Profile for Ephesos
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Displayed name | Ephesos |
| Member number | 4153 |
| Title | Law Bringer |
| Postcount | 4130 |
| Homepage | http://www.freewebs.com/ephesos |
| Registered | Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
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| The Mountain of Shadows RP in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Monday, September 19 2005 20:06
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OoC: And with a blast of glorious light, the RP rises again! IC: The darkness was absolute outside of the torchlight, as Brother Sequoia had dimmed his staff. Nonetheless, the caverns which the three of them currently strolled through were amazing. Crystal formations, ranging from jet black to bright blue and yellow, sparkled on the walls around them, and ice pillars virtually coated the walls. Strangely enough, the druid felt somewhat at home, given how pristine the cave seemed. Hard to believe that an ancient unspeakable evil lives in here... he thought distractedly, as the passage began to grow colder. The druid simply bundled his cloak closer about him, and continued following the elf. I hope she has an idea where she's going. Nobody had spoken since they'd started walking again, which was probably for the best, at least to Brother Sequoia. Not knowing the territory, it seemed unwise to attract any more attention than lighted torches already did. --- An indeterminate time later (the druid already missed the sunlight again), the elf stopped short of a rather large metal door. She took a moment to look it up and down, and then softly pushed on the door. With a sickening creak, the door opened inward, revealing a room carved right out of the rock. It was rather impressive, at least to Brother Sequoia. Then again, he hadn't seen many smithies of that size, at least not working ones. Lisha and the elf seemed unfazed. Eager to take a look around, the druid placed his torch in a bracket by the door, and relit his staff, filling the room with a diffuse golden light. The room was revealed in its entirety, with a few anvils scattered around a spring, which had its own alcove in the wall. When the druid crossed the room to touch it, he found it was well heated. "Hot spring." he said simply. "It looks pure, and I can't feel any evil aura." He bent over to take a quick drink, and then surveyed the rest of the room. Beyond the anvils and the spring, there was a broken pedestal in the middle of the room. A large spiral staircase led up out of the room, and a perfectly rectangular passage (carved directly into the stone) stretched off in another direction. It looked like it had been burned recently, and a pair of old-looking swords lay at the entrance. Well... that's odd. he said, walking in that direction slowly, keeping his staff low to the ground. Lisha and the elf were still looking around the room, but the elf quickly noticed Sequoia's path. "Stop! I hear something beyond that passageway!" the elf whispered urgently, though Sequoia barely noticed. What had caught his attention was the thing crawling up the passageway at him. It was big. And it had way too many legs to be natural. The druid's mind was currently stuck on one thought (OoC: which can't really be repeated here), and he quickly fell speechless as the creature advanced. The thing was about three feet away before two daggers struck the beast's face (if it could be called that), and Lisha and the elf stood behind Sequoia. "Quick, Brother, snap out of it!" Lisha said loudly, barely below a yell, as she and the elf peered into the darkness. Brother Sequoia's mind had gotten stuck on some of the more unpleasant creatures he'd encountered. Once, he'd stared down a drake (which proved to be a bad idea... the drake was a sore loser when Sequoia won the staring contest), and he'd even fought off a few nasty undead (of a more unpleasant variety than Cyrus and Caecus). But this... this was an abomination. A bit of the druid's mind snapped, just as it had back in Verwey. He immediately pummeled the now thrashing beast with his staff, which glowed a rather unfriendly red, as if channeling the druid's present anger. Eventually, it stopped thrashing about. More sounds presently began echoing into the smithy from down the passage. As Lisha and the elf readied their daggers (which included plucking two from the dead... thing), the druid started shouting syllables of magic, and his staff's runes changed from a nearly blood-red to a bright silver light. The room began to shake a bit. A loud, crumbling sound echoed off the cave's walls, and a portion of the passage closed in on itself. The walls simply pinched inward with a loud crash, and the passage was sealed when the resulting rubble crumbled in front of it. Sequoia's staff faded back to the color of worn oak again, and quickly lost its glow as he stumbled once before regaining his balance. That had taken quite a bit of energy, and he felt decidedly drained. The three sat in silence for a moment, as the sounds of the creatures behind the crumbled rock faded away. Then, the elf turned to Sequoia. "That was foolish of you. If anything is in here, it knows we're here now." The druid could merely nod in agreement. Crud... she's right. Definitely could've worked that better. Still, Sequoia had renewed resolve. This mountain was not evil by default, the trip through the caverns had shown him. This meant one thing to him: something or someone had corrupted the purity of the mountain, and Sequoia was ready to challenge it. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| iCome, iSpam, iWin in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Monday, September 19 2005 13:45
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Hm... #27. It's not like I've ever actually followed these, though I'm surprised to see 54 posts to my name. I think most of it was from Mountain of Shadows, though... a bit disappointing. I see no need to spam myself higher up the rankings (excluding this post, of course). -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| MMMMM in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Monday, September 19 2005 11:43
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You know, that's one of the more depressing ones on this thread... particularly since the solution doesn't really sound all that much better. Caustic chlorinated lime... sounds fun! Alex, you're way too good at these. Seriously. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| MASSIVE IGUANA! MASSIVE IGUANA! in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Monday, September 19 2005 11:40
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Well, that's interesting... it really does sounds like they're trying to run away from a massive iguana... though I doubt that singing to a massive iguana would be of any help. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Need a new graphics engine in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Sunday, September 18 2005 18:08
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As much as we try to welcome everyone who shows up here, just remember that most of us strongly disagree with you... Game reviewers? Who says they're an authority? Just because they happen to treasure "good graphics," a rather subjective term to begin with, doesn't mean that they're essential. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| It Must Be Magic in The Avernum Trilogy | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Saturday, September 17 2005 17:15
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Okay, that idea of Spray Acid makes much more sense. It's just that Jeff didn't code it that way, I guess. Maximilian requires you to get all the chunks of mithril out of Canopy, so it's easy to miss. And it's simply insane. Check the Artifacts Hall if you want to see it without having to replay Canopy. And about resurrection, uh... well, just try not to think about it. (envisions a resurrected Garzahd) Ungh... that's unpleasant. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Seriously... in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Saturday, September 17 2005 15:01
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... Huh? I don't get it. Punchline? -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Delving Deep Into Bahssikava in Blades of Avernum | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Saturday, September 17 2005 14:59
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Minor note, synergy: Stop double-posting. Edit, it saves time. And please, for the love of all things good and pure, register at the Lyceum and rate the scenarios you've played. All of us could use the feedback. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| It Must Be Magic in The Avernum Trilogy | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Saturday, September 17 2005 14:53
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Wow... you really don't start short discussions, do you? About the overlap, not every party has both a mage and a priest. Some people deem mages unnecessary, and some try to tough it out without priestly healing. And you've missed two important differences between some spells: namely, the type of damage and the amount of damage. (Another topic I've discussed with TM, and wound up ultimately confusing me) For instance, Smite deals less damage and has fewer targets than Ice Lances, and Divine Fire doesn't deal out nearly as much pain as Fireblast. Part of that is because priests don't traditionally follow the path of most damage dealt. It's just not in a priest's character to single-handedly roast everything on the field with 500 damage to each target. That's what mages are for, storywise. Also, the adjustment to Spray Acid that you mentioned would make it a carbon-copy of Move Mountains. Again, that's an issue of which magic type has domain over it, and in Avernum, only priests can crumble rocks. Likewise, only mages can unlock doors and dispel barriers, and priests have sole control over removing forcecages. Potions are simply underused, probably from the heavy reliance most players have on magic (exception: Lord Putidus players). The variety you get is simply there to help meet the situations at hand. Example: you may not need to restore all the SP an Energy Elixir would, so you drink the potion instead. Or, maybe you need to restore some HP at the same time, so you drink a Restoration Brew. Minimizing the appearance of magical and über-items is something that we designers should definitely work on. There have been quite a few super-broken items floating around for a while, which we now have to take into account when we design (I wish there was a call to check for Maximilian). Thus, when you make a scenario of your own (and I personally look forward to seeing one of yours, as you certainly have ideas), you can control that. And if you really want, you can eliminate spells at the start of the scenario, like TM did with Cloud of Blades in Canopy. And about resurrecting people, that's actually a good point. However, resurrections take a toll on the person who casts them, from the SP loss to the need for a Balm of Life (which not everyone can make). And there are some people you just can't resurrect (without level 3 or something like that). Also, mass-resurrections are usually the work of necromancy, and that builds scenarios, sadly enough. Still, it'd be interesting to see a scenario dealing with the spontaneous resurrection of huge numbers of people. (Or has it already been done?) -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Closing doors in The Avernum Trilogy | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Saturday, September 17 2005 11:16
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Usually they won't notice, but yes, occasionally they will remember how to use the doorknob. I find it most effective to close the door, haste everyone, and run like mad. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Closing doors in The Avernum Trilogy | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Saturday, September 17 2005 09:41
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Yes, and closing doors can also make the room full of enemies behind said door completely forget about you. It's amazing, really. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Blowing the lid off the Canopy in Blades of Avernum | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Saturday, September 17 2005 08:25
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quote:I've actually discussed the merits of Canopy with TM before, and it seems that his intention was nothing less than to turn the entire combat system of Avernum on its head, as has been said before. Those spells are overpowered. Baldev in particular. Extra philosophical baggage always hurts a scenario (RoR, anyone?), particularly when it's forced onto the PCs with little development. Thus, MA was better. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| MMMMM in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Saturday, September 17 2005 08:18
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And the genius that is Alex stuns us all yet again... -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Druids of krell help in Blades of Avernum | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Thursday, September 15 2005 14:36
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Actually... it's rather simple to learn, and once you get the hang of it, it's really easy. I would just suggest to start with something SMALL... DoK was too much for me to start on. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Druids of krell help in Blades of Avernum | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Thursday, September 15 2005 14:03
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Alright, I admit it! It was stupid and poorly organized. And I still never found what's up with that message from Oakleaf. It shouldn't be there, and didn't ever bother me in testing. I can't find where the script goes wrong... if anyone knows, please let me know so I can fix it! Then again, that's what I get for leaving myself a mere three weeks for the contest. And about talking to the smith... yeah, that was also stupid. I regret it. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| NPC release to talk to an other NPC in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Wednesday, September 14 2005 20:28
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Yeah, go with the cutscenes. If the text gets way too long, switch bits of it to message boxes. Actual talking dialog would be nearly impossible if it's supposed to be two NPC's talking. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| NPC release to talk to an other NPC in Blades of Avernum | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Wednesday, September 14 2005 20:28
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Yeah, go with the cutscenes. If the text gets way too long, switch bits of it to message boxes. Actual talking dialog would be nearly impossible if it's supposed to be two NPC's talking. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Gotta get outta the Crescent Valley in Blades of Avernum | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Wednesday, September 14 2005 19:51
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Enjoy the scenario. It's better written than CV, I'll say that much. At least, there's less bizarre stuff in it. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Need a new graphics engine in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Wednesday, September 14 2005 19:40
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Old school graphics with well-executed gameplay are always going to be better than shallow storylines with lots of explosions. After all, it just wouldn't be Spiderweb if it moved to polygonal graphics (god forbid). Give Jeff a break. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| The Mountain of Shadows RP in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Tuesday, September 13 2005 19:52
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IC: Brother Sequoia slowly opened his eyes, and was disappointed to see no improvement in his vision. It was cold. Very cold... perhaps it had affected his vision. He could hear what sounded like human voices nearby. He sat up slowly, and looked around. There must be some light out here... he thought, before realizing that he couldn't be outdoors. No starlight, moonlight, or sunlight. I can't be on the surface anymore. Looking around, the first thing that caught his attention was a brightly glowing torch, currently held by an indistinct figure about two feet behind him. It looked vaguely humanoid, though the flickering torchlight could've been playing tricks on him. The druid abruptly jumped to his feet, narrowly missing a stalactite over his head, and reached for his staff, which was still loosely tied to his belt. Well, at least luck was with me in that, he thought, muttering a single syllable of magic. Instantly, the staff gave off a flash of blinding white light (which the druid deftly directed away from his own eyes), and Brother Sequoia took in the situation. Hearing familiar cries after the flash, the druid calmed down. Silently mouthing a spell, his staff switched to a soft yellow glow, casting its light around the cave, and onto Lisha and the elf. The two of them looked a bit agitated, and the elf was rubbing her eyes. However, what registered first with Sequoia was the grandeur of the cave. Ice and stone pillars seemed to support the gallery, and the light from his staff caught on both ice and what looked like crystal. Stalactites and stalagmites filled the cave, and a few passages led off in different directions. Amazing... he thought, before remembering who he had almost blinded. "You really should watch where you aim..." Lisha said sourly. "After we dragged you in here, the least you could've done would be to thank us." "This is amazing..." the druid half-muttered, still somewhat distracted by the cave. "It doesn't matter. We should get moving again." the elf said bluntly. She appeared to have recovered from the blast of light. Returning to his senses (including his sense of humility), the druid ceased his mental wandering. "I am sorry. I owe you a great deal. I would likely have frozen to death out there." A long pause ensued, wherein the elf began peering down the other passages. "No, she's right. It doesn't really matter... we need to get moving again." Lisha said, turning to examine the passages branching out of the gallery where they stood. Wonderful... a debt to repay. Sequoia thought grimly. OoC: That's it for tonight. Might add more to that tomorrow, if nobody else has. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| Getting mad at Mad Ambition in Blades of Avernum | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Tuesday, September 13 2005 17:16
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Well, if you're enjoying the weirdness, you'll love the solution. Point #1: Notice how Chika drains statuses from you. Point #2: Notice how many Poison Potions have been dropped by the enemies. I hope you get it. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| It's the A2Template! in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Monday, September 12 2005 11:21
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I'd love a copy, personally. EphesosSH (at) aol (dot) com -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| It's the A2Template! in Blades of Avernum | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Monday, September 12 2005 11:21
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I'd love a copy, personally. EphesosSH (at) aol (dot) com -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| most obnoxious dungeon in avernum/exile trilogy in The Avernum Trilogy | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Saturday, September 10 2005 08:48
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From the list, definitely Zkal... anything that drains SP just hurts my brain. But from anything, I'd have to say that one dungeon in A3 with all the Abyssal Slimes... simply horrendous. Wait, that wasn't Pit of the Wyrm, right? -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
| The Mountain of Shadows RP in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Wednesday, September 7 2005 20:29
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EDIT: Total overhaul. OoC: Thank you Zephyr, a bit of solo traveling never hurt anybody. IC: The loud wails and slashing sounds had stopped. Brother Sequoia stood up from behind a rock, still cloaked and looking for all the world like just another rock. Must be a minion of Orloki... the real thing would've charged from above. Simple tracking. Chase from below, and you lose too much breath to cause any surprise. he thought, walking into what was rapidly becoming a slicing cold gale. The rocks around him slowly turned icy, a sign that the mountain's peak was ahead. Then, the druid looked up, the spire of the mountain still painfully high above him. This could be a while... Looking up, the druid lost his footing momentarily, and slid down a short ways into what looked like a solid ice wall. Upon impact, however, Brother Sequoia realized it was merely a rock face coated with ice. A network of fine cracks spread out from where the druid hit the wall, and a section of the ice sheet fell away, revealing a modest cave entrance. Unconscious, Brother Sequoia's mind settled on a disturbing nightmare of his homeland wrecked by the minions of the mountain. He stood amidst of the wreckage of his hometown of Vriel, and a pack of possessed wolves charged across the charred town square at him. The dream ended, and he drifted into a deeper unconsciousness. OoC: I think I'll pull myself out of this one, so don't bother. The cave begs to be explored. [ Wednesday, September 07, 2005 20:56: Message edited by: Ephesos ] -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |