Tl;dr: I don't think challenge runs should be mixed up with roleplaying. Especially the solo poverty ones: it's already totally implausible that you don't accept anyone, whether good or evil, into the party, and even less so that you prefer to run around naked, unless we assume your character suffers from acute mental illness. Why try to roleplay the unroleplayable?
I disagree I don't see why it's unrealistic that a character would not want to rummage through corpses looking for loot or decide to steal someones clothes. I certainly don't see why it's unrealistic that he or she would not want to gather friends on his travels ESPECIALLY my character given he has dragon heritage and dragons are widely considered to be loners.
Having said that avoiding meta knowledge is eh difficult and imo unnecessary for RP it is kinda plausible that they were exploring and just happened to explore some particularly interesting areas guided by some divine influence ...or simple luck I found plenty of areas on my first playthrough just by wandering around why can't that happen again?
The only thing I do in regards to avoiding meta knowledge is to not buff at points that there is clearly no reason to buff yourself simply because you're aware of an impending surprise. I dont even do it for traps my memory is so shocking anyway lol except for select few maze traps, they are a pain in the ass.
Well, @Tisamon: of course if you've already played the game before, maybe more than once, you'll surely have a good knowledge of it and you can't avoid recalling things while playing, the so said meta-gaming. *But* if you still want to do a RP run (challenge or not) you can simply "pretendo to" go blind. Interpretation here is important: everything you let your character to do, is the product of questions like these: "What my character would do now?", "How my character would react at this fact?" "What my character would say at this point?" and similar. You *have* to interpret your character if you want to roleplay and if you interpret your character you have to start from the assumption that your character lacks the knowledge of certain things and that surely he will not see the world where he lives in the same way you - the player - see it (isometric perspective, GUI mechanics, graphic stylisations, etc) so you need to use the Suspension of Disbelief to do so, see that world as if it's real, think as your character would do, act as your character would do.
This is the only way to enjoy correctly a RP run in a well known game, for me.
About RP poverty one of the reasons could be a vow, either religious or not, but one might find other pertinent reasons (for himself) to justify that.
About random wandering, well: why your character has to focus only to the plot? What if he's in a particular mood that brings him to wander in the wild just to do some reasoning alone? Or just to be alone, or for the joy of exploration? By roleplaying one can find as many reasonable justifications or motivations to let his character act or think, if he feels that they could fit the setting and the way to act and think of his character.
Why has my character to focus on the plot? Well, maybe because it's almost always a choice between "save my doggie, please" and an evil of epic proportions that has to be stopped ASAP (yes, ASAP: time does not matter for the main plot in BG, but it's we, the players, that know that much - the character surely doesn't). I mean, I surely wouldn't concentrate on saving the little cute doggies in such a grave situation, and I strongly suspect no sane person would. Ergo, if one wants to be consistently honest about roleplaying his part - there is no choice but to follow the plot with minimal distractions.
I just got bitten by a worg and died in 1 bite...insane is not very forgiving is it lol
Brings the death count to 3, each time was insta kill
Just to elaborate; the worg was blind and instead of outright incinerating it as I should of done i carelessly walked too close for some smashy smashy and got bitten
Note to self: no sloppy half measures. Fire trumps wood.
"A character would not want to rummage through corpses looking for loot or decide to steal someones clothes".
Eh. Really? It's a different world with essentially different morality. Looting the corpses and donning enemies' armor is widely acceptable, nothing strange or evil about that (as it was during the Middle Ages).
A closer analogy: you are sent to Iraq as a soldier; there, you are naturally required to equip a bulletproof vest -- and yeah, you saw it was removed by some big sweaty sergeant a minute before. Will you decline to equip it? Will you be ready to forefeit your own protection on the battlefield for reasons aesthetic and hygienical? I doubt it very much. If you do, you are probably not a very good soldier material, yes? Rummaging through corpses is an integral part of being an adventurer.
Of course I agree completely but that's not to say that it's implausible that someone would not want to rummage corpses just because its widely accepted and done by adventurers. It also does not mean the charname has to be a self proclaimed adventurer as is potentially stated to Yoshimo "adventuring was thrust upon him/her" not a chosen profession.
Besides it's fantasy there are no "have tos" or "can'ts" anything is possible, especially for a sorcerer, as Dreadkhan pointed out
In much of East Asia, only untouchable types (ie beggars, leatherworkers, etc) would even consider touching a corpse ever, let alone looting it. Looting corpses is assuredly not a universal.
In much of East Asia, only untouchable types (ie beggars, leatherworkers, etc) would even consider touching a corpse ever, let alone looting it. Looting corpses is assuredly not a universal.
And why exactly do you consider this argument meaningful in the context of the ongoing discussion? Sword Coast is modeled after medieval Europe, not East Asia.
Anyhow, my point is: one shouldn't strive to roleplay the unroleplayable (i. e., self-imposed in-game restrictions). Or at least one shouldn't pretend it's roleplaying. Otherwise, the artificial assumptions will quickly snowball to extreme levels of ridiculousness: "Okay, so my CHARNAME is highly psychotic, paranoid, and extremely squeamish -- he won't touch that Robe of Evil Archmagi because some drow wizard wore it. Yeah, he's a total lunatic, hehe. Oh, never mind his scores of 18 Int, Wis, and Cha. Implausible? You must be kidding me! Listen, that's FANTASY, man!"
Now that I've solved the little iron shortage of Nashkel I intend to follow up on the information garnered from the corpse of the half orc behind the ore contamination. Perhaps some aggressive interrogations will unravel more clues on who my secret admirer is once I return to Beregost and confront this Tranzig fellow.
I have decided to take a more western route back to Beregost and get some fresh coastal air in my lungs will be a refreshing change of scenery after the ordeal in the mine.
Came across some Sirines along the shoreline, fascinating creatures, such beauty and grace, even their dying screams are melodic. Oddly enough they appeared to be guarding some sort of cave. Sirines are not known to live in such places so curiosity compelled me to investigate.
The cave appeared to house a trove of sorts guarded by flesh golems, invisibility got me past the golems and I narrowly avoided some manner of an electrical trap. The trove as usual contained more useless baubles but one item did catch my eye a rather ominous tome. Definitely has a strange aura about it. I claimed the tome and left. I will have to study it further another time, Tranzig awaits.
Heading north east towards Beregost I came across an arrogant drow demanding I help him fight his battles for him. The idea of watching angry gnolls tearing him apart was amusing so of course I declined to intervene. Turns out the drow wasn't so weak after all, however, after playing several hours of cat and mouse he eventually succumbed to my dragon breath and fell before me.
Surface elves, dark elves, there is little difference after bathing in dragon fire.
(Currently level 7 took CO, MI and haste after sirines)
In much of East Asia, only untouchable types (ie beggars, leatherworkers, etc) would even consider touching a corpse ever, let alone looting it. Looting corpses is assuredly not a universal.
And why exactly do you consider this argument meaningful in the context of the ongoing discussion? Sword Coast is modeled after medieval Europe, not East Asia.
Anyhow, my point is: one shouldn't strive to roleplay the unroleplayable (i. e., self-imposed in-game restrictions). Or at least one shouldn't pretend it's roleplaying. Otherwise, the artificial assumptions will quickly snowball to extreme levels of ridiculousness: "Okay, so my CHARNAME is highly psychotic, paranoid, and extremely squeamish -- he won't touch that Robe of Evil Archmagi because some drow wizard wore it. Yeah, he's a total lunatic, hehe. Oh, never mind his scores of 18 Int, Wis, and Cha. Implausible? You must be kidding me! Listen, that's FANTASY, man!"
Did Irenicus wear a robe of the evil archmagi? I dont recall seeing a single item drop when he fell.... cept for his head >D
People travel, as do ideas. Whos to say Mush's PC didnt have a long, sitdown discussion with a Shou expatriot? They certainly exist, and Candlekeep would be a sensible destination for duch an individual with a scholarly bent. Shou are interested in dragons, possibly curious about a DD. Seeing asmthe charname is low level, he could be influenced by some Shou ideas; toss in his pride and arrogance, and it becomes plausible that the pc refuses to rob the dead and disdain the 'lesser beings' reliance on external sources of power. I dont see this as ridiculous; the chsrname we're discussing is almost as intelligent as Edwin, and no wiser, with added Draconian pride and arrogance.
It's all fine as a raison d'etre of a single eccentric character. I wasn't talking about this particular DD, though -- not exclusively, at least. I claim that any roleplaying rationalization of a poverty solo run _in general_ is a bit nonsensical.
Example: tomorrow Mush decides to abandon this run, and starts over with an elven trueclass sorcerer under the same rules. Technically, the difference will be miniscule. However, you have gone to great lengths to rationalize that particular DD's behavior -- okay, so some unusual biographical details and draconian hybris are to explain his weird code of conduct. Now, what about the elven sorcerer? Was he also influenced by some wise man from Kara-Tur that was interested... well, in elves, and it's his, erm, elven pride speaking when he wants to be absolutely self-reliant? Then, in a week, Mush starts a run with a Half-Orc Cleric of Talos... Holy cow, those Kara-Tur exiles are really influential! I hope you get my drift.
If you don't, another example. I've made a mod for BGEE emulating IWD Heart of Fury mode. Enemies are incredibly beefy and quite dangerous: a single gibberling can easily take on a low-level party. If I ever decide to make a full HoF playthrough in this thread, trying to rationalize why every enemy is suddenly so strong would be quite ridiculous. Sure, I can invent some background story about magical mutations, the legacy of wars between ancient wizard-kings, but, honestly, that will sound like a silly parody. Much like trying to incorporate the curtain into the theatrical performance -- trying seriously, not in a tongue-in-cheek fashion. There are certain conventions that are so clearly extraneous to the game itself, that attempting to explain them is superfluous.
Wow, i just see this! The idea is great imho, and it's more intresting for me, because i also have a solo no item run in progress (and i also roleplay it). Your name has good sounding too. (Try to recite it in a big empty room. Ah, nevermind, bad joke) The tomes were a tempting decision for me too, but i decided not to use them. Your way is also a good solution.
I suggest you to play as you like, and when you share your journy with us, we'll be just more happy. And maybe you should write from your playthrough here.
@DreadKhan I claim that any roleplaying rationalization of a poverty solo run _in general_ is a bit nonsensical.
So...what you're saying is, that there is no way ANY character could ever not want to loot bodies and don robes and that EVERY person/sentient humanoid in the forgotten realms is pro looting?...does that not sound slightly narrow minded?
RL is full of people with a wide variety of likes dislikes and lifestyle choices and the world of fantasy should be/is no different.
Mordu doesnt like using wands drinkin potions or wearing fancy clothes he sees resorting to using magical trinkets as weak. It's a simple reasoning I havnt spent long working up this character profile I pretty much came up with it on the spot when metalloman asked lol but regardless in my eyes its a perfectly plausible stance given his heritage and alignment may not be efficient but people are not borg people are people flawed and full of quirks its what makes RP interesting. My sis' bf wont touch anything that is dusty bordering on fear of dust doesnt make sense at all but no less true....or comical.
Wow, i just see this! The idea is great imho, and it's more intresting for me, because i also have a solo no item run in progress (and i also roleplay it). Your name has good sounding too. (Try to recite it in a big empty room. Ah, nevermind, bad joke) The tomes were a tempting decision for me too, but i decided not to use them. Your way is also a good solution.
I suggest you to play as you like, and when you share your journy with us, we'll be just more happy. And maybe you should write from your playthrough here.
And welcome!
Thanks lolien
Mordukhavar - spawn of Tiamat, wondered if anyone would notice was tempted to shorten it to Mordu but decided against it in the end
What character are you running in your no item game? if you dont mind me asking
@Tisamon One never needs to explain the status quo... the fact that a gibberling has 50 hp and hits like an ogre is the norm to your PCs world. Unless of course you decide this isnt the case, and only then will you need a rationalization. I'd blame an ancient legendary White Dragon's ghost.
As I was saying though, if RP is important, you can just toss in a rationalization. Possibilities for your examples could be: The Elven Sorcerer doesnt trust anyone, ever. He's an orphan in a world not overly fond of Elves, and his mysterious power caused jealousy and hatred among his peers. His lack of trust is so all encompassing that he refuses to use magic items crafted by others, and has little use for money as he trusts neither shopkeeper nor inn keeper, so he leaves money where it falls. For the Half-Orc, I'd take a different angle. Blessed by his god with a hearty and hale body, the cleric sees no weapon as mighty as his own hand (ie Beowulf), and refuses to use them. He disdains the heavy plate worn by other clerics to make his unarmed strikes more effective (no mechanical advantage, but he DID use int as his dump stat, so hre's stupid as a bag of hammers). Instead, any and all valuabled he finds he donates to the Church.
The HoF thing sounds interesting. I ****ing hated trying to kill Drowned Dead on HoF mode though. Ugh! How beastly are Ankhegs or Black Talon Elites?
What character are you running in your no item game? if you dont mind me asking
An illegal dwarf cleric-thief. I'm at the end of the Candlekeep catacombs with him, but journaling takes more time for me.
Cool cleric thief seems quite the popular choice for solo runs. The only part of the game that gave me any trouble on my last solo was when you have to defend the dukes from the doppelgangers dreading that stage. In the end had to use summons to surround them/block them off and used slow, minor meteors and MM on them spamming damage spells till they all died even then only one survived
I suggest you to play as you like, and when you share your journy with us, we'll be just more happy. And maybe you should write from your playthrough here.
I hadn't intended to write it as a story but i had a few impulsive urges to update creatively lol I'm not much of a writer really though i do enjoy the RP. Comes across more like the disjointed remains of a journal ^^ ...Mordu must have sneezed and singed a few pages
So...what you're saying is, that there is no way ANY character could ever not want to loot bodies and don robes and that EVERY person/sentient humanoid in the forgotten realms is pro looting?...does that not sound slightly narrow minded?
Yes, that surely does. The problem is I'm not saying that at all. Not even in a paraphrase
Not every person/sentient humanoid in the Fotgotten Realms is an adventurer; adventurers are a very, very small part of the population. Remember my analogy with a soldier in Iraq that refuses to equip a bulletproof vest because it's dirty?
The HoF thing sounds interesting. I ****ing hated trying to kill Drowned Dead on HoF mode though. Ugh! How beastly are Ankhegs or Black Talon Elites?
The HoF emulator, exactly like the original HoF mode, actually favors weaker creatures in a way. A 1 hp gibberling will have 83 hp in HoF, a 96 hp Drizzt - 'only' 368.
So...what you're saying is, that there is no way ANY character could ever not want to loot bodies and don robes and that EVERY person/sentient humanoid in the forgotten realms is pro looting?...does that not sound slightly narrow minded?
Yes, that surely does. The problem is I'm not saying that at all. Not even in a paraphrase
Not every person/sentient humanoid in the Fotgotten Realms is an adventurer; adventurers are a very, very small part of the population. Remember my analogy with a soldier in Iraq that refuses to equip a bulletproof vest because it's dirty?
adventurer ədˈvɛntʃ(ə)rə/ noun noun: adventurer; plural noun: adventurers a person who enjoys or seeks adventure.
Mordu is no adventurer. He is merely carving a bloody path in search of answers
Upon returning to Beregost I headed over to Feldepost Inn and found the mage matching the description of Tranzig hastily packing supplies into a travel bag. Before I had a chance to interrogate him properly the mage frantically began casting spells, I managed to interrupt his initial casting but an acid arrow got through and hit my shoulder in a retaliatory burst of rage I incinerated the fool...fortunately there were some notes in the surviving travel bag that made reference to another mine somewhere in Cloakwood. After using some minor healing incantations I rested in the inn for the night before heading west for Cloakwood.
The Mine was much like the one in Nashkel; dark, damp and full of vermin. I eventually fought my way to the Mine's coordinator another mage called Davaeorn. Seemed to have a predictable habit of casting dimension door, on his 3rd cast I had a pair of skull traps waiting to greet him, with an additional MM and breath attack he was no more. More conveniently kept notes on Davaeorn's person indicated the Iron Throne had established a base in Baldur's Gate, I have my next destination. On my way out I flooded the mine to purge any survivors.
I have arrived at Baldur's Gate and been greeted by the commander of the flaming fist who seemed to suspect who I was immediately. I proceeded into the town only to be accosted by that damnable old fool Elminster again does he have nothing better to do than pester me at every turn!?
Further into the city I was approached by an elf who claimed to be a Harper. He appeared to be somewhat unhappy with my actions since Gorion's defeat and proclaimed he was going to stop me. Haha, unfortunately for him, he failed, seems to be a consistent trait among Harpers and their associates.
A paladin of sorts confronted me in a tavern apparently he had gotten word of my recent deeds and once again the righteous felt compelled to meet death in the name of goodness and bravery etc etc ...all he accomplished was a fiery death and that of a nearby peasant woman who fled in the wrong direction....he would have made an excellent Harper.
Later that night I found myself musing over the mysterious tome in my pack I wondered if there were other tomes elsewhere, perhaps this was a single volume out of a collection. I recalled a memory from long ago; Gorion in his study with a ring of some kind, he was interested in locating a sister ring that was enchanted with virtually the same enchantments. He had devised a relatively simple method of scrying for it using the ring he had to reveal the location of the other. I immediately began preparations.
The task was trickier than I had imagined and, with my limited available resources, not as effective as I had hoped however I seem to have confirmed there is at least 1 more tome somewhere within Baldur's Gate.
I decided I could spare a few hours for a search and exploring ones surroundings is always prudent. The most obvious place to begin my hunt for the tome was the store known as Sorcerous Sundries, as good a place as any to search. The merchant knew nothing of the tome and sold nothing that contained any useful knowledge. Whilst searching the rest of the building I encountered four wizards practicing rituals on the upper floors. I doubt the fools would even recognize the enchantment on the tome much less its potential. After a brief exchange they attacked me, Their pathetic magics were useless, no matter, they only proved a slight delay.
On my way out I overheard one of the patrons in Sorcerous Sundries mention a wizard by the name of Ramazith to the North of Baldur's Gate. If I cannot locate this tome soon I may have to postpone the search til after I have dealt with the iron throne. The longer I tarry the more likely they will become aware of my presence and intentions.
I was approached by a rogue calling himself Niklos on my way to Ramazith's home. Said he had an opportunity for me and that I should follow him to him to speak with his employer. I had a feeling he knew more about me than he was letting on, I followed to learn more.
A thieves guild, they expected me to commit petty crimes on their behalf I refused and they dared threaten me as a result. I crushed them all. On my way out I sensed something odd about a nearby barrel I peered inside and found the tome! Or at least *a* tome, Its entirely possible there is more than one in this place, it is certainly big enough. Why would a book such as this be lying in a barrel of all places? I should thank Niklos for the opportunity to murder his colleagues else I think i would never have found this otherwise.
I rounded a corner in northern region of the city and a prominent blue tower stood in the centre of a plaza, A mage's abode if I ever saw one. Sure enough as I approached the mage was stood out front studying passers by with a furrowed brow. He caught sight of me and approached. The mage requested I help him with a problem he had but I apologized and appeared to wander off, as soon as his attention shifted back to the passers by I discreetly cast knock on the door behind him, then went invisible and slipped inside.
No sign of a tome on the ground floor looked through some of the notes but to no avail. I ascended the stairs maintaining my invisibility. Floor after floor filled with beasts and hobgoblins, cannot risk being revealed so I ignored them.
Reached the top floor, bookcases all around and a locked container, Immediately i could sense the subtle aura of another tome. I searched the locked container first but contained nothing of interest, went from bookcase to bookcase and eventually, among the dusty mundane historical books I found it! Another tome to my growing collection. With a smile i tucked the tome into my pack and the image of a dragon leering over his trove alone in a cave flashed in my mind's eye, the smile faded.
Leaving the tower Ramazith apparently had still had no luck recruiting for his cause. I headed out towards the Iron Throne, answers long overdue are on the agenda now. No more delays.
I've decided to inform the Flaming Fist commander of my findings involving the Iron Throne. The added attention from the fist should put some pressure on the Throne, The commander was waiting outside the main compound and asked that I perform a service for him, I agreed being on the Fist's good side may be useful in the coming days. He requested I investigate a merchant guild called the Seven Suns, apparently there have been strange reports on their activities of late,
I entered the Seven Suns building and was greeted by a particularly unhelpful merchant, there was definitely something odd about the other two in the room, I confronted one who was equally unwilling to discuss anything and bid that I leave him alone. I descended down stairs to the basement where I was attacked by a doppleganger. I cast stoneskin and pummeled him with fire and magic til he dropped. The reason behind the odd behavior of the two upstairs became apparent. Jhasso, the man Scar had mentioned emerged and confirmed what I had just witnessed, I instructed him to flee and I returned upstairs to slay the dopplegangers. They morphed into their true forms and I polymorphed into a sword spider and eviscerated them. 3 more of the creatures lurked upstairs I dispatched them and returned to Scar to inform him of the situation.
Scar was grateful for my assistance and requested I speak to Lord Eltan. I had hoped this Eltan would prove to be a useful ally to have while I hunt my enemies, unfortunately Eltan clarified that the majority of his men were unaware that we were in fact cooperating and implied I can expect resistance from them regardless. Typical. Still, Eltan's influence may still be of some use so I shall continue to appease for now. We discussed the Iron Throne and Eltan gave me his blessing to investigate their headquarters. Of course I will investigate...and no living creature will survive my inquisition.
The Iron Throne Building stood tall before me. A cast of stoneskin, armour, a prepared minor meteors spell and I was ready to proceed. Once inside I was met by a flustered merchant who was very eager to leave, spouting that there was madness within. I enticed the fool to remain offering a purse full of coin in exchange for more information. The man seemed to calm down at the sight of gold and recounted that six acolytes were accompanying one of the leaders of the Iron Throne, Thaldorn, on the fifth floor and their presence was causing unrest among the other employees. The recollection appeared to breathe new fear into the merchant's eyes and once he ceased his ramblings he attempted to resume his retreat. I killed him before he reached the door. Two other merchants tried to flee but were struck down with meteors, a guard charged from the stairs, a single smoldering meteor imbedded in his chest killed him instantly. I paused, the room was clear and silent. I proceeded up the stairs.
Confronted by a guard I had no more use for diplomacy and provoked him to attack. Four guards advanced in a convenient formation, two casts of agannazar's scorcher reduced all four fighters to ash. I continued onwards and upwards. On the third floor I was engaged by a single guard, a flurry of magic missiles dropped him to the ground in seconds. A hooded mage appeared and cast horror, shrugging off the effects with a save I went invisible. Polymorphed into a mustard jelly and attacked the whelp. His magics were useless, cast after cast of magic missile did nothing against my magic resistance. Once he had exhausted his spells the thief/mage resorted to melee combat, I morphed into a sword spider and tore him apart. Remaining in my spider form I climbed the stairs and slaughtered the merchants and bartender on the next level.
If what the fool said was accurate Sarevok's acolytes were on the next level I shifted back into my human form to prepare. Turning invisible I ascended the stairs to scout ahead. There were six individuals there though they did not strike me as acolytes these were trained and experienced adventurer types by the look of them. I had to tread carefully. I backed into the corner and began strategically placing skull traps just out of range. Once three traps had been placed I launched a fourth into the centre of the group which certainly got their attention. As they advanced they were all struck by at least one of the skull traps each....amazingly five of the six "acolytes" survived. I cast invisibility to regroup but was struck with a confusion spell at the same time. Fortunately the invisibility spell was not interrupted and I made no aggressive actions whilst mired in the spell, it wore off soon enough and I attempted to finish them off with a breath attack. Two more mercenaries fell three still remained, These brutes are tougher than they look. I retreated downstairs to avoid what looked to be an acid or flame arrow spell. When they appeared at the foot of the stairs I hit them with scorcher interrupting the mages next cast and killing him in the process. The two remaining amoured men charged and dropped my stoneskin with the first strike I retreated into the back rooms. as they followed me through I hit the most severely wounded of the two with magic missile. He died, but not before landing an arrow in my chest. The wound was nasty but not fatal. I had to quickly evade the remaining fighter and luckily managed to blind him with my last available cast. I finished him off with several enjoyable blows to the head. This was by far the most difficult battle I have fought and I had not yet found Thaldorn. I could not turn back now however, not til I had the information I came for. I ascended the stairs once again in search of the leader.
Thaldorn was clearly shocked to see me alive. I demanded to know where Sarevok and the remaining leaders were hiding he told me they had gone to Candlekeep he assured me they would have incriminating evidence to implicate the iron throne in the iron shortage on their person. Thaldorn begged me to let him live but I had no intention of leaving anyone in this building alive. I released Noodles from my pack and we attacked Thaldorn in unison with claw and staff he fell. Even without magic he was no match for us. The entire building has been converted into a tomb I have what I need. Time to leave.
That was a close battle, not had a fight like that in a while The part where it says "I took no offensive action" while confused what actually happened was my character was twitching on the spot, saved by the glitch haha.
I arrived at the gates of Candlekeep. It's great walls are oddly comforting. Despite the irony of so many imbeciles residing in a fortress of knowledge I did so enjoy perusing ir's ancient texts and tomes. I entered the keep and began my search for the Iron Throne leaders.
Climbing the all too familiar stairs did my best to avoid the attention of those I once knew I would rather my presence go unnoticed for now. After ascending a few floors I was approached by an odd man who I did not recognize although his voice was certainly familiar. I believe he said his name was Kovus or some such, I was not listening. He claimed he was a friend of Gorion's, must have seen him in passing, no matter I had no time for this, I dismissed him and continued on up the stairs.
I have located the leaders of the Iron Throne, now is not the time to confront them however I will seek Tethtoril and inform him of the situation and go from there.
After climbing the last flight of stairs I was accosted by a watcher proclaiming I was under arrest for the murder of the Iron Throne leaders. This watcher either has the power of foresight or someone is framing me. I went peacefully for now,
Tethtoril came to see me in my cell and informed me that a man named Koveras had accused me of fleeing the scene. Koveras?...Kovus, I knew something was odd about that man, Sarevok. Tethtoril teleported me to the catacombs below to aid in my escape.
The Catacombs
The tomes were filled with dopplegangers traps and ghasts. Many of the dopplegangers assumed faces of residents of candlekeep in a vain attempt to gain my trust how little they realize that half of those fools I would gladly slay even if they were truly here. The catacombs secreted several traps that made swift progress difficult I had to maintain as much magical protection as possible to defend against the numerous hazards, Mirror image and mustard jelly was particularly useful. During my venture through the catacombs I found two more tomes that share similar magical properties to the ones I have in my collection. I added them to my pack, which was gaining significant weight from the texts and polymorphing into weaker creatures was becoming problematic.
I emerged from the catacombs into a series of caves. A small group of men were stood waiting inside the cavern just ahead. As I have become accustomed to always traveling whilst invisible they had not see me I backed up and launched several skull traps into the cavern killing the men. I care not who they were but given the presence of the dopplegangers I suspect they were in service to Sarevok. Sneaking past an array of spiders and basilisks I reached the exit of the cave, another man stood just inside the entrance. I killed him and climbed out into the welcome glare of sunlight,
I have actually now completed my run through just didn't have time or more honestly (couldnt be bothered) to write it up as I was doing it. Was clearly having too much fun So Ill run through quickly what happened...
Returned to BG and rescued Eltan first, invisibility to get to him then a buffed up fire breathing vampric grasp casting sword spider kicked the greater doppleganger's ass. Then went on to re-slaughter everyone in Iron throne...again. Headed on over to the blushing mermaid killed adorable couple headed on over to the coronation which was fun. Was dreading this fight but with only 1 reload it wasn't too bad in the end.
What I did was pre-buffed with armour, stoneskin, MI, haste and meteors ran in, cast invis on Liia, stood in front of belt, got the bad guys attention...all of them, ran into the room where all the civies were hiding, cast invis, civis got slaughtered (lol) ran out let the fist pursue and fight them til they died, then ran in and killed the rest with meteors and breath attack...
The final battle was really easy, lured sarevok outside and killed him with meteors. Considered trying to fight them all inside but meh too much effort lol Besides I wasnt sure how easy it was going to be on his own anyway. Last time I solo'd I killed all of them inside but only by making heavy use of scrolls and wands obv that wasnt an option so I took the easier option.
So there we have it one BG1 solo no item DD run through complete I used the tomes I collected after Sarevok died and exported the char for BG2.
Comments
Having said that avoiding meta knowledge is eh difficult and imo unnecessary for RP it is kinda plausible that they were exploring and just happened to explore some particularly interesting areas guided by some divine influence ...or simple luck
The only thing I do in regards to avoiding meta knowledge is to not buff at points that there is clearly no reason to buff yourself simply because you're aware of an impending surprise. I dont even do it for traps my memory is so shocking anyway lol except for select few maze traps, they are a pain in the ass.
*But* if you still want to do a RP run (challenge or not) you can simply "pretendo to" go blind. Interpretation here is important: everything you let your character to do, is the product of questions like these: "What my character would do now?", "How my character would react at this fact?" "What my character would say at this point?" and similar.
You *have* to interpret your character if you want to roleplay and if you interpret your character you have to start from the assumption that your character lacks the knowledge of certain things and that surely he will not see the world where he lives in the same way you - the player - see it (isometric perspective, GUI mechanics, graphic stylisations, etc) so you need to use the Suspension of Disbelief to do so, see that world as if it's real, think as your character would do, act as your character would do.
This is the only way to enjoy correctly a RP run in a well known game, for me.
About RP poverty one of the reasons could be a vow, either religious or not, but one might find other pertinent reasons (for himself) to justify that.
About random wandering, well: why your character has to focus only to the plot? What if he's in a particular mood that brings him to wander in the wild just to do some reasoning alone? Or just to be alone, or for the joy of exploration? By roleplaying one can find as many reasonable justifications or motivations to let his character act or think, if he feels that they could fit the setting and the way to act and think of his character.
Why has my character to focus on the plot? Well, maybe because it's almost always a choice between "save my doggie, please" and an evil of epic proportions that has to be stopped ASAP (yes, ASAP: time does not matter for the main plot in BG, but it's we, the players, that know that much - the character surely doesn't). I mean, I surely wouldn't concentrate on saving the little cute doggies in such a grave situation, and I strongly suspect no sane person would. Ergo, if one wants to be consistently honest about roleplaying his part - there is no choice but to follow the plot with minimal distractions.
Brings the death count to 3, each time was insta kill
Just to elaborate; the worg was blind and instead of outright incinerating it as I should of done i carelessly walked too close for some smashy smashy and got bitten
Note to self: no sloppy half measures. Fire trumps wood.
"A character would not want to rummage through corpses looking for loot or decide to steal someones clothes".
Eh. Really? It's a different world with essentially different morality. Looting the corpses and donning enemies' armor is widely acceptable, nothing strange or evil about that (as it was during the Middle Ages).
A closer analogy: you are sent to Iraq as a soldier; there, you are naturally required to equip a bulletproof vest -- and yeah, you saw it was removed by some big sweaty sergeant a minute before. Will you decline to equip it? Will you be ready to forefeit your own protection on the battlefield for reasons aesthetic and hygienical? I doubt it very much. If you do, you are probably not a very good soldier material, yes?
Besides it's fantasy there are no "have tos" or "can'ts" anything is possible, especially for a sorcerer, as Dreadkhan pointed out
Anyhow, my point is: one shouldn't strive to roleplay the unroleplayable (i. e., self-imposed in-game restrictions). Or at least one shouldn't pretend it's roleplaying. Otherwise, the artificial assumptions will quickly snowball to extreme levels of ridiculousness: "Okay, so my CHARNAME is highly psychotic, paranoid, and extremely squeamish -- he won't touch that Robe of Evil Archmagi because some drow wizard wore it. Yeah, he's a total lunatic, hehe. Oh, never mind his scores of 18 Int, Wis, and Cha. Implausible? You must be kidding me! Listen, that's FANTASY, man!"
I have decided to take a more western route back to Beregost and get some fresh coastal air in my lungs will be a refreshing change of scenery after the ordeal in the mine.
Came across some Sirines along the shoreline, fascinating creatures, such beauty and grace, even their dying screams are melodic. Oddly enough they appeared to be guarding some sort of cave. Sirines are not known to live in such places so curiosity compelled me to investigate.
The cave appeared to house a trove of sorts guarded by flesh golems, invisibility got me past the golems and I narrowly avoided some manner of an electrical trap. The trove as usual contained more useless baubles but one item did catch my eye a rather ominous tome. Definitely has a strange aura about it. I claimed the tome and left. I will have to study it further another time, Tranzig awaits.
Heading north east towards Beregost I came across an arrogant drow demanding I help him fight his battles for him. The idea of watching angry gnolls tearing him apart was amusing so of course I declined to intervene. Turns out the drow wasn't so weak after all, however, after playing several hours of cat and mouse he eventually succumbed to my dragon breath and fell before me.
Surface elves, dark elves, there is little difference after bathing in dragon fire.
(Currently level 7 took CO, MI and haste after sirines)
cept for his head >D
It's all fine as a raison d'etre of a single eccentric character. I wasn't talking about this particular DD, though -- not exclusively, at least. I claim that any roleplaying rationalization of a poverty solo run _in general_ is a bit nonsensical.
Example: tomorrow Mush decides to abandon this run, and starts over with an elven trueclass sorcerer under the same rules. Technically, the difference will be miniscule. However, you have gone to great lengths to rationalize that particular DD's behavior -- okay, so some unusual biographical details and draconian hybris are to explain his weird code of conduct. Now, what about the elven sorcerer? Was he also influenced by some wise man from Kara-Tur that was interested... well, in elves, and it's his, erm, elven pride speaking when he wants to be absolutely self-reliant? Then, in a week, Mush starts a run with a Half-Orc Cleric of Talos... Holy cow, those Kara-Tur exiles are really influential! I hope you get my drift.
If you don't, another example. I've made a mod for BGEE emulating IWD Heart of Fury mode. Enemies are incredibly beefy and quite dangerous: a single gibberling can easily take on a low-level party. If I ever decide to make a full HoF playthrough in this thread, trying to rationalize why every enemy is suddenly so strong would be quite ridiculous. Sure, I can invent some background story about magical mutations, the legacy of wars between ancient wizard-kings, but, honestly, that will sound like a silly parody. Much like trying to incorporate the curtain into the theatrical performance -- trying seriously, not in a tongue-in-cheek fashion. There are certain conventions that are so clearly extraneous to the game itself, that attempting to explain them is superfluous.
(Try to recite it in a big empty room. Ah, nevermind, bad joke)
The tomes were a tempting decision for me too, but i decided not to use them. Your way is also a good solution.
I suggest you to play as you like, and when you share your journy with us, we'll be just more happy. And maybe you should write from your playthrough here.
And welcome!
RL is full of people with a wide variety of likes dislikes and lifestyle choices and the world of fantasy should be/is no different.
Mordu doesnt like using wands drinkin potions or wearing fancy clothes he sees resorting to using magical trinkets as weak. It's a simple reasoning I havnt spent long working up this character profile I pretty much came up with it on the spot when metalloman asked lol but regardless in my eyes its a perfectly plausible stance given his heritage and alignment may not be efficient but people are not borg people are people flawed and full of quirks its what makes RP interesting. My sis' bf wont touch anything that is dusty bordering on fear of dust doesnt make sense at all but no less true....or comical.
Mordukhavar - spawn of Tiamat, wondered if anyone would notice was tempted to shorten it to Mordu but decided against it in the end
What character are you running in your no item game? if you dont mind me asking
As I was saying though, if RP is important, you can just toss in a rationalization. Possibilities for your examples could be: The Elven Sorcerer doesnt trust anyone, ever. He's an orphan in a world not overly fond of Elves, and his mysterious power caused jealousy and hatred among his peers. His lack of trust is so all encompassing that he refuses to use magic items crafted by others, and has little use for money as he trusts neither shopkeeper nor inn keeper, so he leaves money where it falls. For the Half-Orc, I'd take a different angle. Blessed by his god with a hearty and hale body, the cleric sees no weapon as mighty as his own hand (ie Beowulf), and refuses to use them. He disdains the heavy plate worn by other clerics to make his unarmed strikes more effective (no mechanical advantage, but he DID use int as his dump stat, so hre's stupid as a bag of hammers). Instead, any and all valuabled he finds he donates to the Church.
The HoF thing sounds interesting. I ****ing hated trying to kill Drowned Dead on HoF mode though. Ugh! How beastly are Ankhegs or Black Talon Elites?
I hadn't intended to write it as a story but i had a few impulsive urges to update creatively lol I'm not much of a writer really though i do enjoy the RP. Comes across more like the disjointed remains of a journal ^^ ...Mordu must have sneezed and singed a few pages
Not every person/sentient humanoid in the Fotgotten Realms is an adventurer; adventurers are a very, very small part of the population. Remember my analogy with a soldier in Iraq that refuses to equip a bulletproof vest because it's dirty?
adventurer
ədˈvɛntʃ(ə)rə/
noun
noun: adventurer; plural noun: adventurers
a person who enjoys or seeks adventure.
Mordu is no adventurer. He is merely carving a bloody path in search of answers
Upon returning to Beregost I headed over to Feldepost Inn and found the mage matching the description of Tranzig hastily packing supplies into a travel bag. Before I had a chance to interrogate him properly the mage frantically began casting spells, I managed to interrupt his initial casting but an acid arrow got through and hit my shoulder in a retaliatory burst of rage I incinerated the fool...fortunately there were some notes in the surviving travel bag that made reference to another mine somewhere in Cloakwood. After using some minor healing incantations I rested in the inn for the night before heading west for Cloakwood.
The Mine was much like the one in Nashkel; dark, damp and full of vermin. I eventually fought my way to the Mine's coordinator another mage called Davaeorn. Seemed to have a predictable habit of casting dimension door, on his 3rd cast I had a pair of skull traps waiting to greet him, with an additional MM and breath attack he was no more. More conveniently kept notes on Davaeorn's person indicated the Iron Throne had established a base in Baldur's Gate, I have my next destination. On my way out I flooded the mine to purge any survivors.
I have arrived at Baldur's Gate and been greeted by the commander of the flaming fist who seemed to suspect who I was immediately. I proceeded into the town only to be accosted by that damnable old fool Elminster again does he have nothing better to do than pester me at every turn!?
Further into the city I was approached by an elf who claimed to be a Harper. He appeared to be somewhat unhappy with my actions since Gorion's defeat and proclaimed he was going to stop me. Haha, unfortunately for him, he failed, seems to be a consistent trait among Harpers and their associates.
A paladin of sorts confronted me in a tavern apparently he had gotten word of my recent deeds and once again the righteous felt compelled to meet death in the name of goodness and bravery etc etc ...all he accomplished was a fiery death and that of a nearby peasant woman who fled in the wrong direction....he would have made an excellent Harper.
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Level 9, current spell list is as follows...
Armour________________Scorcher__________Skull Trap______Stoneskin
Blindness______________Invisibility_________Haste__________Polymorph Self
Find Familiar___________Mirror Image______Meteors
Magic Missile___________Knock
Chromatic Orb
371 kills - tis a minor shame kill count does not transfer over to BG2
Total death count at 4
#4 Cloakwood Mine. Poison arrow through stoneskin, (hate that change so much -.-) interrupted MM and was subsequently hit with a lightning bolt
All in all seems to be going fairly well so far though.
The task was trickier than I had imagined and, with my limited available resources, not as effective as I had hoped however I seem to have confirmed there is at least 1 more tome somewhere within Baldur's Gate.
I decided I could spare a few hours for a search and exploring ones surroundings is always prudent. The most obvious place to begin my hunt for the tome was the store known as Sorcerous Sundries, as good a place as any to search. The merchant knew nothing of the tome and sold nothing that contained any useful knowledge. Whilst searching the rest of the building I encountered four wizards practicing rituals on the upper floors. I doubt the fools would even recognize the enchantment on the tome much less its potential. After a brief exchange they attacked me, Their pathetic magics were useless, no matter, they only proved a slight delay.
On my way out I overheard one of the patrons in Sorcerous Sundries mention a wizard by the name of Ramazith to the North of Baldur's Gate. If I cannot locate this tome soon I may have to postpone the search til after I have dealt with the iron throne. The longer I tarry the more likely they will become aware of my presence and intentions.
I was approached by a rogue calling himself Niklos on my way to Ramazith's home. Said he had an opportunity for me and that I should follow him to him to speak with his employer. I had a feeling he knew more about me than he was letting on, I followed to learn more.
A thieves guild, they expected me to commit petty crimes on their behalf I refused and they dared threaten me as a result. I crushed them all. On my way out I sensed something odd about a nearby barrel I peered inside and found the tome! Or at least *a* tome, Its entirely possible there is more than one in this place, it is certainly big enough. Why would a book such as this be lying in a barrel of all places? I should thank Niklos for the opportunity to murder his colleagues else I think i would never have found this otherwise.
I rounded a corner in northern region of the city and a prominent blue tower stood in the centre of a plaza, A mage's abode if I ever saw one. Sure enough as I approached the mage was stood out front studying passers by with a furrowed brow. He caught sight of me and approached. The mage requested I help him with a problem he had but I apologized and appeared to wander off, as soon as his attention shifted back to the passers by I discreetly cast knock on the door behind him, then went invisible and slipped inside.
No sign of a tome on the ground floor looked through some of the notes but to no avail. I ascended the stairs maintaining my invisibility. Floor after floor filled with beasts and hobgoblins, cannot risk being revealed so I ignored them.
Reached the top floor, bookcases all around and a locked container, Immediately i could sense the subtle aura of another tome. I searched the locked container first but contained nothing of interest, went from bookcase to bookcase and eventually, among the dusty mundane historical books I found it! Another tome to my growing collection. With a smile i tucked the tome into my pack and the image of a dragon leering over his trove alone in a cave flashed in my mind's eye, the smile faded.
Leaving the tower Ramazith apparently had still had no luck recruiting for his cause. I headed out towards the Iron Throne, answers long overdue are on the agenda now. No more delays.
I entered the Seven Suns building and was greeted by a particularly unhelpful merchant, there was definitely something odd about the other two in the room, I confronted one who was equally unwilling to discuss anything and bid that I leave him alone. I descended down stairs to the basement where I was attacked by a doppleganger. I cast stoneskin and pummeled him with fire and magic til he dropped. The reason behind the odd behavior of the two upstairs became apparent. Jhasso, the man Scar had mentioned emerged and confirmed what I had just witnessed, I instructed him to flee and I returned upstairs to slay the dopplegangers. They morphed into their true forms and I polymorphed into a sword spider and eviscerated them. 3 more of the creatures lurked upstairs I dispatched them and returned to Scar to inform him of the situation.
Scar was grateful for my assistance and requested I speak to Lord Eltan. I had hoped this Eltan would prove to be a useful ally to have while I hunt my enemies, unfortunately Eltan clarified that the majority of his men were unaware that we were in fact cooperating and implied I can expect resistance from them regardless. Typical. Still, Eltan's influence may still be of some use so I shall continue to appease for now. We discussed the Iron Throne and Eltan gave me his blessing to investigate their headquarters. Of course I will investigate...and no living creature will survive my inquisition.
Confronted by a guard I had no more use for diplomacy and provoked him to attack. Four guards advanced in a convenient formation, two casts of agannazar's scorcher reduced all four fighters to ash. I continued onwards and upwards. On the third floor I was engaged by a single guard, a flurry of magic missiles dropped him to the ground in seconds. A hooded mage appeared and cast horror, shrugging off the effects with a save I went invisible. Polymorphed into a mustard jelly and attacked the whelp. His magics were useless, cast after cast of magic missile did nothing against my magic resistance. Once he had exhausted his spells the thief/mage resorted to melee combat, I morphed into a sword spider and tore him apart. Remaining in my spider form I climbed the stairs and slaughtered the merchants and bartender on the next level.
If what the fool said was accurate Sarevok's acolytes were on the next level I shifted back into my human form to prepare. Turning invisible I ascended the stairs to scout ahead. There were six individuals there though they did not strike me as acolytes these were trained and experienced adventurer types by the look of them. I had to tread carefully. I backed into the corner and began strategically placing skull traps just out of range. Once three traps had been placed I launched a fourth into the centre of the group which certainly got their attention. As they advanced they were all struck by at least one of the skull traps each....amazingly five of the six "acolytes" survived. I cast invisibility to regroup but was struck with a confusion spell at the same time. Fortunately the invisibility spell was not interrupted and I made no aggressive actions whilst mired in the spell, it wore off soon enough and I attempted to finish them off with a breath attack. Two more mercenaries fell three still remained, These brutes are tougher than they look. I retreated downstairs to avoid what looked to be an acid or flame arrow spell. When they appeared at the foot of the stairs I hit them with scorcher interrupting the mages next cast and killing him in the process. The two remaining amoured men charged and dropped my stoneskin with the first strike I retreated into the back rooms. as they followed me through I hit the most severely wounded of the two with magic missile. He died, but not before landing an arrow in my chest. The wound was nasty but not fatal. I had to quickly evade the remaining fighter and luckily managed to blind him with my last available cast. I finished him off with several enjoyable blows to the head. This was by far the most difficult battle I have fought and I had not yet found Thaldorn. I could not turn back now however, not til I had the information I came for. I ascended the stairs once again in search of the leader.
Thaldorn was clearly shocked to see me alive. I demanded to know where Sarevok and the remaining leaders were hiding he told me they had gone to Candlekeep he assured me they would have incriminating evidence to implicate the iron throne in the iron shortage on their person. Thaldorn begged me to let him live but I had no intention of leaving anyone in this building alive. I released Noodles from my pack and we attacked Thaldorn in unison with claw and staff he fell. Even without magic he was no match for us. The entire building has been converted into a tomb I have what I need. Time to leave.
I literally have 4 HP left xD
I arrived at the gates of Candlekeep. It's great walls are oddly comforting. Despite the irony of so many imbeciles residing in a fortress of knowledge I did so enjoy perusing ir's ancient texts and tomes. I entered the keep and began my search for the Iron Throne leaders.
Climbing the all too familiar stairs did my best to avoid the attention of those I once knew I would rather my presence go unnoticed for now. After ascending a few floors I was approached by an odd man who I did not recognize although his voice was certainly familiar. I believe he said his name was Kovus or some such, I was not listening. He claimed he was a friend of Gorion's, must have seen him in passing, no matter I had no time for this, I dismissed him and continued on up the stairs.
I have located the leaders of the Iron Throne, now is not the time to confront them however I will seek Tethtoril and inform him of the situation and go from there.
After climbing the last flight of stairs I was accosted by a watcher proclaiming I was under arrest for the murder of the Iron Throne leaders. This watcher either has the power of foresight or someone is framing me. I went peacefully for now,
Tethtoril came to see me in my cell and informed me that a man named Koveras had accused me of fleeing the scene. Koveras?...Kovus, I knew something was odd about that man, Sarevok. Tethtoril teleported me to the catacombs below to aid in my escape.
The Catacombs
The tomes were filled with dopplegangers traps and ghasts. Many of the dopplegangers assumed faces of residents of candlekeep in a vain attempt to gain my trust how little they realize that half of those fools I would gladly slay even if they were truly here. The catacombs secreted several traps that made swift progress difficult I had to maintain as much magical protection as possible to defend against the numerous hazards, Mirror image and mustard jelly was particularly useful. During my venture through the catacombs I found two more tomes that share similar magical properties to the ones I have in my collection. I added them to my pack, which was gaining significant weight from the texts and polymorphing into weaker creatures was becoming problematic.
I emerged from the catacombs into a series of caves. A small group of men were stood waiting inside the cavern just ahead. As I have become accustomed to always traveling whilst invisible they had not see me I backed up and launched several skull traps into the cavern killing the men. I care not who they were but given the presence of the dopplegangers I suspect they were in service to Sarevok. Sneaking past an array of spiders and basilisks I reached the exit of the cave, another man stood just inside the entrance. I killed him and climbed out into the welcome glare of sunlight,
Returned to BG and rescued Eltan first, invisibility to get to him then a buffed up fire breathing vampric grasp casting sword spider kicked the greater doppleganger's ass. Then went on to re-slaughter everyone in Iron throne...again. Headed on over to the blushing mermaid killed adorable couple headed on over to the coronation which was fun. Was dreading this fight but with only 1 reload it wasn't too bad in the end.
What I did was pre-buffed with armour, stoneskin, MI, haste and meteors ran in, cast invis on Liia, stood in front of belt, got the bad guys attention...all of them, ran into the room where all the civies were hiding, cast invis, civis got slaughtered (lol) ran out let the fist pursue and fight them til they died, then ran in and killed the rest with meteors and breath attack...
So there we have it one BG1 solo no item DD run through complete