The moments where the game comes alive
Grum
Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 2,100
A little story of something which really made the game come alive for me. A mere fluke, but still...
I was playing a dwarven defender by the name of Thorek Bloodfist. The idea behind him was that he was trained by Reevor in the art of dwarven combat and Arkanis in the way of smithing (as per the premade background). The RP in my head was that this was a dwarf who desperately wanted to fit in and to be seen as 'a real dwarf.' Hence his insistence on a traditional way of fighting. Kind of like how Durag was obsessed with not dying alone and clanless given his upbringing, this Bhaalspawn was like that.
So of course he fell in with Kagain. Weeks were spent adventuring with the mercenary. As anyone who has used that character knows, Kagain is...a bit gruff. If you charm him, he mentions how he doesn't have any friends. But given how Kagain starts off with more xp than Charname, I figured that Thorek would look up to him and would want to impress him.
Well, eventually the party picked up Yeslick. The second dwarf NPC. Where Kagain is intelligent (int 15), gold hungry and completely mercenary in his outlook, Yeslick is rather slow (int 7...he can't even read!), idealistic and traditional. Which meant for the impressionable bhaalspawn, he had two dwarfs that he looked up to in different ways. One who was a warrior like him and someone to look up to, and the other who represented the link to the culture that he so desperately wanted.
The party went down on through Baldur's Gate, back to Candlekeep...and there saw Rieltar. The man who had betrayed Yeslick and had taken his clan's mine, turning it into a slave camp. An argument broke out when Thorek and company refused to leave, causing the leaders of the Iron Throne to attack. Now faced with murder charges, the party fled into the wilderness. Wanted by the law, and reeling from seeing everyone he cared about from his youth turn into Dopplegangers, Thorek decided to go into hiding for awhile. He opted to go to Durlag's Tower. Given what he had just went through, it was something of a cold comfort to know that he wasn't alone in suffering through such a fate.
The party got to the tower, and the party stood for a moment in its shadow. Kagain looked up grumpily, unhappy on being so far on the wrong side of the law. The only thing keeping him in line was the lure of all of the gold hidden under the tower. Yeslick took the ruins of the Clan home most differently.
YESLICK: Friendships last when gold is long gone. Perhaps you should be a little nicer to the group.
KAGAIN: Yeslick, your stupid mine is what started all this trouble.
YESLICK: The mines were there for anyone who looked! I'll not be blamed for what the Throne does with em!
KAGAIN: You're the stupidest dwarf I've ever met, you're an embarrassment to dwarves everywhere.
YESLICK: You've sold your mores for the love of gold. All dwarves are kin, but I'll not call YOU family.
KAGAIN: Ya lousy excuse for a dwarf, I'm gonna rip you a new arse.
------------
What comes next needs a bit of explaining. You see....I was being really cheap. I never bought Kagain a +1 axe. Instead, I bought the +1 throwing axes from the Beregost Smithy, and kept 1 of them set on 'melee'. That way he could get his +1 axe for a fraction of the cost! Well...I took it off and put it back in and forgot to put it back to Melee. So on the way to the tower he threw it and lost it. So he went to a normal axe that I had in my inventory. This is important for what is to come next.
-----------
The two dwarfs squared off. Thorek stood back, doing his best to get the two dwarfs to stop fighting. Neither would listen. Dwarfs being stubborn, right? Well, Kagain was getting the better of Yeslick. And then, he got a critical hit, nearly taking Yeslick down. And with that crit, his axe broke. Weaponless, he tried to finish off the wounded Yeslick with his bare hands, and nearly did so. Until he took one too many hammer blows and fell to the ground. Upon which, a bloody and victorious Yeslick looked up at the tower before him. A tower made by a dwarven hero to keep his clan safe. A place where all could prosper and live in peace. Now a ruin, with more dwarven blood spilled under its shadow. Thorek looked at the battered and bloody corpse of his friend. All he could say as: "Why?" To which Yeslick replied.
"I wish no Dwarf dead, but I'll not miss his company!"
And with that, Yeslick marched inside. After a moment's hesitation, Thorek followed.
-------------------------------
I love it when things come together like that. When the dialogue trees come up at exactly the right time, in the most cinematic manner possible. And when the fight is decided by a critical hit that breaks a weapon. I like to think that the breaking of the weapon wasn't chance. It was because of Durlag's Tower. The tower is a trap for the greedy. Only those who can understand Durlag and his plight are able to make their way through the lowest level. As I see it, the spirit of Durlag judged Yeslick to be worthy, and knew that Kagain would never understand, nor truly care what happened. And thus the axe broke at exactly the right time. The party would indeed go on to uncover the tragedy of what occurred and would free the tower from its' demonic inhabitant, something which Kagain would not have agreed with (especially as by that point they would have had already thoroughly looted the place).
So, does anyone else have an experience like this? When things just come together to make the game come alive.
I was playing a dwarven defender by the name of Thorek Bloodfist. The idea behind him was that he was trained by Reevor in the art of dwarven combat and Arkanis in the way of smithing (as per the premade background). The RP in my head was that this was a dwarf who desperately wanted to fit in and to be seen as 'a real dwarf.' Hence his insistence on a traditional way of fighting. Kind of like how Durag was obsessed with not dying alone and clanless given his upbringing, this Bhaalspawn was like that.
So of course he fell in with Kagain. Weeks were spent adventuring with the mercenary. As anyone who has used that character knows, Kagain is...a bit gruff. If you charm him, he mentions how he doesn't have any friends. But given how Kagain starts off with more xp than Charname, I figured that Thorek would look up to him and would want to impress him.
Well, eventually the party picked up Yeslick. The second dwarf NPC. Where Kagain is intelligent (int 15), gold hungry and completely mercenary in his outlook, Yeslick is rather slow (int 7...he can't even read!), idealistic and traditional. Which meant for the impressionable bhaalspawn, he had two dwarfs that he looked up to in different ways. One who was a warrior like him and someone to look up to, and the other who represented the link to the culture that he so desperately wanted.
The party went down on through Baldur's Gate, back to Candlekeep...and there saw Rieltar. The man who had betrayed Yeslick and had taken his clan's mine, turning it into a slave camp. An argument broke out when Thorek and company refused to leave, causing the leaders of the Iron Throne to attack. Now faced with murder charges, the party fled into the wilderness. Wanted by the law, and reeling from seeing everyone he cared about from his youth turn into Dopplegangers, Thorek decided to go into hiding for awhile. He opted to go to Durlag's Tower. Given what he had just went through, it was something of a cold comfort to know that he wasn't alone in suffering through such a fate.
The party got to the tower, and the party stood for a moment in its shadow. Kagain looked up grumpily, unhappy on being so far on the wrong side of the law. The only thing keeping him in line was the lure of all of the gold hidden under the tower. Yeslick took the ruins of the Clan home most differently.
YESLICK: Friendships last when gold is long gone. Perhaps you should be a little nicer to the group.
KAGAIN: Yeslick, your stupid mine is what started all this trouble.
YESLICK: The mines were there for anyone who looked! I'll not be blamed for what the Throne does with em!
KAGAIN: You're the stupidest dwarf I've ever met, you're an embarrassment to dwarves everywhere.
YESLICK: You've sold your mores for the love of gold. All dwarves are kin, but I'll not call YOU family.
KAGAIN: Ya lousy excuse for a dwarf, I'm gonna rip you a new arse.
------------
What comes next needs a bit of explaining. You see....I was being really cheap. I never bought Kagain a +1 axe. Instead, I bought the +1 throwing axes from the Beregost Smithy, and kept 1 of them set on 'melee'. That way he could get his +1 axe for a fraction of the cost! Well...I took it off and put it back in and forgot to put it back to Melee. So on the way to the tower he threw it and lost it. So he went to a normal axe that I had in my inventory. This is important for what is to come next.
-----------
The two dwarfs squared off. Thorek stood back, doing his best to get the two dwarfs to stop fighting. Neither would listen. Dwarfs being stubborn, right? Well, Kagain was getting the better of Yeslick. And then, he got a critical hit, nearly taking Yeslick down. And with that crit, his axe broke. Weaponless, he tried to finish off the wounded Yeslick with his bare hands, and nearly did so. Until he took one too many hammer blows and fell to the ground. Upon which, a bloody and victorious Yeslick looked up at the tower before him. A tower made by a dwarven hero to keep his clan safe. A place where all could prosper and live in peace. Now a ruin, with more dwarven blood spilled under its shadow. Thorek looked at the battered and bloody corpse of his friend. All he could say as: "Why?" To which Yeslick replied.
"I wish no Dwarf dead, but I'll not miss his company!"
And with that, Yeslick marched inside. After a moment's hesitation, Thorek followed.
-------------------------------
I love it when things come together like that. When the dialogue trees come up at exactly the right time, in the most cinematic manner possible. And when the fight is decided by a critical hit that breaks a weapon. I like to think that the breaking of the weapon wasn't chance. It was because of Durlag's Tower. The tower is a trap for the greedy. Only those who can understand Durlag and his plight are able to make their way through the lowest level. As I see it, the spirit of Durlag judged Yeslick to be worthy, and knew that Kagain would never understand, nor truly care what happened. And thus the axe broke at exactly the right time. The party would indeed go on to uncover the tragedy of what occurred and would free the tower from its' demonic inhabitant, something which Kagain would not have agreed with (especially as by that point they would have had already thoroughly looted the place).
So, does anyone else have an experience like this? When things just come together to make the game come alive.
28
Comments
It is funny how dialogues can match up just right sometimes. Almost… magical.
When you meet Perdue in Beregost, he tells you about how a "dog-headed" creature stole his short sword. In order to get his quest, you have to correctly choose "gnoll" out of three possible choices. I forget the other two choices, but if I haven't already encountered those creatures at this (early) stage of the game, I feel as though I'm metagaming if choose the correct answer. Not only that, but if my character gives the right answer, he/she will follow up with, "Never liked them myself" - but why would that be? Of course, I could easily RP that my character had read about, or maybe even saw an illustration of a gnoll in one of Candlekeep's many books - but in my most recent playthrough, my character was a barbarian, and as part of her bio, "books held no interest for" her.
Then, as part of the Neera expansion mod, a conversation occurred that eventually gave me the chance to tell a story about how my character had encountered a gnoll while growing up (see "spoiler" below).
I know this may seem trivial, but it was particularly enjoyable for me, not only because it explained how my character had known the answer to Perdue's question, but it also gave me a chance to provide some more depth and background to her (i.e: an underlying hatred for gnolls). It also gave a bit more meaning to other encounters with gnolls, such as when freeing Dynaheir and saving Drizzt from them.
Ah, if only I could mod my IOS. That sounds like a fun addition.
The (near) magic that you @Ravenslight alludes to is very special. It's something that has to happen, not something you can create at will. [Edit, after having already written the paragraphs below:] Although, come to think of it, if you take a slow, immersive roleplay-heavy approach, there should always be perfect, dramatic moments.
One of my most memorable playthroughs, containing a number of those touching moments was with a female Half-Elf Beastmaster I journaled about on the forums. She was for me the epitome of virtue. Initially timid and reticent, spending her first weeks after Gorion's death alone in the wilderness where she felt much more at ease than in 'civilization', she gradually grew as a person and came to be an example for others. She always strove to do good, and when she finally overcame her insecurities and found some worthy companions, she became very fond and protective of them. She was forgiving of others who made mistakes, but very hard on herself. She also had to learn the hard way not to trust people too fast. Inexperienced when it came to love and relationships, and incapable herself of playing with other people's feelings, she did not see through Coran's sleazy facade, soon took his flirts for something much deeper, and had to pay the price for that. The game provided a couple of very dramatic moments that really gave depth to Serene's story. If you're interested, you can find a sample here.
In hindsight I'm a bit sad I discontinued that run (no-reload although strictly speaking she didn't die but was rather saved by a weird bug). The thing is I can start anew with her but that doesn't mean the magic will be there again... My best bet would probably be to continue another run (that's sort of a novelization project for me). That one will surely contain moving moments.
During the same playthrough referenced in my post above, my party convinced Raiken to allow us to enter Tazok's camp. There, Tazok challenged the party to prove its worth.
What began as a simple "test" quickly escalated into a prolonged life-and-death struggle, as neither Tazok nor my party would concede to the other. Finally, an arrow from Kivan dealt a fatal blow to Tazok - fittingly, considering the dark history that the two of them shared.
While Tazok's body was carried away by his cohorts to be resurrected, my party spent the night in the bandit camp. Upon waking, Dorn expressed his displeasure at my character's habit of "taking much time to talk with people," rather than just "sweeping" them aside. My character then reminded Dorn of his place in the party, and lectured him on the importance of "guile" over strength - all in all, a very well-timed conversation given the party's current whereabouts.
Meanwhile, Kivan's satisfaction over having avenged the death of his loved one proved to be short-lived. With his longtime nemesis now gone, Kivan redirected his tortured anger toward members of his own party - and specifically, the drow Viconia. As the party proceeded to explore the camp, Kivan began antagonizing her, and tensions quickly escalated into a confrontation.
My party quickly intervened to stop Kivan from killing Viconia - a little too effectively, unfortunately, as Kivan was chunked to pieces by a blast from Imoen's ice wand.
And so, with the end of Kivan's quest also came the end of his life. Perhaps it was fitting, as without his obsessive search for vengeance to propel him forward, he would be hopelessly adrift in this world, just waiting for the day when he and his lost love might one day be reunited in the afterlife. Perhaps my party had, quite unintentionally, done him a favor by freeing him from the shackles of his mortal existence and allowing him to find the peace that had so long eluded him here.
I remember Serene well. She was one of my favorites of all your characters. I remember the way you told her story gave me several moments of feeling like I just did reading @Grum story here today.
Also, thanks @SharGuidesMyHand for your story.
I was so angry I ran right back into the Flaming Fist citadel looking for him. I was attacked, and hence put every merc there to the sword.
Coran, Imoen, and Ajantis, my most bro of bros, left me saying that if we met again it would be as enemies.
Quayle and I carried the poisoned Duke to the docks, but were again attacked. Quayle tried to flee and in a rage I saw him slain before I attended to the Fist. Branwen never liked him.
With Duke Eltan safe I needed to reform a new party to avenge Branwen. Khalid, Jaheira and Yeslick abandoned me mid-battle shortly after joining. I knew I had no choice but to fall in with an unsavory sort.
I went to Nashkel, but found no leads on Edwin who vanished when I stated I would not be party to his murder plots.
I went to Beregost, but could not find Kagain. Haven't seen him since he left the party in a foul mood.
I recalled that I had offed two drow, and turned away a mad cleric who had once wished to join me.
Jaheira left Xzar and Montaron un-burried at the bottom of Nashkel mines.
Then I found Dorn again. Nothing of his words or person admonished me for having criticized his ways. Had I heeded him, I might not be in such a bad way. I've found he is a man to be respected.
We journeyed to the Cloakwood, were Eldoth was willing to forget my previous words and join my party if I helped him to abduct a young woman. I fear she will leave us at the first sign of trouble, but I've no more time to waste. Branwen must be avenged.
I'm determined to finish the game with Dorn, Eldoth, Skie, and Abdel (chaotic good berserker).
I would love it if Dual wield wasn't so restrictive. Then I would spend my last proficiency on Warhammer and carry Branwen's Warhammer in the off-hand. For now, the Warhammer is just sitting in the quick weapon slot.