KickStarter Knights of the Chalice 2 Thread - Augury of Chaos

[Dorateen]

Cleric? Who plays a Cleric?

Must... have... domains!

Just a head's up, most of the Cleric related content is also available to Bishop characters, such as being able to call back the dead at the altar. So you shouldn't miss much by not having a Cleric.

 

[Desiderius]

I'll run Cleric in my next party.

Turning Domain surprisingly useful on Bishop.

 

[Desiderius]

Biggest problem with Cleric is the lack of Class Specific Feats other Pure Casters get.

If you (or Pierre) are looking to update weak classes Cleric is the place to start.

 

[Butter]

Knights of the Chalice 2 Version 1.70
Axes High! Version 1.70 of Knights of the Chalice 2 celebrates our worthy friends, the Mighty Dwarves! Join the party, everyone's invited! ^_^

• New Feats: Added two new feats for Dwarves: 'Giant Hunter' and 'Shieldbearer'.
• Graphics: Added modular Dwarf sprites, complete with a selection of beards, Dwarven armour, and Dwarven shields and weapons, including magical ones! Potentially, you could also use the Dwarf sprites for a Half-Giant character, by setting the character's height above 100%.
• User Interface: Reworked the Character-Creation Interface so that the first choice you make is the character's race, and selecting a race/subrace/gender will automatically set the character's physical appearance to something appropriate for that race. That way, you no longer have to spend time configuring the appearance of a character if you just want to create a new character without worrying about what he or she looks like.
• Enemy AI: Enemy archers won't use 'Rapid Shot' when they don't have enough arrows left to benefit from it.
• Bug Fix: Fixed a bug when changing the name of a weapon or armour in the inventory screen. The item would disappear after changing the name.
• Bug Fix: Psychic Healers of level 1 that have the feat Healing Focus will now be able to activate the power Cell Division. The game wasn't taking into account your feats when checking the caster level of a psionic power. Thank you so much Kyle for the bug report!
• Bug Fix: When launching a new module starting on a map containing no activable zones at all, there was still a source of crashes. This is now fixed. Thank you Kyle for the heads-up!
• Bug Fix: Fixed an issue with ambient sound sources associated with a hidden activable zone.
• Bug Fix: Fixed a source of crasheswhen an enemy character with multiple ranged attacks only has one arrow left in his ammunition slot and starts his round using a full attack to shoot. The game would crash after processing the first shooting attack, due to an empty ammunition slot. Thank you so much Steve for letting me know about this bug!
• Bug Fix: Fixed a bug concerning the energy damage reductions of characters when swapping items in the inventory screen. This was a potential source of crashes and memory corruption.
• Pregen Chars: The Dwarf pre-generated characters, Griswack and Belissaria, now have a Dwarf sprite, and the Drake pre-generated characters, Haphel and Cromwall, now have a wing sprite.
• Augury of Chaos: Changed the sprite of the Blackfire Shield from 'acid' to 'flaming'.
• Help Files: In the Help Entries for the conditions 'Enlarged' and 'Reduced', added a line indicating that the change in damage rolls does not apply to your Natural Weapons (claws, bite, etc). Also improved the formatting for the Help Entries of the Feats Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting and Overrun.

Please don't hesitate to email me at enquiries@heroicfantasygames.com if you find any bugs and annoyances, so that I can fix the game quickly. A saved game may be very helpful, too.

Thank You For Your Support, Loyal Mages and Warriors of the Realm!! Rejoice

 

[Dorateen]

This is a good update.

 

[Desiderius]

Is there a trick to using Grim's (Haste) Pipes in Hearkenworld?

Starts with 1 use then that use goes to zero before they can be used.

 

[Dorateen]

Is there a trick to using Grim's (Haste) Pipes in Hearkenworld?

Starts with 1 use then that use goes to zero before they can be used.

That sounds pretty grim. I will check it out and see what the issue is.

 

[Desiderius]

Mind the trap!

 

[Dorateen]

Mind the trap!

Killed almost everyone in the party, including the Bard I was going to test with, but Cleric survived so I was able to patch up the rest.

I fixed the Pipes, this version of the module 1.70 has them working correctly.

Hearkenwold

I tested and was able to equip a Bard character with the Pipes, and then Activate the Haste spell in battle.

Thanks for catching that!

 

[Desiderius]

Dorateen I lowered the forcefield in Morlo's Tower, but the one in the Owlbear cave is still there.

Is this WAI?

 

[Dorateen]

Dorateen I lowered the forcefield in Morlo's Tower, but the one in the Owlbear cave is still there.

Is this WAI?

Yes, the forcefield surrounding the tower is the main one that needs to be lowered. The one in the owlbear cave is just where it extended underground. I should go back and make that disappear too, but there is nothing else there behind it.

 

[Darth Roxor]

i will never forgive you for taking morlo's heap o' gold from me

 

[Dorateen]

i will never forgive you for taking morlo's heap o' gold from me

Easy come, easy go.

 

[luj1]

Morlo's tower was a great dungeon

 

[luj1]

i will never forgive you for taking morlo's heap o' gold from me

Easy come, easy go.

This happens a lot in Hearkenwold, I like it. It's reminiscent of old Gold Box era RPGs

 

[Desiderius]

Dorateen I lowered the forcefield in Morlo's Tower, but the one in the Owlbear cave is still there.

Is this WAI?

Yes, the forcefield surrounding the tower is the main one that needs to be lowered. The one in the owlbear cave is just where it extended underground. I should go back and make that disappear too, but there is nothing else there behind it.

Why not put something there so that the "oh yeah, I forgot about that" has adequate closure?

An Owlbear shepherd druid or some shit who got inadvertently trapped there causing the rest of the Owlbears to go mad or whatever.

 

[Dorateen]

Why not put something there so that the "oh yeah, I forgot about that" has adequate closure?

An Owlbear shepherd druid or some shit who got inadvertently trapped there causing the rest of the Owlbears to go mad or whatever.

That is a fun idea. Something like that I would add in the next update. It's a nice bit of reactivity if the player thinks to go back and check the area.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-revolutionise-old-school-crpgs/posts/4064395

Update #82: KotC 2 1.70 Adds Modular Dwarf Sprites & Updates Character Creation + Tips for Dall-E 3!​

Hello everyone! In the past month, we had two updates for KotC 2. The updates fixed various bugs, revamped the Character-Creation interface to make it easier to create new characters quickly, and introduced new modular Dwarf sprites which reflect the body, hair, armour, and weapons of the character.

In addition, new tokens for Dwarves can now be created automatically by the game based on the character's face and hair.

I've also had a chance to discuss a bunch of improvements for the Paladin class with a number of people. Thank you for all the suggestions I've received! These improvements should be coming soon, as well as a few new interesting feats for all of the classes.

On the graphics front, next I'd like to work on new sprites for Giant Snakes, Giant Frogs, Mariliths, and Evil Eyes.

Speaking of Mariliths and graphics, I've just tested image creation using the Dall-E 3 text-to-image AI. It was suggested to me by Kyle. Thank you, Kyle!

Dall-E 3 is available through ChatGPT Plus and also for free through Copilot. It produces images in the format 1024x1024 (square format) or 1792x1024 (landscape format).

Here's a tip for Copilot users who don't live in the US: under Settings, switch your Country/Region to United States - English in order to get extra image-creation features, including the option to recreate an image in landscape format.

For a story image of the Battle at the Gate of Gleegold Keep in Augury of Chaos, I tried various prompts and I reworked the best images with Photoshop to improve coherence. Please feel free to comment, which image do you prefer?

For people creating modules based on top-down graphics, I also wanted to suggest this video from TheAIWizard showing how AI may help in the creation of background graphics.

Dall-E 3 can also help with isometric graphics. For example, I made the following dungeon really quickly based on five images of an empty dungeon room and one of a cave entrance.

If you create a separate KotC 2 map for each room, you don't even have to do work in Photoshop, because then you don't need to assemble all of the rooms into a dungeon.

Now, let's review the changes brought by the latest KotC 2 versions, 1.70 and 1.69.

List of changes in KotC 2 version 1.70​

• New Feats: Added two new feats for Dwarves: 'Giant Hunter' and 'Shieldbearer'.
• Graphics: Added modular Dwarf sprites, complete with a selection of beards, Dwarven armour, and Dwarven shields and weapons, including magical ones! Potentially, you could also use the Dwarf sprites for a Half-Giant character, by setting the character's height above 100%.
• User Interface: Reworked the Character-Creation Interface so that the first choice you make is the character's race, and selecting a race/subrace/gender will automatically set the character's physical appearance to something appropriate for that race. That way, you no longer have to spend time configuring the appearance of a character if you just want to create a new character without worrying about what he or she looks like.
• Enemy AI: Enemy archers won't use 'Rapid Shot' when they don't have enough arrows left to benefit from it.
• Bug Fix: Fixed a bug when changing the name of a weapon or armour in the inventory screen. The item would disappear after changing the name.
• Bug Fix: Psychic Healers of level 1 that have the feat Healing Focus will now be able to activate the power Cell Division. The game wasn't taking into account your feats when checking the caster level of a psionic power. Thank you so much Kyle for the bug report!
• Bug Fix: When launching a new module starting on a map containing no activable zones at all, there was still a source of crashes. This is now fixed. Thank you Kyle for the heads-up!
• Bug Fix: Fixed an issue with ambient sound sources associated with a hidden activable zone.
• Bug Fix: Fixed a source of crashes when an enemy character with multiple ranged attacks only has one arrow left in his ammunition slot and starts his round using a full attack to shoot. The game would crash after processing the first shooting attack, due to an empty ammunition slot. Thank you so much Steve for letting me know about this bug!
• Bug Fix: Fixed a bug concerning the energy damage reductions of characters when swapping items in the inventory screen. This was a potential source of crashes and memory corruption.
• Pre-generated Characters: The Dwarf pre-generated characters, Griswack and Belissaria, now have a Dwarf sprite, and the Drake pre-generated characters, Haphel and Cromwall, now have a wing sprite.
• Augury of Chaos: Changed the sprite of the Blackfire Shield from 'acid' to 'flaming'.
• Help Files: In the Help Entries for the conditions 'Enlarged' and 'Reduced', added a line indicating that the change in damage rolls does not apply to your Natural Weapons (claws, bite, etc). Also improved the formatting for the Help Entries of the Feats Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting and Overrun.

List of changes in KotC 2 version 1.69​

• Bug Fix: Fixed a bug that could occur when changing the name of a character, especially the name of the party leader. This could result in scripted sequences not getting launched after the change.
• Bug Fix: Fixed a player-character movement bug that could occur out of combat after certain dialogue sequences, with a character entering a walking loop.
• Bug Fix: Fixed a display bug introduced in version 1.68 due to the new sprites, which could result in some enemy sprites disappearing intermittently.
• Augury of Chaos: Tweaked a dialogue script in the Low Sewers (when you find something strange about a stone pillar).
• Editor: In the Script Editor, added an option to turn on and off a map's Rain Sound Effect.
• Editor: In the Script Editor, added an option to play OGG voice files using the Play Sound script command. The OGG files should be placed in the 'Sounds' folder of the module's folder.
• User Interface: In various character-creation screens, right clicking on the Character Skills box will now open the help screen.

Next Steps for Knights of the Chalice 2​

The next development steps are the following:

• Continue work on the encounters, monsters & scenario of the upcoming KotC 2 module.
• Work on sprites from 3D models, new story images & a possible upgrade of spell icons.
• Work on voice effects for Critical Hits & monsters, and some voiceovers.
• Implement new features such as new monster abilities, subraces, feats, familiars, items.
• Fix any remaining issues mentioned on Steam, GOG, heroicfantasygames.com, or by email.

If you have any feedback, suggestions or bug reports, please feel free to let me know here, in the Forums, or by email at enquiries@heroicfantasygames.com. I appreciate it!

Thank You For Your Steadfast Support, Brave Heroes of the Realm!! Take care

 

[wolfbane]

A shame to see him so into GenAI for art assets. I love the game to death but that’s a shame for sure.

 

[Snufkin]

What is best race and weapon combo for Fighter?? I've seen people say it's Mantis with many weapons??

BTW I fixed my KoTC 2 and now I can finally play it.

 

[Serus]

What is best race and weapon combo for Fighter?? I've seen people say it's Mantis with many weapons??

BTW I fixed my KoTC 2 and now I can finally play it.

Any race that can get 20 str should be ok (Human Northerner/Mul, Half-Giant, Drake, male Dwarf Blackforge*). Supposedly Mantis can too. Never tried one. You can't get wrong with a Human for basically anything. Even more so if you play with the least amounts of feats per level (1 every 4 levels?). Half-Giant if you want the best grappler - grappling is important. As to weapons, it really depends on the rest of your team. I had one character with a reach weapon, additional range easily makes up for lost damage in my opinion but not everyone agrees. It also depends how many melee guys you plan in the party.

*Is this new? I don't remember this sub-race from my playthrough.

 

[Dorateen]

Dwarf Blackforge*

*Is this new? I don't remember this sub-race from my playthrough.

I think Blackforge was there from the start. But I went with a Mountain dwarf. Had a base strength of 18. You can always reach 20 and beyond through items.

 

[wolfbane]

Finesse fighter is also a good pick, especially for mantis

 

[Desiderius]

Mantis is pretty nuts when Improved two-weapon doubles all your attacks.

Makes even Rogue into a machine.

 

[Snufkin]

Does alignments matter in this game? Should I just pick true neutral team?