|
Just found this thread, and I have a lot of catching up to do!Hobologist posted:I think the Gold Box series straddles 1st and 2nd edition rules then. Sorry to get off the subject and quote something from 20 pages back, but oh god, D&D ghosts...  Way back when I was an awkward 12 year old who played way too much Dungeons and Dragons, I actually had a nightmare about getting hit by an attack from a D&D ghost, which must have rolled a 4 on its 1d4 decades aging damage roll. As I tried to run away I could feel my body turn into that of a 52 year old man with gout and high blood pressure and erectile dysfunction but with none of the wisdom nor life experience nor accomplishments that I would have gained from actually living those 40 years. I woke up in a cold sweat. It was easily the worst nightmare I've ever had.
Jazzimus Prime fucked around with this message at 06:18 on Mar 28, 2020 |
#
?
Mar 28, 2020 06:15
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 29, 2024 10:26 |
|
|
Jazzimus Prime posted:Just found this thread, and I have a lot of catching up to do! Yeah 2016 did this to me and that's where Paper Sorcerer went
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2020 16:05
|
|
|
Pool of Radiance, Chapter 20: Mission Improbable Ehn, ehn, ehn ehn, doot, doot, doot doo  deedle doo, deedle dee, deedle doo, doot doo   Good morning, Cpt. Sternn. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to infiltrate the main base of Tyranthraxus.  You'll enter through the castle keep, here. After which, you'll storm the inner gates, find your way through the deadly rose garden, and directly assault Tyranthraxus' keep. As always, should you or your team be captured, the Council of New Phlan will disavow all knowledge of your existence. ... Or if you're not captured. ... Or just in general. Your boat'll now self-destruct in ten seconds. What? No it won't. *cracks knuckles*Ten seconds later...  *dusts off hands* That was highly unnecessary, yet oddly cathartic. I knew you'd come around eventually. And all you needed was an extended drunken fight against the odds! Thank you for reminding me of that black mark on the rest of my life. Any time!  Today on the Gold Box adventures, we start Pool of Radiance's endgame.  No, definitely not that one. As noted above, we have four areas left on our agenda:
   Okay, here's the plan. We'll keep it real quiet-like—just sneak in under the cover of night. Sure. This has literally not worked, ever, in any capacity, but you do you. Oh, I intend to.    So far so good. Just need to keep it real stealthy. Completely subtle.  BWOOOOOO BWOOOOO Welp. You seem... eeriely calm about this, Justine. Eh. Let's go do what we were going to do anyway.Now, I want to point out there are ways through the Gate that are much easier to deal with. For instance, a merchant at the zone entrance will sell you his cart for a pretty measily sum, and you can waltz through the front door like you own the place so long as the guards aren't suspicious. Getting yelled at for getting too close to the wall is one of those things that makes them suspicious. So, if you want to do it the smart way, grab that cart, hug the outer walls, then head for the gate. You can get in, beat a few well contained fights, and capture the place from the inside. Easy peasy. Or—and keep in mind this is completely optional—you can do it the All-Stars way.    WHAT'S UP *punch*  Omigod, I like this way better than the other thing we weren't actually doing!That's right: we're going through the front door, baby!   Our first welcoming party is a bugbear patrol. Despite the odd name and unique sprites, they're basically just orcs on steroids. The AC 5 isn't great, but it's nothing we can't handle.  Seen here.  Our next job is to break through the gates. While we attempt to do so, the guards are dumping garbage on our heads for small hits of damage. Not fun.  Fortunately, we have a Hanover for that!  Next is the inner gates. Again: Hanover.  WHO WILL MEET OUR CHALLENGE, COME AND FACE YOUR DOOM  oh ...oh hahahaha Justine? Are you all right? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA WOOOOOO LET'S KILL US SOME GIANTS Oh dear. I think we broke her.If you choose to go in hot like a lunatic, you're greeted with:
I will stress again that, in a normal world, you'd split this into two separate fights which you'd have the initiative advantage in. However, since we're going the direct route, everyone runs out at once to meet us. Six ettins is serious loving business. This is a tough, tough crowd.  It's also why the Good Lord invented Fireball. Besides shutting up the mages, you need those Ettins dead yesterday. Ettins are two headed giants that (naturally) get multiple attacks and do horrific levels of damage. They're the first opponents that can kill one of our guys dead, like dead dead, with just their regular attacks. Fortunately, they're large characters, so they do a pretty good job of forming their own traffic jam. Either way, once you win, the gates are claimed by New Phlan—yes, they made us do all the work and then took the credit, again—and we're free to rest on this map. Regardless of which approach you take, you get two rings of protection +2 for your troubles. It... kind of sucks as far as rewards go, but it's not completely terrible. We've got killer gear as is, and resistance rolls are the last item on the punchlist. I'm still not 100% convinced they do anything, but we put them on anyway.   Okay, we need an angle. Something subtle. Like a disguise? Exactly. I'm not putting one of those on. Spoilsport.   Um, we're here to kill Tyranthraxus? Not you? Not sounding an alarm would be nice. Say, do you have any spare disguises lying around? Why would they have—  Wha— Charisma   After breaching the outer keep, the very first thing you should do is cruise over to the local laundrymat and pick up some disguises. As long as you're disguised and haven't set off any alarms, scripted encounters and random patrols won't attack on sight. That's less fighting to do, which means less trips back out, which means less annoyance. Despite all evidence to the contrary, I like not being annoyed, so we pick up the disguises.     Valjevo is absolutely massive, and there's some really nifty stuff to be found. As we're in end game, we need to start amassing Big Deal™ magical items, and there's a couple in this area we don't want to miss.    bwee o bwee o treasure police you're under arrest for a treasure crime Ignore her, she's been spending too much time in a closed room with the bleach. Hmm. Let me think about it. No.  Dat necklace, tho! Agreed. I think. It's not cursed this time. Right?  Nah, seems legit. You have no way of knowing that. Nope!Kicking the crap out of these clerics is an easy fight if you can beat them to the Hold Person spells. Accepting their blessing instead whacks any non-evil characters for healthy amounts of damage, and then you have to fight them anyway. Trying to run gets you a Necklace of Missles upside the head for equally healthy amounts of damage. In contrast, victory nets you some Plate Mail +1 and said Necklace of Missles, which pretty much makes this fight non-optional. You may remember me mentioning it before, but a Necklace of Missles is a limited use instant Fireball spell. It's a very weak one, but it's one anyone can use, and it's enough to shut magic users and clerics up. That's all I care about.   There's also an alt    Just picking up the laundry, sir! *holding Justine back* What? I'm fine. You're going to try to stab them in the throat if I let you go, and you know it. Heh. "Beat you." I gotta steal that one.Remember waaaaaay back in Podal Plaza, where someone mentioned that Tyranthraxus had a castle full of giants? Guess what we just barged into? There are ettins, fire giants, and hill giants hanging out all over the place. Ettins are, mercifully, saved for special scripted encounters. Fire giants and hill giants make up most of the troops, and they're so-so to fight but will trigger alarms. Also, fire giants drop insane amounts of money, which is hilarious but not really helpful. We don't really need experience or money any more, so rely on our disguises and some fast talking to keep us out of fights. In D&D lore, fire giants are renowned for their cruelty. But hill giants?   Stuff. Also, things. Hill giants are known far and wide for being real, real dumb. This response comes no matter what parlay option you pick.   Another example: these roving bands of John C. Rileys are placated by a password some hill giants just up and give you. If you don't give the right password, you'll trigger a fight with a hill giant pack led by a high level human fighter and will have to deal with random encounters until the alarm stops. I don't think this will blow your disguise permanently, but I'm actually not sure. I'll be honest with you: according to these videos, I do the necessary equipment collection and then head straight for the boss. I think I was running out of steam at this point. Think that's lazy? Just wait until we get to Blades. You're gonna see some seriously low effort poo poo.  Anyway, this is our next stop.  And inside, we find...  ... EYES, LUNGS, LIVER, KIDNEYS. SO MUCH TO STAB, SO LITTLE TIME. Turn it down a notch, headband. Let's hear him out first. Ooh, not off to a great start.   You left us to die at the hands of Zhenthil Keep. There's no reason to believe anything you say. Like, can I stab him yet? Please? (never do that again, game) Yikes. Well, thanks for playing our game. Heather?   Have fun in Baator, jerk. You're awfully quiet about this, Shanna. Never confuse mercy with weakness.  Letting Cadorna go will get you the inner gate password later. Thanks to some chatty Hill Giants, we can just straight up shank him and not feel bad about it. I mean, we tried to leave, and the dude practically talked our party into killing him. No wonder the outpost ambush failed. He's as incompetent at subterfugue as... well, us.   Be right back. Is that wise? Biggest lungs, best chance. *splash* ... Welp. Who's next? I volunteer Heather!  Huh. I'm surprised you made it down there and back. Swimming is totally the best way to stay in shape. Should Hanover be turning blue like that? Not so far as I'm aware, no. *push* out goes the bad air, in goes the good *push*There's no actual penalty for failing to hold your breath. You just pop back out of the pool empty-handed and can try again. You'll want to keep trying, because making it to the bottom and back nets you a Long Sword +2 Flametongue. That's a really fancy way of saying it does fire-attuned damage, which... doesn't really make a difference to us. But it sounds cool! So there's that! Plus, it's a friggin' Long Sword +2. We give it to Hanover, and that rounds out all our fighters with high quality swords. That's everything I felt like dealing with in this area, apparently. Let's head for the inner keep and get this over with.  :o    Easy enough. If you let Cadorna go, he slips your guys the password here. If you don't have the password, you'll have to break in. The gates are pretty resistant to everything except 18(00) strength and Knock, and the guards will be raining debris on you the entire time. So, take your time to explore, save often in case you blow a guard encounter, and uncover as much info and loot as you can. You'll save yourself a lot of grief later. We're going to cut off here, since there's an awkward amount of content left to cover. But, we're almost over the finish line, and next episode is our thrilling season finale! So, tune in next time, where you'll hear Tyranthraxus say: ...lemon curry?Next Time: Big Brass Bosses
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2020 17:32
|
|
|
If there are any trolls left, the Flametongue would at least be a way to put them down permanently without needing to resort to magic.
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2020 19:07
|
|
|
PurpleXVI posted:If there are any trolls left, the Flametongue would at least be a way to put them down permanently without needing to resort to magic. You'd think that, but I swear during the Kobold fight some of the fireballed trolls stood up. Also I don't think fire giants take fire damage (duh), so the sword's basically useless against them lol idc though it's still a long sword +2
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2020 19:15
|
|
|
Almost done the first game and it's just around the 7th month mark. That's not too shabby all things considered.
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2020 19:44
|
|
|
Randalor posted:Almost done the first game and it's just around the 7th month mark. That's not too shabby all things considered. Honestly the games themselves seem to be going quick. It's the writing that gets you 
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2020 19:48
|
|
|
Chokes McGee posted:You're gonna see some seriously low effort poo poo. So we're going to be getting some clip show episodes
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2020 20:27
|
|
|
FeyerbrandX posted:So we're going to be getting some clip show episodes There might be two updates for the entire mines. If we're lucky.
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2020 20:29
|
|
|
Chokes McGee posted:There might be two updates for the entire mines. If we're lucky. Secret of the Silver Blades was one of my favorite games as a kid, somehow. I beat it like 3 times. I might have issues.
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2020 21:11
|
|
|
The mines in SSB aren't really too diverse an area, just ten levels of progressively tougher monsters and environmental hazards. With a few major setpieces scattered throughout. I'll discuss it more when we get there. But yeah, I'd have it done in 2 updates, 3 max. The third only cause a certain level is so prominently different and it grants you the best NPC party member in the series. Rings of Protection +2 give a 2 point bonus to AC and all saving throws, which is the D&D defense mechanism against poison, strong magic (save for half damage), charms, and other nasty stuff. They do help out, though it's not always obvious. But the bonuses don't stack with magical armor, so you only want characters in normal armor to wear them. Or mages, who can't wear the heavy armor anyway. Rings do stack normally with Cloaks of Protection and Bracers, which mages can use. You may also want to dress high level Rogues in Bracers, Cloaks, and Rings of Protection. Evasion didn't exist in early editions of D&D.
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2020 21:42
|
|
|
Chokes McGee posted:And inside, we find... The thing I think most players don't get about Cadorna. The devs wanted you to at least consider the possibility that Cadorna and Tyranthraxus are the same dude up until now. Yes, yes, you can take your time to laugh about how stupid that idea would be. But then think about it. Cadorna has been the ones pulling your strings all this time, sending you to rescue shady agents like Skullcrusher, and to get information on the Pool of Radiance from the library. The Adventurer's Journal even has fake entries to mislead you into believing that Cadorna is evil and possibly a literal demon. Cadorna's rapid rise to prominence in the council is only briefly touched on in one obscure journal entry in the game, but is meant to make you stop and wonder in the module. Also, the game doesn't bother to tell you what the hell Cadorna is even doing chained up here, the module makes it clear that Tyranthraxus captured him and is holding him for ransom, the final adventure to enter the castle actually starts with the council authorizing the party to deliver the ransom, although nobody actually gives a rat's rear end about Cadorna himself (Tyranthraxus is using him as bait for the party, the council wants to put him on trial, the party wants revenge or to uphold the law or get paid or level up or whatever is motivating the players). So what the hell is his deal? Porphyrys Cadorna is the last remaining descendant of a line of successful cloth makers (hence the ancestral family textile house that gave Chokes and every other player fits), and he wants to rebuild the family name and wealth, first by getting in on the ground floor of the New Phlan government, then using the party to get his family's business back. At some point, he got really into the Pool of Radiance and started trying to gather information on it, using the party to do so directly by gathering documents from the old library, but also paying off thieves and other shady types, up to making his deal with Zhentil Keep. Cadorna is pretty sure the Pool is the source of Tyranthraxus' power and wants that power for himself (the player in both the game and the module has enough information to know better, but Cadorna never got to hear the stories from Zhentil Keep because of that whole backstabbing issue). One interesting bit that the game skips: rather than returning from Zhentil Keep to Phlan and instantly having everybody go "Cadorna's a traitor, bring us his head on a spike!", the party returns in the module to find a warrant is out for their arrest, signed by Cadorna in his capacity as head of the council (because module Cadorna is smart enough to have backup plans). If they got the papers back from the Zhent commandant, they can use them as proof of Cadorna's treachery, otherwise the party has to go the rest of the game without council support, getting documents from Tyranthraxus' spies in the central castle to prove that Cadorna is scum. Presumably if you don't even do that much the party probably gets a pardon at the end of the game for saving the city, but the writer's didn't seem to think it was necessary to go into. Of course, none of this matters anymore, because Chokes just killed Cadorna in cold blood. He explained what happens if you don't, but I'll just mention that Cadorna has one more role to play in the endgame of the module if he survives this encounter, which I'll sit on until Chokes posts the endgame of the game.
|
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2020 00:03
|
|
|
Very interesting notes on Cadorna, Truthkeeper. I can envision some D&D parties having fun times with him in charge of Phlan while they go after The Boss. If anyone is curious, the deity he invokes in his pleas for mercy, Chauntea, is the Realms goddess of life and agriculture. She’s closely affiliated with springtime, the harvest, and femininity. Also a major figure in opposition to Bane, whose purview is tyranny, ambition, and strife. Bane is naturally an evil god. Other Realms deities mentioned in the game are Tyr (justice, law), Ilmater (suffering, martyrs, endurance); Sune (love, passion); Tempus (war); and Gond (invention, engineering). The first three are good gods, the latter two neutral. Gond takes on more prominence in later games but I think he’s mentioned in PofR at least once or twice. Tempus and Sune have temples in Phlan, I don’t think they’re mentioned beyond that. Tyr and Ilmater we recall from the Mace quest.
|
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2020 00:46
|
|
|
Truthkeeper posted:Of course, none of this matters anymore, because Chokes just killed Cadorna in cold blood. It wasn't that cold! When we tried to leave, he said he was gonna spring the alarm on us! It's more lukewarm blood imo quote:Very interesting notes on Cadorna, Truthkeeper. let's play a game called "quote from the thread or quote from torment planescape"
|
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2020 01:14
|
|
|
Chokes McGee posted:
Also, to the guy who was asking about this several pages back, it's a reference to the episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus that featured the legendary Cheese Shop skit. And lemon curry is a very real thing, although from what I understand it's more of a South Indian pickle dish than what Westerners would call a "curry". Getting into the details of Indian cuisine is beyond the scope of this thread, but I just wanted to let you all know I'm getting very hungry for a Murgh Korma with naan and some basmati rice. edit: also I caught up on the thread 
Jazzimus Prime fucked around with this message at 04:42 on Mar 31, 2020 |
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2020 03:32
|
|
|
Jazzimus Prime posted:Also, to the guy who was asking about this several pages back, it's a reference to the episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus that featured the legendary Cheese Shop skit. And lemon curry is a very real thing, although from what I understand it's more of a South Indian pickle dish than what Westerners would call a "curry". Getting into the details of Indian cuisine is beyond the scope of this thread, but I just wanted to let you all know I'm getting very hungry for a Murgh Korma with naan and some basmati rice. I apologise to everyone who finds lemon curry delicious as my thought was an entire uncut wedge of lemon in a curry sauce which personally makes me want to throw up a little bit maybe it's good after all? IDK???
|
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2020 05:07
|
|
|
I've never had curry, lemon or otherwise, so 
|
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2020 06:12
|
|
|
Chokes McGee posted:
Wow, I should get a Hanover for myself. They sound handy! <Searches Amazon for "Hanover." Comes up with a jar of pretzels, a brand of canned foods, a $350 outdoor recliner and a book on the Wilmington Massacre subtitled "The Persecution of the Lowly."> ...You are wasting my life, Chokes. quote:
...Said the drunken murder-cleric.
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2020 06:15
|
|
|
DGM_2 posted:Wow, I should get a Hanover for myself. They sound handy! In so, so very many ways Did you try searching for fiste Try that Seems pretty safe to do on the internet
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2020 07:12
|
|
|
Pool of Radiance, Chapter 21: Big Brass Bosses Well, it's the moment you've all been waiting for. Today on the Gold Box Adventures, we take on Tyranthraxus.  Last time, we waltzed through the outer keep after stabbing a helpless prisoner to death. On that note, I've been accused by other posters of killed Cadorna in cold blood. The council specifically authorized and ordered us to end him, and even with that, we tried to walk away. Maybe don't threaten the people you tried to murder if you don't want bad things happening    There's not a lot going on in the rose garden itself. There's no random encounters, and you can camp out without reprisal. It is, however, a giant, overly complicated hedge maze that's a pain in the rear end to get around, let alone map. You can't see safe paths through the hedge until you're right up on them, there's teleporters all over the place, and you don't get (X,Y) coordinates on your HUD. I'm not going to repost the full map, but go back an update and take a look at it. Can you imagine mapping that poo poo on your own? I mean, it's theoretically possible since the game tells you when you've teleported. That's more than Wizardry gives you. Even still, you have to scribble down all these little grid-based tetris pieces and then glue them together after the fact. It's terrible. That being said, there is some content in the inner towers. Most of it involve us getting murdered by trolls and/or giants, so I'm not going to do those. However, in one of them...   Nope, I've had enough of harmless people trying to kill us. *draws sword* wait wait I'll give you my notes I'LL GIVE YOU MY NOTES Hmm. I do like notes.  Journal Entry 30 posted:Carefully prepared notes. Oh, what the—this is just Thyranthraxus fan fiction! Is not! You scribbled "I <3 the Boss" in the margins! Huh, will you look at that WELP BYE Yeah, this guy brings nothing to the table. You can fight him if you want—he's just a single magic user—but c'mon, there's no reason to. As far as I know, he really is just a harmless dude studying Tyranthraxus. I think he even mentions at one point that he's a captive, but I don't know how truthful that is, and I also don't care enough to verify.  If you threaten him briefly he'll give you his fan letters, but other than that, he peels out and you never see him again.Oddly enough, he carries some really high quality loot. If you want to get your stab on, you can pick up (among other things) a Bracers AC 3 and Javelin of Lightning. Like I said earlier, though: we're still the good guys. Even if marginally.   ugh hate this level so much   Oh, this is totally a boss room. Really? How can you tell? Um, I live in one? ...so, to recap: you live in a final boss' room. Yes. And you also live in the final dungeon of your world. Fer sure. And all the monsters of said dungeon cower before you and follow your every command. Totally! Have you considered that you, yourself, are a boss? I do things like a boss, if that's what you mean. Not really, no.  Lemon curry! ...lemon curry? I dunno, seemed like the thing to stay. You're Tyranthraxus? Seems like kind of a let-down to me. Arrogant knave! You will kneel before the mighty Tirantakus! ... ...tryranhexus! ... ... You're not Tyranthraxus. I totally am!  He wasn't Tyranthraxus. Nope. !!! Rezen? I'm pickin' up good vibrations, it's givin' me excitations Is she gonna be okay? Is she ever?    GOOOOD, GOOOOOD, GOOOOOOOOD GOOD VIBRATIOOOOOOONS~ MMM BOW BOWSo, this guy. Obviously not Tyranthraxus, since A) he's got all of two thieves with him and B) the game doesn't trigger a bunch of bells and sirens after he's dead. Also note that, if your combined party strength is really high, you can threaten him into telling you he's just joshin' you. Do not do this. He wants a fight that bad, give it to him. He's as vulnerable to Hold Person as anyone else. When you kill him—and it should be "when" at this point, not if—he'll drop Gauntlets of Ogre Power and a LONG SWORD +5. Do not pass this loot up. You need this loot for what's coming. Priority #1 is ending this phony's short, unpromising career as an impressionist, then take his gear. I will repeat: DO NOT PASS UP THIS FIGHT. It's an easy kill, and the reward for it is insane. Also: now all of our front line fighters have Gauntlets of Ogre Power. poo poo's getting real.   WOOOOOP WOOOOOP There's always a catch. Yup.There are complications, of course. With the alarm going off, the rose garden will now be populated with giant snakes for a significant amount of game hours. Giant snakes are terrible because they have poison attacks, and we won't get Neutralize Poison in PoR. If they plink a party member for even one measily HP, there's a significant chance said party member will keel over, and we'll have to hike all the way back to New Phlan while the snakes are still coming after us. This is a problem, but you still can't afford to pass up a Long Sword +5. What to do?   Aah, the great outdoors. We're still inside. Aah, the great indoors. Omigod, the stars are so pretty! Okay, I'm not sure how we got from Point A to Point B, but I'm going to assume it was stupid.Immediately after you beat Tyranfauxus, drop anchor and rest for a bit. Long enough to fill your spells back up should do the trick. Apparently, you get a free pass to camp after beating this encounter. It might be a bug instead of intentional, but don't hand us a weapon you don't want us to use.  Once the alarm's gotten it out of its system, the last task is to find the central keep's entrance. This is much more irritating than finding the Fake Boss, because you'll have to take multiple teleporters and wander around all four maps. Even with all the maps in front of me, I get constantly lost and immensely frustrated. So, you could do it the way the game planned, or you could do....... THIS    OH YEAHHHHHThese garden walls are filled with poisonous thorns, but there's nothing that says you can't plow through them anyway. Each time you do, one random person has to make their save versus poison or drop dead. But, we also have rings of resistance and fairly high levels. (In other news, I did this particular maneuver twice in one session and never lost anybody, so I guess the rings actually work!) Bursting through this particular spot puts us on an easy final path to the final boss, so just save, try it, and reload if needed. Perfectly within bounds.   All right, everybody. Get psyched. I'm psyched Are you ready? I'M READY I mean REALLY ready I'M READY ARE YOU READY FOR SOME BOSSES~ What—there's no one here! Oh. Well, that's disappointing. It's the last room we haven't ransacked. There's gotta be something here. I know, right? This is totally where I would set an ambush for adventurers. ... I mean, assuming I did that sort of stuff! Ha ha! Rezen? Yeah? Yes. We're the bad guys. Oh, I figured that out a long time ago.Grats on your hard work, here's an empty room! OR IS IT   Look at me, everybody! I'm bisected down the middle! OMIGOD I'LL SAVE YOU REZEN  lmfao illusionary wall There's no detection involved here and no secret doors. You just walk straight through, and the whole wall vanishes once you're on the other side. That's some Wizardry poo poo right there. All right, for realsies. Let's do this.   The inner keep is small and not even worth posting maps for. There's four floors at most and they're all 10x10 on a good day.  Oh hey! This probably leads to the Boss' super secret hideout. Or maybe... that's just what they want us to think. How does that one particular phrase keep following me around? Stupidity knows no planar limits, Shanna.  This seems like it's going to end well.      ...huh. Man, that never gets old.This is a trap for adventurers not observant enough to find the secret door. Tyranthraxus keeps his pet medusa down here. There's a comically cartoonish trap door above us, which we won't see since I make a beeline for the final room after this. You even have the option to jump down the trap door, break your legs for moderate damage, and then fight the medusa if you haven't already. There are a lot of opportunities for the stupid to hurt themselves around here. How our guys survived this long, I'll never know. Anyway, medusas are okay at fighting, but their stone gaze is hilariously inept as long as you come prepared with mirrors. The most annoying thing about them is forcing you to unequip your shields to deal with them, but since there's only one here, that won't be a problem. Yet.  Back on track and through the secret door. Up a couple of flights of stairs, and then...   (World-Spanning Evil Inc. Appointments only, 10AM-4PM) The hell is it with evil mages keeping office hours? Maybe they have evil students they're trying to avoid. Makes as much sense as anything else.  Aw. What's up, guy?  Coming! *grumble grumble* We need to get in there. ...why? *points* (No soliciting.) If they have to put up a sign, they're defenseless. It's disturbing how much thought you put into these things. Look, Sternn may act like an idiot, and seem like an idiot, and actually be an idiot. ... ... ...but? No, that's it.  Singing telegram! ? Happy happy birthday, is what we really mean! Happy happy birthday, we'll stab you in the spleen~ Hmm. General Sternn. Wouldn't you still be a captain? Hmm. General Captain Sternn. Gotta admit, it has a nice ring to it. It does? Nah. Come on down! You're the next contestant on Let's Kill Tyranthraxus! ONE DOLLAR It's... I was being... you know what? You win. YAAAAAAY  This is Genheeris, who presumably works for the Boss. If you (P)arley (N)ice (or presumably (M)eek) before this, he tells you to go pester Al-Hyam Dhazid and tell him to execute "Phase 2 of Plan A" (sic). If you remember, Dhazid was hanging out with the Commandant in Zhentil Outpost. I refuse to believe the Boss' organization has that level of preparedness. I think this guy is just making things up and then using it to embezzle funds. Anyway, if you stick around after he dismisses you, he realizes you're not a flunky and panics. Letting him tag along, shockingly, does not get you backstabbed later. (Never underestimate the power of cowardice.) This guy's actually a pretty good mage and can cast lightning bolt if the AI remembers to. He's still superfluous, but hey. Stick it to your boss, Mage Guy! Only one room left now.  Okay, this is the final boss room. Yeah. I can sense it. Me too. *points* If you know how the trick's done, Justine, don't tell anyone.  Rezen! I know. Stay frosty, we got this. So. We meet at last. Yes. We meet again, Tyranthraxus. I've never seen you before in my life. We meet again, Tyranthraxus, for the first time. I believe you mean... the last time. Woah. That was a really rad comeback. He's got panache, I'll give him that. Ew? Shanna, do you have any more Cure Disease spells? I don't want to catch it. ... BRING IT Headband! You gotta stop doing that! Seriously, it's getting as bad as Sternn. BRING IT NOT HELPINGOkay, so. This fight. That's not your imagination: it's 20 Level 8 Fighters in high quality magical armor wielding Two-Handed Swords +2. Level 8 is the cap in this game. That's... not great odds for us. We need an equalizer.  And we've got one.  *gong* Where did they go WHERE DID THEY GO...what did you just do? VOICES FROM THIN AIR AAAAAA GHOST ADVENTURERSI dunno. It said "open in case of large boss fights" in small print. ...it did? ...sure? Uh... who's talking right now? I don't know? It's pretty gnarly? Other than Heather, I mean. Look, let's just cast some spells and see what happens. It can't be any worse than the alternative. That bag of dust we got waaaaay back when? It's not someone's ashes. It's Dust of Disappearance. I want you to understand just how broken this item is and why you save it for final boss fights. When you use Dust of Disappearance, it casts Mass Invisibility on steroids that lasts the rest of the fight, or at least long enough that it doesn't really matter. Said cast comes with the following perks:
  All we have to do to win this fight is use the dust, have Shanna and Rez rain down Hold Person and Stinking Cloud spells, then carefully maneuver our fighters around to kill everyone. That's right: we're owning the poo poo out of a batallion of Level 8 fighters without even trying. It's loving hilarious how easy Dust of Disappearance makes big fights.  Even the AI controlled mage is getting in on the fun. Just a lot of satisfying stuff going on here.  Once the fight is over, hold back on ending the battle and cast any other buffs you need. You can't take 'em with you, and we've only got one fight left. Hilariously, this is the one time Protection from Good will be helpful since the dragon Tyranthraxus possessed is Lawful Good. Nab any Plate Mail +2 you need from the fighters' corpses, by the way. Never hurts to go in prepared.    No. Nope. Nah. Money's better here. Same. ... ... ... ... ...totally. WHAT Ah, I knew one of you would have the common sens— NOT  That's it. Enough of your inane jabbering. Die.Well, here he is: Tyranthraxus, the Big Brass Boss, in all his glory. Brass dragons have a lot of really awful powers, which is why the Boss wanted this form. First of all, they hit a ton, because it's a loving dragon. Secondly, they breathe lightning. These aren't piddly little Level 6 mage spells, either. I've seen it do upwards of 80 points of damage before. Thirdly, he's immune to spells, so don't even bother with your big guns. Even splash damage doesn't work. And, finally, Tyranthraxus (maybe the dragon instead? idk) has a fiery aura, which means he gets an extra fire attack on successful hit. It's insane. There's no reason for a monster this powerful to be the last boss in a game that caps everyone at level 7 (level 6 for casters). Want to know something really funny, though? Now, reveal yourselves and face my might! ... We're... we're still here? ... ... ...it occurs to me that I should have picked a race that can See Invisible. Oh, this is gonna be fun.  Unfortunately for Tyranthraxus, we didn't go back to the map in between fights. That means the engine is treating this as one long encounter... which means our Dust of Disappearance is still active. He doesn't even get a first turn, because the people standing next to him haven't acted, so he doesn't know they're there. Also, he can't hit us with his breath weapon, because we still can't be targeted by effects. I am the mighty Tyranthraxus! You are nothing to me—just a pack of six babbling idiots fueled solely by blind luck! You know what? We may look like idiots, and act like idiots—  But if I were you, I'd start making peace with the fact you're about to eat a colossal amount of poo poo.   gkk Huge amount of poo poo. Just tremendous.Final boss. Six turns. Two fighters do 40 damage each. One takes 7 HP of damage back.  Tyranthraxus. A single item changed you from a major roadblock to a total jobber, and I can't say I'm all that sad about it. Yeah, your army's dead, and so are you. Now what? ... ...it occurs to me none of us are immune to possession. Whoops. Yeeeeeah, we're not doing this again. You had your chance. And as for you six...  We'll see each other again. Were... were we just threatened by a god? You get used to it after a while. ...goodness. Hey, anybody seen a hat around here? No. What was with that, anyway? Why would a dragon be wearing a top hat? No reason! Ha ha! ... HA HA. HA. HA You two are so weird sometimes. omigod omigod omigod relax, it was probably destroyed when he got recalled    HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ... *deep inhale* EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ... EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY SASHA  Holy Sune, that's the liveliest I've ever seen you. I'm contractually obligated to use a minimum of five exclamation points a year. I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did. Yeah, I hated them too.  Ding dong, the Boss is dead. Our reward is 45000 XP, 200 gems, and 100 jewelry. That is more than enough to top off the levels of whoever needs it. Also, we dump Ghenheeris on Sasha on our way out since there's no reason to keep him in the party anymore. I mean, Cadorna's dead, they have an opening in the Council, everything works out. I'm sure replacing him with another corrupt schemer who worked for Tyranthraxus will be fine. And that's it. Seriously, that's it. No chevron of completion. No long, drawn out parade. You get an honest pat on the back from Sasha and her blessing to go clean out whatever quests are left. THAT'S IT.  Now what? Well, we're not any closer to getting Rezen's powers back or getting home. Yeah. I was hoping I could use the Pool of Whozamawhatzit, but it's got a fire demon in it, so that's out. Maybe the Hat could— No. I have one rule, headband, and you've found it. No Hat. If that thing's dead, it needs to stay dead. What's your thing against hats, short stuff? Yeah! They're dapper as hell. Guys, it's... Look, I owe you an explanation, but it's a long story. A really long one. We've got time. Let's head over to one of the pubs, then. I need social lubricant if I'm gonna relive this, and so are you. I have literally never seen you drink anything but soda. Don't metabolism shame.And with that, Pool of Radiance is successfully in the books. One down, three to go. I hope you've enjoyed this LP as much as I did making it, which is to say that I didn't completely hate it. We're not done here, though—not by a long shot. Because next time, we're going to be taking on...  Azure what? Who knows! You'll just have to tune in next time to find out, on the Gold Box Adventures!  That looks like the last of the Boss' junk. We should be able to sell this off at a pretty good price. Your highness! We found this in the rubble! Wow, that's way more dapper than this thing. *sip* Gimme. As you wish, my liege. ... ...your highness? BEWARE, I LIVE AGAINNext Time: Tattoo U
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2020 19:09
|
|
|
Over the first finish line! There... may be a bit before I start up Curse. Thanks for sticking with me for this long, guys. I hope to crank out good enough quality to keep you around
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2020 19:13
|
|
|
JAZZ HANDS One down!
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2020 19:49
|
|
|
This hat is very concerning indeed
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2020 19:52
|
|
|
Slaan posted:This hat is very concerning indeed Extremely cursed hat
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2020 20:11
|
|
|
Just chiming in to saySlaan posted:This hat is very concerning indeed
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2020 20:20
|
|
|
If memory serves, you can get four maps in the game that help you navigate the hedge maze. Also, if you can take the fighters without the dust, the dragon fight is actually trivially easy as long as you don’t lose initiative. 1E dragons have breath weapons whose full damage is their full hp (so the breath always does 80 electrical, save for half). But it takes an action for the dragon to breathe. If you give an enemy that hasn’t acted yet an attack of opportunity by moving away from it, it loses its action that combat round. Because the bite attack does much less damage than the breath or full attack sequence, you can use this trick to keep depriving the dragon of its actions until you kill it. In later encounters against lots of dragons, you can use the same trick by running one well-armored character around triggering AoOs to keep them all from using breath weapons. Sadly, some foes (like many wizards) don’t have an equipped weapon and this trick won’t work on them.
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2020 20:26
|
|
|
Thanks for the thread, Chokes. I genuinely enjoyed it. Will the other games continue in this threaD?
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2020 20:52
|
|
|
PurpleXVI posted:Thanks for the thread, Chokes. I genuinely enjoyed it. Absolutely. My ultimate goal is to get from PoR to Pools and come hell or high water it's happening. Unless I get bored. Or distracted. Or whatever.
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2020 21:07
|
|
|
Narsham posted:If memory serves, you can get four maps in the game that help you navigate the hedge maze. This has not been my experience in Gold Box. Most of the time they just up and blast you in the face as an alternate action. Maybe I'm just not observant idk e: Also I'm pretty sure AoO doesn't consume your action because I've had multiple people turn their backs on the same characters that get actions in later rounds and still get shanked. Again, for all I know, this could be the C64 version or something that's completely uncharted waters or even a difference from game to game. The Gold Box series is many things but consistently coded for quality is not one of them. Chokes McGee fucked around with this message at 22:01 on Apr 1, 2020 |
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2020 21:08
|
|
|
A great let's play of a great game. Thanks for this! (wasn't even aware that you could get an NPC that wouldn't backstab you in the end)
|
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2020 21:28
|
|
|
Chokes McGee posted:Over the first finish line! There... may be a bit before I start up Curse. Hooray! Thanks for the very entertaining LP. Hopefully that's the last we've seen of the Hat 
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2020 21:54
|
|
|
Nemo2342 posted:Hooray! Thanks for the very entertaining LP. Narrator: It wasn't the last they saw of the Hat.
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2020 21:58
|
|
|
Chokes McGee posted:Narrator: It wasn't the last they saw of the Hat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d05R1maYhTY
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2020 23:24
|
|
|
What happens if the team joins the dragon?
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2020 23:51
|
|
|
IIRC, anyone who joins the dragon is on his side in the final boss fight. Your whole party joins, game over! Congrats on finishing the first game. Looking forward to the next three. Is that the same hat treasured by Orc War Chief Nigel Necksmasher? It appears similar... achtungnight fucked around with this message at 01:14 on Apr 2, 2020 |
|
#
?
Apr 2, 2020 01:02
|
|
|
drat fine LP Chokes, I look forward to the rest of them. TheGreatEvilKing posted:What happens if the team joins the dragon? Game over, please insert coin to continue (I believe it might have a unique game over screen, but it's been over twenty years since I actually did it). It's also important to note that if, for whatever stupid reason, you're still using the NPCs hired from the training hall by this point, they always join Tyranthraxus. Chokes McGee posted:
Funny you should say that, the module version of Srossar (the dragon) can automatically see through invisibility. Tyranthraxus himself has 150' ESP, which I'm not entirely clear if that also allows you to attack invisible creatures. Speaking of, let's talk about Big T himself. In the module, this might not have been your first encounter with him. If the party is hanging around Phlan after clearing everything but the Castle, Tyranthraxus throws up his draconic forelimbs, screams "gently caress this poo poo!", and sends an army of orcs and goblins to attack the civilized sector, personally lending close air support to their efforts, and landing to fight the players personally if he sees them. He bails if he gets reduced to half health, and the text specifically describes him as "licking his wounds" when you encounter him in the Castle. Genheeris is a fair bit more complicated in the module. He's still terrified of the party murdering him, but also thinks they're assassins sent by his boss to clean up loose ends, if you do anything that suggests you don't actually work for Tyranthraxus, he immediately turns invisible and runs off, opening secret doors and otherwise giving you as a clear a shot at the possessed dragon as he can. Then he waits invisible in the boss room to see who wins, but ends up ambushing the party either way, if Tyranthraxus is winning it's all "Master I've come to aid you!", if the party is winning it's "Haha, now I will destroy all you fools and rule this city myself!". More importantly, Chokes just punched a dragon in the face until a fiery spirit jumped out of it, tried to possess a party member, and got sucked into the Pool by Bane. That... is not what happens in the module. In that version, Tyranthraxus still tries to possess somebody, party members get a save, anybody else doesn't. He goes for Cadorna first if you for some reason let him follow you around. If you weren't that stupid, he goes for any other NPC, in order of who has the most HP left, skipping anybody under half health. If that fails, he goes for one of his guards, with the same conditions (there really are only two guards here, just like the out of battle text said in-game, no idea where the other 18 in the game suddenly came from). Failing that, he goes for whichever PC has the most HP remaining. Any NPC is automatically taken, PCs have to save vs. death to avoid being possessed. No matter who he possesses, he then attempts to run off, and can only be stopped by killing the new host. If you kill his second host, Tyranthraxus' spirit screams and curses at you, then "roars up into a vast flaming cloud, squealing in hatred, then rockets out through the ceiling of the room." None of this being forcibly recalled by Bane bullshit, and the Pool of Radiance is definitely not in the castle, that was a weird change the game made that didn't make much sense. So what the hell was Tyranthraxus? The Zhentil commandant's story during dinner suggests that he was an evil fire spirit living in a pool, obviously the Pool of Radiance, the Curse of the Azure Bonds module describes him as a Daemon. Some of the material made up for the game ended up being built upon by later writers, who established Tyranthraxus as one of the Seven Lost Gods, a group of minor deities who were either killed or subjugated by Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul during their quest for godhood (confusingly, there's a completely unrelated group of deities called the Seven Lost Gods of Westgate). Some of the Seven were reestablished as elemental primordials in 4th edition, but Tyranthraxus wasn't one of them, possibly because the writers never want to give him a statblock. In my Pathfinder campaign, I made him an elemental from the Quasi-Elemental Plane of Radiance who had apotheosized as a minor deity of glory, victory, and conquest. None of this answers the biggest question of all: Why the hell is his name spelled Tyranithaxus during combat?
|
|
#
?
Apr 2, 2020 01:09
|
|
|
Truthkeeper posted:None of this answers the biggest question of all: Why the hell is his name spelled Tyranithaxus during combat? Chokes McGee posted:The Gold Box series is many things but consistently coded for quality is not one of them.
|
|
#
?
Apr 2, 2020 01:30
|
|
|
Truthkeeper posted:None of this answers the biggest question of all: Why the hell is his name spelled Tyranithaxus during combat? I mean I thought it only did that at first for the fake one, but then we got to the real boss and then... I dunno. Typo? Somebody programming decided to have fun with it? We'll never know
|
|
#
?
Apr 2, 2020 01:54
|
|
|
I have read all of Chokes' previous LPs, and I can say without fear of contradiction that he is indefatigable, tenacious and [insert long word here] in pursuit storytelling, unless he gets distracted by some other proj... ooh, LEGO! *This post brought to you by a grown man who still has all of his Legos
|
|
#
?
Apr 2, 2020 04:40
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 29, 2024 10:26 |
|
|
Chokes McGee posted:Did you try searching for fiste Fair warning: if I feel the need to gouge out any eyeballs, I'm starting with yours. quote:Extremely cursed hat Refresh my memory: does Rezen have any gas left in that chainsaw?
|
|
#
?
Apr 2, 2020 05:22
|
|