Tamerlane

To expand on this, rogues get a starting bonus to their mechanics (and stealth) skill by virtue of being rogues. There are other classes that also get mechanics bonuses, though I don't think any of them are as high as the rogue's. You can further boost a character's starting mechanics with your choice of background. Notably, there is no pre-written rogue companion in the game. If you want to use one (or a monk or a barbarian) you either have to play one or hire one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=TOLV_KI4gcg#t=167

Pretty sure that clock is correct. 10:00 AM Pacific. Though that website lists my city as being in the wrong timezone while still having the correct time, which is... weird.

Ouch.

Pummeling style was a huge buff for all unarmed fighters. There are some really strong natural attack builds that get pretty gross using it.

Death to ability scores. (I fully recognize that there was a 0% chance Obsidian was going to make a game pitched as a successor to the IE games and not use both ability scores and a class system.)

Constitution is really weird in that barbarians get more out of it than anyone else, but they also need it less than anyone else. It's a funny thing.

Man, who's gonna watch the documentary about the game on the day they could play the game?

... Shadowrun?

There will be a manual with game rules and an in-game cyclopedia (similar to what you'd see in, say, a Civilization game). There are no turns or rounds and no initiative scores. Action speed is determined primarily by dexterity, weapon type (lighter weapons attack faster), and armour (heavier armour slows your attacks). "Saving throws" don't exist in name, but D&D 3.X/4e's reflex, fortitude, and willpower are still around filling the same space they did in those games, only the attacker always rolls, so instead of making a saving throw against a wizard's fireball, the wizard will instead make an attack roll against the defender's reflex. The game uses a d100 for attack rolls, weapon or spell, which can result in a miss, a graze, a hit, or a crit. There is no penalty to casting while wearing armour (aside from the universal drawback of heavy armour, the decrease in action speed). Hope that answers your questions satisfactorily.

Looks like it's not just the death godlike that's getting a bit of a buff. Dunno how substantial any of it will be, but... eh.

I don't think the people who run goons.txt count stuff on this forum, sorry.

I've been lukewarm on godlike for a while, but apparently the death godlike power just got a buff so it triggers at 25% instead of 15%. So that's a nice thing at least. They're not unplayable or anything, but I'm probably gonna wait for a couple of patches before I play a godlike PC just in case things change.

And by "Wednesday or Tuesday" I actually meant "Monday or Tuesday". I'm... not sure how I mixed those up.

You know Brandon Adler said that we can expect them on Wednesday or Tuesday, yeah?

Flames of Devotion is getting changed to twice/encounter.

1: Resting in the field has a cost in the form of camping supplies. The monetary cost of these may not be a major problem as the game goes on, but you still have a limit as to how many you can carry. 2: Stronghold events can be both positive and negative. I expect they'll work out to a net positive assuming you handle it well, but you can have attacks and unwanted visitors in addition to merchants and dignitaries. EDIT: So far as we understand it, though, time is not a major feature in the game however you play.

Context on my penny question, incidentally:

You'd probably like it if you enjoyed 3rd and 2nd. Like I said, it's mostly a mash-up of those two things.

Will that get us access to digital rewards like the campaign almanac before the game is out, or no? 'Cause I could use some reading material.

Ahem.

Yeah. Don't wanna turn this thread into D&D chat, but it feels to me like a (mostly) cleaned-up version of 3e with a bunch of 2e influences on it.

Monks not using enchanted hand wraps, brass knuckles, etc. is just in keeping with the tradition of God's chosen tabletop game.

Josh was lead on Baldur's Gate 3 (which wasn't going to be an IE game), but I don't think he had any involvement with the first two games, given that they were Bioware and not Black Isle (Black Isle/Interplay published them, though). He also worked on Icewind Dale and was lead designer of Icewind Dale 2. Obsidian is generally more connected to Icewind Dale and Planescape Torment than they are to Baldur's Gate. EDIT: Also, my understanding is that the biggest outside thing holding back BGEE was the loss of the original art assets. Character models, environment art, etc. - basically all gone.

Notably, D&D struggles kinda struggles with reach and opportunity attacks still. 3.X gave extended reach to opportunity attacks but prevents them from attacking adjacent enemies. 4e let reach weapons hit adjacent enemies at all times but didn't give them reach for opportunity attacks (unless you managed to get your grubby mitts on threatening reach somehow). 5e's reach exists in some strange, nebulous state where its interaction with opportunity attacks is up for a lot of debate due to unclear wording but opportunity attacks in 5e kinda suck anyway so it's not a huge deal I guess.