Author Topic: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.  (Read 137586 times)

tylernwn

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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #375 on: October 15, 2020, 11:06:50 AM »
The jackalwere in Har akir are way too weak, and spend their time getting curbstomped by other creatures...

Jackalwere priests of anubis were a thing in The Touch of Death. I don't see why there couldn't still be one or two around.

tylernwn

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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #376 on: October 15, 2020, 11:07:53 AM »
More on the erroneous creature side of things. The Nightwalker as it appears in POTM seems to be immune to magic (I saw the "magic immunity" message in the combat log vs every spell I cast that allowed a spell resistance check), and acid. These are not properties it has in the SRD/Monster Compendium 3.5. So it looks like it might have some erroneous properties.

As it appears now its not really a nightcrawler, but some kind of super nightcrawler lord/archmage/chosen-of-shar next level undead, and its name should probably reflect that.

The Ascendant Nightwalker is immune to magic. Is there a regular nightwalker...and is it also immune to magic?

The one I saw was just named "Nightwalker". Maybe it should be renamed to Ascendant Nightwalker if that is what it is?

« Last Edit: October 15, 2020, 11:12:33 AM by tylernwn »

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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #377 on: October 15, 2020, 11:12:48 AM »
No, you're probably right. I just haven't noticed the magic immunity before.

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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #378 on: October 15, 2020, 11:17:48 AM »
First of all, Dandwiki should never be used as a source of anything, it's mostly homebrew. There are other sites that exist (such as d20srd.org, Realmshelps) that are more reliable. Nightwalkers are set up appropriately. Here's from their description (Nightwalkers are a type of Nightshade):

Spoiler: show
Quote
Nightshade Abilities: All nightshades share the following special abilities.

...

Spell Immunity (Su): Nightshades ignore the effects of spells and spell-like abilities of 6th level or lower, just as if the spellcaster had failed to overcome spell resistance.


Also, on a more general level, we will often tweak balance on monsters, especially since not all their PnP abilities can be represented on NwN (ie: Nightwalkers should be able to permanently destroy weapons).

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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #379 on: October 15, 2020, 11:21:29 AM »
More on the erroneous creature side of things. The Nightwalker as it appears in POTM seems to be immune to magic (I saw the "magic immunity" message in the combat log vs every spell I cast that allowed a spell resistance check), and acid. These are not properties it has in the SRD/Monster Compendium 3.5. So it looks like it might have some erroneous properties.

As it appears now its not really a nightcrawler, but some kind of super nightcrawler lord/archmage/chosen-of-shar next level undead, and its name should probably reflect that.

The Ascendant Nightwalker is immune to magic. Is there a regular nightwalker...and is it also immune to magic?

The one I saw was just named "Nightwalker". Maybe it should be renamed to Ascendant Nightwalker if that is what it is?



We do have Ascendant Nightwalker. One in fact, as a boss in a dungeon. Very strong creature. I haven't tested many spells on it, but it wasn't immune to spells like magic missiles. And I believe all the sorts of shadows on potm are immune to elemental damage, thus making half of evocation spells ineffective against them.

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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #380 on: October 15, 2020, 11:25:08 AM »
We do have Ascendant Nightwalker. One in fact, as a boss in a dungeon. Very strong creature. I haven't tested many spells on it, but it wasn't immune to spells like magic missiles.

Yes, that's the one I've encountered pretty recently. And I'm almost positive there was a reference to Magic Immunity in my log afterward. Since I tend to save only RP logs and not dungeon logs, unfortunately I can't check that.

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tylernwn

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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #381 on: October 15, 2020, 03:24:07 PM »
First of all, Dandwiki should never be used as a source of anything, it's mostly homebrew. There are other sites that exist (such as d20srd.org, Realmshelps) that are more reliable. Nightwalkers are set up appropriately. Here's from their description (Nightwalkers are a type of Nightshade):

Spoiler: show
Quote
Nightshade Abilities: All nightshades share the following special abilities.

...

Spell Immunity (Su): Nightshades ignore the effects of spells and spell-like abilities of 6th level or lower, just as if the spellcaster had failed to overcome spell resistance.


Also, on a more general level, we will often tweak balance on monsters, especially since not all their PnP abilities can be represented on NwN (ie: Nightwalkers should be able to permanently destroy weapons).

I tried to find the quoted text, and realized its from 3e. It seems like nightwalkers have changed a lot between editions, from 3e to 3.5e.
In 3.5e (Monster Compendium, and d20srd nightshades) nightwalkers do not have these properties, but in 3e they do.

Looks like its correct. Sorry for the trouble.
« Last Edit: October 15, 2020, 04:15:19 PM by tylernwn »

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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #382 on: October 15, 2020, 03:37:41 PM »
You're looking at the 3.5 version of the Nightwalker, whereas we are using the 3E version. They replaced the Spell Immunity with SR 29 in 3.5, among other changes. They also lowered the CR from 18 to 16.

tylernwn

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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #383 on: October 15, 2020, 03:43:53 PM »
You're looking at the 3.5 version of the Nightwalker, whereas we are using the 3E version. They replaced the Spell Immunity with SR 29 in 3.5, among other changes. They also lowered the CR from 18 to 16.

Yeah, you're right. Thanks for the clarification.

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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #384 on: January 19, 2021, 10:05:35 AM »
I find that Dire Crag Cats are a bit overboard with their
Spoiler: show
+24 +19 AB
, while a balor
Spoiler: show
has +28
. Tried to look for the cat stats in the 3E bestiary but i couldnt find it. IMO it needs looking into.


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inkcorvid

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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #385 on: January 19, 2021, 03:47:34 PM »
IIRC, canonical Dire Tigers are also terrifyingly powerful. And ordinary Crag Cats are probably worse than ordinary Tigers. I almost low-key love how unfairly monstrous Dire Crag Cats are: they look deceptively like ordinary Crag Cats, but have caused me no end of party wipes.
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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #386 on: January 19, 2021, 03:58:22 PM »
IIRC, canonical Dire Tigers are also terrifyingly powerful. And ordinary Crag Cats are probably worse than ordinary Tigers. I almost low-key love how unfairly monstrous Dire Crag Cats are: they look deceptively like ordinary Crag Cats, but have caused me no end of party wipes.

IKR? It's just it came to me that yesterday i was happily bashing balors and the day before i ended a 1 on 1 against a dire crag cat with 20 hp left... of course since they are "just crag cats" i didnt buff, while balors being balors i went in full regalia... but yeah  :lol:


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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #387 on: January 19, 2021, 07:58:32 PM »
Tried to look for the cat stats in the 3E bestiary but i couldnt find it. IMO it needs looking into.
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Maffa

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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #388 on: January 20, 2021, 02:48:09 AM »
Thanks! Found the Crag cat, which has right 20 less AB than the dire version... cant find the dire tho, so i dont know if that AB is warranted...


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EarlofEtheria

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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #389 on: January 22, 2021, 02:02:48 AM »
Greater Wolfweres along Lake Zarovich cast both Daze and Charm Person. If the idea was to catch low level players trying to run by, they already have Charm Person for this while Daze makes a mockery of their stature. Though I would argue Charm Person should be something more terrifying overall. They have decent attacks, but they are far too often casting Daze on targets completely immune to it.
« Last Edit: January 22, 2021, 03:08:31 AM by EarlofEtheria »

SardineTheAncestor

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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #390 on: January 22, 2021, 09:24:26 AM »
I'm curious if Charm Person actually does anything. It's really not a combat spell in the first place and if you hit players with it, it doesn't make them do your bidding.

It's possible some spells like these were intended as "empty casts" or immunity checks, not meant to be effective in any way, as seen in several casters around the module.
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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #391 on: January 23, 2021, 12:24:31 PM »
Greater Wolfweres along Lake Zarovich cast both Daze and Charm Person. If the idea was to catch low level players trying to run by, they already have Charm Person for this while Daze makes a mockery of their stature. Though I would argue Charm Person should be something more terrifying overall. They have decent attacks, but they are far too often casting Daze on targets completely immune to it.

Thanks, I'll remove those two spells from their spell list.

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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #392 on: January 23, 2021, 12:35:03 PM »

Thanks, I'll remove those two spells from their spell list.

If I'm not mistaken, the Ogre Mages and Ogre High Mages will also cast charm person.  It didn't have any effect in practice, though my barbarian at the time had a little crush on an ogre ICly.

tylernwn

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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #393 on: February 27, 2021, 10:40:22 AM »
Re: The Max Scorpion Spawn in the Temple of Harvest, Har Akir.
The Temple of Harvest Huge Scorpion Spawn, at max spawn should always contain at least 1-2 Large Fiendish Scorpions. If not it is possible to do this:

Spoiler: show



Large Fiendish Scorpions do fit through the doorway, so if they are present you will at least have to fight those off first.
« Last Edit: February 27, 2021, 10:47:32 AM by tylernwn »

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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #394 on: March 29, 2021, 05:00:14 PM »
Rotting Boars under the orphanage are the only mobs in that dungeon that aren't evil, could it have been an oversight?


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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #395 on: March 30, 2021, 07:42:23 PM »
Rotting Boars under the orphanage are the only mobs in that dungeon that aren't evil, could it have been an oversight?

Looks like an oversight; I'll fix this.

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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #396 on: March 31, 2021, 01:44:09 AM »
In Ghastria - Tunnels, the Small Grave Ooze is so small in fact that you can't really click it. I see the mouse icon turn into a sword only during certain points of its animation, for like a split second.
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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #397 on: March 31, 2021, 04:46:28 AM »
In Ghastria - Tunnels, the Small Grave Ooze is so small in fact that you can't really click it. I see the mouse icon turn into a sword only during certain points of its animation, for like a split second.
It really is unnecessarily difficult, it'd be easier to click a forest gnome monk.

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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #398 on: April 10, 2021, 04:35:18 PM »
In Ghastria - Tunnels, the Small Grave Ooze is so small in fact that you can't really click it. I see the mouse icon turn into a sword only during certain points of its animation, for like a split second.

I've tried to resize them a little bit. Let me know if it helps.

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Re: Erroneous and ineffective creatures.
« Reply #399 on: April 14, 2021, 08:09:12 AM »
A portion of the Skeleton Lords in the Eastern Barovian Catacombs weren't using/Equipping their weapons; they were just punching away.