My Insane+No Reload+Solo run ended because of SOME TOTAL BS!! AGGGHHH!
Storyteller
Member Posts: 38
I have to share my pain, and there will be profanity, so please excuse me. I have been wronged and my friends on the Beamdog forums must know. So, for a while now I've been really excited about running my INSANE NO RELOAD SOLO character (the only cheese I allowed myself were max hitpoints) because I've been making huge progress like never before. My character is Morok the Dwarven Defender, a warhammer wielding badass that will seriously smash you in (no seriously, he doesn't care). I braved Durlags Tower. I fought my way through the Nashkel and Cloakwood mines with no problem. Hell, I even smashed Aec'letec and single-handedly saved the entire Sword Coast from a demon. I uncovered the Helm and Cloak of Balduran, I jacked up Ramazith and took his magic ring, I EVEN FOUGHT DRIZZT DO'URDEN ONE ON ONE AND SHOWED HIM WHY DWARVES ARE BETTER.
So after I've almost cleared the entire map, I decide it's time to finally go and confront Sarevok, finishing the quest chain in Baldur's Gate and getting sent back to Candlekeep. I figure I'm coasting, no problem. I've got:
Full Plate Armor
Large Shield +2
Ashideena Warhammer +2
Helm of Balduran
Cloak of Balduran
Ring of Protection +2
Ring of Free Action
Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise
Boots of Electricity Resistance
Golden Girdle of Urnst
Here I am, happy as a clam, just going along the underground passages to Candlekeep and using Strength potions to smash open locks and claim the goodies inside. Oh good! My Strength tome at last! Ahhh 19 Strength, I can feel the power. What's this? Ring of Fire Resistance? Now we're talking! My only real weakness at this point in the game is magic damage, so I've been making a concerted effort to shore up my elemental resistances. So I pop out the Ring of Free Action for the Ring of Fire Resistance.
No big, right?
Obviously. My saves are so crushingly powerful with my +5 shorty bonus, my maxed level, my NET ADDITIONAL +4 TO ALL SAVES THROUGH ITEMS (+2 Ring, Cloak+Helm of Balduran), NOT TO MENTION my +2 bonus to all saves when I'm in my Defensive Stance. Shit I don't even need the Ring of Free Action, I just wear it because I have a free ring slot. Not anymore baby! Bam! Fire Resistance!
So I literally just get done doing this -- LITERALLY TWO MINUTES EARLIER I SWAPPED THAT BASTARD OUT -- and oh! Look! A crypt full of ghasts (you know the one, in the Candlekeep tombs). Now I'm not afraid of ghasts ONE IOTA. Not one. I eat these bastards for lunch, I chewed through much worse in Durlag's Tower without missing a beat. Ha ha ha. One chunked. Two chunked. Three chunked. Four chunked. Five---
And then it happened.
I was hit and paralyzed.
Let me explain how impossible this is:
I had such a high armor class at this point that these ghasts could not touch me on anything less than a natural 20. They literally had to roll a crit to do any damage to me. Not impossible! It happens. There's a FIVE PERCENT CHANCE, but it happens. I'm not scared AT ALL of their paralyze because hey, guess what? I'd have to not only be hit, but roll a CRITICAL FAIL on my Save VS Death immediately after being hit because my save is 1 (I was not using Defensive Stance at the time, because I don't bother on such trivial monsters). At level 8 it starts at a base of 10, becomes 5 with my shorty bonuses, and through my items the save is lowered to one.
So the ghast has to roll a Natural 20 to hit, and I have to roll a Natural 1 to be paralyzed.
This is a 5% chance within a 5% chance. In order for me to even be in danger of having to make that throw, I have to be hit with a critical strike (5% chance for a natural 20) and then I have to roll a critical failure (5% chance of a natural 1). I'm not great at math, but good enough to calculate odds within further iterations of themselves, and the chances of that happening are virtually impossible -- it's FAR less than 1%.
AND HERE'S THE REALLY DEPRESSING PART.
I had been wearing the Ring of Free Action for so long by then that I completely forgot this was even within the realm of possibility, IT COULD NOT HAPPEN because I'd been immune to anything messing with my movement for so long. Except now...TWO MINUTES EARLIER...I had swapped it out for a ring of fire resistance, because hey, VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE IS JUST AS GOOD AS IMPOSSIBLE!
Right?
RIGHT?!!!
So the minute I realize my change in gear and quickly figure out the math on this actually happening, I'm just marveling at this. I wasn't afraid, not yet...my wood was definitely gone, but I was pretty sure it would be back once I snapped out of this crap.
Let me explain:
Ghast paralysis is not cumulative, it basically just resets the timer when you fail your save. The only way I can fail my save is if I roll a natural 1. There was only one ghast left to attack me. My saving throws are so strong that even with this ghast attacking about 3 times per round and pretty much getting automatic hits every time (since I'm held), all I have to do is tough it out for about 5 rounds and make...oh, roughly what, 15 saving throws (3 per roundx5) in a row without rolling a single 1 so I can snap out of the paralysis?
Totally doable. Hell, that was a guarantee. I'm surprised I got paralyzed, but not scared. This ghast does pin-prick damage and my hit points are a big donkey dick sized buffer between making those 15 saving throws and losing my no-reload run. I have 141 hit points.
ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY ONE.
There's no possible way that I can roll a 5% failure so frequently within a timer of about 5 rounds that this thing is going to actually kill me!
I shit you not, just as sure as I'm born and typing this, that's what I sat there and watched happen. I can't begin to describe to you the rage and horror that built up inside me as I watched Morok's portrait slowly fill with red one tiny slice at a time, pausing the game and counting my saves so far, so I knew how many left I had to make. Just when I was about to snap out of the paralysis, I would roll another critical fail, and the paralysis would refresh.
When I reached around 5% of my remaining hit points, my reaction was exactly like this on the inside:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31g0YE61PLQ
So Morok died. My no-reload challenge is over.
FUCK YOU RNG.
So after I've almost cleared the entire map, I decide it's time to finally go and confront Sarevok, finishing the quest chain in Baldur's Gate and getting sent back to Candlekeep. I figure I'm coasting, no problem. I've got:
Full Plate Armor
Large Shield +2
Ashideena Warhammer +2
Helm of Balduran
Cloak of Balduran
Ring of Protection +2
Ring of Free Action
Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise
Boots of Electricity Resistance
Golden Girdle of Urnst
Here I am, happy as a clam, just going along the underground passages to Candlekeep and using Strength potions to smash open locks and claim the goodies inside. Oh good! My Strength tome at last! Ahhh 19 Strength, I can feel the power. What's this? Ring of Fire Resistance? Now we're talking! My only real weakness at this point in the game is magic damage, so I've been making a concerted effort to shore up my elemental resistances. So I pop out the Ring of Free Action for the Ring of Fire Resistance.
No big, right?
Obviously. My saves are so crushingly powerful with my +5 shorty bonus, my maxed level, my NET ADDITIONAL +4 TO ALL SAVES THROUGH ITEMS (+2 Ring, Cloak+Helm of Balduran), NOT TO MENTION my +2 bonus to all saves when I'm in my Defensive Stance. Shit I don't even need the Ring of Free Action, I just wear it because I have a free ring slot. Not anymore baby! Bam! Fire Resistance!
So I literally just get done doing this -- LITERALLY TWO MINUTES EARLIER I SWAPPED THAT BASTARD OUT -- and oh! Look! A crypt full of ghasts (you know the one, in the Candlekeep tombs). Now I'm not afraid of ghasts ONE IOTA. Not one. I eat these bastards for lunch, I chewed through much worse in Durlag's Tower without missing a beat. Ha ha ha. One chunked. Two chunked. Three chunked. Four chunked. Five---
And then it happened.
I was hit and paralyzed.
Let me explain how impossible this is:
I had such a high armor class at this point that these ghasts could not touch me on anything less than a natural 20. They literally had to roll a crit to do any damage to me. Not impossible! It happens. There's a FIVE PERCENT CHANCE, but it happens. I'm not scared AT ALL of their paralyze because hey, guess what? I'd have to not only be hit, but roll a CRITICAL FAIL on my Save VS Death immediately after being hit because my save is 1 (I was not using Defensive Stance at the time, because I don't bother on such trivial monsters). At level 8 it starts at a base of 10, becomes 5 with my shorty bonuses, and through my items the save is lowered to one.
So the ghast has to roll a Natural 20 to hit, and I have to roll a Natural 1 to be paralyzed.
This is a 5% chance within a 5% chance. In order for me to even be in danger of having to make that throw, I have to be hit with a critical strike (5% chance for a natural 20) and then I have to roll a critical failure (5% chance of a natural 1). I'm not great at math, but good enough to calculate odds within further iterations of themselves, and the chances of that happening are virtually impossible -- it's FAR less than 1%.
AND HERE'S THE REALLY DEPRESSING PART.
I had been wearing the Ring of Free Action for so long by then that I completely forgot this was even within the realm of possibility, IT COULD NOT HAPPEN because I'd been immune to anything messing with my movement for so long. Except now...TWO MINUTES EARLIER...I had swapped it out for a ring of fire resistance, because hey, VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE IS JUST AS GOOD AS IMPOSSIBLE!
Right?
RIGHT?!!!
So the minute I realize my change in gear and quickly figure out the math on this actually happening, I'm just marveling at this. I wasn't afraid, not yet...my wood was definitely gone, but I was pretty sure it would be back once I snapped out of this crap.
Let me explain:
Ghast paralysis is not cumulative, it basically just resets the timer when you fail your save. The only way I can fail my save is if I roll a natural 1. There was only one ghast left to attack me. My saving throws are so strong that even with this ghast attacking about 3 times per round and pretty much getting automatic hits every time (since I'm held), all I have to do is tough it out for about 5 rounds and make...oh, roughly what, 15 saving throws (3 per roundx5) in a row without rolling a single 1 so I can snap out of the paralysis?
Totally doable. Hell, that was a guarantee. I'm surprised I got paralyzed, but not scared. This ghast does pin-prick damage and my hit points are a big donkey dick sized buffer between making those 15 saving throws and losing my no-reload run. I have 141 hit points.
ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY ONE.
There's no possible way that I can roll a 5% failure so frequently within a timer of about 5 rounds that this thing is going to actually kill me!
I shit you not, just as sure as I'm born and typing this, that's what I sat there and watched happen. I can't begin to describe to you the rage and horror that built up inside me as I watched Morok's portrait slowly fill with red one tiny slice at a time, pausing the game and counting my saves so far, so I knew how many left I had to make. Just when I was about to snap out of the paralysis, I would roll another critical fail, and the paralysis would refresh.
When I reached around 5% of my remaining hit points, my reaction was exactly like this on the inside:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31g0YE61PLQSo Morok died. My no-reload challenge is over.
FUCK YOU RNG.
9
Comments
Basically, the first hit was *incredible* bad luck but after that you were boned unless miracle.
Just ask @Grond0.
In relation to your ghast problem note that a saving throw of 1 will actually protect against a die roll of 1, i.e. there is no such thing as a critical fail for saving throws. However, I think there is a -2 adjustment to the saving throw for a ghast, so you would actually fail with a die roll of 1 or 2. That meant that once you were first paralysed you actually had only a very small chance of survival.