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Are "PC Properties" new animal skins?

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GWGuen
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Are "PC Properties" new animal skins?

Post by GWGuen »

Hi. I was playing my Errant Breeze monk on the Classic Server last night and I was in the area 3 areas above Benzor, "Northern Pass" or something like that. Sorry that I didn't write that down... Anyway, I fought multiple Ogres, Ogre Mages, Polar Bears and Winter Wolves up there. The ogres, polar bears, & winter wolves were somewhat tough (in groups, anyway). The ogre mages, though, not so much...

At one point I was fighting 4 ogre mages and I was having a hard time hitting them because of their 50% concealment but I noticed that they weren't hitting me at all. I'm not even sure that they were attacking me except for verbally. I killed 1 ogre mage and it took so long to kill the 2nd one that the 1st one had faded away before I killed the 2nd one. After I killed the 2nd one then I went ahead and looted the body while both the 3rd & 4th ogre mages were still there "attacking" me. When I finally killed the 3rd one then I looted it while the 4th one was attacking me but none of them did any damage to me.

The item that I got from each of the ogre mages was one titled "PC Properties". It showed the same icon as a polar bear skin or a winter wolf skin but it had a black background instead of a transparent one. Where the 1st ogre mage had died (the one that faded away before I could loot it) there were remains on the ground that just had a "PC Properties" item in it. I couldn't pick up that item. It said that the "Item can not be dropped" or something like that. As far as I know, it's still up there.

I have 3 of these "PC Properties" items in my inventory. I was able to drop one but I picked it back up again because I figured that nothing else will get rid of it. I wanted to let you know about these "PC Properties" items and how ineffective the ogre mages were (other than being very hard to hit) in case you needed to do something about them. Should I do anything special with these "PC Properties" items? I was going to throw them in the Trash and see if they could be disposed of that way but I thought that I should ask about them first, just in case. You're, of course, welcome to remove them from my inventory, too, if you prefer or if that's the only way to get rid of them.

Thanks,
GWGuen
arthur_l
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Re: Are "PC Properties" new animal skins?

Post by arthur_l »

There's a known bug with shapeshifting (both polymorph self and wild shape) which prevents attacking the first time you use it, which is why ogre mages don't attack once they've polymorphed. The PC properties item is dropped because they were killed while polymorphed, and is junk that can be safely destroyed.
As far as I know, nothing can be done about this, but luckily it's just a bit annoying rather than anything game-breaking.
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Lliira
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Re: Are "PC Properties" new animal skins?

Post by Lliira »

It is a known NWN bug. :( And the PC Properties do not go away. You could try to trash them, I guess. Purchase a Bag of Devouring at the Mulrok Tavern (waitress), and try to get rid of them in the Bag. It acts as a mini, portable trash can. The best bet for the future, is do not pick them up.
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GWGuen
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Re: Are "PC Properties" new animal skins?

Post by GWGuen »

I was able to discard them in the Trash without any problems so that's done. If I face that again, though, then I'll probably try to gather them all so that I can dispose of them in a Trash can. I'm sure that 1 or 2 of these laying around won't affect the server much but I try to clean up after myself and dispose of any items that I don't want (such as all of the extra raw meat since I'm working on tanning & tailoring at the moment & end up killing a lot more animals than I currently need for food). I presume that the Trash disposes of items so that the server doesn't have to track them any more, right? I also like piling up items that I don't want on the monsters that I killed, like the poor goblin who only had about 6 GP on him when I killed him but he ended up fading away with 10 or 11 chunks of raw meat on him. I looked at him and the words "Temporary Trash Can" appeared on his forehead!

It's a shame that the problem with the Ogre Mages ends up being a flaw that we can't take advantage of. It could lead to new kinds of protections for the players! Just get 5 or 6 polymorphed Ogre Mages gathered around you, attacking you, and you can walk (slowly) from place to place without any danger! Nothing could get close to you because of the Ogre Mages so you can shoot at the other attackers with ranged weapons until they're dead. ;-)

Thanks for the help!
GWGuen
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Lliira
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Re: Are "PC Properties" new animal skins?

Post by Lliira »

We often use dead monsters as trash cans - they fade away and take raw meat with them. :lol: It is the same with PC Properties. They were causing scripting errors in the past, which is why it was better to just leave them in the corpse. I still do, currently. After my first time, and not being able to get rid of it, I've left them. (Previously, they were NODROP. Ugh! It sounds as if somebody fixed that particular issue.)
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GWGuen
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Re: Are "PC Properties" new animal skins?

Post by GWGuen »

With all due respect to your much-greater knowledge about NWN & Nordock than I've got, that's not what I'm seeing here. Either that or I'm misunderstanding what you're saying (or mis-remembering what I did).

2 nights ago when I fought the Ogre Mages I was in the "Northern Pass - Trade Road" area (3 areas North of Benzor). I killed the first Ogre Mage but didn't try to loot the body because I was still in combat with the other 3 Ogre Mages. This was before I realized that they weren't hurting me. The first Ogre Mage faded away while I was fighting the others but it left Remains behind. When I checked those remains it still had a "PC Properties" item in it. I tried to grab it but it wouldn't let me take it, with a "This item can't be dropped" message or something like that. I remembered the problems with "NoDrop" items from a long time ago so I quickly tried to drop 1 of the PC Properties items in my inventory. I was able to drop the item and leave the area without it, so I felt safe to pick it back up again (and I disposed of it in Trash later).

I checked again a few minutes ago and the Remains from that first Ogre Mage that I killed are still there in the Southern part of the "Northern Pass - Trade Road" area. I still can't pick up the PC Properties item in it & it was still there when I left. So, it seems to me that if we grab those bad items and dispose of them manually then we can get rid of them but if we leave them on the corpse then it will end up leaving an unmovable object behind. Then again maybe I'm risking picking up a NoDrop item that will be with me forever (or until a kindly DM helps me) by doing things this way.

Thanks, again!
GWGuen
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Lliira
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Re: Are "PC Properties" new animal skins?

Post by Lliira »

LOL!! I am not sure, after this description. I can remove the items from your character, If you are around when I am, which is later evening in Eastern U.S. The items which are left behind from the ogre mages will not hurt anything, as far as I know.
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arthur_l
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Re: Are "PC Properties" new animal skins?

Post by arthur_l »

I'm fairly sure that they only occasionally persist on the ground after corpses fade- I spent quite a while up durel river way a while ago, and didn't pick the items up, and I've only noticed them stay on the ground once or twice
FooLing
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Re: Are "PC Properties" new animal skins?

Post by FooLing »

I know they can persist in some places (the Satyr casters in Kabu in particular, and I think even that crazy halfling up that northern trade road that has it in for white deer that turns into an animal to harass them when he runs out of lightning - it's always related to a polymorph I believe).

If you ever find yourself with one of those "skins" in your inventory taking up space after having picked it up and you find you can't drop it, one way to "drop" it without DM assistance is to clear a slot in your quick slots, pull the skin to the quick slot, then click the quick slot. This usually causes it to disappear.
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