Author Topic: Restored Drow Innate Abilities  (Read 10700 times)

Offline SimDing0™

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Restored Drow Innate Abilities
« on: April 01, 2004, 10:26:53 AM »
This modification restores the Drow (dark elves) innate AD&D abilities to them, but only in the underdark, as drow lose those abilities when going to the surface.

Abilities:
       Globe of Darkness
       Dancing Lights
       Faerie Fire

Globe of Darkness:
Target creature must save vs spells or be under the influence of a globe of darkness and suffer from blindness until the globe is dispelled or it disapates naturally. Globes last 1 round for every two levels of the drow to a max of 6 rounds at level 10.

Improved Globe of Darkness:
Target creature must save vs spells or be under the influence of a globe of darkness and suffer from blindness until the globe is dispelled or it disapates naturally. Globes last 1 round for every two levels of the drow to a max of 6 rounds at level 10. This version has a more powerful save vs spell bonus, and is only used by higher level drow.

Dancing Lights:
This spell distracts the target creature if they fail a save vs spell. The distraction costs the creature a +2 penalty to thaco for 3 rounds, or until dispelled.

Faerie Fire:
This spell outlines the target creature in a white fire, if they fail a save vs spell costing the target creature a +2 penalty to ac for 6 rounds, or until dispelled.

The latest version is v1 (bah!). Head to http://www.pocketplane.net.

Offline Zaephir-Moth

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Re: Restored Drow Innate Abilities
« Reply #1 on: April 06, 2004, 11:35:06 AM »
  Excellent tweak... I always install it and never had even the slightest problem with it !
Now, just a question, why didn't you add this component to the "Oversight" pack ? It seems to be in the same spirit of restoring /fixing things that SHOULD have been there in the original "BG 2" game...
Nevertheless, thanks for your work Sim !! ;)


Aïe !! I realized to late that a particular topic had been designed for such comments... Sorry !!!

Cheers
« Last Edit: April 06, 2004, 11:38:48 AM by Zaephir-Moth »
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Offline SimDing0™

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Re: Restored Drow Innate Abilities
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2004, 11:45:31 AM »
Thanks. At least I know it works for other people now. :)

As for Oversight, I think you might be confusing me with Kish, since he is the author of Oversight. And fixing things that should have been in original BG2 is no longer Oversight's primary objective; it's just a name.

Offline Zaephir-Moth

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Re: Restored Drow Innate Abilities
« Reply #3 on: April 06, 2004, 12:18:58 PM »
Quote
I think you might be confusing me with Kish, since he is the author of Oversight

AAïe ! Ladies and gentlemen, the king of the silly things proudly stands before you !! ;)
Now seriously, I was thinking of your "Miscellaneous Tweak Pack"... Why not including "Restored Drow Innate Abilities" to it ?


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Offline SimDing0™

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Re: Restored Drow Innate Abilities
« Reply #4 on: April 06, 2004, 12:20:54 PM »
Yeh, it'll be in the next release.

Offline Mystras Chosen

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Re: Restored Drow Innate Abilities
« Reply #5 on: April 27, 2004, 09:51:22 PM »
Excuse my ignorance, but what is the point of this tweak. I mean to say, what does it actually do to change the gameplay? Does the party get these abilities when they're disguised as Drow? You wouldn't think so, but...

Offline Kish

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Re: Restored Drow Innate Abilities
« Reply #6 on: April 27, 2004, 10:09:52 PM »
No.  The drow you fight use them on you.
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Offline rreinier

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Re: Restored Drow Innate Abilities
« Reply #7 on: April 28, 2004, 12:00:57 PM »
And I imagine Viccy gets them while in the Underdark...

Offline SimDing0™

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Re: Restored Drow Innate Abilities
« Reply #8 on: April 28, 2004, 12:14:16 PM »
Actually, no she won't. Interesting point though... should she get them? Are there any rules governing the subject?

Offline Grim Squeaker

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Re: Restored Drow Innate Abilities
« Reply #9 on: April 28, 2004, 12:40:09 PM »
Actually, no she won't. Interesting point though... should she get them? Are there any rules governing the subject?

No idea.  However I think Solaufein should get the abilitiies and lose them after a certain amount of time.  I believe a particular soundset in IWDII mentions how long it takes for it to happen... 

Hmmm...*Considers using that soundset for Solaufein*
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Offline NiGHTMARE

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Re: Restored Drow Innate Abilities
« Reply #10 on: April 28, 2004, 02:46:37 PM »
Actually, no she won't. Interesting point though... should she get them? Are there any rules governing the subject?

From the Complete Book of Elves:

If the drow spends more than two weeks away from the subterranean caverns of the Underdark, the special advantages fade at the rate of one power a day. This starts from the most innate spellcasting and works down to the least powerful. Thus, a drow priest would first lose dispel magic, followed by suggestion, clairvoyance, and detect lie. Drow magic resistance is lost at a rate of 10% per day. This process can be halted and the powers regained if the drow returns to the Underdark and spends one day there for each week spent aboveground.

So Viconia would have to stay there quite some time before she got her abilities back.  BTW, I've seen several sources that suggest Drow should always retain one use each of Faerie Fire, Dancing Lights and Darkness no matter how much time they spend on the surface.  Drizzt can certainly do so, and no matter how much certain people might hate that character, they have to admit that Salvatore has been one of the biggest influences in fleshing out the Drow race.
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Offline Echon

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Re: Restored Drow Innate Abilities
« Reply #11 on: April 28, 2004, 03:42:15 PM »
Seeing as Viconia keeps her magic resistance outside of the Underdark, I think there is no reason to give her the innate drow abilities (I went through this with my own mod).

Drizzt is the only exception to the rule I have seen. I have attempted to find out whether Salvatore decided to alter the rules or if Drizzt is somehow special and thus an exception to the standard rules but I have found no answer.

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Offline SimDing0™

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Re: Restored Drow Innate Abilities
« Reply #12 on: May 07, 2004, 06:38:08 PM »
If anything, keeping her magic resistance should be an argument for her also retaining her other abilities, surely?

But personally, I'd be inclined to suggest that the time you spend in the Underdark isn't likely to be enough to counteract the time Viconia's spent on the surface.

Offline Echon

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Re: Restored Drow Innate Abilities
« Reply #13 on: May 08, 2004, 02:46:47 AM »
If anything, keeping her magic resistance should be an argument for her also retaining her other abilities, surely?

My reasoning behind the decision was that even though they should lose both magic resistane and innate abilities, I was sort of forced to keep magic resistance (due to stuff with Drizzt) and then I decided to compensate for it by not giving them the innates.

Quote
But personally, I'd be inclined to suggest that the time you spend in the Underdark isn't likely to be enough to counteract the time Viconia's spent on the surface.

Agreed.

-Echon

Offline Lord Kain

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Re: Restored Drow Innate Abilities
« Reply #14 on: May 19, 2004, 02:00:27 AM »
Not only does Drizzt retain his spell powers, all drow do. The underdark does not grant them the spell powers or the magic resistance. They evolved that way by spending generations in the underdark.
Other underdark natives keep there powers then they leave.

The compete book of elves was approved but is not an actually offical book. It conflicts with any campaign seting other then greyhawk.

For Drow info in the Forgottenrealms the only good source would be a forgottenrealms book. For the races in all settings are not the same.

In dragonlance they have 0 Drow, a dark elf is any elf who is evil. If your an evil elf in dragonlance you are labeled a dark elf.
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Offline Caedwyr

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Re: Restored Drow Innate Abilities
« Reply #15 on: May 19, 2004, 07:44:46 PM »
Close, but not completely accurate.  The Daughter of Drow series of novels (which take place in the Forgotten Realms) focus heavily on a drow going to great lengths to retain her 'place magic' abilities, which are the basic drow innates, when living on the surface.
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Offline darkhellion21

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Re: Restored Drow Innate Abilities
« Reply #16 on: August 21, 2005, 04:38:57 PM »
I had asked that question myself once at a session with some of my D&D buddies.  I don't remember where but something that I read once was that a) the reason the Drow had certain traits because their race is descended from the union of Lolth and an elven mage prior to their being cast into the Underdark by the Corellon Larethian and the other elven gods and b) the reason they developed their innate spell-casting and darkvision (not simply low-light vision) was due to their exposure to certain elements within the underdark.  I believe (regarding Drizzt) that the drow do regain their innate abilities after a period of time spent on the surface, but I think it was at least a period of 20 to 25 years or more.  The Drow tend to strike the surface at night, which allows them to retain their powers more effectively than during the day.

 

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