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Raising Charname - Minimal Reload Thread (BG1-SoD-BG2 Spoilers)

BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
Hello, since we have an official no-reload thread managed by @Ygramul , I thought we could use an official minimal reload thread to go along with it. This thread will be for people like me who lose their no-reload status, but would like to continue sharing their runs.

The main spirit of a good minimal reload is that, first, you only reload if Charname dies. Under no other circumstance can you reload and still consider it a minimal reload. If you think there should be an exception to this rule, it's okay, but just explain that you reloaded and why.

The second element of a good minimal reload, is that you keep a counter at the bottom of your posts of how many times you have reloaded, and preferably keep a list of why Charname died and where.

The last thing is that you should share your game build, that is, tell what mods you have if any, and give full disclosure about difficulty settings and the like.

So, those are the "rules", but they are flexible as long as you explain your reasoning why you "bent" or "broke" the "rules".

So, without further ado, here is my current run.

I am using version 2.0 without any mods, Core Rules.

I first lost my no-reload status during Neera's encounter. It has been changed and re-scripted to make it much more difficult. I kind of got sore and made some sour-grapes posts about that in the no-reload thread. Sorry about that. I've calmed down and accepted that I am playing a BG game that has a lot of changes in it that I don't know about yet, and some dying to those changes is inevitable.

After I decided to keep playing and not accept that first death as legitimate, I now have had Charname die without any question of the fairness of the death. I was just plain careless and stupid. I tried to tank an ettercap in a "you have been waylaid..." encounter in the Cloakwood. I got poisoned. I tried to use Bhaalspawn Slow Poison, and it got interrupted. I then tried to drink an antidote, but my aura wasn't clear, so it was far too late. End of no-reload, no argument possible. ;)

One thing I really like about 2.0 is that you can see in a single screenshot of the quest journal exactly where I am in the game now without my having to explain it.


Reloads: 2 - Neera's encounter, ettercap random encounter in the Cloakwood

Come on, all minimal reloaders! Let's share our runs, even with very short posts showing the quest journal and a reload counter, and make this a thing in our forums! Who will be the first to do a complete minimal reload of the entire trilogy including SoD, with fewer than 5-10 reloads?
Post edited by BelgarathMTH on
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Comments

  • BillyYankBillyYank Member Posts: 2,768
    @BelgarathMTH I always stick to the West side of Beregost on my first trip through town. East side is obviously the bad side of town, what with the wizard duels and drive-by color sprays.



    BelgarathMTH[Deleted User]EnialusMeliamneBlackraven
  • BillyYankBillyYank Member Posts: 2,768
    edited April 2016

    Bhaalspawn Battlemage



    A minimal reload run of Baldur's Gate - Siege of Dragonspear - Baldur's Gate II - TOB

    The Game

    Unmodded 2.0 - I like to run through the game at least once before I start changing things.
    Core rules.
    Reload only for Charname death or gamebreaking bug.

    Michael Delborn

    Michael is a long-time character of mine from PnP, his stats may have been different, but the character concept has remained fairly steady. He's also the first character I ever played when I bought the original Baldur's Gate, I continued him through SoA, but I've never played TOB, so he will be entering new territory. He's a Battlemage, a wizard with fighter levels who serves in the local military. In 2nd Edition terms, he's a fighter who will dual to mage at 6th level.

    The Party

    Back in 1998, when I played that first time, I ended up with the canon party, though I didn't know that's what it was. So, I'm going with that same party now. Because this is minimum reload, I may need to replace someone who gets chunked.

    Cheats

    I'm picking up the easter eggs: diamond, evermemory, etc.
    I've "bought" the ammo belt for 300 gp, and once I get 12,000 gp, I'll be "buying" the bag of holding.
    I save-scummed Dynaheir learning Identify. That's the only spell I do that for, it's too inconvenient to not have this spell in someone's spellbook.
    I left the max hitpoints switch on for the first 3 levels, then turned it off.

    Our story thus far

    I didn't plan to turn this into a documented run, so I didn't take any screenshots for this first part.

    Michael did the normal Candlekeep tasks. He noobered Firebeard for 300 gp and bought a sword, shortbow, splint mail and shield. He did the fetch and carry quests, and killed the rats. He then got the scroll from Tethoril and brought it back to Firebeard. Moving quickly, he killed Shank and Carbos before the PfE wore off. Then he talked to Gorion and they started off into the wilderness.

    After the ambush, Michael and Imoen looted the battle site and met Xzar and Monty, letting them into the party. The four traveled to the Friendly Arm, picking up shiny things along the way. At the FAI, Tarnesh attacked, killing Xzar and scaring poor Imoen. Inside, they left Monty in a room to... mourn... I guess. Then they went and recruited Khalid and Jaheira.

    After getting K&J properly outfitted and a good night's rest, the party explored the inn, talking to various people who needed help. Imoen seemed to acquire some shiny new pants from somewhere, but Michael had learned not to ask questions. They killed some hobgoblins to retrieve a ring for Joia, then headed South toward Nashkel.

    To be continued...
    Post edited by BillyYank on
    JuliusBorisovBelgarathMTHGraf_Wasili
  • moody_magemoody_mage Member Posts: 2,054
    You need to have a 15 stat in your primary class to be able to dual - in your case you need 15 strength.
    BelgarathMTHBillyYank
  • lunarlunar Member Posts: 3,460
    decado said:

    You need to have a 15 stat in your primary class to be able to dual - in your case you need 15 strength.

    After a strength tome, then. Also, dualling at lvl 7 fighter is better for extra +½ attack per round goodness.
    JuliusBorisov
  • BillyYankBillyYank Member Posts: 2,768
    decado said:

    You need to have a 15 stat in your primary class to be able to dual - in your case you need 15 strength.

    Aaaarrrrrgggghhhh!!!!
    moody_mage
  • SkatanSkatan Member, Moderator Posts: 5,352
    Everything about @billyyank's CHARNAME screams out "NOT powergamey", so I'm going to go ahead and assume you don't have to give him PG advice :P
  • BillyYankBillyYank Member Posts: 2,768
    I totally forgot about the 15 requirement, so I set the minimum on my roller to 9. I'm just going to move the point from Con to Str. I don't feel like starting over, and the tome is too late.

    I've actually dualed him at 4 or 5 before, so waiting until 6 is actually stretching it for me.
    BelgarathMTHJuliusBorisov
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    @BillyYank , Welcome to the thread. I look forward to reading your run. Will this be a Core Rules run?

    You already taught me something. I didn't know about "noobering" Firebead. How many times do you have to talk to him to get the "leave me alone" money?
    JuliusBorisov
  • BillyYankBillyYank Member Posts: 2,768
    30 times exactly, including the first time you talk to him. It's best to wait a second between clicking on him, to give the script time to run. If you click him too fast you can go right by it.

    Yes, core rules, I meant to put that in the post.
    BelgarathMTHJuliusBorisov
  • EnialusMeliamneEnialusMeliamne Member Posts: 399
    I'm in on this. I'll be playing either a Cavalier (again...) or an Undead Hunter. I'll decide which sometime after my afternoon excursion, but I'm leaning towards Undead Hunter since I've not used one in the EE versions yet. I'll be using core rules 2.0 with no mods.
    BelgarathMTHBlackraven
  • BillyYankBillyYank Member Posts: 2,768
    edited April 2016

    Bhaalspawn Battlemage



    A minimal reload run of Baldur's Gate - Siege of Dragonspear - Baldur's Gate II - TOB

    Our story thus far

    The party continued south without much trouble and arrived in Beregost. They stopped in at Landrin's house to slay the spiders, and Michael used up most of our healing potions fighting the poison. It seems that someone forgot to buy antidotes at the FAI. The next morning, Michael fetched a book for Firebeard and gained a scroll case. Imoen calmed a grieving father at Feldepost's Inn when the party went in to sell some gems.

    Our heroes started out on the road to Nashkel once again but soon ran into a pair of ogrillions. An entangle from Jaheira made them sitting ducks for the party's missiles. They discovered a letter addressed to one Mirianne in Beregost. Since they were still close, Michael made the decision to backtrack and deliver it. The lady was so delighted to get news from her husband, she gave Michael a magic ring.

    About a half-day out from Beregost, the party encountered a large group of hobgoblins, after finishing them off, they found an amulet with a crest of some sort on it. Michael decided to keep it and try to find out more about it. The whole party was now fully loaded with the armor and weapons of their enemies and hastened on toward Nashkel. The sight of four heavily armed travelers weighed down with all that gear must have seemed suspicious to the Flaming Fist patrol they met just North of Nashkel and only some fast talking allowed our party to remain free.

    To be continued...
    Post edited by BillyYank on
    BelgarathMTHJuliusBorisovGraf_Wasili
  • EnialusMeliamneEnialusMeliamne Member Posts: 399
    In classic restartitis fashion, I chose a dwarven berserker instead of the paladin choices I mentioned above. Garm Axehewn will be who I take through the run. His bio, proficiencies and stats are attached via screenshots (I fixed the obvious typo).











    The game settings will be Core, HP max will be enabled, and the canon party will be used.

    Party Choices:
    BGI - Canon
    SOD - Eventually, Canon with Glint
    BGII - Minsc, Jaheira, Aerie, Yoshimo/Imoen, alternating in Keldorn, Anomen, Mazzy, Valygar for their personal quests.
    TOB - Minsc, Jaheira, Anomen, Imoen, Sarevok

    "House" Rules:
    Reloads only on chunked Imoen or PC death (Don't die on a crit, Dynaheir!!!), for what should be obvious reasons.

    Cheats: Any and all easter eggs will be shamelessly exploited. Headcanonically, the easter eggs will be mentioned in NPC discussions overheard at taverns and inn check-in desks, and the party will begin a search for them.

    Proficiencies (Initial): two pips in axes, two pips in sword and shield style
    Proficiencies (end of BGI): four pips in axes, two pips in sword and shield style
    Proficiencies (End of SOD): five pips in axes, two pips in sword and shield style
    Proficiencies (BGII and TOB): five pips in axes, two pips in sword and shield style, build-up in hammers the remainder of the way.

    At the point just prior to the dream sequences, Garm will consume enough ale as to be lit like a Christmas tree.


    BelgarathMTHBillyYankJuliusBorisovBlackraven
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    edited April 2016
    @EnialusMeliamne , welcome to the thread!

    Update on Brother Todd, the Cleric of Tyr:

    -We finished off Davaeorn by drinking every potion we had been hoarding up to this point, including potions of Grounding and Magic Blocking, as well as Invulnerability and Giant Strength. He got to use his most dangerous spells, Lightning Bolt and Fireball, but the people it hit had drank potions that made them immune to those spells. With a bit of scattering and careful positioning, we defeated him without a single hit point being lost by anyone.

    -We slaughtered bunches and bunches of ankhegs. The farmer's dead son's body was returned to him, along with the stash in the hive. We tried to help the child priestess of Umberlee get her bowl back, but, she unfortunately cast Sleep on Jaheira, and, even though we had disarmed the rest of the party and agreed to help her get her bowl, the second Jaheira woke up, she swung her club, hit, and made the child go hostile, breaking the quest. We still left her and the farmers alive, but getting past the now hostile child without killing her will be a bit of a problem if we decide to head north to Ulgoth's Beard.

    -I decided for one of my first play throughs ever to really explore Baldur's Gate City as far as checking all unlocked doors. (We will *not* break and enter through locked doors, unless we have clear evidence of evil inside.) We have so far thwarted a burglary, killed a basilisk that somehow got out into the Docks warehouse (which made me glad I had had Dynaheir keep an "emergency" Protection from Petrification memorized), and killed a wizard and his two goons who attacked us as soon as we went into the house. We also saved everyone in a tavern from Green Slimes, except for the bartender.

    -I told the Thieves' Guild I would help them, but only because the game wouldn't let me back out of the conversation after I'd told them I'd hear them out about what they wanted. I have no intention of stealing anything from anybody.

    -In the wizard's house, I decided to have Minsc go Berserk, and found out the hard way that he will in fact attack party members still, although he seems to do it less frequently than in previous editions. I used an Acclamation spell to bring him around before he killed Jaheira.

    -I started using Sanctuary spells for my non min-maxed cleric who has very low Dex and Con. The Sanctuary saved my life after we interrupted the burglary in progress, and both thieves with bows targeted me. I almost died and needed a reload, but running outside with the party and casting Sanctuary saved me.







    -My Holy Smite spells are getting pretty good, as seen here against ettercaps. I was surprised to find that the game considers ettercaps evil, but skeletons to be neutral and immune to being damaged by Holy Smite, although they have to make saves against Blindness. Strange.


    -I had told Yeslick to just get back to the surface down in the Cloakwood Mines. I discovered for the first time that he goes to this tavern on the Docks of Baldur's Gate City. You still can't recruit him from there, though; he just gives you a friendly greeting.


    Reloads: 2 - Neera's encounter, ettercap poison
    EnialusMeliamneBillyYankJuliusBorisovGraf_Wasili
  • BillyYankBillyYank Member Posts: 2,768
    edited April 2016

    Bhaalspawn Battlemage



    A minimal reload run of Baldur's Gate - Siege of Dragonspear - Baldur's Gate II - TOB

    Our story thus far

    The party arrived in Nashkel well after sunset and went straight to the inn to rest. There they were met by another assassin, a cleric this time. Imoen was able to disrupt her first spell, but she managed to hold, then kill Khalid before she died. Jaheira threw her husband's body across her back and staggered toward the nearby temple of Helm. Along the way they met the mayor of Nashkel who asked our heroes to look into the mysterious happenings at the town's iron mine. Oddly he carried on the conversation as if we weren't carrying the body of one of our comrades.

    Once Khalid was raised, we rested a couple of days and sold all the equipment we'd taken from the enemies met so far. Once fully recovered, the party walked South through the town intending to go to the iron mine. Near the barracks, they met with a strange ranger and his hamster. After a hurried debate, Michael and Jaheira decided that the captured "witch" was in more immediate danger and agreed to accompany Minsc to rescue her. After re-equipping the woefully unprepared ranger, the party started the long trek West to the gnoll fortress.
    "You have been waylaid by enemies..." The enemy in this case was a cave bear. The party began peppering it with arrows and bullets, and when it got closer, Michael started running around to kite it. On one of his loops around the beast, he let it get too close. Reload number one.
    The farther from the Coast Way the party traveled, the more dangerous the wilderness became. Attempting to rest just before the final push to the fortress, the group was disturbed by an ogre. Michael and Misc fought the monster up close while the others poured missiles into it, and it soon fell. Once rested they turned South and had to kill a bear that was blocking a narrow bridge. Crossing the bridge and continuing South, our heroes found themselves approaching the gnoll fortress from behind.

    Reloads:
    1. Kilt by a bar.


    To be continued...
    BelgarathMTHEnialusMeliamneJuliusBorisovGraf_Wasili
  • EnialusMeliamneEnialusMeliamne Member Posts: 399
    edited April 2016
    Roleplaying guidelines: Garm has an average intelligence and wisdom, though they'll increase as time goes along. I'm planning to play the increases in such a way as to indicate personal growth in relation to controlling his rages. In-game, his script is set to automatically rage at the first sign of combat (one of the defaults that came with the 2.0 update). For instance, while killing rats in Candlekeep, Garm raged (automatically). That fit perfectly well with how I envision him performing in the early levels, until tome increases bring a bit more sense and reason.

    At every Inn that he situates himself, he will drink ales of some variety offering some to his comrades, if they see fit to join him. He will drink until at least one rumor is displayed, and head canon-wise, these bar sessions will be where he garners information related to easter egg goods on nearby maps. He will make regular journal entries, explaining things of significant note from the day.

    Reloads: None intentional. As I was about to take a screenshot, I hit the reload hotkey back to a quick save immediately before the Tarnish attack. Since I'd already killed him before the fat finger incident, I reloaded the autosave at the entry to FAI and will proceed from there after this post is completed.

    SITREP: Garm Axehewn is currently situated at the Friendly Arm Inn after having survived the ambush that took Gorion's life, not to mention 3 separate attacks on his own life. He completed his morning chores from Arkanis prior to meeting with Gorion for their departure from Candlekeep. He received a gracious donation from Firebeard, and also re-acquired his gold, spare mage scrolls and clarity potion that he'd been hiding around the grounds of Candlekeep. Adventuring goods and many throwing and battle axes were purchased, one of which shattered while he defended himself against an assassin within the Candlekeep walls.

    Party members: Imoen, Montaran, Xzar, and about to meet up with Khalid and Jaheira.

    Journal Entry





    The evil deed that will see Garm follow through to lay his foe low.






    BelgarathMTHBillyYankJuliusBorisovlunar
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    edited April 2016
    Update on my canon party run:

    We have cleaned up all the side quests in BG City that can be gotten legally (that is, without breaking and entering), except for the two that require an angel skin ring and a copy of the book "History of the Unicorn Run". I know where I can get a copy of the book, but it's a long way away, and I stupidly sold the two angel skin rings I found during the course of the game, and I don't remember where. It was before I got to BG City.

    The sidequests I was able to complete got me to 7th level as a cleric, and access to the 4th level spell "Protection from Evil 10 Feet", which made all the running around worth it. And, this is again why you want a pure-classed cleric. That group Protection from Evil spell is one of the most powerful spells in the game, and only a pure-classed cleric will get it this early (in a party of six). I think @SionIV , a friend who is a fellow cleric fan, would appreciate that.

    So, that got us to the big event, the first Iron Throne battle. My strategy was to get both Jaheira and Minsc hopped up on potions of Storm Giant Strength, Oils of Speed, Magic Blocking, Invulnerability, Freedom (for Jaheira), and Fire Resistance, then to have Dynaheir cast Web and multiple Fireballs from her Wand of Flame. I split the party to have Minsc, Jaheira, and Dynaheir go up on the left staircase to start the encounter, then I brought Imoen, Khalid, and myself up on the right staircase to cast Holy Smites and fire arrows.

    The enemy didn't stand a chance, and this was the easiest this encounter has ever been to me. It was the potions, combined with the knowledge to drink them at the penultimate moment. There was an NPC who approached us downstairs and told us everything we needed to know about the leaders being on the next floor up, so I thought that legitimized our pre-buffing.

    Honestly, I think most of the party efforts were overkill. I'm pretty sure Minsc with potions and Dynaheir alone could have rolfstomped the first Iron Throne party, especially with my Protection from Evil active.






    And here are the journal entries showing my progress, with my traditional ROYGBIV rainbow pose of my party to the side:




    Reloads: 2 - Neera's Encounter, Ettercap Poison
    (LOL - as this list grows, I think it's going to start to sound like Arya Stark's meditation list of people she wants to kill: "Joffrey, Cersei. The Mountain, the Tickler, and the Hound...")
    EnialusMeliamneJuliusBorisovGraf_WasiliBillyYank
  • EnialusMeliamneEnialusMeliamne Member Posts: 399
    edited April 2016
    I do believe that you may have just sold me on doing another cleric run (been many years since I did one through the whole series).

    Anyway, Garm and crew traveled south through Belegost, resting for a night, then trekked to Nashkel. He finally parted company with Montaron and Xzar, after some deliberation, in the Belching Dragon. DISCLAIMER: one of the screenshots contains one word of adult language, fitting in with the character.












    Edit: Dead at the hands of Greywolf (twice). Horrible party attack rolls and not being fast enough on healing up at level 1 = one dead tank. Reload Total - 2.

    Journal entry explaining the reloads and continuing on in the game.






    Edit 2: Imoen rez # 2.






    Edit 3: Smoked by Silke. Now at 3 reloads. Got her down to near death, yet that lightning bolt got off just in time to zap Imoen and the dwarf.

    New addendum: I'm now giving a cap of 10 reloads (per game) for Garm. Anymore than that total in either game, and I'm going to consider him permadead.

    Edit 4: Smoked by Silke part deux, the chunking of Imoen. 4 reloads. This is the rough reminder on why I normally grind to level two before doing most Beregost quests.
    Post edited by EnialusMeliamne on
    BelgarathMTHJuliusBorisovlunarBillyYank
  • EnialusMeliamneEnialusMeliamne Member Posts: 399
    edited April 2016
    SITREP: Nashkel has been cleared, Mulahey felled and Tranzig cleaved in twain at the Feldepost. Now with a few levels under Garm's belt, he's starting to become rugged enough that I don't worry about him in battle as much.

    Reloads total: 4. 3 due to PC death, 1 due to lightning bolt chunking of Imoen.

    Raises from the dead so far: Imoen twice, Xan once.












    Addendum:
    SITREP: The party finds themselves back in Nashkel, and the group is now canon compliant. It didn't take long to see Dynaheir buy the farm though, since she decided a boxing match with a Xvart was a good idea right after she was liberated. I forgot to change her default setting to Cautious. I 'rage' quit after Dynaheir failed to memorize about half of the spells we just bought. I'm adding a new rule. I'm only doing this once. The next time I try to add a bunch of spells to her spell book, I'll have her quaff a potion to help with it (still haven't found any of those potions yet). I forgot how annoying that portion of the core rules could be.

    The party is working it's way through all of the wilderness areas, searching for bandits to be laid low, prior to assaulting the bandit camps. Seek and destroy...time marches on.

    Edit: Reloads total: 5. 3 due to PC death, 1 due to lightning bolt chunking of Imoen, 1 due to half of the spells recently bought failing to add to Dynaheir's spell book.

    Raises from the dead so far: Imoen twice, Xan once, Dynaheir once.







    Post edited by EnialusMeliamne on
    JuliusBorisovBelgarathMTHBillyYank
  • BillyYankBillyYank Member Posts: 2,768
    edited April 2016

    Bhaalspawn Battlemage



    A minimal reload run of Baldur's Gate - Siege of Dragonspear - Baldur's Gate II - TOB

    Our story thus far

    Our heroes arrived at the mine site and decided to reconnoiter the area around the entrance pit before moving into the mine. They came across Prism the sculptor who had stolen some emeralds for his masterwork. While negotiating his peaceful surrender once the work was done, the bounty hunter Greywolf arrived and attacked. Prism died of exhaustion soon after and the group took the emeralds and Greywolf's magic sword.

    At the entrance to the mine, they met with Edwards to get permission to enter. The upper levels seemed to be operating normally, but the party started encountering kobolds. The deeper into the mine, the more numerous the creatures became. On the lowest level Imoen began to find traps and the party also had to fight giant spiders and even a ghoul. Finally they located a heavily trapped corridor leading off away from the mine area. With Jaheira's and Dynaheir's spells nearly depleted, our heroes returned to the surface to rest under the watchful eyes of the Amnish guard detail.

    Reloads:
    1. Kilt by a bar.


    To be continued...
    Post edited by BillyYank on
    EnialusMeliamneJuliusBorisovBelgarathMTH
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    edited April 2016
    Update on Belgarath's first SoD trilogy run:

    First battle of note - The end of the Candlekeep Catacombs. I used the Tomes of Wisdom and Strength to raise my Wisdom to 18 and my Strength to 16.

    Against the evil adventuring party sent by Sarevok, my strategy was to cast Web, Fireballs, and Holy Smites, as usual. I thought we had it in the bag, but the Improved Invisible mage reappeared after I stupidly got overconfident, and fired a Lightning Bolt, which almost killed Dynaheir (It could have chunked her.) I was wearing the Boots of Grounding, rightly figuring that the dreaded, "suicide bomber" Lightning Bolt spell was the most dangerous thing in the game to me. I also made my save, so that I took only 1/4 damage, 7 out of 28. We scattered in fear of electrical rebound, but somehow, there was no rebound. (Whew.) After that, the rest was easy. But only luck against that Lightning Bolt saved my life here.

    For the rest, the strategy was to use Imoen's stealth to scout out what else was here. It turned out to be lots of spiders, but also a couple of basilisks. Minsc used two Potions of Mirrored Eyes to defeat them on his own while the rest of the party stayed far away. It seems that 2.0 has the round timer running faster than in vanilla or 1.3, such that Potions of Mirrored Eyes wear off very fast. Dynaheir's Protection from Petrification is much more useful, lasting an hour per cast. I had stopped having her keep at least one of these memorized, but I will always keep the spell memorized in the future, now that I know how scarily short the duration of the potions are in 2.0.






    Second battle of note - Sirens to the south.

    I roleplayed that the secret catacombs exit from Candlekeep brought us out on the south coast, with unscaleable cliffs separating us from returning the way we came. We "had no choice" but to proceed through the southern coastal area, which turned out to take us through a small army of lethal sirens.

    The strategy here was to use Minsc's Berserk. I tried a lot of Silence spells as well. They only needed to roll 10 to save, but it still affected them at least half the time. I am finding that my Acclamation spells as a Priest of Tyr are becoming very, very useful in conjunction with Minsc's Berserk. Once all danger is past, I can use my magic to end Minsc's Berserk at will. Also, at one point, he was standing right next to Dynaheir, who had gotten stuck in her own Web. I thought he might chunk her. But, he stood down, and returned control to me, while still Berserk. I'm not sure exactly how it works under 2.0 and SoD, but I think his Berserk script has definitely been changed. It's especially useful for getting through battles with monsters like Sirens (and later Elder Orbs and Demi-Liches), since I can use my Acclamation to end his Berserk state at will.








    I am now using the black outlines from 2.0 graphics. I've gotten adjusted to them, and they make my characters pop on the screen as though I were looking at a tabletop graph board filled with carefully painted D&D miniatures. I've gotten so fond of the new graphics, I can't see myself ever playing the game again without 2.0 graphics and interface. They're so in the spirit of D&D. I'm getting happier and happier with Beamdog's enhancements, especially after having a bit of time to adjust.

    Our journal quest entries showing our position in the game:



    Next up: Into Safana's cave.

    Reloads: 2 - Neera's encounter, ettercap poison.
    EnialusMeliamneGraf_WasiliJuliusBorisovBillyYank
  • Graf_WasiliGraf_Wasili Member Posts: 60
    edited April 2016
    I'm in! Never played an (almost) no reloads run and what could be a better way to spend the time untill SoD is in a playable shape.

    Rules

    Playing on hard without extra damage. Let's see if this will work out, if not I gonna lower difficulty to core. MAx HP on level up is turned off.

    No reloading except death of charname or bugs.

    Charname

    So I rolled myself a rather optimized elven mage/thief. Her name is Alillys Sleepsmoke and she is a rather unpredictable (i.e. neutral chaotic) person. Also she's not very likeable, but within time there will be magic means...

    The first name I took from the Everchanging Book of Names, a Forgotten Realms name generator.

    She likes to hide in the shadows, run her sword through her opponents neck and then start some magic firework - that's the way the built is supposed to work.

    I put my starting points into sneaking and single weapon style/longsword.




    Departure from Candlekeep

    Against all expectations, A.'s foster father G. told her they had to leave the keep - immediatly. Cool, thought Alyllis. The keep was boring as fuck anyway and this was the chance to loot that place before leaving forever.

    Starting at Winthrops someone caught her red-handed but sneaking past that amateur guards of Candlekeep was no problem at all. After that she asked around for fetch work just to keep the stuff for herself or sell it to ol' Winthrop. Hulls longsword seemed perfect for the journey ahead and that identify spell was still missing from A.'s spellbook. Also killed those bloody rats. And the cats, too!




    All in all it was a perfect last day in Candlekeep!

    Let's see what adventures lie ahead...




    wrong game

    Post edited by Graf_Wasili on
    EnialusMeliamneBelgarathMTHJuliusBorisovBillyYank
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    @Graf_Wasili , Welcome to the thread!

    Very small update on my run - We finished Safana's cave without trouble. I read the Tome of Constitution, raising my Con to 14. This is good for me as a cleric, because my Draw Upon Holy Might will now raise it to 16, giving me a temporary boost to my hit points of 2 hp per level.

    Before returning to Baldur's Gate to try to clear our names, we decided to travel to Durlag's Tower and go through the upper floors for more money. We don't have anywhere near the approximately 38,000 gold we need to buy out all the Arrows of Detonation and Dispelling from Sorcerous Sundries, which we are going to want for the final battle with Sarevok and Co.

    I don't think I'll go to the lower floors, though. (I never do. Maybe I will one day, but this is not the run for it, as I want to finish up and get to SoD.)

    I'd like to do Werewolf Island for all the extra xp, but I can't think of any role-playing reason to go to Ulgoth's Beard. In the case of Durlag's Tower, we were told there was a dungeon there by the mayor of Gullykin, so we know it's a place worth checking out for more gold.

    Reloads: 2 - Neera's encounter, ettercap poison
    EnialusMeliamneJuliusBorisovBillyYank
  • BillyYankBillyYank Member Posts: 2,768
    edited April 2016

    Bhaalspawn Battlemage



    A minimal reload run of Baldur's Gate - Siege of Dragonspear - Baldur's Gate II - TOB

    Our story thus far

    Rested and refreshed, with their inventories cleared into stash barrels, our heroes make their way back down to the bottom of the mine. Entering the formerly trapped corridor, they find themselves in an immense cavern filled with an underground lake. They come under attack from kobold commandos guarding an island cave. After slaying the monsters, they cross a narrow stone bridge and enter the cave.

    Inside they are confronted by a half-orc who mistakes them for enforcers sent by his employer. Michael plays along, but the treacherous priest attacks anyway, calling his minions and beginning a spell. The party is well situated for the fight, with Jaheira blocking the doorway, Michael, Minsc and Khalid confronting the priest and Imoen and Dynaheir actually behind him. The half-orc, however, seems unflappable. He shrugs off all the damage and casts spell after spell. First Michael is hit with rigid thinking, then Khalid, Minsc and Dynaheir are held. Jaheira rushes back into the room to attack the priest, but it's the devil's own choice. Imoen couldn't handle the half-orc on her own, but without Jaheira blocking the way, the kobolds and skeletons pour into the room and begin attacking the helpless warriors. Khalid and Minsc soon fall to their blows, just as the evil priest succumbs to his wounds and begs for mercy. But having just seen her husband overwhelmed by his unholy mob, mercy is the furthest thing from Jaheira's mind. In seconds, the half-orc goes down with a crushed skull.

    Now Jaheira and Imoen switch their attention to the swarm of minions. Jaheira concentrates on the skeletons, while Imoen shoots the kobolds. Meanwhile, Michael has wandered toward the door and come under attack. Luckily, he begins to fight back even in his befuddled state. Eventually, the spells wear off Michael and Dynaheir and the remaining skeletons and kobolds are dispatched.

    Michael reconnoiters the rest of the cave and finds an elf who had been held prisoner. The elf mage offers to join the party, but Michael turns him down. Safe for the moment, the party now turns their attention to the job of getting their fallen comrades back to the temple in Nashkell. They load themselves down with all they can carry, then make their way back to town. Nalin calls upon the power of Helm, and the party is whole once more.

    Reloads:
    1. Kilt by a bar.


    Party Deaths:
    * Khalid - 2: Neira, Mulahey
    * Minsc - 1: Mulahey


    To be continued...
    Post edited by BillyYank on
    EnialusMeliamneGraf_WasiliJuliusBorisovBelgarathMTH
  • EnialusMeliamneEnialusMeliamne Member Posts: 399
    edited April 2016
    Placeholder post and change of heart update:

    I thought about my 'rage' quit scenario with Dynaheir failing to memorize half of the spells that were purchased, and the subsequent reload. I wasn't satisfied by that personal choice, and had reached a bit of a conundrum with how to proceed. Redo another run, or move on with this one mulligan. Luckily, the situation solved itself when she failed to memorize half of the spells upon reload. I'm moving forward again. More later.


    Edit: Reloads total: 5. 3 due to PC death, 1 due to lightning bolt chunking of Imoen, 1 due to half of the spells recently bought failing to add to Dynaheir's spell book. *Waves hand* This is not the reload you are looking for."




    Post edited by EnialusMeliamne on
    JuliusBorisovBelgarathMTH
  • EnialusMeliamneEnialusMeliamne Member Posts: 399
    Pictures and update post here, because I made a rookie mistake.

    Raises from the dead so far: Imoen twice, Xan once, Dynaheir once.

    The party set-out through several wilderness areas in and around Beregost, with the intent of clearing any bandits or demihuman group activity. Ran into a bunch of wolves that the front line carved through like a knife through butter, with an honorable mention to the sleep wand. Bassilus was killed, along with his undead army and the Antichickenator failed to resurrect Thalantyr's mighty mage apprentice. The outward wilderness expansion will continue on the morrow, with a final push on the bandits camp afterwards.












    Graf_WasiliJuliusBorisovBelgarathMTHBillyYank
  • Graf_WasiliGraf_Wasili Member Posts: 60
    edited April 2016
    Arrival at the Friendly Arm Inn

    After the tragic murdering of Gorion Alissys was joined by her little sister Imoen. They pulled off some rogue tricks together back at Candlekeep but they always had their differences. Now alone on the road together they would depend on each other more than ever before.

    On the way to the Friendly Arm they meet some suspicous travellers, a mage and another rogue, who told us about some occurences at the Nashkell mines that they are supposed to investigate. But every company was better than none, having heard about the dangers of the roads theese days.

    The party arrived at the Arm's walls in the night hours. Alyssis sneaked ahead beeing more careful after reading Gorion's letter and the attacks in Candlekeep. Indeed there was somebody loitering on the steps of the inn, clearly on the look for somebody.

    A. protected herself with a Potion of Clarity found at the Candlekeep and a shield spell before approaching the figure. The protection worked well but Montaron stepped in with a backstab too early - neither could he hurt Taresh nor did he survive his Magic Missiles.

    After the dust settled we moved into the Inn to find our supposed friends, Khalid and Jaheira. A. accepted their offer to join the party, though she didn't like their patronizing tone. Funny enough they are going to investigate the very same mine incident, so our next destination seems clear.

    Xar insists on bringing Montaron to a temple to raise him from the dead but we simply can't afford that right now. It's time to rest.

    ---

    So in the first major fight I made the first major mistake. The tactic would have worked well and I could have finished Taresh off with charname alone. Don't know why I moved in the backup before he finished all his spells... :/
    JuliusBorisovEnialusMeliamneBelgarathMTHBillyYank
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    edited April 2016

    Placeholder post and change of heart update:

    I thought about my 'rage' quit scenario with Dynaheir failing to memorize half of the spells that were purchased, and the subsequent reload. I wasn't satisfied by that personal choice, and had reached a bit of a conundrum with how to proceed. Redo another run, or move on with this one mulligan. Luckily, the situation solved itself when she failed to memorize half of the spells upon reload. I'm moving forward again. More later.

    @EnialusMeliamne , I used to not know how the spell scribing function works for specialists, and since I learned, I've had very few failures to scribe spells with Dynaheir. Did you know that she has a -15% penalty to scribe any spell that is not from the evocation school? That makes it more critical than ever that she drink a Potion of Genius before trying to scribe, or else she'll barely have a 50-50 chance with most spells. There is also a -15% penalty for trying to scribe a spell level that is higher than the level you can currently cast.

    So, let's say you find a rare scroll for a critical spell like Haste. Further, let's say that Dynaheir is only 4th level, and cannot actually cast the Haste spell yet even if she scribes it. Her base chance to scribe with only 17 Intelligence is 75%. Subtract 15% for it being an out-of-specialty spell, and another 15% for it being too high a spell level. That gives her only a 45% chance to scribe the spell successfully. Those are terrible odds.

    A Potion of Genius will raise her base chance to 95%, but with a 30% penalty; that's still only a 65% chance to scribe the spell. With a rare scroll containing a critical spell, I want that chance as close to 100% as possible. So, she will wait until she can actually cast that Haste spell, and she won't try to scribe it without a Potion of Genius. When the time comes, she will then have an 80% chance to scribe the scroll. Eight out of ten times is still outside my comfort zone, but it's the best chance she'll ever have, so she says a little prayer to Tymora at that point, and clicks Scribe Scroll.

    So far in my current run, she's had Tymora's blessings, and not failed to scribe a single critical spell (only a few unimportant ones that were in the batch of scrolls she had saved up for that level and that potion).

    For my own sensibilities as a minimal reloader, if she does fail to scribe a spell (or Xan, or Edwin, or Quayle, or Aerie, or whoever), I make myself live with it. It's okay for others to handle the rules about scribing as they wish, though. I used to use Tweaks or the difficulty slider to cheat around it. But then, I realized that made the Intelligence stat almost completely irrelevant for mages, which didn't feel right to me. If your character is practicing magic with low or mediocre intelligence, there should be consequences for that, or at least that's how I feel when I play D&D.
    JuliusBorisovEnialusMeliamneBillyYankGraf_Wasili
  • EnialusMeliamneEnialusMeliamne Member Posts: 399
    edited April 2016
    Those are terrible odds! Thank you for sharing that insightful post, MTH. I'll definitely hold off until I find the potions AND reach the adequate spell level. That scroll container is going to do work for a while.

    I'm committed to sticking with the rules I've chosen, seeing as how this is the first time mixing it up like this in a while, and it adds challenges that make me think instead of blindly barging through the game like I had been doing on previous playthroughs. First time since I can remember with regards to the scribe rules, for instance. This has been a fun ride thus far.

    The concentration checks function really mixes things up too. For instance, the Ogre Mage down along the coast was getting the hell beat out of him, but still got off the lightning bolt that killed Dynaheir (a future update will make further note). That changed my kit-out for her, with regards to the Talos boots. The 2.0 updates improve the challenge a fair amount. I like it.

    Thanks again for the depth of explanation! It will prove handy!
    JuliusBorisovBelgarathMTH
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