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[Grimwald the Wise]

Evel and isla's run came to a sudden end when they were ambushed by Lamalha and cohorts on the way to High Hedge to get better equipment. Evel used the necklace of missiles centred on himself twice. This eliminated two of the assassins without hurting himself overmuch. He then went to attack one of the spell-casters only to be held. Meanwhile Rigid Thinking was cast upon Isla. Isla went to attack Evel but upon being injured switched his attack to the enemy. Not good planning by the assassins! However it didn't matter as shortly afterwards Isla went wandering away from the conflict. The two assassins then converged on Evel and killed him before the hold person spell wore off. It might have worked out better if Evel had been using hammer and shield rather than two hammers. He might have survived long enough to be able to use healing.

He wasn't.

[Grimwald the Wise]

http://drakonis.org/

It was another no-reloader (maybe CKT or Epsil0?) who mentioned this site in a post a while back. Not everything there fits with BG, but there are a lot of good portraits.

 

Alesia complained that: "Drakonis.org has some nice stuff, but the females tend to be scantilly clad and excessively buxom."

 

Whilst the spell-casters at drakonis are indeed a bit scantily clad (some being virtually naked), the female paladins and clerics are fine.

 

You just have to go to the right folders for what you want. I have no problem with women being buxom so long as it is natural.

 

Indeed, vive la difference.

 

However in an adventuring scenario, near nakedness of either men or women seems rather out of place.

[Blackraven]

Nice link Alesia, thanks for sharing. Like you, I refuse to work with portraits of overly busty, half-naked females nor do I roll with bare-chested males for that matter. (I do sometimes crop images if I like the face).

Gerry, Gnome Cleric/Thief, update 2

Soon after we teamed up, Morwen and I decided not to travel together after all, for we proved to have differing and irreconcilable expectations and preferences as to how to work. E.g. she desired to travel in a large band whereas I wasn't convinced of the need of that, and I was becoming increasingly convinced of the importance of stealth, which was something she had little affinity with. (In reality I nerfed Morwen and her items, which included removing an innate flat +2 Thac0 bonus but when I continued, the latter bonus still showed up in her character record. It prompted me to remove her from the party.)

Since then I've prevailed in various violent encounters, with Hobgoblins, Huge Spiders, a Bounty Hunter at the FAI,

Spoiler

a rogue Ogre (in two instances, because the first time I fought it, a Dire Wolf intervened on the Ogre's behalf), and even Basilisks and a Gnome controlling them.

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My travails have furnished me with various powerful items, either bought or scavenged from the corpses of my fallen foes: Shadow Armor +3, Boots of Stealth, The One Gift Lost Necklace, a Sling +1 and two girdles: Elves' Bane and the Golden Girdle. The latter item I secured after a single Silence 15' Radius muffled a menacing looking hunting party of four.

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and after an oil of speed was quaffed for safety (i.e. map leaving) purposes in case of Hold spells coming my way. With an overflowing inventory and taking into account the limited duration of Silence 15' Radius I only bothered with two of the hunters.

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In Ulgoth's Beard I purchased Aule's Staff after I barely slipped by a band of four evil Elven archers unseen, at day time no less. Had I not, they would have surely killed me.

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Again, little progress to justify an update, but the main reason I'm posting is that I have an important question regarding stealth. In my BGT experience there's a brief cooldown period of one round when a character fails to hide, before a new stealth attempt can be undertaken, and in BGEE it's the same. On the other hand, if the character purposely breaks stealth, for example to start a conversation, or to pick something up from the ground, the character can immediately re-enter stealth mode because they never clouded their "hiding aura". However my current EE-setup does not function that way. Gerry has to wait till the next round before he can hide again, just like after a failed stealth attempt. Is this how EE is supposed to work? I don't believe this to be a mod-thing, unless it's to do with Dark Horizons or SCS v30 since those are the only new/updated mods I'm playing with. Does anyone know whether it's possible to use NearInfinity get rid of the cooldown period after deliberate stealth-breaking (as opposed to failed hiding attempts)? Being able to turn a corner and quickly hide again before a pursuer sees you is both realistic imo and desirable for my playstyle, for example in Irenicus' Dungeon.

[Aasim]

it's possible to use NearInfinity get rid of the cooldown period after deliberate stealth-breaking (as opposed to failed hiding attempts)? Being able to turn a corner and quickly hide again before a pursuer sees you is both realistic imo and desirable for my playstyle, for example in Irenicus' Dungeon.

Not possible. No mod can alter that period; it's an engine thing.

[Blackraven]

Not possible. No mod can alter that period; it's an engine thing.

Hmm, then I'll just have to accept that my Thief is going to be less powerful... although aTweak's Simple Thief Script does seem to make Gerry hide sometimes even when the stealth button is still grayed out.

[Alesia_BH]

Alesia complained that: "Drakonis.org has some nice stuff, but the females tend to be scantilly clad and excessively buxom."

 

Buxom in and of itself is fine. Nudity in and of itself is fine. They are both natural and beautiful. What's not fine is misogyny and objectification.

 

There are some wonderful portraits at Drakonis.org, but I find some problematic from a representation standpoint. I doubt I'm alone here.

 

I don't want to open a can of worms, and I respect everyone's right too choose whatever portraits they like. My only intention was to share additional options.

 

 

Best,

 

A. 

[Alesia_BH]

Condolences on the loss of Evel and Isla, Wise!

 

Best,

 

A.

[Grond0]

Again, little progress to justify an update, but the main reason I'm posting is that I have an important question regarding stealth. In my BGT experience there's a brief cooldown period of one round when a character fails to hide, before a new stealth attempt can be undertaken, and in BGEE it's the same. On the other hand, if the character purposely breaks stealth, for example to start a conversation, or to pick something up from the ground, the character can immediately re-enter stealth mode because they never clouded their "hiding aura". However my current EE-setup does not function that way. Gerry has to wait till the next round before he can hide again, just like after a failed stealth attempt. Is this how EE is supposed to work?

That is a significant difference in EE.  I presumed that it was a deliberate decision to nerf stealth in the belief that it was overpowered - but Aasim's response suggests perhaps it wasn't deliberate.

[Grond0]

Seguro {2} - halfling swashbuckler (4th and final update)

 

In the City Seguro initially targeted the tomes.  Jalantha survived a couple of traps along with a pair of horrors and arrows of biting, but had no answer to stealth attacks in the doorway.  

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Marek was initially horrified to see her, but even after mirrors were dispelled, shield and stoneskins let him survive long enough to regain his senses and force Seguro to use an invisibility potion before a couple of stealth shots finished the job.  

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Ramazith stood on a pair of traps.  While thinking about tomes Seguro also went to get the wisdom tome from Durlag's Tower.

 

A final acquisition was following Degrodel's clues to get the Cloak of Balduran.  Seguro then sneaked into the Iron Throne to investigate that before returning to Candlekeep.  She arrived invisibly there to dodge the ogre magi and used more invisibility to rob the tombs - avoiding all combat except with the greater basilisks (using the scroll taken from the Iron Throne).

 

After buying final supplies of potions and ammunition, Seguro embarked on the end-game combats.  Slythe was given no chance - he walked into a wall of traps.

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That got Seguro her final level - she finished just 0.5 HPs below average which was excellent after her poor start.

 

She also minimised risk at the palace by laying another full complement of traps before taking potions of mind focusing, defense, speed and power and adding in DUHM.  The traps killed one of the greater dopplegangers,

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although an opening horror was ineffective.  Dispelling arrows then tried to reduce the effectiveness of the attackers before a second horror sent one doppleganger running just as the assassin missed Seguro with a backstab for the second time.  

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When the shaman took enough damage for his morale to break the only real hope for the dopplegangers seemed to be the mage, so Seguro concentrated on hunting him down

Spoiler

- the others didn't then last long.  Belt was safely out of sight of Sarevok in a side room, so Seguro just left him Liia as a sacrifice until he was ready to disappear.

 

In the maze she started killing the enemies, but her lack of a decent melee weapon or exceptional strength made the doom guards hard work and she eventually left the second one and just carried on invisibly.  At the temple she laid some traps before using a PfM scroll and potion of defense before showing herself to Sarevok and then disappearing when he chased her.

Spoiler

 

She tried wandering around for a while detecting illusions, but without any success, so just went ahead and used an exploding arrow on Diarmid.   Angelo finally deigned to show himself and his buffs were continually stripped by dispelling arrows until he eventually gave in.

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A succession of stealth shot exploding arrows then killed the other acolytes.  

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The skeleton warriors soon joined them - regeneration potions sorting out their criticals - leaving Sarevok alone.

 

Normally stealth melee attacks on him are more efficient, but with Seguro's melee being so poor I decided to stick to stealth shots with exploding arrows - and it didn't take long for those to take their toll.  

Spoiler

Seguro then ran back invisibly to Duke Belt and has just arrived in Athkatla.

[Blackraven]

Congratulations Grond0, with Seguro the 2nd's success!
Nice use of exploding arrows (never use those myself).

Re: the stealth cooldown in EE, a no-reload friend from the BG forums told me the following:

@Blackraven I can answer your question about stealth. This is how they changed stealth to "nerf" Shadowdancers some time ago. You just need to leave shadows a few seconds before so that your cooldown come back, still hidden, then you can break stealth.
You'll get used to it very soon, with my F/M/T I have the habit to enter stealth, and immediately click on my weapon slot to start to leave shadows.

[Alesia_BH]

Congrats Grond0!

 

I'm glad to see Seguro is on the way!

 

Best,

 

A.

[corey_russell]

Nice work Grond0! I hope you can keep it up in Amn.

[Grimwald the Wise]

Buxom in and of itself is fine. Nudity in and of itself is fine. They are both natural and beautiful. What's not fine is misogyny and objectification.

 

There are some wonderful portraits at Drakonis.org, but I find some problematic from a representation standpoint. I doubt I'm alone here.

 

I don't want to open a can of worms, and I respect everyone's right too choose whatever portraits they like. My only intention was to share additional options.

 

 

Best,

 

A. 

 

Agree with you 100%. IMO there is a time and a place for nakedness, and it is not on the battlefield. Others can disagree if they want. That's their choice.

 

Having said that, nakedness for barbarians could well be appropriate as reports of the war between Rome and Boudicca indicate that the Briton warriors, both male and female were often naked..

[Alesia_BH]

Agree with you 100%. IMO there is a time and a place for nakedness, and it is not on the battlefield. Others can disagree if they want. That's their choice.

 

I think we're on the same page, Wise.

 

I'll note though that there is a topless warrior on http://char-portraits.tumblr.com/that I'm absolutely fine with because the subject is treated with respect and the character is empowered and complex. Additionally, there are some clothed portraits which make me uncomfortable. The issue isn't nudity to me so much as whether the woman is portrayed as an object or a person.

 

Where exactly is the line? I have no idea. When Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart was asked to define obscenity he said "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description, and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it." I feel the same way about objectification. It's not one thing. And it's hard to describe. But I know it when I see it. 

 

Anyhoo. Everyone should make their own choices. Options are good. Being mindful of the socio-cultural implications of representations isn't a horrible idea.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Grond0]

Alac {3) - dwarf fighter/thief (update 1)

 

Nearly a year ago I had 2 attempts at completing the trilogy in a day (one very short, so only on one day).  I'm not expecting to have any interruptions today, so am having another go.  I can't really remember the test run I did for this, but am working off a script I developed at that time - see thread Ascension in a day (which I now realise is a potentially misleading title as the installation is just basic BGT).

 

It's just after 3 am local time and the clock is ticking ...

[Blackraven]

Here's wishing for Alac's speedy ascension!

[Grond0]

Alac {3) - dwarf fighter/thief (2nd and final update)

 

Thanks Blackraven.  So far, so good.  There were no major problems with BG1 and Alac has just told Imoen to go away in Jon's dungeon.  The clock is still running - currently at 1:51, so slightly ahead of my target for BG1.  I did take a few screenshots and, if Alac is eventually successful, will upload those later and comment on a few slight deviations from my written script.  In the meantime here's his current character record - at F7 / T8 as intended at this stage.

 

[Alesia_BH]

Good luck Grond0!

 

I think this is a terrible idea, and I want no part of it.

 

(But it's also kind of awesome.)

 

Have fun, and go get Mel!

 

Best,

 

A.

[Grond0]

Not looking so good to me either .  I got a bit careless with Mekrath when attacking him with just a potion of invulnerability for protection.  He cast a lightning bolt that Alac tried to dodge the bounce of - and failed.

 

It's still early though, so I'll have another go ...

[Alesia_BH]

 

It's still early though, so I'll have another go ...

 

Understood. If it's going to be an all nighter, just stick with coffee and mate. Lay off the hard stuff.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Grond0]

Alac {4) - dwarf fighter/thief (1st and final update)

 

OK.  Sarevok is definitely having a bad morning.  The question is will Jon and Mel have a good day?

 

Alac once more had no particular problems getting through BG1.  I haven't been monitoring HPs, but see from his record that this incarnation is slightly worse off that the previous one.  Let's see if that encourages him to take a bit more care.

 

I've kept the stopwatch running from the start of the session, but looking at the time recorded for my last post BG1 took about 1:45 - marginally quicker than the first attempt.

 

 

Thanks Alesia - I was thinking maybe chocolate for the caffein infusion later, but for now I think it's about time for a quick breakfast.

[Alesia_BH]

Thanks Alesia

 

You're welcome. And thank you for reminding me to eat my chocolate.

 

Best,

 

A.

 

Btw. Go Alac!

[Blind_Visionary]

Go Alac and Grond0! 

 

I think this one day challenge is absolutely inconcievable... and awesome.

 

It reminds me of Alex Honnold the climber: he did the three biggest walls in Yosemite alone in 19 hours and somehow didn't die. Here's to you and your big walls: Sarevok, Jon, Mel. I hope you come out on top!

[Golden28]

OMG Grond0 thats epic..

 

Im feeling a certain itch as well.. an itch for another run.. not good ..

 

Cheers!

[Alesia_BH]

Welcome back, Golden!

 

We're looking forward to the next Eren.

 

Best,

 

A.