Overcoming BAD reactions? (minor spoilers implicit in quest

I'm still going around for the first time with a PC who's a technologist Dwarf presently at level 26 whose alignment is 53 and tech aptitude had reached 100%, but I've brought it back to 78 or so. My followers are still just Virgil and Sogg. I'm doing manual leveling and have managed to get myself into three situations I'd appreciate help getting out of.

1) The magick shop keepers have stopped being willing to barter with (or otherwise constructively converse) me, which seems like a potentially severe restriction on the items I can acquire and limits the price I can get for acquired magical items. Since then, I've put a point each into fire magick (since the dexterity boost should help my throwing and firearms), charisma, and persuasion as well as one into beauty to overcome a scar I didn't realize I hadn't healed promptly. What will I need to do to make the shop keeper's response at least good enough to let me barter?

2) Somewhere along the way Virgil's response went from courteous to neutral and I didn't notice so I don't want to back up that far. I expect it was around my visit to the Ancient Temple where all I tried to do was slaughter bad guys. It took several tries to leave without Virgil turning on me. The same happened in the Black Mountain Mines, but sometimes it was Sogg who turned. I presume we're running into mind control spells or traps. I've since bumped my willpower up to 10 (or is it 11?) which was probably a waste since I wasn't the one being effected. Are there good ways to salvage the situation after a follower attacks me? I've tried running, but perhaps not for long enough. With a tech aptitude of 100% at the time I wasn't carrying a dispel magick scroll. Would one of those do the trick? Is getting my charisma up to 20 the only sure long term solution?

3) I got into a seemingly unavoidable (once I initiated conversation) bar fight in Ashbury, got interrupted by a guard and killed him and another outside. Since no reputation was entered into my book and we could pass guards later that same trip through town, I thought everything was OK and went on. Upon leaving town and returning we get attacked on sight by some villagers and guards. I was able to ship out, but had other things I thought to do in town later. Will I always have to sneak around avoiding guards, or is there some better resolution?

Thanks!

 

my answers might get trumped by the more experienced players but I figured I'd chime in in case none of them are up late or on PST...


1. I had the reverse situation happen to me as a Mage. I gave up trying to go into blacksmiths or gun shoppes and, instead, sold whatever I could to general / salvage stores. I decided having a high magic aptitude was worth it as money ceased to be an issue as the game progressed.

2. I believe that the response from Virgil in that particular location has more to do with his character than yours. I believe there are a number of threads devoted to that exact problem in the archives. I had a different NPC react in a similar fashion to a particular quest and assume it's possible that *all* NPC's have 1 or 2 quests their A.I. is coded to respond to. I dont remember ever being attacker by one of my followers b/cs of mind control, traps, black magic or voodoo of any kind.

3. I think bar fights are randomized, or rather, NPCs in bars will randomly be set to attack you. I dont know the answer to your question about the guards chasing you though.

See, prompt but only marginally helpful. Just like I promised! :smile:

 

First, welcome to the Forum! :wavey:

Now, about your first question: a Major Heal spell will take care of a scar. Doc Roberts in Shrouded Hills can deliver one.
The shopkeepers won't deal with you if your apptitude is strongly skewed, i.e. a Tech shopkeeper won't deal with a highly Magickal character. No way around that.

Your second question: some creatures are perceived as good by your followers. Tattered Bowmen, for instance. It's a bug in the game, and it will make your followers hate you when you kill the TB. Let your followers kill them.

Regarding your third question: either you've done some very evil deed or you should be able to return to the town without problems. What, exactly, did you do in Ashbury? Who did you kill?

 

followers will also hate you if you accidently hit them in combat, which is unfortunately very easy to do, especially if you're using a gun...

 

Welcome to the forum! :wavey:
Just to add to Feldon's post the easiest way around the followers getting mad at you is to let the creatures attack you. If the circle around them is red then go ahead and whack 'em.
Also, you said that you spent a CP in fire for agility of fire. Sorry to tell you this but it probably won't work because your tech ability is so high.

 

Try this one: While playing the demo once, Virgil suddenly became a -1000 reaction. Of course I talked him down to -700, but then got bored and stopped.

 

1. A. If you have expert haggle, you can get decent prices for magical items at ordinary shops. In fact, selling stuff becomes muc easier and you get significantly better prices in general.
B. Virgil and Jayna can heal scars if you give them bandages.

2. A 20 Charisma solves most problems with NPC's except when you actually target them instead of an enemy or door.

3. I've slaughtered guards in Ashbury on several occations and never had trouble. I do routinely have halflings attack me after doing the Boil quest. Rumor has it that once you kill enough halflings, other halflings tend to attack you. Could it have been a situation where the guards joined in, or are they all out to get you from the start? In either case, consider the guards another sorce for experience points and loot, just like the theives in Tarant.

 

That is not true you can get aruond that by casting shrink on yourself. ofcourse you have to be a mage.

 

Oh, yeah. Sorry. There is a way around it, IF you're a mage, and IF you're dumb enough to invest CPs to gain the Shrink spell (or buy Shrink scrolls at the dark magic shop).
Better, enygma? :smile:

 

Thanks for the welcome and prompt, helpful responses!

Knowing what Virgil can do with bandages explains how my first scar was mysteriously healed. I think the change in the shopkeepers' reactions might be also related to my reaction modifier having gone negative (from being scarred) while my tech aptitude was pegged at 100%. The confusing thing is, why for quite a while was I still getting acceptable, if not courteous reactions with my tech aptitude (in the mid 80's)? The problem is that even now that my tech aptitude's back down in that range and my reaction modifier is small but positive, the magick shopkeepers won't relent and let me barter. It's not the little colored bottles I'm concerned about, it's being able to buy and sell magick armour and weapons, even for (eventual) followers who could make good use of them. I'm hoping for some general solution (like what my reaction modifier or aptitude balance would have to become), or the techie equivalent of the shrinking mage.

As to the value of the dexterity boosting fire spell, it seems to be one of my best spent character points! Combined with a fortifier it doesn't cause too much fatigue and having my dexterity way up lets me get in lots of shots. Sustaining the spell for Virgil too is difficult, but sometimes quite effective. Even with my tech aptitude at 88, I haven't had the Agility of Fire spell fail once, even while I'm wearing Dorian's amulet. It helped get me from level 26 to 28 and my alignment up to 64 in short order. It also let me become an expert in throwing without spending the CPs on dexterity.

I neglected to mention that when Virgil or Sogg attacked me their reaction jumped to -1000. That it only happened a little while after combat has stopped and we're looting or just trundling along, made me think it might be a spell. If I accidentally hit them instead of a door, or they're too close to too many molotov coctails, they seemed to respond right away, but not with such an extreme (-1000) reaction. If it's indeed just a bug, is it one that the 1074 patch fixes?

And finally, the Ashbury problem seems to be moot. I guess it was that a guard saw me kill whatever had ambushed me. After returning from the Isle, they're leaving me alone again.

 

This is something I've found that might be helpful if some people haven't figured it out already. The biased reactions from tech-magic shopkeepers starts at 75 aptitude on either side of the line. Once you get to 75 magic aptitude, tech shopkeepers say "arroint thyself lest thee destroy mine goods" and 75 tech aptitude prompts the magic shopkeepers to say that as well. The trick I do is keep my aptitude at 70 (magic or tech) until I have purchased all the magic or tech items I need to fully outfit myself and my group. Then, if I want to go higher in aptitude, I can without having to say "damn it, sell me that shield of force" or "fuck you, dwarven smithy, I need that mithril ore". Maintaining 70 aptitude for an extended period of time requires planning of CP but is very useful.