16394 replies to this topic

[Epsil0]

I can't seem to motivate myself for Benoni, so Pacifist Skald Squad number two it is. Mods for BGEE, at least, are full SCS, Rogue Rebalancing, BG1NPC (not really used this time), and BGTweaks mostly for small cosmetic changes as well as a couple more bags of holding.

 

This is my second real attempt with this concept, of a full (or almost full) custom-made team built around the Charname. And as before, I'm building around the RR-Skald. More specifically, a pacifist RR-Skald; if my Charname gets a single kill, I'll mark the run down as failed. For those who don't have Rogue Rebalancing installed, the Skald has these pros and cons:

Pros: +1 to hit and damage with all weapons (useless for a pacifist)

Skald's song gives +2 to hit and damage, -2 to AC, and erroneously states immunity to Fear. Maybe immunity to Morale failure? I dunno, since Horror still affects people under the Skald's song's effects. Upgrades to +3 and +4 bonuses at levels 9 and 18 respectively.

Cons: Pickpockets at a quarter of normal level (Scary to even try in a no-reload anyways)

Suffers a 1-point spell casting speed penalty. This is actually pretty important, as it means the spells have that greater of an opportunity to be interrupted.

 

For those that care about my team-building analysis, it's under the spoiler. For those who actually want to read some BGEE, feel free to skip.

Spoiler

The Skald, being the main character, is non-negotiable. The thing is, I didn't want a random party that just happened to have a Skald in it, but I wanted to maximize a Skald's potential. The best way to do this is APR, generally, since that +2 damage stacks quickly across 3-4 hits. That was the approach I took my first run, with an Archer, a Wizard Slayer, an Avenger (Sword spider form gives 4 attacks at level 7. It was ludicrous.), a Swashbuckler for traps, and a Dragon Disciple for actual in-battle casting. And that worked fairly well, but with a new start, a new party is required. Only the Skald of all of those is allowed.

 

The other way to maximize a Skald's potential is by summons. Adding +2s and +3s to a swarm? Magnificent. Sure, doesn't work against things with Death Spell, but we'll have contingencies for that. So the first ones that were definitely going to be part of this new team were the Beast Master and Totemic Druid. There's no Skeleton Warriors from these two, but hordes of animals and spirit animals just sounds fun to see at least once. I hate traps with a passion, so a thief is required. Swashbuckler's out, Bounty hunters were appealing, but I decided on rolling the arcane and skills together, so Mage(Illusionist)/Thief was the choice. I still wanted someone to be able to wear armor and tank stuff from time to time, since not much feels better than seeing something fruitlessly attempt to hit someone with -10 effective AC in BG1. I felt that Berserker or Barbarian were strong, but I thought that I might end up relying on abusing their ridiculous immunities rather than getting better with my tactics. Cavalier was chosen instead. The 6th slot's being left open this time for quests in BG2, and possibly someone in BG2 permanently.

 

So introducing the squad: 

Hymn, NG Human Skald (Club * Sword and Shield *)

Spoiler

The roll of 95:

Sirius, LG Human Cavalier (Axe ** Two Weapon Fighting **)

Spoiler

 

Sapphire, LG Elven Beastmaster (Quarterstaff **, Crossbow **)

Spoiler

Holly, TN Human Totemic Druid (Darts *)

Spoiler

Quill, NG Gnome Illusionist/Thief ( Short Swords *, Shortbow *)

Spoiler

 

Off we go. Despite having 18 CHA, we skip even the +1 dagger in Candlekeep, though Quill relieves the Potion of Clarity from the chest upstairs beforehand. Gorion dies, after a bit of looting we start the level game: Shoal and her area are first on the list. Shoal dies without a problem, and we have our first real (kind of) fight. The Ogres. It took a bit of kiting and aggression sharing, and a lapse in judgement got Quill knocked down to 1 HP in a single hit, but Sapphire clears them out. Her Favored Enemy is Ogres, which I forgot about in character creation, but it certainly sped this up.

 

I decide to explore the entire map, and am glad that I did when I found the 3 sirines in the bottom left of the area. Only one Charm spell was cast onto a vulnerable member, and Sapphire saved anyways. Sapphire and Sirius both leveled up, though both rolled minimum health.

 

Back at High Hedge, we sell gems and buy scrolls, and I see this ominous message for Hymn:

Spoiler

The thing is, it's not Hymn that has a Familiar out. It's Sapphire, via the Beastmaster Kit. I'm content with it for BG1, since Hymn's going to be singing invisibly most of these fights, but in BG2 I'll have to decide who gets the 12 and 24 HP.

 

I might as well catch the first death, right? Well... No. Turns out I missed it. Here's the end of that battle though! I missed the archers not targeting Sirius, though fortunately it's not Hymn that was taken out but Holly.

Spoiler

 

We had 200 gold though, so she's swiftly brought back. A tour through Beregost sees Marl comforted, a book given to Firebead, and a house cleared of spiders, and Perdue returned his short sword. Oh, and Karlat.

Spoiler

Bye Karlat!

 

Melicamp sadly did not make it,

Spoiler

so we shrug and head up to the FAI. Sleep from Tarnesh is still trouble, but only if everyone gets caught in the area of effect. It only gets a Spirit Snake, and the Horror cannot affect Sirius, and he has Remove Fear for the rest of us who fail the save. A couple damage spells kill Quill, but we again have just enough gold to eke out a Raise.

 

We're currently in the FAI considering our next steps.

Stats: Hymn, level 4 Skald. 26HP. 0 kills.

Sirius, level 3 Cavalier. 29 HP. 8 kills. Most Powerful Vanquished: Sirine. Another point in Two Weapon Style.

Sapphire, level 3 Beast Master. 31 HP. 30 kills. Most Powerful Vanquished: Sirine. One point in Longbow.

Holly, level 3 Totemic Druid. 22 HP. 1 death. 10 kills. Most Powerful Vanquished: Sirine.

Quill, level 2/3 Illusionist/Thief. 1 death. 16 kills. Most Powerful Vanquished: Ogre Berserker

 

MVP: I dunno, hard to say right now. The strategy's not online yet, so we're dealing physical ranged damage against things that can't retaliate. That being said, Tarnesh could've ended Hymn with two MMs if he had the chance to fire them off, so I'd give Sirius the MVP this time just for that one Remove Fear (case in point of Skald's Song not working as advertised, by the way!)

[Grond0]

Phantasmic 6 {19} - monks party (update 1)

 

The 18th attempt failed when Spirit was killed very early on in a bandit ambush, so here goes with number 19.  This time I've been patient and avoided the main roads to ensure the bandits are left alone.  I will be looking to do everything at some point, but this run I've given them a quicker start by not vacuuming any areas yet and going fairly early on to do the basilisks.

Spoiler

 

After that they've concentrated on reputation quests.  After maximising that they've just gone to Ulgoth's Beard to do some shopping.  With the Wand of the Heavens purchased there they've arrived at Durlag's Tower and got to level 5 with the death of a couple of battle horrors.

Spoiler

 

Chimera - L5, 43 HPs, 28 kills

Spectre - L5, 35 HPs, 39 kills, 0 deaths

Phantom - L5, 30 HPs, 36 kills, 0 deaths

Wraith - L5, 31 HPs, 27 kills, 0 deaths

Spook - L5, 26 HPs, 35 kills, 0 deaths

Spirit - L5, 40 HPs, 26 kills, 0 deaths

HPs are pretty much the opposite of my last update - overall they're rather below average, but Chimera himself is doing well.

[Grond0]

Phantasmic 6 {19} - monks party (2nd and final update)

 

Once more posting an update proved quickly fatal for the monks.  This time my trap memory proved defective in Durlag's Tower.  Chimera was wearing the ring of fire resistance and his HPs should have been comfortably enough to survive the expected flame strike.  Being hit repeatedly by a bouncing lightning bolt however was a different story ...

Spoiler

[Dyara]

Sorry to hear about Chimera... but I know, one day your monks will make it (nut sure when that day is however )...

[Grond0]

Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 92 - (1st and final update)

Simon, half-elf conjurer (Grond0) & Worka, dwarf assassin (Gate70)

 

This pairing were always potentially a bit fragile and that eventually proved costly today.  Looking for some easy XP they had gone to the basilisk area where they discussed who should make use of the green protection scroll.  Simon was nominated, largely because he had taken daggers as a proficiency and would have run out of those quite quickly if using ranged attacks.  He tried nipping in and out to attack in melee, but that was difficult to do in MP because of not pausing and lag effects and he was eventually hit by a basilisk switching to melee.  He immediately retreated with the intention of running the basilisk around while Worka shot it, but was a bit concerned about how close the dwarf was to the basilisk and obviously cut a corner too closely as the death screen made its dreaded appearance.

Spoiler

[Grond0]

Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 93 - (update 1)

Chris, half-elf fighter/mage/cleric (Grond0) & Gromm, half-orc cleric (Gate70)

 

With MP92 heading for an early bath there was the opportunity to make a start with a newly generated pair.  Though they both have cleric powers they also both have high strength, allowing them to make good use of the strength bonus available for slings in the Enhanced Edition.  That meant Shoal lasted only moments, while Marl regretted challenging Gromm to a duel.

Spoiler

 

Still only at level 2 Gromm didn't allow for the fact that his silence spell on Silke would only last 4 rounds.  Arriving late for the combat Chris was just in time to catch a lightning bolt - the fact that she was still at level 1 probably saved her with the bolt only taking away 10 of her 11 HPs.  

Spoiler

Gromm then redeemed himself with a well-placed sling stone before Silke could cause further havoc.

Spoiler

 

There were no problems for this pair from the basilisks and, with a couple more levels in hand, Mutamin was successfully neutralised by silence.  

Spoiler

Kirian and Peter were also struck dumb before they and their friends were comprehensively defeated by skeletons operating in a newly-learned stinking cloud.

Spoiler

 

On the way to the coast Bassilus also found himself with nothing to say and suffered the consequences.  

Spoiler

That did mean that his undead friends all had to be killed the hard way, but that was done easily enough.

 

Arriving at the coast Chris was hit again by lightning, though of natural origin this time.  

Spoiler

Stinking cloud and skeletons then proved their worth once again on the sirines.  

Spoiler

However, Gromm was in a cautious mood and decided not to rely on skeletons against the golems - instead travelling to High Hedge to buy some +1 bullets.

 

 

Stats:

Chris, fighter 4 / mage 3 / cleric 4, 32 HPs, 31 kills

Gromm, cleric 6, 41 HPs, 36 kills, 0 deaths

[Borco]

Sihaya, human Sorceress (Diviner): Introduction

I decided to bring back to the idea of Sihaya the Diviner, although this time she's going to be re-rolled as a Sorceress instead of a specialist Mage. This requires a couple of rules to follow:

• if possible, Sihaya's first pick from each spell level needs to be a Divination spell;
• no Conjuration spells shall be allowed as per standard Diviner resctructions (including any spells cast from scrolls, i.e. no Find Familiar etc.).

Furthermore, Sihaya will be limited to 75 attribute points on character creation.
 
I'll come back with the character sheet in due course.
 
Regards,
 
B.

Unfortunately, I've been unable to find enough time for the game during the past week and that resulted in me having lost interest in staring this particular run. By the time I finally got to it, I felt like doing something slightly different. Apologies for false notice there.

I'd like to enter the challenge with a gnomish cleric/thief instead. There have been couple of very interesting runs with this class lately and I wanted to try its potential by myself.

Regards,

B.

[Borco]

Leopold, gnomish Cleric/Thief, 1st entry: Exposition



As most gnomes of his profession, Leopold also belongs to the clergy of Baravar Cloakshadow, a good aligned gnomish deity of illusion and deception. He starts his journey with 50 points in Detect Illusions, * in staves and * in slings. He'll be traveling the Sword Coast on his own.

Leopold leaves Candlekeep with Potion of Clarity safely tucked in his pocket and I am looking forward to see him use it against some sirenes in the future. He collects the Ring of Protection +1, uses the Wand of Missiles to get the Girdle of Piercing (Elven Bane) from a certain ogre and manages to retrieve the Ring of Wizardry (Evermemory) from its hiding place outside Friendly Arm Inn. The latter is being traded in High Hedge for Wand of Sleep, Potion Case, various potions (Freedom, Mirrored Eyes) and +1 Bullets (for Flesh Golems in the pirate cove).



He moves to Beregost where meets Marl and Firebeard, buys Sling +1 from the Thunderhammer Smithy but forgets to clear the spider house. In the area south of Beregost, Leopold gets a letter for Mirianne and a nice pair of thieving boots.



Traveling southwest to the area with Drizzt, he's able to pacify a band of Bjornin's half-ogres which allows him to reach the much needed experience threshold [lvl up, cleric 2/thief 2, 4 HP, +25 in Set Traps].
 
Thereafter, Leopold participates in an archaeological expedition and takes a lift to Nashkel with Barge [lvl up, cleric 2/thief 3, 4 HP, +25 in Set Traps].
 
There's more to come.
 
Regards, 
 
B.

[biowherewolf]

good luck Borco. 

I suspect cleric/thief is the ultimate class, but I've never gotten one through. I'll be following your run to see what I have been doing wrong  

--BW

[Grond0]

Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 93 - (update 2)

Chris, half-elf fighter/mage/cleric (Grond0) & Gromm, half-orc cleric (Gate70)

 

A short session today saw this pair make some comfortable progress.  They started off with a slight glitch when Chris mistakenly talked to Charleston Nib at the mine site - her poor charisma ruled out the possibility of that quest.  After that though they cruised through the Cloud Peak Mountains before returning to the Nashkel Mine to blind and finish off Greywolf.  Samuel was returned to the FAI, where they also returned Joia's ring and silenced Tarnesh.

 

Recovering a body from a bunch of ankhegs, who found their spit was not that effective against skeletons, got them to reputation 20 and allowed a bit of shopping at Ulgoth's Beard

 

Stats:

Chris, fighter 4 / mage / cleric 4, 41 HPs, 71 kills

Gromm, cleric 6, 39 HPs, 63 kills, 0 deaths

[Grond0]

Phantasmic 6 {21} - monks party (update 1)

 

For the 20th attempt the monks made decent progress up to taking on the Nashkel mines at level 5.  They suffered a casualty there though when I wasn't cautious enough when approaching the kobold shaman and 3 of them were affected by horror - one of those eventually being shot down by the kobold chieftain's poisoned arrows.  

 

The 21st attempt has done better so far though.  I was careful to stay off the main roads to avoid the most dangerous ambushes early on, although the first time they did travel there (at level 5) Spirit was still badly hurt in a bandit ambush.

Spoiler

 

I've also been reasonably patient while fighting.  I haven't entirely cleared many areas yet, but have concentrated on higher value XP encounters and building reputation.  Everyone survived the initial visit to Durlag's Tower this time, while the Nashkel Mine has also just been cleared to avenge the last run.  The kobold shaman's mirror images failed to protect him there from a stunning blow before he could cast horror, while Mulahey never noticed the intruders.

Spoiler

 

One point of interest is that after killing the basilisks the monks got a bit of practice for dealing with Tazok at the Bandit Camp by englobing Shar-Teel - making it easy for Phantom to win the fight with her.

Spoiler

 

Chimera - L5, 38 HPs, 57 kills

Spectre - L5, 42 HPs, 89 kills, 0 deaths

Phantom - L5, 46 HPs, 68 kills, 0 deaths

Wraith - L5, 38 HPs, 44 kills, 0 deaths

Spook - L5, 31 HPs, 52 kills, 0 deaths

Spirit - L5, 31 HPs, 57 kills, 0 deaths

HPs are decent so far - with 4 of the monks above the average of 36.

[Grond0]

Phantasmic 6 {21} - monks party (2nd and final update)

 

Once more the monks failed to survive for long after posting an initial update - and once more a lack of patience was the key.  Up to this point they had rarely engaged in melee, other than with ranged attackers or when attacking from stealth.  The latter course was effective against Deke and his bandits, but rather than reverting everyone to missile weapons after that I let them keep their fists equipped.  That proved no problem against the ogre with a belt fetish - he failed to get an attack in.  However, a couple of wolves further on proved a bit more resilient and got a critical bite in on Spook - taking him down to 17 HPs.  To play safe I clicked to move him away - and nothing happened.  It's not unusual for the game to fail to respond to a mouse command, so I clicked again - and nothing happened.  At that point I decided he was probably blocked in (it's hard to tell where trees are impassable just by looking at them) and was about to move several characters away - but the initial delay proved costly as Spook suffered a further critical ...

[corey_russell]

Tough break Grond0. All monks sounds pretty labor-intensive, what about a more AI friendly party of 6 rangers?

[ussnorway]

I'm re-entering the chalenge with Ormaline... an Elf Mage-Thief running basic bgee (for speed).

[Grond0]

Best of luck ussnorway.  I hope Ormaline can go all the way - and give Puk another chance to shine in the process.

[ussnorway]

Thanks, she is just about to enter the mines... I'm in RL bogged down now but will try to get a post out soon guys.

[Epsil0]

Good luck, ussnorway! Hope Melissan gets her just deserts this time.

 

Hymn and co., update 2:

We start a couple quests/locations south of Beregost, but find we have to change course fairly abruptly as Sirius wasn't properly armored or leveled, and dies to some combination of attacks that really shouldn't have been able to hit had I actually played safely. A raise back at the Beregost temple leaves me somewhat chastened, and we go to Nashkel to obtain the Ankheg armor. Neira is taken out fairly easily by the magically-boosted accuracy of too many missiles,

 

and Greywolf soon meets the same fate.

 

Mutamin doesn't get to hit us with Remove Magic,

and the rest of the basilisks are cleared for experience. Most of us are still below level 4, so I'm avoiding any mages that can possibly cast Sleep. One route that allows for this is the Western route, to the Lighthouse. On the way, Basillus holds Holly, but this is by no means enough. 

 

At the Lighthouse, I've observed something interesting and I've no clue what's going on. The Sirines are targeting only Sapphire with their Dire Charm (to which I'm responding by equipping her fists,) but sometimes the spell hits, I don't get a notification of a save, implying that Sapphire failed it... But she remains un-charmed. I dunno why not, since she's not immune to Charm and once or twice the Dire Charm actually, k'now, charmed her. If anyone has any clues, I'd love to know what's happening. Flesh Golems prove an annoyance as one leaves the cave, making it much harder for me to kill it with Silke's staff. I had no Potions of Absorption, so relied on Sapphire stealth-striking it. The CON tome goes to Sirius instead of Sapphire: she gets her Familiar HP benefit, and I want my front-liner to have the majority of the health for now.

 

Further south, we fight the Doomsayer which takes a few potions, but is no real threat.

We save Brage, then cut west from Nashkel to get to the Gnoll fortress. Sapphire gets a cute one-shot off here against Gnarl.

In a cave, three people level after killing a Carrion Crawler

 

I didn't have enough Sleep spells here for the gnolls, and SCS' change to gnolls give them Two Handed Weapon style, meaning Sirius is taking many, many crits. I finally conceded and started dual-wielding Ashedeena for Sirius, and after three or four potions and a ton of arrows, bolts, and darts...

 

Lastly, before we start the mines, we claimed the reward for Basillus, cleared the Ankheg caves, and went on a shopping spree. I really ought to have spent my addition points for Hymn in Wisdom rather than CHA, since this is just kind of overkill.

 

With 20 Rep, this means all prices are minimal. We bought the Light Crossbow of Speed, Greenstone Amulet, Aule's Staff, Returning Frost Dart (from RR), and the Cloak of Displacement. Time for Mulahey.

Kobolds were just slaughtered through, and Mulahey sees the beginning of this run's motif. Two Spirit Animals play meat shield for the hordes while Mulahey suffers under a Miscast Magic from Holly. The end is inevitable.

Outside, a couple further things meet their end: the Revenant,

and Narcillicus, II, MGoI, Stoneskin, and Pro. Normal Missiles notwithstanding. (Really, he uses all of his higher level spells on nothing but defensive buffs? I think Emotion or something would serve him much better.)

 

As is now customary for my Skald-parties, Zordral is laughed at as his Sleep spells now completely fail:

 

And Miscast Magic and Insect spells takes care of Nimbul.

 

I finished the session by taking out Tranzig, who didn't even really put up a fight after his MIs crumpled under Detect Illusions from Quill.

 

Stats: Hymn, level 6 Skald. 36HP. 0 kills.

Sirius, level 5 Cavalier. 50 HP. 1 death. 83 kills. Most Powerful Vanquished: Greater Basilisk.

Sapphire, level 5 Beast Master. 41 HP. 155 kills. Most Powerful Vanquished: Greater Basilisk.

Holly, level 6 Totemic Druid. 46 HP. 1 death. 66 kills. Most Powerful Vanquished: Sirine.

Quill, level 4/5 Illusionist/Thief. 23 HP. 1 death. 70 kills. Most Powerful Vanquished: Sirine

 

 

MVP: It's really, really hard to decide this one. Hymn could qualify, since he's the one boosting everyone's THAC0 into warrior-like levels, and allowing Sirius to duel-wield while still keeping his AC at a nice low -6. Sapphire could qualify due to her pretty crazy skill set: Stealth-attacks in melee have been pretty neat, murdering groups of skeletons that keep spawning with her quarterstaff is something I can't complain about. However, I think I'll give this session's MVP to Holly, for her Spirit Animals and healing and Miscast Magics actually ending several of the harder confrontations. Sapphire and Sirius have been tag-teaming all the easy encounters, but in the end, they're still the mundane ones. 

[Grond0]

 

I really ought to have spent my addition points for Hymn in Wisdom rather than CHA, since this is just kind of overkill.

 

You can never have too many friends .

[Dyara]

 

At the Lighthouse, I've observed something interesting and I've no clue what's going on. The Sirines are targeting only Sapphire with their Dire Charm (to which I'm responding by equipping her fists,) but sometimes the spell hits, I don't get a notification of a save, implying that Sapphire failed it... But she remains un-charmed. I dunno why not, since she's not immune to Charm and once or twice the Dire Charm actually, k'now, charmed her. If anyone has any clues, I'd love to know what's happening.

 

EE elves are 90% immune to charm spells. As there is no 90% immunity to charm (or any other spell) the charm spell itself gives elves a 90% chance to become 100%  immune to charm for a second(?). That's probably why you don't get a notification: the 90% immunity has blocked the spell.

[Dyara]

Hadn't much time play this week so I decided to postpone ascension to the weekend and instead start this:

 

Hänsel & Gretel (Inquisitor / Undead Hunter) (& Imoen (Thief->Mage))

Actually Hänsel was supposed to be an Undead Hunter as well but then he became an Inquisitor. Imoen of course is Imoen and will dualclass to mage once she has reached level 7. Of course Hänsel and Gretel are siblings (but they most likely don't share the same father ).

Installation is BGEE+SCS+RR+UB+RE





From Candlekeep the small group went to Friendly Arm Inn, from Friendly Arm Inn to Beregost, to High Hedge (Mellicamp survived) and then to Nashkel without any problems. At Nashkel Mines Gretel became fond of a local artist and his work, she even decided to protect him (or perhaps she just wanted to get the sword) while Hänsel and Imoen were just watching...

Spoiler

At the Lonely Peaks Hänsel earned himself a sword...

Spoiler

Next stops were Valley of Tombs (especially the tombs) and Gibberling Mountains. Samuel was taken to Friendly Arm Inn. For the way back to Nashkel the party took the route through the Red Canyons. After slaying Zargal and his band the three came upon the mad cleric Bassilus. Unfortunately Bassilus proved to be rather strong as he killed Gretel with a Flame Strike...

Spoiler

... and when he summoned an Aerial Servant (and later a Skeleton Warrior) the party voted for a temporary retreat...

Spoiler

With Bassilus and the Aerial Servant being close on their heels Hänsel and Imoen also ran into skeletons, bandits, a ghoul and some wolves. While trying to get away they ran into Bassilus again and with probably his last spell the cleric held Imoen. Hänsel managed to lure Bassilus and the summoned Skeleton Warrior away from Imoen but when the skeleton lost track of Hänsel it somehow remembered the position of Imoen, returned there and slew her recklessly. In the meantime Hänsel had returned to Gretel's body, had taken her better armor and her healing potions and then he slew all the skeletons, bandits, the ghoul, the wolves (while trying to avoid the Aerial Servant and the Skeleton Warrior) and finally Bassilus (who was out of spells and therefore no threat anymore) as well...

Spoiler

Hänsel then went to the temple at Beregost where Gretel and Imoen were resurrected. Then the three collected the reward for taking out Bassilus. While there the area was cleansed from vampiric wolves. Once that was done the trio made it back to Nashkel and into the Mines. There they made good progress by killing lots kobolds until they came upon the kobold's chieftain and their shaman. While the chieftain had poisoned Hänsel, the shaman's horror spell made Gretel and Imoen running away but Hänsel had seen it coming and had casted Dispel Magic just in case...

Spoiler

Moments (actually moments and one rest) later Mulahey stood no chance...

Spoiler

... and the same was true for the assassin Nimbul.

 

Name     Level                  HP   Game Kills XP  Game Kills  Strongest Kill   Deaths         Pips
Hänsel   Inquisitor(4)       53 HP      15,191         159      Winter Wolf      -              Two-Handed-Sword(**),Longbow(**),THWS(*)
Gretel   Undead Hunter(4)    53 HP      18,716         122      Revenant         1x (Bassilus)  Longsword(**),Shortbow(**),Dualwield(*)
Imoen    Thief(5)            37 HP       3,509          22      Winter Wolf      1x (Bassilus)  Shortsword(*),Ninja-to(*),Shortbow(*)

 
To be continued...

[Epsil0]

And Hymn met his end at the hands of a certain Ogre mage named Khark; Sirius, Quill, and Sapphire had all died, so I had Hymn use a charge of the Wand of Summon Monsters, breaking invisibility. Two high rolls later, and Hymn was dead.

 

The entire fight, lasting over 2 turns at least, had Khark with Haste as a prebuff active throughout the fight, with no secondary activation. This implies that either the Haste prebuff is broken, or that Khark is a level 17 mage, which I doubt. If the haste effect had ever disappeared, I could've successfully kited him, but as it is... Ah well. Things to know for future runs.

[Dyara]

Kahrk is level 12 only but he gets the haste effect from a ring he wears.

[biowherewolf]

ONUD Update -- just a quick one for now

The group made it through Cloakwood and headed off to BG. 

Onud made 7th level in the sewers fighting an orge mage

Spoiler

 

So, in keeping with the plan, he is now a magic user

Spoiler

 

The plan is to keep the party at 

Onud, Branwen, Xan, and Safana. Once Onud gets his thief skills back, Safana and Xan may both get dropped, but we will see. 

 

Take care,

--BW

[Epsil0]

Right. So I've always been a fan of it since I started watching Avatar. Not the impressive-CG'd monstrosity that had the most predictable plot ever, but the Last Airbender animated series aired, of all things, on Cartoon Network. The universe have people called Benders that can each manipulate one element, the classic 4 of air, earth, water, and fire.

 

Anyhow, that's the theme of this run. Four sorcerers, each with one of the four classic elements, with one non-bender, a Monk, thrown in for good measure. All spell picks will attempt to stay consistent with the themes of the benders portrayed in the show.

Air: Good for maneuverability, and not getting hit via miss chances. Offensively not that great, though, so very few, if any, direct damage spells. The Invisibility spells, most Illusion spells, and buffs like Haste and Teleport Field fit quite well with air benders. Several Abjurations also work, though nothing that gives armor, generally. I might bend this (pun semi-intended) and give my Airbender Shield just so he has something resembling defense.

Water: Waterbenders are shown primarily in two fashions, one I can't replicate with a sorcerer since it involves healing. The other one tends to turn the opponent's strength against them, or even breaking it down. So I'm relegating Water mostly to destroying defenses as well as things that work thematically like Spell Turning and Ice Storm and Slow. There's a subtype of water benders called Bloodbenders, generally evil that can control other people's blood (!) and make them do whatever they want. Domination-type spells are thus also going to be added to the allowances for water.

Earth: Defense, invulnerability, and terrain control. These are the guys that can weather any type of attack with relative impunity, not by dodging it but by just taking it head on and blocking it. I have no idea, really, how to pull this off in 2e. I'm thinking battle-field control, since they can also do that by messing with the terrain. Lower-levels, at least, will probably see Web and Grease as two of the more potent spells. Interestingly enough, the fact that Earth exists as its own element means that no other of the sorcerers will be even allowed to take Stoneskin.

Fire: Offensive spells, finally. Damage via Fire and Lightning will be the norm for this guy, with few if any protective buffs besides Pro. Fire to stop him from incinerating everything and everything including himself. I'll be rolling her as a Dragon Disciple for even more flame fun. If anything has Fire immunity though, she'll be cowering helplessly in the corner, unable to do anything. At least Trolls shouldn't be a problem.

 

I'll figure out which spells belong solely to which benders when I get to each spell level: I know Sequencers and Contingencies are going to be allowed for all, but nothing beyond that. I don't even know where I stand on summons for this group, since summoning stuff doesn't really make sense in this context. I'll have an actual introduction in a bit, but I need some sleep first!

[wing]

Not an avatar-watcher, but that sounds like an excellent idea for a party. Best of luck on your run Epsil0!