@Rao I'm having too many crashes to do a write-up, unfortunately. For now, I'm a lot more comfortable enjoying the works of others, such as the great stuff by @energisedcamel !
I'm sorry to hear about the issues you're having with your game @RedRodent . That sounds incredibly frustrating. Apart from some save file corruption, I haven't had any problems (so far).
I wish the BG series reacted to the party members/PC as much as this game does. Having unique replies for halflings, drow, paladins, monks, etc. adds so much flavour to the game. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who plays sub-optimally. Inshula and her crossbow are also dominating the kill list in mine, too! Are crossbows overpowered in this game or something?
I'd love to hear more about your party, even if you don't write it up!
Thanks once again for your comments @Rao ! I always love hearing your perspective
1) I've never heard of De Bello Gallico, but I'm happy to hear I'm close to the right tone. I spent a few minutes googling military field reports but I don't think it really helped me all that much!
2) Thanks! I'm glad I managed to find a balance. I imagine him kind of like a mopey teenager who wants to blend in, but also be special. I haven't really thought that far ahead, but you bring up some really interesting points about room for growth and change as he starts to control his powers and doesn't need to rely on the others so much. If I was writing a real story, there would be a pay-off or a conclusion to the whole abandoned master idea in the game narrative, but that's a bit outside of the scope of a simple play-through write-up for now. Who knows, maybe in the epilogue?
3) That's a relief. She was by far the hardest to write for. I doubt I'll revisit her perspective again for a while, but hopefully she will still be interesting enough, as interpreted by others. I think you hit the nail on the head in regards to her curiosity. I'm free-wheeling, so even I am interested to see how it plays out as I progress.
We are drawing ever closer to Shaengarne bridge and I can feel my blades twitching for a fight. I think they will not need to wait long. When I was younger, my grandma used to say she could smell trouble on the wind. As a young child, I was convinced she was a witch, but with age, I decided that she possessed no such gift, and that she just had an uncanny ability to recognise guilt on my face. Now that I am older still, I think I understand her. Maybe it isn’t a smell, but sometimes I can feel the tension on the breeze, like the calm before the storm.
Our mission is to sneak past the forces protecting the bridge and secure it, but someone foresaw our coming. At every turn, there is something waiting for us. First there was Torak, and now we face yet more obstacles and creatures...
As we made our way into the highland pass that connected the logging village to the dam and the bridge, we were immediately spotted. Before we knew what was happening, various trails in the pass ahead had been sealed, leaving us only one way forwards.
Inshula reported two harpies waiting along the path, so she managed to taunt them into leaving their posts and we bombarded them with missiles. She then ordered us not to move as she scoured the area for indentations in the snow, scratched rocks and the odd clump of hair, any slight sign of what type of creatures we could expect to fight in the pass.
Curiously, she reported that among the booted footprints of orcs, there were signs of upright badgers and rats. Werebadgers and wererats, she said. None of us had much experience with lycanthropes, but I could see apprehension on my companions’ faces. Apparently it is not only halflings who are told tales of viscous lycanthropes who take misbehaving children and turn them into raving beasts under the light of the full moon.
Not only are the force we face worryingly organised, but also surprisingly diverse. It makes our travelling menagerie of a halfling, a half-orc, a half-drow, two humans and a deep gnome seem rather pedestrian. Who is powerful enough to keep them working in unison? I think we will find out soon enough.
With all other routes closed off, we proceeded forwards cautiously and came face-to-face with the “ruler of the pass”, a hideous wererat called Gaernat Sharptooth. After we refused to bow before him, he attacked, and we were immediately forced to retreat as he and his brethren charged at us.
The battle was long and difficult, but exhilarating. The werebeasts were surprisingly sturdy, but they seemed to be easily distracted, and their deformed bodies ungainly. I commanded the others to move behind me and attack at range as I fended off their attacks, shouting names, ducking, diving and parrying in an effort to keep their claws at bay.
Author’s note: There is a feat called Expertise that lets you take a penalty to your attack and add it to your AC. I’ve never used this before because I tend to tell my fighters and rogues who to attack and let them slug it out while I focus on magic users. It worked surprisingly well, in conjunction with Lastri’s high dex score and light armour.
With Gaernat dead, we proceeded through the pass, occasionally ambushed by groups of lycanthropes and orcs. At one point, things looked pretty dicey when, while tactically retreating, a nest of giant frost spiders was disturbed. We then had to deal with avoiding the poisonous bites of spiders, on top of the sharp claws of werecreatures and orc arrows. Somehow, we managed to prevail, although at various moments, I thought we might be in over our heads.
Despite the setback, I really feel like we are starting to work as a proper crew. Nothing fosters camaraderie quite like risking your life for someone.
With the pass clear, we decided to rest and recover before we ventured on towards the dam. Inspired by our brush with lycanthropes and monstrous spiders straight out of my nightmares, I suggested we share a scary story from our childhoods to distract ourselves from the cold.
It is more than obvious that we have no bard among our group. Inshula’s story of how the yuan-ti infiltrated Tashalar many years ago was succinct and flavourless, all plot and no detail. Chir’s story (a rambling deep gnome myth about the god Urdlen, the Crawler Below) was the opposite, all but nonsense, with too many gory details with very little context.
Grykk, bless his heart, tried his best, but he clearly was not raised on scary stories in that monastery of his, so his scary story was more a sermon on the folly of trying to escape Torm’s justice.
Umoja told us of Dendar the Night Serpent, who hopes to bring the end of the world by devouring people’s nightmares and fears. He explained that his father warned him of a cult who worshipped her that kidnaps naughty children and uses poison to keep them comatose and in a constant state of dreaming, trapped in a nightmare from which they can never escape. It would have been pretty scary, if not for his jolly tone and the fondness with which he spoke of his family.
Quarrel, unsurprisingly, refused to participate, but I could see him listening intently as the others told their tales.
As for me, I told an old sailor’s tale of a ghost ship and its drowned crew, rumoured to haunt the seas near Neverwinter. Using music to entice sailors to their death, and enslave them for eternity, it is said to have caused the death of thousands of unsuspecting victims. By the time I was finished, I could see the others starting to drift off. Apparently I need to work on my delivery a little more.
The night passed peacefully enough, and we are now packing up camp, ready to move onwards towards the dam. I suspect Lord Ulbrec will reward us greatly if we are able to find a way to destroy it, although I am sure such a task is easier said than done.
Author's note: The campfire scary stories are completely irrelevant to the plot, but I enjoy investigating stuff like that. I wish there was more (free) info out there! All of them are based off something vaguely Forgotten Realms-ish, except Lastri's, which is based off an interpretation of a real-life Chilean myth - the Caleuche.
Comments
I wish the BG series reacted to the party members/PC as much as this game does. Having unique replies for halflings, drow, paladins, monks, etc. adds so much flavour to the game. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who plays sub-optimally. Inshula and her crossbow are also dominating the kill list in mine, too! Are crossbows overpowered in this game or something?
I'd love to hear more about your party, even if you don't write it up!
Thanks once again for your comments @Rao ! I always love hearing your perspective
1) I've never heard of De Bello Gallico, but I'm happy to hear I'm close to the right tone. I spent a few minutes googling military field reports but I don't think it really helped me all that much!
2) Thanks! I'm glad I managed to find a balance. I imagine him kind of like a mopey teenager who wants to blend in, but also be special. I haven't really thought that far ahead, but you bring up some really interesting points about room for growth and change as he starts to control his powers and doesn't need to rely on the others so much. If I was writing a real story, there would be a pay-off or a conclusion to the whole abandoned master idea in the game narrative, but that's a bit outside of the scope of a simple play-through write-up for now. Who knows, maybe in the epilogue?
3) That's a relief. She was by far the hardest to write for. I doubt I'll revisit her perspective again for a while, but hopefully she will still be interesting enough, as interpreted by others. I think you hit the nail on the head in regards to her curiosity. I'm free-wheeling, so even I am interested to see how it plays out as I progress.
7th Mirtul, 1312 - Year of the Griffon
We are drawing ever closer to Shaengarne bridge and I can feel my blades twitching for a fight. I think they will not need to wait long. When I was younger, my grandma used to say she could smell trouble on the wind. As a young child, I was convinced she was a witch, but with age, I decided that she possessed no such gift, and that she just had an uncanny ability to recognise guilt on my face. Now that I am older still, I think I understand her. Maybe it isn’t a smell, but sometimes I can feel the tension on the breeze, like the calm before the storm.
Our mission is to sneak past the forces protecting the bridge and secure it, but someone foresaw our coming. At every turn, there is something waiting for us. First there was Torak, and now we face yet more obstacles and creatures...
As we made our way into the highland pass that connected the logging village to the dam and the bridge, we were immediately spotted. Before we knew what was happening, various trails in the pass ahead had been sealed, leaving us only one way forwards.
Inshula reported two harpies waiting along the path, so she managed to taunt them into leaving their posts and we bombarded them with missiles. She then ordered us not to move as she scoured the area for indentations in the snow, scratched rocks and the odd clump of hair, any slight sign of what type of creatures we could expect to fight in the pass.
Curiously, she reported that among the booted footprints of orcs, there were signs of upright badgers and rats. Werebadgers and wererats, she said. None of us had much experience with lycanthropes, but I could see apprehension on my companions’ faces. Apparently it is not only halflings who are told tales of viscous lycanthropes who take misbehaving children and turn them into raving beasts under the light of the full moon.
Not only are the force we face worryingly organised, but also surprisingly diverse. It makes our travelling menagerie of a halfling, a half-orc, a half-drow, two humans and a deep gnome seem rather pedestrian. Who is powerful enough to keep them working in unison? I think we will find out soon enough.
With all other routes closed off, we proceeded forwards cautiously and came face-to-face with the “ruler of the pass”, a hideous wererat called Gaernat Sharptooth. After we refused to bow before him, he attacked, and we were immediately forced to retreat as he and his brethren charged at us.
The battle was long and difficult, but exhilarating. The werebeasts were surprisingly sturdy, but they seemed to be easily distracted, and their deformed bodies ungainly. I commanded the others to move behind me and attack at range as I fended off their attacks, shouting names, ducking, diving and parrying in an effort to keep their claws at bay.
Author’s note: There is a feat called Expertise that lets you take a penalty to your attack and add it to your AC. I’ve never used this before because I tend to tell my fighters and rogues who to attack and let them slug it out while I focus on magic users. It worked surprisingly well, in conjunction with Lastri’s high dex score and light armour.
With Gaernat dead, we proceeded through the pass, occasionally ambushed by groups of lycanthropes and orcs. At one point, things looked pretty dicey when, while tactically retreating, a nest of giant frost spiders was disturbed. We then had to deal with avoiding the poisonous bites of spiders, on top of the sharp claws of werecreatures and orc arrows. Somehow, we managed to prevail, although at various moments, I thought we might be in over our heads.
Despite the setback, I really feel like we are starting to work as a proper crew. Nothing fosters camaraderie quite like risking your life for someone.
With the pass clear, we decided to rest and recover before we ventured on towards the dam. Inspired by our brush with lycanthropes and monstrous spiders straight out of my nightmares, I suggested we share a scary story from our childhoods to distract ourselves from the cold.
It is more than obvious that we have no bard among our group. Inshula’s story of how the yuan-ti infiltrated Tashalar many years ago was succinct and flavourless, all plot and no detail. Chir’s story (a rambling deep gnome myth about the god Urdlen, the Crawler Below) was the opposite, all but nonsense, with too many gory details with very little context.
Grykk, bless his heart, tried his best, but he clearly was not raised on scary stories in that monastery of his, so his scary story was more a sermon on the folly of trying to escape Torm’s justice.
Umoja told us of Dendar the Night Serpent, who hopes to bring the end of the world by devouring people’s nightmares and fears. He explained that his father warned him of a cult who worshipped her that kidnaps naughty children and uses poison to keep them comatose and in a constant state of dreaming, trapped in a nightmare from which they can never escape. It would have been pretty scary, if not for his jolly tone and the fondness with which he spoke of his family.
Quarrel, unsurprisingly, refused to participate, but I could see him listening intently as the others told their tales.
As for me, I told an old sailor’s tale of a ghost ship and its drowned crew, rumoured to haunt the seas near Neverwinter. Using music to entice sailors to their death, and enslave them for eternity, it is said to have caused the death of thousands of unsuspecting victims. By the time I was finished, I could see the others starting to drift off. Apparently I need to work on my delivery a little more.
The night passed peacefully enough, and we are now packing up camp, ready to move onwards towards the dam. I suspect Lord Ulbrec will reward us greatly if we are able to find a way to destroy it, although I am sure such a task is easier said than done.
Author's note: The campfire scary stories are completely irrelevant to the plot, but I enjoy investigating stuff like that. I wish there was more (free) info out there! All of them are based off something vaguely Forgotten Realms-ish, except Lastri's, which is based off an interpretation of a real-life Chilean myth - the Caleuche.