Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

First off, let me start by saying: I really like the changes made to Lions Way Gnoll den, and the Sharpteeth Orc caves. While I'm not sure these dungeons needed to be re-done, the face-lifts are a nice switch, and the monsters and puzzles added(at least, in one of them) are enjoyable.

That being said, I'd like to make a few suggestions. I'll put things in spoilers, so that I don't ruin the surprise for anyone who wants to figure it out themselves.

First, the Gnoll lair... ** Spoiler Alert **
The Sharpteeth Orc caves...
... which brings me to my last suggestion, and it's my main request: Please, pretty please, with gravy on top... make some of these new secret doors and grates pick-able, for those with open lock investment. Not all of the doors, necessarily, just a few, or even half. I'm totally fine with a few doors requiring some sort of special item to open(assuming that special item re-populates within a reasonable amount of time), just not all of them.

Let me tell you, as a player of numerous characters who have invested in specific skills, how anti-climactic it is to explore a dungeon and find that your considerable investments in search, or open-locks, is totally wasted... on all of the secret doors. It's frustrating. Don't get me wrong, on the one hand it's cool to be required to find some sort of special item to open certain secret doors, but when there's absolutely no alternative to opening them, it lessens the fun(especially if you cant find said item, because someone else ran off with it and logged, or whatever).

So, yeah, put an Open Lock DC on a few of these doors. Make it absurdly high, if you want, or, even better, a level appropriate DC to the area. That way, if a character or group is planning to go down into these places, there's more of an incentive to party up, and invite someone good with locks. Truth be told, finding a character with decent open-lock investment will probably be as difficult, or maybe more difficult, than finding these special door-opening items( ), but at least it gives players options. Also, this kind of thing gives players of characters with certain skill investments something to look forward too...

(... and I should know, since I can safely tell you there is a huge disparity between the difficulty levels of locked items on the server, as in: 96% of things are ridiculously easy to open, 3% are do-able(with items/buffs), while the other 1%(mostly props/doors that lead to nowhere) are nearly impossible. I know of about 5 doors with a DC over 50, everything else is in the 10 - 30 range).

There's a door in the shadow plane with dc 80 on the lock I believe.

Durlag’s tower also has some high DC but doable with gear locks. Makes my sneak feel loved.

There's a few nice DC locks in Ozgoroth, or however it's spelled, and one in Ulgoths too.

Alternatively, special items hidden in frustratingly obscure places could be added to help non open-locks types get through these doors( ).

LazyTrain wrote: ↑Sat Mar 14, 2020 6:58 pm Personally I do prefer the idea of having even secret doors have a higher open lock DC. I typically add a few high lock DCs in my areas to give folk a challenge (not that any of my dungeons have been added to the server for my own reasons so far).

So yeah, I'd support the idea of adding higher DC locks to these special secret doors assuming they aren't purely 100% magical in nature. (Maybe add a spellcraft check for those that are?)

I fully support any and all implementations in dungeons that revolve around skill rolls! YES. Gimme. Spellcraft, search, track, whatever. I want it. (Pretty sure most of my skill investments are only ever used in DM events. Blah)

As far as the DC of any locks on any doors, I'm fine with whatever seems reasonable. I just want players who invest in open-locks to feel like they have something to strive towards. At least, something that isn't picking locks on chests while in a party, or solo'ing.

Problem? Solution! When placing 2+ chests in a location, make at least one an Iron Box (chest; can’t be bashed to open).

Give rogues a chance....

Almost everybody has a rogue dip - why make it even more mandatory ???

If anything think of all the useless skills and find new ways to utilize them. ( all the other lore skills, search, STR (Stat)-check, size-check, escape artist, ......)



And what sense makes a locked stonewall at all - and even one that requires an orc chief head to unlock in an orc cave
(an owlbear bone from the unused skeleton could be used here)



It's great to get creative and see new riddles overall. But please it really should make some sense in the environment and setting.


Bug in the orc cave: the orc chief spawns without the quest, but doesn't drop the head then.

Thanks for taking the time to point these out Snarfy, and I have corrected the script that gave the pages - it was set to DoOnce and not per player. I have also changed the clue for the locked door where it used to talk about "apple" sized. Hopefully it is a little less obtuse. Thanks again for taking the time.

Xal

Xaltotun wrote: ↑Sun Mar 15, 2020 1:00 pm Thanks for taking the time to point these out Snarfy, and I have corrected the script that gave the pages - it was set to DoOnce and not per player. I have also changed the clue for the locked door where it used to talk about "apple" sized. Hopefully it is a little less obtuse. Thanks again for taking the time.

Xal

And thank you for the revamps Despite any issues(and my rogues inability to try to pick any of the new locks, lol), these updates are a welcome change of pace. The puzzles especially. Imho, all dungeons should have one, as they are super fun.