Lost
Crossroads Spell Pack™ for Baldur's Gate 2
Version
5B (Beta)
A
pre-release of Lost Crossroads
CONTENTS
--------
II. Installation
III. Compatibility
IV. Known Issues
VI. Version History
VII. Credits
Features,
updates, disclaimers, and descriptions included in SpellPack™
Beta 5 are highlighted in dark blue.
----------------------
SpellPack™ brings many
spells closer to their AD&D incarnations, whether it is a cloudkill that travels, a chain lightning that arcs to up
to 12 different creatures, or a spell that warps the gravity field. In some
cases, the spells are drawn from the Icewind Dale
series rather than from AD&D. There are a grand total of 36 components (41
if you opt for the patch, since 5 components overlap with B4), with 119 spell
modifications not counting minor graphics changes.
The only
difference between B5Full and B5Patch is that B5Patch continues to rely on the
projectl.ids copied over by B4 (but the patch itself does not continue to
override projectl.ids). On the other hand, B5Full only patches the
projectl.ids. This means that if you have B4 installed,
but have installed additional mods that change
the projectl.ids, you are safe to install B5Patch without worrying about the
projectl.ids. Here is a listing of the SpellPack
components (there are 21 from B4, and an additional 15
from B5). That's a minimum of 36 components total.
·
Core Files and Graphics (B4) - Changes the
spell graphics (excluding casting graphics) to that of the Icewind
Dale games. Includes sounds. This component is required for all the other
components to function.
·
IWD Casting Graphics (B4) - Changes the
casting graphics and sounds to that of the IWD series.
·
Level 1 Priest Spells (B4) - Includes the
spells Entangle, Magical Stone, Sanctuary, and Sunscorch.
·
Level 2 Priest Spells (B4) - Includes the
spells Chant, Flame Blade, Spiritual Hammer, Beast Claw, Produce Flame, and
Moon Motes.
·
Level 3 Priest Spells (B4) - Includes the
spells Call Lightning, Invisibility Purge, Miscast Magic, Spike Growth, Random
Casualty, Prayer, Stormshell, and Elysium's Tears.
·
Level 4 Priest Spells (B4) - Includes the
spells Thorn Spray, Cloud of Pestilence, Static Charge, and Adamantite
Mace
·
Produce Fire (B4) - Replaces Poison with this
spell.
·
Level 5 Priest Spells (B4) - Includes the
spells Flame Strike, Undead Ward, Animal Rage, Produce Ice, and Spike Stones.
·
Level 6 Priest Spells (B4) - Includes the
spells Entropy Shield and Whirlwind.
·
Implosion (B4) - Replaces the current spell with
the AD&D version.
·
Charm Person (B4) - Replaces the current spell with
the AD&D version. Allows for dialogue, and sets the local variable
"CHARMED" to 1.
·
Dimension Door (B4) - Replaces
Teleport Field with this spell.
·
Level 3&4 Wizard Spells (B4) - Includes the
spells Flame Arrow, Ice Storm, Improved Invisibility, Otiluke's
Resilient Sphere, and Wizard Eye
·
Level 5 Wizard Spells (B4) - Includes the
spells Cloudkill, Cone of Cold, Shadow Door,
Domination, Chaos, Invulnerability to Normal Weapons, and Lower Resitance.
·
Shroud of Flame (B4) - Replaces
Oracle with this spell.
·
Level 6 Wizard Spells (B4) - Includes the
spells Death Spell, Mislead, Invulnerability to Magical Weapons, Death Fog, and
Disintegrate.
·
Chain Lightning (B4) - Might be a
controversial change, so it deserves a seperate
component.
·
Level 7 Wizard Spells (B4) - Includes the
spells Prismatic Spray, Mordenkainen's Sword, and
Mass Invisibility.
·
Deathbolt (B4) - Replaces
Simulacrum with this spell; it might be a controversial spell, so it deserves a
seperate component.
·
Level 8 Wizard Spells (B4) - Includes the
spells Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting and Incendiary
Cloud.
·
Level 9 Wizard Spells (B4) - Includes the
spells Black Blade of Disaster and Power Word Kill.
·
Core Files and Fixes (B5) - Required
for the components highlighted in blue. If you download B5Full instead of
B5Patch, this component is automatically embedded under the "Core Files
and Graphics" component. A long list of fixes include: a minor
inconsistency fix for MSECTYPE.2da, Draw Upon Holy Might, Mass Invisibility,
and Recitation sound fixes, many area of effect graphics now have sounds Horror
spell graphics improvement, Poison graphics (used most notably by Dolorus Decay) do not freeze, Skull Trap now works, Raise
Dead and Resurrection now have casting graphics, Mass Raise Dead looks better
and healing is capped at level 30, Stoneskin is now
affected by Breach, name fix for Keldorn's Fireshield, vanilla Spell Attack projectile restored, Flesh
to Stone and Umberhulk Confusion projectile set to
"gaze" so they look better, Cloudkill may
be cast by characters wearing the cloak of mirroring or by creatures immune to
5th level spells, Breach affects Invulnerability to Normal and Magical Weapons,
and some flying and incorporeal creatures are immune to Earthquake, Entangle,
Charm Plants, and Gravity.
(Look
for a better looking list under version history)
·
Chant Fix (B5) - Sets
the duration of the chant spell to one turn, description update included.
·
Implosion Description Fix (B5) - The
description said "Level: 5". This typo is now fixed.
·
Shroud of Flame (B5) - For
those who were unable to install Shroud of Flame from B4.
·
Abi-Dalzim's
Horrid Wilting and Incendiary Cloud (B5) - For those who were
unable to install them from B4.
·
Improved BGII casting sounds (B5)
- Some of the BGII casting sounds were recycled (wizard divination and
necromancy for example use the same background sound with different vocals).
This component changes the following casting sounds: wizard divination, wizard
enchantment, wizard illusion, and female priest enchantment. This component is
an alternative component for B4's IWD casting graphics and B5's BGI
Casting Sounds, so this component may not be installed over those
components.
·
BGI casting sounds (B5) - Changes
the casting sounds of BGII back to those of BGI. This component is an
alternative component for B4's IWD casting graphics and B5's Improved
BGII Casting Sounds, so this component may not be installed over those
components.
·
Level 1 Priest Spells (B5) -
Includes the AD&D spells Battlefate, Call Upon Faith, Faerie Fire, Shillelagh, and changes Doom.
·
Level 2 Priest Spells (B5) - Includes
the AD&D spells Moment, Seeking, and changes Silence 15-foot Radius.
·
Level 3 Priest Spells (B5) - Includes
the spells Circle of Bones, Mold Touch, and changes the spells Holy Smite and
Unholy Blight.
·
Level 4 Priest Spells (B5) - Includes
the spell Blood Rage, and changes Mental Domination.
·
Level 5 Priest Spells (B5) - Includes
the spells Smashing Wave, Wall of Fire, and changes Insect Plague and Iron
Skins.
·
Level 6 Priest Spells (B5) - Includes
the AD&D spells Hammer of Retribution, Seclusion, and changes Blade Barrier
and Sol's Searing Orb.
·
Level 7 Priest Spells (B5) - Includes
the spells Mist of Eldath, Spacewarp,
and changes Earthquake and Firestorm.
·
Level 1 Wizard Spells (B5) - Changes
the AD&D spells Armor, Burning Hands, Chill Touch, Colour
Spray, Friends, Sleep, and Spook.
·
Level 2 Wizard Spells (B5) - Changes
the AD&D spells Agannazar's Scorcher, Detect
Invisibility, Glitterdust, Hypnotic Pattern, Stinking
Cloud, Melf's Acid Arrow, Vocalize, and Web.
·
Level 3 Wizard Spells (B5) - Includes
the AD&D spell Wraithform, and changes the
AD&D spells Fireball, Ghost Armor, Invisibility 10-foot Radius, and
Lightning Bolt.
·
Larloch's Minor
Drain and Vampiric Touch (B5) - Changes
the spells Larloch's Minor Drain and Vampiric Touch.
·
Confusion (B5) - Changes
the level 7 priest and the level 4 wizard spells of the same name.
·
Animate Dead and Finger of Death (B5) - Changes
the priest and wizard versions of Animate Dead and Finger of Death.
·
Level 7 Wizard Spells (B5) - Replaces
Sphere of Chaos with Charm Plants, Mantle with Guardian Mantle, and Spell
Sequencer with Persistence.
·
Level 9 Wizard Spells (B5) - Changes
the AD&D spells Meteor Swarm, Time Stop, and Wail of the Banshee.
----------------
You should obtain
and install the latest TOB patch from www.interplay.com or www.bioware.com
before installing SpellPack™, unless you already have
other mods in place.
1. If you have B4
installed (B3 or less does not apply), download the file
"SpellPackB5_Patch.zip" to your BG2 folder, and un-zip it into your
BG2 installation directory. If you do not have B4 installed or want to start
with a clean installation of SpellPack, download the
file "SpellPackB5.zip" to your BG2 folder, and un-zip it into your
BG2 installation directory.
2. If you have
downloaded "SpellPackB5_Patch.zip", then you should have the
following files in your BG2 installation directory: "Setup-SpellPackB5_Patch.exe",
"Setup-SpellPackB5_Patch.tp2", and the folder
"SpellPackB5_Patch". If you have downloaded
"SpellPackB5.zip", then you should have the following files in your
BG2 installation directory: "Setup-SpellPackB5.exe",
"Setup-SpellPackB5.tp2", and the folder "SpellPackB5".
5. Double-click
on "Setup-SpellPackB5.exe" or "Setup-SpellPackB5_Patch.exe"
(depending on which one you have downloaded), and follow the instructions the
program says. If you have an older version than B4 installed, SpellPackB5 will
automatically uninstall the older version before installing the components of
version/beta 4 and 5.
6. Restart your
computer. (Some projectiles might not work until you restart - I have
experienced this on older machines)
7. Enjoy!
If anything goes
wrong with the process or you later wish to uninstall SpellPack™,
run the "Setup-SpellPackB5.exe" program once more and select the
[U]ninstall option. With the patch, run
"Setup-SpellPackB5_Patch.exe" first to uninstall the patch, and proceed
to uninstall "Setup-SpellPackB4.exe". If you wish to send me
an e-mail, send it to galactygon@baraban.com, but I recommend you join the
forums (http://forums.blackwyrmlair.net/) and contact me there. I check that
e-mail address, but very rarely.
------------------
SpellPack™ is compatible
with almost any mod, and later versions of SpellPack (Beta 5 and after) patch rather than override
the PROJECTL.IDS. Only MSECTYPE.2da and MSCHOOL.2da are overwritten, but I do not know of any other mod that does
that. The only 3 components that are known to cause issues between some of the other mods are: Shroud of Flame (replaces Oracle),
Deathbolt (replaces Simulacrum), and Guardian Mantle, Persistence, and Charm Plants. They are discussed below.
SwordCoast Strategems II's Smarter Mages component makes heavy
use of the otherwise unused/useless Oracle. SpellPack's Shroud of Flame component overwrites and replaces Oracle with
a different spell. Therefore, SCSII's Smarter Mages will attempt to cast Shroud of Flame onto themselves when detecting
illusions. I do not recommend you have both components installed.
SwordCoast Strategems II's Smarter Mages component sometimes
makes use of the Sphere of Chaos and Mantle spells. Sphere of Chaos is replaced by Charm Plants,
so AI spellcasters casting the latter instead of the former is not a bad thing (as they are used in similar situations and the
spells are similar). But since Guardian Mantle dispells and suppresses every other protective spell while in operation,
there might be issues. Since even in SCSII, Mantle is not used that often, this issue might pass. I recommend you judge
for yourself if it's worth to install both Smarter Mages and Charm Plants, Guardian Mantle, and Persistence.
Many tactics enhancing mods (such as Ascension and SwordCoast Strategems II
makes heavy use of the Simulacrum spell. One of the components in SpellPack replaces Simulacrum with Deathbolt,
so you will see enemy spellcasters firing off chain contingencies with Deathbolt onto themselves. Since the component
Deathbolt is meant to be experimental anyway (to see how people react to cutscenized spells), I do not recommend you install
Deathbolt if you are looking for entertaining gameplay.
There is no
support from the author's part on Check the Bodies compatibility, and there
never will.
SpellPack patches every trap in the game to cast the trapped
spell through an invisible creature (as many of the spells I change crash the game if they are not cast by a .cre). Therefore,
it is strongly recommended to install trap adding mods (usually quest mods) before SpellPack, so then SpellPack can proceed
to patch the scripts.
It is also
advised (for maximum effect) to install Cleric Remix after Spell Pack. Installing
Cleric Remix before SpellPack will cause no
compatibility errors, but some of the changed innate spells for Cleric Kits
will use their default SoA version rather than the
SpellPack™ version.
Because
both SpellPack and SpellRevisions
aim for conceptually different fixes, installing both will cause one to
override the other.
Because
Sword Coast Stratagames II makes duplicates of
existing spells for the AI, it is recommended you install it after SpellPack. Installing it before SpellPack
will not cause any bugs, but there would be inconsistencies - the AI would not
cast the same spells as you would.
There
was a minor clash between the G3 BGII Fixpack and SpellPack B4. As SpellPack B4
overrides the Projectl.ids, if you install SpellPack
B4 after the BGII fixpack, then their detect evil and
cloak of mirroring fixes will not come into play. On the other hand, BGII fixpack patches the Projectl.ids (they are better than me),
so those fixes will work if you install the BGII fixpack
after SpellPack (B4 and/or 5). This issue does not
appear for B5 or any later versions, since they patch rather than override the
projectl.ids.
IV.
Known Issues, Disclaimers, and Subtleties
------------------
- If
you uninstall the Core Files component, the .exe file might reinstall the other
components you might have left instead of simply uninstalling them. In the case
of installing B5 Patch, uninstalling B4 might not uninstall B5 Patch.
Therefore, it is best to uninstall B5 Patch first, and then proceed to
uninstalling B4.
- The
spell icons for most of the new spells are taken from Icewind
Dale II or Planescape Torment. They are not
aesthetically consistent with the rest of the spell icons. Unfortunately, I do
not have the time to create new ones. If someone else is up for the job, then I
am open to it.
- I have changed
the damage sustained by fire spells to magical fire - and it works. This only
applies to new spell or a new version of an original ones introudced
in SpellPack. The rest will come later.
-
Disintegrate does not destroy magical items, yet disintegrates an Otiluke's
Resilient Sphere (without harming those inside) if you have both Disintegrate
and Otiluke's Resilient Sphere installed. This is not consistent with the AD&D
version of the spell, but this is intentional to enhance gameplay. Disintegrate may
also be used to disintegrate a patch of webs or a patch of Insect Plague (assuming
you have the appropriate components installed) by casting the spell into the area
(not on a creature trapped within the area). But due to engine limitations, Disintegrate
doesn't let you cast it on an area if it is a single creature spell. So in order to clear webs
or a patch of insects, you will have to cast Disintegrate on dropped items or doors or
containers that lie within the area of the webs or Insect Plague
-
In B5, I reduced the area of effect of Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting to a radius of 20 feet,
as it was still too powerful for my liking. I also changed the damagetype to poison rather than magical,
so it excludes more creatures, but Protection from Energy does not work against it (Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting
shouldn't fall into the same category of spells as Magic Missile). Therefore, golems
and elementals are not affected, as they are not made out of water. Unfortunately, that includes water elementals,
but they appear only once or twice in the game and do not have their own entry in the RACE.ids. Also note that
I've changed the type of creatures that are more devastated by an Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting from plant
creatures and water elementals to aquatic creatures and slimes. This was done in favour of gameplay, since plant
creatures and water elementals appear rarely in the game. In Lost Crossroads, I will revert this to plant creatures
and water elementals, but the spell will still affect slime creatures the way it does in SpellPack (I think this is
an oversight in AD&D).
- When using
Dimension Door, you really have to have a straight unobscured
line between the caster and the destination; even if you have a single tree
blocking that line (but you know you can physically bypass it!). I once had to
move a few steps so that I could properly cast the spell accross
a railing. There might be a solution for this, but implementing it is very
complex, so it will be left alone for now. Sorry, but this is the only way of
preventing misuse of the spell.
- Chain Lightning does not target unconscious characters. This is due to a hardcoded feature that
prevents unconscious characters from being seen if the EA is [ANYONE] rather
than NearestEnemyOf() or something like that.
I am still trying to find a way around this.
- This is
cosmetic, but a "Rat - Death" is displayed if Death Spell
kills a large number of creatures (the invisible creature kills itself when
enough targets are struck - this is how Death Spell targets a limited
number of creatures). Sorry, but there
is no way around this.
- Contrary to
some of the descriptions, saving throws against certain spell types (fire,
mind, etc.) and wisdom adjustments are not implemented in SpellPack.
This is because this involves embedding .eff files
for each individual spell and ability in the game. The scope of SpellPack is much smaller, and does not revamp all game
files. But Lost Crossroads will.
- Death Bolt
is an experimental spell I have included with the pack. It still needs a few
touches, but I am curious on what the public opinion is about cutscenized spells, since they only appear in PS:T (where
you cast less of them anyway if you play the game right). The effects are truly amazing, but it comes at
a price: you will be forced to watch the same 15 sec cutscene
each time you cast the spell, and it clears the actions of everyone in the
area, possibly interrupting spellcasting. And the cutscene
doesn't always work out the way intended - it works 97.36328% of the time, with
fluctuations depending on the weather. I
would earnestly like to hear some feedback about this.
- Also concerning
Death Bolt: If you use a resolution larger than 800x600, some parts of
the cutscene will look downright weird. I am working
on this.
- Some
of the spells (especially Chain Lightning) might be misused by the AI,
sometimes killing themselves. SpellPack
covers conservative changes, which does not include the AI. Chain Lightning
is a seperate component for this very reason. In
SpellPackB5, the AI spellcaster is exempt from
suffering damage from his/her/its own Abi-Dalzim's
Horrid Wilting. This is cheating, but better than suicide. This will not
happen in Lost Crossroads.
- For
those whom this might concern, some of the new priest spells introduced in B5
(most notably Spacewarp) are in the spheres of
"numbers" and "war". None of the spellcasting
priests in Baldur's Gate II have even minor access to the sphere of numbers and
war. I lifted this restriction in favour of
entertainment (admittedly, Spacewarp is too
much fun to leave out). But in Lost Crossroads, this restriction will hold.
- In
Lost Crossroads, Guardian Mantle will be restricted to Abjurers, wheras in SpellPack anyone can
cast it. Guardian Mantle is a rare spell in the AD&D multiverse, sometimes meant to be restricted to a certain
group. But for the sake of SpellPack, I decided to
include it as a replacement for a too-similar (and useless) spell.
- I
was about to put Permanency in (along with the component "Charm
Plants, Guardian Mantle, Persistance"), but I
decided to leave it out in the last minute. It's too risky in terms of the AI
and mod compatibility. But the files are still there and the code is still
there, so you can delete some of the "//"s and try it out. If you
find any bugs, you are more than welcome to tell me (since Permanency
will definitely be added in Lost Crossroads), but I
will not fix it in SpellPack.
- You
can decide to end Moment and Mental Domination by selecting the spellcaster and make the character undertake a different
action. If you command the character to start casting a different spell, that
spell will be interrupted, and Moment/Mental Domination will continue
to be in operation. This is due to a hardcoded feature of the IE, so I cannot
fix this. To get around this, you will have to select the character and
undertake some action other than spellcasting,
cancel the action, and then begin casting a spell.
V.
Description of Spells (Listed in order of spell level, with priest spells
first).
-----------------------
Level
1 Priest
Battlefate (Alteration)
Level:
1
Sphere:
Chaos
Range:
20 yards
Duration:
2 rounds/level
Casting
Time: 4
Area
of Effect: 1 creature
Saving
Throw: None
This
spell alters probability to favor one character or creature locked in
battle. His opponent may stumble at an
awkward time, a clumsy parry might catch the enemy’s weapon at just the right
angle, or he happens to notice the foe moving in for a flank attack. The more powerful the priest, the more potent
the aid; combat modifiers provided by battlefate
equal +1 per three levels, so a 1st-level caster provides a +1 bonus, a
4th-level caster a +2 bonus, a 7th-level caster a +3, and so on to a maximum of
+5 for a 13th-level priest. The exact
form of the aid or assistance varies from round to round - it is determined by
a 1D6 roll to see which aspect of the subject’s combat abilities are affected in
any given round.
1D6 Effect
1 Nothing happens
2 Defenses enhanced, apply bonus to
subject AC
3 Luck enhanced, apply bonus to saving
throws
4 Accuracy enhanced, apply bonus to
attack rolls
5 Damage enhanced, apply bonus to damage
rolls
6 Lucky opening! Subject gains one extra
attack with
either
enhanced accuracy or damage (50% chance for each)
If the
character does not make a roll of the specified type in the round, he gains no
benefit for the spell; for example, if the character gains the saving throw
bonus but doesn’t have to make any saving throws during the round in question, battlefate doesn’t help him. Of course, in the following round, the spell
may provide him with a different benefit.
Note that on a roll of 1, battlefate does not
help the character the priest intends to aid — such is the nature of chaos.
Call
Upon Faith (Alteration)
Level:
1
Sphere:
Summoning
Range:
0
Duration:
1 round
Casting
Time: 1
Area
of Effect: The caster
Saving
Throw: None
Before
attempting a difficult task, the priest may cast call upon faith to aid his
performance. The priest gains a +3 (or
+15%) bonus to all of his die rolls. The
bonus affects saving throws, armor class, attack roll, attack count, ability
stats, thieving skills, etc. For
example, if a priest were about to face a black dragon, he could cast this
spell and gain a +3 bonus to his attack rolls and be able to make 3 extra
attacks.
Doom
(Enchantment/Charm)
Level:
1
Sphere:
Charm
Range:
25 yards
Duration:
1 round/level
Casting
Time: 1 round
Area
of Effect: 1 creature
Saving Throw: Neg.
This
spell causes a feeling of doom to overwhelm the subject. For the duration of the spell, the subject percieves as though nothing he does will succeed. Thoughts
and perceptions turn into action: the victim suffers a -2 penalty to all his rolls, this includes THAC0 and saving throws. The effects of this spell may be avoided at a
successful saving throw versus spells, but it is rolled with a penalty of -1
for every three experience levels of the the caster,
to a maximum of -6 at 18th level.
Entangle
(Alteration)
Level: 1
Sphere: Plant
Range: 80 yards