673 réponses à ce sujet

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

@ Jianson: Well, I guess when I think of 'tank' I think of a 'Minsc-type'. A fighter, paladin, maybe a ranger (but not an archer), or a Templar type Cleric wearing mail and wielding a mace or warhammer.  I guess I'm old fashioned...or maybe sexist in the case of Faldorn.  But, I never think of Druid as a tank.  That's just me though and thinking outside of my box seems to be working well for your group.  Very well. 

Actually, I'm getting lots of tips from reading your posts. I will definately be experimenting with 'Emotion' and 'Chaotic Commands' spells.

I've also been interested in your method of using 'invisibility' to position your mages. Not that it's not a no-brainer but there are situations where it might be 'cheating' ,however, where we as a party have surprise, or the opportunity presents itseld otherwise, I like it!

Also, reading your posts makes my think I need a lesson in backstabbing. You seem to always hide your thief in shadows before backstabbing.  While that was always preferable, I've not thought it was always necessary...which may be why I have sucha low success rate. 

Anyway, should have all my mods installed tonight. 

Next step: new PC.  Woohoo. 

Now will I be a Paladin or LG Cleric or Fighter?  I'm so predictable. 

CKT

Modifié par Charlestonian Knight Templar, 20 septembre 2012 - 08:39 .

[SapphireIce101]

@CKT - Welcome back! Also, on your conundrum, I say go LG Fighter than can dual into Cleric! Its like a Paladin minus the Paladiny goodness? Or...if your going to be something other than a human, multiclass Fighter/Cleric? Hmm.

Also, I never seem to hide my thieves in shadow...No point in it since most of them are archers anyway.

[corey_russell]

In BG 1 my thief concentrates on traps and locks, so no point using HIS since they will almost always fail. It's a different story if more than one thief in the party though. In the first case, the thief will always be an archer as well (typically Imoen). If you use Coran he comes with pretty high HIS scores and he would be a natural NPC to use for scouting and backstabs.

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

Thanks Sapphire and great to see you too C_R. 
Also, thanks for the advise Sapphire.  I think I'll do just that.  That way I can try to do what I've always wanted to do which is to play a heroic LG Fighter all the way through to BGII/TOB and pick up Nalia's stronghold (don't like the 'multiple strongholds' thing.  Yup, that's what I'm gonna do. 

As for the thief, I only carry one in my party and, like you Sapphire, I use mine in combat as an archer.  I use their thieving skills heavily, especially detecting traps, when exploring. 

I wanna try and experiment a little and see if I can get better use of the 'backstab' by trying out  some of Jianson's methods.  Always learning from anyone willing to share some strategy's.

Good to see you both here again.

CKT

[Jianson]

The thief must be stealthed/invisble in order to be able to score a backstab. THAC0 and damage get a +4 bonus if you attack from stealth/invisibility. Depending on timing, luck and the speed of the weapon you may get a second chance if the first try is a whiff. Don't give up until you actually become visible (a critical miss makes you visible right away, though).

Single Weapon Style proficieny seems to be made for thieves. They usually carry a bow or crossbow in the other slot (so no shield) anyway. One star (all that's available to single-class thieves) is enough to get criticals on a roll of 19. Plus you improve AC a little if you go melee.

Regarding hiding in shadows:
- being out of enemy sight is an absolute requirement
- it's harder during daytime if you are trying to hide where there is no shadow
- chance of hiding is the average of HiS and MS, minus penalty if the light is bright

Chance to stay in shadows once you have managed to hide depends on MS, not HiS (so the MS score is the most important one)

In vanilla BG, bards can backstab if they attack from invisibility and use a melee weapon a thief can use (the game treats them technically as 'rogues'). I remember one time when Silke chunked one of my characters. She's a level 9 bard (4x damage multiplier) and attacked from invisibility. Her Quarter Staff +1 could dish out some great damage in those cases.

Modifié par Jianson, 20 septembre 2012 - 09:36 .

[corey_russell]

Jianson wrote...

- being out of enemy sight is an absolute requirement

Just a minor nitpick, but it's then enemy being out of YOUR thief's sight that is important, not the way you stated it. E.g., if your thief gets blinded and doesn't see anything, he can hide in shadows even though enemies can see your thief! It's just how the infiity engine works...

[Jianson]

corey_russell wrote...
Just a minor nitpick, but it's then enemy being out of YOUR thief's sight that is important, not the way you stated it. E.g., if your thief gets blinded and doesn't see anything, he can hide in shadows even though enemies can see your thief! It's just how the infiity engine works...

So it's the thief's 'field of vision' that counts? Wow, I didn't know this. Interesting info.

EDIT: Ah, this explains perfectly why Riggilo (Durlag's Tower upper floors) could be so annoyingly good at hiding even though I had characters spread out almost anywhere he could go. I had cast Blindness on him...

Modifié par Jianson, 20 septembre 2012 - 10:46 .

[Grond0]

Indeed. That's useful to know as your characters can be blinded a lot (particularly using SCS). Stealthy types can take advantage of this quirk, though some people restrict its use as too cheesy.

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

Too cheesy from my foxhole.

CKT

[Jianson]

Ivy, Chaotic Neutral Elven Wild Mage, descending Cloakwood Mines along with Imoen, Faldorn, Coran and Kivan

(Note: I am really starting to push the limits on 'minimal' here. Almost ridiculous how bad I am at keeping my party members alive. I feel like such a douche sometimes. On the other hand, how fun is it to risk-minimize everything you do? And death does come with a price - both money loss and Constitution reduction. I am not sure if a CON 3 character can be raised (can you exist with CON=2?) so there is a natural limit anyway...)


Mines level 2 got really busy fast since all of the guards came running. I retreated to level 1 with only a couple of guards that followed. Second peek down brought up Hareishan nearly alone. Quite easy, then it was more or less just a plow through the meat wall on our third entry.

Third floor has some really nice loot. The two magi didn't cause too much trouble. Coran had the following to say about Natasha: "Another cold body, but *what* a body!" and then he said he thought she acted weird. Most other female mages tend to sling spells at Coran only when he's leaving.

"Try again, pal!"
Which he did. Dimension Door to Yeslick (now how on earth could he know where he would be?).
He had left a Web + Stinking Cloud where Coran was, so I had no option to flee up the stairs. And here come the Battle Horrors, too!

Faldorn opened up with a Dispel Magic (neatly aimed, keeping her Iron Skins in place). I couldn't see much effect on Davaeorn, but the Stoneskin must have dropped because Yeslick managed to hit Davaeorn in melee. That disrupted a spell which was probably crucial to our (relative) success here. Between spells, the evil mage threw MMMMs at Imoen. I feared for her life but I figured that she had to take one for the team now. "Malison, now!", Ivy shouted. Imoen did get it off despite getting hit. Ivy didn't hesitate with...this. Ha!
(I laughed too soon. Did you see that little MMM heading for poor Immy?)

Yeslick was taking a very heavy beating. So much beating that he panicked. At first, I was sure he was done for but I still did my best to get Faldorn, Coran and the fire elemental to intercept the Battle Horrors. I was only partly succesful. Then Yeslick's running finally brought him a couple of steps ahead of the constructs, and Faldorn could calm him down. (As you can also see, Kivan is chucking ice arrows at Davaeorn.)

Instant extra healing potion for Yeslick, which turned out to be necessary. Now that we finally had the Horror down to near death, it died with Davaeorn. I didn't get XP for any of them. Sigh...

We went to Cloakwood 3, reported to Amarande (pretty nice reward!), sent Yeslick to FAI, recruited Eldoth and entered the big city. Oh, have you ever visited Bentley Mirrorshade with Eldoth in the party and NPC Project installed? Hilarious!

Nice touch there with Imanel Silversword's talk with Kivan about Tazok not actually being dead (nice way to cover up this story loophole, you NPC Project people!). I left Kivan at Elfsong - he had started to creep out Ivy a little. She was scared of her feeling towards him.

Eldoth "saved" his girlfriend and we talked to stepmommy dearest (great dialogue!). I wanted Skie to talk to Dad as well, but he had seen a hostile guard and was therefore not talkative...
Faldorn calmed down the situation with a timely Pixie Dust and we got out of there.


Chapter 5 is my absolute favourite part of BG1. So much to do, so many people to talk too! Lots of nice easy XP and loot does not make things worse either. I spent 4-5 full playing sessions just devouring the atmosphere and the many quests. The improved journal really helps with keeping track of them. I still have my written notes (and maps!) from my first playthrough. You really did need to keep your own notes back then, or be a real veteran at the game to keep track.
I like that the item randomizer can move the stat-raising tomes to semi-obscure places where the casual player may not find them. In this game, one tome was on Arkion and one was in a locked chest in Duke Eltan's quarters.

Coran, ever the charmer.

Degrodel's constructs have pretty lousy saving scores, making this spell awesome.

Funny epsiode in the Maulers fight: Nymph scored a Mental Domination on Arlin, so I could check out at his spellbook. 

For the Ratchild fight, I buffed Imoen to 120% fire resistance and figured she could just cast Fireballs on herself and the kobolds. Her AC vs. missiles at -8 along with Stoneskin (we found a second scroll on Davaeorn) should keep her safe against arrows, right? Ratchild had other ideas. A humble Command spell, and with Imoen's great AC no longer functioning, the kobolds needed only that one round to chew away her remaining Skins and kill her. NEVER underestimate a kobold spellcaster! You thought I'd learn that by now...

Coran, ever the charmer.

I (or, mostly Ivy) felt bad after killing Belgin. She was angry with herself for listening to Tiax. Vengeful, even. She came up with a devious plan:
"Hey Tiax, during my journey, I have collected something I call an Ascension Kit™. If a person reads these three scrolls in rapid succession, they get the gods' attention in a major way. If the gods find that person worthy, he or she will ascend to demigod-hood, and who knows where you can go from there. Obviously, I am not worthy, but I know someone who just might be (wink)"
"Tiax hears you, but he wonders what you want for it."
"Just remember me after you've 'ascended'."
"Gimme!"
Helm and Cloak's new slogan: Best place in the city to get stoned.

How is this for cheese? (Add that I paused the game after seeing what spell was coming and at whom. I figured "She'll die from that!" Ivy pulled out the Magic Blocking potion from her potion case, threw it to Imoen who drank it. Everything in less than half a second. I was annoyed at Sunin because he had saved against TWO Emotion spells, a Chaos and a Horror. OK, so his buffs (Improved Inv.) improve saves but still...)


The Iron Throne battle was taken in parts at the floor one down from the highest. I happened to kill a merchant (trap from Coran) but otherwise things went well. I never saw any sign of the two thieves: Shennara and whatshisname (K-something). Coran opened up the fight with a Detonation arrow but there was no mentioning of the thieves taking damage or even attacking Coran. They simply weren't there. Weird.


Ogre Mages at Candlekeep, take 1
No use buffing with Stoneskin before going, as they will only time out. I had Faldorn open with Pixie Dust, Imoen with Confusion and Ivy with Emotion. After her spell was cast, Ivy had to evade an attacking mage and took heavy damage. Since we had 3-4 mages unconscious and/or confused, I wanted Ivy to drop a Cloudkill on this spot when she was about to move away. Big mistake. An invisible ogre came out from the shadows and killed her with a Magic Missile.

[Reload #4]
We had 'em, and there's a temple right inside that gate!

(Darn, that was sloppy. Always heal first if you can! Wouldn't have happened if the no-reload was still intact...)

Ogre Mages at Candlekeep, take 2
Even better this time. No damage taken. 
Then it became dangerous. One mage cast Skull Trap on Imoen, Faldorn, and Coran. Imoen nearly died. All three gulped extra healing potions. Meanwhile, Ivy had her own major troubles. Extra healing potion to save her life. The other three killed "their" mage and Coran helped Ivy out so she could go inviso. Here is the status after the Acid Arrow has run its course. The damage Ivy deals is from a Cloudkill (that killed one mage instantly, and this one died the next round). We hunted down the straggler and all went well from there.

Until the Prat battle, that is. Coran received invisibility, removed the web traps and killed basilisks and spiders.
My plan was to use the choke point south of the basilisk lair and meet the enemies there. It backfired. I'll, spare you (myself) the embarassing details but let's just say that Ivy was owned by Prat's MMMs and her own fears. Plus I thought you'd be safe from Cloudkill damage if you have Magic Blocking going. Either you are not, or the potion effect timed out at the wrong moment. Ivy was killed in her own Cloudkill...
(Imoen was already dead. She didn't have any Invisibilities left so I had hidden her in a spider lair. Sakul found her when I was busy with other things. He dumped a Stinking Cloud on her and just MMMed her to oblivion (he was running Minor Globe so he could stand in the cloud unharmed))

[Reload #5]
We had 'em! The air elementals were dead, Prat was pretty much out of spells, the two warriors were fighting fire elemental and couldn't damage it. Coran and Faldorn were healthy and would have won (I think)

Sigh.

Ivy has CON=3 now. Her max HP has dwindled to 12 (and half of that comes from her familiar!).


Second time around, I think I got a massive (24 HD) elemental because it survived for ages even against Prat, giving us plenty of time to deal with the elementals. Sakul had hidden in a far away area. Coran (in shadows) found him and backstabbed him to death. Prat cast Sunfire at Faldorn and Imoen. Imoen made her save and her ring protected her. The remaining air elemental got killed by the fire. Faldorn got scared, as you can see. Do you think she died? No way, she still hasn´t died. Ivy's Hold Monster stopped Prat cold, and Imoen could dagger-throw him to death. Accompanied by a summoned spider as tank, Coran gunned down Bor and the other guy (name?).


OK, chapter 6 done now. Time for a little treasure hunt in DT. I plan to play up to the last elemental room pre-chess. I wanted more firepower and someone that can make use of Light Crossbow of Speed and all the nifty bolts we've found. Who is our master crossbow wielder? A warrior I haven't talked to yet: Ms Dosan!

Coran, ever the charmer.
(Imoen's random comment made it even better!)


Four warders battle
Unlike all those annoying mages, these guys don't de-buff your characters. They are just damn tough opponents. I am not quite sure about all their abilities but here is a quick rundown of what I know:

Fear: An aura that radiates Fear, fast regeneration
Love: Dire Charm at will
Avarice: Cloudkill at start and occasionally later, Improved Invisibility at will, backstabs
Pride: Champion's Strength, Chaotic Commands (and maybe some other clerical buff), at will

I buffed with Remove Fear and Haste. Coran, Shar-Teel and Ivy drank Fortitude potions and Coran also an Oil of Speed. He was the wine deliverer, and ran into a hallway and hid in the shadows. His trap (failed setting the other) damaged Love. Love and Fear attacked fire elemental but couldn't damage it. Elemental attacked Love and eventually killed him. Great. Avarice attacked Faldorn and my gang of women. She cast Inviso Purge, allowing both mages some quick hits with MM. Shar-Teel got backstabbed but survived. Elemental and Fear still battling. No sign of Pride.

Avarice eventually dumped another Cloudkill. It instakilled Shar-Teel (poor girl is only level 6...) and the other three took damage but escaped the cloud. Good thing they still all have Skins left. I thought Faldorn's were running low so she recast her Skins. Coran ran over to help. One backstab, run away and hide and the next time Avarice showed himself, Coran finished him. 

Elemental and Fear still battling. Fear is uninjured. WTF? It has taken several fiery hits. Must be regenerating quickly. Regenerate THIS if you can...

Pride was still standing at the starting spot. He couldn't damage the elemental either. Fearful that it would expire, Coran borrowed Imoen's boomerang dagger and helped the elemental to off Pride. Took quite a while.

Great Many Doors Level up next.


Ivy, level 10 Wild Mage, 12 HP (5 deaths, CON=3)
Imoen, level 9 Thief  -> level 9 Mage, 32 HP (6 deaths, CON=10)
Faldorn, level 12 Druid, 48 HP (no deaths)
Coran, level 7/8 Fighter/Thief, 40 HP (3 deaths, CON=9)
Shar-Teel, level 6 Fighter, 39 HP (1 death, CON=8)

Modifié par Jianson, 25 septembre 2012 - 10:00 .

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

[quote]Jianson wrote...

And death does come with a price - both money loss and Constitution reduction.



Didn't know that either. The learning never stops here!

Modifié par Charlestonian Knight Templar, 26 septembre 2012 - 08:44 .

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

[quote]Charlestonian Knight Templar wrote...

[quote]Jianson wrote...

And death does come with a price - both money loss and Constitution reduction. [/quote]

Didn't know that either. The learning never stops here

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

Forget it.

[Jianson]

The constitution loss is my house rule (i use ShadowKeeper) but I have a vague memory that it worked like that when you raised party members in original BG1. Not 100% sure, though. Maybe someone could test it?

In any case, it's following PnP roleplaying rules (although with those rules, Raise Dead does not always work, and it never works on elves (this wasn't implemented in BG)).

Modifié par Jianson, 27 septembre 2012 - 06:13 .

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

Yeah, I'm a p&p fan from the 80's, way back when AD&D was played with handbooks, multi-sided dice and character record sheets...but those are the rules I enjoy trying to mimick in my game.

Ofcourse, my DM wouldn't let me roll my dice 150 times to get my scores right. I keep starting over b/c I just can't get into any of these characters. Everytime Tarnish kills them I just start over.

Ugh. Tht's it. This time it's for real.

CKT

Modifié par Charlestonian Knight Templar, 26 septembre 2012 - 11:27 .

[Jianson]

Confirmed. Since I play with EasyTutu, I figured I must have the original TSC installed somewhere. Fired up that, found an ancient savegame with my Paladin Sir Richard, Jaheira and Imoen in the party. They were at FAI. Jaheira had CON 17. I removed her armor and had Sir Richard kill her. Went to Temple of Wisdom and raised her.
CON 16.

Modifié par Jianson, 27 septembre 2012 - 06:25 .

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

Thanks for the confirmation. That's definately something to keep in mind.

. CKT

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

[/URL]

Introducing my newest PC for the challenge. 

Zbyzsko of Candlekeep is modeled on Zbyzsko of Bogdoniec, a fictional Polish knight from the novel, The Teutonic Knights.  I have tailored his stats so as to get close to what I deem from reading about him in the book.  In the novel Zbyzsko is an extremely formidible knight, if not somewhat inexperienced. Zbyzsko is, at least early in the novel,  somewhat naive and foolish.  From what I read, Zbyzsko is lawful, good and pious in the extreme.  Zbyzsko hates the Teutonic Knights and he desires to defeat as many as he can and take the peacock feathers from the helms as his trophies.  I am still working thru who in the BG world might be my PCs 'Teutonic Knights.' The bandits and Chill Hobgoblins don't really have the same feel.  The Black Talon?  I don't know. 

My PC, Zbyzsko of Candlekeep, is a fighter, lawful and good.  His stats, I believe, are close to what they should be and he carries the same weapons the novels character does in one scene (a sword and a battle axe, minus a lance).  I was thinking of adding a spear later as Polish knights also used spears.

His armor, in the book, is of exquisite quality gained from a batle conquest.  The image I chose stuck out as such.  I chose as a small image that of Heath Ledgers character in A Knights Tale, Sir Ulrich von Lichenstein, as that is kinda the picture I draw in my head of Zbyzsko.  Interestingly, Zbyzsko's arch enemy in the novel is a Teutonic Knight named Lichtenstein. 

I will try to play my PC and have him react as I think he would based on what I know of the character in the book.  The character is a noble and has an armor bearer, squire etc in attendance at all times.  My NPCs will fill these roles as closely as they can. 

I'm planning to let the dialogue/plot guide my character as he has been shielded in Candlekeep, so while he would be well learned from his tutelage under Gorion he's still be somewhat ignorant of the real world.  As NPCs, scrolls, letters etc provide him information or suggestions, he will decide his moves based upon that and not, hopefully, based on my prior knowledge of what is where.   The danger here is that normally I run the table on Lion's Way, Coast Way, FAI, Beregost, S Beregost Road etc before hitting the mines. A little concerned that the party will be inexperienced in some situations.  The caveat to this is once he completes Chapter 6 and is 'on the lamb' he will lay low for a long while and that's when he will adventure 'off plot' and complete all the side quests and areas that are not tied to the games plot.  

Here we go. 

CKT

Modifié par Charlestonian Knight Templar, 01 octobre 2012 - 08:28 .

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

Lion’s Way to Beregost (Chapter 1)

So quickly I’ve gone from my every day existence in Candlekeep under the tutelage of Gorion & the monks to sitting here in Beregost, quill in hand, detailing on parchment these last three days. They seem so surreal. They’re hard to believe. Gorion is dead & some monster is after me. But for what reason?
 
I ‘m thankful Imoen chose to accompany me, although I wish I’d listened to her advice. She & I travelled only a short distance in Lion’s Way before I invited two others to join us. They’d freely given me a Potion of Healing when they saw I was a bit scuffed from a battle with some Disceased Gibberlings Imoen & I had just had . Even so, Imoen was adamant that they were not to be trusted but I allowed them, Montaron & Xzar by name, to accompany us to the Friendly Arm Inn (FAI) anyway. They were of much assistance in fending off another pack of Diseased Gibberling’s in the Coast Way. I was especially impressed by Montaron. 
 
We arrived @ the FAI & I was attacked by an assassin named Tarnesh. We killed him before he was able to act, spoiling at least one spell.  Imoen was intrigued by Tarnesh’s spellbook & I expect she’s in her room studying it even now. We left FAI & headed toward Nashkel where Montaron, Xzar, Khalid & Jaheira all want to go. Back in the Coast Way we battled packs of Gibberling’s/Diseased Gibberling’s before falling on a pack of Kobold’s armed w/S Bows. When in unfamiliar territory we use a ‘v’ formation w/me on point & the team back where they can use their ranged weapons. Unfortunately, 1 or 2 of the Kobold’s targeted Jaheira & she was killed. We finished defeating them & then Khalid collected her equipment before we travelled back to the Temple of Wisdom where the Cleric Gellana raised her for 100gps.  We rested & when Jaheira had her strength back we travelled back through the Coast Way & its packs of Gibberling’s before arriving @ Beregost. 

Key Event: In Beregost we went to the smithy before heading to Feldepost’s Inn for some rest. Unfortunately, Montaron started a brawl w/2 men in the bar & they turned hostile. I tried to get us out of there, so we crossed the street into another inn. I immediately booted Montaron out of the party & Xzar joined him. Sadly, that didn’t solve the problem. The two men still attacked us when we went back into the street. I tried to knock them out w/o killing them but Imoen, Khalid and Jaheira would have none of it. Killing them has seriously harmed our reputation & broken my heart. These were good men.  I donated everything we acquired from them to the Song of the Morning outside of town. We are all very unhappy about this. I’ve learned a hard lesson about choosing my comrades in arms…& listening to those I trust.  

Treasure Acquired: (Legend: Zybzsko (Zy), Imoen (Im), Khalid (Kh) etc., General Party Use (GP);  Spellbook (Sb); Sold (S); Armor: misc. Weapons: misc. Potions: 1 unidentified, Scrolls: Magic Missile (Im), Blur (Im), Blindness (Im), Chromatic Orb (Im), Burning Hands (Im), Remove Fear (S), Misc:  Gems/Jewelry; >116gps 
 
Leader Notes: None
 
Current Disposition: Resting @ the Burning Wizard in Beregost
 
Next Steps: Continue toward Nashkel
 
Game Notes/Questions: None
 
Promotions: None 
 
Current Party:  (Reputation: 8 Disliked)
Zybzsko           Ftr/1: 18/17, 18, 18, 10, 10, 15    Std Lthr/Shld, L/Swd*,B/Axe*,T/Axe*, SSS**
Imoen               Thf/1                                                 Std Lthr/S/Bow*,Dgr*     WoMM
Khalid               Ftr/1//Mage/1//Thf/1                        LBow*/BSwd*/2WS**
Jaheira              Ftr/1//Drd/1                                     Std Lthr/Bcklr, Slg**/Club**

Reloads: 0
 
Mods: E. Tutu/TOB; Hard Times, BG1 UB; NPC 1 Prj; BGII Twk Pack, Level 1 NPCs, Randomizer

Modifié par Charlestonian Knight Templar, 02 octobre 2012 - 08:50 .

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

Delayed in Beregost (Chapter 1)


We’re still in Beregost.  Our efforts to get to Nashkel have been delayed.
 
Key Event: We met a Bard outside the Burning Wizard who solicited our help in providing security for the lady Silke. She really wanted us to assassinate some men who were obviously not guilty of being the ‘thugs’ she described them as. We refused & she attacked.  I hit her at least once with my long sword, I know Imoen hit her with a Magic Missile & I’m sure at least one arrow hit her. I thought we were getting the best of her when, suddenly, she caught me with a Lightning Bolt. I remember only intense external & internal pain all at once. Next thing I remember, I was in the Temple of the Morning with Cleric Kelddath Ormlyr standing over me. Khalid & I succumbed to the same Lightning Bolt.
 
Jaheira & Imoen managed to escape Silke & return to recover our equipment. We only had 60gp so they had to search for gold to have us raised. They tried to sell Imoen’s Wand of Magic Missiles & some potions in Beregost but could not. Someone mentioned a wizard in High Hedge who might help. They went to vHigh Hedge & while there met an Elven Archer named Kivan who agreed to join them. Before they ever got to the wizard, the three of them killed 5 Gnolls & 4 Flinds & had enough gold to ask Kelddath Ormlyr to raise Khalid & I. After recovering our strength & w/Kivan in our party, we re-engaged Silke & this time didn’t fail. We killed her & got 400gps, some bracers & a potion we’ve yet to identify. The ‘ruffians’ she’d wanted killed were grateful & gave us another potion that we have to identify. 
 
We returned to High Hedge to see if we could get the items identified but we’re only able to identify an Elven Spear of Entanglement that Thalantyr gave Kivan & the Bracers of Archery that Silke had when we killed her. On the way back we were engaged by skeleton’s tossing throwing daggers &, later, two bears. We broke the skeletons but one of the bears hit Khalid who w/his lack of armor (can’t cast w/it on) went down w/one whack. In a few hours we were back at the Temple asking Kelddath to raise Khalid…again. We returned to Beregost & asked the Bard, Garrick, who’d represented Silke to join us. He did. 
 
Treasure Acquired: Legend: Zybzsko (Zy), Imoen (Im), Khalid (Kh) etc., General Party Use (GP);  Spellbook (Sb); Sold (S); Armor: misc. Weapons: Elven Spear of Entanglement (Ki). Potions: 3 (unidentified); Scrolls: Luck (Kh) (failed to write); Misc:  Bracers of Archery (Kh), Gems/Jewelry; >400gps 
 
Leader Notes: None
 
Current Disposition: Resting @ the Burning Wizard in Beregost
 
Next Steps: Continue toward Nashkel
 
Game Notes/Questions: After reloading, I played thru w/Jaheira & Imoen only (Khalid & I were still ‘technically’ there but had no action). I left us on the edge of the map when Jaheira & Imoen went into High Hedge & then again when they got back to the Temple of the Morning.  (see image)
 
Promotions: Imoen to Thief, Level 2, increased skills in F/R Traps, H/Shadows and Open Locks to 35%, M/Silently to 30%. Zybzsko to Fighter/Level 2.  
 
Current Party:  (Reputation: 9 Average)
Zybzsko           Ftr/2: 18/17, 18, 18, 10, 10, 15    C.Mail/Shld, L/Swd*,B/Axe*,T/Axe*, SSS**
Imoen   Thf/2                              Std Lthr                                  S/Bow*,Dgr*     WoMM
Khalid   Ftr/1//Mage/1//Thf/1                                                    LBow*/BSwd*/2WS**
Jaheira  Ftr/1//Drd/1                   Std Lthr/Bcklr                      Slg**/Club**
Kivan    Archer/1                        Std Lthr                                 LBow**/LSwd*/2WS**,Spear*                
Garrick Bard/2                                                                          Crossbow*/SSwd


Reloads:  1 (Silke)
 
Mods[u]: E. Tutu/TOB; Hard Times, BG1 UB; NPC 1 Prj; BGII Twk Pack, Level 1 NPCs, Randomizer

Modifié par Charlestonian Knight Templar, 03 octobre 2012 - 09:03 .

[Jianson]

 
Game Notes/Questions: After reloading, I played thru w/Jaheira & Imoen only (Khalid & I were still ‘technically’ there but had no action). I left us on the edge of the map when Jaheira & Imoen went into High Hedge & then again when they got back to the Temple of the Morning.  (see image)

This was a good solution for handling your situation. Kinda tricky how to handle the Silke fight since you couldn't really re-create the actual battle situation you were in (you and Khalid out of the fight, Silke hurt and having cast Lightning Bolt, etc.).

What made you think Khalid should be a F/M/T?

LOL @ Monty getting into a bar fight. Not hard to see that coming...



Next update for Ivy will wait a bit longer, as my old (ancient) computer is now dead. It thinks my HD is an 'unmountable boot device' and it spontaneously restarts every time after about 30% of the startup sequence. The HD has been flaky for a long time (for quite some time, I've left the computer on because the HD has worked better when it isn't cold). New machine is on the way, as well as a USB cabinet for my old HD. I hope I can still access it (will copy over the whole thing asap if it works!) even if I can't boot up on it. If I can't, I still have some old savegames (as well as the enitre EasyTutu folder modded the way I want it) on a USB stick but the rollback for Ivy is so large and there is so little left of the game for her that I may as well just continue with my no-reloads Beast Master instead.

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

[quote]Jianson wrote...

[quote] 
What made you think Khalid should be a F/M/T?

LOL @ Monty getting into a bar fight. Not hard to see that coming...

[/quote]

Usually when I run thru Level 1 NPCs I look at the stats of each NPC, even if I don't ever have anything to them in game play, e.g. Xzar & Monte. I look at the stats & think, "if I rolled these what we be the best course of action for this NPC?" I never exceed the number of the total, so I subtract from somewhere if I'm adding elsewhere.

In Khalid's case his basic stats in Str,Dex,Int are so close that by adjusting a bit you can get a F/M/T w/16s in each stat. That's how I'm playing him. Khalid's story is one that makes me think of a confused childhood in which he found his own way. Being mixed up about what he wanted to do seems to fit the mold. I also, always have him carry a 'Bastard' Sword since his father disowned him.

Stupid Monte really screwed things up. Ugh. But I chalked it up to the naivety of the PC I'm playing. Unlike a Paladin, he can't 'Detect Evil' so he let them come along w/o knowing his error would lead to that (neither did I since I have NEVER played w/an evil PC or NPC. Haha

CKT

Modifié par Charlestonian Knight Templar, 04 octobre 2012 - 02:42 .

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

Naskel Mines (Chapter 2)

 
We headed south along the South Beregost Road. The SBR was uneventful save an encounter w/two Ogrillons that we dispatched handily. One of them carried a letter from a man, Roe to his wife, Mirianne. I think I need to keep this. We also ran into some Flaming Fist mercenaries who, initially, accused us of being bandits. We smoothed that over & moved south.
 
Next we travelled on the North Nashkel Road where we ran into a squad of Hobgoblin’s. Our use of suppressive fire & maneuver was superb. We’re still working on this but we garnered a good haul of loot from this encounter. As we were leaving the NNR we ran into some Gibberlings or Kobolds, one of the two, I just can’t recall. We dispatched them but not before Jaheira took another fatal blow.
 
Finally, we made Nashkel & met Berrun Ghastkill who implored us to investigate what was going on in the Nashkel Mines. We agreed.  We went first to the Temple of Helm & the Cleric Nalin raised Jaheira. We headed to the Nashkel Inn for some rest but were attacked by the fifth assassin I’ve met this week. We killed her, Neira by name & recovered some fine Splint Mail, a Helm of Infravision & a shield.
 
We travelled to the mines & cleared the first two levels but lost Jaheira – again – to a War Dog in a storehouse. We returned to Nalin & paid him 100gps to raise her from the dead. Back in the mines, we saved one man from some Kobolds & he offered us a gem but we declined.  When we got to level three I found an interesting Greenstone Ring. Something tells me to hang on to it.  Level three has been quite a bit tougher. Darned Kobolds w/short bows are tough. We had two rough fights & all took some hits.
 
Key Event: In one fight on level three, we faced maybe 20 Kobolds, maybe15 of them w/bows. We quaffed a few Potions of Healing in this one & lost both Imoen & Jaheira before we finally overcame them.  We ‘limped’ out of there & headed to town but only had enough gold to raise Jaheira. We were forced to travel to High Hedge & sell Imoen’s WoMM to Thalantyr to raise the gold needed to bring Imoen back. 
 
Treasure Acquired: Legend: Zybzsko (Zy), Imoen (Im) etc., General Use (GU); Spellbook (Sb); Sold (S)
Armor: Splint Mail (Zy), Helm of Infravision (S); Weapons: LSword (Zy), B.Axe (Zy); Potions: None; Scrolls: Knock (Kh/Sb), Grease (Ga/failed), Chill Touch (Kh/failed); Misc: Armor/Weapons (S), Gems/Jewelry (S); ~100gps   
 
Leader Notes: We’re still perfecting our ranged weapons/melee tactics.
 
Current Disposition: Resting @ the Burning Wizard in Beregost
 
Next Steps: Nashkel Mines Level 4
 
Game Notes/Questions: I’m having Khalid & Garrick alternate as recipient of scrolls. If they don’t already have that spell I have them try to write it regardless of the spell. Trying to vary the type spells I have.
 
Promotions: Garrick to Bard/Level 3, chose to learn ‘Chill Touch’. Imoen to Thief, Level 3, increased skills in F/R Traps, H/Shadows, O/Locks & M/Silently to 40%%,   
 
Current Party:  (Reputation: 9 Average)
Zybzsko           Ftr/2: 18/17, 18, 18, 10, 10, 15    Std Lthr/Shld, L/Swd*,B/Axe*,T/Axe*, SSS**
Imoen   Thf/3                             Std Lthr                        S/Bow*,Dgr*     WoMM
Khalid   Ftr/1//Mage/1//Thf/1                               LBow*/BSwd*/2WS**
Jaheira  Ftr/1//Drd/1                   Std Lthr/Bcklr    Slg**/Club**
Kivan    Archer/1                        Std Lthr            LBow**/LSwd*/2WS**,Spear*                
Garrick Bard/2                                                   Crossbow*/SSwd

 
Reloads:  1 (Silke)

 
Mods: E. Tutu/TOB; Hard Times, BG1 UB; NPC 1 Prj; BGII Twk Pack, Level 1 NPCs, Randomizer

[Jianson]

Ivy, elven Wild Mage, descending deeper into Durlag's Tower.
We breached Great Many Doors level pretty much with total success. Since I do not have the improved doppelgangers installed, the doppelganger form is by far the least threatening of the five forms these shifters can take.
 
Cool fight here:

Always nice when enemy spellcasters fail castings...

Giant Wyrm Skeleton level was very easy (mostly thanks to the fire elemental fighting enemies not able to hit it). In the final elemental challenge chamber (slime); I had Faldorn cast Protection from Lightning on all of us (used all level 4 slots for this) and follow up with Pixie Dust. Coran fought the slime until it divided, then he backed off and threw Explosion Potions, hiding in shadows after each throw. On the second throw, the last slime died and we were teleported to the chess board.

Now, with the SCS improveed Durlag's Tower component, this fight is probably the second hardest in the game. That's why I decided to fight it at a later time:



It is much easier if you clean out the level below so you take the fight there (lots more space and no lightning flying).

After the nice loot on the statue/Grael level (still no staff of striking, though), I had Islanne's ghost teleport us out. Demonknight is for later.

I did some Ch 7 stuff in BG: saved Eltan and fought Cythandria:

Sunfire (or was it Fireball) burned Coran and Faldorn badly. Note that Faldorn still hasn't died.

Since Coran was hurt, Ivy decided to heal him:

I got a real scare but thankfully, this bolt had no penetrating effect. Only Coran took damage.

Undercellars fight next. Decided to throw in a skeleton pack (Ivy knows Animate Dead) and have Faldorn use True Seeing. Krystin had Globe of Invulnerability on but that does not help against level 5 spells. So:


Yay, Hold Monster prevailed again!

Meanwhile, Faldorn had some more summons added. Slythe isn´t so scary when True Seeing keeps revealing him, hehe. He was quickly killed. Then check out this bear damage:



Isle of Balduran was handled with care. Karoug was repeatedly backstabbed by Coran (holding Werebane) on 2nd and 3rd floor. He had to dish out a LOT of backstabs since Karoug had three moral failures and healed to full or almost full every time.

No chance to come to an agreement with Kaishas since Ivy isn´t of Good alignment. I summoned some bears to hold off the werewolf reinforcements:


Coran stabbed with Werebane and Shar-Teel dual wielded Sword of Balduran and Bastard Sword +3 vs Shapeshifters:

None of them were profient with these weapons but with the help of Haste, it was still enough.

Then I had quite some trouble with Mendas and Baresh. No less than three 'Bareshes' spawned, two of them on top of each other.

Start of Coronation battle. A Pixie Dust allowed us to take up desired positions before the fight.

Ivy and Imoen each cast Slow. Got nearly all of the doppelgangers with that. Quite easy to kill them now. Even the Dread Wolves did a good job. At one time, Liia took heavy damage so I was afraid she wouldn´t survive, but she did.
(If I had still been on a no-reloads run, I think Ivy wouldn't have used any spells here. Wild surges could easily have messed up this fight.)

After getting sent away from here, I always go right back to loot the place.  
Coran got absolutely everything valuable (had to seek up the party to load off things more than once). He even pickpocketed Liia and Belt. Filched a ruby ring from each of them, plus some potions from Belt (Invulnerability, Cloud Giant Strength, 2x Extra Healing).

Coran de-trapped the whole maze under ivisibility, then backstabbed-run-backstabbed the skelly warriors and Doom Guards to death. Faldorn lured the invisible stalkers to show themselves, and Coran opened with backstabs.

Then I thought about what someone wrote about Winski, Dynaheir and a demon encounter with NPC project. I went back to Nashkel to get Dynaheir. Knowing about a demon coming up, I had Faldorn read a Protection from Evil 10' Radius scroll (a spell not normally available to her). Demon was pretty wimpy. It opened with Silence and then took one swing at Ivy. It was soon dead (6000 exp) and I could pick up a Bastard Sword +1. Dynaheir took a Cacofiend scroll and a necklace from Winski´s body. The necklace can cast Protection from Evil 10' Radius once per day. Nice.

Undercity next (all but the temple). Then I'll go back to the darn chess fight and the Demonknight...


Ivy, level 11 Wild Mage, 13 HP (5 deaths, CON=3)
Imoen, level 9 Thief  -> level 10 Mage, 33 HP (6 deaths, CON=10)
Faldorn, level 12 Druid, 49 HP (no deaths)
Coran, level 8/9 Fighter/Thief, 45 HP (3 deaths, CON=9)
Shar-Teel, level 8 Fighter, 50 HP (1 death, CON=8)

Modifié par Jianson, 11 octobre 2012 - 10:07 .

[touch_of_the_void]

Hi Jianson, which mods are you playing with? I know Hard Times and SCS but which others (can't find where you listed them, sorry)?

Also in a post on an earlier page I remember that you said there was 1.6 - 1.8 M xp in BG1... is that with or without including content added by mods?