Took a break from the glorious and gallant psychos of my Littlemen party to muck around with some kits I hadn't tried, some I have, like the barbarian and cavalier, but none of the others...... I usually have a multi class going where I have the new classes I am trying now.
Behold my whisky and cognac party.....only top shelf here folks!
This time I haven't gotten drunk on cheap beer and created any background stories....so there is really nothing to tell about them. I planned to have all the girls named after cognac and the blokes named after whisky, but I hate most male druid portraits I have seen, so Oban became female....and her portrait is not really a druid picture either....but she is blue skinned with pink hair in a revealing outfit...so that won over some picture of an idiot with a goat skeleton on his head behind a bush with a big stick....or some such nonsense that male druids seem to get up to these days.
Anyway...time to go and shake the pillars of heaven...
Thanks mate, it is nice whisky too. Sometimes for a female i will change it to Taliska just to mix it up as a first name, or other times as a last name like you said...it is one I will always return to. Yeah Oban is good, was your party listed here? I will have another look through.
Ah yeah Skatan, I checked out the other thread, where I listed my littlemen, i see your Oban character listed, nice work, it is a good fantasy style name, hey? Though it is also outstanding when sipped from a crystal whisky globe with a good cigar haha
Though it is also outstanding when sipped from a crystal whisky globe with a good cigar haha
Hehe, indeed it is. I have also named chars in the past based on my own favorite whisky; Cragganmore. A perfect name for a fighter/berzerker dwarf wielding hammers or similar.
What other liquids are good for char names? Thinking about naming my next char "Appletini", should be frightening indeed!
Flora was orphaned by undead at a young age and having grown up with weak overall health due to poor nutrition. She was eventually taken in by an order of priests but her destiny was always elsewhere, outside the walls of the cloister. Good friends with her stalwart companion, Djorn.
I'm a reforming powergamer, so it surprised me to have to worry about Strength scores to figure out what I could and could not equip. I aimed for at least 15 Strength and high Dexterity on my main tank. I also didn't want to roll ad infinitum, so Flora ends up a bit on the fragile side with only 10 Constitution. I think it fits though given her image and backstory. I misaimed my Sleep spell and ended up only catching 2 orcs in the 4-ogre fight at the back of the Easthaven cave. Flora ended up at 1-2HP twice while tanking, and only some panic-quaffed Potions of Healing and nail-biting kiting kept her from a very early trip to Everard. Definitely a more intense experience than my usual minmaxed steamroll of that fight (I don't play HoF mode).
Djorn Stonehammer: Dwarven Fighter/Cleric, LG
Djorn was a passerby who brought the young Flora to the sanctuary of his order, and like her he's never been one to stay in one place very long. The two have been fast friends for many years.
I had a really tough time rolling acceptable stats here. High Wisdom ended up on the chopping block since I needed another frontliner to soak damage next to my (relatively) frail Flora. I'm really considering going back and rerolling him as a straight Priest of Lathander, but I'm trying to combat my restartitis so I may just keep pressing on with a multiclass, though I expect leveling to be quite slow under Core experience.
Feidran Ardelain: Gnomish Fighter/Illusionist, LG
Third son of gnomish nobility, Feidran decided early on that the aristocratic life was not his calling, and has wandered Faerun in pursuit of adventure and a good time. He does have a strong sense of justice and charity, and has found himself comfortable companions in Flora and Djorn.
I got great Dexterity, Intelligence, and Constitution rolls, so I took it at the expense of some Strength. I was unpleasantly surprised to find that he can't use heavy crossbows with only 11 Strength, which I guess makes sense but is still frustrating.
Akemi Sunfire: Human Sun Soul Monk, LG
Akemi is a monk who strives to bring warmth and light to those living in the dark corners of the world. Flora, Djorn, and Feidran met her en route to Kuldahar, as she is traveling there to see for herself the fabled warmth provided by the great tree.
About as good as I could ask for in terms of physical stats. The less impactful stats also line up with my character vision for Akemi: reserved, and blunt when she does open her mouth.
Keyleth: Elven Fighter/Thief, NG
Keyleth is a native of Easthaven. Sort of. She was found in the snow outside of Easthaven by Hrothgar, who later found the bodies of three slain elves - presumably her kin - several miles away. Keyleth says very little, almost to the point of being mute, but she seems to find her passion in archery with a rudimentary but sturdy bow provided to her by Hrothgar himself. Rumors from several Easthaven villagers accuse the young elf of pilfering, but she moves like a ghost and no one has brought forth proof to Hrothgar.
Keyleth's backstory came mostly from the image I found for her, which I really wanted to use for an IWD game given the snowy locale. Probably better for a ranger, but I needed thieving and a bow carrier. 19 Dexterity was the key stat here, and managed to get decent Strength for her to fight on the front lines if necessary.
Ath'Raga dal Kham: Human Skald, CG
No one really knows much about Ath'Raga. He just showed up one day in Easthaven and set up camp in Grisella's tavern, beating out simple but surprisingly compelling rhythms on his handmade bongos. He speaks with a curious accent and exotic grammar, and seems to follow logic that no one else can understand. Ath'Raga attached himself to the group as if it were natural, and the others are well-natured enough to accommodate him. Some of the townsfolk are secretly glad to see both the elven waif and the dark-skinned bard leaving their community, though they'd never say so aloud in Hrothgar's presence.
Stats weren't too important here other than trying to aim for decent Intelligence. Higher Strength is nice to mule around items given the low Strength scores on some of the other party members.
I'm planning on running Neutral-themed and Evil-themed parties as well. Been rolling up my Neutral party, and I'm honestly really excited for that one:
Halfling + Harem: Male Halfling Priest of Tempus, TN Female Elf Wild Mage, CN Female Elf Blade, TN (sister to Wild Mage, using race restriction removal mod) Female Elf Avenger, TN (companion of two sisters, again using race restriction removal mod) Female Half-Orc Fighter/Thief, TN Female Human Kensai(9) > Druid, TN
I think I'll have to EEKeeper the stats for my Kensai>Druid dual since the stat requirements for that dual class are so ridiculous. I'll just boost up the necessary stats at the dual and reset them to the rolled stats after.
The evil party will feature a Blackguard, a Dark Moon Monk, a Priest of Talos, and probably a Dwarven Defender and Dragon Disciple, with a vanilla Bard or Jester to round it off.
So I had an idea that I figured I'd toss out here on the forums. Obviously it's lore-defying, but who cares?
The Dead Three:
Bane: Berzerker or Blackguard or unkitted fighter or Dark Moon Monk (Because Bane's weapon of choice is a +5 axiomatic mighty cleaving unholy gauntlet. At least it was when he was a deity) STR: 18/00 or 18 (depending on class) DEX: 16 CON: 18 INT: 13 WIS: 13 CHA: 10 Weapon of choice: Greatsword or fists. Possibly a variety of other weapons as his non-main weapons.
Bhaal: Assassin STR: 18 DEX: 18 CON: 16 INT: 15 WIS: 15 CHA: 9 Weapon of choice: Dagger. Probably other weapons too, but daggers would be his favored weapon.
Myrkul: Necromancer STR: 15 DEX: 16 CON: 15 INT: 18 WIS: 16 CHA: 11 Weapon of choice: Staff (there are no scythes in IWD:EE. I'd choose polearm, but he's a necromancer.)
All human and all evil. I haven't decided which alignment to choose for their law axis. I'm thinking chaotic for Bane, Lawful for Myrkul, and Neutral for Bhaal. Obviously these changed when they became deities, since Bane and Bhaal are Lawful Evil, while Myrkul is Neutral Evil.
Elrandir, I like it. If you wave away timelines and whatnot, it'd be part of their adventurers leading up to divinity. Powerful artifacts like the heartstone gem and the demon's crystal would go a long way in building up their power levels.
Heck, starting at lvl 1, and with a party of 3 racking up the experience...it'd be pretty cool.
No, no, no @Elrandir ! I was a living and breathing Gnome back then. In the pink I was. If you want to find out more please read my Biography. The Dead Three & Me.
I've just started another playthrough. My first attempt at going solo. I waited until I could cast summon dead before going Heart of Fury. So far I'm at 1 death, as I had to tank a ghoul and got eaten, before I could summon skeletons. The character concept:
Name: Eldaen Race: Half-Elf (drow) Class: Cleric/Ranger Alignment: Chaotic Good
Eldaen has had the misfortune of inhering the skin and hair color of his father, without any of the inherent strengths of his drow heritage. His mother never spoke of his father, nor how he came to be sired, though he knew that it was a topic of great pain for her. She was a devout follower of Malar, and lived deep in the wilds of Icewind Dale, as far from civilization as she could be. Eldaen was her only companion, and she his. She taught him all that she could about how to survive in the cold expanse. She passed away suddenly, for she and Eldaen had gone hunting for yetis together and when traveling over an ice flow, it gave way beneath her. Already fighting for his life, there was little he could do to help her. She died before she could claw her way back to the surface.
Left bitterly alone, the pangs of loneliness ate away at him. Before long, he decided to set out and to find others, for the small cabin that he had spent his life in was by then only a source of pain. And a home he did indeed find, in the small village of Easthaven. He was fortunate that the townspeople were willing to accept him, which only came about because of the kindness of the local protector, Hrothgar. While still a man apart, separated by his lack of social etiquette and skin color, he made a living for himself selling meat and fur in town.
When Hrothgar decided to launch an expedition to aid Kuldahar, Eldaen agreed to go immediately, for he wanted nothing more than to repay the man's kindness. Signing on a scout, he was the only survivor of the expedition when the avalanche destroyed it, for he was far enough away that he was able to barely reach safety. Burdened by survivors guilt from both the loss of his mother and his friend, he has sworn to fulfill his promise to both Hrothgar and his adopted home of Easthaven. He will find the evil that plagues the town and will end it.
Currently, he battles within the Vale of Shadows. Calling upon the power of Malar, he hunts through the vale, slaughtering Yetis, banishing shades and crushing skeletons. As he stalks them, the dead rise up to aid him. It is an old hunting trick, taught to him by his mother. Use the mindless dead to distract your foe, and then bring your morning star onto the back of their head.
Slowly but surely, he and his small skeletal army are clearing out the great burial complex, room by room. Despite a close run in with a ghoul, Eldaen is certain that he will track down his prey and will fulfill his oath.
Current level: Cleric-8 Ranger-8. With HoF he can barely solo a single skeleton or yeti. Meaning that the only way for him to survive is to summon dead, to sneak, and to use sanctuary as a last resort. It's a really different experience than my usual 6-man runthrough.
Well since I finally returned to the IWD:EE, after my previous unfinished playthrough (bad party combination and all that...) I went through some topics here and learned some usefull stuff, I decided to tackle the game once again with fresh group.
So, the party leader and spokesman is Antioch traveling human Skald, who is currently extremely awsome, which I never expected. Identification machine with awsome bard song (Skald song after lvl 20 is just so... powerfull) and decent magic backup. I had to correct my bad opinion about bards.
The main tank, Gronch the Savage half-orc berserker. I actually planned a dwarf for this role, but after I found the awsome grunting voice set, I immediately re-rolled the char for the hald-orc and I don't regret. He's mostly silent, but he'll shred you to pieces with his bastard sword and shield.
Another frontliner, Rufus dual classed human fighter/cleric swinging his trusty battle hammer with a shitload of nasty spells. Extremly powerfull cleric with very strong fighting skills. He's like Anomen, except he's usefull.
Then there is Skjala, human druidess from the north and another surprise in my party. She is actually much more usefull then I expected her to be, her spells are skill with sling are way better than I would ever believe. Jaheira should hide in some corner and cry.
The fifth member of my party is a Trapper Aska, dual classed Swasbuckler/fighter and she is incredible slicing machine. And the funniest part is, I never expected her to be that f*cking awsome and strong, I just wanted a thief who is actually usefull in fights, since my previous playthrough showed my my terrible mistake of rolling plain thief. Right now both her left and right handed tHac0s are below -5 which combined with improved haste is simply an unstopable meat grinder.
I actually dual classed her a little later than I propably should, since I wanted her to really be a trapper, so after raising find traps and disable traps (Ok, it's probably not named like that, but we know what I ment, right?), I continued to level her as a Swashbucler to get her traps high... before I realized that I have actually never ever used traps in any BG/BG2/IWD game before and that it just doesn't fit to my playstyle. After that I immediately dual-classed her.
And the last member of my group, Vaska, the elven sorceress with amazing power. After struggling with sorcerer on my previous playthrough I searched web a lot to find out where was the mistake and it turned out I was terrible when choosing his spells. With Vaska, I made sure I pick only spells which are usefull later in the game and the difference is stunning.
Right now, I finished TOtLM and HoW and since the game was throwing experience at me at extremely generous rate, all of my characters but Vaska are past level 20 (yes, Rufus and Aska are over 20 in their second class), while Vaska is 19. And I really look forward to see how the final stage of IWD will go with this group.
P.S. I'll provide screens later.
/Edit/ I completed the post with screens, that show my party mumbers just before they went to fight the final fight.
God d****. Thanks, I'll edit it. I wrote it when I was kind of sleepy and didn't actually bother to check it after sending
/edit/ My previous post is currently complete. I added screenshots of my group just before going to fight the final fight. Also, I have to say I was incredibely happy when It was revealed to me that one particular object is involved in the story of the game I already know from the Drizzt books. I was not so happy when I realized what's going to happen with the priest of Tempus right after I appeared in the final room. I don't like it when story is predictable
A few pages back, I posted a proposed all-female/Amazonian party. I've decided to revamp my party composition a bit, using a few new portraits and characters mixed in with some of the originals. In contrast to my original party, which was largely unscrupulous and wealth-driven, this one will be more good-oriented, albeit chaotic good.
I haven't decided on names for a few of my new party members, so I've left them blank for the time being.
My party leader, a chaotic good human barbarian. I normally never give characters points in sword & shield style, but given the barbarian's armor restrictions, my hope is that it will enable her to bypass enemy artillery fire and rush to close quarters with sharpshooting enemies.
Halfling priestess of Tempus. Like a true follower of Tempus, she'll be standing at the front lines, decked out in heavy armor, alongside my barbarian party leader.
Half-orc fighter-thief. She fills multiple roles as a thief, a sharpshooter (with a longbow), and a flanker (with a halberd).
Human kensai. Strictly for flanking. Her weapon of choice is the axe, and I gave her points in both single weapon and 2-handed weapon style so that she gets a bonus regardless of whether she uses a one- or two-handed axe. This will be my first earnest playthrough with a kensai, so wish me luck!
Gnomish cleric-illusionist. The only evil-aligned member of the party. As lawfully-aligned, I figure she'd be more willing to stay in line with the party's good-leaning course than a neutral or chaotic evil character would, and wait to snatch up whatever riches the party might uncover in its journeys - plus she also gets access to my personal favorite familiar in the game (an imp that polymorphs).
Human skald. I anticipate that she will spend the majority of her time just singing her song. Skald song bonuses make a very noticeable difference in IWD, especially over the early and middle portions of the game.
All humans, 2 friends paladin, a cavalier and an hundead hunter, they want to clear the world from evil.
So they hired a fighter mercenary (berzerker), a priest of helm because you can't fight evil without the benediction of Helm !
They want to be known all over the whole world for their exploits : annihilate all evil, so they hired a bard (vanilla)
The last one who joined the party presented him as a locksmith, they didn't know that he is an assassin.
Playing insane mode with core rules, extra pop but no extra exp. I picked the 1st dice roll but + - the characteristics.
Another party i'm playing, all half elves
A father and his 3 sons left the family to baldur's gate. On contact oh humans, the father became a cleric, the 1rst son a fighter, the 2nd a bard, ans the 3rd a fighter. The 3rd is a tricky so he learned thief too.
After a period of time they left the town to the family camp in the forest. The mother is a druid (avenger) and the daughter a ranger (archer).
The father who loves hunting with his daughter learned ranger, he became a ranger/cleric The mother took the 1rst son under her teaching, he became a fighter/duid The 2nd son learned the art of fighting, so he became a blade The 3rd son, learned magic, he became a fighter/thief/mage
I changed some aligments with an editor so it'd be like I wanted it.
Pixil - Lawful Good (Hiding is not illegal, that's all she does. She would never steal from someone) - The party leader, scout, leads summons through dungeons while invisible, uses shadowstep if messes up. - Born in a place called the Shadowmain. she's a spawn of the monster Himantor. Through magic, Pixil becomes one with shadows to avoid threats. She's not physically strong and avoids fighting at all costs. She's exceptionally clever and can usually argue even with the intelligence of ancient demons.
Magi - Chaotic Good - The summoner, she makes armies of animals and spirit animals that protect the party while they sleep, or to clean out dungeons with the help of Pixil. She's also a healer. - Orphan growing up on the streets. Found out through a squirrel she could communicate with animals, was led to the forest where she made friends with protective animal spirits and learned how to survive in the wild.
Enota - Neutral Good - The undead exterminator, her chanting makes undead explode. She's also teaming up with Magi as healer. - Enota doesn't mind getting around a few laws, she's snarky, inquisitive, socially awkward (doesn't understand social cues), and is constantly thinking of the purpose of things in the world.
I have recently discovered this wonderful game. I have no prior experience with any D&D based games, so I started out with a "generic/safe" party that looked like this:
Dwarf Defender Human Paladin Hafling Swashbuckler Human Priest of Tyr Elf Archer Human Sorcerer
I enjoyed it very much, and recently reached the Dragons Eye. I have never been much of a roleplayer, so I assumed that "powergaming" it would be the way to go. Surprisingly, the only thing I felt I was missing was an attachment to my party. The story in the game isn't spectacular either, so I figured out I had to do something about it myself. So I have now made a new group, and plan to start over. In short, they are a band of vikings (I am Norwegian, so it felt natural) that set out on an expedition over the oceans. Three full longships, packed with eager adventurers. Unfortunately they encountered a massive storm, and even though they were experienced sailors, they lost the battle against nature. Only six survived, crawling to shore in a distant land. It was a land similar to their own; cold and harsh. They traveled inland, and after much toil they reached a small town called Easthaven. The survivors where:
Ulf Ragnarson, Human Fighter, favoring two-handed axes Halldor Ragnarson (Ulfs younger brother), Human Fighter, favoring two-handed swords Stigandr Grimson, Human Fighter, favoring long sword and shield Thor Sigridson, Human Swashbuckler, favoring short bow and long sword Gardar Olufson, Human Skald, favoring long bow Ingolf the Old, Human Cleric, favoring mace and sling
My plan is to play without magic. Assume that these are actual vikings from the real world. I will however use magic that can have a natural explanation: Identify (the Skald knows a lot about many things), healing (the Cleric is an old and experienced warrior who has tended to many wounds), Web (the Skald brings a large net, using it to disable attackers), Bless (the old warriors battle cry empower his younger companions) and so on. You get the idea. I will therefore not use "obvious" magic, like Magic Missile, Vampiric Touch etc.
I have just created the party, and is ready to begin tonight. Thoughts guys?
Very interesting indeed, @KeratinSins. If you are playing on Core difficulty, that party will be fine as long as your front three fighters will lower themselves to use ranged weapons every now and again.
I'm currently playing a lvl 1 HoF game - my Insane game notwithstanding.
Half Orc Fighter/Cleric Half Elf Fighter Druid Half Elf F/M/T Half Elf F/M/C Human Monk Human Sorceror
The idea is to have lots of spells. But seriously, I favour no-downtime caster-heavy and melee capable parties for HoF mode if doing a lvl 1 party. One grunt (F/Cl) to take the pain, other spot-tanks that later can take over the primary tank duty (F/M/T, F/M/Cl, or even F/D) and a couple classes I wanted to try out.
The monk and sorc feel like they have lots of downtime in-game during combat. Monk is currently still fragile, as Barkskin doesn't last long at all for HoF. Sorc casts a few nasty curses, but otherwise doesn't really do much on HoF mode yet.
I appreciate the feedback guys. My party has worked out very well. Surprisingly well actually. My three frontliners have been chopping through pretty much everything without much difficulty. I'm back at the Dragons Eye now, so we'll see how they handle that challenge. The last time I was there I had to use a few spells to progress..
Most importantly: I'm having a blast! I really enjoy my party. They are all lawful evil: they are here to enrich themselves. Since they where new to the area, they started out quite humble. Talked (somewhat) kindly to people, and didn't commit any obvious crimes (but if you leave your house without locking the door a few things might disappear right?). However, their confidence is growing. A little less polite, and a little more bold. We'll see how they end up
Comments
Took a break from the glorious and gallant psychos of my Littlemen party to muck around with some kits I hadn't tried, some I have, like the barbarian and cavalier, but none of the others...... I usually have a multi class going where I have the new classes I am trying now.
Behold my whisky and cognac party.....only top shelf here folks!
Courvoisier - Human Cavalier
Hennessy - Elf Swashbuckler
MacCallan - Dwarf Barbarian
Frapin - Elf Dragon Disciple
Oban - Half-Elf Totemic Druid
Talisker - Half-Orc Priest of Lathlander
This time I haven't gotten drunk on cheap beer and created any background stories....so there is really nothing to tell about them. I planned to have all the girls named after cognac and the blokes named after whisky, but I hate most male druid portraits I have seen, so Oban became female....and her portrait is not really a druid picture either....but she is blue skinned with pink hair in a revealing outfit...so that won over some picture of an idiot with a goat skeleton on his head behind a bush with a big stick....or some such nonsense that male druids seem to get up to these days.
Anyway...time to go and shake the pillars of heaven...
What other liquids are good for char names? Thinking about naming my next char "Appletini", should be frightening indeed!
Flora Gryffand: Human Undead Hunter, LG
I'm a reforming powergamer, so it surprised me to have to worry about Strength scores to figure out what I could and could not equip. I aimed for at least 15 Strength and high Dexterity on my main tank. I also didn't want to roll ad infinitum, so Flora ends up a bit on the fragile side with only 10 Constitution. I think it fits though given her image and backstory. I misaimed my Sleep spell and ended up only catching 2 orcs in the 4-ogre fight at the back of the Easthaven cave. Flora ended up at 1-2HP twice while tanking, and only some panic-quaffed Potions of Healing and nail-biting kiting kept her from a very early trip to Everard. Definitely a more intense experience than my usual minmaxed steamroll of that fight (I don't play HoF mode).
Djorn Stonehammer: Dwarven Fighter/Cleric, LG
I had a really tough time rolling acceptable stats here. High Wisdom ended up on the chopping block since I needed another frontliner to soak damage next to my (relatively) frail Flora. I'm really considering going back and rerolling him as a straight Priest of Lathander, but I'm trying to combat my restartitis so I may just keep pressing on with a multiclass, though I expect leveling to be quite slow under Core experience.
Feidran Ardelain: Gnomish Fighter/Illusionist, LG
I got great Dexterity, Intelligence, and Constitution rolls, so I took it at the expense of some Strength. I was unpleasantly surprised to find that he can't use heavy crossbows with only 11 Strength, which I guess makes sense but is still frustrating.
Akemi Sunfire: Human Sun Soul Monk, LG
About as good as I could ask for in terms of physical stats. The less impactful stats also line up with my character vision for Akemi: reserved, and blunt when she does open her mouth.
Keyleth: Elven Fighter/Thief, NG
Keyleth's backstory came mostly from the image I found for her, which I really wanted to use for an IWD game given the snowy locale. Probably better for a ranger, but I needed thieving and a bow carrier. 19 Dexterity was the key stat here, and managed to get decent Strength for her to fight on the front lines if necessary.
Ath'Raga dal Kham: Human Skald, CG
Stats weren't too important here other than trying to aim for decent Intelligence. Higher Strength is nice to mule around items given the low Strength scores on some of the other party members.
I'm planning on running Neutral-themed and Evil-themed parties as well. Been rolling up my Neutral party, and I'm honestly really excited for that one:
Halfling + Harem:
Male Halfling Priest of Tempus, TN
Female Elf Wild Mage, CN
Female Elf Blade, TN (sister to Wild Mage, using race restriction removal mod)
Female Elf Avenger, TN (companion of two sisters, again using race restriction removal mod)
Female Half-Orc Fighter/Thief, TN
Female Human Kensai(9) > Druid, TN
I think I'll have to EEKeeper the stats for my Kensai>Druid dual since the stat requirements for that dual class are so ridiculous. I'll just boost up the necessary stats at the dual and reset them to the rolled stats after.
The evil party will feature a Blackguard, a Dark Moon Monk, a Priest of Talos, and probably a Dwarven Defender and Dragon Disciple, with a vanilla Bard or Jester to round it off.
The Dead Three:
Bane: Berzerker or Blackguard or unkitted fighter or Dark Moon Monk (Because Bane's weapon of choice is a +5 axiomatic mighty cleaving unholy gauntlet. At least it was when he was a deity)
STR: 18/00 or 18 (depending on class)
DEX: 16
CON: 18
INT: 13
WIS: 13
CHA: 10
Weapon of choice: Greatsword or fists. Possibly a variety of other weapons as his non-main weapons.
Bhaal: Assassin
STR: 18
DEX: 18
CON: 16
INT: 15
WIS: 15
CHA: 9
Weapon of choice: Dagger. Probably other weapons too, but daggers would be his favored weapon.
Myrkul: Necromancer
STR: 15
DEX: 16
CON: 15
INT: 18
WIS: 16
CHA: 11
Weapon of choice: Staff (there are no scythes in IWD:EE. I'd choose polearm, but he's a necromancer.)
All human and all evil. I haven't decided which alignment to choose for their law axis. I'm thinking chaotic for Bane, Lawful for Myrkul, and Neutral for Bhaal. Obviously these changed when they became deities, since Bane and Bhaal are Lawful Evil, while Myrkul is Neutral Evil.
Heck, starting at lvl 1, and with a party of 3 racking up the experience...it'd be pretty cool.
You need to add me! I was the brains of the operation!
*scribbles in a notebook while muttering* Insane... Gnome... Mummy... With delusions... of... grandeur.
There! Alright! I got it! And uh... Don't look at my notebook. It has... Um... Dirty pictures in it! Yeah! *hides it quickly*
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/18257/the-dead-three-and-me
Sounds much nicer.
*Anduin starts scribbling ideas down for his own party*
Name: Eldaen
Race: Half-Elf (drow)
Class: Cleric/Ranger
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Strength: 18/72
Dexterity: 18
Constitution: 18
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 18
Charisma: 9
Eldaen has had the misfortune of inhering the skin and hair color of his father, without any of the inherent strengths of his drow heritage. His mother never spoke of his father, nor how he came to be sired, though he knew that it was a topic of great pain for her. She was a devout follower of Malar, and lived deep in the wilds of Icewind Dale, as far from civilization as she could be. Eldaen was her only companion, and she his. She taught him all that she could about how to survive in the cold expanse. She passed away suddenly, for she and Eldaen had gone hunting for yetis together and when traveling over an ice flow, it gave way beneath her. Already fighting for his life, there was little he could do to help her. She died before she could claw her way back to the surface.
Left bitterly alone, the pangs of loneliness ate away at him. Before long, he decided to set out and to find others, for the small cabin that he had spent his life in was by then only a source of pain. And a home he did indeed find, in the small village of Easthaven. He was fortunate that the townspeople were willing to accept him, which only came about because of the kindness of the local protector, Hrothgar. While still a man apart, separated by his lack of social etiquette and skin color, he made a living for himself selling meat and fur in town.
When Hrothgar decided to launch an expedition to aid Kuldahar, Eldaen agreed to go immediately, for he wanted nothing more than to repay the man's kindness. Signing on a scout, he was the only survivor of the expedition when the avalanche destroyed it, for he was far enough away that he was able to barely reach safety. Burdened by survivors guilt from both the loss of his mother and his friend, he has sworn to fulfill his promise to both Hrothgar and his adopted home of Easthaven. He will find the evil that plagues the town and will end it.
Currently, he battles within the Vale of Shadows. Calling upon the power of Malar, he hunts through the vale, slaughtering Yetis, banishing shades and crushing skeletons. As he stalks them, the dead rise up to aid him. It is an old hunting trick, taught to him by his mother. Use the mindless dead to distract your foe, and then bring your morning star onto the back of their head.
Slowly but surely, he and his small skeletal army are clearing out the great burial complex, room by room. Despite a close run in with a ghoul, Eldaen is certain that he will track down his prey and will fulfill his oath.
Current level: Cleric-8 Ranger-8. With HoF he can barely solo a single skeleton or yeti. Meaning that the only way for him to survive is to summon dead, to sneak, and to use sanctuary as a last resort. It's a really different experience than my usual 6-man runthrough.
So, the party leader and spokesman is Antioch traveling human Skald, who is currently extremely awsome, which I never expected. Identification machine with awsome bard song (Skald song after lvl 20 is just so... powerfull) and decent magic backup. I had to correct my bad opinion about bards.
The main tank, Gronch the Savage half-orc berserker. I actually planned a dwarf for this role, but after I found the awsome grunting voice set, I immediately re-rolled the char for the hald-orc and I don't regret. He's mostly silent, but he'll shred you to pieces with his bastard sword and shield.
Another frontliner, Rufus dual classed human fighter/cleric swinging his trusty battle hammer with a shitload of nasty spells. Extremly powerfull cleric with very strong fighting skills. He's like Anomen, except he's usefull.
Then there is Skjala, human druidess from the north and another surprise in my party. She is actually much more usefull then I expected her to be, her spells are skill with sling are way better than I would ever believe. Jaheira should hide in some corner and cry.
The fifth member of my party is a Trapper Aska, dual classed Swasbuckler/fighter and she is incredible slicing machine. And the funniest part is, I never expected her to be that f*cking awsome and strong, I just wanted a thief who is actually usefull in fights, since my previous playthrough showed my my terrible mistake of rolling plain thief. Right now both her left and right handed tHac0s are below -5 which combined with improved haste is simply an unstopable meat grinder.
I actually dual classed her a little later than I propably should, since I wanted her to really be a trapper, so after raising find traps and disable traps (Ok, it's probably not named like that, but we know what I ment, right?), I continued to level her as a Swashbucler to get her traps high... before I realized that I have actually never ever used traps in any BG/BG2/IWD game before and that it just doesn't fit to my playstyle. After that I immediately dual-classed her.
And the last member of my group, Vaska, the elven sorceress with amazing power. After struggling with sorcerer on my previous playthrough I searched web a lot to find out where was the mistake and it turned out I was terrible when choosing his spells. With Vaska, I made sure I pick only spells which are usefull later in the game and the difference is stunning.
Right now, I finished TOtLM and HoW and since the game was throwing experience at me at extremely generous rate, all of my characters but Vaska are past level 20 (yes, Rufus and Aska are over 20 in their second class), while Vaska is 19. And I really look forward to see how the final stage of IWD will go with this group.
P.S. I'll provide screens later.
/Edit/ I completed the post with screens, that show my party mumbers just before they went to fight the final fight.
/edit/ My previous post is currently complete. I added screenshots of my group just before going to fight the final fight. Also, I have to say I was incredibely happy when It was revealed to me that one particular object is involved in the story of the game I already know from the Drizzt books. I was not so happy when I realized what's going to happen with the priest of Tempus right after I appeared in the final room. I don't like it when story is predictable
I haven't decided on names for a few of my new party members, so I've left them blank for the time being.
My party leader, a chaotic good human barbarian. I normally never give characters points in sword & shield style, but given the barbarian's armor restrictions, my hope is that it will enable her to bypass enemy artillery fire and rush to close quarters with sharpshooting enemies.
Halfling priestess of Tempus. Like a true follower of Tempus, she'll be standing at the front lines, decked out in heavy armor, alongside my barbarian party leader.
Half-orc fighter-thief. She fills multiple roles as a thief, a sharpshooter (with a longbow), and a flanker (with a halberd).
Human kensai. Strictly for flanking. Her weapon of choice is the axe, and I gave her points in both single weapon and 2-handed weapon style so that she gets a bonus regardless of whether she uses a one- or two-handed axe. This will be my first earnest playthrough with a kensai, so wish me luck!
Gnomish cleric-illusionist. The only evil-aligned member of the party. As lawfully-aligned, I figure she'd be more willing to stay in line with the party's good-leaning course than a neutral or chaotic evil character would, and wait to snatch up whatever riches the party might uncover in its journeys - plus she also gets access to my personal favorite familiar in the game (an imp that polymorphs).
Human skald. I anticipate that she will spend the majority of her time just singing her song. Skald song bonuses make a very noticeable difference in IWD, especially over the early and middle portions of the game.
As before, any comments and advice are welcome!
All humans, 2 friends paladin, a cavalier and an hundead hunter, they want to clear the world from evil.
So they hired a fighter mercenary (berzerker), a priest of helm because you can't fight evil without the benediction of Helm !
They want to be known all over the whole world for their exploits : annihilate all evil, so they hired a bard (vanilla)
The last one who joined the party presented him as a locksmith, they didn't know that he is an assassin.
Playing insane mode with core rules, extra pop but no extra exp.
I picked the 1st dice roll but + - the characteristics.
Another party i'm playing, all half elves
A father and his 3 sons left the family to baldur's gate.
On contact oh humans, the father became a cleric, the 1rst son a fighter, the 2nd a bard, ans the 3rd a fighter.
The 3rd is a tricky so he learned thief too.
After a period of time they left the town to the family camp in the forest.
The mother is a druid (avenger) and the daughter a ranger (archer).
The father who loves hunting with his daughter learned ranger, he became a ranger/cleric
The mother took the 1rst son under her teaching, he became a fighter/duid
The 2nd son learned the art of fighting, so he became a blade
The 3rd son, learned magic, he became a fighter/thief/mage
I changed some aligments with an editor so it'd be like I wanted it.
Pixil
- Lawful Good (Hiding is not illegal, that's all she does. She would never steal from someone)
- The party leader, scout, leads summons through dungeons while invisible, uses shadowstep if messes up.
- Born in a place called the Shadowmain. she's a spawn of the monster Himantor. Through magic, Pixil becomes one with shadows to avoid threats. She's not physically strong and avoids fighting at all costs. She's exceptionally clever and can usually argue even with the intelligence of ancient demons.
Magi
- Chaotic Good
- The summoner, she makes armies of animals and spirit animals that protect the party while they sleep, or to clean out dungeons with the help of Pixil. She's also a healer.
- Orphan growing up on the streets. Found out through a squirrel she could communicate with animals, was led to the forest where she made friends with protective animal spirits and learned how to survive in the wild.
Enota
- Neutral Good
- The undead exterminator, her chanting makes undead explode. She's also teaming up with Magi as healer.
- Enota doesn't mind getting around a few laws, she's snarky, inquisitive, socially awkward (doesn't understand social cues), and is constantly thinking of the purpose of things in the world.
Dwarf Defender
Human Paladin
Hafling Swashbuckler
Human Priest of Tyr
Elf Archer
Human Sorcerer
I enjoyed it very much, and recently reached the Dragons Eye. I have never been much of a roleplayer, so I assumed that "powergaming" it would be the way to go. Surprisingly, the only thing I felt I was missing was an attachment to my party. The story in the game isn't spectacular either, so I figured out I had to do something about it myself. So I have now made a new group, and plan to start over.
In short, they are a band of vikings (I am Norwegian, so it felt natural) that set out on an expedition over the oceans. Three full longships, packed with eager adventurers. Unfortunately they encountered a massive storm, and even though they were experienced sailors, they lost the battle against nature. Only six survived, crawling to shore in a distant land. It was a land similar to their own; cold and harsh. They traveled inland, and after much toil they reached a small town called Easthaven.
The survivors where:
Ulf Ragnarson, Human Fighter, favoring two-handed axes
Halldor Ragnarson (Ulfs younger brother), Human Fighter, favoring two-handed swords
Stigandr Grimson, Human Fighter, favoring long sword and shield
Thor Sigridson, Human Swashbuckler, favoring short bow and long sword
Gardar Olufson, Human Skald, favoring long bow
Ingolf the Old, Human Cleric, favoring mace and sling
My plan is to play without magic. Assume that these are actual vikings from the real world. I will however use magic that can have a natural explanation: Identify (the Skald knows a lot about many things), healing (the Cleric is an old and experienced warrior who has tended to many wounds), Web (the Skald brings a large net, using it to disable attackers), Bless (the old warriors battle cry empower his younger companions) and so on. You get the idea. I will therefore not use "obvious" magic, like Magic Missile, Vampiric Touch etc.
I have just created the party, and is ready to begin tonight. Thoughts guys?
Go for it and take pleasure from your game!
I'm currently playing a lvl 1 HoF game - my Insane game notwithstanding.
Half Orc Fighter/Cleric
Half Elf Fighter Druid
Half Elf F/M/T
Half Elf F/M/C
Human Monk
Human Sorceror
The idea is to have lots of spells.
The monk and sorc feel like they have lots of downtime in-game during combat. Monk is currently still fragile, as Barkskin doesn't last long at all for HoF. Sorc casts a few nasty curses, but otherwise doesn't really do much on HoF mode yet.
Most importantly: I'm having a blast! I really enjoy my party. They are all lawful evil: they are here to enrich themselves. Since they where new to the area, they started out quite humble. Talked (somewhat) kindly to people, and didn't commit any obvious crimes (but if you leave your house without locking the door a few things might disappear right?). However, their confidence is growing. A little less polite, and a little more bold. We'll see how they end up