Posted by: rreinier
« on: October 29, 2005, 02:19:22 PM »I like both these ideas very, very much. I wonder if the party should not also receive a minor hit (-1) to reputation even if the Enforcers are not needed.
And, uh, it's desirable to simulate a Marilith with various undroppable unique weapons?Sorry, forgot to clarify that my weapon design was merely an example of how 6 weapons could be easily rendered into 2. That's why I said that the exact enchantments on the weapons should be left up in the air for now.
I can easily code it so every Marilith drops six scimitars +1 or whatever (which is utterly insignificant to balance in ToB), but having just one in the game who drops her weapons is somewhat inconsistent.I agree. As far as creatures with unique animations dropping their weapons go, I think Mariliths' weapons should be #1 as far as looting goes, because we can see that they're carrying what are obviously standard, normal-sized weapons that can be used by anyone with a humanoid hand. This isn't like cutting off some Dragon's claws and trying to stab people with them, or trying to swing a Fire Giant's Axe. (Don't get me started on how Frostreaver and the Runehammer are 1-handed weapons, and how Mazzy can wear a Fire Giant's armor.)
Should some of this be split as it's two different conversations: WHQ encounters and SixOfSpades' ideas.Well, if the two sources run into the same end result, I don't see a conflict. I'm not trying to discourage WHQ discussion by any means.
That way, the whole encounter has a lot less of the "look at the DM whipping his penis around" feelGiven that you can easily encounter enemies at this stage of the game who gate in Pit Fiends and Balors, both of which are canonically far more powerful than Mariliths, I'm not feeling the penis-whipping element here.
This will simulate a 6-armed Marilith wielding Adjatha the Drinker, Sword of Balduran, Varscona, Dragonslayer, a typical Torch, and an empty fist. None of these weapons will actually be dropped, of course, but other weapons might: The quality of the dropped weapons, if indeed any are dropped at all, should be left to the betatesters.And, uh, it's desirable to simulate a Marilith with various undroppable unique weapons? That feels moderately Weimer-esque to me. I think it'd work better to model her on one of those enocuntered in ToB (penultimate level of WK, perhaps).
What if the bow is being carried by a non-human party member?Even if the entire party is full-blooded Elves, that doesn't mean they have a right to carry the Bow. That could come only after some exceptionally noteworthy service, most likely to the Elven community especially. Saving the Tree of Life would be an obvious contender here, so perhaps the Bow could be awarded to you along with the Amulet of the Seldarine, although the Bow would need some significant additional enchantments if anyone's even going to notice it in ToB.
On Ormand: I like it.Thanks.
A Marilith is EVIL. She probably wouldn't hesitate to kill you for just looking at her sword.That's why I wanted to include her distaste for the Prime Material, unwilling to stay for a second longer than she needed to. I also wanted to see a Demonic creature with a personality a little bit more complex than "I am an Evil Demon, I will eat you now."
Why not replace the Marilith with somehting else? That way, the whole encounter has a lot less of the "look at the DM whipping his penis around" feelWell, I read something about Mariliths being very attached to their weapons in this fashion, so it fits the canon--which of course is a nice way of saying it's not very original. Re: penis, do you mean that the Marilith makes it seem overpowered?
Ormand: While traveling in the country roughly a week after clearing the de'Arnisse Keep, you are waylaid by a Ranger named Ormand Fevian. He says he represents the Elven community of Suldenessellar, and he has been assigned to track down an important ceremonial heirloom, the Elven Court Bow (which the party must be carrying). It was all right that the Bow should remain in Human hands for fifty years or so--that would only be just--but it has been over 200 years now and still the Bow has not been returned, and the Elves' patience is wearing thin.
Pet Dog: Less serious, but a dog could follow you about the docks or somewhereI had a similar idea: Commoners (especially kids) running away from a Rabid Dog that's under Morale Failure: Berserk in a populated area. Reputation point if you Heal or Cure Disease the dog instead of killing it.
Prisoner: Encounter mercenaries dragged a man behind them. You can fight them or let them go. Reward if you save him.Shouldn't there be a 50/50 chance (or something) that the man is actually guilty? There's already too many corrupt officials in this game.
Lightning: One of the party is struck by lightning, breaking unenchanted weapons and armour (s)he is carryingRandom lightning strikes are already included in the game, but if you ask me, since they don't pack enough of a punch to kill the average (non-Electric-resistant) adventurer outright, there's really no point in having them destroy items--and the items they'd destroy wouldn't be determined by their enchantment, but whether or not they're made of wood. If there's going to be any tweaks to the lightning (Call Lightning as well), it should be to make it more likely to strike those with metal armor and weapons. [Keldorn, holding Lilarcor over his head, would make one heck of a lot better lightning rod than, say, Jan with a Crossbow.]
WHQ? Just to be on the safe side!