16377 réponses à ce sujet

[Grond0]

@Grond0 - I know your monks are having such a ball in BG 1, but how about for a change of pace we get them to Melissan? 

Not this time ...

 

Phantasmic 6 {35} - monks party (double drat and triple drat - 3rd and final update)

 

At Durlag's Tower the monks as usual cleared the first 3 tower levels and the outside, but left the main complex along with the ghost and Kirinhale.  They managed that well, though healing damage taken was a bit of a pain at only 1 HP per rest and there were lots of additional ghouls killed during interruptions. Riggilo was eventually stunned, though he did manage 1 invisible backstab first.

 

At the Lighthouse the sirines and golems all fell without causing any damage and the remainder of the area was cleared easily enough.  The sirines in Shoal's area did little better - just managing to confuse Spirit when the battle was almost over.

 

Finally moving on to the Nashkel Mine, I couldn't resist trying to clear down to Mulahey's cave without resting.  Despite being tired and somewhat damaged by traps the monks were able to isolate and quickly kill the chieftain before stunning the kobold shaman.  After resting Mulahey got the same treatment.

 

Back in Nashkel a hill giant strength potion allowed them to return Joseph's ring before Nimbul became the latest victim to fail to utter a syllable.  Resting there allowed Chimera to belatedly learn CLW to greatly cut down on the amount of resting needed to heal.

 

In Beregost Silke is typically stunned very quickly, but this time she saved against at least half a dozen hits before finally succumbing just as she was starting a follow-up to her initial mirror image.  Tranzig also saved against initial attacks, but his lack of stoneskins saw him near death and running even before a rare use of LMD finished him off.

 

A few more areas were ticked off the list, which saw the end of Bassilus - his free action did not kick in in time to save him from stunning this time.  Continuing with the last few areas before the Bandit Camp gets tackled they once more arrived at Larswood and once more killed the druids there easily enough, but took damage from their animals.  Once more they were ambushed by bandits while trying to rest - but this time there was no mistake in leaving the area to rest in peace at the FAI.  

 

The first of the monks got the XP for level 7 in Peldvale before the party moved on to find some ankhegs - in the last of the areas they intended to investigate prior to the Bandit Camp. To protect against a one-shot critical Wraith used protection from acid scrolls and after a couple of ankhegs everyone was able to level up to level 7.  They successfully cleared the nest without taking any damage and went on to clear the surrounding fields as well.  The last group of 4 ankhegs were pulled away one at a time (they are deemed too unintelligent to benefit from SCS smarter enemies AI) to leave the final ankheg on its own - still with no damage having been taken.  Wraith showed herself to that to get it to pop up before everyone moved in to the attack.  Generally a few seconds is enough to produce a kill against ankhegs and this time was no exception - unfortunately it was the wrong kill!  Ankhegs don't switch melee between attackers so I was dismayed to see that the first hit by an ankheg was a critical for 43 HPs against Spirit - who once more had the equal lowest HPs in the party at (you guessed it) 43.  Checking back on the battle information it would appear that Wraith hadn't emerged properly from the shadows when first seeing the ankheg - thus resulting in it focusing on Spirit instead .

 

[corey_russell]

Sorry to hear about your monks, Grond0...drats!

[corey_russell]

Coremage the Human Abjurer entering Trilogy no-reload challenge...

 

As I mentioned in my paladin party thread, trying to no-reload a "squishy" (someone who can't wear heavy armor) into the challenge. Thus entering the following character.

 

Current party members are Khalid, Jaheira and Imoen. In terms of carrying capacity, the party is rather terrible, so will add Shar-Teel soon as we can to have her lug around the heavy stuff. We don't want Minsc because then we would have to get Dynaheir and I want to speed up the leveling a bit by having less than 6 in the party.

 

As a mage, HP are a premium - thus Firebead was blinded, slinged, and bitten to death (familiar). This did lower my reputation though. The robe was welcome, as well as the level. In order to get his party, Coremage needed to get to the FAI - but it was dangerous, with wolves nipping at Coremage - he even took a big hit. Fortunately he made it out of there and to the FAI.

 

I had Montaron and Xzar help against Tarnesh - then when Tarnesh gone, gave Imoen Montaron's armor then booted them out. For once, I did not sell the ring of wizardry for once, and equipped on Coremage. We killed some hobgoblins for Joia. Khalid kept complaining that "Gorion would have none of this!" - this after we just returned a stolen ring to the rightful owner! Khalid might be a bit off.

 

We didn't do much in Beregost yet, except give Firebead his book. It was a surprise to see him, after having killed him a little bit ago, but apparently he had no hard feelings - what a guy! 

 

We used sleep on the ogrillions south of Beregost - a flaming fist mercenary was blinded - sorry pal, need your plate mail! The AC of the front-liners (Khalid and Jaheira) was only 1 on the way to Nashkel, so they took some hits from the enemies on the road, but we did make it to Nashkel. With the help of the Ankheg armor, our AC for Jaheira and Khalid are a bit better. We'll try to collect Shar-Teel, and try to get some Gauntlets of Dexterity for Jaheira next session.

[Grimwald the Wise]

Hard luck Grond0

 

@ Corey. I'm surprised at you!

 

A good character killing Firebead! Shock! Horror!

 

Though if it's experience that you want, you could always kill Firebead again.

 

That's what my last evil character did. (Not my good characters)

 

 

Firehair met Tazok at the bandit camp and then went to get Kivan who was given the privilege of killing him. He was delighted to do this.

 

Since his reason for hunting the bandits was now gone, I allowed him to leave.

 

To my amazement he then protested as Tazok hadn't been killed!

 

He must be suffering from short term memory loss, or perhaps the event was so traumatic that he blanked it out of his memory.

[corey_russell]

Hard luck Grond0

 

@ Corey. I'm surprised at you!

 

A good character killing Firebead! Shock! Horror!

 

Though if it's experience that you want, you could always kill Firebead again.

 

That's what my last evil character did.

He's not lawful good, but chaotic good - killing Firebead was the chaos part...as for the 2nd time, I did actually consider it, but I don't want to be robbed blind by the stores/shops, so refrained. I just wanted a little buffer is why the Candlkeep killing.

[Grimwald the Wise]

Darkstaff actually killed Firebead 3 times on page 618. I wasn't sure if it was a bug, but assumed that it wasn't. A powerful mage would have made arrangements for the eventuality of being killed after all.

 

Firehair is the exact opposite, a goody-two-shoes. If the game engine allowed it, her reputation would be about 25.

 

Why won't rep go above 20?

[corey_russell]

@Wise - Maybe Kivan knows Tazok will show up at the final fight with Sarevok - he will go hostile if you remove him before then - it's happened to me too. I had destroyed the bandit camp, booted him, but then he said I didn't live up to my promise and I had to kill him.

[Grimwald the Wise]

@Wise - Maybe Kivan knows Tazok will show up at the final fight with Sarevok - he will go hostile if you remove him before then - it's happened to me too. I had destroyed the bandit camp, booted him, but then he said I didn't live up to my promise and I had to kill him.

 

You could be right. He might be able to sense that Tazok has been resurrected already.

 

Kivan hasn't turned hostile on me. He has said that I can meet him at the FAI. Perhaps charisma, reputation, or alignment has something to do with it.

 

Firehair was ambushed by Molkar who didn't turn out to be too powerful.

 

She then dealt with Tranzig.

 

The Morninglord has asked her to investigate missing persons in Beregost. She intends to do that and then deal with the bandit camp.

[corey_russell]

Nope, has to do with mods. Sending a character to FAI is NOT vanilla behavior, but mod does it (Level1NPCs Maybe? Not sure). In vanilla, when you remove a party member one of a few things happen: 1) NPC leaves on good terms - they just stand there, where-ever you left them until you ask them rejoin 2) NPC not happy with reputation - they just leave, taking all their stuff, never seen again 3) Go hostile and attack PC. Minsc does this if you don't rescue Dynaheir in a timely manner, and Kivan does too, if you boot him before fulfilling your promise to him.

[Grimwald the Wise]

You are right Corey.

It will be one of these mods:

 

~STRATAGEMS/SETUP-STRATAGEMS.TP2~ #0 #4120 // NPCs go to inns: v28

~BG1NPC.TP2~ #0 #16 // The BG1 NPC Project: NPCs can be sent to wait in an inn: v20

 

 

They are basically the same. I don't know which of them is the active one though, probably the latter.

 

Firehair has defeated the bandit camp. They attacked Tauhgoz, killed him and then suddenly those inside the tent, together with several many elite guards arrived on the scene and were soundly routed.

 

Isra, Gavin and Imoen all were badly injured. Healing restored the party and they recovered.

[corey_russell]

Coremage the human abjurer - Update 2

 

The party is level 4. We are making progress slowly...need more gold really, but we're not too strong yet. There have been some scary moments.

 

When we fought Neira, she managed to confuse Khalid - I wondered if he might make us lose reputation. But Coremage blinded her - and then she held Khalid and Shar-Teel. Ironically, this helped us out, as now Khalid can't hurt a commoner, and then Neira fell. So worked out in the end.

 

A far worse encounter was some ogre berserkers at the carnival - they were hitting so hard BOTH Khalid and Shar-Teel's morale broke! Those two were running all over the map - Jaheira stepped in as the backup tank. Amazingly, the party won, but we took a lot of damage.

 

We still run from ambushes sometimes - the 3 ghast ambush for example, is still too hot to handle with our Thac0 issues. We still got a lot to do, will keep at it.

[Grimwald the Wise]

Upon leaving the bandit camp, the party were attacked by Lamalha and cohorts. The thieves did Imoen a lot of back-stab damage.

Lamalha was easily dealt with by brute force and ignorance, the thieves however needed Gavin's holy smite which even targets the invisible.

 

SCS certainly makes those thieves a lot more effective.

 

Have now picked up Gurke's Cloak.

 

Then remembered that the key should now be ready for doing Gavin's quest. Better do that next whilst it is relatively nearby.

 

EDIT

 

That battle went well largely due to Lady Fairhair's true sight and dispel magic and Gavin's Holy Smite.

 

Gavin waxing lyrical over Lady Fairhair's beauty is nice, even if it is a bit over the top.

[Blackraven]

Gerland of Candlekeep, NG Half-Elf Skald, 7th BG1 report
 

1 Nightal, 1368
After our escape from Candlekeep we eventually decided to travel to Durlag's Tower first. We've just arrived at the tower.
Our journey here was quite eventful. In a spider-ridden area on the eastern outskirts of the Wood of Sharp Teeth we slew four Red Wizards with fire.

Spoiler

At the Ulcaster School ruins we defeated an evil undead creature called Icharyd,

Spoiler

as well as the Wolf of Ulcaster and its pack.

Spoiler

We also survived a Basilisk ambush.

 

2 Nightal, 1368
It seems the tower contains several underground levels. We've just cleared the first underground level. Its most prominent dangers were the ubiquitous traps (competently disarmed by invisible Alora), Greater Doppelgangers (thankfully we already had experience fighting them, from our work in Baldur's Gate), Skeleton Warriors, and four very powerful Warders that guarded the entrance to the next level. The Warders themselves warned us that they would attack us as soon as we were to complete a number of riddles. Thanks to this warning Alora placed several traps near the one closest to our escape route ('Love'). We then fought two of the Warders one after the other, taking advantage of the vast space and the many corridors on this floor.

Spoiler

The other two Warders stayed close together, as if they understood their chances of stopping us were better that way. Kivan, Ajantis (buffed with a giant strength potion), and I (singing most of the time), eventually bested the the two with sheer physical force.

Spoiler

We're going to rest now, and sell some loot to Erdane, a fence with a shop near the entrance to the tower, and will proceed to the next level tomorrow.

3 Nightal, 1368
The second level offered more snares, more Doppelgangers (this time taking the shape of Durlag and his family), and more Dwarven guards. The difference with the previous level was that special rune stones would open and lock several doors at a time. We took care not to get trapped, and eventually managed to open all the doors. The Dwarven guardians, Doom Guards, weren't as tough as the Warders on the previous level. Two of them did drop suits of full plate mail armor, welcome back-up armor for Ajantis after his unexpected armor breakage at the Ice Island.

Spoiler

We move on, to the third and who knows final level.

 

5 Nightal, 1368
The tower's third underground level was a lot less complex in its design than the second level, but it was no less dangerous. We entered the level facing a fountain that cast repeating fireballs. To our right there was a massive hall containing the carcass of a huge dragon. Three Greater Wyverns roamed free there. Even with buffs, with my song and with his immunity to poison Ajantis had great difficulty tanking these powerful creatures. We ended up slaying the beasts with ranged weaponry.

Spoiler

Opposite the hall was a topiary inhabited by nasty backstabbing Ashirukurus and Greater Ghouls. It also held several snares, that ever reliable Alora disarmed without incident. We cleared the area and entered a corridor that connected the topiary and the hall with the dragon. It led to four separate chambers that contained a challenge each, related to the elements. We slew a Polar Bear and two Winter Wolves, a Slime with fire magics,

Spoiler

an Air Aspect and its Invisble Stalker minions, and two Phoenix Guards.

Spoiler

After we completed the last challenge some invisible , higher force took us to a chessboard where we had to defeat a war party in order to proceed to the next level. Since they didn't play by the rules, neither did we. Kivan dispelled their King's protections, and the others all attacked him with missiles and magic until he fell.

Spoiler

[Due to a fairly common SCS bug the party didn't get teleported to the chessboard, so I used a console command to move the party there. Their position in the above screenshot is the point where they arrived.] Having 'won' the game, we gained access to the next level.

7 Nightal, 1368
Our business at the tower is done. The fourth and lowest level held relatively few traps and challenges (a couple of snares, more undead, and two Helmed Horrors). We solved three riddles about Durlag's past, which opened a door to small room where we encountered a wounded adventurer. She warned us of the grave danger that awaited us in the adjacent room, a Demon Knight, and advised against fighting it. 
We ignored the woman's advice, buffed with strength potions and oils of speed, and exposed the creature to a barrage of missiles. It did not withstand the onslaught.

Spoiler

All in all this excursion has been a profitable venture. It's yielded us several useful goods (Arla's Dragonbone Sling for Dynaheir, Kiel's Helmet as an instant anti-fear item, Bala's Wizard Slayer Axe, and several scrolls, wands and potions). Other valuables we sold to Erdane. We shall now return to Ulgoth's Beard. A Dwarf named Hurgan asked us to retrieve his Soultaker dagger, and it just so happens we took that dagger from the Demon Knight.

 

14 Nightal, 1368
Upon our return to Ulgoth's Beard we were received by a hostile cult that had somehow learned of our exploits at Durlag's Tower. What followed was a Chaos, literally. I lost my mind quite early on, when a wizard somehow targeted me with a Chaos spell even though I was invisible. I can't remember much of what happened next. All I know is that I wandered off and killed an innocent woman.

Spoiler

I also attacked a rogue, a fellow named Ike. When Kivan saw him go hostile, the Elf felled him with an acid arrow. When I came to my senses again I saw the first wave of cultists defeated by my companions. I insisted we traveled to the FAI to repent for what had happened. I know I didn't consciously kill an innocent, but it was still my hammer, in my hand that took the life of a wife and a mother. I felt terrible.
In the end we decided together it would be best to end what we had started, and get rid of the evil cult. We battled more cultists in front of their base, an inconspicuous stable or storehouse, and inside it.

Spoiler

Both Alora and Kivan suffered serious injuries at the hands of Assassins.

Spoiler

And a wizard chose me as his target.

Spoiler

Healing potions kept us going. Kivan dispelled the wizard's protections, and we prevailed.

Spoiler

In the cultists' base we descended a stairway where we found more cultists as well as the object of their devotion, a Tanar'ri. Our battle began well with Dynaheir surprising me as as she slew the cult leader, a female wizard, with a devastating attack with her sling.

Spoiler

The other cultists were stationary, under the fiend's control, but still hard to kill. We had to kill them first though, or the Tanar'ri would simply use them to reappear whenever we defeated it. This bought the fiend a lot of time to remove our buffs, and to attempt to paralyze us and curse us with its death gaze. What I'm going to write now brings tears to my eyes. Alora saw herself exposed to the fiend's death gaze. Both Dynaheir and I tried to save her with castings of Remove Curse and Dispel Magic, but somehow our magics were ineffective.

Spoiler

Alora, brave and noble girl, she told us to look after ourselves, and she added she would continue to fight for us for as long as she could. All she asked for was a quick and merciful release from undeath. 
Kivan and Ajantis occupied themselves with individual cultists, while Dynaheir, Imoen, Alora and I tried to take down several of the cultists at the same time with Fireballs.

Spoiler

Moments later, there were still two cultists we had to dispatch, the fiend paralyzed me and poor Alora turned into a filthy Ghast, a fate crueler than death. My Stoneskins and a Remove Paralysis cast by my beloved Dynaheir (who risked her neck being under attack by the Ghast) saved me from the Tanar'ri.

Spoiler

Dynaheir then granted Alora's wish as the rest of us dealt with the remaining cult guards.

Spoiler

Once the fiend was no longer protected by the other cultists it proved vulnerable. Its death gaze failed to affect me,

Spoiler

and we banished the demon with overwhelming physical force.

Spoiler

Alora has been avenged but that doesn't seem to make me feel any better.

[Grimwald the Wise]

Interesting post Blackraven. Sad about Alora though.

[vbigiani]

Entering the challenge...

Jane Shepard - a Human Biotic Vanguard

Spoiler

BIOTIC VANGUARD: By digesting a substance known as Red Sand, these warriors benefit from increased speed, and have developed the ability to forcibly slam their bodies into their enemies, damaging them while healing themselves. However, such a fighting style imposes several sacrifices on the warrior himself, as he can no longer wear armor, and can use single-handed weapons, but only clumsily so.

Advantages:
- Bonus -1 to speed factor and +1 movement speed for every 4 levels (starting at 1st level)
- Bonus +1 to hit and -1 to AC for every 6 levels (starting at 3rd level)
- May use the 'Biotic Charge' ability once per 18 seconds (no daily limit). The warrior is launched at full speed at an enemy, while his wounds are closed and nearby foes are damaged and briefly stunned by the force of the impact:
- The warrior gains 6 hit points, plus one for every level (upt to a maximum of 44 hit points at 20th level). If the warrior goes over his maximum hit point total with this ability, he loses it after six seconds.
- Enemies in a 15' radius from the selected target suffer the following effects:
- 1st level: 2d4 crushing damage, stun for 1 second. Save vs. breath at +4 halves the damage and avoids the stun
- 5th level: 4d4 crushing damage, stun for 1 second. Save vs. breath at +3 halves the damage and avoids the stun
- 9th level: 6d4 crushing damage, stun for 1 second. Save vs. breath at +2 halves the damage and avoids the stun
- 13th level: 8d4 crushing damage, stun for 1 second. Save vs. breath at +1 halves the damage and avoids the stun
- 17th level: 10d4 crushing damage, stun for 1 second. Save vs. breath at +0 halves the damage and avoids the stun
- May choose the 'Lift Grenade' High Level ability, which creates a much stronger explosion than 'Biotic Charge': enemies in a 15' radius suffer 20d4 crushing damage and are stunned for 6 seconds. A save vs. breath at -2 halves the damage and avoids the stun.

Disadvantages:
- May not use missile weapons
- May not wear armor
- May not wear gauntlets or bracers
- Cannot specialize in one-handed weapons
- Cannot become proficient in any fighting style other than two-handed weapons

aided by...

Urdnot Wrex - Half-Orc Berzerker (due to his Krogan heritage, he gets some innate regeneration via 20 Constitution)

Spoiler

Liara T'Soni - Elven Inquisitor

Spoiler

Garrus Vakarian - Dwarven Mystic Marksman

Spoiler

MYSTIC MARKSMAN: Although all crusaders of virtue strive to pit themselves against the forces of evil, not all of them seek to do it at close range. Many warriors of faith recognize the need to strike at those enemies (such as airborne fiends and dragons) who attack so as to be beyond the reach of melee warriors, while others take up ranged weapons in order to better complement their front-liner compatriots . . . and still other crusaders become Mystic Marksmen simply because they have a natural aptitude for ranged combat.

ADVANTAGES:
- Can attain Grandmastery in any missile weapon (including Throwing Daggers).
- +1 bonuses to ranged THAC0 and Damage at every 4th level.
- Special Ability of Called Shot, with 1 use per day gained at every 4th level. Approximates the effects of the Command Word: Die spell. All shots fired in the next 2 rounds have the following effects:
after Level 4: For the duration, the Mystic Marksman recieves a -1 bonus to ranged THAC0, but a +5 penalty to AC,
after Level 8: Upon each hit, the target must Save vs. Death with a -2 bonus or fall Unconscious for 3 seconds,
after Level 12: +2 bonus to missile damage,
after Level 16: Target must Save with a +2 penalty to avoid Unconsciousness.

DISADVANTAGES:
- Cannot wear any armor heavier than Hide.
- +1 penalty to melee THAC0 every 4 levels (stops after Level 20).
- Limited to Proficiency in any melee weapon (including Throwing Axes and Hammers).
- Limited to Proficiency in any Weapon Style.
- Cannot Turn Undead.
- Limited to 2 spellslots of each spell level.

Tali' Zorah nar Raya vas Normandy - Gnomish Beast Master

Spoiler

WeiDU.log. Notable mods / rule tweaks are:
Baldur's Gate Trilogy
Ascension
SCS AI (no challenges)
3rd Edition ruleset
No traps and locks
Baldur's Gate 1 - style proficiencies (I.E. Bastard Sword, Long Sword, Two-handed Sword, Katana, Scimitar/Wakisashi/Ninjato all fall under Large Swords)

Eagle-eyed readers will notice that, because of laziness, I made a custom kit for Jane a couple of months ago, but haven't done so for the other party members.

The party is currently making purchases at Candlekeep.

[Blackraven]

Thanks Grimwald. I also find Alora's death rather sad. Had actually downloaded the Alora BG2 mod because I liked her so much as a character... She was also an outstanding Thief and thanks to the Swashbuckler kit and good gear a very useful secondary frontliner.

Well met and welcome vbigiani. Good luck with your crew. Cool portraits and interesting kits!

[vbigiani]

Thanks (although I should point out that the portraits come straight from the Mass Effect Trilogy...)

The crew has succesfully cleared Lion's Way (Imoen donated her potions and wand before being sent to Candlekeep, while Montaron and Xzar were killed after a casting of Detect Evil and a quick chat) and the Coast Way (where not much of import has happened; the ogre in particular being shot down while fruitlessly trying to chase Jane).

Some screenshots:

Spoiler

Jane showing off the charge-and-whack tactic:


A random post-battle screenshot:

[Grimwald the Wise]

Lady Firehair and party have just exited the Cloakwood mines having defeated Davaeorn and several cohorts.

 

Two waves of extra guards attacked, but once Davaeorn died, the second wave walked away. (One of them died)

 

In the spider area Isra leveled up to 6, which means that she is now a useful ally rather than a handicap.

 

Gavin is beginning to develop a backbone, though he still bemoans his lack of one.

 

Whilst clearly scared of the spiders, he still fought against them with ferocity, a sign of true bravery. What defeated Davaeorn was the fact that his protections were dispelled. He was then just like any other mage, exceedingly weak without magic. Haste was a boon to the party.

 

On the way down two mages gave the party far more trouble than Davaeorn as they confused party members. Isra and Gavin actually started fighting each other, fortunately not for long.

 

One of the unusual things that happened was that instead of fighting the party, he entered a building. A spell still hurt him in there for some reason and the party easily defeated him once Drasus and the mages had been killed..

 

 

All this was followed by a disaster. Remembering that I need Kivan in the party to trigger his quest on the BG bridge, Firehair went to BG to find him forgetting that the hostile paladins would be there.

 

Things went from bad to worse. The paladins were killed, but the FAi guards got involved and one of them got killed. -10 to reputation. The other one was therefore charmed with Algernon's Cloak.

 

Kivan was not found, so the trip was in vain.

 

EDIT Just wondering if anyone knows exactly where at the FAI Kivan should turn up.

[Serg BlackStrider]

Welcome to the challenge, vbigiani! Safe travels to your Crew!

[vbigiani]

Jane Shepard - Run 1 - Update 2 (FINAL)
A pathing mishap near a Brown Bear led to a very early grave at High Edge - meleeing bears with 14 HP and 6 AC is NOT a good idea!

Spoiler

Jane Shepard - Run 2 - Update 1
A second run is started with the same lineup.
Accomplished tasks:

Wilderness:
Clearing the Lion's Way (this time Montaron and Xzar managed to run away)
Fully mapped out the Coast Way:

Spoiler

Friendly Arm Inn:
Returned Joia's Ring

Beregost:
Calmed Marl
Bought the Bracers of 8 AC from Feldepost's
Delivered Firebeard's book
Killed the four spiders in the house (a natural 20 by one of the spiders bypassed Jane's -1 AC vs. piercing, and only a blue potion and the ability of charging herself saved the run...)

Spoiler

UPDATE: Run 2 ended to a Ghast hold just South of Beregost (still level 1...).

[ussnorway]

Sar-scs30 update 1.5, 

 

Home sweet home;

 

Hear text as mp3,

 

We returned to candlekeep fully rested and ready to tussle with ogre-mages and they didn't last long. For some inexpiable reason I'm extremely good at judging fireball blast radius… almost like I have a lot more experience at it then one life time could grant?

 

Spoiler

 

I battled my way through the catacombs beneath candlekeep and emerged victorious only to discover that my dear brother has taken control of the gates guards and declared me outlaw… I was in the process of rescuing a sickly duke (without violence) when Jaheira broke ranks to vilify my reputation.

 

 

We skulled off to rest at the mermaid then killed the boy assassin for his invites but retreated rather than fight his misses… she likes to use powerful confusion spells and to be frank, we just can't afford any more rep.

 

Spoiler

 

I decided to fight the palace battle fair… no summons spamming and only two skellies, then a hasted Viconia moved up to guard the lady mage whilst the rest of us concentrated fire against one target at a time… I was tempted to charge after my dear bro but then remembered that I have some loot stashed at fai and something tells me that I better go get it now.

[Grimwald the Wise]

Lady Firehair and party went round doing tasks to increase reputation that had not previously been done: Giving gold to farmer Brun; helping the boy trapped by worgs, taking Samuel to the FAI, giving a ring to Fergus and another to Joia. She is now popular again, Reputation 15.

 

On the way to Baldur's Gate, I forgot about the ambush on the bridge.

 

Quickly Imoen used web. The two paladins equipped themselves to avoid being webbed whilst Gavin moved next to Imoen and used Holy Smite again and again. This battle was pure reaction, but worked out OK.

 

She has also killed the doppelgangers in the Seven Suns.

 

@USS Norway. At least your rep only dropped by 7!

[Blackraven]

Gerland of Candlekeep, NG Half-Elf Skald, 8th and final BG1 report

16 Nightal, 1368
We returned to Baldur's Gate in low spirits, burdened with the recent memory of Alora's fall. It is a bitter irony that the companion whose loss we've been mourning is the one who would know best how to cheer us up in a situation like this. 
In the city we kept a low profile even though months had passed since we escaped Candlekeep. A woman named Tamoko said she had information for us, but demanded a promise of some kind for it. I told her I couldn't make any promises without knowing what she had to tell us. Others, such as Harper Delthyr, and a Dwarf at the Blushing Mermaid, were more forthcoming with information. Officer Scar, the Flaming Fist's second in command had been assassinated, and its first commander Duke Eltan had fallen ill. The new Iron Throne president Sarevok was bidding for a position as Duke.
We first infiltrated the Flaming Fist compound, where we found Duke Eltan "in the care of" a Greater Doppelganger. We dispatched the wicked creature,

Spoiler

and brought the patient to the Harbormaster at Duke Eltan's own request.
We then decided to revisit the Iron Throne HQ, expecting to find Sarevok in one of the offices. What we encountered intead were fleeing people that were either disgusted with or fearful of Sarevok's practices. We also met Sarevok's apparent lover, a woman named Cythandria. She was a mage with two Golem aides, and she was not happy to see us. Both the Golems and their mistress were expertly eliminated by Kivan, whose wide array of enchanted arrows seems to offer solutions for all imaginable combat situations.

Spoiler

The woman begged for mercy by the way, something that neither Kivan nor I were willing to grant her. Both Ajantis and Dynaheir disagreed with our ruthlessness, but Kivan and I dismissed their chivalry as naïveté. On the woman's corpse we found two letters as well as Sarevok's diary, implicating the latter in a plot to kill all the Dukes and take control of the city.
Two assassins, hired by Sarevok and referenced in one of Cythandria's letters, we tracked down in the Undercellars. One was a rogue, the other a mage. I used my wand of monster summoning to keep the mage busy, while Kivan and Ajantis occupied themselves with the rogue, and I must say they had their hands more than full with him.

Spoiler

We took the fight into the Blushing Mermaid, where Imoen, Kivan, and I suffered painful backstabs (my Stoneskins had been removed by the mage). However, the rogue ran out of invisibility potions and that was pretty much his death sentence.

Spoiler

The mage fell not much later, after Kivan dispelled her protections. On the rogue's body we found a letter from Sarevok, in which he hires the rogue to kill Dukes Belt and Jannath. There was also an invitation for Sarevok's inauguration tomorrow at the Ducal Palace as new Grand Duke of Baldur's Gate. We'll be going to that event.

 

17 Nightal, 1368
It's over: Kivan's finally avenged his beloved Deheriana, and I my foster father Gorion. At the Ducal Palace six Greater Doppelgangers - including two assassins, a mage, and an assassin - attacked Dukes Belt and Jannath. I cast Invisibility on the latter to ensure her survival, that we might present our evidence of Sarevok's agenda to her after the battle. Imoen (using poisoned arrows), Kivan (using mostly arrows of dispelling and +2 arrows), Ajantis (buffed with a storm giant strength potion), Dynaheir (with 18/00 Str thanks to her gauntlets and 18 dex thanks to a potion), and I, aided by three Skeletal Warriors reluctantly summoned by Dynaheir and hasted by me, then destroyed the Doppelgangers.

Spoiler

We presented our evidence to Duke Belt, fought Sarevok until he teleported away with the help of a mage, and were sent after Sarevok by Belt.
Via the Thieves Guild we entered a maze where we had little difficulty defeating Slimes, Battle Horrors, and Skeleton Warriors. Imoen disarmed several traps, a skill she had developed before she started her arcane studies. The maze led to a so-called Undercity that consisted mostly of ruins and a Bhaal Temple, Sarevok's hideout. On our way to the temple we were accosted by an Iron Throne war party that knew we had killed the local Throne leaders. A battle ensued, in which our warriors bested their leader with relative ease. We nevertheless retreated due to the presence of two Aerial Servants, summoned by their Cleric, and a hard-hitting Ogre.

Spoiler

We managed to dispatch our foes pretty much one at a time, and we even slew one of the Aerial Servants.

Spoiler

Sadly the same fate awaited Tamoko, who insisted on fighting us, in front of the entrance to the temple.

Spoiler

We entered the temple, and found Sarevok and four acolytes: battlemage Angelo, mage Semaj, archer Diarmid, and warrior Tazok. Angelo Dimension Doored right into our midst. Kivan treated him to an arrow of dispelling or two, and our collective attack did him in soon after.

Spoiler

We had to destroy a Skeleton Warrior that rose from Angelo's corpse, a mere inconvenience we would have to get out of the way with subsequent corpses as well. Kivan managed to finish both Semaj and Diarmid from a distance, although he suffered severe injuries at the hands of the latter.

Spoiler

The Elf also dispelled Sarevok's haste, before he slew Tazok.

Spoiler

Sarevok had Ajantis gulp many a healing potion, but the party's incessant attacks were too much for the man who slew my foster father and who was, something I've been disinclined to mention, my brother.

Spoiler

I don't know who dealt the killing blow, and honestly I don't really care.

We've reported our success to Duke Belt, and are now preparing for a trip away from the Sword Coast. We've even discussed seeking out Minsc and traveling all the way to Rashemen. Imoen and Kivan seem enthusiastic and willing, respectiely, but Ajantis will have to ask permission from his order first.

[Grimwald the Wise]

Congrats Blackraven

[ussnorway]

@USS Norway. At least your rep only dropped by 7!

Yep, Only 7?

 

Sar-scs30 update 1.6, 

 

O happy day;

 

Hear text as mp3,

 

With a quick trip back to the carnival to collect some stashed gear and the (5) last minute dispel arrows, we arrived at my brothers lair.

 

Prep; lay 6 traps (pointless if Sarevok arrives first but useful if Angelo poppes in)… dispatched the battle horror and Imoen starts spamming summons.

 

Spoiler

 

I open with what is now my standard 'Clouldkill' scroll and retreat back to the door, Sarevok charges into my peons with reckless abandon then I throw a 'Greater Malison' and Shar-teel hits with her Dispel arrows… Viconia steps up to 'Chant' and it is game over!

 

p.s gratz Blackraven.