Congrats CKT! Way to set a high bar... Hard Times, Randomizer and SCS, complete run. I agree with Alesia, that's the most impressive thing I've ever seen anyone accomplish in BG1.
Don't die to the mephits in Jon's dungeon. I've got that death reserved for one of my characters. (Although I have to get past the Nashkel Mines a few times first 
And Golden! Setting another high bar for rapid BG1 success... with SCS no less. Congratulations!
And Welcome Nishiki!
Entering a wise and intelligent CHARNAME that knows how to pick his fights:
Loren, elven mage-thief. Hoping to ride CKT and Golden's coat-tails....
We broke camp and continued our journey to the Frienly Arm. On the way, I learned something about Shea, she's a loot magnet. We were on the road and just happened to pass a tree when she uttered a cry of 'Loot sense tingling!' She shoved her arm elbow deep into a hole in the tree and came back with a large, glittering diamond. I stared in awe as Imoen jealously remarked that she wanted a loot sense; Vanja look on with a knowing expression.
Apparently, finding hidden loot isn't so uncommon an event when it comes to Shea. A second time she stopped and shouted her catch-phase, then took off the the north, startling a couple of gibberlings in the process. As Vanja, Imoen and I took care of the foul beasties, Shea poked her finger into a hole in a nearby rock and fished out a ring. She got down on one knee and presented it to Vanja; Vanja blushed and told her to knock it off. She did, however, accept the ring.
We reached the Friendly at mid-morning; the four of us were about to make our way through the main gate when, for a third time, Shea shouted and ran. An exasperated Vanja followed after her as Imoen and I made our way to the Inn's main entrance. As we approached, something told me to erect a shield, and I asked Imoen to hit the shadows: something seemed off, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was.
We started up the stairs to the Inn proper. I noticed a short, dark man coming down the stairs; shen he saw me, he smiled warmly and hailed me with a greeting. He asked what had brought me to the Arm, I answered that I was just a traveller looking for a place to rest. He then made some very disturbing remarks about how he was looking for someone of my height and style, and asked if I had journeyed from Candlekeep. The conversation was starting to make me feel creepy, so I told him that I had visited there in the past. Then he asked if my name was Isa. Daggers of fear pierced my chest; I answered no. He said that I fit the description perfectly. Then he started casting.
I had felt Imoen's warmth near my side during the exchange, but as soon as the man started to cast, she moved. I hastily muttered the words of the blind spell, say it take hold, then back off as Imoen reappeared behind him. As she drove her short sword at the assassin, four images sprang into existence around him; Imoen's sword pierced one of the images and it faded away.
Fortunately for us, a guard was nearby. He shouted for us to back away as he drew his sword to engage the assassin, but Imoen and I held our ground, me throwing darts and Imoen backing away to use her bow.
One by one the assassin's duplicates vanished until only he remained. It was then that the guard's sword bit deep into the assassin's side. With a cry of pain and anguish, the man fell dead.
I was leaning against the wall, trying to stave off more tears when Shea and Vanja joined us. Shea saw the corpse, my upset state, and put two and two together. She told Vanja to make sure I was OK as she went about rifling through the assassin's pockets. She came back bearing a handful of spell scrolls and a sheet of velum. She told me, in no uncertain terms, that there was a price on my head.
I could hardly believe it. Someone was wiling to pay two hundred gold for my death.
Vanja helped me up the stairs to the Inn while Imoen and Shea brought up the rear. Inside, they helped me into a seat, where I sat and trembled with shock. Shea called up a serving wench and soon four steins of brew were set before us. I helped myself to the strong drink while Shea, Vanja, and Imoen spoke about what what we were going to do. There was talk of returning to Candlekeep, of notifying the watch, of going into hiding.
The bitter beer helped to strengthen my nerves. I held up my hand; the others stopped talking and waited. I told them that I wanted to find Dad's killer, and to do that, I'd need money. I suggested that we look for some sort of work, take on some jobs a adventurers.
Imoen's eyes lit up and she cooed about being a real hero. Shea and Vanja looked a bit more pessimistic and asked if I was sure that was what I wanted. I nodded.
The four of us looked at each other for a long moment. At last, Shea broke the silence. If she and Vanja were going to be helping us, she said, then it would be best if I know who they were.
Shea was an orphan out of Beregost, she had spent her formative years learning to lift purses and break locks. She was caught in the act when she was young and sent to live in a orphanage; which was where she met Vanja. The two became fast friends.
After a year or two, Shea, tired of the meager pickings the orphanage could provide, snuck out with the goal of improving their quality of life. After several successful heists, the proceeds of which went into the orphanage's donation box, Shea found that life was no better than it had been before.
Curious about what was happening to her 'donations', Shea sneaked a peek into the headmistresses office. There she found the headmistress in flagrante delicto with a big, burly man, doing things best left to the imagination. One the deed was done, the headmistress (who was a real pig of a woman) gave the man a hefty sum of gold. That was where the donations were going to, Shea told herself.
Shea decided to out the crooked woman and her accomplice, and with Vanja's help, cooked up a plan that resulted with the headmistress and her gentleman caller tied to a bed in the middle of the street in front of the orphanage. A sign hung a the foot of the bed read, 'Your donations at work'.
Afterword, life at the orphanage improved immensely, with the help of further 'donations'. Once of age, Shea and Vanja took their leave of the place. For a while they performed various odd jobs around Beregost, until they had enough money for a little equipment, and from there decided to tour the sword coast. It was then that Shea and Vanja had came across Imoen and I.
After Shea's tale, we discussed how we were going to go about finding work. Imoen suggested that we, quite simply, ask around, which is what we ended up doing.
On the third floor, we found a gnome who was in need of someone to clean some spiders out of her house in Beregost (at the mention of spiders, Vanja looked positively horrified). Near the entrance, we found a woman who had had her heirloom ring stolen by some hobos. And on the second floor was a dwarf who offered a reward for the return of her belt from an ogre.
With the info in hand, we decided to first take on the hobos and return the woman's ring.
But before we started with that, we had our items identified at the temple. Vanja's ring turned out to be a Ring of Protection. The ring that Shea had found while we fought the assassin was a Ring of Wizardry; she offered it to me, but without the kneeling bit. Lastly, the dagger I had received from the warden was indeed magical, but since none of us were skilled at using it, Shea suggested that we sell it. I was loath to do so, it was, in my mind, a keepsake, but in the end I had to accept that what we needed most at the moment was money.
Our goods identified, and me with an extra three spells per day, we headed out to smack some thieving hobgoblins (during the process of which, Vanja was scratched by a hobo sword. Shea reacted like Vanja had received a mortal wound, insisting that Vanja allow her to heal her on the spot, much to Vanja's embarrassment), chunked the ogre, and then made our way to down south to Beregost.
In Beregost, we stopped by Feldpost's Inn to wash the trail dust from our mouths. As soon as we walked in the door, however, we were set upon by a bereaved father who's son had been slain while adventuring. We managed to get out of the situation without a fight, and with a new appreciation for the dangers that lie ahead in our endeavours. Next we were going to see about the spiders, but were distracted by a young bard who offered us a fair bit of coin to help out his Mistress. We happily agreed to do so and were introduced to Silke, 'Thespian Extraordinar'. More like massive scenery chewer, I thought. She asked us to swat some brigands, but when the so called brigands showed themselves, they turned out to be ordinary fellows delivering some gems. We refused Silke's command to slaughter them, and she turned on us.
The moment Silke started casting, I made myself scarce, Imoen and Shea tried to hit the shadows (Imoen vanished but Shea failed), and Vanja charged. The battle was a prolonged thing, but somehow, Silke never got a spell off. She was smacked to the ground.
Our next stop was the spider house. Vanja looked positively unnerved at the mention of spiders, but she gamely agreed to check out the house. She was inside for only seconds before we heard a scream of horror followed by a green blur as Vanja ran for her life from her worst nightmare: four dog sized spiders that emerged from the house, a certain fleeing half orc in their sights.
We led the spiders on a merry chase through Beregost, taking occasional pot shots at them. Shea noted that the spiders would be much easier to kill if Vanja would just tank the things, but even the fact that we had more than enough anti-venom to cure half a dozen spider bites wouldn't reassure Vanja. Eventually, the last spider fell and we collected it and the gnome's worldly goods.
After the spiders, we headed a bit further south to check on some rumors of a pair of ogrillons waylaying travellers. They were dealt with, though Vanja got hit hard by a blinded ogrillon. Afterwards, we delivered good news to Mirianne in exchange for a Ring of Protection.
Out next task was to find Zhurlong's boots. We were deep in hobo territory when we found ourselves being waylaid by ghouls, and worse, a ghast! We were in the midst of beating a strategic retreat when Shea took a ghoul hit and was paralyzed. Vanja flew into a bloody rage and tried to make it to her side, but too late. Shea went down hard.
The enraged Vanja is a sight to behold, and one to keep far afield of, as the remaining ghasts and ghouls soon learned. Then it was off to the temple of Lathander to raise Shea.
We returned to the hobo camp and finally found the boots, though Imoen decided to keep them for herself. She was welcome to them, I thought, after what we'd been through to get them.
Our final stop for the day was to pay a visit to Thalantir, and maybe pick up a potion or spell or two. Turned out, Thalantir was less than happy to see us, and so we decided to take the scenic rout back to town.
On the way, we found a rather curious chicken who claimed to be a man. We delivered the frustrated fowl the Thalatir and were asked (or, rather, ordered) to find a skull so that the rather churlish mage could lift Meli-chick's curse. We did, he did, and as a reward we were able to purchase some goods; including a Find Familiar scroll. I think I'll call him Fluffy.
Euphonia, Half-Elven Skald (3rd update)
After a good night's rest at Feldepost's the party traveled to the Nashkel Carnival to purchase a protective amulet for Xan, and then set out to look for the Bandit Camp. They decided to go east in the general direction of the Firewine Ruins, and to travel north to the Wood of Sharp Teeth from there.
On the Firewine Plains the party ran into small groups of human and demihuman bandits, but they didn't seem to be part of the larger bandit organization that had been terrorizing the Sword Coast. Even after Xan had charmed one of them,
More Kobolds met their deaths at the hands of the companions inside the Firewine Ruins, a fate that also awaited a wizard called Lendarn and an Orge Mage, thanks to the Wand of Paralyzation.
An exit led the companions into a hobbit home. Its owner, Jenkal had apparently been working with Lendarn and the Ogre Mage on a plan to raid the Halfling village of Gullykin. Jenkal unwisely decided to fight the companions, a decision that cost him his life.
Further north the party reached the dry lands where Euphonia had slain Mutamin and his Basilisks. The area seemed safe and quiet, until the companions ran into Kirian and friends, a group of adventurers not unlike Euphonia's gang, but more aggressive. Kivan had tamed a number of wild Bears and Euph used the Wand of Paralyzation on Kirian. These two factors decided the battle in favor of Euphonia and company.
On the way, whispered conversations with Kivan made it clear to Euphonia that he wouldn't be able to keep up the act once he faced his nemesis Tazok. The party then came up with a stratagem. Together, they had some nice gear that made each of them more resilient and more effective in combat, but at the same time their encounters with the Black Talons had taught them that they were far from untouchable. The combined gear however, could turn one person into a juggernaut. Therefore it was decided that each of the companions would lend some of their best items to Kivan, the party's chosen champion. In return, the others received a potion of invisibility from Euphonia to keep them safe. (The party had no less than seven invisbility potions, thanks most of all to Nimbul and Jenkal.)
At the camp the band met Tazok, and went invisible shortly after that,
Well done, Golden! Safe travels in Amn.
Good stuff Golden and particular congratulations to CKT!
Golden28 I'm very glad that I can congratulate you as well! Beating SCS Sarevok and co, without knowing very well what you had to expect, is top-class. My compliments, and best wishes for Eren in Amn!
Congratulations... *takes
hathelm off and bows to CKT*
[edit]... and to Golden as well.[/edit]
Wow! There's so much going on in the BG1 thread these days!
Congrats to Golden28!
Best,
A.
And Golden! Setting another high bar for rapid BG1 success... with SCS no less. Congratulations!
Loren, elven mage-thief. Hoping to ride CKT and Golden's coat-tails....
Thank you all lovely people 
Eren the Unbroken will be back in BG2, I assure you.
I'll keep following all you other BG players here and try to encourage. Its a lot of fun!
Cheers!
Oh and Blackraven, like the new way of hidden but very easy to open screenshots, its just perfect, especially with the big (but not too big) amounts of content from you. Hope you'll get far with Euphonia. I'd love to see a Skald buffing powerful summons with her songs crushing the opposition, or casting powerful magic later on (remove bard spell cap?).
Good luck!
Cheers!
So far so good with Loren. He's harvested some Basilisks and gone treasure hunting. He's learned how to turn himself invisible. Good thing too, because he was paralyzed by a trap in the pirate cave -- but since the flesh golems couldn't see him, no harm done. And he's figured out how to place some pretty serious traps -- two of them together took down the flesh golem guarding the treasure pool.
He's not so strong, however... He had a hard time lifting the heavy constitution tome out of the pool, and he certainly wasn't going to be running anywhere with it. Lucky for him, there was a cloak in there too. Some quick experimentation (before the other flesh golem came back) revealed that he could turn into a wolf at will while wearing it... and it contained some pretty big pockets too! Perfect gear for hauling loot.
On the way back through Beregost, Loren tried to scare some children by talking to them while in wolf form. The kids didn't even bat an eyelid. Apparently talking wolves are a dime a dozen in Beregost these days.
Loren's going to take a break for a week or so while RL intrudes... Good luck everyone!
Dyara, elven Fighter/Mage/Thief - take 12/13 (final update)
Day 37 (8 Kythorn)
At midnight Dyara arrived at Peldvale. There she saved Viconia from getting murdered by a flaming fist mercenary. Together the two killed Raiken and his group.
(ps: Im gonna take a little break, Ill be back in a few days or so)
Great job G_28. You deserve a break after that run.
I'm forced into a break b/c for some reason my drive isn't reading my BGII disks (thought I had two sets but can't find the second). I ordered another set from Amazon a little while ago.
Until then, while we're both taking a break the bad guys will get a little respite...you know the old saying, "Cat's away the mice"...well you know!
Condolence Dyara. 
If you take on the whole camp that can be a tough fight in SCS.
If I may ask, what items was Dyara wearing?
Personally, I find the Boots of Avoidance, the Cloak of Displacement, the Girdle of Piercing, and the Shield Amulet helpful for mitigating range weapon risk at the Bandit Camp. A Potion of Regeneration and an Oil of Speed can help with whatever criticals get through.
I have an old video of one of my characters executing a head on assault of the SCS Bandit Camp. I can upload it if you like. It may give you some ideas if and when you make another attempt.
Anyhoo. Good luck with your next run!
Best,
A.
Congrats CKT! Way to set a high bar... Hard Times, Randomizer and SCS, complete run. I agree with Alesia, that's the most impressive thing I've ever seen anyone accomplish in BG1.
Don't die to the mephits in Jon's dungeon. I've got that death reserved for one of my characters. (Although I have to get past the Nashkel Mines a few times first
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR THOSE NICE WORDS B_V! IT'S TAKEN AT LEAST FOUR YEARS & I'M HAVING A LOT OF FUN ENJOYING IT TODAY. EVEN HAD A CIGAR.
HERE'S HOPING YOUR NEW PC LOREN WILL CROSS THE FINISH LINE IN THE DAYS AHEAD. THEN G_28 & I CAN RETURN THE CONGRATS BACK @ YA!
Dyara, elven Fighter/Mage/Thief - take 12/13 (final update)
...Slightly injured she still saw a good chance to escape by running away when she got shot in the back by three more arrows letting her stumble and drop to her knees, blood running out of her mouth. She felt some essence deep within her trying to escape her body and when she fell to the ground finally she was already dead...
As Viconia saw Dyara dying she turned around and without any visible emotions she left the area.
It sucks when you're PC is wounded & monsters & men are shooting arrows @ ya when you're trying to run. The nerve... 
For my part, I don't know how ya'll do it w/just a PC & an NPC or two. Impresses me that you got that far. Sorry Dyara's run has ended but you can't trust Viconia. Darned Drow...
Finally I can take a little time to thank everyone for their welcomes and well wishes. Hope everyone enjoys my little story.
Also, while there are a few embellishments here and there for the sake of the story, everything that happens game play wise is actual factual.
Finally I can take a little time to thank everyone for their welcomes and well wishes. Hope everyone enjoys my little story.
Glad to have you with us Nishiki! Best of luck!
Sorry about Dyara's fall. Hopefully you'll try again sometime soon. I really enjoyed her story...
Alesia's tips are very useful. Try to bring teh piercing/missile AC modifier down as far as possible, so that only criticals can hurt you.
@Golden28, glad you like the format, and my Skald. I also hope to get much further to see the Skald's true potential.
Initially I had planned to solo her, to see how viable a solo character, and how powerful a summoner she would be. I think that there's lot of fun to be had with hasted and song-boosted Skeletons, Spider Spawns, and maybe Elementals. But I also think that eventually, in the late game, the song and said summons lose their usefulness. I do have a Rogue Rebalancing increased spell level cap for Bards, which gives Bards access to level 7 and 8 spells, but even those spell levels don't offer really convincing-looking summons, except for Mordy's Swords.
Euphonia, Half-Elven Skald (4th update)
In Cloakwood the party protected a nobleman from Baldur's Gate against three aggressive Druids, killed a pack of Tasloi that had stolen a Cloak of Non-Detection (which went to Imoen) from Gurke the Dwarf, and slew plenty of Ettercaps and Spiders. The bulk of the work against the Spiders was done by Ajantis and Kivan (both protected against poison and hold), with Euphonia singing invisibly in the background.
Anyway, the game was gentle with Euphonia after that moment, because she saved vs Rezdan's Emotion: Hopelessness when her aura was still muddy after a failed attempt at casting invsibility on Imoen. (None of the NPCs had died up till then and Euphonia really wanted to keep things that way. She refuses to use her companions as 'cannon fodder' because she cares for them, especially Imoen. Besides, a series of NPC deaths often make Blackraven consider his party runs as failures, causing him to lose interest.)
Things got a lot easier when Euphonia lured the enemy's hasted leader Drasus away from his associates, and went invisible.
Inside the mines, the party had little difficulty dealing with groups of guards. The only (potential) dangers were three spellcasters on the second and third levels. First there was Hareishan. Imoen dispelled her invisibility and Euphonia paralyzed her with her wand, making that encounter a relatively easy one.
However around the same time Rezdan did something that caught the Skald off guard. His Chaos affected both Imoen and Xan while she was singing her battlesong.
SpoilerI don't like this. I want the Skald song to protect against the Confusion effect, not just the spell. Does anyone know how to change that in NearInfinity?
Have you already modded the skald song? If unmodded, the song increases in effectiveness at higher levels. I don't think it protects against confusion until level 20, which you might be slightly optimistic in expecting during BG1 ...
Have you already modded the skald song? If unmodded, the song increases in effectiveness at higher levels. I don't think it protects against confusion until level 20, which you might be slightly optimistic in expecting during BG1 ...
He's using Rogue Rebalancing. I'm assuming that he has installed the bard kit revisions component but I'm not certain.
The RR Skald Song should protect against confusion once the bard has reached level 9.
Are you using the RR Skald kit, Blackraven? Has Euphonia reached level 9?
Best,
A.
Btw. Tweaking the bard songs in Near Infinity isn't too difficult. In the past, I've nerfed the Jester Song for BG1 play. I can help fix Euphonia's song if it comes to that.
Great job G_28. You deserve a break after that run.
I'm forced into a break b/c for some reason my drive isn't reading my BGII disks (thought I had two sets but can't find the second). I ordered another set from Amazon a little while ago.
Until then, while we're both taking a break the bad guys will get a little respite...you know the old saying, "Cat's away the mice"...well you know!
Indeed, CKT! We'll be entering BG2 at around the same time, sounds like fun.
Cheers!
@ Blackraven,
As Alesia_BH said your skald isnt high enough lvl for pro: confusion. Please dont lose interest! Part of the NR challenge is keeping it fresh/interesting, but also trying to come close to actually finishing it before losing interest !
Cheers!
Sad to hear of Dyara's misfortune... Looking forward for her next attempt.
And welcome into the Crew, Nishiki! Great storytelling! Safe travels for your party!
Thanks for all the condolences - even if scolding and blaming would be more in order, because this was really only just so stupid. I could say that there were some rl issues yesterday, I could play for half an hour, then I had to stop, do something else, play for another quarter of an hour and so on, but that's just a lame excuse.
It was something like 'just let me take out just one more before we start the real fight'. AC (vs. missiles) wasn't really good because... well I had lost the gierdle of piercing to Unshey and the boots I had given to Viconia (also the ankheg plate). I wanted to max hide/move silently so I could hide as soon as I was out of sight of any enemies.
But if I had acted slightly more carefully (don't become target of more than one archer) taking out all the bandits outside the tents/caves is simple ... I had retried the fight and at no time I was in real danger.
As for Viconia's reaction: I think her querst was to help Dyara but with Dyara's death this quest was done. No reason for her to stay any longer. Perhaps she was a little bit sad about Dyara's death but she would never admit it as she would see it as a kind of weakness. Also I don't think Viconia tolerates stupidity - and as I said it was just stupid.
I was so angry about myself that I closed BG, turned the computer off wanting to smash something. Unfortunately (or fortunately) there wasn't anything smashable and after a while I turned the computer on again, started BG and rolled a new Dyara 
. Take 14 
it is then ...
@Alesia: SCS is not installed. I might give it a try once Dyara had made it to Amn. But nevertheless if you like to upload the video, might be interesting to see not just for me but anybody.
Thanks for all the condolences - even if scolding and blaming would be more in order, because this was really only just so stupid.
Don't be too hard on yourself. I think it's safe to say that everyone has had one of those 'Gah, what was I thinking' moments. Just one case in point: earlier tonight I got Isa and crew to Nashkel, decided to take on Neira first thing. Things were going great, even after Neira cast RT on Vanja. Neira died and I happily gloated over my victory - right up to the point when the still confused Vanja attacked one of the Inn patrons. Yep, ain't gonna be resting in Nashkel any time soon.
And you know, we did have access to blind and hold person... 
Alesia, Golden, Grond0: thanks for thinking along. I realize now that made a huge blunder: Euphonia had barely reached level 8 (which means no protection from Confusion effect yet). I was tired when I did the Mines and wrote about them last night, but that hardly justifies yet another display of my dubious gaming skills lol. See Alesia what I meant with 'stumbling through the game'?
Either way Euphonia is alive and well in the city of Baldur's Gate. And although the (arguably cheesy) Wand of Paralyzation as well as good luck in the Drasus fight have played a role, none of the NPCs have died yet, making this in a way my most successful BG1 playthrough to date. (I do realize that exposing herself to risk while trying to save a comrade, is likely to end Euphonia's life sooner rather than later, so maybe I should accept that it's preferable to have a ressurectable NPC die rather than Euphonia herself.)
@Dyara, I second Nishiki's words. We all do things that can be considered stupid, often due to a lack of focus, to underestimation of a specific encounter (many Charnames don't die in boss fights), or to a conscious decision to take an undue risk. My antics at the entrance to the Nahskel Mines are a fine example, and you'll find many more in this thread. I'm looking forward to reading about your new Dyara!
Thanks for all the condolences - even if scolding and blaming would be more in order, because this was really only just so stupid.
Understood. We've all made silly mistakes. It's nothing to be ashamed of. It's part of the fun, really.
The important thing is to have a sense of humor, take setbacks in stride, and play on.
Thanks for all the condolences - even if scolding and blaming would be more in order, because this was really only just so stupid.
It was something like 'just let me take out just one more before we start the real fight'. AC (vs. missiles) wasn't really good because... well I had lost the gierdle of piercing to Unshey and the boots I had given to Viconia (also the ankheg plate). I wanted to max hide/move silently so I could hide as soon as I was out of sight of any enemies.
That's understandable. A lot of players would want to equip stealth associated items with a character like yours.
In some circumstances, that would be an excellent idea. However, missile weapon defenses are key in BG1. Missile weapons are the greatest threat in many of the game's encounters- especially early on. The Bandit Camp is a prime example
I typically equip my characters with the Shield Amulet, the Girdle of Piercing, the Boots of Avoidance, and the Cloak of Displacement ASAP.
@Alesia: SCS is not installed. I might give it a try once Dyara had made it to Amn. But nevertheless if you like to upload the video, might be interesting to see not just for me but anybody.
Understood. Sorry. And I agree that it's better to play without SCS at first. Good luck with your next attempt!
Best,
A.
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