Let's Play: Baldur's Gate Trilogy - Ch26 (Mae'Var)

[Tigranes]

It's coming.... as soon as Gibberlings 3 forums are back up so I can download the latest version of SCS2 (v21). Does anyone have a copy, or something?

 

I'm also hopeful the saves transfer will work OK. The lineup that survived BG1, including all the last-minute deaths:

• Tale, Wild Mage (Level 9)
  
• Gorth, Archer (6)
  
• TrueNeutral, Shapeshifter (7)
  
• Pidesco, Fighter/Illusionist (3/2)
  
• Nepenthe, Cavalier (7)
  

Our waiting list includes:

• Calax, Some Kind of Cleric, will start the campaign
  
• Azure, Kensai
  
• And I will now reopen the waiting list for anyone that died along the way. For reference, our BG1 Cemetery:
  

EPITAPHS:

Rosbjerg, the Bard: Dead by Nimbul the Assassin + Chromatic Orb, Nashkel

Enoch, the Cleric: Dead by Nimbul the Assassin + Magic Missile, Nashkel

Deraldin, the Cleric: Dead by Spiders + Poison, Durlag's Tower

Oner, the Barbarian: Dead by Spiders + Poison, Durlag's Tower

Greylord, the Archer: Dead by Greater Doppleganger + Cone of Cold, Durlag's Tower

Walsingham, the Fighter: Dead by Aec'Letec + Doom, Ulgoth's Beard

Sorophyx, the Thief: Dead by Two Lightning Traps and a Fireball Trap, Maze Underneath the Thieves' Guild

[Deraldin]

It's coming.... as soon as Gibberlings 3 forums are back up so I can download the latest version of SCS2 (v21). Does anyone have a copy, or something?

 

I'm also hopeful the saves transfer will work OK. The lineup that survived BG1, including all the last-minute deaths:

• Tale, Wild Mage (Level 9)
  
• Gorth, Archer (6)
  
• TrueNeutral, Shapeshifter (7)
  
• Pidesco, Fighter/Illusionist (3/2)
  
• Nepenthe, Cavalier (7)
  

Our waiting list includes:

• Calax, Some Kind of Cleric, will start the campaign
  
• Azure, Kensai
  
• And I will now reopen the waiting list for anyone that died along the way. For reference, our BG1 Cemetery:
  

EPITAPHS:

Rosbjerg, the Bard: Dead by Nimbul the Assassin + Chromatic Orb, Nashkel

Enoch, the Cleric: Dead by Nimbul the Assassin + Magic Missile, Nashkel

Deraldin, the Cleric: Dead by Spiders + Poison, Durlag's Tower

Oner, the Barbarian: Dead by Spiders + Poison, Durlag's Tower

Greylord, the Archer: Dead by Greater Doppleganger + Cone of Cold, Durlag's Tower

Walsingham, the Fighter: Dead by Aec'Letec + Doom, Ulgoth's Beard

Sorophyx, the Thief: Dead by Two Lightning Traps and a Fireball Trap, Maze Underneath the Thieves' Guild

 

I'm in!

 

I should really update my copy of SCS2. The last time I downloaded it was back in v8.

Edited December 18, 2012 by Deraldin

[Chilloutman]

It's coming.... as soon as Gibberlings 3 forums are back up so I can download the latest version of SCS2 (v21). Does anyone have a copy, or something?

 

I'm also hopeful the saves transfer will work OK. The lineup that survived BG1, including all the last-minute deaths:

• Tale, Wild Mage (Level 9)
  
• Gorth, Archer (6)
  
• TrueNeutral, Shapeshifter (7)
  
• Pidesco, Fighter/Illusionist (3/2)
  
• Nepenthe, Cavalier (7)
  

Our waiting list includes:

• Calax, Some Kind of Cleric, will start the campaign
  
• Azure, Kensai
  
• And I will now reopen the waiting list for anyone that died along the way. For reference, our BG1 Cemetery:
  

 

Great, so put me on waiting list please! Human- Chaotic Neutral - Blade. As I see waiting list is quite big not much chance but still a little one

[Blarghagh]

The chance is bigger than you think. Tigranes managed to slaughter quite a few people. If I recall, I have one death left and due to my class and level I'm vaguely expecting not to get out of Irenicus' Dungeon.

 

Anyway, glad to see you're coming back to this. It was a lot of fun to read about your mad scrambles to keep us alive against all odds.

Edited December 18, 2012 by TrueNeutral

[Chilloutman]

The chance is bigger than you think. Tigranes managed to slaughter quite a few people. If I recall, I have one death left and due to my class and level I'm vaguely expecting not to get out of Irenicus' Dungeon.

 

Anyway, glad to see you're coming back to this. It was a lot of fun to read about your mad scrambles to keep us alive against all odds.

 

Haha that would be good for me, but there are still like 7 people in line before me

[Oner]

Yay!

[BBMorti]

 

 

 

CTRL + Q to Enable/Disable GoPhoto.it

I would like to join the list! With a Gnome fighter/illu that has focus in ranged weapons, short bow or some such.

[Chilloutman]

Good, I am happy that I am now not the last one in the line

[BBMorti]

I read some of his older runs, hilarious reads. Definitely worth a shot to line up, I hope your blade makes it in. If enough people die that mine makes it in, I am just happy he is ranged and, hopefully, primarily carries protection spells in his book.

 

=P

[Tigranes]

Chilloutman and BBMorti, you're in right after Calax and Azure. Anybody in the cemetery that wants back in needs to let me know.

 

Feel free to give me more detail about your characters or their quirks, e.g. an insistence on clubs.

 

I've procured SCS and I've now tested that everything works, so will update soon. I need to go back and count how many deaths everyone has left...

[BBMorti]

Spells primarily buffs and protection spells, preference in bows and various types of elemental arrows are favorite ammo.. a wonderful bonus is they interrupt mages through stoneskin etc. and have pretty colors.

 

Generally a coward that doesn't like to get hit, you know those small races

Hates any kind of melee as he is allergic towards troll breath, blows and various forms of odor one might come across in such situations.

 

I guess this a pretty good example of a standard reaction if a troll gets too close -->

Edited December 18, 2012 by BBMorti

[Deraldin]

Chilloutman and BBMorti, you're in right after Calax and Azure. Anybody in the cemetery that wants back in needs to let me know.

 

Feel free to give me more detail about your characters or their quirks, e.g. an insistence on clubs.

 

I've procured SCS and I've now tested that everything works, so will update soon. I need to go back and count how many deaths everyone has left...

 

Hey! You forgot me!

[Oner]

I want to live again! Or my cousin on my mother's side, an elf chick.

[Tale]

Still waiting for Wild Magic to TK someone.

[Tigranes]

17. Next Gen

Click Here for Table of Contents

 

When Gorth's crossbow bolt hit Sarevok, I thought it was all over. Our nemesis was dead, and as it turned out, we pretty much killed every single one of his followers on the way, so not much in the way of mop-up was required. We were already strong enough to kill werewolves, demons, and about seven million kobolds given enough dice. Surely now, the Obsidianites could really enjoy life, take adventuring easy. No more blood-soaked underwear, no more enforced sexual abstinence. Our good deeds have made us heroes of the Sword Coast; now, it is time to bask in the glory, and reap the rewards.

 

Well, that was nine months ago.

 

Where are we? Where is everyone?

 

'Awoken'? Seriously, awoken? I ain't sleeping beauty.

 

I hope you don't mean the kind of experiments drunk men have with tavern wenches, because-

 

Oh, that is what you mean.

[Tigranes]

That's what momma used to tell me, too, every time we went to the doctor's. Then came the leeches.

 

I know these days some clerics are talking about phasing out healing spells, so that "they're not reduced to walking bandage dispensers." Yeah, look, I don't think you guys quite understand what happens to our quality of life when bandages don't get dispensed.

 

Clearly, it's not very tapped if I'm sitting here getting camped. I need some tapping up.

 

I'll 'realize my potential' on your S&M strap-bare arse when I get out of here. You'll see.

 

This guy has golems?

[Tigranes]

 

This guy can teleport?

 

This guy can fire giant green balls of goo to destroy his enemies? Okay, this is too much.

 

My prison cell door opens, without warning. It might have been structural damage from the experiments. No matter. Pain has brought me clarity of mind. Now I see that while I traipsed around the Sword Coast 'adventuring', others have ventured far ahead, gaining extraordinary power. Being the hero of the sword coast means nothing. What I must have is power. Power to kill. To dominate. I must...

 

[Tigranes]

I quickly retrieve the rest of the crew. While I formerly considered them allies, comrades, even friends, I now see them for what they truly are: bags of flesh whom I shall stack one upon another to reach my rightful position of glory.

 

Nepenthe, the blueskin, is our giant, fleshy sponge in the front, a Cavalier. Gorth, in slimming manure-grey, is an Archer, and fires arrows from our rear to penetrate our enemies. TrueNeutral, the blonde, is a Shapeshifter, meaning he can't wear armour. You would think by that logic that he can't wear any clothes, either, but I suppose we all compromise in our own ways. Actually, we've never seen him shapeshift - something about 'badly implemented rule modifications'. If he isn't any more useful now we might have to find some solutions. Pidesco, the stumpy Snow White at the back, is a Fighter/Illusionist that joined us just after Durlag's Tower. In practice, that means he's about as good a fighter as a goblin and about as good an illusionist as my mother.

 

The problem, of course, is that we lack a thief. When Sorophyx killed himself on a double-lightning trap back in the Maze, we recruited Calax. The circumstances which persuaded me to hire a cleric to replace a thief is unclear, and more problematically, he keeps insisting he's some kind of dashing blonde charmer. You'd think people would have told him before now that he's a stumpy dwarf cleric with bad fashion sense.

 

But back to the present. This giant cretin appears to believe that we are his 'friends' and we will 'help' him out of his cell.

 

MINSC WILL BE FREE! THESE BONDS WILL NOT HOLD MY WRATH! BUTTS WILL BE LIBERALLY KICKED IN GOOD MEASURE-

 

...it's probably bad I can recite that from memory.

 

I'd love to take you on as our spare flesh-sponge, but we've reached our Men In Blue quota for the party.

 

We find a convenient stash of Basic Weaponry and Armour nearby , including one of each type.

[Tigranes]

....okay, somebody's gonna have to multiclass to thief. (Actually, I checked - nobody even knows the Knock spell.)

 

Gorth: Look! Our first enemy!

Tale: I can't see! I'm blind!

Nepenthe: All leaders are blind to their own greed, as are managers and human resources personnel. Their blindness is what oppresses the workers.

TrueNeutral: What?

Nepenthe: Sorry. Just disillusioned with my job.

TrueNeutral: Your job is to get hit in the face until we kill things.

Nepenthe: Yes.

 

Pidesco draws first blood by rolling 20...

 

...and proceeds to level up. It must be nice being low level.

 

Pidesco: Look, guys! 17 THAC0!

 

Calax: Alas, it seems not even my well-toned, 18-strength muscles will force this door. I know it's hard to believe, but even my powers are not unbounded.

[Tigranes]

Our only solution is to take the Southern path.

 

Nepenthe: Nobody ever wants to talk to me. Except women. They can't wait to talk to me. I've got them lined up in a cue. It's a pity my tragic past prevents me from loving again, but perhaps that is all for the best. Such is the fate of the revolutionary-

 

Ah, another being who wishes to teach the lesson of morality.

 

But I will no longer answer to such, djinn. The only thing that matters in this world is the ability to inflict death, and I will not be swayed from its wisdom.

 

Our next encounter pits us against some goblins. For such fodder, a single Aganazzar's Scorcher will do. Observe...

[Tigranes]

...the power of GEOMETRY.

 

Gorth: Sorophyx might be gone, but my ranger abilities still allow me to sneak.

TrueNeutral: Then you will LEAP OUT from the shadows and take the life of the enemy in one precise attack?

Gorth: Well, no. I get zero backstab modifiers.

 

Calax: Ha! 'Tis nothing for a physically superior being such as I. Muscular yet slim, masculine yet gentle.

Pidesco: Great, another crazy.

 

Puzzle #1: Fetch activation stone, activate golem. Truly, quests were elaborate and nonlinear back in the day.

 

Another mephit, and a magic missile nearly takes me out. Only more evidence that I cannot be complacent.

[Tigranes]

In a nearby room, we find some inactive golems.

 

Tale: Alright, everyone surround the golems, and get ready to attack.

Gorth: But they're inactive?

Tale: If they're here, it probably means they will be made active at some point. It makes sense for us to destroy them now.

Nepenthe: But they haven't done anything to us?

Tale: That's no reason to stop.

 

The golem responds immediately, and they hit heavy. The advantage we gain by having five hasted members bash on them is only just enough.

 

Tale: Faster, fleshbags!

 

The two golems fall, one after another - and only just in time.

 

Spells running low, we now turn to my specialty: wild magic.

 

Wait, wrong target?

 

Thankfully, the retargeting flaw settles on another goblin, and narrowly misses me. A little less luck and it might have been a half-party wipe.

[Tigranes]

Moving quickly to take advantage of haste, we send our less wounded members up front to clean out the dilapidated library.

 

We also stop by to pick up the activation stone. Rielev, a groveling puddle of goo, tells us little of import. (Is BGII dialogue better than DA2? Discuss!)

 

We decide to return to the Sewage Golem and risk a long rest. It doesn't make sense for us to waste too much time in our escape, but we simply will not survive with our injuries and depleted spells.

 

Achievement: Fetched MacGuffin. Now all we have to do is follow the golem as it opens all the doors for us.

 

Crap.

[Tigranes]

The Otyugh is big, strong, and slows/diseases with every hit. Calax soaks up the pressure as we fling some of our best spells at it.

 

Oh, I see, Sewage Golem. We'll just fight the big ugly thing on our own while you run around, shall we? You'll use your gigantic, magic-enhanced muscles to OPEN SOME DOORS?

 

Nepenthe: Inefficient workflow. Yet another evidence of the failings of capitalist bureaucracy.

 

Calax strongarms some doors, sucks up some poison. Hey, if you didn't want this, you'd have trained to be a thief.

 

Finally, we come upon Ilyich and his duergar, one of the tougher engagements on this level. Still, we haven't had any difficultlies thus far, and we still have many spells at the ready...

 

A stray sling-bullet interrupts my Chaos spell. But no matter, we will just retreat a little around the corner and regroup-

[Tigranes]

-crap.

 

 

Welcome back. It has, indeed, been 9 months since the Obsidianites successfully completed the semi-ironman run of SCS-boosted Baldur's Gate. It is now time for us to embark on the big daddy: Shadows of Amn. The same rules will apply as before. Anybody can post on this thread asking to feature as a specific class, race, gender, personality style, meta-game role, etc. When party members die a third time, or are chunked, they will be replaced with the next person in line. I will only load saves when there are bugs, or when Tale dies (since this automatically causes game over), and try not to 'cheese' too much, as it sucks the fun out of LP's. I will use a modest, SCS-centric installation:

• Baldur's Gate II + ToB (GOG)
  
• TOB 26498 Patch
  
• Gibberlings 3 BG2 Fixpack v9
  
• Ascension v1.4.21
  
• Unfinished Business v19
  
• Sword Coast Stratagems II v21
  
• Gibberlings 3 BG2 Tweaks
  
• Widescreen Mod
  

As with BG1, we are interested in a 'prudent' level of mods that adds necessary bug-fixes, then the tactical sophistication and challenge a selective installation of SCS gives us. Basically, SCS's greatest benefit is that it implements actually smarter AI; enemies call for help more effectively, make more effective use of their resources, etc., nearly always only by using the same rules and resources that are available to players. There is, in my opinion, zero reason not to use it - especially since our semi-ironman challenge is meant to produce casualties. Mods like Unfinished Business only make small restorations to developer content.

 

That said, I selected only sensible fixes and tweaks from all mods - e.g. free action now protects against stun, antimagic attacks can target invisible enemies, minute meteors are nerfed (from +6 to hit to +2), etc. I have also made strongholds available to all classes. Ascension I consider to be semi-canon given it is Gaider's creation, but I have left out the Tougher Bhaalspawns components except Gromnir (tip of the hat), because they are monstrous combined with SCS. Usually, I would add between a dozen and two dozen mods on top, but this time we are still going for a fairly 'vanilla' experience; in any case, I'm not a big fan of mods that actually add substantial fan content, like NPCs or new areas, as they tend to be pretty meh.

 

There we are. Comments are welcome, the typewriter monkeys need to know somebody loves them.