| Cyphre's Animal Companion Pack (cacp) V0.69 | |

-----------------------------------------------| CYPHRE'S ANIMAL COMPANION PACK (CACP) v0.69 | | | | NASTY BIG POINTY TEETH EDITION | | | | (c)2009 by J. C. Huguet aka Cyphre/Cyphre69 | -----------------------------------------------************************************************************************ * Dedicated to Euna P. with best wishes & good luck for your exam(s)!! * ************************************************************************ Do you like Animals? I do.. and it's one of the reasons, why I also prefer to play characters, that have an Animal Companion. Sadly the standard Animal Companions in NWN2 are far from being satisfactory/close to PnP and even still include bugs (I just say 'Weapon Finesse'), too. With Kaedrin's latest Packs, things got a lot better (especially due to new Feats & Spells, that support Animal Companions), but (most of) the Animal Companions themselves were still not powerful enough to make a Character/Build focused on Animal Companions (such as the 'Beastmaster') a viable option and there are not that many animals among which you can choose, too. There are already some other mods, which add/change Animal Companions, but most of them are out of date, doesn't work with Kaedrin's PrC Pack and/or offer invalid Companions. So here's my personal vision of how Animal Companions should be in NWN2.. [Q] What's CACP (Cyphre's Animal Companion Pack)? [A] CACP is a modification for Neverwinter Nights 2, that tries to accomplish following goals: +(1)Adding new Animal Companions (Version 0.69 includes the following new Animal Companions: Arctic Boar, Arctic Wolf, Hammerhead Shark, Highland Snake, Mako Shark, Mountain Lion, Polar Bear, Snow Leopard, Wolverine). +(2)Enhancing already existing Animal Companions (for Druids, Rangers and Clerics [with the Animal Domain]) to be more powerful/useful (while staying as close to PnP as possible). +(3)To introduce/add an aging/growing system for Animal Companions (Version 0.69 includes 3 'visible' steps (Young, Juvenile & Adult) and adds a 'true' size-category change (with all advantages/disadvantages) when reaching adulthood. +(4)Enhancing/adding some new textures/effects such as Glowing Eyes. +(5)Offering stuff/resources, that also could be useful for module/pw creators. [Q] What makes the PnP Animal Companions more powerful? [A] The power of Animals in PnP mainly derrives from their special Feats/Attacks, which are not inlcuded in NWN2.. such as Charge, Grapple, Pounce, Rake, .. also Animal Companions get the additional powers of being an Animal

Companion on top of their own powers and not just the Animal Companion powers like it is done in NWN2. In the first print of the PHB, Animal Companions were even treated like Magical Beasts (while retaining the animal's HD, BAB, saves skill points and feats), but this was revised in later editions. In any way.. an Animal Companion is superior to a normal animal of its kind and has special powers!! [Q] So how have you translated the special Feats/Attacks, that are not included in NWN2? [A] Here is my current list of how I translated some special Feats/Attacks (things may change in later releases!!): -Agile=Skill Focus Tumble -Blindsight=Blindfight -Endurance=Toughness -Ferocity=Steadfast Determination -Improved Grab=Knockdown -Pounce/Rake=Weapon Focus/Weapon Specialization (just one of both) -Racial Bonus to Balance, Climb, Jump, Swim, ..=Skill Focus Tumble -Racial Bonus to Escape Artist=Dodge -Racial Bonus to Skill x=Skill Focus x -Run=Skill Focus Tumble -Trip=Knockdown [Q] What's the 'Weapon Finesse' Bug? [A] Creature Weapons do not benefit from this feat at all anymore (tested this thoroughly under misc. circumstances/ animals/sizes), but I found some kind of workaround for it.. You won't see a 'Weapon Finesse' feat in the list of feats of animals, that should have it and their attack bonus will rely on 'Strength', BUT they will still receive a bonus to attack equal to the difference between the unmodified STR/DEXmodifier (if the DEX modifier is higher) which is not weapon-related and hence stacks with spells that improve the attack bonus of natural weapons. Not perfect, but much better than a feat, that doesn't work at all and no bonus to the animals AB!! You just should remember, that (currently) ALL Animal Companions from my pack use Strength as their base modifier for attack-bonuses!! [Q] Some words about Animal Companion-vs-Animal Companion balance? [A] It's not my goal/intention to make the Animal Companions equal to each other.. a Bear should win vs. a Badger in 99% of all fights,.. etc.. (check reality & PnP to get an idea about what to expect). [Q] What do I need to use CACP (Cyphre's Animal Companion Pack)? [A] PREREQUISITES: +(1)NWN2 with MotB and SoZ - Version 1.23.1765

+(2)Kaedrin's PrC Pack v1.38.5 (http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php? view=NWN2HakpaksOriginal.Detail&id=209) [Q] How do I install CACP (Cyphre's Animal Companion Pack)? [A] Installation: +(1)Kaedrin's PrC Pack should already be installed. +(2)Unzip CACP_v0.69_Beta.zip or in your "My Documents/Neverwinter Nights 2/override" folder. +(3)In your override folder search for the folder that includes Kaedrin's PrC Pack and drag the two folders 'cmi_common' & 'cmi_module' from the CACP-folder into Kaedrin's PrC Packfolder (Overwrite: YES) [Make a BACKUP of the two folders of Kaedrin's PrC Pack first and keep them at another place than the override folder in case you want to return everything as it was before installing my pack!!] +(4)Locate the Dialog.tlk file in My Documents/Neverwinter Nights 2 - if there is one.. overwrite (copy/paste) it with the Dialog.tlk-file, that is included in my Pack (But again.. make a BACKUP of it first and place it elsewhere!!). - if there is none.. copy/paste the Dialog.tlk-file, that is included in my Pack to that position. +(5)Locate the Dialog.tlk in the main installation folder of NWN2 (!!NOT!! My Documents/Neverwinter Nights 2), make a BACKUP of it and overwrite (cut(!)/paste) it with the Dialog.tlk-file, that is included in my Pack. [Q] Will CACP (Cyphre's Animal Companion Pack) be supported for a long(er) time? [A] Definitely!! First I guess, that NWN2 is the final D&D game, that uses the E3.5 rules (which I prefer) and second, I already have many other ideas/wishes, that I want to include in future versions of this pack.. for example.. +(1)Striving for finding the best balance between PnP-rules & NWN2-rules regarding Animal Companions. +(2)Adding even more Animal Companions (Dinos, Dogs, Horses, ..) +(3)A Normal/Dire Form system ~ meaning, that you'll start with the normal form of an animal, that will be replaced with a Dire version when you reach the appropriate level. +(4)A Feat or Class [like the 'Beast Heart Adept' from the Dungeonscape Supplement Book], that will make it possible for you to take a Monstrous Companion such as a Gray Render, Manticore, Winter Wolf,.. +(5)Making it possible to change the Animal Companion whenever your character gains a level. +(6)A 'working' Weapon Finesse (Creature) Feat (could be based on Kaedrin's 'Intuitive Attack'?). [Q] What's about the Dragon Companions? [A] Currently, there are no plans to add/support/edit/modify (the) Dragon Companions as I don't like the idea of being able to have such a companion at all.

[Q] What's about Familiars? [A] Check out Loki_999's NWN1 Style Familiars Pack (http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php? view=NWN2HakpaksOriginal.Detail&id=468). [Q] Where is the Spider Companion & the [A] The Spider is a vermin and the Fire so the Spider & Fire Elemental Companions are disabled for players the 'hen_companion.2da' in the cmi_common-folder. Simply overwrite column.

Fire Elemental (by Kaedrin) Companion? Elemental an.. elemental ~ and not animals.. by default. You can re-enable them by editing the '0' with a '1' in the 'AvailableToPlayer'

[Q] Known Bugs? [A] None that I'm aware of, but I guess, that the Pack currently doesn't work with any module, that doesn't support Kaedrin's PrC Pack (such as Mysteries of Westgate). [Q] Anything to say about the next update(s)? [A] For the first Update I plan to add at least two Dinos (Deinonychus, Megaraptor), that will be available from the 1st level without having to take a feat (for that they might be a size-category lower than usual [balance]). Also I'll look into any upcoming/incoming bugreports, plan to add full Animal Companion descriptions, revise/refine Animal Companion moving rates, CR and add some distance tweaks (based on NWN2 Creature Distance Tweaks by S�ren M�ller/Zarathustra217). C R E D I T S Project idea(s), research, modding/editing, blueprints, portrait postworks (*), all texture changes & glow maps by J. C. Huguet aka Cyphre/Cyphre69 [(*) original artists of the portrait pictures are unknown] Hammerhead Shark & Mako Shark by Bioware-DLA, taken from the RWS Creature Conversion Project (http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2HakpaksOriginal.Detail&id=397) - please vote for this great resource!! (Highland)Snake by Arpharazon (http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php? view=NWN2Models.Detail&id=147) - please vote for this great resource!! S P E C I A L

T H A N K S

Arpharazon for the wonderful Snake model conversion, Kaedrin for the amazing PrC Pack (esp. for supporting Animal Companions through new Feats & Spells), lancerlot_30v for the great Character Builder Page (http://nwn2db.com/index.php), nicethugbert for all the >>NEAT!<< comments ;), Obsidian for making NWN2, RWS for all their stunning resources, the NWN2 community for being, Tony_K for the fantastic Companion and Monster AI and.. YOU..

for downloading *^_^*!! Also a special 'thank you' to Synic/Kunikos, MasterChanger, BrianMeyer & Alhandra Laremion for posting in the "[WIP] Animal companions for frostfell environments"-thread (http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewtopic.html?topic=699878&forum=115) and keeping me going *^_^*!! V E R Y

S P E C I A L

T H A N K S

slowdive_fan + IWD1-to-NWN2-conversion-project-team for giving me the original inspiration/drive to do this mod to promote the continuation/completion of the IWD1- / starting of an IWD2-project. Please check out the following links to read more about this/these project(s).. http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2ModulesEnglish.Detail&id=346 http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewtopic.html?topic=699360&forum=111 http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewtopic.html?topic=692624&forum=111 And don't forget.. There's only one place, where REAL adventure exists.. THE SPINE OF THE WORLD!!!