Profile for Or else o'erleap.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Displayed name | Or else o'erleap. |
| Member number | 335 |
| Title | Law Bringer |
| Postcount | 14579 |
| Homepage | http://www.polarisboard.net |
| Registered | Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
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| Author | Recent posts |
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| What would you do with a billion dollars? in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Tuesday, December 20 2005 14:26
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A better show would be putting everyone in a room in a plane with, say, five parachutes for ten people. A timer counts down as they're in the air, and when it reaches zero, the floor opens and everyone and everything falls out. Survivors are winners! —Alorael, who might make it even more exciting by putting in 15 parachutes, five of which work, five of which are deliberately sabotaged, and five of which contain bombs that will go off a minute after the main timer. Then it can involve some desperate high-speed thinking, too. It would be like Cube in the air! Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Quick Strike, Quick Action, and traits in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Tuesday, December 20 2005 14:23
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Nimble fingers doesn't increase First Aid. Fast on Feet hasn't increased Parry any time that I've tried it, but I've never gotten to especially high levels. I very much doubt that it scales. —Alorael, who hasn't checked the resistances to see if they scale. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Our Anthem in Richard White Games | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Tuesday, December 20 2005 13:02
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That's what I've been led to believe. —Alorael, who can pull strings along his six degrees of separation to find out what the composer had in mind. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Trainers in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Tuesday, December 20 2005 13:00
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The same Cotra trainer who's so helpful with First Aid is generally useful for magical skills, and he's relatively cheap. Somewhat later there's another cheap trainer for archery. Investing here is another no-brainer. My second time through A4 I actually refrained from training in archery at all until I'd bought all I could, and it helped. Most of the other basic skills can be trained as well, but it costs an arm and a leg and, like all training, you can't get more than two or three points. Fighters need to have at least that much in the beginning of the game, so they can't benefit from melee training. Casters don't belong in melee anyway. I skipped these trainers entirely. —Alorael, who also skipped buying spells for most of the game. He bought two levels of anything that could be bought east of Almaria and no levels of anything further west, which includes all of the more impressive spells. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Archery; and races in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Tuesday, December 20 2005 12:54
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I'm still not convinced. Polearms rock, but the swords I've found tend to rock almost as much, and combined with shields they rock more. It's not just that shields provide a helpful boost to defense, it's that many also make you better at dealing damage. At the end of the game I think the two are probably about equal. For the vast majority of the middle, swords are better. In the beginning, because it's easy to get an iron spear, spears are probably better. Archery is very nice, but it's simply less damaging than melee. You can't hit twice with one missile attack, and you can't benefit from a large number of other little bonuses that add up. That said, I agree that an all-archer party is probably feasible, although I'm not so sure about torment. For slightly less damage you can hit more often and completely avoid the mess of parry/riposte and all the enemies who do bad things when you touch them. Ephesos, nephils aren't frail. Actually, as far as defense goes, they're the same as humans and sliths except against fire, where sliths apparently shine (I noticed no difference). I agree that piling on experience penalties is actually a pretty good idea. I'm not keen on sliths because I'm not crazy about polearms. They're okay, but not really any better than swords. Getting free points in some kind of melee attack is always good for fighters, but casters benefit far more from getting free archery. You don't have to waste precious skill points or have them get into the thick of battle to spray arrows. —Alorael, who thinks that perhaps he should try a party of a nephil fighter and a slith fighter with swords and spears respectively and a pair of nephil mage/priests. He'll them something along the lines of Elite Warrior/whatever and Natural Mage/Pure Spirit. Maybe if he's feeling like gambling he'll toss Divinely Touched around. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Demonslayer in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Tuesday, December 20 2005 08:42
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But I rarely used it. The small bonus against demons was actually less powerful than the acid of the Oozing Sword. —Alorael, who ironically used Demonslayer against monsters with extremely high acid resistance more than he did against demons, which usually have low acid resistance. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Is this game nothing but combat? in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Tuesday, December 20 2005 07:15
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I miss wall-bashing a little bit, but not a lot. You still have to keep your eyes open, you just don't have to run into all the walls. As soon as you see the Honeycomb you'll see how even without passages a place can be a navigational nightmare. Identification never excited me. In Avernum I always had enough item lore, or whatever the useful ability is called, to figure out what everything was upon picking it up. The only exceptions were cursed items and a few of the most powerful items, so I simply didn't use anything without knowing what it was. That's not really fun. The only point in which identification mattered was the Remote Cave, which has the sneaky unidentified cursed halberd in a place that seems like a likely spot for the Black Halberd. You can travel by teleportation after you reach a place once, but you still have to get there, and you won't get far in Avernum without exploring. It's a convenience: if you need to go from Almaria to Formello and you've already exhaustively cleared everything in between, it's just no fun to have to walk through screens and screens of nothing interesting. That won't save you from having to walk the route first yourself, and it won't help when you need to find, say, the Sulfurous Flats. —Alorael, who found that A4 was the only Avernum in whcih he actually continued to need money until the very end. You may not have to pay for training, but you will pay for training. A lot. And spells are very expensive. And there are some high-priced but exceptionally useful purchases to make. You may end the game with a few thousand coins, but it won't be like A3's 100,000 coin surplus. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Like Anyone Cares... in Richard White Games | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Tuesday, December 20 2005 06:59
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Happy holidays, Icshi! Enjoy deceptively bright and cheery times while the day of the Forum That Cannot Be Named or Counted creeps closer. —Alorael, who hopes there won't be a schism and a move towards reform RWism. That would be unacceptable and a sign of the impending eschaton. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Our Anthem in Richard White Games | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Tuesday, December 20 2005 06:54
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This was going to be my Christmas present to Spiderweb, but hey, I'm not Christian so why would I make you wait? I could hold out for Chanukkah, but it's really the thought that counts. Let there be joyous song! —Alorael, who would like to thank Aran for hosting, Ben Rogers for peerless composition, and people who share selflessly for sharing this selflessly so that it can eventually reach the ears of those to whom it means the most. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Arcane and Nature Lore in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Monday, December 19 2005 21:14
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The A is before the E, though. Something went right. —Alorael, who is Alorael and will continue to be Alorael for the foreseeable future. He firmly intends never to be Aloreal. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Level 3 spells in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Monday, December 19 2005 21:12
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Exile has only one spell level. Previous Avernums are order dependent in that most tomes don't teach you anything unless you already have the spell at level one, but most then skip level two and put you straight at three. You can also go back and reread tomes. Blades of Avernum has a system like what you're expecting. In A4 it doesn't matter whether you read first or buy first. You'll end up at the same place for the same price. The only thing to avoid is reading tomes while you have dead characters, because they won't benefit and you can't go back and read it again later. —Alorael, who is sure there are at least five levels of spells, although he didn't find five for all spells and won't rule out a level six spell that he missed. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Tower Colony (Possible Spoilers) in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Monday, December 19 2005 21:07
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If you killed the automata, you're in the right part of the tower. Just keep looking for doors. Eventually you'll find a room with a control panel. Start flipping levers and the rest is obvoius. —Alorael, who wonders what exactly the ToM was researching before the disaster to produce so many slimes. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| What would you do with a billion dollars? in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Monday, December 19 2005 21:03
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I don't know the price of a motorcycle exactly, but the rest only comes out to a few thousand. You haven't spent even 1% of your money. Not even 1% of 1%! Unless, of course, you mean a supercomputer and not just a superior personal computer. Those can be quite pricey to build and expensive to maintain. —Alorael, who has an urge to see how many games of tic-tac-toe all of the Google server clusters can play per second. FLOPS can be replaced with TTTGS, which are not only less useful but impossible to pronounce! Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| If I Could Make My Own Fantasy Game... in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Monday, December 19 2005 20:52
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It's a legal nightmare, though, and part of the reason Jeff works for himself is so he can write his own plots. Or not, as he chooses. I like the generic goblin/orc/little green man replacement and the generic inexplicable fauna. The parasites I can do without. I have trouble with microscopic beetles (why beetles?), and I'm sure most parasites can find better ways to kill prey than pooping. Mind you, I think I can live without more examples, too. —Alorael, who has another suggestion: play Ocean Bound. It's almost a little bit kind of vaguely related to what you suggeste! Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Arcane and Nature Lore in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Monday, December 19 2005 19:36
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Oops. I actually meant Cotra. —Alorael, who actually thinks there are several places to train in First Aid. Cotra is just significantly cheaper. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Level 3 spells in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Monday, December 19 2005 19:33
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The spell system isn't limited to three levels anymore, and you don't need to know a spell at all to benefit from a tome. Instead, you can purchase up to two levels of any spell at any time. You can buy them before learning spells from other sources or after getting the spell to level 5 from finding books scattered in Avernum. The order isn't important. Interestingly, the same is true for the few places in which you can get a bonus to skills applying to your entire party. There are several places where you can have your entire party gain a point of Endurance, for example, but it doesn't increase the cost of training Endurance at all, so there's no point in waiting before getting the bonus. Single character increases (such as from trainers who will give you skills for money) are treated the same as purchasing an increase with skill points. —Alorael, who was very happy with this change. It's much better than having to record the locations of spells and skills until you have already learned as much as you can from normal sources. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| So What Makes a Torment Capable Party? in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Monday, December 19 2005 18:45
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I've had second thoughts on my opinion on all experience penalties, actually. I realized that most of the game is spent getting no experience because your levels are too high for the area. So then I thought, why not have more power at a lower level and get more experience? I haven't tested it yet, but I think slapping Elite Warrior and Divinely Touched on a Slith might not be such a terrible idea after all. The penalties add up, but they won't really make much difference in the end. The only trick is keeping everyone about the same in penalty, because it only takes one high level character to send your experience gains into the single digits. —Alorael, who finds himself pining for the days of Exile, when giving someone all the advantages, including the redundant ones, was possible. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| walkthrough in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Monday, December 19 2005 18:37
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A little politeness goes a long way, everyone. Please cool off and be nice. If you're posting just to complain about someone, you can probably just close the window instead of clicking "Add Reply." And now I'm going to tread dangerously close to stepping over the line I've just drawn. Argh, a little effort on your posts would be appreciated. In addition to stopping many of the complaints, it would also genuinely make them easier to read, which in turn would make readers more likely to pay attention and be helpful. —Alorael, who has to admit that he is always particularly pained by walkthroughs that fail to adhere to the most basic principles of English like capitalization. It is a basic service to those who may read your work to make it legible. Honestly, how hard can it be to hold down the shift key now and then. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| E3: certain places in The Exile Trilogy | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Monday, December 19 2005 15:28
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But so are Unlock, Major Blessing, and Long Light. —Alorael, who can understand using a thief for teh first and lamps and such for the last. What do you do when you absolutely, positively must have everyone buffed immediately? Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Is this game nothing but combat? in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Monday, December 19 2005 14:58
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There are definitely gadgets in the Dying Earth books, though. Maybe they're magic gadgets, and maybe they're technological gadgets. Maybe they depend on the mysterious "mathematics" for their power. They're gadgets nonetheless. —Alorael, who likes flying cars, intriguingly intricate libraries, and tentacular wizards who sleep for millenia. And extremely rose-colored lenses. And IOUN stones, which have a great deal of potential for use in even more fiendish object pushing puzzles. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| What would you do with a billion dollars? in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Monday, December 19 2005 14:50
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Weon? Enlighten someone who would like to understand Spanish? —Alorael, who can't believe he neglected to mention the $30 million that would have to be earmarked for skribbane purchases. A million is probably more than enough to cover all conceivable bullet and rifle maintenance expenditures. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Longest Word in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Monday, December 19 2005 14:33
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We've established that medicine is a good source for absurdly long words, as tryptophan synthetase A protein is even longer than the virus protein given above. I still don't exactly think it's a word. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is another example of a fabricated word. It was put into the OED by collusion between an OED editor and people who wanted a new longest word. Shakespeare used "honorificabilitudinitatibus," in Love's Labor Lost but he used it solely as a very long word. That's also cited as evidence that Francis Bacon wrote Shakespeare's plays. —Alorael, prefers to count words that aren't formed by judicious use of prefixes and suffixes. Antidisestablishmentarianism has been used meaningfully, which is more than can be said for most of the other examples, but why not antidisestablishmentarianismical? Or postantidisestablishmentarianismistically? Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| What's wrong with RW games? in Richard White Games | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Monday, December 19 2005 14:20
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The cult does not mock Richard White games. We know what is coming, and the only hope we have is to be consumed by Galactic Core 2 first! —Alorael, who now must ponder cause and effect. Are those who teeter upon the brink of mad clarity drawn to the way of White, or is it the way that pushes ordinary mortals over the edge into gibbering madness? Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |