Shattered Kingdoms

I know this has been addressed before, but I felt it is annoying enough for me to stress this point again and mention it once more in a seperate thread. NPCs manage to land it far too often. From giants to sprites, from characters with 10 dex to those with 24, the % of one getting dirted is ridiculously high.

I've managed to convince a few people to try out SK and roll some characters during the Bonanzas. I've also sat next to them, looking at how their characters got blinded 2-3 times per fight. When asked why it was considered fine to just annoy the hell out of people in that way, I knew no answer.

I am going to make this a pole, just so people can express their own views. Please, please, please consider lowering the dirt kick chance on NPCs. Minor things like that make everyone's gaming experience less enjoyable. It virtually contributes to nothing at all.

Either get a tank in front of you to eat the dirt kicks while you stand in 2nd row(like a pet for example), or get a pet, put it behind you and navigate while dirt kicked and o all dirt &1 to initiate combat if you can't wait it out.

As for what it contributes, it contributes just as much as NPCs shooting spears/daggers/axes at you when you are in 2nd row or anything else that falls into the NPC cheat category. Unless NPCs are given proper armor/weapons like the PCs of their levels, they need to cheat to be kind of a challenge and not just grindable xp material.

And don't tell me it's hard to level nowadays. I have leveled a few chars recently, and I consider hitting GM in less than 45 hours without much help from others rather fast(without using bonanza bonus xp).

Leveling is extremely easy. It's just a boring nuisance. Made more so when you're constantly spitting out dirt. High percentage of NPC dirt kicks landing doesn't make it harder or more challenging. Might slow things down minimally, but only for those who don't know how to work around it....thereby punishing true newbs.

I don't have a problem with leveling, DA. It's not my person I am concerned with. It's just a general nuisance as Threnody stated. One that is not necessary and one that makes it more complicated for true noobs to play this game.

Everything in SK punishes true noobs.

Let's rework all SK then, right?

I'm not suggesting SK become a cotton-candy syrupy-sweet MUSH with frolicksome big-eyed bunnies taking true newbs by the hand, GMing them, and padding all the sharp corners.

I'm suggesting that dirt-kick is a wee bit too successful for no good reason. Either tone it down or put in measures so that it can be avoided or dealt with, rather than worked around. I suggested a rinse ability a while back. Someone else suggested helms that would limit the chance. Something that you could say to a newb, Yeah, that's a pain, but here's how you handle it, instead of - yeah, that's a pain. Deal with it but keep playing cuz it's fun, k?

When NPC AI can target:
1) PCs in 2nd row
2) Spell without argument
3) Chords while deafened

then you can consider making NPCs not cheat.

As it is now, NPC AI is at least stupid. They need to cheat to be a bit of a challenge, even if this cheat is imbalanced(none complains how NPCs can have scripted HW or FoD or petrify that is more imba than a dirt kick - and scripts now work while prone).

Being dirted constantly isn't a "challenge." It's a nuisance and a time waster, period.

There needs to be some kind of defence against dirt kicking, visored helms that lower the chance of it working? Or special shields maybe?

I don't think we need any super-complicated changes really, unless Dulrik has the time to code things like that. All that is needed is to set the skill lower or to have their innate dexterity reduced to average levels.