Correct, it doesn't show it for other characters (PCs or NPCs).
Also, Robert Black probably has like 30 strength or something at that point -- so he's doing 1d6 + 10 (strength) + 7 (mace) plus possibly using power attack. Means he'll punch through the resistance and still do considerable damage despite it.
Correct, it doesn't show it for other characters (PCs or NPCs).
Well, that's good to know. That's what was messing me up, I was like "Robert you have a +7 mace and I have +10 gloves, what makes you so special?!?"
Just a quick IMO regarding EMS: I hope that the solution that Savant et alii settled on remains viable. That is, provide a blank EMS hak file so those who prefer the imperfect-but-fairly-well-documented NWN magic system still have that option over the poorly-documented EMS system of magic.
Yes, that will remain viable, for good or for ill.
EMS suffers from the bane of many alternate magic systems in that it goes well beyond fixing widely agreed-upon bugs and implements someone's personal vision about how magic ought to work in the game. The default NWN magic system has many issues, but I know what they are and I don't have to relearn the game to avoid having unexpected things happen when I cast a spell. A system that fixes inarguable bugs (e.g. the Evaard's size bug or the Terrifying Rage fear-immunity bug) would be welcome. I would hope that Aielund keeps changes beyond that scope as optional.
Why do you think it's a bane? I mean, I don't agree with a chunk of EMS but the whole point WAS to alter how spells worked. And get rid of some of the stuff like IGMS spamming.
Anyway, not a major change or anything, but a nice one, IMO. When I ran across this again the other day, I thought it might be of interest here. I have added a few comments to the include file and I think I have successfully exported the needed resources into this ERF file. There is a replacement dialog for Auberon in the ERF which (at least to my testing) works. There is also a ChargeMerch.dlg which is pruned down to just the recharging branch for easy testing and for pasting into the dialogs of other NPCs who offer the service.
I'll take a look at it, no objections to the idea.
On the main subject, if I could change or alter something in Aielund (and I can't because I have a Mac and thus don't have the toolset) it would be this:
1. More henchmen! The game really doesn't give you enough henchmen to choose from, in the end it's basically down to just Robert Black and the cleric, Nellise. The little halfling druid is lame, the dragon Spartan is lame, basically there's just not enough choices in any of Aielund's acts. There really should be at least twice as many henchmen (or more) to choose from. A wide variety of henchmen with options for Good, Neutral, and Evil PC's. Basically, you just have the choice of a couple of good characters, and a couple of neutral characters.
2. It would be nice if the last Act was a little longer. It always bummed me out that some of those doors in the Hall were closed off or didn't go anywhere. It would be nice if we could go into the door for the Abyss and have a whole sequence there. It would just be cool if there were more dimensional doors that you could go through. I always end up at level 36 or 37 in Aielund. It would be nice if there were a bit more in that last Act so you could easily max out at the 40th level.
[Will EMS remain essentially optional via a blank EMS hak?]
Yes, that will remain viable, for good or for ill.
Awesome! I am glad to hear that. 
EMS suffers from the bane of many alternate magic systems in that it goes well beyond fixing widely agreed-upon bugs and implements someone's personal vision about how magic ought to work in the game.
Why do you think it's a bane? I mean, I don't agree with a chunk of EMS but the whole point WAS to alter how spells worked. And get rid of some of the stuff like IGMS spamming.
By "bane", I didn't mean "flaw". I wasn't implying that EMS was necessarily a bad system based on its technical features. By "bane", I meant "undoing" in terms of gaining wider acceptance. I don't think EMS was intended solely as a system for Aielund, but it suffered because it changed things that many didn't think needed to be changed. And that's why I mentioned that as a bane of many alternate magic schemes: Many don't accept them because they change a system that, while imperfect, is familiar, documented, and (somewhat) well understood. They don't really want someone's idea of a better system; they want the system that NWN intended. (And I admit that what that intent would be is an open question in some areas.)
For example, if I were to write an "NWN Magic & Spell Bug Fixes" HAK/override that stuck to fixing things that were widely agreed upon as bugs, then I think very few would have any objection to using it. E.g.:
There are dozens of similar bugs that could be fixed and I suspect that if people knew such a system was out there, it would pretty quickly become part of many new modules and/or players' overrides.
But, what if I were to start adding in my favorite not-strictly-bug-fix features? E.g.:
But, even though I could argue that each of those non-bug-fix changes results in a better spell or feat than Bioware's, the more of them I would make, the fewer people would agree that they are the way NWN magic ought to work and only people willing to learn to play what is essentially a different magic system would be likely to try it.
[More inclusive recharging dialog]
I'll take a look at it, no objections to the idea.
Excellent!
[Will EMS remain essentially optional via a blank EMS hak?]
Speaking of which, does anyone know or can point to the blank EMS hak? The Aielund downloads on the new Neverwinter Vault don't appear to have it. I really want it and I have a Mac so I can't alter the EMS hak to disengage it. Anyone help me out?
Thanks
LOL. The fake HAK is like 300 bytes. I hate to go all old-school, but here it is uuencoded
Retour en haut
begin 644 EMS_FAKE.hak
M2$%+(%8Q+C`!``````````$```"@````"0$``"$!``!F`````````/____\`
M````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
M````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
M``````````````````````````````````````!A````1F%K92!%35,@2$%+
M"FAT='`Z+R\*5&AI<R!I<R!A;B!E87-Y('=A>2!T;R!D:7-A8FQE($5-4R!F
M;W(@4U`@<&QA>3H@:G5S="!R96YA;64@=&AI<R!T;R!%35,N2$%+`&MH8E]S
M,%]N=6QL````````````V@<``"D!```7````3D-3(%8Q+C!"````%QX`````
%""``(```
`
end
If you aren't sure how to decode that, Google will provide easy answers. The first one I saw seemed more than adequate. Just paste the above text, click the green "Decode!" button, then click the "download as binary file" link below the output. :-)
LOL. The fake HAK is like 300 bytes. I hate to go all old-school, but here it is uuencoded
begin 644 EMS_FAKE.hak M2$%+(%8Q+C`!``````````$```"@````"0$``"$!``!F`````````/____\` M```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` M```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` M``````````````````````````````````````!A````1F%K92!%35,@2$%+ M"FAT='`Z+R\*5&AI<R!I<R!A;B!E87-Y('=A>2!T;R!D:7-A8FQE($5-4R!F M;W(@4U`@<&QA>3H@:G5S="!R96YA;64@=&AI<R!T;R!%35,N2$%+`&MH8E]S M,%]N=6QL````````````V@<``"D!```7````3D-3(%8Q+C!"````%QX````` %""``(``` ` endIf you aren't sure how to decode that, Google will provide easy answers. The first one I saw seemed more than adequate. Just paste the above text, click the green "Decode!" button, then click the "download as binary file" link below the output. :-)
Thanks for that, Mr. Zork. Somebody already sent it to me.
I put it in and was playing it a bit, I noticed that the Cleric spell "Harm" is nerfed, and I thought that was the result of the EMS. I guess that's one of those things that's just part of the Aielund mod, like taking out Devastating Critical? Pity.
What are strong cleric spells for Aielund?
Hmm. I thought that Harm worked pretty much as usual in Aielund. What nerfing did you observe?
Hmm. I thought that Harm worked pretty much as usual in Aielund. What nerfing did you observe?
It just does like 50 hp worth of Negative Damage, it doesn't reduce an enemy's hp's to 1d4.
I saw this on the nwnwiki:
So, that must be what's going on in Aielund.
EMS itself is using 3.5e harm/heal (10 hp/level, up to 150 hp). But it is possible that Savant added some additional changes.
AFAIK, Savant used numbers of his original scripts to bug-fix and re-balance EMS. IIRC, if you just add EMS.hak into some other module, ability enhancement spells such as Bull's Strength or Endurance don't work at all. But they do work in Aielund Saga. Some other spells are more or less different from their pure-EMS versions.
EMS itself is using 3.5e harm/heal (10 hp/level, up to 150 hp). But it is possible that Savant added some additional changes.
A cleric's life is hard, I'm tellin' ya. 
If you aren't using EMS (I thought you were saying you were playing with the EMS_FAKE.hak renamed to EMS.hak), Harm should do the same damage it normally does. I checked the Act IV Part 3 Harm script (NW_S0_Harm) and it is changed very slightly, I assume to accommodate the subrace system (Shayan's Subrace Engine allows undead subraces).
EMS itself is using 3.5e harm/heal (10 hp/level, up to 150 hp). But it is possible that Savant added some additional changes.
AFAIK, Savant used numbers of his original scripts to bug-fix and re-balance EMS. IIRC, if you just add EMS.hak into some other module, ability enhancement spells such as Bull's Strength or Endurance don't work at all. But they do work in Aielund Saga. Some other spells are more or less different from their pure-EMS versions.
thats odd, you cant override script from hak in module, so either Aeilund has modified EMS without these spells or the specific Aeilund changes doesnt work at all.
Hi everyone! On the old vault, there was a really awesome player made walk through for The Aielund Saga. Does anyone still have that they could send to me, or post to the new vault?
That would help me as well. Just started replaying this, I'm at the ending Act 2, I can't find the painting in the house to the NW in the Senate District. There was a painting in the Augusus Johnson mansion to the NW, but it did not trigger a convo with Sparky about the painting, didn't think that was it. I went through every house in the Senate District with an opening door (accidentally found teh flawless diamond before triggering the quest, and sold it through the convo).
I spoke with Desmond a the University and had him open the portal. Followed him through to the Ethereal Plane, but there was no gold dragon there... just Desmond, and his only convo is, "we're here, go ahead and speak with him" - and there's no way to return. Have tried several times but the gold dragon is never there.
Finally, at the end in the castle... from the conversations after rescuing the Princess, I decided to take back all the gear from teh NPCs when it was clear they were leaving. Even after filling all the bags of holding I had, inventory was full. Wouldn't be a problem, except after I told the Princess I was ready, there was a script to unequip my items before going to the cutscene of the ceremony. Since inventory was full, my best upgraded weapon and shield got dropped, with no opportunity to pick them up before module 3 loaded. Need an opportunity to sell items or buy one more bag of holding (or even a plain backpack/box). Since the only way to get into the castle is through the sewer after a convo with Sparky (who vanishes, IIRC), I suspect if I leave to sell, I won't be allowed back in.
BTW - thank you for continuing to work on this module! When I decided to get back into this, I was devastated to see the old Vault gone, thrilled to find the new vault, and even happier to find people are still actively working on things.
A few things...
That would help me as well. Just started replaying this, I'm at the ending Act 2, I can't find the painting in the house to the NW in the Senate District. There was a painting in the Augusus Johnson mansion to the NW, but it did not trigger a convo with Sparky about the painting, didn't think that was it. I went through every house in the Senate District with an opening door (accidentally found teh flawless diamond before triggering the quest, and sold it through the convo).
I spoke with Desmond a the University and had him open the portal. Followed him through to the Ethereal Plane, but there was no gold dragon there... just Desmond, and his only convo is, "we're here, go ahead and speak with him" - and there's no way to return. Have tried several times but the gold dragon is never there.
When I last went through the module, Desmond never took my party to see Salinder, the dragon. But, I assume that's because we already met him when we respawned after a TPK. If you haven't died and already made your introductions, then I am not sure what's going wrong.
Finally, at the end in the castle... from the conversations after rescuing the Princess, I decided to take back all the gear from teh NPCs when it was clear they were leaving. Even after filling all the bags of holding I had, inventory was full. Wouldn't be a problem, except after I told the Princess I was ready, there was a script to unequip my items before going to the cutscene of the ceremony. Since inventory was full, my best upgraded weapon and shield got dropped, with no opportunity to pick them up before module 3 loaded. Need an opportunity to sell items or buy one more bag of holding (or even a plain backpack/box). Since the only way to get into the castle is through the sewer after a convo with Sparky (who vanishes, IIRC), I suspect if I leave to sell, I won't be allowed back in.
I don't know if there is a convenient way to get a container for your gear before the final fight if you are already in the castle. Your best option may be to use the console to spawn yourself a large box and just assume that you found one laying around when you entered from the sewers. To do the item spawn, open the console by hitting the ` key (usually the key above the Tab key and/or to the left of the numbers on a keyboard) and then entering the following lines at the chat bar.
##DebugMode 1 ##dm_spawnitem nw_it_contain001 ##DebugMode 0
Before hitting Enter after the second line, make sure the mouse is over some empty ground that the PC can get to.
BTW, the other way to make space for the gear that you en-equip during the cut-scene is to drop some crap out of your inventory. ;-) There is a good chance you don't need all of it and most of your henchmen will have some gear of their own when you re-hire them. Soon after, you could sell their gear to buy replacements for anything they lost. I think that, before long, you generally start finding better gear in Act III anyway.
Thank you, MrZork, for your quick response. (smacks self on the forehead) No idea why I did not thing of spawning in a box. Must have been too long since I played.
I did go into all the houses on the NW side (there are very few) and go to the 2nd floor. I will see if I have any saved games and try again.
Does the Gold Dragon provide anything beyond background info? I don't think I respawned after a TPK, and don't recall ever going to the ethereal.
Now that you mention spawning, I think there are ways of spawning creatures that don't show up (or accidentally get killed in battles). I remember reading a long time ago about ways of doing that when a creature or NPC that had to be interacted with to advance in a module accidentally got caught in an area of effect spell or somehting and got killed... unfortunately with teh vault gone, it's getting harder to find info like that
I've got this weird thing in Aielund where I got an ability drain that won't ever go away. I've tried lesser restoration, greater restoration, sleep, everything and it's a strength drain that won't go away. I got it from that demon that's guarding that gem in Twilight that gets made into a katana sword. Weird.
Maybe you have an item that causes a STR penalty? I was momentarily confused because I kept seeing a CHA penalty on the character sheet, until I realized I was wearing an item with a -2 CHA penalty. If that's not it, try speaking to one of the healers in the module. When they cure you, they remove all penalties, curese and whatnot.
Well, I had forgotten that you can leave the castle at the end of act 2 and return. When I started playing again, I remembered that under the marketplace in the sewerrs, there was a door that could not be opened, but sometime late i the module, it opens (I think after Sparky leads you to the sewers and you swim, you go under the castle to the sewers and you can open the door from the other side. Still could not find the painting... there is only one openable door, on the north side of a building that sticks out from the west wall.
And, I'm still screwed. Act III of Aielund starts with a cutscene in the Ethereal plane. My character shows up in the cut scene, and nothing happens. I suspect the gold dragon is supposed to be there, but nothign ever appears.
Maybe you have an item that causes a STR penalty? I was momentarily confused because I kept seeing a CHA penalty on the character sheet, until I realized I was wearing an item with a -2 CHA penalty. If that's not it, try speaking to one of the healers in the module. When they cure you, they remove all penalties, curese and whatnot.
No, it wasn't from an item. It was some weird bug that happened after I fought that demon in Twilight. Unfortunately at that point in the game, there's no healer or church to go to be healed. But weirdly enough, the bug righted itself after I had leveled up a few times and rested a few times, it just went away. It's weird because I've played Aielund all the way through over 10 times and have never had that happen to me. Oh well, it righted itself somehow.
No, it wasn't from an item. It was some weird bug that happened after I fought that demon in Twilight. Unfortunately at that point in the game, there's no healer or church to go to be healed. But weirdly enough, the bug righted itself after I had leveled up a few times and rested a few times, it just went away. It's weird because I've played Aielund all the way through over 10 times and have never had that happen to me. Oh well, it righted itself somehow.
IIRC I got the same kind of ability damage when playing the Saga. But I cannot recollect how I could remove that or If I could.
IIRC I got the same kind of ability damage when playing the Saga. But I cannot recollect how I could remove that or If I could.
I had never gotten it before and I tried various restoration scrolls and potions to no effect, so I just played through it. A few sessions later I look up and it's gone and my ability score was back to normal.
That would help me as well. Just started replaying this, I'm at the ending Act 2, I can't find the painting in the house to the NW in the Senate District.
As mentioned, it's just in a house in the NW of the Senate. Can look into it getting messed up with getting the diamond firs.t
I spoke with Desmond a the University and had him open the portal. Followed him through to the Ethereal Plane, but there was no gold dragon there... just Desmond, and his only convo is, "we're here, go ahead and speak with him" - and there's no way to return. Have tried several times but the gold dragon is never there.
That is extremely odd. Will look at it but never heard of anyone having that issue.
Finally, at the end in the castle... from the conversations after rescuing the Princess, I decided to take back all the gear from teh NPCs when it was clear they were leaving. Even after filling all the bags of holding I had, inventory was full. Wouldn't be a problem, except after I told the Princess I was ready, there was a script to unequip my items before going to the cutscene of the ceremony. Since inventory was full, my best upgraded weapon and shield got dropped, with no opportunity to pick them up before module 3 loaded. Need an opportunity to sell items or buy one more bag of holding (or even a plain backpack/box). Since the only way to get into the castle is through the sewer after a convo with Sparky (who vanishes, IIRC), I suspect if I leave to sell, I won't be allowed back in.
I'm not sure if you can even leave the castle until it concludes, though I've never heard of anyone having that issue before. Not sure most people would even bother selling if the option was available due to not expecting to need to. Maybe could just add a warning at the end of the conversation to make sure you have room to unequip your weapons.
When I last went through the module, Desmond never took my party to see Salinder, the dragon. But, I assume that's because we already met him when we respawned after a TPK. If you haven't died and already made your introductions, then I am not sure what's going wrong.
You have to choose an option that goes "...did you say a gold dragon?" when learning about the Ironlord.
BTW, the other way to make space for the gear that you en-equip during the cut-scene is to drop some crap out of your inventory. ;-) There is a good chance you don't need all of it and most of your henchmen will have some gear of their own when you re-hire them. Soon after, you could sell their gear to buy replacements for anything they lost. I think that, before long, you generally start finding better gear in Act III anyway.
MrZork, take that grounded perspective and good sense and shove it, thank you.
I've got this weird thing in Aielund where I got an ability drain that won't ever go away. I've tried lesser restoration, greater restoration, sleep, everything and it's a strength drain that won't go away. I got it from that demon that's guarding that gem in Twilight that gets made into a katana sword. Weird.
Never heard of it. Would need more information to figure it out.
And, I'm still screwed. Act III of Aielund starts with a cutscene in the Ethereal plane. My character shows up in the cut scene, and nothing happens. I suspect the gold dragon is supposed to be there, but nothign ever appears.
Yes, it is. I just loaded the module with a new character and it worked perfectly. I almost wonder if someone uploaded the wrong version to the new vault or something, an older one with bugs.
The good news is I was given control of the content on the new vault -- I'll upload my versions of the modules (unmodified) sometime this weekend and you can see if that helps.
The modified stuff will be a bit longer, haven't had time to do anything related to NWN for like a month.
As mentioned, it's just in a house in the NW of the Senate. Can look into it getting messed up with getting the diamond firs.t
I looked quite a bit before I found and turned in the diamond. As a matter of fact, I was going through every single openable door in that district when I stumbled on the diamond, in the opposite corner, so it was one of the last houses I searched.
I'm not sure if you can even leave the castle until it concludes, though I've never heard of anyone having that issue before. Not sure most people would even bother selling if the option was available due to not expecting to need to. Maybe could just add a warning at the end of the conversation to make sure you have room to unequip your weapons.
Yes, you can leave and re-enter the castle through the sewer. I had forgotten that there is a door that is unopenable from the market sewer side, that is openable from the castle sewer side. Savant thought of everything. Sold a bunch of stuff before re-entering. You can never have too much gold
The good news is I was given control of the content on the new vault -- I'll upload my versions of the modules (unmodified) sometime this weekend and you can see if that helps.
that would be awesome, thanks! Looking forward to it this weekend and will let you know how it works.
I had no problem the first time I played through, probably a decade ago...
The aielund III on the new vault is a 2.93mb rar... I went through some old modules and I see an aielund III as a 6.20mb rar. Hope that helps.
I'll unrar the old aielund III and see if I can go from there
