Mechanics Clarification

[Vincent07]

Every now and again I see various theories pop up as to how certain parts of the server work, such as loot, encounters etc.  So I wanted to take a moment and clarify some of the points I've seen mentioned, as well as open the floor to any questions anyone may have as to how a particular thing functions.


Loot:

First off, the person opening the chest has absolutely no  bearing on what shows up, either in terms of how many items or their level.  What any given loot container drops is defined by a set of variables on said container.  These can be specific, like a bookcase that only spawns scrolls and books, or general leveled loot, as is the case with most containers out there.  Some "Boss" chests do pull from certain boxes, ie: one may specifically generate X tier weapons or armor or some such.  Containers that are leveled, do have a chance to roll high and drop an item 1 tier over their level range.  The chances of this happening are quite low, something like 1:10000, but it does happen.


Encounters:

Now, this one is a little less set in stone, as there are areas that violate what I'm about to say.  However, in general, encounters are set at a pre-defined level range.  That is to say, each spawn is set to spawn 1 version of an enemy, and will not scale up to more powerful versions of said enemy if you bring along higher level players.   In most instances, that will cause more of the enemies to spawn.  
This is not the case with a number of older areas in the Semberholme, and a few of the exterior spots, (Moonsea Bandits come to mind), where there is still a bit of encounter scaling in place that I have yet to undo.


Bashing stuff:

There is a bash script on a handful of doors (usually those that would otherwise impede dungeon progress), as well as a few loot boxes.  It's based off of STR and generally the bigger, heavier and more bludgeon-y your weapon is, the easier the DC is.  Ranged weapons won't work, light piercing stuff is almost impossible.  Overall it's fairly generous, which is why it's mostly on doors.  The point is that it will let you bypass locked doors to finish a dungeon if you lack a proper rogue type to pick them, but you may still be out some loot if you lack such a character in the party.  Overall it's not really a system that has been proliferated to the majority of dungeons, just a small handful, like Khazar and Witchlords. Actually, every chest that's locked in Witchlords can be bashed, which is probably part of why it's so popular.  


Anything else? Ask away.

[Deleted]

So, there's no scripts in place on loot containers to purge them or whatever if someone of a higher level than the dungeon range touches it, or controls what sort of loot appears in dungeons that cross over two level tiers?

I ask because as an escort to a lowbie in a place like the sewers, if my lower-mid tier PC touched containers they were inadvertently empty, then the point I would let the lowbie loot containers after that, they found full containers.  

I'm guessing the reason this shadow explanation of the mechanic came to be is because others observed it as a seeming pattern.

I only ask to clarify because I don't want to deny lowbies their loot during a starter adventure that I may as escort them thru.

[onivel]

There is a script that caps the level for people looting in the sewers.. I believe it is lvl 7 or 8.. above that level you do not get loot down there.

I believe the starter areas are the only ones that have such a script IE the sewers and the ants. 

[Vincent07]

The system has an available cap in place.  Once set it prevents loot generation for anyone over that cap for the specified container.  The Arabel sewers are capped at 7, and I believe is the only area with a cap in place.  This was done so that people will move on from there and leave the place for the new characters as intended.  This was more of a concern years ago when we regularly had 30-40 lower level PCs around.

[Dismus]

The zombies in witch lord in the under water part do this also do when you get to level 14.

[Fire Wraith]

Also, if you are low level, and have a low strength, you will find lots of sarcophagi and half-plate and tower shields. This is not a result of the settings in the loot table, but merely because the loot generation script is thoroughly evil.

[Dismus]

I believe this.

[ladybug]

Didn't you say said script was devised in the dead of night in a secret government facility?