ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

New Race: Undead/Shadow

Download at http://te4.org/games/addons/tome/new-race-undeadshadow

"Shadows are magical creatures created by spellcasters to be used as tools to help them achieve their goals.
Even if they don't have a physical body they still can use mundane objects as they please.
They are resistant to darkness damage but they are vulnerable to strong lights, their bodies will cover any source of light.
They have a strong affinity to negative energy but their body can react to positive energy."

Specifications:
Undead Race (No infusions, no antimagic)
Life per level: 10
Poison , Disease, Fear Immunity.
No need to breathe.
+4 Dex, +2 Mag and +2 Cun.
Damage Resistances: 20% Darkness and -20% Light.
Impposible to have a positive Light Radius **
Experiencie Penalty: 25%
Access to stealth category talents (At 1.1 unlocked, or extra 0.1 if class knows the category).
Shadow special talents.
Reacts to positive and negative energy levels.

New Talents:

Absorb Shadows (Passive)
Increases Magic and Cun by 2 points per level.
Increases Max Negative energy by 5 points per level.
At talent level 5 increases player size by 1.

Shadow Aspect (Passive)
Increases infravision by 1 point per level, stealth power by 2 points per level and physical and spell saves by 5 points per level.

Shadow Mending (Spell)
Healing spell, equal to healing light in term of power.
Has a negative energy cost.

Cover in Shadows (Spell)
Instant Buff. For the duration of the buff player converts damage to darkness damage (Up to 100% at talent level 5)
Increases darkness damage and penetration. (2% per level and 5% per level)

If you possess more Positive energy than Negative energy the shadow will be a luminiscent shadow, which:
Enables to have a light radius and gives a bonus depending on Shadow Aspect level.
Changes base Negative and Positive resistance (20% light, -20% darkness damage resistance.)
Cover in Shadows buff will be cover in light, switching all the benefits to light damage instead of darkness.

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Install Information:
To install just put teaa file in your addon folder.

Known Bugs:
None so far.

Compatibility:
Addon should work fine with other addons until they modify the stealth talent. If they do probably you will not get the Shadow Aspect pasive bonus for stealth.
Addon modify Positive Energy Pool talent.

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I created this addon to be able to play in a more stealthy way with other class than the rogues.
This is my first addon and I don't know anything abour LUA language, so I had to poke around a lot of code/files to manage to do this.

This race helps all the classes a bit, specially spellcasters for the exta magic power and heal.
Also rogues gets a free stealth bonus and is easier time to obtain the Magic prodigies.
Melee classes get a permanent way to increase size.

Any comments, tips, improvements, bug or typo reports are welcomed.

I hope everyone likes this addon.

Checking it out to see how it fares as Anorithil. Looks like it will have great syngergy.

You should upload to te4.org so it dosent invalidate game.

Also, just looking at it, cover in shadows should be instant cast I think. Its not super powerful so I think that would be ok.

You said your race can't use lanterns because they fear strong light, but not all the lanterns should count as strong light. For example, a artifact lantern have -1000light radius.
I think a light radius based penalty would fit the theme better (and also let you avoid that bug).

Updated!

Class can wear lanterns, but have a light radius penalty.
Shadow aspect improves physical and spell saves.
Cover in shadow is an instant spell.
Race reacts to negative and positive energy, transforming into a luminiscent shadow when positive energy is greater than negative energy, slightly alter stats and talents.

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Sradac wrote:Checking it out to see how it fares as Anorithil. Looks like it will have great syngergy.

Yea, I'm planning to do a celestial/shadow class combo so I started programming the race, so I planned a bit of bonus interaction between Anorithil and Sun Paladins.

Sradac wrote:You should upload to te4.org so it dosent invalidate game.

As soon as I get permission to do I will do it.

Sradac wrote:Also, just looking at it, cover in shadows should be instant cast I think. Its not super powerful so I think that would be ok.

Actually, sounds goods. Now is an instant spell.

jinsediaoying wrote:You said your race can't use lanterns because they fear strong light, but not all the lanterns should count as strong light. For example, a artifact lantern have -1000light radius.
I think a light radius based penalty would fit the theme better (and also let you avoid that bug).

Agreed, race can wear lanterns and have -1000 light radius penalty. The penalty can be lifted by having more Positive energy than Negative. Non celestial classes go and save some anorithils!

Just had a thought, kinda cool how higher pos or neg energy will affect you. That could lead to some cool stuff.

Instead of just being an "undead shadow" animated, it'd be neat if we could choose to become either a malevolent or benevolent spirit.

Going down that path though this would probably have too many changes in mechanics and would be better as a race/class.

Yes im obsessed with race/classes because no one has pulled off a good one yet, or finished one.

So, higher positive energy you start to become a benevolent spirit, maybe you're searching for something you didnt find in life, maybe you want to help people, maybe you want to prevent others from succumbing to the fate that has befallen you.

Alternatively, maybe you're just really pissed off that you're dead. And damnit, if you have to be dead, why shouldnt everyone else? That would be the direction you shift towards with higher negative energy.

Mechanics / abilities wise, it'd be cool if having higher positive energy gave you defensive or protective passives like + heal mod, + defense, + dmg res, whatever. Whereas having a higher Negative fuels your thirst for vengeance and gives + dmg mods, + crit chance, + crit mod or whatever else.

Just some thoughts! Let them in no way influence you unless you really want them to.

You are correlating 'positive energy' and 'negative energy' (More accurately, light and darkness) with good and evil. If we had a character that was just negative energy, that doesn't automatically make them evil. Hell, Anorithil focus on mostly negative energy, using light ONLY to get negative energy to attack with. They aren't inherently evil. While I like the context of a benevolent/malevolent path, negative and positive magic are not an inherently benevolent/malevolent force.

If I use searing light or firebeam to burn Areyn to utter and complete cinders because I don't like her hair, is that a 'benevolent act' since it uses only light magic?

Similarly, if I use negative energy to save an abandoned infant from rampaging monsters, is that 'malevolent'?

Well, you are right Crim, but the fact that Necromancers use darkness as their main source of damage and gain negative energy regen when becoming very powerful Liches says something about negative being a more "evil", or at least darker, energy. Sun Paladins also use just Positive, but there is no Celestial class that only uses negative, and I think that's telling. Looking at Anorithils, you'll also notice that skills the skills that use or produce positive are mostly healing or utility spells, while the destructive, real damage dealers use negative. So I think it's fine to use negative energy as a more malevolent source of energy.

Amphouse wrote:Well, you are right Crim, but the fact that Necromancers use darkness as their main source of damage and gain negative energy regen when becoming very powerful Liches says something about negative being a more "evil", or at least darker, energy. Sun Paladins also use just Positive, but there is no Celestial class that only uses negative, and I think that's telling. Looking at Anorithils, you'll also notice that skills the skills that use or produce positive are mostly healing or utility spells, while the destructive, real damage dealers use negative. So I think it's fine to use negative energy as a more malevolent source of energy.

Well, necromancers use primarily mana too and most mana spells are used for destruction, so by that logic, mana is evil too and when you have reached that point in your thinking, you can just join Zigur and be done with it.

That its hard to channel negative energy into healing and that it's destructive simply means that it's just as "malevolent" as lightning and fire.

It's associated with darkness, shadows and the moon. Liches and some other mostly evil beings are also associated with those things, so they just get negative easier. But if you think that light-dark divide is the same as good-evil divide, then you have just not meet enough of your friendly Luminous Delights yet.

Its just a representation. You could use paradox for "good" and vim for "negative" if yiu wanted. Just a manifestation is all.

I guess I should elaborate. When something builds up or is strongly associated with Positive/Light energy it generally emits a glow / shine / light. Just look at as you mentioned Luminous / Radiant horrors. Or summertide.

And just the opposite, when something is strongly associated with Negative/Darkness it becomes more of a shadow or a void, look at whatever horror it is I cant remember its name off the top of my head that uses Shadows / Darkness, or Wintertide.

How do most people visualize "good" spirits? Glowing, sparkling, shining, could be a white or a yellow or golden color. Look at Casper or even the Eidolon.

And how do people visualize "bad" spirits? Dark colors like reds, dark blues, dark greens, dark grays, even nothing but a shadow. See the scary evil ghosts at the end of Ghost.

Like I said, its all a manifestation. Im pretty sure a spirit can manifest itself any way it wants, be it a glowing orb, a shadow of a person, or a dog. But if one is conditioned in their mind to fear the dark and embrace the light, on death thats probably what they will associate with how they see themselves. Thats where the whole "Crosses repel Vampires" came from. It wasnt that the cross actually has power, its all a psychological thing, associating the Cross as a symbol of the Divine and knowing they are "cursed" it creates great fear / panic because of what was an icon representing a strong belief from their past life.

On a side note, that explanation for crosses repelling vampires is a modern literary contrivance. Vampires were repelled by crosses in the earliest stories because they literally represented the power of Christ, which was given to be a real force and most often the very power that cursed them. Hence crosses burning into their flesh, etc. The popular current trend of them only giving certain vampires a psychological panic attack didn't come into play until loooong after the vampire myth was established.

This Add-on doesn't let me start a new game. Just hangs at 100% loading. Dunno what to tell you.

That's strange, can you post the error here?

If you don't have error you can check it on your te4_log.txt

Rutee wrote:This Add-on doesn't let me start a new game. Just hangs at 100% loading. Dunno what to tell you.

You have a clash between addons.
Try disabling ones you don't need.

Is the creator still around?

The addon stops the Doomed's One With Shadows tree from showing up.