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[corey_russell]

I just realized Grond0 you said you were fighting in the Maze - but aren't you solo? Surely you were at the level cap by then? Why not use an invisibility potion and skip everything maze and beyond and just deal with Sarevok?

[Grond0]

I could have done, but after taking damage earlier in the run I had been taking an aggressive approach and thought meleeing my way through the maze would be consistent with that,

[corey_russell]

Datron the Solo Gnomish level 7 fighter/level 7 illusionist - FINAL Update!

 

Ha! I just realized I can post from any computer, I had forgotten I had uploaded the screenshots to photobucket before going into Safe Mode to do the malware scans, so here we go!

 

Chapter 5

 

Being solo (e.g. experience cap) and lots of gold, and even less I needed, meant this went quick. Incidents of note:

 

* Sorcerous Sundries Upstairs - apparently the enemy mages weren't even scripted to attack in melee if target untargetable (improved invisibility), so they just stood there to be hacked to death by axes.

 

* Maximum buffs, free action ring (from Dushai earlier) and scorcher spelled doom for the Ogre Mage and his pets in the sewers

 

* Helped Nadine with her kid to raise our rep - we killed an innocent in Nashkel when the Nashkel Inn assassin hit Datron with rigid thinking, and still aren't even 20 rep yet.

 

* Battle with the Mountain Maulers - while I did lots of buffs, it was rather mute as my summons killed 5 of them and I killed the leader (out of sight of the others), which had the axe I wanted -finally Datron can dual wield magical axes.

 

* I retrieved the boy's body from the Umberlee Temple to get the shield - which I only used once (Razamith's Tower, dealing with the archers) the entire run.

 

* Razamith was axed to death - his minions fared no better. Knock used to bash the chest.

 

* Tomes - DEX Tome and INT tome used - WIS does me no good, so just gave that to Jalantha Mystmyr. Improved invisibility and flame arrows worked nicely on Marek, which I only did for the short bow, which I only intended to use vs. Sarevok.

 

* Iron Throne - Since I am at the cap and gold is fine (as is spells), there was nothing I needed from Sarevok's acolytes. Therefore, just used invisibility x2 to retrieve the letters and report to Duke Eltan

 

Chapter 6

 

Because I wanted to use the invisibility spell, I didn't use a pro magic scroll for the traps, instead relying on fire/lightning resistance and blue potions for physical traps. However, I got a little low on blue potions, so decided to play it safe vs. the phase spiders and let them play with my summons from my monster summoning wand. Invisibility spell to the exit, except I did stop to battle the basilisks to fill up inventory (why not).

 

Chapter 7

 

Summons again paved the way, plus acid arrows on Slythe and dispelling arrow at Krystin, Datron never even got hit.

 

Duchal Palace Battle - In my mind this was the only question mark of the entire run, so I had massive summons and used acid arrows - this worked, whew!

 

Invisibility to get past everything in Thieve's Maze/Undercity and rested for Sarevok. I rested and thought I had a screenshot of my stats but didn't. Basically same as start, except all tomes but not two wisdom tomes and 75 final HP.

 

Sarevok Battle

 

Theoretically I could tank Sareovk if properly buffed, but was worried about a dispel. So instead tried a mass of summons. I moved up to see Sarevok, he talked to me and I retreated. Though I'm not sure how I was invisible. However, he stayed at the dais, while me and my summons were dealing with Semaj, Tazok and Angelo.

 

Semaj was the first target, a dispelling arrow allowing gnolls to make short work of him.

 

Angelo next, biting arrows for him. Once he died, the summons were dead, so refreshed summons, which Tazok graciously attacked. +2 arrows were enough to finish Tazok.

 

Only the big baddie left! Why break a working routine? Summons and arrows were the order of the day. I had used potion of mind focusing to increase my range thaco. This was working well.

 

Took a little while, but Datron was never in danger - success!

 

Datron moving on to BG 2 (solo there too) - I actually had fun with him, which is a surprise as I usually don't like arcane characters - perhaps the part fighter makes him palatable to me.

[Grond0]

Well done Corey.  Good luck in BG2.

[Blackraven]

Very nice, Corey, what a huge number of corpses you left there! Good luck in SoA!

[corey_russell]

Very nice, Corey, what a huge number of corpses you left there! Good luck in SoA!

Yeah - Angelo's exploding arrows killed most of them - rather they take it then me! Those gnolls did their job well, not sure why they were willing to sign up for such a job, but no complaints here.

[Blackraven]

The Adventures of Galadhiel the Swashbuckler

The idea with this one is to do a non-metagamed playthrough. I normally take a quasi-non-metagame approach with my runs, using the Item Randomizer mod and prohibiting prebuffing except with long duration spells. However, as opposed to my usual runs, this time I’ll also try to avoid metagaming when it comes to quest order. This means, as you will read below, that Tarnesh, Silke and the likes cannot be avoided for long.

Here’s Galadhiel:

Spoiler

For her survivability I waited until I rolled very good stats for Galadhiel and I almost completely min-maxed them. The only compromise I made was to lower CHA at the cost of higher shop prices, so that she could have slightly above average WIS, to be increased with at least two tomes, which makes it more credible to role-play her as not overly careless or naïve. Her CHA is still well above average as is her INT, making her a perceptive observer and a quick learner.Galadhiel is a typical CG character in that she’s no law-abider (either in terms of adhering to a personal code of conduct or the laws of society), addressing problems rather on a case-by-case basis. But ultimately she’s out there to do good, helpful to others, and respectful of nature. She possesses the grace, flair, and assertiveness that people may associate with Swashbucklers, but at the same time she’s gentle and pensive. She has the love for nature, beauty, arts, and song that’s so emblematic of Elves, and is also strongly attracted to Elven culture due to being an Elf that was raised among mainly Humans. Galadhiel has a tattoo on her face drawn by her mother, a Sylvan Elf from the High Forest in northern Faerun. Sylvan tattoos may offer magical protections. Galadhiel’s tattoo allows her to cast Know Alignment three times a day, which may help her decide who to trust. The tattoo is Galadhiel’s only reminder of her mother, who died shortly after Galadhiel was born. Gorion never told Galadhiel much about her mother.

***
Galadhiel’s adventuring life started with a very exciting day that ended in the roughest night of her life. One moment she was helping out some of the residents of Candlekeep, her home for almost all her life, with simple chores and the other moment she was on the road to an unknown destination with her foster father Gorion.
Galadhiel had been thrilled, but the delight wouldn’t last long as Gorion and she were waylaid by what seemed to be bandits or bounty hunters, that were after her! ‘Hand over your ward’, their leader had said. Gorion had urged her to run, and she had complied. From a distance she had seen her foster father use his magic to put a priestess to sleep, kill two Ogres and hurt the brigand leader, a warrior of giant-like proportions. The warrior resisted Gorion’s magical onslaught however and Galadhiel witnessed him kill her foster father with his two-handed great sword.
The next morning, she was greeted by Imoen (Human Blade, with proficiency in long swords and short bows and three pips in dual wield thanks to the Rogue Rebalancing mod), her childhood friend from Candlekeep. Curious as ever, Imoen had snuck out of Candlekeep the night before and had followed Gorion and her. They hugged for what Imoen perceived as a surprisingly long time, and when Galadhiel mentioned Gorion they both cried. Imoen told Galadhiel that she was going to stick by her side through thick and thin. That thought soothed her and at the same time it worried her. She knew she would have to tell Imoen that the bandit leader who had killed Gorion had in fact been after her, not Gorion. She couldn't bring herself yet to telling Imoen this though. As there was no trace of the warior, the two girls decided to take a look at the place where Gorion had fallen. They found some gold, a necklace, Gorion’s dagger and two morning stars that the Ogres had wielded. Galadhiel put the necklace and the weapons in her wolfskin bag. She might have use for the dagger herself [Galadhiel is proficient in scimitars and daggers] and she could sell the other stuff. They also found a letter to Gorion, signed ‘E’ by an anonymous friend of Gorion’s. Most of the letter was too cryptic for Galadhiel to understand but the mention of two friends who were waiting for Gorion and her at the Friendly Arm Inn triggered her memory of Gorion’s words at the Candlekeep’s gate: ‘If we’re ever to become separated, it is imperative that you make your way to the Friendly Arm Inn. There Khalid and Jaheira will be waiting for you. They have long been my friends, and you can trust them.’
Imoen and Galadhiel returned to Candlekeep to inform the Keeper of the Portal of last night’s events and to request Gorion’s burial in Candlekeep, a request that Candlekeep's elders would honor. Back on the Candlekeep Coastway the girls ran into a Human Mage and a Halfling Rogue who offered them a healing potion Galadhiel gladly accepted. They also asked the girls to accompany them to Nashkel. Imoen was intuitively reluctant and Galadhiel’s power to Know Alignment taught her that both characters were Evil. Galadhiel, wary of the warrior and other possible dangers on the road, accepted the strangers’ proposal nonetheless, but on the condition that they first travel to the Friendly Arm Inn to meet with Gorion’s friends. The Wizard and the Rogue, called Xzar and Montaron respectively, assented. Galadhiel warned Imoen that they had to make sure that at all times either one of them was awake and close to the other if they were ever to set up camp in the wild with their new companions.
The four continued on the Candlekeep Coastway until they met a red robed wizard that greeted them with benevolence. Galadhiel responded in kind, and asked the man for directions toward the Friendly Arm Inn. Interestingly Imoen told the man that he looked like Elminster the sage, which had the old man smile and call Imoen by her name. Who was this man to know Imoen? None of them knew.

A few hours south of the Friendly Arm Inn the party set up camp. Montaron actually prepared them a pretty good meal, and thankfully no betrayals occurred, so that the next day they reached the immense, walled inn well-rested. At the entrance they were accosted by a wizard in black robes who, as Galadhiel’s Know Alignment demonstrated, was of evil intent. He said to recognize Galadhiel and told her to hold still. He instantly buffed himself with magical protections and started casting a spell. Xzar managed to interrupt the Mage with a Larloch’s Minor drain while Montaron rushed toward the Wizard to attack him in close combat. Imoen and Galadhiel tried to hurt and disrupt the mage with their respective arrows and throwing daggers. Rather than focusing on Montaron, the direct threat to his life, the wizard managed to Sleep both Xzar and Imoen. After that, he futilely tried to Horror Galadhiel [she failed to get out the spell’s AoE in time, but saved against spell anyway]. Galadhiel hit the Mage once or twice with her throwing daggers for minor damage, but the credit must go to fearless Montaron. It was he who slew the wizard with one stab too many with his short sword.

Montaron checked the Mage’s corpse but found nothing but mage scrolls he had no interest in. Galadhiel picked up the scrolls anyway, thinking they might be of use to someone, possibly Imoen. Between the scrolls she found a bounty notice mentioning a 200 GP bounty on her head. She kept the bounty notice to herself. Both Montaron and Galadhiel were worried over their companions, who remained asleep until long after the battle had ended despite Galadhiel's and Montaron's attempts at waking them. Neither Montaron nor Galadriel was knowledgeable of Sleep magic, and they feared that the effect was permanent, so they were relieved to see Imoen and Xzar get back up on their feet.
Inside the Friendly Arm Inn, the party was approached by a beautiful, blonde Druidess with Elven features and a fighter with a long sword, also of Elven heritage: Jaheira (Fighter/Totemic Druid specialized in staves and slings) and Khalid (Fighter/Wild Mage with **** in long swords). Galadhiel introduced herself and the others to them and showed them Gorion’s letter. The pain and the sadness showed in Khalid’s and Jaheira’s faces when Galadhiel told them what had happened. Jaheira informed them that Khalid and she had business in Nashkel, where they were supposed to look into the Iron Crisis. Galadhiel knew little of that crisis although she did recall the Candlekeep guards mentioning it. Since Galadhiel and Imoen had agreed to accompany Xzar and Montaron to Nashkel anyway, the party’s course was set. First however they rested, and they spoke with a few more of the guests at the Friendly Arm Inn. Unshey, a Dwarven writer, asked them to keep an eye out for a rogue Ogre with a bel fetish, and a Gnomish woman named Landrin promised them an ample reward if they would clear her Beregost home of four Huge Spiders and bring her a pair of boots and some wine from her home.

A couple of hours south of the Friendly Arm Inn, not far from where Galadhiel and Imoen had set up camp with Montaron and Xzar, the party encountered the rogue Ogre. The monster was slow and had no answer to Jaheira’s, Imoen’s and Galadhiel’s ranged attacks. Galdahiel looted its corpse and returned to the Friendly Arm Inn to give Unshey her belt back.

Just outside the Inn’s walls the party slew five Hobgoblins so that they wouldn’t pose any threat to traveler to and from the Inn. On one of the Hobgoblins they found a flamedance ring that they returned to a woman named Joia after Jaheira mentioned she had been told by Joia that Hobgoblins had stolen her ring.
Their trip south to Beregost was relatively uneventful although they did have to deal with a few Gibberlings. In Feldepost’s Inn in Beregost they almost got into a fight with Marl, a father who had taken to drinking after his adventuring son had died. He vented his frustration on Galadhiel and even tried to pick a fight with her, but she didn’t accept his challenge nor did she back down, and in the end she even managed to talk some sense into him. Although Imoen seemed to be more than a little interested in a young man loitering in front of the Burning Wizard Inn, and although there was still the matter of the spider-infested home, on Jaheira’s behest the party didn’t linger in Beregost. They didn’t get very far south either though. Minutes after having left the town in a southern direction they were confronted by two Ogrillons that had just slain a Halfling. They would have done the same to Khalid and Jaheira, but the party wisely chose to retreat to the relative safety of Beregost.

In the first Inn they encountered, the Jovial Juggler, they reserved rooms to heal and rest, much to Montaron’s and Xzar’s chagrin, impatient as the two were to get to Nsahkel. Meanwhile Galadhiel and Imoen socialized with a funny Dwarf that kept telling the patrons how he was robbed of his cloak in the Cloakwood of all places. Further inquiry taught Galadhiel that this wasn’t just any cloak, but an actual Cloak of Non-Detection, an item that piqued her interest. She was aware though that there was no way she would be able to convince her companions to travel all the way north to the Cloakwood with her. The Dwarf, Gurke, promised her a monetary reward should she return the cloak to him. By the way Khalid and Jaheira weren’t the only patrons recovering from their injuries; there was also Bjornin, a Paladin recuperating from grievous wounds inflicted by four Half-Ogres, south-west of Beregost. Galadhiel and Imoen promised the man that they would avenge him if they were to run into the monsters.

Well-rested the party set out again. Their second encounter with the Ogrillons went a lot better. Montaron took down one with a fatal backstab, and Jaheira, Imoen and Galadhiel finished the second one off with their ranged weapons. The second Ogrillon did injure Imoen when she was attcking him with her bow from close range, but it was nothing that Jaheira's healing skills couldn't repair.

On one of the monsters’ bodies they found a letter from one Roe to his wife Mirianne. The Halfling the Ogrillons had murdered must have been a messenger for this Roe. The party asked around in Beregost till one of the townspeople directed them to Roe’s and Mirianne’s home. Galadhiel entered and found Mirianne inside. The woman was most grateful and rewarded Galadhiel with a Ring of Protection +1. Outside, the party discussed who should wear the ring. Montaron wanted it for he had slain one of the Ogrillons singlehandedly, but Galadhiel alleged that she had a claim as well because she was the most vulnerable in battle. (Xzar was arguably more vulnerable still, but the Mage simply didn’t do battle. He would at best carelessly cast a Larloch’s Minor Drain on a foe, but most of the time he would simply walk off. He seemed more interested in the corpses on the ground after battle). Montaron, Khalid, Jaheira and Imoen all had splint or chain mail armor, while Galadhiel was clad in nothing more than Studded Leather. With Khalid and Jaheira backing her, Galadhiel was allowed to keep the ring. Xzar and Montaron on the one hand and Khalid and Jaheira on the other had pretty much ignored one another up until then, but the way discussion about the ring was solved spurred open animosity between both ‘camps’. Insults and threats were uttered in both directions. Imoen and Galadhiel looked at each other and the former cheerfully reminded them that they all had something in common: their travel destination, Nashkel.


All seemed well indeed until they were getting close to Nashkel. The party had made steady progress. They had convinced three Flaming Fist officers who had accused them of banditry that they were innocent adventurers, and they had managed to slay a band of Hobgoblins, including Archers, with little difficulty. One of the monsters had worn a pair of enchanted boots that they would have to get identified later on at a store. North of Nashkel the party got into serious trouble though. They were attacked by a gang of Kobolds, at least two of them Archer Commandos plus two Guards. Before they knew it both Khalid and Xzar were down, while none of the Kobolds had suffered any serious injuries. [I was a bit distracted here by an RL intervention.]

Jaheira was very upset, Montaron less so, but Galadhiel commanded her three remaining companions to retreat in a northeasterly direction, into the bushes. Thus, they managed to escape from the Kobolds. Galadhiel told Imoen and Jaheira to wait, and left with Montaron to scout the area, hidden in shadows. This wasn’t too difficult because it was night time. The two found the location where Khalid and Xzar had fallen, still guarded by two Kobolds. Aided by the advantage of surprise, the adventurers had no difficulty dispatching the Kobolds, Montaron by using a backstab, and Galadhiel in close combat. Galadhiel took their fallen comrades’ bodies and saw how they disappeared in the vastness of her magical bag of holding.
The two then scouted further south, but saw no further threats. So after a short trek through the grass and the bushes, the party returned to the road again. On it they met Lord Foreshadow who gave Galadhiel a ring she was told she ought to wear because it would help her gain the love of a comrade. This surprised her. She had taken a liking to Khalid, soft-spoken and enchantingly nervous due probably to the unpredictable nature of his (wild) magic, and surely hoped that a priest would resurrect him, but she hadn’t forgotten that Khalid was Jaheira’s husband. For that reason she had never looked at Khalid as anything more than a friend. Xzar and Montaron did not appeal to Galadhiel in any way, so she could only hope that Lord Foreshadow’s ring would help her gain someone else’s love.

In Nashkel, the party was greeted by an Amnish soldier who told them of troubles in the Nashkel Mines and of a Guard Captain who had gone on a murdering frenzy. His whereabouts were unknown though. They also spoke with the town’s mayor, Berrun Ghastkill, who had indeed expected Jaheira’s arrival. He further detailed the problems in the Mines. Not only had the iron ore been of suspect quality as of late, various miners had gone missing as well. Jaheira was eager to get into the Mines but Imoen and Galadhiel didn’t hesitate to point out that their party had not even been able to hold their ground against a couple of puny Kobolds, losing Khalid and Xzar in the process. The girls didn’t feel ready to investigate any Mine where people go missing. Instead they decided to get Khalid and Xzar raised at the local temple of Helm, rest at the Inn, and visit the nearby Carnival to see if they could do some minor quests for people, and earn themselves some gold. That way they could prepare themselves better for an expedition into the Nashkel Mines.

At the Nashkel Inn they were detained by yet another bounty hunter, a priestess this time. She wouldn’t be swayed with gold and she gave the adventurers little to no time to prepare for battle as she buffed herself and started casting a Hold Person, which prompted the party to leave the inn to avoid the energy of the spell. When they re-entered, Montaron and Khalid engaged the priestess in melee, Galadhiel attacked from mid-range with her throwing daggers and Jaheira, Imoen and Xzar remained by the door from where they attacked with their ranged weapons and Larlochs respectively. The priestess pulled off another Hold Person, this time holding Khalid, but a damaging blow by Montaron finished her off.

After the fight, the party finally had the time to rest. When Montaron and Xzar retreated to their rooms, Galadhiel confessed to Imoen, and later Khalid and Jaheira that the priestess hadn’t been the first to be after her head. She explained to them that the warrior that had slaughtered Gorion had wanted the sage to hand her over to him, and that the Mage at the stairs to the entrance of the Friendly Arm Inn had carried a bounty notice mentioning a price on her head. Imoen, Khalid and Jaheira were shocked by the news but expressed tgeir gratitude for Galadhiel's honesty. They'd be better prepared for any future attacks, Khalid told her. Galadhiel was fearful of mentioning the same information to Montaron and Xzar. She had come to appreciate Montaron as a respectable warrior, but the duo’s evil alignment, their unclear intentions and their threats directed at Khalid and Jaheira, who she trusted more, made it difficult for her to trust them.

In the morning Imoen, the merriest of the six, woke the others and urged them to get up and visit the Nashkel Carnival with her as they had planned the day before. Galadhiel hadn't slept very well at all, having dreamt a disturbing dream of Gorion, and woke the next morning with what appeared to be a new healing power. She told this to Imoen but kept it from the others.
The Carnival was a relatively quiet affair, though there was some entertainment in the form of a Mage who summoned a friendly Ogre, a Bard who recited poetry, and gambling tents. There were also a great many merchants with interesting wares for sale, such as enchanted weaponry, magical potions, and spell scrolls. Galadhiel bought a Dagger +1 from one of them. A pompous Jester mocked Montaron’s clothes, infuriating the latter, before he disappeared inside one of the tents. The rogue didn’t hesitate to go after the buffon, and had his companions follow suit. Inside, there was no trace of the Jester, but they did encounter two Human Mages, a male and a female. The man warned them to back off because he was about to kill the witch, obviously speaking of the female Mage. Montaron, still irate, hurled an insult at the Mage, which prompted the latter to kill the female Mage within the blink of an eye and to buff himself with magical protections. The party attacked the Mage, who cast Sleep on Xzar and Khalid before they could flee the tent. He also summoned a number of monsters to his aid: two Hobgoblins and a Worg. This kind of opposition was too much for Imoen and Montaron who fell defending their companions from the summoned monsters while at the same time being under attack from the Mage before Galadhiel’s thrown daggers and a critical hit by Jaheira struck the Mage down.

This wasn’t what they had expected from their visit to the Carnival: no quests and a deadly encounter with a Mage that had left two casualties. The good thing was that they had found some interesting loot in the form of two enchanted mage robes and a few spell scrolls. After Xzar and Khalid awoke, the party returned to Nahskel where they got Montaron and Imoen raised at the Helm temple. Galadhiel then used Montaron’s and Imoen’s deaths at the hands of a single foe to prove her point to the others that they still weren’t ready yet to enter the Nashkel Mines whose corridors were likely to leave little room for escape, compared to the open lands they had explored so far. Besides, the fact that a bounty hunter had recently found her in Nashkel, made Galadhiel reluctant to stay in the region for long. Instead she convinced the others to return to Beregost where they still had a number of jobs to do (getting rid of the spiders for Landrin) and people to do jobs for (returning a cloak to Gurke, killing Half-Ogres for Bjornin the injured Paladin).

On their way to Beregost, Khalid and Jaheira and Xzar and Montaron kept bickering. Galadhiel and Imoen tried to calm the two camps, but they could both see a fight break out at one point. Montaron especially seemed a walking time bomb. Thankfully they still reached Beregost as a party of six. They decided to first travel west, south-west in search of Bjornin’s Half-Ogres. Their route led them to an area replete with Gnolls and Skeletons, of which they slew a bunch and looted their corpses for their weapons (throwing daggers, halberds, and a short sword) before they met a Ranger, Chaotic Good as Galadhiel’s Know Alignment taught her, who had been observing the party. He introduced himself as Kivan [Stalker, specialized in Spears and Long bows] and said that he was out hunting bandits that had killed someone dear to him. Khalid, Jaheira, Imoen and Galadhiel were sympathetic to the Ranger’s cause; Xzar and Montaron less so. Kivan’s joining the party made Xzar and Montaron decide to go their own, separate path. The party of (now) five reached a perfectly round building; the High Hedge - Imoen and Galadhiel knew this from stories they had been told in Candlekeep of a peculiar, reclusive wizard inhabiting it, Thalantyr. The party paid this Thalantyr a visit and discovered first of all that the Mage was very grumpy and secondly, that he had a great assortment of spells, potions, and enchanted items for sale. Thalantyr gifted Kivan a well-crafted Elven Spear of Entanglement +2 [10% chance with every hit that opponent is entangled for 24 seconds, no save] for services rendered. He enchanted Galadhiel’s Dagger +1, transforming it into a Returning Throwing Dagger +1, and he identified the robes the party had taken from the dead wizards at the Carnival. One was a Knave’s Robe, and the other a Robe of Electric Resistance. Khalid was quite eager to put on the Knave’s Robe, but Jaheira warned him that such a Robe would leave him too exposed in battle as long as he didn’t have any magical protections to shield himself with. Timidly, Khalid agreed to wait with donning the robe. Galadhiel still had an Armor scroll and other scrolls from Tarnesh, and she knew that Gellana Mirrorshade, a priestess presiding over a small temple within the walls of the Friendly Arm Inn, sold potions of genius. She suggested that rather than pursuing the Half-Ogres they could clear the spiders in Landrin’s home first, return to Landrin at the Friendly Arm Inn, and get Khalid a potion of healing. Thus was their course. In Beregost, they had no difficulty dispatching the Spiders with ranged attacks after Kivan had drawn them out in the streets.

Galadhiel picked up Landrin’s boots and wine, as well the corpse of the largest of the Huge Spiders, after which the adventurers allowed themselves some rest. It was Imoen who suggested that they looked for lodgings at the Red Sheaf Inn, an inn they hadn’t visited yet. She came to regret that decision moments later when another bounty hunter, a Dwarf named Karlat, first injured and then slew her at the door. It all went very fast: there was no bargaining with the Dwarf, he simply attacked the first person in sight, which happened to be Imoen. Jaheira and Khalid in melee, and Kivan and Galadhiel retaliated and managed to kill the Dwarf before he’d do any more harm, although he nearly slew Khalid before he fell. The killing blow was for Galadhiel this time.

Embarrassingly, Galadhiel had to tell Kivan about the bounty hunters sooner than she had wanted to, but the Ranger seemed to trust her and her entourage or at least gave them the benefit of the doubt.

Spoiler

I think I’m screwed with Kivan btw, as I recruited after haven spoken to Berrun Ghastkill in Nashkel, Chapter 3 according to my journal, which as I understand it leaves a very limited time frame within which I’d have to dismantle the Bandit Camp.

In the inn the companions spoke with a Halfling named Perdue, whose stolen short sword they still had and returned to the man for a modest reward. Before resting, the party made a short visit to the Temple of Lathander where the high priest Keldath Ormlyr raised Imoen and told the companions of a 5,000 GP bounty on the head of Bassilus, an evil Cleric of Cyric. A hunt for Bassilus was something for later though. First the companions traveled back to the Friendly Arm Inn, luckily without having to face any nasty ambushes on the way. Landrin was thankful and rewarded them handsomely, and Gellana the priestess sold them a potion of genius. Khalid, after having quaffed the potion, failed to scribe Color Spray, Larloch’s Minor Drain, and Magic Missile, but fortunately he did manage to copy Armor and Grease to his spellbook. The party rested a night at the Inn and Khalid presented himself the next day in his Knave’s Robe, looking more sagely than ever. Galadhiel mentioned Gurke’s quest, the Tasloi in the Cloakwood, and Kivan eagerly showed the party the way. After having dealt with powerful wizards, bounty hunters that kill for a living and well-organized groups of Kobolds, the Tasloi were easy prey. Thus the party traveled to Beregost with Gurke’s cloak, only to find that Gurke didn’t even want to have the cloak anymore. Not that Galadhiel or Kivan complained about this; they had great use for what indeed proved to be a Cloak of Non-Detection. The sight of Bjornin, still limping, reminded the party of the Half-Ogres south-west of Beregost. The companions traveled to the High Edge and then south, until they saved a talking chicken from an attacking wolf. The chicken claimed to be a polymorphed man, Thalantyr’s apprentice Melicamp, and implored the party to escort the creature. Suppressing snickers, the companions honored Melicamp’s request and returned to Thalantyr with te he chicken only to see the Mage fail to restore Melicamp to his human form, killing the apprentice in the process. A bit of waste of time this venture and a waste of Melicamp's life, Galadhiel thought to herself, but that’s something she couldn’t have known before.
The party’s next foray into the lands south of the High Hedge led them to Bassilus, not far from where they had encountered Melicamp. The priest was surrounded by undead, animated corpses and skeletons of his victims, and spoke to them as if they were his family. The man was clearly delusional. Jaheira wanted to confront the priest, but Imoen and Galadhiel checked her and came up with a plan play along with the priest’s delusions and to lure him back to Beregost. The plan worked in that the priest lost his concentration and his control over the undead, but he wouldn’t accompany the party to Beregost, and turned hostile instead. A very bloody fight ensued, in which two Unholy Blights decimated the entire party but Galadhiel who had been ceaselessly throwing her dagger from a relatively safe distance, and Jaheira, aided by her summoned Spirit Bear. Jaheira fell anyway to a hit of Bassilus’ enchanted war hammer just when she was trying to heal herself, but the Spirit Bear finished the priest off before he could fell Galadhiel, the last one standing of the companions.

Galadhiel sadly picked up her companions’s bodies and equipment and stored them inside her bag of holding, together with Bassilus’ possessions and his undead army’s weaponry. She then scouted the area, had Jaheira’s Spirit Bear kill off three Hobgoblins that threatened her and returned to the Temple of Lathander to claim the bounty and spend a substantial part of it on resurrections of her party members.

Spoiler

At this point I felt bad about not having included a rule on the consequences of party members’ deaths. As of now, I’m tossing a coin each time a party member dies in order to decide whether they’ll permanently lose 1 CON upon resurrection. I think this is a sufficient incentive to be more careful with my NPCs.

With her companions back by her side, Galadhiel guided the party via the High Hedge, where the sale of Imoen’s Wand of Magic Missiles allowed them to buy two Ioun Stones (one for Imoen that grants Infravision and one for Galadhiel that grants +1 DEX), allthe way to the area where Bjornin’s Half-Ogres roamed, south of where they had faced Bassilus before. As such the slow and poorly disciplined Half-Ogres weren't much of a threat, but Khalid, in an attempt to be helpful caused the party some serious problems when he tried to cast Grease on the monsters but somehow targeted himself instead. [This must have his wild magic at work here, because I cannot have aimed that poorly when I had him cast the spell.] Jaheira barely escaped with her life as she suffered a hit by one of the Half-Ogres, before she could get herself into safety and before she saw Galadhiel, Imoen and Kivan kill the slowed Half-Ogres with ranged attacks.
Before they returned to Beregost to bring Bjornin the good tidings, the companions traveled further to the west where they protected an excavation site for an archaelogist named Charleston Nib against any bandits and where they ran into Commander Brage, the frenzied guard captain from Nashkel. They escorted the latter back to Nashkel where they left him in the hand of the priest of Helm, Nalin, and then returned to Beregost to tell Bjornin of the vanquished Half-Ogres. The Paladin was most grateful and rewarded the party with an enchanted medium shield that Khalid would equip.
Also in Beregost, Imoen decided to greet the young man who was still standing in front of the Burning Wizard. It turned out that he had been working for his misstress Silke, a somewhat well-known Bard. Garrick, as the young man was called, a Bard himself, asked the party to help him protect his mistress against a number of thugs. The companions immediately agreed to the task, but when the supposed thugs turned out to be nothing but innocent commoners they refused to kill, it was Silke they had to protect themselves against. Aided by Jaheira's Spirit Lion this wasn't that hard a task as it might have been. Silke cast a few vicious Magic Missiles Galadhiel's way, but they weren't enough to beat her.

***
The party is now without any quests and has little reason to shun the Nashkel Mines, except my metagame knowledge that they're very inexperienced for SCS Nashkel Mines. Galadhiel is level 4, Imoen level 3, Jaheira level 1/1, Khalid, level 2/1 and Kivan level 3...

I find myself a bit woolly again, upcoming installments (supposing Galadhiel won't fall) are likely (hopefully) to be shorter with only minor character observations for flavor.

[corey_russell]

Ah, a true "RP" run - best of luck, Blackraven. As you know, I did one recently - I missed out on lots of loot and quests, and had minimal equipment and experience (no one had any waist items for example, even by time of battle with Sarevok), but still managed to get the job done - hopefully yours will fare as well.

[Grond0]

Kernel - human monk (update 1)

 

I decided that Degas had had enough chances to make an impression.  I'll probably roll up a new wild mage soon, but decided for now to have a go at an old favourite with a monk.  As you can see from his picture he may be small, but you don't want to be in the way once he winds up for a stunning kick!

 

A problem with monks is that they are both vulnerable and poor fighters at low levels.  To avoid that being too much of an issue Kernel began by seeking out quick progress.  He darted Shoal then picked up the Ring of Wizardry to sell; buying the Necklace of Fireballs and a protection from petrification scroll with the proceeds.  The latter was used on Meilum; also in that area he attacked Bentan - successfully hiding after the first attack and landing a stunning blow with the second (I will be managing reputation in order to get a mixture of the Bhaal abilities).  Kernel then moved on to the basilisk area and quickly gave the beasts a good kicking before recruiting Korax to help with Mutamin.  He tried a couple of stunning blows out on Kirian's party, without success.  Fortunately Korax's paralysis was more effective and kept Kirian, Peter and Lindin in control while Kernel wore down Baerin.

 

Kernel's early level ups were very promising, but the two in the basilisk area were poor bringing him back to only marginally above average.

 

[Alesia_BH]

Hey there, hi there everyone! I'm just dropping by to let y'all know that I'm still alive and well and interested in the game. I'll likely stop by on a semi-regular basis over the next couple weeks, and may try a run if I find the motivation. In the meantime, know that I'm glad to be back, and doubly glad to see most of the gang still in action. It looks like there's been some epic play in my absence! Continued good hunting everyone!

 

Best,

 

A.

 

(FYI- For those of you wondering where I've been, I had actually been hiking the Appalachian Trail. I had made it from Georgia to New York before family issues forced me to leave the trail and return home. I'm hopeful that things here will get squared and that I'll be able to resume my journey, but, if not, I suppose the upside is that I'll be able to get more BG play in before I leave for my next trip in November. )    

[Grond0]

Nice to hear that you've survived another trip Alesia - more than most of my characters .

 

Kernel - human monk (update 2)

 

Kernel moved straight on to the Nashkel mine, where he sneaked down to Mulahey.  The cleric saved against a stunning blow, but a couple of fireballs from the shadows killed his supporters and saw him running - in vain.

 

A couple more fireballs helped sort out the amazons before a single kick from the shadows sent Nimbul running to his doom.  Neira saved against stun, so got beaten up from the shadows - Kernel dodging spells by moving in and out of premises.  Tranzig also saved so there was a bit more dodging there, using the stairs.

 

Kernel belatedly picked up the boots of stealth before moving on to the bandit camp.  There, he pulled Taugosz away and used his speed to regularly hide and stealth attack.  Deciding discretion was the better part of valour he just sneaked into the main tent to read the evidence.

 

In the Cloakwood there was the normal problem that an ettercap didn't spawn until after the web trap near them had gone off, but fortunately Kernel saved against the web at the second attempt and was able to move out of the web before the ettercap arrived.  Unusually for my characters, Kernel picked up the potion of invulnerability from Laskal before moving on to the mine.  Three fireballs from the shadows killed the mages, but Kernel then failed to restealth and Drasus came after him: a couple of stunning blows were too much for him without the need to use a potion of firebreath, while Genthore lost most of his HPs during a first use of Bhaal horror.

 

In the mine Kernel sneaked down to Daveorn and used stealth attacks on the guard.  The battle horrors were then pulled away and left in the side room when Kernel hid again.  A potion of magic blocking then allowed him to ignore Daveorn's spells as he closed for the kill.  I'd forgotten to bring a magic weapon, so the mustard jelly was left alone and Kernel just rested to get a second Bhaal horror before flooding the mines.

 

Kernel has just made his way to Baldur's Gate - punishing some atheistic fishermen en route. 

[Grond0]

Kernel - human monk (3rd and final update)

 

In the City Kernel went after the tomes.  Jalantha tried 2 spells before dying, but was interrupted both times.  Marek was stunned initially (Kernel had waited briefly after applying the stunning blow to have a clear aura in case that was needed, but it wasn't) and failed with an attempted cast after he recovered.  Ramazith did well to survive a single blow, given that Kernel had used a potion of frost giant strength to get into his tower.  However, he was stunned and died moments later.  Kernel still had no weapon for the mustard jellies in the tower, but did use a potion of invulnerability to allow him to kill the ghasts.  A pair of horrors then made the hobgoblins and kobolds easy pickings.

 

After sneaking into the Iron Throne, Kernel was sent back to Candlekeep.  A magic protection scroll and potion of storm giant strength allowed him to rob the tombs.  I don't normally bother with a protection from poison scroll, but did add that in for the phase spiders this time.  Kernel got up to level 8 there, but another poor roll means he's now below average after his good start.  I decided to have a go at Prat's gang, even though there was nothing really to gain.  Bor was the danger so was targeted with magic missiles from the shadows before being finished with firebreath.  One of Bor's darts then stunned Prat, although he couldn't do much through the magic protection anyway.

 

A comedy of errors followed as Kernel travelled to the Cloakwood mine to get a reputation boost before resting again - in order to get DUHM instead of another vampiric touch.  His icon didn't respond to a click when ambushed on the way and he was poisoned by a spider.  That meant he was injured on arrival at the mine - and guess how I cured that before talking to the slave!

 

Kernel then rapidly ran through various reputation quests, in addition to a few other things like Bassilus - another to fail to complete a spell (thus avoiding the need for Kernel to try and hide behind a pillar or race for the edge of the map).  There were no problems with any of the quests - Greywolf did well to save against 2 horrors and 3 stunning blows, but it didn't do him much good.  I'd also forgotten that Tarnesh was still there when going into the FAI to get the pantaloons, but a single blow was enough for him.

 

With reputation at 20 Kernel bought the Claw and Horn of Kazgoroth, along with the Greenstone Amulet.  The latter was used to get the tome from Durlag's Tower and on the sirines at the lighthouse area.  Kernel had held on to Greywolf's sword in order to do stealth attacks on the golems there.

 

Finally returning to the city Kernel went to pay a call on Slythe.  He was pulled away from Krystin before Kernel hid, used a magic missile to turn him hostile and then tried Bhaal horror.  Slythe saved both times though so he switched to darts of stunning and was successful with the second of those (having used a potion of invisibility to hide after the first one when stealth failed).

 

At the palace Kernel potioned up and then showed himself.  His first horror scared two of the dopplegangers and he killed one before his second horror scared two more - pretty much ending the contest.  Three of the four scared ones were stunned by darts before they recovered their courage and the final one was beaten up to save both the dukes.

 

Kernel used stealth attacks to clear the maze using his existing buffs before reading a green scroll of magic protection to run over the traps (ensuring he won't forget about them on the way back).  That provided protection while a mixture of stealth attacks and stunning darts took down Rahvin's ruffians.

 

In the temple Kernel used another lot of potions, including several potions of perception.  Then he pulled Sarevok out with a magic missile and had a merry game of ring a ring a roses round the pillars until Sarevok fell down.  That gave him the XP for level 9, which he has just taken after safely arriving in Jon's dungeon.

 

Epilogue:

Kernel became another victim of the dungeon.  Attacking a lesser clay golem he had been hit once taking him down to 38 HPs, but the golem was near death.  I did briefly consider whether to withdraw and heal, but decided he would be safe enough to finish the golem off - unfortunately his lack of protection from criticals obviously proved costly as a single further blow finished him off.

[Grond0]

Crux - human monk (update 1)

 

Rather than restart Kernel I rerolled another monk.  I was taking a pretty aggressive line with Crux - sometimes relying on killing the opposition before being killed, which is always slightly risky without critical protection.  With Crux I've been my more typical cowardly self, nearly always either using sling shots or stealth attacks.  As a result he's only just been hit for the first time - by a basilisk switching to melee.

 

Progress has been good so far, with him nearing level 7.  His 47 HPs are above average, so he will hopefully not ultimately prove as frail as Crux.

[Blackraven]

@Corey, your RP'd run was very good. I can only hope my run works out like that, at least for BG1.
@Grond0, best of luck with your latest Monk. Never played that class.
@Alesia, very nice to see you here! I hope to read a new playthrough of yours.

***
After they got an enchanted belt they had found on Silke identified by Taerom Fuiruim at the Thunderhammer Smithy as the Golden Girdle, the party decided to finally travel south, to the Nashkel Mines. There was little else for them to do in terms of questing after all. There was Kivan’s revenge, but none of the companions had any idea where to look for the bandits he had spoken of. Galadhiel and Kivan scouted the area outside the Mines but found no suspect activity. They did run into a sculptor who was outlawed for the theft of two emeralds. When the party approached him a bounty hunter named Greywolf arrived and attacked the party after Galadhiel suggested he let the sculptor finish his work before taking him in. Jaheira nearly fell to Greywolf’s swings with his mighty halberd, but her Spirit Wolf saved her.

At the Mine entrance the party decided to split up. Imoen, Khalid, and Jaheira would travel back North, to Baldur’s Gate to see if there was any work there. Kivan and Galadhiel, stealthy the both of them, would investigate the Nashkel Mines together. The five would reunite at the Friendly Arm Inn. What Galadhiel and Kivan encountered at the Mines wasn’t pretty: the first level was quiet, but at the second (lower) level, they encountered human corpses and large groups of Kobolds that would be too much for them to handle even if the others had been there.

Kivan and Galadhiel decided to return to Nashkel, to report their findings to Berrun Ghastkill. They took one of many pieces of what looked to be contaminated iron ore with them. The two Elves tried to convince the Mayor to order the Nashkel Guard to clear the Mines of the Kobold infestation but he would have nothing of it. With increasing tension between Baldur’s Gate and Amn Ghastkill was unwilling to leave his town virtually unguarded. Kivan and Galadhiel had noticed little of such tension but were understanding of Ghastkill’s decision. They could do nothing more than promise him to return later, and better prepared. Meanwhile they suggested that Ghastkill had the Mines closed. There wasn’t any good iron coming from them anyway.
Kivan, a Ranger through and through, proposed that rather than following the beaten track northward, they could trek through the Cloudpeaks and slowly make their way to the Friendly Arm Inn. Galadhiel, a fond explorer herself, approved.

Spoiler

The following quests, until Kivan and Galadhiel reunite with the others, are basically necessary XP farming in order for the party to be able to tackle the Nashkel Mines.

The Cloudpeaks were not friendly to Kivan and Galadhiel. First they ran into a small party of three hunters that provoked them into a fight. One, their spokeswoman, was a melee fighter dual-wielding scimitars. Galadhiel kited the melee fighter while Kivan pelted her until she fell and dropped two Scimitars +1 that Galadhiel kept for herself. The other two were archers who would have perforated the Elven companions if it weren’t for their potions of defense they had ‘acquired’ from the men they had saved from Silke the thespian in Beregost (they were rewarded one, but Imoen had pickpocketed two more). Kivan and Galadhiel closed in on the two and each of them successfully took on one of the archers in melee combat.

After that bloody encounter, still protected by their potions of defense, the duo took on two bandits who had wanted to take their gold. It would have been a one-sided affair if it weren’t for a band of Kobolds that came to the bandits’ aid. This was exactly the type of encounter the Elves had decided to shun in the Nashkel Mines. They first took on the Kobolds, the weaker (but no less damaging) of their foes, and saved the bandits for last. Either way, Galadhiel and Kivan had to consume what healing potions they had, and Galadhiel even had to quaff a potion of invisibility to enable herself to heal.

The adventurers further did a few minor quests, such as helping little two children who had lost their pets and protecting a Dryad, before they traveled to the northwest until they reached the coast. There they met a gypsy-like woman who presented herself as Safana. She told Kivan about a treasure cave, guarded by Golems. Galadhiel snuck past Sirines in front of the cave and past the Flesh Golems inside it. She had to disarm a number of traps (and triggered one, a lightning trap that seriously injured her). She looted the place and left with Kivan, leaving Safana wondering what had happened.
The duo then traveled east to Nashkel where they bought all the healing potions they could get from Nalin, and where they met a Rashemaar Ranger, Minsc, who begged them to help him release his witch from Gnoll captors at a Stronghold on the southern coast. This they did. Getting there was a bit tedious to Kivan and Galadhiel, as they had to pass through the Cloudpeaks again, but the campaign was a successful one, with Minsc showing himself a formidable frontliner and Kivan and Galadhiel being very effective ranged attackers.

Minsc and his protégé, Dynaheir, were very grateful and wanted to remain by Galadhiel’s and Kivan’s side. The four of them traveled north together. Minsc and Dynaheir went all the way to the Friendly Arm Inn, but Galadhiel and Kivan stopped for healing potions at the Temple of Latahander where Keldath Ormlyr begged them to rid the lands east of the Temple of a Basilisk plague, and most importantly, the Gnomish wizard Mutamin who was in control of the Basilisks and used the lizards to petrify hapless travelers. Armed with a green scroll of protection from petrification, Galadhiel had no difficulty dispatching the beasts, while unprotected Kivan made sure to steer clear of them. A very rare, friendly Ghoul named Korax managed to hold Mutamin in spite of his many magical protections, after which the Gnome was easily felled. Galadhiel found an enchanted mage robe and enchanted Bracers on the Gnome as well as a number of spells. In the same area, Korax, Kivan and Galadhiel took on a group of hunters, of which at least one (Peter) was evil according to Galadhiel’s Know Alignment powers. Korax held their Mage, Kivan fought one of their warriors, and Galadhiel resisted their Cleric’s attempts to hold her. A fourth hunter, an archer, was slain by Kivan and Galadhiel together. The duo found a Quarterstaff +1, a number of spells, and some potions and gold on their foes’ corpses. The staff would be a nice present for Jaheira.
[I overwrote two screenshots here, so no pics.]
The time Galadhiel and Kivan spent between just the two of them brought them closer together as friends. Galadhiel has come to appreciate her Elven companion, for his no-nonsense attitude, his trust in her despite the bounty hunters, and his fighting style built on speed, dexterity and wit rather than brute force. She could have seen more in him than a mere trustworthy companion if it weren’t for his backstory. Kivan was still heart-stricken due to the painful loss of his beloved Deheriana after she was tortured and abused by one Tazok. Galadhiel felt they shouldn’t tarry in finding Tazok and his cohorts. If only they had some clues on where to look.
The duo traveled to the Friendly Arm Inn where they reunited with Khalid, Jaheira and Imoen. Kivan and Galadhiel told them of the situation in the Nashkel Mines, and were informed by the three of their trip to Baldur’s Gate. They had been denied entrance into the city because of supposed bandit activity in the region. They hadn’t seen much of such activity, but the party decided to explore the areas surrounding Baldur’s Gate once more, if only for Kivan’s sake. They found a few small groups of bandits, but nothing to lock up an entire city for. Jaheira warned them of Ankhegs south of Baldur’s Gate. They slew a good many of the giant insects, returned the body of a young man that had fallen victim to the beasts to his father, and killed a young priestess of Umberlee (barely an adolescent, but already corrupted by the ****** Queen) for three fishermen.
[Thanks to the splitting up and the quests done in the meantime by Kivan and Galadhiel (and Minsc) the party was now around level 4-5, Galadhiel even level 6.]
The companions decided to travel south once more, to the Nashkel Mines. They made a stop in Beregost where they accepted Taerom Fuiruim’s offer to make them a suit of Ankheg armor from a shell of one of the Ankhegs they had slain south of Baldur’s Gate, excellent armor for Jaheira. They had to wait a tenday for it though. The companions then continued their way south straight to the Nashkel Mines. They encountered them the way they were when Kivan and Galadhiel had entered them: full of Kobolds. They had to dispatch one group on the second level, which they did mostly by dividing them. On the third level there was a very large group of about 25-30 Kobolds on a bridge. Khalid cast Grease toward them, so that they could only attack the party with a few at a time. This piecemeal approach paid off well even though Jaheira suffered some serious injuries before the battle was over, which required her to retreat.

A third encounter was with a Kobold Chieftain and a Shaman leading a group that contained Commandos and Guards as well. Jaheira summoned insects that effectively neutralized the Shaman. The Chieftain on the other hand was an excellent archer who nearly killed both Khalid and Jaheira with his poisoned arrows before he fell.

One level lower the adventurers encountered the leader of the Kobold invasion, a Half-Orc Cyricist priest. He summoned skeletons and more Kobolds to his aid, but Jaheira’s Spirit Wolf took care of the Skeletons while the others attacked the priest. He managed to hold Kivan, but was otherwise harmless and eventually slain by Khalid. The remaining Kobolds were now no real threat anymore to the experienced Kobold killers.

There was some good loot on Mulahey and in a chest, including two pairs of Bracers AC6, a Short Sword +1 (offhand weapon for Imoen), spell scrolls, an empty bag of holding, some gold, and a beautifully crafted Elven long sword, a Moonblade. Khalid was eager to wield the blade but noticed he couldn’t. Apparently it was made for one wielder only. Inspection of the premises taught them who the sword belonged to, the handsomest Elf that Galdhiel had evr laid eyes on: Xan, a Sorcerer from Everaska who had been taken captive by Mulahey. Xan thanked the party for his freedom and offered to join the party. An offer they all readily accepted. This charismatic Elf, well-versed in sorcery, would be a welcome reinforcement to the party they all reckoned.
And he was, it soon turned out. On the surface he helped save Galadhiel from Ghasts that had held her in a burial chamber they had entered. Outside, he commented on Galdhiel’s healing powers she was now using openly. He doubted their source, which worried Galadhiel who had stopped giving the issue much thought.

Not much later it was Galadhiel and Kivan who saved Xan and others during a terrifying encounter with an evil wizard and Mustard Jellies. The wizard had managed to Hold both Jaheira and Khalid, Charm Imoen and (PW) Sleep Xan. Luckily this all happened out of the Jellies’ sight, so that Kivan and Galadhiel had only the Mage to focus on. Once the wizard’s protections had been stripped by the duo, he offered little in terms of resistance, and fell to one of Kivan’s arrows. Jaheira, Xan, and Galadhiel made short work of the Mustard Jellies with their enchanted weapons in melee.

The party explored more burial chambers, one of which inhabited by a Revenant. Galadhiel plundered it using stealth and a potion of freedom that prevented the undead abomination from holding her. The companions then trekked back to Nashkel but were waylaid by a group of hired killers at the Nashkel Carnival, four women: two priestesses and two rogues. Xan webbed one of the priestesses, and blinded one of the rogues. The other rogue had disappeared into one of tents. This left only one priestess as a possible source of peril. Everyone except Xan attacked her in melee; they killed her before she could become dangerous. After that the webbed priestess, the blinded rogue, and inside the tent, the last rogue were easy pickings. A third Scimitar +1, a suit of Studded Leather Armor +1 and some spells and potions were the party’s treasure.

After that dust-up Jaheira insisted that they traveled straight to Beregost to pick up her Ankheg armor. The others complied, Galadhiel mainly because she was hopeful that they could also acquire a suit of Shadow Armor for her. Upon arrival they discovered that the Shadow Armor had to wait, but they did find Jaheira’s Ankheg armor ready for her.
The party rested and traveled back to Nashkel. Upon crossing the bridge from the north they found another hired assassin waiting for them in front of the Northern Light Inn. He said he was going to kill all six of them. Galadhiel screamed at her companions to retreat over the bridge, which turned out to be a good plan. The assassin was a spellcaster and could have hurt them badly. She hadn’t forgotten about the wizard at the Nashkel Mine exit. Jaheira summoned her Spirit Animal, and Galadhiel, hidden in shadows, returned to check on the assassin. She had the Spirit Lion attack him, and saw how the assassin stupidly saved his best spells for her and her party. But the assassin without his magic was no match for the Spirit Lion.

The party, relieved and full of praise for Jaheira’s Spirit Animals, found a pair of Boots of Avoidance on the assassin as well as some minor loot and a letter pointing toward a contact in Beregost, and brought Berrun Ghastkill the good news of having cleared the Nashkel Mines. They didn’t loiter and headed straight to Beregost to seek out this contact and to purchase the Shadow Armor for Galadhiel (which first required a lucky pickpocketing effort by Imoen with Algernon as its victim) at Feldepost’s Inn with the gold from the sale of miscellaneous loot. Upstairs they dispatched a Mage called Tranzig, the Nashkel assassin’s contact. Apparently there was some bandit activity going on in the Cloakwood, connected to the Nashkel Mine sabotage operation. And interestingly, the letter mentioned Tazok, Kivan’s Nemesis. The party now had the clue they needed to accomplish Kivan’s vengeance.

[corey_russell]

Welcome back, Alesia! Melissan has had a few victories lately, hopefully you can find the motivation you nee and teach her a lesson.

[Grond0]

Crux - human monk (2nd and final update)

 

Crux proved less lucky than Kernel and didn't survive my attempt to find a movement-based solution to the web traps in the Cloakwood area.  He initially decoyed the spiders away (so that no new ones would generate) and then showed himself to 4 ettercaps in turn - running them round and slinging them.  I approached the web trap from a different angle to see if I would have enough time to move after it triggered.  I didn't and, as usual, the final ettercap only appeared after the trap triggered (obviously alerted by the frantic sounds of prey struggling)!  Crux failed to escape immediately from the web and was soon poisoned and slaughtered.

 

[corey_russell]

Sorry to hear the demise of your monk there Grond0 - my monk also died to poison, the spiders in the crypts in BG 2. Another monk got held and killed in the guarded compound. What's next? What about a halfling fighter?

[Grond0]

I'll probably have one more go with a monk fairly soon to see if I can make some more respectable progress.

[Grond0]

Nub - human monk (update 1)

 

I thought I would have one more attempt at a monk ...

 

He's still going and has just got up to level 7 by sneaking past the sirines in order to use stealth attacks on the golems. 

 

There was one slightly comic episode early on when he was trying to get the ogre's belt.  After sneaking through one encounter point to get into range of the ogre he came back that way a few seconds later to find it occupied.  As the ogre is slower than other enemies he needed to do some circling round to keep it in range and picked up several more sets of followers!  However, none had ranged weapons and his monk speed meant he had no problem in keeping out of trouble while wearing the ogre down with bullets.

 

Nub has mainly concentrated on reputation quests, though with some high value XP or gold encounters as well.  In the basilisk area he recruited Korax with a view to helping out with Kirian's party, but the ghoul got killed by a cave bear on the way and Nub ended up using 3 fireballs from the shadows to deal with the danger.

 

Operating at night Nub's stealth ability is now half-decent, but he was still very lucky with it when taking on Bassilus recently.  He had one attempt at stunning immediately after their conversation before ducking behind a pillar to hide and returning for another (while the stun effect was still operating).  That failed so he hid again and came back for a 3rd attempt (using his second ability for the day).  He missed that time, but hid again and was successful with the 4th attempt - Bassilus did not recover consciousness.

 

There was more successful stealth after that against Laryssa when Nub used his first genuine stealth shots on her (firing from extreme range while stealthed and retreating out of sight before the bullet gets to the target and alerts them).

 

His reputation is now up to 20 and he's just gathering some funds before heading to Ulgoth's Beard.

 

I set up a new Photobucket account to post the above photos - apparently there's a limit of 200 sub-folders on accounts .

[Grond0]

Nub - human monk (2nd and final update)

 

After robbing the ankhegs Nub went to Ulgoth's Beard where he had just enough funds to buy the invisibility ring and wand of the heavens in addition to Greenstone Amulet and Cloak of Displacement.

 

On to Durlag's Tower, where fireballs from the shadows and stealth attacks accounted for the battle horrors on the way to get the tome.

 

Starting in on the main quest Nub found Mulahey totally stunned by his appearance.  The amazons were warmed up by a fireball before being finished with stealth attacks, while Nimbul was another stunned victim.  Tranzig saved against stuns, so got treated to stealth shots instead.

 

Nub now had enough funds for the Claw of Kazgaroth, so got that before reducing his reputation by killing Algernon and Bentan.

 

At the bandit camp Nub's -13 to missiles proved difficult for the bandits to get past.  His stunning blows failed to affect Taugosz and he took the easy way out by using his wand to finish him.  In the main tent I was surprised how poorly a potion of firebreath worked for Crux, but Nub found it was back to its best.

 

After trading in equipment for the Horn of Kazgaroth he sneaked through the Cloakwood (using invisibility for the web traps - and of course saving against them).  At the mine there were fireballs for the mages and a successful stun to finish off Genthore.  A first use of Bhaal horror allowed him to get a few shots at Drasus before he was also stunned.

 

After sneaking down to Daveorn a mixture of wand and stealth attacks accounted for the battle horrors.  The usual potion of magic blocking allowed him to survive Daveorn's spell attacks before he traded blows at the end.  He got to level 8 there, but again had rather low HPs.  Partly due to disappointment with that I was a bit incautious attacking the mustard jelly.  Nub killed it OK, but was poisoned by a critical hit and unable to save himself (must get into the habit of taking a green scroll along on journeys).

 

[corey_russell]

Sorry to hear that Grond0. Despite monks eventual poison immunity, they sure are vulnerable to it lower levels. Elixar of health looks like a good try there, if your aura is clear. But you usually don't use potions solo, so guessing you didn't have any...

[Grond0]

I don't allow healing potions or antidotes, but I could have used a green scroll if I'd had one instead of just waiting to die.

[Grond0]

Pith - human monk (update 1)

 

I like my monk picture and don't think I've done justice to it so far, so have started one more version.

 

So far, so good.  The only real mistake made thus far was mis-clicking when trying to attack Vitiare and moving towards him instead (resulting in being pick-pocketed).  Pith has very rarely taken damage and the only potentially dangerous encounters so far have been:

- against Zal when dawn broke while he was killing Vax and he then failed repeatedly to restealth and tried to melee him.  That wasn't looking too good so he ran away to come back later.

- against Kirian's party when Peter cast entangle on him.  He got stuck, but fortunately was already stealthed and was able to get away in due course.

- against Bassilus his stealth failed after a missed attempt at stunning and he ran for the edge of the map.  Although he had plenty of time to leave I was fairly sure that Bassilus wasn't chasing, so let him try to save against the hold person.  Fortunately I was correct that Bassilus had stayed still; a decision that shortly proved costly for him.

 

He's done most encounters that don't involve raising reputation and will be heading for the Nashkel mine next.

 

[corey_russell]

Best of luck with your favorite class Grond0! No messing with jelilies unless properly prepared, right?

[Grond0]

Right - or possibly wrong.  Pith died of a lack of patience.

 

Pith - human monk (2nd and final update)

 

I got a bit tired of being careful and Pith had already had to save against a rigid thinking from Mulahey on the way to the Bandit Camp.  There, he took out the external bandits with a few rests to heal damage.  Inside the main tent a potion of firebreath killed two of the main enemies, but I let Pith take his chances when Venkt cast horror at him - you can see the result here ...

 

 

I probably will have another go with a monk, but will leave it for a few days first.