Post by Retired DM Gallin on Dec 7, 2005 17:08:23 GMT -5
After working for a long time reviewing, editing, and researching the shifter class, I believe that it is best to remove it from the server. There are a lot of reasons for this, and I'm going to try and get you the pros and cons on all of them.
First, the reason this class came under review in the first place, is the overpowered epic shapes. Undead shapes all have the undead immunity's, making them beastly inside the low-magic server that which is FRC. Raksasha has immunity to all but 9th level spells. Both Death Slaad Lord and the vampire have regeneration +5, while the Risen Lord has vampiric regeneration +2. Especially now that Damage reduction has been banned, the shifter is one of the last holdouts. The Epic Gargoyle has damage reduction (that means soak, effective against ALL damage) of 25/+7. If you don't have a +7 weapon or better (nonexistent in FRC) then you will subtract any damage you deal by 25. The construct shapes have at least 15/+3. It was never something I had really noticed before until I saw every DR item on the server vanish. There are a multitude of other overpowering factors on the shifter including blanket immunities (to elemental types, mind effecting abilities, etc.). Honestly, it's unimaginably overpowered for the type of server that FRC is. If you want, I can post the specific stats for every shape, so you can judge it for yourself. Fixing this problem is possible, but it requires EVERY shape be reviewed and scaled to the server. Editing each shape (This includes, modifying multiple scripts, editing items or making new ones, altering ability scores/stats) would realistically take at least an hour. Now, there's over 30 shapes that need to be considered... And that's not including the time needed for testing and rebalancing.
Second, is the RP legitamacy of the whole thing. This one is straightforward, and you'll be on the same page as me right away. The 3.5 players handbook says that druids hate that which is unnatural, such as undead and abberations. A prerequisite of the shifter class is to get wildshape, only available to fifth level druids. And in the infinite wisdom of Bioware, they included both undead, abberations, and all sorts of other unnatural creatures. Would a druid care to change into their most hated foe? How about an animated hunk of metal or earth (golems), or better yet, a demon from another plane (raksasha anyone?). That makes ten shapes that need to be not just modified, but completely remade from the ground up, JUST to make sense IC. Obviously, creating new shapes is far more time consuming then editing or balancing the existing ones. 3 hours each probably isn't enough considering that before even beginning to make the shape, you have to find a replacement with an appearance code in NWN, look it up in the monster manual for stats (but balanced down to FRC of course), and then you have to make brand new items, spell scripts, the works.
Third, there currently is no pre-built shifter fix to help us out. They exist yes, such as shifter add-on packs, or even some that replace shapes, but either they are hak paks (which we decided we wouldn't use on this server long ago), they are still too powerful, and/or the shapes they added/replaced still make no sense for RP. Justicar has pulled up numerous resources that I've been able to take a look at and figure out exactly how to change the shapes for our own server, however, it does nothing to ease the amount of time that it will take to go through each shape individuall and decide it's fate.
Fourth, the way bioware said this class is supposed to work, isn't how it works at all. Shifter weapons, items, and armor are supposed to merge when the druid changes form. Not all of them are supposed to merge, depending on the shape the shifter chose, but even the way bioware intended it to happen isn't. For example, armor class modifiers are supposed to be added to the shifted form. A druid with a +3 shield (Shield AC), +3 leather armor (armor AC), +3 dodge boots (Dodge AC) and mantle of defense +3 (Deflection AC), should get +12 AC to the shifted form. Instead, bioware converts all of the different AC types into one (deflection I believe) so the shifted form gets only +3 AC. There are a lot of glitches in other item merges as well. Another instance would be that gloves/guantlets/bracers NEVER merge. Why? Bioware forgot to code for it. The good news is, I have found a couple fixes for this. The bad news is, they are all hak paks, and while I havn't done a whole lot of looking into this problem, it sounds like you can't fix it without the use of a hak pak because of the core files that need editing. This is one I am not posotive on however, so keep that in mind. Reguardless, there are still other things about this class that need to be addressed (see above).
Fifth, in the end, players will still be required to download files in order to play on FRC. While we can avoid using a server wide hak pak, the player using the shifter will be required to download several files from us, or they will be garunteed to crash. The spells.2da file CANNOT simply sit in the servers override directory. If the player does not have it in their own override folder as well, they will freeze during any attempt to use a spell-like ability while shifted. And by putting that in their override folder, it means they will also have to remove it any time they choose to play single player, another server, whatever, or else they will most likely freeze there. While doable, it is still a hassle. Another file needed by the player will be an updated cep.tlk file that stores the names of the new feats, spells, and shapes. Without it, they can survive, but the spells with either have the wrong name, or no name at all. This includes when they attempt to choose a shifter feat from the level up screen. So yes, this can be done without issuing a server wide hak pak, but at an extreme inconvenience for those who choose to become shifters.
That's just the nutshell version, but it should be something to get you started. We, the DM's, already have a couple ideas of what we can do about this class, and I will say right now, that banning it is a potential solution. We have yet to decide on anything final however, so this is your chance as a player to have your voice heard. If you have a suggestion on how to take care of this, speak up. Currently, there are two shifter's on the server, Padrin and Corbin (ClarkGrizwald and myself). There are only three others who have even expressed interest in the class, so the idea of doing such a massive fix to a class that would barely be used doesn't sound real appealing. So speak your mind, this may be your last chance.
~Gallin
First, the reason this class came under review in the first place, is the overpowered epic shapes. Undead shapes all have the undead immunity's, making them beastly inside the low-magic server that which is FRC. Raksasha has immunity to all but 9th level spells. Both Death Slaad Lord and the vampire have regeneration +5, while the Risen Lord has vampiric regeneration +2. Especially now that Damage reduction has been banned, the shifter is one of the last holdouts. The Epic Gargoyle has damage reduction (that means soak, effective against ALL damage) of 25/+7. If you don't have a +7 weapon or better (nonexistent in FRC) then you will subtract any damage you deal by 25. The construct shapes have at least 15/+3. It was never something I had really noticed before until I saw every DR item on the server vanish. There are a multitude of other overpowering factors on the shifter including blanket immunities (to elemental types, mind effecting abilities, etc.). Honestly, it's unimaginably overpowered for the type of server that FRC is. If you want, I can post the specific stats for every shape, so you can judge it for yourself. Fixing this problem is possible, but it requires EVERY shape be reviewed and scaled to the server. Editing each shape (This includes, modifying multiple scripts, editing items or making new ones, altering ability scores/stats) would realistically take at least an hour. Now, there's over 30 shapes that need to be considered... And that's not including the time needed for testing and rebalancing.
Second, is the RP legitamacy of the whole thing. This one is straightforward, and you'll be on the same page as me right away. The 3.5 players handbook says that druids hate that which is unnatural, such as undead and abberations. A prerequisite of the shifter class is to get wildshape, only available to fifth level druids. And in the infinite wisdom of Bioware, they included both undead, abberations, and all sorts of other unnatural creatures. Would a druid care to change into their most hated foe? How about an animated hunk of metal or earth (golems), or better yet, a demon from another plane (raksasha anyone?). That makes ten shapes that need to be not just modified, but completely remade from the ground up, JUST to make sense IC. Obviously, creating new shapes is far more time consuming then editing or balancing the existing ones. 3 hours each probably isn't enough considering that before even beginning to make the shape, you have to find a replacement with an appearance code in NWN, look it up in the monster manual for stats (but balanced down to FRC of course), and then you have to make brand new items, spell scripts, the works.
Third, there currently is no pre-built shifter fix to help us out. They exist yes, such as shifter add-on packs, or even some that replace shapes, but either they are hak paks (which we decided we wouldn't use on this server long ago), they are still too powerful, and/or the shapes they added/replaced still make no sense for RP. Justicar has pulled up numerous resources that I've been able to take a look at and figure out exactly how to change the shapes for our own server, however, it does nothing to ease the amount of time that it will take to go through each shape individuall and decide it's fate.
Fourth, the way bioware said this class is supposed to work, isn't how it works at all. Shifter weapons, items, and armor are supposed to merge when the druid changes form. Not all of them are supposed to merge, depending on the shape the shifter chose, but even the way bioware intended it to happen isn't. For example, armor class modifiers are supposed to be added to the shifted form. A druid with a +3 shield (Shield AC), +3 leather armor (armor AC), +3 dodge boots (Dodge AC) and mantle of defense +3 (Deflection AC), should get +12 AC to the shifted form. Instead, bioware converts all of the different AC types into one (deflection I believe) so the shifted form gets only +3 AC. There are a lot of glitches in other item merges as well. Another instance would be that gloves/guantlets/bracers NEVER merge. Why? Bioware forgot to code for it. The good news is, I have found a couple fixes for this. The bad news is, they are all hak paks, and while I havn't done a whole lot of looking into this problem, it sounds like you can't fix it without the use of a hak pak because of the core files that need editing. This is one I am not posotive on however, so keep that in mind. Reguardless, there are still other things about this class that need to be addressed (see above).
Fifth, in the end, players will still be required to download files in order to play on FRC. While we can avoid using a server wide hak pak, the player using the shifter will be required to download several files from us, or they will be garunteed to crash. The spells.2da file CANNOT simply sit in the servers override directory. If the player does not have it in their own override folder as well, they will freeze during any attempt to use a spell-like ability while shifted. And by putting that in their override folder, it means they will also have to remove it any time they choose to play single player, another server, whatever, or else they will most likely freeze there. While doable, it is still a hassle. Another file needed by the player will be an updated cep.tlk file that stores the names of the new feats, spells, and shapes. Without it, they can survive, but the spells with either have the wrong name, or no name at all. This includes when they attempt to choose a shifter feat from the level up screen. So yes, this can be done without issuing a server wide hak pak, but at an extreme inconvenience for those who choose to become shifters.
That's just the nutshell version, but it should be something to get you started. We, the DM's, already have a couple ideas of what we can do about this class, and I will say right now, that banning it is a potential solution. We have yet to decide on anything final however, so this is your chance as a player to have your voice heard. If you have a suggestion on how to take care of this, speak up. Currently, there are two shifter's on the server, Padrin and Corbin (ClarkGrizwald and myself). There are only three others who have even expressed interest in the class, so the idea of doing such a massive fix to a class that would barely be used doesn't sound real appealing. So speak your mind, this may be your last chance.
~Gallin
Don't seem practical I guess on this server. We care about you shifters all two of ya ;D but if it's that bad and it sounds like it is....toss it while you still have a chance to not have the community in an uproar . Hears Druid feet pitter patter like crazy trying to gain the class now hoping for a little of that unbalanced goodness.
