionally I run into a locked alchemist's or magicians workbench. The knock spell doesn't work with those (the game thinks you're trying to create something and tells you crafting failed )
--The "Mine Entrance" doorway in the first level of the quarry is broken; I click on it to enter but my character just stands there, no command enters the command queue.
--Same situation with the entrance to the baths in the third floor, except this one groups the party together (but no travelling)
--Also, the level minimap for that level is severely stretched vertically
--In the crypts to the quarry, next to the second entrance (the southeast one) the door is not properly aligned within the doorway. Also you have a door inside the wall directly next to it.

--I can't seem to get SoZ-style enchanting to work. I put the item in the magician's workbench, activate the recipe (and I do meet the requirements), but I get nothing. Not even a failure message.

--The auto-enchanting spring behind the secret door in the quarry (the one that gives any weapon you want a +2 divine damage enchantment) is a bit unbalanced when you can use it an unlimited amount of times... One could easily buy a bunch of bundles of darksteel arrows, for example, dowse them in enchantment water, and sell them back for a pretty big profit. Perhaps limit it to ten uses (with a message describing how much water is left with each use so players don't get frustrated when their brand new weapon they bought/found can't be improved like all their previous ones).

For the ancient Zigguraut:
--I have been unable to destroy the cursed two-headed statuette by casting remove curse on the cursed person. Am I supposed to cast it on the item? It is impossible to target items in other characters' inventories with the Remove Curse spell.
--In the seasonal orb puzzle, if you place the orb in the wrong stand, the stand is destroyed. I don't know if that is intentional, but if it is the message should be clearer.
--When fighting Demogoron, he used some sort of "copy your character and have him fight for me" spell. I killed him before I killed the copy, and suddenly the copy started attacking the hounds that were still alive. After all enemies were dead, the copy just stood there non-hostile, doesn't disappear.
--Aaaaand we have another broken exit. When trying to leave the zigguraut from the way I came, the screen went dark and all my party members went invisible, but the transition never occurred. If you want a savegame replicating the issue let me know.

--I found an incompatibility with Kaedrin's PrC pack. The Holy Warrior reserve feat doesn't work. Whenever I try to activate it, it does nothing. No action queuing up or anything.
--In fact, it looks like all reserve feats aren't working currently.

8/8
--A quick bit of searching shows that this might be because of conflicting .2da files, though I am sure you would have a better idea than me (http://nwn2customcon...f-feat-problems)

--Typo with the conversation with the inquisitor outside Dragotha's cave: "That Dragotha persists despite her slumber would imply thta (should be that) it remains intact".
--Near that area there is a crate with (10) healers kit +10 in it, but when I try to take them I get the message "this item cannot be given away"

8/9
--The green text you use when describing an NPC in conversation mode is incredibly difficult to read
--In the room where you run into the guy who has Blackrazor in White Plume Mountain, there is no exit.
--The room with the discs hanging above a boiling pool of water has a big error: The third disc takes you backward, so you are stuck between the second disc (which takes you to the third), and the third (which takes you to the second).

--In the entryway to Hammer Hall, there is no path to the archers on the battlements. This causes all sorts of party member AI headaches as they tend to forget the enemies smashing their faces in and stand near the walls trying to get to the unreachable archers.
--In the mines to hammerhall, the exit is not marked, which left me wandering around the mines aimlessly for much longer than I wished.

--There are no exit/entrance map markers to the Dungeon of Swords level 3
--The entryway to Dungeon of Swords level 1 is broken; I can't leave the area through it. This time there is no action firing off when I click on it; no action queuing up or anything.

8/10
--The magician's workbench in Keleidsa House is not a container. The "use" action queues up in the activity bar but when I get there nothing opens up.
--Typo in the item description of Moradin's Amulet: "these amulets are valuable tools i nthe (should be "in the") crusade against the undead"

Modifié par Gilradthegreat, 10 août 2010 - 05:57 .

[WyrinDnjargo]

Quixal - OK, I definitely missed that bug off my first list so will go back and check.



Gilrad - thanks, I'll look into this. Did you try the exit past the spriggan leader? Or are you too beat up to face him and needing that rest point to work (see below)?



For any other testers, the following console commands should help you out to either jump back to Soubar if stuck or to make the party rest if a resting station is not working



rs ga_load_mod("WPM","")

rs ga_force_rest(1)

[Gilradthegreat]

I teleported to Soubar, restocked, and punched through the rest of the dungeon, and yeah the backdoor exit works no problem. Its just the entrance that's one-way.



Anyway, for more reports from me, just keep an eye on the above post, It will probably be filling up as I power through the mod

[WyrinDnjargo]

Thanks Gilrad

- The Exit from the Temple to Loviatar jumoping back to Soubar - I've had other reports of this, but I cannot replicate it myself. I think it may be one of those annoying quirks



- Overland encounters - I've tried to rebalance speeds so that you can avoid some encounters, but it's in the plans for final polishing to blance them out. I've had mixed reports about the desire for hard/easy encounters - some enjoying the challenge; but it's on my list to sort out. I've also noticed that that how the encounters are picked form the 2da isn't completely random - there's a definite bias that alters with each play (i.e. a lot of type x one one time, then alot of type Y on reload)

- Encounter distance - I deliberately kept this long as I think archers are too often swamped and left out in games without the chance to shine, but in respect to the plains encounters, it's soemthing i've wondered too so will look at

[Gilradthegreat]

Well the main problem with the encounter distance is that the enemies don't go aggro on you... They run up until they're just in view, then stop. You could effectively equip everybody with ranged weapons and shoot them while they stand there, and even if you do pull them, they are pulled independent from each other so you won't be facing the whole mob. Again, most likely an AI issue.

[kamalpoe]

WyrinDnjargo wrote...

- Encounter distance - I deliberately kept this long as I think archers are too often swamped and left out in games without the chance to shine, but in respect to the plains encounters, it's soemthing i've wondered too so will look at

How about a little ledge or other obstacle forcing critters to run around, increasing the time they are in ranged range but out of melee range. Small pond maybe?

[WyrinDnjargo]

OK updates to
Campaign folder (21Mb) - put in Campaigns directory
Overland map module folder (70Mb) - put in modules directory

which should solve the sewer exit bug, and plains encounter distance. But also my main project this evening has been to script Quixal's Magical Electrifier. THis can now be purchased from Ceelix in Soubar. If you want to get this without restarting, then download these files instead, and unzip into the override or campaign folder, then use the console command
giveitem quixcharge
to create it in your inventory
Should work by stripping magical equippanble items for charges at 1 charge per 1000 gp value, and you can then recharge items with charges by targetting them. You cannot strip charges from unequippable items.
Enjoy!

[Quixal]

'Tis pure undiluted win and I have the naked party with fully charged wands to prove it. Thanks Wyrin.

[Gilradthegreat]

I have a savegame that replicates the teleportation issue at the temple of pain, if that helps.

Might as well add some early impressions on game balance/difficulty.

At my current level (level 10, entirely attained through grinding low-level encounters that don't swarm you the moment you run into them), most of the dungeons I have entered have had fairly balanced combat for standard encounters. But inevitably, there is a monster type or a special encounter that is just so ridiculously above the difficulty curve that I cannot progress any further and have to turn around and head home. For example in the Yuan-ti temple, combat is fairly balanced and fun, until I run into a horned demon that shrugs off any spells I throw at it and has a fear aura with a DC high enough that resisting it is impossible. At this point, I don't have access to any reliable ways of dealing with that aura, so I look for another route... Only to run into an enemy that opens combat with a level 9 spell that destroys my party in one casting.

So far I haven't been able to complete a single dungeon except for the sewers because of encounters like that.

Modifié par Gilradthegreat, 06 août 2010 - 06:46 .

[WyrinDnjargo]

Yuan-ti temple is really geared for higher level, at least 15, as IIRC Horned Devils are ~CR16, and a tough challenge - and there's worse to come down there. It's part of the problem of providing an open map to explore and visit areas in any order you choose in that some encounters will be too tough. That said, I'm keen to balance things out so the suggested level for each sidequest is more accurate.

At level 10, you should be able to tackle Dead Gnoll's Eye Socket, Castle Mukos (last battle should be doable but tough), Dungeon of the Hark, maybe just manage Halls of the Hammer if lucky, Devil's Cellar, Coiled Cabal Outpost. With luck, the Keleidsa Estate and Thingizzard's hut could be done, and the first layer of the underdark. Some of it will also depending on you having items/weapons able to combat creature's damage resistance - which may involve crafting.



But once you have done the first White Plume Mountain quest, level 10 is a good start for exploring the Return to White Plume Mountain.



If you can email your save to dunc.young@gmail.com I'll take a look. As a thought experiment, anyone who is getting the issue of not jumping to the overland map, can you try copying your campaign folder to your override and seeing if it still persists? (you can then delete it from the override)

[Gilradthegreat]

Finished the gnoll mines, here is my report:

For level 10, it was crazy easy. But then again, it was probably meant for levels 7-8, and I was just a little late to the party.



The NPC you have join your party is un-passable. This can be quite infuriating when he is standing in the middle of a doorway and nobody can get out of a room until you spam 'follow me' commands from the other side of the room. It also makes those battles at the ledges of the lava pits really annoying because he is a ranged character, so he ends up blocking the melee characters other than the party leader from joining the battle.



Speaking of the lava pits, I was really impressed by it. The loading screen showing off that long bridge was perfect foreshadowing for a really enjoyable fight (even if it was crazy easy because of my level). If you want to take a good thing and run with it, I suggest at a later date you add a scripted cutscene where archers prepare a crossfire. Were the lava pits custom content? I don't think I have ever seen them in any of the main campaigns. Regardless, they were beautiful (though I do have my qualms with using a wooden bridge in such an intensely hot area). Perhaps to further add to the heat, add a constitution check every two rounds or so to do one point of fire damage as long as you're edging along the sides (or on the bridge) of the lava pits.



The choice to have an epic battle at the end was a bit strange considering how far out of your way you have to go to be able to come back and fight in it. Perhaps instead, after killing the priests, leave the demon half-summoned, and have him offer a quest that allows you the opportunity to finish the ritual (at which point he attacks you because, like all demons, the information he gave you was only enough to sound like you get what you want, when it really serves their purposes).





As for level balance, I see what the issue is now... There's plenty of dungeons for low-level characters, its just not made very clear where the low-level ones are. Part of this might be from encounter selection and terrain design; I was reluctant to go to that part of the map for example, because the narrow passageways and slow movement speed meant I couldn't run away very easily when a red dragon or band of wizards spawn right under my nose, so I always headed north toward the open plains.



Another way of looking at it is to find a better way to communicate the idea "further from Soubar = tougher dungeons". I have heard that in game design theory, designing the game so that players make certain associations is called "training" the player. I think an elegant way of training the players to make the above association would be to scatter more events and quests nearby Soubar, with a gradual but distinct increase in difficulty between the city and the first bridge. Of course, this could be down the road if you're still looking to add more content in, but an example of this could be a quest to exterminate some giant rats from a farmer's cellar who lives right next to Soubar on the map, something more suitable for a level 1 character. Move a bit further out, and you have a quest suitable for level four, et cetera. For players who just suit up and start exploring, seeing a marked difference in enemy strength the further they leave town would do a good job of communicating that dungeons further out there are dangerous

[WyrinDnjargo]

Check out the sidequest walkthrough for a very rough guide (it's a word doc, can email pdf if easier) which shows where the sidequests are and reccommended level.

Yeah I'm not totally happy with the Gnoll climax - I wanted a by the book boss at the end, but that makes it very tough. I may scale him (and his artifact) back and leave it as a challenge to disrupt the summoning

[Gilradthegreat]

Well I got around to copying the campaigns folder to the override when I reached a point that boots be back to Soubar, and as you might have suspected, it loaded correctly

[WyrinDnjargo]

thanks Gilrad, am fixing the bugs as I go

can you take note of where crafting doesn;t work specifically - might be I've got bench tags wrong.



will look into the Kaedrin issue

[Thorne_underfoot]

Downloaded the module. I remember fondly the original module and am really looking forward to enjoying this one. So far it looks great. two questions.



In the cut scene where the three guys offer the quest for the weapons, there is no VO. This is OK as I can read, but was that intended, or an issue?



Second, I created a new character for the module. The open bumped me up to 7th level but with no items, only cash. Upon leaving the starting city, I got set upon and owned by wolves. I am guessing that a solo level 7 is not what the module intended? I don't play online (can't work it out with enough people for a regular session and enjoy just me playing party ala - SoZ). Is there a way to load my own party (again ala SoZ)?



What I would humbly suggest would be to set up a focus point like in SoZ where you can log in your party (doesn't have to be a book, but you get the idea). Also, put some way to adjust level so if you want to start at 7th, fine. If you are having a bit of a challenge getting past even one random encounter, you can bump up to another level. Or at least be able to buy something other than Non-magic items. Not suggesting Monty Haul, just saying 7th level should at minimum have one or two items of worth in his/her possession.



Anyway, really excited about the Module. Loving what I am seeing and hoping to fully enjoy. Thanks for all the hard work.

[WyrinDnjargo]

Hi Thorne - thanks for playing

On starting you'll get xp to 7th level and balanced gold. Then you should have plenty of shopkeepers to spend it with to get up to +2 items. Explore Soubar before heading out.



You can create your own party by using the log book at the inn (look near the barmaid), or at any tiome by clicking on the game menu gui (bottom left of screen, eye icon)



There's no voice over - lip movement but no VO.

[Thorne_underfoot]

Thanks for the response. And again thanks for the hard work putting this together. Really looking forward to playing. Can't think how I missed the log book.

[Gilradthegreat]

Right, so after having played through all the high-level areas the mod has to offer, I thought I would highlight what I see as the big glaring issue that needs to be resolved (well, aside from all those bugs of course): The difficulty curve. It doesn't really exist.



The mod starts out really freaking tough. XP is really hard to come by so mostly I found myself in the first two dungeons barely hanging on, and retrying nearly every battle until the roll of the dice resulted in a victory where nobody fully died (as resurrection is expensive and difficult in the early levels).



After about the third dungeon, I started to get enough money to buy equipment that made a significant difference in the battles ahead. Somewhere between the fourth and fifth dungeon, the equipment I had available to me was enough to REALLY make a difference, and clearing the most difficult dungeons in the game quickly turned into shooting fish in a barrel, despite being several levels below the CR.



I am probably not saying anything profound here, but this mod is REALLY equipment-focused. That's not a bad thing mind you, I actually like it that way. However, it also means that all enemies have to be scaled in a way that assumes the player is running around with bad-ass equipment. At the point I am at, my entire party has constant-effect freedom of movement AND immunity to mind-affecting spells. That shuts down a lot of enemy spellcasting strategies. On top of that, my melee characters are pushing 40+ AC, which shuts down a lot of enemy melee strategies. In order to create a challenge against a party like that, the encounter will need more than spellcasters throwing magic missiles and clerics summoning dire wolves.



Along those lines, the XP rates seem way too conservative. Even when clearing out a dungeon that is a couple CR levels above my party, the total gain ends up being less than a quarter of my XP bar. There's just too much ~7xp fodder to make combat feel rewarding, and whenever I enter a major battle or finish a quest, the total gain is still less than 500xp usually.



After having played through all these large and fairly detailed dungeons, I can confidently say that you have enough content to push players into level 20 if you balance your xp rates a bit. As I stand now, however, I am level 13 and have completed all dungeons with a CR of 14+. The only thing I could hope for now is that past the bugged area of White Plume Mountain is a high-level dungeon waiting to give me a sense of accomplishment



Some thoughts on what can be done:

-Decreasing the maximum amount of money the underdark merchants give you for sold items seems like an obvious solution, but bear in mind this would only slow a player's progress to "god equipment" by a couple of dungeons or so.

-Decreasing the amount of awesome stuff that enemies drop could help a lot as well. The artifacts are fine, as they act as a nice incentive to possibly get something awesome, but even after the gnoll mines, I was able to sell a good five or so items at or close to 20,000 gold. Most of these items aren't as good as what's available to buy, and if anything serve as placeholder items until I get enough money to buy the god item to replace it. Their role essentially is merchant fodder.

-Replace the low-level enemy fodder with enemies that are a bit more dangerous, give spellcasters spells that hurt a bit more if they go off. One of the main dynamics you get in most NWN encounters is whether you rush the mages to stop them from messing up your game plan but possibly allow their front-liners access to your mage, or whether you roll with the spells being flung at you and try to quickly take out the front liners. This is a significantly easier decision when the front liners can be downed in less than a round and the party is immune to the worst of the mages' spells.

-Go to 20! Nothing bores me more than not seeing my character advance in levels. With 22+ dungeons and quests, you could easily balance it so roughly half a level's worth of experience is granted per quest (give or take based on the size), and then you could claim your mod is one of the very few that covers the 10-20 level ranges.

[WyrinDnjargo]

Thanks Gilrad. Balance was always going to be tricky in this kind of mod. But one thing I've done is increase xp for overland encounters (which I'd originally decreased compared to SoZ), and am adding/boosting xp quest awards.



Am going through today focussing on balance issues where I can, and may get an update up later.

[dunniteowl]

Well all I can say, Gilradthegreat is you must be one hell of a player or something, because that wasn't my experience at all. Not even close -- well, other than the barely hanging on part at the beginning. I still haven't made it too terribly far and I thought most of the combats were pretty tough (there were a couple that went off way easier than I expected) though for the most part I have been having to really be a lot more thoughtful when it comes to entering battle during my testings.

I will freely admit, though, that as a player, I tend to NOT worry about making sure I have all the geat I can possibly have. I have little to no interest in crafting (time sink AFAIC, plus other things too deep to get into) and I still find the 3.0 and up rules a bit off, so I don't feel like I am truly in my element.

And nothing ruins a game more for me than rapid level advance. I don't want to have to grind to get to the next level, but so far, I don't think that's really been an issue. There's plenty do to and plenty of stuff to run into on the OM that sometimes you're wishing you could get away from.

On the whole, I think this has been one of the best modules I've played for that Old School feel to it of an adventure where you really just don't know what you'll end up doing next.

I present this as only a minor counterpoint to your review. I expect that other players more familiar and comfortable with 3.0 rules and up (or who only really have played NWN/2) will probably feel more inclined to see things from your perspective due to the level of familiarity with how everything hangs together Character Ability wise. I'm not that great at making sure my characters have all the best stuff, hands down.



best regards,

dunniteowl

[WyrinDnjargo]

Thanks DNO



Balance is always going to be a contentious issue, and different styles of play can't all be catered for in one module. Some love to reload until they beat a tough challenge, some will load and go elsewhere before returning with more experience to face it, and some will be put off by that tough challenge feeling its too unbalanced. Some players will have tactics and builds down to a T and make sure they buy the right items from the right merchants - others play perhaps more 'organically' (for want of a better word) and with less technical approaches. Not to say one is better/worse than the other - just different and with different needs/desires in a module.



As a builder, I'm too eyeball-deep in the details for me to always easily get a feel for balance for all types of players. What I'm aiming for is a system where payers that are struggling can still find a way through (e.g. use rest points) whereas those finding it too easy can play differently to get the challenge they want (e.g. don't use rest points and press on regardless).



I hope in a few hours to release a retweaked and rebalanced overland map and quest xp system that I hope will help both sides of the coin.

[Damien Jnr]

Hello again. Just a quick note on balance and play style,
etc. My own experiences of this module were a mixture of both Gilrad’s and DNO’s.
Difficult at first, but getting less so as I progressed. Yes in the beginning having
a 15EL bunch of Wyverns camp outside Soubar was a struggle (that was overcome,
oh yeah, dead wyverns:devil:, ok half a dozen restarts:whistle:).  As I progressed however, at no time did I find
anything too easy, I had to plan and think. This is what makes this campaign so
good. If you get things right it might seem easy, but this is like real life –
planning makes perfect, (except of course on first contact with enemy as we all
know). To Gilrad I would say, was your experience of the game due to your skill
and planning? Personally I play on hardcore setting as it suits my level of
skill. Maybe you’ve outgrown even very difficult.

Did “god” equipment help? Well I don’t craft as I find the
rules broken and unbalancing, so what I picked up or bought is what I used.
Apart from the artefacts, was there anything game unbalancing, well, I’m not so
sure. However, I do believe a general rule of only allowing items that are
within a few caster levels of the final estimated finishing level of the module
would make things more balanced. For instance there are items available for sale
that are nice to have in MOTB let alone here, these I would remove. Is there to
much money available? Maybe. However this can be balanced by restricting what
is available to buy. I am in favour of having some limited choice kit as it adds
an “oohh, I want factor”, but within the general rule above.

This brings us to character level. Mine “completed” the
campaign at 15th level and to me that’s a nice place to finish. Would
20th be better, yes from a personal front as it would make the campaign
longer, but I think it would need more dungeons to do this. Is this practical,
well as this is a personal tour de force by Wyrin and the best campaign I’ve
played for NWN2, asking him to create more, for free, in his own time, is
tantamount to stealing:bandit:. OK, maybe copying for personnel use only:police:.

So to round up I think that within the constraints of the game
system and the many and varied gamers who make up the audience for this
campaign it is difficult to see, beyond minor tweaking, Wyrin being able to do
much better.

So enough yacking from me. Now it’s over to you Wyrin to get
this finished so I can unleash the Mighty Treehuggers on their quest to bring
balance, the colour green and pot plants to the world:sick:.

Cheers
Damien Jnr.

Note:

I believe crafting can break and has broken many modules and
campaigns. Without the requirement for spending XP to make an item, scroll, etc
the costs for creation create no barrier. Time is not a factor in most modules
so spending 200 days to create your +5 keen, unholy, flaming flamberge of doom
is not an issue. 200,000gp, a mere inconvenience. 8,000XP though makes you
think especially, at low to mid levels.

[Gilradthegreat]

Actually I never bothered with crafting, as the stuff available to buy at the underdark bazaar was all I really needed. As for what actually gave me the edge, there are few individual items that really made me super-powerful. Its more about my inventory building up through the course of the game. At this point my main warrior is rocking a strength belt +10, natural armor pendant +4, armor bracers +5, boots of the sun soul +5, and a ring that gives +6 to all saves, as well as a few artifacts and totems to bring his total AC to 46.



As for upping the expected ending level, I think there is plenty of content within the mod currently to get to level 20 without making the player feel rushed or without adding more. There's over 20 dungeons in this mod, and roughly half a bar of experience per dungeon actually seems slower than what the official campaigns put you through (I remember gaining 2-3 levels while exploring the depths of Myrkul's temple in MotB).

[WyrinDnjargo]

Artifacts I threw in as a sidequest goal, but ultimately do tie in with the White Plume Mountain quest as you will need to give up one (was originally going to be three) of them in order to progress to the final stages. They are a bit on the munchy side - but then I'm doing a conversion of White Plume Mountain which gave the players Wave, Whelm and Blackrazor to play with....but I have no control over when a player chooses to start the WPM or sidequests which throws balance out. I wanted to make all items available in stores to give players choice but didn't think they'd be able to afford so many.



The design philosophy behind the overland map was not just to frame the WPM conversion but to also give players somethign they could drop into as and when they wanted. Fancy trying out a quest for your level 11 party in a spare hour? Got 30 minutes to spare in multiplayer with some level 7 PCs? It should be there.



The latest version (same download links as first thread - everything updated, but no need to redownload haks) has a different xp scale for overland encounters, some encounters will only now appear after level 10, and sidequest xp awards are increased. Also buffed up some of the mobs in each sidequest.



But this is distracting me from the task at hand. Now to focus on WPM. and the darn floating shields - which I may just bypass altogether...