Quote:
Originally posted by SixOfSpades:
My "Ideal" Bodhi:- 1 Does not blatantly disregard the laws of magic
- 2 Does not display nonsensical or contradictory powers or immunities
- 3 Does not wait until you've slaughtered her entire band of followers before she even considers fighting you herself
- 4 Be resistant, but NOT immune, to the swarm of anti-Undead crap flying around
- 5 Knows that she's not going to be able to take you out by herself
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Six, you throw so much stuff out there, it is tricky to respond to each point.
(1 & 2) Blatent disregard for laws of magic... (Response applies to the Fish Priestess, Imp. Bodhi, The Ritual, and probably others). When you see this, it's not always arcane magic, like you probably think at first. Because of the limitations of BG in spell animations, these effects appear identical to spells you know. But in many cases, it's not a spellcasting of arcane magic, but rather it is a fact-of-life with this enemy. What you could call an "inate power" except that term already is defined in BG2 as the inate abilities, and this is different from that also. It's nature, it's part of their body or their natural abilities. In some cases such abilities appear to come from the enemy (Bodhi, Faldorn) but actually come from the venue, the room, the lair -- you hav to use your imagination a bit. For example, can't the Fish Priestess emit a Zone Of Sweet Air with no casting time? She's not casting a spell, she's whooshing this ability out of her blessed fish gills. It's as easy as breathing, for her. Weimer has clearly explained in the ReadMe, and sufficiently justified, why Imp. Bodhi would have numerous powers which are not actually spells, and hence are not limited like arcane magic-users. Instead, these are abilities granted only to a supreme vampire. Such abilities are never accessable for the PC's, and I think that is what frustrates some people calling for "fairness", but no one said life-or-death battles should be equally matched. They're not equal in Iraq, they're not in a dark alley in New York, and this is not the Olympics. This is more like real D&D: you cannot fathom what powers the monster has, just because you read the Monster Manual when your DM wasn't looking, and when the DM finds out he is very likely to throw some unexpected new powers at you. This is justified because it is a Named enemy, therefore a unique; not necessarily bound to the same powers as others of that class. With imagination, this is what is fun about tactical battles in flexible RPG's.
(4) There is no way to make her partially immune to Undead-killing abilities (AFIK). It's either all or nothing. Any item which causes a Saving Throw (Azuredge, Mace of Disruption), is a 1/20 chance AT WORST/BEST. There is no way to penalize this beyond a 5% chance of instant-death. With 1-in-20 rolls, there is always at least a chance of failure on a 1 (just like you can always hit someone with a roll of 20, even if their AC is -20 and your THACO is 10). It makes absolutely no sense (to me) for Bodhi to have a 1/20 chance of dying from you throwing an axe you found when you were a 10th level newbie. Sunray is equally ludicrous -- if Bodhi can die to 2 Sunray's, then why didn't a priest of Lathander kill her a long time ago? In my opinion, this point is settled and done: Imp. Bodhi IS, and should be, immune to Undead-killing abilities. This is only a meager start in making her somewhat defenseable. To do otherwise would be a joke for experienced players (like normal BG2 was).