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[Gorthaur X]

The story of Oberon nears its end. With Aec'Letec gone, it's time to return to Baldur's Gate, tie up any remaining loose ends, and then finish Sarevok once and for all.

We sneak our way into the city under cover of night, charming the few Flaming Fist members that try to stop us. We know the Fist's leadership is corrupt, and have no intention of going anywhere with them. Within the span of a day, we've saved Duke Eltan, killed Cythandria and her pet golems, and found leads pointing the way into the Undercellar, where Sarevok's two assassins prepare for the assassination of the remaining dukes.

We summon twenty or so skeletons to help us - no point being careless at this stage - which turns out to be a tactical error: the fight turns into a horrible bloodbath when Kagain and Coran are hit by a Chaos spell and attack a random nobleman. With the civilians going hostile, our skeletons go berserk and start slaughtering everybody in sight. I am forced to fireball my own help into oblivion, but they are hard to control now, and some manage to avoid the blast. In the end, we finish the fight being despised by all.

But we do finish it. One of Edwin's futile attempts to dispel the Chaos reveals Slythe, who is promptly blinded and eliminated.

After a trip to the temple to build our rep back to average - all we need now is to avoid any more Flaming Fist harassment, anyway - it's time to head to the Duchal palace.

We manage to save Belt from the doppelgangers, but Liia falls in battle. She is surprisingly fragile for a supposedly powerful mage - but I'm sure she is important enough that someone will resurrect her. Sarevok is incensed at our temerity, but there's little he can do. His plans are ruined, and his only option now is to flee, with our party in hot pursuit.

The labyrinth beneath the city is fraught with perilous traps, but we trust Coran's skills to get us through it. As I should probably have expected, this trust turns into a long walk back into the temple of Helm after he steps into yet another lightning trap.

Oh well.

Eventually, we do make it into the Undercity. The end is now so near I can taste it. There's nothing left between myself and Sarevok. Nothing.

Oh, wait. Who are these guys? Coran spots them before they spot us, which is fortunate, given that their aggressive demeanor doesn't suggest that they're the kind of party we could reason with.


"Gee wiz, those red circles don't look friendly at all."

We decide to opt for a preemptive strike. Kagain is made extra super resistant to fire and sneaks in the middle of the enemy group with an Oil of Fiery Burning.


"Kagain: say what you will about him, but he knows how to make an entrance."

Not to be outdone, the rest of us join in with Fireballs, Wands of Fire and Arrows of Detonation.


"One of the most satisfying moments in the entire game."

The group is quickly reduced to such a weakened state that mopping them up is easy. Their leader does have one nasty surprise left, though, and manages to shoot Viconia with a D-Arrow of his own before finally biting it. As usual, the mage is the most difficult kill, but Kivan and Edwin dispel her protections, and finally she has no choice but to give in to the inevitable embrace of death.

The road has been long, and there were times I thought I would never make it this far. And yet, here we stand, ready to enter the lion's den.

[Gorthaur X]

Oh FFFUUUU. I just wrote the longest godsdamned post when the board froze on me and ate it. So, here's a cliff notes version, instead.

The Diary of Oberon, Entry 33⅓: The Final Insult:

Our final attributes as we enter the temple, doped up on everything we had saved. Experience is 260-270k per head:













We begin by covering the ground with Cloudkills and Stinking Clouds, in the hopes of at least disrupting enemy spellcasters a little. They synergize well with Animate Dead, since skeletons are immune to them:


"Hey Skeleton Joe, that floor mural looks like your mom!" "Go get turned by a paladin, Skeleton Moe."


"Face me! Face the new LORD OF MURDER!"

The skeletons rush every which way, providing the distraction we need. Viconia casts Detect Invisibility, revealing Angelo, whose protections are dispelled by Kivan's arrows. Without his Globe of Invulnerability, he falls unconscious.

Kivan spots Tazok. This has been a long time coming.

Viconia summons more fodder to distract Sarevok, who is currently chasing Kagain. He sure goes through them fast.

Kivan dispels Semaj's protections with Arrows of Dispelling and switches to Arrows of Biting. The mage doesn't last long. At the same time, Coran kills Diarmid.

Sarevok's fallen minions reanimate as Skeleton Warriors, but they are no match for us. Pretty soon, the would-be-god is alone and surrounded by ever more enemies.

Time to finish it: Oberon is joined by Edwin and Viconia in a salvo of Magic Missiles.

Sarevok is DED.


It's been a fun ride, and to be honest, I didn't expect to make it through. I suppose I'll have to see about setting up the right mods to take Oberon on to Shadows of Amn.

Modifié par Gorthaur X, 01 mars 2011 - 06:38 .

[Crippled Jack]

One hell of a journey Gorthaur X, so congrats are mandatory. I look forward to see Oberon in BG2.

[Bhryaen]

Gorthaur X wrote...
Oh FFFUUUU. I just wrote the longest godsdamned post when the board froze on me and ate it. So, here's a cliff notes version, instead.

Happened to me too many other times in too many other posting environments which is why now I (at least when I'm going to be using posting something more extensive) use a document on my hard drive first. It's only the embedded links, italics, and bold that can't be duplicated there (unless you use the BBCode to make italics and bold, in which case it's only the links), but those can be done at the end. That still doesn't prevent me leaving all sorts of errors to correct, but still... I can empathize...

It's been a fun ride, and to be honest, I didn't expect to make it through. I suppose I'll have to see about setting up the right mods to take Oberon on to Shadows of Amn.

I for one will be sorely missing your regular posts here. Gave me laughs every day... May Tymora's force be with you! And don't let the backstabbers bite.

Modifié par Bhryaen, 02 mars 2011 - 06:21 .

[Wierdo]

Woot! Well done Gorthaur. That was a great run and well documented.

I also have mostly used an immolation strategy on that final party of mercs/adventurers in the dead city. Fire makes the encounter very simple. In fact, once-upon-a-time I re-loaded my saved game and pretended to 'stumble' into them to make the fight more exciting.

I was a little surprised at the use of Stinking Cloud in the Sarevok battle, but it seems to have worked well for you!

Modifié par Wierdo, 02 mars 2011 - 01:14 .

[Wierdo]

Wierdo's Bhaalspawn Bretheren

Davaeorn

When Wierdo's party reached the stairs to level 4 of the mines, they decided to pause and rest. They had received warnings of a powerful mage called Davaeorn, and were wary. Even so, Wierdo didn't want Davaeorn to have any opportunity to escape and so made camp at the top of the stairs. Some 10 guards came, but they were dealt with quickly and mercilessly.

After the rest, Spangle made the party invisible and they carefully padded down the stairs. There was only one guard, but Wierdo sent invisible Imoen on ahead to check for traps. Turned out to be a good idea, as Imoen found four.


"Looking good so far ..."

However, just as she disarmed the last trap, Davaeorn started an evil rant at her. Seems that Imoen's lack of bathing over the past few days had become noticable in the dungeon confines. Quickly, the invisible group moved into position to attack and launch spells etc. Unfortunately, Davaeorn was wise and cast a Detect Invisibility spell, revealing all (except for Wierdo who was out-of-sight preparing to backstab the guard).

Oh dear, this was not good. Wierdo's oversights and lack of preparations for this encounter were becoming apparent. For example, a Haste spell prior to coming down the stairs would have made a lot of difference here.

- Annakin went berserk and charged to attack Davaeorn.
- Imoen launched a Potion of Fiery Burning followed by an Arrow of Detonation.
- Wierdo attempted to backstab the guard (miss!) then attemped a Fireball at Davaeorn.
- Buddha started beating up the guard
- Finch summoned a brace of skeletons
- Xan prepared a Fireball


"Sh!t, things are not going as planned ... "

Further unravelling of the party's plan started to occur. Davaeorn buffed himself up instantly, and summoned two battle horrors. Imoen's first fireball damaged him slightly, but the second did nothing as his buffs were up. Annakin flailed at Dava, but this was largely useless. Davaeorn then used a Minor Sequencer to cast Web and Stinking Cloud spells into the middle of the corridor.

The web and stinking cloud really messed the party up a lot. The whole corrider became filled with fumes and webs. Imoen went down, overcome by fumes. Finch managed to get her skeletons out of the closet, and Xan managed to quaff a Potion of Magic Blocking and escape. Wierdo also escaped the spells and returned to help Buddha finish off the guard.

Finches skeletons proved to be a real liability. They got trapped by the webs and filled the corridor, blocking Annakin from retreating. Furthermore, the webs also trapped Annakin, and the battle horrors focused on beating him up.

Things were looking very grim, especially for Annakin. Xan started reading a Dispel Magic scroll in an attempt to free him before he became meat.

Davaeorn then cast a Lightning Bolt at Annakin (ouch! about 35hp damage) and left him to the battle horrors' mercy (or lack thereof), teleporting away into the first room, which was probably an attempt to get behind the party. Unfortunately for Davaeorn, this was his biggest mistake because that was where most of the party now was, having retreated from the webs and stinkiness.

Suddenly Finch remembered that she had a Dispel Magic in memory, and began to cast it at Davaeorn.

Simultaneously, Davaeorn released a Fireball spell. Panicing, Buddha quaffed a Potion of Fire Resistance and Wierdo ran as fast as her speed boots could take her.

However, contrary to their fears, Davaeorn had directed the Fireball into the corridor itself rather than into the first room. Annakin actually enjoyed the flames as his FR was up to 127%, so it healed him. He surely does love the smell of napalm in the morning. However, Imoen took the full force (30hp) as she was busy coughing her guts up.

This fireball turned out to be a further blessing in disguise because it destroyed all the skeletons, thus freeing up the corridor. This meant that the battle horrors now moved away from the incapacitated Annakin towards the rest of the party. No-one knew how to defeat the horrors without Annakin's sword arm (and Buddha's fists are not yet considered magic weapons), but for a few seconds there would be a reprieve. It would prove to be all the party needed.

Almost simultaneously, both Xan and Finch's Dispel Magics
went off. Xan's spell was not successful in freeing Annakin from the webs, but Finch's
was extraordinarily successful in stripping Davaeorn naked of his
magical defences!


"His defences are gone! Now is our chance! Pound him, punch him, zap him, shoot him!"

Buddha had just finished off the guard, so started in at Davaeorn. Wierdo launched a Arrow of Biting and a Magic Missile spell at him. Meanwhile, Imoen had regained her composure and moved in with a sense of vengeance that was palpable and unstoppable. Xan cast Laroch's Minor Drain and Finch attacked with her flail.
 
Buddha & Wierdo knocked Davaeorn about a bit with fists and magic missiles, and then Imoen pulled out a single Arrow of Piercing that she had been saving for a special occasion. The Arrow hit Dava in the chest, but it failed to penetrate fully. Then Buddha then leapt high and expertly kicked the arrow in the rest of the way, forcing it through Davaeorn's heart.

Thankfully, the battle horrors also fell apart with Davaeorn's death. The day was won!

Modifié par Wierdo, 10 avril 2011 - 07:07 .

[Wierdo]

Wierdo's Bhaalspawn Bretheren

Davaeorn's Treasure

In Davaeorn's treasure room, Wierdo discovers that it is indeed possible to backstab a jelly! Although working out where the back is takes some guesswork

Modifié par Wierdo, 10 avril 2011 - 07:05 .

[Wierdo]

Wierdo's Journal

Certain worrying changes were becoming apparent to Wierdo. she seemed to have become a veritable agent of death and destruction. But she couldn't help herself, it was like a drug. Hide in the shadows, creep up, backstab, run, hide, creep, stab, dice, julienne and blend ... until there's nothing more to kill.


"Nice giblets."

Sometimes she caught herself thinking how to creep up on party members or other innocents. She told herself that it was just her professionalism, but underneath something was nagging her very soul.

Since finishing the Cloakwood mines, Wierdo's Bhaalspawn Bretheren went to Nashkel to fulfil Finch's dream of establishing a library there. Task accomplished, Wierdo said goodbye to Finch as she had librarian work to do in Nashkel, and Xan decided to travel up to the Friendly Arm Inn by himself for a bit of R&R.

Meanwhile, Wierdo picked up Minsc, a Beastmaster who asked us to help him rescue Dynaheir, a sorceress who had been captured by Gnolls. We immediately leapt to the challenge, hit the road, defeated the Gnolls in their stronghold and rescued the witch.

Dynaheir mentioned that the gnolls had stolen her journal, so we helped her to find it. Drizzt the dark-elf ranger helped out.

Wierdo has just leveled: gnome illusionist/thief Lv 7/7. It is a new chapter, and her kills are at 44% for the chapter so far (and 32% for the game).

Modifié par Wierdo, 02 mars 2011 - 03:32 .

[Gorthaur X]

Bhryaen wrote...
I for one will be sorely missing your regular posts here. Gave me laughs every day... May Tymora's force be with you! And don't let the backstabbers bite.

Thanks! I considered taking a more RP-oriented approach to my posts, but at the end of the day I just couldn't resist the stupid meta-humor. I'm glad it turned out to be entertaining.

Backstabbers were horrifying throughout BG1, but if I manage to get just one level up in SoA, I'll have access to Stoneskin... at which point I'll get to spend my time being horrified by mages, instead.

Wierdo wrote...

Woot! Well done Gorthaur. That was a great run and well documented.

Thanks again!

I was a little surprised at the use of Stinking Cloud in the Sarevok battle, but it seems to have worked well for you!

Well, I didn't expect either cloud to make a huge difference, but since my own guys all had at least 50% Magic Resistance and practically unfailable saves for the final battle, I figured they wouldn't hurt. After all, mages don't like to cast in a Cloudkill, tend to have poor saves vs. death, and getting my protections dispelled was a major concern.

[Wierdo]

@Gorthaur X

How did you get saving throw reductions of -25 for Oberon! That is .... a lot!

Modifié par Wierdo, 02 mars 2011 - 04:38 .

[The Fred]

Well done Oberan, and keep up the good work everyone else!

The Adventures of Pallyn the Sorrowful
We just had a very harrowing experience. After checking out the carnival, which was harrowing enough in itself, we continued east to the area we found ourselves in after leaving the mines. Unusually, for this region, we encountered an ankheg which we quickly dispatched. However, as Jaheira was looking over its corpse (i.e. I was managing my inventory), another popped right up and sprayed her with acid. Well, I had her get out of there pronto, but it wasn't fast enough. Jaheira was slain, but that wasn't all - the ankheg quickly turned its attentions to Imoen, one-hit-killing her, and then onto poor Xan who got chunked! As I realised that this was a no-reload challenge and that 3/5 of my party had actually just been killed, I very nearly panicked. Luckily, we were able to finish off the ankheg, make it back to Nashkel, and revive Jaheira and Imoen. There wasn't even enough of Xan left for Helm to restore him, though. Thankfully, the stuff we'd left on the ground was still there when we returned (though I think I mislaid a shortbow + 1 and perhaps some other things as a consequence).

So, no more miserable musings from the despondent elf. We shall miss him. I'm also a bit disappointed that he soaked up so much XP and used so many mage scrolls needlessly. On the upside, Imoen gained a level, restoring her thieving abilities, giving a party line up like so:
Pallyn - Cleric 5 -> Conjurer 4
Imoen - Thief 4 -> Illusionist 5 (Deaths: 1)
Khalid - Fighter 5 (Deaths: 1)
Jaheira - Fighter 5 / Druid 5 (Deaths: 1)
Now that Imoen has her trapfinding skills back, we might just consider venturing into the spider area of the Cloakwood. I'd rather like to get everyone up a level or so first, though, just to be on the safe side.

Modifié par The Fred, 02 mars 2011 - 05:12 .

[Gorthaur X]

Wierdo wrote...

@Gorthaur X

How did you get saving throw reductions of -25 for Oberon! That is .... a lot!

Potion of Magic Shielding. One of its effects is "all saving throws are made automatically", which appears to be practically implemented by the game giving you +20 to all saves. The rest is from the Cloak of Displacement, Robe of the Archmagi, and Ring of Protection +2.

[Bhryaen]

Andrizztyl, DAY 14: Familiar Foibles
Having just defeated the mighty melee menace Greywolf, the party returned to the chiseler Prism to let him know everything would be fine now... and he promptly died... and left the Quattro a nice bundle of gems. Only then did the stoic archer begin bestowing praises on the deceased... as if we hadn't noticed his silence earlier when Prism was asking for help...

Andrizztyl: "You know I might've just let Greywolf kill him. You could've spoken up earlier..."
Kivan: "It is an understanding between he and I that goes beyond words."
Gavin: "Well, at least I offered some words in his defense..."
Kivan: "None of you can understand what it is like to lose someone to whom you were the closest for many years through many formative experiences..."
Imoen: "And Gorion was just chopped liver?"
Kivan: "Except him, I mean."
Andrizztyl: "Poor choice of words, Imoen... (Not the first time...)"
Imoen: "Puffguts deserved some defense too, ya know. Where was his friend Elminster then? Not even nearby, I bet."
Gavin: "So did either of you speak up in defense of Gorion during the confrontation that brought his demise?"
Imoen: "I was too far away!"
Kivan: "We should speak some words on his behalf too..."
Andrizztyl: *ahem* "Anyway, nice gems, are they not?"

And they forgot to bring them to the bounty payer in Nashkell in their course north through the Carnival Stashpoint and on back to the High Hedge to sell short swords to a pissant town wizard and buy a few spells like "Invisibility" and "Mirror Image" for Andrizztyl despite having no way to cast them yet. Already familiar with the local undead wildlife, Andrizztyl steered them around nuisance traps, but they explored a little further to give Andrizztyl one more huge spider to add to his kill list and to give Andrizztyl one more locked chest he couldn't pick open... Most fortuituously, however, a dead gnoll was found to have been carrying a potion that would increase the drinker's intelligence. ["Hot diggity!"] They decided to spare it for now in order to make fuller use of it with a lot more scrolls for Imoen to peruse at once...

Also in the area was a roguish sort who proclaimed his intent on storming the pissant town wizard's general store. Kivan immediately interjected some words in defense of the wizard (perhaps to compensate for his earlier silence concerning Prism), but the Quattro ultimately decided that they would only and simply pickpocket this odd stranger as their act of defense. Alas, ten attempts between both of the Pickpocket Pair were all failures, and the enigmatic and inconclusive figure departed... into the pissant town wizard's general store... where he disappeared...

And it was only then that the some of the last words spoken by Gorion to his ward were finally heeded: they went to the Friendly Arms Inn. The drawbridge was lowered, but Andrizztyl spotted a mysterious hole in the ground far from the Inn gate. Inside there appeared to be some great magical treasure that could increase his powers as a mage... a scroll of Find Familiar. But this wasn't so bad, was it? In fact, this was exactly what he'd been looking for...

But first they decided to approach the Inn and just check- who knows?- if there might be anyone in there willing to given them a huge supply of antidote potions for free. It was worth a try. But as they approached the staircase there was an ominous figure looming at the top of the high stone staircase. Devising a basic plan, Andrizztyl crept up in the dark, intent on a backstab as soon as the suspicious mage would start getting nasty. Unfortunately the rest of the party introduced themselves first. Gavin tried commendably to direct the Quattro away from the mage, but he turned out to be another bounty hunter intent on killing someone with a familiar description. With Andrizztyl hidden, however, he must've been after Gavin this time... or Kivan? Surely not Imoen...

Well, it was over with rather quickly- too quickly for the mage to prepare himself- and too quickly for any backstabbing to take place either...


Andrizztyl: "I said to wait for me to get in position first."
Gavin: "Well, this mage wasn't going to wait."
Kivan: "We couldn't even see where you were. For all we know you were down here the whole time, hiding around the corner."

With Andrizztyl feeling somewhat nonplussed (and since they'd forgotten to bring certain items stashed in Beregost that certain antidote givers tend to like, as is their wont) they decided to forgo entering the Inn for the moment and went to slaughter hobgoblins. Returning to the Inn grounds, they barged into a house there and introduced themselves. The burly and scantily-clad woman there asked for assistance, but Andrizztyl was a tad too rude [I thought she took the quest [i]because[/i] we were rude sorts!], and she promptly departed without another word... too fast even for a pickpocket...

Since the house was now theirs for the duration, the Quattro- well, looted it- and then let Andrizztyl memorize and cast Find Familiar. He had read up on it in Candlekeep during his studiies- or rather he had read up on some stories of its use to produce draconic companions that could make a whole group of people disappear- so he was anticipating quite the round of applause this time. Yes, now he would be wielding the weight of the organization, and perhaps he would earn quite a bit more respect! A familiar like that would be indispensible... and hopefully save their hides when travelling...

So he cast it...


Andrizztyl: "A... WHAT???!"
Imoen: "OHhhhh, how cute! Let me pet 'im..."
Kivan: "How do you know it's not a female rabbit, Imoen?"
Andrizztyl: "It's a... not a dragon, no..."
Gavin: "I should say not... but a friendly little pet though."
Kivan: "Perhaps you should call it Fierceness... or Thunderpaws..."
Andrizztyl: "Not a... why didn't I get a...?"
Imoen: "Oh, come 'ere, you little bundle of muggywuggy."
Gavin: "Why, Imoen, I think it really takes to you."
Andrizztyl: "No no no no no no no..."
Kivan: "Or just Ears might be distinctive. Or Great Leap...?"
Imoen: *picking up and rubbing the rabbit in her face* "Cutey wutey wittle wabbit..."
Andrizztyl: "This is... not funny... not... not what I thought..."
Kivan: "I'm done with suggestions. What are you going to call your woodland familiar?"
Andrizztyl: *glowers* "Rabbit... That's what it is. That's what it's called."
Gavin: "Well, you may as well not call it Dragon."
Andrizztyl: "No... apparently not..."
Imoen: "Awwwwww... Can I put booties on its feet?"

[So I'm assuming the type of familiar depends on alignment... and of course I'd forgotten to change Andrizztyl's back to NG from N when I had to reinstall... but with this being a No-Reload, the chips have fallen where they may...] And, after discovering that Rabbit was now a better lockpick, pickpocket, and scout than he was, making him even less useful to the journey, Andrizztyl snatched the fuzzy bundle of joy away from Imoen and stuffed it into his backpack... At least there was still Imoen to find a familiar...

Modifié par Bhryaen, 02 mars 2011 - 10:37 .

[Wierdo]

Bhryaen wrote...

[So I'm assuming the type of familiar depends on alignment... and of course I'd forgotten to change Andrizztyl's back to NG from N when I had to reinstall... but with this being a No-Reload, the chips have fallen where they may...] And, after discovering that Rabbit was now a better lockpick, pickpocket, and scout than he was, making him even less useful to the journey, Andrizztyl snatched the fuzzy bundle of joy away from Imoen and stuffed it into his backpack... At least there was still Imoen to find a familiar...

Wow, nice attack rabbit you have there! Looks like Boo has serious competition now

I have a name to suggest: Lepus the Demonic Rabbit.

However, the name isn't my idea. Have you ever read the dungeon crawl webcomics?

Yes, familiars are dependent upon your PC's alignment (however, Wierdo chose to be CG before thinking about what familiar she would like).

Imoen cannot get a familiar. Only the main PC can. There is a way for a non-mage PC to get a familiar, so long as you have a Scroll of Find Familiar and a potion (*any* potion).

As a suggestion, you could cast invisibility on Lepus and just let him(?) out, continually searching for traps. It will probably save you a lot of trouble that way. Then Andrizztyl can focus on other stuff like hiding in shadows and disarming the traps Lepus finds.

Also, are rabbit familiars permanently hasted? This could make it very convenient for scouting maps when invisible or stealthed.

Modifié par Wierdo, 03 mars 2011 - 08:07 .

[Gorthaur X]

They are in ToB, at least. Not sure about TuTu, though, since some mods change how familiars work there (one - I'm not sure which - of my mods, for example, halves their hit points compared to SoA and changes some other abilities: good for balance, but it does mean their stats are hard to guess without knowing how Bhryaen's game is set up).

Meanwhile, I laughed at this:

And, after discovering that Rabbit was now a better lockpick, pickpocket, and scout than he was, making him even less useful to the journey, Andrizztyl snatched the fuzzy bundle of joy away from Imoen and stuffed it into his backpack

The rabbit totally should have been called Dragon, though...!

Incidentally, guys, you know what ? I totally forgot to get the Golden Pantaloons for Oberon. How could I be so dumb?

Modifié par Gorthaur X, 03 mars 2011 - 08:46 .

[Grond0]

Wierdo wrote...
As a suggestion, you could cast invisibility on Lepus and just let him(?) out, continually searching for traps. It will probably save you a lot of trouble that way. Then Andrizztyl can focus on other stuff like hiding in shadows and disarming the traps Lepus finds.

I did that once - I thought with a familiar resistant to cold, fire and electricity it was worth risking a trap.  Naturally the first trap he came across killed him! 

Also, are rabbit familiars permanently hasted? This could make it very convenient for scouting maps when invisible or stealthed.

Not in my game.

Gorthaur X wrote...
Incidentally, guys, you know what ? I totally forgot to get the Golden Pantaloons for Oberon. How could I be so dumb?

If you're anything like me it's easy.  Having said that I've never even completed SOA, so any time that I do remember to take the pantaloons it's almost guaranteed to be wasted effort.

[Grond0]

Felice's adventures were short and sour.  She stupidly risked trying to return the spider body to the Friendly Arm Inn before she had learned invisibility and learnt a sharp lesson from the arrows of ambushing bandits.  Of course my excuse is that I wanted to load up the latest versions of SCS and SCSII.

Here's a similar replacement.  If she snuffs it quickly I think I'll give up on sorcerors for a while (while naturally blaming the fact that I'm now waiting for an updated version of Level1NPCs in order to be able to get an NPC monk).

Modifié par Grond0, 03 mars 2011 - 03:41 .

[Wierdo]

Wierdo's Bhaalspawn Bretheren

Ice Isle

The party travelled to the FAI, having been away from the inn for some time now. There they  encountered Elminster who gave some advice that we should go to Cloakwood. Wow, really? Gee whiz, we never would have guessed. Get with the story old man. Been there and done that already, but we were polite to the codger. Maybe his memory is going? Maybe he is getting Alzheimers?

After ditching Dyna & Minsc, we picked up Yeslick whom we had met earlier in the Cloakwood mines (we asked him to meet us at the FAI). Then Yeslick then started getting all wierd on us as well, raving about his shrine in the mines having been converted to worshipping mad Cyric, (he's 'acting' in the position as a stand-in for Bhaal, God of Murder). Like who cares? It is under water now. Hasn't anyone heard the news? Then he started blabbering about wanting to kill Davaeorn, who as we already know has become fish-food already. Sigh, the whole world is going mad.

Never mind, Yeslick will be a fine cleric for us I hope. And he can use axes (mod), which is cool as I have a lovely pair here for him (Frostreaver +3, Throwing Axe +2). Yeslick is recruited as a fighter/cleric Level 6/7 and has specialised in AXE proficiency (****) and SWORD & SHIELD (**) style.

Almost forgot to mention that they also picked up Xan again. Seems that the FAI is not depressing enough for him.

Now Wierdo's band are off to Ulgoth's Beard to do Shandalar's cloak quest on the the Ice Isle.

The immolation strategy (two fireballs) on the first group of wizards nets two quick kills out of three, but Andris manages to get away. A battle and he dies.


"Did it suddenly get warm in here, or is it just me dreaming?"

When fighting Garan, he goes down easily enough but four Ankhegs make life difficult and Buddha takes some damage.

Cuchol gets Buddha with a magic missile trap, but Xan and Wierdo use a few missiles on him too. Wierdo's backstab is blunted by Chuchol's stoneskins, but the 1hp of extra cold damage (from "Varscona", formerly Greywolf's sword) ruins his spell.


"Huh!?"

Wierdo scores a tun (backstab for 100hp damage) on a winter wolf. Annakin was so impressed that he went up a level (Human Barbarian Lv8).


"Sorry, did that ... hurt?"

Wasn't sure whether to attack the gnome wizard Tellen, because Wierdo is a goody and there was a dialogue option where he wouldn't attack. So Yeslick cast Detect Evil and sure enough ... Tellen is chaotic evil. So, they dispatch his evil arse and get 3000xp.

When the party gets to the caverns area, Wierdo goes into dark mode. She then proceeds to surgically eliminate ALL of the winter wolves and bears from the area.


"Wierdo has become the bringer of death - why does this seem so natural to her?"

This all goes smoothly and soon the party comes acroos Dezkiel - who proved to be disappointing easy to dispatch of to Hell. Didn't even bother with a screenshot. Time to go back to Ulgoth.

Modifié par Wierdo, 10 avril 2011 - 07:03 .

[Bhryaen]

Gorthaur X wrote...
The rabbit totally should have been called Dragon, though...!

Funny you should say that because I was thinking that after re-reading my post for editing. Just to demonstrate how awful my memory is, I can't remember back a few days ago to when I cast the spell. Is the name "rabbit" a default or do you actually get to pick a name? I'm assuming I didn't since because I didn't know it was even going to be a rabbit, but that's a name I might've given it if I had been prompted. Definitely not Lepus though. Monty Python: the other outdated gem never to be reproduced.

Wierdo wrote...
Also, are rabbit familiars permanently hasted?

I've got BGT going but it's definitely not hasted, as like Grond0's. Hops though...

Gorthaur X wrote...
... their stats are hard to guess without knowing how Bhryaen's game is set up).

That's one of the first things I tried to do- check stats. But it's not an official party member, so it has no sheet. There's no dialogue option to show it either, and- well, I haven't tried it, but- SK probably doesn't have any way into it as well. Not sure how to do it.

Gorthaur X wrote...
I totally forgot to get the Golden Pantaloons for Oberon.

Don't feel too bad, Grond0. If you've never successfully brought them to wherever, at least you're several steps ahead of me: I only saw BG once, and I don't even know what the pantaloons are good for, so I was planning to sell them at Sorcerous Sundries or some such! hehe... Actually in this game I just got them, and they need to be identified. Before they were just a basic plot item, I believe. I wonder if that affects the ability to use them for whatever special function they have in BG2.

This isn't much of an update since I'm reinstalling again. I want to get in the latest SCS, change the IEP banters to be per hour rather than 45 min since my "real time" elapses sooner than game time often enough, and get rid of the BG2 Tweakpack's Max HP for level-ups (and opponents) because I just noticed that Andrizztyl had 30 HP for no apparent reason- didn't level up at all- and Imoen seemed to have a few extra too. Oh, but his familiar was supposed to give him extra HP, no? But why so much? He had 12 HP over what he was supposed to have. Is it 6HP per level? Anyway, I'll be having to toggle the difficulty settings repeatedly now... *sigh* or lump it... I wish I were changing whatever mod it is that put giant spiders, ogre beserkers, and ankhegs between places like Nashkell -> Nashkell Carnival and Beregost -> Beregost Temple, much less anywhere that my otherwise low level chars will be traveling through, but I don't know which mod did it. I suspect it's SCS combined with the new Worldmap setting. Tutu's travel spawns were nothing like this...

Andrizztyl, DAY14: Lively Inventory
Once the Quattro+ had added one rabbit to their number, they rested again to prepare for more chance encounters. Knowing that traveling with a rabbit rather than a dragon is more similar to a game of Russian Roulette than hide-and-seek, they set off somewhat trepidatiously southward to complete tasks they'd forgotten. They went to a Nashkell bounty collector, and, oops!, dropped one gem before returning it. After the bounty collector thanked the Quattro+ for their hard work apprehending a weakly artist, Imoen picked up the other one, thinking herself quite clever... but the bounty collector was content and left them no dialogue options for a second collection...

Imoen: "But this is his other gem. Dontcha want it too?"
Oublek: "No, no. I'm good."
Andrizztyl: "Perhaps you don't understand. This other gem was also with Prism when we, erm, apprehended him."
Oublek: "Oh, really? So you just want to hand over yet another emerald worth much more than the bounty... Yeah, right."
Andrizztyl: "Uh... yeah, that's it. Why wouldn't we?"
Oublek: "My arse."
Gavin: "I can assure you on Lathander's name that we did find it there. It is authentically a Prism emerald. We're making good on our promise."
Kivan: "And I will swear on the name of my beloved Deheriana-"
Andrizztyl: "At the drop of a hat..."
Oublek: "Oh, did Prism have one emerald or two? Anyway, I gave you your reward. Unless you want to give that one up for free, of course."
Andrizztyl: "No sense being hasty. And we could be mistaken after all. Plenty of emeralds around, might've gotten them mixed up, eh?"
Oublek: "Wait, are you saying you deliberately withheld one emerald so that I would give you more reward money?"
Party: *looks sheepish*
Rabbit: *muffled inside pack* "They did!"
Imoen: "Shh!"
Oublek: *looks around a moment* "If I didn't owe you one for keeping mum about my mistaking you for Greywolf the other day... Gosh, and trying to cheat me after I've been talking so nice about you to everyone. Maybe I should just tell the mayor anyway, let him figure it out. He's just standing right over there. Hey, Berrun!"
Andrizztyl: "Right... Taxi!"

And wherever Oublek had tucked the one gem he did take, it certainly wasn't pickpocketable back again... a matter to be continued later...

In Beregost they snatched up some old boots, wine, and a very long-dead spider [which Gavin reacted to, pleasant surprise to see that], and also grabbed every spell scroll they'd stashed there to add to the ones they'd taken from the Carnival Stash as well. Then they headed north to the Friendly Arm Inn to see about some antidote potions- maybe- on the off-chance. In fact, Andrizztyl headed straight to the top floor, and, lo and behold, there was just the sort of individual one might recognize at a mere glance as the antidote-giving type. He boldly strode over, dextrously twirling the wine bottle in the air, old boots slung over his shoulder by the laces, and maggot-ridden spider... erm, in the backpack with the rabbit... He was even swaggering a bit, it could be said.

He gave his best CHA 8 wink and said relatively suavely, "So... got any troubles?" The little person spoke of his Beregost house being invaded by spiders and slept in by vagrants, asked for help, and promised a reward... and... that was it. ["Oh, no, not again... What will Hard Times ruin next??"] Perhaps the drow was mistaken about the antidote-bearing countenance of the individual. [But Gavin goes up a level!] It seemed a trip to the local priest for supplies might be in order, but they had only a measely 1000gp (after looting the entire inn) and had other plans for it...

So the Quattro+ went off to see the wizard, the pissant town wizard of High Hedge [to be sung roughly  to "Wizard of Oz..."] to buy up all the 4 or so scrolls they could afford with their skimpy resources. Having failed to evade skeletal nuisances this time given a miscalculation of their numbers (raising from 2 per nuisance group to 6), they were able to make a whopping extra 3 gp per large shield, so that that extra amount... well, didn't help at all... but some gnoll treasure helped to squeeze in one more scroll of Resist Fear that could come in handy. The skeletons were somewhat easier this time for Level 4 Gavin's hammer and Level 3 Kivan's bastard sword, but Gavin was beaten to half his health- the worst injury of the game thus far. (except the one coming later)

And at last  Imoen was allowed to drink the potion they'd found- nearby, ironically- so she actually only failed to memorize two spells, both of which were common and had a second to try successfully. Now she might have more reason to stride around without her chainmail on, using Mage Armor instead. Of course with every travel entailing enough hours to exhaust the Mage Armor, chainmail might not be such a bad idea to carry anyway. [Oh, no... and now I must reinstall again... Why get the latest SCS without also adding in Item Rev's "Spellcasting in Armor" which I can now use without risking cleric casting issues?]

Having collected a nuisance skull to occupy yet another inventory slot, off they went to explore sou- erm, westerly of High Hedge... for a whim... arriving into the welcome jaws of a dread wolf... which couldn't decide whose ranged weapon annoyed it the most and expired in a quandry. Short work of another wolf and a talking chicken came along begging for *cluck* assistance with his own *cluck* quandry. The Quattro+ quickly agreed, and this time Imoen gets the honor of stuffing an animal in her backpack...

Rabbit: "Hey, could we trade packs? This one has maggots in it."
Melicamp: "Oh? *cluck* Strange but I find I have a *cluck* taste for some!"
Andrizztyl: "I'll let you out when there is more vehicular traffic."
Rabbit: "You know, you really should be nicer to me. Just wait. You'll need me, and I'm just gonna be like, 'Nope.'"
Andrizztyl: "Right."
Imoen: "I'll take Dragon if you don't want him."
Andrizztyl: "What... did you call him?"
Gavin: "She and I were discussing what happened, and... it just sort of stuck really."
Kivan: "Why is everyone so sure it's a male?"
Andrizztyl: "Stuck, eh?"
Melicamp: "I mean, I am *cluck* sort of hungry. Been days out here you know-"
Rabbit: "I could go for that."
Gavin: "It's just in the spirit of acceptance and all..."
Andrizztyl: *rolls eyes* "Maybe I should call it Guenhwyvar too, no?"
Kivan: "Oh! Yes, that would be a good one..."
Rabbit: "No, no. I like Dragon. I'm Dragon."
Andrizztyl: "You can't name yourself. You're *my* familiar."
Dragon: "Exactly!"

Modifié par Bhryaen, 03 mars 2011 - 11:55 .

[Grond0]

Bhryaen wrote...

Gorthaur X wrote...
... their stats are hard to guess without knowing how Bhryaen's
game is set up).

That's one of the first things I tried to do- check stats. But it's not an official party member, so it has no sheet. There's no dialogue option to show it either, and- well, I haven't tried it, but- SK probably doesn't have any way into it as well. Not sure how to do it.

If you want to check familiar abilities (and what you get for particular alignments) I think these are listed in Dan Simpson's walkthrough.

I just noticed that Andrizztyl had 30 HP for no apparent reason- didn't level up at all- and Imoen seemed to have a few extra too. Oh, but his familiar was supposed to give him extra HP, no? But why so much? He had 12 HP over what he was supposed to have. Is it 6HP per level?

That would be right.  I think familiars have 24 HP in SOA and you get 50% of that.  In TOB I think they are supposed to be upgraded to 48 HP, but of course I have no personal experience of that.

He gave his best CHA 8 wink and said relatively suavely, "So... got any troubles?" The little person spoke of his Beregost house being invaded by spiders and slept in by vagrants, asked for help, and promised a reward... and... that was it. ["Oh, no, not again... What will Hard Times ruin next??"] Perhaps the drow was mistaken about the antidote-bearing countenance of the individual. [But Gavin goes up a level!] It seemed a trip to the local priest for supplies might be in order, but they had only a measely 1000gp (after looting the entire inn) and had other plans for it...

In order to get the antidotes you need to pass a check based on charisma and reputation.  I don't think I've passed without 18 charisma (though I have failed at that).  Of course you could always persuade your friendly neighbourhood pickpocket that the poor gnome must be getting really worn out having to carry such a heavy load of potions around.

[Bhryaen]

Grond0 wrote...
In order to get the antidotes you need to pass a check based on charisma and reputation.  I don't think I've passed without 18 charisma (though I have failed at that).  Of course you could always persuade your friendly neighbourhood pickpocket that the poor gnome must be getting really worn out having to carry such a heavy load of potions around.

 He can probably hardly even walk back to his house with that burden... Do we get a Rep +1 boost for helping?

Yes, I considered the pickpocket option (as usual), but alas only after I'd stolen things in front of nobles and such, so I'll have to wait until the Inn gets clear of its thievery-crushing garrison to return. There were a number of chests I couldn't open yet anyway. My last character to go there and get the potions had an 18CHA, so that may confirm that. I was foolish not to bring Imoen up to do the talking anyway since she's the one with the 19 (17+2) CHA (somehow)... Not sure if modified attributes count the same as "natural-" i.e., would a 19CHA from stats + a tome count as 19 in all cases while a 17 CHA with the (Hard Times) Algy Cloak counts as only 17 in, say, dialogue CHA checks?

Very good to know about familiars! So now I can get away with restoring max HP per level (and max foe HP)... It's better than my usual tendency of plowing through 3 areas before recognizing I've left the difficulty level down... When I think I'm actually good enough to survive it, I'll consider leaving my HP at the mercy of randomness, but at present chaos isn't welcome in that department...

I'll check out that walkthrough too when I get home, thanks. There are so many different ones listed here, I can't see why anyone would want to add yet another completely new one.

[EDIT: Too curious so checked it out... nothing in the walkthrough on familiars, but at the same site was a list of info on familiars (albeit intended for BG2):

Lawful Good - Pseudo Dragon, -2 AC, 24 HP, 50% magic resistance, renders victims unconscious, casts Blur
Neutral Good - Pseudo Dragon, -2 AC, 24 HP (same as above)
Chaotic Good - Fairy Dragon, 4 AC, 24 HP, 32% magic resistance, casts Invisibility 10' Radius & Mirror Image 1/day
Lawful Neutral - Ferret, 0 AC, 24 HP, 50% magic resistance, 75% Pickpocket, 40% Stealth, 20% Detect Traps
True Neutral - Rabbit, -4 AC, 16 HP, 50% Detect Traps, 30% Stealth, 75% resistance to fire, cold, electricity
Chaotic Neutral - Cat, 0 AC, 24 HP, Pickpocket, 99% Stealth, 50% magic resistance
Lawful Evil - Imp, 2 AC, 18 HP, Polymorphs, 25% magic resistance
Neutral Evil - Dust Mephit, 6 AC, 24 HP, Casts Glitterdust 2/day, 10% magic resistance
Chaotic Evil - Quasit, 2 AC, 24 HP, Casts Horror, 25% magic resistance

Also apparently it describes all the familiars in the spell description in your in-game spellbook...

So it seems Dragon the Rabbit isn't as good a scout as thought, but it still trumps Andrizztyl in AC & Detect Traps- at least for now- and has almost the same HP- at least for now. Could probably take him in a fight... What I don't get is the whole 75% part... Any elemental damage 64HP means death. so why bother with the resistence at all? The cat has a near-perfect stealth, so that counts for something. Maybe 75% damage soak is marginally doable at low levels, but that will soon be out-stripped- and is never entirely safe. It's not as if it can drink a potion or wear a ring to take it to 100%. Most 4-5th level thieves (that I make anyway) are better than that skill % wise. Actually if a 1st level thief maxed out Find Traps, it would be the same. Odd too that it had a dialogue option for giving up pickpocketed items from its inventory if it doesn't have the ability. So really it's just going to be slightly harder to hit (but easier to kill) and have some insufficient elemental resistence, but over the long run will rapidly reach the point of useless. Maybe that's a better name for it. Useless the Rabbit! At the moment it's only real benefit to the party is that its AC is better than anyone, including the tank (unless you count the Girdle of Piercing). Clearly the designers were more interested in benefitting chaotic sorts...

Modifié par Bhryaen, 04 mars 2011 - 01:19 .

[Wierdo]

Bhryaen wrote...

Wierdo wrote...
Also, are rabbit familiars permanently hasted?

I've got BGT going but it's definitely not hasted, as like Grond0's. Hops though...

Rabbit familiars get upgraded in BG2-TOB and get the permanent haste ability then.

[Wierdo]

Bhryaen wrote...

Gorthaur X wrote...
I totally forgot to get the Golden Pantaloons for Oberon.

Don't feel too bad, Grond0. If you've never successfully brought them to wherever, at least you're several steps ahead of me: I only saw BG once, and I don't even know what the pantaloons are good for, so I was planning to sell them at Sorcerous Sundries or some such! hehe... Actually in this game I just got them, and they need to be identified. Before they were just a basic plot item, I believe. I wonder if that affects the ability to use them for whatever special function they have in BG2.

The pantaloons are party of a three-part and somewhat cheesy easter egg, which will only be revealed if you get about 2/3 through TOB with all the pantaloons/pantalets. If you want to know more, read the Dan Simpson BG2-TOB walkthrough.

Gorthaur X wrote...
This isn't much of an update since I'm reinstalling again. I want to get in the latest SCS, change the IEP banters to be per hour rather than 45 min since my "real time" elapses sooner than game time often enough, and get rid of the BG2 Tweakpack's Max HP for level-ups (and opponents) because I just noticed that Andrizztyl had 30 HP for no apparent reason- didn't level up at all- and Imoen seemed to have a few extra too. Oh, but his familiar was supposed to give him extra HP, no? But why so much? He had 12 HP over what he was supposed to have. Is it 6HP per level? Anyway, I'll be having to toggle the difficulty settings repeatedly now... *sigh* or lump it...

Yes, familiars do provide their owner with 50% of their hit points as an extra. So 12 sounds about right - except that I though rabbit familiars had 18hp? Hmmm.

There is a problem with Level1NPCs which gives extra hit-points on a TUTU install. That is what I have. Basically, each potential new NPC is found at level zero, but given 20hp so that they don't just drop dead or something. For some reason these hit points are not removed after one takes them into the party and levels them up. So all your NPCs might have 20hp too many.

What I did was to edit them back to their proper levels using SK. I've been doing it on this run (for Xan, Imoen, Finch, Minsc, Dynaheir, Yeslick) but didn't bother blogging about it. Level1NPCs also nerfs weapon proficiencies, in that it doesn't allocate starting proficiencies. So that gets fixed in SK as well.

Gorthaur X wrote...
I wish I were changing whatever mod it is that put giant spiders, ogre beserkers, and ankhegs between places like Nashkell -> Nashkell Carnival and Beregost -> Beregost Temple, much less anywhere that my otherwise low level chars will be traveling through, but I don't know which mod did it. I suspect it's SCS combined with the new Worldmap setting. Tutu's travel spawns were nothing like this...

There is a component in SCS called "Harder Spiders". I've played it before and it is mostly good and challenging, but I found that Giant spiders ambushing the party on such huuuuuuuuuge journeys as going between Beregost and the Temple of Lathander was too much. Basically, you can't get away from the giant spiders before they cast their webs at your party. Then you are toast. Or perhaps "husk" is a better analogy. Nothing you can do about it except travel everywhere invisibly, which is unrealistic to expect, and a big problem even for fairly high-level parties. Not fair and not fun.

You can opt to not install "Harder Spiders", which is what I have done.

Modifié par Wierdo, 04 mars 2011 - 03:32 .

[Wierdo]

Bhryaen wrote...
[EDIT: Too curious so checked it out... nothing in the walkthrough on familiars, but at the same site was a list of info on familiars (albeit intended for BG2):

Lawful Good - Pseudo Dragon, -2 AC, 24 HP, 50% magic resistance, renders victims unconscious, casts Blur
Neutral Good - Pseudo Dragon, -2 AC, 24 HP (same as above)
Chaotic Good - Fairy Dragon, 4 AC, 24 HP, 32% magic resistance, casts Invisibility 10' Radius & Mirror Image 1/day
Lawful Neutral - Ferret, 0 AC, 24 HP, 50% magic resistance, 75% Pickpocket, 40% Stealth, 20% Detect Traps
True Neutral - Rabbit, -4 AC, 16 HP, 50% Detect Traps, 30% Stealth, 75% resistance to fire, cold, electricity
Chaotic Neutral - Cat, 0 AC, 24 HP, Pickpocket, 99% Stealth, 50% magic resistance
Lawful Evil - Imp, 2 AC, 18 HP, Polymorphs, 25% magic resistance
Neutral Evil - Dust Mephit, 6 AC, 24 HP, Casts Glitterdust 2/day, 10% magic resistance
Chaotic Evil - Quasit, 2 AC, 24 HP, Casts Horror, 25% magic resistance

Also apparently it describes all the familiars in the spell description in your in-game spellbook...

That stuff on familiars was lifted directly from Dan Simpson's Walkthrough - like a lot of BG2 walkthrough stuff around on the web, especially on the commercially run sites.

[Grond0]

Bhryaen wrote...
Not sure if modified attributes count the same as "natural-" i.e., would a 19CHA from stats + a tome count as 19 in all cases while a 17 CHA with the (Hard Times) Algy Cloak counts as only 17 in, say, dialogue CHA checks?

I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter whether stat is affected by tome, magic item or magic spell - it counts anyway.

I'll check out that walkthrough too when I get home, thanks. There are so many different ones listed here, I can't see why anyone would want to add yet another completely new one.

[EDIT: Too curious so checked it out... nothing in the walkthrough on familiars, but at the same site was a list of info on familiars (albeit intended for BG2):

I couldn't believe you (I eat 50 mod readme's for breakfast) could have missed that reference.  The version posted on Sorceror's Place is old - at the top of the readme it says where up to date versions can be found - there is certainly a much more recent one at http://www.gamefaqs.com/

Maybe that's a better name for it. Useless the Rabbit! At the moment it's only real benefit to the party is that its AC is better than anyone, including the tank (unless you count the Girdle of Piercing). Clearly the designers were more interested in benefitting chaotic sorts...

All the familiars are terribly vulnerable in battle - area of effect magic will kill them in no time, although this is somewhat less common in BG1 than BG2.  However, an extra 12HP is hardly useless even for a high level mage, let alone a newbie version.  Admittedly invisibility 10' is a pretty healthy bonus if you've picked the right familiar!