Drakensang Demo questions.

Ok I'm working my way through the book but I'm confused about the different types of points it keeps mentioning. You got your Adventure Points, Experience Points, and Levelling Points. Ok, Experience Points are what you use to raise your talents, just like in any other RPG. But what are Adventure Points? It seems to me they're just Experience Points, so why do we need them? But why does Rhulana start out with 470 Adventure Points and no Experience Points?

And what the heck are Levelling Points? It says a certain amount of Levelling Points are required to buy Talents. How do I know how many I have?

Another thing I'm confused about is the Aggressive and Defensive Stances indicated by the little sword and shield icon on the portrait. Are they something to do with your Special Skills? The book seems vague. It says a character will attack less in a defensive stance and draw less attention. Is that all it means? And is it just relevant to a character that is left to his own devices in combat, as apposed to you controlling them directly?

Thanks very much.
 
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It might be it is processor hungry, and my setup is just not powerful enough ( and maybe it computes movements for every NPC every frame, but from what I saw they mostly stand about........ ) but I found it strange, if I stand still and look at the ground, I do not think it should cost so much, the ground in low resolution looks like a game from 2000, and there is no other objetcs on screen, so I really found no excuse for it running so poorly, I could have coded it much better myself :p
 
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Ok I'm working my way through the book but I'm confused about the different types of points it keeps mentioning. You got your Adventure Points, Experience Points, and Levelling Points. Ok, Experience Points are what you use to raise your talents, just like in any other RPG. But what are Adventure Points? It seems to me they're just Experience Points, so why do we need them? But why does Rhulana start out with 470 Adventure Points and no Experience Points?

And what the heck are Levelling Points? It says a certain amount of Levelling Points are required to buy Talents. How do I know how many I have?

Another thing I'm confused about is the Aggressive and Defensive Stances indicated by the little sword and shield icon on the portrait. Are they something to do with your Special Skills? The book seems vague. It says a character will attack less in a defensive stance and draw less attention. Is that all it means? And is it just relevant to a character that is left to his own devices in combat, as apposed to you controlling them directly?

Thanks very much.
Right click on anything you don't understand (in the character screens) and it should explain it all.
 
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It might be it is processor hungry, and my setup is just not powerful enough ( and maybe it computes movements for every NPC every frame, but from what I saw they mostly stand about........ ) but I found it strange, if I stand still and look at the ground, I do not think it should cost so much, the ground in low resolution looks like a game from 2000, and there is no other objetcs on screen, so I really found no excuse for it running so poorly, I could have coded it much better myself :p
It should run absolutely fine on at least medium on your PC. Something's wrong.
 
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Ok I'm working my way through the book but I'm confused about the different types of points it keeps mentioning. You got your Adventure Points, Experience Points, and Levelling Points. Ok, Experience Points are what you use to raise your talents, just like in any other RPG. But what are Adventure Points? It seems to me they're just Experience Points, so why do we need them? But why does Rhulana start out with 470 Adventure Points and no Experience Points?
I'm not sure about the English terms, but I would think Adventure Points are the lifetime XP.
XP is the currency for learning things. Thus the available XP will sink when you spend it.

Another thing I'm confused about is the Aggressive and Defensive Stances indicated by the little sword and shield icon on the portrait. Are they something to do with your Special Skills? The book seems vague. It says a character will attack less in a defensive stance and draw less attention. Is that all it means? And is it just relevant to a character that is left to his own devices in combat, as apposed to you controlling them directly?
It tells magicians to stay the fuck away from enemies (defensive) and tanks to approach the enemy (aggressive) to keep him away from the mage.
 
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Normally: Adventure Points = Experience Points

Like in the NLT.

I can only assume that this is kind of an translation mistake.
 
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It should run absolutely fine on at least medium on your PC. Something's wrong.

I solved it by turning off "environmental effects" in the options menu somehow it was enabled even if my setting was on low!
 
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Turn off shadows, maybe ?
 
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I'm not sure about the English terms, but I would think Adventure Points are the lifetime XP.
XP is the currency for learning things. Thus the available XP will sink when you spend it.


It tells magicians to stay the fuck away from enemies (defensive) and tanks to approach the enemy (aggressive) to keep him away from the mage.

Ah I see, so Adventure Points are sort of a lifetime tally of experience points. I don't see why they're necessary though. But anyway.

And that explains the other thing as well, thanks.

Another thing I've noticed is that I can equip weapons that I don't have the skill for. For instance my elven fighter didn't have the swords talent but he could still use one. Nor the Shield Fighting special ability but he could still use a shield. Why's that?
 
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Ah I see, so Adventure Points are sort of a lifetime tally of experience points. I don't see why they're necessary though. But anyway.

And that explains the other thing as well, thanks.

Another thing I've noticed is that I can equip weapons that I don't have the skill for. For instance my elven fighter didn't have the swords talent but he could still use one. Nor the Shield Fighting special ability but he could still use a shield. Why's that?

Weapon skills are different, everybody has them, just that most are at '0' (doesn't mean you can't use a weapon you have at 0 skill, you just don't have any 'bonus', which means you'll miss a lot)
 
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Weapon skills are different, everybody has them, just that most are at '0' (doesn't mean you can't use a weapon you have at 0 skill, you just don't have any 'bonus', which means you'll miss a lot)

In the P&P rules, characters have only the set of skills which they get at character generation. This is a bit different in the game here, though.

Having a skill at 0 points means that it must be "activated" prior to use, if I understood this correctly. This means that the skill is there, but there hasn't been any experience with it. Even after "learning" the skill, if I understood this correctly.

This should be in the P&P rules, however.
 
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Thanks very much. I have one or two more questions if you'll continue to indulge me.

How do you raise your Base Values, for instance Ranged Combat? Mine and all my parties are 0 (even the Ranger and Archer class have 0). You can add points to Vitality and Astral Energy but none of the others. So is it possible to raise them? If you wanted to specialise with a bow I would think it's important to raise Ranged Combat.

How exactly does armour encumbrance work? There's nothing in the manual but if you look at the special skill for armour use it says something like heavy armour affects dexterity. But if you wear a chain shirt with an encumbrance of 4 it doesn't effect any of your attributes. The only thing I can find is on the description of Base Values (Attack, Parry ect) it sometimes says something like - 1/2 Effective Encumbrance. And for Ranged Combat it's - Effective Encumbrance. So presumably wearing that chain shirt with 4 encumbrance would subtract 4 to your chance to hit (or something like that). Is that what it means? It sounds like quite a large penalty. Does it make that much difference in combat?

How do you use traps?

Is there any point to sneaking? Do you get an attack bonus for a sneak attack? If not under what circumstances would you use it? There doesn't seem to be a party command order to stay put, so you can use your character with a high sneak skill to sneak ahead, so I don't see the point of it (unless you gave the entire party high sneak).

Thanks very much once again.
 
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Thanks very much. I have one or two more questions if you'll continue to indulge me.

How do you raise your Base Values, for instance Ranged Combat? Mine and all my parties are 0 (even the Ranger and Archer class have 0). You can add points to Vitality and Astral Energy but none of the others. So is it possible to raise them? If you wanted to specialise with a bow I would think it's important to raise Ranged Combat.
Again, right click on whatever you don't know (that includes those values). If you right click on the ranged combat base value it will tell you how it's calculated (and what stats you would need to increase if you want to increase it)
How exactly does armour encumbrance work? There's nothing in the manual but if you look at the special skill for armour use it says something like heavy armour affects dexterity. But if you wear a chain shirt with an encumbrance of 4 it doesn't effect any of your attributes. The only thing I can find is on the description of Base Values (Attack, Parry ect) it sometimes says something like - 1/2 Effective Encumbrance. And for Ranged Combat it's - Effective Encumbrance. So presumably wearing that chain shirt with 4 encumbrance would subtract 4 to your chance to hit (or something like that). Is that what it means? It sounds like quite a large penalty. Does it make that much difference in combat?
For details on that, check another thread on this forum (unless someone has the link available?). There is a link to an article that explains everything with details and examples. In general, you don't want the effective encumbrance to be too high, as it will reduce your attack.
How do you use traps?
I never really used them, the time and hassle to look for them and set them and try to have the enemy go over it was not worth it, in the same time I usually had the enemy dying from standard combat. But basically, if I remember correctly, just put it in the quick bar and then just click it there and click on the ground where you want it.
Is there any point to sneaking? Do you get an attack bonus for a sneak attack? If not under what circumstances would you use it? There doesn't seem to be a party command order to stay put, so you can use your character with a high sneak skill to sneak ahead, so I don't see the point of it (unless you gave the entire party high sneak).

Thanks very much once again.

No point to sneaking except in a few quest related areas. Your sneaking 'value' is that of the lowest party member basically, so unless you increase their sneaking, the enemy will still see you. There's no in-combat use for sneaking that I know of.
 
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There's no in-combat use for sneaking that I know of.

Yes, but DRASA isn't about combat. It's combat-heavy (especially in later parts), but it ain't no Action-RPG.

What I mean is my constant rant about games being so much combat-oriented that people actually do nothing to solve quests than combat. It's like training the people that in almost ALL games you'll need combat in order to proceed. (That's why I hated the solution of the "beard"-mini-quest: Again: Combat.)

I think that all of these games in the course of time just hammered this into the skulls of the gamers: "You'll need battle in order to finish the game." Nothing but.

Me, I was having quite a hard time in DRASA, because I put qite a *lot* of points into non-combat skills and feats.

You might shake your head, because I was building my characters social-oriented and so to say "anti-combat", but that's just the way I do it.

Because I turn myself away from the doctrine of combat as the foremost surviving tool in C-RPGs. I only wish developers would turn away from this, too.

But they won't, because things like social skills and diplomacy are considered uncool and as weak. Anyone who uses them shows severe signs of weakness, to put it extremely. Gangsta's Paradise is so much cool because of the guns. And the battle.

So, to come back to the quote again, I put quite some points into sneaking - because I was not combat-oriented. I just don't kill the guardians in the blood mountains' castle ruins, I just try to let my characters sneak past them, if possible.

I just don't want my characters to leave an oh-so-cool trail of blood behind them.
 
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Ah I see. For those base combat values like ranged combat you actually need to have a weapon equipped. Ha ha, silly me.

I think I've got a grip on the machanics of the game now, and I have just a couple of game questions (spoiler warning).

Are there any exotic swords like katanas or elven swords? I play an elven fighter and I like swords but the "European" swords like long swords and broad swords don't suite me. If there are when do they become available?

I've been in Ferdoc for a while now and it's beautiful. I enjoy just wandering around taking in the wonderful medieval architecture. But I'm getting a bit antsy and want to get out and see the world and do some adventuring. I've just completed the quest to solve the first three murders, and have been given the house. How much longer until I can leave the city?

Thanks very much again everyone.
 
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If you've talked to enough people, you should already have the next major quest outside the city. Have you visited the new temple?
 
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Are there any exotic swords like katanas or elven swords? I play an elven fighter and I like swords but the "European" swords like long swords and broad swords don't suite me. If there are when do they become available?

A few. The Tuzak Sword/Blade, for example. In Ferdok, near to the ships, there's a hopkeeper selling very rare and special things, like Thorwalian clothes, and I think even one or two pieces of people from the Gjalskerlands (which is even further in the north of Aventuria than Thorwal).

The Stoerrebrandt shops also have some special items.
 
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