3.5e standard rules differences

[ociebieda]

First, I very like concept of the game and what already have been done.
Still, after spending about an hour in character creation (did not play yet), some things took my attention when compared to 3.5e standard rules.

It seems like only very hard difficulty is close to standard rules.
All other below look like cheat codes with more feats, abilities, and other things.
Why is that?
Are enemies so overpowered with their feats and stats too?

Starting abilities above 14 still cost 1 point.
In original rules, 15-16 cost 2 points and 17-18 cost 3 points.

Only sword seems to have one handed and two handed proficiency.
There is also lack of martial and exotic weapons (like longsword, scimitar) or precised division (like light and heavy crossbow, short and long bow).
Which are reach weapons?
Official module does not contain crossbows, but they still can be crafted and handled by the game, right?

There are niche races and classes, but no orc, half orc, gnome (and drow, dragonborn, aasimar, warforged, tiefling, shifter, artificer, favored soul, alchemist, ...).
I saw that one companion is succubus, but this race seems to be not an option during creating.
Is rogue (usually important class) with open lock, trap detection and disarming, really not much usable in official campaign?
Sorcerer has access to divine spells, while in standard, arcane only, having less spells than wizard, can not swap them, but can cast more often.
No multiclassing.
Skills (and possibly some feats) seem to be different than in standard rules.

[ociebieda]

Ok, now I get it, it is heavily based on dnd 3.5 rules, but still has some unexpected modifications (skills, classes, weapon proficiences, character creation point distribution, difficulty changes and other).
I was used that dnd games (toee, ddo, solasta, pathfinder, bg, pt, ...) were usually more stick to pure rules (they more did not implement something than change or add), so I was confused at first.

After spending more time with the game, I must say it is best tactical experience I ever had in dnd games (I am a big fan of toee, but this... oh my!).
Number of possibilities during combat, system complexity, in-game detailed wiki, good AI, custom party of 6 plus 2 companions (or 1 plus 7), crafting, turn based focused (chess-like tactical precision), custom rules settings, engine for mods (more content in the future), dnd 3.5 (not a fan of simplified 2.0 or 5.0 in case of video games) - for me, this is masterpiece combination I needed!

[BlueSalamander]

Hello ociebieda! Thank you so much for the glowing review of the game!! I might add some of your words to the Praise page for KotC 2.

It seems like only very hard difficulty is close to standard rules.

Maybe so, but the Archmage Mode also has the level-up gold-cost requirement (unless you turn it off in the Game Options). This doesn't exist in the original rules.

Are enemies so overpowered with their feats and stats too?

I wouldn't say that enemies are overpowered, necessarily. However, many encounters have a high Challenge Rating due to the number of enemies and their Hit Dice.

In original rules, 15-16 cost 2 points and 17-18 cost 3 points.

I don't really like that rule.

Which are reach weapons?

Weapons are no longer grouped according to simple, martial or exotic proficiency. Instead, there are weapon groups. Please refer to the Weapon Groups webpage for details.

Official module does not contain crossbows, but they still can be crafted and handled by the game, right?

There are a few crossbows in Augury of Chaos, including one artifact Arbalest called Doomjet. You can also craft and enchant crossbows, yes.

Is rogue (usually important class) with open lock, trap detection and disarming, really not much usable in official campaign?

Rogues have plenty of things to do in Augury of Chaos. One of the best uses comes from the Forgery skill. Nevertheless, a Rogue is not required, as most of the time there are alternative options.

Thank you! Best regards