BGEE Reloaded (Chapter 5) - Sam Ashen the Candlekeep Book Collector
SamAshen
Member Posts: 123
We reloaded the game right from the top, because we accidentally got rid of the wrong save files while exploring different paths and cleaning up old files. We wanted to see if we could recruit Kivan and how much easier that would make the early game. (We can, but not within our RP parameters. Given the current early game plan, he makes the early game much, much easier. However, we are still playing Team Unlikeable Rules at this point.)
We have one old-school playthrough from years ago with a Cavalier and a couple years ago played through BGEE and SoD, and a very small portion of BG2EE. This is actually about 8 post slots below this one.
Here is our Berserker character, once again.
We are reloading from the initial save of this game, so we miss the brilliant narration that is the prologue. From this, we will start to build our Roleplaying and Gameplaying Challenges.
Gameplay
Roleplay
Session 1 - Day 0, Hour 7 - Sam Ashen the Book Collecotr
After all this book collecting and errands, we still came up a little bit short on gold.
Experience:
300 - 6x50 for quests
40 - 2x20 for Shank and Carbos
5 - 5x1 for rats
345XP total
Kills:
1 Shank x 20
5 Rats x 1
1 Carbos x 20
7 kills / 45 XPV
We called the LARP session early. Gorion got tired of waiting for us and had to come find us. Please father, one more silver quarter! No, child. We must go now. They found the bodies!
End of Session 1 - Reloaded and Edited - Negligible effect on Gameplay.
Main difference is this time we have a Club for a Melee Weapon.
We have one old-school playthrough from years ago with a Cavalier and a couple years ago played through BGEE and SoD, and a very small portion of BG2EE. This is actually about 8 post slots below this one.
Here is our Berserker character, once again.
Gender: Male
Portrait: Same one as always!
Race: Human
Class: Fighter / Berserker
Alignment: Chaotic Good - It is not like we can roleplay this.
Abilities....
We intended to make 100 rolls and choose what stayed on as the best, but we got this after 10 rolls. We had a good chance to obtain 18/00 and a near certain probability of 18/9X. This roll still gets us +2 hit and +4 damage and 16 Wisdom.
A roll like this would be amazing for Berserker / Cleric and if we were planning on this, we would have taken 18 Wisdom and 16 Intelligence and this would increase to 20 Wisdom and 17 Intelligence in the saga, and translated to quite a few bonus Cleric spells. We could not have gone Cleric / Druid, because we did not have the foresight to roll True Neutral.
The main uses we can see for 16 Wisdom is it still translates to 18 Wisdom at the end of the run and if/when we transfer to Mage, we can still cast amazing Wish spells and not need potions.
Skills:
2 in Flail and Morningstar - Going along with the name
2 in Dual Wielding
Appearance: Blue and Black, as always.
Name: Sam Ashen.
Portrait: Same one as always!
Race: Human
Class: Fighter / Berserker
Alignment: Chaotic Good - It is not like we can roleplay this.
Abilities....
We intended to make 100 rolls and choose what stayed on as the best, but we got this after 10 rolls. We had a good chance to obtain 18/00 and a near certain probability of 18/9X. This roll still gets us +2 hit and +4 damage and 16 Wisdom.
A roll like this would be amazing for Berserker / Cleric and if we were planning on this, we would have taken 18 Wisdom and 16 Intelligence and this would increase to 20 Wisdom and 17 Intelligence in the saga, and translated to quite a few bonus Cleric spells. We could not have gone Cleric / Druid, because we did not have the foresight to roll True Neutral.
The main uses we can see for 16 Wisdom is it still translates to 18 Wisdom at the end of the run and if/when we transfer to Mage, we can still cast amazing Wish spells and not need potions.
Skills:
2 in Flail and Morningstar - Going along with the name
2 in Dual Wielding
Appearance: Blue and Black, as always.
Name: Sam Ashen.
We are reloading from the initial save of this game, so we miss the brilliant narration that is the prologue. From this, we will start to build our Roleplaying and Gameplaying Challenges.
Gameplay
1. Settings - Core Rules, No Modifications.
2. Cheese - Cheese Strategies are Fair Game - I will try to describe them. I define this as stuff I do not believe would work on a tabletop game. One example is kiting, but that is gray. A bigger example is pulling, where the World of Warcraft model of pulling the entire group is more realistic.
3. Reloads - They are going to happen and we accept that. It is a forum game and not a stream game. Blunders will get reloaded. We forgot to Enrage. Main Character got confused and killed everybody in the bar and Reputation is now 0. This is an easy fix with a reload. If the encounter seems to be dependent on Game RNG or RL RNG in order to work, then we might deem this as a Too Hard type of Reload and restrict ourselves from trying again until we obtain a new item or a new level. An example of this might be getting our L1 Party blown up by Zordral. Tarnesh is a different story, in that he stands directly in the way of our story path. Our reloads will be counted and given names and categories.
4. Scum Saves - will be listed. One example is Tarnesh, where we know there is a possibility a fight could go very wrong.
2. Cheese - Cheese Strategies are Fair Game - I will try to describe them. I define this as stuff I do not believe would work on a tabletop game. One example is kiting, but that is gray. A bigger example is pulling, where the World of Warcraft model of pulling the entire group is more realistic.
3. Reloads - They are going to happen and we accept that. It is a forum game and not a stream game. Blunders will get reloaded. We forgot to Enrage. Main Character got confused and killed everybody in the bar and Reputation is now 0. This is an easy fix with a reload. If the encounter seems to be dependent on Game RNG or RL RNG in order to work, then we might deem this as a Too Hard type of Reload and restrict ourselves from trying again until we obtain a new item or a new level. An example of this might be getting our L1 Party blown up by Zordral. Tarnesh is a different story, in that he stands directly in the way of our story path. Our reloads will be counted and given names and categories.
4. Scum Saves - will be listed. One example is Tarnesh, where we know there is a possibility a fight could go very wrong.
Roleplay
1. Basically Honest - We plan to minimize on stuff like robbing the rooms. In Candlekeep we will grab just enough to fulfill our initial shopping list and what we grabbed were 10g in the chest outside the Bunkhouse, 8g in the barrel outside the Barracks, and the Silver Ring inside the Storehouse. We also did not attempt to grab 300g from Firebead Elvenhair. We will grab the early Diamond, Ring of Wizardry, Ankheg Plate Armor. We will walk some fine line that gains the good items in a way that does not involve robbing people.
2. Chaotic Good - I do not know if I can roleplay this. We will use basically good, but something wrong. Maybe a wild streak. In a story explanation, we are adopted from a questionable heritage and we have Gorion and Candlekeep trying to raise us to be a force for good in spite of our heritage.
3. Race and Age - The prologue specified 20 years, so we are 20 or 21 and that age makes most sense for a Human. So we are Human.
5. Team Unlikeable - We min-maxed our roll with Charisma 3. We will use a party face, like Imoen, to negotiate a 5% discount at the store. In dealing with other NPCs, if they don't like our main character and don't want to work with him, in our game, the party face is not going to help. This will have consequences. Xzar and Montaron will work with us if we cooperate. Kivan will not. Minsc will not join us, but it might be possible if we rescue Dynaheir.
6. Party Dynamic - We have a strong bias towards Good characters. We are on the fence over whether we can have party members rejoin or not.
7. Death - We are also on the fence about whether character death is permanent or not. One example I can think of is Gorion. The story reminds you he is dead in your dreams, as in life. Why didn't we just take his body to the temple at Beregost and have him resurrected?
8. Gold - seems to come way too easily in the game. In a later discussion of the Gold Economy, I consider a gp to be equivalent to 100mmu (Modern Monetary Units - US Dollar, Euro, Whatever currency you use that gets you a similar order of magnitude.) So based on this, our initial purchase of basic Splint Mail is $12kmmu. Basic Plate Mail will be $90kmmu. A night in the Royal Suite at the in is about $800mmu. I was told weapons and armor would be like buying a car and that is where I got the scale. I chose the gold coins, because it seemed more possible to carry it around. The platemail at 900gp would be like $900gcu (90 x $10 US Eagle coins) and it will probably not fit in your hand, but it might fit in a bag and it is going to weigh a good bit, but less than 2kg. Obviously, silver will be a log heavier. We are illustrating this, because it might get more and more difficult to carry around large quantities of gold and silver.
9. Barter - Merchants buy and sell items. I suppose there is an Iron Crisis going on and anything made of Iron is worth something. So we are picking up weapons and selling them. Most likely, they do not have infinite quantities of gold. So we will try to exchange goods evenly, then weigh out the difference in gold. We will try to weigh it out evenly or in the merchant's favor. We can also use this as a tool to justify how our equipment is changing, of course. (In our explanation of the Gold Economy above, Monsters and Bad Guys seem to be carrying way too much gold.)
10. Scavenging - We can scavenge weapons. Armor has to fit. For some found items, we might make stores to explain that it fits. There will be an exception for magical armor.
11. Magic Items - must be identified before we use.
12. Time and Distance - 4 hours from Candlekeep to where we start Chapter 1. 12 more hours to get to the Friendly Arm Inn. 12 more hours to get to Beregost. A character can operate at maximum efficiency for 24 hours before getting penalties for fatigue. I think a walking pace is 5km/h (maybe 6 or 6.4 but we are also packing a lot of junk) and I figured an efficiency of 50%, so 2.5km/h. That makes a journey of 40km to get to the Friendly Arm Inn. From there, we will travel another 30km to Beregost. Then we will travel 40km to Nashkel. This does not match the map of the Sword Coast and I do not know if the map that came with the game has a scale.
13. Multiverse Collision - On the RP level, we will be spinning two or three stories, maybe more. There will be the main story and two secondary stories. One secondary story is the Candlekeep Book Collector. I thought of this on visiting Winthrop and being informed of the 10kgp book entry fee. Phlydia's lost book must have a 10kgp fine attached to it and is therefore worth 10kgp. Another secondary story is wanted for murders. We played the Prologue and we already killed two people. They found the bodies and we have to get out of here! These stories are going to collide and contradict each other.
2. Chaotic Good - I do not know if I can roleplay this. We will use basically good, but something wrong. Maybe a wild streak. In a story explanation, we are adopted from a questionable heritage and we have Gorion and Candlekeep trying to raise us to be a force for good in spite of our heritage.
3. Race and Age - The prologue specified 20 years, so we are 20 or 21 and that age makes most sense for a Human. So we are Human.
5. Team Unlikeable - We min-maxed our roll with Charisma 3. We will use a party face, like Imoen, to negotiate a 5% discount at the store. In dealing with other NPCs, if they don't like our main character and don't want to work with him, in our game, the party face is not going to help. This will have consequences. Xzar and Montaron will work with us if we cooperate. Kivan will not. Minsc will not join us, but it might be possible if we rescue Dynaheir.
6. Party Dynamic - We have a strong bias towards Good characters. We are on the fence over whether we can have party members rejoin or not.
7. Death - We are also on the fence about whether character death is permanent or not. One example I can think of is Gorion. The story reminds you he is dead in your dreams, as in life. Why didn't we just take his body to the temple at Beregost and have him resurrected?
8. Gold - seems to come way too easily in the game. In a later discussion of the Gold Economy, I consider a gp to be equivalent to 100mmu (Modern Monetary Units - US Dollar, Euro, Whatever currency you use that gets you a similar order of magnitude.) So based on this, our initial purchase of basic Splint Mail is $12kmmu. Basic Plate Mail will be $90kmmu. A night in the Royal Suite at the in is about $800mmu. I was told weapons and armor would be like buying a car and that is where I got the scale. I chose the gold coins, because it seemed more possible to carry it around. The platemail at 900gp would be like $900gcu (90 x $10 US Eagle coins) and it will probably not fit in your hand, but it might fit in a bag and it is going to weigh a good bit, but less than 2kg. Obviously, silver will be a log heavier. We are illustrating this, because it might get more and more difficult to carry around large quantities of gold and silver.
9. Barter - Merchants buy and sell items. I suppose there is an Iron Crisis going on and anything made of Iron is worth something. So we are picking up weapons and selling them. Most likely, they do not have infinite quantities of gold. So we will try to exchange goods evenly, then weigh out the difference in gold. We will try to weigh it out evenly or in the merchant's favor. We can also use this as a tool to justify how our equipment is changing, of course. (In our explanation of the Gold Economy above, Monsters and Bad Guys seem to be carrying way too much gold.)
10. Scavenging - We can scavenge weapons. Armor has to fit. For some found items, we might make stores to explain that it fits. There will be an exception for magical armor.
11. Magic Items - must be identified before we use.
12. Time and Distance - 4 hours from Candlekeep to where we start Chapter 1. 12 more hours to get to the Friendly Arm Inn. 12 more hours to get to Beregost. A character can operate at maximum efficiency for 24 hours before getting penalties for fatigue. I think a walking pace is 5km/h (maybe 6 or 6.4 but we are also packing a lot of junk) and I figured an efficiency of 50%, so 2.5km/h. That makes a journey of 40km to get to the Friendly Arm Inn. From there, we will travel another 30km to Beregost. Then we will travel 40km to Nashkel. This does not match the map of the Sword Coast and I do not know if the map that came with the game has a scale.
13. Multiverse Collision - On the RP level, we will be spinning two or three stories, maybe more. There will be the main story and two secondary stories. One secondary story is the Candlekeep Book Collector. I thought of this on visiting Winthrop and being informed of the 10kgp book entry fee. Phlydia's lost book must have a 10kgp fine attached to it and is therefore worth 10kgp. Another secondary story is wanted for murders. We played the Prologue and we already killed two people. They found the bodies and we have to get out of here! These stories are going to collide and contradict each other.
Session 1 - Day 0, Hour 7 - Sam Ashen the Book Collecotr
He has handed you what gold he can spare... You now stand before the Candlekeep Inn, ready to purchase what you need for an unplanned and unexpected journey. After such an epic roll for a character, we started with 90gp and that is simply not enough for our shopping list. We will have to scrounge and improvise.
We will spin stories on the characters we meet as we meet them.
1. Wintrhop - We went straight to the Candlekeep Inn to assemble our shopping list and convert our life savings into weapons and armor. Of course, we must not forget to mention the 5000gp book entry fee to get into Candlekeep, but that is easily managed. Phlydia can be found just up the road and most likely she has an overdue library book with a fine equal to 5000gp. (We converted this above to 500k MCU.)
2. Firebead Elvenhair - Speaking of overdue library books and 5000gp fines, Firebead Elvenhair lent his Identify Scroll to Tethtoril and has sent us to find him and collect both. If we bug him enough, we can even collect a 300gp (30k MCU) commission on the deed and solve all of our early game money problems, but we will not for the sake of role playing.
3. Tethtoril - We even had to run him down, the scoundrel! Whether he is the good cop in Chapter 6 or the bad cop, I forget. Time will tell. We collected and returned the Identify Scroll and obtained 1 Potion for our trouble.
4. Firebead Elvenhair - Quest 1/1 Complete.
5. Phlydia - She's next up on our overdue library book hunt. Of course, she forgot that she even took out a book, let alone where she put it. Most likely it is by Dreppin's cows, lying in something very nasty.
6. Shank - Into the priests quarters we go, looking for Shank. Sometimes in the library book repo business, it does not end pretty.
7. Parda investigating the commotion in the Priests Quarters - Sometimes it does not end pretty. We don't like doing this to people. Please return your library book and pay your overdue fine.
8. Dreppin and the Hungover Cow - I have heard of tipping cows, but no idea how much ale it takes to get a cow to tip over. Maybe the likes of Dreppin, Hull, and Fuller are bold enough to try. Now we need some Antidote for the cow.
9. Phlydia - Quest 2/2 Complete.
10. Dreppin and the Hungover Cow Quest.
11. Reevor Rat Patrol.
12. Storehouse - Killed 5 Rats.
13. Reevor - Quest 3/4 Complete.
14. Jondalar - Our 20st year also marks the end of our time and protection in Candlekeep. He has organizes a LARP for a going away party. Be there!
15. Erik - He's playing a ranger with a bow and arrow. Twang! OWW! Right in the butt! Oh crap! That was a real arrow he shot in our butt and not a fake one! Did he stop! Of course not. He shot another one in the other side before we realized.
16. Hungover Hull tried to outdrink Dreppin's Cow and misplaced his sword.
17. Imoen - always wants to chat. Can't chat right now. On our way to sick bay. What happened? That looks painful!
18. Gatewarden - Don't forget the LARP session!
19. Priest of Oghma - Treated in sick bay, then given another Potion and told to call in the morning.
20. Carbos - Back to the Storehouse to kill some rats, then the Bunkhouse to collect from Carbos. Again, sometimes it does not end pretty.
21. Karan - Sometimes that is all we need to make the book collection run smoothly!
22. Fuller - was also trying to outdrink Dreppin's cow. Unlike Hungover Hull, he did not make it out in time. He needs us to smuggle him some crossbow bolts. This is no problem.
23. Back to Winthrop we went, book collection in hand. We even bartered a collected dagger for a quarrel of crossbow bolts and sent them to Fuller, then sent the sword to Hull.
24. Fuller - Quest 4/6 complete
25. Hull - Quest 5/6 compete
26. Dreppin - Quest 6/6 complete
27. Winthrop - Completed Shopping List
28. Gatewarden - Late for LARP
29. Obe the LARP DM
30. Arkanis the Dorf Warrior
31. Canderous The Good Cleric
32. Osprey - Cleric Mage?
33. Mordaine - The Elf Mage
34. Deder the Halfling Fighter Thief Backstabber
35. Gorion who had to drag us out of LARP early.
We will spin stories on the characters we meet as we meet them.
1. Wintrhop - We went straight to the Candlekeep Inn to assemble our shopping list and convert our life savings into weapons and armor. Of course, we must not forget to mention the 5000gp book entry fee to get into Candlekeep, but that is easily managed. Phlydia can be found just up the road and most likely she has an overdue library book with a fine equal to 5000gp. (We converted this above to 500k MCU.)
2. Firebead Elvenhair - Speaking of overdue library books and 5000gp fines, Firebead Elvenhair lent his Identify Scroll to Tethtoril and has sent us to find him and collect both. If we bug him enough, we can even collect a 300gp (30k MCU) commission on the deed and solve all of our early game money problems, but we will not for the sake of role playing.
3. Tethtoril - We even had to run him down, the scoundrel! Whether he is the good cop in Chapter 6 or the bad cop, I forget. Time will tell. We collected and returned the Identify Scroll and obtained 1 Potion for our trouble.
4. Firebead Elvenhair - Quest 1/1 Complete.
5. Phlydia - She's next up on our overdue library book hunt. Of course, she forgot that she even took out a book, let alone where she put it. Most likely it is by Dreppin's cows, lying in something very nasty.
6. Shank - Into the priests quarters we go, looking for Shank. Sometimes in the library book repo business, it does not end pretty.
7. Parda investigating the commotion in the Priests Quarters - Sometimes it does not end pretty. We don't like doing this to people. Please return your library book and pay your overdue fine.
8. Dreppin and the Hungover Cow - I have heard of tipping cows, but no idea how much ale it takes to get a cow to tip over. Maybe the likes of Dreppin, Hull, and Fuller are bold enough to try. Now we need some Antidote for the cow.
9. Phlydia - Quest 2/2 Complete.
10. Dreppin and the Hungover Cow Quest.
11. Reevor Rat Patrol.
12. Storehouse - Killed 5 Rats.
13. Reevor - Quest 3/4 Complete.
14. Jondalar - Our 20st year also marks the end of our time and protection in Candlekeep. He has organizes a LARP for a going away party. Be there!
15. Erik - He's playing a ranger with a bow and arrow. Twang! OWW! Right in the butt! Oh crap! That was a real arrow he shot in our butt and not a fake one! Did he stop! Of course not. He shot another one in the other side before we realized.
16. Hungover Hull tried to outdrink Dreppin's Cow and misplaced his sword.
17. Imoen - always wants to chat. Can't chat right now. On our way to sick bay. What happened? That looks painful!
18. Gatewarden - Don't forget the LARP session!
19. Priest of Oghma - Treated in sick bay, then given another Potion and told to call in the morning.
20. Carbos - Back to the Storehouse to kill some rats, then the Bunkhouse to collect from Carbos. Again, sometimes it does not end pretty.
21. Karan - Sometimes that is all we need to make the book collection run smoothly!
22. Fuller - was also trying to outdrink Dreppin's cow. Unlike Hungover Hull, he did not make it out in time. He needs us to smuggle him some crossbow bolts. This is no problem.
23. Back to Winthrop we went, book collection in hand. We even bartered a collected dagger for a quarrel of crossbow bolts and sent them to Fuller, then sent the sword to Hull.
24. Fuller - Quest 4/6 complete
25. Hull - Quest 5/6 compete
26. Dreppin - Quest 6/6 complete
27. Winthrop - Completed Shopping List
28. Gatewarden - Late for LARP
29. Obe the LARP DM
30. Arkanis the Dorf Warrior
31. Canderous The Good Cleric
32. Osprey - Cleric Mage?
33. Mordaine - The Elf Mage
34. Deder the Halfling Fighter Thief Backstabber
35. Gorion who had to drag us out of LARP early.
After all this book collecting and errands, we still came up a little bit short on gold.
90g start
5g from Reevor
15g from Bunkhouse Chest finders keepers
8g from Barracks Barrel finders keepers
0g traded Dagger for Crossbow Bolts
10g from Fuller
10g from Hull
2g from Silver Ring found in Storehouse
1g from Daggers
141g total which is not quite enough for our objective
120g Splint Mail
15g Large Shield
1g Helmet
136g for Armor
1g Club
1g Sling
3g 3x20 Bullets
5g for Weapons
....And we walk out of Candlekeep broke.
5g from Reevor
15g from Bunkhouse Chest finders keepers
8g from Barracks Barrel finders keepers
0g traded Dagger for Crossbow Bolts
10g from Fuller
10g from Hull
2g from Silver Ring found in Storehouse
1g from Daggers
141g total which is not quite enough for our objective
120g Splint Mail
15g Large Shield
1g Helmet
136g for Armor
1g Club
1g Sling
3g 3x20 Bullets
5g for Weapons
....And we walk out of Candlekeep broke.
Experience:
300 - 6x50 for quests
40 - 2x20 for Shank and Carbos
5 - 5x1 for rats
345XP total
Kills:
1 Shank x 20
5 Rats x 1
1 Carbos x 20
7 kills / 45 XPV
We called the LARP session early. Gorion got tired of waiting for us and had to come find us. Please father, one more silver quarter! No, child. We must go now. They found the bodies!
End of Session 1 - Reloaded and Edited - Negligible effect on Gameplay.
Main difference is this time we have a Club for a Melee Weapon.
Post edited by SamAshen on
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Comments
Some story perspective
Maybe as the Chosen One, we got really angry at the injustice of the scene. Not merely Berserker Rage angry. Maybe not even Hulk angry. Maybe even Chosen One Angry, whatever that means. A library book was overdue and needed to be collected. A 5000gp library book, with a fat commission, maybe even enough to buy a Composite Longbow and Morning Star both. It got very ugly. The details must wait for a later Chapter of this story. We wake up the next morning remembering nothing, except that we have not been living some horrible nightmare.
Day 1, Hour 7 - The Lion's way to Candlekeep
2. Klossed - Warned us about those two characters up the road
3. Montaron - We've not time for your troubles, but my compatriot might have a purpose for ye.
4. Xzar - Our business is not of your concern, but if you travel with us to Nashkel, we might find a use for you. Keep note! This is something I was supposed to understand 20 years ago, but we were so excited about having somebody who might join our party, we did not make the distinction. When they are not forthcoming with details, like in this case, they might not be up to much good. Negotiation ended when we said we had to meet friends (did we accidently mention those who Harp?) at the Friendly Arm Inn and they said that is not their concern. Xzar left us saying he hope we fare better than we have so far. Montaron suggests we sleep with one eye open. As if to bless the result of this meeting, Immy suddenly produced the proverbial diamond in the rough.
5. Tree - Found a diamond!
6. Binkos - the bearer of more bad news. Another caravan has been raided by bandits northeast of Beregost. We are slowly starting to hear about elevated bandit activity in the trade routes between Baldur's Gate and Nashkel, and that it has a lot to do with iron. From here, we made carefully made our way to the scene of last night's brawl. We collected 98g, Long Sword, Short Bow, Leather Armor, Flamedance Ring, Gorion's Dagger, Gorion's Scroll, Gorion's Belt, and even more importantly, a Morning Star. We are armed and we can go hunting!
7. Gorion's Body - We picked up a few extra items and hints.
8. Chase wants to jump. Okay then, jump. He went home instead.
From the RP perspective, it sometimes feels bad to kill the bears when they are doing nothing to us and we need the experience points. Maybe we are paying last respects to Gorion and burying the bodies of the fallen and getting rid of whatever creatures got attracted.
There is a bit of kiting. Go figure. We can kite a bear. For the wolves, it is much easier to tank. They might need a pretty high roll anyway to hit us at -1AC.
For this run, we ended up kiting everything. This round we went through about 20 arrows / bullets because we were having lots of trouble scoring a hit. We had Immy running and Sam shooting and he needed a 14 or better which in this run did not happen in 10 shots. There will be cases in the future where kiting might lead us to new areas where we encounter monster spawns and it might turn out to be safer to tank.
After a couple of hours we were ready to move out and make our way to the Friendly Arm Inn. It might also explain why it was so late when we got there.
Day 1 Hour 17 - The Coast Way
10. Aoln - is hunting beasties nearby.
11. Rock - Found a ring (Ring of Protection but we don't know this at this time.)
We are now in a hurry to get to the Friendly Arm Inn before the bar closes.
Day 2, Hour 1 - The Friendly Arm Inn
13. Tarnesh - also owes a library book and once again it got ugly. He managed to get a Mirror Image up, but it did not help him. We smashed him with an Ogre Morning Star and he decided he underestimated the pair of travellers. Immy finished him off with an arrow.
Normally he gets his Mirror Image up. We have one round to get some shots off to reduce the number of images. We positioned Imoen to be near the door for a quick escape when Horror drops. Sam our Berserker has to remember to go Berserk instead. We deliberately positioned him to have guard nearby to start smacking down on those images. After that, then we can decide if we are taking Magic Missiles in the Face or if we are hiding in the Temple of Wisdom.
14. Guards - Of course [RP Angry] we were not allowed in the Friendly Arm Inn and had to go to the Temple of Wisdom to cool off.
15. Gelena Mirrorshade - So we cooled off. When the Berserk wore off, we were left with 3/14hp. Ugh! Perhaps.... I'm a bit more hurt than I thought.
16. Jopi inside the FAI was talking to us all about the roads and how crazy they were because of the Iron Shortage and if there ever was a Book Shortage, then the Lion's Way to Candlekeep would be the most dangerous road of them all!
17. Nessie - We talked about the background of the FAI.
18. Jaheira - I play the start of the game for exactly this line: How long must we wait here??!? Things stir to the south as we sit!
19. Khalid - and Jaheira joined
Gorion is not with you?! He would never allow that. All nine hells would break loose if you are allowed on your own. We must assume the worst. What happened?
It would be a fitting last service to him that we pick up where he left off. We are on our way to Nashkel to take care of some damage control. You can come along and be the damage. We will leave as soon as you are ready, which will be the crack of dawn.
20. Bentley Mirrorshade - We are right out of the cheap stuff, sorry.
So ends Session 2 - We are now a party of 4.
1. Sam. 686XP
2. Imoen. 343XP, 5 Kills, 430XPV
3. Khalid. 42XP
4. Jaheira. 2x1786XP
Day 2, Hour 9 - Rested at the Friendly Arm Inn - End of Session 2
We are slightly ahead in the experience count, compared to the previous Session 2. Here is the body count:
7 Kills previously, 45 XP
2 Diseased Gibberlines at 35
1 Black Bear at 175
Imoen 5 Kills, 430 XPV
1 Black Bear at 175
1 Wolf at 65
2 Diseased Gibberlings at 35
1 Tarnesh at 120
Here is the Gold Count
129g - It looks like the bad guys Sarevok forgot to loot had 127g on them
187g - Tarnesh was also carrying 58g
204g - Khalid and Jaheira also joined.
204g - We bartered Shortbow and Bounty Notice for a night
94g - Longbow for Khalid and 4x20 Arrows
80g - Large Shield for Jaheira
70g - 5x20 Bullets, 5x20 Arrows
70g - Medium Shield for another 20 Bullets
50g - Large Shield for Khalid, 3x20 Arrows, 3x20 Bullets
We can reconcile the gold economy however we want. We have 50g and a little bit more gear. We are more set up for ranged combat now and we also have a few items, 6 Healing Potions in case things go wrong, 1 Oil of Speed, and a Wand of Magic Missiles x10.
Team Unlikeable - We encountered 5 Recruitable NPCs in this Session
Her primary role will be a utility thief. Meta play we should level as a thief or dual somewhat early. Our RP challenges will be:
Permanent Companion - We will never kick her out.
BG2 Storyline - We will dual to match the character in BG2, but not necessarily match the build.
Character Death - If she dies, we might resurrect her, then remove her and we can continue the story line that way.
Her secondary role, especially in the early game, will be Archer. In grading characters, we will use her as a benchmark.
Montaron, Halfling Fighter-Thief - No deal
He is tied to Xzar
Xzar, Human Necromancer - No deal
He wanted to go to Nashkel and we have to go to the Friendly Arm Inn first. Therefore we had no deal.
Jaheira - Half-Elf Fighter-Druid - Joined
She gets Druid spells. At the start, it means we have some heals.
As an Archer, she is not going to compare to either Khalid or Imoen at the start.
She has Constitution to tank, but not Dexterity.
2 Points in Club - why?
1 Point in Sling - why?
I forget where the other point is. We will have to decide where to put L3 and L6 points.
Khalid - Half-Elf Fighter - Joined
He has Constitution and Dexterity both and can tank if we need him to.
Strength is enough to carry a Large Shield, which probably does nothing for him.
2 Points in Longsword
1 Point in Axe - why?
1 Point in Longbow - why?
He will either serve as Tank or Archer. I lean Archer. It helps more early game. At the very start of the game, he is about equal to Imoen as an Archer.
Post was edited. Session was replayed and pictures were added.
This is the thought that crossed my mind when visiting the Jovial Juggler and talking to the Bartender at 3 Charisma. Hey, I want no trouble from you, but you look like you been thrown out of every other bar in town. So far that night, we were at Feldpost's Inn immediately told to get out by Marl. Then we met Garrick (at the Burning Wizard?) who had a job with Silke and that resulted in a fight. Then we entered the Red Sheaf Inn and had a fight with Karl the Dwarf. So maybe what the Jovial Juggler Bartender said was accurate.
Where we left off....
Day 2, Hour 9 - Early Checkout at the Friendly Arm Inn
1. Joia - Typical for adventurers, while we seem to be in a hurry to get to Beregost and then Nashkel, we are interrupted with a request. Some Hobgoblins stole her Library Book and it needs to be retrieved and returned to Candlekeep.
2. Tree - Found a Ring. (Actually a Ring of Wizardry, so valuable we should theoretically be able to afford anything.)
3. Joia - We retrieved her library book -I mean- ring. 400XP and a Reputation boost to 12.
4. Unshey - didn't mention anything about running afoul of an Ogre before arriving, but said we should clean up, because we smell worse.
5. Landrin - is also not only cut off from the cheap stuff at the FAI just like we are, but also cut off from her private stash in Beregost.
Now we are heading back to Bentley's shop loaded down with some more loot.
The Hobgoblin Hunt and Return to the FAI
50g - is where we left off
149g - From killing 7 Hobgoblins we picked up 99g
206g - Sold 7 Bastard Swords at 6, 7 Helmets, 8 Leather Armor
260g - Sold Moonstone (25) Zircon (22) Greenstone Ring (5) Silver Ring (2)
140g - Bought Splint Mail for Jaheira and 7x20 Arrows
For our plan, we are going to need every gp. We are taking the road again with $140gcu which seems a bit rich, but it might balance soon.
Day 2, Hour 18 - The Coast Way South to Beregost
2/3 Cure Spells used. We took a 5 point hit trying to tank a Wolf and it showed up in the kite against the Ogre. Later, we took a 4 point hit from a Bandit who managed to roll a 20 against us. (I think we are -3AC against missile.)
We cleared the rest of the zone of monsters, bandits and other bad guys, then encountered (6) Andout the Messenger on the way to Beregost. They will receive Flaming Fist Reinforcements in anticipation of an impending war with Amn.
Day 3, Hour 1 - Kicked out of all the Bars at Beregost
Here now, GET OUT! I don't like your type in here!
Heh, you tell 'em, Marl!
And just like that, we earn 900XP for getting tossed out of a bar before even walking in. It was even enough to win Level 2 for Jaheira. She now has 24hp and 4 Cure Spells for the next day.
Scum Save 2 - Just in case something goes wrong against Silke
At the Burning Wizard, we encountered Garrick and he had a job that pays 300g to protect Silke. She was meeting up with a bunch of thugs, but when we met her it turned out the job only pays 200g. This is still a lot of money, especially at this stage of the game. Maybe we reread Garrick's story, then Silke's story. My spin does not match. The encounter looked like the opposing gang was simply delivering a payment and we were there to ensure the payment goes smoothly. We were warned about their leader's words swaying the wisest of men and we strike when told. When we were told to strike, maybe we hit the wrong person.
Or maybe the opposing gang leader was a leader and hit us with a Charm spell and then redirected us to kill our employer. He even gave us a Potion of Defense for our efforts! We also picked up a bunch of gold, a Potion of Invulnerability, and another Quarterstaff. All of this puts us ahead of Garrick's original offer.
With our employer dead, Garrick was out of a job and he joined our group. He will be little use in a real fight, but he can keep us entertained with stories and songs. Look at how he spun our deed on Silke so that it looks less bad. So Garrick strummed his lute and sung about getting kicked out of the bar again.
Next stop is Read Sheaf Inn. With a typo like that, look who has an overdue library book to collect! Of course Karlat is not going down without a fight, and that is enough to get us kicked out of our third bar in a single night.
Karl also managed to hit us for 4 points of damage. All totaled up, we took 13/14 points of damage in a single day and used all 3 Cure spells.
There was one bar left to visit, the Jovial Juggler. This is where we stayed. In the morning we went off to the Thunderhammer Smithy to gear up for the next part of the adventure.
The Body Count:
10 Kills at 290 is where we left off
2 Diseased Gibberling at 35
1 Silke at 900
1 Karlat at 270
14 Kills at 1530
Imoen 1178 XP
5 Kills at 430 is where we left off
2 Hobgoblins at 35
1 Xvart at 15
1 Bandit at 65
9 Kills at 580
Khalid 895 XP
4 Hobgoblins at 35
2 Xvarts at 15
1 Diseased Gibberling at 35
1 Gibberling at 35
1 Ogre at 270
9 Kills at 510
Jaheira 2210 XP
1 Hobgoblin at 35
1 Diseased Gibberling at 35
1 Gibberling at 35
2 Wolves at 65
1 Xvart at 15
6 Kills at 250
Garrick 130 XP
Gold Count:
203g - It looks like we picked up 63g from baddies on the Road.
603g - We also picked up 400g from Silke.
607g - Garrick joined. Apparently Silke did not pay him much.
645g - Karlat was carrying 38g.
637g - Rested at the Jovial Juggler. Another RP challenge is to choose the most expensive room.
1137g - Did we mention picking up a Diamond earlier? Now we need it.
1142g - We also picked up a Fire Agate.
1155g - Shortbow at 6, 3 Short Swords at 2, Small Shield at 1
1185g - Chainmail at 22, Bastard Sword at 8
1188g - Leather Armor, Medium Shield, Battle Axe, all at 1
1046g - Bought Composite Longbow - We are banking on Sam to finally hit something.
336g - 5 x 10 Arrow +1
110g - 2 x 10 Bullet +1
About Team Unlikeable:
Garrick - Human Bard
Garrick is many things. A lover, a musician, an actor. But not a fighter.
We are going to load up and check his stats, then come back here to comment, similar to the other characters.
Kagain - Dwarf Fighter
We did not talk to and we decided not to work with him, because his quest has us backtracking to the Friendly Arm Inn and Khalid and Jaheira want to head to Nashkel and we are already enough of a distraction. He gets great reviews, because he is the best tank in the game, but we also have to keep our Reputation in check. Maybe we accomplish this by recruiting Vicky or Bae.
Neera - Half-Elf Wild Mage
She is also in Beregost, but we have to win a fight in order to do it. At Level 1, this is a risk and our reward is a L1 Wild Mage. A side reward is a Gem Bag and we are coming back for that. We are planning to come back at a higher level.
Our purchases in the Gold Tracker might make it obvious what we are doing next, but we also need an RP excuse on why we are diverting away from Nashkel.
For RP, we would be following the story as close as we can and that implies that we are making a hurried flight from Candlekeep to Nashkel. That will put us at Level 1 or 2.
In my old-school BG gameplay, we would choose our starting party and it was very often the canon party. We would make a dash to the Friendly Arm Inn and Nashkel and do as little as possible. We would pickup Edwin and Minsc and then rush to the Gnoll Stronghold to be there at Level 1, so that we would establish our party at Level 1.
BGEE seems to make an adjustment to allow us to level our characters to approximately match our current level, at certain levels of XP. 4k. 8k. 16k. 32k. I think. So it becomes an advantage to level before advancing the story line.
We opted to clear the Beregost Temple zone to pick up an extra level. Then we will head over to High Hedge. Posts have been modified as follows:
Post 1 - Session 1 - Almost exactly the same. Cosmetic differences. Some discussion. We modified our initial equipment slightly, but otherwise no significant differences.
Post 2 - Session 2 - Also very similar. We added a couple of pictures, showing how we are kiting a Bear, and how we defeated the real boss of BG1, Tarnesh.
Post 3 - Session 3 - Similar, until we arrived in Beregost. We added a picture showing how we kited the Ogre. We really do not want to face tank him at L1. We killed Silke and added Garrick to our party in this universe. We added pictures showing how we killed Silke and Karl.
Post 4 - Session 4 - This post. This is where the story changes somewhat. We decided it was simplest to make a general edit and then add Session 4 to Post 5. We pick up the story where we left off earlier from Session 3, except we also have Garrick. Instead of running to Nashkel, we will distract ourselves around Beregost first.
Day 3, Hour 9 - The Song of the Morning Temple
We also encountered an astrologer, Galileus wandering the wildlands and staring at the sky. Then there was Cattack, leading a group of the most Chill Hobgoblins we have so far encountered. While they were chilling, we positioned ourselves in such a way we only had to fight Cattack and a single Hobgoblin.
With only two Hobgoblins to kite, we could take out one fairly quickly. We did accidentally pickup another one, but worked out the same way. With Cattack down, we engaged the Hobgoblins one at a time.
The Wolfpack
This made the kiting job a lot easier - at least until the first Wolf decided to chase Khalid instead. There is a lot of suspense associated with this fight. Will our resources be enough?
We started with 50 Arrows +1, 20 Bullets +1, 10 Charges of Wand of Magic Missile, Magic Missile Scroll. After watching arrow after arrow miss, we finally downed the first Vampire Wolf. It is hard to hit AC2 at L1 or L2.
One wolf down. 24 Arrows +1, 17 Bullets +1, 9 Charges, 1 Scroll. Transferring some Arrows to Sam and the Wand to Imoen, we engaged the second wolf.
Both wolves down. 9 Arrows +1, 16 Bullets +1, 6 Charges, 1 Scroll.
Resources used:
582.2g - 41 Arrows at 14.2
45.6g - 4 Bullets at 11.4
100.0g - 4 Charges at 25.0 (we think)
250.0g Oil of Speed based on selling value as opposed to buying
977.8g Total
Spider Infested House
There is not enough room inside to kite 4 Spiders, so we took it outside. The Citizens of Beregost screamed in panic as we ran out of the house with the Spiders in hot pursuit. We are aligned towards Chaos - and maybe this is what we mean by Chaos. We lured the spiders outside, endangering dozens of innocent civilians. They should know well enough to keep far away from the action, anyway. Then we exterminated the Spiders and got the job done.
Normal adventurers would go inside the house with their tankiest characters and defeat the Spiders inside. Normal adventurers would come prepared with about 6 Antidote Potions to deal with the poisonous bites. Team Unlikeable lured the spiders outside and paraded them all over Beregost.
They are lucky we did not burn the house down. Unlike normal adventurers, normal people would simply burn the house down.
We went back in the house and gathered up the Spider Body, Worn Out Boots, and Bottle of Wine and kept them in a drawer for safekeeping and we will pick them up later and turn them in.
After all this chaos, we sought out advice from our old friend, Firebead Elvenhair. He wanted a copy of the History of the Fateful Coin. It is available for sale in the Feldpost Inn, but he looks like an adventurer and adventurers cause too much trouble and are not welcome. Parading Spiders through the streets is a flaming example. Garrick does not look like an adventurer. Garrick looks like a noob. We ended up sending Imoen our diplomat to do the deed.
300XP. Reputation 13. A copy of History of the Dead Three.
More importantly, we got a Scroll Case out of the deal!
Gold Count:
151g - The Chill gang of Hobgoblins apparently were carrying 41g.
196g - 2 Shortbow at 6, Ander Gem at 15, 8 Helmets, 10 Leather Armor
50g - Sling +1, Helmet, 3x20 Bullets for Jaheira
40g - 8x20 Bolts for Garrick, 2 Clubs for emergencies
30g - 10x20 Arrows
Body Count:
14 kills at 1430 is where we left off
2 Hobgoblin at 35
1 Dread Wolf at 650
1 Worg at 120
1 Vampiric Wolf at 2000
1 Wild Dog at 35
2 Huge Spiders at 270
22 kills at 4945
Imoen 2783 XP
9 kills at 580 where we left off
3 Wild Dog at 35
3 Hobgoblin at 35
1 Cattack at 120
1 War Dog at 65
1 Wolf at 65
1 Vampiric Wolf at 2000
19 kills at 3040
Khalid 2500 XP
9 kills at 510 where we left off
3 Hobgoblin at 35
2 Worg at 120
1 Wild Dog at 35
1 Huge Spider at 270
16 kills at 1160
Jaheira 3014 XP
6 kills at 250 where we left off
1 Wild Dog at 35
1 Hobgoblin at 35
1 Huge Spider at 270
9 kills at 590
Garrick 1735 XP
1 Black Bear at 175
1 Dread Wolf at 650
1 Wild Dog at 35
3 kills at 860
Sam made Level 2 in this Session. He now has 28hp and 19 Thaco.
Imoen made Levels 2 and 3 in this Session. She now has 24hp, 19 Thaco, 60 Find Traps, 50 Open Locks.
Khalid made Level 2 in this Session. He now has 26hp and 19 Thaco.
Garrick made Level 2 in this Session. He now has 12hp, 20 Lore, 45 Pick Pockets.
Garrick gets so much hate, in this Session, he won himself a Heavy Crossbow. Here is what we have observed so far:
A is an open tier, because there is no way we are giving his to our main character who has no skill with any missile weapons.
B is for Benchmark and that belongs to Sam at 3.85. It looks like we Benchmarked AC4 and helmet.
C will go to Khalid and Imoen at 2.80.
Garrick we calculated 1.95 and goes right here.
Jaheira calculated at 1.575 with the Sling +1
D is for Darts. Thaco 20 and 3 attacks at 2 damage gets us 1.50.
Garrick can sing for us. +1 Luck increases the hit chance and average damage both, and affects a lot of other rolls. This can also help us resist fear. More importantly, it negates that annoying early game spell, Horror.
Sometimes, he can sing and shoot his Heavy Crossbow at the same time, but this requires a lot of micromanagement and is challenging to accomplish while kiting enemies.
Garrick can use Wands and Scrolls. At Level 2, he has a single L1 Spell Slot open. We have not yet decided what we might fill it with. His Intelligence is marginal and he has a 55% probability of learning a spell. We should think about what that spell might be. We will also check the limit of spells he can have in his book.
At Level 2, Garrick has 20 Lore and Sam only has 17 Lore and that difference will get bigger.
I think.... He gets a lot of hate because party slots are limited and there is a list of roles that need to be filled and he is not filling those roles. So that makes him a utility character. So far, I think the main utility is the bard song, for the luck and immunity to fear.
This Session Rant
I was also told about an old-school rule that Game Time and Real Time pass at similar rates. So we can imagine this to be 5 sessions and we are very disciplined on having a game night every week. In between Sessions we had a total of 4 weeks pass as opposed to 4 days.
Our kill count is now 104, which seems to be a lot even for a 4 week campaign. In a 4 day old campaign, this has to be worthy of the Lord of Murder.
Day 3, Hour 16 - High Hedge
We encountered a few characters:
Permidon Stark who is plotting to rob the place, but we stumbled on him and he got nervous and left.
Kivan is recruitable and would be very useful to our cause. An A-Tier Archer, yet to be defined in the discussion above, (Specialized in Long Bows, Can use Composite Long Bow - We are slowly building our definition.) enemies will quickly fall to his bow. That fight with the Vampire Wolves would have been trivial against Kivan. However, true to Team Unlikeable, Kivan wants nothing to do with us. This puts our record with NPCs at 4/7.
Finally we have Thalantyr. He is a bit isolated and antisocial, has a variety of magical wares guarded by two Flesh Golems. For safety, check in with Thalantyr before shopping. We were in the kids section, looking at the Potion Case and a few Scrolls for Garrick.
A lot of beasties were killed. Here is a shot of Garrick, our star player for the session, with his one and only kill. It can be seen that we are doing a little bit more standing and fighting, since we have hit points and cure spells as available resources.
We still kite. We did not want to go toe to toe against a Gnoll yet. Sometimes bad things happen when kiting.
We managed to avoid getting our star player Garrick killed. In fact, we avoided aggro on the extra add.
Day 3, Hour 23 - Back in Beregost
We continue with our Session Star player. He will attempt to scribe 4 scrolls at 55% each.....
Charm Person... Success!
Friends... Success!
Sleep... Success!
Blindness... Success!
Was he singing while scribing? Does that affect his probability? If it does, then we went 4 for 4 at 60% instead of 55%. For the next day, we will choose Sleep.
For Jaheira, we will continue with 4 Cure spells. Hindsight says a Bless might have been useful against the Vampire Wolves. It is yet another +1 to hit and +1 to damage. I never know the right occasion to use it. However, we did use all 4 Cure spells, even if 3/4 of them were for RP.
Khalid got bit by a Wild Dog for 3 points at the Temple.
Sam got hit by a skeleton thrown knife for 2 points.
Jaheira got shanked 3 times by the skeletons for 3 points, 3 points, and 4 points.
The 4 Cure spells topped us all off, but only one was really necessary.
With all that done, we rested at the Jovial Juggler.
Day 4, Hour 7 - Rested at the Jovial Juggler
It is earlier in the day now and we are prepped for a long trek for the day. We have 3 Quarterstaffs we no longer need and we put them in a barrel outside the Jovial Juggler. The house contains the quest items from clearing the spider infestation and burning the rest of the town down.
Gold Count:
57g - We picked up 27g from the Gnolls.
201g - 16 of (Short Sword at 5, Shield at 3, Skull at 1)
335g - Garnet 87, Jade Ring 40, Silver Neck 5, Ring 2
51g - We bought the Potion Case at 284g
52g - History of the Dead Three and we unloaded a book.
77g - 5 Halberds at 5
93g - 4 of (Short Sword at 2, Shield at 1, Skull at 1)
113g - Agni Mani Neck at 20
474g - 361 Throwing Daggers
332g - Blindness Scroll at 142
190g - Friends Scroll at 142
48g - Sleep Scroll at 142
98g - We returned that Short Sword to Perdue for 50g.
90g - We stayed at the Jovial Juggler, the only Inn that will take us.
So we are betting heavily that Garrick with 55% probability of learning a spell, picks up something useful to fill his L1 Slot.
Throwing Knives are busted. In the old game, they stacked in smaller numbers and carried a smaller price tag for the entire stack. Now they are 1g each and stack in 40s. However, we successfully played the Bartering RP and we are once again broke with 90g between the five of us.
Body Count:
22 Kills at 4945 where we left off
11 Skeletons at 65
2 Wolves at 65
1 Wild Dog at 35
36 Kills at 5825 XPV
Imoen 3361 XP
19 Kills at 3040 where we left off
1 Huge Spider at 270
2 Gnolls at 35
1 Gnoll Veteran at 65
1 Wild Dog at 35
24 Kills at 3480 XPV
Khalid 3078 XP
16 Kills at 1160 where we left off
4 Skeletons at 65
1 Gnoll Slasher at 65
1 Gnoll at 35
2 Wild Dogs at 35
24 Kills at 1590 XPV
Jaheira 3303 XP
9 Kills at 590 where we left off
5 Skeletons at 65
1 Ghoul at 175
1 Wild Dog at 35
16 Kills at 1125 XPV
Garrick 2313 XP
3 Kills at 860 where we left off
1 Wolf at 65
4 Kills at 925 XPV
Town Crier - Hear ye, Hear ye! Silke Rosena found brutally murdered!
It's time to get out of here.
Day 4, Hour 9 - Road South of Beregost
There was an encounter with the Flaming Fist. Most likely they were investigating the death of Silke Rosena and had questions for us.
In this zone there was also a cave where we retrieved 5 Healing Potions, bringing our total to 11. When we are feeling rich, we will stop stocking our healer with Cure spells and start burning these Healing Potions. If we were not afraid to blow a bunch of cash on a pack of Wolves, then a few Healing Potions should be no big deal.
Garrick made Level 3 with 18hp, 30 Lore, 50 Pick Pockets, Thaco 19, and an extra L1 Mage slot. For now we have this set for Friends, but we might change it later.
Day 4, Hour 17 - Road North of Nashkel
Lots of Hobgoblins were killed. Sam took a couple of slashes from the Hobgoblin Bastards wielding Swords, for 4 points and 6 points, and bringing him almost to killing range.
Then he hit Level 3. 42hp. Thaco 18. 3 Skill in Flails and Morningstars.
Day 5, Hour 3 - Arrived in Nashkel
No Gold Count for this Session, because we have not yet visited a shop.
This session actually did not include pictures. Most likely, this is because there was no big boss fight. We might have included Garrick casting his first Sleep spell, but it was not impressive as we were struggling with range. There might also be an anti-cheese mechanic in effect, limiting the effects of some status effect spells on mobs we cannot see.
Body Count:
36 Kills at 5825 is where we left off
15 Hobgoblin at 35
4 Gibberling at 35
1 Bandit at 65
2 Kobolds at 7
58 Kills at 6569 XPV
Imoen 3787 XP
24 Kills at 3480 is where we left off
1 Hobgoblin Elite at 95
7 Hobgoblin at 35
1 Ogrillion at 175
1 Gibberling at 35
3 Bandits at 65
37 Kills at 4225 XPV
Khalid 3510 XP
24 Kills at 1590 is where we left off
4 Hobgoblins at 35
1 Ogrillion at 175
2 Gibberling at 35
3 Kobolds at 7
34 Kills at 1996 XPV
Jaheira 3516 XP
16 Kills at 1125 is where we left off
2 Hobgoblins at 35
1 Gibberling at 35
1 Kobold at 7
1 Bandit at 65
21 Kills at 1302 XPV
Garrick 2739 XP
4 Kills at 925 is where we left off
2 Hobgoblins at 35
6 Kills at 995 XPV
Day 5, Hour 3 - Entering Nashkel
Then we saw Oublek who mistook us for Greywolf. For a little more gold, we might have tried to pass ourselves off. We did not. Reputation 14.
Minsc is waiting for somebody outside the Barracks. However (true to Team Unlikeable) he wanted nothing to do with us. Normally we pick him up and go pickup Dynaheir and that gets us the Canon Party. This time we might pick them up later.
Day 5, Hour 4 - Nashkel Carnival
After that, we went to pay Zordral a visit. We did not take a picture, but we bashed him well. Mirror Image popped up pretty quick and we took the fight outside. The silly mage followed us, instead of killing his rival. It must have been something we said. Somehow, Sam managed to break a Morning Star on one of those Images. Zordral got Horror off, but with Garrick singing his Love Song, it had no effect. We smashed him with a hastily gathered Bastard Sword in the offhand and now he was naked. Round 3 had a cast failure from a shot by Imoen. Sam got his face saved from an Acid Arrow shot and finished the deed. For all the trouble, Bentha gave us a Potion of Heroism.
We have a statue to rescue and a lower cost means of accomplishing.
Day 5, Hour 4 - Back in Nashkel
Finally we checked in at the Nashkel Inn to find Neira waiting for us. We opened this fight with Berserk and she could not get any spells off, because we were bashing her. Round 1 cast fail, 16 crush damage. Round 2 cast fail, 14 crush damage, followed by 14 slash damage from the offhand bastard sword. From the remains, Garrick identified the Eyes of Truth.
Leaving the Inn, we went to the Temple and picked up a Stone to Flesh Scroll, then returned to the Fair.
Day 5, Hour 5 - Back at the Nashkel Fair
Zordral was found brutally murdered and so we continue to sow chaos wherever we go. We went north hunting Kobolds and there were quite a few. Sam got hit for another 4 with a lucky arrow shot.
Finally we rescued Branwen the Statue and Zeke ran away saying he was going to sue us. 4/4 Cure used. We have been consistent! Trying our best to follow RP, we configured her with the Ankheg Plate Armor (which we found running away from Noober) and the Medium Shield from Neira, and a War Hammer and a Sling.
For spells, we set Jaheira up with 2 Cure and 2 Doom. Brawny has 2 Cure, 2 Command, DUHM, Hold Person, and Silence. Garrick took Blindness and Friends.
We returned to the Nashkel Inn to finally rest.
Day 5, Hour 15 - Back at the Carnival
Are we ever going to investigate those mines? Preparation takes time. We showed up just last night in the wee hours and need some recovery. In the mean time, it was back to the Carnival for some more business.
This time Garrick is back with Friends. Look at him shine! With 21 Charisma, he claims a full 25% discount and our shop price index crashed from 142 to 112.
Gold Count:
90g is where we left off
468g - How did we accumulate 378g in a single day traveling from Beregost to Nashkel?
693g - 15 Shortbow at 15
885g - 16 Bastard Sword at 12
908g - Agni Mana Necklace at 20, Bounty Notice at 3
818g - Identified Girdle of MF
918g - Sold Girdle of M at 100
828g - Identified Belt of Antipode
738g - Identified Evermemory
648g - Identified Elves Bane - This went to Khalid
558g - Identified Worn Whispers - This went to Imoen
468g - Identified Ring of the Princes
582g - It looks like our two kills got us 114g in loot.
369g - Bought Stone to Flesh Scroll at 213g.
463g - We got 94g from hunting Kobolds?
543g - 16 Short Sword at 5
473g - Identified Knaves Robe
463g - Bought Sling and 9x20 Bullets
463g - Traded Short Sword and Throwing Knife for a War Hammer and another 20 Bullets
458g - Stayed at the Nashkel Inn
500g - Sold 6 Longsword at 7
520g - Agni Mani Neck
588g - Tiger Cowrie 27, Onyx Ring 25, 2 Greenstone at 5, 3 Silver Ring at 2
763g - Pearl at 100, Black Coral at 25, 2 Ander at 15, Iol at 20
824g - 2 Zircon at 22, Jasper 17
899g - 15 Bastard Swords at 5
947g - 8 Shortbow at 6
387g - Bought Shield Amulet at 560g
387g - Short Sword for 2x20 Bullets
So that Friends spell got us 150g in that transaction. It will get better as transactions get bigger. We did not leave Nashkel broke. We just could not think of anything to buy with 387g. We might have done well to visit the Nashkel Store instead and pickup the Plate Mail.
Body Count:
58 Kills at 6569 XPV where we left off
1 Zordral at 900
1 Neira at 650
7 Kobolds at 7
67 Kills at 8168 XPV
Imoen 4247 XP
37 Kills at 4225 XPV where we left off
3 Kobolds at 7 XPV
40 Kills at 4246 XPV
Khalid 3986 XP
34 Kills at 1996 XPV where we left off
6 Kobolds at 7
40 Kills at 2038 XPV
Jaheira 3746 XP
21 Kills at 1302 XPV where we left off
21 Kills at 1302 is where we stay
Garrick 3199 XP
6 Kills at 995 XPV where we left off
1 Oopah the Amazing Exploding Ogre at 270
7 Kills at 1265 XPV
Branwen 4000 XP
Day 5, Hour 19 - The Nashkel Mines
We forgot to talk to the Shopkeeper at the Nashkel Store, but we killed a Winter Wolf and the pelt fetches a lot of gold. Finally we caught up to Prism, who we allowed to complete his monument.
Greywolf was there to collect his bounty. Branwen told him to die and he did. None cross Branwen and live.
It was a team effort. Sam did the kiting. Jaheira cast Doom. Brawny cast Command. Garrick had Blindness ready in case Command did not work.
We had one Identify scroll handy and we used it to identify Greywolf's Sword.
Varscona +2 went to Khalid.
On the way to the mine, we found a Wand (Unidentified Frost Wand) in a tree.
Jaheira made Level 3 with 36hp and 18 Thaco. For weapon skill, we went with Sling 2, because it is very early in the game and the skill means we have more Kobold Kills. The consequence of this decision is for melee, we are stuck with Clubs, whatever else she chose at the start, and maybe one more option. Getting around this might have to wait for SoD. Then BG2EE undoes all of our bad decisions.
Now it's into the Mines.
Day 5, Hour 20 - The Nashkel Mine Level 1
We questioned a bunch of miners about the disappearing miners. One mentioned a Dragon, but everybody else talked about Demons. What kind of demons? What did they look like? Well, the looked like Demons, idiot! Marvin said he had a conversation with one of the little chaps, but was interrupted by the Guard. Miner Dink had a dagger for us to send to Miner Kylee.
Day 5, Hour 21 - The Nashkel Mine Level 2
Nope. Right after we took the screenshot, he got hit by a Kobold Arrow and died. Kobold Archers are actually kind of nasty. They need a 20 to hit. On the bridge, they actually got two 20's in succession and Sam got skewered for 6 points, then 8 points and we used 1/5 of our Cure spells to keep him going.
At the end of the level, we encountered a couple of Kobolds carrying a couple vials of a strange substance, which we collected for investigation.
Early in Level 3 of the mine, we found Joseph's Greenstone Ring. We will return this to his wife when we find their house.
This is the end of Session 8. We got a bit of action on the surface with Greywolf and Level 3 is where the Dungeon gets real and we would do well to take a break and recover our focus.
Gold Count:
387g is where we left off Session 7
590g is what we count. So we picked up 203g. Some of these Kobolds are actually rich! In old-school, they might have carried a few copper coins.
Body Count:
67 Kills at 8168 XPV
13 Kobolds at 7
80 Kills at 8259 XPV
Imoen 4985 XP
40 Kills at 4246 XPV
1 Winter Wolf at 975
1 Ghast at 650
1 Greywolf at 1400
6 Kobolds at 7
49 Kills at 7313 XPV
Khalid 4728 XP
40 Kills at 2038 XPV
12 Kobolds at 7
52 Kills at 2122 XPV
Jaheira 4116 XP
21 Kills at 1302 XPV
4 Kobolds at 7
25 Kills at 1330 XPV
Garrick 3936 XP
7 Kills at 1265 XPV
Branwen 4737 XP
Day 5, Hour 22 - Nashkel Mine Level 3
Just a few Kobolds was all she needed to hit Level 4. 32hp. 85 in Find Traps. Single Weapon Style. She starts with points in Short Swords and Short Bows. We might choose a heavier weapon later. After utility, which is what she is doing now, she is archer. It is not likely she sees melee, but it might be possible as a backstabber and then we might look for a heavier weapon, maybe a Scimitar.
I thought we took a nice picture of her scouting ahead and having full visibility on a group of Kobolds and making it much easier for Sam and Khalid to pick them off. With Garrick in the Party, Sam with the CLB has a certainty of killing a Kobold with a hit. Khalid with a Longbow and +2 for skill also has a certainty of a kill. Jaheira with a +1 Sling and +2 for Skill has more than enough for a kill. Brawny has a 75% chance of a kill, because a 1/4 gets boosted to 3 points of damage. We could have balanced this out by giving her the Sling +1.
In the mining cars, we found a Healing Potion, brining our total to 13. A Kobold also had a Healing Potion and our total is now 14. After clearing the "human" side of the mine, we found another couple of traps with a couple of Sneaky Kobolds waiting on the other side.
The Kobold Side of the mine featured a wandering Ghoul and a room with a couple Huge Spiders. At the end, it had a mini boss chamber guarded by a few Kobolds and a Commando. The end of the tunnel featured 3 more traps which Invisible Immy disarmed before we even got there.
Day 6, Hour 1 - Nashkel Mine Level 4
We slaughtered another 4 Kobolds that were guarding one of the chambers. This featured a prisoner, who happens to be a recruitable NPC.
Xan - Elf Enchanter
True to Team Unlikeable, he thanked us for his freedom and departed, wishing us luck in our upcoming confrontation with Mulahey, even though he says we're all doomed.
Day 6, Hour 2 - Mulahey Boss Fight
We overprepared a bit. Sam would dual-wield the Morning Stars and deal with Mulahey. Imoen would remain invisible and be available for a backstab. Khalid would go sword and board. Jaheira had options, but we were planning to use her for a sniper after dealing with Skeletons. Branwen activated Holy Power, DUHM, Chaos of Battle, and Spiritual Hammer. Buffs seemed to be wearing off early in the fight.
Mulahey: What?! How did you get in here? Help, my Minions! Help!
Round 1 - Skeletons and Zombies materialized all around our party.
Garrick had to run quickly as a Skeleton materialized right next to him. There was really nowhere to run. Fortunately, the Skeleton missed unarmored Garrick and Jaheira casually clubbed it to pieces. The rest of the mass, Khalid and Brawny had to deal with and Brawny was stuck with the tanking job. She got hit once by a Kobold. Where Jaheira got a second swing in with a club, we're not sure, but she got the other Kobold and Garrick was safe.
Imoen snuck around behind Mulahey as he was casting some spell. The spell never got completed, as he got hit by a Double Sammy Whammy, for 15 and 16.
Round 2 - Branwen was hit a second time by a lucky Kobold. Mulahey normally surrenders when about to die, but the next hit happened too quickly. He went down in 3 hits.
Khalid took out another Skeleton, while Sam was freed up to relieve the fight from behind. 3 Kobolds and 2 Skeletons remain. These were cleaned up in Rounds 3 and 4.
Lucky Shots:
Khalid got hit for 3 by a Kobold on Level 3. He is at 36/39hp.
Sam was hit for 3+1 fire by a Kobold Commando on a roll of 17.
2/5 Cures used. Sam is at 40/42hp.
Branwen was hit for 6 by a Kobold at AC-3.
Branwen was hit again for 5 by a Kobold. 18/29hp remaining.
Gold Count:
590g when we entered the Nashkel Mine
832g - Cleared the Mine for 242g. Kobolds are rich buggers!
1622g - Mulahey's Chest contained 790g.
1651g - Mulahey was carrying 29g.
Body Count:
80 Kills at 8259 XPV
23 Kobolds at 7
1 Spider at 270
1 Kobold Commando at 35
1 Gray Ooze at 275
1 Mulahey at 650
1 Skeleton at 0
108 Kills at 9650 XPV
Imoen 5436 XP
49 Kills at 7313 XPV
Khalid 5180 XP
52 Kills at 2122 XPV
26 Kobolds at 7
1 Gray Ooze at 275
1 Ghoul at 175
1 Skeleton at 0
81 Kills at 2754 XPV
Jaheira 4341 XP
25 Kills at 1330 XPV
10 Kobolds at 7
1 Ghoul at 175
1 Huge Spider at 270
1 Kobold Commando at 35
2 Skeleton at 0
40 Kills at 1880 XPV
Garrick 4387 XP
7 Kills at 1265 XPV
Branwen 5184 XP
End of Chapter 2
Mulahey lies dead before us. Rest in pieces. Now we link the loot.
Most of it was beyond Garrick's ability to identify. What he could identify was surprising.
A Shortsword +1 went to Imoen. She is somewhat more likely to attempt a backstab. Garrick is more likely to run away from melee combat, because he is a lover and not a fighter.
The Honorary Ring of Sune went to Branwen, because she is more likely to gain Cleric levels and new spells. Also, the low level Cleric spells appear more useful.
We coincided the end of the Session with the end of the Chapter.
Day 6, Hour 3 - Nashkel Mine Surface
Emerson was much less rude to us now that the mine is clear and work can continue. The Bandits plaguing the roads are a different story, but that is not his problem.
5/5 Cures were used. Branwen went with Bless, 2 Command, 2 Cure, Aid, DUHM, Hold and Silence. Jaheira went with 2 Cure, 2 Doom, Cure Poison. Garrick went with Friends and Blindness. Hindsight says we needed little of this the coming day.
Day 6, Hour 11 - Rested
We went hunting again for Winter Wolves, but no such luck. We just found a few beasties. The Kobolds might be regrouping and replenishing after the slaughter that was the night before.
Day 6, Hour 16 - Nashkel
Berron Ghastkill the Mayor of Nashkel had a reward for clearing the mines.
1000 XP. 900g. Reputation 16. This is enough reputation to qualify for a 10% discount.
Scum Save 3 for Nimbul. Anything can go wrong, but most likely the fight will turn out trivial because we have foreknowledge of what to expect. Specifically, he will cast Mirror Image and Horror and probably Magic Missile. That's 3 Rounds already. He will be nearly impossible to hit with missile weapons. He might be resistant to enchantment spells, but we don't know. He does not have many hit points.
Nimbul Boss Fight
2 Images disappeared to Imoen's Magic Missile and Khalid's Varscona. Something, something, main hand center right, offhand center left, Khalid far left, Imoen far right. Rasaad joined us in the fight, even further left than Imoen. Something connected on something solid.
Round 2 - Nimbul got a Horror Spell off, but it had no effect. Nobody could hear the screaming terror above Garrick's screaming terror. An Amish soldier missed on a 19. Imoen's second Magic Missile got the kill.
Then Rasaad approached Berserk Sam to calm him down.
Link the Loot:
We identified Senses of the Cat and that went to Khalid. With AC1 and a penalty of 8 to missile weapons, he is going to be in charge of our archery duels.
We identified the Short Sword +1 and that went to Garrick. We still have unidentified the Frost Wand and the Boots of Grounding. Our next stop is the Nashkel Carnival.
Nashkel Carnival
We identified the Boots of Grounding, but nobody could identify the Frost Wand. Then we went hunting for Kobolds.
Day 7, Hour 1, Rested
Normally we are up on the other side of this hour. This time, we made a quick trip to the Nashkel Store and got ready for another long day on the road.
Gold Count:
1763g - It looks like we got yet another 112g killing baddies at the surface of the Nashkel Mine.
2663g - 900g reward for saving the Nashkel Mine
2721g - Nimbul was carrying 58g.
2721g - 4 Shortbow at 15, 5 Shortsword at 2. Identified the Boots of Grounding. Those also went to Garrick.
Garrick then cast Friends again. The Price Index is now 97. We get a whopping 35% discount in the shops.
3019 g - 16 Short Sword at 5, 31 Short Bow at 6, 6 Short Sword at 2, 20 Throwing Axes
3134g - Angel Skin 50, Agni Mani 20, 3 Bloodstone at 15
3243g - Ander 15, Fire Agate 5, Lynx Eye 7, 4 Sunstone at 12, 2 Jasper at 17
2661g - Bought Protection from Petrification Scroll at 582g
2712g - Did we say Kobolds are rich? We got 51g from them.
2707g - Rested at the Nashkel Inn
3207g - Winter Wolf Pelt fetches 500g in Nashkel.
3507g - Knaves Robe at 300g.
3552g - Onyx Ring 25, Agni Mani Neck 20
3647g - 3 Splint at 24, Chain at 18, Large Shield at 5
3667g - 10 Short Sword at 2
2503g - Platemail for Sam and Platemail for Khalid at 582g each
2492g - 6x20 Bullet and 5x20 Bolt for when Garrick gets around to shooting again
Hindsight says we could have bought the One Gift Lost Necklace. The Original BG gave the Nashkel Store an infinite supply of Large Shield +1 and those are all gone in EE. We plan to be back in Nashkel very shortly. It was an honest mistake and when we work it out, it will be a bit in our favor. We can pretend to still be broke adventurers instead.
Lucky Shots:
Sam took a stab from a Kobold for 2 points. We stepped in too far killing off a swarm of 10 Kobolds.
Body Count:
108 Kills at 9650 XPV
3 Kobolds at 7
1 Xvart at 15
112 Kills at 9686 XPV
Imoen 5921 XP
49 Kills at 7313 XPV
1 Ghoul at 175
1 Nimbul at 650
2 Kobolds at 7
53 Kills at 8152 XPV
Khalid 5670 XP
81 Kills at 2754 XPV
1 Ghoul at 175
1 Xvart at 15
1 Kobold at 7
84 Kills at 2951 XPV
Jaheira 4585 XP
40 Kills at 1880 XPV
3 Kobolds at 7
43 Kills at 1901 XPV
Garrick 4870 XP
7 Kills at 1265 XPV
Branwen 5667 XP
1 Xvart at 15
2 Kobolds at 7
3 Kills at 29 XPV
End of Session Thoughts
We plan to RP Dual-Class Imoen at Level 7, so that we can have the same Mage 8 / Thief 7 Imoen that greets us in BG2. It would be good then to have a lot of areas to level her up. We would need a Thief to get us through the Cloakwood Mines and that would be a terrible time to have to Dual.
We do not want to confront the end of Chapter 3 at Level 3 and no equipment. So we will work towards getting some of the gear.
Sam needs Flails and Morning Stars. We are heading to the Xvart Village next to retrieve one of them. The other, we should be able to obtain at Ulcaster. A Hammer +2 for Branwen is easy to obtain. We can also easily obtain a Short Sword +2 for Imoen. Jaheira is kind of SoL until Level 6, which is a very long way away. Our decision to have her stick with Slings might have gimped her in melee and she is stuck with Clubs.
In the previous run, we went into Nashkel with nearly identical party members, except we did not pick up Neera. In this run, we decided it would be easier to pick her up at a higher level than it would be to level her from Level 1 with 4hp. Instead we leveled Garrick from Level 1 with 6hp. In the previous run, we ditched Khalid and Jaheira for Minsc and Dynaheir and we traded Garrick for Branwen. I do not remember how long we kept Neera.
We should do some character rotation soon. Here is a list of characters I can think of available in Chapter 3.
Evil:
Xzar and Montaron are most likely no longer available.
Vicky will not work with us due to RP Team Unlikeable.
Kagain will work with us and I am told he is the best tank in the game.
Dorn we did not talk to and we are not sure if it is too late. His mission might be somewhat brutal.
Baeloth will most likely work with us when we hit 10k XP.
Shart Teal is another option.
Edwin wants us to kill Dynaheir, so working with him might be more compicated.
An issue I have with working with Evil Characters is our Reputation is 16 and we have no plans to manage it and that will mark us as Good and they will leave us.
Neutral and Good:
Neera will work with us as soon as we rescue her.
The same most likely applies to Dynaheir with her we should be able to pickup Minsc.
Rasaad will work with us - but his mission is in Chapter 5 and we would prefer to... not try to level him.
Safana might work with us - and try to help Sam acquire some very basic social skills. We are leaving her open as an option while Imoen is dual classing.
Ajantis will work with us. He is our Paladin option.
Kivan will not work with us, due to RP Team Unlikeable.
Did we miss anybody?
For our team, we really just have to sit down and make some basic decisions.
Thoughts so far on our Basic Decisions
Imoen - We are bent on making her Thief 7 / Mage 8 to match BG2 for RP, and there are consequences to this decision. We have a 90k XP gap to figure out. It will open a need for a Thief slot. When we gain our Thief 7 abilities back, she can fill that role again and we will no longer need that thief. Either we fix that issue again or we have Imoen with thief abilities she is not using and short one mage level and unable to cast L5 spells. So the roles she can fill are primary thief and secondary mage.
Branwen - can serve as primary Cleric / Healer. We will check what spells she will ultimately be able to cast that our options cannot. We used her before in our last run. Our list of Cleric alternatives are Vicky, Yeslick, Quayle, and Tiax. Two are eliminated because of our RP Team Unlikeable. Tiax is evil and will not fit in our party, because we are not managing our reputation. That leaves Quayle as an alternative - Or Jaheira. It looks like Quayle can get to C7 and Jaheira can get to D8.
Garrick - As well as I understand the roles in role playing games, he... does not fill a role. That makes him a utility character. He is pretty good at identifying magic items we find. Having successfully scribed the Friends spell, he can serve as the Party Face. Our Team Unlikeable RP excludes shops. So Garrick can claim a huge discount with 21 Charisma. He can use Wands and Scrolls. He has a Bard Song to eliminate Fear and bring us +1 Luck. He can also cast Spells. It looks like at B10, he can cast a L4 Spell and that might be enough to serve as a secondary Caster.
Interesting - If we choose Imoen, Quayle, Garrick, we have 3 Casters in our party and 2 Slots to fill. This leaves Khalid and Jaheira who are a husband and wife team.
Khalid - is currently filling the Archer and Sniper role, but can Tank in a pinch. He also has the Varscona +2.
Jaheira - can eventually become Fighter 7 / Druid 8. We will check druid spells, but otherwise can tank almost as well as Khalid. For RP, it might also be good to go into the Cloakwood with a Druid.
As much as we would like to RP travel Cloakwood with Khalid and Jaheira, it might make sense to switch them for Coran and one other, maybe Neera. Khalid competes with Coran for the Archer position. Coran is still a better Archer and can fill the temporary thief position. Neera can wear Evermemory and nearly double the possibility of getting us all turned to stone.
If we trade out Branwen, Khalid, and Jaheira, then it will be completely random how we fill out the party!
Enough chatter.
Day 7, Hour 21 - Xvart Village
[Going back to the discussion above, maybe Jaheira dumps us for hunting harmless bears. Then we go to the Cloakwood Forest and save a fellow bear hunter, brutally killing her Mentor in the process. In the end, ironically, we will have the Ring of Animal Friendship to show for our efforts. If a tree falls in a forest, I will kill the bastard what done it.]
Speaking of gruesome murder sprees, we arrived at the Xvart Village and started murdering Xvarts as they popped out of their huts to check out who was visiting at such a strange hour. We were confronted by Nexlit the Xvart.
It took me 25 years to figure this out, but maybe... this guy has a point. Well, beside the point, Ursa the Cave Bear was unable to save the Xvart Village from our destruction. In case that slaughter was not enough, we went to Ursa's cave to kill his mate.
We entered the Cave with Aid and Bless and - We actually entered the cave in the correct direction! Who remembers Old-School BG where the party enters backwards and the Clothies in the back have their butts exposed to the bear and we have to scramble to defend?
We tried casting Command, but the bear resisted with a 16. Doom was cast too late, because the fight was already over. However, Sam did take a 9 point shot as a trophy. Linking the loot, we identified:
Potion of Fire Resistance
Bracers of AC8 which went to Garrick
Flail +1 which was the prize Sam was looking for. He has 1/2 Magical weapons. Morning Star would be better, but it is too early to be picky.
We decided the cave was the safest place to rest and hindsight proved us correct.
Day 8, Hour 7 - Rested
Garrick made Level 4 with 24hp, 40 Lore and 55 Pick Pockets. We chose to give him 1 point in Darts. So while singing, he will have the option of shooting a Crossbow or throwing a Dart. He also has a M2 Slot open, but we are in no mood to risk a Web Scroll, even if the payoff can be amazing. If we had the foresight to visit the Temple before leaving town so early in the morning, this would be much less of an issue.
Branwen made Level 4 with 35hp and we took 1 point in Sword and Board style. Her primary weapon skill is in Warhammer, which does not much damage. Flail is an option, but competes with Sam. Mace is another option.
In the morning, we only encountered a small pack of 3 Dire Wolves and that was enough for Sam to get bit again and we already used 1/5 of our Cures.
We have another destination coming up in the next Session.
Lucky Shots
Sam got mauled by the Cave Bear for 9 points on a roll of 20 to hit AC-5.
Sam got bit by a Dire Wolf for 8 points on a roll of 19 to hit AC-3.
Gold Count:
2492g - We accidently left town with way too much gold, because we did not check if we could buy Large Shield +1 in infinite quantities. This accident will work out in our favor soon.
2648g - We picked up 156g from raiding the Xvart Village
Body Count:
112 Kills at 9686 XPV
8 Xvart at 15
3 Xvart at 35
1 Nexlit the Xvart at 35
124 Kills at 9946 XPV
Imoen 6366 XP
53 Kills at 8152 XPV
2 Xvart at 15
1 Dire Wolf at 125
56 Kills at 8307 XPV
Khalid 6147 XP
84 Kills at 2951 XPV
1 Black Bear at 175
11 Xvart at 15
3 Xvart at 35
1 Ursa the Cave Bear at 650
1 Cave Bear at 650
2 Dire Wolf at 125
103 Kills at 4946 XPV
Jaheira 4823 XP
43 Kills at 1901 XPV
1 Black Bear at 175
9 Xvart at 15
53 Kills at 2211 XPV
Garrick 5315 XP
7 Kills at 1265 XPV
Branwen 6101 XP
3 Kills at 29 XPV
1 Xvart at 35
4 Kills at 64 XPV
It's a short session, but we decided the Xvart Village is a fun and exciting place for an adventure, and worthy of a single writeup of an entire session. Also, it included a rest.
This is a session cut somewhat short, because we got busted by Nashkel's Captain of the Guard. Apparently he was not investigating the slaughter of the Xvart Village, but was just looking for the answer to a riddle.
Apparently, we took such a strange route to Beregost, it is difficult to RP an explanation. We were avoiding the main road because following them, we have encountered 3 Assassins in 6 Days. Then we got lost. Then Brage found us and took us back to Nashkel, only to find out he was the one everybody was looking for.
Day 8, Hour 18 - We were waylaid by a gang of 3 Gnolls
Day 9, Hour 4 - Archaeological Dig Site
While lost, we found and destroyed a Xvart Village. That was yesterday. Then we found a large group of Gnolls, a crazy Hobgoblin with a gang of Kobold Commandos. Then we found an Archaeological Dig Site and we helped Charlseton Nib dig out an ancient civilization. We were hired to protect him from bandits, but found we had to protect him from all of his workers, who went crazy. Their foreman, Gallor, wanted to hire us to arrange an accident, but we were in no mood for that.
1000XP, Reputation 17
Just a little further east of the dig site, we found Brage the Nashkel Captain of the Guard. Rather, he found us. After answering his riddle, he took us to Nashkel. Perhaps he was also investigating the brutal murders of Zordral the Mage, Oopah the Amazing, Greywolf the Bounty Hunter, and general chaos at the Nashkel Fair.
1000XP, Reputation 18
Two Handed Sword - Cursed Beserker +3
Potion of Stone Giant Strength
We rested at the Nashkel Inn and woke up at a different hour, like 2 in the afternoon.
Lucky Shots:
Sam got bit for 9 on a natural 20 by a War Dog before he could shoot an arrow.
Sam got shot for 6 + 4 on a natural 20 fire by a Kobold Commando.
3/5 Cures used
Gold Count:
2717g - It looks like we collect 69g from those broke Gnolls
3717g - The Temple of Helm gave us 1000g for saving Brage
3712g - Rested at the Nashkel Inn
3781g - 3 Andar 15, Jasper 17, Lynx Eye 7
3691g - Identified Berserker Sword +3
3815g - 2 2H Sword at 25, 1 Composite Longbow at 50, 4 Short Bow at 6
4075g - Sphene at 112, Pearl at 100, 4 Sunstone at 48
4235g - 5 Bluestone at 15, Greenstone at 5, 2 Bloodstone at 30, Agni Mani at 20
2595g - Bought the One Gift Lost at 1640g (Price Index 82)
1195g - 5 Elixir of Health at 280g (Different Price Index 112 by mistake)
1095g - Identified Wand of Frost
We are still leaving Nashkel with a lot of cash, but we gave back some of our gain with a mistake in the number of Friends spells memorized. We were also hoping for the Potion of Genius at the Temple and made the mistake of not checking first. We should also pickup the Mystery Potions.
Body Count:
124 Kills at 9946 XPV
2 Gnolls at 35
1 Gnoll Elite at 65
1 War Dog at 65
1 Cave Bear at 650
2 Diggers at 7
131 Kills at 10810 XPV
Imoen 7167 XP
56 Kills at 8307 XPV
1 Gnoll Veteran at 65
1 Flind at 120
1 Gnoll at 35
1 Ba'ruk at 165
1 Digger at 7
61 Kills at 8699 XPV
Khalid 6951 XP
103 Kills at 4946 XPV
1 Cave Bear at 650
2 War Dogs at 65
106 Kills at 5726 XPV
Jaheira 5224 XP
53 Kills at 2211 XPV
1 Gnoll Slasher at 65
1 Gnoll Elite at 65
1 Gnoll Slasher at 65
2 War Dogs at 65
1 Kobold Commando at 35
2 Digger at 7
61 Kills at 2585 XPV
Garrick 6114 XP
7 Kills at 1265 XPV
3 Kobold Commandos at 35 XPV
10 Kills at 1370 XPV
Branwen 6882 XP
4 Kills at 64 XPV
1 Gnoll at 35
1 Flind at 120
1 Gnoll Chieftain at 120
1 Digger at 7
8 Kills at 346 XPV
Strangely, managing these little counts gives me an idea of how long a Session is long enough. If the count is too long for me to track, then it is too long for a Session, and certainly too long for a story. I imagine in a tabletop game, these would still be truly epic sessions with very dedicated players. We have had the same team together for quite a few weeks now!
As for the team, it seems more likely that when we do part ways with members, it will be for the rest of the BGEE Campaign. Something drastic will have to happen otherwise. It will be the excuse I am using for keeping them together longer.
First things first, we returned to the Nashkel Fair to visit the Mystery Merchant and bought 2 Potions.
Red Potion of Intellect (24 Hours, 25 Intelligence, 3 Wisdom, 3 Strength)
The Violent Potion we should choose a good occasion to save it for. Khalid might be a good target if we have more Potions to fix the Constitution and Dexterity. Then we should choose a boss fight.
The Red Potion will be saved for when we want to binge scribe spells. It might be Imoen when she converts to Mage. It might be Sam. We should look up how much Experience we get for scribing spells in Sod and BGEE2 and make a decision based on that.
Day 9, Hour 18 - Waylaid by Gnolls again
Day 9, Hour 22 - Arrived at the Lonely Peaks
There were lots of Ogres. We encountered Arghain and his gang of 3 Half-Ogres and stole his 2H Sword +1.
Sarhedra was there to put us on a quest to kill some ogres and our reward was 300 XP. We need every one we can get. Sometimes, kiting an Ogre can lead to terrible results.
It is just a setback and it only slowed us down a little. We killed the Ogre first, then the Wolves. We managed to get through this unscathed. We got through the Ogres one at a time, taking down the Berserker with a Doom Command Combination. A Hobgoblin Elite got a couple of lucky shots in, but we also got lucky against Poison. We were prepared with Potions of Health and Fortune favors the Prepared. However, we got clumsy against a Cave Bear and Khalid got whacked for 15.
We also stumbled on a bunch of Xvarts attacking a Cow. We managed to save Arabelle and were rewarded with another 350 XP and 19 Reputation. Apparently Cows can tank just fine on Core Rules - but maybe not so well on Insane Difficulty.
A gang of 3 Bandits, Billy, Ioin Gallchobhair, and Dribben attacked us. We did not have much for crowd control. We shot up Billy first, because he appeared to be Range and the easiest to hit. Then we worked on Dribben for the same reason, but Brawny hit Gallchobhair with a Command, so we took advantage of that to kick him while he was down. So we easily came out on top, but not unscathed.
Finally, we cleared out a Cave in the area. We had reliable foreknowledge of what was inside, so we sent Imoen in stealthed. The stealth was unnecessary, because she was the only person inside. We sent her in to die a nasty death is what we really did. Look for traps. We were standing right on top of one. Disarm. Get out. Send Sam in to taunt the Ettercap and draw it out. Finish the fight from range.
Would you believe all the above action took place in 2 hours? We decided the Cave was the safest place to rest, but Sam had a strange dream.
I don't know about the rest of you, but in this game, I am imagining Irenicus sending us these dreams, in the same way the Emperor sent dreams in the Star Wars series. Further, BGEE features much more detailed dream sequences.
Sam made Level 4 with 56hp and 17 Thaco.
Khalid made Level 4 with 52hp and 17 Thaco.
Day 10, Hour 8 - Rested
Lucky Shots:
Khalid took 3 from a Hobgoblin Elite Sniper Shot at a 20, but saved versus Poison at 14.
Sam took 3 from the same Hobgoblin Elite at a 19, but saved versus Poison at 16.
Khalid got smashed by a Cave Bear for 15 on a roll of 18+4. (See how clumsy we are?)
Sam got shot by Billy for 9 on a roll of 20. (They were claiming 6 in bonuses on top.)
Sam got slashed by Gallchobhair for 9 on a roll of 20.
All 5/5 Cures got used.
Gold Count:
1095g where we left off
995g - We remembered to buy 2 Potions
1504g - Just how many rich Kobolds did we kill to accumulate another 509g?
Body Count:
131 Kills at 10810 XPV
1 Xvart at 35
1 Billy at 300
1 Dribben at 150
1 Ettercap at 650
135 Kills at 11945 XPV
Imoen 8853 XP
61 Kills at 8699 XPV
1 Ogrillion at 175
3 Ogres at 270
2 Kobolds at 7
1 Cave Bear at 650
1 Xvart at 35
69 Kills at 10383 XPV
Khalid 8645 XP
106 Kills at 5726 XPV
1 Gnoll at 35
1 Ogrillion at 175
1 Half-Ogre at 270
1 Ogre at 270
1 Kobold at 7
2 Wolves at 65
3 Dread Wolves at 650
1 Ogre Berserker at 650
1 Hobgoblin Elite at 95
2 Xvart at 35
1 Ioin Gallchobhair at 300
121 Kills at 9678 XPV
Jaheira 6066 XP
61 Kills at 2585 XPV
1 Gnoll at 35
3 Ogrillions at 175
1 Wolf at 65
1 Hobgoblin Elite at 95
3 Xvarts at 35
1 Dread Wolf at 650
71 Kills at 4060 XPV
Garrick 7800 XP
10 Kills at 1370 XPV
1 Arghain at 520
2 Half-Ogres at 270
13 Kills at 2430 XPV
Branwen 8550 XP
8 Kills at 346 XPV
1 Gnoll at 35
1 Kobold at 7
1 Wolf at 65
1 Xvart at 35
12 Kills at 488 XPV
Imoen and Jaheira are similar in kill count. The extra Sling skill might be helping Jaheira, but might gimp her later. The difference in XPV is probably due to RNG. Imoen got both Vampiric Wolves so far, among other big value kills, such as Greywolf. Those 3 total 5400. Khalid is helped by the extra Bow skill and he seems to be catching up to Sam in raw count because of it. He might also be slightly gimped later and we will still have to make a decision at L6 if we are going Bow or Sword.
Day 10, Hour 9
Of course we do look up information online and we always forget that Water Opal. We went back to get it, then looked around the area for more unlucky monsters. We had no such luck.
Day 10, Hour 17 - The Ruins of Ulcaster School
We ran into the Messenger, Wilco, who is strangely avoiding the roads to deliver his message to Amn. Baldur's Gate demands a stop to the caravan raids. We thought another messenger was saying exactly the opposite, that Amn was not involved in the raids. We just came out of Nashkel the day before and we trust Amish people.
Another character, Furry, wanted to sell us a gem for 1000g. Do we look like we have that kind of gold on us in the middle of the wilderness?
Finally we arrived at the Ruins of Ulcaster School. Looking around, Sam encountered Icharyd who wanted another taste of life. This game is full of amazing repeatable lines, actually.
We were cheesy and looked up the fights the night before and prepared as well as we could. We saw nothing in his list of immunities to missile weapons. No resistances, just immunity to non-magical weapons. So he is some kind of wraith with Grandmastery in Flails. So Sam just kited him to our group waiting with flaming Arrows. Nuke the bugger!
Garrick identified a Flail +1 on his dead undead body and that went to Sam who now has two of them. The Flail +1 probably does less damage than the non-magical Morning Star, but it will never break and we have a hit advantage, and is less complicated than switching in and out of magical weapons.
Finally we encountered Ulcaster himself. Death provides him no escape, as he has a Candlekeep Library Book that is overdue for over 500 years. Does anybody have an idea how much the fine is on that one? It must be more than enough for the 10kg Book entry fee.
Into Ulcaster School we go. We actually ran this one naked. No scum save. No Invisibility Potion. Immy gets the MVP in Dungeons and she is one brave chick.
Day 10, Hour 20 - Ulcaster School
When they did, we also attracted the Mustard Jelly, which is much more dangerous. We took down the Ochre Jelly as fast as we could, then ran out of sight from the Mustard Jelly and brought in Branwen and Jaheira. We believe Mustard Jelly is immune to magic, immune to piercing weapons, immune to non-magical weapons, 30% resistance to Crushing and Slashing weapons. That leaves non-magical fire I suppose.
We buffed Brawnie with Holy Power 18/00 Strength and Spiritual Hammer. Jaheira has access to a Quarterstaff +1 for whatever that's worth. Khalid has Varscona +2. Sam has 2xFlail +1. We actually took it out very quickly with no incident. We thought it would have a ridiculously low thaco. That leaves one more boss in the dungeon to be worried about.
We cleared a Wolf Room and arrived at the Spider Room. This was a bit of cautiously approach and hope we do not aggro too many. We brought them one or two at a time and they now go down very fast.
Much further in the dungeon, we finally found a trap and a bit later another trap. Then we arrived at the central chamber full of wolves - including the Vampire Wolf.
Don't forget to hit Berserk before engaging that Vampiric Wolf! Finally we got our prize book.
1000XP
We found.....
Unidentified Protection for Electricity Scroll, Dagger +1, Potion of Mirrored Eyes
Potion of Genius will be handy if we are teaching Garrick new spells.
Potion of Absorption, in case trap hunting goes horribly wrong.
Wand of Fire with 8 Charges
Potion of Hill Giant Strength
Oil of Fiery Burning
More Healing Potions
Imoen made Level 5 with 40hp, 75 Open Locks, 18 Thaco
Garrick made Level 5 with 30hp, 50 Lore, 60 Pick Pockets
Day 10, Hour 23
Afraid of being outside in the dark, we decided to rest in Ulcaster School. It was not long at all we were found by a single Dread Wolf. Normally they appear in an ambush position, but the winding corridors put him out of line of sight and we had to find him. We smacked him, but Sam got bit again.
Lucky Shots:
Sam got shot for 8 points on a 20 by a Skeleton with a Composite Longbow.
Sam got hit for 2 points on a 20 by a Skeleton with a Dart.
Branwen got bit for 3 points on a 19 by a Dire Wolf.
Sam got bit for 7 on a 20 by a Dread Wolf.
Bit again for 8 by a Dread Wolf.
We probably used 4/6 of our Cures.
Gold Count:
1504g where we left off
1823g - Well we did also visit a dungeon and picked up 279g. Kobolds still seem to be richer.
Body Count:
Sam 135 Kills at 11945 XPV
16 Skeletons at 65
2 Hobgoblins at 35
2 Zombies at 65
1 Mustard Jelly at 2000
1 Dire Wolf at 125
3 Dread Wolves at 650
1 Vampiric Wolf at 2000
161 Kills at 19260 XPV
Imoen 11612 XP
69 Kills at 10383 XPV
1 Icharyd at 950
1 Huge Spider at 270
1 Dread Wolf at 650
72 Kills at 12253 XPV
Khalid 11417 XP
121 Kills at 9678 XPV
3 Kobold Commandos at 35
3 Hobgoblins at 35
1 Hobgoblin Elite at 95
2 Skeletons at 65
1 Ghast at 650
1 Ochre Jelly at 270
2 Huge Spiders at 270
1 Dire Wolf at 125
4 Dread Wolves at 650
139 Kills at 14298 XPV
Jaheira 7445 XP
71 Kills at 4060 XPV
1 Hobgoblin Elite at 95
3 Hobgoblins at 35
2 Skeletons at 65
1 Zombie at 65
2 Dire Wolves at 125
1 Huge Spider at 270
1 Dread Wolf at 650
82 Kills at 5625 XPV
Garrick 10559 XP
13 Kills at 2430 XPV
Branwen 11267 XP
12 Kills at 488 XPV
1 Hobgoblin Elite at 95 XP
13 Kills at 583 XPV
Day 11, Hour 7 - We successfully rested in Ulcaster School. That makes us 3/3 on resting in a dungeon or cave instead of outside. We have no idea if this is safer or if it will just turn out to be a good way to grind out experience.
This was supposed to be a very quick session, but we decided we had time to fit in a quick trip to High Hedge. Where we left off....
Day 11, Hour 7 - Ulcaster Ruins
We did a little patrol around the area and found a few more bad guys.
Day 11, Hour 12 - Ambushed by Gibberlings
Day 11, Hour 16 - Beregost Temple
Somehow this is a shortcut and saves us 4 hours of travel. We used a couple of them hunting the area and found a few more Hobgoblins.
Day 11, Hour 17 - Beregost
The mysterious Old Man came by to talk to us again. He says his name is Elminster and he has a strange interest in our travels. Maybe he can deal with that Lich haunting Beregost Temple for us.
Then Choloe found us. Officer Vai has set up a base in the Jovial Juggler and sent a little girl named Chloe to find Smelly Sam. Never mind what he looks like. Your nose will tell you.
At the Thunderhammer Smithy, Taerom Frirum suggested we give him a few days to work on new products now that he has samples of the poison that has been plaguing the Iron.
Jaheira made Level 4 Druid. 41hp and more spells.
250XP. Reputation 20. We returned the Amulet to the Colquette Family and filled them all the gory details of what happened to their son.
After dealing with Thunderhammer, we barged into Feldpost's Inn. All these dealings should have given Tranzig enough time to leave town. Talking to Elminster should have given him enough time to leave. We caught him by surprise and Branwen got her revenge.
Please return borrowed books to the Candlekeep Library. We were unable to identify his Wand of Magic Missiles, but we did identify a Ring of Princes and we obtained a Scroll of Glitterdust. It was still too early in the evening to find the Inn and decided we had enough time for a trip to High Hedge.
Day 11, Hour 21 - High Hedge
9 in the evening - We push our toons hard! We found Kivan again, but he still will not work with us. Thalantyr was, so we went to his place next and bought some stuff, including an Invisibility Scroll for Garrick.
Garrick chugged that Potion of Genius we found in Ulcaster Ruins. Some kid about 500 years ago snuck it into class to cheat on an exam and Garrick chugged all of it. Then we tried our luck with some new scrolls:
17 Intelligence - 75% Chance to Learn Spell
Invisibility - Check
Web - Check
Milf Acid Arrow - NO
Protection from Petrification - NO
Magic Missile - Check
Protection from Petrification - Check
Overall we hit 4/6, which is only slightly less than 75%. Before we went 4/4 on 55%, so we are not going to complain. More importantly, we got Invisibility and we can do amazing things with and Invisibility spell. We also got Web and with a Potion of Freedom, we have a plan for our next big fight.
This is about when the Skeletons stated coming out at High Hedge and we had some fights on our hands. It also means we can barter with Thalantyr and buy more magic items. Those throwing knives are OP.
Lucky Shots:
Imoen got crit for 6 by a Skeleton throwing a Dagger on a 20.
Khalid got hit for 1 by a Skeleton throwing a Dagger on a 20.
Khalid got stabbed for 4 by a Skeleton on a 20.
Gold Count:
2037g - When was the last time we said Kobolds were rich? We picked up 214g since leaving Ulcaster School.
2537g - Officer Vai paid us for 10 Bandit Scalps.
Price Index is 67 when we have Garrick and Friends, 97 with Imoen.
2747g - 4 Composite Longbow at 40, 5 Bastard Sword at 5, 2H Sword at 25
2951g - 25 Short Bow at 6, 2 Longbow at 18, Chainmail at 18
3029g - 2 Splint Mail at 28, 1 Splint Mail at 20, 1 Fancy Helmet at 2
3179g - 3 Zircon at 22, 2 Sunstone at 12, 2 Iol at 20, Skydrop at 20
3389g - Moonstone at 25, 2 Ander at 15, 3 Water at 40, Chrys at 35
3591g - 4 Star Diopside at 47, 2 Lynx Eye at 7
3841g - Water Opal at 175, Aquamarine at 75
2836g - Bought Shortbow +1 for Imoen at 1005g
1496g - Bought Large Shield +1 for Sam at 1340g
1496g - Short Bow at 6, Large Shield for 7x20 Bullets
1094g - Bought 6 x 10 x Arrow +1 at 6 x 67g
778g - Bought 6 x 10 x Bullet +1 at 6 x 53g
869g - Apparently Tranzig had 91g on his person.
883g - 7 Silver Ring at 2
933g - 3 Greenstone Ring at 5, 3 Silver Neck at 5, Gold Ring at 20
973g - Rainbow Obsidian at 25, Bloodstone at 15
868g - 7 x 2 Bullet +2 at 7 x 15g
Imoen Price Index 97
1343g - Fire Opal Ring 250, Bloodstone Amulet 150, Zion Neck 75
1149g - Bought Invisibility Scroll at 194g
907g - Bought Potion of Freedom at 242g
180g - Bought Protection for Poison Scroll at 727g
215g - Those Gnolls are not as rich as Kobolds
263g - 12 of (Short Sword at 2, Skull at 1, Shield at 1)
275g - 6 Halberds at 2
457g - 182 Throwing Daggers
215g - Potion of Freedom at 242g
263g - 12 of (Short Sword at 2, Skull at 1, Shield at 1)
457g - 194 Throwing Daggers
215g - 5 Acid Arrows at 242g
207g - Rested at the Jovial Juggler Inn
Body Count:
161 Kills at 19260 XPV
3 Kobolds at 7
1 Kobold Commando at 35
3 Gibberlings at 35
2 Hobgoblins at 35
1 Tranzig at 975
13 Skeletons at 65
3 Gnolls at 35
187 Kills at 21416 XPV
Imoen 12304 XP
72 Kills at 12253 XPV
1 Gibberling at 35
1 Hobgoblin at 35
74 Kills at 12323 XPV
Khalid 12109 XP
139 Kills at 14298 XPV
5 Kobolds at 7
4 Hobgoblins at 35
1 Kobold Commando at 35
1 Gibberling at 35
4 Skeletons at 65
2 Gnolls at 35
156 Kills at 14873 XPV
Jaheira 7788 XP
82 Kills at 5625 XPV
3 Kobold at 7
3 Hobgoblins at 35
1 Kobold Commando at 35
4 Skeletons at 65
1 Gnoll at 35
94 Kills at 6081 XPV
Garrick 11246 XP
13 Kills at 2430 XPV
1 Gibberling at 35
14 Kills at 2465 XPV
Branwen 11904 XP
13 Kills at 583 XPV
3 Skeletons at 65 XPV
16 Kills at 778 XPV
Day 12, Hour 3 - Arrived in Beregost
We can take a quick trip to High Hedge, he said.
We can pick up a few things, he said.
It won't take that long, he said.
We will be back in town before sunset, he said.
I think we have seen enough waking hours, slave driver!
Day 12, Hour 11 - Rested at the Jovial Juggler Inn
With the town active, we have just a few things to take care of.
300XP - Retrieved Mirianne's Scroll and received a Ring. Garrick identified it as another Ring of the Princes. We now have 3 of these.
We also retrieved some items from the Spider House we burned down.
On the way out of town, we could hear the Town Crier:
Hear ye, Hear ye! The Beregost Butcher strikes again. Tranzig found in Feldpost's Inn brutally murdered!
Day 12, Hour 15 - North of Beregost
It was still the middle of the afternoon and we encountered Jase fleeing yet another caravan raid. He told us to go away, but we were able to vector out location of the raid and our ears could guide us the rest of the way. It was Deke and a gang of 5 Bandits. 6 more scalps.
Day 13, Hour 0 - Friendly Arm Inn
[/spoiler]
We had some business with Landrin upstairs. The house was [burned down] cleaned.
300XP and 120g - Boots
200XP and 100g - Spider
300XP and 75g - Wine
I remember the first time playing this game, walking into this open house and - WTH?! 4 Huge Spiders? I might have found out from the game guide that I was supposed to pickup a quest. So my early game would be some routine of clearing out the south area and turning in the boots, clearing out High Hedge and retrieving the short sword, clearing out the spider house. Trade Xzar and Montaron for Garrick and Kagain. Sorry, guys. return to the Friendly Arm Inn and turn in the quests. Clear out the Temple Zone. Get a stern reminder that we are supposed to go to Nashkel. This probably would have been a good time to clear out the Basilisks, but we did not know better.
[/spoiler]
Day 13, Hour 8 - Rested
Gameplay versus Roleplay
From an RP perspective this does not make sense. The items belong to them. If we are playing SoD, then we will likely retrieve the items anyway and they will not be taking up our inventory space.
It also makes no sense that we would part ways with them. We are on our way to the Bandit Camp and it is very unlikely they would leave us to fight on our own. It would make more sense to trade Garrick or Branwen, but from a gameplay perspective, they are filling roles. We are following up in the Cloakwood Forest and it would make sense to have Jaheira with us for that part of the adventure.
It could be K&J were played by a husband and wife team and no longer able to play for a long time. It could also be they were a bf and gf team and they broke up and are no longer in the gaming group. I will go with the first. So we set up a scene with a new player who rolled a Paladin.
Going back to the RP, we are stuck with a very clumsy plot tool. K&J are Harpers and they were called to events elsewhere on the Sword Coast. There was some discussion at the FAI. K&J have a lot of confidence in the team as it is. Arrangements are made for a dropoff.
Hindsight says we should have picked up Kagain and maintain a full group, but this works out almost as well.
Day 13, Hour 12 - Fishing Village South of Baldur's Gate
We encountered a young Squire Paladin named Ajantis on the road north of the Friendly Arm Inn.
Khalid: W-we're f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f.....
Jaheira: We're foes.
Ajantis: Strange. Nobody has ever told me they are foes.
Jaheira: Shall we begin the exchange?
Sam: What is this? A conversation coming to blows and nobody grabbing their weapons?
Khalid: S-s-s-Sa-m, Th-there is s-s-something we n-need to explain.
Jaheira: We have been called to business elsewhere.
Khalid: Further n-n-nnorth.
Jaheira: This is Ajantis Ilvastar. He is a Squire Paladin of the Order of the Radiant Heart. He has been sent to investigate the increase of bandit activity along the Sword Coast. We believe you will work very well together.
Khalid: C-call when you need more h-h-elp.
Jaheira: You have our cell number, facebook, and instagram.
[Of course, in their endless meddling, the Harpers really have nothing interesting for Khalid and Jahiera, just a pointless errand to get them away from Sam, who is doomed to failure without their help at the hands of Tazok and the leadership of the Chill Hobgoblins and Black Talons. Being a part of the Harpers, Team K&J are very well connected and were able to arrange at least something for help.]
It looks like Ajantis started off with Chainmail Armor, a Medium Shield, and a Bastard Sword. Otherwise, he is dead-arse broke. He starts at P2, but with 8000 XP we can promote him to P3 and even claim a weapon skill. For skills, he starts with:
2 in Bastard Sword - We will have to find him a magical Bastard Sword. There might be one we can afford in Beregost at Feldepost's Inn.
1 in Longbows - This is handy and pretty much perfect. For P3, we put the extra point into Longbows.
1 in Two Handed Swords - We will work this out perfectly for the job we have in mind for him.
I have seen several tier list videos about the characters. Tier list is an awkward format, because we have slots and we fill those slots with roles. If we have extra, then we can fill the slots with utility. Ajantis basically replaces Khalid's slot and Jaheira's slot we will fill eventually. The roles we have are Archer and Backup Tank. The Lay on Hands is similar to an extra Cure. He will also have some good saving throw numbers.
As an Archer, he is a little bit behind Khalid. We lost about 4000 XP to bad planning and the level difference is sometimes 1, as it was when we picked up Ajantis. This is 1 point worth of hit. The difference in Dexterity is worth 1 point of hit. So he will be most of the time 1 point of hit behind Khalid. At P6, this difference might grow to 3 points of hit and 1 point of damage.
As a Tank, he is short a few hit points. At P3, he has 32hp and at F3 Khalid at 39hp. The difference in Dexterity is 2AC.
For Sword and Board Melee, he will eventually have a Bastard Sword +1. It looks like with equal skill, they are equivalent at hitting targets. Ajantis gets +3 with Skill, Strength, and Enchantment. Khalid gets +3 with Skill, Strength, and Enchantment. At F6, Khalid will have an option of Master Skill in either Longswords or Longbows and the difference will be 2 in hit. For damage from Ajantis, I count 9.5 (5.0 Bastard Sword, 1.5 Luck, 1 Strength, 1 Skill, 1 Enchantment) compared to 8.375 for Khalid. (4.5 Long Sword, 0.875 Luck, 1 Skill, 2 Enchantment)
Somewhere he has to make up these differences. Let's see. He's young, very good looking, and has a promising career as a Knight of the Order of the Radiant Heart. More importantly, he is still single and that leaves us with options to fill Jaheira's slot. He has skill in 2H Sword and we will be picking up Spider's Bane in a few more Sessions. This will give him Free Action and Garrick has the Web Spell and this will be exactly our plan to get through some fights.
Day 13, Hour 20 - The Bandit Camp
It turns out there is a road here and the Bandit Camp is just barely out of sight off the road. We entered the Hobgoblin side of the Camp first. The Chill Hobgoblins are much tougher than the regular Hobgoblins we are used to killing, but they are equally stupid and go down in the same way. Crush, their leader, went the same way. We found somebody to taunt him and lead him out of the camp where we killed him.
Steppe Nomads used the same tactic. Run in with some troops and fire arrows. Feign a retreat to break up the formation. Then strike from a location with a much bigger advantage.
All of this activity attracted the Black Talons. The camp only had regular Bandits, similar to the ones on the roads, but much tougher. Then their leader, Taurgosz Khosann showed up. We hit him with Doom and even though he was Doomed, he tanked everything. Save v Command, 16. Blind got disrupted by a silly mistake by Garrick. We accidentally made him move. Save v Command again, 15. Save v Frost Wand, 20. Save v Wand Fireball, 18.
Oops. We blew up Branwen with that one. We intended to send a Scorcher, but sent a Fireball. Tauro finally went down with a Hold Person and Scorcher. Then Sam was silly enough to grab the armor suit while it was still hot.
We got to what was obviously the Big Cheese HQ Tent and prepped, then went inside.
Sam - Potion of Free Action, go inside and go full medieval
Branwen - Bless, Aid on Sam, had some backup tanking to do
Ajantis - Shoot the mage, then shoot whoever is stuck
Imoen - Same as above
Garrick - Cast Web - this time strategically placed
Raemon the apparent leader of the group was outside of the strategically place web, but went down very fast, at about the exact same time as Vankt the Mage. Britik and Hakt were both able to escape the webs, but it was too late. Sam was hammering his intials into Hakt and Britik got distracted chasing Branwen.
Endar Sai did not seem to mind getting Webbed and we talked to him afterwards about world politics. Apparently in Baldur's Gate, some fat old man with orange hair is getting elected Grand Duke and he wants to punish Amn with punitive tariffs on its cheap, brittle Iron.
End of Chapter 3 - Start of Chapter 4
From here, we cleaned out the details of the Bandit Camp. The huts were clearing out. There was an amazing amount of loot. We found the Gnoll cave. They have not yet started to leave the camp and thought they were still prisoners. Garrick had a sleep spell handy that worked just fine, but had to run outside with Imoen and Ajantis as the one Gnoll stayed awake and charged them. Sam and Brawny went to work cleaning up the mess.
The Bandit camp was just north of some ruins infested with some Skeletons. Here is what I believe to be Sam's PR hit with a Flail. 38 points. I count 7 for max on flail, 4 for strength, 3 for skill, 1 for enchantment and that leaves us short 4 points and I don't know where those come from.0
Lucky Shots:
Sam hit for 9 on a 19 by a Bandit. They must have killer thaco.
Sam hit for 8 on a 20 by a Bandit.
Imoen hit for 8 on a 20 by an Bandit and decided it was time to retreat.
Ajantis hit for 7 from a Bandit on a 10. Cheapmail is not much protection in this case.
Sam hit on a 19 by Garclax
Sam hit for 6 (crushing?) on a 15 by a Flind with a 2H Sword. What would his thaco be if he used the 2H sword the way it was supposed to be used instead of as a hammer?
Idiot Mistakes:
Garrick blew up Branwen with the Fire Wand for 25 points.
Sam walked into a Fire Wand Scorcher trying to loot Tauro and took 16 + 15 points of damage, or something like that.
All Cures for the day were used. 3 Potions were used. So far that was the difference it cost us for being stupid.
Gold Count:
207g where we left off and those Bandits had nothing.
502g - We collected a whopping 295g for burning down Landrin's house.
500g - 6 Short Bow at 6, 5 Long Sword at 3 for Long Bow and 3x20 Arrows
492g - Rested at the Friendly Arm Inn
4709g - We looted..... 4217g?
Loot List:
Identified Medium Shield +1 - went to Ajantis
Identified War Hammer +1 - went to Branwen
Mage Robe of Fire Resistance
Bow - Identified as Dead Shot +2 - Went to Ajantis for now
Short Sword +1
Wand of Fear
Medium Shield +1 - went to Branwen
Gauntlets - Unidentified
Ring - Identified as Ring of Thorn
2 Potions of Firebreath
3 Potions of Fortitude
Potion of Perception
Oil of Fiery Burning
Potion of Heroism
Funky Oil of Speed
Lots of Scrolls:
Color Spray, Blind, Friends, Chromatic Orb, Protection from Petrification
Stinking Cloud, Aganazzar's Scorcher, Horror, Web
Spell Thrust, Fireball
Body Count:
187 Kills at 21416 XPV
2 Bandits at 65
1 Deke at 65
1 Chill Hobgoblin at 35 that seemed to register at 65 instead.
1 Hakt at 750 - I think his last name was Tuey.
1 Britik at 900
1 Gnoll Veteran at 65
1 Flind at 120
1 Tersus at 35
2 Gnoll Slashers at 65
1 Gnoll at 35
1 Gnoll Elite at 65
7 Skeletons at 65
2 Black Bears at 175
209 Kills at 24581 XPV
Imoen 14428 XP
74 Kills at 12323 XPV
4 Chill Hobgoblins at 35
1 Ardenor Crush at 900
1 Raemon at 1200
1 Gnoll Elite at 65
81 Kills at 14628 XPV
Garrick 13366 XP
14 Kills at 2465 XPV
1 Taurgosz Khosann at 2000
15 Kills at 4465 XPV
Branwen 14016 XP
16 Kills at 778 XPV
1 Credus at 65
2 Kills at 65, probably Gnoll Slasher or Veteran
1 Flind at 120
1 Skeleton at 65
21 Kills at 1158 XPV
Ajantis 9919 XP
1 Chill Hobgoblin at 35
7 Bandits at 65
1 Hobgoblin at 35
1 Venkt at 900
1 Gnoll at 35
1 Gnoll Veteran at 65
1 Garclax at 120
1 Gnoll Slasher at 65
14 Kills at 1710 XPV
Khalid 12109+ XP
156 Kills at 14873 XPV
3 Bandits at 65
159 Kills 15 15068 XPV
Jaheira 7788 XP
94 Kills at 6081 XPV
1 Bandit at 65
95 Kills at 6146 XPV
With the Bandit Camp a safe distance away, it was time to rest and we had another strange dream. We picked up the Slow Poison ability as a result.
Day 14, Hour 8 - Rested and Ready to Move Out
End of Session 16
Branwen made C5 with 44hp. She now has P3 Spells.
Ajantis made P4 with 44hp.
Day 14, Hour 16 - Back at the Fishing Village
This time we met Gerde who led us on an Ankheg hunt. We took our 4 and claimed a shell as a prize. We understand the shells are valuable and Thunderhammer is buying them to make special plate armor out of the shells. We will make one more trip to Beregost before venturing into the Cloakwood Forest.
Day 15, Hour 1 - Arrived at the Friendly Arm Inn
Coincidentally we bumped into Elminster again. We mentioned before Khalid and Jaheira having contacts? Maybe we also have Elminster arranging people for us to meet us. Coran the Elf Archer left the Temple of Beregost to go hunting for Wyverns in the Cloakwood Forest and would be willing to help us - if we are willing to help him hunt down Wyverns.
Day 15, Hour 9 - We rested at the Friendly Arm Inn.
Day 15, Hour 17 - Coast Way
On the road to Beregost, we found a few things to hunt along the way.
Day 15, Hour 22 - Beregost
Nothing is open. So we rested.
Day 16, Hour 6 - Rested at the Jovial Juggler Inn. This time we are up bright and early! Officer Vai had shop opened and we turned in our Bandit Scalps. We were thinking about commissioning Thunderhammer work on the Ankheg Shell, but we decided to sell it instead in exchange for much needed gear.
We ran to the Thunderhammer Smithy and Feldpost's Inn, then to the Temple to get a couple of items identified. In the Cloakwood Forest, we will have to rely on Garrick and maybe one or two Identify Scrolls go get us through the next part of our plan.
Lucky Shots / Idiot Mistakes:
Sam hit on a 20 for 13 Crush + 1 Acid by an Ankheg
Sam hit on a 17 for 16 Crush + 2 Acid
Sam hit on a 19 for 11 Missile + 4 - Those Ankhegs were hitting easily!
Gold Count:
4784g - 75g prize for the Ankheg hunt
4776g - Reested at the Friendly Arm Inn
4777g - We found a single gp on a Xvart. It's the Kobolds who are rich.
4769g - Rested at the Jovial Juggler Inn
5919g - Turned in 23 Bandit Scalps for a whopping 1150g
A bunch of looted junk (2 2H Sword at 22, 9 Short Bow at 6, 2 Throwing Dagger) and
Identified the Legacy of the Masters
6419g - Sold an Ankheg Shell at 500g
6569g - Mage Robe of Fire Resistance, 150g
6725g - Sold a list of junk. (Short Sword 5, Chainmail 15, 2 Composite Longbow 20, 1 Longbow 15, 1 Bastard Sword 12, 69 Throwing Daggers)
6873g - Sold a bunch of Gems (Garnet 87, Iol 20, Andar 15, Sunstone 12, 2 Lynx 7)
7113g - Sold Sam's Platemail at 240g
3093g - Bought Full Plate at 4020g
3493g - More Jewelry sold (Fire Opal 250, Angel Skin 50, Ziose Neck 75, Rainbow Obsidian 25, Jade Ring 40, Gold Ring 20, Agni Mani 20)
3595g - Iron Thorn 5, 2 Silver Neck 5, Greenstone Ring 5, Silver Ring 2
1920g - Bought Bastard Sword +1 for Ajantis at 1675g
245g - Bought Composite Longbow +1 for Sam at 1675g
Back to the Thunderhammer Smithy to exchange the old Composite Longbow for 12x20 Arrows, 4x20 Bullets, 4x20 Bolts. Next stop Temple.
145g - Identified the Wand of Magic Missiles x31
45g - Identified the Cursed Scroll of Ugliness
Body Count:
209 Kills at 24581 XPV
3 Ankheg at 975
2 Diseased Gibberlings at 35
4 Wild Dogs at 35
218 Kills at 27716 XPV
Imoen 15523 XP
81 Kills at 14628 XPV
3 Diseased Gibberlings at 35
84 Kills at 14733 XPV
Garrick 14267 XP
15 Kills at 4465 XPV
1 Diseased Gibberling at 35
1 Wild Dog at 35
17 Kills at 4535 XPV
Branwen 14917 XP
21 Kills at 1158 XPV
Ajantis 10820 XP
14 Kills at 1710 XPV
1 Ankheg at 975
1 Xvart at 15
3 Diseased Gibberlings at 35
1 Wolf at 65
1 Wild Dog at 35
21 Kills at 2905 XPV
Khalid 12109+ XP
156 Kills at 14873 XPV
3 Bandits at 65
159 Kills 15 15068 XPV
Jaheira 7788 XP
94 Kills at 6081 XPV
1 Bandit at 65
95 Kills at 6146 XPV
Day 16, Hour 7 - It will be a long trip from here to the Cloakwood.
We probably should have loaded up on arrows. The worst case for us is we are out 45g in a place that will have no need for gold. 900 Arrows or whatever would be far more valuable. We will see what happens next.
Arrows: 720 + 30
Bolts: 240 + 44
Bullets: 240 + 34
Day 17, Hour 3 - We safely arrived at the Hunters Lodge in the Cloakwood Forest.
We looked around for something to kill - and that something turned out to be a Brown Bear. It was enough.
Sam made Level 5 with 70hp.
Then we went to go talk to Coran and... True to Team Unlikeable, he will not work with us.
That leaves us deep in the Cloakwood Forest and his incredible archery support would have been very useful. We have to limp along with a short group of 5. We scouted the area around the Hunting Lodge and poached all the animals. There is a Noble named Aldeth Sashenstar also poaching in the area. Apparently he has a dispute with the local Druid Guardians of the Forest. However, again true to Team Unlikeable, he wants none of our help.
Gold Count:
45g - We left Beregost dead arse broke
164g - We picked up 119g from the Tasloi. I guess they are also rich.
Body Count:
218 Kills at 27716 XPV
3 Dread Wolves at 650
4 Wolves at 65
11 Tasloi at 35
2 Worgs at 120
1 Huge Spider at 270
239 Kills at 30821 XPV
Imoen 16800 XP
84 Kills at 14733 XPV
1 Brown Bear at 420
1 Wolf at 65
1 Dread Wolf at 650
1 Worg at 120
88 Kills at 15988 XPV
Garrick 15744 XP
17 Kills at 4535 XPV
1 Dread Wolf at 650
1 Tasloi at 35
19 Kills at 5220 XPV
Branwen 16394 XP
21 Kills at 1158 XPV
2 Tasloi at 35
1 Cave Bear at 650
24 Kills at 1878 XPV
Ajantis 12297 XP
21 Kills at 2905 XPV
1 Wolf at 65
7 Tasloi at 35
1 Worg at 120
1 Dread Wolf at 650
2 Huge Spiders at 270
33 Kills at 4525 XPV
We took a Mulligan for this Session. We buffed up like crazy and then went into the Spider Nest. We launched 4 Fireballs at the wrong location and all the Spiders charged Ajantis, which is fine. He can tank. Sort of. Garrick tried to find a better angle for another Fireball and aggroed a Sword Spider, which chased him out of the nest. They move double speed, so that meant we would lose Garrick - or take a Mulligan.
Were this no-reload live-stream, the transmission would end for a couple of minutes, then I would come back on. Sorry guys, the cat stepped on the power button.
So far, we took 3 Scum Saves. Of those 3, we used none of them. This incident brings our Mulligan count to 1. However, we chose a different cheesy tactic and learned something.
Day 17, Hour 21 - Ambushed by Ettercaps
This is not good. We are surrounded by 4 Ettercaps. They are Poisonous and we have 2 characters completely unarmored. The ambush zone is very likely trapped.
This time around (Same ambush happened pre-mulligan) we did not bother with Sleep. The time for Sleep might well be over. Imoen still searched for traps to gradually build up room to move.
Branwen tried a Smite spell and it hit 3/4 of the Ettercaps. All 3 saved on 6, 11, and 14 and we did a total of 15 Damage with the spell. Branwen then got hit and poisoned and we decided to send Sam in to clear the Poison. Eventually we got out of the situation.
Day 18, Hour 6 - Arrived Safely at the Spider Nest
We were immediately greeted by Tiber, who lost his brother Chelak about a week ago as they tried to raid the Spider Nest. They thought they would prevail because they acquired the Spider Bane Sword.
So much for sleeping. We will have to run this mission first. We had a Protection from Poison Scroll for Sam and we were saving it for exactly this occasion. Garrick cast Invisibility on Imoen so she could scout everything out. (This was the original plan, anyway.)
We found the Spider Nest and Invisible Imoen went in to scout. (New Plan) We buffed Sam with Aid and Chant and sent him in solo. Only 2 Spiders were visible, so he taunted them and brought them outside where the rest of the party was waiting. Then he went back in to draw them out, one at a time. (New plan. Cheesy.)
800XP - Recovered Chelak's Body
Identified Spider's Bane +2 - One job Ajantis has is to carry this thing.
Identified Wand of Frost
Unidentified Ring (of Folly?)
We explored the rest of the zone and cleared out all the spiders we found. At the very end, Invisible Imoen got clumsy and triggered two traps.
Identified Rashad's Talon +2
Identified Cursed Iron Torn
Lucky Shots:
Branwen hit for 4 on an 18 by an Ettercap and Poisoned.
Branwen took another 8 points of Poison damage before getting Cured.
Ajantis hit for 2 slash on a 19 by an Ettercap.
Ajantis hit for 2 slash on a 20 by an Ettercap.
Ajantis hit for 1 slash on a 19 by an Ettercap.
Sam hit for 1 on a 20 by a Huge Spider.
Sam hit for 10 on a 20 by a Sword Spider.
Gold Count:
164g when we left the Hunting Lodge
245g - We picked up 81g from the broke Ettercaps.
Body Count:
239 Kills at 30821 XPV
6 Ettercap at 650
5 Huge Spiders at 270
1 Sword Spider at 2000
3 Giant Spiders at 450
1 Centeol at 1000
4 Phase Spiders at 1400
259 Kills at 46021 XPV
Imoen 22511 XP
88 Kills at 15988 XPV
Garrick 21455 XP
19 Kills at 5220 XPV
3 Ettercaps at 650
1 Huge Spider at 270
1 Giant Spider at 450
24 Kills at 7890 XPV
Branwen 22105 XP
24 Kills at 1878 XPV
1 Huge Spider at 270
2 Giant Spiders at 450
27 Kills at 3048 XPV
Ajantis 18008 XP
33 Kills at 4525 XPV
3 Ettercaps at 650
4 Huge Spiders at 270
2 Sword Spiders at 2000
1 Phase Spider at 1400
43 Kills at 12955 XPV
Imoen made Level 6 with 48 hp, 100 Find Traps, 85 Open Locks.
Garrick made Level 6 with 36hp, 60 Lore, 65 Pick Pockets.
Ajantis made Level 5 with 56hp.
Ammunition Count:
Arrows 480 + 27 and probably okay
Bolts 240 + 21 and definitely okay
Bullets 212 and we are a bit short
In the Cloakwood, the travel scenes are tense. Just like they made little video clips of sleeping in the wilderness and sleeping in a dungeon, they should have made some video clip showing the party trudging in some wilderness. In the Cloakwood, there is an ambush involving a couple Wyverns we are worried about. However...
Day 19, Hour 13 - Arrived Safely at the Henge
The area needs to be scouted and indeed we are equipped for scouting. Garrick cast Invisibility on Imoen and off she went, finding a Cave Bear first. After killing the Cave Bear, we are hailed by a Bard named Eldoth.
Eldoth: Gentlemen, Gentlewomen, that was an impressive fight, even more so than my killing yesterday of 10 Gnolls and having to flee from 6 Ogre Berserkers. Allow me to introduce myself... Would you care for a drink?
Sam: We should never underestimate a man on his appearance and stature.
Eldoth: ...When we get to Baldur's Gate, we can pick up my gf Skie Silvershield and stage it as a kidnapping and ransom her back to her family for a huge sum of gold. Since she is my lover, we have the advantage of a captive with no desire to escape.
Ajantis: Are you always this slimy - or is this one of your better days? We want nothing to do with your schemes. Baldur's Gate is a long way from where we are right now and the journey will give you time to reconsider your actions and next choices.
[From a gameplay perspective, we can access the next zone from here. From a roleplay perspective, our journey takes us across a river to a Druid Henge.]
A river blocks our path and a bridge crosses the river. Across the river, a Druid hailed us and asked if we are with the Iron Throne and if we can deliver a message to them. The differences between the Druids and the City Dwellers as they like to call us are huge. Having Jaheira in our group would have been very helpful. This is another one of those situations where the truth sets us free and we have nothing to lose anyway. The Cloakwood Forest is the domain of the Druids and we would normally leave them and their territory well alone. However, somebody seeks our heads and they report to a man called Dave who operates a mine that can be found in this forest. What kind of message would you have sent?
On second thought, this is a message best sent personally. To the west is a Henge and there you will find Faldorn and Fluffy. They will deliver our message personally.
It turned out to our horror that Faldorn did not want to work with us. We talked to Takiyah and we told him we were seeking the Bandits that plague the Mine in the Cloakwood Forest - and he also recommended we get Faldorn's assistance. This time, she accepted.
Faldorn and Fluffy
So she will be spellcaster and can use a couple Wands. We have her with the Wand of Fear and the Wand of Magic Missiles.
From my RP point of view, we are a disturbance carving a path of destruction to the balance that is nature. The Cloakwood Mine is also a disturbance to the balance. So her mission is to get us safely to the mine, destroy the mine, then make sure we [safely or otherwise] leave the forest.
This kind of RP would have her leave the party at the edge of the Cloakwood Forest. From a gameplay perspective, I hear great things about top level druids and D5 Spells.
As a special ability, she gets to summon a Dread Wolf once per day, who we will call Fluffy.
Although somewhat less than friendly, the Druids are curious. Knowing we are seeking out members of the Iron Throne, Izefia directed us to a Cave where Peter of the North was training a couple of Baby Wyverns. We went in and started an unending conversation that disrupted the training.
Gold Count:
245g
267g - Faldorn had 2g and Peter had 20g
Body Count:
259 Kills at 46021 XPV
1 Cave Bear at 650
1 Brown Bear at 420
1 Peter of the North at 240
1 Baby Wyvern at 450
3 Dread Wolf at 650
266 Kills at 49731 XPV
Imoen 23605 XP
88 Kills at 15988 XPV
Garrick 22549 XP
24 Kills at 7890 XPV
1 Wolf at 65
25 Kills at 7955 XPV
Branwen 23199 XP
27 Kills at 3048 XPV
2 Cave Bears at 650
29 Kills at 4348 XPV
Ajantis 19106 XP
43 Kills at 12955 XPV
1 Brown Bear at 420
1 Baby Wyvern at 450
3 Wolves at 65
48 Kills at 14020 XPV
Faldorn 16662 XP
With Fluffy on guard, we had a peaceful rest and woke up on Day 20, crack of midnight, ready to travel to our next destination in the Cloakwood Forest.
Day 20, Hour 16 - We safely arrived at the Wyvern Nest
We are on a lucky streak! We got ambushed once a couple days ago, but no problems resting and no events 2/3 transits. Once again, we decided scouting was important and Garrick made Imoen invisible again. This has been working very well for us. We found a Hammered Dryad and a Giant Spider and took them out before crossing one more river and finding the Wyvern Cave.
We overprepared for this one, but just like in World of Warcraft, buffing up is fun. Sam was going to be tanking this event, so we gave him:
Bless, Aid, Chant
Protection from Fire, Potion of Fire Resistance (127% Fire Resistance)
Potion of Heroism, Potion of Invulnerability
With Berserk, we got our AC down to -9 and our Poison Save down to 5. With AC at -9, the Wyvern probably needed a 4 to hit, but it is something. We walked into the cave with Wands blazing.
The Wyverns appeared to have some ridiculous saves. We saw a Baby Wyvern save on a 5. However with 4 Fireballs incoming there was still a good probability of missing one save and we destroyed 3 Baby Wyverns and 1 Wyvern, leaving one more Wyvern to fight. For all those Potions spent, we gained 2 Wyvern Heads, a Wand of Fear, and some Gems. The Platemail on the Unfortunate Adventurer we will leave behind and maybe check on the way back.
Lucky Shots:
Sam hit for 11 crush on a 20 by a Baby Wyvern
Gold Count:
267g where we left off
329g - The Wyvern Cave had a Dead Adventurer with 62g
Body Count:
266 Kills at 49731 XPV
1 Wyvern at 1400
5 Baby Wyverns at 450
2 Wolves at 65
274 Kills at 53511 XPV
Imoen 25564 XP
88 Kills at 15988 XPV
Garrick 24508 XP
25 Kills at 7955 XPV
1 Baby Wyvern at 450
26 Kills at 8405 XPV
Branwen 25158 XP
29 Kills at 4348 XPV
2 Baby Wyverns at 450
31 Kills at 5248 XPV
Ajantis 21078 XP
48 Kills at 14020 XPV
1 Hammered Dryad at 650
1 Giant Spider at 450
3 Baby Wyverns at 450
1 Cave Bear at 650
1 Sword Spider at 2000
1 Wolf at 65
56 Kills at 19185 XPV
Faldorn 18617 XP
1 Wyvern at 1400
1 Kill at 1400 XPV
We kept this session short, because the Wyvern Cave deserves its own Session. The day is still early enough we can travel. From an RP perspective, we would do well to rest and then travel and take out the surface area around the mine, and then enter the mine. From a gameplay perspective, it would make more sense to take out the surface area first and then rest. In the morning we take out the mine. The gameplay means we pickup a level and extra spell.
The Mulligans:
Mulligan 2: This was very short. The Wyvern Cave is not ideal for resting. We will try to keep this in mind on the way back if we need cheap experience points. We could have taken it outside to rest after killing two of them, but we decided to reload again.
Mulligan 3: We rested outside, then arrived at the Mine, cleared the outside area just like before. We tried to be fancy about saving a Potion of Freedom and carefully placing a web and we did all of this perfectly. However Faldorn was also selected when choosing ranged units to attack and she aggroed the rest of the group and got webbed, then got free and landed the Confusion on the entire group.
So we have the tools we need to win this fight and it is possible we were struggling with it last night, because we were trying to fit one more Session into an evening and then made a mistake and the mistakes compounded. As long as we learn something, Mulligans are okay. So far our Mulligan count is at two and both are inside the Cloakwood Forest.
1. Spider Lair - We walked everybody in on the Spider Layer. Ajantis had to tank. Garrick aggroed an extra Sword Spider and could not escape. Second time around we sent Sam in solo to draw them out one at a time.
2. Drassus Fight - We messed up this fight twice by trying to be too fancy.
Day 21, Hour 2 - Rested
Day 21, Hour 4 - Ambushed by Giant Spiders
We knew from a previous play of the same encounter that the zone was not trapped and we therefore had room to maneuver.
Day 21, Hour 6 - Arrived at the Cloakwood Mine
Imoen was still Invisible, so we sent her out scouting. We patrolled the area around the fenced in area, because we wanted no surprises. We encountered Lakadaar who wanted to know who we were. He had his guards attack us, and we killed them all.
The mine was surrounded by a palisade, supposedly to keep the Druids out and allow only one way in. Shortly inside, we found a party of 4, Drassus, Genthone, Kysus, and Rezdan. Since we spotted them long before they spotted us, we could prepare.
Sam - Potion of Freedom, then Berserk when the fight started. Charge one of the Mages.
Garrick - Cast Web on the group at the start of combat.
Chant and Bless. Aid on Ajantis got disrupted.
Branwen cast Holy Smile on the group, but apparently only one person in the party was actually evil.
Ajantis attempted Detect Evil, but the current implementation makes it completely useless.
Web got Drasus and Genthone immobilized, so we decided to take one of them out first.
Faldorn still had a Call Lightning memorized, and this was the time to use it.
Branwen decided this was the time for Holy Power.
Kysus cast Confusion on Sam which had no effect because of Berserker Rage.
Ajantis eventually pulled Spider Bane +2 and joined the Free Action Fun. We finally got our victory and it was very clean.
Exploring the Barracks and Stable made Imoen visible again. She can find and remove traps while invisible, but opening locks will make her visible. Garrick still has an Invisibility spell.
Loot:
Potion of Frost Giant Strength
Mage Robe Cold, Travelers Robe
Fallorian's Plate +1 - Ankheg is better, so it is unlikely we will ever use this.
Paws of the Cheetah - This will have to go to Ajantis for now because Sam has Free Action
Morning Star +1 - This will go to Sam's Main Hand
Potion of Magic Shielding - Most likely there will be a fight where this will be required.
Gold Count:
329g where we left off
963g - It looks like we got 334g so far at the Surface level of the Cloakwood Mine
Body Count:
274 Kills at 53511 XPV
290 Kills at 60261 XPV
Imoen 27110 XP
88 Kills at 15988 XPV
1 Guard 15 120
89 Kills at 16108 XPV
Garrick 26054 XP
26 Kills at 8405 XPV
Branwen 26703 XP
31 Kills at 5248 XPV
33 Kills at 5403 XPV
Ajantis 22618 XP
56 Kills at 19185 XPV
69 Kills at 21040 XPV
Faldorn 20140 XP
1 Kill at 1400 XPV
Faldorn made Level 6 with 40hp. She will get an extra Level 3 Spell which is unikely to do any good inside the Mine, because it is unlikely we will be resting.
With the extra Mulligans, it is of course possible we arrived a the Cloakwood Mine slightly unprepared - or perhaps not optimally configured. However, we wanted Imoen to reach 40k XP and Level 7 after clearing the Cloakwood Mine, because she is our Utility Thief.
We should check if Faldorn can use the Ankheg Plate Armor. It is natural armor, is it not? Druids love their bugs - They have some very nice spells involving bugs.
With 32k XP so close, we would do well to decide on a final party. Most likely, our final members will be far behind the XP count and will drag a bit on our party power. Based on this final party composition, we will decide when to completely derail the main story plot by avoiding Baldur's Gate. We will ether avoid Baldur's Gate and do all the side quests before or after.
From a storyline and RP point of view, it would be funny if we entered Baldur's Gate and picked up characters inside, then left the city and disappeared for a couple of months while we hit maximum XP.
Title was me... struggling with the fact I did a BGEE to SoD Playthrough two years ago and started BG2EE and got to the early game and stopped writing and moved to something else, then came back to this game with... the exact same type of character. At least so far in this story, we have 3 characters changed out. I never worked much with Ajantis before, or Faldorn - and certainly I did not take Garrick this far into a game.
On YouTube, No Reload is popular, along with Insane Difficulty and SCS Mod. My feelings for myself are:
1. No Reload - I am simply not ready for this. Also, No Reload will make me more familiar with the early parts of the game and less familiar with the later parts.
2. Insane Difficulty - Higher difficulty might be in order for game balance reasons. Right now, we have Core Rules and Max hp per Level. This means my L9 Fighter will have 126hp instead of an average of 90hp, so 40% tougher. Monsters hitting harder will balance somewhat.
3. SCS Mod - I understand it can be custom set. A lot of people on YouTube use the maximum difficulty settings. One read I get from it is it means we have to do whatever we need to do to hit 16k or 32k XP before meeting Tarnesh. I think if I play it with some RP in mind, we are abandoning the story for a while. The explanation I can think of is we begin the story by crossing off the L1 character and filling in a L6 character. On the plus side, I like the idea of monsters pulling together. If the game places 6 monsters together, they are intended to pull together and that will make the fight harder.
It looks like the dialog inserted into my gameplay has evolved, just like the characters in our party have evolved - but my thread title is still a mess.
Mulligan Count: Remains at 2
Scum Save Count: 4 - We took one for Dave the Mage
This probably should have been split into two Sessions, but it is hard to tell where the split should have been. End of Level 2 seems too short and End of Level 3 seems too long.
Day 21, Hour 9 - Cloakwood Mine Level 1
Lots of Miners, some Guards. This is the Iron Mine part of the mine. The Dungeon part of the mine starts at Level 2. We were advised to find the Key to the River Plug, find Rill to get the mine evacuated and flood the place.
Day 21, Hour 10 - Cloakwood Mine Level 2
This is where the Dungeon starts, so Garrick cast Invisibility on Imoen. It felt like a waste right away, because there were plenty of locked chests. We could force some open, but the rest will just have to wait. We snuck around the back and found Rill and Yeslick. Going along with Team Unlikeable, Yeslick was not interested in joining the party.
The Sneaky Route to Yeslick is guarded by a couple of Ghasts, but they are no big deal, especially when they are properly scouted. The last door leads to the easy way out to Level 3 and avoids the room with 12 Guards. Instead, we moved Garrick into the side room and sent a couple of Fireballs instide.
Day 21, Hour 12 - Cloakwood Mine Level 3
On entering, we are greeted by Guards and Hobgoblins. It was unlikely necessary, but we had Garrick blow 4 of them up with yet another Fireball.
We did not find any traps here, but plenty of locked chests we would have to come back to after clearing the mine. There were a couple rooms serving as barracks for the Hobgoblins and an Armor Fitting Room with Studded Leather +1 fitting Imoen perfectly by magical coincidence.
With the Invisible Ogre Mage, we thought the first spell cast was Lightning Bolt, so we fed Sam a Potion of Absorption. We also thought he used Improved Invisibility, but he revealed himself right away. Garrick cooked him too.
We will never find out if that Lightning Bolt was coming. However, the Mage Natasha does use Lightning Bolt and it did came in handy, so we sent Sam in nearly alone. We forgot about the Confusion. Sam forgot to Berserk. He missed the Save and got confused. We will look up the spell, but it did not last as long as we imagined. The potion did save him from the Lightning Bolt and it bounced harmlessly down the hall. Sometimes he was taking swings at Natasha. Sometimes he was standing around dazed. We are not sure what we would have done had he charged us, because he was wearing the Paws of the Cheetah.
Instead, he took two or three Acid Arrows to the face. Ajantis was first to intervene and started shooting Natasha. With her down, he bravely Lay on Hands in an effort to save the day - And save they day he did! Suddenly we had him back and managed not to die. Finally it was time to face down Dave the Mage.
Day 21, Hour 14 - Cloakwood Mine Level 4
We were greeted by Dave's Guard Champion. We were expecting to meet a Helmed Horror, and fed Ajantis the Potion of Hill Giant Strength, but there was no Helmed Horror. We thought there was another Lightning Bolt coming from Dave with all the narrow corridors and decided our safest bet was to feed Sam the Potion of Magic Protection, 3 Turns of automatic Saving Throws and 50% Magic Damage Reduction. So the rounds went:
R1 - Dimension Door and chase him down where he went
R2 - Dimension Door, but we managed to get two hits on his Mirror Images
R3 - Dimension Door again to the NW room
R4 - He blasted a Fireball, hitting himself for 6 and Sam for 8
R5 - A lucky hit caused a Spell Failure
R6 - Dimension Door Again
R7 - Mirror Image to replenish his images - but it was doing him no good.
R8 - Another lucky hit disrupted a spell
R9 - Ajantis with the kill!
End of Chapter 4 - Start of Chapter 5
There were no traps on Dave's level - just a Mustard Jelly.
Idiot Mistakes:
Garrick fried Imoen for 10 points, but she saved with an 18.
Sam took two or three Acid Arrows to the face .
Sam got blown up for 8 points by a Dave Fireball.
Gold Count:
963g where we left off
3903g - It looks like we picked up 2940g in the Cloakwood Mine
Body Count:
290 Kills at 60261 XPV
5 Guards at 120
3 Guards at 65
1 Ghast at 650
1 Black Talon Elite at 240
17 Hobgoblins at 35
3 Hobgobin Elites at 95
1 Hobgoblin at 95
1 Guard at 650
325 Kills at 63931 XPV
Imoen 30693 XP
89 Kills at 16108 XPV
1 Guard at 65
90 Kills at 16173 XPV
Garrick 29637 XP
26 Kills at 8405 XPV
1 Guard at 65
7 Guards at 120
4 Guards at 240
1 Black Talon Elite at 240
1 Hareishan at 1200
2 Hobgoblins a 35
1 Hobgoblin Elite at 95
1 Ogre Mage at 650
44 Kills at 12525 XPV
Branwen 30279 XP
33 Kills at 5403 XPV
1 Hobgoblin at 95
1 Mustard Jelly at 2000
35 Kills at 7498 XPV
Ajantis 26207 XP
71 Kills at 21280 XPV
1 Guard at 65
4 Guards at 120
1 Guards at 240
1 Ghast at 650
7 Hobgoblins at 35
1 Natasha at 1200
1 Hobgoblin at 95
1 Daveron at 6000
88 Kills at 30255 XPV
Faldorn 23633 XP
1 Kill at 1400 XPV
Branwen made Level 6 with 53hp
Now we must make it out of the forest in one piece! This is most likely the place we break the railroad plot. Also, nearly all NPC's are available to us and we are very likely to pick them up at 32k XP. I counted a total of 25 Companions, plus 4 Bonus.
1. Imoen
2. Garrick
3. Branwen
4. Ajantis
5. Faldorn
Rotated out of our party, 2/25; 7/25
1. Khalid
2. Jaheira
Rejected Team Unlikeable, 5/25; 12/25
1. Kivan
2. Minsc
3. Xan
4. Coran
5. Yeslick
Avoided Contact, 1/25; 13/25
1. Kagain
Did not strike a Bargain, 4/25; 17/25
1. Xzar
2. Montaron
3. Edwin
4. Eldoth
Available Outside of Baldur's Gate, 4/25; 21/25
1. Shart Teal
2. Dynaheir
3. Safana
4. Viconia
Available Inside of Baldur's Gate, 4/25; 25/25
1. Alora
2. Skie - will not be available because we did not work with Eldoth
3. Quayle
4. Tiax
EE Companions:
1. Neera
2. Rasaad
3. Dorn - we avoided
4. Baeloth
The good news is we are set up perfectly to finalize a party, because we are almost exactly at 32k XP.
The bad news is we have no plan.
We will need a secondary thief because we will RP Dual Imoen to Mage - and SoD will start better if we have a secondary thief. Our choices are Alora or Safana. If we pickup Neera, then we will have her Gem Bag and that would have been nice going into the Cloakwood Mines. Rasaad's quest will require 10 days of travel with him - Is he any good at Level 6?
Trading in our 4 rotating slots before entering Baldur's Gate... would give us room for Safana, Dynaheir and Minsc, Neera and Rasaad - or 5 characters. Such a party will have nothing for Cleric support and that would mean we are picking up Quayle. Also interesting is none of our companions continues to SoD.
But we have not plan right now - We are open to suggestions for whoever has them!
Day 21, Hour 16 - We escaped to the Surface of the Cloakwood Mine
Gathering ourselves, we searched the area, then moved on, just finding a few Wolves and Tasloi.
Day 21, Hour 20 - Arrived at the Wyvern Nest
We tried to rest in the Wyvern Cave, knowing that it was going to attract even more Wyverns. We got two of them to show up this way - and we got Dream Sequence 4 and Slow Poison 2.
Day 22, Hour 5 - Finally Rested after the adventure in the Cloakwood Mine and yet another adventure in the Wyvern Cave.
Day 22, Hour 22 - Arrived at the Druid Grove
Faldorn is at home in the Cloakwood Forest and will [RP] see us out safely - and hopefully never again. This was a good time to rest, but we were disturbed by a group of 10 Tasloi and by this time all the beasties were coming out in the night. We were also near 3 Dread Wolves and a Brown Bear.
Day 23, Hour 6 - Rested
Day 23, Hour 16 - We are busted by 2 Wyverns
Fortunately, there are not Tasloi Traps in this encounter. Sam charged one of them and we found the other to be chasing Falrorn, so she led it on a merry chase. Here Sam got a PR hit for 40 points with a Morning Star +1.
Day 24, Hour 2 - Arrived at the Spider Nest
The Spiders are already starting to regroup and we killed a few more of them.
Day 24, Hour 11 - Rested
Day 25, Hour 3 - Arrived at the Hunter Lodge
Day 25, Hour 11 - Rested
Coran still will not talk to us. Aldeath still will not talk to us. Safely out of the Cloakwood Forest, Faldorn parted ways with us - probably to find some other Shadow Druids to deal with Aldeath.
We gave up quite a bit here for playing Team Unlikeable. The Druid has Ring of Animal Friendship, which does not do much for us, but is worth some exchange value in Gold. We also figure keeping Garrick on our team for so long has made us more gold than that. There is also a quest in Baldur's Gate we are missing on to win a really nice Bastard Sword. Maybe we can come back if we somehow find more Charisma for our main character.
Day 26, Hour 0 - We arrived safely at the Friendly Arm Inn
Lucky Shots:
Sam hit for 11 two times by a Wyvern on rolls of 18 and 20. They must have some serious Thaco.
Branwen hit for 5 on a 20 by a Tasloi.
Sam hit for 11 on an 18 and 13 on a 19 by a Wyvern.
Sam hit for 5+4+5 by a pack of Wolves. This should go in the Idiot Mistakes, but it did not matter.
Gold Count:
3903g where we left off
4035g - We must have picked off 132g from some rich Tasloi
Body Count:
325 Kills at 63931 XPV
7 Wolves at 65
15 Tasloi at 35
2 Wyverns at 1400
2 Cave Bears at 650
4 Dread Wolves at 650
5 Huge Spiders at 270
1 Giant Spider at 450
361 Kills at 73411 XPV
Imoen 33823 XP
90 Kills at 16173 XPV
3 Wolves at 65
1 Wyvern at 1400
3 Tasloi at 35
1 Dread Wolf at 650
1 Giant Spider at 450
2 Huge Spiders at 270
101 Kills at 19513 XPV
Garrick 32767 XP
44 Kills at 12525 XPV
2 Tasloi at 35
46 Kills at 12595 XPV
Branwen 33409 XP
35 Kills at 7498 XPV
2 Tasloi at 35
1 Wyvern at 1400
1 Giant Spider at 450
1 Wolf at 65
1 Huge Spider at 270
41 Kills at 9753 XPV
Ajantis 29349 XP
88 Kills at 30255 XPV
8 Tasloi at 35
3 Wolves at 65
1 Giant Spider at 450
1 Brown Bear at 420
1 Dread Wolf at 650
6 Huge Spiders at 270
108 Kills at 33870 XPV
Faldorn
1 Kill at 1400 XPV
Sam made Level 6 with 84hp and 4 skill in Flails. Now any NPC we meet will have at least 32k XP.
End of Session 24
We are now a team of 5, arrived at the Friendly Arm Inn. According to the storyline, we should be going to Baldur's Gate. However, our excuse for now is we have 4 Wyvern Heads and a reward to collect at the Beregost Temple.
If we keep the team as it is and pickup Safana or Alora, we will have:
Imoen as Primary Caster when she goes dual class (Ring of Wizardry Bearer)
Garrick as Secondary Caster and Party Representative and many other things
Branwen as Divine Caster
Ajantis as our Shooter and Backup Tank and Guy with Spider's Bane walking into Web (Longbows and 2H Swords)
Safana or Alora on Locks and Traps
It is more likely we will make a few more changes and add some RP excuses to make these changes. Dual Classing 8 Levels of Mage is a really long haul!
Day 26, Hour 8 - Rested at the Friendly Arm Inn
Of course, there was a reason we went to Beregost. There was a bounty on Wyvern Heads we never heard about from Coran.
Day 26, Hour 16 - Coast Way
Day 26, Hour 20 - Beregost
We had wyvern heads to turn in at the Temple, a couple of items to buy and a bunch of shopping to do.
300XP for turning in Gurke's Cloak but getting to keep it.
Day 27, Hour 5 - Rested at the Jovial Juggler
We have no story reason whatsoever to head back to Nashkel instead of Baldur's Gate. The Carnival again? Gambling again when we are dead broke with 51g? Do we have a Companion we are sending off in Nashkel?
Day 27, Hour 9 - Road South of Beregost
Day 27, Hour 14 - Road North of Nashkel
Day 27, Hour 22 - Nashkel and Carnival
Gold Count:
4027g - Rested at the FAI
4552g - 525g worth of Gems and Jewelry and stuff
4016g - Bought Buckley's Buckler at 536g
6016g - Turned in Wyvern Head at Beregost Temple
5916g - Identified the Discipliner Ring. This is a loss for us.
5816g - Identified the Robe of the Evil Archmagi
5916g - Bounty for 2 Bandit Scalps at 50
6916g - 3 more Wyvern Heads for 1000g when we could have obtained 1500g. Oops.
7155g - Sold 239g worth of gems and jewelry and junk
6083g - Bought Chainmail +1 at 1072g - It is unlikely we will really use it.
5915g - Bought 7x2 Arrow +2 at 168g
5907g - Rested at the Jovial Juggler
7257g - 3 Travers Robes, 1 Adventurer's Robe, 1 Cold Robe at 1350g
7321g - Heavy Crossbow at 20, Short Sword at 4, 40 Throwing Dagger
9321g - Flail +1 at 1000, Katana +1 at 500, Spear +1 at 500
9531g - Platemail at 210g
10154g - Another 623g worth of gems, moonbar, water opal, 3 garnets
4794g - Bought Army Scythe at 5360g
8044g - Falloran's Plate at 2500g, Studded Leather +1 at 750g
1009g - Bought Shadow Armor at 7035g
71g - Bought 8x10 Bolt +1 at 536g, 6x10 Arrow +1 at 402g
51g - 13x20 Arrow, 3x20 Bolts, 4x10 Bullets
202g - Where did we pickup another 151g from?
197g - Rested at Nashkel
Body Count:
361 Kills at 73411 XPV
2 Hobgoblins at 35
2 Ghouls at 175
1 Hobgoblin Elite at 95
366 Kills at 73926 XPV
Imoen 34403 XP
101 Kills at 19513 XPV
2 Ghouls at 175
103 Kills at 19863 XPV
Garrick 33347 XP
46 Kills at 12595 XPV
1 Xvart at 15
1 Ghast at 650
48 Kills at 13260 XPV
Branwen 33989 XP
41 Kills at 9753 XPV
Ajantis 29929 XP
108 Kills at 33870 XPV
2 Hobgoblins at 35
2 Ghouls at 175
1 Ghast at 650
113 Kills at 34940 XPV
Day 28, Hour 7 - Rested in Nashkel
Especially compared to the escape from Cloakwood Forest, this was a very boring and uneventful trip to Nashkel. So the big question is how we are continuing this story.....
After the dramatic escape from the Cloakwood Mines, we arrived at the Friendly Arm Inn. All of our leads point towards Baldur's Gate. We should conduct an investigation on the Iron Throne and find out who is behind all of this. The railroad tracks lead to Baldur's Gate, but this is the time to derail the choo-choo train story. Guys, what should we do next?
Faldorn: Whatever you do, do not return to the Cloakwood Forest. The Shadow Druids will hunt you.
Garrick: The next chapter of your epic tale leads to Baldur's Gate!
Ajantis: Aye.
Sam: Well we have the Wyvern Heads and a bounty on them to collect in Beregost. Then we can go shopping at the Thunderhammer Smithy. Then we can go to Nashkel and check up on Amn and make sure they have no involvement in the Iron Crisis. Besides, a trip to Northern Amn would be relaxing and we can hunt Winter Wolves.
Day 28, Hour 19 - Wilderness Fire Leaf Forest
Scouting is awesome even if there are no traps in the area. We gave the Boots of Speed to Imoen and had Garrick cast Invisibility and this allowed us to prepare for all encounters.
Vax and Zal - In the old days, Vax would hail us and threaten us with Zal and we would get pounded for a lot of attacks per round with Darts doing ridiculous amounts of damage. Who has traumatic memories of getting pincushioned by Zal because we were L2 and not prepared for the encounter? In EE, it looks like Vax approaches us to talk and that gave us an opportunity to lure him far away.
Garrick tried Blindness and it did not work. Branwen got Hold Person to work, but by then it was too late as an Ajantis Arrow kill was on the way. We got the Boots of Speed to Sam (before combat) and he was on top of Zal before he got a single dart off. Actually we spoke too soon.
The encounter is much easier when we are L6 and we know exactly what is coming.
Sendai, Alexander, and Delgod - We decided to see if we could RP talk our way out of the situation and a bunch of free loot. We managed it even with Sam's Charisma 3. The tone of the conversation made sense. Barbarian rabble. Hunting humans better sport than animals. One named Sam has a fetches a particularly rich price in Baldur's Gate. Unfortunately for them, Sam had an unfortunate accident in the Cloakwood mines and his face got shot off with 3 Acid Arrows and nobody will ever recognize him.
RP - With Ajantis in the party, we cannot simply pick a fight for no reason. He is probably worse than Rasaad, but both of them might consider me to be Lawful Stupid and certainly not playing Chaotic Good.
1000XP for reuniting Albert and Rufie
Lucky Shots:
Zal hit Sam for 7 points on a 20 with a Dart at point blank range.
Skeleton hit Sam for 1 point on a 20
Gold Count:
197g when we left Nashkel
414g - Looks like we picked up 217g in Fire Leaf Forest.
Body Count:
366 Kills at 73926 XPV
5 Xvarts at 15
3 Kobolds at 7
5 Skleletons at 65
379 Kills at 74347 XPV
Imoen 35038 XP
103 Kills at 19863 XPV
Garrick 33982 XP
48 Kills at 13260 XPV
Branwen 34624 XP
41 Kills at 9753 XPV
1 Kobold at 7
1 Skeleton at 65
43 Kills at 9825 XPV
Ajantis 30570 XP
113 Kills at 34940 XPV
2 Xvart at 15
1 Vax at 400
1 Zal at 600
2 Kobolds at 7
1 Cave Bear at 650
120 Kills at 36634 XPV
Where we are going next is in the script and that goes without saying. Stay tuned, folks. We are about to reunite Team Dumm and Dummer!
Day 29, Hour 21 - Arrived at the Dryad Falls
Invisibility on Imoen has been working wonders for us and we continued with that plan. We were able to sneak up on Ludrug and his gang of Gnolls.
We had an option to defeat him in single combat, but that's less exp and loot for us. We should have done the same for Ingot, but we appreciated good information and we let him live in exchange. The area, Cloud Peak Mountains, was full of Winter Wolves. We bagged 4 of them and will collect 2k gold in Nashkel.
We found Drienne and rescued retrieved her cat from the waterfall. Unfortunately, the cat died. True to Team Unlikeable, she said we killed the cat.
Eventually Team Unlikeable was able to save the day. We encountered Caldo and Krumm trying to chop down a boss level tree like it has a lot of loot. One was trying to chop it down using a Club +1 and the other was trying to chop it down using a Flail.
I don't chop wood, okay? I'm not an axe.
They did not want to talk to us. They did not want to hear about proper tools for the job of cutting down trees. They wanted us to go away. Caldo went down surprisingly fast. He was down before Garrick could get a Sleep Spell to work. It did not work on Krumm, but we got Command to take him down, but not before getting Sam-Ashed.
For saving the day, we encountered the Dryad of the Cloud Peaks and for a reward she had an Antidote Potion for us. We had our hopes up for bringing Pixie the Cat back to life.
Lucky Shots:
Sam hit for 3 cold by a Winter Wolf on a 20
Sam took 11 crushing on a 19 from Krumm
Link the Loot:
Halberd +1
Club +1
Destroyer of the Hills
Gold Count:
414g
945g - 531g, Caldo and Crum got rich on that tree! A few Gnolls. 4 Winter Wolves and we're going to be rich again!
Body Count:
379 Kills at 743344 XPV
3 Wolves at 65
3 Xvarts at 15
1 Ludrug at 35
3 Gnolls at 35
4 Winter Wolves at 975
1 Caldo at 175
394 Kills at 78802 XPV
Imoen 36167 XP
103 Kills at 19863 XPV
Garrick 35111 XP
48 Kills at 13260 XPV
Branwen 35753 XP
43 Kills at 9825 XPV
2 Gnolls at 35
1 Dire Wolf at 125
46 Kills at 10020 XPV
Ajantis 31699 XP
120 Kills at 36634 XPV
1 Wolf at 65
4 Xvarts at 15
2 Gnolls at 35
1 Dire Wolf at 125
1 Krumm at 175
129 Kills at 37129 XPV