Thanks @Musigny, for your very kind words. I always try to keep things entertaining
@DreadKhan, exactly! Years ago when Finbar was still a kid, ABBA, a fine troupe of nordic Bards, visited Candlekeep and made a lasting impression on the young Halfling. The troubadours took a liking to young Finbar and were willing to take him in, but Gorion wouldn't have it. "Halflings can only be Fighters, Thieves or Priests, or Fighter/Thieves" the wizard had said. In training himself as a Cleric/Thief Finbar would prove his foster father wrong, though he never took it as far as to become a Bard. Personally I believe that with his crystal clear voice and boyish good looks little Finbar would have made quite a charismatic Bard. As it is though, he's rather unimposing and implausible Battle Priest, hence the low CHA.
It's Lem! No, seriously, that's a photo of Lem, Pathfinder's most iconic and frequently shown bard. I'm always going to get Finbar mixed up with Lem and think of him as a bard now. XD
Thanks @Musigny, for your very kind words. I always try to keep things entertaining
@DreadKhan, exactly! Years ago when Finbar was still a kid, ABBA, a fine troupe of nordic Bards, visited Candlekeep and made a lasting impression on the young Halfling. The troubadours took a liking to young Finbar and were willing to take him in, but Gorion wouldn't have it. "Halflings can only be Fighters, Thieves or Priests, or Fighter/Thieves" the wizard had said. In training himself as a Cleric/Thief Finbar would prove his foster father wrong, though he never took it as far as to become a Bard. Personally I believe that with his crystal clear voice and boyish good looks little Finbar would have made quite a charismatic Bard. As it is though, he's rather unimposing and implausible Battle Priest, hence the low CHA.
That is clearly what happened. For the record, this may be the first of the ABBAspawn...
Now I am wondering about a mod to make Sarevok a Blade...
Hey @Scourge, and others... Thank you! But... don't bother. I failed to get into the character. I always involve some roleplaying in my runs, so this was an important issue for me. Finbar was simply too gimmicky to me. My main objection was the fact that I had to roleplay him as reverent of Tempus, who according to D&D lore pretty much compels his servants to dash headlong into battle, while FInbar himself was a backstabbing trickster. There were a few smaller things as well, such as the unfittingly low CHA that bothered me. I do enjoy making minor adjustments to make a character 'unique', but Finbar was a bit too fanciful to my taste.
I rolled a Half-Orc Cleric/Thief yesterday, kitted as a Priest of Talos. (I have no qualms about kitting multiclasses per se, as long as the character makes sense to me. Half-Orcs commonly venerate Talos, so I'm cool with that.) I also rolled a new Bounty Hunter and a Fighter/Thief. I'm very eager to play all three of them because I like all three classes, especially the BH, as well as their portraits and soundsets (PS:T's Vhailor for the half-Orc, The Nameless One for the Bounty Hunter, and Annah for the Fighter/Thief).
The BH and the F/T are still in Candlekeep, ready to depart, the Half-Orc is currently traveling the Sword Coast. If he fares well, I'll start posting on his progress.
@bengoshi or maybe @Metalloman, could you remove this thread and paste its contents to my We're All Doomed thread? I think I can't. It's not a huge deal, but I feel it fits better there.
@DreadKhan, I normally don't have the patience for parties (as in troupes/gangs), but I'll keep it in mind. I've heard that Skald/Bard songs stack so five of those and one meleer could be a fun experiment. What about you? You're a knowledgeable player. Could you be challenged into a no-reload adventure? @bengoshi, I wouldn't consider the characters I rolled PS:T inspired; I'm just using the PS:T soundsets
So as I said in my penultimate post, I rolled three new characters, and started playing one of them: a Vhailor-voiced Half-Orc Cleric/Thief a couple of days ago, Streg.
There are two important tweaks I made to the character: 1. he can use axes - this is purely because of Vhailor's references to his axe, so I wanted it to make sense for Streg to utter things like "Know that I'm your fate, and fate carries an executioners's axe"; 2. and he's kitted as a Divine Remixed Priest of Talos.
Since Talos is a nature deity, their Clerics get quite a few of the Druid spells (and lose various traditional Cleric spells) in Divine Remix. I like that as I see Streg as a savage priest, attuned to the natural forces of the world, like a shaman. Talos, and thus Streg, is all about indiscriminate destruction brought about by the forces of nature. The Half-Orc is Neutral Evil but doesn't regard his alignment that way; he simply considers it his divine calling to 'cleanse' the realms in the name of his deity. His roguish skills and abilities are tools that help him in his (un)holy pursuits.
Streg's level 1 spell repertoire: AoF, Bless, Cause LW, Command, Cure LW, Curse, Detect Evil, Detect Good, Faerie Fire, Magic Stone, PfE, PfG, Sanctuary, Shillelagh, and Strength of Stone. He started out proficient in Axes (using throwing axes) and in Staves.
Free from Gorion's constraining presence, Streg took to wandering the Sword Coast. He generally fared well, but early on had to to reluctantly flee from a band of bandit upstarts.
He did purge the land of creatures such as Hobgoblins, Huge Spiders, and Ogres though,
as well as the likes of Tarnesh and not much later Mutamin (being lucky that the latter, who might have cast Remove Magic, panicked after Streg's backstab failed to kill the Gnome with two Basilisks still around).
In the same area he bullied an adventuring party into a fight, but had a change of heart when he failed to slay their mage.
These and other (safer) adventures saw Streg become a stealthier, more cautious Thief and a more powerful priest. With (not o good) tier 2 spells: Aid, Beast Claw, Chant, Charm Person/Mammal, DUHM, Find Traps, Flameblade, Know Alignment, Resist Fire/Cold, Slow Poison, Spiritual Hammer. And (excellent) tier 3 spells: Animate Dead, Call lightning, Cause Blindness/Deafness, Cause Disease, Cause Medium Wounds, Cure Blindness/Deafness, Cure Disease, Cure Medium Wounds, Dispel Magic, Hold Animal, Miscast Magic, Moonblade, NPP, PfE 10' Radius, PfFire, PfG 10' Radius, Remove Curse, Remove Paralysis, Summon Insects, Unholy Blight, Zone of Sweet Air. As soon as his reputation and artificially enhanced CHA allowed him to, the Half-Orc purchased a number of items that fuerther increased his power: Aule's Staff, a Helm of Charm Protection he was glad to find for sale at Feldepost's, Cloak of Deflection, Greeenstone Amulet, and Shadow Armor. On the coast he restored an ancient shrine dedicated to Talos (Kozah) with his friend Charleston Nib, and further north he dispatched Flesh Golems (with difficulty, a potion of invisibility was sadly expended), and Sirines.
Animated Skeletons and a Wand of Sleep accounted for the easy extermination of an Ankheg community north of the FAI.
The priest had been called there by Talos, to help three good fishermen against a young cleric of Umberlee, which he did. He also dealt with a pompus fighter named Meilum, and a Bounty Hunter named Greywolf,
when his God urged him to dispatch a Half-Orc Priest of Cyric in the Nashkel Mines. To help his disciple Talos awarded Streg access to the following tier 4 spells: Animal Summoning I, Call Woodland Beings, Cause Serious Wounds, Cure Serious Wounds, Death Ward, Holy Power, Lesser Restoration, Neutralize Poison, Poison, PfLightning. The Woodland Being were indeed a great help against the Cyricist: they charmed him and set him up against his own minions before Streg slew him.
The same fate (getting charmed by a Dryad and slain by Streg) awaited Narcillicus Harwilliger Neen, in an undead-infested area surrounding the mine exit.
His dangerous dealings with a Revenant, Ghasts and Ghouls made Streg desire protection from Hold. [Blackraven blundered majorly when he had Streg melee a Ghast without Free Action. This happened after a brief RL intervention. I may have clicked 'drink potion' (of Free Action) in the inventory screen and then performed another action that canceled out the swigging of the potion. Fortunately there were no ill consequences.]
Talos guided Streg back to Nashkel, where Nimbul and Neira were slain,
and then to Ulgoth's Beard to bestow his follower a Ring of Free Action. Streg arrived none too soon, because he was still in the process of acquiring said ring from a gnomish lady named Dushai, when four amazon assassins, including two Hold Person casting priestesses, found him. He subtly concluded his business with Dushai before he would deal with the assassins.
[Note how Blackraven seemingly tried to quicksave in the last image. He uses the Q key as a poor man's True Sight, to know if invisible enemies are in close vicinity.] In the Ulgoth's Beard inn, the females Commanded and injured Streg, but he convinced them to fight outside and prevailed.
Streg reached 140k XP here around this time. It meant his last BG1 level-up to become a level 7/8 Cleric/Thief. In Beregost, more assassins and Silke fell to traps, backstabs, Skeletons and Flamestrikes,
while southwest of Beregost Bassilus was charmed and slain.
Well shoot. I am unable to see your pictures when I try and open them today. I can’t think what the problem might be. I can still open them on your older posts.
@Ravenslight, that would be very unfortunate for me, bmp takes much longer in uploading and besides isn't supported on the bioware forums where I tend to post about my no-reload runs as well.
Very interesting new CHARNAME @Blackraven , I really like it.
I'm a bit surprised (and sad) that the Stormlord of Talos doesn't get access to Lightning Bolt as a 3rd level spell, but thankfully he gets Call Lightning, which is even better IMO.
I wish you luck with Streg, and be careful with your saving throws
Thank you @Gotural. I've told myself not to grow fond of solo Charnames until the Ducal Palace has been tackled, but happenings such as meleeing the Ghast without free action soon made me like Streg as well I agree with you on the Lightning Bolt. Could have been a lot of fun in BG1 (with Talos's Gift boots and PfElectricity)... As to the saves, you're absolutely right. My latest Charnames have mainly been shorties, so this is a definite change of pace.
The Half-Orc battled his way through the bandit-plagued Wood of Sharp Teeth until he found the bandits' hideout. There he befriended Tazok only to betray him later. He buffed with two potions of fire resistance, a potion of defense, and Aid, and then entered Tazok's tent hidden in shadows. Behind barrels and boxes he summoned two Woodland Beings and he succesfully one-hit-killed Venkt and Hakt and then made himself seen to the other bandits. The Dryads charmed a few of them, evening the odds a bit, before the Half-Orc finished the remaining bandits off by himself with Flamestrikes, throwing axes and backstabs.
Taugosz Khosann was stabbed, fried and smacked to death, as were Tasloi and Aldeth Sashenstar in Cloakwood.
Free action and PfPoison (green scroll) make a spider-infested part of the Cloakwood a riskless undertaking, but to compensate for that he decided to battle a Hamadryad, deeper in the forest, to find himself severely injured and stuck between her animals.
Thankfully he owned a ring of invisibility and various potions. One of the animals, a bear, lost interest and strutted off, creating an opening through which the Half-Orc could escape. In front of the Cloakwood Mine, a summoned Woodland Being charmed Drasus and two guards, which caused Kysus to throw Fireballs (or Sunfires, don't remember) at him, injuring Streg and killing Rezdan. Streg waited for Drasus to eat through Kysus' Stoneskins and injure the mage, before the Half-Orc flamstruck the latter. Flamestrikes, backstabs and Skeletons then finished off Drasus and Genthore.
Inside the mines Blackraven's stinginess with invisibility items/potions got Streg into serious trouble, in the same way as where Norgath had: surrounded by a horde of guards in one of the corridors on the second level. The priest quaffed a potion of invisibility but that didn't keep him from falling prey to Hareishan's Chaos spell. Talos himself must have ordained that it wasn't Streg's time yet, for he remained calm for as long as the spell lasted, never revealing his presence (which would have meant certain death).
When the Half-Orc had regained his senses, he healed and buffed with protection from fire and Storm Shield in order to scorch his attackers without hurting himself and to find a way out.
Davaeorn was safely handled with a green scroll of PfMagic.
Streg flooded the mine and then traveled to Baldur's Gate where he mainly occupied himself with acquiring items (tomes, potions, some gear from Black Lily), and with a few thieving commissions (burgling with Narlen Darkwalk, a job for Alatos, telescope for Brevlik). He helped Scar and Duke Eltan of the Flaming Fist, relying on stealth and subterfuge rather than violence in dealing with the iron Throne, and he slew Phandalyn to lower his reputation and receive aTweaks' Divine Wrath Bhaalpowers (rather than Divine Might, which is the same power as DUHM, a spell that Streg can cast anyway.)
Range: Caster Duration: Instantaneous Casting Time: 1 Area of Effect: 10' radius Saving Throw: Special
Through this ability, the Bhaalspawn can tap into the divine spark buried deep within his soul and release a portion of the raw power in a single, concentrated burst. The unleashed energy damages all enemies in the immediate vicinity of the Bhaalspawn and has a chance to push them away, knock them prone and make them flee in panic. The potency of this ability increases as the Bhaalspawn becomes more experienced:
Level 1: deals 2d8 damage to all nearby enemies Level 6: deals 4d8 damage to all nearby enemies pushing them away from the Bhaalspawn Level 12: deals 6d8 damage to all nearby enemies pushing them away from the Bhaalspawn and knocking them prone for 1 round Level 18: deals 8d8 damage to all nearby enemies pushing them away from the Bhaalspawn, knocking them prone for 1 round and making them flee in panic for the following 3 rounds
A successful saving throw vs. breath halves the damage and negates all secondary effects. Exceptionally large creatures (Giants, Dragons, Iron Golems...etc.) are immune to all secondary effects.
Streg returned to Candlekeep, where Ulraunt would falsely accuse him of slaying Iron Throne leaders. He escaped however, plundered the catacombs below the Keep, and used a scroll of Protection from Magic and speed potions to deal with Prat's gang.
Prat would only appear after Streg's PfMagic expired though. He caused the Half-Orc to expend two potions of magic shielding (one was dispelled with a Remove Magic) before he fell.
But Streg thought it a worthwhile bargain for Prat's Returning Throwing Axe +2. When he had received his second Divine Wrath, Streg restored his reputation through temple donations (since rep carries over to SoA in BGT). He then proceeded to deal with Slythe and Krystin, relying on his trusty Dryads to charm the rogue. It prompted Krystin to commit mariticide.
She also tried to vent her frustration by enfeebling Streg, but the priest left before those spells could affect him.
Thus the moment of truth arrived: keeping Belt and Liia Jannath safe during Sarevok's coronation. He started off underwhelmingly by setting only one of his two traps succesfully (in spite of 95 Set Traps). He then summoned five Skeletons. And after that the violet potion was consumed, followed by potions of agility, fortitude, mind focusing, defense, power, and magic protection (2). The latter potions were preferred over a green scroll of PfMagic in order not to shut down Streg's spell casting (e.g. healing spells for the Dukes). Streg's Divine Wrath did little to upset the Greater Doppelgangers. But on the flipside Streg and his Skeletons were very well postitioned around Belt, forcing the Doppelgangers to undergo the undead and Flaming Fist's attacks without being able to hurt Belt.
When four Greater Doppelgangers remained against only one Skeleton, and when Liia Jannath fell, things started to look dire. Streg healed Belt, and a series of good hits by the two of them saw them prevail.
Belt transported a still fully buffed Streg to the Thieves Guild, from where he rushed after Sarevok. All opposition in the maze was ignored; Tamoko was done in by a critical backstab.
In Sarevok's temple, Steg finished Diarmid off with his returning throwing axe (the only use he would make of that weapon). He made sure to always enjoy 100+ MR (relying again on potions rather than a scroll that would undo all his buffs). Thus he could patiently whack through Angelos' and Semaj's multiple Stoneskins, with hit and fade tactics. Angelo, Tazok, Semaj, and lastly Sarevok all fell to Streg's backstabs / surprise attacks.
Streg reported back to Belt and was last seen traveling south, to Amn.
Streg had a busy first week in Amn. Initially he found himself imprisoned in a dungeon run by a mad wizard. There were others who wanted to get out with him, but the Half-Orc had no use for them; he had his own means of escaping. Even his former neighbor Imoen was dismissed. Streg soon became a level 8/10 Cleric/Thief thanks to XP already aqcuired in BG1 and to accomplishing some quests and more lucrative kills in terms of XP, most notably an Otyugh, Ulvaryl, and Frennedan.
He shunned the Duergar as much as he could, and managed to pick up some BGTTweaks-imported gear right in front of them whilst Sanctuaried. (I only allowed the use of the Shadow Armor and Boots of Stealth, and Semaj's Cloak which gives 10 MR and Blurs the wearer. Other gear was picked up and sold at the Adventurer Mart; the proceeds shadowkeepered away). He didn't bother with Ilych's acorns or with Sarevok's sword in the plane of air. The portal room was tackled surprisingly easily, considering the fact that Streg had barely summoned a single Skeleton when the Mephits came barging in... That single Skeleton made quite a difference though.
Thus the Half-Orc escaped and found himself at Waukeen's Promenade in Athkatla, where Imoen (who had also managed to escape) and Irenicus were arrested by Cowled Wizards, and where Streg promptly restored a circus that had been transformed into a place of torture and suffering by a megalomaniacal Gnome, to its former self.
He bought the Staff of Rhynn +4, then spoke with Gaelan Bayle in the Slums about ways to find Imoen and Irenicus, and was shown the way to the Docks District by Bayle's cousin Brus. However, he first halted at the Copper Coronet, to free a number of slaves and to see one of them, Hendak, become the establishment's new manager.
Streg then traveled to the Docks District to become a member of the Shadow Thieves. He first had to prove himself though, finding evidence of betrayal in one of the smaller guildhouses. The priest undertook the first of a number of missions (a simple burgling job) and from Merina at the Thieves Guild he bought a batch of master thievery potions for a shoplifting session. Fencing stolen items enabled him to purchase Vhailor's Helm, the Mercykiller Ring and the Ring of Air Control. During his walks through different areas of the city he was ambushed twice. First by a party of slavers whose leader he slew with a backstab and took Arbane's Sword from,
and second by a band that had poisoned Renfeld. Streg didn't fight the latter party but spirited Renfeld away to the Docks, only to be meagrely rewarded for his good deed. In the Bridge District Streg investigated a series of murders for Lieutenant Aegisfield. He found out the culprit, Rejiek the tanner, and tried to catch him. But he came to late and had to deal with a Rune Assassin that followed him on his way out of the Tanner's Shop. Fortunately Streg had just reached level 9 as a Cleric and learnt to cast tier 5 spells: Animal Summoning II, Cause Critical Wounds, Chaotic Commands, Cure Critical Wounds, Flamestrike, Greater Command, Insect Plague, Iron Skins, Mass Cure, Pixie Dust, Raise Dead, Repulse Undead, Righteous Magic, Slay Living and True Seeing. Both Ironskins and Insect Plague (and an oil of speed) helped the priest survive the Rune Assassin's attacks.
He received a Spider Figurine from Pai'Na for bringing her Spiders' Bane from the sewers and had the item upgraded by Cromwell. Improved Kitthix' webs and poisons proved crucial in Streg's encounter with Rayic Gethras' Mephits, and she was also a great aid against two Stone Golems.
Summoned Woodland Beings and Skeletons soaked up lots of spells from Rayic Gethras himself before summoned Insects (level 3 spell) would render the wizard harmless.
After two more missions for the smaller guildhouse he found the evidence of the betrayal, a flirt with the Night Masks, and was then ordered by the principal guildhouse to deal with the betrayers. This he did, buffed with potions of speed and immune to backstabs thanks to the Alathis' Guard cowl.
Two synchronized backstabs, one by Streg himself one by his Vhailor simmy, finished off a Priest of Cyric before he could become dangerous. Kitthix helped with the others.
The Half-Orc was appointed as the new leader of the guildhouse.
At the Graveyard District he cast Chaotic Commands on himself and went Improved Invisible to defeat a Crypt King. Insect Plague and eventually his Divine Wrath were instrumental here.
Streg paid Gaelan Bayle 15k GP for the Shadow Thieves' help in finding Imoen/Irenicus, and - more immediately - for the Amulet of Power and the ring of Protection +2 (that he would later see merged by Cromwell with Ribald's Ring of Regeneration into a Ring of Regeneration +2). Further accomplishments include: bringing Wellyn his stuffed bear, insulting Sarles with fake illithium and helping with the theft of a dawn ring for his Talassan colleagues, slaying Tirdir's buriers, dealing with two people who weren't happy with his new position as guild leader, and saving Sansuki from three vampires.
Lastly, the Half-Orc taught Mencar Pebblecrusher and his friends not to mock him. Kitthix finished of Pooky, while traps and a backstab meant the end of Smaeluv Orcslicer.
Amon followed Streg downstairs to get his Stoneskins removed by a guard, so that the Half-Orc could finish him off in a single (critical) backstab.
The remaining two, Mencar and Brennan, were softened up by a Cloudkill (which in Divine Remix is an innate power for Talassan Clerics once they reach level 7), and entangled and charmed by Streg's Woodland Beings. Mencar finished off entangled Brennan, and Streg, helped by summoned Skeletons and a succeful Poison, took down the Dwarf.
All this activity helped the Half-Orc crawl approach levels 11 (Cleric) and 13 (Thief). Blackraven hopes to see Streg obtain said levels in the Umar Hills. Blackraven is also growing a bit tired with the gaming and the journaling. He'll do his best to make Streg ascend, but after that he'll probably return to his writing on Ánhaga's novelized playthrough, and to other activities not related to BG.
Ah one more thing a failed pickpocket attempt (committed out of curiosity) saw Lady Irlana and Sir Cadril turn hostile on Streg.
I wonder if it'll have any consequences. If they stick around I might try to use Dryad charms to find a reputation-friendly solution. Maybe I can set them up against the sewer party.
Streg traveled to the Umar Hills where he first did the minor quests: the Killer Mimic (which spawned before the chest was touched, while the Half-Orc was summoning skeletons), Beljuril, and the Stone Golem. He then traveled to the Temple Ruins. A Scroll of Protection from Undead, and the absence of Liches (due to Streg being lower level still), gave him an easy time. Still a potion of clarity was needed to cope with Greater Mummies' aura of Paralyzing Fear, and a potion of speed to facilitate dealing with the hard-hitting Bone Golems.
The Shade Lord and its buddies were harmless.
Streg, a rather risk prone adventurer, then decided to take on the Shadow Dragon. Six traps (three from the Vhailor simmy), an innate Cloudkill, and lots of summoned decoys did the job. Thaxxy fell after a few rounds to the traps' poison damage.
In the Temple District Dryads with their Charms and Entangles, Kitthix with her Webs and Poisons, and a summoned Aerial Servant helped Streg defeat the gang of Tarnor the Hatchetman.
He also learnt that it's better not to have to deal with hostile Aerial Servants.
Hamadryads then provoked Sir Caldril and Lady Irlana into killing one another.
One of the Paladins of the Order must have witnessed the atrocities because when he entered their building, Sir Ryan Trawl and his fellows wanted to kill Streg.
The Half-Orc simply left and resolved to avoid that part of town for a while. He went to the Copper Coronet but was attacked by Cohrvale and Bregg. He took the fight into the inn and saw Hendak turn hostile. All three were slain.
It meant that Streg would complete the Slaver Compound quest without getting Hendak's reward. A Priest of Cyric was taken out with a backstab. An Aerial Servant and two Greater Fire Elementals helped with the rest.
After a nightly escapade with Ryokoi and Arkanis, in which he felled two out of six Vampires,
Streg traveled to Trademeet, where he decided to opt for an aggressive solution to the Djinni troubles. Taquee was slain for his Efreeti bottle, but Khan Zahraa turned the Half-Orc into a statue.
(That's what you get Blackraven for trying to do things differently...)
Another epic attempt! Thank you for continuing to entertain us @Blackraven I remember you saying something about needing a break from such things for a while. Your tales will be missed if this is so.
Comments
You have a real talent, you always select a nice and interesting char build for your playthroughs.
Here's hoping Finbar never meets his Waterloo!
@DreadKhan, exactly! Years ago when Finbar was still a kid, ABBA, a fine troupe of nordic Bards, visited Candlekeep and made a lasting impression on the young Halfling. The troubadours took a liking to young Finbar and were willing to take him in, but Gorion wouldn't have it. "Halflings can only be Fighters, Thieves or Priests, or Fighter/Thieves" the wizard had said. In training himself as a Cleric/Thief Finbar would prove his foster father wrong, though he never took it as far as to become a Bard. Personally I believe that with his crystal clear voice and boyish good looks little Finbar would have made quite a charismatic Bard. As it is though, he's rather unimposing and implausible Battle Priest, hence the low CHA.
http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/v5748dyo5la2j?Meet-the-Iconics-Lem
Bjorn!
Now I am wondering about a mod to make Sarevok a Blade...
I rolled a Half-Orc Cleric/Thief yesterday, kitted as a Priest of Talos. (I have no qualms about kitting multiclasses per se, as long as the character makes sense to me. Half-Orcs commonly venerate Talos, so I'm cool with that.) I also rolled a new Bounty Hunter and a Fighter/Thief.
I'm very eager to play all three of them because I like all three classes, especially the BH, as well as their portraits and soundsets (PS:T's Vhailor for the half-Orc, The Nameless One for the Bounty Hunter, and Annah for the Fighter/Thief).
The BH and the F/T are still in Candlekeep, ready to depart, the Half-Orc is currently traveling the Sword Coast. If he fares well, I'll start posting on his progress.
@bengoshi or maybe @Metalloman, could you remove this thread and paste its contents to my We're All Doomed thread? I think I can't. It's not a huge deal, but I feel it fits better there.
Who would you choose to be the Bhaalspawn though? you don't really want to offend anyone, but then, we know The Winner Takes It All...
@Blackraven , you're free to do as you wish, of course. We, as readers, can be only happy when you, as a DM:) , is pleased in the first place.
Also, PS:T's inspired playthrough would be excellent. I'll definitely follow how you RP the Nameless One in Athkatla.
Thanks @bengoshi!
@bengoshi, I wouldn't consider the characters I rolled PS:T inspired; I'm just using the PS:T soundsets
So as I said in my penultimate post, I rolled three new characters, and started playing one of them: a Vhailor-voiced Half-Orc Cleric/Thief a couple of days ago, Streg.
1. he can use axes - this is purely because of Vhailor's references to his axe, so I wanted it to make sense for Streg to utter things like "Know that I'm your fate, and fate carries an executioners's axe";
2. and he's kitted as a Divine Remixed Priest of Talos.
Streg's level 1 spell repertoire: AoF, Bless, Cause LW, Command, Cure LW, Curse, Detect Evil, Detect Good, Faerie Fire, Magic Stone, PfE, PfG, Sanctuary, Shillelagh, and Strength of Stone.
He started out proficient in Axes (using throwing axes) and in Staves.
Free from Gorion's constraining presence, Streg took to wandering the Sword Coast. He generally fared well, but early on had to to reluctantly flee from a band of bandit upstarts.
And (excellent) tier 3 spells: Animate Dead, Call lightning, Cause Blindness/Deafness, Cause Disease, Cause Medium Wounds, Cure Blindness/Deafness, Cure Disease, Cure Medium Wounds, Dispel Magic, Hold Animal, Miscast Magic, Moonblade, NPP, PfE 10' Radius, PfFire, PfG 10' Radius, Remove Curse, Remove Paralysis, Summon Insects, Unholy Blight, Zone of Sweet Air.
As soon as his reputation and artificially enhanced CHA allowed him to, the Half-Orc purchased a number of items that fuerther increased his power: Aule's Staff, a Helm of Charm Protection he was glad to find for sale at Feldepost's, Cloak of Deflection, Greeenstone Amulet, and Shadow Armor.
On the coast he restored an ancient shrine dedicated to Talos (Kozah) with his friend Charleston Nib, and further north he dispatched Flesh Golems (with difficulty, a potion of invisibility was sadly expended), and Sirines.
In Beregost, more assassins and Silke fell to traps, backstabs, Skeletons and Flamestrikes,
Maybe the forums no longer support jpg? Png isn't working either...
Edit:
bmp
I can't see your new png either.
I'm a bit surprised (and sad) that the Stormlord of Talos doesn't get access to Lightning Bolt as a 3rd level spell, but thankfully he gets Call Lightning, which is even better IMO.
I wish you luck with Streg, and be careful with your saving throws
I agree with you on the Lightning Bolt. Could have been a lot of fun in BG1 (with Talos's Gift boots and PfElectricity)...
As to the saves, you're absolutely right. My latest Charnames have mainly been shorties, so this is a definite change of pace.
The Half-Orc battled his way through the bandit-plagued Wood of Sharp Teeth until he found the bandits' hideout. There he befriended Tazok only to betray him later. He buffed with two potions of fire resistance, a potion of defense, and Aid, and then entered Tazok's tent hidden in shadows. Behind barrels and boxes he summoned two Woodland Beings and he succesfully one-hit-killed Venkt and Hakt and then made himself seen to the other bandits. The Dryads charmed a few of them, evening the odds a bit, before the Half-Orc finished the remaining bandits off by himself with Flamestrikes, throwing axes and backstabs.
Duration: Instantaneous
Casting Time: 1
Area of Effect: 10' radius
Saving Throw: Special
Through this ability, the Bhaalspawn can tap into the divine spark buried deep within his soul and release a portion of the raw power in a single, concentrated burst. The unleashed energy damages all enemies in the immediate vicinity of the Bhaalspawn and has a chance to push them away, knock them prone and make them flee in panic. The potency of this ability increases as the Bhaalspawn becomes more experienced:
Level 1: deals 2d8 damage to all nearby enemies
Level 6: deals 4d8 damage to all nearby enemies pushing them away from the Bhaalspawn
Level 12: deals 6d8 damage to all nearby enemies pushing them away from the Bhaalspawn and knocking them prone for 1 round
Level 18: deals 8d8 damage to all nearby enemies pushing them away from the Bhaalspawn, knocking them prone for 1 round and making them flee in panic for the following 3 rounds
A successful saving throw vs. breath halves the damage and negates all secondary effects. Exceptionally large creatures (Giants, Dragons, Iron Golems...etc.) are immune to all secondary effects.
When he had received his second Divine Wrath, Streg restored his reputation through temple donations (since rep carries over to SoA in BGT). He then proceeded to deal with Slythe and Krystin, relying on his trusty Dryads to charm the rogue. It prompted Krystin to commit mariticide.
Streg soon became a level 8/10 Cleric/Thief thanks to XP already aqcuired in BG1 and to accomplishing some quests and more lucrative kills in terms of XP, most notably an Otyugh, Ulvaryl, and Frennedan.
Thus the Half-Orc escaped and found himself at Waukeen's Promenade in Athkatla, where Imoen (who had also managed to escape) and Irenicus were arrested by Cowled Wizards, and where Streg promptly restored a circus that had been transformed into a place of torture and suffering by a megalomaniacal Gnome, to its former self.
During his walks through different areas of the city he was ambushed twice. First by a party of slavers whose leader he slew with a backstab and took Arbane's Sword from,
In the Bridge District Streg investigated a series of murders for Lieutenant Aegisfield. He found out the culprit, Rejiek the tanner, and tried to catch him. But he came to late and had to deal with a Rune Assassin that followed him on his way out of the Tanner's Shop. Fortunately Streg had just reached level 9 as a Cleric and learnt to cast tier 5 spells: Animal Summoning II, Cause Critical Wounds, Chaotic Commands, Cure Critical Wounds, Flamestrike, Greater Command, Insect Plague, Iron Skins, Mass Cure, Pixie Dust, Raise Dead, Repulse Undead, Righteous Magic, Slay Living and True Seeing. Both Ironskins and Insect Plague (and an oil of speed) helped the priest survive the Rune Assassin's attacks.
At the Graveyard District he cast Chaotic Commands on himself and went Improved Invisible to defeat a Crypt King. Insect Plague and eventually his Divine Wrath were instrumental here.
Blackraven is also growing a bit tired with the gaming and the journaling. He'll do his best to make Streg ascend, but after that he'll probably return to his writing on Ánhaga's novelized playthrough, and to other activities not related to BG.
Ah one more thing a failed pickpocket attempt (committed out of curiosity) saw Lady Irlana and Sir Cadril turn hostile on Streg.
He went to the Copper Coronet but was attacked by Cohrvale and Bregg. He took the fight into the inn and saw Hendak turn hostile. All three were slain.
More @Blackraven ! Also, I have come up with an idea for a new character that I wanted to run by you. I think I might make a thread about it later.
My current character is a female Dwarven Wizard Slayer. I look forward very much to reading about your new character concept.