Yeah that is one of the locations in SOU and HOTU that has secret doors but obviously some doors are harder to see than others, I found that Elves have a naturally better chance of seeing them due to racial benefits, but even with that extra help I found more was needed to find those doors that lead to more interesting rooms, certain items boost Search and Spot which I think helped, and if I wasn't playing a Necromancer I could've casted Clairaudience/Clairvoyance spell to try and help spot them.
@BelgarathMTH
i was almost worried for a second there that you were not going to find the holy avenger, damn is that a good sword for pallys
in the hands of a paladin, it strikes as a +5 weapon, and i think it dispels magic on hit, not 100% sure on that last one but its a great weapon to get going from a simple longsword +1
plus with dorna i think you can tell her to only grow up in cleric levels as well if you dont want her to keep splitting her thief level with her cleric level
This is the final tally of the night also copied from the journal in the localvault.
Tomi Respawns - 8
Linu Respawns - 2
Sigurd of Tyr Respawns - 4
Tomi Respawn - Prison gang up surrounded
Tomi Respawn - Kurdan Fenkt on a 40 damage critical
1 Sigurd of Tyr Respawn - Luxor
Tomi Respawn Twice - Luxor
Tomi Respawn Swords of Never
Tomi Respawn Meldanen Apprentice
2nd Sigurd of Tyr Respawn - Meldanen Apprentice
3rd Sigurd of Tyr Respawn - trapped chest that my useless @$$ rogue companion couldn't see. In the name of Tyr, Why DO I EVEN PAY YOU!?!
Tomi Respawn - Bloodsailor house
Tomi Respawn - Orrean & Guards
Linu Respawn - Bloodsailer Lieutenant
Linu Respawn - Bloated Dire Spider Docks
4th Sigurd of Tyr Respawn - trapped bridge underneath the docks. Next time, hire a competent thief. Maybe an elf.
Reload: Invisi potion, but swords literally blocking the way. Decided to fight, made it to chest, died. Rage reload, used freaking walking keys to get by the freaking swords.
On the reload, the swords of Never were literally buttressed against the door. Sigurd couldn't get by them at first, even using the walking keys. So I fought them. Beat one, then ran for the coffin. Got there, loaded gear and...slow crawl time. Died. Rage reloaded, figuring I'll try the damn keyboard walking trick again, which finally worked. Got the gear, popped smoke using the stone of recall. I'm not counting it against my tally.
That said, Linu and I recovered all of the reagents. She got her chalice, and is happy. Tomi is off doing Calimport medusa assassin things, probably. Linu is more useful, and Tomi is frankly, a paladin role-playing nightmare for me personally, not to mention mechanically (to be fair, that's something all of them suffer from).
We didn't uncover something for Fenthick in chapter 1, I just realized. Oh well...maybe next time, when I'm playing an elven freaking rogue who can actually spot stuff that can kill us. I'm not metagaming it.
@BelgarathMTH
i was almost worried for a second there that you were not going to find the holy avenger, damn is that a good sword for pallys
in the hands of a paladin, it strikes as a +5 weapon, and i think it dispels magic on hit, not 100% sure on that last one but its a great weapon to get going from a simple longsword +1
plus with dorna i think you can tell her to only grow up in cleric levels as well if you dont want her to keep splitting her thief level with her cleric level
@BelgarathMTH
Did a quick search and apparently the "Holy Avenger Properties" are only activated by a Pally.
Normally a +2 Enchantment Bonus
Pally equipped acts as if +5 Enchantment Bonus
50% chance to Dispel on hit (If physical damage is caused) "LVL 10 Dispel"
+1d6 Divine damage vs Evil
+16 Spell Resistence
Additionally the Dispel Magic property apparently dispels Petrification, Aura of Fear, Turn Undead and some others.
It also say's a high Use Magic Device skill can use the Holy Avenger Properties.
Before patch 1.69 the wielder's character level was used to determine Dispel LVL making it on par with Mordenkainen's Disjunction.
@EnialusMeliamne , I'm so sorry that my advice got you killed, I had no idea that the swords could block your way. They never left their places when I went there. You know, now I wonder if anyone has ever tried talking to them. They're neutral when you enter. If they were "programmed" to protect the Tomb of Never from looters, maybe it's possible to tell them why you want to recover the artifact? Just a thought.
@BelgarathMTH , I'm very impressed by your progress, and I'm picking up advice about the traps and puzzles and everything, thank you so much for sharing those vital informations. Congratulations on your amazing Holy Avenger sword!
*************************************
I've had very little time to play this week, and I'd rather not play when I'm too tired, because I make mistakes if I don't pay close attention to dialogue details.
Let me introduce Marya Tormalin, Paladin of (who would have guessed with that name) Torm. She looks more like a Roman legionary than a paladin, but it's hard to find decent portraits of women in proper armor, and I really liked the picture.
I decided to try another build this time, not because I wasn't content with the other one, but because I want to compare different builds, also to see if the paladin specific feats like Divine Might and Divine Shield are worth it, so that I can decide if I want to take them in HotU (importing Arvia of Tyr from the OC, not this paladin). Of course it's not objective, it's biased because it's not the same game and equipment, and I know the game mechanics better than when I started the OC.
So, I went with the stats seen in the screenshot above, to get the +1 Constitution Bonus to my HP, and Dexterity 12 still gives me a +1 AC bonus even with heavy armor. I took Toughness and Weapon Focus: Longsword.
I'm going to keep some of my comments in spoiler tags, too, because I don't know if there are people reading this who haven't played SoU before, like me. But anyone who doesn't want to know *anything* about the game before will probably not read run reports.
So, after the initial events at Drogan's school, I went with Dorna to get her belongings, got some equipment from Drogan's room (just from the chests and weapon racks in the room where supplies were kept, not the money in his "office"), answered his familiar's annoying riddles (making a few mistakes, being tired... 99 counts as *two* nines, of course, and I messed up the 5 children question, too... ) to get a scroll and some transport crystals, and went to the village to see the herbalist for a cure. We gave me some things and sent me to the tavern for more, and that's where I found out that this game really has some nice options for different solutions and outcomes, and even gives you points for lawful behavior.
I told the kobolds to let the cook go and take me as hostage, and it actually worked. I promised them free passage.
I won't be turning down rewards as a matter of principle, because I'm going to need supplies, but taking money from the villagers, who have lost much already, just for getting rid of the kobolds and saving the cook, just didn't seem right.
Taking the cure to Ayala (sp?) and then convincing a mad "prophet" to leave the village gave me a reward without the dialogue option to refuse it (thankfully) and enough XP to make level 2.
A woman approached us that kobolds had entered her home, and her husband and baby were still inside. Again, there seemed to have been multiple solutions, but my Persuade skill with level 2 was not enough, and I wasn't going to pay a kidnapper.
The husband had been lying dead in front of the stairs, but I was able to save the baby, at least.
Of course I had to help the widow to get along. It's no use to save her baby and then let them starve.
Near the village gate I met a Red Wizard of Thay. They're supposed to be evil, but this one actually sounded reasonable and agreed to protect the village if the mayor let him set up an enclave to trade in the village. However, I failed the Persuade check. Who knows, maybe he really would have caused trouble.
I followed the kobolds into the Elven Crypt, met the Spirit of Nilmaldor, who offered help against the kobolds in exchange for... fighting Giant Spiders *shudder*
I hate spiders. We killed them, even with our penalties, and the nice Elven Altar healed us.
The Spirit of Nilmaldor told me about the gas trap for the kobolds and the valuable, incredible paladin items upstairs, which I couldn't identify, of course. I think I actually went back to identify them before fighting the kobolds. Anyway, I made level 3 before reaching the secret door.
I took Power Attack, to unlock the Divine feats later, but I guess I will take Blind Fight as the next feat.
I'm either getting lucky HP rolls, or the first few levels give maximum. I've checked the difficulty slider, it's still on Hardcore D&D rules, not on "Normal".
It's good that I hit level 3 before meeting the kobolds, because I decided to negotiate with them instead of using the gas. That was a mistake. We both had to unequip our weapons to enter and talk to them, and then:
There was a Persuade-Lie option to tell them the mummified hand was worthless, and an option labeled "Difficult Persuade". I didn't want to lie and chose the difficult way. No chance with level 3 skills, even using the Instrument of Inquisition.
Dead. Because we had to equip our weapons again when they attacked, there were lots of them, and some had crossbows. Forgot for a moment that I'm not level 16 anymore, and that you have to keep an eye on every little hit when you only have 36 HP. I didn't pay attention to my health bar for just a little moment, and then took a critical hit from a crossbow bolt.
Respawn. I went back immediately, this time going for the crossbow wielders first. Then we killed the remaining ones and took the artifact plus loot.
Okay, that was my first respawn, but it wasn't the build, it was me getting careless, forgetting the fragility of lower levels.
I suggest taking the elven spirit's advice on how to defeat the kobolds .
Then we met Deekin and agreed to follow him to Blumberg, but first we explored the rest of the map. Dorna warned me when we met a Duergar, but I decided to help him (he seemed to have been sort of friends with Drogan) and rescue his daughter.
A Hill Giant had captured her. I didn't think I could fight him and tried to find a peaceful solution. He allowed me to talk to his "wife".
I thought, hey, last time in the OC I got someone killed because I refused to drink with a witness, I'm going to be smarter now!
It worked twice. The third time, I decided not to push my luck and drank from the flask, seeing that he was already getting dizzy. Mistake again!
I'm not even sure if it would have worked to make him drunk, or wait until he sleeps after a meal.
Anyway, there was a way out.
I don't know what they will do if the giant discovers that she's gone and decides to come after her. But the Duergar had asked me to get her back, not to kill the giant. I guess they will have to come to an agreement with him. I remember the hill giants in the Moonwood, and I was level 14 or something then.
He gave me an item that I can't idetify right now. It looks like an Amulet of Natural Armor. Figures, because I've just bought one for a lot of gold.
So, those are my solved quests until now.
I hope didn't overlook anything in the maps. I'm going to Blumberg next.
@Arvia
I guarantee you don't want to see Rumgut again, not unless your looking to get your head caved in, I've tried and retried to fight him before and it's a total pain, he can be beaten but the head aches not worth it.
he does seem like a nice guy though but when things don't go his way...don't be there.
In the Crypt did you check the locked doors? where they all locked?
Yeah the Conversation with those Kobold's can be tricky.
@Cerabelus, I thought so. I checked all the doors in the crypt. Dorna opened the locked ones, but I didn't touch anything there. I met the inhabitant of the unlocked tomb and did his quest.
@Arvia , great run report. You're making great progress, although condolences on the respawn. Check how many ring crystals you have left - I think the respawn will have used one of them, and unless you somehow got more than I did, there are only three for the whole chapter.
I also tried to convince the town leaders to let the red wizard set up shop, and failed the Persuade. I think that particular Persuade check has a pretty high DC. And you can always roll the dreaded "one- critical fail" in this game, no matter how high your skill. One time I did pass the check, and that wizard sells some amazing items in the shop he sets up, so I would be surprised if a lot of people didn't save scum that check until they pass it. I don't like to play like that, myself, though, as you know. It feels like cheating to me if I do it.
I usually wind up in the cell in the giant's cave just like you did, but this last time I managed to make the giant pass out and was able to get his key, free the dwarven woman, and go out the front door. I think the drinking contest is a roll against your constitution score, (mine was only 11), and the "spill most of your drink" attempt is a Persuade check, although I might be wrong. I drank for real the first time, and faked two drinks, before he passed out. He may be rolling against his own constitution score, but I'm not sure. So, I probably just got unusually lucky rolls in the encounter this time.
The giant can catch you "cheating" by spilling your drink. I've had that happen before. If I remember correctly, he just throws you in the cell to be eaten later if he catches you. I guess he likes his food fresh-killed, and he's not hungry right then.
@BelgarathMTH , I still have 3 crystals. But you know that you can make more of them with a quartz crystal and two gemstones using Drogan's alchemy table and magic grinder?
@BelgarathMTH , I still have 3 crystals. But you know that you can make more of them with a quartz crystal and two gemstones using Drogan's alchemy table and magic grinder?
No, I didn't know that, because I never have gotten into Drogan's room. It was locked when I started, and I didn't bother it. Does it get unlocked later?
@Arvia , You taught me something. For some reason, I've never seen or tried that dialogue option with Ayala. That will be very helpful to know next time. Hopefully I'll remember.
The Grinder is interesting, who knows what it can make ?.
When SOU first came out a couple of new Classes where introduced and some extra Skills and Feats to choose from.
And I think the Dwarven Waraxe was introduced as well which is why you can't buy one in the OC, oh and you can use Whips in HOTU lol, so annoying to hear the constant whipping sound.
If you find an item to boost Search and Spot I recommend keeping it with you.
@Arvia, your advice was perfect. I had already taken Tomi in there before, and they were immediately hostile. Tomi died and respawned out of there, and I beat feet under a strategic withdrawal shortly after. The second time I went in, that’s when the swords were blocking my path. Fortunately, I was under invisibility when I went in the second time, otherwise I’d have died rather quickly without being able to finally work it out. As it is, the log jam was the culprit, not your tactics suggestion. I appreciate the offering of support though. Next time, I’ll just go in under invis on the first try, sans Tomi or anyone else.
Hiding some potentially spoiler-y IC dialogue.
IC: Linu and I completed the Mission of apprehending Desther, and unfortunately, gullible Fenthick paid a terminal price for his lack of wisdom. I and Linu both feel that his judgment was harsh, even under the tenants of Tyr, of whom I am sworn. Even justice can encompass mercy, as is displayed by my sparing of the mage in Neverwinter who was hordeing food.
Additionally, we chose to bypass the demonic summoning area, utterly ignoring the demon who was apparently stuck there. It is not wise to loose them on the world, and we knew Aribeth and her guards were better prepared to deal with such a foe. Our primary mission was Desther, and we didn’t deviate. Now, our travels see us in Port Llast, where orcs, goblins and bugbears have apparently been raising a ruckus. My wise and elderly, yet clumsy, elven companion seems to think there is a link to the cult we are ultimately investigating. We are a formidable pairing, and if a Tyrran priest can’t be by my side at this time, at least Tyr has put a compassionate, courageous elven priestess in my path.
OOC: Sigurd hit level 7 in the orc/goblin caves to the north of town. I know I’ve left a lot of XP behind, what with all of the respawns and utterly ignoring non-Paladin like quests. Such are the ways of being a do-gooder.
I think I was (slightly) wrong. I think Ayala doesn't give you the key, she just tells you to go to Drogan's lab in the basement, and when you answer his familiar's riddles, he gives you the key and some scroll or whatever.
I think I was (slightly) wrong. I think Ayala doesn't give you the key, she just tells you to go to Drogan's lab in the basement, and when you answer his familiar's riddles, he gives you the key and some scroll or whatever.
I just got three crystals from him. I have a "room key", but I thought it was to my chest in my room. I guess maybe that was the key I needed. I don't remember the familiar telling me there was a key to Drogan's room, but I must have missed something. Oh, well. I'll try to pay better attention next time.
I think I was (slightly) wrong. I think Ayala doesn't give you the key, she just tells you to go to Drogan's lab in the basement, and when you answer his familiar's riddles, he gives you the key and some scroll or whatever.
Yeah I remember it as the Familiar giving several items, you can ask Ayala for crystals but she doesn't have any.
I’m finding that I’m DEFINITELY underleveled on some fights in chapter 2. I’ve sworn off chests as a general rule, considering four of my Sigurd respawns have been trap driven. The rewards often don’t warrant the risk. A cure serious potion on an instadeath trap chest?!?! Go right over there ? and perform a lewd act on yourself. At this point, I’m done trying about 90 percent of them considering I don’t and won’t use Tomi after a conversation with my Paladin. Linu fits better on the role play side, and honestly, her story is cooler.
Creator
sorcerers smashed my face a few times (two reloads that I’ll acknowledge...I was too close to level to accept a respawn). Holy schnikees. Dire bear also showed up as ‘impossible’ on a level nine, but I had enough potions to weather through the behemoth. AC of 26 means Sigurd is hit an awful lot.
All of that said, all of the stuff I’m interacting with in the game seems very fresh to me now, which means I’ve either never done this part, or I’ve forgotten it (likely the former...I only remember being in Port Llast for a little bit before quitting on that campaign over a decade ago). That’s driving me forward now...I think I’m over the hump that I hit yesterday.
@EnialusMeliamne , What you can do is just assume every reinforced chest is trapped, carry a bow, and blast them all open with elemental arrows. A lot of times whatever's inside is worth less than the arrows, but you'll get a lot of elemental arrows that drop for free, as well as several good bows. It's also helpful to have a good bow with good elemental arrows on hand in case you need to fight a caster from outside Evard's Black Tentacles, which you're going to start running into eventually.
***********************
Today we finished up the interlude and got started on Chapter Two.
Hmm, I see a secret door here in these Netherese ruins.
Oh, look, a basilisk. Two basilisks, in fact. And they're looking back. No, no, a thousand times no. Back through the door, Dorna, NOW!.
They each got off a gaze by the time we got back through the door. I think neither one of them connected, because I don't see any saving throws made. We didn't wait more than a fraction of a second before we were back through that door. I remembered these things being in there, but I thought I'd try to get a picture and play it out (big risk) for the thread and to avoid metagaming something my characters didn't know about.
There is no Protection from Petrification in this game. If you see a basilisk, you RUN.
There's a place in these ruins where you will encounter a shield golem guarding its master's dead skeleton. Do whatever you have to do; destroy the golem, trick it, whatever you don't feel guilty doing, but make sure you get at least one of the items off that skeleton. It's a vial with ten applications of stone to flesh. If you start Chapter Two without it, you're going to be in a real pickle, at least you will be if you want to keep using whatever companion you took into the chapter with you. (By the way, I tested the Dispel Magic ability in the Holy Avenger sword, and it doesn't undo petrification.)
I made level nine just before going into the Formid (ant people) hive. I took Improved Critical: Longsword, and got a hit point roll of nine.
I made an alliance with the Formids, and summoned the warrior they provided for this gray slaad fight. I've had trouble with this fight before, but this paladin with the Holy Avenger didn't have much trouble. I did need several healer's kits on both Dorna and myself, because it cast quite a few damaging spells, and it also hit really hard in melee.
I have no idea why they called this chapter the interlude, when it's really chapter two, and chapter two is really chapter three, but that's what they did. It's slightly shorter than either chapter one or chapter two, so I guess that's what they were thinking by calling this whole "chapter" the "interlude".
Anyway, at the end of the interlude, there's another very annoying puzzle. It becomes *extremely* annoying if you don't know what to do. There are six identical chambers with buttons. Your only clue is that one of them has a torch lying in front of the button. There is a crystal ball in the center that allows you to see a chamber. One insight you need is that it is showing you the chamber with the button that is the next button in the combination. And, the very first button in the combination being shown by the crystal ball happens to be the one with the torch in it.
I numbered the six chambers on the map vertically like this:
1 4
2 5
3 6
I was able to mark one chamber by having Dorna on "Stand Your Ground" in front of the button, so I'd know it was that chamber when the crystal ball showed Dorna.
Everything else I could drop would just show up as a bag, so I put either one or two bags in each of the other chambers, but in different places, in patterns I could recognize. Two bags in the middle, one bag on the left, one bag in the middle, one bag to the right, etc. Then you have to keep running back and forth among the chambers, and back to the center to check the crystal ball after each button press. If you ever make a mistake, the whole thing resets.
The first time I played SoU, I was tired and in no mood for puzzles, and I didn't get the insight into it, and I was ready to rage quit the whole game. You cannot proceed to chapter two without solving this puzzle.
If you'd rather I just told you the combination based on the number layout above, here it is in spoiler tags:
423615
After you solve it, six pillars activate, a portal opens, and story stuff happens. This is just a picture of the portal opening, without any big story spoilers (There's a little one from who is present, but that's the only possible spoiler. I didn't post any dialogue or events.)
So, on to chapter two. You start in a place called the "Asabi Camp". You're supposed to be able to rest there, but I got a bug where the game thinks the neutral Asabi are enemies, and it won't let you rest there like you should be able to. This would be potentially disastrous for any spell-casting class, but it was a bit less of a problem for me as a paladin.
The enemies outside that camp are very thick, so I'm posting a route that is the fastest way to a room where the game would finally let me rest with the door closed. Starting with the Asabi Camp in the southwest, go east, then north, bearing right, and go through the first door to your right. You'll have to fight some spiders and a shield golem, and Torm help you if you're a mage who's gone through the chapter transition with no spells left.
In the room in the far southeast corner of the first map of the chapter, there's a small room where you can close the door and at last rest. You can see where we are by the arrow on the map. I had to find this before I could get any of my buffs back, and I had to fight a bunch more spiders and two other of the shield golems trying to figure out how to work around the bug.
@BelgarathMTH
When I rested There I had shut the doors and go behind the leader up against the wall to rest.
I always negotiate with those creatures.
Did you find a Glowing Orb near the beginning in the Netherese ruins? Not the one in the main chamber.
Yeah I've never seen Dispel Magic remove Petrification and was surprised the site claimed the sword could but maybe they where referring to the Striking Dispel on enemies.
Speaking of Deekin I wouldn't mind playing a Module that let's you be a Goblin or Kobold and try to rise up and take over the Clan and see if I can turn them to a more Neutral stance towards others, who says these creature have to be evil.
I'm not saying Thier gonna become super goodies but Neutral means we could try to have better relations with towns and some trade like Cow's, Kobold's do seem to love that meat.
Kobold's are pretty crafty and Goblin's are known for rapid breeding swarm tactics or run in shiv and get the hell out of there.
But I was thinking an Adventurer first than later take over the Clan as a Stronghold.
i think the consensus of why kobolds,gooblins, orcs , ogres ect are usually evil is because of their intelligence
for the most part, races of lower intelligence that don't live in "civilized lands" ( whatever definition you want to use for that ) are usually evil because they aren't taught morality and concepts of good and helping each other
its more often that the strongest prevails and makes the rules and leads by being a bully and intimidation and at the first sign of weakness someone else tries to take their place
their only real hope i would say is if they are partnered up with either a grove or druid or rangers or perhaps have some sort of treaty with a small wood land village ( like west harbor or something of that calibre ) then they could possibly trade not only goods, but knowledge as well
or just could be because DnD i think was originally evented for people to be heros and everything else they come up against is evil just because heros need baddies to battle
but i still like your idea of perhaps not EVERY stereotypical evil race HAS to be evil, tis would be an interesting story if something like that were to happen
I wouldn't mind playing a Goblin Wizard going on bigger and bigger adventures, the Towns people at first are gonna be super suspicious but my action will speak of my intentions.
Or a little renegade Kodold chased out of the clan and struggling to survive but later meeting an experience adventurer who teaches you all they know.
I don't think the concept of whole races being Evil in D&D is related to low intelligence. As far as I know, it depends on the god that created the race and/or is worshipped by them.
********************************
I finished Chapter One last night, but the cost was high.
Blumberg was destroyed already when we arrived. We killed the remaining gnolls, talked to Deekin again and then went into the Nether Mountains to find his master, the dragon.
I made level 4 in the smaller cave (the orcs with their chieftain), the point went into Strength, of course. The HP roll wasn't too bad (I have learned now that the first three levels always give max HP even on Core Rules), and I can cast first level spells now. Two slots, because of the bonus provided by the helmet. I went with Protection from Evil and Endure Elements, for the moment. Later I changed to Magic Weapon instead of Endure Elements, to use the +1 Enhancement on my plain longsword.
The loot was not useful for me (a good longbow, but only for rangers), but Dorna got a better armor. I had forgotten that I can give her better gear, too, otherwise I wouldn't have sold the second Amulet of Health.
The kobold cave annoyed the heck out of me, with their traps and dark maze and puzzles to open the doors. As soon as I had collected enough loot to sell (and hitting our weight limits again), we walked back to Hilltop, sold our stuff, and I bought a Ring of Cyan to be able to see something, especially the clues for the puzzles (if I use the torch, I forget to equip my shield again when attacked). I also bought back the other Amulet of Health to give it to Dorna, because she's consuming most of my healing supplies. And then I saw that I had enough money left for those:
Strength 16 is good for the weight limit and gives me the +3 bonus to attack and damage rolls. When I put the next point there, I can sell them or give them to my henchman.
I thought I might be able to negotiate with the kobolds, but I made a mistake when speaking to the chief after meeting the Master Jumper.
He dropped a Ring of Protection +1. Useless for me, because my helmet has a deflection AC bonus, but good for Dorna.
The problem was that *all* the Kobold Commoners in the main cave, who had been afraid of me earlier, turned hostile after that. I had to kill them all and felt bad about it.
The Master Jumper kept his promise and opened the passage to the dragon, with a warning about the Kobold Ice Hounds.
A very important warning. Look where Dorna runs if I lose track of her for just one second. her new AC 20 doesn't really help if she draws all the aggro and is too far away from me when in trouble.
She was surrounded, open to their sneak attacks, too far away, and they were blocking my path. Great.
I had to use quite a few healing supplies on myself, too, flanked like that.
Better AC or not, she's going to use a bow or stay out of fights in the future! (by the way, that doesn't work. I tried. I give her a bow, she still runs too close and switches to her short sword. But at least I managed to set her in the dialogue to "Defend me. Don't attack before I do.")
Oh. There might have been a solution to avoid this scenario.
I didn't see that earlier, because Dorna was running after Klonk. You can probably release them to trample the Ice Hounds (if your henchman isn't among them!) , but I don't know how the dragon reacts to that.
I talked to him and we came to an agreement. I would kill J'Nah for him (if I didn't find her innocent for some reason), who had directed the raid to get the artifacts and betrayed the dragon, and I forced an oath out of him to release Deekin from his service and reward me with the other artifact.
I went back to Hilltop to get Dorna, and it worked, she wasn't bugged. I could talk to her and she joined me again.
We went to the High Forest to find the gnoll cave. There were more caves, with bugbears, bandits and whatever. I had to use lots of healing kits on Dorna. I must really leave her behind a corner when I fight.
Killing the Bugbear Hero brought me to level 5.
Shocked, I noticed the "unarmed". I had fought him with bare hands. I have no idea when I had unequipped my longsword! Probably when I picked up Dorna, because I had tried to put it into the magic grinder with a few reagents, hoping for an upgrade. Didn't work, of course.
I should have avoided the next cave. A dragon hatchery? They all attacked on sight, and those "wyrmlings", especially the red ones, were hard to hit and almost killed me. I consumed several healing kits and found a dragon egg. Maybe the lesson of this cave was "Look what wyrmlings do to you at your level. Don't even *think* about confronting the adult White Dragon!"
I met a strange hermit who bought the egg for Hagrid, it seems.
I bought a blue Nymph Cloak +1 from him, because that raises my Charisma to 16 with the bonus from the helmet. I had finally remembered that paladins add their Charisma bonus to their saving throws. And my Turn Undead will get stronger, too, although I don't know how many undead I might encounter here.
I found another cave with bandits (and a very nasty trap) with a key to the locked door in the other caves, There were my undead. I hoped that Magic Weapon on my longsword was enough to hit the mummy, I had sold the short sword with the ice damage (stupid, I know that now). For now, it was enough. I kept the skeleton warriors out of my hair with Turn Undead.
With the mummy being outside and hostile already, and the sarcophagus open, I had no bad conscience to take the Sash of Shimmering that was inside. (I kept wearing it, although I noticed later against J'Nah that magic resistance 12 is pretty worthless)
I had to go back and stock up on Healing Kits and Potions of Barkskin, and noticed that I had made enough gold to buy the Boots of Hardiness +1. Con +1 doesn't do anything for me, but the AC bonus is worth it. I have AC 26 now, before Barkskin.
We went into the gnoll caves, fought them and freed some slaves, but then we came to an agreement with the gnoll leader.
@BelgarathMTH has already explained the elemental maze downstairs for anyone looking for information, I won't go into details again, only that I left Dorna at the center, but needed her for the water elementals. Even with Magic Weapon, my sword didn't harm them. I really need to keep a blunt or piercing weapon with me...
I made level 6 here and chose Blind Fight. Divine Might and Divine Shield last only for 1 round per Charisma bonus (which is +3 right now if I don't use Eagle's Splendor), I'm going to pick them later. And mages always use Ghostly Visage or something. And at last I have a second attack per round!
It didn't help me against J'Nah. I had summoned the Fire Elemental from the brazier and buffed with a Potion of Barkskin, Magic Weapon, Protection from Evil and Bless. I wanted to leave Dorna and take the elemental with me, but I had never had more than one companion and didn't know how to give them different commands. I should have used their radial menus to tell Dorna to stay in the hallway and the elemental to follow me, but I used the quickbar. Anyway, both of them were dead within seconds, between J'Nah's heavy and fast elemental damage, her imp with his nasty spells and her melee minions.
I was glad to have kept the Potion of Elemental Resistance from the maze and took it immediately when I saw the nature of her attacks. The maze could have told me that she prefers elemental damage, but I doubt it would have made much of a difference. How can I protect myself from so many rapid attacks, when one of them takes half of my hit points?
And then, stupid me in battle fever again, I remembered that the dragon had given me a flask with some poison to weaken her! Stupid, stupid!
That brought her down to "injured", but I still couldn't hit her. Only Smite Evil did a bit of damage.
And as I said, against rapid spells that take over 40 HP on a failed and half on a successful saving throw, I couldn't keep up with my healing. But at least the gnolls had finally joined the fight and taken care of the minions.
Respawn.
My spells were dispelled or spent, although I think that Magic Weapon was still active, for some reason. I felt that sleeping now was cheating. I took a Potion of Barkskin, Eagle's Splendor and Bull's Strength and transported back immediately (without Dorna, of course).
In the meantime, the gnolls had died fighting, only one warrior and the imp remained with J'Nah. She was back to full health, I guess that's fair and realistic.
I don't know if the poison had taken effect now, or if something else had destroyed her barrier, or if my higher Strength Bonus made me able to finally bypass her damage resistance, but at last I was able to hit her, thank Torm.
When she was dead, I looted her lair (lots of scrolls), bought the Ring of Resistance +1 from the hermit and went to the dragon. He kept his word, gave me Deekin's doll and the mask. I couldn't ask for protection for the village after getting the mask, and I wouldn't have risked asking before.
I went to Deekin, who gave me the other artifact, and went back to Hilltop. And there was level 7.
I rested, got more healing supplies and potions, and now we're on the caravan.
Level: 7
Reloads: 0
Personal Respawns: 2 (kobolds in Elven Crypt, J'Nah)
Dorna Respawns: 2 (Klonk, J'Nah)
@Arvia
About the Magic Grinder on my playthough I wasn't sure what to do with that so I looked it up, I know we shouldn't do that but I was a bit stumped.
Placing Mischa's practice sword and quartz crystal into The Grinder creates The Tinoman, a greatsword with a +1 bonus to attack, slashing damage, and massive criticals.
A quartz crystal, an empty bottle, and two fenberry will get you a potion of barkskin.
A quartz crystal and the Shadow Heart will create a Lesser Amulet of Health
quartz crystal with a green spore makes a Ring of Disease Resistance.
When I play SOU I go to the Hilltop tavern, Crypt, Bloomberg, J'nah than Kobold caverns, there are several opportunities to negotiate with Kobold's and rescue them which they tell the Chief what you did and I think it helps gain trust but yes saying the wrong thing will end it quickly.
Klonk is a little toughy and yes the cattle would've helped if you needed it.
I wanted to say before that your first playthrough of the OC seemed to be better than mine years ago, I'm ashamed of my first character he was so crap and in chapter 3 he ran out of money and kept waisting XP on respawns against Fire Giants, I'm glad to say my second play was much better back in 2004 hmm I'm starting to feel old.
@BelgarathMTH
2 basilisks? every time i go there, there is at least 8 or so in there regardless of what level i am
I saw two just inside the door. I took a picture of them. There was no way I was sticking around to get a total count. I think that would be suicide. (I don't reload over and over and save scum until I slowly make all the saves against all the petrifications, remember. I think that's cheating.)
@Cerabelus , The orb wanted some kind of protective spell cast on it to activate it. I tried Endure Elements and Protection from Evil, and neither one of those seemed to work, so I just figured I didn't have access to whatever spell as a paladin and left it alone.
@Arvia , great run report, as always! Congratulations on beating J'Nah with only one respawn. That's an incredibly hard fight to beat. (I made some more comments in some private messages, since you asked there.)
Comments
i was almost worried for a second there that you were not going to find the holy avenger, damn is that a good sword for pallys
in the hands of a paladin, it strikes as a +5 weapon, and i think it dispels magic on hit, not 100% sure on that last one but its a great weapon to get going from a simple longsword +1
plus with dorna i think you can tell her to only grow up in cleric levels as well if you dont want her to keep splitting her thief level with her cleric level
Tomi Respawns - 8
Linu Respawns - 2
Sigurd of Tyr Respawns - 4
Tomi Respawn - Prison gang up surrounded
Tomi Respawn - Kurdan Fenkt on a 40 damage critical
1 Sigurd of Tyr Respawn - Luxor
Tomi Respawn Twice - Luxor
Tomi Respawn Swords of Never
Tomi Respawn Meldanen Apprentice
2nd Sigurd of Tyr Respawn - Meldanen Apprentice
3rd Sigurd of Tyr Respawn - trapped chest that my useless @$$ rogue companion couldn't see. In the name of Tyr, Why DO I EVEN PAY YOU!?!
Tomi Respawn - Bloodsailor house
Tomi Respawn - Orrean & Guards
Linu Respawn - Bloodsailer Lieutenant
Linu Respawn - Bloated Dire Spider Docks
4th Sigurd of Tyr Respawn - trapped bridge underneath the docks. Next time, hire a competent thief. Maybe an elf.
Reload: Invisi potion, but swords literally blocking the way. Decided to fight, made it to chest, died. Rage reload, used freaking walking keys to get by the freaking swords.
On the reload, the swords of Never were literally buttressed against the door. Sigurd couldn't get by them at first, even using the walking keys. So I fought them. Beat one, then ran for the coffin. Got there, loaded gear and...slow crawl time. Died. Rage reloaded, figuring I'll try the damn keyboard walking trick again, which finally worked. Got the gear, popped smoke using the stone of recall. I'm not counting it against my tally.
That said, Linu and I recovered all of the reagents. She got her chalice, and is happy. Tomi is off doing Calimport medusa assassin things, probably. Linu is more useful, and Tomi is frankly, a paladin role-playing nightmare for me personally, not to mention mechanically (to be fair, that's something all of them suffer from).
We didn't uncover something for Fenthick in chapter 1, I just realized. Oh well...maybe next time, when I'm playing an elven freaking rogue who can actually spot stuff that can kill us. I'm not metagaming it.
@BelgarathMTH
Did a quick search and apparently the "Holy Avenger Properties" are only activated by a Pally.
Normally a +2 Enchantment Bonus
Pally equipped acts as if +5 Enchantment Bonus
50% chance to Dispel on hit (If physical damage is caused) "LVL 10 Dispel"
+1d6 Divine damage vs Evil
+16 Spell Resistence
Additionally the Dispel Magic property apparently dispels Petrification, Aura of Fear, Turn Undead and some others.
It also say's a high Use Magic Device skill can use the Holy Avenger Properties.
Before patch 1.69 the wielder's character level was used to determine Dispel LVL making it on par with Mordenkainen's Disjunction.
A worthy weapon for Justice
@BelgarathMTH , I'm very impressed by your progress, and I'm picking up advice about the traps and puzzles and everything, thank you so much for sharing those vital informations. Congratulations on your amazing Holy Avenger sword!
*************************************
I've had very little time to play this week, and I'd rather not play when I'm too tired, because I make mistakes if I don't pay close attention to dialogue details.
Let me introduce Marya Tormalin, Paladin of (who would have guessed with that name) Torm. She looks more like a Roman legionary than a paladin, but it's hard to find decent portraits of women in proper armor, and I really liked the picture.
I decided to try another build this time, not because I wasn't content with the other one, but because I want to compare different builds, also to see if the paladin specific feats like Divine Might and Divine Shield are worth it, so that I can decide if I want to take them in HotU (importing Arvia of Tyr from the OC, not this paladin). Of course it's not objective, it's biased because it's not the same game and equipment, and I know the game mechanics better than when I started the OC.
So, I went with the stats seen in the screenshot above, to get the +1 Constitution Bonus to my HP, and Dexterity 12 still gives me a +1 AC bonus even with heavy armor. I took Toughness and Weapon Focus: Longsword.
I'm going to keep some of my comments in spoiler tags, too, because I don't know if there are people reading this who haven't played SoU before, like me. But anyone who doesn't want to know *anything* about the game before will probably not read run reports.
So, after the initial events at Drogan's school, I went with Dorna to get her belongings, got some equipment from Drogan's room (just from the chests and weapon racks in the room where supplies were kept, not the money in his "office"), answered his familiar's annoying riddles (making a few mistakes, being tired... 99 counts as *two* nines, of course, and I messed up the 5 children question, too... ) to get a scroll and some transport crystals, and went to the village to see the herbalist for a cure. We gave me some things and sent me to the tavern for more, and that's where I found out that this game really has some nice options for different solutions and outcomes, and even gives you points for lawful behavior.
I won't be turning down rewards as a matter of principle, because I'm going to need supplies, but taking money from the villagers, who have lost much already, just for getting rid of the kobolds and saving the cook, just didn't seem right.
Taking the cure to Ayala (sp?) and then convincing a mad "prophet" to leave the village gave me a reward without the dialogue option to refuse it (thankfully) and enough XP to make level 2.
A woman approached us that kobolds had entered her home, and her husband and baby were still inside. Again, there seemed to have been multiple solutions, but my Persuade skill with level 2 was not enough, and I wasn't going to pay a kidnapper.
Of course I had to help the widow to get along. It's no use to save her baby and then let them starve.
Near the village gate I met a Red Wizard of Thay. They're supposed to be evil, but this one actually sounded reasonable and agreed to protect the village if the mayor let him set up an enclave to trade in the village. However, I failed the Persuade check. Who knows, maybe he really would have caused trouble.
I followed the kobolds into the Elven Crypt, met the Spirit of Nilmaldor, who offered help against the kobolds in exchange for... fighting Giant Spiders *shudder*
I hate spiders. We killed them, even with our penalties, and the nice Elven Altar healed us.
The Spirit of Nilmaldor told me about the gas trap for the kobolds and the valuable, incredible paladin items upstairs, which I couldn't identify, of course. I think I actually went back to identify them before fighting the kobolds. Anyway, I made level 3 before reaching the secret door.
I took Power Attack, to unlock the Divine feats later, but I guess I will take Blind Fight as the next feat.
I'm either getting lucky HP rolls, or the first few levels give maximum. I've checked the difficulty slider, it's still on Hardcore D&D rules, not on "Normal".
It's good that I hit level 3 before meeting the kobolds, because I decided to negotiate with them instead of using the gas. That was a mistake. We both had to unequip our weapons to enter and talk to them, and then:
Dead. Because we had to equip our weapons again when they attacked, there were lots of them, and some had crossbows. Forgot for a moment that I'm not level 16 anymore, and that you have to keep an eye on every little hit when you only have 36 HP. I didn't pay attention to my health bar for just a little moment, and then took a critical hit from a crossbow bolt.
Respawn. I went back immediately, this time going for the crossbow wielders first. Then we killed the remaining ones and took the artifact plus loot.
Okay, that was my first respawn, but it wasn't the build, it was me getting careless, forgetting the fragility of lower levels.
I suggest taking the elven spirit's advice on how to defeat the kobolds
Then we met Deekin and agreed to follow him to Blumberg, but first we explored the rest of the map. Dorna warned me when we met a Duergar, but I decided to help him (he seemed to have been sort of friends with Drogan) and rescue his daughter.
I thought, hey, last time in the OC I got someone killed because I refused to drink with a witness, I'm going to be smarter now!
It worked twice. The third time, I decided not to push my luck and drank from the flask, seeing that he was already getting dizzy. Mistake again!
I'm not even sure if it would have worked to make him drunk, or wait until he sleeps after a meal.
Anyway, there was a way out.
I don't know what they will do if the giant discovers that she's gone and decides to come after her. But the Duergar had asked me to get her back, not to kill the giant. I guess they will have to come to an agreement with him. I remember the hill giants in the Moonwood, and I was level 14 or something then.
He gave me an item that I can't idetify right now. It looks like an Amulet of Natural Armor. Figures, because I've just bought one for a lot of gold.
So, those are my solved quests until now.
I hope didn't overlook anything in the maps. I'm going to Blumberg next.
Level: 3
Respawns: 1 (kobolds in the Elven Crypt)
I guarantee you don't want to see Rumgut again, not unless your looking to get your head caved in, I've tried and retried to fight him before and it's a total pain, he can be beaten but the head aches not worth it.
he does seem like a nice guy though but when things don't go his way...don't be there.
In the Crypt did you check the locked doors? where they all locked?
Yeah the Conversation with those Kobold's can be tricky.
I also tried to convince the town leaders to let the red wizard set up shop, and failed the Persuade. I think that particular Persuade check has a pretty high DC. And you can always roll the dreaded "one- critical fail" in this game, no matter how high your skill. One time I did pass the check, and that wizard sells some amazing items in the shop he sets up, so I would be surprised if a lot of people didn't save scum that check until they pass it. I don't like to play like that, myself, though, as you know. It feels like cheating to me if I do it.
I usually wind up in the cell in the giant's cave just like you did, but this last time I managed to make the giant pass out and was able to get his key, free the dwarven woman, and go out the front door. I think the drinking contest is a roll against your constitution score, (mine was only 11), and the "spill most of your drink" attempt is a Persuade check, although I might be wrong. I drank for real the first time, and faked two drinks, before he passed out. He may be rolling against his own constitution score, but I'm not sure. So, I probably just got unusually lucky rolls in the encounter this time.
The giant can catch you "cheating" by spilling your drink. I've had that happen before. If I remember correctly, he just throws you in the cell to be eaten later if he catches you. I guess he likes his food fresh-killed, and he's not hungry right then.
No, I didn't know that, because I never have gotten into Drogan's room. It was locked when I started, and I didn't bother it. Does it get unlocked later?
@BelgarathMTH
The Grinder is interesting, who knows what it can make ?.
When SOU first came out a couple of new Classes where introduced and some extra Skills and Feats to choose from.
And I think the Dwarven Waraxe was introduced as well which is why you can't buy one in the OC, oh and you can use Whips in HOTU lol, so annoying to hear the constant whipping sound.
If you find an item to boost Search and Spot I recommend keeping it with you.
Hiding some potentially spoiler-y IC dialogue.
Additionally, we chose to bypass the demonic summoning area, utterly ignoring the demon who was apparently stuck there. It is not wise to loose them on the world, and we knew Aribeth and her guards were better prepared to deal with such a foe. Our primary mission was Desther, and we didn’t deviate. Now, our travels see us in Port Llast, where orcs, goblins and bugbears have apparently been raising a ruckus. My wise and elderly, yet clumsy, elven companion seems to think there is a link to the cult we are ultimately investigating. We are a formidable pairing, and if a Tyrran priest can’t be by my side at this time, at least Tyr has put a compassionate, courageous elven priestess in my path.
OOC: Sigurd hit level 7 in the orc/goblin caves to the north of town. I know I’ve left a lot of XP behind, what with all of the respawns and utterly ignoring non-Paladin like quests. Such are the ways of being a do-gooder.
I just got three crystals from him. I have a "room key", but I thought it was to my chest in my room. I guess maybe that was the key I needed. I don't remember the familiar telling me there was a key to Drogan's room, but I must have missed something. Oh, well. I'll try to pay better attention next time.
Yeah I remember it as the Familiar giving several items, you can ask Ayala for crystals but she doesn't have any.
All of that said, all of the stuff I’m interacting with in the game seems very fresh to me now, which means I’ve either never done this part, or I’ve forgotten it (likely the former...I only remember being in Port Llast for a little bit before quitting on that campaign over a decade ago). That’s driving me forward now...I think I’m over the hump that I hit yesterday.
***********************
Today we finished up the interlude and got started on Chapter Two.
Hmm, I see a secret door here in these Netherese ruins.
Oh, look, a basilisk. Two basilisks, in fact. And they're looking back. No, no, a thousand times no. Back through the door, Dorna, NOW!.
They each got off a gaze by the time we got back through the door. I think neither one of them connected, because I don't see any saving throws made. We didn't wait more than a fraction of a second before we were back through that door. I remembered these things being in there, but I thought I'd try to get a picture and play it out (big risk) for the thread and to avoid metagaming something my characters didn't know about.
There is no Protection from Petrification in this game. If you see a basilisk, you RUN.
There's a place in these ruins where you will encounter a shield golem guarding its master's dead skeleton. Do whatever you have to do; destroy the golem, trick it, whatever you don't feel guilty doing, but make sure you get at least one of the items off that skeleton. It's a vial with ten applications of stone to flesh. If you start Chapter Two without it, you're going to be in a real pickle, at least you will be if you want to keep using whatever companion you took into the chapter with you. (By the way, I tested the Dispel Magic ability in the Holy Avenger sword, and it doesn't undo petrification.)
I made level nine just before going into the Formid (ant people) hive. I took Improved Critical: Longsword, and got a hit point roll of nine.
I made an alliance with the Formids, and summoned the warrior they provided for this gray slaad fight. I've had trouble with this fight before, but this paladin with the Holy Avenger didn't have much trouble. I did need several healer's kits on both Dorna and myself, because it cast quite a few damaging spells, and it also hit really hard in melee.
I have no idea why they called this chapter the interlude, when it's really chapter two, and chapter two is really chapter three, but that's what they did. It's slightly shorter than either chapter one or chapter two, so I guess that's what they were thinking by calling this whole "chapter" the "interlude".
Anyway, at the end of the interlude, there's another very annoying puzzle. It becomes *extremely* annoying if you don't know what to do. There are six identical chambers with buttons. Your only clue is that one of them has a torch lying in front of the button. There is a crystal ball in the center that allows you to see a chamber. One insight you need is that it is showing you the chamber with the button that is the next button in the combination. And, the very first button in the combination being shown by the crystal ball happens to be the one with the torch in it.
I numbered the six chambers on the map vertically like this:
1 4
2 5
3 6
I was able to mark one chamber by having Dorna on "Stand Your Ground" in front of the button, so I'd know it was that chamber when the crystal ball showed Dorna.
Everything else I could drop would just show up as a bag, so I put either one or two bags in each of the other chambers, but in different places, in patterns I could recognize. Two bags in the middle, one bag on the left, one bag in the middle, one bag to the right, etc. Then you have to keep running back and forth among the chambers, and back to the center to check the crystal ball after each button press. If you ever make a mistake, the whole thing resets.
The first time I played SoU, I was tired and in no mood for puzzles, and I didn't get the insight into it, and I was ready to rage quit the whole game. You cannot proceed to chapter two without solving this puzzle.
If you'd rather I just told you the combination based on the number layout above, here it is in spoiler tags:
After you solve it, six pillars activate, a portal opens, and story stuff happens. This is just a picture of the portal opening, without any big story spoilers (There's a little one from who is present, but that's the only possible spoiler. I didn't post any dialogue or events.)
So, on to chapter two. You start in a place called the "Asabi Camp". You're supposed to be able to rest there, but I got a bug where the game thinks the neutral Asabi are enemies, and it won't let you rest there like you should be able to. This would be potentially disastrous for any spell-casting class, but it was a bit less of a problem for me as a paladin.
The enemies outside that camp are very thick, so I'm posting a route that is the fastest way to a room where the game would finally let me rest with the door closed. Starting with the Asabi Camp in the southwest, go east, then north, bearing right, and go through the first door to your right. You'll have to fight some spiders and a shield golem, and Torm help you if you're a mage who's gone through the chapter transition with no spells left.
In the room in the far southeast corner of the first map of the chapter, there's a small room where you can close the door and at last rest. You can see where we are by the arrow on the map. I had to find this before I could get any of my buffs back, and I had to fight a bunch more spiders and two other of the shield golems trying to figure out how to work around the bug.
Level: 9
Reloads: 0
Dorna Deaths: 1 (J'Nah)
When I rested There I had shut the doors and go behind the leader up against the wall to rest.
I always negotiate with those creatures.
Did you find a Glowing Orb near the beginning in the Netherese ruins? Not the one in the main chamber.
Yeah I've never seen Dispel Magic remove Petrification and was surprised the site claimed the sword could but maybe they where referring to the Striking Dispel on enemies.
2 basilisks? every time i go there, there is at least 8 or so in there regardless of what level i am
Yeah several times my Wizard got petrified before defeating them all or poor Deekin.
Definitely get that cure petrify from the other room.
I'm not saying Thier gonna become super goodies but Neutral means we could try to have better relations with towns and some trade like Cow's, Kobold's do seem to love that meat.
Kobold's are pretty crafty and Goblin's are known for rapid breeding swarm tactics or run in shiv and get the hell out of there.
But I was thinking an Adventurer first than later take over the Clan as a Stronghold.
for the most part, races of lower intelligence that don't live in "civilized lands" ( whatever definition you want to use for that ) are usually evil because they aren't taught morality and concepts of good and helping each other
its more often that the strongest prevails and makes the rules and leads by being a bully and intimidation and at the first sign of weakness someone else tries to take their place
their only real hope i would say is if they are partnered up with either a grove or druid or rangers or perhaps have some sort of treaty with a small wood land village ( like west harbor or something of that calibre ) then they could possibly trade not only goods, but knowledge as well
or just could be because DnD i think was originally evented for people to be heros and everything else they come up against is evil just because heros need baddies to battle
but i still like your idea of perhaps not EVERY stereotypical evil race HAS to be evil, tis would be an interesting story if something like that were to happen
Or a little renegade Kodold chased out of the clan and struggling to survive but later meeting an experience adventurer who teaches you all they know.
********************************
I finished Chapter One last night, but the cost was high.
Blumberg was destroyed already when we arrived. We killed the remaining gnolls, talked to Deekin again and then went into the Nether Mountains to find his master, the dragon.
I made level 4 in the smaller cave (the orcs with their chieftain), the point went into Strength, of course. The HP roll wasn't too bad (I have learned now that the first three levels always give max HP even on Core Rules), and I can cast first level spells now. Two slots, because of the bonus provided by the helmet. I went with Protection from Evil and Endure Elements, for the moment. Later I changed to Magic Weapon instead of Endure Elements, to use the +1 Enhancement on my plain longsword.
The loot was not useful for me (a good longbow, but only for rangers), but Dorna got a better armor. I had forgotten that I can give her better gear, too, otherwise I wouldn't have sold the second Amulet of Health.
The kobold cave annoyed the heck out of me, with their traps and dark maze and puzzles to open the doors. As soon as I had collected enough loot to sell (and hitting our weight limits again), we walked back to Hilltop, sold our stuff, and I bought a Ring of Cyan to be able to see something, especially the clues for the puzzles (if I use the torch, I forget to equip my shield again when attacked). I also bought back the other Amulet of Health to give it to Dorna, because she's consuming most of my healing supplies. And then I saw that I had enough money left for those:
Strength 16 is good for the weight limit and gives me the +3 bonus to attack and damage rolls. When I put the next point there, I can sell them or give them to my henchman.
I thought I might be able to negotiate with the kobolds, but I made a mistake when speaking to the chief after meeting the Master Jumper.
He dropped a Ring of Protection +1. Useless for me, because my helmet has a deflection AC bonus, but good for Dorna.
The problem was that *all* the Kobold Commoners in the main cave, who had been afraid of me earlier, turned hostile after that. I had to kill them all and felt bad about it.
The Master Jumper kept his promise and opened the passage to the dragon, with a warning about the Kobold Ice Hounds.
A very important warning. Look where Dorna runs if I lose track of her for just one second. her new AC 20 doesn't really help if she draws all the aggro and is too far away from me when in trouble.
She was surrounded, open to their sneak attacks, too far away, and they were blocking my path. Great.
I had to use quite a few healing supplies on myself, too, flanked like that.
Better AC or not, she's going to use a bow or stay out of fights in the future! (by the way, that doesn't work. I tried. I give her a bow, she still runs too close and switches to her short sword. But at least I managed to set her in the dialogue to "Defend me. Don't attack before I do.")
Oh. There might have been a solution to avoid this scenario.
I didn't see that earlier, because Dorna was running after Klonk. You can probably release them to trample the Ice Hounds (if your henchman isn't among them!) , but I don't know how the dragon reacts to that.
I talked to him and we came to an agreement. I would kill J'Nah for him (if I didn't find her innocent for some reason), who had directed the raid to get the artifacts and betrayed the dragon, and I forced an oath out of him to release Deekin from his service and reward me with the other artifact.
I went back to Hilltop to get Dorna, and it worked, she wasn't bugged. I could talk to her and she joined me again.
We went to the High Forest to find the gnoll cave. There were more caves, with bugbears, bandits and whatever. I had to use lots of healing kits on Dorna. I must really leave her behind a corner when I fight.
Killing the Bugbear Hero brought me to level 5.
Shocked, I noticed the "unarmed". I had fought him with bare hands. I have no idea when I had unequipped my longsword! Probably when I picked up Dorna, because I had tried to put it into the magic grinder with a few reagents, hoping for an upgrade. Didn't work, of course.
I should have avoided the next cave. A dragon hatchery? They all attacked on sight, and those "wyrmlings", especially the red ones, were hard to hit and almost killed me. I consumed several healing kits and found a dragon egg. Maybe the lesson of this cave was "Look what wyrmlings do to you at your level. Don't even *think* about confronting the adult White Dragon!"
I met a strange hermit who bought the egg for Hagrid, it seems.
I bought a blue Nymph Cloak +1 from him, because that raises my Charisma to 16 with the bonus from the helmet. I had finally remembered that paladins add their Charisma bonus to their saving throws. And my Turn Undead will get stronger, too, although I don't know how many undead I might encounter here.
I found another cave with bandits (and a very nasty trap) with a key to the locked door in the other caves, There were my undead. I hoped that Magic Weapon on my longsword was enough to hit the mummy, I had sold the short sword with the ice damage (stupid, I know that now). For now, it was enough. I kept the skeleton warriors out of my hair with Turn Undead.
With the mummy being outside and hostile already, and the sarcophagus open, I had no bad conscience to take the Sash of Shimmering that was inside. (I kept wearing it, although I noticed later against J'Nah that magic resistance 12 is pretty worthless)
I had to go back and stock up on Healing Kits and Potions of Barkskin, and noticed that I had made enough gold to buy the Boots of Hardiness +1. Con +1 doesn't do anything for me, but the AC bonus is worth it. I have AC 26 now, before Barkskin.
We went into the gnoll caves, fought them and freed some slaves, but then we came to an agreement with the gnoll leader.
@BelgarathMTH has already explained the elemental maze downstairs for anyone looking for information, I won't go into details again, only that I left Dorna at the center, but needed her for the water elementals. Even with Magic Weapon, my sword didn't harm them. I really need to keep a blunt or piercing weapon with me...
I made level 6 here and chose Blind Fight. Divine Might and Divine Shield last only for 1 round per Charisma bonus (which is +3 right now if I don't use Eagle's Splendor), I'm going to pick them later. And mages always use Ghostly Visage or something. And at last I have a second attack per round!
It didn't help me against J'Nah. I had summoned the Fire Elemental from the brazier and buffed with a Potion of Barkskin, Magic Weapon, Protection from Evil and Bless. I wanted to leave Dorna and take the elemental with me, but I had never had more than one companion and didn't know how to give them different commands. I should have used their radial menus to tell Dorna to stay in the hallway and the elemental to follow me, but I used the quickbar. Anyway, both of them were dead within seconds, between J'Nah's heavy and fast elemental damage, her imp with his nasty spells and her melee minions.
And then, stupid me in battle fever again, I remembered that the dragon had given me a flask with some poison to weaken her! Stupid, stupid!
That brought her down to "injured", but I still couldn't hit her. Only Smite Evil did a bit of damage.
And as I said, against rapid spells that take over 40 HP on a failed and half on a successful saving throw, I couldn't keep up with my healing. But at least the gnolls had finally joined the fight and taken care of the minions.
Respawn.
My spells were dispelled or spent, although I think that Magic Weapon was still active, for some reason. I felt that sleeping now was cheating. I took a Potion of Barkskin, Eagle's Splendor and Bull's Strength and transported back immediately (without Dorna, of course).
In the meantime, the gnolls had died fighting, only one warrior and the imp remained with J'Nah. She was back to full health, I guess that's fair and realistic.
I don't know if the poison had taken effect now, or if something else had destroyed her barrier, or if my higher Strength Bonus made me able to finally bypass her damage resistance, but at last I was able to hit her, thank Torm.
When she was dead, I looted her lair (lots of scrolls), bought the Ring of Resistance +1 from the hermit and went to the dragon. He kept his word, gave me Deekin's doll and the mask. I couldn't ask for protection for the village after getting the mask, and I wouldn't have risked asking before.
I went to Deekin, who gave me the other artifact, and went back to Hilltop. And there was level 7.
I rested, got more healing supplies and potions, and now we're on the caravan.
Level: 7
Reloads: 0
Personal Respawns: 2 (kobolds in Elven Crypt, J'Nah)
Dorna Respawns: 2 (Klonk, J'Nah)
About the Magic Grinder on my playthough I wasn't sure what to do with that so I looked it up, I know we shouldn't do that but I was a bit stumped.
A quartz crystal, an empty bottle, and two fenberry will get you a potion of barkskin.
A quartz crystal and the Shadow Heart will create a Lesser Amulet of Health
quartz crystal with a green spore makes a Ring of Disease Resistance.
When I play SOU I go to the Hilltop tavern, Crypt, Bloomberg, J'nah than Kobold caverns, there are several opportunities to negotiate with Kobold's and rescue them which they tell the Chief what you did and I think it helps gain trust but yes saying the wrong thing will end it quickly.
Klonk is a little toughy and yes the cattle would've helped if you needed it.
I wanted to say before that your first playthrough of the OC seemed to be better than mine years ago, I'm ashamed of my first character he was so crap and in chapter 3 he ran out of money and kept waisting XP on respawns against Fire Giants, I'm glad to say my second play was much better back in 2004 hmm I'm starting to feel old.
Thank you, but my first playthrough of the OC would have been a lot worse without @BelgarathMTH's "teacher's run" as guidance.
Edit: Klonk would have been okay, it's just that I couldn't choose my battlefield, running after Dorna.
I saw two just inside the door. I took a picture of them. There was no way I was sticking around to get a total count. I think that would be suicide. (I don't reload over and over and save scum until I slowly make all the saves against all the petrifications, remember. I think that's cheating.)
@Cerabelus , The orb wanted some kind of protective spell cast on it to activate it. I tried Endure Elements and Protection from Evil, and neither one of those seemed to work, so I just figured I didn't have access to whatever spell as a paladin and left it alone.