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[Grimwald the Wise]

Fantastic image for your Inquisitor GtW!  

 

The background is a photo that I took whilst trekking in Nepal. The foreground from the web.

 

This is where I found it: It was done by tomisaksen.

 

http://www.deviantar...=1&q=tomisaksen

[Grond0]

Trio no reload (#1 - update 1)

(Grond0, corey_russell, Gate70)

 

Although our previous quad run turned into a trio, this is our first attempt running a trio from Candlekeep using a basic BGT installation.  

 

When generating characters Corey was keen on the idea of a berserker that could dual to a mage in BG2.  Picking up the theme, Gate70 produced his favourite kensai for a spot of mayhem and the ability to dual to cleric (or even druid eventually if we wanted to risk an assault on Lum the Mad's machine).  I went for a wizard slayer to round off the fighter kits, who might be tempted by the prospect of dualling to thief in due course.

Spoiler

 

After Candlekeep we decided not to take the easy XP for killing Shoal, but leave her until later when we can safely get the Helm of Defense.  After a few tasks in Beregost we moved on down to Nashkel to pick up the ankheg armour.  Ragemage initially was incredulous about the idea of tackling the basilisks at level 1, but was soon persuaded and we duly took a trip there.  Unfortunately ammunition stocks looked a bit low on arrival so we decided to go back to Beregost to top those up - not everyone made it back!

Spoiler

 

After a temple raise and a rest the basilisks were waiting.  The first of those got everyone to level 2 and the third (a greater basilisk) to level 3.  After killing the rest and giving Mutamin a quick run around (to prevent him talking) we were up to level 4.  That was probably enough for Kirian's group by ourselves, but Korax helped out as well and made short work of the opposition.

Spoiler

 

Looking to upgrade weaponry a trip to the Cloudpeak Mountains gained a +1 halberd for Ragemage (along with a charisma tome for Forem).  Greywolf donated his sword to Forem - a rare instance there of Miseri standing to fight rather than sticking his knife into things from behind Ragemage 

Spoiler

- before Miseri inherited Hentold's magic dagger.

 

There was just time to upgrade reputation a bit more by helping Samuel and Joia.  That reduced a bit the exorbitant cost of full plate for Ragemage - which should allow him to be a bit more secure in his tanking role next time.

 

Miseri, wizardslayer 5, 59 HPs, 52 kills

Ragemage, berserker 5, 45 HPs, 31 kills, 0 deaths

Forem, kensai 5, 59 HPs, 49 kills, 1 death

[Grond0]

Phantasmic 6 {38} - monks party (update 1)

 

I also started another attempt at this at the weekend.  I wasn't concentrating terribly well early on and mis-clicked on Brage - turning him hostile and thus missing out on the chance for a free lift to Nashkel.  Eventually stealth allowed everyone to leave the Doomsayer behind and sneak up on Brage to teach him a final lesson.

Spoiler

 

After continuing on to Nashkel the monks started working on their reputation.  The first few levels gained have given very poor HPs which resulted in me not taking as much care of them as I might have so far.  While working through a kobold horde on the way to Meilum a couple of the monks had already taken arrow damage.  Spectre then approached a kobold commando without bothering with stealth and nearly paid the price - fortunately the kobold didn't have time to follow up on its first critical hit.  Meilum was unable to take advantage of their weakened state after being stunned by initial attacks.

Spoiler

 

The monks haven't totally cleared many areas yet, but managed to complete the remaining reputation quests without further problems.  They've just arrived on a shopping trip at Ulgoth's Beard.  

 

Chimera - L4, 23 HPs, 33 kills

Spectre - L4, 27 HPs, 49 kills, 0 deaths

Phantom - L4, 28 HPs, 32 kills, 0 deaths

Wraith - L4, 23 HPs, 21 kills, 0 deaths

Spook - L4, 23 HPs, 19 kills, 0 deaths

Spirit - L4, 26 HPs, 31 kills, 0 deaths

[Grimwald the Wise]

Killing Brage is something that I have NEVER done.

[Grond0]

Killing Brage is something that I have NEVER done.

 

Now I need a smiley with a halo, but can't find one.

The man's a vicious killer who slaughtered his own friends and family and deserves whatever comes to him. 

[Grimwald the Wise]

The man's a vicious killer who slaughtered his own friends and family and deserves whatever comes to him. 

 

But his rampage was as a result of a curse

[corey_russell]

But his rampage was as a result of a curse

You know what happens if you kill a pedestrian with a car by accident? The law still holds you liable. Perhap's Baldur's Gate law is similar. A person is still accountable for their actions, even if there is an outside influence.

 

Also - who was so foolish as to equip an unidentified sword before identifying it? The citizens KNOW there are cursed items out there (general lore) - Brage should not have been a cheapskate and not pay the 100 gold to identify it - it could have saved his life and family. You can certainly fault Brage for that.

[corey_russell]

@Grond0 - Aren't you supposed to post the character sheets of the characters in your 1st post? It would be nice to see that recorded somewhere, so I don't have to wait till we play next to see yours/Gate70's character stats.

[Grimwald the Wise]

You know what happens if you kill a pedestrian with a car by accident? The law still holds you liable. Perhap's Baldur's Gate law is similar. A person is still accountable for their actions, even if there is an outside influence.

 

Also - who was so foolish as to equip an unidentified sword before identifying it? The citizens KNOW there are cursed items out there (general lore) - Brage should not have been a cheapskate and not pay the 100 gold to identify it - it could have saved his life and family. You can certainly fault Brage for that.

 

 

Diary of Sir Giles o' the moors.

 

We survived clearing the bandit camp, an ambush by some deceived good guys at the FAI and an ambush by Davenport and his cronies to the south.

 

We then got back Gurke's Cloak.

[corey_russell]

Just so people know, my Coremage run is on hold. I've seen all these people get far in SCS, and my parties get about 10% of chapter 2 or so before we are taken out. I've tried an optimal character (chaotic good figther/illusionist) and various party make-ups to no avail. So I was wondering - is there ANY make-up that might allow me to succeed and maybe make some real progress with SCS?

 

Therefore, I am going to roll 6 berserkers (all shorties) and see if this group can make some some real progress. BG 1 will be EasyTutu, will use SCS in BG2 and beyond.

 

Stay tuned...

[Grond0]

@Grond0 - Aren't you supposed to post the character sheets of the characters in your 1st post? It would be nice to see that recorded somewhere, so I don't have to wait till we play next to see yours/Gate70's character stats.

Starting sheets are all there - try looking in the spoilers ...

[Grond0]

Phantasmic 6 {38} - monks party (update 2)

 

After shopping at Ulgoth's Beard the monks acquired the green scroll of protection from petrification and went basilisk hunting.  Spectre darted the basilisks before everyone shot down Mutamin.  Clearing the rest of the area of various gnolls and their allies was just enough to get everyone to level 5 (and another poor set of rolls - the group now being a total of 38 HPs below the average for level 5).  They then recruited Korax to help them deal with Kirian's party.

Spoiler

 

Deciding a bit of healing capability would be nice they next went to the Nashkel Mine - working through that to stun Mulahey with their presence (despite resting multiple times in his cave).  

Spoiler

 

Back in Nashkel Nimbul saved against stunning attacks - though that didn't help him against the basic damage.  He did try and take advantage of a PW:crash spell, but failed to do any better the second time around.

Spoiler

 

They'll be working through areas for a while now as part of their objectives are to tick everywhere off as fully explored.

 

Chimera - L5, 26 HPs, 86 kills

Spectre - L5, 33 HPs, 125 kills, 0 deaths

Phantom - L5, 31 HPs, 58 kills, 0 deaths

Wraith - L5, 27 HPs, 51 kills, 0 deaths

Spook - L5, 28 HPs, 32 kills, 0 deaths

Spirit - L5, 33 HPs, 63 kills, 0 deaths

[corey_russell]

Starting sheets are all there - try looking in the spoilers ...

My bad - I clicked all the spoilers I had thought, but had missed that one.

[Blackraven]

Nice concept Grond0, Gate and Corey. Good luck and have fun.

A good start Grimwald, keep it up!

[corey_russell]

Entering Trilogy no-reload challenge...

 

As mentioned, Coremage is put on hold and going to give it a whirl with this band of berserkers. I would like at least ONE success with SCS, if possible (for me), and this group is likely to succeed as any I would figure. I'm good with fighters, so goes with my strong suit (otherwise my 6 paladins wouldn't have defeated Melissan not too long ago...).

 

The team is out of Candlekeep and has completed the basic tasks of the first map - namely, pick up loot at Gorion's corpse, pick up the free diamond, kill Xzar, Montaron and Imoen. We only killed Imoen as the game does not allow 7 characters in a party. The assassination "attempts" by Carobos and Shank were funny - they instantly died after unpausing the auto-pause on enemy sighted.

 

To be clear the goal is NOT a berserker only success - rather a SCS success. Therefore, if anyone gets chunked will allow replacements of any class. Although from what I understand, chunkings should happen less in SCS but guess we'll see. BG 1 will be EasyTutu and BG 2 will be SCS.

 

Here is Corezerk II

 

To see the rest of the party (and basic ideas for them) click the spoiler tag.

Spoiler

Hanna will be leader most of the time and will be leading the way with dual-wielding axes. As a dwarf, she's well suited to be a front-liner. Stonefire and Frostweaver and an excellent combo for nearly the entire trilogy, she will only have to change near the end of ToB. Note she is good, which also allows Azuredge.

 

Joshua is the other front-liner and thus is also dwarf. To start, he will dual-wield warhammers, but in BG 2 he will dual wield things like Crom Faeyr and Flail of Ages, then Yaga's Warhammer and Gromnir's flail in ToB. Made him evil so he can use the Flesh Armor, if we feel like forging it (not sure yet). His weapon skills plus dual-wielding make him an excellent clay golem killer too.

 

Forrest is half-orc for a very special reason - he's our chest-basher. I didn't want to use Corezerk II for safety reasons - also when we get the STR tome he will have a natural 20 STR - should be great for chest basing as well as his melee. Normally he will using a Two-Hand Sword and ton of good ones to use entire Trilogy. He has crossbow skill in case I have enough gold to get the Firetooth Crossbow. Clearly at 1 INT he needs to stay as far as he can from Mind Flayers...

 

For BG 1, Misty will be using the longbow, but will likely be using her halberd skill a lot in BG 2. I made her a halfling so there would be one in the group, but that was a bit of mistake - she can't use composite bows! Oops...fortunately the best long bow in BG 1 is the Bow of Markmanship and she can use that, so all good I guess.

 

Paja will dual to thief at level 7. Reason why is BG 2 will be plenty hard with SCS, we don't need trap problems. She'll have the shortbow skill, which she will likely use entire trilogy except ambushes I suppose. There's some good spears in BG 2 (impaler and spear of Withering come to mind, but the spear of the Unicorn can have its uses as well.). Having a thief in Chateau Irenicus is quite useful.

 

 

Incidentally I didn't bother making anyone with high INT/WIS scores like I often do. Fighters get such terrible lore anyways. We'll just pay the temples to identify when needed.

[corey_russell]

Nice concept Grond0, Gate and Corey. Good luck and have fun.

A good start Grimwald, keep it up!

Thanks! It's a risky concept - all of us are humans, and humans aren't known for their great saves. In theory, my enrages give me the greatest chance of survival, and in BG 2 I can boost that still further with mage protections to boot. But Grond0's character has to survive. I'm guessing Grond0/Gate70  characters will get confused a lot in BG 2/ToB, but guess we'll see. : )

[Grond0]

Phantasmic 6 {38} - monks party (3rd and final update)

 

After clearing a couple of areas in the Cloud Peaks the monks had returned to the Nashkel Carnival to rest and heal when Molkar turned up with some friends.  The monks immediately left the area before coming back fully rested to launch stunning attacks - eventually disabling all the opponents at the cost of 1 critical and one other hit.

 

The monks duly completed the remainder of the Cloud Peaks, amassing a total of 15 winter wolf pelts in the process to bump up both finances and XP.  With everyone having such poor HPs Narcillicus' mustard jellies could have one-shot any of the monks with a critical, but neither managed a single hit (Spectre putting on the blunt protection girdle to help her defense).  Narcillicus was more fortunate - managing to save against multiple stunning attacks and even get an offensive spell off (Spook saving against emotion) before falling.

 

Feeling in the mood to rid the world of more unwanted spellcasters the monks finished their work in Beregost by stunning Silke and then started clearing the areas between Nashkel and Beregost.  They used the Wand of the Heavens for the first time on the Doomsayer.  In that area I misremembered where Baruk's kobold commandos would appear - Spook only just surviving after being hit twice by their arrows.  The remainder of that area was enough to get everyone to level 6.  They got another generally poor set of rolls though - Chimera with a total of 29 (less than the average for a level 4 monk) was left particularly vulnerable, but everyone was below average.

 

With the extra level they felt safe to tackle the sirines and disposed of them without trouble.  Bassilus was beaten down before he could finish a spell.  

 

Moving on to the last couple of southern areas to be explored the monks had their first encounter with an ogre mage when it appeared during an existing fight to try and use surprise.  

Spoiler

However, with sleep now not effective against the monks and only a single nearly dead ogre to help him the ogre mage was no real problem despite stunning Spook.  A minute or so later though and another ogre mage appeared on the same encounter spot while a number of ogre-kin were in close pursuit - and this time his stun on Spook looked very dangerous indeed.  

Spoiler

 

Spectre made an immediate first use of the wand of sleep to try and thin the opposition out, but very unfortunately everyone saved.  Unless being attacked in melee the enemies would look to target Spook, so the monks had to move in to close quarters despite their high vulnerability to melee attacks.  They successfully managed to stun the ogre mage, but several of them took damage in the melee and had to withdraw.  Phantom killed an ogrillon with the wand of heavens before Spectre tried a last-ditch second sleep - this time just affecting the other ogrillon.  Her delay in trying that sleep proved crucial though as the ogre berserker was left with no-one attacking him for a couple of seconds and that proved too long for Spook to survive.

[Grimwald the Wise]

Diary of Sir Giles o' the Moors.

 

The party cleared the Cloakwood mines without too much difficulty. The changes at the bottom of the mine changed things significantly.

 

We charged in on the DSoSC assassins and the fireballs or whatever it was they used, as a result killed most of them whilst only hurting my party.

 

We used several healing potions and returned,

 

We summoned some monsters and Davaeorn used his spells on them.

 

Killing him was then easy.

 

Upon going to the FAI Jet Laya's quest was a letdown as the EE version seemed to make the quest too easy. She was by herself and fell to our first attack.

 

On a side-note, the different spells that Jet Laya uses aren't there. The symbols are there for everyone, but they have different spells attached to them. A bug I think, due to mod incompatability. We have now been asked to save Nashkel from a young dragon.

 

Thought that while in the area, I would deal with the Dark One first. Killed him. Nothing on his body. Went to get the vials. No door! Is this a bug or do I need to do something else first?

[corey_russell]

Sorry Wise don't know the answer to your question.

[corey_russell]

@Grond0 - sorry to hear the end of your monk run. But I can see how ogres in particular would be a kind of nemesis for your monks - they are hard hititng, which is concerning with your lack of critical hit protection.

[Grimwald the Wise]

Well, it seems that my DSoSC installation seems to be broken. Possibly due to mod incompatibilities.

 

There are issues with it anyway.

 

You have to do things in the order that the mod writers think you should do them, otherwise there are issues.

 

Since I had succeeded with the Dark One quest, albeit with bugs meaning I couldn't finish all of it, I continued with the Forest Dragon quest.

 

I had to CLUA Jeremey and Conchobhair Strongblade. (Except with EE it isn't CLUA any more.

 

The missing Burdo then turned up, but I then had to CLUA the dragon.

 

Upon defeating the Forest dragon I went inside the cave only to discover that it had changed and instead of baby dragons, there was a great big one, though not as big as the BG2 ones. Conchobhair Strongblade was almost killed, but we all survived. Went to see the cleric improved a mace immensely and we are now off to do the next quest.

[Blackraven]

Condolences Grond0. Luckily you seem to have the patience of a Zen Monk. Success will come sooner or later

 

Grimwald, I've played with DSotSC and NTotSC and encountered difficulties as well, for example with a fisherman that would take my party to an island somewhere. I'd just play those parts that you can, and not worry about the others. In a way it's realistic that not all side-quests come to a conclusion. 
As to the Dark One, I think the vials are supposed to be in the house. You need them to permanently kill the Dark One. If you can't get into the house, then you might consider a reload to see if things work better a second time.

 

Looking forward to your SCS Berserkers Corey. I think that six Berserkers make a strong party, though a Berserker with other companions with other qualities might fare even better?

Bardin, LN Gnome Cleric/Thief, first and final BG1 update:

 

Bardin is an unusual Rock Gnome in that he's not a mischievous goofball but rather a stalwart exactor of justice. His deity is respected but not widely venerated Gaerdal Ironhand the Stern, and Bardin (which means something like 'hidden weapon' according to the Raced of Stone D&D supplement) is one of the select few Cleric/Thieves (1%) in Gaerdal's clergy.
Starting profs were Clubs and Slings. Clubs was a bit of a compromise influenced by RP considerations: I wanted Bardin to be able to backstab but I also envisioned him with a shield. Rather poor backstabs would be the result, but in BG2 I have the itemupgrades mod installed, which allows Cromwell to forge a good +4 or +5 Club, so Bardin may fare better in the backstabbing department in Amn. Besides staves will become not just an option but almost necessary anyway in BG2 if Bardin is to make it to the Throne of Bhaal. The Staff of the Magi is one - and probably the best - of very few dispelling instruments for a Cleric/Thief.

Early Days
Spoilered to shorten this overlong post, and because most of the early stuff wasn't very problematic for Bardin.

Spoiler

Shortly after the fall of Gorion, Bardin traveled to the Friendly Arm Inn where he found an expensive ring he'd later sell. Interestingly his Lord told him not to enter the inn. Gaerdal guided his young follower to Beregost and Nashkel instead, and later toward the coast for reasons the Gnome didn't understand at the time. Either way he obliged. In and around Beregost he carried out several tasks for the common folk, the most intriguing of which must have been his contribution to the anti-chickenation of Thalantyr's apprentice Melicamp.

Spoiler

On the south coast Bardin protected researcher Charlestonian Nib from bandits and his own subordinates alike, and he found a very confused Nashkel Guard captain whom he would escort to a temple dedicated to an allied deity, Helm. In the coast's lighthouse area Bardin relieved three flesh golems of the treasure they were guarding whilst he was protected by a Sanctuary. He did not mess with either the golems or nearby sirines though. Further north Bardin did not fall for the charms of a Nereid, and ended up slaying the creature instead with his sling.
Bardin also explored the lands north of the FAI, where the Gnome's intervention in a dispute between followers of Talos and Umberlee may well have saved the life of the young priestess of Umberlee Tenya. Also in those lands a second treasure hoard, this one assembled by ankhegs, fell into the Gnome's hands. Thus the patronage of Gaerdal Ironhand allowed young Bardin to make a number of useful purchases, such as a suit of Shadow Armor and a Claw of Kazgaroth in Beregost, and a Wand of the Heavens, a Cloak of Displacement, and a Greenstone Amulet in Ulgoth's Beard. In that town Bardin also taught fellow Gnome Dushai that the hand of justice shall not be stayed.

Spoiler

Excursions to the Firewine Ruins and Durlag's Tower yielded Bardin a pair of Legacy of the Masters gauntlets as well as a wealth of experience,

Spoiler

while a confrontation with the infamous bounty hunter Greywolf (taken down with sling bullets after Greywolf saved vs Hold Person) left the Gnome with an enchanted longsword, and two stolen emeralds for him to hand over to a bounty handler in Nashkel.
The rock garden of Mutamin, which consisted of people and animals petrified by mind-controlled Basilisks, was another source of good experience. There was some unfortunate collateral damage as Bardin blasted the scaly beasts with Necklace of Missiles fireballs,

Spoiler

but all in all Bardin reckoned he'd done a good job when he was done with the Basilisks and their master (whom he had rendered all but helpless with a successful Silence before slaying him).

Spoiler

His mood only improved when on his way back to Beregost he was given the opportunity to rid the Sword Coast of more brigands (using a divide and conquer strategy).

Spoiler

A few tendays had passed since his departure from Candlekeep, but Bardin had already started to make a difference on the Sword Coast.

Not as good for his mood was Bardin's violent confrontation in Beregost with a Dwarven bounty hunter who had been out for his hide for some reason, nor that with four Thayvians who had wanted to abduct a Half-Elf wizardess named Neera. The Gnome dealt competently with two bodyguards, both were Held and subsequently slain, but he could not stop a Thayvian wizard from killing Neera. Not a 'licensed cleric' yet, Bardin could do nothing for the young Half-Elf other than exacting justice on the Thayvian.

Spoiler

An exploration of the Cloudpeaks followed. Animate Dead and Hold Person became staple spells during that trip.

Spoiler

Bardin explored those lands all the way west to a Gnoll Stronghold, and returned to the civilized world a richer and (slightly) comelier Gnome.
Another contributor to Bardin's purse was Keldath Ormlyr of the Temple of the Morning. He rewarded the Gnome with no less than 5k GP for Holding and slaying Bassilus the murderer.

Spoiler

Following this feat, Free Action-protected Bardin cleared the area surrounding the Lathandrite Temple of its dire, dread and vampiric wolves,

Spoiler

and he also dispensed with the ankhegs north of the FAI relying on the help of his Skeletons.

More incompetent bounty hunters had tried in vain to take Bardin's scalp, including one at the FAI, up to the point that the Gnome got fed up with being followed everywhere he went, and decided he would find out why people wanted him dead. He started with a trip to the troubled Nashkel Mines, the source of the iron crisis and also the place that two close but overly secretive friends of his late foster father, Khalid and Jaheira, wanted investigated. Not much of a lead, but anything or anyone somehow related to himself or to Gorion might bring him closer to answers.

Nashkel Mines

Stealth allowed Bardin to navigate the Nashkel Mines at his convenience. He dispatched groups of Kobolds with fire but more important was his vanquishing of their master, a Half-Orc priest of Cyric and the organizer of the iron ore contamination.

Spoiler

Back in Nashkel Bardin entertained the possibility that his meddling with the ore corrupters had been against the ones that wanted him dead. An assassin named Nimbul awaited him near the tavern, only to meet his end at the hands of soldiers, Skeletons, and Wand of the Heavens wielding Bardin.

Spoiler

Nimbul's contact Tranzig suffered the same fate in Beregost.

Spoiler

A letter the wizard had carried revealed to Bardin the location of a bandit camp in the Wood of Sharp Teeth.

Bandit Camp

Still in Beregost, Bardin taught a fork-tongued thespian not to lie to him, admittedly with his Skeletons doing much of the dirty work,

Spoiler

before he set out and infiltrated into the bandits' ranks via a fellow named Raiken. At their base, Bardin - despite being one Thief level shy of the Cleric/Thief BG1 level cap - feared for his life when his strategy to defeat the bandit leaders failed. He had found a quiet corner in the tent (out of Raemon's sight), where he hoped to summon three Skeletons without being interrupted. Not only did the bandits find Bardin out, their Gnoll warrior also cornered him so that he couldn't escape. Bardin quaffed an invisibility potion and buffed himself as much as he could (potions of regeneration, defense, Greenstone amulet charge; HP + DUHM). He then managed to take out the bandits' wizard even after he got Slowed by the latter. However, Bardin suffered at least five critical hits, including three poisoned arrows from Hobgoblin Elites.

Spoiler

His regeneration potion really made a difference here. Bardin went invisible a second time, healed and prepared for battle again (expending an oil of speed for this purpose), defeated the Gnoll, and took care of the others with Necklace of Missiles fireballs.

Spoiler

Prisoner Ender Sai revealed to Bardin that the Gnome's conflict was with the Iron Throne, with a hidden base in the Cloakwood. Bardin was still injured when a group of bounty hunters ambushed (Molkar & Co) him on his way to the FAI, but given his physical state and the fact that he was low on spells, the Gnome decided to run. 

Cloakwood

In the Cloakwood, Bardin helped some Druids but battled others.

Spoiler

(The Mighty Oak +2 Club became Bardin's end game weapon.) The Gnome also dealt with loads of spiders, but he ran from another ambush (Lamalha), fearful of the woods' plentiful and dangerous web traps.
In front of the Iron Throne base, a mine, Bardin softened up a warrior named Drasus with six traps before felling him with a backstab.

Spoiler

The warrior's companion Genthore fell as well, but two wizards went invisible after wasting some of their spells on Bardin's Skeleton Warriors, avoiding a fight with the Gnome.

Inside the mine Bardin went straight for the master of the mine, Davaeorn. Two potions of magic protection kept the Gnome safe from the wizard's spells while fire proved fatal for Davaeorn's minions and for the mage himself.

Spoiler

Baldur's Gate

Bardin traveled to the city of Baldur's Gate to pay the Iron Throne HQ a visit. First however he undertook several lucrative missions in the city, rewarding himself with a Shield of the Falling Stars, Helm and Cloak of Balduran, two Necklaces of Missiles, three stat-increasing Tomes, a plethora of potions, and several green scrolls. 
At the Iron Throne HQ Bardin summoned his Skeleton Warriors on the fourth floor, and buffed them with Strength of One. The Gnome himself taunted a group of Iron Throne acolytes on the fifth floor, and successfully lured some of them downstairs to finish them with the help of his summons.

Spoiler

Upstairs Bardin dispatched two warriors, a wizard (Naaman with a backstab and Wand of the Heavens Flamestrike), and - with some difficulty - one backstabbing rogue. 
A last acolyte had hidden in one of the offices behind the hall. Bardin pressured him into divulging the Iron Throne leaders' whereabouts. He learned they were in Candlekeep.

Candlekeep

Bardin learned a lot more in that citadel, his former home. First of all he discovered he was an offspring of Bhaal and secondly the man that had wanted him dead, the man that had killed Gorion, was his brother Sarevok. Sarevok had been using the Iron Throne to pursue his own agenda: inciting a war on the Sword Coast. He framed Bardin for the murder of the Iron Throne leaders, whom he no longer had use for, but Bardin escaped with the help of Tethtoril, and with a number of valuable items in his pack.

Finale

Bardin traveled south to the Nashkel region, stocked up on potions, and returned to Baldur's Gate where he kept a low profile as he was now wanted for murdering the Iron Throne leaders. Sarevok's (former) lover Tamoko, of all people, informed Bardin of his brother's plans: killing the Dukes and becoming the new Archduke of Baldur's Gate. Bardin eliminated the assassin Slythe hired by Sarevok to kill duke Belt and duchess Jannath. A backstab delivered while the assassin was occupied with a summon, and four traps did Slythe in.

Spoiler

The Gnome took an invitation to Sarevok's inauguration at the Ducal Palace from the assassin's corpse, rested at the Blushing Mermaid, and went to the palace to protect the Dukes from Sarevok and his Doppelganger cronies. He set about seven snares there (I've lost too many no-reload solo characters there to both Dukes' dying to bother about cheesy resting), summoned and buffed three Skeletons and heavily buffed himself as well.
With 25 STR from the violet potion plus other buffs Bardin allowed himself to dual-wield two clubs. A Rogue Rebalancing phial of poison plus traps plus Skeleton Warriors plus Flaming Fists soon had all the Doppelgangers down but one, a mage that had retreated to an antechamber.

Spoiler

The Doppelganger Mage killed several Flaming Fists with a Sunfire, and confused others before Bardin struck it down.

Spoiler

Sarevok than slew duchess Jannath, and a confused Flaming Fist guard must have hit one of Bardin's Skeleton Warriors, because a fight ensued and soon all the Flaming Fists as well as duke Belt were hostile. Fortunately the duke didn't have hard feelings, at least not so hard as to refuse to help Bardin find Sarevok after the latter fled the scene.

Spoiler

Bardin made his way through a maze and through the undercity to Sarevok's lair, a temple of Bhaal. In front of it, Tamoko understandably but foolishly insisted on fighting Bardin (despite the Gnome's stellar reputation).

Spoiler

Inside the temple, Bardin slew Sarevok's acolytes Tazok (with poisoned and hasted sling attacks), Diarmid (idem), Semaj (fireballs because he went invisible), and Angelo (poison), as well as their animated skeletons. A series of backstabs, two traps, and ranged attacks combined with potion of firebreath scorchers then felled Sarevok.

Spoiler

This is Bardin's endgame inventory:

Spoiler

A quick run through BG1, in which I've been more lenient with myself than I sometimes am. More specifically I allowed Necklace of Missiles and Wand of the Heavens recharges. The reason for that is that I recently accomplished a complete, roleplayed and pretty clean playthrough of BG1, with Gerland and his party. Also, I was pretty eager to make it into SoA because I did a reinstall of BG2EE with a number of interesting mods.

[ussnorway]

 

 

Love the image.

[Grond0]

Condolences Grond0. Luckily you seem to have the patience of a Zen Monk. Success will come sooner or later

Thanks Blackraven - a betting man would probably be on the side of later, but we'll see .  Hope you keep enjoying your new challenge and send Bardin skipping through BG2 as well.

 

 

Phantasmic 6 {39} - monks party (update 1)

 

The previous run I was a bit less careful with managing the monks, although they still managed to get a respectable amount of work done before one of them was killed.  This time I started off trying to avoid any damage at all for as long as possible.  That nearly came to a swift end in an ambush on the way to Shoal, but a kobold commando missed with the one shot he got before the monks ran out of sight.  Shoal along with various nearby wolves got them to level 2.

 

After doing a few tasks around Beregost they travelled cross-country (to avoid bandit ambushes) to find Brage.  This time there was no mistake when talking to him and they arrived safely in Nashkel.  After resting to get LMD they set off on their travels again in search of reputation.  The first source was killing Greywolf and that also got everyone to level 3.  Arabelle gave the next upgrade before they travelled on side paths up to the FAI (dodging one more kobold arrow in one of the ambushes on the way) to help Joia out.  

 

Moving further north Spectre sneaked into the ankheg nest before the monks agreed to unload some of their burdensome gold on Farmer Brun.  Back south they picked up Melicamp and then scouted out High Hedge looking for a lone skeleton.  The smallest group they found was 3 which seemed a bit risky to attack while trying to avoid any damage, but that was rendered a moot point when they encountered some other enemies and I was too slow to react when a mouse-click to move failed to take effect and a dog got a long range attack in on Wraith.  They then went straight after the 3 skeletons and executed a nice neat triple kill - though that was wasted when Melicamp failed to survive anyway.

Spoiler

 

Although they've now taken damage I will be continuing to try to minimise further damage as a means of encouraging myself to minimise risk.  That will mean for instance not leading enemies back across just-cleared potentially dangerous encounter spots in the way that ended their previous run .

 

Chimera - L3, 25 HPs, 21 kills

Spectre - L3, 20 HPs, 15 kills, 0 deaths

Phantom - L3, 23 HPs, 18 kills, 0 deaths

Wraith - L3, 16 HPs, 21 kills, 0 deaths

Spook - L3, 21 HPs, 11 kills, 0 deaths

Spirit - L3, 27 HPs, 12 kills, 0 deaths

After 2 minimum rolls Wraith needs some decent HPs for future levels to avoid being targeted by all the enemies scenting weakness ...

[Grond0]

Phantasmic 6 {39} - monks party (2nd and final update)

 

I don't surprise it will come as a major shock to anyone that I found in practice I was unable to bring myself to take the time to minimise risks after taking that initial damage.  That led to getting into unnecessarily close quarters with a bunch of gibberlings after collecting Samuel to get the final reputation upgrade.  Staying out of reach even in that situation would have been perfectly possible, but rather fiddly and a couple of the monks risked trying to run too close past a gibberling.  That proved fatal for Wraith when a critical exactly equalled her available HPs - I signalled last time her low HPs as a weakness and she was still just a few XP short of her 4th level ...