Wednesday, May 6, 2009

The Upgrade Shops

The BadLands RPG Upgrade Shops have changed over time. For the most part, I think they are working well now and won't be changed in the future, except for a minor adjustment to fix an unknown problem.

Crafting your equipment is not the same as Upgrading your gear. Crafting is the art of coloring you're toon to look cutesy. This is done by right clicking self and choosing the Craft icon. This is free and very custom on BadLands RPG.

Upgrading your equipment is not free. To buy all new gear at maximum value (level 21) will cost about three million gold. If your dual-wielding, be prepared to spend around four million gold.

The first thing I need to explain is how the "item level" works. This is a NWN thing and is hard-coded. Yes, I can dis-able the checking system, but I won't, so don't ask. You don't want "The Wrath of Qwildurn". Just ask any old-timer. ("The Wrath of Qwildurn" is a bit nicer than "The Wrath of my Girlfriend".)

The "Item Level" is based on the gold value of the item. Simple. Different upgrades change the value, but not in any logical fashion. NWN uses a chart to determine how much each single upgrade effects the Gold Value. I tried to make a math equation once to sort this out, but it's not a logical value base.

What I have set up for the Upgrade Shops to follow is rather easy to explain, and I'm sure most of have seen the pattern by the time you made it to the shops in Underdark.

Each set of shops is set to a maximum level they are allowed to build to.
  1. Level 6 (+1) in Dozo
  2. Level 9 (+2) in Crystal City
  3. Level 15 (+3) in Newport
  4. Level 18 (+4) in The Duergar Mines
  5. Level 21 (+5) in Underdark

At level 21, a total of five types of items can be added. No more than three types of elements. And no more than +5 AC, AB or EW. (Armor Class, Attack Bonus, Enhance Weapon)

The Element Damage can not exceed the base damage of the weapon. A Dagger is 1d4 base and can get up to 1d4 element damage. A Long Sword is 1d8 base and will stop at 1d8 element damage. A Great Sword is 1d12 base, with 1d12 element.

A Great Axe is 2d6 base, will max out at 2d6 element and requires a level 24 shop to put this much magic on it. To add +5 EW, keen and three elements at 2d6 requires a level 24 shop.

There is a level 22 shop in the old castle on Sheelo Mountain. This is for strength based melee builds. +6 AC is available if certain conditions are met.

  • Strength 30 (natural)
  • Ten levels in a single class that gets "one BAB per level" (fighter, blackgaurd, ect)
  • There is a minimum player level of 35 or so (this is in a level 45-50 area)
  • Medium or heavy armor only
  • Can add +6 AC only (only +6 AC)
  • Armor, Helm, Shield
  • If you use cloth or light armor, you can't upgrade your shield and helm here

All weapons can be upgraded here to level 22 as well. There are only a few weapons that can be upgraded past level 21. Great Axe and Great Sword are the only two that come to mind, but I'm sure there are a few others.

No upgrade shop will not go past the +5 AB / EW cap. To do that requires a quested weapon, usually a "Boss Drop".

Currently, there is no shop to finish building the Great Axe. This will require a level 24 shop. I do have plans to build one on Death Island. Hehe, good luck getting past Black Betty.

Let's not overlook the Monk Gloves. This follows the same outline as steel weapons. As the Monk grows in levels, so does his/her base damage to her fists, which should be registered as a deadly weapon. This is Monk Level based, not Character Level based. As the base damage grows, so will the allowed element upgrade. Currently, there is no Monk Shop to work beyond level 21. Cubwolf is building a new area named Westfold. We plan on putting a level 22 Monk shop there. Be prepared to do a quest first.

The size of the monk and the level of the monk determine the base damage and is "hard-coded". They did not make provisions for players using "huge" bodies like the Ogre. Here I allow for more element damage than the base damage.

Bolts and Arrows follow the same "base" damage. Short and Long Bows have a differant base damage, hence the Short and Long Arrows.

Sometimes, the Monk Gloves or Ranged Projectiles get bugged and won't work. All you can do at this point is sell them and replace them with new.

I'm sure I missed something, so don't be afraid to ask.

Qwildurn Bluemoon

6 comments:

extomorf said...

i always wondered why there were long and short arrows but didn't want to ask because i knew the answer would be simple and i'd look a twat.

extomorf said...

Quick question about monk guantlets

Does the elemental damage go up to 1-20? or does it stop at 1-10?

Qwildurn said...

Element damage for monk gauntlets is the same as your current physical base damage, which changes as you level-up. I think a Human will max out at 1d20, so, you can add element damage up to 1d20 as well. At the moment, I don't have a level 22 or 23 monk shop to go that high.

Qwildurn said...

I forgot to make the new monk shop that can work with 1d20 elements for Monks. But when I do, you will be able to buy monk gloves with 1d20 element.

Small toons like Halfling have less than 1d20 and huge toons like Ogre have more than 1d20. Dwarfs, Humans and Orcs are all large and get 1d20.

extomorf said...

ok cool so i'll have to wait till the new monk shop is done then.

I didn't think an ogre base damage went past 1d20 because it's not in the nwn game?

Qwildurn said...

Right, NWN did not make any provisions for players to be anything except the seven "normal" races. They base the Monk physical damage on body size and monk level. A Kobold is the same size as a Halfling and automatically gets treated as such. But, the Ogrillion (Ogre body) is the next size above human and should get more physical damage. But NWN did not build for this. I took liberties here and allow for an Ogre Monk to buy more element damage than their base damage. The Earth Elemental is also in the 'huge' size.