Raise Level Cap on Behemoth Spider Quest

[The Samophlange]

I am not currently playing a high level character. My last character hit level 9, though, and stayed there for some time before he died. And the sad thing is, dying was actually a huge relief. Yes, there are level 9 quests about. But a large portion of the server is either unable to or unwilling to do them. I found myself being forced to sit around and loiter in town a lot as other characters did quests, because I couldn't participate anymore. If I hadn't won a contest IC to get a lot of money, I would have had virtually no income.

Wanting to do quests with people doesn't mean you're lazy, or a power-gamer. Questing can be a lot of fun and a nice roleplaying experience in and of itself. The attitude that wanting to be able to sustain yourself makes you some kind of twink who wants to just grind out a fortune just confuses me.

Hitting the higher levels is something that should be celebrated. EFU is a harsh world, and it's not easy to survive in it. I don't think we should be actively encouraging people to de-level themselves when they do manage to make such an achievement. After all, odds are they will be knocked back down soon enough.

[Ashes of Athas]

Raising the level cap on this quest is just my quick suggestion as it seems like an effortless solution to what I see as a larger problem. Perhaps there are other dungeons that offer an actual reward for higher level characters - I don't know of every quest in the module.

I think it is funny that the two types of responses at this point are "Level Nines are too important to do scripted dungeons and should ROLEPLAY" more and "You should be doing harder quests and not ask for everything to be handed to you!"

The thing is, I would love not to have to grind for money. I would love to just log on and be able to role play, and that I not need to use gold to support those IC activities.

I would also love to do those level 9 dungeons - which I have done, despite this weird assumption that I haven't. The last Sand Crypt run depleted my collection of purple crystals and most of my wands - in return getting me a couple level 3 scrolls I already had.

But like I said - I certainly don't know everything about efu, or about every quest. There can early be some that I am missing, in which case I am happy to continue to look IG for them.

In all, this thread is less about this particular quest, and more about the issue of a level 9 character being oddly poorer than everyone else. I imagine someone with more information regarding quests and the cost/reward at their disposal, such as Howland, can look at the issue and make a better call than me. It is just something I wished to raise attention to.

[Stranger]

I think there are a lot of characters who would pay good gold for the services of any level 8 or higher character. A spell caster in particular. Just my two cents.

Please teleport me places, please, please, please.

[Pigadig]

Here is the quickest and easiest way for high level spellcasters to make money: sell your buffs. Seriously. People with brains will pay for them instead of spending money on consumeables because they will last longer, be less likely to be dispelled and you get more interaction out of it than just chugging potions.

High level warriors on the other hand are in a pickle.

[Siren]

the issue of a level 9 character being oddly poorer than everyone else.

Depends on how they are played. As a level 9 character you have way more means to make money than say, a level 4 or level 5 character. Sure, there's a few good initial rewards for starting characters but let's point out that you can only take these quests three or four times before you have to move on to doing other things.

As a level 6 character I was doing the webbed tunnels quest and the goblins, both of these quests were also accessible to level 8 and 9 characters respectively, neither provided "amazing" rewards or gold, since they require large parties. Roughly a hundred coin for a half hour quest, minimal supplies aswell, if I'm honest. You could be making more than that by brewing a haste potion, for example. Blur should be in demand aswell... any new wizard would pay well for scrolls that you could scribe, all it takes is taking a crafting feat at either level, 3, 6 or 9 (correct me if I'm wrong)... plus wizards can take one of these feats at level 5 I believe, so that's yet another boon.

If the continuity of your roleplay is at stake due to a lack of character funds, you could simply ask to be lowered down a level or two and take part in the quests you were doing before. On the other hand, if you wish to keep your level, I don't see why you can't rely on the roleplay that you seem to strive for to earn it.

You mentioned finding three level 3 scrolls in that dungeon you ran, do you know how much those could potentially sell for? You could easily make 300-500 from selling them. I don't know just how much money you need to "continue roleplaying" but I think 500 is a good sum of money to get for running one dungeon. All it takes is an effort to sell the things you acquire...

I'm sorry if I'm coming off as insensitive towards your problem, but I just can't see a problem... =/

[Ashes of Athas]

I appreciate all the feedback - some posts seemed a little hostile, so I apologize if the thread rubbed anyone the wrong way. I also appreciate some of the suggestions here, I think there are some interesting ideas that would at the very least be interesting to utilize in the temple of the weave.

[Ashes of Athas]

Siren - it's okay, I am not upset, I appreciate your advice, and taking the time to write and post!

I liked your initial post - it has a lot of interesting ideas, and while they are fun to roleplay, I have difficult seeing them becoming a real source of income. While it may not seem as if it is harder for a level nine to earn gold - it really is, as the number of dungeons you can run shrinks, and the new dungeons you can journey to really are a drain on your money and resources - not an increase.

Like I said - perhaps there are other dungeons with a better investment/reward ratio, in which case I am happy to keep looking for them. I am not asking for necessarily an easy way to make tons of money - it would just be nice to have way to progress forward a little, so that one can actually do those level nine quests that require resources to use. Or to invest that money into something else.

Not that it is too big of a worry, I have been incredibly lucky to make it to nine - I tend to die a lot, and I imagine my luck can't hold out forever. :)

(As an aside, potion brewing sounds great, except as a specialist, I do not have access to the spells to make the potions people typically want to buy. Perhaps that is my fault for picking a less mechanically useful specialization, though it seems like relying on potion making encourages powerbuilding instead of discouraging it).

Anyway, it is just nice to hear that there are at least other players who witnessed the same struggle I have had. I have said my piece now, and I do appreciate the feedback and conversation (it has made a slow day at work pass by much quicker!).

[Siren]

I appreciate all the feedback - some posts seemed a little hostile, so I apologize if the thread rubbed anyone the wrong way. I also appreciate some of the suggestions here, I think there are some interesting ideas that would at the very least be interesting to utilize in the temple of the weave.

I thought your posts were just fine, hope mine weren't too brash, I have a way of stomping my foot on the ground and being overly assertive sometimes and it often comes off wrong. I've been told I have "claws", hopefully that hasn't been showing much...

And yes, the temple of the weave is a very interesting concept and I think there's some great roleplayers there bringing it to life, I hope the faction provides a vehicle towards sustaining your character financially, there's so much that group could bring to the server. =)

EDIT: Oops, posted before seeing your last response.

[HerDarkMajesties]

About the only quest I'd like to see increased to max level 9 (or even 10) is the purple crystal cavern quest, which was put in for the express purpose of making sure people couldn't end up stuck in the Catch-22 of 'Can't quest, no supplies. No supplies, must quest'

For the rest of your concerns - I think you just need to find some braver friends to attempt the high level content.

[Divine Intervention]

Raising the level caps isn't really the solution.  There are plenty of level 9+ quests to do, the issue imo is that many of these are very unbalanced in terms of difficulty and reward.  Some incredibly difficult quests such as beholders give out rewards that are frankly on par if not occasionally worse than stuff like kobolds from what I've seen.  Others are lumbered with the fact that most of the loot is only useful to evil scumbags or other people with 0 consideration for how disturbing/dangerous it is, meaning overall a lot of the higher end stuff is difficult yet provides little worthwhile in return, discouraging people from trying the harder quests and encouraging demands for easier ones to have the caps upped.

[Ashes of Athas]

About the only quest I'd like to see increased to max level 9 (or even 10) is the purple crystal cavern quest, which was put in for the express purpose of making sure people couldn't end up stuck in the Catch-22 of 'Can't quest, no supplies. No supplies, must quest'

This for example would be great - and would be a nice solution.

[Blue41]

Raising the level caps isn't really the solution.  There are plenty of level 9+ quests to do, the issue imo is that many of these are very unbalanced in terms of difficulty and reward.

I was going to bring this up, and cite Samophlange's post about people being unwilling/unable to do the higher level stuff. Most of the time when I've suggested doing the tougher quests, people get nervous. When I've done the higher-level quests, the reward doesn't always seem to sync up with the risk. In some cases, the rewards only ADD to the risk (for example, items of obvious illithid/aberrant origin that using will draw further scrutiny.) Unfortunately, I feel like suggesting for a buff to quest rewards for the higher-end stuff- let's say, every quest labeled hard- is going to bring supply bloat back into the equation.

I'm not sure if this is a work-around, but perhaps adding a few more quests in the vein of Shaggaland and crystal caves, quests that you can do for a specific resource in particular might help. Give the people who are higher level and need X a reason to do X. Make dissipating potions more abundant on quests to mitigate supply bloat.

[Ook]

It doesn't help that a lot of the higher level quests are currently illegal either. Not that it makes them impossible to do or anything, but a lot of PCs just aren't interested in breaking laws to go questing.