Episode 29: Blood Sucking Creatures Of The Night!

A couple of weeks back I introduced the fact that I am aiming to include vampires in module two of The Scroll ... and this is an update on that course of action. Unfortunately, I did not do as much as I hoped, due to some Windows 10 issues, but thankfully, I did manage some progression. I also managed to do some reworking of the creature drop scripts and HP Bars. To have an idea of what the player can expect, read on ...

VAMPIRE COFFINS

As most hardened adventurers will know, vampires are not easily "destroyed" ... for good. They even stand out from their undead counterparts due to their supernatural ability to avoid such final destruction. And what is the main focus of this ability to avoid such an untimely "death"? ... The vampire's coffin!

The coffin normally represents the final resting place of every mortal soul. However, in D&D, we can never take such assumptions for granted, especially when we think vampires may be around. For vampires, this normally straightforward casket is a place of sanctuary and resurrection. If an encounter with some vampire hunters goes badly for them, they can instantly turn into a gaseous form to avoid further combat and escape to their coffin. Once there, and after an hour's resting, they can quickly regenerate from their wounds and be ready to fight again!

THE ADVENTURER'S ADVANTAGE

However, like all things in D&D, what may be of benefit in one instance, may turn out to be a pitfall if an adversary (like the adventurer) knows how to use it to their advantage. For if a vampire's coffin should be destroyed before the vampire has time to flee to it, then the vampire becomes vulnerable to normal destruction, now unable to flee to its sanctuary. Furthermore, if an adventurer is able to discover a vampire's coffin with the vampire still inside, and they carry a humble wooden stake, then they can also destroy the vampire by plunging said stake into the vampire's heart even before it has time to react. Here is an in-game descriptive text for a coffin ...

In-Game Coffin Description

VAMPIRES & THEIR SPAWN

Thanks to KevL's Creature Visualizer tool, I was able to produce something other than the stock vampire model we have in the toolset. Thankfully, vampires tend to be humanoid in nature, and so I simply crated some new "vampires" from the humanoid models. At first I was concerned about not having the correct teeth for them, but then I noticed that the official vampire lord does not show their teeth either, so decided it was not a major concern. I think the player will be able to see these for who/what they are. The bottom line, I was able to make the vampires look different, be they spawn types (lesser, but still very formidable) or the full blown vampire.

The story behind the vampire connection is still in development, but I do have a major premise to work from now. I also want to update the areas lighting and sounds, which were absent from the area I have, which was kindly put together for me by Eguintir, many years ago now!

OTHER UPDATES

While working with vampires and associated code, I noticed I had currently not allowed some creatures to drop items that may be useful in crafting. This mostly affected either constructs or outsiders. Thankfully, these drops are not critical, apart from they may be useful in crafting certain items with the appropriate skills ... and my guess is these parts are more likely for higher level crafted items. Therefore, any drops, apart from any monetary value, may well have been not usable until module two anyway. That said, if I release another version of module one, then these drops will become available again, but only if the module is started afresh.

In further code updates, I changed the HP Bars for party members to green and also enabled the bar to show above the Main PC as well now. Again, it is a minor alteration, and simply a cosmetic difference that I hope will be appreciated in the next release.

Lastly, I spent some time going over some functions (especially to do with host functions) to ensure the game is ready for additional modules. This is an ongoing point, but will become less of an issue as module two grows nearer completion.

And for those who like a picture, here is a themed one for this week...

The Heroes Discover A Dark & Ominous Place

Episode 28: You Can Count On Vampires!

What a bit of a selection of things to tell you about in this blog! My efforts (for what they are) have been tested in a number of directions, as health permitted during this difficult time. There may be another word with "V" in it that we are all talking about of late, but for this blog, I am going to restrict its application for the monster, the vampire! (The other word was "Covid", but that's the first and last time I will mention it.) So, what's been happening ... read on ...

CLASSIC MONSTERS!

You may recall from a few months back that I managed to put together some scripts that will manage lycanthropy in my next module. Now, in a similar vein, I am trying to rework another horror classic: the vampire! However, none of my vampires will be "Count" like characters ... or at least, they will definitely not be like the caricatured beaten to death more times than even the hardiest of undead characters, "Dracula" if I can help it. I aim to have them simply be the monster that D&D has made them and try to escape the stereo-type portrayal if possible. But who am I kidding! I reckon the "Dracula" character is so embedded in our psyche that it will be impossible to escape some mental images of that persona.

New Visual Effects

So what's new? Well, I discovered that NWN2 did not support the gaseous form that we are familiar with when a vampire wants to avoid an untimely end. Therefore, I had to script a version of that. (See video link below for a demo.) On top of that, I was not happy with the way the vampire model relied on a spell to try to dominate its victim rather than use a gaze attack, so I updated that too.

I also applied some of my previously developed "undead" scripts to ensure level drains work alongside any Life Essences a PC may be carrying. In my modules, Life Essences can act as a barrier towards level draining, in that some undead will drain these from PCs before actual levels.

Other than that, most (if not all) other vampire aspects are covered, from needing magik weapons to hit, fast healing, blood (constitution) draining, damage and other resistances. They are quite a formidable foe, but one that can be overcome if the party of heroes go well prepared; normally with a cleric and accompanying spells.

In Development

I still have some scripting to do with respect to their coffins and stakes, but that is all going to tie in with other plot related stuff and so it will come together in time. And you can thank my wife for their inclusion, as she wanted me to write a story based upon the return of one of her favourite characters from The Scroll (module 1), and this is where it led to. I won't say who that character was, but some of you who have played module 1 already may well be able to guess. :)

GAME OPTIONS!

As most players will know, vampires have the power to dominate their victims. This led me to looking at the various effects that I would need to have the vampire employ, which in turn led to the game option function, GetScaledEffect. This function is basically called when some effects are used on a player to alter the overall effect according to the Game Difficulty settings. Unfortunately, this section of the NWN2 game appears a little buggy, and so I determined to look a little closer at this too, especially as vampires use the dominate effect.

I discovered a number of small issues, but enough differences to what I expected to make me decide it needed "fixing". It's still currently a work in progress, but I do now have a greater understanding of the various effects involved and hope to have an update to this section of the game not before too long. I may even consider releasing another update for module 1, subject to any requests for it or not. If no-one asks for it, then I may just leave it as an update if and when module 2 is released.

The Vampire Combat Video demonstrating new effects ....