Hi everybody! I'm having a no-reload run too, and there's something I need to know: will the petrification of the main character trigger the "gameover" sequence? In other means, is it compared to death? I would say yes, because normally the character gets kicked out of the party, but I'm not sure.
I've been doing some of Lemernis random generated no reload speed game challenges and came up with a bit of a twist but I don't want to add the speed concept so I think I'll post it here.
I used a system similar to Lems to randomly generate 5 characters using the D&D dice here:
to choose gender, race class, kit, alignment, number of rerolls for stats, and voice and chose names from the random name generator on the same site.
I then randomly chose 5 NPCs using dice and an alphabetical list and assembled my team from those 10 choices. I ended up choosing 4 of the 5 random characters and 2 of the 5 NPCs.
The 5 random characters were: Half-elf Cleric of Talos, Dwarf Barbarian, Halfling Beserker, Half-orc Barbarian, and Elf Beserker and I took all but the dwarf. The 5 NPCs were: Alora, Edwin, Sharteel, Kivan, and Dyna and I took Edwin and Sharteel to fill out my group.
Meet Elaver's Marauders:
Elaver Darksbane M LE Half-elf Cleric of Talos 16/18/14/8/17/10 sling* mace*
Xyrella Bearcharger F NE Elf Beserker 18-95/19/17/8/8/12 Longsword** Katana* Longbow*
Caidiana Monsterheart F CE Half-orc Barbarian 19/18/19/7/7/8 Halbred** Longbow**
Jamgold Soldshort M CN Halfling Beserker 17/19/18/10/9/12 Sling* Scimitar** TWS*
Started the team in Multi-player then moved it to Single and we are about to leave Candlekeep on our great adventure - I suspect we will make our way to Sharteel ASAP - to get her dualed to thief right away and then grab Edwin to complete the team.
I will RP the group as evil - won't over metagame - and if I can't decide what the party/team member might do in a situation I'll use cards or dice to make a decision.
I plan to keep the rep no lower than 5-ish (but probably no higher than 12) to keep those flaming fist pansies off our butts to give the group a chance to gain some notoriety and have some fun before that disintegrating hand shows up and spoils it...
In the spirit of RP I decided to flesh out the backgrounds of my miscreants a bit before jumping into the fray... (expect occasional spoilishness)
Elaver Darksbane – NE Cleric of Talos:
Gorion was always a bit troubled with Elavers development which ended up near the top of his list of the many times he found himself struggling against the Harpers strident calls for balance in all things over the years. Often times he felt a strong guilt for not doing more to sway Elaver from the path he appeared to be heading down. Elaver was not bright but he had a wisdom and resourcefulness to him and seemed to have an uncanny way to appear to be simply following others orders while things around him always managed to have somehow turned out in his favor. What little leadership qualities he possessed appeared to spring from his ability to bring a sense of order to the chaotic situations around him. Enough so that it was never blatantly apparent that his plans and solutions always favored his own often hidden agendas. What would happen when Elaver discovered the secrets of his heritage Gorion wondered.
Xyrella Bearcharger F NE Elf Beserker : She was the young daughter of a decorated elven guardsman who was executed with prejudice after he killed a young elf he had discovered in the act torturing three elven children kidnapped from the slums the week before. The young elf was the illegitimate son of a high ranking official who ordered her father’s death and hushed up the whole incident. He would have killed Xyrella’s mother and herself had they not snuck out of the village and made their way to Nashkel. Xyrella spent day after day practicing with her fathers longsword & bow out of sight in the local woods and had begun to learn the ways of the Katana in return for helping one of the merchants at the local carnival. When her mother perished in the mines she sold what little they owned and purchased some gear and headed north. In search of what she did not know but she knew she had left her fear behind and would face anything that stepped into her path.
Caidiana Monsterheart F CE Half-orc Barbarian : Caidi was born with human blood but the orc in her overshadowed everything else. Strong as an ox, quick as a fox and dumb as a box of rocks she needed only to be pointed in the direction of an enemy and her bow sang it’s song of death or her Halbred cleaved whatever stood before her. Xyrella had rescued her from a mob of hobgoblins south of Beregost that had surrounded her while she slept off a tenday binge and the two had become partners in arms – for sale to the highest bidder.
Jamgold Soldshort M CN Halfling Beserker : Jamgold was from Gullykin and cut his teeth on kobolds in the Firewine ruins. Like any Halfling he was deadly with sling and stone but he truly loved the sweet sweeping glory of the Scimitars, Wazikashis, & Ninjato's he discovered in his Uncle Nunchuks trunk as a boy. He worked faithfully with each over the years first in one hand then the other and when he cut the middle finger off the mayors spoiled son one day when it was brandished in his face he decided it was time to seek his fortunes elsewhere. He gathered his toys and headed west towards Beregost where he happened upon Caidi and Xyrella battling skeletons near High Hedge. With a roar like a cave bear the Halfling joined the fray and when it was over the three kindred spirits decided to keep each other’s company for a time and headed North.
And so it began...
As they crossed over the road to Candlekeep they encountered Elaver Darksbane shooing off a young girl dressed in purple and Jamgold scampered over to talk to the young cleric. The two women rested under a tree while Jamgold chatted up the boy and eventually it appeared a deal had been struck and Jamgold motioned them to come over. Elaver explained that he and his foster father had been ambushed the prior evening and that he was in need of companions with keen weapons and a desire to profit doing Talos will.
Introductions were made and the group trudged off to see if anything remained at the site Elavers ambush the prior evening. They found some odds and ends that Caidi stashed in her oversized pack and the group made their way back towards the road taking out a nasty wolf along the way.
A fat old hermit warned them of a suspicious looking pair in the road ahead and Elaver suggested they might be allies of the ones who sought his demise. Jamgold shrugged and loosed his sling killing the one in robes with his first shot and Bearcharger and Caidi ran in and smacked his Halfling companion down before he laid a blade on them.
Elaver gave a small smile and spoke a word of thanks to Talos and waited for them to loot the bodies before they moved on. as they came to the fork in the road leading North to FAI or South to Beregost they were approached by a tall mageling in red robes with a pointy hat. Elaver dismissed him curtly and the mage muttered some vague warning to them as he stalked off in a huff.
The elfs sharp eyes picked up the glitter of a diamond in a tree and a magical ring of some sort in the crevice of a large stone which she tossed to Caidi who promptly put it on. They killed a couple gibberlings and a Xvart and then came upon a huge ogre. The party grabbed ranged weapons and Elaver cast command the big oaf fell like a stone and died. He seemed to have a belt fetish and Elaver thought he recognized one as elven and put it on.
Elaver decided to ignore Gorions advice to seek his friends at the FAI for the moment and suggested the party make their way south to Beregost for rest and supplies before the sun went down.
Soon after the party entered Beregost they were summoned by a young mageling called Neera seeking help – before they could dismiss the distraught woman she was accosted by a small group of mages and their minions whos arrogance eventually cost them their lives altho Bearcharger also fell during the ensuing battle as did a couple of commoners when Elaver loosed a lightning bolt. Jamgold convinced Neera she should part with her small bag of gems as payment and she muttered something about the FAI as she left.
Caidiani gathered Bearchargers gear and stuffed it in her pack then hoisted her limp form over her shoulder like a sack of turnips and the group went off in search of a temple. They stopped at Feldposts to ask direction where a mouthy local named Marl discovered too late that he bit off more than he could chew when he accosted the group and Caidi already angry at Bearchargers death beat him to death with the chair he could have chosen to remain sitting quietly in and lived.
As they left Feldposts Caidi laid Bearchargers body on the grass and told the group to guard it while she picked something up. She went into the Burning Wizard and soon came back and tossed a nasty looking mace to Elaver.
“The fellow what left that there ran afoul of me a few days back” she said – “he won’t be needing it”. Elaver could feel the hum of the enchantment on the mace and that small smile appeared once again as he fit it on his belt and dropped his old one in Caidi’s oversized pack.
Elaver recalled the mage Firebead he had befriended at Candlekeep lived nearby and the group stopped to see if he might have some useful information for them. They acquired a useful scroll case and he also assured them he would explain to the local authorities about the lightning struck commoners. They didn’t mention Marls demise to him.
After a visit to the Temple of Lathander to raise Bearcharger the group scouted off to the east where they came across an Amazonian man hating warrior woman named Sharteel – Jamgold spanked her soundly in a duel convincing her to join the group in the process. She seemed pleased at the prospect.
They met an oddly coherent speaking ghoul who then led them through some very tense moments battling basalisks and a thoroughly mad mage that was using his powerful pets to create a rock garden of passing adventurers. Elaver made a note to return later with some stone to flesh scrolls and explore the rest of the area and the group retreated back to Beregost leaving the ghoul behind.
Once back in town Sharteel announced that she had some latent skill in stealth and trapfinding that she would continue to develop that she might serve as the team scout and the group spent some time south of town working on this and learning to fight as a team. They befriended a local woman called Marriane when they brought news of her traveling husband and were well rewarded for their efforts.
They signed on as thugs to protect a mageling named Silke who tried to get them to finish her own dirty work while keeping her hands clean. The team took out the “marks” for her then quickly turned on her and took her out as well and watched as her cowardly companion Garrick beat a hasty retreat.
Another assassin seeking the bounty on Elaver lost his life at the Red Sheaf and the party decided to check on Gorions friends at the FAI to see if they knew anything useful. Yet another assassin died at the door to the FAI and Caidi spoke to a rude Half-orc inside and surprised everyone when she let his arrogance slide and stalked off. They met Jahiera and Khalid and heard some news about troubles in Nashkel then bid them good-bye.
The elfs sharp eyes discovered yet another shiny trinket under a pine and the group dispatched a series of nasty hobglins around the outside walls then explored further north. A tin-headed paladin died for his foolishness and the group met several fishermen who were having issues with a priestess of Umberlee. This brought a larger smile to Elavers face and he agreed to assist them immediately as Umberlee is one of Talos rivals.
They sought out and killed the priestess and took their reward and Elaver hoped this might lead to other opportunities to inflict some pain on Umberlee’s minions in the future as he gave thanks to Talos for their success.
The team entered a nasty ankeg nest nearby and managed to bring out some nice treasure as well as a number of ankeg shells which Elaver was certain they could trade at Thunderbutts in Beregost. There was a body of a boy in the stash they left behind as they had all they could carry with the numerous shells and other goodies and had no idea if it had any value for reward.
Back in Beregost they traded the shells and a stack of cash for a suit of ankeg plate for Jamgold as Caidi would not wear plate and Bearcharger said she already had a set stashed in a farmers field in Nashkel. The group made their way south to Nashkel where the mayor asked them to assist with the troubles at the mine.
Elaver took it under advisement as the reward was substantial but then the group encountered the mage Edwin who contracted them to kill the witch Dynahier. Edwin joined them to assist them in carrying out his contract and after picking up Bearchargers armor the group retired to the local inn where they had to take down yet another assassin before they could rest.
Current levels: Caidi, Jamgold, Bearcharger, all level 3 (almost 4) Elaver & Edwin Level 4 Sharteel F3/T3
So far just 1 death (Bearcharger at Neera battle) strong group – fun to play.
The group wandered through the local carnival and took a first look at the mine site on their way out of town the next morning. They encountered an artist who offered all he had in return for guarding him while he finished his project. They had just agreed when the bounty hunter Greywolf appeared and recognized Elaver as the one who had taken his bounty back in Nashkel and a short but violent fight ensued.
The group survived mostly unscathed and Bearcharger immediately snatched Greywolf’s sword from his still twitching hand and started giggling like a schoolgirl as she swept it this way and that calling out elven battle cries. The blade seemed to become an extension of her arm and the group applauded her antics.
It was then that the over exertion and abuse of speed potions took its final toll on the artist Prism and he collapsed and died at the base of his statue. Jamgold gathered his meager belongings and tossed a pair of fine emeralds to Elaver to put in his pouch.
The group stopped once again at the Nashkel store to turn in a winter wolf pelt then headed west towards the Gnoll Fortress where Edwin claimed the witch Dyna had last been seen.
The journey was eventful as the group wiped out an entire village of savage blue Xvarts and tried to assist a couple of dullards to plunder a dryads tree – killing the dryad and one of the plunderers before the second made his escape. The tree provided nothing in the end.
They encountered numerous gnolls along the way of course and near the end of their journey took a fine enchanted halberd from one which so impressed Caidiana that she immediately dropped the three iron ones she had been carrying and set about stroking and polishing the new one cooing and muttering guttural snippets to her new found prize.
They dispatched the toll takers at the bridge to the fort and then fought their way to the upper levels leaving a trail of dismembered gnolls along the way. The battle at the top turned to sheer chaos when Edwin cast horror on a large group of gnolls and suddenly they were running around like headless chickens as the group switched to ranged weapons and tried to pick them off but when the job as done they discovered Sharteel lying motionless killed in the confusion and Jamgold gathered her gear.
They discovered the witch Dyna in a prison hole at the top and Caidi climbed into the hole and dispatched her with a single blow from her new halberd. Edwin was pleased and announced he would accompany the group for the next year in payment for their service which Elaver reasoned might be suitable indeed as he was impressed with the mages power and the trip had provided plenty of plunder along the way.
Caidi hoisted Sharteels broken form on to her broad shoulder and the group made their way back to Nashkel without incident other than a single ambush by an Ogre Mage who fell quickly to their spells and weapons. Bearcharger was disappointed to see it did not wield an enchanted katana as she had heard they often do.
They visited the temple and raised their companion then set off to sell their plunder and Jamgold suggested his new armor should be ready in Beregost by now.
Current levels – Everyone is level 4 – Sharteel F3>T4
Two deaths so far Bearcharger at Neera battle and Sharteel at Gnoll Fort – she should not have died I just lost track of her in the confusion when Edwin’s horror spell started to expire.
Will probably grab Jamgold's armor from the smithy then clear the mines next.
After a trip to Beregost to retrieve Jamgold new ankeg armor the group made their way to the Nashkel mines. They arrived at dark and decided to rest near one of the outbuildings until morning which led to encounters with 3 winter wolves and a herd of Kobolds – they took a side trip to the carnival and Nashkel store to sell off the loot and skins before returning to the mine and entering…
They made their way down through the mines with Sharteel scouting for traps in the lower levels and progressed without much trouble killing numerous kobolds along the way. At the bottom they uncovered their apparent leader Mulahay and made short work of him and his minions. They released an elf being held in custody there who immediately left the area and then scouted out a back exit and left.
Sharteel heard voices from the north and stealthed out to investigate. She found a group of four women bounty hunters awaiting them and motioned Edwin to cast something special for them – the silly mage walked too close and was revealed and their archers disrupted his spell and took him down before he could suck down a potion.
The rest of the party joined in the fray and eventually took them down after Elaver silenced them and then held 2 of the 3 remaining but not before Sharteel fell as well. They gathered their dead and the loot and headed back to Nashkel where they raised their dead and got paid for clearing the mines. As they made their way towards the Inn yet another bounty hunter called Nimbul accosted them and paid with his life in a matter of seconds.
The group finished their business in Nashkel and traveled uneventfully to Beregost arriving at midnight. They plan to rest for a few hours and then they will seek out Mulahays contact at Feldposts at dawn.
No new levels everyone has quite a ways to go (4-5K) except Elaver who needs about 1K.
Anybody got past the Durlag's Tower chess game? My no-reload game ended there :-( By the way, in a very strange way.. my main character died without apparent reason, instantly.. I tried to do it many times later but that never happened.
Wow, been a long time since I posted... Evander is alive, but I've had precisely zero time to play him lately. I'll try to get a session in at some point during the next few weeks. In case anyone cares, which is not entirely certain
Brief Update - the group took down Tranzig without much trouble then cleared the area around the Beregost temple with Sharteel scouting altho I suspect we could have just walked into the wolf pack as well but then that's how most no reload games end isn't it - over confidence when things are going well LOL.
We headed south and took down Bassilus and the hobgoblins nearby after forgetting to stop and sell off the gear we grabbed from the temple hobgoblins along the way so we played quite a bit of inventory tetris getting all the spoils to High Hedge where Sharteel died in a Flind encounter when Edwin cast grease on the melee troops just outside the shop doors requiring more inventory tetris to get her stuff picked up along with the additional great swords from the flinds as well as a wand of fire I had never seen dropped there before.
More inventory tetris once inside and positioned so encumbrance wasn't an issue got us some good prices from most of it in spite of our fairly low rep and charisma (gave the cha tome to Jamgold bringing him to 13). We were looking for some scrolls of petrification protection but didn't find any so we put off finishing the basilisk map for the time being.
We went to the temple and got our reward and raised Sharteel - giving us about 17k gold in the coffers.
Elaver leveled to 5 with another 4 hps roll giving him a sorry 20 hps total. I think we will do some more exploring before heading to the bandit camp.
Three deaths now Bearcharger at Neera battle and Sharteel at Gnoll Fort and random Flind spawn outside High Hedge doors - Sharteel is a little squishy at AC 3 and 20hps - I should probably hold her back and let her snipe with the bow or throwing daggers unless she is backstabbing - it's not like the two beserkers and the barbarian can't handle the front line without her LOL.
I checked the info sheets a while back and the barbarian is way ahead in kills and exp - about 43% for the game followed by Bearcharger at 29% and Jamgold at 15%.
After leaving the Temple the party made it's way to Ulcaster and cleared the area and dungeon there without much trouble and then made their way to Gullykin where they entered the nasty hobbits lair and popped down into the Firewine dungeon taking out the Ogre Mage and the other minions nearby the entrance/exit there - the other mage got off a lightning bolt that took out Sharteel and Caidi causing a bit of inventory tetris to gather all the loot and gear .
We raised them in the Gullykin Temple before we headed south and cleared out the bounty hunters then headed down to the Firewine map. Took out the guy with the gauntlets and the Ogre Mage from the crazy lady took out two of the party before going down. Some more inventory tetris then left for Nashkel to raise the dead and sell off our loot.
We have now killed a total of 3 Ogre mages one between the coast and Nashkel, one in Firewine Dungeon and one from the crazy lady on Firewine map and still no magic katana drop? I want to have Bearcharger using Katana/shield and give Varscona to Sharteel to dual with the short sword + 2. Coffers are filling for now at about 21K gold and we gave the barby the mail of the dead (still just -1 AC) and she is doing some serious damage with the halberd from the gnoll (Crusher?).
Everyone is level 5 now and I have to decide whether to go clear the coast maps or head to Bandit Camp.
No reloads - 7 deaths - 4 for Sharteel - she is really pretty squishy on the front line with her current 3 AC and only 22 hps - (only 1 more than Edwin and 2 more than Elaver - but Elaver has -4 AC.
have any of you tried beating the game as a level 1 character on solo? I have done this a few times but haven't attempted it yet on the enhanced edition.
In the non enhanced edition, one of the characters you could import was a gnome illusionist/theif with unnaturally high thieving skills.
That certainly helped. Illusionist thief isn't a bad choice for a low level solo game: use wands of lightning while wearing boots of grounding and recharge the wands later. Use ring of invisibility to avoid tough fights(keep recharging it with thalantyr). Wands of summon monster are also useful in boss fights.
You can get your fire resistance over 100% and then fire will not hurt you, but rather heal you. The final battle with sarevok involved hitting him with arrows of detonation while he went after the monsters I had summoned with the wand of monster summon. Hostile creatures like to target the monsters you summon. Reading this thread has given me some good ideas for a solo playthrough.
The archer kit would probably work well in a no reload game for bg1 since bows are already overpowered.
I would not suggest doing a low level no reload but could be fun for someone who really wants a challenge.
Given the upcoming release of BG2:EE I've decided to try and get a No-Reload run through in the meantime!
Name: Daethus Moonshadow Race: Elf; Alignment: Neutral Evil Class: Fighter/Mage Str: 18/67; Dex 19; Con 17; Int 18; Wis 10; Cha 9 Weapons: Longsword **; Two-Weapon Style ** Starting Spells: Find Familiar; Protection from Petrification
Candlekeep: Looted the Inn that's as clean as an ogre's arse and picked up the 'Armour' spell from a scroll unsafely stashed away. Cast Find Familiar and promptly stuffed the Dust Mephit in my pack. Consoled in the Identify scroll to complete the Firebead quest and then followed my usual circuit round (slaying the amateur assassins enroute) and so was able to afford a brace of longswords, composite longbow and arrows, a helm and a sling and shot. Then followed Gorion into an ambush..
Lion's Way: Rejected Imoen but accepted her equipment and sent her on her merry way back to Candlekeep. Went back to the site of Gorion's death and swore bloody vengeance on the armoured fiend. Picked over the equipment then met two trustworthy looking fellows on the road With Montaron and Xzar now in the party I decided the clear the map despite the wolves. With Monty armed with the sling, Daethus with the composite bow and Xzar acting as bait we slew the bears/gibberlings and wolves before scaring off the Hermit and leaving the area.
High Hedge: Just picking the safe route to Beregost (I'm too used to Tutu style bandit ambushes ) so headed east but keeping to the top of the map.
Beregost: Headed directly for the Silke encounter as it's best to get it over with quickly in case she gets a lightning bolt off and ends my run early. With Daethus drawing his two longswords, Monty's sling and a Wand of Magic Missile shot from Xzar she quickly fell. After collecting our reward the merry band face off against the dwarven assassin. Or rather draw him out of the Inn and pepper him with arrows and stones. Again success so buoyed by this successful tactic we head south to clear out the spider infestation. This can be more difficult so picked up Kagain first and equipped him with the assassin chainmail. He was then able to hold the spiders for a time by the barrels while we peppered them with missiles. Unfortunately Kagain did get poisoned so he had to withdraw and the encounter became more of a kiting exercise. Luckily all ended well with the spiders defeat.
Heading to Feldposts Inn for a well deserved rest the group talked down a drunken oaf (can't pass up 900 free xp) and sold off their equipment. After trading in a book with the sage from Candlekeep (and looting his house) I could afford to buy Kagain's Axe +1 which is an essential buy as it's a long way till you find a better axe. As it was already night the party rested to heal up then went to the smithy to stock up on missiles and bought the sling +1 for Monty. I decided to arm Xzar with a sling too as I don't like mages closing the range like they do when armed with darts or throwing daggers.
@Sargiel - well I still have Elavers last save but haven't moved him since the last update in June as I dabbled in some NWN2, ID2, and currently taking a multi-single group through minimal reload challenge BGEE with 3 PCs, + Dorn, Imoen & Edwin (atm).
Wanderon: Thanks - sounds like you've got another interesting run there. Is that multiplayer no-reload you mean? I have to admit I've not given that a try before to see how well it works.
Daethus Moonshadow (cont.)
Heading north Kagain came to his senses and realised it would be more profitable following Daethus' trail of carnage than chase caravans. Given that Daethus is multi as is Monty I am clearing each map in it's entirety to maximise XP gain and hopefully get to a safer level a bit quicker. Met a man in a pointy hat and miraculously found a magic ring before hunting some ogre and various gibberlings foolish enough to cross our path. The useful ogre belt went to Kagain and I left the makeover belt to rot with it's previous owner.
Friendly Arm Inn
Went straight for the assassin on the steps as bold as brass.. and he fell almost instantly to the party. The fatal blow went to Monty who critical'd him for 18 damage. At the moment I'm giving most of the spells to Daethus and seconds to Xzar although this pattern will likely change dependant on the spell moving forward. Met Dorn for the first time so another meeting is pre-ordained (assuming nothing goes horribly wrong). Dropped off the spider carcass and miscellaneous trappings for some gold and gnomish gratitude and looted the Harpers.
Some Hobgoblins foolishly loitered outside the Inn and were dealt with in short order.. as was a member of the Flaming Fist who tried to claim a drow taken under the parties protection. Remembering to make Xzar the leader before initiating dialogue the grateful Drow Priestess joined our merry band (yes Xzar has the highest Cha in the party so far.. until I recruit Dorn at any rate ). Returning to the FAI I decided to keep the ring recovered from the Hobgoblins in case I need an easy reputation rise later. And pocket another ring which goes to Xzar for the time being. Once we have a few levels under our belts I might move it across to Daethus just to give him more tactical options.
Stocked up on equipment (read: arrows and slingshot) and rested before heading south. Currently have Kagain in plate and decided to give him a sling as well just because it's convenient with him using a large shield. As he has a point in crossbow I'll likely treat him to the crossbow of speed later rather than waste any weapon proficiencies on sling. Would it be worth putting a second point in crossbow or just increasing his expertise with Axe?
South of Beregost
5 characters with missile weapons makes short work of most creatures at early levels - and the Ogrillons were no exception. Nor was the Flaming Fist mercenary who provided another suit of plate free of charge. If you pick the right dialogue there's no reputation loss either As Daethus only has 1 spell slot I give him the plate and continue to use his martial skills.
In clearing the rest of the map Kagain continues to tank while the others use their missile weapons to great effect. The hobgoblins fall and provide Monty with a nice pair of boots and a cave yields more healing supplies which always come in handy.
Beregost
Xzar is becoming anxious to head down to Nashkal as promised.. but as travel to Beregost involves 0 hours travel I decide to head back momentarily. Returning the letter provides another Ring +1 (Kagain and Daethus both have one now) and rescuing Neera (temporarily) provides 250g from her staff and a handy bag for all the loot we are sure to acquire. The party completes the halflings quest regarding the boots - then promptly executes the thieving wretch and takes them back. Also pick up the magic mace for Viconia.
The parties reputation is still at 8 which is perfect for trading in our loot so far (with evil parties I aim to keep between 6-8 rather than let it drop too far) and also replenished some supplies before heading further south towards Nashkal!
Not actually playing multiplayer - started the game in MP mode in order to make more than one PC to play (altho the one created in the top slot is considered the main and if he dies it's still game over/reload time while any others you add can be raised like NPCs)
Once I start the game with however many characters I decide to create - I save it and copy it to the single player mode and play in that mode (by myself) as if my extra characters are just NPCs. No banter of course.
Ouch - Game Over! Made it to the Mines but actually got killed by Mulahey embarrassingly enough. He manage to get a hold spell off a froze the whole party then proceeded to slaughter everyone with the help of his minions. I can't remember the last time I had a run end so quickly .. Have to think of new character/party theme for my next go
Baerithryn Nightstar Race: Elf Class: Fighter/Mage/Thief Alignment: Chaotic Evil Str: 18/58; Dex: 19; Con: 17; Int: 18; Wis: 10; Cha 9. Weapon Proficiencies: Longsword **; Longbow **. Thief Skills: Put all starting points into Move silently.
Build comments: Although progress will be slow the xp cap in BG1 will allow me to reach 6/6/7 which makes for a capable character and gives me enough thief points to max open locks and find traps (levelling up taking me to 95 in both plus the tome of Dexterity later in the game to give the extra points to 100).
I appreciate that longbow isn't necessarily the best choice when it comes to bringing a character through into BG2 - however in BG:EE missile weapons are fantastic. And ** pips, a Dex of 19, elf bonus and a composite bow gives me a THACO of 14 and 5/2 attacks at level 1 straight out of Candlekeep which is not to be sniffed at. My later pips will both go into 2-weapon fighting so by the end of the game he'll be able to dish out the damage up close as well as from a distance.
After surviving the ambush that saw his foster-father slain Baerithryn spurns the assistance of Imoen and into the welcoming arms of Xzar and Montaron who take the young elf under their wing. Still in shock after the ambush Baerithryn accepts their suggestion to travel to Nashkal. Returning to the site of the ambush first the party quickly take anything of value and move on before risking discovery.
(I decided to alternate Baerithryn and Monty's thief skills. So Monty will invest in open locks first while Baerithryn will go for traps due to the advantage each has in those particular areas. Once they've maxed their first skill Monty will then be free to put points into stealth or traps and become that much nastier ).
Heading East the party met a mysterious man in a pointy hat and hunted some ogre. Cleared the remainder of the map of gibberlings and wildlife before heading north. Baerithryn had brought slings and ammo from Candlekeep and with his composite bow there wasn't much that could get close to the group.
Reaching the Friendly Arm Inn spoken of in Gorion's letter Baerithryn stepped quietly into the courtyard of the Inn and so was able to come upon another assassin unawares. Drawing his longsword he struck the mage who promptly tried to flee and was brought down by slingshot from the rest of the party.
Met Dorn for the first time and looted the Harpers before clearing the immediate vicinity of hobgoblins. Travelling east the party rescued a drow priestess from a marauding Flaming Fist mercenary who kindly donated some plate armour to the party. Returning to the Inn Viconia was equipped with a sling, splint armour and shield and a helm and the rest of the group replenished their stock of ammo and took some well earned rest.
Note that I have been picking up the usual specials (diamond in the tree, ring of wizardry, ring of protection) as I go even if not specifically mentioned. Baerithryn at this stage of the game is going to be armoured and providing missile and thieving support until he gets some more levels under his belt.
Running a no reload minimum meta game challenge with an extra twist: no resurrections for anyone. My charname is a version of myself taken from a test somewhere on the forum.
Proficiencies in dagger and crossbow (closest thing I can get to bayonet and rifle =p)
So far, not good. After Gorion bit the dust Imoen and Manny tried to head back to Candlekeep but were beset by a dire wolf. They turned heel and ran, stopping to take potshots to try and slow it down. Imoen must have tripped because she took too long to run after firing off a shot and was mauled by the beast.
Manny kept running east. He ran into a fat hermit on the road who called him a bandit and would not speak to him. Manny then ran into Xzar and Montaron, who were kind enough to give him a potion of healing in return for some help with business in Nashkel.
Quickly Manny said yes then the dire wolf was soon upon them. Montaron was able to get a hit in but he too was mauled by the beast.
A gibberling showed up and decided to join the party but was brought down by Xzar's minor drain. He used his 2nd and last minor drain on the dire wolf just before it turned on him. It tried to tear him apart and Xzar was within an inch of his life before Manny was able to riddle the beast with enough bolts to turn it into a pin cushion.
Taking a moment to mourn for their fallen, Manny and Xzar continued their journey to the Friendly Arm Inn.
Along the way they ran into a pestering old man and a hunter who told them a tale of how his companions were slain by an ogre mage. They stayed on the road to avoid hostilities and soon found themselves at the FAI.
A man named Tarnesh greeted them at the steps to the inn. He seemed to recognize Manny and offered to give him something. Before Manny could react there were suddenly 4 of this stranger. Pulling out his dagger Manny and the guards of the FAI attacked the multiple targets with Xzar using a wand of magic missiles that had once belonged to Imoen. They were able to make short work of Tarnesh before he could do any real damage to them.
Entering the FAI Manny finally met Gorion's friends Khalid and Jaheira. It was a surprise too him that they too had business in Nashkel. When he mentioned that his current companion wanted to go there as well, he sensed a tension begin to develop amongst his new found friends.
That's it for now. I'll update when I get around to playing some more
I was a little bored with the game having beaten both BG:EE and BG2:EE the first with a multiplaer custom party and the second i continued to beat with two of the groups memebers adding Imoen for story. The Dynamic duo was a ranger/cleric and a blade.
But after finding this thread i got realy inspired and are now on my fifth attempt on an Irom man run, yea the first ones went realy bad, died in bandit ambushes and got clobered by a polar bear in random encounters before even reaching Nakshel.
4th one seemed to be going ok, went with a blade and had Imoen Ajantis and Viconia. cleared the areas aorund Nakshel and gnoll fortress. Hit lvl 5 with the blade, felt that all was going well and got critted by a cavebear and instakilled argh.
But for sure this is the way to play the game, im enjoying it through and trough and every new map and encounter means tactical thinking.
I am allowing myself to cheat a bit. I have 4 pre-rolled chars that im alternating between instead of rolling a new one every time.
Current attempt is a NE elf f/m/t. Used Xzar and Montaron for fodder and picking up Viconia, Xzar died in Beregost, where we picked up Kagain and montoaron died on the journey to Nakshel. In Nakshel we accepted to kill a wich and let the wizard Edwin join our group. Encountered Dorn while scouting the Mine area and brought this powerhouse with us. Cleared a few areas and a gnoll fortress hunting the witch, found her and dispatched her very easely.
Kagain is doing a good job tanking, atleast after the got the dex bracers, before that he died two times i think.
Dorn is a hitter, but his AC is not very good and hes died on me a couple of times. His special abilities does shine from time to time though, his fear aura in combination with my trusted mephits glass dust does make the enemys swing and hit alot of air.
Edwin just tags along for the most part, throwing a few darts and daggers here and there when he can scavenge some. But when firepower is needed he sure brings it with hailstorms of magicmissiles.
Viconia, probably the most important of the group, disabling the most dangerous targets, buffing the party and offering a heal now and then. And when not casting shes pelting the foes with a trusted sling.
Charname Henke Ghostblade, so far he adds some trapfinding ( having put all my points here so far ) and archery to the group, with 19dex ** in longbows and archer bracers hes not completely useless in fights and if cornered he can draw Varscona, * in Longswords and * in SWF. Also can save up some spell slots with utility spells for Edwin to go all out damage.
Next goal after next goal is to go bassilisk hunting and then try my luck and Ankhegs i believe before its time to rout out the kobolds from Nakshel mines.
Henke Spellblade and his minions ( though he wouldnt call any of them that to their faces ) continued with clearing the temple area east of Beregost. Encountered hobgoblins from a group called the chill, offered to join them but they made the mistake of refusing and attacked instead.
Went a little overboard with the firepower and they all fell like flies.
Next encounter was with a vampiric wolf and its pack, this one was scarier, never any real danger but they did take a way a little too many HPs from Dorn. Kagain gained a lvl though and is now lvl 4 Dorn is a few hundred xp away and will soon follow.
Dorn gained his level, and died… and died again, and I couldnt afford to raise him. Went for basilisks to gain some cash for his resurection, some scary fights. only had two prot, spells so i took two fighters, viconias skeleton and korax to explore the area. Prot ran out ofc and held my breath hoping that greater basilisk wouldnt change targets from Korax and skellie. It worked thought i could breath and then my foresome ran in to Kirians group…
Quick tactical retreat Korax and skellie held them ocupied while Viconia and Edwin comes running… Grease spell into the middle of the group that luckily have entangled themselves….. So let them hang there while pelting them down with arrows magic and bullets.
Picked up Shar-teel, wasnt sure i was going too, but since Dorn keeps dying i need to change something. Shes lvl 4 so im thinking letting her get to 5 and then dual her to thief, doing scouting and backstabs. . That is if she survives that long, I need to raise cash and should she die doing so… Well atleas the saved thos HP for someone else.
Updating again.... Had too scary moments doing some mopping up, first one two ghast snuck up on my artillery while tanks where engaged with hobgoblins. Managed to hit Edwin and hold him before i knew what was going on. Viconia and Spellblade interwiened though and quickley cut down the ghasts.
Next one was worse..... Lightning struck, hit Spellblade and took out half of his HP....
Currently resting up at FAI to take my chanses with ankhegs.
@FinneousPJ sounds like good advice, it is very addictive though
Final update, went to ankhegs..... went ok, lost Dorn ... again but it was worth it with for the cash and a new armour for Viconia. What was worse is that i lost my dust mephit familiar and all what that means. Visited Ulgoths beard and is now back in Nakshel, eiterh going for mines or pursuing a lead on one of Dorns enemies. Will decide tommorow.
Mines and Mulahey caused no problems, some fear spells, on kobolds, magic missiles on Mulahey and Viconia doing a good job turning away skellies.
I thought my f/m/t charname should be the weak link in the group untill higher lvls, but hes deadly with a longbow and so far have 50% of the groups kills.
Leaving the mines did not go well. Tough fight with the amazons and we lost Edwin to an well aimed arrow. Well i thought id finnish Dorns quest and continued…. Offended a crazy mage who attacked together with two oozes, lost both Dorn and Shar-teel….. Not good at all.
Had some trouble with how to bring back 6 peolpes gear with only 3 people alive…
Snuck into Nakshel temple and got everyone raised and healed up, thanks to ankhegs im no longer in desperate need of cash.
Nimbul managed to get of his mirror image before Viconia silenced him. Didnt help him much as magic missiles and arrow took it down and he was soon dead.
Unloaded loot at the Nakshel store and on my way back to help Dorn execute his vengeance.
Kryll fell easely enough, she mirror imaged but silence and magic missiles ended the fight quickly. Handed over some deserter to the garrison, not much of a reward though.
Now Bassilus is still left out there, there is a fight that i always have trouble with and going there now scares me a bit. But Viconia wants the hammer and I cant have too much competition with evil mad men out there.
Bassilus fell without a problem. Didnt know what i was doing with the dialogue but managed to get his skeletons not to attack me.
Kagain is doing a good job tanking, with -6AC and -3 vs slashing damage with the golden belt.
Then we encountered an archeological dig site, agreed to rob the site and kill the diggers, all went smooth except that some ghost showed up. "Killed" it again easely enough. Somone in the group, must have talked though, cause back in Nakshel the guards and a bounty hunter attacked me. Killed them but my reputation is now as low as it can be. Might cause some problems. Handed the body of Brage over for reward... Only got half the reward that was promised so I killed the bounty guy for all the cash he owed me and took Brages body over to the temple to squeeze some gold out of them aswell.
Long story short, Jaheira bit the dust when she tried fleeing an ogre and then accidentally got herself caught in the entangle spell she had cast. Ogre proceeded to crush her, crush her to goo.
Then Khalid died fighting a Red Wizard of Thay while he, Manny, and Xzar were trying to save Neera from the Thayvan Wizards. He took a firebolt right in the chest.
After running into Kagain and offering to help him find his lost caravan, the party then ran into Garrick, who also was looking for help for his employer. They agreed to help Silke but once Manny figured out she was trying to pull the wool over their eyes he denied to help her. Silke got mad and promptly shoved a lightning bolt up in his anatomical nether region where the sun doth not shine.
So, ya. This ends the tale of Manny. Now I'm going to try a no reload for a Wild Mage O.o
Comments
I'm having a no-reload run too, and there's something I need to know: will the petrification of the main character trigger the "gameover" sequence? In other means, is it compared to death? I would say yes, because normally the character gets kicked out of the party, but I'm not sure.
I used a system similar to Lems to randomly generate 5 characters using the D&D dice here:
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/dice/dice.htm
to choose gender, race class, kit, alignment, number of rerolls for stats, and voice and chose names from the random name generator on the same site.
I then randomly chose 5 NPCs using dice and an alphabetical list and assembled my team from those 10 choices. I ended up choosing 4 of the 5 random characters and 2 of the 5 NPCs.
The 5 random characters were: Half-elf Cleric of Talos, Dwarf Barbarian, Halfling Beserker, Half-orc Barbarian, and Elf Beserker and I took all but the dwarf. The 5 NPCs were: Alora, Edwin, Sharteel, Kivan, and Dyna and I took Edwin and Sharteel to fill out my group.
Meet Elaver's Marauders:
Elaver Darksbane M LE Half-elf Cleric of Talos 16/18/14/8/17/10 sling* mace*
Xyrella Bearcharger F NE Elf Beserker 18-95/19/17/8/8/12 Longsword** Katana* Longbow*
Caidiana Monsterheart F CE Half-orc Barbarian 19/18/19/7/7/8 Halbred** Longbow**
Jamgold Soldshort M CN Halfling Beserker 17/19/18/10/9/12 Sling* Scimitar** TWS*
Started the team in Multi-player then moved it to Single and we are about to leave Candlekeep on our great adventure - I suspect we will make our way to Sharteel ASAP - to get her dualed to thief right away and then grab Edwin to complete the team.
I will RP the group as evil - won't over metagame - and if I can't decide what the party/team member might do in a situation I'll use cards or dice to make a decision.
I plan to keep the rep no lower than 5-ish (but probably no higher than 12) to keep those flaming fist pansies off our butts to give the group a chance to gain some notoriety and have some fun before that disintegrating hand shows up and spoils it...
Elaver Darksbane – NE Cleric of Talos:
Gorion was always a bit troubled with Elavers development which ended up near the top of his list of the many times he found himself struggling against the Harpers strident calls for balance in all things over the years. Often times he felt a strong guilt for not doing more to sway Elaver from the path he appeared to be heading down.
Elaver was not bright but he had a wisdom and resourcefulness to him and seemed to have an uncanny way to appear to be simply following others orders while things around him always managed to have somehow turned out in his favor.
What little leadership qualities he possessed appeared to spring from his ability to bring a sense of order to the chaotic situations around him. Enough so that it was never blatantly apparent that his plans and solutions always favored his own often hidden agendas.
What would happen when Elaver discovered the secrets of his heritage Gorion wondered.
Xyrella Bearcharger F NE Elf Beserker :
She was the young daughter of a decorated elven guardsman who was executed with prejudice after he killed a young elf he had discovered in the act torturing three elven children kidnapped from the slums the week before. The young elf was the illegitimate son of a high ranking official who ordered her father’s death and hushed up the whole incident.
He would have killed Xyrella’s mother and herself had they not snuck out of the village and made their way to Nashkel. Xyrella spent day after day practicing with her fathers longsword & bow out of sight in the local woods and had begun to learn the ways of the Katana in return for helping one of the merchants at the local carnival.
When her mother perished in the mines she sold what little they owned and purchased some gear and headed north. In search of what she did not know but she knew she had left her fear behind and would face anything that stepped into her path.
Caidiana Monsterheart F CE Half-orc Barbarian :
Caidi was born with human blood but the orc in her overshadowed everything else.
Strong as an ox, quick as a fox and dumb as a box of rocks she needed only to be pointed in the direction of an enemy and her bow sang it’s song of death or her Halbred cleaved whatever stood before her.
Xyrella had rescued her from a mob of hobgoblins south of Beregost that had surrounded her while she slept off a tenday binge and the two had become partners in arms – for sale to the highest bidder.
Jamgold Soldshort M CN Halfling Beserker :
Jamgold was from Gullykin and cut his teeth on kobolds in the Firewine ruins. Like any Halfling he was deadly with sling and stone but he truly loved the sweet sweeping glory of the Scimitars, Wazikashis, & Ninjato's he discovered in his Uncle Nunchuks trunk as a boy.
He worked faithfully with each over the years first in one hand then the other and when he cut the middle finger off the mayors spoiled son one day when it was brandished in his face he decided it was time to seek his fortunes elsewhere.
He gathered his toys and headed west towards Beregost where he happened upon Caidi and Xyrella battling skeletons near High Hedge. With a roar like a cave bear the Halfling joined the fray and when it was over the three kindred spirits decided to keep each other’s company for a time and headed North.
And so it began...
As they crossed over the road to Candlekeep they encountered Elaver Darksbane shooing off a young girl dressed in purple and Jamgold scampered over to talk to the young cleric. The two women rested under a tree while Jamgold chatted up the boy and eventually it appeared a deal had been struck and Jamgold motioned them to come over. Elaver explained that he and his foster father had been ambushed the prior evening and that he was in need of companions with keen weapons and a desire to profit doing Talos will.
Introductions were made and the group trudged off to see if anything remained at the site Elavers ambush the prior evening. They found some odds and ends that Caidi stashed in her oversized pack and the group made their way back towards the road taking out a nasty wolf along the way.
A fat old hermit warned them of a suspicious looking pair in the road ahead and Elaver suggested they might be allies of the ones who sought his demise. Jamgold shrugged and loosed his sling killing the one in robes with his first shot and Bearcharger and Caidi ran in and smacked his Halfling companion down before he laid a blade on them.
Elaver gave a small smile and spoke a word of thanks to Talos and waited for them to loot the bodies before they moved on. as they came to the fork in the road leading North to FAI or South to Beregost they were approached by a tall mageling in red robes with a pointy hat. Elaver dismissed him curtly and the mage muttered some vague warning to them as he stalked off in a huff.
The elfs sharp eyes picked up the glitter of a diamond in a tree and a magical ring of some sort in the crevice of a large stone which she tossed to Caidi who promptly put it on. They killed a couple gibberlings and a Xvart and then came upon a huge ogre. The party grabbed ranged weapons and Elaver cast command the big oaf fell like a stone and died. He seemed to have a belt fetish and Elaver thought he recognized one as elven and put it on.
Elaver decided to ignore Gorions advice to seek his friends at the FAI for the moment and suggested the party make their way south to Beregost for rest and supplies before the sun went down.
Caidiani gathered Bearchargers gear and stuffed it in her pack then hoisted her limp form over her shoulder like a sack of turnips and the group went off in search of a temple. They stopped at Feldposts to ask direction where a mouthy local named Marl discovered too late that he bit off more than he could chew when he accosted the group and Caidi already angry at Bearchargers death beat him to death with the chair he could have chosen to remain sitting quietly in and lived.
As they left Feldposts Caidi laid Bearchargers body on the grass and told the group to guard it while she picked something up. She went into the Burning Wizard and soon came back and tossed a nasty looking mace to Elaver.
“The fellow what left that there ran afoul of me a few days back” she said – “he won’t be needing it”. Elaver could feel the hum of the enchantment on the mace and that small smile appeared once again as he fit it on his belt and dropped his old one in Caidi’s oversized pack.
Elaver recalled the mage Firebead he had befriended at Candlekeep lived nearby and the group stopped to see if he might have some useful information for them. They acquired a useful scroll case and he also assured them he would explain to the local authorities about the lightning struck commoners. They didn’t mention Marls demise to him.
After a visit to the Temple of Lathander to raise Bearcharger the group scouted off to the east where they came across an Amazonian man hating warrior woman named Sharteel – Jamgold spanked her soundly in a duel convincing her to join the group in the process. She seemed pleased at the prospect.
They met an oddly coherent speaking ghoul who then led them through some very tense moments battling basalisks and a thoroughly mad mage that was using his powerful pets to create a rock garden of passing adventurers. Elaver made a note to return later with some stone to flesh scrolls and explore the rest of the area and the group retreated back to Beregost leaving the ghoul behind.
Once back in town Sharteel announced that she had some latent skill in stealth and trapfinding that she would continue to develop that she might serve as the team scout and the group spent some time south of town working on this and learning to fight as a team. They befriended a local woman called Marriane when they brought news of her traveling husband and were well rewarded for their efforts.
They signed on as thugs to protect a mageling named Silke who tried to get them to finish her own dirty work while keeping her hands clean. The team took out the “marks” for her then quickly turned on her and took her out as well and watched as her cowardly companion Garrick beat a hasty retreat.
Another assassin seeking the bounty on Elaver lost his life at the Red Sheaf and the party decided to check on Gorions friends at the FAI to see if they knew anything useful. Yet another assassin died at the door to the FAI and Caidi spoke to a rude Half-orc inside and surprised everyone when she let his arrogance slide and stalked off. They met Jahiera and Khalid and heard some news about troubles in Nashkel then bid them good-bye.
The elfs sharp eyes discovered yet another shiny trinket under a pine and the group dispatched a series of nasty hobglins around the outside walls then explored further north. A tin-headed paladin died for his foolishness and the group met several fishermen who were having issues with a priestess of Umberlee. This brought a larger smile to Elavers face and he agreed to assist them immediately as Umberlee is one of Talos rivals.
They sought out and killed the priestess and took their reward and Elaver hoped this might lead to other opportunities to inflict some pain on Umberlee’s minions in the future as he gave thanks to Talos for their success.
The team entered a nasty ankeg nest nearby and managed to bring out some nice treasure as well as a number of ankeg shells which Elaver was certain they could trade at Thunderbutts in Beregost. There was a body of a boy in the stash they left behind as they had all they could carry with the numerous shells and other goodies and had no idea if it had any value for reward.
Back in Beregost they traded the shells and a stack of cash for a suit of ankeg plate for Jamgold as Caidi would not wear plate and Bearcharger said she already had a set stashed in a farmers field in Nashkel. The group made their way south to Nashkel where the mayor asked them to assist with the troubles at the mine.
Elaver took it under advisement as the reward was substantial but then the group encountered the mage Edwin who contracted them to kill the witch Dynahier. Edwin joined them to assist them in carrying out his contract and after picking up Bearchargers armor the group retired to the local inn where they had to take down yet another assassin before they could rest.
Current levels:
Caidi, Jamgold, Bearcharger, all level 3 (almost 4)
Elaver & Edwin Level 4
Sharteel F3/T3
So far just 1 death (Bearcharger at Neera battle) strong group – fun to play.
The group survived mostly unscathed and Bearcharger immediately snatched Greywolf’s sword from his still twitching hand and started giggling like a schoolgirl as she swept it this way and that calling out elven battle cries. The blade seemed to become an extension of her arm and the group applauded her antics.
It was then that the over exertion and abuse of speed potions took its final toll on the artist Prism and he collapsed and died at the base of his statue. Jamgold gathered his meager belongings and tossed a pair of fine emeralds to Elaver to put in his pouch.
The group stopped once again at the Nashkel store to turn in a winter wolf pelt then headed west towards the Gnoll Fortress where Edwin claimed the witch Dyna had last been seen.
The journey was eventful as the group wiped out an entire village of savage blue Xvarts and tried to assist a couple of dullards to plunder a dryads tree – killing the dryad and one of the plunderers before the second made his escape. The tree provided nothing in the end.
They encountered numerous gnolls along the way of course and near the end of their journey took a fine enchanted halberd from one which so impressed Caidiana that she immediately dropped the three iron ones she had been carrying and set about stroking and polishing the new one cooing and muttering guttural snippets to her new found prize.
They dispatched the toll takers at the bridge to the fort and then fought their way to the upper levels leaving a trail of dismembered gnolls along the way. The battle at the top turned to sheer chaos when Edwin cast horror on a large group of gnolls and suddenly they were running around like headless chickens as the group switched to ranged weapons and tried to pick them off but when the job as done they discovered Sharteel lying motionless killed in the confusion and Jamgold gathered her gear.
They discovered the witch Dyna in a prison hole at the top and Caidi climbed into the hole and dispatched her with a single blow from her new halberd. Edwin was pleased and announced he would accompany the group for the next year in payment for their service which Elaver reasoned might be suitable indeed as he was impressed with the mages power and the trip had provided plenty of plunder along the way.
Caidi hoisted Sharteels broken form on to her broad shoulder and the group made their way back to Nashkel without incident other than a single ambush by an Ogre Mage who fell quickly to their spells and weapons. Bearcharger was disappointed to see it did not wield an enchanted katana as she had heard they often do.
They visited the temple and raised their companion then set off to sell their plunder and Jamgold suggested his new armor should be ready in Beregost by now.
Current levels – Everyone is level 4 – Sharteel F3>T4
Two deaths so far Bearcharger at Neera battle and Sharteel at Gnoll Fort – she should not have died I just lost track of her in the confusion when Edwin’s horror spell started to expire.
Will probably grab Jamgold's armor from the smithy then clear the mines next.
After a trip to Beregost to retrieve Jamgold new ankeg armor the group made their way to the Nashkel mines. They arrived at dark and decided to rest near one of the outbuildings until morning which led to encounters with 3 winter wolves and a herd of Kobolds – they took a side trip to the carnival and Nashkel store to sell off the loot and skins before returning to the mine and entering…
They made their way down through the mines with Sharteel scouting for traps in the lower levels and progressed without much trouble killing numerous kobolds along the way. At the bottom they uncovered their apparent leader Mulahay and made short work of him and his minions. They released an elf being held in custody there who immediately left the area and then scouted out a back exit and left.
Sharteel heard voices from the north and stealthed out to investigate. She found a group of four women bounty hunters awaiting them and motioned Edwin to cast something special for them – the silly mage walked too close and was revealed and their archers disrupted his spell and took him down before he could suck down a potion.
The rest of the party joined in the fray and eventually took them down after Elaver silenced them and then held 2 of the 3 remaining but not before Sharteel fell as well. They gathered their dead and the loot and headed back to Nashkel where they raised their dead and got paid for clearing the mines. As they made their way towards the Inn yet another bounty hunter called Nimbul accosted them and paid with his life in a matter of seconds.
The group finished their business in Nashkel and traveled uneventfully to Beregost arriving at midnight. They plan to rest for a few hours and then they will seek out Mulahays contact at Feldposts at dawn.
No new levels everyone has quite a ways to go (4-5K) except Elaver who needs about 1K.
By the way, in a very strange way.. my main character died without apparent reason, instantly.. I tried to do it many times later but that never happened.
Brief Update - the group took down Tranzig without much trouble then cleared the area around the Beregost temple with Sharteel scouting altho I suspect we could have just walked into the wolf pack as well but then that's how most no reload games end isn't it - over confidence when things are going well LOL.
We headed south and took down Bassilus and the hobgoblins nearby after forgetting to stop and sell off the gear we grabbed from the temple hobgoblins along the way so we played quite a bit of inventory tetris getting all the spoils to High Hedge where Sharteel died in a Flind encounter when Edwin cast grease on the melee troops just outside the shop doors requiring more inventory tetris to get her stuff picked up along with the additional great swords from the flinds as well as a wand of fire I had never seen dropped there before.
More inventory tetris once inside and positioned so encumbrance wasn't an issue got us some good prices from most of it in spite of our fairly low rep and charisma (gave the cha tome to Jamgold bringing him to 13). We were looking for some scrolls of petrification protection but didn't find any so we put off finishing the basilisk map for the time being.
We went to the temple and got our reward and raised Sharteel - giving us about 17k gold in the coffers.
Elaver leveled to 5 with another 4 hps roll giving him a sorry 20 hps total. I think we will do some more exploring before heading to the bandit camp.
Three deaths now Bearcharger at Neera battle and Sharteel at Gnoll Fort and random Flind spawn outside High Hedge doors - Sharteel is a little squishy at AC 3 and 20hps - I should probably hold her back and let her snipe with the bow or throwing daggers unless she is backstabbing - it's not like the two beserkers and the barbarian can't handle the front line without her LOL.
I checked the info sheets a while back and the barbarian is way ahead in kills and exp - about 43% for the game followed by Bearcharger at 29% and Jamgold at 15%.
After leaving the Temple the party made it's way to Ulcaster and cleared the area and dungeon there without much trouble and then made their way to Gullykin where they entered the nasty hobbits lair and popped down into the Firewine dungeon taking out the Ogre Mage and the other minions nearby the entrance/exit there - the other mage got off a lightning bolt that took out Sharteel and Caidi causing a bit of inventory tetris to gather all the loot and gear .
We raised them in the Gullykin Temple before we headed south and cleared out the bounty hunters then headed down to the Firewine map. Took out the guy with the gauntlets and the Ogre Mage from the crazy lady took out two of the party before going down. Some more inventory tetris then left for Nashkel to raise the dead and sell off our loot.
We have now killed a total of 3 Ogre mages one between the coast and Nashkel, one in Firewine Dungeon and one from the crazy lady on Firewine map and still no magic katana drop? I want to have Bearcharger using Katana/shield and give Varscona to Sharteel to dual with the short sword + 2. Coffers are filling for now at about 21K gold and we gave the barby the mail of the dead (still just -1 AC) and she is doing some serious damage with the halberd from the gnoll (Crusher?).
Everyone is level 5 now and I have to decide whether to go clear the coast maps or head to Bandit Camp.
No reloads - 7 deaths - 4 for Sharteel - she is really pretty squishy on the front line with her current 3 AC and only 22 hps - (only 1 more than Edwin and 2 more than Elaver - but Elaver has -4 AC.
In the non enhanced edition, one of the characters you could import was a gnome illusionist/theif with unnaturally high thieving skills.
That certainly helped. Illusionist thief isn't a bad choice for a low level solo game: use wands of lightning while wearing boots of grounding and recharge the wands later. Use ring of invisibility to avoid tough fights(keep recharging it with thalantyr). Wands of summon monster are also useful in boss fights.
You can get your fire resistance over 100% and then fire will not hurt you, but rather heal you. The final battle with sarevok involved hitting him with arrows of detonation while he went after the monsters I had summoned with the wand of monster summon. Hostile creatures like to target the monsters you summon. Reading this thread has given me some good ideas for a solo playthrough.
The archer kit would probably work well in a no reload game for bg1 since bows are already overpowered.
I would not suggest doing a low level no reload but could be fun for someone who really wants a challenge.
Given the upcoming release of BG2:EE I've decided to try and get a No-Reload run through in the meantime!
Name: Daethus Moonshadow
Race: Elf; Alignment: Neutral Evil
Class: Fighter/Mage
Str: 18/67; Dex 19; Con 17; Int 18; Wis 10; Cha 9
Weapons: Longsword **; Two-Weapon Style **
Starting Spells: Find Familiar; Protection from Petrification
Candlekeep: Looted the Inn that's as clean as an ogre's arse and picked up the 'Armour' spell from a scroll unsafely stashed away. Cast Find Familiar and promptly stuffed the Dust Mephit in my pack. Consoled in the Identify scroll to complete the Firebead quest and then followed my usual circuit round (slaying the amateur assassins enroute) and so was able to afford a brace of longswords, composite longbow and arrows, a helm and a sling and shot. Then followed Gorion into an ambush..
Lion's Way: Rejected Imoen but accepted her equipment and sent her on her merry way back to Candlekeep. Went back to the site of Gorion's death and swore bloody vengeance on the armoured fiend. Picked over the equipment then met two trustworthy looking fellows on the road
High Hedge: Just picking the safe route to Beregost (I'm too used to Tutu style bandit ambushes
Beregost: Headed directly for the Silke encounter as it's best to get it over with quickly in case she gets a lightning bolt off and ends my run early. With Daethus drawing his two longswords, Monty's sling and a Wand of Magic Missile shot from Xzar she quickly fell. After collecting our reward the merry band face off against the dwarven assassin. Or rather draw him out of the Inn and pepper him with arrows and stones. Again success so buoyed by this successful tactic we head south to clear out the spider infestation. This can be more difficult so picked up Kagain first and equipped him with the assassin chainmail. He was then able to hold the spiders for a time by the barrels while we peppered them with missiles. Unfortunately Kagain did get poisoned so he had to withdraw and the encounter became more of a kiting exercise. Luckily all ended well with the spiders defeat.
Heading to Feldposts Inn for a well deserved rest the group talked down a drunken oaf (can't pass up 900 free xp) and sold off their equipment. After trading in a book with the sage from Candlekeep (and looting his house) I could afford to buy Kagain's Axe +1 which is an essential buy as it's a long way till you find a better axe. As it was already night the party rested to heal up then went to the smithy to stock up on missiles and bought the sling +1 for Monty. I decided to arm Xzar with a sling too as I don't like mages closing the range like they do when armed with darts or throwing daggers.
Next stop .. north to find Kagain's caravan
Good luck!
Daethus Moonshadow (cont.)
Heading north Kagain came to his senses and realised it would be more profitable following Daethus' trail of carnage than chase caravans. Given that Daethus is multi as is Monty I am clearing each map in it's entirety to maximise XP gain and hopefully get to a safer level a bit quicker. Met a man in a pointy hat and miraculously found a magic ring before hunting some ogre and various gibberlings foolish enough to cross our path. The useful ogre belt went to Kagain and I left the makeover belt to rot with it's previous owner.
Friendly Arm Inn
Went straight for the assassin on the steps as bold as brass.. and he fell almost instantly to the party. The fatal blow went to Monty who critical'd him for 18 damage. At the moment I'm giving most of the spells to Daethus and seconds to Xzar although this pattern will likely change dependant on the spell moving forward. Met Dorn for the first time so another meeting is pre-ordained (assuming nothing goes horribly wrong). Dropped off the spider carcass and miscellaneous trappings for some gold and gnomish gratitude and looted the Harpers.
Some Hobgoblins foolishly loitered outside the Inn and were dealt with in short order.. as was a member of the Flaming Fist who tried to claim a drow taken under the parties protection. Remembering to make Xzar the leader before initiating dialogue the grateful Drow Priestess joined our merry band (yes Xzar has the highest Cha in the party so far.. until I recruit Dorn at any rate
Stocked up on equipment (read: arrows and slingshot) and rested before heading south. Currently have Kagain in plate and decided to give him a sling as well just because it's convenient with him using a large shield. As he has a point in crossbow I'll likely treat him to the crossbow of speed later rather than waste any weapon proficiencies on sling. Would it be worth putting a second point in crossbow or just increasing his expertise with Axe?
South of Beregost
5 characters with missile weapons makes short work of most creatures at early levels - and the Ogrillons were no exception. Nor was the Flaming Fist mercenary who provided another suit of plate free of charge. If you pick the right dialogue there's no reputation loss either
In clearing the rest of the map Kagain continues to tank while the others use their missile weapons to great effect. The hobgoblins fall and provide Monty with a nice pair of boots and a cave yields more healing supplies which always come in handy.
Beregost
Xzar is becoming anxious to head down to Nashkal as promised.. but as travel to Beregost involves 0 hours travel I decide to head back momentarily. Returning the letter provides another Ring +1 (Kagain and Daethus both have one now) and rescuing Neera (temporarily) provides 250g from her staff and a handy bag for all the loot we are sure to acquire. The party completes the halflings quest regarding the boots - then promptly executes the thieving wretch and takes them back. Also pick up the magic mace for Viconia.
The parties reputation is still at 8 which is perfect for trading in our loot so far (with evil parties I aim to keep between 6-8 rather than let it drop too far) and also replenished some supplies before heading further south towards Nashkal!
Not actually playing multiplayer - started the game in MP mode in order to make more than one PC to play (altho the one created in the top slot is considered the main and if he dies it's still game over/reload time while any others you add can be raised like NPCs)
Once I start the game with however many characters I decide to create - I save it and copy it to the single player mode and play in that mode (by myself) as if my extra characters are just NPCs. No banter of course.
Baerithryn Nightstar
Race: Elf
Class: Fighter/Mage/Thief
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Str: 18/58; Dex: 19; Con: 17; Int: 18; Wis: 10; Cha 9.
Weapon Proficiencies: Longsword **; Longbow **.
Thief Skills: Put all starting points into Move silently.
Build comments: Although progress will be slow the xp cap in BG1 will allow me to reach 6/6/7 which makes for a capable character and gives me enough thief points to max open locks and find traps (levelling up taking me to 95 in both plus the tome of Dexterity later in the game to give the extra points to 100).
I appreciate that longbow isn't necessarily the best choice when it comes to bringing a character through into BG2 - however in BG:EE missile weapons are fantastic. And ** pips, a Dex of 19, elf bonus and a composite bow gives me a THACO of 14 and 5/2 attacks at level 1 straight out of Candlekeep which is not to be sniffed at. My later pips will both go into 2-weapon fighting so by the end of the game he'll be able to dish out the damage up close as well as from a distance.
(I decided to alternate Baerithryn and Monty's thief skills. So Monty will invest in open locks first while Baerithryn will go for traps due to the advantage each has in those particular areas. Once they've maxed their first skill Monty will then be free to put points into stealth or traps and become that much nastier
Heading East the party met a mysterious man in a pointy hat and hunted some ogre. Cleared the remainder of the map of gibberlings and wildlife before heading north. Baerithryn had brought slings and ammo from Candlekeep and with his composite bow there wasn't much that could get close to the group.
Met Dorn for the first time and looted the Harpers before clearing the immediate vicinity of hobgoblins. Travelling east the party rescued a drow priestess from a marauding Flaming Fist mercenary who kindly donated some plate armour to the party. Returning to the Inn Viconia was equipped with a sling, splint armour and shield and a helm and the rest of the group replenished their stock of ammo and took some well earned rest.
Note that I have been picking up the usual specials (diamond in the tree, ring of wizardry, ring of protection) as I go even if not specifically mentioned. Baerithryn at this stage of the game is going to be armoured and providing missile and thieving support until he gets some more levels under his belt.
Next .. south to Beregost!
Manny - LN Fighter
Str: 15
Dex: 13
Con: 18 O.o
Int: 13
Wis: 12
Cha: 12
Proficiencies in dagger and crossbow (closest thing I can get to bayonet and rifle =p)
So far, not good. After Gorion bit the dust Imoen and Manny tried to head back to Candlekeep but were beset by a dire wolf. They turned heel and ran, stopping to take potshots to try and slow it down. Imoen must have tripped because she took too long to run after firing off a shot and was mauled by the beast.
Manny kept running east. He ran into a fat hermit on the road who called him a bandit and would not speak to him. Manny then ran into Xzar and Montaron, who were kind enough to give him a potion of healing in return for some help with business in Nashkel.
Quickly Manny said yes then the dire wolf was soon upon them. Montaron was able to get a hit in but he too was mauled by the beast.
A gibberling showed up and decided to join the party but was brought down by Xzar's minor drain. He used his 2nd and last minor drain on the dire wolf just before it turned on him. It tried to tear him apart and Xzar was within an inch of his life before Manny was able to riddle the beast with enough bolts to turn it into a pin cushion.
Taking a moment to mourn for their fallen, Manny and Xzar continued their journey to the Friendly Arm Inn.
Along the way they ran into a pestering old man and a hunter who told them a tale of how his companions were slain by an ogre mage. They stayed on the road to avoid hostilities and soon found themselves at the FAI.
A man named Tarnesh greeted them at the steps to the inn. He seemed to recognize Manny and offered to give him something. Before Manny could react there were suddenly 4 of this stranger. Pulling out his dagger Manny and the guards of the FAI attacked the multiple targets with Xzar using a wand of magic missiles that had once belonged to Imoen. They were able to make short work of Tarnesh before he could do any real damage to them.
Entering the FAI Manny finally met Gorion's friends Khalid and Jaheira. It was a surprise too him that they too had business in Nashkel. When he mentioned that his current companion wanted to go there as well, he sensed a tension begin to develop amongst his new found friends.
That's it for now. I'll update when I get around to playing some more
But after finding this thread i got realy inspired and are now on my fifth attempt on an Irom man run, yea the first ones went realy bad, died in bandit ambushes and got clobered by a polar bear in random encounters before even reaching Nakshel.
4th one seemed to be going ok, went with a blade and had Imoen Ajantis and Viconia.
cleared the areas aorund Nakshel and gnoll fortress. Hit lvl 5 with the blade, felt that all was going well and got critted by a cavebear and instakilled argh.
But for sure this is the way to play the game, im enjoying it through and trough and every new map and encounter means tactical thinking.
I am allowing myself to cheat a bit. I have 4 pre-rolled chars that im alternating between instead of rolling a new one every time.
Current attempt is a NE elf f/m/t.
Used Xzar and Montaron for fodder and picking up Viconia, Xzar died in Beregost, where we picked up Kagain and montoaron died on the journey to Nakshel.
In Nakshel we accepted to kill a wich and let the wizard Edwin join our group.
Encountered Dorn while scouting the Mine area and brought this powerhouse with us.
Cleared a few areas and a gnoll fortress hunting the witch, found her and dispatched her very easely.
Kagain is doing a good job tanking, atleast after the got the dex bracers, before that he died two times i think.
Dorn is a hitter, but his AC is not very good and hes died on me a couple of times.
His special abilities does shine from time to time though, his fear aura in combination with my trusted mephits glass dust does make the enemys swing and hit alot of air.
Edwin just tags along for the most part, throwing a few darts and daggers here and there when he can scavenge some. But when firepower is needed he sure brings it with hailstorms of magicmissiles.
Viconia, probably the most important of the group, disabling the most dangerous targets, buffing the party and offering a heal now and then. And when not casting shes pelting the foes with a trusted sling.
Charname Henke Ghostblade, so far he adds some trapfinding ( having put all my points here so far ) and archery to the group, with 19dex ** in longbows and archer bracers hes not completely useless in fights and if cornered he can draw Varscona, * in Longswords and * in SWF.
Also can save up some spell slots with utility spells for Edwin to go all out damage.
Next goal after next goal is to go bassilisk hunting and then try my luck and Ankhegs i believe before its time to rout out the kobolds from Nakshel mines.
Encountered hobgoblins from a group called the chill, offered to join them but they made the mistake of refusing and attacked instead.
Went a little overboard with the firepower and they all fell like flies.
Next encounter was with a vampiric wolf and its pack, this one was scarier, never any real danger but they did take a way a little too many HPs from Dorn.
Kagain gained a lvl though and is now lvl 4
Dorn is a few hundred xp away and will soon follow.
Dorn gained his level, and died… and died again, and I couldnt afford to raise him. Went for basilisks to gain some cash for his resurection, some scary fights. only had two prot, spells so i took two fighters, viconias skeleton and korax to explore the area. Prot ran out ofc and held my breath hoping that greater basilisk wouldnt change targets from Korax and skellie. It worked thought i could breath and then my foresome ran in to Kirians group…
Quick tactical retreat Korax and skellie held them ocupied while Viconia and Edwin comes running…
Grease spell into the middle of the group that luckily have entangled themselves…..
So let them hang there while pelting them down with arrows magic and bullets.
Picked up Shar-teel, wasnt sure i was going too, but since Dorn keeps dying i need to change something. Shes lvl 4 so im thinking letting her get to 5 and then dual her to thief, doing scouting and backstabs. .
That is if she survives that long, I need to raise cash and should she die doing so…
Well atleas the saved thos HP for someone else.
Had too scary moments doing some mopping up, first one two ghast snuck up on my artillery while tanks where engaged with hobgoblins. Managed to hit Edwin and hold him before i knew what was going on. Viconia and Spellblade interwiened though and quickley cut down the ghasts.
Next one was worse..... Lightning struck, hit Spellblade and took out half of his HP....
Currently resting up at FAI to take my chanses with ankhegs.
Final update, went to ankhegs..... went ok, lost Dorn ... again but it was worth it with for the cash and a new armour for Viconia.
What was worse is that i lost my dust mephit familiar and all what that means.
Visited Ulgoths beard and is now back in Nakshel, eiterh going for mines or pursuing a lead on one of Dorns enemies.
Will decide tommorow.
Mines and Mulahey caused no problems, some fear spells, on kobolds, magic missiles on Mulahey and Viconia doing a good job turning away skellies.
I thought my f/m/t charname should be the weak link in the group untill higher lvls, but hes deadly with a longbow and so far have 50% of the groups kills.
Leaving the mines did not go well.
Tough fight with the amazons and we lost Edwin to an well aimed arrow.
Well i thought id finnish Dorns quest and continued…. Offended a crazy mage who attacked together with two oozes, lost both Dorn and Shar-teel….. Not good at all.
Had some trouble with how to bring back 6 peolpes gear with only 3 people alive…
Snuck into Nakshel temple and got everyone raised and healed up, thanks to ankhegs im no longer in desperate need of cash.
Nimbul managed to get of his mirror image before Viconia silenced him. Didnt help him much as magic missiles and arrow took it down and he was soon dead.
Unloaded loot at the Nakshel store and on my way back to help Dorn execute his vengeance.
Handed over some deserter to the garrison, not much of a reward though.
Now Bassilus is still left out there, there is a fight that i always have trouble with and going there now scares me a bit.
But Viconia wants the hammer and I cant have too much competition with evil mad men out there.
Bassilus fell without a problem. Didnt know what i was doing with the dialogue but managed to get his skeletons not to attack me.
Now we go for Brage...
Kagain is doing a good job tanking, with -6AC and -3 vs slashing damage with the golden belt.
Then we encountered an archeological dig site, agreed to rob the site and kill the diggers, all went smooth except that some ghost showed up. "Killed" it again easely enough.
Somone in the group, must have talked though, cause back in Nakshel the guards and a bounty hunter attacked me. Killed them but my reputation is now as low as it can be. Might cause some problems.
Handed the body of Brage over for reward... Only got half the reward that was promised so I killed the bounty guy for all the cash he owed me and took Brages body over to the temple to squeeze some gold out of them aswell.
Time to get out of Nakshel.
Long story short, Jaheira bit the dust when she tried fleeing an ogre and then accidentally got herself caught in the entangle spell she had cast. Ogre proceeded to crush her, crush her to goo.
Then Khalid died fighting a Red Wizard of Thay while he, Manny, and Xzar were trying to save Neera from the Thayvan Wizards. He took a firebolt right in the chest.
After running into Kagain and offering to help him find his lost caravan, the party then ran into Garrick, who also was looking for help for his employer. They agreed to help Silke but once Manny figured out she was trying to pull the wool over their eyes he denied to help her. Silke got mad and promptly shoved a lightning bolt up in his anatomical nether region where the sun doth not shine.
So, ya. This ends the tale of Manny. Now I'm going to try a no reload for a Wild Mage O.o