What do you, ladies and gentlemen, think about a proposed multiplayer no-reload run?
We could take the classes/kits each of the players likes the most, or make a run dictated by this thread participants' requests (so that we try things interesting for the majority here and post about results).
We could decide on the desired mods used for such a run, for the desired difficulty, for the HP rolls, for the level of exploration in the game. For example, maybe by limiting the set-up to the hardest settings, we limit people wanting to try such a run. Semiticgod, Blackraven and I like all SCS options including wizards' and clerics' pre-buffing, while GemHound, lolien, Jared4242 play without the SCS mod, Ygramul doesn't like the pre-buffing option, Mirage only recently tried all the SCS options etc etc. Some people tolerate the insane difficulty, while others think it's stupid and prefer not OP, not min-maxed characters.
How do we determine who's the Charname (and thus whose death means the game-over)?
What time for such a game is the best for all the participants?
I want all this idea to realize in the funniest way, so that all the participants could enjoy it to the fullest. But the number of questions about it is so high.
Indeed starting a multiplayer game raises a lot of questions, it really is tricky. Participating in such a game would be a fantastic experience for me, the game settings don't matter to me at all, although I would prefer it with the SCS mod and I definitely would not like to be the charname .
I think the difficult part would be to decide about the TIME we could play and how often. Of course we shall first see who is still interested in this. If we get well organized and make it to this point, another good idea would be to record the game and upload it. I think a lot of people would be interested in watching this!
I get really excited thinking about this multiplayer game!
I think it is about time to start another one of my generalist mage solo no-reload runs to cool off a bit. Truth is I recently discovered the beautiful world of weidu modding and I haven't played at all for some days. Moreover reading the forum posts about SCS lately makes wanna try the pre-buff SCS option for mages and clerics. First time I tried this I didn't like it, it was too much for me. Right now my gameplay has changed though due to no-reloading, so it seems unnatural and kind of cheating by my part since IIRC most of the times I pre-buff too. I think of restricting it in pre-buffing some spells but I am still not sure. Do you guys think that sooner or later I'm gonna end with full enemy pre-buffing? I think many of you have realized that I like the challenge, so would you recommend it?
edit: Ok I couldn't wait so here it is:
Pretty overpowered mage I guess but.. Who knows? Maybe this time....?
If you felt something familiar when you read "you hit him with a Skull Trap from off-screen", then you should use that component, although it takes time to get used to it. To me, this is simple. Yes or No. If you know what semiticgod is saying here, then Only Yes is an option.
And don't forget that all the pre-buffs go out with time. So you can often wait while the pre-buffs of a dangerous mage end.
My problem with certain of the prebuffs is that they all start at the same time, instead of the staggered-by-one-round thing that's forced onto PCs without Improved Alarcity. This makes a gigantic difference in low-level play of BGEE, where most buffs are not even 6 rounds. By necessity, casting a second short buff makes the first short buff even shorter, and there's a huge cost to attempting to buff too far in BG1. By firing them all off at the same time, the AI gets a time advantage that's frustratingly hard to fight against without outright waiting them out, and that just ends up as playing against no prebuffs and sitting around for given amount of time. The longer buffs I have no issues with, but the ones that last only a few rounds, like Defensive Harmony? They're actually cheating, IMO, on the part of the AI.
Also, if I'm not mistaken, the prebuffs that are fired off by script are not actually counted towards their spell book spell-count. If I equip my mages, generally, with that many defensive spells, they don't have nearly the remaining arsenal that I see frequently coming from a prebuffed mage. Or this might just be the fact that enemy mages just outlevel mine, in which case objection withdrawn.
Very interesting idea but how will it work with compatibility? Would you not need everybody to have exactly the same mods and install order? And what about EE vs vanilla?
Very interesting idea but how will it work with compatibility? Would you not need everybody to have exactly the same mods and install order? And what about EE vs vanilla?
I'm interested to find out more
I imagine a mod-light or mod-free run probably will be a necessity. Perhaps, with *minimal* SCS and Tweaks options. (I recommend my original post at the beginning of the thread as a starting point.)
In one scenario, someone can make a master copy of the mod-install folders accordingly and share it with others for their install.
Yeah, there can be multiple copies of the game's folder on your computer, each with its own setup. So as soon as we come to an agreement about mods and tweaks, we can create a version of the game suitable for a co-op run without changing the game setup each of the players uses in his own play through. You only need (if there're changes) to make a backup or your ini file, because it's the same no matter if you run the game's exe from your D, E or C (or even from a flash) disk.
Also, I think it's safe to say the EE looks better for a multiplayer game.
For the rules, we indeed can use the OP here.
If someone has a good PC and can speak so that the listener is interested, and can create a video, he may indeed record a play through. But even written posts from the participants will be great.
Having at least 1 high charisma player is nice to have, but I don't think it would be mandatory, it is still nice though since high charisma chars get more stuff earlier.
lol I barely escaped my most recent battle. Only escaped because Valkalyn glugged a potion of Invisiblity as the last party member fell. Dwarven Doomguards are beasts.
The first thing the companions noticed was the bizarre geography of the vale. Paths led along ridge-lines and stone bridges spanned the gaps between rock pillars. The trail from the valley's entrance immediately split to the East and to the South. They chose the Eastern path first with Darien scouting in the lead. He found a crypt entrance guarded by three lesser shadows. Gudrun now took the lead, luring each of the mindless guardians back to the party where they could be dealt with one at a time.
Inside the tomb, they were met with a group of animated skeletons and a zombie. Gudrun switched to quarterstaff and the party made short work of them.
Dunathain found a scroll of luck, but wasn't lucky enough to copy it to his spellbook. Darien scouted ahead again disarming traps and finding the enemies. The party fought a carrion crawler for the first time.
Gudrun's hold immunity comes in handy.
There were only a few more skeletons and a trap or two left, so the rest of the tomb was quickly cleared. Dunathain tried to scribe a scroll of stinking cloud to his spellbook, but failed again. He resolved to stop trying until he had a potion to increase his chances.
Outside, the party went back to the Southern path. Darien scouted ahead again, finding a group of yeti and another tomb guarded by lesser shadows.
A forwarned party is a happy party.
Inside the crypt, Gudrun killed her first ghast.
Celebrian levels up. Thanks, Darien.
Searching the rest of the tomb, the party found a suit of magical leather armor and a scroll of identify. Dunathain used the scroll to determine the armor was +1, and Darien quickly donned it. Darien also found a very finely made longsword to replace his ordinary one. There was also a finely made key, several scrolls of mage and clerical spells, and a couple of healing potions. Dunathain was most pleased to find of potion of genius to go with the scrolls. He tucked them away, to wait for a better time to use them.
Just as they were finishing up, Darien tripped a trap that summoned 4 lesser shadows intermingled with the group. Gudrun knew that fighting in such a chaotic setting would be disaster, so she ordered everyone to run for the exit. Outside, they sprinted away with the undead in hot pursuit. At the narrow bridge, Gudrun took up a defensive position and held the enemy in place, while the others counterattacked with arrows and bullets.
Gudrun at the bridge
Gudrun decided to cache the heavier loot* in a statue niche inside the tomb as it was getting difficult to carry. The party continued on across the snowy pathways, eventually encountering another group of yeti near a large statue.
* I want my bag of holding!
For a place called the Vale of Shadows, it certainly is hard to hide in them.
Darien scouted the path to the South and located the yeti lair. Gudrun led the attack, and the party killed a normal yeti and the yeti "chieftain". They found Mirek's necklace and a magic morningstar on the body.
The group then entered the lair and found themselves flanked by two yeti with another to their front. With the attack coming from three sides, Gudrun ordered a retreat, intending to set up an ambush on the path outside. However, the speed of the yeti surprised everyone, no sooner had the party exited the cave, when two of the beasts burst out of the entrance into their midst.** Gudrun found herself cut off from the rest of the group and unable get between them and the enemy. Both monsters attacked Dunathain and killed him in seconds. With a cry to Helm, Gudrun viciously fell upon the beasts from the rear, finally gaining their attention.
** Foul! There was no way those yeti had enough time to cover the distance from their start point to the door. And why is that door a "gather your party" door. I wanted to send Gudrun in alone. And can I get some cheese with this whine?
First the bad news...
Then the good news...
Once the creatures were dead, Gudrun gently lifted her uncle's body and led the way on the long walk back to the Temple of Ilmater. When they got there, they learned to their chagrin that they didn't have enough money to have him raised. So, leaving Dunathain's body in the care of the priests, the companions trekked back to the valley to get the loot they had cached earlier. Once that was sold off, they had just enough to buy the raise dead spell.
They spent the next day resting and recuperating. Dunathain identified the morningstar as a +1, so they sold it and bought more healing potions. They returned Mirek's heirloom to him, and he rewarded the party with a magic sling which was given to Celebrian.
Finally, back to strength, they returned to the yeti cave.
Darien levels up.
In the rear of the cave, they found a strange cache of materiel, packed neatly into locked boxes. A magic mace, a suit of chainmail, several cleric scrolls and some gems and jewelry. Also a few potions, including another potion of genius. Oddest of all, a small toolbox that looked to be gnomish in origin. Before leaving the cave, they cached their heavier items in one of the boxes.
Back on the pathways, the party continued to the East, soon finding another tomb. Inside, a creature calling itself Therik warned them off, then attacked when Gudrun refused to be swayed. While the ladies were dealing with Therik a zombie attacked Dunathain, but Darien was able to block it.
Get that man some stoneskins!
The rest of the tomb was guarded by a host of undead, including skeletons, zombies, ghouls, ghasts and lesser shadows. There were also several traps for Darien to disarm.
Dunathain levels up.
Stairway of the dead
Within the tomb, the party found a +1 dagger for Celebrian, several scrolls and potions and another interesting key.
Outside, Darien located a group of lesser shadows near a convenient narrow bridge.
A little farther North, he found not only lesser shadows, but a full shadow leading them. Gudrun used the tried and true method of leading the monsters to a narrow path where she could block them while the others engaged with missile weapons. She wasn't able to hit the shadow with her greatsword, so she switched to the mace from the yeti cave. Luckily it wasn't cursed.
Now this is interesting***
*** Apparently, the missiles generated by the quivers and bullet bags added by the IWD House Rules mod count as magic weapons. They don't add to-hit or damage, but they can hurt this shadow.
Beyond the shadows was a tomb much grander than any other in the valley. As Gudrun moved closer to it, a lesser shadow suddenly appeared out of the ground. The other party members had been hanging back, and it surfaced near them. They started back down the path, with Gudrun racing to catch up to the undead, when they realized another lesser shadow had appeared on the path behind them. It took some fancy footwork to keep everyone safe, but finally the two monsters were destroyed.
The group decided to return to town to sell their loot, rest and resupply before tackling the grand tomb. After selling the first load, they were returning to the yeti cave to clear out their cache, when Gudrun realized there was a path they hadn't explored yet. There they found another tomb guarded by lesser shadows.
Celebrian levels up.
Once inside, the party was set upon by a veritable horde of skeletons. Gudrun was able to draw most of them to herself, but two attacked Dunathain. Gudrun was forced to go it alone for the first part of the fight as the other three struggled to keep the mage alive.
It was an amazing fight... Gudrun surrounded by at least a dozen skeletons... A short way away, the other three in a desperate struggle... Would've made a great screenshot... Yep... Sure would've...
Once the horde at the entrance was dealt with, the rest of the tomb was quickly cleared. Darien tripped a trap that released some skeletons from the walls, but he was able to get clear in time. The party found magic chainmail, a number of scrolls and some potions.
With everything outside the large tomb completely explored, the companions returned to town for some much needed rest. They showed the tools to Oswald and he liked them so much, he traded the party several useful potions. Gudrun upgraded to plate mail, and traded her quarterstaff for the mace +1 from the yeti cave. Celebrian now has the magic dagger and magic sling. Darien is wearing magic leather armor and wielding the finest long sword.
The priority though, was to fill up Dunathain's spellbook. The party had enough money to buy all the first and second level spells he wanted from Orrick plus he had a half dozen scrolls from the loot. Even with 20 intelligence, he didn't succeed on all of them,**** but he felt he had enough now to protect himself better and damage undead enemies. He succeeded with chromatic orb, color spray, Agannazar's scorcher and mirror image, among others.
One of the scrolls, however, he didn't copy to his spellbook. He simply read the spell right there.
New party member, Dunathain named him Dodger.
**** The only one that hurt was Melf's acid arrow. He's going to need to find another one of those, it's one of the best mage killers in the book.
Gear Plan: Bag of Holding: 10,200GP at Orrick's Gudrun needs better armor. Dunathain needs an int raising potion and a pile of scrolls. -Done for lv 1 & 2 Gudrun and Darien need magic weapons. -Gudrun has mace, needs sword or staff Celebrian's OK for now, but a magic sling and some protection items would be nice.
Gudrun - Undead Hunter lv 4 - 40 hp - 1 death Darien - Swashbuckler lv 5 - 35 hp Celebrian - Avenger lv 5 - 35 hp sp 5/5/2 Dunathain - Wild Mage lv 4 - 22 hp sp 4/3 - 1 death
Upon leaving Candlekeep, instead of chasing after Sarevok, the party decided to go to Ulgoth's Beard of all places. Upon our arrival, a rather cross archmage by the name of Shandalar teleported the party to an island somewhere far to the Northwest, a supposed teleportation trap, with orders to procure his cloak. When we retrieved it, we were returned to Ulgoth's Beard.
Then we entered the inn to randomly have a Dwarf run up to us and request that we grab an heirloom from Durlag's Tower. A Demon Knight appeared during the tour and burned everyone but us alive. We first climbed the tower, and then found the labyrinth underneath. A quartet of Dwarven Doomguards nearly killed everyone in the party, yet Valkalyn escaped, and returned with her party mostly unarmed. She had Baeloth scorch the rune with fireballs until the last two doomguards fell before we teleported over once more.(The Doomguards followed her there while she was invisible)
After disabling multiple traps, and going through the madness of Durlag, we reached the Demon Knight and barely defeated him.
We then returned to Ulgoth's Beard to only have the dagger snatched from us by a cult. We cut our way through their ranks only to find that the demon Aec'Letec had been released from the Dwarf's dagger. Four well-aimed fireballs hit the center of the summoning circle and 4 of the cultists fell instantly. Then the party killed off the remaining 2 and then focused on Aec'Letec who fell far faster and easier than the Demon Knight did.
Then we ran into a merchant who stated he knew where Balduran had wrecked his ship. So we stole sea charts and used them to find the island, only we became shipwrecked too. We helped the somewhat civilized inhabitants of the Southern half of the island defeat the monsters on the Northern half. When we returned, the villagers showed that they were also monsters, and told us that they had infected us with lycanthropy... Well, the party cut its way out of the village, through some underground tunnels and out to the ship, where the headwoman turned on us as well. We returned to Ulgoth's Beard and killed the werewolf who had sent us out there in the first place.
Now, the party is truly ready to take on Sarevok and his cronies in Baldur's Gate. Character - Level Valkalyn - 10 Montaron - 7,8 Kagain - 8 Branwen - 8 Shar-Teel - 8 Baeloth - 9 Everyone is at the XP cap. Valkalyn is far better now though due to 2 lucky HP rolls. She now gets up to 56 HP with DUHM. With her DUHM up only Kagain has more HP now.
Hymn and co., update 2: We start a couple quests/locations south of Beregost, but find we have to change course fairly abruptly as Sirius wasn't properly armored or leveled, and dies to some combination of attacks that really shouldn't have been able to hit had I actually played safely. A raise back at the Beregost temple leaves me somewhat chastened, and we go to Nashkel to obtain the Ankheg armor. Neira is taken out fairly easily by the magically-boosted accuracy of too many missiles,
and Greywolf soon meets the same fate.
Mutamin doesn't get to hit us with Remove Magic,
and the rest of the basilisks are cleared for experience. Most of us are still below level 4, so I'm avoiding any mages that can possibly cast Sleep. One route that allows for this is the Western route, to the Lighthouse. On the way, Basillus holds Holly, but this is by no means enough.
At the Lighthouse, I've observed something interesting and I've no clue what's going on. The Sirines are targeting only Sapphire with their Dire Charm (to which I'm responding by equipping her fists,) but sometimes the spell hits, I don't get a notification of a save, implying that Sapphire failed it... But she remains un-charmed. I dunno why not, since she's not immune to Charm and once or twice the Dire Charm actually, k'now, charmed her. If anyone has any clues, I'd love to know what's happening. Flesh Golems prove an annoyance as one leaves the cave, making it much harder for me to kill it with Silke's staff. I had no Potions of Absorption, so relied on Sapphire stealth-striking it. The CON tome goes to Sirius instead of Sapphire: she gets her Familiar HP benefit, and I want my front-liner to have the majority of the health for now.
Further south, we fight the Doomsayer which takes a few potions, but is no real threat.
We save Brage, then cut west from Nashkel to get to the Gnoll fortress. Sapphire gets a cute one-shot off here against Gnarl.
In a cave, three people level after killing a Carrion Crawler
I didn't have enough Sleep spells here for the gnolls, and SCS' change to gnolls give them Two Handed Weapon style, meaning Sirius is taking many, many crits. I finally conceded and started dual-wielding Ashedeena for Sirius, and after three or four potions and a ton of arrows, bolts, and darts...
Lastly, before we start the mines, we claimed the reward for Basillus, cleared the Ankheg caves, and went on a shopping spree. I really ought to have spent my addition points for Hymn in Wisdom rather than CHA, since this is just kind of overkill.
With 20 Rep, this means all prices are minimal. We bought the Light Crossbow of Speed, Greenstone Amulet, Aule's Staff, Returning Frost Dart (from RR), and the Cloak of Displacement. Time for Mulahey. Kobolds were just slaughtered through, and Mulahey sees the beginning of this run's motif. Two Spirit Animals play meat shield for the hordes while Mulahey suffers under a Miscast Magic from Holly. The end is inevitable.
Outside, a couple further things meet their end: the Revenant,
and Narcillicus, II, MGoI, Stoneskin, and Pro. Normal Missiles notwithstanding. (Really, he uses all of his higher level spells on nothing but defensive buffs? I think Emotion or something would serve him much better.)
As is now customary for my Skald-parties, Zordral is laughed at as his Sleep spells now completely fail:
And Miscast Magic and Insect spells takes care of Nimbul.
I finished the session by taking out Tranzig, who didn't even really put up a fight after his MIs crumpled under Detect Illusions from Quill.
MVP: It's really, really hard to decide this one. Hymn could qualify, since he's the one boosting everyone's THAC0 into warrior-like levels, and allowing Sirius to duel-wield while still keeping his AC at a nice low -6. Sapphire could qualify due to her pretty crazy skill set: Stealth-attacks in melee have been pretty neat, murdering groups of skeletons that keep spawning with her quarterstaff is something I can't complain about. However, I think I'll give this session's MVP to Holly, for her Spirit Animals and healing and Miscast Magics actually ending several of the harder confrontations. Sapphire and Sirius have been tag-teaming all the easy encounters, but in the end, they're still the mundane ones.
I think this is a great idea. I will be cheering from the sidelines though as I don't use EE, only vanilla.
Recording and commentating will be awesome for followers. In fact if you could all chat while playing and record that, that would be a lot of fun to watch.
I might be available, if I can manage the technical issues. I've never joined an actual multiplayer game before, and I might have to buy a mic and headphones. My schedule is a bit uncertain at the moment, since I'll be volunteering at a shelter and there are lots of shifts at various times.
Although I usually play with pre-buffs all around, I think it would be wisest to go without pre-buffs, both on the party and on the enemy. It would slow down gameplay, especially for the bigger encounters where there's an incentive to layer on tons of them.
I normally only play BG2, but know enough about BG1 to get by. I've done a single SCS Tutu run before. I would enjoy playing a variety of characters. Bounty Hunter, Barbarian, unkitted fighter, Archer, any mage or sorcerer besides Wild Mage, Avenger, Cleric/Mage, unkitted monk, and Fighter/Illusionist come to mind.
I'd probably skip through all of the dialogue if I were Charname.
Judging by the quality of their reports on this forum, by their use of the English language, I think either semiticgod or Blackraven (or maybe even both, or maybe even everybody) could do a voice over work (if they wish to do so). For me it's impossible even while I want it: there's no way for me to start speaking about the game and in-game in the room I live
But at least we could chat in the in-game chat box as well.
I don't want to let all those "cheering from the sidelines" fans down.
Of course, we should focus on our own adventure, our own views shared and our own jokes/commentaries, not on the dialogue the game provides.
We have so far 1) GemHound, 2) Mirage, 3) semiticgod, 4) Neverused and 5) me. Let's wait for @Blackraven .
As for the classes, I would enjoy playing anyone, no, really, any character because this idea is 100% exciting even without looking into classes. Any sort of a druid (for obvious reasons) and a thief will be fine from me.
"Without pre-buffs, both on the party and on the enemy". Agree.
Nice that semiticgod knows BG1
As for the time, we can differ any schedule. The main thing is to start. There's no necessity in playing for long sessions. It all could differ each time. I'm in Europe now and can play any time (if I know in advance which days to reserve) from the morning till the evening but not at the weekends.
Now, I'll go and try to make a separate game folder with a mod variation suitable for this run.
@bengoshi: If you're the first to build a game folder, why don't you give us your WeiDu log so we know what components of SCS install on ours? We should also post any portraits and soundsets we might be using so everyone can download and see and hear them.
I'm not too confident about BG1. I would probably be the weak link, easily. The other posters clearly have far more experience with BG1 than I do.
I don't think I could do a voice-over during the game itself; I'd be too distracted. But we could record the video, watch it together (we could time it on Skype), and record our comments, which we could then add as an extra audio layer for the final video. I don't know how to do any of that myself, but it would probably just require a video editing program.
By the way... I'm honored that you would mention me in this discussion. I appreciate the thought.
@bengoshi I will be unable to play forsure between these times: Monday: GMT 21:00 - 24:00 Tuesday: GMT 19:00 - 24:00 Wednesday: GMT 24:00 - 1:00 Thursday: GMT 23:00 - 24:00 Friday: GMT 24:00 - 1:00
Valkalyn - thief
We agreed to let the flaming fist take us to their compound, only to have Angelo murder our captors and free us since apparently Shar-Teel is Angelo's daughter. I can see why she hates men so much. After that we decided to enlist aid from the merchants guild only to have them stab us in the back, so we decided to storm the keep of the Flaming Fist to rescue Duke Eltan. (The main reason I like to take Shar-Teel anyways is she is directly tied into the story unlike most characters)
On our way to the Harbormaster, we were ambushed by a quintet of Ogre Magi, and we stormed the Iron Throne Headquarters to find all but Sarevok's tramp fleeing the building. We eventually reached the Harbormaster and gave him Duke Eltan.
Using information from the Flaming Fist loyal to Eltan, we went to the Blushing Mermaid, where the drunk Husam showed us that he had been acting the entire time and was truly a Shadow Thief. He told us of the secret entrance to the Undercellar and of Slythe and Krystin. We killed them and returned to have them promise to aid us in thwarting the coming assassination. They never showed up, and Liia was assassinated by Sarevok's Dopplegangers. Sarevok's mentor teleported him out of the Duchal Palace before he could get killed by the overwhelming numbers.
We then were teleported to the thieves guild and chased Sarevok through the maze under the city, until we found Winsky. We let him live and truly entered the Undercity. Kagain took Montaron's boots and drank fire and magic resistance potions and ran forward ahead of the party, incase Sarevok was amongst the ruins. Kagain happenned upon a large band of Iron Throne assassins that were hunting Sarevok. He used up the charges of "The One Gift Lost", on them as he ran around dodging the group. Eventually they threw enough magic and spells at Kagain that he fell, by that time the rest of the party had arrived and began to mop up what remained.
After a quick visit to the surface to bring Kagain back from the dead and some rest, we entered the Temple of Bhaal.
All the fighters drank every potion they could get their hands on while Branwen and Baeloth cast all their defensive spells. Kagain still had Montaron's boots of speed and ran forward and tanked all of the contingencies and magic with 75% MR, 50% MDR, and Angelo wasted remove magic on him as well. Kagain ran around the symbol of Bhaal while Sarevok chased him. The party focused on killing Sarevok's companions, until Sarevok gave up on chasing Kagain and charged into the fray. Branwen fell first, then Shar-Teel. Montaron was almost already dead by the time Kagain reached the fight. Sarevok then targeted Baeloth who quickly threw up a stoneskin and mirror image while Valkalyn used her charges of her ring of invisibility. Baeloth then cast haste and quickly ran away from Sarevok who turned to focus on Kagain. Kagain fell and Sarevok turned his attention fully onto Valkalyn who decided to run around the symbol of Bhaal in full flight, while Baeloth pelted Sarevok with Magic Missiles. Eventually enough Magic Missiles hit Sarevok that he fell.
Excellent to see that the Multiplayer idea is developing momentum.
Meanwhile I have a question, please HELP:
My party finally earned their first HLA and there seems to be an issue: at install (was it SCS or Tweaks?) I chose the "Mage/Cleric HLAs are one-use abilities instead of spells learned to cast". BUT after selecting any of them (Deva, Planetar, Comet etc.) I receive it neither as the ability nor as the spell; i.e. the HLA is basically wasted. (But if I pick the HLA for 'extra 6th level spell' that one does grant me the extra spell).
What is happening here? Is my install corrupt? What could be a work around? (I'd loathe to mess up my install as I have never been this far in a noreload game in years.)
@Ygramul: Are you looking for the spell among your innate abilities or by going to your spellbook? Because it won't show up in either of those places. It's an innate ability, but appears alongside your other spells, to the very right, when you click on the icon to select a spell to cast. This is to make it a once per day ability but not allowing you to cast it if you can't cast your normal spells.
So, if the highest-level mage spell you have memorized is Ruby Ray and your first HLA is Summon Deva, you can find Summon Deva by going to cast Ruby Ray: Summon Deva will be right next to it.
If it's not there at all, I don't know what went wrong, but you should be able to fix it with EEKeeper. Find the spell code (Summon Deva is SPPR726) and add it to your Cleric/Mage. It should be tagged as an "Innate" spell rather than a cleric spell. Bump up the number memorized to 1 and you should get it. Again, you select it from your list of already-memorized spells; it won't show up in your spellbook or among your other innates.
@Ygramul: Are you looking for the spell among your innate abilities or by going to your spellbook? Because it won't show up in either of those places. It's an innate ability, but appears alongside your other spells, to the very right, when you click on the icon to select a spell to cast. This is to make it a once per day ability but not allowing you to cast it if you can't cast your normal spells.
So, if the highest-level mage spell you have memorized is Ruby Ray and your first HLA is Summon Deva, you can find Summon Deva by going to cast Ruby Ray: Summon Deva will be right next to it.
If it's not there at all, I don't know what went wrong, but you should be able to fix it with EEKeeper. Find the spell code (Summon Deva is SPPR726) and add it to your Cleric/Mage. It should be tagged as an "Innate" spell rather than a cleric spell. Bump up the number memorized to 1 and you should get it. Again, you select it from your list of already-memorized spells; it won't show up in your spellbook or among your other innates.
Comments
We could take the classes/kits each of the players likes the most, or make a run dictated by this thread participants' requests (so that we try things interesting for the majority here and post about results).
We could decide on the desired mods used for such a run, for the desired difficulty, for the HP rolls, for the level of exploration in the game. For example, maybe by limiting the set-up to the hardest settings, we limit people wanting to try such a run. Semiticgod, Blackraven and I like all SCS options including wizards' and clerics' pre-buffing, while GemHound, lolien, Jared4242 play without the SCS mod, Ygramul doesn't like the pre-buffing option, Mirage only recently tried all the SCS options etc etc. Some people tolerate the insane difficulty, while others think it's stupid and prefer not OP, not min-maxed characters.
How do we determine who's the Charname (and thus whose death means the game-over)?
What time for such a game is the best for all the participants?
I want all this idea to realize in the funniest way, so that all the participants could enjoy it to the fullest. But the number of questions about it is so high.
Indeed starting a multiplayer game raises a lot of questions, it really is tricky.
Participating in such a game would be a fantastic experience for me, the game settings don't matter to me at all, although I would prefer it with the SCS mod and I definitely would not like to be the charname
I think the difficult part would be to decide about the TIME we could play and how often. Of course we shall first see who is still interested in this.
If we get well organized and make it to this point, another good idea would be to record the game and upload it. I think a lot of people would be interested in watching this!
I think it is about time to start another one of my generalist mage solo no-reload runs to cool off a bit.
Truth is I recently discovered the beautiful world of weidu modding and I haven't played at all for some days. Moreover reading the forum posts about SCS lately makes wanna try the pre-buff SCS option for mages and clerics.
First time I tried this I didn't like it, it was too much for me. Right now my gameplay has changed though due to no-reloading, so it seems unnatural and kind of cheating by my part since IIRC most of the times I pre-buff too. I think of restricting it in pre-buffing some spells but I am still not sure. Do you guys think that sooner or later I'm gonna end with full enemy pre-buffing? I think many of you have realized that I like the challenge, so would you recommend it?
edit: Ok I couldn't wait so here it is:
Pretty overpowered mage I guess but..
Who knows? Maybe this time....?
If you felt something familiar when you read "you hit him with a Skull Trap from off-screen", then you should use that component, although it takes time to get used to it. To me, this is simple. Yes or No. If you know what semiticgod is saying here, then Only Yes is an option.
And don't forget that all the pre-buffs go out with time. So you can often wait while the pre-buffs of a dangerous mage end.
This is a fantastic idea!
In fact, an EPIC idea!
(Once again, due to my personal issues, I cannot commit time to be available for such a run myself. But would be very interested in following it.)
May I suggest documenting key progress in such a run?
Perhaps, you can... erm... get a BARD that will tell your tales?
(Or, maybe, even a youtube series.)
Also, if I'm not mistaken, the prebuffs that are fired off by script are not actually counted towards their spell book spell-count. If I equip my mages, generally, with that many defensive spells, they don't have nearly the remaining arsenal that I see frequently coming from a prebuffed mage. Or this might just be the fact that enemy mages just outlevel mine, in which case objection withdrawn.
I'm interested to find out more
In one scenario, someone can make a master copy of the mod-install folders accordingly and share it with others for their install.
Also, I think it's safe to say the EE looks better for a multiplayer game.
For the rules, we indeed can use the OP here.
If someone has a good PC and can speak so that the listener is interested, and can create a video, he may indeed record a play through. But even written posts from the participants will be great.
Over time others may want to join. But a proof-of-concept run by a handful of people (3 is great) would likely generate interest.
The Alliance
A no-reload 4-character modded IWD run
Exploring the Vale.
The first thing the companions noticed was the bizarre geography of the vale. Paths led along ridge-lines and stone bridges spanned the gaps between rock pillars. The trail from the valley's entrance immediately split to the East and to the South. They chose the Eastern path first with Darien scouting in the lead. He found a crypt entrance guarded by three lesser shadows. Gudrun now took the lead, luring each of the mindless guardians back to the party where they could be dealt with one at a time.Inside the tomb, they were met with a group of animated skeletons and a zombie. Gudrun switched to quarterstaff and the party made short work of them.
Dunathain found a scroll of luck, but wasn't lucky enough to copy it to his spellbook. Darien scouted ahead again disarming traps and finding the enemies. The party fought a carrion crawler for the first time.
Gudrun's hold immunity comes in handy.
There were only a few more skeletons and a trap or two left, so the rest of the tomb was quickly cleared. Dunathain tried to scribe a scroll of stinking cloud to his spellbook, but failed again. He resolved to stop trying until he had a potion to increase his chances.
Outside, the party went back to the Southern path. Darien scouted ahead again, finding a group of yeti and another tomb guarded by lesser shadows.
A forwarned party is a happy party.
Inside the crypt, Gudrun killed her first ghast.
Celebrian levels up. Thanks, Darien.
Searching the rest of the tomb, the party found a suit of magical leather armor and a scroll of identify. Dunathain used the scroll to determine the armor was +1, and Darien quickly donned it. Darien also found a very finely made longsword to replace his ordinary one. There was also a finely made key, several scrolls of mage and clerical spells, and a couple of healing potions. Dunathain was most pleased to find of potion of genius to go with the scrolls. He tucked them away, to wait for a better time to use them.
Just as they were finishing up, Darien tripped a trap that summoned 4 lesser shadows intermingled with the group. Gudrun knew that fighting in such a chaotic setting would be disaster, so she ordered everyone to run for the exit. Outside, they sprinted away with the undead in hot pursuit. At the narrow bridge, Gudrun took up a defensive position and held the enemy in place, while the others counterattacked with arrows and bullets.
Gudrun at the bridge
Gudrun decided to cache the heavier loot* in a statue niche inside the tomb as it was getting difficult to carry. The party continued on across the snowy pathways, eventually encountering another group of yeti near a large statue.
For a place called the Vale of Shadows, it certainly is hard to hide in them.
Darien scouted the path to the South and located the yeti lair. Gudrun led the attack, and the party killed a normal yeti and the yeti "chieftain". They found Mirek's necklace and a magic morningstar on the body.
The group then entered the lair and found themselves flanked by two yeti with another to their front. With the attack coming from three sides, Gudrun ordered a retreat, intending to set up an ambush on the path outside. However, the speed of the yeti surprised everyone, no sooner had the party exited the cave, when two of the beasts burst out of the entrance into their midst.** Gudrun found herself cut off from the rest of the group and unable get between them and the enemy. Both monsters attacked Dunathain and killed him in seconds. With a cry to Helm, Gudrun viciously fell upon the beasts from the rear, finally gaining their attention.
First the bad news...
Then the good news...
Once the creatures were dead, Gudrun gently lifted her uncle's body and led the way on the long walk back to the Temple of Ilmater. When they got there, they learned to their chagrin that they didn't have enough money to have him raised. So, leaving Dunathain's body in the care of the priests, the companions trekked back to the valley to get the loot they had cached earlier. Once that was sold off, they had just enough to buy the raise dead spell.
They spent the next day resting and recuperating. Dunathain identified the morningstar as a +1, so they sold it and bought more healing potions. They returned Mirek's heirloom to him, and he rewarded the party with a magic sling which was given to Celebrian.
Finally, back to strength, they returned to the yeti cave.
Darien levels up.
In the rear of the cave, they found a strange cache of materiel, packed neatly into locked boxes. A magic mace, a suit of chainmail, several cleric scrolls and some gems and jewelry. Also a few potions, including another potion of genius. Oddest of all, a small toolbox that looked to be gnomish in origin. Before leaving the cave, they cached their heavier items in one of the boxes.
Back on the pathways, the party continued to the East, soon finding another tomb. Inside, a creature calling itself Therik warned them off, then attacked when Gudrun refused to be swayed. While the ladies were dealing with Therik a zombie attacked Dunathain, but Darien was able to block it.
Get that man some stoneskins!
The rest of the tomb was guarded by a host of undead, including skeletons, zombies, ghouls, ghasts and lesser shadows. There were also several traps for Darien to disarm.
Dunathain levels up.
Stairway of the dead
Within the tomb, the party found a +1 dagger for Celebrian, several scrolls and potions and another interesting key.
Outside, Darien located a group of lesser shadows near a convenient narrow bridge.
A little farther North, he found not only lesser shadows, but a full shadow leading them. Gudrun used the tried and true method of leading the monsters to a narrow path where she could block them while the others engaged with missile weapons. She wasn't able to hit the shadow with her greatsword, so she switched to the mace from the yeti cave. Luckily it wasn't cursed.
Now this is interesting***
The group decided to return to town to sell their loot, rest and resupply before tackling the grand tomb. After selling the first load, they were returning to the yeti cave to clear out their cache, when Gudrun realized there was a path they hadn't explored yet. There they found another tomb guarded by lesser shadows.
Celebrian levels up.
Once inside, the party was set upon by a veritable horde of skeletons. Gudrun was able to draw most of them to herself, but two attacked Dunathain. Gudrun was forced to go it alone for the first part of the fight as the other three struggled to keep the mage alive.
It was an amazing fight...
Gudrun surrounded by at least a dozen skeletons...
A short way away, the other three in a desperate struggle...
Would've made a great screenshot...
Yep...
Sure would've...
Once the horde at the entrance was dealt with, the rest of the tomb was quickly cleared. Darien tripped a trap that released some skeletons from the walls, but he was able to get clear in time. The party found magic chainmail, a number of scrolls and some potions.
With everything outside the large tomb completely explored, the companions returned to town for some much needed rest. They showed the tools to Oswald and he liked them so much, he traded the party several useful potions. Gudrun upgraded to plate mail, and traded her quarterstaff for the mace +1 from the yeti cave. Celebrian now has the magic dagger and magic sling. Darien is wearing magic leather armor and wielding the finest long sword.
The priority though, was to fill up Dunathain's spellbook. The party had enough money to buy all the first and second level spells he wanted from Orrick plus he had a half dozen scrolls from the loot. Even with 20 intelligence, he didn't succeed on all of them,**** but he felt he had enough now to protect himself better and damage undead enemies. He succeeded with chromatic orb, color spray, Agannazar's scorcher and mirror image, among others.
One of the scrolls, however, he didn't copy to his spellbook. He simply read the spell right there.
New party member, Dunathain named him Dodger.
Upon leaving Candlekeep, instead of chasing after Sarevok, the party decided to go to Ulgoth's Beard of all places. Upon our arrival, a rather cross archmage by the name of Shandalar teleported the party to an island somewhere far to the Northwest, a supposed teleportation trap, with orders to procure his cloak. When we retrieved it, we were returned to Ulgoth's Beard.
Then we entered the inn to randomly have a Dwarf run up to us and request that we grab an heirloom from Durlag's Tower. A Demon Knight appeared during the tour and burned everyone but us alive. We first climbed the tower, and then found the labyrinth underneath. A quartet of Dwarven Doomguards nearly killed everyone in the party, yet Valkalyn escaped, and returned with her party mostly unarmed. She had Baeloth scorch the rune with fireballs until the last two doomguards fell before we teleported over once more.(The Doomguards followed her there while she was invisible)
After disabling multiple traps, and going through the madness of Durlag, we reached the Demon Knight and barely defeated him.
We then returned to Ulgoth's Beard to only have the dagger snatched from us by a cult. We cut our way through their ranks only to find that the demon Aec'Letec had been released from the Dwarf's dagger. Four well-aimed fireballs hit the center of the summoning circle and 4 of the cultists fell instantly. Then the party killed off the remaining 2 and then focused on Aec'Letec who fell far faster and easier than the Demon Knight did.
Then we ran into a merchant who stated he knew where Balduran had wrecked his ship. So we stole sea charts and used them to find the island, only we became shipwrecked too. We helped the somewhat civilized inhabitants of the Southern half of the island defeat the monsters on the Northern half. When we returned, the villagers showed that they were also monsters, and told us that they had infected us with lycanthropy... Well, the party cut its way out of the village, through some underground tunnels and out to the ship, where the headwoman turned on us as well. We returned to Ulgoth's Beard and killed the werewolf who had sent us out there in the first place.
Now, the party is truly ready to take on Sarevok and his cronies in Baldur's Gate.
Character - Level
Valkalyn - 10
Montaron - 7,8
Kagain - 8
Branwen - 8
Shar-Teel - 8
Baeloth - 9
Everyone is at the XP cap. Valkalyn is far better now though due to 2 lucky HP rolls. She now gets up to 56 HP with DUHM. With her DUHM up only Kagain has more HP now.
We start a couple quests/locations south of Beregost, but find we have to change course fairly abruptly as Sirius wasn't properly armored or leveled, and dies to some combination of attacks that really shouldn't have been able to hit had I actually played safely. A raise back at the Beregost temple leaves me somewhat chastened, and we go to Nashkel to obtain the Ankheg armor. Neira is taken out fairly easily by the magically-boosted accuracy of too many missiles,
and Greywolf soon meets the same fate.
Mutamin doesn't get to hit us with Remove Magic,
and the rest of the basilisks are cleared for experience. Most of us are still below level 4, so I'm avoiding any mages that can possibly cast Sleep. One route that allows for this is the Western route, to the Lighthouse. On the way, Basillus holds Holly, but this is by no means enough.
At the Lighthouse, I've observed something interesting and I've no clue what's going on. The Sirines are targeting only Sapphire with their Dire Charm (to which I'm responding by equipping her fists,) but sometimes the spell hits, I don't get a notification of a save, implying that Sapphire failed it... But she remains un-charmed. I dunno why not, since she's not immune to Charm and once or twice the Dire Charm actually, k'now, charmed her. If anyone has any clues, I'd love to know what's happening. Flesh Golems prove an annoyance as one leaves the cave, making it much harder for me to kill it with Silke's staff. I had no Potions of Absorption, so relied on Sapphire stealth-striking it. The CON tome goes to Sirius instead of Sapphire: she gets her Familiar HP benefit, and I want my front-liner to have the majority of the health for now.
Further south, we fight the Doomsayer which takes a few potions, but is no real threat.
We save Brage, then cut west from Nashkel to get to the Gnoll fortress. Sapphire gets a cute one-shot off here against Gnarl.
In a cave, three people level after killing a Carrion Crawler
I didn't have enough Sleep spells here for the gnolls, and SCS' change to gnolls give them Two Handed Weapon style, meaning Sirius is taking many, many crits. I finally conceded and started dual-wielding Ashedeena for Sirius, and after three or four potions and a ton of arrows, bolts, and darts...
Lastly, before we start the mines, we claimed the reward for Basillus, cleared the Ankheg caves, and went on a shopping spree. I really ought to have spent my addition points for Hymn in Wisdom rather than CHA, since this is just kind of overkill.
With 20 Rep, this means all prices are minimal. We bought the Light Crossbow of Speed, Greenstone Amulet, Aule's Staff, Returning Frost Dart (from RR), and the Cloak of Displacement. Time for Mulahey.
Kobolds were just slaughtered through, and Mulahey sees the beginning of this run's motif. Two Spirit Animals play meat shield for the hordes while Mulahey suffers under a Miscast Magic from Holly. The end is inevitable.
Outside, a couple further things meet their end: the Revenant,
and Narcillicus, II, MGoI, Stoneskin, and Pro. Normal Missiles notwithstanding. (Really, he uses all of his higher level spells on nothing but defensive buffs? I think Emotion or something would serve him much better.)
As is now customary for my Skald-parties, Zordral is laughed at as his Sleep spells now completely fail:
And Miscast Magic and Insect spells takes care of Nimbul.
I finished the session by taking out Tranzig, who didn't even really put up a fight after his MIs crumpled under Detect Illusions from Quill.
Stats: Hymn, level 6 Skald. 36HP. 0 kills.
Sirius, level 5 Cavalier. 50 HP. 1 death. 83 kills. Most Powerful Vanquished: Greater Basilisk.
Sapphire, level 5 Beast Master. 41 HP. 155 kills. Most Powerful Vanquished: Greater Basilisk.
Holly, level 6 Totemic Druid. 46 HP. 1 death. 66 kills. Most Powerful Vanquished: Sirine.
Quill, level 4/5 Illusionist/Thief. 23 HP. 1 death. 70 kills. Most Powerful Vanquished: Sirine
MVP: It's really, really hard to decide this one. Hymn could qualify, since he's the one boosting everyone's THAC0 into warrior-like levels, and allowing Sirius to duel-wield while still keeping his AC at a nice low -6. Sapphire could qualify due to her pretty crazy skill set: Stealth-attacks in melee have been pretty neat, murdering groups of skeletons that keep spawning with her quarterstaff is something I can't complain about. However, I think I'll give this session's MVP to Holly, for her Spirit Animals and healing and Miscast Magics actually ending several of the harder confrontations. Sapphire and Sirius have been tag-teaming all the easy encounters, but in the end, they're still the mundane ones.
Recording and commentating will be awesome for followers. In fact if you could all chat while playing and record that, that would be a lot of fun to watch.
Good luck!
Although I usually play with pre-buffs all around, I think it would be wisest to go without pre-buffs, both on the party and on the enemy. It would slow down gameplay, especially for the bigger encounters where there's an incentive to layer on tons of them.
I normally only play BG2, but know enough about BG1 to get by. I've done a single SCS Tutu run before. I would enjoy playing a variety of characters. Bounty Hunter, Barbarian, unkitted fighter, Archer, any mage or sorcerer besides Wild Mage, Avenger, Cleric/Mage, unkitted monk, and Fighter/Illusionist come to mind.
I'd probably skip through all of the dialogue if I were Charname.
But at least we could chat in the in-game chat box as well.
I don't want to let all those "cheering from the sidelines" fans down.
Of course, we should focus on our own adventure, our own views shared and our own jokes/commentaries, not on the dialogue the game provides.
We have so far 1) GemHound, 2) Mirage, 3) semiticgod, 4) Neverused and 5) me. Let's wait for @Blackraven .
As for the classes, I would enjoy playing anyone, no, really, any character because this idea is 100% exciting even without looking into classes. Any sort of a druid (for obvious reasons) and a thief will be fine from me.
"Without pre-buffs, both on the party and on the enemy". Agree.
Nice that semiticgod knows BG1
As for the time, we can differ any schedule. The main thing is to start. There's no necessity in playing for long sessions. It all could differ each time. I'm in Europe now and can play any time (if I know in advance which days to reserve) from the morning till the evening but not at the weekends.
Now, I'll go and try to make a separate game folder with a mod variation suitable for this run.
Edit: The SCS mod is currently installing, so I'll give a WeiDU afterwards. You can check my views on the modifications here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ycv9r8e498luiq0/My take on the SCS modifications for this run.doc?dl=0
I'm open to any suggestions. Nothing is set. We can only decide on everything together.
Edit 2: Here's the WeiDU log:
// Log of Currently Installed WeiDU Mods
// The top of the file is the 'oldest' mod
// ~TP2_File~ #language_number #component_number // [Subcomponent Name -> ] Component Name [ : Version]
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #1000 // Initialise mod (all other components require this): v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #1910 // Protection from Normal Missiles also blocks Arrows of Fire/Cold/Acid and similar projectiles without pluses: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2010 // More consistent Breach spell (always affects liches and rakshasas; doesn't penetrate Spell Turning): v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2020 // Antimagic attacks penetrate improved invisibility: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2030 // Iron Skins behaves like Stoneskin (can be brought down by Breach): v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2120 // Slightly weaken insect plague spells, and let fire shields block them: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #2150 // Make spell sequencers, spell triggers, and contingencies learnable by all mages: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3000 // Replace BG1-style elemental arrows with BG2 versions: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #3010 // Replace +1 arrows with nonmagical "fine" ones: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4000 // Faster Bears: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4010 // Grant large, flying, non-solid or similar creatures protection from Web and Entangle: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4020 // More realistic wolves and wild dogs: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4110 // Allow NPC pairs to separate: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4120 // NPCs go to inns: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4130 // Move NPCs to more convenient locations: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5050 // Stackable ankheg shells, winterwolf pelts and wyvern heads: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5060 // Ensure Shar-Teel doesn't die in the original challenge: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #5900 // Initialise AI components (required for all tactical and AI components): v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6000 // Smarter general AI: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6010 // Better calls for help: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6032 // Smarter Mages -> Mages never cast short-duration spells instantly at start of combat: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6042 // Smarter Priests -> Priests never cast short-duration spells instantly at start of combat: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6102 // Potions for NPCs -> Half the potions dropped by slain enemies break and are lost: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6200 // Improved Spiders: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6300 // Smarter sirines and dryads: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6310 // Slightly harder carrion crawlers: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #6320 // Smarter basilisks: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7000 // Improved doppelgangers: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7010 // Tougher Black Talons and Iron Throne guards: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7020 // Improved deployment for parties of assassins: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7030 // Dark Side-based kobold upgrade: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7040 // Relocated bounty hunters: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7050 // Improved Ulcaster: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7060 // Improved Balduran's Isle: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7070 // Improved Durlag's Tower: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7080 // Improved Demon Cultists: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7090 // Improved Cloakwood Druids: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7100 // Improved Bassilus: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7110 // Improved Drasus party: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7130 // Improved Red Wizards: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7140 // Improved Undercity party: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7200 // Tougher chapter-two end battle: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7210 // Tougher chapter-three end battle: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7220 // Tougher chapter-four end battle: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7230 // Tougher chapter-five end battle: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7250 // Improved final battle: v30
~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #7900 // Improved minor encounters: v30
I'm not too confident about BG1. I would probably be the weak link, easily. The other posters clearly have far more experience with BG1 than I do.
I don't think I could do a voice-over during the game itself; I'd be too distracted. But we could record the video, watch it together (we could time it on Skype), and record our comments, which we could then add as an extra audio layer for the final video. I don't know how to do any of that myself, but it would probably just require a video editing program.
By the way... I'm honored that you would mention me in this discussion. I appreciate the thought.
I will be unable to play forsure between these times:
Monday: GMT 21:00 - 24:00
Tuesday: GMT 19:00 - 24:00
Wednesday: GMT 24:00 - 1:00
Thursday: GMT 23:00 - 24:00
Friday: GMT 24:00 - 1:00
Valkalyn - thief
We agreed to let the flaming fist take us to their compound, only to have Angelo murder our captors and free us since apparently Shar-Teel is Angelo's daughter. I can see why she hates men so much. After that we decided to enlist aid from the merchants guild only to have them stab us in the back, so we decided to storm the keep of the Flaming Fist to rescue Duke Eltan. (The main reason I like to take Shar-Teel anyways is she is directly tied into the story unlike most characters)
On our way to the Harbormaster, we were ambushed by a quintet of Ogre Magi, and we stormed the Iron Throne Headquarters to find all but Sarevok's tramp fleeing the building. We eventually reached the Harbormaster and gave him Duke Eltan.
Using information from the Flaming Fist loyal to Eltan, we went to the Blushing Mermaid, where the drunk Husam showed us that he had been acting the entire time and was truly a Shadow Thief. He told us of the secret entrance to the Undercellar and of Slythe and Krystin. We killed them and returned to have them promise to aid us in thwarting the coming assassination. They never showed up, and Liia was assassinated by Sarevok's Dopplegangers. Sarevok's mentor teleported him out of the Duchal Palace before he could get killed by the overwhelming numbers.
We then were teleported to the thieves guild and chased Sarevok through the maze under the city, until we found Winsky. We let him live and truly entered the Undercity. Kagain took Montaron's boots and drank fire and magic resistance potions and ran forward ahead of the party, incase Sarevok was amongst the ruins. Kagain happenned upon a large band of Iron Throne assassins that were hunting Sarevok. He used up the charges of "The One Gift Lost", on them as he ran around dodging the group. Eventually they threw enough magic and spells at Kagain that he fell, by that time the rest of the party had arrived and began to mop up what remained.
After a quick visit to the surface to bring Kagain back from the dead and some rest, we entered the Temple of Bhaal.
All the fighters drank every potion they could get their hands on while Branwen and Baeloth cast all their defensive spells. Kagain still had Montaron's boots of speed and ran forward and tanked all of the contingencies and magic with 75% MR, 50% MDR, and Angelo wasted remove magic on him as well. Kagain ran around the symbol of Bhaal while Sarevok chased him. The party focused on killing Sarevok's companions, until Sarevok gave up on chasing Kagain and charged into the fray. Branwen fell first, then Shar-Teel. Montaron was almost already dead by the time Kagain reached the fight. Sarevok then targeted Baeloth who quickly threw up a stoneskin and mirror image while Valkalyn used her charges of her ring of invisibility. Baeloth then cast haste and quickly ran away from Sarevok who turned to focus on Kagain. Kagain fell and Sarevok turned his attention fully onto Valkalyn who decided to run around the symbol of Bhaal in full flight, while Baeloth pelted Sarevok with Magic Missiles. Eventually enough Magic Missiles hit Sarevok that he fell.
Meanwhile I have a question, please HELP:
My party finally earned their first HLA and there seems to be an issue: at install (was it SCS or Tweaks?) I chose the "Mage/Cleric HLAs are one-use abilities instead of spells learned to cast". BUT after selecting any of them (Deva, Planetar, Comet etc.) I receive it neither as the ability nor as the spell; i.e. the HLA is basically wasted. (But if I pick the HLA for 'extra 6th level spell' that one does grant me the extra spell).
What is happening here? Is my install corrupt? What could be a work around? (I'd loathe to mess up my install as I have never been this far in a noreload game in years.)
Thanks in advance.
So, if the highest-level mage spell you have memorized is Ruby Ray and your first HLA is Summon Deva, you can find Summon Deva by going to cast Ruby Ray: Summon Deva will be right next to it.
If it's not there at all, I don't know what went wrong, but you should be able to fix it with EEKeeper. Find the spell code (Summon Deva is SPPR726) and add it to your Cleric/Mage. It should be tagged as an "Innate" spell rather than a cleric spell. Bump up the number memorized to 1 and you should get it. Again, you select it from your list of already-memorized spells; it won't show up in your spellbook or among your other innates.
This is very insightful.