New Content

[Howlando]

v4_731:

- Various bug fixes
- Donation Bowl to Starag's Rest for charity
- Persistent Storage rooms located below the House of Trade can now be rented by dedicated merchant concepts. See a House of Governance Clerk to receive permission for rental.
- One new 2-6 quest added (actually a sort of refresh of an old EFUv1 Quest that will be a nostalgia fest for some of you)
- New Monster Lair System added

What are Monster Lairs?

This is a big new system that Talir and I (with a lot of inspiration from Mort) have spent a lot of time working on so we hope you guys will enjoy it.

Monster Lairs are a system for special monstrous PCs (and their allies) to dig out a lair, collect resources for it, improve it, attract minions to help defend it, and get various perks from having better lairs. The Lairs are really quite elaborate but I won't spoil the details here.

There are currently three monster lair types available:

The Crypt
- Collect sinister necromantic relics and material and animate skeletal guardians... and perhaps more... as your Crypt is expanded in size by your undead minions

The Beast Lair
- Suitable for monstrous humanoids of all sorts, the general theme of this lair is a cave that is expanded by a tribe of loyal goblins and perhaps eventually other stronger, loyal tribal-humanoids.

The Dunwarren Lair
- Located somewhere in the sprawling ruins of Dunwarren, this small lair can be expanded upon by a clever monster with an aptitude for engineering and perhaps with time she can build and acquire equipment to develop more complex engineering projects.

The Hidden Myconid Grove
- Suitable for Myconid PCs building a new Myconid Colony/Settlement

Unbuilt / currently unavailable:

- The Bandit Lord lair

Hundreds of different existing and new items have been marked as the relevant resource for a particular (or all) Lair Types. The monster and minion(s) thus must go and collect these kinds of resources in order to build up their lair and gain the privileges that come with having an advanced lair.

Turning in resources also provides limited XP and can thus be seen as an alternate way for monsters to advance in levels.

Lairs can be built almost anywhere, but players are expected to be reasonable in their decision of where to build - for example, the Dunwarren Lair should be built somewhere that is actually Dunwarren.

Lairs are only available when the Monster Lair owner is online and IG. The rest of the time the Lair is sneakily closed off while the Monster slumbers within...

Other characters are fully, 100% encouraged to find these monster lairs and destroy them - they're monster lairs, after all! An OOC placeable is in the entrance of all monster lairs that briefly describes the rules, but in essence - if the Lair is guarded by NPCs, you must have a DM to witness your attempted destruction of the Lair - which we'll be happy to do.

Monsters thus are faced with the sometimes difficult decision of being around to protect their Lair or go out and collect more resources to improve it. Finding loyal minions is definitely to the advantage of the Monster, although it is hoped that this playstyle will also make life as a hermit and loner easier also.

Once a Lair has been destroyed by PCs, it is reset to nothingness - and if the monster survives, he must go and start all over again to try to build a new lair.

Note - this Monster Lair System is intended as a way to support interesting stories not just be a new way to play NWN. As access to the limited number of Monster Lairs is available only through application/DM approval, and as they'll generally be given out only to interesting concepts played by players who've proven they're devoted to high quality RP and story-telling, we therefore suggest that if you're interested in playing a Monster with a Monster Lair we recommend you hone your RP and story-telling skills!

Let us know if there are any questions.

[Howlando]

v4_745:

- An old Mort quest from EFUv1 has been dusted off and made available. This quest presently needs to be unlocked by a PC in the Hoar Harbinger Association. That may change depending on how many PCs are in the association.

- Lower Sanctuary has generally been updated to reflect the evolution of the area and increase in NPCs living there

- City-based rangers can now buy an Elite Hunting Hawk to replace their animal companion. There's another *spoiler* way for druids/rangers to get a different, special kind of companion added.

- Starting area now has greater variety of canonical region-specific outfits

- Various loot tweaks, bug fixes, and minor updates

- Oh, and MYCONIDS.

MYCONIDS?!?

Yes. Now players can apply to play a mushroom man.

When we wanted to introduce Myconids, we wanted to do so in a way that made the experience of playing them feel genuinely different and unique.

Myconids earn almost no XP from killing monsters, but instead earn continuous advancement XP (reflecting their 'growth') through all levels of their particular life-stage.

What is a life-stage?

There are three Life-Stages, and each one grants a different appearance model (small, medium, huge). Each life-stage is associated with a particular level range: 1-6 for small ('Sproutling'), 7-9 (Medium), and 10+ (Elder). Each life-stage grants different subrace abilities.

How does one advance from one life-stage to another?

Progressing to the next highest life-stage is not only a matter of simply gaining the necessary XP. Instead, Myconid PCs must acquire the necessary rare nutrients and spiritual essence of another Myconid PC - in essence, they must undertake the very sacred Ritual of Absorption and 'absorb' two other Myconids of their life-stage. Generally the Myconids consider absorption a very sacred and secret aspect of their culture - something often done between close friends or allies. When a Myconid PC absorbs another PC Myconid, that Myconid PC is permanently gone - however, to some extent elements of the absorbed PC should be reflected in the absorbing Myconid's personality. Absorption can be performed on willing participants as part of a sacred ritual, OR it can be done on an unwilling, subdued Myconid victim - this is an evil act, though, and completely forbidden by Myconid tradition. Naturally, rogue and evil Myconids do sometimes exist.

So what is the standard Myconid Story?

Due to overpopulation in Mycopolis, Myconid PCs are being sent out into the wider Underdark to establish a new grove/Myconid Colony. They will do this through the Monster Lair system which has been set up for them. Myconid PCs must thus go around the Underdark and collect the necessary material to slowly grow their Grove and turn it into a true Myconid Colony. Of course, the Underdark is a dangerous place and establishing a new home will not be easy!

Myconid Stats:

Application required: Yes
Base Race: Half-Elf (adjusted to Vermin)
Preferred Alignment: LN, TN
XP: Special

All Myconids:
Bonus Feat: Armor Skin (For +2 AC)
Immunity: Critical Hits
Immunity: Death Magic
Immunity: Disease
Immunity: Fear
Immunity: Level/Ability Drain
Immunity: Mind-Affecting
Immunity: Paralysis
Immunity: Poison
Immunity: Confusion (Spell)
Immunity: Entangle (Spell)
Immunity: Stinking Cloud (Spell)
RA: Myconid (stinking cloud 1/day, cloud of bewilderment 1/day)
Light armor only

Myconid Sproutlings are small size with ability adjustments of -2 str, +2 con, -2 int, -2 cha.

Ability scores are adjusted appropriately as the Myconid progresses.

Myconid have stubby little hands that can't grasp standard weapons properly and so instead have bludgeoning creature weapons.

Myconid PCs are a monster race and, although not evil, may well be hunted and destroyed for what they are - survival challenge is part of the theme. Players of Myconids should expect a very different play-style; far from the town and only rarely interacting with the rest of the playerbase.

[Howlando]

v4_750:

- Minor adjustments and polishes to various existing areas
- New Prestige Class introduced and now available for applications: Ascetic

What is the Ascetic?

Ascetics are monks who, perhaps because of their Philosophy or the Tenets of their Order or for some reason altogether, completely reject the aid of beneficial spells and effects. All standard beneficial magic (including healing spells) have no effect on Ascetics. Because of the rigors of such a path, Ascetics also receive spell resistance to harmful effects, resistance to physical and elemental damage, and access to various advantageous combat stances and extraordinary abilities. The exact mechanical bonuses of this path are considerable and will not be disclosed here, but instead must be explored through advancement through the prestige class.

Ascetic is generally a prestige class for pure class monk (i.e. the Ascetic bonuses and disadvantages are applied on top off the standard monk class). Players should apply for ascetic prior to creation or possibly very early on in the character's career. Thus earning this prestige class is not a matter of 'EIG' like most PRCs but rather instead based off of strength of concept and the record of the player's past characters.

The hope with this prestige class is to introduce a new play-style to EFU as well as move away from the tradition of monks being most effective when they have accumulated large quantities of supplies.

Let us know if you have any question and big thanks to Paha/Talir for excellent scripting work as always.

[Howlando]

v4_756:

- New sets and treasure items to be found
- There is a new very substantial hidden bonus available only to pure paladins of 8 character levels (not available for multiclass paladins).
- Please be advised that fallen paladins or paladins of non-responsive deities will have their innate paladin feats adjusted to Luck of Heroes, Resist Disease, and Fearless. This has to be done manually by a DM at this time so generally will only happen when one of us notices your character.

[Howlando]

v4_758:

- Donation bowls have been added to various factions & associations that didn't have them before. Feel free to let me know if large donations are being made, and I'll check - for every multiple of 10,000 or so I plan on offering some kind of bonus to the faction.

- Three old quests have been brushed up and hidden in Random Exploration Areas.

[Howlando]

v4_795:

- Voting has begun, there will be three days for Falconer/Gunnvaldurson, followed by three days of voting for Kingsley/Crane.
- Updates to Upper/Lower to reflect recent events
- Herbalism has been expanded using a common underdark herbal ingredient to allow access to certain staples that had been unavailable due to lack of surface vegetation
- New area & system suitable for Spellguard Agents and Engineers
- Note: Craft Trap is being reverted to Engineering with EFUSS Engineering providing a +2 craft trap bonus. This is because EFUSS Engineering is cumbersome and craft trap as a real skill (with the ability to get bonuses from items, skill focus feat, etc.) is suitable as a way for players to demonstrate when their character is very serious about engineering. Not all engineering checks have been converted or will be anytime soon. Players who are playing serious engineering PCs can speak with me to do a rebuild to take Craft Trap.
- Monk Stances implemented

[Howlando]

v4_797:

- Rogues with the Engineer perk will get a chance at re-rolling certain engineering checks if they fail the first time
- The Garbage Pit quest now has 8 possible variations
- There is a new levels 6-10 quest that is probably pretty dangerous

[Howlando]

v4_809:

- Active members of the Sanctuary Watchers should seek out a DM IG to get an improved version of their armor & helm. This is a consequence of all those fines levied on hapless adventurers.

[Howlando]

v4_817:

- Some various and in-progress updates to the Underdark geography, generally these should be considered as retroactive changes and thus "it's always been this way"

- I've added some map-notes to various key areas that list a very rough general elevation, this is intended to help players get a sense of their approximate depth and how areas relate to each other. NWN handles elevation very poorly unfortunately.

- There is now a new prestige class available only to members of the faction Society of the Ordered Mind: "Society Ritualist." Further details about this special prestige class will be posted in their forum. In terms of concept planning, assume that the PRC is suitable for non-religious classes (so non-clerics, non-paladins, etc.).

[Howlando]

v838:

- There's been a fair bit of new content added by myself and other DMs... including new exploreables, new quests, etc.
- Several new "Monster Lairs" set up including Kobold Burrow and Rot Grove
- Some other stuff to explore but it's not finished yet and I've run out of time, so it's suggested that if you want to properly explore new content please wait a day or so to go down new roads that you may spot so I have a chance to complete what is at the other end

[Howlando]

v4_877:

I wanted to mention here some of the more recent note-worthy changes that have been put in recently

- Clarity's duration increased along with a VFX for as long as it is active
- Various VFXs added to different bard songs (most bard songs should now have a different VFX to indicate the nature of the song)
- A new monster lair added ("The Orc Cave")
- New exploreable theme
- Various tweaks made to ambient spawns

[Talir]

v4_899

Hijacking this thread a bit to mention some additions:

-- Wormingers occasionally spawn in the Worm Pits.
-- Scavengers occasionally search the In-Between Ruins.

What's the similarity? You can mug them!

-- Two stores in Lower will now purchase some of the goods the muggable NPCs carry.

Remember that mugging the NPCs is an IC action and can have consequences. Read the description of the NPCs.

[Howlando]

v4_931:

Just going to mention a few things that have been added recently.

- Part of our new hak gives us a lot of flexibility with adding different kinds of item properties, so you might start to see items with previously impossible item properties. Let us know if something doesn't quite work properly though.
- Somewhat related to that, casting Magic Weapon on ranged weapons (bows, slings, etc.) now grants +1 AB which will pierce +1 DR. Note that GMW, flame weapon, etc. still shouldn't do anything.
- Couple new quests, some fairly hidden
- Some updates (for those who haven't noticed) in the Canal Ward
- New exploreable theme
- New lair type, The Dwarf Fortress

This particular lair type is probably the most elaborate of all the lairs so far, and I have some plans to further expand it. It's ready to go now though so we invite applications or queries from a player ready to lead a dwarven group and play a long-time dwarf Leader type and try to build up their Dwarven Fortress. You can drink ale and mine for ore and build fortifications and probably be subject to the ever-present threat of various monsters raiding you, what's not to like?

[Howlando]

v4_932:

Contrary to canon, in EFU all druids receive their power from nature itself and not directly from a deity. Therefore players are now free to put alternate things into their deity field when playing a druid character. It can be a a good way to communicate to DMs which aspect of the natural world their character is focusing on, but of course if your character is pious and does have a patron deity you should input that.

Note that players should still use their best judgment about this. A Druid that worships Bane or Cyric or Velsharoon makes no sense, for example. And, as always, a druid that violates druidic oaths (using restricted weapons, wearing metal armor, tolerating undead/demons/other outsiders, spending too much time in civilization, not taking their duties seriously) will have its spellcasting ability stripped away mercilessly by DMs.

[Talir]

v4_996

-- New 3-9 quest added in the Mausoleum (available next reset).
-- For those still unaware, the harvest poison bug has been fixed. It is now fully possible to extract poison vials for use on weapons.

If you notice any bugs or have feedback regarding the quest, just send it directly to me.