The OotS proceeds into the dreaded Cloakwood Forest. V knows that the area is reputed to be chock full of giant spiders and wyverns. Roy, on V's advice, realizes that the OotS had better stock up on free action potions and antidotes, so he orders the OotS to head south to High Hedge first before entering the dread evil enchanted forest unprepared.
The Order stops in Beregost along the way. Belkar has been scalping bandits, and now has over 100 scalps in his backpack. He remembers that Officer Vai in the Jovial Juggler is offering top gold rewards on bandit scalps. The Order goes to the Jovial Juggler, and Belkar sells all his scalps for more than 4000 gold. Roy reports the Order's findings to Officer Vai, and she thanks him kindly, then says she is moving her troops back to Baldur's Gate now that the bandit threat has been neutralized.
Belkar insists that since he has been the only one with the stomach to keep scalping over 100 dead bandits, he should get to spend all the reward gold himself, and then some. Roy reluctantly agrees. Belkar wants to buy a +2 Dagger of Venom for over 9,000 gold, over half of the Order's combined gold in addition to his scalping reward. After much arguing, the Order agrees that Belkar with such a powerful weapon might vastly increase the Order's power and effectiveness, but only after Roy reassures Durkon, Haley, and V that he is certain that he can keep the unpredictable Belkar under control.
Durkon is especially hard to convince, since he recently earned level three cleric magic from Thor (using Helm as a substitute in my run), and his best new spell from Thor would have been holy smite. He tried it once, and it smote Belkar instead of any enemies. To say that there is now extreme tension between Durkon and Belkar would be an understatement. Roy convinces Durkon to pray to Thor for other magic than holy smites. Roy again assures Durkon that he can control Belkar, and that the Order with Belkar and a Dagger of Venom is stronger than an Order without Belkar and holy smites.
With precious little gold remaining, the Order heads to High Hedge and Thalantyr. Roy buys three potions of freedom against spider webs. On V's advice, V being concerned about rumors of basilisks to the east and elsewhere, Roy decides to buy three potions of mirrored eyes, even though they are heading northwest. Since this Daveaorn sounds like a wizard, Roy also decides to buy green scrolls of protection from lightning and fire, three fire protection potions, and three purple antidotes against spider and wyvern potion. He wishes he could buy potions of magic blocking and protection, as well as more special arrows for Haley, but the OotS is out of gold. Roy sighs and realizes the Order will still need to return to High Hedge with more gold.
(Goodness, people who say there's more than enough gold in this game must not be playing with six person parties. My own experience is that there's *never* enough gold! LOL)
The Order stops at the FAI to buy just a few more precious antidotes with what little gold is left. Now they have less than 500. It's not even enough to pay for raising one of them from the dead if disaster strikes.
With great trepidation, the OotS heads into the Cloakwood. The evil enchanted forest is vast, and the Order has no idea where the hidden mines might be. Roy decides to study a map, and divide the forest into five sectors. On each sector, the OotS will spend at least one entire day moving between predetermined boundary points in a zigzagging pattern, in order to do a very thorough search of the entire 30 mile wide forest.
On the first day, the Oots encounters tasloi, wolves, and smaller spiders. After some slaughtering of these relatively weak opponents, the Order runs into a group of humans at a hunting lodge. They say that they need protection and help from a group of insane druids who have murdered one of their number, and have denied them their right to hunt.
(I struggled with this decision vis a vis roleplaying and metagaming. None of the OotS is a druid that would automatically be sympathetic with nature or animal lovers, and I didn't think Belkar would care. I also struggled against my metagaming self with the knowledge that I might need that +3 bastard sword if I decide later to go to Werewolf Island in this run. I decided that Roy would give the "Come, let's try to resolve this peacefully!" response, and definitely wouldn't give the smart aleck response to side unequivocally with the druids. The druids very unreasonably attacked after Roy's offer of peace, and any other plea for more diplomacy that he could muster.)
The druids cut off all communication and attack, without even hearing Roy out. They must be insane, indeed. There are four of them, and they all four begin to cast gods know what awful spells. Durkon attempts a silence spell, since the druids are too spread out for hold person to be effective tactically. Roy and Belkar attack. Elan plays his harp and sings. V decides to risk a web, since most of the druids are far back from the Order's front line. Haley fires her magic bow.
Durkon's silence works against all the druids, but also silences all of the Order instead, except V. Luckily, V has intelligently fallen back from Durkon before beginning any spells. However, the druids have lit flame blades, and the previously clear, sunny sky has grown black with clouds. There is no time for any lightning protection, and the sky is growing darker, thundering and flashing far beyond what nature would ever do without being controlled by druid magic.
The druids are caught in V's web! V shouts, "Sir Greenhilt, fall back! I am going to fire my wand of fireball before the lightning storm intensifies! The Order falls back, and V fires. The helplessly ensnared druids are almost dead, and Belkar and Haley finish them off with throwing daggers and arrows. Roy feels deep regret that the horribly burned enemies would not parlay.
The OotS stands victorious, but saddened. The hunters from Baldur's Gate crow arrogantly about their supremacy over the "savages." Roy sighs, closes his eyes, frowns, and lowers his head at the scorched ground. His shoulders slump, his heart heavily burdened by his lawful good, but *good*, conscience.
I have now installed @CamDawg 's wonderful newest version of Tweaks, to remove the helmet animations and allow the OotS to look more like the OotS. I noticed that he now has new components that remove all racial restrictions from the game. This makes Haley *legally* a multiclass fighter-thief, and V *legally* a conjurer. Elves can be druids and bards, as they should. Dwarves can be skalds. Any person of any race can now be any multi-class or dual class with this tweak, and all dual classes are allowed, without resorting to Keepering. I could have even made Belkar a ranger>barbarian dual class, although I'm not going to go back and rebuild him at this point.
Awesome work, @CamDawg! Your ability to make this game just keep getting better and better after all these years amazes me. Words can't express my gratitude for your gifts to the BG community.
I have given Belkar the ring of animal control from the druids, so at least he has some ranger-like ability with animals now as he should, although animal charming has never worked very practically in computerized D&D games.
Hi, in celebration of my excitement at the release of 1.3 and the announcement of IWD:EE, I am inspired to resume this run, since I think I will do my first run in IWD:EE with my version of the Order of the Stick.
I will probably multiple post sometimes in this thread, since I like to compose my posts about major battles before going on to the next major battle during the same play session.
It is my hope that BG2:EE version 1.3 will be released before I finish this run, but, since my understanding is that most of the current bugs in BG2:EE have to do with the new content, which is irrelevant to my OotS run, I may play this out in BG2:EE version 1.2, depending on timing.
So, here's a first mini-update. I may do another one or two tonight - we'll see. If not tonight, then tomorrow for sure during my Labor Day day off.
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Roy drinks a potion of freedom and tanks half the exterior of the spider-infested Cloakwood solo. He finds a +2 scimitar that would have been the best find in the game for a druid or druid-fighter, but that unfortunately none of the OotS can use. After finding the cave where the panicked boy had said his brother had went, Roy brings the rest of the Oots. Durkon casts Bless, Chant, and Strength of One, and the OotS enters the foreboding cave. Inside is an army of spiders, and a weird, bloated spider woman who calls herself Centeol, telling the OotS how they are now food for her children and her.
Elan sings "Nice, nice, nice, nice spiders!", and the spiders begin to eat each other. Apparently Elan sounds so awful, even to spiders, that they would rather die than listen. After killing all the spiders, with use of both of Durkon's memorized slow poison spells, only Centeol is left. She begs Roy to kill her rather than make her listen to more of that horrible blonde bard's infernal, torturous singing, and Roy obliges.
SO good to have a new update for this one! I had forgotten about it, but I read every installment as soon as possible back when you were posting frequently. I love the IWD:EE idea for the OotS crew. Keep it up! =D
Ha - I think I went a little shutterbug crazy with this one - I couldn't decide what to take a picture of.
Also, I re-installed Tweaks over my new 1.3 game, took off helmets, and granted full hit points per level up, full hit points to all enemies, and 100% spell learning. This enabled me to turn the difficulty slider to Core rules, and will increase the net difficulty of the game, increasing my chance of reloads to come.
Roy and company, deep in the dark Cloakwood Forest, encounter a druid on a bridge who tells them, after Roy swears that the Iron Throne is their enemy, that the Iron Throne Mines sought by the Order are to the east. Roy, being single-minded to a flaw, insists that the Order head immediately east, leaving much of the Cloakwood Forest unexplored. Why would the Order risk going to parts unknown for no good reason in this dangerous place, with the direction of the target of their quest now revealed?
After a couple of days of travel and camping, and a few black bears told to take a hike by Belkar, the order finds the entrance to the fortress surrounding the Iron Throne Mines. (Roy doesn't understand how the psychotic and murderous Halfling Belkar has such an affinity with wild carnivorous animals, but he does. Oh, wait...)
Roy suspects big trouble ahead, so V casts an invisibility spell on Haley so she can scout with impunity. Haley discovers an enemy party guarding the mine entrance which appears to contain a high level fighter, two mages, and a cleric.
Roy wonders how the Order can prevail against such clearly superior firepower - oh, wait, wizard. Using the invisible Haley's help, V comes up behind her to just out of sight but in range of his/her spells to the enemy party. Web. Fireball 1, by memorization. Fireball 2, by wand. Fireball 3, by wand. Fireball 4, by wand. Magic missile, magic missile. Haley goes to town on web-stuck enemies with her bow. The hasted, angry fighter breaks free, but Roy, Belkar, and Durkon step in to run interference.
The "overwhelming" enemy party is slaughtered, thanks to V. "Oh, wait, wizard."
@Elrandir, ROFLMAO. You weren't supposed to actually *read* the combat scroll in the screenies I provided; although I'm flattered that you did.
I guess V considered the poor thing an acceptable collateral loss; emotionless logic of the wizard, and all that. Belkar didn't mind because that critter is prey, not a respectable carnivorous ranger/barbarian's pet.
And it might have even eaten a magic ring at some point in the past, although this one had not, upon examination.
The Order presses into the mines to find the leader and shut down the operation. Roy talks to a miner who tells him to get a key off of the leader, Daveaorn, which unlocks a valve and floods the mines. The Order is to find a slave named Rill and tell him of the plan, so he can get the innocent slaves to safety.
The Order encounters heavy opposition in the mines. Haley disarms several deadly traps, and discovers a large group of guards. She leads them out into an ambush set up by the rest of the Order. Disaster - an invisible mage sneaks up on Roy and Belkar, and casts lightning. Roy and Haley had heard her chanting incantations, but had expected her to stay back in the guarded room and not to directly attack so boldly. Roy survives the first lightning blast through his Talos' Gift boots, and gulps a potion of grounding, then yells "Scatter!" The lightning hits Elan, Belkar, and Durkon, then bounces back from the far wall to Roy, who is protected, and hits the mage who cast it, burning her to near death. Roy finishes her off. She must have been some kind of suicide attacker.
The Order retreats to the surface to rest and heal, then goes back in to resume the mission. A group of guards have set up a new ambush in the late lightning mage's room. Their party contains several elite archers with poison and ice arrows. Roy is immediately hit by an arrow and poisoned, and Durkon casts slow poison. Elan attempts to dance around and sing "fight, fight, fight, fight the bad archers." To which an archer responds by shooting him with an ice arrow. Elan is forced to limp away, still attempting to sing. At the last minute, he manages to distract and confuse several archers. Belkar is hit with a poison arrow and uses an antidote potion. V is unable to act without causing friendly fire, so the battle is up to the melee fighters and Haley. At last, the Order is victorious, though badly wounded. Durkon has to use up all his healing spells. The Order is barely at the top of the mines. This is going to be tough.
Cloakwood Mines, level 3. The Order goes down a level. Maybe after they go down one more level, they'll go up a level.
The Order encounters an ogre mage. Belkar rages. V tries to interrupt its spell with magic missiles. Haley shoots arrows of biting. Durkon starts a silence spell. The ogre mage goes down before Durkon even finishes his spell. Roy was expecting a harder fight, here.
Shoot, another mage! Is Davaeorn the commander of a mage army? Those darn narrow corridors and doorways! The Order struggles to get into position. The mage mirror images and starts something else before the Order can get to her. Belkar rages again, Haley fires arrows, V fires magic missiles, Durkon tries hold person. Durkon's spell works, and the battle is basically over. The Order has been very lucky on this level.
The Order of the Stick confronts the dread Davaeorn...
The Order knows that Davy is on level 4 of the mines, from interrogating a talkative guard who tells them in exchange for his life. At the stairs down to level 4, the Order uses 4 potions of fire resistance, a green scroll of fire immunity, a green scroll of lightning immunity, a potion of invulnerability, three potions of grounding, and two potions of absorption.
Haley detects an entire corridor of deadly traps. Suspecting that Davy is likely at the end of the corridor, Roy asks V to cast invisibility on Haley. She is able to disarm the traps and see that Davaeorn is waiting at the end of the corridor, with full magical protections already activated. One of his guards must have run away and alerted him that they were coming. Roy has an idea - perhaps they can get V to sneak up behind the invisible Haley and cast dispel magic before Davy knows that V is there.
No good - apparently Davy can spot them despite Haley's invisibility. V casts Haste. Belkar rages. The Order rushes Davy, who begins to teleport away, but Belkar still gets in a stab before he can disappear. V shouts that Davy has only teleported as far as the next room. Roy, Belkar, Durkon, and invisible Haley rush into that room, and Haley tries to position herself for a backstab with her +2 shortsword. V and Elan hang back, waiting to cast spells and song. Davy casts lightning at Belkar, who is protected by potion and takes no damage. Roy gets a critical hit with his +2 Spider's Bane greatsword, and down goes Davy. Roy wonders whether he just wasted a packload of invaluable expensive potions and scrolls. Better safe than sorry, he supposes. Belkar could have been fried by that lightning. Belkar compliments Roy on his "great cleavage".
Roy leads the Order to the fabled city of Baldur's Gate, after a well-deserved rest stop at the Friendly Arms Inn. Roy wants to make a beeline for the city, and find out once and for all who is trying to kill him. He has been having very disturbing night time visitations from the ghost of his "father", telling him over and over that his mother had been unfaithful, and that Roy should be grateful that he had even deigned to let him live and raise him, given his birth circumstances. And, Roy's "father" is so disappointed that he became an idiot rank-and-file fighter instead of a mage, as his "father" intended for him. Roy is certain these dreams or visions have to do with the conspiracy in Baldur's Gate, somehow. Durkon assures him that all of this is entirely possible given the nature of the gods other than his god, Helmthor, and that he, Durkon, is there for Roy no matter what.
But, Haley and Belkar are becoming a bit contrary about unexplored dungeons and profitable side quests left undone. Haley keeps reminding Roy about how the Order is almost broke, after Roy told them to drink all their best potions for safety in attacking the Dread Davaeorn, and that they need the gold and magic treasure that could be gained by backtracking and tying up loose ends around the countryside south of Baldur's Gate. She reminds Roy that she joined the Order for the promise of gold. She had never told him why, but she has come to trust him. She tells him that she has some "daddy" issues of her own, and that she needs gold to ransom him from an evil warlord in Amn. The Order has already dealt a severe blow to the Iron Throne, and they have been slowed to a crawl in their plans. The Iron Throne will wait.
Roy is almost persuaded by Haley's arguments, but still insists that they head north and at least get an idea about how urgent the situation is in Baldur's Gate. Along the way through the farmlands south of the city, the Order meets a farmer looking for his lost son. They track the boy to an ankheg nest, and find that he is already dead. Roy takes the unpleasant duty of informing the farmer of his boy's grim fate, and carries the boy's body to him for proper burial. Roy gives the farmer 100 gold to save his farm.
The Order also encounters some fishermen complaining about an evil priestess of Umberlee in the area. They track her down, only to discover that she is a child, and that the fishermen stole an artifact from her and killed her mother. Roy returns to the fishermen and forces them to return the artifact, then returns it to the child. Durkon is uncomfortable helping a child of Umberlee, but finally agrees that it was the right thing to do.
At the gates of the city, Roy speaks to the captain of the guard, Scar, and is asked to investigate suspicious goings on in the southwest quarter of the city with the Seven Suns trading coster. Roy and the Order discover that the Seven Suns has been taken over by doppelgangers. The doppelgangers are killed, and the Order rescues the original merchant leader.
About to report to Scar in the Flaming Fist compound, Roy is stopped outside the gates by Aldeth Sashenstar, the hunter they had rescued in the Cloakwood Forest. (I had never seen this entire scenario before, having always sided with the druids in previous runs where I was not trying to roleplay Roy Greenhilt. As has been said before, I am amazed at this game's ability to still surprise me after all these years. And, I had no idea that you could still wind up with the bastard sword +3 vs. shapeshifters no matter how you played this.)
Aldeth asks the Order to investigate more potential doppelganger activity in his merchant league. After entering the compound and asking around, and having Haley unlock some desk drawers in leader quarters pointed out by unhappy and suspicious guards and resident merchants, the Order unmasks the doppelgangers, who attack in great numbers with their ruse revealed.
V casts web on part of the doppelganger army, and Haley helps V kill off the stuck doppelgangers by arrow and missile. Roy has been willing to let Elan help out a bit more in combat, as Elan insists that he can fight effectively as long as he keeps making puns and quips insulting the enemies. Roy is doubtful of that, but Elan does seem to be doing some good, so Roy allows it, at least against weaker enemies like these doppelgangers. Roy is still highly irritated by Elan's constant singing, but, so are the enemies, it would seem. And V says that Elan's irritating singing seems to have some kind of magical effect, although only the gods know what that could be. Roy tolerates it, for now.
The Order survives a first wave, then a second wave of doppelgangers, and wins the fight. The grateful Aldeth gives Roy a family heirloom magic sword.
Huh. I forgot that that joke was in the comic. I retract my statement that you nailed the character! ;p However, I will say that this is great, and that was an excellent inclusion.
Scar thanks the Order for revealing the treachery in the Seven Suns, and asks them to solve a mystery regarding disappearances in the east quarter of the city. The Flaming Fist have investigated and found clues that the disturbance is originating from the sewers underneath the eastern quarter.
Roy agrees to investigate. The Order proceeds to the east quarter and climbs down into the sewers through one of the manhole ladders. Through either bad luck or good, the Order descends straight down into an ambush by an ogre mage and a swarm of carrion crawlers. Apparently, the ogre mage has been using the crawlers to paralyze, kill, and drag unfortunate city dwellers down into the sewers to be eaten as food.
Belkar rages, but it does not protect him from crawler bites, and he is paralyzed. V casts a horror spell from a wand, which turns out to be very effective, even causing the dangerous ogre mage to panic. Then, V begins a continual barrage of magic missiles. Haley uses the ice arrows she has been saving against the incredibly dangerous crawlers. Elan sings, "Inchworm, inchworm, caterpillar, pretty butterflies", and several of the carrion crawlers scatter, while one even begins to attack another. Roy takes note and is begrudgingly impressed by how useful Elan is proving to be. Not that he would ever admit that to Elan. Roy is starting to notice Haley giving "looks" to Elan at various times, including during combat; and that she often seems to position herself very near him, both in and out of combat. Hmm. Nevertheless, once more, the Order of the Stick is victorious.
After solving the mystery of the sewer disappearances, the Order is told by Scar to report to Duke Eltan. Eltan asks them to break into the Iron Throne headquarters and find absolute proof that there is a conspiracy going on. Eltan appears to be skeptical.
Roy wants to rest at the Elfsong and then start in immediately on the Iron Throne, but Haley and Belkar convince him to finish exploring the southern wilderness areas first, as well as hunt for Nashkel's missing guard captain and Nashkel's missing emeralds. There are also rumors of a basilisk infestation east of Beregost, and calls for adventurers in Ulgoth's Beard to the north. Belkar has stars in his eyes over the potential xp and treasure. Even Durkon admits that it might be a good idea to get some more xp and treasure before breaking into the Iron Throne headquarters, which is likely to be very hard, and to lead to even more urgent trouble once they start a direct attack on the conspiracy leaders.
About to settle into the Elfsong for the night, Roy is approached by a strange man dressed in garish colors, asking Roy and the Order to come with him - his boss has an employment proposition. The weary Roy agrees to at least speak to him before they retire from their very long day. Upon entering the building they are led to, and speaking the password they were told, they are led through a large room into a smaller study where both the apparent "boss" and a robed mage are waiting.
The man introduces himself as the leader of the Baldur's Gate thieves' guild, and says he needs them to do something illegal. Roy sighs heavily and says he wants no part of it. The thief guild leader says too bad, they know where the guild is, and his face, and so they must work for the thieves' guild or die. Roy says again that he wants no part of it, and that the Order will not break the law and sully their name for anyone. The idiots attack, and the Order must slaughter every one in the criminals' guild.
The next morning, the Order heads south to Nashkel. After a couple of days' travel, a night in Nashkel, and some searching around the mines area, the Order finds the emerald thief. He is a harmless crazy sculptor, and Roy decides to let him finish his piece, but the bounty hunter Greywolf shows up and attacks the Order when Roy refuses to abandon the sculptor to his fate. V casts Haste, Durkon lands hold person, and it's over. Elan gets a spiffy new longsword from Greywolf.
Searching for Captain Brage of Nashkel, the Order encounters Vax and Dal. Haley winds up with bracers of archery +2, a significant upgrade in gear for her. Haley says, "See, Roy, I told you it would be worth it to explore more wilderness!"
Searching for the rumored basilisk infestation east of Beregost, the Order encounters a cult of Red Wizards of Thay. They are no match for the also red-robed Vaarsuvius, even four to one. V casts haste and a web, then begins blasting wizards with Melf's minute meteors. Durkon casts silence. Belkar rages, and Haley fires poison arrows. Elan gets stuck in the web, but still manages to confuse the last wizard.
Finally the Order scouts out the location of the basilisk nest. Apparently a crazy gnome wizard is behind the excessive breeding of the monsters. V and Elan both memorize protection from petrification spells in multiple slots, and Roy puts all five of the potions of mirrored eyes in his quick pouch just in case. It is necessary to rest to get the protection spells ready. The Order is attacked three times by huge swarms of gnolls and flinds, but they are all dispatched easily enough. Finally, the protection spells are ready, and cast.
The Order attacks the basilisk nest. V casts Haste, Belkar rages, Durkon begins hold person, and Haley fires poison arrows. Elan sings, "Nice, nice, nice, nice little lizards, look what pretty eyes you have." Roy rolls *his* eyes.
The enemy wizard goes down before Durkon can even finish his hold spell, and the Order begins the long, dangerous task of finding and killing all the basilisks from the nest. The protection spells wear off, so Roy commands the others to stay put, while he puts on the Boots of the Cheetah, takes the last protection spell, and finds and exterminates the rest of the monsters.
Even so, now fighting alone, Roy is too slow and the spell wears off, *during* a basilisk fight! Thank goodness for those potions, or the Order would have lost its leader!
While working on exterminating the nest, the Order encounters a group of young teenagers, apparently also hunting basilisks for xp and treasure. They have the audacity to challenge the Order. Roy is not interested in slaughtering a group of teenagers, though he would like to teach them a lesson if he didn't think the attempt would end in bloodshed. He warns them that they are in over their heads and should get out of this area, but that his Order of the Stick is leaving. The teenagers laugh at them and head off towards the nest area. They're probably all stone statues now. Roy did try to warn them.
Whelp, I took the Order to Ice Island, and things were going pretty well. I fought the first several waves of mages and survived several Confusion spells, and I even recovered both the cloak and wardstone, so we could have left. But no, I wanted to finish out the dungeon.
I got Roy trapped in a corner next to ankhegs in the ankheg room and confused by the ankheg mage. He almost survived, but without potions of extra healing, I just couldn't get enough healing on him, and I couldn't get the ankhegs to aggro on somebody else despite frantically trying to. What's really frustrating is that I had the Greenstone Amulet. All I had to do was use a charge on Roy, and this wouldn't have happened. Sigh.
I'm not sure yet if I'll reload and continue or just make this a no reload and call it quits. Dying has kind of taken the wind out of my sails for the time being.
@jackjack, awww, that's perfect. Maybe I'll take a reload on the chin and say that the rest of the Order got Roy's body out of that awful ice dungeon and got him to a temple. Too bad Durkon's not high level enough yet to have the spell.
Comments
The Order stops in Beregost along the way. Belkar has been scalping bandits, and now has over 100 scalps in his backpack. He remembers that Officer Vai in the Jovial Juggler is offering top gold rewards on bandit scalps. The Order goes to the Jovial Juggler, and Belkar sells all his scalps for more than 4000 gold. Roy reports the Order's findings to Officer Vai, and she thanks him kindly, then says she is moving her troops back to Baldur's Gate now that the bandit threat has been neutralized.
Belkar insists that since he has been the only one with the stomach to keep scalping over 100 dead bandits, he should get to spend all the reward gold himself, and then some. Roy reluctantly agrees. Belkar wants to buy a +2 Dagger of Venom for over 9,000 gold, over half of the Order's combined gold in addition to his scalping reward. After much arguing, the Order agrees that Belkar with such a powerful weapon might vastly increase the Order's power and effectiveness, but only after Roy reassures Durkon, Haley, and V that he is certain that he can keep the unpredictable Belkar under control.
Durkon is especially hard to convince, since he recently earned level three cleric magic from Thor (using Helm as a substitute in my run), and his best new spell from Thor would have been holy smite. He tried it once, and it smote Belkar instead of any enemies. To say that there is now extreme tension between Durkon and Belkar would be an understatement. Roy convinces Durkon to pray to Thor for other magic than holy smites. Roy again assures Durkon that he can control Belkar, and that the Order with Belkar and a Dagger of Venom is stronger than an Order without Belkar and holy smites.
With precious little gold remaining, the Order heads to High Hedge and Thalantyr. Roy buys three potions of freedom against spider webs. On V's advice, V being concerned about rumors of basilisks to the east and elsewhere, Roy decides to buy three potions of mirrored eyes, even though they are heading northwest. Since this Daveaorn sounds like a wizard, Roy also decides to buy green scrolls of protection from lightning and fire, three fire protection potions, and three purple antidotes against spider and wyvern potion. He wishes he could buy potions of magic blocking and protection, as well as more special arrows for Haley, but the OotS is out of gold. Roy sighs and realizes the Order will still need to return to High Hedge with more gold.
(Goodness, people who say there's more than enough gold in this game must not be playing with six person parties. My own experience is that there's *never* enough gold! LOL)
The Order stops at the FAI to buy just a few more precious antidotes with what little gold is left. Now they have less than 500. It's not even enough to pay for raising one of them from the dead if disaster strikes.
With great trepidation, the OotS heads into the Cloakwood. The evil enchanted forest is vast, and the Order has no idea where the hidden mines might be. Roy decides to study a map, and divide the forest into five sectors. On each sector, the OotS will spend at least one entire day moving between predetermined boundary points in a zigzagging pattern, in order to do a very thorough search of the entire 30 mile wide forest.
On the first day, the Oots encounters tasloi, wolves, and smaller spiders. After some slaughtering of these relatively weak opponents, the Order runs into a group of humans at a hunting lodge. They say that they need protection and help from a group of insane druids who have murdered one of their number, and have denied them their right to hunt.
(I struggled with this decision vis a vis roleplaying and metagaming. None of the OotS is a druid that would automatically be sympathetic with nature or animal lovers, and I didn't think Belkar would care. I also struggled against my metagaming self with the knowledge that I might need that +3 bastard sword if I decide later to go to Werewolf Island in this run. I decided that Roy would give the "Come, let's try to resolve this peacefully!" response, and definitely wouldn't give the smart aleck response to side unequivocally with the druids. The druids very unreasonably attacked after Roy's offer of peace, and any other plea for more diplomacy that he could muster.)
The druids cut off all communication and attack, without even hearing Roy out. They must be insane, indeed. There are four of them, and they all four begin to cast gods know what awful spells. Durkon attempts a silence spell, since the druids are too spread out for hold person to be effective tactically. Roy and Belkar attack. Elan plays his harp and sings. V decides to risk a web, since most of the druids are far back from the Order's front line. Haley fires her magic bow.
Durkon's silence works against all the druids, but also silences all of the Order instead, except V. Luckily, V has intelligently fallen back from Durkon before beginning any spells. However, the druids have lit flame blades, and the previously clear, sunny sky has grown black with clouds. There is no time for any lightning protection, and the sky is growing darker, thundering and flashing far beyond what nature would ever do without being controlled by druid magic.
The druids are caught in V's web! V shouts, "Sir Greenhilt, fall back! I am going to fire my wand of fireball before the lightning storm intensifies! The Order falls back, and V fires. The helplessly ensnared druids are almost dead, and Belkar and Haley finish them off with throwing daggers and arrows. Roy feels deep regret that the horribly burned enemies would not parlay.
The OotS stands victorious, but saddened. The hunters from Baldur's Gate crow arrogantly about their supremacy over the "savages." Roy sighs, closes his eyes, frowns, and lowers his head at the scorched ground. His shoulders slump, his heart heavily burdened by his lawful good, but *good*, conscience.
I have now installed @CamDawg 's wonderful newest version of Tweaks, to remove the helmet animations and allow the OotS to look more like the OotS. I noticed that he now has new components that remove all racial restrictions from the game. This makes Haley *legally* a multiclass fighter-thief, and V *legally* a conjurer. Elves can be druids and bards, as they should. Dwarves can be skalds. Any person of any race can now be any multi-class or dual class with this tweak, and all dual classes are allowed, without resorting to Keepering. I could have even made Belkar a ranger>barbarian dual class, although I'm not going to go back and rebuild him at this point.
Awesome work, @CamDawg! Your ability to make this game just keep getting better and better after all these years amazes me. Words can't express my gratitude for your gifts to the BG community.
I have given Belkar the ring of animal control from the druids, so at least he has some ranger-like ability with animals now as he should, although animal charming has never worked very practically in computerized D&D games.
I will probably multiple post sometimes in this thread, since I like to compose my posts about major battles before going on to the next major battle during the same play session.
It is my hope that BG2:EE version 1.3 will be released before I finish this run, but, since my understanding is that most of the current bugs in BG2:EE have to do with the new content, which is irrelevant to my OotS run, I may play this out in BG2:EE version 1.2, depending on timing.
So, here's a first mini-update. I may do another one or two tonight - we'll see. If not tonight, then tomorrow for sure during my Labor Day day off.
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Roy drinks a potion of freedom and tanks half the exterior of the spider-infested Cloakwood solo. He finds a +2 scimitar that would have been the best find in the game for a druid or druid-fighter, but that unfortunately none of the OotS can use. After finding the cave where the panicked boy had said his brother had went, Roy brings the rest of the Oots. Durkon casts Bless, Chant, and Strength of One, and the OotS enters the foreboding cave. Inside is an army of spiders, and a weird, bloated spider woman who calls herself Centeol, telling the OotS how they are now food for her children and her.
Elan sings "Nice, nice, nice, nice spiders!", and the spiders begin to eat each other. Apparently Elan sounds so awful, even to spiders, that they would rather die than listen. After killing all the spiders, with use of both of Durkon's memorized slow poison spells, only Centeol is left. She begs Roy to kill her rather than make her listen to more of that horrible blonde bard's infernal, torturous singing, and Roy obliges.
Also, I re-installed Tweaks over my new 1.3 game, took off helmets, and granted full hit points per level up, full hit points to all enemies, and 100% spell learning. This enabled me to turn the difficulty slider to Core rules, and will increase the net difficulty of the game, increasing my chance of reloads to come.
Roy and company, deep in the dark Cloakwood Forest, encounter a druid on a bridge who tells them, after Roy swears that the Iron Throne is their enemy, that the Iron Throne Mines sought by the Order are to the east. Roy, being single-minded to a flaw, insists that the Order head immediately east, leaving much of the Cloakwood Forest unexplored. Why would the Order risk going to parts unknown for no good reason in this dangerous place, with the direction of the target of their quest now revealed?
After a couple of days of travel and camping, and a few black bears told to take a hike by Belkar, the order finds the entrance to the fortress surrounding the Iron Throne Mines. (Roy doesn't understand how the psychotic and murderous Halfling Belkar has such an affinity with wild carnivorous animals, but he does. Oh, wait...)
Roy suspects big trouble ahead, so V casts an invisibility spell on Haley so she can scout with impunity. Haley discovers an enemy party guarding the mine entrance which appears to contain a high level fighter, two mages, and a cleric.
Roy wonders how the Order can prevail against such clearly superior firepower - oh, wait, wizard. Using the invisible Haley's help, V comes up behind her to just out of sight but in range of his/her spells to the enemy party. Web. Fireball 1, by memorization. Fireball 2, by wand. Fireball 3, by wand. Fireball 4, by wand. Magic missile, magic missile. Haley goes to town on web-stuck enemies with her bow. The hasted, angry fighter breaks free, but Roy, Belkar, and Durkon step in to run interference.
The "overwhelming" enemy party is slaughtered, thanks to V. "Oh, wait, wizard."
I guess V considered the poor thing an acceptable collateral loss; emotionless logic of the wizard, and all that. Belkar didn't mind because that critter is prey, not a respectable carnivorous ranger/barbarian's pet.
And it might have even eaten a magic ring at some point in the past, although this one had not, upon examination.
The Order presses into the mines to find the leader and shut down the operation. Roy talks to a miner who tells him to get a key off of the leader, Daveaorn, which unlocks a valve and floods the mines. The Order is to find a slave named Rill and tell him of the plan, so he can get the innocent slaves to safety.
The Order encounters heavy opposition in the mines. Haley disarms several deadly traps, and discovers a large group of guards. She leads them out into an ambush set up by the rest of the Order. Disaster - an invisible mage sneaks up on Roy and Belkar, and casts lightning. Roy and Haley had heard her chanting incantations, but had expected her to stay back in the guarded room and not to directly attack so boldly. Roy survives the first lightning blast through his Talos' Gift boots, and gulps a potion of grounding, then yells "Scatter!" The lightning hits Elan, Belkar, and Durkon, then bounces back from the far wall to Roy, who is protected, and hits the mage who cast it, burning her to near death. Roy finishes her off. She must have been some kind of suicide attacker.
The Order retreats to the surface to rest and heal, then goes back in to resume the mission. A group of guards have set up a new ambush in the late lightning mage's room. Their party contains several elite archers with poison and ice arrows. Roy is immediately hit by an arrow and poisoned, and Durkon casts slow poison. Elan attempts to dance around and sing "fight, fight, fight, fight the bad archers." To which an archer responds by shooting him with an ice arrow. Elan is forced to limp away, still attempting to sing. At the last minute, he manages to distract and confuse several archers. Belkar is hit with a poison arrow and uses an antidote potion. V is unable to act without causing friendly fire, so the battle is up to the melee fighters and Haley. At last, the Order is victorious, though badly wounded. Durkon has to use up all his healing spells. The Order is barely at the top of the mines. This is going to be tough.
The Order encounters an ogre mage. Belkar rages. V tries to interrupt its spell with magic missiles. Haley shoots arrows of biting. Durkon starts a silence spell. The ogre mage goes down before Durkon even finishes his spell. Roy was expecting a harder fight, here.
Shoot, another mage! Is Davaeorn the commander of a mage army? Those darn narrow corridors and doorways! The Order struggles to get into position. The mage mirror images and starts something else before the Order can get to her. Belkar rages again, Haley fires arrows, V fires magic missiles, Durkon tries hold person. Durkon's spell works, and the battle is basically over. The Order has been very lucky on this level.
Coming up: The dread Davaeorn...
The Order knows that Davy is on level 4 of the mines, from interrogating a talkative guard who tells them in exchange for his life. At the stairs down to level 4, the Order uses 4 potions of fire resistance, a green scroll of fire immunity, a green scroll of lightning immunity, a potion of invulnerability, three potions of grounding, and two potions of absorption.
Haley detects an entire corridor of deadly traps. Suspecting that Davy is likely at the end of the corridor, Roy asks V to cast invisibility on Haley. She is able to disarm the traps and see that Davaeorn is waiting at the end of the corridor, with full magical protections already activated. One of his guards must have run away and alerted him that they were coming. Roy has an idea - perhaps they can get V to sneak up behind the invisible Haley and cast dispel magic before Davy knows that V is there.
No good - apparently Davy can spot them despite Haley's invisibility. V casts Haste. Belkar rages. The Order rushes Davy, who begins to teleport away, but Belkar still gets in a stab before he can disappear. V shouts that Davy has only teleported as far as the next room. Roy, Belkar, Durkon, and invisible Haley rush into that room, and Haley tries to position herself for a backstab with her +2 shortsword. V and Elan hang back, waiting to cast spells and song. Davy casts lightning at Belkar, who is protected by potion and takes no damage. Roy gets a critical hit with his +2 Spider's Bane greatsword, and down goes Davy. Roy wonders whether he just wasted a packload of invaluable expensive potions and scrolls. Better safe than sorry, he supposes. Belkar could have been fried by that lightning. Belkar compliments Roy on his "great cleavage".
Now I really want to make Tarquin's party or Xykon's party for IWD:EE. I just wish I could have a lizardfolk option to make Malack.
Roy leads the Order to the fabled city of Baldur's Gate, after a well-deserved rest stop at the Friendly Arms Inn. Roy wants to make a beeline for the city, and find out once and for all who is trying to kill him. He has been having very disturbing night time visitations from the ghost of his "father", telling him over and over that his mother had been unfaithful, and that Roy should be grateful that he had even deigned to let him live and raise him, given his birth circumstances. And, Roy's "father" is so disappointed that he became an idiot rank-and-file fighter instead of a mage, as his "father" intended for him. Roy is certain these dreams or visions have to do with the conspiracy in Baldur's Gate, somehow. Durkon assures him that all of this is entirely possible given the nature of the gods other than his god, Helmthor, and that he, Durkon, is there for Roy no matter what.
But, Haley and Belkar are becoming a bit contrary about unexplored dungeons and profitable side quests left undone. Haley keeps reminding Roy about how the Order is almost broke, after Roy told them to drink all their best potions for safety in attacking the Dread Davaeorn, and that they need the gold and magic treasure that could be gained by backtracking and tying up loose ends around the countryside south of Baldur's Gate. She reminds Roy that she joined the Order for the promise of gold. She had never told him why, but she has come to trust him. She tells him that she has some "daddy" issues of her own, and that she needs gold to ransom him from an evil warlord in Amn. The Order has already dealt a severe blow to the Iron Throne, and they have been slowed to a crawl in their plans. The Iron Throne will wait.
Roy is almost persuaded by Haley's arguments, but still insists that they head north and at least get an idea about how urgent the situation is in Baldur's Gate. Along the way through the farmlands south of the city, the Order meets a farmer looking for his lost son. They track the boy to an ankheg nest, and find that he is already dead. Roy takes the unpleasant duty of informing the farmer of his boy's grim fate, and carries the boy's body to him for proper burial. Roy gives the farmer 100 gold to save his farm.
The Order also encounters some fishermen complaining about an evil priestess of Umberlee in the area. They track her down, only to discover that she is a child, and that the fishermen stole an artifact from her and killed her mother. Roy returns to the fishermen and forces them to return the artifact, then returns it to the child. Durkon is uncomfortable helping a child of Umberlee, but finally agrees that it was the right thing to do.
At the gates of the city, Roy speaks to the captain of the guard, Scar, and is asked to investigate suspicious goings on in the southwest quarter of the city with the Seven Suns trading coster. Roy and the Order discover that the Seven Suns has been taken over by doppelgangers. The doppelgangers are killed, and the Order rescues the original merchant leader.
About to report to Scar in the Flaming Fist compound, Roy is stopped outside the gates by Aldeth Sashenstar, the hunter they had rescued in the Cloakwood Forest. (I had never seen this entire scenario before, having always sided with the druids in previous runs where I was not trying to roleplay Roy Greenhilt. As has been said before, I am amazed at this game's ability to still surprise me after all these years. And, I had no idea that you could still wind up with the bastard sword +3 vs. shapeshifters no matter how you played this.)
Aldeth asks the Order to investigate more potential doppelganger activity in his merchant league. After entering the compound and asking around, and having Haley unlock some desk drawers in leader quarters pointed out by unhappy and suspicious guards and resident merchants, the Order unmasks the doppelgangers, who attack in great numbers with their ruse revealed.
V casts web on part of the doppelganger army, and Haley helps V kill off the stuck doppelgangers by arrow and missile. Roy has been willing to let Elan help out a bit more in combat, as Elan insists that he can fight effectively as long as he keeps making puns and quips insulting the enemies. Roy is doubtful of that, but Elan does seem to be doing some good, so Roy allows it, at least against weaker enemies like these doppelgangers. Roy is still highly irritated by Elan's constant singing, but, so are the enemies, it would seem. And V says that Elan's irritating singing seems to have some kind of magical effect, although only the gods know what that could be. Roy tolerates it, for now.
The Order survives a first wave, then a second wave of doppelgangers, and wins the fight. The grateful Aldeth gives Roy a family heirloom magic sword.
Roy agrees to investigate. The Order proceeds to the east quarter and climbs down into the sewers through one of the manhole ladders. Through either bad luck or good, the Order descends straight down into an ambush by an ogre mage and a swarm of carrion crawlers. Apparently, the ogre mage has been using the crawlers to paralyze, kill, and drag unfortunate city dwellers down into the sewers to be eaten as food.
Belkar rages, but it does not protect him from crawler bites, and he is paralyzed. V casts a horror spell from a wand, which turns out to be very effective, even causing the dangerous ogre mage to panic. Then, V begins a continual barrage of magic missiles. Haley uses the ice arrows she has been saving against the incredibly dangerous crawlers. Elan sings, "Inchworm, inchworm, caterpillar, pretty butterflies", and several of the carrion crawlers scatter, while one even begins to attack another. Roy takes note and is begrudgingly impressed by how useful Elan is proving to be. Not that he would ever admit that to Elan. Roy is starting to notice Haley giving "looks" to Elan at various times, including during combat; and that she often seems to position herself very near him, both in and out of combat. Hmm. Nevertheless, once more, the Order of the Stick is victorious.
After solving the mystery of the sewer disappearances, the Order is told by Scar to report to Duke Eltan. Eltan asks them to break into the Iron Throne headquarters and find absolute proof that there is a conspiracy going on. Eltan appears to be skeptical.
Roy wants to rest at the Elfsong and then start in immediately on the Iron Throne, but Haley and Belkar convince him to finish exploring the southern wilderness areas first, as well as hunt for Nashkel's missing guard captain and Nashkel's missing emeralds. There are also rumors of a basilisk infestation east of Beregost, and calls for adventurers in Ulgoth's Beard to the north. Belkar has stars in his eyes over the potential xp and treasure. Even Durkon admits that it might be a good idea to get some more xp and treasure before breaking into the Iron Throne headquarters, which is likely to be very hard, and to lead to even more urgent trouble once they start a direct attack on the conspiracy leaders.
About to settle into the Elfsong for the night, Roy is approached by a strange man dressed in garish colors, asking Roy and the Order to come with him - his boss has an employment proposition. The weary Roy agrees to at least speak to him before they retire from their very long day. Upon entering the building they are led to, and speaking the password they were told, they are led through a large room into a smaller study where both the apparent "boss" and a robed mage are waiting.
The man introduces himself as the leader of the Baldur's Gate thieves' guild, and says he needs them to do something illegal. Roy sighs heavily and says he wants no part of it. The thief guild leader says too bad, they know where the guild is, and his face, and so they must work for the thieves' guild or die. Roy says again that he wants no part of it, and that the Order will not break the law and sully their name for anyone. The idiots attack, and the Order must slaughter every one in the criminals' guild.
The next morning, the Order heads south to Nashkel. After a couple of days' travel, a night in Nashkel, and some searching around the mines area, the Order finds the emerald thief. He is a harmless crazy sculptor, and Roy decides to let him finish his piece, but the bounty hunter Greywolf shows up and attacks the Order when Roy refuses to abandon the sculptor to his fate. V casts Haste, Durkon lands hold person, and it's over. Elan gets a spiffy new longsword from Greywolf.
Searching for Captain Brage of Nashkel, the Order encounters Vax and Dal. Haley winds up with bracers of archery +2, a significant upgrade in gear for her. Haley says, "See, Roy, I told you it would be worth it to explore more wilderness!"
Searching for the rumored basilisk infestation east of Beregost, the Order encounters a cult of Red Wizards of Thay. They are no match for the also red-robed Vaarsuvius, even four to one. V casts haste and a web, then begins blasting wizards with Melf's minute meteors. Durkon casts silence. Belkar rages, and Haley fires poison arrows. Elan gets stuck in the web, but still manages to confuse the last wizard.
Finally the Order scouts out the location of the basilisk nest. Apparently a crazy gnome wizard is behind the excessive breeding of the monsters. V and Elan both memorize protection from petrification spells in multiple slots, and Roy puts all five of the potions of mirrored eyes in his quick pouch just in case. It is necessary to rest to get the protection spells ready. The Order is attacked three times by huge swarms of gnolls and flinds, but they are all dispatched easily enough. Finally, the protection spells are ready, and cast.
The Order attacks the basilisk nest. V casts Haste, Belkar rages, Durkon begins hold person, and Haley fires poison arrows. Elan sings, "Nice, nice, nice, nice little lizards, look what pretty eyes you have." Roy rolls *his* eyes.
The enemy wizard goes down before Durkon can even finish his hold spell, and the Order begins the long, dangerous task of finding and killing all the basilisks from the nest. The protection spells wear off, so Roy commands the others to stay put, while he puts on the Boots of the Cheetah, takes the last protection spell, and finds and exterminates the rest of the monsters.
Even so, now fighting alone, Roy is too slow and the spell wears off, *during* a basilisk fight! Thank goodness for those potions, or the Order would have lost its leader!
While working on exterminating the nest, the Order encounters a group of young teenagers, apparently also hunting basilisks for xp and treasure. They have the audacity to challenge the Order. Roy is not interested in slaughtering a group of teenagers, though he would like to teach them a lesson if he didn't think the attempt would end in bloodshed. He warns them that they are in over their heads and should get out of this area, but that his Order of the Stick is leaving. The teenagers laugh at them and head off towards the nest area. They're probably all stone statues now. Roy did try to warn them.
I got Roy trapped in a corner next to ankhegs in the ankheg room and confused by the ankheg mage. He almost survived, but without potions of extra healing, I just couldn't get enough healing on him, and I couldn't get the ankhegs to aggro on somebody else despite frantically trying to. What's really frustrating is that I had the Greenstone Amulet. All I had to do was use a charge on Roy, and this wouldn't have happened. Sigh.
I'm not sure yet if I'll reload and continue or just make this a no reload and call it quits. Dying has kind of taken the wind out of my sails for the time being.
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0445.html