# CHAINMAIL running for a while (trial basis only)



## Morrus (Nov 22, 2004)

I've launched the CHAINMAIL module in place of the usual _Path of Ascension_ module.  It will be running for the day, so feel free to take a look.  A few notes:




Make sure that your CEP install is current (the current version is 1.50 - you can get an update patch from the CEP site if you need it).
I noticed that when selecting my character, it took a few minutes before the "Connect" button would highlight. I think this is because it's such a big module; you just have to sit and wait until the server allows you to connect to it.
You'll need to create a new character for the trial.  If we ever adopt this module, I will look into allowing people to port their PoA characters.
When you start up, you'll find yourself on a ship. The captain will give you a choice of two destinations. Because it's such a big world, I recommend that everyone choose the same location so that there's less chance of finding yourself stuck miles away from everyone else on your own. I suggest the _Shoreline_ settlement as the gathering point, as it's a little smaller than the other option.
Expect bugs, lag, etc. - the module is not finished yet (and the next update will probably be a month or two away).
The world is BIG. Really, really big. I haven't looked at more than about 5% of it myself yet, so I'll be discovering it at the same time as you. It's littered with dungeons and lairs, both small and large, contains an entire outer plane, a massive, world-spanning underdark, and more. I don't know how accessible all the stuff is, though, or how soon it'll be before you find anything interesting.
I've attached a map below.  This is about one-sixth of the world.  Shoreline is on the East Coast.


----------



## Felonious Ntent (Nov 22, 2004)

Looks like the server is offline right now.


----------



## Morrus (Nov 22, 2004)

Just restarted it.

 I've been checking it out with various people.  The stronghold system is fantastic - you choose one of 16 stronghold designs and get to place it anywhere you wish.  They're big and elaborate, with many rooms, tons of stuff (magical forge, soldiers you can command, recall portal, training facilities, healing facilities, armoury, etc.).  Expensive, though, and only available to 20th level characters.


----------



## Felonious Ntent (Nov 22, 2004)

How does one choose a sub race?
Which ones are available.
When I logged in it didn't give me an option. When I chose race then clicked subrace no options just room to type.


----------



## Morrus (Nov 22, 2004)

I don't know, I'm afraid.  Learning as I go along!

 There's a couple of us online now (at Shoreside) if you wanna pop back.


----------



## Morrus (Nov 22, 2004)

Hmmm.... it crashed again. 

 Restarting...


----------



## Felonious Ntent (Nov 22, 2004)

Will do I was in middle of creating character when server went down.
I'll be there asap.


----------



## Morrus (Nov 22, 2004)

Grrr.  Struggling with it.  Keeps timing out and stuff.


----------



## Greylock (Nov 22, 2004)

I like the idea of this mod, and the scope of it. Read the earlier thread several times. But in order to test it, I would need it to be up for several days. My play time during the current 'Merican  holidays simply doesn't allow me a consistent schedule for gaming.

Why don't you just go ahead and leave it up for a few days. Hasn't been much traffic at PoA lately anyways. But I'd love to explore the mod with my current char. PoA wasn't really keeping his interest.


----------



## killjoy68102 (Nov 22, 2004)

*Server Down Again (I am affraid)*

I guess we finnaly know what happens when a demon kills a nobel hero like Darvish O'Derida... a curse wipes the very plane from the cosmos


----------



## Neo (Nov 23, 2004)

Not my day for computers it seems... first I spend several hours switching all my hardrives etc..across to a new case, board, p4 etc.. only to have windows refuse to run...grrr.. so spend more time switching everything back to the old one till i can suss the problem and decide to chill out on NWN for an hour to two..get real excited to see a Chainmail trial is in progress...only to be thwarted at the gates as it were LOL.

I've made a character six times now and tried to get in but everytime I get server timeout you have been disconnected...     Must sleep now..hopefully tommorrow will be a more technologically happy day heh.


----------



## EN_blakman (Nov 23, 2004)

Besides the rough edges, this module is impressive/incredible.
Though i would love to play PoA til the end (just recently got on), i have no problems with a switch to this module (i could play PoA at home, just to see it all).

The only concern i have at the moment is the stability of the module, crashed for me and others yesterday sometimes (more often than PoA).


----------



## Felonious Ntent (Nov 23, 2004)

I found it fun the bit I played. But I can see it being very hard to find people to group with. While I realize we can get henchmen which is good it isn't as fun as being part of a group of actual players. If this mod is used definatley need to implement something like the scrying device in POA for finding out who else is on especialy concidering the size of the mod. 

Another anoying feature was when in the forest if you prefer to stay zoomed out the trees block your view. 

Did anyone get subraces to work?


----------



## Morrus (Nov 23, 2004)

There haven't been more than 2 people online at the same time for the last day or so, which explains why you can't find a group to adventure with.  Hopefully some others will come check it out.


----------



## Greylock (Nov 23, 2004)

When I tried to make a Wood Elf, he defaulted to Human as far as his stats, feats, skills and appearance went. So I just made an Elf. Will assume he's Moon.

The henchies and soldiers are an interesting touch, but when I tried my first dungeon run, the Crypt, the soldiers did not follow. Caught me a little off-guard. I think I'm going to like this place. I like a wide open world. But a pc-scrying device would help.

Got about an hour or so of exploring around town before my first crash ;p. Came at a good time. A zombie had just had just about killed my char. 

Is resting alllowed in town? There needs to be a place to pick up basic instructions.

[Added] Yes, Morrus, the elf Aelrahd was my char. I assume you were the platinum blonde with the halberd?


----------



## Felonious Ntent (Nov 23, 2004)

Morrus said:
			
		

> There haven't been more than 2 people online at the same time for the last day or so, which explains why you can't find a group to adventure with.  Hopefully some others will come check it out.




Actualy most of my experience was with a party.
First off I met you and some one else on the boat. I was the bald fighter.
You and I talked a bit in an Inn.

After that game crashed and not having character saved I spent time experimenting on making other characters I ended up grouping with 2 people. We died alot especialy me in the forest and then south of town went into a crypt with an army of soldiers. In there we met another palyer who seemed to have a high level character at this tiem I had to leave.

This was all made possible only because of a chance meeting on the initial boat. I like the mod alot. I liked playing a low level character. But I would like something like the scrying device implemented if this mod is used. With the teleporters all one needs to do is scrying and tell to a player found and if they want to group can meet up pretty quick.


I can't remember any names (I think Niko and Elyinel I grouped with)including mine as it was generated by NWN and not one I created.  but in the group I was once again the bald fighter/cleric.


----------



## Greylock (Nov 23, 2004)

Ouch. Thanks for pointing out the char save bit, Felonious. Afer the crash I'm back to Level 1. Yipes. Not that I had accomplished much, but I was about to save when the server went down.


----------



## Felonious Ntent (Nov 23, 2004)

Did you figure out how to save? Only thing I could do was save Char in the options menue of NWN but someone said that only saved a copy to my HD not the server.


----------



## Morrus (Nov 23, 2004)

I agree - a scry advice would be great.  Problem is, I have no idea how to make one - and the device from PoA doesn't work when you take a character with one into CHAINMAIL.  I'll certainly suggest it to the designer, though.

 One of the problems I'm noticing is that people are arriving with PoA characters (which, by the nature of the module, are VERY munchkiny).  Because this module operates around a different magic item system (you can't usually buy them easily - you buy masterwork stuff and enchant it), I can see the sudden influx of hundreds of high powered magical items being a bit of a problem long-term.  Someone was waving the Staff of Anduin around the other day, which is a PoA-specific _artifact_!


----------



## Morrus (Nov 23, 2004)

When you exit the game (as opposed to a crash, I guess), the module automatically saves your character and location.


----------



## Felonious Ntent (Nov 23, 2004)

cool thnx

I guess one could just shout when the enter the mod to see if anyone wants to group. I know not good etiquette but could reslove things.

BTW how long you leaving it up?
I am off Thurs and would love another go at it. Probabley wont have a chance to play tell then.

Also anything can be done about things like trees blocking a players view if zoomed out? Or is this a "feature".


----------



## Greylock (Nov 23, 2004)

Felonious Ntent said:
			
		

> Did you figure out how to save? Only thing I could do was save Char in the options menue of NWN but someone said that only saved a copy to my HD not the server.




Nope, didn't figure out how to save to server. Just hoping it worked. But I didn't get the chance.

Morrus? I hereby withdraw my comment above about continuing my PoA char in Chainmail. Now that I've seen it, I agree with your comments that it is a bad fit. And munchkinky to the extreme.


----------



## Felonious Ntent (Nov 23, 2004)

You could allow the char with levels intact to come in but no equipment and minimal gold for those who don't want to lose the time invested in a char.

Me I am when this becomes permanent going to start over.


----------



## Greylock (Nov 23, 2004)

I'm wondering if they were established chars coming from PoA. I hate to say it, but I had stopped visiting PoA. In the late night hours (American CST) I usually play, I had been seeing world-jumpers coming in and powergaming all over the place. Not that I'm innocent of it at times, but I always try to keep the RP to the forefront and I ran screaming from some of the shenagins I saw. 

Maybe the Wanted board will snuff that out.


----------



## Felonious Ntent (Nov 23, 2004)

If this is up and running on Thursday I want to try to figure out how to do the subraces. Beyond that I am going to wander until I find a lyncanthrope. I will then let it kill me I want to see how this works.


----------



## Neo (Nov 23, 2004)

Morrus said:
			
		

> I agree - a scry advice would be great.  Problem is, I have no idea how to make one - and the device from PoA doesn't work when you take a character with one into CHAINMAIL.  I'll certainly suggest it to the designer, though.
> 
> One of the problems I'm noticing is that people are arriving with PoA characters (which, by the nature of the module, are VERY munchkiny).  Because this module operates around a different magic item system (you can't usually buy them easily - you buy masterwork stuff and enchant it), I can see the sudden influx of hundreds of high powered magical items being a bit of a problem long-term.  Someone was waving the Staff of Anduin around the other day, which is a PoA-specific _artifact_!




with regards to the Scrying Crystal, that device and it respective scripts from PoA just needs to be exported, then imported into Chainmail for the item to be usable.  which should be possible if PoA is opened in the toolset and the Scrying crystal located in the item menus.

with regards to magic items... for the purposes of keeping existing characters you could always have a day where everyone has to sell off thier items and just allow people to port over with thier cash...  or completely free of any items or gold..  The characters themselves are more important to me than thier belongings... "things" I can always find again.


----------



## Neo (Nov 24, 2004)

So I finally get a new character get upped to level three go buy some equipment module crashes... I try the character again find I've not only lost the 2 levels the man on the boat gave me, but all the gear I bought and im in town..level 1...grr.

Managed to get an hour or so of play with some of the guys, made a new character got the levels from the boat man, logged out and in to save... had it crash a little later lost the 1500xp from everything we'd fought and lost everything I'd picked up... this time when the server comes back I reload in to find my character level 2 but with starting gear again.....grrrrrrr

Without a save function on this mod that doesnt involve logging out and in again which just if anything makes the server more likely to crash its a little frustrating.  Losing everything time and time again.

However content, size and feature wise the CHAINMAIL mod is great..


----------



## Greylock (Nov 24, 2004)

That was pretty much my experience this morning. And I've since heard from a friend who said the same thing happened to him last night.

But ya know what? I already like this mod. Get us the scry device and a save pen, and I won't really want to go back to PoA.


----------



## Morrus (Nov 24, 2004)

I'll try, guys - but I don't know if my skills are up to it!


----------



## Morrus (Nov 24, 2004)

OK, I've done as suggested and imported the PC Scry Device and the Saving Pen.  Dunno if they'll work, though - but I guess it's worth a try.

 I hate meddling with stuff I don't understand.  I worry about making things more buggy than they currently are.


----------



## Greylock (Nov 24, 2004)

Took a look around for a few minutes. The items are in inventory, but I don't think they work. I get "uses items special ability", but nothing else. Can't tell with the saving pen, but I waited for someone else (pc) to log in and can say for certain the scry pen didn't work.

And dang, but the undead in Chainmail are hard! Don't even give a guy a chance to run away. The soldier henchie did well to stay alive for  while, but even she gave up the ghost eventually.

Made the mistake of speaking to Silvanus in the Fugue Plane as well ;p. Can we get a few racial deities at some point? I know, I know. Demanding little gits aren't we ;p.


----------



## Neo (Nov 24, 2004)

Greylock said:
			
		

> Took a look around for a few minutes. The items are in inventory, but I don't think they work. I get "uses items special ability", but nothing else. Can't tell with the saving pen, but I waited for someone else (pc) to log in and can say for certain the scry pen didn't work.
> .




sounds like an associated script is missing


----------



## EN_blakman (Nov 24, 2004)

Morrus said:
			
		

> Someone was waving the Staff of Anduin around the other day, which is a PoA-specific _artifact_!




Ahem, *look ruefully* sounds like that could be one of my chars. I told them not to do so, but they never really do what i say.

Well, to be honest, i thought we just explore that module to make up our mind about it; never thought that i may ruin the play-experience of someone else. I just wanted to seek out interesting places and didn't want to die (or see someone other dying), so I used it, unreflecting.

I think i will create a Chainmail specific char to wander that realm.


----------



## Felonious Ntent (Nov 24, 2004)

I am realy liking this. Last night I ahd a chance to paly a bit and made a new character. Eo an Elven archer. A fighter/mage 1/1 going arcane archer route. 

Now as to game play anyone else have problems with soldiers not attacking?

I tried to play around with custom macros to control them but even though the command was input as a whisper it ended up a shout.


----------



## Neo (Nov 25, 2004)

Felonious Ntent said:
			
		

> Now as to game play anyone else have problems with soldiers not attacking?
> 
> I tried to play around with custom macros to control them but even though the command was input as a whisper it ended up a shout.




I suspect it is lag related the soldiers tend to quite a bit ive noticed do the "lag" induced stand and waver..as if they are about to attack but dont.  However when the number of things on screen reduces and lag subsides, left ot thier own devices they will attack anything that comes near.


----------



## Morrus (Nov 25, 2004)

I've made an attempt to fix the PC Scry and Saving Pen.  Let's hope they work this time around!

 Has anyone seen Elendiel recently?


----------



## Dinkeldog (Nov 25, 2004)

What times are people generally around?  I couldn't find anyone to play with me on PoA so it was very limited--the sewers were really deadly, even.


----------



## Felonious Ntent (Nov 25, 2004)

Other thigns I have noticed.

1) I had soldiers under me. Was exploring and had to log off I am sure on my own not a crash. Day or so later when logged in they are gone and I am in a dangerous area. Is this normal? Would this happen with hired henchmen? Not a very good thing IMO especialy concidering we have to log out then back in to save. 

2)Soul crystals how rare are they? I ahve one and if sell to rogue merchant it is worth 2000. With this scratch I could get a couple of helpfull items. But if they are rare better for me to hold on to it.


----------



## Neo (Nov 25, 2004)

Morrus said:
			
		

> Has anyone seen Elendiel recently?




Not since PoA was running


----------



## Neo (Nov 25, 2004)

Felonious Ntent said:
			
		

> Other thigns I have noticed.
> 
> 1) I had soldiers under me. Was exploring and had to log off I am sure on my own not a crash. Day or so later when logged in they are gone and I am in a dangerous area. Is this normal? Would this happen with hired henchmen? Not a very good thing IMO especialy concidering we have to log out then back in to save.




All depends if the server crashed between when you first had them and when you logged in.. which is almost certainly the case and the reason they were gone.

For the record I got to the bottom of the soldiers doing nothing issue also..its all down to the talk commands that are included as part of chainmail.

When you have soldiers if you type *attack* they will attack something provided they have seen it.. or if you type *help* they will come running to your location and engage if something is there.  There is no custom format such as mentioned in the book all characters get of talk commands.. so dont use the/w ** format.. just type the words as normal in talk.

Likewise there was a problem in town whereby the monsters that spawn there when attacked by a player resulted in the town guard attacking the monsters and the player...  this can be resolved by typing *guards* or *help* in which case the guards come running to attack the spawned creature but will not attack you if you join in.  



> 2)Soul crystals how rare are they? I ahve one and if sell to rogue merchant it is worth 2000. With this scratch I could get a couple of helpfull items. But if they are rare better for me to hold on to it.




Random loot based on level


----------



## Greylock (Nov 25, 2004)

I have had trouble getting consistent responses from the soldiers as well. On one occassion, a soldier left me alone at the entrance of the crypt. Wouldn't come in. And I've had them leave at area trasitions. They have also disappeared when I've logged off, and logged back on, in a dangerous area, just as Felonious notes.

And this "Random Loot". I have heard frrom others the wonders of this stuff. I haven't come across anything better than a healing kit and aventurine. ;p I have almost made level three, though, so I consider my char especially blessed. Now if that only gave him an edge against the undead, he'd be go-to-go.


----------



## Felonious Ntent (Nov 25, 2004)

I came across an Ion stone. Bagged me 7500 gp.

So now I have a composite long bow, ring of scholars, cloak of elvenkind, wand of missles, chain shirt and some silver arrows.

BTW the light gem socket exploit in POA is alive and well in chainmail.
The merchants that carry them are the general under the craft materials screen.
I ran a test bought a heavy mace and socketed white light. This didn't raise level of weapon but allowed for greater resale. So  this may be something 
Morrus may want to pass on to designer.


----------



## Chaz (Nov 25, 2004)

Well after trying it out for some time I have to say that I like it. There are some problems, but in general I think its fine as is. i hope to many tweeks arent attempted that end up messing it up.

I can see not having POA specific items allowed... you can just give people a little time to sell them. the high level chars will need to keep some gear/gold as the encounters I ran into were pretty strong. In fact I ran into more than one monster that I couldnt even lay a glove on with a 30+ lev char. 

If you allow only gold to come over(selling off items in PAO for instance) then there had better be a way of outfitting high lev chars right away or else they will run into trouble fairly quick I think. So far I havent found a place to buy good magic gear.
If you allow only chars without gold or gear, then the trouble I mention above will be even worse. So I dont think this will work. 

That said, I dont think allowing exsisting high lev chars to come over with most of their gear/gold will hurt anything. I can see leaving POA specific adventure items behind/sell them... But the world is HUGE and the encounters seem to work very well based on level. I think it will work out just fine.

Peace

============================

UPDATE: this is a blast. Lets just leave it up. Lets just say that people have to sell POA specific items. The detail and endless amounts of stuff to see is amazing. Epic critters to fight, cool stuff like being told you hear something - sense something coming -etc.. caves that go deep with drow/mind flayer citys at the bottom. Demons/dragons/ etc. etc.. 

Yeah lets just leave it up and running.   

Peace II


----------



## Neo (Nov 26, 2004)

Greylock said:
			
		

> And this "Random Loot". I have heard frrom others the wonders of this stuff. I haven't come across anything better than a healing kit and aventurine. ;p I have almost made level three, though, so I consider my char especially blessed. Now if that only gave him an edge against the undead, he'd be go-to-go.




nevertheless soul gems both empty and full... are random loot and turn up from time to time when you kill things..  I found one empty and one full tonight my companion another two full.. so they're not verly rare.

filling an empty one can be done by killing a good NPc (something I did to test it)..   Soul Stopnes cannot be used until at least 8th level however but magical forges to use them at are as rare as dodo droppings..havent come across one yet (except when exploring the purchasable stronghold for 20+ level characters, which all come with a magical forge)..so that likely needs addressing at some point...as you really begin to hurt past level 6 without "some" magical gear...and you also begin spawning monsters like Rakasha that need certain magical weapons to hurt them.

The rest of the random treasure is I admit fairly poor..non magic weapons, armour, occasional scroll or potion but mostly just gems..and general faffage.

I managed to earn level 7 tonight and not without dying a fair few times the encounter system is fairly erratic one minute your fighting goblins..the next an abyss demon or devil turns up that cant be hit and drops you with a single blow... you just have to know when to run and when not to.. and monsters on Chainmail are persistent bu**ers they will chase you across transition points and over hill and mountain...even sometimes when you think you've lost them and its safe to rest..ta da over the crest of the hill they come.  We even had an incident with one of the epic players meeting an adamantine golem fleeing to town and it following him through the portal and begin laying waste to most of the guards and shopkeepers in shoreline ... lol (though i suspect that was probably a transition glitch as they shouldnt be able to use portals).


----------



## Neo (Nov 26, 2004)

Chaz said:
			
		

> I can see not having POA specific items allowed... you can just give people a little time to sell them. the high level chars will need to keep some gear/gold as the encounters I ran into were pretty strong. In fact I ran into more than one monster that I couldnt even lay a glove on with a 30+ lev char.
> 
> If you allow only gold to come over(selling off items in PAO for instance) then there had better be a way of outfitting high lev chars right away or else they will run into trouble fairly quick I think. So far I havent found a place to buy good magic gear.
> If you allow only chars without gold or gear, then the trouble I mention above will be even worse. So I dont think this will work.




apart from the lag/stability problems (it really strains with more than 4 people atm..and even without tends to go down once every hour or so)..I agree it is an excellent mod needing only a few tweaks here and there.. magical forges being included, bit of a tweak to the treasure tables, save pen and scrying crystal sorting and so forth... (bear in mind this is only the module BETA..the full version will supposedly have story elements but those werent included with the beta as the design team just wanted to deal with bugs first).

The encounter tables are very unsual..not only because of the mixed CR of encounters (any level character can spawn almost any level creature)..which can be tricky and you get some odd things in some odd places too.. but that can be quite amusing.
 The subrace system also doesnt seem to be functioning according tot he module read me when you enter the mod as a race with subraces available it is supposed to ask you once and once only to choose one or not.. which it doesnt.
Additionally the Log out and back in to heal/rez yourself abuse needs to be prevented as it was on PoA so if you die and log out when you log back in your still dead as you should be.

With regards to PoA characters as Ive mentioned before for me selling all their PoA items (which wouldnt work anyway unless the items blueprints were all exported from PoA and imported into CHAINMAIL anyway) and just having the characters and thier gold available in chainmail would be my preference.. but PoA would need to be up at some point for folks to do that, especially with the (and something else I support) item level limit being on CHAINMAIL.. many PoA characters couldnt log in atm as they are no doubt equipped with items beyond thier character level allowance.


----------



## Neo (Nov 26, 2004)

Felonious Ntent said:
			
		

> I came across an Ion stone. Bagged me 7500 gp.
> 
> So now I have a composite long bow, ring of scholars, cloak of elvenkind, wand of missles, chain shirt and some silver arrows.
> 
> ...




Its not really an exploit as there isnt a whole heap to spend it on and what there is is limited because of item level restriction.. so get as much gold as you like but it has limited benefit to you at present.  If anything its kinda helpful as healing potions are an absolute must in this module for most levels and even then using one in combat provokes an AoO from everyone attacking you which can put you down even quicker lol.. Being able to resupply some potions and kits from cash made light gemming is a help more than exploit.. especially with the shops and merchants being largely the bare essentials only and with random treasure being so poor.

Ring of Insight/Scholars are fairly useless btw as you find no magic items to identify with them except the odd Ious stone from a crystal deposit or soul gem from a corpse...which also means the Lore skill is fairly redundant also.

although I have ti on good authority high level characters find magical items.


----------



## Greylock (Nov 26, 2004)

Saw Elendiel on tonight, running a PoA char. Finding it very tempting to run my PoA char now, too. This mod is quite deadly to low-level pcs.

The loot and XP gains are frustratingly random. I've had encounters that were danged hard for a 3rd level char net no XP and no loot. Unless he's lucky, in which case 1gp is average. Still having a hard time getting soldiers and assorted party members to join in fights, even using the command line tips above. The most consistent responses have come from the Wyrmling I picked up in the Embattled settlement.

Again, tempted to ruun my PoA char, but Rus' opinion means a lot to me. And the other fellow I talked to said his PoA char was illegal. Haven't tried it yet. May soon.

Aelrahd sends...


----------



## Neo (Nov 26, 2004)

Greylock said:
			
		

> Saw Elendiel on tonight, running a PoA char. Finding it very tempting to run my PoA char now, too. This mod is quite deadly to low-level pcs.
> 
> The loot and XP gains are frustratingly random. I've had encounters that were danged hard for a 3rd level char net no XP and no loot. Unless he's lucky, in which case 1gp is average. Still having a hard time getting soldiers and assorted party members to join in fights, even using the command line tips above. The most consistent responses have come from the Wyrmling I picked up in the Embattled settlement.
> 
> ...




Xp is a little odd .. I have fought exceedingly tough skeletons that fire lightning arrows at me and get 25xp for killing them.. and then fought a Green HAg (both encountered at level 3) and recieved 600xp  however I have found this can be something of a positive as well as a negative.

I had soldiers functioning fine for me yesterday when i was in the south shore crypts.. but the more lag present causes them regardless of orders to either do nothing or move forward as if to attack and then just waver, rocking on thier feet...but the command lines do work on occasion I promise you   

With regards to PoA characters I imagine most of the non 20+ level characters are illegal atm..because there was no item level restriction on PoA unlike CHAINMAIL and almost anyone with an item from the Tavern is looking at a mimum level of 18+ for most of those items.. and a minimum level of 8-10+ for the emporium items.  It can be a little frustrating as rather than simply unequip the items to you pack on log in (and with the ILR active effectively prevent you from reequipping them) it simply says your character is illegal and will not let you login to the module with that character at all.  This of course means that unless PoA is put up for a time so folks can unequip (and/or sell said items) those characters will remai unaccessible.


----------



## Nifft (Nov 26, 2004)

I almost lived for _ten minutes_ tonight! In a row!

Ooo, so much fun dying over and over! Well, more not.

Can we have PoA back please?

Thanks,  -- N


----------



## Greylock (Nov 26, 2004)

Saw that firsthand, Neo. Tried  to log in with my PoA char and he was illegal.

When you run an old char in the DL mods, there is an NPC char who chides you until you are under the char total gp threshold. And lets you sell off stuff. That would be handy for old PoA chars in CM.

As much as I like this mod, it is wayyy too easy to lose everything in it, as buggy as it is.

Any chance we can get a working Save Pen and PC Scry device?


----------



## Neo (Nov 26, 2004)

Nifft said:
			
		

> I almost lived for _ten minutes_ tonight! In a row!
> 
> Ooo, so much fun dying over and over! Well, more not.
> 
> ...




This is still only a trial Nifft.. as far as I know no decision has been made one way ro the other yet.  This is simply a trial to test the mod out and gauge opinion, bugginess etc..


----------



## Neo (Nov 26, 2004)

Greylock said:
			
		

> Any chance we can get a working Save Pen and PC Scry device?




Morrus has been trying to get it working I believe, though it (and the scry crystal both) are currently still non functioning.

Im sure it wont be too much longer before the problem is foud and resolved.


----------



## Greylock (Nov 26, 2004)

Cool. It is worth the effort. Chainmail is a better mod than PoA. Let's hope WoW hasn't stolen all it's players. ;p


----------



## Chaz (Nov 26, 2004)

Save pen would be nice... But ive been playing for quite some time now with success by logging out after every new level(or significant advance I didnt want to lose). while this is less desireable than a save pen, it still works fine. 

I am wanting to find out more info on setting up a stronghold. Whats involed etc.. One of my characters will be basicaly retiring soon, and would like to set up a place for people to go that has a forge. Let me know if you want to do this Morrus.

Still having fun... hate the regular server drop outs... but still a blast. Hope it doesnt get nerfed to bad along the way. Lots of magic to be found as you get higher up so dont despair. 

Working with others will be benificial to lower lev chars since there are many areas that have varied levels of critters at the same time. While a pain for newbs, I really like this feature. The world shouldnt be populated with only certain level monsters in any given area... there needs to be a chance for highr lev stuff wandering in. It makes the world more alive and challenging. Always expect the unexpected.   

Peace


----------



## Morrus (Nov 26, 2004)

Chaz -- I can't get the saving pen working, despite several hours of trying.  This module is weird in the way it handles stuff.  However, I did find a setting which makes it save all characters every 5-10 minutes, which I've activated.  So, at worst, you won't lose more than 5 minutes or so of stuff.

 Strongholds -- you need to go to Fontessa Valley Heights.  The stronghold deed broker is there.  At present, you need to be 20th level and the stronghold costs 2.5 Million gold.  The strongholds are HUGE and have a lot of stuff there.  I imagine the stronghold feature will be expanded somewhat at a later date.


----------



## Morrus (Nov 26, 2004)

In the absence of a working PC List device, I've tried putting a Scrying Pool right by the start location in the Shoreline Settlement. It may work, or it may not. Uploading it as I type this, so you should be able to try it in a few minutes.

 Also - lag is apparently affected by soldiers and henchment. I've limited people to two soldiers/henchmen total for the moment.  People who find they're dying a lot really need to take advantage of the soldiers and - as soon as they can possibly afford it - make sure you get a cleric henchman.


----------



## Neo (Nov 26, 2004)

Chaz said:
			
		

> Save pen would be nice... But ive been playing for quite some time now with success by logging out after every new level(or significant advance I didnt want to lose). while this is less desireable than a save pen, it still works fine.




logging out and in to save characters does work that is indeed true.. however it also generates lag, which in turn makes it more likely the module will crash.. so it isn't ideal.  However no we have an auto save every 5 mins im sure that will make a huge difference, thanks Morrus


----------



## Felonious Ntent (Nov 26, 2004)

coolo thanks russ. that was horrible you egt cash shop and while going from store to store it would crash. So the only option was sell, log out, shop in 1 store log out etc.


----------



## Dinkeldog (Nov 26, 2004)

I'm having a lot of fun.  Need to look at it again after work tonight.  Thanks, Elendiel/Grippo.


----------



## edge3343 (Nov 26, 2004)

At 1pm central the Chainmail server is up but none of the characters are there. Something odd is going on.

I really love Chainmail. I just wish it was more reliable.


----------



## Chaz (Nov 26, 2004)

Yeah it does go down a lot... But im sure a patch will come out eventualy for it. 
As far as the strongholds go, man are they sweet. The current cost was 2.6 million(+ 250,000 to redeed it for moving in my case.. doh) I think the price goes up though. But they are excellent. Perfect for a guild to operate out of. Several levels, lots of rooms, places to sit, furnishings etc. 
There is a portal room with a portal like you see in various places around the world. You can access the module personal storage system -i think this is for you to save items you cant use yet but will want to someday, without having to carry them. 
And it has a magic forge furnace to enhance items(with needed components of course). You can hire henchmen like in town... Lots of stuff. I cant wait to get in the mod again long enough to find a place to rebuild it so i can look more. 

Peace


----------



## Greylock (Nov 27, 2004)

Apologies to Crom, whoever is playing him/her. My char, Aelrahd, and Jarik were already in the thick of battle and didn't have time to talk.

Chainmail is very cool, but it is next to impossible for a low-level guy unless he is in a party. That leads to a problem. There aren't enough folks predictably on to put together a party. Or easy to meet up. I only chanced upon Jarik.

Might want to allow PoA char's to drop ILR'ed stuff to get on, for now. Starting to agree with Felonious, Chaz and all. If there is to be a real test,  make some amends for PoA chars to play. Unequip the ILR stuff,  allow it to be dropped or sold, or the char comes in nekkid, whatever. I don't even mind if he comes in poor.


----------



## Neo (Nov 27, 2004)

Greylock said:
			
		

> Apologies to Crom, whoever is playing him/her. My char, Aelrahd, and Jarik were already in the thick of battle and didn't have time to talk.




That would be one of mine   Probably just as well as I was about 4 levels above you guys and would have spawned horrible things on us all...  For instance this evening i wandered onto South Shore...need 500xp for my level figured id stick close to town.. in no short order I spawned the following (bare in mind I still have no magical weapon lol)
1. Raputti (or something similar..spider that is ghostly visaged and has DR that takes 8 points from all damage)
2. Cyclops and an Ettin
3. Beholder Mage and a Greater Werewolf
4. Wild Knight (unless your high level or can dupe them into standing at the foot of a hill while you bow them from above..i recommedn anyone under 7th avoid these liek the plague).
6.  Gorgon and a Greater Medusa (stoned and death'ed lol)

amazingly I survived and levelled.. and had to on at least three occasions lead some monsters back into town so the guards could disaptch them because they were way out of my league or i simply couldnt hurt them with the masterwork weapon i had... was great fun. 



> Chainmail is very cool, but it is next to impossible for a low-level guy unless he is in a party. That leads to a problem. There aren't enough folks predictably on to put together a party. Or easy to meet up. I only chanced upon Jarik.




It is difficult if your not in a party but to be honest being in a party can alsobring its own troubles..namely you seem to spawn more things you cant handle rather than only one or two LOL..  But there doesnt seem to be any xp benefit for partying in CHAINMAIL like there was in PoA which is a shame as that was a real incentive to group and make friends with other folks in the mod.

Had the Scrying Pool been working id have headed out to where you were and said hi..but it doesnt seem to be at the moment unfortunately.
I had a route around Fontessa (the capital city i think) fairly big place and the sewers are real unpleasant.. was hoping a magical forge for enchanting might be found there..but no such luck.

I did notice a definite imporvement in the number of unusual terrain features that appear once i hit 8th level and the loot dropped seems a bit better too though still no magic item found (I like that magic items are rare..but the encounters dont really support such a notion...but that in turn can be good as it means it isnt a given that you can stand and fight everything you meet..so it encourages you to play smart).


----------



## Morrus (Nov 27, 2004)

OK, good news!  PC Scry is finally working.  The only way I could do it was to attach it to an NPC conversation, so now the ship captain and all of the guards will list players and locations for you.


----------



## Greylock (Nov 27, 2004)

Thanks Morrus.

BTW,  I just logged on for a minute or two, and the server went down. When I logged back in,  I saw what Edge was refering to yesterday. No chars available to play. Guess it's only temporary. About thirty minutes after Edge's post yesterday I took a peak and everything was OK.


----------



## Morrus (Nov 27, 2004)

I uploaded the new version (with the guards doing PC Scry) after I posted above.  I imagine you tried to log in while the upload was taking place or while the module was restarting (which can take a few minutes, but still shows as "running" on Gamespy).


----------



## Felonious Ntent (Nov 27, 2004)

Cool cant wait to try tonight.
As too survivability of chars it is all tied to the lag. When the mod is running smooth your hench/soldiers obey your orders and attack. It is when it gets laggy. For some reason your char seems to act ok but laggy as do the monsters but not the henchmen they stand there or take for everr to activate power attack etc. Which is weird you would assume the chars and monsters would react the same but they don't. If what others are saying is true and the monsters encountered have dr +whatever and we can't find magic weapons there is a flaw. Especialy concidering you can by flame arrows/bolts which unless I am mistaken are +1. I think the designers may have went a bit overboard on the lack of magic. +1 items shouldn't be all that ahrd to find for say a 7th level character. I think what may fix this is having more forges. For example put 1 in most cities for example put 1 in shoreline but not the surrounding city areas. 
Questions. 
1)Are there recipes for making items anywhere? 
2)I have a full soul gem. I am too low level to activate it to release the soul Why would this be?
3)If I use the soul gem to forge or sell does this give me alignment penalties?
4)If I have soldiers and reload they are no longer partied with me. Sometimes they are there when I log back and sometimes not. This doesn't seem to be tied to server crashing as I tested it. Is this a bug? I would assume if I am in the middle of a nasty area and have to log off for a while that when I log in my compnions should still be there and part of my party. Otherwise ouch that could hurt.


----------



## Greylock (Nov 27, 2004)

Hmmmm, I didn't notice until Rus pointed it out in game that the Wyrmling I've been nabbing as a companion is twice my level. No wonder he puts me to shame.   Still, he's saved my butt so many times now. I'm only dying half as often. ;p  He just rescued me from a Fine Stag Beetle. I couldn't lock on the dratted thing at all, but Wyrmies breath weapons got rid of him.

Last night he didn't do well enough to save Aelrahd and Jarik, but then, I don't think anyone could have saved us. Went through the trap door in the Gnoll/Skeletion cave, only to run into a Flesh Golem.   

In regards to the soldiers, I am getting kinda tired of their lousy AI. Everyone keeps telling me to get a Cleric Henchie. Question is, how? I can't access the appropriate dialogue. Is it a level or gp issue? My guy is chronically poor.


----------



## cantrip (Nov 27, 2004)

Found my first magic weapon. At 9th level, and of course it was a +1 dire mace so not really that useful. Anyone want to buy? Just seek out Sorfiwiewiel Gende'lyn with about 1000 gp.


----------



## Neo (Nov 27, 2004)

Greylock said:
			
		

> Thanks Morrus.
> 
> BTW,  I just logged on for a minute or two, and the server went down. When I logged back in,  I saw what Edge was refering to yesterday. No chars available to play. Guess it's only temporary. About thirty minutes after Edge's post yesterday I took a peak and everything was OK.




With your vault appearing empty...all you do is leave it logged in with the empty vault and wait 2 or 3 minutes...eventually your characters appear.  I've had this happen numerous times and morrus also mentions it on one of his posts.


----------



## Morrus (Nov 27, 2004)

Yup.  It's die to the server being busy loading the module.  It's so big, that it actually takes the server a couple of minutes to load the darn thing!


----------



## Neo (Nov 27, 2004)

Greylock said:
			
		

> Hmmmm, I didn't notice until Rus pointed it out in game that the Wyrmling I've been nabbing as a companion is twice my level. No wonder he puts me to shame.   Still, he's saved my butt so many times now. I'm only dying half as often. ;p  He just rescued me from a Fine Stag Beetle. I couldn't lock on the dratted thing at all, but Wyrmies breath weapons got rid of him.




I find higher hit dice companions a mixed blessing..sure they help in combat but they also seem to have you considered a higher threat and therefore spawn nastier thing.   



> In regards to the soldiers, I am getting kinda tired of their lousy AI. Everyone keeps telling me to get a Cleric Henchie. Question is, how? I can't access the appropriate dialogue. Is it a level or gp issue? My guy is chronically poor.




Henchmen cost a 100gp fee to hire not sure if there is a level requirement but I dont think so.

With soldiers they are free to hire but you can only have one or two of a rank that isnt higher than your level.  So if your 6th level you can have a Rank 6 Crusader and a Rank 6 Battlemage or up to two of any of a rank below that but that is all.  Some soldiers are really handy as they can heal you too via dialogue options.

also with regards to the talk commands to get them to help..one thing i've noticed folks doing it typing the commands more than once..which through my own experiences i have found to be a problem when you say help or attack once they do so (even if lag prevents them) if yhowever you type those commands again..it doesnt reaffirm the command but simply negate the first command.  For example you say attack your hench or soldier goes into wavering combat pose ... if you say it again they stand at ease and do not engage.


----------



## Chaz (Nov 27, 2004)

Morrus... The PC-Skry function seems to be working ok. 

My stronghold has disapeared. Could I possibly get my 2.85 Mill gold back please? 

Peace


----------



## Dinkeldog (Nov 27, 2004)

Is it just me or has the server been down a couple hours now?


----------



## cantrip (Nov 27, 2004)

It's not just you
I've been staring at the status page here and it agrees with you.

I really should do something else...


----------



## Chaz (Nov 27, 2004)

Yeah its been down for a looonnnggggg time... ive been coming back here hoping for an update or some word...

Guess I should give up and find something else to do.   

Peace


----------



## Neo (Nov 28, 2004)

I'd like to say as a DM I have some clue as to what happened and where it is but I cant and I dont   I've been waiting just like you guys for the last four hours or so for it to come back.

It had two crashes just after our bout in the forest and came back each time but then it went down a third time and has been down ever since.


----------



## Greylock (Nov 28, 2004)

Dang. I was on for all of three minutes just now, and it timed out. Server isn't showing.


----------



## Morrus (Nov 28, 2004)

Just restarted it. Neo, drop me an email and I'll reply with details you can use to do the same.


----------



## Greylock (Nov 28, 2004)

Yarrr!!! Neo and I were standing around chatting online when you reset.


----------



## Dinkeldog (Nov 28, 2004)

Down again.


----------



## Greylock (Nov 28, 2004)

Dang. I've been nursing a nasty cold. Part of the reason I've been playing so much the last few days. It pretty much preempted all my Thanksgiving plans and left me at home. Almost over it now.

Why does this mean anything special? Well, when I signed off the server last night I was in a rush to get to the toilet. Not feeling good. Guess I didn't get my char to a safe point. He had just died, killed by Yuanti whilst trying to rush to Crom's aid. As he told me, as I lay in the Fugue Plane, Crom was mere steps from my char when he passed from the living.

So, when I logged back in this morning (feeling much better now, thank you), Aelrahd spawned straight back into the Dark Forest. To be promptly attacked and killed several times by an Orc Shaman. Then Giant Ants. Then Harpies. That'll teach me to note where I log off. ;p

Finally got to the portal and escaped. Took a trip to the South Shore where a Cockatrice stoned my char, but to my suprise, my fellow eventually prevailed. Gawrsh, I like this server, even though it slays me...


----------



## Neo (Nov 28, 2004)

Greylock said:
			
		

> Why does this mean anything special? Well, when I signed off the server last night I was in a rush to get to the toilet. Not feeling good. Guess I didn't get my char to a safe point. He had just died, killed by Yuanti whilst trying to rush to Crom's aid. As he told me, as I lay in the Fugue Plane, Crom was mere steps from my char when he passed from the living.




Yup I was close enough to see your body vanish..and had a raise dead at the ready.. 

The cave behind the waterfall we were outside when you logged off proved to be interesting I figured i'd have a looksee.. thinking ill go Invisibly to the bottom level of this dungeon and work my way back to the surface (what can i say im strange like that).. 10 minutes and one crash later.. I was five levels down and still no bottom level in sight... *ulp*

Passed all manner of unpleasantness too..umber hulks, vampires, undead umber hulks.. death knights...and so forth.. just occured to me im likely to be exactly where i was yesterday now..but with no invisibility left...oh dear.


----------



## briac (Nov 28, 2004)

I was just wondering how long this trial basis is going to last.  I barely get a chance to try it out with it always going down.  I  would just as soon have PoA back, at least we can play that for more than 10 min at a time.  The game itself seems fun as far as I can tell, but I think until more of the bugs are worked out bring back PoA. Just thought I would put this out there, not sure if I'm the only one who feels this way, if I am then nevermind.


----------



## CD8D (Nov 29, 2004)

I agree that it would be nice to have Ascension back, especially around the holidays.  I don't want to sound mean because the server may be fun someday but I kind of want to relax and have fun and not have it crash all the time.  This is the opinion of my gaming group.  I wish you good luck in getting it to work, but please bring Ascension back for awhile at least.


----------



## J-Buzz (Nov 29, 2004)

My take:

*Pros* 

I do like the vast areas to explore.

Wish I had more pros, but I have not experienced enough of the game, but I think the stronghold thing is cool.

*Cons* 

When I was 5th level I found the forge to build magic items.  However it stated that I was not high enough level to use.  So when I leveled to 6th, I am unable to get to the forge now.  The monsters got stronger and with no magical protection or weapons I can not possiably make it there.  Some monsters even have damage reduction that I am unable to get past with a masterwork weapon.  Most just do enough damage that they kill me in 3 hits, as my AC is low.  Need to make a forge closer to civilization.  Be nice if this was documented more so you knew what to do at the forge and what not to do.  Minimum levels and such.

Same henchmen problems as the rest.

Can't seem to find double bladed weapons.  Was suprised to hear someone found a dire mace.

Some quests would be cool, or a story.  I killed a named character (some creature) and the game displayed a message that seemed to give me more xp, but other than that not sure what I can do.


----------



## Morrus (Nov 29, 2004)

J-Buzz, most of that is simply due to the fact that the module isn't finished yet.

 Apparently, a new build (CHAINMAIL BETA 3) is imminent any time now, and includes fixes for over 100 things - although I don't know what those 100 things are.


----------



## Felonious Ntent (Nov 29, 2004)

Where is the forge?


----------



## edge3343 (Nov 29, 2004)

Some "names undisclosed adventuring buddies" and I also found a fiendish forge (location undisclosed).   We even had the means to try out a few enchantments. I put in my axe and the required ingriedients, selected +1 magical enhancement and *bam* out came and axe with a +1 AC bonus.   

I think the fiendish forges are bugged for now.


----------



## Greylock (Nov 29, 2004)

Yesterdays adventuring was incredible. Especially to the player with a head full of Robitussin.


----------



## Neo (Nov 29, 2004)

edge3343 said:
			
		

> Some "names undisclosed adventuring buddies" and I also found a fiendish forge (location undisclosed).   We even had the means to try out a few enchantments. I put in my axe and the required ingriedients, selected +1 magical enhancement and *bam* out came and axe with a +1 AC bonus.
> 
> I think the fiendish forges are bugged for now.




Yup the forges are quite buggy in the existing build.. half the items your likely to have cant be enchanted with certain things when they should and the other half that can give unusual results.

for example upon trying to enchant a Masterword Dwarven Waraxe and MW Warhammer with a Keen or Regeneration effect you are given the message that it cannot enchant such items until they are at least +1 Enchantments (the masterwork bonus is meant to be enough and count in this regard)..yet try the same with a MW Composite Bow and everything works fine.

When you do try to add a +1 enhancement to a weapon it as edge points out adds a +1 Deflection bonus to Ac instead.. now a +1 AC bonus would be nice..except it doesnt seem to be applied.. I ended up with two weapons that were intended to be +3..that instead said they gave +3 Deflection AC each... yet equipped or unequipped neither of the items Ac modifiers applied to my character his Ac remained static (and no no existing higher deflection bonus is possessed).  I suspect that the forge is failing to differentiate between armour and weapons..when ti should be giving an AC bonus to one and an enhancmenet bonus to the other..it is instead just giving an AC bonus to everything (though i am unsure why the Ac bonus instn applying correctly).

I also discovered regardless of which gems you put in so long as the item and the soul stone is there you can still get the enchantment..in fact if you put 3 wrong gems in youll actually not only get your enchantment but still get your gems back too..

I suspect Lansolyns system works better but in a mod this size its a fairly intensive job to remove one and replace another and the above issues may be fixed in the next build anyway.

In the spirit of fair play I'll throw a bone to the avid reader and let you know whats available at the Hellish Forge and what it requires.. but Ill leave the location of the forge undisclosed..part of the fun afterall is finding these things.

+1 Ability Bonus requires Soulstone +3 Diamonds
Regeneration requires Soulstone +3 Diamonds
Haste requires Soulstone +3 Emeralds
Keen requires Soulstone +3 Sapphires
+! Magical Bonus requires Soulstone +3 Diamonds
-10% Arcane Spell Fail requires Soulstone +3 Amethysts
Reduction in Weight requires Soulstone +3 Aventurine


----------



## Greylock (Nov 30, 2004)

I ran with Neo briefly last night and tonight. Last night I made my 4th Ranger level. Until Neo said something a little while back, I hadn't noticed this, but I didn't get my 4th Ranger level Animal Companion.

Anyone else playing a Ranger who has had this happen? I'd kinda hate to lose my 5th level SA too, 2nd FE. 

BTW, Neo and a new char were talking in the server a while back, about how hard it is for new chars to find fair fights. We've all seen the unreliable AI of henchies. My char is only now feeling comfy, solo or party,  and he just made 8th level.

One server I know that plays Seviss, and has for 3 or 4 monthes,  auto-levels chars to 7th. Sounds about right to me. Just a thought.

[Sorry I had to bail tonight, Neo. Not just the lag. I don't get many chancees to watch my Packers. ]


----------



## Dinkeldog (Nov 30, 2004)

I haven't been too bad off as a druid, but I get the animal companion which helps.  My death rate has been ridiculously high when traveling with a group, especially if I've got the lowest level character.

Seems like some areas are more sane than others.  The crypt in Shoreline isn't too bad if you're not with a higher level character.  The crypt in South Shore didn't seem too bad, either.


----------



## Dinkeldog (Nov 30, 2004)

As far as I can tell, we've been down now since about 9:45 CST--roughly an hour.


----------



## Greylock (Nov 30, 2004)

Forget the Ranger question. I was having a senior moment. Got to remember that NWN is 3.0 with a massive hodge-podge of house rules and 'corrections'. They saw the Ranger was gimped early on, and added the Animal Companion before 3.5 even came out.

That said, I was glancing at my PHB AND at the Brady Games HotU guide, which states the Animal Companion comes at 4th. Actually had to go check my library of saved chars to see the truth. In NWN, the beastie comes at 6th.

Forget the Ranger buggery...


----------



## Greylock (Nov 30, 2004)

Dinkeldog said:
			
		

> As far as I can tell, we've been down now since about 9:45 CST--roughly an hour.




And at 11:455 CST. Looks like the only time it was on tonight was in my thirty with Neo. I checked in around 8:45 to look at my char during a NFL break and it was down. Played with Neo from about 7:50 to 8:25, CST.


----------



## Felonious Ntent (Nov 30, 2004)

Yesterday I bumped into a high level character Neo's I think(Crom?). I was 6th level at that time and I am sure his Char is much higher. Man the spawns got tough for a while. I was in the passage to the underdark top level doing ok then he showed and spawned tough monsters. The monsters top side were nasty as well. Some sort of Rakshasa and a huge ice golem both in same area. When fleeing them a manticore which blocked my path. That equaled a death and I lost 6 th level 1 more death later and I killed the elemental. Game crashed and was down for a few minutes when I came back the spawns were level apropriate. This is an issue but how does one resolve it? Low levels and high levels don't mix well in the same areas with the level dependant spawns. Any sugestions?


----------



## Dinkeldog (Nov 30, 2004)

I ran into someone playing Pani, a 1st level monk.  My best recommendation is to try to stay away from people much higher level than yourself.  Then again, level-dependent spawns were giving me rakshasas and fiendish manticores when I was 3rd level.


----------



## Morrus (Nov 30, 2004)

Someone was running around at 1st level?  I guess they didn't read what the ship captain said at the beginning!  Nobody should be 1st level.


----------



## Neo (Nov 30, 2004)

Felonious Ntent said:
			
		

> Yesterday I bumped into a high level character Neo's I think(Crom?). I was 6th level at that time and I am sure his Char is much higher. Man the spawns got tough for a while. I was in the passage to the underdark top level doing ok then he showed and spawned tough monsters. The monsters top side were nasty as well. Some sort of Rakshasa and a huge ice golem both in same area. When fleeing them a manticore which blocked my path. That equaled a death and I lost 6 th level 1 more death later and I killed the elemental. Game crashed and was down for a few minutes when I came back the spawns were level apropriate. This is an issue but how does one resolve it? Low levels and high levels don't mix well in the same areas with the level dependant spawns. Any sugestions?




Yup Crom is my main character on CHAINMAIL.. gone from 2nd to 17th with him..though I was about 15th when I passed you on the first level of the Underpass Caverns.  Troubling thing with CHAINMAIL is you tend to spawn things sooner or later regardless... stand near a door and level transition point and inevitably things start appearing.. stand still too long and things start appearing, even standing outside in town and inevitably things start appearing... this sadly means the higher level a character gets the less safe he is to be ANYWHERE near for lower levels.  This said however even low levels can get high levels spawns... I saw a second Adamantine Golem the other day spawn on a bunch of level 4-6.. not sure they saw it but I quickly sent it off to limbo as it would have massacred them horribly.

The only safety there is in CHAINMAIL really is in a group of similarly levelled people.. solo'ing unless your higher level is about as plausible as eating a landmine with a side order of fries.. and even for higher levels you can still die easily and regularly and frequently do.  Lack of even +1 weapons being available starts to hurt real quick as you tend to spawn monsters you cant hurt long before you ever start spawning magic items in loot (first itme i found was around 8th..with nothing but gems, potions and mundane gear until that point).


----------



## Neo (Nov 30, 2004)

Morrus said:
			
		

> Someone was running around at 1st level?  I guess they didn't read what the ship captain said at the beginning!  Nobody should be 1st level.




Oddly I have a level 1 character too.. though mine was not intentionally 1st level, it is a Female Rogue I made..  I was in the on the boat got my levels transported to town..started to buy gear and the server went down.. when it came back I had no gear was still in town and my levels  from the boat man had gone too..  with no way back to the boat there isnt much I could do.. the same situation may well have been the case of the other 1st level?

The option to get the magic rations should probably be also included on the shoreline or fontessa end too in case such things happen that they can be rectified.

The downside to being a DM is being able tor esolve such problems for everyone but yourself hehe.. not a problem though I shall tag onto someone of higher level and soak the XP from thier kills like a big sponge


----------



## Felonious Ntent (Nov 30, 2004)

I actualy have found +1 leather, +1 kukuri, +1 light crossbow all sold.
I have also found manuals for making excrement golem, stone golem, helmed horror and battle horror. I sold the doubles I found and still have these ones. 
Also a +1 scythe which I am saving even though I use a Longsword/shield but want a magic weapon for dr.


----------



## Dinkeldog (Nov 30, 2004)

I have only found a +1 battleaxe.   I've been looking for places to purchase a magic scimitar.  Ironically, the Nature stores don't have the main weapons that druids use.


----------



## Greylock (Dec 1, 2004)

The drops I've come across are pretty bad. Nothing more than a gp here and there yet. If I'm lucky, real lucky, a PoBS or such.


----------



## Dinkeldog (Dec 1, 2004)

Now that I'm 12th level, I'm finding little things like a wand of negative energy.  You know things that are useful 8 or 9 levels ago.  Still nothing I could actually use.  The most common "big" finds are the lesser ioun stones.  My latest was +2 to Charisma.


----------



## Chaz (Dec 1, 2004)

Anyone know why the server is down ?

Peace


----------



## cantrip (Dec 1, 2004)

Update on the forge situation:
I may have stumbled on to a nonmagical forge... The server crashed before I got a chance to investigate further.
If I read correctly this one adds mithral and/or adamantine to existing nonmagical items improving them in various ways. More later when the server returns.


----------



## Neo (Dec 1, 2004)

Dinkeldog said:
			
		

> Now that I'm 12th level, I'm finding little things like a wand of negative energy.  You know things that are useful 8 or 9 levels ago.  Still nothing I could actually use.  The most common "big" finds are the lesser ioun stones.  My latest was +2 to Charisma.




With my first character Crom, I never found anything magical until 8th and after..and he routinely finds +3 items now..  whereas my new character Nefrin is only 5th level and has already found a couple of minor magical items (Gauntlets of animal Handling, 5 ioun stones etc...).. I susect the loot is somewhat..class dependant too..but I may be wrong.

Thing with Seviss is magical items are "meant" to be rarer than in most mods and in comparison to say PoA where we were spoiled rotten and all loaded with gold it does feel a little like were missing out on things...but this is a truer experience I think..we struggle for every item we get... we need to converse with others to see if they have found something which we could then  buy or trade with them for..its a much more progressive and involved way of playing.


----------



## Felonious Ntent (Dec 1, 2004)

I have found 2 ion stones as well as gloves of discipline.

The half hour I was on yestersay got me a +1 small shield.

Right now I have a lot of gold. I have I believe around 15000 gp but also 4 books I can sell for aprox 8000 each. I have nothing to spend it on. I can easily see myself getting the millions needed for a stronghold. At least if we could buy magic weapons and armour I could forsee spending some of this money. But as for my char now I see no need for this money than the odd healing type potions. potions.


----------



## Greylock (Dec 1, 2004)

Neo said:
			
		

> Thing with Seviss is magical items are "meant" to be rarer than in most mods and in comparison to say PoA where we were spoiled rotten and all loaded with gold it does feel a little like were missing out on things...but this is a truer experience I think..we struggle for every item we get...




LOL! PoA was a High-Magic, powergamey, munchkinkinky uber-goobers wet dream. And I loved it. But sometimes it got to be too much. The last month or so, I often first logged onto Battledale for the low-fantasy, RPing wholesome kobold-killing fun for an hour or so a night. Then after the hour or so of gaming, I'd pop over the PoA for an hour and have REAL fun, taking on hoards of Ogres and such without breaking a sweat. Playing both kept me honest.

Chainmail seems to have the best of both worlds.


----------



## Dinkeldog (Dec 2, 2004)

I agree, Greylock, except for the small problem of the number of big scary creatures that spawn that require magic weapons to hit that we can't get a hold of.  Have I mentioned that the nature shops don't sell magic scimitars?  Magic katanas, they've got.  Just no scimitars.


----------



## Greylock (Dec 2, 2004)

Had to join the number of folks with multiple char's, and I think this one is gonna be a keeper. Already stronger at 3rd level than my Ran/Rog was.

Who needs a +1 weapon when you have a trusty wolf, imbued with Magic Fang?


----------



## Dinkeldog (Dec 2, 2004)

Take it from me, even the trusty wolves are pretty fragile.


----------



## Neo (Dec 2, 2004)

Dinkeldog said:
			
		

> I agree, Greylock, except for the small problem of the number of big scary creatures that spawn that require magic weapons to hit that we can't get a hold of.  Have I mentioned that the nature shops don't sell magic scimitars?  Magic katanas, they've got.  Just no scimitars.




I sold a few to basic magic katanas and a few scimitars to the nature trader..so you'd have something to buy..  they will remain there until the server next goes down...


----------



## Greylock (Dec 2, 2004)

Dinkeldog said:
			
		

> Take it from me, even the trusty wolves are pretty fragile.




Silky pets her wolfie, and giggles. *casts Magic Fang*


----------



## Dinkeldog (Dec 2, 2004)

Neo said:
			
		

> I sold a few to basic magic katanas and a few scimitars to the nature trader..so you'd have something to buy..  they will remain there until the server next goes down...




Thanks!  I've got one now.  Hopefully the forge works in the new release, but I have to find one first.  Hey, there's one in Chaz's tower, right?


----------



## Felonious Ntent (Dec 2, 2004)

Where is Chaz's tower?


----------



## Jesus_marley (Dec 2, 2004)

Ok... For what little I have seen of the new mod, I like it.  I like the lower magic aspect.

What I don't like is the fact that a level 1 character can spawn drow. I also don't like the severe bugginess of the module itself... It has great potential but it is far too unstable to truly enjoy it.

Is it possible to wait till the next build comes out? and then PT some more?


----------



## Chaz (Dec 2, 2004)

Beta 2 was alive, challenging, rewarding and lots of fun... yeah, it went down way to much though.

Beta 3 is dull and xp sucks. Kill epic creatures(demons etc.) for 1 xp... come on.

Peace


----------



## Neo (Dec 3, 2004)

Chaz said:
			
		

> Beta 2 was alive, challenging, rewarding and lots of fun... yeah, it went down way to much though.
> 
> Beta 3 is dull and xp sucks. Kill epic creatures(demons etc.) for 1 xp... come on.
> 
> Peace




I dont think its dull.. though it may not be ideal for Epics..  for lower levels it now scales much more sensibly and xp awards are more suitable.. no more 600+xp kills at 3rd level...and that is as it should be.  For Epics though they'll likely need it tweaking to scale for them.


----------



## Jesus_marley (Dec 3, 2004)

I don't know about you guys but I think it's a little screwy when a level 2 spawns a Bulette and after I made it to level 3 I spawned a succubus in the newbie cave. These encounters are a little over the top. I like that you don't get super uber xp for a kill ( MY best is 196 for a minogon) but a Succubus??? at level 3? that jsut ain't right.


----------



## Chaz (Dec 3, 2004)

Some of the SO CALLED 'super xp' you guys were refering to is I think when you killed one of the 'unique & named' monsters that used to spawn fairly well in beta 2. I havent seen this in beta 3... and frankly its needed. The xp and spawn were much better in beta 2. Its all screwed up in 3. Spent several hours killing tough stuff with 95% of the creatures giving 1 xp each. thats rediculous. Waste of time, no fun like this.

Peace


----------



## Doshi (Dec 3, 2004)

I have to say, I still have not been able to play. I haven't made it past character creation before the server times out or crashes. Last night sometime after 2300 EST it went offline completely so I gave up, again. I'd like to be able to play on the EN server, but I'm getting a little frustrated with Chainmail. Is there anyway to run Ascension concurrently, or is there only one port? Personnally, even though it sounded good, I think Chainmail's a bust :-(


----------



## Neo (Dec 3, 2004)

Chaz said:
			
		

> Some of the SO CALLED 'super xp' you guys were refering to is I think when you killed one of the 'unique & named' monsters that used to spawn fairly well in beta 2. I havent seen this in beta 3... and frankly its needed. The xp and spawn were much better in beta 2. Its all screwed up in 3. Spent several hours killing tough stuff with 95% of the creatures giving 1 xp each. thats rediculous. Waste of time, no fun like this.
> 
> Peace




Heya Chaz.. the super xp I referred too wasnt from named unqiue creatures (xp for them was rarely much different from normal creatures).. I've had in excess of 2k xp from a single undead in Beta 2 and im not referring to a named or unique one at that   .

I dont think the encounters are screwy but the rewards for epic characters obviously dont scale well.. and will hopefully be addressed in 4.


----------



## Greylock (Dec 3, 2004)

Well, as I said in the other thread, Beta3 seems to run smoother. But my 3rd level char met the same spawns as my 8th level. The main difference was that my 8th level got 1xp [roughly] per kill. He's hardly Epic ;p.


----------



## Morrus (Dec 3, 2004)

OK, I'm going back to PoA.  Seems this module is pretty unpopular!


----------



## Felonious Ntent (Dec 3, 2004)

Edited as with Morrus's post is not needed.

I don't mind going back to POA. Actualy I may use my Chainmail character in it. I am liking my 7th level Lawful Good Human fighter even over my 16th level char. I just need to equip him properly.


----------



## Chaz (Dec 3, 2004)

Its a good module(chainmail) I just miss the spawn that it had in beta 2.
That said, I can certainly see where its better for non epic chars so I will shut up about that. The xp does seem much less though on many critters that should give more. 

Without the extra spawn the world is less crouded with monsters. But I see now that it will be easier for lower level chars so I guess its ok.

Its better than POA any day.

Peace

Edit after reading Morrus' last post: No lets not go back to POA please!


----------



## cantrip (Dec 3, 2004)

Hey, Morrus. Could you remove the item level restrictions? I don't want to use my chainmail characters in PoA...


----------



## Jesus_marley (Dec 3, 2004)

While PoA is fun and all, please don't think that CHAINMAIL is unpopular. It is a definite Beta release and still quite buggy. It instabilitity seems to be the primary complaint followed by its unrealistic (heh) spawning code with XP coming in at about the same level. I think that once completed, it will be a vastly superior module, however, it still needs ALOT of work to get it running smoothly. when a new version comes out, please run it so we can playtest. thats the only way that the problems will be addressed and fixed.

I am looking forward to version 4... (just when I was getting my character levelled too) :/


----------



## Dinkeldog (Dec 4, 2004)

My recommendation is to go back to PoA for now, but when Chainmail 4 comes out, give it a week or two to test out and see if it's ready for primetime.

I did have a lot more success with Chainmail 2 and 3 than with PoA at all, but that's mostly because I came in at the tail end of PoA and people seem to have much higher level characters than my little Level 3.  I can appreciate the value of having some kind of motivation to do stuff that's lacking in Chainmail yet.  On the other hand, you'll have to consider replay value for PoA also.


----------

