By the way, when you're heading towards Baldur's Gate, there are two special characters who spawn if you have 3 reputation or less (sort of like the Flaming Fist low reputation spawns except with unique characters rather than generic Flaming Fists). One appears when you're walking along the road to Baldur's Gate in the ankheg area, and the other one appears when you're about to cross the bridge to Baldur's Gate.
We reached the Valley of the Tombs. When we met Hentold, we told him to give back a dagger, and real quick. Of course, he agreed and mentioned he'll never go grave-digging again. Mara figured there should be undead involved, so Grim entered each of the crypts invisible. In one of the crypts, he found an odd creature and hiddenly set a few traps just in case.
We didn't want to part ways with a +2 dagger and thus attacked Revenant. Missile damage from the traps didn't harm it a lot, but our increasing magic potential took him down (Magic Missiles now hit hard).
We thought it would be useful to get Narcillicus write down a spell to control slimes, jellies and oozes, but he refused. A high-level wizard under magic protections was a threat, so we immediately retreated. In this playthrough, I learned it can be very fun to set traps as you retreat, so that enemies get into them. Eruína summoned a Skeleton Warrior, and it "ate" the most dangerous spells Narcillicus had: Skull Trap, Lighting Bolt, Minor Sequencer with Magic Missiles. In the end, magic protections of Narcillicus ran out, so we just shot him down (Mara became unconscious because of Emotion: Hopelessness, but it came the moment the mage was already down).
Czernobog, Dorn and Grim dealt with the Mustard Jellies.
A Flaming Fist mercenary from the Gibberling Mountains attacked us when we declined to identify ourselves. -2 Reputation.
We dealt with Kryll, she wasn't a threat, although her casting of Horror during a cutscene (not after it) made me worry a bit - fortunately Eruína finished casting Remove Fear (as I understand, already under the Horror effect).
We demanded a reward from Lena and she gave us a jade ring. We delivered Samuel to the temple for more rewards.
Tranzig panicked after the only backstab from Grim, asked for mercy but got none.
We found the first group of bandits in Larswood and told Teven we wanted to join them because we like the killin. To Tazok we replied we were strong, well armed and knew the opportunity when we saw it. He was impressed and mentioned we were big on words.
I'm exploring these options probably for the second time ever, it's nice I can talk to Ardenor Crush, Garclax, Taurgosz, Credus, Tersus and Knott. Usually, I just attack the Bandit camp, but this way I got access to all the treasure not in the main tent. It also provides a lot of insight into the Iron Throne situation.
@OlvynChuru I'd be glad to meet them, but I'm not sure I'll have Rep 3, as I upped it to 5 to buy the Army Scythe (it still costed 15k gold).
Well, this fight happened much earlier than I had thought. I was in the process of looting each of the tents by Grim, and Tersus (a hobgoblin) went red when Grim opened a locked container there. We killed him, no problem, but when we went out of the tent, the alarm rang.
I didn't have much choice but to return to the tent, as under SCS all the camp starts attacking you after the alarm. Enemies appeared quickly. I put Czernobog and Dorn next to the entrance, gave them all the enhancing potions I had (of frost giant and heroism). The task was to try and crowd-control as many enemies per spell as we could. We had Horror, Hold Person, Glitterdust + the wand of Monster Summoning.
It was working ok, and then Venkt (a mage) entered the tent. He saved against Horror, but became blind thanks to Glitterdust (not for long). Grim used Poison Weapon.
Unfortunately, Glitterdust has a duration of only 4 rounds. Nav' was hit by a hobgoblin and got poisoned. However, in the camp before I had found enough healing potions to keep her alive till the end of the fight. Venkt casted Melf's Acid Arrow at Mara, but she had a lot of additional hit points thanks to Larloch's Minor Drain (another excellent spell I discovered during this run).
As you can see, Venkt also casted Slow, so we needed to kill him quick before he harmed us more. One of summoned ogres managed to hit the mage while he slept under Command.
Basically, all that was required next was to cast another Horror (from a scroll), and kill them all one by one.
This was the first time I had to deal with the Bandit Camp unprepared, but it ended smoothly.
Party level: Grim 6, everyone else 5
Party reputation: 5
Party deaths: 7 (Czernobog - Dribben, weather lightning; Grim 2 - Kobold Commando, Borda; Eruína - Borda, a siren; Dorn - a siren)
Reloads: 0
We're still going, but slowly. I'll start a vacation soon, so Mara will have to wait.
Anyway, after the party had talked to Aldeth and then Seniyad approached us, we decided to support the druids. The reason for that was 2 possible dialogue replies:
1 - druids have this great aloe vera balm they're giving away samples of, and my armor has been chafing a bit, ya know?
2 - we can't just let you murder Aldeth. Why don't we come to a peaceful solution?
While the first reply is silly, the second one is firmly not evil as it mentions a peaceful solution. So we attacked and killed Aldeth, and got instructions from Seniyad to head west then north.
Spiders on the next map were a threat, so after we triggered the first trap and had to use Horror to save ourselves, Nav' made Grim invisible and he triggered the rest of the traps safely (his Find Traps skill is low).
Before entering the Centeol cave we left Mara outside. It proved to be a correct decision as she used her wand and one-shotted Nav' for 20 cold damage. At least we didn't lose any equipment.
Glitterdust and Horror let us kill all the spiders.
Party level: Grim and Eruina 6, everyone else 5
Party reputation: 5
Party deaths: 8 (Czernobog - Dribben, weather lightning; Grim 2 - Kobold Commando, Borda; Eruína - Borda, a siren; Dorn - a siren; Nav' - Centeol)
Reloads: 0
Yay, we're back to action. While travelling to the next Cloakwood area, the party was ambushed by amazon bounty hunters.
The key to this fight usually is to cast any spell that can make two enemy thieves visible - any failure usually means goodbye to a mage (and having both Mara and Nav' as mages with low HP count is a very big risk for this fight). The same is also valid for the battle in the murderer's basement in Athkatla.
Thankfully, I managed to make them visible just a second before a potential killing blow (Mara gulped an Invisibility potion at the start of the fight).
Nav' still died because of Maneira's lucky shot. I finished the fight without any other problems.
Laskal asked us a question about the Iron Throne. There was only one viable option for an evil character, and under SCS it means you lose 2 points of reputation.
I dealt with 2 groups of druids thanks to Web and Silence. Again, the only viable options for an evil character were to insult and attack them.
Amarande usually is another potential source of game over. Czernobog, equipped with 2 potions of Magic Blocking, faced him alone. After the druids wasted nearly all their spells (and Amarande was still uninjured) I thought it would be fine to return to the room below. Turns out, the druid still had one Chromatic Orb. Nav' was immediately petrified. We finished the fight, though, without any other casualties.
I had to retreat to the Song of the Morning Temple to buy back one point of reputation and several "Stone to Flesh" scrolls. On the way there we were ambushed first by wyverns then by spiders, and both Czernobog and Dorn got another level with favourable HP rolls (11 and 7 respectively).
Party level: Mara and Nav' 5, everyone else 6
Party reputation: 4
Party deaths: 9 (Czernobog - Dribben, weather lightning; Grim 2 - Kobold Commando, Borda; Eruína - Borda, a siren; Dorn - a siren; Nav' - Centeol, Maneira)
Reloads: 0
Laskal asked us a question about the Iron Throne. There was only one viable option for an evil character, and under SCS it means you lose 2 points of reputation.
Actually, he's a straight-up innocent; the reputation loss for fighting and killing him depends on where you are on the scale. Losing only two points? Well, your bunch were pretty hated already.
I encountered this in my current (first SCS) run; since I was playing a mixed good/evil party and needed some occasional innocent kills to keep Viconia happy, I let the rep loss stand and happily equipped the +2 staff on my (Dragon Disciple) protagonist.
Just a short note on Drasus and Co. I have a habit of using one Protection From Magic scroll (of two available till the BG city) against Davaeorn, and saving another for later. But at the same time, I often encounter big difficulties when I face Rezdan and Kysus as they are high-level spellcasters and can cast spells up to lvl 5. Usually, though, I manage to handle them thanks to potions of Magic Blocking, which in this case were spent during the Amarande fight.
I'm also not a fan of spamming out-of-the-screen spells to disable/kill enemies before the battle actually starts.
So I decided to use a Protection From Magic scroll here. Silence was ineffective as both spellcasters have Vocalize.
As Czernobog was well protected, Mara freely casted Skull Traps. Grease and Web helped against Drasus and Genthore.
The enemy mages couldn't hurt Czernobog as the rest of the party retreated to a safer place.
Party level: Nav' 5, everyone else 6
Party reputation: 4
Party deaths: 9 (Czernobog - Dribben, weather lightning; Grim 2 - Kobold Commando, Borda; Eruína - Borda, a siren; Dorn - a siren; Nav' - Centeol, Maneira)
Reloads: 0
One update per month. How hard it is to find time for BG sometimes...
Update 12.
We dealt with Davaeorn. Although I tried to do it the usual way, I suffered a few setbacks and scares. First, one char (Czernobog this time) went meleeing Dave under Protection from Magic. Another char (Dorn) with all possible buffing potions waited at the entrance for the dozens of guards to arrive. All the rest waited in the room nearby - in case Dave would teleport somewhere between Dorn and Mara. Does that sound about right?
Dave did teleport there and thankfully didn't notice Mara.
He then teleported back. The talons started to arrive.
But then Dave decided he would flee from Czernobog right to Mara... Grim interrupted one of his spells, but Nav' was one-shotted by a meteor (14 piercing and 3 fire damage were just enough for her 17 HPs). At least I didn't take risks and gulped an invisibility potion by Mara.
Grim then survived Cone of Cold from Dave (I thank gnome gods for the shorty saves!)
Dorn was about to get overwhelmed by guards. Mara used her wand of Monster Summoning and we tried Horror effects from all our sources. Mara then casted the only Web spell she had, and Dorn equipped a two-hander to be immune to Web (before, he had a shield equipped for additional defence).
The amount of our healing potions was just about to become 0 when Dorn struck down the last of guards and Czernobog finally finished Dave.
So, it all ended just fine, I guess, but playing with a party really makes the SCS Davaeorn encounter harder than when you're soloing. Limiting spells we can use played its part as well, with only one Web available (necromancy spells getting the advantage) and nearly no magic healing.
Party level: Nav' 5, Grim 7, everyone else 6
Party reputation: 4
Party deaths: 10 (Czernobog - Dribben, weather lightning; Grim 2 - Kobold Commando, Borda; Eruína - Borda, a siren; Dorn - a siren; Nav' - Centeol, Maneira, Davaeorn)
Reloads: 0
This is still going! Not ready to provide a substantial update, but I've been really enjoying exploring the BG city. I haven't done that for a long time, usually focusing on: getting this item here, talking to this quest giver there. It's been a routine for many years.
But now I've decided to fully explore the city. It's actually impressive how many details are put into the game: after talking to Scar upon investigating the Seven Suns building, the party walks into a tavern to find it infested with Green Slimes. A green bartender talks about sewers and then blows up. Surviving commoners speak about a mage, Ramazith, as a cause for those slimes. We enter the sewers through the closest entrance and are immediately found in the dialogue with another green person calling himself a king. We listen to him, don't attack and find out we have a death coming arranged by nobody less than gods! We then proceed through different sewers sections and find Sewer cleaners, a crazy kobold summoning 10+ kobold commandos, crawlers, spiders, and in the end get to the cause of recent human disappearings. We found a way to the Iron Throne building, to the Undercellar, and all from the sewers.
Mara casts Horror, the Ogre Mage panics and then is killed in a few hits from our Blackguards. We leave the sewers and find ourselves in an area with Marek and Lothander. Just to the north of them, there is a shop with many lootable containers. We find arrows of dispel (!) there, a lot of potions and gems. Then we go outside and find a locked door of the Merchants' Guild. We enter, a guard summons a bunch of dogs which can teleport.
And all that in about 2 hours of playing time. It's so refreshing to enjoy the BG city. In the past, I've used to get bored by the city, but it's actually full of fun content if you explore. "Exploring something new" is a lucky way to get some fun playing the game for the Xth time!
I don't know a reliable "fair" way to do the fight with SCS at levels 6-7. This is why I always approach the 5th floor of the Iron Throne building cautiously. Nav' had 5 casts of Invisibility, and Grim hid in shadows so that we could sneak past the group to the back hall.
From there, Eruína summoned a Skeleton Warrior. As it turned out, there were enemies already, even before Zhalimar detected us and started his speech. The enemies were 2 thieves both called Shennara. To detect the second thief, Dorn used Albruin.
Just as against Davaeorn, it was time for Protection from Magic and potions (of regeneration and speed this time). Czernobog approached the big group, everyone else stayed in the back hall.
Grease, Greater Malison, Silence, Confusion, Slow, Skull Traps, fireballs from the necklace - this is how our casters supported Czernobog while he drew aggro.
When we first visited south Baldur's Gate, Entillis Fulsom attacked us (due to low reputation). That wizard can cast Confusion, so should be finished quickly. Invisibility Purge, a Dispel Arrow, Spell Thrust solved the problem.
Party level: Mara, Eruína, Grim 7, everyone else 6
Party reputation: 5
Party deaths: 10 (Czernobog - Dribben, weather lightning; Grim 2 - Kobold Commando, Borda; Eruína - Borda, a siren; Dorn - a siren; Nav' - Centeol, Maneira, Davaeorn)
Reloads: 0
I'm debating whether I should continue, or should my RP-ed playthrough come to an end.
In the Candlekeep, we, of course, talked to Koveras and killed the Iron Throne leaders. No other option for an evil way, I think.
Getting through sentinels, we reached the 6th floor. Here's a dialogue with the Gatewarden:
-You there! Stop and surrender yourself. You are accused of murdering the men Brunos Costak, Thaldorn Tenhevich, and Rieltar Anchev. If you give yourself up now, you will be assured of a fair trial.
- Yes, I killed them, but they attacked me. They're the leaders of the Iron Throne, the people behind the iron shortage and everything else that's been wrong with the Sword Coast. I did everyone a favor by killing them. I won't surrender to you; I've done nothing wrong!
- Don't let this happen, Mara. If you resist, I'll be forced to use lethal force.
- Bring it on!
- It saddens me that is has come to this.
And he insta-kills the main character, with no option to fight.
There is also another way - get caught on the 3rd floor by the watcher.
-Yes, I killed them, but they attacked me. They're the leaders of the Iron Throne, the people behind the iron shortage and everything else that's been wrong with the Sword Coast! We did everyone a favor by killing them.
-That is not for me to decide. Please, you have my word that you will not be harmed. If you are innocent, you will be judged accordingly.
-I will not be judged at all! Draw your weapons!
-Do not force me to harm you! I will give you one more chance to come quietly! If not, you will be killed! You have little choice in this matter, other than to live or to die.
-If that is how it must be then I will come quietly, I have no wish to inflict harm upon any friends.
-I am glad to hear that. I did not wish to harm you. I am sure this mess will be cleared up soon.
And you're getting arrested.
So the game doesn't let you pick the evil option here. Only a good option is available.
One other option with a different Watcher ends in a similar way:
-Surrender? No way! We won't go without a fight. Come on!
Comments
We reached the Valley of the Tombs. When we met Hentold, we told him to give back a dagger, and real quick. Of course, he agreed and mentioned he'll never go grave-digging again. Mara figured there should be undead involved, so Grim entered each of the crypts invisible. In one of the crypts, he found an odd creature and hiddenly set a few traps just in case.
We didn't want to part ways with a +2 dagger and thus attacked Revenant. Missile damage from the traps didn't harm it a lot, but our increasing magic potential took him down (Magic Missiles now hit hard).
We thought it would be useful to get Narcillicus write down a spell to control slimes, jellies and oozes, but he refused. A high-level wizard under magic protections was a threat, so we immediately retreated. In this playthrough, I learned it can be very fun to set traps as you retreat, so that enemies get into them. Eruína summoned a Skeleton Warrior, and it "ate" the most dangerous spells Narcillicus had: Skull Trap, Lighting Bolt, Minor Sequencer with Magic Missiles. In the end, magic protections of Narcillicus ran out, so we just shot him down (Mara became unconscious because of Emotion: Hopelessness, but it came the moment the mage was already down).
Czernobog, Dorn and Grim dealt with the Mustard Jellies.
A Flaming Fist mercenary from the Gibberling Mountains attacked us when we declined to identify ourselves. -2 Reputation.
We dealt with Kryll, she wasn't a threat, although her casting of Horror during a cutscene (not after it) made me worry a bit - fortunately Eruína finished casting Remove Fear (as I understand, already under the Horror effect).
We demanded a reward from Lena and she gave us a jade ring. We delivered Samuel to the temple for more rewards.
Tranzig panicked after the only backstab from Grim, asked for mercy but got none.
We found the first group of bandits in Larswood and told Teven we wanted to join them because we like the killin. To Tazok we replied we were strong, well armed and knew the opportunity when we saw it. He was impressed and mentioned we were big on words.
I'm exploring these options probably for the second time ever, it's nice I can talk to Ardenor Crush, Garclax, Taurgosz, Credus, Tersus and Knott. Usually, I just attack the Bandit camp, but this way I got access to all the treasure not in the main tent. It also provides a lot of insight into the Iron Throne situation.
@OlvynChuru I'd be glad to meet them, but I'm not sure I'll have Rep 3, as I upped it to 5 to buy the Army Scythe (it still costed 15k gold).
Well, this fight happened much earlier than I had thought. I was in the process of looting each of the tents by Grim, and Tersus (a hobgoblin) went red when Grim opened a locked container there. We killed him, no problem, but when we went out of the tent, the alarm rang.
I didn't have much choice but to return to the tent, as under SCS all the camp starts attacking you after the alarm. Enemies appeared quickly. I put Czernobog and Dorn next to the entrance, gave them all the enhancing potions I had (of frost giant and heroism). The task was to try and crowd-control as many enemies per spell as we could. We had Horror, Hold Person, Glitterdust + the wand of Monster Summoning.
It was working ok, and then Venkt (a mage) entered the tent. He saved against Horror, but became blind thanks to Glitterdust (not for long). Grim used Poison Weapon.
Unfortunately, Glitterdust has a duration of only 4 rounds. Nav' was hit by a hobgoblin and got poisoned. However, in the camp before I had found enough healing potions to keep her alive till the end of the fight. Venkt casted Melf's Acid Arrow at Mara, but she had a lot of additional hit points thanks to Larloch's Minor Drain (another excellent spell I discovered during this run).
As you can see, Venkt also casted Slow, so we needed to kill him quick before he harmed us more. One of summoned ogres managed to hit the mage while he slept under Command.
Basically, all that was required next was to cast another Horror (from a scroll), and kill them all one by one.
This was the first time I had to deal with the Bandit Camp unprepared, but it ended smoothly.
Party level: Grim 6, everyone else 5
Party reputation: 5
Party deaths: 7 (Czernobog - Dribben, weather lightning; Grim 2 - Kobold Commando, Borda; Eruína - Borda, a siren; Dorn - a siren)
Reloads: 0
We're still going, but slowly. I'll start a vacation soon, so Mara will have to wait.
Anyway, after the party had talked to Aldeth and then Seniyad approached us, we decided to support the druids. The reason for that was 2 possible dialogue replies:
1 - druids have this great aloe vera balm they're giving away samples of, and my armor has been chafing a bit, ya know?
2 - we can't just let you murder Aldeth. Why don't we come to a peaceful solution?
While the first reply is silly, the second one is firmly not evil as it mentions a peaceful solution. So we attacked and killed Aldeth, and got instructions from Seniyad to head west then north.
Spiders on the next map were a threat, so after we triggered the first trap and had to use Horror to save ourselves, Nav' made Grim invisible and he triggered the rest of the traps safely (his Find Traps skill is low).
Before entering the Centeol cave we left Mara outside. It proved to be a correct decision as she used her wand and one-shotted Nav' for 20 cold damage. At least we didn't lose any equipment.
Glitterdust and Horror let us kill all the spiders.
Party level: Grim and Eruina 6, everyone else 5
Party reputation: 5
Party deaths: 8 (Czernobog - Dribben, weather lightning; Grim 2 - Kobold Commando, Borda; Eruína - Borda, a siren; Dorn - a siren; Nav' - Centeol)
Reloads: 0
Yay, we're back to action. While travelling to the next Cloakwood area, the party was ambushed by amazon bounty hunters.
The key to this fight usually is to cast any spell that can make two enemy thieves visible - any failure usually means goodbye to a mage (and having both Mara and Nav' as mages with low HP count is a very big risk for this fight). The same is also valid for the battle in the murderer's basement in Athkatla.
Thankfully, I managed to make them visible just a second before a potential killing blow (Mara gulped an Invisibility potion at the start of the fight).
Nav' still died because of Maneira's lucky shot. I finished the fight without any other problems.
Laskal asked us a question about the Iron Throne. There was only one viable option for an evil character, and under SCS it means you lose 2 points of reputation.
I dealt with 2 groups of druids thanks to Web and Silence. Again, the only viable options for an evil character were to insult and attack them.
Amarande usually is another potential source of game over. Czernobog, equipped with 2 potions of Magic Blocking, faced him alone. After the druids wasted nearly all their spells (and Amarande was still uninjured) I thought it would be fine to return to the room below. Turns out, the druid still had one Chromatic Orb. Nav' was immediately petrified. We finished the fight, though, without any other casualties.
I had to retreat to the Song of the Morning Temple to buy back one point of reputation and several "Stone to Flesh" scrolls. On the way there we were ambushed first by wyverns then by spiders, and both Czernobog and Dorn got another level with favourable HP rolls (11 and 7 respectively).
Party level: Mara and Nav' 5, everyone else 6
Party reputation: 4
Party deaths: 9 (Czernobog - Dribben, weather lightning; Grim 2 - Kobold Commando, Borda; Eruína - Borda, a siren; Dorn - a siren; Nav' - Centeol, Maneira)
Reloads: 0
I encountered this in my current (first SCS) run; since I was playing a mixed good/evil party and needed some occasional innocent kills to keep Viconia happy, I let the rep loss stand and happily equipped the +2 staff on my (Dragon Disciple) protagonist.
Update 11.5.
Just a short note on Drasus and Co. I have a habit of using one Protection From Magic scroll (of two available till the BG city) against Davaeorn, and saving another for later. But at the same time, I often encounter big difficulties when I face Rezdan and Kysus as they are high-level spellcasters and can cast spells up to lvl 5. Usually, though, I manage to handle them thanks to potions of Magic Blocking, which in this case were spent during the Amarande fight.
I'm also not a fan of spamming out-of-the-screen spells to disable/kill enemies before the battle actually starts.
So I decided to use a Protection From Magic scroll here. Silence was ineffective as both spellcasters have Vocalize.
As Czernobog was well protected, Mara freely casted Skull Traps. Grease and Web helped against Drasus and Genthore.
The enemy mages couldn't hurt Czernobog as the rest of the party retreated to a safer place.
Party level: Nav' 5, everyone else 6
Party reputation: 4
Party deaths: 9 (Czernobog - Dribben, weather lightning; Grim 2 - Kobold Commando, Borda; Eruína - Borda, a siren; Dorn - a siren; Nav' - Centeol, Maneira)
Reloads: 0
Update 12.
We dealt with Davaeorn. Although I tried to do it the usual way, I suffered a few setbacks and scares. First, one char (Czernobog this time) went meleeing Dave under Protection from Magic. Another char (Dorn) with all possible buffing potions waited at the entrance for the dozens of guards to arrive. All the rest waited in the room nearby - in case Dave would teleport somewhere between Dorn and Mara. Does that sound about right?
Dave did teleport there and thankfully didn't notice Mara.
He then teleported back. The talons started to arrive.
But then Dave decided he would flee from Czernobog right to Mara... Grim interrupted one of his spells, but Nav' was one-shotted by a meteor (14 piercing and 3 fire damage were just enough for her 17 HPs). At least I didn't take risks and gulped an invisibility potion by Mara.
Grim then survived Cone of Cold from Dave (I thank gnome gods for the shorty saves!)
Dorn was about to get overwhelmed by guards. Mara used her wand of Monster Summoning and we tried Horror effects from all our sources. Mara then casted the only Web spell she had, and Dorn equipped a two-hander to be immune to Web (before, he had a shield equipped for additional defence).
The amount of our healing potions was just about to become 0 when Dorn struck down the last of guards and Czernobog finally finished Dave.
So, it all ended just fine, I guess, but playing with a party really makes the SCS Davaeorn encounter harder than when you're soloing. Limiting spells we can use played its part as well, with only one Web available (necromancy spells getting the advantage) and nearly no magic healing.
Party level: Nav' 5, Grim 7, everyone else 6
Party reputation: 4
Party deaths: 10 (Czernobog - Dribben, weather lightning; Grim 2 - Kobold Commando, Borda; Eruína - Borda, a siren; Dorn - a siren; Nav' - Centeol, Maneira, Davaeorn)
Reloads: 0
But now I've decided to fully explore the city. It's actually impressive how many details are put into the game: after talking to Scar upon investigating the Seven Suns building, the party walks into a tavern to find it infested with Green Slimes. A green bartender talks about sewers and then blows up. Surviving commoners speak about a mage, Ramazith, as a cause for those slimes. We enter the sewers through the closest entrance and are immediately found in the dialogue with another green person calling himself a king. We listen to him, don't attack and find out we have a death coming arranged by nobody less than gods! We then proceed through different sewers sections and find Sewer cleaners, a crazy kobold summoning 10+ kobold commandos, crawlers, spiders, and in the end get to the cause of recent human disappearings. We found a way to the Iron Throne building, to the Undercellar, and all from the sewers.
Mara casts Horror, the Ogre Mage panics and then is killed in a few hits from our Blackguards. We leave the sewers and find ourselves in an area with Marek and Lothander. Just to the north of them, there is a shop with many lootable containers. We find arrows of dispel (!) there, a lot of potions and gems. Then we go outside and find a locked door of the Merchants' Guild. We enter, a guard summons a bunch of dogs which can teleport.
And all that in about 2 hours of playing time. It's so refreshing to enjoy the BG city. In the past, I've used to get bored by the city, but it's actually full of fun content if you explore. "Exploring something new" is a lucky way to get some fun playing the game for the Xth time!
The Iron Throne party.
I don't know a reliable "fair" way to do the fight with SCS at levels 6-7. This is why I always approach the 5th floor of the Iron Throne building cautiously. Nav' had 5 casts of Invisibility, and Grim hid in shadows so that we could sneak past the group to the back hall.
From there, Eruína summoned a Skeleton Warrior. As it turned out, there were enemies already, even before Zhalimar detected us and started his speech. The enemies were 2 thieves both called Shennara. To detect the second thief, Dorn used Albruin.
Just as against Davaeorn, it was time for Protection from Magic and potions (of regeneration and speed this time). Czernobog approached the big group, everyone else stayed in the back hall.
Grease, Greater Malison, Silence, Confusion, Slow, Skull Traps, fireballs from the necklace - this is how our casters supported Czernobog while he drew aggro.
When we first visited south Baldur's Gate, Entillis Fulsom attacked us (due to low reputation). That wizard can cast Confusion, so should be finished quickly. Invisibility Purge, a Dispel Arrow, Spell Thrust solved the problem.
Party level: Mara, Eruína, Grim 7, everyone else 6
Party reputation: 5
Party deaths: 10 (Czernobog - Dribben, weather lightning; Grim 2 - Kobold Commando, Borda; Eruína - Borda, a siren; Dorn - a siren; Nav' - Centeol, Maneira, Davaeorn)
Reloads: 0
I'm debating whether I should continue, or should my RP-ed playthrough come to an end.
In the Candlekeep, we, of course, talked to Koveras and killed the Iron Throne leaders. No other option for an evil way, I think.
Getting through sentinels, we reached the 6th floor. Here's a dialogue with the Gatewarden:
-You there! Stop and surrender yourself. You are accused of murdering the men Brunos Costak, Thaldorn Tenhevich, and Rieltar Anchev. If you give yourself up now, you will be assured of a fair trial.
- Yes, I killed them, but they attacked me. They're the leaders of the Iron Throne, the people behind the iron shortage and everything else that's been wrong with the Sword Coast. I did everyone a favor by killing them. I won't surrender to you; I've done nothing wrong!
- Don't let this happen, Mara. If you resist, I'll be forced to use lethal force.
- Bring it on!
- It saddens me that is has come to this.
And he insta-kills the main character, with no option to fight.
There is also another way - get caught on the 3rd floor by the watcher.
-Yes, I killed them, but they attacked me. They're the leaders of the Iron Throne, the people behind the iron shortage and everything else that's been wrong with the Sword Coast! We did everyone a favor by killing them.
-That is not for me to decide. Please, you have my word that you will not be harmed. If you are innocent, you will be judged accordingly.
-I will not be judged at all! Draw your weapons!
-Do not force me to harm you! I will give you one more chance to come quietly! If not, you will be killed! You have little choice in this matter, other than to live or to die.
-If that is how it must be then I will come quietly, I have no wish to inflict harm upon any friends.
-I am glad to hear that. I did not wish to harm you. I am sure this mess will be cleared up soon.
And you're getting arrested.
So the game doesn't let you pick the evil option here. Only a good option is available.
One other option with a different Watcher ends in a similar way:
-Surrender? No way! We won't go without a fight. Come on!
Insta-kill coming.