Due to recent changes the "old" scripted quests are a bit meaningless now. The RPXP they provided was the main incentive doing them, but now they do not give RPXP out if the PC is over 13th lvl (the Gem of Life quest being the exception). However now a PC can hunt all the way up till lvl 14 when RPXP first becomes a factor.
With that in mind maybe the rewards could be changed to be more interesting? I am thinking like:
-The wizard in Immersea would have scrolls and wizard/sorcerer items in his stock which are not available at anywhere else, maybe not even as loot. That would give an incentive to PCs to do his quest.
-The druid could also have a similar shop with same natur-y/druidic items available once his quest is done, instead of the pumpkin drinks.
-Speaking of which, giving out Lesser Restoration potions could be a better reward for turning in the smuggler leader's head. It is a more useful reward on lvls 6-8, when that quest is usually done than on lvls 10-12 when the druids quest is usually done. At that time a bunch of Lesser Restoration potions do not mean much, the PCs have enough gold to buy them and/or looted already enough for themselves and slowly moving up to use Potion/Scroll of Restorations instead.
I have no idea at the moment for a good reward for the painting and the mirror quests, but I am sure something fitting can be done with them, too.
Ideas, thoughts?
MW, Fly scrolls can't be bought anywhere else and are already in the Immersea Wizard shop, he has a couple other rare ones that are hard to get otherwise, though it'd be nice if he got filled in for some of the scrolls you can't normally get in loot (See Finger of Death).
~BR
Perry having a druid shop would be nice, yes.
Most of the old scripted quests were made back in CD1, well over a decade ago. Aside from bugfixing, they haven't really had any updates, which they probably could use.
I would note that there is a nature-type store near the Cradle maze area. I'd be more inclined to revamp that one before adding another.
I do see the point though, that most of these old quest are now not terribly worth doing now, unless you just want a spike of XP.
My suggestion would be to make them yield XP only before 13 but increase the yield significantly to offer a relief from grinding / bonus to classes that don't solo particularly well otherwise. I don't feel we need more RPXP relief given the recent changes.
I definitely agree with that last part.
I'm fine with leaving the quests as a small bonus of XP you don't have to grind, or even increasing it a little. But I definitely agree that between the current new system and the bounty quests, the old ones don't really need to be moved up.
Grind relief is always a good thing, imo.
If they are left to be a bit of a grind relief, would definitely agree/suggest to increase the amounts they grant. Since as is they average like 200 XP. Thats only about four mobs
On the other hand it'd be nice to see them keep some kind of relevance.
The reward could also be a helpful consumable, which has relevance on the given level:
-The druid could give a trinket which has a stronger than usual Barkskin (giving +5 natural AC), but has only 2 or 3 charges. Normal Barkskin potions and scrolls give only +3 AC, also on lvl 11+ when this quest is usually done there are many blue amulets which are providing +3 natural AC. So getting +5 for a few times would make this relevant.
-For the painting quest it can be a trinket with Cat's Grace casted on lvl 10, again with 2 or 3 charges. Same as above, where normal Cat's Grace potions and scrolls work on lvl 3, having a longer running variant is something which you can't have otherwise, still not game-breaking.
These are just examples of course but I think the big advantage is that those could be relatively easy to create in the toolset and implement. So it is good impact with as little work as possible.
Changing the caster level of an item-cast spell requires a hak update or a specific new unique script attached to the item. NWN cannot simply select different caster levels for such things freely. Some spells have multiple options for CL to choose from, but most do not. I am pretty sure this has been explained many times before.