My condolences. It seems a Shadowdancer is not so OP as some folks on this forum seriously declare. That's what I've said since this kit had been introduced. One failed HiS and he's dead. He's fun to play with but his HiPS ability doesn't mean he's uber powerful.
Your RP log is a delightful reading for me. I've liked the way you RP your chaotic evil character.
I don't know how others think about it but I always read the description of someone's run and find it quite entertaining. It can have some tips for further runs, it can be interesting RP-wise, it can be used as a close call for my own run, etc.
So the more stories about our journeys the better.
I've read a lot of these before. As new as I am, I don't think I would have made it to chapter 4 without all these other people sharing their no reload stories and tactics.
My 4 digit roll was 5559: Female Half-Elf Druid Avenger My 3 digit roll was 946 Chaotic Evil (changed to true neutral pretty much by default), 4 stats rolls and Female 3 voice set. Her name, courtesy of the character name generator, Caimorel Tigersoul
The party: 27, 28, 17, 22, 23, that is Xan, Xzar, Minsc, Safana, Shar-Teel
the best stat roll was 80 points, 11 15 9 15 14 16, I changed it to 11 15 9 11 18 16
Ah, one more thing, I have SCS installed and I don't feel like uninstalling it for a game that's gonna last just a couple of hours. If anything, SCS is going to make things harder, isn't it? On the bright side, now I can recruit shar-teel in the area north of nashkel.
I guess I'll be posting the end of the game pretty soon
EDIT: well that is, killed by tarnesh. I rested in candlekeep and memorized 3xchromatic orb, I thought that the orbs, xzar's minor drains and the aid from the guards would be enough to kill tarnesh, but the timing was wrong and he managed to cast mirror image.
@bengoshi: that was my first try at playing a shadowdancer. If I would have used shadowstep to escape Tarnesh's line of sight and gotten off a HiS it would have been a victory, probably. I could see someone experienced with one to be very successful. For no-reload runs, especially at higher levels when HiS/MS is higher, being able to vanish could be an extremely useful life-saver. I can see it being OP, I just was too inexperienced to use it . Plus, I didn't prep for that fight for RP reasons. I could have had Imoen, Monty, and I in shadows at the beginning and backstabbed him to death quickly.
@bengoshi, @ChildofBhaal599: I'm glad that you guys found it entertaining. I've never RP'ed a Chaotic Evil character before. I remember someone had a thread about how to play one and not simply go on a killing spree. I think the style that I developed solves that well.
There is a great site that discusses alignments in a decently indepth way. I often use it to caputure how I play my characters: http://easydamus.com/alignment.html
@Dexter: ha...yeah, Tarnesh nabs another. Though, SCS is a totally different animal. I'd love to use it, but I don't precast my fights, so I'd be at a huge disadvantage (SCS has all mages "precast", do they not?). Maybe I'll try it when the bugs are worked out (I believe there is still a huge bug with the Mulahey fight).
Basically, doing a no-reload run, you eouldn't make it past Mulahey probably (the bug is infinite respawns of his kobald commando and skeleton minions).
For this particular challenge of using a randomly generated class and party SCS is not recommended. This contest is tough enough in a vanilla game. I think with SCS's smarter AI the odds would be astronomical to complete the game with the usual oddball party you're going to get with this random generation system.
But you know, I was thinking anyway of adding a second leader board in the topic starter for games with EEkeepered illegal race/class/alignment PCs. And that got me thinking about others variations on this theme that are possible, depending on the type of gaming challenge one is drawn to.
The categories might be:
Classic what we already have, let's call it 'classic' - vanilla EE (no mods) - no illegal race/class/alignments - meta-game freely
EEKeepered Classes Same rules as 'classic' but with one exception: EEkeepered illegal race/class/algnment combos are allowed.
SCS Same rules as 'classic' but with one exception: SCS is installed (certain core components required, others optional).
No Meta-gaming Same rules as 'classic' but with one exception: No meta-gaming. Characters behave only according to what the they would know, not what you know as a player.
SCS and No Meta-gaming Same rules as 'classic' but with two exceptions: SCS is installed and no meta-gaming.
Just as it is now, for each of these variations very few players will ever actually make it all the way to the final battle much less get the win there. The real contest for most everyone taking a crack at it, is just how far you can make it. So in a way, these are actually short games we're playing with this system. That can be kind of fun in its own way. I think that's a good (or at least realistic) way to look at it.
And of course there is the sheer fun of the constant flow of unique challenges that the randomization system gives us. But anyway, maybe we can accommodate a variety of playstyles with this system.
What do you all think? Expand the leader board to include other variations of this type of game challenge? Or would that be overdoing it?
Talk about an awkward one. Lawful Good Necromancer with a lot of evil (very evil) party.
Lawful good Necromancer could be someone who studies death magics to save people from death maybe. I'll play him as a noble scholarly-type. How to justify my party though? I have thought about just not adding Monty (what is with the random load and getting Monty...and never Xzar for that matter?), Tiax, and Dorn. That leaves me with no frontliner and no thief (or dual-able thief). Ugh.
I have no objections to additional leaderboards altho I personally am fairly unlikely to venture beyond Classic altho in a weak moment I might decide to humble myself by attempting a No Meta-game classic -
Panfire Loyalar finally met his pitiful demise. I'm kind of happy about that, though soloing with a weak mage was a little exciting. If only familiars weren't one-shot...
Prologue
Gorion wants me to prepare for a journey. He seemed quite alarmed, though he tried his best to hide his concern. If he is worried, then it must be a grave situation. I must say goodbye to all of my friends before I leave. I hope we don’t leave for too long. The library is invaluable for my research…
I was ambushed by some terrible miscreant! I panicked a bit and cast Larloch’s Minor Drain on him. I fear that I’m in no way a capable fighter. This must be the reason Gorion wants to leave so quickly. Why would anyone want to kill someone like me? My research hasn’t gotten nearly far enough to merit any kind of attention.
Jondalar and Erik complemented me on my “fighting prowess” after a brief training session. So strange. I suppose it was my nimble little pseudo dragon, Ealdwine, they were admiring?
The gatewarden insisted that I do some training. I really am in a hurry though. Gorion insists that it is dangerous and I’ve already been attacked. I’m not good in combat anyway. If we encounter anything on our travels all I can do is cast a couple spells that I’ve memorized. The gatewarden was pretty upset with my decision.
I was attacked again! I’m going to leave as quickly as I can…though I promised Hull and Dreppin I’d help them before I leave. I should rest too before I leave. Is it safe in the inn though? Ealdwine is my only protector at the moment. I am happy with his company.
Hull seemed quite upset when I returned his sword, I suppose his hangover is getting the best of him. He is right though, I have no business being an adventurer.
Dreppin was very thankful for the potion. He mentioned something about bandits. I’m glad that I have Gorion to protect me.
I will rest before we leave. I will probably need to prepare some spells, just in case. It will be good to study my necromantic books and get my mind off of the current dangers. Perhaps someday, I can cure death and heal the pestilence of old age. It will be hard to sleep tonight with the recent attempts on my life. I will hold Ealdwine close tonight.
I made it through the night ok. I didn’t sleep well, but I am ready to leave. I said goodbye to Parda and everyone. Imoen bid me farewell right before I left, hinting that she wished that she could come along. Gorion would never allow it. If only there was some way that I could stay in Candlekeep…
Gorion was killed before my eyes. He commanded me to run after we were ambushed by an armored figure and his party. He order that Gorion “hand over his ward”. They were after me. But why? I am now alone in the woods, unable to return home. Whatever will I do?
Chapter 1
Imoen seems to have escaped from Candlekeep somehow, following us until we were ambushed. She wishes to accompany me. As dangerous as it seems, I welcome her company. It seems Ealdwine, Imoen and I are just going to follow the road until we find a place to rest. Gorion mentioned something about the Friendly Arm Inn.
I met some unscrupulous fellows on the road west of Candelkeep. They offered to assist with some sort of healing, but I did not trust them. They were obviously very bad people. One was a crazed mage of some sort who threatened to have someone “hurt me”. I think that I should be more careful about who I’m around in the future. (Monteron was supposed to be in my party, but for the sake of RP, I’m going to make this run more difficult).
Along our trek to the north, Imoen and I became separated! She was scouting ahead of Ealdwine and I and I never could find her again. A woodsman was telling us about wolves in the area, so we had thought it best for her to scout the area before taking a break in our journey. We’ve handled a few gibberlings, but a wolf sounds terrible. She left many hours ago. I’ve scoured the area with no luck. Now I am alone with only Ealdwine to accompany me. Maybe she made her way to the Friendly Arm Inn? I must go there. (This was how I could kick Imoen as Lawful Good without keeping her for too much time).
My life continues to be in danger. As I wearily walked up the steps towards the Friendly Arm Inn, a man in black and green robes attacked me. I immediately evocated a magical shield around myself. Guards came rushing to help defend me. I set aim with a wand of magic missle that Imoen had given me before we were separated and fired. It struck, as did a guard’s sword along the robed man’s arm; wincing in pain, the wizard quickly projected mirror images of himself. Ealdwine flew into action, but before he could strike the assassin uttered terrible words. Soon I was overwhelmed with fear, running blindly for my life – completely without control over my actions or my faculties. By the time I came to, I was near the drawbridge. The guards had told me that they had slain the attacker and suggested that I get some rest. On his corpse were some magical scrolls, which I shall look over, and a note calling for a bounty of 200 gold coins to any who are responsible for my demise. Will my troubles ever cease?
I could not find the friends that Gorion mentioned before we left Candlekeep. Should I wait? I could not find Imoen either. Oh the worry. I am not the adventuring type, nor am I a fighter. How can I survive on my own? Where do I go from here? On my way to the room that I had purchased after an exhausting day, I met a dwarf complaining about a rogue ogre. I feel obligated to take on such a brute, but I’m not sure that I have the ability. Another, a gnome, told me that she’d give me some coin to eliminate a spider infestation in her home in Beregost. It seems like the right things to do. I think that I’ll need help first.
I slept very well last night. I think Ealdwine did as well. I scribed a couple scrolls into my spellbook that I had retrieved from the bounty hunter. A woman named Joia has requested my to retrieve a flamedance ring robbed from her by hobgoblins in the area. Thieving scum. I think I can handle the job. My honor dictates that I try. It seems easier than the other tasks that the good people of this keep have requested of me.
Ealdwine and I have managed to kill three hobgoblins and have recovered the ring, but at the cost of Ealdwine’s life. Truly, it is a sad day. He was a good friend throughout my childhood and the first spell I ever learned how to cast. If only my necromantic magics could revive him…and Gorion…I think that I will never cast such a spell again. I have seen enough friends die already. I feel weakened by his death. Where to go now…? I cannot stay at the Friendly Arm. I miss Ealdwine already.
I have made it to Beregost, managing to fight off a diseased gibberling along the way. I am fortunate to have avoided the bandits that I have heard so much about. I still feel weak from the loss of my familiar, but I must travel on. Perhaps I will find some help here.
It was good to see Firebead again. He has a small request: that I purchase an expensive book for him, which I will gladly do. Perhaps later I should rest in an inn and read a book…
Apparently, even in Beregost people are hostile. Some guy named Marl tried to pick a fight or something with me at Feldapost’s Inn. Of course I’m above such pettiness…not to mention, I’m not very good at fighting. He was a big guy.
The crackle of lighting echos in the streets as a cloaked figure escapes into the Red Sheaf Inn. Another Bhaalspawn dies.
(I interrupted her mirror image and then was grazed by the first strike of lightening. I shielded and thought the lightening was gone, but it returned and in trying to avoid it, I ran right into it. Silke was running too, so I probably could have won that one if I didn't move over a little into the lightening, as I had Larloch’s Minor Drain, darts, and a wand of magic missle. Ah well, it was rough going for Panfire Loyalar. Just playing him was a bit depressing).
*I have learned that shield is a pretty nifty spell*
I've updated my version of Drone's chart to individualize the colors for each digit and to include the Dwarven Defender kit. If the class isn't Dwarf you can round up, here to 0, in which case you get to pick if you roll a 9 for the Fighter sub-class (and race isn't dwarf). This chart is linked in the topic starter. (See full size)
would be good if you edited your first post to include that. i doubt a newcomer will see it. also we could see both on one page then instead of switching between one and five
This is really neat challenge--especially since I tend to play the same sort of character archetype over and over. My first playthrough was as a dwarf cleric. Unfortunately, she didn't get very far--she got killed trying to save Neera. Ah well, time to try again!
killed by vampiric wolves still in chapter 2 when I got a little lazy and didn't scout ahead for the second wolf pack in the SotM map on the way to the bassilisk map. I had just dualed Immy to mage too.
I don't think I will play this challenge on iPad again, as there is no room for error and the UI for iPad is just a bit tricky. PC only for this contest for me.
killed by vampiric wolves still in chapter 2 when I got a little lazy and didn't scout ahead for the second wolf pack in the SotM map on the way to the bassilisk map. I had just dualed Immy to mage too.
I don't think I will play this challenge on iPad again, as there is no room for error and the UI for iPad is just a bit tricky. PC only for this contest for me.
probably for the best, though i would be impressed if the person to win it all were on ipad
No early thief...at least no real alignment issues (Alora will be interesting). I've never tried a shapeshifter either. I don't think I'll do a RP-journal thing this time though (although, with a Lycanthrope, it would be interesting).
Stocaryn was one-shot by Tarnesh . Not hard since I had no party members. I was hoping doom and werewolf form would do the trick (and magic resistance). I didn't want to be a shapeshifter anyway Tarnesh! :P
a lot of people tend to die to tarnesh. i wouldn't much both going to fai though unless i can have khalid and/or jaheira
A few other reasons to keep it on your list would be to trigger Dorns encounter either to recruit him or for the +1 sword drop, to get the mage ring, and perhaps to complete Joias quest for the +1 rep.
If any of these are going to be on your list it makes sense to get them done asap when you are closest to FAI than using up a day or more of gametime to return for them (since it's a speed competition and time and travel matter)
The adventure of a fair warrior Graorin Dragonsbane (18 18 18 13 6 12) has been broken off quite suddenly. A bandit ambush on the road from the very first area surprised him a lot. Still without a companion, Graorin tried to escape the fight but was shot down by two arrows. How many times can this (I mean, an ambush after the Gorion’s map) happen? 1 in 25 I guess. And what an unlucky concurrence indeed!
But I don’t droop.
My new random game will be as follows.
3475 613 26 11 8 6 19
Male, elf, thief, bounty hunter, chaotic neutral, only 1 roll available, 2 Male voice.
Viconia, Garrick, Edwin, Dorn, Neera.
Wow!
The things has become even more interesting when I used a WoTC name generator.
Male elf rogue … Jagen Moonshadow.
I’ve decided to trick it up a bit and his name became Jagen H’gar!
He’ll be the single thief in the party with the focus on setting and disarming traps. Viconia will be the main tank in melee (due to her high DEX and thus low AC)+cleric, Garrick will be responsible for item identifying and ranged attacks+minor magic supply, Edwin will be our main mage, Dorn will have the most DPS and Neera… well, she’ll bring some more adrenalin to this run.
The page with attributes had 75 points and when I’ve rerolled it gave me 78. Well, not much but it’s enough I think.
So, Jagen has 18 19 15 9 7 10.
All 40 thieving points went to ST – I’ll try to roleplay a bounty hunter as much as possible.
Due to the elven innate bonus to THACO with bows and swords I’ve chosen Short bow and Scimitar/Wakidzashi weapon proficiencies at the start.
Initial thoughts: I think we're going to be OK. Five early recruits and one of the best spell casters, who even gets to use the free archmage cloak.
I'll update this with stats later.
OK I finally got to start this game.
The roll I kept was an 86 which gave me 16, 15, 10, 15, 16, 14 I changed that roll to 16, 16, 14, 11, 16, 13, by also using the 5 of my roll to allow reassigning that many points.
Did the Candlekeep quests and got the gear after Gorion's death (yes, even the diamond). I didn't bother recruiting Monty and Xzar for their stuff as I feel it isn't in the spirit of the game to do so. In the next area I grabbed the ring of protection and headed north the to FAI. En route tho the FAI Imoen and I (yes, I got Imoen in my group) were ambushed by 8-10 bandits(this random encounter is so lame at level 1 that we just tried to high tail it out of the area) Imoen was hit for 5 damage, but managed to drink a healing potion she almost made it to the edge of the map for the clean escape, but was hit 2x in a row killing here literally 2 steps from the edge. I picked up her stuff and managed to get out only taking 1 arrow for my troubles for 3 damage. At the FAI my first step was to get Imoen back. I want to the temple and used 100 of my 103 gold to raise Imoen. I then cast my only cure light wounds on here bringing her up to 7 hp. I then cast remove fear on us and it was off to the Inn where we confronted Tarnesh. As soon as he turned hostile, I cast command word: die on him and he dropped to the ground where he was finished off easily by the surrounding guards and Imoen and myself. We went inside and spoke with Dorn (we don't et to recruit him, but the free armor before the mines is nice). We picked up Jaheira and Khalid (yeah I got the pair of them in my party). We then headed to Beregost, stopping in to kill an ogre who had a useful belt o the way, where we completed a few quests and picked up the stupefier mace. I saved here to pick back up later.
If you mean the elven chain from the Dorn encounter you will be disappointed as a recent patch moved it to later in the game - there is however a nice sword+1 (one of the scimitar types I forget which one)
Initial thoughts: I think we're going to be OK. Five early recruits and one of the best spell casters, who even gets to use the free archmage cloak.
I'll update this with stats later.
OK I finally got to start this game.
The roll I kept was an 86 which gave me 16, 15, 10, 15, 16, 14 I changed that roll to 16, 16, 14, 11, 16, 13, by also using the 5 of my roll to allow reassigning that many points.
Did the Candlekeep quests and got the gear after Gorion's death (yes, even the diamond). I didn't bother recruiting Monty and Xzar for their stuff as I feel it isn't in the spirit of the game to do so. In the next area I grabbed the ring of protection and headed north the to FAI. En route tho the FAI Imoen and I (yes, I got Imoen in my group) were ambushed by 8-10 bandits(this random encounter is so lame at level 1 that we just tried to high tail it out of the area) Imoen was hit for 5 damage, but managed to drink a healing potion she almost made it to the edge of the map for the clean escape, but was hit 2x in a row killing here literally 2 steps from the edge. I picked up her stuff and managed to get out only taking 1 arrow for my troubles for 3 damage. At the FAI my first step was to get Imoen back. I want to the temple and used 100 of my 103 gold to raise Imoen. I then cast my only cure light wounds on here bringing her up to 7 hp. I then cast remove fear on us and it was off to the Inn where we confronted Tarnesh. As soon as he turned hostile, I cast command word: die on him and he dropped to the ground where he was finished off easily by the surrounding guards and Imoen and myself. We went inside and spoke with Dorn (we don't et to recruit him, but the free armor before the mines is nice). We picked up Jaheira and Khalid (yeah I got the pair of them in my party). We then headed to Beregost, stopping in to kill an ogre who had a useful belt o the way, where we completed a few quests and picked up the stupefier mace. I saved here to pick back up later.
Krolun is currently in Nashkel with Imoen, Garrick & Xan gazing at the inert form of the great Nimbul. Our final two recruits are Coran and Yeslick so no further help on the immediate horizon.
Krolun with his 19 str & con is proving to be very resilient and powerful currently weilding the Stupifier & Large Sheild with ankeg plate with 3 pips in mace. He also has a pip in bastard sword and one in TWS in case he decides to go with two weapons later.
Imoen & Garrick are using ranged mostly but Imoen is doing some backstabbing and I just gave her a pip in longsword so we are off Greywolf hunting next.
Xan at 8hp is the definition of squishiness and has died twice since being recruited - I made the mistake of recruiting him before taking down Mulahey thinking he might have a spel or two memorized which of course he did not - so I just had him lurking way in the back corner of his room away from the battle and still a skelly found and killed him while we were busy with the rest of them. Imoen got held & died as well so we left the Amazons for another day (maybe) and Garrick & Krolun headed back west from the exit.
We raised them in Nashkel then went to the carnival to sell and rest before taking out Nimbul who also killed Xan. Imoen has died several times thus far including the Silke battle and a random encounter in addition to the mines.
We are currently at 8 days 19 hours and I'm thinking Greywolf next then maybe Bassilus and Melicamp then Tranzig - I don't think we are going to go to the coast - no one is in desperate need of the dex gloves altho the con tome would give Krolun regeneration so we may do that if we live long enough...LOL
Comments
My condolences. It seems a Shadowdancer is not so OP as some folks on this forum seriously declare. That's what I've said since this kit had been introduced. One failed HiS and he's dead. He's fun to play with but his HiPS ability doesn't mean he's uber powerful.
Your RP log is a delightful reading for me. I've liked the way you RP your chaotic evil character.
I don't know how others think about it but I always read the description of someone's run and find it quite entertaining. It can have some tips for further runs, it can be interesting RP-wise, it can be used as a close call for my own run, etc.
So the more stories about our journeys the better.
My 4 digit roll was 5559:
Female Half-Elf Druid Avenger
My 3 digit roll was 946
Chaotic Evil (changed to true neutral pretty much by default), 4 stats rolls and Female 3 voice set.
Her name, courtesy of the character name generator, Caimorel Tigersoul
The party: 27, 28, 17, 22, 23, that is Xan, Xzar, Minsc, Safana, Shar-Teel
the best stat roll was 80 points, 11 15 9 15 14 16, I changed it to 11 15 9 11 18 16
Ah, one more thing, I have SCS installed and I don't feel like uninstalling it for a game that's gonna last just a couple of hours. If anything, SCS is going to make things harder, isn't it? On the bright side, now I can recruit shar-teel in the area north of nashkel.
I guess I'll be posting the end of the game pretty soon
EDIT: well that is, killed by tarnesh. I rested in candlekeep and memorized 3xchromatic orb, I thought that the orbs, xzar's minor drains and the aid from the guards would be enough to kill tarnesh, but the timing was wrong and he managed to cast mirror image.
@bengoshi, @ChildofBhaal599: I'm glad that you guys found it entertaining. I've never RP'ed a Chaotic Evil character before. I remember someone had a thread about how to play one and not simply go on a killing spree. I think the style that I developed solves that well.
There is a great site that discusses alignments in a decently indepth way. I often use it to caputure how I play my characters: http://easydamus.com/alignment.html
@Dexter: ha...yeah, Tarnesh nabs another. Though, SCS is a totally different animal. I'd love to use it, but I don't precast my fights, so I'd be at a huge disadvantage (SCS has all mages "precast", do they not?). Maybe I'll try it when the bugs are worked out (I believe there is still a huge bug with the Mulahey fight).
Basically, doing a no-reload run, you eouldn't make it past Mulahey probably (the bug is infinite respawns of his kobald commando and skeleton minions).
But you know, I was thinking anyway of adding a second leader board in the topic starter for games with EEkeepered illegal race/class/alignment PCs. And that got me thinking about others variations on this theme that are possible, depending on the type of gaming challenge one is drawn to.
The categories might be:
Classic
what we already have, let's call it 'classic'
- vanilla EE (no mods)
- no illegal race/class/alignments
- meta-game freely
EEKeepered Classes
Same rules as 'classic' but with one exception: EEkeepered illegal race/class/algnment combos are allowed.
SCS
Same rules as 'classic' but with one exception: SCS is installed (certain core components required, others optional).
No Meta-gaming
Same rules as 'classic' but with one exception: No meta-gaming. Characters behave only according to what the they would know, not what you know as a player.
SCS and No Meta-gaming
Same rules as 'classic' but with two exceptions: SCS is installed and no meta-gaming.
Just as it is now, for each of these variations very few players will ever actually make it all the way to the final battle much less get the win there. The real contest for most everyone taking a crack at it, is just how far you can make it. So in a way, these are actually short games we're playing with this system. That can be kind of fun in its own way. I think that's a good (or at least realistic) way to look at it.
And of course there is the sheer fun of the constant flow of unique challenges that the randomization system gives us. But anyway, maybe we can accommodate a variety of playstyles with this system.
What do you all think? Expand the leader board to include other variations of this type of game challenge? Or would that be overdoing it?
Panfire Loyalar
Male
Human
Necromancer
Lawful Good
3 Rerolls: 8/12/15/16/16/13
10,27,25,6,11,18
Party:
10 - Faldorn
27 - Xan
25 - Tiax
6 - Dorn
11 - Garrick
18 - Montaron
Talk about an awkward one. Lawful Good Necromancer with a lot of evil (very evil) party.
Lawful good Necromancer could be someone who studies death magics to save people from death maybe. I'll play him as a noble scholarly-type. How to justify my party though? I have thought about just not adding Monty (what is with the random load and getting Monty...and never Xzar for that matter?), Tiax, and Dorn. That leaves me with no frontliner and no thief (or dual-able thief). Ugh.
Prologue
Gorion wants me to prepare for a journey. He seemed quite alarmed, though he tried his best to hide his concern. If he is worried, then it must be a grave situation. I must say goodbye to all of my friends before I leave. I hope we don’t leave for too long. The library is invaluable for my research…
I was ambushed by some terrible miscreant! I panicked a bit and cast Larloch’s Minor Drain on him. I fear that I’m in no way a capable fighter. This must be the reason Gorion wants to leave so quickly. Why would anyone want to kill someone like me? My research hasn’t gotten nearly far enough to merit any kind of attention.
Jondalar and Erik complemented me on my “fighting prowess” after a brief training session. So strange. I suppose it was my nimble little pseudo dragon, Ealdwine, they were admiring?
The gatewarden insisted that I do some training. I really am in a hurry though. Gorion insists that it is dangerous and I’ve already been attacked. I’m not good in combat anyway. If we encounter anything on our travels all I can do is cast a couple spells that I’ve memorized. The gatewarden was pretty upset with my decision.
I was attacked again! I’m going to leave as quickly as I can…though I promised Hull and Dreppin I’d help them before I leave. I should rest too before I leave. Is it safe in the inn though? Ealdwine is my only protector at the moment. I am happy with his company.
Hull seemed quite upset when I returned his sword, I suppose his hangover is getting the best of him. He is right though, I have no business being an adventurer.
Dreppin was very thankful for the potion. He mentioned something about bandits. I’m glad that I have Gorion to protect me.
I will rest before we leave. I will probably need to prepare some spells, just in case. It will be good to study my necromantic books and get my mind off of the current dangers. Perhaps someday, I can cure death and heal the pestilence of old age. It will be hard to sleep tonight with the recent attempts on my life. I will hold Ealdwine close tonight.
I made it through the night ok. I didn’t sleep well, but I am ready to leave. I said goodbye to Parda and everyone. Imoen bid me farewell right before I left, hinting that she wished that she could come along. Gorion would never allow it. If only there was some way that I could stay in Candlekeep…
Gorion was killed before my eyes. He commanded me to run after we were ambushed by an armored figure and his party. He order that Gorion “hand over his ward”. They were after me. But why? I am now alone in the woods, unable to return home. Whatever will I do?
Chapter 1
Imoen seems to have escaped from Candlekeep somehow, following us until we were ambushed. She wishes to accompany me. As dangerous as it seems, I welcome her company. It seems Ealdwine, Imoen and I are just going to follow the road until we find a place to rest. Gorion mentioned something about the Friendly Arm Inn.
I met some unscrupulous fellows on the road west of Candelkeep. They offered to assist with some sort of healing, but I did not trust them. They were obviously very bad people. One was a crazed mage of some sort who threatened to have someone “hurt me”. I think that I should be more careful about who I’m around in the future. (Monteron was supposed to be in my party, but for the sake of RP, I’m going to make this run more difficult).
Along our trek to the north, Imoen and I became separated! She was scouting ahead of Ealdwine and I and I never could find her again. A woodsman was telling us about wolves in the area, so we had thought it best for her to scout the area before taking a break in our journey. We’ve handled a few gibberlings, but a wolf sounds terrible. She left many hours ago. I’ve scoured the area with no luck. Now I am alone with only Ealdwine to accompany me. Maybe she made her way to the Friendly Arm Inn? I must go there. (This was how I could kick Imoen as Lawful Good without keeping her for too much time).
My life continues to be in danger. As I wearily walked up the steps towards the Friendly Arm Inn, a man in black and green robes attacked me. I immediately evocated a magical shield around myself. Guards came rushing to help defend me. I set aim with a wand of magic missle that Imoen had given me before we were separated and fired. It struck, as did a guard’s sword along the robed man’s arm; wincing in pain, the wizard quickly projected mirror images of himself. Ealdwine flew into action, but before he could strike the assassin uttered terrible words. Soon I was overwhelmed with fear, running blindly for my life – completely without control over my actions or my faculties. By the time I came to, I was near the drawbridge. The guards had told me that they had slain the attacker and suggested that I get some rest. On his corpse were some magical scrolls, which I shall look over, and a note calling for a bounty of 200 gold coins to any who are responsible for my demise. Will my troubles ever cease?
I could not find the friends that Gorion mentioned before we left Candlekeep. Should I wait? I could not find Imoen either. Oh the worry. I am not the adventuring type, nor am I a fighter. How can I survive on my own? Where do I go from here? On my way to the room that I had purchased after an exhausting day, I met a dwarf complaining about a rogue ogre. I feel obligated to take on such a brute, but I’m not sure that I have the ability. Another, a gnome, told me that she’d give me some coin to eliminate a spider infestation in her home in Beregost. It seems like the right things to do. I think that I’ll need help first.
I slept very well last night. I think Ealdwine did as well. I scribed a couple scrolls into my spellbook that I had retrieved from the bounty hunter. A woman named Joia has requested my to retrieve a flamedance ring robbed from her by hobgoblins in the area. Thieving scum. I think I can handle the job. My honor dictates that I try. It seems easier than the other tasks that the good people of this keep have requested of me.
Ealdwine and I have managed to kill three hobgoblins and have recovered the ring, but at the cost of Ealdwine’s life. Truly, it is a sad day. He was a good friend throughout my childhood and the first spell I ever learned how to cast. If only my necromantic magics could revive him…and Gorion…I think that I will never cast such a spell again. I have seen enough friends die already. I feel weakened by his death. Where to go now…? I cannot stay at the Friendly Arm. I miss Ealdwine already.
I have made it to Beregost, managing to fight off a diseased gibberling along the way. I am fortunate to have avoided the bandits that I have heard so much about. I still feel weak from the loss of my familiar, but I must travel on. Perhaps I will find some help here.
It was good to see Firebead again. He has a small request: that I purchase an expensive book for him, which I will gladly do. Perhaps later I should rest in an inn and read a book…
Apparently, even in Beregost people are hostile. Some guy named Marl tried to pick a fight or something with me at Feldapost’s Inn. Of course I’m above such pettiness…not to mention, I’m not very good at fighting. He was a big guy.
The crackle of lighting echos in the streets as a cloaked figure escapes into the Red Sheaf Inn. Another Bhaalspawn dies.
(I interrupted her mirror image and then was grazed by the first strike of lightening. I shielded and thought the lightening was gone, but it returned and in trying to avoid it, I ran right into it. Silke was running too, so I probably could have won that one if I didn't move over a little into the lightening, as I had Larloch’s Minor Drain, darts, and a wand of magic missle. Ah well, it was rough going for Panfire Loyalar. Just playing him was a bit depressing).
*I have learned that shield is a pretty nifty spell*
Imoen
Montaron
Kagain
Ajantis
Minsc
killed by vampiric wolves still in chapter 2 when I got a little lazy and didn't scout ahead for the second wolf pack in the SotM map on the way to the bassilisk map. I had just dualed Immy to mage too.
I don't think I will play this challenge on iPad again, as there is no room for error and the UI for iPad is just a bit tricky. PC only for this contest for me.
Stocaryn
Female
Human
Druid Shapeshifter
True Neutral
2 Rerolls 10/15/16/10/12/15
6,26,25,2,3,19
6 - Dorn
26 - Viconia
25 - Tiax
2 - Alora
3 - (Mystery NPC)
19 - Neera
No early thief...at least no real alignment issues (Alora will be interesting). I've never tried a shapeshifter either. I don't think I'll do a RP-journal thing this time though (although, with a Lycanthrope, it would be interesting).
EDIT: fastest game I've ever played I think.
If any of these are going to be on your list it makes sense to get them done asap when you are closest to FAI than using up a day or more of gametime to return for them (since it's a speed competition and time and travel matter)
But I don’t droop.
My new random game will be as follows.
3475 613 26 11 8 6 19
Male, elf, thief, bounty hunter, chaotic neutral, only 1 roll available, 2 Male voice.
Viconia, Garrick, Edwin, Dorn, Neera.
Wow!
The things has become even more interesting when I used a WoTC name generator.
Male elf rogue … Jagen Moonshadow.
I’ve decided to trick it up a bit and his name became Jagen H’gar!
He’ll be the single thief in the party with the focus on setting and disarming traps. Viconia will be the main tank in melee (due to her high DEX and thus low AC)+cleric, Garrick will be responsible for item identifying and ranged attacks+minor magic supply, Edwin will be our main mage, Dorn will have the most DPS and Neera… well, she’ll bring some more adrenalin to this run.
The page with attributes had 75 points and when I’ve rerolled it gave me 78. Well, not much but it’s enough I think.
So, Jagen has 18 19 15 9 7 10.
All 40 thieving points went to ST – I’ll try to roleplay a bounty hunter as much as possible.
Due to the elven innate bonus to THACO with bows and swords I’ve chosen Short bow and Scimitar/Wakidzashi weapon proficiencies at the start.
The roll I kept was an 86 which gave me 16, 15, 10, 15, 16, 14 I changed that roll to 16, 16, 14, 11, 16, 13, by also using the 5 of my roll to allow reassigning that many points.
Did the Candlekeep quests and got the gear after Gorion's death (yes, even the diamond). I didn't bother recruiting Monty and Xzar for their stuff as I feel it isn't in the spirit of the game to do so. In the next area I grabbed the ring of protection and headed north the to FAI. En route tho the FAI Imoen and I (yes, I got Imoen in my group) were ambushed by 8-10 bandits(this random encounter is so lame at level 1 that we just tried to high tail it out of the area) Imoen was hit for 5 damage, but managed to drink a healing potion she almost made it to the edge of the map for the clean escape, but was hit 2x in a row killing here literally 2 steps from the edge. I picked up her stuff and managed to get out only taking 1 arrow for my troubles for 3 damage. At the FAI my first step was to get Imoen back. I want to the temple and used 100 of my 103 gold to raise Imoen. I then cast my only cure light wounds on here bringing her up to 7 hp. I then cast remove fear on us and it was off to the Inn where we confronted Tarnesh. As soon as he turned hostile, I cast command word: die on him and he dropped to the ground where he was finished off easily by the surrounding guards and Imoen and myself. We went inside and spoke with Dorn (we don't et to recruit him, but the free armor before the mines is nice). We picked up Jaheira and Khalid (yeah I got the pair of them in my party). We then headed to Beregost, stopping in to kill an ogre who had a useful belt o the way, where we completed a few quests and picked up the stupefier mace. I saved here to pick back up later.
If you mean the elven chain from the Dorn encounter you will be disappointed as a recent patch moved it to later in the game - there is however a nice sword+1 (one of the scimitar types I forget which one)
Good luck!
Krolun Whiteclaw & Co.
Krolun is currently in Nashkel with Imoen, Garrick & Xan gazing at the inert form of the great Nimbul. Our final two recruits are Coran and Yeslick so no further help on the immediate horizon.
Krolun with his 19 str & con is proving to be very resilient and powerful currently weilding the Stupifier & Large Sheild with ankeg plate with 3 pips in mace. He also has a pip in bastard sword and one in TWS in case he decides to go with two weapons later.
Imoen & Garrick are using ranged mostly but Imoen is doing some backstabbing and I just gave her a pip in longsword so we are off Greywolf hunting next.
Xan at 8hp is the definition of squishiness and has died twice since being recruited - I made the mistake of recruiting him before taking down Mulahey thinking he might have a spel or two memorized which of course he did not - so I just had him lurking way in the back corner of his room away from the battle and still a skelly found and killed him while we were busy with the rest of them. Imoen got held & died as well so we left the Amazons for another day (maybe) and Garrick & Krolun headed back west from the exit.
We raised them in Nashkel then went to the carnival to sell and rest before taking out Nimbul who also killed Xan. Imoen has died several times thus far including the Silke battle and a random encounter in addition to the mines.
We are currently at 8 days 19 hours and I'm thinking Greywolf next then maybe Bassilus and Melicamp then Tranzig - I don't think we are going to go to the coast - no one is in desperate need of the dex gloves altho the con tome would give Krolun regeneration so we may do that if we live long enough...LOL
...perfection.