I've been experimenting with DLTCEP recently and decided to take a stab at creating a Staff of Withering from the 1e and 2e DM guides. I managed to get all of the effects and icons I wanted in place (through lots of trial-and-error, of course) and it seems to works perfectly in BGEE. What I haven't been able to figure out is how to get the item name and description to display in the character inventory as well as when it's in the quick item slot. Anyone have any suggestions for a newbie?
Since the effects of aging and limb-withering aren't implemented in BGEE, I've attempted to compensate by giving the staff the power to (temporarily) drain the physical ability scores from its victims. Although the PnP Staff of Withering withers limbs and causes aging permanently, I thought this would be much too OP for BGEE. Instead, I decided to make it a moderately-powered magic item. Here are the basic details for the staff's powers (please feel free to post suggestions or comments):
Since the staff causes so little damage upon each hit, most enemies will die due to drained ability scores. This is balanced by the fact that it will take about 5 hits to bring down those with an average STR, DEX, or CON score and many more hits for those with higher scores. Since Clerics, Druids, Necromancers have relatively weak THACOs at low and mid-levels, using the staff against difficult foes might be more of a liability (especially those with high ACs), given that it has only a +1 to hit bonus.
The PnP staff has charges, and therefore is expendable, but I decided to make it a permanent item (hence the price). I'd be interested in hearing what people's thoughts are on that as well.
For the effects, whenever a creature is hit by the staff, it plays a brief, haunting sound (which I believe is from the one of the crypts in BG or BG2) and causes the victim to turn semi-transparent for a couple of seconds (which is supposed to symbolize their sudden loss of vitality). And, of course, the staff is black. ^.^
Since the effects of aging and limb-withering aren't implemented in BGEE, I've attempted to compensate by giving the staff the power to (temporarily) drain the physical ability scores from its victims. Although the PnP Staff of Withering withers limbs and causes aging permanently, I thought this would be much too OP for BGEE. Instead, I decided to make it a moderately-powered magic item. Here are the basic details for the staff's powers (please feel free to post suggestions or comments):
I found that the 1e version of the staff was limited to Clerics only, but the 2e version is usable by any class, so I decided to make it usable by Druids and Necromancers (all of which work with the forces of life and death, albeit in different ways). I can only imagine how OP the staff might become if it were usable by Kensai and Fighters.Staff of Withering
Base store price: 35,000 GP (per 1e DMG)
Proficiency: Quarterstaff
Enchantment: +1
To hit: +1
Damage: 1d4+1
Damage effects: Drains the target's STR, DEX, and CON scores by 2 points cumulatively upon each hit. When any ability score reaches 0, the target dies. The effects of the staff cannot be dispelled, but they wear off after 2 turns (for those who weren't killed).
Creatures Immune: All undead and outsiders.
Usable by: Clerics, Druids, and Necromancers
Ability score requiremens: 9 WIS, 9 INT
Since the staff causes so little damage upon each hit, most enemies will die due to drained ability scores. This is balanced by the fact that it will take about 5 hits to bring down those with an average STR, DEX, or CON score and many more hits for those with higher scores. Since Clerics, Druids, Necromancers have relatively weak THACOs at low and mid-levels, using the staff against difficult foes might be more of a liability (especially those with high ACs), given that it has only a +1 to hit bonus.
The PnP staff has charges, and therefore is expendable, but I decided to make it a permanent item (hence the price). I'd be interested in hearing what people's thoughts are on that as well.
For the effects, whenever a creature is hit by the staff, it plays a brief, haunting sound (which I believe is from the one of the crypts in BG or BG2) and causes the victim to turn semi-transparent for a couple of seconds (which is supposed to symbolize their sudden loss of vitality). And, of course, the staff is black. ^.^