Savilous and friends had finally arrived to the gnoll stronghold to rescue Dynaheir. The bridge leading to the fortress was guarded by two dimwits who wanted money for the use of "their" bridge. They were no match for Minsc and his righteous fury.
Next they ascended the path leading up to the top of the stronghold, and killed every one of the dog-headed marauders in their way.
At the top, they faced the best of the horde, the chieftain and his elite guard, and with the help of a helpful chokepoint, ultimately prevailed. In one of the pits was the captive Dynaheir, who was so grateful for the rescue that she offered her and Minsc's helping hands to the adventurers.
As an inexperienced diviner Dynaheir was not of much use to the group, but Savilous figured if he let her hang around long enough she would gain enough power to be the main damage dealer in the party. His plan was foolproof.
On the way back to town they helped a little girl find her dead kitty, helped a little boy find his lost doggy, helped a dryad protect her tree from brigands, killed two kids who foolishly thought they were the fastest dart-throwers in the west (and that that title was actually worth a damn), and killed a self-important Amnish noble and her cohorts (who, admittedly, were quite tough and the adventurers needed to run back to town to escape with their lives but later came back and executed carefully planned revenge). It was a busy trip.
But they finally arrived back to town, rested, resupplied, and even visited the famous carnival. The partook in the festivities, saved a maiden in distress from a crazy wizard, and generally had a fun time.
Next up, they were ready (this time for real) to pay a visit to the Nashkel mines and figure out what had been making those miners disappear. And more importantly, what had been causing all of Minsc's two-handed swords to break apart.
To be continued...
Whoo, canon party recruited! I'll try to be extra careful from now on and not have any of them killed. I even went as far to put Dynaheir in the middle of the group, because I know her being at the back has the nasty side-effect of her dying all the time when the party is waylaid by bow-wielding bandits.
Okay, so the summary (my favorite part):
Party and Levelups:
Savilous: lvl 3 1 levelup, rolled 10(+1) for HP. Jjjjyeeeah!!! You the boss, Savilous!
Imoen: lvl 4 1 levelup, rolled 2(+2) for HP. I liked your previous rolls better, sis. Make an effort, would you?
Khalid: lvl 3 1 levelup, rolled 3(+2) for HP. Khalid... you just don't want to survive this campaign, do you?
Jaheira: lvl 3/3 1 levelup with both classes, rolled 5(+2) for HP. Keep it up, hon.
Minsc: lvl 3 1 levelup, rolled 10(+1). Alright Minsc, you have redeemed yourself.
Dynaheir: lvl 2
Losses:
Other than poor Montaron, still none so far. I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this up, but I'm not complaining.
I've been planning yet so the stats could always change.
I've reread the rules and accept to not edit the roll.
Going to roll as many times as needed (the rules allow it) to get 8-18-17-14-7-11 so that with 3 Tomes of Wisdom there won't be any penalties to the lore ability. I see the stage of creating a character as an important part of the journey.
It (15 INT and 10 WIS) is even better than to have 20 INT and 5 WIS. And such low INT (14 at the start and 15 with the Tome) will force to plan learing spells when the potions are available. With the potion of Genius it'll be 18 (19 with the Tome, 95% chance to learn a spell) in INT.
These stats seem rather balanced to me. Only two attributes have high numbers making it similar to NPCs' stat distribution in BG1. And after using all Tomes it'll be 9-19-18-15-10-12 (83 total) - very close to what NPCs in BG2 offer. And in the same time, such character won't be OP.
I'm on my fourth playthrough of this challenge and I have really appreciated several things about it that I would never have discovered otherwise.
First of all, it has really improved my skill (started at the bottom, so lots of room for improvement). I had only completed one run before this on Normal difficulty and relied heavily on reloading and metagaming. Forbidding the use of metagaming while strictly roleplaying, is what i feel is the most difficult thing about this challenge. However, this has also made it very rewarding. I know I will never beat the game on this challenge, but that hasn't stopped me from having fun trying to push it further each time.
I now really appreciate not min/maxing. I look back at my first character with all 18s and 3s as being kind of strange. This is a much more natural way to make a character and I doubt I will ever min/max again.
One of my favorite things about this challenge is that I have now used almost every early game NPC just out of necessity. It's been fun playing with characters I have never used before. For instance, Kivan is indispensable! But when you are struggling to keep 6 warm bodies in the party, you start to appreciate all of them.
I have also learned that the Stalker (current run: Valan, lvl 4) is a nice class for this challenge. I've been having a lot of fun with the character! In fact, even if he dies I will continue on to the end as a minimal reload.
Anyway, thanks again @EnterHaerDalis for introducing me to a whole new way to play the game!
Just completed the mines and confronted Tranzig. We're now in Beregost and next will set out to find the wayward captain from Nashkell.
@Jlee Glad your enjoying it ^^. It's provided me with ample motivation too, except my last play through was a dream crusher. Still need more time to rekindle the fire..still haven't made it far at all in my own challenge over a course of like 4 or 5 runs lol.
Stalkers are one of my favorite kits, my first play through on BGEE was with a stalker. It almost feels like cheating with boots of speed/stealth/backstab combo.
Ok, I swore I would finish my regular game before trying this a 2nd time, but you've just inspired me. Off to roll a... hmmm... what should I go with this time... I may try a fighter/thief
I got an 18 dex roll but passed on it for a little more balance on my CON and STR. I was hoping for a more archer focused f/t but I'm happy with this roll. Excited to get the underway once more.
Well, to make a short story shorter, we failed to interrupt Tarnesh's magic missiles at the FAI. RIP Arianna.
Oh, such a short story! Arianna was a cutie, BTW. She needed a Miniature Giant Space Hamster to save her! Maybe he could take the fire on himself. Or maybe he could caress Tarnesh till a sword from the shadows cuts his throat!
I was tempted to restart with one of the new kits, but I'll play this one out - it may not last long anyhow and I've never played a sorcerer before. This time around I want to establish some personality traits for Nikki for roleplay reasons. I will adhere to them as closely as possible as I play through:
Nikki is NE so she will use others to her advantage and prefers to have companions that will do her bidding for her. Nikki won't resort to petty theft in most cases, but may use one of her minions to accomplish the task if the situation warrants it. She considers herself highborn and prefers to speak to nobility, she'll snub anyone "below" her that she doesn't think she can use. She's all honey and politeness if she thinks you can be of use to her, but once she determines you won't assist her or are not useful she'll drop the act.
The temptation of a high reward for the demise of Bassilus was Nikki's downfall. The group took him on before they were strong enough. This challenge is tough, but way too fun! I'll think on my next one.
I've been planning yet so the stats could always change.
I've reread the rules and accept to not edit the roll.
Going to roll as many times as needed (the rules allow it) to get 8-18-17-14-7-11 so that with 3 Tomes of Wisdom there won't be any penalties to the lore ability. I see the stage of creating a character as an important part of the journey.
It (15 INT and 10 WIS) is even better than to have 20 INT and 5 WIS. And such low INT (14 at the start and 15 with the Tome) will force to plan learing spells when the potions are available. With the potion of Genius it'll be 18 (19 with the Tome, 95% chance to learn a spell) in INT.
These stats seem rather balanced to me. Only two attributes have high numbers making it similar to NPCs' stat distribution in BG1. And after using all Tomes it'll be 9-19-18-15-10-12 (83 total) - very close to what NPCs in BG2 offer. And in the same time, such character won't be OP.
I'm starting to like this approach!
I wonder how many times on average you'd need to roll to get 2 18's (which is 17 and 19 without adjustments) on a 75 roll ... I guess if you use an auto-roller but otherwise I just don't see it.
Meet Victoria. I was very happy with this roll, she's not very wise but a nice balance of STR/CON/DEX. She'll backstab with daggers and use darts from range. This should be fun.
Victoria is Chaotic Good, she has a good heart and tries to do right by her view of the world. She's shy and quiet, preferring to observe rather than be the center of attention. She's generally not confrontational, and would rather run and live another day than stand and fight. Though if the advantage is in her favor she will not shy away from engaging in the conflict.
Ok, Victoria took some magic missiles to the face trying to run into the FAI to get away from Tarnesh. It seems whenever I end up skipping Monty and Xzar these things happen Next I rolled up a druid, which was an interesting adventure in itself. I'm satisfied with the end result, though she's not overly bright, but that's ok there's a voice set that matches that
This group has had a much better start, she and Imoen picked up Monty and Xzar and then headed to the FAI. Tarnesh was nicely dispatched. They joined up with Khalid and Jaheira, then the party completed a few quests around town and headed to Beregost. They took the "tour guide's" suggestion for a cheap inn, the Red Sheaf, and got in a tussle with an assassin for their trouble. They also hired out as mercenaries but reneged and killed their employer Silke when it became apparent they were being asked to kill innocents.
Not wanting to sleep at the Red Sheaf after the assassination attempt, they checked out Feldpost's Inn instead. A guy named Marl tried to get up in their face, but Sophia managed to calm him down with her charming smile and wise words. They headed toward Nashkel but ran into trouble on the way. A couple of Ogrillions pounded Jaheira into the dirt but were taken down in the end. They found a note on one of them and sought out the recipient and got a nice reward for their trouble.
Next they ran into Neera, who they defended against some Red Wizards, unfortunately Khalid to a fire arrow to the face and perished. Neera offered to take his place, so they accepted. After some rest, they set out again for Nashkel. Some Flaming Fist accused them of being bandits, Sophia thought it best to surrender rather than shed blood, they would plead their case before a magistrate or some authority. Well Mr. FF would have nothing to do with it and tried to murder them on the spot. They quickly killed him and went on their way.
The party had some close calls with Hobgoblins along the road, but at last, tired and worn out they reached Nashkel. Time for some slee... oh wait another assassin. They started out really well against the cleric Neira, managed to interrupt two of her spells. Unfortunately on the third cast she was able to cast hold on Monteron, then used a spirit hammer to smash in his skull. She then rooted the party with an entangle spell and rushed Xzar. Losing them both was quite a blow.
It was down to Sophia, Neera and Imoen. Not much muscle between the three, so they scouted around town for some meatheads. Rasaad and Minsc joined their ranks. Minsc insisted on rescuing some lady from some gnolls so the group agreed and headed that way. Along the way they massacred a Xzart village - not something Sophia would normally approve of, but she found it was a good "balance" for the recent deaths of her party members. Also, she really liked the way Minsc made them explode with his two-handed sword.
Closing in on the gnoll fortress they ran into some dumb giants, who they killed and got a nice pair of bracers. The group is now in the shadow of the gnoll fortress and plans to storm it and rescue Dynaheir.
I love this challenge, and its the only way I play now! I even pass up on 90+ rolls and carry on till I have a good 75 roll, crazy times!
My current character is Sian a Shadowdancer (14, 18, 10, 6, 9, 18) although she's as dim as they come and gets every one into trouble, her charm always wins the day!
The death toll :
Jaheira - Poor Jaheira was killed by a kobold archer on the way to Beregost. Khalid - He put up the good fight against those large spiders in Landrin's home. Monteron - Was killed by a ghast just south of Beregost, a bit too slow at kitting he was.
Still Fighting the Fight :
Sian - Level 2, almost at 3rd, lets hope for a better hp roll this time! Imoen - Level 2, got her own back on the ghast to avenge her secret lover! Xzar - Level 1, Is now the pimp daddy of the group, Monty will be missed.
Sophia's party is doing quite well. They left off last time at the foot of the Gnoll Stronghold. They stormed the place laying waste to Gnolls and Xvarts alike
Unfortunately at one point, they all got confused on how to go down stairs and Rasaad paid with his life. Minsc was pissed and avenged their fallen comrade. They laid Rasaad to rest in one of the pits.
Next the found Dynheir and rescued her from her captors. She joined the party and they proceeded to eliminate the rest of the scum from the fortress.
Before heading to the mines, they decided to spend some time at the fair east of town. After all, you need a balance in life, it can't be all killing, there must be some time for fun. Of course it didn't quite turn out that way. They liked the Amazing Oopah show just a little too much and the Ogre got angry and attacked them. At one point he randomly splatted a commoner who was standing nearby. Eventually they slew the beast.
They visited the various merchants, and in one tent ran into a wizard about to murder someone he claimed was bad for using magic (this was very confusing to poor Sophia). They killed him and graciously accepted a potion as a reward.
After the fair, they decided to head for the mines, but were ambushed along the way. With the help of a half-orc named Dorn, they dispatched the bandits, then retreated again to Nashkel for recovery.
At this point, Sophia, Minsc and Neera all leveled up. The frustrating part was that Neera had the best HP roll of all three
The party is now well rested and ready to investigate the mines!
Alright, this sounds like fun, I'll give it a shot aswell.
So, I'd really like to make a good run of this so I took some time to think about what could make a potentially decent character with only 75 points. After some thought I landed on Dwarf Barbarian and after a lot of rerolling I was able to get this "gem" of a 75 point roll and the mercenary Mulgarn is born.
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With 2 pips in Warhammers and 2 in Sword and Shield style he's going to try and hunker down for the long haul and survive as long as possible. Killing Carbos with no problems he moves on to Shank and chunks him with a critical hit... nice start. After that, he joins up with some friends and takes down the first boss of Baldur's Gate: The Wolf. Only had to use 1 healing potion :P
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After another healing potion lost to battle a pair of Black Bears I run across a Dire Wolf! After Mulgarn changes into a fresh pair of pantaloons he rages. End of Dire Wolf.
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We clear out the first area and b line straight for the friendly arm, killing an Xvart or two on the way. Once there we get ambushed by Tarnesh but with Xzar's magery and Mulgarns intense luck so far we manage to kill him in a couple of seconds and suffer no damage.
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We meet up with the friends Gorion mentioned and, after selling off some of the items we've collected thus far, get everyone much better equipped. Montaron who up until now seemed a bit of a liability focuses on using his sling and starts to really shine, I only hope Khalid will be brave enough to actually back up Mulgarn. After meeting a nice lady while trying to burgle some homes we agree to retrieve her ring from some Hobgolins. Retreived:
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Moving South now, heading for the Nashkel mines as my companions have suggested, we start feeling a little more confident and start clearing the wilderness of baddies. Mulgarn and friends quickly assert their dominance over the Dire Wolf population.
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We then run into a rogue Ogre and although Jaheira tried to hold him back with her entangling vines this Ogre seemed resistant to her nature magic and kept on stomping closer. After Jaheira got smacked hard bringing her to 1 hit point Mulgarn utilized the horse shoe up his butt once more, landing ANOTHER critical hit and earning himself some fancy new belts.
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Afterwards Mulgarn and Co. clear the area of a few minor baddies, mostly Gibberlings and Xvarts before heading to Beregost.
Alas Sian's quest has ended, her nack for getting everyone into trouble has ended in dire circumstances. Mulahey proved too strong, after giving him a good whack, she failed to dance into the shadows and got hit with rigid thinking, unfortunately her latest pimp daddy Xan, just didn't cut the mustard!
The death toll:
Xzar - Was in the wrong place at the wrong time, an arrow to the face. Branwen - She got donked on the head by Greywolf, ouch! Dorn - The newest pimp daddy was out to impress, but fell to a kobold, oh dear. Imoen - She just wasn't the same after loosing Monty and ran into a kobold arrow too. Neera - She tried to help her new sis, but failed to blind Mulahey, and got stabbed to death, yep you guessed by a kobold! Xan - The last pimp daddy just wasn't up on par with Xzar, and couldn't save Sian, he got held by Mulahey and was easy prey after that. Sian - She was the last to fall, and just hadn't recovered from the loss of Xzar the true pimp daddy!
...I think that's all. Basically losing most of my party after Nashkel mines made it too difficult to continue with mostly level 1 NPCs. I guess next time do not talk to any NPCs before ready to recruit lol
@FinneousPJ - Thats always my plan for a no rez run - don't talk to anyone you might want/need to use later - gather your party and go to work - then go chat up newcomers as you need them.
There are a couple that will only wait so long before disappearing whether you speak to them or not though - Jahs & Khalid and Xzar & Monty - I believe both pairs will disappear if you don't speak to them before finishing the Nashkel mines - so if you are not picking them up to do the mines go recruit them just before you enter to get their level as high as possible in case you want them later - the rest will wait patiently for you to show up and offer them a job and thus be reasonably close to your current level (AFAIK)
Sounds like fun. Going to try this for my 2nd play through, now that the new patch is out.
14 hp at level 1.. not bad. There's a reason for his title but I won't bore you with the details.
edit: right after I posted this, opted for lower Dex to make things more interesting. Remade char, has: Str 16 Dex 9 Con 18 Int 14 Wis 11 Cha 7, and Lawful Evil seems more befitting for the class & race. Terrible thaco but darn he can take hits, esp. with defensive stance. Just killed the ogre outside Friendly Arm.
Alright, session two is done and here's how things went.
Mulgarn and friends visted Beregost, met a familiar friend in Firebead Elvenhair, were attacked by another assassin who they easily dispatched and fought a snobby wizard girl. After Montaron and Xzar robbed some poor girl known as Neera for her gem bag and mage robe the party was off to the south again.
Jaheria leveled gaining 7 hit points and I forgot to screen shot it.
Along the road they ran into a few Ogrillans and Khalid took a major blow, but was able to survive due to a quick quaff of a potion. This didn't improve his morale any though as he decided it was best to go for a quick jog in the middle of the fight.
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Despite Khalids heroics the group survived the encounter and picked up a letter intended for a resident of Beregost. On the way back to town the party was ambushed despite the edge of town being within view af the road they were on. Hobgolins beset the heroes on all sides and Imoen was very nearly killed by the goblinoid archer.
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After the fight Imeon leveled up and got 7 hit points. Sweet.
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The rest of the trip south was without incident but along the way Mulgarn earned enough XP to level and rolled fairly well with an extra 11 hit points.
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Upon entering the Nashkel Inn Mulgarn and Co. were attacked by yet another assassin. This one was a heavily armored cleric. They took her down in the knick of time just as her hold person spell paralyzed both of the frontliners.
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After telling Berrun Ghastkill, mayor of Nashkel, that we would solve his silly iron problem we decided to go out and explore instead. It could wait.
After finding a village full of Xvarts and dispatching them and their Cave Bear protector we found a cave. Inside was another Cave Bear and this one was hungry... for Khalids face which it easily ripped clean off. This Cave Bear was a cut above the typical cave bears and after it got a scent for meat from destroying Khalid and proceeded to hit and then crit Mulgarn on its very next two attacks killing the raging Dwarf Barbarian outright, even with his 30+ hit points at the time. King of Cave Bears.
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Sadly, I was too emtionally distraught to remember to take a screen shot of Mulgarns demise... not I'll have to do this again with a new character... maybe one of the new kits.
Comments
Good luck!
Next they ascended the path leading up to the top of the stronghold, and killed every one of the dog-headed marauders in their way.
At the top, they faced the best of the horde, the chieftain and his elite guard, and with the help of a helpful chokepoint, ultimately prevailed. In one of the pits was the captive Dynaheir, who was so grateful for the rescue that she offered her and Minsc's helping hands to the adventurers.
As an inexperienced diviner Dynaheir was not of much use to the group, but Savilous figured if he let her hang around long enough she would gain enough power to be the main damage dealer in the party. His plan was foolproof.
On the way back to town they helped a little girl find her dead kitty, helped a little boy find his lost doggy, helped a dryad protect her tree from brigands, killed two kids who foolishly thought they were the fastest dart-throwers in the west (and that that title was actually worth a damn), and killed a self-important Amnish noble and her cohorts (who, admittedly, were quite tough and the adventurers needed to run back to town to escape with their lives but later came back and executed carefully planned revenge). It was a busy trip.
But they finally arrived back to town, rested, resupplied, and even visited the famous carnival. The partook in the festivities, saved a maiden in distress from a crazy wizard, and generally had a fun time.
Next up, they were ready (this time for real) to pay a visit to the Nashkel mines and figure out what had been making those miners disappear. And more importantly, what had been causing all of Minsc's two-handed swords to break apart.
To be continued...
Whoo, canon party recruited! I'll try to be extra careful from now on and not have any of them killed. I even went as far to put Dynaheir in the middle of the group, because I know her being at the back has the nasty side-effect of her dying all the time when the party is waylaid by bow-wielding bandits.
Okay, so the summary (my favorite part):
Party and Levelups:
Savilous: lvl 3
1 levelup, rolled 10(+1) for HP. Jjjjyeeeah!!! You the boss, Savilous!
Imoen: lvl 4
1 levelup, rolled 2(+2) for HP. I liked your previous rolls better, sis. Make an effort, would you?
Khalid: lvl 3
1 levelup, rolled 3(+2) for HP. Khalid... you just don't want to survive this campaign, do you?
Jaheira: lvl 3/3
1 levelup with both classes, rolled 5(+2) for HP. Keep it up, hon.
Minsc: lvl 3
1 levelup, rolled 10(+1). Alright Minsc, you have redeemed yourself.
Dynaheir: lvl 2
Losses:
Other than poor Montaron, still none so far. I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this up, but I'm not complaining.
I've been planning yet so the stats could always change.
I've reread the rules and accept to not edit the roll.
Going to roll as many times as needed (the rules allow it) to get 8-18-17-14-7-11 so that with 3 Tomes of Wisdom there won't be any penalties to the lore ability. I see the stage of creating a character as an important part of the journey.
It (15 INT and 10 WIS) is even better than to have 20 INT and 5 WIS. And such low INT (14 at the start and 15 with the Tome) will force to plan learing spells when the potions are available. With the potion of Genius it'll be 18 (19 with the Tome, 95% chance to learn a spell) in INT.
These stats seem rather balanced to me. Only two attributes have high numbers making it similar to NPCs' stat distribution in BG1. And after using all Tomes it'll be 9-19-18-15-10-12 (83 total) - very close to what NPCs in BG2 offer. And in the same time, such character won't be OP.
I'm starting to like this approach!
First of all, it has really improved my skill (started at the bottom, so lots of room for improvement). I had only completed one run before this on Normal difficulty and relied heavily on reloading and metagaming. Forbidding the use of metagaming while strictly roleplaying, is what i feel is the most difficult thing about this challenge. However, this has also made it very rewarding. I know I will never beat the game on this challenge, but that hasn't stopped me from having fun trying to push it further each time.
I now really appreciate not min/maxing. I look back at my first character with all 18s and 3s as being kind of strange. This is a much more natural way to make a character and I doubt I will ever min/max again.
One of my favorite things about this challenge is that I have now used almost every early game NPC just out of necessity. It's been fun playing with characters I have never used before. For instance, Kivan is indispensable! But when you are struggling to keep 6 warm bodies in the party, you start to appreciate all of them.
I have also learned that the Stalker (current run: Valan, lvl 4) is a nice class for this challenge. I've been having a lot of fun with the character! In fact, even if he dies I will continue on to the end as a minimal reload.
Anyway, thanks again @EnterHaerDalis for introducing me to a whole new way to play the game!
Just completed the mines and confronted Tranzig. We're now in Beregost and next will set out to find the wayward captain from Nashkell.
Losses:
Montaron
Xzar
Jaheira
Khalid
Garrick
Current:
Ajantis - level 4
Kivan - level 4
CHARNAME - level 4
Branwen - level 3
Imoen - level 4
Neera - level 3
Stalkers are one of my favorite kits, my first play through on BGEE was with a stalker. It almost feels like cheating with boots of speed/stealth/backstab combo.
I was trying to roll a 75 for a bard, but look what came up! I've never had a roll like that before. I don't think she qualifies for this challenge
Nikki is NE so she will use others to her advantage and prefers to have companions that will do her bidding for her. Nikki won't resort to petty theft in most cases, but may use one of her minions to accomplish the task if the situation warrants it. She considers herself highborn and prefers to speak to nobility, she'll snub anyone "below" her that she doesn't think she can use. She's all honey and politeness if she thinks you can be of use to her, but once she determines you won't assist her or are not useful she'll drop the act.
Victoria is Chaotic Good, she has a good heart and tries to do right by her view of the world. She's shy and quiet, preferring to observe rather than be the center of attention. She's generally not confrontational, and would rather run and live another day than stand and fight. Though if the advantage is in her favor she will not shy away from engaging in the conflict.
This group has had a much better start, she and Imoen picked up Monty and Xzar and then headed to the FAI. Tarnesh was nicely dispatched. They joined up with Khalid and Jaheira, then the party completed a few quests around town and headed to Beregost. They took the "tour guide's" suggestion for a cheap inn, the Red Sheaf, and got in a tussle with an assassin for their trouble. They also hired out as mercenaries but reneged and killed their employer Silke when it became apparent they were being asked to kill innocents.
Not wanting to sleep at the Red Sheaf after the assassination attempt, they checked out Feldpost's Inn instead. A guy named Marl tried to get up in their face, but Sophia managed to calm him down with her charming smile and wise words. They headed toward Nashkel but ran into trouble on the way. A couple of Ogrillions pounded Jaheira into the dirt but were taken down in the end. They found a note on one of them and sought out the recipient and got a nice reward for their trouble.
Next they ran into Neera, who they defended against some Red Wizards, unfortunately Khalid to a fire arrow to the face and perished. Neera offered to take his place, so they accepted. After some rest, they set out again for Nashkel. Some Flaming Fist accused them of being bandits, Sophia thought it best to surrender rather than shed blood, they would plead their case before a magistrate or some authority. Well Mr. FF would have nothing to do with it and tried to murder them on the spot. They quickly killed him and went on their way.
The party had some close calls with Hobgoblins along the road, but at last, tired and worn out they reached Nashkel. Time for some slee... oh wait another assassin. They started out really well against the cleric Neira, managed to interrupt two of her spells. Unfortunately on the third cast she was able to cast hold on Monteron, then used a spirit hammer to smash in his skull. She then rooted the party with an entangle spell and rushed Xzar. Losing them both was quite a blow.
It was down to Sophia, Neera and Imoen. Not much muscle between the three, so they scouted around town for some meatheads. Rasaad and Minsc joined their ranks. Minsc insisted on rescuing some lady from some gnolls so the group agreed and headed that way. Along the way they massacred a Xzart village - not something Sophia would normally approve of, but she found it was a good "balance" for the recent deaths of her party members. Also, she really liked the way Minsc made them explode with his two-handed sword.
Closing in on the gnoll fortress they ran into some dumb giants, who they killed and got a nice pair of bracers. The group is now in the shadow of the gnoll fortress and plans to storm it and rescue Dynaheir.
The Fallen
Jaheira Fighter/Druid Level 1/1
Khalid - Fighter Level 1
Monteron - Fighter/Thief Level 1/1
Xzar - Necromancer Level 1
Current Party
Sophia - Druid Level 2
Minsc - Ranger Level 1
Rasaad - Monk Level 2
Imoen - Thief Leve 2
Neera - Wild Mage Level 1
I'm writing an update myself now.
My current character is Sian a Shadowdancer (14, 18, 10, 6, 9, 18) although she's as dim as they come and gets every one into trouble, her charm always wins the day!
The death toll :
Jaheira - Poor Jaheira was killed by a kobold archer on the way to Beregost.
Khalid - He put up the good fight against those large spiders in Landrin's home.
Monteron - Was killed by a ghast just south of Beregost, a bit too slow at kitting he was.
Still Fighting the Fight :
Sian - Level 2, almost at 3rd, lets hope for a better hp roll this time!
Imoen - Level 2, got her own back on the ghast to avenge her secret lover!
Xzar - Level 1, Is now the pimp daddy of the group, Monty will be missed.
So I finished the Nashkel Mines Outside area no problem.
And the mines themselves.
Getting ready for Mulahey.
He was no problem really.
Mines exit area.
Had to kill some Amazons.
The trouble began.
I hadn't remembered how tough the bloody revenant is...
...so I lost Branwen.
But the worst part is apparently the monster respawn quite quickly. As I was trying to escape the area to rest I got owned by some Gnolls and Ghasts.
Only Imoen and the PC left ;_;
Return to the area.
Made a new party.
Nashkel revisited.
And this is where I quit.
Unfortunately at one point, they all got confused on how to go down stairs and Rasaad paid with his life. Minsc was pissed and avenged their fallen comrade. They laid Rasaad to rest in one of the pits.
Next the found Dynheir and rescued her from her captors. She joined the party and they proceeded to eliminate the rest of the scum from the fortress.
Before heading to the mines, they decided to spend some time at the fair east of town. After all, you need a balance in life, it can't be all killing, there must be some time for fun. Of course it didn't quite turn out that way. They liked the Amazing Oopah show just a little too much and the Ogre got angry and attacked them. At one point he randomly splatted a commoner who was standing nearby. Eventually they slew the beast.
They visited the various merchants, and in one tent ran into a wizard about to murder someone he claimed was bad for using magic (this was very confusing to poor Sophia). They killed him and graciously accepted a potion as a reward.
After the fair, they decided to head for the mines, but were ambushed along the way. With the help of a half-orc named Dorn, they dispatched the bandits, then retreated again to Nashkel for recovery.
At this point, Sophia, Minsc and Neera all leveled up. The frustrating part was that Neera had the best HP roll of all three
The party is now well rested and ready to investigate the mines!
The Fallen
Jaheira - Level 1/1 Fighter/Druid
Khalid - Level 1 Fighter
Monteron - Level 1/1 Fighter/Thief
Rasaad - Level 2 Monk
Current Party
Sophia - Level 3 Totemic Druid
Imoen - Level 3 Thief
Neera - Level 2 Wild Mage
Minsc - Level 2 Ranger
Dynaheir - Level 1 Evoker
Dorn - Level 2 Blackguard
So, I'd really like to make a good run of this so I took some time to think about what could make a potentially decent character with only 75 points. After some thought I landed on Dwarf Barbarian and after a lot of rerolling I was able to get this "gem" of a 75 point roll and the mercenary Mulgarn is born.
With 2 pips in Warhammers and 2 in Sword and Shield style he's going to try and hunker down for the long haul and survive as long as possible. Killing Carbos with no problems he moves on to Shank and chunks him with a critical hit... nice start. After that, he joins up with some friends and takes down the first boss of Baldur's Gate: The Wolf. Only had to use 1 healing potion :P
After another healing potion lost to battle a pair of Black Bears I run across a Dire Wolf! After Mulgarn changes into a fresh pair of pantaloons he rages. End of Dire Wolf.
We clear out the first area and b line straight for the friendly arm, killing an Xvart or two on the way. Once there we get ambushed by Tarnesh but with Xzar's magery and Mulgarns intense luck so far we manage to kill him in a couple of seconds and suffer no damage.
We meet up with the friends Gorion mentioned and, after selling off some of the items we've collected thus far, get everyone much better equipped. Montaron who up until now seemed a bit of a liability focuses on using his sling and starts to really shine, I only hope Khalid will be brave enough to actually back up Mulgarn. After meeting a nice lady while trying to burgle some homes we agree to retrieve her ring from some Hobgolins. Retreived:
Moving South now, heading for the Nashkel mines as my companions have suggested, we start feeling a little more confident and start clearing the wilderness of baddies. Mulgarn and friends quickly assert their dominance over the Dire Wolf population.
We then run into a rogue Ogre and although Jaheira tried to hold him back with her entangling vines this Ogre seemed resistant to her nature magic and kept on stomping closer. After Jaheira got smacked hard bringing her to 1 hit point Mulgarn utilized the horse shoe up his butt once more, landing ANOTHER critical hit and earning himself some fancy new belts.
Afterwards Mulgarn and Co. clear the area of a few minor baddies, mostly Gibberlings and Xvarts before heading to Beregost.
CURRENT PARTY:
Mulgarn - Level 1
Khalid - Level 1
Montaron - Level 1/1
Jaheira - Level 1/1
Imoen - Level 1
Xzar - Level 1
LOSSES:
None, like a boss.
The death toll:
Xzar - Was in the wrong place at the wrong time, an arrow to the face.
Branwen - She got donked on the head by Greywolf, ouch!
Dorn - The newest pimp daddy was out to impress, but fell to a kobold, oh dear.
Imoen - She just wasn't the same after loosing Monty and ran into a kobold arrow too.
Neera - She tried to help her new sis, but failed to blind Mulahey, and got stabbed to death, yep you guessed by a kobold!
Xan - The last pimp daddy just wasn't up on par with Xzar, and couldn't save Sian, he got held by Mulahey and was easy prey after that.
Sian - She was the last to fall, and just hadn't recovered from the loss of Xzar the true pimp daddy!
Ajantis
Branwen
Dorn
Edwin
Jaheira
Kagain
Kivan
Montaron
Rasaad
Safana
Shar-teel
Viconia
Xzar
...I think that's all. Basically losing most of my party after Nashkel mines made it too difficult to continue with mostly level 1 NPCs. I guess next time do not talk to any NPCs before ready to recruit lol
There are a couple that will only wait so long before disappearing whether you speak to them or not though - Jahs & Khalid and Xzar & Monty - I believe both pairs will disappear if you don't speak to them before finishing the Nashkel mines - so if you are not picking them up to do the mines go recruit them just before you enter to get their level as high as possible in case you want them later - the rest will wait patiently for you to show up and offer them a job and thus be reasonably close to your current level (AFAIK)
14 hp at level 1.. not bad. There's a reason for his title but I won't bore you with the details.
edit: right after I posted this, opted for lower Dex to make things more interesting. Remade char, has: Str 16 Dex 9 Con 18 Int 14 Wis 11 Cha 7, and Lawful Evil seems more befitting for the class & race. Terrible thaco but darn he can take hits, esp. with defensive stance. Just killed the ogre outside Friendly Arm.
Mulgarn and friends visted Beregost, met a familiar friend in Firebead Elvenhair, were attacked by another assassin who they easily dispatched and fought a snobby wizard girl. After Montaron and Xzar robbed some poor girl known as Neera for her gem bag and mage robe the party was off to the south again.
Jaheria leveled gaining 7 hit points and I forgot to screen shot it.
Along the road they ran into a few Ogrillans and Khalid took a major blow, but was able to survive due to a quick quaff of a potion. This didn't improve his morale any though as he decided it was best to go for a quick jog in the middle of the fight.
Despite Khalids heroics the group survived the encounter and picked up a letter intended for a resident of Beregost. On the way back to town the party was ambushed despite the edge of town being within view af the road they were on. Hobgolins beset the heroes on all sides and Imoen was very nearly killed by the goblinoid archer.
After the fight Imeon leveled up and got 7 hit points. Sweet.
The rest of the trip south was without incident but along the way Mulgarn earned enough XP to level and rolled fairly well with an extra 11 hit points.
Upon entering the Nashkel Inn Mulgarn and Co. were attacked by yet another assassin. This one was a heavily armored cleric. They took her down in the knick of time just as her hold person spell paralyzed both of the frontliners.
After telling Berrun Ghastkill, mayor of Nashkel, that we would solve his silly iron problem we decided to go out and explore instead. It could wait.
After finding a village full of Xvarts and dispatching them and their Cave Bear protector we found a cave. Inside was another Cave Bear and this one was hungry... for Khalids face which it easily ripped clean off. This Cave Bear was a cut above the typical cave bears and after it got a scent for meat from destroying Khalid and proceeded to hit and then crit Mulgarn on its very next two attacks killing the raging Dwarf Barbarian outright, even with his 30+ hit points at the time. King of Cave Bears.
Sadly, I was too emtionally distraught to remember to take a screen shot of Mulgarns demise... not I'll have to do this again with a new character... maybe one of the new kits.
Aftermath:
REMAINING PARTY:
Montaron - level 1/1
Xzar - level 1
Imoen - level 1
Jaheira - level 2/2
LOSSES:
Khalid - level 1
Mulgarn - level 2