15226 réponses à ce sujet

[Golden28]

 

https://www.dropbox..../1.jpg.png?dl=0

 

 

Hmm this doesnt work...

 

Enlighten me...

[Aasim]

Hmm how do you show pictures right away like Aasim?

Thanks!

Register at some site which allows you to do that. I use Photobucket, but there are others as well.  Once you upload your screen there (save the picture as .jpg or .png format, .bmps are too big) you'll see "Share links" option. Choose IMG, and copy code in your post.

 

Yes: I use Darts of Stunning often. The effect is save v spell or suffer stun for 7 rounds. With a base APR of 3, they can be pretty devastating.

 

Tolgerias was stunned with darts.

 

I, personally, wouldn't mind seeing more +90HP mages. PW:S is no hope insta-death for too many, in my opinion.

 

(At the same time, I find walking up to a powerful mage and incapacitating him with a single word irresistible...)

Well, I don't know about former versions - but latest SCS really beefs up HP of these goons. Yeah, I also share the love for PW spells. So utterly convinient to use.

 

Phoe Gyi, 5th BG2 update

 

We finished Lirarcor quest. Hi-ya. The sword was sold, since no one can actually use it.

 

Did some shopping for my girls. Viconia gets Reflection shield (slightly modified with IR - it doesn't "reflect" missiles, it "absorbs" them - they won't return to the shooter but the wielder is fully immune to them still. It's also a buckler, not a small shield.) while Jaheira gets Kiel's Buckler.

 

(fwiw, the Hold immunity is removed from Harmony).

 

Now we do some "easy" stuff. First, the Burried alive. This crap quest almost had Phoe killed. He had to run and quaff Invis.potion in the house to survive.

 

Fallen Paladins....

 

Ilithium

 

What's left of Skinner (that Golem didn't spawn. I don't know why.)

 

Cpt.Dennis  - Ice Stormx3, Chaosx2, Skull Trap x1

 

And then it was time for Phoe Gyi to find a place he can call home - only to find it infested by the buggies creatures ever to inhabit this game - trolls. 

The Yuan-ti mage there succesfully saved vs stunning fist, but Phoe's innate Divine Wrath (I'll be missing this post-Spellhold....) litteraly blew him up.

 

Now, Torgal.

Unlike my previous run, I decide to fight this head-on - with an apsurd number of buffs.

We start of by sending our summoned Skeletal Warrior (Viconia can summon weaker skeletons  as level 3 spell and these beasts at level 6) to take the initial onslaught. My faithful casters start their bidding - Insects, Ice Storms, Chaos - and Nalia (must have, otherwise I loose 10K gold) had a Cloudkill memorized which she threw in as well.

 

All hell broke loose in a  matter of seconds. Yuan-tis down to Chaos, one Troll, Torgal and Umber Elder approaching. My own summons dead - reason unknown. 

 

Troll dies quickly, followed by Umber. Only Torgal left.

 

...and done.

 

Phoe Gyi is now King of the Castle. 

[Alesia_BH]

Yeah, I also share the love for PW spells. So utterly convinient to use.

 

They cast quick, they don't allow a save, and they don't crowd out the crucial 4/5/6 defensive spells. That's my kind of disabler.

[Aasim]

They cast quick, they don't allow a save, and they don't crowd out the crucial 4/5/6 defensive spells. That's my kind of disabler.

[Alesia_BH]

Nice work against Torgal, Aasim! I'm glad you decided to take them all on.

 

Best,

 

A.

 

 

Btw. And btw my bounty hunter would totally love that buckler. Stun immunity in a buckler. Awesome. No more waiting for UAI and Arvoreen.

 

Btw II. Does the Reflex still stop Flame Arrows in your install?

 

Btw II. And the Reflex is a buckler? Oh my. With the Reflex as a buckler, I could enter my avenger druid, Aliana.

[Golden28]

@ Aasim

 

Ive got a bunch of png pics but when i choose share, and then copy the bar/ link it only leaves the link not the image. If i choose image and put the URL I get this:

 

 

[Alesia_BH]

On Photobucket, just click in the text field adjacent to IMG, seen here.

 

 

Clicking in the field will automatically copy your link. The field will briefly turn yellow, and then display the word "Copied". Next, all you have to do is paste the link into your post.

 

While you're typing your post, you'll just see a line of text beginning with "[url=." Once you submit your post, however, the photos will appear.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

@Golden28. I just noticed your intro post. The challenge starts in the BG1 thread, which can be found here:

 

http://forum.bioware...llenge/page-512

[Golden28]

@Alesia_BH

 

Ah I have to get photobucket, cant use dropbox?

 

Thanks for the reminder I ll post in that thread from now on. 

 

Grts

[Golden28]

Ah, it worked. Ok, see my further posts on the bg1 page !

 

 

[Alesia_BH]

Glad to see you got it working, Golden28.

 

Good luck in the BG1 thread!

 

Best,

 

A.

[Aasim]

Btw. And btw my bounty hunter would totally love that buckler. Stun immunity in a buckler. Awesome. No more waiting for UAI and Arvoreen.

 

Btw II. Does the Reflex still stop Flame Arrows in your install?

 

Btw II. And the Reflex is a buckler? Oh my. With the Reflex as a buckler, I could enter my avenger druid, Aliana.

Stun is blocked by Free Action with Spell Revisions as well, hence a Free Action potion/ring/spell does the same. I'm not sure I like that (I kind of envision Stun to be a "mind" affect, not "body" like Hold) - but then again, Stun in BG2 is much harsher than PnP Stunned Condition.

Spoiler

A stunned creature drops everything held, can't take actions, takes a –2 penalty to AC, and loses its Dexterity bonus to AC (if any).
Attackers receive a +4 bonus on attack rolls to perform combat maneuvers against a stunned opponent.

Reflex stops Flame Arrows yes, and it's a buckler (afaik it's done because BG2 doesn't have a single unique buckler).

 

Unfortunately, modifying Stun isn't really an option since it sets some hardcoded stats which must remain detectable or AI would be repeatedly stunning the already stunned character.

[Alesia_BH]

Stun is blocked by Free Action with Spell Revisions as well, hence a Free Action potion/ring/spell does the same.

 

In my install, Free Action protects against stun as well, via the G3 tweak Free Action Protects Against Stun. However, in my setup, Free Action will cancel haste effects, even if the haste effect is applied before Free Action, causing Stun immunity, sans Free Action, to become valuable: hence the use of Arvoreen, and hence the desirability of a buckler that would protect against stun.

 

I'm not sure I like that (I kind of envision Stun to be a "mind" affect, not "body" like Hold) - but then again, Stun in BG2 is much harsher than PnP Stunned Condition.

[spoiler]A stunned creature drops everything held, can't take actions, takes a –2 penalty to AC, and loses its Dexterity bonus to AC (if any).

 

There was some debate about that back when the G3 Fixpack team first considered removing Stun protection from Free Action, motivated by a conversation with Gaider. That was back in the late-mid 2000s.

 

I, personally, sympathized with the view that Stun should be conceptualized as a mental effect and consequently should not be foiled by Free Action. At the same time, in light of how deadly stun is in BG2, and in light of how few ways there are to foil stun if Free Action doesn't and nothing else is changed, I felt that removing stun protection from Free Action would have an adverse effect on between class/race balance in the context of solo no reload play, particularly in installs where demons insta-cast PW:S (woe to thee if you are a non-halfling, non-UAI rogue, non barbarian/berserker with less than 90HP and without abjuration spells pre-Greenstone or Slayer).

 

I was one of the people who floated the idea that the Tweakpack should offer a Free Action Protects Against Stun component if and when the G3 Fixpack went ahead with the proposed fix. That was ultimately what they did, and it strikes me as a reasonable solution for G3.

 

For those less constrained by original intent, it almost seems preferable, to my mind, to leave stun protection out of Free Action, and add it to Chaotic Commands and Potions of Clarity. That way, you'd be conceptualizing stun as a mental effect, while also insuring that immunity was readily available and that stun, consequently, wasn't overpowered.

 

Of course, that could be more trouble than it would be worth.

 

 

Reflex stops Flame Arrows yes, and it's a buckler (afaik it's done because BG2 doesn't have a single unique buckler).

 

Noted. In my install, I use the Reflex to catch Flame Arrows all the time. I just wasn't sure whether IR changed that.

 

What about traps with projectile animations? Melf's Acid arrows? Melf's Minute Meteors? Energy Blades?

 

In my setup, it will stop traps with projectile animations, but not magically created projectiles other than FA.

 

 

Best,

 

A.

[Aasim]

Nice writeup. The "perfect solution" imo would be to change the effect Stun to a more sensible effect  like this suggestion here (2005!). Unfortunately, while all this is doable within the engine limits, it would lead to really bad AI choices without some SetGlobalVariable scripting.

Hence, Free Action protection can be labeled as perfectly viable as well I guess. 

Probably best not to derail the thread anymore.

[Alesia_BH]

Probably best not to derail the thread anymore.

 

Agreed.

[Aasim]

Phoe Gyi, 6th BG2 update

 

Rather short session before bedtime saw Trademeet done. Since I have Jan, I couldn't buy some potions there but nvm.

We summoned a lovely pair - Skeleton Warrior + Earth Elemental, both immune to poison so Cloudkill can't touch them. Phoe Gyi was alone there with our summons, and stood his ground until Raks expended their Confusion/Fireball/Skull trap spells.

Jan eventually ventured in to remove their illusions. Quite a few potions used, but I prefer that over having entire party smacked by Fireballs.

 

With no more spells left (yes, this took a while!), Rakshs were easy pray.

 

Druid bunch was eliminated via standard Chaos + Greater Command combo. An Insect Swarm was added to mix.

 

I buffed Jaheira extensivly to fight Faldorn, including Imp.invisibility. I wouldn't do it if she wasn't a dirty cheater which brings healing potions into the pit.

 

Dire bears did her. We're now heroes of Trademeet, with a reputation of 17.

 

Actually, it's 9 now.

 

I finished this by killing Valygar and opening Planar Sphere, but I didn't venture in yet. Phoe Gyi is at level 12, being fairly close to 13. Jaheira is close behind, others lag a bit more. I'm not sure what's next on to-do list. One option is Windspear, another  Unseeing Eye. Probably Unseeing...

[Alesia_BH]

Arcadia, Half-Elven Fighter/Mage

 

Just another helping of F/M over-poweredness brought to you by the indefatigable Arcadia and the scintillating Captain Swarmi.

 

This will be mercifully quick, once again. Arcadia is basically an invulnerable whirlwind of abjuration magic and Ages at this point. So long as her buffs are running, she's untouchable, and enemies can't remove her buffs. I'll post some screenies, comment on Arcadia's buffs and, on a couple of occasions, point out how Arcadia protects herself from in combat debuff threats.  

 

Arcadia entered the Planar Prison buffed and invisible. Since it has been a while since I've posted a buff list, I'll do so now. Stoneskins, Pro Cold, Pro Fire, Spirit Armor, Spell Deflection, Spell Turning, Pro Evil, Blur, Mirror Image, Fireshield: Blue, Globe of Invulnerability, Pro Energy, Improved Haste, Improved Invisibility, Spell Immunity: Abjuration, Spell Immunity: Divination.

 

Just so the logic is clear hear, SI:A and SI:D foil Remove and divination magics respectively. II, which is protected by SI:A and SI:D, foils targeted spell protection remover spells, except for Secret Word and Ruby Ray of Reversal. Redundant spell protections insure that enemies will not be able to remove the spell protection via Secret Word or Ruby Ray before Arcadia can refresh with reserve MSDs stocked at L3. The spell protections and II, in turn, protect against Breach. The GoI foils Malison. With Malison foiled, all AoE disablers are stopped by saves enhanced by illusions- illusions protected by SI:D. Pro Fire + Pro Cold + Pro Energy + BoIB grant 100% resistance to fire, cold, and magic damage, and 75% resistance to acid and electricity. Spirit Armor + Blur + II + Pro Evil + Equipped Items gives Arcadia an effective AC of -18 or -20 depending on the enemy. Enemies who can hit against an AC around -20, get ProMW.

 

In sum, targeted spells don't work. AoE disablers are useless. AoE damage spells are very nearly useless. She's extremely hard to hit. And if you can hit her, you get ProMW and Ages Whirlwinds. The only hope enemies have is to take down her buffs, but they can't take down her buffs. So, yeah, she's tough to kill.

 

She has very few damage spells, but you don't really need damage spells when you have Ages Whirlwinds. She has very few debuff spells, but you don't need debuff spells when you have Arrows of Dispelling. She has very few disabling spells, but the ones she does have allow no save and give the target no hope.

 

She has two vulnerabilities: beholder anti-magic ray and Wish- I wish for my enemies' magical defenses to be utterly destroyed. By now, everyone knows what stops those: Spell Shield.

 

Captain Swarmi so wants a Spell Shield scroll.

 

For now though, Arcadia and the Captain are forced to roll sans Spell Shield. But since the Warden is neither a beholder, nor a Wish caster, he's gonna have a bad time.

 

Onto the quest.

 

Upon entering the prison, Arcadia readied a Power Word: Stun, and asked Captain Swarmi to pick a target.

 

Well chosen, Captain.

 

The divine bounty hunter didn't even get to see his buff animation finish. Raw deal huh?

 

Aawil and his buds followed.

 

On to the quadruple mage battle.

 

True Sight to reveal the mages.

 

Pick a mage, any mage.

 

Secret Word countered by MSD

 

ProMW help doesn't against unenchanted Smites. Counter intuitively, range weapons are great for Smiting because you can Smite a lot of enemies.

 

Finished with the long sword.

 

Ok. So, the perceptive reader has thought. Sure, Arcadia's buffs work. But it all depends on the Spell Immunities and Spell Immunity only lasts one round per level. Arcadia, as an F/M, doesn't have that many levels. What happens when the Spell Immunities runs out?

 

Good question. Notice how Arcadia started the battle with a Fireshield: Blue? The buff order is set up in such a way that Fire Shield: Blue will expire three rounds before the Spell Immunities. When the Fire Shield goes down, that's the signal to refresh SI:A + SI:D + II.

 

Cleaned up the mages, and punked the Master.

 

Time for the Warden. Improved Mantle remains a problem for Arcadia. All she can do is wait. The Sling of Everard will solve that problem, starting with her next quest.

 

This time, Arcadia refrained from pre-buffing with Pro Energy, and instead waited for the Warden to tap L8 with Wilting. This approach granted her more full buff time. Vecna + AoP insured that Arcadia could finish casting Pro Energy before the Warden's Wilting could reach her.

 

ProMW means unenchanted dart time.

 

Through the skins.

 

Finish with the long sword.

 

Just clean up now. Opening PW:S.

 

Secret Word countered.

 

Fire Shield is down: time to refresh the Spell Immunities

 

Fin!

 

Firkraag is next.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

Arcadia, Half-Elven Fighter/Mage

 

On her way to Firkraag's, Arcadia swung by the North Forest to take down the high level party that inexplicably hangs out there.

 

I thought I'd post on this fight as a further illustration of F/M tactics against parties.

 

Arcadia took her standard buffs, and then opened with Power Word: Stun on the mage.

 

She heard "manos" from the cleric -which certainly meant Remove Paralysis- and decided to interrupt. He held his concentration through two Ages thumps, but soon paid the price.

 

Arcadia turned her attention to melee foes while listening to incantations from the now freed and buffed mage. A "praeses" elicited a disruptive Sunfire.

 

A second "praeses" convinced Arcadia that the guy needed some fixing. Running ProMW, he was vulnerable to an unenchanted Smite.

 

He never recovered from the Smite stun.

 

Time for the warriors and thieves. The Greater Wyvern took a Greater Whirlwind.

 

The Mercenary, already injured, took a PW:S, followed by Ages.

 

Just the thief now. Truesight->Critical Strike

 

Firkraag will be next (this time I promise).

 

Best,

 

A.

[Blackraven]

Ok so this was to be my last playthrough for a while but some interesting playthroughs and discussions with Alesia about magic made me eager to try a new party run with an arcane character. Rolled a Skald (compromise between arcane and rogue), had a great time with a war party of five (everyone level 5 or 6, Ajantis in love with Charname) but then a Water Weird, an aTweaks creature, 'enveloped' her. This means it held her. And its next move was to 'drown' i.e. kill her. It was quite shocking to me that this barely 420 XP granting creature, notwithstanding its insane physical resistances and deadly save or else powers, had the audacity to end my very entertaining run. Anyway I humbly returned to Glorydd. This is going to be an update of what little progress I've made with her, before I forget the details. Because I might just roll a new Skald.

 

Glorydd, Dwarven Fighter/Thief, 5th update

 

Upon leaving the d'Arnise Hold, Phluafae returned to claim the Dryads' acorns. It was aided by Dread and Dire Wolves, a Shambling Mound and Sirines. Glorydd saw no other option than to slay Phluafae and, with Captain Cernick's help, the other creatures.

The event reminded her of her promise to Irenicus' captives. Glorydd decided to make a brief stop in Athkatla to manage her guild affairs and to have a chat with the mistress of the Shadow Thieves' rivaling guild, and then travel to the Windspear Hills. Not only for the Dryads, but also to remove a gang of bandits from the area for Lord Firkraag, a man she had met in the Copper Coronet. She arrived in Athkatla at night time and had to do her utmost in order to save a colleague that was under attack from three Vampires. She was severely level-drained after she had slain the last Vampire. Glorydd respected the Vampires, not for what they were (creatures of pure evil) but for their powers, so much that Glorydd seriously considered the offer she got from Bodhi, the leader of the rival guild (evidently a den of vampires), to reach Imoen and Irenicus via them rather than the Shadow Thieves. Eventually however, she felt she couldn't betray her fellow Shadow Thieves, so she declined. It meant that she was now one of the vampires' principal enemies in Athkatla.

 

In the Graveyard District, where she'd had her meeting with Bodhi, Glorydd released a man who had been buried alive. She found, and slew, the perpetrators in the Bridge District, and released another victim (though only after nicking a pair of Silver Pantaloons, her ransom, from a man in the Slums District). The Dwarf then spoke with Gaelan Bayle and paid him 15,000 GP for help in finding Imoen and Irenicus. Bayle stated the obvious by telling her that the organization that she was going to work with, was the Shadow Thieves Guild.

The rogue gave Glorydd a key with which she could access the guild hall's backrooms. In a loft, spacious room she met Aran Linvail, the Athkatla Shadowmaster. He explained to her that Imoen and Irenicus had been taken to Spellhold, an asylum for deviants on a far off island. With her payment Glorydd had secured herself passage to Spellhold, but there were a number of preparations still to be made (finding a good ship, hiring a captain, among others). Her gold was going to be used for that purpose. Linvail gave her a necklace that offered protection against vampires' level-draining attacks and a protective ring (she later had Cromwell merge it with a Ring of Regeneration into the Ring of Preservation +2), and he asked her to do a few tasks for him in order to somewhat speed up the preparations. 

Glorydd carried out two missions for Linvail: protecting a shipment from raiding vampires and preventing a number of Shadow Thieves from joining the rivals. Interestingly Linvail's amulet failed to protect her from the vampires' draining attacks in her encounter with the undead.

 

After she was done with her two jobs for Aran Linvail, Glorydd finally traveled to the Windspear Hills. Upon arrival she slew a pack of Orcs, at least that's what she thought. When her enemies had fallen they took their natural, human form, much to Glorydd's horror. She had slain a party of Paladins. Garren Windspear, a witness of the bloodbath, told her that it must have been the work of Jierdan Firkraag... The man who had hired Glorydd turned out to be the man who had robbed most of Garren Windspear's lands. An evil man.

That same day, when Windspear had departed to explain the killings of the Paladins at the Order of the Radiant Heart, a band of Firkraag's thugs kidnapped Windspear's son Taar. Glorydd waited for Garren Windspear to return, explained to him what had happened, and promised him to find his son. A few moments later a Halfling messenger gave her a letter from Firkraag saying she would find him in the ruins northeast of Windspear's cabin.

Glorydd returned the acorns to Irenicus' captives' sister, better late than never, and then went looking for Firkraag and Taar Windspear.

 

From the outside the ruined structure looked like a splendid hall, almost Dwarven in appearance. But when she entered she found herself in a cave. It was inhabited by Hobgoblins, Mists, and a Ruhk Transmuter guarding a door. The latter was a potentially dangerous foe, but he fell to a backstab by Glorydd and an explosion caused by one of its own Kamikaze Kobold minions. She went through the door and and found herself in an old dungeon. She snuck past Orc Archers, destroyed three Golems, and - protected from Undead thanks to a green scroll - slew three Mummies, a few Fell Ghasts, six Elder and Ancient Vampires, as well as several Wraiths. [Note Blackraven: the SCS improved vampires are so annoying that I've pretty much made it a habit to just deal with them using green scrolls.]

As she picked up a spell scroll from one of the fallen Fell Ghasts, visions of a female, Half-Elven Battle Mage with a cat familiar entered Glorydd's mind. She seemed powerful, using telepathy to beg Glorydd to give her the scroll. The Dwarf was willing to hand her the scroll, but she had no idea how.

 

The Wraiths had guarded a key with which Glorydd opened a door the lock of which she had previously failed to pick. As soon as she opened the door, a woman approached her. She presented herself as Samia and she asked Glorydd to help find her a number of historical artifacts in the dungeon's northeast wing. Ever helpful, Glorydd agreed to the task. The corridors were inhabited by Genies that guarded pieces of a Mask of one King Strohm III that she would need in order to gain acces to the artifacts. Glorydd slew the guardian Genies with backstabs, and a Director Beholder, assembled the mask and obtained the artifacts: an enchanted sword that protected against fear, and a shield that offered the bearer protection from fire.

When she wanted to return to Samia, she saw the woman with a party of roughnecks lying in ambush. Glorydd chose to keep the initiative. Like an elite assassin, she took her ambushers down one by one, making optimal use of her stealth skills and generous use of potions of invisibility (of which she had many).

 

Glorydd left the northeast wing to discover some of the southern corridors. In them she met a type of enemy that was immune to all her weapons: Greater Wolfweres, three of them. The Dwarf lured two of the creatures into the northeast corridors with the help of Kitthix, and slew the third with traps and an Efreeti Flamestrike. The dispatching of Orogs and Golems in the halls beyond the one which had contained the Greater Wolfweres, led Glorydd to feel a sudden surge of power within her. A power that was there to stay. She knew she was now able to wield with ease weapons that had previously felt awkard in her hands, such as Mazzy's sword. Aran Linvail's amulet briefly gave her a tingling sensation against her chest; its enchantment finally seemed to work. She tested the limits of her new powers by reading a simple mage scroll: one that allowed the caster to find a familiar. Much to her surpise an intelligent rabbit appeared out of nowhere, a companion at last!

A particularly large Golem, an Adamantite variant, was brought down from a safe distance with the Dwarven Thrower warhammer. Glorydd had to kill an Orog Chieftain and Tazok (how many lives did that one have?), using backstabs, before she could speak to Garren Windspear's son. He was kept in a cell, and he told the Dwarf that the key could be find on a Mage named Conster, downstairs in Firkraag's lair. Glorydd found both Conster, and Firkraag, though the latter had grown a bit since the last time they has spoken. Firkraag was a Red Dragon! It explained to Glorydd that its interest in her was an old unsettled score with her foster father Gorion (without going into details), and a measurement of her ability as a Bhaalspawn. It told her to battle Conster for the key to Taar Windspear's cell door. This she did. With stealth, patience (required because of PfMW, Improved Mantle and Mantle) and special arrows (dispelling, acid arrows) she slew the evil wizard without breaking a sweat herself. She released Taar Windspear, who begged the Dwarf to accompany him to Garren's cabin, and leave Firkraag alone. But Glorydd had other plans. [Note Blackraven: a new level-up followed, with Spike Trap as Glorydd's second HLA.)

 

She went down the stairs again, determined to rid the realms of Firkraag the tryant. A Vhailor's simulacrum was instructed to set a spike trap and four regular traps, and then sent in to battle Firkraag. While the simmy was occupying the Dragon, Glorydd set a spike trap of her own, followed by a regular trap. She buffed with a potion of speed and potions of fire resistance. Firkraag had no difficulty with the simulacrum, killing it with Red Dragon Breath. [Note that in my install simulacra cannot use consumables, so the only way of protecting the simmy would have been to cast PfFire on it, which Glorydd hadn't.] Firkraag then came after the real Glorydd. The two spike traps injured the Dragon, but the regular traps did nothing. Glorydd's Flail of Ages dealt only minimal elemental damage. Apparently the Dragon had many Stoneskins for her to strip. She summoned her fast attacking Spider, Kitthix, to help her remove the Stoneskins, but Kitthix lasted about as long as the simulacrum had [maybe two rounds].

Glorydd knew by then that she was going to have to do it herself. Her summons could only serve as emergency decoys. By fleeing back upstairs she successfully evaded two Remove Magics cast at her, but that only lulled her into a false sense of security, because Firkraag's Lower Fire Resistance ability had made her very vulnerable to fire anyway, as she found out the hard way. She made it her business to remain protected from fire at all times, but refused to use one of her few green scrolls of Protection from Acid against the Dragon's acid attacks. At one point Firkraag had blocked the way upstairs after a Wing Buffet, which Glorydd didn't appreciate, but she solved that inconvenience by running away from the Dragon, causing it to come after her, and by summoning an Efreeti as a decoy. She then allowed the Dragon to hurt her repeatedly and quite severely, while hitting away at Firkraag's Stoneskins (of which it had two or three casts). Potions of extra healing and, when necessary, retreats upstairs kept her going.

At long last she noticed that her attacks were beginning to actually hurt the Dragon; it had run out of Stoneskins. Many blows were exchanged between the Dwarf and the Dragon. The Dragon hit harder, but the Dwarf hit more frequently, and besides she had her healing potions. Incessant pounding away at the creature, wherever she could, resulted in the downfall, quite literally, of Firkraag the Red Dragon.

The Dwarf found a very powerful greatsword in the Dragon's hoard. It makes the wielder highly resistant to magic, while enemies hit by the blade will see their magical protections removed. Glorydd had never trained herself in the use of two-handed swords, but this blade alone appeared to be a good reason to change that.

 

She said goodbye to the thankful Windspears, and returned to Athkatla where more Vampires attacked her, including a group that seemed to be working with ex-Shadow Thieves.

Glorydd's gold clearly hadn't decided the guild war in favor of the Shadow Thieves yet, and there was still no ship to Spellhold, much to the Dwarf's disappointment. On the bright side of things, the situation would allow her to carry out another commission or two, such as delivering Valygar the murderer to the Cowled Wizards (even though she wasn't too enthusiastic about working for the cowled ones).

[Blackraven]

Lovely stuff Alesia, and very instructive. Thanks for sharing 

[Alesia_BH]

As she picked up a spell scroll from one of the fallen Fell Ghasts, visions of a female, Half-Elven Battle Mage with a cat familiar entered Glorydd's mind. She seemed powerful, using telepathy to beg Glorydd to give her the scroll. The Dwarf was willing to hand her the scroll, but she had no idea how.
 

 

 

Arcadia and the Captain just looted an uninspiring red scroll from the North Forest party. Shall we trade through an inter-dimmensional conduit?

 

(Captain Swarmi mastered inter-dimmensional transport many years ago during his time in the Aberian Material Plane.)

 

Best,

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

The Dwarf found a very powerful greatsword in the Dragon's hoard. It makes the wielder highly resistant to magic, while enemies hit by the blade will see their magical protections removed. Glorydd had never trained herself in the use of two-handed swords, but this blade alone appeared to be a good reason to change that.

 

You've decided to go with Carsomyr over Foebane? I can't say I blame you. Looking forward to seeing what Glorrydd can do with it.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Blackraven]

Glorydd has two of the blue scrolls, she might do without one of them... so sure! 
19 Eleasias, 1369, Five Flagons Inn?

[Alesia_BH]

Lovely stuff Alesia, and very instructive. Thanks for sharing 

 

That's kind of you to say.

 

Glorydd's run has been outstanding. Her combat and your coverage have both been excellent.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Blackraven]

You've decided to go with Carsomyr over Foebane? I can't say I blame you. Looking forward to seeing what Glorrydd can do with it.

 

Best,

 

A.

Well the pip that's up for grabs is the Staff pip, so Foebane might still get one pip. But just as you have your RP/style considerations for not using Carsomyr on a non-Pally I'm not fond of the idea of Glorydd dual-wielding bastard sword and an flail.
 

 

That's kind of you to say.

 

Glorydd's run has been outstanding. Her combat and your coverage have both been excellent.

 

Best,

 

A.

 

Thank you! I think I could be more specific on some of the combat aspects (for example the Director Beholder, which unlike typical Beholders, casts things like Magic Missiles, and Ice Storm, damage spells mostly). It's just that, time constraints....