The (solo no-reload) adventures of Norgath, dwarven Bounty Hunter of Candlekeep

Blackraven · January 2015

With @semiticgod's exciting Spiders hunting after Melissan, @OlvynChuru's Jester continuing his pacifist mass murdering ways, and @bengoshi's archdruid Yahiko still going strong, I felt the need to try my hand again at an ambitious solo adventure. My other, more roleplayed run with a custom party is still in progress (and will be updated sometime soon I hope). In order not to confuse both journals, I decided to make a separate thread for this run. Besides, who knows what good not journaling the current run in a thread called We're All Doomed might do.

Here is Norgath:

As I said, this is going to be an ambitious run, i.e. one that includes metagamimg. However, whether I want it or not, I always incorporate some roleplaying in my gaming, so it would be foolish to expect myself to behave differently this time. I have particular difficulty doing evil things with good characters, much more so than doing good things with evil characters. Therefore Norgath's Lawful Evil alignment is convenient. It allows him to do evil things (such as the Assassinations mod quests in BG2). At the same time his lawfulness and his calculating mind (note the excellent mental stats) ensure that his good actions make some sense to me as well. The physical stats are optimized for survivability purposes, with 19 CON, 20 with the Tome, minimizing the penalty to saves vs death when the Claw of Kazgaroth is equipped. CHA is a bit of a dumpstat, though I could have gone all the way to 2, and optimize INT and WIS. With 7 CHA (after the Tome), Norgath will just be an almost stereotypical blunt, surly Dwarf.

The most important mods I'm playing with are Ascension, QuestPack with its revised Hell Trials, Song & Silence, Rogue Rebalancing, SCS I and II (v21), Wheels of Prophecy, and aTweaks. Besides those, Thalatntyr's Item Upgrade in BG1 and Weimer's Item Upgrade in BG2 allow Norgath to get some items upgraded by Thalantyr and Cromwell respectively. Assassinations, Back to Brynnlaw, and Sellswords offer a couple of new adventures in SoA. Finally, I'm using a number of tweaks from BG2Tweaks and BGTTweaks that facilitate different aspects of gameplay. Most consequential are the Un-Nerfed Thac0 table, maximum HP at level up (but also max HP for all enemies), and importation of gear from BG1 into Irenicus' Dungeon.

JuliusBorisov · January 2015

I'm looking forward to this! It's wonderful that you finally have chosen the exact class/kit/race you prefer the most.

After @semiticgod 's thread and taking into account your own style, I expect this thread to be epic. Let's hope you will do it!

DreadKhan · January 2015

Try not to get Shanked.

Blackraven · January 2015

@bengoshi, thanks a lot! I'll do my best (i.e. everything I can not to try out crazy things or play when I'm not focused).

Your right about favorite class/kit. Not 100% sure about race, at least from a power perspective. Previous to this run I tried with an Elven female BH. She was noticeably stronger in combat thanks to her high Dex and innate sword and bow bonuses. (Unfortunately that didn't keep her from dying though.) The Dwarven saves may prove a great boon though.
@DreadKhan, I had a female elven Stalker who literally got Shanked in Candlekeep not long ago: SCS v28 poison weapon... Thankfully Norgath has fared better so far.

"Always try to be helpful to others. If you can't be bothered with it for their good, then do it for yourself. People will treat you much better if they like you." This had been one of Gorion's teachings back home in Candlekeep. When he was on his own, after Gorion's death, Norgath learnt that there was much truth in his foster father's words. People hadn't been very nice to him. So what's a plain-looking, penniless Dwarf to do, an inexperienced Bounty Hunter all alone in the cold, dark world?
Norgath decided to help people, not for them, but for himself: to make some gold, and to get treated a bit better, especially in stores. Amongst other feats he enabled Thalantyr the Conjurer to restore his fowl apprentice Melicamp to human form, helped a family find a lost necklace in Beregost, calmed an aggressive drunk in Feldepost's Inn, brought Firebead a book he needed, helped a slime retransform into a man, slew spiders for Landrin in the FAI, brought Joia her lost ring, returned Brun's dead son to the farmer and gave him 100 GP, retrieved a bowl from three fishermen for a young priestess of Umberlee, slew four Half-Ogres for a wounded Paladin, refused to take from Oublek a reward he wasn't due, helped Charleston Nib the archaeologist, and pacified frenzied Brage; he even did some babysitting for a woman in Nashkel.
These (and other) simple but good deeds made him a lot more popular. And a ring handed to him by Lord Foreshadow, made life even more pleasant for Norgath. Shopping time had come. A potion of master thievery bought at the Nashkel Carnival gave Norgath the confidence to try and pickpocket an expensive looking cloak from Algernon in Beregost. He succeeded at his first attempt, discovered the cloak enhanced his CHA, donned it and bought a suit of Shadow Armor, the Deep Red Ioun Stone (+1 DEX), the Sound Defense (short sword +2, +1 AC, +1 Saves v Death), the Claw of Kazagaroth, the Masterbelt (+10% Locks and Traps) and a composite shortbow +2. The sale of a Ring of Wizardry, a suit of Ankheg Plate mail, a couple of wands and miscellaneous loot made those purchases possible. (Norgath was level 5-6 at that point).
During one of his coastal excursions, he found a cave guarded by Sirines. Thankfully they hadn't seen him, so they didn't try to charm him. The Dwarf snuck past them and entered the cave, where he disarmed a number of traps, and where he boldly took on a number of Flesh Golems that would hit him hard.

However his stealth (in which the first 65 skillpoints were invested, further enhanced by Shadow Armor and Boots of Stealth) allowed the Dwarf to dispatch three of them (even a few more that showed up when he attempted to rest), and make off with some nice loot. (Level 7 was soon reached.) With his increased experience and his improved gear Norgath fancied his chances against more powerful and more intelligent opposition, and now that his reputation was set he was also willing to do a couple of not so nice things. Near the Firewine Bridge he met a young fighter named Meilum wearing what seemed to be enchanted (or at least expensive) gauntlets. Norgath set a few traps near him and then bullied the overconfident youngster into a duel. The traps did Meilum in.

Basilisks and a Gnome controlling them were all slain thanks to Protection from Petrification, backstabs and a helpful Ghoul.

Having run into small groups of Sirines on the coast, he was surprised to find a similar creature all by herself, a Nereid. He was curious to see how well his traps worked against such a magical being, and was pleased to see that his snares did their job well enough.

Near the Nashkel Mines, traps and ranged attacks also helped Norgath prevail in a battle of Bounty Hunters for the price on Prism's head.

Another bounty wasn't claimed as easily. Bassilus the priest seemed to be unkillable. Norgath would injure his foe with ranged attacks from afar, retreat to his traps and attack again. But each time he showed himself to the priest, the latter would be uninjured (without quaffing any potions or using healing magic), and he'd do his SCS "pre-buffing at the start of combat" ritual and cast Hold Person at the Dwarf. He also wouldn't follow Norgath when the Dwarf disappeared from his sight, so getting Held wasn't really a risk (not that it would have been otherwise, with seven traps awaiting the Cleric).

Clearly a bug. Rather than reloading I tried to get Norgath to kill Bassilus anyway. The once/day Charm Person ability of Lord Foreshadow's Ring of Human Influence helped with that.

Norgath convinced his new friend to use his Flamestrikes to get rid of a number of Hobgoblins before he showed the Cleric his traps.

In the Cloudpeaks, where all resistance was tumbled, Norgath discovered that he could set a trap in stealth mode within visual range of non-hostile creatures that would immediately speak to him if they saw him, and hide right after setting the trap, which allowed him to set another trap.

At the Gnoll Stronghold Norgath found a CHA tome, and other loot he traded at the High Hedge for a Wand of Sleep. With it, he went exterminating Aknhegs north of the FAI. When he was done Norgath was a level 9 Bounty Hunter, which meant having a x4 backstab multiplier, 65 Find Traps, 75 Set Traps, and already good stealth. The Dwarf bought the Sandthief ring, Greenstone Amulet, and Necklace of Missiles and traveled to the Nashkel Mines on a commission from Berrun Ghastkill. (I think I've never advanced a charname that thoroughly before taking him to the Nashkel Mines.)

Ravenslight · January 2015

@Blackraven said:
he even did some babysitting for a woman in Nashkel.

Now the thought of Norgath babysitting those two in Nashkel is priceless!

(That is from the mini quest mod isn’t it?)

Blackraven · January 2015

@Ravenslight, a Dwarf's gotta do what a Dwarf's gotta do

Yes it's from the mod you mentioned, really nice and immersive. Glad you know it.

Nimran · January 2015

I always enjoy your recorded runs, solo or otherwise. Good luck!

Blackraven · January 2015

Thanks @Nimran, I really appreciate it.
I think it's also time for me to catch up with your writing, tomorrow...

Making generous use of his Necklace of Missiles, Norgath literally blasted his way through the Nashkel Mines until he reached Mulahey's den. He entered it quietly, placing two regular traps near the entrance and throwing two special ones into the Half-Orc's chamber. Hidden in shadows he then walked toward Mulahey and Mulahey, somehow sensing the Dwarf's presence, toward him. They met right in front of Norgath's special traps. The snares instantly killed the Half-Orc when he went hostile. The priest's death cry was heard by suddenly appearing Kobolds and Skeletons, but the traps by the entrance and two fireballs made them suffer the same fate as their master.

In the valley of the tombs, Norgath swigged a potion of freedom to rid the area of a Revenant, three Ghasts and a Ghoul without having to fear getting held.

He also received an enchanted dagger, and finished off Narcillicus with a backstab. He wandered a bit further south, where he obtained a PfMagic scroll from Hafiz, and then returned to Nashkel to report to Berrun Ghastkill.
Back in Nashkel the Dwarf asked the guards to arrest an Assassin that had threatened to kill him, but the guards werent't very vigorous and the Assassin, Nimbul, went after Norgath anyway. In order for the guards to disengage, Nimbul would quaff potions of invisibility (that Norgath had hoped to acquire for himself). The only way for Norgath to get Nimbul to show himself was to leave stealth and go look for his foe. Nimbul would then cast spells at the Dwarf - Confusion, Horror, sequencered Magic Missiles, Glitterdust - while Norgath would attempt to avoid getting hit by the spells by entering the Nashkel Store. The Bounty Hunter successfully evaded the first three spells but had to make a save vs the latter spell. When Nimbul's Mirror Images and Stoneskins were gone, courtesy of the guards, Norgath ended the fight by plunging his short blade in his opponent's back.

Norgath didn't linger in Nashkel; instead, he traveled straight to Beregost on business (Thunderhammer Smithy, High Hedge). However, he completely forgot about seeking out Officer Vai and Tranzig, which meant no scalp deal and no direct access to the Bandit Camp. Access was nevertheless obtained as the Dwarf infiltrated via Raiken. At the camp Norgath smart talked his way out of a fight with Tazok, explored and plundered the premises and, drinking potions of defense, fire resistance (2x) and speed, prepared to enter Tazok's tent. Inside it he spotted various panjandrums of the bandit organization, one of them a Mage that was immediately taken out of the equation with a fantastic backstab.

(One of the nice things of being evil is attacking still neutral creatures without remorse.) An elven prisoner was told to leave the tent for his own good and thanked the Dwarf with information about the organization behind the bandits, the Iron Throne. The bandits were bombarded with fireballs until most of them were dead.

Norgath bested the few remaining opponents in melee combat* and, in the case of Raemon, with backstabs.

* Norgath was dualwielding his trusty Sound Defense and Zargal's Short Sword +2 at that point. The Rogue Rebalancing mod allows Thieves and Bards to place up to three pips in two weapon fighting, conform PnP. Norgath's starting proficiencies were Short Swords (which in my setup include Ninja-To) and Shortbows, and his level 4 and 8 proficiency points went to two weapon fighting. In my install, this is the mod's only change to the Bounty Hunter kit (or any of the Thief kits). I use the mod mainly for the changes it makes to the Bard kits, and the extra items and encounters it provides.
Norgath fled the camp after he was done in Tazok's tent, rested at the FAI, bought scrolls of PfMagic and PfPoison as well as a number of protective potions from Thalantyr, and decided to follow the Elven prisoner's lead toward the hidden Iron Throne base in Cloakwood. In the first area he slew Tasloi that had Gurke's Cloak of Non-Detection, and Aldeth Sashenstar for a group of Druids he didn't felt like messing with. The second area saw no less than four Phase Spiders greeting Norgath upon his arrival. Careful manoeuvering enabled him to cast Protection from Poison on himself and to quaff a potion of freedom, before he dealt with the arachnids using arrows of biting and acid arrows.

The remainder of the area was cleared with similar tactics, and with relative ease. Alas, the same could not be said of Centeol's residence. He somehow got stuck on his way out and saw himself almost immediately surrounded by attacking Ettercaps, Giant Spiders and Sword Spiders that left him no chance of escape. A potion of invisibility gave the Dwarf the time to heal and to imbibe two potions of fire resistance, after which he roasted his enemies using the Necklace of Missiles' fireballs.

Norgath slew Centeol, took her loot, and Chelak's body for Tibor and killed a few more spiders to reach level 10, his final BG1 level. His 20 skillpoints went to Detect Illusions. Combined with his racial 5 DI score, it gave him a 25% chance each round of dispelling invisibility and other illusions.
No longer craving XP, Norgath hurried his way through the forest to the Iron Throne base, but when he arrived he ran into four Iron Throne hirelings guarding the structure. Fortunately, they only proved a slight delay. He set his traps near the bridge to soften up / kill the warriors, drank an oil of speed that would facilitate hiding/backstabbing, and a potion of magic shielding to protect himself against the mages. Rezdan fell first, to a single backstab (after a critical miss had kept the more dangerous Kysus alive for the time being).

Drasus was the second to fall, succumbing to Norgath's snares and a few melee attacks.

At that point Norgath had lost sight of Genthore, but ran into Kysus who promptly removed his magic shielding. The Dwarf responded by using a charge of the Sandthief's ring and drinking two potions of magic protection, before he finished the mage with acid arrows (while the wizard was stoneskinned) and arrows of biting (after the stoneskins had been consumed).

Norgath finally found Genthore in a small storage room he had used before to hide in shadows. The fighter immediately followed the Dwarf outside, only to be eliminated by a backstab.

With the four out of the way, Norgath entered the Iron Throne base, but it's late. I'm calling it a day.

kcwise · January 2015

Woohoo, blazing a trail along the Sword Coast!

Blackraven · January 2015

After the smooth rides through the Nashkel Mine and the Bandit Camp, the Cloakwood Mine would provide a more challenging experience. Still protected by his two potions of magic protection, Norgath found himself in no rush to cast PfM from a green scroll on himself. Ever frugal, he also decided to rely on stealth rather than (potions or ring-charges of) invisibility, partly because he would have to speak with different folk which would dispel any invisibility.
He entered and snuck toward a slave that was willing to flood the mine if given a key to unlock a river plug. On the second level he must have taken too long between seeing his stealth fail due to the area transition and finding a new spot to hide while still invisible. (This is difficult to keep track of with the Claw of Kazgaroth equipped; it blurs the user.) One or more of the guards noticed him, and while Norgath did manage to hide after that, the SCS better calls for help had already been made, and the Dwarf was soon cornered by a multitude of guards and black talons causing him to immediately quaff a potion of defense.

As the majority of his foes were behind him, he decided to try and fight his way forward. With luck he'd only have to kill one or two of them. But then Hareishan made her appearance to dispel the effect of the potion of defense. The Dwarf still had fairly good AC against missiles, thanks to various items, but arrows of biting (guards) and cold (black talons) started to injure him nonetheless.

He chose to go invisibile, drink an elixir of health, heal with his innate Bhaalpowers (which in my setup gradually increase in power, similar to a Paladin's Lay on Hands ability), and quaff a potion of magic blocking. As in Centeol's den, the Necklace of Missiles provided the means for the Dwarf to release himself.

He took a few more arrows, but didn't bother with confronting surviving attackers. Instead, he rushed toward a prison where he organized the evacuation of the slaves, and onward toward the level exit, hiding in shadows at the earliest occasion he saw. Norgath enjoyed his new found freedom and made sure not to become visible again to any guards before he made it two levels down, into Daveorn's lair. This cautiousness didn't stop a number of guards from following him. They came in one or two at a time.

Norgath used another charge of his Sandthief's ring to go invisible, cast PfMagic on himself and drank a potion of defense before he went looking for Davaeorn. The wizard's Web / Stinking Cloud trap disabled many of Norgath's pursuers but Davaeorn failed to cast Sunfire, Lightning Bolt or Fireball on them when Norgath placed himself near them (as I've seen him do in other playthroughs). The Dwarf should have probably thrown a few Fireballs at the guards himself, to prevent them from impeding him later on, but he focused his attention on Davaeorn instead, trying to pelt him with acid arrows. Thus the guards survived their predicament long before Norgath could finish off Davaeorn.

Norgath eventually decided to fireball most of the the guards until they were dead, because they'd been in his way too much. (I think two or three charges of the Necklace of Missiles were used.) When Davaeorn finally started showing his fireworks, one of the Battle Horrors hit by the fire took offense (inspite of being immune to fire damage), and attacked Davaeorn.

Its anger soon subsided but that was irrelevant in the larger scheme of things, for Norgath had enough room to manoeuver and strip Davaeorn of his magical protections with acid arrows before he would do the mage in with a fatal backstab.

Norgath took Davaeorn's treasure, flooded the mines, and traveled to Baldur's Gate. The Dwarf had a great time in the big city. He made a couple of new friends at the local Thieves Guild, most prominently Narlen Darkwalk and Rededge with whom he went burgling, and Black Lily who sold him some nice gear and items at reasonable prices: the Sparkburst shortbow +2, arrows of dispelling, Alathis' Guard (cowl that grants immunity to backstab and poison while equipped), potion of power. He also did a job for the guildmaster, only to be betrayed by him in favor of Resar the mage. Norgath's buddy Narlen intervened to deal with Resar but the cutscene didn't completely play (bug), and Norgath had to deal with Resar himself. This he did, using an oil of speed, Black Lily's arrows of dispelling and acid arrows.

Other Mages that had no answer to Norgath's ranged firepower were Ramazith and Marek, even though the latter had complicated things a bit by removing the Dwarf's Magic Shielding and by casting a Stinking Cloud that could have proven fatal had Norgath found himself in its area of effect.

These adventures yielded the Dwarf tomes that would increase his DEX, INT, and WIS. Other adventures included a heist at the High Hall of Wonders, a cleansing of the Seven Suns, and an excursion into the sewers to get rid of an Ogre Mage and its Carrion Crawler friends.

Norgath's last accomplishment before he would leave Baldur's Gate was defeating a a bunch of Iron Throne higher-ups at their local headquarters in the Docks District. The latter encounter was facilitated for Norgath with a green scroll of PfMagic (of which he still had more than enough), but complicated by the many hostile, stealth-impeding merchants. With some patience, and relying on ranged attacks he managed to take his opponents down one at a time.

Their leader, Zhalimar Cloudwulfe, fell to a backstab on the roof of the building, the very same place where Norgath's unknown brother had murdered someone as well.

The last one to fall was Naaman. Like many SCS mages he seems to be scripted to remain invisible and wait till a green scroll's PfMagic expires. However, Norgath's 25 Detect Illusions sufficed for Naaman to become visible, after which the Dwarf's many enchanted arrows meant the end of the mage.

Norgath proceeded to speak and deal with Faldorn, reported to Duke Eltan and traveled to Candlekeep (sneaking past Ogre Magi at the entrance). He met Koveras, left the Iron Throne management alone, but got framed for their deaths anyway. With Tethtoril's help the Bounty Hunter escaped through the catacombs below Candlekeep. He looted three chests, but kept an otherwise low profile. A fight with four Phase Spiders that enclosed him could not be avoided, but with a potion of defense Norgath had little trouble dealing with them.

In the caves Norgath circumvented Prat's gang, but slew two Basilisks (he still had two scrolls or PfPetrification) as well as a few Phase Spiders. Upon completing his escape, Norgath decided to pay Durlag's tower a visit (for the WIS tome and for more Basilisk killing), and to a vendor or special potions at the Nashkel Carnival (to buy the red and violet potions).
Back in the Gate Alathis' Guard (the cowl that gives immunity to backstab and poison when equipped) and a scroll of PfMagic made Norgath's encounter with Slythe and Krystin a relative breeze. The only problem was that Krystin too, was one of those mages that tend to hide when they're facing a foe that's protected from magic as per the green scroll.

With the nifty Short Sword of Backstabbing, an invitation to Sarevok's coronation party and some incriminating evidence against the latter, only two hurdles remained for Norgath to save the Sword Coast from war.

Ravenslight · January 2015

Great segment! I thought for sure he was done for in the beginning, but he proved to be more slippery than I thought.

Blackraven · January 2015

Thanks @Ravenslight

I know what you mean... Thieves are especially vulnerable in such tight places. It's a good thing that Norgath is a fond collector of potions and items.

When Norgath cheated his way into the Ducal Palace with Slythe's invitation, Sarevok's coronation ceremony was about to begin. There was a lot arguing going on though; violence seemed imminent. Norgath didn't know who to trust, so he set four traps amongst the seemingly hapless members of the crowd. (He was a bit lucky there because with the Masterbelt he "only" had 90 Set Traps which he could have easily increased to 100 with a DUHM I forgot to cast.)

He then quickly buffed himself to the max (in ways I had never done before). He started off with casting PfMagic on himself, followed by the violet potion followed that gave him 25 STR but set his DEX to 4 (thanks to Deep Red Ioun Stone's +1 to DEX) and his CON to 1 (due to the Claw of Kazgaroth's -2 CON penalty) for 24 hours. Potions of agility, fortitude, and mind focusing (2x) then upped the Dwarf's DEX and CON to 25 and 16 respectively. Potions of defense, speed and power provided further boosts. All the buffing transformed Norgath into a true juggernaut:

When battle broke out, and many of the visitors turned out to be bloodthirsty Greater Doppelgangers, Norgath saw his snares do their jobs of hurting his foes. He poisoned his arrows of dispelling with a vial of poison bought from his friend Black Lily over at the Thieves Guild, and dispelled all the Greater Doppelgangers' Hastes, poisoning many of the creatures in the process. To their credit the Greater Doppelgangers still managed to kill ever impassive Liia Janneth, but as soon as Norgath started to use the recharged Sandthief Ring and his upgraded Cloak of Non-Detection's two daily charges to go invisible and deal out backstabs, their battle was a lost one.

When all the Greater Doppelgangers seemed to have fallen, an eerie silence ensued for a moment. Both Norgath and Blackraven feared something had gone wrong (a bug, or maybe a problem with the paperwork required to complete the quest), but then Norgath went upstairs and encountered the last of the Doppelgangers.

He slew it, went downstairs, and witnessed Sarevok being attacked by Flaming Fist mercenaries until Winski Perorate came teleporting in, and out again taking Sarevok with him.

All in all, I was quite pleased with the way Norgath handled this situation. The coronation battle is one of the trickiest parts of BG1 and perhaps even the entire trilogy for a solo no-reload character as the Greater Doppelgangers are hard-hitting creatures with dangerous disabling abilities and good saves, and it can be really hard to protect not Charname but NPCs that you don't have any control over. It's deinitely the place that ended more of my no-reload runs than any other place. Unlike other classes, solo Thieves don't need the violet potion to bash the lock of the chest containing the STR tome below Candlekeep, so the Ducal Palace is probably the best place for them to use it. I wasn't sure whether the potions of agility, mind focusing and fortitude would (temporarily) annul the DEX/CON penalties, and if they hadn't, I would have probably rested 24 hours, because Norgath needed good DEX to reliably launch his arrows of dispelling.

Duke Belt teleported Norgath to the Thieves Guild where he apologized to his friends for not staying for a chat. He was in too much of a rush to go after Sarevok who had just entered a maze below the guild. Norgath was very content with his tremendous but temporary power, so he decided to try and waste as little time as possible in his pursuit of Sarevok. Tamoko would represent his only delay. Without Lord Foreshadow's Ring of Human Influence Norgath was insufficiently becoming for the Kara-Turan priestess to be convinced of his good intentions. She did not live to regret her superficial outlook.

Time for the final showdown. Norgath chose to show himself to Sarevok, provoking the latter and his adherents to attack, rather than attempting to take down the adherents one at a time, which is more tedious but arguably safer. Still exceptionally dexterous, Norgath needed no more than a single arrow to dispel Sarevok's haste.

The brute was then parked in a corner, so that Norgath could focus on dispelling Angelo's protections (with arrows) and invisibility (with detect illusions) before dispatching him.

Arrows of dispelling and backstabs then took care of Diarmid.

Semaj was fireshielded but nevertheless untargetable due to invisibility (Norgath's detect illusions didn't work there), but fortunately Tazok showed up with a failed surprise attack to keep the Dwarf busy. Like Diarmid, Tazok fell to Norgath's backstabs.

A time of waiting followed because Semaj was yet another one of those mages who don't show themselves to characters that are protected from magic by the green scroll. Norgath wasn't too happy with that, because the clock was ticking and the boost to his DEX from the potion of agility would expire at some point. It would seriously inhibit his marksmanship. (He found he had no more potions of agility, only two potions of fortitude; though a potion of magic blocking might have canceled all the stat changes). As time went by, and the expiration of his green scroll's sphere of protection from magic became imminent, the Dwarf made sure to stay protected from magic by potions (shielding/protection), so as to remain invulnerable to Semaj's spells. As soon as the sphere dissipated, Semaj removed all of Norgath's buffs, including the violet potion's effect. The Dwarf retreated, quaffed a potion of magic shielding and took on Semaj with arrows of dispelling and acid arrows.

(Considering the wizard's many Stoneskins, Norgath even cast a second PfMagic at some point, just to prevent unfortunate timing from getting him into trouble.) When Semaj was out of the way, repeated backstabs meant the end of Sarevok.

Norgath returned to the the surface, celebrated with his friends at the guild and bade them goodbye to go on a mission to Amn for Belt.

Ravenslight · January 2015

(Claps) Yeah!

DreadKhan · January 2015

The Roid potion is a good trick for a Rogue to use an STR potion actually, and that fight is indeed a pain sometimes, even vanilla. Never have I ever liked the idea of no-reloading that fight, but Bounty Hunter traps are a nasty surprise I bet.

Musigny · January 2015

Bravo, well done !

kcwise · January 2015

Wow, you made that look easy!

Grum · January 2015

Well done! A most enjoyable read.

Blackraven · February 2015

Thanks everyone for reading, liking and commenting on Norgath's work. Both he and Blackraven really appreciate it

I'm pleased to report to you all that Norgath is doing very well considering the circumstances.

His trip to Amn for Duke Belt didn't quite go as planned, what with his being kidnapped and poisoned by a man he had heard called Mae'Var.

And finding himself a prisoner in a dark, futuristic dungeon where he was made the subject of physical and mental torture didn't do much for the Dwarf's mood either.

I forgot to take a screenshot, as I often tend to, but I recall he had close to 400k XP, which meant one immediate level up (level 11) at the beginning of SoA, and later a second one (level 12) still in Chateau Irenicus as well. In sum: Stats are 19-18-20 -16 -20-7. The level 12 proficiency pip was invested in Two Weapon Fighting (3rd pip, the other two profs are Short Swords and Shortbows). The 40 skill points all went to Detect Illusions, bringing that skill into the 65-80 range, just like Stealth, Find Traps and Set Traps.

During a quiet moment, Imoen of all people released Norgath from his cell. He was positive that he had set out to Amn on his own, and yet Imoen had been a prisoner in this dungeon just like himself, as well as two others whom he had briefly met during his journeys on the Sword Coast: Minsc and Jaheira. The lass was thanked for waking him at an opportune moment but then told that they'd stand a better chance trying to sneak out by themselves. Minsc and Jaheira he bluntly informed that he prefered to work alone. Bereft of all his gold and gear, the sullen Dwarf kept to the shadows while exploring the dungeon to get an idea of its layout, and to seek escape of course. He snuck past numerous Mephits and Duergar,

until in one room, he spotted some of his gear on a table.

The items that BGTTweaks imports into SoA depend on what's in Charname's inventory at the end of BG1. Norgath found the following items: Shadow Armor, Boots of Stealth, Ring of Protection +2, Helm and Cloak of Balduran, Semaj's Cloak, Cloak of Protection +2, Ring of Protection +2, Bracers of Archery, Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise, Ring of Fire Resistance, Ring of Free Action, Greenstone Amulet, Tamoko's Full Plate +1, Fallorain's Plate +1, and Eagle Bow. I only allowed him to use his "clothes" though, i.e. the boots and the armor. The other items went into a Bag of Holding I keepered into his inventory, with the idea to sell them to Ribald and then edit the gold away. The items might then later be bought from Ribald. His Cloak of Non-Detection as upgraded by Thalantyr was edited into Norgath's inventory as well, he would "find" (and be allowed to use) that item later.

While Norgath was sorting out his possessions and storing some items in his pack, he was spotted by some of the Duergar and was forunate to find a quiet corridor where he could cloak himself in shadows again. [His base stealth was 70, which as such is sufficient to reliably hide in Irenicus' dungeon, but with the armor and the boots, he was even better off of course.] From that moment the prey became the hunter. He started to haunt the place, invisible like a phantom unless and until he chose to attack. Many Duergar wouldn't even lay eyes on him before he put them to rest with a short sword he'd found (a mundane weapon, nothing like the splendid Short Sword of Backstabbing that had become his staple weapon).

Other creatures too, including two golems and an Otyugh, met the sharp end of his blade.

He plundered two beautiful but heavily trapped rooms that didn't seem part of the dungeon, and with a Genie he traded a flask for the sword that had belonged to his nemesis Sarevok (Mephits were bypassed with stealth).

To thwart his torturer, a wizard named Irenicus he was told, he promised three enslaved Dryads to free them by delivering a number of acorns to one of their sisters in the Windspear Hills (wherever that may be). With an unusual stone he successfully ported to another level of the dungeon where he met a Kara-Turan colleague that somehow reminded him of the woman he had met in Baldur's Gate and slain shortly before his battle with Sarevok. The man offered to team up with the Dwarf, but the latter wouldn' have it.
The first room he entered contained four Mephit portals that kept spawning different types of Mephits. No (extra) healing potions had been needed thus far, but these pests (that would blind, doom and scald the Dwarf at every turn) made him quaff two or three. He did prevail though, by destroying the portals.

He proceeded through a corridor where he had to fight more Mephits as well as inexplicably hostile thieves, until he reached a spacious, open room, that contained a number of wands he couldn't use but perhaps later sell. In a smaller room to the left he witnessed a fight between a vampire and more thieves. He threw a couple of traps inside, killing the vampire.

However, the surviving thieves weren't exactly grateful. Humans...
As the coast seemed clear, Norgath took some time to rest before he continued his search for a way out. That search brought him past a forge room (where Duergar were shunned and a Girdle of Bluntness secured) and a room with a Shapeshifter he slew.

Adjacent to that room was a corridor he snuck through past thieves (he now expected to be hostile); it led to the surface, a market place in an unfamiliar city with a southern feel...
He saw Imoen there, and Irenicus too, as well as a number of thieves. The Bounty Hunter nodded approvingly as Imoen boldly cast a spell at Irenicus (that girl surely hadn't idled her time away). But in a blink numerous wizards came teleporting in and arrested both Irenicus and Imoen. Apparently these wizards regulated spellcasting within the city. The Dwarf wasn't pleased to see his quarry disappear right in front of him, but there was little he could except explore the city for hints where the wizards might have gone, for commercial opportunities, and for clues regarding that other figure he had a score to settle with: Mae'Var.

On his way exploring the promenade, a guard informed him that he was in Athkatla, and warned him of disappearances of in a circus tent. Norgath took a gauging look at the tent and thought it impossible for people to disappear in there, so he decided to check it out. Once inside he seemed to have stepped into another world though, much bigger, inhabited by werewolf-like creatures, Shadows, and an Elf that looked like an Ogre due to some sort of illusion magic. Norgath dispelled the illusion on the Elf, spoke with a woman that was made to look like a Spider and confronted the perpetrator, an Ogre Mage that when slain turned out to be a Gnome (more illusory magics). Dealing with the ogrish Gnome hadn't been easy by the way, because Shadows drained him twice of his strength.

As he left the tent, a young girl approached to thank the Dwarf and to give him a magic lamp, belonging to one Jafir at the Crooked Crane Inn. He decided to visit this Jafir later. After a good night's rest he woke with his strengths fully recovered, and decided to continue his exploration of the city. It led him to a poor area, simply called 'The Slums', and understandably so. In the Slums he met Gaelan Bayle, a friendly thief who told him he had ways to get to Imoen. The Dwarf made it clear that his main concern was Irenicus, but according to Bayle, that too could be arranged. However the man asked 20k GP for his help. It made him suddenly a lot less friendly in the Norgath's eyes, but the Dwarf didn't immediately refuse to deal with Bayle, and was glad me'd made that decision when Bayle told him he was a member of the Shadow Thieves Guild. Norgath had had good experiences with the only Thieves Guild he had previously had dealings with, in Baldur's Gate. For a moment his thoughts wandered off to his friends Narlen Darkwalk, Rededge, and Black Lily. He thanked Bayle for a job he'd likely be offered should he visit the Shadow Thieves, and decided to present himself at the guild right away.

Grum · February 2015

It continues! I look forward to following this.

Blackraven · February 2015

Edit: thank you @Grum! Here's another installment:

He learnt that the city was very unsafe for the unprepared. Hidden in shadows he came upon a group of ruffians who were clearly out to ambush citizens that happened to take a wrong turn. They didn't notice the Dwarf though, and he took advantage of that, throwing a couple of his special traps in their direction. The snares held his foes, allowing him to take three of them down with his bow (one or two others were or went invisible). On one of his victims he found an enchanted short sword, Arbane's Sword.

He eventually made it to the Guild, in the Docks District, and introduced himself to some of its members, including Renal Bloodscalp, who indeed had a job for him just as Gaelan Bayle had suggested. The Dwarf couldn't suspend his disbelief when he was told his task: to find evidence incriminating a leader of one the local guildhouses, a man named Mae'Var! Abbathor must have smiled upon Norgath that day. The Bounty Hunter kept his emotions to himself and agreed to the task. He bought a couple of invisibility potions from Merina the fence to facilitate backstabbing, and went on his way to murder Mae'Var. But when he got there, he was in for another surprise: his kidnapper didn't recognize him (Irenicus' torturing must have aged the young Dwarf beyond his years). Rather than killing Mae'Var there and then he accepted to "work" for the rogue first - in hopes of finding the evidence that would increase his standing within the Guild. He completed a first task, little more than a test, before he was told in a rude way to receive instructions from one of Mae'Var's underlings, a Red Wizard with a vaguely familiar face named Edwin. The task this Red Wizard set him, was not an easy one: to dispatch Rayic Gethras, a Cowled Wizard. Norgath decided to relax for a bit at an inn and prepare a number of traps before he'd pay the Cowled one a visit. He opted for lodgings at the Copper Coronet, an inn he remembered having seen in the slums, but before he got there, a second ambush had him return to the Docks District to save a wounded and poisoned man from bandits, and bring him to a friend in front of a huge but as yet unidentified building.

At the Copper Coronet Norgath was given access to some of the back areas that offered entertainment in the form of prostitution and black lotus sessions. When he entered a zone he apparently wasn't allowed to visit, he was immediately attacked by a guard he had to slay. The reason: hidden slaves. Norgath dealt with a Beastmaster and his pets,

and looted a nifty shortbow and a nice wolfskin bag from his body, as well as a key with which he released the slaves from their cells. Together with the slaves Norgath dispatched the guards and the innkeeper, Lethinan. The Dwarf then instated the slave leader Hendak as the establishment's new manager (and was quite pleased to have a loyal ally running the business, an important meeting center for adventurers and a place where recent news and gossip could be learned).
Upstairs a retired thief handed Norgath a pair of Gloves of Pickpocketing he no longer needed. It gave the Dwarf an idea. With an excellent reputation as the savior of the slaves and the reformer of the Inn, and with a couple of potions of master thievery he could steal some valuable items for sale at the inn, at virtually no risk. Thus he appropriated various enchanted weapons and other valuable items. Some of those he'd keep for himself, other goods he would barter with Merina over at the Thieves Guild either for more useful wares (such as the Black Cat's Claw +2, which confers Luck and +1 DEX upon the user), or simply for hard coin for him to spend. The Copper Coronet wasn't the only business to experience unexplained losses in its stock, and Norgath soon found himself as prosperous a mercenary as he had been in his glory days in the city of Baldur's Gate. Amongst his new possessions are a wealth of magical potions, scrolls, and enchanted arrows as well as various situationally useful items (such as Ring of Air Control, Rod of Resurrection, Mercykiller Ring, Ring of Regen, Reflection Shield, Vhailor's Helm, Alathis' Guard cowl, and his old blade Sound Defense +2 that must have been fenced by Mae'Var after the kidnapping).
In the Docks District Norgath was approached by a pale woman that told him his mistress wanted to have a word with him in the Graveyard District, after sunset. Norgath went there somewhat early and saw no trace of the mistress. He decided to reconnoitre the area a bit, and even entered a pavilion that led to an open, underground area inhabited by Spiders that poisoned him and had him flee back outside to recover.

When cured and healed, he reentered, hidden in shadows and boosted by an oil of speed, to make short work of the arachnids. Norgath has nothing against Spiders, he quite admires them. What he doesn't like however, is being crossed by them, hence the retribution. Further inside he found the spiders' nest and a Half-Drow Hivemaster Druid. She asked him to retrieve the Spiders' Bane sword for her from the Sewers. Norgath agreed and saw the job through although it meant having to sneak past deadly Beholders.

He was amply rewarded for his effort with a Black Spider Figurine with which he could summon an arachnid, Kitthix, to his aid once every day. Other loot included an ioun stone that increases the wearer's health and their precision in combat, and a scroll of Spider Spawn which together with 5 poisoned throwing daggers and 5k GP allowed a fellow Dwarf named Cromwell, a master smith, to upgrade Kitthix for him.

In the Bridge District he investigated a series of murders for Lieutenant Aegisfield. He found the culprit, a tanner, but the man escaped and two of his lackeys, backstabbing Rune Assassins both of them, injured the Dwarf severely, even though he had been immune to backstabs thanks to the Alathis' Guard cowl.

The Dwarf chose to cease his investigation and report back to Aegisfield, who was grateful anyway.
He then decided to return to his Guild business. He still had the Cowled Wizard to deal with after all. The mage had Mephits - some of which capable of stunning their targets, against which the Dwarf hoped to be protected with Arbane's Sword - guarding his home, and two Stone Golems. The Mephits hurt him, but with a potion of extra healing and Kitthix's webs and poisons, the Dwarf prevailed.

Pseudo-backstabs and Kitthix's help allowed Norgath to overcome the Golems as well.

This left Rayic Gethras, a respectable (level 14) Conjurer Mage. Norgath placed two traps near the stairs but Rayic didn't like that. He went hostile, buffed himself with Stoneskin, PfMW, and Globe of Invulnerability, and started the incantation of an offensive spell. Norgath hastily retreated, hid in shadows, and returned. Protected by non-detection, he didn't worry too much as he snuck past the wizard and placed two new snares on the other side of the room. The Bounty Hunter waited for a bit, took a few steps toward his foe, and with his Tuigan Bow released an arrow of dispelling. The arrow struck true, removing the wizard's protections. Norgath then retreated again to the back of the room, which prompted Rayic Gethras to approach and activate the Dwarf's traps, with deadly results.

Further missions for Edwin and Mae'Var were little more than simple fetch quests that Norgath carried out with ease. He was found worthy by both Edwin and Mae'Var, and Edwin, disloyal to his master, handed Norgath a key to a strongbox containing correspondence that implicated Mae'Var. With the letters Norgath returned to Renal Bloodscalp, who was pleased with the Dwarf's efforts so far but asked him to get rid of Mae'Var and his adherents. Normally Norgath wouldn't be happy with such an instruction because his job had been to simply find the evidence. However, things were different of course in the special case of Mae'Var. With an ample supply of invisibility potions, the Dwarf had little difficulty backstabbing the living daylights out of Mae'Var's men (and women).

Mae'Var had hidden himself downstairs, surrpunded by his most trusted associates. But Norgath, who switched to his bow after the first adherents fell, had an ally as well: Kitthix. The Dwarf would use arrows of dispelling and arrows of biting on buffed Mae'Var (and on a Priest of Cyric), enabling Kitthix to give his kidnapper the horrible death he had long coming.

Norgath was rewarded a Short Sword +3 and promoted to manager of Mae'Var's guildhouse, with almost unlimited freedom as to how to run the place.

Grum · February 2015

Another installment gladly read. That spider den is horrifying. That druid deserves a most unpleasant death.

Blackraven · February 2015

@Grum, haha, but Norgath was quite content with his reward for bringing her the damaged Spiders' Bane. (Improved) Kitthix has proven a valuable ally in a couple of situations. Anyway, glad you're enjoying this. I hope it will continue to be so.

Norgath was level 15 at the beginning of the sessions on which this update is based. He would gain more levels, but I decided to try and postone leveling up until level 21. The reason is that I see little use for the Resilient Sphere traps that are the BH's special traps between levels 16 and 21, whereas the level 11-15 Hold Traps are good. At level 21 the Resilient Sphere traps are succeeded by Maze traps which I do consider useful.

The Dwarf's first action as master of his own guildhouse was to instruct his thieves to undertake high-risk activities for maxmimum profit (though his house would not engage in slave trade). He also had a run-in with a few old friends of Mae'Var's who were out for vengeance, but they would discover that they had plied their trade on the wrong person.

His nightly escapades in the city taught the Dwarf that the Shadow Thieves' rivals, whoever they be, availed themselves of vampires to sway Shadow Thieves into their ranks. He was glad to help his confrere Sansuki in the Bridge District when two or three Vampires attacked the thief for refusing to join them.

Unfortunately Norgath couldn't stay in Athkatla at all times to deal with the vampire invasion; he had business awaiting him elsewhere as well. First off there was Trademeet, plagued by animal attacks from Druids, and by interrupted commerce due to Djinns monopolizing the market. The Dwarf agreed to investigate the Druids and to bring the Djinns the head of a Rakshasa they were after so that they would leave the town. Both jobs took him into the wilds outside Trademeet. The area was infested with Trolls (including the dangerous spellcasting Spirit variant) and Spiders. Traps, Kitthix, the occasional backstab, and a good supply of acid arrows helped Norgath overcome these foes.

But then he met a foe he could not overcome: an Elder Earth Elemental. It enjoyed an innate ability to go (undetectably) invisible and it hit like a truck while being immune to Norgath's +2 weapons.

The Dwarf saw himself pretty much forced to travel to Watcher's Keep and pick up the overpriced Short Sword of Mask +4. Ironically, when he returned after a short stop in Athkatla on guild business, he found out that he didn't even need his new blade. A lot of traps softened the creature up, and an Efreeti from a bottle he'd nicked from one of the Djinns in Trademeet, initially merely used to lure the monster to the traps, actually finished the Elemental off for him.

Deeper in the forest, Norgath and Kitthix wiped out more trolls and hostile druids,

until they came upon a bridge full of Spores and Myconids. Kitthix helped with some of the fungi before she left the prime material plane for that day.

It meant the Dwarf was going to be on his own against a horde. Fire was used to reach the Spore Colonies so that they could be backstabbed.

The rogue then had to deal with a number of Trolls to finally clear the bridge.

On the other side of it there were two buildings Norgath wanted to enter but before he could, he was attacked by more monsters coming for him from a second bridge: Shambling Mounds and Sword Spiders. With a potion of speed he outran the opposition, allowing easy backstabs.

After he crossed the second bridge, he exterminated more fungi before they would overtake the place as they had done with the first bridge. He also took out a number of grizzly bears and taught a bunch of Shadow Druids that they should have learnt to cast faster.

Norgath met Cernd, a Druid from a more moderate circle than the Shadow Druids that were incontrol of the Grove, told his temporary ally to quaff an invisibility potion of his, and had him challenge Faldorn the Shadow Druid matriarch for leadership over the Grove. Invisible Cernd made Faldorn waste all her Improved Invisibilities before he sent his Insects to plague her. He then summoned Fire Elementals and Woodland Beings to his aid, shapeshifted into Greater Werewolf form, and defeated his opponent.

Still curious about the two buildings he had seen before, an Ogre Tower and a cottage, Norgath returned to take a peek. In the tower he found an enchanted scimitar that increased the pace with which he could attack; he started wielding it in his off hand in spite of being unversed in the use of scimitars. In the cottage he encountered three Rakshasa shapeshifters, including the one the Djinni in Trademeet wanted dead. A very hard battle awaited the Dwarf. The Rakshasa had different AoE spells that could have held or poisoned him, or render him unconscious. Things didn't go that badly for Norgath, but nevertheless the creatures had all kinds of magical and innate defenses that made it extremely difficult to hurt them (Mirror Images, Stoneskins, PfMW, immunity to Norgath's arrows), they dispelled the Dwarf's potion buffs, and they threw plenty of damaging spells at him: Magic Missiles, Melf's Acid Arrows, Fireballs, Sunfires. Norgath took three healing breaks outside (where they refused to follow him for some reason) before he would find the creatures low enough on spells to enable him to take them down in melee.

Back in Trademeet a statue was raised in Norgath's honor, ample reward was received (and appropriated from the merchants), the tanner that had escaped his clutches in Athkatla was slain as was his associate, and a family feud over the Mantle of Waukeen was put to rest by retrieving it from a tomb and handing it to the town's High Merchant. The latter feat hadn't been as easily accomplished as it should have, and Norgath was long angry with himself for what he considered a lack of professionalism. The Dwarf hadn't rested (so no summons) and was unbuffed and unprepared for what awaited him. The vault that contained the artifact was inhabited by two Skeleton Warriors, one of which capable of animating skeletons. Sloppy positioning soon saw Norgath surrounded by an ever-growing host of undead, with nowhere to go, and with the two Skeleton Warriors pounding away at him. The Dwarf went invisible and buffed with haste, defense and fire resistance potions. He would then expend all his potions of explosions and oils of fiery burning on the undead, and inbetween the bombings (while his aura was turbid), he tried to hit the undead spawning Skeleton Warrior. This proven strategy - in his earlier adventuring days Norgath had used it a couple of times to good effect when cornered - saved the day for him.

All in all his excursion to Trademeet had been a rewarding experience, the Dwarf realized on his way back to Athkatla as he admired his new belt (Inertial Barrier), the Efreet bottle, his scimitar and a new shortbow that requiered no ammunition. And he hadn't even counted all his gold yet.
Back in the city Norgath went on his way to check on his subordinates at the guild house, but was accosted by a Necromancer that begged him to release a friend of his from captivity in the orange building where he had brought a poisoned man a week or two before, a Harper compound it turned out to be. The Dwarf agreed and even did a commission for the Harpers, slaying two mages and their pets,

in order to be allowed access. Inside the building he looted some chests and finished off three Spectral Harpists before he found the wizard's friend, purportedly turned into a bird. This proved to be a front. With some form of magical trickery the bird transformed into an Assassin that was apparently ordered by the Harpers to kill the Necromancer. Norgath tried to stop the Assassin but failed to slay her before she dispatched the wizard.

The Bounty Hunter spent most of his time in the city trading and doing a number of smaller commissions. Investigation of the case of a man who had been buried alive yielded him nothing but a pair of silver pantaloons (no boots of grounding because Reti escaped). In the Copper Coronet Norgath briefly interrupted Joluv's black lotus trip to purchase the Scarlet Ninja-To (future investment).

He indebted the Radiant Heart by ridding the city of a group of fallen Paladins.

In the Den of the Seven Vales he relied on his traps and summons to deal with a group of adventurers led by a rather rude Dwarf.

For Hendak he delivered on his promise to remove the Slaver base. Near it, Lilarcor the ranting sword was acquired. Inside the compund, special traps held most of the slavers so that they could be slain with no difficulty, but Norgath himself ran into a trap as well (with AI on, he rushed over it to go and finish off a slaver). Improved Kitthix helped the Dwarf against two mages.

Another mission, undertaken on behalf of the Temple of Helm, was the pursuit of pure illithium for the sculptor Sir Sarles. When such extremely precious material proved unavailable in the requested quantity, Norgath tried to con the artist but failed. The church was pleased anyway with Norgath's effort, not knowing that the latter had remained silent about a lead to a possible source of true illithium ore, in the Umar Hills. The Dwarf decided that that was going to be his next destination, but first he had some more guild business to attend to. First of all he went Vampire hunting one night with Arkanis Gath, Ryokoi and two more colleagues. The party of five encountered six Vampires in the slums. Norgath slew two, not a bad score at all.

The Bounty Hunter then met Aran Linvail, Athkatla's guildmaster. It cost him 15k GP and more help against the rivaling guild, but in return he received an enchanted necklace and an enchanted ring, a promise to be brought to Irenicus, and the time to decide when to deal with the rivals of the guild and when to travel to Irenicus. Cromwell forged Linvail's ring and a ring of regeneration into the Ring of Preservation +2.

As mentioned above, Norgath's prospective next destinations are Imnesvale and the Umar Hills. He's still level 15, but would be level 19 if I had leveled him up, and a bit less than 350k XP shy from level 21 and Maze traps.

Grum · February 2015

Another great read. This has actually inspired me to do my own solo, no-reload run. Only I'm going with a dwarven-defender...in BG1.

Anyways, keep it up!

Blackraven · February 2015

@Krum, excellent! Dwarves are great, and so is the kit. Would you let us read about the exploits of your Dwarven badass? You've a got a pleasant writing style, I noticed in your description of Thorek's scene with Kagain and Yeslick.

SionIV · February 2015

I really enjoyed reading this adventure Blackraven, looking forward to what will happen now when you get your most powerful tool (Maze trap) and all the shenanigans you can pull of with it!

Grum · February 2015

Blackraven said:
@Krum, excellent! Dwarves are great, and so is the kit. Would you let us read about the exploits of your Dwarven badass? You've a got a pleasant writing style, I noticed in your description of Thorek's scene with Kagain and Yeslick.

With praise like that how could I say no?

I've been taking screenshots, so aye I think I might just do that. He's currently back at Candlekeep, sporting everything from the 'the practical defense' to 'the cloak of balduran.'

A solo run is a lot less hard than I thought. Then again, reading this thread helped a lot. I never cared for potions or scrolls before this run. Now I'm going broke to make sure there is always the right tool for the job. So thanks for that!

Not sure how the fight against Sarevok will go though. Solo tanking that encounter won't be easy.

Blackraven · February 2015

Thank you @SionIV, I'm having a lot of fun with Norgath myself as well.

Good to see you again btw!

Grum said:
With praise like that how could I say no?

I've been taking screenshots, so aye I think I might just do that. He's currently back at Candlekeep, sporting everything from the 'the practical defense' to 'the cloak of balduran.'

A solo run is a lot less hard than I thought. Then again, reading this thread helped a lot. I never cared for potions or scrolls before this run. Now I'm going broke to make sure there is always the right tool for the job. So thanks for that!

Not sure how the fight against Sarevok will go though. Solo tanking that encounter won't be easy.

Haha, great! Looking forward to reading the tale of Norgath's fellow Dwarf. You're already very far into it... As to tanking Sarevok, I'd be careful with that. The only build I can imagine pulling that off would be a Fighter/Mage with constant Mirror Images (including from scrolls), and a few Stoneskins. I think Boots of Speed plus Oil of Speed plus Beruel's Retort or Prat's Returning Throwing Axe +2 plus strength buffs would give you a better chance. Before that though, there's the Ducal Palace which in my opinion is even harder. You might want to read a bit on strategies people use there.

It gladdens me that my thread has been of help to you. Thanks for telling me so.

More Norgath:

Rather than traveling straight to Imnesvale, Norgath decided to first see to a few nightly tasks he had agreed to perform for Aran Linvail because, conveniently, the sun had just set. The first task consisted in protecting his friend Mook (a smuggler who worked not for Norgath's guildhouse but for the nearby headquarters), so that the lass could do her job without vampiric intervention. A Vampire did show up though, and it instantly slew the poor girl. It only fed Norgath's deep contempt for the foul creatures. This one summoned a Giant Rat swarm before it would fall to Norgath's backstabs and a trap he'd all but forgotten about (that trap had been placed before to see if it would do anything against Xzar's killer). The rats were sturdier than any rat he'd ever laid eyes on, requiring various hits while dealing respectable damage themselves, and they afflicted the Dwarf with a disease that drained his health. Norgath did prevail over the rats, but the experience taught him two things: (1) some of the Vampires had special abilities, and (2) his backstabs were insufficiently damaging for quick disposal of enemies. Both things worried him.

Another, less problematic task that Norgath performed was the retrieval of information about the rivaling guild. The guild turned out to be established in the Graveyard District, very fitting considering the number of Vampires it had in its service.

Linvail was pleased with Norgath's work, but seemed to a bit too trusting of Norgath capabilities: he asked the Dwarf to clear out the entire rivaling guild on his own! Norgath declined, at least for the time being and decided to look up Roger in the sewers in hopes of buying a batch of Potions of Freedom from the fence. Unfortunately Roger had no such potions in stock, meaning that for the time being Norgath would have to make do with only one Potion of Freedom he still had. (This was a bit of a setback, because I'm hesitant to rely on Arbane's Sword in the Umar Hills. According to NearInfinity the blade protects against "Hold 1" and "Paralysis", and I don't know what that means exactly. Ideally Hold 1 would be some kind of umbrella term which includes Stun, but I cannot be sure of that.)
Before he left the sewers he ran into a gang of thugs he decided to ensnare from different angles. Unfortunately two stray Goblins spoilt part of the plan.

Remaining traps did help in convincing the ruffians to change their tune, and Kitthix' poisoning of Gaius the Mage was a welcome sight as well.

Two Clerics however showed true staying power, and one of them, Zorl, gave Norgath a bit of a scare with (I think) a Slay Living.

(Thankfully the Dwarf, keeping his potions of extra healing at the ready, saved against spell twice to avoid more damage.) Zorl and the other eventually succumbed to Norgath's repeated backstabs. A hard-hitting Aerial Servant could not prevent that.

With all enemies defeated, the time finally arrived for Norgath to visit Imnesvale. He had friendly dealings with some of the townsfolk, earning himself a Beljuril Gem, the goodwill of a band of friendly monsters, and from a Cowled Wizard he received Ilbratha for dispatching a Killer Mimic and a Stone Golem.

(I don't know whether the save vs breath was necessary with Arbane's Sword equipped.)
The true reason he had traveled to Imnesvale however, were the deaths and disappearances of people in the Umar Hills. Norgath encountered the area infested with Shadows (including canine variants) and Wraiths. The darkness greatly facilitated backstabbing but again the Dwarf found his damage output lacking (both with the Short Sword of Mask, which due to its +4 enchantment should give the best minimum results, and with the Black Cat's Claw, his +2 Ninja-To, a slashing weapon).

This wasn't a huge deal in his encounters with the relatively weak shadow creatures, but it could give him trouble against stronger creatures. Norgath hadn't forgotten about the Vampire in Athkatla's Docks District. Inside the Temple Ruins, where according to a Werewolf the root of the evil that had the area in its grasp was to be found, Norgath rescued Mazzy (who promptly rewarded him with her Short Sword of Arvoreen before she left for Trademeet) and dealt with more shadowy creatures, although one of them, a Wraith, managed to level-drain him.

Norgath restored himself with a scroll, and I decided to level him up before he would rest, because I saw him at 40k XP from level 21, meaning that Maze Traps would soon be his. Also, the Hold Traps wouldn't be of much use in the Temple Ruins where most if not all enemies would be immune to Hold. Furthermore, the extra HP would be welcome because of the resistance he would meet (and the risk of seeing PW: Stuns thrown at him). The level 16 and 20 weapon proficiency pips went to Staves and Two-Handed Weapon Style. This wasn't a planned decision, but it's always good to have a blunt proficiency, and besides Norgath's backstabs had been quite underwhelming... With the Staff of Striking, his backstabs (formerly in the 35-60 range) improved significantly as two Skeleton Warriors would find.

The Dwarf solved the Amanautor rituals riddle, ignored a chamber opposite a pool of fire (which would surely house a Lich, a Greater Mummy or two, and two Skeleton Warriors) and he brought Amuana and his guardians their doll needed to gain safe conduct to and past a Shadow Dragon. Norgath also had to cross a room with letters on the floor in order to find part of a symbol of Amaunator that would open an exit door to the Shadow Dragon's lair. However in the corridor leading to said room, a Lich, two Greater Mummies, and two Skeleton Warriors awaited him.

Norgath retreated to set a few (regular) traps and to summon Kitthix who he made (improved) invisible with the Ring of Air Control, to see what the Lich would do. Dwarf and Spider approached the enemy. Kitthix engaged them, Norgath slew a Skeleton Warrior with a backstab and sent Ras in as well. A second Skeleton Warrior fell to the Dwarf's traps, which marked an important point for Norgath: he reached level 21.

All of a sudden he had no less than five Maze traps at his disposal. And to be honest, timing couldn't have been better. While Norgath summoned his Efreeti to see it set one of the Greater Mummies aflame before it froze and panicked due to Mummy Fear,

the Lich gated in two Glabrezus one after the other. These aTweaked Glabrezus are pretty scary: their Remove Magic could rid Norgath of all of his potion buffs, and one or two hits could bring Norgath below 80 HP and thus make him susceptible to PW:Stun. Therefore Norgath's first uses of his Maze traps were purely defensive. He would outrun the Glabrezus with an oil of speed, set a Maze trap before the demons would teleport without error toward him, and maze them.

Thus he survived the two demons before they'd be unsummoned. One of the Greater Mummies was backstabbed to death, the other fell to the Flamestrikes on the lettered floor. Thus only Norgath and the Lich remained. A potion of Stone Form helped the Dwarf survive two ADHWs and a Wail of the Banshee, even after he was greater Malisoned by the Lich. By then the latter had ran out of its best spells including protective ones (many of which had been wasted long before on Kitthix, Ras, and the Efreeti), and Norgath prevailed.

Then it was time for Thaxy. Norgath placed a few remaining regular traps by the door (safety measure), and then rested to get his summons and all his traps back. When he got up he threw a Maze trap at the dragon to see it disappear.

Norgath then placed his five regular thief traps on the spot where Thaxy would reappear. Much to his surprise, the five traps sufficed to slay the Dragon. (I definitely expected that more was going to be required, hence the extra traps by the door, and the resting to get the summons back.)

Norgath returned the way he came (leaving the Shade Lord for when Level Drain immunity has been obtained) and traveled back to Athkatla where Cromwell upgraded Mazzy's sword for future usage,

and forged the Shadow Dragon Scale armor for the Dwarf. It cost him 20 grand, but I think it's worth it.
Here are screenshots of his Character Record (the red 18 CON is due to the still equipped Claw of Kazgaroth), and his inventory, for an impression of his stats and gear. DI, ST, FT and LP are all maxed at 100, MS is 155 and the other thieving skills are undeveloped.

Grum · February 2015

Another installation is another treat. Especially as I can't play BG2 right now, I get to live vicariously through your adventures. Great use of the maze traps! And a surprising dragon kill already.

Also I just finished my solo run, and will eventually right it up. I'll just say that dwarven defenders are amazing when they hit Str25, Dex23 and Con22. Add in magic resistance 75%, fire/electricity 100%, physical damage 55%, AC -8 (with a -20 vs crushing and -12 vs piercing)...he's a tank like no other.

Blackraven · February 2015

Thank you @Grum! I've grown really fond of Norgath, so I'm hoping to keep this up. I haven't continued yet because I'm still undecided as to where to take him next...

The stats you mention look amazing. The other day you were wondering how Sarevok could be dealt with, but with those stats, especially the 100% physical resistance, you have nothing to worry about. Not sure how long all of that lasts though, probably not long enough to finish off Sarevok?

Blackraven · February 2015

Having rescued Unger Hilldark's brother Hilje in the Umar Temple Ruins, Norgath decided to have a word with the two Duergar upon his return to Athkatla, to see if he could finally get his hands on some true illithium. (Cromwell the smith had told him he might be able to use it to enchant an axe or a mace for him.)
In the Copper Coronet the siblings told him there was no illithium, and they blamed each other for it. Gorje had failed to dig up any new illithium in the Umar Hills, and Unger had to make the embarrassing confession that their latest shipment had been stolen from right under his nose. The thief: a fellow named Neb. Being unwelcome Duergar, the brothers knew the City Guard would always be against them if they tried to recoup their lost shipment. In a bout of kindness that Norgath didn't expect from a Duergar cousin, Unger informed the Bounty Hunter of Neb's whereabouts, a derelict home in the Bridge District.
Norgath found a couple of buildings that fit that description. The first one he entered had an untidy ground floor but a well-kept sarcophagus downstairs. He was quite curious to take a peek, but decided to go after Neb first. He found the strange-looking lad, too rugged to be a Gnome and too diminutive to be a Dwarf, in a nearby house - surrounded by hostile child spirits. Norgath told Neb to hand him the illithium, but Neb wasn't willing to cooperate. The Bounty Hunter then went invisible and took out Neb with a backstab using his Staff of Striking. The child spirits thanked him, and then disappeared.

He stored the illithium in his wolfskin bag of holding, and asked himself whether it would be worth it to invest thousands of gold in the crafting of an anti-undead weapon he wouldn't use much and probably never as effectively as his blades.
When he went back to the first building he had visited, he found an asnwer to his question: yes, he would probably get an upgraded Mace of Disruption or Azuredge Axe crafted at some point. The sarcophagus contained an Elemental Lich, a powerful undead creature. Norgath's deep-rooted loathing of undead creatures was immediately rekindled. The Dwarf's first reaction upon seeing the creature rise, was to give it a good smack with his staff.

It wasn't enough to slay the abomination, and the Lich mumbled something about following the whims of one Kangaxx. With no buffs save an oil of speed Norgath wasn't inclined to stay for a chat though, so he retreated and sent in his summons one after the other. First there was his Efreeti, which emerged just when the Lich cast a Time Stop. The Lich had little difficulty dealing with the Efreeti, but Norgath knew that the Efreeti would simply leave the prime material plane and be available again the next day.

Meanwhile Ras had joined the fray to soak up some more spells, including a Death Spell.

When Ras was gone, the Lich started focusing his attention on Norgath, who was close to the exit in order to avoid any nasty spells that might come his way. Norgath went back upstairs and tried to place a number of traps to deal with the Lich. However the Dwarf didn't manage to place more than a single trap before the creature appeared.

Norgath saw no other option than to retreat further, back outside, toward the building where he had previously found Tirdir's kidnappers. There he summoned Kitthix to his side, and sent her to the entrance of the Lich's home. The Lich was there, and helped by a summoned Mordenkainen's Sword, it occupied itself with Kitthix. This allowed Norgath to Maze-trap his foes from a distance. The Dwarf then placed his remaining (regular) traps at the maze point, and saw both the Mordenkainen's Sword (which returned first), and the Lich fall to those traps.

Afterwards, Norgath remained quite puzzled by the Lich's words, he had been 'foolish to follow the whims of Kangaxx'.
Anyway the Dwarf made for the sewers beneath the Temple District to see if he could learn more about a cult of the 'Unseeing Eye', a lucrative commission from the Temple of Helm. In the sewers he dispatched a Sea Troll and, with Kitthix, a Rakshasa.

The Beholder and two Gauths that Norgath had spotted before were still hanging around (quite literally), but Norgath had no interest in showing himself to those creatures so he snuck past them. Curiously, an aging Paladin of Torm wanted to join Norgath in his search for answers regarding the Unseeing Eye, but the Dwarf gave the oldtimer his usual line, i.e. that he preferred to work alone.
He then entered an older tunnel that led him past more undead creatures: Shades, Hell Hounds, and Vampiric Mists. He dealt with them using backstabs and traps, but couldn't prevent one of the mists from level-draining him.

A bit further on Norgath met one of the Unseeing Eye priests, an eyeless man named Gaal. Apparently all members of the cult had to remove their eyes. The Dwarf found this quite ridiculous but instead of saying so, he merely asked whether he could be of help to them (hoping to learn more about the cult), without having his eyes removed. Gaal asked him to retrieve a part of a rod from even more obscure catacombs than the tunnels they found themselves in. Norgath agreed to the task and was given the time to rest in order to recover from the arduous job of restoring his level-drained self with a scroll.
He took a key to enter the catacombs, and to his surprise he stumbled upon a second sarcophagus, identical to the one that had contained the Elemental Lich. A bystander, a former Unseeing Eye cultist, begged the Dwarf not to open the sarcophagus because it contained a great evil. Norgath ignored the man's wish but not his warning nor his prior experience with the Elemental Lich. Norgath placed his (regular thief) traps before removing the lid from the sarcophagus. That proved to be a wise decision: a backstab and the traps finished the Lich, a Shade variant, quite nicely.

(Some people will dismiss this tactic as 'cheesy'. To them I can only say 'sorry'. The thing is I'm not trying to prove myself here as some kind of no-reload genius (which I'm evidently not). I simply want Norgath to stand a reasonable chance of surviving and share with interested readers an entertaining journal that strikes a balance between moderate roleplaying and no-reload survival. Things like this are likely to happen again. Personally I felt it made a lot of sense from an RP perspective for Norgath to be more cautious after what had happened with the first sarcophagus and after Sassar's warning. What is more, I had to reload and replay the previous Elemental Lich fight due to a crash to desktop right when it had wasted all of its dangerous spells, so I was beginning to get enough of Lich fighting, and that with Kangaxx still waiting.)
The former Gaal cultist, Sassar he called himself, was impressed with Norgath's effective disposal of the Shade Lich, and asked the Bounty Hunter for help. The Dwarf was to assemble two parts of the rod, not just the part that Gaal wanted, and with it slay the Unseeing Eye, an Elder Orb. Norgath decided to take some time to think about it all. He had no experience dealing with Beholders and their ilk; all he knew was that these were dangerous creatures.
He returned to his guildhall to receive updates on the performances of his thieves. Lathan had some very good news: new recruits were on their way from Baldur's Gate no less. Among them were his former partner Narlen Darkwalk with whom he had "visited many a neighbor" back in the Gate, and his friend Black Lily the racy fence with whom he'd had a good relationship as well.

(This is from the Expanded Thieves' Stronghold mod. Reading these lines drew a big smile on my face, and I even felt moved when I considered the labor of love that so many modders have put into this game through the years.)
Pleased with these reinforcements Norgath went to see if it were possible to buy or otherwise appropriate an abandoned property right next to his guildhouse in order to expand his hall and to be able to accommodate more thieves. The building turned out to be inhabited by Battle Horrors, creatures that Norgath has successfully fought before. It was no different this time. Downstairs, Norgath found yet another sarcopagus like the two that had contained the Liches. It was as if the Gods had wanted him to find these coffins. He removed the lid and met Kangaxx the Lich who requested him to give him the bones he would find in the other coffins that had contained the other Liches. Norgath humored the Lich in hopes of receiving a powerful item for his effort, but was rewarded with the Lich's wrath. (Importantly, SCS Kangaxx doesn't throw Imprisonments at its foes, but rather uses a large number of high level spells to try and prevail over his attackers, such as Fiends, ADHWs, Time Stops, PW Kill, Symbol Death etc. It does have its Trap the Soul (imprisonment) ability but uses it only on summons or even innocents. Norgath has really good saves, for example a -6 vs Spells, so the biggest threats to him would be damaging spells and summoned damage dealers.) Like he had done with the Elemental Lich, Norgath played hide and seek with Kangaxx the Lich in order to provoke his opponent into wasting his spells. Norgath failed to avoid Kangaxx' first spell, a Time Stop.

When it expired the Dwarf saw different spells coming his way at the same time, but he was close to the door, so he could easily avoid their effects. He then returned and made the Lich waste more spells until it summoned a Mordenkainen's Sword and gated in a Cornugon.

Norgath retreated outside, hoping to get rid of the demon, and decided to wait until it would be unsummoned. When the Lich was on his own again and deprived of his best spells, Norgath engaged it in melee combat. Kangaxx would still hurt him with Flame Arrows and Melf's Acid Arrows, but this was easily countered with potions of extra healing. Kangaxx the Lich fell, only to be transformed into a Demi-Lich.

Norgath didn't see that coming, so instead of trying to act the hero, he fled to the safety of his guildhouse, where he rested and resupplied himself. When he returned the Demi-Lich was still on the loose. Norgath survived another Time Stop, mazed the Demi-Lich and placed a few of his regular traps at the maze location and others near the exit. When Kangaxx returned the first trap that hit him triggered a Contingency that prevented further harm.

Norgath's summons Ras and the Efreeti were soul-trapped, leaving the Bounty Hunter without traps and with only Kitthix as a summon. On the other hand Kangaxx lost his best spells to another game of hide and seek at which Norgath was simply better, even though he got hit by a Greater Malison he decided to wait out.

When Kangaxx had to resort to Flame Arrows and Melf's Minute Meteors Norgath knew the time had come to test his blade (Short Sword of Mask, his only +4 weapon against the creature. That was no fun. First of all the Demi-Lich had loads of Stoneskins, secondly it had a very high damage resistance (90%) and thirdly, it regenerated fast.

In fact the creature went form Badly Injured to Barely Injured (regenerating while panicked). Norgath saw no other solution than to leave the building, and rush back to his guildhouse. He rested again, got outside, where Kangaxx was merrily trapping innocent souls, until Norgath's Maze trap and regular traps finished the vile creature off.

He reached level 22, had his Claw of Kazgaroth removed by a Priest of Oghma (and kept it in his pack), and equipped the Ring of Gaxx.

semiticgoddess · February 2015

Brilliant work. Screw Kangaxx. He's a jerk.

The (solo no-reload) adventures of Norgath, dwarven Bounty Hunter of Candlekeep

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