The Adventures of Mikkath
ZaknafeinBaenre
Member Posts: 349
And so begins the adventures of Mikkath, the elven fighter/mage of Candlekeep. This will be a no-reload blind SCS run on core D&D rules. No other mods are installed, and the user has no idea what changes SCS has made to the game.
Character creation for Mikkath was actually an adventure in itself, as I attempted to install a custom portrait pack only to find that upon accepting a character my game would inexplicably freeze and crash, losing the character. Twice I created and lost Mikkath before finally giving up and uninstalling the custom portrait pack. Mikkath was finally able to begin his journey.
Gorion spent years training Mikkath in the weapons he knew best: quarterstaffs, darts, and magic. Luckily, this was enough to get past Shank and Carbos, a couple of assassins that somehow managed to find extremely rare tomes with which to gain entrance to Candlekeep. Carbos announced his ill intent and so Mikkath quickly hit him with the only spell he knew: blindness. Once blinded, Mikkath was able to keep a distance and down Carbos with the first dart he threw.
Mikkath quickly realized that Gorion was serious about needing to leave and decided to gather as much coin as he could to best outfit himself for the road. Forcing several locks open with his considerable strength, he gathered enough for a suit of scale mail and was looking for more gold when he came across Shank. With no spells memorized, Mikkath had to resort to bashing Shank's head in with his stave. It was a messy, bloody end for Shank. While somehow these assassins were able to coat their weapons in poison, luckily neither were able to land a blow.
Outfitted for the road, Mikkath left in the night with Gorion, only to be ambushed by an armed band. Gorion fought well while Mikkath fled in terror at the incredible display of magic and power. Alone Gorion stood, and alone Gorion fell, dead in the forest. Alone with his shame, Mikkath vowed to find the strength he would need to protect those around him. The next morning Mikkath awoke to Imoen's impish voice, and agreed to take the little sneak along. Together, they set out to face the road and what may come.
Character creation for Mikkath was actually an adventure in itself, as I attempted to install a custom portrait pack only to find that upon accepting a character my game would inexplicably freeze and crash, losing the character. Twice I created and lost Mikkath before finally giving up and uninstalling the custom portrait pack. Mikkath was finally able to begin his journey.
Gorion spent years training Mikkath in the weapons he knew best: quarterstaffs, darts, and magic. Luckily, this was enough to get past Shank and Carbos, a couple of assassins that somehow managed to find extremely rare tomes with which to gain entrance to Candlekeep. Carbos announced his ill intent and so Mikkath quickly hit him with the only spell he knew: blindness. Once blinded, Mikkath was able to keep a distance and down Carbos with the first dart he threw.
Mikkath quickly realized that Gorion was serious about needing to leave and decided to gather as much coin as he could to best outfit himself for the road. Forcing several locks open with his considerable strength, he gathered enough for a suit of scale mail and was looking for more gold when he came across Shank. With no spells memorized, Mikkath had to resort to bashing Shank's head in with his stave. It was a messy, bloody end for Shank. While somehow these assassins were able to coat their weapons in poison, luckily neither were able to land a blow.
Outfitted for the road, Mikkath left in the night with Gorion, only to be ambushed by an armed band. Gorion fought well while Mikkath fled in terror at the incredible display of magic and power. Alone Gorion stood, and alone Gorion fell, dead in the forest. Alone with his shame, Mikkath vowed to find the strength he would need to protect those around him. The next morning Mikkath awoke to Imoen's impish voice, and agreed to take the little sneak along. Together, they set out to face the road and what may come.
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Comments
May luck be always on the side of Mikkath!
A blind playthrough would give you thrills, that's for sure. How I wish I were in your place;)
Pretty much every encounter is going to be more difficult, so good scouting, and strategic positioning with your party (you don't want everyone to be assaulted at the same time) is essential. Don't underestimate any foe.
Happy travels!
He could continue as Gorion instructed, or strike out on his own. True to his neutral ways, he decided to do both: go to the Friendly Arm in and see what he could learn without committing himself to any one course. Along the way, he met a pair of crazy looking men and at first thought he might be attacked, but instead was offered healing potions and assistance. With little else to go on, Mikkath accepted their company and headed along the road to the Friendly Arm Inn. Further down the road yet another seeming loner in the wilderness approached them with an offer of aid in return for his help. His name was Eldoth, and he wanted help snatching his girlfriend from the grips of her father. We agreed to his company as well, though his attitude clearly grated on Imoen's nerves. Together, the five again set out on the road. Nearby, Imoen thought she heard a noise. She decided to try to hide in the shadows of a bush and after a few tries succeeded. Thusly camouflaged, Imoen went to scout the area and came back in a state of terror. It was an ogre, eight feet tall and ugly as hell. Nearby a woodsman camped unsuspected. Imoen plead to the group to put an end to the threat, and Mikkath agreed. Eldoth hung back and sang his battle song to bolster the group while Imoen, Mikkath, and Xzar began the ambush. Mikkath launched his blindness spell, but the ogre fought off the effects and charged. Xzar hit him with his Larloch's spell while Imoen pelted him with arrows. Mikkath took off in a controlled run, leading the ogre away from the party, but the Ogre turned and advanced on Xzar, who promptly fled. Monteron charged in but quickly turned around as soon as the Ogre noticed him. Finally, Imoen felled the monster with a well-placed arrow. Exhausted, the band regrouped and looted the ogre's body.
It was all they could do to reach the Friendly Arm Inn. No friendlier walls of safety had ever been seen, and the party smiled to each other and headed towards a safe bed. Nearly to the inn, the band was stopped by another man wearing the colors of a mage. Recent attacks had left Mikkath suspicious, and it's a good thing, because this mage launched a series of attacks! Xzar hit him with the only spell he had left, and the group scattered so as to minimize the damage caused by the fiend's area of effect spells. Xzar fell to the bastard's sleep spell, but the rest of the group had enough distance to be unaffected, and pelted him with arrows and darts. Ultimately, though, it was the sword stroke of a guard that ended the battle.
With literally nothing left in the tank, the band headed into the Inn. While his friends headed to bed, Mikkath stayed behind. Weary from the recent battles, guilt-ridden from Gorion's demise and his cowardice, and loaded with a fortune of gold (65 pieces), Mikkath could only think of one way to dull the pain: He got hammered.
Dawn brought a new day, and Mikkath and the gang headed out. Trusting no one, Mikkath did not approach any patrons, and did not find the companions Gorion had told him to meet. On the way out of town, Imoen's sticky fingers found her in a lady named Joia's home. Instead of some petty theft, Imoen agreed to help retrieve a flamedance ring for her. The group set out and felled a band of hobgoblins, but one look and Mikkath pocketed the ring. As Joia said, it was rather fetching.
I can recommend always act this way in the future.
Otherwise well played!
Yes, it's one of the components of this mod that can be installed if you wish.
I find it very convenient to be able to get Eldoth, Tiax, Quayle when you really want them and not when the game forces you to do so. Viconia and Shar-Teel are also relocated to more "close to the main quest" areas.
http://www.gibberlings3.net/readmes/scs_docs/NPC.html
While this battle was a fairly trivial thing and nobody was hurt, the band was unprepared for what awaited them in the Red Sheaf Inn. Another assassin, this one a dwarf with a wicked ax, came straight for them. While Mikkath attempted to buy him off, he refused and attacked. Mikkath tried to blind him but to no avail, so he ran out the door and put his scale mail on (couldn't change armor while in combat). Meanwhile, the rest of the group took turns trying to hurt the assassin, each fleeing out the door when their injuries became life threatening. Mikkath returned and began hit and run attacks with his quarterstaff, and managed to repeatedly land heavy blows before the diminutive dwarven fiend could counterattack. His courage failed him, and Mikkath finished him off with darts while he tried to run.
After Xzar's repeated deaths and general lack of usefulness, Mikkath decided he needed more reliable friends, and returned to the friendly arm inn to finally meet with the friends Gorion had told him about. Jaheira and Khalid joined the group, and Monty and Xzar took a hike. Jaheira was adament we get to Nashkel soon, so the group headed out immediately. On the way, they met a warrior princess named Shar-Teel who hated men with a passion. She challenged the group and Mikkath accepted, easily besting her with two strokes of his new magic staff. She joined the group and immediately showed her usefulness dispatching a group of kobalds down the road.
Further down, the group was stopped by a trio of guards that accused them of being bandits. Mikkath denied the allegation but the guards wanted him to surrender and let them take him into custody. Yea freaking right, the group took them down with ranged attacks and hit/runs and an entangle spell. The result? plate mail for khalid, shar-teel, and Mikkath! Woot!!
Into Nashkel they went, and headed for the first inn they could find for a night's sleep. Of course, another freaking assassin. This one hit the group with a hold-spell that stopped Jaheira cold. The rest of the group went outside to regroup. Mikkath took off his armor so he could cast, as did Eldoth, and they re-entered to find the assassin wailing away on Jaheira's frozen body. Blindness was to no avail, but larloch's interrupted her casting, and the group finished her off with missiles before Jaheira fell.
A night's sleep was nice, and the group moved on through the town, learning of a couple of bounties along the way. On the way to the mines they were stopped by an odd scene. A group of bandits tried to rob them, but another bandit showed up and started hacking away at the bandits. Mikkath and company finished them off and collected a magical wakizashi and a nice shield. While they were grateful to the half-orc, they had no intention of letting someone so...foul into their group. While stumbling around trying to find the mine entrance, the group overshot and ran smack into prism! Upon hearing his story, however, it seemed as though he should be allowed to finish his work. Prism warned Mikkath that Greywolf was looking for him, so the group took precautions. Jaheira blessed the group and they spread out. Sure enough, Greywolf appeared and the fight was on. Shar-Teel downed a potion of invulnerability and wearing the ankheg plate the group had found in a field (SCORE!), she held her own while the group pelted him with missiles. Greywolf would not go down easily, however, and it seemed as though nobody could score a hit. Eventually Shar-Teel took a frigid strike and had to down a healing potion and flee. It was now time to resort to hit-run tactics. Whoever Greywolf chased ran while the rest kept firing. Finally, the bounty hunter fell, and Shar-Teel was rewarded with one sweet, bitchin sword.
Into the mines they went, and discovered the kobalds were armed with a never-before-seen dagger that did additional poison damage. They pushed on with Shar-Teel leading the way, armed with strong armor and a girdle of piercing to soak up the arrows, but on the 3rd level, Jaheira fell.
Tired and depleted of spells, the group nevertheless decided to try their luck (stupidly), their minds on the sizeable reward and additional experience a victory would bring them. Imoen set a trap at the door and the entire group piled into Mulahay's room. Khalid told Mikkath that they should stay near the door incase they needed to make an escape, but Mikkath brazenly ignored the snivelling coward and put their backs to the wall, thinking he could Shar-Teel, wearing the ankheg plate and the belt of piercing, would soak up any kobald arrows while the rest of the group plastered Mulahay. Of course, nobody expected Mulahay to bust out with an UNHOLY BLIGHT SPELL!!!! Boom, Mikkath and half the party fell, and it was game over.
Tips anyone? Don't be an idiot and corner myself before starting a fight with a badass? Yea, that's probably the tip I need.
As to your question. First of all, I never rush to the Nashkel Mines, it's recommendable to explore a bit more, get some more XP and items, better spells. I think Xzar, Monty, Khalid, and Jaheira only want you to speak to Berrun Ghastkill in Nashkel so there's no rush to go to the mines. If you want to face Mulahey at lower levels, being or having a Cleric is really welcome: I often Hold or Silence him before he can do anything. Having a mage cast Blindness (casting time of only 2) also works very well most of the time. At higher levels you can summon some minions (preferably skeletons, which would again require a Cleric) to occupy Mulahey.
You could also play a Neutral character (so that Unholy Blights won't affect you
So, it would be great to read about new characters. And the fact it's a blind playthrough makes Zak's adventure even more different.
Sh*t happens on SCS. Invisibility (or stealth) is your friend. One of the first spells I buy at the High Hedge. Maybe go Chaotic Good for the Fairy Dragon familiar, or play a thief variant.