Avernum: Escape from the Pit questions

Drithius

Magic & Loss
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So, I've long been considering a foray into Spiderweb games and finally sat down to make a party in Escape from the Pit. Being a completely foreign rules system, I'm somewhat overwhelmed...

1) For a newbie to the series, would a hard difficulty setting be merely challenging or infuriating?

2) I've been trying to research character creation and have run into the phrase, "x amount of points among party members." Is there some collective check on the game's part for skills such as Tool Use and Cave Lore, or am I misinterpreting that?

3) I am to understand that ranged combat is woefully underpowered; can I still use a bow or missile weapon if I have no points in it? I am concerned with scenarios in which melee range is not possible.
 
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1) don't begin with hard, if you never played a Spiderweb game before

2) Tool use - character with the highest points
Cave Lore - character with the highest points or team ??? don't know

3) everone should be able to carry a bow, but there's no need to max this skill out
- one or two good Archers can clear out traps
 
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The more I delve into this skill system, the more I'm starting to like it - mostly straight forward and fun!

Setting difficulty to normal... :)
 
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Truly loving this game so far; very very addictive gameplay/progression that I have not experienced in quite some time. I wish I had not put it off for so long, being scared by (to my chagrin) the poor graphics.

Fallout + Storm of Zehir overland map + enough textual ambience to satisfy anyone.

I also have Avadon: The Black Fortress in my backlog - is it similar? Does it make sense to proceed to that next or are there other titles from Spiderweb that would make better sense in doing next?

..Oh, I switched back to Hard for the timebeing. Perhaps I'm masochistic, but I love how brutally unforgiving the game can be if you stray far from intended areas. And the death cries of my group members always bring a chuckle.
 
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Avadon is a bit more "Mainstream" than the Avernum (=Exile) series.

The Geneforge series is just as good.
 
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Hard will be frustrating - some of the battles are multi-reload on normal. Go for a mage, priest, fighter, archer party. Ranged is underpowered in damage terms, but in most battles allows you to deal damage without being close enough to take any. I think that balances it out, especially since some enemies are on ledges and using only spells on them is annoying because you need to go back to town to regenerate mana.

Don't kill any of the dragons until you're sure you know what you're doing (impact on ability to finish game).

Keep lots of notes about who said what about missing alchemists, strange herbs etc. Also make use of the 'note' function in the dialog box. Make your own map - the in-game one doesn't communicate too well where you can cross from one area to another.

Keep a note of places where you see magical barriers, so that when you're eventually able to dispel them you can go on a chore-free direct loot.

Always activate teleporters in towns as soon as you arrive - this will save you hours fighting the less than perfect pathfinding over a huge map.

Have fun!
 
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So I'm coming upon more and more enemies that use status effect spells. Is there any way to cure effects such as daze and ensnare once they've landed? Or am I stuck waiting x number of turns? Similarly, is it worth dumping points into intelligence on my two fighters to gain mental resistance? I've been going mostly pure strength thus far (only total of 5 endurance).

edit - think I found my answers: unshackle mind and divine restoration? The latter sure is a long ways off...
 
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Avadon has similarities and differences to Avernum. I wouldn't necesarily describe it as being more mainstream, though it is easier for the most part. I'd say that the character building and tactics are generally more interesting and detailed (although there are notable flaws), but it's missing a lot of the exploration that make other Spiderweb games great. I thought Avadon's story was infinitely better then Avernum's too, but that can be very subjective.

Geneforge on the other hand is a vastly different game. Worth playing, but not like Avernum at all really.
 
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