Avernum 6 Development Update

One of Jeff Vogel's many servants has posted a summary of the changes and additions we can expect in Spiderweb's next Avernum installment.
Jeff is ecologically friendly in that he is recycling as much of his older games as possible. So if the map looks like Avernum 4, it is with some changes to reflect the cavequakes since we last played through the area. He has added new graphics and spell effects.

As Jeff mentioned earlier that you start in the Great Cave. This is probably the largest demo for Avernum since Avernum 3. You get the Castle, Almaria, Dharmon, Blosk, Gnass, Patrick's Tower and the forts that ring the Great Cave. Plenty to explore once you do a few minor quest so the let you out of the Castle Food Depot.

Depending upon party size and experience penalty/bonus you should finish the demo between level 11 and 16. Completing almost everything will make it higher and give lots of nice items.

This is the last major area that allows you to explore. You're in the army now so you can't go wherever you like as an adventurer. You need to follow orders and get them to get into certain places. Accepting quests is the easiest way to get into certain areas even if you don't do the quests. Get used to dealing with guards to get through gates.

Lots of old familiar quests to collect items, kill monsters, and deliver messages. Some of the old NPCs are back including Solberg, X, and Lark.

Jeff changed the spell system to add some new buffing spells that affect the whole party as long as you are near the caster. A little more efficient than the old system, but I miss some spells. Potions and scrolls are more useful this time so be sure to get them.

Because of the Blight, food is really important so you spend lots of time finding it so you don't want to suffer from starvation effects. Get used to using the portal pylons to go back for more every game day. After a few trips you can collect your rations in 5 minutes.

Money is still tight since Jeff offers so many ways to spend it. At least a few of the better trainers appear early in the game.
Thanks, RPG Codex.