BTW, since we've got fully functional black and gold dragon PCs now, wouldn't it be cool to replace Brimstone and Duroth the Eternal with those, respectively?
Anyway, I went and made some tweaks just now. These are UNOFFICIAL/OPTIONAL - not really fixes, but adjustments to game mechanics which you might want or not want to use for your own game. The changes were to class skill limitations, much in line with my previous mod for MM7 which you can read about here:
https://www.celestialheavens.com/forum/10/14845 though less radical. In fact it would seem that part of the skill changes in the merge were inspired by this. But yeah, I really like some changes that have been made in the meantime, such as that Druids can now GM all schools of magic (kinda justifies the difficulty of the dragon egg quest for instance), or that Minos can now GM body building (they're huge, buff bull monsters, they shouldn't have less HP than human knights - not to mention this helps to offset their inability to use helmets and boots for improved armor class). But some skill levels still seem to need some work, so I've adjusted the ClassSkills table and prepared two optional variations of a tweak, so use whichever appeals to you, or just stick with what we've got already:
CONSERVATIVE VARIANT:
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Knight's Leather skill gets reduced from Master to Expert - this is what happened between MM7 and MM8. Makes sense, since Knights don't really specialize in Leather and Expert already allows free wearing without encumbrance. Knights don't really need to get double defense points per skill level, while that's very useful for some classes who can't GM (or even use) plate.
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Clerics' Staff skill increased from Basic to Expert - once again, this change was made by the MM8 devs themselves as compared to MM7. Clerics are seen using staves in MM8 at least, so it stands to reason they should at least be able to improve their defense while wielding them (especially since that prevents them from using a shield).
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Mino Axe was restored from Master to Grand - not really much to say about this one. Axes are super iconic Mino weapons in all of Windows era Might and Magic games. I don't think it's fair to reduce their skill limit to master just so Rangers can have their own thing. There are several skills that more than one class can GM, so I don't think it detracts from Rangers if Minos can have this skill up to GM as well. It just feels right.
- Made the skills for Sorcerer promotions uniform. Right now the older sorc promotions have the skill scheme from MM7, while Necromancers and Liches have the skill scheme from MM8. Since they're really all connected, I decided to make the skills for them uniform. So
the older classes will no longer have Repair Item (in MM7 they could have up to Expert), like MM8 necros and liches, since it's considered a martial skill and warrior classes specialize in it - the Sorc being the furthest class from the warriors. Also,
all Sorc classes will get Disarm Trap up to Basic, as per the MM8 necromancers/liches.
All promotions now get GM ID Item, while previously Master Wizards and Master Necros only got up to Master. So the only difference now is going to be that Liches will have up to Expert in Regeneration, while all other miscellaneous skills remain the same for all the promoted classes.
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Clerics lose Id Monster just like they did in MM8 - they don't really feel like a class that should be preoccupied with identifying monsters, and definitely shouldn't be better at it than knights who only get basic.
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Cleric Learning gets reduced from Master to Expert - another MM8 change that somewhat nerfs Clerics. They were never an intellect-driven class and that's required to master Learning. Not to mention Learning is mostly helpful for classes with low health to compensate for the time they spend unconscious or dead, and Clerics are usually the ones who cast most of the healing spells, so they tend to stay alive. Expert is a good spot for them IMO.
The file for the conservative variant can be found here, just put it in your Tables folder:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing
LIBERAL VARIANT:
This one contains all the changes from the conservative variant, but also some other changes which are admittedly more arbitrary because they mostly deal with porting MM7 skills to MM8 classes and personal opinions. But I still think they fit.
- No idea what was the mentality behind not giving Vampires Meditation, especially since they're a hybrid class that can go up to Master in the self schools. Dark Elves get up to Expert in Meditation, and they outperform Vampires in the mana department quite noticeably, especially on later levels. It's not like Vamps tend to run out of mana, but they probably could if you opted for a magic-heavy build that spams say, Psychic Shock, so I think it's fair to give them access to at least basic Meditation. Paladins have Expert, even, though the classes are considerably different from each other and Paladins probably rely more on casting spells, but I still think that for the sake of symmetry it would be sensible to give vamps expert in Meditation. Literally all other classes that can master the magic schools have at least that. Not to mention that neither them nor Dark Elves have access to Body Building, which is a drawback in and of itself, but at least it's justifiable because of the sheer versatility of these classes. So yeah,
Vamps now have up to Expert in Meditation.
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Vamps now have Expert Unarmed, up from just Basic. Justified by the fact that both in MM7 and MM8 Vampire enemies go at you with their bare hands, meaning they are considered in-universe to be able to do significant damage with their bare hands. Expert Unarmed lets you improve your melee damage per skill level, but without it getting out of hand like with Master level, so I think it would be a pretty nice addition for everyone who'd like to role-play their Vampires as melee fighters (preying on those peasants 'n all that haha) without making it preferable to the dagger.
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Dark Elves get basic Unarmed - the pattern seems to be that martial classes that don't specialize in Unarmed get up to Expert - while hybrid classes get up to Basic (archers, paladins etc). So I think it's fair to extend the same courtesy to Dark Elves.
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Archers get Master Meditation rather than just Expert - this is an old idea from the time of my MM7 mod suggestion. I've noticed that Paladins get up to master in Body Building - pretty nifty for a hybrid class. So I think that for the sake of symmetry, Archers should get up to Master in Meditation. One is buffer, and the other more studious. Kinda makes sense. This will also give Archers another bit of an edge over the otherwise superior Dark Elves.
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Dark Elves get basic Stealing - no MM8 classes have stealing. I think the most logical class to give it to would be Dark Elves, since they're both nimble and dextrous and have serious people skills, so it fits like a glove. The MM7 classes that get Stealing which are other than Thieves seem to be recluses or survivalists (Monks and Rangers, respectively), while Dark Elves seem to be well-integrated into society and have no real need to steal to get by (thanks to their mad trader skills), that's why it's limited only to Basic. Also, that lets you not worry about finding skill teachers if playing Jadame exclusively.
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Thieves get GM in Merchant - I believe someone should have access to that skill other than Dark Elves who are exclusive to MM8. Since it was stripped from Clerics (the "greedy clergyman" joke has been taken far enough it seems), the next most logical class to have it is the Thief, who already had Master in MM7 anyway. I think parties who start out in Erathia should also have a chance to enjoy GM Merchant, and Thief is the best way for them to do so.
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The Id Monster skill that was taken from Clerics gets given to Thieves - up to Expert level - Assassins and Spies both need to gather intel on their enemies, though of course for different reasons. That means they should have at least some skill in identifying monsters - at least it makes much more sense than when clerics had it.
Ok, that's it. The changes are noticeable, but not so serious as to significantly break the game. I believe they're going to make the game more fun without being OP or not making sense. The liberal variant can be downloaded here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing
Ofc as always, I'm asking Rodril to consider integrating the changes, but for now let it remain optional/unofficial. I think for me personally it'd be fun from both gameplay and roleplaying perspectives to have these changes in.
