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Chokes McGee posted:oh my loving gods the amiga version of curse is a mess At this point, depending on how much time you've already invested, maybe you'd be better off recreating the party in the DOS version? Curse was when the DOS versions finally stopped looking hideous at least. Chokes McGee posted:Absolutely. The four main games are on the menu right now, and Curse is slowly grinding me down and we haven't even gotten to the worst parts of Blades Ah well, a man can dream (of making somebody else play that game so I can live vicariously through them without having to touch it myself). Also, mentioning the worst parts of Blades suggests that there are good parts, I need to mention this is not the case. No part of Secret of the Silver Blades is good, some parts are simply less bad than others.
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Mar 3, 2020 07:56
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I forgot to ask this at the time but how long did it ultimately take you to clear PoR?
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Mar 3, 2020 08:08
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I feel like the Gold Box games are cursed. I swear I remember someone 2-3 years ago trying to LP the whole series with the same party, and importing them into Bonds just totally broke the game and the LP'er was just burnt out trying to fix it. Really enjoying this though, hope you make it all the way chokes.
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Mar 3, 2020 14:36
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Chokes McGee posted:oh my loving gods the amiga version of curse is a mess Somehow, someway, this is probably Rezen's fault.
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Mar 3, 2020 15:07
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syzpid posted:I feel like the Gold Box games are cursed. I swear I remember someone 2-3 years ago trying to LP the whole series with the same party, and importing them into Bonds just totally broke the game and the LP'er was just burnt out trying to fix it. I remember this. It was a very funny LP - seriously, Chokes level funny - but the author's saved games were destroyed by a hard drive crash, I believe, right after starting the 3rd game in the series. The thread is still out there, I can link it, but the photos are gone. Chokes, I did want to say that if switching to the DOS games makes things less buggy and worrisome, just do it. I'm sure that you of all people can find a way of making it make sense in-universe. Do what you have to do to make an entertaining and complete LP and don't worry a moment about "purity".
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Mar 3, 2020 15:47
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No, Chokes, worry about purity! Show us exactly what BS the game throws at the player so we can cheer you on as you take off the kiddie gloves and tear the game a new one through the art of "gently caress your rules, I have hex editors".
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Mar 3, 2020 16:46
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I have vague memories of the C64 version completely loving up when I tried to import into Bonds too (and it resulting in completely broken cheat equipment somehow so of course I'd import one character, take advantage of getting, like, STR 20 gloves or some drat thing, do that over and over and over again, and then just reroll a new party).
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Mar 3, 2020 17:01
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docbeard posted:I have vague memories of the C64 version completely loving up when I tried to import into Bonds too (and it resulting in completely broken cheat equipment somehow so of course I'd import one character, take advantage of getting, like, STR 20 gloves or some drat thing, do that over and over and over again, and then just reroll a new party). This happens across all versions which is an impressive commitment to loving up. One of the things they recommend before unloading your guys in Pool and importing them into curse is to unequip everything because there's much less of a chance someone's STR will jump to 50 (shanna) and give them 1D8+10 damage (also shanna) and then -43801 for an encumbrance of -10049 which leaves you at perma 3 in movement (justine, of course). Truthkeeper posted:At this point, depending on how much time you've already invested, maybe you'd be better off recreating the party in the DOS version? Curse was when the DOS versions finally stopped looking hideous at least. I'm probably going to do this in all honesty: Make our guys in Bonds, edit them with a hex editor to get them exactly the same, down to the spellbooks, and then turn them loose on the DOS version. This buys us a number of really good things, including battles happening at Warp 9 and fast restarts. I'm going to try a noncracked version of Curse first (:files:), but if that doesn't clean things up, I really have no choice but to start over and get it right this time. Also I loving need to write the next update so very lazy argh argh argh ManxomeBromide posted:I forgot to ask this at the time but how long did it ultimately take you to clear PoR? I'm honestly not sure! Let's say... 25 hours? I have about 15-17 videos and they average about 90 minutes each as a complete wild rear end guess. The games really kind of degenerate from here on out tbh. Pools is where quality goes up but Curse and Blades is going to be rough. Steel yourselves, and by yourselves I mean me.  Randalor posted:No, Chokes, worry about purity! Show us exactly what BS the game throws at the player so we can cheer you on as you take off the kiddie gloves and tear the game a new one through the art of "gently caress your rules, I have hex editors". I will not (other than to tweak Sternn, totally not cheating, shut up). I am all-in on demonstrating this game is both beatable and breakable within the rules and will not take one single solitary glitch of improvement until Pools when this all goes out the window and I get sick of dying on the same inconsequential fight 26 times.
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Mar 3, 2020 17:49
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You know, since you're possibly recreating the party on DOS, what's to stop you from "accidentally" making Justine a Paladin? 
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Mar 3, 2020 19:15
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Cause Chokes, unlike all of these chucklefucks in the party, has integrity.
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Mar 3, 2020 19:28
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Colander Crotch posted:Cause Chokes, unlike all of these chucklefucks in the party, has integrity. I appreciate that you underestimate my laziness that much It's more I have a battle plan and deviating from it removes any... Well, I wouldn't say guarantee but it definitely makes things more dicey
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Mar 3, 2020 20:29
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Is Curse really that bad? I remember it having some rough patches mid-lategame but I thought it was OK up until then. It's been... a while, though.
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Mar 3, 2020 20:38
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Straight White Shark posted:Is Curse really that bad? I remember it having some rough patches mid-lategame but I thought it was OK up until then. It's been... a while, though. It's fun but there are some areas where the difficulty inexplicably spikes to what the gently caress. Like for instance, I just got through a tough but fun section and then immediately was forced to fight a loving DRACOLICH, and let's not spoil things any more than that . It was just one of those moments of, why? Who thought this would be fun? Why did you think any party would be ready for this?
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Mar 3, 2020 20:56
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I remember enjoying Curse a lot more than PoR (I never did get around to the other games) but I also had WAY WAY WAY more patience for stupid RPG bullshit like the thing you spoiled in those days.
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Mar 3, 2020 21:18
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Chokes McGee posted:I'm probably going to do this in all honesty: Make our guys in Bonds, edit them with a hex editor to get them exactly the same, down to the spellbooks, and then turn them loose on the DOS version. This buys us a number of really good things, including battles happening at Warp 9 and fast restarts. I'm fairly certain you could do all those things in like a tenth of the time with GBC, but I've only ever poked around with it at best, so I can't say for certain. If you're more comfortable hex editing it, you do you boss.
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Mar 4, 2020 00:09
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Since he's going to move to the DOS version regardless, I'll (re)add my voice in favour of Chokes turning Justine into a Paladin and possibly someone else from a fighter to a ranger, on the grounds that it will make for better narrative possibilities and also because pure fighters are boring.
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Mar 4, 2020 02:26
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Good news and bad news! The good news is, we didn't lose the fight with Mace and his cronies after all. We'll be seeing that next update, and I'll edit the title accordingly. The bad news is, we lost the loving Kobold Caves.  That was the one I actually gave a poo poo about, because it was going to establish Frank the Kobold (the guy with the coffee mug) as the new king of kobolds after the party slaughtered the old one. So, that's going to have to happen in a comedy cut scene for the after-credits PoR stinger to make sense.Happily, everything from there onwards seems to be intact, so end game is not affected. If it were, we'd prrrrrobably have to spike the whole rest of PoR and fortunately I'm actually smart enough to do backups now. Yes, I know Frank addressed another Kobold named Frank in the slums. There's more than Frank in the world, you know. Truthkeeper posted:I'm fairly certain you could do all those things in like a tenth of the time with GBC, but I've only ever poked around with it at best, so I can't say for certain. If you're more comfortable hex editing it, you do you boss. GBC? More like UGE  Seriously, everything's under control now and we're marching towards the first boss. The DOS version is SO MUCH BETTER than Amiga that it's scary, plus I'm already comfortable with its interface and am not stuck using the mouse. It's incredible to me just how hard they botched Curse on the Amiga after Pool being the best version hands down, and it kind of highlights that the Amiga was on a downswing at this point. It's a shame, because it was way better than most 286/386s.
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Mar 4, 2020 16:07
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drat, the Kobold Caves is probably my favorite dungeon in PofR. Please let me know when/if I can talk about it in detail. I should be able to create a good description of all the fun to be had in n it from GameFAQs and YouTube depictions other people have recorded. Of course if you don’t want that, say the word and it won’t be posted. Glad we’re still getting to see the Temple & Mace.
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Mar 4, 2020 20:02
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Okay, well, I found SOME footage of the caves. We'll have to do some in media res magic to get it in there, and I'll discuss them in brief. Until then, refrain from discussion—but anything after we've seen it is a-ok.
Chokes McGee fucked around with this message at 06:39 on Mar 5, 2020 |
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Mar 5, 2020 06:37
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Update could be out as early as afternoon and as late as
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Mar 6, 2020 15:11
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Pool of Radiance, Chapter 17: Does What It Says On the Tin  Everything's going exactly according to plan. Now all we have to do is find Mace. What the hell are you talking about? Who the gently caress is Mace? I picked it up from the proclamations board on our way out. Hmm. Shanna? I mean... I don't hate the idea. I wonder what that's like.  Today on the Gold Box adventures, we're paying a visit to the Wealthy District of Phlan. Well. Formerly Weathy District. Having an army of orcs in charge has not done much for the property values. This particular mission can get lost in the shuffle if you're not careful. Sasha will mention the church wants to talk to you once and only once, and after that, she'll default back to not giving a poo poo. If you don't catch or remember it, this section can get skipped on accident. You do not want that. We'll see why in due time, but for now, understand that this cluster of uninspired dumb-hattery is the most important mission of the game. First things first. To kick this off, we need to see...   Welcome to da Church of Tyr. Yoos in good hands. No way. No loving way. Hoi! Watch yer mouth in my church. Sorry, it's just... last time we saw you, you were bailing us out of Trebor's stupid dungeon. What are you doing here? I ain't nevah seen you before in my life, doll. Wh... But you... But we... I could use yer help, though. With Mace? Exactly. You must be da sharp one of the party. That's me!   No it's not. No. It's not. Dis here's my right hand man, Dirten. He's fresh outta priest college and needs ta make his bones.  ...! ? I wants you to take him with you when yoos go to kill the orc with the mace and whatnot. Say hello, Dirten.  Ha! Dat's "Dirty" Dirten for ya. "Dirty?" Oh, don't worry. Yoos gonna find out soon enough. ...ew. What the gently caress? What are the chances we find two people that look and act exactly alike? I've never seen that guy in my life. Me either. You feeling okay, Justine? You know what? I'm not even questioning it this time. If you're quite done, the Wealthy District's across the bay. We should probably wreck another boat and then see how bad the situation is. *blush* Ugh. What is your deal? I've never gone adventuring before... They stuck us with an amateur? Great. He'll fit right in.  Fifteen minutes later...  We actually made it to the dock! Why did you fireball the boat?! I didn't want to ruin our streak! We already ruined it with the pirate ship Oh. Whoops!  And behind Door #1...  Aw. We got zonked. Y'know, I always wanted the goat. Those things'll mow your lawn for free. I don't think you actually get to keep the goat. Then what the hell am I makin' a deal for? I have no idea what's going on right now, and I want to keep it that way.Not surprisingly, we're up to our necks in orcs around here.   Fortunately, it's been a long time since small parties of orcs like this were a threat to us.  Even Rezen is clowning on them with impunity. It's a pretty nice breather after all the many, many flavors of poo poo we had to eat with Valhingen.   *claws at floor* Seriously, what is your damage? make it stop make it stop MAKE IT STOP  whew Feelin' better? A lil' bit. Loot radar's off the charts right now. We need to clean this place out to stop the screaming in my head. Good news! Your ship has come in. And been lit on fire. I thought that was implied, yes.There are a couple of rooms here where you can score some quick and easy treasure. The only problem is, you have to be in search mode when you come in or else it's gone forever. I don't know why this is the case or why it's only here that happens. The more I play this game, the more convinced I am that the individual scenarios were coded by completely different people and then just kind of glued together. Fortunately, Chokes Has Played the Game Before™, so we're able to grab all of it. The jaw-dropping list includes but is not limited to:
Also I'm kidding, it's completely limited to that and also terrible. The jewelry's probably the best part. The Ring of Feather Falling doesn't even do anything. I'm pretty sure if you hiked your way back to that well in the Textile House and threw yourself down it, you'd still end up going splat. There's just a lot of stuff in this game isn't finished. Like I said in Wizardry, I don't blame the developers for rushing. They did what they had to do. It's just every now and then, you get little glimpses into the engine like this that make you realize what could have been.   Welp. You're up, Shanna. such a nerd What? What was that? I said, such a nerd! Oh. Well, I suppose that's me. ...intelligence is cool... ...Journal Entry 53 posted:A crumpled discarded piece of paper, full of rub outs and scratch overs. That's a lot of orcs. That's a lot of everything. Good thing they're all so punchable, or this would suck. *fidget* Look, I'm just gonna ask you flat out. Why did the Bishop call you "Dirty" Dirten? Um... *looks at shoes* *mumbles* What? What was that? I didn't catch that. I GOT DUST ON MY PLATE MAIL ONCE AND DIDN'T POLISH IT  ... so ashamed There there. *pats* Everything's going to be alright. *HUG* ...um. Personal space?   Found the ogre, at least. Psst. Hey. Hey Dirten. ? Shanna really likes a guy who can cast Cleric spells. !!   Is that it? Did I do it right?  ...Even with all its pathing issues and spellcasting stupidity, there is one thing the AI knows to do well. Dirten is a cleric, which means his sole purpose in life is to be a laser guided Hold Person missle.   Keep his spellbook topped off and watch in amazement as he paralyzes half your opponents every fight. He's even smart enough to cast buffs! He is easily the second most useful NPC in the Gold Box series. We won't be seeing the first until Silver Blades, so we might as well enjoy it now. Also, I'm well aware of the banana peel over there on the left. I don't know what it's doing there, and I choose not to acknowledge it. I would never stoop to cheap gags like that to pfft hahaahahahahahahha     Go on. Git. Aw. You goin' soft on us, muscles? I'm with the boss on slavers. Beat 'em to a fine paste and set 'em on fire. You really have a gift for graphic descriptions. Natural ability. You got it or you don't.Goblin slaves are now accounted for and released. So that's good.   Check it out! I found a shag rug! Dirten could probably use it, if you know what I mean. Heh heh. *blushes furiously* He is half my ageAnd that's the last of the treasure in the weathy district. Those tapestries are encumbering as poo poo and near worthless. Leave them be. Now that the District's more or less cleaned out, it's time to head towards the Temple. It's not a requirement to finish the Wealthy District per se, but we might as well do it since we're in the neighborhood.  We'll find the Temple to the north of here, assuming we can dodge the hobgoblin patrols. gently caress off. ...or we can just (P)arley (A)busive and let our party's combined strength scare them off. Whatever. We gain literally nothing by fighting hobgoblins right now, so we might as well save time.   *sigh* What is it now? I don't think I'm doing a very good job... Why on earth not? I can't even kill an orc by myself. You guys are cutting through them like they were paper. Um, we've been doing this a while? We have practice? Are you asking— No?  She does that. Anyway, you're willing to march into the mouth of the enemy with complete strangers for your faith. You're a fine cleric. The church is lucky to have you.  love is in the air~ Shut up! It's not like I like him or anything! ... Y...you idiots!Other than the completely massive temple, there's nothing to see here. There's a whole lot of rooms to the west and north, and all of them are completely empty. There's nothing interesting whatsoever inside. There is no content to be found here. None. Just get to the entrance to the church and get it over with.     *leer* Nope. Yeah, he's not getting anywhere near me. Omigod, you guys. I checked everywhere, do you know how many empty rooms there ar— .......... I WILL PAY YOUR INSULT BACK TO YOU IN BLOOD Yeah, that went down about how I expected. I would never do something that. Just saying. ... ...unless? ... Ha ha! Just kidding! ... ...unless? Stop talking now. Yes, ma'am. And you don't have to call me ma'am. Okay. ...unless? ...!Remember those leather holy symbols way back in Podal? If we were still packing them around, we'd get a free pass here. Shanna hit the reject button on that idea, so we'll have to fight our way in. No big deal, but it's nice how the game gives you multiple avenues to get to your goal. Some of them are actually pretty clever. It's way ahead of its time when you stop and think about it.    You okay there, short stuff? I feel a disturbance in the Treasure Force. As if a million magical items cried out at once, and then... uh... kept... crying out. Uh huh. Yeah. I realized it was a bad setup about halfway through, but I was already committed. Sternn, I got a migraine from all this loot. Can you do something about it? Can I?!    The Temple is just rife with quality loot—and this time, I actually mean it. I have no idea why the church has fantasy nukes hidden under their floorboards, but their loss is our gain. Here's the haul:
And, of course, the most important item...    (Here Lies Magebender, Master Sage.) I guess he wanted his ashes buried beneath the temple he loved. *ping ping* Real gold! I'll just hang onto this. ...do you all do this regularly? More than I care to admit.I'm embellishing the story here but this Anyway, we're done looting the church. Now all we have to do is find Mace, which may be slightly easier than expected.   You must be Mace. And you must be Sternn. I knew you knew where the treasure was. All I had to do was wait. Ah, but you forget: I knew you knew we knew where the treasure was. Ah, but you see, I knew that you knew that— Oh my Tyr shut up. Now that's how we roll.  Umm, guys? Like, banter is great and all, but... Huh. Well, that's no good.  Meet Mace. More importantly, meet 60 or so of Mace's closest friends. I'll say this about the man: when he throws a party, everyone's invited. There's several ways to trigger this fight, such as kicking over the altar to the east or trying to leave. Clearing out the loot is as good as any, so we pick that. There may be tactical advantages to other methods, like using the temple doors as a choke point. To be honest, with all those archers, it's not going to matter. As for the man of the hour, you may remember Mace waaaaay back from the Podal Plaza rumors. He's a half-orc Cleric of Bane who is too dumb to know how to treasure-hunt yet smart enough to realize some poor schlubs will do it for him. Also, he has his namesake Mace +1. Yes, he named himself after his own mace. Tyranthraxus is not sending his best and brightest. Our main concern is his ability to cast  HOLD PERSON ...which, when surrounded by an army that will get like 20 ranged attacks before Shanna can even blink, is not a great way to keep your characters alive.  omigod need a fireball NEED A FIREBALL KIND OF BUSY HEREThe next pressing problem is the positively stupid amount of orc leaders in this fight. They're all armed with a short bow, and while 14 monsters firing arrows at a character will take a healthy chunk off their HP no matter what, it's especially bad if they plink Rezen before she can blast them. Granted, I did this to myself since my opening spell was a magic missle to Mace's face, but he was literally in mid-cast when we zapped him. It was either hit him with an instant spell or risk a HP cast locking down Rez, aborting the fireball, and forcing a battle reload. Still, it's not too bad. I mean, Mace is just a regular cleric wearing regular armor, and we're (allegedly) professionals wearing magical gear.  Suck on THAT, jackass. Yeah! Suck on THAT! Oh my gods he's adorable. Can we keep him? I'll pay for all his vet bills.In other good news, the AI's not smart enough to concentrate fire, which means Rezen's bracers save the day. Eventually, her initiative roll lines up just right, and we can give them the ol' explodo.     Hey, we're not dead yet! Are we actually going to make it? Yeah, this is standard operating practice for us. Go against an army of assholes, panic, throw a fireball at them, gloat. We've got it down to a science. Ha ha, okay! I can't wait to tell the Bishop about this! Stay on task. We can celebrate our victories after we win them. "We?"    gkk DIRTEN!We're still facing a sizeable army, though, even after torching them with an immensely satisfying fireball. Attrition is not our friend after facing 30 arrows a round longer than we should've. We need to wrap this up.   Then again, we have an extremely motivated Level 6 cleric raining down Hold Person spells like it ain't no thang. Really, all you have to do is thin the crowd before Mace or his buddies' arrows can wreck you. We shouldn't be freaking out about waves of orcs by now. If you deal with Mace right away, this fight should go down pretty smooth. Not pictured here is the last hit of the fight, which is Rez blasting an orc with her Quarter Staff +1 for 10 damage.  That at least confirms critical hits are still a thing.  Victory gets us Mace's namesake, which is infinitely worse than Shanna's Hammer +3, so who cares. Still, we didn't come here for the mace. We came here for the Dust, and the Dust we have received. Back to Sasha to turn in our bounty.   ...   Oh, you're back. I— WHAT THE CHRIST Here. Give this mace to the Bishop, and tell him his gods damned bounty is complete. *storms out* ... ... ... ... ... Heeeeey, S— GET OUT OF MY OFFICEAnd with that, Mace is taken down, and two more areas have been reclaimed for New Phlan. We actually don't get a reward from the council here, and Bishop Braccio won't give you one, either. Sasha says you get to keep all the treasure you found, which... yeah? We were going to do that anyway? On a side note: high drama aside, Dirten just up and leaves your party after the fight with Mace. No notice or interaction, just poof and gone. In our case, he was already down to 0 HP, so the game auto-guttered him. We had absolutely no say in it. No matter. The mission's still complete, so tune in next t— Oh, shut up.Next Time: Winning Friends and Influencing People
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Mar 6, 2020 18:15
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Now, Chokes, I'm sure there are plenty of wealthy orcs living in the district, property values notwithstanding. LOL at your portrayal of Bishop Braccio. Dirten is a priest of Ilmater, the Realms' god of martyrs and endurance. He's depicted as constantly suffering various forms of agonizing pain. Not the sort of god I generally gravitate towards. Dirten is very useful in combat, as Chokes mentioned. He's also the only party NPC cleric I can recall in any Gold Box game. Pity there's not more of them. There's a whole subplot the player doesn't easily get in the Temple area. Mace is paranoid that the treasure is booby trapped against evil, so he wants the party to find it for him and set off (or cancel) the traps. The patrol you get the Bane symbols from can hint at this if you're Sly, I think. Mace doesn't attack you until you desecrate the place, find the treasure, or try to leave the Temple without finding it. Speaking of Mace, an enemy cleric is one of the most dangerous things in a Gold Box battle, with their ability to cast Hold Person and all. You want to neutralize Mace as fast as you can in this fight. The ranged attackers too, obviously. Fortunately, Mace is generally on the front line. My fighters usually pummel him quick while casters get the ranged enemies with AoE spells. You want to save your Wands & Scrolls for this fight so the spells go off instantly. Ah, the Dust. That will certainly come in handy. Great title for what's going down at the Kobold Caves.
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Mar 6, 2020 18:44
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achtungnight posted:Dirten is a priest of Ilmater, the Realms' god of martyrs and endurance. He's depicted as constantly suffering various forms of agonizing pain. Wow. No wonder he fit right in.
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Mar 6, 2020 18:49
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Ah, I'm assuming one of the enemy bosses has a dust allergy and this dust will be used to trigger it, granting you a free win.
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Mar 6, 2020 21:17
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A beholder but with noses instead of eyes
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Mar 6, 2020 22:05
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Turns out The Big Bad of Baldurs Gate One had a fatal dust allergy, all along Dumb of him to hide out underground in a dilapidated temple then
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Mar 6, 2020 22:13
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I think I remember Dirten giving a very quick "My job's done now, bye." if he survives the Mace battle. In any case, he's out of the party after that as mentioned. You can actually keep him around for a while if you take that mission from Braccio early on and delay going to the temple. He's about the only NPC in this game who will stay with you for multiple missions. I think it might be possible with Mad Man too, but good luck with that.
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Mar 6, 2020 22:57
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It's also possible with Skullcrusher if you delay returning to the Council Hall after you rescue him. And of course Hirelings will stick around as long as you keep paying them.
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Mar 7, 2020 01:35
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olav ha-sholom Terry Jones
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Mar 7, 2020 01:45
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Alpha3KV posted:I think I remember Dirten giving a very quick "My job's done now, bye." if he survives the Mace battle. Other way round actually, it's more "Your job's done here, you can go report quest complete, I've gotta get to work scrubbing bits of orc off the temple and consecrating unholy symbols of Bane with my holy piss". And you never see him again and it's safe to assume 40 more orcs came through and murdered him. Oh boy, the module version of this area. Would you believe that the writers expected you to do this without Fireball or Hold Person? You were expected to be able do this quest at a minimum of level 2, although Dirten himself (who is oddly a gnome) only approaches you about it at 3 or 4. The quest here is all about the treasure, some of the artifacts were made by gnomes and Dirten wants to retrieve them, while you can keep the rest. As Achtungnight stated, Mace also wants the treasure, and his guards are instructed to not fight you unless you start one, and to let you into the Temple. If you find the treasure, Mace and 40 orcs jump you immediately. If you wander around for two hours, he decides you don't know anything and likewise rush inside. If you try to leave without the treasure, you get jumped at the door. The treasure is a hell of a lot better here, in addition to the Dust, you get scrolls of high level mage and cleric spells (including a fireball and ice storm that you'll probably need to use to get past the Mace Company if you actually do try to do this at level 2), a pile of magic weapons, and some handy potions and wands. The text straight up says that if you show up at 4th level or lower you will probably loving die if you don't find the treasure and use the scrolls and stuff to win the fight. Oddly, the empty buildings that Chokes mentioned do serve a purpose here, Mace's army is hiding out in them waiting for the signal to swarm you. The option to move from building to building killing small groups isn't brought up at all, presumably because the party isn't supposed to think about there being an ambush here and the DM is supposed to railroad them into getting ambushed. I kinda prefer the way I ran this area in my campaign, wherein Mace killed himself trying to summon an avatar of Bane to deal with the party. He failed miserably, but did draw Bane's attention long enough to give the party paladin the back of his hand before dispatching Haask, Voice of Hargut, a character who doesn't actually appear in this game but has some cool lore in the journal and got expanded on later, to deal with them.
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Mar 7, 2020 04:06
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I like the idea of Bane rolling up and being all "you're beneath my notice except that guy, gently caress that guy specifically," it made me giggle
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Mar 7, 2020 04:31
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Chokes McGee posted:I like the idea of Bane rolling up and being all "you're beneath my notice except that guy, gently caress that guy specifically," it made me giggle As I'm given to recall, it was more because the paladin was in mid-charge trying to end Mace right there and happened to bounce off the briefly appearing image of Bane. But "gently caress you specifically" ended up being a running theme with him, he sort of turned himself into the hostile and angry version of the party face when dealing with all their enemies and more than a few of their allies. Also, there's one more interesting bit from the module worth mentioning. One, count it, one of the many outbuildings around the temple is Mace's house, you can attempt to kick in the door and wreck his poo poo, fighting past waves of guards from room to room. But the entire thing is pointless, because the DM is specifically instructed that Mace must always be able to escape and show up at the temple later. At the very least his name leads to sort of better treasure here, since it turns out he collects jewel-encrusted silver maces, worth thousands of silver pieces each, as an extra gently caress you.
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Mar 7, 2020 05:02
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I read somewhere that the producers of Let's Make a Deal actually did run into the issue of unlucky contestants wanting to keep the goats they had "won," costing the show a fair bit of money.
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Mar 7, 2020 05:46
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Chokes McGee posted:I'm embellishing the story here but this The Saw is family. The Dust... apparently was once family? Perhaps it shall be again. clockwork chaos posted:A beholder but with noses instead of eyes Each nose blows a different putrid spell 
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Mar 7, 2020 06:39
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The Dust is a close friend of the family.
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Mar 7, 2020 07:08
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The Dust is...... THA UNDERTAKER PLAYA
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Mar 7, 2020 08:38
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Dust in the wind.... All we are is Dust in the wind...
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Mar 7, 2020 17:18
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Seyser Koze posted:I read somewhere that the producers of Let's Make a Deal actually did run into the issue of unlucky contestants wanting to keep the goats they had "won," costing the show a fair bit of money. A goat is probably worth more than 100$ (somewhere between 75 and 300 per google). It's not the contestants fault the producer of a show designed to highlight the public being bad at math is also bad at math!
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Mar 7, 2020 19:11
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lmfao I just accidentally broke curse over my knee in about 14 hours. Advice to bad guys, don't give Rez her powers back, it doesn't end well for you Everything seems to be on schedule. Update for latest Pool chicanery should be this weekend. We have about... four? I think? Updates to go before we're done here, then onwards we go!
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Mar 11, 2020 05:36
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Chokes McGee posted:Q: Uh. Four games? What's the run time on these things? I tremble in terror at what Pools of Darkness is saving up for you.
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Mar 11, 2020 07:34
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