Systems

Systems Adjustments

The server now hard caps ability score bonuses from spells and items at +8, down from +12.

The server now hard caps skill bonuses from spells and items at +25, down from +50.

The server no longer has a hard cap below 40, but we have several time limited soft caps at level 20 and level 30. We refer to levels 21-30 as Epic levels and levels 31-40 as Legendary levels. [Levels 31-40 NYI]

Pickpocket is no longer supported as a skill. Theft through roleplay is still fine, but unfortunately base Bioware pickpocket can't be changed. Potential for an alternate pickpocketing system down the road. As it stands, characters with ANY ranks in pickpocket will be automatically releveled, and characters with pickpocket at level 1 will be unable to level up ever.

We have changed how we handle certain PC conditions such as vampires and werewolves. The rule of thumb is generally that if you are born as something, it is handled by race, but if you become something, it is handled by template. 95% of who this affects are vampires and werewolves, the rest are extremely rare exceptions and know exactly who they are. 'Template' denotes that ability bonuses, feats and other statistical adjustments are handled via character editing, DM commands and equipped template items. This way both a human or an elf could become vampires and still retain their unique prior racial benefits (and penalties).

Characters autosave once per minute automatically. In the case of a server crash, you shouldn't roll back any further than 60 seconds.

Characters should no longer automatically 'push' one another out of the way when they get too close.

We will eventually implement a system or means to reduce the amount of visual effects a character has to reduce visual clutter and crashes. This entire section will change when it is implemented as I am unsure how it will work at this time. [NYI]

Several small changes have been made to different base weapons. Whips can now be equipped in either (or both) weapon slots. Dire Maces have been buffed up slightly with a shift from Bludgeoning damage to Bludgeoning-Piercing dual type. Spears are now quasi-one handed; they cannot be paired with any weapon in the off-hand slot, but will work with shields. Please note that the spear change may be slightly picky; if it unequips your shield, try manually equipping the spear first, THEN the shield.

Systems Explanations

PRC weapon proficiencies are now much closer to how they function in pen and paper. If you do not have a class that gives you one of the old weapon proficiency feats (I.E. simple, martial, exotic, monk, wizard, etc) then you must learn proficiencies one weapon per feat. This will be most noticeable for Exotic weapons, as very, very few classes gain the full Exotic weapon proficiency. Also, lack of proficiency no longer prevents you from equipping a weapon, but you will take a hefty attack bonus penalty for equipping a weapon that you are not proficient in. See "CEP Weapons" section at the bottom of this post for more information on the interaction between these weapons. One final specific note: Martial Weapon Proficiency for dwarven races covers Dwarven Waraxe.

In additions to what PRC custom races we support (see relevant post for listing), we have added several completely homebrewed races: Dragon, Celestial, Demon, and Devil. While there are many sub-varities of these races (some of them even included in the PRC), these races are intended to be 'generic', as there are many varieties and we wanted a 'one size fits all' race for those groups.

Neverwinter Nights cannot access custom content at character creation in multiplayer (haks and overrides are not yet loaded), preventing players from accessing PRC feats (most notably 'Level 1 Only' feats) and PRC base classes on level 1. Please contact Chaszmyr if you want a character generated with a PRC base class or level 1 only feat, this must be done offline and uploaded to the vault manually. Please note that Spellfire Wielder requires permission, see the server rules for more information.

There are several radial menu options not standard to NWN that are of note. 'End Spell Effects' has several feats that can be used to end otherwise lengthy PRC spell effects. Two feats for 'Holding the Charge' are used in conjunction with certain melee touch attacks. Jump will attempt to jump you a certain distance depending on your jump skill. PRC Options contains a limited number of features such as selecting default creature weapons, if you have multiple to choose from. Teleport Options contains an extensive menu for managing your list of saved locations to be used with teleportation spells.

NWN 1.69 added the ability to set feats to be 'free actions', which allows them to fire the instant that the feat is activated, fully bypassing the action queue and ignoring the round timer. While some feats such as Barbarian Rage are already enabled as Free Actions, many more will be adjusted over time as we discover feats worthy of being changed. Obviously, abilities such as Curse Song will not be made free actions, as you can cast it as often as you can mash it, putting out hundreds of sonic damage instantly. However, non-stacking buff feats, especially those based on some sort of limited resource (such as Divine Might and Divine Shield, which pull from Turn Undead charges) are likely candidates. I won't be supplying a full list of these, but feel free to suggest feats that you feel I may have overlooked or not discovered yet. [Partially done; Ongoing]

We treat the Outer Planes with a hardcore ruleset. While we are a relatively high magic world, player characters are not bouncing between other planes for funsies in our setting. We generally prefer to plan ahead and run these as events and not offboard it or represent it in an IC post unless it is most fitting that way; if you request something be run for you in the outer planes, be warned that we treat death in the outer planes with a hardcore ruleset that absolutely includes permadeath as a consequence. Naturally, the rewards will be higher as a result.

We've customized PRC's Jump script. Flying characters auto-pass, there is more feedback, and there are a few more changes yet to come.

PLACEHOLDER, I want to list all of the text commands, widgets and crafting menu functions we have available - [NYI]

Dropping all buffs is possible with the @debuff command. Dropping invisibility and improved invisibility effects only is possible with the @deinvis command.

Subdual mode has been implemented as a text command. Typing @sub will toggle subdual on and off. I recommend making a custom hotbar text macro for @sub for extremely easy use.

Characters with tails can use the @toggletail command to hide and restore their tail.

A large part of our itemization is represented by the Forgemaster system. Previously a homebrewed class, it is now possible with either Craft Weapon or Craft Armor skill (the system is okay with whichever is higher, their purposes are not split). See relevant posts and NPCs for more information on this.

Horses and other mounts will be implemented in Arleah as extremely rare aesthetic rewards with very specific requirements. As such, information on method of acquisition will not be fully detailed, but I will say that automated means of acquiring a mount will deal with specific eligible classes. I will further hint that some characters will be eligible just by having certain class levels (because there are circumstances in which they would lose their mount as well as their class) and the rest will want to have a certain skill trained very high to qualify (should be obvious which skill, as very few characters are eligible for it). Both of these methods will likely be found very quickly ICly once they are implemented (if my hints weren't enough). All other means of acquiring mounts are staff secrets or uniquely exclusive, so please do not ask what they are and definitely do not beg for a mount just because you want one; nothing will eternally disqualify you from having a mount faster than whining for something that you didn't earn.

There will be many scripts in place on the server that react to your chosen deity. A deity chooser will be available on the S.S. Arleah so that you may acquire the proper spelling and punctuation required for these scripts to work for you.

Our monster spawning systems are designed to spawn mobs rarely but reward very high amounts of experience that is not diminished in party. We strongly encourage leveling and hunting in groups, as it is more fun. While our systems do not inherently punish a single player or small group 'hogging' a spawn or set of spawns, please be considerate and inclusive unless you have specific, tasteful roleplay to the contrary.

Maximum AC bonus from Dexterity on all armor types has been increased; this will reflect on your character sheet but not in the item descriptions themselves. From 1 AC to 8, Max Dex Bonuses are now 16, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, up from 8, 6, 4, 4, 2, 1, 1, 1.

Module Switches

The PRC pack (and base game) come with quite a few built-in preference switches for spell and system behavior. Some noteworthy switches that we have set:

True Seeing is once again similar to its old Arleah behavior. Instead of true True Seeing, it grants See Invisibility, Ultravision, and 5 spot bonus.

Harm and Heal style spells are now caster level based (CLvL * 10 = HP healed) up to a cap. Greater Restoration also follows a caster level calculation to determine its healing done but does not have a maximum cap.

Timestop effects only affect local creatures instead of stopping time server-wide. It is also very important to note that, to simulate the fact that time is stopped and you don't know what happened during that period, your screen will go cutscene black, which might look similar to a game crash. It isn't. A game crash will close your game client or boot you back to the server menu if it is.

We have Multisummon enabled. An unlimited amount of summons can be summoned per character. This will obviously cause a great deal of lag if abused. Please limit yourself to no more than 4 or 5 summoned creatures at once. The most noteworthy change for this toggle is Elemental Swarm for druids, which now summons all four elementals at once instead of a sequence. If this becomes too laggy or is abused too often we may turn it back off.

Find Traps does not disarm all traps it can find, it simply reveals them.

Undead creating and summoning spells are not limited by duration; they are limited by a calculation of how many HD of undead you can control per character level. Please respect server lag when summoning hordes of undead, we may change this heavily if needed.

Word of Faith's effects are now based on your caster level, not a hard coded amount of HD for targets effected.

Sleep and Deep Slumber can now effect targets above level 5. All other calculations are unaffected, such as how many HD they can affect at maximum.

Death Immunity is consistent with base NWN's death immunity; that means it no longer protects against Implosion, Phantasmal Killer or Weird.

Characters will automatically attempt to identify items they pick up with no tedious effort required on the player's part.

Spells cast from magic staves are cast at the player's caster level, not the listed caster level on the staff.

Slings are brought in line with pen and paper, meaning their strength bonus counts automatically. To represent this, slings gain +20 mighty upon equip.

PnP style racial speed is emulated with spell increases or decreases; some short or ungainly races will move at 20' move speed instead of 30', and some naturally quick races will move at 40', with an extremely rare few that move at 50'.

Expertise is intended as a melee combat stance and as such will disable itself whenever a spell is cast.

Wands should craft with 10 + Caster Level charges instead of guaranteeing 50 free charges.

Poisoning weapons is now limited only to characters with the Use Poison feat and can no longer be attempted with a straight-up Dexterity check as a substitute.

CEP Weapons

We have some of the CEP base weapons available for use. These are now supported by PRC's Weapon Proficiency system. Note that this is ONLY for the proficiency; this does not mean that Weapon Focus or similar weapon feats will work for these. These are provided 'as is'.

Assassin's Dagger, Katar, and Sap are useable by all (they have so many overlapping proficiencies that no character is left out).

Heavy Mace is treated as Light Mace - Simple, Rogue, and Light Mace proficiencies.

Goad is treated as Spear - Spear, Simple, and Druid proficiencies.

Light Pick is treated as Handaxe - Handaxe, Martial, Rogue, and Monk proficiencies.

Heavy Pick is treated as Battleaxe - Battleaxe and Martial proficiencies.

Maug Doublesword is treated as Scimitar - Scimitar, Martial, and Druid proficiencies.

Double Scimitar is treated as Two-Bladed Sword - Two-Bladed Sword and Exotic proficiencies.

Falchion is treated as Greatsword - Greatsword and Martial proficiencies.

Maul is treated as Warhammer - Warhammer and Martial proficiencies.

Nunchaku, Sai, and Wind Fire Wheel are treated as Kama - Kama, Monk, and Exotic proficiencies.

Supported Skills

Not all skills provided by the base game or PRC are fully supported. We do plan to have DMFI support PRC's skills for text based skill rolls down the road. The following is a list of what skills we support and how we support them.

Please note that the roleplay uses of social skills (Bluff, Intimidate, Persuade, Sense Motive, and Taunt) inherently require two-way trust; there is no single right answer of how and when to roll them, nor do we have unyielding rules on how/when to counter/disregard these rolls. If you plan to indulge in high amounts and heavy use of these skills, please be ready for social skills as a 'give and take' with your fellow roleplayers, there are no absolutes.

Skill list:

Animal Empathy - Supported; in addition to base game use, we plan to have custom use in a future update.

Appraise - Supported, unmodified from base game.

Balance - PRC skill, supported through PRC content and some custom scripts.

Bluff - Supported primarily as a roleplay skill with some secondary uses for NPC dialogue. Bluff is the measure of how convincing you are when speaking statements you know to be false; a successful bluff check, however, does not inherently require others to believe that falsehood. Countered directly by Sense Motive.

Climb - PRC skill, supported through some custom scripts only.

Concentration - Supported, unmodified from base game.

Craft Armor, Craft Weapon - Base NWN uses are not supported, however, we utilize these skills for our Forgemaster system. The Forgemaster system will use the higher of the two skills as your Craft skill; you do NOT need both.

Craft Trap - Unsupported base game skill. Traps are purchased only.

Craft(General), Craft(Poisonmaking), Craft(alchemy) - Unsupported PRC skills. No plans to make use of these.

Disable Trap - Supported, unmodified from base game.

Discipline - Supported, unmodified from base game.

Heal - Supported, unmodified from base game.

Hide - Supported, unmodified from base game.

Iaijutsu Focus - PRC skill, supported only by what PRC content requires it.

Intimidate - Supported primarily as a roleplay skill with some secondary uses for NPC dialogue. Intimidation is used to pacify an individual or de-escalate a situation by means of a threatening statement, action, or gesture. Counters can vary and depend heavily on the situation at hand; Intimidate vs Intimidate and Will saves are amongst the most common.

Jump - PRC skill, used from the class radial menu, this has been tweaked slightly from PRC's base script, and is also used to represent short distance flight.

Listen - Supported, unmodified from base game.

Lore - Supported, unmodified from base game, however, it is worth noting that we use Lore in many custom skill checks, and, the PRC pack uses this to determine epic spell casts per day (Lore/10=slots).

Martial Lore - PRC skill, supported only by what PRC content requires it.

Move Silently - Supported, unmodified from base game.

Open Lock - Supported, unmodified from base game.

Parry - Supported, unmodified from base game.

Perform - Supported, unmodified from base game.

Persuade - Supported primarily as a roleplay skill with some secondary uses for NPC dialogue. A persuasion check can sway an individual towards or away from a decision or action that they may not have considered, or may not be their first choice. Persuade does not have a commonplace, accepted counter roll, as it is the most open to interpretation by the individual targeted; a minor bit of indecisiveness might take a much lower roll than a major change of heart.

Pick Pocket - NOT supported. Despite being a base NWN skill, this is hardcoded and plays very poorly in a persistent world. A character with even 1 skill point in this will be unable to level.

Psicraft - PRC skill, NOT supported. We do not utilize PRC's Psionic classes.

Ride - Supported but modified from base game; no ride feats exists, however, Ride functions as a replacement for Tumble while mounted. It is worth noting that mounts are extremely rare on Arleah.

Search - Supported, unmodified from base game, however, it is worth noting that we use Search in many custom skill checks.

Sense Motive - Supported primarily as a roleplay skill with some secondary uses for NPC dialogue. This skill is generally used as a direct counter for Bluff, but also has uses for reading body language, moods, intentions, etc.

Set Trap - Supported, unmodified from base game.

Spellcraft - Supported, unmodified from base game, however, it is worth noting that the PRC pack uses Spellcraft skill rolls for epic spellcasting.

Spot - Supported, unmodified from base game.

Taunt - Supported; base game functionality works per normal. This is also used as a roleplay skill, effectively the opposite of intimidate; it can be used to provoke a peaceful target into action, usually combat. The skill itself lists Concentration as a counter, but many others could be used depending on the situation.

Truespeak - PRC skill, supported only by what PRC content requires it.

Tumble - Supported, unmodified from base game.

Use Magic Device - Supported, unmodified from base game. Additionally, Warlocks with the Imbue Item feat are able to substitute their Use Magic Device skill (at a minor disadvantage) in place of Craft Weapon / Craft Armor for Forgemaster checks.