Skip to content

"Maybe this time" [NO-RELOAD THREAD]: "The Tale of TEN THOUSAND Trials"

1425426428430431494

Comments

  • NeverusedNeverused Member Posts: 803
    edited October 2021
    A quick note about backstab damage since I saw the discussion about Mulahey - I'm pretty certain some bonuses aren't multiplied with backstab damage. Weapon damage definitely is, as well as enchantment bonuses, but I don't think proficiency or STR bonuses are multiplied. I'm not positive about bonuses like Gauntlets of Crushing or Legacy of the Masters; I think they're multiplied, but that could very well be wrong. I'll create a character later to test this out...

    EDIT: according to the wiki, everything except STR is multiplied, apparently

    EDIT2: Looks like that was taken into account. Weird. Maybe the formula was changed or is different regarding shapeshifted forms?
    Wise_GrimwaldBlackraven
  • RVNSRVNS Member Posts: 285
    Alrighty, I went ahead and decided to try my hand this time around with a dwarven fighter/thief. I took proficiency in longbow and longswords this time around. I am on a core rules run with no mods. I quickly bought up at candlekeep, stole the star sapphire, made my way out and went to FAI and recruited Imoen, Khalid and Jahiera. I think I will do a traditional setup with Minsc and Dynahier as well. I will post some pictures with the next round. I believe I will tackle basilisks and Shoal for easy exp. Any thoughts on where I should go for easy exp after that? thinking of putting on a few levels before grabbing minsc and Dynaheir.
    alice_ashpoolBlackravenArvia
  • BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
    RVNS wrote: »
    Alrighty, I went ahead and decided to try my hand this time around with a dwarven fighter/thief. I took proficiency in longbow and longswords this time around. I am on a core rules run with no mods. I quickly bought up at candlekeep, stole the star sapphire, made my way out and went to FAI and recruited Imoen, Khalid and Jahiera. I think I will do a traditional setup with Minsc and Dynahier as well. I will post some pictures with the next round. I believe I will tackle basilisks and Shoal for easy exp. Any thoughts on where I should go for easy exp after that? thinking of putting on a few levels before grabbing minsc and Dynaheir.

    Good luck with your new character @RVNS! I hope you can make good progress this week. For easy XP, Shoal the Nereid comes to mind. And Ankhegs are susceptible to Sleep and Command. Unfortunately you have no one who can cast those spells, but you could use the wand of sleep from High Hedge.
    AerakarRVNSWise_Grimwald
  • RVNSRVNS Member Posts: 285
    Thank you for the suggestion @Blackraven ! I will use that for sure!
    Blackraven
  • AerakarAerakar Member Posts: 1,011
    There are a bunch of easy mini quests in the wilderness areas, especially for a warrior thief with stealth. Returning Brage is risk proof and then there is the free 900 xp in the Beregost inn from Marl. Go grab those dexterity gauntlets at the Gnoll fortress together with the Charisma tomb and then head up to Firewine for the bracers to help with stealth, archery, backstabs, and melee.
    BlackravenRVNSArviaGate70
  • TrouveurTrouveur Member Posts: 474
    edited November 2021
    After the death of my half orc shaman in SoD (Volghin thought singing near a sleeping green dragon was a good idea), I decided to continue with him on a minimal reload run. He's now in ToB.

    Meanwhile, I just began a new run with an half elf avenger named Deirdre, from BG1 to hopefully ToB.

    Strenght : 9
    Dexterity : 18
    Constitution : 15
    Intelligence : 8
    Wisdom : 18
    Charisma : 18 (now 19)

    So : unmodded game, insane difficulty (no additional damage).

    The party was initially Imoen, Ajantis, Branwen, Minsc and Dynaheir, but I swapped Imoen for Coran, and Branwen for Yeslick.

    Minsc died three times already, and at level 1 my avenger nearly died from a Xvart hit...

    A random encounter with 4 ettercaps was difficult, as was the hamadryad who charmed Branwen and held Ajantis and Minsc. Luckily, a web was successful to prevent Branwen killing them.

    Deirdre is now level 6, in the Cloackwood mine.

    I play her like a mage, and so far she's better than Dynaheir : no need to scribe scrolls, twice the hit points, better AC, better Thac0...

    The usual web, silence, hold person and horror is perfect against any party, at least until now.

    Davaeorn will be the first true challenge.

    Next update I will post some screenshots.
    Grond0BlackravenRVNSArvia
  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 3,815
    Grond0 wrote: »
    ...but v2.6 seems to have changed the behavior of grease considerably and Lothander was able to nip to the stairs before we could target him.

    Grease was changed in 2.6 - but it appears to work essentially the same as it did before anyway. Which isn't particularly close to what's in the description.

    How it actually works: as long as the overlay exists, everyone in it saves once per round. If a save succeeds, nothing happens. If a save fails, that creature is slowed to speed 1 for the full N+3 rounds. Saving in a future round does not remove the effect, and the slow effect will often persist well after the active spell on the ground expires.
    If you're trying to slow down Lothander so you can kill him, you need to wait until he fails a save before talking. Without that failed save, he's at full speed and will get away.

    There were two changes made in 2.6. First, the sound effect that played every round for everyone in the area (whether they saved or not) was removed. Second, a "remove effects by resource" effect was added. If you save, it's supposed to clear up any existing Grease effects now and let you move normally. In my testing, this does not appear to work.
    Grond0TrouveurXDarkStrikerXAerakar
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    jmerry wrote: »
    Grond0 wrote: »
    ...but v2.6 seems to have changed the behavior of grease considerably and Lothander was able to nip to the stairs before we could target him.

    Grease was changed in 2.6 - but it appears to work essentially the same as it did before anyway. Which isn't particularly close to what's in the description.

    How it actually works: as long as the overlay exists, everyone in it saves once per round. If a save succeeds, nothing happens. If a save fails, that creature is slowed to speed 1 for the full N+3 rounds. Saving in a future round does not remove the effect, and the slow effect will often persist well after the active spell on the ground expires.
    If you're trying to slow down Lothander so you can kill him, you need to wait until he fails a save before talking. Without that failed save, he's at full speed and will get away.

    There were two changes made in 2.6. First, the sound effect that played every round for everyone in the area (whether they saved or not) was removed. Second, a "remove effects by resource" effect was added. If you save, it's supposed to clear up any existing Grease effects now and let you move normally. In my testing, this does not appear to work.

    Saving is not what I'm referring to. Lothander was affected by grease and perceptibly slowed by it - but not remotely close to speed 1 as used to be the case. Using grease we also saw distinct differences in the speed impact on Gate70 and myself. I had a single player run the other day as well where Lothander was moving much faster than he should have done after being greased, so there's definitely a significant change in v2.6 as a whole (whether intended or not) and not just in MP.
    TrouveurXDarkStrikerXAerakar
  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 3,815
    edited November 2021
    Oops, a correction. The "remove effects" effect only happens if you fail the save; that's just housekeeping so you don't get multiple redundant copies of the effect on the same creature.

    Also, I missed a third change: instead of a "set movement speed" effect, the spell now uses a speed modifier that my (not entirely up to date) version of NI doesn't understand (modifier type 5 "Unknown"). This seems to result in essentially the same speeds as before in most cases, but now boots of speed can double the slowed speed. A greased Lothander will now move twice as fast as an average greased person. Which is still considerably slower than a non-greased person.
    TrouveurXDarkStrikerXAerakar
  • Gate70Gate70 Member, Developer Posts: 3,870
    edited January 2022
    Trio 38 (part 1 2 3 4-7)

    Gate70 : Wirblefop, human male Beastmaster (plus LN fairy dragon familiar)
    @Corey_Russell : Peel, human male Cavalier
    @Grond0 : Talisman, dwarf male random - Priest of Talos

    Screencaps have been added later

    Session 4; 13 November


    Wirblefop, Peel and Talisman didn't appreciate their welcome to Amn - being jailed was one thing, having Imoen cram herself into the party was quite another but a downsizing exercise sorted that out. We then set about making good our escape and in less than an hour we were breathing in the fresh air of the Promenade having already visited the circus.

    Over the second hour we transferred ownership of a tavern to Hendak, killed off Suna Seni, rescued and returned a poisoned harper to his hold, observed the death of Xzar at the hands of an assassin who foolishly stayed to fight us. A jaunt to Watchers Keep had given us a potion case, and we've dealt with smugglers at the docks, stopped the rune assassins involved with the skinner murders, cleared the upper part of the graveyard, and visited each area of the city. Our final act of the session was to pick up the +2 ring of protection for Peel and the Amulet of Power for Talisman.
    q1vmwnsvf4oa.jpg

    tw1zovwfdoee.jpg

    pnnsz2h1a774.jpg

    58afddqu2clm.jpg

    okaqfxefcwnz.jpg

    Peel made a very early purchase of Azuredge, ignoring our lowly reputation, and this has heavily boosted his kill tally. Many shadows, skeletons and a few mummies have melted in front of him.

    Party at session end:
    6exfhubyyvm3.jpg

    dzi39c29movu.jpg

    kc77u3wma482.jpg
    Session 5; 27 November


    Wirblefop had scribbled down a bit of a plan for the session but it wasn't long before Peel's reminders about picking up Lilacor waylaid them. Despite reverting to the unshared plan part of it (let's call it de'Arnise) was not reached and another part (temple amulet) was collected but not turned in to Mae'Var. Wirblefop kept his plan a secret, even from Peel or Talisman. Don't look!
    4mrhtuajedku.jpg

    So what did we get up to. Wirblefop's first task was to up-trade a piece of red cloth for a worn-in pair of boots of avoidance. Talisman killed Am-Si and Reti despite everyone else's efforts and then Wirblefop arrived to deprive Peel of the killing blow on Camitis, and then we opted for the silver pantaloons at the cost of some reputation.

    Next on the highly encrypted (my handwriting's not THAT bad!) plan; Wirblefop headed over to Watchers Keep and we cleared the entry level. Peel got himself level drained on a trap when Talisman was amuleted up, so we rested before seeing if there were any vampiric wraiths - there were none. Talisman almost got himself killed against one of the guardian golems when trying to slipper up a long-dead priest but managed to squeeze through a small door with a handful of life left. He then showed an unreasonable level of precaution by saying he was not fully protected against a death spell and waiting at least three seconds before triggering it. He survived.
    spbl6tsv5w6p.jpg

    zmj04t63i4c4.jpg

    zvnj9lnrrrbv.jpg

    We arrived as planned at Trademeet, only for Peel to complain that this was not the sewers. No indeed. After we did enough to progress to the druid grove Peel asks about Stonefire, and Wirblefop mentions he intends to use fire arrows instead. Of which we have none (the scribbled plan had been to purchase the Firetooth crossbow but our funds were too meagre). So instead Wirblefop relented and we headed back to the Slums for their sewers. On the way Peel availed himself of the Stonefire axe making fire arrows superfluous but depleting funds further. It's not an issue, just Peel isn't aligning himself to the unspoken plan and Wirblefop hypocritically considers calling out this lack of teamwork!

    Back in the sewers we test our our party raise dead when one of us is held and almost expires against the goblin shaman's party. Having barely survived that he is unfortunate enough to be the only target for our out of control berserk warrior. Uh, our cleric is dead. Peel and Wirblefop head to a temple and get Talisman raised, and on our return we confirm that the Ashideena warhammer, a small +2 shield and a candle from Watchers Keep have vanished. Talisman had a ring of protection that also went, but Wirblefop hands his ring over. Never mind, we've picked up a teddy bear from Lynis on our way back.
    illxpv3kxrhf.jpg

    Talisman complains all his bullets have gone but Peel picked up a few while Wirblefop bagged more so at least Talisman has ranged ability. Wirblefop hands over the shaman's staff as a temporary measure while Peel suggests picking up a mace from the goblins. That'll do.

    We complete the sewers without any further ado, Wirblefop observing that the bagged puzzle ring is accepted in multiplayer when Peel obtains Lilacor (I had expected it to fail and for the host to complete the quest).

    The slaver ship is next on our list, Wirblefop struggling to pick up equipment as his companions focus on the slavers. After collecting our reward from Hendak we pick up the Talosian amulet and finish off the fallen paladin job. Wirblefop then struggles to remember what is next until Talisman suggests the teddy bear is a bit cumbersome - that's right, it was an inventory clearance. So we head to the graveyard and hand the bear over. While there we find a new home for an orphan child and kill uncle Lester half a second after he kills Nevin so a family funeral will be required for them - we're not paying nor are we arranging it.
    cqom73nam3tr.jpg
    Wirblefop wants to drop more gear off at the Promenade but Talisman is wearing thin with his half-plate armour and requests that we take on Mencar Pebblecrusher. Wirblefop sighs (I never do this party outside multiplayer) and it's not long before Smaeluv Orcslicer (reminds me why) zeroes Talisman's hit points. Wirblefop takes a good dose of magic damage while hemmed in by Pooky the familiar but Talisman's skeletons and Peel are able to clear the area. Off to a temple again to raise Talisman.
    mdy51gsci5ub.jpg
    Talisman's disembodied voice asks for gear to be left on the ground to minimise multiplayer death equipment loss and we don't notice anything of value departing. We finally arrive at the druid grove, and with Stonefire plus fire arrows we burn our way across to Cernd and decline his luncheon invite - we shall merely observe. Back at Trademeet we pick up our rewards, finish off Rejiek Hidesman and clear out the feuding families temple for the mayor.

    Not a bad session, with two deaths one for this week and one for us not turning up last week - that achieves Grond0's quota of one death per session if we use man-dwarf-maths.

    Party gear:
    honbbhgos6s1.jpg

    rt1e2yeqn1ma.jpg

    wtwka2p8dnnc.jpg

    Session 6; 4 December


    Peel enquires why our journey remains unpublished recently, and that he has heard of a RPG tavern. Quite, says Wirblefop, who remains stubbornly lazy about such matters and would rather wait to see which way the dice of fate will settle.

    As you would recall, if Worblefop had bothered documenting our journey, we start off at the mayors house in Trademeet. It is a short distance to the nearest merchant and from him we pick up the belt of inertial barrier (Wirblefop) and cloak of displacement (Peel). Talisman is asked if he wants the Dwarven thrower hammer but declines, and instead Wirblefop purchases the Blackblood club to dual-wield with Gnasher.

    Our first destination of the session is the de'Arnise Keep. It doesn't take long for us to take care of trolls inside thanks to the Stonefire axe (proficient) and Blackblood club (non proficient), and we forge the Flail of Ages +1. Talisman then claims a few troll kills with this weapon (again, non proficient).

    The upstairs of the Keep sees yet more trolls killed then we dismantle the sextet of golems - Talisman only running from the iron golem at the last few moments.
    k9omn6uo27h1.jpg
    Within 25 minutes of the session commencing we find ourselves in the basement of the Keep so are making reasonable progress. Feeding and despatching the umber hulks there allows us to draw Tor'Gal out to his demise and after that we forge the Flail of Ages +3 then decline the company of Nalia.
    clktgwrfa8g6.jpg
    Wirblefop sneakily consults his latest and not quite greatest secret plan, and heads back to town to investigate the Temple district sewers. Our warm-up starts with a rakshasa and kobolds, moving on to a sea troll and then killing Tarnor the Hatchetman and his gang. Haer'Dalis is set free as our final activity, then on to the old tunnels where Wirblefop foolishly locks himself in a chamber with two vampiric mists. Talisman breaks into the chamber allowing Wirblefop to escape as his companions defeat the mists.
    7zkl01gcgo6q.jpg
    We've reached the second-last resting place of a lich, so Wirblefop casts Protection from Undead onto Peel and our Cavalier solo's the Shade Lich. We move on quickly to the city gate, prevent a trader from being harassed and send Peel in to deal with a lich inside the inn's secret area. A third lich can be found in a house near the Bridge district kidnappers and we have time to debate if Talisman's saving throws will protect him against a petrification trap. Peel mentions the ring we have can cast stone to flesh and it turns out we need to make use of it - drawing the attention of a Cowled Enforcer. Any more mischief from him and we'll set Talisman's summons onto his party.
    qvj8alpf3p9h.jpg
    Peel once more despatches the lich and we set off to deal with Kangaxx, utilising both a rest and three more Protection from Undead scrolls. Peel uses Daystar to claim our first demilich kill.
    wl3kwv42l9lg.jpg
    As we are near Mae'Var's guild we hand over the guildmistresses amulet and then have to deal with Del and two of her vampires outside before turning Rayic Gethras into daisy-food. The rest of Mae'Var's tasks are duly completed and Renal Bloodscalp gives us a short sword to sell.

    Next on Wirblefop's list is Umar Hills (and eventually the Ranger stronghold). Talisman reluctantly acknowledges it may be best not to buy swords and beer for the village young, much against his liberal beliefs. This may be our hardest challenge in Umar as we very quickly end up at some temple ruins. Wirblefop fully expects Talisman to do the bulk of the work here and yes our Talosian cleric sets about the undead outside and inside, popping them merrily with his turn undead. None of them are charmed, Talisman being chaotic neutral rather than evil.

    We've only had 10 minutes at the Temple ruins before our session draws to a close, and this means much of the interior remains for next time (we've got inside, past the shadow jailor and demonstrated Talisman's knowledge of the three rituals to the large statue.

    Session 7; 11 December


    Wirblefop, Peel and Talisman wasted no time in the temple ruins. Talisman turned several undead while Peel used Azuredge to convince the tougher foes to depart. Wirblefop switched between his bow and non-proficient clubs but mostly failed to find a good way to help his companions.
    xve9sjnd3was.jpg
    About 12 minutes into the session we put up a quintet of skeleton warriors against Thaxll'sillyia the shadow dragon. We add some bears, the berserk warrior and the efreeti while Peel joins in the melee. Eventually Peel has to run for cover but Talisman (bullets) and Wirblefop (Crimson dart) keep up the ranged pressure and Peel is able to throw Azuredge when not blinded.
    9w275gbymo87.jpg

    f41xwy4mpm7y.jpg
    With the dragon defeated we can exit to face the Shade Lord. Wirblefop has been protected with Death Ward and quickly clubs the Shade Lord only to see Peel use Azuredge to destroy it. Talisman has used the +3 sling and a firestone bullet to destroy the Shade Altar.

    On the way back to report in we pick up Valygar's remains and fudge around to get the first Ranger Stronghold quest (no sign of Delon) - then back to the temple ruins where Lord Tombelthen is given an amulet. We report back to Umar, head to Watcher's Keep and rest for a day before heading back to Umar. Wirblefol thinks he'll be too early but the mayor says he is far too late and is no longer regarded as the ranger protector of Umar. This after Wirblefop and Talisman explained to Peel how the Moon Dog Figurine is feted to be the best object summon you can get.
    958z28tgtq2x.jpg
    We drop off Valygar's remains as per his wishes (I like to open doors for ranger-kind). Next we try to help Mook, scaring off her attacker but not before she perishes. Reporting back to Renal Bloodscalp doesn't work so Wirblefop realises he needs to speak to Aran Linvail instead. He tells us to deal with a pair of deserters so we do that, and add Sir Sarles' quest and two temple quests. Aran wants us to see off Bodhi and we do that - failing to kill her for the time being though.
    40uyjs3vvibl.jpg

    lmhtanqqts98.jpg
    Then it's time to get Cromwell to forge the improved Mace of Disruption and Shadow Dragon armour. Peel has been counting our gold and enquiring about the Shield of Balduran. Wirblefop grits his teeth and purchases that for him, and so we head off to see about the cult of the Unseeing Eye. We pick up half a rod, just past a petrification trap. Peel had eyed the trap cautiously, asking how we could get past it - do we have a green scroll. No we do not, says Wirblefop but you'll be fine and if not we have the ring of Stone to Flesh.

    Peel is not at all convinced and blindly crawls over the trap. He saves against petrification and then joyously announces his save vs spells is 3 so while not guaranteed safe he had better than average odds of survival.

    We end the session at the base of a pit, ready to hunt down this Unseeing Eye next time.
    Post edited by Gate70 on
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    edited December 2021
    Gate70 wrote: »
    Trio 38 (part 4-7)
    Impressive post @Gate70, either:
    - because you took copious notes, didn't lose them and are still able to read your own writing weeks later; or
    - because you have the memory of an elephant. :o
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,305
    edited December 2021
    Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 226, Core rules + unmodded (final update)
    Sonja (female gnome thief, Grond0); Trindus (male human skald, Gate70)
    Previous updates
    OK - time to demonstrate a less impressive memory and a total inability not to throw away the notes of a session :/.

    A few stray screenshots (which I can upload later if the Forum allows - edit: now done) prompt me to believe we finished off work in the City before attacking the Iron Throne. Sonja was up to her old tricks there, dicing with death - though extreme odds did cause her to pull a disappearing act against multiple guards on the way up (choosing to use a potion of invisibility and subsequently successfully treating her own poison when down to 6 HPs).
    gnu7lkod1kyb.jpg
    After resting up, the party at the top were tackled. They mainly survived an initial webbed assault, but were badly enough hurt for a fireball to finish off 4 of them clustered behind a doorway - though it was probably a good job that Trindus saved against a retaliatory confusion there.
    4d1rbanxotd3.jpg

    Trindus was also taking more risks as time went on and paid for that on the trip back to Candlekeep. I don't remember what caused his death, but I suspect it was the battle with Prat's gang.
    04l9uef7whde.jpg

    Back in Baldur's Gate, it was time to head for a party at the palace. Some doppleganger gatecrashers got rowdy there though and spoiled the party for everyone by killing the hosts just before they were forcibly pacified ...
    u7kr1m4p1f7y.jpg
    Post edited by Grond0 on
Sign In or Register to comment.