This thread will host a collection of mods based on some my personal tweaks I tend to make to my playthroughs of IE games, based on some changes that were made to Dungeons and Dragons System after 2nd edition, specifically 3.5 and Pathfinder, my two personal favorite iterations of the system.
Here are the planned components:
1. Thac0 progression based on 3.5 BAB Progression (Finished)
2. Full Constitution bonuses (17+) for all Classes (Finished)
3. Pathfinder style (ie higher) hit dice for Rogue and Arcane classes (Coming as soon as I can learn to weidu mod class flavor text in the tlk file)
(a small note: this is my first weidu mod—in the past I merely modded my own game using nearinfinity—and I’m using this to slowly teach myself higher level modding and weidu.)
1 – 3.5 thac0
I have discussed this topic in depth in an earlier thread several months ago.
The short of it is that 3.5 streamlined attack progression for non-warriors, as well as significantly buffing the attacks of Thieves and Bards, and slightly buffing the attacks of mages. 3.5 (and later Pathfinder, which is based on 3.5) sorted attack progression into three easy to follow groups High, Medium, and Low, all of which is based upon the hit dice of the class. High is essentially the same as Warrior thac0 progression, with 1 BAB (base attack bonus) for each hit dice or level of the class. Medium is somewhat similar to Priest Thac0, but less janky, no longer suddenly increasing by 2 every three levels, but instead equaling ¾ of your hit dice (rounded down) only increasing by 1 at certain levels and capping at 15 BAB at level 20. Another major difference is that Priest and Rogues use the same attack progression, and the old thief attack progression of one ever other level (essentially ½ of hit dice) is called low and reserved on for non-brawling classes such as the Wizard. What my mod does is to alter thac0 progression to match the smoother and more balanced 3.5 attack balance, with 20 BAB essentially equaling 0 thac0. Warrior thac0 remained unchanged, but now Thief and Priests reduce their thac0 based upon ¾ of their level gained after level 1, and caps at 5 thac0 (rather than 6 or 8 per P&P) at level 21.
Thus Priests and Rogues thac0 can be calculated at any time based on the equation:
20 - [(Level - 1) X 0.75] = Thac0 rounded up
And now Mages and Sorcerers use the old Rogue progression of 1 thac0 every two levels, capping at 10 (rather than 13) at level 21.
For quick player reference: New Thac0 table pdf
New Thac0 Excel Sheet
For the most part Warriors and Mages remain the same gameplay wise, but now single class thieves are much more useful in melee, as they are in 3.5, and don’t become underpowered at higher levels, and Assassins backstab it much more likely to hit once you get to the endgame and they get their extra multipliers.
The mod changes very little, only a single file, and is compatible with any mod that does not alter the thac0 table (thus no un-nerfed thac0 table) and should generally be installed after other major tweaks, especially those that extend levels to 50, since those replace the thac0 table. (My thac0 already goes to 50 so there should be no problems)
My table also includes an entry for Shaman (using the new priest progression), so it is compatible with 2.0 and SOD, but still works with older versions of BGEE 1&2 as well as Icewind Dale EE.
2 – Universal Constitution Bonus, Full HP Bonus for all classes
In 2nd Edition, and thus Vanilla Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale, only Warriors (Fighters, Rangers, Paladins) gain extra HP for a Constitution score above 16. Thus, barring shorty races, non-warriors (Mages, Priests, Rogues) received almost no benefit for a Con score above 16, and thus a 19 Con Orc Thief was no hardier than a 16 Con Elf thief. One of the changes made in 3rd edition was to make so that physical ability scores did not discriminate between classes, thus a High Constitution score was good for any class. This mod merely makes it so that all classes receives the same bonuses for 17+ Constitution scores.
All I had to do was make the non-warrior and warrior tables identical in the HPCON.2da; it was so simple I’m surprised no one did it before. Like the thac0 mod, this mod changes only one file, and thus is compatible with any mod that does not change the files determining the bonuses of Constitution (HPCON.2da), but to be safe you should probably install it after any other major tweak mods.
As above it is compatible with 2.0 and SOD, but still works with older versions of BGEE 1&2 as well as Icewind Dale EE.
Pathfinder Hit Dice coming soon.
Here are the planned components:
1. Thac0 progression based on 3.5 BAB Progression (Finished)
2. Full Constitution bonuses (17+) for all Classes (Finished)
3. Pathfinder style (ie higher) hit dice for Rogue and Arcane classes (Coming as soon as I can learn to weidu mod class flavor text in the tlk file)
(a small note: this is my first weidu mod—in the past I merely modded my own game using nearinfinity—and I’m using this to slowly teach myself higher level modding and weidu.)
1 – 3.5 thac0
I have discussed this topic in depth in an earlier thread several months ago.
The short of it is that 3.5 streamlined attack progression for non-warriors, as well as significantly buffing the attacks of Thieves and Bards, and slightly buffing the attacks of mages. 3.5 (and later Pathfinder, which is based on 3.5) sorted attack progression into three easy to follow groups High, Medium, and Low, all of which is based upon the hit dice of the class. High is essentially the same as Warrior thac0 progression, with 1 BAB (base attack bonus) for each hit dice or level of the class. Medium is somewhat similar to Priest Thac0, but less janky, no longer suddenly increasing by 2 every three levels, but instead equaling ¾ of your hit dice (rounded down) only increasing by 1 at certain levels and capping at 15 BAB at level 20. Another major difference is that Priest and Rogues use the same attack progression, and the old thief attack progression of one ever other level (essentially ½ of hit dice) is called low and reserved on for non-brawling classes such as the Wizard. What my mod does is to alter thac0 progression to match the smoother and more balanced 3.5 attack balance, with 20 BAB essentially equaling 0 thac0. Warrior thac0 remained unchanged, but now Thief and Priests reduce their thac0 based upon ¾ of their level gained after level 1, and caps at 5 thac0 (rather than 6 or 8 per P&P) at level 21.
Thus Priests and Rogues thac0 can be calculated at any time based on the equation:
20 - [(Level - 1) X 0.75] = Thac0 rounded up
And now Mages and Sorcerers use the old Rogue progression of 1 thac0 every two levels, capping at 10 (rather than 13) at level 21.
For quick player reference: New Thac0 table pdf
New Thac0 Excel Sheet
For the most part Warriors and Mages remain the same gameplay wise, but now single class thieves are much more useful in melee, as they are in 3.5, and don’t become underpowered at higher levels, and Assassins backstab it much more likely to hit once you get to the endgame and they get their extra multipliers.
The mod changes very little, only a single file, and is compatible with any mod that does not alter the thac0 table (thus no un-nerfed thac0 table) and should generally be installed after other major tweaks, especially those that extend levels to 50, since those replace the thac0 table. (My thac0 already goes to 50 so there should be no problems)
My table also includes an entry for Shaman (using the new priest progression), so it is compatible with 2.0 and SOD, but still works with older versions of BGEE 1&2 as well as Icewind Dale EE.
2 – Universal Constitution Bonus, Full HP Bonus for all classes
In 2nd Edition, and thus Vanilla Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale, only Warriors (Fighters, Rangers, Paladins) gain extra HP for a Constitution score above 16. Thus, barring shorty races, non-warriors (Mages, Priests, Rogues) received almost no benefit for a Con score above 16, and thus a 19 Con Orc Thief was no hardier than a 16 Con Elf thief. One of the changes made in 3rd edition was to make so that physical ability scores did not discriminate between classes, thus a High Constitution score was good for any class. This mod merely makes it so that all classes receives the same bonuses for 17+ Constitution scores.
All I had to do was make the non-warrior and warrior tables identical in the HPCON.2da; it was so simple I’m surprised no one did it before. Like the thac0 mod, this mod changes only one file, and thus is compatible with any mod that does not change the files determining the bonuses of Constitution (HPCON.2da), but to be safe you should probably install it after any other major tweak mods.
As above it is compatible with 2.0 and SOD, but still works with older versions of BGEE 1&2 as well as Icewind Dale EE.
Pathfinder Hit Dice coming soon.
