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Topic Summary

Posted by: Mollay
« on: May 09, 2005, 07:59:56 AM »

Yay! We have 50 replies and 1000 views now! I hope WEIMER and others would finally recognize this - and maybe reconsider some changes?
Posted by: Ivy2005
« on: April 26, 2005, 07:36:08 AM »

To keep it balanced.  If she was going to be scripted to cast something, why would it matter whether or not she had it memorized?  It'll be cast.  Period. 
Well, this is the way to keep it unbalanced. When nobody cares, how many spells can be memorized by a creature, we have an enemy with dozens of scripts attached - who cares about the level, intelligence or wisdom of the creature? Well, the PC has to care about his/hers. Isn't it unfair? Isn't it leading stright to absurd - for example, a flea lvl. 1, str. 1, con. 1, int. 2 with 200HP and "Power Word: Kill".
PC: Ouch, a flea bit me! I'll kill it!
Sorry, it counterattacked and killed you...
That's why I consider that a cheap strategy. What for we need all the statistics? >:( I thought it SHOULD matter.

Second off, her knowing druidic spells could be pretty cool.  If she knows them than that gives her an edge on the whole "Not just another cleric" thing.  She *is* a bhaalspawn, she should get some nifty powers too!
Alright, why not. When you pick and elf, you can't make him/her a cleric/mage, which Sendai and Aerie are. A customized creature is nothing bad. But still, I would be more satisfied, if all the spells are used according to rules (for example, no more times that the creature has slots for it). I just hoped the enemies would be made precisely and wisely (and not only NPC's).

I think it's a great idea.  I never really understood why she didn't plead for mercy or some such the first time I got to her.  Drow will do anything to win, I chalked it up to her expecting none.  But a drow would still try...
Agreed. I think it's just the matter of lack of time/effort - nobody worked on creature & its equipment, nor cared about it's character/story.  :'(

About the fancy flail and stuff, just edit the .itm file a little. Make it her own unique starting equipment. 
Well, it would be a nice piece of work, if an enemy had such a weapon as "Yoshimo's Katana". You can steal it, you can loot it, but probably after Yoshimo's death you'll never use it. But probably creators of the game thought: "Who cares?" and tried to made it easier to write/code for them.
Or, there can be such pre-requisites as with "mace of the handmaiden" (or sth - Viconia's Yochlol quest reward). There are so many, that no one except Viconia can use the mace (class, race & character pre-requisites).  8)
Posted by: Araushnee
« on: April 26, 2005, 07:09:05 AM »

everytime when an enemy is wanting to cast spells noober will ask why do you cast that?(spell interupted)
do you find me annoying(spell disrupted)
The answer is: Yup. **SMASH** (I find the hammer very useful.) /Noober, as every commoner is torn to pieces. Resurrection is impossible. Search a new party member./
Posted by: Da_venom
« on: April 23, 2005, 09:44:47 PM »

i want noober as part member :P

everytime when an enemy is wanting to cast spells noober will ask why do you cast that?(spell interupted)
do you find me annoying(spell disrupted)

so the creature would never attack nor cast spells :P
Posted by: ED
« on: April 23, 2005, 02:34:00 PM »

To keep it balanced.  If she was going to be scripted to cast something, why would it matter whether or not she had it memorized?  It'll be cast.  Period. 

Second off, her knowing druidic spells could be pretty cool.  If she knows them than that gives her an edge on the whole "Not just another cleric" thing.  She *is* a bhaalspawn, she should get some nifty powers too!

I think it's a great idea.  I never really understood why she didn't plead for mercy or some such the first time I got to her.  Drow will do anything to win, I chalked it up to her expecting none.  But a drow would still try...

About the fancy flail and stuff, just edit the .itm file a little. Make it her own unique starting equipment. 

Who I really wanted to join me, though, was Toop the Brave.   :P
Posted by: Mollay
« on: January 21, 2005, 05:48:53 AM »

Don't know about the spells, but many enemies in bgII cast spells via script that aren't in their spellbook.

Don't you think it's a piece of !@#$%^&* cheating?!

Of course it is, you say - some of those cheats were elliminated in Ascension and instead of it we have better AI, which is a great improvement, but still there's A LOT to be done in this subject...
Well, the game can be harder or easier, but it should be at least fair. When I checked that Sendai truly drops different armor and flail she used (obviously she keeps the better one...) I was  >:( !!! What on earth could make a dead corpse prevent me from looting it to the last panties? (Maybe becoming an un-dead  ;D but nothing like this happens  ;) ). Sometimes I wonder how cheap it can get...  :o
Posted by: fallen demon
« on: January 20, 2005, 06:31:28 PM »

Here's another curiosity I spotted: why Sendai uses in the battle "summon swarm" or "creeping doom"? These are druidic spells, and she's a priestess after all.  ??? The second thing is she uses at the beginning of the battle "shield of Archont" (or what it's called...), and she doesn't have this spell memorized  :o (can be checked by any editor).
Maybe some patches, like "tougher Sendai" remove these strange behavior, but I didn't check that out...

Anyone has any clues?  ::)
Don't know about the spells, but many enemies in bgII cast spells via script that aren't in their spellbook.
Posted by: Mollay
« on: January 20, 2005, 08:12:44 AM »

Ha, I finally found an intersting drow NPC! I mean Yasraena mod. ;D

However, I like Viconia's story more - if all drow joining you are good, there will be so many "exceptions" from a rule that you'll forget about drow traits... You'll only think "red circle = evil drow, any other = good drow". Viconia is intersting, because she's evil and it takes a loong time to change her and many efforts... It's interesting, because it's no easy.

And if you like, you may just have an evil party. Unfortunately, in basic BG2 there are so few evil NPC (they can't even fill all spaces in party). It was better in BG1 (where's Sharteel...  :'( )

But Yasraena mod showed me that drow as a members of party are not only my desire!  :D
Posted by: Isobel
« on: January 20, 2005, 07:41:13 AM »

Here's another curiosity I spotted: why Sendai uses in the battle "summon swarm" or "creeping doom"? These are druidic spells, and she's a priestess after all.  ??? The second thing is she uses at the beginning of the battle "shield of Archont" (or what it's called...), and she doesn't have this spell memorized  :o (can be checked by any editor).
Maybe some patches, like "tougher Sendai" remove these strange behavior, but I didn't check that out...

Anyone has any clues?  ::)
Posted by: Mollay
« on: January 06, 2005, 08:13:27 AM »

Oh well... It isn't anywhere stated Sendai's from here (i.e. Tethyr). The most powerful Bhaalspawns according to simple rules of probability wouldn't be all born in one place. See, your PC has made a long journey south from Candlekeep to Amkethran.

However, sorry for any false statements - I don't possess an Underdark manual (or how's it called), so I know a little about differences between drow in other regions. Surprisingly, when I searched the net, there are only few drow cities mentioned, all the time the same  :( (Menzoberranzan, Sshamath, Ched Nasad, etc.), I heve never come across the names you mention - if anybody knows a good resource, please contribute the info!

And what about Ust Natha? It's matriarchal in the game and it's near to Amn and Tethyr... Or is it undersea? Well, I heard the rumor Ust Natha was modified from what it's written about it in handbook/manual, however, as I said I can't check it...  :(

And besides, in Vhaeraun-clergy-ruled city Sendai would lead no easy life either.
Posted by: NiGHTMARE
« on: January 03, 2005, 08:14:32 AM »

Actually, the drow in the three cities in the Underdark below Tethyr don't worship Lloth.  75% of them worship Vhaerun, and 25% worship "darker gods still" (e.g. Ghaunadaur).

The Tethyrian drow cities aren't even matriarchal, unlike almost all others.  Holldaybim is egalatarian, while Dallnothax and Iskasshyoll are patriarchal.
Posted by: Mollay
« on: January 03, 2005, 07:18:51 AM »

If only you could meet Sendai earlier, for example in Ust Natha, know more about her than tiny dialogue and a battle...
Yeah, I know it's impossible, and you meet Sendai so late you'll never think about an expansion like Solaufein mode.
Oh, you'll say Sola's a do-gooder & worshipper of Eilistraee... So maybe it's soooo different....
But why the heck there have to be only a bunch of poor Drizzt carbon-copies around???  >:(
Drow, male, good, with scimitars... how cheap can it get?
Why there can't be around any true drow who isn't a Drizzt clone OR a brainless walking hit-me-to-gain-XP dummy???

I suppose Sendai had a hard life as a Bhaalspawn in a society where no deity besides Lolth is allowed to even be mentioned. However, this probably made her tough instead of making her cry over the unjustice in this world. Hey, did you ever think how it's possible that these disgusted-by-violence-good-Drizzt-alike drow survived? Not ending as a slave or a sacrifice on some altar?
It would be logical that if Sendai's still alive, she has to be extraordinary strong and smart.

Why in the end I have a feeling of a cheap "adventure" like "Go, kill, go, kill, kill, go further, kill da boss!"
It's all about dispatching by Sendai one and another horde, every a little bit stronger than the previous one.
Yeah, "nobody told her it's you who's coming"... Wait a sec, even getting rid of Yaga-Shura was more sophisticated. Did the programmers think only about nearing deadline? "People still had not to erase BG2 from their hard drives" it's written somewhere as the excuse. Look, how much time passed now... I know some players just storm through a game a throw it into a cupboard. But there are some games you want to return to.
I personally dislike the era of Neverwinter Nights... No big party, cheap 3D graphics (kids like that  8) ) - oh, well, Final Fantasy has multiple times better looks. And all cities looking the same... game divided into modules making it pretty linear... Items looking all the same (no artistic, beautiful elven/drow chainmails...) Boredom.  :-Zzz
Ah, BG2 is what makes me  :'( about the time passed...
Posted by: Prine
« on: December 29, 2004, 08:42:24 AM »

This really isn't such an illogical idea, I don't know why you seem to think it is.

Whether because you've already killed three of the five, or because you actually beat her in single combat, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that Sendai might acknowledge your power over her, and that you have the power to kill the remainder of the five.  Given a choice between death and a powerful weapon with a moral weakness to exploit I can't possibly imagine her choosing the former.

So let's see: if Abazigal is not dead, then Sendai uses you to off the remainder of the five so that she can arrange your death and collect her reward from Melissan alone.  If she can't find a way of killing you she can turn you against Melissan; she'll tell you that Melissan is a child of Bhaal and has used you to kill the five for her own ends, and plan an ambush with Melissan to finish you for good.  This gives her the option to side with whoever proves strongest in the final fight.  If you prove strong enough to defeat Melissan, better to side with you than face death.  (She'd end up being betrayed by Melissan if the PC lost, but she'd not have foreknowledge of this.)

If Abazigal is dead then Sendai probably already knows of Melissan's treachery against the five.  Obviously she has far less to lose in this scenario and would be that much more inclined to side with you.  The best she could hope for would be to use you to tip the favour in her advantage in the fight against Melissan, then kill you herself at some point afterwards.  Heck, if the PC is a short-lived race, Sendai could theoretically keep him occupied long enough for his own mortality to take him.  Either way she'd be the last one standing, so to speak.

Do all characters have to be stupid and two-dimensional?  Can't they have plots and schemes of their own?  If someone wants to develop this I'll sure as hell play it.  Anything for a villain with half a brain.  Obviously trusting Sendai is not a wise investment on the player's part, but the player may not realise this, and may in fact have a softer view of Drow and children of Bhaal in general from prior experiences.  Let the player decide whether to make shortsighted decisions, they might make for a more interesting game.  Or hell, let the players develop plans of their own; use Sendai to kill Abazigal and Balthazar, then betray her afterwards.  The player knows Sendai is weaker than the PC, so why not put her resources to use and then end her when convenient?

I think the only problem with this idea is that Sendai may simply not be that cunning, but I won't believe for a second that she'd die rather than yield to the PC given the choice.  "Though I fall, the others will ensure Bhaal is reborn!"  So what, if she's not alive to benefit from it?  That's the mind of a fanatic.
Posted by: Da_venom
« on: December 21, 2004, 03:59:06 PM »

and when u reach sendai don't u have around 40 dice as well?

besides sendai has no interest in you, at least no personal things

all npc however, do


Posted by: Ivy2004
« on: December 21, 2004, 05:34:06 AM »

Isn't it just the same - wanting to be a lich, a sect guru or a demi god? If the other NPC reached their "smaller" goals, they'll for sure switch their goal to something greater, more appropriate. Smaller ambitions mean only smaller forces and perspectives at the beginning. We meet BG2 NPCs at level around 10. Sendai's hit dice is 40, so no surprise she wants more.