@Draith012, I like the way you described Rigid Thinking and Hold Person, and the bits with Xzar and Imoen were fun. Imoen often saves the day in my games, too, with that wand of hers.
*Note: I actually restarted this PC after his death in the NRC but he didn’t last long enough to post again over there in. So here he is, same story for the PC, but running the MRC instead. CT
I’ve been busy since last I had time to pull out quill & parchment & journal. Suffice to say that things have changed in the 35 days since I left Candlekeep w/Gorion @ my side.
I’ve made it to Nashkel but have required the services of Gellana @ the Temple of the Wisdom near the FAI & Kelddath @ the Temple of the Morning near Beregost to Raise me now 3 times.
However, my followers have become stronger and more plentiful since just Immy & I started & later added Khalid & Jaheira. Since then we added an Elven Ranger/Archer named Kivan that we met near a Wizards Manor House in High Hedge west of Beregost. Kivan suggested we link up w/another Elven friend of his, Coran, who he said we’d find in the Cloakwood. Sure enough we found him after great trial to avoid a pack of Dread Wolves & Wolves as well as a number of Huge Spiders. We finally skirted them by going N & found Coran. Great call by Kivan.
Now my followers amount to 2 Ranger/Archers and a Fighter/Thief-Swashbuckler, all 3 of whom are deadly w/a Long Bow. Jaheira has been providing great Druidic support & is quite effective w/her sling & stones. And…Imoen is growing in strength & skill as a Swashbuckler herself & her SBow is quite helpful in backing up the LBows…but I can’t risk losing her much longer. Kivan & Coran indicate they have another Elf friend who had gone to the Nashkel Mines & they are urging me to find him & add his Mage skills to our weapons. We’re heading toward the mines tomorrow. Once we find Xan, I think I’m going to release Immy from my service. I think she will be safe @ the FAI until I can sort this all out.
Key Event: Once I had my current party together we cleared everything from the FAI to Nashkel, to include all the lands around Coast & Lion’s Way, South Beregost Road & North Nashkel Road. When we arrived in Nashkel I was again attacked by an Assassin, this one calling herself Neira. She was able to cast a Hold Spell on me but before she could do any further damage, she was riddled w/arrows. Securing the services of Coran & Kivan’s bows to add to Khalid’s has made us a deadly group of adventurer’s to approach. We are able to set a kill-sack that is almost unreachable on foot.
Treasure of note: Boots of Stealth, Golden Girdle, Ring of Protection +1 (Eric); Cloak of Non-Detection (Coran), Elven Spear of Entanglement (Kivan)
Current Disposition: Resting, recuperating, resupplying @ the Nashkel Inn
@belgarathmth Yeah, I usually have Imoen interrupt spellcasting with it but in tight situations she starts spamming it till something is dead. In case to monsters immune to normal weapons as we as of yet have any usable magical weapons.
Xzar was a twist that I wasn't expecting to play out myself. Just a spur of the moment, "What if..."
We awoke to the breaking of dawn. I took the time to conjure up the lore on Bassilus's warhammer. It was the warhammer of the renowned Field Captain Dergot. He named it after his bride, Ashiadeena. I can't imagine her being too happy of this.
Jeheira: "Best we hold onto such a well enchanted weapon. It'd serve far better than a sack of coins. Not to mention the wealth you earned from slaying Bassilus."
After breaking down the camp, we searched the area. We happened upon a group of hobgoblin bandits. It was three against seven. I certainly didn't surrender to their proposal. My band and theirs exchanged blows. A fierce battle but short n' quick. We emerged slightly worse for wear but victorious. A few injuries that were quickly healed.
Imoen: "Ooh, amazing! This sword is whistling!" Montaron: "Baah, seize it's noise! It throbs the mind something terrible!" Fiona: "Put it away Immy. Let's identify it before something happens." Imoen: "Oh! Right you are." Montaron: "As if you'd ever us it." Imoen: "Yes I would too! Try me I might. You'd soon find out." Montaron: "A tempting offer if'n I ever heard one." Fiona: "Enough. Montaron, you wouldn't want it. Not if it whistles while you trying to steal the kidney from some hapless fool." Montaron: "Point taken. Try not to hurt yourself deary. Wouldn't want something to... befell you." Imoen: "You don't scare me none!"
Further exploration had us come upon bandits and a few undead. Nothing we couldn't handle. We even bare witness to our first talking chicken, obviously polymorphed. The shock of the day: Imoen immediately sympathized with him. Who would have guessed.
During a scrimmage with some hobgoblins, skeletons approached us from the west. I looked to Xzar. He wore an expression as though he was 'bout to burst. Now was the time if any... Fiona: *whispers to Xzar* "Get 'em Xzar! They stole my eyes!"
Xzar took off towards them with dagger in hand, waving it about as though he was trying to greet them and stab them all at the same time. Jeheira: "What is that lout doing?" Khalid: "J-J-Jeheira, help me w-w-with this one!"
The others fell the hobgoblins sooner than I anticipated but it was far too late for Xzar. The skeletons diced him up quickly. Once the skeletons were dealt with, everyone gathered around Xzar's corpse. Imoen: "Poor sod. Didn't stand a chance." Khalid: "Another life lose. Oh, will this hunt ever end?" Jeheira: "Agreed. Let's collect him and make for Beregost already." Montaron: "Leave him! The fool had it coming already. Besides... that makes 1,000 for each of us." Jeheira stomps off in disgust. Jeheira: "Whatever!" Khalid: "Ooh. I'm n-n-not gonna hear the end to th-this one..."
I watched wide-eyed as everyone walked off. Surely, they were too distracted to noticed. Poor Imoen looked a bit dishearten. I know she wasn't standing next to me when it happened. I suppose she just doesn't handle death well. It seemed a very bland end to such a peculiar man. Especially for his role played yesterday.
We arrived in Beregost. It is as I planned. I stalled long enough in the wilderness to reach Beregost at night. Fiona: "Think we should head to Feldepost's. The temple won't be open till day light anyways." Montaron: "Fine! But we better make for Nashkel next."
Feldepost was kind enough to rent us neighboring rooms. Khalid and Jeheira had their own. Imoen and I shared one. Montaron - I had no inkling as to where he went. Imoen was bouncing on the bed with the sheath sword we got from that band of hobgoblins. The chicken Melicamp struggled to stay balance along side her. Imoen: "Fi-Fi, identify my sword next pleeeease! I wanna know about it." Fiona: "Sure. You still have that book Firebead gave you?" Imoen: "Uh-huh!" Fiona: "May I see it." Imoen: "Sure thing!" She bustled quickly in excitement. Imoen was always easy to please and soon enough she handed me her book. I spent a good couple of hours reading it as Imoen and Melicamp conversed. T'was titled, 'History of the Unicorn Run'. The contents didn't really matter, what did matter was the time it took for Imoen to fall fast asleep. Malicamp stared intently at her bosom as she cuddled him like a stuffed toy. Fiona: "Don't get any ideas." Melicamp: "I-I beg your pardon? I would never!" Fiona: *leans in towards Melicamp* "Just to let you know, she was a man not too long ago." Melicamp: "What?!" Fiona: "Sssssssshhh...."
I carefully got out of bed and picked up Bassilus' medallion with me. I exited the room, leaving that thought in Melicamps tiny little head. Stepping into the hallway, I made a quick observation of Jeheira's room. A bit of giggling and a voice stammering in embarrassment. Good enough for me. I gently walked downstairs into the bar and made for the door with the medallion in plain sight. I'm certain Montaron was waiting for me.
Once outside, I quickly headed around the corner. I had only a moment to set the trap, no matter how clumsy it was. Finishing it, I darted further behind the inn and drew my bow. And sure enough, Montaron came from around the corner. It didn't prove as easy as I hoped it to be. With his sword, Montaron snapped the tripwire that set off the bolt, missing him by a few paces. Montaron: "Clever! But ye won't be done with me that easily." Fiona: "This day was gonna come eventually. Better it be now and save me the suspense." Montaron: "Aye. I'd always wanted to test your mettle 'ginst mine. That price over yer head along with that cleric's reward would make set me up quite comfortably for months!"
I tossed Bassilus' medallion to the grown between the two of us. Fiona: "Claim it. I dare you."
I let loose my arrow, snagging him in the arm. His stone whizzed pass me. Montaron dashed at me with teeth baring and a fury in his eyes. My second arrow missed. I toss aside my bow and drew my sword as he came swinging at me. Montaron: "At me, ya feltch. No more coward's weapons!"
Our blades clattered in the dead of night, flashing briefly in the moonlight. We exchanged strikes for a good while when his blade caught my thigh. I stepped away, ready to receive his next advance. When he stepped in, he thrust the tip of his sword at me. I slapped my blade against the fat of it, leading it off course and barely missing me. And with that, I retorted with my own, my blade sank into his chest.
Montaron grows in his protest. Montaron: "The money belongs to me, you diseased infested whore!" Blood spat from his lips as he snarled his words. My lips curled as I lifted my nose at him. Turning my blade within him. His face twisted in agony. Thrashing my sword outward, I dragged him to one side and onto the floor. Fiona: "Not in this life, Monty." I sliced him across the spin in his neck and left him there to die. And I didn't even had to divvy up the money six ways...
Changes: Added Chromatic Orb, Chill Touch and Laroch's Minor Drain to Fiona's spellbook (scroll obtained from random bandits and Xzar) Identified warhammer: Ashiadeena +2 (let Jeheira hold onto it) Identified shortsword: The Whistling Sword +2 (gave to Imoen) Gold: 1,119
Fiona's Level Up: +3 HP, +3 Lore, Pick Pocket (50), Hide in Shadows (65), Set Trap (25)
@Draith012, very fun and interesting interpretations. I like how you describe the Identify spell as "conjuring up the Lore on...".
You seem to be taking your story in a darker direction now. I guess Fiona is going to be kind of an anti-heroine, where the villain is the protagonist of the story, and the reader should be rooting for the bad guys.
The trick with writing a good anti-hero is to not lose the reader's sympathy for the protagonist. Xzar had been written as a very unsympathetic and creepy character, so it was understandable that nobody but Imoen minded his death or wanted to get him raised. I noticed that Fiona kept secret her involvement in using his madness to deliberately get him killed.
At first I thought you were dramatizing that you the player wanted to split Xzar and Monty, and I was wondering if you were going to keep one or both of them until there was a fight with J & K, so I was surprised when Fiona decided to murder Monty. That's certainly one way to "solve the problem" of "getting rid" of Xzar and Monty after they've outlived their usefulness.
I believe you have implied over the course of the series of scenes that Fiona is evil, but with boundaries, so I will be interested to see how you develop her over time. Will she become so dark that she betrays her friendship with Imoen at some point? Will she "fall in with the wrong crowd" and eventually betray Jaheira and Khalid? She has just demonstrated that she "dismisses" unwanted companions by luring them apart from the rest of the company and murdering them. She could become an interesting study of a dark and disturbed young woman - who would likely become increasingly dark as she discovers that she has inherited divine power.
I'm still having a lot of fun reading about Fiona, but I do know it's a lot of work to keep writing scenes, and it takes time away from playing the game, so you don't have to keep writing, of course, unless it's fun.
There have been times in the past when I've started to narratize my runs, and then realized I was practically writing a novel, and I usually would cut back into a shorthand form of posting whenever I felt like it was getting out of hand on me, and turning from play into work. But I'll enjoy reading whatever you care to write and post.
Thanks for keeping up with the Fiona's logs. Because they're are just entries in a book in a way, you haven't been getting her complete thought process. In all honesty, I just couldn't see Montaron, who is particularly quick to violence and extremely greedy, to share a fortune like 5,000 gold. This particular instance is a display of evil against evil. A scenario which plays off more often than not among these types.
It was interesting to play out. I was a bit nervous as Fiona can't wear helmets which means Montaron could kill her with a lucky hit. Fiona actually failed to set her trap which I interpreted as too obvious or inoperable. Either way, it didn't harm Montaron.
I'm actually planning to put a novel version of this story in the fancreation section with personal drawings of important events. I'm almost done with Chapter One. I just need to draw up Gorion's encounter with our mysterious armor-clad foe. Plus, it's going to stim a bit away from the ordinary set up and quests that you get from the beginning and assume things had played out in the length of her life growing up there. Plus, the story will more flushed out by then as well.
Key Event: My mission to find Xan & add his wizard skills to our team has ended in tragedy. Kivan & Coran insisted that their fellow Elf would be an asset & I’m sure their council will bear them out. Still, in finding Xan, which we did, I have lost my oldest and best friend, my little sister really, Imoen. Imoen was slain by a Kobold or Skeleton, I don’t know which, while we battled the evil Cleric Mulahey who, from deep in the Nashkel Mines, was overseeing an operation to slow the flow of iron from that mine and spoil whatever iron did emerge from within.
We’d made quick work of the mines, Khalid, Kivan & Coran tearing up Kobolds w/their relentless arrows, so the final confrontation w/Mulahey seemed an afterthought. And for all purposes it was, except that he managed first to use a Sleep spell on me & then, almost as soon as I awoke from my slumber, he cast Hold Person, on me. My party immediately came to my aid as I was defenseless, Imoen leading the charge, her new Short sword in hand. Even Held I saw her fall out of the corner of my eye. Still, it was only a short time later that we’d defeated Mulahey & his minions. But my celebration was short lived. We released Xan from captivity & I readily accepted his offer of service, despite his dour personality. But…on doing so I realized my mistake…there was nothing I could do for Immy anymore. I’d hoped to send her back to the FAI to wait on me to clear the way w/o risking her safety but she needed to be alive for me to do that. I failed her miserably. When all this is over, I will recover her and Gorion’s remains & properly lay them to rest.
YOU KNOW, I'D THOUGHT ABOUT HAVING THE PARTY REST A FEW HOURS BFEFORE WE ENTERED THIS CAVE...BUT THEN I THOUGHT BETTER OF IT. SHOULD'A GONE WITH MY FIRST IDEA. LOOK AT THE COST!
Our return to Nashkel, my party, beaten & bruised, took one on the kisser again. Another assassin, this one named Nimbel, put a whoopin’ on us. Xan had no spells memorized coming directly from captivity & the rest of us were scarred up. Nimbel approached us and threatened me and we separated into our ‘spider spoke’ formation placing Nimbel @ the center. He’d cast Mirror Image on himself & I suspect, Protection from Normal Missiles. Suffice to say we couldn’t lay a glove on him. At one point, Kivan & I were licking our wounds w/Khalid, Coran, Jaheira & Xan all dead. The only attacks on him were coming from the Amnish Soldiers who were actually keeping him busy & wounding him. Kivan and I finally slipped into the Temple of Helm & purchased Cure spells and then ran Nimbel down in the Nashkel Inn. There we hacked him to shreds. I had to sell much of what we gained in the Nashkel Mines to raise my followers but was unable to help Immy.
Treasure of note: Boots of Avoidance (Kivan); Bracers of Defense AC6 (Xan)
Current Disposition: Resting, recuperating, resupplying @ the Nashkel Inn
Next Steps: Beregost to visit Tranzig & take ore to Thunderhammer Smithy; also High Hedge to take Mineral Vial to Thalantyr
Level Up: Coran increased to Fighter/3 (he’d already attained Thief/Swashbuckler/3; Jaheira increased to Initiate of the 2nd Circle (Druid/4) & selected Cure Light Wounds & Slow Poison
I led my group, now consisting of 2 Half-Elves & 3 Elves, to Beregost to confront Tranzig. He was ready for us & confronted us as we got to the top of the stairs. He Mirror Imaged himself & proceeded to cast Slow on all but me & Blindness on Kivan. We countered w/Xan pelting him twice w/Melf’s Acid Arrow while Jaheira cast Bless on our party & then Doom on Tranzig who’d now cast Hold Person on Kivan to add insult to injury. I was finally able direct my ‘Slowed’ companion Khalid and Xan to either side of the doorway so I could attack dual-wielding my Battle-Axes. Xan won the day w/a Scroll of Chromatic Orb as Tranzig was panicking & running toward the stairs.
I led the party to Larswood and proceeded to tear the eyes out of Teven’s Bandits. All was well and we were loaded up w/treasure from that victory.
Key Event: AND THEN MY ENTIRE PARTY WAS WIPED OUT AT LARSWOOOD BY 3 BLACK TALON ELITE!!! DARN! DARN! DARN!
Treasure of note:
Current Disposition: Deceased
Next Steps: Try again when I come up w/another idea for a PC.
Level Up: Eric to Courser (Ranger-Tracker/4); Kivan to Courser (Ranger-Archer/4); Khalid to Courser (Ranger-Archer/4)
For my part, not an excuse, just an observation. SCS makes the game much tougher for my skill level. Even w/o adding any of the Tactical Challenges I still find the game much harder in encounter after encounter and I'm gonna have to adjust to it. As I say, I skipped the Tactical Challenges but still made mages and clerics smarter, added better calls for help, better deployments etc. I also find that, where I might have fought four skeletons w/throwing daggers outside High Hedge, now there are ~ 20. Same w/Kobold encounters. I gave myself a break and made more realistic wolves and wild dogs (less Likely to attack) but then added in faster bears. Oh well, I'll adjust but that last encounter w/the BTE, which are always hard anyway, was a booger. I thought I had a formidable party & got smoked like a cheap cigar. CT
Well, after reading other posts on here, particularly CharlestonianTemplar, I decided to redo my adventure. The run will follow the footsteps of my previous game, the only difference is that I'll be adding these mods: EE Shadowkeeper, Rogues Rebalanced and Sword Coast Stratagems. I'll continue the story once Fiona returns to our original cut off point.
Shadowkeeper isn't necessarily going to be used in a negative way (fix a few issues with Swashbucklers that was mismanaged in RR: their melee THAC0 suppose to raise like a fighters but at the same time, the mod forgets to calculate for the rogues standard THAC0 improvements, making them progress even FASTER than fighters in terms of melee... so I have to manually fix it upon certain level ups). The SCS also adds kits to NPCs so I might even kit a few characters if it feels appropriate for them. It'll be needed for a part of the story that I haven't gotten to yet, plus I would like to change what abilities are gained from the Bhaalspawn sleep progression (though they shall not exceed the spell level that the original ability came from or it's overall usefulness. Example: Healing Light Wounds: Level 1 Spell. A different level 1 spell may feel more appropriate for the character, but Minor Drain will not be replaced with a spell like Sleep as there is a large gap of effectiveness between the two spells. It's really more for uniqueness and immersion than for powergaming. I haven't played with SCS before so every encounter will be new to me and failure is definitely a possibility now.
As far as SCS goes, I have chose to install every option that would make encounters considerable more challenging.
@CharlestonianTemplar and @Draith012, you guys are inspiring me to maybe try a limited SCS run of my own (maybe just improved AI to get my feet wet). I'll have to think about it.
@CharlestonianTemplar - Yeouch. I think the problem was...you didn't really have a real tank. In some fights you can get away with that. In others, however, not really a good thing.
I've been considering doing a minimal modded run on the BG series. However, due to the Steam Sale, I got Final Fantasy VII (Wasn't on sale), and WH40K Dawn of War 2 with expansions (Gifted to me.).
Well, I've decided to give SCS a go, and document the run here in the challenge. I have BGT, Fixpack, Unfinished Business, Tweaks, Rogue Rebalancing, Erephine 1PP, and the NPC Project.
The SCS settings are: skip Candlekeep, smarter general AI, smarter mages (no instant casts), smarter priests (no instant casts), faster bears, and more realistic wolves and wild dogs. No tactical challenges, potions for enemies, or calls for help. Several cosmetic changes. Randomized item component is on. BG2 spells are available. I turned on a few spell tweaks, but I can't remember specifically every one. Basically, I turned on ones that looked like they would help me but not the enemy. I use BG1 weapons proficiencies with weapon styles.
The character is Todek the Barbarian. I will play with the difficulty slider on normal, because this is my first go at SCS, and I think I'm going to need the maximum hp. I want to do some light roleplaying with the character in dialogues, but not at the expense of tactics, since this is going to be hard for me. I'm expecting many, many deaths, but I'll still play in the spirit of minimal reload.
I may succumb to the temptation to start narratizing at some point, but I'll probably mostly just post in lists, until and unless something interesting happens that I'd like to share.
Starting proficiencies are blunt weapons ++, spiked weapons +, and axes +
Okay, I played all day today and got to Nashkel and gathered a party that includes Minsc. I decided to head toward Dynaheir. As soon as I left Nashkel, I got ambushed by two ogrillons and an ogre mage. The mage cast sleep and took out most of my party. I got the two ogrillons, and resisted all the ogre mage's various mind control spells because I was in rage. The ogre mage still killed me with magic missile spells that had three missiles each (meaning that he was at least 5th level). That was despite the fact that I had drank an oil of speed.
I can see a scenario where I'm going to have to reload every time that particular random encounter comes up, until I get to fifth level, and can resist the sleep spell.
So, I guess I had better not try this as a minimal reload, because I think I'm going to wind up with dozens of reloads, that will grow exponentially as I get closer to ToB.
I'm still going to play it out, though. Maybe I got too caught up in the whole "reloading is for wimps" attitude too soon, before I had really struggled with the advanced aspects of the game enough times.
We'll see. But still, I can totally see SCS breaking me out of my rut with the game, so thanks to you guys and gals for that.
Would like to know who else you took on your party. Guessing Jeheira, Khelid and Imoen. Anyways, nice run so far. None of the assassins in Beregost or FAI got ya?
Casters are certainly different this time for me. I did however added all the tactical challenges, instant buffs for mages, (not for clerics as recommended by the modder) and potions for enemies. Potions certainly made melee foes more frustrating as they begin chugging healing halfway through. Archers are starting to snipe my mages (Xzar found out personally the disasters of being lame AC fodder). I didn't realize the NPC Project was done O.o
Finally returning to the point of my adventures, a few changes had accrued along the way.
Jeheira gained only 9HP upon leveling up this time while Imoen gained 7HP. Fiona thief skills are: PP (65) HiS (60) ST (15) Fiona's spell book consists of: Armor, Burning Hands, Charm Person, Chill Touch, Color Spray, Find Familiar, Friends, Grease, Identify and Protection from Petrification Also, Fiona is kitted as an Enchanter/Thief (which was a better fit for her personality growing up in Candlekeep) This also means she is unable to learn evokation spells, so stuff like lightning bolt and fireball is impossible for her, adding some challenge to her as well as offering some viability to combat casting instead of relying on studded leather. Additionally, PnP requires the bonus spell of a specialist mage to be from their respective school so Fiona will always dedicate at least one spell slot to an enchantment when out adventuring (the exception is for Identify spells in town as it'll spare me some time having to spend additional nights at the inn to dedicate for magical loot).
Fiona now no longer wears armor. Jeheira no longer wears metal armor (as all druids are not allowed to do so, but for some reason she can in BG so I'm going to follow the original PnP version of the class) and now only wears studded leather, plus I am assuming she prefers quarter staffs over clubs as she is equally skilled with both but joins the party with a staff hinting that she is more comfortable with it. She may choose something else when magical versions of such weapons become available.
Chapter 9: About Last Night...
We gathered downstairs in the inn the next morning. Imoen was the only one concerned about Montaron's whereabouts. Imoen: "Where's that scuffle-head gone off to? Fine time to be wonderin' off."
Jeheira looked to be a bit annoyed and not in her usual annoyed way. She certainly understood the situation. I didn't think this was over her head. She probably hated the retch but she'd surely didn't cared for my methods. At least she's not vocalizing her opinion. Jeheira probably already has an opinion on me anyways. I'm gonna have to wise up a bit and get on her good-side as the two of them are probably the only other people I can trust not to stab me in my sleep other than Imoen. Losing them would make things extremely hard. Khelid seemed... well like Khelid. A bit uppidy, more so with Jeheira brooding as she is.
We headed out and claimed the reward for slaying Bassilus. With money in hand, it was time to visit High Hedge. I was going to spend my portion on new spells. Fiona: "Well Melicamp, guess it's time to see about delivering you to your master." Melicamp: "I'm, cluck, greatful for your help." Imoen: "Aww. It was fun havin' you. Too bad you don't wanna come with us as is! People would play a fine silver to see you talk." Melicamp: "H-heavens no! I wouldn't, bawk, survived the encounter." Imoen: "Suit yourself." Jeheira: "Enough doddling. We're late for meeting Ghastkill in Nashkil. No doubt he petitioned other travelers that are ill prepared for the task." Imoen: "Oh wait! I'd was askin Feldepost the other night 'bout the girl in that letter we found off those ogre guys down south by the road. Poor lass been waitin' for this letter for awhile now. I'mma go deliever it. S'okay?
I shrugged. Fiona: "Doubt you could get in trouble on your own findin' her. We'll be waiting for you at the west end of town." Imoen: "Got'cha. I already know where she be. I'll catch up with ya' soon enough!" And so she galloped off eager to achileve some greater calling. Jeheira: "I suppose it all worked out for you."
Great. Here it comes. Khelid: "W-w-we understand t-t-the circumstance, but couldn't it gone b-b-better?" Jeheira: "The little filth is better off feeding the plants somewhere but it does not bode well for those that travel with you, Fiona." Fiona: "It isn't like I enjoyed killing him, but neither was the thought of having to spend my nights awake wondering when he'd try for my neck and my bounty that seems to be spreading like a wife-tale rumor. Having him take off and running into him in Nashkil also didn't feel comfortable." Jeheira: "Well, I won't fault you for that logic, though I wish you entrusted those that care for you than to leave you in the dead of night to be assaulted by demented ruffians. Imoen is such a high spirited girl. I wouldn't want to see her hurt so." Fiona: "True..."
Jeheira's saving grace was that she was level-headed as well. The two of them seem reliable companions. Father was right leaving me in their care.
Once Imoen caught up with us, we headed off to High Hedge.
@Draith012, after I wrote my last post, things started to go a lot better. I beat the ogre mage on the second try. Part of the reason I lost the first time was that my party was injured and depleted of spells when I ran into him. The lesson learned is that I have to be very careful to be fully rested before traveling across maps, because SCS makes the random encounters *much* harder.
I'm using Baldur's Gate Trilogy, not BG:EE. The NPC Project for the original version of the game has been out for years, and it's fantastic. You should try it, because it would give you a whole lot of material to work with in your novelizations. So many people use it, many if not most of the community take its character development as canon. It's really that good.
A lot of people, like @Son_of_Imoen, have stated that they don't want to play BG:EE until it can be fully modded, especially with the NPC Project. Now that I've gone back to my modded setup, I know what he means. NPC Project, Unfinished Business, SCS, Tweaks, and Rogue Rebalancing make the game better by an order of magnitude. I'd forgotten over the past year just how good these mods are.
As to my party, I've spontaneously wound up with a really fun "Nordic Warrior" themed party of Todek the Barbarian, Shar-Teel, Branwen, Minsc, Dynaheir, Imoen, and Garrick.
With Rogue Rebalancing, vanilla Bards actually have useful song (+1 to hit and damage at first level), so I'm using Garrick for the party skald. I'm roleplaying that he's not that good at it, but that Todek sees potential in him and plans to "make a man" out of him so he can be a good skald.
To the time of this writing, I have:
-beaten the belt fetish ogre. Todek wants to keep the belt of piercing, even though it gnaws at his conscience a bit. -rescued Dynaheir, and beaten all the ogre berserkers and elite hobgoblins in the area to the north of the Gnoll Stronghold.
Intention for play session later today is to return to Beregost as home base, and start doing quests in the southwest. Todek *hates* underground dungeoneering, and will put off going into the Nashkel mines absolutely as long as possible.
Average party level: two Reloads: one (random ogre mage)
@Draith012, kudos for handicapping Fiona and Jaheira according to what makes sense for roleplaying. Tactically, you'll probably need to keep Jaheira back in combat and have her focus on spells, and maybe trying to thrust from behind the frontliners with that staff, unless you decide to have her use her sling.
I enjoyed your latest screenplay scene. Keep 'em coming.
-cleared out the Cloudpeaks area, including saving the dryad, reuniting Alfred and Rufie, returning the little girl's deceased cat, and getting an autograph from Larry, Darryl, and Darryl. (Dynaheir commented that she thought I was as crazy as Minsc.)
-Got bracers of archery from Dax.
-Responded to Sendai's insults as any good barbarians would. "Draw steel!" We got magic leather and a sword +1, and a whole bunch of magic arrows +1.
-Killed boohoodles of gnolls and aggressive bears.
-We have a lot of magic items that Garrick still can't identify at level four. He doesn't know the spell for it. So, remembering a rumor about a mage shop in High Hedge, operated by yet another supposedly "all-powerful" warlock, we have decided to head there next and see if he can't teach Garrick a thing or two about identifying magic items.
-Shar-Teel has decided that she wants to replace Imoen as our party thief. Todek really didn't want his little sister in danger, so he sent her back to the safety of the Friendly Arms, and encouraged Shar-Teel to learn how to deal with locks and traps. She was glad to accept the challenge, but she refuses to stay back from combat with a bow, preferring to be swinging a sword. She has taken to wearing metal plate over an "underwear" outfit of studded leather. She promises she will remove the bulky, restrictive half-plate pieces if we get into a situation where she really has to practice trap disarming. Meanwhile, she is also practicing sneaking up on enemies so she can surprise them with a greatsword between their shoulder blades. She's not very good at it yet, seeing as how her every footstep sounds like an ogre's stomps.
She is taking quite a bit of delight in sneaking around inns and "collecting" things from locked containers. Todek watched her do it a few times without her realizing that he was watching. She basically fiddles with the lock a bit, frowns and furrows her brow, then grasps the lock mechanism with her bare hands, letting out a grunt that sounds somewhat like a whispered "rrrrrrrrrrrrraaack!" And the lock kind of just breaks off into her bare hands in a little shower of metal pieces that softly goes "piiing". And then she smiles, as though to congratulate herself on her skill. Ummm. Yeah. (She "bashes" locks rather than actually picking them.)
-There are three women in the party flirting with Todek. (Or so he flatters himself.) Shar-Teel is obvious about it. She says she hates men with her lips, but then she gets up close and "says" entirely different things with her tone and body language. She flat out told Todek that he's an exception to her "I hate men" policy. Todek is most interested in her presently, of the three.
Branwen is also flirting, but she always wants to talk, talk, talk about her feelings. Todek is highly attracted to her, but he's not sure if he can deal with all the talkativeness. She did pierce through to his shame at running from the battle where Gorion was killed, and Todek doesn't like that. He also doesn't like that she berated him, reminding him of where Tempus stands on those who flee from battle. But, she seemed to forgive him, because of his demonstrated courage and prowess in battle for as long as she's known him.
Branwen surprised Todek by admitting her own shame - she had been forbidden from the priesthood by her tribe, because of being a woman (Todek thinks women actually make the *best* priests, so she instantly won his sympathy with this story.) Her tribe banished her, and she joined a mercenary company, where she lost Tempus' favor through dishonorable actions, and so, was encased in stone by Tranzig. Todek knows from a scuffle between Branwen and Minsc that she is *very* sensitive about this issue, so he does appreciate deeply that she confided her shame to him, after he confided his shame to her.
Dynaheir is also showing some subtle interest, but Todek couldn't be less attracted to her. He thinks he would hurt her if he ever showed her the least bit of physical "affection", in the manner of the barbarians. He appreciates her strong magic, and the fact that his comrade-in-arms Minsc cares for her as her ward, but he has zero interest in her as a potential alpha mate.
(switching to first person point of view) Here are a couple of pics from our glorious battles today. The first is a shot of us beating Vax. The second shows Dynaheir and Garrick helping us defeat a cave bear by lighting up the sky with magic missiles. I will have Garrick write a new battle song for the taverns that features himself prominently. The kid deserves some encouragement. I'll make a skald of him yet, or my name isn't "Todek".
(I am trying to keep Todek in third person point of view, but I get so into my toons, I may as well just succumb to my irresistible tendency to stay in first person point of view. I'll just make future posts in character, if no one minds.)
Okay, here are the pics:
Average Party Level: 3 Reloads: 1 (random ogre mage)
@CharlestonianTemplar - Yeouch. I think the problem was...you didn't really have a real tank. In some fights you can get away with that. In others, however, not really a good thing.
Yup, I really liked the Eric the Hunter theme and thought the storm of arrows would do wonders. I was using Eric as a 'tank' but in studded leather armor (remember he was a Ranger/Tracker), I was easy pickin' for ranged weapons until I could get right on top of my opponent, and even then, the AC wasn't like that of my traditional knights.
Oh well, mind is working on that next PC. Beowulf maybe? He'd go well with Branwen & Minsc as a Berserker; maybe Yeslick later on. Or maybe, Ivanhoe? Hmm? Arn the Knight Templar? Balian, the Baron of Ibelin in Kingdom of Heaven?
The trip was a small detour before our travel down to Nashkil. I'm sure Jeheira was growing tired of all the side-issues we conjured up along the way. Nevertheless, Imoen insisted that Melicamp be brought back to his normal self.
Along the way we came upon an archer named Kavin. He hardly spoke and was completely stand-offish. Regardless, the woods here was teeming with savaged inhabitants that could have used a ranger's touch to resolved. Fiona: "Do you frequent these woods?"
His expression kept changing as if he was having trouble deciding what to say. Kivan: "No."
Fiona: "If you're traveling, why not venture in the safety of our numbers? It wouldn't hurt to have an extra pair of eyes on the road to Nashkil." Kivan: "I'm afraid... I can not assist you." Fiona: "Heading north then? Not sure why you would do that. The roads past the Friendly Arms is closed off by highwaymen."
Kivan frowned with a bitterness and anger in his brow. Kivan: "They're why I head north." Fiona: "Not certain that's so wise on your own..." Jeheira: "Let his reasons be his own. Not all are to eager to speak of what trespassed them. May you stay in the protection of the forests, Kivan."
We were about to walk away when he stammered. Kivan: "Ah - h-hold... I'd accompany you for awhile. Guide you through these woods." Khalid: "Thank you, good s-s-sir. It is always nice to h-have another to converse with."
In a short span, he took us to High Hedge, were we met the mage Thalantyr. An arrogant and moody bastard. Thalantyr: "How fortunate the golems did not greet you first." Fiona: "As if I haven't met enough stuffy old goats back in Candlekeep." Thalantyr: "Hmm.. Candlekeep. At least there one could get lost within it's nooks and crannies and evade the drool induced stares that these locals often succumbed to." Fiona: "I can see how your chatter can render one to such a state." Thalantyr: "Can I help you? If only so that you no longer cast a shadow upon my doorstep." Fiona: "I believe this chicken belongs to you."
Imoen walks up presenting her backpack with a chicken nesting on the top of it. Thalantyr: "It's a plethora of idiots!" Imoen: "Hey!" Melicamp: "Master Thalantyr, it is I!" Thalantyr: "What's this now?" Melicamp: "Meli-cluck-camp. Melicamp!" Thalantyr: "You? You! You little blighter. Running off with my supplies and you still have the gaul of coming here?! .. hmm, though, I wonder how you managed this tomfoolery, rightly earned though it is." Melicamp: "Tis the bracers, cluck, I borrowed, Master!"
Thalantyr rubbed his brow as he sat down in a nearby chair. His sigh was heavy and his demeanor went from agitated to concession. Thalantyr: "Oh, Melicamp, you fool." Melicamp: "I know, bawk, Master, but please..." Thalantyr: "I'm afraid you'll be dining on chicken feed for the rest of that bodies natural life." Fiona: "Hm, what's so terrible? Can't the curse be removed?" Thalantyr: "Not by my magics. And certainly not by any you find living in these times I assure you. What my idiot of an apprentice did not know was why those bracers were locked away as they were." Imoen: "What would that be?" Thalantyr: "That artifacts from an ancient time where magic were more pronounced and very mysterious to even us in present day, can not be undone with our current ability. Melicamp had the misfortune of donning such magic on his arms... a more malevolent form of it." Malicamp: "Are you saying, there's nothing that can be done?" Thalantyr: "You understand me precisely." Imoen: "We can't just leave 'im that way! Isn't there something that can be done?"
Leaning back into his chair, Thalantyr stared hard at the ceiling and lost in thought. The rest of us looked about each other for lack of knowing what to do. Melicamp looked to be receded in grief. There was a faint whisper from Thalantyr and we all strain to hear him. He went on to saying how there maybe one inconsistency that he can exploit but it had no guarantees. Jeheira: "Baah, I find the suggestion an abhorrent to nature." Fiona: "We have a talking chicken. How much of an affront can this be in comparison." Khalid: "I n-never heard Reincarnation used s-such as this." Imoen: "Hm, I don't much like the sound of this." Melicamp: "Master! Doesn't the spell, cluck, might return me as... well anything?!" Thalantyr: "That is the drawback of Reincarnation yes. But the only way to remove those bracers from your body is to place you in another one. Even then, those ancient magics might backfire on the spell. The process might kill you regardless." Fiona: "That doesn't sound too reassuring." Jeheira: "Guess this would serve a fitting trial for his redemption." Imoen: "I don't know. What do you say, Melicamp?" Melicamp: "I can't say. This isn't easy to take in..." Jeheira: "By all means, take your time."
It was an odd decision on both Imoen's and Melicamp's, but we now travel with a mellow dramatic chicken on her pack. I suppose the thought of death compounded with the thought of loosing sentient thought would cause anyone to, do I dare say it, chicken out.
Kivan assisted us out of the forest and into town, were we parted was. Guess, it's time to head to Nashkil.
Changes: Added Blind and Strength to Fiona's spellbook Potion Case (Fiona's possession)
-We have completely cleared the southwest - defeated Bassilus, brought in Brage, and all of the things to do there. This party is steamrolling that part of the game, even with SCS AI enhancements. I've seen some interesting tactical changes, but nothing I can't handle. Bassilus killed Dynaheir with an Unholy Blight.
-I noticed that enemy archers target mages first, so I realized that Dynaheir was going to be a burden to the party and a drain on party resources, so I started thinking about party reformation.
-I encountered Viconia. I (Todek the Barbarian), was quite interested in her. She seemed like a healer woman who could actually take care of herself, and she had an attitude befitting a barbarian tribe. I wanted her with me. I also would have preferred to keep Minsc with me, but a proper war tribe has only six roaming members, and I knew that he would never stay if I let Dynaheir go. Plus, they both complained like mewling babes against my taking a drow into my tribe. So, I let them both go.
_Since I now had Viconia and an open spot, I went back to the FAI and picked up my little sister Imoen, who had been studying the Loki-spawn Tarnesh's spellbook, against my explicit orders! She now fancies herself a witch, and I am going to make sure she becomes a good one, and stays away from filthy black magic! Argh. I would have done almost anything to keep my sister away from magic filth. I respected Dynaheir's ability to avoid the temptation to the black, though, so I guess I'm going to have to watch after Imoen and try to teach her the same. Garrick can help a little, especially since little sister has a crush on him.
-finished the Nashkel Mines, amazons, Greywolf, Nimbul, and Tranzig. None of them even challenge my war party. I am exultant in our honor and prowess in battle. But, something still nags at me that I shouldn't be so confident, that there are enemies yet to face who laugh at our "easy" victories so far. They will fail.
OOC: here are pictures of the new party, defeating the mage at the Nashkel Carnival, the first with a rare shot of three types of magical energies firing at once, and the second of us defeating Nimbul.
Average Party Level: 4 Reloads: 1 (random ogre mage)
- OOC: here are pictures of the new party, defeating the mage at the Nashkel Carnival, the first with a rare shot of three types of magical energies firing at once, and the second of us defeating Nimbul.
Two things: First, cool group name. I was just thinking about playing a Beowulf themed PC, and the Nordic thing came to mind, e.g. Branwen for sure.
Second, very cool action pics.
I may go back and play my Ranger-Tracker again. I'm sitting here watching Snow White & the Huntsman & the Huntsman is such an interesting character. I don't know, I'll decide by tomorrow but if I do, I'll go back to the usual NPCs & add Minsc so I can get the 'tank' help Sapphire admonished me I was missing before. I have Minsc modded as a Berserker.
Onwards towards Nashkil, we followed the southern road that we had originally strayed from on our hunt for Bassilus, now with fewer members. The road twisted considerably upon whereabouts and was quite the pickings for aggressive bandits.
Why so close to Amn, they were teetering on the first outpost the Amnish Army. Granted that they were stationed at Nashkil to uphold the law but certainly the Mayor would send out a platoon to clear the roads as lack of trade could hurt their economy.
Fortunately for them, my companions and I made quick work of the local highwaymen. I had grown confident in my infiltration skills and started guiding us around them, setting up points of attacks for Khalid and Jeheira and surprise ambushes with me and Imoen. This served as a good reason to travel by night more often as our abilities seem to amplify with the cover of night. Imoen was the only one who couldn't see warm bodies in the dark but her eye still caught our prey well enough.
Imoen: "Wow, look at us! Like experienced adventurers laying the trap on would-be bad guys. Fiona: "You're enjoying this a bit more than I thought." Imoen: "Why wouldn't I? Here we are, tearing though some no-gooders with nerry a wink and come out of it with not even a nick on our nethers. We're the stuff of stories, I'll say."
Even with the occasional conflict along the road, we're starting to gain some noteworthy skill. The ease to which we cut through the vermin and beastery was starting to become common place.
Entering Nashkil, we took to the inn since it was the break of dawn and we were far too tired to meet the mayor as is. And to curse the long trip another assassin came at us for the price on my head. Though she was a bit of an annoyance, these threats on my life is starting to wear on my spirit. The innkeeper looked to be quite perturb but I don't think he could turn down the flow of new coin at his bar. We spent the night and took ear at the tales going about the place. The whole place seemed to be knee deep in chatty women gossip. But Burregost was filled with far worse than these.
I'm committing these to memory as the dream I had was a bit unusual. Perhaps the events of Gorion's death and this ceaseless attempts on my life has left my mind muddled and frustrated. My dreamed reenacted my dear father's death. I constantly looked to the armored assailant. I hated him with ever part of my being. Not for his role in Gorion's murder but because, somehow, he diminished me. As though he was an un-surmountable challenge. There was much of him in me but I couldn't see how, only that I wanted that strength. The strength to crush him and make him pay for his crimes against me.
And it didn't stop at that. In what seem like an unconscious transition, I turned on Candlekeep. That same hatred I felt for that armored assassin was akin to those I had against the pompous scholars back home, the ones that demeaned me for being a bastard child. I felt it in my heart as I stood there in the courtyard, as though I wished for the sky to hail brimstone upon their heads. The earth shook from my rage and the stormy clouds burned red from the streaming flames pouring from the sky. There in the distance, as though but a subtle apparition was Imoen; terrified and cowarding like everyone else. I don't know why, but I didn't care.
Changes: First Sleep Progression Added Larloch's Minor Drain and Protection from Evil to Fiona's spellbook
@Draith012, that was a great way to tell Fiona's story in a way that explains why she's getting the "darkside" dreams and Bhaal powers. I'm also imagining my barbarian did not get along with the "soft" scholars in Candlekeep. He got Larloch's Drain for the first, and was not at *all* pleased about that, since he does have a sense of honor. (Mechanically, it was because he made the mistake of travelling with Xzar and Montaron, and
the NPC Project has a bit where Montaron will kill Marl as soon as you step inside Feldposts, for an unavoidable reputation hit.
)
He got his reputation up enough to get Cure Light Wounds for the second, after the mines. I haven't decided yet how he will react to the whole Bhaal thing through the storyline. It's kind of fun to make the decisions spontaneously as things come up.
It'll be interesting to see how far Fiona goes with it - I could see her embracing being the Slayer and all that.
Yeah, I loaded up BG1 and downloaded the whole BGT mod. It took me forever to get all the mega mods and additional mods in the right order but it's running well now. I sped up the frame rate to make the game feel more urgent during fights. And yeah. I took that same reputation hit because of Montaron.
I think I like the BGEE interface better so it'll be nice if they could manage to get the NPC project working for it.
You should try the mod to give opponents potions. It certainly makes things interesting. Plus you find a few now and again that they didn't get a chance to chug down. Also, the challenge section in the SCS has an option to redeploy where the assassins show up (plus I think they add some as well). The amazon group isn't outside the cave at the end of Nashkil mines. What I believe the mod did was make them come after you after a certain time period after chapter 3.
How are you getting screenshots? I try but I'm not capturing any...
@Draith012, I tried the SCS potions mod once. I got my butt kicked by Greywolf, because it gives him an oil of speed and a whole bunch of healing potions, and then, it gives thieves multiple potions of invisibility for backstabbing. I gave up on it when I got to the ambushes of Athkatla in early SoA, and there were large groups of thieves that would *gulp* backstab, *gulp* backstab, *gulp* backstab, over and over. I started thinking "this is ridiculous!" I think that various invisibility purge spells are the solution, but I got tired of having to have my spellbooks filled with them at all times.
Check your BG 2 directory and make sure there's a folder there that says ScrnShot. That's where your pics should be stored. They go to the BG 2 directory, not the BG 1, even while you're in BG 1. The Baldur's Gate Trilogy mod basically copies the entire BG 1 program, and moves it into your BG 2 folder.
I seem to recall that on my disc installs, I used to have to manually create the ScrnShot folder, although it was there automatically in my Gog.com install.
My best guess is that you may be looking in the wrong directory for your screenies.
Well I haven't gotten to the ambushes yet but my Greywolf had a Potion of Strength plus a score of healing potions. And he was dishing out pain on my group hardcore style. I'm just happy he didn't obliterated anyone. Fiona had to blind him just to give the healers a chance to recover so it seems some of the potions are random maybe with the exceptions of your assassin encounter. Plus I think Detect Illusion works on Invisibility if your Rogue is good at it. In this play through (as it is now the 3rd one cause I keep starting over for various reasons) Fiona spent points in Detect Illusion rather than Set Trap. I figure as a mage she would, of all the other thieves, be able to catch on to inconsistencies in illusion spells due to being a practitioner.
Yeah, my BG2 directory didn't have the folder so I had to make one. So tested it out and it works... lets see if I can post it correctly...
Oh, I'm surprise you switched Imoen to a mage so quickly. What lv thief did she reach?
Comments
I’ve been busy since last I had time to pull out quill & parchment & journal. Suffice to say that things have changed in the 35 days since I left Candlekeep w/Gorion @ my side.
I’ve made it to Nashkel but have required the services of Gellana @ the Temple of the Wisdom near the FAI & Kelddath @ the Temple of the Morning near Beregost to Raise me now 3 times.
However, my followers have become stronger and more plentiful since just Immy & I started & later added Khalid & Jaheira. Since then we added an Elven Ranger/Archer named Kivan that we met near a Wizards Manor House in High Hedge west of Beregost. Kivan suggested we link up w/another Elven friend of his, Coran, who he said we’d find in the Cloakwood. Sure enough we found him after great trial to avoid a pack of Dread Wolves & Wolves as well as a number of Huge Spiders. We finally skirted them by going N & found Coran. Great call by Kivan.
Now my followers amount to 2 Ranger/Archers and a Fighter/Thief-Swashbuckler, all 3 of whom are deadly w/a Long Bow. Jaheira has been providing great Druidic support & is quite effective w/her sling & stones. And…Imoen is growing in strength & skill as a Swashbuckler herself & her SBow is quite helpful in backing up the LBows…but I can’t risk losing her much longer. Kivan & Coran indicate they have another Elf friend who had gone to the Nashkel Mines & they are urging me to find him & add his Mage skills to our weapons. We’re heading toward the mines tomorrow. Once we find Xan, I think I’m going to release Immy from my service. I think she will be safe @ the FAI until I can sort this all out.
Key Event: Once I had my current party together we cleared everything from the FAI to Nashkel, to include all the lands around Coast & Lion’s Way, South Beregost Road & North Nashkel Road. When we arrived in Nashkel I was again attacked by an Assassin, this one calling herself Neira. She was able to cast a Hold Spell on me but before she could do any further damage, she was riddled w/arrows. Securing the services of Coran & Kivan’s bows to add to Khalid’s has made us a deadly group of adventurer’s to approach. We are able to set a kill-sack that is almost unreachable on foot.
Treasure of note: Boots of Stealth, Golden Girdle, Ring of Protection +1 (Eric); Cloak of Non-Detection (Coran), Elven Spear of Entanglement (Kivan)
Current Disposition: Resting, recuperating, resupplying @ the Nashkel Inn
Next Steps: Investigate Nashkel Mines & find Xan
Level Up: See Current Levels Below
Current Party: (Reputation: 11 - Average)
Eric the Huntsman, Ranger (Tracker)/3, 17/16/16/11/14/11; Stud Lthr, B/Axe (**), T/Axe (**), 2HWS**,
SWS**
Coran, Fighter/2//Swashbuckler/3, Stud Lthr, LBow (****), LSwd (*)
Kivan, Ranger (Archer)/3, Stud Lthr, LBow (****), LSwd (*)
Khalid, Ranger (Archer)/3, Stud Lthr, LBow (****), BSwd (*), 2WS**
Jaheira, Druid/3, Stud Lthr w/Bcklr, Slg (*), Club (*)
Imoen, Thief (Swashbuckler)/4, Stud Lthr, SBow, Dgr (SBow*, Dgr*)
Reloads: 3 (Kobold, N. Nashkel Rd.), Dire Wolf (Coast Way), Silke (Beregost)
Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; level1npcs-v1.7; bg2_tweaks-v11; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21
Yeah, I usually have Imoen interrupt spellcasting with it but in tight situations she starts spamming it till something is dead. In case to monsters immune to normal weapons as we as of yet have any usable magical weapons.
Xzar was a twist that I wasn't expecting to play out myself. Just a spur of the moment, "What if..."
We awoke to the breaking of dawn. I took the time to conjure up the lore on Bassilus's warhammer. It was the warhammer of the renowned Field Captain Dergot. He named it after his bride, Ashiadeena. I can't imagine her being too happy of this.
Jeheira: "Best we hold onto such a well enchanted weapon. It'd serve far better than a sack of coins. Not to mention the wealth you earned from slaying Bassilus."
After breaking down the camp, we searched the area. We happened upon a group of hobgoblin bandits. It was three against seven. I certainly didn't surrender to their proposal. My band and theirs exchanged blows. A fierce battle but short n' quick. We emerged slightly worse for wear but victorious. A few injuries that were quickly healed.
Imoen: "Ooh, amazing! This sword is whistling!"
Montaron: "Baah, seize it's noise! It throbs the mind something terrible!"
Fiona: "Put it away Immy. Let's identify it before something happens."
Imoen: "Oh! Right you are."
Montaron: "As if you'd ever us it."
Imoen: "Yes I would too! Try me I might. You'd soon find out."
Montaron: "A tempting offer if'n I ever heard one."
Fiona: "Enough. Montaron, you wouldn't want it. Not if it whistles while you trying to steal the kidney from some hapless fool."
Montaron: "Point taken. Try not to hurt yourself deary. Wouldn't want something to... befell you."
Imoen: "You don't scare me none!"
Further exploration had us come upon bandits and a few undead. Nothing we couldn't handle. We even bare witness to our first talking chicken, obviously polymorphed. The shock of the day: Imoen immediately sympathized with him. Who would have guessed.
During a scrimmage with some hobgoblins, skeletons approached us from the west. I looked to Xzar. He wore an expression as though he was 'bout to burst. Now was the time if any...
Fiona: *whispers to Xzar* "Get 'em Xzar! They stole my eyes!"
Xzar took off towards them with dagger in hand, waving it about as though he was trying to greet them and stab them all at the same time.
Jeheira: "What is that lout doing?"
Khalid: "J-J-Jeheira, help me w-w-with this one!"
The others fell the hobgoblins sooner than I anticipated but it was far too late for Xzar. The skeletons diced him up quickly. Once the skeletons were dealt with, everyone gathered around Xzar's corpse.
Imoen: "Poor sod. Didn't stand a chance."
Khalid: "Another life lose. Oh, will this hunt ever end?"
Jeheira: "Agreed. Let's collect him and make for Beregost already."
Montaron: "Leave him! The fool had it coming already. Besides... that makes 1,000 for each of us."
Jeheira stomps off in disgust.
Jeheira: "Whatever!"
Khalid: "Ooh. I'm n-n-not gonna hear the end to th-this one..."
I watched wide-eyed as everyone walked off. Surely, they were too distracted to noticed. Poor Imoen looked a bit dishearten. I know she wasn't standing next to me when it happened. I suppose she just doesn't handle death well. It seemed a very bland end to such a peculiar man. Especially for his role played yesterday.
We arrived in Beregost. It is as I planned. I stalled long enough in the wilderness to reach Beregost at night.
Fiona: "Think we should head to Feldepost's. The temple won't be open till day light anyways."
Montaron: "Fine! But we better make for Nashkel next."
Feldepost was kind enough to rent us neighboring rooms. Khalid and Jeheira had their own. Imoen and I shared one. Montaron - I had no inkling as to where he went. Imoen was bouncing on the bed with the sheath sword we got from that band of hobgoblins. The chicken Melicamp struggled to stay balance along side her.
Imoen: "Fi-Fi, identify my sword next pleeeease! I wanna know about it."
Fiona: "Sure. You still have that book Firebead gave you?"
Imoen: "Uh-huh!"
Fiona: "May I see it."
Imoen: "Sure thing!"
She bustled quickly in excitement. Imoen was always easy to please and soon enough she handed me her book. I spent a good couple of hours reading it as Imoen and Melicamp conversed. T'was titled, 'History of the Unicorn Run'. The contents didn't really matter, what did matter was the time it took for Imoen to fall fast asleep. Malicamp stared intently at her bosom as she cuddled him like a stuffed toy.
Fiona: "Don't get any ideas."
Melicamp: "I-I beg your pardon? I would never!"
Fiona: *leans in towards Melicamp* "Just to let you know, she was a man not too long ago."
Melicamp: "What?!"
Fiona: "Sssssssshhh...."
I carefully got out of bed and picked up Bassilus' medallion with me. I exited the room, leaving that thought in Melicamps tiny little head. Stepping into the hallway, I made a quick observation of Jeheira's room. A bit of giggling and a voice stammering in embarrassment. Good enough for me. I gently walked downstairs into the bar and made for the door with the medallion in plain sight. I'm certain Montaron was waiting for me.
Once outside, I quickly headed around the corner. I had only a moment to set the trap, no matter how clumsy it was. Finishing it, I darted further behind the inn and drew my bow. And sure enough, Montaron came from around the corner. It didn't prove as easy as I hoped it to be. With his sword, Montaron snapped the tripwire that set off the bolt, missing him by a few paces.
Montaron: "Clever! But ye won't be done with me that easily."
Fiona: "This day was gonna come eventually. Better it be now and save me the suspense."
Montaron: "Aye. I'd always wanted to test your mettle 'ginst mine. That price over yer head along with that cleric's reward would make set me up quite comfortably for months!"
I tossed Bassilus' medallion to the grown between the two of us.
Fiona: "Claim it. I dare you."
I let loose my arrow, snagging him in the arm. His stone whizzed pass me. Montaron dashed at me with teeth baring and a fury in his eyes. My second arrow missed. I toss aside my bow and drew my sword as he came swinging at me.
Montaron: "At me, ya feltch. No more coward's weapons!"
Our blades clattered in the dead of night, flashing briefly in the moonlight. We exchanged strikes for a good while when his blade caught my thigh. I stepped away, ready to receive his next advance. When he stepped in, he thrust the tip of his sword at me. I slapped my blade against the fat of it, leading it off course and barely missing me. And with that, I retorted with my own, my blade sank into his chest.
Montaron grows in his protest.
Montaron: "The money belongs to me, you diseased infested whore!" Blood spat from his lips as he snarled his words.
My lips curled as I lifted my nose at him. Turning my blade within him. His face twisted in agony. Thrashing my sword outward, I dragged him to one side and onto the floor.
Fiona: "Not in this life, Monty."
I sliced him across the spin in his neck and left him there to die. And I didn't even had to divvy up the money six ways...
Changes:
Added Chromatic Orb, Chill Touch and Laroch's Minor Drain to Fiona's spellbook (scroll obtained from random bandits and Xzar)
Identified warhammer: Ashiadeena +2 (let Jeheira hold onto it)
Identified shortsword: The Whistling Sword +2 (gave to Imoen)
Gold: 1,119
Fiona's Level Up:
+3 HP, +3 Lore, Pick Pocket (50), Hide in Shadows (65), Set Trap (25)
Fiona Winters 1/2 Mage/Thief
Jeheira 2/2 Druid/Fighter
Khalid 1 Fighter
Imoen 2 Thief
You seem to be taking your story in a darker direction now. I guess Fiona is going to be kind of an anti-heroine, where the villain is the protagonist of the story, and the reader should be rooting for the bad guys.
The trick with writing a good anti-hero is to not lose the reader's sympathy for the protagonist. Xzar had been written as a very unsympathetic and creepy character, so it was understandable that nobody but Imoen minded his death or wanted to get him raised. I noticed that Fiona kept secret her involvement in using his madness to deliberately get him killed.
At first I thought you were dramatizing that you the player wanted to split Xzar and Monty, and I was wondering if you were going to keep one or both of them until there was a fight with J & K, so I was surprised when Fiona decided to murder Monty. That's certainly one way to "solve the problem" of "getting rid" of Xzar and Monty after they've outlived their usefulness.
I believe you have implied over the course of the series of scenes that Fiona is evil, but with boundaries, so I will be interested to see how you develop her over time. Will she become so dark that she betrays her friendship with Imoen at some point? Will she "fall in with the wrong crowd" and eventually betray Jaheira and Khalid? She has just demonstrated that she "dismisses" unwanted companions by luring them apart from the rest of the company and murdering them. She could become an interesting study of a dark and disturbed young woman - who would likely become increasingly dark as she discovers that she has inherited divine power.
I'm still having a lot of fun reading about Fiona, but I do know it's a lot of work to keep writing scenes, and it takes time away from playing the game, so you don't have to keep writing, of course, unless it's fun.
There have been times in the past when I've started to narratize my runs, and then realized I was practically writing a novel, and I usually would cut back into a shorthand form of posting whenever I felt like it was getting out of hand on me, and turning from play into work. But I'll enjoy reading whatever you care to write and post.
It was interesting to play out. I was a bit nervous as Fiona can't wear helmets which means Montaron could kill her with a lucky hit. Fiona actually failed to set her trap which I interpreted as too obvious or inoperable. Either way, it didn't harm Montaron.
I'm actually planning to put a novel version of this story in the fancreation section with personal drawings of important events. I'm almost done with Chapter One. I just need to draw up Gorion's encounter with our mysterious armor-clad foe. Plus, it's going to stim a bit away from the ordinary set up and quests that you get from the beginning and assume things had played out in the length of her life growing up there. Plus, the story will more flushed out by then as well.
We’d made quick work of the mines, Khalid, Kivan & Coran tearing up Kobolds w/their relentless arrows, so the final confrontation w/Mulahey seemed an afterthought. And for all purposes it was, except that he managed first to use a Sleep spell on me & then, almost as soon as I awoke from my slumber, he cast Hold Person, on me. My party immediately came to my aid as I was defenseless, Imoen leading the charge, her new Short sword in hand. Even Held I saw her fall out of the corner of my eye. Still, it was only a short time later that we’d defeated Mulahey & his minions. But my celebration was short lived. We released Xan from captivity & I readily accepted his offer of service, despite his dour personality. But…on doing so I realized my mistake…there was nothing I could do for Immy anymore. I’d hoped to send her back to the FAI to wait on me to clear the way w/o risking her safety but she needed to be alive for me to do that. I failed her miserably. When all this is over, I will recover her and Gorion’s remains & properly lay them to rest.
YOU KNOW, I'D THOUGHT ABOUT HAVING THE PARTY REST A FEW HOURS BFEFORE WE ENTERED THIS CAVE...BUT THEN I THOUGHT BETTER OF IT. SHOULD'A GONE WITH MY FIRST IDEA. LOOK AT THE COST!
Our return to Nashkel, my party, beaten & bruised, took one on the kisser again. Another assassin, this one named Nimbel, put a whoopin’ on us. Xan had no spells memorized coming directly from captivity & the rest of us were scarred up. Nimbel approached us and threatened me and we separated into our ‘spider spoke’ formation placing Nimbel @ the center. He’d cast Mirror Image on himself & I suspect, Protection from Normal Missiles. Suffice to say we couldn’t lay a glove on him. At one point, Kivan & I were licking our wounds w/Khalid, Coran, Jaheira & Xan all dead. The only attacks on him were coming from the Amnish Soldiers who were actually keeping him busy & wounding him. Kivan and I finally slipped into the Temple of Helm & purchased Cure spells and then ran Nimbel down in the Nashkel Inn. There we hacked him to shreds. I had to sell much of what we gained in the Nashkel Mines to raise my followers but was unable to help Immy.
Treasure of note: Boots of Avoidance (Kivan); Bracers of Defense AC6 (Xan)
Current Disposition: Resting, recuperating, resupplying @ the Nashkel Inn
Next Steps: Beregost to visit Tranzig & take ore to Thunderhammer Smithy; also High Hedge to take Mineral Vial to Thalantyr
Level Up: Coran increased to Fighter/3 (he’d already attained Thief/Swashbuckler/3; Jaheira increased to Initiate of the 2nd Circle (Druid/4) & selected Cure Light Wounds & Slow Poison
Current Party: (Reputation: 16 - Popular)
Eric the Huntsman, Ranger (Tracker)/3, 17/16/16/11/14/11; Stud Lthr, Gold/Girdle, Boots/Stealth;
B/Axe(**), T/Axe (**), 2WS***, SWS**
Coran, Fighter/3//Swashbuckler/3, Stud Lthr, LBow (****), LSwd (**)
Kivan, Ranger (Archer)/3, Stud Lthr, Boots/Avoidance, Cloak/N-Detection; LBow (***), LSwd (*), 2WS(**),
Spear (*)
Khalid, Ranger (Archer)/3, Stud Lthr, LBow (****), BSwd (*), 2WS**
Jaheira, Druid/4 Stud Lthr w/Bcklr, Slg (*), Club (*), Scimitar (*)
Xan, Mage (Enchanter)/4, Br of Def AC6; Moonblade, ThrgDgr (Dgr*)
Reloads: 3 (Kobold, N. Nashkel Rd.), Dire Wolf (Coast Way), Silke (Beregost)
Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; level1npcs-v1.7; bg2_tweaks-v11; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21
I led the party to Larswood and proceeded to tear the eyes out of Teven’s Bandits. All was well and we were loaded up w/treasure from that victory.
Key Event: AND THEN MY ENTIRE PARTY WAS WIPED OUT AT LARSWOOOD BY 3 BLACK TALON ELITE!!! DARN! DARN! DARN!
Treasure of note:
Current Disposition: Deceased
Next Steps: Try again when I come up w/another idea for a PC.
Level Up: Eric to Courser (Ranger-Tracker/4); Kivan to Courser (Ranger-Archer/4); Khalid to Courser (Ranger-Archer/4)
Current Party: (Reputation: 16 - Popular)
Eric the Huntsman, Ranger (Tracker)/3, 17/16/16/11/14/11; Stud Lthr, Gold/Girdle, Boots/Stealth;
B/Axe(**), T/Axe (**), 2WS***, SWS**
Coran, Fighter/3//Swashbuckler/3, Stud Lthr, LBow (****), LSwd (**)
Kivan, Ranger (Archer)/3, Stud Lthr, Boots/Avoidance, Cloak/N-Detection; LBow (***), LSwd (*), 2WS(**),
Spear (*)
Khalid, Ranger (Archer)/3, Stud Lthr, LBow (****), BSwd (*), 2WS**
Jaheira, Druid/4 Stud Lthr w/Bcklr, Slg (*), Club (*), Scimitar (*)
Xan, Mage (Enchanter)/4, Br of Def AC6; Moonblade, ThrgDgr (Dgr*)
Reloads: 3 (Kobold, N. Nashkel Rd.), Dire Wolf (Coast Way), Silke (Beregost)
Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; level1npcs-v1.7; bg2_tweaks-v11; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21
Shadowkeeper isn't necessarily going to be used in a negative way (fix a few issues with Swashbucklers that was mismanaged in RR: their melee THAC0 suppose to raise like a fighters but at the same time, the mod forgets to calculate for the rogues standard THAC0 improvements, making them progress even FASTER than fighters in terms of melee... so I have to manually fix it upon certain level ups). The SCS also adds kits to NPCs so I might even kit a few characters if it feels appropriate for them. It'll be needed for a part of the story that I haven't gotten to yet, plus I would like to change what abilities are gained from the Bhaalspawn sleep progression (though they shall not exceed the spell level that the original ability came from or it's overall usefulness. Example: Healing Light Wounds: Level 1 Spell. A different level 1 spell may feel more appropriate for the character, but Minor Drain will not be replaced with a spell like Sleep as there is a large gap of effectiveness between the two spells. It's really more for uniqueness and immersion than for powergaming. I haven't played with SCS before so every encounter will be new to me and failure is definitely a possibility now.
As far as SCS goes, I have chose to install every option that would make encounters considerable more challenging.
I've been considering doing a minimal modded run on the BG series. However, due to the Steam Sale, I got Final Fantasy VII (Wasn't on sale), and WH40K Dawn of War 2 with expansions (Gifted to me.).
The SCS settings are: skip Candlekeep, smarter general AI, smarter mages (no instant casts), smarter priests (no instant casts), faster bears, and more realistic wolves and wild dogs. No tactical challenges, potions for enemies, or calls for help. Several cosmetic changes. Randomized item component is on. BG2 spells are available. I turned on a few spell tweaks, but I can't remember specifically every one. Basically, I turned on ones that looked like they would help me but not the enemy. I use BG1 weapons proficiencies with weapon styles.
The character is Todek the Barbarian. I will play with the difficulty slider on normal, because this is my first go at SCS, and I think I'm going to need the maximum hp. I want to do some light roleplaying with the character in dialogues, but not at the expense of tactics, since this is going to be hard for me. I'm expecting many, many deaths, but I'll still play in the spirit of minimal reload.
I may succumb to the temptation to start narratizing at some point, but I'll probably mostly just post in lists, until and unless something interesting happens that I'd like to share.
Starting proficiencies are blunt weapons ++, spiked weapons +, and axes +
Here's the character sheet:
I can see a scenario where I'm going to have to reload every time that particular random encounter comes up, until I get to fifth level, and can resist the sleep spell.
So, I guess I had better not try this as a minimal reload, because I think I'm going to wind up with dozens of reloads, that will grow exponentially as I get closer to ToB.
I'm still going to play it out, though. Maybe I got too caught up in the whole "reloading is for wimps" attitude too soon, before I had really struggled with the advanced aspects of the game enough times.
We'll see. But still, I can totally see SCS breaking me out of my rut with the game, so thanks to you guys and gals for that.
Casters are certainly different this time for me. I did however added all the tactical challenges, instant buffs for mages, (not for clerics as recommended by the modder) and potions for enemies. Potions certainly made melee foes more frustrating as they begin chugging healing halfway through. Archers are starting to snipe my mages (Xzar found out personally the disasters of being lame AC fodder). I didn't realize the NPC Project was done O.o
Jeheira gained only 9HP upon leveling up this time while Imoen gained 7HP.
Fiona thief skills are: PP (65) HiS (60) ST (15)
Fiona's spell book consists of:
Armor, Burning Hands, Charm Person, Chill Touch, Color Spray, Find Familiar, Friends, Grease, Identify and Protection from Petrification
Also, Fiona is kitted as an Enchanter/Thief (which was a better fit for her personality growing up in Candlekeep) This also means she is unable to learn evokation spells, so stuff like lightning bolt and fireball is impossible for her, adding some challenge to her as well as offering some viability to combat casting instead of relying on studded leather. Additionally, PnP requires the bonus spell of a specialist mage to be from their respective school so Fiona will always dedicate at least one spell slot to an enchantment when out adventuring (the exception is for Identify spells in town as it'll spare me some time having to spend additional nights at the inn to dedicate for magical loot).
Fiona now no longer wears armor.
Jeheira no longer wears metal armor (as all druids are not allowed to do so, but for some reason she can in BG so I'm going to follow the original PnP version of the class) and now only wears studded leather, plus I am assuming she prefers quarter staffs over clubs as she is equally skilled with both but joins the party with a staff hinting that she is more comfortable with it. She may choose something else when magical versions of such weapons become available.
Chapter 9: About Last Night...
We gathered downstairs in the inn the next morning. Imoen was the only one concerned about Montaron's whereabouts.
Imoen: "Where's that scuffle-head gone off to? Fine time to be wonderin' off."
Jeheira looked to be a bit annoyed and not in her usual annoyed way. She certainly understood the situation. I didn't think this was over her head. She probably hated the retch but she'd surely didn't cared for my methods. At least she's not vocalizing her opinion. Jeheira probably already has an opinion on me anyways. I'm gonna have to wise up a bit and get on her good-side as the two of them are probably the only other people I can trust not to stab me in my sleep other than Imoen. Losing them would make things extremely hard. Khelid seemed... well like Khelid. A bit uppidy, more so with Jeheira brooding as she is.
We headed out and claimed the reward for slaying Bassilus. With money in hand, it was time to visit High Hedge. I was going to spend my portion on new spells.
Fiona: "Well Melicamp, guess it's time to see about delivering you to your master."
Melicamp: "I'm, cluck, greatful for your help."
Imoen: "Aww. It was fun havin' you. Too bad you don't wanna come with us as is! People would play a fine silver to see you talk."
Melicamp: "H-heavens no! I wouldn't, bawk, survived the encounter."
Imoen: "Suit yourself."
Jeheira: "Enough doddling. We're late for meeting Ghastkill in Nashkil. No doubt he petitioned other travelers that are ill prepared for the task."
Imoen: "Oh wait! I'd was askin Feldepost the other night 'bout the girl in that letter we found off those ogre guys down south by the road. Poor lass been waitin' for this letter for awhile now. I'mma go deliever it. S'okay?
I shrugged.
Fiona: "Doubt you could get in trouble on your own findin' her. We'll be waiting for you at the west end of town."
Imoen: "Got'cha. I already know where she be. I'll catch up with ya' soon enough!"
And so she galloped off eager to achileve some greater calling.
Jeheira: "I suppose it all worked out for you."
Great. Here it comes.
Khelid: "W-w-we understand t-t-the circumstance, but couldn't it gone b-b-better?"
Jeheira: "The little filth is better off feeding the plants somewhere but it does not bode well for those that travel with you, Fiona."
Fiona: "It isn't like I enjoyed killing him, but neither was the thought of having to spend my nights awake wondering when he'd try for my neck and my bounty that seems to be spreading like a wife-tale rumor. Having him take off and running into him in Nashkil also didn't feel comfortable."
Jeheira: "Well, I won't fault you for that logic, though I wish you entrusted those that care for you than to leave you in the dead of night to be assaulted by demented ruffians. Imoen is such a high spirited girl. I wouldn't want to see her hurt so."
Fiona: "True..."
Jeheira's saving grace was that she was level-headed as well. The two of them seem reliable companions. Father was right leaving me in their care.
Once Imoen caught up with us, we headed off to High Hedge.
Reputation: Average (9)
I'm using Baldur's Gate Trilogy, not BG:EE. The NPC Project for the original version of the game has been out for years, and it's fantastic. You should try it, because it would give you a whole lot of material to work with in your novelizations. So many people use it, many if not most of the community take its character development as canon. It's really that good.
A lot of people, like @Son_of_Imoen, have stated that they don't want to play BG:EE until it can be fully modded, especially with the NPC Project. Now that I've gone back to my modded setup, I know what he means. NPC Project, Unfinished Business, SCS, Tweaks, and Rogue Rebalancing make the game better by an order of magnitude. I'd forgotten over the past year just how good these mods are.
As to my party, I've spontaneously wound up with a really fun "Nordic Warrior" themed party of Todek the Barbarian, Shar-Teel, Branwen, Minsc, Dynaheir, Imoen, and Garrick.
With Rogue Rebalancing, vanilla Bards actually have useful song (+1 to hit and damage at first level), so I'm using Garrick for the party skald. I'm roleplaying that he's not that good at it, but that Todek sees potential in him and plans to "make a man" out of him so he can be a good skald.
To the time of this writing, I have:
-beaten the belt fetish ogre. Todek wants to keep the belt of piercing, even though it gnaws at his conscience a bit.
-rescued Dynaheir, and beaten all the ogre berserkers and elite hobgoblins in the area to the north of the Gnoll Stronghold.
Intention for play session later today is to return to Beregost as home base, and start doing quests in the southwest. Todek *hates* underground dungeoneering, and will put off going into the Nashkel mines absolutely as long as possible.
Average party level: two
Reloads: one (random ogre mage)
I enjoyed your latest screenplay scene. Keep 'em coming.
-cleared out the Cloudpeaks area, including saving the dryad, reuniting Alfred and Rufie, returning the little girl's deceased cat, and getting an autograph from Larry, Darryl, and Darryl. (Dynaheir commented that she thought I was as crazy as Minsc.)
-Got bracers of archery from Dax.
-Responded to Sendai's insults as any good barbarians would. "Draw steel!" We got magic leather and a sword +1, and a whole bunch of magic arrows +1.
-Killed boohoodles of gnolls and aggressive bears.
-We have a lot of magic items that Garrick still can't identify at level four. He doesn't know the spell for it. So, remembering a rumor about a mage shop in High Hedge, operated by yet another supposedly "all-powerful" warlock, we have decided to head there next and see if he can't teach Garrick a thing or two about identifying magic items.
-Shar-Teel has decided that she wants to replace Imoen as our party thief. Todek really didn't want his little sister in danger, so he sent her back to the safety of the Friendly Arms, and encouraged Shar-Teel to learn how to deal with locks and traps. She was glad to accept the challenge, but she refuses to stay back from combat with a bow, preferring to be swinging a sword. She has taken to wearing metal plate over an "underwear" outfit of studded leather. She promises she will remove the bulky, restrictive half-plate pieces if we get into a situation where she really has to practice trap disarming. Meanwhile, she is also practicing sneaking up on enemies so she can surprise them with a greatsword between their shoulder blades. She's not very good at it yet, seeing as how her every footstep sounds like an ogre's stomps.
She is taking quite a bit of delight in sneaking around inns and "collecting" things from locked containers. Todek watched her do it a few times without her realizing that he was watching. She basically fiddles with the lock a bit, frowns and furrows her brow, then grasps the lock mechanism with her bare hands, letting out a grunt that sounds somewhat like a whispered "rrrrrrrrrrrrraaack!" And the lock kind of just breaks off into her bare hands in a little shower of metal pieces that softly goes "piiing". And then she smiles, as though to congratulate herself on her skill. Ummm. Yeah. (She "bashes" locks rather than actually picking them.)
-There are three women in the party flirting with Todek. (Or so he flatters himself.) Shar-Teel is obvious about it. She says she hates men with her lips, but then she gets up close and "says" entirely different things with her tone and body language. She flat out told Todek that he's an exception to her "I hate men" policy. Todek is most interested in her presently, of the three.
Branwen is also flirting, but she always wants to talk, talk, talk about her feelings. Todek is highly attracted to her, but he's not sure if he can deal with all the talkativeness. She did pierce through to his shame at running from the battle where Gorion was killed, and Todek doesn't like that. He also doesn't like that she berated him, reminding him of where Tempus stands on those who flee from battle. But, she seemed to forgive him, because of his demonstrated courage and prowess in battle for as long as she's known him.
Branwen surprised Todek by admitting her own shame - she had been forbidden from the priesthood by her tribe, because of being a woman (Todek thinks women actually make the *best* priests, so she instantly won his sympathy with this story.) Her tribe banished her, and she joined a mercenary company, where she lost Tempus' favor through dishonorable actions, and so, was encased in stone by Tranzig. Todek knows from a scuffle between Branwen and Minsc that she is *very* sensitive about this issue, so he does appreciate deeply that she confided her shame to him, after he confided his shame to her.
Dynaheir is also showing some subtle interest, but Todek couldn't be less attracted to her. He thinks he would hurt her if he ever showed her the least bit of physical "affection", in the manner of the barbarians. He appreciates her strong magic, and the fact that his comrade-in-arms Minsc cares for her as her ward, but he has zero interest in her as a potential alpha mate.
(switching to first person point of view) Here are a couple of pics from our glorious battles today. The first is a shot of us beating Vax. The second shows Dynaheir and Garrick helping us defeat a cave bear by lighting up the sky with magic missiles. I will have Garrick write a new battle song for the taverns that features himself prominently. The kid deserves some encouragement. I'll make a skald of him yet, or my name isn't "Todek".
(I am trying to keep Todek in third person point of view, but I get so into my toons, I may as well just succumb to my irresistible tendency to stay in first person point of view. I'll just make future posts in character, if no one minds.)
Okay, here are the pics:
Average Party Level: 3
Reloads: 1 (random ogre mage)
Oh well, mind is working on that next PC. Beowulf maybe? He'd go well with Branwen & Minsc as a Berserker; maybe Yeslick later on. Or maybe, Ivanhoe? Hmm? Arn the Knight Templar? Balian, the Baron of Ibelin in Kingdom of Heaven?
CT
The trip was a small detour before our travel down to Nashkil. I'm sure Jeheira was growing tired of all the side-issues we conjured up along the way. Nevertheless, Imoen insisted that Melicamp be brought back to his normal self.
Along the way we came upon an archer named Kavin. He hardly spoke and was completely stand-offish. Regardless, the woods here was teeming with savaged inhabitants that could have used a ranger's touch to resolved.
Fiona: "Do you frequent these woods?"
His expression kept changing as if he was having trouble deciding what to say.
Kivan: "No."
Fiona: "If you're traveling, why not venture in the safety of our numbers? It wouldn't hurt to have an extra pair of eyes on the road to Nashkil."
Kivan: "I'm afraid... I can not assist you."
Fiona: "Heading north then? Not sure why you would do that. The roads past the Friendly Arms is closed off by highwaymen."
Kivan frowned with a bitterness and anger in his brow.
Kivan: "They're why I head north."
Fiona: "Not certain that's so wise on your own..."
Jeheira: "Let his reasons be his own. Not all are to eager to speak of what trespassed them. May you stay in the protection of the forests, Kivan."
We were about to walk away when he stammered.
Kivan: "Ah - h-hold... I'd accompany you for awhile. Guide you through these woods."
Khalid: "Thank you, good s-s-sir. It is always nice to h-have another to converse with."
In a short span, he took us to High Hedge, were we met the mage Thalantyr. An arrogant and moody bastard.
Thalantyr: "How fortunate the golems did not greet you first."
Fiona: "As if I haven't met enough stuffy old goats back in Candlekeep."
Thalantyr: "Hmm.. Candlekeep. At least there one could get lost within it's nooks and crannies and evade the drool induced stares that these locals often succumbed to."
Fiona: "I can see how your chatter can render one to such a state."
Thalantyr: "Can I help you? If only so that you no longer cast a shadow upon my doorstep."
Fiona: "I believe this chicken belongs to you."
Imoen walks up presenting her backpack with a chicken nesting on the top of it.
Thalantyr: "It's a plethora of idiots!"
Imoen: "Hey!"
Melicamp: "Master Thalantyr, it is I!"
Thalantyr: "What's this now?"
Melicamp: "Meli-cluck-camp. Melicamp!"
Thalantyr: "You? You! You little blighter. Running off with my supplies and you still have the gaul of coming here?! .. hmm, though, I wonder how you managed this tomfoolery, rightly earned though it is."
Melicamp: "Tis the bracers, cluck, I borrowed, Master!"
Thalantyr rubbed his brow as he sat down in a nearby chair. His sigh was heavy and his demeanor went from agitated to concession.
Thalantyr: "Oh, Melicamp, you fool."
Melicamp: "I know, bawk, Master, but please..."
Thalantyr: "I'm afraid you'll be dining on chicken feed for the rest of that bodies natural life."
Fiona: "Hm, what's so terrible? Can't the curse be removed?"
Thalantyr: "Not by my magics. And certainly not by any you find living in these times I assure you. What my idiot of an apprentice did not know was why those bracers were locked away as they were."
Imoen: "What would that be?"
Thalantyr: "That artifacts from an ancient time where magic were more pronounced and very mysterious to even us in present day, can not be undone with our current ability. Melicamp had the misfortune of donning such magic on his arms... a more malevolent form of it."
Malicamp: "Are you saying, there's nothing that can be done?"
Thalantyr: "You understand me precisely."
Imoen: "We can't just leave 'im that way! Isn't there something that can be done?"
Leaning back into his chair, Thalantyr stared hard at the ceiling and lost in thought. The rest of us looked about each other for lack of knowing what to do. Melicamp looked to be receded in grief. There was a faint whisper from Thalantyr and we all strain to hear him. He went on to saying how there maybe one inconsistency that he can exploit but it had no guarantees.
Jeheira: "Baah, I find the suggestion an abhorrent to nature."
Fiona: "We have a talking chicken. How much of an affront can this be in comparison."
Khalid: "I n-never heard Reincarnation used s-such as this."
Imoen: "Hm, I don't much like the sound of this."
Melicamp: "Master! Doesn't the spell, cluck, might return me as... well anything?!"
Thalantyr: "That is the drawback of Reincarnation yes. But the only way to remove those bracers from your body is to place you in another one. Even then, those ancient magics might backfire on the spell. The process might kill you regardless."
Fiona: "That doesn't sound too reassuring."
Jeheira: "Guess this would serve a fitting trial for his redemption."
Imoen: "I don't know. What do you say, Melicamp?"
Melicamp: "I can't say. This isn't easy to take in..."
Jeheira: "By all means, take your time."
It was an odd decision on both Imoen's and Melicamp's, but we now travel with a mellow dramatic chicken on her pack. I suppose the thought of death compounded with the thought of loosing sentient thought would cause anyone to, do I dare say it, chicken out.
Kivan assisted us out of the forest and into town, were we parted was. Guess, it's time to head to Nashkil.
Changes:
Added Blind and Strength to Fiona's spellbook
Potion Case (Fiona's possession)
Imoen's Level Up:
+6HP, +3 Lore, +1 THAC0, Open Lock (65), Find Trap (45)
Khalid's Level Up:
+11HP, +1 Lore, +1 THAC0
Fiona Winters 1/2 Enchantress/Thief
Khalid 2 Fighter
Jeheira 2/2 Druid/Fighter
Imoen 3 Thief
-We have completely cleared the southwest - defeated Bassilus, brought in Brage, and all of the things to do there. This party is steamrolling that part of the game, even with SCS AI enhancements. I've seen some interesting tactical changes, but nothing I can't handle. Bassilus killed Dynaheir with an Unholy Blight.
-I noticed that enemy archers target mages first, so I realized that Dynaheir was going to be a burden to the party and a drain on party resources, so I started thinking about party reformation.
-I encountered Viconia. I (Todek the Barbarian), was quite interested in her. She seemed like a healer woman who could actually take care of herself, and she had an attitude befitting a barbarian tribe. I wanted her with me. I also would have preferred to keep Minsc with me, but a proper war tribe has only six roaming members, and I knew that he would never stay if I let Dynaheir go. Plus, they both complained like mewling babes against my taking a drow into my tribe. So, I let them both go.
_Since I now had Viconia and an open spot, I went back to the FAI and picked up my little sister Imoen, who had been studying the Loki-spawn Tarnesh's spellbook, against my explicit orders! She now fancies herself a witch, and I am going to make sure she becomes a good one, and stays away from filthy black magic! Argh. I would have done almost anything to keep my sister away from magic filth. I respected Dynaheir's ability to avoid the temptation to the black, though, so I guess I'm going to have to watch after Imoen and try to teach her the same. Garrick can help a little, especially since little sister has a crush on him.
-finished the Nashkel Mines, amazons, Greywolf, Nimbul, and Tranzig. None of them even challenge my war party. I am exultant in our honor and prowess in battle. But, something still nags at me that I shouldn't be so confident, that there are enemies yet to face who laugh at our "easy" victories so far. They will fail.
OOC: here are pictures of the new party, defeating the mage at the Nashkel Carnival, the first with a rare shot of three types of magical energies firing at once, and the second of us defeating Nimbul.
Average Party Level: 4
Reloads: 1 (random ogre mage)
Second, very cool action pics.
I may go back and play my Ranger-Tracker again. I'm sitting here watching Snow White & the Huntsman & the Huntsman is such an interesting character. I don't know, I'll decide by tomorrow but if I do, I'll go back to the usual NPCs & add Minsc so I can get the 'tank' help Sapphire admonished me I was missing before. I have Minsc modded as a Berserker.
CT
Onwards towards Nashkil, we followed the southern road that we had originally strayed from on our hunt for Bassilus, now with fewer members. The road twisted considerably upon whereabouts and was quite the pickings for aggressive bandits.
Why so close to Amn, they were teetering on the first outpost the Amnish Army. Granted that they were stationed at Nashkil to uphold the law but certainly the Mayor would send out a platoon to clear the roads as lack of trade could hurt their economy.
Fortunately for them, my companions and I made quick work of the local highwaymen. I had grown confident in my infiltration skills and started guiding us around them, setting up points of attacks for Khalid and Jeheira and surprise ambushes with me and Imoen. This served as a good reason to travel by night more often as our abilities seem to amplify with the cover of night. Imoen was the only one who couldn't see warm bodies in the dark but her eye still caught our prey well enough.
Imoen: "Wow, look at us! Like experienced adventurers laying the trap on would-be bad guys.
Fiona: "You're enjoying this a bit more than I thought."
Imoen: "Why wouldn't I? Here we are, tearing though some no-gooders with nerry a wink and come out of it with not even a nick on our nethers. We're the stuff of stories, I'll say."
Even with the occasional conflict along the road, we're starting to gain some noteworthy skill. The ease to which we cut through the vermin and beastery was starting to become common place.
Entering Nashkil, we took to the inn since it was the break of dawn and we were far too tired to meet the mayor as is. And to curse the long trip another assassin came at us for the price on my head. Though she was a bit of an annoyance, these threats on my life is starting to wear on my spirit. The innkeeper looked to be quite perturb but I don't think he could turn down the flow of new coin at his bar. We spent the night and took ear at the tales going about the place. The whole place seemed to be knee deep in chatty women gossip. But Burregost was filled with far worse than these.
I'm committing these to memory as the dream I had was a bit unusual. Perhaps the events of Gorion's death and this ceaseless attempts on my life has left my mind muddled and frustrated. My dreamed reenacted my dear father's death. I constantly looked to the armored assailant. I hated him with ever part of my being. Not for his role in Gorion's murder but because, somehow, he diminished me. As though he was an un-surmountable challenge. There was much of him in me but I couldn't see how, only that I wanted that strength. The strength to crush him and make him pay for his crimes against me.
And it didn't stop at that. In what seem like an unconscious transition, I turned on Candlekeep. That same hatred I felt for that armored assassin was akin to those I had against the pompous scholars back home, the ones that demeaned me for being a bastard child. I felt it in my heart as I stood there in the courtyard, as though I wished for the sky to hail brimstone upon their heads. The earth shook from my rage and the stormy clouds burned red from the streaming flames pouring from the sky. There in the distance, as though but a subtle apparition was Imoen; terrified and cowarding like everyone else. I don't know why, but I didn't care.
Changes:
First Sleep Progression
Added Larloch's Minor Drain and Protection from Evil to Fiona's spellbook
He got his reputation up enough to get Cure Light Wounds for the second, after the mines. I haven't decided yet how he will react to the whole Bhaal thing through the storyline. It's kind of fun to make the decisions spontaneously as things come up.
It'll be interesting to see how far Fiona goes with it - I could see her embracing being the Slayer and all that.
I think I like the BGEE interface better so it'll be nice if they could manage to get the NPC project working for it.
How are you getting screenshots? I try but I'm not capturing any...
Check your BG 2 directory and make sure there's a folder there that says ScrnShot. That's where your pics should be stored. They go to the BG 2 directory, not the BG 1, even while you're in BG 1. The Baldur's Gate Trilogy mod basically copies the entire BG 1 program, and moves it into your BG 2 folder.
I seem to recall that on my disc installs, I used to have to manually create the ScrnShot folder, although it was there automatically in my Gog.com install.
My best guess is that you may be looking in the wrong directory for your screenies.
Yeah, my BG2 directory didn't have the folder so I had to make one. So tested it out and it works... lets see if I can post it correctly...
Oh, I'm surprise you switched Imoen to a mage so quickly. What lv thief did she reach?