manikus' Web Site

[manikus]

...is not going away, or changing addresses.

I should have an update (or two) coming this week, so stay tuned.

[Uatu]

Good to hear!

Looking forward to anything new you churn up

[manikus]

I might have posted or something on my site.

[Uatu]

Very nice work, I can see you have been busy! I especially like the elf and harpy - the drider also looks very good, but I can only see his face! (I am one of the only handful of people in the world still using a big, clunky monitor, so often things look different when I look at them...)

[manikus]

The drider's face is kind of hidden. She's probably too pretty, but what can you do?

I have at least 3 or 4 more posts worth of stuff to go in this latest batch. So, stay tuned.

[Uatu]

Hey, nice new stuff! Nice to see that you have made a big pic, too - I wish I had a big pic (I just remembered that I was working on one months ago, but that seemed to go to a dark corner to hide...)

Regarding the Bioware games - I like them a lot, too! Actually, I think that Temple of Elemental Evil was really good, too - I wish that that had more of a following as well (there are some modders out there for that, too, though).

Perhaps a mix between the Temple of Elemental Evil's turn-based combat system and Bioware's story/NPC system (non-greedy ) would have been a good balance?

[manikus]

Along with Icewind Dale II, the Temple of Elemental Evil are the only games I have not played (I don't own NWN2, but I've played it a bit).

I've been very busy coming up with stuff for my site. I have no idea what will be there tomorrow...

You could finish your bigpic by saying that whatever the scene is in a dark room. "Honestly, blackness is what the characters would see!"

[Uatu]

I own Icewind Dale II (I think), but I've still not tried it yet... being that I have only played part of Icewind Dale I so far. Some things about II sound interesting, though (despite it being 3e), like specific priests for certain Realms deities (Temple of Elemental Evil was 3e, too - by the way, this latter game is quite cheap now - in the states, it is something like $10 or something - I paid importing money, though, so it was more for me, but still not much guilt ).

Yeah, backgrounds are a doozie for bigpics... I might have to go the "dark room" route...

Will have to check your site periodically to see what's up!

[manikus]

I'll have to see if I can pick up a copy of Temple of Elemental Evil - my nephew was just asking me if I had played it...

I hope to keep my site regularly updated, which means I'll have to stay on the DC ball.

[Uatu]

Actually, one of the most fun things about Temple of Elemental Evil is a strange bug (Easter Egg?) that allows you to turn basically any humanoid-ish monster into a permanent NPC. Basically, the Suggestion spell turns humanoid monsters into temporary NPCs (who only listen to you if they miss Will checks or something). This means that any goblin, troll, ogre, hill giant, gnoll, bugbear, or even giant tick or will o' wisp can be controlled by you; strangely, once they are under your control, they can gain levels and classes (you can choose their first one), which is loads of fun.

To make them permanent NPCs who always do what you tell them to do, you have to let them die (or do it yourself, but with only one hit, or they will revert back to enemy status), which will leave them in your party as permanent members. Then, go resurrect them (ask a priest or do it yourself - the former is often cheaper), and they are yours for good!

The bad thing is that NPCs in Temple of Elemental Evil always loot things randomly (items and money); you cannot take this stuff from them, either, and they will sell stuff whenever you go to a store.

Still, it is fun to have lizardman fighters, goblin druids, and so on; some items cannot be looted later, so if you want a lizardman with a lizardman sickle or a troll with a troll fork, you have to grab critters who already have them equipped. Some critters are not very good to have, though (giant ticks cannot equip anything, are weak, and take forever to move around); the will o' wisp would have been awesome, but unfortunately it disappears when it dies, so you cannot resurrect it and thus add it to your roster!

The final bad thing is that most townspeople will not have anything to do with you if you have ogres, trolls, etc. in your party, so if you want to do quests and such, do them first