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DM Wyvern Plays Pool of Radiance

GrimjackMVGrimjackMV Member Posts: 151
edited October 2021 in Off-Topic
Hail Adventurers! ?

DM Wyvern here. I would like to invite you as I descend into the entire Gold Box series!


The Rules of the Let's Play:

No modifying starting attributes and HP (this is retroactive)

No re-rolling HP (this is retroactive)

No-reloading unless I encounter a full party wipe or game-breaking bug


Table of Contents:

Pool of Radiance

DM Wyvern Plays Pool of Radiance - Episode 9 STREAMED!
https://youtu.be/mOa9PHSBzhE

DM Wyvern Plays Pool of Radiance - Episode 8 STREAMED!
https://youtu.be/fAZGTVd8WI8

DM Wyvern Plays the Gold Box classic: Pool of Radiance - Episode 7 STREAMED!
https://youtu.be/fsINvpvl_F4

DM Wyvern Plays Pool of Radiance - Episode 6 STREAMED!
https://youtu.be/_iS_I-MkqGQ

DM Wyvern Plays Pool of Radiance - Episode 5 STREAMED!
https://youtu.be/xxLDLE986t8

DM Wyvern Plays Pool of Radiance - Episode 4 STREAMED!
https://youtu.be/0bniY2YvjPs

DM Wyvern Plays Pool of Radiance - Episode 3
https://youtu.be/NSZiEDXQzCw

DM Wyvern Plays Pool of Radiance - Episode 2
https://youtu.be/FZYvlwEBafs

DM Wyvern Plays Pool of Radiance - Episode 1
https://youtu.be/c5r6cdzFO9g

Post edited by GrimjackMV on

Comments

  • GrimjackMVGrimjackMV Member Posts: 151
    edited October 2021
    Hail Adventurers!


    In EPISODE 2 the Wyverns of Waterdeep strikeout to finally rid the slums of the monsters that have overrun it...

    CHECK IT OUT HERE:
    https://youtu.be/FZYvlwEBafs
    Post edited by GrimjackMV on
  • GrimjackMVGrimjackMV Member Posts: 151
    edited October 2021
    Hail Adventurers.

    In EPISODE 3 the Wyverns of Waterdeep run an errand for a strange mage and get more than they bargained for...

    CHECK IT OUT HERE:
    https://youtu.be/NSZiEDXQzCw
    Post edited by GrimjackMV on
  • MathsorcererMathsorcerer Member Posts: 3,044
    Technically, "clearing the slums" requires fighting 15 random encounters in addition to the set encounters (goblin school, kobold group, hobgoblins fighting over treasure, the orc in the house, the goblin guards, and the monster leaders). With Ohlo, I forget if the merchant actually puts something in your inventory or if it is just a game variable that gets set--it has been too long since I checked.
  • GrimjackMVGrimjackMV Member Posts: 151
    Mathsorcerer wrote: »
    Technically, "clearing the slums" requires fighting 15 random encounters in addition to the set encounters (goblin school, kobold group, hobgoblins fighting over treasure, the orc in the house, the goblin guards, and the monster leaders). With Ohlo, I forget if the merchant actually puts something in your inventory or if it is just a game variable that gets set--it has been too long since I checked.

    Hey! Thanks for that advice! I think you need to clear the Ogres and Trolls in the maze too, in order to clear the Slums. It's been awhile but I am getting back to this LP soon, keep the advice coming!
  • m7600m7600 Member Posts: 319
    Nice. I'm doing a run through Pool of Radiance myself. I've just cleared the Kobold Caves (what an insane fight in the kobold king's room, three waves of monsters including trolls and wild boars with no rest in between and ballistas firing and automatically damaging your party). Right now I'm at the pyramid in the lake.
  • GrimjackMVGrimjackMV Member Posts: 151
    m7600 wrote: »
    Nice. I'm doing a run through Pool of Radiance myself. I've just cleared the Kobold Caves (what an insane fight in the kobold king's room, three waves of monsters including trolls and wild boars with no rest in between and ballistas firing and automatically damaging your party). Right now I'm at the pyramid in the lake.

    Very cool! I will have to keep in mind your advice on the Kobold Cave! I have read that there are multi fight encounters to look forward to in Pools of Radiance! Good luck at the Pyramid!

    Are you using Gold Box Companion, by the way?

    https://gbc.zorbus.net/
  • m7600m7600 Member Posts: 319
    Oh, sorry, didn't mean to spoil. I thought that you had already beaten the game and you were just doing another run. Well, since we're already talking about the Kobold Cave battle, and if you don't mind the advice, I can tell you that the safest way to approach it is to just nuke everything with Fireballs. But its possible to win that battle with a combination of Sleep and Stinking Cloud, if you don't have Fireball.

    I'm not using the Gold Box Companion, though I have tried it. I prefer the raw experience of the original games, with all of their clunky limitations, but that's just a matter of personal taste.
  • GrimjackMVGrimjackMV Member Posts: 151
    edited February 2021
    You haven't spoiled anything for me, I frequently check out walkthroughs and write ups on the games I play. ^_^

    Sleep, Stinking Cloud and Fireball are the Holy Trinity of the Gold Box games, for sure! Thanks for great tip!

    And lastly, I salute you sir for taking on these games without the use of the Gold Box Companion! You are one OG RPG'er!
  • MathsorcererMathsorcerer Member Posts: 3,044
    The final fight in the kobold caves is probably the toughest in the entire game, followed only by what you encounter at Sokol Keep. Yes, this includes the ogres and trolls in the slums.
  • GrimjackMVGrimjackMV Member Posts: 151
    Join me as I play the Gold Box classic: Pool of Radiance - Episode 7 STREAMED!

    https://youtu.be/fsINvpvl_F4
  • GrimjackMVGrimjackMV Member Posts: 151
    Join me as I play Pool of Radiance - Episode 8 STREAMED!

    https://youtu.be/fAZGTVd8WI8
  • GrimjackMVGrimjackMV Member Posts: 151
    Join me as I play Pool of Radiance - Episode 9 STREAMED!
    https://youtu.be/mOa9PHSBzhE
  • MathsorcererMathsorcerer Member Posts: 3,044
    I am working in the office again so I will have to watch these after work. Remind me to subscribe to your channel, as well.
  • GrimjackMVGrimjackMV Member Posts: 151
    edited October 2021
    Mathsorcerer wrote: »
    I am working in the office again so I will have to watch these after work. Remind me to subscribe to your channel, as well.

    Thank you Mathsorcerer! The plan is to play through the entire Forgotten Realms series, and then move on to the Krynn series. Should be months and months of Gold Box content ahead for me (and you!) ^_^
  • MathsorcererMathsorcerer Member Posts: 3,044
    I never played Dark Queen of Krynn (I think that is what the third one was called). The idea of making a party in Pool of Radiance and taking them through Pools of Darkness never worked because they did not implement the paladin and ranger classes in PoR. You can find evidence of the classes in the code, just not implemented. Strangely enough, Curse of the Azure Bonds is the toughest game because you are trying to claw your way from 7th to 11th level; Secret of the Silver Blades is challenging only because of those long treks through the ruins, mines, and ice crevasses and it takes a long time to level up.

    The post-game challenges in Death Knights of Krynn and Pools of Darkness notwithstanding, the single most difficult fight in the entire series may be found in Curse of the Azure Bonds.
  • AmmarAmmar Member Posts: 1,297
    Pools of Darkness is a lot more challenging than Curse of the Azure Bonds; maybe withstanding the optional Beholder corps which is still cheesable using that one consumable.

    It's true that there are no rangers or paladins in PoR (Goldbox Companion add them though) and in general optimal PoR characters are still multicassed demi-humans, while the level caps make them worthless in PoD. Still, you can switch out just a few characters and retain the core of your party throughout the series.
  • MathsorcererMathsorcerer Member Posts: 3,044
    These days, I use the Gold Box Companion to swith a multiclass character's race back to "human" (which is admittedly easier that using the hex editor like I did in the old days). This allows your character to keep advancing in levels without limit. Level limits were an original idea meant to balance characters, but not everything Gygax and Arneson did was correct.
  • AmmarAmmar Member Posts: 1,297
    The level caps always felt stupid, yes, it's not as if the lore setting did not have elven archmages and stuff. That's one nice thing about the Krynn series, the level caps for demi-humans are either lifted for favorite classes or at least raised. E.g. elves in Krynn can reach any level as mage & have a higher cap for Fighter.

    Another interesting thing I like to see in the old Goldbox games is to see how the Ranger was changed from 1st to 2nd edition. Ranger/Mage Dualclass was the gold standard for powerful characters in Pool of Darkness.
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