New in V2.1

It was suggested to me that I post a list of questions that I've added since previous versions of the FAQ. Here is the list. I haven't done any nifty formatting, and there may be typos or errors. Read this at your own risk.

- Nobody

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A. (S.M. 3/27) Here is the spell list as of the end of March. While there may be a few additions, removals, or changes, I think this will probably be the list of spells we will be shipping with (actually I think we're are going to do about another 30 more, but I'm not going to promise it). Everybody thank Huy Nguyen for working major overtime to get all of these done.

Here's the list...
Goto Eye-On-Troika for a nifty spell reference.

Total Count: 224
Aid
Animal Growth
Animal Trance
Animate Dead
Bane
Barkskin
Bestow Curse
Bless
Bless Water
Blight
Blindness Deafness
Blink
Blur
Break Enchantment
Bulls Strength
Burning Hands
Call Lightning
Calm Animals
Calm Emotions
Cats Grace
Cause Fear
Chain Lightning
Chaos Hammer
Charm Monster
Charm Person
Charm Person or Animal
Chill Metal
Chill Touch
Circle of Doom
Clairaudience Clairvoyance
Cloudkill
Color Spray
Command
Cone of Cold
Confusion
Consecrate
Contagion
Control Plants
Cure Critical Wounds
Cure Light Wounds
Cure Minor Wounds
Cure Moderate Wounds
Cure Serious Wounds
Curse Water
Darkvision
Daze
Death Knell
Death Ward
Delay Poison
Desecrate
Detect Chaos
Detect Evil
Detect Good
Detect Law
Detect Magic
Detect Secret Doors
Detect Undead
Dimension Door
Dimensional Anchor
Discern Lies
Dismissal
Dispel Air
Dispel Chaos
Dispel Earth
Dispel Evil
Dispel Fire
Dispel Good
Dispel Law
Dispel Magic
Dispel Water
Displacement
Disrupt Undead
Divine Favor
Divine Power
Dominate Animal
Dominate Person
Doom
Emotion
Endurance
Endure Elements
Enlarge
Entangle
Entropic Shield
Expeditious Retreat
Faerie Fire
Fear
Feeblemind
Find Traps
Fire Shield
Fireball
Flame Strike
Flare
Fog Cloud
Freedom of Movement
Gaseous Form
Ghoul Touch
Giant Vermin
Glitterdust
Goodberry
Grease
Greater Magic Fang
Greater Magic Weapon
Guidance
Gust of Wind
Halt Undead
Haste
Healing Circle
Heat Metal
Hold Animal
Hold Monster
Hold Person
Hold Portal
Holy Smite
Ice Storm
Identify
Improved Invisibility
Inflict Critical Wounds
Inflict Light Wounds
Inflict Minor Wounds
Inflict Moderate Wounds
Inflict Serious Wounds
Invisibility
Invisibility Purge
Invisibility Sphere
Invisibility to Animals
Invisibility to Undead
Keen Edge
Knock
Lesser Restoration
Lightning Bolt
Mage Armor
Magic Circle against Chaos
Magic Circle against Evil
Magic Circle against Good
Magic Circle against Law
Magic Fang
Magic Missile
Magic Stone
Magic Vestment
Magic Weapon
Meld Into Stone
Melf's Acid Arrow
Mind Fog
Minor Globe of Invulnerability
Mirror Image
Mordenkainens Faithful Hound
Negative Energy Protection
Neutralize Poison
Obscuring Mist
Open Close
Orders Wrath
Otilukes Resilient Sphere
Phantasmal Killer
Poison
Prayer
Produce Flame
Protection From Arrows
Protection From Chaos
Protection From Elements
Protection From Evil
Protection From Good
Protection From Law
Rage
Raise Dead
Ray of Enfeeblement
Ray of Frost
Read Magic
Reduce
Remove Blindness Deafness
Remove Curse
Remove Disease
Remove Fear
Remove Paralysis
Repel Vermin
Resist Elements
Resistance
Restoration
Righteous Might
Sanctuary
Scare
Searing Light
See Invisibility
Shatter
Shield
Shield of Faith
Shillelagh
Shocking Grasp
Shout
Silence
Slay Living
Sleep
Sleet Storm
Slow
Soften Earth and Stone
Solid Fog
Sound Burst
Spell Resistance
Spike Growth
Spike Stones
Spiritual Weapon
Stinking Cloud
Stoneskin
Suggestion
Summon Monster I
Summon Monster II
Summon Monster III
Summon Monster IV
Summon Monster V
Summon Nature's Ally I
Summon Nature's Ally II
Summon Nature's Ally III
Summon Nature's Ally IV
Summon Nature's Ally V
Summon Swarm
Tashas Hideous Laughter
Teleport
Tree Shape
True Seeing
True Strike
Unholy Blight
Vampiric Touch
Virtue
Web
Wind Wall

A. (S.M. 3/27) One of the reasons I posted this list this month was because "technically" this was our "Final Spells Added" milestone.

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Q. No Otto's Irristable dance? Leomund's Secure Shelter and Secret Chest? Tenser's floating disc?
A. (H.N. 3/27) otto's irresistable dance is a level 8 sor/wiz, level 6 bard spell - not for this game. both leomund spells mentioned are still on the list of spells to be implemented, so once i can get around to them... for ToEE, secure shelter will most likely change in functionality to simply allow you to rest wherever you are with no encounters. useful when deep in a dungeon... as for tenser's, the usefulness of the spell when weighed against the special cases it would need means it is probably tossed out (if it hasn't been already). and, given options like leomund's chest, there are several other (better) ways to increase your carrying capacity/avoid encumbrance.

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Q. Why were spells like light left out?
A. (S.M. 3/27) Since we have prerendered backgrounds changing the local lighting of an area isn't really possible. And unless the spell has ulterior effects wasn't even considered (e.g. light, dancing lights). We wanted, and still do want, to include darkness and daylight (e.g. of spells that effected dynamic lighting AND had significant gameplay effects) and a lot of the other spells that are on the list but we eventually had to stop putting programmer time on spells and get some other key features and bugs fixed.

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Q. Will the wall spells make it in?
A. (S.M. 3/27) The only reason [walls] aren't on the list is because they couldn't get done in time for this month. We had wanted to do the walls, and Mike even did art for the Wall of Ice (and it could even be broken thru by attacking, etc,. and of course it looked freakin bitchin, thanks Mike!!!). And really, they weren't impossible to do, but there were just so many of them and they each would take a few days work. They couldn't get done in time for this month so "officially" we had to drop them. Thats not to say they can't reappear in later months. Just don't expect them, or any other spell to be added.

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Q. Will all the spells be useful, or will there be a bunch of duds?
A. (S.M. 3/28) Every spell in that list has many uses in the game. We specifically excluded those that didn't have any (or only one single) use in the game. That was the cut off reason for most of the spells. I would say we only didn't include about 10-20 because of time.

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Q. Will every casting class and clerical domain have enough unique spells to cast?
A. (S.M. 3/28) We also have 100% coverage on 100% of the domains, and I would guess every class has at least 8 (probably at least 10) and on average 15 or more spells to pick from per level.

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Q. Can we use counterspells to cancel an enemy mage's spells?
A1. (S.M. 3/28) I know that delay is in, and readying an action (for a spell to be cast, an enemy to enter a threatened area, or another creature to act) is being worked on. I am hoping that Sean will have readying an action to counterspell, but I'm not sure it is in, or if it will make it. Really is cool, useful, and we hope it can get in. I think it makes dispel magic a super powerful spell.

A2. (H.N. 3/28) i hope will make it in too. as steve said, it would be a time issue.

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Q. Can we get a damage bonus by using a touch-based spell while sneaking?
A. (H.N. 3/28) optional rules from expansion books aren't high on our priority lists and probably aren't on our deliverables for milestones, unfortunately. although i agree, dealing sneak attack damage with a rogue/mage on ranged touch spells wouldn't be too terribly hard.

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Q. Why were the illusion spells left out?
A. (H.N. 3/28) illusion spells are difficult to do correctly in a CRPG - i don't think any implemention of, say, Major Image or Creation, we could do would be satisfactory to anyone. and the time spent trying to make them work would probably be the equivalent of 5 or 6 other spells we could do. actually, coverage of the school of illusion (sor/wiz, levels 0-5) isn't so bad, i'd say around 33% - considering most illusion spells are PnP-ish.

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Q. What other spells have a chance of making it in?
A1. (H.N. 3/28) a portion of the unimplemented spells are still on my "unofficial" spell todo list ...i can think of Shield Other as another spell that was passed over for presumably whatever reason i can't think of right now, and i'd like to touch again.

A2. (H.N. 3/28) in particular, darkness, evervation, flame arrow, flaming sphere, polymorph, and the walls are still on my list. tiny hut could be reinterpreted as a lower level version of the Secure Shelter implementation we were thinking of (maybe halve the chance of random encounters)...

A3. (H.N. 3/28) Interposing Hand i wanted to do, but we couldn't think of a way to make this look *REALLY* good visually, and still keep the spell 100% the same; if we figure out something or come up with a satisfying modification, it may be back on the list

A4. (S.M. 3/27) I believe "Shatter" is actually going in as a modified spell. It doesn't behave 100% as the PHB describes shatter to behave. Rather than damaging items I think it does damage to crystalline things and other creatures of the earth domain. Don't worry it will be called out both in the manual and the in game documentation.

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Q. How will the teleport spell work?
A1. (H.N. 3/28) the only implementation of teleport right now is to essentially be the worldmap shortcut. out of combat, it allows you to bring up the worldmap anywhere, and travel to a known destination without random encounters. not exactly the 3rd edition spell, we know, but this was the best way to integrate a worldmap "shortcut" (given the choice between an item or a spell or an Orb of the Moons that could do this), and teleport was given this functionality. sorry for the Ultima reference

A2. (H.N. 3/28) teleport will technically be teleport without error ...for obvious fun reasons!

A3. (H.N. 3/31) [Teleport is] currently [limited to] wiz/sor 5 and travel domain 5 only

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Q. How does dimension door differ from teleport?
A. (H.N. 3/28) dimension door is the one currently used in combat/dungeons to move the caster to non-worldmap destinations. teleport may be changed/added so that it functions like dimension door, only with the entire party (probably out of combat). the problem of course, with spells such as these, is bypassing scripted areas/events, where dependencies may break. we'll see

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New link: http://forums.avault.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=001000

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Q. Will there be a shop that sells super-powerful items?
A. (H.N. 3/30) most likely high-powered enchantments won't be sold in stores near you. tim could tell you for sure about what kind of magic items are sold by vendors

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Q. Why were drow left out of the available race list?
A1. (H.N. 3/30)i believe the concern is not whether they are too powerful or unbalancing, but the design team does not want to introduce a PC selectable Race that *should* evoke certain types of responses (dialog or otherwise) but won't, given our timeframe. more succinctly, if we don't time left to properly script/dialog how NPC's should react to a party of Drow waltzing into Hommlet, then that is a strong argument for not including Drow. this is more important to the design team then just throwing in the Drow for their (IMO) awesome bonuses.

A2. (H.N. 3/30) i hope that makes sense. in short, no guarantees on subraces (either way) :P ...the subraces that are just a set of modifiers and require little or no extra scripting are more likely to make it in, if any of them do. (i.e. this same argument can be made for the half-dragons, celestials, half-ogres, etc - but something like a Wood Elf would be nice and easy)

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Q. Will certain spells have costs other than memorizing a spell? (updated)
A. (T.C. 3/31) Spells that have significant material components (i.e. components with a GP cost specified in the spell) will cost gold to cast. So while you don't need 500 gp diamond to cast Raise Dead, you do need 500gp. For spells like Fireball that need bat guano and sulfur, you don't need anything nor do you need to spend any gold. We just assume you have those components on you. I mean, who doesn't carry bat guano around?

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Q. Can we wield a one-handed weapon with both hands?
A. (S.M. 3/30) I think the way one handed weapon attacks are done right now assume that if you have nothing in your other hand that you are using it two handed. We thought and thought and thought (for hours, or maybe minutes, we started playing Hungry, Hungry Hippos after a few minutes) and could not come up with a reason why you'd NOT want to wield a one handed weapon two handed if you have a spare hand (you get 1.5x strength bonus).

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Q. How will two-handed wielding of one-handed weapons work with weapon finesse or deflect arrows?
A. (S.M. 3/30) Currently, [the game] does render you with one hand holding it and Weapon Finesse is only used if the damage it will produce is higher than the damage that not using would produce (IIRC). However, Deflect Arrows does provide an interesting issue. I think the way it is right now is kinda cheating because you will be switching from 1 handed to 2 handed during the same round (if you were to deflect arrows). I don't know how big of an issue it may be. Perhaps balance and playtesting will show whether or not we should have a option for changing it. I'll ask Sean if we can add an option to Attack /w Two Hands to the Standard Attack action.

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Q. Will the icons from the PHB be used as follower portraits?
A. (S.M. 3/30) As far as I know, we are implementing all of our own art. And all concepts and 2d artwork (portraits, interface, etc.) are being done by Chris Glenn. What he is using for reference I'm not sure. But personally I think his stuff is freaking amazing.

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Q. Will there be a level cap? (updated)
A. (T.C. 3/27) While it is possible in Greyhawk for a single character to reach our level cap of 10 before the end of the game, you can make a party of up to five player characters who share the experience points and therefore need more total xps before they reach level 10 together. In addition (and this is something I really like about 3rd edition D&D), you can spend xps to make new magic items. So it will never be a waste of experience to reach the level cap, because you can simply task your casters with magic item creation. You can make magic items that don't appear in the game as treasure (so no one will have this item unless you make it), and you can also make weapons tailored against particular foes, like a flaming scythe to use against trolls.

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Q. What game engine is ToEE using?
A. (T.C. 3/27) We are using a heavily modified version of [the Arcanum] engine, which now uses 3D characters and particle effects. We began modifications after Arcanum was completed, and when Infogrames came asking about the possibility of doing D&D, we showed them a demo of the new engine's capabilities, and they really liked it. Without having such an engine available, we would never have agreed to such a tight schedule (18 months to make an RPG!). So we have spent that time primarily making content and encoding the D&D rules into the game layer, but we did continue to add new features like cloth rendering, so we could do robes and capes, and procedural spell effects, so spells like Chain Lightning can behave as they are supposed to, in this case leaping from one enemy to the next.

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Q. How many feats are in the game?
A. (T.C. 3/27) We have implemented a subset of the core books' feats, but it's a big subset. The only feats we dropped were ones the engine could not handle, like the mounted combat feats, or that were beyond the scope of the game, like Forge Ring which requires you to be 12th level.

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Q. When you get ToEE out the door, is your team going to merge with the other team to help get that other game finished? Or will you start on a sequel? (update)
A. (T.C. 3/27) I am thinking of Against the Giants as a potential sequel. Of course, there will only be a sequel if the sales of the first one are high enough.

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Q. If I kill Jim Bob of Hommlet, will Joe Bob, located halfway across town, know about it? (update)
A. (T.C. 3/27) There are a few opportunities for this, but in some places, they will just know it's you. You're the only new person in the area, and people are dying. It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out who is doing it.

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Q. Will there be any NPCs that are "forced to die" in a cutscene or script?
A. (T.C. 3/27) I don't think I kill anyone automatically in front of you. However, I can think of one place where you can stumble upon a person who has just killed someone.

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Q. Will there be a canine NPC companion available?
A. (T.C. 3/27) Almost certainly.

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Q. Can you control the NPC follower's actions? (update)
A. (T.C. 3/27) Currently you control the PC's and the NPC's outside of combat, but only the PC's in combat. We may allow NPC control inside of combat too, but if you make them do something they hate (like make a paladin kill a good person), they will leave the party.

A. (T.C. 3/29) Right now, you have no control, but we are adding the ability to take total control. We will probably end up giving you the option, for both PC's and NPC's, of controlling them in combat. If you choose not to control them, the AI will do it.

A. (T.C. 3/29) There will be no difficulty settings associated with the control. Think of it this way: you control your NPC's except when it's safe to let them go, e.g. there are only 2 rats left and you let the fighter NPC's go on auto.

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Q. Can you see an NPC follower's stats and skills? (update)
A. (T.C. 3/29) You can never see their stats or what they are wielding.

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Q. Can you access an NPC follower's inventory? (update)
A. (T.C. 3/29) You can add and remove things from their inventory, to use them as pack rats. So if an NPC wields a shield you give them, you cannot get it back unless they unwield it (perhaps if you give them something better) or when they die.

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Q. Will the journal keep track of which quests you've solved or botched? (update)
A. (T.C. 3/27) We have something already in place. And I know the book opens to the last page you looked at.

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Q. Will there be any livestock to terrorize, and will we get EXP for doing so?
A. (T.C. 3/27) There will be children. And consequences for messing with them.

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Q. Are there any other NPC quirks worth mentioning?
A. (T.C. 3/27) We have deceptive NPC's, where they seem nice or seem evil, but they're not. As for quests though, most of them are not deceptive in that way.

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Q. Will NPCs wander around the map?
A. (T.C. 3/27) I have worked towards giving NPC's goals. Many will join your group for a purpose and leave when they achieve it. But if they get too realistic, for example, if they constantly move all over the map, that's annoying when you want to find them. We have a few NPC's that move around a lot, but most stay in a particular area.

A. (T.C. 3/27) We do have NPC's that cross maps and wander about. It's just that most of them who give or adminster quests will stay at or near one location, so you can find them easily. That doesn't mean that Farmer Joe won't go into his fields during the day and go home at night, it just means that he won't go all over the village.

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Q. Can we augment a monk's unarmed attack by making enhanced boots or gloves?
A. (T.C. 3/28) Magic Fang and Greater Magic Fang spells are in the game. [These spells make natural weapons such as fists do more damage and hit more often.] I don't think you can attach them to boots or gloves, though.

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Q. How does the game calculate EXP awards?
A. (T.C. 3/28) All experience is party based. It never goes to just one character. Experience is awarded for killing things, finishing quests, and disarming traps. Basically anything that gets assigned a Challenge Rating (CR) rewards experience.

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Q. Will there be a time limit to complete the main quest?
A. (T.C. 3/28) Nope.

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Q. What is being done to facilitate the feeling that the environment is dynamic and interactive? (update)
A. (T.C. 3/28) Our interactivity is limited to items you can pick up, including books, and some manipulatable things like doors and chests. If a barrel is not a container, you cannot manipulate it.

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Q. Will combat and non-combat options have balanced EXP awards?
A. (T.C. 3/28) Yes, we are trying to make sure the talking solutions provide xp and items on par with the combat solutions. The biggest problem we have run into is that you can talk to people to get their quests, and then kill them later. However, it's doubtful that the combat-oriented characters can do many of the high powered talk quests.

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Q. Are parts of the game funny?
A. (T.C. 3/28) I'd like to think so. Some of the humor is very low key, and some of it is a reference to out of game things, but we did it in such a way that if you don't get the reference, the humor does not seem out of place. You just won't know that there is a sub-context.

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Q. What level do your characters start at?
A. (T.C. 3/28) You start at level 1. I think level 1 characters in 3rd edition are more powerful than level 1 characters from 1st edition. The feats, skills, and level 0 spells really help.

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Q. Are there going to be factions? If so, how many will there be? (update)
A. (T.C. 3/28) ToEE has a smaller scope than Arcanum. So while there are fewer factions, they have more of an effect in the game. If you piss off the people in village of Hommlet, it's not like you have 20 other villages to go to.

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Q. Will there be combat situations that are challenging for a max-level party?
A. (T.C. 3/28) Yes, there will be challenges. We are putting in some tough creatures that are not on the main story arc and do not have to killed to complete the game. But clever players will find a way to defeat them.

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Q. Will there be other PCs our characters have to compete with to beat the game first?
A. (T.C. 3/28) No. You are the heroes of the game. There aren't NPC groups running in parallel with you.

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Q. How many followers (NPCs) can join your party? (update)
A. (T.C. 3/28) Most followers are humanoid, but there are some animal and monster followers (maybe 5 out of 40). But you can always animate some zombies or find a familiar or summon an animal companion.

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Q. Is there grappling? Pinning? The option to try and use escape artist to wriggle free? (update)
A. (T.C. 3/28) We have unarmed combat, but grappling and some of the more specialized weapons are out.

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Q. Will there be penalties for firing ranged weapons at creatures in melee combat?
A. (T.C. 3/28) Yes, the firing into melee penalty is already in, and the cover penalties [caused by the melee combater's opponent] are going in soon.

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A. (T.C. 3/29) Let's see: parleying with demons, alcohol abuse, sexual situations, adult themes. Yeah, we're getting an M.

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Q. Does the AI have any strategy tricks up its sleeve?
A. (T.C. 3/29) We've added several cool new AI features. One is scouting, which I have mentioned before. Some monsters, upon seeing you, do NOT run to attack you. Instead, they run back to a group of their friends and alert them, and then they ALL come for you. We also have alert points, which are like day and night stand points, but they represent where the NPC will stand if the area is on alert. So if you screw up and trip an alarm or otherwise tip off that you are in a secure area, the NPC's will all head to their alert points, which are usually crucial places like stairs and staging areas.

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Q. Will be there be jaunty hats?
A. (T.C. 3/29) Yes, we have jaunty hats. The Gandalf-like wizard hat is in, as well as several others, including my personal favorite, the jauntiest hat of all, which I often put on my halfling monk.

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Q. Will there be skull caps for clerics?
A. (T.C. 3/29) No skull caps, but we do have some headgear for clerics and druids.

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Q. How difficult is the game on the normal settings?
A. (T.C. 3/29) Seriously, it's hard to tell. Some of the big monsters don't do their special attacks yet, and all of the magic items are not in yet. Combined with the variability of your party (an all-bard party will be tougher to finish the game with than a more balanced group), and I don't think I can answer that.

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Q. Are there any other NPC quirks worth mentioning?
A. (T.C. 3/29) We already have several NPC's that perform actions spontaneously, like attacking something or leaving the group or starting dialog. It's part of their hidden agendas.

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Q. Can you see an NPC follower's stats and skills?
A. (T.C. 3/29) [Even though you can't see their stats,] they will tell you their class and relevant info in dialog.

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Q. Can you access an NPC follower's inventory? (update)
A. (T.C. 3/29) Yes. The stuff they want to keep will not be visible in their inventory.

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Q. Will there be a difficulty select (other than Ironman)? (update)
A. (T.C. 3/29) We are not exactly sure about difficulty settings yet. We do have Normal mode and Iron Man mode.

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Q. Will there be an Ironman mode? (update)
A. (T.C. 3/29) In Iron Man mode, you cannot reroll your stats in the character creation phase, and you only get one save game, which you can only use when you quit the game. You play until you quit (in which case your game is saved) or until you die. And when you die, you are dead. Just like PnP.

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Q. Will switching hands or putting a weapon away to cast a spell count as a free action?
A. (S.C. 3/31) At some point you have make allowences for how the game is actually played. It would be a pain in the butt if you had to go into your inventory and put away your two handed sword every time your wizard/fighter wanted to cast a spell. So in our game it's assumed you can switch as a free action. We go past that, actually - even if you've got a dagger in each hand you can cast spells. You put your weapons away, cast the spell, and then pull the weapons back out again as a single standard action. This might seem unrealistic but believe me, it's better than the alternative. Similarly, we're not requiring an empty hand for Weapon Finesse or Deflect Arrows.

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Q. Will we get to adjust our characters skin/hair tone? (update)
A. (S.M. 3/31) Currently our engine incurs severe penalties and does not have an easy API for manipulating colors or hues on a subset of colors of a texture on the fly. One idea was to have our texture artists redo a bunch of different skin tone textures with all the armors but I don't think this will be feasable within our estimated time frame. I think it is something that we want to add, but probably wont make it for our ship date. But you never know...

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Q. Will the monk ability "flurry of blows" be implemented?
A. (H.N. 4/1) flurry of blows is in. sean can tell you more about its intricacies and implementation - help him out (i.e. bug him) and ask about the special cases! attack bonuses per, wielding weapons, etc (some of which have already been mentioned, i think) ....mwahahahah! hehe, i don't think you'll fluster him at all - he's got it all handled ...i just flurried one of my own PC's and wasted her a*se!