A Map of the City

Bastion is a gigantic city.
As I was testing some of the quests, I began to realize that the city was so large that I needed a way to let the player know the layout without traveling blindly. I, having created the city, knew where everything was, but there would be no way that a player completely new to Bastion could find the locations of quests and how to get to one district from another.

Of course, it may be a bit difficult to imagine how much a map helps at the moment. However, once you begin to play, perhaps you will understand Bastion's scale and the necessity that brought me to develop this system.

The Map of Bastion

To have a slightly interactive map of the city, I have created a Stone-of-Recall-esque item and allowed the player to teleport to an area called "The Map of Bastion." Using the Map will save your location, so you can always return to your exact previous location via the portal in the area. The Map, in terms of plot, is simply a piece of parchment; the area is a visual manifestation of this parchment in a way that is most legible to the player.

For this reason, you, as the player, will have to suspend a bit of disbelief when your henchmen teleport to this location with you. Or you can explain it away by simply saying that the henchmen are "looking on with you" as you examine the map.

Some important notes:
- You cannot use the Map of Bastion as a way to escape combat. You cannot rest in the map's area, and the map's "Unique Power - Self Only" will not work if you're in combat (and you'll get a floating text string that tells you so), so it will not become a cheat by which you can down a few potions and rest.
- I am considering whether or not to include descriptions (or histories) of the different streets in Bastion inside this map. My hesitation comes from my desire that the player interact with the areas' NPC's to figure out the city's lore. However, perhaps I will include some slightly vague descriptions that will entice the player to explore the city in its (prospective) depth.

Feedback on this would be welcome, as always.
Cheerio,
linus

Sneak Peek: The Berserker

Amid the chaotic aspects of midterms and the relaxing nature of spring break, I have managed to get a new AI type created. It's a treat for those who would like to fight bosses that do fun things, like smash through doors and placeables, or whack you with a hit strong enough to send you flying. I won't be putting up all the AIs I make onto this blog. (Where would the surprise be if the players expect everything?)

However, to generate some excitement, I present to you:

The Berserker

When it hits you so hard that dust flies

The Berserker AI type was inspired by a number of more modern games, among them Diablo III (or the preview videos, at least). I was a big fan of those bosses who could really represent their size. I found it frustrating that huge creatures like the gray render/dust elemental, the giant and the ogre could only whack you the same way a kobold would. True, there was the knockdown feat, but it looks no more impressive than an ogre bonking you on the head with a club and you falling to your knees.

However, in the DIII previews I saw, there were bosses that hit you and that pick you up. There were enormous creatures that charged at you and made craters in the floor.

For this reason, I have added a bit more spice to monstrous creatures by giving them some nice physical area-of-effect moves and some ferocity. 

Passive Abilities

Juiced Up: Packing a Punch

The Berserker gets a special form of rage that barbarians don't get. They howl like minogons (but deal damage instead of stun) and will always get a haste buff and a boost to their dexterity, strength and constitution. This rage lasts for two minutes no matter what and the Berserker is endowed with a orange, burning glow that identifies it as dangerous. Thus, Berserkers always look like they are almost twitching in their battle fever.

Inescapable

When I play Neverwinter Nights, I am usually very mobile. I kite a lot using archers and I use doors to get extra sneak attacks with rogues. Other times, I use doors to block my opponents and buy myself time for a potion or two.

Well, with a Berserker, this option is no longer available. Berserkers are so powerful that they literally smash right through the door to keep on running after their fleeing enemies. The only way to escape from a Berserker is to disappear. As a converse of the popular maxim, you can hide, but you can't run. (Unless hasted.)

The Power Moves

The Berserker, as it is designed now, has two automatically triggering AOE attacks. They are not creature abilities, so the Berserker does not waste a round using them.

The Ground Smash

The Berserker has a chance each turn of running a ground smash attack that damages all other creatures (hostile or friendly) in front of it through a dust-raising pulse attack. The Smash scales with level, so (for instance) low-level Berserkers will not be doing 10+ damage to level 5 characters and their henchmen with each AOE.

The Knockback

Instead of the Ground Smash, the Berserker can sometimes swing its arms in an AOE knockdown attack that throws all unfortunate creatures a short distance away onto their backs. The Knockback deals some damage, but it also scales with the Berserker's level. 

Fortunately, the Knockback only pushes the character down for two floating seconds, a third of the time that characters stay down for the Knockdown feat. This is to make combat more fluid and less frustrating. In game, your characters pop right back up after a Knockback, so you don't have to lose control and so it doesn't disrupt the flow of combat.

A Dramatic Death

The Berserker is usually large enough that when it dies, it shakes the earth hard enough to send up a cloud of dust and sometimes knock your characters down. Advice - kill the Berserker last! (Or other creatures will get attacks on you while you're down from the Berserker's death.)

"Overpowered Much?" You Say.

I promise the Berserker is definitely not an OP AI. There are many ways to fight Berserkers, and they are usually specialized enough that you will encounter them mostly by themselves. Even if Berserkers had henchmen, their AOE attacks would damage their own henchies as well.

This module is set to end with your character at level 11, at most. For this reason, you will not be ordered to enter caves full of ogres and giants (an overused plot device anyway), and you almost never encounter more than one Berserker at a time. It would be a tad silly (especially when I note that Berserkers can damage and push each other down).

My advice when facing Berserkers is to fight smart and with a balanced party. Summoned creatures can tank for you, and archers and mages won't be damaged by the AOE's if they are far enough.

More AI types are yet to come! Any feedback would be very much appreciated. :)

Smart Combat

I've been playing Neverwinter Nights for a long time now, and one of the things I always yearn to see with each module is a means to smarter combat. I want to find enemies that hide, chase down or ambush enemies that run away, and pit myself against bosses that, if large enough, can actually throw you or your henchman backwards with a good physical area-of-effect move.

So, with this goal in mind, I've mapped out a few systems that will give players more options for smart combat, and that will add more realism to Neverwinter Nights. As a preceding leading question: if you've played Neverwinter Nights, haven't you ever raged at how the NPC enemy seems to know exactly where you are in combat, even if you've hid behind three separate closed doors?

Here are a few extra things I am designing to give players a boost in creativity (just a sneak peek at a number of new systems I plan to code):

- A better hide-and-seek game:
If you've attacked an enemy and managed to get around a corner ahead of time to hide, the NPC enemy shouldn't know where you are. Instead, it will round the corner and will look for you in Detect Mode, rather than simply chase you down to attack. If you manage to hide successfully and pass the Listen and Spot checks, the enemy will assume (and sometimes say) they've chased you away. This should provide better ways for rogues who are not shadowdancers to survive being spotted while infiltrating an enemy base.

- New placeables with which the PC can interact without starting a conversation:
There will be useful placeables scattered around Bastion with which the player will interact without starting a conversation, granted the player knows how to use them. This will prove handy when the player is in combat and needs to think fast. Examples are: ladders that allow players to ascend to Bastion's rooftops when chased by muggers and thugs; placeables next to bodies of water that will allow players (only in combat) to escape an ambush by jumping into the harbor and being carried away to safety (with caveats, of course - i.e. would a paladin in full plate be able to swim well?); destructive placeables that will make ambushing opponents easier and more fun; and more. Of course, these placeables will be distributed in a balanced way and will by no means be the be-all-end-all of combat.

I will also be designing about a dozen new AI's that will make combat against NPC's more interesting. A few examples are:

- The Sneak Caster AI
The sneak casters are mages that will not simply cast invisibility, buff, then fire spells. Instead, they will have ranks on the Hide and Move Silently skills, and will cast spells, then run around a corner and into hiding before casting more spells at the PC out of the shadows.

- The Coward AI (or the Mobster)
Cowards/Mobsters will appear largely in groups. They are generally weak and low on attack rolls, but with a moderate amount of health and a small amount of regeneration. They aim to surround the PC and will flee one by one to hide and regenerate before amassing and attacking once more. Usually, attacking a group of Cowards-type creatures head-on is a bad idea, an action that will sap the player's resources.

Lastly, here are three screenshots of Bastion's Break:

Screen 1: A bright day outside of Bastion

Screen 2: Will you dare venture into the misty unknown?

Screen 3: Sink or swim

Bastion's Break - Development Timeline

September 2011 - Work on Bastion's Break commenced
October 2011 - Bastion city design and layout completed
November 2011 - Quest planning largely completed
December 2011 - Main plot planning completed
mid-December 2011 - New combat placeables designed - (cracked pillar, oil jar/brazier, alchemist fire barrels)
January 2012 - All "skeletons" of Bastion outside areas built
February 2012 - New combat AI design commenced (and new Ambusher AI completed)

Projected dates:
Summer 2012 - Quest scripting and variables to begin; area creation to be completed; main plots and side plots to be completely written
Spring 2013 - Quest scripting to be completed; debugging and testing to commence
Fall 2013 - Bastion's Break to be released to NW Vault

Bastion's Break - An Introduction

I created this blog when I realized (a bit troubled) that I did not have a space to post notes on the progress of the development of the Neverwinter Nights (I, not II) module that I had been working on, titled Bastion's Break. I've been building the module pretty consistently for the past six months now, and it has taken quite a defined shape.

Thus, without further ado, I will now transition into and focus on Bastion's Break.


--- Bastion's Break ---

Your whole short life, you've been a poor, young outcast - shut out of opportunities and forced to survive alone in a forest after running away from a Waterdeep poorhouse. But when fortune strikes in the form of a friendly wizard who teleports you to a bustling city, what will you do? What kind of name will you make for yourself in the city of Bastion? A hundred paths arise.

** An urban epic. **
Gameplay hours: 10 - 30, depending on the amount of side-quests one does.

Commentary:
Bastion's Break is a game at once open-ended and linear. The module is about the city; the focus is on its flourishing life and complexity. Bastion is a fictional city that I have created, which has never before been seen in the greater Dungeons and Dragons lore. You have the freedom to join any one of its ten guilds - good, neutral or evil - and your actions will affect inter-guild relations and the political state of Bastion. The linearity comes from the main plot which, though big, is only a relatively small portion of the module as a whole. No matter what guild you join, the main plot will play out almost the same way (though with different motivations driving each guild).

I have attempted to create this game with fluidity in mind. While combat is certainly a way to solve your problems, it will not be the only nor the most fun way. The goal is to prefer no classes over others. Magic-users have their own advantages, as do warriors, thieves/rogues, clerics and bards.