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[Grond0]

Phantasmic 6 {7} - monks party (3rd and final update)

 

In the City the monks had a close call against Desreta's potion backstabs.  

Spoiler

Shortly after that a nearby basilisk got everyone up to level 7.  Spectre took the ogre gauntlets and put those to good use against Marek.  

Spoiler

Despite the extra HPs a particularly vicious lightning bolt from one of Shangalar's daughters accounted for Spook, though she didn't have much time to enjoy her success.

Spoiler

 

Ramazith was nowhere to be found (the monks had already killed Ragefast), so they missed out on his +2 ring.  Drelik, who could have been a problem using invisible backstabs, didn't survive an opening assault.  

Spoiler

However, I didn't bother closely managing the fight against his employer - with the result Phantom died (getting raised next door before cheering from the sidelines as the others finished off the fight).

 

At the Iron Throne a warm welcome was more effective this time than last - taking out one of the Shennaras as well as a couple of the casters.  

Spoiler

A follow-up killed the other Shennara and the remaining opponents died with little fuss.

Spoiler

The same wasn't true with the Mountain Maulers though where I wasn't monitoring damage and poor old Phantom died once more.

 

After completing everything they wanted to do in the City they travelled to Candlekeep.  On arrival everyone took a potion of invisibility

Spoiler

- only to find one of the ogre mages had opened their spell book with glitterdust!  That resulted in a couple of magic blocking potions being taken while everyone ran round the back of Candlekeep.  Using stealth, and with the ogre mages formation broken up, finishing them off was easy.

 

In the Candlekeep tombs, rushing slightly resulted in setting off the repeating lightning trap with everyone in a vulnerable position - cue a mass gulping of potions (although in fact the lightning veered off down a side passage and missed everyone else anyway).

Spoiler

There was another careless moment after killing Prat when a web trap went off in an area already explored by a stealthed monk using ring of freedom - that nearly cost Phantom another life.

 

Back in the City they went straight for Slythe with no more mucking about - wand blasts and a few missiles to finish for him.

Spoiler

Krystin was left alone as they moved on to the Palace.  Potions were used there before Bhaal horror sent the shaman running and wand blasts helped subdue the mage and assassin.  Spirit bravely took on the job of getting Sarevok to chase her - picking up a couple of hits in the process, but successfully saving Liia as well as Belt.

Spoiler

 

The enemies on a straight line in the maze were killed, as were the Undercity party, but the monks didn't try and chase any more to get their final level.  In the temple Spectre used a potion of invisibility to dump Sarevok in a corner.  Angelo was tempted out on his own, but still provided a significant challenge - defensive spells, fire resistance, good AC and multiple mirror images making him hard to damage.  The party quaffed a number of potions during that to ensure no one would get scared, charmed or confused and inadvertently activate the other enemies.  However, eventually Angelo ran out of protection and died in a few wand blasts.

Spoiler

 

Semaj died in Necklace fireballs.  To be safe the monks then hung around until Diarmid's PfM scroll expired in order to burn him up as well with the last of their fireball capacity - along with Tazok.  Diarmid's death also got everyone up to level 8.  

Spoiler

Another good set of rolls meant the group as a whole ended with significantly above average HPs, although half of them are marginally below average.

 

With the skeleton warriors all dead Sarevok was invited out for a run around.  That took a while, but he never got an attack in.  

Spoiler

As everyone except Chimera was already injured I decided against going for a melee finish this time.  The Phantasmic 6 have reported in to Duke Belt and quickly gone through the dungeon after their transition to Athkatla.

 

Chimera - L8, 55 HPs, 119 kills

Spectre - L8, 52 HPs, 218 kills, 1 death

Phantom - L8, 54 HPs, 143 kills, 3 deaths

Wraith - L8, 70 HPs, 168 kills, 0 deaths

Spook - L8, 64 HPs, 150 kills, 2 deaths

Spirit - L8, 59 HPs, 127 kills, 0 deaths

[Serg BlackStrider]

Nice performance, Blackraven! Keep on it!

 

And I'm glad Phantasmic 6 have made it this time, Grond0! Stay focused in Amn!

[Grimwald the Wise]

Sorry to hear about your adventures in the flooded mine Blackraven.  That seems to be a fairly common bug - particularly in multiplayer games.  For that particular one I'm happy to just use the console to move the stranded characters outside.

 

Why on earth not?

[Blackraven]

Congratulations Grond0! I had to scroll quickly down to see what made your latest update final, and was very glad to see Sarevok down
Careful in Amn (at least until your Monks become superpowerful).

 

Thanks everyone for their reactions. I think RPing a disagreement, as suggested by Alesia, makes sense in this case. I'll think of something. 
CLUA could be a solution for future situations.

[Epsil0]

Paladins have a minimum of 17 CHA for a reason, right? 

 

Regardless, Esther has indeed fallen quickly due to foolishness. Taking on the basilisk area party without Fear immunity in a fair fight is... if not impossible, gambling with the dice. Horror + MAAs + Drain is killer. I've restarted Benoni, though I think I might play an Avenger first.

[Grond0]

Phantasmic 6 {8} - monks party (update 1)

 

The party started by completing all the quests in Candlekeep.  Normally I only do some of them, so that's an indication of an intention to take this run seriously.  Killing Xzar and Montaron for their equipment generated just enough funds to buy the Wand of Sleep at High Hedge.

 

Some spiders in Beregost got them their first level and a decent set of rolls to begin with.  They vacuumed the area to the south, both to raise money for throwing daggers / +1 sling and as a start of XP raising.  Although XP in BG1 takes a long time to acquire, I think it can probably be done at less risk than in BG2, so they will be attempting to do a lot of work in the current game.

 

To avoid any danger of bandit ambushes they travelled via High Hedge to the Lighthouse and then on to the old mine site.  Exploring that got everyone to level 3 and again slightly above average rolls.  They then got a lift to Nashkel with Brage after helping Charleston Nib at the old mine site.

 

After clearing Nashkel and the Carnival they went south to the Nashkel mine area.  Their first nasty moment was there when, retreating from one winter wolf (they have quite a short range breath weapon, so can safely be shot if you're careful), they ran into another that had appeared on an encounter spot they'd just gone over - a mod that prevented spawn checks more than, say, once per hour would be nice . Phantom fortunately made his saving throw, but was still quite badly wounded.

Spoiler

However, a bit of fancy manoeuvring prevented any further attacks on him and the monks went on to clear that area.  Several more winter wolves were killed in the process, getting everyone up to level 4 - a poor set of rolls there bringing the party pretty much back down to average.

 

Chimera - L4, 26 HPs, 33 kills

Spectre - L4, 30 HPs, 36 kills, 0 deaths

Phantom - L4, 29 HPs, 25 kills, 0 deaths

Wraith - L4, 32 HPs, 38 kills, 0 deaths

Spook - L4, 30 HPs, 21 kills, 0 deaths

Spirit - L4, 31 HPs, 36 kills, 0 deaths

[Grond0]

Phantasmic 6 {8} - monks party (update 2)

 

In the Cloud Peaks the monks attempted their first mass stunning attack on Sendai's companions.  They are formidable archers, but not great in melee and there wasn't much risk there even if stunning had failed - but it didn't.

Spoiler

 

Continuing on through the mountains they racked up the XP with lots of winter wolves, bears and ogre berserkers - you can see from this inventory shot that the monks could fund a new abbey by trading in pelts .

Spoiler

Edit: actually you probably can't as the resolution is not good enough even using ctrl+ to expand the screen .  From memory there were 18 pelts in that stack.

That meant that after clearing Laurel's area with the death of Neville everyone was up to level 5.  

Spoiler

The number of individual enemies killed is high, so the slight unevenness in XP distribution means that Chimera (in last place in the group) had nearly 400 XP less than Spectre at that point.

 

Another poor set of rolls slipped the group below average HPs, but I still decided they had enough to take on Borda safely.  The transition to that area has the risk of an ogre mage ambush and one of those duly appeared.  However, it had no companions and was not able to make much of an impression.

Spoiler

As it happened, neither did Borda - his magic resistance doing him no good against stunning blows (that was the first time all the monks had managed to get into stealth for a joint attack).

Spoiler

 

The remainder of the xvart village provided no significant opposition to finish off the Cloud Peaks.  Still in the south they picked up Samuel before taking him to the FAI - picking up the ogre belt on the way.  Back in the south they cleared the area immediately north of Nashkel.  That included a vampiric wolf, but with 5 of them now having magical melee weapons (all proficient) they were able to kill it reasonably quickly.

Spoiler

 

There was a much more dangerous moment when I failed to take care approaching Ioin Gallchobair and his archers.  Withdrawing from first contact I set an ambush behind a rock, only to find they sneakily approached from the other side.  That left Spook exposed and he only just got out of range in time.  

Spoiler

That was symptomatic of having been playing too long and losing concentration.  However, rather than stop there I tried to clear one more area in order to have finished all the areas south of Nashkel.  That led to a series of bad decisions at the Valley of the Tombs and cost Spectre a life.  Attacking an ankheg near the Revenant's tomb I sent Spectre in under stealth to attack a kobold next to the ankheg - expecting it to react by responding in melee (Spectre could then have kept moving slightly away from the ankheg causing it to keep shifting position while missiles kept hitting it even underground).  When it didn't it would have made sense for everyone else to attack in melee - which would have killed the ankheg in seconds.  I couldn't be bothered to switch weapons on everyone though and kept attacking at range.  When the ankheg hit Spectre for 13 damage - taking her to 23 HPs - she should have immediately retreated.  However, it took me several seconds to react and, as a result, the ankheg got an attack in before she was quite out of range.  That was unfortunately a critical hit - Chimera had no time to apply a CLW and I decided not to use a potion, but just hope against hope for a low damage roll ...

Spoiler

 

As that death would be likely to be the trigger for further fatalities I took a break there.

 

Chimera - L5, 29 HPs, 128 kills

Spectre - L5, 36 HPs, 130 kills, 1 death

Phantom - L5, 39 HPs, 115 kills, 0 deaths

Wraith - L5, 39 HPs, 127 kills, 0 deaths

Spook - L5, 33 HPs, 117 kills, 0 deaths

Spirit - L5, 36 HPs, 110 kills, 0 deaths

[Epsil0]

Benoni (the 4th), third update.

The fourth, since the third one was found outside the Cloakwood mines with no recollection of who he was or how he’d gotten there. Since it’s been a month and more, here’s the first and second updates:

Update 1: http://forum.bioware...nge/?p=19318007

Update 2: http://forum.bioware...7#entry19341020

I notice that the stats in my first update are now incorrect. Benoni is now being played as a 14/19/17 (18 after tome)/15/10/10 Elf.

 

Ah, thank you for the wine. A toast, then, to the Flaming Fist. I do not recall meeting any of you in Nashkel itself. If I recall, the town has its own small militia, under the control of their mayor, Berrun Ghastkill. A curious name, that. I wonder what ghast met its end to his sword? No matter, no matter. I stray from my tale.

 

I had remembered that the town boasted one of the Temples of Helm. It made my decision to talk to Berrun a little easier: with all the truth-telling divinations they employ, the priesthood of Helm only further corroborated my story. You could call one here, if you doubt my words. Anyways, Berrun still doubted me for a bit, but conceded that I may as well know the troubles the mine was having. The miners were complaining of creaking laughter coming from, as they said, the very earth itself. And as captain of the guard, I’m sure you’ve known that the iron from that mine, until quite recently, could not be trusted in a fierce struggle. A sword of my own broke fighting against a basilisk’s thick hide, though that’s neither here nor there.

 

And so, Scar, what could I do but investigate? I had not as of yet connected this to my own troubles, save for the broken sword, but what fortune was given to me! I was waylaid slightly in the matter of Prism and Greywolf - the bounty-hunter decided to switch to me as his target, and was killed for his troubles - but I went to investigate the mines anyways. I’m sure you’ve heard what was found, Scar: hundreds upon hundreds of kobolds! My skill in avoiding people came in help here, as I silently wove through the reptilian hordes. They were putting some oil into the carts of iron, and immediately I was curious. What would it benefit them to weaken the iron? There had to be someone else. So deeper it was into the mines, through darkness and dankness.

 

I’ll spare you the rest of the details of exploring that wretched mine until I came across the living quarters of one Mulahey. There was an elven spell caster in there as well, more depressing than Eeyore! Oh, you’ve never heard of him? He’s a, ah, fictional character in one of the tomes that I’ve happened across in the library. Tales of an anthropomorphic bear named Winnie. So maybe Imoen’s description of me as a bookworm was more correct than I like to admit. Anyways, Xan, the mage, had been captured by Mulahey, and told me about his operations. He controlled the kobolds, and the iron would be contaminated as long as he was allowed to stay down in the mines.

 

I considered asking the mayor for help in taking this ringleader down, but I felt as though there was no time. I had slain a few kobolds that had spotted me, despite my wariness, and they would be found and the defenses tightened. On top of that, while Berrun might tolerate me, he was a learned man, and the militia might not have followed one of my coloring willingly. I tell you this, Scar, to attempt to absolve myself of this. What was I to do? I decided to fight Mulahey myself, in the end. He was, it turns out, a priest of Cyric and no mean fighter himself. I bested him though, and he at first pleaded with me to spare him.

 

I was inclined to do so, and was going to bring him to proper justice, but as soon as he got within ear range of more kobolds, he started making this row. My goodness, Scar, the ruckus he made! We were swarmed by kobolds in a minute, though my skill prevailed over their numbers. I then became judge, jury, and executioner to Mulahey. Again, what else could I do? Attempt to carry him past the hordes of kobolds? Even gagged, I think he could make enough noise to get me killed. I pray you think no worse of me than before, Scar. I still cannot see what else I could have done.

 

I returned to Berrun with notes that I had found around Mulahey’s quarters. He received me with a heroes welcome and a reward, and in a short time, there were festivities in town about the soon-to-be-over crisis. The mayor made an announcement about my part in figuring out the problem and cutting off the snake at the head. We were making plans about flushing the rest of the kobolds from the mines in a fiery assault.

 

But things became sour fast. I was, at my request, to sleep in an actual bed for the first time since I had left Candlekeep. I didn’t even try to ask at any inn, you see, and I’m not enough of a scoundrel to break into someone’s house just for a night’s sleep. It hadn’t even been a day, Scar, just a few hours in the public, and already two assassins had been sent to kill me! It wasn’t even prejudice as Berrun had feared, but both were carrying letters promising a not insignificant amount of gold for my head. And not just any of my kind, the bounty was for me alone. Now Greywolf’s actions make a bit more sense, don’t you think, in switching from Prism to me?

 

I left the next morning, all thoughts of me spearheading the assault at the mines gone. The assassins made me decide to be like smoke in the wind, there one moment, and gone the next. Staying anywhere public was an impossibility. I fear that already assassins may have been sent out against me here, though I trust that your Fist is uncorrupt enough. All leads I had, though, pointed to a certain Tranzig that was staying at Beregost. He was a mage, and a courier between the bandit camp to the east of here and the mines. I won’t bore you with the battle. A Fist presence had just arrived in Beregost, and I turned the messenger over to them. I hope he’s still in your care? Anyways, the coward had told me the area of the camp, but this time I was too wise to assault there immediately. I travelled for a week up and down the Sword Coast, just staying low and practicing my swordplay while my enemies waited for my next move, and I for theirs.

[Grond0]

Phantasmic 6 {8} - monks party (3rd and final update)

 

Back at the Valley of the Tombs the monks took revenge on the ankheg before equipping their magic weapons for the Revenant.  Narcillicus was stunned before he could summon any jellies.

 

Moving on to the Nashkel Mine my heart was no longer really in the run after Spectre's death and I allowed the monks to use attack all for much of the time.  That meant they took far more damage than they might have done, but no-one was hurt too badly.  The kobold shaman did manage to scare Chimera away, but all enemies and traps behind him had already been eliminated so there were no worries there.  After resting in Mulahey's cave the cleric was stunned before he could cast anything.

 

Nimbul and Tranzig both died without casting from stealth attacks.  While in Beregost the monks collected a reward from Bjornin - taking reputation to 20, as well as dealing with Karlat and Silke.

 

On the way up to Ulgoth's Beard they stopped at the ankheg area and cleared the nest without trouble.  Outside, they spotted a group of 3 ankhegs near the farmer and one of the monks showed themselves to the closest ankheg to pull it away from its companions.  The monks then mass attacked with the intention of getting a quick kill.  There was indeed a quick kill - but it wasn't the ankheg.  I wasn't monitoring the attack closely, but Chimera was towards the rear of the party so I hadn't expected him to be attacked.  I imagine though that the other monks had all successfully hidden, leaving Chimera as the nearest viable target ...

Spoiler

[Blackraven]

Ouch Grond0...

Keeping those Monks alive sure looks like hard work. I hope they're still fun.

 

Bartholomew, 5th & final BG1 report

With Finch's death still weighing on his mind, and with Quayle's sudden and inexplicable departure on bad terms, Bart had an unpleasant journey through the Cloakwood back to civilization. However, as time wore on, his mood improved. He turned frequently to his deity Baravar Cloakshadow, and there was always Imoen, his dearest friend who helped him remember not to lose his sense of humor and who moved him with a birthday gift, an amulet she'd secretly crafted in her own time.

Spoiler

Truth be told, in Baldur's Gate the duo had a great time. There was a lot of work for them in the big city. Much of it consisted in jobs that didn't necessarily involve killing but rather required sophistry, guile or bluff. Exactly the type of business the two rogues liked best.

Intelligent wizards like Ragefast, Ramazith, and Degrodel were all outwitted by the Gnomes. The duo also pulled off a number of burglaries of high profile buildings. These included the Hall of Wonders, where Imoen miraculously escaped the clutches of at least 15 Flaming Fist Enforcers,

Spoiler

the Silvershield Estate, and the Flaming Fist Compound. They made new some friends at the Thieves Guild in Black Lily, Rededge, and Narlen Darwalk who stopped guildmaster Alatos and a Haalruan wizardfrom betraying the Gnomes. They also met with their old friend Aldeth Sashenstar, and cleared his trading coster of Doppelgangers. An association with the Flaming Fist resulted in the Gnomes exposing a Doppelganger infiltration at the Seven Suns trading consortium and solving a murder mystery in the sewers.

The Gnomes survived a lethal food poisoning at the hands of Iron Throne employees by timely acquiring the antidote from one of the Throne lackeys,

Spoiler

and by way of payback, they wreaked havoc at the Irone Throne regional HQ, with a Flaming Fist mandate. By then the duo had become a well-attuned team. They never got into trouble. Potentially dangerous spells cast at them were easily neutralized with potions, oils of speed gave the duo a movement advantage, wands were used, and arrows of dispelling fired by Imoen at buffed opponents allowed Bart to land a number of devastating backstabs.

Spoiler

There was one uncomfortable moment for Bart: he got Spooked at one point by a wizard named Alai. His boots of speed kept the Gnome on the move though, and suffered no serious injuries even though Alai Hasted the warrior Zhalimar Cloudwulfe.

There was some collateral damage in the death of the bartender. The consequences of that event for the duo's reputation facilitated Bart's obtaining of the Divine Wrath Bhaalpower that Blackraven likes so much.

The Gnomes learned that the Iron Throne leaders were in Candlekeep, and received a book from Duke Eltan in order to be allowed access to the citadel and continue their crusade. They got framed by Sarevok, who got them arrested for killing the Iron Throne leaders, but Tethtoril teleported the Gnomes to the catacombs below Candlekeep before they could be transported to Baldur's Gate for their sentencing. Vaults were emptied, Doppelgangers bypassed, and soon Bart and Imoen found themselves on the surface again.
(A lot of gold was wasted at the FAI when I discovered that the Gnomes had started donating at the temple of Gellana Mirrorshade before having rested for the second Divine Wrath Bhaalpower. In my BGT install BG2 donation fees apply in BG1. Reputation was lowered again, with the help of a Bard at the FAI, before the party rested and continued donating. The thing is Divine Wrath is really good, while Divine Might = DUHM, of which Bart hasplenty already as a Cleric.)

Back in Baldur's Gate the companions saved Duke Eltan from a Doppelganger 'healer' who was actually poisoning him, and delivered him into the care of the Harbormaster. Vay-ya and Desreta relinquished a pair of Gauntlets of Ogre Power to Bart.

Spoiler

In the Undercellars, summons kept the assassins Slythe and Krystin busy, so that Imoen could dispel invisibilities with her Detect Illusions skill, and buffs with her arrows of dispelling.

Spoiler

(I hardly buffed here, only Stoneskins and AoE PfE I just made sure to keep auras clear to counter Krystin's spells in necessary.)

 

Cythandria, who had Sarevok's diary, and her Golems were next (all backstabs), and then the one part of the game where I always concentrate: the Ducal Palace. No role-playing here, didn't want the game to end in the palace.
I think that if approached every battle the way I approach the Ducal Palace, I might have pulled off a no-reload trilogy success by now. Both Bart and Immy buffed extensively. Bart started with violet potion and mitigating dex/con potions. The two also used mind focusing, defense, speed, power, and magic shielding. Five Skeletons were summoned and PfE by Bart, and Hasted by Imoen. Bart also cast Remove Fear. Bart set two snares (he had 80 Set Traps, but with his artificial 24 Dex, his score was 100 at that moment). Phials of poison were used to speed up the Greater Doppelgangers' dying. Immy applied the poison on her arrows of dispelling, Bart on his staff. The battle was over very soon, with both Dukes surviving.

Spoiler

The duo presented evidence of Sarevok's true intentions to Duke Belt, and rushed after Sarevok when he escaped the palace with the wizard Winski Perorate, through a maze, past awar party in the undercity, into a temple of Bhaal. The Gnomes refreshed a few buffs (speed, magic protection potions) and engaged Sarevok and few others. For the first time, neither Angelo nor Semaj managed to remove Bart's Str/Dex/Con buffs. This was very pleasing. Both quite stealthy, Bart and Immy explored the temple a bit, and found Angelo on his own. Imoen repeatedly failed to dispel Angelo's buffs and suffered some electricity damage from a wand he used. When she did eventually dispel, he didn't last long, thanks to Bart's stabs, even though he did injure Immy with triggered Magic Missiles.

Spoiler

Semaj, their next target, was dispelled much faster, and brought down by Bart with another backstab.

Spoiler

The others, including Sarevok, had no answer to the Gnomes' combination of backstabs (Bart) and ranged fire (Imoen) either. Imoen, with still two memorized Stoneskins even meleed Sarevok for a while, after she dispelled his Haste.

Spoiler

 

Final BG1 stats:

- Bartholomew, Cleric/Thief lvl 7/8, 67 HPs, 384 kills (Angelo)
- Imoen, Illusionist/Thief lvl 7/8, 53 HPs, 86 kills (Jalantha Mistmyr), 2 deaths (early-game ambush, Bassilus Unholy Blight)

Former companion:
- Quayle, Cleric/Illusionist, 1 death (Shoal the Nereid)

[Borco]

Cimorene, elven sorceress, 3rd entry:

 

Sword Coast surely has its attractions. However, in any adventurer’s career there’s always this point when it eventually becomes unavoidable to focus their attention on some more serious socio-political issues, of likes of which the iron crisis would be a good example.

 

Since leaving Candlekeep, Cimorence has already dealt with various brigands, madmen and other unsavoury sort. Foul magery and deceit seemed to be the daily bread around here, whereas friendship and virtue was hard to come by. She never really held too much faith in mankind and believed that even the most basic principles of morality often leaned on the verge of the circumstances. H0mo homini lupus est as Tethoril used say... However, the emerging anarchy in the region was something completely new and unknown. And then there was a chance she could actually change something. So our Cimorene travelled to Naskhel mines in search of the first answers.

 

Defeating Greywolf near the mines’ entrance has been an easy feat, as already her defensive magic was superior to the majority of comparable meele fighters.

Spoiler

 

She then travelled through the dungeon invisible in order to avoid those pesky kobolds, triggering some minor traps in the process. One thing bugs me here and that is the series of MM traps just before the exit from level 3. Cimorence, with her Shield activated as usually, triggered these as well and, to her (and mine) astonishment, the missiles actually pierced the spell protection. Low level mages beware!

Spoiler

 

Down in the cavern, Mulahey tried to a few debilitating spells but Cimorene was able to vanish under her invisibility spell before he could finish the respective incantations. Avoiding any Free Action effect allowed her to remain hasted and the half-orc was unable to withstand the quick burst of MMMs. His kobold and skeleton minions got incinerated by the Necklace of Missiles shortly thereafter.

 

Back on the surface, Cimorene ran into some more bloodthirsty humans. She was able to blast the entire femme fatale group from afar, using Web and wands, while finishing the unpleasantly surprised survivors with MMs. Green protection scroll then helped her against the undead residing in the crypts (I’ll probably skip the item next time due to the serious amount of cheese involved).

 

Now I knew that Narcillicus Harwilliger would likely be a challenging foe. I was expecting Improved Invisibility and Remove Magic on his part, while being seriously annoyed by the Mustard Jellies’ spits. Cimorene’s partial pre-buff was sufficient to lure our his Remove Magic after which she’s been able separate the enemies. Having quaffed a Potion of Absorption as a last resort defence against potential Lightning Bolts she then went on to play invisibility “hide’n’seek”. MMMs allowed her to push on offence with surprising attacks while leaving her initiative ready for potential counter-moves with spells/items. With Narcillicus dead, she activated full defences, got a Free Action from a potion, determined to finish the jellies. She was able to take down the first one but has been running short of effective arsenal. Without Haste, magical darts could not have been an option, as the essential defensive spells would not last long enough. She knew she’d have to deal with remaining abomination some other day and went invisible to escape.

 

Cimorene proceeded to Nashkel via the carnival grounds where she rested to regain strength before seeing the mayor. Back in town she collected a fair reward for her efforts and was unable to return a certain family greenstone ring due to locked door.

 

Thereafter she met Nimbul in front of the inn. This Nimbul was, however, not the usual guy-that-gets-shot-down-before-finishing-his-first-intimidating-comment. Unable to blind him, Cimorene had to go invisible in order to wait out his Mirror Images in safety (it is to be noted that Remove Magic had not been accessible to Cimorene yet). Seeing what happened, he vanished as well, making things a lot more complicated than expected. Long story short…our sorceress ended up sleeping from Emotion spell. However, having been able to pull off another Invisibility spell in advance, allowed her to have a pleasant nap instead of being chopped to pieces by an angry bard (which would have been a shame indeed).

Spoiler

 

With his spellbook mostly depleted, Nimbul was no longer a match for Cimorence’s untapped resources.

 

Off she goes to Feldepost’s.           

[Grond0]

Ouch Grond0...

Keeping those Monks alive sure looks like hard work. I hope they're still fun.

That last run was fairly hard work as I was consistently pushing them to do encounters at the edge of their capabilities rather than going for the high value XP early on.  I'll probably make life for them a bit easier next time.

 

Well done with the gnomes - keep it going in BG2 .

[Serg BlackStrider]

Seems, you are never short of ideas to spice the life up for your Monks, huh, Grond0? 

 

Nice write-ups both Blackraven (grats on excellent performance in ToSC as usual. Wish, you'll keep on that in Amn!) and Borco! Stay tuned!

[Grond0]

Phantasmic 6 {9} - monks party (update 1)

 

With these monk runs almost into double figures this will probably be their last attempt - at least for now.  

 

This time they're making things easier for themselves by going for some high value XP early on.  As a result they've already completed the basilisk area with a comfortable victory over Kirian's gang - the party getting to level 4 there.

Spoiler

 

In order to double their healing capability (no healing potions being used this run), the monks next went to the Nashkel Mine.  Both the kobold shaman and chief were stunned to make progress past them easy

Spoiler

and the same fate befell Mulahey.

Spoiler

 

The monks will be looking to boost their reputation next.

 

Chimera - L4, 26 HPs, 43 kills

Spectre - L4, 24 HPs, 30 kills, 0 deaths

Phantom - L4, 28 HPs, 29 kills, 0 deaths

Wraith - L4, 29 HPs, 28 kills, 0 deaths

Spook - L4, 30 HPs, 28 kills, 0 deaths

Spirit - L4, 33 HPs, 37 kills, 0 deaths

[Grond0]

Phantasmic 6 {9} - monks party (2nd and final update)

 

A single blow was more than enough for Nimbul before the monks went to do some reputation quests.  

 

It wasn't long though before they came across an ogre mage ambush (I had tried travelling several areas at once rather than use single area transitions to avoid that possibility).  I thought the chances of someone being killed in that were pretty low at level 4, but that presumes the opposition is not determined to be vicious - as in this case.

 

The ogre mage initially cast sleep - putting one of the monks out of action.  The next spell was a chromatic orb, which stunned Spectre.  Alert to the danger of the ogre mage going to attack her I had 2 of the other monks attack it in melee.  It would respond to those by attacking back, but each time they retreated a step or two to avoid being hit themselves the ogre mage resumed advancing towards Spectre.  After several of those little dances the ogre mage reached her and a blow with its sword saw her critically injured.  I'm not sure why the AI was so clearly prioritising an attack on her - possibly because she had the fewest HPs?

 

In a last ditch effort to save her 3 of the monks attacked with stunning blows.  One hit, but the ogre mage saved and then launched a magic missile at Spectre to finish her off.  With that early casualty I'll abandon the run there.

[Grimwald the Wise]

All the best for your next run Grond0. What will it be next?

[Alesia_BH]

Sorry to hear that, Grond0. 

 

What about Aasim's idea: 6 barbarians?

 

Best,

 

A.

[corey_russell]

Just a brief note about Corthief V - he has a just a few more areas left to explore then will need to crash the bandit camp (as a group of berserkers, we obviously need Khosann's full plate). Still level 6. Mondays are always super busy for me (work (8 hours) + dinner (30 min) + chess club (4.5 hours)), so couldn't do anything yesterday, but I plan to take Corthief V out adventuring tonight.

[Grond0]

Phantasmic 6 {10} - monks party (update 1)

 

I said before the start of the last run I would do one or two more attempts with the monks.  I was thinking that would probably be only one, but the unfortunate circumstances and early end to the previous attempt decided me to make it two!  I also feel that the monks haven't yet had a proper opportunity to see how far they can go, so will be aiming to keep them safe in BG1.  That's always difficult for someone addicted to risk, but so far they have been pretty safe - the only worrying moment being an ambush including a skeleton archer and darter.

Spoiler

 

They stayed off the main roads to get down to Nashkel and avoided the transition to the West of Nashkel where an ogre mage can spawn.  They've picked up a few reputation increases on the way, acquired Meilum's bracers and just finished clearing the basilisk area - here Kirian & co are all stunned and paralysed and only able to escape by way of death.

Spoiler

 

Chimera - L4, 25 HPs, 23 kills

Spectre - L4, 24 HPs, 24 kills, 0 deaths

Phantom - L4, 39 HPs, 18 kills, 0 deaths

Wraith - L4, 34 HPs, 15 kills, 0 deaths

Spook - L4, 29 HPs, 8 kills, 0 deaths

Spirit - L4, 25 HPs, 6 kills, 0 deaths

[corey_russell]

Corthief V the level 7 human berserker, along with his 4 other human berserkers and also human thief 4/berserker 7 (inactive)

Traveling with: Forrest, Misty, Hanna, Wewa, Joshua

 

Corthief V crashed the bandit camp. The bandits would have needed much more than simple archers to stop us. Khosann was also defeated, his full plate going to Corthief V, who for some reason has had some rather poor HP rolls. Enrage and using our best ammo was sufficient for Tazok's tent. Joshua set off the lightning trap, protected by the boots of grounding. We didn't have a thief yet, so just skipped looting the rest of the camp. We forgot to loot the bow of markmanship, but we didn't intend to use it this run, so wasn't a big loss (this time). Odd how I've made that mistake several times now...

 

Once prepared with ammo and blue and green potions, the party pressed into the Cloakwood, being sure to hold our ground against ambushes for the experience. It took until the 3rd Cloakwood area to be clear, before the party finally leveled to level 7. To make the end-game a bit easier, as well as make Irenicus' dungeon easier, which in turn would allow the rest of the party to wait until 9 to dual (extra HP as well as another enrage), Wewa was going to dual to thief at Beregost where we could bank her fighter stuff and buy some things at the Smithy. However, we got hit with a Wyvern ambush, so instead she dualed right away to have that experience help her thief levels. Once Wewa was properly equipped, we returned into the Cloakwood and pressed in.

 

No enemies could stop the party. Enrage and our best ranged ammo was also good enough to defeat Drassus and pals. The party has just entered the Cloakwood Mines.

[ussnorway]

Bg-scs30 update 1.7,

 

"Medic!";

 

Hear text as mp3,

 

We raised Xan at the HELM temple then ran into a relative of one of our victims on the way out who only warrants a mention because he managed to kill Xan… well at least the temple wasn't far.

 

… Minsc out and Quayle in…

 

Spoiler

 

Selling and re-purchasing a wand seriously increased my firepower and we started a bar fight to collect a helm… only trouble is Xan died, again.

 

The low point came for us next when Xan charmed a guard into murdering an innocent woman for her cloak then we temped karma by attacking the iron throne hq… you guessed it, only Xan died.

 

 

The duke sent us to Candle keep where we stepped into a dangerous ambush but keep our heads and 'Doom/ Polymorph' to victory… Xan died first of course but at least he wasn't the only one this time. Note to self {have Xan stock up on invisible options} for the next area.

[Grond0]

Phantasmic 6 {10} - monks party (update 2)

 

Greywolf discovered that even a potion of speed was not enough to catch a monk before the party moved through the Cloud Peaks.  

Spoiler

The main encounters there were all done safely.  This time the monks avoided the xvart village to ensure they didn't get ambushed by an ogre mage.

 

Luck (and intelligence) ran out though when attacking Zargal and his archers.  The monks were incredibly unlucky with their opening attacks - 4 stealthed monks attacking moderate AC hobgoblins with bows equipped all missed - and I should have just withdrawn.  However, I pressed the attack with the result that nearby groups including an elite hobgoblin, hobgoblin, bandit, ghoul and ghast were activated.  The elite hobgoblin was a particular problem, poisoning 2 of the monks before he died and, although the battle was effectively won some time before, Spectre died of that poison (Wraith was down to 1 HP when it stopped).

Spoiler

 

As this will be the last run for the monks I decided to continue them this time despite that death and they got to level 5 while maximising their reputation.  I had been planning to buy acid protection scrolls to take on some ankhegs, but after suffering a casualty I didn't bother and the monks were able to clear the nest anyway with no criticals and minimal damage.  They've just acquired all the equipment they want from Ulgoth's Beard.

 

Chimera - L5, 31 HPs, 35 kills

Spectre - L5, 30 HPs, 48 kills, 1 death

Phantom - L5, 47 HPs, 45 kills, 0 deaths

Wraith - L5, 41 HPs, 26 kills, 0 deaths

Spook - L5, 34 HPs, 31 kills, 0 deaths

Spirit - L5, 29 HPs, 16 kills, 0 deaths

[corey_russell]

Just a brief note about Corthief V and gang - they have cleared out the Cloakwood Mines, as well as defeating the Mine's boss, Davaeorn. Everything was defeated (well except a few irrelevant hobgoblins). The party intentionally did not de-trap the traps going to Davaeorn, so that we could get the experience for the battle horrors. The plan worked so to speak, as when Davaoern was defeated, Wewa leveled to 5 thief. Three more levels to unlock her fighter skills - not sure we can do that in BG 1 but we'll see I guess.

 

The party will continue to clear areas - we got the zombie farm area, and also the Thay Wizards area to clear out next. Then we will start exploring the great city of Baldur's Gate. Incidentally, in the mines, all mages were defeated by a single buffed up fighter, mostly with potions, though a few times we did enrage as well. Misty's dagger of venom has been quite effective so far this run.

[ussnorway]

Bg-scs30 update 1.8,

 

"Wand by numbers";

 

Hear text as mp3,

 

Spoiler

 

 

We survived the catacombs by not giving a sucker an even break… massed wands from beyond sight devastated… Xan gained a level for not dying and I have some vampiric tendencies but Slythe managed to stay stealthed enough to kill before we bashed him into vegemite… no prises for guessing which party member died but I'm considering opening a betting book for how long he stays up this time.

[corey_russell]

USSNorway: Your "Xan death routine" is how it usually is for me too. But on one run, I had a special rule that no resurrections of any NPCs, and guess what? Xan survived to the battle with Sarevok! I was absolutely shocked - he had plenty of close calls though.