Recent posts
#1
Suggestions & Ideas / Re: parry gets ac / dragon age...
Last post by falchions_and_cunning - Dec 09, 2025, 10:04 AMParry could have been left out of the original game. To me, Parry feels like what Expertise is supposed to be, only without the 13 INT requirement.
That the Parry skill fails to pick up extra attacks in a "flurry" makes it wildly unpredictable in its usefulness for the steep price of your character not making attacks (unless you manage the +10 differential for a riposte).
That the Parry skill fails to pick up extra attacks in a "flurry" makes it wildly unpredictable in its usefulness for the steep price of your character not making attacks (unless you manage the +10 differential for a riposte).
#2
General Discussion / Re: Taunting in NWN
Last post by Hollyfant - Dec 05, 2025, 05:18 AMQuote from: mappinger on Dec 02, 2025, 02:52 PMit sounds like it would do far more harm than good to use for light-armored roguish characters, since a disproportionate amount of your AC is going to be lost by going flat-footed (in close melee range no less).Yes, that is indeed the case. In fact, you don't just need to be in close range, you need to be in actual combat. So your target is already taking swings at you.
Taunt can pair well with the Expertise feat, but that does make the process even more elaborate - you need to drop expertise to start doing some actual damage.
#3
Art & Stories / Gossip from Yulash
Last post by BlessedArtichoke - Dec 03, 2025, 09:28 PM
The tavern in the ruined quarter of Yulash groaned around them, all warped beams and smoke-stained rafters. Tankards knocked together, someone's off-key lute stumbled over a tune, and laughter rose too loud and too brittle—then faltered, as though even mirth knew better than to linger here.
Varran sat with his back to the wall, gnawing absently at the edge of an old scar as he nursed a cheap ale. The grizzled thug watched the warped door for a moment, then leaned in over the battered table.
"Told you," he muttered. "Sewer gates on the east run were choked again this morning. Talons pulled up four bodies afore breakfast."
Kesh, barely past boyhood and still a little too clean around the eyes, stiffened on his stool. "Four? All... all cultists, right?"
Mirra, sharp-eyed and lean, smirked around the rim of her cup. "You hoping it's not?" she asked. "Why, you got friends down there now?"
"No," Kesh said quickly, flushing. "I just— I heard they don't always stay dead, that lot."
Letho, all angles and easy arrogance, lounged back in his chair. "These ones did," he drawled. "Proper dead. Neck stabbed clean, straight through the gristle. No gnaw marks, no slime blooms, no roots growing out of the ribs. Just... quiet. Efficient."
"That's the part that bothers me," Varran said. "Moander's filth you expect to find in pieces. Melted, rotted, half-eaten by their own damned god. This... this was tidy work."
"Tidy work, in our sewers." Mirra's smile turned thin. "There's a first."
They shared a low chuckle that never quite softened the tension in their shoulders.
"So it's true then?" Kesh asked, voice dropping as he leaned closer. "About the one in black armor? With the... dog mask?"
"Not a dog," Letho said. "More like a hound from a bad dream. Long drooping snout, pointed ears, all plate and scales black as a Zhent's heart. One of the sewer maintenance boys swears he saw the eyes shine red in the dark."
Varran snorted. "Repair boy also swore he saw a ghost knight riding a headless mule last winter."
"Aye," Mirra said, "and you still don't go near that alley after midnight, old man."
"That's not fear," Varran said, lifting his mug. "That's... respect."
The laughter that followed was small, but real enough. It slipped away quickly, swallowed by the low murmur of the tavern.
Kesh worried the dented rim of his tankard with a thumb. "But someone's doing it," he said. "Every few nights, it's the same talk. Screams under the cobbles, echoes in the pipes. Then the wash-outs, all in tatters and robes and those rotten vine charms they wear—"
"—and always Moander's worms," Letho finished. "No one else. No merchants. No Zhents. No Baneites. No beggars. Just the rot-priest lot."
"That's what makes it clever," Mirra said softly. "If you're going to start carving off a slice of Yulash for yourself, you start with the one neighbor everyone wants gone. No one sheds a tear when the garden mulch gets taken out."
"'Mulch' is kinder than they deserve," Varran said. "Moander's lot were stringing folk up like scarecrows two summers ago. Half this tavern's got someone who never came back out of those tunnels."
For a moment, silence settled over the table. The tavern's clatter seemed distant, thin; the wind's whistle through a cracked shutter sounded louder.
"So... what is he, then?" Kesh asked at last. "Some kind of monk? Knight? Assassin?"
"Doesn't move like a monk," Letho said. "Word is, he hits them once, maybe twice in a tenday. Drops out of the dark, blades flash, shadowy at his heels, then gone. No sermons on the walls, no demands, no tithe. Just bodies and... that mark."
Kesh swallowed. "The snake?"
"Cobra, lad," Mirra said. "Coiled up tight, head raised, hood spread wide. Someone carved it deep in the lower levels, where the brick runs out and the old stone begins. Fangs all bared, like it's about to bite the whole damned city."
Varran shifted uneasily. "Not local work, either. Lines are too clean. Looks... foreign. Makes your eyes itch if you look too long."
"You recognize it?" Kesh asked.
"No." Varran shook his head slowly. "And I've seen more banners and godsmarks than I've got teeth left. This one feels... old and wrong in a new way."
"Old and wrong in a profitable way," Letho said lightly, "if he keeps gutting Moander's vermin for free."
"For now," Mirra said. "That's the trick, isn't it? First you do the city a favor. Clear out the rot. Then you say, 'This drain, this tunnel, this little stretch of sewer? Mine now.' And by then everyone's so relieved they don't ask what the snake means."
Kesh's fingers tightened around his cup. "You think he'll start asking for coin? Or blood?"
"Boy," Varran said, "no one puts their mark on the deepest walls unless they intend to hold ground. This isn't some wandering madman. This is someone planting roots. Black, armored roots."
"And whatever walks with him," Letho added.
"The creatures?" Kesh's voice dropped almost to a whisper.
"Depends who you ask," Mirra said. "One gutter-runner says he saw shadows peel off the walls and tear a cultist apart. Another swears they're like hounds made of smoke, with too many teeth. Someone else babbled about tall skeletal shapes with eyes like dying embers, moving in ways people shouldn't."
"All the stories agree on one thing," Varran said. "You see them, you don't live long enough to count how many."
Kesh glanced toward the floor, as if he could see the dripping tunnels through stained planks and warped beams. "Why the sewers, though? Why here? Yulash is half rubble and ash as it is. If you want a kingdom, there are cleaner places."
"Cleaner, but watched," Letho said. "The Talons keep watch on the surface. The weak hide below. And down there? The only law is who walks back up the ladder."
"Besides," Mirra said, "the cult of Moander always did like it in the dark, in the wet. If you're hunting fungus, you go where it grows."
Varran took a slow drink, gaze distant. "Mark my words: if the cobra keeps showing up and the bodies keep flowing out, sooner or later, every crew in Yulash will have to decide. Do we share a city with whatever that is... or do we get washed out next?"
Kesh looked from face to face, searching for some sign of bravado, some joke to cut the dread. "You're not thinking of going down there, are you?"
"Me?" Letho huffed a quiet laugh. "No. I'm smart. I'll wait up here, where the blood only sometimes comes through the floorboards."
"If someone wants to clean out Moander's scum with no coin from my purse and no blades from my belt," Mirra said, raising her mug, "I'll drink to their health and keep my feet dry."
Her eyes, however, stayed dark.
Varran tapped his knuckles lightly on the table. "Just remember, loves... folk who make war on gods, even little rotten ones, don't usually stop at one enemy."
The words lingered in the smoky air. For a heartbeat, the tavern seemed to hold its breath.
Then, faintly, from somewhere far below, a dull clang rang through the old sewer pipes—metal on stone, or something like it—echoing up through Yulash's cracked bones.
((From a meta perspective, I am well aware that for leveling purposes and new character dungeons this faction cannot be removed and replaced. This is simply roleplaying the beginnings of my character putting the fear into a local weak baddy faction as the first of many steps towards carving out territory, building infamy, and beginning a faction to her deity.))
#4
General Discussion / Re: Taunting in NWN
Last post by SpacePope - Dec 02, 2025, 03:55 PMIt's kind of clunky yeah, though it can really tank an enemy's AC and there's not a lot of ways to do that, so it's particularly good in a group.
#5
General Discussion / Taunting in NWN
Last post by falchions_and_cunning - Dec 02, 2025, 02:52 PMSeeking confirmation/tips from others regarding the Taunt skill. It would be great rp with my current character, but I believe problematic in actual practical use.
It is my understanding that Taunt is a particularly clunky maneuver to pull off in NWN. I'm uncertain if the mechanic has been smoothed out in EE over the years. Secondly, since initiating a Taunt leaves a PC flat-footed, it sounds like it would do far more harm than good to use for light-armored roguish characters, since a disproportionate amount of your AC is going to be lost by going flat-footed (in close melee range no less).
It is my understanding that Taunt is a particularly clunky maneuver to pull off in NWN. I'm uncertain if the mechanic has been smoothed out in EE over the years. Secondly, since initiating a Taunt leaves a PC flat-footed, it sounds like it would do far more harm than good to use for light-armored roguish characters, since a disproportionate amount of your AC is going to be lost by going flat-footed (in close melee range no less).
#6
General Discussion / Re: On Cyric, the Dark Hope of...
Last post by trekker - Nov 20, 2025, 08:11 AMI really like your concept and I think its really a challenge to make a priest or a cultist of Cyric. Mostly because you cant expose yourself in this period we are ingame. By what I saw on the timeline, as bane returned, so did his power in the moonsea. Meaning Cyric control over the zhentarim, fort zhentil and other important outposts were lost to Bane. And of course as banite my reaction to a priest Cyric would be the worst possible. The reaction of people of Arabel to cyrists is also to have them outlawed. While in Cormyr and dalelands they would likely just put a banishment on you if they find you, my character will likelly push to you being burned in a pike with a priestess of loviatar making sure you feel pain all the way.
So its a challenge and i think its wonderful that you got that challenge. Cyrists are supposed to work on the shadows and worship their god through individual action. A brutal murder in the street with his marks so that everybody fears. The manipulation of goverment to cause anarchy and civil war. Never knowing who is behind the machinations. That's the challenge. Its really hard to be played but it also makes a great villain...and any story is as good as the villain is.
So its a challenge and i think its wonderful that you got that challenge. Cyrists are supposed to work on the shadows and worship their god through individual action. A brutal murder in the street with his marks so that everybody fears. The manipulation of goverment to cause anarchy and civil war. Never knowing who is behind the machinations. That's the challenge. Its really hard to be played but it also makes a great villain...and any story is as good as the villain is.
#7
Suggestions & Ideas / Re: Sugestion for a fame syste...
Last post by trekker - Nov 17, 2025, 09:24 AMThats my idea...to give an opportunity for people to go dungeoneering and searching the world without getting rpXP and messing up with lvl progression.
I understand the harder part in the process is to create content.
It includes:
1- create dialog of npc
2- create item to be found, or dungeon to be visited, or another npc to be talked to, etc
3- create reward dialog and give the points
I think of most quests dumb quest like collect 10 flowers or go to some dungeon and talk to someone. Its baldurs gate-like quests dumb and easy but it helps pass time online.
I agree that its great to have DM-events but its not scalable. If the server grows you will need to get more dms to work. And my experience with that is both arelith and ravenloft is not great. DMs the bigger the server the harder they are to interact with on quests. And I am here for like a month and havent been in a single quest so i am rellying on the coded bounties.
I am not pointing fingers, not complaining cause i loved this server this far, but i am just showing what my experience showed me and i can see 3 months from now that this content will be all explored and i will end up doing my second character to explore the content of cormyr and complete that content as well...and then...well. dont know. Cycle repeats...
Another good idea i have seen first time in this server (and you are to be awarded by it) is that i saw on discord a dm looking for players to be quest-givers. That's also really scalable cause you get your player-base to create content for DMs. That would make the higher the server, more likelly to get a new player with inclination to make events and so the server will get really active with quests given by both DM and players. I really want to see that idea grow.
I understand the harder part in the process is to create content.
It includes:
1- create dialog of npc
2- create item to be found, or dungeon to be visited, or another npc to be talked to, etc
3- create reward dialog and give the points
I think of most quests dumb quest like collect 10 flowers or go to some dungeon and talk to someone. Its baldurs gate-like quests dumb and easy but it helps pass time online.
I agree that its great to have DM-events but its not scalable. If the server grows you will need to get more dms to work. And my experience with that is both arelith and ravenloft is not great. DMs the bigger the server the harder they are to interact with on quests. And I am here for like a month and havent been in a single quest so i am rellying on the coded bounties.
I am not pointing fingers, not complaining cause i loved this server this far, but i am just showing what my experience showed me and i can see 3 months from now that this content will be all explored and i will end up doing my second character to explore the content of cormyr and complete that content as well...and then...well. dont know. Cycle repeats...
Another good idea i have seen first time in this server (and you are to be awarded by it) is that i saw on discord a dm looking for players to be quest-givers. That's also really scalable cause you get your player-base to create content for DMs. That would make the higher the server, more likelly to get a new player with inclination to make events and so the server will get really active with quests given by both DM and players. I really want to see that idea grow.
#8
Suggestions & Ideas / Re: Sugestion for a fame syste...
Last post by SpacePope - Nov 17, 2025, 07:58 AMI don't dislike the idea of an alternate progression system that'd allow making more quests. Main problem is, well, implementing all of that. I'm pretty good at coding in new systems, but making "content" like quests/areas/etc is where I struggle.
I'm not sure I'd make it "fame", but it's definitely something to think about. I did want to look into some random bounty system that'd give people a reason to go dungeoning or exploring, but there's always the worry of making it just another XP source, so some alternate system could be worth looking into.
I'm not sure I'd make it "fame", but it's definitely something to think about. I did want to look into some random bounty system that'd give people a reason to go dungeoning or exploring, but there's always the worry of making it just another XP source, so some alternate system could be worth looking into.
#9
Suggestions & Ideas / Re: Sugestion for a fame syste...
Last post by DM Kalaraq - Nov 17, 2025, 02:28 AMWe've already got ways to mark particularly famous/infamous PCs through the awarding of the Epic Reputation feat. As the server's focus is meant to be on DM events rather than PvE content, I don't see the need to make things more granular than that.
#10
Suggestions & Ideas / Sugestion for a fame system
Last post by trekker - Nov 16, 2025, 02:03 PMHello all. I am new character here but i am a long old player of neverwinter nights servers. Been on Arelith and been on Ravenloft. Both really different servers and i am really enjoying playing here on Cormyr. So much i decided to give my first sugestion. But before that i want to talk about the good and cons of both servers i played so you can understand where my sugestion come from.
About lvling...Arelith is a server where you can get from lvl 1 to lvl 30 in about a month. It has quests to help you lvl up faster, and i would say there is a quest for every lvl from 1 to 25 and you can make most of them alone with your summons. Its crazy amount of content. But the problem with that is you easily ge to lvl 30 and then what else is there to do? Most of what is left is group with your friends and pvp the opposite group. Cause everything else is boring.
Then it comes Ravenloft that makes you take years from 1 to 20. Much less content and less dungeons to explore, the world is really hard so you cant make a single dungeon by yourself. And the cap and death is brutal so most of ppl are on lvl 10 to 15. You always have a challenge to lvl more on ravenloft, but it the cap system makes you just stop playing your character until the cap is out. And ppl end up teaming up for dungeons in groups that were not supposed to happen rpwise like paladins teaming with drows.
Here 1-11 was fine i could do most lvls by myself. And i can see that 11 to 30 will take a loooong time due to the system of combatxp and rpxp and i really really loved it. MAkes every level be meaningful. I traveled a bit and saw that there is about 12 quests to do in total. Most places are just to travel not monsters all around like in arelith where every area there is something to kill. And i wonder if it is on purpose or as a way to avoid powerlvling. Because with more quests, people would use them to powerlvl the rpCAP.
But I see so much maps, so much npcs and so many cities and most of them are just for seeing and i feel like it could be used for a lot of content, there could be stuff to do everywhere making to talk with a lot of npcs worthwhile. I can see the dms here have an effort to make a huge world but not sure if the reason we have not much quests is for controlling the rpCap but if it is, this sugestion could help:
Why not make a secondary lvling system. A fame system. The fame system goes from lvl -10 (for evil) to lvl 10 (for good). The fame system is not for new levels but to give prestige of the player towards other players and NPCs.
The fame points are gained by doing quests. Simple quests like finding a teddy bear in the city and returning to the kid who lost it. To go to the ogres of yulash and killing them all once. To help a romantic couple to get together again, to negociate a deal between zhentarim and drows. Fame can go up or down.
And so that would allow for Baldurs's gate like missions to be spread from npcs everywhere, give some reward so that the player feels motivated to do it (the points), but not give rpxp.
Would just make a way more content to be done without unbalancing the entire server with quick powergaming.
About lvling...Arelith is a server where you can get from lvl 1 to lvl 30 in about a month. It has quests to help you lvl up faster, and i would say there is a quest for every lvl from 1 to 25 and you can make most of them alone with your summons. Its crazy amount of content. But the problem with that is you easily ge to lvl 30 and then what else is there to do? Most of what is left is group with your friends and pvp the opposite group. Cause everything else is boring.
Then it comes Ravenloft that makes you take years from 1 to 20. Much less content and less dungeons to explore, the world is really hard so you cant make a single dungeon by yourself. And the cap and death is brutal so most of ppl are on lvl 10 to 15. You always have a challenge to lvl more on ravenloft, but it the cap system makes you just stop playing your character until the cap is out. And ppl end up teaming up for dungeons in groups that were not supposed to happen rpwise like paladins teaming with drows.
Here 1-11 was fine i could do most lvls by myself. And i can see that 11 to 30 will take a loooong time due to the system of combatxp and rpxp and i really really loved it. MAkes every level be meaningful. I traveled a bit and saw that there is about 12 quests to do in total. Most places are just to travel not monsters all around like in arelith where every area there is something to kill. And i wonder if it is on purpose or as a way to avoid powerlvling. Because with more quests, people would use them to powerlvl the rpCAP.
But I see so much maps, so much npcs and so many cities and most of them are just for seeing and i feel like it could be used for a lot of content, there could be stuff to do everywhere making to talk with a lot of npcs worthwhile. I can see the dms here have an effort to make a huge world but not sure if the reason we have not much quests is for controlling the rpCap but if it is, this sugestion could help:
Why not make a secondary lvling system. A fame system. The fame system goes from lvl -10 (for evil) to lvl 10 (for good). The fame system is not for new levels but to give prestige of the player towards other players and NPCs.
The fame points are gained by doing quests. Simple quests like finding a teddy bear in the city and returning to the kid who lost it. To go to the ogres of yulash and killing them all once. To help a romantic couple to get together again, to negociate a deal between zhentarim and drows. Fame can go up or down.
And so that would allow for Baldurs's gate like missions to be spread from npcs everywhere, give some reward so that the player feels motivated to do it (the points), but not give rpxp.
Would just make a way more content to be done without unbalancing the entire server with quick powergaming.