POLL: What to do with Robe of Vecna?

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Yeah I also think removing is a bad idea, people install IA (also) because they want mighty and powerful things which they have to fight for. (But of course, I still keep my opinion about decreasing the spell-casting bonus and possible price increase.)

 

But why change it with the mod then ?
If players want to have fun with it then let them have it, else "don't buy it".

Giving the robe to an enemy will directly lead it into the player's inventory, the "do I have to buy this cheesy item or not" border will already be crossed.

Another idea would be adding a serious drawback to the robe, like making it a cursed item which sets strength to 7 (which can't be raised magically).

 

Yes, Shade of Vecna was cheesy, he uses a special spell:Wave of Obliteration:area effect, does 30-60 dmg, knocks back, save vs spell at -4 or disintegrated. He just casts a few of these, then casts other fun unique spells like Powerword:Burn (save vs death at penalty or die horribly, perma-burn death:black ash!) or he opens a gate to nether worlds below the target (save or be shredded into pieces by demons, perma death:chunkified!) etc. etc. He also has a few Modrons (adamantite golems actually) around who act as massive tanks to protect him. Neat!

It is cheesy, right, but Planar Sphere mod is cheesy. You save the universe from a guy who beats Gods themselves, including Lady of Pain and Lord Ao. :

I uninstalled the mod, it was fun, but the total XP it gives in the end (1M quest XP to everyone for saving the whole universe on top of massive XP for killing a lot of super-cheesy monsters) and uber-powerful items are just too much for my tastes!

I like the idea of giving the robe to a Cowled Wizard leader, so we have to kill every single of them. There would be a solid reason to kill those, at least! Only...how will it fit in with Planar Sphere:Mage Stronghold?

 

With all the other mages dead, guess who is the new magical power in Athkatla? Guess those apprentices have no where else to go now.

Another idea for giving the robe some drawbacks, you can make it magnetic. You get an armor class penalty of 4 (all weapons are sucked towards you), a damage bonus vs melee (to you) of 4, and double damage from lightning attacks.

 

I too would like to see it added to the inventory of an enemy- it never felt right that you could buy an item like that. To me, it is more on a level with the likes of Crom Faeyr- which had to be forged from multiple pieces. Items that powerful should be earned, not bought.

 

I would prefer a combination of option 1 and 4 (I voted for number 1, because that would be the best choice if I could only choose one).

 

So option 1 is winning fair and square!

Do you intend to do a mod for it then Sikret? Make it extra crispy and scary and tough and all...Robe of Vecna is an artifact level item anyway!

Oh and if you could make it a seperate mod from IA, it would be even cooler! (IMHO)

 

It won't be a new mod, Silverstar. All tweaks (and fixes) I apply to the game are (and will be) collected and available in Improved Anvil.

 

Hey Sikret, could you make IA fights separate install from fixes and tweaks? (I wan't my Robe of Vecna as it is ) Or fixes and tweaks optional install?

What I have read, I really liked to experience IA tactic encounters but without new weapons. Or tweaks wich I might not want to install.

 

Improved Anvil's items, fixes and tactical improvements form a coherent unit. If any of them was separated from the rest, it would result in quality loss, and would decrease overall playing experience.

 

Hmm, I see. Thanks anyway.

 

I'm not an experienced modder, but that doesn't sound right to me. Besides, I thought the problem was that some of the stuff in it was inter-dependent?

 

You're talking of the same thing. If the dependencies were removed artificially, Improved Anvil wouldn't be Improved Anvil.

If I interpret your words correctly, I would like to note that it belongs to an author's freedom (regardless of any dependencies) how he or she wants to introduce his/her work. Even if something could be divided into multiple components, it's the author's right to decide whether to do it. A mod's overall atmosphere is determined by all of its installed components together (this is what CamDawg and some others fail to understand), so if the author wants to take the choice from the player, he has all right to do it.

 

...I can't seem to be able to express this adequately (even for myself), so let me give a couple example situations.

1. Everything would work perfectly fine separately, but the author decided that everything 'should' be installed together for maximum 'quality' (as defined by the author's own opinions) and thus made it only one component.

2. Things would NOT work fine apart from each other, and removing the conflicts/dependencies would result in a loss of content and thus quality.

Now, what you said before (not the post just above this one but the one before that) could be interpreted as situation #1, when I was 99% sure it was actually situation #2. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't taken wrong by Anjo.

Author's freedom aside, I think the kind of mentality that would result in situation #1 is reprehensible. To not even give the players the choice (if they reasonably can), when [released] mods are for the players and not the modders, is quite egocentric IMHO. I've always had a problem with "my way or the highway".

Also, do try to keep the politics out of all but a few threads, eh?

[ October 19, 2006, 02:38: Message edited by: Felinoid ]

 

Despite being a fan of IA, I'm going to back Felinoid on this one. There are certain components of IA I rather not install. For example, just cast Immunity:div and impr invisibility. Most mages now try to strike you with their fists/staves. The only exception I've seen is Lavok. Yeah I know mages being able to cast spells on invisible creatures are cheating. But its the only weapon the ai has againt superior human intelligence haha.

 

Ehm, what? Read my post a little closer.

 

Ehm....you prefer optional components right?

 

I too think hat optional components would be very convenient, but I guess Sikret has his own reasons for not doing so...

 

This is definitely not true. Mages would still cast their area-effect spells and their summoning spells if you are invisible. Only spells which normally target an individual are forbidden to be cast on invisible characters, because as you said it was a cheat and a bug of original game which would allow them to cast such spells (and to fire spell triggers) on invisible targets. Actually this particular bug-fix is one of the best and most important fixes IA applies to the game.

There was actually another bug in the game which would allow players to deceive mages not to cast any spells and to attack by their fists/staves despite having spells (even area spells). This bug is also fixed by IA. If a mage has area spells or summoning spells you have no way to deceive him/her not to cast them.

See the related text file about fixes in the "Documents" folder for more information about the fixes and tweaks IA applies to the game.

@Felinoid
Yes, it is actually situation 2. The components of the mod are inter-dependent.

[ October 19, 2006, 14:47: Message edited by: Sikret ]

 

Could this be a bug with my game? I've only seen Lavok cast energy blades and BBOD when my PC was immune to div. Liches usually summon a efreeti, then resort to melee and protective spells.