The GWJ CRPG Club - Game 6: Arcanum (In Progress)

Clumber wrote:

Purchased, should get around to starting a game in the next day or two. Is it a freudian slip that the link you posted for the Wikipedia page brings you to Dragon Age: Origins?

Excellent!

Whoops on the link. I thought I updated that, thanks for pointing it out. I just copy the previous game's first post then change the links, so I must have missed updating that one to Arcanum.

Off to a brief start. Made a human female with the tomboy trait to get rid of the female stat modifier. Put a point in melee and persuasion and the other three in stats. Bought a nicer dress but also boots and knife, and that kind of speaks to the character. Arrived at the first town.

Not having an ability to highlight interactable objects is kind of annoying. But I’m going to try to RP a bit anyway that she wouldn’t be picking up lots of “junk” to help with that.

Rolled a female melee/mage character this morning. No idea whether I'll be able to commit the time to this that is necessary to finish but I'll give it a go. This game has been on my "to play" list for almost twenty years now so I figure I should finally give it a shot.

steinkrug wrote:

Off to a brief start. Made a human female with the tomboy trait to get rid of the female stat modifier. Put a point in melee and persuasion and the other three in stats. Bought a nicer dress but also boots and knife, and that kind of speaks to the character. Arrived at the first town.

Not having an ability to highlight interactable objects is kind of annoying. But I’m going to try to RP a bit anyway that she wouldn’t be picking up lots of “junk” to help with that.

Character-creation is interesting, because to me it felt like most of the development is going to happen as I play. The five points at the beginning is just a tiny start on development, and you'll more shape your character during the game.

You going mainly melee then, perhaps a thief-type?

And yeah, I kept reaching for the tab key to highlight objects to pick up.

you gain levels pretty quick. I think I was up three levels before leaving the crash site map, just by clearing out all the wolves, boars, cave rats and goblin-things in the area.

Yeah, some of the stuff in the crash area was too much for me to handle safely. I took out the easy stuff.

I almost went with firearms but decided I didn’t feel like dealing with ammunition. At least not for my primary weapon. I’m curious to see how much I can get out of persuasion. Try to use talk to resolve some situations but have enough skill with a blade if talk goes south. We’ll see. I might put some points in some thief skills but right now I’m not planning on going full sneaky steal-y.

I, too, decided to proceed without a guide as much as possible.

pyxistyx wrote:

you gain levels pretty quick. I think I was up three levels before leaving the crash site map, just by clearing out all the wolves, boars, cave rats and goblin-things in the area.

Whaaa? Three levels? Wow. I only went up one level, maybe that's because the stuff in the cave was too tough for my dagger-inept dwarf?

steinkrug wrote:

I almost went with firearms but decided I didn’t feel like dealing with ammunition.

Bullets were 4 gold each at the start of the game. I burned through my initial stash at the crash site, so yeah, I think I'll need to solve the ammo problem. I read somewhere that if you have a point in explosives you can get the schematic for bullets and then craft them yourself, so I might try that.

Downloaded the game yesterday, and started reading through the manual. That manual really evokes the feeling of old-school RPGs.

For people who have played this before, I have a couple of questions about the character system. It seems like you gain one stat point per level, and the stat point can be used either to raise one of the character's primary attributes, or to raise the level of a skill, or to progress in some magical or technological discipline. Is that right? Maybe this will become clear as I play the game, but I found this kind of confusing to read about in the manual.

Also, I think I read somewhere that during the game, you can add at most 10 points to an attribute, above its starting value at character creation. In other words, if you want to max an attribute later in the game, it needs to be have a value of at least 10 when you make the character. Does anyone know if that's right?

I'm not trying to min-max, but if I want to make a person who's exceptionally good at one or two things, I want to make sure I'm not artificially limited in maxing out those things.

LastSurprise wrote:

For people who have played this before, I have a couple of questions about the character system. It seems like you gain one stat point per level, and the stat point can be used either to raise one of the character's primary attributes, or to raise the level of a skill, or to progress in some magical or technological discipline. Is that right?

I can confirm this is how it works, yes. I hit level 2 last night and could add the point I got to any of those three areas.

I read also that there are magic items that can increase stats, etc., so spending points on some things might not make sense if you can expect to get a magic item that will increase that stat later. The guide was saying things like "only spend two points in (something) because you can find (some magic item) at (some place) and reach the max". It was at that point that I decided to just play the game.

But...

It would have been nice to know about that max 10 points to an attribute thing. I'd probably like my dwarf to reach Intelligence 20, and now he'll be forever gimped at a max of 19! I think some sort of little bonus kicks in if you max out an attribute too.

Thanks! Yeah, I'm definitely not going to try to do that "only spend two points" thing either. I'd rather play the game and see where things go.

So when you level up and are given the choice of where to allocate that point, is the single point for an attribute also worth one point in a skill or one point in a discipline? Or, is the point worth more if spent in a skill or discipline? Something I read suggested that one attribute point was worth about four skill points, which confused me.

LastSurprise wrote:

Thanks! Yeah, I'm definitely not going to try to do that "only spend two points" thing either. I'd rather play the game and see where things go.

So when you level up and are given the choice of where to allocate that point, is the single point for an attribute also worth one point in a skill or one point in a discipline? Or, is the point worth more if spent in a skill or discipline? Something I read suggested that one attribute point was worth about four skill points, which confused me.

Your level up point equals one point for an attribute/skill/discipline, but you can also use your level up point to directly increase your hit points or stamina points. If you use that one point for HP or Stamina, it goes up by four points.

Oh, that makes sense. Thanks!

Count me in!

kstress71 wrote:

Count me in! :)

Awesome, welcome aboard! Glad to have you join.

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I wandered about the first town for 20 minutes or so after lunch, just talking to people and nudging the hints of a plot along.

I had to reload from a save once because I traded some stuff I had found to a trader, then decided I wanted it back, but just switching the item to the other person's inventory add/deducts coins from your inventory, so I was broke from just moving a coat back and forth between inventories. Old school.

Honestly, though, I'm kind of clueless what to do in some of the conversations. Like, I have this thing that I think is important, and someone wants it, but I have no idea whether I should give it to them or not. So I don't, then they get all huffy about it and won't talk to me anymore. I keep thinking that I've totally screwed up the main quest already. I'm guessing that I should just not worry about those things, have fun, and play.

I also explored the first town a bit.

Said individual that wanted what I had just seemed a bit too suspicious to me to hand over what they wanted.

- Just to get a sense if I were somewhat on the right track, I may have taken a peek at a walkthru. After about five minutes, I wasn't even sure if I were playing the same game as them. I'm definitely doing things a lot, um, ... differently. To that end, I'm more convinced to just play the game the way I want, have fun, and not worry about optimal character development or how to progress the plot just right. Boo ya!

- I've scarred myself because of how clumsy I am with the dagger. Everyone finds me revolting now.

- I hit Level 3 in the first town and took the skill point in perception. I can shoot better now, and I also got a better revolver through a quest. So yeah, gunslinger here I come!

- Having said that, I run out of bullets fast, so my next two skill points are going to be in melee, just to have a reasonable alternative to shooting things. I'm also hoping this will keep me from cutting myself open as I try to kill things with a dagger.

Is everyone patching? I downloaded the Steam version before thinking, "Hmm, I wonder if the GOG version handles this already." I then downloaded the GOG version, which includes a recent patch for newer systems. What are folks doing? Can I patch later if I experience any issues?

I applied stuff from the Unofficial Patches link to the GOG version. All I know is everything is working so far on Windows 10. Didn’t test it pre-patching so I can’t really say how much it did to improve the experience.

I did the generic Unofficial Patch, the music one, the town map one and the resolution one.

Yeah, playing without a guide will probably make for fun discussions.

steinkrug wrote:

I applied stuff from the Unofficial Patches link to the GOG version. All I know is everything is working so far on Windows 10. Didn’t test it pre-patching so I can’t really say how much it did to improve the experience.

I did the generic Unofficial Patch, the music one, the town map one and the resolution one.

Yeah, playing without a guide will probably make for fun discussions.

I've installed the UAP and also the town HD upgrad no problem. I can't get the HD texture pack (1.5) to work for love nor money it would seem. Will have to keep trying.....

I'm definitely in! I'll get started sometime in the next week or so- I've tinkered with a few other games while coming down from my DA:O high. Thanks to those that posted the patches!

funkasaurus_rex wrote:

I'm definitely in! I'll get started sometime in the next week or so- I've tinkered with a few other games while coming down from my DA:O high. Thanks to those that posted the patches!

Great! I've added you to the list of people playing.

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I used the Multiverse Patch (which includes everything apparently), and all was working fine. However, I switched to the highest resolution and started getting crashes to desktop, so I reverted to a lower resolution. Things seem to be working fine again now.

I appear to have gotten myself stuck in the first town...

Spoiler:

To get past the bridge I need to either pay the toll to the bandits or kill them. By not picking the third option in my first conversation with them (blowing up the bridge supplies), it's no longer available when I talk to them. My persuasion blows, so that's not an option either.

I tried fighting them and got wrecked so fast. I really don't want to pay them 1000 gold to get across the bridge.

I was thinking I could level up a bit, convince the guy in the inn to join my party, then try again.

Only problem is I've killed most everything I can kill in and about the town, and with my current setup even Level 3 wolves are tough to kill. I am such a wuss.

I might need to grind this out the best I can for a bit against some wolves until I can get up two levels, recruit the other guy, give him a big sword, and try my luck.

If you've not already, Head back to the cave at the start for a small side quest. Might help with the xp situation.

Yep, I'd done that.

I managed to figure a way out...

Spoiler:

I killed a couple of ailing wolves to hit Level 5. You get two character points at Level 5 so I was able to boost my charisma and get Sogg Mead Mug into my party. Then a combination of stun grenades, an explosive grenade, and Sogg wielding a big sword did the trick.

I may have played a bit more tonight...

- I got to Level 7, but haven't moved much past that yet, as I went to three different towns and spent quite a bit of time walking around them and talking to people. (I got a bit lost with the main quest I think.)

- The game just decides to kill you sometimes, especially if you head to areas you shouldn't be in yet. I walked into a bar in one town and got ID'ed by a Level 27 enemy who killed all three of my party with a half dozen axe chops before I even got a turn off. Random encounters on the world map can also be incredibly difficult. Lesson learned: save often.

- I can now make bullets cheaply, and have a supply of over 200 on hand. I'm doing better in combat.

- There's not a lot of hand holding in this game. It's old school: figure it out, get good, die if you don't.

I'm in, made a female half-elf raised by monks. I think I'll make her into a gunslinger/grenadier, falling back on daggers to begin with.

It'll be some time before I'll make some real progress though. I have Sekiro to butt my head against, and a Pathfinder: Kingmaker game in progress. Maybe I'll chip away at it when the difficulty of those gets to rage-inducing.

Getting out of the first town...

Spoiler:

I was amusingly able to convince the thieves that I was from the Thieves Underground and there to tell them they were trespassing on other thieves’ territory. They gave me 200 gold to atone for the mistake.

I started this up yesterday and fiddled around with character creation a little bit. I think I'm going to play a human, with the Miracle Cure background: +5 Perception, +3 Intelligence, +3 Charisma, but -5 Constitution, -3 Strength, and -3 Dexterity. A sickly, but smart, kid out to see the world!

LastSurprise wrote:

I started this up yesterday and fiddled around with character creation a little bit. I think I'm going to play a human, with the Miracle Cure background: +5 Perception, +3 Intelligence, +3 Charisma, but -5 Constitution, -3 Strength, and -3 Dexterity. A sickly, but smart, kid out to see the world!

That seems like it would be very helpful for a technologist background, yes!

In case it helps, I was reading somewhere that the max for attributes might work differently than the +10 you mentioned earlier. Once place I read said that your max is 20 minus any disadvantages you take at the start. So your sickly child would have a max Constitution of 15, etc. I guess this would work out to a +12, come to think of it.

I'm not sure this is true, though. It wasn't written with the voice of authority.

steinkrug wrote:

Getting out of the first town...

Spoiler:

I was amusingly able to convince the thieves that I was from the Thieves Underground and there to tell them they were trespassing on other thieves’ territory. They gave me 200 gold to atone for the mistake.

I tried that too, but Persuasiveness of 0 wasn't very persuasive, apparently.

One of the things that has impressed me is how much the game play varies dependent on your character development. For example, some of the advice I read on getting out of the first town involved throwing grenades and whatnot, but my throwing is a 0, so where the stuff ends up when I try to throw it is pretty hilarious.

Alien Love Gardener wrote:

I'm in, made a female half-elf raised by monks. ...

Great! That seemed to me to be one of the best starting options. You lose some cash (maybe 300?) and get a point in perception. Even for me at Level 7 playing a character that needs funds all the time for ammo, 300 cash is such a small amount.

Pinkerton wrote:

Rolled a female melee/mage character this morning. No idea whether I'll be able to commit the time to this that is necessary to finish but I'll give it a go. This game has been on my "to play" list for almost twenty years now so I figure I should finally give it a shot.

Oops, sorry I misses this yesterday! Glad to have you in! Mage sounds like a fun way to play, and hope you can carve out the time.

Yeah, pleased with seeing my points in persuasion actually making a difference already.

I didn’t even realize until seeing otherwise here that it played a factor in recruiting

Spoiler:

Sogg

I am trying to be in. I jacked up my install, I think I had a mod installed from before that messed up the High Res patch (who knows, it has been a long while since my last dalliance with Arcanum). So, starting over tonight when I get home.

Trying to think up a character I want to roleplay. Leaning toward elven con man.

Going with my default Arcanum build - elfy mage

I murdered my way through the opening area, though Virgil usually had to finish off my enemies as I kept casting myself unconscious.

Spoiler:

I killed Fargus for Arbalest and got his blessing, then killed Arbalest and got his artifact back - the blessing stays on!

Morally gray this playthrough, I think.