Anduril

[Magness]

Thanks for the reply, Six. Extra-planar is what I assumed tonight as I worked on it.

With regard to the other, that's also what I assumed. However, as you can see from my above post, there seem to be no SoA nor TOB that have racial additions to Thac0. Also, there's the conflict of having bonuses for both "evil" and extra-planar creatures (who will in all likelihood always be evil).

To save time, I'm gonna make an assumption (which I can correct, if it's unsatisfactory to Elfbane) that since this is a weapon of a TOB power level, I'm gonna lean towards using TOB's general (but unwritten) guidelines.

Racial damage bonuses fully added on above the base damage bonuses, but no racial Thac0 bonuses.

That said, a base bonus of +2 Thac0 and damage for this weapon that's called a +6 enchantment weapon seems terribly wimpy. This weapon is getting to be eerily like Foebane+3. Frankly, I think that it would seem more proper if the base Thac0 and damage bonus was at +4. And I'd remove the Bless ability. Really, the primary benefit of a Bless is a +1 to hit (and a +1 to fear saving rolls). Why complicate this weapon any more than necessary? I think that the base Thac0/damage bonus should be higher and chuck the Bless effect.


Any thoughts, people?

[Magness]

OK, here's the story/description that I wrote to use with Anduril.

Anduril, The Flame of the West This history of this amazing sword is strange and wonderous, long and short. While the enchanted runes on its fine blade are clearly some form of elvish, it is said that Anduril was not forged on Faerun. The stories say that Anduril came from the Kingdom of Gondor, where it was the sword of the king. Those stories further say that the sword was broken ages ago by some great unnamed evil, but was then remade that it might be wielded again by the rightful heir to the kingdom in a war against that same unnamed evil that had returned to threaten after two and a half thousand years. Whether the king slew this great evil with Anduril is unknown, since the stories are rather inconsistent at this point. Some versions say that the mighty king and his great army slew many trolls and thousands upon thousands of orcs before marching the Enemy's fortress. Other versions refer to one, sometimes two, halflings who laid the Enemy low by destroying a powerful magical artifact, a ring perhaps, in the heart of the volcano at the center of the Enemy's evil land. Most prefer to believe the former version as the very idea that one or two halflings could sneak into the heart of an enemy's lair is just too tall a tale to accept. However, the tale of Anduril takes a strange turn at this point. Not a generation past, the stories say that a strange and weary old man was encountered on the road to Baldur's Gate by Sir Aldor Ilvastarr, an aging paladin in the service of Torm. This stranger was both powerful and wise beyond measure. While he didn't have the seeming of a druid, his abilities certainly did. The stories are unclear as to this old man's name. Some say Abragast or Radagast or Abradax. Regardless, apparantly Aldor Ilvastarr befriended the old man and gave him shelter in his home in Baldur's Gate for a time. As payment for this generosity, the old man bequeathed the sword Anduril to Aldor Ilvastarr under the sole condition that it be used in the service of Good against the forces of Evil by his family. Not long after gifting Anduril to Sir Aldor, the old man left Baldur's Gate and was never seen again. Some rumors say that the old man has been seen wandering in the deep forest of the Cloakwood. None know for certain. Except perhaps the druids of that dark wood. And they will not say. While Aldor Ilvastarr felt a great sense of loss over the disappearance of his friend, he was astounded by the enormity of the gift of this sword. The stranger had explained that the sword could only be wielded by any who were worthy of its blessings, but that for one who did have the purity of spirit, Anduril was the bane of those who would do evil and those creatures from the lower planes of existance. And apparantly, the sword considered Sir Aldor to have that purity of spirit. For a time, Aldor Ilvastarr wielded Anduril, but he was already getting on in his years when Anduril found his hand. When he retired to his estate, Sir Aldor, not having an heir who was suitably pure to wield Anduril, placed it above the hearth in his greatroom for all to see. However, one day, when the maid came to set the table for the morning repaste, she discovered Sir Aldor dead in his favorite chair with a peaceful look upon his silvery brow and the sword missing from its mounting. To this day, none have seen nor heard of this great and wonderous sword. It is a great irony that Anduril's departure from the Ilvastarr estate is shrouded in as much mystery as its arrival in Faerun. STATISTICS: (These reflect the current version of the Anduril ITM file that I've created.) Special Abilities: +1 CHA bonus, while equipped User under the effects of Bless and Protection from Evil, while equipped Combat Ability: 5% chance each hit that target must make a saving throw vs death (-2 penalty) or die. THACO: +2 bonus Damage: 2D4 + 2, +4 vs Planar Creatures (i.e. Demons, Elementals, and Rakshasa) Damage type: slashing Weight: 5 Speed Factor: 3 Proficiency Type: Bastard Sword Type: 1-handed Requires: 11 Strength Only Usable By: Lawful Good Human Rangers or Paladins

NOTE: I suggest removing the Bless ability and increasing the base Thac0 and base damage bonuses to +3 or +4.


Please feel free to comment.

BTW, I have not added the story or name to the item, since it requires the creation of a fairly simple WeiDU script, which I have yet to do. I'm gonna hold off on writing the script until we have the weapon finalized.

[ 01-10-2005, 02:05 AM: Message edited by: Magness ]

[Dundee Slaytern]

Not all Extraplanar creatures are evil, and not all evil creatures are Extraplanar. Hence the distinction I made in my suggestion. The weapon shows its' 'true' power when used against an 'ultimate' evil, an evil-aligned Extraplanar creature in this case.

i.e. Orcs are evil, but not Extraplanar.

There are good Devas too, not to mention Planetars.

The Bless was more of a token touch than to actually confer any real benefits. Add flavour to a weapon, if you will. It is after all, a sword meant for a King, and Kings are supposed to be blessed and all that.

The base damage and THAC0 bonus was purposely made low so that it would balance out the +6 enchantment and the huge bonuses against evil targets. Not to mention the chance to inflict a vorpal hit now and then. This is a sword that can punch through Absolute Immunity( and thwack Anath to boot).

ADD] To emphasise a point, this is a +6 enchanted One-Handed weapon.

[ 01-10-2005, 04:06 AM: Message edited by: Dundee Slaytern ]

[ElfBane]

Thanks guys and/or gals. I am obviously out of my league. Make the damages as you see fit. I would like to see the weapon usable by humans, elves, half-elves of some sort of good alignment.

[Magness]

Elfbane, thanks for addressing usability question.

You want it usable by any Good humans, elves, or half-elves with no class limitation?

[Magness]

Originally posted by Dundee Slaytern: Not all Extraplanar creatures are evil, and not all evil creatures are Extraplanar. Hence the distinction I made in my suggestion. The weapon shows its' 'true' power when used against an 'ultimate' evil, an evil-aligned Extraplanar creature in this case. i.e. Orcs are evil, but not Extraplanar. There are good Devas too, not to mention Planetars. The Bless was more of a token touch than to actually confer any real benefits. Add flavour to a weapon, if you will. It is after all, a sword meant for a King, and Kings are supposed to be blessed and all that. The base damage and THAC0 bonus was purposely made low so that it would balance out the +6 enchantment and the huge bonuses against evil targets. Not to mention the chance to inflict a vorpal hit now and then. This is a sword that can punch through Absolute Immunity (and thwack Anath to boot). ADD] To emphasise a point, this is a +6 enchanted One-Handed weapon.

Dundee, I *know* that there are good-aligned extra planar creatures. You didn't need to make that seriously obvious statement.

Additionally, for whatever reason, Bioware didn't give Foebane any bonus against Devas and Planetars (if there's a difference within the game engine). The only "extra-planar" creatures that Bioware enabled Foebane to get damage bonuses against were Demons and Rakshasas, although Foebane's item description does specifically reference "demons, planetars, etc." Why not elementals? Why not planetars and devas? (That's a rhetorical question, I'm not asking you, dundee. )

Also, I recognize that not all extra-planar creatures are evil. But how many of your ENEMY extra-planar creatures are not evil? Unless you force attack one of your own summoned planetars or devas, the answer may be a big zero. While I agree with the underlying logic of your argument, I think that having seperate large bonuses for both "evil" and "extra-planar" is very gratuitous in BG2. Also, I have to ask myself, why did Bioware decide to not enable the evil damage bonus for Foebane that it had created (and is still one of the EFF files in the game's structure)? Did they disable it because it was too much or did it cause other problems? (My first guess is that it's just too much of a good thing, too unbalancing.)


I recognize that this is a +6 enchanted weapon. Indeed, perhaps it should be a greatsword/2-handed sword, instead of a bastard sword, for this reason.

[Magness]

BTW, I think I know why (at least functionally) that Foebane cannot target planetars and Devas, besides there being no EFF file to deal with it. I checked out the planetar CRE file and it seems to have not a single distinguishable characteristic that makes it a "planetar". That is, its "General" value is "monster", its Race value is unknown, and its gender is "niether". There seems to be nothing for the engine's "Damage vs Type" effect to grab onto within the planetar CRE file. I suppose that the Race.IDS file could be editted to add planetar and deva and the planetar and deva CRE files could be adjusted to use the new racial values, but I have no idea what effect this would have on the creatures or the game.

Frankly, I don't think that this particular issue is too big a deal, since IIRC, there's only one place in TOB where you even have a planetar or deva enemy, near the very end of the game (no more spoilers on this).

[Riftmaker]

On Bombadil:

I believe that he is the physical avatar of Varda itself. That would make the most sense. He is obviously not a Valar, not a Maiar, and I doubt he's an Erdu.

Because all of his powers deal with the earth itself, I would tend to lean in this direction.

As for the Balrogs...

Where the hell would one be? There isn't one in the Lonely Mountain (Smaug would've likely killed it if there was), there are none in the Iron Hills, none in the Glittering Caves. Other than those, I don't think there are any 'active' mining operations where one could actually BE found.

Not to mention the fact that there weren't any recorded sightings (that I know of) during all of the Second Age (with the exception of Durin's Bane).

So, yeah.

[Armen]

Originally posted by Magness: I recognize that this is a +6 enchanted weapon. Indeed, perhaps it should be a greatsword/2-handed sword, instead of a bastard sword, for this reason.

alternatively, is there a value you can set so that the weapon can't be dual-wielded? (not sure how throwing axes and daggers are implemented in this respect)

[Magness]

Originally posted by Armen: quote: Originally posted by Magness: I recognize that this is a +6 enchanted weapon. Indeed, perhaps it should be a greatsword/2-handed sword, instead of a bastard sword, for this reason.

alternatively, is there a value you can set so that the weapon can't be dual-wielded? (not sure how throwing axes and daggers are implemented in this respect) [/QUOTE]There doesn't seem to be any sort of *obvious* tag for this. There must be something hardcoded, such that when you put a weapon in the offhand, you cannot have a throwing weapon or a sling in your main hand.

I think that the only way to implement what you've described would be to give the sword a ranged component to make it look like a throwing weapon. But I think that this is not advisable since it would be impossible to make that 2nd, ranged component invisible to the player.

I suppose that you make the weapon "2 handed", while keeping it a bastard sword. The ITM files certainly appear to support this. But while this would certainly prevent dual wielding, it would also prevent using a shield as well. It's certainly worth considering.

I know that the movie is hardly the perfect reference source on this, but as shown in ROTK, Anduril seems like an incredibly light 2 handed sword. It certainly had a hilt that seemed designed for two hands, not one.