she wants a sword
my gf needs a new sword (she says) and so we treked back to the underdark to collect the parts from the brain guys and the eyes... somehow this sword makes her bum look big or some such so then we raid a warehouse full of traps for a nice katrina and now she is happy!!
she wants a sword
my gf needs a new sword (she says) and so we treked back to the underdark to collect the parts from the brain guys and the eyes... somehow this sword makes her bum look big or some such so then we raid a warehouse full of traps for a nice katrina and now she is happy!!
I just died in Shadows of Amn! Another rare SoA death for me. This was a solo Cleric/Druid/Mage run, late in SoA when we had everything short of level 9 mage spell slots, from SCS-style shapeshifting tokens to the Staff of the Magi to level 8 spells and below.
It was Kangaxx, oddly enough. In SCS v32 at least, Kangaxx can now see right through a Protection from Undead scroll--which I thought would be fine, because I had so many other defenses.
The thing is, I thought there was some bug that was preventing anti-magic attacks from taking down Entropy Shield, the v32 priest equivalent of SI: Abjuration (it grants immunity to Breach and Remove Magic albeit no other Abjuration spells), or perhaps Impervious Sanctity of Mind (which grants a Spell Shield effect in v32). However, what I failed to realize was that Kangaxx's anti-magic attacks were taking down Spell Turning first, and that's why Entropy Shield remained active.
The net result? Entropy Shield went down without warning, and then a Remove Magic spell was on the way.
I caught this in time, and responded with SI: Abjuration. But Kangaxx followed up with a triple Polymorph Self Spell Sequencer.
Normally, this would have been blocked by Spell Turning or my Cleric/Druid/Mage's excellent saving throws, but the former went down before Entropy Shield without my noticing, and the latter was heavily penalized by Greater Malison.
It didn't help that I was wearing the Cloak of Mirroring instead of the Cloak of Protection +2, and Vhailor's Helm instead of the Helm of Balduran, and that I had no Rings of Protection because they had been destroyed by a Hakeashar due to a side effect from a PnP-style component from CDTweaks. My save vs. spell would have been at 2, for a 5% chance of a failed save, or an 85.7% chance of shrugging off all three Polymorph Other spells.
But Polymorph Other doesn't use a save vs. spell. It uses a save vs. polymorph, and my save vs. polymorph would have 9 with Greater Malison active. Factoring in 15% magic resistance, the chance of surviving all three spells was just 10%.
I didn't get that 10%. I turned into a squirrel, with my current HP set to 5, sky-high AC, and no option of equipping the Staff of the Magi, on top of a slow base movement rate.
Kangaxx's Fallen Planetar took one swing and it was over.
Dying has no emotional impact for me anymore, even though I was having a fair amount of fun with the run. Deaths are kind of "meh" at this point. It helped that I was in late SoA with a solo character, where the endgame strategy and build was already set up and there was little room left for character progression.
I'm finding again that solo runs aren't much fun. Certain fights are made especially interesting by the limitations of a solo character, but much of the game feels like work, since so many encounters lose their complexity when a high-level solo character can stomp all over them (the Guarded Compound isn't very exciting when you can cast Nature's Beauty under the Staff of the Magi and then smash everyone in earth elemental form). You get a bunch of extremely low-difficulty challenges paired with a small number of extremely high-difficulty challenges, and in both cases, you're using a smaller number of tools.
The part up until Underdark was done in May and the rest in October/November, so my memory is a bit hazy here and there... sorry
Semi was left of shortly before Rasaads quest, which was done quickly and without risk - the real prize was the gem of seeing and the cloak of atonement (which lets you cast cc -> which blocks maze (nice)).
Next up the planar sphere. The tricky parts are the one where you have to face Maze spells (the halflings and Tolgerias). But summons baited the worst spells out and the cloak of atonement negated the risk - the rest where easy pickings
I postponed killing the two dragons and set off to Spellhold. Siding with the thieves, and cruised through the undead purging - courtesy of the kit and the the shield of Harmony. Spell hold was easily done as well, the undead being no risk for Semi. But she did forget the ring of free action - alas.
Picking up spell turning in book of infinite spells. Don’t know what’s it used for, but it sounds mega cool.
Fish city was done only for the two cloaks, and underdark main area was only cleared partially. Semi had the xp she needed, and wanted progress. The northern parts of the beholder lair was cleared for the green stone amulet and the eyestalk.
In Ust Natha some shopping was in order, and otherwise just the straight and narrow. Visaj, the Aboleth and Kaso Talo where all dodged - and the eggs retrieved.
Back on the surface loose end where tied up. Two dragons where bereaved of their lives and their treasures.
the wand of wonder doing some wonders...
Feeling the power and having the right gear, made Semi wanting to go to the Mindflayer Metropolis and kill the underground fishies as well.
Buffing with 8 potions of genius and using the green stone amulet at will made the encounters trivial.
Kithlix was offered and the demon knights killed.
Bodhi was no problem. Turn undead exploded the undead. With hardiness the rest and Bodhi where no problem.
In Suldanessar the Adamantite golems caused some problems and the pesky Dragon with the ridiculous name nearly ended the run. Being underprepared and underbuffed Semi was send below 30 HP, a few more hits would have ended the run there and then (she had DoE, AoF and Hardiness active).
But a deva diverted the dragon and the rod of resurrection saved the day. The dragon slain afterwards..
The avatar of Rilifane cleared the eleven city and Irenicus at the tree of life fell to some summons (Semi just ran away and send 6-7 summons his way).
In Hell Semi picked up 4 times magic resistance and +2 to saving throws.
The demon posse where fooled by a simple invisibility spell and met their doom by the hand of my skeleton warriors and a deva that Semi summoned afterwards.
The gem of seeing exposed Irenicus/Slayer and he met his doom by the hand of the deva and Semi.
Semi is going through to ToB. We shall see how she will do there.
Editors note: Decided to have a second run going back in BG/TotSC. Introducing the Fellowship of the Ring.
4 Mirtul 1368
Aragon brought his Two-Handed Sword down hard, tearing through the shoulder and severing the mage’s arm from his body bringing the fight to a close – there would be no bounty collected at Aragon’s expense on this day. The Fellowship, as they referred to themselves - short for Fellowship of the Ring – made it to the Friendly Arm Inn (FAI) just one day after Gorion, Aragon's step-father, had been slain by an unknown entity in black armor & a host of other attackers. What it was all about, they could not understand but they met w/ Khalid & Jaheira as Gorion had wished & learned of troubles in Nashkel, so they would go there next. Aragon & Gandalf, all of them, had decided to shield Gorion’s friends from whatever intrigue was chasing them – three assassination attempts in one day (two rogues had tried earlier in separate attacks while they were still in Candlekeep). Khalid & Jaheira agreed to Aragon’s request that they watch over his ‘li’l sister’ Imoen. He felt she was safer under their watchful eyes than traveling w/ the Fellowship or trying to return to Candlekeep – he hoped so anyway.
DEATH BLOW
Staying in the common room at the FAI, hoping not to bring attention to themselves, the Fellowship rested ahead of the next days journey to Beregost where they would spend a night before heading toward Nashkel. Khalid & Jaheira said they should find Berrun Ghastkill, the Mayor of Nashkel, who would give them the particulars of their mission there.
Boromir & Gimle each upgraded their armor to Splint Mail from Bentley Mirrorshade’s (proprietor of the FAI) stock, while Gandalf spent time writing Magic Missile & Burning Hands into his spell book. Everyone tended to his equipment before they lay down for a bit of well-deserved shuteye. It had been a looonng day & tomorrow’s forecast was for more of the same.
PARTY INFO
ORDER OF MARCH: Aragon (leader) & Gimle (shock), Legolas (artillery) & Boromir, Gandalf (arcane support) & Frodo (rear guard)
MONSTERS DEFEATED: * Tarnish (FI), Wolf (LW), Diseased Gibberling (CW), Assassins (2 - Ck)
* Legend: Ck = Candlekeep; LW = Lion’s Way, CW = Coast Way, FI = Friendly Arm Inn, RE = Random Encounter, DS = Disturb Sleep
We wake up rusty, or refreshed (take your choice) after our usual gap of a week stretches to two. The unspoken thought is that some of us may die and temples may be involved. Let's see.
Milam has four items on his list (Renfeld, Watchers Keep, magic licence and Gaelan Bayle). Since Coremage is lugging Renfeld about it does make sense to at least start in that order. Only, officer Dirth is stood between our starting position (temple in the docks) and Renfeld's buddies. He might like to try saving against a chromatic orb while doomed - that's an instakill.
Off we trot, and quickly hand Renfeld over. One thing leads to another and we're soon in a house dealing with Xzar's apprentices. Coremage and Milam decide to leave the building as Harvey has finished everyone else off and is madly trying to kill us too.
With this task safely completed we are allowed free access to the harper building and quickly find "Montaron". Delivering him to Xzar proves to be fatal to the mage, and Milam is so quick in picking up gold that Valen turns up to talk before the assassin talks. Once the assassin finds her words and her feet Brus is on us within a moment or two. It all saves us time.
Next on my list is Watchers Keep, for the potion case. Coremage is muttering about needing a magic licence though and we all know it is foolhardy to delay, so we decide to do that first. Or maybe after paying Gaelan Bayle. Anyway, to cut a long story short we accidentally end up in the Temple district sewers. Harvey gets held and Milam decides to stick with him in case a slime or ooze sploshes out onto him, while Coremage fails to notice and antagonises a rakshasa. Milam sends in some wild animals to help Coremage.
Milam heals everyone back up and we upset Tarnor the Hatchetman and his gang of vagabonds. The wild animals almost last the entire fight and we are victorious. The only slight concern was Harvey taking a whomping, and then a later near-death hit. He finally retreats and one of the vagabonds emerges from behind a pillar so we can see or kill him. We elect to kill.
Coremage is muttering again. He's forgotten to pick up the fire arrows in the centre of the sewers so can't kill a sea troll. Milam casts Flame Blade and sorts everything out, then passes Coremage the fire arrows he couldn't just leave in the centre of the sewers...
Milam has a cunning plan to enter a mage's hideout. It's as cunning as a fox who's just been appointed professor at...stop it. It's quite a good plan. Simple too. Just cast protection from lightning and fire onto Harvey and then make Coremage and himself invisible. Only.
Only.
He doesn't tell Harvey, who hides as the fire protection is being cast. We proceed, and Harvey has to retreat with flames licking at his boots, neck, everywhere really. Most people would stay away but oh no Harvey has to go back and wave his single figure hitpoints in the direction of anything that looked mean and toothy. Still, we survived.
With the first bit of the sewers safely cleared we felt pushing into the old tunnels would be fun. Summons helped deal with ettercaps (Harvey was poisoned once) and shadows. Milam protected Harvey from lightning but Coremage got held and level-drained by a later group of undead. Milam cast Improved Invisibility on him and we drew them away. Milam facepalmed as he watched Harvey blunder across a level-drain trap that we had always carefully avoided. We then returned to finish off the shadows once Coremage was back in level 4/5 drained action.
Harvey notices he has been level-drained and runs across where the level-drain trap is/was. Several times. After five or six attempts Milam mentions that Harvey previously triggered it, and got drained there instead of by undead. Coremage agrees, so Harvey reluctantly accepts this might just have slipped past him.
With this done we went top-side and nabbed a necklacy-amulet from the Talos clerics and visited a temple for some un-draining. Coremage was a little bit rapid there and we had to make two purchases rather than one that did both him and Harvey. Still, easy come easy go on the money front.
Rayic Gethras is on our hit-list. Once more Milam has a cunning plan. He protects Harvey from fire. Once more the plan mis-fires as he doesn't tell anyone else what the plan is and as he waits for Harvey to hide enter the building and attack, Coremage enters and attacks. Much fire everywhere from mephits so what could have been a relatively clean fight gets a bit scrappy. It's not a problem though and Milam uses Improved Invisibility on his companions so they can attack the golems upstairs safely.
This leaves Rayic alone and he looks as if he may get into his stride until Coremage uses the single-charge wand of frost from the chateau to ice him. With him dead we do the remaining quests for Edwin and Mae'Var before eliminating the latter for Renal Bloodscalp. Harvey leaps at the opportunity to laugh at the prospect of death. One day Harvey you'll overstep the mark and... well my bet is dragon food if Milam survives long enough.
Coremage is visibly twitching now and Milam has to relent and say why yes we can go get Lilacor. The slaver ship is a dangerous place, for slavers, and somewhat empty now.
There's a great big repeating poison trap between us and the exit though. Milam laughs and his ironskins soak up the poison. He's safely through.
Coremage laughs and his stoneskins soak up the poison. He's safely through.
Harvey laughs and his greater sun fireshield soaks up the poison. He's safely through.
Hang on Harvey, come back here. Clearly you're poisoned, we have slow poison available - will you just stop or come back. That's a good boy.
We're about done - Coremage wants to see Umar next time before it grows any greater mummies. Milam is quietly thinking that Harvey would no doubt very much like to interact with greater mummies. We travel to Umar and accept the job before dropping a bombshell on the mayor that it will be at least a week before we get around to it. Edit: oh and we did manage to pick up a potion case from Watchers Keep, pay Gaelan Bayle and purchase a magic licence during the session, eventually.
Inventory at session end - some stuff to identify and sell, plus Coremage could do with one of those looted longbows.
So two more hours without any of us dying. Not even Harvey. Despite his best efforts. And then some.
Yasraena’s attempts to make conversation w/ other members of the group were awkward. She was trying her best to understand the surface world she now lived in but it was just so strange. She had gently rebuffed the advances of Dispenser & now the one person who seemed to enjoy talking w/ her had gone silent except in his role as leader. Most of the time she walked along in silence & did her job as directed & as she thought best in the heat of battle. And in that she was masterful as she had been trained in Menzobarranzan by her master, Divalir. She did not have the same depth of feelings that the others seemed to share. It was not that she lacked sympathy, or empathy, whichever, it was just that a Drow learns from birth that revealing one’s feelings is weakness & weakness can be exploited. She had watched Sirene die matter-of-factly, because where she came from death was as sure as anything else in life. Then it was Yoshimo, crushed by a Clay Golem – she just stood & watched as the others took in the loss. Yoshimo was not as tight a member as the others, the Paladins & now Nalia, but he had travelled w/Dispenser for a while now & had showed his medal in the heat of conflict. She looked around at the others tending to their equipment of minding their own business quietly & she felt alone. Sometimes she missed the Underdark – at least there she understood the society in which she lived – no matter how ruthless it was.
They had just saved de’Arnise Keep at the request of Nalia, having defeated a Troll infestation, augmented by Yuan-ti, that apparently came from below. Bugbears had burrowed up underneath the keep’s dungeon & the Trolls & Yaun-ti came in through there. The Trolls and Yaun-ti were not much of a challenge for Dispensers Paladin heavy group, especially since both Dispenser and Yasraena had fire-based swords and Yoshimo & Nalia had plenty of Arrows of Fire & Acid. Even the fight w/ Torgal and two Giant Trolls had gone relatively smoothly but they were too late to save Nalia’s father, who had been a prisoner of Torgal.
TORGAL & THE GIANT TROLLS
It was after defeating Torgal that Yoshimo was crushed by the fist of a Clay Golem. They had found a large open chapel, with six unanimated Golems, two Flesh, two Clay, one Stone & one Iron. At the far end, were three statues, each w/ a valuable treasure, which when taken released two of the Golems. Yoshimo had gotten the last one but after escaping through the door & avoiding the Iron Golem, he was caught by a Clay Golem and crushed beyond recognition. They were really wrapping up at that point, so Yoshimo’s death was certainly unfortunate.
Having reestablished de’Arnise Keep to somewhat normality, Nalia offered Dispenser the lordship of her lands in order to protect her from a betrothal established by her father previously. Dispenser agreed, however, w/ so much to do already, day-to-day operations will fall to the majordomo who had already been doing so before the Troll invasion. Returning to Athkatla, Dispenser invesrtigated the activities of a group of Fallen Paladins on behalf of the Radiant Heart at the request of Sir Ryan Trawl. Dispenser was able to draw their leader out using the cup he had been given when he entered the Order. When he showed his face, he quickly figured out that Dispenser was in league w/ the Radiant Heart, & the ensuing fight brought an end to the Fallen Paladins smuggling operation.
In the course of helping Isra w/ a family matter involving her sister, Dispenser was able to gain the services of Amber, a Fighter/Thief of considerable skill, & a fellow Tiefling.
PARTY INFO
ORDER OF MARCH: Yasraena, Saerileth & Isra (shock), Dispenser (leader), Nalia & Amber (traps, arcane support & rear guard)
CURRENT DISPOSITION: Resting & recovering spells in the Crooked Crane
NEXT STEPS: Investigate the murders of the poor in the Bridge District
PARTY MAKEUP: (Reputation: 14 – Popular) (Donation 3k Ilmater)
Dispenser: Cleric (Holy Justice of Tyr)/11 (HP 64) Full Plate & Medium w/Long Sword +1 (Burning Earth),* & Warammer +1 (Hammer of Tyr)*, (SWS*, SSS*) w/Gauntlets of Dexterity, Ring of Djinni Summoning & Gloves of Healing; Abilities: Cure Affliction (2), Divine Might (2) Divine Might (2), Healing Touch (2), Hold person, Strength of One, Holy Word; Skills: None; Skills: None; Spells: Mass Cure, Raise Dead, CSW, Defensive Harmony, Holy Power, Protection from Evil 10’, Animate Dead, Dispel Magic, Holy Smite, Prayer, Chant, Draw/Holy Might, Hold Person (2), Silence 15’, Slow Poison, Armor of Faith, Bless, Command, Doom, Remove Fear, Sanctuary; (Adv AI) (1)
Yasarena: Fighter//10 (HP 93), Dark Mail +3, Short Sword +2***** (Ironkiss), Short Sword +1***** (Fireflower) w/ Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise (2WS**); Abilities: None; Skills: None: Spells: None; (Adv AI) (nil)
Saerileth: Paladin (Cavalier of Tyr)/11 (HP 96), Full Plate & Ring of Protection +1 w/ Medium Shield & Bastard Sword +1**, (Warhammer **, (Long Sword*, SSS**); Abilities: Remove Fear (11), Protection from Evil (11), Lay on Hands, Detect Evil (14), Cure Disease; Skills: None; Spells: Draw on Holy Might, Armor of Faith, Bless; (Adv AI) (3)
Isra]/I]: Paladin (Cavalier of Sune)/9 (HP 69), Full Plate & Painbearer’s Amulet, Ghadir Family Ring, Cloak of the Stars w/ Gauntlets of Weapons Skill, Two-Handed Sword +2 (Spider’s Bane)**, Wyvern’s Tale +2* (THWS**), & Ring of Energy; Abilities: Remove Fear (8), Protection from Evil (8), Lay on Hands, Detect Evil (11); Skills: None: Spells: Armor of Faith; (Adv AI) (2)
Nalia: Mage/Thief//4/11 (HP 63), Bracers of Defense AC3 & Dusty Rose Ioun Stone w/ Short Bow* & Short Sword*; Abilities: Set Snare, Scribe Scrolls;Skills: OL 85, PP 50, FT 80, MS 20, HS 15, DI 10, ST 5; Spells: Animate Dead, Breach, Lower Resistance, Greater Malison, Minor Sequencer, Secret Word, Haste, Lightning Bolt, Slow, Spell Thrust, Agannazar’s Scorcher, Melf’s Acid Arrow, Mirror Image, Web, Chromatic Orb, Magic Missile (3); (Adv AI) (nil)
Amber]/I]: Fighter/Thief//6/12 (HP 81), Studded Leather & Buckler +1 w/Long Sword +1* (Burning Earth), & Dagger +2* (Dagger**, Longbow**, Spear**, THWS*, SSS**); Abilities: Blinding Eye (3), Poison Weapon (2), Set Snare (3); Skills: OL 95, PP 41, FT 70, MS 112, HS 117, DI 50, ST 10, B/S x4 w/ Ring of Lockpicks; Spells: None; (Adv AI) (nil)
@CharlestonianTemplar, loved your write-up of Sirene's fall. Very dramatic, and very hard to take. I often abandon runs where important companions permanently die (tellign myself I've failed), but having the show go on has its charm as well.
The Nashkel Mines are Eldoth's playground. His charming Gypsy song makes the kobolds go after each other.
He even stays invisible while singing, a feature I don't want to exploit too much even if Greek mythology provides examples of unseen creatures alluring others through their mere song.
After a little buffing (Remove Fear and Strength of One for the party, Shield and Cat's Grace for Baeloth, and MSD for Wanton), the party makes short work of Mulahey and his minions.
Back on the surface the valley of the tombs is explored. Mustard jelly conjuring Narcillicus injures an enraged Shar-Teel pretty badly with a Lance of Disruption, but Eldoth manages to charm the wizard and set him against his own jellies.
In Nashkel Wanton uses Greagan's Harp to the same effect against Nimbul, makes him waste his spells, but leaving the finishing touch to Safana.
The assassin misses her backstab against Tranzig and gets injured and stunned by an Icelance in return. The party quickly intervenes and finishes the wizard with brute force.
During their search for the bandit camp the companions get waylaid by the bounty hunting party of Molkar. Eldoth charms Drakar who in turn Holds Morvin. Shar-Teel engages - and defeats - Molkar in a duel. Wanton successfully uses his not yet reliable Truth Perception ability to strip Halacan's Mirror Images away. The gnome then manages to charm Eldoth for a change of pace, but Greagan's Harp corrects that. Vicky finishes Drakar with a Flamestrike from wand, and Eldoth neutralizes the gnome with his custom made poisoned arrows.
In Larswood the druids Osmadi (acid arrows from Eldoth) and Corsone (Silenced and beaten in melee combat) do not survive their encounter with the party, nor do lieutenant Teven and his bandit crew.
In Peldvale Wanton meets three wandering bards, exchanges tales with them, and is given Methild's Harp by one of them (a nice touch from the BG1NPC Project). The party can now musically dispel four status effects: Fear (Wanton's song), Charm (Greagan's Harp, which can also be used offensively of course), Confusion (Rogue Rebalancing's Harp of Descant), and Hold (Methild's Harp).
Raiken leads the party to the bandit camp, were Shar-Teel gives forgetful old me a déjà vu experience when she wants nothing of Taurgosz "Tenhammer" Khosann's intimidating talk.
The Black Talon leader calls his men to his side, and several bandits appear from Tazok's tent as well. Radial invisibility from Baeloth allow the companions to plan their next move. Viconia casts Strength of One and Wanton gives Safana the party's three invisibility potions. It takes her two stabs to finish off the mage Venkt. This second one would have sufficed on its own:
With a giant strength potion and an oil of speed potion for Shar-Teel and with wand/necklace fireballs the outnumbered party overcomes the opposition.
The elven spy Ender Sai gives the party a lead to an Iron Throne base in Cloakwood, where party protects a nobleman from some murderous druids, charming their leader and getting him stunned by his own summoned beetles. They also encounter a multitude of spiders, but Shar-Teel has no difficulty slaying all of them thanks to a ring of free action and a green scroll of PfPoison.
Upon finally reaching the Iron Throne base, the companions are given a hard time by the party of Drasus. Genthore is Blinded by Wanton but then speedy Drasus, enraged and with a potion of frost giant strength in his belly, comes for the retreating weaker party members rather than enraged Shar-Teel. The amazon stays behind in a Web from Baeloth, to fight the wizards Kysus and Rezdan. Before focusing his magic on Shar-Teel, Kysus casts a Chaos at Eldoth, but the bard counters with a potion of magic shielding. Together with Safana, Wanton, Baeloth and Vicky, he manages to defeat Drasus with lots of running around and taking advantage of the warrior's slow attack speed. Shar-Teel doesn't fare as well. Rezdan and Kysus summon lots of minions and Enfeeble her, and in spite of Baeloth's Web holding some of the summons, she falls before Wanton (wearing the boots of speed to be on time) gets to finish a casting of Invisibility on her.
Safana uses Drasus's boots of speed for backstabs and quick retreats, taking out Genthore and Rezdan in this way. Kysus succumbs to the party's ranged attacks.
Inside the mines, fireballs and Vicky's wand of the heavens take care of Hareishan and her men.
Her colleague Natasha is backstabbed and poisoned by Safana and finished off by Bealoth's MMMs. All the way down, Bealoth's Skull Traps prove very effective (i.e. damaging), much more so than fireballs, against Davaeorn and his men.
The party travels to Baldur's Gate. On the way there, Safana leaves the party to go hunting with the elf Coran. Dorn is made aware of his enemy Simmeon's presence near the east entrance to the city of Baldur's Gate and aided in his revenge. He needed the help:
The half-orc then leaves, making place for Skie.
Extensive questing in the city ensued, interrupted by a trip to Beregost that sees Garrick the Troubadour join the party (in Baeloth's stead, mainly for the banter with Eldoth and Skie that should be entertaining).
Wanton is given a scare when Desreta crits him with a triple damage backstab, but the damage is rather low: 36 damage. Turns out the deep red ioun stone, from Rogue Rebalancing protects against critical hits.
Had it not, 72 damage would have killed Wanton. I'm going to mull over the consequences of this last event. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and a rather strict adherent to the (my) rules. This run may or may not be continued.
Droch is convinced this is our third outing, only after consulting his journal to write up the non-existent notes does he see it is the second. We start at the Beregost smithy. Droch is showing little sign of remembering our previous jaunt, Painter correctly suggesting we had killed off Kirian's gang and filled our backpacks with their equipment - now sold of course.
A quick inspection of our backpacks reveals only a spider corpse so we enter a nearby house to pick up some wine and boots before heading north. We grab a couple of girdles from an ogre and arrive at the Friendly Arm Inn. A circuit of which provides us with Joia's ring and a ring of wizardry-for-spare-cash. We celebrate by gunning down an assassin called Tarnesh and after shopping at the inn we set off once more.
Sirines and flesh golems can do nothing against our distasteful (to them) strategies, and we are rewarded with the treasures that are stashed within Black Alaric's cave.
Nashkel mine is next. We race through it and shoot Mulahey down but not before he has summoned a horde of minions which may pester Painter. Droch takes pity on the dwarf and lobs a potion of explosions at his buddy. They're still friends, mostly.
Outside the mine we bump into Lamahla and her amazons. Droch kills off Maneira as Painter attacks from another side - using a greenstone amulet charge if Droch isn't mistaken. As spells are targeted at Droch he steps back and hides in the shadows, twice. Thus we claim a safe victory.
We try for more of the same in Nashkel itself but Droch realises he has not tried to hide in the shadows, and has tried guarding instead. Net result of this is that he runs around in a flappy panic for a couple of minutes while Painter has killed Nimbul.
Painter then gets himself held by Neira, thinking a spell won't follow him out of an inn. Droch hasn't realised his companion is incapacitated and is peppering Neira the assassin with arrows. Fortunately he kills her before she can get a debilitating spell cast onto him. He grabs her gear and heads outside only to see Painter still held (or not seen, thanks to the cloak of displacement).
Tranzig picks up a bad case of arrow in the eye before Painter can arrive to help, so we head off to the bandit camp. Once there Painter takes a number of arrows and other assorted injuries but we've killed off enough enemies to get Taurgosz Khosann agitated. A few arrows shut him down and then after a rest we kill off the remaining group inside their tent.
It seems we must head to Cloakwood Mine. First though we sell what items we can.
Cloakwood is dealt with circumspectly, other than ettercaps where we used missiles to eliminate them at range. Drasus and his gang are waiting for us, but Droch downs Kysus and hides, leaving Drasus and Genthore to chase after Painter. Rezdan has mirrored so Droch leaves him and peels Genthore away from Painter.
After failing to hide several times, Droch resorts to a shootout with Genthore. Droch has wussy leather armour so the shooting match is closer than hoped for but Genthore dies first. Droch and Painter then converge, meaning Drasus is chasing a kensai while an archer is plucking away at his health. There's only going to be one outcome here and so it proves. We then return to deal with Rezdan as his mirror images have worn off.
Cloakwood mine seems like a tough place for us to deal with but Painter uses his newly-acquired boots of speed to outrun enemies as Droch gets his eye in and thins the numbers down. Davaeorn falls for the old potion of magic blocking trick, Painter relaxed about the tattered state of his person and happy to inflict the same on Davaeorn. Droch sneaks in to get a shot in too.
With the way to Baldur's Gate open again we head there and make our mark. We've done a few quests around the place and even managed to avoid losing any reputation or receive any friendly fire after Painter is confused by Marek.
Saerileth was truly pleased to be travelling w/ such a group of warriors as Dispenser had gathered around him. The fact that Dispenser venerated the maimed god Tyr as a Cleric, like she did as a Paladin, made the alliance seem even more pre-destined. She had travelled w/ him since he first escaped Irenicus’ Dungeon – or almost so – and they had clearly administered Tyr’s justice in and around Athkatla. They had defeated the Beholder Cult, brought down the Fallen Paladin’s, beat back a Troll invasion in de’Arnise Keep, brought a horrible child murderer to justice, defeated a Gnome Illusionist who terrorized a circus crowd, provided solid evidence against Isaea Roenall for slaving & smuggling, gave numerous substantial contributions to the Temple’s of Lathander & Ilmater – even Helm, assisted Isra in aiding her family (which landed her sister in prison) & cleared the streets of a number of mugger’s & ruffians.
A NAUGHTY GNOME
She travelled well w/ Isra, although they were not friendly as Isra & Sirene had been – maybe that was part of the reason. Yasraena was a fantastic warrior, & despite her heritage was certainly good in her intentions – although a bit rough around the edges simply because she did not understand the culture she now lived in. She liked Nalia & admired her for at least trying to help the less fortunate even if she still embraced the feudal mindset w/ regard to class. Yasraena was not impressed, & Saerileth noticed that she & Nalia, all of them did, were not getting along. Yasraena’s blunt assertion that Nalia is a hypocrite was uncomfortable for everyone & it appeared momentarily that the two would settle their differences w/ combat. Saerileth liked Amber too, although Amber was suspicious of others & wary of relationships because of her obvious heritage. It was understandable but Amber apparently had the full confidence of Dispenser – also a Tiefling – & that was good enough for Saerileth.
But Amber had been kidnapped by Slavers. They were exiting the Copper Coronet after acquiring Illithium for Sir Sarles the sculptor when they were accosted by a group of Slavers. Before they knew it, a Slaver Mage had disappeared w/ Amber while the rest were engaged in fighting the Slavers. They had no idea or no clue as to where she was. Investigating around the Slums had yielded nothing new. Saerileth knew Dispenser wanted her back in his company as soon as possible, so any clue would quickly divert them from whatever else they might be engaged in at the time.
While in the Circus Tent in Waukeen’s Promenade, Dispenser had enlisted the temporary services of Aerie, a Winged Elf Cleric/Mage until Amber could be found. Nalia would try to pick up the Thieving duties, in addition to her arcane support, until Amber returned. Dispenser had purchased a license for Nalia, & Aerie for now, to be able to use magic in the city.
PARTY INFO
ORDER OF MARCH: Yasraena, Saerileth & Isra (shock), Dispenser (leader), Nalia & Aerie (traps, arcane support & rear guard)
CURRENT DISPOSITION: Resting & recovering spells in the Crooked Crane
NEXT STEPS: Check in w/ The Temple of Lathander for another mission
PARTY MAKEUP: (Reputation: 17 – Heroic) Solved Skinner Murders, 3k offering to Temple of Ilmater, Defeated Kalah @ Circus Tent
Dispenser: Cleric (Holy Justice of Tyr)/11 (HP 64) Full Plate & Medium w/Long Sword +1 (Burning Earth),* & Warammer +1 (Hammer of Tyr)*, (SWS*, SSS*) w/Gauntlets of Dexterity, Ring of Djinni Summoning & Gloves of Healing; Abilities: Cure Affliction (2), Divine Might (2) Divine Might (2), Healing Touch (2), Hold person, Strength of One, Holy Word; Skills: None; Skills: None; Spells: Mass Cure, Raise Dead, CSW, Defensive Harmony, Holy Power, Protection from Evil 10’, Animate Dead, Dispel Magic, Holy Smite, Prayer, Chant, Draw/Holy Might, Hold Person (2), Silence 15’, Slow Poison, Armor of Faith, Bless, Command, Doom, Remove Fear, Sanctuary; (Adv AI) (1)
Isra: Paladin (Cavalier of Sune)/9 (HP 69), Full Plate & Painbearer’s Amulet, Ghadir Family Ring, Cloak of the Stars w/ Gauntlets of Weapons Skill, Two-Handed Sword +2 (Spider’s Bane)**, Wyvern’s Tale +2* (THWS**), & Ring of Energy; Abilities: Remove Fear (8), Protection from Evil (8), Lay on Hands, Detect Evil (11); Skills: None: Spells: Armor of Faith; (Adv AI) (2)
Saerileth: Paladin (Cavalier of Tyr)/11 (HP 96), Full Plate & Ring of Protection +1 w/ Medium Shield & Bastard Sword +1**, (Warhammer **, (Long Sword*, SSS**); Abilities: Remove Fear (11), Protection from Evil (11), Lay on Hands, Detect Evil (14), Cure Disease; Skills: None; Spells: Draw on Holy Might, Armor of Faith, Bless; (Adv AI) (3)
Yasarena: Fighter//10 (HP 93), Dark Mail +3, Short Sword +2***** (Ironkiss), Short Sword +1***** (Fireflower) w/ Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise (2WS**); Abilities: None; Skills: None: Spells: None; (Adv AI) (nil)
Nalia: Mage/Thief//4/11 (HP 63), Bracers of Defense AC3 & Dusty Rose Ioun Stone w/ Short Bow* & Short Sword*; Abilities: Set Snare, Scribe Scrolls; Skills: OL 85, PP 50, FT 80, MS 20, HS 15, DI 10, ST 5; Spells: Animate Dead, Breach, Lower Resistance, Greater Malison, Secret Word, Stoneskin, Haste, Lightning Bolt, Slow, Spell Thrust, Agannazar’s Scorcher, Knock, Melf’s Acid Arrow, Mirror Image, Burning Hands, Chromatic Orb, Magic Missile, Shocking Grasp; (Adv AI) (nil)
Aerie: Claric/Mage//9/10 (HP 42), Traveller’s Robe, Quarter Staff* & Sling* (Dagger*, Spear*); Abilities: Barkskin, Call Woodland Beings, Scribe Scrolls; Skills: None; Spells: Hold Monster, Spell Immunity, Minor Sequencer, Stoneskin, Protection from Normal Missiles, Remove Magic, Spell Thrust, Detect Invisibility, Melf’s Acid Arrow, Power Word Sleep, Stinking Cloud, Charm Person, Color Spray, Magic Missile, Protection from Evil; (Adv AI) (nil)
I made a seperate thread not knowing about this ones existence, sorry about that. But after many attempts and trials i finally beat bg1-bg:sod-bg2-bg:tob solo, no reload, core difficulty.
Obviosly death in any part of the games led to character creation in bg1
@skroq12 Welcome, and congrats on your success! If you feel like having another go at it and upping the challenge level, I would recommend trying out the Sword Coast Strategems mod, which is very customizable and contains some significant AI improvements and tactical challenges.
@skroq12: Congratulations! I would second @Enuhal's recommendation to try out SCS, as it makes the game much more dynamic and interesting. There's a lot more to explore in the Baldur's Gate saga, and we'd love to have another dedicated fan join the challenge. This could only be the beginning of many fun no-reload or minimal reload playthroughs for you!
If you give me the name of your character, I can add it to the Hall of Heroes. Feel free to post any screenshots you might have from the run.
Near the Temple of Lathander we were able to rescue Corianna who had been petrified. She gave us a potion of mirrored eyes to say thank you.
We later had an invitation from Kelddath to fight Mutamin and Valeria which we did. Gavin then left us.
When we headed south Dorn joined the party.
We then helped him gain revenge on Kryll.
We went north in search of others who had betrayed him and ran into another group of assassins who killed Montaron before they fell.
Montaron then did some pickpocketting at Ulgoth's Beard after which we left him there. We picked up Viconia the drow to replace him as we no longer needed a cut-purse. Together we crushed Mulahey and his cohorts.
We left Xzar down the mine and enlisted Xan instead. He helped us to help Jan and then some elven captive slaves before we dropped him off at the Friendly Arms Inn. We then headed for the Gnoll Citadel.
After rescuing Aaron we picked up Xzar once more and helped people to the north of the Citadel.
Bjorrnin was delighted when we killed the half-ogres who had hurt him.
We then went to the archaeological site where we picked up an idol and slew a doomsayer and doom guards.
We went on to the xvart village where w were forced to kill hordes of xvarts.
To the north of there we killed more enemies, finishing with some gibberling who were attacking Laurel.
We carried on to the lighthouse area and upon resting were attacked by sirines.
We then returned Ardruine's son to her.
Near there we looted a cave after killing yet more sirenes.
Further north we killed Shoal and she killed Xzar.
After raising him we headed to Gullykin where we killed hordes of kobolds.
And then Meilum.
We entered a hidden dungeon where we killed undead
The rest of the Firewine dungeon was then cleared.
We then headed for Durag's Tower.
Annabelle was then helped.
And gnolls were killed.
We moved on to the Ulcaster Ruins where we killed Icharyd.
We killed Mal Kallen.
before moving to to kill Anton Valor.
He was guarded by demon knights who were lured away to their death by weasels. We then moved in for the kill when Anton's spells had been used on the weasels that we sent to plague him.
Death knights galore were also killed.
Outside, before we had a chance to rest, we were attacked by Red Wizards.
They were wearing useful robes which the mages in our party could wear.
North of Beregost we freed a gnome slave from some goblins.
@jessejmc belated commiserations. I assume you weren't playing with the effect expiry notifications from the JimFix mod? That mod really helps with aura management. I've grown quite fond of it.
Thanks. No, it was a vanilla install. I've looked for a mod with expiration notifications and will keep that one in mind for the future.
Quick update: After the incident with the crit protection granting ioun stones, I decided to continue with Wanton and gang. However I think I just don't enjoy a bardic Charname so much. Too much support, safely in the back... I may still discontinue the run out of a lack of interest.
A lot of progress has been made. The party does pretty much all the city quests. Skie gets in trouble in Ramazith's tower after failing to assassinate the mage. She gets boxed in by summoned shadows. Wanton rushes upstairs but gets slowed and poisoned by a jelly critical. Upon arrival he too gets cornered.
Invisibility potions and waiting for the summons to disappear, and a wand flamestrike from Viconia save the day.
Three wands of paralyzation ensure Degrodel doesn't get away with the helm of Balduran.
Poor use of the stairs sees Skie defeated by Zhalimar Cloudwulfe at the Iron Throne after a fiery opening salvo does much to weaken the enemy.
She takes revenge, dispatching the survivors of the opening attack though backstabs.
In the Candlekeep catacombs a snare missed by Viconia (Cleric/Thief) nearly kills Garrick, Eldoth, Shar-Teel, and badly injures Skie.
Fireballs destroy Prat's gang.
The Ice Island causes no problems, with the first three mages taken on separately thanks to a Chaos from scroll and a Web dividing them. Rasaad temporarily joins the party in Garrick's stead so that he doesn't have to face his brother Gamaz alone. Skie dons a strength belt the party finds in Gamaz's temple. (I love Rasaad's story, it moves me more than Charname's.)
Durlag's Tower is the place for the party's thieves to shine. Viconia expertly handles all traps using one potion of perception per floor (her locks/traps skill is 80 for each), while Skie (Assassin) takes out the Dwarven Warders single-handedly, well except for Avarice who needed a visible Shar-Teel to show himself.
The Air Aspect kills Viconia with massive damage. Sadly she's the only character who can read Raise Dead scrolls, so the crew has to return to Beregost to have her resurrected. On the chessboard, six fireballs kill many pieces, the king lives, but everyone focuses on him. Viconia finishes him with a Flamestrike.
The Demon Knight makes short work of a few summoned skeletons from Viconia. The party attacks him with missiles, but he Blinds Garrick and Shar-Teel. He eventually goes out with a bang, killing Shar-Teel with a devastating fireball just before Eldoth finishes him.
The party returns to Ulgoth's Beard under invisibility thanks to a Greater Doppelganger that had dropped an Invisibility 10'Radius scroll that Wanton copied into his spellbook. Wanton, feeling cocky, decides to play with the cult assassins alone, with the rest of the party in the inn, and almost pays for it with his life when his buffs get dispelled and enemy archers injure him with poisoned arrows.
With the help of the party, the enemy is defeated (wand of fire, skull traps, backstabs, melee fighting).
The battle with Aec'Letec is fun. Everyone is high on potions (fortitude and agility for some; storm giant strength, heroism, invulnerability for Shar-Teel; defense for the non-warriors, speed for everyone). The bards also pre-buff. Carol Tracea goes invisible at the beginning of the battle. Garrick casts Detect Invisibility. She then casts Teleport Field. Eldoth launches an arrow of dispelling. Skie positions herself behind the mage and stabs her for 63 damage, not enough to kill her, but she falls soon after to one of Garrick's bolts of lightning. The party then takes on one or two cultists at a time, for the most part. Skie gets Held once by Aec'Letec, but Wanton dispels that effect with Methild's Harp just as the demon lands its first blow. Shar-Teel finishes the demon with a nice critical from her returning throwing axe.
"Rrrrnnnn..."
Rnn was pissed off. Really pissed off.
It had all started so well, back in the Keep. Right up until that powerful wizard feller leading them had got himself carved up into itty bitty pieces. Things had definitely taken a downhill turn from there.
Torch had insisted they stay off the roads, to avoid attention and further ambushes (like that had worked really well so far).
"Really, we're not lost!" he continued to claim, as they continued to scrape their way through endless brambles, gorse bushes, thickets of brier, copses of spineleaf, and just about every nettle patch Rnn swore he could see. They were aiming for Nashkel, since Torch knew of an iron mine there, and had heard of recent troubles; Rnn just wanted out of the wilderness so he could bash some goblin skulls, receive some rewards, and spend said rewards in the nearest inn and southerner lady-house.
"Yeah, right, laddie, and I'm the Lord of Mithral Hall. Grrr..."
They snuck around the outskirts of Beregost, and continued south. "I'm certain I saw an inn there laddie, but mebbe I was hallucinating from the lack of ale." On rounding a rocky outcropping they blundered straight into a Hobgoblin camp, and both sides hastily scrambled to get arrows nocked and bullets slung, whilst Rnn simply tucked his head down and charged them; before the archers could get sorted he'd already taken out three! Pansy archers; he'd little respect for those who didn't look their enemy in the eyes before smashing them through their heads.
Although, he reflected for a moment, that archer-lass from far-off lands was a pretty dead shot. It could prove useful one day. Still, he found his heart (and loins) warming much more towards that axe-wielding un-armoured weapons master. Now she was a sight to behold!
"My, lassie, ye've some skill with that axe! I could swear ye've some Dwarf in ye somewhere. If yer response is a nay, well, I can surely offer my services," he rumbled, not unkindly.
"Malak Dwarf, whatever you can offer would make not even measly grilled mouthful on fire tonight. Not taste good, and not worth even one bit* in effort. Waste words, waste breath," came the reply, as she cleaned the black Hobgoblin blood off her axe-blade.
He shrugged, and winked at Torch. "She'll come round, yet, laddie. There be nary a lady who don't!"
Nearing Nashkel, the travellers halted to speak with a well-dressed chap, who rapidly introduced himself as Lord Foreshadow, and who'd seemed almost to be waiting for them, judging by his rapid departure almost as soon as the conversation was over. Rnn was curious about the ring he'd given Torch, especially since upon donning it, he suddenly seemed marvellously witty, clever, and charming; the Dwarf felt he could surely use one of those rings.
At this point, it seemed, Torch had a change of heart about saving the mines.
"Just look at us. It's all very well pretending to be heros, but if we're going to deliver the goods and not get swatted like flies, we need to work on our strengths and skills. I propose we hunt some fearsome monsters, and I've got just the plan."
They backtracked to the High Hedge castle they'd passed in the distance, and Torch sweet-talked the grumpy resident wizard into discounts on his magical stock. They purchased Protection from Petrification scrolls and Potions of Mirrored Eyes, and Rnn started to get an inkling. Sigmoid immediately scribed the scroll (he messed up the first one, thankfully there were two), ready for him to memorise at their next rest.
From the Temple to Torch's god Lathander, East of Beregost, the elderly resident head priest helped them to some Stone to Flesh scrolls. Heading east, they came across a marvelously lifelike statue of a woman. Torch immediately pulled out one of the new scrolls and performed the ritual incantation. Seconds later the statue twitched a finger, then raised an arm, then shook off all semblance of being a statue:
"I'm so glad you found me out here!" she exclaimed, stretching the stony stiffness from her limbs. "Basilisks aren't exactly the thing to face alone. If you want to hunt it down, use this Potion of Mirrored Eyes. Its lair can't be far from here to the East."
Torch winked at Rnn, this time. "I had a hunch."
"Readin' all them books in the library weren't fer nothin', then, aye?"
Half a day's trek due East later, the travellers' environment changed from scrubby sparse woodlands to dry dusty plains broken by rocky outcroppings. A sickly silence descended as they ventured between the natural stone towers. "Slow down now," cautioned Torch. "We're getting close." The party sheltered by one such outcrop, and Torch nodded to Sigmoid, then turned to Rnn. "Ready?"
"I were ready when I sprang out me ma and knocked me pa unconscious, laddie. Ain't no scaly lizard goin' ta scare this Dwarf," came the growled retort.
Sigmoid's new magics enveloped the Dwarf in an almost invisible slightly reflective sheen---the adventurers had never seen cellophane, but it was just as if he was wrapped in that. "Here, you can probably find a better use for this than I," declared the Gnome, passing him a shiny mace. "'Sides, it's been weighing down my knapsack since Beregost! Need to make some space for more potions and gadgets," he nodded, decisively.
Two hours later, and Rnn had offed four of Basilisks; things were going swimmingly. The party camped in the shelter of a rocky spire. Come the evening protective magics were renewed, and at Torch's intuititive instructions, Rnn headed north following some more clawed tracks and passing various petrified and irreversibly eroded figures. Korax---an unlikely talking ghoul---offered its assistance, and despite the stench on its breath, Rnn took the offer.
As the pair passed between some trees, more lizards hissed menacingly, joined by a cracked, underused voice:
"Greetingssss, I am Mutamin. I hope you enjoy the artwork my pretty lizards have sculpted. They sculpt with their eyessss. They sculpt when nasty travelers come by, yesssss. I don't like nasty travelers. They should---"
With a "RAARRNNNN!" Rnn cut him off, allowing the Rage in his blood to surge like a bestial volcano; Korax lumbered behind. But the sadistic Mage was too quick; he quaffed a potion and his movements became a blur. Spells burst forth from his fingertips---Rnn was too far gone in his Rage to recognise what. Before long Korax's corpse was torn to pieces, and Rnn was battling on his own. In a moment of lucidity, he howled "TO-O-ORCH!", and the leader knew something was wrong.
At a signal, Sigmoid applied his remaining Petrification Protection spell to Torch, who then hurried over. As he walked he recited a special prayer to the Morninglord; Torch felt his combat skills surge, and with the Mage now in sight he let loose with his sling, whipping it round his head with lightning speed, bullet after bullet flicking out with deadly accuracy. He dodged Enchantment magics with a hasty Potion of Clarity, and eventually, the cruel Gnome fell to a passing Mace-blow from Rnn. That just left the 'Lisks.
Mind receptive to communication again, Rnn heeded Torch's orders, and began to lure the horrific creatures in a big circle, pausing from time to time to whip his own sling bullet at one. The plan seemed perfect. That is, until he blundered straight into a Gibberling horde. Kiting became difficult, weaving between the trees, and from time to time his movements were blocked. Then, he noticed the two Lesser Basilisks had turned from him towards Torch. Distracted, he missed his step. The Greater Basilisk was on him in a flash, and it was the last thing he remembered, before waking at the Song of the Morning Temple.
Meanwhile Torch had a mess on his hands. Thinking quickly, he took over Rnn's job, and despite his Lord's help fading, he began carefully timing his sling shots between his movements. One by one he dispatched the screaming Gibberling horde, making it easier to run through the trees. Then he focused his attention on the eight-legged reptiles. It took time, but their lumbering was slow, and he was able to pick them off, quaffing his Potions of Mirrored Eyes as he felt his protections from their gaze wear off.
"WHAT? Ye mean ta say that I only softened them up fer ye? Rrrrn... Laddie, ye'd better be havin' a better plan next time, fer I sure as the Hells ain't playin' yer bait again!"
*A bit is a copper unit of Chessentan currency, equivalent to about 2cp.
Noteworthy Loot:
Robe of the Evil Archmagi (thank ye very much, Item Randomiser!), Spell Scrolls, Bracers of Protection AC 6
Having discovered the whereabouts of the bandits, I sought them out and was taken to their camp where I was attacked by Tazok. I almost killed him but he chickened out, pretending that he needed to be elsewhere, The others attacked and we had quite a battle defeating them.
However we then had a confrontation with other assassins. They weree killed much more easily as we were prepated for them.
We then headed for Beregost knowing that Tranzig was there, but on the way encountered two groups of bandits.
In Beregost we sought out and killed Tranzig.
We then checked to make sure that the ankhegs were not taking over farmer Brun's farm again. We only found six, but being in groups of three made them more challenging.
At the Friendly Arms Inn we were attacked by Vallius and others.
Further south davenport and his loons attacked and died!
We then headed for the bandits base in Cloakwood, and on the way fought Centeol and a dragon.
I fought the dragon single handed since I was the one protected from fire. He still hurt me, but not seriously.
As we collected the loot, we realised that there wasn't enough room for it in our bag of holding without ejecting some of it. We therefore decided to go back to Beregost and sell the surplus and the ankheg shells.
Afterwards I thought about the party and decided to drop Viconia as she wasn't a Cyricist and if she left we would be heroes once more. We would therefore be able to buy equipment much cheaper.
We took note that we left her upstairs above Firebead. Hopefully the two of them will get on well together.
I have a number of kits installed which are quite interesting, enabling all sorts of characters not possible in vanilla. However, I only have a small proportion of those available, and there are a number of mods which I wanted that my installation that my installer rejected. Next installation perhaps.
I just lost a run as a solo Cleric/Ranger on the second level of Durlag's Labyrinth. I had completed the Candlekeep Catacombs and was there to retrieve Kiel's Helmet and Durlag's Goblet before heading back to Baldur's Gate. While traveling past the lever room looking for the exit, I was smashed by the wall trap. I had fumbled my way through the first level of the Labyrinth anyway, and it's unlikely I will ever return there without access to thief skills.
Cleric/Ranger is quite strong, and there's not much in BG:EE that can't be handled by metagame knowledge, Sanctuary, Silence, and Animate Dead. I like to complete as much as I'm able to, but this really highlights the folly of taking unnecessary risks.
Having dropped off Viconia, I was able to enlist Jaheira. Khaled remained in the barracks at Nashkel. We were able to help Aldeth, Maretha and Berador.
We returned to tell the story of our success, deopped off Jaheira, and picked up Coran. We found the wyverns and took the trophy to the Temple of Lathander. We did get hurt from time to time, but have now dropped off Coran at the temple before investigating the Section HQ in Beregost.
Droch looked around. Eventually he said to Painter that we are stood outside Degrodel's house and maybe we had intended venturing inside. An archer and a kensai are not the first characters you would expect such a task of but we're stubborn and nothing is going to put us off.
The first guardian inside is tricky to deal with and we decide to negotiate with Degrodel rather than face any more minions.
Then we change our minds and use some potions. We kill Degrodel too.
At this point Droch realises Painter still has the bastard sword +1 liberated from Beregost Smithy. Painter is happy enough with this but Droch decides to visit Cloakwood and face down Seniyad and his pals. Aldeth Sashenstar seems pleased with our assistance and almost immediately we are back in the city saying we will help out at the Merchants League. Party time for glass cannons can get a bit messy.
Painter thinks we should investigate Ramazith's Tower, Droch distracting some mustard jellies so Painter can wibble-wobble them apart in safety. After that Droch gives Painter some potions to help against ghasts and Painter only uses two of them so covers everything in his own blood by the time the last ghast falls.
Droch can only cure light wounds twice so Painter continues seeping blood everywhere. Droch leads against hobgoblins then kobolds, allowing Painter to follow from behind and safely clear the tower.
We rest before heading into the Iron Throne HQ. Droch passes a scroll and some potions to Painter, then hides and positions himself. A buffed Painter (he used some of these items but not all) arrives upstairs and we make a couple of schoolboy errors - both targeting Diyab then both targeting Aasim. Alai and Naaman get a chance to cast and Painter gets confused with only a couple of enemies accounted for.
Droch clears the room of casters but Zhalimar Cloudewulfe is targeting Painter. Droch switches to his staff and tries some melee to get Zhalimar to switch targets, but no such luck and three more arrows are enough to drop Painter.
By this stage Droch has deposited Gardush in the upper corner and stepped back from Zhalimar. He starts to fight but quickly stops himself - killing either of the two enemies would create an xp gap. Instead he grabs key items for Painter, drags Gardush downstairs and heads to a temple.
We're back in double-quick time and pick off Gardush before doing the same to Zhalimar.
Duke Eltan sends us back to Candlekeep, where we are promptly arrested. In making our escape Droch hands lots of consumables over to Painter - who is steadfastly ignoring them and playing with traps. After only a minute or two Painter decides to use some of the consumables and we loot three caskets.
Our buffs last longer than Prat and his gang.
After making good our escape we head back into the city and gatecrash the coronation. The first greater doppelgangers last a couple of rounds meaning both the dukes are in trouble. The last three greater doppelgangers all die at the same time thanks to some brutal melee and retargeting ranged attacks without checking whether enemies died or not. Liia had died, while Belt still had a couple of bars of health remaining.
We retreated to a side-room and showed Belt evidence that Sarevok was behind this attack. After a brief showdown Sarevok teleported away and Belt sent us after him.
Nothing in the thieves maze caused us any great concern and Rahvin's gang were dealt with in a roundabout manner - some arrows of detonation but three of them attacked and we had to draw them back for the kill before returning for the other three. The previous area transition had nullified a protection from undead scroll too so Painter drew four skeletons and a skeleton warrior into combat too.
Inside the once-abandoned temple Droch tried to draw Sarevok out and got Semaj too. He also took dispel, remove magic and greater malison by the time he was back. Semaj was dead just as Sarevok got to him, and we set about Sarevok - using another arrow of dispelling to make certain he wasn't hasted.
Sarevok looked as though he'd got the better of Painter, then Tazok arrived. Painter broke free and ran as Droch switched targets and killed Tazok.
With Sarevok on his own once more we used our superior movement to whittle him down and it didn't take us long to finish the job.
Droch has taken full advantage of ranged attacks to get 219 kills. Painter has done well for a melee character to almost keep up with 162 kills.
Trio attempt 15 (part 1234567 8) hours 12 - 13: BGII:EE Chapter III, Umar and Watchers Keep
Milam (Avenger)
Harvey (Sun Soul Monk)
Coremage (Fighter / Mage)
Milam pushed his luck today, leading to a party death. Continuing to push after that wasn't such a hot idea and warnings aplenty culminated in... well read on.
We started off in Umar, picking up an ingredient for the local magestry. No need for us to play with the nearby umber hulks but that won't stop us.
Our investigations reveal a temple nearby so we trot over and Milam is soon held - but bathed in light which protects him.
Harvey and Coremage are busy emptying one room of the temple when a bone golem exits from another. Milam leads it aside and uses improved invisibility before we regroup to deal with it.
Only a little further into the temple Milam is held again. Coremage turns him invisible while Harvey has done the bulk of the work and suffered the bulk of the pain. The invisibility spell is good enough and Milam survives for another day or few.
Harvey is drawn into speaking proxy for Milam while on a letterboard - his answer causes a mis-step and he is scorched by flame. Such is the travails of a sun soul monk.
In the next area of the temple we prepare ourselves to deal with a dragon, Milam having decided we will attempt to kill it. Coremage gets a bit carried away and this is not the buff we were looking for.
We finish our buffs and attack. Harvey bravely distracts the dragon while we try our hardest.
It's not going to be good enough, this dragon is going to kill us.
Milam has used most of his meaningful spells so with the benefits of ironskin and amulet of power he tanks as Harvey glides in to use his slingas Coremage finishes three sets of magic missiles followed by two sets of minute meteors and a wand charge. Or something like that.
Well, that was close and fits into the we really shouldn't have tried it in no-reload category.
There's a Shade Lord outside and we think we are ready to deal with him. Once Harvey and Milam are stunned we're reliant on Coremage but he's not going to be quick enough unless he goes atomic. One skulltrap later and the job is done. Well done that caster.
On the way back to Umar we pick up Valygar before ruthlessly dealing with his ranger friends. Ruthless we said - that doesn't mean telling them to call the fight off. WE HAVE YOUR DEAD FRIEND HERE >.<
Having crossed Umar off our to-do list we scamper over to Watchers Keep. Coremage is held in a western room and the surrounding shadows and wraith finish him off before we can attempt a rescue - Harvey being out-gunned and Milam being mid way through a summoning spell so a dirty aura prevents a casting of invisibility.
We traipse all 15 seconds of the way outside so Sister Garlena can raise Coremage. Then we traipse all the way back in and decide to open the main door. One of the two vampiric wraiths inside ignores the party and summons, and goes for Milam. After a brief fight, Milam runs while Coremage preps up magic missiles. One lot almost completes the job and it is a race for him to get a second set cast before the wraith can reach Milam.
Milam buckles under the pressure and flees for the door - but he is too slow and the wraith snacks on yet another hapless bhaalspawn.
@Gate70 Congrats on Droch and Painter beating Sarevok. Poor Milam
Journal of Cyreta and the Cyricists
We used the old trick of casting web and cloudkill to kill somee easier enemies and then sending in a party member who couldn't be held to lure the enemy into the web and hence death. The death was usually hastened by the use of missile weapons, fireballs and skullcaps.
On the bodies we found +3 morning stars, long swords, bastard swords, and quarterstaves.
The question now is: "Do I use them?"
We picked up countless suits of full plate armour and also many long swords +1. When they are sold, we will be able to afford to fill up the spell books of the mages, and also to charge up all the wands.
We are having difficulty carrying all of our arrows, so we will drop off half of them in a barrel in Beregost. We will now be using +1 arrows as a matter of course as we picked up so many in the Section HQ.
We also have plenty of +2 arrows, but don't have a glut of those, so they will be reserved for the more powerful enemies.
EDIT
Having sold off surplus equipment we now have 300,000 gold pieces and room for more loot. We will go to the Nashkel mines before shopping in order to reach a reputation of 20.
Comments
my gf needs a new sword (she says) and so we treked back to the underdark to collect the parts from the brain guys and the eyes... somehow this sword makes her bum look big or some such so then we raid a warehouse full of traps for a nice katrina and now she is happy!!
It was Kangaxx, oddly enough. In SCS v32 at least, Kangaxx can now see right through a Protection from Undead scroll--which I thought would be fine, because I had so many other defenses.
The thing is, I thought there was some bug that was preventing anti-magic attacks from taking down Entropy Shield, the v32 priest equivalent of SI: Abjuration (it grants immunity to Breach and Remove Magic albeit no other Abjuration spells), or perhaps Impervious Sanctity of Mind (which grants a Spell Shield effect in v32). However, what I failed to realize was that Kangaxx's anti-magic attacks were taking down Spell Turning first, and that's why Entropy Shield remained active.
The net result? Entropy Shield went down without warning, and then a Remove Magic spell was on the way.
I caught this in time, and responded with SI: Abjuration. But Kangaxx followed up with a triple Polymorph Self Spell Sequencer.
Normally, this would have been blocked by Spell Turning or my Cleric/Druid/Mage's excellent saving throws, but the former went down before Entropy Shield without my noticing, and the latter was heavily penalized by Greater Malison.
It didn't help that I was wearing the Cloak of Mirroring instead of the Cloak of Protection +2, and Vhailor's Helm instead of the Helm of Balduran, and that I had no Rings of Protection because they had been destroyed by a Hakeashar due to a side effect from a PnP-style component from CDTweaks. My save vs. spell would have been at 2, for a 5% chance of a failed save, or an 85.7% chance of shrugging off all three Polymorph Other spells.
But Polymorph Other doesn't use a save vs. spell. It uses a save vs. polymorph, and my save vs. polymorph would have 9 with Greater Malison active. Factoring in 15% magic resistance, the chance of surviving all three spells was just 10%.
I didn't get that 10%. I turned into a squirrel, with my current HP set to 5, sky-high AC, and no option of equipping the Staff of the Magi, on top of a slow base movement rate.
Kangaxx's Fallen Planetar took one swing and it was over.
Dying has no emotional impact for me anymore, even though I was having a fair amount of fun with the run. Deaths are kind of "meh" at this point. It helped that I was in late SoA with a solo character, where the endgame strategy and build was already set up and there was little room left for character progression.
I'm finding again that solo runs aren't much fun. Certain fights are made especially interesting by the limitations of a solo character, but much of the game feels like work, since so many encounters lose their complexity when a high-level solo character can stomp all over them (the Guarded Compound isn't very exciting when you can cast Nature's Beauty under the Staff of the Magi and then smash everyone in earth elemental form). You get a bunch of extremely low-difficulty challenges paired with a small number of extremely high-difficulty challenges, and in both cases, you're using a smaller number of tools.
I need to get back to the poverty run soon.
It has been a while since Semi where questing, but she is still alive - and well
Previously
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1062531/#Comment_1062531
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1069254/#Comment_1069254
The part up until Underdark was done in May and the rest in October/November, so my memory is a bit hazy here and there... sorry
Semi was left of shortly before Rasaads quest, which was done quickly and without risk - the real prize was the gem of seeing and the cloak of atonement (which lets you cast cc -> which blocks maze (nice)).
Next up the planar sphere. The tricky parts are the one where you have to face Maze spells (the halflings and Tolgerias). But summons baited the worst spells out and the cloak of atonement negated the risk - the rest where easy pickings
I postponed killing the two dragons and set off to Spellhold. Siding with the thieves, and cruised through the undead purging - courtesy of the kit and the the shield of Harmony. Spell hold was easily done as well, the undead being no risk for Semi. But she did forget the ring of free action - alas.
Fish city was done only for the two cloaks, and underdark main area was only cleared partially. Semi had the xp she needed, and wanted progress. The northern parts of the beholder lair was cleared for the green stone amulet and the eyestalk.
In Ust Natha some shopping was in order, and otherwise just the straight and narrow. Visaj, the Aboleth and Kaso Talo where all dodged - and the eggs retrieved.
Back on the surface loose end where tied up. Two dragons where bereaved of their lives and their treasures.
Feeling the power and having the right gear, made Semi wanting to go to the Mindflayer Metropolis and kill the underground fishies as well.
Buffing with 8 potions of genius and using the green stone amulet at will made the encounters trivial.
Bodhi was no problem. Turn undead exploded the undead. With hardiness the rest and Bodhi where no problem.
In Suldanessar the Adamantite golems caused some problems and the pesky Dragon with the ridiculous name nearly ended the run. Being underprepared and underbuffed Semi was send below 30 HP, a few more hits would have ended the run there and then (she had DoE, AoF and Hardiness active).
But a deva diverted the dragon and the rod of resurrection saved the day. The dragon slain afterwards..
The avatar of Rilifane cleared the eleven city and Irenicus at the tree of life fell to some summons (Semi just ran away and send 6-7 summons his way).
In Hell Semi picked up 4 times magic resistance and +2 to saving throws.
The demon posse where fooled by a simple invisibility spell and met their doom by the hand of my skeleton warriors and a deva that Semi summoned afterwards.
The gem of seeing exposed Irenicus/Slayer and he met his doom by the hand of the deva and Semi.
Aragon brought his Two-Handed Sword down hard, tearing through the shoulder and severing the mage’s arm from his body bringing the fight to a close – there would be no bounty collected at Aragon’s expense on this day. The Fellowship, as they referred to themselves - short for Fellowship of the Ring – made it to the Friendly Arm Inn (FAI) just one day after Gorion, Aragon's step-father, had been slain by an unknown entity in black armor & a host of other attackers. What it was all about, they could not understand but they met w/ Khalid & Jaheira as Gorion had wished & learned of troubles in Nashkel, so they would go there next. Aragon & Gandalf, all of them, had decided to shield Gorion’s friends from whatever intrigue was chasing them – three assassination attempts in one day (two rogues had tried earlier in separate attacks while they were still in Candlekeep). Khalid & Jaheira agreed to Aragon’s request that they watch over his ‘li’l sister’ Imoen. He felt she was safer under their watchful eyes than traveling w/ the Fellowship or trying to return to Candlekeep – he hoped so anyway.
DEATH BLOW
Staying in the common room at the FAI, hoping not to bring attention to themselves, the Fellowship rested ahead of the next days journey to Beregost where they would spend a night before heading toward Nashkel. Khalid & Jaheira said they should find Berrun Ghastkill, the Mayor of Nashkel, who would give them the particulars of their mission there.
Boromir & Gimle each upgraded their armor to Splint Mail from Bentley Mirrorshade’s (proprietor of the FAI) stock, while Gandalf spent time writing Magic Missile & Burning Hands into his spell book. Everyone tended to his equipment before they lay down for a bit of well-deserved shuteye. It had been a looonng day & tomorrow’s forecast was for more of the same.
ORDER OF MARCH: Aragon (leader) & Gimle (shock), Legolas (artillery) & Boromir, Gandalf (arcane support) & Frodo (rear guard)
MONSTERS DEFEATED: * Tarnish (FI), Wolf (LW), Diseased Gibberling (CW), Assassins (2 - Ck)
* Legend: Ck = Candlekeep; LW = Lion’s Way, CW = Coast Way, FI = Friendly Arm Inn, RE = Random Encounter, DS = Disturb Sleep
LEVEL UP: None
CASUALTIES: None
NOTEWORTHY TREASURE: (Gold = 133 gp [32])
Armor & weapons: Long Sword, Morning Star, Daggers (2), Leather, Staff
Gems/jewelry: Gem (TBD), Lynx Eye Gem
Potions: Healing (2)
Scrolls: Magic Missile, Armor, Burning Hands
Wands:
Misc & Artifacts: Belt (TBD)
BEST KILL (Gimle vs Legolas):
1. Legolas: Wolf (65 exp)
2. Gimle: Zilch, zeron, nada
CURRENT DISPOSITION: Resting, Recovering, Resupplying @ FAI
NEXT STEPS: Travel to Nashkel
PARTY MAKEUP: (Reputation: 12 – Average)
Aragon: Paladin/1 (HP 12), Splint Mail w/Two-Handed Sword** (THWS**); Abilities: Detect Evil (4), Lay on Hands, Protection from Evil; Skills: None; Spells: None; (Adv AI) (1)
Gimle: Fighter (Berserker)/1 (HP 11) ; Chain Mail w/Battle Axe** & Throwing Axe** (SWS**); Abilities: Enrage; Skills: None; Spells: None; (Adv AI) (5)
Boromir: Fighter/1 (HP 11) ; Studded Leather, Large Shield w/Bastard Sword** (SSS**) Abilities: None; Skills: None; Spells: None; (Adv AI) (3)
Legolas: Ranger (Archer)/1 (HP 11); Studded Leather w/Longbow** & Long Swords (2)* (Dagger*, TWS**); Abilities: None; Skills: None; Spells: None; (Adv AI) (4)
Gandalf: Mage (Conjuror)/1 (HP 5); Abilities: None; Skills: None; Spells: Magic Missile, Armor; (Adv AI) (2)
Frodo: Thief (Burglar)/1 (HP 7); Studded Leather w/ Short Sword*, Throwing Dagger*, Dagger*; Abilities: None; Skills: OL 45, FT 30, PP 15, MS 45, HS 45, DI 5, ST 0, B/S x2; Spells: None; (Adv AI) (nil)
MOD USED: BG NPC v23.3, BG NPC Music v6, Plane Touched Races _v0,0, Indira v12, Isra v2.3, Finch v4.0, Gavin v14, Drake, Sirene v2.5, Verr’sza v5.2, BG UB v16, Tweaks Anthology Beta 4, Song & Silence v9, Deities of Faerun, Rogue Rebalancing v491, Level 1 NPCs, SCS v31, aTweaks, Item Randomizer v7
(Current AI) (Chain of Command rank)
Milam (Avenger)
Harvey (Sun Soul Monk)
Coremage (Fighter / Mage)
We wake up rusty, or refreshed (take your choice) after our usual gap of a week stretches to two. The unspoken thought is that some of us may die and temples may be involved. Let's see.
Milam has four items on his list (Renfeld, Watchers Keep, magic licence and Gaelan Bayle). Since Coremage is lugging Renfeld about it does make sense to at least start in that order. Only, officer Dirth is stood between our starting position (temple in the docks) and Renfeld's buddies. He might like to try saving against a chromatic orb while doomed - that's an instakill.
Only.
He doesn't tell Harvey, who hides as the fire protection is being cast. We proceed, and Harvey has to retreat with flames licking at his boots, neck, everywhere really. Most people would stay away but oh no Harvey has to go back and wave his single figure hitpoints in the direction of anything that looked mean and toothy. Still, we survived.
With this done we went top-side and nabbed a necklacy-amulet from the Talos clerics and visited a temple for some un-draining. Coremage was a little bit rapid there and we had to make two purchases rather than one that did both him and Harvey. Still, easy come easy go on the money front.
Rayic Gethras is on our hit-list. Once more Milam has a cunning plan. He protects Harvey from fire. Once more the plan mis-fires as he doesn't tell anyone else what the plan is and as he waits for Harvey to hide enter the building and attack, Coremage enters and attacks. Much fire everywhere from mephits so what could have been a relatively clean fight gets a bit scrappy. It's not a problem though and Milam uses Improved Invisibility on his companions so they can attack the golems upstairs safely.
This leaves Rayic alone and he looks as if he may get into his stride until Coremage uses the single-charge wand of frost from the chateau to ice him. With him dead we do the remaining quests for Edwin and Mae'Var before eliminating the latter for Renal Bloodscalp. Harvey leaps at the opportunity to laugh at the prospect of death. One day Harvey you'll overstep the mark and... well my bet is dragon food if Milam survives long enough.
Coremage laughs and his stoneskins soak up the poison. He's safely through.
Harvey laughs and his greater sun fireshield soaks up the poison. He's safely through.
Hang on Harvey, come back here. Clearly you're poisoned, we have slow poison available - will you just stop or come back. That's a good boy.
Inventory at session end - some stuff to identify and sell, plus Coremage could do with one of those looted longbows.
So two more hours without any of us dying. Not even Harvey. Despite his best efforts. And then some.
Yasraena’s attempts to make conversation w/ other members of the group were awkward. She was trying her best to understand the surface world she now lived in but it was just so strange. She had gently rebuffed the advances of Dispenser & now the one person who seemed to enjoy talking w/ her had gone silent except in his role as leader. Most of the time she walked along in silence & did her job as directed & as she thought best in the heat of battle. And in that she was masterful as she had been trained in Menzobarranzan by her master, Divalir. She did not have the same depth of feelings that the others seemed to share. It was not that she lacked sympathy, or empathy, whichever, it was just that a Drow learns from birth that revealing one’s feelings is weakness & weakness can be exploited. She had watched Sirene die matter-of-factly, because where she came from death was as sure as anything else in life. Then it was Yoshimo, crushed by a Clay Golem – she just stood & watched as the others took in the loss. Yoshimo was not as tight a member as the others, the Paladins & now Nalia, but he had travelled w/Dispenser for a while now & had showed his medal in the heat of conflict. She looked around at the others tending to their equipment of minding their own business quietly & she felt alone. Sometimes she missed the Underdark – at least there she understood the society in which she lived – no matter how ruthless it was.
They had just saved de’Arnise Keep at the request of Nalia, having defeated a Troll infestation, augmented by Yuan-ti, that apparently came from below. Bugbears had burrowed up underneath the keep’s dungeon & the Trolls & Yaun-ti came in through there. The Trolls and Yaun-ti were not much of a challenge for Dispensers Paladin heavy group, especially since both Dispenser and Yasraena had fire-based swords and Yoshimo & Nalia had plenty of Arrows of Fire & Acid. Even the fight w/ Torgal and two Giant Trolls had gone relatively smoothly but they were too late to save Nalia’s father, who had been a prisoner of Torgal.
TORGAL & THE GIANT TROLLS
It was after defeating Torgal that Yoshimo was crushed by the fist of a Clay Golem. They had found a large open chapel, with six unanimated Golems, two Flesh, two Clay, one Stone & one Iron. At the far end, were three statues, each w/ a valuable treasure, which when taken released two of the Golems. Yoshimo had gotten the last one but after escaping through the door & avoiding the Iron Golem, he was caught by a Clay Golem and crushed beyond recognition. They were really wrapping up at that point, so Yoshimo’s death was certainly unfortunate.
Having reestablished de’Arnise Keep to somewhat normality, Nalia offered Dispenser the lordship of her lands in order to protect her from a betrothal established by her father previously. Dispenser agreed, however, w/ so much to do already, day-to-day operations will fall to the majordomo who had already been doing so before the Troll invasion. Returning to Athkatla, Dispenser invesrtigated the activities of a group of Fallen Paladins on behalf of the Radiant Heart at the request of Sir Ryan Trawl. Dispenser was able to draw their leader out using the cup he had been given when he entered the Order. When he showed his face, he quickly figured out that Dispenser was in league w/ the Radiant Heart, & the ensuing fight brought an end to the Fallen Paladins smuggling operation.
In the course of helping Isra w/ a family matter involving her sister, Dispenser was able to gain the services of Amber, a Fighter/Thief of considerable skill, & a fellow Tiefling.
ORDER OF MARCH: Yasraena, Saerileth & Isra (shock), Dispenser (leader), Nalia & Amber (traps, arcane support & rear guard)
MONSTERS DEFEATED: * Torgal, Clay Golem, Stone Golem, Yuan-ti Mage (Necromancer/12), Greater Yuan-ti, Otyugh, Skeleton Warrior, Spectral Troll, Flesh Golem, Yaun-ti (5 – DS), Giant Trolls (2), Trolls (18), Mad Cleric of Talos, Half-Trolls (2), Orogs (6 - RE), Slavers (2 - RE), Ice trolls (6)
* Unless otherwise indicated, all monsters killed at de’Arnise Keep. RE = Random Encounter, DS = Disturb Sleep
LEVEL UP: Saerileth, Paladin (Cavalier of Tyr)/11, Dispenser, Cleric (Holy Justice of Tyr)/10; Nalia, Mage/11//Thief/4; Yasraena, Fighter/10
CASUALTIES: Yasarena & Isra (Umber Hulks), Isra (Torgal & the Giant Trolls), Yoshimo (Clay Golem, chunked)
NOTEWORTHY TREASURE: (Gold = 3875 gp [7960])
Armor & weapons: Flail of the Ages +3 (Acid, Cold, Fire), Long Sword +2 (Peridan), Long Sword +1 (Burning Earth), Dagger +2
Gems/jewelry: Moonbar Gem, Water Opal, Bloodstone Necklace
Potions: Extra Healing (2)
Scrolls: Otiluke’s resilient Sphere, Animate Dead, Minor Sequencer, Secret Word
Wands: Frost
Misc & Artifacts: Dusty Rose Ioun Stone, Efreeti Bottle, Gloves of Pickpocketing, Gloves of Healing
BEST KILL:
1) Nalia, Torgal (15000 exp)
2) Yasraena, Glourkist (Devil – 12500 exp)
3) Isra, Gauth & Yoshimo, Beholder (9000 exp ea)
4) Saerileth, Umber Hulk (4000 exp)
CURRENT DISPOSITION: Resting & recovering spells in the Crooked Crane
NEXT STEPS: Investigate the murders of the poor in the Bridge District
PARTY MAKEUP: (Reputation: 14 – Popular) (Donation 3k Ilmater)
Dispenser: Cleric (Holy Justice of Tyr)/11 (HP 64) Full Plate & Medium w/Long Sword +1 (Burning Earth),* & Warammer +1 (Hammer of Tyr)*, (SWS*, SSS*) w/Gauntlets of Dexterity, Ring of Djinni Summoning & Gloves of Healing; Abilities: Cure Affliction (2), Divine Might (2) Divine Might (2), Healing Touch (2), Hold person, Strength of One, Holy Word; Skills: None; Skills: None; Spells: Mass Cure, Raise Dead, CSW, Defensive Harmony, Holy Power, Protection from Evil 10’, Animate Dead, Dispel Magic, Holy Smite, Prayer, Chant, Draw/Holy Might, Hold Person (2), Silence 15’, Slow Poison, Armor of Faith, Bless, Command, Doom, Remove Fear, Sanctuary; (Adv AI) (1)
Yasarena: Fighter//10 (HP 93), Dark Mail +3, Short Sword +2***** (Ironkiss), Short Sword +1***** (Fireflower) w/ Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise (2WS**); Abilities: None; Skills: None: Spells: None; (Adv AI) (nil)
Saerileth: Paladin (Cavalier of Tyr)/11 (HP 96), Full Plate & Ring of Protection +1 w/ Medium Shield & Bastard Sword +1**, (Warhammer **, (Long Sword*, SSS**); Abilities: Remove Fear (11), Protection from Evil (11), Lay on Hands, Detect Evil (14), Cure Disease; Skills: None; Spells: Draw on Holy Might, Armor of Faith, Bless; (Adv AI) (3)
Isra]/I]: Paladin (Cavalier of Sune)/9 (HP 69), Full Plate & Painbearer’s Amulet, Ghadir Family Ring, Cloak of the Stars w/ Gauntlets of Weapons Skill, Two-Handed Sword +2 (Spider’s Bane)**, Wyvern’s Tale +2* (THWS**), & Ring of Energy; Abilities: Remove Fear (8), Protection from Evil (8), Lay on Hands, Detect Evil (11); Skills: None: Spells: Armor of Faith; (Adv AI) (2)
Nalia: Mage/Thief//4/11 (HP 63), Bracers of Defense AC3 & Dusty Rose Ioun Stone w/ Short Bow* & Short Sword*; Abilities: Set Snare, Scribe Scrolls;Skills: OL 85, PP 50, FT 80, MS 20, HS 15, DI 10, ST 5; Spells: Animate Dead, Breach, Lower Resistance, Greater Malison, Minor Sequencer, Secret Word, Haste, Lightning Bolt, Slow, Spell Thrust, Agannazar’s Scorcher, Melf’s Acid Arrow, Mirror Image, Web, Chromatic Orb, Magic Missile (3); (Adv AI) (nil)
Amber]/I]: Fighter/Thief//6/12 (HP 81), Studded Leather & Buckler +1 w/Long Sword +1* (Burning Earth), & Dagger +2* (Dagger**, Longbow**, Spear**, THWS*, SSS**); Abilities: Blinding Eye (3), Poison Weapon (2), Set Snare (3); Skills: OL 95, PP 41, FT 70, MS 112, HS 117, DI 50, ST 10, B/S x4 w/ Ring of Lockpicks; Spells: None; (Adv AI) (nil)
MOD USED: Amber v5, Tyris Flare v8, Foundling v4.2, Pesty v3.1, Asher v1.12, Gavin v23, Sirene for BG2, Isra v3, Paina, Tashia v1.2, Vampire Tales, Ninde, Saerileth, Arath v4, Dace v5, Tsujatha, Kelsey v5, Keto v5, Sarah v5, Nathaniel v4.4, Iylos v2.6, Adrian v4.3, Naphele v2.5, Fade v5.5, Saradas Magiv v1.6, de’Arnice Romance v6, Unfinished Business v26, Plane Touched Races, Wheels of Prophecy v8.3, NPC Flirt v1.06, Romantic Encounters v14, Tweaks Anthology, Deities of Faerun, Song & Silence v9, Rogue Rebalancing v4.92, Wizard Slayer Rebalancing v1.14, SCS v32.7, Atweaks v4.53, Item Randomizer
(Current AI) (Chain of Command rank)
Wanton, Charlatan of Candlekeep (2)
BG1: 1
The Nashkel Mines are Eldoth's playground. His charming Gypsy song makes the kobolds go after each other.
After a little buffing (Remove Fear and Strength of One for the party, Shield and Cat's Grace for Baeloth, and MSD for Wanton), the party makes short work of Mulahey and his minions.
In Nashkel Wanton uses Greagan's Harp to the same effect against Nimbul, makes him waste his spells, but leaving the finishing touch to Safana.
During their search for the bandit camp the companions get waylaid by the bounty hunting party of Molkar. Eldoth charms Drakar who in turn Holds Morvin. Shar-Teel engages - and defeats - Molkar in a duel. Wanton successfully uses his not yet reliable Truth Perception ability to strip Halacan's Mirror Images away. The gnome then manages to charm Eldoth for a change of pace, but Greagan's Harp corrects that. Vicky finishes Drakar with a Flamestrike from wand, and Eldoth neutralizes the gnome with his custom made poisoned arrows.
In Peldvale Wanton meets three wandering bards, exchanges tales with them, and is given Methild's Harp by one of them (a nice touch from the BG1NPC Project). The party can now musically dispel four status effects: Fear (Wanton's song), Charm (Greagan's Harp, which can also be used offensively of course), Confusion (Rogue Rebalancing's Harp of Descant), and Hold (Methild's Harp).
Raiken leads the party to the bandit camp, were Shar-Teel gives forgetful old me a déjà vu experience when she wants nothing of Taurgosz "Tenhammer" Khosann's intimidating talk.
Upon finally reaching the Iron Throne base, the companions are given a hard time by the party of Drasus. Genthore is Blinded by Wanton but then speedy Drasus, enraged and with a potion of frost giant strength in his belly, comes for the retreating weaker party members rather than enraged Shar-Teel. The amazon stays behind in a Web from Baeloth, to fight the wizards Kysus and Rezdan. Before focusing his magic on Shar-Teel, Kysus casts a Chaos at Eldoth, but the bard counters with a potion of magic shielding. Together with Safana, Wanton, Baeloth and Vicky, he manages to defeat Drasus with lots of running around and taking advantage of the warrior's slow attack speed. Shar-Teel doesn't fare as well. Rezdan and Kysus summon lots of minions and Enfeeble her, and in spite of Baeloth's Web holding some of the summons, she falls before Wanton (wearing the boots of speed to be on time) gets to finish a casting of Invisibility on her.
Extensive questing in the city ensued, interrupted by a trip to Beregost that sees Garrick the Troubadour join the party (in Baeloth's stead, mainly for the banter with Eldoth and Skie that should be entertaining).
Wanton is given a scare when Desreta crits him with a triple damage backstab, but the damage is rather low: 36 damage. Turns out the deep red ioun stone, from Rogue Rebalancing protects against critical hits.
Droch (male elf archer, Gate70); Painter (male dwarf kensai, Grond0)
Droch is convinced this is our third outing, only after consulting his journal to write up the non-existent notes does he see it is the second. We start at the Beregost smithy. Droch is showing little sign of remembering our previous jaunt, Painter correctly suggesting we had killed off Kirian's gang and filled our backpacks with their equipment - now sold of course.
A quick inspection of our backpacks reveals only a spider corpse so we enter a nearby house to pick up some wine and boots before heading north. We grab a couple of girdles from an ogre and arrive at the Friendly Arm Inn. A circuit of which provides us with Joia's ring and a ring of wizardry-for-spare-cash. We celebrate by gunning down an assassin called Tarnesh and after shopping at the inn we set off once more.
Sirines and flesh golems can do nothing against our distasteful (to them) strategies, and we are rewarded with the treasures that are stashed within Black Alaric's cave.
Nashkel mine is next. We race through it and shoot Mulahey down but not before he has summoned a horde of minions which may pester Painter. Droch takes pity on the dwarf and lobs a potion of explosions at his buddy. They're still friends, mostly.
Painter then gets himself held by Neira, thinking a spell won't follow him out of an inn. Droch hasn't realised his companion is incapacitated and is peppering Neira the assassin with arrows. Fortunately he kills her before she can get a debilitating spell cast onto him. He grabs her gear and heads outside only to see Painter still held (or not seen, thanks to the cloak of displacement).
It seems we must head to Cloakwood Mine. First though we sell what items we can.
Cloakwood is dealt with circumspectly, other than ettercaps where we used missiles to eliminate them at range. Drasus and his gang are waiting for us, but Droch downs Kysus and hides, leaving Drasus and Genthore to chase after Painter. Rezdan has mirrored so Droch leaves him and peels Genthore away from Painter.
After failing to hide several times, Droch resorts to a shootout with Genthore. Droch has wussy leather armour so the shooting match is closer than hoped for but Genthore dies first. Droch and Painter then converge, meaning Drasus is chasing a kensai while an archer is plucking away at his health. There's only going to be one outcome here and so it proves. We then return to deal with Rezdan as his mirror images have worn off.
Saerileth was truly pleased to be travelling w/ such a group of warriors as Dispenser had gathered around him. The fact that Dispenser venerated the maimed god Tyr as a Cleric, like she did as a Paladin, made the alliance seem even more pre-destined. She had travelled w/ him since he first escaped Irenicus’ Dungeon – or almost so – and they had clearly administered Tyr’s justice in and around Athkatla. They had defeated the Beholder Cult, brought down the Fallen Paladin’s, beat back a Troll invasion in de’Arnise Keep, brought a horrible child murderer to justice, defeated a Gnome Illusionist who terrorized a circus crowd, provided solid evidence against Isaea Roenall for slaving & smuggling, gave numerous substantial contributions to the Temple’s of Lathander & Ilmater – even Helm, assisted Isra in aiding her family (which landed her sister in prison) & cleared the streets of a number of mugger’s & ruffians.
A NAUGHTY GNOME
She travelled well w/ Isra, although they were not friendly as Isra & Sirene had been – maybe that was part of the reason. Yasraena was a fantastic warrior, & despite her heritage was certainly good in her intentions – although a bit rough around the edges simply because she did not understand the culture she now lived in. She liked Nalia & admired her for at least trying to help the less fortunate even if she still embraced the feudal mindset w/ regard to class. Yasraena was not impressed, & Saerileth noticed that she & Nalia, all of them did, were not getting along. Yasraena’s blunt assertion that Nalia is a hypocrite was uncomfortable for everyone & it appeared momentarily that the two would settle their differences w/ combat. Saerileth liked Amber too, although Amber was suspicious of others & wary of relationships because of her obvious heritage. It was understandable but Amber apparently had the full confidence of Dispenser – also a Tiefling – & that was good enough for Saerileth.
But Amber had been kidnapped by Slavers. They were exiting the Copper Coronet after acquiring Illithium for Sir Sarles the sculptor when they were accosted by a group of Slavers. Before they knew it, a Slaver Mage had disappeared w/ Amber while the rest were engaged in fighting the Slavers. They had no idea or no clue as to where she was. Investigating around the Slums had yielded nothing new. Saerileth knew Dispenser wanted her back in his company as soon as possible, so any clue would quickly divert them from whatever else they might be engaged in at the time.
While in the Circus Tent in Waukeen’s Promenade, Dispenser had enlisted the temporary services of Aerie, a Winged Elf Cleric/Mage until Amber could be found. Nalia would try to pick up the Thieving duties, in addition to her arcane support, until Amber returned. Dispenser had purchased a license for Nalia, & Aerie for now, to be able to use magic in the city.
ORDER OF MARCH: Yasraena, Saerileth & Isra (shock), Dispenser (leader), Nalia & Aerie (traps, arcane support & rear guard)
MONSTERS DEFEATED: * Cohrvale (Fighter/7 – Sl), Rune Assassins (2), Bregg (Fighter/10 – Sl), Officer Dirth (Fighter/16 - SB), Kalah – CT), Amalas (Fighter/7 - CC), Slavers (2 – Sl)), Mugger (Sl), Ruffian Captain (Sl), Peasants (2 - CT), Ghasts (2), Shadows (2 - CT), Werewolves (5 – CT), Thugs (2), Shady Character (Sl)
* Legend: SB = Circus Tent = CT, Copper Coronet = CC, Sea Bounty Tavern, Slums = Sl RE = Random Encounter, DS = Disturb Sleep
LEVEL UP: None
CASUALTIES: NOne
NOTEWORTHY TREASURE: (Gold = ~ 1111 gp [5803])
Armor & weapons: Neb’s Nasty Cutter
Gems/jewelry: Moonbar Gem, Black Opal, Pearls (4)
Potions: Extra Healing (2), Invulnerability
Scrolls: Minor Sequencer, Blur, Protection from Normal Missiles, Remove Magic
Wands:
Misc & Artifacts:
BEST KILL:
1) Nalia, Torgal (15000 exp)
2) Yasraena, Glourkist (Devil – 12500 exp)
3) Isra, Gauth (9000 exp)
4) Saerileth, Umber Hulk (4000 exp)
CURRENT DISPOSITION: Resting & recovering spells in the Crooked Crane
NEXT STEPS: Check in w/ The Temple of Lathander for another mission
PARTY MAKEUP: (Reputation: 17 – Heroic) Solved Skinner Murders, 3k offering to Temple of Ilmater, Defeated Kalah @ Circus Tent
Dispenser: Cleric (Holy Justice of Tyr)/11 (HP 64) Full Plate & Medium w/Long Sword +1 (Burning Earth),* & Warammer +1 (Hammer of Tyr)*, (SWS*, SSS*) w/Gauntlets of Dexterity, Ring of Djinni Summoning & Gloves of Healing; Abilities: Cure Affliction (2), Divine Might (2) Divine Might (2), Healing Touch (2), Hold person, Strength of One, Holy Word; Skills: None; Skills: None; Spells: Mass Cure, Raise Dead, CSW, Defensive Harmony, Holy Power, Protection from Evil 10’, Animate Dead, Dispel Magic, Holy Smite, Prayer, Chant, Draw/Holy Might, Hold Person (2), Silence 15’, Slow Poison, Armor of Faith, Bless, Command, Doom, Remove Fear, Sanctuary; (Adv AI) (1)
Isra: Paladin (Cavalier of Sune)/9 (HP 69), Full Plate & Painbearer’s Amulet, Ghadir Family Ring, Cloak of the Stars w/ Gauntlets of Weapons Skill, Two-Handed Sword +2 (Spider’s Bane)**, Wyvern’s Tale +2* (THWS**), & Ring of Energy; Abilities: Remove Fear (8), Protection from Evil (8), Lay on Hands, Detect Evil (11); Skills: None: Spells: Armor of Faith; (Adv AI) (2)
Saerileth: Paladin (Cavalier of Tyr)/11 (HP 96), Full Plate & Ring of Protection +1 w/ Medium Shield & Bastard Sword +1**, (Warhammer **, (Long Sword*, SSS**); Abilities: Remove Fear (11), Protection from Evil (11), Lay on Hands, Detect Evil (14), Cure Disease; Skills: None; Spells: Draw on Holy Might, Armor of Faith, Bless; (Adv AI) (3)
Yasarena: Fighter//10 (HP 93), Dark Mail +3, Short Sword +2***** (Ironkiss), Short Sword +1***** (Fireflower) w/ Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise (2WS**); Abilities: None; Skills: None: Spells: None; (Adv AI) (nil)
Nalia: Mage/Thief//4/11 (HP 63), Bracers of Defense AC3 & Dusty Rose Ioun Stone w/ Short Bow* & Short Sword*; Abilities: Set Snare, Scribe Scrolls; Skills: OL 85, PP 50, FT 80, MS 20, HS 15, DI 10, ST 5; Spells: Animate Dead, Breach, Lower Resistance, Greater Malison, Secret Word, Stoneskin, Haste, Lightning Bolt, Slow, Spell Thrust, Agannazar’s Scorcher, Knock, Melf’s Acid Arrow, Mirror Image, Burning Hands, Chromatic Orb, Magic Missile, Shocking Grasp; (Adv AI) (nil)
Aerie: Claric/Mage//9/10 (HP 42), Traveller’s Robe, Quarter Staff* & Sling* (Dagger*, Spear*); Abilities: Barkskin, Call Woodland Beings, Scribe Scrolls; Skills: None; Spells: Hold Monster, Spell Immunity, Minor Sequencer, Stoneskin, Protection from Normal Missiles, Remove Magic, Spell Thrust, Detect Invisibility, Melf’s Acid Arrow, Power Word Sleep, Stinking Cloud, Charm Person, Color Spray, Magic Missile, Protection from Evil; (Adv AI) (nil)
MOD USED: Amber v5, Tyris Flare v8, Foundling v4.2, Pesty v3.1, Asher v1.12, Gavin v23, Sirene for BG2, Isra v3, Paina, Tashia v1.2, Vampire Tales, Ninde, Saerileth, Arath v4, Dace v5, Tsujatha, Kelsey v5, Keto v5, Sarah v5, Nathaniel v4.4, Iylos v2.6, Adrian v4.3, Naphele v2.5, Fade v5.5, Saradas Magiv v1.6, de’Arnice Romance v6, Unfinished Business v26, Plane Touched Races, Wheels of Prophecy v8.3, NPC Flirt v1.06, Romantic Encounters v14, Tweaks Anthology, Deities of Faerun, Song & Silence v9, Rogue Rebalancing v4.92, Wizard Slayer Rebalancing v1.14, SCS v32.7, Atweaks v4.53, Item Randomizer
(Current AI) (Chain of Command rank)
Obviosly death in any part of the games led to character creation in bg1
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/77271/solo-no-reload-bg1-bg-sod-bg2-bg-tob#latest
If you give me the name of your character, I can add it to the Hall of Heroes. Feel free to post any screenshots you might have from the run.
Near the Temple of Lathander we were able to rescue Corianna who had been petrified. She gave us a potion of mirrored eyes to say thank you.
We later had an invitation from Kelddath to fight Mutamin and Valeria which we did. Gavin then left us.
When we headed south Dorn joined the party.
We then helped him gain revenge on Kryll.
We went north in search of others who had betrayed him and ran into another group of assassins who killed Montaron before they fell.
Montaron then did some pickpocketting at Ulgoth's Beard after which we left him there. We picked up Viconia the drow to replace him as we no longer needed a cut-purse. Together we crushed Mulahey and his cohorts.
We left Xzar down the mine and enlisted Xan instead. He helped us to help Jan and then some elven captive slaves before we dropped him off at the Friendly Arms Inn. We then headed for the Gnoll Citadel.
After rescuing Aaron we picked up Xzar once more and helped people to the north of the Citadel.
Bjorrnin was delighted when we killed the half-ogres who had hurt him.
We then went to the archaeological site where we picked up an idol and slew a doomsayer and doom guards.
We went on to the xvart village where w were forced to kill hordes of xvarts.
To the north of there we killed more enemies, finishing with some gibberling who were attacking Laurel.
We carried on to the lighthouse area and upon resting were attacked by sirines.
We then returned Ardruine's son to her.
Near there we looted a cave after killing yet more sirenes.
Further north we killed Shoal and she killed Xzar.
After raising him we headed to Gullykin where we killed hordes of kobolds.
And then Meilum.
We entered a hidden dungeon where we killed undead
The rest of the Firewine dungeon was then cleared.
We then headed for Durag's Tower.
Annabelle was then helped.
And gnolls were killed.
We moved on to the Ulcaster Ruins where we killed Icharyd.
We killed Mal Kallen.
before moving to to kill Anton Valor.
He was guarded by demon knights who were lured away to their death by weasels. We then moved in for the kill when Anton's spells had been used on the weasels that we sent to plague him.
Death knights galore were also killed.
Outside, before we had a chance to rest, we were attacked by Red Wizards.
They were wearing useful robes which the mages in our party could wear.
North of Beregost we freed a gnome slave from some goblins.
We then killed Corsone
Thanks. No, it was a vanilla install. I've looked for a mod with expiration notifications and will keep that one in mind for the future.
BG1: 1, 2
Quick update: After the incident with the crit protection granting ioun stones, I decided to continue with Wanton and gang. However I think I just don't enjoy a bardic Charname so much. Too much support, safely in the back... I may still discontinue the run out of a lack of interest.
A lot of progress has been made. The party does pretty much all the city quests. Skie gets in trouble in Ramazith's tower after failing to assassinate the mage. She gets boxed in by summoned shadows. Wanton rushes upstairs but gets slowed and poisoned by a jelly critical. Upon arrival he too gets cornered.
Three wands of paralyzation ensure Degrodel doesn't get away with the helm of Balduran.
In the Candlekeep catacombs a snare missed by Viconia (Cleric/Thief) nearly kills Garrick, Eldoth, Shar-Teel, and badly injures Skie.
The Ice Island causes no problems, with the first three mages taken on separately thanks to a Chaos from scroll and a Web dividing them. Rasaad temporarily joins the party in Garrick's stead so that he doesn't have to face his brother Gamaz alone. Skie dons a strength belt the party finds in Gamaz's temple. (I love Rasaad's story, it moves me more than Charname's.)
Durlag's Tower is the place for the party's thieves to shine. Viconia expertly handles all traps using one potion of perception per floor (her locks/traps skill is 80 for each), while Skie (Assassin) takes out the Dwarven Warders single-handedly, well except for Avarice who needed a visible Shar-Teel to show himself.
The Air Aspect kills Viconia with massive damage. Sadly she's the only character who can read Raise Dead scrolls, so the crew has to return to Beregost to have her resurrected. On the chessboard, six fireballs kill many pieces, the king lives, but everyone focuses on him. Viconia finishes him with a Flamestrike.
The Demon Knight makes short work of a few summoned skeletons from Viconia. The party attacks him with missiles, but he Blinds Garrick and Shar-Teel. He eventually goes out with a bang, killing Shar-Teel with a devastating fireball just before Eldoth finishes him.
The battle with Aec'Letec is fun. Everyone is high on potions (fortitude and agility for some; storm giant strength, heroism, invulnerability for Shar-Teel; defense for the non-warriors, speed for everyone). The bards also pre-buff. Carol Tracea goes invisible at the beginning of the battle. Garrick casts Detect Invisibility. She then casts Teleport Field. Eldoth launches an arrow of dispelling. Skie positions herself behind the mage and stabs her for 63 damage, not enough to kill her, but she falls soon after to one of Garrick's bolts of lightning. The party then takes on one or two cultists at a time, for the most part. Skie gets Held once by Aec'Letec, but Wanton dispels that effect with Methild's Harp just as the demon lands its first blow. Shar-Teel finishes the demon with a nice critical from her returning throwing axe.
Previous Parts:
Last known plans:
"Rrrrnnnn..."
Rnn was pissed off. Really pissed off.
It had all started so well, back in the Keep. Right up until that powerful wizard feller leading them had got himself carved up into itty bitty pieces. Things had definitely taken a downhill turn from there.
Torch had insisted they stay off the roads, to avoid attention and further ambushes (like that had worked really well so far).
"Really, we're not lost!" he continued to claim, as they continued to scrape their way through endless brambles, gorse bushes, thickets of brier, copses of spineleaf, and just about every nettle patch Rnn swore he could see. They were aiming for Nashkel, since Torch knew of an iron mine there, and had heard of recent troubles; Rnn just wanted out of the wilderness so he could bash some goblin skulls, receive some rewards, and spend said rewards in the nearest inn and southerner lady-house.
"Yeah, right, laddie, and I'm the Lord of Mithral Hall. Grrr..."
They snuck around the outskirts of Beregost, and continued south. "I'm certain I saw an inn there laddie, but mebbe I was hallucinating from the lack of ale." On rounding a rocky outcropping they blundered straight into a Hobgoblin camp, and both sides hastily scrambled to get arrows nocked and bullets slung, whilst Rnn simply tucked his head down and charged them; before the archers could get sorted he'd already taken out three! Pansy archers; he'd little respect for those who didn't look their enemy in the eyes before smashing them through their heads.
Although, he reflected for a moment, that archer-lass from far-off lands was a pretty dead shot. It could prove useful one day. Still, he found his heart (and loins) warming much more towards that axe-wielding un-armoured weapons master. Now she was a sight to behold!
"My, lassie, ye've some skill with that axe! I could swear ye've some Dwarf in ye somewhere. If yer response is a nay, well, I can surely offer my services," he rumbled, not unkindly.
"Malak Dwarf, whatever you can offer would make not even measly grilled mouthful on fire tonight. Not taste good, and not worth even one bit* in effort. Waste words, waste breath," came the reply, as she cleaned the black Hobgoblin blood off her axe-blade.
He shrugged, and winked at Torch. "She'll come round, yet, laddie. There be nary a lady who don't!"
Nearing Nashkel, the travellers halted to speak with a well-dressed chap, who rapidly introduced himself as Lord Foreshadow, and who'd seemed almost to be waiting for them, judging by his rapid departure almost as soon as the conversation was over. Rnn was curious about the ring he'd given Torch, especially since upon donning it, he suddenly seemed marvellously witty, clever, and charming; the Dwarf felt he could surely use one of those rings.
At this point, it seemed, Torch had a change of heart about saving the mines.
"Just look at us. It's all very well pretending to be heros, but if we're going to deliver the goods and not get swatted like flies, we need to work on our strengths and skills. I propose we hunt some fearsome monsters, and I've got just the plan."
They backtracked to the High Hedge castle they'd passed in the distance, and Torch sweet-talked the grumpy resident wizard into discounts on his magical stock. They purchased Protection from Petrification scrolls and Potions of Mirrored Eyes, and Rnn started to get an inkling. Sigmoid immediately scribed the scroll (he messed up the first one, thankfully there were two), ready for him to memorise at their next rest.
From the Temple to Torch's god Lathander, East of Beregost, the elderly resident head priest helped them to some Stone to Flesh scrolls. Heading east, they came across a marvelously lifelike statue of a woman. Torch immediately pulled out one of the new scrolls and performed the ritual incantation. Seconds later the statue twitched a finger, then raised an arm, then shook off all semblance of being a statue:
"I'm so glad you found me out here!" she exclaimed, stretching the stony stiffness from her limbs. "Basilisks aren't exactly the thing to face alone. If you want to hunt it down, use this Potion of Mirrored Eyes. Its lair can't be far from here to the East."
Torch winked at Rnn, this time. "I had a hunch."
"Readin' all them books in the library weren't fer nothin', then, aye?"
Half a day's trek due East later, the travellers' environment changed from scrubby sparse woodlands to dry dusty plains broken by rocky outcroppings. A sickly silence descended as they ventured between the natural stone towers. "Slow down now," cautioned Torch. "We're getting close." The party sheltered by one such outcrop, and Torch nodded to Sigmoid, then turned to Rnn. "Ready?"
"I were ready when I sprang out me ma and knocked me pa unconscious, laddie. Ain't no scaly lizard goin' ta scare this Dwarf," came the growled retort.
Sigmoid's new magics enveloped the Dwarf in an almost invisible slightly reflective sheen---the adventurers had never seen cellophane, but it was just as if he was wrapped in that. "Here, you can probably find a better use for this than I," declared the Gnome, passing him a shiny mace. "'Sides, it's been weighing down my knapsack since Beregost! Need to make some space for more potions and gadgets," he nodded, decisively.
Two hours later, and Rnn had offed four of Basilisks; things were going swimmingly. The party camped in the shelter of a rocky spire. Come the evening protective magics were renewed, and at Torch's intuititive instructions, Rnn headed north following some more clawed tracks and passing various petrified and irreversibly eroded figures. Korax---an unlikely talking ghoul---offered its assistance, and despite the stench on its breath, Rnn took the offer.
As the pair passed between some trees, more lizards hissed menacingly, joined by a cracked, underused voice:
"Greetingssss, I am Mutamin. I hope you enjoy the artwork my pretty lizards have sculpted. They sculpt with their eyessss. They sculpt when nasty travelers come by, yesssss. I don't like nasty travelers. They should---"
With a "RAARRNNNN!" Rnn cut him off, allowing the Rage in his blood to surge like a bestial volcano; Korax lumbered behind. But the sadistic Mage was too quick; he quaffed a potion and his movements became a blur. Spells burst forth from his fingertips---Rnn was too far gone in his Rage to recognise what. Before long Korax's corpse was torn to pieces, and Rnn was battling on his own. In a moment of lucidity, he howled "TO-O-ORCH!", and the leader knew something was wrong.
At a signal, Sigmoid applied his remaining Petrification Protection spell to Torch, who then hurried over. As he walked he recited a special prayer to the Morninglord; Torch felt his combat skills surge, and with the Mage now in sight he let loose with his sling, whipping it round his head with lightning speed, bullet after bullet flicking out with deadly accuracy. He dodged Enchantment magics with a hasty Potion of Clarity, and eventually, the cruel Gnome fell to a passing Mace-blow from Rnn. That just left the 'Lisks.
Mind receptive to communication again, Rnn heeded Torch's orders, and began to lure the horrific creatures in a big circle, pausing from time to time to whip his own sling bullet at one. The plan seemed perfect. That is, until he blundered straight into a Gibberling horde. Kiting became difficult, weaving between the trees, and from time to time his movements were blocked. Then, he noticed the two Lesser Basilisks had turned from him towards Torch. Distracted, he missed his step. The Greater Basilisk was on him in a flash, and it was the last thing he remembered, before waking at the Song of the Morning Temple.
Meanwhile Torch had a mess on his hands. Thinking quickly, he took over Rnn's job, and despite his Lord's help fading, he began carefully timing his sling shots between his movements. One by one he dispatched the screaming Gibberling horde, making it easier to run through the trees. Then he focused his attention on the eight-legged reptiles. It took time, but their lumbering was slow, and he was able to pick them off, quaffing his Potions of Mirrored Eyes as he felt his protections from their gaze wear off.
"WHAT? Ye mean ta say that I only softened them up fer ye? Rrrrn... Laddie, ye'd better be havin' a better plan next time, fer I sure as the Hells ain't playin' yer bait again!"
*A bit is a copper unit of Chessentan currency, equivalent to about 2cp.
Noteworthy Loot:
Robe of the Evil Archmagi (thank ye very much, Item Randomiser!), Spell Scrolls, Bracers of Protection AC 6
Lizard-hunting:
Kiting for your life:
Right pissed off:
Having discovered the whereabouts of the bandits, I sought them out and was taken to their camp where I was attacked by Tazok. I almost killed him but he chickened out, pretending that he needed to be elsewhere, The others attacked and we had quite a battle defeating them.
However we then had a confrontation with other assassins. They weree killed much more easily as we were prepated for them.
I fought the dragon single handed since I was the one protected from fire. He still hurt me, but not seriously.
As we collected the loot, we realised that there wasn't enough room for it in our bag of holding without ejecting some of it. We therefore decided to go back to Beregost and sell the surplus and the ankheg shells.
Afterwards I thought about the party and decided to drop Viconia as she wasn't a Cyricist and if she left we would be heroes once more. We would therefore be able to buy equipment much cheaper.
We took note that we left her upstairs above Firebead. Hopefully the two of them will get on well together.
Cleric/Ranger is quite strong, and there's not much in BG:EE that can't be handled by metagame knowledge, Sanctuary, Silence, and Animate Dead. I like to complete as much as I'm able to, but this really highlights the folly of taking unnecessary risks.
Having dropped off Viconia, I was able to enlist Jaheira. Khaled remained in the barracks at Nashkel. We were able to help Aldeth, Maretha and Berador.
So far, so good.
Droch (male elf archer, Gate70); Painter (male dwarf kensai, Grond0)
Droch looked around. Eventually he said to Painter that we are stood outside Degrodel's house and maybe we had intended venturing inside. An archer and a kensai are not the first characters you would expect such a task of but we're stubborn and nothing is going to put us off.
The first guardian inside is tricky to deal with and we decide to negotiate with Degrodel rather than face any more minions.
Droch can only cure light wounds twice so Painter continues seeping blood everywhere. Droch leads against hobgoblins then kobolds, allowing Painter to follow from behind and safely clear the tower.
Droch clears the room of casters but Zhalimar Cloudewulfe is targeting Painter. Droch switches to his staff and tries some melee to get Zhalimar to switch targets, but no such luck and three more arrows are enough to drop Painter.
By this stage Droch has deposited Gardush in the upper corner and stepped back from Zhalimar. He starts to fight but quickly stops himself - killing either of the two enemies would create an xp gap. Instead he grabs key items for Painter, drags Gardush downstairs and heads to a temple.
Nothing in the thieves maze caused us any great concern and Rahvin's gang were dealt with in a roundabout manner - some arrows of detonation but three of them attacked and we had to draw them back for the kill before returning for the other three. The previous area transition had nullified a protection from undead scroll too so Painter drew four skeletons and a skeleton warrior into combat too.
Inside the once-abandoned temple Droch tried to draw Sarevok out and got Semaj too. He also took dispel, remove magic and greater malison by the time he was back. Semaj was dead just as Sarevok got to him, and we set about Sarevok - using another arrow of dispelling to make certain he wasn't hasted.
Sarevok looked as though he'd got the better of Painter, then Tazok arrived. Painter broke free and ran as Droch switched targets and killed Tazok.
With Sarevok on his own once more we used our superior movement to whittle him down and it didn't take us long to finish the job.
Droch has taken full advantage of ranged attacks to get 219 kills. Painter has done well for a melee character to almost keep up with 162 kills.
Milam (Avenger)
Harvey (Sun Soul Monk)
Coremage (Fighter / Mage)
Milam pushed his luck today, leading to a party death. Continuing to push after that wasn't such a hot idea and warnings aplenty culminated in... well read on.
We started off in Umar, picking up an ingredient for the local magestry. No need for us to play with the nearby umber hulks but that won't stop us.
It's not going to be good enough, this dragon is going to kill us.
Milam has used most of his meaningful spells so with the benefits of ironskin and amulet of power he tanks as Harvey glides in to use his slingas Coremage finishes three sets of magic missiles followed by two sets of minute meteors and a wand charge. Or something like that.
Well, that was close and fits into the we really shouldn't have tried it in no-reload category.
Milam buckles under the pressure and flees for the door - but he is too slow and the wraith snacks on yet another hapless bhaalspawn.
Journal of Cyreta and the Cyricists
We used the old trick of casting web and cloudkill to kill somee easier enemies and then sending in a party member who couldn't be held to lure the enemy into the web and hence death. The death was usually hastened by the use of missile weapons, fireballs and skullcaps.
On the bodies we found +3 morning stars, long swords, bastard swords, and quarterstaves.
The question now is: "Do I use them?"
We picked up countless suits of full plate armour and also many long swords +1. When they are sold, we will be able to afford to fill up the spell books of the mages, and also to charge up all the wands.
We are having difficulty carrying all of our arrows, so we will drop off half of them in a barrel in Beregost. We will now be using +1 arrows as a matter of course as we picked up so many in the Section HQ.
We also have plenty of +2 arrows, but don't have a glut of those, so they will be reserved for the more powerful enemies.
EDIT
Having sold off surplus equipment we now have 300,000 gold pieces and room for more loot. We will go to the Nashkel mines before shopping in order to reach a reputation of 20.