Jamnan Male Half-Orc Barbarian Lawful Neutral 1 Re-roll 19/15/17/9/8/9 21,25,1,24,5 21 - Rasaad 25 - Tiax 1 - Ajantis 27 - Xan (re-rolled from [24 - Skie], since I didn't have Eldoth) 5 - Coran
I'm doing RP/SCS. It includes the replaced NPC's, so I will be getting Tiax in Beregost (I think I will skip Tarnesh for the beginning ). I might level a bit, then get Ajantis. The party looks good. I have ranged, front-liners, just enough thieving, and a mage (though low on the mage power: which will hurt in SCS). I hope Ajantis doesn't kill Tiax :X.
Ouch...got a 77 roll though . Not a smart or personable guy.
The thing I find most amusing is only 4 (four) rests.
The screen shot at the doppelganger battle shows Kivan and Safana were tired while at the final battle they were fresh - it means 1 (one) of all rests took place before the final battle. So, 3 rests remain.
"day 27 15 hours chapter 5 end. we are now returning to duke eltan to end it"
So I can assume 3 rests took place somewhere between 27 days. Also, maybe the very first rest after Gorion's death is not taken into consideration, so I can assume there could be 4 rests between 27 days.
The maximum number of days without being fatigued (and I talk only about characters with 18 CON) is 1,83. For every four hours beyond the "hours without fatigue" mark, the character will receive a –1 luck penalty (–1 to all rolls).
So, @ChildofBhaal599 managed to succeed on the average at 7.17 days fatigued (and I talk only about characters with 18 CON) = 172 hours (43 times a character receives –1 penalty) or on the average at 4.92 days fatigued (if there were 4 rests between 27 days) = 118 hours (29 times a character receives –1 penalty).
It's really unbelievable!
It's interesting as well that at the screen shot of basilisks at Candlekeep "day 27 21 hours" everybody is fresh.
It means the last rest took place at least not more than 36 hours before, day 26 9 hours. This multiplies the number of times characters received –1 penalty during the early stages of the game (Nashkel, Cloakwood) even more.
Another thing that I payed attention to is the time between the first enter to BG "day 26 17 hours, outside of baldurs gate" and "day 27 15 hours chapter 5 end. we are now returning to duke eltan to end it" and day 27 21 hours - the screen shot of basilisks at Candlekeep.
So, completing the main quest related to the Iron Throne and doing some other stuff in the city (seven suns and merchant league, Degrodel's house), travelling from BG to Candlekeep took only 1 day 4 hours.
Well we moved to a new apartment last weekend so it's been a busy couple of days. Last night I had time to play and rolled a Sorcerer, Elf. Unfortunately I forgot to save the notepad file I wrote the roll down in so I had to reroll the two last companions I hadn't picked up yet. I hope that's fine as I already finished Bandit Camp @ ca. 10 days in.
Jamnan Male Half-Orc Barbarian Lawful Neutral 1 Re-roll 19/15/17/9/8/9 21,25,1,24,5 21 - Rasaad 25 - Tiax 1 - Ajantis 27 - Xan (re-rolled from [24 - Skie], since I didn't have Eldoth) 5 - Coran
I'm doing RP/SCS. It includes the replaced NPC's, so I will be getting Tiax in Beregost (I think I will skip Tarnesh for the beginning ). I might level a bit, then get Ajantis. The party looks good. I have ranged, front-liners, just enough thieving, and a mage (though low on the mage power: which will hurt in SCS). I hope Ajantis doesn't kill Tiax :X.
Ouch...got a 77 roll though . Not a smart or personable guy.
Well, however far you make it you're assured a spot on the leader board as the first to declare an attempt at 'SCS & No-Meta-gaming'. That is awesome.
Not to be overly strict (we're not getting rule-crazy, this is for fun!) but I'll restate the reminder that if you roll a member of a NPC pair you're supposed to go with that: you may simply Ctrl+Y the other member of the pair, or otherwise dispose of them however you wish.
In the case of Skie, though, IIRC she refuses to join you if Eldoth isn't in your party, right? (It's been over half a decade since I used Eldoth and Skie.) So if that's correct, clearly that would warrant a re-roll.
Last call: Is everyone good with the following rule change? I.e., 2e below highlighted in red:
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, e) in the four digit number, if you roll a 0 for the fourth digit you may choose a multi-class which includes the Class you rolled for the third digit as allowable by the race and alignment that you already otherwise have rolled.
3) You can take your best of three 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.
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.
6) No CLUA Console or cheat codes allowed. No mods, including EEKeepering. We're playing vanilla BG:EE.
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.
@bengoshi from what I remember, the rests were before bandit camp,right upon hitting baldurs gate (maybe at fai), in the maze before undercity (why we are rested), and the last I think was when I was done nashkel. I just know I had 4 bhaalspawn powers and always had a dream. Also the city doesn't have travel times, nor does going back to candlekeep. We were teleported it seems
i make a manuel save before getting off the game for whatever reason, and quicksave to make sure that if i die, i can get the most accurate time possible. i think that random game 2 was the last inquisitor i had, or maybe i had left a save in this game at the very beginning.
Re: Skie - would it perhaps be a fair option if you roll Skie but not Eldoth that you be allowed to pick up Eldoth and keep him until you get to BG City and recruit Skie and then remove him however you see fit? I personally have no interest in Skie or Eldoth but it would allow folks that want to use Skie a better chance at getting her than only rolling both of them.
In the spirit of the challenge you would of course have to go get her ASAP once entering Chap 5 and not use it as a method to keep Eldoth around without rolling him.
Just a thought - as mentioned it makes no difference to me as I have never used either one and I would not want the option to re-roll if you get her alone to be removed just wondering if we should add this as an option.
Another option for adding Skie without Eldoth might be to CLUA and add Eldoth temporarily just to be able to have Skie join, and then Ctrl+Y Eldoth.
If you already have a party of six you'd have to temporarily dismiss another party member in order to CLUA/add Eldoth. That could potentially get messy if the NPC then tries to leave and go to FAI or what-have-you. Although I would imagine that you could pause the game quickly enough before the NPCs actually disappears to get that dismissed NPC to rejoin then.
Edit: Okay, thinking more on this, actually, you'd have to have an open slot for Skie. (Duh.)
So when you get to Skie you CLUA Eldoth and add him to the party. It's then if your party is full that you run into a potential problem when you ask Skie to join. Because you'll be forced to remove someone other Eldoth just for a second or so (before you Ctrl + Y Eldoth).
But I'm sure it's possible to manage this fast enough by very quickly pausing and unpausing the game between actions:
Getting everyone close together is probably a good idea. The party member that gets removed speaks their kick-out dialogue. And the instant after that happens immediately pause--don't let that NPC disappear (i.e., if they are scripted to have a kick-out destination or leave for good). Then Ctrl+Y Eldoth and instantly pause. And then via the 'initiate conversation' button click on the removed party member again to have them rejoin.
Again, it can probably be done fast enough that the dismissed party member won't have time to walk off and disappear.
Another option for adding Skie without Eldoth might be to CLUA and add Eldoth temporarily just to be able to have Skie join, and then Ctrl+Y Eldoth.
If you already have a party of six you'd have to temporarily dismiss another party member in order to CLUA/add Eldoth. That could potentially get messy if the NPC then tries to leave and go to FAI or what-have-you. Although I would imagine that you could pause the game quickly enough before the NPCs actually disappears to get that dismissed NPC to rejoin then.
Thats another good option and the issues with a party of six are actually the same as they would be if you picked up Eldoth along the way and had to dismiss someone to let Skie in before you got rid of Eldoth - I don't use CLUA myself but as I mentioned I'm not keen on adding Skie anyway and no doubt most of the folks in the challenge use it.
The dismissing would be most problematic for mixed alignment parties (which the randomness probably gives you quite often) and your current rep at the time and where that falls on the companions like/dislike scale - if a companion is not pleased with the group dismissing them generally means they leave for good.
Darthyra "Deathdealer" Iceblood CE Half-orc Assassin Str 19 Dex 18 Con 14 Int 10 Wis 10 Cha 9
Quarterstaff + Two-handed Weapon Style +
Montaron Minsc Edwin Quayle Alora
I have Edwin and Minsc together. What is recommended for when I get to Dynaheir? I'm thinking I might I dismiss Edwin temporarily (although will he stay put? or does he go somewhere? leave for good?). Then I would add Dynaheir, and Ctrl+Y her. Then of course I would re-add Edwin.
Because if I add Dynaheir and Edwin is in the party, doesn't he leave for good?
The continuation of the story of Noamilais Greensleeves, elven cleric of Helm....
Not a lot to add we returned to Nashkel where we received our reward for our investigation of the mines. Sold some more loot and killed Nimbul (gotta love it when hold person works). We then went to Beregost to turn in an Ankheg shell we got by fighting an Ankheg just west of the mine exit. We opted for the armor. Totally forgot to kill Tranzig. We then went to Larswood and got Baeloth and met up with some bandits who took us back to their encampment. We were attacked by Tazok, which was a really tough time since we were very low on magic and healing (he has quite high saves as well apparently he saved vs the wand of paralysis at a 2) We managed to be accepted into the bandit fold, but not without losing Safana in the fight (That was a really big blow, becasue I needed her thiefing abilities to unlock the chests in the area for some nice loot, so we returned to the FAI to get her revived and then back to the bandit camp.
I had to save here, but the next session should get the bandit camp fight and the cloakwood fights. I'm at 11 or 12 days, so I'm a bit behind the ball ChildofBhall599 set, but hope to make up some time in Cloakwood.
@fighting_ferret probably shouldn't have opted for armor though. I believe it takes a full month (correct me if I am wrong) and you need to return to beregost to get it. If I am wrong, best time to get it is returning to BG after candlekeep.
Well, I didn't really think about the whole ctrl Y thing (I've never really used the CLUA much...what does it do? Make them disappear?). Hmm...I think I'll alter the format, so if I roll a "24 - Skie", the last party member roll is removed for Eldoth. That pairing certainly is a strange one, huh? Rather than get them together like the rest of the pairs (minus Dynaheir, I guess, but you don't need both to have them: simply have Dynaheir die first or get her first): "Here...take this NPC mandatorily, for this other NPC at the very end of the game (a thief, no less, whose skill points you have no control over). I don't think I'll alter the current one, simply because I've already planned it out and stuff .
Actually, I can get Eldoth at the beginning. SCS has the "Move NPCs to more convenient locations" feature:
Eldoth - moves from the Cloakwood to the woods south of the Friendly Arm. Quayle - moves from Baldur's Gate to the Nashkel Carnival Shar-Teel - moves from a fairly inaccessible bit of wilderness to the Nashkel-Beregost road Tiax - moves from Baldur's Gate to Beregost Viconia - moves from the eastern forest to the woods south of Beregost.
Lol, I do use it for testing. I figured for a challenge of this type where it's all-out meta-gaming there's no harm in using it.
In an ordinary game I break up NPC pairs by taking the one I wish to remove inside a building, and leave the one I want to keep outside, and then remove the unwanted NPC. Just as long as it's a building or floor of one that I won't have to visit again. But anyway, that's the way I normally do it.
@ChildofBhall599@Lemernis Well I thought that if I get a chance to get back to Beregost... then it would be nice...so what you suggested... after Candlekeep is what I was planning on.
(The continued adventures of Naomilais Greensleeves, cleric of Helm)
We were able to return to the bandit camp, loot it , rest, and then take on the guards in Tazok's tent. We came out a little banged up (Naomilais, Jaheira and Khalid had taken a few hits, and Imoen got caught with a Melf's Acid Arrow, but we were successful. We then went to the Cloakwood forest to find the hideout of Daevorn. We passed through the first part of the forest helping the nobles against the druids (man that was tougher than I remember, especially when they summoned 3 bears that blocked Khalid, Jaheira, and Naomilais in against the 4 druids. The party came away bloodied and used all available healing. (Note we haven't healed or rested since before entering Tazok's tent). We then moved to the second area and had a few encounters with some huge spiders and ettercaps, but we defeated them without much trouble (didn't do the quest to retrieve the boy's brother...too risky) and we were off to the third stage were we merely headed east without any trouble. Which led us to the fourth area where we ran into a small group of guards. After dispatching them we continued on east (no wyverns, again too risky as we were about 50% on health and low on magic, with only 2 antidotes) and finally arrived at the mines entrance (after getting ambushed by two wyverns and running away from them, it could have been worse and been the 4 ettercaps w/ traps).
We were greated by a party of assassins, but managed to lay them low. Baeloth cast a fireball, Imoen cast grease, Safana threw a recently acquired potion of fiery burning, Naomilais cast her last hold person on "the mouthy one" and Jaheira cast entangle over Imoen's grease. After that Khalid finished off the held leader as the rest of the team engaged the last warrior from afar with missile weapons (both mages were killed off in the fireball/fiery burning blast). That last guy manged to hit Safana and Baeloth with his throwing axes for about 50% on each before we moved them out of the fight.
(Magic is really low now and we are out of healing and everyone is pretty beat up. I am thinking of using 8 hours to rest here, but it's a gamble as you can't really rest safely here, but I might be able to get through... although it will be tough. I think if I avoid some out of the way stuff in the mines, we should be ok. )
Progress was saved here and it's into the mines later.
Things are going well with Jamnan. He's level three at 5 days with Ajantis and Tiax in the party. I was terrified of fighting Tarnesh, so I explored the usual starting areas for xp with Jamnan (a dire wolf gave me an early scare). I picked up Tiax and took out Karlat with the help of Command (thankfully! He hit me once and it hurt!), but was not sure I could take Silke or the spiders (at least without a couple antidotes), so I went north to level a bit; killed the ogre, did the hobgoblin quest at the FAI, and recruited Ajantis...then sucked it up and went for Tarnesh. I had saved my rage, so I couldn't be feared and Ajantis had a potion of clarity. Tiax had Remove Fear (though as soon as the fight started I realized that it actually is worthless since it doesn't cause any fear immunity) and used Command. With Tarnesh unconscious, Jamnan one-shot him (I was thinking that maybe I wasted the Command).
I got the spider quest and went back to Beregost to do it (after buying some antidotes, which I could afford now...only one though, so I was a little worried). Turns out, I didn't need it as the The Stupefier +1 (he dual's maces/ 2 in two-weapon and just at level 3, proficient in longbow. Should he live, I'm going to finish two-weapon and work on flails) suddenly roared to life. I then rested and fought Silke. I was so happy that both Commands hit and I managed to kill her with a good Stupifier proc.
I went south to Nashkel, exploring the linear areas and had a couple close calls with the hobgoblin elites (man I hate those guys). Tiax was struck by lightning and killed (does Talos have beef with Cyric?). I made it to Nashkel without any spells or rage, but RP'ing, I couldn't justify avoiding the inn after resurrecting Tiax, so I crossed my fingers and went in. I had a potion of invulnerability that Ajantis had (which helped him save vs Hold) and I used a potion of speed, but was Held before getting any hits off . Tiax summoned his Ghast and the three took her down without much trouble .
I am going to rest, do the carnival, then decide on the Gnoll Stronghold for xp and fun or jump into the mines. I haven't decided when I want to get Rasaad yet. I'm liking the small party xp.
I must say, without Tiax and his Command and Ghast, I'd probably be dead right now. Very underestimated.
EDIT: I am taking it slow. I won't make any headway on the leader boards if I die and those mages in SCS are very scary .
Post nº4. Graven Carter, elf Mage 4/Thief5. SCS&Metagaming. Kagain, Viconia, Kivan, Garrick and Safana
Chapter 4, 31 days 8 hours.
To end like this… After the victory in the bandit camp the party travelled to Beregost, both to rest and prepare for the next adventure. Back in FAI, one night of rest before going to cloakwood. Cloakwood’s first area was a piece of cake, and I was fully confident that I could make it through the whole woods with such a prepared party. While traveling to cloakwood area 2 the party was waylaid by a bunch of ettercaps. I thought, who has the time? Let’s get the hell out of here, and tried to fly through the left border of the map. But I forgot if there are ettercaps around, there are web traps nearby. At least 2 traps were activated. Panic, chaos. Kagain saved, Viconia resisted the spell and everyone else was held. Ettercaps surrounded charname, not garrick or safana, and his 23 HP were quickly dropped. End of story.
How many times did I read "best thus far: @ChildofBhaal599, charname killed by ettercaps in cloakwood"? Yeah, I get it now
Anyway has anyone make it that far with SCS? I was really fond of this party, and I think they deserve to lead the SCS contest, even if it last little
@Dexter, I'll try to get that far. Certainly not in that time-frame though. I'd rather worry about living than the time aspect. I'll have no issues with Cloakwood. I've learned my lessons from that long ago. Coran is a beast there (luckily, I rolled him).
EDIT: because stealth and ranged with a separate traps character is auto-win there.
Well, my game with Darthya Iceblood, Monty, Edwin, and Minsc continues--sans Minsc. I made the mistake of having the party kill Dyna while Minsc was dead/grayed out (killed by a gnoll). And then found out the hard way that the game engine removes Minsc too when you do that!
I can tank Monty to AC -5. I'll see if I can improve that to -6 with a Shield amulet. Maybe lower still with an enchanted shield...
Next I'll head to the bassilisk map to get the trio several levels. So that will help for getting through chapters 3 and 4.
I honestly don't have much confidence that I'll make it past the bandit camp. But I guess I'll see if I can get creative somehow...
Maybe rely on a lot of monster summoning. Or see if I can have Monty use a lot of potions of absorption, equip him with a high resistance to fire, and have Edwin blast away with wands of fire and lightning. I dunno, I'll see, lol.
At this point I'm competing against my own personal best to see how far I can make it. For now I'm not concerned with how few days. Just how far, really.
@Lemernis, huh...I could have sworn that I've killed Dynaheir with Minsc in my party before and he didn't leave -- I had Monty kill her with Minsc out of sight (maybe it is different because he was dead in your case).
I agree with the "distance sentiment" over the time. Monty can be a good tank. All you need is hp and dex and he's not shabby at either. Potions of Fortitude will help. Monster summoning should be a big help there too. I've always wanted to do that (load with resistances and then blast away with fireball wands or whatever...which I might do on the Undercity fight with my assassin).
Darthyra Iceblood (CE half-orc Assassin) - Cha 9 (started off in Candlekeep Disliked, lol) Montaron - Cha 9 Minsc - Cha 9 (though he's gone from the party now) Edwin - Cha 10 Quayle - Cha 6 Alora - Cha 10
I gave the Tome of Leadership and Influence to Edwin. At least he can also wear Algernon's Cloak and cast Friends. So his Cha will be 19 for dealing with merchants.
@Lemernis, I'm kinda surprised by Alora's charisma. I found her charismatic the few minutes that she was in one of my parties . Quayle, though useful, deserves that score. Since I try to RP, I always speak with my charname (400 gold res with my current game...good thing he's lawful neutral and not evil).
@Lemernis, huh...I could have sworn that I've killed Dynaheir with Minsc in my party before and he didn't leave -- I had Monty kill her with Minsc out of sight (maybe it is different because he was dead in your case).
I agree with the "distance sentiment" over the time. Monty can be a good tank. All you need is hp and dex and he's not shabby at either. Potions of Fortitude will help. Monster summoning should be a big help there too. I've always wanted to do that (load with resistances and then blast away with fireball wands or whatever...which I might do on the Undercity fight with my assassin).
On one level I'm actually a bit glad that Minsc is gone: from the standpoint of his voice set actually becoming a bit annoying for this particular party. He just doesn't fit in. I was using both him and Monty to stealth and sniper enemies on the perimeter one at a time. And the selection sounds for both Minsc and Monty in tandem was surprisingly grating. (I guess I could adjust the feedback slider, though, huh.)
Tactically speaking, I definitely miss having Minsc for both stealth, ranged, and melee ability, though.
Comments
You are at the top of the leader board! (I will add the caveat that you completed the game at Normal difficulty versus Core Rules.)
I think I may be forever resigned to compete against my own personal best scores, lol.
Jamnan
Male
Half-Orc
Barbarian
Lawful Neutral
1 Re-roll
19/15/17/9/8/9
21,25,1,24,5
21 - Rasaad
25 - Tiax
1 - Ajantis
27 - Xan (re-rolled from [24 - Skie], since I didn't have Eldoth)
5 - Coran
I'm doing RP/SCS. It includes the replaced NPC's, so I will be getting Tiax in Beregost (I think I will skip Tarnesh for the beginning
Ouch...got a 77 roll though
Hail to Brandon, the fair inquisitor!
The thing I find most amusing is only 4 (four) rests.
The screen shot at the doppelganger battle shows Kivan and Safana were tired while at the final battle they were fresh - it means 1 (one) of all rests took place before the final battle. So, 3 rests remain.
"day 27 15 hours chapter 5 end. we are now returning to duke eltan to end it"
So I can assume 3 rests took place somewhere between 27 days. Also, maybe the very first rest after Gorion's death is not taken into consideration, so I can assume there could be 4 rests between 27 days.
NPC Kagain, Minsk, Kivan, Safana, Baeloth, Inqusitor
CON 20 16 14 12 16 18
Hours without fatigue 44 40 40 36 40 44
27 / 3 = 9 days. 27 / 4 = 6.75.
The maximum number of days without being fatigued (and I talk only about characters with 18 CON) is 1,83. For every four hours beyond the "hours without fatigue" mark, the character will receive a –1 luck penalty (–1 to all rolls).
So, @ChildofBhaal599 managed to succeed on the average at 7.17 days fatigued (and I talk only about characters with 18 CON) = 172 hours (43 times a character receives –1 penalty) or on the average at 4.92 days fatigued (if there were 4 rests between 27 days) = 118 hours (29 times a character receives –1 penalty).
It's really unbelievable!
It's interesting as well that at the screen shot of basilisks at Candlekeep "day 27 21 hours" everybody is fresh.
It means the last rest took place at least not more than 36 hours before, day 26 9 hours. This multiplies the number of times characters received –1 penalty during the early stages of the game (Nashkel, Cloakwood) even more.
Another thing that I payed attention to is the time between the first enter to BG "day 26 17 hours, outside of baldurs gate" and "day 27 15 hours chapter 5 end. we are now returning to duke eltan to end it" and day 27 21 hours - the screen shot of basilisks at Candlekeep.
So, completing the main quest related to the Iron Throne and doing some other stuff in the city (seven suns and merchant league, Degrodel's house), travelling from BG to Candlekeep took only 1 day 4 hours.
Not to be overly strict (we're not getting rule-crazy, this is for fun!) but I'll restate the reminder that if you roll a member of a NPC pair you're supposed to go with that: you may simply Ctrl+Y the other member of the pair, or otherwise dispose of them however you wish.
In the case of Skie, though, IIRC she refuses to join you if Eldoth isn't in your party, right? (It's been over half a decade since I used Eldoth and Skie.) So if that's correct, clearly that would warrant a re-roll.
i make a manuel save before getting off the game for whatever reason, and quicksave to make sure that if i die, i can get the most accurate time possible. i think that random game 2 was the last inquisitor i had, or maybe i had left a save in this game at the very beginning.
In the spirit of the challenge you would of course have to go get her ASAP once entering Chap 5 and not use it as a method to keep Eldoth around without rolling him.
Just a thought - as mentioned it makes no difference to me as I have never used either one and I would not want the option to re-roll if you get her alone to be removed just wondering if we should add this as an option.
If you already have a party of six you'd have to temporarily dismiss another party member in order to CLUA/add Eldoth. That could potentially get messy if the NPC then tries to leave and go to FAI or what-have-you. Although I would imagine that you could pause the game quickly enough before the NPCs actually disappears to get that dismissed NPC to rejoin then.
Edit: Okay, thinking more on this, actually, you'd have to have an open slot for Skie. (Duh.)
So when you get to Skie you CLUA Eldoth and add him to the party. It's then if your party is full that you run into a potential problem when you ask Skie to join. Because you'll be forced to remove someone other Eldoth just for a second or so (before you Ctrl + Y Eldoth).
But I'm sure it's possible to manage this fast enough by very quickly pausing and unpausing the game between actions:
Getting everyone close together is probably a good idea. The party member that gets removed speaks their kick-out dialogue. And the instant after that happens immediately pause--don't let that NPC disappear (i.e., if they are scripted to have a kick-out destination or leave for good). Then Ctrl+Y Eldoth and instantly pause. And then via the 'initiate conversation' button click on the removed party member again to have them rejoin.
Again, it can probably be done fast enough that the dismissed party member won't have time to walk off and disappear.
The dismissing would be most problematic for mixed alignment parties (which the randomness probably gives you quite often) and your current rep at the time and where that falls on the companions like/dislike scale - if a companion is not pleased with the group dismissing them generally means they leave for good.
Once again nothing difficult is ever easy eh?
CE Half-orc Assassin
Str 19
Dex 18
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 10
Cha 9
Quarterstaff +
Two-handed Weapon Style +
Montaron
Minsc
Edwin
Quayle
Alora
I have Edwin and Minsc together. What is recommended for when I get to Dynaheir? I'm thinking I might I dismiss Edwin temporarily (although will he stay put? or does he go somewhere? leave for good?). Then I would add Dynaheir, and Ctrl+Y her. Then of course I would re-add Edwin.
Because if I add Dynaheir and Edwin is in the party, doesn't he leave for good?
Not a lot to add we returned to Nashkel where we received our reward for our investigation of the mines. Sold some more loot and killed Nimbul (gotta love it when hold person works). We then went to Beregost to turn in an Ankheg shell we got by fighting an Ankheg just west of the mine exit. We opted for the armor. Totally forgot to kill Tranzig. We then went to Larswood and got Baeloth and met up with some bandits who took us back to their encampment. We were attacked by Tazok, which was a really tough time since we were very low on magic and healing (he has quite high saves as well apparently he saved vs the wand of paralysis at a 2) We managed to be accepted into the bandit fold, but not without losing Safana in the fight (That was a really big blow, becasue I needed her thiefing abilities to unlock the chests in the area for some nice loot, so we returned to the FAI to get her revived and then back to the bandit camp.
I had to save here, but the next session should get the bandit camp fight and the cloakwood fights. I'm at 11 or 12 days, so I'm a bit behind the ball ChildofBhall599 set, but hope to make up some time in Cloakwood.
Actually, I can get Eldoth at the beginning. SCS has the "Move NPCs to more convenient locations" feature:
Eldoth - moves from the Cloakwood to the woods south of the Friendly Arm.
Quayle - moves from Baldur's Gate to the Nashkel Carnival
Shar-Teel - moves from a fairly inaccessible bit of wilderness to the Nashkel-Beregost road
Tiax - moves from Baldur's Gate to Beregost
Viconia - moves from the eastern forest to the woods south of Beregost.
In an ordinary game I break up NPC pairs by taking the one I wish to remove inside a building, and leave the one I want to keep outside, and then remove the unwanted NPC. Just as long as it's a building or floor of one that I won't have to visit again. But anyway, that's the way I normally do it.
(The continued adventures of Naomilais Greensleeves, cleric of Helm)
We were able to return to the bandit camp, loot it , rest, and then take on the guards in Tazok's tent. We came out a little banged up (Naomilais, Jaheira and Khalid had taken a few hits, and Imoen got caught with a Melf's Acid Arrow, but we were successful. We then went to the Cloakwood forest to find the hideout of Daevorn. We passed through the first part of the forest helping the nobles against the druids (man that was tougher than I remember, especially when they summoned 3 bears that blocked Khalid, Jaheira, and Naomilais in against the 4 druids. The party came away bloodied and used all available healing. (Note we haven't healed or rested since before entering Tazok's tent). We then moved to the second area and had a few encounters with some huge spiders and ettercaps, but we defeated them without much trouble (didn't do the quest to retrieve the boy's brother...too risky) and we were off to the third stage were we merely headed east without any trouble. Which led us to the fourth area where we ran into a small group of guards. After dispatching them we continued on east (no wyverns, again too risky as we were about 50% on health and low on magic, with only 2 antidotes) and finally arrived at the mines entrance (after getting ambushed by two wyverns and running away from them, it could have been worse and been the 4 ettercaps w/ traps).
We were greated by a party of assassins, but managed to lay them low. Baeloth cast a fireball, Imoen cast grease, Safana threw a recently acquired potion of fiery burning, Naomilais cast her last hold person on "the mouthy one" and Jaheira cast entangle over Imoen's grease. After that Khalid finished off the held leader as the rest of the team engaged the last warrior from afar with missile weapons (both mages were killed off in the fireball/fiery burning blast). That last guy manged to hit Safana and Baeloth with his throwing axes for about 50% on each before we moved them out of the fight.
(Magic is really low now and we are out of healing and everyone is pretty beat up. I am thinking of using 8 hours to rest here, but it's a gamble as you can't really rest safely here, but I might be able to get through... although it will be tough. I think if I avoid some out of the way stuff in the mines, we should be ok. )
Progress was saved here and it's into the mines later.
Day: 15 Hour: 16
(To be continued...)
I got the spider quest and went back to Beregost to do it (after buying some antidotes, which I could afford now...only one though, so I was a little worried). Turns out, I didn't need it as the The Stupefier +1 (he dual's maces/ 2 in two-weapon and just at level 3, proficient in longbow. Should he live, I'm going to finish two-weapon and work on flails) suddenly roared to life. I then rested and fought Silke. I was so happy that both Commands hit and I managed to kill her with a good Stupifier proc.
I went south to Nashkel, exploring the linear areas and had a couple close calls with the hobgoblin elites (man I hate those guys). Tiax was struck by lightning and killed (does Talos have beef with Cyric?). I made it to Nashkel without any spells or rage, but RP'ing, I couldn't justify avoiding the inn after resurrecting Tiax, so I crossed my fingers and went in. I had a potion of invulnerability that Ajantis had (which helped him save vs Hold) and I used a potion of speed, but was Held before getting any hits off
I am going to rest, do the carnival, then decide on the Gnoll Stronghold for xp and fun or jump into the mines. I haven't decided when I want to get Rasaad yet. I'm liking the small party xp.
I must say, without Tiax and his Command and Ghast, I'd probably be dead right now. Very underestimated.
EDIT: I am taking it slow. I won't make any headway on the leader boards if I die and those mages in SCS are very scary
Chapter 4, 31 days 8 hours.
To end like this…
After the victory in the bandit camp the party travelled to Beregost, both to rest and prepare for the next adventure. Back in FAI, one night of rest before going to cloakwood.
Cloakwood’s first area was a piece of cake, and I was fully confident that I could make it through the whole woods with such a prepared party. While traveling to cloakwood area 2 the party was waylaid by a bunch of ettercaps. I thought, who has the time? Let’s get the hell out of here, and tried to fly through the left border of the map. But I forgot if there are ettercaps around, there are web traps nearby. At least 2 traps were activated. Panic, chaos.
Kagain saved, Viconia resisted the spell and everyone else was held. Ettercaps surrounded charname, not garrick or safana, and his 23 HP were quickly dropped. End of story.
How many times did I read "best thus far: @ChildofBhaal599, charname killed by ettercaps in cloakwood"? Yeah, I get it now
Anyway has anyone make it that far with SCS? I was really fond of this party, and I think they deserve to lead the SCS contest, even if it last little
EDIT: because stealth and ranged with a separate traps character is auto-win there.
I can tank Monty to AC -5. I'll see if I can improve that to -6 with a Shield amulet. Maybe lower still with an enchanted shield...
Next I'll head to the bassilisk map to get the trio several levels. So that will help for getting through chapters 3 and 4.
I honestly don't have much confidence that I'll make it past the bandit camp. But I guess I'll see if I can get creative somehow...
Maybe rely on a lot of monster summoning. Or see if I can have Monty use a lot of potions of absorption, equip him with a high resistance to fire, and have Edwin blast away with wands of fire and lightning. I dunno, I'll see, lol.
At this point I'm competing against my own personal best to see how far I can make it. For now I'm not concerned with how few days. Just how far, really.
I agree with the "distance sentiment" over the time. Monty can be a good tank. All you need is hp and dex and he's not shabby at either. Potions of Fortitude will help. Monster summoning should be a big help there too. I've always wanted to do that (load with resistances and then blast away with fireball wands or whatever...which I might do on the Undercity fight with my assassin).
Darthyra Iceblood (CE half-orc Assassin) - Cha 9 (started off in Candlekeep Disliked, lol)
Montaron - Cha 9
Minsc - Cha 9 (though he's gone from the party now)
Edwin - Cha 10
Quayle - Cha 6
Alora - Cha 10
I gave the Tome of Leadership and Influence to Edwin. At least he can also wear Algernon's Cloak and cast Friends. So his Cha will be 19 for dealing with merchants.
Tactically speaking, I definitely miss having Minsc for both stealth, ranged, and melee ability, though.