|
achtungnight posted:Ah yes. Fix, Save, Rest to Memorize Spells. You’ll be doing that routine a lot when you play these games. Point of order: If you queue up memorize spells first and then fix, you can memorize spells while fixing and lower your risk of an encounter. I always wondered why games allowed you to hide in a closet reading books for a day and a half in the middle of a climactic battle and then everything would pick up where it left off.
|
#
?
Apr 19, 2020 21:56
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 19, 2024 22:04 |
|
|
Blades cleared. That was terrible, everything is terrible. Two party members straight up died. It wasn't even worth the replay, I'll just eat the point of constitution and move on with life. Anyway you've probably noticed the gameplay is running way ahead of the writing, but that's a good thing. If I can get these videos locked down, the only thing keeping me from the end is writing, and I can deal with that.
|
|
#
?
Apr 19, 2020 22:35
|
|
|
I don't know whether to congratulate you on your victory or offer condolences that now you are going to be playing Pools of Darkness. Did you find that Bonds and Blades also took a lot less playtime than you were expecting them to?
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2020 00:54
|
|
|
Chokes, if you need a breather to at least prep you for Pools of Darkness, we'll understand. Maybe use that off time to catch up on some Netlix/Hulu/whatever.
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2020 04:54
|
|
|
ManxomeBromide posted:I don't know whether to congratulate you on your victory or offer condolences that now you are going to be playing Pools of Darkness. Bonds definitely did, having a second mage blew the doors off that game. Blades was someWHAT easier than dress rehearsals but still took a good chunk of my life I'll never get back  I'm probably going to wait until we're done with curse before I crack the seal on PoD. I am looking forward to specific areas, especially for callback potential, but overall despise what I'm about to be put through
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2020 06:30
|
|
|
Curse of the Azure Bonds, Chapter 3: ShitQuest  Wow. That's, um... wow. shiny What? SHINY  (Tell ya what, I'm willing to play ball here.) Sold! Can we discuss things like this first? Maybe just once? SHINYToday on the Gold Box adventures: filth! All of it you can possibly want, and more! We're meeting some otyughs here for the first time. In addition to having a pretty appropriate name, they're telepathic and actually intelligent, albeit in their own way. They also love poo poo. Just love it. They take it to new and exciting heights, such as making literal poo poo art. (And I thought my painting was bad.) This particular group is not only willing to negotiate passage but will also give us treasure of some sort. Do we like treasure? Yes we do. It appears we're off on a lovely quest! Along the way, we find...   *toss*  How long have you had those?! Oh, just the one. For this specific situation. Have you guys tried this new steak? The char on it is perfect!  Even if you don't have flasks of oil, (B)urn will still work and save you a fight. The original edict hasn't changed: don't fight trolls unless you have to. Also, flasks of oil seem really cool since they're basically molotovs but in practice aren't very useful in Gold Box. It's hard as hell to hit with one, and 1d6 fire damage is ehnnnn, especially since I'm not convinced fire damage even works right against regenerators. No matter. We're not fighting trolls, and that's all I give a poo poo about.     This is a stickup. Hand over all your poo poo and no one gets hurt.  IT'S MINE, ALL MINE, YOU CAN'T HAVE IT Why do we do this to ourselves? I mean, existentially speaking. Like, why not? What? How does that— You two quit yer jawin' and fight!  Heh. Jawin'. ... Because you totally have a huge jaw. Yes, I got that part. Thank you. So freakishly huge. Tell me about it! Don't go to sleep tonight. Any of you.Accompanying these otyughs is a neo-otyugh, which is an otyugh, except... bigger. Not much else to say except it takes large target damage and has large target HP. There is, however, something more to say about otyughs in general.   Okay, that was cathartic and all, but I'd really like to not die down here. me tooOtyughs are nasty in combat. They hit multiple times for Troll Jr. levels of damage and can easily cut a wide swath through your party members if they all focus on the same person.  Ergo, we floor these guys as quick as possible using Stinking Cloud. Even the Neo-Otyugh isn't too much trouble once we get it six-on-one. In other news, you wouldn't think Stinking Cloud would work on these guys. I mean... they live in poo poo. They live on poo poo. What's one more bad smell?   Not it! No need to call it this time. Get to work, probie! N...not it?   This becomes a safe zone after we finish the fight, so we top off our spells and HP, fill up our sacks with good old fashioned Tilverton byproduct, and head back.  ("trash" lol) Great! Fork over the shiny. Wow. So, like, Zhentil Keep is here. We totally didn't know that already. Uh. At least we can sell it? *tap* Looks like poo poo covered plastic. Could fetch us 2, maybe even 3 copper on the open market. That's less than the cost of a new pack.  For our troubles, we get proof of something we already know and a few necklaces. Well, that was a bit of good fun, and I think we all learned something. On to the next disaster!  As we progress, we find this guy. Just tossin' failed flesh golem experiments into the sewers, nbd  Also, we have a few cultists of Moander running around. We won't bump into them quite yet, but it emphasizes once again how ridiculously huge these sewers are and how pretty much every faction in the game are in them. The off-camera appearances are getting ridiculous at this point. Why don't they just send loving Elminster down here so we can tick all the boxes?   Wait. You guys hear that? Nope!   I wouldn't be nearly as upset if we didn't have to suffer the consequences, too. That's... kinda mercenary coming from you. My patience has limits.Giant gators in a sewer! Myth confirmed. These assholes hit about as hard and often as their troll handlers, which is no good, since the screen is literally filled with them. Hmm. A screen filled with enemies. Wait! I know!    The crocs' HP is much lower than trolls, so a single fireball and some good luck on enemy savings throws cleans out most of the battlefield. That's good, because it takes more than one fireball to floor trolls, and they're still threshing machines, even at our level.  Fortunately we just so happen to have a second fireball.   We get another free rest stop afterwards, which means we get to refill our fireballs! Hooray! More fireballs for the fireball god!   Ugh. Trolls. No kidding. If I never have to fight another troll, I'll be so totally grateful. They had to fight another troll.  Sternn, I swear to loving God, that better be the last time you do that.  It wasn't the last time he did that.Don't like trolls? Here, have some more trolls!  We handle them in the usual way. ABF (always be fireballin'). I assume Bonegrinder is one of the trolls from the previous fight and was about to be eaten. Maybe I'm being racist? Maybe they're not cannibals, and it was just a harmless prank. I guess we'll never know, because they're extra crispy dead now. Even after flooring Justine, two fireballs and some magic missles is way more than they can handle.  looooooot Our reward for this fairly straightforward fight is some Bracers AC 4, a Flail +1, Shield +1, a Staff Sling +1, and an Ioun stone. That's pretty big. The Ioun stone boosts CHARISMA   , so it goes to Sternn, of course. Also there's this girdle thing or whatever. It's apparently a Girdle of the Dwarves, since Dwarves are known throughout the land for their girdles. That's what it says here, so it must be true.  *tighten* Huh. You didn't strike me as a corset person, headband. Organs... constricted... can't breathe... You could just loosen it some. Figure... never been better... gak And people wonder why I never dress up. Especially me! ...is that supposed to be flattery, or... Hell if I know.The Girdle of the Dwarves gives Heather an extra point of CON at the cost of one point of CHA, which sends her HP rocketing up for the low low price of scoliosis and early organ failure. With the last of the trolls gone, we're free to continue.  Along the way, we pass what used to be a checkpoint. Let's investigate!   "Flamed One," huh. Startin' to think that hat didn't get recalled back to Bane. We don't owe our allegiance to anyone! We're our own men, baby. People. We're our own people men, baby. You see? You see what I have to put up with? You know... I'm still not entirely clear if you two are a couple. Oh, they're a couple, all right. Ain't gonna say of what. Congratulations, good sire. I lol'd heartily. Forsooth.  See? It's not just my writing! This sewer is absurd! This dude is here to rescue Nacacia, which is yet another princess with a long string of vowels that I don't care about. It looks like his cleric's gone rogue, though. Oh well, not our problem. Note how I say that a lot? It's mostly because it isn't. Look, I'm all for the heroing and everything, but I'm a tight schedule here. I can't run off "rescuing princesses" or "stopping the world from being taken over" or whatever the local guild is whining about.    Finally. The Fire Knives guildhouse.  BUT WHAT'S THIS? Someone has beaten us to it!    Well. Well that's not in the mage guild's spellbooks. Must be a cleric thing. Wanna cast that spell. What? What was that? Nothing! Hmm.This whole mess of pain is the result of a Blade Barrier spell, which is... high enough tier it doesn't merit further discussion. It looks like our Cleric friend is obscenely high level, which probably explains the wreckage left in his wake.   Waiting out the duration of the spell takes care of the problem. Wading into it like an idiot gets you absolutely shredded. So, don't do that.   Continuing the rampage, these poor saps got hit with HOLD PERSON but, surprisingly, weren't immediately murdered. For a supposed professional, this guy's pretty sloppy. Clearly the game doesn't care about alignment, so if he's gonna solo the dungeon, he needs the free kills. *interrogate* ackJournal Entry 26 posted:The men had been paralyzed by a spell cast by an invading cleric. He was after the prisoners held in the leader's room to the south. Luckily he had finally been overcome in this room. We should probably do something about that. They didn't do something about that. WILL YOU STOP VOICING TO MY INTERNAL NARRATION Path to the exit should be clear now except for some random fire knives patrols, which—while annoying—aren't exactly lethal. Before we go rushing off to do whatever, there's one more hidden area here we don't want to miss.   *tap tap* Aha! Another secret passage! How do you keep doing that? I thought you weren't a thief anymore. Awright, boss. Says the secret passageway is right here. ... Whoopsie. Sternn Oh yeah? I'd like to see one of you resist the irony of stealing maps from a thieves' guild. That's... actually a pretty good point. This is a secret section of the Fire Knives' guild they don't know about, which tells me this wasn't originally their base. Since they don't know it's here, we can rest without any consequences, which... is a shockingly logical outcome. It's yet another reminder that Curse was put together really well. PoR was charming, but it also had glaring flaws. It's good to see they learned from their mistakes and also immediately forgot every lesson they learned, ever, for Silver Blades. Let's see what's at the end of this passage.   Another secret passage, that's what!  Hmm. These are some suspiciously clean sewers.   That's because it's a secret training room!  This one is incredibly easy to miss since there's no indication of either door, let alone that there's an entire base back here. If you have a dwarf in the party, I think they auto-detect hidden passageways, which... doesn't make any sense to me. Halflings, sure. Dwarves? I guess they have experience finding weird passageways in caves? Hell if I know. Hanover has a hilariously small icon right now but, unfortunately, is still human. Fortunately, Chokes Has Played the Game™.  Grats on making Level 2, probie! I guess this makes you a full apprentice now. I wasn't before? Honestly, I thought your interest in the whole magic thing was gonna fizzle out. Here, have a scroll. You've earned it. What about the rest of those scrolls in your backpack? gimme gimme gimme YOUR MIND IS NOT PREPARED FOR THESE MYSTICAL SECRETS, APPRENTICE But yours is? Hells yeah! gimme gimme gimmeRezen has officially cracked Spell Tier 4! There's a lot of useless gadget spells in this tier but also a few worth memorizing. Let's take a look, shall we?
Anyway, we pick Ice Storm off the menu and Minor Globe of Invulnerability from those scrolls we've been carrying around. Like I said, there's some interesting spells on Tier 4, but I don't bother with most of them. Besides not liking savings throws, I prefer shoveling out damage as fast as possible before the consequences catch up to us. It's not very creative, but it does get the job done. We'll leave off here since we've already covered a ton of ground. So, tune in next time, when you'll hear Rezen say: ...what? We don't have anything on tape? Oh. Well, just tune in next time, I guess! Next Time: Knives Out
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2020 05:35
|
|
and do all sorts of weird things. The list includes: stand around (skip turn); become enraged (bonus to hit and damage? I think); flee in terror (speaks for iself); go berzerk (just attack whatever without user input, who cares). IIRC, you can accidentally hit your guys firing into the crowd, which makes this pretty much useless. Plus, you can't guarantee the results. Just a dumb spell overall.
|
Wasn't Minor Globe of Invulnerability also usable as crowd control? Like, you'd cast it on an enemy and they'd be effectively out of combat until it wore off? Maybe I'm thinking of something else. I'm still trying to figure out what an Otyugh is supposed to resemble exactly. Some kind of hydra-like sea creature, but on land? I guess?
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2020 06:43
|
|
|
My theory is that Stinking Cloud is psychological more than standard. To humans it smells like poo poo, to otyughs it smells like rose petals or whatever smell they hate most. Elminster, for those who don't know, is one of the most powerful wizards and knowledgeable sages in all the Realms. He lives in Shadowdale, a town not too far east of Tilverton and west of Phlan. The dude shows up in Azure Bonds and a lot of other Realms novels. He is also the author avatar of Ed Greenwood, one of the game designers who created this setting. There are many Realms candidates for the Fireball God. Lathander is the Sun God and of Good Alignment. Kossuth is a neutral Fire Elemental deity. Imex is the Fire Elemental Prince of Evil. All are good for the role. The Knights of Myth Drannor are an organization of good heroes in the Realms. They mostly work to protect visitors to Myth Drannor, a large ruined city in the southeast Dalelands that used to be home to Elven Royalty. Now it's fallen into disrepair and is home to all sorts of monsters and evil otherworldly beings, hence the establishment of a knightly order dedicated to fighting its denizens. Myth Drannor is also one of the Realms' most famous dungeons. It was mentioned in Azure Bonds, but I don't think the characters visited the place. Princess Nacacia is one of King Azoun's two daughters. She's the younger, more free spirited one who is always getting into trouble and trusting her doting father to bail her out. King Azoun is a good guy, if anyone's wondering. There are lots of evil rulers in the Realms, but he's not one of them. Nacacia is an adventurer, a Ranger specifically, and has lots of friends among the Knights of Myth Drannor. Not sure why we'd hold allegiance to her. Have we ever met the girl? It couldn't be her that's been kidnapped, right? Nah, her older more uptight and magically inclined sister Tanalasta sounds like an easier victim.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2020 08:32
|
|
|
Fire Shield and Dimension Door could be useful to dual/multi-classed mages, though. Say Sterrn, once he recovers his thiefy skills, could cast Fire Shield, then Dimension Door behind some enemies to flank them and get his stab on, while also roasting them if they should get so lucky as to land a hit on him. Would probably be better if the base class was Fighter rather than Thief, of course. Seyzer: I think you're thinking of Otiluke's Resilient Sphere. Also gently caress, I was just gonna say: "How refreshing! An FR game without Elminster's useless mary sue rear end hanging around!"
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2020 12:32
|
|
|
PurpleXVI posted:Fire Shield and Dimension Door could be useful to dual/multi-classed mages, though. Say Sterrn, once he recovers his thiefy skills, could cast Fire Shield, then Dimension Door behind some enemies to flank them and get his stab on, while also roasting them if they should get so lucky as to land a hit on him. Would probably be better if the base class was Fighter rather than Thief, of course. Don’t really need Dim Door to get the job done. Also, recall how there’s an exploit that involves provoking opportunity attacks to deprive enemies of their actions? A fighter/mage with Fire Shield can also damage all those suckers. Fumble has a slow effect if the target MAKES its saving throw. Still not a good spell, though. Minor Globe is critically important as a prep spell for big fights. Just be sure to cast it last, or it will prevent your other 1-3rd level prep spells from working on the wizard. Confusion imposes a penalty to enemy saves. Once you get a feel for the AoE, it can be an effective way to deprive enemies of actions. Not so crucial in some battles, but some enemies in these games are really nasty if they get to go. Ice Storm’s effectiveness drops off as monster hp goes up because it doesn’t increase damage with your level like Fireball does, though almost nothing resists the damage. Confusion is extremely useful against crowds of high hp foes like giants.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2020 15:20
|
|
|
PurpleXVI posted:Fire Shield and Dimension Door could be useful to dual/multi-classed mages, though. Say Sterrn, once he recovers his thiefy skills, could cast Fire Shield, then Dimension Door behind some enemies to flank them and get his stab on, while also roasting them if they should get so lucky as to land a hit on him. Would probably be better if the base class was Fighter rather than Thief, of course. Loading a fighter up with Minor Globe of Invulnerability and Fire Shield would be nasty as poo poo and it makes me sad I made Sternn a Thief instead of another fighter. You need a thief to trigger a couple of PoR events though so I regret nothing 
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2020 15:46
|
|
|
Chokes McGee posted:
Did Sternn become a diviner? Or has he just secretly been a Seer the whole time? quote:
Shanna's going to end up making Heather look tame by the end of this, isn't she? Chokes McGee posted:Loading a fighter up with Minor Globe of Invulnerability and Fire Shield would be nasty as poo poo and it makes me sad I made Sternn a Thief instead of another fighter. You need a thief to trigger a couple of PoR events though so I regret nothing Dude, you took Sternn as a party member, period. You should regret all the things.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2020 16:20
|
|
|
DGM_2 posted:Dude, you took Sternn as a party member, period. You should regret all the things. quote:He did not regret that thing.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2020 16:30
|
|
|
achtungnight posted:My theory is that Stinking Cloud is psychological more than standard. To humans it smells like poo poo, to otyughs it smells like rose petals or whatever smell they hate most. You've just given me a wonderful mental picture of Rezen emptying a can of Febreze onto the otyughs. 
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2020 18:22
|
|
|
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2020 18:43
|
|
|
PurpleXVI posted:Also gently caress, I was just gonna say: "How refreshing! An FR game without Elminster's useless mary sue rear end hanging around!" To be fair, this whole game takes place essentially in his backyard, it would be weird for there to be no mention of him at all.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2020 21:06
|
|
|
Curse of the Azure Bonds, Chapter 4: Knives Out Welcome back to the Gold Box adventures! After a quick pit stop to make our new mage not useless anymore, it's time to head back to the Fire Knives guildhouse and show those blighters a thing or two, wot wot? Wot.    Of course, they've still got patrols, even if they're in disarray. We handle them with our usual nuance and deft touch, by which I mean fireballing their pants off. Just the pants. It's a very specific fireball.  KAPLOOEY *writing* Ka... ploo... ee. Hmm. Keep trying, you'll get there.We've got a rest stop not too far from the action, so we put our finger on the "Fireball" button and push it until we smash through the control panel.   Now this is the office of someone who knows organization. Omigod, you are such a bore. I bet you get totally excited about, like, office supplies. Why, do you know anyone? I could go for a fountain pen right now. Hey guys, I found a thing! With writing on it! !!  Journal Entry 9 posted:
JESUS CHRIST IT'S TYRANTHRAXUS, WE KNOW ALREADYAfter having foreshadowing poured down our collective throats, we can pick up a couple of magic user scrolls. Those things are worth their weight in gold, especially as Sternn starts levelling up. This will happen much sooner than expected since Curse's experience curve is way higher, so we need to keep these things hanging around. Note we have to (S)earch or (L)ook in order to find this stuff. The instant you walk into a room with flavor text, hammer (L)ook. You never know what you'll find.   Looks like this is the library. Oh good. Maybe we can get Tyranthraxus' latest biography. "If Tyranthraxuses Could Talk: The Tyranthraxus Story." Do they have an audiobook? That's way less dorky. ... As Rezen's fond of saying: "Welp."Journal Entry 29 posted:The unburned part reads: "...our ally can control flame, skip from body to body and exhibits an array of extra-dimensional powers. It is my conclusion that the Flamed One can be none other than Tyran..." OH MY GOD WE GET ITCurse of the Azure Bonds is many things, but subtle is not one of them.   Over here, we have the hospital, where various mutterings are taking place. I'd mutter too if our party came through here. There's a 70%+ chance it's because of us. The burn ward alone must take up a full auxillary unit.  Journal Entry 27 posted:The wounded men moan in terror about a hammer wielding maniac and a room suddenly filled with flashing blades. They hope the leader's two prisoners are worth their trouble. Sounds like these guys are getting owned on multiple fronts. Is there anything you'd like to confess while I'm here? Sune will absolve you of your sins. Am I dying? Does this mean I'm dying? Not yet! ...yet? Alls I'm sayin' is, keep your nose clean, or we'll clean it for you. Wait. Wait wait wait wait. Wait. *waits* Wait. Just get on with it. I feel unnaturally compelled to take the next room apart with a hammer and saw. Like, what else is new? No. More so than usual.    Holy hell! It's the motherload!Big treasure  here. This haul brings us:
This finally gets our fighters fully kitted out in magic gear. Heather gets the necklace because she makes it look good.  Long swords are distributed as per need. Frost Brand is the opposite of Flame Tongue, which we've already seen in PoR, and is basically just an elemental attuned longsword. The Chain Mail sounds nifty, but the bonuses aren't enough to justify wearing it in lieu of our heavier armor. Finally, we pick the Mace up for Shanna and leave the flail alone. I mean, our guys flail around enough as is. They don't need to add +2 to it. Ha haaaa, dad jokes.Those bracers are paying off for Sternn, too!   So heavy... wrists burning... It's part of your training, probie. Gotta build up those wrist muscles if you want to channel arcane energy through your hand chakras. That doesn't sound right. Hell no it doesn't, I'm bullshitting as fast as I can here. We need a Remove Curse spell, pronto.Paying off in the comedy sense, I mean. They're actually Bracers AC 10 and are extremely cursed. Whoops! One Remove Curse spell later and we can toss that junk out. I wish D&D had cool, usable cursed items like Dragon Warrior 3 did. I miss my multi-edged sword But no, anything you slap on that's cursed is gonna gently caress you up real good. Too bad there's no way to tell without a shopkeeper! LOL!Sit and spin, game t   Down the road is a scripted patrol.  Sure! Here's my weapons and gold. Wow! Really?   SYKE That was mean  Now I feel bad Same ol' same ol'. A little Hold Person, a little Magic Missle, and a whole lot of corpses. Well, no one wanted us to go into this room, so let's go into this room.   Still can't shake the feeling we've forgotten something. Oh well, I'm sure it'll be fine.  So what do you got going on here? Some sort of a hostage tied up situation? Yup. We talkin' the money kind or the stabby kind? Stabby. Well, that's unfortunate. Look, it's the lifestyle I chose to lead. Hey, no judgement here. Oh, you brought non-thieves. Sorry. *ahem*Journal Entry 11 posted:Your arrival is well timed. We expect the king to fall into our backup trap. It is unfortunate that you attacked the wrong target. But let me introduce the man you tried to kill. He gestures over to two prisoners, tied up against the wall. One is a thin bearded man and the other is a young woman with a tattered purple sash. The man you tried to kill is Giogi Wyvernspur, an excellent mimic. Turning to Giogi, Perhaps you could give us another rendition of the king's voice. Giogi looks at you and blanches. Also, let me introduce the woman who made the king's arrival possible -- Princess Nacacia. At this point, the princess slips her bond, sweeps up a handy club and brains the leader. Quick, she yells dispose of his guards before the leader can evoke your bonds! Good job distracting him, Sternn! Yes. That was an excellent example of fake camaraderie. Uh... Just let it go, Rezen. It's better this way. So, you never find out in this game, but Princess Naganata or whatever is a high level ranger. The Fire Knives really picked the wrong girl to gently caress with. While she's busy giving their boss early CTE, we'll have to handle the rank and file.  While he is accompanied by 30 of his closest friends, of immediate concern is that mage in the back.  Equally of concern is the sheer amount of arrows flying at us. One of them plinks Rezen, so our fireball based strategy is not off to a great start. But! All that work she's put into  WOOB WOOB WOOB Will you get back here Seriously, I'm out of juice! Someone needs to stop that mage! SHPLORCH!  ...shplorch? The hell are you, Don Martin? Who's Don Martin? I... have no idea.Sternn puts one of his two magic missles through the mage's face, and now we don't have to deal with him for a round. The rest of our guys soak up some arrows, and as soon as she's ready...  KASHPLORCH  You stole my sound effect! I improved your sound effect.   It's academic after that. Included in the loot pile are two random magic items: 5 Darts +2 and a Lucern Hammer. Despite the name, a Lucern Hammer is a type of two handed war hammer and is for fighters only. I love a good obscure polearm, but we just can't give up enchanted shields if we want to make it to the end of the game. Now that we've wiped out his entire guild, let's have a chat with our new freshly concussed friend.  Journal Entry 54 posted:The princess has been talking with the slightly recovered leader. With a dagger to his throat he croaks, "All right, I'll release them." He mouths a meaningless syllable and your bonds fade. Hells yeah! One down. And one step closer to punching that flaming piece of dumpster garbage right in his stupid throat. Thanks for the assist, guys. Even after escaping, we couldn't have done it without you. You can tell Gharri to stop watching the halls. ... Who? Gharri of Gond. Big guy. Cute and rugged. Carries a big drat hammer. ... You... you did do something about his capture. Right? We didn't do something about his capture. Someone go untie Gharri while I hand these idiots over to my father. Uh... speakin' of which... *rumble* Journal Entry 53 posted:Suddenly the roof vaporizes and King Azoun, his wizard Vangerdahast and a troop of royal guards descend into the room. One of the guards points at your party and says, "Those are the ones who tried to kill you, your highness." The princess leaps up and stands between you and her father. "They were under the Fire Knives control, they couldn't help themselves. Besides that, they saved me." The king looks at you and at the princess, "Well, the fact remains that you attempted to kill me. Also it looks as though you wear more controlling bonds. I will not slay you, but you are banished from all Cormyr lands." The royal guards come up and begin escorting you out. Suddenly the far door opens and Gharri of Gond steps unsteadily into the room. As you leave the room, you see the princess run over to him and they embrace. Heading out of the hideout you hear the king saying, Nacacia, time for you to accept the duties of a princess. The voices fade. You are taken to the outskirts of town and the guards leave. As you decide on your next move, a horse pounds out of the gate, bearing Gharri and Nacacia. She waves as they race north. Well, that's gratitude for you. Yes. You'd think they'd trust us after we saved the princess. DOWN WITH THE RULE OF KINGS, ANARCHY REIGNS Like I was saying, we're better off leaving them behind.And with that, we've gotten rid of our first bond! We've been thrown out of Tilverton for the rest of the game, though it's just as well. After taking a look at their sewer system, we can't trust a single indoor toilet in that entire town.  Anyway who cares, real adventures sleep outdoors! Fresh air! Night sky! Horrible lucid nightmares! Wait, what?   GAH ARGH What was that WHAT WAS THAT Everybody calm down! It's just a shared nightmare! How is that supposed to make us feel any better?! Look, I've encountered them before. The bad guys are gloating. That's good! That's when they start revealing their capital-letters Evil Scheme! You're awfully composed about this. It's not my first time with this kind of stuff. Oh yeah? What happened? ...quote:
...I don't want to talk about it. Well, let's at least try to get some actual rest and hope Tyranthraxus doesn't intrude on our minds again. I'm going to set up a watch, just to be safe. I'm too amped up to sleep, anyway. Sternn, you're with me. No thank you. I just want to crawl back into my sleeping bag and pretend this didn't happen. *grabs lapel* I said, you're with me. *is dragged off* ?  Next Time: Hapless Chokes McGee fucked around with this message at 23:57 on May 2, 2020 |
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2020 19:14
|
|
...
...
...
|
Chokes McGee posted:The Chain Mail sounds nifty, but the bonuses aren't enough to justify wearing it in lieu of our heavier armor. Elven(/"elfin") Chain Mail is notable because it doesn't impede with spellcasting. It doesn't help our friends currently, but if Sternn had been a Fighter/Mage instead of a Thief/Mage (I forget if 2E Thieves can wear it) he could rock that when he got his Fighter levels back and still be able to barf out magic missiles and fireballs (when he gets the chance). Unless Gold Box was coded so that you could just cast mage spells if you had them, no matter what you were wearing, in which case it's equivalent to +1 chain mail and that's it. tl;dr: unless you have a fighter/mage or cleric/mage of some degree elfin chain mail is just chain mail with pointy ears. KataraniSword fucked around with this message at 20:20 on Apr 23, 2020 |
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2020 20:18
|
|
|
KataraniSword posted:Elven(/"elfin") Chain Mail is notable because it doesn't impede with spellcasting. It doesn't help our friends currently, but if Sternn had been a Fighter/Mage instead of a Thief/Mage (I forget if 2E Thieves can wear it) he could rock that when he got his Fighter levels back and still be able to barf out magic missiles and fireballs (when he gets the chance). I'm pretty sure it's the opposite: Gold Box is coded so poorly wearing elfin chain mail still blocks you from casting spells lmao It won't matter much, I think this is the only elfin chain mail across the first three games and we'll see Bracers that are equal to or better than this.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2020 20:23
|
|
|
COTAB was my first CRPG ever and getting that cutscene after finishing Tilverton felt pretty good as a kid. Never did play any of the sequels
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2020 20:49
|
|
|
Victis posted:COTAB was my first CRPG ever and getting that cutscene after finishing Tilverton felt pretty good as a kid. Lucky you
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2020 20:50
|
|
|
As previously mentioned, Sune is the Realms Goddess of Love. Didn’t know she was in the business of absolving sins. Oh well. Like I said, the Knives should have kidnapped Tanalasta. She wouldn’t have clubbed the leader once his back was turned. A disintegration spell is a far more effective killing method. Heh. Good that we rescued Nacacia, if she even needed it. Giogi too. I have not read any Realms lore mentioning the cleric Gharri of Gond outside this game- so I don’t think he’s anyone important. Vangerdahast is the Royal Mage of Cormyr and Azoun’s main source of magic deus ex machina. The hypno-bonds can be removed by those who gave them to us. I see. Alias didn’t have it so easy- the majority of her bonds didn’t go away until a big battle at the almost end of her book following a lot of character development and other stuff. Their makers had to die too. Our party gets to tick them off one by one and we get rid of one in our first dungeon! Alias had to deal with Fire Knife mooks all throughout her book and we’ll probably never see them again in this game ! Good bye, Tilverton! Hope the otyugh civilization in your sewers takes you over someday! Alias got nightmares from her bond-masters also. As previously mentioned, they included two wizards, a demon, and the Cult of Moander. They were able to draw her to them with subconscious desires to go various places and spend a portion of the book doing so. Various monsters summoned by the wizards ambush Alias and her party as they travel- I’ll let you read the book for specifics. A couple of the creatures are pretty challenging to defeat- I’m not sure this game could have re-created them with its software. Same as it can’t recreate all the special properties of flame tongue or frost brand swords and eventually just settles for generic swords +#.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2020 21:16
|
|
|
achtungnight posted:As previously mentioned, Sune is the Realms Goddess of Love. Didn’t know she was in the business of absolving sins. Oh well. This is my LP and it works however I say it works.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2020 21:43
|
|
|
KataraniSword posted:Elven(/"elfin") Chain Mail is notable because it doesn't impede with spellcasting. It doesn't help our friends currently, but if Sternn had been a Fighter/Mage instead of a Thief/Mage (I forget if 2E Thieves can wear it) he could rock that when he got his Fighter levels back and still be able to barf out magic missiles and fireballs (when he gets the chance). It depends. As of AD&D 2E, elven chain mail appeared in the DMG with the notable traits of being usable by bards and thieves (who normally can't wear chain mail), with entries in the PHB for how they affect thief skills. As for the wizard spellcasting, well, the entry for elven chain specifies that elven fighter/mages can wear elven chain mail "without restriction", but that's it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2020 22:01
|
|
|
Chokes McGee posted:I'm pretty sure it's the opposite: Gold Box is coded so poorly wearing elfin chain mail still blocks you from casting spells lmao I distinctly remember rolling around Pools of Radiance with multiclassed Fighter/Mages casting in plate mail with no problems. Not sure if dual classing works any differently.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2020 22:17
|
|
|
Straight White Shark posted:I distinctly remember rolling around Pools of Radiance with multiclassed Fighter/Mages casting in plate mail with no problems. Not sure if dual classing works any differently. Pretty sure multiclasses can get away with it. I can definitely confirm dual class can't cast with armor on, at least as far along as Blades.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2020 23:03
|
|
|
Do you really need spell casters though? I mean, amulet of missiles is all you need
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2020 23:07
|
|
|
Slaan posted:Do you really need spell casters though? I mean, amulet of missiles is all you need *looks up from phone* *slowly shakes head disapprovingly*
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2020 23:20
|
|
|
Slaan posted:Do you really need spell casters though? I mean, amulet of missiles is all you need amulet of missiles pales in comparison to some nuclear bomb-esque spells that come up in the sequels. It's actually great for Radiance, pretty good for Curse, but falls behind in the damage races that the later games become.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2020 23:22
|
|
|
Jason Sextro posted:amulet of missiles pales in comparison to some nuclear bomb-esque spells that come up in the sequels. It's actually great for Radiance, pretty good for Curse, but falls behind in the damage races that the later games become. I'm still at blade barrier, honestly. Looking forward to that one in Pools.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2020 23:24
|
|
|
Surely literally everything can be fixed by Apply More Fireballs
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2020 23:27
|
|
|
Slaan posted:Do you really need spell casters though? I mean, amulet of missiles is all you need Amulets of missiles only have so many charges. They will run out eventually. Spellcasters can replenish their spells with a good rest. Also, I think only spellcasters can use the necklace, though about that I'm not sure.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2020 23:47
|
|
|
Slaan posted:Surely literally everything can be fixed by Apply More Fireballs That's the spirit! Ever consider apprenticing as a mage?
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2020 23:55
|
|
|
Chokes McGee posted:So, you never find out in this game, but Princess Naganata or whatever is a high level ranger. achtungnight posted:Nacacia is an adventurer, a Ranger specifically, and has lots of friends among the Knights of Myth Drannor. Wrong edition guys, 2e Nacacia's a Fighter/Thief (specifically, the Heroes' Lorebook says she's a fighter, this module says she's a thief but that this was something she recently pciked up, so she probably dual-classed at some point during her adventures). She didn't pick up levels in Ranger (and Purple Dragon Knight, but lost her Thief levels) until 3e. Also, her name is Alusair, this game in particular seemed to just randomly decide to refer to her by her middle name, maybe it was a thing while she was adventuring and shacking up with Gharri. The module frequently uses her first and middle names together, calling her 'Alusair Nacacia', which just seems needlessly wordy, whereas most other sourcebooks just stick to Alusair. Side note: since when are modern sewers even a thing in the D&D tech level? At best, we should just have storm drains here, the fact that they're full of poo poo indicates that this place has plumbing, possibly even actual indoor plumbing and toilets like Chokes joked about. But enough about sewers, let's talk about sewers. So, all that bullshit that Chokes just went through, the sewers full of trolls and poo poo-monsters and all? He had it easy. In the module version of the sewers, Otyughs are a possible random encounter, as are groups of up to 8 trolls, but they also include groups of up to 8 wights or 16 ghouls, and one fixed encounter of 4 spectres and another of 14 ghouls led by a ghast. The trolls and their pet crocodiles are also still here. Funnily enough, the leader of the ghouls and the leader of the trolls both call themselves "king of the sewers" and their forces will fight each other if you lead one to the other. Instead of the group of friendly otyughs who trade you treasure for poo poo, instead there's only one friendly otyugh, specifically a neo-otyugh named Happy Hogun who remains friendly as long as you don't take anything from his garbage pile, but attacks if you do, so you have to decide if fighting him is worth the ring of invisibility you can find in the pile (a thief swallowed it for safe-keeping, and then died and had his body dumped there). If you can make it to the actual Fire Knife hideout proper without any of the Knives setting off an alarm (there are gongs stationed at three checkpoints you have to pass through in the sewers), either by sneaking or bluffing your way through, you can actually bluff you're way into the hideout. If you far more likely fight your way in, the Knives have somewhat more interesting things to fight than just endless waves of dudes, including some visiting hill giants, a pack of hellhounds, and a pet lion that slipped its leash. The hideout also has a visitor from one of the Knive's allied organizations, a priest from the cult of Moander. Giogi and Nacacia aren't initially kept in the same room, and you can feasibly rescue both first, you're specifically compelled to attack Giogi if he does his impression of the king, but he's figured out that people with blue tattoos keep attacking him when he does that, and he's smart enough to not loving do it. If you pick up the princess before attacking the Knives' leader, she demands you hook her up with a weapon so she can fight the leader with you, or jumps him herself if you don't want to immediately charge in guns blazing. The room full of burning books and with a scorched corpse is directly from the module, which actually explains that this was Tyranthraxus' doing. The dead guy, Kybor, was the chief wizard of the Fire Knives, and he was researching this weird fire-based supervillain his boss had partnered up with. In the module, this is where you learn about a number of magic items that are very important to the plot, they're still important in the game but seem to just appear out of nowhere with everybody seeming to just know that they're important and why. Tyranthraxus didn't like the amount of info Kybor was able to piece together on him and killed the wizard to protect his secrets, but failed to torch enough evidence. The fight with the Knives' leader, Radatha, goes different depending on what you did on the way to him. If you didn't rescue the prisoners, they're suddenly being held in his lair (just like in the game, Nacacia nearly has herself free by the time you show up and provide a shiny distraction). If you didn't kill the priest of Moander, he's there. If you didn't kill the guards in the adjacent rooms, they're there. Any other guards or hell hounds you didn't kill you come running in as reinforcements every round. If you somehow managed to sneak or keep bluffing all the way to Radatha's lair, he welcomes you in peacefully, despite clearly knowing who you are, because magic mind control tattoos, duh. If you fight your way in, he's less confidant, but still figures he can control you if he has too, so still plenty of time for villain gloating. Either way, he has a half-page length speech he wants to get through before fighting happens. If he makes it to the end of the speech, he invokes the bonds to make the party members kill each other. Thankfully, the module bonds allow a save vs. spells, but anybody who fails their save will start attacking the rest of the party, at whcih point the whole room turns into a four-way brawl (the non-controlled heroes, Giogi, and the princess vs. Radatha, his bodyguards, his hell hounds, and his reinforcements vs. the Moander priest and his troll bodyguards vs. the mind-controlled characters, who will attack the controlled party members first, but can also attack anybody who attacks them). Every controlled party member is controlled for at least 2 rounds, possibly as long as 8 rounds. After the 5th round, the roof gets blown open by the court wizard Vangerdahast and he rappels in with the king and 20 elite Cormyrian soldiers. If you haven't already killed Radatha by the point, his prior command to kill the king is still in effect, and the party has to save vs. spells again (except for anybody still under the "kill each other" order), with any failures rushing in to kill him. It's actually pretty awesome on paper, but also looks like such a mess that I nixed the whole thing in my campaign. The king, despite the whole "attempted murder" nonsense, does reward you better in the module than he did in game. Starting with covering the cost to have any dead party members resurrected at the Temple of Gond. After that is a list of other boons the king may grant, which ones specifically left up to the DM, including finding the gear the party had before they were kidnapped, stripped, and bonded (this doesn't have to be a party that completed the Ruins of Adventure module, but they should at least have some adventures under their belt, since you're expected to start this module between levels 6 and 9), covering the cost of Filani's consultation if you didn't do that already, giving you the most important notes from the Knives' hideout if you were bad adventurers and missed them (a map of a later area and the notes about Tyranthraxus) and a standing offer to have dinner with him as soon as you get rid of the bonds. Interestingly, it's Vangerdahast, not the king, who has you barred from reentering Tilverton, specifically because he's being a petty rear end in a top hat.
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2020 00:28
|
|
|
A wizard is being a petty rear end in a top hat? That does not sound plausible.  I knew Princess Nacacia's first name before now but didn't mention it because the game doesn't either. Good to know the D&D module of this game makes the levels more challenging. Sewers & Tech Level- You gotta remember, world tech levels can reset over time and also be different in different areas. Take Rome for example. The Sabines and Etruscans who first occupied the place were little better than cave people. Then the Roman Empire came in and constructed the Cloaca Maxima, so they had sewers. Fast forward a few hundred years to medieval Europe and we're mostly back to chamber pots. Until modern times, when I understand, many modern sewers in the area re-use old Roman tunnels. And some small villages nearby still need modern plumbing or depend on outhouses and septic tanks rather than sewers. The Realms may have had lots of different bathroom tech level changes too, not that many D&D parties have to worry about using the bathroom regularly. In any case, Tilverton is far from the only city in the Realms with an extensive sewer system filled with dangerous monsters and other hazards. For another video game example, visit Waterdeep in Eye of the Beholder. Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter may also have sewer levels- I have not played games featuring those cities enough to be sure.
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2020 00:50
|
|
|
achtungnight posted:Sewers & Tech Level- You gotta remember, world tech levels can reset over time and also be different in different areas. Take Rome for example. The Sabines and Etruscans who first occupied the place were little better than cave people. Then the Roman Empire came in and constructed the Cloaca Maxima, so they had sewers. Fast forward a few hundred years to medieval Europe and we're mostly back to chamber pots. Until modern times, when I understand, many modern sewers in the area re-use old Roman tunnels. And some small villages nearby still need modern plumbing or depend on outhouses and septic tanks rather than sewers. The Realms may have had lots of different bathroom tech level changes too, not that many D&D parties have to worry about using the bathroom regularly. In any case, Tilverton is far from the only city in the Realms with an extensive sewer system filled with dangerous monsters and other hazards. For another video game example, visit Waterdeep in Eye of the Beholder. Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter may also have sewer levels- I have not played games featuring those cities enough to be sure. I'll give you Rome, but it's definitely outside of the usual for an otherwise bogstandard medieval setting like the Realms. Vast sewer complexes under cities are nothing unusual (and yeah, Baldur's Gate in the game of the same name and Athkatla in the sequel both had them), I'm just pointing out that, unless you have an elaborate running water system like the Romans did, it's less to do with sewage and more just to give rainwater a place to drain so your city doesn't turn into a swamp when it storms. Although the sewage is there too, since the rain picks that up from where it gets dumped and brings it along for the ride.
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2020 01:23
|
|
|
All I can add to this conversation is that the finest of Don Martin explosion sound effects is FAGROON, as depicted in "The Safe Movers".
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2020 01:24
|
|
|
So, it turns out that the Captain Sternn comics Chokes recommended earlier (Running Out of Time) can be read online. I haven't really started yet, but it looks like the entire series is there and for free. I don't know how - or even if, to be honest - this is legal, so can a mod tell me whether it's cool to post a direct link?
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2020 04:37
|
|
|
Chokes McGee posted:I'm still I will admit to casting blade barrier on enemies that were in stinking clouds and helpless instead of just slaying them with a single blow.
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2020 04:48
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 19, 2024 22:04 |
|
|
DGM_2 posted:So, it turns out that the Captain Sternn comics Chokes recommended earlier (Running Out of Time) can be read online. I haven't really started yet, but it looks like the entire series is there and for free. I don't know how - or even if, to be honest - this is legal, so can a mod tell me whether it's cool to post a direct link? Where are you getting them from? This is the important question. Like archive.org is fair game but if it's freecommixxx.se you should probably be looking into how to kick Bernie wrightson a few bucks E: or just in general, the man helped invent swamp thing and I've been stealing his ip for over a decade so the least we could all do is buy something that makes him money
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2020 05:25
|
|