Newbie questions

Hi all! I'm brand new to online gaming of any kind, but not to NWN or D&D. I have some questions.

1) I really like the colored icons that has made, but there are a few of my own that I prefer. From what I can tell, his/her icons are in haks, and haks take precedence over overrides, correct? Is there any way that I can get my icons to show? They're only a handful, but I do prefer them.

2) Are there commands for, I guess they're called emotes? I'd like to put a few common ones on the toolbar, like wave or laugh. Is there a way to activate them, other than the radial menu?

3) Are monsters supposed to spawn right on top of you? Or is this just me having 0 spot/listen? One example would the be at the graveyard at start. When I open the door, there isn't a creature in sight. I stand there, waiting, and nothing happens. I take ONE step forward, and suddenly a skeleton warrior is there, getting first hit, usually a crit. I have Improved Expertise on my char, and it gets annoying that I can't activate it before combat, since I can't see the opponents. They appear right on top of me, get first hits, the comp automatically puts me in combat, preventing me from activating IE, and then combat goes back and forth before it finally kicks in, but by that time I've already lost most of my hps. Not terrible, but it would be nice if there were at least SOME distance between me and foes. This doesn't happen all the time, but enough to annoy.

4) Occasionally on same-map teleports, I 'port fine, but my summons don't. Is this intentional, or a technical issue? Is there a way to make it more likely that my pets 'port with me? Two examples would be the goblins in the woods on the way to the goblin cave, and the ice-shooting skeletons near a pink teleport beam, underneath the kobold cave. In both cases, I'm out there alone, while my pets watch me do a Beetle Bailey impression.

5) The website says that divine gifts are harder to resist, but my Andra's blessing says it casts Entangle at level 2. Which is correct? So far the only thing I've entangled are my own pets, leading me to believe it's L2.

6) The combat here is hard! I like that, but even some of the starting areas are too hard for me (I've left the graveyard alone). Is there any starting plot I should be following, or is there a place to hook up with other low level newbies? I'm up to L7 now, but wondering if I'm missing something, or should I just keep exploring on my own.

7) I was in a party briefly, and another guy finished part of the Wanderer's portal quest, so now I don't know how to start it. What is the first part of this quest? IIRC I'm supposed to explore the deserts of Calithia(?) or something, but I'm not sure. Is there a way to 'reset' this quest?

Aside from all that, let me just say WOW! This world is AWESOME! I expected that the graphics would be better than basic NWN, given CEP and whatnot, but some of the features here are simply incredible. The interactive map brought out the dictator in me. I wanted to plant missiles and trucks all over the map while rubbing my hands and chortling at Mr. Bond how I wanted him to die. The few towns and settlements I've seen have been immersive, and the swamp I entered was also well done.

I really liked the little gifts my god has given me; it really makes me feel part of the church. Oh, that raises two more question, do holy symbols do anything for druids? I assume not, but it's still nice to have. Also, what is the knowledge (something) I see on levelup? What do the various knowledge skills do and can I find out what my knowledge and piety scores are? Speaking of which, what kind of sacrifices do gods like? Do they care about the number of sacrifices, the value of gear sacrificed, what?

I've noticed recently that animals are turning blue when my druid approaches. That's a VERY nice touch! I really like that! I like all the custom potions, the players I've met have been very friendly and helpful, and the world seems very immersive and realistic. My only complaint would be how monsters spawn so close to you, and respawn so quickly, but maybe that's how multiplayer games work, I don't know.

I'm having a great time so far, and can definitely be one of the four out of five dentists that approves!

1) yes you can have your own icons... after downloading place them into the aenea_updates.hak... this should overide the aenea ones for you alone.. without spoiling everybody elses enjoyment of the world... ...

2) emote commands are in and can be accessed by simply typing into the chatbar.. see the FAQ on the VC system for more info..... .... as they are chat activated they can be set as a custom text macro to your quickslots....

3) that's odd, but I'd avoid the graveyard for a while whilst starting out... go hunt ant's and goblins for a bit... it sounds like a triggering issue, where your just crossing the threashold and not spotting the skele's till there right on top of ye... I may be wrong...

4) technical issue with NWN and same area transitions.... pick up an item called "Call Companions" from smitty the vale vendor... that should help ye out...

5)... ....

6)... lol.... refer to 3... .... and it never hurts to take it slow, rest, relax for a while... or team up with others for more of a chance....

7).. hmmm.... ye can start this quest by talking to the wandering old man atop the hill by the lake in the vale... ... as for finishing it, there are an awful lot of portals to find... he possibly just got you an early clue for one of them... .... the header will be "Wanderers Portal : xxxx" and they never get "completed"... ....

~8 )... the amulets serve as being focuses for certain clerical spells I think... not 100% sure... it may be purely cosmetic...

~9)... there are background skills in Aenea that you automatically get points in at level up based on class.... I'll guess your seeing Knowledge(religion) as a cleric... there are more (swim, balance, climb, knowledge (arcana, history)... they work in the background...

~10) you can find out what those scores are by typing "info skills" and "info piety" into the chatbar.. watch your server/combat log for the answers.... and god's are not all that fussy about sacrifices, just burn it all up if you don't want it, they keep a "running tab".... ...

Glad ye having fun... I'm point out I'm not a DM and I may have got some iinformation above incorrect... but welcome to Aenea.... !!

RustyDios
The Braysin Family

1) RustyDios is correct on this one.

2) Are there commands for, I guess they're called emotes? I'd like to put a few common ones on the toolbar, like wave or laugh. Is there a way to activate them, other than the radial menu?

For normal emotes (the ones from the radial menu), you can right-click on an empty quickslot to add them. For the other ones, start by typing emote help or emote list into the chat bar to see what's possible. Some of the vc system emotes have animations, some do not.

3) Are monsters supposed to spawn right on top of you? Or is this just me having 0 spot/listen? One example would the be at the graveyard at start. When I open the door, there isn't a creature in sight. I stand there, waiting, and nothing happens. I take ONE step forward, and suddenly a skeleton warrior is there, getting first hit, usually a crit. I have Improved Expertise on my char, and it gets annoying that I can't activate it before combat, since I can't see the opponents. They appear right on top of me, get first hits, the comp automatically puts me in combat, preventing me from activating IE, and then combat goes back and forth before it finally kicks in, but by that time I've already lost most of my hps. Not terrible, but it would be nice if there were at least SOME distance between me and foes. This doesn't happen all the time, but enough to annoy.

This is due to my still using the normal NWN encounter triggers and forgetting to put enough space between the trigger and where the critters appear. The graveyard one is pretty much on purpose...those undead are supposed to be waiting behind the gates, but I didn't want them to spawn in and become a burden on the server if a PC didn't actually go through the gate.

4) Go with RustyDios' info. The call companions tool is helpful.

5) The website says that divine gifts are harder to resist, but my Andra's blessing says it casts Entangle at level 2. Which is correct? So far the only thing I've entangled are my own pets, leading me to believe it's L2.

The normal "granted spells" become more powerful as the cleric/druid gains levels. The set one that casts at level 2 will always be the level 2 version.

6) The combat here is hard! I like that, but even some of the starting areas are too hard for me (I've left the graveyard alone). Is there any starting plot I should be following, or is there a place to hook up with other low level newbies? I'm up to L7 now, but wondering if I'm missing something, or should I just keep exploring on my own.

The graveyard can be difficult, because the dead are often buried with some of their possessions...in the case of skeletons, they may have their weapons and armor from when they were alive. I would suggest talking to Kerril in the town hall, Farmer Mard in his house just north of the Vale, and farmer Smith pacing near the temple to Asis in the Vale for some starting quests.

7) I was in a party briefly, and another guy finished part of the Wanderer's portal quest, so now I don't know how to start it. What is the first part of this quest? IIRC I'm supposed to explore the deserts of Calithia(?) or something, but I'm not sure. Is there a way to 'reset' this quest?

To get this one started, you'd talk to the old man at the top of the hill in Valorian's Vale. If your journal says the quest was completed already, you'll need to find a little town called Plainscross and search the edge of town for a way to the Trackless Path...then you'll have to figure out the way through.

I'm glad you're having fun! That's why I keep working on this world.

Hmmm...I wonder if it's time to make a dentist appointment...nope...got another 3 months or so before that happens.

Thanks guys! I looked up how to edit haks and have incorporated in my icons. I'll go looking for the Call Companions tool; that will surely help a lot.

Yes, the journal says I found a necklace/amulet near Plainscross (which the other player found). I wandered down there, and spent a good half hour lost in the "twisty little passages, all alike" er, trackless path.

I'll talk to the old man again, and see if he can help me out.

Oh, wanted to mention that I also like that Druids get the improved summon ability from the Animal Domain. I never understood why Clerics were better at that than Druids.

One last question. I recently was offered a 20K reward item, which I rejected because I've never used the toolset. Well, I later downloaded the builder module, and puttered around the toolset trying to create an item if/when I get a similar offer in the future. Sorry if this is old hat for everybody, but is there a guide/ tutorial/ something that explains how to create items in the toolset, and customize it's appearance? It would be nice to create some more powerful blessings from Andra.

Yes, the journal says I found a necklace/amulet near Plainscross (which the other player found). I wandered down there, and spent a good half hour lost in the "twisty little passages, all alike" er, trackless path.

If/when you find your own way through the Trackless Path, you should be able to get the amulet of the wanderer. If for some reason you don't end up with one after reaching the end of a certain long valley and talking to a certain person, let me (or another DM) know and we can get you the amulet.

Oh, wanted to mention that I also like that Druids get the improved summon ability from the Animal Domain. I never understood why Clerics were better at that than Druids.

This one I coded in. The domains don't do anything anymore, even for clerics. I just figured druids should be good at summoning critters, what with the ties to plants and animals and all.

One last question. I recently was offered a 20K reward item, which I rejected because I've never used the toolset. Well, I later downloaded the builder module, and puttered around the toolset trying to create an item if/when I get a similar offer in the future. Sorry if this is old hat for everybody, but is there a guide/ tutorial/ something that explains how to create items in the toolset, and customize it's appearance? It would be nice to create some more powerful blessings from Andra.

As far as I know, the best way to learn to use the toolset is to just play around and experiment with it. I've never really seen a guide for making new items, I've just used the item wizard (I think that's what it's called), then when presented with the option of opening the item's properties when "finished", I check the box, which lets you then edit the appearance and all properties....or you can right-click on the item once it's in the palette to the right side of the screen and select "Edit".

Welcome to Aenea!!!

Thanks Davey!

Let me just say to anyone else reading this, that I was quite surprised to discover that not only is still active enough to answer newbie forum questions, but s/he actually came online and joined up with me for a while! How cool is that!

I would imagine that after being involved with the game and the forum for years, that anybody would get tired of the same old, same old. The same questions, the same problems, yada yada yada. So a hearty thank you from me to the for your personal care and assistance. (although I'm still waiting on a foot massage... )

* Foot massages are not included in the Aenea experience. Those are provided by our competition (your real life significant other or local spa).

*ponders crafting a permanent magical Foot Massage dweomer in the Sleeping Dragon Inn*

daveyeisley wrote:*ponders crafting a permanent magical Foot Massage dweomer in the Sleeping Dragon Inn*

hehehe

daveyeisley wrote:*ponders crafting a permanent magical Foot Massage dweomer in the Sleeping Dragon Inn*

*Considers davey a new best friend*