Topics

I don't know how desirable this is but considering how we've made a stark change in the way sendings work and the addition of market stall messages, I think it might be nice if we added bells or gongs similar to what EFU:R featured at the forges, mausoleum, HoG, etc.

In light of the Sunpurse CASTIGATE event, it is a bit of a shame that this awesome area is explicitly used for a quest. How difficult would it be to make it so this area is accessible as a regular area (maybe with occasional small ghost spawns?) as a meeting place for PCs whenever Portnip doesn't spawn during a reset?

I have encountered a frequent issue where, upon trying to prematurely awaken a PC I have blacked out, I receive this message:
[Blackout] Error: Couldn't get the body hook. Did the PC crash?

However, the player is currently online and has not logged off.

A gold reward on this quest would not be unappreciated considering the length and difficulty.  If there is meant to be one, it did not spawn for our group or was destroyed by evocations, so an adjustment to prevent that would be lovely.

This was touched upon in Discord and I think it would do to voice opinions on the forums instead of having them lost to the Discord void.

As it stands, the issue with the dispensary seems to be that it's mostly a matter of being the sneaky invis person to get to the loot bag first and run off with it. Frequently, people  who "win" the brawl do not end up with the spoils.

I would suggest a colored message whenever someone takes the package, and for it to be a heavy item that can only be used outside of combat to "open" the spoils. This would, ideally, make it more prominently clear who has the spoils and put a target on their back should they try to run off with it.

This is a quality of life thing that Peerage Ward appears to be missing over Ticker Square. A barrel in Naoli Thrazulebh's shop and an additional merchant with access to dyes would be very nice considering the high class, appearance-concerned nature of the noble houses.

Either I'm blind or these aren't in Peerage. Having one within the gates and in the Groat would be a nice addition. I see a lot of discarded stuff on the ground in this area.

There seem to be issues with the quest updating and the boss spawning. The last two times I have done this quest, the quest has not updated in the final room with the optional final objective and the boss has not spawned in his room.

Additionally, in the library, the "moldy scrolls" placeables are too far inlaid into the bookshelves and are therefore inaccessible.

It appears it might be possible for multiple groups of mercenaries to spawn in the room with the cots, making it quite dangerous is groups are split up between the portals.

As the title, this doorkeeper takes 20 groats instead of the 12 he asks for.

I really like the choice to include these strongboxes (or whatever they're called) in quests to avoid the natural rewards that come to smaller, optimized parties and instead give more to larger groups. However, I feel like the implementation could use a bit of work. It seems that these rely entirely on a strength calculation based on the surrounding party members, but I have been on a quest twice with a nearly max party where we were not able to successfully open the chests. Something based on party size rather than the strength of the party seems like it would be preferable to this, especially since it seems to be designed with the EFU:R "meta" in mind. The strength check demands a melee centric party composition and assumes a liberal use of Bull's Strength.

With the resurgence of several players, old and new, one of the biggest issues right now is having public places making chat logs inundates with NPC dialogue. I understand there is a way in NWN to silence NPC dialogue for everyone save the person that is speaking with them. It would be great if this could be done for the non-important, low level quest NPCs, particularly those in places such as the Open Door.

You cannot use this NPC to leave Ring 100.

When choosing the [Depart Ring 100 - travel directly to Ticker Square...] option, you are given an EFUQS notification that you cannot take this quest because the maximum character level is not respected.

This seems heavily bugged.



This is the quest log I received. He will also try to give you a quest that recommends you talk to the Doorkeeper, even if you have already gotten that quest and done so. This doesn't change anything about your log.

Asking him "[Quest] About this House..." makes the dialogue end and nothing happens. For some reason, I was able to go into the house anyways, but the blank quest listed above never updated, changed, and I was never able to turn it in. Additionally, someone came in immediately after me.

Instead of getting the relevant quest items, I was given dried rations twice (Imp and fake guard) and a minor healing trinket (Spinning Groat guy). The server reset before I was able to turn the quest in and confirm if it was possible to complete, but this might need to be looked at.

"Casting Magic Weapon" appears over the head of the person who takes the rune, but the spell never appears to be cast.

This occurred, specifically, in QA - Ring 98 - Breadblood Camp.

The dialogue says that you will respawn to an alley in Ring 99. My character's spawn point was set to the Open Door but I respawned in the Ring 100 corpse location.

The NPC says I'm good to go but there doesn't appear to be an actual place set for PCs to rest.

/c combat_style non-combat appears like this:



This is presumably not intentional? I assume the model is supposed to move as if they were not holding a weapon in their hand.

This is the case with most simple weapons I tested.

... Knight-Artificer and Theoferrous Knight of the Shining Hammer Society, Lady of Whitehurst, Countess of Whitehurst, State Secretary to the First Citizen (first Alice, then Dhimani), self proclaimed owner of "the blade that killed Melinda Bresley," formerly Warder-Adept (also fired at least twice), formerly Clerk of the Civil Service, once an Armiger, "but soon I'll be something way more than that."

Gentle called her Agent "Titles" for a good reason, and she wore all of them with pride.

Isolde started in April purely because I got the itch and I wanted to survey the server before I started a "real" character. Little did I know, I was going to be swept up by a lot of incredible players with great PCs and all of the amazing interactions that happened during the Enhanced Edition hype.

Like most characters, I neglected to take screenshots for most of the best moments -- but I did get some of them!
... a lot of them include Alice, so I hope you loved that PC as much as I did.



When Isolde showed up in Sanctuary, she was a bratty and petulant but power hungry survivor who wanted to not only endure, but eventually find the ability to thrive. She immediately attached herself to Councilor Gerrard Vaughan and, despite her playful and disrespectful demeanor coming in direct conflict with his stuffy nobility, established herself as his confidant in the Armigers' black and silver garb.

Isolde talked a lot about her "encounters" with the Dread General Kingsley, how she had fought her, broken her Swords... in reality, it went more like like this!

Character interactions are what drive the majority of my interest in EFU, and in the early days, when I had the time, Isolde was a chipper conversationalist who was always willing to grab a drink with anyone who would listen to her speak. She took a lot of pride in having a hand in every pot, which meant that she met with a lot of seedy elements in awful places. Lots of early encounters with the Exile Collective, Lowerfolk, and various other figures as she constantly railed against the corruption of the Spellguard in Vaughan's colors.

Isolde stuck with Vaughan for weeks, even helped him attack the Spellguard and try to assassinate Claire Chambers, girl genius, multiple times. Eventually, however, Isolde got bored with Vaughan and the Armigers, felt that things were not going anywhere, were not progressing as fast as she wanted them to. She strayed from leading the Armigers in Vaughan's absence and toiled over what she would do now that she'd publicly and openly ostracized the Spellguard... and then a new face came out of the Mythallar.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________


Alice Fairclow had a huge effect on Isolde. Alice came to Sanctuary as a beacon of hope and Isolde latched on. Though she was apprehensive at first -- considering Alice to be so bright-eyed that she'd get devoured by Underdark in short time -- Isolde offered to hear out her plans on multiple occasions and, after finding that she wasn't dead in a ditch somewhere, eventually agreed to join the Shining Hammer Society. They vowed to do things differently. To stand against the Spellguard. To make animatrons of their own. To never be just another cog in the machine, but always work towards the completion of the Work. To be a beacon of Man together.

Isolde never stopped being, uh... "playful" despite her companionship and growing friendship with Alice, though.

I really can't stress how great Alice was; she was a constant source of interaction and intrigue and a never-ending supply of motivation, IC and OOC, and I don't think I would have played Isolde for as much time as I did if it wasn't for Alice and Valp's effect on her.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________


The Spellguard receded from Sanctuary, blew up some bridges, ostracized the populace, and became the tyrants everyone always knew they could be. This lead to the House of Governance not being safe and, by extension, Councilor Fairclow being in constant danger. Isolde wanted to protect Alice at all costs -- she didn't think her voice could sing as hopeful and wide as Alice's could. Later, she would tragically learn that she was right, but for the time being, they needed a solution. Isolde suggested the Spellguard, but balked at the idea of submitting to their rule. She hated Claire Chambers, girl genius. Eventually, things got worse, and worse,  with Alice being under attack... and eventually even a certain mercenary lady suggested joining the Spellguard.

During the Shining Hammer Society's independence, the Sisters Two -- Sister Butch and Sister Supple -- were well respected and always offered aid despite being xenians, a fact that would eventually get Alice killed.

At one point, Rana killed Gerrard Vaughan, who had become a deranged and infected Knight of the New Path, which lead to a hilarious turn of events: He forgot to take Isolde out of his will. So she became Lady Isolde Mhaille-Vaughan, countess of Whitehurst. Nice.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________


Malark Amblecrown, another figurehead Isolde frequently boasted about working with, meeting, and being a "trusted ally," was none too happy about his Knight's death. One of the few times Isolde followed orders. Props to Ironside for always making a scene with NPC possessions; Malark was always dealing out some anime-level monologues whenever he was around.

Adapting to life in the Spellguard wasn't particularly easy for Isolde considering how long she had spent calling them tyrants. It especially didn't help that Alice was so attached to Claire, who Isolde hated.

But Alice never stopped recognizing her friend's dedication... even if Isolde got fired and rehired as a Warder like twice.

[hide=smellguard4lyfe]





















[/hide]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________


She spent a lot of time in the Warders, seeing the revolving door that was the Spellguard meat grinder churn through countless allies, friends, and enemies in the faction -- including her best friend.

Long story short? The Spellguard sucks, but it's always important to keep the right respective.

[hide=Time stops for nobody's tragedy]













[/hide]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________


At some point, striving to be the miserable Adept who typically only finds joy in "hitting things over the head" would lead to some trying circumstances. But a superior's choice to intervene on Isolde's behalf -- along with her ever present, survivalist instinct -- would lead Isolde down a path of rebellion that led to her achieving her and Alice's goals: A member of the Shining Hammer Society becoming an Agent of the Spellguard.

She never stopped talking about that one time she tried to kill Claire Chambers, girl genius, with Gerrard Vaughan and her many attempts to topple the Spellguard, even to new recruits. Some things never change, and for Isolde, her constant bragging and exaggerations of the truth never ended, even when she got what she wanted.

I wish I had taken more screenshots of Claire and Isolde, whose relationship, despite being distant, changed drastically since Claire was a wee Warder torching gnomes in the square.

[hide=full offense, but agent robes < netherese garb. what a dope looking tunic]





















[/hide]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________


Thanks to everyone involved in the character. I never have as much time for EFU as I would like, but I was incredibly grateful to be able to play Isolde for such a long period of time despite necessary breaks and lulls in activity. While her early days were perhaps her best, there was a great satisfaction in seeing her grow, develop, and transform as a character -- from an overzealous rebel trying to break Serena Tower to a pragmatic Agent that often found herself representing many of the things she originally abhorred.  I think Isolde was oftentimes less than the people she interacted with, but it's always fun to inhabit this crazy world we play in and I hope others found as much amusement interacting with her as I did playing her.

Huge shout outs to Valp and Alice, who shaped this character and motivated me every step of the way. Major props to Abala for Claire Chambers, who is just wildly brilliant and nuanced despite her grating pyrotechnics and was constantly fun to butt heads with throughout Isolde's career. Lots of love to the usual suspects who deal with my incessant, neurotic whining about my PCs and their development.

I'm a bit disappointed that I probably don't have the time or patience to see the end of Sanctuary all the way  through with a level 2 scrub, but I'm sure there will be more adventures to come in whatever comes next.

I know that spending 30 minutes updating this thread is perhaps not the most exciting thing for DMs to do with their time, but it's incredibly helpful for more casual players looking to stay up to date. Right now is a time of heroes and villains and major events in EFU, especially considering the chapter is ostensibly coming to a close. Numerous things have happened in the two weeks since the last post in the thread was made -- a PC tried to become mayor, the Collective tried to "enthrall" a councilor, a major PC had a duel with THE Malark Amblecrown, the dark lake was turned to sludge, steps appeared and were crossed off by major factions, Ghaunadaur rebels killed elves and negotiated for the release of a captive -- and yet none of this has been marked as major gossip.

It's already hard to get involved in EFU while playing with a modest time schedule; I've been incredibly lucky to be involved with a couple PCs who are very open and inclusive, but not everyone is in as good of a position to know what's going on when they log in. I just shockingly had a returning player comment to me that things seemed like they were lulling. I'd love to see the thread get updated more frequently to prevent this dissonance and at least give PCs talking points or avenues for topics that are perhaps not as widely shared by PCs regularly.