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

[Tigranes]

Greywolf decides to play some Lord of the Rings LARP by gunning down a dozen kobolds by himself.

 

Sorophyx: Showoff.

 

Not even the huge spiders are much trouble thanks to Sorophyx; we're starting to get some capable party members, though most of them remain Level 1.

 

Sorophyx spots the final challenge before the Master of the Mines - a kobold commando with fire arrows and higher THAC0, who might well take out a few party members before we close in.

 

Sorophyx: I call this the Purkake-Stab.

 

Good show. Now, we're ready for Mulahey, and after dealing with Greywolf, we should be able to handle him-

 

But as soon as we enter the final level, a couple of kobolds show up and hit Rosbjerg before I can react. (He was already on low health from previous battles.) That is, in fact, Rosbjerg's second death. I'm not backing out at this stage, so we'll have to try and defeat Mulahey without him.

 

Tale: We should be OK. I mean, all he does is sing. I don't think he's fired a single arrow.

Greylord: Song provides bonuses to all party members in radius.

Tale: Doesn't always feel like it.

 

Mulahey is an undead-loving cleric. Not particularly creative, but at least he's given himself a nice little pad down here, and not some kind of faux horror skull-filled mausoleum. After all, you need real furniture to eat your eggs on in the morning.

 

And so it begins. Enoch is sent to plug the chokepoint against kobolds and skeletons (in full SCS, all those kobolds fire fire arrows, too. Imagine that.), while the rest of the party get to work on Mulahey. From memory, he can cast spells like confusion or at least horror - if he gets anything like that off, we could be looking at a party wipe.

 

Luckily, he doesn't have a lot of HP, and between Oner, Greylord and Sorophyx we quickly get him down. He pretends to surrender, then fights on...

 

And dies. We mop up the remainder, loot the place, and climb back up. The loot of choice here is a Ring of Holiness, which provides Enoch with extra spells. Everyone, by the way, is finally Level 2 (except for Sorophyx, who is Fighter 1 / Thief 2). We still have some way to go, but I think next level will open up second level spell slots, and Web will really make the difference.

 

We return to Nashkel to receive a substantial reward, and also, are charged with delivering samples of the contaminated iron for further investigation. This is an Unfinished Business component - I'll show how it pans out in future updates. But for now, a serious question: do we revive Rosbjerg? The party's opinions are divided. On one hand, Robjerg has only died twice, and they took the trouble of raising Enoch twice. On the other hand, many in the party argue that he has been rather useless so far, and at least he died in a memorable faceoff against Mulahey. They advise recruiting a new member here in Nashkel.

 

What will be the fate of the currently deceased Rosbjerg? Will we get through the next update without deaths? In fact, where will the party go in the next update? I don't know!

[sorophx]

Purkake-stab, eh?

[Tale]

What is in my pack?

 

I bet it's berries.

[Rosbjerg]

But for now, a serious question: do we revive Rosbjerg?

 

How is that even a question?

 

Sovngard sucks..

[greylord]

Rosbjerg?

 

Heroic death, but we like his music. Raise him?

 

Always like getting through Nash mines...that's normally where I hit lvl 2 with my parties.

[Deraldin]

You should raise him. You did raise Enoch twice and you said the limit was three earlier in this update. Are you really going to go back on your word so quickly? (Also I don't want to set a precedent of not raising people before their time is up for when I get in...)

[Enoch]

You should raise him. You did raise Enoch twice and you said the limit was three earlier in this update. Are you really going to go back on your word so quickly? (Also I don't want to set a precedent of not raising people before their time is up for when I get in...)

Indeed.

 

(Anyhow, one of those rezzes shouldn't really count-- I paid for that out of my gambling winnings! And it's not like anybody else is volunteering to be a cleric.)

[Gorth]

Oner: I'll resurrect you. With my halberd.

 

Who needs webcomics?

[greylord]

This should shoot it back upwards towards the top.

[Gorth]

This should shoot it back upwards towards the top.

For easy counting, subtract the Post# of the top post from the last post#. If it's 14 (IIRC), it should bring it over the top.

 

Edit: E.g. post 60-46 = 14, so the next post should in theory go on top of next page.

[Deraldin]

This should shoot it back upwards towards the top.

For easy counting, subtract the Post# of the top post from the last post#. If it's 14 (IIRC), it should bring it over the top.

 

Edit: E.g. post 60-46 = 14, so the next post should in theory go on top of next page.

 

Only for you crazy people that don't have your posts per page set to the maximum 40.

[Pidesco]

^What he said.

[Walsingham]

You have to keep him. I mean he'll die soon anyway. He's a bard. At least keeping him will mean you don't violate the rulez.

[Rosbjerg]

die soon anyway? but.. I'm a viking.. a Skjald.. a warrior poet..

[Pidesco]

The operative word being poet. Like that Holy Grail guy who was always about to burst into song, and about to get married off to the girl with huge... tracts of land.

[Tigranes]

Um...

 

I revived Rosbjerg, but him and Enoch died again in the very next battle.

[Deraldin]

Um...

 

I revived Rosbjerg, but him and Enoch died again in the very next battle.

 

What did you do to those poor guys?!

[Tigranes]

You'll see. Lite SCS is tougher than I thought - and not having many of the mods I usually use has confused me a little bit.

 

So, um, keeping to the 3 strikes rule, I replaced Enoch and Rosbjerg with Deraldin and Nepenthe, but that means I now have a party of 2 Fighters, a Fighter-Thief, a Barbarian, a Ranger and a Mage. I don't mind the challenge per se, but it's kind of... boring, and doesn't make for good LP. Deraldin/Nepenthe, if you don't mind being a cleric or druid I could take it from there...

[Blarghagh]

Ouch.

 

That's a decent rate, how long is the Shortlist? Can I be a Shapeshifter once the moment comes?

Edited January 4, 2012 by TrueNeutral

[Tigranes]

Once we include Deraldin and Nepenthe, the only people on the shortlist are Gorth and Wals, so you may well be up there soon. Of course, they're both non-spellcasters as well...

 

People who have died can also come back on the shortlist, either as new characters or reincarnations of their former characters. I actually liked the personalities I'd set up for Enoch and Rosbjerg, I'm sorry to see them go.

[Deraldin]

You'll see. Lite SCS is tougher than I thought - and not having many of the mods I usually use has confused me a little bit.

 

So, um, keeping to the 3 strikes rule, I replaced Enoch and Rosbjerg with Deraldin and Nepenthe, but that means I now have a party of 2 Fighters, a Fighter-Thief, a Barbarian, a Ranger and a Mage. I don't mind the challenge per se, but it's kind of... boring, and doesn't make for good LP. Deraldin/Nepenthe, if you don't mind being a cleric or druid I could take it from there...

 

Yeah, I'll pick up the cleric spot.

[Tigranes]

4. High Mortality Rates Are A Key Impediment To Economic Growth

 

After intense deliberation, the Obsidianites decide that it would be a pity if Rosjberg were to expire so early. After all, he has yet to act very warrior-poet-ish. They fork out an increased price of 200 gold to get him back on his feet.

 

Rosbjerg: Brrrr. Thanks guys. What took so long?

Tale: Oh, um... there was a queue.

Sorophyx: Remember, man. One more and it's over. We can't carry walking deficits like you around forever.

Rosbjerg: Don't worry, I'll be careful. In fact, I'll just stand right at the back and sing!

Tale: That's what you've been doing the whole time.

Rosbjerg: Well, I'll stand even further back. You won't see me die again for a while, that's for sure.

Tale: Alright. Now let's go to the inn to get your HP back up, then we can get going.

 

Oh, right. Assassin #3.

 

Rosbjerg: But I have one HP!

 

Yeah, sorry. This is the only inn in Nashkel anyway, and I forgot. Just stay back and you should be fine.

 

The full SCS Nimbul is virtually impossible without reloading; he immediately turns invisible with a pre-buff, then can cast horror, fireball, acid arrow, chromatic orb and more. I don't think he gets more levels or anything, but he definitely acts like a prepared assassin. In our game, he was a bit of a pushover - leaving Rosbjerg at the back we just walked up and pounded him. At critical health he began to flee, quaffing a potion of extra healing on the go.

 

...then he cast horror.

 

Sorophyx: We ALL failed our saving throws? Seriously? We're like, Level 2!

Tale: Yeah, but none of us have particularly high wisdom scores. (Wait, is that third edition? Will saves? So what is it here?)

 

Note that the projectile is just about to reach Rosbjerg, so he panicked too once it hit.

 

Did I mention smarter AI means enemies will target weaker enemies now? Not that he had a chance anyway, the chromatic orb doing 10 damage.

 

Thankfully, horror dissipated after only 3 turns, and we were back on the offensive. Everyone's max HP is still so low, so we decided to kill him as fast as possible...

 

...but he let off a magic missile, literally the instant before Oner chunked him. Four magic missiles? So what, this guy's like, caster level 5? That means he probably had third level spells, too, so we're lucky he never cast any.

 

Enoch: You call this lucky?!

 

Sorry. I guess if you weren't so old, you could have made your reflex save-

 

Greylord: No saves for magic missiles.

 

OK, well, you were screwed either way.

 

And thus pass into oblivion our very first casualties. Enoch was a Level 2 Priest of Helm, and was so happy to have finally escaped Level 1 after fifty-five years of adventuring. He was hoping to eventually gain access to third level priest spells, because he's got this giant wart someone cursed on him back in grade school he was never able to get rid of.

 

Sorophyx: And now, he'll have the wart forever. In afterlife!

 

Enoch was a crucial part of the team. He only accrued 8 kills over 11 days, but was busy healing party members, well, once a day with his Cure Light Wounds.

 

Rosbjerg was a Level 2 Skald, and had he lived to see the assassin die, might even have become the party's first Level 3 adventurer.

[Tigranes]

Sorophyx: Wait, the dude had four kills? FOUR?

Tale: He did sing his helpful songs.

Sorophyx: We resurrected him twice so he could kill FOUR critters for us?

 

Now, now. Rosbjerg was just beginning to get mage spells, you know. Why, he already had burning hands!

 

Sorophyx: Well, that could kill Tale in one go. Still only has 8 HP.

 

Indeed. Now, regretfully, we must move on - but we surely cannot survive with 4 members. It's time to recruit some new Obsidianites for our cause!

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Human Male, Cleric; Human Male with Blue Skin, Paladin; enter stage left. Sit on leftmost table.

Paladin: I don't know about this. I mean, you're clearly an evil person, and I shouldn't be consorting with your like.

Cleric: Now, now. Good and evil are such artificial labels, don't you think?

Paladin: Well, no, considering my Detect Evil badge cries tears of blood whenever I see you. It say's you're.... More Lawful Evil Than Herve Cain.

Cleric: Hey, hey. No need to go that far. Besides, you're the one that came to me, remember? You need my help!

Paladin: Well... that's true. But can you help me?

Cleric: Listen, Nepenthe. Back in the day they called me the slick-grease boy-toy of the Sword Coast. You got problems getting a girl, you come to me.

Paladin: That doesn't sound very flattering.

Cleric: Oh, it was. Very much.

 

Oner: Gentlemen. You look like you have character levels. Can I interest you in an adventuring job? High risk, unpredictable pay?

Paladin: Oh, I'm sorry. I would, but I really have other priorities at the moment-

Cleric: Wait, hang on. Nep, this is a great opportunity for you! Adventurers get all the hanky-panky!

Paladin: Is that the street slang for hand-holding?

Cleric: Dude. Trust me. You're gonna love hanky-panky.

Oner: Listen, if you guys are in, you better say so now, because with every passing second I'm starting to regret ever talking to you freaks.

Paladin: We're in!

Cleric: I'll tag along, too. It's never too late for H-P.

Oner: Alright. Well, let me get your names...

 

Deraldin the Cleric was indeed the slick-grease boy-toy of the Sword Coast back in the day. He's now middle-aged and mildly alcoholic, but he's still got it. He is fairly respected as a Priest of Talos, given his penchant for suing former lovers for psychological damage and winning.

 

Sorophyx: I wholeheartedly support his membership in our party.

 

Nepenthe the Paladin isn't particularly bright, and he's pretty blue all over, but he has a fairly prominent bulge in his trouser pocket that makes people stand up and take notice. I forgot to take a screenie initially, so this is him at level 2.

 

Oner: *rawr*

 

And so armed, the Obsidianites set out once again. Our objective is first to do a little exploring, get a few quests done, and beef up our levels - we at least need third level spells if we're going to take on the bandit camp. First, we head towards the High Hedge for some shopping, but run into some bandits. They immediatley prove a challenge; after all, our newest members are still Level 1...

 

Oh boy. Deraldin uses his innate Lightning Bolt ability, but it doesn't take out the bowman in time, and Oner suffers his second death. It's difficult because he's a barbarian and can't wear good armour, but has to take point - it should get better once Nepenthe and Deraldin can share the burden.

 

At High Hedge we invest in some consumables to give us the edge for the next few battles. We spend half our gold on first a potion of explosions (essentially a one-time fireball), and three potions of Mirroring Eyes. You know what that means. (Or don't.)

 

We also clean up some business in Beregost. If you remember, this is the Unfinished Business addition where we can look further into the iron crisis. But we need some samples of the poison, too, it seems - I forget if we were supposed to grab them in the Nashkel mines. We'll see.

 

E-boy no longer seems quite so concerned with hiding his identity.

[Tigranes]

We also cleaned up some ogres on the way, and get a medium shield +1 for our troubles. We're starting to get some magical loot coming our way.

 

After that, it's back out into the wilderness. It's been a while so I've forgotten where a lot of encounters are, and Sorophyx has hideous Hide in Shadows so he's pretty useless as a scout, so we keep running into people.

 

Sorophyx: I still don't see why we can't just have me rob every house in Beregost.

 

Because you failed at it, remember. Twice.

 

Bows are dangerous in BG1, both in our hands and the enemies'. Tale is immediately hit for 7 damage, and that Save vs. Death roll indicates to me the arrow might even have been poisoned. Luckily, we avoid it, and we use a precious potion of invisibility (from Nimbul's corpse) and stay out of the rest of the battle. See? I'm not so useless after all!

 

Throughout BG1, Greylord is likely to be our best killer in terms of quantity. He now has Grand Mastery in Longbow (see description in screenshot), and shoots like Legolas on steroids.

 

Greylord: I'm not munchkin, just badass.

 

Yes you are, little buddy.

 

This is the first time I've actually saved that bloody cow. Tale casts a useful spell for perhaps the first time this campaign.

 

Tale: Hey, remember the time I summoned berries? Those were nice.

 

Yes, but you also managed to cast Hold Person on a piece of grass.

 

In any case, we gradually explore out the areas between Beregost and Nashkel. Sorophyx' purkstabs and Greylord's superfast shooting usually takes out many monsters, and we're starting to get a little more confident.

 

I don't remember this guy, but pretty funny.

 

Right. This is what we've been building towards - Bassilus, the mad cleric on whom there is a reward. Bassilius is also capable of spells like Hold Person that can make the difference between victory and party wipe, and we don't want any more deaths this session if we can help it. Sorophyx sneakily checks out the enemy distribution...

 

...and blesses them with a potion of explosions.

 

Sorophyx: Wait, so I just lobbed 500 gold on a bundh of bones? What's the reward for these guys?

 

I don't know, I think something like 300 gold and some XP.

 

Sorophyx: You really are f***ing stupid, you know that.

[Tigranes]

Bassilius is so crazy, he talks to you even as you burn him with fireballs.

 

But after that, it's game on. Bassilius immediately casts a hold person we have little chance of disrupting, and Sorophyx' job is to flee as far as possible so it doesn't effect anyone else, and he's not in range of enemies. Not quite, but he manages to run a decent amount.

 

So the next step is for the party to come in - Tale casts web (and succeeds), while Deraldin contributes with an entangle soon after. Greylord then has free reign to shoot arrows in Bassilius' face, disrupting his spells.

 

Remember Greylord's favoured enemy type is? Yep. The skeleton.

 

Deraldin and Nepenthe go round the back of the bushes to heal Sorophyx, and soon the battle is over.

 

Our biggest reward is the War Hammer +2, which also does electrical damage. Our resident hammerman is now Nepenthe, so we expect great things of him - him and Deraldin have now reached Level 2, as well, while others are moving up to Level 3 (Tale, for instance).

 

Tale: *sob* Enoch would have loved that hammer.

 

Indeed. So now, we have a few levels under our belt, though not enough; we're still in the early stage when a single ambush or spell can jeopardise the fate of the entire party. (We had to run from some inter-map encounters already.) We need a quick way to earn some XP and buff us up for challenges like the Firewine Bridge and even Ulcaster. Now, remember that we bought some potions of Mirrored Eyes...

 

That's right, baby.