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[Grond0]

Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 68 - (update 1)

Passe, human paladin (Grond0) & Tosty, human sun soul monk (Gate70)

 

The 3rd instalment of our dodgy day saw Gate70 taking control of his final available character class - he has now attempted all possible starting classes from BGEE and will either have to start repeating, look for some mods or explore dualling possibilities (I've got just one class left after this).

 

The early stages of the game went according to plan.  At the basilisk area Korax was recruited and quickly dealt with Mutamin.  He also paralysed Kirian and allowed her to be killed.  He died shortly after that, but Tosty was able to scout around and arrange to pick off the remaining 3 enemy characters.

 

After clearing a few more areas, like the Cloudpeaks, the duo saw their reputation had gone up to 20 and headed north towards Ulgoth's Beard.  On the way they stopped to loot the ankheg nest, which initially seemed easy enough.  However, after taking little damage against the first 5 or so ankhegs Passe was badly damaged by the sixth.  As normal with my characters he's reluctant to the point of suicide to use healing potions and suggested that Tosty should be able to take the lead to finish off the last 2 ankhegs.  That might have been a bit optimistic and Tosty was soon badly damaged by a nasty gob of spit - and finished off by a critical on the next attack.

 

After getting Tosty raised at the FAI temple the duo returned to finish off the ankheg nest, although Passe was again badly wounded and had to rely on an ankheg missing with a couple of attacks where hits could potentially have killed him.  The gods decided to spare him though on the grounds that we had clearly taken enough punishment for one day . 

 

 

Stats:

Passe, paladin 5, 46 HPs, 78 kills

Tosty, sun soul monk 6, 39 HPs, 41 kills, 1 death

[Blackraven]

Blackraven, perhaps retry with the same character. The coronation is my least favourite part of the game, sorry to hear your run ended there.

Tried that, but found myself playing so rashly (sending Xzar and Monty away instead of recruiting them for their potions, telling Melicamp the High Hedge is too far afield rather than escorting him there etc), that I decided to leave him rest for a while. Instead I made brief new start 

 

but came a cropper due to unfamiliarity with the sun soul monk.  Radix successfully targeted Bassilus and a couple of zombies with her sun soul ray and then turned to run.  That special ability had been used a few times before and appeared to cast and disappear immediately, i.e. although its range is a bit like a scorcher it doesn't hang around and do a second lot of damage.  However, it clearly does persist for a short period (though that could possibly just be due to a MP lag) as both Herron's skeletons closing in on Bassilus walked into the path of the ray and took damage.

 

No MP lag there I think, I had Rasaad kill Safana that way once. (She was confused and walked into the already cast blast.)
Sorry about Radix and Herron...

[corey_russell]

@Grond0/Gate70: Sorry about your MP demise - you were supposed to make it like Zaxxon/Tcos! Hope your next attempt goes well, especially since you have a paladin in your group! Take care of him!

[Serg BlackStrider]

Grim, Kensai/Druid multi (Update #1).

 

Out of Candlekeep joined Imoen and cleared the first map. Lacking ranged weapons aside from daggers and crit-oneshot protection Grim worked as a bait there at first (mainly vs Dread Wolfs) but then tried to melee and was pretty satisfied with the result. Up to the FAI helped Joia to fetch her precious ring and while Grim talked with her ever-curious Imoen explored the area further only to be  spotted by Tarnesh. She saved vs his Sleep spell and hid in nearby temple. While she has a little chat there Tarnesh found Grim inside Joia's house, incredible! Autopause - See Enemy saved Grim's hide there and he immediately left the place while Tarnesh doesn't follow so he will stay there til we got some more levels/experience. In the Inn we joined Jaheira/Khalid and headed south.

In Beregost Imoen checked all the houses for shiny-ones (found Leather Armor +1 in local Manor), we calmed Marl, got some bedtime reading for both Firebead and ourselves, fetched Mirianne's Letter and killed some Spiders.

Further south we obtained some fine footwear for Imoen and discovered that aTweak-ed Ghasts are not slow-mo exp sources as they are in vanilla (they move at Greater Ghasts' speed now and I'm afraid to even imagine what speed have those ones...) but soon enough found out that they (just like SCS Faster Bears) mindlessly engage the first spotted victim and don't switch on others even if those shoot them point blank. So they still are (relatively) easy exp sources. With this area cleared we headed further south but there just ran through (cleared only eastern half of the map) as we are still pretty vulnerable vs enemies' archers.

Looks like Lord Foreshadow considered that Grim's charisma is high enough already so no ring of human influence this time.

In Nashkel we found Chainmail +1 in the fields, endured Noober (Imoen just barely though) and talked with Berrun Ghastkill so Jaheira will not complain anymore of us went on side quests.

Then we joined Minsc and went on Dynaheir' rescue. In Xvart's village Minsc charmed Ursa the Bear but looks like someone hit him with arrow so he immediately became aggressive again. Nonetheless we murdered them all and yet another Cave Bear (found Bastard Sword +1 there).

As I'm not going to have Minsc in the Crew all the time we took the shortest route to the Gnoll's Stronghold with as little fighting as possible so on the next map (Bear River) just helped Jared vs Mountain Bear (being waylaid by two Ogre Mages en-route there but felicitously hightail from that ambush).

Gnarl was smashed into pieces while Hairtooth crit Grim badly but he immediately returned the favour. 

We checked the Xvart's Caves for randomized loot (Heavy Crossbow of Accuracy) while Stronghold's poor construction allowed us to fight it' defenders relatively safe and we finally saved/joined Dynaheir (Grim feels pretty uncomfortable without arcane support).

 

Our next goals are to park Minsc somewhere and pick Viconia to build my core Crew.

 

Current state:

 

Grim, Kensai (2) / Druid (2), 62 kills (Dread Wolf);

Jaheira, Fighter (2) / Druid (2), 31 kills (Ghast);

Khalid, Fighter (3), 87 kills (Mountain Bear);

Imoen, Thief (4), 44 kills (Ursa the Cave Bear);

Minsc, Ranger (3), 41 kills (Gnarl);

Dynaheir, Invoker (2), 0 kills.

 

to be continued...

[Blackraven]

Hey Serg! Entertaining read Nice to See Grim in action and to see him survive some nasty situations (that Tarnesh!).
Good luck! 

[Serg BlackStrider]

Thanks, Blackraven!   Yeah, I was absolutely sure Grim was safe inside Joia's house and to say I was surprised when Tarnesh suddenly popped up there (half-map from his initial location and considering that he never even saw Grim before) is to say nothing. So that was a great relief when I realized that Tarnesh stuck in there. And once again Power Word: Autopause - See Enemy proved to be invaluable feature. 

[Grond0]

Sounds like a good start with Grim - keep it going.

 

Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 68 - (update 2)

Passe, human paladin (Grond0) & Tosty, human sun soul monk (Gate70)

 

A mini-session this evening was still long enough to make some decent progress, with Mulahey, the amazons, Nimbul and Tranzig all falling without any real problems.

 

The death of Tranzig was interesting as a demonstration of how even death won't stop some people from trying to get the last word!

 

 

Stats:

Passe, paladin 6, 54 HPs, 112 kills

Tosty, sun soul monk 6, 39 HPs, 67 kills, 1 death

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

We backtracked to get the Red Canyons, & met only a small boy who claimed to have seen Bassilus, nearby, had been spying on him. I urged him to return to Beregost as soon as possible. Sure enough after we defeated two Dread Wolves we walked right into a grove where we found…

 

Key Event(s)…& defeated the mad cleric Bassilus that Nalin had mentioned in our last visit. Bassilus had with him 11 skeletons armed w/Heavy Crossbows & Two-Handed Swords as well as two Zombies.  These were summarily destroyed when Dynahier cast a Fireball right @ Bassilus which killed all but maybe one or two instantly. I quaffed a Potion of Clarity & Minsc transformed to his enraged state of mind & we went in to kill Bassilus. I think I got the kill on him but Minsc made have landed the death blow. When we’re both hacking away @ a single enemy, besides the fact that is sucks to be them, all either one of us sees is a flurry of our swords swinging @ the unfortunate target. 

DESTROYING BASSILUS' 'FAMILY'

There were quite a few other monsters & hostile animals that we defeated including: eight more Dread Wolves; four skeletons armed w/Composite Long Bows; a wolf; nine Gibberling’s; three Hobgoblins from the Ripper Tribe armed Composite Long Bows & Bastard Swords (x2) & Short Sword (1); ~ eight zombies; six skeletons armed w/Maces & Darts w/Bucklers; six ghouls; three Bandits & three Worgs.

 

We had an odd-encounter w/a talking chicken named Melicamp. He said he was an apprentice of Thalantyr & that he’d accidently polymorphed himself permanently. Turned out his story was slightly embellished & not entirely true but we decided his only chance was Thalantyr himself. Sure enough, Thalantyr returned Melicamp to his former state. 

 

Treasure of Note: (Purse = 21,965 gold) Bassilus’ Holy Symbol; Bloodstone Amulet;

 

Current Disposition: In Beregost, staying @ the Red Sheaf. Beregost will remain my base of operations for the time being.

 

Next Steps: Travel to the Lighthouse

Level Up: Jaheira was granted Initiate of the 7^th Circle (Druid//9) & she added Insect Plague, Resist Fire/Cold & Doom. Jaheira prefers to summon animals to defeat our enemies (Note: AI = Druid Summoning).

               

Current Party: (Reputation: 20 – Heroic)

·         Gawain: Ftr/7; Full Plate w/Large Shield +1, Cloak of Protection +2, Helm of Defense, Boots of Grounding, Girdle of Bluntness, Rings of Fire Resistance & Free Action; Bastard Sword +1/+3****, Mace +1, (SSS**) (Greater Doppelganger)

·         Minsc: Barbarian/7 w/Splint Mai w/Boots of Avoidance, Girdle of Bluntness &Spiders Bane***, Flail 1/THWS**(Spellcaster Defend)(Davaeorn)

·         Khalid: Ranger (Archer)/7 w/Studded Leather +1 w/Bracers of Archery & Boots of the North, Longbow****, B/Sword* (TWS***)( Sword Spider) (Ranger Ranged)

·         Jaheira: Priestess of Sylvanus/9 w/Leather +1 w/Gauntlets of Ogre Power; Sling*, Club +2 (Eye of the Storm)*, (Phase Spider)(Druid Summoning)

·         Imoen: Thief (Charming Rogue)/8 w/Bracers of Defense AC6, Cloak of Non-Detection & Gandolar’s Lucky Ring w/Short Bow*, Short Sword +1* Dagger +1*, Necklace of Missiles, (Sword Spider)(Thief Def)

·         Dynahier: Mage (Invoker)/6 w/Bracers of Defense AC6, Sling* & Q/Staff +1*, Ring of Energy, (Tuth)(Wizard Defensive)

 

Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; X0black101 (Blackguard); MegaModKits v1.01L; level1npcs-v1.9; bg2_tweaks-v14; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21 (- Tactical Challenges)

 

Blue Font: New information;

Red Font: Monster encounters (first use)

(Best kill)(Current AI)

* Name Levels are ancient, AD&D titles that used to represent each new level in a class

[Grond0]

Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 68 - (3rd and final update)

Passe, human paladin (Grond0) & Tosty, human sun soul monk (Gate70)

 

A bit of bloody-mindedness saw the end of this run.

 

At the Bandit Camp Taugosz did plenty of damage before Tosty finished him off with a sun soul ray.  The main tent was also a bit of a struggle as Tosty had to retreat from Venkt's spells, resulting in Passe also having to run outside to break up the opposition for an easier finish.

 

A use of the Greenstone Amulet made Bassilus easy this time on the way to the Lighthouse area.  There the sirines had no answer to the Greenstone Amulet, but the golems did inflict a casualty when Tosty was held by a trap and Passe was unable to drag away both of the golems converging from each side.

 

After a couple of soul rays helped deal with the Doomsayer the duo moved on to the Cloakwood.  The ettercaps and spiders were done eventually, although that was hard going due to the considerable lag experienced while running them round.  Passe was using a 2-handed sword so wanted to get Spiders Bane, but there were immediate problems invading Centeol's lair when lag meant Tosty was uncontrollable when trying to run out of the lair and he was eaten by sword spiders.  After a trip to the temple those attackers were finished off, but there were still a few enemies left inside.  They were pulled outside, but one of the spiders then managed to poison Passe.  Initially that didn't look too dangerous, but the lag on the game made it difficult to judge when the poison damage would trigger.  Passe refused to use a potion and waited a while to try and judge the best moment to use his slow poison ability, but that's never easy even in single player and his attempted spell was interrupted - and he keeled over shortly afterwards.

[Grond0]

Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 69 - (1st and final update)

Rehash, dwarf fighter / thief (Grond0) & Ervali, half-elf diviner (Gate70)

 

This run is a bit of a milestone in our MP attempts as it means that Gate70 has now attempted every possible starting class from those available within BGEE.  I reached that target last run and the fighter / thief was a random choice from all possible starting classes.  Another change in this run was that we reverted to BGT rather than using BGEE.  Recent sessions have often had extreme lag and we decided to see if connection would be better using BGT - it did seem to be a little improved during an extended session, although Ervali did suffer one lag death.

 

The run started well enough with easy level gains on the way to the basilisks.  Ervali used her own spells there and was careful to avoid those expiring while engaging the basilisks.  Kirian & co were left coughing in stinking clouds and caused no problems.

 

There was an amusing moment when the duo successfully rescued Arabelle from some hungry xvarts - it appeared that the cow was keen to find a new owner who would look after her rather better!

 

After doing a few reputation quests the duo travelled up to Ulgoth's Beard for a spot of shopping.  They left the ankhegs in the nest alone, but did attack the one in the bridge area.  Ervali dropped a couple of skull traps on top of its antennae and they actually worked quite well - skull traps left to float as traps often fail to trigger when enemies move near them, but these went off as soon as the ankheg emerged (it was slept immediately, so would have died irrespective of the skull traps anyway).

 

At the Nashkel Mine Mulahey appeared to get a sniff of Ervali's presence and came to investigate before preparations for him were complete.  However, a couple of backstabs for him and a skull trap for his supporters soon sorted things out.  Outside the mine the amazons became the latest group to demonstrate the lethality of stinking clouds.

 

Moving on to the Bandit Camp Taugosz again had a good go at our characters, but fell eventually.  After resting to heal the tent looked like a simple task after Ervali blinded the other 3 and Raemon fell to a backstab.  However, Ervali was a bit cavalier in her skull trap targetting and our reputation took a nose dive with Ender Sai's death.

 

There were problems again in the Cloakwood getting past the webbed area.  The tendency for spiders to regenerate on the encounter points before the ettercaps makes running things round difficult and Rehash eventually lost a bit of patience with just a couple of ettercaps left and tried to tank them.  When he was poisoned things looked bad as the edge of the map was some way away and the chances of successfully casting slow poison on himself were minuscule as the ettercap poison ticks quickly.  We had no antidotes available anyway.  However, having already had one run ended by poison that day I decided to compromise and allow one of my characters to use a healing potion (not done for an awfully long time before that).  That proved to be just enough to get to the edge of the map and the poison dissipated harmlessly during the journey.

 

In the Cloakwood mine the duo used invisibility to sneak down to find Daveorn.  Ervali put a skull trap up in Daveorn's path, but he ignored that while running several times over and around it and eventually we had to arrange to trigger it by spawning guards next to it while attempting to rest invisibly.  Resting did mean though that Daveorn's spells had evaporated and he was then an easy victim.

 

In the city the tomes were soon recovered along with the Helm of Balduran.  Rehash wanted Lothander's boots of speed in order to be able to keep up with Ervali, but Lothander disappeared from the ring of summons trapping him as soon as he'd finished his conversation.  After sneaking into the Iron Throne the duo were dispatched to Candlekeep - where they realised there was something they had forgotten to do in the City!

 

Fortunately that poison is very slow-acting and there was time to get back there after looting the tombs and teaching Prat's gang a lesson with the help of a scroll of magic protection.  On the way to get Marek Rehash decided to backstab Larze to death.  That caused a problem for Ervali though as she became subject to a lag attack by the ogre - the screenshot shows where Larze was attacking along with the position where Ervali's body appeared (showing where she had run to on Gate70's computer).  After a quick trip across to the temple to resurrect Ervali Marek was duly executed to stop the poison timer.

 

Slythe was pulled away from Krystin and shot with a dispelling arrow before being finished in melee / peppered by magic missiles.  At the palace Rehash used a number of potions and then tanked the dopplegangers along with some hasted gnolls - both dukes survived.  Those potion buffs were used in the maze, although they were starting to wear off when confronting the skeleton warriors and Rehash needed to use a potion of regeneration to keep HPs up there.

 

The Undercity party were initially left alone on the way to the temple.  There Sarevok was pulled out alone by an axe from extreme range.  That should really have been a dispelling arrow, but Rehash found his bow had accidentally been sold and didn't want to take the time to go and get another one.  The battle proved easy enough anyway with Sarevok being malisoned and then stuck in webs after fighting some summons and taking several nasty backstabs along with volleys of magic missiles.  He survived the web, but was then distracted by summons while chasing Rehash - allowing the latter to hide and come in for another decisive backstab.

 

On the way out the Undercity party was persuaded to fight among themselves after being attacked by summons and Rehash picked off the last few with backstabs.  Rather than report straight back to Belt though the duo took one last trip to Durlags Tower to pick up the tome there - Ervali fancying his role as sage with intelligence of 19 and wisdom 21.  They then reported in to Belt and are currently in Jon's dungeon - here are their final character records.

 

 

Stats:

Rehash, fighter 7 / thief 7, 64 HPs, 196 kills

Ervali, diviner 9, 41 HPs, 91 kills, 1 death

[ussnorway]

bgee run update1.1,

 

I’m re-entering the challenge with Puk again… Sarah is sitting this one out.

 

Starting stats for Puk and Imoen

 

Mods: the bgee game files have been adjusted to allow the following

// Puk is a Gnome crusader paladin
// Imoen had her thief stuff removed and is an Avenger… I also subtracted 2 points of str and con from her in keeping with the kit description.

[Blackraven]

In order to reduce the likelihood of the Ducal Palace spoiling the fun in my next playthorugh, I rolled up a full custom (evilly oriented) party. I usually alternate strictly metagamed runs with more roleplayed runs. In the current run I'll try to combine some moderate roleplaying with no-reload powergaming.

 

The Bhaalspawn is a LE Elven Enchantress named Galatea (* Darts).

Spoiler

Galatea is a sociable person and people generally respond well to her, especially males. Until recently Galatea was a bright but unambitious student in Candlekeep, making only the smallest efforts required to get by in her studies and to keep people happy. But hours after seeing her foster father get killed by an anonymous warrior, she pledged to become as powerful a mage as she can. Due to her alignment she can only grow in power through lawful means though, meaning she'll have to be very careful in giving her word. She has more than enough intelligence to understand that a fairly good reputation is likely to help her party, and her high charisma gives her the persuasive force to compel her less scrupulous companions to restrain themselves for reputation purposes. Typical for an Elf, she's quite fond and respectful of nature. On the other hand manipulation and exploitation of (demi-)humans, a corrupt bunch unlike honest nature, is fair game for her. The latter view does not apply to her companions, with whom she seeks a good understanding. Galatea is currently exploring the wilds between Candlekeep, the Friendly Arm Inn and Beregost.

 

Galatea's lieutenant and first confidante is Alippa, a female, LE Dwarven Defender (** Axes, ** Hammers).

Spoiler

Alippa's a few decades older than Galatea (but still young for a Dwarf) and has lived in Candlekeep for as long as Galatea can remember. But where Galatea spent much of her time in the library studying, Alippa was almost always found practising her combat skills with the guards and with her friend and fellow dwarven warrior Arkanis. Her fervent training has certainly paid off for Alippa, because she's turned herself into an exceptionally strong and resilient warrior, even for a Dwarf. Those traits, combined with her fearlessness and her truculency, make her a reliable and an inspiring presence in the vanguard of battle. She speaks little and takes some time with most people before she opens up. When Galatea asked Alippa with Gorion's approval to accompany her on their trip, the Dwarf agreed to join her friend.

 

Brother Boniface, CE Gnome Priest of Talos, is the party cleric (* Maces, * Slings).

Spoiler

It was only a few days before the start of Galatea's adventure, that Brother Boniface had come to Candlekeep in search of useful scrolls and artifacts. He had gained entrance with a false letter stating he was a novice Oghmanyte priest sent from Waterdeep to conduct research, but he was found out when he was asked to lead a collective prayer (and failed miserably). He was expelled from the citadel on the same day they that Galatea set out with Gorion and Alippa. In Candlekeep Boniface and Galatea had only briefly run into each other, but the second time they met, they took the time to introduce themselves and get to know each other a bit better. The Gnome revealed to the Elf his true business in Candlekeep, explaining to her that he's really a Priest of Talos and, much to Galatea's approval, that he revels in the destructive force of nature. He's a merry little Gnome though, always in for a jest, and for a flirt with any female of the short races. He was asked to join the party, and having already checked out Alippa, Brother Boniface didn't hesitate to express his agreement.

 

The fourth party member is Sholla, a NE Halfling Assassin (*Daggers, * Darts).

Spoiler

Sholla is Deder's little niece. About a year ago she came to Candlekeep as a fugitive from Selgaunt and was accepted into the citadel and into Deder's care after she had explained to her uncle that she was - allegedly unjustly - accused of the murder of a human noble back home. Both Halflings share the same trade, but Deder soon learnt that his niece does not share his scruples, nor his methods. The number of reports of theft at Winthrop's Inn had never been so high as after Sholla's arrival, and at the infirmary too, various potions and ingredients had started to go missing as of the first weeks after her arrival. Sholla's a subtle, soft-spoken girl, and at the same time a lethal, highly intelligent thief. She's taught herself to concoct deadly poisons, and has recently taken an interest in the mechanics of setting and disarming snares. She's earned Galatea's respect with her intelligence, and in turn admires the Enchantress for her grace and her brightness. She also gets along well with the fifth member of the crew:

 

Welter, CE Half-Elven Jester (* Short Swords, * Crossbows).

Spoiler

As a young boy Welter was brought to Candlekeep by Winthrop, together with a young girl of the same age, Imoen. Initially Winthrop had both Welter and Imoen work for him at the inn, but he was conveniently relieved of his duties because of the constant pranks he pulled such as switching the sugar and the salt container's contents, placing cow dung on a chair right before someone would sit on it, or pickpocketing one guest and puting the spoils inside someone else's pockets and then shout 'thief, thief!'. Most of the older people in Candlekeep have had the greatest difficulty communicating with the boy, and his sanity is generally questioned in the citadel, but Galatea knows better: Welter always understands even the most complex spell scrolls she presents and explains to him, and she can see him become a spell caster with her help. When he was sixteen Welter decided to become a 'performer' but his stories and plays at the inn have generally left his crowds confused rather than amused. Feeling misunderstood, he persuaded his friend Sholla to go with him after Galatea when the Elf had left Candlekeep with Gorion, to explore the world. 

 

The latest addition to the party is Renouar, NE Human Avenger (* Staves, * Darts).

Spoiler

Renouar is already in his early fifties, and has only very recently taken up the adventuring profession. For most of his life he had been a farmer, but one day when he returned to his home outside Beregost after having traded some of his wares in the town, he found his house burnt down, his wife dead, and his cattle gone. He does not know who the culprits were, and from what Galatea can gather, he doesn't really care: all that cross him can count on his wrath. A few weeks of roaming the wilderness have given him an unsual bond with nature and turned him into a wandering Druid. He was drawn to the place of Gorion's death due to the fire and the lightning that had caught his eye from afar. When he arrived, the battle had already come to an end but the next day he did run into Galatea and her band. Having so recently experienced the loss of a loved one himself, Renouar showed himself very sympathetic to Galatea's situation when he learnt of it, and he offered to help her and her young friends make their way in the unforgiving wilderness, an offer that Galatea gladly accepted.

 

This is probably going to be a difficult run for me, with only one true warrior, and five characters that especially in the beginning will be rather vulnerable and that throughout the game will require more micro-management. Also, having an Assassin in a full party means limited thieving possibilities. Another issue I might have, depending on my progress and on the amount of roleplaying I will put into this run, is that Galatea would be a good candidate for me to romance CN Anomen (a romance I've never completed). But I'd have to throw someone out for that to happen, probably Boniface, and I might not want to. 

It's an EE playthrough with only three mods (SCS, Rogue Rebalancing and Song & Silence).

[Aasim]

@Blackraven

 

Love the Boniface portrait! Where did you get that?

[Blackraven]

@Blackraven

 

Love the Boniface portrait! Where did you get that?

Hey Aasim, glad you liked it, so do I! I found it on deviantart.com (a great source for portraits as you probably know), here to be precise.

[ussnorway]

bgee run update 1.2,

 

Hear text as mp3,

 

A 10 days’ worth of adventuring; by Puk,

 

My first job was to loot my father’s corpse… a dagger for Imoen and a belt for me. With the grim task still vivid in my thoughts we headed south to throw the assassins off our trail and followed the old deer trek to High Hedge where we recruited a kindrid Ranger named Kivan and agreed to help him hunt bandits… he too has lost someone dear but seems reluctant to discuss it yet.

 

Imoen needed something to throw at these would be bandits so as to avoid melee and Beregost boasts a well-stocked armoury however as soon as we arrived a desperate damsel named Neera begged for our help against some spell casting bandits… I don’t trust arcane users normally and prefer not to travel with them if I can avoid it but the girls need seamed genuine and Kivan was keen to fight any bandits, especially ones that like to bully females so we helped the lass out of her predicament and even escorted her safely back to the friendly arm inn where we parted ways with her and collected my father’s two friends.

 

 

After collecting another Paladin (also out hunting bandits) we turned south to Nashkel where my fathers old friends; Khalid and Jaheira needed to investigate but after fighting off another assassin at the inn, I had a strange dream which seemed to be my dead father saying “head into the woods”… so I said goodbye to Khalid and Jaheira, leaving them to investigate the towns troubles whilst I try to figure out which woods it is that my father’s ghost needs me to travel?

[Blackraven]

Galatea, Elven Enchantress, 1st update

I'll journal the party's progress through entries of the companions' personal diaries. Alippa will kick off. 

 

Day 2, 3 Mirtul 1368:

 

It's good to be out traveling with Galatea! I've already put my axe to work plenty of times; more seems to happen in two days on the road than in two years in Candlekeep. The others seem to be good folk as well, though I haven't spoken much with any of them yet. The Gnome keeps giving me looks but I've decided to ignore him for now.

 

We've had unfriendly dealings with all manner of creatures. For example a few hours east of Candlekeep, on the Lion's Way, we were speaking with a lone traveler when all of a sudden a wolf appeared from the bushes and attacked. Galatea's response was keen: with one of her enchantment spells she put the beast to sleep for a while. I think that Renouar tried to tell us something at that point, but the others killed the animal before Renouar could do or say much and the Druid remained silent after the wolf had died. Maybe I should ask him some day about his affinity with wild animals. 

There were other creatures in the woods as well: Gibberlings, Xvarts, but those runts formed no real threat to us. More interesting was our encounter with an Ogre. Galatea had no more Sleep spells memorized, so I stepped forward to engage the monster, hoping to keep my friend and the others safe and to allow them to attack from afar. But then the Gnome pulled some Sleep trick out of his little sleeve, very similar to Galatea's magic. Thus we ended up killing the monster in the same way as we had done with the wolf. Afterwards, the Gnome smiled contentedly at me. He must have thought his spellcasting had made a big impression on me. To be honest it did surprise me that the Ogre lay down so obediently, but as before, I just gave the cleric the cold shoulder and kept to myself.

 

Our most dangerous encounter wasn't with a wild beast or monster, but with a Human at the Friendly Arm Inn. According to a letter from some mysterious figure named "E", that Sholla had taken from Gorion's corpse, we would find an enchanted ring just outside the Inn's walls if we followed the instructions and looked carefully, and we would also find two friends inside the establishment, Khalid and Jaheira. Sholla found the ring easily enough, but the first person we met was no friend, even though he initially called us that. He was a wizard of some sort and only the Gods know what he would have done with us if it wasn't for the guards who intervened. 

Galatea took me by surprise when she sent her Imp forward to fight the wizard. I didn't even know she had brought that little bugger along (though I could have guessed), and at that moment I had little hope that the familiar would remain much longer with us. But then it somehow transformed itself into a Jelly, and the wizard could do nothing against it. Nevertheless, when he spotted the rest of us he threw a Horror spell at us that had three of my companions cower in fear (Renouar, Sholla and Welter). After the Gnome removed the effect from Sholla and Welter with one of his spells, we charged forward to attack. I think I saw the wizard start casting another spell, but he was struck down by one of the guards before he could finish his incantation. We've just spoken with Gorion's friends inside the Inn. They proposed to join us, but Galatea declined. (She told me later she didn't like the woman, too bossy.) We also spoke with Bentley the Gnomish Innkeeper who told us of troubles in Nashkel, and with Landrin, yet another Gnome. She asked us to clear her spider-infested house in Beregost and bring her some of her belongings for some serious gold. We are to get some rest now and depart tomorrow, south to Beregost, and maybe even further, to Nashkel.

-----------------------------

Ah one thing. Since this a custom party, it means no lucrative NPC sidequests (e.g. Elven Chain in BG1, Drago Khal Shield in BG2), and also no special NPC perks (such as Tiax's ghast or Faldorn's dread wolf in BG1, Edwin's necklace or Jaheira's Harper's Call in BG2). Therefore I'm thinking of adding special abilities or items, no more than one per character, that should be situationally useful without breaking the game, and that are fitting for the character. Galatea may find to her confusion that in Chateau Irenicus an illegal Contingency found its way into her spellbook, Alippa is very brave and will probably get a Resist Fear ability (or even Fear immunity) at some point, Welter might get a special once/day song, Renouar might get a myconid-style summon fungus innate ability, etc.

[Grond0]

Quad multiplayer attempt 2 - (update 5)

Grond0, Dogdancing, corey_russell, Gate70

 

We had a pretty good session last night / this morning (depending on the participant), with just the odd uncontrolled encounter.

 

In the City the group started off by doing the poison quest.  During that they surrounded Lothander in the inn and, after talking to him, quickly hacked him down in order to get his boots of speed - that meant all the party were now fast moving .  Larze soon fell to a flurry of backstabs, while Marek was stymied by Corthief's use of the Greenstone Amulet.

 

After picking up the Helm and Cloak of Balduran the only other immediate target in the city was the ogre gauntlets.  A bit of confusion over timing meant that Static missed his chance to try for a backstab on Vay-ya there and failed to hide before being confused.  The others quickly completed the encounter while Carthus bravely policed Static by offering himself as a target to protect our reputation - successfully doing that at the expense of a single hit on him.

 

Looking to bump XP up a bit Corthief used a mirroring potion to tank the greater basilisk in the city before the Quad left to clean up a few things left on the Sword Coast.  That included Meilum and Kahrk (using a magic blocking potion), the battle horrors at Durlag's Tower and Ulcaster.  Wewa got into a sticky situation in the last of those when she went exploring after the whole dungeon had been cleared and found a group of spiders had respawned.  Trapped in a corner her screams brought the others running just in time to finish off the last of the spiders while Wewa survived thanks to a couple of antidotes.

 

Back in the City the group agreed on a plan to attack the Iron Throne.  Carthus used a scroll of magic protection and a couple of potions of fire resistance and went up first to provide the enemies with a target.  Static and Corthief were then going to pour in arrows of explosion on top of him.  However, Carthus should really have had more missile protection as well and quickly took a nasty blow from Zhalimar, as well as not moving quickly enough to avoid Gardus' sword.  In addition he took a bit of physical damage from the expanding wavefront of the arrows of explosion - meaning he died very quickly.  Static continued firing for another round to kill off the casters before he had to run downstairs to avoid taking further damage.  When Gardush followed he managed to corner Wewa and kill her as well before falling to backstabs - leaving Static free to go and find where Corthief was tanking Zhalimar and finish things with a backstab there as well.

 

Before leaving for Candlekeep a bit more doppleganger hunting saw the Seven Suns and Merchant League restored to action.  A final piece of work before reporting to Duke Eltan will take place in the sewers at the start of the next session.

 

Stats:

Grond0 - Static, fighter 6 / thief 7, 61 HPs, 290 kills

Dogdancing - Wewa, monk 7, 44 HPs, 62 kills, 1 death

corey_russell - Corthief, fighter 6 / thief 7, 65 HPs (incl. 5 from Helm), 148 kills, 4 deaths
Gate70 - Carthus, monk 7, 41 HPs, 121 kills, 3 deaths

[Grond0]

Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 70 - (update 1)

St John, human berserker (Grond0) & Vargus, human kensai (Gate70)

 

After another run was prematurely ended by the cowled wizards we discussed what we should do next, having now tried all character classes available within BGEE.  As yet we haven't done any duals and decided to give that a go this time.  The intention is for St John to dual to druid and Vargus to mage - both those are power-gaming combinations, which also reflects an intention to try and avoid our normal inclinations to take risks and look to go all the way this time.  A fighter dualling to druid is probably the most difficult class in the game to get a good roll for, but St John was lucky and hasn't had to sacrifice too much to make it possible.  Dualling won't take place in BG1 and may be delayed some time in BG2 - we haven't yet definitely decided when.

 

St John is preparing for his future existence by specialising in spears and daggers, while Vargus has added long sword capability to the traditional standby option of axes for a kensai.  In a short session they are off to a decent start in terms of game progress, though Vargus has horrible HPs - averaging 2.2 on a d10 so far.  Even so he passed the constitution tome over to St John as he remains highly capable either in the role of axe-thrower or joining in melee once enemies are engaged with St John.

 

The basilisks offered there usual easy XP and, after Korax paralysed Kirian, the others didn't stand much chance against a berserk assault.  The same was true of Bassilus and even though his skeletons survived his conversation, they proved unable to breach St John's defences either.  The berserking ability meant that the sirines could safely be tackled without needing the potion of clarity or Greenstone Amulet.  The golems might have fancied their chances against St John in normal circumstances, but not after he had taken a potion of absorption.

 

There was one minor glitch when St John missed an attempted click on a xvart and moved forward into sight of a clutch of them surrounding Arabelle.  However, the cow narrowly avoided being converted into burgers as the fighters quickly smacked down their opponents.

 

 

Stats:

St John, berserker 6, 71 HPs, 101 kills

Vargus, kensai 6, 45 HPs, 73 kills, 0 deaths

 

Edit: I posted the above writing that the skeletons were unable to find a c_hink (i.e. a small gap) in St John's defences.  It appears though that the forums view this as a derogatory word and automatically replace it with asterisks, so have had to replace the phrase ...

[Serg BlackStrider]

Nice duo you have there, Grond0 & Gate (had some sort of thoughts of running berserker/druid someday myself, even had a generated char at the ready but then kensai/druid seemed more appealing)! Looking forward to see'em enthroned!

[Blackraven]

Galatea, Elven Enchantress, 2nd update

From Welter's diary:

Day 4, 5 Mirtul 1368

 

Scene 3:

 

*Sing:*

Sleep, my Spiderlings sleep,

Sleep, Ogrilions please sleep,

Sleep, Flaming Fisters sleep,

Sleep, now everyone sleep,

Look yonder go the sheep,

The sheep with feet so white,

that make their tread so light,

 

Oh all my sleepers so dear,

There is no reason to fear,

You 'll feel no bullets, bolts, darts,

Pierce your sorry old hearts.

Nor will you smell the Dwarf's farts,

Did y'all here that? The Dwarf's farts... aahahaha, hahahahahahahahahaaaaaaa,

 

Here: *Start dancing hysterically*

 

Hmm, I feel my writing could still be improved. Maybe I should give my work a more serious tone, and include difficult words like effervesce or conundrum. Also, Alippa, she wouldn't appreciate the dwarf reference, and I don't want to be in that one's bad books. 

Note: Talk to the friendly thespian again in Beregost for tips whenever she has the time to take a look at my work.

 

Whoops, wrong notebook This is my diary. Am I really going to keep a diary? Oh well, why not! But what is there to say except that we're all having a hell of a time? The realms are one big playground really. We're doing whatever we like, and if someone opposes us my sweet Galatea will simply put them to sleep. What a vamp!

We've been to Beregost where Sholla and I insisted on doing some free shopping. "Don't get into trouble," my Galatea had told us, and like good children we didn't. My cute little thieving friend and I returned with a lovely cloak for our mistress that makes her look even more ravishing than before. We also 'found' some sort of wand we'll have to identify, and an enchanted mace for Brother Boniface that brought a smile to the little Gnome's face. Not that that's hard to accomplish, blithe little fellow. I like him.

We also met a lovely Half-Elf, a Wild Mage. She could make other people disappear, good fun! We helped her kill some Thayvians. Afterwards I told her to travel with us. She seemed willing, but Galatea wouldn't have any wild magic in the party, and the others agreed. Galatea then seemingly charmed the Half-Elf and coaxed her into rewarding us with a Traveler's Robe and a gem beg.

 

We're in Nashkel at the moment, which isn't the most interesting place to stay, except of course for its Carnival. I befriended a buffoon there who mocked me and made me quite jealous of his colorful clothes. I asked Sholla to poison him for me, so that I could take his attire for myself, but he must have overheard me because he went invisible. I haven't seen him again.

 

Ah I remember something. On the road between Beregost and Nashkel there were many Hobgoblins, and one of them poisoned Galatea with his arrows. I nearly had to cry when I saw her suffer, but then she swigged an antidote that countered the poison. And Alippa, what a beast, she sure punished that Hobgoblin, almost made me feel sorry for it. We found some expensive jewelry on some of the Hobgoblins and a pair of boots that make Sholla even stealthier than she already was.

 

I'm not sure what we're going to do next, or where. The mayor of Nashkel asked us to investigate the Nashkel Mines, but none of us (except maybe Alippa, out of curiosity) were interested in going there. Mines are boring, and dirty I think. They're for people who work, and we don't work, we dance and we play! Even old Renouar told me that in spite of his painful and still fresh memories, he actually prefers adventuring over farming, let alone mining. I'd rather go north to Baldur's Gate or south to Athkatla, but I fear the Jester's opinion will be given little weight, one of the downsides of acting the fool...

[corey_russell]

@Grond0, Gate70: Best of luck with your duo - sounds like a very interesting pair!

 

@Grond0: You forgot to mention the Merchant Consortium - Wewa was downstairs when we turned in the evidence, and was suddenly the target of 5 dopplegangers. The party came to her aid on that one too, but we took some damage.

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

I’ve decided on my secondary mission, or at least codified the mission I’m already pursuing. My primary effort is to find & slay Gorion’s murderer but my vengeance will have to wait as I’d be a fool to head back to Baldur’s Gate just yet. Having already cleared the Cloakwoods, the Wood of Sharp teeth & the area from the northern side of the Cloud Peak Mountains through Nashkel, I will continue doing so along the Coast Way to Baldur’s Gate & the River Chionthar.

 

Next stop was the Lighthouse overlooking the Sea of Swords on the Sword Coast. There were a couple of early battles w/a pair of mated wolves & three Worgs. 

 

Key Event(s) On one stretch of the sandy coastline we were fighting all the way until we entered, what turned out to be the cave of the Pirate Black Alaric. In about two hours we fought through  three Hobgoblins w/Short Bows; three Serine’s w/their deadly Short Bows & Arrows of Biting; three Carrion Crawlers & then three more Serine’s, including their leader, also armed w/ Short Bows & Arrows of Biting. In Alaric’s cave we defeated three Ogrillons & found a super treasure indeed including a set of +1 Full Plate, a Manual of Bodily Health, a Cloak of the Wolf, Potions & over 300 gold. Unfortunately, since it was raining outside, we decided to try & rest to wait out the storm. Having cleared the cave it sounded like a great plan. In hindsight, every time we dozed (twice) another Ogrillon entered the cave & after defeating the first, we lost Minsc to several hard punches to the head & chest before we killed him too. From there, we didn’t press our luck anymore &, exhausted, made our way back to Beregost but still were challenged by three Grey Oozes.  I hesitated to confront them, injured myself, & had everyone else clear the immediate area so they would focus their attacks on me. It worked & will killed them rather easily. Back to Nalin to get Minsc Raised & then to town for rest. Here Jaheira improved her best kill to a Sirine

BATTLING & KILLING THE SIRINE'S

On return we got into a lengthy battle w/nine Ripper Hobgoblins surprisingly led by a Chill Sergeant armed w/Bastard Swords & three w/Short Bows. Coincidently, in the same area we later confronted & defeated three more Ripper Hobgoblins armed also w/Bastard Swords & three w/Short Bows which were likely subordinate to the Chill Sergeant also.; two Dread Wolves, two wolves, then three more Chill Hobgoblins w/Short Bows & Bastard Swords; six Tasloi (I don’t know how these things survive in the wild w/all the more powerful monsters/animals just as aggressive as they are);  

 

Treasure of Note: (Purse = 22,584 gold) Six Pearls; twenty Arrows of Biting (Khalid & Imoen); Cloak of the Wolf (Jaheira); Manual of Bodily Health (Gawain); Full Plate Mail +1 (Gawain ). Unfortunately, I can’t use the +1 Full Plate as it weakens my armor class versus my Full Plate & Cloak of Protection +2 & no one else can use Plate, even Minsc as a Barbarian.

 

Current Disposition: Resupplying, inventorying, identifying, selling bounty & generally resting & recuperating @ Beregost

 

Next Steps: Shipwreck Coast

Level Up: Early on we had a visitor from Dynahier’s Mage Guild, the same one the Guildmaster sends each time. How the Guildmaster keeps up w/Dynahier’s progress I don’t know. Still she was informed that she’s granted Warlock (Mage-Invoker//8. She’s added a second Fireball & a Fire Shield Red to memory (Note: Remember in my own rules mages can only write spells in their spellbook from their own school – others they can cast by scroll though.

 

Current Party: (Reputation: 20 – Heroic)

·         Gawain: Ftr/7; Full Plate w/Large Shield +1, Cloak of Protection +2, Helm of Defense, Boots of Grounding, Girdle of Bluntness, Rings of Fire Resistance & Free Action; Bastard Sword +1/+3****, Mace +1, (SSS**) (Greater Doppelganger)

·         Minsc: Barbarian/7 w/Splint Mai w/Boots of Avoidance, Girdle of Bluntness &Spiders Bane***, Flail 1/THWS**(Spellcaster Defend)(Davaeorn)

·         Khalid: Ranger (Archer)/7 w/Studded Leather +1 w/Bracers of Archery & Boots of the North, Longbow****, B/Sword* (TWS***)( Sword Spider) (Ranger Ranged)

·         Jaheira: Priestess of Sylvanus/9 w/Leather +1 w/Gauntlets of Ogre Power & Cloak of the Wolf; Sling*, Club +2 (Eye of the Storm)*, (Sirine)(Druid Summoning)

·         Imoen: Thief (Charming Rogue)/8 w/Bracers of Defense AC6, Cloak of Non-Detection & Gandolar’s Lucky Ring w/Short Bow*, Short Sword +1* Dagger +1*, Necklace of Missiles, (Sword Spider)(Thief Def)

·         Dynahier: Mage (Invoker)/8 w/Bracers of Defense AC6, Sling* & Q/Staff +1*, Ring of Energy, (Tuth)(Wizard Defensive)

 

Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; X0black101 (Blackguard); MegaModKits v1.01L; level1npcs-v1.9; bg2_tweaks-v14; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21 (- Tactical Challenges)

 

Blue Font: New information;

Red Font: Monster encounters (first use)

(Best kill)(Current AI)

* Name Levels are ancient, AD&D titles that used to represent each new level in a class

[Grond0]

Dain - dwarf kensai (update 1)

 

I think I'm about ready to switch to a different installation again, but first thought I would try one more time to complete the game with a kensai ...

 

Dain is Thorin's great grandfather and will try and do better than his descendants have managed.  He has started well with an exceptionally good roll appearing within a minute of starting rolling.

 

[Grond0]

Dain - dwarf kensai (update 2 / rest 1)

 

I decided to make things a bit more interesting this run by minimising resting for Dain - just allowing a single rest to obtain each Bhaal power.  To that end he collected the potions of invisibility in Beregost and Nashkel, that I don't normally bother with these days, and used them to get the constitution tome from the pirate cave.  That allows regeneration to heal the odd minor wound he collects.

 

He's also been to the FAI to return Landrin's gear and then on to the basilisk area.  He had a potential problem there when Korax died without killing any of the party (though he did paralyse Kirian and Baerin) and Dain got stuck in an entangle with Lindin bearing down on him - however, Dain found a critical to deal with him and the others didn't last long either.

 

He's been through the Cloudpeaks - using a first charge of the amulet of shielding there when he ran out of throwing axes - and also taken out Greywolf and Meilum before moving on to the Nashkel Mine.  He's just had his first rest there in Mulahey's cave prior to confronting the cleric.

 

All of his kensai descendants have had poor HPs and Dain is no exception.  However, at 60 HPs at level 6 he's only 6.5 below the expected average which should be no problem.

[Grond0]

Dain - dwarf kensai (update 3 / rest 3)

 

Mulahey died to throwing axes without talking - as did Nimbul and Tranzig.  In between those the amazons also failed to talk, though that was the result of fireballs.

 

At the Bandit Camp another use of the Amulet of Shielding proved effective against the bandits.  A potion of absorption meant Taugosz needed a critical to hit, but he got two of those in quick succession forcing Dain to run him round and finish the job with throwing axes.  After resting to regenerate to full HPs and get his second Bhaal power he entered the main tent.  A potion of firebreath killed Britik and Raemon before Dain dodged out of the tent to avoid Venkt's horror - he and Hakt followed him outside to their deaths. Rather than rest immediately he used a potion of absorption to counter the lightning trap.

 

In the Cloakwood he used a potion of freedom to get past the web traps and move on to the mine.  A couple of fireballs for the mages, a running fight (using superior weapon speed) for Drasus and throwing axes for Genthore later and Dain moved into the mine.  After taking some damage going down that he rested again, getting his third Bhaal power, before continuing on down.  He took a bit more damage on the way to Daveorn and left the mine to do a bit of travelling (and regenerate health) before coming back again.

 

I was hoping that a potion of invulnerability would allow him to deal with the battle horrors easily enough, but even requiring a 19 to hit the second one hit more often than he did and he had to run away and travel a bit before coming back to finish it off (a second invulnerability potion preventing him from taking any damage this time).  Two potions of magic blocking then allowed Dain to chase down Daveorn.

 

Before resting he returned to the lighthouse area to deal with the sirines, while protected by a potion of clarity - getting his 8th and final BG1 level in the process.  Two poor rolls have only boosted him to 73 HPs - 15.5 below his expected average, so he is now in line with his descendants as representing a rather weedy strain of dwarfdom.