Lost Grimoire 2.0 - Development thread

[steelfeathers]

this is dead isnt it

 

Surprise, surprise! Not dead at all. :D

 

Well, maybe this thread is pretty dead, but I'm still alive. And I've resurrected the Grimoire 2.0 project. (Life got in the way for a long while, but now I'm back in the saddle).

 

I've rethought a lot of things in my absence, but first let me get some replies out of the way....

[steelfeathers]

@Tascani: Lingering Cold is probably going to be removed. Or at least have its effect changed.

Is the thread still alive? Curses and poisons are all good for restoration but I'll like to see more sun damage spells. Currently sun damage spell mods out there are pretty basic, with only small modifications made to the existing spells and generally have very bad scaling.

Soul Bolt (Adept): Fires a light bolt that deals 5% current HP as sun damage to all targets or heals allies for twice the same amount.
Blinding Light (Master): After channeling, the caster releases a blinding flash 25ft around him that causes hostile actors to miss 30% of their attacks.
Holy Ground (Expert): After channeling, the caster blesses the ground 25ft around him with holy magic for 20 seconds, burning all enemies for 20 sun damage per second. The caster regenerates one thirds of the damage dealt.

Nice ideas! I may use parts of these.

I am looking forward to Lost Grimoire 2.0. The new spells and changes are shaping up well. I wrote up a long post on your mod page in regards to an earlier version of Lost Grimoire and figured I could provide some feedback on your current changes and additions.

ALTERATION:
Novice:

• Unlock > Cast at a locked door or container to unlock it. Stronger locks require a higher Alteration level to open. - This spell was really good in your older version. My only recommendations for this are that you don't let this work on locks that can only be unlocked with a key, and that this is normally not a silent spell. This way it doesn't totally overshadow other lockpicking options. It has never worked on locks that need a key, and that's not going to change. Adding some small detection sound would be a good idea.
• Wither > Drains 10 magicka and stamina per second for 20 sec. - I like the change you made to this spell but I think that 10 magicka and stamina is a little strong for a novice spell which doesn't even account for anything that boost magnitude since it will end up draining 200 magicka and stamina total. Maybe lower the duration? This spell is no longer included, because yes, it's too powerful.

Apprentice:

• Corrosion > Reduces the effectiveness of weapons and armor by 30% for 30 sec. Deals 2 points of damage per sec to automatons. - This change is great.
• Time Loop > Traps the target in a time loop for 20 sec. Every 5 sec, the target is teleported back to their starting location. - Looking forward to trying this new spell. It's loads of fun. :D
• Unstable Transformation > Transforms the target into a random creature for 30 sec or until they take damage. - Will this spell be resisted by any actors? I ask because this was really strong against any enemy that could conjure minions as it worked on the minions themselves. I believe it's resisted by essential actors, but I'll have to check.

Expert:

• Levitation > Concentrate to rise into the air. - I am curious as to how this spell has changed since the previous version. This turned out to be a disaster, so it won't be included.

CONJURATION:
Novice:

• Conjure Cursed Shade > Conjures a weak shade for 60 seconds. When destroyed, a curse is applied to the killer that decreases all skills by 10 points for 60 sec.
• Conjure Will-O-The-Wisp > Conjures a fragile Wisp for 60 sec that explodes when hit, engulfing nearby opponents in mystical flames. - I like both of these new novice summons. Definitely adds a later of strategy to playing. Curious to know if the effect these have on enemies stacks as then they would be kind of strong. No, the effects do not stack with themselves.

Apprentice:

• Sacrificial Offering > If the target is killed by one of your summoned or raised creatures within 60 sec, that creature is restored to full health. - At first I thought that this was pretty strong due to the 60 sec duration but you could always just resummon your minion so I find this to be a nice spell to add.

Adept:

• Conjure Spectral Staff > Summons a powerful staff from Oblivion for 120 sec. - Is this going to be any different than before? No change.
• Crystal Locus > Creates a Crystal Locus for 120 sec. While in range, the crystal drains magicka from nearby hostiles and funnels it to you. - Another spell I am looking forward to.

Master:

• Dark Crystal > Store part of your soul in a black soul gem, gaining immortality at the cost of 25 HP. The crystal will shatter after 1 resurrection. - I remember having issues with this working properly in your previous version. Did you remake this spell? I remade the script, yes. So it shouldn't cause issues any more.
• Oblivion Gate > Opens a portal to Oblivion for 3 min that will randomly spawn friendly atronachs and daedra. Only 1 portal can be open at a time. - This spell sounds amazing. I hope that you will also have a similar one for necromancers as well. There may or may not be a spell called "Wake the Dead" on my to-do list.... :wink:

ILLUSION:
Novice:

• Blind > Blinds the target for 60 sec. - Does this spell pretty much make enemies blind like the Falmers? Yes. Blindness is a factor in sneak calculations.
• Disorient > Disorients the target for 30 sec, giving them a 20% chance to stagger. - I like the update to this as the original spell was too good.
• Phantom Sound > Creates a burst of sound at the target location. - Looking forward to using this but I am curious as to how the spell works differently than the Lucky Rabbit spell. This has been removed.

Apprentice:

• Alluring Whispers > Concentrate to lure the target towards you. Does not work on targets who are in combat. - Cool spell. Already thinking of good ways to use this.
• Seduce > People of the opposite sex below level 9 will ally with you for 30 sec. Effect breaks if attacked by the player. - Does the level for this spell increase with magnitude? Yes.

Adept:

• Inner Demon > The target is attacked by their demonic mirror image for 30 sec. - This would be a very, very useful spell. I think that you should only be able to have 1 in battle at a time though.
• Psychic Snare > Creatures a people below level 15 will be enthralled to your will and follow you for 120 sec. - Is this the Bend Will spell renamed? Yes
• Shadow Form > Fade into shadow, making it more difficult for opponents to pinpoint you. For 30 sec, incoming attacks and spells have a 15% chance to miss. - I am definitely looking forward to using this. Illusion has very little buff spells.
• Haunting Lullaby > Concentrate to send the target into a deep sleep for up to 120 sec. Only works on people. - Do the people actually go into the sleep animation on the floor with this? I've had to take this out because it was too buggy. But yes, they went to sleep on the floor, animation and everything. They just sometimes ended up floating in the air while asleep.

Master:

• Mark of Doom > The target is marked for death and attacked by everyone nearby for 30 sec. - This spell sounds awesome. Are there any limitations on this? Do you have to get close to the enemy to make this work as I see this to be potentially overpowered. Well, it does have a range, but the limitation is that it's basically a targeted frenzy spell.
• Enthrall > The target becomes a permanent ally of the player, and can become a follower. - I always thought that this spell was too good in your previous version as all you just needed to cast the spell to put the target on your team. Was wondering if any changes were made. There will be changes made. I'm just not sure what those changes will be yet. But I do want to have a way to hook various people and creatures into being your followers.

RESTORATION:
Novice:

• Delayed Healing > Heals the caster 100 points after a 15 sec delay. - This new novice spell fits well. :smile:

Apprentice:

• Lifebloom > For 60 sec, you regain 10 HP every time you take damage. - Interesting change to the original spell and can certainly be useful.

Adept:

• Cleanse > Cures all diseases and stops the effects of poison. - I feel that this spell does too much at the level you can get it. At 40 restoration you pretty much invalidate diseases and poisons without being a vampire or werewolf. Maybe have it cure poison at adept level and you "unlock" the cure disease effect once you have expert level restoration skill. I disagree. You can easily cure diseases at shrines with no skill whatsoever. This is just a portable shrine.
• Split Lifeforce > Cast on a living target to pool your remaining health percentage with theirs and split the result. - This is a nice addition especially if it works on both allies and enemies. It does.

I like a lot of your new spells and changes. I also agree with others that there should be some poison and disease spells for restoration. Perhaps you can add some conditions to the magic effect to avoid infinite stacking. I do have some ideas for spells but I am not sure if too much scripting is needed or not. Below are few of my ideas. So far, the best solution I've found to infinite stacking is to have a condition on the magiceffect to prevent it from applying if the target is already under the same effect. The downside is that it pops up the annoying "x was not effected" message, but since "dispel effects with these keywords" isn't working, it's the best I can do.

1.) Life Burst - Cast a spell on an enemy who has less than full hp. For 10 sec they absorb 5 health/sec of any living creature within 10ft. If they reach full health, they take damage equal to 150% of the health they recuperated and the effect wears off. Creative, but it makes them too powerful with too little benefit to you.
2.) Battle Fatigue - Hostile enemy in battle gains a 10% damage boost, 50% stamina regeneration and 10% movement boost for 15 sec. At the end of the duration the target falls over and magic/stamina drop to 0.
3.) Gamble - Ritual Cast - Must be cast in battle. Until the end of battle receive one random negative effect: 50% maximum hp reduction, fatigued (cannot regenerate stamina, 0 stamina), Silenced (cannot cast any spells), or weapons and armor are 50% less effective. Each enemy you kill while gamble is in effect has gold equal to 5 times their level.

Very creative ideas. :smile:

Let me know what you think.

 

[steelfeathers]

If anyone still cares about this mod, I've updated the main post to reflect the current spell list.

I've also completed a few new spells that really fun to mess around with:

 

Switcheroo (Alteration Novice) > Switch places with the target.

Mind Parasites (Illusion Adept) > Target is attacked by phantom vermin, one for every 20 points of magicka the target has remaining. The parasites deal no damage, but when killed they cause the target to lose 10 point from a random skill for 60 seconds.

 

I would embed this screenshot, but the Nexus doesn't seem to like imgur links any more....anyone know what's up with that?

http://imgur.com/a/PoWpY

[DanielHodge]

Really like this mod. I'm a fan of anything that spices up the spell system. This one has quite a few of my favorites. Ever thought about making a lost or secret daedra spell list?

[steelfeathers]

Really like this mod. I'm a fan of anything that spices up the spell system. This one has quite a few of my favorites. Ever thought about making a lost or secret daedra spell list?

 

You mean a mod focusing on daedra spells?

[DanielHodge]

Yeah. Very often in the elder scrolls games the daedric princes gift the protagonist with certain spells. Like sanguines prank spell, the hermaeus mora staff that you get from miraak lets you spray the tentacles (spell like effect), or sheogoraths summoning haskil spell. Weird stuff like that. May be a list of custom spells that embody the flavor of the daedric prince? Edited January 1, 2017 by DanielHodge

[disFaggot]

Fascinating. About switcheroo, i thought it was your mod that already had a spell like that one in the conjuration spells, but i guess im mixing mods. Cant recall where from then. Too many mods i guess. Is it an instant check or a projectile?

[steelfeathers]

Fascinating. About switcheroo, i thought it was your mod that already had a spell like that one in the conjuration spells, but i guess im mixing mods. Cant recall where from then. Too many mods i guess. Is it an instant check or a projectile?

 

The reeeeally old version of this mod had a teleportation spell in the conjuration school called Oblivion Gate. That might be what you're thinking of. The mechanic was different, however, since you just popped over to wherever you were pointing instead of switching places with someone.

 

As for Switcheroo, it technically uses a projectile, but the projectile is invisible and moves so fast that the effect is basically instantaneous. (If you know anything about spell creation, you'll know what I'm talking about when I say that Target Actor tends to be finicky about whether or not it wants to apply, so it's better to use a light-speed invisible projectile.)

[DanielHodge]

If you ever get inspired to make any daedric spells, or even some cool unique summons, i do quite a bit of voice work here on the nexus and would love to assist. I am playing a few daedric princes in large scale mods like skywind and beyond skyrim. And i love doing their impressions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOzpx-sFZKQ

I also do npc and creature voices. Even dremora. So hit me up if you ever need anything voiced by an experienced actor :)

[steelfeathers]

If you ever get inspired to make any daedric spells, or even some cool unique summons, i do quite a bit of voice work here on the nexus and would love to assist. I am playing a few daedric princes in large scale mods like skywind and beyond skyrim. And i love doing their impressions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOzpx-sFZKQ

I also do npc and creature voices. Even dremora. So hit me up if you ever need anything voiced by an experienced actor :smile:

 

Oh hey! I know you!! I can't believe I didn't recognize your username.

I'm working on BS too, although you're probably never heard of me. I do 3D modeling for clothing and armor, and I've applied to be the Art Director for Cyrodiil. (You wouldn't believe how much Linton/Lasur sings your praises. He has a man-crush on you. ^_^)

 

You know, being able to access the services of a great voice actor like you makes me want to do a daedra mod after all...I'll have to think about what I'd like to do. Thanks for the offer! :D