aTweaks v2.5 released, a tiny tweak pack Options

[aVENGER]

Introduction

This mod represents a compilation of PnP related tweaks and various house rules which are designed to bring more consistency to the gameplay. It works on normal Baldur's Gate II games as well as either of the two Baldur's Gate conversion projects: (Easy)Tutu and Baldur's Gate Trilogy (BGT). The mod is divided into multiple components all of which can be installed separately and are completely independent of each other.


Relevant links

• Download location
• Readme
• Discussion Forum

Here's a short summary of all components listed by their groups:

PnP tweaks:

This group of tweaks strives to bring various aspects of the game closer to Pen and Paper AD&D rules.


Restore innate infravision to Half-Orc characters
This component restores the PnP innate infravision trait to Half-Orc characters which was missing in the unmodded game. In order for this tweak to work, you need to turn on the party AI for 5-10 seconds until the appropriate script block triggers. After that, you can turn it off again if you wish.

Prevent skeletal undead from being affected by Illithids' Devour Brain attack
This component prevents skeletal undead creatures (such as summoned Skeletons and Skeleton Warriors) from being affected by the Devour Brain attack of Illithids. Since skeletal undead have no internal organs per PnP rules, they should not be affected by this particular attack and thus cannot die from having their intelligence score drained to zero.

Change Spiritual Hammer into a ranged force weapon
This component changes the magical hammer created by the level 2 cleric spell Spiritual Weapon into a ranged force weapon, as per PnP rules. The hammer now deals magical damage and can strike from a distance. However, it is now affected by the magic resistance of the target and no longer adds the strength bonus of its wielder to the damage that it deals. Since the hammer is supposed to be controlled telepathically (rather than being actually held or thrown) the wielder does not receive the standard penalty for holding a ranged weapon when engaged in close combat.

Allow Dispel/Remove Magic to take down Globes of Invulnerability
This component changes the Minor Globe of Invulnerability and the Globe of Invulnerability spells and makes them dispellable by Dispel/Remove Magic, as per PnP rules. The original in-game descriptions of those spells suggests that this behavior may have been intended by the developers.

Magical arrows and bolts deal bonus damage equal to their enchantment level
This component allows magical bolts and arrows to deal bonus damage appropriate to their enchantment level, as per PnP rules. For example, this means that an Arrow +1 now deals 1d6+1 damage while an Arrow +2 deals 1d6+2 damage... etc. For reference, both BG1 and IWD1 had correctly implemented this feature, but for some reason, the designers of BG2 chose to omit the enchantment bonus to damage for arrows and bolts. Note that this tweak only applies to generic (+x) enchanted arrows, bolts and magical quivers. Special, yet non-enchanted, ammo varieties such as Arrows of Piercing and Bolts of Biting will remain untouched.

Restore innate disease immunity to Paladins
This component makes all Paladins inherently immune to disease, as per PnP rules. It also adds an innate Cure Disease ability, usable once per day, to the True Paladin and Cavalier kits. The Inquisitor and Undead Hunter kits do not receive the Cure Disease ability due to their respective restrictions. Note: a new game must be started in order for this component to function properly.

Additional racial traits for Dwarves
This component restores the +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against orcs, half-orcs, goblins and hobgoblins to dwarven characters. Furthermore Giants, Trolls, Ogres and Ogre Magi now suffer a -4 penalty to their attack rolls when targeting dwarves, as per PnP rules. In order for this tweak to work, you need to turn on the party AI for 5-10 seconds until the appropriate script block triggers. After that, you can turn it off again if you wish. Note: this component is fully compatible with the "Giants Receive Penalties When Attacking Halflings, Dwarves, and Gnomes" component of the G3 BG2 Fixpack.

Additional racial traits for Gnomes
This component restores the +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against kobolds and goblins to gnome characters. Furthermore Giants, Trolls, Gnolls, Ogres and Ogre Magi now suffer a -4 penalty to their attack rolls when targeting gnomes, as per PnP rules. In order for this tweak to work, you need to turn on the party AI for 5-10 seconds until the appropriate script block triggers. After that, you can turn it off again if you wish. Note: this component is fully compatible with the "Giants Receive Penalties When Attacking Halflings, Dwarves, and Gnomes" component of the G3 BG2 Fixpack.

Gameplay tweaks:

This group of tweaks makes several changes in order to bring more consistency to the gameplay.


Allow Breach to take down Stoneskin effects applied by items
In the unmodded game, several characters (i.e. Cowled Enforcers, Conster, Mekrath, Rayic Gethras, Terminsel... etc.) were wearing special rings which covered them with a semi-permanent Stoneskin effect. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the Infinity Engine, this Stoneskin effect could not be removed by the Breach spell. This component remedies that oversight and allows the Breach spell to properly take down any Stoneskin effects which are applied by such items. It also changes the Gargoyle Boots in a similar manner and allows enemy mages to take down its Stoneskin effect with the Breach spell.

Instant casting for warrior innates
This component eliminates the casting delay for all innate abilities of the warrior classes that are not spell-like in nature. In summary, you will never get the dreaded "Spell Disrupted" message while attempting to use Berserker Enrage, Barbarian Rage, Kensai Kai and Lay On Hands (both the Paladin and the Monk version). Minsc's unique Berserk ability is also affected by this change. Finally, this tweak will also prevent Wild Magic and Dead Magic zones from interfering with these abilities.

Consistently spell-like Bhaalpowers
This component standardizes the casting time of all spell-like Bhaalpowers which the protagonist receives. The casting time of these abilities is reduced to 1 which is consistent with other spell-like abilities as well as the casting time of the advanced Bhaalpowers that the protagonist receives by completing the pocket plane challenges in Throne of Bhaal. For reference, the affected Bhaalpowers are: Cure Light Wounds, Slow Poison, Draw Upon Holy Might, Larloch's Minor Drain, Horror and Vampiric Touch.

Make druidic shapeshifting uninterruptable
This component eliminates the casting delay for innate druidic shapeshifting abilities. In summary, you will never get the dreaded "Spell Disrupted" message while attempting to shapeshift as a Druid. Furthermore, this tweak will also prevent Wild Magic and Dead Magic zones from interfering with druidic shapeshifting abilities.

Prevent Mislead clones from singing Bard songs
This component prevents illusionary clones created by the Mislead spell from singing Bard songs. When ordered to sing, an illusionary clone will now only mimic the mouth movements of the original caster without making any sound and thus won't provide any battlesong benefits to nearby allies, nor hinder adjacent enemies in case the original caster was a Jester.

Prevent Project Image and Simulacrum clones from using quickslot items
This component prevents illusionary clones created by the Project Image and Simulacrum spells from using expendable quickslot items such as potions, wands and scrolls. In effect, this tweak closes the exploit which previously allowed the player to get infinite uses out of one-time consumable items such as Protection from Magic scrolls.

Bard songs break invisibility
This component modifies the Bard battlesongs in such a way that a Bard who attempts to sing must forfeit his invisibility due to the opponent's ability to locate him by sound. Bards who are under the effects of Improved Invisibility become only partially visible while singing. This tweak can be installed in two ways - the changes can either only apply to the Jester's song (since it directly affects enemies) or to the battlesongs of all Bards. Both options will affect the battlesongs from the unmodded game as well as the battlesongs which are introduced by the G3 BG2 Fixpack and Rogue Rebalancing.

Simple Thief script
This component introduces a simple player AI script which is intended for Thief characters. When assigned, this script will allow a Thief to either use his "Find Traps" skill or his "Hide in Shadows" skill whenever he is idle. By default the Thief will search for traps when there are no enemies nearby. Pressing the 'D' key toggles this setting and causes the Thief to attempt to hide in shadows as long as there are no enemies in his line of sight. Note that the Thief won't attack opponents nor defend himself while either of these skills is in use. Pressing the 'V' key toggles this setting and causes the Thief to stop using his skills and start attacking the nearest enemy. This script will never override player-assigned actions.

Simple Bard script
This component introduces a simple player AI script which is intended for Bard characters. When assigned, this script will allow a Bard to sing his battlesong whenever he is idle. By default the Bard will only sing when enemies are nearby and stop once they are out of his line of sight. Pressing the 'D' key toggles this setting and causes the Bard to sing constantly, regardless of enemy presence. Note that the Bard doesn't attack opponents nor defend himself while singing the battlesong. Pressing the 'V' key toggles this setting and causes the Bard to stop singing and start attacking the nearest enemy. This script will never override player-assigned actions.

Cosmetic tweaks:

This group of tweaks makes changes to the look and feel of the game without altering the gameplay mechanics.


Use Icewind Dale's Dimension Door animation
This component replaces the default animation for the Dimension Door and Shadow Door spells with the higher quality animation from Icewind Dale. The actual gameplay effects of those spells remain completely unchanged, only their visual appearance is altered.

Change the appearance of Valygar's armor
This component changes the appearance of Valygar's personal armor to resemble Studded Leather rather than Chain Mail. The color palette of the armor will also be altered in order to more closely match its inventory icon. The item's statistics will remain untouched.

Change the appearance of the Robe of Vecna
This component will change the appearance of the Robe of Vecna and turn it into a fully hooded robe, making it look similar to the Robe of the Good/Evil/Neutral Archmagi. The item's statistics will remain untouched.

Give Shambling Mounds their proper soundset
This component assigns a unique soundset to Shambling Mounds rather than having them mimic the Earth Elemental soundset. Interestingly, the proper Shambling Mound soundset already existed in the unmodded game but it appears to have been completely unused (SHAMB01-SHAMB07.WAV).

Miscellaneous tweaks:

This group of tweaks consists of miscellaneous changes which don't directly fit into any of the previously mentioned categories.


Slightly expanded storage capacity for containers
This component slightly expands the storage capacity of all containers in the game (Gem Bags, Scroll Cases, Bags of Holding... etc.). It can be installed in two ways, by either using the recommended setting of 999 items per container or by entering a custom value for the storage capacity. The difference between this tweak and similar components from other mods is that containers with the recommended storage capacity of 999 (or below) shouldn't slow down the engine as much as the truly bottomless containers. Note that this tweak won't lower the capacity of containers which can already carry more than 999 items (such as Ammo Belts).

Expanded temple services
This component slightly expands the selection of curative spells which can be cast by NPC priests in temples. The spell selection is expanded as follows:

• Any priest who currently has the Dispel Magic spell under his service tab gains the Cure Disease spell
• Any priest who currently has the Cure Moderate Wounds spell under his service tab gains the Neutralize Poison and Lesser Restoration spells
• Any priest who currently has the Cure Critical Wounds spell under his service tab gains the Mass Cure spell

In summary, this tweak should make it a bit easier for solo players and parties without access to divine magic to get cured of disease, blindness, deafness, feeblemind and level drain.

This post has been edited by aVENGER: Apr 21 2009, 07:02 AM

[aVENGER]

aTweaks has been updated to v2.0. In summary, this major release introduces several new components which should bring more consistency to the gameplay. For example, it is now possible to expand the curative spell selection of temple priests, restore bonus damage to magical ammo and prevent illusionary clones from singing bard songs and using quick items. Here's the full list of changes:

New in aTweaks v2.0

• The "Prevent Mislead clones from singing Bard songs" component has been added to the "Gameplay tweaks" group
• The "Prevent Project Image and Simulacrum clones from using quickslot items" component has been added to the "Gameplay tweaks" group
• The "Bard songs break invisibility" component has been added to the "Gameplay tweaks" group
• The "Simple Thief script" component has been added to the "Gameplay tweaks" group
• The "Expanded temple services" component has been added to the "Miscellaneous tweaks" group
• The "Simple Bard script" component now also includes an additional hotkey which allows Bards to switch between singing the battlesong and engaging in combat
• Improved compatibility with the "Item Revisions" and "Spell Revisions" mods

More details on the new components can be found in the Readme.

[aVENGER]

aTweaks has been updated to v2.5. This minor release adds three additional components to the "PnP Tweaks" group: "Restore innate disease immunity to Paladins", "Additional racial traits for Dwarves" and "Additional racial traits for Gnomes".

In summary, these components restore several PnP gameplay elements which were missing from the unmodded game. More detailed information can be found in the readme.