USSNorway: Your "Xan death routine" is how it usually is for me too. But on one run, I had a special rule that no resurrections of any NPCs, and guess what? Xan survived to the battle with Sarevok! I was absolutely shocked - he had plenty of close calls though.
You could always edit Xan slightly with Level1 NPCs. Roll your own version of Xan and edit his stats to match with the mod, ensuring that no stat is lower than the original
(Just so that he can still wield the Moonsword).
You could always edit Xan slightly with Level1 NPCs. Roll your own version of Xan and edit his stats to match with the mod, ensuring that no stat is lower than the original
(Just so that he can still wield the Moonsword).
I don't like changing the originals. Besides, if I really need more HP from Xan, he gulps a potion of fortitude...this trick helps Shar-Teel a lot too, when she's a tank.
...
So when Xan says "We're all doomed," he's simply using the royal we, right? 
Edit: Oof, sorry to hear that, Grond0. I had high hopes for those monks lategame, but therein lies the problem, doesn't it? What's your next attempt going to be? 6 Druids of different kits would be fun, if you could find some way to, y'know, actually get some damage.
Benoni (4), 4th and final update:
But you don't need or want to hear my tales of the beauty and the danger of the sirines, or the horror of the golems and the ferocity giant underground insects. The bandit camp. I believe I've heard that the force you stationed at Beregost lead an assault to finish out the bandits? Quite right, quite right, and a scrap, I would think. But that's not the whole story. At the risk of sounding egotistical, I had no small part to play in this tale.
I am but one man, Scar, and my race doesn't often attract allies, or at least allies that aren't completely sadistic. Drizzt is lucky there, I think, with his companions. But I could not remain idle. They were sending assassins after me already, after all, so why couldn't I have a part in their downfall? I played the assassin right back at them, stalking through the camp unheard and unseen. Have you ever had to wait in a hostile area? The nerve-wracking silence, the knowledge that every sound might be your discovery and death, and just the sound of your heartbeat keeping time. It was several hours until my targets came to me, every moment an eternity. They were not prepared for my counter-assassination, and four of the five leaders of the camp were slain within moments. The fifth I took out before fleeing back into the night. They had letters regarding a mine deep within the Cloakwood, and if you wish, I still have these letters. The Fist sortie came, by my reckoning, two days after their leaders were slain.
It took a few days, and there were multiple spider corpses in my path that I'm sure will not be missed, but I eventually found this mine. So, you've not even heard of this one! Well, I shall attempt to enlighten you. It was manned by a company named the Iron Throne, and kept slaves to mine the iron ore. I hear that they operate out of your fine city? Very good, very good. To cut a long story short, I found the mage in control of the mine, and battled him for a certain key to a dam. The slaves escaped in my wake, and we flooded the mine in the end. So that is my story, Scar, from Candlekeep to here. I would accuse the Iron Throne for the troubles in this region!
You have a job for me, though? The Seven Suns. Well, for now, I will do so. Farewell, Scar, and thank you for listening to my tale, and not having me executed for my skin color. Or for trying; you'd have to be able to catch me first!
//
Greetings again! Ha, the expression on your face is priceless. I couldn't very well announce myself at the door; it wouldn't do you any good to have it known that a Drow was working for the Fist! Patience, patience. Jhasso's alive, though shaken. The business had been infiltrated by curious creatures known as Doppelgängers, or Silverflesh, or the Mirrorkin, depending on who you read. Some of the facts are unclear, but they can take the form and appearance of any humanoid, though the transformation is imperfect in all but the greatest of their kind.
Keep the reward, please, I have nowhere to spend it. Oh, the major magic dealer is closely affiliated with the Fist? A note! Thank you, Scar. I fear my potion supply was starting to look somewhat sparse. People are disappearing near the store though, with insect-like tracks? I'll do a bit of investigation. Until next time. You might want to look into your security, it seems!
//
Greetings onc- oof! Ha, Scar, I suppose it was your turn to get a surprise at me. There was an ogre wizard in your sewers. I'm as befuddled as you likely are on how such a creature managed to get into there, but he had an army of carrion crawlers that would sneak aboveground and find some poor civilian to eat. Ah, a ruby ring? I have found one; would this be it? Splendid, splendid. Have you conveyed my suspicions, or certainties, to the Duke yet? Oh, I even have an audience with him? Even better! Lead the way!
//
Diary of Benoni, 2 of Kythorn, 1368
I write these notes as I am traveling back to my hometown. Ah, Candlekeep! I fear it, almost, as a memory of Gorion and Imoen. At least she's not dead herself, at least I hope. Jaheira and Khalid should keep that rapscallion company. If anyone finds this, let it be known that I am set to Candlekeep to find the leader of the Iron Throne in the Sword Coast. Rieltar is his name, and he has much to pay for for the troubles in these coasts. If I am to fail, give notice to Scar, of the Flaming Fist in Baldur's Gate.
Enough with that, though. I am becoming tired, and I am becoming less sure of my path. I am no longer the scholar or bookworm that left the library a month ago. There's blood on my hands, so much blood. The dreams I've been having keep reinforcing that thought, that though I try to do good, there are still so many lives lost. Is killing an evil creature good? How can it be? The Blood War has been raging on for ages, so I've read, but that would make every Balor or Pit Fiend a saint! That cannot be right. It makes no sense.
Am I good? I do not know how to tell. And who can judge me? The gods? They are flawed too, if the Time of Troubles is any indication. And does any amount of good that I do overcome the evil that I also do? Who can save me from myself? Enough of this, though. This must be for another time. Candlekeep awaits.
//
3rd of Kythorn
I am bewildered and frightened. My past... Oh, Gorion! My father, or rather, my adopted father! But father in truth, if not in blood. That honor... Or dishonor? I cannot yet tell, goes to Bhaal himself, the deceased god of murder. I am not sure what this will mean, but I've read the prophecies, even though I did not yet know they would apply to me!
Let me see if I can gather my thoughts on paper. Paper and ink have long been my friends in collecting my thoughts, and mayhap will continue to be in this confusing time. I entered Candlekeep today, early in the morning. It was nostalgic, though... Tainted, somehow. Gorion's loss was deeply felt. Many of his peers gave their condolences to me for him, though there were some mirrorkin among them which attacked me almost upon sight. Blood on my library, blood on my books, blood on my hands. I visited Gorion's old quarters, and was told by Piato to search his rooms. There was a note, detailing my lineage. I have already mentioned it above, I do not wish to do so again. Piato advised me to talk to Tethoril about this, but before I could, I was stopped and arrested by the Gatewarden for the murders of the leaders of the Iron Throne. I had not even looked upon their faces, and was innocent!
Tethoril though found me out in my cell, and explained further of who I was and who was against me. A scholar, Koveras, or Sarevok, apparently, was also a child of Bhaal. Is one, I suppose. He has seen me as his primary rival, and seeks to throw the area into deaths and chaos in an attempt to rise to Bhaal's lost status. It was him, then, that killed Rieltar and the others, I suppose. But Tethoril teleported me to the dungeons underneath the tower, so that I could make my escape. It wasn't hard, and I have a couple magical books along in my bags. I saw Gorion's face again. Not him, almost certainly; do the mirrorkin really expect me to fall for their tricks every single time? But that was enough to break my nerve. But I ramble. I must stop Sarevok; Baldur's Gate is almost certainly the goal, and even with these boots, catching him is not going to be easy.
Benoni.
OK, some actual gameplay stuff:
Bandit mage was disabled with Darts of Stunning, the rest of them meleéd. Taugosz was backstabbed two or three times. I went through the Spider area to get Spider's Bane: this proved VERY important later, and I think I would've died without it. Started Drasus and co. with a potion of explosion which drew out Genthore, backstabbed and then melee finished him. Drasus was a pain in the neck, though he died in straight melee after 10 or so potions. Boots of speed + stealth convincingly ended the mages. Another backstab finished Hareishan, and I got my highest hit in the game here with a critical backstab landing at 84 damage to some poor guard. Backstabs finished the Doom guards, and under magical protection started to work on Davaeorn with the Returning Frost Dart. Had a moment of complete freaking-out when he started to cast some sort of spell at me. Not sure if it was Charm Person or Hold Person, but used a charge of the Greenstone while equipping Spider's Bane. Irrelevant, it turned out, as the dart that I had just thrown before pausing hit and interrupted the casting. He fell shortly after that.
Doppler died, an Ogre mage died to prepare the way to get to Slythe, and Benoni burgled the tower for the INT tome to get to the safer 16 INT (safe for up to 3 Mindflayer hits now...) Potions galore were purchased as well as a bow and dispelling arrows. Scouted the Iron Throne under stealth, and visited all the locations in Candlekeep. I've never done so before: did you know that the items in the top floor of Candlekeep reset? I took a second Potion of Clarity there. Also fighting the Greater Doppelgänger in the tower is something I've rarely done. Took the two tomes under Candlekeep, and ignored everything else until the Greater Basilisks which I couldn't help but fight since I had one potion of Mirrored Eyes burning a hole in my potion case. 
Slythe was killed without taking a point of damage by quaffing a potion of speed and then hiding around corners to hide in shadows again. 3 backstabs later and he gave up. Doppels killed Liia, Belt remained alive. Stealth through the maze. Last rest to get a second DUHM just for good measure.
The Throne battle, though... I nearly died, and I haven't died there since I forgot to protect vs Charm. For the first time that I can remember, Dispel Magic actually stripped me of all my buffs, and somehow I managed to trigger something like 4 webs and 1 Stinking Cloud trap along the way up to Sarevok. I wasn't even running up the center... It was kind of touch-and-go. Standing on a Web without negative saving throws! Spider's Bane! Mage is starting to cast a spell. Potion of Magic Blocking! Tazok attacking! Potion of Invisibility! I rebuffed from there, though, and separated and killed each of them using backstabs. Sarevok didn't get the chance to take a swing. I'll probably start 2 with a journal entry regarding these events.
Final stats: 7/8 Fighter/Thief. 15/20/18/16/11/10. 190 kills. 63 HP (I think.) Favorite weapon: Longsword. 180,624 experience just in kills, so I'll be starting quite close to 8/9. Proficiencies are 2 in Longsword, 2 in Dart, 1 in Club, and 1 in Dagger. They're spread out everywhere, and I'm not sure if I like not having anything in double weapon yet, but I typically like either the Reflex or the Shield of Harmony in my offhand anyways, so that shouldn't be the biggest hinderance.
Congratulations Epsil0 on beating BG1 and my compliments for the RPing and the nice write-ups!
Here's hoping you'll fare as well in Amn!!
@Episi0 - Congrats on beating Sarevok - I concur with raven, very nice RP write-up. If you ever do straight up melee with Drassus again, consider using a potion of absorption plus girdle of bluntness - that would give you +13 to your defense to his blunt weapon, meaning even with his haste, probably not take 10 blue potions to beat him.
@Grond0 - Sorry to hear the end of the monks. So far, it seems SCS is bad for monks. Any ideas on what's next? I imagine with all this party play, you are about ready for a solo run.
Beautiful work, Epsil0!
Good hunting in Amn!
Best,
A.
I must admit to always skipping Xan because his DOOM and gloom outlook bugged me so much but I also like the underdog and I'm starting to think he has a point!
As for editing him, yes I could however I'm looking for a new tack with Puk as well and was thinking of making him into a Xan (stats copy) Sharman but don't want to yet… Sarah has the stage now.
Gratz Epsil0... good luck mate!
Well done and nice story, Epsil0! Safe travels in Amn!
Corthief V the Human Berserker and 4 other berserkers and a thief 6/bersereker 7 (inactive) update
The party has completed their city of Baldur's Quests battles/quests without incident, and about to make their way through the Iron Throne HQ.
Most battles went like the sample battle against Mountain Maulers - just enrage and use best ammo wins the day.
Hopefully we can teach those Sarevok Acolytes a lesson...
Those berserkers look like they'll do some work! Sarevok himself is unlikely to stand up against such an assault... As to the Potion of Absorption, I was planning on using one for that fight, but I had only one and I thought it better to save it in the case of a bouncing lightning bolt, either from Davaeorn or if I failed to disarm the trap inside. I went straight through without resting, so I could've done it safely, but hindsight is 20/20
Those berserkers look like they'll do some work! Sarevok himself is unlikely to stand up against such an assault... As to the Potion of Absorption, I was planning on using one for that fight, but I had only one and I thought it better to save it in the case of a bouncing lightning bolt, either from Davaeorn or if I failed to disarm the trap inside. I went straight through without resting, so I could've done it safely, but hindsight is 20/20
Thanks! I see about the potion of absorption..I usually use boots of grounding plus green scroll of lightning protection (lasts 12 hours) for the mages inside the mines, but if you just didn't have the resources guess that's a good reason not to use it. Like Alesia, I will use potions of absorption for powerful crushing enemies, since there are other ways to get 100% lightning resistance.
Corthief V the level 8 Human Berserker with his 4 other berserkers plus thief 7/berserker 7 (inactive)
When we last heard of Corthief V, he was about to take on the Acolytes on the 5th floor of the Iron Throne. I am pleased to report the team won. We did take a death though, Misty died almost immediately as the battle started, possibly from flame strikes.
On to Candlekeep! We actually killed the Iron Throne leaders this time, mainly for the experience. Our gold is ridiculous, more than 100,000 - we have far more than we know what do with. Fighting in the crypts was pretty straight-forward, with Misty and Joshua leading the way. Wewa did great trap work, but she's 100 in traps/locks so no real surprise there. A lot of loot from one of the crypts, we used to buff Misty to solo Prat and his gang - his dagger of venom once again extremely effective - never knew daggers actually worked for a tank character. We originally were going to have Joshua solo Prat and gang, but realized a bit late, that even with a genius potion, he was too stupid to use a pro magic scroll! In my install, potions don't stack, and also pro magic scrolls are not target-able, which is also how it works in vanilla BG 1. Thus Misty got the job.
The spiders and basilisks were no problem, two mirror eye potions for two berserkers made the basilisks simple.
In the City, we battled Slythe and Krystyn - neither one could put up much fight.
Time for Duchal Palace! As is my custom, I turned on auto-pause target destroyed here, to make sure not a singe round of attacks is wasted. Liia died, but Belt survived!
For once, we also talked to Tamoko (so we will need to fight her later), as well as rescued Duke Eltan (which we rarely do, but we want experience again). This worked out well, as now all berserkers are level 8 and most got good HP rolls on this last level. I'm not positive, but Wewa might be able to unlock her berserker skills before end of BG 1 - if not, she'll be real close. That's good, because when the berserkers dual to thief when they are level 9, Wewa will need to be the tank.
In any case, we splurged on some potions and scrolls, and will enter the thieve's maze next session.
Corthief V and his band of berserkers and a thief/berserker - FINAL BG 1 Update!
Traveling with: Joshua, Misty, Forrest, Hanna, Wewa
Corthief V managed to make it through the maze. That bug I hate happened again - seemingly, Forrest walked right thru a wall and suddenly found himself under attack by the two skeleton warriors and Forrest tripped a fireball trap too! He ran for his life, trying to re-unite with the group. The group was totally unprepared for the two skeletons, but gave it their best and gulped lot of blue potions - whew won that, but shouldn't have been so hard.
For the UnderCity party, Corthief V got 100% fire resistance and softened up the enemies with 5-6 shots of arrows of detonation - Corthief then retreated to the party. With the party's help, the enemies were then cleaned up fairly easily thanks to weakening by Corthief V. Aft er a talk, Tamoko decided not to fight.
Before entering the final battle with Sarevok, here was Corthief V's final stats:
The party then did a lot of potion buffs, things like fire resistance, haste, potion of magic shielding or potion of magic protection. Wewa then moved to the left to pull Sarevok, as well as the party then enraged. Wewa fires a bullet and retreats - who comes? Everyone. Got it.
Corthief gets to to work and dispels both Sarevok and then Semaj with arrows. The party attacks both Semaj and Sarevok. Semaj falls fast. Angelo then appears.
Angelo does good damage and forces Wewa to retreat.
However, the melees of our group apparently were hitting pretty hard, as a few rounds later, Sarevok fell to the ground!
As this is a MP party, as well as the whole point is for the party to dual to thief in BG 2, all characters moving onto Amn. Corthief V got all the tomes, except he gave the strength tome to Misty, as she was quite a bit weaker than the rest of the group.
Well done Corey. I'll look forward to hearing all about your backstab extravaganza in Amn ...
Well done Corey. I'll look forward to hearing all about your backstab extravaganza in Amn ...
Thanks! Might be a while until we can all stealth good enough to do that many backstabs, but eventually we hope to be able to do that yes.
Congrats, Corey!
Good hunting in Amn!
Best,
A.
Congrats, Corey!
Good hunting in Amn!
Best,
A.
Thanks Alesia! I'm glad I didn't need as many attempts as Grond0 (no offence to him - he has the harder install too). While it will be a while until our stealth if very good, we should on the other hand, in short order have lots of snares available to us - presumably this will help in the early going, especially when everyone but Wewa will lose their berserker abilities for a while.
I don't like changing the originals. Besides, if I really need more HP from Xan, he gulps a potion of fortitude...this trick helps Shar-Teel a lot too, when she's a ta
Whilst I do change them using level 1 NPCs, change proficiencies and the like, I don't strengthen them, I can well understand why you don't like changing them either.
Well done, Corey! Safe travels in Amn!
Well done Corey! See you in Amn 
Well done, Corey! Safe travels in Amn!
Well done Corey! See you in Amn
Thanks guys! Since one berserker is pretty tough, 6 berserkers made progress most of the time go pretty easy. Also, having Wewa dual to thief eariler than the rest helped quite a bit too. The real test will be when we as a party dual to thief, and the thieves have to survive until level 10 to get their berserker abilities back. Only time will tell on that one I guess.
Bg-scs30 update 1.9,
Death by script;
Hear text as mp3,
Imoen opened with her 'cloudkill' pulling Angelo… he popped about ignoring my minions to target Xan and Quayle in melee. I tried to counter him with 'detect' but he must have something helping him stay stealthy.
I didn't catch what buffs Tazok had but Shar-teel and Viconia dispatched him… I'm still popping illusions from Angelo as Quayle plays tag then the big guy shows up and one shots Viconia just as Tazok hits the deck.
Imoen stops spamming summon to cast 'Greater Malison' which proved fatal because Angelo somehow casts a fireball or perhaps puts his swords away to use a detonation arrow… in any event this swipes out most of my minions and kills Quayle.
Scs30 Angelo took enormous damage from Shar-teel in melee… ignored my minions wailing on him… shrugged off 4 wand of heaven strikes, 2 frost wand hits and still managed to cast his explosions? The weird thing is I'm looking forward to a rematch.
Condolences, USSNorway.
Good luck with your next attempt!
Best,
A.
Tough break, USSNorway. You can see why I always take out Angelo first, as soon as he appears, he can be quite a problem.
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