15218 réponses à ce sujet

[Jianson]

A sad end to a magnificent tale.

It's a always a risk standing next to a creature that knows Imprisonment (unlike the Demi-lich ability, the spell version has 'touch' range).

[Grond0]

Hard luck Gate, but it will be interesting to see how effective the deva is in ToB.

[Serg BlackStrider]

Yes, sorry for your loss, Gate...

[Blackmalkin]

BALANCE AND BLOODSHED II: SHADOWS OF AMN

Chapter IX
in which the party is reunited and then everything goes straight to hell

Once back in Athkatla, druids went to the slums district to present Jan Jansen with a proposition involving a travel to the Underdark. Jan was hesitant, but agreed when Cuta promised to pay him with a sum he would’ve earned on the turnip trade (1,3 gp, bargained to 2 cheepest beers). Equipped with a shorty spellcaster, druids traveled back to the Underdark, where Jan used a scroll to cast a Freedom spell, successfully bringing Ashoka back. Time spent in imprisonment made the warrior-druid even more bitter then he was before. It also changed his views on balance a little. Now he agrees with Atavrksha that killing people before they get a chance to speak is a way of making the world a better place. At least so long as mages are concerned. Unfortunately, the only nearby tavern (the one in Ust’Natha) refused to serve drinks to Ashoka and druids were forced to balance the entire city. The whole affair lowered party’s reputation. As if it was their fault that those slaves were illiterate. If they have read the log, they would have known that Earthquakes and Fire Storms were being cast.

Then druids traveled back to Athkatla, were Ashoka could finally satisfy his thirst and Jan drunk his payment. After saying farewell to the gnome, party went shopping, buying Aeger’s Hide and Helm of Brilliance for Cuta. It didn’t improve her spirit as much as Atavrksha had hoped. To be perfectly honest, she was rather ungrateful. The reason for that was immunity to confusion, which the armor granted – she took it as a pun, intended to show that it’s actually her fault that she has lost her items in Ust’Natha. Realization that the pun was not intended and no one would have noticed this is she hadn’t brought it up, also didn’t help to cheer her up. She changed her tactic and argued that said immunity is redundant since now everybody protect themselves with Chaotic Commands anyway, but a mention of Dispel Magic ended the quarrel.

Druids felt that they should finally go after Bodhi, but they decided to balance the odds a bit by going back to Underdark and reducing the population of beholders and illithids. Heavy drinking (potions of genius and mind focusing) prevented any troubles when fighting with mind flayers. As for beholders, druids sneakily showed them Nature’s Beauty, which made the beholders completely helpless. Most of them, at least – elder orbs were resistant to this tactic, but multiple Webs and Fire Storms sorted them out. During this fight Ashoka learned his first high level abilities – Whirlwind and Greater Whirlwind [he reached a total of 3 000 000 exp., levelling as both druid and a fighter].

Then party journeyed to Athkatlan graveyard to battle Bodhi once again. As it turned out, the odds were far from from balanced and vampires didn’t stand a chance. Beside Bodhi’s body bold druids found the Rynn Lanthorn, which they brought to Elhan. True to his word, he used the artifact to reveal the way to Suldenesellar, where druids hoped to find Irenicus.

Inside the city party learned that their enemy was going to use Atavrksha’s divine soul to hurt a tree. It made him no better then a common lumberjack, which only strengthened the druid’s resolve to balance him. But first they had to balance some of his allies. One of them – a drow mage Raamilat – was very resilient, but a successful Dispel Magic made a breach through in defenses, allowing the druids to finish him with conventional weapons. Here’s a screenshot of Raamilat killing his own pit fiend, just before being stripped of his defenses:



It was then that druids noticed another benefit of getting past 15th level (now they all were level 19, aside from the backward Ashoka, that is) – higher level made their dispelling much more effective. They also noticed that Barkskin started to last for a more decent duration and added this spell to the list of standard protections. One of the benefits of using Barkskin is that it overrides the Iron Skin visual effect, making the druids look more druidy:



Another one of Irenicus’ allies was a dragon. Druids treated him with Implosions, Fire Storms and newly learned Energy Blades. Dragon didn’t survive long, but managed to give druids a taste of their own medicine – he summoned an insect swarm, aimed at Atavrksha. She retreated, so that only she was affected.



Then Rillifane himself, obviously impressed by our druids’ service to nature, joined the party for a moment to help  in clearing the city from Irenicus’ allies and opening the way into the palace, where the mage barricaded himself. When druids found him, Nature’s Beauty has blinded both of them. Well, at least Ashoka insisted thet there were two of them – he was saying something about Mislead spell but it didn’t change what everyone was thinking. Anyway, druids dared not approach and simply let the insects do their magic, easily biting through all of Irenicus’ defenses.



And then, as promised, things went straight to hell. It seemed that Irenicus grew too attached to Atavrksha’s soul and just couldn’t let go. Druids had to follow him to hell to do battle once more. First, however, Atavrksha was put to several severe tests, which increased her constitution by 2 (back to 16, which means she no longer has to start her day with Girdle of Fortitude), wisdom and charisma by 1 (to 21 and and 16 respectively), 10% resistance to magic, +2 to saving throws and +20% elemental resistances (cumulative with the resistances just gained from high druid levels).

Finally, party stood before Irenicus again. This time the mage turned into a Slayer. He also had a few demons at his disposal, but druids had allies of their own. They were joined by Sunnis – elemental prince of earth, a fallen deva and, as usual, a few swarms of insects. Irenicus’ forces were vastly outnumbered and had no choice but to perish. Atavrksha was reunited with her soul and balance was triumphant again. And so ends the second part of the druid’s tale.



Final party status:

Atavrksha – great druid (avenger) 20, 103 HP (with Ioun Stone), fav. spell: Chromatic Orb, 260 kills (Chromatic Demon)
Ashoka – fighter 14/druid 14, 109 HP (with Helm of Balduran), fav. spell: Armor of Faith, 452 kills (Bodhi – he seems to have a habit of scoring final hits on most prestigious targets)
Druma – berserker 3/druid 20, 92 HP, fav. spell: Cure Serious Wounds, 829 kills (Baalor)
Cuta – totemic druid 20, 93 HP, fav. spell: Summon Spirit Animal, 153 kills (Kangaxx the Demi-Lich)
Vrk – shapeshifter 20, 75 HP, fav. spell: Natural Form Shapeshift, 169 kills (lich)

Druids will continue their adventure in the third installment of Balance and Bloodshed series, entitled Throne of Bhaal. Be ready for another epic story, full of dungeons, dragons and advanced druid spellcasting! Available only on BSN.

Modifié par Blackmalkin, 01 novembre 2012 - 12:21 .

[ussnorway]

Yet another Avenger falls to the dark side! Well done, Blackmalkin.

[Serg BlackStrider]

Nice job and entertaining story, Blackmalkin! I'm eagerly looking forward for the ending part of the BALANCE AND BLOODSHED.

[Ygramul]

 I (re-)enter the no-reload challenge with:

Khemael the Fighter/Diviner

who has now completed BGI and will now aim to finish the trilogy (which I haven't done in over a decade & never as no-reload.)

setup: fixpack, tweaks, UB, SCS I + II 

close calls during BGI include:
 - held, twice (Dynaheir saved me thru invisibility on both occasions)
 - feared after dispel in the Undercity fight (Viconia saved the day by remove fear and Minsc pulled my hind from the fire)
 - Flaming Fist Fight - multiple Unholy Words almost destroyed party; thank you Viconia for being evil
 - SCS chess battle - Ouch! (Thankfully, I had read to buff with potions of absorption; even after that it was a close call, using up all my potions of explosions at my always-fire-protected protagonist)


The hardest fights, unsurprisingly, were the mage battles which were approached by standoff tactics. Sarevok was felled by methodical sniping of allies & summons. For a completionist playthorugh, finished with about 225K XP per character, not much beyond the regular cap. 
In retrospect, a fighter/mage is indeed very powerful & I ask the patience of the experts if it is deemed cheesy. I have yet to finish a reload run and will use every (legitimate) advantage I can get.

House Rules:
 - Imoen is a sorcerer (specializing in mage duels) - I will probably shadowkeeper her for this again at Spellhold.
 - Minsc is a berserker
 - I permit myself one item as a reward of making it to SoA: a Ring of Free Action (hey, if Minsc could hide Boo...)


Planning, vaguely, to do deArnise Keep & Unseeing Eye & Planar Sphere and head out early to Spellhold, avoiding any serious hoopla. (I remember a Lich in the City Gates ended my last no-reload of SoA about a year ago.) Anything else I shoud or should not do?

 Wish me luck.

Modifié par Ygramul, 03 novembre 2012 - 06:07 .

[Jianson]

Wish me luck.

Good luck.
 
Hope that Jan doesn't get irreversably killed then, now that he's your only option as a decent thief past Spellhold (since you made Immy a non-thief). If you make it to ToB, I suppose you could dual Sarevok to thief...


Well done getting through BG1 without reloads. What did you do to get into such trouble with the Flaming Fist?

Modifié par Jianson, 03 novembre 2012 - 04:54 .

[Ygramul]

Jianson wrote...
 
Hope that Jan doesn't get irreversably killed then, now that he's your only option as a decent thief past Spellhold (since you made Immy a non-thief). If you make it to ToB, I suppose you could dual Sarevok to thief...

Well done getting through BG1 without reloads. What did you do to get into such trouble with the Flaming Fist?

I love Jan. He was arguably the most amusing character save for Minsc. (Oh, and I installed the no-chunking component from tweaks; so I hope I won't ever have to use Nalia instead.)

I love Minsc, too, of course: I do not blindly charge front lines. That's what HE does! (He did die a few times while I was navel-gazing in the name of "let's buff a bit while the Rashemen rushes in".)

Flaming Fist?
When I returned to save Duke Eltan in the last chapter, I had a bunch of them open up on me with Unholy Word (direct damage on good aligned characters) nearly ending my game there. (In my install of SCS I only priests get insta-buffs when they teleport in; so they didn't waste time with Chant/Remove Fear/Armor of Faith/... etc. etc.)

I am really impressed with the SCS caster AI.
It still cannot deal with summons+stand-off strategy, wasting its spells on fodder. But heaven forbid if it catches you in range and without being interrupted...

I treated all mage battles as potential game enders; e.g. I avoided Silke until we were all level 3.  
Usually, I wouldn't use any non-health potions playing BG. In a no-reload game, it probably wouldn't possible to finish without them; I nearly ran out. Last fight with Sarevok alone I must have used nearly 50 potions on the entire party, including some post-dispel - making the dispel a very dangerous spell.

Modifié par Ygramul, 04 novembre 2012 - 06:43 .

[Grond0]

Grond0/Gate70 multiplayer attempt 9: Bronzer (Grond0, protaganist) and Reyna (Gate70).

Bronzer the barbarian and Reyna the monk continued their progress by paying Gaelen Bayle with the money earned from the slavers.  Before going to Aran Linvail they started to head to the graveyard in search of a ioun stone for Reyna.   However, on the way they spotted Hareishan going about her grisly business and decided to deal with her.  Regrettably Reyna had no weapons that could hurt her and Bronzer only had a non-proficient Lilarcor.  As a result, even though she was at near death for quite a while, he was unable to finish her off and eventually had to run for it having been drained twice between rages.


At the graveyard Pai'Na died quite quickly, but her spiders caused some problems.  Reyna was poisoned early on and had no antidote potions.  She tried using extra-healing potions, but the 5 damage a time from spider poison was outpacing them and she keeled over immediately after this.

Bronzer's save vs death was 1, so I felt comfortable leaving him in melee combat with the spiders.  However, I did reflect later on that he really should have tried using his Bhaal slow poison ability on Reyna (especially after already watching her die from poison in BG1)!

On travelling back from the graveyard to find a priest Bronzer ran into the Suna Seni ambush.  With only 1 rage available I was a bit concerned about that and was glad to see his axe pick out the correct image of the mage.

With Kitthix providing a distraction the rest of the ambushers were quickly dealt with, which provided Reyna with a +2 weapon for those occasions where her fists are not yet up to hitting things.

After picking up a +2 ring from Aran Linvail (as well as an amulet that neither of them could figure out how to use) the next item on the equipment list was at Watcher's Keep.  The potion bag was easily obtained, but a very brief trip inside to be drained by the waiting vampiric wraiths convinced them to leave other potentially useful items for now.

The final action of the session was clearing the de'Arnise Hold.  That went pretty smoothly and Bronzer was grateful to get a +3 axe (and +1/+4 hammer) to make killing trolls a bit quicker.  Reyna got a bit more practice in with her stunning blow - here making short work of Glaicas after Kitthix had failed twice with a web tangle.

The golems were attacked separately and gave no real problems.  Bronzer did gulp slightly as an iron golem fist hit him for 38, but with DUHM and rage active he had 143 available and soon got his revenge (Reyna did get poisoned again here, but fortunately golem poison is nothing like as painful as the spider variety).

The yuan-ti mage didn't realise his supporting trolls were being decoyed away to their doom and seemed easy prey on his own.  However, he did manage to get a chaos off before expiring - resulting in Bronzer running away while Reyna regained her senses!


After Torgal was pulled away from his giant troll guards and massacred Bronzer informed Nalia of the death of her father and agreed to run the Keep for her.

Bronzer was the only one with elemental damage so killed all the trolls in this session.
Bronzer Barbarian 10, 125 HPs (including Helm of Balduran). 417 kills (+63).
Reyna Monk 9, 70 HPs (including green ioun stone). 176 kills (+17).

We were still getting the game freezing on resting at the start of the session, but Gate70 removing the disable movies component from config seemed to solve that - let's hope that remains true next time.

Modifié par Grond0, 04 novembre 2012 - 07:56 .

[Jianson]

Flaming Fist?
When I returned to save Duke Eltan in the last chapter, I had a bunch of them open up on me with Unholy Word (direct damage on good aligned characters) nearly ending my game there.

Was this on the main floor of their headquarters? I usually sneak through there with a thief.

(The spell you describe is Unholy Blight, btw. Unholy Word is a 7th level priest spell with different effects (description here).)

I am really impressed with the SCS caster AI.
It still cannot deal with summons+stand-off strategy, wasting its spells on fodder. But heaven forbid if it catches you in range and without being interrupted...

I am also impressed. I´ve been humiliated more than once. Even in battles that they never really have a chance to win, they can sometimes put up a really good fight and frustrate the heck out of my party.

Yeah, they will sometimes waste spells on summons that are immune to them, but they are usually quite good at conserving some spells for later (Hold Person and such).

[Grond0]

Grond0/Gate70 multiplayer attempt 9: Bronzer (Grond0, protaganist) and Reyna (Gate70).

Bronzer the barbarian and Reyna the monk had a pretty comfortable session today.  Things started with a trip to the sewers to pick up a cloak for Bronzer and deal with Roger's troll problem.  On the way back from the temple district the duo saved Renfeld from some ambushers and went on to investigate a missing bird in Harper HQ.  Reyna sat out most of the fight with Prebek - fortunately the lightning bolt just cast in this screenshot just missed him.


The bulk of the session was spent on the Sir Sarles quest and associated issues.  These included obtaining the berserker horn, solving the skinner murders and giving Neb a long-overdue punishment (even though he was kind enough to let us out of prison in BG1).  There were also ambushes by orogs and some vampires after Sansuki's blood - with much improved weapons now available a single rage saw all 3 of them dead.


At the graveyard a teddy bear was returned and a living soul helped out of a grave.  Most of the crypts above ground were emptied.  The fight with the crypt king was harder than anticipated; Reyna volunteered to trigger the horror spell and duly got scared (Bronzer was out of rages at the time), but Bronzer arrived to take over the fight.  However, he was getting the worst of it and had just started to run away when Reyna recovered and finished the fight with one of her drop-kicks.

Bronzer Barbarian 11, 128 HPs (including Helm of Balduran). 467 kills (+50).
Reyna Monk 11, 72 HPs (including green ioun stone). 196 kills (+20).

[Ygramul]

Was this on the main floor of their headquarters? I usually sneak through there with a thief.

(The spell you describe is Unholy Blight, btw. Unholy Word is a 7th level priest spell with different effects (description here).)

...

Yeah, they will sometimes waste spells on summons that are immune to them, but they are usually quite good at conserving some spells for later (Hold Person and such).

Indeed, Unholy Blight. Unholy Word may have meant end of game. Unholy Blight is not that dangerous, but when cast by multiple evil clerics it is a real trouble.

Next time I play BGI, I probably should adopt a NO-SUMMONS challenge. Summons are too powerful in BGI and you get disproportionately many of them. For example, I kept Sarevok bogged in a sea of summons during the Final Fight. I'm not sure if any of my tanks would have lasted long against him toe to toe. (I finished the game having used up all the charges in the two Wands of Monster Summoning I found.)

In BG2, you get a modest doorstop for a summon spell which buys you a round or two of extra time. This is already respectable for a level 3 or level 4 spell against a though enemy - and far more balanced than a mini-army per cast you get in BGI.


*** Also I came up with another house rule:
 - Jaheira won't use the Nymph summon (lvl 4) more than once per day and not until she is a lvl 9 druid.
I think it is not sensible that a lvl 7 druid can summon what essentially is another lvl 7 druid with a filled spellbook. It acts almost like Simulacrum-lite at that level.

Modifié par Ygramul, 04 novembre 2012 - 10:26 .

[Ygramul]

Khemael the Fighter/Mage:

... made it out of Irenicus' Dungeon.
I find that the combination of the mods
(i) sleep-only-once;
(ii) exchange-magic-weapons-for-masterwork;
(iii) SCS improved Irenicus dungeons
makes the opening non-trivial.

Taking out the Otyugh with spells (since no magic weapons) and getting rid of Ilyich exhausted all the spells & hitherto found potions of the party with everyone hurting at half health or less by the time I needed to rest.

For my single rest opportunity, I had Khemael pick almost only self buffs (all shield/mirror image/stoneskin + fireballs for lvl 3) and Imoen had two magic weapons memorized & Jaheira piled up on heals.

Minsc-as-berserker gave me a means to confront the vampire while everyone else, including Khemael, ran for cover. The Battlemage plus the two ettercaps she summoned seriously hurt the party. Khemael had to roll a few saves (chromatic orbs and, maybe, charm?). Thankfully, you accumulate enough healing potions at that point that you can continue on despite the hurt.

Kudos to the opening design: in BGI I never had actually been *happy* to find a bundle 9 arrows before.


Khemael is now out of the dungeon wondering where Imoen is taken...

Khemael - Lawful Good - Fighter 8/Diviner 9 [19/19/17/19/18/9 with tomes from BGI]

Modifié par Ygramul, 04 novembre 2012 - 10:47 .

[Jianson]

Ygramul wrote...

Khemael the Fighter/Mage:

... made it out of Irenicus' Dungeon.
I find that the combination of the mods
(i) sleep-only-once;
(ii) exchange-magic-weapons-for-masterwork;
(iii) SCS improved Irenicus dungeons
makes the opening non-trivial.

Interesting challenge you made yourself there. In what way is the dungeon made harder (apart from (i) and (ii) above)?

My Wild Mage Ivy has been through the opening dungeon as well. I picked none of those options but I felt the SCS effect anyway - on the Ogre Mage. He was much harder than what I am used to. If he had aimed one of his direct damage spells at Ivy, it would have been over (she has only 19 HP). He Charmed Minsc and I thought I'd be in trouble because of that, but Minsc just stood there and did nothing. SCS must have been confused in some way. I have seen this in BG1 as well. A Siren Dire Charmed Shar-Teel and she stood around doing nothing even with party members within sight.

I would have hated just one rest with Ivy. In that case, I would have made it right after freeing Jaheira and Minsc. Ivy badly needed her familiar and all the other three have bad spell choices for my playstyle.

Ygramul wrote...
Minsc-as-berserker

How can you DO that to him? Now he can't sneak.  
I love "None shall see me - though my battle cry may give me away..."

Ygramul
*** Also I came up with another house rule:
- Jaheira won't use the Nymph summon (lvl 4) more than once per day and not until she is a lvl 9 druid.
I think it is not sensible that a lvl 7 druid can summon what essentially is another lvl 7 druid with a filled spellbook. It acts almost like Simulacrum-lite at that level. 

Yes, it's powerful but also fragile. Not many HP, crappy AC (even with Barkskin) and susceptible to pretty much any bad effect you can think of. And sometimes when you try to get her to cast a spell she changes her mind and does something else so the spell gets aborted. But I see your point. Most other 4th-level Druid spells pale in a general comparison, although some are useful in particular situations.

("My" Jaheira is level 11, btw.)

Modifié par Jianson, 06 novembre 2012 - 12:05 .

[Matuse]

Taking out the Otyugh with spells (since no magic weapons)

Unless SCS changes it, Otyughs have no requirement to use magic weapons. The only magic required monster in the entire dungeon is the jailkeep golem. The guardian golems don't (but probably should), and neither does Ulvalryl (who definitely should).

Interesting challenge you made yourself there. In what way is the dungeon made harder (apart from (i) and (ii) above)?

Replaces all the goblin spawns with duergar.

Kudos to the opening design: in BGI I never had actually been *happy* to find a bundle 9 arrows before.

This was the biggest change I noticed. You got a fair amount more XP, and quite a bit more gold, but there was a constant shortage of arrows without the goblin spawns to provide them. You don't get a real supply until the very end with the shadow thieves.

Modifié par Matuse, 06 novembre 2012 - 01:37 .

[Ygramul]

The nonintimidating adventures of Khemael the Cautious, the reluctant Fighter/Mage...

> Minsc-as-berserker
How can you DO that to him? Now he can't sneak.  
I love "None shall see me - though my battle cry may give me away..."

Laughed out loud to that.
I know, I know, you have a point. But in my mind Minsc has to be as Berserker as possible with as big a sword as possible. In fact he is going for Two Handed Swords +++++ & Two Handed Style ++ in this run (I wonder if I should also give him a blunt weapon; also I got no one to use all them axes now...)

 > Taking out the Otyugh with spells (since no magic weapons)
Unless SCS changes it, Otyughs have no requirement to use magic weapons. 

Ooops. I kinda assumed that it did. (IIRC the Otyughs were normal-immune and made you sick with its hits. With no magic weapons and no freedom to rest at will, I unloaded my spells on it to be safe. It was .... satisfying. 

I also assumed the vampire to be a full vampire; didn't know the fledling wasn't to be much threat. (Are you expected to have level drain protection at that point?)


In hind sight, even the SCS version of the starter dungeon is not too serious a challenge as you find an inordinately large amont of potions and scrolls. Though technically the Battlemage could have caused a re-roll.


===

Khemael the Cautious has now sorted out a disturbance at a Circus Tent caused by a mistreated gnome. A rather comely elven lass by the name of Aerie has joined the troupe. (I wonder if she is really *that* pretty or if she only appears so because she put on that shiny ring that she got off of Kalah's cold dead fingers. Weird.)

Khemael desperately needs to find some magic weapons and better equipment in this unknown city. I have heard of spells that create long lasting weapons as solid as steel and as sharp as a rift edge. Maybe I will purchase and learn a scroll for that. 

(... and we are off to the Copper Coronet.)
 

Modifié par Ygramul, 06 novembre 2012 - 04:38 .

[BBMorti]

Ygramul wrote...


The nonintimidating adventures of Khemael the Cautious, the reluctant Fighter/Mage...

> Minsc-as-berserker
How can you DO that to him? Now he can't sneak.  
I love "None shall see me - though my battle cry may give me away..."

Laughed out loud to that.
I know, I know, you have a point. But in my mind Minsc has to be as Berserker as possible with as big a sword as possible. In fact he is going for Two Handed Swords +++++ & Two Handed Style ++ in this run (I wonder if I should also give him a blunt weapon; also I got no one to use all them axes now...)

 > Taking out the Otyugh with spells (since no magic weapons)
Unless SCS changes it, Otyughs have no requirement to use magic weapons. 

Ooops. I kinda assumed that it did. (IIRC the Otyughs were normal-immune and made you sick with its hits. With no magic weapons and no freedom to rest at will, I unloaded my spells on it to be safe. It was .... satisfying. 

I also assumed the vampire to be a full vampire; didn't know the fledling wasn't to be much threat. (Are you expected to have level drain protection at that point?)


In hind sight, even the SCS version of the starter dungeon is not too serious a challenge as you find an inordinately large amont of potions and scrolls. Though technically the Battlemage could have caused a re-roll.


===

Khemael the Cautious has now sorted out a disturbance at a Circus Tent caused by a mistreated gnome. A rather comely elven lass by the name of Aerie has joined the troupe. (I wonder if she is really *that* pretty or if she only appears so because she put on that shiny ring that she got off of Kalah's cold dead fingers. Weird.)

Khemael desperately needs to find some magic weapons and better equipment in this unknown city. I have heard of spells that create long lasting weapons as solid as steel and as sharp as a rift edge. Maybe I will purchase and learn a scroll for that. 

(... and we are off to the Copper Coronet.)
 

That has been my biggest problem with difficulty enhancing mods since the tactics mods. You were swimming in scrolls, potions and demigod items back in the first tactics mod and I had a hard time making myself installing any such mods since I tried it.

[Jianson]

I thought Ygramul meant the large amount of potions and scrolls you can find in the standard dungeon. It's quite generous. In a vanilla setup, you hardly use any of it but with only one opportunity to rest and a shortage of arrows, you may need to draw more from this 'reserve'.

Modifié par Jianson, 06 novembre 2012 - 07:29 .

[Ygramul]

The misadventures of Khemael the Catious, the quasi-brave mage knight of Sirrobin, the God of Courage,

Jianson wrote...

I thought Ygramul meant the large amount of potions and scrolls you can find in the standard dungeon. It's quite generous. In a vanilla setup, you hardly use any of it but with only one opportunity to rest and a shortage of arrows, you may need to draw more from this 'reserve'.

True. Tighter resources would have made the opening dungeon more of a challenge. Not that I should complain.


==


Khemael was re-united with his old crush, the drow priestess by the name of Viconia. It seems that whenever I let her out of my sight, she gets herself in a bind, so this time I keeping her where I can see her. Jaheira didn't say much, but, oh boy, was Aerie pissed about asking Viconia to come along. What is with these ladies? I swear they have some complicated designs, all the three of them. Anyhow, I expect Viconia to be a better priest than that self-rigtheous Anomen that I left behind. She gives me the chills whenever she speaks in her dark dialect.

We also ran into a strange gnome peddling turnips. Given how cleverly he has eluded the authorities I bet he will make a better trickster & pilferer than that whiny Naila. I told her to go wait me at her keep. I have some business in Athkathla first: SLAVERS, BEWARE! The righteous boot of Minsc is coming for you - I will also help after sufficiently shrouded in spells and woolen mittens...
 

(next: off to the sewers with Jan/Aerie/Minsc/Jaeria/Viconia ... playing with great caution, e.g., never leaving a city map unbuffed.)

[Ygramul]

** modestly troublesome exploits of Khemael the Reluctant, the overcautious Fighter/Librarian of Candlekeep **
... wherein a change of hearts is realized


... hardly anyone around Athkatla tonight... apparently they are determining the new Duke of the city...

Khemael & party met a talking sword today after trudging though the sewers. Minsc has become really fond of it. I have heard them "talking" about slaying dragons together. Somehow Minsc's cluttered mind is clearer near this obnoxius, overgrown butter knife. I cannot argue with the results though; the pair (Minsc & his new dejemma, the sword) made short work of two slaver wizards & their guards merrily as if plowing through candy corn. I think Aerie is beginning to feel jealous of the sword, but then again she feels insecure about the flying sparrows above our heads.

Upon return from the slaver hideout Hendak greeted us as heroes for having saved the children from slavery.


I spent the night in introspection.
I no longer can believe that the Law & Order as seen in this city represents what is best for the People: Cowled Enforcers disappearing innocent Imoen; corrupt officials permitting slavery in their midst; having to bribe my way so that I can use spells when in dire need.

I no longer believe in the Law of this land. I shall fight for the Meek even if it violates the dictates of the Dukes & their pawns.

[changed alignment from Lawful Good to Chaotic Good in Shadowkeeper.]


Now that we have about 6000 gold to our name, Khemael is of to do some essential shopping for necessary spells & equipment, especially "Spell Immnunity".


Khemael - Chaotic Good - Fighter 8/Librarian 9 - preparing now for the rescue of de Arnise Keep

Modifié par Ygramul, 07 novembre 2012 - 11:21 .

[Matuse]

I also assumed the vampire to be a full vampire; didn't know the fledling wasn't to be much threat. (Are you expected to have level drain protection at that point?)

Ulvalryl isn't a fledgling vampire as far as I know...she's scripted to only attack the shadow thieves and goes away when they are all dead (she'll never even turn red when you are beating on her). But she's not magic immune, and I regularly kill her for the 8k XP she's worth. You have to be pretty fast. A backstab or two is about the only way to pull it off without her killing the thieves or turning into a bat and vanishing without giving any XP.

Modifié par Matuse, 07 novembre 2012 - 11:34 .

[Grond0]

Matuse wrote...

I also assumed the vampire to be a full vampire; didn't know the fledling wasn't to be much threat. (Are you expected to have level drain protection at that point?)

Ulvalryl isn't a fledgling vampire as far as I know...she's scripted to only attack the shadow thieves and goes away when they are all dead (she'll never even turn red when you are beating on her). But she's not magic immune, and I regularly kill her for the 8k XP she's worth. You have to be pretty fast. A backstab or two is about the only way to pull it off without her killing the thieves or turning into a bat and vanishing without giving any XP.

With SCS2 installed the battle mage can be a major problem for a solo player, which makes it even more difficult to safely kill Ulvaryl.  I also find the battle mage will sometimes kill her before you get a chance to attack, e.g. through chromatic orb stoning effect, which is a bit annoying.

[Grond0]

Grond0/Gate70 multiplayer attempt 9: Bronzer (Grond0, protaganist) and Reyna (Gate70).

Regrettably this is the final update for this particularly duo.  For most of the session things went pretty smoothly with the following completed:
- Aran's quests in order to allow access to the vampire HQ and get the IMoD.
- obtained a ransom.
- finished all the Trademeet quests.
- dealt with the City Gates lich.

The next set of tasks were for Mae'Var and Bronzer came to grief against Rayic Gethras.  I thought he would be safe with a saving throw of 0, but Rayic's finger of death spell has a -2 on the save which meant that Bronzer could fail with a 1.

A bit of a shame to end it there.  Both the barbarian and monk characters are fairly late bloomers and were just starting to get into their strides.  Final stats were:
Bronzer Barbarian 12, 131 HPs (including Helm of Balduran). 539 kills (+72).
Reyna Monk 12, 74 HPs (including green ioun stone). 227 kills (+31).

[Ygramul]

Adventures of Khemael the Fighter/Mage:
[The LAMENT OF MINSC - SO PASSES A BERSEKER HERO]
 

MINSC!
Oh, no! What have I done.


Minsc just got chunked into tiny foe shaped pieces by my own hand!
No!
Your mighty berserker spirit shall not go unavenged, Minsc! But, but it was by my own hand.

It all started with journey to de Arnise Keep which we never managed to reach. First, we ran into a bunch of thugs attacking a guy named Renfeld who was also poisoned (why bother posioning someone that you are already beating is beyond my ken, but those thugs weren't the smartest of the bunch perhaps). On our way to deliver Renfeld to his friends, we got beset first by muggers and then a mad cleric. Not dismayed by the few bruises we got on the way, we delivered Renfeld to a secretive looking building. Time for a bit of a rest before get back on the road to to de Arnise Keep. Meanwhile, of course, Minsc is bugging me to go to Imnesvale to help the little kid who asked for help and Aerie is on my nerves to go meet someone named Realis, and all three girls are constantly nagging about their unending personal troubles. Instead of party I seem to be leading a self-help circle. Only Jan, bless him, isn't on about some personal obsession, though turnips probably count as one.

Anyway, after dropping Renfeld we stop by for a drink at this place called Sea's Bounty and out of nowhere this Ployer guy appears. After his tirade, he curses Jaheira and neither rest or magic could cure her. With the help of Bernard we track Ployer to his hide-out in the slums for some well deserved justice. I know that I am about to walk in to a fight and though Ployer seemed like a push-over I am not going to risk anyone in case of a trap. 

We prepare: all that magic can grant as protection against steel and spell. But Ployer was also prepared. Three mages teleport in - and immediately disappear in to shadowed doors. Viconia true-sees in response. While Ployer is being hammered by us all we are surrounded by the three mages, now -visible, wreathed in flames, shielded with barriers against sword and spell. Minsc lets out a battlecry and starts hammering on one of the mages with his sword Lillalcor shouting along with glee. Minsc's blows have no effect and each hit burns him instead with cold flames, but he does not let up. Jan and I attempt to remove the magic of the mages, but their spells are stronger than ours. Jaheira summons insects but fiery shields of the mages stop them. I decapitate Ployer where he stands. His expression is not shock, not fear, not remorse, but satisfaction. He knew. The bastard knew that he would die here. He is certain that so will we. Right here.

We shall see.

Between me and Aerie we have two spell thrusts and I have but one Breach memorized. We can handle a mage. We have planned for it. We are ready. But three at the same time? Jan's Flasher bolts stun one of the mages and Minsc and I start wailing at him. My mind is protected against their magics. I try to stand between the two other mages and the party in the small space. With one of their ranks fallen to our swords the two remaining mages seem to be even more hellbent to take us down.

Two mages nod to one another. I can trace their spells as they are being cast. As I rush across the room, followed closely by Minsc's battlecry, I know that I am too late. The first mage casts a dispelling incantation and all our protection spells dissolve around us. The second mage almost simultaneously casts Chaos.

And the room around me becomes a blur.

I remember flailing my swords at the phantoms that apparate around me. The rest of the story I piece together later from Jan's visions. He remembers it all as his mind was not addled by the terrible spell. Neither was Aerie's, but she will not talk to me. She knows, I know that she will never forget what came upon Minsc in that room by my own hand.

Jaheira, Viconia, and I stumble around the room randomly exchanging blows. Viconia is apparently heavily wounded by my hand in the bout while Jaheira randomly attacks Aerie. Jan remembers what the elder mage has cast as Minsc lunges at him: Flesh to Stone. It turns Minsc into an angry statue. It could have been me. It could have been me, but it got Minsc. There are magics to reverse even that, of course, if only we can make it out of there alive. Neither Jan nor Aerie flees the battle, though there is little hope. They have no means of dispelling the mind addling charms or to return Minsc to his form. The magic missiles they have left in their arsenal cannot penetrate the magic shields of either mage. Jan grabs his glowing short sword and runs after the elder mage. A contingency blocks Jan's stabs as the mage's now exposed skin turns again to sheets of stone. 

I remember lunging against a shadowy figure as fire and acid eats through my skin. One of the mages lies dead at my feet. Wounded I attack the next one. Sheated in a skin of stone. I hit him and my strike rings true. As the mage's image shatteres before me, I realize even through the fog of magical confusion that addles me, that someting is wrong. Instead of dispelling the last of the stoneskins of the mage, I have utterly destroyed the statue that was once Minsc.

Minsc is dead. Not only dead, but broken, literally, into tiny pieces. His screaming sword Lilarcor, his massive armor, his apparently useles protective cloak, all shattered with him. His companion Boo, shattered with him.

What saves our wretched lives is a mistake. The last mistake of the mage. The mage dispels -dispels- our magics. Probably out of fear of what Jan and Aerie are about to do to him. This immeaditely clears our minds. Viconia is almost dead. We are all wounded. But our minds are ours. This is not the time for regret - I react with instinct and, along with Jan, I hit the mage as the last of his stoneskins dissipate. This time I am certain that it is HIM, not the mirage of a friend.

But we fail to interrupt his last spell: A chain of lightning sparks out of his hands. Killing Viconia immediately and leaving the rest of us within an inch of our lives. But my sword ends his next incantation.

I stand in the room. Covered in blood, most of it my own. A wave of pain passes through Aerie's eyes and it is the last time she looks at me. She lowers her gaze. Everyone lowers their gaze. There are magics to bring back the dead. But Minsc is gone forever. 


I killed Boo. I killed Minsc.


--

[To reflect the consequences of the addled mind and the self-loathing of Khemael, I now change my alignment to Chaotic Neutral in Shadowkeeper. As you may recall Khemael started as Lawful Good in Candlekeep, but has turned Chaotic Good after Irenicus' dungeon to reflect his opposition to the laws of the land.]

[I use SCSII which makes mage battles brutal! Even though I have the tweaks component installed that prevents chunking under normal circumstances, Minsc's faith is written in stone, pardon the pun. Now I wonder who I should have as the sixth member of my party?]

Modifié par Ygramul, 10 novembre 2012 - 05:19 .