Here is Fuller. Crossbow is a must. Spear for something different.
LN Human Fighter Crossbow ++ Spear ++
Fuller is a senior member of the guard. He is more than twice your age, and perhaps not the happiest of men; for he a surly sort and often displays a foul temper. He bears next to no patience with green members of the guard. He does however take his job extremely seriously, and his dedication to the defense of Candlekeep is peerless. Despite Fuller's grumpiness and harsh demeanor, he genuinely strives to instill a sense of honor about his profession to the younger members of the guard. He cares about making them good soldiers, and teaches them discipline.
Fuller is meticulous about caring for his gear and demands the same of his subordinates. He makes sure that the Watchers remain alert on their patrols, and will literally give a swift kick to the rear when they seem unattentive. As one might imagine, Fuller would love to see Hull expelled from Candlekeep. It is only because Jondalar finds mirth in Hull's escapades that Hull is tolerated.
Fuller's relationship to you has not been a close one. But he is not given to friendships. About the only friend that he might be said to have is Jondalar.
This is Dreppin. I considered making him a Priest of Lathander, but for some reason didn't pull the trigger on it.
NG Human Cleric Quarterstaff + Two-handed Weapon Style + Memorized spells: Cure Light Wounds x1 Armor of Faith x1 Remove Fear x1
Dreppin is a cleric of Chauntea who tends the fortress' farm animals and vegetable garden. You've known him all your life. He is a kind man not quite old enough to be your father, but by the same token a bit too old to feel like an older brother. He was always there if you ever felt troubled, giving encouragement and support. You could trust his advice.
Dreppin's divine magic is important to the quality of life at Candlekeep, since through his prayers there always seems to be plenty of delicious tasting food and drink on the table beyond just wild game. He also heals the keep's animals. But many was the time that he took care of you when you were sick or injured yourself playing, and restored you to health. If there is anyone as you know who is worthy of as much respect as your father Gorion, it would surely be Dreppin.
Here's Jondalar. Just to add a little variety I made him a Stalker.
LG Human Stalker Long Sword ++ Flail/Morning Star ++ Two-Weapon Style ++
Jondalar is responsible for training new recruits for the Watchers, teaching them basic martial skills—mainly how to decrease their chance of getting killed in combat by defending themselves properly using proper stance, parrying techniques, and weapon strikes. He is a skilled warrior and reportedly very adept at scouting and gathering intelligence.
A ranger, Jondalar is originally from the Vilhon Reach. He was born in the port city of Arrabar and has gripping tales to tell of voyages on the Sea of Fallen Stars and roaming the Shining Plains. Jondalar has a special affinity with wemics, creatures that are half humanoid and half lion. He is an honorary member of one of their tribes in the Shining Plains, something that he seems to hold sacred. Perhaps one day he may relate how this came to pass, he smiles.
As much as Jondalar enjoys sharing tales of past adventures, how he came to his current position at Candlekeep is something that he typically keeps to himself. However, he did confide to you once that a wemic king told him that his destiny lay in a place that was richly described by the great beast but unnamed; and Jondalar believes it could only have been Candlekeep.
CG Half-elf Archer Short Sword + Scimitar/Wakizashi/Ninjato + Long Bow ++ Two-Weapon Style ++
Erik is a half-elf who befriended Jondalar on his journey to Candlekeep in the region once known as the Giant's Plains between Amn and Turmish. The story goes that Erik, then hunting, saved Jondalar's life by helping him battle a ferocious and very large band of worgs that had surrounded Jondalar. Erik's keen ears brought him to the battle in the nick of time; and his arrows swiftly killed the pack leader. Then Jondalar seized the moment to kill the pack's alpha female with his flail and the worgs fled in disarray. The two rangers became fast friends from that day forward. Erik is like a kid brother to Jondalar.
Erik is usually in high spirits but sometimes he can become melancholy when he reflects on his half-elven racial mixture, and a sense that he doesn't quite belong to any people. His mother is an elven druid and he never knew his human father. From as early as he can remember he thirsted for adventure beyond the druid grove. So Erik struck out on his own as a young teenager, having little trouble surviving on his own by hunting with his impressive archery skills.
For the longest time you had assumed that Erik was older than you, but he is in fact two years younger. Erik shared with you once that he is rather fond of Imoen, although he is very shy about it and made it clear that he would be mortified if she were ever to learn.
I gave more thought to adding Winthrop to the selection. But he is a large portly guy, and to create him as a PC trims him down to a fit looking type, which just doesn't work for me. There's no equipped or fighting animations for the "Fat Man" appearance.
Yeah I like the one for Dreppin too. I think it works well for a druid as well.
All these portraits are from an old collection of BG portraits that I gleaned 14 years ago from sources like the Ironworks forum and File Planet (which at that time had a great selection for BG portraits and soundsets). I think they're all 96 dpi but they seem to work fine, at least for me. Sources unknown. But they've been out there forever.
Hull, I see as good-natured, actually. The way he talks to you it seems clearly that he's your pal. It's Fuller who (comparatively) is the surlier one.
It feels implicit to me that Hull might enjoy 'rest' and recreational activity whenever he possibly can. ;-) He might be in the doghouse with the Watchers every so often. So maybe for that reason I want to see him as easy-going.
The portrait I chose for Hull can suffice, but there is probably something better for him out there, I'm sure. (That one for Hull would work better for a cleric, I would say. It looks like the guy is holding a fairly ornate mace.)
I'm definitely open to other portrait suggestions! Please do propose them if you can come up with any! :-)
The ones I think work best: Carbos, Erik, Jondalar, Karan, Parda, Reevor, Shistal, and Theodon. Those all work really well for me. Phlydia is okay for me--it was the only one I had that was even close. But there is probably something better out there for her. Likewise, something better can probably be found for Hull, Fuller, and Shank. (Although I think the ones I have now will do if nothing better is found.)
These are great. I like how human most of them are. The game's probably a bit harder when you don't have god like stats.
Thanks! I actually tried to make them as close to normal everyday people as I could, while still giving them one or two ability scores that makes adventuring with them a little more viable and enjoyable than adventuring with a commoner. There's only one 17 ability score among the whole lot of them (Reevor's Con). Everything else is in the 14-15 range for the class requisite abilities. A 16 is rare among them.
I would actually recommend using them with a protagonist that has your own actual RL stats (maybe with a one or two slight boosts, but pretty close to your RL self). For a veteran player that does actually not pose that great of a challenge. But it can still be kind of refreshing to remind yourself that you don't by any means need godlike stats to beat this game. (Although maybe with SCS installed you'll feel the lower ability scores for such a party a little more than in a vanilla game.)
I'm in the process now of putting together a page for them at BG: the Wide featuring their .chr and .bio files, and portraits. It'll take a while to get it all together, but I'll post the link once it's ready. I think it'll at least serve as inspiration to other players.
Addendum: I know everyone has their own things going. But I can envision a no-reload speed game competition using such a pool of characters. Even just to see how far you can get, etc.
Edit: Here is the page where I'm gradually putting everything together for this.
Bendalis is one of Candlekeep's most respected scribes. He is originally from the isle of Oman, the central kindgom of the Norland Isles of the Moonshaes. Bendalis is very tall and broad shouldered, with a rugged face. He sings with one of the lowest voices you have ever heard, which he says mimics the great sea horns his people bellow as signals to one another across the treacherous northern waters of the Sea of Swords.
Bendalis is Candlekeep’s resident expert on Norlander sagas and the ways, legends, and folktales of the Fflok who inhabit the Moonshae Isles. He has a deep fondness for the stirring war chants of his Norland people, and will sometimes quietly hum his own improvised variations of them. He does so at such a low register that it softly pulses through an entire floor of the library. An occasional library patron may complain. But it Tethtoril allows the music because it seems to invigorate and inspire the scribes to devote themselves all the more to their tasks.
@Lemernis, I didn't see this when you started it back in July, but did you know that the picture you chose for Phylidia is Polgara the Sorceress, daughter of Belgarath the Sorcerer? Phylidia's nice, but she's no Polgara. I'll try to calm Polgara down and talk her out of turning Phylidia into a frog for "borrowing" her image.
Lol! Yeah, these portraits all came from somewhere. They're from portrait packs at Ironworks, BG fan sites I can barely remember anymore if they're even still around, and File Planet back in 1999 or 2000. I was aware that that one is Polgara, and I know the one for Bendalis is for Fafhrd from Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series. But beyond that I have no idea where they came from.
Okay, this is the last one, I think. Here is Piato:
LG Elf (yes, elf) Monk Scimitar/Wakizashi/Ninjato + Single Weapon Style +
Piato is one of Candlekeep's experts on the lore of the lands that border the Shining Sea, as he himself hails from the Lapaliiyan city-state of Uzurr. Piato is an elf; and somewhat uncharacteristically for his race he worships Ilmater. Piato is also a monk of the Order of St. Uzzur, which sent him to Candlekeep to curb his wanderlust. His superiors felt that he enjoyed traveling a bit too much as he journeyed the coast doing the business of exporting the cloister's olive oil, wine, and spices. The order's head, Abbot Kadar al Ilmater, sent Piato to Candlekeep to assist the sages there compile knowledge of the Shining Sea region. The project has thus far continued for twelve years, which by Candlekeep's standards isn't long--and by elven standards seems even less.
Piato has handled this reassignment with grace and dignity, as sacrifice and enduring of suffering is key to his faith. He has reasoned that the greater his desire to travel the world, then the greater his sacrifice in being cloistered as he is. So Piato still speaks with enthusiasm of his past visits to such exotic southern locales as Calimport, the Border Kingdoms on the Lake of Steam, and Lantan; and of his abiding desire to one day resume his travels as far and wide as he can.
Just for fun I'll put this out there as a speed game competition. So if you get bored one day, or just want to have fun with a quick one-off game, maybe this will satisfy the itch for a different type of challenge.
Here are the rules:
You will be playing in Multiplayer mode. The .chr and .bio files for each of these characters is available here. Just place the .chr and .bio files for these characters in your "characters" folder. Then import the characters into multiplayer slots. Make sure to place your PC that is designed with your real life abilities and class-match in the first slot (with the big check-mark) as party leader, of course.
If you make it all the way to the end then note how many days and hours it took. When the PC dies note how far you got, i.e., how many days and hours, and note the chapter. Anyway, here are the basic rules:
1) Your PC must reflect an honest attempt to capture your real life ability scores, and a class or kit that accurately reflects your personality.
2) Core Rules difficulty. (If using other specify and that will be a separate category.)
3) No reloading period (only for a technical glitch or crash). You live with all game results such as HP on level-ups, spell scribing attempts and party member deaths (see rule 5). Slain party members may be resurrected however.
4) You may not use any of the NPCs other than Imoen (don't forget to leave a slot open for her if you plan to). Otherwise you must use the characters that are made available here. (You will be playing in multiplayer mode; so you import the characters.)
5) Once a party member is slain, then he or she may not be resurrected (not even once). You may however fill the slot of the deceased with a new team member from this collection. When adding a new party member from the collection, you must return to the gates of Candlekeep, save, and reload with the new character added. If a party member gets chunked you can only fill the empty slot with another Candlekeep character when you return to Candlekeep in chapter 6.
6) Metagame and powergame to your heart's content.
7) The farthest anyone gets in the shortest number of days and hours is the winner. You may post your progress and results in this thread.
If you wish play with SCS installed, or to see how far you can get with these characters without metagaming or using cheese tactics, i.e., roleplaying, (or both, etc.) then note that. There can be separate categories for different approaches. But the hard and fast rules are: no reloading, no resurrections (and recruit new members at the gates of Candlekeep), and your PC must mirror you in real life.
I'll be starting a game of my own sometime next week due to RL demands. Would love to start sooner if I could, though!
Piato looks like a boss! I'm guessing these descriptions for the more obscure characters are from the old guide that came with vanilla BG or something? If you're just writing them on your own then major props!
Thanks, I'm writing them on my own. Just having some fun. I'm using whatever information the game gives us and running with it, along with the portrait as additional inspiration. And drawing also upon my knowledge of the Realms to spice things up a little.
I could not resist at least picking my party this evening. I was really torn between going with an offbeat, quirky mashup, versus most effective. I decided to go with what looks like the A-Team. For PC I'm playing a Priest of Lathander who will dual to Mage (which does match me, and I'm using my estimated ability scores). So I have healing covered, at least until I dual. And for the party I went with Imoen, Phlydia, Reevor, Jondalar, and Erik.
I have a lot of old custom soundsets for the original game that I could probably adapt to BGEE to give this all a bit more flavor. Too bad it's a bit of a chore these days to do that, or so I recall reading. Does anyone have a thread about making custom soundsets bookmarked that they could post here for me to look at?
Edit: I found a tutorial on this site by Luigirules, and it looks like a fair bit of a chore for EE. I guess this will have to wait, lol.
While paging through this thread I was almost tempted to comment on how mediocre the ability scores were. Then I thought, "These are how STATS are supposed to be." Least wise that is how they were in the original PnP. We didn't Min/Max, at least not much. I think one guy in our group had an 18 and one other (my wizard) had a 17, but even with that our STAT totals were probably in the very low 70s most of the time.
I know! Even though I was very intentionally trying to create characters with modest ability scores, I still struggled with that myself.
In a few places I set an ability score just one point beneath the number that provides a tangible benefit. E.g., there's no bonus on HP for level-ups for 7-14 Con (although I should think a character with 7 Con will need to rest more than one with 14 Con). So in a few cases I set the ability score just one point lower than whatever the significant benefit is, to force choices about using tomes. So using that example, instead of giving a character 9 or 10 Con I gave him a 14, etc.
But mainly the ability scores were made modest in order to present a challenge, along with a limited and somewhat offbeat pool of classes.
@dstoltzfus observed to me that he always pictured the scribes of Candlekeep as mages, and I have to agree that there should be some. As mentioned, the decision to make some of them clerics was based on their .cre files (they have commoner ability scores of straight 9s and are given an unfilled cleric spell slot). Bards of the scholarly type (two of them kitted) also seemed like a fun way to try to do something a little more offbeat.
But anyway, I agree that it would be good to get a mage in there. And what could be more fitting for Candlekeep than a Diviner, right? The only unnamed monk/scribe that remains is Jessup. So a Diviner he shall be.
What the heck, I'll make two versions. One Good and one Evil. (Edit: in an earlier version of the post both were CG and I asked folks to please help me decide which one.) :
Jessup 1
CG Human Diviner Dagger + Memorized spells: Identify X1
Jessup is Theodon's best friend. One possible reason behind the friendship is that it gets under Ulraunt's skin for the following reasons:
Jessup is an aged man who is the chief custodian of the Watcher's equipment. However, after he is caught up with those chores he also cleans the library. Jessup greatly enjoys the socialization available at the library, and for that reason he will extend his chores there at the expense of his primary duties to clean the Watchers' barracks, polish and repair armor, sharpen weapons, and so forth. Jessup answers to Fuller, who considers the chief custodian lazy and often complains to Ulraunt that Jessup spends far too much time in the library. And indeed, Theodon seizes every opportunity to engage Jessup in conversation. The two friends share many a jest and wisecrack together, although Theodon is by far the superior wit.
Jessup is hardly gifted in any respect. He will never be accused by anyone of being either smart or wise! But nevertheless Theodon has undertaken a project over the last year to teach his friend a bit of the Art. It has been painfully slow going, requiring tremendous patience on Theodon's part. But Jessup has been determined and has made progress to the point that he can finally cast the spell to Identify objects that have enchantments on them. Interestingly, this spell bypasses the need for research through written materials, which in some sense is at odds with the broader aims of Candlekeep.
Fuller seems jealous that a mere custodian (who is also his underling) has somehow learned the skills of a mage. In fact, it makes Fuller furious although he avoids expressing that those sentiments lest it make him appear petty. However, it does indirectly lead Fuller to gripe all the more to Ulraunt about Jessup as a ne'erdowell. And that little bit of mischief warms the cockles of Theodon's heart.
and Jessup 2
NE Human Diviner Dagger + Memorized spells: Identify X1 Infravision x1 Spook
Jessup and Theodon are fast friends. Jessup appears to be around a decade or so younger than Theodon.
Jessup is a mage skilled in the art of Divination and it is he to whom the scribes turn to when all efforts to research an object of mysterious origin or enchantment have failed. Through Jessup's spells such knowledge may be revealed. The ethic of exhaustive research and diligent use of written materials rules supreme at Candlekeep, however, so Jessup's skills are only used as a last resort.
This gives Jessup much more time on his hands than he otherwise would ideally have. It is not that Jessup disagrees that his skills should be used sparingly given Candlekeep's purpose and mission. It just tends to make the Diviner a bit bored. Jessup has consequently been assigned to compile and transcribe readings related to the art of Divination, which while certainly of interest he considers a rather menial task. Jessup at times comes across as vaguely resentful on that account. He is known for making sarcastic remarks, and some of the monks consider him arrogant or imperious. Jessup at times challenges or contradicts Tethtoril's instructions. This no doubt fuels his friendship with Theodon. Their personal styles are very different. But in a sense both are gadflies of a sort.
Now with Jessup 1, note that I lowered his Int to 9 (whereas 16 Int is required for a Diviner). That gives him a -10 Lore bonus, 35% chance of success to learn spells, he can't learn spells higher than level 4, and his spellbook is limited to six slots per level. Also by virtue of his 9 Wisdom he gets an additional -10 to Lore. But that's fine--because Good Will Hunting he is not! His powers are basically a way for Theodon to get under Ulraunt's skin. Up to the player, but for most this Jessup will have to drink Int boosting potions before attempting to scribe any spells.
I will say with this concept for him, using voice number 3 ("Whut now ah woonder?") is actually very amusing, at least to me.
For Jessup 2 he's not gimped as such. He's a true Diviner who benefits from high Int and Wis (e.g., +9 to Lore). And I kind of like the portrait and bio for him too.
Again thanks to a good observation by @dstolzfus a change to the speed game competition:
It's okay to resurrect characters. But if any get chunked you can only replace them at Candlekeep at the beginning of chapter 6. That's actually sort of a nice twist, I think.
As @dstolzfus pointed out, it is immersion breaking to return to Candlekeep to get replacement characters other than in chapter 6.
@Lemernis, too much credit. Once my random no-reload dies (I'm on attempt two of the gnoll stronghold with Minsc at level 3 [Minsc died unceremoniously]), I'll give the Candlekeep challenge a go.
Yeah, Jessup 1 is more endearing to me too, whereas Jessup 2 is a fully functioning Diviner. So the choice is: heavily gimped but endearing (and as I mentioned voice 3 with a mage, especially with this character concept, really makes me smile) versus high functioning but sarcastic and arrogant (akin to Dr. House from the TV show "House").
I think I'll playtest Jessup 1 in my game in order to determine if he's actually a drag to use in practice. Won't be able to get to that this week as I had hoped, though.
@Lemernis, too much credit. Once my random no-reload dies (I'm on attempt two of the gnoll stronghold with Minsc at level 3 [Minsc died unceremoniously]), I'll give the Candlekeep challenge a go.
Random no-reload is a blast, that's one of my favorite ways of playing this game.
People have all manner of games lined up to play (including me). And because for many of us the amount of playing time is limited and there are so many ideas we'd like to try, I'm not really expecting many (or even any) to actually try the Candlekeep Challenge. But if anyone ever does get around to trying it, I'd be curious to know how far they do get in the game before CHARNAME dies, and the party they assembled, etc. :-)
In my own random no-reload games for the original competition for that, I knew there was no way that I would ever actually complete the game in a record-breaking number of days. So instead I just wanted to see how far I could get before dying. It became more of a 'personal best' thing to me versus competition with other players.
@Lemernis, I was a part of that thread and did the exact same thing. I normally record an RP journal with it. The problem is that it's addictive and I started to get bunred out on amount of games I played (of course, having heavily invested RP characters die constantly was taxing over time).
You know @dstoltzfus, your mention of the random speed game competition inspired me to apply the same approach here. I'll still play the same PC that matches RL me. Bur for the party I set up the following list for the possible characters:
And I used the WoTC dice roller (set the custom die at the bottom to 18, nbr to 1) to determine the party. Obviously only one Jessup is to be used. Likewise, if you roll the same number again then reroll.
I got pretty lucky in terms of distribution of classes:
Lemernis - Cleric of Lathander (who will dual to Mage) Fuller (Fighter) Jessup 1 (Diviner - note: has Identify memorized) Parda (Bard - note: has Find Familiar memorized) Phlydia (Dragon Disciple) Shank (Assassin)
Note that Parda has Find Familiar memorized.
So I do have a Thief, a healer, and the party is strong in arcane magic department (from this Candlekeep pool of characters). However, the party is light in the melee department, for sure. But I think I can get by with Fuller and the PC--at least until the PC duals to Mage. Maybe by then I can use summoned monsters to help Fuller...
Leaving Candlekeep I kind of spaced out that it was no-reload and Shank got caught robbing a dresser upstairs at the Candlekeep in, and in trying to pickpocket the noble, but he and the party escaped the Watcher who showed up.
I also didn't know (or had forgotten) that when playing in MP mode when you remove a character, that character won't ask to rejoin when dialogue is initiated. So I did reload the autosave; I then rejected Imoen from joining, made a named save, and EE Keepered her potions and wand to the party's inventory (under the premise that she would give them to the party as a farewell gift).
But anyway, this looks like a kind of interesting group to work with. I'll be very curious to see how far I get. (Before I go to bed tonight I'll try to remember to put Jessup 1 and Jessup 2 on the BG: the Wide page that features these characters.)
Comments
LN Human Fighter
Crossbow ++
Spear ++
NG Human Cleric
Quarterstaff +
Two-handed Weapon Style +
Memorized spells:
Cure Light Wounds x1
Armor of Faith x1
Remove Fear x1
LG Human Stalker
Long Sword ++
Flail/Morning Star ++
Two-Weapon Style ++
CG Half-elf Archer
Short Sword +
Scimitar/Wakizashi/Ninjato +
Long Bow ++
Two-Weapon Style ++
All these portraits are from an old collection of BG portraits that I gleaned 14 years ago from sources like the Ironworks forum and File Planet (which at that time had a great selection for BG portraits and soundsets). I think they're all 96 dpi but they seem to work fine, at least for me. Sources unknown. But they've been out there forever.
I don't know about the Hull portrait though. I always imagined him as surly, someone in a permanently bad mood.
Smiling and Hull just don't go together.
It feels implicit to me that Hull might enjoy 'rest' and recreational activity whenever he possibly can. ;-) He might be in the doghouse with the Watchers every so often. So maybe for that reason I want to see him as easy-going.
The portrait I chose for Hull can suffice, but there is probably something better for him out there, I'm sure. (That one for Hull would work better for a cleric, I would say. It looks like the guy is holding a fairly ornate mace.)
I'm definitely open to other portrait suggestions! Please do propose them if you can come up with any! :-)
The ones I think work best: Carbos, Erik, Jondalar, Karan, Parda, Reevor, Shistal, and Theodon. Those all work really well for me. Phlydia is okay for me--it was the only one I had that was even close. But there is probably something better out there for her. Likewise, something better can probably be found for Hull, Fuller, and Shank. (Although I think the ones I have now will do if nothing better is found.)
I would actually recommend using them with a protagonist that has your own actual RL stats (maybe with a one or two slight boosts, but pretty close to your RL self). For a veteran player that does actually not pose that great of a challenge. But it can still be kind of refreshing to remind yourself that you don't by any means need godlike stats to beat this game. (Although maybe with SCS installed you'll feel the lower ability scores for such a party a little more than in a vanilla game.)
I'm in the process now of putting together a page for them at BG: the Wide featuring their .chr and .bio files, and portraits. It'll take a while to get it all together, but I'll post the link once it's ready. I think it'll at least serve as inspiration to other players.
Addendum: I know everyone has their own things going. But I can envision a no-reload speed game competition using such a pool of characters. Even just to see how far you can get, etc.
Edit: Here is the page where I'm gradually putting everything together for this.
LN Human Skald
Two-handed Sword +
Two-handed Weapon +
Learned spells: none
LG Elf (yes, elf) Monk
Scimitar/Wakizashi/Ninjato +
Single Weapon Style +
Here are the rules:
You will be playing in Multiplayer mode. The .chr and .bio files for each of these characters is available here. Just place the .chr and .bio files for these characters in your "characters" folder. Then import the characters into multiplayer slots. Make sure to place your PC that is designed with your real life abilities and class-match in the first slot (with the big check-mark) as party leader, of course.
If you make it all the way to the end then note how many days and hours it took. When the PC dies note how far you got, i.e., how many days and hours, and note the chapter. Anyway, here are the basic rules:
If you wish play with SCS installed, or to see how far you can get with these characters without metagaming or using cheese tactics, i.e., roleplaying, (or both, etc.) then note that. There can be separate categories for different approaches. But the hard and fast rules are: no reloading, no resurrections (and recruit new members at the gates of Candlekeep), and your PC must mirror you in real life.
I'll be starting a game of my own sometime next week due to RL demands. Would love to start sooner if I could, though!
I could not resist at least picking my party this evening. I was really torn between going with an offbeat, quirky mashup, versus most effective. I decided to go with what looks like the A-Team. For PC I'm playing a Priest of Lathander who will dual to Mage (which does match me, and I'm using my estimated ability scores). So I have healing covered, at least until I dual. And for the party I went with Imoen, Phlydia, Reevor, Jondalar, and Erik.
Edit: I found a tutorial on this site by Luigirules, and it looks like a fair bit of a chore for EE. I guess this will have to wait, lol.
See what this game has made of me?
In a few places I set an ability score just one point beneath the number that provides a tangible benefit. E.g., there's no bonus on HP for level-ups for 7-14 Con (although I should think a character with 7 Con will need to rest more than one with 14 Con). So in a few cases I set the ability score just one point lower than whatever the significant benefit is, to force choices about using tomes. So using that example, instead of giving a character 9 or 10 Con I gave him a 14, etc.
But mainly the ability scores were made modest in order to present a challenge, along with a limited and somewhat offbeat pool of classes.
But anyway, I agree that it would be good to get a mage in there. And what could be more fitting for Candlekeep than a Diviner, right? The only unnamed monk/scribe that remains is Jessup. So a Diviner he shall be.
What the heck, I'll make two versions. One Good and one Evil. (Edit: in an earlier version of the post both were CG and I asked folks to please help me decide which one.) :
Jessup 1
CG Human Diviner
Dagger +
Memorized spells: Identify X1
NE Human Diviner
Dagger +
Memorized spells:
Identify X1
Infravision x1
Spook
I will say with this concept for him, using voice number 3 ("Whut now ah woonder?") is actually very amusing, at least to me.
For Jessup 2 he's not gimped as such. He's a true Diviner who benefits from high Int and Wis (e.g., +9 to Lore). And I kind of like the portrait and bio for him too.
It's okay to resurrect characters. But if any get chunked you can only replace them at Candlekeep at the beginning of chapter 6. That's actually sort of a nice twist, I think.
As @dstolzfus pointed out, it is immersion breaking to return to Candlekeep to get replacement characters other than in chapter 6.
I think I'll playtest Jessup 1 in my game in order to determine if he's actually a drag to use in practice. Won't be able to get to that this week as I had hoped, though.
People have all manner of games lined up to play (including me). And because for many of us the amount of playing time is limited and there are so many ideas we'd like to try, I'm not really expecting many (or even any) to actually try the Candlekeep Challenge. But if anyone ever does get around to trying it, I'd be curious to know how far they do get in the game before CHARNAME dies, and the party they assembled, etc. :-)
In my own random no-reload games for the original competition for that, I knew there was no way that I would ever actually complete the game in a record-breaking number of days. So instead I just wanted to see how far I could get before dying. It became more of a 'personal best' thing to me versus competition with other players.
1 - Bendalis
2 - Carbos
3 - Dreppin
4 - Erik
5 - Fuller
6 - Hull
7 - Imoen
8 - Jessup 1
9 - Jessup 2
10 - Jondalar
11 - Karan
12 - Parda
13 - Phlydia
14 - Piato
15- Reevor
16 - Shank
17 - Shistal
18 - Theodon
And I used the WoTC dice roller (set the custom die at the bottom to 18, nbr to 1) to determine the party. Obviously only one Jessup is to be used. Likewise, if you roll the same number again then reroll.
I got pretty lucky in terms of distribution of classes:
Lemernis - Cleric of Lathander (who will dual to Mage)
Fuller (Fighter)
Jessup 1 (Diviner - note: has Identify memorized)
Parda (Bard - note: has Find Familiar memorized)
Phlydia (Dragon Disciple)
Shank (Assassin)
Note that Parda has Find Familiar memorized.
So I do have a Thief, a healer, and the party is strong in arcane magic department (from this Candlekeep pool of characters). However, the party is light in the melee department, for sure. But I think I can get by with Fuller and the PC--at least until the PC duals to Mage. Maybe by then I can use summoned monsters to help Fuller...
Leaving Candlekeep I kind of spaced out that it was no-reload and Shank got caught robbing a dresser upstairs at the Candlekeep in, and in trying to pickpocket the noble, but he and the party escaped the Watcher who showed up.
I also didn't know (or had forgotten) that when playing in MP mode when you remove a character, that character won't ask to rejoin when dialogue is initiated. So I did reload the autosave; I then rejected Imoen from joining, made a named save, and EE Keepered her potions and wand to the party's inventory (under the premise that she would give them to the party as a farewell gift).
But anyway, this looks like a kind of interesting group to work with. I'll be very curious to see how far I get. (Before I go to bed tonight I'll try to remember to put Jessup 1 and Jessup 2 on the BG: the Wide page that features these characters.)