15228 replies to this topic

[Aasim]

Hard luck Aasim - those demons you're so fond of are not so fond of you .  Were there any item-based protections that could help - for instance are FoA and ring of freedom options for free action in your setup?

FoA doesn't grant Free Action, potions would protect us vs PWs but not Grab attack. I didn't really expect Glabrezu to be already there. I tought I'd fight few clerics, few mages, and a bunch of fighters. Next thing I know, two Glabrezus teleport around to Xan/Jan/Aerie and rip them to shreds.

I tought I had a chance when a Cornugon was summoned by a Drow (Blood War and all) but they only mumbled "...the will be chaos" or similar and continued feeding on my spellcasters together.

Ring was on Naix' finger, he never took it off after obtaining it - I think this made my run that long.

I needed Dragon's Breath badly for Sendai battle - without it, Drow are too many and too difficult to kill quickly.

 

Re Alesia:

Got it. The problem I have with Balthy is his charming attitude, but I can imagine what troubles he might cause to PCs here. 

[Aasim]

 Oversight Sendai

Cheese. Ranged Harms and similar. I don't like it, bends the rules too much for my liking. I don't mind "special powers PCs don't have" like what you see on Illasera, but Oversight Sendai is too much. 

[Grond0]

Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 75 - (update 3)

Ruff, gnome cleric/thief (Grond0) & Justice, human inquisitor (Gate70)

 

Lady Luck continues to smile upon this pair of enforcers as Ruff & Justice came through another session with a number of dodgy moments, but still with no deaths.

 

In the de'Arnise Hold there was one nasty moment when Justice was attempting to kill one of the 2 small trolls that spawn from a larger one.  Rather than just needing 1 HP of damage to kill them like normal vanilla trolls these need I think 1d6 - that means that the 1 APR of Firetooth is unreliable against them.  I was being dopey for much of the session though and was slow to react when one of the trolls got to their feet and attacked.  Ruff was taken critically low on HPs before managing to switch the troll's attention to Justice to sort out.

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After that things were reasonably straight-forward with TorGal being pulled away and softened up with 3 traps to make him an easy victim.  

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Ruff was acting most of the time there just as a thief, though he did put chaotic commands on Justice to play with the umber hulks.

 

After returning the acorns the duo took a first trip to the Government District to do the Sir Sarles quest.  While there Sansuki called for help and Ruff immediately hid ready to support Justice with a backstab or two.  However, Justice was being very slow to get in to the action - the reason eventually becoming clear when the game reported Gate70s connection had dropped.  The vampires still found it hard to hit him though and Ruff just kept him as a stationary target while he finished the job with backstabs.  

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Following up on Sir Sarles directions Neb was tracked down to his house.  He found relying on invisibility against an inquisitor a dodgy tactic.

 

After recovering a ring for the Lathander temple it was time to see the sights of Umar.  The quests around town were quickly done; at the Temple area Anath was relying on his fast regeneration - but that wasn't much help against Ruff's first 3 figure backstab.  

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Inside the temple the first group of undead were a struggle with Justice having to retreat at one point while Ruff called up a bit of skeleton support.

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The second major group had some summons ready in advance, along with a few traps, and was much more comfortable though Justice still took a reasonable amount of damage.  

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Thaxy didn't pay any attention to the gnome scurrying around his feet for days on end - and that carelessness proved costly when he expired to the continuing damage of Ruff's poison traps.

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The Shade Lord managed to survive a Daystar sunray, but its mirrors were immediately stripped by true sight allowing Justice to finish it off with a single stroke.

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On the way back to Athkatla Justice picked up Valygar's body.  Rather than carry that around for long the duo made straight for the Planar Sphere.  Dispel magic proved useful against the halflings, but there was a slight glitch against Lavok.  He was initially attacked by summons while Ruff & Justice were out of sight, but activated after Justice showed himself.  Ruff then tried to help out with a long range sling shot - only to be immediately tagged by PW: stun.  

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Fortunately there was no follow-up (a wilting would probably have been fatal) and Justice soon had him begging for mercy.  Tolgerias went down rather quicker - he survived an initial backstab from Ruff, but was quickly debuffed and disposed of by a Carsomyr assault leaving the supporting mage pretty helpless.

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The Tanar'ri initially showed that he had a heart - before proving to be heartless.  

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Going to make use of that the duo made heavy weather of the fire room.  They started with very little in the way of buffs or summons and the noble efreeti survived a couple of backstabs while the damage on Justice mounted.  With the battle pretty much won Ruff then failed to watch his step and a trap took him down to something like a dozen HPs.  

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In the engine room the heart created another heart-stopping moment when the cut-scene of planar travel allowed golems to teleport in and attack without opposition.  

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If Ruff had placed the heart that would have been game over, but Justice is much harder to hit, even for golems, and survived easily enough until normal order was restored.  

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There was then one final dodgy moment when Ruff tried attacking an iron golem with a clay golem behind it.  The intention was just to get the iron golem to near death before retreating, but I wasn't concentrating on what Justice was doing.  The iron golem was in a different place on Gate70's screen and Justice's attacks meant it died unexpectedly quickly - exposing Ruff to the tender mercies of the clay golem.  

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Fortunately he managed to run past Justice and get the golem to switch targets.

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Stats:

Ruff, cleric 12 / thief 14, 62 HPs, 340 kills

Justice, inquisitor 14, 137 HPs (incl. 5 from Helm; 10 from Bracers), 651 kills, 0 deaths

[Alesia_BH]

Congratulations, Alesia and Grond0! Best of luck with your next attempts.

 

Thanks Epsil0! It's good to hear from you.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

Alesia, thanks for sharing both the story and the tactical details of your run! I find both approaches interesting and entertaining and I appreciate the time and detail you put in on both fronts.

 

That's kind of you to say.

 

Tragic that Imoen died after she (I assume) returned Arcadia's violet at the throne... I suppose Captain Swarmi might have had something to do with Balthazar activating Lunar Stance at such an opportune time? Otherwise he would not have been able to erase Imoen from the field and recover her Bhaal essence...

 

Yeah. I was thinking that. I'm inclined to attribute Balthazar's Faster Than The Eye and the execution of Imoen to Captain Swarmi's influence. I'm also inclined to see that act by the Captain as short-sighted: I see that as the thing that turned Arcadia decisively away from th Captain.

 

I'll note that the Solar raises Balthazar at the end of that fight, so for story purposes, I think it's reasonable to assume that Imoen could be raised as well. I imagine she was.

 

As for the Captain, I guess I've finally settled on the ending I like best for him.

 

By the end of the fight, Arcadia's loyalty to Imoen would be strong, and she would have concluded that the Captain deserved to be destroyed. At the same time, she would still have deep affection from the Captain. Arcadia would aspire to godhood, but the Solar would tell her that that wouldn't be possible so long as the Captain remained alive, since his presence, his connection to Arcadia would cause the energies to be channelled to Bhaal. Arcadia would think it over. But despite her desire to serve as a god, and despite her conviction that the Captain was deserving of death, she'd be unable to destroy him: they had shared too much together. Arcadia would decline godhood, to spare the Captain. And the moment she made that decision, the Captain would nod fondly, open a planar conduit, and vanish in an instant: his destiny unknown and unknowable.

 

That's what I like best anyways.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Golden28]

Congrats with this epic accomplishment Alesia ! 

 

Cheers!

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

Has anyone tried the Gibberling's 3 Divine Remix mod?  It says it's Beta but I wonder if it's essentially stable seeing as they are (v)8?  

 

It is REALLY interesting and would add tremendously to Cleric, Druids & their mutli/dual class counterparts.  

 

And another quick question.  It appears there is a limit to the number of kits that can be installed in the infinity engine.  I think it says nine is tops.  If that's the case, would it be true that if I used the Blackguard kit & say, seven from MegMods, would that limit me to only one kit from the Divine Remix if I used it?

 

I probably should put this elsewhere but I know the folks I admire most are right here and the BG/TotSC No-Reloads. CKT

[Blackraven]

@CT: It's a very nice mod. I've used it a lot, both for NPCs (Tiax, Branwen, Viconia) and for PCs. I've never had any problems (crashes, glitches) with it exept for one minor bug where a Stormlord of Talos HLA is blanked out. I've never had to remove any (mod) kits in order to install the DR kits.
My experience is with Divine Remix v7 though (which you could also download), and with BGT (which runs the trilogy as one game in the ToB engine) rather than Tutu. 

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

Thanks B_Raven!  I can always count on you.  Sir Gawain is actually out of Tutu &Into SOA/TOB original rather than EE version.  

[Blackraven]

Thanks B_Raven!  I can always count on you.  Sir Gawain is actually out of Tutu &Into SOA/TOB original rather than EE version.  

You're welcome! Ok I'm not sure whether you have to remove any kits in orginal SoA/ToB in order to install the DR kits. What you could do is install DR without removing kits, and when you're done start a new game and look if you can select all the kits you're supposed to be able to select. If this is the case, you can then quit and continue your mod installation process. If not, then you'd have to uninstall DR and reinstall it with removal of kits. I'd remove the Bioware kits only, since those can be easily (re)assigned to (N)PCs / changed using Shadowkeeper, whereas mod kits cannot be (re)assigned via Shadowkeeper.
I'd recommend you to install Level 1 NPCs after Divine Remix, so that you can assign some of the Divine Remix kits to any NPCs (Anomen, Viconia come to mind). Good luck, and hopefully you'll have everything sorted soon, so that Sir Gawain can finally make his entrance in SoA.

[Aasim]

@ CKT

The "limit" of 9 selectable kits is there on EE and non-ToBEx installs. TobEx adds a little scrollbar so you can install (I think) about 1K kits total. Installing this many will botch up SCS, which allows about 200 kits.

DR (the latest beta) is bugged unfortunately, especially the "sphere system" of it. It won't work with SCS (iirc SCS won't even compile over it), and it has numerous other bugs with kits (Nightcloak of Shar's Chakram weapon won't ever expire for example).

If you want to use it, I'd use the last non-beta version.

[Grimwald the Wise]

The Gnasty Gnomes.

 

We finished the Underdark and met Drizzt on the way to Bhodi's Lair.

 

Couldn't find her or Drizzt!

 

Don't know if it is the same bug that stopped me getting to Spellhold.

 

Tried fighting "The difficult Brown Dragon"

 

Killed it for the first time ever, BUT!!!

 

[Grond0]

That's tough Wise, but a glorious way to go!

[Blackraven]

That's tough Wise, but a glorious way to go!

 

Seconded! Sorry about the fall of your gnasty Gnome, but congrats anyway. I hope to see you back in action soon.

[Grimwald the Wise]

That's tough Wise, but a glorious way to go!

 

Just wondering if anyone knows what it is susceptible to, and what are the most important defences to have. Trying a drow fighter/cleric next.

Romance with Isra I think. In BG2 it will be Fighter/Cleric of Sune but no Sune kit in my Tutu installation I think. I will check.

[Grond0]

Brat - dwarf berserker (update 1)

 

Despite being role-played as a slightly naive character Brat's innate mental toughness (alright, his berserker rage ) allowed him to survive BG1.  His party there included Dynaheir and Khalid, neither of whom survived Jon's torture chambers, but Imoen, Minsc and Jaheira will continue to act as his trusty companions.

 

Brat's lack of knowledge of the dungeon did not prove a serious handicap.  He completed some work I don't normally bother with, such as giving a merciful release to Rielev.  

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The bonus for that took him to level 7: in BG1 his HPs were exceptional, but a minimum roll there brought him down from an outstanding total to just good.  

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If he'd been solo an attack by a pair of golems could have been a problem, but against 4 attackers the poor golem defences were rapidly breached.

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I'm not sure if Brat knew about the specific danger of steam mephits, but Imoen had warned him of the presence of a group of mephits in the elemental plane, so he had raged anyway.

 

Yoshimo joined the party on the second level and told them how to deal with the mephit portals.

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The escaped clone lit a scorcher, but then found herself on the wrong end of a Brat critical.

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Ulvaryl was brought down by weight of fire before she could escape.  Frennadan managed to talk his way into a good attacking position, but he would have needed much better support than a few assassins to cause a real problem.

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It's hard to describe my feelings at the moment.  After being ambushed on the way to Athkatla I found myself in a dungeon, not sure whether I was awake or in the midst of some dreadful nightmare.  My body was tortured, but the mental and physical disciplines originally instilled by Hull in Candlekeep prevented serious injury.  Ah, Candlekeep, the memories seem old and precious, yet it has been less than 2 months since I first left with Gorion on our ill-fated journey.

 

The nightmare was ended when Imoen arrived to release me from my cell and show me where Minsc and Jaheira were to be found.  My memories are clearly still confused as I had thought Imoen had died when facing Sarevok.  However, it seems that what looked like disintegration was actually just a severe headache.

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The joy that I had been wrong about Imoen sustained me on our escape from the dungeon of the mage called Irenicus.  On the way out we came across a fellow prisoner named Yoshimo and allowed him to join with us during our escape.

 

My joy proved short-lived though when we came across what remained of the bodies of Dynaheir and Khalid - to end our hopes of re-uniting our full party.  Then, just as we emerged from the dungeon into the sunlit marketplace of Athkatla, Imoen was taken from us by some robed and cowled mages.  They took Irenicus at the same time and I fear what may happen to her between two such sets of enemies - I must find out where she has been taken and rescue her before it is too late.

 

 

As Brat was so focused on chasing down Sarevok in BG1 he didn't pick up many of the benefits that would normally help in BG2.  That includes leaving behind most of the tomes as well as the Helm of Balduran.  Surprisingly, the party never even discovered the location of High Hedge, much less visit it in order to get the Claw and Horn of Kazgaroth.

 

Brat's berserker rage made a huge difference to the party in allowing them to make progress in BG1 despite being generally under-levelled (level 6 when facing Sarevok).  The same is likely to be true in BG2 as I imagine that Brat's drive to rescue Imoen will push him to ignore most opportunities to gain experience on side-quests.  I suspect that is likely to ultimately be his downfall due to the much wider range of potentially fatal spells in BG2 that ignore rage.

[Grond0]

Brat - dwarf berserker (update 2)

 

After asking around about the Cowled Wizards the party travelled to the Slums and checked in with Gaelan Bayle.  Cohrvale and Bregg had a falling out thanks to Jaheira's charm, though they were overmatched anyway.  At the Copper Coronet they agreed to take Nalia into the party before causing a few problems between Rumar and his wife (sadly now deceased).

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Anomen's application to join was rejected before Amalas was rude for the last time - that got Brat to level 8, but just the 7 HPs means he's now barely above average.

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Investigating the back rooms, Brat was attacked.  A successful charm by Jaheira saw a guard provide useful service before being neatly packaged for disposal by one of his compatriots.

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Then another charm allowed a bear to lead an assault on the Beastmaster and his creatures.

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A bit of XP was missed when releasing Hendak before the other captives, but there was still plenty to go round for helping him take control of the inn from Lehtinan.

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Reputation was down at 9 and prices looked high so Brat went looking for a temple to donate at.  Then he returned to fulfil the first quest he was given by sorting out the slavers.  He went through the tunnels and appeared behind Captain Haegan.  Brat was hardly touched there, although Jaheira was targeted by a couple of archers and was badly wounded.

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A couple of nymphs appearing for the first time helped seal the wounds and fend off some trolls to release a young girl.  Yoshimo then scouted out the slaver mages for Nalia to cast web and cloudkill.

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Brat's next intended task was to sort things out for Nalia.  On the way to the de'Arnise Hold the party were ambushed by Suna Seni - a haste from Dynaheir and insect plague from Jaheira effectively won the battle early on.  After selling surplus equipment from that encounter at the Promenade they were informed of a problem at the circus and nipped in there to sort it out.  

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Initially I wasn't expecting Aerie to join the party, but she managed to convince Brat to let her in - he obviously has a soft spot for the ladies.

 

It is good to have a full group together again.  Dynaheir and Khalid will always be missed, but there is room for new friends as well as old to help with the search for Imoen.  I feel obliged to help Nalia in her quest to free her home, but after that I believe everyone will understand the need to move quickly with our rescue attempt.

 

I feel as though I have spent a lot of time today doing very little in BG2 with this group.  There are so many potential conversations to have, but not many make any difference to the game, which is frustrating.  The need to search for traps when moving indoors also took a lot of time.  I suspect in future I will stoop to making use of meta-game knowledge, e.g. by only searching when I know traps are to be found or by limiting the number of conversations.

[corey_russell]

@Grond0: I recommend meta-gaming for traps as well, even in a RP run. I had that RP run a while back, bad equipment , low levels and so on, but spending huge amounts of time searching for traps when you know there aren't any is too much a time waster. So that was the one thing I did meta-game, though I didn't meta-game assassins (unbuffed) and what not. BG 2 traps are generally worse (petrify, disintegrate, etc.), so would be shame to end your RP run by avoiding something you know you could have.

[Blackraven]

Kathlen, Gnome Cleric/Illusionist (1st BG2 update)

I should begin by pointing out that, much to my surprise, Kathlen started out like this:

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Apparently BGT lets only a few hours pass between Charname's reporting to Belt and their being released by Imoen. My guess is eight or twelve hours. Kathlen's violet potion was still in force, the other buffs weren't. As a result she had minimal CON / low HPs and terrible Dex (and thus AC). And she was virtually without any spells to compensate for her vulnerability. (I would have tried with the few spells she had if the violet potion hadn't been in effect, relying on two Sanctuaries and a few other spells, specifically Spider Spawn and Web.) Either way I made her rest in her cell right at the start of game so as to cause the violet potion's effects to wear off. The consequence was that Kathlen would have to survive Irenicus' dungeon without any more rests (due to SCS allowing only a single rest in the dungeon). However, I considered this unfair and the issue with the violet potion illogical from a roleplaying point of view, so I allowed myself an 'artificial rest' at the beginning of the 2nd level of the dungeon. I saved my game, opened it in Shadowkeeper, saved the unedited file, and continued the game with the SK-save, with Kathlen at full health and all her spells refreshed as if she had rested. I assume this doesn't go against any of the No-Reload Challenge rules that apply here, since these allow players to skip Irenicus' dungeon altogether with a mod like Dungeon-Be-Gone, grabbing the XP and loot for free.

Btw in the screenshot you can see that Kathlen has pips in Clubs, Slings and TWF. I'm playing with the 'Weapon Styles For All' component which allows her to place two or three pips in TWF. At the beginning of the game a second pip went toward TWF when Kathlen reached level 8 as a Cleric (and 9 as a Mage, thanks to having just over 270k XP).

You tell Imoen, Jaheira, and a fellow named Minsc to follow you from a distance while you carefully attempt your escape from the sinister dungeon you find yourself in for reasons unbeknownst to you. Nippy appears from behind a trapped painting on the wall of a small chamber next to your cell. You cast Sanctuary on yourself in order to get as far as possible without any guards being able to stop you, but you have to break your Sanctuary (which wasn't going to last for ages anyway) to give a magical stone to a Golem in order for it to open a number of unforcibly locked doors. Several Duergar who had been following you while you were Sanctuaried, attack. You fail to shake them off, so you go Invisible in one of the smaller rooms. As the Duergar block your way out of the room you dispatch them with a Cloudkill.

Spoiler

Another Sanctuary allows you to grab a club from a table right in front of another band of Duergar, including a mage. (I normally allow my characters to find some of the goods that BGT Tweaks imports from BG1 and places on that table. This time I did so too, initially, but later I had a change of heart and dropped the items on the floor, except for the Fallorain's Plate which in my setup is found on that table rather than on Ilych.)

 

The doors opened by the Golem lead to a large room with an Otyugh. You summon Skeletons to battle it, and finish it off yourself with your sling.

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In two nicely decorated adjacent rooms you suffer some nasty trap damage as you open various chests and cabinets.

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The spoils are pretty sweet though: you find your Helm of Balduran, Claw of Kazgaroth, and Metaspell Influence Amulet, as well as a key that allows you to travel through a portal to another level of the dungeon. You're saluted by a Kara-Turan rogue who introduces himself as Yoshimo. He wants to join you, but you ask him to fall back, like the others in your wake. He then warns you of the perils that await you in the next room: four Mephit Portals that continuously spawn new Mephits. You've had dealings with a few of those nasty creatures on the first level and decide to rest to be ready for the encounter with the Mephits.

When you get up, you cast Ghost Armor, summon three Skeletons and a Phase Spider, Protect them and yourself from Evil (10' Radius), Haste them and yourself, and cast Free Action and MSD on yourself. The Mephits seem to be more interested in you than in your summons, but that only helps your summons deal with the Portals.

Spoiler

The Skeletons also help you against hostile rogues before you reach a trapped hall. You have the keys that disarm some of those traps (lightning, monster summoning, cloudkill). With a Cloudkill you make short work of a group of Thieves and a Vampire that are fighting each other. A Sanctuary expires just when you're looting some chests containing a Girdle of Bluntness among other things, in front of a number of Duergar. You zigzag past them, manage to go invisble and find your way out of the dungeon.

On the surface you find your captor, Jon Irenicus, battling Shadow Thieves. Imoen casts a Magic Missile at Irenicus. Soon after Cowled Wizards come teleporting in. It seems they want to arrest him for casting spells inside the city. Irenicus simply keeps on killing them, until he tires of the activity. He accepts his arrest but insists that Imoen be arrested as well. The Cowled Wizards take Irenicus and Imoen with them. Where to, you have no idea. What you do know is that you'll have to be careful in this new city with your spell casting...

The city you find yourself in, turns out to be Athkatla. You recall that that was to be the destination of your mission for Belt, but you haven't got his letters anymore. When you ask a bystander, she tells you that relations between Baldur's Gate and Amn have been warmer since the past few tendays. That's one less thing to worry about for you. The question what this Irenicus fellow wanted with you, and the matter of Imoen's arrest is enough to worry about anyway.

With difficulty, a Cloudkill being much less effective against your foes than you hope, you restore a Circus Tent and its visitors to their former selves after an unhappy Gnome had turned it into his own house of horrors.

Spoiler

In the nearby slums a rogue named Gaelan Bayle tells you he know where Imoen and Irenicus are, and he offers you help in finding them. That help comes at a price though: no less than 20k GP, a sum you can't afford... You'll have to work for your gold, like you've always done ever since you left Candlekeep.

Gaelan's nephew Brus escorts you to the Copper Coronet, a sketchy inn where roughnecks gather, and where you discover highly immoral acts take place. You're not one to take offense easily, but slavery is out of bounds for you. You decide to try and release the slaves, much to the ire of a number of guards. Two battle mages especially, give you a hard time. They're quite effective against your summons, and you have to use most of your offensive spells (Magic Missile, Divine Wrath innate) to prevail. Two Cloudkills account for the death of a number of highly aggressive wild animals you would have preferred to spare, but not the Beast Master guarding them. Hasted, you finish him off in melee combat after you run out of sling bullets.

Spoiler

With a key you find on the Beast Master you release the slaves, and together you dispatch the guards and the evil innkeeper, Lethinan.

Spoiler

Here are unbuffed Kathlen's character record and her inventory screen at the present stage of the game:

Spoiler

[corey_russell]

@blackraven: Considering vanilla allows as many rests as you wish, I don't see a problem doing something that would be permissible in vanilla, but not SCS. This is a no-reload challenge, not SCS no reload challenge, therefore press on. Also, it seems like quite a stretch that you could travel from the City of Baldur's Gate to Amn in such short a time - think about BG to Nashkel (which is in Amn) - a number of days for that journey. Presumably Athkatla is even further away.

[Grond0]

Nice to see Kathlen underway Blackraven.  I agree your solution to resting is reasonable.  I think the time for transition to BG2 is probably something like 10 hours - I've had transitions in the past where the character has arrived still under the influence of potions of mind focusing used at the palace.

[Grond0]

Brat - dwarf berserker (update 3)

 

Once more on the way to the de'Arnise Hold the party were ambushed.  This time a holy smite from Aerie blinded the mage temporarily

Spoiler

before a call lightning did a rather more permanent job.

Spoiler

 

Brat might have been tempted to turn back to take Renfeld to the Harpers, but Nalia was expressing dismay at the delay so the party continued onwards.  At the de'Arnise Hold they had an early minor disaster when clearing the group of trolls in the central room.  One ice troll disappeared in a crack in the wall and wouldn't come out to play under the influence of slow or stinking cloud.  The only area damage spell left in memory at the time was cloudkill and that was used - regrettably without considering the impact on any faithful old family retainers!

Spoiler

 

Back at Athkatla to pour more donations into the temple coffers, Brat decided to return Renfeld.  While there he found himself being sucked into more tasks - one on behalf of Yoshimo and one for Xzar.  For the latter he was supposed to be dealing with Prebek and Sanasha.  Initially he entered the house peacefully (actually that was a mistake as he had been warned by the harpers to expect trouble) and that nearly caused a problem when 4 of the party were immediately confused by Sanasha.  

Spoiler

However, Jaheira had just got off an insect plague before being confused and that made finishing the enemies off easy for Brat

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before he soaked up friendly fire attacks from the others to avoid any casualties.

 

After investigating the Harper HQ Brat watched as Xzar was struck down and didn't attempt to kill his murderer.  However, then he found Jaheira had been taken away by Meronia.  She said she wouldn't be long so Brat waited at a local inn while taking his last level (a further 12 HPs meaning he finished with above average HPs).  Jaheira arrived back the next morning - just in time to be cursed by Baron Ployer!  

Spoiler

However, she also said she had been summoned to appear at the Harper Hold and Brat decided that should be done before investigating further.

 

At the Harper HQ Brat was told he would be imprisoned and immediately raged to protect himself from that before attacking.  Behind him a chaos, silence and insect plague were cast and together they immediately broke the back of the attackers with the exception of Kail.  

Spoiler

He hit hard and often, making Brat retreat and putting Minsc in danger before he died.  

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The others were then soon cleaned up.

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That night, while tending our injuries in the inn, we discussed our time in Athkatla.  My desire to rescue Imoen quickly remains strong, but events thus far have conspired against this aim.  The fight against the harpers also demonstrates our need for better equipment and we agreed that with danger around every turn it would make sense for the casters to protect themselves against stray or unseen attacks by keeping basic spell protections up at all times.

 

The following day Brat's difficulty in making progress was illustrated as Minsc and Jaheira both urged him to go and lift the curse on the Umar Hills.  First though there was the matter of Jaheira's own personal curse.  Bernard suggested they look in the eastern slums and they quickly then tracked down Ployer.  Slow and chaos affected 2 of the mages teleporting in to support Ployer and insect plague effectively finished the job before the third one could cast at all.

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Finally back at the de'Arnise Hold they cleared the bottom floor before further explorations found them unexpectedly arriving immediately behind a yuan-ti mage.  It was lucky the mage was clearly expecting a friend - as his choice of a spell sequencer to cast on Minsc demonstrated .  

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A holy smite interrupted his next cast and he didn't get a further attempt.

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I was expecting to have to kill Glaicas, but a perfectly timed domination by a nymph AI restored him to his senses.

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Brat exulted at finding a magic axe in an old temple, but then got badly damaged by a couple of attacking golems.

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Warned by that he buffed up before investigating a second container - but that didn't help him much against the sort of damage iron golems dish out!  

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Nalia, with mirrors and stoneskins, took over tanking duties to finish off the remaining golems.  

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Downstairs, Yoshimo pointed out the umber hulks ahead and they were cloudkilled - Brat never discovered how to make some stew to distract them.

 

There was a frontal assault on TorGal, but with some pre-buffs and, after he was killed, Brat took no more damage from the giant trolls.

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Nalia wished me to remain to look after her home, but I have too many other commitments already and need to concentrate on finding Imoen.  I wished her well for the future.

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[Blackraven]

Belated thanks Grond0 and Corey for giving me your views. 
I'm glad we agree on the resting issue in Chateau Irenicus.

Kathlen, Gnome Cleric/Illusionist, 2nd BG2 update

You proceed the to explore the city, or at least the southern districts, to look for work. In the Bridge District you see a mage taken in by the Cowled Wizards for casting a spell without a license.

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It's a good reminder for you not to cast within the city borders. Lieutenant Aegisfield tells you a murderer who flays his victims. Several clues lead to the local tanner, Riejek Hidesman. When confronted in his shop with the evidence (tannin and elephant hide), he outright confesses and flees downstairs. You follow but halt when you encounter several corpses on the ground. You ask Nippy to look for snares; and indeed your familiar detects several. Unfortunately he's unable to find (and disarm) all of them.

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You resolve to start memorizing Find Traps, one of the powers Baravar Cloakshadow has vested in you.

On the bottom floor Hidesman escapes with an accomplice via a small boat below the bridge, leaving two Ghasts, two Rune Assassins and a Bone Golem for you to deal with. That's a bit much to your taste, so you retreat. They follow you upstairs, but not outside. You report your findings to Lieutenenant Aegisfield, who thanks you for your effort.

Back in the Slums District you return to the Copper Coronet. The slave leader you freed, Hendak had asked you to deal the Slaver Organization a final blow and advises you to seek entrance via the sewers. Down there you face Hobgoblins, Jellies and an Otyugh, all working together to kill you. You take no half measures to deal with the opposition: Animate Dead, Chaos and Cloudkill.

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As you proceed, you have to cross a door serving as a bridge over a narrow waste channel. Nippy disarms the trap on it for you. A band of Kobolds is Cloudkilled, another trap disarmed, before you save an old man from a Carrion Crawler preying on him. He mutters something about a treasure, to be found in an adjacent room with the 'keys' placed in the correct order. You soon figure what these keys are and which order to pñace them in, to find yourself rewarded with Lilarcor, a highly enchanted greatsword you'll never use. Since you're already low on spells, you decide to postpone your confrontation with the slavers and to sell some loot. After you've sold pretty much everything of value you don't have immediate use for to Raoul in the Bridge District, and after you've cast Friends in the Adventurer Mart, you spoil yourself with the Robe of Vecna. 

In the south-east part of the city you enter the Graveyard District, where you descend a stairway leading to several underground mausoleums and an enormous spiders' den. Outside the den you soon find yourself overwhelmed by all kinds of Spiders. You take advantage of their habit to follow you closely while Sanctuaried, to fumigate as many of them as possible with your Cloudkills.

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Two surviving Spiders (a poison-immune Wraith variant and a Sword Spider), fall with the help of your Skeletons.

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Inside the Spiders' den you agree to retrieve Spiders' Bane from the sewers below the Temple District for Pai'Na the Hivemaster Druid (who's clearly unaware of the mass grave outside). On your way to the Temple District you run from an ambush.

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Invisibility and Sanctuary enable you to bypass scary monsters and super creeps that inhabit the sewers,

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and to convince two sewers cleaners to part with the blade (or what remains of it) for a mere 50 GP. Pai'Na rewards you very handsomely with scrolls of Spell Immunity and Spider Spawn, a Pale Green Ioun Stone, a Black Spider Figurine (Kitthix), and a Web Sack wand. You store the SI scroll, hesitant to scribe it into your spellbook without any intelligence boosters. The Pale Green Ioun Stone you sell, allowing you the purpose of a Reflection Shield.

 

Night has fallen as you resurface in the Graveyard District. You retrieve a teddy bear from the Copper Coronet for a restless child spirit, and you dig up a man named Tirdir who had been buried alive. A talk with him and with a graveyard keeper leads you to the Bridge District in search of the perpetrators. The Reflex helps you against a band of thugs. You disptach them with the assistance of summoned Skeletons.

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The same Skeletons are much less effective against Tirdir's buriers, a Human and a Dwarf. In the heat of the moment you find yourself unsuccessfully casting a Charm on one of your foes, earning you a warning from the Cowled Wizards.

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They do not stay to help you against the evildoers. Eventually your Divine Wrath kills the Human, whose Boots of Avoidance now keep your feet warm. The Dwarf eludes you though.

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Bruised and tired you return to the Copper Coronet to rest, and to finally seek out the Slavers.

When you locate their secret entrance you prepare yourself with Stoneskin, MSD and II. You enter the compound, cast a Web, and summon Kitthix as well as a Phase Spider. They (and a Chaos) help you make short work of several Slaver guards, including a Priest of Cyric, and their captain.

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From the captain's body you take a key with which you release more imprisoned slaves, albeit it with great difficulty considering the fact that one of two Trolls resists a Melf's Acid Arrow at near death status, and that a large party of slaver guards almost lock you up in one of their spacious prisons.

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You decide not to bother with the remaining slavers, which proves to be ok with Hendak.

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The rewards he gives you are of little use to you, so you decide to convert them into coin, and to see if you can get yourself a spellcasting license in teh Government District.

 

In front of the inn an Amnish guard helps you defeat two brigands backed by a ruffian or two.

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On your way to the Gov District you 're ambushed by a group of bandits that have poisoned a man. You slay their Mage, take his scrolls, and the poisoned man with you.

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You purchase a casters license in the Council of Six Building for no less than 5000 GP, bringing your funds down to almost zero. One of the Cowled Wizard asks you to track down a murderer for you, someone named Valygar.

A Mad Cleric in the Docks District makes you (and your Skeletons) pay for underestimating him; he hits like a Frost Giant.

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However, with your hot of the press casters license you summon a Phase Spider that promptly poisons, and thus kills the priest.

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A man named Rylock thanks you for bringing his poisoned friend to him.

 

A bit of a hesitant start. Kathlen hasn't faced any bosses yet, mostly mobs, and that's been challenging enough as it is. I think with a few more levels, and some nice summons such as Aerial Servant, mobs should become more manageable. She has yet to explore polymorphing as a way to dish out damage. She should probably also do a scroll buying and scribing sessions once she has the gold for that.

[Blackraven]

Kathlen, Gnome Cleric/Illusionist, 3rd BG2 update

At the city gates, ready for your journey to the Umar Hills where Valygar the murderer is supposed to have a hideout, your plans change when Flydian from Trademeet urges you to stop in his town first. It's being attacked by ceaseless hordes of animals, he tells you. High Merchant Logan Coprith tells you of people's suspicion of Druids in a nearby Grove. He introduces you to Cernd, an outsider Druid sent to investigate the Druids' acitivities. You escort him out of town, and he travels ahead of you to the Grove. 
When you enter the area, you cast invisibility on yourself. It allows you to reach the Druids' shelter unmolested by Spiders, Trolls, Spores, Shambling Mounds, wild animals or patrolling Druids.

Spoiler

In a Troll lair you cast Sanctuary and snatch a pair of Bracers of Archery), in an abandoned tower you find an enchanted scimitar, and in a shed you meet an elderly lady who sells potions. You meet with Cernd close to the entrance, where the two of you rest for a bit and prepare your spells in case the encounter with the Druids ends in hostilities. Invisibily, the two of you enter the shelter. You reveal yourself when you speak to their apparent leader, a woman named Faldorn. She tells you she took the Grove by force and she will defend it that way as well. The only way to get rid of her is through another Druid in a duel. This is where Cernd comes into play.

He's still invisible when he steps into the small arena that seems to be made for the confrontation. He waits for Faldorn's Improved Invisibilities to expire before he casts Insect Plague on her. It shuts down his opponent's casting, buying him all the time he needs to summon Bears and Fire Elemental to defeat the woman.

Spoiler

I made a mistake in Kathlen's tackling of the Druid Grove: I forgot to have her fight Dalok: It meant she would never acquire the Gnasher Club. (Naturally Dalok is gone after Faldorn's demise.) With Item Upgrades that club can be forged by Cromwell into a better club, with either Blackblood or the Bone Club. Kathlen will have to become proficient in another weapon: Maces or Flails (Staves are scheduled for later).

You return to Trademeet to inform the High merchant and to deal with another problem of the townspeople: three Dao Djinn's that have monopolized trade. You buff with Stoneskin, Mirror Image and MSD, and assault the first Djinn with Minor Sequencered Magic Missiles. The creature casts Stoneskin and Improved Haste but soon panicks, and falls to your barrage of Magic Missiles.

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An Efreeti bottle is your prize. Inside a tent, you face two more Djinns. You cast a Cloudkill and show them your Divine Wrath (twice).

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You take one or two hits from your foes, and your Cloudkill's acidic vapors afflict you, if slightly. The Dao Djinns do not cope that well:

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High Merchant Coprith and his people are most grateful for your help. They shower you with compliments, gold, jewellery, and the Shield of Harmony. With your new wealth you indulge in a small shopping spree. You acquire the Belt of the Inertial Barrier and the Blackblood Club from one of the merchants, several scrolls from another vendor and at the local smithy (including one of Spell Shield, I wonder if that's thanks to a mod), and some of many potions of mind focusing and genius that are for sale at the Temple of Waukeen. Your first spell scribing session since your arrival in Amn sees you copy the following spells to your spellbook: Teleport Field, Wizard Eye, Breach, Lower Resistance, PfNW, Spell Immunity, Spell Shield, Contigency, Death Fog, Flesh to Stone, Improved Haste, Pierce Magic, Protection from Magic Energy, PfMW, Stone to Flesh, Summon Nishruu, and Summon Hakeashar.

 

You rid the realms of Riejek Hidesman and an associate (whom you run into completely by accident), saving the life of their last victim, a girl named Raissa you restore. A Stoneskin and a Haste, complemented by the powers of of your deity Baravar Cloakshadow (DUHM, Holy Power, Righteous Magic) enable you to destroy two Skeleton Warriors and the Skeletons they spawn.

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Amongst the remains of one of the Skeletal Warriors, you find the Mantle of Waukeen, the object of a longstanding feud between two of the town's most prominent families: the Lurraxols and the Alibakkars. Both have asked you to retrieve the mantle for them, but you're unwilling to pick sides and decide to leave the mantle in the care of the High Merchant.

With that business behind you, you finally travel to the Umar Hills to see if you can find Valygar. You stop in a small village in the hills called Imnesvale, and learn that the people there are greatly upset due to a number of killings and disappearances. You explore the village and its surroundings for a bit. You help some of the villagers with their own, more personal problems. For example, you buy a Beljuril gem off a farmer in need of coin, and for a fellow wizard named Jermien you slay a Killer Mimic and later, barely in time, the dysfunctional Golem that Jermien creates with the Mimic's blood.

Spoiler

You speak with a band of well-meaning monsters led by an Ogre Mage, that have suffered losses of their own. They speak of shadowy creatures, undead. Your visit to the lodge of Merella, Ranger-Protector of Imnesvale confirms this. Her diary points toward Temple Ruins north-west of Imnesvale. You inform the mayor and do not tarry in traveling to the Temple Ruins.

 

The area is very dark and inhabited by Shade Wolves, Shadows, and Anath, a Lycanthrope that you follow into her cave. She speaks of a powerful Shade Lord, backed by an even mightier creature of darkness, as the source of the recent evil that has spread throughout the hills. She shifts into Wolf form to guide you toward the entrance to the Ruins. However before you leave a glittering circlet stashed away in an opening in the wall catches your keen Gnomish eye. Identification with your Glasses teaches you you've found a Circlet of the Archmagi.

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It becomes your new headwear. 

I had to google to find the source of this item: Erephine's 1PP4 mod. Interestingly, in the unmodded EEs, the item can be found in the game files (and thus in EEKeeper), possibly because some of the EEs' visual enhancements (paperdolls, icons, etc) were taken from said excellent mod. I had to adjust the item in NearInfinity to make it behave in accordance with the item description in the above screenshot. It did not increase intelligence and saving throws by 1 but set saving throws vs. death, petrify and wands to 1 instead.
I'm aware that the Helm of Balduran is superior, because the out-of-combat utility of +1 INT isn't as good as the Helm's in-combat advantage of +1 Thac0, but for RP/style purposes I prefer the circlet.

Before entering the Ruins you use one of three scrolls in your possession that protect against undead. Creatures that would normally cause trouble, such as Skeleton Warriors, Shadow creatures, Mummies, they all remain calm, as if they can't see you. You don't bother with fighting them, because as soon as you attack, they run. The only creature you kill is a Shadow Jailor, whose key you use to set a captured Halfling free from her cell.
The Temple was previously dedicated to Amaunator. With logic and with your lore from Candlekeep you manage to solve a number of riddles so as to allow you access to the Shade Lord's dwelling. You pass through a large hall where you find the 'mightier creature of darkness' Anath told you about, nothing less than a Shadow Dragon. Thankfully a Shadow Dragon Wardstone you acquired from a Child Spirit Amauna keeps you from being noticed by the dragon. You rest and prepare lots of fire spells for your impending confrontation with the Shade Lord. Protected from Undead again, you leave the dragon's lair and find the Shade Lord next to a Shadow Altar. The Shade Lord is impassive, but the altar keeps spawning Shadows. You cast Greater Malison on the Shade Lord and Lower Resistance (2x). You then bombard the creatures in front of you with Fireballs, Flamestrikes and Holy Smites. Thus you slay the Shade Lord.

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The Shadow Altar lasts a bit longer, but you manage to destroy it with Blackblood well before your protection from undead wears off.

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The sky immediately brightens and you see Merella, Imnesvale's Ranger dying on the ground in front of you. Sadly, you're too late to save her. The mayor of the town is nevertheless pleased with your good work for the village, and rewards you with a suit of leather armor that you can sell. The initial objective of visiting the Umar Hills, finding Valygar, remains unfulfilled.

Back in Athkatla you lose more than 4,000 GP on a Scimitar you buy from a desperate man who needed the coin for medical care for his father, when an Abraxxi pretty much forces you to hand over the blade.

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And at Cromwell's renowned smithy you spend another ten thousand on Improved Kitthix and an upgrade of the Weary Cudgel club acquired at the Shadow Thief Guild Hall.

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You accept two tasks for the Temple of Helm: investigating the sewers for leads to a cult that orders its members to remove their eyes, and procuring 200 lbs of pure illithium ore for a sculpture by the artist Sir Sarles. 
In the sewers you use both your summons to deal with a Rakshasa. First your Efreeti. When you cast a Holy Smite on the Rakshasa, it angers the Efreeti summon, which tells you much about its alignment. Kitthix, more trustworthy, finishes the Rakshasa for you.

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Here Kathlen's current Character Record (no buffs), and Inventory Screen:

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[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

How I got here I still don’t know for sure.  I’m in an inn in the Athkatla Bridge District but the last thing I remember is retiring to our regular inn in Baldur’s Gate after defeating Sarevok, Tazok, the mages & the Battle Horror.  Minsc & I left the Temple w/as much loot as we could carry since Branwen, Imoen, Ajantis & Quayle had all been taken out.  The plan was to return to the inn, rest & then travel to The Temple of Helm to have the priest there cast Raise Dead on Branwen.  She in turn would go back w/us to the inn & raise the others over a couple of days. All of that happened as planned & then Branwen bid me (us) farewell & headed back to her home of Seawolf in the Northeim Isles just as she said she would.  Quayle was in a hurry to see a niece in Athkatla & Ajantis to return to the Order of the Radiant Heart to report in & let them know he’d helped to bring a halt to the thieves and caravan raids in the area south of Baldur’s Gate – as had been his mission.  We made plans to head out together: Imoen, Ajantis, Quayle, Minsc & I, the next AM.  Quayle went up to his room & Ajantis headed to The Temple of Helm to pay his tithe & pray.  Minsc, Imoen & I were sitting downstairs having an ale & a late night meal of rye bread, fish & cheese. We’d lost track of day & night going back & forth between the Undercity & we were the only ones in there except for the dozing barkeep. We weren’t drunk @ all, just eating our meal & talking.

 

Next thing I remember is waking up with Imoen urging me to hurry & realizing that I was in a cell like a giant iron wrought bird cage – except for humanoids. I had a splitting headache and my body ached everywhere w/pains of every type. 

 

Immediate confusion reigned in the worst way.  Imoen told me we were captives & that Minsc was also nearby in another cage.  As soon as she said that, Jaheira’s death passed clearly before my eyes; & then Dynahier’s, & Khalid’s, & Coran’s. All of them died right in front of me…in front of both of us?  What a painful succession of memories to become aware of upon waking into a fog.  Where the in the Nine Hells were we anyway?  It was like waking from a dream in a dream. Minsc was there though, captive in a cell w/no door. He too, was confused & talked of someone killing Dynahier as if it had happened recently. Dynahier was the first of us to fall – to a Sirine’s Arrow of Biting months ago. In his rage & my confusion, he suddenly just tore the bars to his cell apart as if they were vines.  Imoen said she thought there was equipment in the next room but it wasn’t ours she didn’t think.

 

Imoen urged me on so I followed her to room w/the equipment. There was a motionless Golem the in the room & I kept fearing he’d attack every time we touched something, especially when Imoen Removed a trap in the wall behind a picture. In the room was a Two-Handed Sword & a set of Chain Mail for Minsc; an enchanted Dagger, Short Sword & a set of Studded Leather for Imoen. I found a set of Splint mail, a Small Shield & a Mace since there was no Bastard Sword which is my weapon of Grand Mastery.

 

And so, there we were, the three of us, who knows where, all confused, in a room full of bird cages meant for men, looking down an unknown passage….hoping it was the way out.

NO CLUE WHAT'S NEXT!

Key Event: I’m exhausted & can’t pen anything more tonight. Suffice to say, Imoen has now been kidnapped by some Mages called the Cowled Wizards. Darkness follows me still.  I need to rest my brain but I’ll write of everything we've experienced, what we've seen, what we've gained, in the last three/four days but I sorely need sleep.  Lot’s has happened…lots.

 

Treasure of Note: (Purse = 3,936 gold) Armor/Weapons:  Gems/Jewelry/Gold:  Potions: Scrolls:

 

Current Disposition: In this inn here in the Bridge District. I don’t know the name but I did when we arrived. I have some new companions, all approached me in a shady inn in the Slums.  However, I think I have a good group of followers.

 

Next Steps:   To find Imoen my only lead requires 20,000 gold so I’m trying to raise the gold. There’s a young Mage/Rogue type w/me now who wants me to help her w/some problems on her land, which I agreed to do. There have also been some grisly murders here in the district & there’s some energy around digging into that first. 

 

Level Up:  None

 

Current Party: (Reputation: 20 – Heroic)

·         Gawain: Ftr/9, (HP105); Splint Mail w/Medium Shield, Ring of Protection +1, Girdle of Bluntness & Bastard Sword*****

·         Auren Aseph: Ftr (Apprentice//9), (HP68  )Studded Leather +1 w/Long Sword +1***** (SWS**)

·         Anomen: Ftr/Watcher of Helm//8/8, (HP51); Splint Mail +1 w/Delryn Family Shield & Mace +1***,(Warhammer*, SSS**)

·         Minsc: Fighter (Barbarian/9), HP76; Mail of the Dead +2 w/Two-Handed Sword of Chaos +2***, (Mace**, THWS**)

·         Yoshimo: Thief (Ninja/11), HP64; Studded Leather +1 w/Katana +1***, Darts +1*

·         Nalia:  Mage/Thief//9/10, (HP54); Studded Leather +1 w/Short Bow +1* & Short Sword +2* (Dgr*, Crossbow*)

 

 

Mods Used: BG2 FixPack _v10; Amber_v4; Auren Aseph_v9; Sarah_v4; Haldimir_v2; : Tyris Flare_v6; Gavin_v20 & Hotfix;  scs-v30 (- Tactical Challenges); MegaModKits v1.01L (Anti-Paladin, Charming Rogue, Priest of Sylvanus, Bladesinger, Amazon, Apprentice, Ninja, Samurai); Divine Remix_v8 (Nightcloak of Shar, Holy Strategist of the Red Knight, Batleguard of Tempus, Strifeleader of Cyric, Bowslinger, Forest Runner, Wilderness Runner) ; Rogue Rebalancing; bg2_tweaks-v16; Item Randomizer-v6.8; level1npcs-v1.9

 

Blue Font: New information;

Red Font: Monster encounters (first use)

(Best kill)(Current AI)

* Name Levels are ancient, AD&D titles that used to represent each new level in a class