Nonek

Given that time is linked to space and space did not start its expansion 'til the advent of the big bang, and therefore there was no time as we know it before the big bang...would you like a toasted teacake?

Great update, much appreciated ladies and gentlemen. One question springs to mind, is that pillar of rock in the midst of the Engwithan ruin one of the much discussed pillars of Adra? If so was the structure built around it, or was the pillar added later, and are there any skills that could let our characters guess at this? An archaeology skill and the character who pursues it might be extremely interesting given the complexity of the setting.

I'm all for diminishing the tyranny of loot, however I recognise that there are a lot of people raised on Diablo clones whom expect drops every five minutes, and view this as an important part of their character progression. Personally i think that it de-values any item you currently possess but i'm definitely in a minority, and there was a lot of vendor trash in the IE games, so I can see Poe having a similar amount.

Wow the narrative beats the Witcher 2's? I must get this game, very few companies providing decent writing anymore and it's something I like, thank you for the recoommendation Mr Hunter.

Ha yes I remember falling for that in Dragon's Eye, the Eldath chaps if I remember correctly.

I don't think there's anything wrong with finding somewhere to rest in an old disused and massive dungeon, similar to how the Fellowship rested on their travels through Moria, though I would take precautions such as casting illusions, locking doors, setting up traps and alarms etcetera. Or try and find some secret area thick with the dust of centuries of disuse, and close the doors behind you, making sure that any patrols are not aware of your presence. Obviously this won't work in the typical modern dungeon which is just a straight corridor to the exit, filled with monsters waiting for you to slaughter them, but from what we've seen Poe's dungeons will be a little more labyrinthine. As for loot i can see three ways out, one being an extraplanar merchant such as you have in Jade Empire, but that seems far more of a Torment-ish solution and oddly dissonant with what we've so far heard of Poe. The second being the unlimited stash that was spoken of early on in the campaign, which is not usable until you've unpacked your packs and dug it back up. The third is to simply make the player choose what he takes and have to leave the rest to disappear as we all did in BG 1&2. Edit: Nym and his backstory were one of the most interesting elements of IWD, great stuff.

Strange to mention the venom of the Wyvern as a negative factor, by that point in the game Slow Poison had become one of my most used spells and the recent addition of a Bhaalspawn power aping it was very welcome. Not because I knew of the Wyverns, but because of Hobgoblin arrows being such a lethal problem, thus when entering the Cloakwood I was unwittingly forearmed with both spells and potions. Though in truth when entering a forest I will usually memorise appropriate spells, such as Charm Animal, just like one always prepares for Graveyards and Tombs with Undead specific spells. I don't judge this as anything but sensible preparation, though it helps when there's an appropriate and logical hint given as to what you will encounter.

Ah thank you Oerwinde, for the life of me I could not find any DVD's of that series.

There is a reason behind my using words such as pixel-hunting/back-tracking rather than exploring. IIRC, I didn't use much of my brains to fetch Bronze Sphere and keep it in my inventory or find the mask fragment, which was not high-lighted even upon pushing alt key on the map, though. Then again, these things can screw things up quite easily and, personally, I think it's not a good idea to punish the players too severely just overlooking a single object in a long game. As for replayability, recent works by Obsidian tend to give the players tough choices which lead to mutually exclusive outcomes, accompanied by the disposition/reputation system. Combined with the party composition and the PC-builds, I think there should be enough reasons to play the game more than once rather than making sure you picked up the same objects from the same places for each playthrough, IMO. Yes I agree, and I enjoyed the branching narrative and different end world states of both New Vegas and Dungeon Siege 3, they really affirmed our efforts and highlighted our failings. I agree that the mask was extremely well hidden and hard to find in Betrayer, though I think the Sphere was as you say obviously important and we are given ample warning to take what we need to the Fortress, and this sticks out as an unanswered question still seeking resolution. Though in truth I did also carry the pavement stone from the Signpost Zombie as well. If I had not taken the Sphere then personally I would have looked upon it as my own mistake for ignoring such an obvious clue, rather than making it worthless by there being a workaround, but these are the choices and consequences that I enjoy. It sounds a little masochistic but i've always thought that the best games are not afraid to punish the player, rather than handwave away the story in an effort to make sure the player is not challenged in any manner, or his progression remains unchecked. For instance in Dragon Age I should have ideally been able to refuse the Grey Warden fellow and died in the Deep Roads or with that painfully emotional family. When I was slain by Azar Javed in the first Witcher game for instance, because i'd been lazy and rushed my investigations, I was extremely pleased as that was a consequence born of my choices. I totally agree that a playthrough without the Mask and Sphere are still totally viable and pleasingly different however, and enjoy the different resolutions that this necessitates, and wouldn't want them to be plot central but simply pleasing additions.

In regards to my previous post I just wish to clarify that I would be totally against making every playthrough the same and ensuring that everybody recieves the same experience, that makes for dull consequenceless experiences in my opinion. Our actions, explorations and choices should have appropriate repercussions. In terms of playtime, I simply arrange my schedule appropriately, Poe will no doubt be more interesting than the television.

Are you talking about the 90's cartoon show? I have fond memories of watching that as a kid. Had a Jack Kirby vibe that meshes really well with cosmic stories. If you have Netflix, I suggest trying All-Star Superman. This one, seems quite unusual for Marvel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aVwYq3kt7o

The original Ravenloft module was brilliant and a nice foreshadowing of the campaign setting, that's one that I feel was perfectly suited to 2nd edition, though i've always thought 2nd edition was merely a round up and clarification of all the extra rulebooks and Dragon magazine rules that had evolved over the years in first edition. I was never particularly a fan of Vampires (as bloodsucking seems lame when one is tucking into a nice steak) but Strahd and his little fiefdom of Barovia were so well detailed and full of potential that as a DM I couldn't help but be charmed by it, along with the strange mists that bordered it.

On the subject of the Mask fragments and Bronze Sphere I certainly can see why people might be upset at missing out on this content, but I also recognise that this is a great example of choice, consequence and replayability. There are subtle and not so subtle clues lying around that these are both important relics, and their presence makes me search each area carefully, experiment and return to already played places. That said a simple way of making sure that such items are clearly flagged as important is to give them an open quest entry, that does not flag up a vulgar "THIS IS IMPORTANT!" sign, but makes the player aware that there is more to it. I found a bronze sphere in the depths of the Weeping Stones catacombs, it repulses me and yet an old incarnation set Pharod's entire gang into searching for it, and I do feel that there is something... In my tattered haunted dreams I see Akachi and he wears a strange mask, it seems important to him. Perhaps the church of Kelemvor or the spirits in Shadow Mulsantir know more? But obviously with better Obsidian writing.

You're all wrong, everybody knows that the level of evil is decided by facial hair, no need to thank me.

My lad recently watched the latest Fantastic Four film and was a little intrigued by the Silver Surfer, we watched a nice little animated film of it on Youtube tonight, which i'll see about picking up for him on DVD tomorrow. It was quite good really, somewhat majestic and the little one was enthralled.

My own bugbear is somewhat the diametric opposite of Ms Lightfoot's, I am rarely challenged in modern games either from a narrative or gameplay perspective. The worst offender for this in my opinion was the original Dungeon Siege, whose automated combat fairly much played itself, while I enjoyed a few buttered pikelets and a refreshing cup of Earl Grey, and whose plot I truly cannot see how Mr Neal Halford of Betrayal at Krondor fame came to write. Challenge me with plot points that are an unexpected and intriguing surprise, or delight me with mechanics in which I can truly invest myself and I am fairly much hooked. For instance the forshadowing and backstory that Deionarra hinted at in Torment, the unexpected black ops mission I ran for Alan Parker in AP, the experiments found in Irenicus' dungeon in BG2, or the first real mage battle you experience in Athkatla etcetera.

I agree Mr Obsidian, still made quite a memorable and effective character though, however I would stress that mine will be "like" Raistlin not a copy. He will possess none of the moodiness, whining, adherance to an order or belief in the gods that Raistlin does, merely the same physical weakness and strong mind. In Arcanum he would for instance have taken the Miracle Cure background.

Chatting with one of our lawyers about this very matter a few weeks ago, the gentleman is a gamer and we were swapping recommendations, he said that currently the matter needs a few landmark cases to settle the matter. He also stated that EULA's weren't really worth the screens they're written on when challenging international law, which was news to me. I'm not sure how this stands beyond Blighty however, or whether the gent was correct.

I do like this, one can imagine a quest starting off as a bizarre and unexplained rash of abductions, that resolves into a (crazed?) Animancer kidnapping Godlike in an attempt to refine and purify their souls. After all in real life the Philosopher's aim of turning lead to gold was not about wealth, it was simply an effort to purify baser metals, thus bringing them closer to god, as gold was supposed to be.

I recently purchased a new Steambox...well tell the truth it's a kettle.

I will see whether either of these two characters (assuming that is what Toon means) are viable under the Poe rule system: 1. A hulking brute of great thews and little culture or intelligence, hits like a sledgehammer due to his high strength and has a natural viciousness and a seemingly innate grasp of combat, perhaps born of a warrior culture or maybe even a simple farmers lad. Is stubborn and hard headed but easily manipulated, usually relies on his strength and toughness to pull him out of any situation. Is an extremely straightforward talker, says what he means and damns the consequences, whether talking to a beggar or a king. 2. A Raistlin like character, whose health is shattered and body wasted away but whose intellect and willpower is as iron. A manipulator and showman, whose cold perceptive eyes are like mirrors, they only show what the beholder wishes to see and nothing of himself. Immaculate manners and a cool calm disposition hide the fires that rage within him.

I've no desire for a multiplayer game and wouldn't back one, I see nothing wrong with having a purely single player experience, after all there are masses of multiplayer games on the market.

I'll lower the paper if a good Loony Tunes comes on the box, Bug's, Daffy or such. Kill da Wabbit!

I agree that those were some very pleasing companions, with their unique appearance and gameplay. However i'd say that what was most interesting were the personalities behind them, distinct, deep and very different. Thus i'd say that we may have a companion who appears quite normal, but is beneath the flesh as strange and unique as any man or woman can be.

My own homebrew system uses a baseline of three in all four stats, I have the players roll 2d6 four times and arrange the resulting scores in whatever stats they wish, thus they vary from 5-15 (without racial and cultural modifiers.) However these stats are what I use for all skill checks with modifiers for training and such, making the characters far more oriented around their attributes rather than skills and level. A ten is the average and confers no modifiers, while anything above 15 is regarded as an almost supernatural affinity and makes stat checks far easier or even non existent.