16394 replies to this topic

[Gate70]

Carthusian 10ish had a few updates yesterday concluding in a temple showdown. Points of note;

- Used a greenstone amulet charge then moved in to Marek. No Marek. Shuffles away to have a word with Lothander at the Blade & Stars. Shuffles away from there and collects the geas from Jalantha.

- Stayed at the Coronation for a few rounds. Was doing really well with 2 down but then realised the others were on Belt and Liia. Late in the day to run upstairs but Belt somehow survived - Liia didn't.

- Half drew Sarevok out with a bullet but the others appeared to activate. Deliberated for a minute but no action. Decided to not buff and sneak in and hurl an oil of fiery burning first. Ran back from that only for Angelo to arrive at my destination before Carthusian. With a clouded aura I ran a bit further and decided to start with a protection from magic scroll. Semaj popped an over the horizon contingency and Carthusian was dead before his aura cleared. No time for FoD to cover that distance so expect it was his petrification offering.

Back at some point. Have fun.

Edited by Gate70, 13 January 2014 - 08:06 PM.

[corey_russell]

Ack! Sorry to hear that Gate70. Carthusian 10ish! Wow you must really like that character. My Russell character is up to V now...

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

I finally decided to take the little runt & song boy north to clear out the Coast Way before heading back toward Candlekeep & doing the same around Lion’s Way. They should rename Coast Way, Gibberling Way. We must’s killed 30 of the things. Somewhere there, Geryon, chose to bless me from beyond time & space.



My little runt continues to swing axes like a madman, even when he avoids his Berserk state of mind. And song boy has been valuable casting his sleep spell & taking out plenty of foes so that runt & I can cut them to pieces at our leisure.   Gotta write this down. Song boy asked me how I liked his music. I told him to, “shut up & get in line,” told him, “the only thing I keep you around for is to carry my bags.” I though Runt was gonna bust outta his Splint Mail! 
 
In Lion’s Way, I met up w/a rogue, another runt, & a mage. I really don’t like the mage but he offered me a Potion of Healing. I don’t trust him or the other one, the runt, but I’ll let them go along for now. One wrong move outta either one of ‘em & I’ll tear them limb from limb. Anyway, we continued on killing freakin’ Gibberlings & Diseased Gibberling’s, four Dread Wolves & three Black bears. 
 
We cleaned those areas up and will head south next. Gotta be careful though as we have no magic items & we saw at least one Vampiric Wolf there. We’ll have to stay clear of him until we can kill him.
 
I’m still not comfortable w/this mage. He seems too chaotic & I don’t trust him. He may have to go. I can use the assassin & darn-it, I’ve been thinking about bringing that Edwin fool back from the dead. At least he seems to understand how things work – except that he thought he was top dog. 
 
Key Event: Me becoming a Hell-Raiser//Anti-Paladin/4!!!
 
Treasure of Note: Gems, jewelry, gold. Nothing sexy to write about here. 

Current Disposition: @ Beregost/Red Sheaf. 

Next Steps: I’m gonna continue & clear South Beregost Road & North Nashkel Road before heading further south toward the mines.

Level Up: Geryon has seen fit to give me more power & raised me to Hell-Raiser/Ant-Paladin//4 with Life Drain ability to add to his blessing me earlier w/Doom, Poison Weapon & Aura of Despair. Funny though, I also have Larloch’s Minor Drain which seemed to come from another source of power. My little runt has powered up to Berserker/4 & is completely loyal to me. Perfect. 
 
Current Party: (Reputation: 5 - Disliked)
Gerald Front-de-Boeuf: Ftr (Blk Gd)/4 Plate Mail w/LShield**, Flail**. BSwd*
Kagain: Ftr (Bkr)/4 Plate Mail, BAxe***, (ThAxe)*** (2WS**)
Garrick: Bard/4 w/ShSwd* & Lt C/Bow*, ShSwd*
Montaron: Thf(Asn)/4, Stud Leather, ShSwd*, Dgr* (SWS*)
Xzar: Mage(Nec), Knave’s Robe, Dgr*,
Edwin: Mage (Cjr)/3, QStaff* (In hell)

Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; X0black101 (Blackguard); level1npcs-v1.9; bg2_tweaks-v14; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21 (- Tactical Challenges)
 
Reloads: 0

Edited by Charlestonian Knight Templar, 14 January 2014 - 02:31 PM.

[Serg BlackStrider]

Well, after some Christmas/New Year vacations Impish Face & Co are back on the road.

Sold our loot from Bandit Camp in Beregost Smithy and you know what - right outside of it we again got a warm welcome from another now-wandering group of assassins. Lamalha and Zeela both immediately hit with Unholy Blight, Imoen failed her saves both times and got exactly 48 points of damage (her total HP at the moment) - just enough to die. Jaheira scared Zeela by Flamestrike but Lamalha hit with another Unholy Blight and Khalid panicked while Maneira hit Impish Face with amasing 3 hp triple backstab. Remove Fear restored Khalid courage and Lamalha soon fell, followed by Telka and Zeela. Burning with shame Maneira ran inside the smithy but soon joined her girlfriends. The loot from them was pretty insignificant at the moment.

The first Cloakwood area was pretty uneventful. Seniyad and his cronies were much easier this time even though he dire charmed Jaheira so I was feared she could attack nearby Aldeth. She didn't and just stood still while our skellies hitting her. The second area, with improved Spiders installed, is less so but using a hordes of skellies as a bait and sending only one of them ahead (with Imoen scouting invisible) to catch a Giant Spider's Webs we have fought them all. Then Jaheira entered the Centeol's lair, softened the opposition there with the potion of explosion and lured them outside. Viconia add a blast from Wand of Fear and soon it was all over. Centeol herself was fried and we got a randomised Wand of Fire as well as Wand of Frost and Spider's Bane (non-randomised).

The Crew delved deeper into the forest.

to be continued... 

Edited by Serg BlackStrider, 14 January 2014 - 10:54 AM.

[corey_russell]

Good to see Impish Face's run is still going..you know, Gorion must have been in a frivolous mood when he named Impish Face that....

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

I sit here near the fire, marveling @ the powers that Geryon has granted to from the Outer Darkness beyond the planes. Truly he is a great & powerful Arch-Devil & Asmodeus is sure to see that & depose that pretender, Levistus, from Stygia & return it to my Lord. Even now Levistus is entrapped in an iceberg by Asmodeus. As I wait on that marvelous day, I need await Geryon’s call by readying myself. So far, I have wandered w/o a plan & have taken stupid chances. Geryon would have me be smart as he himself is of Exceptional intelligence. A few things I need to do:
1)      I need be wary of spell casters. A split sec can disable my person & leave me unable to escape or defend myself. I have no friends around this camp fire & I can’t expect to raised should I fall.
2)      I must avoid battles where my odds are not at least 3-1 in my favor unless I am clearly the superior of my enemy in which 2-1 or 1-1 might be acceptable. 
3)      I must break contact without regard to anyone but myself should I be reduced to 60% hit-points. 
4)      I need to let my underlings take the point position. Don’t wanna be surprised …to death. 
5)      Reorganize to organize: I trust Kagain, the others not so, especially the Necromancer – but his Necromancy spells are effective...still I may have to revert to that blowhard Edwin. I need the assassin for his thieving and assassin skills. Garrick is my whippin’ boy. I need to ride this out a few days & set my inner circle. 
 
Key Event: Inthe South Beregost Road we ran into a Dark Elf who was being hunted by the FAI. She asked us for our assistance. I feared crossing the FF but I went ahead & helped her. It doesn’t seem to have hurt my reputation – ha-ha – oops, there it goes south again! She’s a Cleric though! Jackpot & w/her spellcasting - & healing ability – I had to make a choice. I let Xzar go but…he took Montaron w/him. I’ll finish up here on the South Beregost Road & determine what to do about a mage later.  
 
Later: Easier said than done. We broke camp we got into a tough fight w/some Hobgoblins. Poison arrows took out Runt & Song Boy. Viconia & I finished them off & then raided a cave before heading back to Beregost – safer going that way loaded down w/gear/treasure when Vampiric Wolves, FF and Aminsh Soldiers are all looking for me. I’ve cleared the south road area w/North Nashkel to go. Darn it. I said I wasn’t gonna raise that runt again & I was just finding song boy useful. I was actually thinking I was about to round out my underlings. Oh well. I’ll sleep on it after Viconia & I get something to eat. She seems to be a useful confidant but she is a Drow. 


Red Sheaf with Viconia deciding what to do next
 
Treasure of Note: Boots of Stealth (TBD who I let use these)

Current Disposition: Eating @ the Red Sheaf in Beregost

Next Steps: Decide what to do about Runt, Song Boy, the Assassin & his pet mage…oh, & I need to cut that big mouthed mage loose once & for all. The more I think about it the weaker he looks versus the necromancer

Level Up: None
 
Current Party: (Reputation: 3 - Dispised)
Gerald Front-de-Boeuf: Ftr (Blk Gd)/4 Plate Mail w/LShield**, Flail**. BSwd*
Viconia: Cleric/4, ChMail w/SShld, Mace
Kagain: Ftr (Bkr)/4 Plate Mail, BAxe***, (ThAxe)*** (2WS**)
Garrick: Bard/4 w/ShSwd* & Lt C/Bow*, ShSwd*
Edwin: Mage (Cjr)/3, QStaff* (In hell)

Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; X0black101 (Blackguard); level1npcs-v1.9; bg2_tweaks-v14; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21 (- Tactical Challenges)
 
Reloads: 0

Edited by Charlestonian Knight Templar, 15 January 2014 - 04:05 AM.

[Serg BlackStrider]

corey_russell wrote...

Good to see Impish Face's run is still going..you know, Gorion must have been in a frivolous mood when he named Impish Face that....

Thanks  And you know, that is not the worst case - like when the names are just the First, the Second... or say Dazdraperma (it sounds pretty fun in Russian)...

[Gate70]

Halfling swashbuckler rolled to gap out the Carthusian clones. Coral has taken 2-3 hours to reach reputation 20, with charisma of 19 she immediately bought the shadow thief armour, dagger of venom, cloak of displacement and greenstone amulet. Either basilisks or Mulahey next.

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

It was in my best interest to shell out the 1200 GP it took to bring Runt & Song Boy back so I did so. Runt is my lieutenant & Song Boy casts spells I need & carries stuff & he is zero threat. Viconia, since she & I have had time together has become an asset too although she is what she is…a Drow.   Still, I think she knows she needs me &, thus, is a great asset to me w/her spells & fighting ability. After we raised the two softies, we moved south again bypassing North Nashkel Road until we can handle the Vampiric Wolf(ves). Back @ the Nashkel Carnival we ran into a quartet of Ogres which I planned to avoid until we also ran into a squad of Kobolds when we were avoiding the Ogres. It ended up that we were able to stretch them out enough chasing us that we could isolate the Kobolds & two of the Ogres. Garrick cast sleep right in the middle of them & sent one of the two Ogres & all but one of the Kobolds to dreamland. Then we beat down the Ogre that was awake before finishing off the rest. After we gathered ourselves a bit, I sent Garrick to find the other two Ogres & draw them into a kill, which he did well.
 
After a nights rest, I bought a Potion of Invisibility @ the carnival & used it so I could go to Nashkel & get to the Belching Dragon w/o being seen. That’s where Montaron, Runt #2, said he’d be w/the Necromancer (I need to remember to ask Viconia to check his alignment later just so I know for sure he's not Chaotic Evil). Montaron joined back up w/me as expected & brought the Necromancer along. We went to the Nashkel Mines & secured the area around the mines w/little problem. Only encounter was w/some weakling sculptor. When I threatened to turn him in he turned hostile & Kagain cut his head off in a split sec. Then we headed into the mines. The mines were populated w/miners scared out of their wits by Kobolds. The Kobolds got more plentiful as we went from the 1st to 2nd to 3rd levels of the mines & we hacked ‘em up w/nary a scratch. The Necromancer got too close to a Ghast, was Held , & killed. I didn’t trust him anyway.
 
Key Event: After going four levels deep & entering a cave we found the culprit to be a Half-Orc Cleric named Mulahay. I absolutely beet the snot out of him & the helped the others finish off a few last Kobolds & some Skeletons he’d summoned. In the battle, Viconia cast an absolutely brilliant Hold Person spell that made my job vanquishing Mulahay much easier. The spell also Held a number of Kobolds fast too so they were easy pickin’s after we dealt w/Mulahay. 


 
We left there & went to Beregost to find a guy named Tranzig. Suffice it to say, he’s dead now. I failed my lord Geryon here as Tranzig incapacitated me w/a Sleep spell. I must do better & never, ever give anyone in this party reason to challenge me as supreme in this group. 
 
Treasure of Note: Ring of Human Influence (Me), Tome of LI (Me); Set of Studded Leather Armor +2 Missile Arracting (sold); 2 Emeralds (sold); Mage scrolls (Magic Missile; Slow; Chill Tough, Larloch’s Minor Drain – Xzar);

Current Disposition: Resting @ the Red Sheaf in Beregost

Next Steps: We’re still not welcome in Nashkel, especially after we killed the Bounty Hunter someone sent to kill us, so despite having saved their little butts, my reputation plummeted even more. So…there is a Valley of Tombs we stumbled on when we exited the mines. Geryon is calling me to go there next.   

Level Up: Montaron increased his assassin skills to Thug (Assassin/5) & used his 15% thieving skill increase to raise his Find Traps to 25%. Garrick leveled up to Racaraide (Bard/5) & selected Charm Person to add to his memorized spells.
 
Current Party: (Reputation: 2 - Despised)
Gerald Front-de-Boeuf: Ftr (Blk Gd)/4 Plate Mail w/LShield**, Flail**. BSwd*
Viconia: Cleric/4, ChMail w/SShld, Mace*, Sling*, WHmr*
Kagain: Ftr (Bkr)/4 Splint Mail, BAxe***, (ThAxe***), (2WS**)
Montaron: Asn/5 Studded Leather, ShSwd*, Dgr*, (SWS*)
Garrick: Bard/5 w/ Lt C/Bow* & ShSwd* (SWS*)
Xan: Mage (Ench/4),Knaves Robe, Moonblade,

Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; X0black101 (Blackguard); level1npcs-v1.9; bg2_tweaks-v14; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21 (- Tactical Challenges)
 
Reloads: 0
 
 
 
 

Edited by Charlestonian Knight Templar, 18 January 2014 - 04:18 PM.

[Gate70]

Coral had to save against confusion (reminding me why I usually avoid Neira). After that the basilisks, Mulahey, Amazons, Ardenor Crush and Taugosz Khosann were envemonated. Venkt flapped about in his tent while his companions perished outside and was still running scared when Coral returned to top up his toxin levels.

[Gate70]

Drasus jumps as his armour deflects the dagger. He raises his weapon but Coral has already hidden right in front of him.

The four mercenaries are angry and agitated, while Coral is somewhat irritated to have missed with her opening strike (THACO would have been 8 from the shadows). She switches target and Kysus staggers back. Coral is already running for the bridge with Drasus and Genthore in pursuit.

Kysus is gasping as the venom spreads through his body. Drasus has chased into a series of traps and is the first to collapse to the ground. Coral hides immediately and returns.Genthore and Rezdan have moved to help Kysus but he has expired too. Coral retreats to try on some new boots as she waits for Rezdan to lose his mirror images.

Once they are gone he takes a venomous strike and Coral has hidden, returning to land a second fatal blow. Genthore is a much tougher enemy, but 3 sets of venom are soon coursing through his body and Coral is left with enough loot to justify a store trip.

[Gate70]

Davaeorn won't be getting much help today. Both Hareishan and Natasha are dead, while the battle horrors have been de-trapped. Never mind, this dire charm should do the job.

Coral has been running for the exit as fast as the boots of speed will carry her. She's not going to make it, has no suitable potions and not enough time for the greenstone amulet. Davaeorn cackles and summons her back towards him, cackling more as she does his bidding.

She draws closer as requested. Davaeorn smirks briefly, until he realises the halfling swashbuckler has duped him. She stabs out at a mirror and runs again. By the time he casts hold person she really has reached the exit.

He is soon out of spells while she is out of traps. His staff had better reach than her dagger, but the many shadows allow her to hide and work to her speed rather than his. He gamely resists the poison time and again until his mirrors are finally punctured. Another save and then finally he is poisoned, but already dead from the initial damage.

Coral heads out to the coast, using potions of clarity, stoneform and speed to play with sirines. no real danger there, but the three flesh golems are all capable of swatting Coral with a single punch. They are too slow though and the treasures of Black Alaric are quickly sold on.

Baldur's Gate at last. His helm is sold while his cloak is fluffed (said the wrong thing to the de-petrified elf). Ramazith is ventilated as are Jalantha Mistmyr and Marek.

The Iron Throne HQ is dealt with via subterfuge, returning Coral to Candlekeep. Tethtoril helps her escape into the catacombs where three tombs are looted and two greater basilisks poisoned. After a brief escapade inside Durlags Tower (greenstone amulet used as trap is a dodgy one iirc) Coral heads back into the city. Slythe survives 4 snares but not 3 backstabs, while Krystin kills numerous innocents with two cloudkills and a lightning bolt. Coral finishes her off and picks up... yes the cloak of Balduran which survived the collateral damage.

Coral overindulges at the coronation (mind focusing > defence > speed > power), a tactic that goes badly wrong. With many greater doppelgangers attacking the dukes there is no choice but to head upstairs. Two doppelgangers follow and hem Coral in. She heads down again but three have hemmed her in there too. She alternates venomous strikes with healing glugs but there are now 6 doppelgangers downstairs and 3 upstairs.

1 is killed downstairs and two more are scared but unable to run away. 2 more lie dead upstairs so Coral can finally get some breathing space. With the upstairs clear she heads back down and fights the remaining 5. As she moves to chase the last she sees 3 more on the dukes. One of these is rapidly killed and Belt declares the battle over. Err chap there are still 2 of them on you and Liia has just died...

Sarevok joins in and Coral decides to kill the doppelgangers while avoiding her nemesis. Sarevok teleports away and with the doppelgangers finally dead Coral is teleported after him.

(massive doppelganger duplication there, Coral was seeing double from the potions?)

Edited by Gate70, 19 January 2014 - 09:56 PM.

[Arbitorius]

Hello, all

I just recently got into Baldur's Gate (have been a die hard D&D fan for the majority of my so far short life, but 3.5 edition is when I came into the game), and I also just found out about these "no reload challenges". So after beating Baldur's Gate twice, I decided to give it a shot

I rolled up a male human Cavalier, hoping that their immunity to poison, charm, fear and morale drain, as well as 20% resistance to fire and acid would come in handy, and early in the game, the +3 to hit draconic creatures would most definitely help me clear out the Nashkel mines (I was intending to do the canon party....or just myself and Imoen, due to the main character and Imoen being child hood friends)

I rolled up a 92 total for base stats o.O best roll I've ever gotten.

Put 18 into strength (18/46 I think it was), 14 Dex, 18 Con, 14 Int, 10 Wis, and 18 Cha. Perfect for a Paladin, a questing knight!

I put 2 points into two handed weapon skill, and 2 points into two handed swords.

I started by going upstairs into the tavern at Candlekeep and nicking the gold out of the drawers (hey....I'm a young Knight...I don't know any better), and then bashing the locks open on several of the locked cabinets and taking the contents. Like a scoundrel, I sold them back to Puffguts, and bought a helmet, some bolts for the Watcher (because I didn't feel like walking back there multiple times), a two handed sword, and leather armor.

I helped everyone around the keep, killed Carboros and Shank, sold the leather armor, and bought splint mail.

Then I left with Gorion

All was well. I was kicking ass. I slew many a kobold and gibberling and even a xart.

I decided I wanted a strong start, regardless of how realistic it was in a "storyline" sense, so I ran as fast as I could down to Nashkel, grabbed the Ankheg plate armor out of the soil, and doned it.

Then I was going to head back up to the Friendly Arm in and do all those quests, but I ran into a ghoul, which I thought I could engage, and it stunned me and killed me

I was about 30 xp away from hitting level 2. Very dissapointed in myself

I'll be continuing with this character for fun, but will be rolling up a new one and posting about it here


Glad to have found a forum that still talks about this game. Been on here for years, but just for Mass Effect.

P.S.: I'm playing Enhanced Edition. I own the original games that I bought back in 2012 for a steal ($12 for all the originals, both Ice Wind Dale Games and that Torment game that I never got into but am told that I should have). I got the Enhanced Editions as a gift and I really like the changes they made, so I'm using those. No mods

[Serg BlackStrider]

Well met and welcome into the Crew, Arbitorius! All the best with your run!

Gate wrote:
massive doppelganger duplication there, Coral was seeing double from the potions?

I'm glad that Coral managed the dire situation there. Those area-transition duplications aren't fun (I remember myself being forced to fight two clones of SCS Raylic Gethras at once...).

Edited by Serg BlackStrider, 20 January 2014 - 02:13 PM.

[Grond0]

Hard luck with the cavalier Arbitorius. I'll look forward to your next attempt.

[Arbitorius]

Thanks for the welcome and well wishes, gents. I just woke up, and I've got 4 hours until job interview and class, and I'm contemplating which class to try next. I think I've tried almost everything, but so far, the 2 characters I've had tremendous success with were a Human Swashbuckler (6)/Fighter (8), and an Elf Archer. Every other character I've played has just not worked out, died, or been too under powered

I'm thinking of playing a Cleric/Fighter or Druid/Fighter this time

Stand by for the next run

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

I’m finding that despite my Ring of Human Influence I am unable to change my reputation without paying for it. I tried taking the ruined ore to Taerom Thunderhammer &, afterword, the Mysterious Vial to Thalantyr. I did make a couple of small donations to the Temple of the Morning when we went in there for potions but, ugh, that place gives me the creeps – all those goody two shoes. I might have to kill that Ormlyr before this is all through but I better wait a ‘day or two’ before I attempt that. He is such a hypocrite. If I’m willing to donate gold he’s willing to have me in his temple. I know my lord Geryon would be pleased if I accomplished his defeat for the cause of diabolic evil. We left High Hedge after giving the vial to Thalantyr & buying a few potions, headed for the carnival to rest a bit, & then onward to the Valley of the Tombs.
 
We killed four amazon women who knew me by name & attacked when we approached them. Kagain went off on a couple of them & I joined him there after making sure I knew the whole situation. A couple of the amazons were rogue types & Hid in Shadows or maybe they were mages to & used Invisibility but whatever they slipped up on Xan & killed him. But beside that, they were easy prey.

NEAR PERFECT BATTLE!
 
When we returned to Beregost to sell the booty from the amazon’s we visited the Jovial Juggler to meet someone we were told wanted to meet w/me. It was a trap & a Flaming Fist babe went off on me. Rather than let my rep drop even lower, I bailed & didn’t kill her. Don't want Amn & Baldur's Gate to reach a truce in order to hunt me!
 
Key Event: Later, back in the Valley, we destroyed three Ghasts in a tomb & grabbed their treasure before running into a Revenant in his tomb that we couldn’t handle w/o enchanted weapons. Garrick & Viconia have enchanted bolts/stones but these were ineffective. We tried to ‘spread out’ & avoid him but he had a ‘gaze’ attack that froze Kagain, Montaron & Xan. I decided to retrograde w/Viconia, my cleric & Song Boy so I could live to fight another day. (We lost all of their gear including Xan’s Moonblade and Studded Leather +1 that Montaron was using)

NOT SO MUCH!
 
Rather than tempt defeat again @ the hands of the Revenant, I decided bide my time (ala the Vampiric Wolf(ves) in the North Nashkel Road) & come back for him later. I led Viconia & Garrick & we went to the Gibberling Mountains clearing them & killing a pant-load of Gibberling’s. Then I led them to the Fire Leaf Forest where our toughest fight was versus a couple of bandits, one who dubbed himself the ‘fastest dart in Faerun’ or some silly thing like that. We beat them down despite being attacked simultaneously by Winter Wolves. I earned some great booty including gems & WW pelts which I sold in Beregost (we’re not allowed in Nashkel) which allowed me to raise Kagain & Xan back to my service. I’m spending too much raising these underlings of mine & had to do so for Garrick & Xan again after we battled a Bounty Hunter when we slipped into Nashkel to try and meet with a proprietor there that we heard gave good gold for WW pelts. We killed the Bounty Hunter & sold the pelts before killing three more attackers when I returned us to finish up in the Fire Leaf later.  We've cleared Gibbering Mountains & the Fire Leaf Forest. 
 
Treasure of Note: Scimitar +1 (Xan to replace Moonblade); miscellaneous darts/arrows (sold);

Current Disposition: Resting @ the Red Sheaf in Beregost

Next Steps: Dryad Forest

Level Up: Viconia to Curate (Cleric/5) selected & was granted Animate Dead as her first 3rd Level Spell; I improved my power to Blackguard (Anti-Paladin/5) & Kagain to Berserker/5
 
Current Party: (Reputation: 6 - Disliked)
Gerald Front-de-Boeuf: Ftr (Blk Gd)/5, Plate Mail w/LShield**, Flail**. BSwd*
Viconia: Cleric/5, SpMail w/SShld, Mace*, Sling*, WHmr*
Kagain: Ftr (Bkr)/5 Splint Mail, BAxe***, (ThAxe***), (2WS**)
Montaron: Asn/5 Studded Leather, ShSwd*, Dgr*, (SWS*)
Garrick: Bard/5 w/ Hvy C/Bow* & ShSwd* (SWS*)
Xan: Mage (Ench/4),L/Swd

Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; X0black101 (Blackguard); level1npcs-v1.9; bg2_tweaks-v14; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21 (- Tactical Challenges)
 
Reloads: 0
 
 
 
 

[Gate70]

A few days ago Sarevok retreated to his temple. Been busy at work so forgotten everything, this is what I can remember.

Scrolling up reveals she was a halfling swashbuckler. Would have grabbed some arrows of dispelling and as many potions as could be carried after the coronation. Through the maze, removing all traps and all enemies other than the mustard jellies.

Past Rahvin without him noticing and into the ominous temple. Remove 2 traps on the left and replace with 7 of her own. Use a Protection from Magic scroll as a precaution, shoot at Sarevok and miss. Run around until the fourth or fifth arrow hits and dispels his haste. Lose him near the door.

Treat Angelo to 2 oils of fiery burning. Dispel and kill him. Dispel and kill Semaj. Potion buffs. Try to lure Tazok out, give up, go to Sarevok and move around just out of reach. Stop start until Tazok attacks.

Kill Tazok with arrows (biting), pick up arrows from Angelo. Empty remaining arrows (biting > detonation > dispelling) on Sarevok. Switch from the dagger of venom to the longtooth dagger. Treat Sarevok to an acupuncture session.

Sneak past Rahvin, returning to Belt with the golden pantaloons and ring of Koveras. & off to Amn.

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

I continue to stay in the south, having now completed adventuring in the Fire Leaf Forest & Gnoll Stronghold w/little or no trouble whatsoever. The Fire Leaf Forest yielded little of interest. A Dryad pleaded w/me to save a tree from a couple of oafs who thought it was full of treasure. She didn’t have anything significant to offer for my help so I refused but killed the oafs anyway just in case they had anything of value. The Dryad sent a couple Cave Bears after us & they were a little difficult but my underlings killed them. Aside from that, we killed a few Gnolls (a harbinger of things to come) & found a small treasure cave guarded by Dire Wolves that we killed before taking the treasure.
 
From there we found a fortress inhabited by Gnolls. We thoroughly obliterated them, beginning with their servant Xvarts that lived in caves below the fortress in the cliff side. We tore through the fortress killing more Xvarts & Gnolls. I just may return & make this my own!!!


 
SMASHING THE GNOLL CHIEFTAIN!

Key Event: The final confrontation in the fortress was a fight w/some 40 or so Gnolls, including Gnoll Elites, Gnoll Slashers, Gnoll Veterans & the Gnoll Chieftain. No trouble here & not much loot either, a little gold, some gems & a couple of Bracers of Defense for my Mage/Enchanter & Song Boy.  
 
I continue to drop 300gps every other visit or so into that hypocrite Ormlyr’s offering plate @ the Temple of the Morning. It makes me sick but I also worry about every other Tom, Dick & Harry attacking me b/c of my reputation. I’m trying to blend in right now when in town & stay far removed from civilization adventuring & building up my strength when I’m not.
 
I made a mistake not Raising the Necromancer even though I suspect he was Chaotic in his Evil. Xan’s spells leave much to be desired & he whines & moans like a little girl all day long & into the night every day. Even Garrick, my Bard w/his songs of heroes & maidens isn’t as apt to make me puke. 
 
As for my followers and servant’s Kagain has earned his place as my Lieutenant. He never questions his place in the hierarchy & is fearless & ruthless w/his axe. He is also the only one who shares the proper alignment to aid me in serving Geryon’s cause on the prime Material Plane (Edwin would have been ideal also but the blowhard thought he was in charge so when he met his demise…well he met his demise). Viconia is an adequate Cleric but she serves the Goddess Shar instead of my lord Geryon. Still, she is wise, unafraid & Neutral in her evil so she is useful & behind Kagain, I depend on her most. Montaron is of little significance but his skills are useful & he fights anything w/o fear. I’d hoped Xan would be an ample replacement to Edwin and knew he would be a far cry from the Necromancer but he is Lawful so I don’t worry about him, though his Enchantment Spells are weak. Garrick carries stuff & serves as my Herald & can cast a timely spell every so often. He is low threat & often helps w/his battle songs although I’m trying to get him to work on one about Geryon deposing that pretender Levistus from Stygia & regaining favor w/Asmodeus. He hasn’t gotten that one yet but he’ll do. 


Treasure of Note: Girdle of Piercing (Me); Bracers of Defense AC8 (x2) (Garrick, Xan); Miscellaneous scrolls (Xan, Garrick)

Current Disposition: Resting @ the Red Sheaf in Beregost

Next Steps: Xvart Village (Bear River)

Level Up: None
 
Current Party: (Reputation: 7 - Disliked)
Gerald Front-de-Boeuf: Ftr (Blk Gd)/5, Plate Mail* w/LShield**, Flail**. BSwd*
Viconia: Cleric/5, SpMail* w/SShld, Mace*, Sling*, WHmr*
Kagain: Ftr (Bkr)/5 SpMail*, BAxe***, (ThAxe***), (2WS**)
Montaron: Asn/5 Studded Leather, ShSwd*, Dgr*, (SWS*)
Garrick: Bard/5 w/ Hvy C/Bow* & ShSwd* (SWS*)
Xan: Mage (Ench/4),L/Swd
   * Each one of my PCs/NPCs w/metal armor/weapons carries one extra at all times as w/the Hard Times Mod they can break far from home & often do. In addition, enchanted weapons are HARD to come by. @ Level 5 we still have only a handful of bolts & stones enchanted @ +1 & Montaron has a +1 SSwd

Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; X0black101 (Blackguard); level1npcs-v1.9; bg2_tweaks-v14; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21 (- Tactical Challenges)
 
Reloads: 0
 
 
 
 

Edited by Charlestonian Knight Templar, 23 January 2014 - 08:28 PM.

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

I led my underlings to a place called Bear River directly north of the Gnoll Stronghold. While it is aptly named Bear River, I’d say Ogre River might be a more appropriate name. I think I killed some 20 Ogres, six or maybe nine Ogrillons & a few Hobgoblins and Hobgoblin Elites. The others, Kagain especially, helped a little too.
 
Key Event: What really jerked my string here was some crusading Paladin who approached my party & then proceeded to attack us. We promptly stomped her butt in the dirt, which we would have anyway, but the fact is she challenged us. So what happens? By the time we get back to Beregost word has spread & my reputation has gone south again. I mean, heck, this happened maybe 24 hours march from anywhere against a lone Paladin in the wilderness. I’m tryin’ so hard to keep a low profile right now & stuff like this really ticks me the heck off. Paladin’s! Everything that’s wrong w/Faerun!!


WRETCHED PALADIN!
 
Then some bandit & his gang of Hobgoblins made off w/some of my gold. Bastard robbed us before we could react. I’d threatened to kill him & his Chill lackeys one by one & take his gold. Before I knew it I’d been pick pocketed & he had disappeared. REALLY, REALLY ticked me off!
 
Oh well, eyes forward. I’ve been thinking, I could really make some points in Baator (Nine Hells) if I could get Viconia to revere Geryon too. Hmm. I really could use some diabolic eyes down there, especially Geryon, seeing my progress here on the Prime Material. Grabbing Viconia's soul for Baator would be a step in that direction. Hmm. Devils hate evil deities, not as much as they do demons, but still they hate them. If I can snatch a soul from Shar & add to the roles in the Nine Hells that would further my cause for Geryon's restoration to Lord of Stygia on the 5th layer.
 
Treasure of Note: Some scrolls mostly (Knock x2, Blur, Mirror Image – Xan & Garrick split ‘em & wrote them to their little spell books)

Current Disposition: Resting @ the Red Sheaf in Beregost

Next Steps: Xvart Village east of Bear River

Level Up: Garrick to Jongleur (Bard/6) selected Mirror Image as he was able to memorize a 2nd, 2nd Level Spell
 
Current Party: (Reputation: 5 - Disliked)
Gerald Front-de-Boeuf: Ftr (Blk Gd)/5, Plate Mail w/LShield**, Flail**. BSwd*
Viconia: Cleric/5, SpMail w/SShld, Mace*, Sling*, WHmr*
Kagain: Ftr (Bkr)/5 Splint Mail, BAxe***, ThAxe***, (2WS**)
Montaron: Asn/5 Studded Leather, ShSwd*, Dgr*, T/Knives*, (SWS*)
Garrick: Bard/6 w/ Hvy C/Bow* & ShSwd* (SWS*)
Xan: Mage (Ench/4),L/Swd

Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; X0black101 (Blackguard); level1npcs-v1.9; bg2_tweaks-v14; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21 (- Tactical Challenges)
 
Reloads: 0
 

[Gate70]

Coral is somewhere in the dungeon, alive but I'm unlikely to continue as I'm not enjoying a SoA swashie.

Carthusian 11 has cranked his framerate up to 60, and Shoal rapidly obliged with 2 levels and +19hp. Firebead Elvenhair shared a tale or 2 and another 9hp, so an exceptional 38/40hp at level 4 (note to self; try not to mess this one up).

[Gate70]

Carthusian XI being really *cough* careful in the lucky to be alive camp.

Everything is under control with suitable buffs, apart from forgetting to activate the greenstone amulet. It takes effect too late but he's lucky enough to save twice.


On to Mulahey. Don't forget the amulet. I said don't forget it. He fails to save against confusion but saves against hold and kills the half-orc before any more spells can be cast.


Must do better, purchasing the dagger of venom should help. Nimbul and Tranzig are dealt with cleanly, as are Ardenor Crush and Taugosz Khosann. Nobody is poisoned inside the bandit tent but the atmosphere is tense and we all head outside. Venkt is poisoned, Hakt returning the compliment. Britik and Raemon follow and Hakt is given a taste of his own medicine (all 4 enemies and Carthusian were poisoned).

Other mistakes. Didn't try to get the potion of clarity from Candlekeep. Turned up at the flesh golems without a suitable weapon.

Level 7, 58hp (10 + 19 + 9 + 4 + 8 + 8)

Edited by Gate70, 24 January 2014 - 05:30 PM.

[Grond0]

Sal - elf wild mage (update 1)

Keep it going Gate70.  I'll see your 11 monks and raise them with a rather larger number of wild mages!

The latest attempt off the production line is Sal.  For the previous attempt with Ludd I was constantly tempting fate by casting spells in combat.  Although as he progressed I started playing more safely I never stopped taking risks entirely and I think he was very lucky to survive as long as he did.  With Sal I'm going to the opposite extreme and trying to play very cautiously.

So far, progress has been pretty serene with no moments of danger - though I did click on the wrong conversation option with Thalantyr and missed out on the opportunity of restoring Melicamp.  Sal has cast just the one spell (find familiar) during her journeys.  A large majority of her work has been done using darts, though she's also worn out a wand each of fire and frost and used a few charges from wands of monster summoning and paralysation.

Everything is complete that she's intending to do prior to the main quest line and she'll be on her way to confront Mulahey shortly. The only equipment she wants, but hasn't bought yet, is the Robe of the Good Archmagi, which she needs to save up a bit more for.  Equipment bought has included the ring of invisibility, though she's not used that yet - still relying on her familiar.

Typically I try and learn all spells possible for my mages, but I'll be keeping Sal's collection down to the bare minimum.  That will save a bit of time in future by reducing the amount of scrolling to select spells and perhaps reduce the chances of me getting bored and doing something silly!

Edited by Grond0, 25 January 2014 - 07:21 AM.

[Grond0]

Sal - elf wild mage (update 2)

Sal has arrived in Baldur's Gate, although a first major mistake meant she arrived rather more battered that she should have been.

There were no problems with Mulahey, Nimbul or Tranzig.  Sal bought the wand of sleep and used that up in the conquest of the bandit camp before nipping in and out of the main tent throwing fireballs and scorchers.

After an invisible trip through the Cloakwood long distance fireballs accounted for the mages; Genthore started chasing and was softened up further with the wand of frost and finished with the wand of magic missiles (to avoid cold damage destroying equipment).  Due to his speed advantage, Drasus got a couple more fireballs before being finished with a scorcher.  However, this resulted in the first major mistake of the run.  I'm not quite sure how (given that Sal had just used a scorcher), but the familiar got selected and when I tried to move Sal the familiar walked straight into the scorcher - and failed to walk out again! 

That's a pain as it means Sal can no longer wear the Claw without losing HPs.

However, she successfully summoned a replacement and moved invisibly down to Daveorn.  There she dragged away the battle horrors and went invisible - so did they, but that doesn't matter.  She foiled the last trap and Daveorn's fireball and lightning bolt with a potion of magic blocking and used the green amulet to prevent a follow-up hold person.  Wands of frost and magic missiles did most of the work on Daveorn, though he was finished off with a dart +1.

Edited by Grond0, 25 January 2014 - 09:40 AM.

[Gate70]

Good stuff Grond0. That portrait is a good one.