Spells Visual Effect

[Kitsunestume]

I just wish Bark/Spider/Stoneskin didn't have visual effects. If we're speaking PnP here, which we seem to have done at great lengths when it comes to spellcraft, they shouldn't have visual effects at all. Stoneskin makes your skin as hard as stone; it doesn't make it look like stone, or turn it to stone.

It's especially awful in NWN2 with any models that use transparency, like hair.

Certain spells have textures for balance reasons: Stoneskin is one such spell. While it may be 'better' to have it without a VFX, chances are that your helpful caster is going to be getting more benefit than you, because it lets them know when you need a new layer of death-preventative. NWN2 on a persistant world is realtime, meaning that you need to make a lot of decisions quickly with minimal time and detail, particularly when in a supporting role. If those textures are removed, fatalities are very likely to skyrocket.

Opacity, however, as I pointed out earlier, and as Laurk references below, could provide a much appreciated compromise.

[Laurk]

All that's good and all. But th bubbles. THE @#$% BUBBLES!!! AARGGHHHAHAHHAHHAHhAhahahahhaahaa *dies*

I don't like the obnoxious blinding marble-maddness bubble effects. They are dumb and OOC. They don't exist in PnP D&D. I can't have the protection domain since they made a mistake when assigning Ilmater domains (suffering instead of protection!? really!!??). How come protection from elements gets to have a ridiculous visual effect that isn't source? Protection from Elements is cheating and shouldn't be allowed into the server past the welcome room. I "dread" people casting that spell on me. It means I have to zoom my camera way the heck out and play a top-down game. Makes me feel like im playing Diablo. Worse, its so horrifically bright, I can barley see the dungeon walls around me, it feels like im rolling a glowing marble in a pitch black room.

Worse, the bubbles would blind you to everything 2' from your face and get you killed in a dungeon. I know there is a hak on the vault that tones down their opacity so that they are just a faint bubble you can only just see. Please... make it so!

edit:

Scourgers are a deluded bunch of Ilmatari worshippers who do not receive spells from Ilmater. They wish to extend suffering, martyrdom, and perseverance to others as well as themselves. It is thought that evil gods provide spells to Scourgers to undermine Ilmater. They are rare due to the extreme hostility they face from true Ilmatari, nobles and people mistreated by them.

Okay they don't get spells, but it seems Ilmater gives them the suffering domain according to the "source." Sometimes.... just sometimes.. I hate "source."

double edit: Please ignore this random and hijaking rant! Kill all bubbles!

[GodBeastX]

As usual! None of this is priority, lol! Sorry champs. I got a huge buglist to churn through still. BUt at least polymorph works now, right?

[Valhalla]

NWN2 on a persistant world is realtime, meaning that you need to make a lot of decisions quickly with minimal time and detail, particularly when in a supporting role.

This. A thousand times this. NWN2 is a poorly made mutant clone of a game that was never meant to be played Real Time. Some things that go against the D&D norm really are needed for the simple fact that it would make people's lives worse mechanically if you removed them.

If you don't like the look of spiderskin, wear a hood and dequip/requip your armor after every transition. Boom, you look mostly normal again.

[thaelis]

Gasp! Are we going to get options to change into for Word of Changing? Or will it become alignment based? Because either one would be really cool.

It's alignment based, with Good aligned Warlocks changing into the mighty Care Bear of the celestial plane Carealot.

Or this! Not quite as cuddly as a carebear but seems on par with Horned Devil at least.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/mon...rsnatch-primal

On another note, some oppacity in visuals like bubbles would be very nice. As much as i hate the stony and barky skin it does make sense (even though in PnP it is indeed undetectable short of Arcane sight).

[Elusa]

My personal favorite is sphere of invisibility, which I have referred to as "The most visible invisibility spell." The VFX is great for the SP campaign where you need to see the radius, but in RP it's a big neon sign saying "INVISIBLE GUY(S) HERE!"

[Kitsunestume]

My personal favorite is sphere of invisibility, which I have referred to as "The most visible invisibility spell." The VFX is great for the SP campaign where you need to see the radius, but in RP it's a big neon sign saying "INVISIBLE GUY(S) HERE!"

You know: I may be wrong on this, but I'm not sure that Invisibility Sphere actually cloaks allies within the radius. Science will be done to verify, as I seem to recall that due to the targeting methods for 'friendly creatures' only the caster and any summons will go poof.
Also: due to it's rather unique VFX, it can make an excellent way to RP Magic Circles of Protection from X! Just stay inside the prismatic flames.

[Fullgazz]

I really hate the buffs visual effects and sometimes i become shy to RP with a light bubble around, but the worse is when you drink a non detection's potion surreptitiously and trigger a loud sound and the spell icon over the head. hehehe!