OK, but _every_time_ you change? Then again, considering my recent complaints about Korgan and Viconia repeating themselves incessantly, maybe that makes sense too.

[ 05-24-2004, 02:25 PM: Message edited by: Feral ]

Imoen's Diary
5 Flamerule 1360
Today Mara turned into the Slayer to get us out of the prison. I guess it's justifiable, as we needed to act quickly, but I really don't like it, and I'm sure there was another way out.

14 Flamerule 1360
We killed a Demilich earlier... It was a tough fight, and it attempted to imprison us, but Mara... turned into the Slayer again. I told her that she could stand back, that I had a spell that could prevent imprisonment, but she wouldn't hear it. At least that evil floating skull was defeated, but I really don't like this.

24 Flamerule 1360
Today we fought Bodhi.. Mara ripped her to shreds. I told her that I could use the Sunray from Daystar to weaken her, or that I could handle her myself. She wouldn't listen to me.
Mara's changed. Every time she changes back from her Slayer form, she seems more distant, more irritable, even. I tried to read her aura today and it was far different than I've ever seen it. I felt nauseous.

30 Flamerule 1360
That's it. That was a group of bandits we could have easily handled, but Mara went Slayer again. I don't get it. It was almost reflexive for her. The first arrow was shot, and it hit her, and she flew into a rage, almost as if she had transformed without even thinking about it. Tonight I will have to confront her about it. Keldorn already left the group, and Jahiera is ready to. I need to stop this before it's too late.


The diary ends here.

Illumina, did you make that up, or is it rteally from somewhere?

Made it up in response to Feral's "Every time you change?" post.

I personally take the Slayer the most usless thing in this game. I never,ever used it. I can kick anyone`s butt with good party and wepoans, without losing reputation and taking damage from the stupid transformation.

Right. [img]smile.gif[/img]

So the big question is: should your reputation decrease by 2 at 5, 14, 25 and 30 Flamerule, or just at 5 (when she sees it for the first time) or just at 30 (when she really can't take it anymore)?

Every time. It gets worse and worse, a growing problem. If I designed the game it would start out at a loss of 1, then 2, then 3, then 4, and so on every time you did it until 15. Then you'd start taking hits on Charisma and Wisdom.

That brings us to Xen's point (and others before Xen) that the Slayer is at best a so-so avatar of a god. The penalty you're suggesting may be fair if the Slayer was really as powerful as it sounds.

I don't care how powerful it is... Becoming the avatar of an evil god should really have more permanent or long-lasting effects on the way one acts or is percieved, don't you think? Especially the god of murder.

And we know that its power is so-so compared to how powerful the PC normally is.
Consider how many peasants you could slaughter with the Slayer.

I think the power of the slayer is often relative to what level your PC is and obviously your class can play a role in whether it is useful or not.

For example, a potent fighter might not feel the need to turn to the slayer, happy and proud of its own sword arm. However, a soloing mage may find instances where it could be very handy indeed! (If he has run out of spells or whatever...there are many other cases I could think of)
Think of it as a more potent form of Tenser's Transformation! (not counting the potentially deathly and moral side-effects of course)

So I don't think its very wise to generalise the slayer as weak or useless in power, as it varies from game to game and is often relative to your level.

I know when I first got the ability when I first played Bg1, the slayer transformation intoxicated me! My Great Druid also used it a bit in the final battle in ToB to good effect.

As to the argument that transforming shouldn't result in death, well...I'll just say that we're talking about an incarnate, instrumental force of death itself here. If your only willful thought was to kill maim and destroy, how long do you think your repressed rational self would survive?
Not very long I think.

Like I said, I think of it as a schizoid kind of madness which destroys the PC's mind if the slayer form is taken on for too long.

Nice diary entries too Illumina, a point well illustrated.

[ 05-26-2004, 02:23 AM: Message edited by: CerebroDragon ]