Keep on the
Borderlands
A mod for Atari’s ToEE by
The Circle of Eight
Based on the module B2: Keep on the Borderlands
By E. Gary Gygax
Admin@keepontheborderlands.org
Full Release 1.0
First, the WARNINGS.
WARNING 1: USE TFE-X.
All iterations of KotB are designed for use
with TFE-X.
WARNING 2: TFE-X USES JAVA 7.
Please install it, or you may get
an “Invalid CEN header” message when activating.
WARNING 3: DO NOT ADD MORE THAN 9 NPCs TO
YOUR PARTY.
If you are one of those players who likes to roam the world
with as many summoned animals, cowed undead or whatever attached to your party,
you will be happy to know that the limit has been increased from 5 to 10 (as in later
versions of the Co8 modpack). However, certain new elements of the game involve
temporarily attaching an NPC to the party while certain plotlines play out. Therefore,
you should avoid having the full 10 ai followers (that is, followers who behave
independently, not controllable NPC followers in your party) at any one time.
WARNING
4:
YOU SHOULD ONLY PLAY AS
‘NEUTRAL
GOOD’,
‘LAWFUL
NEUTRAL’
OR
‘NEUTRAL EVIL’ PARTIES.
The ‘alignment quests’ have not yet been
fully implemented: however, since they have been done to various stages of
completion for the other alignments, playing as one of them will result in being given
unfinishable quests, broken dialogues and weird behaviours. Therefore, only one
each of Good, Nuetral and Evil – those above – are currently an option. Please
observe this.
What is Keep on the Borderlands?
KotB is a new module – or total conversion, if you prefer – for the Atari game Temple
of Elemental Evil. It was created by modders at the Circle of Eight fansite
(
www.Co8.org
) and freely distributed. It requires the original Temple of Elemental
Evil game, patched to patch 2. It does not require any other mods from Co8, such as
the Co8 modpack: it is a separate module to ToEE and not a mod of it.
KotB is for starting level players. It attempts to push many elements of the ToEE
engine to their limits, using the engine’s capacity for animations, quests, skills, feats
and dialogue, as well as combat, to produce an adventure game in the classic puzzle-
solving mode. There is considerably more thought required to finish KotB than ToEE:
though all the information is still given in the game, and it is not excessively difficult,
just more thoughtful than the original game.
The aim of the game is simple. The player controls a number of characters who have
arrived at the Keep on the Borderlands seeking fame, fortune and adventure. The
player needs only talk to the NPCs of the Keep and surrounding locales, and role-play
their characters, to find a variety of adventures.
Changes for 3.5:
The original B2 – Keep on the Borderlands module was written for the original (or
‘Basic’) D&D game. To make full use of the engine and to provide an infinitely better
gaming experience, the Basic limitations of the original module (such as only 3 types
of armour – Leather, Chain, Plate etc) have been expanded to incorporate as much of
the 3.5 game as could be done with the ToEE engine. Other abstract elements of the
game have become more specific: ‘the Borderlands’ is now the borderlands of the
Greyhawk area the Yeomanry, the Church is now specifically a shrine of Heironeous,
and a neutral / Druidic plotline has been introduced to the woods. Also, a Lawful Evil
presence is now included as well as the (Chaotic Evil) Caves of Chaos.
The module has also been expanded based on certain elements of the later AD&D
module Return to the Keep on the Borderlands: most especially, the setting of the
Keep in the Yeomanry. While the KotB game attempts to maintain fidelity to the
original B2 module and only uses ‘Return…’ in a piece-meal fashion, still it has
provided the impetus for a number of new encounters, including a Tower suggested
by the Shy Tower of ‘Return…’, the Lizardman Refuge locale and a certain young
scaly fellow from the Kobold Cave. Also, some characters from ‘Return…’, such as
Arsenach, Sabine and Reece make an appearance.
New Items of Interest:
There are many new items in KotB. Some are new weapons, armour, clothing, quest
items, potions and magic items: others are ordinary everyday items, such as blank
paper, worn-out boots, broken glass, toys, animal pelts, all sorts of things. Some of
these may be quest-related, many will not. A certain level of thought and
consideration will be necessary to determine what is useful and what is junk.
While many items are simply those that can be picked up, there are also items that can
be interacted with, such as noticeboards, maps, books, tombstones, even dead bodies.
As of the Demo Final version, these now have the tell-tale ‘hand’ to indicate their
presence.
There is something 'interactive' on many maps, so that there will often be something
to find if you look around: a wardrobe, or a desk, or a book to read, or maybe just an
old sword leaning against the wall. Since there are items to be found just lying
around, the player also has to ask - does my party want to start stealing things? What
will the consequences be? There WILL be consequences...
Here is an example of a map with the interactive parts highlighted: familiarise
yourself with this map, since that noticeboard is essential to the game. You won't be
going far outside the Keep without it!
Some NPCs may react to certain items, such as a particular book in the PC's
possession, and speak about them, or offer to buy them. Again, a certain amount of
thought is involved - do you bother taking a 'junk' or no-resale-value item to each and
every NPC to see if they want it? That could be a quick way to become encumbered.
Moreover, to prevent random chatter being too easily rewarded, NPCs will only react
to such items if they are in the possession of the actual speaker, not just in the party
somewhere (unlike quest items which only have to be somewhere in the possession of
the party to trigger a reaction and fulfil / advance quests). Of course, the NPC
reactions are logical, not obscure: the players merely have to think it through. Who
would like a book on Heironean martyrs? Who would want one about obscure rituals?
Who might talk about worn-out boots? Who might want a crystal ball? Who fancies
himself a spellcaster and might buy a pouch of reagents?
A number of favourites from the PHB have now been included for the first time,
including Climbing, Healing and Scholar's kits, Tanglefoot bags (WIP), Smokesticks,
and flasks of oil and acid.
The Single Axe from ToEE has been replaced with the Throwing Axe (using the same
Inventory Icon etc). The Single Axe had identical stats to the Handaxe and thus
served no purpose: furthermore, it is not listed in the Equipment section of the SRD.
The fact that the Masterwork Single Axe could be thrown (though not the normal one)
suggests the Single Axe was originally intended to be a throwing axe but got
sidetracked somehow. The requisite Weapon Proficiency remains Handaxe.
New Feats:
There are literally too many new feats to list - or, so many that I long ago lost track of
them all (at least 60). Primarily they are new weapon proficiencies, with their
associated feats - Weapon Specialisation, Weapon Focus, Improved Critical etc. Some
other feats of interest are Animal Affinity, Skill Focus (Climb), Skill Focus (Use
Rope) and Skill Focus (Handle Animal).
Note: The Deft Hands feat has been removed, as it doesn’t add +2 to Sleight of Hand
as it should. Pity.
New Skills and New Uses for Skills:
Survival: The distance to which a player can approach a wild animal before it
becomes aggressive, or triggers a Wild Empathy check for Druids and Rangers, is
based on the Survival skill. An higher Survival skill means any character (even a non-
Druid / Ranger) can come closer to an animal without antagonising it. The ability to
successfully skin an animal without ruining the pelt, or otherwise harvest parts from
fallen animals without ruining them, is also based on the Survival skill.
Search: The infamous ‘secret door bug’ was unknown in KotB until the last round of
beta testing of the Demo when it suddenly roared into contention and de-railed the
mod, literally setting the mod back many weeks as work-arounds were tried and
discarded. Finally thanks to Liv we have a working solution. Players now have a
‘Secret Door Search Tool’ in their inventory when they start: this can be used to find
certain plot-critical secret doors. It is used through the radial menu and performs a
concentrated search (take 20) for every member of the party, so it should be used any
time the player thinks there might be a secret door in the area. It does not find traps,
which still require the usual method of searching, as do other secret objects (see next
paragraph). However as of the full release 1.0, all secret doors are now meant to be
found via the Secret Door Search Tool. Also note that the search is located on the PC
who activates the search, so while every member of the party gets a search, they
don’t search their own area, only where the PC who activates the search is searching.
A further use for (standard) Search has been added – hidden items. Items can be
hidden using the ToEE engine as readily as secret doors. Hence where a module
might say an expensive ring is hidden in a fire-place or a magic dagger in some
rubble, such concealation is now implemented in KotB. Don’t forget to Search for
things! Best of all, because it is a variant of an existing ToEE facility, the engine does
it automatically: don’t be surprised if your Elf is standing in one of the Caves of
Chaos minding his own business and suddenly finds expensive treasure hidden all
around without you having to lift a finger.
In any case, to state it one last time:
-
The Secret Door Search Tool finds all secret doors
-
The regular Concentrated Search feature finds all other hidden things, such as
traps and concealed items.
The spell ‘Detect Secret Doors’ has been rewritten for this new form of Secret Door
searching and now works nicely.
Climb: All Climb checks in the demo involving the use of a rope are DC10. Since a
character must fail by more than five to actually fall, there is an effective DC5 for
taking damage. Occasionally you may get an option to climb down somewhere
without a rope – do so at your own peril (and higher DC). Again, almost all falls are
only around 10’ (1d6 damage) though one big climb at the climax of the game –
where you can’t see the other end – is around 40’, and does damage accordingly. Note
that to keep the game flowing and to remove the chance of a player being outright
killed by a repeated behind-the-scenes climb attempt outside their control, you always
end up at the other end (ie achieve the climb) and you never take more than one lot of
climbing damage.
To Climb anywhere you need a rope to climb down, and also a grappling hook to
climb up. In either case, simply access the rope from the radial menu when you think
you have found somewhere to climb.
Use Rope: This skill is used to determine if the PC gets his rope back after tying it
and climbing down a hole. Every character in the party gets a go to see whether they
can recall the rope, so the player who started with it may not be the one who gets it
back. If the rope is left in place, then it will be there if the party return to the hole later
– but another rope will be needed in the inventory to access the one left behind (since
it is the presence of the rope that allows the Climb check to be made, as mentioned
above). There will be other plot-relevant uses for Use Rope as well.
Knowledge (Nature): This is the only Knowledge skill added and as such, has been
somewhat expanded – it includes knowledge about creatures, such as humanoids in
their natural habitat, and a few other things that might have been covered by other
Knowledge skills. It can be used passively in dialogue (a successful skill check in the
background might suddenly open a new line of dialogue), and offers synergy bonuses
for other skills, such as Profession (Herbalism) checks. There will be other moments
when it comes into play, but I will leave that for the player to discover: certainly, if
you are pursuing a Neutral path, your Druid or Ranger should take some ranks.
Currently (as of 1.0) Knowledge (Nature) is also used to make checks for plucking
up plants without ruining them (belladonna, wolfsbane and such). This will later be a
function of Profession (Herbalism).
Alchemy and Profession: The various Profession skills (Herbalism, Taxidermy and
Gem-Cutting) are still a WIP and have not yet been activated. The Alchemy skill has
been implemented so thoroughly, comprehensively and expansively (if I do say so
myself) that it will get its own manual –
Guide to Alchemy
– but not til the final
public release.
Disguise: There are multiple situations that the Disguise skill can be used (not just by
deceitful rogues) and some items to assist, such as the Disguise kit, as well as the
Disguise Self spell. Admittedly the nature of the skill is such that any given party may
only need it once, and once they get ‘inside’ they don’t need it again, but I still think
it’s worth having.
Sleight of Hand: This can now be used during dialogue in multiple places: you can
attempt to, say, slip something out of sight, or steal something surreptitiously, through
a dialogue choice (and wear the results one way or the other). Also, certain
interactions with items are based on your sleight-of-hand ability.
Forgery: Forgery is in the game! Hooray cheer rejoice! Its only for NPCs! Boo hiss
groinpunch!
The Forgery skill can be utilised second-hand: there is one NPC in the game (you
know him from the Demo...) who will take care of your Forgery needs. These needs
vary, though: as well as the quest from the Demo, he will be able to forge credentials
to aid with Bluff and Disguise (a la the uses of Forgery in Complete Adventurer) and
certain other plot-critical docs.
Why NPCs only? Well, frankly, it’s easier. By which I mean, since I can’t properly
hack up an interface (eg a Forgery option in the radial menu) it would always have to
be implemented through some dialogue-based facility, probably instigated by ‘using’
blank paper, or a quill. So I decided that if it was going to be dialogue-based anyway,
I may as well just have that dialogue with an NPC and let him do the Forging.
Personally I think it’s a best-of-both-worlds thing, the players get to enjoy the benefits
of Forgery without having to spend skill points (albeit they can’t alienate that NPC,
and have to come back to the Keep to get any Forgery done).
The Social Skills (Diplomacy, Intimidate, Bluff, Gather Info and Sense Motive)
now have a chance of failing and possibly backfiring. Sometimes, it will be because
your skill is not high enough - sometimes there will be a roll involved. All this
happens behind the scenes, and the use of these skills will appear the same as before:
however, now you really have to ask yourself, can this character indeed pull off a
Bluff / Intimidate attempt such as the dialogue suggests, and if not, what might be the
consequences of failing? I am currently working on allowing the players to see a
floatline with the roll, as per the Climb and Wild Empathy skills, but that may not
appear til later releases.
The other main change is in the use of Gather Information. RAW this skill is used for
garnering rumours, takes 1d4+1 hours in a tavern or somewhere similar, and the
quality of what you learn can depend on how much you beat the DC by. In KotB it
can be used in any conversation where you suspect there may be more to be learned
about a topic, and if you can beat the DC you can pursue other avenues of
conversation.
Currently, Appraise plays a role in bartering a better price for those items that are
sold in a shop (via the shop inventory screen) and the Appraise value is taken from the
member of the party with the highest score. In KotB Appraise also plays a part in
establishing a price for items bartered for in dialogue as well, particularly (though not
exclusively) when buying gear from NPC followers.
Perform now has an advanced value for Bards who are the party leader.
Occasionally, the bard will be given the option of 'performing' their way out of a
situation, or solving a problem by some judicious entertaining of their audience. Be
aware that poor performances can have catastrophic consequences.
Handle Animal: To get an animal companion to attack in combat now requires it to
be trained first. Let me make this explicit: when a ranger or druid first summons an
animal companion, it will NOT automatically charge into combat and it will NOT
attack unnatural things such as undead! These things have to be trained – and, I
might add, this is according to the 3.5 rules. The up-side is, the animal can now be
trained to perform a wide variety of actions in combat, and some outside combat, too.
Training an animal is done by engaging the animal in 'dialogue' and picking those
options that the player wishes to train. Training has been 'dumbed down' for the
moment not to require the 1-week time period required by the rules: this will
hopefully be implemented in future in an interesting way (rather than just making a
week go past, that achieves nothing with the ToEE engine where players never eat or
have to sleep other than to recover spells). For the moment, the training is
instantaneous, like levelling.
On the other hand, if you fail a training attempt, you can't re-try until your Handle
Animal skill changes (like Copy Scroll efforts). This seemed an appropriate counter to
not spending another week (since re-tries would mean having to spend yet another
week on those, obviously).
All attack training is DC 20, as per the rules. Other forms of training are DC 15.
Again as per the rules, the following modifiers apply:
- if the trainer has the Animal Affinity feat, they get +2
- if the trainer is the animal's Druid or Ranger owner, they get +4
Before making the d20 check, the game checks to see if a take 10 would work - if so,
the take 10 is taken and training is done automatically. Hence while a DC 15 may
sound high, a Druid or Ranger training their own beast only needs 1 rank in Handle
Animal to train for non-combat tricks such as Fetch or Perform. (Note that if you have
the game set to show dice rolls during training, any take 10 will simply show as a
dice-roll of 10).
Animals can be trained in the following non-combat tricks:
- perform: the animal will perform a simple trick.
- fetch: the animal will pick up, then later drop, a load < 5 lbs.
- work: the animal will drag, then later drop, a heavier load < 66 lbs
The latter is based on medium encumbrance for a medium size creature of medium
strength: later incarnations of this skill will differentiate based on creature size and
strength, since we all expect our bears to drag more than our dogs. Just like in real
life.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The method of implementing Fetch and Work is not unlike that
Cerulean used for implementing the 'Secret Chest', inasmuch as it has the same
drawback - crafted items cannot be carried this way. You have been warned: only
items found in the game should be carried about like this, not items that have been
crafted or have charges.
ALSO IMPORTANT: I will now repeat what I said at the beginning, since it still may
not have sunk in: when a ranger or druid first summons an animal companion, it will
NOT automatically charge into combat and it will NOT attack unnatural things such
as undead! When confronted with undead, aberrations, ooze, outsiders, constructs or
shapechangers, the animal will refuse to advance and simply snap at anything near it.
It now has to be trained to overcome this natural instinct.
Speak Language: The Speak Language skill, sidestepped in the Demo, is now fully
implemented. It is a class skill for all classes except Barbarian (who suffer the
shortcoming of illiteracy, inasmuch as learning a new language without the aid of
writing is twice as difficult). The skill works as follows:
-
Each race is assumed to speak its various racial languages (that is, ALL bonus
languages)
-
Other modifiers are taken into account as necessary (ie Wizards always know
Draconic, etc)
-
Additional languages are then automatically assigned to the character
according to their ranks in the skill, taking into account the Int bonus
-
The ‘progression’ by which new languages are assigned is static and follows
the path shown, which has been devised according to frequency (ie it is
assumed you learn Goblin before you learn Gnoll, because more critters speak
the former).
o
Elvish
o
Goblin
o
Orc
o
Gnoll
o
Giant
o
Draconic
o
Sylvan
o
Outsider
Note that Elvish is the only demi-human language mentioned because all other demi-
humans encountered on the Borderlands speak Common (as do many of the
monsters). Also note that Elves speak all languages in the game.
To make it clear how the additional languages are assigned to races, the following
table explains everything. ‘A’ means automatic (a racial language) while a number in
the box indicates how many ranks would normally be needed to know the language:
Elvish Goblin Orc Gnoll
Giant
Draconic
Sylvan
Outsider
Elf
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
Dwarf
x
A
A
1
A
2
3
4
Half-Elf
A
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Halfling
A
A
A
1
2
3
4
5
Gnome
A
A
A
1
A
A
2
3
Half-Orc
1
A
A
A
A
A
2
A
Human
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Skill Ranks: Unfortunately while the game allows the implementation of new skills,
it does NOT show them onscreen during ordinary play (ie, if the player brings up the
PCs skills screen to check their various skill ranks they only see the current skills, not
the new ones like Climb, Use Rope and Handle Animal). They only show during
levelup.
To learn how many skill ranks you have in Climb, Use Rope, Handle Animal,
Knowledge (Nature), Alchemy, Disguise and such, go to the gypsy in the marketplace
and ask her, and she will tell you. Note she gives you a ‘flat’ value, including items
that directly affect the skill score, such as a Ring of Climbing, but NOT including
things that affect skill checks, such as the Animal Affinity feat for Handle Animal
checks.
You do have the option of seeing skill levels and dice rolls ‘on the fly’, when each
skill check is performed: this functions for Climb, Handle Animal, Use Rope and also
for Wild Empathy checks. This feature is switched on by default, but can be switched
off at the start by speaking to the Trader, and toggled by speaking to the gypsy.
Again, the values shown will reflect the effective value being used for the skill check
(in this case, including ALL modifiers), not just the number of ranks.
Can I use Guidance, Inspire Competence etc on these new skills?
By and large, no: this is a shame but cannot be avoided. Such things as Guidance only
affect skill checks done directly by the engine, not situations where I am doing the
check ‘manually’ by a script. To be specific, I check the skill level (which
automatically includes the relevant attribute and anything that affects it, such as racial
bonuses, Gloves of Dexterity or feats), check for other modifiers (such as the presence
of, say, an item like the Poacher’s knife, or feats that give a bonus to the check, not to
the skill itself), get a random 1-20 number and compare to the given DC.
Well can I use magic at all?
Yes, there are spells such as Disguise Self, Tongues etc that help with the new skills.
Can I take 10?
Yes, most checks like this first check if 10 will do it, and automatically applies a take
10 if so. Checks that can have catastrophic failure (eg Climb) do not.
Special Abilities:
The Special Abilities of the various different character classes have been somewhat
more fully incorporated / utilised.
Monks: The addition of Climb means a chance of falling, so 4th level Monks now
have their capacity to fall 10' without taking damage. Monks also particularly benefit
from the new weapons feats, many of which are for new Monk weapons. Previous
Co8-implemented abilities such as Abundant Step are also present.
Fighters: Fighters get lots of new weapons and, in Climb and Handle Animal, class
abilities besides Intimidate. Hooray! Fighters can buy pet animals and train them,
though they don’t get the +4 bonus of a ranger or druid with their companion.
Paladins: Paladins receive a Holy Symbol. Using it, they can perform their 'Detect
Evil' ability properly (formerly this was broken).
Rangers: Rangers now have the much-touted Wild Empathy ability, where-in
animals (but not vermin!) do not simply attack on sight but rather have a chance of the
Ranger making a friendly approach toward them. Failed attempts will lead to the
animal attacking: success will mean the animal ignores the party for a period of an
hour. This check happens automatically if the character moves within range of the
animal: this range depends on the Survival skill, as detailed above.
Druids: Also get Wild Empathy. Furthermore, both Rangers and Druids can now
provide their animal companions with simple commands for combat: 'attack', 'stay',
'stay until wounded', that sort of thing.
Barbarians: There are many books in KotB to peruse. You can read none of them,
for you are an illiterate barbarian. Enjoy!
Clerics: In some cases, they can perform Spellcraft checks during dialogue, if the
NPC casts a spell while they talk. Also, various classic PHB (and new) items that
enhance their class skills have been added, such as Healer's kits that add a bonus to
Heal checks. Also, the following domain powers are now implemented:
• Animal Domain: Knowledge (Nature) is a class skill.
• Plant Domain: Knowledge (Nature) is a class skill.
• Knowledge Domain: Knowledge (Nature) is a class skill.
Wizards and Sorcerers: As above, they can perform Spellcraft checks during
dialogue, if the NPC casts a spell while they talk. Also, various classic PHB (and
new) items that enhance their class skills have been added, such as Healer's kits that
add a bonus to Heal checks and Scholar's kits that add a bonus to Spellcraft checks
(replaces the Alchemist's kit), as well as support items such as tanglefoot bags,
smokesticks and flasks of oil, for those spellcasters who prefer to play a more
supportive combat role rather than in the front lines. Furthermore, the Wizard's high
intelligence will be reflected in the addition of languages: a character with an
intelligence of 17 or above will be assumed to have a number of additional languages,
and in effect will be able to speak any language in KotB. Of course, even the dumbest
Wizard will know Draconic.
Naturally all the new Co8 spells will be present in KotB.
Rogues: While Rogues have no new abilities, (though they will probably get the most
benefit from Use Rope) Rogues have their existing abilities more fully incorporated.
One quest requires an almighty sneak and some lock-picking and social skills at the
end of it, another involves seduction and forgery, while others are planned that will
involve pick-pocketing and disguises. (The Forgery skill will NOT be implemented
just for this one event: Disguise is present as of 1.1 but not functioning and should
NOT be taken). Rogues (and others!) will now have access to items from Climbing
Kits and Rings of Climbing or Feather Fall, to Shadow armour.
Bards: On occasion, bards will get to pursue specific lines of conversation, or make
specific comments, based on Bardic Knowledge, as well as the additional uses for the
Perform skill mentioned above. Plus Bards get the most entertaining dialogue.
Elves: As mentioned above, Elves get all languages.
Dwarves: there is one moment in the game where, should you have an NPC Dwarf in
your party, he will get to use Stonecunning to warn you of something. This might just
save your PCs.
Reputations and NPC reactions:
NPC reactions to player behaviour have been more elaborately scripted than in ToEE.
True, there is still a long way to go before the Keep becomes a fully interactive
environment where every action has an automatic reaction (NPC followers currently
commit atrocities as willingly as good ol' Elmo did, for instance: that will be fixed in
v2.0), but it is certainly true that it is now quite possible to annoy an NPC - both with
your dialogue options and your actions - to the point they will no longer speak with
you, and beyond that, to the point they attack you. Being seen by a shopkeeper while
stealing from their shop, for instance, is a great way to offend him or her, and while a
single indiscretion is unlikely to lead to a simple shopkeep attacking a group of
heavily armed adventurers, everyone has their breaking point. A point may quickly
come where they will not engage in dialogue with you, and if that NPC is necessary
for a quest, you may have to find another way to placate them. (Many still have quest-
related options even in their angriest dialogue tree, but if you have offended them to
the point they won't speak at all, then you will have to boost your reputation in some
global way that causes the NPC to look more favourably on you).
In this sense, gaining reputations can be essential. A reputation as a friend of that
NPC's faction or as something impressive (like a Dragonslayer) may soften the NPC's
attitude. Of course, reputations can also have negative connotations. Gaining a
reputation as a close friend of Hextor may anger the followers of the Invincible One,
for instance.
Almost all the NPCs in the Keep (though not those outside) are on a day / night
schedule. No more Blacksmiths hammering at 4am, or shopkeepers standing around
looking to trade with you all night. As such, some only come out by day, and a couple
only come out by night. Search around and see what you can find, and pay attention to
what people tell you about the behaviour of others. Hint: if you ignored the fact that
Great King Rat was specifically said to come out at night in Desperate Housewives,
and you wondered why he never showed up by day, you WILL have to lift your game
for KotB.
Another new element of the game is restricted access to areas. Whereas ToEE thought
nothing of PCs wandering around Terjon’s bedroom, or poking around the castle site
while Burne and Rufus stood idly by, now PCs will be challenged if they enter
restricted areas. The Keep is a military post and efforts have been made to have it
behave as one. Of course, once certain plot-elements have been met, areas open up.
Impatient players who attack anyone in their way will find themselves on the wrong
side of the law and, for the moment, will simply be subject to a ‘butcher of Hommlet’
style reputation that will quickly shut down any chance of completing the quests of
the game.
NPC followers now have a new regimen for swapping / changing their gear. The old
(vanilla) format, where-in followers independently looted, sold and wouldn't let you
touch their stuff, while a great idea, is pretty universally regarded as not working. At
the other extreme, Drifter's Humble NPCs patch, while a staple of many people's
ToEE games and a proud option in the Co8 arsenal, was not to everyone's taste either.
(I, for one, don't use it, though I believe strongly in it being an option people should
have).
I make no bones about the fact I would like to have the game functioning as close as
possible to the original idea, if we could get it to work. Various workarounds have
been tried. KotB employs a variant of Drifter's Humble NPCs patch as a standard: it
employs Spellslinger's variant, which allows for specific items to be tagged as
NO_TRANSFER (ie the player can't swap them out) rather than the all-or-nothing
approach of the original on one hand and the original Humble NPCs on the other.
Generally speaking, only major items - weapons and armour - have been tagged
thusly, so players can still change things like clothing and customise their NPCs, but
they cannot get them to join then loot them of their valuable gear. To get the NPCs to
hand over their weapons and armour (which are generally more valuable) the players
will have to barter with them, and what's more, the NPCs will not generally allow
themselves to be disarmed until they have travelled with the party for a while (enough
to gain a level). Ronald Rynnwrathi in Co8 5 was set up along these lines and while
folks may have used Humble NPCs to sidestep the restrictions, I have never heard a
word of complaint about them, so that’s now the standard. Otherwise, the NPC
followers function as normally with Humble NPCs - they don't loot, don't sell and
don't get rid of things you give them, so you can hand them magic items in the happy
knowledge they won't sell them to the first shopkeep you come across.
As mentioned above, they do not have a whole lot of alignment-based behaviour
currently scripted: like many such elements, I favour an all-or-nothing approach and
since I couldn't do it in toto for the Demo, I left it out. Something for later. So for the
moment good NPCs will still commit evil acts in your employ. Also, they generally
do not have 'rejoin' options: most NPCs asked to leave the party will run off. Again,
something to expand upon for later. They do, however, have some independent
behaviour while outside the party: don't forget, they are adventurers like you, looking
for fame, fortune and experience, and if you do not complete a quest, others may.
They are certainly still worth using.
Hints
The Gaol Cell
Is there a way to escape?
No, there isn’t: its impossible. The cell is meant to emulate an anti-magic cell that
might be used under such circumstances. If the engine was a little more forgiving, I
might have made it an actual anti-magic cell: that is, something with some sort of
anti-magic spell operating inside it.
But there isn’t. What had to be done (and I do mean HAD) is that I built a wall across
the door. So even if you somehow get the door open, there will still be a wall in front
of you (albeit not in the artwork). You have no more chance of getting through that
than of walking through any other wall in the game.
That’s cheap.
Yes it is. But I couldn’t just super-duper lock the door: you may have noticed players
occasionally walk right through doors to open them, and other such fun moments. In
this case, clicking on one of the guards outside would periodically cause the PC to run
straight through the door to speak to the guard: building a wall across it was the only
way to stop that. Trust me, I didn’t like doing it that way: I would have preferred there
to be at least a theoretical chance of getting out. As it is, well, maybe if you use
Teleport or Dimension Door, I dunno. But those spells are far higher level than
anything you should be using in KotB: if you are at that level, well, you’re cheating.
Enjoy the game your way, but don’t expect me to write problems or adventures for
that sort of game-play.
So how do I get out?
If you watch carefully, a brown-headed guard marked “Chief Gaoler” will come by
every couple of minutes. When he is standing outside the door, click on him with a
character standing just inside the door and you should have no trouble talking to him.
He’ll organise your release, once you have satisfied certain (monetary) conditions. If
he wanders away, he’ll be back in a couple minutes.
Impersonating a Guard
The rules are as follows:
-
The complete uniform list can be found in game and will not be revealed here.
-
A uniform in its essentials is armour, cloak and shield with matching insignia.
A PC wearing these will attempt a Disguise check (behind the scenes). A PC
wearing clashing equipment (Watchman’s armour with a Cavalry cloak, for
instance) or a uniform incomplete in these essentials will immediately be
picked up as an imposter. Likewise someone with just one element – eg.
wearing the cloak, or carrying a shield –will be challenged over where they
got it.
-
The DC for the Disguise check depends on previous (failed) attempts, the Spot
score of the guard, the totality of the rest of the uniform, and whether the
guard is in the same regiment. A pass means the PC is treated as a guard, but
may still be challenged as out of uniform. Fail by less than 5 means they will
be challenged. Fail by more than 5 means they will be accosted as an imposter.
-
Guardsmen know their own officers!
-
Shoes and gloves are expected to match, and can be either chain (standard
issue) or plate (assumed to be upgraded by the guard, as military folks do).
The Gate Guard leather uniform will of course need the matching leather
boots. A higher-quality sidearm is also acceptable, as are magical boots.
-
The sidearm merely has to be in the player’s inventory, not equipped.
-
A player with the wrong shoes or sidearm will be challenged as out of
uniform. Missing gloves will not cause a challenge but will make the DC
higher. While a player should be able to talk their way out of trouble, it will
raise the DC for next time.
-
A player in perfect uniform will not be challenged by a guardsman of a
different regiment, though a Guard of the same regiment, or an Officer, may
still question them.
-
The behind the scenes check is Disguise – if the player is actually challenged,
they will have to rely on Bluff.
-
Cavalry officers and Gate Guards (who are either bowmen on the walls, or
carry halberds) do
not have to carry the regimental shields, though it won’t
compromise them if they do.
-
The Bailiff makes it his business to know every guardsman and every adventurer and
will NOT be fooled!
Dialogue
There is slightly more emphasis on dialogue and the social skills (Diplomacy, Bluff
etc) in KotB than in ToEE. Only slightly, but it must again be reiterated, as well as the
normal checks whereby only a player with a skill score higher than a specific number
(say, 6) gets the chance to use a specific skill (and then invariably succeeds if they
do), there are dlg options that only show up if the PC passes a rolled behind-the-
scenes skill check, and others where there is a roll to see if the PC passes after they
choose the option, and consequences if they fail.
I have attempted to maintain a balance in the game between making it challenging and
realistic, and creating a game that is still winnable by a player who rolls average
characters but then plays them cleverly. After all, ROLLED PCs are what its all
about, not using the all 18’s cheat (or, heaven forefend, console-cheating characters
with 30s). Players who want to play like that are entitled to play however they like,
but please don’t complain afterwards that the game is too easy or unbalanced or
whatever.
What, though, is ‘challenging and realistic’? I have set the bar as:
-
Assuming the ‘face character’ takes full ranks in social skills (4 at first level
and 1 at every level beyond) and, of course, has them as class skills!
-
Assuming they have a reasonable (+2) bonus from another source: eg the
relevant attribute, so a Charisma of 14-15, say (or Wisdom, or whatever), or a
feat (Negotiator etc), or a racial bonus, or favoured enemy bonus, or whatever.
So... I expect 1
st
level characters to be challenged at 6 ranks, while later encounters,
such as in the Caves (when the characters will be 3
rd
level or higher) to be challenged
at 8-10 ranks. In some cases the DC will also depend on other factors: a small party of
low level PCs trying to, say, intimidate a Bugbear Chief, will have to have a truly
intimidating front man, while a large party of higher level PCs who can clearly kick
said Bugbear’s backside will find it much easier. In any case, there are ‘Herculean’
moments where you may need 12 or more ranks to pull something off, but they are
rare, late game and generally not plot-critical. (But also easily achieved by a 1
st
level
character built for it with Skill Focus etc, so there you go...)
Two things need to be added:
-
Many if not most of the later challenging ones are rolled, so even if the DC is
12 and you only have 10 ranks, you will still get the option to attempt it (as
opposed to ToEE where it would not even show) and you will still beat it 90%
of the time.
-
[Spoiler alert] there is a wand of Eagle’s Splendour out there, as well as scrolls
and potions of it as rewards etc. USE THEM. Specifically, if you are about to
go into a Cave, or Manor House, or Guildhouse, or some other situation where
you KNOW you are about to enter a negotiation, buff with Eagle’s Splendour
first! If you observe this one simple common-sense precaution, you will NOT
need to roll a character with 18 Cha or any such cheating or cheesy behaviour.
And perhaps I should add, don’t be afraid to fail! After all the worst that can happen is
combat, and that’s not a bad thing, is it?
Language
For anyone not impressed by the addition of the Speak Languages skill, just take
Angela along, and she will translate. Likewise Robin, as a Wizard, will step in any
time you need to speak Draconic.
Known Issues (as of 1.0)
There is one internal door that reacts as though it has a Search DC of 0 (though it’s
actually set much higher). This will always be found automatically. Nothing we can
do about it: the DC is set correctly.
The guards of the Outer Bailey and Inner Fortress should do proper Disguise checks,
but the checks for the Watchmen in the Towers of the Outer Bailey (Corporal’s,
Bailiff’s and Captain’s towers) do not have the Disguise element: they will ignore
what the player is wearing. (They were scripted to do so but this scripting was lost
somewhere along the way).
The Orc Caves are not yet complete and empty. The Gnoll and Hobgoblin Caves do
not have proper artwork, just rudimentary stuff.
Contributors:
Based on the work of E Gary Gygax, published in B2: Keep on the Borderlands and
The World of Greyhawk Gazetteer.
Project Leader: ShiningTed
Hosting: Sol Invictus, Taluntain (and Gaear for finding ModDB)
Sound, Music, Cinematics and Publicity: Gaear
Art Direction: Gaear
Meta-Managing, Scripting and Bug-Fixing: Sitra Achara
Graphics and Eye-Candy: Cujo, Half-Knight, Vampiric Puppy
Tools and Coding: Agetian, Dulcaion, Hazelnut, Spellslinger
Plot: Edwin, Lord Spike (pretty much everyone had a say at some point ☺)
Additional Background Material: Lord Spike
Maps: Screeg, Vampiric Puppy, Ax Thrower, Krunch, Allanon, Big Little Boy, Gaear
New Portraits: Rogue Trader, Daadamo, Half Knight, Icy Edge, Maggit, Ax
Thrower, Gaear
Dialogues: EUIX, Maggit, Ioannis, Lord Graywolfe, Old Book, Alaric, Gaear, Allyx,
Fernando, HeavyDan, Edwin, Sitra Achara (additional NPC follower dialogue by
Cujo)
New Items, Meshes and Icons: Cuchulainn, Half Knight, Maggit, Ax Thrower, Icy
Edge, Vampiric Puppy, Cujo
Worldmap: Sherriff05
Additional Sound and Music: John Nowakowksi, the Kansas Viking
Additional Graphics: Half Knight, Maggit, Vampiric Puppy, ShadowDragoon,
Cuchulainn
Additional Scripting: Agetian, Livonya, Cerulean the Blue, Allyx, Zebedee, Sitra
Achara
Testing: ShadowDragoon, Maggit, Ax Thrower, Lord Graywolfe, Hunter,
WizGeorge, Matmaisan, Gazra