I believe I mentioned this to a DM not too long ago, but I thought it warranted addressing on the forum.

Given that some of the little sewer denizens (ie. Dire Rats and Fat Sewer Rats) are larger and tougher than their companions, shouldn't they offer more meat. It just seems a little strange that a Weak Sewer Rat, which can't be more than a handful of hitpoints and die in a hit render the same amount as their friends who have twice, sometimes three times, the hitpoints and take a bit longer to kill.

Just a minor suggestion that should be put behind the long line of more important things to do.

While on the subject, rats give more XP than ANYTHING else on the server I've fought so far.

5 xp and 5 gold for each one you kill. Wow.

I'd suggest that the goblins give you 1 gold and 5 xp for each rat they bring you, and that the town butcher gives you 5 gold and 1 xp for each rat meat you bring them.

Makes things a little more flexible, you can spam rats for gold or xp but not both at least.

I second that. People can spend long durations down there with little actual danger, the most you lose in a hit is one hitpoint, and consequently rack up a ton of gold and experience.

Au contraire mon frere.

With the respawning of rats down there what it is, if you decide to go after some *spoilers* and get worked, you have more rats to contend with on the way out. ive seen rat stampedes with 20+ rats on them and if you think you can tumble your way through that youre sorely mistaken.

....and on the opposite point of view....

It is dangerous. New players and new characters have that quest to make money and XP, even though the danger disappears as you level, it is moderately dangerous to start.

Also, you have the risk of getting a disease which unless you know a cleric to cure you, effectively stops your adventuring for the day because the only non PC way to cure you costs 200 gold.

Reducing the reward is not appropriate. I have not heard of higher levels abusing the spawn but if they are, just cap the quest at lvl 3 or 4.

With a relatively small population(at the moment), any character who acts inappropriately and power levels off sewer rats will likely be caught and a DM can respond as is appropriate

Besides the killer rat swarms there is also a killer *spoiler* down there, which any DM could use as a fine, in character tool to punish anyone they catch acting improperly.

Vesa Also, you have the risk of getting a disease which unless you know a cleric to cure you, effectively stops your adventuring for the day because the only non PC way to cure you costs 200 gold.

My PC is not a cleric and she'll cure you for free if she likes you.

On a tangent, yes it needs a cap.

The quest itself is capped at level 5. Given we're still struggling to make the majority of our scripted quests work correctly, I really don't object to people going down there. There's a huge amount going on beyond rats, and plenty of dangers too.

As I mentioned, there will also be an eventual cap in the amount of meat you can turn in.

My OOC preference, as with everything in the server, is for people to go with others if they can.

The other thing to keep in mind is although in alpha we're shooting for a pretty low level range the level range will eventually be much higher than it is now.

OMGbearisdriving ive seen rat stampedes with 20+ rats on them and if you think you can tumble your way through that youre sorely mistaken.

Heh, that's what you think.

Also, you have the risk of getting a disease which unless you know a cleric to cure you, effectively stops your adventuring for the day because the only non PC way to cure you costs 200 gold.

That is wrong by the way. Look around a little more.

I think a potential balance issue could arise from the fact that it is very easy for the fighters to hoard gold and XP this way while wizards have no comparable quest. Some svirfneblin translating or identifying a cast spell correctly (would also require, say, INT, WIS, spellcraft or lore checks aside from the OOC abilities of the player to prevent dumb half-orcs from doing it) could be a nice way to balance the possibilities for different classes.

The ideal, of course, would be that everyone works in parties and splits the gains, but the reality seems to be different in a lot of cases.

I think a potential balance issue could arise from the fact that it is very easy for the fighters to hoard gold and XP this way while wizards have no comparable quest. Some svirfneblin translating or identifying a cast spell correctly (would also require, say, INT, WIS, spellcraft or lore checks aside from the OOC abilities of the player to prevent dumb half-orcs from doing it) could be a nice way to balance the possibilities for different classes.

Not a chance. It is entirely intended that wizards should struggle more on this server than than fighters/rogues/etc. Those people who play wizards and persevere and are awesome will just be that more special, and we're definitely not giving the class some form of easy, no-risk xp/loot gain all to themselves.

Hmm, okay, if you want to give wizards the feeling of being special later on, it makes sense. However, under "normal" conditions, even low-level wizards could make themselves useful in a much wider variety of ways that are not yet possible on EftU due to the early stage, or generally are not possible in NWN. I thought the likes of the suggested options for a wizard/scholar/sage, aside from RPing the high INT, would make the game even more interesting for them meanwhile (because yes, 5xp and 10 gold for a mind-rattling quest that can be done only once per server reset is an option to have fun and not to stray away from your vision too).

Eraamion However, under "normal" conditions, even low-level wizards could make themselves useful in a much wider variety of ways that are not yet possible on EftU due to the early stage, or generally are not possible in NWN.

Oh, there will definitely be opportunities for wizards to put their special skills to use. I have plans.

Special no-risk quests just won't be one of them.