Item Upgrade possibilities

[creatureofthering]

Are we like to see new upgrade items in the not too distant future and if so what ones or could I suggest a couple ?

item 1  'Boots of the assasin'

 combining the power of Boots of Stealth, Boots of Avoidance, Boots of Speed, 5 Mastery of Thieving Potions, two diamonds and 20,000 gp

 giving the benefits of all three boots plus +1 to the backstab multiplier

item 2  'Ring of Kahzan'

   requiring Ring of Protection +2 Ring of Regeneration, Ring of Invisibilty Three scrolls scrolls of true seeing, 1 of Farsight and 1 of clairvoyance, five Moonbar Gems, 1 Rogue stone and 15,000.

 This would offer the same powers as the ring of preservation +2 plus the ability three times per day of true seeing and once per day of both farsight and clairvoyance.  As a restriction it would that the user has an intelligence and Wisdom of 15 or higher due to the mental agility it would require.

smeagul                      

[Loké]

I assume you saw my idea for upgrading the spider figurine.

If you deceide to make kithix upgraded, don't make it need the handmaiden's mace. Not everyone wants to romance the whore-i mean viccy.                    

[Greater Ghoul]

Like both of them. Wouldn't mind seeing either of these.                      

[FlatulentOne]

Hmm, also thinking perhaps a few more katana's? The options are quite limited, and my fighter/mages feel rather slighted only having a few options with which to unleash righteous fury upon those who perpetrate evil! Currently, it only makes sense to wield CF+5 or Sanchudokku with Dak'kon's. Yes, I know, katana's are rather powerful for one-handed weapons, but...they are so perfect for righteous butt-kicking! Or just create a utility that is easy for computer dummies to make their own. I must destroy villainy! For Goodness!                    

[jcompton]

Bioware DOES give the Asian Fanboy contingent fair warning not to give their whole party grand mastery in katana...                    

[Piker]

On a side note, I have no idea why they decided katanas are one-handed.  Doesn't make any sense at all if you have ever seen or held one, unless your wrists are as thick as your thighs or something.                    

[weimer]

Without going into too much detail:

(1) 3E does this much better (Katanas as like bastard swords: most people will use them two-handed)
(2) Everyone's favorite example: Musashi Miyamoto did in fact famously dual-wield katanas to good effect.

                   

[Demosthenes]

If I remember right he was well know for using his katana and wakizashi not two katanas. Keep in mind that even this was thought very odd and a very hard style to learn.                    

[weimer]

You are, of course, correct.

However, even Katana + Wakizashi still implies that the Katana can be used one-handed.                    

[Piker]

Sorry for sort of hijacking this thread.  But.  I am not trying to say using a katana one-handed can't be done;  I am trying to say that if it could be done, it would be a truly exceptional swordsperson who could do so, a person who had 1) *immense* arm and wrist strength and 2) undergone training far beyond the norm.  But saying its default use is one-handed as in this rule setup?  No way.  If I were Rulegiver, one-handed katana use would be only for those with both maximum proficiency and exceptional strength even among warriors.  I am done now.                    

[weimer]

Oh, I understand you now.

Yes, it seems silly to make katanas (or bastard swords) one-handed by default. You should need special training (I'm not sure I would make it that restrictive, but I would make it more than nothing) to use them one-handed.                    

[Demosthenes]

Your strength wouldn’t need to be all that high. By d&d stats I’m thinking you’d need about a 11 – 13 strength to pull off the two katana wielding. However you would need training (two weapon fighting style)  so you would know when to put muscle power behind a blow and when to use momentum instead, katanas don’t do all that much damage on their own as they don’t have much in the way of weight or mass. Personally I’ve seen two katana fighting demonstrated, but I wouldn’t want to try it with someone trying to stab me. Also I’m not sure what kind of crack 3rd ed was smoking when they likened a katana to a bastard sword.. but that’s neither here nor there.                    

[Piker]

Without, hopefully, being too gross, or making myself seem like an authority (which I am not), its my understanding that there is a particular type of strike that a katana-user would need to use in combat to be most effective.  

This strike requires that the user completely stop, and in fact, reverse, the motion of the sword while the sword is held pretty much straight out from the body at a little more than shoulder height.

Failing to completely stop the sword could necessitate drawing another sword in order to keep fighting, since the sword that didn't stop is now stuck.  

I know katanas are light - my grampa had one in a collection of other swords, and for its size it was incredibly light.

Even so, I don't see how anyone of less than nearly inhuman strength of grip and wrist could possibly stop such a strike with only one hand.  I am thinking pretty much of Minsc and Sarevok in terms of this game.  Anyway, its a minor gripe I have had, and I am really really done now :-)                    

[Demosthenes]

There are countless different styles of katana fighting. If the character had the proper skills (two weapon fighting) then they would be able to come up with maneuvers and movements to work around any flaws that lack of great strength might impart.                    

[Guest]

I don't really have anything to say about katanas, so I apologise if anyone feels I should have posted this somewhere else.

I do, however, want to voice an item upgrade possibility.

If anyone here has the Valen Mod, and installed the Anti-Paladin portion, you know you can get the Unholy Reaver from the Gith Anti-Paladin. I believe you can encounter one if you carry around  the silver blade and refuse to give it up, and I am fairly sure you can find one in Watcher's Keep on Carston's level.

Anyway, my suggestion would be to have Cespenar be able to merge the Silver Sword and the Unholy Reaver, with some kind of appropriately evil component and an appropriate sum of money. As the Unholy Reaver is approximately on the same level as the Lilacor +5 (both 1d12+5, Lilacor grants immunity to charm, confusion, and intelligence drain; Unholy Reaver grants protection charm and psionics), perhaps the percentage chance of a vorpal hit could be scaled down and the penalty versus death be removed, leaving it something like this: 10% chance each hit target must make a save versus death or die. I had originally thought the ability of the Axe of the Unyielding might help, but the axe of the unyielding doesn't require a save versus death.

I don't know how much coding or anything would be involved, or if it's possible. It doesn't seem too unbalancing to me, because the higher end creatures have excellent saving throw values against death.

Maybe someone could offer their thoughts? If there is any merit or inherent flaws in my suggestion? If it's even worth talking about?                    

[Littiz]

Just reading the items description I know enough..
Katanas are extremely fast and light.
Strenght can't be the problem with them.
The opposite is true, they're the blades with the lowest required strenght.
To dual wield them though, I can accept that particular skills are needed.

Anyway, they're fast, light, highly damaging... this is only balanced
by their rarity, I wouldn't change this (just my opinion)
The new katana from Kuroisan is already MORE than enough

Yet, I'd really like to see the Improved D'akkon Blade from the TODO list...
Any chances, Wes?                    

[FlatulentOne]

THAT is what I'd like, not so much more of them, just better choices for one character to use! By the SoA endgame, Dak'kon's gets relegated to useless offhand weapon status, many monsters are immune to it's damage. And considering it's lofty beginnings as a blade that improved along with it's wielder, the BG Dak'kons got the short end. As I said, it is the only sensible choice for a fighter mage, and it's near useless by chapter 6. Now if there were a handful of decent wakizashis, or something similar, I may be compelled to be more "accurate" in weapon usage.
                   

[pork rind]

Are we like to see new upgrade items in the not too distant future and if so what ones or could I suggest a couple ?

item 1  'Boots of the assasin'

 combining the power of Boots of Stealth, Boots of Avoidance, Boots of Speed, 5 Mastery of Thieving Potions, two diamonds and 20,000 gp

 giving the benefits of all three boots plus +1 to the backstab multiplier

item 2  'Ring of Kahzan'

   requiring Ring of Protection +2 Ring of Regeneration, Ring of Invisibilty Three scrolls scrolls of true seeing, 1 of Farsight and 1 of clairvoyance, five Moonbar Gems, 1 Rogue stone and 15,000.

 This would offer the same powers as the ring of preservation +2 plus the ability three times per day of true seeing and once per day of both farsight and clairvoyance.  As a restriction it would that the user has an intelligence and Wisdom of 15 or higher due to the mental agility it would require.

smeagul

                   Don't think that much of the second but my thief wouldn't mind the first one. Wes is this a possibility?

 PR