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 That’s right folks, it's time for the official 2023 Something Awful Baldur's Gate Ironman Challenge! As we leave behind behind the cursed year of 2022, we shall once again rise up and become legends or die trying. It is here that true heroes will compete for honor, glory, and the chance to not be killed by wildlife at level 1. Gather your party and venture forth! You can buy the Enhanced Edition of the game and its sequels on Steam or on GOG.com. The EE editions are also available for tablets and have modern conveniences like widescreen support and zooming in and out of the game. Some people prefer to play the non-EE editions, but they're harder to come by. The older CD versions can be bought used off Amazon or something. Roll of Heroes Alive, for now Mr. Strangeson the Blade is adventuring near Nashkel after killing Mulahey. Morrigan the Clumsy the Enchanter is on her way to stop a crusade after unleashing chaos on Korlasz. Shakira the Sorceress rampaged across Amn and has reclaimed her divine soul after thrashing Jon Irenicus in Hell. Haley the Fighter/Druid is adventuring in the Sword Coast and is getting a lot more powerful. A currently anonymous Kensai is about to enter the Cloakwood Forest with their trusty bastard sword. Nadja the Shapeshifter has liberated Bridgefort and accidentally vandalised Boareskyr Bridge in the process. The Fallen Wards Stevie Nicks the Wild Mage was ambushed and eaten by a pack of hungry dogs. Righteous Fury the Inquisitor was crushed into goo by a belt loving ogre. Vitaly the Bard was shot by a firing squad of hobgoblins. Kalia the Bard left the safety of Candlekeep and was promptly devoured by a wolf. Ariana Grande the Cavalier made a fatal mistake at Bridgefort and was killed by an army of Crusaders. Phoebe Bridgers was killed in a haunted tomb after accidentally angering a horde of ghosts. Goddess of the Bow the Archer was caught in an ambush by ettercaps and devoured. Bonk.V2 braved Durlag's Tower but was killed by the mighty Demonknight despite a brave effort. Vera the Bard was bravely fought the evil Necromancer Lavok but was slain by his powerful magic. Imogen the Fighter/Mage was surrounded by Mulahey's minions and killed by an unfortunately aimed Burning Hands cast by the Wild Mage Neera. Mark Sman the Archer wandered into the Cloakwood forest in a daze and was lost forever in its depths. Umberto the Shadowdancer sacrificed himself to kill an accidentally summoned Nabassu which had cursed him to turn into a hideous Ghast. Colin Robinson the Jester was killed by a werewolf thanks to Thalantyr's fumbling. Jackie Daytona the Shapeshifter fell victim to an unfortunate case of a game-breaking mod bug and couldn't continue his quest. Fatboy Slim the Berserker watched his friend Edwin get permanently killed by a Beholder and retired from adventuring in the Underdark. Neko Case the Sorceress was electrocuted to death by a hidden trap in Firkraag's dungeon. Boris the Thief left Candlekeep and was immediately eaten by a bear. Tyago the Fighter/Druid has died to a small army of Wild Mages after accidentally killing one of their friends in the Hidden Refuge. Sheena the Barbarian got bored of adventuring and has quietly retired. Dugash the Berserker infiltrated the Bandit Camp and was cut to pieces in Tazok's Command Tent. Torgum the Assassin was a little too bold searching for traps and was electrocuted by a lightning bolt. Turgrim the Assassin tripped on the stairs of the Friendly Arm Inn and was killed by Tarnesh. Jackie Daytona II the Shaman was ambushed and killed by powerful demon worshipping cultists in Ulgoth's Beard. Telgrim the Assassin was cut down in the Repository of Undeath after being rushed by a horde of the undead. Kalatos the Fighter/Mage/Thief was killed by Narcillicus Harwilliger Neen's powerful magic and his summoned Mustard Jellies. Silas the Cleric/Thief blew himself up with a potion of explosions in a cave full of spiders. Kaltor the Fighter/Mage/Thief died in Waukeen's Promenade after being overwhelmed by a group of Thayan Red Wizards. Devekk the Dwarven Defender angered a Lich in the Shadow Temple and was crushed to death by a comet. Kronar the Sorcerer underestimated the power of Minor Globe of Invulnerability and his party was killed one by one in the Undercity. Grasped Victory Ariana Grande the Cavalier has traveled the Sword Coast and ended Sarevok's schemes. Honors: Ironling, Purist, Librarian, Trap Dodger, Honorable Trader, Victory for the Spider Queen. Vera the Bard paralyzed Sarevok and his followers and easily mopped them up. Honors: Ironling, Purist, Overcoming Adversity, Trap Dodger, Honorable Trader, Iron Party, Victory for the Spiderqueen, Battlemaster, Roleplayer. Vera the Bard went to Hell and killed Belhifet in his own house. Honors: Siege Breaker, Purist, Overcoming Adversity, Big Game Hunter, Roleplayer. Phoebe Bridgers the Sorceress has killed Sarevok in record time. Honors: Ironling, Purist, Librarian, Honorable Trader, Iron Party, Battlemaster, Roleplayer, A God Among Women. Anastasia the Cavalier flexed on her brother Sarevok by letting her friend Yeslick get the killing blow. Honors: Ironling, Purist, Librarian, Trap Dodger, Melee Champion, Honorable Trader, Iron Party, Victory for the Spiderqueen, Battlemaster, Roleplayer. Anastasia the Cavalier marched into Avernus itself and personally killed the powerful devil Belhifet. Honors: Siege Breaker, Purist, Honorable Trader, Roleplayer. Tyago the Fighter/Druid has triumphed over her murderous brother Sarevok after an epic battle to the death. Honors: Ironling, Strategist, Librarian, Trap Dodger, Honorable Trader. Morrigan the Clumsy the Enchanter successfully stopped her brother Sarevok's mad schemes with her powerful magic Honors: Ironling, Born Hero, Purist, Librarian, Trap Dodger, Honorable Trader, Iron Party, Battlemaster. Anastasia the Cavalier was dragged to Hell by killing Jon Irenicus at the Tree of Life and killed him there as well to make it permanent. Honors: Ironwoman, The End of Suffering, Gaxkang's a Wuss, Victory for the Spiderqueen Neko Case the Sorceress was in no mood to waste time and has killed Sarevok in record time. Honors: Ironling, Purist, Librarian, Honorable Trader, Iron Party, Battlemaster, Roleplayer, A God Among Men. Tyago the Fighter/Druid marched into Avernus and killed the devil Belhifet easily. Honors: Siege Breaker, Big Game Hunter. Anastasia the Cavalier was very thorough in her preparations before her battles and has ascended to godhood after defeating Amelyssan at the Throne of Bhaal. Honors: Irongod, Purist, Honorable Trader, Helm's Champion. Shakira the Sorceress has used her powerful magic to very quickly kill Sarevok. Honors: Ironling, Purist, Librarian, Honorable Trader, Iron Party, Battlemaster, Roleplayer, A God Among Men. Eagle Eye the Archer has slain his brother Sarevok in the Undercity. Honors: Ironling, Purist, Honorable Trader, Iron Party, Battlemaster. Telgrim the Assassin emerged victorious from an epic fight against Sarevok in the Undercity. Honors: Ironling, Strategist, Double Damage, Librarian, Trap Dodger. Shakira the Sorceress rampaged across Amn and has reclaimed her divine soul after thrashing Jon Irenicus in Hell. Honors: Ironwoman, Purist, Iron Party, Dragon Slayer, The End of Suffering, Gaxkang's A Wuss, Legendary Arms Kaltor the Fighter/Mage/Thief has killed his brother Sarevok in the Undercity with little trouble and sound strategy. Honors: Ironling, Strategist, Double Damage, Librarian, Victory for the Spiderqueen Silas the Cleric/Thief has killed his brother Sarevok, but not before slaughtering all his underlings first. Honors: Ironling, Strategist, Double Damage, Librarian, Trap-Dodger, Honorable Trader. Galina the Thief/Mage has killed Sarevok by repeatedly backstabbing him in the Undercity. Honors: Ironling, Purist, Librarian, Trap Dodger, Honorable Trader, Iron Party, Battlemaster, Victory for the Spiderqueen. Kaltor the Fighter/Mage/Thief has left Baldur's Gate under a cloud of suspicion after being framed for the murder of Skie Silvershield. Honors: Siege Breaker, Double Damage, Honorable Trader, Big Game Hunter. Devekk the Dwarven Defender marched into the Undercity and killed Sarevok with ease. Honors: Ironling, Strategist, Double Damage. Nadja the Shapeshifter has defeated Sarevok in the Undercity. Honors: Ironling, Strategist, Born Hero, Double Damage, Librarian, Trap Dodger, Honorable Trader. Melicamp the Chicken Counter Melicamp Lived: 7 Melicamp Died: 13 Arabelle the Cow Counter Arabelle Lived: 4 Arabelle Died: 0 FAQ Q: What exactly are the rules for an Ironman run? A: The rules of Ironman runs are simple. No savescumming or reloading games for any purpose other than resuming where you last left off, or in case of a gamebreaking bug or crash. If you are killed, your run is over. If you are unhappy with a dice roll or outcome of a fight and reload, your run is over. You may re-roll your stats and spend as much time as you'd like creating your character, but the moment you venture forth into the game proper, you are bound by the rules... Note that the whole thing runs on the honor system and is just for fun, so if your character dies and you want to keep playing your save file, feel free to, but please accept that for all intents and purposes, you are not Ironmanning anymore! Q: Can I post spoilers or discuss strategies in this thread? A: Absolutely. This is an Ironman thread, and it's assumed that everyone has played the series at least once. There are even people who have done a full Ironman run before! Discussion for approaching hard fights, surviving tough stretches of the game, or just talking about companions is welcomed. Q: How should I be posting or documenting my run? A: Many posters normally post screenshots of important events or fights to show progress, as well as write a few lines saying what they were able to do. Some may forego that and just say what they were able to accomplish, and others write up their runs like a short, simple Let's Play or present their run in a comical lens. Do whatever you'd like, but please don't be obnoxious about it. If you want to stream your run and link it here, feel free to let us know when you'll be going at it, and where you end up each session! Q: Can I use mods or play in a difficulty level other than Core Rules? A: Play your way, but please indicate what mods or difficulty you'll be using if not going for a vanilla core rules run. For fun, we have "honors" and "dishonors" so check those out if you want to get a particular accolade... or razzing! Q: Is this a competition? Is there any verification process? A: Like I said, this is purely for fun and works on the honor system. All we're playing for here is bragging rights and nerd cred, and some sweet, sweet honor badges that you can point to down the line and go, "Hell yeah, I Ironmanned one of the longest trilogies in CRPG history." If you really want to up the ante, like soloing on Insanity with a Shaman or something, that's up to you! Q: What do I get for finishing my run, or dying? A: You finished a run? Great! Look at the list of honors and dishonors below and list what "achievements" you were able to obtain in a well-deserved self-congratulatory post. You died? Boo! Say where and how you died (e.g. "Outside Candlekeep, to that goddamn wolf.") and your death will be memorialized in the Graveyard of Gorion's Wards. You can always try again with the same character or make a new one! Q: Do I have to start in Baldur's Gate 1 and end in Baldur's Gate 2: Throne of Bhaal? A: No. You can start and end at any point you want. You'll be added to the Throne of Triumph if you succeed through at least one full game, and I'll indicate where you started and ended, as well as what (dis)honors you picked up on! Q: How do I set up custom portraits? A: Thanks to biscuits and crazy for this copy-pasted answer. The measurements for player portraits are 38X60 pixels for the smaller portraits (8-bit color runs faster but it can be up to 24 bit color), and 110X170 pixels for the larger portraits. To use a custom portrait, place it in the Portraits directory (in the install directory for the game) and add an S to the end of the small portrait name and an L to the end of the large portrait - otherwise the two names must be identical. The names must be 1-7 letters long, maximum - so the filename with the S or L added to the end is no longer than 8 total characters. The portrait files must be in BMP format. For example: XXXXXXXS.bmp for small (38x60, 8-bit) XXXXXXXL.bmp for large (110x170, 24-bit) For the Enhanced Editions, the measurements for player portraits are 210x330 pixels. Portraits are automatically resized by the game, so you don't need to make small and large versions of the same portrait. (If downloading a portrait pack with multiple sizes of the same portrait, keep the largest one.) The portrait files must be in BMP format. The Portraits folder must be created in the game directory found in "My Documents." The file name cannot exceed 8 characters. Q: What is this "Melicamp the Chicken" counter? A: There's a sidequest in Baldur's Gate 1 with a chicken who is actually a polymorphed mage named Melicamp. The outcome of the quest has a 50-50 chance of turning him back into a human being or just killing him outright. For fun and as part of the tradition of whim and luck in an ironman world, we keep track of how often he lives or dies. Join in and let us know the fate of the man-chicken in your updates! Other Information When you've made your character, include the name, class, and a screenshot of the character sheet upon creation (the Print Screen button will take a screenshot and deposit it in your Baldur's Gate folder). Irfanview is also an easy alternative. As the thread winds on we'll have a lot of images, so please use [timg] tags if you're posting large images. When posting an update for your character, please include his/her name and class in bold. For example, "Ashar the Assassin completed BG1". Also, if you post updates like "Krug the Barbarian has cleared the Nashkel Mines", I will update your status accordingly. The main Baldur's Gate thread is over here... for now! If you want to check out mods, check out these sites. Gibberlings 3 Spellhold Studios Pocket Plane Group Below are the lists of honors and dishonors. Aim for them if you please, but feel free to ignore them if they aren't fun for you.   Ironling: Complete Baldur's Gate 1.Siege Breaker: Complete the Siege of Dragonspear expansion (requires Ironling).  Iron(wo)man: Complete Baldur's Gate 2 (requires Ironling, does not require Siege Breaker). Irongod: Complete Throne of Bhaal (requires Iron(wo)man). Strategist: Complete Baldur's Gate 1 with the Sword Coast Stratagems mod. Tactician: Complete Baldur's Gate 2 with either the Sword Coast Stratagems or the Tactics mod. Born Hero(ine): Do not reroll your stat total during character creation, take the first set given to you. Redistribution of stats is okay. If you choose not to reroll, say so and you'll get an "upgraded" honor! Purist: Do not use any mods that add/modify content (except Tutu, Ascension, SCS, or Tactics), do not create extra characters for your party, and do not modify existing NPCs. Using convenience mods like infinite stacks is okay. Double Damage: Complete the game on Insane difficulty.Lord of Murder: Complete the game on Legacy of Bhaal difficulty.  Overcoming Adversity: Complete the game as a Wizard Slayer, Shapeshifter, Beastmaster, or non-Blade Bard (requires Purist). Librarian: Find every stat tome in Baldur's Gate 1. Trap Dodger: Complete Durlag's Tower. Melee Champion: Complete Baldur's Gate 1 without member of your party ever using any missile weapons. Conan the Bhaalspawn: Complete the game without ever having an arcane or divine spellcaster in the party. Bhaalspawn powers and innate skills are okay. Honorable Trader: Do not steal any wares from merchants. Iron Party: Do not resurrect any dead party members (stone to flesh and freedom allowed) OR never have a party member fall in battle. Exception: Getting killed and revived by Shoal the Nereid does not invalidate this honor.Victory for the Spiderqueen: Kill Drizzt  Battlemaster: Kill Sarevok in Baldur's Gate 1 without summoning any creatures or laying any traps.Big Game Hunter: Kill the Green Dragon and both Liches in Siege of Dragonspear.  Dragon Slayer: Kill Firkraag, the Shadow Dragon, the Black Dragon at Suldanessellar, the Silver Dragon in the Undertark, and the Dragon in the underworld. Helm's Champion: Kill Saladrex and Demogorgon in Watcher's Keep.The End of Suffering: Destroy the leaders of the Twisted Rune.  Gaxkang's a Wuss: Kill Kangaxx in his demi-lich form. Legendary Arms: Acquire the Equalizer, Crom Faeyr, The Wave, The Silver Sword, and the Short Bow of Gesen. Swiss Valor Award: Complete the game with only neutral aligned characters in the party (lawful, true, or chaotic, must have at least 4 characters, requires Purist). Roleplayer: Do not have a good aligned character and an evil aligned character in the party at the same time (includes the PC's alignment, requires Purist). Leader of the Underdogs: Complete Baldur's Gate 2 or Throne of Bhaal with a full party of six without using Aerie, Keldorn, Edwin, or Haer'Dalis (requires Purist). A God Among Men: Complete the game solo. Do not remove or modify the level cap (requires Purist).  OP-ium Addict: Play as a Kensai/Mage, Kensai/Thief, Berserker/Cleric, Berserker/Mage, or Cleric/Mage. Scroll of Wuss: Use a scroll of Protection from Undead or Magic when fighting a lich, demi-lich or vampire. Don't Hurt Me!: Play the game on a difficulty lower than Core Rules.Note 1: Any honors that restrict choice of party members in any way (class, alignment, or anything else) do not apply inside Irenicus' Dungeon in Baldur's Gate 2. You may use anyone you want while inside it, but will have to boot the appropriate people once you reach Waukeen's Promenade. Thanks to Gutrot for all the wonderful badges. (This has been shamelessly copied from Suspicious's previous thread) Note 2: Any honors/dishonors which do not apply to a specific game in the series can apply to any. For example, Double Damage can apply to any game in the series, and you can earn it up to four times if you go all the way from BG1 through BG2:ToB. [/quote] biscuits and crazy fucked around with this message at 02:47 on Feb 28, 2023 |
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Dec 19, 2022 03:16
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This is the short story of Stevie Nicks the elven wild mage I rolled for a while.  Starting stats.  She died basically immediately to a wild dogs random encounter.
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Dec 19, 2022 04:00
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Edited: Restarted when I realized "Core Rules" was the assumed default.  citibank office near meImogen, made with the same Stat Array as Imoen. Step one: to get out of Candle Keep and to the Friendly Arm Inn alive. God help me, I'm going with "Roleplayer" and won't be bringing Xar and his cutthroat companion with me to fight the assassin there. Jack B Nimble fucked around with this message at 04:26 on Dec 19, 2022 |
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Dec 19, 2022 04:04
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This is the much longer story of Ariana Grande, human cavalier Rolled forever.   Ditched Imoen and set off solo to do some questing. Decided the first thing I would do is try to grab the +1 greatsword from from the ogre near Nashkel and figured I could magic missile wand him down. Turns out I could not and relied on a lucky crit to survive the fight while walking away with my sword that would serve me for most of the game.  Every bit of xp helps as I do some early questing.   Melicamp dies.  So does Silke.  One simple trick to defeat casters: walking through a loading screen when they start casting a spell.  Generally went around finding every bit of XP I could to reach 32,000.  I grab my party and we set about cleaning up some encounters and getting gear.  XP and a new sword of Jaheria.   Cloakwood is going well until I get deep inside and have Dynaheir die. This fight was very dicey for a bit. I give up iron party and go and rez her as she is crucial to my battle plan of casting fireballs from off screen until the boss is dead.  We reach Baldur's Gate and go and do some questing.   This fight was very spciy as I didn't disrupt the enemy caster in time and we got CC'd hard.  Grabbing some tomes.  And now for something completely different. I wanted to find out if I could kill Drizzt and be okay as a paladin and not lose my powers. So I returned to the main menu and made a new game to begin experimenting with, and discovered the wiki was completely wrong. The wiki claimed killing an innocent as a paladin would cause you to fall. This is completely untrue. You need to have reputation 6 or lower in order to fall. So I went and murdered a random npc and picked up Vicona and Edwin.   I'm disliked but still a paladin.  Decided I wanted a new weapon.  Went and raised my reputation back up to 17, went and killed Drizzt to drop it nicely again.  I had some leftover arrows of detonation from killing Drizzt so just let Imoen go to town.  We have tragedy as the ghost in Durlags gets off a chaos and we stand helpless as he sets off a lightning bolt on an already nearly dead Jaheria who gets gibbbed and is permakilled. She will rejoin the party in Siege of Dragonspear which respawns her if she dies. For now Ariana Grande is nearly done Durlags Tower.
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Dec 19, 2022 04:16
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 Finished for the night; Imogen has arrived at the Friendly Arm Inn and met with Gorion's friends. Next session I'd really like to get to High Hedge and both purchase an identify scroll and add Kivan to my roster; he'd be a big help on the road to Naskell.
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Dec 19, 2022 04:53
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the ironling award image in the op is broken if the person who made the awards isn't around still i can try and whip some up for the new challenges, they won't be great but they'd at least be something.
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Dec 19, 2022 04:54
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Guess it's time for me to quit lollygagging and get game and mods installed on my new computer.
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Dec 19, 2022 05:14
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Do I get bonus points if I do this mostly blind
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Dec 19, 2022 05:35
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Ariana Grand human cavalier has defeated Sarevok. The end of durlags went really smooth.   Pulled Sarevok using the invis trick to deal with the mage first and then he came into melee. I went for stuns using the wands of paralyzation and managed to land one but by the time I did he was basically dead anyway.  This is how I stand at the start of Siege of Dragonspear. Had nearly 60k XP over the cap due to the power of never exiting the game all day so my XP over the cap never reset. (the game keeps track of how much xp you have over the xp cap, and you can claim it once you go to SoD or BG2 but loading a save for any reason clears your excess, including quiting the game and resuming later) Honors: Ironling, purist, librarian, trap dodger, honorable trader, victory for the spider queen Dishonors: none
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Dec 19, 2022 05:50
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Updated the OP to here. Congratulations on the quick Sarevok kill, cheesetriangles. Did you manage to stun Drizzt? Its one of the few kills in your roundup without attack rolls so it would make sense.Arivia posted:the ironling award image in the op is broken I fixed the broken image tag, and new images for the new honours would be much appreciated.
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Dec 19, 2022 15:46
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biscuits and crazy posted:Updated the OP to here. Congratulations on the quick Sarevok kill, cheesetriangles. Did you manage to stun Drizzt? Its one of the few kills in your roundup without attack rolls so it would make sense. No, I didn't bother. I just gave Imoen and Khalid bows with arrows of detonation and hasted them and let them go to work.
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Dec 19, 2022 16:55
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The Incredibly Short Adventure of Righteous Fury This is Righteous Fury, Inquisitor. She will not compromise with evil.  Only one point of damage from the Candlekeep assassins, and she hasn't even bought her armor yet.  Imoen is sufficiently righteous to join me, so we go loot corpses.  I was going to kill Xzar and Montaron, but I accidentally talked to them.  Tarnesh was no problem for me.  Jaheira was a loving tree-hugging neutral druid, so Imoen and I go hunting hobgoblins on our own.  Now to kill a belt ogre.  Oops, didn't kite hard enough. Maybe she should have brought the druid as cannon fodder.
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Dec 19, 2022 18:37
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RIP, crushed to goo.
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Dec 19, 2022 18:55
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My first attempt with a bard named Vitaliy ended in just a few hours, shot to death by hobgoblins. The less said about that the better. But after he fell his sister Vera stepped up, and this is her story so far.  I always forget to screenshot the character screen right on creation, similar to not naming children until you're sure they'll be around for a bit.  Melicamp survives being de-chickenized.   You could say that Bassilus didn't see me coming. Because I blinded him and shot him with crossbow bolts until he died.  Basilisk hunting goes well, and I conclude it by shooting this fellow with crossbow bolts.  Brage is made to pay for his crimes this time. No atonement for him!  Perfectly aimed fireballs.  Mines flooded. I learned that after Davaeorn drops a couple of Melf's Acid Arrows he just stops casting spells. No Magic Missiles, no Horror, just right into melee with his staff. It really vindicated my use of a Wand of Monster Summoning.  Wizard Island cleared with the help of some trusty skeletons.  Is there anything skeletons can't do?  Oh right, they can't go back and screenshot Aec'letec's death, but here's proof the deed was done.  Before heading back for the finale, I swing out west and pick up some choice equipment by killing Drizz't.   Sarevok may have a group of friends waiting to ambush me in an underground temple, but I have multiple Wands of Paralysis. With Sarevok dead I immediately press on to his followers.  They didn't put up much of a fight.   My first lich encounter goes pretty well.  Even the mighty rhinoceros beetle cannot prevail against the might of Thayan magick.  Found this guy hiding in a closet, so we dragged him out and put the boots to him.  I do not see the trial at the end of the game going well for me.   But with a dead dragon under our belts, who's going to object too much? Honors (so far): Ironling, Purist, Overcoming Adversity, Trap Dodger, Honorable Trader, Iron Party, Victory for the Spiderqueen, Battlemaster, Roleplayer.
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Dec 19, 2022 20:37
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So let's try this again. Goddess of the Bow - Archer Chapter 1  So first piece of luck, I started with a roll of 90!  Here's Goddess of the Bow's stats  Got an unlucky hit from one of the assassins, but that isn't a problem  Time for me and Imoen to have adventures  Adventures aren't good for Imoen.  Really aren't good.  She ran around feared for so long.  Killed Xzar and Montaron properly this time (I'm a good guy!).  Tarnesh is no match for the power of BOW.  Goddess of the Bow likes tree huggers, so I take in Jaheira and Khalid, and I do the Friendly Arms rounds.  Khalid kites like a motherfucker  Beregost at last.  Bow beats Silke  Neera got Khalid killed. Honestly, this was for the best, it makes Jaheira a free agent.  Neera's sleep only got two spiders. This was nearly real bad, but luckily my favored enemy is spider so I killed the awake two with the power of bow.  I return to the friendly arm and get some more xp  Karlat is a pushover next to the power of BOW.  Same goes for Ogrillions. Goddess levels up.  Random encounter. This is potentially bad if the dogs rush my archers.  They don't.  Hobgoblins maul Jaheira since Neera is out of sleep spells.  Nashkel reached!  My machine gun arrows interrupt 4 straight spells to kill Neira.  And I immediately get my Chapter 2 power. Got a bit of planning to do now, I was expecting to have Khalid here, but the first big hurdle is dealt with.
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Dec 19, 2022 21:07
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Ah, my favorite annual gaming tradition. I'll make something; not sure what. Probably something weird. Maybe an avenger druid or something.
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Dec 19, 2022 21:34
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Ariana Grande is progressing through Siege of Dragonspear. Korlaz surrenders and then the real boss fight begins, stripping every one of their equipment and making it all fit into their inventories.  We start our questing proper and I plan on ditching Minsc and Dynaheir at the end of this act and swapping for Edwin but I like having a proper second tank in Minsc for now.  One lich down.  Next act I do some party juggling and look who is back. Jaheria has barely any scars from getting exploded in Durlag's Tower. Will probably ditch Corwin when Khalid enters the picture again. Might go Dorn? Who can say.
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Dec 20, 2022 00:37
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drat you guys are fast getting through bg1 already. I might do a guy soon. Dunno. I grinded this pretty hard last year. Think I'll probably do ole reliable (Archer) if I do. That was the furthest I ever got anyways. Rooting for you all either way  .
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Dec 20, 2022 02:02
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Ginette Reno posted:drat you guys are fast getting through bg1 already. I might do a guy soon. Dunno. I grinded this pretty hard last year. Think I'll probably do ole reliable (Archer) if I do. That was the furthest I ever got anyways. The secret was: I started a week before this thread went up.
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Dec 20, 2022 02:12
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 The party has reached Naskell, but Ironman already rears its ugly head as my first Identify Scroll failed to copy. Then, some hobgoblins demanded all my gold and, with the threat of real death looming before me, I gave them all 137gp. I've only just managed to scratch together enough gold to return to High Hedge. Oh, and Malicamp died. I got no XP!? Starting to regret making a Multi Class, but I know it'll feel a lot better once I have even one more level of mage, so I can start to around some sleep spells.
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Dec 20, 2022 04:43
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Low level BG1 with a multi-class can get like that, but the power you get in mid to late BG2 with one is so good. Updated the OP to here. Softface, are Vitaly and Vera plain Bards, or one of the kits?
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Dec 20, 2022 15:34
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Jack B Nimble posted:Oh, and Malicamp died. I got no XP!? Yup. 4000 xp if he lives, and nothing if he dies because gently caress you.
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Dec 20, 2022 17:01
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Ariana Grande is working on getting into Bridgefort. This random encounter usually goes bad for me, but everyone made their saves this time, and we whooped 'em good.  I accidentally killed Viconia myself by being too free with the wand of fireballs. A spider got the killing blow, but she was only so low because of the wand.  This fight went pretty well, I had bought up scrolls of protection from poison for everyone but Ariana (she's immune due to kit) and just went in. Jaheria was the only person to land an attack other than Ariana, and only one. Ariana really carrying the team here as befit of a cavalier against a dragon.  Forgot to get a screenshot but in the cavern before this temple Edwin takes a wicked backstab and is killed but luckily not gibbed. The temple itself goes mostly smooth, none of the priests put up a real fight and I had bought a bunch of potions of clarity for dealing with the big worm thing and the mindflayer and that all went smooth. Things got dicey when I went to grab Sarevok's secret sword. I set off the trap so my entire party was blind and the guardian inside started hitting me really good, and I needed to burn a bunch of charges of the cursed chalice from Durlag's Tower. It fully heals the user, but causes curses them to have morale break. If you are immune to this (cavalier is, so is Dorn / blackguard, Kiels helmet gives this) it's an amazing item.
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Dec 20, 2022 17:18
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I have no screenshots, but my first attempt deserves no screenshots. Kalia, Human Bard (straight bard) was rolled with a marvelous 92, went out into the wide world of the Sword Coast and immediately was devoured by a wolf outside of Candlekeep.
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Dec 20, 2022 18:32
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biscuits and crazy posted:Low level BG1 with a multi-class can get like that, but the power you get in mid to late BG2 with one is so good. They are plain, no kit bards. Speaking of, let's check in with how Vera's doing!  The only thing left in this chapter is to bravely lead the defenders of Bridgefort in a sally action against the crusaders.  And by that, I mean let them distract the crusaders while I throw out Chaos and Horror casts from behind them. M'khiin unfortunately deviates from the plan and gets stabbed in the face by the Barghest.  But we nonetheless carry the day, and the Flaming Fist shows up in time to take credit for my hard work.  Properly geared up, Vera is now the most charismatic person in the Sword Coast, perhaps in all of Faerun.  I didn't even know it was possible to kill the Shadowy Figure in this encounter, but I suppose with enough wands of fire anything's possible.  Our mission is to kill all crusaders, even ones sitting by a fire.  But if we can resolve something without fighting we'll do it, as long as it's an amusing enough solution.    We also find and break up a cabal of underground necromancers who are no doubt just freelancers who've taken up squatting underneath the castle.   Killing the second lich is kind of like sealing him away forever again, right?   We make our way into the basement proper, and despite my party members begging me to leave, I stay until the job's done.   I say the wrong thing to the ogres working the elevators and the entire camp goes hostile and charges me.  Things are looking bad, and I start mentally preparing myself to roll another character...  until the tide turns...  and the last crusader is dead. Safe to say that by now Vera is ready to attack Dragonspear Castle.
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Dec 20, 2022 20:06
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Goddess of the Bow Chapter 2  After some consideration, I go and pick up Ajantis. I want a high AC sword and board up front, and Minsc just isn't quite up to it.  A quick return to Nashkel later and Ajantis is kitted out. I also stuck the gender swapping belt on him to maintain my all girls squad.  A peaceful encounter with gnolls.  Jaheira upgrades her club.  A random encounter, easily dealt with.  These bandits put up a fight, but I have my bracers of archery.  I had some seriously unlucky rolls resting and fighting xvarts.  Random encounter with a winter wolf. Ajantis gets a bit hosed up, but 500 gold for the pelt!  The party arrives at the gnoll stronghold.  Gauntlets of Dexterity make Ajantis have a godly AC for this level. Hell, that's a good AC for mid SOA.  We get the Charisma tome. I have to decide how to use it.  The gnolls are no match for us. I recruit Dynaheir.  Goddess levels up again. Gets her third pip in Longbows.  I tried resting and xvarts once again mauled me.  Also, Ajantis broke his weapon. Luckily one of the Ogrillions defending the bridge had a Bastard Sword.  I give Ajantis the Charisma tome. Goddess' Charisma is just too low to get any use of it. If she gets to BG2 she'll be able to use the Charisma ring.  Yet another random encounter.  I head to Beregost and buy Ajantis a magic Bastard Sword +1. The price is now 1k less than it was with a lower reputation and Ajantis having 18 Charisma.  Bassileus dies easily, though Ajantis does get Rigid Minded.  I finally find a Composite Longbow, which I could have bought I now realize.  Skeletons greet me as I arrive at High Hedge with Melicamp. What convenience!  Melicamp Lives!  I pick up my reward, which I spend on a Shortbow +1 for Imoen and a Composite Longbow +1 for Goddess.  I cross Greywolf and get lucky. No damage.  I get to Mulahey's lair without taking a single point of damage.  So my strategy for Mulahey was recruit Xan, rest, then have Xan charm Mulahey and tank most of the skeletons and kobolds for me. Goodbye Neera, you were too dangerous for an Ironman run!  Chapter 3 unlocked!
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Dec 20, 2022 21:45
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Ariana Grande died outside Bridgefort when I made the wrong dialogue choice and the entire crusader camp jumped me with no backup.
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Dec 21, 2022 00:52
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cheesetriangles posted:Ariana Grande died outside Bridgefort when I made the wrong dialogue choice and the entire crusader camp jumped me with no backup. Bummer! I've had that happen to me before, and while the battle can be won it's far from easy and depends a lot on luck. Vera's adventures, however, continue.  I probably didn't need to use four castings of Cloudkill on these guys, but it's better safe than sorry.    My favorite tool, fireball, resolves all of these combats with almost no damage coming my way.  The last fight's a little trickier though, but a few Chaos castings does the trick.   We begin a daring night assault on Dragonspear Castle, advancing with the motto of "let the Flaming Fist deal with it."  Judging by timestamps, the last crusader falls almost 45 real-world minutes after the attack started.  Yeah, that'll happen.  While it would've made more sense for the character to push Caelar away here, having her on your side makes the fight go a lot smoother, and I think Vera would understand that, when fighting for your life in literal hell, you need all the allies you can get.  It pays off, and the big guy goes down.  In retrospect, I should've screenshotted the stats page here.  I'm pretty sure we could take them.  So it's Imoen's fault we got caught! It's now on to Baldur's Gate 2 for Vera. If you're wondering how I squeezed a week of game into a couple days, it's because I also started about a week ago. On to honors: Siege Breaker, Purist #2, Overcoming Adversity #2, Big Game Hunter, Roleplayer #2.
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Dec 21, 2022 03:05
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There's two spots in Siege of Dragonspear that worry me: 1) That god damned Shadow Assassin in Bhaal's Temple 2) The bridge spot where you have to stop the Mages from blowing up the bridge. I feel like it's easy to accidentally lose there in frustrating ways.
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Dec 21, 2022 04:04
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Phoebe Bridgers elven sorceress has defeated Sarevok. Rolled a while.  Starting stats.  Started going to grab every bit of XP I could, even talking to Noober.  Use the scroll of cloudkill to drop these assassins.  Melicamp dies.  Sorry Neera I need that bag.  Now I need money badly.  Goes down easily to a wand of fire.  I crossed Greywolf and lived.  I get kill stealed.  Potions of Absorption are the real MVP of this run.  I can't disarm the traps, but they can't see me, and I go on my way. Playing solo being invis helps so much so often. I forget to take screenshots for a while, but kill Davereon with some off-screen fireballs while skipping all the combat in the mine while invis. On the way out, I kill off the 4 named guards outside for the Boots of Speed. The mages are kind of helpless against a mage with improved invisibility because they can't remove invisible, and they can't target an invisible creature with spells. Kiting the melee dudes while dropping fireballs does the rest.  Haste + Boots of Speed + improved invisibility makes the Iron Throne fight pretty trivial.  Ducal Palace I load up on summoned monsters, haste them all, cast a couple scrolls of chaos into the melee and both dukes take barely any damage.  I go and wrap up some business, like getting the last of the times before going to confort Sarevok. I invis past the entire maze and get into the main chamber and employ my favorite cheese strategy for killing him while solo. Pop a scroll of protection from magic, pull him into the center symbol and pop an invis potion, and then just walk back and forth until he is dead from the traps.  It was over in about 20 seconds. Honors: Ironling, Purist, Librarian, Honorable Trader, Iron Party, Battlemaster, Roleplayer, A God Among Women. Dishonors: None I thought I might not count for Battlemaster, but it's about summoning monsters or laying your own traps not abusing the ones already existing, so I'm counting it.
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Dec 21, 2022 08:07
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Mark Sman the Archer was born with a fairly decent stat roll: I've had my rear end handed to me recently on the basilisk gardens so this time I'll take it slow and start down south. I was considering a small detour to get the helmet from Droth and snipe some Sirines along the way as I usually do but Neera reminded me that even with 90% resist to sleep and charm there is that 10%:  Mark Sman the Archer has safely arrived at Nashkel and is currently looking for some smanly bracers.
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Dec 21, 2022 13:24
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Let's check in on how Vera's been doing in Amn. Oh no.  I managed to make it out of SoD with almost 100k excess XP, and get a firm push to go scale my UI.  Pretty sure this is an illusion, in fact, because Khalid died at Bridgefort and was forgotten.  This bit has always bothered me. Sure, have some confused dialogue options for people just starting with BG2, but dopplegangers were pretty integral to the plot of BG1 and the Bhaalspawn would know what the deal is.  Having achieved their freedom, the members of the jailbreak agree to go their separate ways.  Since I had to use a potion of master thievery to snag the ring of regeneration, I decide to five finger discount my way to 1.5M experience.  Found a cool sword that nobody in my party can use.  Wiped out a group of slavers too evil even for Korgan.  Reassembled the gang.  Solved a murder.  Solved another murder.  And, finally, delved into the catacombs for ancient knowledge and wealth. So I guess in general Vera is having fun in Athkatla.
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Dec 21, 2022 21:34
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Ginette Reno posted:2) The bridge spot where you have to stop the Mages from blowing up the bridge. I feel like it's easy to accidentally lose there in frustrating ways. It changed since the last time I hosed it up. Now the mages open a portal to the fire elemental plane and bail. You have to keep the critters away from the barrels until the portal disappears.
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Dec 21, 2022 23:47
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Suspicious posted:It changed since the last time I hosed it up. Now the mages open a portal to the fire elemental plane and bail. You have to keep the critters away from the barrels until the portal disappears. Is that how it works? last non Ironman run I played I died there once or twice trying to figure that out. I would definitely want to test it and be sure of my strategy before trying again. It'd be pretty frustrating to get that far and lose to that type of set piece.
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Dec 22, 2022 00:02
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I was going to load an old save and check it out for you but I haven't played SoD since my last computer.
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Dec 22, 2022 00:37
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I had no idea that encounter had been changed, every time I play I just snipe the mage before they open the portal. I did deliberately let it play out once out of curiosity though, and it summons a very large horde of creatures on Insane or Legacy of Bhaal. There likely would be less creatures on lower difficulties, but I've never played Siege on a lower difficulty than Insane, and I'm too used to it to go lower. Updated the OP to here.
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Dec 22, 2022 00:38
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Mark Sman has arrived at Cloakwood, went away for a while, then returned. Forgot to cast Remove Fear at Tazok's tent but was lucky enough to make the save and got some value of those 9000 gold spent on acid arrows:  Swapped Imoen for Coran but for some reason he's lower level than I expected and has an abysmal default Find Traps skill so I took a detour to level up a bit and collect some nice things. Gnoll Elite stealing my kills:  I got a bit careless with Basilisks, sorry Branwen:  I didn't bring any Stone to Flesh scrolls and Coran is nagging about going for the Wyverns so I think this is a fitting farewell, stone maiden.
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Dec 22, 2022 16:30
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These days Vera is getting into some perfectly normal things, such as: Enjoying a circus.  Getting some new pants.  Admiring sculptures.  Cleaning out a basement.  Stopping a mugging.  Enjoying a play and traveling to exotic locations.  Acquiring real estate.  Helping families with conflict resolution.  Supporting friends.  Encouraging trade.  Walking in nature.  Watching friends transform.  Telling the worst NPC to go gently caress himself.  Discussing local history.  Encouraging the youth.  Studying diverse religions. I won't be playing much over the next several days and certainly won't be updating due to holiday travel, but when I get back Vera is ready to delve into the Shadow Temple.
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Dec 22, 2022 17:09
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After a number of failed starts, I've got something cooking. Let me present my staff-wielding human berserker, Bonk.V2 Why v2? Because v1 came to his end by a wolf on the path to the Friendly Arms Inn. Bonk is a pretty boi, barely enough smart enough to read, but with all the force of personality and chutzpah to be on the one true Bhaalspawn while learning few, if any, lessons along the way. Cheesed my way to level 5 on basilisks; lost Imoen along the way and didn't feel like stone-to-fleshing her. Picked up Viconia, Safana, Sharteel, Kagain and Edwin(a) with the Girdle of Gender Bending. Cleared out most of the areas south of Peldvale reaching level 5/6 on the party. Dynaheir is dead, Neera is dead, Khalid is dead, Jaheira, Montaron, and Xzar are off *gestures vaguely* somewhere. Melicamp died.  And I'm on my way to Nashkel to clear out the mines.
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Dec 22, 2022 21:05
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| # ? May 5, 2024 05:58 |
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I've just started installing SCS so I should be able to start playing in about 37 years.
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Dec 22, 2022 23:15
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