Player Routines.

[Talan Va'lash]

Just to reinforce:  The stardusts and such were not put in with the purpose of enemies using them (though that ends up happening.)

Also, they were not "added to" a specific area per se.  Especially not with the intention of making any certain area more difficult or more random.  This may have been the result, but it wasn't the intention.  In NWN there is limited flexibility in loot drops (short of making a special drop list for every single area and tailoring them to the area, but as far as I know this is only done in a few special areas.)  Just about everything from a red light gobbo through a haven ogre berzerker draws from the same drop list (though they draw slightly differently even within the same list if they're higher CR.)  so, there isn't really a way to add a stardust that we want ogre berzerkers to drop without giving the hlint skelletons a small chance to randomly draw the item as well.  The balancing act is to have stuff drop from a cr creature that it would be appropriate for, but not let it drop for stuff thats way too easy (orrr end up with lower level players being killed when said "too easy" creature uses the item hehe.)  Its really a rather difficult act to balance especially for the low CR drop chest where 1 list has to span so many levels that represent a huuuge difference in PC ability (I'd say theres a much larger gap in ability between level 1 and level 10 than level 20 and level 30.)

Anyway, as has been said before, have some patience, several things will be tweaked in the next update.  Some of the problems this last update (most notably the epic slaying assassin vines) are due to undocumented bioware changes in 1.67

[ItalianDDog]

Talan, Im not a scripter or not good with the NWN engine at all.. however...  I used to play on a server World of Amon...   they have a very intricate drop system there. All the good things are dropped not made.. and certain areas have specific drops.. even certain bosses...  that is their "call to fame" there I guess. They have spent most of their time with the drops.. They have custom drop tables for every type of creature in the world..

Just letting you know IVe seen it done before..  and if you like I could inquire form some of my friends there that DM..  if they could seek info on how to do it? Not as useful here because its more of a CNR based world than a camping for special drops one

[Weeblie]

Layo do have a smiliar system for some of the drops, I think.

Say, the skeleton knuckles when you are killing the skeletons, and the quest items...

[Dorganath]

There are many ways to work up loot drops. How it's done on one server does not mean much to how it's done on another, so assumptions should not be made one way or the other. The way we do it here is that loot drops are divided into low, medium, high and epic groupings, and then chosen randomly based on the creature's CR. It's a simple and generally effective strategy and easy to set up and maintain, though with its occasional quirks, like skeletons committing suicide by drinking healing potions. *chuckles*
  Having said that, we're working on something different, along the lines of creature types/locations/sizes, etc. Systems like that though are rather complex and it will take some time. Until then, let's work and think within the boundaries of what we have set up at the moment.
  For this thread in general, it would be vastly better for all involved to bring this up in the context of a bug when it seems like loot drops are too high or creatures spawn in with unusually strong equipment that they then use against players.  
  Though it's funny...we never hear complaints when someone actually picks up a loot drop that's unbalanced for the creature from which it came...

[lonnarin]

Dorganath - 5/4/2006  2:57 PM  Though it's funny...we never hear complaints when someone actually picks up a loot drop that's unbalanced for the creature from which it came...  

 Not True, Bjornigar flies into a tirade whenever he sees iron armors dropped and flood into his market.  I donate them all to the Temple of Dorand for resmelting, so they can be worthy of a dwarf...

[darkstorme]

@Force_of_will - I think that one of the goblins in the Red Light Caverns should be made a 15th level mage.  That'd be a fun surprise when mining for copper!  *L*