Create a random game (optional no-reload speed game contest included) (spoilers)

Lemernis

Go random.

Use this random character generator system to create your PC. Here is an updated version of Drone's system that includes the new kits:


I'll restate the directions for using this system:

First randomly generate a 4 digit number at this this site. To roll a four digit number put in the values for the generator thusly and click the Generate button.

This four digit number determines Gender, Race, Class and Sub-class or Multi-class, according to the system's color coded chart (chart updated here).

Next, randomly generate a three digit number with the values adjusted like this, with the results again determined according to the system's chart.

The three digit number determines Alignment, Abilities, and Voice Set.

Notes:

• If there is no Sub-class or Multi-class ignore the fourth digit of the four digit number.
• A 9 for the third digit of the four digit number results in a Sorcerer, Monk, or Barbarian, two of which had no subclasses when Drone devised this system, but now we have the new sub-class kits for the Sorcerer and Monk... Anyway, you can either pick what you like from among them, or you use the dice roller linked below and roll a 1d6 with numbers 1-6 assigned to Sorcerer, Dragon Born Sorcerer, Monk, Sun Soul Monk, Dark Moon Monk, and Barbarian, respectively.
• If your Race or Class restricts an alignment re-roll via a custom die via the dice roller tool linked below or just round up. You can also use the pure dice rolling method (here) if further rolls are needed to resolve the conflict.
  
• The Voice Set you roll is isn't a requirement for the no-reload speed game contest. Obviously, if what you roll is a really poor fit, or another one is perfect, etc., feel free to use whichever voice you like.

You can use this thread for reference as to race and alignment restrictions for various classes.

We have also come up with a dice rolling method of character generation based on Drone's concept. You can view the chart for it here. The advantage of this system is that it gives a more even chance of drawing the classes and subclasses that are squeezed into Drone's original system and my update to it (Sorcerer and Monk and their kits, and Barbarian). (This character generation system may also be used for the no-reload speed game challenge.)

In the same spirit, why not use the WotC Character Name Generator.

Then use this alphabetical list of NPCs

1 - Ajantis
2 - Alora
3 - (Mystery NPC)
4 - Branwen
5 - Coran
6 - Dorn
7 - Dynaheir
8 - Edwin
9 - Eldoth
10 - Faldorn
11 - Garrick
12 - Imoen
13 - Jaheira
14 - Kagain
15 - Khalid
16 - Kivan
17 - Minsc
18 - Montaron
19 - Neera
20 - Quayle
21 - Rasaad
22 - Safana
23 - Shar-Teel
24 - Skie
25 - Tiax
26 - Viconia
27 - Xan
28 - Xzar
29 - Yeslick

and the WotC dice roller with a 1d29 (at the bottom row set the "Die" column box to 29 and "Nbr" column box to 1") to determine your party.

What do you come up with?

And what are your thoughts about how you would approach the game with such a party?

-------------------------------

No-reload Speed Game Contest Leader Board:

Note: You may find that you can enjoy this challenge as a runner competes against his or her own personal best times, versus in competition with others. If you play one of these games please share about it in this thread, and we encourage you to post your own personal best! Eg, You got as far as such-and-such in x number of days, using so-and-so, etc.

We've come up with a a few variations on the basic challenge to suit various playstyles and level of challenge. See here for the core rules to the contest.

Classic
This is the basic game with the rules spelled out here. What distinguishes it from the other versions: vanilla EE (no mods) and no illegal race/class/alignments.

Best Thus Far

Solo Run:

Fighting_Ferret completed the game in 14 days 18 hours.

Gaming Approach - Purist

Zanneiros Moonshadow, male elf Shadow Dancer (Level 10)

**********************

With Party:

Fighting_Ferret completed the game in 18 days 14 hours.

Holleyrath Huntinghawk, LN elven F/M/T (6 Fighter/5 Mage/6 Thief)

Ajantis (7 Paladin) - dead
Branwen (7 Cleric) -dead
Qualyle (6 Cleric/5 Illutionist)

Gaming Approach: vanilla EE (no mods)
no custom (modded) combat scripts (no scripts at all)
first legal character rolled (no rolls had to be changed and everything fit)
Core Rules
auto-pausing (trap found, enemy sighted)
heal normally upon rest

EEKeepered Classes Allowed
Same rules as 'Classic' but with one exception: EEKeepered illegal race/class/alignment combos are allowed. This just for the fun value since the random generation system can give you some pretty wild PC builds.

Best Thus Far: (None yet.)

SCS
Same rules as 'Classic' but with one exception: you're playing with the Sword Coast Stratagems mod with at least AI Modifications installed, other components optional. Warning: Obviously this will be more difficult.

Best Thus Far:

Dexter made it to Chapter 7 (final battle), 52 days 22 hours - killed in final battle

Baelorin Loreweaver, CG Elf Fighter/Thief
Ajantis
Edwin
Quayle
Faldorn
and until chapter 6, Shar-Teel.

Eudaemonium

I have an amazing party of: Mystery NPC, Branwen, Xzar, Khalid and Ajantis.

My PC is a Female, Elven LG Blackguard. I get 1 reroll! And I get Female 6 as my voice. I guess she is conflicted.

I know this character is impossible, but I might 'Keeper her for the awesomeness.

Lemernis

My first try resulted in a number of impossibilities. Here's the second go, which actually looks pretty cool:

four digit number = 5118

5 = Female
1 = Human
1 = Fighter
8 = Kensai

three digit number = 682

6 = Chaotic Neutral; but since Chaotic is restricted for Kensai, round up to 7 = Lawful Evil
8 = eight re-rolls for Abilities*
2 = Female Voice 1

*I just did 8 rolls. The best was

Str 14
Dex 16
Con 16
Int 10
Wis 12
Cha 16

total points 84 (Rather than min-max the points, I'd probably leave this just as it is for the fun value.)

Party:

21 = Rasaad
20 = Quayle
22 = Safana
10 = Faldorn
13 = Jaheira

So... I have a Lawful Evil human Kensai with strong stats who is adventuring with Rasaad, Quayle, Safana, Faldorn, and Jaheira.

This would definitely be a challenge given the lack of tankitude. Jaheira and Faldorn would have to be using ankheg armor and shields. I'd have to devise combat strategies around the spellcasters abilities even more than I already do (with two vanilla druids no less). At least I have a thief, though!

KidCarnival

Eudaemonium said:

I have an amazing party of: Mystery NPC, Branwen, Xzar, Khalid and Ajantis.

If you dual Branwen to thief, that's almost balanced, except that Khalid, Xzar and Ajantis may disagree.

Lemernis

Eudaemonium said:

I have an amazing party of: Mystery NPC, Branwen, Xzar, Khalid and Ajantis.

My PC is a Female, Elven LG Blackguard. I get 1 reroll! And I get Female 6 as my voice. I guess she is conflicted.

I know this character is impossible, but I might 'Keeper her for the awesomeness.

LG has to get changed to LE for a Blackguard. But I think a LE female elven (via EEKeeper) Blackguard rocks.

And, as Kid said you would probably end up wanting to dual Branwen to Thief. You can't do that till the Dex tome becomes available in Chapter 5. So you're without a thief until then.

That is one of the motliest crews I have ever seen, lol. But for the lack of a Thief for chapters 1-4 it's fairly balanced, though, as Kid observed. Healing-wise, you could get by after Branwen duals until she gets her Cleric skills back.

Lemernis

It's tempting to use this system for a no-reload speed game competition...

So let's see, these are the basic rules:

Randomly Generated No-reload Speed Game Contest Rules (Classic Version)

1) It's all on the honor system.

2) You determine your PC and the party per this system. If your PC is impossible then you can

a) re-roll the PC till you get one that is,
b) round up the number for race, class, or alignment until you get something that works; your pick as to which to round up,
c) re-roll the digit for race, class, or alignment using the random number generator (minimum 0, maximum 9) or roll a 1d9 using the WotC dice roller,
d) if you roll a human and class you get is multi-class, then you could make that class combo a dual-class.

3) You can take your best of five tries at rolling the PC and party. Then begin the game.

a) If you roll the same number for a NPC twice you can roll again until you get 5 NPCs.
b) If three or more NPCs aren't available until Chapters 4 or 5 you may re-roll.
c) You are free to not take any NPC that you roll (you can choose not to use them). But the ones you roll are the only NPCs that are available to use. Accepting a NPC that you didn't roll, even temporarily, is not allowed.
d) If you wish to solo you may take the best of five rolls for your PC and then begin your game. (Endless re-rolling works against the purpose of random generation.) If you record a 'Best Thus Far' for the contest we will note that separately as 'Solo' under the appropriate Leader Board category.
e) For the purposes of the Leader Board, results completed in the "Purist" format will always trump other forms. "Purist" is: PC/Party selected from best of five rolls; Core Rules; no auto-pausing; heal normally upon rest; no custom scripts (i.e., no modded combat scripts; only the stock ones the game provides).

4) No reloading whatsoever. If the PC dies it's game over. The only exception is for a clearcut technical glitch of some sort.

5) Core rules is preferred. If your efforts result in a 'Best Thus Far' game, and you played the game at a different difficulty level, please note so that we may specify same on the Leader Board.

6) CLUA Console may be enabled and Ctrl+Y used for members of NPCs pairs not included in the party you rolled. You may also use ExploreArea() for aesthetic reasons. But otherwise no cheat codes allowed (eg, no Ctrl+J). No mods, and no EEKeepering. We're playing vanilla BG:EE. You may use features provided by the game such as the selections of combat scripts and autopause upon enemy sighted or attack. If your efforts result in a 'Best Thus Far' game, and you selected heal fully on rest, please note so that we may specify same on the leader board. "Purist": no auto-pausing, heal normally upon rest, no custom scripts.

7) Once the game begins you're free to add the NPCs you rolled in any order. You may not add any other NPCs, however. You can go ahead and Ctrl+Y the other member of a NPC pair. Or dispose of the character however you wish. They just can't be part of your travels/adventuring.

8) Recommended but not a strict rule: Regularly share some notes on the progress of your game. And/or share screenshots.

9) Tactically speaking, metagame away (you'll have in order to have a prayer of survival).

10) And the winner is... the player who completes the game in the least number of days. If none make it that far, the winner will be PC who makes it to the farthest chapter in the least number of days.

Anyway, any folks have any interest in this? Comments or suggestions on the idea? It's rules?

If enough people are in, I'll add a leader board in the topic starter.

Spoils of victory to be determined!

Lemernis

Um, one upside of such a competition is that it'd be brief because no one would get very far!

Ah well. Oh what could have been.

Probably all a bit too complex to be attractive, I guess. Plus most of us have limited time to play to begin with, and too many game ideas to play already.

SCARY_WIZARD

4026 786
So, a Male Half-Elven Stalker, Lawful Evil alignment, 8 ability score rolls, voice is Male 3. Oh wait, can't be Lawful Evil and a Ranger in this edition, I still think I'm one of the Dûnedain! So, uhh, round alignment up? I guess that would be a 0, so Lawful Good! Great, I'm Aragorn, except instead of having a King as an ancestor...well, let's not get into that, but either way, there's something special in my blood.

Rolls were: 11 22 22 26 11
Garrick, Safana, Safana, Viconia, Garrick. Wow. I like Garrick, I like Safana, and I like Viconia. I would really like two Safanas, but that's kind of getting into "don't talk about this here" territory.



Does anybody have a scroll of simulacrum? Perhaps a mirror of opposition?

No? Uhh, anyways, rerolling two of those values...
1 11 - really? - 27
So, it looks like CHARNAME would get a party of: Garrick, Safana, Viconia, Ajantis, and Xan. Yeah, I figured entropy would be what made me put Xan in my party.

I'm not interested in competing, I just wanted to post my results! I love those tables...

Lemernis

SCARY_WIZARD said:

4026 786
So, a Male Half-Elven Stalker, Lawful Evil alignment... Oh wait, can't be Lawful Evil and a Ranger in this edition... So, uhh, round alignment up? I guess that would be a 0, so Lawful Good!

Yeah, I guess keep rounding up until an alignment fits? Except in the case of a paladin, as there's only one alignment option.

FinneousPJ

Here's my gal

5018 819

Female
Pick race: Human
Fighter
Kensai

NE
1 reroll
Female6

I'm planning to dual to mage at lvl 3 or 5.

EDIT:
random name from wotc generator
Lady Unalynn Tigersoul the Strong



I actually rerolled a worse roll than the beginning one. Only 77 points. Oh well, adds to the challenge.

Party: 4 25 3 10 17

Branwen
Tiax
Mystery NPC
Faldorn
Minsc

Damn, only Branwen and Minsc available early on. Err, so it's not allowed to use other NPCs before these become available?

BTW Re: illegal combinations. Why not just roll one 0-9 random number at a time, check what you get and if it's illegal roll again. When you get a legal one move to the next 0-9 roll.

FinneousPJ

Well I began the game.

Got out of Candlekeep after doing the obligatory fetch quests.

Bought some Throwing Daggers to use early game and avoid melee. Also got some other ranged weapons for future Branwen & Minsc.

Killed a wolf.

Handled Marl and did the Firebead quest. I rushed into Nashkel to get my two early game companions – thankfully managed to avoid trouble traveling solo.

Bought a Stone to Flesh scroll at Nashkel Temple and revived Branwen. I returned to Nashkel to pick up Minsc. Tymora smiled upon us and I happened upon an Ankheg Plate Mail armor in a field That goes to Branwen.

I killed an annoying Flaming Fist Merc for his armor to give to Minsc.

Here's how my party will be early game:

FinneousPJ

Damn, Unalynn's dead to Sirine poison. What a stupid mistake.

Lemernis

Darn. How many days were you at and what chapter were you in when she raised the disintegrating hand?

I'm gonna have a go at one on the iPad, which I find a little more challengIng to manipulate the UI with, but still great fun. I'll roll a new one for variety since you just rolled the same thing I did for PC ('cept mine was LE).

FinneousPJ

28 days still in chapter one lol

Quartz

Male Human Fighter/Druid

Chaotic Evil, 9 Rerolls, Male4.

Garrick, Imoen, Neera, Tiax, Yeslick.

------------

So what happens if I get an illegal race/class combo? I can't exactly be a Multi-Classed human.

Lemernis

7239 920

7 = female
2 = human
3 = paladin
9 = blackguard

9 = chaotic evil
2 = 2 re-rolls
0 = pick my own voice set (human sounding with accent, female3 I think)

Party:

17 = Minsc
18 = Montaron
12 = Imoen
14 = Kagain
01 = Ajantis

And the best of three ability score rolls:

Str 18/86
Dex 10
Con 17
Int 10
Wis 10
Cha 14

Bastard sword ++
Two-weapon style ++

Via the WotC name generator, her name is Therlynn Songsteel. She's a Chaotic Evil (human) Blackguard.

Okay, this is actually pretty darn good. No priest, but at least Ajantis can heal a little. Really strong frontline. I can dual Imoen to Mage at level 2, although I'll then just have to hope Monty doesn't get chunked.

I can pick most everyone up right away. I've actually got a shot here, I think.

My PC's Dex sucks but I've got Minsc, Kagain, and Ajantis on the front line, so she can be a straight up damage dealer.

FinneousPJ

I guess if you don't want to alter your roll you could interpret it as forced dual class.

Lemernis

FinneousPJ said:

28 days still in chapter one lol

Well, at least for now you're at the top of the leader board!

Lemernis

Quartz said:

Male Human Fighter/Druid

Chaotic Evil, 9 Rerolls, Male4.

Garrick, Imoen, Neera, Tiax, Yeslick.

------------

So what happens if I get an illegal race/class combo? I can't exactly be a Multi-Classed human.

Well, for the class if you round up from 0 you'd go to 1, which is Fighter. For the race, if you round up from 1 or 2 for human you go to 3, elf. You can take your pick.

Or you can use the rolling tools to re-roll one or the other for a 1d9 or the number generator 0 minimum to 9 maximum for either race or class until you get something that works.

Or you could re-roll the PC.

Should we make it a rule that you have to pick a new party whenever you roll a PC? Seems like that would at times force a choice between a good party versus maybe not-so-great PC, and vice versa.

dstoltzfus

I'm going to do the no reload challenge. I'm not sure how I'm going to get rid of Xzar and Jaheira though. Maybe have them fight each other. Jaheira will kill Xzar and Monteron will avenge his death by killing Jaheira...

ChildofBhaal599

my character didnt even require any rerolls. it is a male human blackguard as chaotic evil with 1 reroll. not worrying about the voice because some voices really just annoy me

18/01(very unlucky),18,14,10,7,14

my party will be shar teel, imoen, neera, alora, and viconia.

i can already say that this party has met it's demise to a lucky roll by a bear that killed me well, that was a little sad to see it end so fast. maybe i should have remembered to change back to core rules!

Lemernis

Therlynn Songsteel the Punisher, CE Female Blackguard

Day 1 - Did the usual stuff in Candlekeep. Outside Candlekeep picked up Imoen and Monty. (Monty backstabbed Xzar while Therlynn hit him from the front.) Picked up Gorion's loot, got the diamond, and in the next map the RoP. Just getting started, that's it for tonight.

Day 2 - Headed south from crossroads map. Avoiding encounters for now until I can fill out the party. Went directly to Beregost and added Kagain. Got XP for Marl. Received scroll case from Firebeard. Monty burgled lightning wand. Rested at Borland's house. Sold loot and upgraded armor. Bought ranged weapons for Monty and Kagain. Went to High Hedge and bought Sleep and Blind for Imoen when she levels and then will be dualed to Mage. Also bought Protection from Petrification for bassilisk area. Went to FAI, got RoW. Still avoiding encounters for now. On next map north got Ajantis. Heading south from Beregost.

ChildofBhaal599

jaheira, khalid (what luck!), viconia, rasaad, eldoth

male, elf, pure thief, true neutral, 2 rerolls

18,19,17,10,7,11 stats

things are going well for now. i first headed to beregost for some free exp from marl, but i seem to think i remembered the dialogue and accidentally started a fight with him, though i think i got more exp than usual. i then promptly preceded to the friendly arm inn to recruit jaheira and khalid. being a solo thief i would not be able to take out the mage at the door, so i hid in shadows and snuck past. with jahiera and khalid now in the party, i went out and killed the mage. i got all the friendly arm quests and went to peldvale where i would recruit viconia. after viconia i planned to go to the basilisk map, but we were ambushed by a massive pack of wolves, and i saw at least two vampirics in the group. My party fled, Jaheira getting bitten in the escape and losing half health, so we are all alive. This is where I am now. I will get back to playing

btw, i have sword coast stratagems installed, so extra challenge! on core difficulty though

ChildofBhaal599

any tips on effective use of rasaad when i get him? stinks that he should be a member of my party also, no mages makes this a difficult one. luckily i got myself as a thief or i would be without a mage or a thief

dstoltzfus

@ChildofBhaal599 I was so lucky in my party composition, though Neera will probably kill me.

ChildofBhaal599

almost done nashkel mines. were are all level 4 going through the mines, but i honestly have never played with SCS, and I didn't expect to start trying to do a no reload after I installed it . Nonetheless, the mines are clear except the final room. If I ever had to sleep, I left the lower mines for somewhere where sleep wouldn't be interupted by hordes of kobolds. I left to find better equipment before I go in the final room, seeing as though we do not yet have enchanted weapons, and no mages.

ChildofBhaal599

i think i may need to put this on hold. i don't know if it is something wrong with my SCS install or the mod in general, but mulahey just spawned UNLIMITED kobolds. I killed him and started throwing potions of explosions at the kobolds, but they would just respawn! by the time I quit the floor was covered in kobold corpses! I think I will uninstall that and continue.

dstoltzfus

Well, made it to Nashkel without incident. I have my entire party made: Imoen, Monteron (Xzar was killed by Jaheira), Khalid (Jaheira was murdered by Monteron), Neera, and Minsc. Monteron is hating the "goodie-goodie" nature of the party, but has found sinister outlets for his frustrations (murdering Jaheira, robbing houses, etc.). All was well until the Gnoll Stronghold. Monteron and Kahlid died on separate trips, forcing me back to Nashkel to revive each time. The third time, Kahlid was one-shot by a polar bear ambush and I was completely broke, so we continued. With an injured Monteron tanking (Minsc was very badly hurt and I had no health potions, so he used a bow), I cleared the stronghold (Monteron murdered Dynaheir...hopefully it registered and Minsc doesn't leave...hmm...).

But, on my way back with my triumphant party, I was ambushed by an Ogre-Mage, who happened to slaughter my party with lightening sans Neera and my Blade. Both are weak and can only carry 70 lbs, so I had to leave a lot of gear. So, I'm back in Nashkel, completely broke with substandard gear.

I hope Minsc stays since I had no choice but to murder Dynaheir before dialog to keep Minsc in the party...though I just realized that I could have kicked like Imoen, murdered, and then re-enlisted Imoen >:(

EDIT: oh yeah, everyone is level one except my Blade who is now 3 and Imoen who is 2...that is the problem. If Minsc leaves should I 5-man the rest or roll for another member (since he wasn't chunked or anything)?

Scarhand

I'll bite. Male half orc Swashbuckler. Yeslick, Faldorn, Eldoth, Branwen, Neera. Hrm, this could actually work well. Granted it's a long haul til i fill out my party and it's healer heavy but it covers all the bases.

FinneousPJ

Now I feel like I wanna reroll Unalynn instead of rolling a new character. Is that cheating?

Lemernis

@dstoltzfus Okay, so I see you have PC:Blade, Imoen, Montaron, Khalid, Neera, and Minsc. NPCs that are all available early, so that's a plus! And Blade is a great class, unless you got poor Ability scores on the limited number of rolls.

dstoltzfus said:

If Minsc leaves should I 5-man the rest or roll for another member (since he wasn't chunked or anything)?

You can definitely resurrect NPCs that get killed, but if they get chunked they're gone for good. You must complete the game with only the NPCs you generated via the dice roller.

I rolled Minsc as well. Once I get to Nashkel and add him, I'll either have to complete his quest or go with five NPCs. But no-reload is so tough that I think I'll complete his quest and add him, as he is a strong contributor to the party.

Btw, meta-gaming and powergaming is perfectly fine in this no-reload contest. So what I may do is sneak past all the gnolls with a couple of potions of invisibility and add Dynaheir, then Ctrl+Y her. What with no reloads, as a rule I'm probably going to avoid as many fights as I can! Then again, I have Minsc, Kagain, Ajantis, and a Blackguard! So the gnolls shouldn't prove too difficult. But anyway.

Edit: Does Minsc need to physically see Dynaheir added to the party in order not to flip out at the end of his quest timer? Or just as long as she's added mechanically that sets the propers flags and she can be Ctrl+Y'ed or otherwise killed?