Ignoring whatever word salad that first paragraph was, but this is again wrong . . .
The point is that Smokepowder is not some rare and legendary thing in the realms but fairly uncommon but available.
Mystra save me from people who ask for sources and then decline to read them. Here, to save you effort of clicking:
Smokepowder was generally quite rare and difficult to obtain
. . . .
Following the destruction of Lantan during the Spellplague, many artificers considered the secrets behind smokepowder to have been lost.
Cormyr relaxed its laws on smokepowder during this period . . . .any attempts to sell, gift, or hide smokepowder would result in a confiscation order that would be carried out by dozens of ruthless War Wizards and Purple Dragons.[36]
Across the Realms, many had misconceptions regarding the safety and effectiveness of this substance. It was most often viewed as being unreliable and some form of dangerous or corruptive magic.[36]
Note that both of these sources are **after** the destruction of Lantan. The Lantanese techniques are either lost or reserved to a select portion of the Gondian priesthood. To get meta once again - I think the changes reflect disagreements on firearms inside WotC.
Yes, I know I am relying to 4e source which is a sin but, in my defense, it was written by Ed Greenwood.
The curse is active.Everything in that article underlines small quantities, very difficult to get. If you need me to I can post those bits as well but I would prefer if you took the time to read it yourself.
The point is that both actions have negative and positive consequences and that YOU have to decide which one you can live with. There is no objective "good" black and white choice.
While that statement could be written by the Larian PR department it's false. You can only believe that **if** you ignore the overwhelming evident that the oath of devotion is a de facto Lawful Good Paladin. And, as strange as it might sound, I think this is a case where Larian is doing a better job of respecting DnD Lore than is WotC. Larian clearly wanted Paladins to be classic holy warriors and the oath of devotion is that.
As a Cleric of Lathander I can wipe out 7k Undead because that is part of my ethos, and in my eyes this is an act of kindness and charity - but if I was a Devotion paladin I would be forced to protect all life and acknowledge that the Spawn are victims as well.
Like you I kill them all because I think their soul are already lost and this is the most compassionate thing I can do - free them from sanguine hunger. To me it's clear that the author believed that was a
failure of compassion on your part. Were I to channel the voice of the author I would ask: "You thought Astarian was capable of change, why aren't you prepared to give the Gur children the same opportunity."?
But I believe our interpretations are at odd with the author's own. The author didn't like the lore that said they were monsters the moment they were turned and so they changed it. Yes we are free to headcannon that killing the kids is the kind, compassionate choice - but the code would argue with us.
(and to be clear I really like the story - my point, once again, is that Larian felt constrained by DnD lore)
In the case of the Circus I can exercise more discretion, and just not agree to help Lucretius put the clown back together. After all, I am not a Paladin and not bound by an Oath to act immediately and directly.
I'm sure that Lathander forgives you
You are charged to destroy undead whenever possible and I am sure that Lathander would accept that it wasn't possible in the circus or right next to Baslisk Gate.
Who cares what Shadowheart thinks, or any of the companions?
Because evil Shadowheart and good Shadowheart have differing opinions on things and those statements are the voice of the authors telling you whether or not your actions were good or evil.
That's fine, why do you think we have been banging the "mods now" drum so loud. Some of us want to make persistent worlds that conform to more traditional settings and allow people to explore that.
I get why you are upset that you aren't getting the mod tools you wanted. I am sincerely confused as to why you are angry with me about it. Or, to be perfectly honest, I know that you aren't angry with me but I'm here and the CEO isn't so I become the sounding board for your anger. Perhaps "sincerely surprised" is more accurate than "sincerely confused".
I'm sorry you aren't getting them, I had nothing to do with that decision. Also, I do hope you can modify the tools you do get. With BG2 the fan made mod tools were so much better than the ones Bioware used that Beamdog chose to use the fan made tools in lieu of the ones they paid for.
Although I do want to point out that Bg2 went pretty hard on the science bullshit when it came to Jon Irenicus* and his 'experiments' - his little Lab under Amn was chock full of Steampunk-esque nonsense.
*I call this the 'Because all mages are apparently fucking master engineers" foible.
I do agree on this and would add the aesthetics of the planar sphere. While I think I am the only one who notices this but square hay bales annoy me and have been annoying me since BG 1. Uniform, tightly bound bales are a symbol of industrialization. Come on artists! I know someone Larian is expert in art history - it shows in your descriptions of paintings . . . You've seen all the paintings with hay stacks and thick sheaves tied with cord . . .
