tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post8958356907973121447..comments2024-03-28T23:14:06.156-04:00Comments on The CRPG Addict: Game 348: Realms of Arkania: Blade of DestinyCRPG Addicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comBlogger149125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-83438433937652645792024-03-08T20:43:50.396-05:002024-03-08T20:43:50.396-05:00As a note, the game is much more popular in German...As a note, the game is much more popular in Germany, and the main forum is dead. I did manage to find a zip file with all the mods in it, and use google translate to find out what they did, but most of the quest mods are pointless to use in English, as they will have *pages* of text in German, and then one or two lines in English. A lot of them have a lot more features and longer event chains in German as well. (I opened the files up to see what was in them, the differences were...dramatic)Canageekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03770924810559440307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-1879711218048711692022-12-30T16:19:26.010-05:002022-12-30T16:19:26.010-05:00Depends on how many choices the player has to make...Depends on how many choices the player has to make each round. I have wanted to try making a simple engine for some of the more complex tabletop RPGs to see how they hold up when you remove the need to do all the work for yourself (my Dad did this in the late 80s or early 90s with the wargame Starfleet Battles by writing a BASIC program to do the math and track various things for you on his C64, then they'd move that to beside the table he & his friends were playing on.)<br /><br />But if you have to fiddle with a lot of factors, like in some of the GURPS magic systems (where you have to balance radius, casting time, drawing runes, making sacrifices) then while you don't have to do the math, you still have to make choices and go through a mental decision tree every time and it slows things down. Canageekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03770924810559440307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-15557523843828166322022-12-30T08:19:03.907-05:002022-12-30T08:19:03.907-05:00The complexity in a theoretical PC adaptation of t...The complexity in a theoretical PC adaptation of those games would be absolutely transparent to the player - computers are really good at dealing with that sort of thing.<br /><br />That's one reason why computer D&D adaptations can sometimes feel so empty - so much of the ruleset is abstracted away, and the designers have to add enough content to fill in the rest of the experience.Gnomanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13920812227941556716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-60075303786976037362022-12-28T21:29:06.985-05:002022-12-28T21:29:06.985-05:00Chet, you should be grateful. In some alternate ti...Chet, you should be grateful. In some alternate timeline of you there is a Chet who is having to slog through a game based on the Phoenix Command rules, or playing a game based on Living Steel. While pretty cool settings, damn, taking wind speed into account for bullet physics? Little too much rules for most people. Canageekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03770924810559440307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-84323306576712941112022-12-28T12:21:59.438-05:002022-12-28T12:21:59.438-05:00Sounds very similar to.... I think it was Runeques...Sounds very similar to.... I think it was Runequest in focus. The Basic Roleplay game by Chaosium that was fantasy focused. But where room quest was very simple and lethal, this sounds very completionist and lethal. Canageekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03770924810559440307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-6645807835620625542020-02-23T09:39:45.760-05:002020-02-23T09:39:45.760-05:00This brings back memories. Of DSA mostly, I manage...This brings back memories. Of DSA mostly, I managed to miss the DSA-CRPGS by a wide margin and only played Drakensang a bit. But I fondly remember reading tons of the books and (out of curiosity) trying a short one-shot adventure for 1 player.<br /><br />You were a peasant running away from some sort of famine/evil overlord related incident and ended up in a magic forest. It was fun, even though I had zero knowledge about the rules and had to make up my own. Essentially, I approached the DSA-adventure like one of these chose-your-own-adventure books.<br /><br />At one point I managed to get turned into a vampire by a tiny fairy. Apparently accepting a rat as food is a great no-no even if you're a starving peasant and you just want to be polite to the tiny, blood-drinking fairy in front of youLibluinihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15524606710871977666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-75337798645096931492020-01-26T23:58:02.324-05:002020-01-26T23:58:02.324-05:00Late to the party, but I picked these up on GOG qu...Late to the party, but I picked these up on GOG quite a while ago and haven't gotten into them yet. Tried this first one but found everything about it intimidating. Besides classes, skills, spells galore, there are also many utility items in shops - are they useful or just flavor?<br /><br />Something also went wrong in the first dungeon. I think I just couldn't beat one of the encounters, but also couldn't figure out how to improve my characters enough to manage it. Had the exact same problem with Arcanum back in the day.HunterZhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17049065099652976143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-72392277941624452992019-12-12T14:21:24.450-05:002019-12-12T14:21:24.450-05:00That sounds cool, although you'd like an oppor...That sounds cool, although you'd like an opportunity to set some kind of bias to influence each character's direction, beyond the class.<br /><br />Another thing I found myself wishing, when grinding through levelling point allocation, is that levelling was an ongoing opportunity to allocate a few points here an there, instead of an infrequent burst of a lot of work across the several characters, all at once.Rangeroushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05384980667033682190noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-19903459503185074542019-12-12T04:24:53.775-05:002019-12-12T04:24:53.775-05:00The Blade of Destiny "HD" remake actuall...The Blade of Destiny "HD" remake actually gives you the choice to have automated levelling. I haven't tried it, though.Alrik von Premnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-25139582069401167742019-12-12T01:41:38.001-05:002019-12-12T01:41:38.001-05:00Hi. Thanks so much for your always-great coverage...Hi. Thanks so much for your always-great coverage! I also dusted this one off and have been putting a few hours in from time to time, when time allows.<br /><br />Having played various tabletop RPGs with a variety of systems such as several D&D versions, GURPS, Traveller, Call of Cthulu, and RuneQuest, I can appreciate some of the elements of complexity in The Dark Eye. At the risk of exposing my inner geek, I recall filling weeks between sessions by poring over my characters, and the rules, for hours, trying to select the perfect upgrades to move my characters in the desired direction. In that world, complexity became a desirable and fun part of the role playing system's offering that kept the game's excitement alive between sessions.<br /><br />In contrast, when several of my BoD characters "level up" at the same time, the immediacy of my current activities within the storyline have to be set aside while I agonize, more motivated to NOT make the WRONG decisions. I'm not sure why, but that's the contrast I experience between tabletop of yesteryear and computertop of today.<br /><br />I find myself wishing that the vendor had implemented an option for automatic leveling. Of course, you can always do it manually, but basically I find myself improving a few, critical capabilities as much as possible, then cycling through my second tier choices maybe one point or one trial at a time, round-robin. <br /><br />The computer could save me a great deal of not-fun effort if, as an option, it could automate "levelling up" based upon my selection of first-tier and second-tier desirable attributes (unique to each character). Instead, I've really had enough of manually working through some 25 to 40 points of upgrades for 3 or 4 characters, per level, to last me a lifetime.<br /><br />Isn't that silly? It makes me feel like an RPG imposter! :)Rangeroushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05384980667033682190noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-37340186604146494302019-12-11T04:34:28.129-05:002019-12-11T04:34:28.129-05:00Oh, you finally started realms of Arkania. I have ...Oh, you finally started realms of Arkania. I have been wondering about your take on that for a while. I played all three of the games multiple times, sometimes with very odd party configurations (e.g. 5 warriors and a mage, this one actually made fights a breeze). You definintely will use a lot of the skills you might never even have thought about. Dancing is good for getting some money early on. It's less useful later when you are swimming in money, but its good to bolster your funds sometimes.<br />Carousing is also important, I think there were some times when you were supposed to keep a clear head.<br /><br />btw, fallen party members can generally not be resurrected, except when giving lots of gifts to the temple of Tsa and praying really hard. It's not always successful though. <br />gmkeroshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13230061545143361333noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-11880354120948344932019-12-07T11:21:18.017-05:002019-12-07T11:21:18.017-05:00minando: "Oh dear. Speciecism! A game like th...minando: "Oh dear. Speciecism! A game like this would be immediately banned in todays Germany.<br />No, only joking.<br />It would be banned for sexism."<br /><br />Just have a look at:<br />https://www.tor-online.de/feature/buch/2018/07/wege-der-vereinigungen-dsa-sex-spielhilfe-sorgt-fuer-kontroversen/pinwolfnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-48446221597736912232019-12-06T11:23:15.657-05:002019-12-06T11:23:15.657-05:00I'm still reading you blog in chronology order...I'm still reading you blog in chronology order but since you are (apparently) writing it faster than I can read it, I'm still in 2017. For Realms of Arkania I'm making an exception from this rule. <br />This is a series that I heard for some many years but never dared play it. It just sounded to complex. Now I'll finally know what I missed.Kokshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03378976510544574341noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-7104786077963832002019-12-05T18:06:03.526-05:002019-12-05T18:06:03.526-05:00Chains of Satinav, Memoria and Blackguards are on ...Chains of Satinav, Memoria and Blackguards are on discount at steam now.pinwolfnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-28553365946137805492019-12-05T12:34:10.128-05:002019-12-05T12:34:10.128-05:00I'm pretty sure that increasing positive attri...I'm pretty sure that increasing positive attributes ALWAYS succeeds in Blade, Star Trail and Riva. Only decreasing negative attributes takes a roll. The chance of increasing your weapon skill with the three tries per level is also pretty good until you get to the higher levels: 92% for 7, 80% for 8, 62% for 9 and 42% for 10. Blade is easy enough so that save-scumming shouldn't be necessary, unless you are really unlucky.<br /><br />Instead: Gang up on enemies (they can only parry once per round), increase attributes by spell, poison your weapons, wear less armor, ...Buckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07270991090065636515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-36994851190252872522019-12-05T12:10:08.791-05:002019-12-05T12:10:08.791-05:00The disadvantage of the triple flail (it's cal...The disadvantage of the triple flail (it's called "goupillon" in the English version, which is French for "aspergillum") is that it reduces its wielder's attack stat by 3 points. Together with the encumbrance penalty from the heavy armor that reduction can absolutely wreck a fighter's odds of hitting their enemy even when you invest all weapon skill points into attacking and disregard parrying completely. Which by itself is not a bad strategy for a heavily armored fighter, I agree. But I'd recommend against letting their attack stat fall too low.Alrik von Premnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-19958714822162637642019-12-05T09:55:23.813-05:002019-12-05T09:55:23.813-05:00I'd also suggest to only increase attack for m...I'd also suggest to only increase attack for melee characters. When you stack the heaviest armour you have 10 for 2h and 12 when using a shield which blocks most physical damage. Afair you could have 12 and 14 in the latter ones and BoD misses arm plating.<br />Then you just use the strongest 2h weapon which is the Ochsenherde/triple flail. Although the best magic weapons are swords which can be taken by the elves.<br /><br />My brother once sold his pants when he bought and equipped leg plating, as he thought, it replaces them...<br />But the game registers nudity in town and does not consider plating on your legs to be enough clothing... :DRaketenseglernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-73212589379817962892019-12-05T01:57:07.435-05:002019-12-05T01:57:07.435-05:00True. It may be a good idea to switch the party...True. It may be a good idea to switch the party's melee fighters to aggressive stance, which increases their attack stat while decreasing their parry stat. More hits = faster battles = fewer chances to take damage even with the parry penalty. Also less frustration.Alrik von Premnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-68723690229772808842019-12-04T16:24:42.594-05:002019-12-04T16:24:42.594-05:00The advantage of the warrior to the other classes ...The advantage of the warrior to the other classes is that they start with the highest rating in swords. And swords are very good weapons. I'd strongly suggest you train at least one party member in swords.Discobutcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11779788258464817270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-46162213099997478182019-12-04T16:22:23.105-05:002019-12-04T16:22:23.105-05:00Another hint: hitting anything during a fight is p...Another hint: hitting anything during a fight is pretty hard. The chances of a successful attack are very low through all the games. And increasing attributes and skills during a level-up is chance based. So I'd not consider it cheating if you save-scum the levelling as you NEED the attribute gain and the main melee skill gain every level. As not hitting 12 times in a row is rather annoying. And keep in mind: first you have to succeed the attack, then the opponent has to miss the parry and then the damage has to be rolled higher than the armor rating of the target. Discobutcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11779788258464817270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-5353670869548186722019-12-04T13:20:25.999-05:002019-12-04T13:20:25.999-05:00Now that you mention it, the problem does seem to ...Now that you mention it, the problem does seem to be linked to using Alt-Tab. Too bad I use that all the time :D<br /><br />And I also found out that the original soundtrack is in the game after all – you just have to check a box in the sound options to enable it. So I happily take back that bit of criticism (or at least most of it; that option does not seem to enable the original opening theme on the title screen, which is a bit of a pity).Alrik von Premnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-77437490543246184722019-12-04T07:55:27.687-05:002019-12-04T07:55:27.687-05:00Guard Duty is essential - even in cities, otherwis...Guard Duty is essential - even in cities, otherwise you get robbed. Weapons will break more often, if they are in bad shape. You can get information about your weapons by looking at them. Drag the weapon at the eye in your inventory screen.<br /><br />The armories/traders/shops offer different are items and different prices. You will get some weapons only in certain shops. If you get an weapon from the blacksmith, it will be better than one bought from a trader. The option is only in certain towns.<br /><br />The months are inspired by the gods - also the days. The locals tell you about when and where to get supplies, weapons, shipping routes etc . You'll find, that in the smaller towns there will be a market only at certain weekdays. Also travelling will be affected by seasons / weather.<br /><br />Regarding useless skills and spells - you can ignore "train animals", "riding" and "lying". Also "animal healing", "Mutabili", "aeolitus", "storm roar", "congeal", "Nekropathia" and "witches look" - all other spells can be usefull. It depends on how you play.Franknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-6077682498489832712019-12-03T22:36:11.320-05:002019-12-03T22:36:11.320-05:00The grind you describe reminds me of Final Fantasy...The grind you describe reminds me of Final Fantasy 13 I am playing through right now. Just as soon as the enemies in one area become a breeze it throws enemies 10 times harder in the next area and the grind begins again. It never feels easy, but does make those harder battles satisfying when you finally do get good enough to beat them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-51199667608385330372019-12-03T22:15:12.488-05:002019-12-03T22:15:12.488-05:00Very well, but the specific list of negative trait...Very well, but the specific list of negative traits in RoA seems to come from the third edition.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-4474801175473231212019-12-03T17:10:05.446-05:002019-12-03T17:10:05.446-05:00I love the ruleset but wish more of the material w...I love the ruleset but wish more of the material was available in English at prices like that!AdventureMaterialshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16285640430049907816noreply@blogger.com