16394 replies to this topic

[Alesia_BH]

Arkona, Halfling Barbarian: Never Mind the Bollocks- The Keep to the Gate

 

Ok. Let's do this: quick and painful.

 

Personality Crisis

 

Arkona's starting inventory. I love little women with huge shields. That's kind of what I am in real life. I also love disguising my Bag of Holding as a Winter Wolf Bag. I enjoy doing that in real life, too. And that Potion of Clarity? That's like the green smoothie I have right here. Arkona is basically me- except I'm weak, can't fight, and can't pull off a mohawk.

 

Spoiler

 

Search and Destroy

 

Arkona took her early XP in basilisk land. As always, the 64,000 dollar question was whether Korax would paralyze Mutamin before Mutamin could MM Korax. And the winner is?

 

Spoiler

 

I Wanna Be Sedated

 

With a few levels under her belt, Arkona was ready to boldly dual wield through the Sword Coast. Of course, she put most of her enemies to sleep first. The rest we stunned with darts.

 

Spoiler

 

Live Fast Die Young

 

The biggest threat in the early game proved to be Melium. Enemies drink a lot of potions in my install. Oils of Speed are common. When drunk by the right enemies, they can be dangerous. Melium is one of those enemies. Had it not been for my reluctance to counter Meliums Oil of Speed with one of my own, Arkona would have emerged from this encounter unscathed. As it happened, she took serious injury before I caved and quaffed. Once the potion was drunk, a Dart of Stunning took care of the rest. 

 

Spoiler

 

See No Evil

 

Just a touch more item and XP farming now. Flesh Golems are the potato chips of the Sword Coast: you can't have just one, but if you eat a whole bag you feel gross.

 

Spoiler

 

Arkona got sleepy in the Black Alaric Cave, but not that sleepy: two per customer. They should put a sign up on the door. If they get a door: it's a cave, you know.

 

Am I the only one who tenses up each and every time Thalantyr casts the Anti-Chickenator? Am I the only one who stares at the screen as though the fate of worlds hangs in the balance? Am I the only one who cries for Melicamp? Who weeps for Melicamp? Am I?

 

Spoiler

 

No. I'm not the only one, because I'm not a one: no one weeps for Melicamp. No one cares. He's not even a person: he's a chicken. And he's not even a chicken: he's a pixelated NPC that looks like a chicken. He's not fully realized and his soundest isn't compelling: we are all dispassionate in the face of his death. We just feel cheated out of 2000XP points. How to assuage that pain?

 

Ok: I'm over it.

 

Spoiler

 

Ok: I'm over it twice.

 

Spoiler

 

Protection scrolls and the Wand of Sleep beats the Anti-Chickenator. That's the essential truth of early BG1. That and yum, potato chips: golem or ankheg flavor? Or maybe sirine? We don't like to admit it, but it's true.

 

Pinhead

 

It's also true that the Greenstone Amulet will protect against Mulahey's Hold Person- assuming you don't mind seeing the spiny-spiny over your head. I actually do mind, which is why I've historically used a Potion of Freedom in addition to the Greenstone in this fight.

 

Spoiler

 

Blitzkreig Bop

 

Moving on to the Bandit Camp. Arkona used the front assault approach. She was forced to fall back due to a charging Taugosz and an over abundance of ranged fire. 

 

Spoiler

 

Explosives and a touch of melee finished the job.

 

Spoiler

 

Color Me Impressed

 

After casually jacking the v30 spiders with Rasaad, I expected Arkona to breeze through the v16 ones. I forgot how tough they are. They kicked her butt. Lots of drinking here.

 

Spoiler

 

Welcome to Paradise

 

Paradise is rolling into Cloakwood Mines with a Pro Magic Scroll- especially if your version of SCS doesn't include the lackey horde. Ice arrows for the fire immune Battle Horrors. Axes for the robed doofus.

 

Spoiler

 

 

Drasus was taken down on the way out. Potion of Absorption, missile weapon defenses, and leftover Pro Magic time handled the defenses.

 

Spoiler

 

I'll post on the second half of BG1 shortly.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

 

Belated safe travels - or safe remaining travels - for Arkona!   or rather:    (horns).

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

I'm pleasantly surprised. I thought you had been testing her in two different setups 

 

My intro post says it all. I was just bored so I figured: hey, why not document Arkona. I've enjoyed her run. Why not share?

 

The BG2 posts will be on her Classic v15/v10/ATweaks run. I really like that setup, actually.

 

The EE v30/BP Ascension install is still a work in progress. Patching to do.

 

 

This is an interesting comment. As someone whose characters as a rule do not make it into ToB, I can't tell for sure but do warrior Thac0 progression and +5 weapons really necessitate STR buffing in what you call meaningful fights?

 

Strength effects THAC0 and damage. Misses still happen in ToB. Extra damage is always welcome. 

 

The difference between a strength of 19 and a strength of 25 is 7 damage per hit- up to 140 damage per round in an Improved Haste Critical Strike. Arkona routinely reaches 25. That's her combat strength, effectively. Her base strength of 18 is nearly irrelevant.

 

+5 weapons and strength bonuses are not mutually exclusive: they synergizes.

 

Strength potions as especially helpful for UAI rogues. 

 I guess I've never taken STR or STR items that seriously for warriors, and even for my rogues I normally don't buff STR much even though they do tend to get 18 STR at character creation.

 

 

That's what most people do. They worry about their base stats, but they don't bother to buff. I'm basically the opposite: I don't obsess over my base stat but I buff as far as I can. Buffers will end up with higher effective strengths than min-maxers.

 

Best,

 

A. 

[ussnorway]

Arkona, Halfling Barbarian: Never Mind the Bollocks- The Keep to the Gate

 

Ok. Let's do this: quick and painful.

 

Personality Crisis

 

Arkona's starting inventory. I love little women with huge shields. That's kind of what I am in real life. I also love disguising my Bag of Holding as a Winter Wolf Bag. I enjoy doing that in real life, too. And that Potion of Clarity? That's like the green smoothie I have right here. Arkona is basically me- except I'll weak, can't fight, and can't pull off a mohawk.

 

Snip...

A.

 

The trick is to mount a mirror in the shield... kicking ass AND looking good!

[Alesia_BH]

Arkona, Halfling Barbarian: Never Mind the Bollocks- The Gate to the 'Vok

 

And now the not-so-stunning conclusion of Arkona's BG1 run. 

 

In the City

 

Arkona kept it simple in the Gate. She did the Seven Suns, stealthed through the Iron Throne, and left for Candlekeep.

 

​In this install, the doppelgängers get Mirror Image and Haste every few rounds. The greater doppelgängers get Mirror Image, Haste, Horror, and Confusion on hit. The greater doppelgängers are death in the absence of disabler defenses.

 

Spoiler

 

The Candlekeep ambush is a little less nerve wracking in this setup, since the Ogre Magi do not open with Enchantment stuff. Arkona was, nonetheless, well positioned to deal with that threat.

 

Spoiler

 

 Anarchy in the B Gate

 

Invisibility potions, Protection from Fire, Protection from Electricity, Protection from Poison, and a Potion of Fire Giant Strength handled the Candlekeep Catacombs.

 

Upon Arkona's return to the Gate, Slythe discovered that Violet Potioned barbarians are best avoided. Barbarians are awesome in installs that feature absurdly large potion stacks.

 

Spoiler

 

The Palace doppelgängers learned the same. This was probably the easiest v16 palace fight I've ever fought.

 

Spoiler

 

Rise Above

 

The Sarevok fight offered a preview of things to come for Arkona. Missile weapon defenses negated arrows, a movement rate advantage negated melee, limited charge items negated spells. Arkona finished in melee for style points and, to a lesser extent, expedience. Arkona will employ the exact same strategy at the Throne if she gets there.

 

Spoiler

 

In the end, Arkona's BG1 run was smooth and pleasant, albeit rushed. I need to learn to slow down and embrace BG1. For me, that has proven to be the greatest challenge of the BG world. As a player who started playing BG2 and who only later discovered BG1, BG1 has always felt like a prequel, a preamble. I just want to get to BG2. I find that view to hard to resist. But, sadly, it deprives me of the joys of the Sword Coast. Hopefully I'll get over it some day. For now, Arkona moves on.

 

My BG2 EE v30 install looks almost ready for prime time, thanks to recently implemented fixes. On the one hand, I have a Classic BG2 v15/v10/ATweaks/Ascension BG2 no reload that's itching to be finished, and on the other, a EE SCS v30/BP Ascension run that's ready to begin. The Classic install no longer needs to be tested: It's straight up solid. I could go either way. What would people rather see: Watcher's Keep and Ascension with ATweaks demons, or a EE SCS v30 warrior Trilogy run with a nearly fully patched Ascension. Thoughts?

 

Best,

 

A. 

[Serg BlackStrider]

 What would people rather see: Watcher's Keep and Ascension with ATweaks demons, or a EE v30 Trilogy run with a nearly fully patched Ascension. Thoughts?

Both..?   And in that order 

Am I asking too much? 

[Grond0]

Watcher's Keep sounds like a suitable challenge for Arkona ...

[Alesia_BH]

Both..?   And in that order 

Am I asking too much? 

 

That's actually what I'm thinking, Serg: Both in that order.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

Watcher's Keep sounds like a suitable challenge for Arkona ...

 

Agreed

 

We just need Roranach's and we'll be ready to roll.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Serg BlackStrider]

That's actually what I'm thinking, Serg: Both in that order.

 

Great, looking forward for that! 

[ussnorway]

Bg-scs30 update 1.6,

 

A new beginning;

 

Hear text as mp3,

 

Selling the excess from the last mine we visited really pushed home the value of having a good rep, so (after re-charging the collar) we returned to the gnoll stronghold for a book… some Amazonians ambushed us on our return from the area which is only remembered because that’s the point at which Shar-teel regained her fighting skills.

 

Spoiler

 

… picked up another book…

 

Got the news that the city gates have reopened so we headed north to the top floor of SORCEROUS SUNDRIES: where Minsc scouted out some arcane types and we started a fight only to watch them commit suicide by fireball [huh?]… we understood once the loot was collected.

 

Spoiler

 

… one more book…

 

Next stop is the docks where Shar-teel starts a fight with a crazy bar maid then misplaced her when she popped invisibility… fortunately Xan found her again and I'm going to leave it here.

Spoiler

 

Other item procurements:
Greagan's Harp, The Claw of Kazgaroth and Greenstone Amulet

[Borco]

She's a punk lolita, CBGB era, holes in her stockings kind of warrior.

One of the most memorable character descriptions ever.

[Alesia_BH]

One of the most memorable character descriptions ever.

 

 

As an FYI, I can't take full credit for that one. By Tina Weymouth from the Talking Heads.

 

 

Best,

 

A.

[Grond0]

Phantasmic 6 {6} - monks party (update 4)

 

In the Cloakwood Mine the monks cleared the top level before dragging back most of Hareishan's guards to the exit to the second level.  A few who didn't follow were shocked by their own lightning trap.  

Spoiler

Killing a number of ambushing guards, while resting to heal that trap damage, got everyone to level 7 before they went back down to stun Hareishan and her one remaining guard.

Spoiler

 

 

On the next level Natasha failed to respond to the sound of nearby hobgoblins dying and paid the inevitable penalty.  

Spoiler

The invisible ogre mage was able to get one spell attack in, but that was his lot.  

Spoiler

Downstairs with Davaeorn, Phantom used a scroll of PfM and potions to seek out and kill the battle horrors while the others stayed in stealth by the exit.  

Spoiler

Phantom only had 1 necklace fireball left, but who needs those when Davaeorn's around!  

Spoiler

Two more sunfires killed a few more guards before Phantom ignored the last arrivals to press home his attack.  Note that although that sequence was nice and clean, the monks were lucky that none of those near the doorway broke stealth at the moments when fresh batches of guards were arriving.

 

After resting to get horror, they flooded the mine and left - dodging the slave outside.  Arriving at the City they went straight to the sewers - where an ogre mage was stunned not to see them and some carrion crawlers were horrified by Chimera's being a Child of Bhaal.  

Spoiler

After sorting out Arkion & Nemphre they restored the Seven Suns then headed for the Iron Throne.  They opened there with 5 potions of explosions + horror

Spoiler

and then settled down to dodging between levels to tackle the opponents one by one.  With all the original crew dead except Alai - who went invisible and refused to come out - they went to encourage the Shennaras to show themselves.  Unfortunately they co-ordinated their attacks so well that Phantom died, but the others finished the job.

Spoiler

 

After a trip to the temple they picked up all equipment and then rested on the roof for a day and went to find the now-visible Alai.  His ring of free action protected him against stunning blows, but he soon died anyway.

Spoiler

 

A couple of final bits of work for Alatos and Nadine netted them a couple more Necklaces of Missiles before they reported in to Duke Eltan for duty at Candlekeep next time.

Spoiler

 

Chimera - L7, 47 HPs, 178 kills

Spectre - L7, 46 HPs, 204 kills, 2 deaths

Phantom - L7, 44 HPs, 170 kills, 1 death

Wraith - L7, 52 HPs, 183 kills, 0 deaths

Spook - L7, 49 HPs, 168 kills, 0 deaths

Spirit - L7, 46 HPs, 157 kills, 2 deaths

[Borco]

Cimorene, elven sorceress, 1st entry:
 
True to my words, I dare to enter the challenge with Cimorene. Although she is technically a replacement for the recently deceased sorceress Narva, I would really hate to think of her that way forever.
 
However, the circumstances of her genesis resulted in her lacking self-confidence and assertiveness. While Narva was a cheerful lad with a get-along-well attitude, Cimorene is the girl in the corner. Good hearted but socially elusive, she sympathizes with the fragile and vulnerable and mistrusts people that eagerly demonstrate their superiority. She's sort of sans frontiéres, wishing to carry the burden of the world's injustices on her back and it is to be unfolded whether this brings her happiness or crushes her underneath.
 
For starters, I was convinced that she'll be able to step out of the shadow of her predecessor and prove her worth to the outside world.


 
As it happens, Cimorene has been the most efficient as well as the most enjoyable character of mine to enter this challenge thus far. She's already level 8 so there is a lot to catch up with. Hopefully, I should be able to cover that up soon.
 
B.

[Borco]

 

As an FYI, I can't take full credit for that one. By Tina Weymouth from the Talking Heads.

 

Good to know ! Although for some reason it was Girlschool, not NY, that first came to my mind. Either way I love it. 

 

Godspeed in contending for the Throne. 

[Serg BlackStrider]

Cimorene, elven sorceress, 1st entry:
She's sort of sans frontiéres, wishing to carry the burden of the world's injustices on her back and it is to be unfolded whether this brings her happiness or crushes her underneath.

 

This immediately reminds me beautiful song by Antimatter *The Weight Of The World*.

All the best for Cimorene!

[Grimwald the Wise]

Jardik, Finch, Valerie and Safana have arrived safely in Baldur's Gate. Will write it up tomorrow as it is time for shut-eye.

 

Have never played either Safana or Valerie before. It has been interesting to note that the other NPCs think that Safana is evil.

 

Gavin doesn't want a flighty woman and both Valerie and Finch think that she is little better than a harlot.

 

Gavin left after his quest to make room for Finch who still hasn't found all the tomes for Nashkel Library.

 

Interesting game due to the new party members.

 

Safana not as good as Imoen, but Valerie is excellent, though not much banter.

[Blackraven]

Bartholomew, 2nd BG1 update

Bart and Imoen both felt that in spite of their accomplishments thus far, they were still too vulnerable, little Gnomes who had to rely on themselves in a big, dangerous world. They would to take a gradual approach in pursuit of recognition as 'those loveable heroes of the Sword Coast'. They decided to explore the lands east of the Coast Way.

 

Both Gnomes were unfond of killing, and blood and gore disgusted Bartholomew. (At least he fought with a staff so he didn't have to worry about blood or bits of organs on his weapon.) Ideally Bartholomew'd be everyone's friend, and Imoen was much the same. But many dwellers of the Sword Coast had other ideas. In order to become more experienced adventurers they couldn't always run when hostilities broke out, so they ended up fighting, and killing. Take Meilum for example. He was just way too serious about a duel with Imoen to measure their swordsmanship. Meilum sought to injure or even kill Imoen, so Bart ended up Holding the warrior, and Imoen slew him with one of her arrows.

There were also creatures (monsters) whose hostility was expected: Hobgblins south of the Ulcaster School (including one who dropped a pair of Boots of Stealth, meaning that now both Bart and Imoen owned a pair of those), Battle Horrors near Durlag's Tower,

Spoiler

and Basilisks, to the northeast.

Spoiler

With the Basilisks was a fellow Gnome, Mutamin.

Spoiler

In Mutamin's defense it must be said he was no racial supremacist, for he was quite clearly out to kill Bart and Imoen, or at least get them petrified. He killed a charmed Ghoul, with an ease that surprised Bartholomew. (Imoen didn't witness any of this; she was invisible and at a distance.) Bart retreated and hid in shadows, where he waited for Mutamin's buffs to wear off. There was sadness in his eyes, but no hesitation in his movement as he felled Mutamin with a punishing backsmack.

Spoiler

The two friends returned to Durlag's Tower, and this time actually entered it. It was heavily trapped, which made the Gnomes realize that a proper looting of the place would have to wait until their trap detection/removal (Bart) and lockpicking (Imoen) skills were further honed. Bart did pick up a Tome of Wisdom though and an enchanted scimitar after his first castings of Animate Dead allowed for more Basilisk killing. 

 

The scimitar and some other loot were sold in Beregost, and Bart bought a suit of Shadow Armor for himself. They hadn't the gold for an Archmagi robe for Imoen, but they had enough to pick up some trinkets they'd seen at the Nashkel Carnival. Entering the wrong tent at the wrong time resulted in more needless deaths:

Spoiler

They Gnomes did eventually acquire a number of enchanted amulets (Shield, Missiles), and they welcomed another Gnome into their midst: Quayle, or - as he would soon after be called by both Bart and Imoen - 'Uncle' Quayle. Uncle Quayle acted like he knew everything best. He was also a bit older than the others. His hair was already silver and his glasses weren't designed to make the wearer look stately (Bart) or to identify things (Imoen, she has Glasses of ID in her inventory, courtesy of her portrait for this run), but to actually read better.

 

Quayle was a Cleric (Hoodwinker of Baravar Cloakshadow) and an Illusionist. His first feat was the defeat of Greywolf the bounty hunter after Imoen had Blinded and Bart had Held the man. Greywolf's quarry had been Prism, a sculptor who died moments after the completion of his rock carving of Ellessime the Elven queen. Imoen stood on Bart's shoulders to remove two emeralds that Prism had used for Ellessime's eyes. Sooner or later someone would make of with the gems anyway, might as well beat them to it they reckoned.

 

The tricksy trio explored the Cloudpeaks, and found the denizens of the valley most inhospitable. Two bandits, Vax and Zal, were Blinded/Held/Webbed and slain. A huntress named Sendai and two archer friends of hers fell thanks to Skeletal intervention on the Gnomes' behalf. Two brutes that wanted to fell a tree were Held and dispatched.

Further west the Gnomes discovered an old fortress. They wanted to take a closer look, but they had to kill two Ogrillons first (Bart's backstabs) and when they approached the structure they found it occupied by Gnolls. Although they considered these monsters slow and dumb, they decided not to bother with the fortress. Bart found a tome the reading of which increased his Charisma, but the area was otherwise uninteresting. More than a day's trek north of the fortress lay Ogre's Reach. The Gnomes saved a nobleman from a Mountain Bear there (yielding Quayle a pair of Boots of the North), and they were pickpocketed by a rogue after Bart jested that he was going to attack him.

Spoiler

Speaking of pickpocketing, in Ulgoth's Beard Imoen learned she needed to work on that skill. She did manage to secure an enchanted ring from a Gnome named Dushai (just a keepsake to remember Dushai with, after her refusal to travel with the tricksy three), but the lass failed to do so without being noticed. After Feldepost's Inn in Beregost, Ulgoth's Beard became another place where the Gnomes shouldn't expect a warm welcome on future visits.

Spoiler

The ring turned out to be a Ring of Free Action. Imoen gave it to Bart but she made him promise memorize Remove Paralysis for her.

 

The Gnomes traveled back to the coast via the Red Canyons (where three Hobgoblins bequeathed Imoen a Short Sword +2 after they mysteriously died). On the North Coast a Nereid Charmed and Death-Kissed Quayle.

Spoiler

Bart, immune to Charm thanks to his helmet, and summoned Skeletons then injured the creature sufficiently to make her stop and raise Uncle Quayle. She called an Ogre Mage to her side though. The Skeletons occupied it, Bart Silenced it, and Imoen Blinded and eventually slew the monster.

Spoiler

[Grond0]

Phantasmic 6 {6} - monks party (update 5)

 

Chimera was invisible on arrival at Candlekeep and 3 of the monks subsequently took potions of magic blocking to avoid potentially disabling spells.  Then it was a question of having a bit of fun sharing damage around while reducing the opponents with stuns.  The final ogre mage found its protection from missiles didn't help it much against a horror.

Spoiler

 

On entry they made some donations at the temple to ensure Chimera would get DUHM for his final Bhaal power before resting at the inn and going into the library.  An opening attack on the Iron Throne leaders drew the teeth of the mage and thief,

Spoiler

although Spook got hurt worse than expected dealing with the fighters after pathfinding problems meant his retreat was delayed.

Spoiler

 

Sharing trap damage around allowed the monks to collect the treasure from the tombs before fighting through some ghasts and dopplegangers.  No spiders appeared at the entrance to the next area - the phase spiders poured in as soon as the monks engaged in a fight, but stunning blows finished them off pretty quickly.  

Spoiler

Prat's gang were separated and picked off - Tam surprisingly ran back to the doppleganger area, before walking back into an ambush several rounds later (while the monks were still all trying to hide).  

Spoiler

Prat used detect invisible before the monks were ready to take him on, but Bhaal horror again worked its magic.

Spoiler

 

Back in Baldur's Gate the monks started clearing further work.  That included the poison quest that I normally do early on - leaving it to now I saw the Diviner is equipped to provide answers to a few extra questions.  

Spoiler

They did most encounters just using stealth and stun, but with reputation back at 20 and with nearly 120k gold in the bank I decided to invest in wands of the heavens all round for them.  They were used on a few potentially dangerous encounters, including Sunin who chunked one of the monks in an earlier run.

Spoiler

 

There was another death when Spectre was unexpectedly killed by Ungh.  To play safe I had sent him downstairs and couldn't initially work out how he had died on arrival.  However, what happened I think is that he had too much of a lead on the golem while running away and as a result was attacked over the banister as he made the transition.  

Spoiler

Typically for me, in my annoyance / disappointment over that death I didn't then play the remainder of that contest very well and Spirit also died again before the golems were shot down.

Spoiler

 

Those are the 2 characters that were already lagging behind on XP, so it's a bit of a pain that they died again .

 

There are still a few more encounters in the city to do, but I'm tired of dodging guards, so will be hunting down Slythe and Kristen next time prior to attending the inauguration.

 

Chimera - L7, 47 HPs, 199 kills

Spectre - L7, 46 HPs, 230 kills, 3 deaths

Phantom - L7, 44 HPs, 182 kills, 1 death

Wraith - L7, 52 HPs, 215 kills, 0 deaths

Spook - L7, 49 HPs, 186 kills, 0 deaths

Spirit - L7, 46 HPs, 175 kills, 3 deaths

[Grond0]

Phantasmic 6 {6} - monks party (6th and final update)

 

Slythe was hit with multiple wand blasts before he could react, but I was initially more forgiving with Krystin.  That proved painful when 3 of the monks were confused and another dominated - resulting in the death of Phantom.  Fortunately the only courtesan killed was Quenash so they got a nice cloak out of the deal.

 

After repairs at the temple, they moved on to the Palace where they added an invulnerability potion each to existing strength and heroism buffs.  Stunning blows failed to get any victims there, but Chimera's horror sent one of the greater dopplegangers running.  The mage managed to escape to one of the side rooms and buff there and that resulted in Phantom dying again before the mage could be wanded.  Once the last doppleganger was dead Sarevok cut down Liia, but Belt survived.

 

The monks ticked off the last few encounters in the city.  Degrodel's guards got everyone to level 8.  Another good set of rolls meant the party had recovered from a terrible start to be only marginally below average.  The final encounter was the difficult one with Drelik and he proved a problem when an invisible backstab followed up immediately by a minor sequencer of magic missiles killed Spook for the first time.  He failed to do any more damage though and the next door temple soon had Spook up and about again.

 

Still a long way short of my XP target the party took a long voyage to Balduran's Isle.  They didn't get underway though until after Phantom had died for the third time in the session getting the map when 3 crewmen hit him almost simultaneously (one with a critical) - demonstrating the dangers of getting involved in a general melee where there's no time to consider damage taken.

 

The monks had stocked up on magical ammunition for the journey and had no problems working their way through the werewolves - stealth allowed staged attacks going up through the ship.  Karoug's regeneration was a potential problem, but a lucky concentration of damage overwhelmed that without the need to resort to wands.

 

With the ship clear I thought the danger was over, but alas not.  I gave Chimera 100% fire resistance as I remembered a repeating flamestrike trap as a potential danger.  He was also wearing the Boots of Grounding, but opening the chest proved fatal when the lightning trap triggered.  Chimera would have had time to run downstairs, but against one bolt of lightning that would have been unnecessary and, as usual, he started to dodge it.  Regrettably though, after a short delay the trap produced a second bolt and Chimera was caught in the crossfire before he could take any further action ...

Spoiler

[Serg BlackStrider]

Bad news, Grond0...  666 overwhelmed the Saint Crew after all...

[Grimwald the Wise]

Hard luck Grond0

 

@Blackraven

Hope that you had already done your shopping at the Beard Blackraven. Perhaps additional potions would have helped there as there is quite a bit of pickpocketting to be done at the Beard.

[Alesia_BH]

@Grond0. Bummer. Great run nonetheless. 

 

@Blackraven. I'm loving the gnomes! Good hunting! Stay dandy!

[Aasim]

 the trap produced a second bolt and Chimera was caught in the crossfire

Grond0....  Why go there?  

[Grond0]

I was aiming to get the monks up to the standard TotSC XP cap of 161k.  That meant either cheesy XP farming, Durlags or the shaggy dogs.  The latter had proved pretty easy up to the point I fell for my desire to leave no stone unturnedchest unopened.

 

Having said that I think they have done enough hard grind in BG1 .  I'll see if I can't give them a chance to spread their wings a bit in Athkatla ...