After a few careless, rushed, and ultimately unsuccessful starts with generic heroes I think I found a lady with some character:
More precisely Raissa the necromancer:
who is both scarily clever and extremely capable of using her smarts to her own advantage. Her goal is nothing less but mastery over life and death.
Raissa was quick to accept the death of her old mentor, her only regret that she had no way of animating him so he can continue teaching her. She tried to get close to the local hedge wizard near Bergost, by saving his apprentice, but the man showed no desire to take her on.
So she took the matter into her own hands. From peasant to nereid, she studied the life essences of living beings. Of course this sort of study results in death, but death is just a continuation of life anyway
When assassins started coming for her she was overjoyed, it's so hard to find willing subjects to bare their life forces to her. The mage Tarnesh tries do fear her and missile her but she was well protected and in the end absorbed his essence. Karlat the warrior was so frightened by her he couldn't do a thing before he died. Neira the cleric tried casting spells, but it's so difficult when your vitality is being ripped away
In Beregost she spotted a plain merchant wearing a cloak of amazing power so she promptly slit his throat and claimed the item. Charm is not her strong point and the cloak made interactions with people that much more pleasant
At that time she also discovered there is a powerful cleric specializing in necromancy near Beregost. Even though clerics are fools, and think life and death can be understood by praying to powerful wizards in the sky, she was excited to meet someone who shares her interests. Sadly he was mad with guilt, or something equally silly so Raissa was forced to put him out of his misery. She interrupted his first cast with a magic missile assault but not his second which resulted in a nasty flame strike.
She continued to pummel him with magic, stopping him from casting, until she could claim his life with her powerful vampiric touch.
It is at those times, when she absorbs the strength of another, that she is certain necromancy is the one true magical art.
Tara, halfling Berserker, 2nd entry:
The day has been successful indeed and we've got a lot of ground to cover. Let's do this!
Being a party of three felt incomplete and so Tara gladly accepted a partnership offer from Alora, a fellow halfling whom she'd met in Gullykin(*).
* I have a tweak in place that puts the late BG NPCs (e.g. Tiax, Qualye, Alora) into more convenient locations, but frankly, I am unsure whether this comes with SCS of the NPC mod.
Together with Alora, our troupe got to the bottom of the local kobold infestation. Apparently two mages based in the nearby Firewine Runis, a human and an ogre, were responsible for the town's harassment. We did not repay them kindly.
Hopefully this may serve as a lesson to others not to mess with a weaker sort. Better still, Garrick will turn it into a song. He already promised to title it 'The Wrath of the Smallfolk'.
As Tara and her entourage adventured on, ogre mages became a daily bread.
Meaning almost literally.
And including regular ogre brutes.
As a result, we got a nice helmet for Tara and were quickly becoming famous in the region. However, not everybody in our group had been enjoying that...until one day, Viconia decided to leave. The ungrateful drow b*tch! Apparently, saving her from an execution was not enough!
Angry and careless, Tara and the two remaining companions got ambushed in the hills. And guess by whom?!
But we've seen that before, haven't we Garrick?
We did, Alora, we did indeed.
This entry has been made shorter than intended, but more updates are coming soon.
Regards,
B.
Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 91 - (update 1)
Obsidian, dwarf kensai (Grond0) & Titch, halfling assassin Gate70)
Also making progress yesterday was our new pairing. Technically this is actually the second attempt with them, although I haven't reflected that in their statistics. In the first one Titch failed with a pickpocket attempt in the inn and annoyed a guard.
After a bit of running around all the tasks had been completed and equipment purchased and Obsidian made a run for the exit. However, the guard was clearly still chasing as when the cut-scene ended Obsidian found himself with a dead body accompanying him! Gate70 had remarked before the session started that he was feeling lucky, but seemed to be changing his mind about that at this point 
.
After restarting they made their normal progress from Shoal to Nashkel to Meilum to the basilisks. Mutamin died there in moments from assassin poison,
but shortly after that the run hit its first hiccup against Kirian's crew. Korax had helped kill her, but had died in the process. Meanwhile though Titch had been chased away by Lindin and had thought the others were dead as well. On coming back he was thus not prepared for being attacked and a few quick arrows from Baerin saw his first death.
After selling some of the loot to raise Titch the duo embarked on various reputatation quests. They also picked up plenty more XP in the lighthouse area - the potion of clarity allowing Obsidian to melee the sirines while Titch shot them.
Obsidian had noted that the EE now has +1 throwing axes for sale, but didn't bother paying for those and just let Titch shoot the golems with +1 arrows.
The farmer in the ankheg area saw reputation up to 20 - the ankhegs were meleed by Obsidian making a first use of the shield amulet - and a few purchases were made at Ulgoth's Beard before heading for the Nashkel Mine. Titch had the Greenstone Amulet, but relied on his poison rather than using it against Mulahey. The result of that was that he was held and surrounded by a host of enemies. The numbers of those meant that Obsidian would probably have been best off trying to fireball the lot of them. Instead though he tried to aim a fireball to take out most of them in the belief he could finish off the remainder quickly enough to save Titch. Unfortunately though he managed to catch Titch in the very fringe of the explosion 
and he was too badly damaged to survive the assault of the last few enemies.
After another trip to the temple Tranzig was despatched by a backstab on the way to the Bandit Camp. That went very smoothly with the bandits not lasting long against backstabs and throwing axes. Titch asked Obsidian to keep Taugosz in place for a few seconds, but in fact one proved more than enough as an instant backstab sent the big man crashing down.
Inside the tent another backstab narrowly failed to insta-kill Venkt - but the poison finished him off before he could blink.
The others also quickly fell.
Moving through the Cloakwood the duo found more difficulty trying to get an improved 2-handed sword for Obsidian. Titch went into Centeol's lair to do a few stealth shots to drag enemies outside. That worked, but both Obsidian and Titch took a fair amount of damage in the resulting melees and needed to rest a couple of times before finishing the job. At the Cloakwood Mine things were much more straight-forward. Rezdan died in a backstab and, while Kysus managed to cast shadow door he found that was already too late to dodge the throwing axe en-route.
Drasus was quick, but not quick enough to prevent Titch from hiding as he went round corners and a couple of backstabs saw the end of him. Meanwhile Genthore was losing out in a throwing axe duel with Obsidian. He moved into melee to try his luck - just in time to pick up one more backstab from Titch.
In the mine the duo bypassed Hareishan, but struggled to make their way past the guards below and Obsidian had to run round a fair bit while Titch enquired plaintively whether he felt like taking a potion yet (he didn't). Titch was able to disarm both the battle horror traps and tried to backstab Davaeorn with a poisonous +3 staff. He missed, but managed to hide and had another go - and missed again, this time having to suffer a lightning bolt response. He thought third time would be lucky, but somehow managed to miss again - wasting the last of his poison in the process. However, he managed to hide again and Davaeorn now seemed short of spells. He did manage to dire charm Titch, but didn't attack and when that wore off Obsidian joined in for a melee assault. I thought I had managed to capture the crucial moment as Davaeorn collapsed, but it seems lag affects screen-shots as well ...
There was one other moment of interest in the mine. In the EE they've slightly changed the access arrangements to Davaeorn and, in MP, that allows the possibility of attacking the mustard jelly before having opened the route to Davaeorn. Here's Titch making up for his small stature by demonstrating what a long staff he's got 
.
Here are their current records. Obsidian has very poor HPs, making him even more of a glass cannon than most kensai, but so far Titch has managed to nurse him through their adventures.
Obsidian, kensai 7, 63 HPs, 147 kills
Titch, assassin 7, 43 HPs, 121 kills, 2 deaths
Interesting read Grond0. 
Tara, halfling Berserker, 3rd entry: Unraveling the Iron Crisis
After returning to the carnival grounds, Tara and Garrick both felt that it was time to separate their paths. He wanted to employ his arts there, whereas Tara had pressing matters to attend to in the local mines.
So it happened that our original party definitely broke up, with only fellow Alora remaining. Supposedly, many years thereafter, Garrick has been often heard singing a ballad called 'Firewine Four in Ruins'.
It must have been a work of fate then that we ran into this gnomish weirdo named Quayle, whom claimed to be strong of mind and most skilled in magic. Tara did not believe half of his babbling, but realizing she was in a desperate need of a magic user to accompany her, kindly asked him to tag along.
Tara knew that Quayle would have to prove his worth first. It did not have to wait for long, as they soon crossed blades with the mercenary Greywolf. Qualye opened the battle with Blindness...
'Are you serious? Or just being a retarded moron?!' asked Tara gracefully. Children, always remember that blinding/scaring an enemy under a Haste effect in an open space is not a good idea. Not at all. You'll end up chasing him/her throughout the entire area only to lose him/her completely. After what felt like hours we'd finally find Greywolf again, still blinded and roaming aimlessly, but luckily no longer hasted. The gnome has realized his mishap by then and redeemed himself with a successful Hold spell.
Apart from the total annihilation of kobold swarms, the Nashkel mines have been pretty uneventful. Mulahey failed to launch a single spell and felt to a couple of melee strikes. However, Quayle did not have his lucky day and took several arrows in the process. He'd also been ignorant and pompous enough not to wear a helmet - that would teach him a lesson.
Once on the other side of the mines, Tara found the surrounding area to be full of some crypts. She'd use a Protection from Undead scroll to explore those safely. After that, she stumbled upon Narcillicus Harwilliger Neen, an elven mage with a posh name and an unbearable attitude. Tara pushed on his ego a bit and...he summoned his jellies and attacked.
Narcillicus did not much harm except for a few hits by MMMs. Tara kept her companions in a safe distance and manged to poison the mage, which meant his quick demise. Right after that she used a Protection from Poison scroll from Gullykin and finished the jellies with her axe.
'What was that supposed to mean?! Madmen everywhere. I mean, how come that they almost always come as magic users?' Tara asked Alora, eyeing Qualye in the distance. 'Not to create any prejudice but the pattern seems too obvious to ignore...'
Back in Nashkel, our party collected their reward and dealt with another assassin named Nimbul. He was an easy work, if a bit tedious due to his spamming of Mirror Images and Stoneskins during the battle.
Once rested, we'd had to move on. All the clues regarding the bandit activities pointed to Beregost, in particular to Feldepost's Inn, wherein a contact named Tranzig was to be found. Having enough death on our hands lately, we wanted to approach him in a peaceful manner. But the interrogation went horribly wrong.
Anyway, there's no time to feel sorry for his sort. Better worry about the decent folk. We know where the bandit camp lies now.
On their way through Larswood, our party ran into a Blacktalon officer named Teven and his men. Tara was able to resist the itch in her axe hand and play a little charade instead. As a result of that, Teven escorted them into the heart of the base.
Having passed the 'fit & proper' test with the brutish half-ogre leader Tazok, Tara and her companions have successfully infiltrated the bandit operation.
Regards,
B.
A few Scrnshots from Dhanya's run. Summoned monsters softened the enemy who attacked each other so that finishing them off wasn't too hard.
The assassins from a mod were first attacked by stealth and then finished off.
Upon exiting, used web and fireballs to soften the enemy up, then back to weapons to finish them.
Entering BG first lured one of the enemy from his cohorts so they didn't join in.
In the Gate did various quests peacefully, less peacefully for some others!
At Candlekeep Dhanya was met by ogre mages. Immediately went invisible, walked away, used web and fireballs.
Then moved into the Section HQ. Some were defeated toe to toe, others were avoided using invisibility.
The Ashirukuru were left alone as Dhanya never met them due to being invisible himself!
When Lillian died she had some interesting possessions which were never used.
Web followed by Cloudkill was most effective, and others were duped into following Dhanya to death also.
The last room of the Section HQ was accessed using Dimension Door. As you will see, web and cloudkill were highly effective. Some fireballs were also used.
Slythe was killed with brute force and ignorance. Krystin with backstab.
Raissa found more common folk with unusually powerful magical items in their possession, so she corrected this anomaly and acquired a ring of free action. It's useful for studying speedy opponents who like to run, like Zordral the mage
but also many others, including sirines who have a fierce and interesting life essence
Most of all it came in useful when exploring the roots of her assassin problem in the Nashkel mine. Kobold helpers were webbed while Mulahey was shot with the wand of frost and then drained until death. The rest of the room Raissa cleared out with skull traps, concentrated bursts of negative energy.
On her way back to Nashkel minor divinations showed her she is about to be ambushed. A wise woman knows to always be on her toes for such things, and with this knowledge she had plenty of time to prepare. She malisoned Nimbul the assassin and then glitter dusted him
Hasted, he kept running out of range of her spell until she caught him in a grease and then a chromatic orb. Helpless, he had no choice but to join her growing collection of souls.
She then made quick work of the mage Tranzig, who had information she needed to continue, and used her intimidating appearance to infiltrate the bandit camp. Subtlety is not her strong point, in fact she made a vow long ago never to use illusions, invisibilities and such trickery, so she marched in straight into the main tent to get some answers.
Venkt the mage managed to get a dispel off, his mirror image eating the fireball, but failed to actually dispel anything.
With the mage no longer a threat, she webbed and proceeded to blast the bandits with negative energy in the form of skull traps until they were all dead. The mage she finished with a poisoned dart as she was exhausted and had no energy left to drain his life.
She freed the prisoner after everyone was dead and found the location of her next stop, Cloakwood.
Tara, halfling Berserker, 4th entry: The Battle of the Bandit Camp
B.
I really enjoyed this one, keep it up Borco!
Tara, halfling Berserker, 4th entry: The Battle of the Bandit Camp
B.
Nicely done.
And.... wow... that really *is* some serious buffing!
--BW
).
DUNO | ONUD
I mentioned this a few days ago but I decided to shelve Duno, the Shadowdancer for a while, when I realized that Shadowdancers require a 15 Charisma (for no apparent reason) to dual class.
I started a Sun Monk, a 1/2 Orc cleric/Magic User, a couple thieves, and a Druid -- all of whom died before 2nd level -- before trying a Shadowdancer again.
I lost one Shadowdancer to a Hobgoblin outside of the FAI and two more in Nashkel before level 2.
I also figured out that the initial fight/quest for the Enhanced Edition Wild Mage Neera triggers by proximity. I think the wizard you fight is something like 4th level. I'm not sure, actually, since I spent most of the time running -- my party typically being 1st level. Anyway... three (3)... that's THREE Shadowdancer's later, I finally figured out that I should just avoid that area for a while and not trust path finding. Yeah.. ok... I'm a slow learner.
Out of all that came ONUD, the Shadowdancer:
(*note the nice, juicy 14 Charisma... perfect to dual class with one Tome of Leadership)
Being a thief-type he was able to sneak by Tarnish with Immy
and come back with help:
I always attack Marl, and still don't know why:
Lost Immy for a while, but got her back:
I decided that the party needed someone who could cast sleep and that Khalid wasn't adding much (except getting held). SO I temporarily picked up Mon & X.
Then picked up Minsc and headed to the Gnoll fortress. So far, no major issues this time.
Current party is still 1st level. I dropped Immy since I didn't really want 2 thieves. I picked up a cleric and a monk, but will drop the monk shortly. Assuming I get Misc's witch, I will keep her and Minsc and Branwen as my core team.
Will keep y'all posted.
--BW
. Then I rested and finally got my spells back.
@CrevsDaak
In my last game I ensured that nobody became hostile.
All you need to do is ensure that the conversation with the guy in the tent never takes place.
For this you need invisibility and speed.
As soon as you take the documents, you need to hide immediately (or take invisibility potion) Since it is no reloads it can be worthwhile having the potion in case the hide fails.
Use the objects in the centre of the tent as a roundabout, ensuring that the guy,(Raemon I think) never gets near you.
It is just as satisfying avoiding the fight as winning it.
Of course you don't get the gear doing it this way.
.
Better luck next time. This is something that I wouldn't even try.
This is something that I wouldn't even try.
I guess when you've done everything else, then you start to doing these kinds of things... good thing is, I'm very far away from that point .
Nevertheless still fun to read and (@grond) better luck next time
@Grond Sorry about knockout, you can do it next time!
Nurim Stonefist, Dwarven Wizard Slayer, 2nd BG1 update
Nurim was in a cranky mood as he and his party departed from the Friendly Arm Inn that same evening to go and deal with Landrin’s Spiders in Beregost. Jaheira’s exigency to travel to Nashkel stressed him out, and he would much rather have got to know his new companions first over a few tankards of ale. He might even have told Khalid and Jaheira about the bounty hunters.
Upon arrival in Beregost the party took lodgings at Feldepost’s Inn, which in spite of being the town’s poshest inn harbored an aggressive drunk they had to appease before they could finally enjoy their well-earned leisure. Khalid and Jaheira told Nurim and Imoen about how they had first met, and that they had traveled with Gorion in the past. This surprised Nurim. Granted, the two were Half-Elves, but still they looked much too young to him to be seasoned adventurers. At one point the Dwarf overheard Jaheira asking Imoen if she had ever noticed Nurim act oddly.
This offended Nurim. He finished his ale and without saying a word he walked off and went looking for Landrin’s home. He found it occupied by four Huge Spiders. Unwilling to fight the creatures in a cramped space and expose himself to their venom, he ran outside. The Spiders followed him there. One by one they fell to the Dwarf’s throwing axes.
Just south of Beregost the party killed two Ogrillons. One of the monsters had carried a letter destined for one Mirianne, from her husband Roe. They found Mirianne in her home to the east of the town and with a Ring of the Princes were amply rewarded for handing her the letter.
On the road again the party dispatched a band of Hobgoblins and they slew three Flaming Fist mercenaries who had neither believed Nurim’s claim of innocence nor fallen for Jaheira’s feeble attempts at dallying. Not that the latter fact surprised Nurim, for no sweet talking could detract from the Druid’s stern eyes and commanding voice.
In Nashkel Nurim learnt from an Amnian soldier that army captain Brage had killed his wife and children and headed for the hills. He also met with the mayor. Their meeting started off a bit strained, with Nurim demanding an explanation for how the mayor had known he would be coming with Jaheira. But then Jaheira took over in a way that wasn’t really to the Dwarf’s taste:
Before preparing for their journey however, the party explored the town a bit, and visited the nearby Carnival. Nurim took no advantage of a bounty handler who mistakenly took him for the notorious bounty hunter Greywolf. But the party did appropriate a suit of Ankheg armor that someone had carelessly left behind by the side of a field, when none of the local farmers claimed to be its owner.
At the Carnival they perused the wares of several merchants and found a few scrolls and magical trinkets that seemed useful. But Nurim, deeply suspicious of magic and of any merchants offering it, vetoed the proposals of Imoen and Khalid to spend party gold - gold that had mostly been the proceeds of his efforts - on these items. Jaheira was becoming a spokeswoman of sorts for the party, but Nurim continued to see himself as the party leader.
At the Nashkel inn the companions were in for a nasty surprise, one that would teach Nurim to be more careful:
“Just fancy my luck seeing you stroll in here, bold as day. I expected a hunt and a chase from the description, but who am I to argue easy coins in the purse? May the Lord of Shadows guide you swiftly to your death!” said a human priestess.
“We would first know our attackers. Why are you doing this?” Jaheira was quick to overcome her surprise, and to demand answers.
“Who I am is unimportant, though my name is Neira. What I am, is a hunter of bounties, and on that Dwarf’s head is a lovely little sum. Does that satisfy your request?”
“What’ll satisfy me is seeing me axe stuck in yer skull!” shouted Nurim, as he launched one of his throwing axes at the woman. The priestess skillfully evaded the axe and started a chant, which Imoen and Jaheira took as a sign to follow Nurim’s example with their arrows and bullets. However, they failed to break their foe’s concentration. Nurim ordered his companions outside but Neira followed the party and she managed to Hold both Nurim and Khalid,
Thankfully a Monk who would later introduce himself as Rasaad,
Before they reached the Gnoll hold, the companions returned to the civilization of Beregost, not only to give Rasaad the opportunity to practise his art in conditions more to his liking but also to get several enchanted items identified and sell some of them. Near the High Hedge, the Elven Ranger Kivan took Rasaad’s place, joining the party in battle against a pack of Gnolls.
Kivan slew a wolf southwest of Beregost, saving the life of the apprentice mage Melicamp who, somehow transformed into a hen, had become the wolf’s prey. Nurim offered to put the unfortunate apprentice out of his misery with a clean chop of his axe, but Melicamp himself implored the party to take him to master Thalantyr, the wizard who dwelled in the High Hedge west of Beregost. Most of the companions understood the precariousness of Melicamp’s situation. However, Nurim was loath to have dealings with the wizard Thalantyr, while Minsc was disinclined to accept yet another delay of his mission and besides ranted that Melicamp could live a worthwhile life as an intelligent animal, much like his hamster. After some debate both warriors eventually conceded, with Minsc understanding he had little choice but to adapt and Nurim to his own amazement being receptive to Kivan's description of his moral duty as a Ranger to aid those in distress, a duty the Elf believed applied to any honorable warrior.
In any case, in the end the party’s effort was all in vain. Thalantyr failed miserably at his attempt to retransform Melicamp, killing his apprentice in the process. It only fueled Nurim’s mistrust of magic and it proved Minsc had been right after all.
The rescue of Dynaheir at the Gnoll fortress was, as such, a more successful operation. The companions battled their way past two Ogrillons, slew numerous Xvarts and picked up some treasure the runts had been guarding, and they routed the Gnolls with ease,
Nurim, Imoen, Kivan and Khalid and Jaheira decided to travel northward and then east to Nashkel. This alternative route to Nashkel led the party past a Xvart village they sacked,
Tara, halfling Berserker, 5th entry: Into the Cloakwood
After succeeding in the Bandit Camp, our party followed the fresh trail into the Cloakwood Forest. They got ambushed by more assassins in the process and one such encounter took its price.
It was Kirian and her amazon entourage. Some of them were quick to hide and managed to escape our initial Web. At time same time, Qualye was foolish enough not to retreat, while wanting to assist Tara with some more magic. Telka and Maneria did not hesitate and hit hard. And even their low level backstab was enough to decimate Qualye's hitpoints.
He hadn't started casting that spell yet, so it would have been easily doable to get an invisibility potion and escape. However, and to his doom, his fear has prevailed...
Unable to him save, Tara and Alora were quick to send these women all the way to the Nine Hells. They collected his limp body and possessions and decided to travel back to seek help. And where else to take a dead-cold gnome than to Gellana Mirrorshade at Garl Glittergold's temple. She was able to bring him back to life but they all knew that his adventuring days were over for now. Leaving him in good hands, they bid Qualye farewell, reassuring him to pay there a visit from time to time.
However, they did not know that they'll never be able to stick with that promise...
Cloakwood was a dangerous place indeed, but after overcoming hordes of spiders and angry druids, Tara and Alora finally made it to the mine entrance. They scouted the area and waited for the cover of night to approach the guards. Knowing that there would not be time for any small talk, Tara rushed in.
Their leader of the group, Drassus, was quick as a cat. But still not quick enough to avoid Alora's aim...
After he fell, Alora picked up his magical shoes and dagger-pierced the other brute several times till he yielded.
So far, the mages we saw before have kept their distance. It was time to get acquainted. Due to the risk of initial dispel, the buffs Tara kept were limited to those most necessary, so nothing extra spicy. Alora quaffed a Potion of Invisibility and was trying to study their illusion magic for its weaknesses, which proved rather successful and several Mirror Images were compromised.
At that time, Tara was about to launch a full scale attack. Something was wrong though. Suddenly, she did feel so weary and sick. It was probably that last incantation they've used... That was Greater Malision, the bane of the unwary. She fell back a little, her hands on her potion case, ready to counter any dangerous spells coming in her direction.
But that Chromatic Orb of one of the mages has been released too quickly. She realized in an instant that this could be a problem. Normally she wouldn't even notice the pain but this felt...weird. Tara did not even finish the thought before she got turned into a stone pillar.
I now realize that staying in combat with Save vs. Spells reduced to 10 by the Greater Malision was a bad bad idea. That gives the Chromatic Orb a 20% chance of success and that is just too much by anyone's standards. Maybe I'll be smarter next time. Tara was still fun!
Wonder what happened with Alora then...Maybe the Sword Coast did find its savior after all.
B.
I now realize that staying in combat with Save vs. Spells reduced to 10 by the Greater Malision was a bad bad idea. That gives the Chromatic Orb a 20% chance of success and that is just too much by anyone's standards. Maybe I'll be smarter next time. Tara was still fun!
Wonder what happened with Alora then...Maybe the Sword Coast did find its savior after all.
B.
Why do the good die young?
To paraphrase a comment by Alesia-of-much-wisdom on one of my own failures there, duking it out with Drasus and Genthore without magic immunity is a risky risky thing.
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