The mod aims to increase the difficulty by making fights longer and exhausting while greatly limiting available resources. Resource budgeting becomes a thing.
OPTIMIZED FOR MULTIPLAYER!
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The mod aims to increase the difficulty by making fights longer and exhausting while greatly limiting available resources.
After numerous playthroughs (both single and multiplayer) I felt that the game is too generous to us and resource budgeting is not needed at all, which is a shame. Secondly, we have found so many bugs, exploits and developer oversights, that the game started to be unenjoyable. So I've decided to create a mod for multiplayer sessions with my friends, that would address the issues. It felt very refreshing to replay the game with so limited resources. Resource budgeting becomes a thing, which enhanced immersion significantly.
This mod has been created specifically with multiplayer sessions in mind.
Hope you'll enjoy it as much as me and my friends did.
Script Extender not needed!
The mod is intented for new saves. Although usable on existing saves, I do not recommended to do it, because some changes will take place only after LongRest/Respec and already saved Treasuretables may behave unpredictably.
The mod should be last in the Load Order.
If you are a masochist like myself, try having multiple Wild Magic Sorcerers in party. With increased WM Surge chances, this provided additional degree of difficulty.
In case you are a TOTALLY INSANE MASOCHIST, try having multiple Wild Magic Sorcerers in party and download a mod that expands Wild Magic Surge selection pool, such as Wild Magic D100 Table.
Here is complete list of all changes you can find within Harsh difficulty mod, also with written comments containing my reasoning for the changes:
GENERAL CHANGES
Tactician health bonus is changed to 160% for enemies of up to level 8 and to 290% for enemies of level 9+ (up from 30% at all levels). Comment: Increased health of enemies gives them much better chance to react to your actions. Overall you'll notice that lvl 1-8 enemies have double the Tactician health and 9+ enemies have triple the Tactician health.
Attack Roll bonus and Spell Save DC bonus are now equal to Proficiency Bonus instead of 2 at all times. Enemies now also have Mental Saving Throw bonus equal to Proficiency bonus. Comment: Increasing AC and DEX/CON Saving Throws is just another form of effective HP, which is already increased by a ton. No need to increase it further. CCs can turn the tide of battle, so now you need much more spell save DC in order to land them consistently.
Tactician difficulty renamed to Harsh and now includes Honour ruleset (including Legendary Actions).
Honour difficulty renamed to Ironman. Comment: Difficulty is the same as Harsh, but with Single Save active. This is the true HARDCORE MODE.
XP needed for Levels 11 and 12 has been reduced by 20%. Comment: With this change, you can enjoy max level longer, without giving you any significant advantage. Harsh, but enjoyable.
EVEN STRICTER ACTION ECONOMY!
Honour mode brought some changes to make action economy more strict. While the changes are welcomed, they aren't enough and Harsh difficulty makes action economy even more strict.
Additional Action points granted by Elixir of Bloodlust and Hastened status now don't stack with each other. Comment: Full additional Action is very powerful, but stacking such effects on top of each other was a whole new level. Stacking removed.
Additional Bonus action points granted by Fast Hands passive and Helmet of Grit/Pyroquickeness Hat now don't stack with each other. Comment: Full additional Bonus Action is very powerful, but stacking such effects on top of each other was a whole new level. Stacking removed.
Additional Bonus action point granted by Wholeness of Body now lasts only for 1 turn. Comment: This change makes Wholeness of Body a bonus action version of Action Surge, making it more balanced.
Lethargy from losing Hastened effects now lasts for 2 turns instead of 1. Comment: This change prevents using Haste effect freely with little risks.
RESOURCES GREATLY LIMITED!
Faerun faces very harsh times and trade routes are now too dangerous due to goblins, beasts, curses or gate closings. Supply chain is broken and traders are not able to keep filling their selection. Adventurers really have to think about their resource budget.
Traders now never restock their selection. Comment: This is the core change which significantly enhances difficulty of the game. Resource budgeting becomes a thing to consider.
Traders are now selling items respective to their category (basic, alchemist...) and the lists have been expanded greatly. Comment: Trader selection specific for the trader type is now much more intuitive.
Trader tables are now significantly more random. Comment: Odds of getting specific non-unique item are now very low. Work with what you find.
Steadfast Maul and +1 weapon selection have been added to two act 1 chests. Comment: With traders not restocking their selection, this change ensures that you'll get to build your character with weapon type of your choosing.
Supply value of camp supply pack was reduced to 10 down from 40. Comment: Camp Supply Pack's supply value now aligns with other supplies.
Supply value of greater camp supply pack was reduced to 40 down from 80. Comment: Greater Camp Supply Pack's supply value now aligns with other supplies.
Song of Rest no longer provides a Short Rest, instead it now heals allies within 9m radius for 50% of casting Bard's total HP. Comment: Due to Song of Rest, Short Rests were abundant. This mod aims to remove abundance, which I consider main reason for overall low difficulty in unmoded playthroughs.
Prayer of Healing now works exactly as Song of Rest (spell slot cost removed, long rest cooldown, can't be upcasted). Comment: This change should bring you more options for off combat healing. Not everything is Harsh.
Ki Points, Tides of Chaos Charges and Superiority Dies now have recharge on Long Rest instead of Short Rest. Comment:Removing resource abundance is one of the main pillars of Harsh Difficulty mod.
Font of Inspiration pasisve is now exclusive to College of Valor subclass and gained at level 6. You now gain 2 Bardic inspiration Charges at levels 1, 5 and 9 (total of 6 charges). Valor Bards additionally gain 1 Bardic Inspiration Charge at levels 3 and 6. Comment: Making Font of Inspiration unique to Valor Bards provides better balance between all Bard subclasses. Unlike Lore and Swords Bards, Valor Bards have no alternative use for Bardic Inspiration Charges, so it makes sense to leave Short Rest restore of Bardic Inspiration Charges for Valor Bards, instead of removing it entirely. Keep inspiring your allies a lot!
All versions of Flurry of Blows now cost 2 Ki Points up from 1. Comment: This change ensures that you'll actually think of using Bonus Unarmed Strike over Flurry of Blows, instead of just mindlessly spamming Flurry of Blows at all times.
BUGS FIXED OR TREATED!
Some bugs have been fixed to provide smoother gameplay without unnecessary hindrances.
Paladin - Vow of Enmity can no longer be used on casting Paladin. Comment: Vow of Enmity could be targeted at casting Paladin, making him gain advantage on all attack rolls against all targets.
Ilithid Powers - Black Hole now also pulls allies and the pulling effect now has a fixed 12 spell save DC (STR save). Comment: Black Hole's pulling effect previously had no Save at all.
Ilithid Powers - Psionic Overload's backlash damage now deals 4d4 Psychic damage every 3 turns instead of 1d4 each turn. Comment: The backlash damage from Psionic Overload procs all damage riders including Lightning Charges, Callous Glow Ring, Reverberation ... on yourself, causing you to take massive damage each turn. There is no way to fix this behaviour, because the game treats all damage as damage dealt regardless of target being you. To compensate, you now take higher damage spikes at turns 3,6 and 9. This way you proc damage riders on yourself 3 times over the duration instead of 10 and the Psychic damage from the backlash ticks is only slightly higher (12d4 instead of 10d4 over the course of 10 turns).
Staff of Arcane Blessing now properly works with Whispering Promise Ring. Comment: Mystra's Blessing weren't given to Bless target when applied via Whispering Promise ring.
Cap of curing now grants enhanced version of your Bardic Inspiration which heals and properly procs on heal effects. Comment: Heal effect from Cap of Curing wasn't proccing any on heal effects. Direct fix was not possible, this is a reasonable workaround.
Slashing Flourish (Ranged) now works like Arrow of many Targets with 1 ricochet instead of 2 full, independant shots. Comment: Due to a bug Slashing Flourish (Ranged) could be targeted twice, even against same enemy which was extremely overpowered.
Arsonist Oil now lasts for 3 turns up from 2. Comment: Arsonist Oil should replace Fire Resistance with Fire Vulnerability, which wasn't working. There is no way to fix it, so to compensate, the debuff lasts 1 turn longer to give better opportunity to play some Fire Vulnerability shenigans.
Polearm Master: Bonus Attack now deals healf of your main hand damage (as bludgeoning) instead of 1d4 + STR/DEX modifier. Comment: Direct fix to Polearm Master: Bonus Attack was very complicated and did more harm than good, so I decided to change the damage entirely. It now deals halved weapon damage, but fully procs all damage riders. Overall, the spell is weaker than previous version, if you have no damage riders at all. But, with at least 1 damage rider it pulls ahead.
OPTIMIZED FOR MULTIPLAYER!
Harsh difficulty removes numerous exploits to provide better multiplayer experience.
Sorcerer - Sorcery Points now have a cap equal to Sorcerer level
Shield of the Undevout - no longer gives 1-level spell slot, instead it grants a free action Spell Slot Restoration Level 1 (Recharge: Long Rest)
Shield of the Devout - no longer gives 1-level spell slot, instead it grants a free action Spell Slot Restoration Level 1 (Recharge: Long Rest)
Spell Savant amulet - no longer gives 2-level spell slot, instead it grants a free action Spell Slot Restoration Level 2 (Recharge: Long Rest)
Partial rest now doesn't regain health or spell slots.
Warding Bond now doesn't work if the warded target is more than 18m away from the caster.
After you enter combat and roll your Initiative, you gain a 6-turn debuff reducing your Initiative by 30.
Healing Incense Aura granted by Devotee's Mace can now be used only by Level 10 Clerics.
Hamarhraft - now can proc it's jump explosion only once a turn.
INVEST TO GAIN HIGH POWER!
Gaining a lot of power for little investment was both, breaking balance and immersion. In order to gain more power, you should have to invest more. Harsh difficulty fixes this problem.
(E.g multiclassing into Paladin. Previously you needed just 2 levels in Paladin to unlock full Smiting power. Now you still unlock some Smiting power at Paladin level 2, however in order to unlock full Smiting power, you need to invest more levels into Paladin).
Paladin - Divine Smite now costs 1 Divine Smite Charge (new resource) in addition to spell slots. Divine Smite charges recharge per turn and are gained on paladin levels 2,5,8 and 11. Comment: Now you need more Paladin levels to become good, old Smiting machine.
Preserve Life now heals for 1 per Character Level + 2 per Cleric Level instead of 3 per Character Level. Comment: Limiting scaling on Preserve Life make adding Cleric levels past 2 more desirable.
Ability overriding items reworked. They now provide flat ability increase instead of fully overriding an ability.
Elixir of Hill Giant Strength +3 flat STR (capped at 20)
Elixir of Cloud Giant Strength +5 flat STR (capped at 20)
Club of Hill Giant Strength +4 flat STR (capped at 18)
Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength +6 flat STR (capped at 20)
Handmaidens Mace +4 flat STR (capped at 18)
Gloves of Dexterity +4 flat DEX (capped at 18)
Warped Headband of intellect +4 flat INT (capped at 18)
Amulet of Greater Health +6 flat CON (capped at 20)
Comment: Now you need to invest at leat some ability points instead of just equipping an item and fully dumping a stat to 8.
Common, Uncommon and Rare Scrolls now contain only formula to cast a spell, however, they are not charged. Using these scrolls now costs respective spell slots. Comment: It didn't make sense from both, balance and RP perspectives that a Level 12 axe-swinging Barbarian could melt enemies with Lightning Bolts. Adding spell slot cost to scrolls ensures that only actual casters cast spells.
Unlike lesser scrolls, Very Rare Scrolls are charged, however only experienced Wizards can understand complex formulas written in them. These scrolls can now be used only by high level Wizards. Comment: This change makes Wizards more unique and ties them to scrolls even more, strenghtening their identity.
Spells learned from Very Rare Scrolls now need enough levels in a class that can originally use the spell. Comment: This change ensures that you can't just put 1 level into Wizard and gain acces to all powerful abilities. E.g. in order to cast Disintegrate, you now need 11 levels in either Sorcerer or Wizard.
Sorcerer - Metamagic: Quickened Spell and Heightened Spell are now gained at Sorcerer level 5 rather than 3.
Sorcerer - Metamagic: Twinned Spell is now gained at Sorcerer level 5 rather than 2.
Sorcerer - Metamagic: Subtle Spell is now gained at Sorcerer level 2 rather than 3.
Warlock - Agonizing Blast Eldritch Invocation is now available to choose at Warlock level 5 instead of 2.
Fighter - Fighting Style is now gained at Fighter level 2 rather than 1.
Fighter - Action Surge is now gained at Fighter level 5 rather than 2.
Cleric - War Domain: You now start at 1 War Priest Extra Attack Charge. Additional charges are now gained on levels 3,5,7,9,11.
Comment: Now you need to invest more class levels in order to unlock its great power.
BALANCE TWEAKS!
All the changes in Harsh difficulty created some unwanted side effects, which negatively affected overall balance. Some balance tweaks were necessary to achieve better balance.
Sorcerer - Metamagic: Twinned Spell, Quickened Spell and Heightened Spell now cost 1 Sorcery Point + 1 Sorcery point per level of used spell. Comment: This change, along with Sorcery Points Cap, make Spell Slot/Sorcery Point budgeting a thing.
Void Bulb - pulling effect now has a fixed 12 spell save DC (STR save) down from 18. Comment: Void Bulb is now in line with Black Hole.
Tavern Brawler - Your STR modifier is now applied only to damage rolls only. Half your Proficiency Bonus is now applied to attack rolls. Comment: This should make Tavern Brawler much more balanced without nerfing it to oblivion.
Elixir of Battle Mage's Power - now grants +1 Force damage to Spells and Spell Attacks instead of 3 stacks of Arcane Acuity. Comment: Arcane Acuity granted by the elixir doesn't work well with the Arcane Acuity rework. It has been removed and the elixir now grants you bonus force damage to your spells. It's Elixir of battlemage's POWER, after all.
Helmet of Grit now requires you to stay under 75% HP up from 50%. Comment: Now that additional bonus action sources do not stack with each other, keeping such low threshold to keep the passive up was unnecessary.
Slashing Flourish (both, ranged and melee) now deals half damage to both targets down from full damage. Comment: Slashing Flourish dealing full damage to both targets put Bard in a much better position than other classes. This changes makes Sword Bards more balanced.
Wild Magic Surge now has a 25% chance to proc, up from 5% and Tides of Chaos now increases the chance to trigger Wild Magic Surge afterwards to 100%. Comment: Resources are scarce now and conserving spell slots becomes a thing, making Wild Magic Surges even less likely to occurr. This change should make Wild Magic Surges relevant again.
Defensive Duellist feat has been renamed to Duellist. In addition to its normal effect, it now also grants a buff called Duellist's Posture for 2 turns upon being attacked by a melee attack. Duellist's Posture adds your proficiency bonus to your melee weapon damage rolls, as long as you are holding a Finesse weapon in your main hand. Comment: Builds that use one-handed weapons were too far behind two-handed and ranged builds. This change should grant builds with one-handed weapons an unique option to be more in line with two-handed/ranged builds, while keeping it RP-friendly.
Elixir of Vigilance and Alert feat now grant 3 bonus Intitiative down from 5 and they no longer stack with each other. Comment: Surprise immunity and 5 Intitiative alone, just from having a feat/elixir, was too much. Stacking those effects was another level.
Globe of Invulnerability has been removed from Sorcerer spell list. Comment: The spell is extremely powerful and Sorcerers having normal access to it made Wizards undesirable. Making Globe of Invulnerability unique to Wizards should grant them better position relative to Sorcerers.
Elixir of Universal Resistance now grants its buff for 3 turns down from 10. Comment: Even though named as elixir, it works like potions. This change puts this potion more in line with other potions such as Potion of Speed.
Sacred Flame now deals half damage to its target on a failed save.Comment: Warlocks, Sorcerers and Wizards have tools to manage their spell slot budget over long periods of time. However, Clerics do not have such tools and all the changes to make resources scarce put Clerics into a weird spot. This change should give Clerics a tool to conserve their spell slots effectively, without giving them too much combat power.
Helm's Protection now also work on on the wearer. Comment: This change makes the passive more consistent with Aegis Palms passive.
Confusion now also hits allies. Comment: Confusion targeting also allies feels natural. This change ensures that users are now much more considerate about using such powerful AoE CC.
Arcane Acuity has been widely acknowledged as "too damn powerful". Harsh difficulty tones down Arcane Acuity (as well as Mental Fatigue) significantly.
Arcane Acuity now grants 1 bonus SpellAttackRoll / Spell Save DC while having any amount of stacks. Stacking Arcane Acuity to 10 causes you to lose all stacks, but your next spell will be made with 4 bonus SpellAttackRoll / Spell Save DC. Hats and Gloves now grant you 4 stacks and you don't lose any stacks on damage taken. Comment: This change makes Arcane Acuity Hats in line with Hood of the Weave and Birthright.
Mental Fatigue - now gives penalty only to Intelligence saving throws. Comment: Braindrain Gloves now can't be used as an irrestitible CC source to replace Arcane Acuity.
During my testing I came accross multitude of issues, which I have fixed already. However some issues are still present. If you face any problems not listed in the "Known issues" list, please let me know.
Known issues:
Cap of Curing grants you new spells without removing old versions.
The special effect granted by stacking Arcane Acuity to 10 is consumed even upon casting non-harmful spells.
The bonus force damage from Elixir of Battlemage's Power does not apply to spells which are considered their own spell source (e.g. Spirit Guardians, Moonbeam ...).
Divine Smite Charges don't have a custom icon.
Divine Smite Chares do not appear on Action Resource Panel for Lae'zel companion.This is only a visual bug not affecting functionality at all.
Scrolls show that you do not have spell slot ready to use them, even though you have necessary spell slot ready. This is only a visual bug not affecting functionality at all.
