Chuck and Sarah
atcDave
Member Posts: 2,404
This playthrough will be with the main characters from the TV Show “Chuck”, which ran on NBC from 2007 – 2012. The show was a spy-themed action-comedy (drama, adventure, romance). Really the balance of elements often struck me as perfect. It was funny, exciting, sweet with good heroic main characters and a number of eccentric supporting characters.
I was a pretty big fan and still love the main characters.
It is sort of a reach. Spy-themed action is different from medieval fantasy! And several skills won’t translate well into an AD&D based system. But I can see a pretty clear path for using Chuck and Sarah. Chuck was portrayed as a brilliant computer programmer/hacker, who accidently got a top secret government computer program stuck in his head. Okay, so Chuck has a natural gift for magic and is Gorion’s Ward (with a bit of Bhaal stuck in his head!).
Sarah was his handler/protector. A very talented and dangerous government agent sent to keep him safe in his intense new world (actually, there was some expectation of manipulating him there too. But Sarah fell pretty quick and hard for Chuck, which left her with a juicy conflict of interest. I will mostly ignore that part for this tale). The show gave her some significant thief skills too. Not only do I not need her as a thief, but thief skills would undermine her value as a tank/protector. So I think with AD&D rules it will be best to build her as a pure fighter.
Both are good heroic characters. I’ll call Chuck primarily a moral hero. More than anything, he wants to do right and help people. And he makes those around him better, or want to be better through example and encouragement. He’s the sort of hero who won’t seek out trouble, but will never shy away when a need emerges.
Sarah is the action hero. She will jump in where angels fear to tread. If properly motivated. She wants to do right, but is a little burned out and cynical. At least at first. I’ve thought a few times, for a villain, picking on Sarah is the second most dangerous thing they can ever do. Because she will destroy them. Picking on Chuck is the most dangerous thing a villain can do, because then Sarah gets POed. Part of Chuck the moral hero is that he completely redeems Sarah. She eventually buys into his world view entirely, and is better for it.
Baldur’s Gate starts our heroes pretty young, so Chuck and Sarah will start the game with a little less baggage than they had on the show.
Because these characters will be a different concept from what I’ve done before, that has led me to play around with a different AI art generator. Actually, I will continue using Co-Pilot for a lot of renders, and I won’t be redoing a lot of the excellent renders I already have for NPCs.
But I switched to Meta’s OpenArt for many of the portraits and solo renders involving the two main characters. OpenArt allows for building a character model from imported photos. That means I can reproduce my Chuck and Sarah characters to look *a lot* like the characters/actors from the show. And consistently. Readers surely noticed during my lengthy “Psyche and Diomedes” playthrough there was a lot of “flex” for the characters. I could describe them in basic detail, but the AI did what it would do. And no character is completely consistent in their look, because to the AI each render is an independent event. That may or may not repeat some details from a previous render.
As awesome as OpenArt sounds so far, I’ll follow up by saying I don’t like the fantasy look of OpenArt like I did Co-Pilot. It is sharp, detailed and clean. So much so it often looks unreal, like plastic. Especially on fantastical things. So its not ideal for how I see fantasy.
I may get better with it. I sure have with Co-Pilot. But at this point, I will simply prefer Co-Pilot for certain things. Don’t be surprised if you see a lot more solo renders in this playthrough though, those are amazing on OpenArt.
*****
Chuck has grown up in the great library of Candlekeep. He was raised by the mage and sage Gorion. From a young age Chuck discovered he had a gift, a passion, a natural understanding for all things magical. Gorion has always been immensely proud of “his boy”, growing up to be a chip off the old block!
Chuck learned to understand the ways of magic from a very young age. [Co-Pilot]
Yet Chuck has always known he was adopted. Apart from being told Gorion knew his mom long ago, Chuck knows nothing about his actual parents. That hasn’t been a huge thing to him. He’s well loved by his adopted father, and he has plenty of friends around Candlekeep. Especially Imoen, the only other child in Candlekeep for most of Chuck’s life. She was raised by Winthrop the innkeeper and is maybe a year younger than Chuck. Gorion goes back and forth if he thinks its great Chuck has a friend, and worrying that Imoen is a bit of a troublemaker. She’s not really bad, but she does love to prank the Monks who run the great library!
Chuck is a “good kid” in every sense. Maybe Gorion should just be happy Imoen has such a good friend?
Chuck and Imoen have grown up together, and always been as close as siblings. [Co-Pilot]
As Chuck as grown out of his teens he’s grown more serious about the study of magic. This has meant Arcane studies of the sort many travelers come to Candlekeep for, but also learning about the “Mistress of Magic”. The Goddess Mystra is the keeper of all things arcane, and this intersect of arcane and divine sorts of magic is particularly intriguing to young Chuck.
Learning has taken nearly all of Chuck’s time these last couple years. To the point it worries Gorion a little. Maybe it was a mistake to raise a child in such an isolated sort of place? Apart from that imp Imoen he’s hardly had any friends his own age, and has never shown much interest in girls. He is interested in talking with the various mages constantly coming and going, but he’s awkward with them too.
Now a concerning development. These last few days, strange men have been asking about Chuck. Gorion went to the chief of the Watchers yesterday to inquire about hiring extra protection for his son. A new sergeant had just reported for duty this morning, and she isn’t on the schedule yet. So Gorion hired Sarah to help keep an eye on Chuck.
By the next day, Gorion was even more worried. He’d heard from several friends about visitors asking about Chuck. This could not be good. It was time to relocate himself and his son. He sent a messenger to friends in the area to meet up with himself and Chuck. He told Chuck to get whatever supplies he might need, they were leaving Candlekeep that afternoon. And he told Sarah to introduce herself to Chuck and to stick very close.
Chuck
As above, Chuck has a remarkable mind for magic. He’s enjoyed his life at Candlekeep, with Gorion and a few close friends he has always felt loved and content. Imoen has long been his best friend, more like a sister really. As Chuck has gotten older and pursued his passion for magic he’s dragged Imoen along in some ways. She’s always been more of a prankster than Chuck, but she’s plenty smart and has actually learned some about magic just by following along with Chuck. But she really has always been a kid sister to him, and Chuck knows this because his heart skipped a beat and his jaw dropped to the ground when the new Watcher Sergeant, Sarah, introduced herself to him this morning.
This is also how Chuck knows his father is very worried about a number of strangers who’ve been visiting Candlekeep. First he was told to get some gear together for a long term trip away from the library. Then later this morning when he met Sarah, she informed him she’d been hired by Gorion to stick close and keep an eye on him.
Chuck chatted briefly with Imoen too, about not knowing what was up or when he’d be home. He got a look from his sister that suggested she would be right there with him. Sarah noticed too, she questioned how well Chuck knew this Imoen (!). He tried to explain what she was to him, Sarah seemed skeptical, like the idea didn’t quite register.
[OpenArt]
This will be Chuck’s portrait in the game for all of the Baldur’s Gate saga. [OpenArt]
Chuck is Neutral-Good Human male. 1st Level Mage/1st Level Cleric of Mystra
15/10/12/18/15/18
Sarah
Sarah has grown up around the Sword Coast area. She never knew her mom, and her dad was a bit of a scoundrel. She was often left with family, that she never quite believed was family (especially the Halfling couple). Dad would always come back for her after a few weeks and they’d head off on a new adventure. Finally, when she was not quite 17, a sympathetic guard woman in Waterdeep informed Sarah that her dad was in custody and wouldn’t be back for a while. Briefly at a loss on what to do, the guard suggested Sarah could get a job with the Guard. Sarah was big and fit, probably no one would question her age. So that’s what Sarah did, and she proved to be good at it. Over the next five years she took several guard positions around the Sword Coast. Most recently working as a guard in Beregost she was promoted to Sergeant for her overall competence and reliability. That was when she saw a flier looking for Guard Sergeants, Watchers, at Candlekeep. For quite a bit more money than she was making now. That seemed to good to pass up. Sarah had spent her life bouncing from place to place, so relocating again hardly bothered her.
[OpenArt]
Sarah has got along well with people wherever she wound up. But mostly in a professional sort of way. She’d been feeling a bit of an ache for something more permanent, but decided this was abnormal, unfamiliar territory. So she took the new job and moved on once again.
Sarah was just being welcomed by the Watcher Commander as a new Sergeant when an older man, a mage apparently, came by looking to hire some extra security for a few days. He had some concerns about visitors to Candlekeep, especially that they’d been asking about his son. This mage, Gorion, was well known to the commander who immediately offered since Sarah wasn’t on the schedule yet she was available for such work. Wow, bonus! Private contract while working for the Watch was a good way to up the salary.
Sarah met with the local mage Gorion who was looking to hire extra security for his son Chuck. [OpenArt]
Candlekeep seems to be a secure place. And its well known for being safe and stable. But its also an important destination for all sorts of research. Really, its all about the Great Library. Bookish types by the cartload.
When Gorion pointed out his son to her, Sarah almost laughed out loud. He was a stereotype of a bookish researcher. Awkward, but seemingly good natured.
The next day, Gorion informed her they would be traveling away from the Keep. He would appreciate the extra sword at least until they met up with friends at the nearby Friendly Arm Inn. In the meantime, he wanted her to introduce herself to Chuck and not let him out of her sight until they left.
The introduction went well! Chuck was still awkward and bookish. But he was also sweet and funny. This would not be a bad job for a couple days. She was just sorry at the end of it there would be no more Chuck at Candlekeep.
Chuck made one last run around home to gather some supplies. Sarah helped him with a list, as a mage he wouldn’t wear armor. But they got him some weapons he knew how to use, and a traveling spell book. Sarah was impressed at how all the locals knew Chuck, and how eagerly willing he was to help them all with minor chores. There was an assassination attempt when Chuck was looking for an older lady’s missing book. The assassin was comically inept, but obviously this showed Gorion’s fears were well founded. Next Sarah met Imoen, apparently a long-time friend of Chuck’s. Sarah bristled a little at noticing the younger girl was cute. And was not pleased with the suggestion that passed, that Imoen would follow along with this coming trip. She asked Chuck how well he knew this girl, and Chuck replied she was a little sister to him. Okay, she wouldn’t push it, if Chuck was okay that Imoen would likely follow along Sarah would accept this.
This will be Sarah’s portrait in the game for all of the Baldur’s Gate saga. [OpenArt]
Sarah is a Neutral-Good Human Female. 3rd Level Fighter
17/19/17/13/14/17
*****
A few changes to this build from my last run. I’ve added the “convenient NPCs” mod that let’s me decide which of the new EE NPCs will even be present in game, and if they’ll initiate contact or wait to be talked to. For the record I only left Neera and Rasaad in, both set to passive mode.
The biggest thing is adding SCS. That’s best known for adding difficulty in the form of better AI for most opponents. But it also includes a number of other adjustments, I have it replacing both “IWDification” and “Level 1 NPCs”. I currently have the improved AI at a low setting. In the past I’ve not liked such difficulty enhancers much, they often seem too meta and immersion breaking to me. But I know SCS is much improved over some earlier difficulty/tactical type mods, so I’ll give it a try.
To BG2 I’ve added “Wings”, which mostly adds story and minor quest to Aerie (expect this to be more important next time I follow her romance story). I also added Lava’s mod “Bloodied Strings of Barovia”. A quest mod involving the Ravenloft setting.
From CDTweaks, I’ve disabled the BG2 romances. Since Chuck is the lead character and Sarah is his gal, I wanted to able to (maybe) use Jaheira and Aerie without being rude to them to disable the romances!
Building characters from a TV show, especially such a different genre, involves choices. Chuck’s skills were mostly about his smarts, so its obvious his mental scores will be high. Intelligence more obviously than wisdom! He was occasionally shown as rash and foolish, usually in the context of wanting to help and trust someone. We can maybe chalk much of that up to inexperience? Certainly as the show went he became “professionally” wiser. So maxing out his Intelligence was an easy choice. I chose to also give him a high Wisdom on the grounds he had a strong sense of morals and justice. Not to mention, its more advantageous for a cleric!
His physical scores are mostly average. He’s actually a big guy (and the actor has since become quite buff, but he was still sort of wiry in 2007) and shows no significant physical strength until late in the show.
Chuck is often awkward, so I considered a more average Charisma for him. But the thing is, he always wins people over somehow. Even hardened spies seem to end up liking him. So endearingly awkward, to a high degree seems fitting.
I did consider making him a straight mage. But I just ran one of those. Then I considered a straight Cleric of Mystra. That’s *almost* a mage/cleric all on its own. But it would be lacking at the higher levels. So a multi it is! Of course that will leave him slower advancing, but with a huge variety of magic available to him. Somehow that seems right.
I think he could only be Neutral-Good, strong sense of righteousness and a balance between needs of the many/needs of the one sort of thing.
Sarah also required a little thought. Score wise she would be above average in everything. She is shown as strong (for her size), and able to take a hit. And almost supernaturally quick and agile. Intelligence and Wisdom are merely above average.
As mentioned above, she was often shown with thief skills. But she was Chuck’s protector first and foremost. And deadly warrior is her most defining trait. Since adding thief would reduce her hit points, I thought it more important to maximize her tankiness. So a single class fighter seems appropriate.
Her charisma is plainly high, in spite of the character being a bit of a loner. She gets along very well with anyone she intends to. Not quite as maxed out as Chuck is, there often is a bit of aloofness to her. But charming in most meaningful senses.
Her alignment is harder to peg. She cares about right and wrong, very much so. But (especially early on) she can be cowed with “legitimate orders”. Of course in this situation, the source of those “legitimate orders” will disappear in the opening act. So we’ll have her (mostly) happily follow Chuck’s lead on such things. Their areas of conflict will have largely to do with keeping Chuck safe vs taking action; and Chuck’s willingness to trust almost anyone. Most of those conflicts will diminish in time as they become a good functioning team, and Sarah will be happy to take on a more gentle and loving sort of world view.
Update 1
Bonus! First update comes with the introduction. There will be more comments at the end.
*****
Chuck
I am really nervous to be leaving Candlekeep for the first time in my life! Father is worried about something, Sarah said it has to do with those thugs that tried to kill me. I haven’t had much time to think about that, she killed both men so fast I wasn’t even sure what was happening. But then I saw they had knives. This was two different times! Why are thugs trying to hurt me? They paid with their lives.
Sarah helped me buy a war hammer, a medium sized shield, and a sling with some bullets. These are all the weapons I’ve been trained to use. But I was never a great student of these things, weapons make me a little nervous. And Sarah makes me a little nervous, she wears armor and carries two swords. And she has shown she knows how to use them. I guess its good if dad hired a guard, that he hired a good one.
Soon, Sarah and I head back to the library and meet with father. He affirms we’re all ready, and that’s it. We head out on the road for the Friendly Arm Inn. I’ve never been there, but I know its about a day’s hike from Candlekeep. Almost all of our visitors stay there both coming and going. We are meeting a couple friends of his there, Khalid and Jaheira. I’ve not heard those names before.
A few hours out, just at dusk, a terrifying giant of a man in plate armor appears to block our path, with a couple ogres and a couple of men in armor. He calls my father by name, and demands he hand *me* over to him! Sarah grabs my arm and pulls me behind her. My dad yells to Sarah to get me away from here, and I hear him start casting a spell. As Sarah pushes me into the woods I’m aware several spells are being cast, there’s flame, and a few voices I don’t recognize shout in pain.
We run through the woods… for hours? I don’t know, its a while before Sarah stops and I collapse on the ground. I say we need to go back, see if we can help my dad!
“I’m sorry Chuck, but Gorion hired me to protect you, not him. And I’ve never even seen some of those spells he was casting before, if he couldn’t handle it I don’t think there’s much we could have done. We’ll work our way back there in the morning.” [Co-Pilot]
I didn’t sleep much. I’ve never been so scared. Or slept on the ground. I think my life has just changed a lot. And if we can’t find dad in the morning, what will Sarah do without an employer? I’m pretty sure I would just die on my own.
As the sun comes up, I hear the familiar voice of my sister coming towards us. I’d never been so happy to see the little squirt! She’d bought some gear too before coming after us. We all set out in, what Sarah said, was the direction we’d come from. It was only about 20 minutes when we came to the clearing. My father was still there, what was left of him. It looks like most of the attackers had fallen with him. But the huge man was gone. Sarah wanted to move on quickly, but we went through Gorion’s things first. As we prepared to leave I heard a growl.
“Sarah, help!” [Co-Pilot]
“I got this Chuck!” [Co-Pilot]
But she missed. Both the wolf and thankfully, me.
Then Sarah was there, and the wolf didn’t last long. [Co-Pilot]
Among Gorion’s possessions we found a note, saying what we already knew about meeting Khalid and Jaheira at the Inn. I guess that’s the plan. I have no idea what will happen then, who we’re meeting, and if Sarah will stick around after. I hope so, so far she’s the only one who knows how to survive.
Not too much later we came across a signpost pointing the way to the Inn. A traveler, an eccentric mage in bright red robes was coming the other direction and gave us a friendly greeting. Poor guy, I sort of dumped all my worries on him. But he remained friendly and assured us we were heading in the right direction.
A little later, a goblin (a xvart maybe? I don’t remember all the types) came at us waving a sword, yelling something I couldn’t understand.
Back off buddy, this won’t end well for you. [Co-Pilot]
Wuss. I warned him. [OpenArt]
We finally made it to the Friendly Arms Inn. Its an unexpected sort of place, actually an old castle with an impressive stone keep at the center that was converted to an inn a decade or so back. I’d heard of it, and its impressive looking! Its sort of a sign of hope just now. We can maybe meet some friends and find some sort of refuge?
On the steps to the entrance a man, a mage of some sort, asked my name and where I was from. I answered as I heard Sarah yell something about telling him nothing. She was right behind me on the steps and did not look amused.
The mage started casting a spell and was looking at me, ignoring Sarah. That was his last mistake.
He was not being friendly Chuck. [OpenArt]
I cannot unsee that! [OpenArt]
He was another assassin, with a notice of a bounty… for me. Sarah helped me breath again. Imoen seemed excited by the action, and was searching his packs and pockets.
We entered the Inn, I was still a little wobbly. I don’t know how Sarah recognized who we were looking for, but we were soon sharing introductions with Khalid and Jaheira.
Jaheira quickly understood Gorion had fallen and offered her condolences. “He was a great man, he will be missed by many. I am sorry for your loss”. It seemed sincere even if blunt in delivery.
But she then explained there was no plan beyond meeting with us here. She vaguely knew who Imoen was, and assessed Sarah saying “I’m glad he got you a guard, you may need it”. She said she and her husband had been heading south to the town of Nashkel. The iron mines there were having some problems, and their output was contaminated, tainted somehow. “I don’t know what Gorion intended, but perhaps we should all head south together. We can work on a known problem and maybe take you away from trouble?”
That sounded as good to me as anything was likely to. Sarah agreed this was a good idea, and gestured for me to have a seat with her.
“Chuck I am so sorry for everything you’ve lost, and how your life has been upended. I think the most important thing right now is for you to work on improving your magic and ability to defend yourself. We’ve seen that whoever is after you is extremely dangerous, improving your skills is the most obvious way to address that. I’m glad you have a few people willing to stick by you, that is so important now. But I should mention, Khalid and Jaheira may be very green themselves, their equipment is all new and not extremely high quality. If its okay with you, I’d like to stick with you. Just to add my swords to your protection for now. This is about your life, and would hate for anything bad to happen to you that I could have prevented. But your life means its also your call, if you decide I’m not needed or wanted just say the word and I’ll go.” [OpenArt]
Sarah just helped me sort through everything. I’ve noticed she has a knack for getting to the essentials. And for keeping my head attached to my body, I can’t imagine ever wanting her to leave. Did I mention she laughs at my dumb jokes?
In the morning, we will head south.
*****
And that takes us to the start of the adventure and the core of Chuck’s team.
I don’t know what level of detail I’ll present the rest of this in. I often end up writing more than I intended to, but the game is huge and I’ll likely skip many details. Feedback may determine how deep I go.
The AI art will remain a huge part of this. I have a reasonable ability to get what I want out of the Co-Pilot AI, and am learning about OpenArt. I’m even learning a little about working with them together, getting the styles to mesh some. As I said previously, I think Co-Pilot is *much* better at setting a scene and at the whole look of fantasy. Specifically its better at rendering a range of fantasy creatures, and having characters/creatures interact. But most Chuck and Sarah renders on Co-Pilot will hide their faces, because I cannot make it look like Zachary Levi and Yvonne Strahovski.
Which leads to the biggest strength of OpenArt. I’ve built “Chuck” and “Sarah” models from photos of the characters and actors. Those character renders come out *very* nicely. But OpenArt really struggles with a fantasy context. If I say “medieval inn”, it will likely still put electric lights in the scene and men in business suits sitting behind my armored warrior. This is the sort of thing Co-Pilot is *much* better at. But then OpenArt has a much better editor. Too many wolves in the scene? Edit one out. Too many fingers on a hand? Fix it. Character was supposed to shut their eyes? Edit them shut. Its quite remarkable how flexible and powerful it is, even for editing renders from Co-Pilot. Amazing stuff.
As always when I do these things, this is an abbreviated version of the post. For all the AI Art see "Chuck and Sarah" at davesgamingblog
I was a pretty big fan and still love the main characters.
It is sort of a reach. Spy-themed action is different from medieval fantasy! And several skills won’t translate well into an AD&D based system. But I can see a pretty clear path for using Chuck and Sarah. Chuck was portrayed as a brilliant computer programmer/hacker, who accidently got a top secret government computer program stuck in his head. Okay, so Chuck has a natural gift for magic and is Gorion’s Ward (with a bit of Bhaal stuck in his head!).
Sarah was his handler/protector. A very talented and dangerous government agent sent to keep him safe in his intense new world (actually, there was some expectation of manipulating him there too. But Sarah fell pretty quick and hard for Chuck, which left her with a juicy conflict of interest. I will mostly ignore that part for this tale). The show gave her some significant thief skills too. Not only do I not need her as a thief, but thief skills would undermine her value as a tank/protector. So I think with AD&D rules it will be best to build her as a pure fighter.
Both are good heroic characters. I’ll call Chuck primarily a moral hero. More than anything, he wants to do right and help people. And he makes those around him better, or want to be better through example and encouragement. He’s the sort of hero who won’t seek out trouble, but will never shy away when a need emerges.
Sarah is the action hero. She will jump in where angels fear to tread. If properly motivated. She wants to do right, but is a little burned out and cynical. At least at first. I’ve thought a few times, for a villain, picking on Sarah is the second most dangerous thing they can ever do. Because she will destroy them. Picking on Chuck is the most dangerous thing a villain can do, because then Sarah gets POed. Part of Chuck the moral hero is that he completely redeems Sarah. She eventually buys into his world view entirely, and is better for it.
Baldur’s Gate starts our heroes pretty young, so Chuck and Sarah will start the game with a little less baggage than they had on the show.
Because these characters will be a different concept from what I’ve done before, that has led me to play around with a different AI art generator. Actually, I will continue using Co-Pilot for a lot of renders, and I won’t be redoing a lot of the excellent renders I already have for NPCs.
But I switched to Meta’s OpenArt for many of the portraits and solo renders involving the two main characters. OpenArt allows for building a character model from imported photos. That means I can reproduce my Chuck and Sarah characters to look *a lot* like the characters/actors from the show. And consistently. Readers surely noticed during my lengthy “Psyche and Diomedes” playthrough there was a lot of “flex” for the characters. I could describe them in basic detail, but the AI did what it would do. And no character is completely consistent in their look, because to the AI each render is an independent event. That may or may not repeat some details from a previous render.
As awesome as OpenArt sounds so far, I’ll follow up by saying I don’t like the fantasy look of OpenArt like I did Co-Pilot. It is sharp, detailed and clean. So much so it often looks unreal, like plastic. Especially on fantastical things. So its not ideal for how I see fantasy.
I may get better with it. I sure have with Co-Pilot. But at this point, I will simply prefer Co-Pilot for certain things. Don’t be surprised if you see a lot more solo renders in this playthrough though, those are amazing on OpenArt.
*****
Chuck has grown up in the great library of Candlekeep. He was raised by the mage and sage Gorion. From a young age Chuck discovered he had a gift, a passion, a natural understanding for all things magical. Gorion has always been immensely proud of “his boy”, growing up to be a chip off the old block!
Chuck learned to understand the ways of magic from a very young age. [Co-Pilot]
Yet Chuck has always known he was adopted. Apart from being told Gorion knew his mom long ago, Chuck knows nothing about his actual parents. That hasn’t been a huge thing to him. He’s well loved by his adopted father, and he has plenty of friends around Candlekeep. Especially Imoen, the only other child in Candlekeep for most of Chuck’s life. She was raised by Winthrop the innkeeper and is maybe a year younger than Chuck. Gorion goes back and forth if he thinks its great Chuck has a friend, and worrying that Imoen is a bit of a troublemaker. She’s not really bad, but she does love to prank the Monks who run the great library!
Chuck is a “good kid” in every sense. Maybe Gorion should just be happy Imoen has such a good friend?
Chuck and Imoen have grown up together, and always been as close as siblings. [Co-Pilot]
As Chuck as grown out of his teens he’s grown more serious about the study of magic. This has meant Arcane studies of the sort many travelers come to Candlekeep for, but also learning about the “Mistress of Magic”. The Goddess Mystra is the keeper of all things arcane, and this intersect of arcane and divine sorts of magic is particularly intriguing to young Chuck.
Learning has taken nearly all of Chuck’s time these last couple years. To the point it worries Gorion a little. Maybe it was a mistake to raise a child in such an isolated sort of place? Apart from that imp Imoen he’s hardly had any friends his own age, and has never shown much interest in girls. He is interested in talking with the various mages constantly coming and going, but he’s awkward with them too.
Now a concerning development. These last few days, strange men have been asking about Chuck. Gorion went to the chief of the Watchers yesterday to inquire about hiring extra protection for his son. A new sergeant had just reported for duty this morning, and she isn’t on the schedule yet. So Gorion hired Sarah to help keep an eye on Chuck.
By the next day, Gorion was even more worried. He’d heard from several friends about visitors asking about Chuck. This could not be good. It was time to relocate himself and his son. He sent a messenger to friends in the area to meet up with himself and Chuck. He told Chuck to get whatever supplies he might need, they were leaving Candlekeep that afternoon. And he told Sarah to introduce herself to Chuck and to stick very close.
Chuck
As above, Chuck has a remarkable mind for magic. He’s enjoyed his life at Candlekeep, with Gorion and a few close friends he has always felt loved and content. Imoen has long been his best friend, more like a sister really. As Chuck has gotten older and pursued his passion for magic he’s dragged Imoen along in some ways. She’s always been more of a prankster than Chuck, but she’s plenty smart and has actually learned some about magic just by following along with Chuck. But she really has always been a kid sister to him, and Chuck knows this because his heart skipped a beat and his jaw dropped to the ground when the new Watcher Sergeant, Sarah, introduced herself to him this morning.
This is also how Chuck knows his father is very worried about a number of strangers who’ve been visiting Candlekeep. First he was told to get some gear together for a long term trip away from the library. Then later this morning when he met Sarah, she informed him she’d been hired by Gorion to stick close and keep an eye on him.
Chuck chatted briefly with Imoen too, about not knowing what was up or when he’d be home. He got a look from his sister that suggested she would be right there with him. Sarah noticed too, she questioned how well Chuck knew this Imoen (!). He tried to explain what she was to him, Sarah seemed skeptical, like the idea didn’t quite register.
[OpenArt]
This will be Chuck’s portrait in the game for all of the Baldur’s Gate saga. [OpenArt]
Chuck is Neutral-Good Human male. 1st Level Mage/1st Level Cleric of Mystra
15/10/12/18/15/18
Sarah
Sarah has grown up around the Sword Coast area. She never knew her mom, and her dad was a bit of a scoundrel. She was often left with family, that she never quite believed was family (especially the Halfling couple). Dad would always come back for her after a few weeks and they’d head off on a new adventure. Finally, when she was not quite 17, a sympathetic guard woman in Waterdeep informed Sarah that her dad was in custody and wouldn’t be back for a while. Briefly at a loss on what to do, the guard suggested Sarah could get a job with the Guard. Sarah was big and fit, probably no one would question her age. So that’s what Sarah did, and she proved to be good at it. Over the next five years she took several guard positions around the Sword Coast. Most recently working as a guard in Beregost she was promoted to Sergeant for her overall competence and reliability. That was when she saw a flier looking for Guard Sergeants, Watchers, at Candlekeep. For quite a bit more money than she was making now. That seemed to good to pass up. Sarah had spent her life bouncing from place to place, so relocating again hardly bothered her.
[OpenArt]
Sarah has got along well with people wherever she wound up. But mostly in a professional sort of way. She’d been feeling a bit of an ache for something more permanent, but decided this was abnormal, unfamiliar territory. So she took the new job and moved on once again.
Sarah was just being welcomed by the Watcher Commander as a new Sergeant when an older man, a mage apparently, came by looking to hire some extra security for a few days. He had some concerns about visitors to Candlekeep, especially that they’d been asking about his son. This mage, Gorion, was well known to the commander who immediately offered since Sarah wasn’t on the schedule yet she was available for such work. Wow, bonus! Private contract while working for the Watch was a good way to up the salary.
Sarah met with the local mage Gorion who was looking to hire extra security for his son Chuck. [OpenArt]
Candlekeep seems to be a secure place. And its well known for being safe and stable. But its also an important destination for all sorts of research. Really, its all about the Great Library. Bookish types by the cartload.
When Gorion pointed out his son to her, Sarah almost laughed out loud. He was a stereotype of a bookish researcher. Awkward, but seemingly good natured.
The next day, Gorion informed her they would be traveling away from the Keep. He would appreciate the extra sword at least until they met up with friends at the nearby Friendly Arm Inn. In the meantime, he wanted her to introduce herself to Chuck and not let him out of her sight until they left.
The introduction went well! Chuck was still awkward and bookish. But he was also sweet and funny. This would not be a bad job for a couple days. She was just sorry at the end of it there would be no more Chuck at Candlekeep.
Chuck made one last run around home to gather some supplies. Sarah helped him with a list, as a mage he wouldn’t wear armor. But they got him some weapons he knew how to use, and a traveling spell book. Sarah was impressed at how all the locals knew Chuck, and how eagerly willing he was to help them all with minor chores. There was an assassination attempt when Chuck was looking for an older lady’s missing book. The assassin was comically inept, but obviously this showed Gorion’s fears were well founded. Next Sarah met Imoen, apparently a long-time friend of Chuck’s. Sarah bristled a little at noticing the younger girl was cute. And was not pleased with the suggestion that passed, that Imoen would follow along with this coming trip. She asked Chuck how well he knew this girl, and Chuck replied she was a little sister to him. Okay, she wouldn’t push it, if Chuck was okay that Imoen would likely follow along Sarah would accept this.
This will be Sarah’s portrait in the game for all of the Baldur’s Gate saga. [OpenArt]
Sarah is a Neutral-Good Human Female. 3rd Level Fighter
17/19/17/13/14/17
*****
A few changes to this build from my last run. I’ve added the “convenient NPCs” mod that let’s me decide which of the new EE NPCs will even be present in game, and if they’ll initiate contact or wait to be talked to. For the record I only left Neera and Rasaad in, both set to passive mode.
The biggest thing is adding SCS. That’s best known for adding difficulty in the form of better AI for most opponents. But it also includes a number of other adjustments, I have it replacing both “IWDification” and “Level 1 NPCs”. I currently have the improved AI at a low setting. In the past I’ve not liked such difficulty enhancers much, they often seem too meta and immersion breaking to me. But I know SCS is much improved over some earlier difficulty/tactical type mods, so I’ll give it a try.
To BG2 I’ve added “Wings”, which mostly adds story and minor quest to Aerie (expect this to be more important next time I follow her romance story). I also added Lava’s mod “Bloodied Strings of Barovia”. A quest mod involving the Ravenloft setting.
From CDTweaks, I’ve disabled the BG2 romances. Since Chuck is the lead character and Sarah is his gal, I wanted to able to (maybe) use Jaheira and Aerie without being rude to them to disable the romances!
Building characters from a TV show, especially such a different genre, involves choices. Chuck’s skills were mostly about his smarts, so its obvious his mental scores will be high. Intelligence more obviously than wisdom! He was occasionally shown as rash and foolish, usually in the context of wanting to help and trust someone. We can maybe chalk much of that up to inexperience? Certainly as the show went he became “professionally” wiser. So maxing out his Intelligence was an easy choice. I chose to also give him a high Wisdom on the grounds he had a strong sense of morals and justice. Not to mention, its more advantageous for a cleric!
His physical scores are mostly average. He’s actually a big guy (and the actor has since become quite buff, but he was still sort of wiry in 2007) and shows no significant physical strength until late in the show.
Chuck is often awkward, so I considered a more average Charisma for him. But the thing is, he always wins people over somehow. Even hardened spies seem to end up liking him. So endearingly awkward, to a high degree seems fitting.
I did consider making him a straight mage. But I just ran one of those. Then I considered a straight Cleric of Mystra. That’s *almost* a mage/cleric all on its own. But it would be lacking at the higher levels. So a multi it is! Of course that will leave him slower advancing, but with a huge variety of magic available to him. Somehow that seems right.
I think he could only be Neutral-Good, strong sense of righteousness and a balance between needs of the many/needs of the one sort of thing.
Sarah also required a little thought. Score wise she would be above average in everything. She is shown as strong (for her size), and able to take a hit. And almost supernaturally quick and agile. Intelligence and Wisdom are merely above average.
As mentioned above, she was often shown with thief skills. But she was Chuck’s protector first and foremost. And deadly warrior is her most defining trait. Since adding thief would reduce her hit points, I thought it more important to maximize her tankiness. So a single class fighter seems appropriate.
Her charisma is plainly high, in spite of the character being a bit of a loner. She gets along very well with anyone she intends to. Not quite as maxed out as Chuck is, there often is a bit of aloofness to her. But charming in most meaningful senses.
Her alignment is harder to peg. She cares about right and wrong, very much so. But (especially early on) she can be cowed with “legitimate orders”. Of course in this situation, the source of those “legitimate orders” will disappear in the opening act. So we’ll have her (mostly) happily follow Chuck’s lead on such things. Their areas of conflict will have largely to do with keeping Chuck safe vs taking action; and Chuck’s willingness to trust almost anyone. Most of those conflicts will diminish in time as they become a good functioning team, and Sarah will be happy to take on a more gentle and loving sort of world view.
Update 1
Bonus! First update comes with the introduction. There will be more comments at the end.
*****
Chuck
I am really nervous to be leaving Candlekeep for the first time in my life! Father is worried about something, Sarah said it has to do with those thugs that tried to kill me. I haven’t had much time to think about that, she killed both men so fast I wasn’t even sure what was happening. But then I saw they had knives. This was two different times! Why are thugs trying to hurt me? They paid with their lives.
Sarah helped me buy a war hammer, a medium sized shield, and a sling with some bullets. These are all the weapons I’ve been trained to use. But I was never a great student of these things, weapons make me a little nervous. And Sarah makes me a little nervous, she wears armor and carries two swords. And she has shown she knows how to use them. I guess its good if dad hired a guard, that he hired a good one.
Soon, Sarah and I head back to the library and meet with father. He affirms we’re all ready, and that’s it. We head out on the road for the Friendly Arm Inn. I’ve never been there, but I know its about a day’s hike from Candlekeep. Almost all of our visitors stay there both coming and going. We are meeting a couple friends of his there, Khalid and Jaheira. I’ve not heard those names before.
A few hours out, just at dusk, a terrifying giant of a man in plate armor appears to block our path, with a couple ogres and a couple of men in armor. He calls my father by name, and demands he hand *me* over to him! Sarah grabs my arm and pulls me behind her. My dad yells to Sarah to get me away from here, and I hear him start casting a spell. As Sarah pushes me into the woods I’m aware several spells are being cast, there’s flame, and a few voices I don’t recognize shout in pain.
We run through the woods… for hours? I don’t know, its a while before Sarah stops and I collapse on the ground. I say we need to go back, see if we can help my dad!
“I’m sorry Chuck, but Gorion hired me to protect you, not him. And I’ve never even seen some of those spells he was casting before, if he couldn’t handle it I don’t think there’s much we could have done. We’ll work our way back there in the morning.” [Co-Pilot]
I didn’t sleep much. I’ve never been so scared. Or slept on the ground. I think my life has just changed a lot. And if we can’t find dad in the morning, what will Sarah do without an employer? I’m pretty sure I would just die on my own.
As the sun comes up, I hear the familiar voice of my sister coming towards us. I’d never been so happy to see the little squirt! She’d bought some gear too before coming after us. We all set out in, what Sarah said, was the direction we’d come from. It was only about 20 minutes when we came to the clearing. My father was still there, what was left of him. It looks like most of the attackers had fallen with him. But the huge man was gone. Sarah wanted to move on quickly, but we went through Gorion’s things first. As we prepared to leave I heard a growl.
“Sarah, help!” [Co-Pilot]
“I got this Chuck!” [Co-Pilot]
But she missed. Both the wolf and thankfully, me.
Then Sarah was there, and the wolf didn’t last long. [Co-Pilot]
Among Gorion’s possessions we found a note, saying what we already knew about meeting Khalid and Jaheira at the Inn. I guess that’s the plan. I have no idea what will happen then, who we’re meeting, and if Sarah will stick around after. I hope so, so far she’s the only one who knows how to survive.
Not too much later we came across a signpost pointing the way to the Inn. A traveler, an eccentric mage in bright red robes was coming the other direction and gave us a friendly greeting. Poor guy, I sort of dumped all my worries on him. But he remained friendly and assured us we were heading in the right direction.
A little later, a goblin (a xvart maybe? I don’t remember all the types) came at us waving a sword, yelling something I couldn’t understand.
Back off buddy, this won’t end well for you. [Co-Pilot]
Wuss. I warned him. [OpenArt]
We finally made it to the Friendly Arms Inn. Its an unexpected sort of place, actually an old castle with an impressive stone keep at the center that was converted to an inn a decade or so back. I’d heard of it, and its impressive looking! Its sort of a sign of hope just now. We can maybe meet some friends and find some sort of refuge?
On the steps to the entrance a man, a mage of some sort, asked my name and where I was from. I answered as I heard Sarah yell something about telling him nothing. She was right behind me on the steps and did not look amused.
The mage started casting a spell and was looking at me, ignoring Sarah. That was his last mistake.
He was not being friendly Chuck. [OpenArt]
I cannot unsee that! [OpenArt]
He was another assassin, with a notice of a bounty… for me. Sarah helped me breath again. Imoen seemed excited by the action, and was searching his packs and pockets.
We entered the Inn, I was still a little wobbly. I don’t know how Sarah recognized who we were looking for, but we were soon sharing introductions with Khalid and Jaheira.
Jaheira quickly understood Gorion had fallen and offered her condolences. “He was a great man, he will be missed by many. I am sorry for your loss”. It seemed sincere even if blunt in delivery.
But she then explained there was no plan beyond meeting with us here. She vaguely knew who Imoen was, and assessed Sarah saying “I’m glad he got you a guard, you may need it”. She said she and her husband had been heading south to the town of Nashkel. The iron mines there were having some problems, and their output was contaminated, tainted somehow. “I don’t know what Gorion intended, but perhaps we should all head south together. We can work on a known problem and maybe take you away from trouble?”
That sounded as good to me as anything was likely to. Sarah agreed this was a good idea, and gestured for me to have a seat with her.
“Chuck I am so sorry for everything you’ve lost, and how your life has been upended. I think the most important thing right now is for you to work on improving your magic and ability to defend yourself. We’ve seen that whoever is after you is extremely dangerous, improving your skills is the most obvious way to address that. I’m glad you have a few people willing to stick by you, that is so important now. But I should mention, Khalid and Jaheira may be very green themselves, their equipment is all new and not extremely high quality. If its okay with you, I’d like to stick with you. Just to add my swords to your protection for now. This is about your life, and would hate for anything bad to happen to you that I could have prevented. But your life means its also your call, if you decide I’m not needed or wanted just say the word and I’ll go.” [OpenArt]
Sarah just helped me sort through everything. I’ve noticed she has a knack for getting to the essentials. And for keeping my head attached to my body, I can’t imagine ever wanting her to leave. Did I mention she laughs at my dumb jokes?
In the morning, we will head south.
*****
And that takes us to the start of the adventure and the core of Chuck’s team.
I don’t know what level of detail I’ll present the rest of this in. I often end up writing more than I intended to, but the game is huge and I’ll likely skip many details. Feedback may determine how deep I go.
The AI art will remain a huge part of this. I have a reasonable ability to get what I want out of the Co-Pilot AI, and am learning about OpenArt. I’m even learning a little about working with them together, getting the styles to mesh some. As I said previously, I think Co-Pilot is *much* better at setting a scene and at the whole look of fantasy. Specifically its better at rendering a range of fantasy creatures, and having characters/creatures interact. But most Chuck and Sarah renders on Co-Pilot will hide their faces, because I cannot make it look like Zachary Levi and Yvonne Strahovski.
Which leads to the biggest strength of OpenArt. I’ve built “Chuck” and “Sarah” models from photos of the characters and actors. Those character renders come out *very* nicely. But OpenArt really struggles with a fantasy context. If I say “medieval inn”, it will likely still put electric lights in the scene and men in business suits sitting behind my armored warrior. This is the sort of thing Co-Pilot is *much* better at. But then OpenArt has a much better editor. Too many wolves in the scene? Edit one out. Too many fingers on a hand? Fix it. Character was supposed to shut their eyes? Edit them shut. Its quite remarkable how flexible and powerful it is, even for editing renders from Co-Pilot. Amazing stuff.
As always when I do these things, this is an abbreviated version of the post. For all the AI Art see "Chuck and Sarah" at davesgamingblog
0
Comments
Sarah
We set out from the Friendly Arm Inn the next morning.
With the Addition of Jaheira and Khalid I’m feeling much better about our ability to survive, in particular to keep Chuck alive, for a while.
Our newest team-mates bring us a mission of investigating a problem with the iron mines south in Nashkell. This is useful, although I admit my real goal is in seeing Chuck (and Imoen) improve their ability to fight and survive. We’d been warned an ogre was prowling the area south of the Inn.
When we did encounter the ogre, I immediately got in close so he wouldn’t notice the rest of the team.
This worked as desired, Imoen put a couple arrows in him! Chuck hit with a sling bullet. And Khalid and Jaheira were right there helping out. This felt like an important battle for us. No one panicked, and we worked well together.
We got into Beregost, my home until just a few days ago. Here we met a young mage who was running from some sort of hit team.
Neera seems to be on the run from the Red Wizards. This automatically makes her a friend in my book.
It seems to have something to do with her being a “Wild Mage”. I’m not up on all the nuance of that, but I know its different from how Chuck is learning magic. I gather it has more to do with emotion and intuition, less rigorous study. That could potentially make it dangerous to be her friend. I don’t really mean the Red Wizard part either, we dealt with a team that was hot on her heals. Its more that her magic can malfunction in very unexpected ways. Chuck insisted we would protect her. So be it.
Imoen and Neera.
The area just south of Beregost gets a little wild if you get off the trail. I led us cross coutry, I’m not sure if Jaheira realizes I’m trying to get us more combat experience or not. But she gave me quite a look over that choice.
There is a swampy area around an old house there, that is often haunted by undead. We ran into a pair of ghouls.
Chuck cast Magic Missile again. I’m glad to see him confident in his casting. His anxieties concern me a little. He’s too nice and too smart to be brought down by such silliness. But he does act when the situation demands it.
As we set camp that night he seemed thoughtful about how his life has changed and what he’s lost.
I hope he knows I’ve got him covered.
Chuck
The next morning we set off to finish our Journey to Nashkel. Sarah and Jaheira both seem so proficient at this process, getting a little meal, breaking camp, heading out. I suppose its a skill I will learn.
Just as we were getting on the road I saw about the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen.
Sarah and Imoen sharing a huge laugh over some private joke. Both women just seemed so happy for a moment, I’m so glad to see them getting along well.
For some reason when the trail curved to our left ahead, Sarah took us around a bluff into the woods at right. After walking some distance we saw and smelled a camp ahead. Before I even realized what was happening Sarah and Jaheira were giving directions for an attack.
One of the things I need to learn is how they identified and assessed the threat so quickly. It wasn’t some group of travelers or woodsmen, but goblins preying on travelers.
And how do we know how capable these different sorts are? There were six of us, three warriors. And yet Sarah knew in an instant we could easily handle eight hobgoblins. What’s the math on that?
I’m trying to pay attention and learn. We also battled a group of four human bandits and defeated them easily. I asked Sarah, she said man for man the hobgoblins and bandits were about equal. Obviously the Hobgoblins had more troops, but fewer bows. She said you can usually approximate threat level by equipment quality. Interesting.
We finally made it to Nashkel and talked with the mayor. He reports two issues, first the mines are over-run with some sort of beasties that are killing miners. And the ore itself is of poor quality. It didn’t use to be. Sarah thought the important thing was to recon the area first, then head into the mine. For now, our healers (that’s me and Jaheira!) are worn out so we call it a day.
Another Assassin attacked when we entered the Inn. We all killed the woman, she was some sort of spellcaster. Presumably a cleric since she wore armor. I explained to Imoen I’d now faced six such attempts starting back at Candlekeep. She was shocked, didn’t realize it had happened there.
In keeping with the theme of the day… learning, I spent some more time with my books tonight. I was so tired! I would have never heard the end of it if anyone knew I fell asleep right in the common room of the inn! I woke up in the wee hours and slipped up to my room.
*Sigh*
The next morning, we were preparing to leave town when we came across a Ranger. He seemed desperate, and a little confused. But he said his “witch” had been abducted by Gnolls and taken somewhere west of here. He was a foreigner, a Rashami. I’m not sure I understood the importance of what he was saying? And he seemed to be talking to a hamster.
But clearly I thought, this should take precedence over some problem with a mine! Oof. This triggered quite a debate. We all finally agreed that Jaheira and her husband would stay here and start investigations, while the rest of us went off to rescue a woman from those carnivores.
No doubt, Minsc was determined to rescue his witch! I’m not sure what the significance of the hamster was.
We spent most of the day traveling west, almost to the coast where we came across a rather decrepit suspension bridge.
Just across the bridge we found the Gnoll stronghold.
Sarah talked about going in quiet, trying to keep our small team from being overwhelmed by their numbers. So that’s what we did.
Imoen seems to be a pretty good archer!
We’d killed over 20 Gnolls when we found Minsc’s witch.
Dynaheir was pretty beat up when we found her.
She also had no gear, no weapons and no spell book. But we got her! Minsc was very happy. We secured the area, Sarah explained this was about eliminating or reducing any pursuit. When we left, we didn’t have to run.
We had to stop and set camp a little ways out, we’d never make it back to Nashkel in the dark.
We set watches during the night. Neera and I had so much fun when it was our turn. We laughed and had fun for hours. She’s kind of cute too!
In the morning Sarah complained we were too loud. It defeats the purpose of watch, she said, if the others can’t sleep. Wow is she grumpy today!
We got back to Nashkel and talked about what was next. Jaheira reported they fought Kobolds and some wolves yesterday. We had rescued Dynaheir but she was in really rough shape, so we drew lots and it was Khalid who would stay with her while the rest of us went to finish exploring the area and then get into the mines.
Sarah
Today we are planning on doing a quick sweep around the area before we plunge into the iron mines south of town. I’ve been thinking hard about this team, and getting everyone ready for the possibility of some tough action in a confined space.
Alright everyone, let’s go. Daylights wasting. [OpenArt]
We set out to the east, there was a local carnival in progress. It was not busy but a number of businesses and entertainers were getting ready for the day. Chuck thought we should ask around to see if anyone had spotted trouble in the area. Several reported an unusual number of Kobolds. I suggested a sweep of the area, this could be bad if visitors, families and children were traveling from town out this way.
Chuck was the first to see one small group of Kobolds to the side and he reacted quickly with a Sleep spell.
I told Chuck “Good job!” Its great to see him taking initiative. [OpenArt]
By noon we were all satisfied we’d scoured the area. Since we were still so close to the carnival it seemed like it would be fun to get lunch from venders there.
I had a really good time sitting with Imoen, Minsc and Jaheira. This is shaping up to be a great team! [Co-Pilot]
Then we headed south towards the mine, and did another area search.
In one place we ran into a couple of Ghouls. [Co-Pilot]
There were more Kobolds, and a strange moment with sculptor and a hostile bounty hunter. Small stuff. It was time to head into the mine. We talked to some miners who had a variety of interesting ideas about the source of their trouble! We didn’t get too far in when we encountered a group Kobolds.
A couple of the little buggers came up behind us, gave Neera a good scare. But I think our rear is pretty secure with Imoen back there. [Co-Pilot]
Sorry guys, but there will be blood… [Co-Pilot]
We faced a couple larger groups of Kobolds too.
As we continued deeper we started seeing more natural caves, the mine had been dug into a pre-existing formation. This could be a source of trouble.
A couple of Giant Spiders were dispatched. [Co-Pilot]
And we finally came to a cave that was fully decked out as an office and bed chamber. A half-orc in this cave suggested we were checking up on him. Interesting, there’s obviously another layer to this.
I informed him we were shutting him down. [OpenArt]
He called for help and a large number of Kobolds and skeletons responded. I charged the bossman while Chuck, Neera and Imoen all backed me up. Minsc and Jaheira protected the rear. We brought him (we later learned he was called Mullahey) down fairly quickly, then we all turned to clean out his small army.
Going through his papers revealed he had a mage, a contact back in Beregost. We hustled back to Nashkel for the night. We checked in with the mayor and showed all of our findings. Among them was a sample of the contaminant that was being used on the iron ore. He suggested the smith in Beregost might be able to counter its effects if we took the sample to him. We now had two reasons to head to Beregost in the morning, and decided that was what we’d do in the morning.
Then we were attacked by another assassin on our way to the inn. Right on the main street. Nervy and stupid. Especially since his bounty is for Chuck and he chose to face all six of us.
Nimbul was a spellcaster and a warrior. But he was not capable enough to go against six. [Co-Pilot]
All I can figure is he didn’t expect us all to stick together?
The next day, in Beregost, we talked with the blacksmith Taerom and gave him the contaminant samples. He was sure he could counter it. Then we went over the Feldpost’s Inn where Mulahey’s contact was staying. He was a mage named Tranzig, apparently just an intermediary. He didn’t seem to know much and quickly started trouble. Afterwards, we searched him and found a map indicating a bandit camp well north of here was where he’d been getting his orders.
As Always, the full version of this is available as "Chuck and Sarah" at davesgaming.blog
Chuck
We’re in Beregost again. I like this town, its about the same size as Candlekeep, where I grew up. But its much livelier, busier. I guess that’s no surprise, its not a library run by monks.
Its a vibrant small city with all sorts of trade, entertainment, and I imagine a source of security to those living all around [OpenArt]
I called a meeting this morning so we could talk about our plans. We were still in Feldpost’s Inn, definitely a comfortable place to spend the night!
Jaheira seemed ready to move, wherever it was. I don’t think she likes being in town much. [Co-Pilot]
Sarah is usually kind of quiet. She’s still a little down or grumpy about something? but she’s a strong presence, and the sort of person that everyone looks to, to settle every issue. [OpenArt]
But for now I seemed to have the floor. I mentioned we knew our on-going quest would seem to lead us towards a bandit camp a ways to the north. But for reasons Sarah had previously mentioned, I was uneasy about heading that way. [OpenArt]
Sarah affirmed that was a risky course. She was pleased with how we were all coming together as a team. But we still needed work. She was comfortable fighting along side Jaheira, but there was still room to improve that. And Minsc sure could hit hard, but he needed to trust the two women to block for him. “Minsc, think of us as your shield, don’t expose yourself. Strike hard as the opportunity presents. Imoen is becoming a very good archer, but keep working on hitting moving targets. Chuck and Neera have shown themselves to be brave and steady, but both have a ways to go to really maximize their magic.”
I’m pretty sure she was trying to encourage us with the “brave” part. This whole business still terrifies me.
Imoen can be such a goofball. But she’s good at this! And is paying attention to our planning. I think Neera was twiddling her thumbs and accidently started a fire again. [Co-Pilot, edited in OpenArt]
Minsc says Boo helps him understand. [Co-Pilot]
Sarah suggested the bandit problem did not seem serious as yet. And we should head south and explore the area along the border with Amn. We could still do some good work of a law and order sort, but being so close to a major kingdom the major threats should be less. A good place to develop our skills.
This sounds like a good plan to me. I wish I knew how to get Sarah’s spirits up, she’s scary enough when she’s happy. She gave me an encouraging pat on the shoulder as we were heading out. Strange.
I chatted with Neera about that random fire-starting thing. Wild magic is odd, I don’t understand how you can wield arcane magic and not quite know what you’re doing. But from her, its all amusing.
We passed through Nashkel again and started exploring west from the mine, planning on going as far as the Gnoll Fortress, on the coast, then heading back.
We were in a small stand of trees when we encountered a distraught Dryad. She was weeping, and begged us, a couple of big men were about to take axes to her tree, please stop them! [Co-Pilot]
Of course! We headed towards a large pine, that two rugged looking types were preparing to fell. I struck up conversation with them, but when I suggested they not do that they attacked us!
It wasn’t much of a fight.
Jaheira explained that the Dryad would die if her tree was killed. So I suppose we truly had no choice in the matter.
Continuing on we came across a small Xvart village. Their guards immediately attacked us! There were a lot of them! Xvarts aren’t tough, but I was intimidated by the numbers. But Sarah wasn’t. She, Jaheira and Minsc formed a solid wall that no Xvart was going to get by. I feared we’d kill the whole village, when the strangest thing happened. One, seemed to be a village elder, shouted out a prayer in the common tongue that the great bear would protect them!
We heard a fearsome roar and a great bear walked into the village! And it started attacking the Xvarts! [Co-Pilot]
We just backed away as the xvarts were occupied. We did kill a few more that came our way, but most of the trouble was over. They may need to rethink their religion…
We continued on the the coast, and set camp just north of the Gnoll Fortress. During the night, there was a terrible roar on Sarah and Imoen’s watch. I awoke to see a pretty stunning sight.
Sarah, almost single handedly took down two angry ogres that were entering our camp. Point taken, do not mess with that lady. [OpenArt]
We then worked our way back to Neshkel to enjoy a night in an Inn. Tomorrow we’ll strike out to the East.
Chuck
We left Nashkel this morning and set out for the areas east of town along the border with Amn.
As we were preparing to go, Neera mentioned she was hoping to track down an older Wild Mage she’d heard of. Adoy was an uncommon thing as a veteran Wild Mage. [OpenArt]
Neera wondered what advice and insight such a man could offer. Especially if anything could be done to lessen some of the more dire malfunctions. She’d showed me where she thought he might be on our map and I mentioned to everyone that this looked like something we could do.
Early in the afternoon we were attacked by a small group of “ogrillons”. They’re ogres mixed with something?! Smaller than most full blood ogres. Somehow, while the fighting was happening at our front one came around from behind.
I’ve not had to melee much! So I heroically called for help and braced to fight. With the ogrillon’s first swing I parried with my hammer, and the head and shaft separated. [OpenArt]
I thought I was dead. The Ogrillon swung at me a few times and I blocked with my shield, but I felt some of those hits rattle my bones.
But in an instant Sarah was running by me and crashed right into the big guy. She was attacking him furiously and and he was looking a little worried. [OpenArt]
[Co-Pilot render, description enhanced by OpenArt]
But I had been struck pretty hard, and in a moment things kind of went all fuzzy.
I don’t know what happened for a bit, but soon Sarah was helping me to my feet. She softly said “Be careful Chuck”, Jaheira cast a Cure Light Wounds on me and we were back off. [Co-Pilot]
We traveled up towards where Neera expected we’d find Adoy. We saw a barricade manned by some Goblins. To our surprise, they were friendly. A spokesman said they were guarding their chief and their god. That is, Bargrivyek, the Goblin God of Cooperation. I’ve read a lot about the deities of Faerun, but that was a new one to me! Nothing about Goblins usually has to do with “Cooperation”. I said I’d like to meet this god! The spokesmen seemed pleased, and offered to take us to him. He was a talkative guide!
A crude wooden bridge crossed a fast moving stream. The Goblins were particularly proud that they’d built it with Bargrivyek’s guidance. Jaheira was amused with this whole encounter . [Co-Pilot]
We were led to a cave and told the chief and the god were inside. Well, first thing, the cave was more what you’d expect. We were attacked by a dozen or so Goblins led by a big Hobgoblin.
We entered a small chamber to the rear of the cave and met Bargrivyek, AKA Adoy. He claimed it was all an innocent misunderstanding that led to him becoming a Goblin deity. We introduced Neera. She was soon disappointed with his pronouncement there was no such thing as controlling wild magic. I’ve read enough about such things to know that isn’t strictly true. But if the point was that there were no easy answers, I’d buy that.
Regardless, Neera was not pleased. Even more so when a couple of Red Mages and a three flunkies teleported into our midst. Adoy disappeared and we defeated the Reds. Adoy returned when it was all clear. He was all apologies, and offered Neera a Belt that could provide some nominal protection against certain common spell misfires.
Neera was not in a gracious mood! It was sort of funny as she ranted about how she’d saved his life and all she got was a belt. [Co-Pilot]
With not much to show for the detour we resumed our exploring.
“Chuck, I love you like a brother. But you’re an idiot.” [Co-Pilot]
I don’t know what that was about? Imoen’s been spending time with Sarah, maybe she would know?
The next morning, as we were breaking camp, Neera announced it was too dangerous for her to continue with me around and she would set off on her own. [OpenArt]
And, I don’t know what that was about either? I thought we were making a good team? I’m very confused by the women on this team. Maybe I need to spend more time with Minsc?
As we set off, Imoen said something I definitely DID understand. She’d been studying a spellbook we recovered a few weeks back, and it affirmed something she’d been considering for years. Back to being a study partner for me as I was learning magic. But she decided she was going to become a mage herself. This is awesome!
Sarah chimed in that we’d need a new scout, at least temporarily while Imoen was learning.
Jaheira mentioned there was a Halfling village not too far north of here. That would probably be a good place to find a decent “scout”.
“If we’re looking for scouts in a Halfling village, just be sure to keep the purse strings secure!” [OpenArt]
Late in the day we got to Gullykin, the small Halfling village. We didn’t have to ask much before we met Alora. She is from the City of Baldur’s Gate and is here visiting family. She was cagey about it, but she does have the skills we need. And she’s an archer, bonus!
Alora [Co-Pilot]
From here we were almost back to Beregost. Sarah suggested we head back there for the night, then we’ll resume exploring the area west to the coast, south of Candlekeep.
Sounds like a plan!
I helped Imoen study for a while. But I’m exhausted from our travels and wasn’t much help. [Co-Pilot]
*****
Finally, about a month into the adventure, the team is set for the rest of “Baldur’s Gate 1”. Imoen just dualled to mage so she will be less useful for a while. Alora is a good replacement for her as a thief. Chuck is very slow advancing as a multi-class, but he can cast a broad range of spells! I suppose I’d say balance-wise, this is a very conventional party.
Sarah is the dominant damage dealer (and tank) with around 40% of party kills. Next would be Minsc at around 30%. Sarah should remain dominant, at least through the first game. As a single class fighter she has some advantages in pure combat. As we get into the second game effectiveness is harder to rate.