Shattered Kingdoms

Incoming update that will put a new spin on this... We happened to have an imm meeting last night so this ended up being the primary topic of discussion. I got talked out of some of my crazier ideas.

I look forward to seeing it. And a big thanks to the Imms who talked you out of those ideas.

I'm excited (and a little nervous) to see what you guys came up with!

It's also always extremely gratifying when the forums actually lead to coding changes or IMM building. Thanks for listening!

Ditto.

Changes:
- Scrolls/wands/stave use requires having enough free concentration
- Can no longer order NPCs to change stance

Note: There is no concentration time, you just can't be concentrating on so many other spells that you couldn't cast the spell from the device normally.

*grabs some popcorn*

Good update. Props to Edoras for suggesting the stance thing in the first place.

Huh.

Well, honestly, the concentration thing screws over lower INT casters (And what used to be prepared casters) more than deep-elves, though it definitely screws all sorcs over a lot. It also wimps a decent amount of magical items. I don't think it was necessary given the stance change.

Preventing stance ordering is going to change a -lot-. Tribs and sorcs are hit hard, probably hard enough to bring things back into perspective.

I think both of these changes have an overall positive effect on game-balance. Magical devices were definitely too OP, and NPCs had come to play too much of a role in pvp, often being overpowering due to the bonuses from defensive and aggressive stance.

There are likely a few ways that these changes affect game-balance in a negative way, since both of them are changes that affect a wide range of race/class combos. Hopefully time will expose those negative effects, and necessary tweaks will be made.

But great work, IMMs.

Just to confirm - The concentration required to zap a wand is EQUAL to what it would cast to cast the spell in the first place?

How does this effect wands that are held spells - ie: invis, charm person, control undead? Do you only need the initial INT and then are free to use it as you please after?

How about 3xHARM or 3xFoD scrolls? Do you need the 3xINT to use them, or is each spell considered individually?
How would: a torn scrap of parchment of bless, finger of death, magma spray work? Does it just take the first spell into consideration to see if you can concentrate enough, is each evaluated in the process?
If such is the case, does it cast the spells that you have the INT for but not the ones you don't - or will it block use of all 3 effects?