Growing Pains III Information

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Summary
Armor Hindrance
Spell Effect Changes
Spell Duration Changes
Weapon Changes
MSTRIKE Changes
Fame Changes
Treasure Changes
Armor Hindrance - Revised
Reallocation
Release Comments & Responses
Culture Reset
MSTRIKE Fatigue Changes (Improvements)
Critter Changes
Damage Reduction Modification
MSTRIKE Fumble Removed
HURL Changes
Convert Changes
Two Weapon Ambush Changes

Growing Pains III Summary · on 12/8/2002 9:46:44 PM

This phase of Growing Pains implements major changes to many aspects of the game, with the most substantial changes including the conversion of many spells to self-cast, implementation of skill requirements for magic item activation, and modifications to spell bonuses, durations, creature casting strength, armor casting hindrance, and damage reduction. A (lengthy) summary of the changes follows. In some cases, more detailed information on the specifics of the changes will be provided in future posts on these message boards.

These changes are expected to be released next weekend.

Many defensive spells have changed to self-cast only, and several have seen changes to magnitude of their bonuses. A few spells have been completely replaced with new spells. Each spellcasting profession still retains a handful of shareable spells.

In a major change to the TD system, all TD boosting spells have been designated as Spirit, Elemental, or hybrid. Full TD bonuses apply vs attack spells of that same magic sphere, and lesser bonuses apply vs attacks from other spheres of magic. The result will be that spellcasting characters will find themselves very resistant to magics from their sphere(s) of knowledge, and somewhat less resistant to magics from other spheres. Coupled with these changes to TD, fifty-nine creature types have had their CS reduced, some well in excess of 100 points. Ten creature types had their CS increased, most of which were creatures under 10th level that previously had extremely ineffective spells (sea nymphs and death dirges, for example).

In addition, most spells that previously had durations based on caster level now have base durations that increase as the caster's spell knowledge increases. For spells that are activated from items or via scrolls, durations will increase with the knowledge of Magic Item Use or Scroll Use, respectively.

The use of magical trinkets now requires skill in Magic Item Use in most cases. The exceptions are some items distributed as "common" treasure (small statues, gold rings, blue crystals, etc.), drinkable or edible items, and some unique or nearly unique items. Failed attempts to activate magical trinkets or invoke scrolls will now result in 3 seconds of Cast Roundtime and greater failures may have detrimental results. The increased hard roundtime for waving wands while encumbered has been replaced with increased hindrance in properly activating the wand. Recharging of magic items with spells that are not known to the caster will be more difficult, and recharging will now eventually degrade an item until it can no longer accept a charge, similar to the way that Imbed currently works.

Armor spell hindrances have been revised to be spell circle-specific, meaning that Ranger hindrances are now different from Minor Spirit hindrances, and Minor Spirit hindrances are different from Major Spirit hindrances. Each armor type has a maximum spell hindrance, regardless of how far undertrained a caster may be for the armor. Spell failures resulting from armor hindrance will now result in 3 seconds of Cast Roundtime. Donning armor will also now incur roundtime based on the armor type.

The MSTRIKE verb has been changed in several ways, providing more control to the player, adjusting the roundtime determination, making increased training in Multi-Opponent combat desirable, reducing the screen scroll, and implementing a short duration fatigue effect. TRIP has been revised to factor in the attacker's stance.

Many weapons and bolt spells have seen adjustments to damage and speed attributes, and bastard swords are being revised to be more user-friendly via a new GRIP verb. Improvements to Ranged and Thrown weapon attack and defense are also part of this release.

Major Shock has seen a reduction in DF, while Minor and Major Cold saw increases. Wizard Bolt AS rate of increase concerns have been addressed with modifications to Elemental Focus (513) to increase its offensive bonus with increased training in the Major Elemental circle.

Two-weapon fighting has been revised to no longer automatically increase roundtime when the weight of the offhand weapon is >= to the primary weapon. The speed of the offhand weapon compared to the speed of the primary weapon and the weight of the offhand weapon with respect to the attacker's strength are now factors.

Damage reduction for highly physical characters has been revised to shift Swimming and Climbing skills to from primary to secondary skills, to include all weapon skills as secondary skills, and to consider spell training on a spells learned per level basis. Those characters with less than two spells per level will eventually receive some amount of damage reduction. Damage reduction has not been capped, but the benefits at the very high end have been revised to increase at a slower rate.

Finally, treasure output has been adjusted to substantially increase the number of imbeddables that are released. Players will find that many trinkets are found already imbedded with spells, and some will even be Wizard rechargeable. The spells available on scrolls have been revised significantly, as well.

Discussion of these changes should be directed to the Game Balance topic in the Strategy folder.

Warden

GP3: Armor Hindrance · on 12/8/2002 9:48:54 PM

NOTE: These values have since been re-evaluated.  Here are the revised values.

Unfortunately, I do not know of a way to force these new forums to display a table in a nice format.

The following table shows the changes to the Armor Hindrance for casting spells. Base hindrance is as shown for each AsG. If a player is under trained for their armor, the penalty is increased. The increased penalty will never exceed the Maximum penalty shown in the rightmost column.

Warden

GP3: Spell Changes · on 12/8/2002 9:53:25 PM

Following is a list of spell changes that will be implemented with this phase of Growing Pains:

All values are subject to change as we finalize testing.

TD benefits are full bonus vs same-sphere (Spirit/Elemental) attacks, 3/4 bonus vs hybrid attacks, and half bonus vs opposite sphere attacks. Example: If a spell provides 20 Spirit TD, then the player will gain 20 TD (full bonus) vs Spirit spells, 15 TD (3/4 bonus) vs Sorcerer spells, and 10 TD (half bonus) vs Elemental spells. If a spell was to provide 20 Sorcerer TD, it would also provide 15 TD (3/4 bonus) vs Elemental and Spirit CS attacks.

In addition to the above spell modifications, Sign of Dissipation and racial resistance bonuses have been adjusted.

Lullabye and Spikethorn have also been adjusted.

Warden

GP3: Spell Duration Changes · on 12/9/2002 7:43:04 PM

The following table shows the upcoming changes in spell durations. To determine the new duration for one of your character's spells take the base spell duration (third column) and add the value in the fourth column (Sec per spell known) times the number of spells your character knows for that respective circle.

Example: If your character knows 35 ranks of Minor Spirit, when you cast Lesser Shroud (spell 120) the duration will be 1200 sec (Base duration) + (60 sec x 35) = 3300 seconds, or 55 minutes.

For items invoked from scrolls or activated from magic items, durations are dependent on the user's Scroll Reading and Magic Item Use skills, respectively. Every two ranks are treated as knowing one spell of the applicable spell circle.

Example: If your character has 140 skill (40 ranks) of Magic Item Use, activating Spirit Warding II (spell 107) from an imbeddable item would give your character: 1200 sec (Base duration) + (60 sec x (40/2)) = 2400 seconds duration, or 40 minutes worth.

Drinkable and edible magical items are the only exceptions to this duration. Drinkable and edible magical items will provide only the base duration with no additional bonus for Magic Item Use.

Again, I apologize for the inability to format columns well on these boards.

Warden

GP3: Weapon Changes · on 12/9/2002 9:30:21 PM

The following weapons will be modified within the coming week:

Speeds will go down on the Katar, Troll-Claw, Cudgel, Javelin, Main Gauche, Pilum, Bastard Sword (One-handed), and Military Pick. Speed will increase on the Halberd.

Damage for the following attacks have been adjusted (some up, some down, some mixed): Battle Axe, Bastard Sword (2H), War Mattock, Flail, Military Pick, Scimitar, Minor Cold (slender blue wand spell), Major Cold (907), Major Shock (910)

Warden

GP3: MSTRIKE Changes · on 12/9/2002 9:58:18 PM

Several changes to MSTRIKE will be released in the coming week:

Rather than gaining an extra mass swing every 5 ranks, the extra swings will come at 5, 15, 35, and every 40 ranks thereafter. For focused swings, rather than gaining an extra swing for every 20 ranks beyond 20, the extra swings will come at 40, 70, and every 40 ranks thereafter.

Players will be able to specify a maximum number of swings that they wish to take for both the mass attack and focused attack versions.

MSTRIKE roundtime has been significantly revised. For medium-sized and larger weapons, it will not be likely that characters can swing twice in the same roundtime as one swing. Similarly, it will not be likely that even extremely fast characters with light weapons can swing four or more times in the same roundtime as one swing.

MSTRIKE will now fatigue the character for a short duration, during which the character cannot use MSTRIKE again. Typical durations are in the 30 to 45 second range, and are based on number of swings taken, weapon weight vs attacker Strength, Constitution bonus, and Physical Fitness training.

Haste spells will now aid with MSTRIKE roundtime, but they will expire immediately after the attack.

Warden

Fame Update · on 12/10/2002 11:22:58 AM

As family fame is currently associated with the second "family" name, and as the second "family" name is currently undergoing modifications, it became clear we would need to do some adjustment to fame.

After some re-evaluation of the situation, and some considerations about the existing concerns reguarding our fame list, we decided to take a different tack than the one previously stated.

Rather than using whichever value is higher, family fame or personal fame, we decided instead to remove the family fame field all-together, and only use a character's existing personal fame when deciding placement on the fame lists.

We feel that this will resolve a lot of concerns a number of players have been having related to low level characters of alternate professions rising high on a specific profession's fame list.

All of these changes are going to require us to clean the fame list and start fresh. What this means is that the list will be cleaned out. In order to get back on the list, users will first need to check into the Inn to record their fame values on the fame list.

From the point the new system is rolled in, the fame list will use personal fame only, and family fame will be entirely removed.

Just to clarify, your character's personal fame will *NOT* be cleared as a result of clearing the fame lists.

Treasure Changes · on 12/10/2002 10:52:53 PM

As of tonight, the treasure system has been revised to substantially increase the number of imbeddables that are released. Players will find that many trinkets are found already imbedded with spells, and some will even be Wizard rechargeable (at least one has already gone out to a lucky hunter!). The spells available on scrolls have been revised significantly, as well, and there is a bit more variation in scroll appearance.

Warden

GP: Revised Armor Hindrances · on 12/13/2002 9:57:06 PM

Based on player feedback and some Dev design discussions, I have made some changes to the armor hindrances that I posted the other day.

The following table shows the base hindrances for each armor type. In no case will the hindrance ever be less than the value shown. If a player is undertrained for their armor type, the penalty will increase, but it will never exceed the Max hindrance shown in the rightmost column. The amount of skill required to train off the excess armor hindrance is ((20 * Hindrance) - 10).

Example: For a Ranger to train off the excess armor hindrance for Chainmail (AsG 13), the required skill is ((20 * 9) - 10) = 170 skill.

Warden

NOTE: Changes have been highlighted.

Reallocation Mechanics · on 12/15/2002 2:39:07 AM

The time has come (or will come shortly) to release reallocation. Players will have _exactly_ 28 days to complete three full skill and stat reallocations, from the time that you begin the first reallocation. This reallocation is not mandatory, it is optional. You can choose to reallocate once, twice, three times or not at all. You must complete the reallocation process before being able to log out of the character manager. If you're past the soft level cap, you can reallocate back to your existing level.

When you first enter the CMGR after the changes are rolled in you'll see this menu:

......GEMSTONE III CHARACTER MANAGER SYSTEM

......Character: Newly Corrupt

......1. View your character's attributes and stats.
......2. View your character's skills and spells.
......3. Start again! (recreate your character or family)
......4. Done!
......5. Reallocate all Stats and Skills (you have 3 reallocation options left)

......Enter 1 - 5:
......I>

If you have already acquired enough experience to train to the next level, you'll see this menu:

......GEMSTONE III CHARACTER MANAGER SYSTEM

......Character: Newly Corrupt

......1. View your character's attributes and stats.
......2. View your character's skills and spells.
......3. Start again! (recreate your character or family)
......4. Done!
......5. Train Character
......6. Reallocate all Stats and Skills (you have 3 reallocation options left)

......Enter 1 - 6:
......I>

To begin your first reallocation session select either 5 or 6. You'll be prompted to confirm your choice.

......I>6

......You must confirm this selection by entering YES.

......I>

If you enter YES there is no turning back. After confirming your choice to begin reallocation you'll see the following menu:

......I>yes

......CHOOSE YOUR CHARACTER CREATION METHOD:

......1. Let us generate stats and skills for you. (For New Users)
......2. Customize your stats and skills. (For Advanced Users)

......Enter 1 or 2 to choose your method, or H for help:
......I>

If you choose menu item #1 your stats will be automatically created for you. If you choose menu item #2, "Customize your stats and skills. (For Advanced Users)" you'll be able to place your stats as you see fit. Keep in mind that the two prime stats for your chosen profession require a minimum stat of 50 before professional bonuses.

After you've completed that stat portion of reallocation you'll be asked to choose your skill training. You'll be shown the familiar skill selection menu:

......SKILL TRAINING MENU FOR Warrior PROFESSION

.........Bonus...P/M.(T).Skill Name.................Bonus...P/M.(T).Skill Name
.......1)..0.....5/1.(2).Two Weapon Combat ......15)..0.....2/4.(2).Picking Locks
.......2)..0.....2/0.(3).Armor Use...............16)..0.....3/2.(2).Stalking & Hiding
.......3)..0.....2/0.(3).Shield Use..............17)..0.....0/3.(2).Perception
.......4)..0.....4/3.(2).Combat Maneuvers........18).--...0/160.(1).Spell Research
.......5)..0.....2/1.(2).Edged Weapons...........19)..0.....0/7.(1).Scroll Reading
.......6)..0.....2/1.(2).Blunt Weapons...........20)..0....0/10.(1).Magic Item Use
.......7)..0.....4/1.(2).Two-Handed Weapons......21)..0....0/25.(1).Mana Sharing
.......8)..0.....3/2.(2).Ranged Weapons..........22)..0....5/25.(1).Spell Aiming
.......9)..0.....4/1.(2).Thrown Weapons..........23)..0.....4/4.(2).Ambush
......10)..0.....4/1.(2).Pole Arm Weapons........24)..0.....2/0.(3).Physical Training
......11)..0.....4/1.(2).Climbing................25)..0.....1/3.(2).First Aid
......12)..0.....3/0.(2).Swimming................26)..0.....0/4.(2).Trading
......13)..0.....5/2.(2).Multi-Opponent Combat...27)..0.....3/3.(2).Picking Pockets
......14)..0.....2/4.(2).Disarming Traps.........28)..0.....2/1.(2).Brawling

......Remaining Training Points:..47 Phy....34 Mnt

......Menu Commands:
......Enter H for help.
......Enter A to abandon this training session and start over.
......Enter R to redisplay the training screen.
......Enter D if you are done.

......Enter 1 - 28 to develop a skill, or a menu command:

After you've finished training for this level you'll select D for DONE. You'll be routed to the main CMGR menu:

......GEMSTONE III CHARACTER MANAGER SYSTEM

......Character: Newly Corrupt

......1. View your character's attributes and stats.
......2. View your character's skills and spells.
......3. Start again! (recreate your character or family)
......4. Done! (this selection is not available until you've fully completed the reallocation process)
......5. Train Character

......Enter 1 - 5:

......You are currently in the middle of your first reallocation process and trained to level 0.

......I>

Please note menu item #4, "Done! (this selection is not available until you've fully completed the reallocation process)". You can logout of the CMGR during the reallocation process and continue where you left off when you log back in. The message in parenthesis will disappear when you've finished the reallocaiton process, and you'll be able to exit the character manager.

Also note the last bold statement, which will inform you of what level you've trained too, "You are currently in the middle of your first reallocation process and trained to level 0." This will only show when you haven't completed the reallocation process.

To begin skill training for the next level, select #5 and repeat the process until you've completed the full reallocation process.

Please use BUG in game for any questionable CMGR behavior. Discussions about the system will take place in the character manager topic. Discussions about the concept of reallocation will take place in the Game Balance topic.

Brauden

GP: Various Comments/Responses · on 12/15/2002 9:30:12 AM

Magic Item Activation - There is a modifier for encumbrance and being undertrained for armor, and most of the extreme failures that I have seen can be attributed to this. We're planning to remove these factors from RUB and TAP activated items, and WAVE will have a different method for handling these factors. INVOKE and RAISE activated items will still have these as factors, but we're considering adjusting the magnitude of their influence. TAP activated items are more easily activated but have reduced durations (never below the base duration, however). RAISE activated items are more difficult to activate but have increased durations.

Racial TD modifiers for Dwarves and Halflings were reduced by 10 vs Elemental and 5 vs Sorcerer spells.

Archery - AS bonuses increase with Perception and Ambush training beyond the first 40 ranks of each. DS bonuses are based on the archer's skill in Ranged.

Thrown - AS bonuses increase with Combat Maneuvers and Perception training. Weapons that are not appropriate for hurling now have significant penalties. War hammers have joined hand axes and daggers as OHB/OHE weapons that receive hurling bonuses.

Prayer (313) - This spell does increase the caster's Spirit TD by 10, and has remained self-cast only (same as before, in this regard).

Song of Mirrors (1035) - The maximum bonus for this spell is now 60 DS.

Haste/Slow (504/506/512/514) - We're working to resolve the AS/DS/etc. oddness with these spells. The current versions of Haste/Slow are short-lived. GM Altiron will be releasing the new versions sometime in the coming week.

Self Control (613) - The increased TD bonus from this spell has been shifted to Nature's Touch (625), where it increases by 1 Spirit TD per Ranger spell known beyond 25, to a maximum of 12 bonus at 49 ranks. GMs Dimigor and Uska will have more to announce on Ranger changes within the next day or two.

Cloak of Shadows (712) - This spell provides 15 Generic DS and 20 Sorcerer TD, plus a small increase as the caster learns more Sorcerer spells.

Elemental Focus (513) and Melgorehn's Aura (913) - One of the problems that arose last evening was the inadvertent release of some wizardry test code. The test spells have been removed. For 513 and 913, these two spells are currently providing a more benefit than intended and will be adjusted within the next few days. The bonus for Elemental Focus will increase by 1 AS per 2 Major Elemental ranks beyond 30, and the bonus for Melgorehn's Aura will increase by 1 per 3 Wizard ranks beyond 13 rather than 1 per 2.

Armor hindrances are indeed scaled between the major training steps. Thanks for reminding me, Gullman.

Characters must check in to an inn before their damage reduction is activated.

Bard Song 1006 is Lucksong, a group song that aids in many maneuvers and in a couple of other areas. Lady Luck is fickle, though, and may not always come to the bard's aid. Increased song knowledge increases the likelihood that she will aid the bard.

Finally, many of the Dev team have been up through the night responding to emergent issues and making adjustments. If you were experiencing a bug last night, it may well be fixed already. If you're quite certain something is a bug, and it's still not resolved, post a notice here and we'll look into it as soon as we can.

Warden

Culture Reset · on 12/17/2002 3:28:13 PM

A one-time option to reset cultural selection is now available to those who have already chosen a culture. The verb TITLE will instruct you on how to make your selection. Clan names for giants and dwarves have been updated, and Tehir is now available as a choice for half elves.

Discussion of these changes will take place in the individual race topics in the Roleplaying category on the message boards.

Mitra

GP: MSTRIKE Fatigue Changes · on 12/17/2002 7:50:52 PM

The fatigue durations for MSTRIKE have been reduced somewhat, and a message has been added to let the player know when the fatigue has ended.

Fatigue duration is based on the number of swings taken, weapon weight vs Strength bonus, Constitution bonus, Physical Fitness training, with a small bonus for characters highly trained in Multi-Opponent Combat. There is a minimum fatigue limit based on the speed of the weapon(s) used.

MSTRIKE HELP for usage information.

Warden

Creature Adjustments · on 12/17/2002 8:03:38 PM

We are still in the process of making adjustments to creatures after doing all the changes this weekend. So if things seem to be a little overpowered we should be getting all the changes done soon. If you have specific areas you are concerned about please feel free to post them in their specific board sections. I would ask you to give us some time to finish making the changes before you begin posting about them though. I do not have an exact time frame for the changes but we will get it done as quick as we can get to it.

Stealth

GP: Damage Reduction Modification · on 12/18/2002 10:55:35 PM

The spells known modifier for damage reduction has been adjusted to increase the penalty somewhat. Most characters with spells and damage reduction benefits will experience an increase of 2 to 6% in their damage multiplier. Example: if your character was previously reducing damage by 50%, after the change the character's damage reduction is in the neighborhood of 46%.

As a side benefit of this change, characters with less than 1 spell per 20 trainings will have no penalty to their damage reduction benefits.

As with before, this change will not be in effect on a character until the character has checked in to an inn.

Warden

GP: MSTRIKE Fumble Removed · on 12/18/2002 11:00:24 PM

The failure to find an opening fumble has been removed from MSTRIKE.

Warden

GP: HURL Changes (Thrown Weapons) · on 12/18/2002 11:37:42 PM

The HURL verb (used for Thrown Weapons) has been revised as follows:

The minimum roundtime for throwing weapons has been reduced to 3 seconds. Only weapons that are designed for throwing are eligible for this reduced roundtime. (Examples: quoits, darts, hammers, handaxes, spears, javelins, etc.)

Aimed hurl attempts may now fail to find a throwing opening rather than just choosing a random location and proceeding with the attack.

Aimed hurl attempts increase roundtime by 1 second. (Minimum of 4 seconds for aimed attempts with weapons designed for hurling.)

Spears and javelins have been added as weapons designed for hurling.

The time lapse before a hurler can retrieve a thrown weapon has been reduced by approximately 35%.

HELP HURL provides information on the use of this attack form.

Warden

GP3: CONVERT UPDATE · on 12/19/2002 8:29:10 PM

CONVERT has been modified to allow switching to another deity. If you are satisfied with your deity selection, reconfirm this choice by selecting that deity again. It is in your best interest to confirm your choice again even if you have already selected a deity. For any questions about this, please direct your inquiries to the Keepers of the Faith topic inside the Cleric category on the forums.

-uliq

Ambush With Two Weapons · on 12/19/2002 8:38:19 PM

The revised 2-Weapon roundtime calculation has been added to the AMBUSH verb. Ambushing with two weapons will result in a three second increase in roundtime over a standard 2-weapon attack.

Weapons in the left hand will increase roundtime by their base speed - 2 seconds. There is no increase in roundtime for swinging the second weapon if its base speed is 2 seconds or less.

I also adjusted the weight vs strength modifier for the off-hand weapon. If the weapon is considered heavy for the character's strength then roundtime will increase by 1 second. The strongest halflings can wield up to 3 lb weapons with no weight penalty, and strong giantmen and dwarves can wield up to 5 lb weapons. Strong members of all other races can wield up to 4 lb weapons and still avoid the weight penalty. Imflass is your friend.

Warden