| 1 | %% |
| 2 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16921409740.18650200 |
| 3 | %% Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread. |
| 4 | %% |
| 5 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/44d2abebf4eeac7f8e011656406a2f58b218f6728123f1999fcc5ca185ca076f.jpg]] |
| 6 | %% |
| 7 | ->''"Oh, swell. She only summoned a demon lord into the tower once. She's only mildly insane. What a wonderful idea! Let's proceed at once!"'' |
| 8 | -->-- '''Conrac''' |
| 9 | |
| 10 | ''Avernum'' is a series of computer {{Role Playing Game}}s by Creator/SpiderwebSoftware. There are currently six parts in the series, as well as ''Blades of Avernum'', which [[GaidenGame doesn't directly influence the plot]]. The first three games, and ''Blades of Avernum'', are actually remakes of the ''VideoGame/{{Exile}}'' series of games. The fourth, fifth and sixth, however, are completely new games, with a completely new engine. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | The games follow the adventures of several groups of, well, [[AnAdventurerIsYou adventurers]]. In the first, they are just a bunch of misfits cast down into the depths of Avernum, which is the name for a humongous series of caverns... and the only place the Empire does not rule, instead casting down its undesirables into it via a one-way magical portal. In the second game, the heroes are a band of soldiers in the Avernum army, accidentally getting a big role in the war against the Empire and diplomacy with an alien people. In ''Avernum 3'', the protagonists are the "secondary" team sent to the surface, after the first group disappeared without a trace. ''Avernum 4'' features another band trying to discover the source of numerous problems (mostly of the monstrous variety) which have sprung up after a period of peace. ''Avernum 5'' puts you in the shoes of soldiers from the Empire, now at peace with Avernum, trying to hunt down a particularly nasty rebel who wishes to end that peace. The final game in the series, ''Avernum 6'', casts you as Avernite soldiers desperately trying to stem the chaos of an Avernum overcome by both a Slithzerikai invasion and the Blight, a disease destroying Avernum's food supply. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | ''Blades of Avernum'' happens after ''Avernum 3'' and doesn't follow the exploits of Avernites per se. In fact, it does not have any cohesive, overarching plot at all. Instead, it lets you [[GameMaker create your own scenarios]] and [[GameMod play the ones other people have made]]. It has been all but abandoned by Spiderweb Software. However, there is still a community of designers for it and dozens of scenarios have been produced. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | ''Avernums 1'' and ''2'' were originally released in 2000, while ''Avernum 3'' was released in 2002. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | ''Avernum'' was rewritten ''again'', starting with '''Avernum: Escape From The Pit'''. The main reason behind this is that the first series (Avernum 1, 2, 3) doesn't run well or at all on modern [=OSes=] (especially Platform/MacOS X 10.6 or above), and the programmer wanted to use a better looking engine. As well as porting the game to the iPad. '''Avernum 2: Crystal Souls''' was released for the same three systems, with '''Avernum 3: Ruined World''' being released in 2018. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | See Also: [[http://encyclopedia.ermarian.net/wiki/Main_Page Encyclopedia Ermarian]] |
| 21 | |
| 22 | ---- |
| 23 | !! These games provide examples of: |
| 24 | |
| 25 | * AerithAndBob: Names are drawn from a variety of sources, often referencing pop culture or giving cameos to the developer's acquaintances or beta testers, leading to a wide range of names from "Erika" to "Garzahd". |
| 26 | * AIIsACrapshoot: Magitech variation in ''5'': Solberg's attempts to create a ''thinking'' Golem Sentinel to automatically control and watch over the other Sentinels results in the Prime Sentinel going mad, failing to distinguish friend from foe and, in general, causing every Sentinel in proximity to go mad and attack ferociously. |
| 27 | * AbnormalLimbRotationRange: Mentioned in the description in ''Ruined World'', the Alien Beasts can apparently do this with their necks and heads, shredding everything to pieces. Their attack animation though is just a normal bite. |
| 28 | * AllEncompassingMantle: The traditional clothing of the Vanhatai, though it looks more like a poncho than a mantle. |
| 29 | * AllCrimesAreEqual: Not fitting in is a crime, and, depending on the mood of the judge, can get you executed or thrown into Avernum. |
| 30 | ** Also, towns will try to kill you on sight if you get caught committing any crime from mass murder to petty theft. Sometimes even simple trespassing will suffice. |
| 31 | * AllInARow: How the party moves around, you can even choose the order of the fellowship members. |
| 32 | * AllSwordsAreTheSame: Due to graphic limitation, aside from category, swords and polearms look all alike. In the first four entries though, the weapon shown depend on the character model (for example a spear on one character will look like a pike, while another wields a staff and another one again has a massive axe and so on). |
| 33 | * AloofAlly: Most of the Vahnatai from 2, especially Rentar-Ihrno. [[spoiler: Surprising no-one, she becomes the BigBad of 3 and 4.]] |
| 34 | ** In 5, you get them in spades from both your imperial superiors (who are tricked by Avernum in having a party of greenhorns authorized in hunting down the highly dangerous Dorikas, instead of the highly-trained troops they were preparing) and the entirety of Avernum, who are either too scared of you or despise you too much to be helpful in any way. |
| 35 | * AlwaysChaoticEvil: Used straight and subverted. Demons in particular with ''very'' few exceptions (read: not violently hostile) are this. |
| 36 | %%* AdaptationExpansion: What ''Avernum'' is to the ''VideoGame/{{Exile}}'' series. In turn, the latest re-release of the first game adds more to the original game yet again (especially an extended tutorial intro), much like how the first ''Avernum'' polished and refined the gameplay from the first ''Exile'' game. |
| 37 | * AdaptedOut: The Twelve Masters of [[DenOfIniquity Angierach]] in 2 are reduced to Ten (Three humans, three Rakshasi, a Criodemon, two Ifrits and Midori the Lich) in ''Crystal Souls''. |
| 38 | ** Hydras do not appear in the remake. |
| 39 | * AndroclesLion: If you're lucky, freeing a trapped animal will get it to help you. If you're unlucky (which is a ''lot'' of the time), it'll just try to eat you. |
| 40 | * AnEconomyIsYou: Averted. Shops either have junk mixed in or only show you what you want to see. Plus, they probably sell their best stuff to Avernum's army instead of you. |
| 41 | * AnimalWrongsGroup: In ''Avernum 5'' there is the Circle of Life cult which breed various nasty critters and release them back into their (newly settled) natural habitat, much to the displeasure of others. However when the group is confronted it is shown that they are quite pacifistic, but also racist (insensitively compare Sliths and Nephilim to the monsters they've been breeding) and foolish (seems to genuinely think that one day, the monsters will become sentient enough to converse with people and reach agreements with them). |
| 42 | %%* AnimatedArmor: Doomguards. |
| 43 | * AntiFrustrationFeatures: |
| 44 | ** In the second trilogy and the remakes, rather than having up to three different "death" stati, your characters are merely knocked out and can be revived by walking across the gates of any friendly settlement. |
| 45 | ** In the second trilogy and the remake, bows no longer need ammo to work. |
| 46 | ** In the sixth game and the remakes, long-lasting spells such as Steel Skin and augmentation are removed in favor of Cloaks and Wards, which function similarly but can envelope the entire party, so that you don't spend large amounts of Energy in casting the spells on all your party members each time. |
| 47 | * AntiGrinding: Fairly well-implemented. You get very little XP from killing monsters far below you in level. |
| 48 | * AntiMagicalFaction: The Church of Anama is a downplayed example in that they still use and promote priest spells but are vehemently opposed to sorcery and wizards, an [[WellIntentionedExtremist overly-paranoid but not-entirely-unjustified stance]]. By the time of the fifth game though, Prazac declared the Anama outlaw and sent them to Avernum, [[IronicHell often leaving them at the mercy of the powerful wizards ruling the place]]. |
| 49 | %%* AnvilOnHead: In the first game, 'X' is trying to research a spell that literally does this. [[spoiler: By the last game, he perfects it.]] |
| 50 | * AscendedExtra: [[spoiler:Anastasia/Zemera goes from a minor early-game boss in ''1/Escape from the Pit'' to an important aid of the BigBad in ''4''.]] |
| 51 | ** While she's a minor NPC that is mostly irrelevant to main quests, Yong-Mi appears in Avernum 1, 2 and 4. In the first game, she's a voluntary exile that is trying to find a way inside an undead crypt. In the second, she does recon missions at the ruins of Cotra. The fourth game reveals that [[spoiler:she's helping the Darkside Loyalists by letting local bandits into Cotra, for which you have to confront her and then kill her.]] |
| 52 | * AsteroidsMonster: Doomguards are powerful animated armors which split into two every time they are hit. All split clones have the exact same stats except for health, making them a very dangerous enemy. Since there is a maximum distance where the split clone can spawn, one effective strategy against Doomguards is to fill up the squares around them with groups of low-level summoned monsters before attacking. In the remake though they only split during their turn after taking damage, and are no longer immune to magic. |
| 53 | * AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Generally played straight, as various leaders of both the good and evil persuasions (Hawthorne, Garzahd, the Triad, Erika, Rentar-Ihrno) are quite powerful, almost always magically. General Baziron in the third game is a something of a GameplayAndStorySegregation subversion. His description notes that he's clad as a Dervish, one of the Empire's elite soldiers, but that he's only entitled to because he's a great general and it's a sign of honors bestowed upon him, not because he's a mighty warrior. The game, however, has him as a Dervish, so if you pick a fight it turns out he really is a reasonably good ass-kicker. |
| 54 | %%* AutomatonHorses: ''Avernum 3''. Averted in ''Ruined World'', where horses are absent. |
| 55 | * BagOfSharing: Averted. Everyone has their own inventory, and you have to be adjacent to pass stuff along in combat. |
| 56 | * BareFistedMonk: Kinda. In ''Avernum 3'', in the endgame, characters are so powerful that they easily reach the weapon damage cap of 200 points. However, there is one weapon which doesn't have a cap--fists. |
| 57 | ** Monastery of Madness in the above-mentioned game is basically the "Lair of AxCrazy Monks" |
| 58 | %%* BarrierChangeBoss: A few minor bosses in the second trilogy. |
| 59 | %%* BeneathTheEarth: The setting, except for ''3'' and ''Blades'', most of which take place on the surface. |
| 60 | * BigBadEnsemble: [[TheEmperor Emperor Hawthorne III]], [[EvilOverlord Sss-thsss]], and [[spoiler:[[{{Satan}} Grah-Hoth]]]] in ''1/Escape From the Pit''. |
| 61 | ** Garzahd and [[spoiler: the Rogue Vahnatai]] in ''Crystal Souls''. |
| 62 | ** The fourth game has the entity behind the Shades [[spoiler: Rentar-Ihrno and her faction]], as well as Dorikas as a secondary but optional villain. |
| 63 | * BigRedDevil: Normal demons in the original series are more like Big Black Devils covered in carapace with glowing red claws and yellow eyes. In the Remake they look more like the part, especially Fiery Demons. |
| 64 | * BittersweetEnding: In ''5'': [[spoiler: if you choose to stay loyal to the Empire and kill Dorikas, then General Mandfred Redmark becomes the next emperor and makes your party in charge of Blackchasm Fortress, pretty much leaving you stuck in Avernum for the rest of your life, except for some occasional return to the surface. However, especially if you bought a share of the Underworld Trading Company, your life there isn't that bad, you can still import luxuries from above and you do wonders to help strenghtening the relationships between Avernites and Imperials.]] |
| 65 | * BlockPuzzle: A few times in the first three games, usually done with [[CrateExpectations crates]]. Unusually, rather than getting them out of your way, you have to move them onto specific floor tiles without accidentally pushing them into the water (particularly difficult in the second game's aptly named "Test of Patience.") |
| 66 | * BodyHorror: [[EvilIsNotAToy Bojar]] in ''Ruined World''. In the original it was just your everyday EvilSorcerer with a bone to pick with everyone and mad enough to use Slimes to achieve vengeance. In the remake, you can see his cracked skin and slimes moving ''inside'' his body, with him being reduced to a barely-conscious puppet. Oh, and this time he doesn't summon Slimes through magic, no: he ''vomits them'' from his very body. Eeek. |
| 67 | %%* BookcasePassage |
| 68 | * BookEnds: |
| 69 | ** In ''Avernum 4'', one of the first side caves you enter near the beginning of the game is dead-ended by three squares of cave-in. Much later, you find that the other side of that cave-in was a hideout of endgame-level mountain giants. |
| 70 | ** The first game has an ongoing war with feral Sliths as a major problem. A Slith horde comes back from their homeland to invade Avernum in the sixth and last game. |
| 71 | * BossArenaIdiocy: |
| 72 | ** The leader of the Rakshashi in ''Avernum 2: Crystal Souls'' casts a ward on himself that clouds the minds of all attackers and cause them to miss. The same room has two water basins you can drink from to give you "enlightened" status effect which counters the aforementioned. Without this, he would be completely invincible. |
| 73 | ** Similarly Sulfras in ''Ruined World''. Should you decide to fight him, he will cast Death Curses now and then during combat, which will cause the target to take a huge amount of damage after a few turns. For no apparent practical reason there are several water basins around him which will dispel the curse. |
| 74 | * BossInMookClothing: ''Constantly'' in ''Avernum 5''. |
| 75 | ** Normal Sliths are pretty fair mid-level mooks. Slith ''warriors'' and ''shamans'', however, are in a league all their own. The warriors have ''way'' more health than anything at their level should have, are ''ridiculously'' hard to hit, and possess powerul attacks. Oh, and they can knock back ''and'' ensnare. Shamans, meanwhile, have even ''more'' health than the warriors despite being mages, spam summoning spells that will always summon a top tier monster (such as Revenants), and are almost always encountered with a small army of normal Sliths and Warriors. Oh, and they're both highly resistant to fire spells, which, at the point in the game you start encountering them, are pretty much a mage's only offensive spell. |
| 76 | * BottomlessBladder: Eating is only necessary to rest to regain HP, which is a change from the ''VideoGame/{{Exile}}'' games. If you want to just walk around to regain HP at a slower rate, that's fine too. Not to mention healing magic... This is [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in ''Avernum 6'', though. Due to the Blight, food is at a premium and malnourishment commonplace. To drive the point home, your characters will automatically eat food in their inventory at regular intervals. If there is no food in the inventory, they will be affected with a hunger debuff that reduces their abilities until they next eat. Thankfully, food is easy to come by. |
| 77 | * BoulderBludgeon: The Giants are fond of using large rocks as weapons and will carefully craft them to make them the more effective. In the first trilogy you could even use ''rocks'' as emergency throwing weapons. |
| 78 | * BrainwashedAndCrazy: In ''1/Escape From the Pit'', [[spoiler:the enemy Slith turn out to be this, having been corrupted by dark magic following [=Sss-Thsss's=] pact with Grah-Hoth.]] |
| 79 | * BreastPlate: One of the player character avatars looks like Comicbook/RedSonja, complete with chainmail bikini. One of the male avatars is also scantily-clad, and the Sliths and Nephils wear nothing but loincloths. Of course, the pictures don't necessarily reflect the gameplay. |
| 80 | * BrickJoke: |
| 81 | %%** X and his anvil spell. |
| 82 | ** Early in ''Escape From the Pit'', Lagram is something of a warmup boss helping your party get accustomed to combat. You can face Lagram again much later in the game; you find that [[spoiler:in the meantime he's suffered a HumiliationConga where he's been rejected not only by Avernum, but also [[TruceZone the freehold of Kyass]] and even [[WretchedHive the cities of the Abyss]]. He tried to set up his bandit nation in the no-man's-land between Fort Saffron and Fort Spire, only for his base to get destroyed by eyebeasts. You're basically there to put him out of his misery.]] |
| 83 | * BrutalBonusLevel: The fifth game has some hidden side dungeons located in certain areas, including a secret Slith temple, a crypt of powerful undead, a series of puzzle-based caves and the hidden domain of a mighty Lich: all these levels contain very hard, extremely brutal fights with enemies stronger than average and a tricky boss, but are also very rewarding when it comes to items or spellbooks. |
| 84 | * BucketBoobyTrap: The illustration for the "Tool Use" skill in the first three games. Naturally, the bucket is labeled "acid." |
| 85 | * CallBack: |
| 86 | ** The Black Horror in ''5'' looks identical to the Shades from the previous game and even undergoes three phases where he obtains a power up based on the Shades themselves. |
| 87 | ** In ''6'', there's a fortress in the Western Reaches (based on an old Vanhatai fortress) where Avernites are trying to dig a way through to reach a fabled way out to the surface, as a double nod to the first game (the passage) and fourth (the Vanhatai fortress). One of the troubles in ''6'' is also derived by a summoned Haakai inside Colony Tower (former Tower of Magery), just like in the first game. |
| 88 | * CallForward: In ''Escape from the Pit'', completing a quest for for the talking spider tribe rewards with an unusually thin cloak and strange, shuriken-like blades. Veterans of the series will recognize these as Vahnatai equipment. You can also find a tunnel sealed with magical barriers that contain a Vahnatai corpse. |
| 89 | * CameBackWrong: Crystal Souls are [[AndIMustScream rocks that can't so much as move on their own]]. Most of them aren't bonkers, but the ones that are tend to be ''impressively'' nuts. In the games you only deal with a handful that CameBackWrong, a few with post-traumatic stress disorder, and some that just don't like you. There are also the ones who are happy to chat, but they're less exciting. |
| 90 | * CatFolk: The Nephilim are a furry, feline race renowned for their sharp senses and ability to see in the dark. |
| 91 | ** And the Nepharim, their stronger, infertile, cousins. |
| 92 | * CerebusSyndrome: A relatively mild case since the humor was always somewhat black. Installments after ''Avernum 3'' became darker and more serious, much like the tone of ''VideoGame/{{Geneforge}}''. Note this is also when Creator/PhilFoglio stopped illustrating the menus. |
| 93 | * ChaosArchitecture: Mostly justified. Avernum sees a lot of seismic activity -- not to mention that the first exiles didn't have much to work with when they built everything in the first place -- and [[spoiler:the Tower of Magi gets destroyed by demons]]. |
| 94 | * ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: In Melee, you simply have the choice bewteen Melee weapons (daggers, swords and broadswords) and Polearms (spears and halberds), the latter being more damaging but preventing you from using a shield or dual wielding. For ranged combat, you can choose between either bows (in the earlier titles that included crossbows) and thrown weapons (such as javelins and razordisks). |
| 95 | * CityGuards: They have a special statistic which makes them triple-effective when fighting against {{Player Character}}s. |
| 96 | * ClimaxBoss: Sss-Thsss in the first game, as well as Rentar-Ihrno's [[spoiler:first]] fight in the 4th game. Though the fact that you still have a third of the map to explore might spoil this one. The fifth game has the battle against Dervish Tholmen. |
| 97 | * ConvectionSchmonvection: In the original trilogy and ''Blades of Avernum'', stepping in lava deals a large amount of damage, but standing next to it is fine. Later games, counting the remake of the first game, simply make it impossible to walk over. |
| 98 | * {{Cult}}: In ''Avernum 3'', you can even join your choice of either anti-magic nutjobs or Creator/AynRand-inspired libertarian fundies. Then there is the Cult of the Sacred Item, which more or less makes [[KleptomaniacHero non-heroic kleptomania]] a sacrament; the Monastery of Madness, which has all the best of bad kung fu, and various minor demon-worshipping cults as well as more benign temples to this or that god or principle. The Church of the Divine Lucre worships money and their prices for services show it. |
| 99 | * DamnYouMuscleMemory: When moving from ''3'' to ''4'', the transition to the ''{{VideoGame/Geneforge}}'' game engine means that the targeting of ranged attacks and spells now has to be done with the mouse rather than the keyboard. If you're used to taking your hand off the mouse entirely and typing "maa" to cast Bolt of Fire on the closest enemy like you could in the first three games, you'll have to adjust your default combat hand position a bit. |
| 100 | * DeathIsCheap: Only 375 GP at your local healer. Games 4, 5, and 6 as well as the remakes of the original trilogy replace it with {{Non Lethal KO}}. |
| 101 | %%* DeadpanSnarker: The PC's self-narration in 5 can falls into this category. |
| 102 | * DemonLordsAndArchDevils: Demons in the series are often lead by very powerful being called Haakai, which are all late-level enemies in terms of power. The legendary Haakai Lord Grah-Hoth is even more powerful. |
| 103 | * DeusExMachina: The ending of ''Blades'' scenario "The Valley of the Dying Things": [[spoiler: As the entire waste disposal center is about to be engulfed in Quickfire with you still inside, the Vahnatai who told you how to do it will teleport you to safety as a way to say "thanks".]] |
| 104 | %%* DialogueTree: It's a lot like VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'s. |
| 105 | * DudeWheresMyRespect: |
| 106 | ** To ludicrous extent in 5: since you're playing as an imperial soldier, everyone in Avernum will absolutely hate your guts over the still-strong anti-imperial feeling, even by younger generations born years after the war. Furthermore, since you're basically a vanguard of fledgelings tricked into carrying out an extremely dangerous mission, even your coworkers treat you with disdain. This trend seems to be extremely common in the second trilogy as a whole, with the starting town/fortress having its people treating your party as a bunch of idiots prone to cut off their own heads if handed a sword. |
| 107 | ** In the sixth game, you start off as the guards of a food depot and your superior reluctanctly tasks you with killing some goblins. You're then sent to the Castle, where you slowly get more authority and respect as you complete more quests successfully. |
| 108 | * DugTooDeep: Considered the inevitable result of any mining operation. The usual discovery is a crypt full of undead, but ancient ruins aren't unheard of, such as Pit of the Wyrm in A3. Then again, it's said in the fourth game that all crypts are de-trapped, de-monstered, and looted within months of being occupied, so it's not clear how these ones were missed in the first place. |
| 109 | * DungeonBypass: Intentionally in the case of the priest spell Move Mountains, which destroys cracked walls. For the unintentional version, see GoodBadBugs below. |
| 110 | * EldritchAbomination: The aptly named Alien Slime from ''3'', is the ''thing'' spawning the Slimes, is enormous, towering and alien-looking compared to anything else you met. |
| 111 | * ElementalCrafting: Beginning with stone and working up to steel, then magical. This is pretty well justified in the first two games, where the resources to forge proper steel weapons (rather less magical ones) are scarce and it makes sense for you and a lot of the lower-level mooks to be wielding stone weaponry and "poor" leather armor, and for bronze, iron and steel equipment to be increasingly expensive. Considerably less so once you stop spending the entire game underground and cut off from the surface world. |
| 112 | * ElevatorActionSequence: Twice in the fifth game (with lifts, no less!) |
| 113 | * TheEmpire: Quite literally, because The Empire is its exact name--tough to be an emperor ''of'' something when you rule the entire world. It also has TheEmperor--Hawthorne is either type 1 or 3, Prazac is 4 (albeit technically an Empress.) |
| 114 | * EndOfAnAge: ''Avernum 6'' has this recurring theme, with the changing of relationship between the Empire and the Avernites, as well as the fact that the Blight and the Slith Horde may cause the end of the underworld as the people know it. |
| 115 | * EnemyMine: The ultimate reason why Vahnatai and Avernites join forces in 2. The fact that [[spoiler: the Empire took advantage of a rogue faction of heretics to steal their Crystal Souls helped a lot.]] |
| 116 | ** In 3, [[spoiler: The three surviving Dragons agree to help you fight the real mastermind of the plagues, as the Alien Beasts they created are a tremendous pain in the ass even for themselves and greatly endanger the birth of new drakes.]] |
| 117 | * EnemySummoner: in a [[SummonMagic literal sense]]. Starting from the second trilogy, certain bosses will automatically "call for aid" when their health is low and summon several creatures in a turn. |
| 118 | * EternalEquinox: For convenience's sake, days and nights last the same number of hours. |
| 119 | * EverybodyHatesMathematics: In ''Avernum 2'', you and your party visit a sleepy little bed & breakfast owned by a farmer. While poking around, you discover books owned by the farmer's wife, full of horrifyingly alien texts and eldritch symbols detailing a strange magic none of you can comprehend. If you ask her about it, she tells you what they're about with a sigh: Algebra. |
| 120 | * EveryoneHasStandards: |
| 121 | ** In ''Avernum 2'', if you go to Silvar and go into the slums full of refugees from [[spoiler: Cotra after it was destroyed by the Empire]], you can meet a man named Asp with the standard assassin/[[{{VideoGame/Avadon}} Shadowwalker]] sprite who openly admits to having stolen before in his life, but who expresses ''extreme'' disgust at a group of thugs who are hiding out somewhere in town and robbing the refugees of what little they have left, and if you kill the thugs, he sincerely thanks you for it. |
| 122 | ** Erika Redmark is known to [[RevengeBeforeReason want revenge on the Empire for her banishment from the surface]], which involved a curse that meant she would die if she returned there, a curse even she could not break. In ''1'', this manifests in her quest to [[spoiler:slay Emperor Hawthorne]]. [[spoiler: In ''3'', though, she actually assists you in stopping Rentar-Ihrno, suggesting that Rentar-Ihrno's plot to make the surface uninhabitable went]] too far even for Erika's taste. |
| 123 | * EverythingFades: Corpses disappear the instant the animation is finished. They'll sometimes leave something behind such as dropped items, bloodstains, slime puddles or bones. |
| 124 | * ExactWords: When Erika was first exiled to Avernum, she was cursed so that she would immediately die if she ever returned to the surface. [[spoiler:As her fight with Rentar-Ihrno in ''3'' shows, it turns out "being on the surface" means ''having a single ray of natural sunlight shone on her'']]. |
| 125 | * FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Rentar-Ihrno]] in ''3''. [[spoiler:In ''2'', she's one of your main allies in the war against TheEmpire, but the various atrocities committed by the Empire leads her to believe that HumansAreBastards, and she turns into an OmnicidalManiac]]. |
| 126 | ** [[spoiler:While Linda's actions in the first game were well intentioned, if incredibly arrogant and had ''severe'' consequences, by the time she reappears in the second trilogy, she's gone well and truly off the deep end and ultimately destroys the Tower of Magi purely out of spite for her banishment.]] |
| 127 | * FallenHero: Solberg: for the first four games, Solberg is a humble, kind and helpful if reclusive sorcerer who defeated Grah-Hoth in the past alongside Erika and Patrick and helped the heroes saving Avernum plenty of times. By the time of the fifth game, he's been reduced to a paranoid, senile ControlFreak who has established his own "utopic" domain in the north for a limited amount of people, uses potentially unstable golems as sentinels and regularly blames everyone else for his mistakes. Because of his senility, he's lost (almost) everybody's respect in the sixth game and nobody in Fort Duvno cares enough to stop him when he decides to join you to fight the Slith Horde head-on. |
| 128 | * FantasticDrug: Skribbane in ''Avernum 3'', ''5'' and ''6''. It gets name-dropped in ''Escape From the Pit'' in the Freehold of Kyass (as the reason for one of Kyass's men going crazy), but you never actually see any in-game. |
| 129 | ** To elaborate a little; skribbane is a herb that acts basically like an amphetamine; granting a major surge of strength and energy, in exchange for crippling psychological dependency. You can actually use it in ''3'', where it acts as a major combat buff, but will later hit you with some very nasty side-effects. |
| 130 | * FantasticHonorifics: The Vahnatai add suffixes to their names based on rank, including "Ihrno" for high-level mages and "Bok" for Crystal Souls (as well as individuals who will become Crystal Souls when they die). |
| 131 | * FantasticRacism: The Empire hunts down damn near everything that isn't human, and has succeeded in wiping out at least one race of sentient humanoids. |
| 132 | ** Even once relations with the Nephilim and the Slith have improved from the second game on, there's still a lot of bad blood, especially from veterans of the wars against both groups. Many such veterans will [[WhatTheHellHero call you out]] if you have a Nephil or a Slith in your party. |
| 133 | ** In 3, sometimes empire patrols will attack you on sight if you have a non-human in your party. |
| 134 | ** In 5, your party of imperial soldiers faces costant insults, glares, obstructions and even murder attempts by the locals, sometimes because of the BigBad's plot, others simply because the people of Avernum are still awfully rancorous. |
| 135 | * FantasticSlurs: Nephilim and Slithzerikai are called [[CatFolk kitties]] and [[LizardFolk lizards]] respectively. Avernites are called worms (by people of the Empire) and voles (by those in the Abyss). [[http://encyclopedia.ermarian.net/wiki/Hate_language Here's a list.]] |
| 136 | %%* FightWoosh: Only for outdoor battles in the original trilogy. |
| 137 | * FighterMageThief: From the gameplay basis, we have Fighters (Soldier, Berserker, Archer), Thief (Rogue, Rebel) and Mage (Shaman, Priest, Sorcerer, Hedge Wizard). The three human Masters from Angierach are also this, combined with OldMaster (they're described as so old and wizened you cannot even tell their gender or appearance). In the sixth game, the three leaders of the Slith Horde follow this pattern. |
| 138 | %%* FireIceLightning: And poison, acid, and "disruption." |
| 139 | * FinalBoss: |
| 140 | ** In ''Escape'', each of the three Main Quests has a boss fight with a powerful creature near the end: You have to fight Grah-Hoth, the [[DemBones Deathtouch Horror]] and, of course, Emperor Hawthorne. |
| 141 | ** In ''Crystal Souls'' you have to face Garzahd (depending on the order you completed the missions, once as a true boss battle and once as an AdvancingBossOfDoom who rains deadly spells on you on a roof while Quickfire advances. |
| 142 | ** In ''Ruined World'', you have to confront the force behind the Monster Plagues [[spoiler: Rentar-Ihrno]] in the final dungeon. |
| 143 | ** In ''4'', the final boss which needs to be beaten to finish the game is [[spoiler: Rentar-Ihrno's Crystal Soul form]], though if you did the right choices before then it's possible to persuade the boss to give up. |
| 144 | ** In ''5'', there's the final showdown with the rebellious Dorikas inside his hidden keep. |
| 145 | * FlamingSword: One of the best end-game weapons you can get your hands on, including the Oozing variation and Freezing variation. |
| 146 | * FlowerFromTheMountaintop: In the third installment, there is a quest like this. Said flower is also guarded by hordes of gremlins who [[CharmPerson charm]] you constantly. |
| 147 | %%* ForcedTutorial: In the fourth and fifth games. |
| 148 | %%* FriendlyFireproof: Most spells use this. However, Wall of Blades will damage anyone nearby. |
| 149 | * FridgeLogic: InUniverse, in ''5'' you can try to invoke this with an Anama wand maker by pointing out that they are using sorcerer's spells through wands and potions. The speaker explains that Anama are actually fine with the inherent power of components and herbs which can be used to make potions and wands alike, they are specifically against the words of power employed by sorcery (thus, spellcasting and scrolls). |
| 150 | * FunctionalMagic: All the "flavors" are used except Wild Magic and MagicMusic. "Styles" are "Mage" (BlackMagic with DarkIsNotEvil employed) and "Priest" (WhiteMagic.) Both Mage and Priest spells include ElementalPowers and SummonMagic, though priests can only summon spirits. Necromancy in the standard sense is mage-only, always evil, and restricted to your enemies. |
| 151 | * GameplayAndStorySegregation: Happens in the remake trilogy. In ''Escape'', the battle against Garzahd is treated as a ILetYouWin, no matter how well-armed you are, even if you have Demonslayer. [[spoiler: In the sequel, you find out that Demonslayer is possibly the only weapon capable of penetrating his defenses and kill him.]] |
| 152 | %%* {{Geas}}: This is what you get if you accept to work for Gladwell as a price for his help. |
| 153 | * GenreBlind: X in 3 [[spoiler: seems to genuinely think that Linda has reformed and her days of meddling with Demons are over. Note how he forgets what he was talking about before even finishing the sentence.]] |
| 154 | %%* GhostlyChill: A good sign that you're entering a crypt or other haunted place is the sudden chill in the air. |
| 155 | * GlobalCurrency: Explained as barter goods. And in the third game, the currency really ''is'' global, as the Empire controls the entire surface world. |
| 156 | * GodMode: Arcane Shield renders you ''almost'' invulnerable. As it wears off, however, more and more attacks slip through. Invulnerability potions do the same, but lasts shorter. |
| 157 | * GoodIsNotNice: Erika is the closest thing the series has to a BigGood, but she's haughty, arrogant, and ''violently'' opposed to long term peace between Avernum and the Empire. |
| 158 | * GottaCatchEmAll: The second game has a clear example, the Crystal Souls. The first has you gather and reforge the shards of the sword Demonslayer to fight Grah-Hoth, but [[ReviveKillsZombie a few well-aimed Arrows of Light can also deal with him]]. Some of the games give a soul crystal (not a Crystal Soul) in which you can store copies of monsters to summon later, turning them into {{Mons}}. |
| 159 | * GrayAndGrayMorality: Especially true in ''5'': as you're told pretty soon, you're an empire soldier, a stranger, thus the long-term benefits of Avernum do not really concern you and none of the various cities and villages you visit are especially good or bad. More often than not, completing certain quests will result in you making an enemy of a faction you just aided and viceversa. |
| 160 | %%* HarderThanHard: Torment. It [[NintendoHard lives up to its name]], particularly in the fifth game. |
| 161 | * HarmfulHealing: In the first three games, never use the "First Aid" action when you haven't trained in the skill. You have a high chance of doing damage to your unfortunate ally. |
| 162 | ** Later games use it as an automatic action performed after battles, which restores a small amount of HP and MP, averting the trope. |
| 163 | %%* HeWhoFightsMonsters: [[spoiler: Garzahd's background, shockingly enough, as well as ultimately Rentar-Ihrno.]] |
| 164 | * HeelFaceTurn: |
| 165 | %%** [[spoiler:Rentar-Ihrno in the 4th game, depending on your dialogue choices.]] |
| 166 | ** The Nephilim and Slithzerikai undergo this in the second game on, following the player's defeat of the former's more hostile leaders and [[spoiler:cleansing the Slith of Grah-Hoth's taint]] in the latter's case. |
| 167 | * {{Hellfire}}: Quickfire. Only certain magical barriers can prevent it from spreading. They also outright kill you in the remakes, instead of damaging you like they do in the original games. |
| 168 | * HideYourChildren: Generally they only appear in areas with no monsters. If they're human, anyways--nothing stops you killing a "baby hydra." And often very little stops you from killing a child [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment if you don't mind the town attacking you on sight]]. |
| 169 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: Emperor Hawthorne cultivated a climate of cutthroat competition, instituting {{Klingon Promotion}}s and [[LockedAwayInAMonastery underworld exile]] for losers of political clashes in order to keep them from threatening his power. This concentrated a lot of determined resentment among people capable of thriving on being ReassignedToAntarctica, at least one of whom never stopped conspiring revenge, and many others willing to support it. |
| 170 | ** In ''Ruined World'', you can solve the Troglo Plague and Giant Plague by breaking down the barrier and causing a battle between them, while in the Golem Factory you can damage the boss by reflecting one of the laser beams into it. |
| 171 | * HopelessBossFight: [[spoiler:Rentar-Ihrno]] in ''Avernum 3''. [[note]]It is actually possible to win, provided you are very, ''very'' persistent, but according to the small handful of people who have actually done it, the hours it takes to accomplish aren't worth the payout.[[/note]] |
| 172 | * ImAHumanitarian: Well, the bloody bodies in Garzahd's pantry are of indeterminate species, but they look humanoid, and the meat from them is classified as "weird." Creepy meat shows up many times in giants' and ogres' homes as well. |
| 173 | * InfinityPlusOneSword: Subverted. The sword Demonslayer comes up in many games as a legendary sword wielded by all the greatest heroes of Avernum. When you get your hands on it you learn that it is just an endgame weapon, but not clearly the best weapon to use in any given situation. |
| 174 | %%* InexplicablyIdenticalIndividuals: The Merry brothers in the third game. |
| 175 | * InsufferableGenius: The VainSorceress Erika considers over-lengthy titles beneath her. Not everything good in Avernum is her doing, [[spoiler:just the [[MultipurposeMonoculturedCrop Multipurpose Monocultured Fungi]] that everyone farms for food and wood and oh yeah, all of the ''books'' everyone learns magic from]], little stuff like that. She's still so abrasive that she lives alone in her own personal MageTower with a private PortalNetwork connection just so she only has to deal with other people when she absolutely has to - which makes '''everyone''' much happier with the situation. |
| 176 | %%* InsurmountableWaistHeightFence: Plenty of them. |
| 177 | * InvisibleMonsters: Guardians and black shades in the first three games. The only way to attack them is to walk into the seemingly empty spaces they occupy. |
| 178 | * {{Irony}}: Kyass in ''Escape'' depicts himself as an honest and heroic rebel openly fighting the Kingdom of Avernum and mocking their hypocrisy and similarity to the very same Empire that caused them to end in Avernum in the first place. Would be a lot cooler if it weren't for the fact that [[spoiler: working for a secret Imperial agent hiding in one of the towns reveals that the Empire itself is secretly supporting Kyass' rebellion. Even if you know this though, you're not given an option to reveal him that the Empire he hates so much is helping him out. To rub even more salt on the wound, by the time of ''Crystal Souls'' a quick look at the map reveals that Kyass' territory is among those conquered by the Empire, and you can find and imprisoned and broken Kyass in Elderan's Tower, where he turns into a monster you have to kill.]] |
| 179 | * KarmaMeter: The original trilogy has a reputation stat. Completing quests and performing other good deeds raises it. Getting caught stealing and other bad deeds lowers it. A high reputation will make certain [=NPCs=] help you. However, you start off with a low reputation and will almost certainly end up with a high one - especially as the final quests are not made available by the party's [[BeefGate strength]], but its [[FameGate notability]]. |
| 180 | * KickTheDog: Some of Gladwell's quests may be solidly to flimsily justified on a search for knowledge and power ([[{{Munchkin}} which for the player it naturally is]],) but every one of them smacks of ForTheEvulz motivation on his part. Combines with YouBastard, as the player receives passive-aggressive guilt trips from characters who couldn't possibly know their involvement. |
| 181 | * KindheartedCatLover: Motrax the Dragon. Unlike his siblings, he's not reclusive, power-mad, or spiteful towards humans, preferring to actually trade knowledge with visitors. He also considers cats "remarkable". |
| 182 | * KleptomaniacHero: You. But {{NPC}}s only care about some items. What's more, you never need worry about which ones, because the game ''tells you outright''. Imagine walking into a store with candy bars labeled "Don't steal this one, it's Not Yours" and the sure knowledge that no one will mind if you hork all the rest of them. |
| 183 | * KnightsAndKnaves: Referenced but averted by a sign in Erika's tower in ''Escape From the Pit'': |
| 184 | -->One goblin tells the truth,\ |
| 185 | The other lies.\ |
| 186 | [[CuttingTheKnot Pierce them both to get the prize]]. |
| 187 | %%* LaResistance: The Scimitar. |
| 188 | * LackOfEmpathy: The Vanhatai in ''6'' are insesitive to the suffering of the Avernite caused by the Blight and the Slith Horde, feeling that it's only the best solution to restore the balance to the caverns. |
| 189 | * LastChanceHitPoint: Standard mechanic in the first three games. This is exploitable if you pick a fight with an enemy that's significantly above your level, but can only attack once per turn. |
| 190 | * LegionsOfHell: A side effect of the portals in ''6'' is that they tend to attract demons of all size to them. In fact, the Great Portal will eventually break and starts spamming demons like there's no tomorrow. |
| 191 | %%* LemonyNarrator: Particularly in regard to being a DeadpanSnarker. |
| 192 | * LightAndMirrorsPuzzle: Several in the Golem Factory in ''Avernum 3''. The goal is generally to point the lasers in such a direction that they won't block your path. (Which is odd, because you [[InsurmountableWaistHighFence ought to be able to crawl under them...]]) |
| 193 | %%* LimitedSoundEffects |
| 194 | * LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: Priests and mages tend to become demigods in the second half in the games, vastly overshadowing the warriors' usefulness. Averted, however, in ''Avernum 6'', with the introduction of dual-wielding. A properly built fighter is the best source of single-target damage in the game. |
| 195 | ** In most games, magic users and soldiers are generally best against their polar opposites. Mages and priests tend to have very high resistance to elemental spells, but die when a warrior sneezes in their general direction. When engaging magic users, your own mages are always better off buffing your warriors than trying to engage the enemy directly. |
| 196 | * LockedDoor: Typically, any door you aren't supposed to get through has an absurd value required to pick/bash it, like 200, where a good thief has a skill of maybe 15. However, in the earlier games, having the Unlock Doors spell learned at the highest level possible meant you could unlock those as well. |
| 197 | ** In ''Escape From the Pit'', the game outright tells you when a door isn't meant to be picked and does away with the Unlock Door spell. |
| 198 | * LuckStat: Putting points in this stat raises the chances of a character surviving what would otherwise be a death blow (taking damage while at 0 HP). This shows up in the log as "Bob lucks out!" |
| 199 | * LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: To balance out the greater attack power of spears in the later games, they're all made two-handed, swords are all made one-handed, and shields become very effective at reducing damage. |
| 200 | * LuredIntoATrap: A rather common event in the games, it becomes ''really'' frequent in the fifth: whenever an NPC gives you a clue on your current mission or offers help, eight time out of ten he's working for the bad guys and leading you to a trap, usually an ambush. |
| 201 | * MacGuffinGuardian: Plenty of powerful monster which, upon being slain, will let you obtain some sweet loot. A specific example would be the Lich Midori guarding [[spoiler: One of the Crystal Souls]] in the fortress of Angierach. |
| 202 | * MageTower: The Tower of Magi. Erika, Patrick, and Solberg also have their own towers in the first two games (Erika has a new one in game 3). |
| 203 | * {{Magitek}}: Some of the rarer technology of the Vahanati and even the Empire fits as this, in Blades the abandoned Skylark School of Magery even had functioning supercomputers. |
| 204 | * MamaBear: Athron becomes one in 3. Too bad she's willing to butcher anyone who harm her children, self-defense be damned! |
| 205 | * TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:When you assassinate the Slith King Sss-thsss in the first game, King Micah then dispatches you to look into the destruction of Fort Remote. Grah-Hoth reveals himself, and expresses anger that you killed his "pet".]] |
| 206 | ** 3/Ruined World imply that there's a mastermind behind the plagues of Valorim, with hints pointing at Erika, the Dragons and the Vahnatai. [[spoiler: Turns out, it's Rentar-Ihrno's doing.]] |
| 207 | ** 4 has the mysterious Shades plagueing the cities of Avernum, [[spoiler: again sent by Rentar-Ihrno.]] |
| 208 | ** 5 has many bandits and villains you face secretly or not sent by Dorikas. |
| 209 | ** 6 opens with you finding out that the Goblin tribe pestering the food depot was sent by Khrez-Yss the Shadow, one of the three leaders of the Slith Horde. |
| 210 | %%* MinmaxersDelight: The "Divinely Touched" character trait. |
| 211 | * MildlyMilitary: For some reason Avernum's military is fond of sending its ill-prepared new grunts (not even special forces or shock troops) out on scouting missions in groups of four (in plainclothes, no less, though somehow other Avernites will recognize you as a team of soldiers), while the better-trained and stronger troops remain to guard the fort. In most of the cases the loose justification is that you're actually PrivateMilitaryContractors (and therefore disposable). Justified in the fifth game: your party of Empire soldiers was simply supposed to get to New Harston and get the permission papers for the real Dorikas-hunting team... but was forced by the Avernites to take part to the hunt themselves. |
| 212 | * MirrorMatch: In the fourth game, you'll encounter a few instances where you'll have to fight a party that mimics the game's cookie cutter party layout: Human warrior, Nephil Archer/Slith rogue, Human Priest, Human mage. |
| 213 | * MissingSecret: Missing minor secrets are favored by Spiderweb. |
| 214 | * MisplacedRetribution: [[spoiler: While there's no excuse for how the empire treated the Vahnatai Crystal Souls in 2, Rentar-Ihrno's plan ends up devastating the continent of Valorim, which apparently is just one of the many owned by the Empire, a latest acquisition and far from the central power. In short, she's redirecting her wrath on innocent people rather than the core of the Empire itself.]] |
| 215 | * TheMole: If you look around enough, you can discover that the Empire secretly left agents in strategic locations to keep Avernum in check. [[spoiler: Sergeant Cienna in ''5'' is ForcedIntoEvil by Dorikas.]] |
| 216 | * MoneyForNothing: Things worth buying are rare by the end of the game in the original trilogy. You either max out on gold or spend it on frivolous things. By the third game, however, spending money on training can keep your cash valuable all the way through. |
| 217 | * MoneySpider: Averted. Enemies usually have relevant loot, and frequently make use of any consumables they get spawned with. Some enemies do drop money, but only those that would believably carry some. |
| 218 | * MookMaker: The essence of the plot of the third game. There are also some monsters that behave this way. |
| 219 | * MultipleEndings: ''Escape From the Pit'' has [[spoiler:a Safety ending where you save Avernum from the demon Grah-Hoth, a Freedom ending where you lead the people of Avernum back to the surface, and a Revenge ending where you assassinate [[TheEmpire the Emperor]].]] Interestingly, [[spoiler:its possible to complete ''[[GoldenEnding all three at once]]'' because only the Freedom ending (if you choose to leave) actually ends the game. The rest just keep going and let you continue solving Avernum's many, many problems.]] |
| 220 | ** The third trilogy has some slight changes during the epilogue depending on your choices and allegiances throughout the game. ''Avernum 5'' in particular has several ongoing optional questlines that result in this, such as whether you bought stock in the shipping company, joined Gladwell, or [[spoiler: [[VillainProtagonist sided with the villains, killed General Redmark, and installed Dorikas as the new Emperor]]]]. |
| 221 | ** The final game has a similar approach to decide the future of Avernum and who will remain on the top. Again, this is influenced by many sidequests, usually related to either Gladwell or Melanchion. |
| 222 | * MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: The Sliths and Nephils are your foes in the first game and [[MonsterAllies playable species]] in the second -- the Sliths even state a distinction between "Darklings" and those who don't kill everything that moves. Also, Motrax the friendly [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragon]] (and Melanchion in 5 and 6) and a few non-hostile ogres. |
| 223 | * MysteryMeat: "Weird meat" comes from a variety of sources, of which the ''least'' disturbing is giant lizards used as livestock. At least one example ([[BigBad Garzahd's]] "pantry") is apparently humanoid in origin, maybe even [[ImAHumanitarian human]]. However, all of it can be eaten without harm. |
| 224 | * NarrativeProfanityFilter: "Those blinking, farging porgers don't have the blanks..." |
| 225 | * {{Nerf}}: Doomguards are much less dangerous than in the ''Exile'' series. Rather than split in two every time they take damage, now they only split at the end of the turn if they have taken damage. They are also no longer near-immune to magic. |
| 226 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: In 1 alone, you have to [[spoiler: release the satanic Grah-Hoth from his prison, allowing him to reform his castle, so that you can kill him for good.]] You can also question Erika's plans for assassinating the Emperor, though she doesn't care. |
| 227 | ** In 2, [[spoiler: sabotaging the Imperial Portal without the Onyx Scepter at hand will result into an unstable Black Hole which causes the destruction of Avernum.]] |
| 228 | * NoCanonForTheWicked: |
| 229 | ** Inverted in the second trilogy, as [[spoiler:even if you kill [[EvilSorcerer Gladwell]] in the current game, he still shows up alive in the next game]]. |
| 230 | ** Played straight in ''5'': You can choose to ally with either [[spoiler:the Empire or the Darkside Loyalists, and your allegiance determines whether General Redmark or Dorikas becomes Emperor. ''VI'' reveals that the Emperor is Redmark, and that the Darkside Loyalists were (mostly) eliminated]]. |
| 231 | * NotMeThisTime: In ''Avernum 3'', your party is trying to figure out who created the plagues of monsters that are attacking TheEmpire. You can question the dragons, the Vahnatai, and the sorceress Erika, all of whom have grudges against the Empire and the means to create the monsters, but they all insist that while they hate the Empire with a passion, they have nothing to do with this. It's up to your party to figure out which--if any--of these are responsible. |
| 232 | * NotSoDifferentRemark: Kyass in ''Escape'' unfavorably compares the kingdom of Avernum and Hawthorne's Empire - after all, the Avernites have been busy establishing a new monarchy over as much territory as they can and driving out the "monstrous" races, as well as banishing their own undesirables to an even less pleasant part of Avernum, the Abyss. The Nephilim and Sliths may be violent, but the Avernites ''are'' invaders as far as they're concerned. In the fifth game, Dorikas claims to see a little of himself in the players. |
| 233 | * NotSoHarmlessVillain: In ''Escape from the Pit'', the bandit Lagram serves little purpose other than to serve as your intro to combat at the start of the game. [[spoiler:Late in the game, he reappears not only ''much'' stronger than before (complete with an upgraded sprite), but he has an entire team of high level bandits and monsters at his command.]] |
| 234 | ** In ''5'', the summoner Hirickis is a minor joke boss in one of the very first quests in the game, terrorizing a backwater town with his army of level 1 bugs (which can be turned against him). In ''6'', [[spoiler:he's an extremely powerful bonus boss at the bottom of the Honeycomb, in a section inaccessible until the last third of the game, and taking him down is a long, painstaking affair of chasing him as he teleports around the room, chain-summoning hellhounds and acid worms, and spamming powerful area-effect diamond sprays]]. |
| 235 | %%* NPCAmnesia |
| 236 | %%* NumericalHard |
| 237 | * OhCrap: If you have a high enough [[KarmaMeter reputation]], some foes will surrender or flee rather than fight you. A different kind of this trope comes into play ''3'' if you sneak up behind a group of bandits guarding the entrance to their lair early in the game; their panic results in their attacking you even if they would otherwise flee. |
| 238 | ** In ''Escape from the Pit'', Lagram's thugs have this reaction if you choose to immediately attack rather than plead for mercy as they expected. |
| 239 | ** In 4, you're marching up to the front gate of the [[VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Very Definitely Final Dungeon]], when suddenly the nearby defense pylons turn on. Note that the same pylons are implied to have massacred a force of ''thousands'' of Avernite soldiers earlier in the game. |
| 240 | * OneSizeFitsAll: It doesn't matter if the armor you took came from a Troglodyte, a Slith, a Goblin or an Ogre: you can wear them with no penalty. |
| 241 | %%* OnlySaneMan: Solberg in 3 is one of the few wizards in the Tower of Magi who still distrusts Linda, rightfully so. |
| 242 | %%* OpeningTheSandbox: The final chapter in ''Avernum 2''. |
| 243 | * OptionalBoss: Very common, a particular instance of this trope happens in ''5'' if you either go for the optional [[BrutalBonusLevel side areas]] or you follow the Lark questline and hunt for rare unique monsters so that she can make power up soup with their body parts. The last of these battles pits you against the Black Horror in what's possibly the hardest battle of the game. |
| 244 | %%* OrganDrops: Fortunately, they're usually quest items rather than food. |
| 245 | * OurMonstersAreDifferent: In quite a lot of ways. |
| 246 | ** BlobMonster: Slimes. Not very tough, but their attacks are acidic, and one variety [[AsteroidsMonster splits in two every time it's damaged]]. In 3, they are one of the plagues tormenting Valorim, and the Remake makes them brightly colored (while standard cave slimes have duller colors). |
| 247 | ** Demons: Of a secular variety, believe it or not. They're a ProudWarriorRace with a sadistic sense of humor, but they spend most of their time fighting each other. The game also has Efreets who, however, use a different sprite. |
| 248 | ** GiantSpider: A variety, including the Giant Intelligent Friendly Talking Spiders (and Roaches, in the third game). There are even evil magical spiders, called aranea. |
| 249 | ** {{Golem}}: Often found protecting powerful wizards. |
| 250 | ** TheGreys: Vahnatai look the part, and generally fit the role as an ancient, mysterious species with uncertain motivations regarding humanity. This being HeroicFantasy, they rely on {{Power Crystal}}s rather than technology proper, but they do seem to be telepathic. They're also pretty high up the SortingAlgorithmOfWeaponEffectiveness--even a basic "waveblade" (flamberge) significantly outdamages an iron sword, and their "razordisks" (FuumaShuriken) are pretty much the sole reason Throwing Weapons is a viable skill. |
| 251 | ** {{Hellhound}}: Added in the fourth game, and resemble the roamers from ''VideoGame/{{Geneforge}}'' (which is from the same developer and uses the same engine). They don't seem to be genuinely demonic, but they do breathe fire at you. |
| 252 | ** LizardFolk: The Slithzerikai. |
| 253 | *** ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Subverted; in the first game, they're introduced as an enemy, but they're only fighting you because of the warlike leader Sss-Thsss commanding them. [[spoiler:Then you find out that he and many of the others were influenced by demons, so now you have to rid the sliths of their taint.]] By the second game, most sliths are peaceful, though you still have to deal with some slith brigands from time to time and in the final game they come back as the main threat. The Alien Beasts from ''Ruined World'' have a more reptilian look, despite looking more wolf-like in 3 and Blades. |
| 254 | ** ManEatingPlant: Well, technically man-eating fungus. |
| 255 | ** OurDragonsAreDifferent: Avaricious, arrogant, and annoying, they're also ridiculously tough. Fortunately, only five of them are left alive as of the first game. Unfortunately, they're breeding... smaller Drakes are often encounterd as late game encounters. |
| 256 | ** OurGhostsAreDifferent: Some ghosts are friendly. Shades, Black Shades, Greater Shades, Spirits, and what have you? Not so much, unless you summoned it. Usually. |
| 257 | ** OurGiantsAreBigger: They're a ProudWarriorRace ''and'' they [[ReligionOfEvil worship pain]]. |
| 258 | ** OurGoblinsAreDifferent: They start out seeming AlwaysChaoticEvil, but turn out to be {{Barbarian Tribe}}s that only commit banditry because it's "what goblins do best." |
| 259 | ** OurZombiesAreDifferent: Well, there are zombies, ghouls, ghasts, quickghasts, and the odd specter. Vahnatai even have vahnavoi for physical and hraithes for magic. |
| 260 | ** RodentsOfUnusualSize: Giant rats are often encountered as pests. Some of them are found as stronger monsters with nasty surprises such as charm spells and acid bite. |
| 261 | ** TheUndead: As of this writing, the games have used every entry on the page ''except'' FrankensteinsMonster, {{Mummy}}, and TheGrimReaper. |
| 262 | ** {{Unicorn}}: There are a few friendly ones, but most of the ones you meet try to kill you. Across the board, they're all considered ugly unpleasant pests rather than majestic creatures. |
| 263 | * OutrunTheFireball: |
| 264 | ** Several cases of outrunning quickfire in the original trilogy, including across the roof of an enemy fortress in the second game. |
| 265 | ** The Test of Speed in the second game drops you in a room, and when you touch the door, the opposite wall opens up, releasing quickfire. You have to make it through a maze to the door before dying. Since the quickfire moves three steps to your one, it seems hopeless... until you realize that, compared to the world around you, you actually move ''faster'' while in combat mode (four or five steps per turn). Now if it weren't for those damned goblins... |
| 266 | ** Outrunning an [[spoiler:exploding Empire portal]], in one case. Jeff Vogel must like this trope. Averted in the remake, where [[spoiler: even if you outrun the exploding portal, the resulting black hole-like implosion will utterly destroy Avernum, and you must instead stop the kaboom with the Onyx Scepter.]] |
| 267 | %%* PamphletShelf |
| 268 | * {{Panacea}}: Aside from a literal antidote of casting a spell, there's Greymold Salve as a special treatment that's requires for some of the story-based illnesses suffered by some people or groups. The salve is therefore depicted as universal, with the exception of a single NPC that requires specific treatments that Greymold doesn't cure. |
| 269 | * PlanetOfSteves: The Giant Intelligent Friendly Talking Spiders are all named Spider. |
| 270 | * PoliteVillainsRudeHeroes: Used in a roundabout way in ''5'': the Avernite people you meet and your own Imperial superiors treat you with contempt, disgust and in some cases hatred. The Darkside Loyalist you're there to destroy however are much more sympathetic to your cause, try to win you over and, before fighting, comments how's a shame that they've come to this and promise to give you a proper burial. |
| 271 | %%* PortalNetwork: In the second trilogy. |
| 272 | %%* PsychoSerum: Skribbane. See FantasticDrug above. |
| 273 | * PurelyAestheticGender: It's not registered in the game system anywhere; you can choose a male- or female-looking character portrait (and in case of non-human races it's not really clear which are which) and that's about it. |
| 274 | * PuzzleBoss: |
| 275 | ** In ''Escape'', [[spoiler: Emperor Hawthorne]] is one, protected by an impregnable barrier and watched over by Golems and spawing reinforcements. However, if you damage the golems enough, he will replenish their health at the cost of his barrier. Once said barrier's gone, you can kill him with any attack. |
| 276 | ** In ''Ruined World'', you can deal much more damage to the boss of the Golem Factory by manipulating the room's mirrors: if done correctly, then once in a while a focused energy beam will be redirected into the boss, damaging him. |
| 277 | ** In the same game, [[spoiler: Rentar-Ihrno]] is too powerful to be confronted directly: instead you must navigate the area and activate the right switches in the correct order to overload her machine system and cause a giant explosion in the lair. |
| 278 | ** [[spoiler: Lich Anastasia]] in ''4'' has powerful defenses, sustained by eight ethereal spirits floating around her, each representing a resistance: killing the spirits will weaken the boss, allowing you to actually deal damage. |
| 279 | ** The Prime Sentinel in ''5'' is too hard to damage normally, but if you deal enough damage to the summoned servants they'll briefly fight for you and hit hard enough to actually damage the Sentinel. [[TakingAThirdOption You can also use an Assault Potion/Elixir/Crystal, so that the Prime Sentinel gets damaged on each attack.]] |
| 280 | * RashomonStyle: Different {{NPC}}s who have been in Avernum since early on in its history tell you different stories about those early years. Notably, Erika claims to have invented the light-giving fungus on the cave walls, whereas actually it was just there when they arrived. [[spoiler:Solberg, the most honest of them, acknowledges that every ''other'' kind of mushroom, from the food to the myriad wood-substitutes, ''are'' her creations(not to mention that she provided all of the ''books'' that Avernites now learn magic from). Erika was just too vain to acknowledge ''any'' of Avernum's essentials ''aren't'' owed to her.]] |
| 281 | * ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: The Vahnatai are the most long-lived of the Avernum races, thanks also to their ability to sleep in crystal coffins for long periods of time. |
| 282 | * RedHerring: In 3 there is evidence implicating three parties as responsible for the plagues, all which you have to question to find the ones responsible. |
| 283 | * ReligionOfEvil: Tons and tons of them. A couple in ''3'' toe the line without quite falling into this trope (the Anama, the Church of the Divine Lucre). |
| 284 | * TheReveal: [[spoiler:The Vahnatai are responsible for the plagues in Avernum 3. You can figure it out early on when you find clues in the form of humanoid corpses, Vahnatai equipment and crystal souls but it's not outright said until you defeat the Golems and return to Fort Emergence to research the evidence you found.]] |
| 285 | * RevengeBeforeReason: Erika is ''obsessed'' with toppling the Empire, and doesn't give a damn if innocent lives are lost in the process. |
| 286 | ** The entire plot of ''3'' revolves around this, and the primary suspects are Erika, the remaining three dragons, and the vahnatai. All of them have motivation to take revenge on the Empire. [[spoiler:It's a large portion of the vahnatai, led by Rentar-Ihrno, who are behind this. Erika eventually comes to help you stop the plot--apparently, laying waste to the surface is too much even for ''her''.]] |
| 287 | * RewardingVandalism: Breaking into people's houses, even if you don't take anything, can earn you XP, as long as you're careful and don't get caught. Some valuable items you can even take in plain sight, as long as they're not marked "Not Yours". |
| 288 | * SealedEvilInACan: While settling in Avernum, Erika, Solberg and Patrick defeated the Haakai Lord Grah-Hoth and sealed him away in a burt fortress in the middle of a forgotten lava cave guarded by undead soldiers and golems. [[spoiler: Too bad he can still move out and act even when contained, which ultimately forces you to release him and kill him for good in his hideout.]] |
| 289 | * SecretTestOfCharacter: Chapter 2 of ''Avernum 2'' is an unintentional version of this. The vahnatai are watching your journey to their lands, and your behavior in three specific scenarios can influence how readily they trust you. The reason it's unintentional is that the vahnatai you eventually visit did not set up these scenarios themselves--they just come up as you go. [[spoiler:The scenarios are: finding the human spellbook in the Ruined River Fort, awakening the vahnatai in the Coffin Caves, and paying respects to Dahris-Bok.]] The first two are easily missable, while the third is more obvious--it is rather difficult, but skippable (but has negative consequences if you do skip it). Each scenario you do not perform requires you perform a single-character 'test' before you gain the trust of the council--but if you perform all three scenarios on the way, you've already gained their respect. |
| 290 | * SetAMookToKillAMook: Control Mind spell can charm a monster (or a player), turning it against the opponents (unless they are of undead variety, since they are immune to charm magic). Used in a curious PuzzleBoss in ''5'': in order to defeat the NighInvulnerable Prime Sentinel, you have to damage the four Unstable Servant summoned hard enough to turn them by your side for a while, causing them to attack the Sentinel instead. |
| 291 | * {{Shareware}}: The earlier games make a joke out of having your path blocked by the "Shareware Demon", who demands that you perform the "Rite of Registration". You can play a very substantial portion unrestricted before that point, though. |
| 292 | * ShoutOut: |
| 293 | ** To ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', in one of the Blades of Avernum scenarios. There is a statue guard with a muffled voice [[spoiler: who gets smashed by an explosion.]] |
| 294 | ** In the third game, there's a Advertising/BurmaShave ad. |
| 295 | -->Before they send us\ |
| 296 | to a grave\ |
| 297 | Alien Beasts use\ |
| 298 | Burma Shave |
| 299 | ** In ''Escape From The Pit'', there's an Abyss [[Literature/TheScarletLetter healer with scarlet hair named "Prynne"]]. |
| 300 | * SmallNameBigEgo: Lagram of ''Escape From the Pit'' incorrectly thinks he will become the great leader of a bandits' paradise. Even [[spoiler:his last words are that he knows your weakness, and that he will defeat you next time... cue him falling dead]]. |
| 301 | * {{Sssssnaketalk}}: The Slithzerikai, a race of lizardmen native to Avernum, speak like this. Some learn English well enough to avoid it, though. |
| 302 | * SociopathicSoldier: Captain (and later Commander) Johnson of Fort Duvno. He's firmly loyal to Avernum, but he takes just a ''little'' too much joy in slaughtering Avernum's enemies. He's also openly racist, but he (grudgingly) honors Avernum's alliance with the Nephilim and the post-Sss-Thss Slith. [[spoiler:It eventually reaches the point where Avernum's government has him [[KickedUpstairs relegated to a deskjob]] just so his bloodthirsty ravings stop bothering everyone.]] |
| 303 | * SolitarySorceress: Erika Redmark. Because of her anti-social personality and all-consuming desire for revenge on TheEmpire, she lives by herself in a MageTower far to the west, rather than some [[WizardingSchool more centralized location]]. |
| 304 | * SoloCharacterRun: Many players opt to use just one character (a "singleton"). The only two major problems are skill selection and loot hauling. |
| 305 | ** Some dungeons only allow one character at a time, or restrict it to one character at a time for a portion. The Tomb of Dahris-Bok in ''2'' is an example of this. |
| 306 | * SpaceCompression: Averted in the earlier games, where there were two scales--Outdoor Mode and Town/Combat Mode, which made the world actually seem gigantic. After the engine change, it just seems like the cities are placed next door to each other. |
| 307 | * StarterVillain: Lagram in ''Escape from the Pit'', the Slime Plague in ''Ruined World'', Lysstak the Beast in ''5''. |
| 308 | * TheStarscream: Subverted by Garzahd in ''Escape'': Even if you try to entice him by telling him that he could rule in lieu of Hawthorne if he lets you pass, he laughs at this ridiculous notion. Indeed, even after becoming leader of the punitive expedition in ''Crystal Souls'', he does obey Prazac, though he considers her weak and foolish. In ''5'', you can play as a traitor who secretly wants to ditch his place and join the Darkside Loyalists. |
| 309 | * StockScream: In some games in the series the Wilhelm scream can be heard upon dying. |
| 310 | * StupidEvil: Pyrog is the most evil of the five dragons, but is also considered the most foolish. Even if your party doesn't kill Pyrog in the first game, by the second he's been slain by a group of adventurers. |
| 311 | * SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic: Wizards are basically scientists (often [[MadScientist mad ones]]) and the Tower of the Magi is basically a research university. Some wizards will ask for your help with experiments, to test whether some spell or creation is safe (no). |
| 312 | * SummonMagic: Priests can summon a Shade or a Vengeful Shade in combat, while Sorcerers have a wider selection with different tiers of creatures, ranging from giant rats, to humanoids, to critters to demons. The Vahnatai magic allows you to "capture" a creature's soul inside a prism and summon a copy of the monster in battle, but some creatures are just too powerful to be copied. |
| 313 | * SuperDrowningSkills: Normally the game doesn't allow you to enter water, but when it does happen, it's an instant death. |
| 314 | * TakeYourTime: Most of the games, though in the third towns will be destroyed if you wait too long. And don't expect much Tower of Magi usage after [[spoiler:day 160]] comes around, though [[spoiler:at least you'll still be able to get training from 'X' and Solberg]]. |
| 315 | * TalkingAnimal: Giant Intelligent Friendly Talking Spiders. As ''Blades of Avernum'' puts it, "Some creatures are more dangerous, but few are more irritating." |
| 316 | * TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: Once or twice a game. The fourth had a particularly unusual approach--every enemy who talks to you before fighting you gives you a dialogue option that seems like it would lead to this, but in all but one case you fight no matter what option is chosen. That one case is unmarked, apparently a bonus for roleplayers. |
| 317 | * TileFlippingPuzzle: ''Exile II: Crystal Souls'': This tile-based movement game has two instances of a 3x3 room of pressure plates: |
| 318 | ## [[https://www.spiderwebsoftware.com/hints/exileII.html Chapter 2 - Dark Waters]]'s "Pressure Plate Room" has only one passage, serving as both entrance and exit. Each tile is a pressure plate that changes the states of three portculli nearby leading to the rest of the dungeon. |
| 319 | ## The Test of Mind: The puzzle is impossible and instead requires exiting by a secret door. |
| 320 | * TownWithADarkSecret: |
| 321 | ** The western city in Drake Pillars in 5 has a very old, weakened Drake imprisoned beneath the city, not to mention people in cahoots with the local bandit lord plagueing the area. |
| 322 | ** Not all the sentinels of Tranquility are under control and an entire quadrant has lethal sentiles ready to murder anyone passing through. |
| 323 | ** The Anama town [[spoiler: is secretly forced to serve the Darkside Loyalist and let them ambush your party later on]]. |
| 324 | %%* {{Tuckerization}}: See [[http://spiderwebforums.ipbhost.com/index.php?/topic/9166-name-cameos-in-jeffs-games/ this thread]] for a list. |
| 325 | * TurnsRed: A feature seen in the remake trilogy. Bosses will resort to special tricks (often with dialogue to go along with it) when wounded enough, making the fights more memorable and trickier. Usually involves powering up, using more attacks, teleporting characters away or summoning more help. |
| 326 | * TwentyBearAsses: Not unusual to have (usually sidequests) involving killing certain creatures and collecting their body parts for a bounty. |
| 327 | * UltimateBlacksmith: There's only one fellow in the original game who can reforge Demonslayer. Played with in that he lives in a major town and isn't hard to find--but he doesn't live in the metalworking "capital" of Avernum (Dharmon); instead, he's [[spoiler:in the mining town of Fort Draco]]. The third game has only one smith who can forge swords out of mithril, and he lives in an otherwise inconsequential town in a boring corner of a frontier province. He is of very questionable sanity, at best. |
| 328 | * UngratefulBastard: |
| 329 | ** While most of the mayors of the various Empire towns in 3 are more than grateful for your assistance, even if you're an Avernite, the ones from Lorelei and Gale are the worst: the former keeps expecting help from the Empire, and downright [[DudeWheresMyRespect refuses to believe that you've stopped the plague, treating you like a mad vagrant.]] The one in Gale doesn't move a finger to aid against the Golems, refuses to interact with you and has your entire party arrested if you stay in Gale for too long. |
| 330 | ** Since you're an empire soldier stranded in Avernum, don't expect much gratitude from the people you help in ''5'' either. |
| 331 | * UnintentionallyUnwinnable: |
| 332 | ** In ''1'' and ''Escape from the Pit'', it is possible to [[spoiler:kill Athron before she teaches you a password you need.]] The latter game has a console cheat specifically for remedying this. |
| 333 | ** In ''Crystal Souls'', you can [[spoiler:destabilize the Empire Portal]] and set off its countdown before completing the quests needed to not die afterwards. There is also a console code for this. |
| 334 | * UniversalPoison: May be magic, gas, spider bites or worms' spit, poison always works the same way, and [[TechnicolorToxin is green.]] |
| 335 | * VainSorceress: Erika considers any magician who tries to look important via lengthy, impressive titles a blowhard -- probably because being the acknowledged best, titles are ''beneath'' her. She certainly demonstrates the arrogance and haughtiness of the trope, especially when venting her bitterness toward old topside rivals. Rather proud of her beauty, too. |
| 336 | %%* VideoGameRemake: Of the ''VideoGame/{{Exile}}'' series. |
| 337 | * VideoGameCrueltyPotential: With a few plot-based exceptions, you can kill off every inhabitant of most towns and still win the game. The exceptions generally get you an automatic NonStandardGameOver when you try. |
| 338 | ** In ''Avernum 1'', you can smash the eggs of a hostile Slith tribe, if you don't mind fighting the angry lizardmen who attack in response. In ''Avernum 2'', you can kill the hatched children of another hostile Slith tribe and leave their tiny bodies floating around in a pool of water, with the same result of the tribe attacking you. Good thing the game only describes what is done to their young. |
| 339 | ** Abundant in Avernum ''5'', especially in Azure Gallery, where most of the quests end up with you potentially cause the destruction of the poor but overall friendly village of Muck to satisfy haughtier allies. |
| 340 | * VillainEpisode: In the fifth game you play as Empire soldiers sent to Avernum on a mission. |
| 341 | * VillainousBreakdown: In ''Escape'', [[spoiler: Grah Hoth undergoes one as you fight him. At first, he's amused when you wound him and summon mooks to help him out. Then he claims that he should punish himself after killing you for having grown so weak in these years. By the time you've gravely injured him, he's reduced to a psychopatic, frothing berserk bent on destroying you above all else. Averted, strangely enough, with Emperor Hawthorne: he's so deluded and senile that he doesn't even realize that his shield has exhausted, allowing you to land the finishing blow.]] |
| 342 | ** In ''Crystal Souls'', [[spoiler: Garzahd will start to panic as you destroy his barrier and rants about how he's trying to save the world from demons and Vahnatai threats through bloodshed.]] |
| 343 | * WeaponOfXSlaying: Demonslayer... well, is right there in the name... is highly effective against Demons, while the Smite spear can deal more damage to Giants. In ''Ruined World'', the Three Dragons can help you by forging a magic sword enchanted to deal more damage to Alien Beasts. |
| 344 | * WeAreStrugglingTogether: In the third game though it is clear to various Empire officials that the monster plagues threaten to turn the entire continent into a wasteland, this does not stop some of them from being hostile towards the group of Avernites (who they know are helping) or focusing on internal power struggles and personal grievances towards other officials instead. |
| 345 | * WeBuyAnything: Averted in the remake at least: certain low-level items are worthless and cannot be sold. Still, merchants will buy anything of value regardless of their profession. |
| 346 | * WeUsedToBeFriends: King Micah and Erika were originally quite close, working together to help Avernum become a sustainable nation, with Micah forming a stable government and a powerful military, and Erika creating the cave mushrooms as a renewable resource. However, eventually their ideological differences split them apart, and today Micah considers Erika a dangerous extremist whose obsession with revenge against the Empire could spell the doom for his nation, and Erika considers Micah a DirtyCoward who is willing to let the Empire get away with their crimes despite, in her mind, having more than enough power and resources to strike back. |
| 347 | * WellIntentionedExtremist: |
| 348 | ** [[spoiler: Garzahd is really terrified of the threat posed by demons and other beings such as Vahnatai, and he believes that the only way to save his Empire and even Avernum is to crush them with might and violence until they're gone.]] |
| 349 | ** Dorikas costantly talks about how he wants to make the Empire safe and strong again against all threats and sees himself as the right man for the right time. [[spoiler: Even when defeated, he's willing to leave his fortress to the Empire as an outpost to keep Avernites in check.]] |
| 350 | * WithThisHerring: Always present, always [[JustifiedTrope justified]]--for instance, in the fifth a double agent stole all the equipment you were supposed to get. |
| 351 | * WizardingSchool: The Tower of Magi. Skylark Vale had one, which [[spoiler: secretly included a research center and a giant building which seemingly does nothing but produce toxic waste.]] |
| 352 | %%* YouAllLookFamiliar: Lampshaded three times in the third game. They are brothers. |
| 353 | * YouAllMeetInACell: The first game starts off with the party getting thrown into Avernum. |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext VideoGame / Avernum
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load
