I sit here near the fire, marveling @ the powers that Geryon has granted to from the Outer Darkness beyond the planes. Truly he is a great & powerful Arch-Devil & Asmodeus is sure to see that & depose that pretender, Levistus, from Stygia & return it to my Lord. Even now Levistus is entrapped in an iceberg by Asmodeus. As I wait on that marvelous day, I need await Geryon’s call by readying myself. So far, I have wandered w/o a plan & have taken stupid chances. Geryon would have me be smart as he himself is of Exceptional intelligence. A few things I need to do: 1) I need be wary of spell casters. A split sec can disable my person & leave me unable to escape or defend myself. I have no friends around this camp fire & I can’t expect to raised should I fall. 2) I must avoid battles where my odds are not at least 3-1 in my favor unless I am clearly the superior of my enemy in which 2-1 or 1-1 might be acceptable. 3) I must break contact without regard to anyone but myself should I be reduced to 60% hit-points. 4) I need to let my underlings take the point position. Don’t wanna be surprised …to death. 5) Reorganize to organize: I trust Kagain, the others not so, especially the Necromancer – but his Necromancy spells are effective...still I may have to revert to that blowhard Edwin. I need the assassin for his thieving and assassin skills. Garrick is my whippin’ boy. I need to ride this out a few days & set my inner circle.
Key Event: Inthe South Beregost Road we ran into a Dark Elf who was being hunted by the FAI. She asked us for our assistance. I feared crossing the FF but I went ahead & helped her. It doesn’t seem to have hurt my reputation – ha-ha – oops, there it goes south again! She’s a Cleric though! Jackpot & w/her spellcasting - & healing ability – I had to make a choice. I let Xzar go but…he took Montaron w/him. I’ll finish up here on the South Beregost Road & determine what to do about a mage later.
Later: Easier said than done. We broke camp we got into a tough fight w/some Hobgoblins. Poison arrows took out Runt & Song Boy. Viconia & I finished them off & then raided a cave before heading back to Beregost – safer going that way loaded down w/gear/treasure when Vampiric Wolves, FF and Aminsh Soldiers are all looking for me. I’ve cleared the south road area w/North Nashkel to go. Darn it. I said I wasn’t gonna raise that runt again & I was just finding song boy useful. I was actually thinking I was about to round out my underlings. Oh well. I’ll sleep on it after Viconia & I get something to eat. She seems to be a useful confidant but she is a Drow.
Red Sheaf with Viconia deciding what to do next
Treasure of Note: Boots of Stealth (TBD who I let use these)
Current Disposition: Eating @ the Red Sheaf in Beregost
Next Steps: Decide what to do about Runt, Song Boy, the Assassin & his pet mage…oh, & I need to cut that big mouthed mage loose once & for all. The more I think about it the weaker he looks versus the necromancer
Level Up: None
Current Party: (Reputation: 3 - Dispised) Gerald Front-de-Boeuf: Ftr (Blk Gd)/4 Plate Mail w/LShield**, Flail**. BSwd* Viconia: Cleric/4, ChMail w/SShld, Mace Kagain: Ftr (Bkr)/4 Plate Mail, BAxe***, (ThAxe)*** (2WS**) (currently room temperature) Garrick: Bard/4 w/ShSwd* & Lt C/Bow*, ShSwd* (singing a dirge right now - or should be) Edwin: Mage (Cjr)/3, QStaff* (Currently In hell - Lookin' less & less likes he's gonna mouth off to me again)
Alrighty then - I was feeling a little evil this morning so I picked up Kelli & Cohorts and made the decision to keep Valygars body and enter the sphere.
We fought our way through without too much trouble perhaps because we are fairly low level for it - everyone in the 9-12 range with only Haxxat & Kelli (bard) at 12.( No Iron golem next to the furnace room - no golems at all appeared when we placed the heart.)
We have not talked to Bhodi yet but when we do we will take her offer - perhaps next altho there is lots of chap 2 stuff we have yet to do - pretty much all of it in fact LOL - so far we haven't done anything outside of town except grab Valygar -
Maybe we will do the Playhouse and grab our stronghold next that will give us a chance to grab that +2 throwing axe for Korgan from the sewers.
This party certainly has a very different atmosphere than Gluteus and his heroic band! :-)
Maybe we will do the Playhouse and grab our stronghold next that will give us a chance to grab that +2 throwing axe for Korgan from the sewers.
This party certainly has a very different atmosphere than Gluteus and his heroic band! :-)
Gluteus? lol Too funny. I saw someone else using that name in another forum too.
I guess as a Skald, the Playhouse would be the appropriate stronghold. Hmm. Funny. You play the game for years, & I knew the playhouse was the SH for Bards, but I have no idea what game tentacles come off of that. There's so much to the game. For me, since I'm always a Fighter/Knight or Paladin/Knight, I have no clue what the other SHs bring to the game, e.g. Planar Sphere, Theater Company. It'll be interesting to see what you run into when you pick up the TC SH. CT
Indeed Gluteus Maximum - FMT - obviously one of those professional students that could never decide exactly what he wanted to be... LOL
Meanwhile back in the planes Kelli & Cohorts have destroyed Mekrath and rescued Hairy Dally and returned the stone to Raelis Shai clearing the main sewer area (but not the Eye area or the other "secret" room) in the process.
We then followed the troupe into the Planar prison raising havoc throughout the complex and eventually freeing the troupe and gaining the deed to the playhouse in the process. It turned out there was a director hanging about in the bar in between jobs we were able to hire to take care of the day to day running of the place and we should be ready to open our first play in about 6 weeks.
The playhouse is a decent stronghold - an Inn upstairs to rest and two merchants right outside and several storage boxes within the playhouse. The "quests" as I recall are not spectacular but it's been so long I really can't recall the specifics - a "back door" that led directly to an exit from the area would have been nice as it's situated about the same distance from either of the two exits.
Not sure if it's the awesomeness of the party or the fact that we are still relatively low level or a combination of the two (and playing on "Normal") but the prison was not near as difficult as I recalled - altho we did take a little different path than I did on the few other runs I made through it in Vanilla (years ago) and as I recall (not very well) I did all those relatively late in chap 3.
No more gaming until Sunday at least at which time I may take Kelli to Nalias Keep before we talk to Bhodi.
It was in my best interest to shell out the 1200 GP it took to bring Runt & Song Boy back so I did so. Runt is my lieutenant & Song Boy casts spells I need & carries stuff & he is zero threat. Viconia, since she & I have had time together has become an asset too although she is what she is…a Drow. Still, I think she knows she needs me & therefore is a great asset to me w/her spells & fighting ability. After we raised the two softies, we moved south again bypassing North Nashkel Road until we can handle the Vampiric Wolf(ves). Back @ the Nashkel Carnival we ran into a quartet of Ogres which I planned to avoid until we also ran into a squad of Kobolds when we were avoiding the Ogres. It ended up that we were able to stretch them out enough chasing us that we could isolate the Kobolds & two of the Ogres. Garrick cast sleep right in the middle of them & sent one of the two Ogres & all but one of the Kobolds to dreamland. Then we beat down the one Ogre that was awake before finishing off the rest. After we gathered ourselves a bit, I sent Garrick to find the other two Ogres & draw them into a kill, which he did well.
After a nights rest, I bought a Potion of Invisibility @ the carnival & used it so I could go to Nashkel & get to the Belching Dragon w/o being seen. That’s where Montaron, Runt #2, said he’d be w/the Necromancer (I need to remember to ask Viconia to check his alignment later just so I know for sure). Montaron joined back up w/me as expected & brought the Necromancer along. We went to the Nashkel Mines & secured the area around the mines w/little problem. Only encounter was w/some weakling sculptor. When I threatened to turn him in he turned hostile & Kagain cut his head off in a split sec. Then we headed into the mines. The mines were populated w/miners scared out of their wits by Kobolds. The Kobolds got more plentiful as we went from the 1st to 2nd to 3rd levels of the mines & we hacked ‘em up w/nary a scratch. The Necromancer got too close to a Ghast though, was Held, & killed. I didn’t trust him anyway.
Key Event: After going four levels deep & entering a cave we found the culprit to be a Half-Orc Cleric named Mulahay. I absolutely beat the snot out of him & the helped the others finish off a few last Kobolds & some Skeletons he’d summoned. In the battle, Viconia cast an absolutely brilliant Hold Person spell that made my job vanquishing Mulahay much easier. The spell also Held a number of Kobolds fast too so they were easy pickin’s after we dealt w/Mulahay.
We left there & went to Beregost to find a guy named Tranzig. Suffice it to say, he’s dead now. I failed my lord Geryon here as Tranzig incapacitated me w/a Sleep spell. I MUST do better & never, ever give anyone in this party reason to challenge me as supreme in this group.
Treasure of Note: Ring of Human Influence (Me), Tome of LI (Me); Set of Studded Leather Armor +2 Missile Arracting (sold); 2 Emeralds (sold); Mage scrolls (Magic Missile; Slow; Chill Touch, Larloch’s Minor Drain – Xzar);
Current Disposition: Resting @ the Red Sheaf in Beregost
Next Steps: We’re still not welcome in Nashkel, especially after we killed a Bounty Hunter that was sent to kill us, so despite having saved their little butts, my reputation plummeted even more. So…there is a Valley of Tombs we stumbled on when we exited the mines. Geryon is calling me to go there next.
Level Up: Montaron increased his assassin skills to Thug (Assassin/5) & used his 15% thieving skill increase to raise his Find Traps to 25%. Garrick leveled up to Racaraide (Bard/5) & added Charm Person to his memorized spell repertoire.
Well yesterday was Sunday and once again I felt compelled to fool around with new character and party concepts - I began experimenting with a dart throwing assassin fighter dual class but eventually came up with a "harem" party concept I liked and decided on an elf fighter/thief to lead the ladies.
Meet our latest "hero" Dapper Delas dedicated to a lifestyle of lechery, lewdness, and debauchery. He was never all that successful in his exploits while traveling the Sword Coast but after procuring a certain ring while clearing up the troubles in the circus tent in Athkatla his exploits are now accomplished with such endearing elven charm and enchantment that the ladies are suddenly attracted to him like moths to a flame...(oh dear)
The plan is to recruit Jahiera, Aerie, Nalia, Neera, and Mazzy and should we make it to Spellhold replace either Nalia or Neera with Imoen.
So far Delas has taken Imoen, Minsc, and Jaheira out of Chez Irenicus (via Dungeon B Gone) cleared the Circus tent recruiting Aerie and are just entering the Copper Coronet where they will likely drop Minsc and pick up Nalia (or send her on to the keep) and probably clear out the slavers before heading to Nalia's Keep which we will take as stronghold once cleared.
Delas has the following skills so far - longsword**, club**, TWS** and is an accomplished thief with OL 85, FT 90, MS 80, HIS 60, and backstab X3.
I will probably continue to give him weapon profs in the other thief melee weapons and let his dex and elf bonus suffice for bow use.
Well Dapper Delas and his Harem are turning out to be a fun group!
So far we have proceeded mostly as planned - dropped Minsc at CC and picked up Nalia and then cleared up the CC quests. Headed for Nalia's keep and of course got sidetracked with the Harper stuff and Xzar quest.
Then we headed to the Govt area to pay our magic tax and decided to pick up Viconia while we were there - I have no idea how long it may be before I can get Neera as I haven't done much with her in BG2 yet so I figured Viconia could hold her spot and I'm thinking Viconia might be more useful to the group than Mazzy also.
Currently resting at the CC before attempting to get to Nalia's again.
Well it turned out to be a tough day for Dapper Dan at Nalias Keep - those pesky golems disrupted things yet again and I screwed up my saved games and would have had to go back to a save before we even reached the keep in order to redo it - of course a do-over wasn't possible anyway as Dapper wasn't dead and that's the only reason (outside of crashes etc) I reload in these challenges (PC dies unintentionally).
We had skated through the Keep pretty well got to the golems and Dapper sent the girls over by the stairway to the dungeon to wait while he chugged a potion of speed hid in shadows and scooted over and grabbed the bow and the flail head (and whatever was with the head) - left the axe compartment alone and scooted back out with golems following - the whole crew slid down the bannister to the basement and stood around waiting for some of the golems to follow - but none did.
So we cleared the first two rooms and went through the doorway towards Torgal - we stopped on the other side - buffed a bit and summoned a skelly & nymph and showed ourselves and the battle was on - it was touch and go for a while but we got it done and I figured fine - now just wait for Nalia to ask Dapper to run the Keep and the golems will disappear - except she wouldn't ask until we left the dungeon.
So up we went we took down one I think but couldn't touch the Clay golem so I got the harem strung out behind Dapper and running down the hallway and we made it to the next set of stairs but when we headed down the golem popped up in the middle of the party on the stairs and Nalia and Viccy could not get around him nor could they go back up (you must gather your party) - so they died.
No scrolls or wands to raise them so the rest of the group headed outside and golem did not follow. Just then Jahieras buddy comes for her on "Harper Business" So Aerie and Dapper went to town - raised the two fallen- bought basic weapons for both and armor for Viccy and went back - Nalia asked Dapper to take the keep as we reached the property - he agreed and we re-entered - their gear of course was gone including some very nice armor and Maulers arm mace and Tuigan bow, Arbane sword, staff-spear, and other stuff.
Hindsight having 20/20 vision what we SHOULD have done was go around to the back door after losing the golem and go back in there - upgrade the Flail of Ages - rest heal and go take down the golem and grab Viccy and Nalias gear - we also could have gathered the extra gear we left near the entrance before the Keep reset because once you agree to take over all the containers reset to empty.
But we accepted our current fate sucked it up and went back to town - Jahiera returned with orders to bring us to the Harpers and after re-outfitting Nalia & Viccy we went to take of that. The Harper misfits did not survive the encounter and when we stopped for a beer at Thumbs Ployer had Jahiera cursed. The group took care of that as well and are currently resting at the Seven Veils prior to going to see an old friend of Quayle who needs some help.
I’m finding that despite my Ring of Human Influence I am unable to change my reputation without paying for it. I tried taking the ruined ore to Taerom Thunderhammer &, afterword, the Mysterious Vial to Thalantyr. I did make a couple of small donations to the Temple of the Morning when we went in there for potions but, ugh, that place gives me the creeps – all those goody two shoes. I might have to kill that Ormlyr before this is all through but I better wait a ‘day or two’ before I attempt that. He is such a hypocrite. If I’m willing to donate gold he’s willing to have me in his temple. I know my lord Geryon would be pleased if I accomplished his defeat for the cause of diabolic evil. We left High Hedge after giving the vial to Thalantyr & buying a few potions, headed for the carnival to rest a bit, & then onward to the Valley of the Tombs.
We killed four amazon women who knew me by name & attacked when we approached them. Kagain went off on a couple of them & I joined him there after making sure I knew the whole situation. A couple of the amazons were rogue types & Hid in Shadows or maybe they were mages to & used Invisibility but whatever they slipped up on Xan & killed him. But beside that, they were easy prey. NEAR PERFECT BATTLE!
When we returned to Beregost to sell the booty from the amazon’s we visited the Jovial Juggler to meet someone we were told wanted to meet w/me. It was a trap & a Flaming Fist babe went off on me. Rather than let my rep drop even lower, I bailed & didn’t kill her. Don't want Amn & Baldur's Gate to reach a truce in order to hunt me!
Key Event: Later, back in the Valley, we destroyed three Ghasts in a tomb & grabbed their treasure before running into a Revenant in his tomb that we couldn’t handle w/o enchanted weapons. Garrick & Viconia have enchanted bolts/stones but these were ineffective. We tried to ‘spread out’ & avoid him but he had a ‘gaze’ attack that froze Kagain, Montaron & Xan. I decided to retrograde w/Viconia, my cleric & Song Boy so I could live to fight another day. (We lost all of their gear including Xan’s Moonblade and Studded Leather +1 that Montaron was using) NOT SO MUCH!
Rather than tempt defeat again @ the hands of the Revenant, I decided bide my time (ala the Vampiric Wolf(ves) in the North Nashkel Road) & come back for him later. I led Viconia & Garrick & we went to the Gibberling Mountains clearing them & killing a pant-load of Gibberling’s. Then I led them to the Fire Leaf Forest where our toughest fight was versus a couple of bandits, one who dubbed himself the ‘fastest dart in Faerun’ or some silly thing like that. We beat them down despite being attacked simultaneously by Winter Wolves. I earned some great booty including gems & WW pelts which I sold in Beregost (we’re not allowed in Nashkel) which allowed me to raise Kagain & Xan back to my service. I’m spending too much raising these underlings of mine & had to do so for Garrick & Xan again after we battled a Bounty Hunter when we slipped into Nashkel to try and meet with a proprietor there that we heard gave good gold for WW pelts. We killed the Bounty Hunter & sold the pelts before killing three more attackers when I returned us to finish up in the Fire Leaf later. We've cleared Gibbering Mountains & the Fire Leaf Forest.
Treasure of Note: Scimitar +1 (Xan to replace Moonblade); miscellaneous darts/arrows (sold);
Current Disposition: Resting @ the Red Sheaf in Beregost
Next Steps: Dryad Forest
Level Up: Viconia to Curate (Cleric/5) selected & was granted Animate Dead as her first 3rd Level Spell; I improved my power to Blackguard (Anti-Paladin/5) & Kagain to Berserker/5
Well Dapper Delas & Company went for some culture to the playhouse and ended up in the sewers chasing an actor down - the band of adventures they stumbled on were tenacious and Jahiera and Viccy fell - Viccy was the target of a disintegrate spell - I was concerned about her equipment disappearing but it remained.
The remaining members rallied and took down the brigands and after getting the girls raised the crew located the evil mage and left him in a pool of blood on his lab floor releasing the actor and sending him off to the playhouse.
They cleared the remainder of the sewer area except one tunnel leading off to the west and have just re-entered the bridge district where Dapper has expressed an interest in trying to sort out the local murders before returning the "gem" to the playhouse.
Dapper Delas & crew decided to seek out Neera in the woods before doing any detective work and they added the addled half-elf to the group and Delas began to work his magic on her. ( spoilers on Neeeras quests ahead)
They took care of the blue elf issue at Delosars Inn
Then they solved the Bridge Murders - while making a stop at the keep Jahiera was accosted by a group of Harpers and Delas and crew eventually defeated them but it was a long tough battle and Neera fell very early on. Nothing going on at the keep we returned to the woods where:
The wild mages had been captured and taken to the enclave in Waukeen Promenade
As we arrived back in town Harper Dermain (sp?) showed up and Jahiera renounced the Harpers then we took a break for Nalias fathers funeral and told Bhodi to go suck eggs and picked up a couple more quests while in the graveyard.
After resting we pulled on our big girl panties and entered the next area for Neera:
The enclave in Waukeen - we managed to finish the first room in pretty good shape and have now made 3 unsucessful attempts at the next area. I hate these mage fights - if the party doesn't have exactly the right spell and are able to use it at exactly the right moment you're generally screwed. Of course 5 casters in close quarters is a nightmare for logistics as well not to mention the micromanagement needed. Then while I'm busy managing the casters Delas gets slammed by something and there's the hand disintegrating on the screen...
That's it for this week - 12+ hour shifts for the next three days - I'll wind them up again sunday most likely.
I continue to stay in the south, having now completed adventuring in the Fire Leaf Forest & Gnoll Stronghold w/little or no trouble whatsoever. The Fire Leaf Forest yielded little of interest. A Dryad pleaded w/me to save a tree from a couple of oafs who thought it was full of treasure. She didn’t have anything significant to offer for my help so I refused but killed the oafs anyway just in case they had anything of value. The Dryad sent a couple Cave Bears after us & they were a little difficult but my underlings killed them. Aside from that, we killed a few Gnolls (a harbinger of things to come) & found a small treasure cave guarded by Dire Wolves that we killed before taking the treasure.
From there we found a fortress inhabited by Gnolls. We thoroughly obliterated them, beginning with their servant Xvarts that lived in caves below the fortress in the cliff side. We tore through the fortress killing more Xvarts & Gnolls. I just may return soon and make this place my own!!!
SMASHING THE GNOLL CHIEFTAIN!
Key Event: The final confrontation in the fortress was a fight w/some 40 or so Gnolls, including Gnoll Elites, Gnoll Slashers, Gnoll Veterans & the Gnoll Chieftain. No trouble here & not much loot either, a little gold, some gems & a couple of Bracers of Defense for my Mage/Enchanter & Song Boy.
I continue to drop 300gps every other visit or so into that hypocrite Ormlyr’s offering plate @ the Temple of the Morning. It makes me sick but I also worry about every other Tom, Dick & Harry attacking me b/c of my reputation. I’m trying to blend in right now when in town & stay far removed from civilization adventuring & building up my strength when I’m not.
I made a mistake not Raising the Necromancer even though I suspect he was Chaotic in his Evil. Xan’s spells leave much to be desired & he whines & moans like a little girl all day long & into the night every day. Even Garrick, my Bard w/his songs of heroes & maidens isn’t as apt to make me puke.
As for my followers and servant’s Kagain has earned his place as my Lieutenant. He never questions his place in the hierarchy & is fearless & ruthless w/his axe. He is also the only one who shares the proper alignment to aid me in serving Geryon’s cause on the prime Material Plane (Edwin would have been ideal also but the blowhard thought he was in charge so when he met his demise…well he met his demise). Viconia is an adequate Cleric but she serves the Goddess Shar instead of my lord Geryon. Still, she is wise, unafraid & Neutral in her evil so she is useful & behind Kagain, I depend on her most. Montaron is of little significance but his skills are useful & he fights anything w/o fear. I’d hoped Xan would be an ample replacement to Edwin and knew he would be a far cry from the Necromancer but he is Lawful so I don’t worry about him, though his Enchantment Spells are weak. Garrick carries stuff & serves as my Herald & can cast a mean spell every so often. He is low threat & often helps w/his battle songs although I’m trying to get him to work on one about Geryon deposing that pretender Levistus from Stygia & regaining favor w/Asmodeus. He hasn’t gotten that one yet but he’ll do.
Treasure of Note: Girdle of Piercing (Me); Bracers of Defense AC8 (x2) (Garrick, Xan); Miscellaneous scrolls (Xan, Garrick)
Current Disposition: Resting @ the Red Sheaf in Beregost
Next Steps: Bear River
Level Up: None
Current Party: (Reputation: 7 - Disliked) Gerald Front-de-Boeuf: Ftr (Blk Gd)/5, Plate Mail* w/LShield**, Flail**. BSwd* Viconia: Cleric/5, SpMail* w/SShld, Mace*, Sling*, WHmr* Kagain: Ftr (Bkr)/5 SpMail*, BAxe***, (ThAxe***), (2WS**) Montaron: Asn/5 Studded Leather, ShSwd*, Dgr*, (SWS*) Garrick: Bard/5 w/ Hvy C/Bow* & ShSwd* (SWS*) Xan: Mage (Ench/4),L/Swd * Each one of my PC/NPCs w/metal armor/weapons carries at least one extra @ all times as w/the Hard Times Mod metal can and does break, usually FAR from a store. In addition, enchanted weapons are HARD to come by. @ Level 5 we still have only a handful of bolts & stones enchanted @ +1 & Montaron has a +1 SSwd
I led my underlindsto a place called Bear River directly north of the Gnoll Stronghold. While it is aptly named Bear River, I’d say Ogre River might be a more appropriate name. I think I killed some 20 Ogres, six or maybe nine Ogrillons & a few Hobgoblins and Hobgoblin Elites. The others, Kagain especially, helped a little too.
Key Event: What really jerked my string here was some crusading Paladin who approached my party & then proceeded to attack us. We promptly stomped her butt in the dirt, which we would have anyway, but the fact is she challenged us. So what happens? By the time we get back to Beregost word has spread & my reputation has gone south again. I mean, heck, this happened maybe 24 hours march from anywhere against a lone Paladin in the wilderness. I’m tryin’ so hard to keep a low profile right now & stuff like this really ticks me the heck off. Paladin’s! Everything that’s wrong w/Faerun!!
WRETCHED PALADIN!
Then some bandit & his gang of Hobgoblins made off w/some of my gold. Bastard robbed us before we could react. I’d threatened to kill him & his Chill lackeys one by one & take his gold. Before I knew it I’d been pick pocketed & he had disappeared. REALLY, REALLY ticked me off!
Oh well, eyes forward. I’ve been thinking, I could really make some points in Baator (Nine Hells) if I could get Viconia to revere Geryon too. Hmm. I really could use some diabolic eyes down there, especially Geryon, seeing my progress here on the Prime Material. Grabbing Viconia's soul for Baator would be a step in that direction. Hmm. Devils hate evil deities, not as much as they do demons, but still they hate them. If I can snatch a soul from Shar & add to the roles in the Nine Hells that would further my cause for Geryon's restoration to Lord of Stygia on the 5th layer.
Treasure of Note: Some scrolls mostly (Knock x2, Blur, Mirror Image – Xan & Garrick split ‘em & wrote them to their little spell books)
Current Disposition: Resting @ the Red Sheaf in Beregost
Next Steps: Xvart Village east of Bear River
Level Up: Garrick to Jongleur (Bard/6) selected Mirror Image as he was able to memorize a 2nd, 2nd Level Spell
Brief update on Delas & Co - the group finally finished the Lanneth battle after 2 or 3 more reloads by pulling out some of the scrolls we were carrying for spells above our current level and some logistic tweaking - I had actually given up and had reloaded the last q-save to make it a permanent save when I decided to try one more time.
That said it brings us to 6 or 7 reloads already which is already quite a ways above what I normally consider my "limit" so I have made a save and set them aside for now altho it's possible I may come back to them at some point.
Now to decide whether to play something that's already "in progress" or begin something new.
Started a Male halfling Barbarian Sunday - didn't go too far - today I looked at some NPC mods and installed the Angelo mod then I started looking for a suitable character to romance with him - I fooled around with several things - Female assassin to dual to cleric -( too long waiting to get thief skills back), Female Half-orc Fighter/cleric, and a Female elf F/T - dual wielding long and short swords I like a lot and will probably play sometime soon.
However in the end I was drawn back to the male Halfling barbarian and I set out to see if Angelo would show up for him (since I started the game before installing him) and he did so I kept going.
Meet Stubby Shinslicer - M Halfling CN Barbarian Level 9 17/19/18/12/10/10 - Longsword**, Short sword**, TWS ***
He sent Minsc to the CC and came out with Jahiera and Yoshi - did the circus then went to Govt district and grabbed Viccy and Jan then sent Yoshi back to the CC and grabbed Angelo (F7->Mage 8).
So Stubby, Jahiera, Viccy, Jan, & Angelo and we are going to grab Valygar soon to round the party out.
They haven't done much yet - Red shirt & Tanner at Bridge, got attacked by guards at Valygars house in the docks (butler called them in) - that was interesting we scooted outside and 3 or 4 of the regular guards followed but the Cowled enforcers and one guard stayed inside so we were able to take the outside group first then go back in and take out the rest - the 5 sets of full plate brought a nice chunk of change LOL.
Headed for Umar and triggered the Harper/Xzar quest and then did Jahiera curse. Wasn't sure we could handle Ployers mage group
I usually buy them off!
but gave it a shot and Jahiera's insect swarm (behind Angelos Greater Malison) grabbed all three before they even started casting anything except a buff or two. Both Viccy and Jah's are courting Stubby - probably going to go at Vic if we get that far.
Think we will head for the hills and grab Valygar next maybe get the Sphere done next (or maybe slavers first for better gear).
Front-de-Boeuf led his servants to Fisherman’s Lake for what promised to be an easy stroll. Instead, they were ambushed by two Ogre berserkers @ night while trying to rest & while the battle was raging some Gnolls stumbled on the party & started helping the Ogre Berserkers. Front-de-Boeuf couldn't land a blow to save him. Kagain & Viconia & finally, Montaron fell & finally Front-de-Boeuf knew chances of killing the last Ogre Berserker were slim so he headed begrudgingly back to Beregost.
Key Event: After the battle @ Fisherman’s Lake, Gerald Front-de-Boeuf hobbled back to Beregost w/only his newest mage, Quayle, in tow. However, after a rest, Front-de-Boeuf was suddenly challenged & surrounded by Flaming Fists. Quayle quickly fell leaving Front-de-Boeuf alone versus three FFs. After taking some hard hits, Front-de-Boeuf tried to retrograde up the stairs but an FF chased his up there and killed him in the Common Room of the Red Sheaf.
Treasure of Note: None, some gems had been recovered but after Kagain & Viconia & finally, Montaron fell, just getting their armor & weapons back became the priority.
Current Disposition: Deceased
Next Steps: Could go on to Minimal Reload Challenge but it’s not likely anyone would raise this guy
So I suppose that means as far as the Sword Coast is concerned RIP to Front-de-Boeuf might mean Rest In Pieces you bastard? ;-)
I've always said if you want a real challenge in BG1 - start a truly evil party - drop their rep to 1 and leave it there and see how far you get without reloading... good job!
Stubby and crew traveled to the Umar Hills and found Valygar after a slight altercation with three of his cohorts and once hearing his story took him onboard instead of turning him over to the Cowardly Wizards. As we were leaving his cabin Jahiera was called away on Harper business and the crew headed for the CC for a bit of R&R.
Jahiera returned and said Stubby must accompany her to the Harper headquarters where a particularly ambitious Harper attempted to imprison Stubby. Jahiera remained at his side and the group made short work of the Harper zealots. While the group was picking through the Harpers gear Jan snuck upstairs and discovered Montarons body in a trunk confirming that the Halfling had met his end.
While resting at Thumbs place they uncovered a pirate hideout which they cleared out and then decided it might be best to leave town for a while and headed out to see if Nalia still needed assistance at her keep.
They spent the next few days clearing the keep of trolls and snake-folk and once the job was done Nalia turned the keep over to Stubby pretty much making his day. Meanwhile Viconia was apologizing for treating him badly and he almost started to glow as they headed back to the CC to do some recon on the Planar Sphere...
Damned golems cost me another reload - I'm starting to get them figured out tho we managed to get all but the big one this time (eventually) - damned shame that the Keeps security system turns out to be more dangerous to the heroes clearing the place than the enemy boss group ( and that you can't leave them be if you want to have the FOA even if you end up having the whole keep).
I also wasn't pleased to discover we had come to the keep without any way to cast a single cloudkill spell for the umberhulks LOL - our unidentified wands from Chez Irenicus still in storage in Waukeen Promenade. I put Stubby raging and a couple summons blocking the door and had everyone else using ranged and we managed with only Jahiera getting confused when she ran out of her current ammo and decided the best thing to do was run in and attack with her fist - then two others followed her example before I got them straightened out. (I'm sure no one else finds this "feature" annoying right?)
I was pleased to discover that Stubbys DUHM stacks with his rage (Of course he won't have the DUHM at some point - but what are the chances I will get him that far anyway LOL)
Well Angelo was so much fun I decided I better try some other mod NPCs so I downloaded a handful and began my latest adventure with a mostly goody two shoes group led by a CG Barbarian!
Isra - F LG Cavalier 16/12/17/13/14/17 Long Sword *, Two handed SWord **, THS **, TWS ** (Romance)
Faren - M TN Human F7->Thief (11) 16/17/16/10/13/10 Short Sword ***, Club **, Shortbow*, SWS **
Tashia F NG Elf Sorcerer 11/19/15/16/14/12 Staff *, Sling *,
Nephele F NG Halfling cleric 13/13/11/11/15/14 Mace *, Flail *, Sling*, Warhammer *,
and one regular BG2 NPC - currently Jahiera and I may switch her out at some point for another and will probably fill that spot with Imoen eventually (should we ever get that far.)
It's been an interesting start following a somewhat different path to facilitate picking them all up. Thus far we have done the Circus and returned the poisoned man to the Harpers but stayed far enough away from Xzar so that he didn't see us - putting the rest of that off until later - since it's a goody goody group we may refuse his quest when we do see him. We did a small quest as part of picking up Isra and we have done Trademeet taking Cernd along and dropping him afterwards to pick up Nephele.
Just returned to town where we will do Slavers and then probably Nalia for the Keep.
No real issues with the NPCs yet - some of the added background music during their interactions is jarringly loud but so far of short enough duration to deal with it.
Tasllii & crew took out the slavers and then headed to Nalia's Keep as planned - not much trouble there - Tas is a beast when raging and Isra can stand right behind him with her Two hander while either Jahs or Nephele heal him when needed. We forgot to bring that one charge cloudkill wand again for the umberhulks and Tas just stood in the doorway with Isra behind him both smacking away while the beasts wasted their confusion charges on him and the others pelted away with ranged stuff.
Less issues with the golems this time too (grin). So Tasllii is now Lord of the Keep and they are about to embark on one of Isras quests in town.
Took Stubby out for a while as well and they too took down the slavers but it was after he became Lord of the Keep. They are probably going to the Sphere next.
Alright, it's my turn to enter the challenge i guess ! I apologise in advance for my poor english.
I'll be playing Anselm, the Human Blackguard.
I plan on doing an evil run of the entire saga.
Mods : SCS v28 (Full prebuffing for ennemies), A simple XP Cap remover, IWD Spells tables for Ranger, Bards and Paladins.
Difficulty : Hard.
House rule : I really dislike the idea of a dual wielding Blackguard, i really think a big badass knight must be wielding a two-handed weapon, so my character won't be able to use any ranged weapon or one-handed weapon but will be able to achieve Grandmastery in any two-handed weapons of his choice, note that he must achieves ** in two weapons to achieve *** in one, then *** in two weapons to achieve **** in one and finally **** in two weapons to achieve ***** in one to spice it up. It will probably still be inferior to DW but whatever.
The starting biography of a Blackguard character is pretty cool i think, so if anyone never read it :
"While your foster father did his best to guide you toward virtue, you have always been fascinated by the power that can be attained through evil. Uninterested in spellbooks or knowledge of the divine, you would plead with the Watchers to teach you the deadly art of martial combat. Each teacher, increasingly uneasy about your growing darkness, eventually refused to teach you more. But you would simply move on to the next, casually casting your former tutors away. Your lust for power eventually led you to a forbidden tome deep within Candlekeep, a tome that put you into contact with an evil outsider. In exchange for dark power, you agreed for that outsider to become your patron. Now you seek nothing more than an excuse to leave Candlekeep and exercise your new abilities upon an unsuspecting world.
You know little of how you came to be a ward of Gorion's, but over the years you have gleaned something of your mother's tale from his vague allusions and from the words he sometimes uttered in tear-filled sleep. She was a human from Silverymoon and a friend of his for many seasons. As you have no memory of her, nor any keepsakes to remind you ofher existence, you have come to believe that she died while giving birth to you. Perhaps it was the pain of such a parting that led Gorion to cloister himself within the narrow halls of Candlekeep and raise you as his own. Of your father, you have learned nothing."
He is a totally merciless but very intelligent character, ready to takes decisions he doesn't like or to help people only to betray them later on, a bit like Sarevok.
Prologue : Nothing really interesting here, Shank and Corbos are extremely dangerous because they both use Poison Weapon so they kill you in one hit but i didn't get hit. I've done all the quests (i can't leave this place without doing them all :P ) and now i'm leaving Candlekeep.
I’m going to play Reginald Front-de-Boeuf of Candlekeep from the start of the game one more time. I really like the character idea, even though I personally despise evil & wrestle w/even playing an evil PC. Still, I learned some lessons, I think, during my first run so I’d like to put them into practice & see if I can’t carry Front-de-Boeuf deeper into the game. I got him to level 5 before he was tracked down by Flaming Fist Mercenary’s in Beregost. His 1 Reputation was his downfall. A Lawful Evil Anti-Paladin would be far more careful than that.
As I said before, he is modeled on Gerald Front-de-Boeuf from the novel Ivanhoe who was truly evil & sadistic in the novel. Ironically, he got HIS in the book just like my original Front-de-Boeuf did during the first run.
I’d like to thank & recognize InfernalFinn from the website deviantART who gave me permission to use his art entitled, ‘The Bull,’ as my character portrait. That said, here’s my revised back story.
Screen Shot won't upload. Not sure what's going on. GERALD FRONT-DE-BOEUF, BLACK GUARD, BEGINNING CHARACTER RECORD
Gerald Front-de-Boeuf was raised in Candlekeep on the Sword Coast, overlooking the Sea of Swords. His step-father, Gorion, a mage of great power, raised Front-de-Boeuf to be chivalrous & merciful, a Paladin maybe, or a righteous lawful Good Knight. Front-de-Boeuf was tutored by the learned monks of Candlekeep in the rarest & most prized literature in the realm. When not studying his books & prophesy, Front-de-Boeuf, trained as a warrior under the Watchers of Candlekeep & their leader the Gate warden. All would have appeared to be in order & no one who lived in Candlekeep would have cause to question that Front-de-Boeuf was destined to be a great warrior for good.
But Front-de-Boeuf has been thoroughly corrupted by evil & cruelty runs thru his veins. Somehow, He has managed to hide it seamlessly from those who know him best. Even with the many mages, wizards & clerics who frequent Candlekeep, none has evidently thought to use Detect Evil or Know Alignment to discover the truth about front-de-Boeuf. Front-de-Boeuf has been biding his time until he can get out from under the watchful eye of Gorion & the likes of Gatwarden, Tethtoril, Karan & that pesky Imoen. He particularly hates Fuller & despises Hull for talking down to him. He would love nothing more than to kill them. It would serve them right for crossing him & he could well use their Plate Mail armor.
It seems that Front-de-Boeuf, by chance one day, stumbled on tomes of literature detailing the Nine Hells of Baator. The first Tome he read veraciously detailed four of the nine Arch-Devils including Asmodeus, Baalzebul, Dispater, & his personal favorite Geryon. He became so enamored with Geryon, that he had a seamstress @ Candlekeep stitch him a Gold Tunic with Black Bulls Heads on it and had the armorer make him a Kite Shield of the same design. The design was to honor Geryon, who was worshipped by Minotaur’s, like his Demonic counterpart, Baphomet.
He couldn’t read enough about devils, finding a second and third volume that detailed the remaining Lords of the Nine. He read about the Dukes of Hell, finding that he favored Amon, a vassal of Geryon. Front-de-Boeuf read about the Greater devils; Ice Devils, Horned Devils & the mighty Pit Fiends. He studied the hierarchy of Hell & came to believe that, as there is a strong, lawful, organized hierarchy & well-defined chain-of-command in Hell oriented toward perfect evil, so should there be on the Prime Material Plane, implemented by a strong mortal in service to a powerful Arch-Fiend. Front-de-Boeuf believes he is just the mortal to do so. When reading about the Lesser devils, he came across a photo of the Erinyes, he immediately lusted after the thought of seducing, or being seduceds by an Erinyes. He entertained visions of serving diabolical evil on the Prime Material Plane so well that he would garner specific attention & be summoned to aid Geryon in Stygia or to lead an Army of Devils for him on Avernus, Hells first Plane where Devil Armies muster for their eternal Blood War against demons. As a leader of troops in Baator, he fantasized that he would be able to attract an Erinyes as his faithful consort.
His ‘plans’ altered recently when, thru further reading, to his dismay, he discovered that Geryon has been deposed by Asmodeus in order to elevator his daughter, Glasya, to Arch-Duchess of Malborge, Hells sixth layer. His disappointment was great & he remains unsure of where his diabolical loyalties lie but, ultimately, he knows Asmodeus is the Arch-Fiend. Front-de-Boeuf remains enamored with Amon, but since Amon is an outcast himself at this time, residing in Avernus, hitching his loyalties there might insult a stronger Arch-Devil & be fruitless in the end anyway. Because of the insatiable lust for power, & sex, he thinks often that he might find favor with Glasya & thus, he thinks of the Arch-Duchess often w/desire. For now, he’ll wear his Geryon inspired Tunic & bear his shield of the same & patiently wait for diabolical opportunity to present itself. In the meantime, he plans to begin his rise to power soon. He believes Lawful Evil is the only sensible alignment, but is willing to ally himself temporarily with others of Lawful &/or Evil alignment, as long as they realize he is their superior. He considers the mythical ‘prophesy’s’ about the Time of Troubles, child’s play, when considered against the eternal politics of Baator. And so he begins…
Screen Shot won't upload. Not sure what's going on. GERALD FRONT-DE-BOEUF, BEGINNING INVENTORY
Looks like I'm gonna reload my mods & start again. I got started but had added 'Full Plate & Packing Steel' mod which I'd never used before. I've made it to the Coast Way & added Montaron, Xar & Eldoth. I'd killed Fuller & the other watcher in the barracks for their Plate Mail only to find out that Plate Mail w/18/97 strength & 18 Dexterity is AC 5 (base AC7?) . Really? & it drops my 18 dexterity to Dexterity 14. Don't like it. Planning to reload tomorrow & start over, same character & storyline. Like I said, I've not died so this is just a, 'I DON"T LIKE THIS MOD RELOAD.'
If anyone has used it before & finds it a plus to the game, please let me know something positive about it. CT
Looks like I'm gonna reload my mods & start again. I got started but had added 'Full Plate & Packing Steel' mod which I'd never used before. I've made it to the Coast Way & added Montaron, Xar & Eldoth. I'd killed Fuller & the other watcher in the barracks for their Plate Mail only to find out that Plate Mail w/18/97 strength & 18 Dexterity is AC 5 (base AC7?) . Really? & it drops my 18 dexterity to Dexterity 14. Don't like it. Planning to reload tomorrow & start over, same character & storyline. Like I said, I've not died so this is just a, 'I DON"T LIKE THIS MOD RELOAD.'
If anyone has used it before & finds it a plus to the game, please let me know something positive about it. CT
Sounds like it changes armor to something similar to IWD2 where heavier armors have dex penalties - altho IIRC in that game (D&D 3 or 3.5?) the penalty only effects dex component of armor your dex for ranged weapons remains normal but that may be incorrect. I DO recall only giving characters that would wear heavy armor only 10-12 dex (in a point buy system)
As for Full plate and packing Boo - never even looked at that mod so this is just conjecture from me.
Sounds like it changes armor to something similar to IWD2 where heavier armors have dex penalties - altho IIRC in that game (D&D 3 or 3.5?) the penalty only effects dex component of armor your dex for ranged weapons remains normal but that may be incorrect. I DO recall only giving characters that would wear heavy armor only 10-12 dex (in a point buy system)
As for Full plate and packing Boo - never even looked at that mod so this is just conjecture from me.
Good luck with the new campaign!
Thanks Wanderon: I am a HUGE fan of the old AD&D 'paper characters' and 'modules.' Used to Be a Dungeon Master in The World of Greyhawk back in the '80s & was a player character in a friends world, "'The City State of the World Emperor.' I loved those rule sets & try to mimic them in BG by using 'P&P' options as often as possible. However, I skip the option to allow spellcasting in armor & thieving skills in armor as it just doesn't seem realistic. This Full plate and packing Steeel is supposed to get the BG game closer to original D&D but I think it overreaches.
I don't think this mod does the PC justice. It will be very difficult to go much further as a low level PC in BG & I want to run thus PC deep into the game. Gonna stop, reload & skip this mod. hopefully can get a reloaded in a couple of hours & get a two or three hours of play in before the work week starts. CKT
Comments
1) I need be wary of spell casters. A split sec can disable my person & leave me unable to escape or defend myself. I have no friends around this camp fire & I can’t expect to raised should I fall.
2) I must avoid battles where my odds are not at least 3-1 in my favor unless I am clearly the superior of my enemy in which 2-1 or 1-1 might be acceptable.
3) I must break contact without regard to anyone but myself should I be reduced to 60% hit-points.
4) I need to let my underlings take the point position. Don’t wanna be surprised …to death.
5) Reorganize to organize: I trust Kagain, the others not so, especially the Necromancer – but his Necromancy spells are effective...still I may have to revert to that blowhard Edwin. I need the assassin for his thieving and assassin skills. Garrick is my whippin’ boy. I need to ride this out a few days & set my inner circle.
Key Event: Inthe South Beregost Road we ran into a Dark Elf who was being hunted by the FAI. She asked us for our assistance. I feared crossing the FF but I went ahead & helped her. It doesn’t seem to have hurt my reputation – ha-ha – oops, there it goes south again! She’s a Cleric though! Jackpot & w/her spellcasting - & healing ability – I had to make a choice. I let Xzar go but…he took Montaron w/him. I’ll finish up here on the South Beregost Road & determine what to do about a mage later.
Later: Easier said than done. We broke camp we got into a tough fight w/some Hobgoblins. Poison arrows took out Runt & Song Boy. Viconia & I finished them off & then raided a cave before heading back to Beregost – safer going that way loaded down w/gear/treasure when Vampiric Wolves, FF and Aminsh Soldiers are all looking for me. I’ve cleared the south road area w/North Nashkel to go. Darn it. I said I wasn’t gonna raise that runt again & I was just finding song boy useful. I was actually thinking I was about to round out my underlings. Oh well. I’ll sleep on it after Viconia & I get something to eat. She seems to be a useful confidant but she is a Drow.
Red Sheaf with Viconia deciding what to do next
Treasure of Note: Boots of Stealth (TBD who I let use these)
Current Disposition: Eating @ the Red Sheaf in Beregost
Next Steps: Decide what to do about Runt, Song Boy, the Assassin & his pet mage…oh, & I need to cut that big mouthed mage loose once & for all. The more I think about it the weaker he looks versus the necromancer
Level Up: None
Current Party: (Reputation: 3 - Dispised)
Gerald Front-de-Boeuf: Ftr (Blk Gd)/4 Plate Mail w/LShield**, Flail**. BSwd*
Viconia: Cleric/4, ChMail w/SShld, Mace
Kagain: Ftr (Bkr)/4 Plate Mail, BAxe***, (ThAxe)*** (2WS**) (currently room temperature)
Garrick: Bard/4 w/ShSwd* & Lt C/Bow*, ShSwd* (singing a dirge right now - or should be)
Edwin: Mage (Cjr)/3, QStaff* (Currently In hell - Lookin' less & less likes he's gonna mouth off to me again)
Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; X0black101 (Blackguard); level1npcs-v1.9; bg2_tweaks-v14; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21 (- Tactical Challenges)
Reloads: 0
We fought our way through without too much trouble perhaps because we are fairly low level for it - everyone in the 9-12 range with only Haxxat & Kelli (bard) at 12.( No Iron golem next to the furnace room - no golems at all appeared when we placed the heart.)
In any event we finished and current levels are:
Kelli - Skald 12
Korgan - Beserker 10
Dorn - Blackguard 10
Viconia - Cleric 11
Hexxat - Thief 13
Edwin - Conjurer 10
We have not talked to Bhodi yet but when we do we will take her offer - perhaps next altho there is lots of chap 2 stuff we have yet to do - pretty much all of it in fact LOL - so far we haven't done anything outside of town except grab Valygar -
Maybe we will do the Playhouse and grab our stronghold next that will give us a chance to grab that +2 throwing axe for Korgan from the sewers.
This party certainly has a very different atmosphere than Gluteus and his heroic band! :-)
I guess as a Skald, the Playhouse would be the appropriate stronghold. Hmm. Funny. You play the game for years, & I knew the playhouse was the SH for Bards, but I have no idea what game tentacles come off of that. There's so much to the game. For me, since I'm always a Fighter/Knight or Paladin/Knight, I have no clue what the other SHs bring to the game, e.g. Planar Sphere, Theater Company. It'll be interesting to see what you run into when you pick up the TC SH. CT
Indeed Gluteus Maximum - FMT - obviously one of those professional students that could never decide exactly what he wanted to be... LOL
Meanwhile back in the planes Kelli & Cohorts have destroyed Mekrath and rescued Hairy Dally and returned the stone to Raelis Shai clearing the main sewer area (but not the Eye area or the other "secret" room) in the process.
We then followed the troupe into the Planar prison raising havoc throughout the complex and eventually freeing the troupe and gaining the deed to the playhouse in the process. It turned out there was a director hanging about in the bar in between jobs we were able to hire to take care of the day to day running of the place and we should be ready to open our first play in about 6 weeks.
The playhouse is a decent stronghold - an Inn upstairs to rest and two merchants right outside and several storage boxes within the playhouse. The "quests" as I recall are not spectacular but it's been so long I really can't recall the specifics - a "back door" that led directly to an exit from the area would have been nice as it's situated about the same distance from either of the two exits.
Not sure if it's the awesomeness of the party or the fact that we are still relatively low level or a combination of the two (and playing on "Normal") but the prison was not near as difficult as I recalled - altho we did take a little different path than I did on the few other runs I made through it in Vanilla (years ago) and as I recall (not very well) I did all those relatively late in chap 3.
No more gaming until Sunday at least at which time I may take Kelli to Nalias Keep before we talk to Bhodi.
Current levels:
Kelli - Skald 13
Korgan - Beserker 10
Dorn - Blackguard 10
Viconia - Cleric 12
Hexxat - Thief 13
Edwin - Conjurer 11
After a nights rest, I bought a Potion of Invisibility @ the carnival & used it so I could go to Nashkel & get to the Belching Dragon w/o being seen. That’s where Montaron, Runt #2, said he’d be w/the Necromancer (I need to remember to ask Viconia to check his alignment later just so I know for sure). Montaron joined back up w/me as expected & brought the Necromancer along. We went to the Nashkel Mines & secured the area around the mines w/little problem. Only encounter was w/some weakling sculptor. When I threatened to turn him in he turned hostile & Kagain cut his head off in a split sec. Then we headed into the mines. The mines were populated w/miners scared out of their wits by Kobolds. The Kobolds got more plentiful as we went from the 1st to 2nd to 3rd levels of the mines & we hacked ‘em up w/nary a scratch. The Necromancer got too close to a Ghast though, was Held, & killed. I didn’t trust him anyway.
Key Event: After going four levels deep & entering a cave we found the culprit to be a Half-Orc Cleric named Mulahay. I absolutely beat the snot out of him & the helped the others finish off a few last Kobolds & some Skeletons he’d summoned. In the battle, Viconia cast an absolutely brilliant Hold Person spell that made my job vanquishing Mulahay much easier. The spell also Held a number of Kobolds fast too so they were easy pickin’s after we dealt w/Mulahay.
We left there & went to Beregost to find a guy named Tranzig. Suffice it to say, he’s dead now. I failed my lord Geryon here as Tranzig incapacitated me w/a Sleep spell. I MUST do better & never, ever give anyone in this party reason to challenge me as supreme in this group.
Treasure of Note: Ring of Human Influence (Me), Tome of LI (Me); Set of Studded Leather Armor +2 Missile Arracting (sold); 2 Emeralds (sold); Mage scrolls (Magic Missile; Slow; Chill Touch, Larloch’s Minor Drain – Xzar);
Current Disposition: Resting @ the Red Sheaf in Beregost
Next Steps: We’re still not welcome in Nashkel, especially after we killed a Bounty Hunter that was sent to kill us, so despite having saved their little butts, my reputation plummeted even more. So…there is a Valley of Tombs we stumbled on when we exited the mines. Geryon is calling me to go there next.
Level Up: Montaron increased his assassin skills to Thug (Assassin/5) & used his 15% thieving skill increase to raise his Find Traps to 25%. Garrick leveled up to Racaraide (Bard/5) & added Charm Person to his memorized spell repertoire.
Current Party: (Reputation: 2 - Despised)
Gerald Front-de-Boeuf: Ftr (Blk Gd)/4 Plate Mail w/LShield**, Flail**. BSwd*
Viconia: Cleric/4, ChMail w/SShld, Mace*, Sling*, WHmr*
Kagain: Ftr (Bkr)/4 Splint Mail, BAxe***, (ThAxe***), (2WS**)
Montaron: Asn/5 Studded Leather, ShSwd*, Dgr*, (SWS*)
Garrick: Bard/5 w/ Lt C/Bow* & ShSwd* (SWS*)
Xan: Mage (Ench/4),Knaves Robe, Moonblade,
Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; X0black101 (Blackguard); level1npcs-v1.9; bg2_tweaks-v14; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21 (- Tactical Challenges)
Reloads: 0
Meet our latest "hero" Dapper Delas dedicated to a lifestyle of lechery, lewdness, and debauchery. He was never all that successful in his exploits while traveling the Sword Coast but after procuring a certain ring while clearing up the troubles in the circus tent in Athkatla his exploits are now accomplished with such endearing elven charm and enchantment that the ladies are suddenly attracted to him like moths to a flame...(oh dear)
The plan is to recruit Jahiera, Aerie, Nalia, Neera, and Mazzy and should we make it to Spellhold replace either Nalia or Neera with Imoen.
So far Delas has taken Imoen, Minsc, and Jaheira out of Chez Irenicus (via Dungeon B Gone) cleared the Circus tent recruiting Aerie and are just entering the Copper Coronet where they will likely drop Minsc and pick up Nalia (or send her on to the keep) and probably clear out the slavers before heading to Nalia's Keep which we will take as stronghold once cleared.
Delas has the following skills so far - longsword**, club**, TWS** and is an accomplished thief with OL 85, FT 90, MS 80, HIS 60, and backstab X3.
I will probably continue to give him weapon profs in the other thief melee weapons and let his dex and elf bonus suffice for bow use.
Well Dapper Delas and his Harem are turning out to be a fun group!
So far we have proceeded mostly as planned - dropped Minsc at CC and picked up Nalia and then cleared up the CC quests. Headed for Nalia's keep and of course got sidetracked with the Harper stuff and Xzar quest.
Then we headed to the Govt area to pay our magic tax and decided to pick up Viconia while we were there - I have no idea how long it may be before I can get Neera as I haven't done much with her in BG2 yet so I figured Viconia could hold her spot and I'm thinking Viconia might be more useful to the group than Mazzy also.
Currently resting at the CC before attempting to get to Nalia's again.
We had skated through the Keep pretty well got to the golems and Dapper sent the girls over by the stairway to the dungeon to wait while he chugged a potion of speed hid in shadows and scooted over and grabbed the bow and the flail head (and whatever was with the head) - left the axe compartment alone and scooted back out with golems following - the whole crew slid down the bannister to the basement and stood around waiting for some of the golems to follow - but none did.
So we cleared the first two rooms and went through the doorway towards Torgal - we stopped on the other side - buffed a bit and summoned a skelly & nymph and showed ourselves and the battle was on - it was touch and go for a while but we got it done and I figured fine - now just wait for Nalia to ask Dapper to run the Keep and the golems will disappear - except she wouldn't ask until we left the dungeon.
So up we went we took down one I think but couldn't touch the Clay golem so I got the harem strung out behind Dapper and running down the hallway and we made it to the next set of stairs but when we headed down the golem popped up in the middle of the party on the stairs and Nalia and Viccy could not get around him nor could they go back up (you must gather your party) - so they died.
No scrolls or wands to raise them so the rest of the group headed outside and golem did not follow. Just then Jahieras buddy comes for her on "Harper Business" So Aerie and Dapper went to town - raised the two fallen- bought basic weapons for both and armor for Viccy and went back - Nalia asked Dapper to take the keep as we reached the property - he agreed and we re-entered - their gear of course was gone including some very nice armor and Maulers arm mace and Tuigan bow, Arbane sword, staff-spear, and other stuff.
Hindsight having 20/20 vision what we SHOULD have done was go around to the back door after losing the golem and go back in there - upgrade the Flail of Ages - rest heal and go take down the golem and grab Viccy and Nalias gear - we also could have gathered the extra gear we left near the entrance before the Keep reset because once you agree to take over all the containers reset to empty.
But we accepted our current fate sucked it up and went back to town - Jahiera returned with orders to bring us to the Harpers and after re-outfitting Nalia & Viccy we went to take of that. The Harper misfits did not survive the encounter and when we stopped for a beer at Thumbs Ployer had Jahiera cursed. The group took care of that as well and are currently resting at the Seven Veils prior to going to see an old friend of Quayle who needs some help.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it. ;-)
We killed four amazon women who knew me by name & attacked when we approached them. Kagain went off on a couple of them & I joined him there after making sure I knew the whole situation. A couple of the amazons were rogue types & Hid in Shadows or maybe they were mages to & used Invisibility but whatever they slipped up on Xan & killed him. But beside that, they were easy prey.
NEAR PERFECT BATTLE!
When we returned to Beregost to sell the booty from the amazon’s we visited the Jovial Juggler to meet someone we were told wanted to meet w/me. It was a trap & a Flaming Fist babe went off on me. Rather than let my rep drop even lower, I bailed & didn’t kill her. Don't want Amn & Baldur's Gate to reach a truce in order to hunt me!
Key Event: Later, back in the Valley, we destroyed three Ghasts in a tomb & grabbed their treasure before running into a Revenant in his tomb that we couldn’t handle w/o enchanted weapons. Garrick & Viconia have enchanted bolts/stones but these were ineffective. We tried to ‘spread out’ & avoid him but he had a ‘gaze’ attack that froze Kagain, Montaron & Xan. I decided to retrograde w/Viconia, my cleric & Song Boy so I could live to fight another day. (We lost all of their gear including Xan’s Moonblade and Studded Leather +1 that Montaron was using)
NOT SO MUCH!
Rather than tempt defeat again @ the hands of the Revenant, I decided bide my time (ala the Vampiric Wolf(ves) in the North Nashkel Road) & come back for him later. I led Viconia & Garrick & we went to the Gibberling Mountains clearing them & killing a pant-load of Gibberling’s. Then I led them to the Fire Leaf Forest where our toughest fight was versus a couple of bandits, one who dubbed himself the ‘fastest dart in Faerun’ or some silly thing like that. We beat them down despite being attacked simultaneously by Winter Wolves. I earned some great booty including gems & WW pelts which I sold in Beregost (we’re not allowed in Nashkel) which allowed me to raise Kagain & Xan back to my service. I’m spending too much raising these underlings of mine & had to do so for Garrick & Xan again after we battled a Bounty Hunter when we slipped into Nashkel to try and meet with a proprietor there that we heard gave good gold for WW pelts. We killed the Bounty Hunter & sold the pelts before killing three more attackers when I returned us to finish up in the Fire Leaf later. We've cleared Gibbering Mountains & the Fire Leaf Forest.
Treasure of Note: Scimitar +1 (Xan to replace Moonblade); miscellaneous darts/arrows (sold);
Current Disposition: Resting @ the Red Sheaf in Beregost
Next Steps: Dryad Forest
Level Up: Viconia to Curate (Cleric/5) selected & was granted Animate Dead as her first 3rd Level Spell; I improved my power to Blackguard (Anti-Paladin/5) & Kagain to Berserker/5
Current Party: (Reputation: 6 - Disliked)
Gerald Front-de-Boeuf: Ftr (Blk Gd)/5, Plate Mail w/LShield**, Flail**. BSwd*
Viconia: Cleric/5, SpMail w/SShld, Mace*, Sling*, WHmr*
Kagain: Ftr (Bkr)/5 Splint Mail, BAxe***, (ThAxe***), (2WS**)
Montaron: Asn/5 Studded Leather, ShSwd*, Dgr*, (SWS*)
Garrick: Bard/5 w/ Hvy C/Bow* & ShSwd* (SWS*)
Xan: Mage (Ench/4),L/Swd
Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; X0black101 (Blackguard); level1npcs-v1.9; bg2_tweaks-v14; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21 (- Tactical Challenges)
Reloads: 0
The remaining members rallied and took down the brigands and after getting the girls raised the crew located the evil mage and left him in a pool of blood on his lab floor releasing the actor and sending him off to the playhouse.
They cleared the remainder of the sewer area except one tunnel leading off to the west and have just re-entered the bridge district where Dapper has expressed an interest in trying to sort out the local murders before returning the "gem" to the playhouse.
Then they solved the Bridge Murders - while making a stop at the keep Jahiera was accosted by a group of Harpers and Delas and crew eventually defeated them but it was a long tough battle and Neera fell very early on. Nothing going on at the keep we returned to the woods where:
As we arrived back in town Harper Dermain (sp?) showed up and Jahiera renounced the Harpers then we took a break for Nalias fathers funeral and told Bhodi to go suck eggs and picked up a couple more quests while in the graveyard.
After resting we pulled on our big girl panties and entered the next area for Neera:
That's it for this week - 12+ hour shifts for the next three days - I'll wind them up again sunday most likely.
I continue to stay in the south, having now completed adventuring in the Fire Leaf Forest & Gnoll Stronghold w/little or no trouble whatsoever. The Fire Leaf Forest yielded little of interest. A Dryad pleaded w/me to save a tree from a couple of oafs who thought it was full of treasure. She didn’t have anything significant to offer for my help so I refused but killed the oafs anyway just in case they had anything of value. The Dryad sent a couple Cave Bears after us & they were a little difficult but my underlings killed them. Aside from that, we killed a few Gnolls (a harbinger of things to come) & found a small treasure cave guarded by Dire Wolves that we killed before taking the treasure.
From there we found a fortress inhabited by Gnolls. We thoroughly obliterated them, beginning with their servant Xvarts that lived in caves below the fortress in the cliff side. We tore through the fortress killing more Xvarts & Gnolls. I just may return soon and make this place my own!!!
SMASHING THE GNOLL CHIEFTAIN!
Key Event: The final confrontation in the fortress was a fight w/some 40 or so Gnolls, including Gnoll Elites, Gnoll Slashers, Gnoll Veterans & the Gnoll Chieftain. No trouble here & not much loot either, a little gold, some gems & a couple of Bracers of Defense for my Mage/Enchanter & Song Boy.
I continue to drop 300gps every other visit or so into that hypocrite Ormlyr’s offering plate @ the Temple of the Morning. It makes me sick but I also worry about every other Tom, Dick & Harry attacking me b/c of my reputation. I’m trying to blend in right now when in town & stay far removed from civilization adventuring & building up my strength when I’m not.
I made a mistake not Raising the Necromancer even though I suspect he was Chaotic in his Evil. Xan’s spells leave much to be desired & he whines & moans like a little girl all day long & into the night every day. Even Garrick, my Bard w/his songs of heroes & maidens isn’t as apt to make me puke.
As for my followers and servant’s Kagain has earned his place as my Lieutenant. He never questions his place in the hierarchy & is fearless & ruthless w/his axe. He is also the only one who shares the proper alignment to aid me in serving Geryon’s cause on the prime Material Plane (Edwin would have been ideal also but the blowhard thought he was in charge so when he met his demise…well he met his demise). Viconia is an adequate Cleric but she serves the Goddess Shar instead of my lord Geryon. Still, she is wise, unafraid & Neutral in her evil so she is useful & behind Kagain, I depend on her most. Montaron is of little significance but his skills are useful & he fights anything w/o fear. I’d hoped Xan would be an ample replacement to Edwin and knew he would be a far cry from the Necromancer but he is Lawful so I don’t worry about him, though his Enchantment Spells are weak. Garrick carries stuff & serves as my Herald & can cast a mean spell every so often. He is low threat & often helps w/his battle songs although I’m trying to get him to work on one about Geryon deposing that pretender Levistus from Stygia & regaining favor w/Asmodeus. He hasn’t gotten that one yet but he’ll do.
Treasure of Note: Girdle of Piercing (Me); Bracers of Defense AC8 (x2) (Garrick, Xan); Miscellaneous scrolls (Xan, Garrick)
Current Disposition: Resting @ the Red Sheaf in Beregost
Next Steps: Bear River
Level Up: None
Current Party: (Reputation: 7 - Disliked)
Gerald Front-de-Boeuf: Ftr (Blk Gd)/5, Plate Mail* w/LShield**, Flail**. BSwd*
Viconia: Cleric/5, SpMail* w/SShld, Mace*, Sling*, WHmr*
Kagain: Ftr (Bkr)/5 SpMail*, BAxe***, (ThAxe***), (2WS**)
Montaron: Asn/5 Studded Leather, ShSwd*, Dgr*, (SWS*)
Garrick: Bard/5 w/ Hvy C/Bow* & ShSwd* (SWS*)
Xan: Mage (Ench/4),L/Swd
* Each one of my PC/NPCs w/metal armor/weapons carries at least one extra @ all times as w/the Hard Times Mod metal can and does break, usually FAR from a store. In addition, enchanted weapons are HARD to come by. @ Level 5 we still have only a handful of bolts & stones enchanted @ +1 & Montaron has a +1 SSwd
Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; X0black101 (Blackguard); level1npcs-v1.9; bg2_tweaks-v14; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21 (- Tactical Challenges)
Reloads: 0
Key Event: What really jerked my string here was some crusading Paladin who approached my party & then proceeded to attack us. We promptly stomped her butt in the dirt, which we would have anyway, but the fact is she challenged us. So what happens? By the time we get back to Beregost word has spread & my reputation has gone south again. I mean, heck, this happened maybe 24 hours march from anywhere against a lone Paladin in the wilderness. I’m tryin’ so hard to keep a low profile right now & stuff like this really ticks me the heck off. Paladin’s! Everything that’s wrong w/Faerun!!
WRETCHED PALADIN!
Then some bandit & his gang of Hobgoblins made off w/some of my gold. Bastard robbed us before we could react. I’d threatened to kill him & his Chill lackeys one by one & take his gold. Before I knew it I’d been pick pocketed & he had disappeared. REALLY, REALLY ticked me off!
Oh well, eyes forward. I’ve been thinking, I could really make some points in Baator (Nine Hells) if I could get Viconia to revere Geryon too. Hmm. I really could use some diabolic eyes down there, especially Geryon, seeing my progress here on the Prime Material. Grabbing Viconia's soul for Baator would be a step in that direction. Hmm. Devils hate evil deities, not as much as they do demons, but still they hate them. If I can snatch a soul from Shar & add to the roles in the Nine Hells that would further my cause for Geryon's restoration to Lord of Stygia on the 5th layer.
Treasure of Note: Some scrolls mostly (Knock x2, Blur, Mirror Image – Xan & Garrick split ‘em & wrote them to their little spell books)
Current Disposition: Resting @ the Red Sheaf in Beregost
Next Steps: Xvart Village east of Bear River
Level Up: Garrick to Jongleur (Bard/6) selected Mirror Image as he was able to memorize a 2nd, 2nd Level Spell
Current Party: (Reputation: 5 - Disliked)
Gerald Front-de-Boeuf: Ftr (Blk Gd)/5, Plate Mail w/LShield**, Flail**. BSwd*
Viconia: Cleric/5, SpMail w/SShld, Mace*, Sling*, WHmr*
Kagain: Ftr (Bkr)/5 Splint Mail, BAxe***, ThAxe***, (2WS**)
Montaron: Asn/5 Studded Leather, ShSwd*, Dgr*, T/Knives*, (SWS*)
Garrick: Bard/6 w/ Hvy C/Bow* & ShSwd* (SWS*)
Xan: Mage (Ench/4),L/Swd
Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; X0black101 (Blackguard); level1npcs-v1.9; bg2_tweaks-v14; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21 (- Tactical Challenges)
Reloads: 0
That said it brings us to 6 or 7 reloads already which is already quite a ways above what I normally consider my "limit" so I have made a save and set them aside for now altho it's possible I may come back to them at some point.
Now to decide whether to play something that's already "in progress" or begin something new.
However in the end I was drawn back to the male Halfling barbarian and I set out to see if Angelo would show up for him (since I started the game before installing him) and he did so I kept going.
Meet Stubby Shinslicer - M Halfling CN Barbarian Level 9
17/19/18/12/10/10 - Longsword**, Short sword**, TWS ***
He sent Minsc to the CC and came out with Jahiera and Yoshi - did the circus then went to Govt district and grabbed Viccy and Jan then sent Yoshi back to the CC and grabbed Angelo (F7->Mage 8).
So Stubby, Jahiera, Viccy, Jan, & Angelo and we are going to grab Valygar soon to round the party out.
They haven't done much yet - Red shirt & Tanner at Bridge, got attacked by guards at Valygars house in the docks (butler called them in) - that was interesting we scooted outside and 3 or 4 of the regular guards followed but the Cowled enforcers and one guard stayed inside so we were able to take the outside group first then go back in and take out the rest - the 5 sets of full plate brought a nice chunk of change LOL.
Headed for Umar and triggered the Harper/Xzar quest and then did Jahiera curse. Wasn't sure we could handle Ployers mage group
but gave it a shot and Jahiera's insect swarm (behind Angelos Greater Malison) grabbed all three before they even started casting anything except a buff or two. Both Viccy and Jah's are courting Stubby - probably going to go at Vic if we get that far.
Think we will head for the hills and grab Valygar next maybe get the Sphere done next (or maybe slavers first for better gear).
Key Event: After the battle @ Fisherman’s Lake, Gerald Front-de-Boeuf hobbled back to Beregost w/only his newest mage, Quayle, in tow. However, after a rest, Front-de-Boeuf was suddenly challenged & surrounded by Flaming Fists. Quayle quickly fell leaving Front-de-Boeuf alone versus three FFs. After taking some hard hits, Front-de-Boeuf tried to retrograde up the stairs but an FF chased his up there and killed him in the Common Room of the Red Sheaf.
Treasure of Note: None, some gems had been recovered but after Kagain & Viconia & finally, Montaron fell, just getting their armor & weapons back became the priority.
Current Disposition: Deceased
Next Steps: Could go on to Minimal Reload Challenge but it’s not likely anyone would raise this guy
Level Up: None
Current Party: (Reputation: 1 - Despised)
Gerald Front-de-Boeuf: Ftr (Blk Gd)/5, Plate Mail w/LShield**, Flail**. BSwd*
Viconia: Cleric/5, SpMail w/SShld, Mace*, Sling*, WHmr*
Kagain: Ftr (Bkr)/5 Splint Mail, BAxe***, ThAxe***, (2WS**)
Montaron: Asn/6 Studded Leather, ShSwd*, Dgr*, T/Knives*, (SWS*)
Garrick: Bard/6 w/ Hvy C/Bow* & ShSwd* (SWS*)
Xan: Mage (Ench/5),L/Swd
Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; X0black101 (Blackguard); level1npcs-v1.9; bg2_tweaks-v14; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21 (- Tactical Challenges)
Reloads: 0
So I suppose that means as far as the Sword Coast is concerned RIP to Front-de-Boeuf might mean Rest In Pieces you bastard? ;-)
I've always said if you want a real challenge in BG1 - start a truly evil party - drop their rep to 1 and leave it there and see how far you get without reloading... good job!
Jahiera returned and said Stubby must accompany her to the Harper headquarters where a particularly ambitious Harper attempted to imprison Stubby. Jahiera remained at his side and the group made short work of the Harper zealots. While the group was picking through the Harpers gear Jan snuck upstairs and discovered Montarons body in a trunk confirming that the Halfling had met his end.
While resting at Thumbs place they uncovered a pirate hideout which they cleared out and then decided it might be best to leave town for a while and headed out to see if Nalia still needed assistance at her keep.
They spent the next few days clearing the keep of trolls and snake-folk and once the job was done Nalia turned the keep over to Stubby pretty much making his day. Meanwhile Viconia was apologizing for treating him badly and he almost started to glow as they headed back to the CC to do some recon on the Planar Sphere...
Damned golems cost me another reload - I'm starting to get them figured out tho we managed to get all but the big one this time (eventually) - damned shame that the Keeps security system turns out to be more dangerous to the heroes clearing the place than the enemy boss group ( and that you can't leave them be if you want to have the FOA even if you end up having the whole keep).
I also wasn't pleased to discover we had come to the keep without any way to cast a single cloudkill spell for the umberhulks LOL - our unidentified wands from Chez Irenicus still in storage in Waukeen Promenade. I put Stubby raging and a couple summons blocking the door and had everyone else using ranged and we managed with only Jahiera getting confused when she ran out of her current ammo and decided the best thing to do was run in and attack with her fist - then two others followed her example before I got them straightened out. (I'm sure no one else finds this "feature" annoying right?)
I was pleased to discover that Stubbys DUHM stacks with his rage (Of course he won't have the DUHM at some point - but what are the chances I will get him that far anyway LOL)
Current levels:
Stubby - Barbarian 9
Valygar - Stalker 9
Viconia - Cleric 10
Jahiera - Fighter 8 / Druid 10
Jan - Illusionist 9 / Thief 10
Angelo - Fighter 7 -> Mage 10
1 reload (golems at Nalia's Keep)
PC- Tasllii Twostrike - Elf M CG Barbarian
18-94/19/17/11/10/16
Axe**, Bastard Sword*, Flail*, Scimitar*, TWS**
Isra - F LG Cavalier 16/12/17/13/14/17
Long Sword *, Two handed SWord **, THS **, TWS **
(Romance)
Faren - M TN Human F7->Thief (11) 16/17/16/10/13/10
Short Sword ***, Club **, Shortbow*, SWS **
Tashia F NG Elf Sorcerer 11/19/15/16/14/12
Staff *, Sling *,
Nephele F NG Halfling cleric 13/13/11/11/15/14
Mace *, Flail *, Sling*, Warhammer *,
and one regular BG2 NPC - currently Jahiera and I may switch her out at some point for another and will probably fill that spot with Imoen eventually (should we ever get that far.)
It's been an interesting start following a somewhat different path to facilitate picking them all up. Thus far we have done the Circus and returned the poisoned man to the Harpers but stayed far enough away from Xzar so that he didn't see us - putting the rest of that off until later - since it's a goody goody group we may refuse his quest when we do see him. We did a small quest as part of picking up Isra and we have done Trademeet taking Cernd along and dropping him afterwards to pick up Nephele.
Just returned to town where we will do Slavers and then probably Nalia for the Keep.
No real issues with the NPCs yet - some of the added background music during their interactions is jarringly loud but so far of short enough duration to deal with it.
Tasllii & crew took out the slavers and then headed to Nalia's Keep as planned - not much trouble there - Tas is a beast when raging and Isra can stand right behind him with her Two hander while either Jahs or Nephele heal him when needed. We forgot to bring that one charge cloudkill wand again for the umberhulks and Tas just stood in the doorway with Isra behind him both smacking away while the beasts wasted their confusion charges on him and the others pelted away with ranged stuff.
Less issues with the golems this time too (grin). So Tasllii is now Lord of the Keep and they are about to embark on one of Isras quests in town.
Took Stubby out for a while as well and they too took down the slavers but it was after he became Lord of the Keep. They are probably going to the Sphere next.
I'll be playing Anselm, the Human Blackguard.
I plan on doing an evil run of the entire saga.
Mods : SCS v28 (Full prebuffing for ennemies), A simple XP Cap remover, IWD Spells tables for Ranger, Bards and Paladins.
Difficulty : Hard.
House rule : I really dislike the idea of a dual wielding Blackguard, i really think a big badass knight must be wielding a two-handed weapon, so my character won't be able to use any ranged weapon or one-handed weapon but will be able to achieve Grandmastery in any two-handed weapons of his choice, note that he must achieves ** in two weapons to achieve *** in one, then *** in two weapons to achieve **** in one and finally **** in two weapons to achieve ***** in one to spice it up. It will probably still be inferior to DW but whatever.
The starting biography of a Blackguard character is pretty cool i think, so if anyone never read it :
"While your foster father did his best to guide you toward virtue, you have always been fascinated by the power that can be attained through evil. Uninterested in spellbooks or knowledge of the divine, you would plead with the Watchers to teach you the deadly art of martial combat. Each teacher, increasingly uneasy about your growing darkness, eventually refused to teach you more. But you would
simply move on to the next, casually casting your former tutors away. Your lust for power eventually led you to a forbidden tome deep within Candlekeep, a tome that put you into contact with an evil outsider. In exchange for dark power, you agreed for that outsider to become your patron. Now you seek nothing more than an excuse to leave Candlekeep and exercise your new abilities upon an unsuspecting world.
You know little of how you came to be a ward of Gorion's, but over the years you have gleaned something of your mother's tale from his vague allusions and from the words he sometimes uttered in tear-filled sleep. She was a human from Silverymoon and a friend of his for many seasons. As you have no memory of her, nor any keepsakes to remind you ofher existence, you have come to believe that she died while giving birth to you. Perhaps it was the pain of such a parting that led Gorion to cloister himself within the narrow halls of Candlekeep and raise you as his own. Of your father, you have learned nothing."
He is a totally merciless but very intelligent character, ready to takes decisions he doesn't like or to help people only to betray them later on, a bit like Sarevok.
Prologue : Nothing really interesting here, Shank and Corbos are extremely dangerous because they both use Poison Weapon so they kill you in one hit but i didn't get hit. I've done all the quests (i can't leave this place without doing them all :P ) and now i'm leaving Candlekeep.
As I said before, he is modeled on Gerald Front-de-Boeuf from the novel Ivanhoe who was truly evil & sadistic in the novel. Ironically, he got HIS in the book just like my original Front-de-Boeuf did during the first run.
I’d like to thank & recognize InfernalFinn from the website deviantART who gave me permission to use his art entitled, ‘The Bull,’ as my character portrait. That said, here’s my revised back story.
GERALD FRONT-DE-BOEUF, BLACK GUARD, BEGINNING CHARACTER RECORD
Gerald Front-de-Boeuf was raised in Candlekeep on the Sword Coast, overlooking the Sea of Swords. His step-father, Gorion, a mage of great power, raised Front-de-Boeuf to be chivalrous & merciful, a Paladin maybe, or a righteous lawful Good Knight. Front-de-Boeuf was tutored by the learned monks of Candlekeep in the rarest & most prized literature in the realm. When not studying his books & prophesy, Front-de-Boeuf, trained as a warrior under the Watchers of Candlekeep & their leader the Gate warden. All would have appeared to be in order & no one who lived in Candlekeep would have cause to question that Front-de-Boeuf was destined to be a great warrior for good.
But Front-de-Boeuf has been thoroughly corrupted by evil & cruelty runs thru his veins. Somehow, He has managed to hide it seamlessly from those who know him best. Even with the many mages, wizards & clerics who frequent Candlekeep, none has evidently thought to use Detect Evil or Know Alignment to discover the truth about front-de-Boeuf. Front-de-Boeuf has been biding his time until he can get out from under the watchful eye of Gorion & the likes of Gatwarden, Tethtoril, Karan & that pesky Imoen. He particularly hates Fuller & despises Hull for talking down to him. He would love nothing more than to kill them. It would serve them right for crossing him & he could well use their Plate Mail armor.
It seems that Front-de-Boeuf, by chance one day, stumbled on tomes of literature detailing the Nine Hells of Baator. The first Tome he read veraciously detailed four of the nine Arch-Devils including Asmodeus, Baalzebul, Dispater, & his personal favorite Geryon. He became so enamored with Geryon, that he had a seamstress @ Candlekeep stitch him a Gold Tunic with Black Bulls Heads on it and had the armorer make him a Kite Shield of the same design. The design was to honor Geryon, who was worshipped by Minotaur’s, like his Demonic counterpart, Baphomet.
He couldn’t read enough about devils, finding a second and third volume that detailed the remaining Lords of the Nine. He read about the Dukes of Hell, finding that he favored Amon, a vassal of Geryon. Front-de-Boeuf read about the Greater devils; Ice Devils, Horned Devils & the mighty Pit Fiends. He studied the hierarchy of Hell & came to believe that, as there is a strong, lawful, organized hierarchy & well-defined chain-of-command in Hell oriented toward perfect evil, so should there be on the Prime Material Plane, implemented by a strong mortal in service to a powerful Arch-Fiend. Front-de-Boeuf believes he is just the mortal to do so. When reading about the Lesser devils, he came across a photo of the Erinyes, he immediately lusted after the thought of seducing, or being seduceds by an Erinyes. He entertained visions of serving diabolical evil on the Prime Material Plane so well that he would garner specific attention & be summoned to aid Geryon in Stygia or to lead an Army of Devils for him on Avernus, Hells first Plane where Devil Armies muster for their eternal Blood War against demons. As a leader of troops in Baator, he fantasized that he would be able to attract an Erinyes as his faithful consort.
His ‘plans’ altered recently when, thru further reading, to his dismay, he discovered that Geryon has been deposed by Asmodeus in order to elevator his daughter, Glasya, to Arch-Duchess of Malborge, Hells sixth layer. His disappointment was great & he remains unsure of where his diabolical loyalties lie but, ultimately, he knows Asmodeus is the Arch-Fiend. Front-de-Boeuf remains enamored with Amon, but since Amon is an outcast himself at this time, residing in Avernus, hitching his loyalties there might insult a stronger Arch-Devil & be fruitless in the end anyway. Because of the insatiable lust for power, & sex, he thinks often that he might find favor with Glasya & thus, he thinks of the Arch-Duchess often w/desire. For now, he’ll wear his Geryon inspired Tunic & bear his shield of the same & patiently wait for diabolical opportunity to present itself. In the meantime, he plans to begin his rise to power soon. He believes Lawful Evil is the only sensible alignment, but is willing to ally himself temporarily with others of Lawful &/or Evil alignment, as long as they realize he is their superior. He considers the mythical ‘prophesy’s’ about the Time of Troubles, child’s play, when considered against the eternal politics of Baator. And so he begins…
Screen Shot won't upload. Not sure what's going on.
GERALD FRONT-DE-BOEUF, BEGINNING INVENTORY
If anyone has used it before & finds it a plus to the game, please let me know something positive about it. CT
As for Full plate and packing Boo - never even looked at that mod so this is just conjecture from me.
Good luck with the new campaign!
I don't think this mod does the PC justice. It will be very difficult to go much further as a low level PC in BG & I want to run thus PC deep into the game. Gonna stop, reload & skip this mod. hopefully can get a reloaded in a couple of hours & get a two or three hours of play in before the work week starts. CKT