Spent most of yesterday taking Olin and crew through Jahieras curse and then about a gazillion random encounters trying to get to Nalias keep (well maybe a half-gazillion) - several of them (no doubt thanks to SCS) were incredibly annoying with a dozen or so orcs or other monsters spawning right on top of the party hemming them in on all sides making it not only impossible to spread out and move anyone out of the mob but even to see who is who and which enemy they are currently targeting (and vice versa) - couple of reloads here then we got to the keep. Most of the keep was more difficult but doable - spirit trolls that wink in and out of sight were new - but we managed to get it done without any reloads until we hit the dungeon which we just could not handle - must have redone that final battle 6 times - the last two on "easy" and still could not get it done...
Planned to reload SCS this morning and remove the "more difficult end chapter battles" part but saw an email from GOG before I got started and headed over there and talked myself into getting IWD Complete instead for a change of pace. ;-)
Then I looked at some mods and decided to try it with IWD fixpack and IWD Tweak pack from G3. I tried out some of the oddball tweaks - allowing heavier armor for thieves and mages (with penalties) and also multi-class grand mastery and looser item restrictions for multi-dual class clerics & druids. This makes it play a little more like 3e and so far I like it even tho it doesn't feel quite right LOL.
So I started a party with a Male Paladin, Female Half-elf Ranger/cleric & Female Druid, Male Dwarf fighter, Female Gnome Fighter/Illusionist, and Male Halfling Fighter/thief. Took them through Easthaven and they are currently on their way to Kuldahar.
Of course in keeping with my goal of being the ultimate restarter I just added the NPC mod as I was updating this and am now off to see what that party will look like when they finish Easthaven to decide which (if either) I start to play beyond that first... ;-)
The NPC mod is quite interesting and would give you a very similar party to the one you have. It is a bit like the BG1 NPC mod, but with not quite so much banter. Also it only changes the banter, whereas BG1 NPC changes the game somewhat as well.
Another update in Murder Hobos: The Journey Phoenix's Journal.
Ugh, so many undead on this level. I dueled the person controlling said undead, and killed her with my superior magics, but then all the undead started to attack.
We went deeper still, and found what appeared to be a temple of Eldath. We may need to explore this some more though. Apparently, the Eldathians or whatever they call themselves, were actually worshippers of Sseth, and follow something called “Yxunomei”.
We found Yxunomei on the last level of Dragon’s Eye. It took much effort, but we had defeated her, and regained the Heartstone Gem. We must go back to Kuldahar to tell Arundel of the ordeal that was Dragon’s Eye.
We returned to Kuldahar, only to find it being under attack! We destroyed the enemy forces, but we could not save Arundel. Now we must avenge Arundel, and do his last wish of going to Severed Hand, or as the elves call it The Hand of the Seldarine, and take the Heartstone Gem to Larrel.
Current Deaths: Phoenix – 0 Holvir – 2 Nella – 0 Teri – 4 Korin – 0 Severn - 3
Notes: Got Dragon's Eye done! Yay!
Off Topic: Blizzard got Gideon Emery, and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn to voice the Male and Female Crusader. TAKE MY MONEY NOW BLIZZARD. . . Oh wait, I already pre-ordered RoS. So, I foresee myself making a male and female Crusader in D3.
Yxunomei is definitely the hardest enemy, and if you have Heart of Winter installed it can be better to leave Yxunomei and head off to do that mod and return for Yxunomei later. I did that in my last game but then had to do a reinstall due to a bug.
Well, I summoned a bunch of skeletons, and monsters and they took Yxunomei out just fine. Oh, and used a fireball or two, as well as some magic missiles.
Started a group with NPC mod - then went back and tried a couple alternate classes for a second group - played a little with the second group and the fish stealing goblins took out two of them in Easthaven making me less than thrilled about them since my own group waltzed through Easthaven except for a single death in the cave.
I am playing on hard for the extra experience and the NPCs are not quite as OP'd as my own group but I think the biggest difference is all of my guys are competent or better with ranged weapons and the NPCs mostly are not.
So I have two NPC groups saved in Easthaven and I reloaded my original party and took them on to Kuldahar by having 5 of my guys spraying bullets, darts, bolts and arrows while the dwarf draws fire behind his shield & makes goblin crunch with his battleaxe.
Here's my heroes as they arrive in Kuldahar!
Oman Bael LG M Paladin 2 18-98/18/18/8/15/18 X-bow*, Mace*, Large Sword**
Gilian Greywolf CG F Half-elf Ranger 1/cleric 2 18-61/18/18/10/18/8 Bow**, Large Sword** (IWD Tweaks)
Tunnelrat Tukmal Dwarf LN M Fighter 3 (pronounced Took em all) ;-) 18-96/17/19/9/10/9 Axe***, Hammers**
Started a group with NPC mod - then went back and tried a couple alternate classes for a second group - played a little with the second group and the fish stealing goblins took out two of them in Easthaven making me less than thrilled about them since my own group waltzed through Easthaven except for a single death in the cave.
I am playing on hard for the extra experience and the NPCs are not quite as OP'd as my own group but I think the biggest difference is all of my guys are competent or better with ranged weapons and the NPCs mostly are not.
So I have two NPC groups saved in Easthaven and I reloaded my original party and took them on to Kuldahar by having 5 of my guys spraying bullets, darts, bolts and arrows while the dwarf draws fire behind his shield & makes goblin crunch with his battleaxe.
Here's my heroes as they arrive in Kuldahar!
Oman Bael LG M Paladin 2 18-98/18/18/8/15/18 X-bow*, Mace*, Large Sword**
Gilian Greywolf CG F Half-elf Ranger 1/cleric 2 18-61/18/18/10/18/8 Bow**, Large Sword** (IWD Tweaks)
Tunnelrat Tukmal Dwarf LN M Fighter 3 (pronounced Took em all) ;-) 18-96/17/19/9/10/9 Axe***, Hammers**
Jezella Zapdoodle F NG Gnome Fighter 2/ Illusionist 1 18-20/18/18/19/9/8 X-bow**,Staff*, Dagger*
Palin Pebbletosser CG M Halfling Fighter 2/ Thief 2 17/19/18/10/10/10 Missile weapons*, Clubs*, Small swords**
You can edit the NPCs in Dalekeeper to change their proficiencies. I did that for my game, so that they each had some ranged proficiency. I also changed their portraits so that now one of them is me with a beard and one is me without a beard. Since I have recently been in the Himalayas I now have a lot of photographs which I can use as backdrops for my portraits. Doing the above has no effect on the conversations. I haven't checked, but it is possible that you could create your own characters and just use the soundset from the mod to get the dialogue.
Yes thanks I am aware this is possible but I don't do any of my own editing on my games - even adding 3rd party mods to my games is more of the exception than the rule for me and when I do it needs to be a very simple download and install and not require my finding and amending such and such a file or line of code etc -
In the end I really don't need IWD to be BG - I like it as IWD too altho the option to play it in the BG2 engine does sound interesting.
Going well still just the single death in Easthaven caves and the troop is almost done in Vale of Shadows now. One maybe two dungeons to go. It seems my plan of playing on Hard for the extra exp is working as planned (altho it's early yet LOL). They seem to be leveling nicely.
Omar Paladin 4 - Mace**, Large Sword**, X-bow* Tukmal Fighter 4 - Axe***, Hammer** Willow Druid 4 - Missle weapon*, Spear*, Staff* Gilian Ranger/Cleric 3/3 Bow**, Large Sword**, Halberd* (to use that nice Halberd of Sparks +1) Palin Fighter/thief - 3/4 Missle weapon*, Club*, Mace*, Short Sword** Jezella Fighter/Illusionist 3/3 - X-bow***, dagger*, Staff*
Very cool having non-cleric weapons available to the R/C and the GM for all 3 Fighter multi-classes is also going to work out well - Jezella is already zapping them to the Nine Hells with her X-bow which is awesome since it will be quite a while before she can make much contribution as a mage!
Had forgotten about the GM for Multi/dual class fighters last time I leveled Palin or I would have given him another pip in Missle, Club or Short sword instead of adding mace (just because we had a crap load of high quality maces and no magic club or SS).
Ran into a new NPC I don't recall - I'm guessing it's from the NPC mod - name is Flynn and he's a "trader" for lack of a better word but it doesn't appear he will be useful - he has stuff to trade for your better quality stuff but you don't get to see what he has - you get a list of things you have he might want and when you choose one to trade you get a list of items he will trade for them - but you just see the name of the item - not any description and he wants $1000 gold on top of your item.
I did a Q-save and tried an item - offered him the +1 Halberd of Sparks - traded for an "extra fine" (?) Large sword - (could have chosen a "huge" bow also I think) - turned out to be one of the generic high quality swords (a step below a +1 since they are not magical) - so traded a superb Halbred plus 1K gold for a mundane high quality sword - just before I reloaded...LOL - (not going to be counting that one!)
I don't know what the story is with this - maybe it's related to the NPC mod and the bard is able to tell you more about the items offered or something. Anyway so far so good - fun group - been a long time since I played IWD but it's coming back to me! ;-)
Mordred, a servant & Black Guard of Asmodeus. Before I ever got into the ruins of Ulcaster, my Bard/Herald/Sage was killed after an attempt @ rest. We were beset by Kobolds w/Short Bows & he was hit immediately & a follow on arrow took him down. I elected to go on w/o him rather than return, especially since I didn’t have the gold to begin w/. Another attempt @ rest was interrupted by Zombies which I annihilated w/my Berserker Sergeant. Then heading for the grate that led into the ruins, I encountered three Ghasts & 12-15 Kobolds. I was able to stretch that fight out & defeat them & finally got into the ruins themselves.
In the ruins, my first run-in was a tough one w/an Ochre Jelly & a Mustard Jelly in which my Conjurer & I were both hit w/the Mustard Jelly’s attack & slowed. He got away while I pressed to finish the Ochre Jelly & then went after the Mustard Jelly. I took more hits & quaffed Elixir’s of Health & finally killed it. When I did, I felt a surge of power rise up in me from Nessus, the Ninth Hell. Asmodeus promoted me in that moment!
From there I discovered the body of a fallen adventurer w/a Potion of Genius, much needed in my company as they have failed to write to many scrolls, so many I cannot count. There on until the final battle, my party was constantly beating off both Dread Wolves & Dire Wolves, at least 20 of them. I worked my way thru, probably too carelessly for a party w/o a true rogue to Find Traps. It eventually caught up to me when I found yet another fallen adventurer & carelessly went over to pick his corpse of any treasure. Just as we moved him, a Fireball came shooting out & blasted us all, killing my Illusionist.
I got us back together, & went back after a rest, & the three of us, all Lawful and Evil, defeated three Dread Wolves & another Vampiric Wolf. My Conjurer did great work in this encounter & killed the third of the three Vampiric Wolves. I wanted his treasure & I wanted it now, so being the healthiest of my company I went in knowing it was likely trapped. It was. Fireball! Ouch!! I’ll need some toughening before I lead armies in the Nine Hells for my lord Asmodeus.
Key Event: The most harrowing part of the entire effort in the ruins was trying to get back out after the last battle w/the Vampiric Wolf. I led my two Lawful Evil subordinates around the last corner, thinking maybe of another treasure room, only to find it booby trapped w/another Fireball. It tore us all up good & I tried to lead us to the exit. Around every corner were two more Dire Wolves. I kept fighting them off using my subordinates to great extent. My Berserker Sergeant & I were both hanging on by a thread as we fought off six Dire Wolves before I finally found us a corner where we could rest, which I & they did. Once complete, I stormed out of the ruins destroying six Dire Wolves before emerging out of the grate into the air again. Outside, the three of us worked masterfully to fight off three Ghouls, some twenty Kobolds including three Kobold Commando’s & 10 or so more skeletons, four w/Composite Longbows. I wanted to find out what reward I might get for returning the spook of Ulcaster his book but, alas, we could not find him anymore.
Treasure of Note: Ring of Protection +2 (Me); Oil of Fiery Burning (Bard/Herald/Sage); Arrows of Piercing, Biting (Bard/Herald/Sage)
Next Steps: I’m returning to the Nashkel Mines to descend this time
Level Up: I praise my lord Asmodeus for granting me a promotion to Scoundrel (Anti-Paladin/6) & granted me another Doom spell; My Berserker Sergeant also received promotion to Fighter/Berserker/6
** Self-imposed restriction: I require my mages to ALWAYS select spells from their school to learn & memorize in spell slots. They can use others, only one of each from other schools, but after writing all the spells they can for their intelligence, if they find one from their own school, they have to choose one to remove in deference to the spell from their school. Same w/memorization, they must learn spells from their school first before others which I only allow them to learn one of. Any extra memorized spell slots have to go to spells from their school. Bards & plain vanilla Mages aren’t restricted in this way.
Looks like you have much more powerful enemies than in vanilla or Tutu Charlestonian. I just couldn't play evil as I find that it too unnatural for me. Even playing neutral, I find that I tend to take the good option nearly all the time. In Icewind dale my party is doing nicely. They battled their way through to the last area without too many problems. However feeling the need to sleep due to lack of spells they slept just outside and were ambushed by three yetis. They were so badly hurt that they deemed it best to return to Kuldahar to sleep. Whilst there they also sold loot and used nearly all their gold to buy a small bow +1. This turned out to be a mistake as once the party re-entered the last tomb they came across two of them!!! The randomised drops really does change the game! However all but one of the characters now have +1 weapons in their chosen proficiency.
Looks like you have much more powerful enemies than in vanilla or Tutu Charlestonian. I just couldn't play evil as I find that it too unnatural for me. Even playing neutral, I find that I tend to take the good option nearly all the time...
I'm having a hard time playing evil too. Reading my Bible every morning & going to church every Sunday, the playing a devil worshiper in Tutu is bothering my conscience. I always wondered what it would be like to play the game evil, & I played an Anti-Paladin years ago in AD&D P&P back in the 80s, so I thought I'd try that once.
After this it's LG Paladin's/Cavaliers/Undead Hunters, Fighters/Wizard Slayers & Clerics who follow Jesus - can't even worship the game deities as it feels wrong. I'll have a lot on penance after playing this very bad guy. CT
Looks like you have much more powerful enemies than in vanilla or Tutu Charlestonian. I just couldn't play evil as I find that it too unnatural for me. Even playing neutral, I find that I tend to take the good option nearly all the time...
I'm having a hard time playing evil too. Reading my Bible every morning & going to church every Sunday, the playing a devil worshiper in Tutu is bothering my conscience. I always wondered what it would be like to play the game evil, & I played an Anti-Paladin years ago in AD&D P&P back in the 80s, so I thought I'd try that once.
After this it's LG Paladin's/Cavaliers/Undead Hunters, Fighters/Wizard Slayers & Clerics who follow Jesus - can't even worship the game deities as it feels wrong. I'll have a lot on penance after playing this very bad guy. CT
IMO Repentance better than penance, but that could just be my Prod upbringing.
My party in Icewind Dale Valiant and party were finding the going quite easy until the area just before Kresselek. They got badly hurt there and also fighting the priestess. Going on to the temple of the Forgotten God their lack of buffing meant that they had to run away after only killing one Ettin. On returning, I feel that buffing is justified, since they know exactly what they will be facing.
Despite buffing the end of the road . Killed the first few Ettin to the left then tried to take on the mages. They cast a spell that looks like entangle in BG, but seems to behave like web. Then Ettins arrived from behind!!! End of story. What no emoticons???
Ran into a new NPC I don't recall - I'm guessing it's from the NPC mod - name is Flynn and he's a "trader" for lack of a better word but it doesn't appear he will be useful - he has stuff to trade for your better quality stuff but you don't get to see what he has - you get a list of things you have he might want and when you choose one to trade you get a list of items he will trade for them - but you just see the name of the item - not any description and he wants $1000 gold on top of your item.
I did a Q-save and tried an item - offered him the +1 Halberd of Sparks - traded for an "extra fine" (?) Large sword - (could have chosen a "huge" bow also I think) - turned out to be one of the generic high quality swords (a step below a +1 since they are not magical) - so traded a superb Halbred plus 1K gold for a mundane high quality sword - just before I reloaded...LOL - (not going to be counting that one!)
I don't know what the story is with this - maybe it's related to the NPC mod and the bard is able to tell you more about the items offered or something. Anyway so far so good - fun group - been a long time since I played IWD but it's coming back to me! ;-)
Flynn comes from Daletweaks. The tweak is supposed to address a problem that sometimes arises from the random drops in the game. i.e. Sometimes you don't get a vital piece of equipment which can be a problem, particularly if you are soloing. When installing you have three options. You chose the one that enables this merchant who will let you get different equipment, at a price. Often it will not be worthwhile swapping, but I recently had a very good swap. DO NOT SWAP ANYTHING THAT IS OF USE TO YOU!!! However if money is not of importance, then use him.
When installing another option was to re-randomise the drops. This changes the drops when you reload. That is fine if you are not playing no-reload or minimum reload. However it is not an option for those of us playing according to the rules of this thread.
Ran into a new NPC I don't recall - I'm guessing it's from the NPC mod - name is Flynn and he's a "trader" for lack of a better word but it doesn't appear he will be useful - he has stuff to trade for your better quality stuff but you don't get to see what he has - you get a list of things you have he might want and when you choose one to trade you get a list of items he will trade for them - but you just see the name of the item - not any description and he wants $1000 gold on top of your item.
I did a Q-save and tried an item - offered him the +1 Halberd of Sparks - traded for an "extra fine" (?) Large sword - (could have chosen a "huge" bow also I think) - turned out to be one of the generic high quality swords (a step below a +1 since they are not magical) - so traded a superb Halbred plus 1K gold for a mundane high quality sword - just before I reloaded...LOL - (not going to be counting that one!)
I don't know what the story is with this - maybe it's related to the NPC mod and the bard is able to tell you more about the items offered or something. Anyway so far so good - fun group - been a long time since I played IWD but it's coming back to me! ;-)
Flynn comes from Daletweaks. The tweak is supposed to address a problem that sometimes arises from the random drops in the game. i.e. Sometimes you don't get a vital piece of equipment which can be a problem, particularly if you are soloing. When installing you have three options. You chose the one that enables this merchant who will let you get different equipment, at a price. Often it will not be worthwhile swapping, but I recently had a very good swap. DO NOT SWAP ANYTHING THAT IS OF USE TO YOU!!! However if money is not of importance, then use him.
When installing another option was to re-randomise the drops. This changes the drops when you reload. That is fine if you are not playing no-reload or minimum reload. However it is not an option for those of us playing according to the rules of this thread.
Ahhh thanks - I do recall that option in the IWD Tweaks now that you mention it and I did choose that option rather than the re-randomize on reload because I pretty much always play no or minimal reload - Tho it seems odd that they don't give you some decent info on the items you get to choose from especially considering the 1k gold "commission" you pay on top of the trade itself. I suppose they figure you can just reload until you are satisfied so it doesn't matter :-(
Started a new party led by a dwarven fighter in Icewind Dale. Str 18/96, Dex 17, Con 19, Int 15, Wis 15, Cha 3. Other party members are from the NPC mod and are Paladin, Cleric/Ranger, Fighter/Cleric, Mage and Fighter/Thief. The proficiencies have been adjusted however to have ** in a melee weapon and ** in a ranged weapon rather than ** in one melee weapon and ** in another melee weapon. Reached Kuldahar with no problems.
On a slightly different topic, you can alter the NPC characters as much as you want and the NPC mod still works. I suspect that you still have to keep their names the same though.
I don't know if it's the mods that I have installed, but the game seems much harder than I remember it. Won't bore you with all the early deaths, but on my last one didn't even finish Easthaven!! Got killed by the orcs. That has never happened to me before, though I've never tried a solo mage before. The problem is that you can be a level 3 mage, but can only access level 1 spells, and not many of those!! I am going to try that again though, as the problem might get resolved if I can get him to Kuldahar and the spells there. If I fail again I may try a gnomish illusionist again as spell resistances are better.
Mordred, a servant & Black Guard of Asmodeus. Asmodeus finally led me to descend into the Nashkel Mines. After giving me a chance to reconnoiter the outside of the mines a few weeks ago he then led me to wipe out the Gibberling Mountains, The Dryad Forest, The Gnoll Stronghold, Bear River, Fisherman’s Lake, The Temple, Ulcaster & Ulcaster Ruins before returning me to descend into the Nashkel Mines. Whatever his reasoning in leading me away from the mines when I was right there, it is evident now that it was ingenious. I tore thru the mines like a hot knife thru butter. Nary was a scratch laid upon any me or of my subordinates. The place was four levels deep w/a cave that served as the location of the master of the mines in the center of the 4th level. I rarely had need to use any strategy other than to press the Kobolds that served as the minions of the master of the mining operation so that when they showed themselves I was coming after them as soon as they did. No time to load up their little Short Bows, or Arrows of Fire, just rush them w/my Berserker Sergeant & allow my Bard/Herald/Sage to fire his Short Bow to provide cover. This carried me deep into the mines, taking only one break after the second level to return to the Nashkel Carnival to sell loot & buy a few ranged weapons, e.g. Throwing Axes, Arrows, Sling Stones.
After that the third level presented little challenge save a few traps that we expected to trip @ one point or another. My Berserker Sergeant & I led, knowing that we would likely handle whatever damage came from the traps, even up to Fireballs or Lightning Bolts. Luckily, those we found we not even that effective & we shook off the effects w/a short rest after & then moved onward. On the 4th Level, I beat down three Kobold Commando's, a Ghoul, a Grey ooze & a Green Slime.
Key Event: We then entered the cave of a half-Orc named Mulahey who ostensibly ran the operation that was tainting the iron coming out of the mines. We killed about five Kobolds quickly as we entered the mine, then rescued another Mage, this one an Enchanter & I added him to my entourage for now. With me & my Berserker Sergeant whoopin’ butt up front & three mages of different types casting spells from their various schools at my enemies simultaneously & my Bard/Herald/Sage casting spells of his own & shooting Poison Arrows & the like to back me up, oh well, it’s got to be painful to face me. Ask Mulahey. He lasted long enough for my Doom, my Conjurer to cast Melf’s Acid Arrow, My Illusionist to cast Blindness, my Bard/Herald/Sage to cast Magic Missile & then move into position to fire a Poison Arrow. He was dead. My Berserker Sergeant had to settle for mopping up a few Kobolds & some Skeleton’s Mulahey had summoned up. My newest Mage, the Enchanter only had a couple of spells memorized @ the time. One was Color Spray & he used it to knock out a bunch of Kobolds & put ‘em to sleep for easy pick’ens. Easy in. Easy out. Praise Amsodeus
ANOTHER MASTER VICTORY FOR ASMODEUS' GLORY!
Treasure of Note: Tome of Leadership & Influence (Me); Wand of Fire (Conjurer); Potion of Absorption (Illusionist), Scroll of Shield (Bard/Herald/Sage); 790gps
Next Steps: I’m to return to the Valley of the Tombs
** Self-imposed restriction: I require my mages to ALWAYS select spells from their school to learn & memorize in spell slots. They can use others, only one of each from other schools, but after writing all the spells they can for their intelligence, if they find one from their own school, they have to choose one to remove in deference to the spell from their school. Same w/memorization, they must learn spells from their school first before others which I only allow them to learn one of. Any extra memorized spell slots have to go to spells from their school. Bards & plain vanilla Mages aren’t restricted in this way.
After trying a human abjurer in Icewind Dale. He didn't last long. I tried a gnomish illusionist. I was pleased that I reached Kuldahar for the first time with a mage. Easthaven took 50 days!!! Couldn't afford potions and no healing ability! Satisfying though. In the goblin area used armour and run. In Kuldahar I discovered that Despite having a strength of 18, that was insufficient to break the lock for the ring at the inn. Went to buy a strength scroll. None available, though some useful ones were. That chest will have to wait. Killed the yetis in Kuldahar. A scorching spell was great against them, Returned to the goblins and thought that I had them beaten. Several of them converged on me and were burned to a frazzle by one scorcher spell. The others panicked. At least, I thought that they all had and was about to take my time killing them with darts as they ran around like headless chickens. One of them had obviously not panicked as I was killed without knowing by what! Probably an archer who arrived on the scene late in the action and had not seen my terrifying power. Slightly annoying, but at least I know that getting to Kuldahar with a solo mage is doable. I am also pretty sure that another time I could have beaten the goblins. I think that next time I try a mage, he will have shield rather than armour at the start as I think that it stops arrows better. IT might not take 50 days if I do that! Stats were maximised apart from Charisma-minimum, and Wisdom 9. Spells sleep, magic missile and armour at the start. I am thinking that when I returned to the goblins it would have been better to have both armour and shield, perhaps mirror image as well.
Thought that I would do another BG run with my favourite character, a paladin that I rolled a few months ago. I rolled Str 18/00, Dex 17, Con 18, Int 17, Wis 16, Cha 17 and decided to leave the stats as they were rather than redistribute to make the character even more powerful. I thought that he was quite powerful enough as he was!! Set-up is vanilla plus DSoSC. Will return to IWD later.
Diary:
After the ambush and death of Gorion, I made my way northwards in the hope of hiding in Baldur's Gate. Unfortunately the main entrance was closed so I ended going along the side of the river where I agreed to help a priestess whose mother had been killed by some fishermen. Near there I was attacked by an ankheg and rather than fight it, ran. I ended up in a field full of zombies and at the request of a farmer killed all that I could find. He told be that there were a few left, but he was wrong, only one was left. Upon returning to him, my level was raised to 2.
I headed southwards and entered Baldur's Gate by the postern gate. I found a tome that helps my dexterity, a pair of gauntlets that aid my fighting ability and a body that was wanted by a mage. Taking it to him raised my level to 3.
I then wandered the streets of Baldur's Gate doing what good that I could find, but also strengthening myself by acquiring weapons and armour.
Took a necklace to a woman's son, and a skull to a temple. Found some gauntlets. Took a ring to someone who needed it for his beloved.
These were just some of the deeds that made me more powerful and more loved.
I then headed south and killed Sonner before returning to Tenya. I then helped a man whose son's body resided in the temple where Tenya was. Because of helping her previously, she willingly gave me the body and upon returning it to the father, I gained a powerful shield as a reward.
I then agreed to help a woman who was being blackmailed. The battle with the blackmailer was long and hard, but I ended up with his sword which strengthened my fighting prowess considerably.
I was then poisoned by some assassins and upon trying to obtain the antidote, Marek cast confusion and then horror followed by acid arrows. These wounded me seriously so I escaped downstairs. However a lack of healing potions led to my untimely dea...
Mordred, a servant & Black Guard of Asmodeus. So I took care of the Nashkel Mines & unloaded my well-deserved treasure. I visited that hypocritical temple of the morning (I refuse to capitalize those words anymore). It would be more impressive if the enemies of my lord Asmodeus at least stood for what they believe. This Ormlyr is in it for $ & power, nothing more, especially Lothandar. Regardless, I paid my little tribute to ‘raise my local reputation.’ What a joke. On top of that, it amazes me that I’m the talk of the town in Beregost, people who look down on the Amnish folk of Nashkel, to the point where the Flaming Fist Captain here wants my help destroying the Bandits in the region so that she can get her men back in touch w/superiors in GB. But…in Nashkel, the town I saved, I’m attacked by Bounty Hunters, even the Berrun Ghastkill who hired me. Hmm. The politics of hell seem so much more logical.
Before I headed on my next mission @ Baator’s beckoning I finished some ‘unfinished’ business. In one of the letter’s I found in Mulahey’s chest about a contact, Tranzig, he had in Beregost @ the Feldepost’s Inn. I paid Tranzig a visit & sure enough he was there tryin’ to make tracks. I relish the chance to destroy powerful foes & my sense was that this guy might be worth the fight. I’ll never know more than that he was a boisterous smart-ass. He died for that & I came into some additional documents discussing Bandits activities in Peldvale & Larswood but for the time I had a date w/the Valley of the Tombs. On the way, I tried for a third to return the tome to the Ghost @ Ulcaster but he is yet to be found, day or night. I’ll try again when I can.
UPPITY MAGE NO LONGER 'UP' BUT SIX FEET UNDER IN A PINE BOX!
The Valley of the Tombs was full of Ogre Berserkers, Ogrillons, Skeletons (some w/Composite Long Bows), War & Wild Dogs. I probably killed a half-dozen of the former & a dozen Ogrillons alone. No idea how many of the others I killed. The tombs were full of Ghasts & I garnered some decent treasure raiding them & killing their occupants.
Key Event: Early on I was attacked by four female Amazon assassins. I kicked the snot out of them (although My Berserker Sergeant once again cost me some time after becoming Enraged, forgot to quaff a Potion of Healing after some hard hits & died in the aftermath of the battle which caused me to have to return to the hypocrites house to have him raised but I digress). One of the wench’s hailed us & asked my name. I can’t remember my exact answer but part of it was a Magic Missile from my Bard/Herald/Sage, Melf’s Acid Arrow from my Conjurer, Blindness from my Illusionist & maybe Ray of Enfeeblement from my new Enchanter. My Berserker Sergeant hates anyone casting spells & someone started incanting over on the other side & he was off to the killing looking for the source of the incantation. Then my subordinates just started picking out one @ a time to concentrate their attacks & spells on. The Enchanter may have even Dire Charmed or Charmed one of them but whatever the case, aside from a weak Entanglement spell they offered no damage except that to my Berserker Sergeant who was in the thick of the melee. They were dead w/o much sport. Too bad.
ASSASSINS MY BUTT! THESE LADIES SHOULD'A STAYED HOME DOIN' NEEDLEPOINT!!
After that & my unexpected visit to raise my Berserker Sergeant I had two more run-ins worth remembering, thus I capture them here. I came upon a mage in the wilderness working on a spell to control Mustard Jelly’s & the like. My Conjurer asked him if he was willing to share the spell & he went berserk to his chagrin. Nothing like a pissy mage to ****** off my own mages. My Conjurer, Illusionist, Bard/Herald/Sage & Enchanter went off on him, I cast Doom @ him & then charged the Jellies to keep them occupied, while my Berserker Sergeant had to go deal w/some skeleton’s that waded into the battle. The mage was dead almost before he could raise his arms to cast a spell. Once the uppity mage was dispatched I killed a couple of Mustard Jellies that insisted on spitting that nasty stuff of theirs @ me.
ANOTHER POMPOUS MAGE! ONLY MINE ARE EVEN MORE POMPOUS!!
In the last tomb, I’d received somewhat of a warning from a passerby begging me to take something from him, which I did & killed him for my trouble. In the tomb was a powerful zombie like creature, a Revenant. Unaffected my non-enchanted weapons I sent him outside b/c he’d fight the thing regardless. Then my Bard/Herald/Sage cast Magic Missile & started firing Arrows of Fire. My Conjurer alternated between Melf’s Acid Arrow & Flame Arrow, my Illusionist Blinded him, & I cast Doom & then charged & killed him w/my Bastard Sword +1.
UNDEAD CREATURE NOW TRULY UNDEAD!
Treasure of Note: Golden Girdle, Potions Magic Blocking, Freedom, Frost Giant Strength (me); Potion of Invisibility (TBD); Dagger +2 (Xan)
Next Steps: My lord wants me to go to Nashkel but since I’m the most wanted man since Captain Brage, I’m not sure what his plans are there. I’ll see.
Level Up: My Conjurer has been raised in power by the Red Wizards & now is a Magician (Conjurer/6) & selected another Flame Arrow as his 4th, 4th Level Spell.
Current Party: (Reputation: 5* – Disliked) *Two offerings to that hypocrite in the temple in Beregost (+2); then killed Hentold w/his +2 Dagger (-2); then made another offering @ the temple (+1)
Reloads: 0 * Changes in blue font; Enemies (first notice) in red font. ** Self-imposed restriction: I require my mages to ALWAYS select spells from their school to learn & memorize in spell slots. They can use others, only one of each from other schools, but after writing all the spells they can for their intelligence, if they find one from their own school, they have to choose one to remove in deference to the spell from their school. Same w/memorization, they must learn spells from their school first before others which I only allow them to learn one of. Any extra memorized spell slots have to go to spells from their school. Bards & plain vanilla Mages aren’t restricted in this way.
Well my closing statement from the last update "almost done with the Vale - only one or two dungeons to go" took considerably longer than I expected LOL. I had forgotten just how many nooks and crannies the last dungeon provided before getting to "K"s spirit.
We had a few deaths along the way - 3 to be exact Tukmal & Jezella in one area and Gilian in another. It also took a few trips back and forth to Kuldahar to raise our dead, drop loot and resupply but no reloads so far so life is good.
Held off selling most of the high quality pieces to get a better price for them all at once but after our temple taxes for raising the dead we are not overly flush with only $5K in the kitty. Fortunately I didn't bring any elves along (who as I recall can only be resurrected in IWD) - next stop Temple of the Forgotten God.
Here's our current levels:
Oman Bael LG M Paladin 5 18-98/18/18/8/15/18 X-bow*, Mace**, Large Sword**
Gilian Greywolf CG F Half-elf Ranger 4/cleric 5 18-61/18/18/10/18/8 Bow**, Large Sword**, Halberd* (IWD Tweaks)
Tunnelrat Tukmal Dwarf LN M Fighter 5 (pronounced Took em all) ;-) 18-96/17/19/9/10/9 Axe***, Hammers**
Mordred, a servant & Black Guard of Asmodeus. Somewhere in all of this I feel another power besides Asmodeus pulling @ my being. Twice now, I’ve had a sense that some of the power I’ve been given is from another source outside the Nine Hells. I’ve determined that the Larloch’s Minor Drain ability I have is not from Baator but from another source. But from whom & why? I think Asmodeus wants me to explore that also, I assume knowing that he can leverage this other entities’ efforts into his own master diabolical plan.
I think I’ve figured out what my lord wishes for me to do in Nashkel. I used invisibility to move my Bard/Herald/Sage onto the bridge leading into Nashkel. The usual four Bounty Hunters were camped on the doorstep but there is another – not a Bounty Hunter. I think it is he that Asmodeus wants me to deal w/but it won’t be easy. Fighting him will likely bring one or more of the Bounty Hunters down on me, not to mention Amnish Soldiers. I will have to draw him away from them if I can. Any collateral damage will be messy & could bring the law down on me from everywhere, north & south.
I continually reconnoitered the area before I made my move. My Illusionist cast Invisibility on several of us each time (lucky for me, the Amnish Soldier considers the bridge the edge of the Nashkel line so I was able to stage there). Early on, I tried casting Web & Sleep from range keeping us undetected. These were affective & I could approach from beyond the web to note their effectiveness. Then I had my Invisible Enchanter cast Charm on one of the Bounty Hunters. The other three & the Amish Guard turned on him & killed him & I was out of sight out of mind. So…a new strategy evolved trying to get the Bounty Hunters to kill themselves off w/o me taking any blame. But the prime target was the other guy standing apart from them, almost aloof to their presence. It was him I felt Asmodeus wanted most for me to destroy.
Key Event: I finally elected to use some of my newly found potions & my mages to attack my enemy as pointed out to me by Asmodeus. An Invisible Illusionist cast Web & captured all four Bounty Hunters & the other guy in its grip & they were powerless. My Enchanter cast a Sleep spell near where he expected the Bounty Hunters to be & it was somewhat effective. I then quaffed Potions of Freedom & Front Giant Strength so that when I struck I struck hard & from behind, kill him quickly & escape the Bounty Hunters’ arrows as needed. I moved into plain view, were I not Invisible, moved thru the Webbing freely b/c of my Potion of Freedom, got behind the assassin, I now know to be called Nimbul from a parchment on his body. I actually missed my first swing but the second killed him instantly, splitting him in two from his right shoulder to his groin. I collected all his gear, including 20 Throwing Daggers for my Berserker Sergeant & Boots of Avoidance for me. The Bounty Hunters were tied up in the Web spell so I just walked off.
A HIT ON THE HIT MAN!
I stayed around long enough to ensure all four Bounty Hunters killed each other or were killed by the Amnish Soldiers by casting Charm or Dire Charm on them while they were stuck in Web or Sleep. As soon as they were charmed their compatriots attacked them. And it was ME all along. So perfect! And to make matters even better the last was killed by Berrun Ghastkill himself. I tried to have my Bard/Herald/Sage cast Friends on himself & approach Berrun Invisibly to try & make peace & secure our reward but he was still hateful. He chased my subordinate until he saw the last Charmed Bounty Hunter lying unconscious under a Sleep spell & turned his attention from my Bard/Herald/Sage & killed the last of the Bounty Hunters. I was out of w/four Bounty Hunters, an Amish Soldier or two dead…& this Nimbul fellow & all w/o any damage to my reputation. Like I said, Perfect! I know all of the Nine Hells is smiling.
USING MY WIZARDS TO TURN MY BOUNTY HUNTERS UPON EACH OTHER! BRILLIANT!!
AND FOR MY ENCORE MY COUP DE GRACE! GETTING BERRUN GHASTKILL TO KILL THE BOUNTY HUNTERS HE HIRED TO KILL ME!
Treasure of Note: Boots of Avoidance (me)
Next Steps: From here my dreams tell me to find the Red Canyons. Asmodius had me go talk to the hypocrite who mentioned a ‘mad cleric’ who should be near there. I could get back my gold from that slimy Ormlyr. Praise Asmodius for the opportunities he provides.
Level Up: None
Current Party: (Reputation: 6* – Disliked) *Donation to temple of the hypocrite
Reloads: 0 * Changes in blue font; Enemies (first notice) in red font. ** Self-imposed restriction: I require my mages to ALWAYS select spells from their school to learn & memorize in spell slots. They can use others, only one of each from other schools, but after writing all the spells they can for their intelligence, if they find one from their own school, they have to choose one to remove in deference to the spell from their school. Same w/memorization, they must learn spells from their school first before others which I only allow them to learn one of. Any extra memorized spell slots have to go to spells from their school. Bards & plain vanilla Mages aren’t restricted in this way.
Well Oman & Co had their first reload at the Temple of the Forgetaboutit God. Final battle - got CC out too late and retreated too slowly had 4 down with most of the Ettins & Acolytes still standing...
Reloaded and got through it with only a single death but had forgotten that there was nothing more to battle so went back and raised our dead and came back again just to discover the empty altar and missing stone.
Racked up quite a few deaths along the way so far - Gilaian is the only one with a single death - all the rest have 2 except Oman his own self with 3.
This has caused havoc with the supply fund which is currently only 2059 gold (only enough for about 1 raise dead at current levels).
As for outfitting our heroes:
Tukmal still doesn't have a magical axe - best axe he has at the moment is a flawless Great Axe (he does have a Hammer +1) and is Kresselacks plate mail.
Oman now has a point in Great Sword but I'm thinking his two points in both Large sword (Meilikki Scimitar +1) and Maces (Morningstar +1) trump Kresselack's Great Sword +1 due to the extra half attack. He is also in plate mail.
Palin doesn't have a magical thief melee weapon either altho he has a point in maces and a Morningstar +1 (and +1 sling). He just got some nice Shadowed studded leather +1 and tossed his old Leather +1 to Gilian in case she wants to sneak with him. He is also carrying around some Chainmail +1 but never puts it on.
Gillian is over supplied in melee for now with 2 magic halberds (+1 & +2) and a Longsword +1 and is still in splint mail (or Leather +1)
Willow is in studded leather and has no magical weapons she is proficient in right now except ones she can conjure (shillelagh & moon blade) she has normal darts and carries a dagger +1 but can't hit much with it (Thac0 18).
Jezella uses a wand of armory and has a dagger +1 but mostly she rocks with her Xbow (Thac0 9 with 1.5 attacks currently)
Current levels:
Oman Bael LG M Paladin 6 18-98/18/18/8/15/18 X-bow*, Mace**, Large Sword**, Great Sword*
Gilian Greywolf CG F Half-elf Ranger 5/cleric 5 18-61/18/18/10/18/8 Bow**, Large Sword**, Halberd* (IWD Tweaks)
Tunnelrat Tukmal Dwarf LN M Fighter 6 (pronounced Took em all) ;-) 18-96/17/19/9/10/9 Axe****, Hammers**
Well I've never done this level like this before - got to dragons eye - got beat up pretty good in the opening battle just inside the entrance (as usual) but headed south and took the battle to the beetles and lost the dwarf in the process - took out the spiders too with a little help from some glitches in the pathfinding that kept a handful of them from being able to reach us (near the creek) they just stood there waving their legs as we shot them from a few feet away until they died (altho the Halfling could get through to where they were - must be the space was too small for them.
So we went back and raised Tukmal -( the Temple is starting work on a new wing with our donations) and returned going forward from the entry this time - this is where it got weird - so we had a small herd of lizard men after us and Gilian summoned some skellys and Willow summoned some boring beetles and Jez cast haste on the lot of us and lizard pieces were flying everywhere!
Well I figured we were on a roll so up the corridor we went - overran the bridge guards and kept right on going right into the Kings quarters - well there was no stopping there - we pushed the attack - dropped some more skellys in sent Oman and Tukmal into the breach - Jez put half the lizards to sleep and we rocked and rolled - Tukmal and Oman both fell before it was over and we had a little struggle mopping up but in the end we kicked their lizard butts!
Not as much fun back at the temple as we had to go sell gear to pay the fees - the good news was we got a nifty shield ring no one could use - mage, mage/cleric, or mage/thief only and it sold for almost 9K just in time as we were down to about 500g and all the gear was spoken for.
WE got them raised and went back and cleaned up the last little bit and freed the folks - didn't see the Smithys kid - I'm thinking he's on the next level.
Thought that I would do another BG run with my favourite character, a paladin that I rolled a few months ago. I rolled Str 18/00, Dex 17, Con 18, Int 17, Wis 16, Cha 17 and decided to leave the stats as they were rather than redistribute to make the character even more powerful. I thought that he was quite powerful enough as he was!! Set-up is vanilla plus DSoSC. Will return to IWD later.
Diary:
After the ambush and death of Gorion, I made my way northwards in the hope of hiding in Baldur's Gate. Unfortunately the main entrance was closed so I ended going along the side of the river where I agreed to help a priestess whose mother had been killed by some fishermen. Near there I was attacked by an ankheg and rather than fight it, ran. I ended up in a field full of zombies and at the request of a farmer killed all that I could find. He told be that there were a few left, but he was wrong, only one was left. Upon returning to him, my level was raised to 2.
I headed southwards and entered Baldur's Gate by the postern gate. I found a tome that helps my dexterity, a pair of gauntlets that aid my fighting ability and a body that was wanted by a mage. Taking it to him raised my level to 3.
I then wandered the streets of Baldur's Gate doing what good that I could find, but also strengthening myself by acquiring weapons and armour.
Took a necklace to a woman's son, and a skull to a temple. Found some gauntlets. Took a ring to someone who needed it for his beloved.
These were just some of the deeds that made me more powerful and more loved.
I then headed south and killed Sonner before returning to Tenya. I then helped a man whose son's body resided in the temple where Tenya was. Because of helping her previously, she willingly gave me the body and upon returning it to the father, I gained a powerful shield as a reward.
I then agreed to help a woman who was being blackmailed. The battle with the blackmailer was long and hard, but I ended up with his sword which strengthened my fighting prowess considerably.
I was then poisoned by some assassins and upon trying to obtain the antidote, Marek cast confusion and then horror followed by acid arrows. These wounded me seriously so I escaped downstairs. However a lack of healing potions led to my untimely dea...
Did a replay of this but without the mistake at the end. Also got a bloodstone necklace from the corpse of an Evil mage for Nemphre. I got substantial reward plus experience. I then used my detect evil spell and found that she was equally evil. I therefore killed her as well. Because of the attempted assassination I realised that my presence in the Gate was now known, so decided to head southwards.
I killed everyone that attacked and as a result came in possession of a belt that protects from arrows and a sword belonging to Perdue, a rather apt name. Upon returning it to him yet another assassin. (There was one at the Friendly arms in as well.) I cleared the road to Nashkel and south of there killed a bounty hunter called Greywolf. He had a pretty nifty sword on him.
I headed westward helping a boy find hid dog and protected a dryad's tree. I didn't tell her about it as I know how easily reputation is lost and can no longer improve mine!
Some bullies picked a fight with me and on their bodies found some gauntlets which would have been useful for someone else.
In a cave I found a horde of goblins with a shaman. The battle was not easy and I ended up wounded. However, I found a tome which upon reaching a temple raised my charisma to 18.
Going west from the temple I fought Bassilus with the necklace that I had been given. I also fought and defeated Zargal. He was not as tough as he made out.
I then headed for the coast where I was attacked by numerous dryads. I killed them all and also the golems that were protecting a cave full of treasure. There was so much that I was unable to carry it all. The most important item was yet another tome. This one raised my constitution to 18 with the result that all my attributes are now 18!
I then met a couple of oddballs. They seemed intent on doing good despite being evil. Montaron was a kleptomaniac however and stole a cloak, rings, a hammer, numerous spells, a necklace and suchlike. I eventually realised that I kept them in the party, sooner or later there would be trouble so I let them go and replaced them with a paladin and a thief called Imoen. I feel that the party may now be strong enough to deal with the demons in the mine but perhaps I should find a mage to team up with first.
After realising that 2 paladins are too many I carried on with just Imoen and Dynaheir. Together we went ankheg hunting which went exceedingly well. Having cleared the nest and the farm we will probably now go hunting basilisks as the armour that I purchased at Lathander's Temple gives me considerable protections. I will manage without a cleric for now, but will get one later.
Key Event: I wasn’t but a few steps into the Red Canyons when I found this Bassilus character that the hypocrite was looking for. He was talking to a bunch of Skeletons & Zombies & my Conjurer ended up being our spokesman, letting Bassilus know that we were going to kill him. He didn’t take the news well & called his undead to fight for him. My subordinates assumed the protocol: My Berserker Sergeant went Enraged & had the task of killing the undead while my mages, 1) Conjurer cast Melf’s Acid Arrow; 2) Bard/Herald/Sage blasted him w/Magic Missile; 3) Illusionist cast Blindness & 4) Enchanter cast Ray of Enfeeblement. At that point one or two of the skeletons, armed w/Heavy Crossbows killed my Bard/Herald/Sage & tool him out of the fight. I cast Doom @ Bassilus & my Enchanter followed up w/Charm…& it worked!!! Bassilus started killing his own undead. Somewhere in there I know my Conjurer cast a Flame Arrow @ him too so it must have hit before the Charm did or he probably would have turned hostile again. Bassilus cast an Entangle spell & just confused things as he tried to fend off attacks from his own undead. Of course my Berserker Sergeant didn’t care, he was just trying to kill Bassilus b/c he was casting spells & anyone who casts offensive spells against us is subject to his wrath. He died & gave up a great Warhammer +2 to my Berserker Sergeant - thing even gives off an electric charge when it hits. Then to make it even better, the hypocrite gave me 5000gps. Heck, I already had enough to raise my Bard/Herald/Sage & raise the old rep to boot! Another brilliant victory for Asmodeus here on the Prime Material Plane!!!
PICKIN' UP BONES & KNOCKIN' DOWN BASILLUS!
Following that battle, everything was business as usual. I killed 5 Dread Wolves, 9 Wolves, 8 Skelton’s w/Composite Longbows, 8 Hobgoblins w/Short Bows, 4 Bandits, 6 Ghasts, 3 Ghouls, & a gaggle of Zombies. I learned again, due to two close calls, that even now it’s not safe to wade into combat w/Ghasts or even Ghouls. Twice I was Held & my subordinates had to strike hard & fast to save my stupid butt. They did well. I’m satisfied to know that my Conjurer & my Berserker Sergeant respect me & will fight to keep me alive…knowing that it is I who’s coat tails they need to ride!
Treasure of Note: Warhammer +2 (Berserker Sergeant) - He's a killin' machine w/this War Hammer in one hand & a Battle Axe in the other
Next Steps: Asmodeus bids me east now to the Lonely Peaks
Level Up: None
Current Party: (Reputation: 8* – Disliked) (1000gp contribution to the hypocrite temple)
Reloads: 0 * Changes in blue font; Enemies (first notice) in red font. ** Self-imposed restriction: I require my mages to ALWAYS select spells from their school to learn & memorize in spell slots. They can use others, only one of each from other schools, but after writing all the spells they can for their intelligence, if they find one from their own school, they have to choose one to remove in deference to the spell from their school. Same w/memorization, they must learn spells from their school first before others which I only allow them to learn one of. Any extra memorized spell slots have to go to spells from their school. Bards & plain vanilla Mages aren’t restricted in this way.
blockquote class="Quote" rel="CharlestonianTemplar">Key Event: I wasn’t but a few steps into the Red Canyons when I found this Bassilus character that the hypocrite was looking for. He was talking to a bunch of Skeletons & Zombies & my Conjurer ended up being our spokesman, letting Bassilus know that we were going to kill him. He didn’t take the news well & called his undead to fight for him. My subordinates assumed the protocol: My Berserker Sergeant went Enraged & had the task of killing the undead while my mages, 1) Conjurer cast Melf’s Acid Arrow; 2) Bard/Herald/Sage blasted him w/Magic Missile; 3) Illusionist cast Blindness & 4) Enchanter cast Ray of Enfeeblement. At that point one or two of the skeletons, armed w/Heavy Crossbows killed my Bard/Herald/Sage & tool him out of the fight. I cast Doom @ Bassilus & my Enchanter followed up w/Charm…& it worked!!! Bassilus started killing his own undead. Somewhere in there I know my Conjurer cast a Flame Arrow @ him too so it must have hit before the Charm did or he probably would have turned hostile again. Bassilus cast an Entangle spell & just confused things as he tried to fend off attacks from his own undead. Of course my Berserker Sergeant didn’t care, he was just trying to kill Bassilus b/c he was casting spells & anyone who casts offensive spells against us is subject to his wrath. He died & gave up a great Warhammer +2 to my Berserker Sergeant - thing even gives off an electric charge when it hits. Then to make it even better, the hypocrite gave me 5000gps. Heck, I already had enough to raise my Bard/Herald/Sage & raise the old rep to boot! Another brilliant victory for Asmodeus here on the Prime Material Plane!!!
When dealing with Bassilus, I love to charm him and set him on Zargal. Kills two birds with one stone. Bassilus usually wins but by the time he does he is easy meat.
After killing the ankheg, I found that various areas had been re-set and had to kill enemies all over again. Should have picked up the wand of frost when I was in the area. Then I would have got two of them. I do have two pairs of gauntlets for improving dexterity. Didn't have a mage so left it for later. Now have stats of 18, 19, 20, 19, 19, 19. Rep 20, Exp 125,300.
One thing that has amused me is getting 100 gp for each of the jokes that have been around since even before the creation of Faerun. I presume the value is due to their antiquity as it certainly isn't because the jokes are good!
I have decided to leave the basilisk area for when Jet' Laya joins the party as that is when things start to get difficult !!!
On the positive side, when the areas re-set, I was able to get duplicates of some items. On the negative side 800gp worth of ankheg shells disappeared.
We continued down to the mines where there were few problems. Imoen hid in the shadows before emptying Mulahey's chest. He got upset about that, but Imoen's response, oil of fiery burning made him really hot-tempered! I and Dynaheir attacked him and he fell quickly.
We were dividing the spoils when I noticed that Imoen was getting hurt.
I immediately stopped what I was doing and attacked the skeletons that had hurt her.
Xan was happy to act as our porter as an act of gratitude for us setting him free.
@Wanderon. Just wondering if you are the same Wanderon that has been on the boards since the beginning of Faerun.
@Wise_Grimwald - I have been around for as long as the rivers flowed and the grasses grew - or at least since the Pre-BG days when my RPG of the day was RTK! ;-)
Comments
Started a group with NPC mod - then went back and tried a couple alternate classes for a second group - played a little with the second group and the fish stealing goblins took out two of them in Easthaven making me less than thrilled about them since my own group waltzed through Easthaven except for a single death in the cave.
I am playing on hard for the extra experience and the NPCs are not quite as OP'd as my own group but I think the biggest difference is all of my guys are competent or better with ranged weapons and the NPCs mostly are not.
So I have two NPC groups saved in Easthaven and I reloaded my original party and took them on to Kuldahar by having 5 of my guys spraying bullets, darts, bolts and arrows while the dwarf draws fire behind his shield & makes goblin crunch with his battleaxe.
Here's my heroes as they arrive in Kuldahar!
Oman Bael LG M Paladin 2
18-98/18/18/8/15/18
X-bow*, Mace*, Large Sword**
Gilian Greywolf CG F Half-elf Ranger 1/cleric 2
18-61/18/18/10/18/8
Bow**, Large Sword** (IWD Tweaks)
Tunnelrat Tukmal Dwarf LN M Fighter 3 (pronounced Took em all) ;-)
18-96/17/19/9/10/9
Axe***, Hammers**
Willow F Half-elf LN Druid 3 (IWD Tweaks)
14/18/16/8/18/15
Missile weapons*, Spear*
Jezella Zapdoodle F NG Gnome Fighter 2/ Illusionist 1
18-20/18/18/19/9/8
X-bow**,Staff*, Dagger*
Palin Pebbletosser CG M Halfling Fighter 2/ Thief 2
17/19/18/10/10/10
Missile weapons*, Clubs*, Small swords**
I did that for my game, so that they each had some ranged proficiency.
I also changed their portraits so that now one of them is me with a beard and one is me without a beard. Since I have recently been in the Himalayas I now have a lot of photographs which I can use as backdrops for my portraits.
Doing the above has no effect on the conversations.
I haven't checked, but it is possible that you could create your own characters and just use the soundset from the mod to get the dialogue.
Yes thanks I am aware this is possible but I don't do any of my own editing on my games - even adding 3rd party mods to my games is more of the exception than the rule for me and when I do it needs to be a very simple download and install and not require my finding and amending such and such a file or line of code etc -
In the end I really don't need IWD to be BG - I like it as IWD too altho the option to play it in the BG2 engine does sound interesting.
Going well still just the single death in Easthaven caves and the troop is almost done in Vale of Shadows now. One maybe two dungeons to go. It seems my plan of playing on Hard for the extra exp is working as planned (altho it's early yet LOL). They seem to be leveling nicely.
Omar Paladin 4 - Mace**, Large Sword**, X-bow*
Tukmal Fighter 4 - Axe***, Hammer**
Willow Druid 4 - Missle weapon*, Spear*, Staff*
Gilian Ranger/Cleric 3/3 Bow**, Large Sword**, Halberd* (to use that nice Halberd of Sparks +1)
Palin Fighter/thief - 3/4 Missle weapon*, Club*, Mace*, Short Sword**
Jezella Fighter/Illusionist 3/3 - X-bow***, dagger*, Staff*
Very cool having non-cleric weapons available to the R/C and the GM for all 3 Fighter multi-classes is also going to work out well - Jezella is already zapping them to the Nine Hells with her X-bow which is awesome since it will be quite a while before she can make much contribution as a mage!
Had forgotten about the GM for Multi/dual class fighters last time I leveled Palin or I would have given him another pip in Missle, Club or Short sword instead of adding mace (just because we had a crap load of high quality maces and no magic club or SS).
Ran into a new NPC I don't recall - I'm guessing it's from the NPC mod - name is Flynn and he's a "trader" for lack of a better word but it doesn't appear he will be useful - he has stuff to trade for your better quality stuff but you don't get to see what he has - you get a list of things you have he might want and when you choose one to trade you get a list of items he will trade for them - but you just see the name of the item - not any description and he wants $1000 gold on top of your item.
I did a Q-save and tried an item - offered him the +1 Halberd of Sparks - traded for an "extra fine" (?) Large sword - (could have chosen a "huge" bow also I think) - turned out to be one of the generic high quality swords (a step below a +1 since they are not magical) - so traded a superb Halbred plus 1K gold for a mundane high quality sword - just before I reloaded...LOL - (not going to be counting that one!)
I don't know what the story is with this - maybe it's related to the NPC mod and the bard is able to tell you more about the items offered or something. Anyway so far so good - fun group - been a long time since I played IWD but it's coming back to me! ;-)
In the ruins, my first run-in was a tough one w/an Ochre Jelly & a Mustard Jelly in which my Conjurer & I were both hit w/the Mustard Jelly’s attack & slowed. He got away while I pressed to finish the Ochre Jelly & then went after the Mustard Jelly. I took more hits & quaffed Elixir’s of Health & finally killed it. When I did, I felt a surge of power rise up in me from Nessus, the Ninth Hell. Asmodeus promoted me in that moment!
From there I discovered the body of a fallen adventurer w/a Potion of Genius, much needed in my company as they have failed to write to many scrolls, so many I cannot count. There on until the final battle, my party was constantly beating off both Dread Wolves & Dire Wolves, at least 20 of them. I worked my way thru, probably too carelessly for a party w/o a true rogue to Find Traps. It eventually caught up to me when I found yet another fallen adventurer & carelessly went over to pick his corpse of any treasure. Just as we moved him, a Fireball came shooting out & blasted us all, killing my Illusionist.
I got us back together, & went back after a rest, & the three of us, all Lawful and Evil, defeated three Dread Wolves & another Vampiric Wolf. My Conjurer did great work in this encounter & killed the third of the three Vampiric Wolves. I wanted his treasure & I wanted it now, so being the healthiest of my company I went in knowing it was likely trapped. It was. Fireball! Ouch!! I’ll need some toughening before I lead armies in the Nine Hells for my lord Asmodeus.
Key Event: The most harrowing part of the entire effort in the ruins was trying to get back out after the last battle w/the Vampiric Wolf. I led my two Lawful Evil subordinates around the last corner, thinking maybe of another treasure room, only to find it booby trapped w/another Fireball. It tore us all up good & I tried to lead us to the exit. Around every corner were two more Dire Wolves. I kept fighting them off using my subordinates to great extent. My Berserker Sergeant & I were both hanging on by a thread as we fought off six Dire Wolves before I finally found us a corner where we could rest, which I & they did. Once complete, I stormed out of the ruins destroying six Dire Wolves before emerging out of the grate into the air again. Outside, the three of us worked masterfully to fight off three Ghouls, some twenty Kobolds including three Kobold Commando’s & 10 or so more skeletons, four w/Composite Longbows. I wanted to find out what reward I might get for returning the spook of Ulcaster his book but, alas, we could not find him anymore.
Treasure of Note: Ring of Protection +2 (Me); Oil of Fiery Burning (Bard/Herald/Sage); Arrows of Piercing, Biting (Bard/Herald/Sage)
Next Steps: I’m returning to the Nashkel Mines to descend this time
Level Up: I praise my lord Asmodeus for granting me a promotion to Scoundrel (Anti-Paladin/6) & granted me another Doom spell; My Berserker Sergeant also received promotion to Fighter/Berserker/6
Current Party: (Reputation: 4 – Despised)
Black Guard of Asmodeus: Fighter (Blk Gd)/6; Plate Mail w/Lg Shld & RoP+2, +1 B/Swd** & +1 Flail*
(SSS**)
Kagain: Fighter (Bkr)/6; Splint Mail w/RoP+1 & B/Axe*** & T/Axe** (W/Hammer*)
Eldoth: Bard/6; Chain Mail, Sh/Bow* & BoArchery, +1 S/Swd*, Dgr* (Arm,MM,ChOrb,Mir Img,Knock)
Edwin: Mage(Cjr/5); Knaves Rove & +1 Q/Staff* (Arm,Greasex2, C/Per,LMD,B/Hands,MelfsAA x3,PWS,F/Arrow x3)
Quayle: Mage(Ill/5); Mage Rove of FR, Slg* & Dgr (Ref Img, Blind x4,Blur,Inv,Mir Img)
Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; X0black101 (Blackguard); MegaModKits v1.01L; level1npcs-v1.9; bg2_tweaks-v14; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21 (- Tactical Challenges)
Reloads: 0
** Self-imposed restriction: I require my mages to ALWAYS select spells from their school to learn & memorize in spell slots. They can use others, only one of each from other schools, but after writing all the spells they can for their intelligence, if they find one from their own school, they have to choose one to remove in deference to the spell from their school. Same w/memorization, they must learn spells from their school first before others which I only allow them to learn one of. Any extra memorized spell slots have to go to spells from their school. Bards & plain vanilla Mages aren’t restricted in this way.
I just couldn't play evil as I find that it too unnatural for me. Even playing neutral, I find that I tend to take the good option nearly all the time. In Icewind dale my party is doing nicely. They battled their way through to the last area without too many problems. However feeling the need to sleep due to lack of spells they slept just outside and were ambushed by three yetis. They were so badly hurt that they deemed it best to return to Kuldahar to sleep. Whilst there they also sold loot and used nearly all their gold to buy a small bow +1. This turned out to be a mistake as once the party re-entered the last tomb they came across two of them!!! The randomised drops really does change the game! However all but one of the characters now have +1 weapons in their chosen proficiency.
After this it's LG Paladin's/Cavaliers/Undead Hunters, Fighters/Wizard Slayers & Clerics who follow Jesus - can't even worship the game deities as it feels wrong. I'll have a lot on penance after playing this very bad guy. CT
My party in Icewind Dale Valiant and party were finding the going quite easy until the area just before Kresselek. They got badly hurt there and also fighting the priestess. Going on to the temple of the Forgotten God their lack of buffing meant that they had to run away after only killing one Ettin. On returning, I feel that buffing is justified, since they know exactly what they will be facing.
What no emoticons???
When installing another option was to re-randomise the drops. This changes the drops when you reload. That is fine if you are not playing no-reload or minimum reload. However it is not an option for those of us playing according to the rules of this thread.
On a slightly different topic, you can alter the NPC characters as much as you want and the NPC mod still works. I suspect that you still have to keep their names the same though.
After that the third level presented little challenge save a few traps that we expected to trip @ one point or another. My Berserker Sergeant & I led, knowing that we would likely handle whatever damage came from the traps, even up to Fireballs or Lightning Bolts. Luckily, those we found we not even that effective & we shook off the effects w/a short rest after & then moved onward. On the 4th Level, I beat down three Kobold Commando's, a Ghoul, a Grey ooze & a Green Slime.
Key Event: We then entered the cave of a half-Orc named Mulahey who ostensibly ran the operation that was tainting the iron coming out of the mines. We killed about five Kobolds quickly as we entered the mine, then rescued another Mage, this one an Enchanter & I added him to my entourage for now. With me & my Berserker Sergeant whoopin’ butt up front & three mages of different types casting spells from their various schools at my enemies simultaneously & my Bard/Herald/Sage casting spells of his own & shooting Poison Arrows & the like to back me up, oh well, it’s got to be painful to face me. Ask Mulahey. He lasted long enough for my Doom, my Conjurer to cast Melf’s Acid Arrow, My Illusionist to cast Blindness, my Bard/Herald/Sage to cast Magic Missile & then move into position to fire a Poison Arrow. He was dead. My Berserker Sergeant had to settle for mopping up a few Kobolds & some Skeleton’s Mulahey had summoned up. My newest Mage, the Enchanter only had a couple of spells memorized @ the time. One was Color Spray & he used it to knock out a bunch of Kobolds & put ‘em to sleep for easy pick’ens. Easy in. Easy out. Praise Amsodeus
ANOTHER MASTER VICTORY FOR ASMODEUS' GLORY!
Treasure of Note: Tome of Leadership & Influence (Me); Wand of Fire (Conjurer); Potion of Absorption (Illusionist), Scroll of Shield (Bard/Herald/Sage); 790gps
Next Steps: I’m to return to the Valley of the Tombs
Level Up: None. My Enchanter joined @ Level 6)
Current Party: (Reputation: 4 – Despised)
Black Guard of Asmodeus: Fighter (Blk Gd)/6; Plate Mail w/Lg Shld & RoP+2, +1 B/Swd** & +1 Flail*
(SSS**)
Kagain: Fighter (Bkr)/6; Splint Mail w/RoP+1 & B/Axe*** & T/Axe** (W/Hammer*)
Eldoth: Bard/6; Chain Mail, Sh/Bow* & BoArchery, +1 S/Swd*, Dgr* (Arm,MM,ChOrb,Mir Img,Knock)
Edwin: Mage(Cjr/5); Mage Robe or ER & +1 Q/Staff* (Arm,Greasex2, C/Per,LMD,B/Hands,MelfsAA x3,PWS,F/Arrow x3)
Quayle: Mage(Ill/5); Mage Robe of FR, Slg* & Dgr (Ref Img, Blind x4,Blur,Inv,Mir Img)
Xan: Mage(Ech/6); Moonblade (Amr, C/Perx2, Slp, Frnds, RoEnfx2, Luck, D/Chrx2,H/Per))
Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; X0black101 (Blackguard); MegaModKits v1.01L; level1npcs-v1.9; bg2_tweaks-v14; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21 (- Tactical Challenges)
Reloads: 0
** Self-imposed restriction: I require my mages to ALWAYS select spells from their school to learn & memorize in spell slots. They can use others, only one of each from other schools, but after writing all the spells they can for their intelligence, if they find one from their own school, they have to choose one to remove in deference to the spell from their school. Same w/memorization, they must learn spells from their school first before others which I only allow them to learn one of. Any extra memorized spell slots have to go to spells from their school. Bards & plain vanilla Mages aren’t restricted in this way.
Will return to IWD later.
Diary:
After the ambush and death of Gorion, I made my way northwards in the hope of hiding in Baldur's Gate. Unfortunately the main entrance was closed so I ended going along the side of the river where I agreed to help a priestess whose mother had been killed by some fishermen.
Near there I was attacked by an ankheg and rather than fight it, ran.
I ended up in a field full of zombies and at the request of a farmer killed all that I could find. He told be that there were a few left, but he was wrong, only one was left. Upon returning to him, my level was raised to 2.
I headed southwards and entered Baldur's Gate by the postern gate. I found a tome that helps my dexterity, a pair of gauntlets that aid my fighting ability and a body that was wanted by a mage. Taking it to him raised my level to 3.
I then wandered the streets of Baldur's Gate doing what good that I could find, but also strengthening myself by acquiring weapons and armour.
Took a necklace to a woman's son, and a skull to a temple. Found some gauntlets. Took a ring to someone who needed it for his beloved.
These were just some of the deeds that made me more powerful and more loved.
I then headed south and killed Sonner before returning to Tenya. I then helped a man whose son's body resided in the temple where Tenya was. Because of helping her previously, she willingly gave me the body and upon returning it to the father, I gained a powerful shield as a reward.
I then agreed to help a woman who was being blackmailed. The battle with the blackmailer was long and hard, but I ended up with his sword which strengthened my fighting prowess considerably.
I was then poisoned by some assassins and upon trying to obtain the antidote, Marek cast confusion and then horror followed by acid arrows. These wounded me seriously so I escaped downstairs. However a lack of healing potions led to my untimely dea...
Before I headed on my next mission @ Baator’s beckoning I finished some ‘unfinished’ business. In one of the letter’s I found in Mulahey’s chest about a contact, Tranzig, he had in Beregost @ the Feldepost’s Inn. I paid Tranzig a visit & sure enough he was there tryin’ to make tracks. I relish the chance to destroy powerful foes & my sense was that this guy might be worth the fight. I’ll never know more than that he was a boisterous smart-ass. He died for that & I came into some additional documents discussing Bandits activities in Peldvale & Larswood but for the time I had a date w/the Valley of the Tombs. On the way, I tried for a third to return the tome to the Ghost @ Ulcaster but he is yet to be found, day or night. I’ll try again when I can.
UPPITY MAGE NO LONGER 'UP' BUT SIX FEET UNDER IN A PINE BOX!
The Valley of the Tombs was full of Ogre Berserkers, Ogrillons, Skeletons (some w/Composite Long Bows), War & Wild Dogs. I probably killed a half-dozen of the former & a dozen Ogrillons alone. No idea how many of the others I killed. The tombs were full of Ghasts & I garnered some decent treasure raiding them & killing their occupants.
Key Event: Early on I was attacked by four female Amazon assassins. I kicked the snot out of them (although My Berserker Sergeant once again cost me some time after becoming Enraged, forgot to quaff a Potion of Healing after some hard hits & died in the aftermath of the battle which caused me to have to return to the hypocrites house to have him raised but I digress). One of the wench’s hailed us & asked my name. I can’t remember my exact answer but part of it was a Magic Missile from my Bard/Herald/Sage, Melf’s Acid Arrow from my Conjurer, Blindness from my Illusionist & maybe Ray of Enfeeblement from my new Enchanter. My Berserker Sergeant hates anyone casting spells & someone started incanting over on the other side & he was off to the killing looking for the source of the incantation. Then my subordinates just started picking out one @ a time to concentrate their attacks & spells on. The Enchanter may have even Dire Charmed or Charmed one of them but whatever the case, aside from a weak Entanglement spell they offered no damage except that to my Berserker Sergeant who was in the thick of the melee. They were dead w/o much sport. Too bad.
ASSASSINS MY BUTT! THESE LADIES SHOULD'A STAYED HOME DOIN' NEEDLEPOINT!!
After that & my unexpected visit to raise my Berserker Sergeant I had two more run-ins worth remembering, thus I capture them here. I came upon a mage in the wilderness working on a spell to control Mustard Jelly’s & the like. My Conjurer asked him if he was willing to share the spell & he went berserk to his chagrin. Nothing like a pissy mage to ****** off my own mages. My Conjurer, Illusionist, Bard/Herald/Sage & Enchanter went off on him, I cast Doom @ him & then charged the Jellies to keep them occupied, while my Berserker Sergeant had to go deal w/some skeleton’s that waded into the battle. The mage was dead almost before he could raise his arms to cast a spell. Once the uppity mage was dispatched I killed a couple of Mustard Jellies that insisted on spitting that nasty stuff of theirs @ me.
ANOTHER POMPOUS MAGE! ONLY MINE ARE EVEN MORE POMPOUS!!
In the last tomb, I’d received somewhat of a warning from a passerby begging me to take something from him, which I did & killed him for my trouble. In the tomb was a powerful zombie like creature, a Revenant. Unaffected my non-enchanted weapons I sent him outside b/c he’d fight the thing regardless. Then my Bard/Herald/Sage cast Magic Missile & started firing Arrows of Fire. My Conjurer alternated between Melf’s Acid Arrow & Flame Arrow, my Illusionist Blinded him, & I cast Doom & then charged & killed him w/my Bastard Sword +1.
UNDEAD CREATURE NOW TRULY UNDEAD!
Treasure of Note: Golden Girdle, Potions Magic Blocking, Freedom, Frost Giant Strength (me); Potion of Invisibility (TBD); Dagger +2 (Xan)
Next Steps: My lord wants me to go to Nashkel but since I’m the most wanted man since Captain Brage, I’m not sure what his plans are there. I’ll see.
Level Up: My Conjurer has been raised in power by the Red Wizards & now is a Magician (Conjurer/6) & selected another Flame Arrow as his 4th, 4th Level Spell.
Current Party: (Reputation: 5* – Disliked) *Two offerings to that hypocrite in the temple in Beregost (+2); then killed Hentold w/his +2 Dagger (-2); then made another offering @ the temple (+1)
Black Guard of Asmodeus: Fighter (Blk Gd)/6; Plate Mail w/Lg Shld & RoP+2, +1 B/Swd** & +1 Flail*
(SSS**)
Kagain: Fighter (Bkr)/6; Splint Mail w/RoP+1 & B/Axe*** & T/Axe** (W/Hammer*)
Eldoth: Bard/6; Chain Mail, Sh/Bow* & BoArchery, +1 S/Swd*, Dgr* (Arm,MM,ChOrb,Mir Img,Knock)
Edwin: Mage(Cjr/6); Mage Robe or ER & +1 Q/Staff* (Arm,Greasex2, C/Per,LMD,B/Hands,MelfsAA x3,PWS,F/Arrow x4)
Quayle: Mage(Ill/5); Mage Robe of FR, Slg* & Dgr (Ref Img, Blind x4,Blur,Inv,Mir Img)
Xan: Mage(Ech/6); Moonblade (Amr, C/Perx2, Slp, Frnds, RoEnfx2, Luck, D/Chrx2,H/Per))
Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; X0black101 (Blackguard); MegaModKits v1.01L; level1npcs-v1.9; bg2_tweaks-v14; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21 (- Tactical Challenges)
Reloads: 0
* Changes in blue font; Enemies (first notice) in red font.
** Self-imposed restriction: I require my mages to ALWAYS select spells from their school to learn & memorize in spell slots. They can use others, only one of each from other schools, but after writing all the spells they can for their intelligence, if they find one from their own school, they have to choose one to remove in deference to the spell from their school. Same w/memorization, they must learn spells from their school first before others which I only allow them to learn one of. Any extra memorized spell slots have to go to spells from their school. Bards & plain vanilla Mages aren’t restricted in this way.
Well my closing statement from the last update "almost done with the Vale - only one or two dungeons to go" took considerably longer than I expected LOL. I had forgotten just how many nooks and crannies the last dungeon provided before getting to "K"s spirit.
We had a few deaths along the way - 3 to be exact Tukmal & Jezella in one area and Gilian in another. It also took a few trips back and forth to Kuldahar to raise our dead, drop loot and resupply but no reloads so far so life is good.
Held off selling most of the high quality pieces to get a better price for them all at once but after our temple taxes for raising the dead we are not overly flush with only $5K in the kitty. Fortunately I didn't bring any elves along (who as I recall can only be resurrected in IWD) - next stop Temple of the Forgotten God.
Here's our current levels:
Oman Bael LG M Paladin 5
18-98/18/18/8/15/18
X-bow*, Mace**, Large Sword**
Gilian Greywolf CG F Half-elf Ranger 4/cleric 5
18-61/18/18/10/18/8
Bow**, Large Sword**, Halberd* (IWD Tweaks)
Tunnelrat Tukmal Dwarf LN M Fighter 5 (pronounced Took em all) ;-)
18-96/17/19/9/10/9
Axe***, Hammers**
Willow F Half-elf LN Druid 6 (IWD Tweaks)
14/18/16/8/18/15
Missile weapons*, Spear*, Staff*
Jezella Zapdoodle F NG Gnome Fighter 4/ Illusionist 4
18-20/18/18/19/9/8
X-bow***,Staff*, Dagger*
Palin Pebbletosser CG M Halfling Fighter 5/ Thief 5
17/19/18/10/10/10
Missile weapons*, Clubs*, Small swords** , Mace*
I think I’ve figured out what my lord wishes for me to do in Nashkel. I used invisibility to move my Bard/Herald/Sage onto the bridge leading into Nashkel. The usual four Bounty Hunters were camped on the doorstep but there is another – not a Bounty Hunter. I think it is he that Asmodeus wants me to deal w/but it won’t be easy. Fighting him will likely bring one or more of the Bounty Hunters down on me, not to mention Amnish Soldiers. I will have to draw him away from them if I can. Any collateral damage will be messy & could bring the law down on me from everywhere, north & south.
I continually reconnoitered the area before I made my move. My Illusionist cast Invisibility on several of us each time (lucky for me, the Amnish Soldier considers the bridge the edge of the Nashkel line so I was able to stage there). Early on, I tried casting Web & Sleep from range keeping us undetected. These were affective & I could approach from beyond the web to note their effectiveness. Then I had my Invisible Enchanter cast Charm on one of the Bounty Hunters. The other three & the Amish Guard turned on him & killed him & I was out of sight out of mind. So…a new strategy evolved trying to get the Bounty Hunters to kill themselves off w/o me taking any blame. But the prime target was the other guy standing apart from them, almost aloof to their presence. It was him I felt Asmodeus wanted most for me to destroy.
Key Event: I finally elected to use some of my newly found potions & my mages to attack my enemy as pointed out to me by Asmodeus. An Invisible Illusionist cast Web & captured all four Bounty Hunters & the other guy in its grip & they were powerless. My Enchanter cast a Sleep spell near where he expected the Bounty Hunters to be & it was somewhat effective. I then quaffed Potions of Freedom & Front Giant Strength so that when I struck I struck hard & from behind, kill him quickly & escape the Bounty Hunters’ arrows as needed. I moved into plain view, were I not Invisible, moved thru the Webbing freely b/c of my Potion of Freedom, got behind the assassin, I now know to be called Nimbul from a parchment on his body. I actually missed my first swing but the second killed him instantly, splitting him in two from his right shoulder to his groin. I collected all his gear, including 20 Throwing Daggers for my Berserker Sergeant & Boots of Avoidance for me. The Bounty Hunters were tied up in the Web spell so I just walked off.
A HIT ON THE HIT MAN!
I stayed around long enough to ensure all four Bounty Hunters killed each other or were killed by the Amnish Soldiers by casting Charm or Dire Charm on them while they were stuck in Web or Sleep. As soon as they were charmed their compatriots attacked them. And it was ME all along. So perfect! And to make matters even better the last was killed by Berrun Ghastkill himself. I tried to have my Bard/Herald/Sage cast Friends on himself & approach Berrun Invisibly to try & make peace & secure our reward but he was still hateful. He chased my subordinate until he saw the last Charmed Bounty Hunter lying unconscious under a Sleep spell & turned his attention from my Bard/Herald/Sage & killed the last of the Bounty Hunters. I was out of w/four Bounty Hunters, an Amish Soldier or two dead…& this Nimbul fellow & all w/o any damage to my reputation. Like I said, Perfect! I know all of the Nine Hells is smiling.
USING MY WIZARDS TO TURN MY BOUNTY HUNTERS UPON EACH OTHER! BRILLIANT!!
AND FOR MY ENCORE MY COUP DE GRACE! GETTING BERRUN GHASTKILL TO KILL THE BOUNTY HUNTERS HE HIRED TO KILL ME!
Treasure of Note: Boots of Avoidance (me)
Next Steps: From here my dreams tell me to find the Red Canyons. Asmodius had me go talk to the hypocrite who mentioned a ‘mad cleric’ who should be near there. I could get back my gold from that slimy Ormlyr. Praise Asmodius for the opportunities he provides.
Level Up: None
Current Party: (Reputation: 6* – Disliked) *Donation to temple of the hypocrite
Black Guard of Asmodeus: Fighter (Blk Gd)/6; Plate Mail w/Lg Shld & RoP+2, +1 B/Swd** & +1 Flail*
(SSS**)
Kagain: Fighter (Bkr)/6; Splint Mail w/RoP+1 & B/Axe***, T/Axe***, W/Hmr*
Eldoth: Bard/6; Chain Mail, Sh/Bow* & BoA, +1 S/Swd*, Dgr* (Arm,MM,ChOrb,Mir Img,Knock)
Edwin: Mage (Cjr/6); Mage Robe or ER & +1 Q/Staff* (Arm,Greasex2, C/Per,LMD,B/Hands,MelfsAA x3,PWS,F/Arrow x4)
Quayle: Mage (Ill/5); Mage Robe of FR, Slg* & Dgr (Ref Img, Blind x4,Blur,Inv,Mir Img)
Xan: Mage (Ech/6); Moonblade (Amr, C/Perx2, Slp, Frnds, RoEnfx2, Luck, D/Chrx2,H/Per))
Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; X0black101 (Blackguard); MegaModKits v1.01L; level1npcs-v1.9; bg2_tweaks-v14; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21 (- Tactical Challenges)
Reloads: 0
* Changes in blue font; Enemies (first notice) in red font.
** Self-imposed restriction: I require my mages to ALWAYS select spells from their school to learn & memorize in spell slots. They can use others, only one of each from other schools, but after writing all the spells they can for their intelligence, if they find one from their own school, they have to choose one to remove in deference to the spell from their school. Same w/memorization, they must learn spells from their school first before others which I only allow them to learn one of. Any extra memorized spell slots have to go to spells from their school. Bards & plain vanilla Mages aren’t restricted in this way.
Well Oman & Co had their first reload at the Temple of the Forgetaboutit God. Final battle - got CC out too late and retreated too slowly had 4 down with most of the Ettins & Acolytes still standing...
Reloaded and got through it with only a single death but had forgotten that there was nothing more to battle so went back and raised our dead and came back again just to discover the empty altar and missing stone.
Racked up quite a few deaths along the way so far - Gilaian is the only one with a single death - all the rest have 2 except Oman his own self with 3.
This has caused havoc with the supply fund which is currently only 2059 gold (only enough for about 1 raise dead at current levels).
As for outfitting our heroes:
Tukmal still doesn't have a magical axe - best axe he has at the moment is a flawless Great Axe (he does have a Hammer +1) and is Kresselacks plate mail.
Oman now has a point in Great Sword but I'm thinking his two points in both Large sword (Meilikki Scimitar +1) and Maces (Morningstar +1) trump Kresselack's Great Sword +1 due to the extra half attack. He is also in plate mail.
Palin doesn't have a magical thief melee weapon either altho he has a point in maces and a Morningstar +1 (and +1 sling). He just got some nice Shadowed studded leather +1 and tossed his old Leather +1 to Gilian in case she wants to sneak with him. He is also carrying around some Chainmail +1 but never puts it on.
Gillian is over supplied in melee for now with 2 magic halberds (+1 & +2) and a Longsword +1 and is still in splint mail (or Leather +1)
Willow is in studded leather and has no magical weapons she is proficient in right now except ones she can conjure (shillelagh & moon blade) she has normal darts and carries a dagger +1 but can't hit much with it (Thac0 18).
Jezella uses a wand of armory and has a dagger +1 but mostly she rocks with her Xbow (Thac0 9 with 1.5 attacks currently)
Current levels:
Oman Bael LG M Paladin 6
18-98/18/18/8/15/18
X-bow*, Mace**, Large Sword**, Great Sword*
Gilian Greywolf CG F Half-elf Ranger 5/cleric 5
18-61/18/18/10/18/8
Bow**, Large Sword**, Halberd* (IWD Tweaks)
Tunnelrat Tukmal Dwarf LN M Fighter 6 (pronounced Took em all) ;-)
18-96/17/19/9/10/9
Axe****, Hammers**
Willow F Half-elf LN Druid 7 (IWD Tweaks)
14/18/16/8/18/15
Missile weapons*, Spear*, Staff*
Jezella Zapdoodle F NG Gnome Fighter 5/ Illusionist 4 (31 exp from 5)
18-20/18/18/19/9/8
X-bow***,Staff*, Dagger*
Palin Pebbletosser CG M Halfling Fighter 5/ Thief 6
17/19/18/10/10/10
Missile weapons*, Clubs*, Small swords** , Mace*
Next stop Dragons Eye
Well I've never done this level like this before - got to dragons eye - got beat up pretty good in the opening battle just inside the entrance (as usual) but headed south and took the battle to the beetles and lost the dwarf in the process - took out the spiders too with a little help from some glitches in the pathfinding that kept a handful of them from being able to reach us (near the creek) they just stood there waving their legs as we shot them from a few feet away until they died (altho the Halfling could get through to where they were - must be the space was too small for them.
So we went back and raised Tukmal -( the Temple is starting work on a new wing with our donations) and returned going forward from the entry this time - this is where it got weird - so we had a small herd of lizard men after us and Gilian summoned some skellys and Willow summoned some boring beetles and Jez cast haste on the lot of us and lizard pieces were flying everywhere!
Well I figured we were on a roll so up the corridor we went - overran the bridge guards and kept right on going right into the Kings quarters - well there was no stopping there - we pushed the attack - dropped some more skellys in sent Oman and Tukmal into the breach - Jez put half the lizards to sleep and we rocked and rolled - Tukmal and Oman both fell before it was over and we had a little struggle mopping up but in the end we kicked their lizard butts!
Not as much fun back at the temple as we had to go sell gear to pay the fees - the good news was we got a nifty shield ring no one could use - mage, mage/cleric, or mage/thief only and it sold for almost 9K just in time as we were down to about 500g and all the gear was spoken for.
WE got them raised and went back and cleaned up the last little bit and freed the folks - didn't see the Smithys kid - I'm thinking he's on the next level.
I killed everyone that attacked and as a result came in possession of a belt that protects from arrows and a sword belonging to Perdue, a rather apt name. Upon returning it to him yet another assassin. (There was one at the Friendly arms in as well.) I cleared the road to Nashkel and south of there killed a bounty hunter called Greywolf. He had a pretty nifty sword on him.
I headed westward helping a boy find hid dog and protected a dryad's tree. I didn't tell her about it as I know how easily reputation is lost and can no longer improve mine!
Some bullies picked a fight with me and on their bodies found some gauntlets which would have been useful for someone else.
In a cave I found a horde of goblins with a shaman. The battle was not easy and I ended up wounded. However, I found a tome which upon reaching a temple raised my charisma to 18.
Going west from the temple I fought Bassilus with the necklace that I had been given. I also fought and defeated Zargal. He was not as tough as he made out.
I then headed for the coast where I was attacked by numerous dryads. I killed them all and also the golems that were protecting a cave full of treasure. There was so much that I was unable to carry it all. The most important item was yet another tome. This one raised my constitution to 18 with the result that all my attributes are now 18!
I then met a couple of oddballs. They seemed intent on doing good despite being evil. Montaron was a kleptomaniac however and stole a cloak, rings, a hammer, numerous spells, a necklace and suchlike. I eventually realised that I kept them in the party, sooner or later there would be trouble so I let them go and replaced them with a paladin and a thief called Imoen. I feel that the party may now be strong enough to deal with the demons in the mine but perhaps I should find a mage to team up with first.
PICKIN' UP BONES & KNOCKIN' DOWN BASILLUS!
Following that battle, everything was business as usual. I killed 5 Dread Wolves, 9 Wolves, 8 Skelton’s w/Composite Longbows, 8 Hobgoblins w/Short Bows, 4 Bandits, 6 Ghasts, 3 Ghouls, & a gaggle of Zombies. I learned again, due to two close calls, that even now it’s not safe to wade into combat w/Ghasts or even Ghouls. Twice I was Held & my subordinates had to strike hard & fast to save my stupid butt. They did well. I’m satisfied to know that my Conjurer & my Berserker Sergeant respect me & will fight to keep me alive…knowing that it is I who’s coat tails they need to ride!
Treasure of Note: Warhammer +2 (Berserker Sergeant) - He's a killin' machine w/this War Hammer in one hand & a Battle Axe in the other
Next Steps: Asmodeus bids me east now to the Lonely Peaks
Level Up: None
Current Party: (Reputation: 8* – Disliked) (1000gp contribution to the hypocrite temple)
Black Guard of Asmodeus: Fighter (Blk Gd)/6; Plate Mail w/Lg Shld & RoP+2, +1 B/Swd** & +1 Flail*
(SSS**)
Kagain: Fighter (Bkr)/6; Splint Mail w/RoP+1 & B/Axe***, T/Axe***, W/Hmr*
Eldoth: Bard/6; Chain Mail, Sh/Bow* & BoA, +1 S/Swd*, Dgr* (Arm,MM,ChOrb,Mir Img,Knock)
Edwin: Mage (Cjr/6); Mage Robe or ER & +1 Q/Staff* (Arm,Greasex2, C/Per,LMD,B/Hands,MelfsAA x3,PWS,F/Arrow x4)
Quayle: Mage (Ill/5); Mage Robe of FR, Slg* & Dgr (Ref Img, Blind x4,Blur,Inv,Mir Img)
Xan: Mage (Ech/6); Moonblade (Amr, C/Perx2, Slp, Frnds, RoEnfx2, Luck, D/Chrx2,H/Per))
Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; X0black101 (Blackguard); MegaModKits v1.01L; level1npcs-v1.9; bg2_tweaks-v14; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21 (- Tactical Challenges)
Reloads: 0
* Changes in blue font; Enemies (first notice) in red font.
** Self-imposed restriction: I require my mages to ALWAYS select spells from their school to learn & memorize in spell slots. They can use others, only one of each from other schools, but after writing all the spells they can for their intelligence, if they find one from their own school, they have to choose one to remove in deference to the spell from their school. Same w/memorization, they must learn spells from their school first before others which I only allow them to learn one of. Any extra memorized spell slots have to go to spells from their school. Bards & plain vanilla Mages aren’t restricted in this way.
When dealing with Bassilus, I love to charm him and set him on Zargal. Kills two birds with one stone. Bassilus usually wins but by the time he does he is easy meat.
After killing the ankheg, I found that various areas had been re-set and had to kill enemies all over again. Should have picked up the wand of frost when I was in the area. Then I would have got two of them.
One thing that has amused me is getting 100 gp for each of the jokes that have been around since even before the creation of Faerun. I presume the value is due to their antiquity as it certainly isn't because the jokes are good!
I have decided to leave the basilisk area for when Jet' Laya joins the party as that is when things start to get difficult !!!
On the positive side, when the areas re-set, I was able to get duplicates of some items.
We continued down to the mines where there were few problems. Imoen hid in the shadows before emptying Mulahey's chest. He got upset about that, but Imoen's response, oil of fiery burning made him really hot-tempered!
We were dividing the spoils when I noticed that Imoen was getting hurt.
I immediately stopped what I was doing and attacked the skeletons that had hurt her.
Xan was happy to act as our porter as an act of gratitude for us setting him free.
@Wanderon. Just wondering if you are the same Wanderon that has been on the boards since the beginning of Faerun.