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The tale of Zorg, the punching Dragon Disciple

monicomonico Member Posts: 571
edited September 2018 in Challenges and Playthroughs
After thinking about it for a few days, testing and inputs from players on this thread, the whole concept was revolving around using the mage's touch spells (Chill touch, Shocking Grasp, Ghoul Touch and the likes) and the Polymorph spells (lvl4 and lvl9).

Which got me thinking "how about making a punching team ?"

So, here it is :

3 person custom team :
- main character : Zorg, an evil dragon disciple, who despite having access to great arcane power, knows that the best way to resolve a situation is with your fists.

- Aroch, an unkitted lawful evil monk (a DMM would have been too similar to the DD, and I've never liked the SSM anyway, so hence the evil touch). Although Aroch never had a clear faith for any specific god, he has lately felt that he was a chestpiece on the grand scheme of the Gods, and was meant to influence the destiny of the sword coast, albeit indirectly. During a pilgrimage in Candlekeep, Aroch saw Zorg punching anyone disagreeing with him, sensed the energies revolving around him. He has since followed him, serving both as a mentor in martial arts, a scribe recording our anti-hero's deeds, and a devout sensing that Zorg was the envoy of the Gods he was seeking.

- Xania : a female shapeshifter. Although her order has always pursued balance, she feels the werewolf blood inside her thrumming with violence and a thirst for power. She met Aroch while he traversed Cloakwood on his way to Candlekeep, and immediatly felt a sense of kinship with Aroch's quest and view on the ways of the gods, using mere mortals as pawns for their giant chest game of power.

And thus, our party goes on its quest.

Screenshots :





Post edited by monico on
Grond0JuliusBorisovRavenslightGoturalBlackravenStefanO

Comments

  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    I will start the narration next week, after a bit of testing.

    The story of Zorg the Punching Dragon Disciple will be told by Aroch, the scribing monk, like a journal of Zorg's journey, which I think allows for nice roleplay and storytelling material.
    JuliusBorisovRavenslightGotural
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    Nice, keep it up!
    GoturalmonicoRavenslightBlackraven
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    edited September 2018
    Alright, couldn’t wait a week, I started my run already.

    Here’s Candlekeep and FAI.

    Mirtul 2, 1368.
    "I knew it ! The child is the key ! I have been trying to talk with the young man, whose name is Zorg, but his old protector seemed suspicious about anyone approaching his protégé, and I couldn’t get close.
    But then, just as we were walking through Candlekeep with Xania, I saw a strange man lure Zorg in an abandoned house. We followed them in a hurry, and saw the stranger suddenly pulling a dagger to attack Zorg. Xania reacted in a flash, and transformed in a huge Wolfwere !! So this was her secret ! A shapeshifter ! I found it strange that a druid would eat meat, but I just thought this was her way to rebel against her teachings.
    But anyway, before we even had the chance to move to his rescue, Zorg’s hands glowed, and with a single punch slew his attacker, laughing merrily looking at the corpse of his opponent !
    It turns out this kid also is not as simple as he looks.

    I will have to keep an eye on him, and try to get closer. It seems I am not the only one looking for him."




    Mirtul 4, 1368
    "The old fool. The old protector left town with the kid in the middle of the night, frightened by the attack on his ward.
    Luckily, Xania was hunting in the woods surrounding Candlekeep, and saw the two fugitives passing swiftly. She ran back to the inn and woke me up, and we left in pursuit, gripped by a bad feeling.
    And we were right, just a few hours after we left, we stumbled upon a clearing where Zorg and his protector were ambushed. The old man lay dead surrounded by a few opponents (he had some skill after all), and traces to the south indicated that the kid safely escaped.
    Relying on Xania’s keen nose, we soon found him. Although unsettled by the attack and suspicious of our intentions, I managed to reassure him and convince him to travel together to avoid further attacks. He seems to trust me, at least for now.

    Zorg insisted to go to the Friendly Arm Inn, where his foster father (Gorion was his name) told him to go for safety and meeting friends.
    So much for safety. Just as we passed the main door, a seemingly friendly mage went to him, posing as one of his "friends". I knew better, and saw the markings of a mercenary on his robes, and immediatly prepared myself.
    Right I was, after Zorg confirmed his identity - a mistake if you ask me - the wizard started chanting a spell.
    I did not give him opportunity though, and a well-placed punch stunned him, before Xania finished him off.






    I convinced Zorg that following the route planned by his late foster father was too risky, since the enemy seemed to know exactly our whereabouts, and that we shouldn’t allow his father’s friends to accompany us. Zorg agreed, but said that we should first play along, pretend to accompany them, spend the night at the inn and leave swiftly in the morning. Only after we left did I notice that Zorg’s pouch seemed larger. He smiled and explained that he had looted his father’s friends ! The kid has potential !"


    Gamer’s ramblings :
    I was surprised to actually land the first hit with my DD (after casting Chill Touch) against Carbos, which fit then perfectly for the storyline.
    I did not make any of the other Candlekeep quests, to keep the sense of urgency needed for immersion.
    The first map was rapidly cleared : joined Imoen, Xzar, Monty, took all their belongings, ditched them, killed the wolf with a lucky Blind spell (my last spell for my DD), only took the +1 ring hidden on the next map avoiding any fight and making a beeline for the FAI, just to get the mage ring so that my DD can cast 4 lvl1 spells instead of 2. Plus I needed to rest, and for immersion’s sake, I’ll never rest outside an inn or a « safe » place (for example, in Cloakwood, and if RP allows it, I’ll allow myself to rest at the druid’s place, but not in the middle of a spider-infested map).

    Anyway, I’m on my way to Beregost now, where my 2 next challenges await me : the belt-loving ogre on the way, and killing Silke (after doing her dirty work off course).
    Post edited by monico on
    JuliusBorisovGoturalRavenslightStummvonBordwehr
  • GoturalGotural Member Posts: 1,229
    Challenging run, I'm definitely following this :)
    Keep it up!
    monicoRavenslightJuliusBorisovBlackraven
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    edited September 2018
    Thanks @Gotural ;) challenging is the right word indeed. Although there seems to be great synergy between my characters (as you’ll see in the belt-fetishist Ogre).

    Here’s Beregost and the surroundings :

    11 Mirtul, 1368
    "Aaargh this kid is MENTAL ! A week, one whole week stuck in this filthy town because if his antics !
    After leaving the Friendly Arm Inn (in a hurry, to avoid any embarrassing questions about property of certain items in Zerg’s pack), we traveled south to Beregost.
    At first, everything went smoothly. Although on the way, we met a strange Ogre, who went berzerk upon seeing Zorg’s belt (the last memento from his foster father), the kid proved, once again, to be a proficient fighter. First, he cast two blinding spells in a row on the Ogre, the second one hitting thanks to Xania’s help dooming him. I landed a perfect stunning hit on the Ogre, and thought that we would make short work of him with Xania’s enhanced form helping me. But then I saw Zorg running towards the Ogre, jumping at his head with his glowing hands and killing him on the spot ! He’s just a kid, but what spirit ! What energy !





    Proud of our success, we sped along the Coast Way towards Beregost to rest. Zorg insisted to spend the night in the best inn, and that’s when things started going south.
    First, an angry man barred our path, somehow blaming us for his son’s death. Zorg’s first reaction was to make fun of the man, but I saw a dangerous glint in his drunken eyes, and managed to calm things down.
    After gulping down a few beers to calm down Zerg, we paid for the best room and went upstairs, Zorg still fuming about the altercation. On the first floor, some poor fat guy blocked Zorg’s path who just coldbloodedly murdered him on the spot. And stole his cape from his corpse, too !
    I hastily got everyone out, hoping to leave town fast, but we met a bard who called to us, offering some easy and discreet work. Zorg felt this was easy money and immediatly accepted the job.
    The bard led us to a back alley, where his employer, some thespian extraordinaire (her words), asked us to get rid of some thugs. They feel in two seconds.




    But then, we heard a shout from a nearby house calling us murderers. We had been played !!!
    Xania’s claws immediatly cut our (ex)employer’s head.




    But too late, the whole city was abuzz, blaming us for the deaths of the 3 poor souls, who happened to be sent by Feldpost, owner of the inn, and the following investigation directly led them to the large man Zorg killed in the inn...

    Despite our claims that all this was a tragic mistake, the city demanded retribution. After long discussions with a local priest of Lathander, apparently also posing as mayor of this city, we were left with no choice but to make amends by helping the local folk.

    And for the following week, we have been running around the town and its surroundings, retrieving a lost family necklace, bringing some news from a far away husband, buying books for an old crazy elf, getting rid of a few half-ogres, resolving a strange talking chicken plot, hunting a mad cleric, and even finding someone’s missing boots ! This last crazy bootless halfling almost got us in trouble again. As we gave him back his boots, Zorg found out that he previously stole some money from him, and Zorg just killed him on the spot. The halfling seemed to have quite the bad reputation in town, because nobody raised an eyebrow.

    At long last, the citizens of Beregost seemed satisfied with our efforts, and let us be on our way. I hope to never set foot in this godforsaken place again."


    Gamer’s ramblings :
    This concludes Chapter 1, next stop : Nashkell (and the Carnival).
    After killing Algernon (this cloak is so OP, i’ll need it from time to time) and doing Silke’s quest, my reputation droped to 4. Since I can’t risk meeting a flaming fist enforcment party, I did some local quests to gain XP and reputation. Killing Bassilus was easy enough : doom, then Algernon’s cloak. He was charmed, helped me get rid of the whole map, leaving him Almost dead, just a hit from my Werewolf finished him.
    Went back to 8 reputation (Bjornin, Firebead, Melicamp and Colquette’s necklace), also did Zhurlong’s quest and killed him (no rep loss) to keep the boots for my monk, and Mirianne’s quest for another ring +1.
    This also allowed me to get to lvl2 with my DD and druid, lvl3 with the monk.

    I am starting to really enjoy this run, where I have to make full use of everyone’s strengths !
    Firts, blindness is reaally awesome. To ensure that it goes through, the druid can cast doom before shapeshifting. The monk with his improved speed can lure the ennemy and avoid being hit while the spells land, then the druid shapeshifts, the DD casts Chill Touch, and the monk Stuning blow. Afterwards, it’s just a big flurry of fists, with chill touch’s cold damage being very nasty (especially if the druid did cast doom beforehand to ensure that it hits more often, since there is a saving throw for the cold damage).
    Post edited by monico on
    Grond0JuliusBorisovStummvonBordwehrGotural
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    edited September 2018
    Mirtul 13, 1368
    "Leaving Beregost, we decided to avoid the main road, and hence took a roundabout way to Nashkell. While I was staying in Candlekeep, I read about an ancient road that passed through the region, and so we followed it. It led us to a very old and decrepit bridge, where we shared a meal with a bard met on the bridge. While we ate, he told us the tale of these Firewine Bridge ruins, a tale of heroes and betrayal. Zorg seemed to quite enjoy the tale, which pleased the bard, although I’m not sure he realized that Zorg was more interested with the accounts of murders and treasure than the melancholic tale.

    After bidding farewell to Poe the bard, we crossed the bridge and met a useless fool, pretending to be a great warrior of much skill and expertise. We proved him wrong and he fell easily, droping strange gauntlets as he did, which Zorg immediatly picked up and wore as his "spoils of war", although technically, I was the one giving the deathblow. Bah, I don’t care about such trinkets, and it will make him trust me more, which is my primary goal anyway.





    We arrived late at night in Nashkell. The local store was still lit so we first stopped here to resupply, our rations becoming short with all the detours we had to take to shake off our pursuers. The storekeeper promised us some money if we chased down a winter wolf and brought back his pelt. I thought Xania would crush his skull, but she just snorted and left the shop furiously.





    We decided to spend the night in the inn, before continuing our journey, but as soon as we entered the inn, yet another bounty hunter attacked us ! How do they manage to find us everytime we move a toe ??!!
    It was a close call, as we were all tired from the journey and Zorg didn’t seem to have enough energy left to cast a spell. The bounty hunter cast her own spell, paralyzing both the kid and myself. Luckily, Xania’s feral blood seemed to have protected her. She quickly shrugged off the magic holding her and a lightning-fast swing from her massive paws cleaned the cleric’s head off.





    After waiting for the effects of the spell to wear off, we finally had a well-earned sleep at the inn. The next morning, we heard that the whole town was speaking about monsters infesting the local iron mine. Although at first I felt this did not concern us, Xania mentioned that she smelled moss and humidity from the bounty hunter who attacked us the night before, hinting that the bounty hunter had spent a long time in some kind of cave. Xania then suggested that we investigate this mine, maybe the local problems and our own are connected somehow.
    It seems a bit farfetched, but it’s worth a shot, and I’m REALLY getting tired at being ambushed at every turn.

    After getting more information from the mayor of the town, we directly headed towards the mine. Well, almost directly. We did stumble first upon a very joyful man sent by the town’s council, who insisted to give some money to Zorg, whom he mistook for some guy called Greywolf, thanking us all the while for our services for the town. Off course, Zorg immediatly played along and accepted the gold with a huge grin on his face. I don’t know where this love for gold comes from, but this kid holds on to it like a dragon protects its treasures.

    It seems like the real Greywolf also likes his gold. As we were approaching the mines we saw a deranged sculptor rambling about "finishing his masterpiece". Zorg was enthranced by the statue, and so we waited for the sculptor to finish his work. But then a boorish man came shouting that he was Greywolf and that NONE crosses Greywolf. Apparently he did not like art much. Or maybe he was talking about us. I don’t know, and don’t really care. Zorg didn’t like the man’s manners, immediatly blinding him, while I stunned him at the same time. We then proceeded to educate this savage. With our fists. I guess nobody will ever cross Greywolf again, indeed.







    Apparently, the crazy sculptor (Prism was his name) was at the end of his rope and died from exhaustion just as he put the last touch to his work : two shining emeralds for the eyes. Zorg was extremely worried about the preservation of this masterpiece, and said that to prevent future vandalism, he would keep the "true heart of the sculpture" with him... and he stole the two emeralds. This kid, really...

    Anyway, we finally reached the mine, where the workers kept speaking about "little demons" infesting the lower levels. Not quite reassuring, but Xania confirmed that the smell coming from the mine was the same as that of the bounty hunter’s clothes.

    Zorg immediatly stepped forward, mumbling all the way that "someone will pay in blood". I think his foster father’s death affected him more than he let show.

    It turns out that the "little demons" were nothing more than kobolds. Not very threatening alone, but they seem endless and always move in numbers. With Xania’s smell and my own stealth, we managed to avoid most of the big groups, and silently dispatched those we couldn’t pass by, trying not to alert their brethren.

    After a while, we chanced upon a subterranean lake, with an island in the middle,
    upon which a crude manmade cavern stood, loud noises coming from it. We knew that our answers lied inside this cavern, so we prepared ourselves and entered stealthily.

    A few kobolds were serving a mad cyric priest. They treated him like their god, and he seemed deranged enough to believe his own tale and treat them as his own creation. He turned out to be only an underling seemingly sent (or abandoned) down here to disturb the production of iron ore, using his swarms of kobolds to spy and monitor our every move, although he did not reveal the reason behind his, or his superiors,
    interest.

    A gruesome fight ensued, Xania running to hold off the minions he called to him, while Zorg and I focused on the mad priest. In a very practiced manner, Zorg cast a blinding spell as usual at the start of the battle, while we exhausted the mad priest’s spells by attacking and retreating out of his reach one after another.
    I then noticed that Xania needed help, some skeletons joining the fight around her, but her sharp claws leaving only small scratches on their hard bones.
    Since Zorg seemed to be doing quite well, I spun around and highkicked one skeleton back to his grave, and quickly dispatched the other two.

    Once all minions were dead, we ganged up on the mad priest, who asked for mercy. Zorg just laughed and pressed his attack, scaring the priest who tried to flee the battle.

    Zorg ran after him while Xania and I just watched, scanning our surroundings for any unpleasant surprise, when Zorg knocked the man out. Before I could even suggest capturing the man, Zorg channeled some evil magic and absorbed what little life force the man had left.





    It’s time to go back to Nashkell and rest a few days. I felt some fresh wind coming from the other side of the island, there seems to be another passage to the mines from there. The attacks on us should stop now that we drove off those nasty little kobolds following us."


    Gamer’s ramblings :
    The RP is starting to affect my gameplay. The dragon blood in my main character has struck a greedy chord in him, so each time there is money to be made, he will jump on the occasion.
    On the contrary, apart from him, the other two are always almost naked, and don’t pick up anything from the corpses. Which also means that if my main character’s inventory is full from pickedup stuff, then he won’t be able to lift anything else (or he has to discard some stuff first). My druid and monk are limited to objects bought or gifted to the group (small exception, the ring of holiness from Mulahey went to my druid, but Mulahey had to be looted for clues anyway), while my greedy DD will amass riches, and wear every shiny apparel he can find.

    About the fight against Mulahey. I first lured him in the room on the topleft side with my monk, just to let my druid cast Doom on him, and my DD blind him afterwards. He turned hostile and called his minions. He saved the first blind spell, but succumbed to the second one and my monk managed to interrupt his first casting.
    After that, it was supposed to be an easy fight, a blind spellcaster is as good as dead (you just have to take a few steps back as he starts casting). But i nearly lost my druid who attracted all the minions, so I sent my monk helping her to attack the skeletons (he does crushing damage, the werewolf form does slashing).
    Mulahey failed his morale check and started running around, pursued by the team. It was very satisfactory to see my DD landing a critical hit who put him inconscious (the chill touch had run out), i then cas a larloch’s drain (from a scroll) to finish the job, since I wanted him to be the one landing the last blow as he did most of the job anyway.
    Post edited by monico on
    StummvonBordwehrJuliusBorisovLoldrup
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    edited September 2018
    Mirtul 14, 1368
    "You have to be KIDDING me ! Ambushed again !! And not once but twice !
    Apparently, our hidden ennemy did more than just send a few kobolds on our tails.

    There was indeed an exit from the mines in the back of the subterranean lake, but just as we stepped out of the mines, a group of amazons laying in wait attacked us !

    Luckily for us, Zorg picked up plenty of scrolls during the journey, and hailed a storm of arcane magic on them, webbing them, blinding them, setting them on fire and even charming two of them so that the harpies attacked themselves.

    We hurried to Nashkell to plan our next step, but ONCE AGAIN, some mercenary attacked us right in front of Nashkell’s inn ! This one was for me, and I punched the hell out of him. THIS MUST STOP !





    At long last, we could stop and gather around a quiet corner of Nashkell’s inn, where we laid down all the letters we found in the mad cleric’s hideout and on the last assassin sent after us.
    It turns out the mad cleric was called Mulahey, and worked for someone named Tazok.
    He is the one who sent all those assassins against us, but I don’t know if he acted on orders from his "superiors" or not.
    He has an agent in the south, a mage named Tranzig, staying... in Beregost off course, and in Feldpost’s inn, obviously. The gods are really toying with us...

    After deciding our course of action, we all wearily went into our rooms to get some rest. But I couldn’t sleep.
    Why is our ennemy so set on killing Zorg ? What do they know about the kid, that eludes me ? Can it be that they, too, have somehow found out that destiny has set its mark on him ? But in that case, why kill him ? Is he really just a catalyst meant to set destiny on its course, as I first thought, or is he more ? All is shrouded in the darkness, and the whispers are not revealing any clues. Zorg seems also different, I heard him mumbling in his sleep all night, and he seemed a bit off the next morning, as though he was haunted by remnants of a dream, not asleep, but not fully awake either.

    But it is time to hit the road again, and go punch some answers out of that Tranzig fool."



    Mirtul 17, 1368
    "Before going to Beregost, we decided to make a tour in Nashkell’s carnival. Strange folks here. We got attacked by some pet-ogre and an angry mage-hating wizard...







    Well, at least Zorg seemed to enjoy the Carnival, and bought a shiny necklace from a merchant.
    We did not stay long at the carnival, and went back to Beregost. Apparently, everyone and his sister knows Zorg in these parts !









    Some flaming fist captain wanted to hire us to do their dirty job and eradicate all bandits from here to Baldur’s Gate ! Zorg just laughed at the idea and left. Like hell we’d expose ourselves to all bandits of the region ! We have enough problems as it is.

    So, we just proceeded to damn Feldpost’s inn, to confront Tranzig.

    Apparently he liked this city just as much as we do, but that wasn’t enough to prevent us from killing the bastard when he refused to answer Zorg’s questions.







    Dammit, seems we DO have to take care of the bandits, he was working for them ! I feel that everytime we stay in this hellhole, the gods are just having fun ruining our plans...
    Time to leave. Next stop, Friendly Arm Inn."


    Gamer’s ramblings :
    Damn, those amazons were a tough fight ! I had to reload for the first time, and twice at that, until i decided to go for broke and use up all the scrolls I had gathered since the beginning (web, glitterdust, magic missile, charm person, burning hands...), and using all kinds of borderline cheese strategies to exhaust the ennemy’s spells and finish them off in melee (i also managed to charm the one using the poison darts, which is the most dangerous with high APR and poison).

    The rest was just normal stuff, Nimbul fell pretty quickly, same for the carnival ogre. I don’t know if I was just lucky, or if my party starts to be getting better, but the crazy mage in the carnival didn’t manage to cast a single spell, and got interrupted every round.
    I bought the Necklace of Missiles for my DD, who’s now also wearing some knaves robes, to conform to his flashy demeanor (i honestly didn’t expect this, but my characters seem to be developing their own personality).

    My DD is now lvl3, the monk and druid are lvl4. As for equipment, the latter two are almost naked, while my DD on the contrary has all this flashy equipment on him :







    Post edited by monico on
    Grond0StummvonBordwehrJuliusBorisov
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    edited September 2018
    Mirtul 22, 1368

    "Finally leaving Beregost, we headed to the Friendly Arm Inn and settled there while we located the bandit camp lying in the region, the directions contained in Tranzig’s scroll being less than precise.
    It did mention raids and scouting planned to be set around Peldvale and Larswood, so we decided to check those regions first.
    We lurched in these woods for days, trying to find traces of bandits, when we finally met a scouting party led by a man called Teven. Zorg convinced him that he wanted to join the bandits, putting forth what a violent and interesting job this was. I don’t think we was lying, too. Teven gullibly led us to the bandit camp, where we finally got to meet Tazok ! He’s an half-ogre, leader and coordinator of the bandit groups of the region, but I have no ideawhat connection to Zorg or any of us he has.
    He didn’t seem to know us either, as he allowed us to stay in the camp without much suspicion, and soon left to some unspecified mines for a patrol.






    We didn’t stay idly there, and in the black of night, we sneaked into his tent to find clues as to the reasons for his attacks on us.
    The tent was guarded by a few of his lieutenants : two humans, a gnoll and a hobgobelin. They immediatly attacked us ! I don’t remember much of the fight, since after I killed the first man, the wizard cast a strange spell on me, and the whole world seemed to distort as hordes of demons appeared everywhere. I couldn’t control my mind, and just fled in terror before the visions.
    When I came back to my senses, Zorg and Xania had finished off the rest of the lieutenants, and were pressing me to leave since the noise from the battle would sooner or later attract attention from bandits outside.






    We ran back to the Friendly Arm Inn to resupply. Our next step was infiltrating a mine laying deep in the Cloakwood, from where Tazok was receiving his orders from a man called Davaeorn. We also learned from letters in Tazok’s tent that they were working for a group called the Iron Throne, and that the one hiring assassins to murder Zorg was called Sarevok. Zorg suspects he is the huge armored man who attacked him and his father outside Candlekeep.

    I asked Xania if she knew about the mines in Cloakwood, and if she could lead u there. She seemed lost in thought, and barely mentioned that she knew the way, and then went silent again.

    We leave tomorrow at dawn. I’d better rest and prepare."
    Post edited by monico on
    StummvonBordwehrJuliusBorisov
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    edited October 2018
    Mirtul 27, 1368 : Cloakwood

    "As soon as we stepped inside the Cloakwood, Xania seemed to grow both anxious and relieved to be back.
    We soon found a log cabin on the outskirts of the wood, where we met a few hunters calling for help. Apparently, some savages were after them.
    The savages were actually druids, but as soon as Xania saw them, she shouted "I’LL HAVE MY VENGEANCE, SENIYAD !" and immediately turned into her wolf form and pounced upon the leader.
    Zorg and I jumped into the fray and helped her. As she and Seniyad fought each other, we took care of his followers. In the middle of the fight, I saw Seniyad retreating towards me and in a fluid motion, used my inner ki to land a stunning punch on the unexpecting foe. Xania soon finished him, and the rest of his band followed him in death.





    Aldeth, the hunter, thanked us for our help and welcomed us to spend the night in his log cabin, if we ever needed rest.
    The fight seemed to have unsettled both Zorg and Xania, and we decided to accept his invitation.

    At dinner, Xania finally spoke and told us her story. She said she was born in a tribe of werewolves living somewhere both near and far. Her mother was banished from the tribe when she was an infant, her mother having apparently made a serious offence to the pack leader, although Xania herself doesn’t know the details. Her mother took her and after a long journey, settled on the western part of Cloakwood, near the shore where her mother would often look into the distance, lost in her memories.
    A few years passed peacefully, her mother’s powers allowing her to claim a territory in the woods, while she also taught Xania how to control her wolf blood.
    But then, a local group of druids led by Seniyad went and chased after her mother, claiming she was breaking the balance of the woods. Xania’s mother told Xania to flee, while she attacked Seniyad and his goons to buy her some time.
    Xania ran and hid in nearby bushes, when another group of druids arrived on the scene, and joined the fight to attack Seniyad’s group.
    Although welcome, the renforts proved insufficient, and Xania’s mother was killed in battle, while her rescuers were pushed back.
    With the werewolf dead, the bitter fighting ceased and Seniyad’s group left, while the newcomers sighed and prepared to do the same. Their leader stopped and turned in the direction of the bushes where Xania was staying, and said "you can come out now, child, nobody will hurt you".
    The man was called Amarande, and he explained to her that he had past dealings with her mother, and was sorry that he had arrived too late to save her. The man and his friends claimed to be shadow druids, and Amarande took Xania with her and raised her as his pupil, teaching her the ways of the druid, along with sharing all the knowledge he had about lycanthropy.
    Xania swore at that time that she would one day avenge her mother, and with Seniyad now lying dead, her mother’s spirit can finally rest in peace.

    We left the next morning, Zorg lost in thought with a mysterious smile on his face.






    Xania took the lead to guide us through the forest, warning us that we entered the territory of a large swarm of spiders and ettercaps. We avoided alerting our presence to them, but still had to fight our way through a few of them. After two days of hiking through the forest, we arrived to the shadow druids settlement where Xania was raised.
    They recognized Xania and allowed us to rest in their midst, while we waited for their leader, Amarande, Xania’s mentor, to allow us an audience.

    Amarande received us the next day. When Xania saw him, she silently came to him, bowed and took a ring from her pack, saying "I have avenged Mother. Seniyad is dead, and here is his ring of power to prove my words."
    Amarande received the ring with a frown, and instead of welcoming her, slapped her in the face saying that she had betrayed the laws of nature by choosing to follow Zorg, and that she cast doom on the entire settlement by bringing us here, all the while casting a cold glance at Zorg.
    With no warning whatsoever, he said that as a favor to Nature, he couldn’t allow Zorg to leave these woods alive, and attacked us.
    Although surprised at his words, Zorg and I reacted immediatly and defended ourselves, while Xania stood there in a daze.
    The druid was powerful, and Amarande was about to finish chanting a powerful spell on Zorg, when Xania finally shook and transformed, and slashed at his former mentor, tears flowing down her wolf-like face.





    Amarande was struck in the spine, and as he was drawing his last breath, Xania kneeling beside him in human form, he whispered a few words to her ears and died.
    We never knew what he told her, but after a few moments, she raised to her feet, took the ring from Seniyad and Alarande’s club and left.
    Zorg and I followed her silently, and we all left the druid’s settlement without looking back."



    Gamer’s ramblings :
    I finally hit lvl4 with my DD after the fight with Seniyad. I picked Invisibility as my first lvl2 spell, and I rest near Aldeth’s cabin to memorize it. I also had the 3rd dream during this rest, meaning my DD can now cast both Invisibility AND horror, notably enhancing his spell arsenal. And invisibility was very helpful to go through the woods without having to fight everything on my path.
    I spent a long time thinking about what would happen in the reunion between Xania and her shadow druid mentor, and finally decided that she needed to kill him to keep with her descent into evil. I also thought that, as an archdruid in tune with nature, Amarande should have found clues about Charname’s true nature, and found therefore the reason for an attack on us.
    Post edited by monico on
    StummvonBordwehrGrond0JuliusBorisov
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    edited October 2018
    Kythorn 4, 1368

    "We should be heroes.
    Xania proved herself to be quite reliable again, and safely guided us through Cloakwood until we reached the abandoned dwarven mines that the bandits have taken over.
    Upon arriving, Xania and I wanted to enter the mines swiftly, taking the bandits by surprise to sneak into the base and kill their leader.
    Zorg argued that, if our past adventures have proven one thing, it is that our enemy is ALWAYS expecting us. And to prove his words, he stood outside the gates of the mines and just threw a few raging fireballs beyond our line of sight. We heard horrible screams, though they quickly died down. As we penetrated the compound, Xania and I did not dare make a sound as we saw charred corpses littering the ground.
    Some poor fool was still barely breathing, but a fast chop ended his misery.
    "What was that ?!", Xania asked Zorg.
    "Oh, just something I picked up on the road" he answered smugly while stroking the necklace he bought in Nashkell’s carnival.





    As I suggested that I sneak into the base, and try to find clues about our enemy’s weaknesses, Zorg said that he wanted to go as well. When I told him that my powers allowed me to blend into the shadows, something he could not, he just shrugged and waved his hands in a strange pattern and... simply disappeared !

    This kid ! When did he get such new powers ?! Whatever the case, any power up is welcome as we plan to invade an enemy base. So while I focused all my willpower and expertise to blend in the shadows and infiltrate the base, Zorg and Xania just strolled leisurely behind me, both rendered invisible by Zorg’s spell... I know that Zorg was waiting for me to ask for help, but I’d be damned if I gave him this pleasure. He’s been already showing off lately, and I decided to rely on my own power to lead them into the heart of the enemy base.

    We avoided all the guards, and directly reached the master’s quarters, where the leader, Davaeorn, was studying some letters.
    I snuck behind him to land a stunning blow to his head, but he felt my blow coming at the last second and managed to barely escape me. The wizard immediatly disappeared and I heard him reappear in a nearby room, cursing at us and at his useless guards. Zorg and Xania immediatly revealed themselves and started casting spells of their own, while I lured the wizard from room to room, him teleporting again and again, while I snuck back into the shadows each time he teleported, just to hit him from behind again a few seconds later.
    In this battle of attrition, one small mistake could prove fatal, but I made sure to have a few Invisibility potions prepared beforehand, and everything went smoothly, until the mage ran out of spells.
    Zorg and Xania joined me in battle and the three of us launched an array of unending strikes and punches at him. His protections soon fell, and I finished him off with a heavy swing of my fist.






    Zorg seemed to have had an enlightment, as he soon told me that he now understood how to make his punches even mightier. He demonstrated it to me : he closed his eyes, murmured a few words and clenched his fist, and I was surprised to see his fist glowing with electricity ! He then smiled, released the energy, and rechanneled it into a familiar glow : the kid had duplicated my stunning blow !

    We found a strange key on Davaeorn’s body. While sneaking in the base, I heard some slaves talking about a "plug" on the first floor of the mines. We went back up, and noticed that the key fit exactly into the plug. As I was suggesting that we should perhaps use caution and first find out what the plug was about, Zorg just turned the key and we heard a loud click, followed by a rumbling sound of falling water.
    Zorg turned and shouted "RUN !!!!" and we immediatly followed him, while a huge wall of water chased after us and flooded the tunnels.
    Luckily, we were not far from the exit, and barely escaped with our lives, but all the bandits and slaves down in the mine drowned. Well, almost all the slaves. Apparently, one was lucky enough to survive AND blame US for getting rid of an ARMY of bandits plaguing the region for WEEKS.
    Ungrateful bastard. He sure ran fast. At least the Flaming Fist officer back in Beregost showed some appreciation for our efforts.





    Since we made a stop on the bandit attacks of the region, we felt it was quite safe to make a little detour before visiting Baldur’s Gate, and Zorg suggested that we first make a trip to some abandoned castle to the south-east of Beregost, called Durlag’s Tower, supposed to be filled with treasures and good fortune.

    On the way there, we met a crazy gnome raising a handful of basilisks, that we decided to eradicate. Zorg wanted to use the basilisks blood to run some experiments (and I am sure he hoped for some reward from the townspeople of Beregost, but to no avail).
    We entered Durlag’s tower, but soon found out that it was far from abandoned, and on the contrary had become a den for all kind of vile and powerful monsters.
    Even though Zorg was curious about the tales of treasure, he still had some common sense left in him and agreed to turn back and leave the tower. After all, we still managed to loot some of the upper levels of the tower, and did not come back empty handed."

    Gamer’s ramblings :
    I "cleared" Cloakwood with this 3 man team, my DD having only 1 lvl2 spell (Invisibility), that he could cast twice per rest, and the monk and werewolf at lvl5 with only 14 and 15 thac0 prebuff respectively.
    I decided to skip most of the fights (Invisibility on the druid and DD / hide in shadows for the monk), cheesed Drasus’ group and the 2 battle horrors in Davaeorn’s quarters with the necklace of missiles (well, not real cheese per se, but metagaming knowledge combined with OP gear. So yeah, basically cheese.)
    Davaeorn’s fight was tough, with his prebuffs preventing my kicks from landing, and his constant teleports being really annoying for a melee team. So i decided to attack him with just my monk at first, while the DD and the druid in human form would cast debilitating or debuffing spells on him. Each time he teleported, i would have my monk either HiS or, if it failed, gulp down a potion of invisibility to interrupt his spells targeted at my monk. I only had to take one potion, and he soon ran out of spells, especially with my buffed monk landing a few lucky interrupting hits on him even through his mirror image. Even after being doomed, Davaeorn still succeeded on all his saving throws (and especially never was stunned by my Monk, even though i had 2 casts of the ability at that point), so my spells did not have any real impact on him. I guess the game itself wants me to let my fists do the job.

    After I killed Davaeorn, both my DD and my werewolf went up a level. My DD chose Shocking Grasp (lvl1) and Ghoul Touch (lvl2), which seemed quite RP ^^.

    After Cloakwood, I decided that I needed a bit more XP before challenging Baldur’s Gate, so I cleared the basilisks map, and went to Durlag’s Tower to get rid of a few XP-rewarding monsters and grab the first Wisdom book for my druid.

    I hit about 40k XP and my druid can finally cast 4th lvl spells, and the sweet Woodland Beings summon spell, while my DD has access to lvl3 spells, and I chose the awesome Slow spell (foes save at -4, APR and stuff is divided by 2, and penalty to thac0 and AC of 4 !) A must have for my DD to land some punches, especially if the foes are also blinded. I don’t have Glitterdust yet, and I’ll probably take Blur first at lvl7, so it’ll have to wait til level 9 and 135kXP for my DD to cast Slow then Glitterdust).


    NOTE : This part was actually finished early today, and since I was traveling, I had plenty of time to advance. I am now out of BG, on my way back to Candlekeep with my 3-man army, but I haven’t written the RP yet. The team is getting more and more powerful, way more effective than I first expected. Ghoul Touch is especially potent when used with buffs/debuffs. I’m starting to wonder if I won’t take Greater Malison in BG1, and wait for BG2 to take Polymorph self. Hmm, choices...
    Post edited by monico on
    StummvonBordwehrJuliusBorisov
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    Kythorn 6, 1368

    "The great merchant city of Baldur’s Gate. Even the proud merchants of Waterdeep speak with respect and envy of Baldur’s Gate influence in the sword coast. The large streets of the city and its harbor are filled with merchandise coming from all of Faêrun, and Zorg’s eyes were glistening with greed when looking at all the riches displayed everywhere.

    The citizens of Baldur’s Gate seemed preoccupied though, talking at length about tensions rising between their city and the nation of Amn.

    Although the city greets thousands of visitors every week, it seems our arrival did not go unnoticed.
    First, a Flaming Fist officer named “Scar” recognized us on the bridge leading to Baldur’s Gate as the adventurers solving the problems of Nashkell and putting a stop to the bandits raids in the region, probably informed of our identities by Officer Vaï from Beregost. He hired us to investigate strange behaviors occurring in a local merchant guild, suspecting a link between their actions and the problems in the region, and promising us a huge reward for the task. Zorg off course immediately accepted this easy money.
    Then, a meddling old man pretending to be Elminster greeted us at the Gate. We already met this crazy geezer a few times during our travels, and Zorg rebuked him once again, not trusting him the least.
    As we led our way north, two agents of the Iron Throne threatened us to turn around and stay away from the Throne’s business. Zorg did not take their threats to heart, and we continued on our visit of the city.
    On our way to visit the harbor of the city, we met another stranger recognizing Zorg. He claimed to know Zorg’s father yet not know him. He then attacked for no reason. Good for him. His corpse now feeds the rats.






    Since our enemies knew of our presence in the city, we decided to start investigate the Seven Suns merchant group.
    As we entered the headquarters, the first merchant we met told us to turn around, and revealed that the entire building had been overrun by shapeshifters. Top-notch detective work if you ask me.
    We confronted one of the other merchants, and they soon all turned into their true doppelgänger form. We slayed them all, and found the leader of the Seven Suns, Jhasso, captured by the creatures in the basement.
    We set him free, and went to report our findings to Scar.





    On our way, we passed another merchant guild, conveniently called the Merchant’s League, in front of which stood Aldeth, the hunter we saved from Seniyad in Cloakwood, looking distressed and lost in thought.
    When he saw us, he ran to us and asked for help, telling us that his business partners were not quite themselves and were acting weird.
    Zorg just sighed and accepted to follow him in the building, murmuring to us “10 gold pieces that they are doppelgängers”.
    After asking a few questions around, Zorg sent Xania to wreak havoc in Aldeth’s associates office until she found hard evidence. We heard wood splitter, and she came back with letters found in a drawer, confirming our suspicions : the Merchant’s League had been overrun by doppelgängers, sent by a man called Rieltar ! No doubt it is the same Rieltar Anchev who hired Davaeorn, responsible for all the turmoil in the region.
    After we got rid of all doppelgängers, Aldeth thanked us for saving his family’s business, and gave us a magic weapon supposedly useful against this kind of shapeshifters. None of us feel like using such a useless weapon, but it is a nice gesture nonetheless.






    We finally made our way back to the Flaming Fist headquarters, and informed Scar of what happened. We even told him about what we learned in the Merchant’s League, but he claimed that there was not enough evidence as of yet to act against the Iron Throne. Bureaucrats.

    Satisfied with our efficiency, Scar told us that he would arrange a meeting with Duke Eltan, one of the four dukes ruling Baldur’s Gate, and head of the Flaming Fist.

    While we waited for Duke Eltan to receive us, we decided to rest for a bit. We settled in the Helm and Cloak tavern, said to have been established by Balduran himself.
    There we met a group of adventurers calling themselves the Band of Merry Fools, who shared a few pints and stories with us.






    We were interrupted by another group of adventurers, who apparently had some beef with our new friends and attacked our two groups. With inferior numbers and pretty lame strength, they did not resist the combined power of Zorg’s blinding strikes, Xania’s fangs and my own stunning fists. Oh, and Gorpel Hind and his friends from the Merry Fools also took part of the fight, I think.

    After the fight, we asked the landlord for his best suite, and while Zorg was curiously inspecting a painting in the room, I laid down on my bed to get a good night sleep.

    When we woke up, we all felt dizzy and nauseous. Something seemed off, and we decided to take a stroll in the city to freshen up.
    And indeed, as we crossed a circus, one of the agents of the Iron Throne we met yesterday came to us, introducing himself as Lothander, confirming that his partner, Marek, had poisoned us during our sleep. He accepted to help cure us, if we found a way to free him from a geas curse that plagued him to do Marek’s bidding.
    He led us to a diviner, who revealed that only the high priestess of the Water Queen Umberlee had the means to release Lothander.

    Although none of us liked the idea of dealing with the Bitch Queen, known for her unreliability, it seemed we had no choice, and directly headed to the bitch queen’s temple.
    There, the high priestess ordered us to get the Tome of Wisdom from Tymora’s temple. Zorg was furious with the way the priestess treated us, but we knew that we had no choice and decided to bid our time.
    On our way to Tymora’s temple, a sniveling kid stopped us and begged for our assistance. Although we could not care less about some brat’s problem, he mentioned that he needed help to save the son of one of Trymora’s priests. Since we were looking for their help in the first place, it seemed reasonable enough to enter in the good graces of Lady Luck and her devouts.
    Apparently, a kid had been killed by the high priestess of Umberlee, just because he sneaked into their temple. Tymora’s priests had been unable to convince Umberlee’s High Priestess to deliver the boy’s body to his father.
    After hearing the priest’s story, we agreed to recover his son’s body, and directly headed to the temple to speak to his superior.
    The head of Tymora’s priests proved to be a decent fellow, and agreed to gift us the Book of Wisdom when Zorg pretended it was to help his underling recover his dead son’s body.
    We immediately went back to see the high priestess of Umberlee, and pretended to agree to the transaction. As soon as Zorg put his hands on the scroll who would release Lothander, we unleashed swift and righteous fury on the Bitch Queen’s high priestess.
    She fell before having the chance to invoke her god’s help, and we immediately set upon killing all her followers, and soon left the now silent temple with the scroll, the Wisdom Book and the kid’s body in our possession.
    We brought back the kid’s body to his father, who soon revived him, and we were assured by his superiors that their Lady would ensure that Umberlee would not be able to link us to the demise of her followers.

    We met back with Lothander in the back of the inn where he was hiding, and freed him from his curse. He thanked us by giving us a part of the antidote, assuring us that the rest of the antidote could be found on Marek, who was staying in the Blushing Mermaid, a tavern in the east of the city.
    In order to prevent Marek from destroying the antidote, we hurried to the tavern and attacked him without giving him the time to react in any way. Lothander was right, the rest of the antidote was indeed on Marek’s body, and as the potion ran through our throats, we felt our bodies being cleansed from the nauseous feeling plaguing us since morning.

    Relieved that we were safe from the poison, but also angered at the Iron Throne’s actions against us, we decided that enough was enough, and that it was time to settle our accounts.

    As we made our way to the Iron Throne’s headquarters, a Flaming Fist mercenary stopped us and informed us that Scar had managed to schedule an audience with Duke Eltan in the Flaming Fist Headquarters.

    We agreed to put our vengeance on hold for the moment, and followed the Flaming Fist mercenary.
    As soon as we arrived, Scar informed us that Duke Eltan was ready to see us, and we followed him to the Duke’s quarters.
    Duke Eltan seemed very satisfied with the quality of our work, and informed of our suspicions, he actually offered to PAY us to infiltrate the Iron Throne and find proof of their guilt !
    We now had a convenient and official excuse to wreak havoc to the Throne’s headquarters !

    Zorg obviously agreed to the task, and we hurried to the Iron Throne’s building, near the docks.
    Passing as merchants coming from Sembia, we were allowed into the last level of the building, where yet another mercenary group was waiting for us.
    They did not pose any more threat to us than their predecessors : used to the ways of the Iron Throne, Zorg expected a reception and threw a fireball from his fancy necklace upon entering the room.
    He immediately followed with a new spell in his arsenal, which caused our enemies to walk and fight very slowly.
    Xania helped with a few spells of her own, before reverting to her favorite wolf form, and the three of us jumped into the fray, launching a flurry of fast punches at our enemies, and retreating before their own attacks could hit us.
    The room was soon swept clean of enemies, although they did manage to land a few hits, especially their annoying spellcasters.
    We heard sobbing sounds coming from a nearby room, and we found a man hiding behind a cabinet, who started pleading for our mercy as soon as he saw us walking in the room.
    He revealed that he was just a stooge, the other leaders being the real masterminds behind the troubles in the Sword Coast.
    It turns out that Rieltar Anchev and his associates are away on a business trip… in Candlekeep !






    Zorg went mad when he heard that we came all this way for nothing, and seemed unsettled at the idea that his former home became a rendezvous point for high class criminals.

    We went back to see Duke Eltan to report that we failed to find any hard evidence, but Zorg asked to be sent to Candlekeep, claiming that the needed proofs were kept on Rieltar himself.
    I know that Zorg actually has no idea of the existence of such proofs, but Duke Eltan agreed to his request and sent us to Candlekeep with an old book required to pass entry.






    Zorg explained on the way that it was fitting to avenge his foster father in his former home, which he had to flee in a hurry because of the threat apparently posed by Rieltar, which ultimately led to Gorion being slain because of his departure of Candlekeep, and whose death was precisely what allowed Zorg to return to Candlekeep to finish the circle and kill his father’s murderers. Or something along those lines.”


    Gamer’s ramblings :
    Sorry for the length of this chapter. It is Baldur’s Gate after all.
    I did more quests than what is cited here, but couldn’t fit it all, anyway, I am now at more than 60k XP, and it is really starting to be an efficient team.
    Slow is a very welcome addition to my spells, I took Haste as a second 3rd level spell.
    My Druid is also starting to cast more spells before a fight, and has started to make use of the Cause Serious Wounds spells. They land almost systematically, but still cause less damage than she would do in her Werewolf form, and I still keep using her in werewolf form most of the time.
    JuliusBorisovGoturalLoldrup
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    Quick update : I haven't had much time to play, even less posting my advancement.

    So far, i have finished Candlekeep, and just came back safely from the lost island (RP quest for my druid). Now i only need to go back to BG city for the last chapter
    Gotural
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    edited October 2018
    Alright, after a somewhat long pause, here comes the next chapter of Zorg’s tale.


    Kythorn 16 :

    "The sword coast is in grave peril.

    At first, all went smoothly. We went back to Candlekeep, escorted by a full regiment of Flaming Fist mercenaries, sent by Duke Eltan.
    With the book from Eltan’s library and Zorg’s recomandation, we were allowed entry into the citadel.
    Zorg met a few old acquaintances, but did not tally to discuss past memories, and went straight to the library.

    He seemed to have another purpose than just confronting Rieltar and the other Iron Throne leaders, as he first led us to Gorion’s old room. There, he found a letter Gorion left him should anything happen to him. How predictive of him.
    Zorg seemed shaken by the contents of the letter, and when I asked him what it was about, he just glanced at me and gave me the letter.





    Zorg is in fact a son of Bhaal, the late Lord of Murder !!!

    He is the One, the Scion of destiny that the whispers told me about. Alaundo’s prophecies are starting to make sense. I know now that he will change the fate of the sword coast, bringing disaster, but also renewal with him. My sole purpose in life shall be to assist him in his endeavor, and record his tale for the generations to come.

    After finishing the letter, I fell to my knees, and promptly swore allegiance to Zorg. He seemed moved by my actions. He then turned to Xania and asked her if she would still be accompanying us.

    Xania hesitated for a moment, before nodding her head slightly without a word.

    Zorg seemed to have grown a few centimeters, and his whole body radiated power and confidence as he told us that it was time to settle all accounts before leaving this region.

    We headed back to the third floor, where we knew the Iron Throne’s leaders were staying.

    Zorg went berzerk the moment he spotted Rieltar. Without giving him (or us for that matter) any time to react, he flicked a wand he kept in his robes, summoning a few monsters, and jumped at Rieltar, his fists covered by a red glow.

    Rieltar and the other Throne leaders were no pushovers, and I followed Zorg into battle, while Xania summoned a nymph to assist us.

    Zorg’s swift attack took Rieltar by surprise, stunning him on the spot. Without his spellcasting abilities, the man was as good as dead, so I targeted his other partners who were making short work of Zorg’s summons.

    Xania soon joined me, while her nymph ally slinged a Hold spell at the Iron Throne leaders to prevent them from calling for help.

    The battle ended as fast as it started, and the last of Rieltar’s companions soon fell at our feet.






    Zorg looked at Rieltar’s corpse, and murmured "Now, my vengence is complete."

    We swiftly and silently left the murder scene before anyone could link us to the crime, and took refuge in Winthrop’s inn to take a rest, hoping to leave the Citadel during the night, unnoticed.

    Yet, although we were sure that no one saw us attack the Throne leaders, a company of Sentinels sent by Ulraunt barged into our rooms and arrested us.

    We were directly sent to jail, some eyewitness called Koveras pretending to have seen us, apparently some useless fool’s allegations sufficed to convince Ulraunt.






    While we waited for morning in our jail, to be sent to Baldur’s Gate for execution, Tethtoril freed us from our cell and teleported us in the catacombs, so that we could escape our fates.

    He also mentioned that Koveras was probably Sarevok, a name we spotted in a few letters from the Cloakwood mines. He is the son of Rieltar Anchev, and we thought he was just another one of Rieltar’s pawns. We were wrong.






    The catacombs were filled with doppelgangers, but with Zorg’s invisibility spells and my own powers from the Plane of Shadows, we evaded their detection.

    On our way out of the catacombs, we met a few of Sarevok’s followers, who confirmed that he was the mastermind behind our arrest, and that he planned to overtake his father’s position in the Iron Throne to somehow become a Grand Duke !






    After we set out of the catacombs, Zorg decided that we needed to find a safe place to wait for the troubles in Baldur’s Gate to settle down.

    I suggested that we go back to my home city, Waterdeep, but Zorg argued that the Iron Throne had many spies in all the merchant cities of Faerun.

    As we were discussing our options, the normally silent Xania interrupted us, and told us that her mother came from a distant island, secluded from all civilization and trade routes.

    Alas, she did not know precisely where this island laid, all she remembered as a child was that when she first set foot on the sword coast, the first thing she saw was an old decrepit lighthouse.

    Zorg agreed that this island seemed safe enough, and he remembered travellers stoping at Candlekeep talking about an old lighthouse standing south of Candlekeep.

    We then headed south, following the coast and avoiding the roads. At last, we found the lighthouse, but when Xania saw it, she told us that this was not the same lighthouse.






    I remembered then that on my way from Waterdeep, I passed a fishman’s village just a day north of Baldur’s Gate, who also possessed an old lighthouse.

    We decided to make our way north and check the village - Ulgoth’s Beard is it called - and that, should this not be the right place, we would continue our way north and hide in the wilderness near Waterdeep.

    In order to lose any eventual pursuers, we first headed east, following the Amn’s border to avoid Flaming Fist patrols, and then turned north using the old Firewine bridge that we were now familiar with.

    And at last, after a week of traveling through forests and swamps, we arrived at Ulgoth’s Beard.
    We went directly to the lighthouse, which proved to be the same one Xania saw when she first arrived on the sword coast !






    Xania, who normally never showed any emotions, was trembling incontrolably. After a few inquiries, we learned that a stranger called Mendas, claiming to come from Waterdeep, was recruiting adventurers to find a lost island.

    Although it seemed too good to be true, we had to investigate and find out if it was the same island Xania came from.

    We followed discretely that Mendas fellow as he walked through the village.

    Sure enough, when I saw him, I immediately noticed that he was lying about his identity. His strong accent was nowhere near the way whaterdavians spoke.
    Xania also told us that she felt a strong sense of kinship from the way he moved, talked and.. smelled.

    To avoid any suspicion from his part, we decided that only Zorg and I would go meet him, while Xania would stay at the inn, so that Mendas would not sense that same feeling of familiarity.

    We pretended to be adventurers, interested in his unlikely tale about Balduran’s ship being discovered, and agreed to help him get some sea charts from merchant’s guid in Baldur’s Gate.






    Although it was somewhat dangerous to go back to Baldur's Gate, the guild’s headquarters were in the border of the city, and we sneaked into the building in the middle of the night.
    The captain in possession of the sea charts was an alcoholic idiot, and we easily exchanged the maps for a strong ale.

    We didn’t stay longer than needed in the city, and directly headed back to Ulgoth’s Beard where Mendas’ boat was waiting for us.

    When we returned earlier today, Mendas was overjoyed by our success and told us that the boat was ready to leave first thing in the morning.

    Hopefully a few weeks of seafaring and secluded life will allow us to rest from all that have happened these last weeks."


    Gamer’s ramblings :
    I had long decided that Xania’s story would be linked to the lost island from ToSC, and the lighthouse (surrounded by wolves) also seemed to fit nicely in this plot. And it allowed me to get the CON tome as well as the wolf cloak, which fits the purpose of being very useful for my monk to get access to magical attacks, and is very RP especially since my party shall be, one way or another, exposed to a form of lycanthropy.
    I did not use it before getting to the island though.

    Also, my characters have leveled up a bit, reaching 90k XP, which also meant my first lvl4 spell for my DD.
    Although Stoneskin seems a must have for a melee sorcerer, I decided to take Polymorph self as a first pick (Stoneskin will wait til 135k xp and lvl 9).

    Which was probably the best idea I ever had (which doesn’t say much, but still). This build is starting to become OP, especially with a cast of Draw upon Holy Might (I decided to hit 10 reputation before the last dream).

    I have tried to use other forms as well, but I like the Flind form soooo much : AC1 ; thac0 -1 (not much alas, but better than other forms) ; 2 APR ; weapon 1d10+1 (strikes as +3!!) and an additional +1 fire damage ; 17 strength and dex

    For normal fights, just a cast of slow when ennemies are near, then moving my DD to melee, and next round changing to flind is already sufficient.

    If a big fight is coming up, I prebuff a bit more : blur / haste from the DD, then swith to Flind form (annoyingly, you have to reequip items for them to take effect in the new form somehow), while my druid casts bless, maybe defensive harmony even, and once the DD is in Flind form, casts Strength to gain back that point in Str.
    Then the DD casts DuHM from special abilities, and we are all set :
    -13 AC (!) ; 70 HP ; 12 thac0 (not that good, but far from bad coupled with debuffs such as slow or blindness) ; 13-22 dmg +1 fire ; 3 APR.

    Overall stats are better than my monk or my werewolf. Although it takes more time to prepare, and the thac0 can’t compete. I hope i’ll find a solution for that in BG2 before hitting lvl12 (yay, Tenser).

    Anyway, this, my friends, is a melee dragon disciple worth its salt. Those stats may not seem impressive, but remember that debuffs (especially slow who is quite consistant) add a lot of thac0 and AC to this.
    Post edited by monico on
    GoturalJuliusBorisov
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    edited October 2018
    Werewolf island, here we go.


    Flamerule 13

    "Two months have passed in the blink of an eye.

    We took the sea with Mendas’ ship, in the direction of Balduran’s isle. Xania spent all her time on the deck, looking towards the horizon with eager eyes.






    During our trip, we talked a lot about Mendas and his connection with Xania’s mother. Xania is positive that Mendas possesses some powers of lycanthropy, and is convinced that he and her mother came from the same pack. We already know that he lied about his identity and that he does not come from Waterdeep, and the most likely explanation is that the island he is sending us to is the island where he and Xania came from.
    Although why he would hide it, and why he would not accompany us, we have no idea at that point. We agreed that it would be best upon arrival to stay silent about Xania’s mother, since she had been forced into exile by the pack leader, although Xania herself does not know any specific details.

    After three uneventful weeks on sea, just as we were nearing our destination, a heavy storm fell upon the ship, destroying her despite the sailor’s efforts to keep us afloat.

    We somehow managed to reach the shore of a nearby island, although none of the other sailors seemed to have survived.






    The island was inhabited by a strange but welcoming community.
    Their leader, a woman going by the name of Kaishas, confirmed that Balduran’s ship ran aground on the north of the island a few generations ago.
    She asked for our help, claiming that their peaceful settlement was being threatened by "beasts", although she was very cryptic about what kind of beasts they were.
    We had our idea on that part, especially after a kid we ran into on the shore innocently revealed that the beasts "look like us, but they change and get mean".






    We did not confront Kaishas with our suspicions, and agreed to help her chase the leader of the beasts, as it was the only way for us to investigate the island freely.






    We first decided to settle down in the village, familiarize ourselves with our hosts... and ask around a few questions.
    Surprisingly, although Xania had felt some familiarity when meeting Mendas, the feeling was much fainter, almost imperceptible, with the villagers.

    Although the locals were a bit hesitant at first, they soon opened up and answered our questions.
    Our investigations confirmed that we reached the island Mendas talked about, and are almost sure that he is an inhabitant of this island, yet nobody ashore had ever heard of him... Or so they say at least.

    We met a friendly stranded sailor, a survivor of a sunken ship like us, who warned us that nothing is what is seems here.






    His warning, coupled with the villagers talking relentlessly about "belonging" here, strengthened our suspicions that this was a werewolf settlement.
    Xania felt lost, as while it seemed that she found the werewolf pack she was looking for, her werewolf blood did not have a strong reaction with the villagers, as if she was only distantly related to the pack.

    We suspected that, since there were "changing beasts" in the northern part of the village, there was probably another werewolf settlement on the island, and that she maybe originated from this other pack.

    So we made our way to the northern part of the island, where sure enough, we met a few members of another pack, yet these were wolfweres, wolves changing into humans, and not the other way around ! Before we could investigate further, they all attacked us, and we had to dispatch them.

    Xania was even more confused, as she definitely sensed the same faint tingling connection to the wolfweres that she felt to the villagers, yet knew she was part of neither.

    We decided to make our way to the Wandering Eye, Balduran’s ship, to confront Karoug and get the answers Xania was looking for.

    On the way, we stumbled upon a worn out shack, where an old and crazy elf resided. His name was Dradeel, and he was a companion of Balduran ! Although his story was inconsistent, to say the least, we learned the story of Balduran’s last trip.






    It turns out that all inhabitants of the island are descendants of Balduran’s crew, although Balduran’s fate remains unknown.
    Dradeel has been hiding in this decrepit old house for years, as his spellbook remained on the ship, preventing him from leaving the island.

    He offered us shelter, and we decided to rest here before confronting Karoug.
    We spent the night, replenishing our strength. But, unknowingly to us, while we were staying on the island, Zorg and I too had been contaminated by lycanthropy !!
    Luckily for us, Xania’s upbringing had led her to master the powers of lycanthropy, and she taught us how to control and channel the feral urge.
    As the curse only affected us lightly so far, her lessons allowed us to willingly turn into wolves or suppress the urge completely.

    Since the clock was ticking, we decided that we could not wait any longer, and went into the shipwreck of the Wandering Eye.






    There, we were attacked by Karoug’s pack, but they stood no chance against us, especially with our newfound powers.






    We finally met Karoug, who recognized Xania immediately.
    He revealed Xania’s story. Xania’s mother was indeed a member of the werewolf settlement of the south of the island, and one of their strongest fighter, often sent north to fight Karoug’s forces. A year before Xania was born, while she was patrolling the village’s border, she encountered one of Karoug’s wolfwere, sent to spy on the village’s defense.
    Although both their packs were mortal ennemies, and they had both killed their fair share of the other’s tribe members, the moment they saw each other, they stared at each other silently, neither attacking.

    At first, none of them said or did anything, and they just silently parted to proceed with their respective duties.
    Time and time again, they encountered each other in a similar fashion, neither approaching the other, but both respecting this tacit truce.
    At some point afterwards, one way or another, they started to meet in secret, and a romantic relationship ensued, hidden from the eyes of their tribes.

    Soon after, Xania’s mother got pregnant, and she knew that she couldn’t stay in the village anymore.
    She left the village, living and hiding in the woods, while her companion helped guiding the hunting parties away from her hiding spot, and brought her food and fresh water when she was too weak to hunt by herself.

    Alas, the island was only so big, and a few weeks after Xania was born, the baby’s cries in the night alerted a wolfwere hunting party, who soon discovered the mother and child and captured them.
    They were brought to Karoug, who immediately noticed that the child was special, as it was a member of both packs, yet subject to none.
    Feeling that the kid might one day become a threat to his leadership, Karoug ordered the mother and child to be killed, while commanding an investigation to reveal the identity of the father.
    As soon as Xania and her mother had been captured, Xania’s father knew that the only escape would be a bloody one.
    When Karoug delivered his sentence, Xania’s father unleashed his wolfwere powers and, turning against his unsuspecting brethren, he created a path for Xania and her mother to escape, telling her wife to run to the nearby cabin.
    Xania’s mother reacted immediately, and with her baby in her arms, jumped into the cabin, where she saw a glimmering scroll that her companion had found in Dradeel’s spellbook.
    As soon as she touched the scroll, rays of magic illuminated the cabin, and she just had time to turn back and see her companion chanting a few words, while the wolfwere were pounding on him.
    His former brethren were attacking him relentlessly with claws and fangs, hoping to interrupt him from casting the spell, but sustained by his sheer willpower, Xania’s father managed to chant the last words of the spell before drawing his last breath.

    Unknowingly to the whole tribe, Xania’s father had learned somehow to use magic, and successfully managed to teleport his wife and child, right under their nose.

    As Karoug finished recounting his tale, I heard Xania let out a long and sad sigh. She then addressed Karoug and told him that she had no intention to challenge his authority as leader of the wolfwere pack, but that as a memento to her dead father, she would rip his head off.

    A gruesome battle ensued, and while we managed to easily dispatch Karoug’s minions, the packleader was a fearsome fighter.
    He seemed completely unphased by our attacks, and Zorg and Xania had no other choice than revert to their human forms and use their spells to slowly but surely bring him down.
    Just as Zorg’s spells were running out, Karoug finally fell before us.







    With Xania’s father avenged, and the threat on the werewolf village removed, we decided that we deserved some peace at last, and made our way back to the village.

    On the way, we stopped at Dradeel’s cabin to return his spellbook that we found on the ship. Dradeel was jumping and dancing excitedly as he saw his beloved treasure, and teleported right away.





    We reported Karoug’s death to Kaishas, who thanked us profusely and welcomed us in the pack, sensing that we had been "gifted" with Lycanthropy.






    But just as we were rejoicing to have finally found a place to lay low, Kaishas’ advisor revolted against our acceptance in the pack, and attacked us in the name of the pack. Ungrateful bastards.






    Sometimes I wonder about the sanity of these people. They send us to kill the biggest, meanest, ugliest big baddie in town, and when they see us return victorious, hence proving that we are even bigger, meaner and ... well, stronger, they turn on us... What result was he really expecting here ? Ah whatever, idiots are idiots. And dead.

    Although Kaishas pretended to be on our side, it turns out she was just after the sea charts we brought, and she snatched it from us and left us to deal with her formerly alive brethren.





    We went after Kaishas. It turns out that the werewolves had been secretely building a ship and were just waiting for the sea charts we benevolently brought with us to leave the island.

    Yeah well, crossing us was maybe not the worse thing she did, but it was definitely the last.





    Since Balduran’s island was no longer the quiet haven of peace we were looking for, we decided to make good use of the ship the werewolves built for us, and sail back to Ulgoth’s Beard. Some dude called Mendas still owed us some explanation."



    Gamer’s ramblings :
    When I first planned this "no weapon challenge", i thought that Karoug’s fight would be BG1’s toughest challenge, I was not even sure it was doable, so I carefully kept a savegame from before going to the island, just in case.

    It was, indeed, quite challenging, but not as hard as I feared.

    First, I cleared the wolfweres on the map and ship thanks to good prebuffs, wolf cloak (my monk has no magical attacks otherwise, convenient plot twist ! yay), and gimpy AC from the monsters. They hit hard, but fall fast.

    To stick with the RP line, I limited my DD’s transformations to just the wolf form. It ain’t bad, but it is definitely not as good as ... hmm well any other form in fact (bad AC, low damage, but passable APR).

    As for Karoug’s fight itself :
    I first launch every prebuff possible (for example, my DD was under shield, blur, haste, wolf form, strength, DuHM, bless and defensive harmony. Oh and i used the stoneskin scroll I had from the Ice Caverns i cleared just before sailing here). Then I run upstairs, initiate dialogue, use the Wand of Paralyzation on Karoug (worked on the 2nd cast) while everyone attacks the pack.
    The wolves and werewolves fall fast, reaaally fast. Less than 1 round per foe (well, everyone had 3 APR, good damage, and sufficient thac0).

    Then, it is Karoug’s turn.
    1st round : everyone turns back human
    2nd round : greater malison (scroll) + doom
    3rd round : slow (failed save, regen is halved so "only" 15hp/round) + summon insect
    4th round : blindness + insect plague (they stack, that makes 6 dmg/round)
    5th round and onward : DD casts vampiric touch (4d6 dmg), then Shocking Grasp (i was surprised, not only do the electrical damage work against Karoug, but also the fist damage. Well, lucky me) and other magic damage spells. Druid casts Cause critical wounds and Cause serious wounds. Monk uses the Wand of Heavens (Karoug resists 50% fire, but it is still nice).
    Well, 3 rounds later, Karoug dies from a minor larloch drain.

    So, although helped by debuffs / insects / wand of heavens, Karoug was still mainly killed by touch spells !!! Which was precisely why I started this run in the first place after all, so I am quite happy. Not only did my challenge not prevent me from killing Karoug, but it was in fact a very potent and effective way to deal with him.
    Post edited by monico on
    GoturalJuliusBorisov
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    edited October 2018
    Eleasias 10

    "We are back, and it is time to unleash our rightful wrath on those who have been playing with our lives.

    We spent another few weeks on the sea, without incident this time.





    During the long nights at sea, we discussed our options for once we got back on land. Zorg announced that he was done fleeing and hiding. It was time to confront our ennemies, and put an end to Sarevok’s schemes against us. I feel Zorg is growing, and I am very pleased with his decision. Xania also agreed, and her smile after Zorg announced his decision sent shivers down my spine.

    After we landed safely back to Ulgoth’s Beard, we first visited our old friend Mendas. As we suspected, he was Selaad, the former chieftain of the werewolves tribe.






    He deserved his position, as he proved much stronger than the rest of his tribe, second only to Karoug. I was almost done for, when Zorg managed to tie him down with a spell of his, Xania finishing him off the same way she heavily wounded with Karoug a few weeks earlier.





    We spent a night in Ulgoth’s Beard’s inn to tend to our wounds and prepare our comeback to Baldur’s Gate City.

    We used our stealth powers to make our way through the city, hoping to take Sarevok by surprise in his headquarters. Apparently, he had long abandoned the Iron Throne’s building. On the last floor though, we saw a woman busy destroying papers and scrolls.

    She somehow noticed us and called two large ogres to her aid.






    She fell rapidly, and as she did, a large book fell from her robes. It was Sarevok’s diary, that she probably meant to keep as a memento. Lucky for us, since all of Sarevok’s plans were revealed : Sarevok is also a child of Bhaal, and a very ambitious one at that, as he wants to achieve godhood through putting Amn and Baldur’s Gate to war !

    We then went to the Flaming Fist Headquarters, still hidden in the shadows, as we learned from remnant scrolls found in his chambers that Sarevok managed to have Duke Eltan poisoned and held prisoner in his own room. He might prove useful to back our cause and grant us passage to the Ducal Palace to confront « Duke » Sarevok.

    We swiftly and stealthily rescued Eltan, who was left barely alive and proved too weak to accompany us to the Ducal Palace. We left him to a friend of his, somewhere in the docks. Hopefully, Sarevok’s diary will be enough to cause his fall.

    In order to find a way into the Ducal Palace, we decided to visit the sewers below the Blushing Mermaid, where we knew that Sarevok had accomplices waiting to infiltrate the palace.
    We dispatched the two assassins working for Sarevok, and found on their bodies invitations to Sarevok’s coronation.

    The coronation was due this very day, so we did not dare take any detour and directly went to the Ducal Palace. The guards let us through with no qualms when they saw the invitations. Which is quite odd, since we have spent the last 4 months being chased and recognized by everyone and their grandma, and are now supposed to be Baldur’s Gate’s most infamous criminal… We were surprised but happy when the guards outside the palace let us through…
    Only to be stopped by another contingent of guards inside the palace ! Those outside were probably just for show, but these guards must be the real deal. So we prepared to have to punch our way through.
    Well. Guards. They did not even ask us our names, just saw that we had some official-looking invitations with NO NAME ON IT whatsoever, and we were good to go. How can one feel secure inside such a palace, I wonder.

    But this none of our concern, and we made our way to the coronation room, where the ceremony was already starting. But in the middle of Sarevok’s speech, all the nobles present turned into doppelgängers, and started attacking the Dukes present !

    Our arrival was timely, and we sent all the spells and punches and kicks we had in our arsenal to repel the attempted coup. Alas, Duchess Liia Jannath fell before we could come to her rescue, but we managed to save Duke Belt and revealed Sarevok’s treachery.







    As Belt ordered the guards to capture Sarevok, he managed to escape with a wizard who teleported both of them. Duke Belt informed us that Sarevok at fled somewhere underground, and asked us if we accepted to pursue him.

    Zorg just looked at him icily. « That’s the plan, you dimwit » he said. Duke Belt seemed taken aback, but did not mind the rudeness. He needs us, after all.
    Belt teleported us after Sarevok, and we reappeared in the Shadow Thieves headquarters.

    We followed him through the thieve’s guild cellar, which led to the ruins of an ancient city, lying underneath Baldur’s Gate, unbeknownst to all ! We saw from afar that a large building still stood in the vicinity, and we knew that this was the place Sarevok had chosen for his last stand.






    We prepared all our spells and potions before entering, and sure enough, Sarevok and his last followers were waiting for us inside. Sarevok was still clinging on his dream to become Bhaal’s successor.






    We battled from one corner of the temple to another, spells were filling the air, the walls trembling from the might of our strikes. Sarevok’s last followers fell one after another, but the man himself still stood, ending any minions we sent his way with just one strike of his 2 meters long greatsword.

    Zorg and Xania turned back from their enhanced form to focus their spells on Sarevok, and while he turned his back on me to strike a wolf summoned by one of Zorg’s wands, I managed to land a heavy blow on his spine, stunning him on the spot.

    Zorg and Xania immediately joined me in battle, but Sarevok still managed to gain back his senses before we could finish him off. Using our summons as cannon fodder, we slowly but surely depleted his stamina, Zorg finally landing the killing blow, as it should be.






    Sarevok was finally dead, and the threat of his shadow looming over our shoulders was no more."


    Gamer’s ramblings :

    SAREVOK IS DOWN !!!!!!!!

    Alright, this was a difficult fight at first, and I had to use all my knowledge from the AI scripts, allowing me to kill Semaj first where he appeared, kiting and killing Tazok without Sarevok accompanying him, using invisibility spells and potions to kill Tazok in the north-western corner of the temple.

    Angelo was left on the altar, and I did not manage to kill him before fighting Sarevok.

    So I then turned my Dragon Disciple and Shapeshifter back into humans to launch spells. Summoned some animals and a Woodland Being.

    Then I aggro Sarevok with my monk, getting the summons to occupy him for a few seconds.
    - the DD launches Greater Malison (scroll), while the druid casts Doom : -6 saving throws, as well as -2 thac0 (doom)
    - next round, DD launches slow (sarevok fails his save) ; druid Summon Insect (strangely enough, he saves this one, although it is at -10 from the spell malus and the doom+malison combo)
    - 3rd round : blindness (fails his save. Lucky me !) / druid recasts Bless, my monk stuns Sarevok with stunning blow
    - 4th round : DD and druid transform into Flind and werewolves
    - 5th round and onwards : flurry of attacks from my group. I don’t remember exactly how long the stunning effect from stunning blow lasts, but it was not enough to finish Sarevok. But a bit of hit and run to let him focus on the summons, and a few rounds later, my DD manages to land the killing blow ! I was so proud of him at that time ?

    In retrospect, I found that I had been way too careful. Sarevok had been slowed, doomed, blinded. He wouldn’t have managed to hit my DD even if I had stood there unmoving (and I actually re-loaded my save a few days later to try and melee Sarevok one-on-one with my DD. It worked, but it all depends on whether Sarevok fails his saves against slow and blind, and even with the debuffs, his saves are still good enough to allow him to save quite often against blindness).

    Anyway, with all the debuffs going, Sarevok had -10 thac0 (doom, blind, slow) ; attacked twice per round only ; and lost 8 AC.

    Meanwhile, my DD had, fully buffed and Flind form :






    Actual Armor Class was -19 against Sarevok. There’s 2 points missing from Protection from Evil, and +4 AC against slashing from the belt and the mage robes.
    He also had 3 APR, and stoneskin and mirror images to boot.

    Here’s the monk (lots of potions) :






    And the druid :







    I finished Baldur’s Gate 1, and Sarevok was killed by a MELEE SORCERER (although my first try was more a standard debuff first, attack second, I did manage to kill him one on one with my DD a few days later).
    Post edited by monico on
    GoturalJuliusBorisov
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    Ultar 27

    "Three months after Sarevok’s death, we were still staying in Baldur’s Gate, busy chasing and eliminating the remnants of Sarevok’s forces.
    At last, it seemed we managed to rout all his followers, with only some stubborn mage called Korlasz remaining.

    The Flaming Fist chased her to her last bastion, her family’s ancient crypts, and we were asked to finish the job, as always.






    Well, we could not let the Flaming Fist have all the fun anyway, could we ? So we rapidly put an end to Korlasz and decided that it was about time we could be left alone for a bit.







    We were invited by the Dukes to stay at the palace, and we felt that it was rightfully earned. But our respite was short-lived, and after just two weeks, some assassins broke into the palace in the middle of the night !






    Well, we shouldn’t be surprised that they could get in, as the guards have been proven useless long ago.
    But then, as we searched the assassins’ bodies, we found a very disturbing parchment :






    "OH COME ON !!" Zorg exclaimed

    Zorg immediately led us downstairs to speak with the Dukes, who revealed that the assassins bore Caelar Argent’s seal, some crazy woman who has been raising an army up north.
    The city of Baldur’s Gate was, conveniently, planning to send a few contingents of Flaming Fist mercenaries to repel the rebel army, and the Dukes tried to coax us into accompanying them.






    "Are you for REAL ? The woman has an army, she wants me dead, and you really think I’ll go there ?? Uhuh, no, screw you, i’m not falling for that one !" Zorg just said, and stormed off the Palace, Xania and I in tow.
    Those guys, really.

    We left without giving the Dukes any time to think, and by the time they sent people after us, we already blended into the crowd outside the palace, making good use of our stealth skills to disappear from that damned city forever.





    We decided that, since Caelar’s army was waiting for us in the north, it was the right time to go south towards the Cloud Peaks. Nobody will find us there."

    Gamer’s ramblings :
    And here goes SoD :smiley:
    At first I really planned on doing the game but, i don’t know, it just did not fit.
    Well, here comes Baldur’s Gate 2 then. Plus, starting BG2 at 500k XP seemed a bit overpowered... It turned out later though that the first part of BG2 still proved pretty easy (but more on that later).
    JuliusBorisov
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    edited November 2018
    Mirtul 3rd, 1369

    "Almost six months have passed since our departure from the city Baldur’s Gate. At first, we really enjoyed our newfound peace, traveling south to the Cloud Peaks, then due east to join Cormyr or Sembia, where Zorg heard that there was money and fame to be found for the bold.

    The further we travelled from Baldur’s Gate, the more confident we grew, until we became almost complacent with our safety.

    And, sure enough, evil befell us. As we were traveling through the Snakewood, a relatively small forest east of the Cloud Peaks, hooded men attacked our camp in the middle of the night, capturing us without giving us any chance to resist.





    We woke up in small and decrepit cells, chains hanging everywhere, some skeletons still barely attached to a few of them.

    Our captor, a tall and disfigured mage, seemed particularly interested in Zorg’s lineage, and spent most of his time running some "tests" on him, although those tests seemed like pretty straightforward torture to me.





    Apparently, Imoen and some other adventurers had also been held captive.
    After who know how many days spent lying in our cells, our captor’s dungeon was suddenly attacked by mysterious warriors.
    Imoen used the distraction to pick her cell’s lock, and came to free us. What a nice little girl.

    Zorg immediately ditched her and we used our fists and stealth to make our way through our enemy’s lair, learning on the way that the mage was called Irenicus, and seemed quite deranged, to say the least.





    As we stepped outside, we saw Irenicus killing one foe after another, sending spells with just one word and one wave of his hands. He seems not to be someone to be trifled with. At some point during the fight, Imoen appeared next to us, apparently the girl has more spirit than I thought, and she just used her own stealth to follow us all along !

    The mage just finished killing his assailants, and turned his attention to us, when some weirdly-looking hooded mages teleported everywhere and surrounded us. They apprehended Irenicus, but for some reason, Irenicus asked for Imoen to be taken as well.






    I have no idea what good it would do him, nor why the hooded wizards agreed to his request. One of them turned to us, but Zorg swiftly exclaimed that we had nothing to do with this and were just unlucky passersby. They all teleported away, and we were left in the street, with no idea where we were.

    We made our way to the nearest inn, where we learned that we were standing in Waukeen’s Promenade, the large marketplace of Athkatla, the capital of Amn ! We decided to rent a room for the night, and also purchased a map of the city from the innkeeper.
    As we headed upstairs to get some rest, we found that our room was being squatted by some weirdos, led by an irascible dwarf who just wouldn’t leave. Well, we did manage to clear the room anyway.






    The next morning, we decided to look around a bit to get more informations on who were those people attacking Irenicus, and where the hooded wizard came from and left to. We thought the best place to start our investigations would be the slums of the city, where shadowy trades are likely to be commonplace.

    Our instinct was spot on, and as we entered the district, some overly-nice guy called Gaelan Bayle invited us to his home, flashing Imoen’s name to assure us of the value of his information.

    He did not reveal much though, and just stated that his "organization" could help us find Imoen and Irenicus for us. Although for the hefty sum of 20.000 Gold !!!

    Zorg did not seem very hard pressed on finding Imoen nor any super-powerful-and-creepy wizard, but still kept note of Gaelan’s information that someone was looking for a spellcaster of some sort in the Government District.




    "




    Gamer’s ramblings :
    First part of BG2 was quite fast-paced and easy. First, my chronic restartitis means that I know Irenicus’ Dungeon and the Waukeen's Promenade pretty well. Second, my party is actually stronger than I thought, and the critters found at that stage of the game pose no possible threat to my punching Dragon Disciple.
    I immediately spent all my gold on buying the Strength Belt for my DD, so that I won’t have to cast the divine Strength spell each time he turns into a Flind. It’s a bit annoying though that, since polymorphing SETS the attributes, you have to reequip the belt everytime. I also noticed that it overwrites the boots of speed, and since I was not sure about the other items (mainly the +1 thac0 items, even though it shows in the infobox on the character screen, I have learned not to trust it), I now equip & reequip all items upon transformation…

    XP-wise, the game is also fast, even with a 3-man team (I am used to either play solo, or with 5/6 characters), and after I finished the Waukeen's Promenade and the slaver’s quests, my DD already hit 375k XP and level 11.
    I picked Melf’s Minute Meteors as my next lvl3 spell,since it should prove more useful at this stage of the game than the Flind form, as my thac0 with MMM was lower, and I had 6 APR (with haste) and could still cast spells. But habits are hard to lose, and I have grown so fond of the Flind form that I found myself still using it most of the time

    Afterwards, I also decided to do Haer’Dalis’ quest, for the boots of speed and Xarrnous’s Gauntlets (thac0 +1), and made a quick visit of the catacombs (Pai’Na and her spiders) to get the +1 thac0 Ioun Stone.

    On my way to rescue Haer'Dalis, I also stopped in the sewers below the Temple District to get the Cloak of the Sewers, very useful for my monk, as he can choose a few forms that have situational advantages (rat for melee tanking, troll to counterbalance the low fists enchantment, mustard jelly for spell absoption). The troll form also helps him regenerate his health quite fast (he’s actually the weakest in terms of tanking, since both my DD and druid have stoneskin or ironskins).

    Anyway, now the planar sphere awaits. It should be a bit of a challenge, especially getting a Demon’s heart.
    (actually, I already finished the sphere, as well as Aran Linvail’s quests. I am a bit behind schedule with the storytelling)
    Post edited by monico on
    JuliusBorisov
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    Mirtul 24, 1369

    "We encountered this "Madeen" fellow in the Government District, who directed us toward a cowled wizard named Tolgerias.
    As we planned to investigate the cowled wizards activities anyway, it seemed a good idea to work with them.

    This mage, Tolgerias, only required a small task from us, hunting some poor ranger who made the mistake to offence him somehow.
    It seemed an easy task, and we agreed to it without hesitating.

    The ranger, Valygar, was hiding in his cabin in Umar's Hill, and died pretty fast, but not before revealing the reason the cowled wizards were after him : his blood seems to be the key to a planar sphere, a wondrous magic fortress which appeared in the Slums of Athkatla, concealing many magic treasures in its midst.






    Zorg's eyes shone at the idea of all these treasures, and we decided to take a look at the sphere ourselves, before bringing back Valygar's body to Tolgerias.
    Alas, as we approached the sphere in the slums, Valygar's body simply melted releasing a strange energy that surged towards the sphere's entrance, opening the way to the interior of the sphere.






    As we could not go back to Tolgerias anyway, we might as well plunder this Planar Sphere thoroughly, and we entered.
    As we made our way inside, we were blocked by a magically sealed door. A key found in a nearby room seemed enough to solve the problem, but as soon as Zorg inserted it, the whole Sphere trembled, and teleported to another plane !

    We had to find a way to bring the Sphere back to the material plane, and continued our way inside, trying to find the operating room.

    On the way, we encountered other groups of adventurers prisoners of the Sphere, some friendly, others... dead.

    At last, we confronted the master of the Sphere, Lavok, a powerful necromancer who attacked us on sight. Although his arcane powers forced us to retreat at first, we came back prepared and fell him with our spells and fists.
    On the verge of dying, he cried for mercy, pretending to have been possessed by an evil spirit.

    Since he was our way back to the Prime Material Plane, we agreed to spare him, in exchange for our way back. He informed us that the Sphere had been teleported in the Abyssal plane, and required a demon heart as fuel to travel back to Athkatla.

    We made our way outside, to hunt a demon. As we expected a difficult fight, Xania summoned a few elementals to help us in battle, and Zorg and her cast a bunch of protective spells.
    Soon enough, we encountered a Tanar'ri, who summoned a few mephits and attacked us. The Tanar'ri's gaze nearly destroyed us, but we luckily managed to kill him before all the party was affected by his paralysing gaze.
    After his death, his minions posed no threat to us. We collected the demon's heart, and promptly ran back to the relative safety of the planar sphere.

    On our way to the basement to feed the demon heart to the power core of the sphere, we met Tolgerias, who managed, somehow, to sneak into the sphere as well !
    He seemed pissed at us for crossing him, and we had no choice but to kill him. Hopefully, his superiors won't link us to it, as it would make our future inquiries about Imoen and Irenicus' whereabouts more difficult.
    After getting rid of Tolgerias, I used my stealth to sneak past the monsters blocking the way to the power core, and fed the demon heart to the machine.






    The sphere automatically jumped back to the Prime Material Plane. Lavok wanted to see the sun one last time, and we brought him outside with us. As he drew his last breath, he channeled the last threads of energy left in him to brand the sphere to Zorg.







    Although the sphere looks inconspicuous in the middle of the city, at least we now have a safe shelter in Athkatla.

    As we headed back inside the sphere, Reyna and her companions, a group of paladins from another plane stuck in the sphere, asked for our help to be sent back home.
    As we neither had the means nor the will to such a tiresome task, we just asked the local Order of the Radiant Heart to take them.






    Soon, another cowled wizard teleported directly inside the sphere ! Those guys have no respect for property.
    The man, Teos, came to offer a deal : we could use the sphere as a stronghold, but in exchange we had to cooperate with the cowled wizards.
    Since the man did not seem to care about the death of his colleague Tolgerias, and we still had to find our way to Irenicus at some point, Zorg agreed to his conditions.







    Apparently, the man was just messing with us, as the task he gave Zorg was to... babysit three students.
    The three students Teos entrusted us were eager and hardworking, and they were insisting on creating treasures for Zorg...






    Zorg off course would not refuse such easy money, and immediately put them to work, often checking on their progress.
    After a couple of weeks of hard labour, they apparently managed to create a ring of grand power, altough two students died in the process.

    Teos came back at this point to hold the graduation ceremony of the surviving student. The young wizard seemed a bit distressed and angry. Zorg did not care nor even notice the hostility, as he kept rubbing his new ring murmuring loving words to it in a disturbing voice.







    As the ceremony concluded, we asked Teos for informations about Imoen or Irenicus, but the man had nothing useful to share.

    It seemed that working with the cowled wizards would only prove a dead end, maybe it was time to meet with Gaelan Bayle again."


    Gamer’s ramblings :
    not much to say here, the gameplay was mostly yhe same, Zorg alternating between the Flint form, and using the MMM to allow spellcasting to debuff ennemies (especially against the halfling group).

    Xania’s elemental summons (2 casts at lvl12 and with 21 wisdom) are a great help, they tank very well, and proved especially useful against the Tanar’ri to absorb the damage.
    JuliusBorisov
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    edited November 2018
    Mirtul 28

    "As we stepped out of the Planar Sphere to go meet with Gaelan Bayle, his nephew, Brus, came to us. Apparently, Gaelan also wanted to see us.

    Indeed, although we were already willing to accept Gaelan's business offer, he did not know that and seemed anxious to strike a deal with us, lowering the price for his group's help to 15000 gold pieces.






    Zorg obviously accepted the lowered price, and Gaelan revealed that we would be working with Aran Linvail, the master of the Shadow Thieves.







    Aran Linvail proved to be the friendly sort, and greeted us warmly. Obviously, this man needs us.
    He asked us to go to the docks at night to secure some important shipment, probably stolen goods.







    We waited for the night in a nearby inn, and made our way to the docks as the sun set, where a thief named Mook seemed relieved to have backup. Indeed, a strange man soon appeared and recognised Mook, attacking and killing her on the spot.
    It was no man though, but a powerful vampire ! We managed to fend him off and secure the shipment, but the undead itself escaped.

    We reported directly back to Aran. He is convinced that the shadow thieves defecting to the rival guild is the reason for these setbacks, and tasked us to kill a few traitors, and find their contact.






    The traitors were hiding in the Five Flagons Inn, and we caught them right before they met their contact. We waited and ambushed said contact, and confirmed that the rival guild and their undead servants were hiding in the catacombs.
    Aran Linvail sent us to deal with this rival guild, led by a mysterious and powerful vampire named Bodhi.








    We immediately made our way to the Graveyard District and raided the vampire's den.
    After we killed the last of her vampire goons, the mistress revealed herself, and revealed to know much about Zorg, the shadow thieves, and her own brother : Irenicus !

    Zorg asked Xania and I to stay out of the battle, and, transformed in his flind form, rushed at Bodhi.
    I thought that Zorg had lost it, and I was prepared to jump into the fray at any moment, but less than 10 seconds later, Zorg vanquished Bodhi, who fled the battle in a disarray.
    It seems that Zorg grew more powerful once again.









    Although Bodhi herself managed to escape, we put an end to her plans in Athkatla, and the Shadow Thieves should now uphold their end of the bargain, especially after we learned that Bodhi was working with Irenicus, which Aran Linvail was obviously aware of !"


    Gamer's ramblings :

    One word : badass.
    I hit level 12 during Aran Linvail's quests, and picked Tenser's Transformation as my first lvl6 spell.

    With prebuffs and Flind form, my DD is now a better warrior than a lvl12 warrior (although it takes some time to set up all the buffs)







    Also, a strange thing happened while adventuring, maybe I have been using the Flind form so much that the game itself felt that my DD should acquire a new innate ability :
    I can now transform into Flind form at will, without the need to cast Polymorph Self. But I can't use any other form, and if I recast the spell, I lose the transformation.






    Although it is most definitely a bug, I think it is a nice roleplay tradeoff : as Zorg used the flind form so many times, he has gained a proximity with this form, allowing him to transform into it at will, at the cost of 1 spell pick (well, since i won't use Polymorph Self, it is a bit of a waste) and the inability to transform into the other forms.

    Oh, and with the 750k XP, it also means that Xania hit lvl13 and can now transform into greater werewolf form, which is quite powerful as well.
    JuliusBorisov
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    edited August 2019
    After a VERY long hiatus, here comes a small follow up of Zorg’s quest.

    I actually finished BG2 with that team a long long time ago, and cannot keep a detailed and RP-heavy update, so here are some keypoints and a few screenshots :

    "Things have been hectic lately, and I could not keep the diary of my adventures alongside Zorg updated.

    But I owe it to future generations to report my experiences, especially after what happened in Tethyr in the months following this adventure.

    But coming back to the year 1309 (Dale Reckoning), at the beginning of the month of Kythorn :

    Immediately after defeating Bodhi, we reported to Aran Linvail, who fulfilled his end of the bargain to grant us passage to Spellhold, last known whereabouts of Irenicus, although no news came from the asylum lately, foreshadowing problems arised after his capture.

    Nevertheless, we went to the island and were immediately met by remnants of Bodhi’s servants. Evidence shows that Irenicus and his sister know we are coming, and that our stay here in Brynnlaw won’t go unnoticed.
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    We found a way to the Asylum, where the coordinator greeted us quite peacefully at first, only to show its true colors a few minutes later : it was Irenicus himself, who somehow managed to gain control of the Asylum !
    ww9ka7k3zcoa.png

    Irenicus used the installations of the Asylum to perfect his tests on Zorg’s powers, apparently to great effect, before turning towards "greater" plans, leaving us in the hands of her sister.

    We managed to escape Bodhi’s clutch, thanks to Zorg, but to a great price : Zorg has become tainted by the trace of Bhaal, transforming into a powerful yet dangerous monster, not able to recognize friend from foe and forcing Xania and I to flee from his monster form.
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    With Xania’s own experiences with feral blood, the two of us managed to help Zorg accept his newfound power and control it a bit, at least keeping it from eroding his sanity, and, little by little, helping him assuming his monster form for longer periods of time.
    Zorg’s own experiences with shapeshifting probably helped him a lot inthis endeavor.

    [non-RP stuff : most know already, but a simple cast of Protection from Magical Energy prevents you from dying in Slayer form]

    We faced Irenicus, helped by his former prisoners to act as distraction. They served their purpose and died - unsurprisingly - during the battle, from which we emerged victorious but Irenicus managed to flee, using a portal to the Underdark.
    8axyrzm2akc1.png

    We followed him, infiltrated the drow city of Ust Natha with the help of a silver dragon, but Irenicus was nowhere to be found.

    We exited the Underdark in pursuit of the evil Mage, but were met by a very displeasing elven army and his general Elhan, who seemed to know much about Irenicus.

    Apparently, Irenicus assailed the elven city of Suldanessalar, and managed to prevent anyone from entering without a powerful elven artifact that he stole and gave to his sister Bodhi for safekeeping.

    So back to square one, we had to face Bodhi again, and for good this time.

    As we suspected, Bodhi reclaimed her former lair in Athktla’s catacombs. Zorg faced her alone again, and she fell easily before him, without Zorg even needing to take his fearsome Bhaal’s avatar form.
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    We retrieved the Lanthorn from Bodhi’s corpse, and immediately set course to Suldanessalar, assieged by Demons and other forces of evil summoned by Irenicus.

    None stopped us, and we forced our way through the city into the palace, and finally faced Irenicus himself.

    Although the Mage himself was very powerful, we came prepared and managed to fell him after a long and difficult battle.
    zqv30ft8ixj3.png

    But as soon as he fell, and before we could even expell a breath of relief and tend to our wounds, the three of us felt our consciousness fading.

    When we came to, we found ourselves transported in Hell, pulled there from Irenicus and Zorg’s mixed souls.

    After facing a few challenges, none quite challenging per se to be honest, we faced Irenicus once again, although the mage was barely recognizable, having become more Demon than human or elf, and helped by Demons recruited during his own periple in Hell.

    Zorg and Xania summoned a few critters of their own before assuming their most powerful form.
    We unleashed all our might against Irenicus and his goons, and, finally, erased the evil mage from existence.
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    Zorg reclaimed whatever part of his soul Irenicus stole from him, and the three of us found ourselves sent back towards the prime material plane, back to Suldanessalar.

    Thus, and quite abruptly at that, ended my adventure with Zorg, although not a few weeks later, Zorg faced, alone this time, the greatest challenges of his life.

    That adventure however, is not mine to tell, and has plenty of direct witnesses to account for it.
    Suffice to say that Zorg’s adventures from Candlekeep to Irenicus’ fall in Hell made him who he is, allowing him to fulfill his potential as a proweful metamorph sorcerer, while also building his strong will.

    Zorg stopped the greatest crisis the Sword Coast has ever known, but few know the real motives behind his choice to refuse Bhaal’s heritage : he has never been benevolent, nor afraid of power. But after a lifetime of ambushes and profecies, my opinion is that Zorg just wanted to be left alone and not be the focus of the struggles of powers inthe universe."

    Gamer’s ramblings :

    Zorg is probably the singe strongest character I have ever made.

    So strong in fact that right after finishing BG2 and starting ToB with this party, I decided to start from scratch and solo the whole trilogy (SoD included) with a solo-melee-shapeshifting-sorcerer (Insane difficulty, no SCS, mild cheese and reloads allowed).

    And i beat the game with this character, although some end battles were really difficult with such a weird spell pick (Demogorgon particularly).

    Btw, here’s the spellpick :
    Lvl 1 : Blindness, Chill Touch, Prot. from Evil, Shield, Shocking Grasp
    Lvl 2 : Blur, Glitterdust, Invisibility, Mirror Image, Web (decided to skip the lvl2 touch spell this time)
    Lvl 3 : Haste, Melf’s Minute Meteors, Remove Magic (actually can’t remember ever using it), Slow, Vampiric Touch
    Lvl 4 : Greater Malison, Minor Sequencer, Polymorph Self, Spider Spawn, Stoneskin
    Lvl 5 : Animate Dead, Breach, Cloudkill, Protection from Acid, Spell Immunity
    Lvl 6 : Death Fog, Improved Haste, Prot. from Magical Energy, Prot. from Magical Weapons, Tenser’s Transformation
    Lvl 7 : Delayed Blast Fireball, Finger of Death (lol, Firkraag actually fell from that one, never thought he would), Khelben’s Warding Whip, Mordenkainen’s Sword, Spell Sequencer
    Lvl 8 : Abi-Dalzim’s Horrid Wilting, Incendiary Cloud, Simulacrum, Spell Trigger (must have for this build)
    Lvl 9 : Chain Contingency, Shapechange (gotta loooove the Mindflayer form : killed 99% of enemies once I reached lvl18, but only strikes as +2), Time Stop (because why not), Wish (useful but not actually needed against Amelissan, since this build does not focus much on many spells... which is kinda weird for a sorcerer)

    Basically, this means, endgame and fully buffed :
    1. In slayer form : -26 AC, 223 HP, -10 thac0, 8 APR, 19-26 dmg, strikes as +5 and has a sh!tload of immunities, most notably Imprisonment (there goes Gaxx).

    2. In mindflayer form : -13 AC, 258 HP, -7 thac0, 8 APR, 15-16 dmg, strikes as +2, but most notably "devours brain" with each attack (most enemies fall in two successful strikes, max 4 so half a round, unless immune to +2 weapons)
    Grond0JuliusBorisov
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    edited August 2019
    Last, a little gameplay report on this strange character build.

    I first created this character because I wanted to use (in a purposeful way) the mage touch spells and polymorphing spells.
    In retrospect, I guess a fighter/mage would have been even more efficient (or at least, more efficient early/middle game) with better thac0 and more APR.

    This becomes somewhat moot for Slayer form and Mindflayer form once you get Tenser Transformation and, relatively, Improved Haste. Especially since a fighter/mage would get those spells way way later than a sorcerer.
    On the other hand, it would probably be a very badass combination with the other shapechanges at epic levels, and I would love to see a Iron Golem with Greater Whirlwind (basic transformation has only 1 APR sadly), although it would only come very late.

    Back to my sorcerer : it scaled quite well, at first relying on touch spells and debuffs, late BG1 using the Polymorph Self spell well into BG2.

    In my 1st playthrough with my monk and metamorph druid, I was almost entirely focusing on the Flind form.
    While it still was my favourite form (best thac0, strikes as +3, good AC and APR), I noticed playing solo that the other forms also have great advantages :
    - Spider form combines oh-so-well with Webs
    - the Bear forms hit strong and fast, but have really bad AC, so buff first or use it when you know that your flurry will outlast your opponent’s strikes
    - the Jelly form is the perfect mage killer, as it is immune to magic (need a strength potion or gear though for thac0). Also is very resistant against missiles and immune to piercing damage (spiders, for instance)
    - the wolf form is useless, but I like wolves IRL, so they deserve at least being mentioned. Never used this form ingame though.

    In BG2, with the strength enhancing gear, this becomes stronger (the spell strength is useless if cast prior to shapeshifting, could be used in a minor sequencer though but by that time, you are better with Ribald’s 19 strength belt).

    Later, with Tenser and Improved Haste, this build becomes a killing machine, and the very first lvl8 spell pick (and the only one needed prior late ToB) is Spell Trigger : i generally put 3 lvl6 spells : Tenser, Imp. Haste, and either PfMW if going regular shapeshift, or Protection from Magical Energy if going Slayer form (could also be cast normally as prebuff since it has long duration).

    Even later, I put these also in my lvl9 Chain contingency, and have a second cast of those spells via my spell trigger for those extra long battles in ToB.

    Icing on the cake is Shapechange.
    Although all forms bring something to the table, the noticeable 2 are :
    - Iron Golem : strikes heavily, does crushing damage, strikes as +5, and is immune to a lot of things (magic and lesser than +2 weapons), too bad it only has 1 base APR. Still very useful to anything the second form can’t kill.
    - Mindflayer form : once I hit lvl18 and got Shapechange, I almost never used anything else : as stated above, has 8 APR with Improved Haste. Base strength is 10 though, so do not use without Tenser and strength enhancing gear. Also needs a few prebuffs, just in case you face a lot of enemies at the same time (base AC is not very good) and beware of dispellers or the natural expiration for your Tenser.

    The satisfaction of unleashing the Mindflayer form on a horde of enemies (Oasis map for example) and see everyone falling in 2 strikes when you strike 8 times per round is overwhelming.
    Even fully buffed slayer form or the most badass of fighters can’t compete with this killing machine (well, unless immune to my strikes or to devour brain off course).

    It could even make LoB a walk in the park since the critter dies when Int reaches 0, no matter how many HP it has. Would require to manage hitting said critter first though, and not dying too fast first, which could be a problem in LoB.

    It would be fun to run a team of mindflayers through late SoA and ToB in LOB ^^. Although it would be a pain to get there.

    In fact, I just started a complete solo-FMC run from BG1 to ToB, with SoD, in Legacy of Bhaal, with the plan on using the endless transformations trick from lvl7 Lesser Wish spell (ask for the one-time wish "become anything I want" grants shapechange spell, time the expiration of the spell carefully, preferably being slowed at that time, and transform into the form you wish to keep exactly at the end of the spell, the other forms disappear, but not the one you just used).
    I already almost finished BG1 with said character, greatly helped by my Imp familiar (lawful evil) who comes with lots of HP and innate Polymorph Self spell. Very very useful early game, less so later with the lack of self buffs.

    I’ll just have to find a way to pass the coronation with that character (hard to keep both Dukes alive in LoB as a solo), and beat Sarevok with a lvl6 character (lvl cap for all three of my classes as a FMC in normal unmodded BG1EE, only 4k XP short of lvl7 as a cleric !), which means no lvl4 spells, and very bad Animate Dead summons (becomes better at lvl7). I try not to rely too much on summons anyway (since the Wand of summoning can beat the whole game solo in LoB, even better if helped with the other wand of cheese, namely Wand of Paralization), but they sure help to keep enemies from focusing on my non-stoneskined FMC
    Post edited by monico on
    JuliusBorisov
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