I used the ring of free action to go through the Cloakwood without any fighting. At the mine entrance, traps did some initial damage before Drasus was on the wrong end of a critical backstab.
After sneaking downstairs, skeletons helped distract the battle horrors while I backstabbed those to get another level.
A rest allowed me to memorize 4 holy smite spells - and those proved sufficient.
Rather than run and hide, I put on plate armor for the first time to beat up the mustard jelly in straight melee.
With no more reason now to keep reputation low, I did a tour of areas to boost that. While on my rounds of course I took advantage of other goodies on offer - such as Bassilus' hammer as an improved option for future occasions when I might want to be in melee.
I also revisited the coast, where L7 skeletons were far too powerful for sirines and golems.
That took me to the BG1 level cap, but I was happy to continue doing major encounters while clearing most of the wilderness areas. I'd already amassed quite a good reputation and hadn't really intended to kill any more of Elminster's clones. However, seeing him standing there so full of himself in Beregost, I couldn't resist filling him full of holes.
I tried the same on the version in Baldur's Gate, but he just teleported away without ever going hostile to trigger the traps.
There were no problems with fights, though I did lose some cash after accidentally selling the charisma tome and deciding to buy it back. The set back to reputation with Elminster meant that I didn't get that back up to 20 from the wilderness areas. However, a few quick quests in the City did the job and I upgraded equipment a bit - in particular swapping a +1 for a +3 staff to help those backstabs.
One encounter of interest in the City was with Lothander. Killing him for his boots of speed can be done pretty reliably by surrounding him or using grease to slow down his escape, while backstabs and darts of stunning are less effective options. However, I've been looking for a way for any character to stop him and have tried a couple of times to place characters where they would block his exit to the stairs. The placement to do that, without getting close enough to the stairs for him to jump to the exit despite the block, is sensitive. Even though I could have used skeletons in this run, I tried getting the placement right instead - and got it to work this time.
I did have one problem on the way to getting Balduran's Cloak. After sneaking into Degrodel's house and backstabbing one of his guards I ran out and hid, but failed to move away in time from the chasing pack and got surrounded as invisible stalkers converged. That led to a first use of potions to go invisible, regenerate and break out of the trap.
I hadn't yet been to Durlag's Tower, so did that next. Stealth and skeletons dealt with some basilisks on the roof, while Kirinhale failed to make her intended getaway.
A potion of magic blocking was used to grab the wisdom tome.
Back in Baldur's Gate, the last few encounters were done, including the Iron Throne. All the enemy casters were silenced and buffed skeletons cleaned up after that, with the help of a command.
On to Candlekeep, where potions of perception boosted lockpicking and trap finding to make getting the tomes easy. Prat's gang were more skeleton victims.
The start of the final challenges saw Slythe and Krystin unable to withstand the skeleton onslaught. At the palace, none of the dopplegangers attacked me which meant the dukes could potentially be in trouble, despite the skeletons. Seeing the concentration of attacks was around Belt I decided (unusually) to try and protect Liia - that resulted in Belt dying just before the end of the fight, though Liia survived with only slight injuries.
Going through the maze I picked up my first 3 figure backstab.
The UnderCity party provided a warm-up for the battle with Sarevok. He responded to a sling shot by coming out a bit farther than usual - meaning he got hit by the pre-laid traps that killed Semaj as he teleported out.
A back-stab to lure him into a skeleton ambush then quickly finished the big man off.
The unnecessary work done in BGEE meant that I was immediately able to pick up an extra level in each class on transfer to SoD.
The unnecessary work done in BGEE meant that I was immediately able to pick up an extra level in each class on transfer to SoD.
It looks as if you've removed or changed the level cap. Which is it ?
The highest that I can get before SoD is 161,000
Neither. Although XP shown on the character record is limited to 161,000, the game does keep track of amounts over that in the background. Each time you load the game the amount is reset back to the limit. However, if you play on the PC and use the SoD engine than you automatically transfer to SoD after Sarevok dies and keep whatever XP over the limit you've gained since the last time you loaded the game.
I'm not sure what happens if you import from BGEE to SoD manually, but guess that you would keep the excess XP doing that as well if you import a character from a save (that certainly happens when you import from SoD to BG2EE).
Anastasia the Dark Moon Monk - part 29 - Dragon Ender's Game, part 2
Eyeball Catacombs
After returning to recharge her rod of resurrection (this is going to get steadily more expensive as we drop our rep down) Anastasia entered the eyeball rooms. These are surprisingly dangerous. The Eagle Eyes seem to hit regardless of AC and the sentinals can summon all sorts of trash. The cloak of mirroring, which I have rarely used, is completely effective in neutralizing the Eagle Eyes though so the whole thing becomes trivial. The tyrant Golems are highly resistant to physical damage but not to greater deathblow. Anastasia worked through methodically then sent the adventurers party to get her a gauth eyestalk.
Abazigal
We re-speced out gear for the cloak of reflection, giving 120%LR, Guards Ring +2, and Spectral Brand +5 offhand.
Anastasia applied the following buffs:
1 x protection from cold scroll
1 x protection from cold potion
Potion of Storm Giant Strength
4 x Potion of Heroism
Stoneskin, Blur, Mirror Image
4 x Frozen Fists
Hardiness
And then put the Boots of Speed on. She inched forward to trigger the short cutscene then immediately hits pause and runs to the right leveraging the monks superspeed. Abi won't follow but Tamah will. She runs right then down, circling the arena to the only good place. Afaik Ascension messes with the arena design so there are no good bottlenecks in the room anymore, but this place is marginally better than others. Once in position she swaps to boots of the North and waits for Tamah and the Frost Salamanders to track her down.
Tamah does very high crushing damage with her breath attack and there is not much Ana can do here, so she needs to hit her down very quickly. We spam GWW with all our frozen fists, making sure to have detect image up all the time for her improved invisibility effects. We get her stoneskins down but all Ana's protections are also down so she has to use rod of resurrection once. This gets us to Tamah's "Ethereal" phase. She disappears and wanders off, soon to bug out horribly, as we will see.
Swapping back to Blackrazor, Ana then finishes off the frost salamanders, re-equips boots of speed and heals. She then goes to hunt the various drakes. These things could well take the prize for most annoying enemy since they constantly go invisible then re-position meaning Ana is tediously hunting round the entire outskirts of the arena with detect illusion. They are vulnerable to greater deathblow though - if you can land it. Unfortunately she can only find 3 of the 4. While all this is going on, Abi is just chilling in the center of the arena, perhaps that's where the drake is.
Now for the secret weapon, because to be "fair," Anastasia did not come this far by playing fair at all. She uses her pocket plane ability and takes a cheeky 8 hour nap and returns. I think this is possible because while there are hostile enemies OoLoS, none of them are targeting Ana because she managed to avoid agro due to the monks speed at the beginning. This also happens to bug Tamah, who Ana shamelessly kills with firetooth.
Ana then hunts down the missing drake and preps for Abi, taking another nap (Needing this was a miscalculation on my part, I should not have buffed early but I was worried about Tamah being hostile- it's a shame because resting causes Tamah's body to disappear). Because of his dispelling abilities it's just the usual stuff + a potion of power. Count to 6 and then charge his human form, hitting GWW as we do. With the monks ultra-high damage it only takes a single GWW to bring out his final form.
His chain contingency has PfMW and a very annoying mordy sword - props to whoever put that in, and his spell trigger has Improved Haste and Stoneskin. We get to kiting, counting to 24 as we do. Abi's spell sequencer(?) has 2x remove magic in it which takes our potion of power and MI, but not the blur. While kiting Ana greater deathblows the mordy sword.
The 24 count runs out and his contingency: PfMW fires... great stuff. Cue more kiting. Our second MI is dispelled with True Sight and ana takes some nasty damage, drinking health pots and refreshing hardiness. The second 24 count runs out and he uses another PfMW, unbelievable I am thinking, this guy is a player. At least every time he hits us he heals a bit of his damage through the 120%LR, though that no where near makes up for the brutal slashing damage. Also his earthquakes cause a friendly greater earth elemental to spawn. Cool.
We take this serendipitous moment to drink a potion of heroism, activate regeneration, then lose our Hardiness (breach?) Refresh it and yeah, its gone again, deffo getting breached. Then his improved haste runs out. It's all over now Abazigal I am thinking. We kite, we do combat, we burn wand of resurrection charges and finally start doing some serious damage, though due to his AC Ana is limited to 4APR fists due to the crippling dual wield penalties. Ana remembers her ring of Mirror Images and puts them back up x 3, punching away at Abi's Stoneskins.
In the end, with all our access to healing and superior speed it's inevitable, combined with pocket plane abuse of course. She didn't even have to use Ravager form.
I am planning on leveraging Ana's super high charisma to have Balthazar kill himself so this just leaves Ravager and Final Fight!
edit: I didn't screencap it but at one point I had 4 (4!) critical misses in a row in this fight... feels bad.
Wilkim the shaman minimal / no reload SCS EET Run part II
Exploring Cloackwood...
Branwen died once against a Phase Spider because she forgot to check our antidotes stock...
Centeol was not so hard, and Drassus's gang was a piece of cake thanks to Neera's Web and Wilkim's Withering Fog and Spike Growth.
In the mines, the mage in the second level was almost a game over :
the party was assaulted from both sides of Yeskick's jail, and hold on the doors.
The mage then arrived, and thanks to the infamous pathfinding bug (still present in 2.6 in narrow places like the mines) succeed in launching a Chaos spell on almost all the party. Neera was killed by Wilkim.
Ajantis, Branwen and Sirene surrounded the mage, but he stunned them. Wilkim killed him with his throwind dagger, but not before being charmed by the dying mage. He then killed Ajantis, Branwen and Sirene before regaining control of himself.
The way back to FAI for raising them was long, and let the party almost broke with less than 1,000 GP. Temples aren't cheap !
Third level of Cloackwood Mines was easier, and Davaeorn didn't stand a chance against Web + Spike Growth + Withering Fog combo.
Entering Baldur's Gate...
Almost all the quests there are done. All the wilderness areas too, except one woman statue to unpetrify in Basilics area, and exterior of the Firewine Bridge Ruins.
Now it's time for the sewers, visiting toroughly all the houses in the City, and prepare ourselves for Iron Throne headquarters...
The unnecessary work done in BGEE meant that I was immediately able to pick up an extra level in each class on transfer to SoD.
It looks as if you've removed or changed the level cap. Which is it ?
The highest that I can get before SoD is 161,000
Neither. Although XP shown on the character record is limited to 161,000, the game does keep track of amounts over that in the background. Each time you load the game the amount is reset back to the limit. However, if you play on the PC and use the SoD engine than you automatically transfer to SoD after Sarevok dies and keep whatever XP over the limit you've gained since the last time you loaded the game.
I'm not sure what happens if you import from BGEE to SoD manually, but guess that you would keep the excess XP doing that as well if you import a character from a save (that certainly happens when you import from SoD to BG2EE).
That explains it. I usually close the game after beating Sarevok. I have had a few games where I have had weird amounts of experience and what you have written explains things. It was worthwhile asking.
These final game fights really show up a major disadvantage of the monk over other fighter-type classes/kits in the late game is the weapon restrictions. No Soul Reaver for destroying enemy thac0, no flail of ages for no-save slowing, no Carsomyr or Bala's Axe for messing with casters. That's on top of the already punishing no helmet restriction.
Not to worry though, the DMMs advantages are huge too.
It would probably be the same for a Shapeshifter. Only being able to use Scimitar/Club/Staff/Dagger, claws being +2 or +3...
Hum, maybe it could be achievable with the SCS Shapeshifter ? And since I play with a tweak component preventing druid to wear an helmet...
Oh no ! The Restart Again from level 1 Curse is back...
It would probably be the same for a Shapeshifter. Only being able to use Scimitar/Club/Staff/Dagger, claws being +2 or +3...
Hum, maybe it could be achievable with the SCS Shapeshifter ? And since I play with a tweak component preventing druid to wear an helmet...
I can imagine - SCS with the SCS shapeshifter would be interesting but I have zero druid experience so don't really know about the long term viability of the shapeshifter solo.
The SCS shapeshifting modifications change a bunch of things. Key stats for the Shapeshifter kit (as of v33):
- Lesser Werewolf (level 1): Str 18/76, Dex 16, AC 4, MR 10, 1 APR, 1d6+Str slash damage, enchant 1.
- Werewolf (level 7): Str 19, Dex 17, AC 0, MR 20, 2 APR+haste, 1d8+Str slash damage, enchant 1.
- Greater Werewolf (level 13): Str 21, Dex 20, AC -4, MR 40, elemental resistance 50, regenerate 1/sec, 2 APR+haste, 2d6+Str slash damage, enchant 3.
- Earth Elemental (HLA): Str 25, Dex 10, AC -5, physical resistance 50, immune to normal weapons, big selection circle, 2 APR, 2d10+Str crush damage, enchant 4, base THAC0 2.
- Fire Elemental (HLA): Str 22, Dex 24, AC -5, fire resistance 100, immune to normal weapons, fireshield, 2 APR+haste, 1d10+Str crush and 1d10 fire damage, enchant 4, base THAC0 2.
Some details don't match the descriptions. That's because the descriptions are wrong in those cases.
All of them are two-handed weapons, with at-will transformations by simply equipping the item. Two-handed style works with them, and you wield them with proficiency. They all block further changes to strength and dexterity, plus the earth elemental form blocks further changes to physical resistance. All of the resistances stack with other sources; a shifter can cast Resist Fire/Cold and then turn into a greater werewolf for immunity, or cast Armor of Faith and transform into an earth elemental for up to 75% physical resistance. Those "block further changes" effects don't do anything to effects cast while you were in humanoid form.
Note also that haste effects double regeneration; under normal circumstances, the greater werewolf regenerates 12 HP/round. That's enough to make a big difference in combat.
Having played with them a lot (though not solo) ... the biggest weakness of the greater werewolf form is the THAC0. No bonus from specialization, no bonus from the weapon itself, so all you get are strength and accessories. And you'll be stuck at base THAC0 12 for quite a while due to the druid's level curve and THAC0 table. There are a lot of enemies that you'll need a critical 19 to hit in that form. On the flip side, it's a fantastic tank especially against magical threats.
If you want an offensive form - that's what fire elemental form is for. You get the same 3 APR, more damage, a +4 enchantment level so you can hit anything, elemental damage to disrupt spellcasters, and most importantly much better THAC0. It's also solid against physical attackers, with the best AC and its normal weapon immunity.
Earth elemental form is your option for going up against the most dangerous physical attackers. If AC and iron skins aren't enough, 75% physical resistance is your best bet. Or 100% at the Throne, with the bonus from the final Ascension challenge.
PfU meant it didn't take long to get through the first areas in the SoD prologue. However, I did get a bit ahead of myself fighting the final bunch of mercenaries before Korlasz. The movement of the Flaming Fist behind me meant I was unable to retreat when targeted by an archer and I was poisoned with arrows of biting. A potion of invisibility stopped further hits, but the poison still ticked rapidly. The Flaming Fist healer was busy fighting, so I couldn't get help there. I think I could have used a green scroll to stop the poison, but just relied on the bug in any case (arrows of biting poison damage stops ticking when you're down to 3 HPs).
The final fight with Korlasz also took much longer than usual when I didn't use the Ring of Energy to make her surrender immediately. After all her allies were dead and she was out of spells, she did eventually surrender - but a potion of firebreath ensured she didn't get far.
In Baldur's Gate, various NPCs were killed and their equipment sold - I got a new record backstab in the process of that.
The single quest done was to pick up the Battle Tankard.
The only minor gain to be had at the Coast Way Forest was the Suncatcher shield to cast sunfire. However, with skeletons it was no trouble to kill Ikros and Isabella, so I did that.
On the way back, the encounter area with orcs and trolls was cleared with the help of a couple of necklace fireballs, gaining me a 10th thief level in the process.
In order to keep both the identifying mirror and the shield, I didn't hand items back to Takos. The only bit of additional work done was to shoot down Teleria (and restore the statues) before using sanctuary to avoid any conflict at the bridge until Caelar arrived.
Troll Claw Woods held nothing of interest and neither did a large pit in the ground seen on the way to the Forest of Wyrms. After sneaking past the dragon, skeletons cleared most of the bugbears in the next area and I tidied up with stealth attacks.
Ziatar was fireballed from out of sight, allowing me to just bypass his guards.
A potion of magic shielding protected against the Neothelid's sneaky hold / charm / stun tricks and it made the mistake of surfacing quickly - to be beaten up by a bunch of skeletons.
Those then occupied the aerial servants while I backstabbed them. The last surviving skeleton fell to Akanna, but her attempt to hide in sanctuary and heal up was forestalled by the wand of heavens.
Daggers were not an option, but more wand blasts on the way out were used on Morentherene to get a shield upgrade. A PfP scroll cut out one major source of damage and the fact that Morentherene can't get through the passage at the back of the cave makes it easy enough to avoid direct attacks. However, wing buffets can still do damage and with my HPs getting low it was using a LMD to boost those that eventually finished the dragon off.
On the way to Boareskyr Bridge I came across another green dragon. A nice touch the designers put in to this encounter is that the dragon gets annoyed if you're wearing equipment made from its cousin. In this case though I hadn't had time to do that yet, so the dragon asked for help. That was duly provided, but when the dragon tried to leave it failed to resist a command to die ...
At Boareskyr, skeletons were ready to kill off Vichand before he could alert the rest of the camp - but he failed to survive a backstab anyway.
Inside the fort I killed a wraith and re-established the magical defenses using Vichand's scroll - getting my final SoD levels as a result. Hillcarver made the dragon shield and some bullets of darkness for me. Then it was time to surrender the fort - on the condition of course that I kept all my equipment. That still left though the mage on the bridge to deal with. He's pretty difficult to hit with missiles, but the Ring of Energy provides an easy way to disrupt his spells.
At the Coalition Camp I didn't bother with any quests, but just picked up the Bwoosh and poison. I bypassed encounters at Dead Man's Pass, rescued Skie at Dragonspear and then went on to the Underground River. A scroll of chaotic commands let me safely grab a Myconid Pod. Soft Feet boots stopped a gargantuan spider's web tangle being a threat and skeletons ensured that the cyclops failure to save against a command would prove costly.
The skeletons also provided a distraction while I sneaked past the guards and into the underground entrance.
Inside, I went to place the Bwoosh. My poor charisma meant I killed the ettin ghost there rather than talking it down as usual. Similarly I had to distract the guard on the door to the Warrens by exploding a potion of firebreath rather than blagging past him.
After using the lift, sanctuary let me poison the food and water before showing myself to trigger the lift becoming accessible again.
Another sanctuary then provided an easy exit.
After vainly trying to give myself up to Caelar during a parley, the next task was to defend the Coalition Camp against invasions. The first wave of orcs and trolls were mainly dealt with using a couple of firebreath potions.
All but Cuvieronius in the second wave died to pre-laid traps and he was no match for the wizard slayers attacking him. There were more traps for the third wave that didn't actually kill anyone, but meant a single firebreath left only a handful of near death enemies to finish off.
For the final group, buffed skeletons kept them busy while coalition spies landed some nasty backstabs and I supported with sling shots from a distance.
Back at Dragonspear I used a PfM scroll and some potion buffs to challenge Ashatiel to a duel. He got lucky with a number of critical hits, forcing me to take an unexpected regeneration potion - but he still lost comfortably enough in the end.
A potion of clarity and ring of free action protected against demonic abilities while I beat them up.
I took another +3 staff from Thrix - pity I can't use both at once . I used longer buffs, including the violet potion, before taking the Hellevator. Shorter potion buffs were added before the last enemy was killed and 6 Champion's Strength scrolls before the lift arrived. Even at 2 APR against an enemy with 50% missile resistance, bullets of darkness with strength 25 hurt when they hit and my THAC0 was still at -11 when Belhifet fell.
After playing through the epilogue I imported into SoA. Even though I did only a small proportion of the potential work in SoD, I still carried over almost 750k XP into SoA. With stealth and cleric buffs available that should make progress there pretty easy (with emphasis on the should ) ...
I have been doing some testing and Anastasia is not going to make it past the final battle. Its too hard on Insane, including some strange changes since last time I played, it takes too long, Bodhi's AI is, putting it politely: "rage inducing," and there are bugs - all of which mean the chance of making a mistake or having something unlucky happen are almost 100%. I might tone it down to SCS/Ascension-Tactical before attempting it, just to increase the chances of getting through, even then I have zero confidence. But mostly I think I'm going to take some time out, shelve her for a bit and try something a bit easier, with a party and some caster levels.
My standard habit is to do practically all the work available in Chapters 2 and 3 of SoA and that includes attempting to vacuum the opening dungeon. I just missed out on successfully doing that - Ulvaryl managing to kill one of her targets before skeletons took the vampire down.
I levelled up to 10/12 on exit to the Promenade.
After checking in with Gaelan Bayle I bought some potions of master thievery from Arledrian. On exiting there I noticed some slavers passing by and freed a slave.
Then it was back to the Promenade where I spent a little while with Jayes in a cycle of selling and stealing to generate enough cash to not have to worry about picking up loot during the game. After buying up some goodies I then did various encounters in the area:
- restoring the circus.
- solving an overcrowding problem at a local inn.
- using poison traps to end the reign of terror of the Cowled Wizards.
Travelling under stealth I sprang the Suna Seni, then Renfeld ambushes. Before taking the latter back to the Docks I nipped over to Watcher's Keep to buy the potion case. With Renfeld returned, Prebek was silenced from the shadows and Sanasha backstabbed to open up the harpers' house.
Xzar was then cruelly cut down by Lucette, but I provided him with some posthumous revenge.
I also accepted the task of taking down Mae'Var's guild while in the area. That involved stealing from my own temple (Talos), but naturally I had no compunction about doing that . Nor did I miss the opportunity to get some easy XP by practising my skills at the guild house.
Starting that, the maximum I could get open locks to was 90% (using DUHM), but gaining a level in the process allowed me to boost that and open everything. Traps did most of the work in Rayic's house.
Then, after the remaining tasks were complete, skeletons and backstabs dealt with the assassins upstairs. Mae'Var himself was the only survivor of a blade barrier running with stealth, but was already badly wounded before a backstab landed.
Seeing the likely fate of a guildmaster, I refused the opportunity to replace him.
Typically I wait to pay Gaelan Bayle until all the vampire ambushes have occurred - to reduce the chance of hitting trouble when not paying attention. The final couple of ambushes were still o/s, but I had the helm of charm protection from the harper building and decided to pay up now. A couple of skeletons then helped see off Lassal.
When the Guild Contact was commanded, I thought more skeletons would finish him off quickly, but he managed to survive and annoyingly drank one of the potions of invulnerability he carried.
As part of completing work originating in the Docks, I also went to the Graveyard to find Bodhi. Wearing the helm of charm protection and amulet of power meant the vampires were not much of a threat - particularly after being turned. Tanova's spells were depleted by summons before I buffed and attacked myself, destroying her with the MoD.
I got another level for each class as a result of that lot, before resting and going downstairs with some skeleton help. Lassal did well to survive a backstab, but couldn't stand up to a follow-up hit.
Five skeletons didn't last long enough for me to chase Bodhi away with missiles, but a backstab forced her to withdraw.
I checked in with Aran Linvail and misleadingly told him I'd be ready to go after Imoen "very soon". Then, in order to be able to tick off the Docks as done for now, I went to the Sea's Bounty and dealt with Officer Dirth and some pirates.
That still leaves plenty more to do in Athkatla though ...
{Edit: just remembered I haven't yet got the Ring of Gaxx, so that will have to be next}
Cleric 12 / thief 14, 85 HPs (incl. 5 from helm & 5 from amulet), 134 kills (+477 in BGEE/SoD)
In Candlekeep I was begged to buy a katana. I succumbed to the pressure which meant that our other equipment could have been better.
In the first run Droth interrupted all clerical spells with Lightning Bolts which led first to my Cleric's demise and due to no true sight ultimately to the death of the party.
The second run was more successful against Droth even though two of us slept through the battle.
We gaine oil if fiery burning nearby.
However we were not successful in helping Mellicamp.
and we were not successful against this lot.
Our quest was vain.
The end.
I intend to run this party again but not just yet.
This is me taking a break from Baldur's Gate, Solo, Difficulty Mods, Insane difficulty, Evil routes and Solo.
General Info
Icewind Dale EE
Difficulty: Core
Mods: None
Rules: No reload
The Spring Company - Adventurers seeking justice and peace in the North
This recently formed group of six adventurers has be drawn to the North by a call for adventurers, mercenaries and any who seek justice and goodness in the world. Let us look at our merry party.
FIrst, the leader of the group, Ingrid the Bard, a determined Neutral Good human, she prefers talking and singing over combat, but if pushed she can use a shortbow or even a shortsword. She is from Targos in the North. She likes singing and doing good.
Next, her good friend Grammaticus the Bounty Hunter, a Neutral good Gnome, specialized in hunting down evil-doers with his traps and crossbow. Also from Targos. Together, he and Ingrid seek to do good and maybe make a few tales out of it.
The two of them have joined forces with a number of others. Firenz the Dwarven Defender, a Lawful Good bulkward against evil. He seeks to right old wrongs, as is the general trope among dwarfs. He takes great pride in his armor, seeing it as his role to protect the group.
Agatha the Dragon "Disciple" is an elf, and a sorceress to boot - she keeps herself somewhat aloof from the others - partly as a result of her distress at having her powers granted by the blood of an evil dragon. She does not talk about it, but her commitment to righteousness is obvious. She has brought little more than a stack of darts with her to the north. She knows how to cast Chromatic Orb and Grease.
Thrakka the fighter/cleric, a half-orc cleric of Ilmater, the god of suffering, and a decent fighter as well. He is proper to a fault but does not hide his orcish heritage. He sees himself as responsible for the spiritual health of the group and uses flails in combat.
Finally, Catriona the Kensai is deadly with her two maces, choosing to eschew armor in favor of a striking blue dress. She has either taken a vow of silence, or cannot speak. The others are content to let her be with her books.
The group have bonded well on the Journey from Targos to Easthaven. We join them as they have just entered Easthaven's only Inn. On fining out about the alcohol-flow problems, Grammaticus helped the Innkeeper sort out her fire-beetle problem while Ingrid, wanderin the town looking for stories helped a water spirit reconcile with someone who reminded her of a lost love.
The whole group reconvened to help a local deal with a wolf that had broken into his workshop.
This allowed Ingrid and Grammaticus to both reach level 2. Grammaticus put everything he had in setting traps. The six returned to the Inn, where Ingrid, having "liberated" a few scrolls from a most unpleasant and greedy merchant to "teach him a lesson" proceeded to try and learn some magic. it was hard work, but Agatha helped her and soon enough she could cast Chromatic Orb, Sleep and Minor Mirror Image.
Their relaxing time in the Inn was broken by a child who rushed in with word of monsters outside the village who had stolen his fish. More concerned by the monsters than the stolen fish out adventurers crossed the bridge south of the village, after Grammaticus had seeded the bridge with one of his special traps and injured himself in an earlier attempt.
The monsters turned out to be a pack of goblins, and out band had no hesitancy about eliminating the little beasts and returning the fish. The six of them took lodging in the local bunk-house to prepare for hunting the missing shipment which the local lord had asked them to look into.
Travelling into the mountain passes they tracked a band of orcs to a cave with tell-tale wagons haphazardly stacked outside. It seemed this was the location of the missing shipment. Inside were many orcs, many more than they were expecting and the battle was tough, but regardless they prevailed, their respective abilities working well together. Thrakka and Firenz held the line, Grammaticus and Agatha provided ranged support, Catriona hunted down archers, and Ingrid cheered everyone up with her singing.
Deep in the cave they found the leader of this band of orcs – a fearsome Ogre who Agatha blinded before the they all concentrated on taking the monster down and recovering the caravan contract. The Spring Company returned to Easthaven, elated that they had made a serious difference for the people here. Later on, in the Inn they looked through the loot they had taken from the Orcs, mostly weapons of dubious quality, but a scroll of Horror which Ingrid learned, a high quality morning star for Thrakka, and a pair of boots which fit Grammaticus perfectly. Firenz and Catriona both gained level 2, becoming better warriors.
The Spring Company rested for the night before their scheduled departure for Kuldahar, to hunt evil forces in the mountains.
The Spring Company – part 2
Tragedy strikes. Evil frost giants trigger an avalanche, killing most of the adventurers and militia from Easthaven. Only the Spring Company survived, due to the prescience of Agatha. Disheartened by the wholesale death, a subdued Spring Company descends into the valley to find it filled with Goblins and their route to Kuldahar cut off.
A talkative ogre said that something had driven them down, and that his head hurt, which is perhaps why he attacked when Ingrid called him an oaf. The general feeling seemed to be that these were very hungry goblins, finding nothing to eat they wanted to eat our band of adventurers! The Spring Company defended themselves as best they could, but there were many many goblins, and orcs too and they took injuries fighting their way through to Kuldahar. The party was disgusted to find that the goblins were eating people, and saved a boy hidden beneath some stairs from such a grim fate, escorting him to safety.
Agatha gained Level 2 and another level 1 cast, while Ingrid and Grammaticus both gained level 3. Grammaticus became a truly proficient trap-setter, then began learning how to sneak; Ingrid learned a new song to banish fear and a second level 1 spell – another cast of sleep. Thrakka gained level 2 in cleric.
Battered but alive the Spring Company they reached Kuldahar, where they were tasked to discover the source of unrest in the Vale of Shadows. Being keen adventurers and servants of righteousness, they naturally agreed to help. First, they retired to the Kuldahar Inn to rest and recover, where Ingrid puzzled out a magical flute she had found which allows her to cast bless, just like a cleric.
Before setting out, the righted a great wrong about the ownership of the local inn, then made the long trek up into the vale.
The Vale of Shadows was overrun with undead. Thrakka was insistent that they put the risen dead back to their proper rest. The first crypt they came across also had a Carrion Crawler, a kind of foul giant maggot which feasts on corpses. It managed to paralyse Thrakka but the rest of the Company rallied round and saved him. Firenz and Catriona both gained level 3 in the process. Firenz improving his Axe skills and Catriona her Mace skills. Thrakka gained level 2 in fighter and an important HP increase.
Thrakka’s ability to turn undead, combined with Ingrid’s bardsong and Firenz’s armor give the Company the edge to clear the second tomb. Catriona claimed a high-quality mace from one of the risen dead, and Agatha gained Level 3, and learned magic Missile. Ingrid and Grammaticus both attained level 4. Ingrid learned Stinking Cloud for her first level 2 spell, and Grammaticus increased his stealthiness.
They pushed deeper into the Vale, only to be assaulted by Yetis, finally fighting the Yeti Chief, and reclaiming an amulet of sentimental value, stolen from a resident of Kuldahar.
Pushing into an ice cave the Spring Company was ambushed by more Yetis. Already injured our desperate band attempted to fight them off. With their victory Ingrid suggested that they should return to Kuldahar for healing, but not before Thrakka notice signs of human habitation n the cave. Someone apart from the Yetis was living up here in the Vale, and whoever they were, they’re up to no good. Catriona took a magical mace and the Spring Company began the trek back to Kuldahar.
As they were traveling back they passed one further tomb, with strange shadows outside. With Thrakka gaining a third level of cleric they decided to clear it out and put the dead to rest one last time before they returned to the warmth of the great tree.
Thrakka’s turn undead powers had grown and he was able to keep the undead at bay while Catriona and Firenz sent them back to the grave, and with the final skeleton smashed they returned to Kuldahar for a well earned drink in the Root Cellar Tavern.
We missed out nearly all the optional content in SoD in an effort to stay safe, but ultimately were successful in our attempts to sabotage ourselves .
Starting the session in the Coalition Camp, we bypassed everything in Dead Man's Pass and the dead magic ambush area on the way to rescue Skie. Then it was on to the Underground River area. Things went pretty well there with some myconids and spiders beaten up before we tackled the guards on the underground entrance. Stumpy showed some nice skills there when half a dozen or so guards surrounded him at the compound gate. Stumpy used his Talosian lightning to great effect there - bouncing it back and forth between the gate posts multiple times to kill the lot of them.
We placed the Bwoosh and Stumpy used sanctuary to poison the food and water before we sneaked out and headed back to camp.
The plan, such as it was, for the first invasion wave was for Stumpy to gather attackers around him while Dragonbane blasted them with lightning. That looked like it might end badly when Stumpy was hit twice in quick succession - his clerical HPs suddenly looking inadequate against attackers doing mid 20s damage.
However, he managed to avoid being hit again and the attackers melted away under the assault from lightning and the friendly archers.
For the second wave, Dragonbane relied essentially on insects to stop the mages casting. They did manage to hold him, but not before an insect plague was launched to cripple further attempts.
The third wave saw similar tactics to the first, but with a bit of help from summons and insects thrown in. With some of the attackers attempting to cast, it was easier for Stumpy to avoid damage and the fight was no problem. There was a nice finish when one of the clerics disappeared into sanctuary - not realising that Dragonbane still had call lightning active and continuing bolts from that had no difficulty in hitting through sanctuary.
The final wave seemed to be going well early on with the odd skeleton and nymph causing problems while insects cut out casters. However, the coalition spies didn't do much damage and the invaders managed to regroup. Dragonbane got caught out too far forward and was commanded to die by Grimgor.
That cost him nearly 60 HPs, but he managed to get up and struggle back to the rear. However, that just exposed Stumpy and a backstab from Swift Rabbit and a wand blast from Orleth killed him.
Fortunately Grimgor, who was the only one in sight of Dragonbane, decided to retreat instead of leading an attack. That allowed Dragonbane to use a scroll to revive Stumpy and bring out 3 totemic lions. Their assault scared Orleth into using a fireball at close quarters - killing not just himself, but Swift Rabbit, Kegleg and Grimgor as well and leaving us with just the Piercer of Boils to clean up.
After resting, we pushed on to the Castle. Dragonbane used some potions for protection before picking a fight with Ashatiel - and it wasn't long before one of his darts of stunning struck home.
Inside the Castle we chased after Caelar into the first demon area. The intention was just to run through that, but Dragonbane had rather stupidly not checked his buffs after the area transition. That involves a cut scene that sometimes destroys buffs and not just his previous potion buffs, but the chaotic commands that Stumpy had just put on him had disappeared. As a result he was immediately charmed by Illaruel. At that point Stumpy realised that he had no armor on (as a result of his death at the Coalition Camp) and was in no condition to fight a horde of demons. He tried using a potion of invisibility with the intention of fading out of the fight until he could don the armor. However, the lowly lemures were able to not just sense that, but dispel the illusion as well. As a result Stumpy was soon surrounded and, once he was dead, Dragonbane's charm proved fatal.
Two more intrepid random adventurers answer the call. After finishing the jobs around Candlekeep they headed outside to find more work and picked on Shoal the nereid. Plus a random wolf we lured in.
With Shoal dead we were free to head south and loot a sword from Greywolf - we have no need of it though.
There are a few more bits and pieces to do, allowing Daiyne to reach level 5 while Jack reaches levels 2 / 2 / 3.
Icewind Dale EE
Difficulty: Core
Mods: None
Rules: No reload; Minimal rests, no resting outside of Inns
Our valiant adventurers return to the Vale of Shadows, determined to root out the evil which has take root here. Thrakka remembers as many healing spells as he can for the long battles they suspect are coming, It’s an arduous journey back to Kuldahar so they have to conserve resources.
The next tomb they came across was grander than the previous ones. The dead inside could talk… or at least some of them. There was no turning back though. The dead have no place among the living. Firenz was badly injured but Thrakka could patch him up no problem. The talking undead dropped a ring to increase chance to hit, which Ingrid gave to Firenz – more hitting meant less damage she reasoned.
They fought a large number of undead at the bridge, then Grammaticus scouted forward, looking for traps, but there was no further difficulty and they returned the remainder of the undead to the grave. They found an ornate silver key, and enchanted dagger for Agatha and a few magical scrolls, the source of which was unknown. Preparing, they left the tomb back out into the snowy chill and ascended further up the Vale as night closed in.
Bitterly cold the Spring Company realized they had little choice but to press on to the final tomb and seek shelter there, drawn by the strange eternal fires that burned outside.
Inside was stiflingly hot and the Spring Company took a moment to recover. Firenz had gained level 4 and had a very high health pool. Likewise Catriona the kensai also gained level 4 and has very chance to hit. Thrakka gained level 3 of fighter and maxed out his dual wield skills. Cheered on by their growing abilities out brave adventurers cautiously moved away from the entrance ind deeper into the unnatural heat.
Our good and righteous adventurers were disgusted to find great pools filled with the dead, books written in blood and bound in human skin, and endless animated dead. This was a den of great evil, and they set about clearing the undead, watching out for the many traps as they did.
Some of these enemies were impervious to normal weapons, so Catriona’s mace had to do all the damage, but the Spring Company worked well together and even these foul enchanted undead fell easily, despite the occasional paralyzing touch. The group were amassing a number of magical artifacts as they fought on, including a set of enchanted gauntlets which Thrakka used to enhance his chance to hit. They felt no guilt about taking these items, seeing it as disarming the evil that filled this tomb.
Everything went well until they encountered Mytos, another talking undead who refused to allow them entry – Ingrid was insistent, and it came to blows. Mytos managed to Hold Catriona Grammaticus and Firenz, but Thrakka’s turn undead saved the day, keeping the temple guardians at bay – it used a fearsome electricity based attack, almost killing Firenz, but the others were able to defeat it, with the help of Agatha’s precious Magic Missiles.
The danger of this tomb was evident – Grammaticus was knocked unconscious by a trap he didn’t see, triggering a hoard of skeletons to attack. Only Thrakka’s quick thinking with turn undead prevented Grammaticus’s death. Things went from bad to worse as they were attacked by a sending from the dark god of death himself -Myrkul. The shade was immune to all but their most powerful weapons, and Firenz was forced to take up a magical sword which he had no training in. With the help of Illmater Catriona and Firenz were able to banish the stygian shade, claiming a magical ring.
Its death gained Ingrid level 5 and greater confidence with her singing. She was finally able to put something she had been working on to use, a melody of Tymora, to boost the groups luck. Grammaticus gained level 5 also, boosting his stealth and his lock-picking, and Agatha gained level 4, and her first level 2 spell, Web.
But despite this they found themselves more and more facing enemies who their regular weapons were not sufficient to injure – and when they came to a great set of doors that seemed to lead deeper underground they knew they were defeated, for now. The Spring Company returned to Kuldahar and collapsed into beds at the Evening Shade Inn, knowing they would return better prepared.
In the morning the returned a set of “gnomish tools” to a potion brewer in a crashed airship, in exchange for some valuable potions, then went shopping. Orrick the Grey was the main point of call - Ingrid bought a scroll of web and a scroll of find familiar. She also had the rare ring identified as a “ring of shadows” perfect to help Grammaticus blend into the dark. Orrick had some other interesting items for sale, but Ingrid – conscious of their funds saved the Spring Company's coffers for later. The final stop was the smithy to get more darts for Agatha, she sure could throw them.
Ingrid read the scroll of find familiar, summoning a cute pseudo-dragon which would sit on her shoulder and sing along with her. Jobs done, our brave Spring Company began the climb back to the Vale of Shadows, to put paid to this menace once and for all.
Icewind Dale EE
Difficulty: Core
Mods: None
Rules: No reload; Minimal rests, no resting outside of Inns
They were right to be cautious – the second level of the Great Crypt was filled with undead. They were ambushed the moment they emerged. Fortunately Grammaticus had the foresight to set some per-emptive traps in case the worst happened. Firenz and Catriona held the door, keeping the dead at bay until Thrakka’s turn undead could take effect.
Advancing into the main room things rapidly began to look bleak, with magic-wielding undead mages and magically imbued wights taking their toll. Stinking Cloud, Magic Missile and nasty lightning spells did serious damage to our brave, or perhaps foolhardy adventurers.
Again, Thrakka’s turn undead helped turn the tide, the wights fell one by one, as did the mage, struck down by Catriona's enchanted mace. The skeleton mage dropped some nice armored bracers for Ingrid and one of the undead a high quality axe for Firenz, while other loot included:
a Morningstar +1 for Thrakka
an unidentifiable wand
the Black Wolf talisman which provides a significant boost to Catriona (-1AC, +10HP)
The Reinforced Shield +1 for Firenz (-2AC, 10% slashing resistance)
Wand of Magic Missile for Agatha (22 charges)
Various scrolls and Potions
Thrakka gained level 4 Cleric and a nice Turn Undead boost and more slots for healing spells to keep the Spring Company alive while doing good adventurer things.
They pressed on determined but with growing trepidation as the undead hoards thickened, and tragedy struck. The next room was filled to bursting with the risen dead. More than the Spring Company had ever seen. More than Thrakka’s turn undead could deal with. Agatha took a stray blow and was killed, body slumping to the crypt floor. That shook Ingrid and the others to the core. They smashed the remaining shambling skeletons and decided what to do, Agatha's forlorn corpse lying amidst the bones of the dead.
They healed up as best they could with dwindling resources and made the decision to press on, despite the set back, and raise Agatha at the Kuldahar temple when they returned. Thrakka used up the last of his cure scrolls while and Grammaticus scouted out the enemies. Cautiously they cleared the side rooms, and Thrakka reached level 4 fighter, Firenz level 5 Dwarven Defender and Catriona Level 5 Kensai. Another Kai for Catriona and the first 5%DR for Firenz.
There was subdued success in clearing the side rooms, until Grammaticus was charmed by an enemy mage. Fortunately he was by himself so there was no one for him to attack. And then at last they breached the final room, finding the first undead who was not interested in attacking. By rights they should have tried to deal with this final enemy as well, but they were so depleted, mentally and physically, not to mention Agatha’s untimely death, that they accepted what it said – that a priestess of Auril was to blame, and the she was holed up in a cave in the Vale. Demoralised that they had fought all this way for nothing the five remaining members of the Spring Company returned to Kuldahar, Catriona silently carrying Agatha’s body.
A costly resurrection for the Elf, followed by some selling of loot and purchasing of an almost as expensive suit of plate-mail armor for Firenz - Agatha's death was a solemn reminder that they were all fragile mortals. Resolute they treked back to the Vale for the final time, to put paid to this Priestess of the Frostmaiden - there would be no turning back until the deed was done.
Icewind Dale EE
Difficulty: Core
Mods: None
Rules: No reload; Minimal rests, no resting outside of Inns
Party:
Ingrid the Human Bard
Grammaticus the Gnomish Bounty Hunter
Firenz the Dwarven Defender
Thrakka the half-orc Fighter/Cleric
Catriona the Human Kensai
Deaths:
Agatha - 1 (Kresseleck's Tomb level 2)
Approaching the cave where the Auril priestess was supposedly dwelling, Grammaticus took the opportunity to trap the entrance in case they had to flee.
The priestess intended to bring the Icequeen’s touch to Kuldahar – an idea repellent to to the Spring Company. The battle was tough, Lysan had five yeti guards, but they were no match for a freshly rested group with Thrakka’s Chant and Ingrid's Tymora’s Melody. Thrakka claimed a second +1 Morningstar from her.
With her death a shade appeared, revealing that much of the restless undead had been raised at this priestesses call. The Spring Company felt relieved that they had solved the problem of so many undead in the Vale of Shadows. They reported the issue solved to the lich Kresselack, who rather magnanimously let them take the contents of his sarcophagus – another suit of plate-mail and some valuable magical swords – and then they returned to Kuldahar.
Here Archdruid Arundel thanked them for their work and gave them another quest – to reclaim the Heartstone Gem from the temple which stole it many years ago.
Ingrid the bard and Grammaticus the Bounty Hunter both gained level 6. Ingrid gained another level 2 spell slot, which she used for web, and Grammaticus distributed his points between stealth and disarm traps as before. The mysterious wand from the crypts was a Wand of Armory, able to cast Shield or Ghost Armor, though neither lasted particularly long. Ingrid thought that if she had known about this it might have saved Agatha’s unfortunate death.
The only other shopping they did was to replenish their missile weapons and purchase the Clasp of Bron's Cloak which provide 5% resistance to slashing, piercing and missile damage for Firenz, and the Girdle of Gond for Grammaticus, boosting his lockpicking and find traps (10% and 5%).
It took almost 2 days to reach the Temple of the Forgotten God where the Heartstone Gem was supposed to be. On arrival the Veeberg running away who almost collided with them was a bad sign. There seemed to be some sort of internecine conflict going on within the temple between two factions and the Spring Company was attacked on sight, forced to battle into the Temple.
As they go through the temple they search for anything useful, finding a nice Ring of Missile Deflection (10% missile resistance) which Ingrid gave to Catriona and a Shield of Missile Deflection (-2AC, -4AC modifier vs Missiles, 10%Missile damage resistance) which Thrakka hung onto for situational situations.
Grammaticus was now putting his 3x backstab damage to good use against the Acolytes, but the journey and the time in the temple was taking its toll and our Adventurers were beginning to suffer the effects of fatigue. They rushed to the reliquary where the Hearthstone Gem should have been only to find that the one faction had made off with it. The only clue pointed to Dragons Eye, a cavern complex within an active volcano.
They returned to Kuldahar to rest, recuperate and plot their next move. Thrakka gained level 5 Cleric and access to third level priest spells – memorizing the powerful combat buff/debuff Prayer. Agatha gained Level 5 too, learning Shield and Mirror Image, conscious of her previous death.
---
We take a moment to look at the Spring Company, on the Thirteenth Day since they first arrived in Easthaven from Targos. As they prepare to depart for the Dragon's Eye.
Ingrid the Bard is now Level 6. She predominantly sings Tymora’s Melody. She also has the spells memorized: Web (1), Stinking Cloud (1), Armor (1) and Chromatic Orb (2). Bards are great in IWD so long as you like singing bardsongs, which I do. She is an excellent support character and clearly my mary-sue self-insert.
Notable Gear: Bracers of AC8, Merry Shorthorn, a beautiful singing voice
0% of kills
Grammaticus the Bounty Hunter, level 6. He has 2x special and 2x regular traps, sufficient find traps and pick locks (with bard-song boosts and gear), Good stealth, thac0 14 with his heavy crossbow and a very nice 3x backstab damage. Like Ingrid he is an excellent support character: crossbow gnome, scout, assassin and dogsbody. He will be better once I find a decent melee weapon to boost his thac0 and damage for backstabs.
Notable Gear: Shadowed Studded Leather +1, Ring of Shadows, Quiet Boots, Girdle of Gond
9% of kills
Firenz the Dwarven Defender, Level 5. What a class. 19con shorty saves, d12HP, 50%DR and extra -2 to saves from defensive stance. 5%DR at level 5, -4AC modifier vs missiles from sword and shield style and -2AC with his gear which is stacked for additional damage resistance (overall resistances without defensive stance: 20% slashing, 5% crushing, 10% piercing, 10% missile). He just soaks it up while slugging away with his not particularly good axe.
Notable Gear: Plate-mail, Clasp of Bron’s Cloak, Reinforced Shield +1, a whole collection of +1 weapons he has no pips in
18% of kills
Thrakka the Fighter(4)/Cleric(5). The unsung hero, though obviously Ingrid sings about Thrakka a lot so not really unsung at all. Low rest would be impossible without a cleric imo. He literally keeps the others alive, though a cleric with a book filled with heal spells feels like missing out on the full potential of the multi, but needs must. Honorable mention to how even as a multi his turn undead was very effective crowd control all the way through Vale of Shadows and Kresseleck’s tomb. His AC is almost as good as Firenz and he spends most of his time in melee when he isn’t turning undead.
Notable Gear: Plate-mail, 2x Morningstar +1, Gauntlets of Weapon Skill, Ring of the Warrior, Large Shield +1 of Missile Deflection in inventory
21% of kills
Catriona the Kensai, Level 5. What is there to say, she’s a kensai and deals absurd damage already. I went with maces because that is something I would never do in Baldur’s Gate and I liked both the portrait and the idea of being a mace-kensai. She normally just flanks Firenz. I was going to dual to a mage at level 9 but I am now having serious second thoughts, kensai in a party is the bomb.
Notable Gear: Mace +1, Black Wolf Talisman, Ring of Missile Deflection
45%(!) of kills
Agatha the Dragon Disciple, Level 5. Poor Agatha, currently the party’s ball and chain. The lower daily casts for the Dragon Disciple don’t play well with a low rest run, but at least she has d6 not d4HP – not that it helped her. I should have take Shield earlier but forgot. Hopefully babysitting a sorceress through the early game will be worth it; right now an highly ineffective dart-slinger. She has the level 1 spells Chromatic Orb, Magic Missile, Grease and Shield, and level 2 spells Web and Mirror Image, with casts of 5/3.
Notable Gear: Robe of Frost Resistance (20%), Bracers of AC8, Wand of Armory, Wand of Magic Missiles
4% of kills
@alice_ashpool I'm surprised you got as far as you did with the monk as it was. SoA imo isn't too hard to bully with solo characters because you get so over-leveled and because the AI has such difficulty forcing a fast solo character to engage.
But I was pretty sure Sendai would get you and she did not... Kudos!
Anyway, MY monk retired in the underdark mind flayer city. Cernd got chunked by a ballistic attack and so we called it quits. Last run was also ended by Cernd being chunked (Hmm.). I've really got to be more careful in mid-late SoA vs. chunking risk on party members. Cernd in particular is super rugged in a lot of contexts, but every now and then his thin hp pool becomes important and he get's perma toasted.
Probably going to give the halfling swash with party of rangers & thieves another try. Tempted to roll him as a dwarf this time for the better strength bonus, but I kind of like the potential to get 21 dex in ToB with Shuruppak's plate.
Remembering that I'd forgotten to get the Ring of Gaxx in the previous session, I set about doing that. While clearing the way to various liches I nudged my record backstab up a notch.
Then a scroll of PfU provided protection while the Shade Lich, Elemental Lich, City Gates lich and Kangaxx lich fell to the MoD. The unimproved mace couldn't hurt the demi-lich, but not to worry - I had the trusty old Ring of Energy.
Moving on to the Slums I handed the Copper Coronet over to Hendak after dealing with the Beastmaster and his stock.
That gave me another level for each class before I nipped downstairs to clean out the sewers. Going in and out of the back door to the slaver ship drew Captain Haegan and his guards out in dribs and drabs - allowing a single lot of skeletons to deal with the lot of them.
I just used clerical buffs to kill the remaining guards - with both the wizards silenced that wasn't difficult.
To continue work on the Slums I did the Sir Sarles quest, then went to collect Lathander's Dawn Ring. The final ambush group of vampires attempted to stop that and I found that Tanova was too high level to turn. However, I managed to ditch her eventually and buffed up to deal with her.
In order to access the Planar Sphere, I went to Umar Hills next. I intended to help Madulf in the village, but mis-clicked and got into a fight with him (probably more appropriate for a Talosian anyway).
Otherwise there was no problem with the quests there. Moving on to the ruined temple area, the weaker undead exploded in front of me. My standard spell save at -1 was still not good enough to face the liches squarely, so traps and summons accounted for those.
At level 16 I still had poison traps, so just had to lay those and wait for Thaxy to die.
I hadn't brought along any items particularly suitable for the Shade Lord, but now had access to Firestorm as a cleric spell and that would have done the job - if a vicious sling critical hadn't proved enough first.
After collecting Valygar's body and stuffing that into my backpack, I returned to the slums to open up the Planar Sphere. The golems were probably the main danger there, given my relatively low HPs and poor AC (running around in leather without a shield most of the time), so I had to be careful to always leave an escape route against them. I picked up another level for each class after dealing with the first group of golems and got my first HLAs as a result. That meant a deva was available to help the newly improved skeleton warriors secure a demon heart.
Tolgerias survived a backstab, but not a follow-up wand blast before he could buff.
Returning to the Graveyard, I finished off work there. Turn undead was now destroying even skeleton warriors, so it didn't take long to deal with the undead.
Pai'Na handed over Kitthix, though with clerical summons available, that's not much use to me.
Another level for each class provided me with the possibility of spike traps.
Next up was the Bridge District, where there was quite a bit of work to do:
- the Fallen Paladins were trodden down by a deva.
- I successfully resisted the urge to hand over all my money to some muggers.
- looted the berserker horn.
- solved the skinner murders and pulled enemies upstairs to their doom.
- Dracandros provided me with a new backstab record before the others were pulled outside into an ambush.
- Captain Dennis made the mistake of letting me prepare for battle in front of him.
- I hijacked the ransom available for a noblewoman.
- Neb finally got his come-uppance.
I used the illithium to upgrade the MoD, though realised while doing that I'd forgotten to pick up Thaxy's scales to make into armor, but that shouldn't be a big problem.
- took on the Twisted Rune. My saving throws were proof against Vaxall, so there wasn't much danger after PfU had disposed of Shangalar and Vaxall eventually died in Layene's meteor storm.
Layene herself found improved mantle was effective against the deva, but not my sling.
That still left the Planar Prison in the Bridge District, but to get to that I had to first return to the temple sewers to deal with Mekrath - he's still determined to find a party of adventurers somewhere that attacks him armed only with normal weapons .
Skeletons finished off his yuan-ti guards to provide me with another pair of levels.
I made the normal announcement of my presence in the Planar Prison - killing the mage bounty hunter before he could buff.
A bit of use of the Staff of the Magi made sure none of the others had a chance. Working round the area, the Staff of the Magi also made it simple to kill things with backstabs, rather than using stealth and missiles to break up groups.
The Master of Thralls can see through invisibility, so skeletons dealt with him.
A deva joined the skeletons to beat up the Warden and his allies.
I think that concludes work in the Bridge District.
Cleric 17 / thief 19, 95 HPs (incl. 5 from helm & 5 from amulet), 512 kills (+477 in BGEE/SoD)
@alice_ashpool I'm surprised you got as far as you did with the monk as it was. SoA imo isn't too hard to bully with solo characters because you get so over-leveled and because the AI has such difficulty forcing a fast solo character to engage.
But I was pretty sure Sendai would get you and she did not... Kudos!
Anyway, MY monk retired in the underdark mind flayer city. Cernd got chunked by a ballistic attack and so we called it quits. Last run was also ended by Cernd being chunked (Hmm.). I've really got to be more careful in mid-late SoA vs. chunking risk on party members. Cernd in particular is super rugged in a lot of contexts, but every now and then his thin hp pool becomes important and he get's perma toasted.
Probably going to give the halfling swash with party of rangers & thieves another try. Tempted to roll him as a dwarf this time for the better strength bonus, but I kind of like the potential to get 21 dex in ToB with Shuruppak's plate.
well she's not dead yet, but yes, the chances are slim. @histamiini did a solo DMM SCS+LoB, only dying once, at the final fight, and their strategy should work fine for the non-LoB DMM, filled with cheese. But it is unpredictable, and more than anything it's long.
The strategy would go as follows:
Round 1: Recruit Bodhi GWW down the Solars 1 by 1 while Bodhi distracts everything. Imoen's 10 rounds should be up by this point so then just kill Irenicus - trivial with >100%MR
Pools: Start in the bottom right, lure and clear the demons. Use Bodhi's perma-fireshield(blue) to have the mariliths kill themselves. Pool 1 will gain you teleport and the ability to stalemate the game since once a pool is finished it cuts off from the main arena, meaning you can teleport there and no one except big M can get to you. This also nets you control demon.
Clear top right pool, hope that you don't get endlessly spawning Balors and Marilliths. Use control demon to have the hard stuff killed by the others. Begin screaming at Bodhi's AI.
Do the same for the bottom left pool. If issues happen just teleport to the bottom right platform and take a chill.
For the 5 - just stack as much missile AC as you can and sit on one of the pools and slooooooowly firetooth them down to near death, except for Sarevok. Kill Yaga shura, Use a Control Circlet on Sarevok and use Focus. Then asap take down the rest of the 5 while hopefully they concentrate on Sarevok. Once the last is dead, make sure Meli has done her full summoning thing, teleport to the far corner of a pool, then once she tele-stomps you flip to Ravager and kill Meli using the remaining Critical Strikes as per @XDarkStrikerX 's post in the LoB+SCS challenge thread.
Our session started in a familiar vein, a message from Grond0 declaring "I'm around if you wanted to be a glutton for punishment today.". Count me in.
The last save was named MP223 Bassilus so it was apparent that Daiyn had inspected Jack and realised his quarterstaff was not only unenchanted but also non-proficient. The thing was though, we were on the other side of the map and had been heading to the coast. So we stuck to our guns non-proficient quarterstaff and hunted down bracers of dexterity and a tome of leadership instead.
Only then did we backtrack for Bassilus. He didn't put up too much of a fight but his horde of zombies and skeletons weren't letting him go easily. Eventually we tore him away from them and once he was dead his undead didn't last too long.
Daiyn inspected her write-up to see if she'd drawn the Bassilus encounter and realised she'd reattached all yesterdays images. It's an easy mistake to make so she removed them all and added some more. Then she re-scrutinised the visuals and confirmed Bassilus was not present. Let's talk about something else then.
How about the nice pair of gauntlets from Meilum. Daiyn left them on the ground for Jack but he passed them to her with an assurance that she'd be the better custodian. Maybe, but she has the dexterity gauntlets and though unfathomable to Jack-attack she preferred a bit of safety to some more thumphardiness. So Jack reluctantly (gleefully?) equipped them.
We moved on to the basilisks and Mutamin - he was slowed by a bounty hunter snare and failed to survive the follow-up backstab which left Jack aiming his sling right over the slumped corpse.
Kirian found two of her companions (Peter, Lindin) were blind to our attention while she was silenced. Baerin was therefore the first threat but after Jack meleed him and Daiyn backstabbed a ccouple of times we soon had the better of them and the pick of their gear.
Daiyn expected Jack to use Magic Missiles against a bounty hunter trap-slowed Doomsayer but Doom > Blindness was well received. We used melee to finish that job.
Captain Brage used his uber skills to whisk us back to town, and then Daiyn snared herself preparing for Neira - the sole surviving trap was unused as Jack performed a double-command kill on this tavern's assassin.
We ventured north and after making our way around an ankheg nest decided the final one may as well see our remaining buffs and abilities.
All in all not much punishment gluttony headed our way today. We parked up outside Nashkel Mine, there could be no mistake next time about where we were heading. We'll try to work it out anyway.
Wilkim the shaman minimal / no reload Tactical SCS EET Run part III
The fight against Sarevok's Chosen was not as hard as I feared, but a thief backstabbed Coran and Branwen died protecting Wilkim with her body while he was under a Chaos spell.
The approach was to split the party in two groups, one for each stair, and launch some AoE spells. Let's just say it didn't really worked as intented...
On the way to Candlekeep, the Ogre Mages ambushed us and succeed in killing Neera.
The Ogre Mage from Firewine Bridge was no match for the Arrow of Slaying.
And lastly, the fight at the Ducal Palace was easy. Too bad I had to reload because Belt and Lilah were bugged and had nothing to say after Sarevok's departure.
Now the party can enter the Thieves's Maze, or try the TotSC quests...
Ice Island could easily be a death trap with no way to run.
And I forgot to talk about Neera's Wilde Surge destroying 10,000 GP...
Trying to stop the bandit raids seems to be a futile exercise particularly since none of us are very experienced. After Gorion was killed we didn’t head for the Friendly Arms Inn as Gorion’s letter had suggested as it was quite likely that his murderer had read the letter and would be there awaiting our arrival. We therefore headed south and then west in the opposite direction to Gorion’s advice.
We came across a most attractive female who offered me a kiss. It would have been churlish to refuse, but after kissing me she turned hostile. “Women!” I thought as we began to defend ourselves. Then just like a woman she changed tack again and asked us to defend her against Droth who turned out to be her husband. We killed both him and then her which turned out to be quite beneficial as Droth was wielding a katana, Wyrmbane’s favoured weapon, and also a magical helmet whilst she had a pearl. As a result my comrades levelled up.
We then found a ring for another dwarf and were rewarded with a useful potion. Hoping to find sanctuary in Baldur’s Gate we sneaked past the Friendly Arms Inn, picking up useful rings, experience and reputation as we did so. We were denied entrance to the Gate and so headed further north where returning Tenya’s Bowl earned us yet more experience and killing an ankheg nearby did the same.
Helping Mellicamp then gained us yet more experience as well as helping our reputation.
We returned a letter found on an ogrillon to Mirianne, before heading to Nashkel picking up the Colquetle amulet on the way. In Nashkel carnival we killed Zordral, a mage who was intent on killing another mage called Bentha.
Heading south, we defended Prism. This also ended well gaining us wealth and experience and reputation.
We were asked to take Samuel to the Friendly Arms Inn which we did, picking up a ring of fire protection as we did so. We also killed a mage who attacked us at the entrance to the inn.
Not too far away an ogre attacked us. Killing him gained us some useful equipment.
In Beregost we returned the Colquetle Amulet to its owner.
As we proceeded to clear the road to Nashkel of undesirables, three of those undesirables turned out to be Flaming Fist mercenaries who attacked us for no reason. At least Hurgan now has good armour!
Killing some nearby hobgoblins provided us with some useful boots and killing ankheg north of the Friendly Arms gained us both experience and gold.
We helped Albert and Rufie before killing Vax and Zal.
We helped a dryad and ‘Drienne before killing Ingot, a gnoll.
Helping Jared against a Polar Bear earned us some boots, but we were running out of ammunition so had to return to civilization.
The mayor of Nashkel asked us to investigate the mines which we did, killing Mulahey in the process. As a result of this I gained some useful equipment. The most useful item that I found was a Moonblade that drew me to it.
Outside we killed Zeela and others after which we killed a Revenant.
To the east we killed some undead and Narcillicus Harwilliger Neen and upon returning to Nashkel we killed Nimbul. Sadly Oublek, whom we had enlisted somewhat against his will, was killed by Nimbul.
Inside the inn we killed Neira.
A winter wolf ambushed us in transit and once we arrived we killed Neville and his hobgoblin allies.
We killed Gallor before helping out Charleston.
We then headed to the basilisk area.
EDIT
Too late I remembered that I hadn't talked to Xzar and Montaron and Khalid and Jaheira prior to the mines. That means: Loss of potion of Invisibility from Jaheira and loss of Montaron to do Pick-pocketting at Ulgoth's Beard.
Icewind Dale EE
Difficulty: Core
Mods: None
Rules: No reload; Minimal rests, no resting outside of Inns or other NPCs who offer rest.
Party:
Ingrid the Human Bard
Grammaticus the Gnomish Bounty Hunter
Firenz the Dwarven Defender
Thrakka the half-orc Fighter/Cleric
Catriona the Human Kensai
Agatha the Elven Dragon "Disciple"
Deaths:
Agatha - 1 (Kresseleck's Tomb level 2)
The Ice Trolls outside of Dragon’s Eye attacked immediately, as did the hordes of Lizardfolk inside. Sighing, Ingrid remembered that IWD was “that type” of game, and went back to singing. Good formation, Web and Prayer weathered the initial ambush and they set to clearing the level and hoovering up loot.
A second Mace +1 for Catriona, a precious oil of speed and 15 antidotes giving something of a hint of what to expect.
Horror of horrors, the Spring Company found that the Lizardfolk were eating kidnapped villagers. This was an abomination, they had to save these people. The fight against the Lizardking was tough and they used every trick they could think of, Grammatius’s special traps proving particularly useful. The Lizard-shamans were dangerous in the extreme – Holding and Silencing the adventurers, killing spellcasting, killing bardsong and almost resulting in Firenz dying, but they pulled through by making some lucky saves.They claimed “spinesheath,” a dagger with -5thac0, perfect for Agatha, should she ever find herself having to stab anything; and the “ring of resistance (10%FR and 10% missile resistance) which Catriona took for now.
Having walked all the way from Kuldahar, a 3 day journey, fatigue had now set in for the weaker members, and they were completely out of healing spells, but there was no option except to press on and clear the level, these villages lives depended on them.
The Bombardier beetles proved to be particularly dangerous with their stunning-acid clouds, and while a Sword Spider could be killed from afar and Phase Spiders posed no problem, the Wraith Spiders required magical weapons – a buffed Catriona took them down, and then the whole level was clear. Our brave warriors of righteousness freed the villagers and led them out.
For their valor, Firenz and Catriona broth reached level 6, putting 4th pips in axe and mace respectively, and Thrakka gained level 5 in fighter.
Not keen to make the long journey back to Kuldahar, and conscious that they still had a few tricks in the book, our party descended to level 2, where hey found more lizards, along with trolls and wraith spiders. They carefully moved anticlockwise, scouting and fighting small groups until they reached a bridge where they were forced to fight for their lives against Wraith Spiders and Trolls. Agatha used one of their precious scrolls to summon a group of friendly goblins and with very careful micromanaging the heavily fatigued Spring Company won out, only to find a second group of trolls and wraith spiders bearing down on them.
There was no question of fighting, they retreated tactically back to the entrance, killing a pair of trolls before returning to Kuldahar to rest – and prepare for more.
Icewind Dale EE
Difficulty: Core
Mods: None
Rules: No reload; Minimal rests, no resting outside of Inns or other NPCs who offer rest.
Party:
Ingrid the Human Bard
Grammaticus the Gnomish Bounty Hunter
Firenz the Dwarven Defender
Thrakka the half-orc Fighter/Cleric
Catriona the Human Kensai
Agatha the Elven Dragon "Disciple"
Deaths:
Agatha - 1 (Kresseleck's Tomb level 2)
Freshly rested, they returned to level 2 of the Dragon’s Eye, killing the wraith spiders who had caused them to flee.
Ingrid and Grammaticus both gained level 7 for this feat. Grammaticus improved his lockpicking and stealth as before, and Ingrid gained her first level 3 spell, and Song of Kaudies, to help the Spring Company ward off “sound based attacks.” Pulling a scroll out of her case she learned Fireball, though would not be able to cast it until after another rest.
A long slog through waves of Bombardier and Boring Beetles saw Grammaticus using his special snares as very effective fireball-type weapons and allowed Firenz to upgrade his Axe to the Defender +2, giving both Missile Resistance +10% and -2AC. He now has and AC of -4 before modifiers. Also the Longsword of Confusion +2, which might be good for Grammaticus at level 8.
The party, already fatigued, pushed through the level slowly, Agatha gaining level 6 and Invisibility 10’ Radius. They killed plenty of trolls and spiders finding the entrance to level 3, and then made to fully clear level 2 where they found even greater horrors, the trolls were eating children, led by Talonites in league with the trolls. Ingrid and the rest of the Spring Company were incensed and prepared to unloaded everything they had.
It was a hellish battle, the Spring Company used up everything they could get their hands on, Webs, Stinking Cloud – entire spellbooks, abilities, flaming oils, consumables. At one point it looked like all was lost when Firenz and Thrakka were held, but Catriona and the others stepped up to the plate and crowd control won the day, barely.
They picked up the “Holy Chaos! Deck” from the clerics and continued onwards, meeting Mother Egenia, a fellow priestess of Illmater kidnapped from Kuldahar. Thrakka hit it off with her immediately.She told the group that the Talonites were sacrificing the captured villagers and children to Talos. Disgusting. But the level was cleared, and the villagers and their children released. Relieved, the group was able to rest under the watchful eye of Mother Egenia.
The Spring Company could now go fully invisible before dropping down to level 3 and the inevitable ambush - A horde of Cold WIghts, led by an Undead Lieutenant puppet controlled by a Necromancer elsewhere on the level.. A combination of Web, Fireball, melee and protections saw them victorious, though Grammaticus had to drink the party's only Invisibility Potion to get out of a bind. Agatha saves the day with Web, finally earning her a place in the group. Thrakka gains level 6 Cleric and another precious level 3 spell slot. This means he can now turn the cold wights with some success, which is great.
The Undead Leutenant continued to threaten our just and brave adventurers, but with Thrakka’s turn undead and a newly confident Agatha’s Grease they were taken down – Agatha even felt brave enough to try some good old fashioned draconic fire-breath. Very Impressive. This was turning out to be an epic adventure (thought Ingrid ^_^)
Grammaticus’s stealth allowed him to roam around taking out the snowball-storm exploding Blast Skeletons while the Company fought the Cold Wights in various choke points. This level allowed a spate of leveling up. Firenz and Catriona reached Level 7, Thrakka reached level 6 in fighter and took a pip in slings, and Agatha reached Level 7 too, taking her final level 1 spell, Armor (a toss-up with spook), Level 2, Melf’s Acid Arrow, and Level 3, Slow.
They fought a particularly large hoard of undead at a mysterious bridge. Grammaticus had previously “Nuked” them with a special trap doing a large amount of damage, then Web, Grease, Turn Undead and the indomitable Firenz saw them back to the earth, then Presio, the necromancer behind this hoard of undead was finally defeated, via invisible ambush.
She had a Deep Red Ioun Stone (Dex +1), perfect for boosting Grammaticus’s skills; Hammer Flail +2 (15% chance to stun for 4 seconds) which Thrakka claimed; and magical robe for Agatha (3%MR, -3 save vs death, AC6 – instantly regretting taking Armor) and poisoned dagger (save vs spell) which no one would use for now. There was also a collection of interesting scrolls which went into storage for later, and some potions, ditto.
Grammaticus leveled up, putting a point in Longsword for Longsword of Confusion +2 and most of his points in Find Traps – having neglected it for too long. Ingrid also leveled up, gaining another Level 2 slot and taking a point in Longswords also, for Erevain’s Broadsword +2 (-2 save vs wands; 10% Acid resistance).
All tooled up, an invisible Firenz and Grammaticus scouted ahead for the many traps before the way down to level 4 – nervous but determined they descended to the next level.
So the Trio finds themselves in the City of Baldur's Gate and remembered we needed to take down Slythe. Riekan goes to pull but Slythe is too fast so Riekan repositions. Jiddle gets hit hard,, but Slythe does get dispelled. But to help Jiddle Riekan charged into melee and got a nice critical of 40 damage to finish off Slythe quickly.
We buffed, had a few summons, and were able to save the dukes at the duchal palace.
Time to work our way through the maze - no problems there. With a cleric and a wild mage, the enemies didn't stand much of a chance. We took down the skeletal warriors with a protection from undead scroll.
Time for the main event! Riekan pulled Sarevok. Semaj showed up but was killed practically immediately (snare and magic missiles did a lot of damage). Sarevok was caught in webs, with buffed skeletons whacking him and with the party doing ranged fire - he went down so fast Jiddle didn't even get a chance to cast doom.
The party worked their way through Irenicus' dungeon quickly. Jiddle usually tanked with Riekan doing backstabs or ranged fire and Grene doing some magic. Riekan needed to stay in leather as their was so much trap/lock work to do. The circus was easily solved. The party did real well for the fight with the beastmaster, although Jiddle took a lot of damage from the bears.
Next task was the Lilacor quest. Grene's spells and Jiddle's skeletons made it pretty straight-forward. Riekan even got the odd backstab in.
Icewind Dale EE
Difficulty: Core
Mods: None
Rules: No reload; Minimal rests, no resting outside of Inns or other NPCs who offer rest.
Party:
Ingrid the Human Bard
Grammaticus the Gnomish Bounty Hunter
Firenz the Dwarven Defender
Thrakka the half-orc Fighter/Cleric
Catriona the Human Kensai
Agatha the Elven Dragon "Disciple"
Deaths:
Agatha - 1 (Kresseleck's Tomb level 2)
Instead of another floor of caves filled with feresome monsters, this level had, bizzarly, a monastery dedicated to Eldath, God of peace, filled with monks. They invited the Spring Company in to use their facilities.
Ingrid immediately knew that something was “up.” The monk’s story at the door was as thin as anything. However, they were in dire need of rest and healing so she played along to gain entrance to the monastery and heal, taking turns to guard to door. Refreshed, Grammaticus crept out to see what he could find in this strange temple.
While he was busy, Ingrid purchased a scroll of “Polymorph Self” from the local librarian – she always liked the idea of transforming into a fearsome creature and here was the opportunity. Cool.
As they suspected, there was something very strange going on here – Ingrid confronted Albion the monk who greeted them. It all went downhill from there – these were evil half-snake-people! And they attacked the moment they knew the game was up! With other actual snake-people!
Ingrid doesn’t mind snakes, but snake-people? Who eat children? No thank-you! Good thing we brought all those antidotes. Thrakka’s sleepy-time flail and Grammaticus’s confusing sword both did their thing against the snakes – the hold effect especially is very nice. The initial assault repelled the Spring Company began the grim task of cleaning out this den of snakes, horrible revelations behind each locked door.
In the main room a cluster of Yuan-ti were having a banquet of people. Playing it smart, Grammaticus hit them with a special-snare and Ingrid with her single fireball. Finishing them Grammaticus released a party of likeminded adventurers captured by the snakes and together they cleared the floor.
Looting the snakes treasury, the found an excellent Mage Dagger +2 for Agatha (-1AC, 1 extra level 1 and 2 spells), along with some specialist monk bracers and a cool mace which Catriona could not use due to being Lawful… But she did get the “Blur Deck” allowing her to cast Blur (11 Charges)
The High Summoner was due-ly beaten down, though the Spring Company was burning through limited resources. Agatha’s eyes lit up when she saw it dropped the Summoner’s Staff +3. Having used up all 240 darts she had brought from Kuldahar, she decided to forgo ranged combat and focus on spellcasting from now on.
With that, level 4 was clear and they prepared to move to what they suspected was the Inner Sanctum and Final Level. Agatha cast Invisibility 10’ and they bit the (sling)bullet.
Instead of a snake-person ambush, they were ambushed by a cryptic little girl. Hmmm. Moving on-wards they encountered more snakes and, embarrassing, Grammaticus was caught in a very dangerous acid trap - not the first or the last time he will take trap damage on the chin. The early ease with which they moved forward quickly turned tough, with a room filled with snakes almost getting the better of them, leaving the Spring Company gravely injured, the only consolation a 3 attack per round longbow no one could use.
A now Level 8 Agatha learned Spider Spawn – No use until after the next rest though. With desperation sinking in, Firenz fished the party’s only Regeneration Potion out of his potion-case and drank it, hoping that it would be enough. The last two health potions went to Thrakka and Catriona. With the large number of Enchanted Arrows and “archer snakes” around Firenz equipped the Shield of Missile Deflection ready to take the brunt of the hits. Then, fortune of fortunes they found 8(!) potions of extra healing. Quickly drinking all but one then moved on.
They had much greater luck clearing the next room, with the help of Grammaticus’s last special snare. This turned out to the the Yuan-ti treasure chamber and the adventurers stripped it of everything of value – which was not much, except for a very valuable bastard sword of action +1 (+1 extra attack) which no one could use, and 3 Health potions.
Moving further in they found more strange creatures – Histachii, Agatha said they were called – Yuan-ti created abominations – and beyond a torture chamber – was there no end to these Yuan-ti evils?
Encountering the High Torture they attacked but the battle was tough – with his Yuan-ti Champion guards doing serious damage. Agatha waved her Staff of Summoning, calling fourth a Ghast to attack and they fell one by one. Searching the room, Firenz turned up a true prize – an Axe that when thrown would return to his hand.
Opening the next room, horror of horrors, a horde – literal horde – of yuan-ti priests. Firenz hit defensive stance to boost saves, Grammaticus ran and was stunned in the process. Agatha cast her last slow, Catriona used the Blur deck and Agatha began summoning invisible stalkers, burning through staff charges. Ingrid, naturally, did some singing to cheer everyone up. A very costly victory leaving our party on the edge of death.
Things you never want to see:
Gravely injured as they were there was only two viable routes – either turn back – or summon an army of invisible stalkers using the Staff of Summoning. Naturally the took the latter option. Agatha got to work and five of them rampaged through Histachii, and the Yuan-ti making them.
They pressed on in despair – The next room was worse than anything so far. Grammaticus fell to a Yuan-ti arrow. Agatha used the whole of the summoning staff, replacing lost stalkers desperately – Ingrid cast Web, Stinking Cloud and a precious Haste from scroll, Thrakka used his last Prayer, Firenz stuck to ranged at anything and everything, Catriona stayed well away – and it worked, they won. But at what cost. Grammaticus was dead, the Staff of Summoning was depleted save for a single charge, their spell books were completely empty and they had no healing left. A Phyrric victory – there would be no destruction of this snake-temple today. Demoralised they went back to Mother Egenia to rest and have Grammaticus raised.
Ahh, I pushed it to the absolute limit, with every trick we had to defeat snakes and conserve resources, but in the end Grammaticus paid the price and there are two rooms left, with no choice but to turn back or get a total party wipe. Maddening to get so close to the full level 4-5 clear in one rest, but by retreating we survive. No reload + limited rests is the real ultra tense experience I crave ^_^ Also this run has now become "semi-blind" as I have got past the furthest I have played in years and years - the tension is sublime, but the wipe is looming.
Comments
Previous updates:
I used the ring of free action to go through the Cloakwood without any fighting. At the mine entrance, traps did some initial damage before Drasus was on the wrong end of a critical backstab.
With no more reason now to keep reputation low, I did a tour of areas to boost that. While on my rounds of course I took advantage of other goodies on offer - such as Bassilus' hammer as an improved option for future occasions when I might want to be in melee.
That took me to the BG1 level cap, but I was happy to continue doing major encounters while clearing most of the wilderness areas. I'd already amassed quite a good reputation and hadn't really intended to kill any more of Elminster's clones. However, seeing him standing there so full of himself in Beregost, I couldn't resist filling him full of holes.
There were no problems with fights, though I did lose some cash after accidentally selling the charisma tome and deciding to buy it back. The set back to reputation with Elminster meant that I didn't get that back up to 20 from the wilderness areas. However, a few quick quests in the City did the job and I upgraded equipment a bit - in particular swapping a +1 for a +3 staff to help those backstabs.
One encounter of interest in the City was with Lothander. Killing him for his boots of speed can be done pretty reliably by surrounding him or using grease to slow down his escape, while backstabs and darts of stunning are less effective options. However, I've been looking for a way for any character to stop him and have tried a couple of times to place characters where they would block his exit to the stairs. The placement to do that, without getting close enough to the stairs for him to jump to the exit despite the block, is sensitive. Even though I could have used skeletons in this run, I tried getting the placement right instead - and got it to work this time.
I did have one problem on the way to getting Balduran's Cloak. After sneaking into Degrodel's house and backstabbing one of his guards I ran out and hid, but failed to move away in time from the chasing pack and got surrounded as invisible stalkers converged. That led to a first use of potions to go invisible, regenerate and break out of the trap.
I hadn't yet been to Durlag's Tower, so did that next. Stealth and skeletons dealt with some basilisks on the roof, while Kirinhale failed to make her intended getaway.
Back in Baldur's Gate, the last few encounters were done, including the Iron Throne. All the enemy casters were silenced and buffed skeletons cleaned up after that, with the help of a command.
On to Candlekeep, where potions of perception boosted lockpicking and trap finding to make getting the tomes easy. Prat's gang were more skeleton victims.
The start of the final challenges saw Slythe and Krystin unable to withstand the skeleton onslaught. At the palace, none of the dopplegangers attacked me which meant the dukes could potentially be in trouble, despite the skeletons. Seeing the concentration of attacks was around Belt I decided (unusually) to try and protect Liia - that resulted in Belt dying just before the end of the fight, though Liia survived with only slight injuries.
Going through the maze I picked up my first 3 figure backstab.
The unnecessary work done in BGEE meant that I was immediately able to pick up an extra level in each class on transfer to SoD.
Cleric 8 / thief 9, 66 HPs, 297 kills
It looks as if you've removed or changed the level cap. Which is it ?
The highest that I can get before SoD is 161,000
Neither. Although XP shown on the character record is limited to 161,000, the game does keep track of amounts over that in the background. Each time you load the game the amount is reset back to the limit. However, if you play on the PC and use the SoD engine than you automatically transfer to SoD after Sarevok dies and keep whatever XP over the limit you've gained since the last time you loaded the game.
I'm not sure what happens if you import from BGEE to SoD manually, but guess that you would keep the excess XP doing that as well if you import a character from a save (that certainly happens when you import from SoD to BG2EE).
Eyeball Catacombs
After returning to recharge her rod of resurrection (this is going to get steadily more expensive as we drop our rep down) Anastasia entered the eyeball rooms. These are surprisingly dangerous. The Eagle Eyes seem to hit regardless of AC and the sentinals can summon all sorts of trash. The cloak of mirroring, which I have rarely used, is completely effective in neutralizing the Eagle Eyes though so the whole thing becomes trivial. The tyrant Golems are highly resistant to physical damage but not to greater deathblow. Anastasia worked through methodically then sent the adventurers party to get her a gauth eyestalk.
Abazigal
We re-speced out gear for the cloak of reflection, giving 120%LR, Guards Ring +2, and Spectral Brand +5 offhand.
Anastasia applied the following buffs:
1 x protection from cold scroll
1 x protection from cold potion
Potion of Storm Giant Strength
4 x Potion of Heroism
Stoneskin, Blur, Mirror Image
4 x Frozen Fists
Hardiness
And then put the Boots of Speed on. She inched forward to trigger the short cutscene then immediately hits pause and runs to the right leveraging the monks superspeed. Abi won't follow but Tamah will. She runs right then down, circling the arena to the only good place. Afaik Ascension messes with the arena design so there are no good bottlenecks in the room anymore, but this place is marginally better than others. Once in position she swaps to boots of the North and waits for Tamah and the Frost Salamanders to track her down.
Tamah does very high crushing damage with her breath attack and there is not much Ana can do here, so she needs to hit her down very quickly. We spam GWW with all our frozen fists, making sure to have detect image up all the time for her improved invisibility effects. We get her stoneskins down but all Ana's protections are also down so she has to use rod of resurrection once. This gets us to Tamah's "Ethereal" phase. She disappears and wanders off, soon to bug out horribly, as we will see.
Swapping back to Blackrazor, Ana then finishes off the frost salamanders, re-equips boots of speed and heals. She then goes to hunt the various drakes. These things could well take the prize for most annoying enemy since they constantly go invisible then re-position meaning Ana is tediously hunting round the entire outskirts of the arena with detect illusion. They are vulnerable to greater deathblow though - if you can land it. Unfortunately she can only find 3 of the 4. While all this is going on, Abi is just chilling in the center of the arena, perhaps that's where the drake is.
Now for the secret weapon, because to be "fair," Anastasia did not come this far by playing fair at all. She uses her pocket plane ability and takes a cheeky 8 hour nap and returns. I think this is possible because while there are hostile enemies OoLoS, none of them are targeting Ana because she managed to avoid agro due to the monks speed at the beginning. This also happens to bug Tamah, who Ana shamelessly kills with firetooth.
Ana then hunts down the missing drake and preps for Abi, taking another nap (Needing this was a miscalculation on my part, I should not have buffed early but I was worried about Tamah being hostile- it's a shame because resting causes Tamah's body to disappear). Because of his dispelling abilities it's just the usual stuff + a potion of power. Count to 6 and then charge his human form, hitting GWW as we do. With the monks ultra-high damage it only takes a single GWW to bring out his final form.
His chain contingency has PfMW and a very annoying mordy sword - props to whoever put that in, and his spell trigger has Improved Haste and Stoneskin. We get to kiting, counting to 24 as we do. Abi's spell sequencer(?) has 2x remove magic in it which takes our potion of power and MI, but not the blur. While kiting Ana greater deathblows the mordy sword.
The 24 count runs out and his contingency: PfMW fires... great stuff. Cue more kiting. Our second MI is dispelled with True Sight and ana takes some nasty damage, drinking health pots and refreshing hardiness. The second 24 count runs out and he uses another PfMW, unbelievable I am thinking, this guy is a player. At least every time he hits us he heals a bit of his damage through the 120%LR, though that no where near makes up for the brutal slashing damage. Also his earthquakes cause a friendly greater earth elemental to spawn. Cool.
We take this serendipitous moment to drink a potion of heroism, activate regeneration, then lose our Hardiness (breach?) Refresh it and yeah, its gone again, deffo getting breached. Then his improved haste runs out. It's all over now Abazigal I am thinking. We kite, we do combat, we burn wand of resurrection charges and finally start doing some serious damage, though due to his AC Ana is limited to 4APR fists due to the crippling dual wield penalties. Ana remembers her ring of Mirror Images and puts them back up x 3, punching away at Abi's Stoneskins.
In the end, with all our access to healing and superior speed it's inevitable, combined with pocket plane abuse of course. She didn't even have to use Ravager form.
I am planning on leveraging Ana's super high charisma to have Balthazar kill himself so this just leaves Ravager and Final Fight!
edit: I didn't screencap it but at one point I had 4 (4!) critical misses in a row in this fight... feels bad.
Exploring Cloackwood...
Branwen died once against a Phase Spider because she forgot to check our antidotes stock...
Centeol was not so hard, and Drassus's gang was a piece of cake thanks to Neera's Web and Wilkim's Withering Fog and Spike Growth.
In the mines, the mage in the second level was almost a game over :
the party was assaulted from both sides of Yeskick's jail, and hold on the doors.
The mage then arrived, and thanks to the infamous pathfinding bug (still present in 2.6 in narrow places like the mines) succeed in launching a Chaos spell on almost all the party. Neera was killed by Wilkim.
Ajantis, Branwen and Sirene surrounded the mage, but he stunned them. Wilkim killed him with his throwind dagger, but not before being charmed by the dying mage. He then killed Ajantis, Branwen and Sirene before regaining control of himself.
The way back to FAI for raising them was long, and let the party almost broke with less than 1,000 GP. Temples aren't cheap !
Third level of Cloackwood Mines was easier, and Davaeorn didn't stand a chance against Web + Spike Growth + Withering Fog combo.
Entering Baldur's Gate...
Almost all the quests there are done. All the wilderness areas too, except one woman statue to unpetrify in Basilics area, and exterior of the Firewine Bridge Ruins.
Now it's time for the sewers, visiting toroughly all the houses in the City, and prepare ourselves for Iron Throne headquarters...
To be continued...
That explains it. I usually close the game after beating Sarevok. I have had a few games where I have had weird amounts of experience and what you have written explains things. It was worthwhile asking.
It would probably be the same for a Shapeshifter. Only being able to use Scimitar/Club/Staff/Dagger, claws being +2 or +3...
Hum, maybe it could be achievable with the SCS Shapeshifter ? And since I play with a tweak component preventing druid to wear an helmet...
Oh no ! The Restart Again from level 1 Curse is back...
I can imagine - SCS with the SCS shapeshifter would be interesting but I have zero druid experience so don't really know about the long term viability of the shapeshifter solo.
- Lesser Werewolf (level 1): Str 18/76, Dex 16, AC 4, MR 10, 1 APR, 1d6+Str slash damage, enchant 1.
- Werewolf (level 7): Str 19, Dex 17, AC 0, MR 20, 2 APR+haste, 1d8+Str slash damage, enchant 1.
- Greater Werewolf (level 13): Str 21, Dex 20, AC -4, MR 40, elemental resistance 50, regenerate 1/sec, 2 APR+haste, 2d6+Str slash damage, enchant 3.
- Earth Elemental (HLA): Str 25, Dex 10, AC -5, physical resistance 50, immune to normal weapons, big selection circle, 2 APR, 2d10+Str crush damage, enchant 4, base THAC0 2.
- Fire Elemental (HLA): Str 22, Dex 24, AC -5, fire resistance 100, immune to normal weapons, fireshield, 2 APR+haste, 1d10+Str crush and 1d10 fire damage, enchant 4, base THAC0 2.
Some details don't match the descriptions. That's because the descriptions are wrong in those cases.
All of them are two-handed weapons, with at-will transformations by simply equipping the item. Two-handed style works with them, and you wield them with proficiency. They all block further changes to strength and dexterity, plus the earth elemental form blocks further changes to physical resistance. All of the resistances stack with other sources; a shifter can cast Resist Fire/Cold and then turn into a greater werewolf for immunity, or cast Armor of Faith and transform into an earth elemental for up to 75% physical resistance. Those "block further changes" effects don't do anything to effects cast while you were in humanoid form.
Note also that haste effects double regeneration; under normal circumstances, the greater werewolf regenerates 12 HP/round. That's enough to make a big difference in combat.
Having played with them a lot (though not solo) ... the biggest weakness of the greater werewolf form is the THAC0. No bonus from specialization, no bonus from the weapon itself, so all you get are strength and accessories. And you'll be stuck at base THAC0 12 for quite a while due to the druid's level curve and THAC0 table. There are a lot of enemies that you'll need a critical 19 to hit in that form. On the flip side, it's a fantastic tank especially against magical threats.
If you want an offensive form - that's what fire elemental form is for. You get the same 3 APR, more damage, a +4 enchantment level so you can hit anything, elemental damage to disrupt spellcasters, and most importantly much better THAC0. It's also solid against physical attackers, with the best AC and its normal weapon immunity.
Earth elemental form is your option for going up against the most dangerous physical attackers. If AC and iron skins aren't enough, 75% physical resistance is your best bet. Or 100% at the Throne, with the bonus from the final Ascension challenge.
Previous updates:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1166330/#Comment_1166330
PfU meant it didn't take long to get through the first areas in the SoD prologue. However, I did get a bit ahead of myself fighting the final bunch of mercenaries before Korlasz. The movement of the Flaming Fist behind me meant I was unable to retreat when targeted by an archer and I was poisoned with arrows of biting. A potion of invisibility stopped further hits, but the poison still ticked rapidly. The Flaming Fist healer was busy fighting, so I couldn't get help there. I think I could have used a green scroll to stop the poison, but just relied on the bug in any case (arrows of biting poison damage stops ticking when you're down to 3 HPs).
In Baldur's Gate, various NPCs were killed and their equipment sold - I got a new record backstab in the process of that.
The only minor gain to be had at the Coast Way Forest was the Suncatcher shield to cast sunfire. However, with skeletons it was no trouble to kill Ikros and Isabella, so I did that.
In order to keep both the identifying mirror and the shield, I didn't hand items back to Takos. The only bit of additional work done was to shoot down Teleria (and restore the statues) before using sanctuary to avoid any conflict at the bridge until Caelar arrived.
Troll Claw Woods held nothing of interest and neither did a large pit in the ground seen on the way to the Forest of Wyrms. After sneaking past the dragon, skeletons cleared most of the bugbears in the next area and I tidied up with stealth attacks.
On the way to Boareskyr Bridge I came across another green dragon. A nice touch the designers put in to this encounter is that the dragon gets annoyed if you're wearing equipment made from its cousin. In this case though I hadn't had time to do that yet, so the dragon asked for help. That was duly provided, but when the dragon tried to leave it failed to resist a command to die ...
At Boareskyr, skeletons were ready to kill off Vichand before he could alert the rest of the camp - but he failed to survive a backstab anyway.
At the Coalition Camp I didn't bother with any quests, but just picked up the Bwoosh and poison. I bypassed encounters at Dead Man's Pass, rescued Skie at Dragonspear and then went on to the Underground River. A scroll of chaotic commands let me safely grab a Myconid Pod. Soft Feet boots stopped a gargantuan spider's web tangle being a threat and skeletons ensured that the cyclops failure to save against a command would prove costly.
Inside, I went to place the Bwoosh. My poor charisma meant I killed the ettin ghost there rather than talking it down as usual. Similarly I had to distract the guard on the door to the Warrens by exploding a potion of firebreath rather than blagging past him.
After vainly trying to give myself up to Caelar during a parley, the next task was to defend the Coalition Camp against invasions. The first wave of orcs and trolls were mainly dealt with using a couple of firebreath potions.
Back at Dragonspear I used a PfM scroll and some potion buffs to challenge Ashatiel to a duel. He got lucky with a number of critical hits, forcing me to take an unexpected regeneration potion - but he still lost comfortably enough in the end.
A potion of clarity and ring of free action protected against demonic abilities while I beat them up.
After playing through the epilogue I imported into SoA. Even though I did only a small proportion of the potential work in SoD, I still carried over almost 750k XP into SoA. With stealth and cleric buffs available that should make progress there pretty easy (with emphasis on the should
Cleric 9 / thief 11, 69 HPs, 0 kills (+477 in BGEE/SoD)
Previous updates:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1166330/#Comment_1166330
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1166392/#Comment_1166392
My standard habit is to do practically all the work available in Chapters 2 and 3 of SoA and that includes attempting to vacuum the opening dungeon. I just missed out on successfully doing that - Ulvaryl managing to kill one of her targets before skeletons took the vampire down.
After checking in with Gaelan Bayle I bought some potions of master thievery from Arledrian. On exiting there I noticed some slavers passing by and freed a slave.
- restoring the circus.
Travelling under stealth I sprang the Suna Seni, then Renfeld ambushes. Before taking the latter back to the Docks I nipped over to Watcher's Keep to buy the potion case. With Renfeld returned, Prebek was silenced from the shadows and Sanasha backstabbed to open up the harpers' house.
I also accepted the task of taking down Mae'Var's guild while in the area. That involved stealing from my own temple (Talos), but naturally I had no compunction about doing that
Typically I wait to pay Gaelan Bayle until all the vampire ambushes have occurred - to reduce the chance of hitting trouble when not paying attention. The final couple of ambushes were still o/s, but I had the helm of charm protection from the harper building and decided to pay up now. A couple of skeletons then helped see off Lassal.
As part of completing work originating in the Docks, I also went to the Graveyard to find Bodhi. Wearing the helm of charm protection and amulet of power meant the vampires were not much of a threat - particularly after being turned. Tanova's spells were depleted by summons before I buffed and attacked myself, destroying her with the MoD.
I checked in with Aran Linvail and misleadingly told him I'd be ready to go after Imoen "very soon". Then, in order to be able to tick off the Docks as done for now, I went to the Sea's Bounty and dealt with Officer Dirth and some pirates.
{Edit: just remembered I haven't yet got the Ring of Gaxx, so that will have to be next}
Cleric 12 / thief 14, 85 HPs (incl. 5 from helm & 5 from amulet), 134 kills (+477 in BGEE/SoD)
Two very short Runs
In Candlekeep I was begged to buy a katana. I succumbed to the pressure which meant that our other equipment could have been better.
In the first run Droth interrupted all clerical spells with Lightning Bolts which led first to my Cleric's demise and due to no true sight ultimately to the death of the party.
The second run was more successful against Droth even though two of us slept through the battle.
We gaine oil if fiery burning nearby.
However we were not successful in helping Mellicamp.
and we were not successful against this lot.
Our quest was vain.
The end.
I intend to run this party again but not just yet.
General Info
Icewind Dale EE
Difficulty: Core
Mods: None
Rules: No reload
The Spring Company - Adventurers seeking justice and peace in the North
This recently formed group of six adventurers has be drawn to the North by a call for adventurers, mercenaries and any who seek justice and goodness in the world. Let us look at our merry party.
FIrst, the leader of the group, Ingrid the Bard, a determined Neutral Good human, she prefers talking and singing over combat, but if pushed she can use a shortbow or even a shortsword. She is from Targos in the North. She likes singing and doing good.
Next, her good friend Grammaticus the Bounty Hunter, a Neutral good Gnome, specialized in hunting down evil-doers with his traps and crossbow. Also from Targos. Together, he and Ingrid seek to do good and maybe make a few tales out of it.
The two of them have joined forces with a number of others. Firenz the Dwarven Defender, a Lawful Good bulkward against evil. He seeks to right old wrongs, as is the general trope among dwarfs. He takes great pride in his armor, seeing it as his role to protect the group.
Agatha the Dragon "Disciple" is an elf, and a sorceress to boot - she keeps herself somewhat aloof from the others - partly as a result of her distress at having her powers granted by the blood of an evil dragon. She does not talk about it, but her commitment to righteousness is obvious. She has brought little more than a stack of darts with her to the north. She knows how to cast Chromatic Orb and Grease.
Thrakka the fighter/cleric, a half-orc cleric of Ilmater, the god of suffering, and a decent fighter as well. He is proper to a fault but does not hide his orcish heritage. He sees himself as responsible for the spiritual health of the group and uses flails in combat.
Finally, Catriona the Kensai is deadly with her two maces, choosing to eschew armor in favor of a striking blue dress. She has either taken a vow of silence, or cannot speak. The others are content to let her be with her books.
The group have bonded well on the Journey from Targos to Easthaven. We join them as they have just entered Easthaven's only Inn. On fining out about the alcohol-flow problems, Grammaticus helped the Innkeeper sort out her fire-beetle problem while Ingrid, wanderin the town looking for stories helped a water spirit reconcile with someone who reminded her of a lost love.
The whole group reconvened to help a local deal with a wolf that had broken into his workshop.
This allowed Ingrid and Grammaticus to both reach level 2. Grammaticus put everything he had in setting traps. The six returned to the Inn, where Ingrid, having "liberated" a few scrolls from a most unpleasant and greedy merchant to "teach him a lesson" proceeded to try and learn some magic. it was hard work, but Agatha helped her and soon enough she could cast Chromatic Orb, Sleep and Minor Mirror Image.
Their relaxing time in the Inn was broken by a child who rushed in with word of monsters outside the village who had stolen his fish. More concerned by the monsters than the stolen fish out adventurers crossed the bridge south of the village, after Grammaticus had seeded the bridge with one of his special traps and injured himself in an earlier attempt.
The monsters turned out to be a pack of goblins, and out band had no hesitancy about eliminating the little beasts and returning the fish. The six of them took lodging in the local bunk-house to prepare for hunting the missing shipment which the local lord had asked them to look into.
Travelling into the mountain passes they tracked a band of orcs to a cave with tell-tale wagons haphazardly stacked outside. It seemed this was the location of the missing shipment. Inside were many orcs, many more than they were expecting and the battle was tough, but regardless they prevailed, their respective abilities working well together. Thrakka and Firenz held the line, Grammaticus and Agatha provided ranged support, Catriona hunted down archers, and Ingrid cheered everyone up with her singing.
Deep in the cave they found the leader of this band of orcs – a fearsome Ogre who Agatha blinded before the they all concentrated on taking the monster down and recovering the caravan contract. The Spring Company returned to Easthaven, elated that they had made a serious difference for the people here. Later on, in the Inn they looked through the loot they had taken from the Orcs, mostly weapons of dubious quality, but a scroll of Horror which Ingrid learned, a high quality morning star for Thrakka, and a pair of boots which fit Grammaticus perfectly. Firenz and Catriona both gained level 2, becoming better warriors.
The Spring Company rested for the night before their scheduled departure for Kuldahar, to hunt evil forces in the mountains.
Tragedy strikes. Evil frost giants trigger an avalanche, killing most of the adventurers and militia from Easthaven. Only the Spring Company survived, due to the prescience of Agatha. Disheartened by the wholesale death, a subdued Spring Company descends into the valley to find it filled with Goblins and their route to Kuldahar cut off.
A talkative ogre said that something had driven them down, and that his head hurt, which is perhaps why he attacked when Ingrid called him an oaf. The general feeling seemed to be that these were very hungry goblins, finding nothing to eat they wanted to eat our band of adventurers! The Spring Company defended themselves as best they could, but there were many many goblins, and orcs too and they took injuries fighting their way through to Kuldahar. The party was disgusted to find that the goblins were eating people, and saved a boy hidden beneath some stairs from such a grim fate, escorting him to safety.
Agatha gained Level 2 and another level 1 cast, while Ingrid and Grammaticus both gained level 3. Grammaticus became a truly proficient trap-setter, then began learning how to sneak; Ingrid learned a new song to banish fear and a second level 1 spell – another cast of sleep. Thrakka gained level 2 in cleric.
Battered but alive the Spring Company they reached Kuldahar, where they were tasked to discover the source of unrest in the Vale of Shadows. Being keen adventurers and servants of righteousness, they naturally agreed to help. First, they retired to the Kuldahar Inn to rest and recover, where Ingrid puzzled out a magical flute she had found which allows her to cast bless, just like a cleric.
Before setting out, the righted a great wrong about the ownership of the local inn, then made the long trek up into the vale.
The Vale of Shadows was overrun with undead. Thrakka was insistent that they put the risen dead back to their proper rest. The first crypt they came across also had a Carrion Crawler, a kind of foul giant maggot which feasts on corpses. It managed to paralyse Thrakka but the rest of the Company rallied round and saved him. Firenz and Catriona both gained level 3 in the process. Firenz improving his Axe skills and Catriona her Mace skills. Thrakka gained level 2 in fighter and an important HP increase.
Thrakka’s ability to turn undead, combined with Ingrid’s bardsong and Firenz’s armor give the Company the edge to clear the second tomb. Catriona claimed a high-quality mace from one of the risen dead, and Agatha gained Level 3, and learned magic Missile. Ingrid and Grammaticus both attained level 4. Ingrid learned Stinking Cloud for her first level 2 spell, and Grammaticus increased his stealthiness.
They pushed deeper into the Vale, only to be assaulted by Yetis, finally fighting the Yeti Chief, and reclaiming an amulet of sentimental value, stolen from a resident of Kuldahar.
Pushing into an ice cave the Spring Company was ambushed by more Yetis. Already injured our desperate band attempted to fight them off. With their victory Ingrid suggested that they should return to Kuldahar for healing, but not before Thrakka notice signs of human habitation n the cave. Someone apart from the Yetis was living up here in the Vale, and whoever they were, they’re up to no good. Catriona took a magical mace and the Spring Company began the trek back to Kuldahar.
As they were traveling back they passed one further tomb, with strange shadows outside. With Thrakka gaining a third level of cleric they decided to clear it out and put the dead to rest one last time before they returned to the warmth of the great tree.
Thrakka’s turn undead powers had grown and he was able to keep the undead at bay while Catriona and Firenz sent them back to the grave, and with the final skeleton smashed they returned to Kuldahar for a well earned drink in the Root Cellar Tavern.
Dragonbane (male half-elf totemic druid, Grond0); Stumpy (male dwarf priest of Talos, Gate70)
Previous updates
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1165414/#Comment_1165414
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1165759/#Comment_1165759
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1166167/#Comment_1166167
We missed out nearly all the optional content in SoD in an effort to stay safe, but ultimately were successful in our attempts to sabotage ourselves
Starting the session in the Coalition Camp, we bypassed everything in Dead Man's Pass and the dead magic ambush area on the way to rescue Skie. Then it was on to the Underground River area. Things went pretty well there with some myconids and spiders beaten up before we tackled the guards on the underground entrance. Stumpy showed some nice skills there when half a dozen or so guards surrounded him at the compound gate. Stumpy used his Talosian lightning to great effect there - bouncing it back and forth between the gate posts multiple times to kill the lot of them.
The plan, such as it was, for the first invasion wave was for Stumpy to gather attackers around him while Dragonbane blasted them with lightning. That looked like it might end badly when Stumpy was hit twice in quick succession - his clerical HPs suddenly looking inadequate against attackers doing mid 20s damage.
For the second wave, Dragonbane relied essentially on insects to stop the mages casting. They did manage to hold him, but not before an insect plague was launched to cripple further attempts.
The third wave saw similar tactics to the first, but with a bit of help from summons and insects thrown in. With some of the attackers attempting to cast, it was easier for Stumpy to avoid damage and the fight was no problem. There was a nice finish when one of the clerics disappeared into sanctuary - not realising that Dragonbane still had call lightning active and continuing bolts from that had no difficulty in hitting through sanctuary.
The final wave seemed to be going well early on with the odd skeleton and nymph causing problems while insects cut out casters. However, the coalition spies didn't do much damage and the invaders managed to regroup. Dragonbane got caught out too far forward and was commanded to die by Grimgor.
After resting, we pushed on to the Castle. Dragonbane used some potions for protection before picking a fight with Ashatiel - and it wasn't long before one of his darts of stunning struck home.
Inside the Castle we chased after Caelar into the first demon area. The intention was just to run through that, but Dragonbane had rather stupidly not checked his buffs after the area transition. That involves a cut scene that sometimes destroys buffs and not just his previous potion buffs, but the chaotic commands that Stumpy had just put on him had disappeared. As a result he was immediately charmed by Illaruel. At that point Stumpy realised that he had no armor on (as a result of his death at the Coalition Camp) and was in no condition to fight a horde of demons. He tried using a potion of invisibility with the intention of fading out of the fight until he could don the armor. However, the lowly lemures were able to not just sense that, but dispel the illusion as well. As a result Stumpy was soon surrounded and, once he was dead, Dragonbane's charm proved fatal.
Daiyn (female dwarf bounty hunter, Gate70); Jack (male half elf fighter / mage / cleric, Grond0)
Two more intrepid random adventurers answer the call. After finishing the jobs around Candlekeep they headed outside to find more work and picked on Shoal the nereid. Plus a random wolf we lured in.
run Info:
Difficulty: Core
Mods: None
Rules: No reload; Minimal rests, no resting outside of Inns
Our valiant adventurers return to the Vale of Shadows, determined to root out the evil which has take root here. Thrakka remembers as many healing spells as he can for the long battles they suspect are coming, It’s an arduous journey back to Kuldahar so they have to conserve resources.
The next tomb they came across was grander than the previous ones. The dead inside could talk… or at least some of them. There was no turning back though. The dead have no place among the living. Firenz was badly injured but Thrakka could patch him up no problem. The talking undead dropped a ring to increase chance to hit, which Ingrid gave to Firenz – more hitting meant less damage she reasoned.
They fought a large number of undead at the bridge, then Grammaticus scouted forward, looking for traps, but there was no further difficulty and they returned the remainder of the undead to the grave. They found an ornate silver key, and enchanted dagger for Agatha and a few magical scrolls, the source of which was unknown. Preparing, they left the tomb back out into the snowy chill and ascended further up the Vale as night closed in.
Bitterly cold the Spring Company realized they had little choice but to press on to the final tomb and seek shelter there, drawn by the strange eternal fires that burned outside.
Inside was stiflingly hot and the Spring Company took a moment to recover. Firenz had gained level 4 and had a very high health pool. Likewise Catriona the kensai also gained level 4 and has very chance to hit. Thrakka gained level 3 of fighter and maxed out his dual wield skills. Cheered on by their growing abilities out brave adventurers cautiously moved away from the entrance ind deeper into the unnatural heat.
Our good and righteous adventurers were disgusted to find great pools filled with the dead, books written in blood and bound in human skin, and endless animated dead. This was a den of great evil, and they set about clearing the undead, watching out for the many traps as they did.
Some of these enemies were impervious to normal weapons, so Catriona’s mace had to do all the damage, but the Spring Company worked well together and even these foul enchanted undead fell easily, despite the occasional paralyzing touch. The group were amassing a number of magical artifacts as they fought on, including a set of enchanted gauntlets which Thrakka used to enhance his chance to hit. They felt no guilt about taking these items, seeing it as disarming the evil that filled this tomb.
Everything went well until they encountered Mytos, another talking undead who refused to allow them entry – Ingrid was insistent, and it came to blows. Mytos managed to Hold Catriona Grammaticus and Firenz, but Thrakka’s turn undead saved the day, keeping the temple guardians at bay – it used a fearsome electricity based attack, almost killing Firenz, but the others were able to defeat it, with the help of Agatha’s precious Magic Missiles.
The danger of this tomb was evident – Grammaticus was knocked unconscious by a trap he didn’t see, triggering a hoard of skeletons to attack. Only Thrakka’s quick thinking with turn undead prevented Grammaticus’s death. Things went from bad to worse as they were attacked by a sending from the dark god of death himself -Myrkul. The shade was immune to all but their most powerful weapons, and Firenz was forced to take up a magical sword which he had no training in. With the help of Illmater Catriona and Firenz were able to banish the stygian shade, claiming a magical ring.
Its death gained Ingrid level 5 and greater confidence with her singing. She was finally able to put something she had been working on to use, a melody of Tymora, to boost the groups luck. Grammaticus gained level 5 also, boosting his stealth and his lock-picking, and Agatha gained level 4, and her first level 2 spell, Web.
But despite this they found themselves more and more facing enemies who their regular weapons were not sufficient to injure – and when they came to a great set of doors that seemed to lead deeper underground they knew they were defeated, for now. The Spring Company returned to Kuldahar and collapsed into beds at the Evening Shade Inn, knowing they would return better prepared.
In the morning the returned a set of “gnomish tools” to a potion brewer in a crashed airship, in exchange for some valuable potions, then went shopping. Orrick the Grey was the main point of call - Ingrid bought a scroll of web and a scroll of find familiar. She also had the rare ring identified as a “ring of shadows” perfect to help Grammaticus blend into the dark. Orrick had some other interesting items for sale, but Ingrid – conscious of their funds saved the Spring Company's coffers for later. The final stop was the smithy to get more darts for Agatha, she sure could throw them.
Ingrid read the scroll of find familiar, summoning a cute pseudo-dragon which would sit on her shoulder and sing along with her. Jobs done, our brave Spring Company began the climb back to the Vale of Shadows, to put paid to this menace once and for all.
Run info:
Difficulty: Core
Mods: None
Rules: No reload; Minimal rests, no resting outside of Inns
They were right to be cautious – the second level of the Great Crypt was filled with undead. They were ambushed the moment they emerged. Fortunately Grammaticus had the foresight to set some per-emptive traps in case the worst happened. Firenz and Catriona held the door, keeping the dead at bay until Thrakka’s turn undead could take effect.
Advancing into the main room things rapidly began to look bleak, with magic-wielding undead mages and magically imbued wights taking their toll. Stinking Cloud, Magic Missile and nasty lightning spells did serious damage to our brave, or perhaps foolhardy adventurers.
Again, Thrakka’s turn undead helped turn the tide, the wights fell one by one, as did the mage, struck down by Catriona's enchanted mace. The skeleton mage dropped some nice armored bracers for Ingrid and one of the undead a high quality axe for Firenz, while other loot included:
a Morningstar +1 for Thrakka
an unidentifiable wand
the Black Wolf talisman which provides a significant boost to Catriona (-1AC, +10HP)
The Reinforced Shield +1 for Firenz (-2AC, 10% slashing resistance)
Wand of Magic Missile for Agatha (22 charges)
Various scrolls and Potions
Thrakka gained level 4 Cleric and a nice Turn Undead boost and more slots for healing spells to keep the Spring Company alive while doing good adventurer things.
They pressed on determined but with growing trepidation as the undead hoards thickened, and tragedy struck. The next room was filled to bursting with the risen dead. More than the Spring Company had ever seen. More than Thrakka’s turn undead could deal with. Agatha took a stray blow and was killed, body slumping to the crypt floor. That shook Ingrid and the others to the core. They smashed the remaining shambling skeletons and decided what to do, Agatha's forlorn corpse lying amidst the bones of the dead.
They healed up as best they could with dwindling resources and made the decision to press on, despite the set back, and raise Agatha at the Kuldahar temple when they returned. Thrakka used up the last of his cure scrolls while and Grammaticus scouted out the enemies. Cautiously they cleared the side rooms, and Thrakka reached level 4 fighter, Firenz level 5 Dwarven Defender and Catriona Level 5 Kensai. Another Kai for Catriona and the first 5%DR for Firenz.
There was subdued success in clearing the side rooms, until Grammaticus was charmed by an enemy mage. Fortunately he was by himself so there was no one for him to attack. And then at last they breached the final room, finding the first undead who was not interested in attacking. By rights they should have tried to deal with this final enemy as well, but they were so depleted, mentally and physically, not to mention Agatha’s untimely death, that they accepted what it said – that a priestess of Auril was to blame, and the she was holed up in a cave in the Vale. Demoralised that they had fought all this way for nothing the five remaining members of the Spring Company returned to Kuldahar, Catriona silently carrying Agatha’s body.
A costly resurrection for the Elf, followed by some selling of loot and purchasing of an almost as expensive suit of plate-mail armor for Firenz - Agatha's death was a solemn reminder that they were all fragile mortals. Resolute they treked back to the Vale for the final time, to put paid to this Priestess of the Frostmaiden - there would be no turning back until the deed was done.
Run info:
Difficulty: Core
Mods: None
Rules: No reload; Minimal rests, no resting outside of Inns
Party:
Ingrid the Human Bard
Grammaticus the Gnomish Bounty Hunter
Firenz the Dwarven Defender
Thrakka the half-orc Fighter/Cleric
Catriona the Human Kensai
Deaths:
Agatha - 1 (Kresseleck's Tomb level 2)
Approaching the cave where the Auril priestess was supposedly dwelling, Grammaticus took the opportunity to trap the entrance in case they had to flee.
The priestess intended to bring the Icequeen’s touch to Kuldahar – an idea repellent to to the Spring Company. The battle was tough, Lysan had five yeti guards, but they were no match for a freshly rested group with Thrakka’s Chant and Ingrid's Tymora’s Melody. Thrakka claimed a second +1 Morningstar from her.
With her death a shade appeared, revealing that much of the restless undead had been raised at this priestesses call. The Spring Company felt relieved that they had solved the problem of so many undead in the Vale of Shadows. They reported the issue solved to the lich Kresselack, who rather magnanimously let them take the contents of his sarcophagus – another suit of plate-mail and some valuable magical swords – and then they returned to Kuldahar.
Here Archdruid Arundel thanked them for their work and gave them another quest – to reclaim the Heartstone Gem from the temple which stole it many years ago.
Ingrid the bard and Grammaticus the Bounty Hunter both gained level 6. Ingrid gained another level 2 spell slot, which she used for web, and Grammaticus distributed his points between stealth and disarm traps as before. The mysterious wand from the crypts was a Wand of Armory, able to cast Shield or Ghost Armor, though neither lasted particularly long. Ingrid thought that if she had known about this it might have saved Agatha’s unfortunate death.
The only other shopping they did was to replenish their missile weapons and purchase the Clasp of Bron's Cloak which provide 5% resistance to slashing, piercing and missile damage for Firenz, and the Girdle of Gond for Grammaticus, boosting his lockpicking and find traps (10% and 5%).
It took almost 2 days to reach the Temple of the Forgotten God where the Heartstone Gem was supposed to be. On arrival the Veeberg running away who almost collided with them was a bad sign. There seemed to be some sort of internecine conflict going on within the temple between two factions and the Spring Company was attacked on sight, forced to battle into the Temple.
As they go through the temple they search for anything useful, finding a nice Ring of Missile Deflection (10% missile resistance) which Ingrid gave to Catriona and a Shield of Missile Deflection (-2AC, -4AC modifier vs Missiles, 10%Missile damage resistance) which Thrakka hung onto for situational situations.
Grammaticus was now putting his 3x backstab damage to good use against the Acolytes, but the journey and the time in the temple was taking its toll and our Adventurers were beginning to suffer the effects of fatigue. They rushed to the reliquary where the Hearthstone Gem should have been only to find that the one faction had made off with it. The only clue pointed to Dragons Eye, a cavern complex within an active volcano.
They returned to Kuldahar to rest, recuperate and plot their next move. Thrakka gained level 5 Cleric and access to third level priest spells – memorizing the powerful combat buff/debuff Prayer. Agatha gained Level 5 too, learning Shield and Mirror Image, conscious of her previous death.
---
We take a moment to look at the Spring Company, on the Thirteenth Day since they first arrived in Easthaven from Targos. As they prepare to depart for the Dragon's Eye.
Ingrid the Bard is now Level 6. She predominantly sings Tymora’s Melody. She also has the spells memorized: Web (1), Stinking Cloud (1), Armor (1) and Chromatic Orb (2). Bards are great in IWD so long as you like singing bardsongs, which I do. She is an excellent support character and clearly my mary-sue self-insert.
Notable Gear: Bracers of AC8, Merry Shorthorn, a beautiful singing voice
0% of kills
Grammaticus the Bounty Hunter, level 6. He has 2x special and 2x regular traps, sufficient find traps and pick locks (with bard-song boosts and gear), Good stealth, thac0 14 with his heavy crossbow and a very nice 3x backstab damage. Like Ingrid he is an excellent support character: crossbow gnome, scout, assassin and dogsbody. He will be better once I find a decent melee weapon to boost his thac0 and damage for backstabs.
Notable Gear: Shadowed Studded Leather +1, Ring of Shadows, Quiet Boots, Girdle of Gond
9% of kills
Firenz the Dwarven Defender, Level 5. What a class. 19con shorty saves, d12HP, 50%DR and extra -2 to saves from defensive stance. 5%DR at level 5, -4AC modifier vs missiles from sword and shield style and -2AC with his gear which is stacked for additional damage resistance (overall resistances without defensive stance: 20% slashing, 5% crushing, 10% piercing, 10% missile). He just soaks it up while slugging away with his not particularly good axe.
Notable Gear: Plate-mail, Clasp of Bron’s Cloak, Reinforced Shield +1, a whole collection of +1 weapons he has no pips in
18% of kills
Thrakka the Fighter(4)/Cleric(5). The unsung hero, though obviously Ingrid sings about Thrakka a lot so not really unsung at all. Low rest would be impossible without a cleric imo. He literally keeps the others alive, though a cleric with a book filled with heal spells feels like missing out on the full potential of the multi, but needs must. Honorable mention to how even as a multi his turn undead was very effective crowd control all the way through Vale of Shadows and Kresseleck’s tomb. His AC is almost as good as Firenz and he spends most of his time in melee when he isn’t turning undead.
Notable Gear: Plate-mail, 2x Morningstar +1, Gauntlets of Weapon Skill, Ring of the Warrior, Large Shield +1 of Missile Deflection in inventory
21% of kills
Catriona the Kensai, Level 5. What is there to say, she’s a kensai and deals absurd damage already. I went with maces because that is something I would never do in Baldur’s Gate and I liked both the portrait and the idea of being a mace-kensai. She normally just flanks Firenz. I was going to dual to a mage at level 9 but I am now having serious second thoughts, kensai in a party is the bomb.
Notable Gear: Mace +1, Black Wolf Talisman, Ring of Missile Deflection
45%(!) of kills
Agatha the Dragon Disciple, Level 5. Poor Agatha, currently the party’s ball and chain. The lower daily casts for the Dragon Disciple don’t play well with a low rest run, but at least she has d6 not d4HP – not that it helped her. I should have take Shield earlier but forgot. Hopefully babysitting a sorceress through the early game will be worth it; right now an highly ineffective dart-slinger. She has the level 1 spells Chromatic Orb, Magic Missile, Grease and Shield, and level 2 spells Web and Mirror Image, with casts of 5/3.
Notable Gear: Robe of Frost Resistance (20%), Bracers of AC8, Wand of Armory, Wand of Magic Missiles
4% of kills
But I was pretty sure Sendai would get you and she did not... Kudos!
Anyway, MY monk retired in the underdark mind flayer city. Cernd got chunked by a ballistic attack and so we called it quits. Last run was also ended by Cernd being chunked (Hmm.). I've really got to be more careful in mid-late SoA vs. chunking risk on party members. Cernd in particular is super rugged in a lot of contexts, but every now and then his thin hp pool becomes important and he get's perma toasted.
Probably going to give the halfling swash with party of rangers & thieves another try. Tempted to roll him as a dwarf this time for the better strength bonus, but I kind of like the potential to get 21 dex in ToB with Shuruppak's plate.
Previous updates:
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1166330/#Comment_1166330
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1166392/#Comment_1166392
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1166415/#Comment_1166415
Remembering that I'd forgotten to get the Ring of Gaxx in the previous session, I set about doing that. While clearing the way to various liches I nudged my record backstab up a notch.
Moving on to the Slums I handed the Copper Coronet over to Hendak after dealing with the Beastmaster and his stock.
To continue work on the Slums I did the Sir Sarles quest, then went to collect Lathander's Dawn Ring. The final ambush group of vampires attempted to stop that and I found that Tanova was too high level to turn. However, I managed to ditch her eventually and buffed up to deal with her.
In order to access the Planar Sphere, I went to Umar Hills next. I intended to help Madulf in the village, but mis-clicked and got into a fight with him (probably more appropriate for a Talosian anyway).
After collecting Valygar's body and stuffing that into my backpack, I returned to the slums to open up the Planar Sphere. The golems were probably the main danger there, given my relatively low HPs and poor AC (running around in leather without a shield most of the time), so I had to be careful to always leave an escape route against them. I picked up another level for each class after dealing with the first group of golems and got my first HLAs as a result. That meant a deva was available to help the newly improved skeleton warriors secure a demon heart.
Returning to the Graveyard, I finished off work there. Turn undead was now destroying even skeleton warriors, so it didn't take long to deal with the undead.
Next up was the Bridge District, where there was quite a bit of work to do:
- the Fallen Paladins were trodden down by a deva.
- looted the berserker horn.
- solved the skinner murders and pulled enemies upstairs to their doom.
- Neb finally got his come-uppance.
- took on the Twisted Rune. My saving throws were proof against Vaxall, so there wasn't much danger after PfU had disposed of Shangalar and Vaxall eventually died in Layene's meteor storm.
That still left the Planar Prison in the Bridge District, but to get to that I had to first return to the temple sewers to deal with Mekrath - he's still determined to find a party of adventurers somewhere that attacks him armed only with normal weapons
I made the normal announcement of my presence in the Planar Prison - killing the mage bounty hunter before he could buff.
I think that concludes work in the Bridge District.
Cleric 17 / thief 19, 95 HPs (incl. 5 from helm & 5 from amulet), 512 kills (+477 in BGEE/SoD)
well she's not dead yet, but yes, the chances are slim. @histamiini did a solo DMM SCS+LoB, only dying once, at the final fight, and their strategy should work fine for the non-LoB DMM, filled with cheese. But it is unpredictable, and more than anything it's long.
The strategy would go as follows:
Round 1: Recruit Bodhi GWW down the Solars 1 by 1 while Bodhi distracts everything. Imoen's 10 rounds should be up by this point so then just kill Irenicus - trivial with >100%MR
Pools: Start in the bottom right, lure and clear the demons. Use Bodhi's perma-fireshield(blue) to have the mariliths kill themselves. Pool 1 will gain you teleport and the ability to stalemate the game since once a pool is finished it cuts off from the main arena, meaning you can teleport there and no one except big M can get to you. This also nets you control demon.
Clear top right pool, hope that you don't get endlessly spawning Balors and Marilliths. Use control demon to have the hard stuff killed by the others. Begin screaming at Bodhi's AI.
Do the same for the bottom left pool. If issues happen just teleport to the bottom right platform and take a chill.
For the 5 - just stack as much missile AC as you can and sit on one of the pools and slooooooowly firetooth them down to near death, except for Sarevok. Kill Yaga shura, Use a Control Circlet on Sarevok and use Focus. Then asap take down the rest of the 5 while hopefully they concentrate on Sarevok. Once the last is dead, make sure Meli has done her full summoning thing, teleport to the far corner of a pool, then once she tele-stomps you flip to Ravager and kill Meli using the remaining Critical Strikes as per @XDarkStrikerX 's post in the LoB+SCS challenge thread.
That's it in theory.
Daiyn (female dwarf bounty hunter, Gate70); Jack (male half elf fighter / mage / cleric, Grond0)
Our session started in a familiar vein, a message from Grond0 declaring "I'm around if you wanted to be a glutton for punishment today.". Count me in.
The last save was named MP223 Bassilus so it was apparent that Daiyn had inspected Jack and realised his quarterstaff was not only unenchanted but also non-proficient. The thing was though, we were on the other side of the map and had been heading to the coast. So we stuck to our guns non-proficient quarterstaff and hunted down bracers of dexterity and a tome of leadership instead.
Only then did we backtrack for Bassilus. He didn't put up too much of a fight but his horde of zombies and skeletons weren't letting him go easily. Eventually we tore him away from them and once he was dead his undead didn't last too long.
Daiyn inspected her write-up to see if she'd drawn the Bassilus encounter and realised she'd reattached all yesterdays images. It's an easy mistake to make so she removed them all and added some more. Then she re-scrutinised the visuals and confirmed Bassilus was not present. Let's talk about something else then.
How about the nice pair of gauntlets from Meilum. Daiyn left them on the ground for Jack but he passed them to her with an assurance that she'd be the better custodian. Maybe, but she has the dexterity gauntlets and though unfathomable to Jack-attack she preferred a bit of safety to some more thumphardiness. So Jack reluctantly (gleefully?) equipped them.
Kirian found two of her companions (Peter, Lindin) were blind to our attention while she was silenced. Baerin was therefore the first threat but after Jack meleed him and Daiyn backstabbed a ccouple of times we soon had the better of them and the pick of their gear.
The fight against Sarevok's Chosen was not as hard as I feared, but a thief backstabbed Coran and Branwen died protecting Wilkim with her body while he was under a Chaos spell.
The approach was to split the party in two groups, one for each stair, and launch some AoE spells. Let's just say it didn't really worked as intented...
On the way to Candlekeep, the Ogre Mages ambushed us and succeed in killing Neera.
The Ogre Mage from Firewine Bridge was no match for the Arrow of Slaying.
And lastly, the fight at the Ducal Palace was easy. Too bad I had to reload because Belt and Lilah were bugged and had nothing to say after Sarevok's departure.
Now the party can enter the Thieves's Maze, or try the TotSC quests...
Ice Island could easily be a death trap with no way to run.
And I forgot to talk about Neera's Wilde Surge destroying 10,000 GP...
Trying to stop the bandit raids seems to be a futile exercise particularly since none of us are very experienced. After Gorion was killed we didn’t head for the Friendly Arms Inn as Gorion’s letter had suggested as it was quite likely that his murderer had read the letter and would be there awaiting our arrival. We therefore headed south and then west in the opposite direction to Gorion’s advice.
We came across a most attractive female who offered me a kiss. It would have been churlish to refuse, but after kissing me she turned hostile. “Women!” I thought as we began to defend ourselves. Then just like a woman she changed tack again and asked us to defend her against Droth who turned out to be her husband. We killed both him and then her which turned out to be quite beneficial as Droth was wielding a katana, Wyrmbane’s favoured weapon, and also a magical helmet whilst she had a pearl. As a result my comrades levelled up.
We then found a ring for another dwarf and were rewarded with a useful potion. Hoping to find sanctuary in Baldur’s Gate we sneaked past the Friendly Arms Inn, picking up useful rings, experience and reputation as we did so. We were denied entrance to the Gate and so headed further north where returning Tenya’s Bowl earned us yet more experience and killing an ankheg nearby did the same.
Helping Mellicamp then gained us yet more experience as well as helping our reputation.
We returned a letter found on an ogrillon to Mirianne, before heading to Nashkel picking up the Colquetle amulet on the way. In Nashkel carnival we killed Zordral, a mage who was intent on killing another mage called Bentha.
Heading south, we defended Prism. This also ended well gaining us wealth and experience and reputation.
We were asked to take Samuel to the Friendly Arms Inn which we did, picking up a ring of fire protection as we did so. We also killed a mage who attacked us at the entrance to the inn.
Not too far away an ogre attacked us. Killing him gained us some useful equipment.
In Beregost we returned the Colquetle Amulet to its owner.
As we proceeded to clear the road to Nashkel of undesirables, three of those undesirables turned out to be Flaming Fist mercenaries who attacked us for no reason. At least Hurgan now has good armour!
Killing some nearby hobgoblins provided us with some useful boots and killing ankheg north of the Friendly Arms gained us both experience and gold.
We helped Albert and Rufie before killing Vax and Zal.
We helped a dryad and ‘Drienne before killing Ingot, a gnoll.
Helping Jared against a Polar Bear earned us some boots, but we were running out of ammunition so had to return to civilization.
The mayor of Nashkel asked us to investigate the mines which we did, killing Mulahey in the process. As a result of this I gained some useful equipment. The most useful item that I found was a Moonblade that drew me to it.
Outside we killed Zeela and others after which we killed a Revenant.
To the east we killed some undead and Narcillicus Harwilliger Neen and upon returning to Nashkel we killed Nimbul. Sadly Oublek, whom we had enlisted somewhat against his will, was killed by Nimbul.
Inside the inn we killed Neira.
A winter wolf ambushed us in transit and once we arrived we killed Neville and his hobgoblin allies.
We killed Gallor before helping out Charleston.
We then headed to the basilisk area.
EDIT
Too late I remembered that I hadn't talked to Xzar and Montaron and Khalid and Jaheira prior to the mines. That means: Loss of potion of Invisibility from Jaheira and loss of Montaron to do Pick-pocketting at Ulgoth's Beard.
Run info:
Difficulty: Core
Mods: None
Rules: No reload; Minimal rests, no resting outside of Inns or other NPCs who offer rest.
Party:
Ingrid the Human Bard
Grammaticus the Gnomish Bounty Hunter
Firenz the Dwarven Defender
Thrakka the half-orc Fighter/Cleric
Catriona the Human Kensai
Agatha the Elven Dragon "Disciple"
Deaths:
Agatha - 1 (Kresseleck's Tomb level 2)
The Ice Trolls outside of Dragon’s Eye attacked immediately, as did the hordes of Lizardfolk inside. Sighing, Ingrid remembered that IWD was “that type” of game, and went back to singing. Good formation, Web and Prayer weathered the initial ambush and they set to clearing the level and hoovering up loot.
A second Mace +1 for Catriona, a precious oil of speed and 15 antidotes giving something of a hint of what to expect.
Horror of horrors, the Spring Company found that the Lizardfolk were eating kidnapped villagers. This was an abomination, they had to save these people. The fight against the Lizardking was tough and they used every trick they could think of, Grammatius’s special traps proving particularly useful. The Lizard-shamans were dangerous in the extreme – Holding and Silencing the adventurers, killing spellcasting, killing bardsong and almost resulting in Firenz dying, but they pulled through by making some lucky saves.They claimed “spinesheath,” a dagger with -5thac0, perfect for Agatha, should she ever find herself having to stab anything; and the “ring of resistance (10%FR and 10% missile resistance) which Catriona took for now.
Having walked all the way from Kuldahar, a 3 day journey, fatigue had now set in for the weaker members, and they were completely out of healing spells, but there was no option except to press on and clear the level, these villages lives depended on them.
The Bombardier beetles proved to be particularly dangerous with their stunning-acid clouds, and while a Sword Spider could be killed from afar and Phase Spiders posed no problem, the Wraith Spiders required magical weapons – a buffed Catriona took them down, and then the whole level was clear. Our brave warriors of righteousness freed the villagers and led them out.
For their valor, Firenz and Catriona broth reached level 6, putting 4th pips in axe and mace respectively, and Thrakka gained level 5 in fighter.
Not keen to make the long journey back to Kuldahar, and conscious that they still had a few tricks in the book, our party descended to level 2, where hey found more lizards, along with trolls and wraith spiders. They carefully moved anticlockwise, scouting and fighting small groups until they reached a bridge where they were forced to fight for their lives against Wraith Spiders and Trolls. Agatha used one of their precious scrolls to summon a group of friendly goblins and with very careful micromanaging the heavily fatigued Spring Company won out, only to find a second group of trolls and wraith spiders bearing down on them.
There was no question of fighting, they retreated tactically back to the entrance, killing a pair of trolls before returning to Kuldahar to rest – and prepare for more.
The moment when you know you need to leave asap:
Run info:
Difficulty: Core
Mods: None
Rules: No reload; Minimal rests, no resting outside of Inns or other NPCs who offer rest.
Party:
Ingrid the Human Bard
Grammaticus the Gnomish Bounty Hunter
Firenz the Dwarven Defender
Thrakka the half-orc Fighter/Cleric
Catriona the Human Kensai
Agatha the Elven Dragon "Disciple"
Deaths:
Agatha - 1 (Kresseleck's Tomb level 2)
Freshly rested, they returned to level 2 of the Dragon’s Eye, killing the wraith spiders who had caused them to flee.
Ingrid and Grammaticus both gained level 7 for this feat. Grammaticus improved his lockpicking and stealth as before, and Ingrid gained her first level 3 spell, and Song of Kaudies, to help the Spring Company ward off “sound based attacks.” Pulling a scroll out of her case she learned Fireball, though would not be able to cast it until after another rest.
A long slog through waves of Bombardier and Boring Beetles saw Grammaticus using his special snares as very effective fireball-type weapons and allowed Firenz to upgrade his Axe to the Defender +2, giving both Missile Resistance +10% and -2AC. He now has and AC of -4 before modifiers. Also the Longsword of Confusion +2, which might be good for Grammaticus at level 8.
The party, already fatigued, pushed through the level slowly, Agatha gaining level 6 and Invisibility 10’ Radius. They killed plenty of trolls and spiders finding the entrance to level 3, and then made to fully clear level 2 where they found even greater horrors, the trolls were eating children, led by Talonites in league with the trolls. Ingrid and the rest of the Spring Company were incensed and prepared to unloaded everything they had.
It was a hellish battle, the Spring Company used up everything they could get their hands on, Webs, Stinking Cloud – entire spellbooks, abilities, flaming oils, consumables. At one point it looked like all was lost when Firenz and Thrakka were held, but Catriona and the others stepped up to the plate and crowd control won the day, barely.
They picked up the “Holy Chaos! Deck” from the clerics and continued onwards, meeting Mother Egenia, a fellow priestess of Illmater kidnapped from Kuldahar. Thrakka hit it off with her immediately.She told the group that the Talonites were sacrificing the captured villagers and children to Talos. Disgusting. But the level was cleared, and the villagers and their children released. Relieved, the group was able to rest under the watchful eye of Mother Egenia.
The Spring Company could now go fully invisible before dropping down to level 3 and the inevitable ambush - A horde of Cold WIghts, led by an Undead Lieutenant puppet controlled by a Necromancer elsewhere on the level.. A combination of Web, Fireball, melee and protections saw them victorious, though Grammaticus had to drink the party's only Invisibility Potion to get out of a bind. Agatha saves the day with Web, finally earning her a place in the group. Thrakka gains level 6 Cleric and another precious level 3 spell slot. This means he can now turn the cold wights with some success, which is great.
The Undead Leutenant continued to threaten our just and brave adventurers, but with Thrakka’s turn undead and a newly confident Agatha’s Grease they were taken down – Agatha even felt brave enough to try some good old fashioned draconic fire-breath. Very Impressive. This was turning out to be an epic adventure (thought Ingrid ^_^)
Grammaticus’s stealth allowed him to roam around taking out the snowball-storm exploding Blast Skeletons while the Company fought the Cold Wights in various choke points. This level allowed a spate of leveling up. Firenz and Catriona reached Level 7, Thrakka reached level 6 in fighter and took a pip in slings, and Agatha reached Level 7 too, taking her final level 1 spell, Armor (a toss-up with spook), Level 2, Melf’s Acid Arrow, and Level 3, Slow.
They fought a particularly large hoard of undead at a mysterious bridge. Grammaticus had previously “Nuked” them with a special trap doing a large amount of damage, then Web, Grease, Turn Undead and the indomitable Firenz saw them back to the earth, then Presio, the necromancer behind this hoard of undead was finally defeated, via invisible ambush.
She had a Deep Red Ioun Stone (Dex +1), perfect for boosting Grammaticus’s skills; Hammer Flail +2 (15% chance to stun for 4 seconds) which Thrakka claimed; and magical robe for Agatha (3%MR, -3 save vs death, AC6 – instantly regretting taking Armor) and poisoned dagger (save vs spell) which no one would use for now. There was also a collection of interesting scrolls which went into storage for later, and some potions, ditto.
Grammaticus leveled up, putting a point in Longsword for Longsword of Confusion +2 and most of his points in Find Traps – having neglected it for too long. Ingrid also leveled up, gaining another Level 2 slot and taking a point in Longswords also, for Erevain’s Broadsword +2 (-2 save vs wands; 10% Acid resistance).
All tooled up, an invisible Firenz and Grammaticus scouted ahead for the many traps before the way down to level 4 – nervous but determined they descended to the next level.
Riekan - dwarven fighter/thief, protagonist (Corey_Russell)
Jiddle - halfling priest of Tempus (Gate70)
Grene - elven wild mage (Grond0)
So the Trio finds themselves in the City of Baldur's Gate and remembered we needed to take down Slythe. Riekan goes to pull but Slythe is too fast so Riekan repositions. Jiddle gets hit hard,, but Slythe does get dispelled. But to help Jiddle Riekan charged into melee and got a nice critical of 40 damage to finish off Slythe quickly.
We buffed, had a few summons, and were able to save the dukes at the duchal palace.
Time to work our way through the maze - no problems there. With a cleric and a wild mage, the enemies didn't stand much of a chance. We took down the skeletal warriors with a protection from undead scroll.
Time for the main event! Riekan pulled Sarevok. Semaj showed up but was killed practically immediately (snare and magic missiles did a lot of damage). Sarevok was caught in webs, with buffed skeletons whacking him and with the party doing ranged fire - he went down so fast Jiddle didn't even get a chance to cast doom.
The party worked their way through Irenicus' dungeon quickly. Jiddle usually tanked with Riekan doing backstabs or ranged fire and Grene doing some magic. Riekan needed to stay in leather as their was so much trap/lock work to do. The circus was easily solved. The party did real well for the fight with the beastmaster, although Jiddle took a lot of damage from the bears.
Next task was the Lilacor quest. Grene's spells and Jiddle's skeletons made it pretty straight-forward. Riekan even got the odd backstab in.
We ran out of time, so saved here.
Run info:
Difficulty: Core
Mods: None
Rules: No reload; Minimal rests, no resting outside of Inns or other NPCs who offer rest.
Party:
Ingrid the Human Bard
Grammaticus the Gnomish Bounty Hunter
Firenz the Dwarven Defender
Thrakka the half-orc Fighter/Cleric
Catriona the Human Kensai
Agatha the Elven Dragon "Disciple"
Deaths:
Agatha - 1 (Kresseleck's Tomb level 2)
Instead of another floor of caves filled with feresome monsters, this level had, bizzarly, a monastery dedicated to Eldath, God of peace, filled with monks. They invited the Spring Company in to use their facilities.
Ingrid immediately knew that something was “up.” The monk’s story at the door was as thin as anything. However, they were in dire need of rest and healing so she played along to gain entrance to the monastery and heal, taking turns to guard to door. Refreshed, Grammaticus crept out to see what he could find in this strange temple.
While he was busy, Ingrid purchased a scroll of “Polymorph Self” from the local librarian – she always liked the idea of transforming into a fearsome creature and here was the opportunity. Cool.
As they suspected, there was something very strange going on here – Ingrid confronted Albion the monk who greeted them. It all went downhill from there – these were evil half-snake-people! And they attacked the moment they knew the game was up! With other actual snake-people!
Ingrid doesn’t mind snakes, but snake-people? Who eat children? No thank-you! Good thing we brought all those antidotes. Thrakka’s sleepy-time flail and Grammaticus’s confusing sword both did their thing against the snakes – the hold effect especially is very nice. The initial assault repelled the Spring Company began the grim task of cleaning out this den of snakes, horrible revelations behind each locked door.
In the main room a cluster of Yuan-ti were having a banquet of people. Playing it smart, Grammaticus hit them with a special-snare and Ingrid with her single fireball. Finishing them Grammaticus released a party of likeminded adventurers captured by the snakes and together they cleared the floor.
Looting the snakes treasury, the found an excellent Mage Dagger +2 for Agatha (-1AC, 1 extra level 1 and 2 spells), along with some specialist monk bracers and a cool mace which Catriona could not use due to being Lawful… But she did get the “Blur Deck” allowing her to cast Blur (11 Charges)
The High Summoner was due-ly beaten down, though the Spring Company was burning through limited resources. Agatha’s eyes lit up when she saw it dropped the Summoner’s Staff +3. Having used up all 240 darts she had brought from Kuldahar, she decided to forgo ranged combat and focus on spellcasting from now on.
With that, level 4 was clear and they prepared to move to what they suspected was the Inner Sanctum and Final Level. Agatha cast Invisibility 10’ and they bit the (sling)bullet.
Instead of a snake-person ambush, they were ambushed by a cryptic little girl. Hmmm. Moving on-wards they encountered more snakes and, embarrassing, Grammaticus was caught in a very dangerous acid trap - not the first or the last time he will take trap damage on the chin. The early ease with which they moved forward quickly turned tough, with a room filled with snakes almost getting the better of them, leaving the Spring Company gravely injured, the only consolation a 3 attack per round longbow no one could use.
A now Level 8 Agatha learned Spider Spawn – No use until after the next rest though. With desperation sinking in, Firenz fished the party’s only Regeneration Potion out of his potion-case and drank it, hoping that it would be enough. The last two health potions went to Thrakka and Catriona. With the large number of Enchanted Arrows and “archer snakes” around Firenz equipped the Shield of Missile Deflection ready to take the brunt of the hits. Then, fortune of fortunes they found 8(!) potions of extra healing. Quickly drinking all but one then moved on.
They had much greater luck clearing the next room, with the help of Grammaticus’s last special snare. This turned out to the the Yuan-ti treasure chamber and the adventurers stripped it of everything of value – which was not much, except for a very valuable bastard sword of action +1 (+1 extra attack) which no one could use, and 3 Health potions.
Moving further in they found more strange creatures – Histachii, Agatha said they were called – Yuan-ti created abominations – and beyond a torture chamber – was there no end to these Yuan-ti evils?
Encountering the High Torture they attacked but the battle was tough – with his Yuan-ti Champion guards doing serious damage. Agatha waved her Staff of Summoning, calling fourth a Ghast to attack and they fell one by one. Searching the room, Firenz turned up a true prize – an Axe that when thrown would return to his hand.
Opening the next room, horror of horrors, a horde – literal horde – of yuan-ti priests. Firenz hit defensive stance to boost saves, Grammaticus ran and was stunned in the process. Agatha cast her last slow, Catriona used the Blur deck and Agatha began summoning invisible stalkers, burning through staff charges. Ingrid, naturally, did some singing to cheer everyone up. A very costly victory leaving our party on the edge of death.
Things you never want to see:
Gravely injured as they were there was only two viable routes – either turn back – or summon an army of invisible stalkers using the Staff of Summoning. Naturally the took the latter option. Agatha got to work and five of them rampaged through Histachii, and the Yuan-ti making them.
They pressed on in despair – The next room was worse than anything so far. Grammaticus fell to a Yuan-ti arrow. Agatha used the whole of the summoning staff, replacing lost stalkers desperately – Ingrid cast Web, Stinking Cloud and a precious Haste from scroll, Thrakka used his last Prayer, Firenz stuck to ranged at anything and everything, Catriona stayed well away – and it worked, they won. But at what cost. Grammaticus was dead, the Staff of Summoning was depleted save for a single charge, their spell books were completely empty and they had no healing left. A Phyrric victory – there would be no destruction of this snake-temple today. Demoralised they went back to Mother Egenia to rest and have Grammaticus raised.
Ahh, I pushed it to the absolute limit, with every trick we had to defeat snakes and conserve resources, but in the end Grammaticus paid the price and there are two rooms left, with no choice but to turn back or get a total party wipe. Maddening to get so close to the full level 4-5 clear in one rest, but by retreating we survive. No reload + limited rests is the real ultra tense experience I crave ^_^ Also this run has now become "semi-blind" as I have got past the furthest I have played in years and years - the tension is sublime, but the wipe is looming.