The Black Hound FAQ

[Darque]

What do you guys think about my suggestion to raise the levl cap from 8 to level 9 or 10?

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I think it's a bad idea.

 

Shouldn't the game be played as it's meant to be played, or at least as close to it as possible? And besides... it's not really our decision.

 

Be happy with what you get.

 

Honestly, Ramza, you've been chasing this dream for so long I'd have figured you'd want it to be a mirror image of your dream game. And that includes level caps.

[steelfiredragon]

raising the cap, why?? you have players in nwn2 that say the cap is to high, you have some wanting epic lvls, you have some wanting this and that.

 

i enjoy each game and module made for what not game for what they are worth and the enjoyment i got out of it.

tbh will be no different, ill play it and enjoy it for what its worth, epsicially since its not on the sword coast, ive seen enough of that area for a while, so much that even the cities i wanted to see i saw next to none of it, namely waterdeep.

 

the dalelands will be a welcome change, even more so if we can go to cormyr or myth drannor after tbh ends in its sequal.... but that would be dreaming wouldnt it?

[Pop]

Question for Josh: Are you planning on perhaps making the entire TBH trilogy? How does that decision factor into the gameplay itself? (as in characters that don't reach full development into the second game in the trilogy, etc.)

[aVENGER]

What do you guys think about my suggestion to raise the levl cap from 8 to level 9 or 10?

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I think Josh has a good reason for setting the cap at level 8 in the first instalment of TBH, possibly because he wants the entire trilogy to take place within the scope of the 20 core levels (i.e. no Epic stuff).

 

If you desperately want more than three feats play a human or a fighter or even both.

[Spider]

Question for Josh: Are you planning on perhaps making the entire TBH trilogy? How does that decision factor into the gameplay itself? (as in characters that don't reach full development into the second game in the trilogy, etc.)

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Asked and answered, at least the first part:

 

 

1) It would be nice just to deal with the main Black Hound campaign and see what happens.  I'd estimate about 15-20 modules worth of material, which is an enormous undertaking.

[Tigranes]

As to Pop's speculation on crafting: how much was it a part of the original module? I think that would decide it a lot. But I don't think it'll be as extensive as it was in NWN2 OC.

[mkreku]

I vaguely remember finding a longsword +5 in Pool of Radiance..? I don't remember that as a high level setting though. You had to fight a lot of battles before you found that sword so it felt deserved when you finally got it. I wonder if I remember it wrong though? I mean, I played this game probably almost 20 years ago!

[alanschu]

Well, the original Baldur's Gate has some +5 weapons if you take the time to kill Drizzt.

[Tale]

I was under the impression that +2 items is pretty phat loot for level 8.

I think +2 items are pretty appropriate at 8th level unless you're in a low-magic setting.

I just want to take this opportunity to say:

 

foiled

[Dark_Raven]

Well, the original Baldur's Gate has some +5 weapons if you take the time to kill Drizzt.

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That was one item and the only item in BG1. BG2 had a lot of them though.

[Sammael]

My personal suggestion regarding the loot and the raising of level cap is as follows: reward the PC with small but meaningful rewards throughout the game (a +1 luck bonus on saves vs something here, another +1 competence bonus to certain skill checks there, etc) and keep the level cap and loot as low as possible. I would personally add small mechanical rewards to the epithets (e.g. Porcelain Mask gives a +2 resistance bonus on saves vs charm, Suicide King gives a +2 resistance bonus on saves vs fear, and so on).

 

I've been using this reward method in my own campaigns and I have found that the players enjoy such bonuses immensely, preferring them to phat lewt.

[Tale]

My personal suggestion regarding the loot and the raising of level cap is as follows: reward the PC with small but meaningful rewards throughout the game (a +1 luck bonus on saves vs something here, another +1 competence bonus to certain skill checks there, etc) and keep the level cap and loot as low as possible. I would personally add small mechanical rewards to the epithets (e.g. Porcelain Mask gives a +2 resistance bonus on saves vs charm, Suicide King gives a +2 resistance bonus on saves vs fear, and so on).

 

I've been using this reward method in my own campaigns and I have found that the players enjoy such bonuses immensely, preferring them to phat lewt.

Sammael, is there any chance you can PM me a quick how-to on giving these kinds of bonuses in your feats? I haven't actually looked into how to do it, yet, but posts on the official forums had me believing it to be complicated.

[alanschu]

Well, the original Baldur's Gate has some +5 weapons if you take the time to kill Drizzt.

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That was one item and the only item in BG1. BG2 had a lot of them though.

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And not surprisingly, Baldur's Gate 2 was a much higher level adventure, and not particularly relevant to Mkreku's comment.

[Sammael]

Oh, sorry, I am not familiar with the inner workings of the NWN2 engine, I just presumed it would be doable (since there are already racial & class abilities, feats, and so on that provide similar benefits).

[SteveThaiBinh]

I've been using this reward method in my own campaigns and I have found that the players enjoy such bonuses immensely, preferring them to phat lewt.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Definitely. BG1, though it kept the levels low, had all those books to raise stats. Possibly too many, and I don't think this new game would need so many, but in BG1 I always go out of my way to get hold of them. It just seems more important than items. I don't suppose raising attributes is quite so important in 3.5 rules, but something along similar lines would be cool.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

That kind of reward sound about right for an 8th to 10th level range. But assuming one would create a module - or series of modules - that would span several level ranges with the possibility of ending close to a 20th level marker, what would be the best way to balance this? I'm not a big fan of high level loot though there should be some to accomodate the players that enjoy it... But in terms of personal bonuses how could this be handled? When does it become overkill or overpowered?

 

(I'm not talking about The Black Hound by the way, so ramza can put the steak knife down).

[Tigranes]

The thing is, the average player would not find all of them in BG1. It was quite a gruelling trek to get to the Gnoll Caves book, not everyone would check all the random outdoor caves, or even kill Ramazith, and so on. There were also those hidden wands and gems in the starting areas (i.e. in the Nashkel Mines exterior) that were really helpful, I loved that.

 

They could probably do it with skill checks and so forth here instead, or increasing memorised spell slot by 1 or so if that's doable.

[aVENGER]

Oh, sorry, I am not familiar with the inner workings of the NWN2 engine,  I just presumed it would be doable (since there are already racial & class abilities, feats, and so on that provide similar benefits).

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It's definitively doable. Some epithets present in the NWN2 official campaign already grant similar bonuses (i.e. Pathstalker and Explorer give you fast healing) as do some of the background traits.

[Cantousent]

I like being a bit stingy with gear and magical items. When I do give them, however, I like to make them more varied than weapon or armor enchantments. Really, you can even get away from numerical values altogether. That might not be as easy in a CRPG, but I can envision an item that provides extra dialogue options or grants characters access to otherwise hidden areas. This might be something like a treasure map, only the idea lends itself well to a whole variety of designs. Some might only work if worn, such as the feathered hat of the Men in Tights faction. Others could work if simply possessed, such as the beacon of troublesome imps. Still others could work if visited; for instance, the springs of crystal worship, which gives the characters extra insight into the crystal and why it should be worshipped.

[Tigranes]

The problem, of course, is that those too must be given very sparingly. Having lots of unique items with unique effects can become more a chore than a reward if you're constantly having to think about them, or turn them on and off; thats why simple skill + or DC + bonuses usually work better. As an example, I remember loving the Ring of Energy adn the RIng of the Ram in BG1/2, but later finding out that I had only ever used a couple of chargres, just because I kept forgetting about them. This is less of an issue with the NWN2 hotbar system, of course, but just a note.

 

I always thought that it would be nice to confine a particular theme of enchantments to a particular type of equipment. For example, AC bonuses or damage reduction can only be provided by Armour or Helms; Gloves often provide Dexterity bonuses (nimble fingers) or spellcasting ease, only boots can give stealth bonuses, and so forth. Something that could easily be pursued in conjunction to the 'unique enchamtments' idea, combining to make equipment that is truly more realistic than "i have 7 slots of magical itemss for +ac".

[ramza]

From one of the old Jefferson documents I have:

 

"We have about twenty "regular" epithets and two "rank" epithets for each of the eight organizations you can be pals with. We've always had about twenty standard epithets, but I'd rather let players discover what some of them are on their own."

 

From Sammael's website:

 

"Faction - There are six factions one can become involved with, generating positive and negative reps in each one. "

 

Aren't there 2 factions missing there? I don't mean to be annoying... sorry... I just want the module to be as close as possible to the original game.

[metadigital]

My personal suggestion regarding the loot and the raising of level cap is as follows: reward the PC with small but meaningful rewards throughout the game (a +1 luck bonus on saves vs something here, another +1 competence bonus to certain skill checks there, etc) and keep the level cap and loot as low as possible. I would personally add small mechanical rewards to the epithets (e.g. Porcelain Mask gives a +2 resistance bonus on saves vs charm, Suicide King gives a +2 resistance bonus on saves vs fear, and so on).

 

I've been using this reward method in my own campaigns and I have found that the players enjoy such bonuses immensely, preferring them to phat lewt.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Excellent comment, I wholeheartedly concur.

 

Gaining a +1 on your Will save for completing a task is infinitely more rewarding than having to cart yet another Sling +1 off to the local merchant for some shiny.

 

I like being a bit stingy with gear and magical items.  When I do give them, however, I like to make them more varied than weapon or armor enchantments.  Really, you can even get away from numerical values altogether.  That might not be as easy in a CRPG, but I can envision an item that provides extra dialogue options or grants characters access to otherwise hidden areas.  This might be something like a treasure map, only the idea lends itself well to a whole variety of designs.  Some might only work if worn, such as the feathered hat of the Men in Tights faction.  Others could work if simply possessed, such as the beacon of troublesome imps.  Still others could work if visited; for instance, the springs of crystal worship, which gives the characters extra insight into the crystal and why it should be worshipped.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Another great idea: it is much better to have odd magical items that encourage a player to specialize their PC along a path; what I mean is that a low level character might find a nice magic weapon that is of a type that is extremely rare, and so they would eschew the normal "long sword specialisation" for a katana, for example ... and that requires the extra exotic arms feat, etc. The player could also choose to not do this.

[Sammael]

I'd like to once again ask the moderators to rename this thread to "The Black Hound FAQ" or something... I did not anticipate initially it would evolve in this manner.

[metadigital]

Never got any earlier requests.

 

[Sammael]

Love the subtitle. :D