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Post by Daos on Jan 6, 2018 15:30:45 GMT -8
It takes 8 hours to reach Kuldahar. It's not what one might expect. The massive tree at the center of the village seems to be keeping the cold at bay. Or more likely, some kind of magic is involved. As soon as the party arrives, a young boy Nate approaches. He claims Arundel knew they were coming and he's been keeping watch every day since. But where are the rest of them? Didn't Easthaven send a whole army? The party asks for directions to see this Arundel, and are directed to the big tree. Arundel is an Archdruid of Silvanus, as it turns out. He explains that Kuldahar is not just the name of the village, but the name of the tree. The entire village is a shrine to Silvanus, and its the god's magic that keeps the place warm. Or it used to. The power of the tree seems to be weakening. This is why the outlying farms are covered in snow and abandoned. Arundel also explains there are numerous strange incidences that have been happening. People are disappearing, the weather is become far harsher than normal, even for Icewind Dale, and there are growing sightings of goblins, giants, and monsters and they seem organized. However, Arundel is unsure what is causing any of this. All he does know for sure is that if something is not done to curb the coming darkness, Kuldahar (both the tree and the village) will wither and die. The only lead the archdruid can provide is to investigate the nearby Vale of Shadows. There are numerous old tombs there, and rumors that the dead there are walking again. Perhaps whatever is causing this is also behind the other problems. First, the party heads to the nearby mage's tower. They are surprised to be greeted by a goblin. He turns out to be merely the assistant to Orrick, the human wizards that lives here. Orrick doesn't seem to care at all about the people or their plights, but is instead only here to research mythals--ancient elven magic. He has plenty of spells for sale, all 1st and 2nd level. He has a few items, too, but they are beyond what the party can afford. Instead, they buy some spells from him. Ryan learns Identify and Ladonna learns Identify and Friends. Also, why he is talking, Jherek manages to steal a ring off the old man. Lillian later identifies it as a Ring of Free Action, and Jherek is more than happy to don it. The party also visits Conlan's Smithy and sells all the axes, daggers, shields and bows they've picked up from goblins. They've essentially collected a large arsenal, but it all sells for a pittance. Conlan also sells some nifty magical items, but again they are beyond what the party can afford. He also sells plate mail, which is tempting for Katya. But I think I'll wait until they have more funds for now. There's a locked chest in the back room, but neither Theron or Jherek can get into it. The party also learns that Conlan's son, Sheemish, has gone missing--just vanished from his bed one day. Next the party comes across a ship...no, really. It's a ship just...sitting there, on the mountain. Surrounded by cows. Entering, the party meets a gnome named Oswald. He makes and sells potions and oils of all kinds. It turns out the ship is his invention, a ship that can fly through the air. Or an 'airship' as he calls it. Sadly, it crashed on its maiden voyage, and he's been stuck there ever since. But he likes to help out in the village, making new potions that can help keep the livestock from freezing to death and such. Jherek pickpockets a ring off of him, but nobody in the party can identify it on lore alone. Near the edge of town, a man comes running up calling for help. He has two yeti on his tail. The party quickly moves in to stop the beasts. They hit hard. Both Katya and Jherek take a hit each, critically wounding them, but Ryan is able to cure them quickly. When the fight is over, the man, Mirek, explains he and his brother had gone on a pilgrimage to the Vale of Shadows to visit the family crypt, like every year. But they found the place plagued with monsters. Mirek's brother was slain by a yeti, and the family heirloom he was carrying was lost. The party agrees to try and find it while in the vale. As the sun set, the party then went to the Evening Shade Inn. A rude halfling named Aldwin was running the place. Arundel had mentioned the old innkeeper, Eidan, had gone missing and Aldwin had just shown up with the deed to the place. The party rented rooms, but while upstairs, Jherek and Theron got up to their old shenanigans. They managed to get into one of the larger rooms and Theron found a ring in a locked dresser. Inscribed upon the ring it read, "To the people of Kuldahar; should evening fall upon me, and my life be no more, I leave the Evening Shade to you. Please care for her as I did - Eidan, last of the line of Kaivon." Intrigued, the party heads back down and confronts Aldwin with this. At first, he just accuses the party of breaking and entering, but finally confesses he found Eidan's body half buried in a snowdrift, so forged the deed because he wanted to settle down and hey, somebody has to run the inn, right? Nevertheless, Katya insists he confess to the village elders so the truth is known. He reluctantly agrees, after realizing he has nowhere to run, as the only pass is now snowed in. The party earns 3,225 XP. They hit the hay, and the next morning, Theron identifies the ring. It's a Ring of Protection +2! He decides to give it to Ryan, as he's the only one still with AC 10 at this point. Next time: Vale of Shadows!
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Post by Daos on Jan 7, 2018 19:59:05 GMT -8
It takes 8 hours to reach the Vale of Shadows. It's mostly a series of catacombs and tombs, but there seems to be a large temple on the far end. The party heads eastward first, toward the first crypt and find the entrance guarded by three shadows! Fortunately, they are lesser shadows. So they don't drain levels, but rather hit you with a 'bad luck' debuff that only lasts a few rounds. They can also be hit with normal weapons. Katya crits one, and Jherek crits the other two, so they aren't much of a challenge. And even better, Jherek hits level 2 as a fighter. Upon actually entering the crypt, the part is set upon by some zombies and skeletons. Ironically, these enemies prove far more troublesome than the lesser shadows did. Largely because skeletons are resistant to slashing and piercing damage, and the only characters who use bludgeoning weapons are Theron, Ladonna and Ryan--the latter two who did not have the AC to melee. Ryan can turn undead, but this just causes them to flee for a bit. Which can be useful if there are a swarm of them, but otherwise it tends to get annoying as it forces Katya and Jherek to chase after them. Ladonna in particular is a bit useless against undead. Her charm spells have no effect on them. I have her cast Armor on herself and flank skeletons with her staff, and she actually gets a few kills this way. There are a couple of traps and a carrion crawler, and when the party finishes clearing the crypt, they find a scroll of Stinking Cloud. As the party moves southward, they encounter three more yeti. Fighting them drains the rest of the healing spells Ryan has, and all but one healing potion. But, Katya hits level 3. The party reaches a second crypt and fight more lesser shadows at the entrance. Jherek hits level 3 as a thief and uses that last potion. Inside the crypt, more skeletons and zombies...but also a couple of ghasts. At one point Katya is paralyzed, but luckily survives. Theron finds a small shrine with a Potion of Healing, and also finds a scroll of Remove Fear and Cure Light Wounds for Ryan. Both the potion and healing scroll are used to keep Katya and Jherek alive. Also, Ladonna levels up. For some reason, the game will let me teach her Horror, even though it's Necromancy. So I do, and she has a good crowd control level 2 spell. Except, it, too, won't work against undead. Theron also finds a scroll of Identify (given to Lillian, as she's the only arcane caster without that spell now) and an old key. The party is ambushed by a gaggle of lesser shadows and just barely survives. But we get quite a few level-ups. Ryan reaches level 2 as a mage, Theron reaches level 2 as an illusionist and level 3 as a thief, and Lillian hits level 4. They also find some Leather Armor +1 and give it to Lillian. It will basically replace her studded leather. The party rests for the night in the second crypt, now that it is cleared out. Everyone heals up and is ready to keep going. But I'm going to end this one short, as it's getting late and I have work in the morning. Current Party Status:Ladonna (Enchanter 3) Ryan (Mage 2/Cleric 2) Theron (Illusionist 2/Thief 3) Katya (Paladin 3) Jherek (Fighter 2/Thief 3) Lillian (Bard 4)
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Post by Daos on Jan 8, 2018 23:00:15 GMT -8
Last time I forgot to mention I had also picked up a Potion of Genius. I gave it to Ryan, although frankly it's not really useful. All it does is boost your INT temporarily. Which I guess can be useful if you're trying to memorize a new spell, but that's what save scumming is for. Err, not that I would ever--ANYWAY! The party fights several more yeti on the way to the third crypt. For some reason, they keep targeting Jherek. Even when I get them focused on Katya, for some reason they'll suddenly switch targets to Jherek for no discernible reason. Eventually the party finds the yeti chieftain that killed Mirek's brother, and retrieve the family heirloom, which turns out to be a necklace. They also grab a morning star +1. However, at this point, the party has now consumed all of their magical healing again because the yeti hit so hard. Going inside the third crypt, it turns out not to be a crypt at all, but a large cavern with half a dozen or so yeti. This one is tricky, but relying on Ladonna's new Horror spell, Ryan's Color Spray, and Theron's Chromatic Orbs in order to debuff and control them, the party manages to succeed. They find a Potion of Agility (given to Lillian) and a Mace +1 which goes to Ryan. At this point, the party is spent, magically. But Ryan levels to 3 as a cleric, so can now stock up on Cure Moderate Wounds. However, rather than camp in the yeti cave, the party heads back to town. They need to sell all the yeti pelts they've collected, and return Mirek's heirloom anyway. Plus, Lillian and Theron are running dangerous low on ammunition. Once back in town, the party heads straight for the smithy. They sell all their excess loot and yeti pelts. This puts them at around 3,000 GP. Now it's time for shopping. In addition to stocking up on ammo, I buy plate mail, a new helm and a large shield for Katya. (I also realize I have a masterwork long sword in my inventory and don't even remember picking it up, so I give it to her, as well.) Her splint mail, small shield and old helm go to Jherek. The party then returns the necklace to Mirek. In thanks, he gives them a Sling +1, which naturally goes to Theron. The party also picks up a couple of healing potions (one for Jherek, one for Katya) and some new 2nd level spells for when the party levels up again. Then back to the Vale of Shadows. It is now Day 7, Hour 8. I actually like the music used in the Vale of Shadows. It makes use of a quena flute, which is hauntingly beautiful and kind of creepy. Which very much fits the feel of an old crypt. Anyway, into crypt number 4! As soon as the party enters, they are spoken to by an armored skeleton named Therik. He tells them to get lost. Katya questions if he is responsible for the evil in Kuldahar, but the skeleton does not seem to even recognize that name. Tired of the questions, Therik attacks along with two zombies. Once defeated, the party explores the rest of the crypt, fighting off various undead, disarming traps and discovering some sealed sarcophagi. In the end, the party acquires a dagger +1 (goes to Katya), Potion of Strength (Katya), masterwork great axe (Jherek), scroll of Color Spray (Ladonna), a Potion of Insulation (Jherek), and a scroll of Chill Touch (Ryan). Also found were a key and some broken armor? Weird. Probably sell it when they get back to town. Crypt number five is more of the same. The party acquires chain mail +1 (replacing Jherek's splint mail), an infravision potion (Katya), a scroll of Chant (Ryan), a scroll of Find Traps (Ryan), a scroll of infravision (Ryan) and a scroll of Protection from Evil (Ladonna). This brings us to the very end of the area, the entrance to Black Wolf Temple. It's guarded by numerous lesser shadows--and a single shadow! Luckily, between spells and some minor magical weapons, the party is able to fight the shadow. By the end of the fight, Jherek has leveled to 3 as a fighter. But...we've used up all of our healing spells and potions again. D'oh! Current Party Status: Ladonna (Enchanter 3) Ryan (Mage 2/Cleric 3) Theron (Illusionist 2/Thief 3) Katya (Paladin 3) Jherek (Fighter 3/Thief 3) Lillian (Bard 4) Next time: Black Wolf Temple!
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Post by Daos on Jan 9, 2018 21:43:29 GMT -8
Not sure if anyone is still reading this, but...here we go! The party enters Black Wolf Temple. There's a locked door, but the keys found earlier let the party inside. There's a large chamber filled with skeletons. After defeating them all, they find a few more +1 arrows and even some +1 sling bullets. I'm not sure what deity this temple is dedicated to, but I'm going out on a limb to say it's not Lathander. The magical ammo comes in handy, because in the room to the west, the party meets up with a wight, which can only be harmed by magical weapons. Katya switches to her dagger and Ryan helps out with his mace, but Jherek isn't able to hurt it at all. Eventually the party whittles it down, but it takes up all but one of Theron's magical bullets in the process. In that room, after disarming a trap, Theron finds another key, another Potion on Infravision, and some kind of gauntlets that nobody can identify yet. Next is the room on the east side, and here the party finds a short bow +1 for Lillian, a few more scrolls and potions, and after a fight with a foursome of ghouls, Katya hits level 4. The party also finds a holy icon to Myrkul, god of the dead. Well, that explains all the blood letters written on flesh books and such. Using the icon to open a door to the north, the party encounters some kind of undead necromancer named Mytos. He demands to know why the party has invaded the temple, looted its contents and destroyed all of its guardians. Katya asks if Mytos is responsible for the evil in Kuldahar, but again, he claims to barely even be aware of the burg. The two get into a theological argument, with Katya claiming that undead are evil because they are created by necromancy, and Mytos countering that healing spells are also necromantic. Although the party tries to find a non-lethal way of dealing with him, he still insists on fighting. When the battle ends, everyone but Katya levels up. The party decides to rest there, as they are out of healing and Katya and Jherek are in single digit HP even with the recent level ups. After they wake up, Ladonna and Lillian use Armor on themselves, and Lillian casts Strength on Katya, boosting her to 18/20. Among the loot, they find a Long Sword +1 that goes to Katya, and a Warhammer +1. Lillian also identifies the gauntlets, which turn out to be Gauntlets of Weapon Skill. Basically they just give you a +1 to hit, so I give them to Lillian because she seems to miss a lot. The party finds some more loot, including another short bow +1, a Haste spell, a Protection from Fire scroll, and another long sword +1. Then they are attacked by a "Sending of Myrkul" which seems to be a shadow of some kind. It's really tough, and can only be hit with magical weapons. Eventually Katya smites it, and it drops a ring that nobody can identify yet. Toward the end of the first level, Jherek spots a secret door. Opening it reveals a mummy. Oh, come on! That's not fair. Luckily, the party is able to defeat it by spamming Theron's Chromatic Orb spells and some Fire Arrows that Lillian picked up. After defeating it, the party finds a ton of stuff. Mostly potions and scrolls, but also a Disease Halberd +1 and a Mage Robe of Cold Resistance. I give the latter to Ladonna, because she is wearing the skimpiest outfit and it looks pretty cold out (not that it's her fault; the game seems designed that way; even Katya has some serious case of boob plate going on). Current Party Status: Ladonna (Enchanter 3) Ryan (Mage 3/Cleric 3) Theron (Illusionist 3/Thief 3) Katya (Paladin 4) Jherek (Fighter 3/Thief 3) Lillian (Bard 4) Next time: Second level!
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Post by Jherek Everfull on Jan 10, 2018 3:10:43 GMT -8
What’s the penalty for non proficiency in Icewind Dale? Maybe give Jherek one of those longswords for the rare...”UH-OH! He’s resistant to non magic weapons” situations? I’m sure a magic axe will wiggle its way into the party at some point, but until then it seems an appropriate stop gap!
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Post by Nuke on Jan 10, 2018 19:40:19 GMT -8
+1 - still reading when I get some time.
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Post by Daos on Jan 10, 2018 19:47:31 GMT -8
I tried checking the manual, but all it said is that were penalties, but it didn't give details. I did some experimenting, and it looks like it's the standard ones from the PHB. So -2 for a fighter. I think I'll use that Disease Halberd +1 I picked up for him when he needs a magical weapon, at least until I can find a magical axe. On a sidenote, I realized today that skeletons were resisting damage against Theron's and Katya's sling bullets. I couldn't understand why, but when I looked up the sling bullets' description, it listed them as piercing damage. Why? Why would they do that? That's really the only advantage slings have over bows or crossbows, is that they deal bludgeoning damage. Anyway, the party is ambushed by skeletons, but manage to bottleneck them up to make short work of them. At this point, though, the party is out of healing and spells again, and down on their last legs. So they heal up again. After putting back up their buffs (Protection from Evil, Armor, Strength), Lillian identifies that ring found earlier. It's a Ring of Shadows. That's going straight to Theron. Moving on, the party faces a very tough fight. A skeletal mage, two imbued wights, and a host of skeletons. I have to reload three times to win this fight, and in the end, Jherek still dies. Actually, he dies constantly. I don't have any explanation for it. All enemies are inexplicably drawn to him. I'll send in Katya first, so the enemies all aggro her, but as soon as they see Jherek they lose interest and turn on him instead. I basically reload at least once every battle to keep Jherek alive, but this time it wasn't worth the effort of fighting the battle all over again, so I just let him stay dead. The party is going to need to return to town anyway to restock their ammunition and sell off their excess gear. On the bright side, Ryan hits level 4 as a cleric, and thus gains a new WP. I train him in missile weapons, so he can finally use a sling and now at long last has a ranged weapon. The party also picks up some Bracers of Defense (AC 8), which is given to Theron. They also find a Wand of Magic Missiles that go to Ladonna, so now she can contribute again (as all of her charm spells are useless against undead). And finally, they also get a Static Dagger +1. So the party gathers up all of Jherek's gear, which puts everyone into encumbrance, and then they slowly trek back to Kuldahar. Once there, they raise Jherek, return his gear, sell all of their junk, and stock up on ammo, before getting some rest and heading back to where they left off. Exploring a bit further, the party finds a trap lined hallway that ends in a sarcophagus. Inside are, among other things, a Morning Star +1 and a Wand of Armory. Ooh, nice. Now Lillian and Ladonna don't need to waste a spell slot on that for awhile. The rest of the second level is no real challenge. The party clears out the remaining undead and picks up some minor loot. But one item of note is a Black Wolf Talisman. I give it to Jherek, in hopes maybe he won't die so much. The talisman opens the door to the third and final level of the temple. Be prepared for anything! Current Party Status: Ladonna (Enchanter 3) Ryan (Mage 3/Cleric 4) Theron (Illusionist 3/Thief 3) Katya (Paladin 4) Jherek (Fighter 3/Thief 3) Lillian (Bard 4) Next time: Third level of Black Wolf Temple!
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Post by Jherek Everfull on Jan 11, 2018 4:18:34 GMT -8
I did some research, and play testing. Aggro for monsters seems to run off of Damage dealt, PC AC, and Closeness to the monster. Maybe managing these will help? Specifically I noticed that my “striker” type characters with higher AC were prioritized over my tanks with lower armor classes.
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Post by GravityEmblem on Jan 11, 2018 7:03:15 GMT -8
Oh dear. How ironically appropriate.
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Post by Ezeze on Jan 11, 2018 12:29:03 GMT -8
It's Jherek's charming personality
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Post by Daos on Jan 11, 2018 12:33:24 GMT -8
I'm not sure what the algorithms are for aggro in this game. Horizons thought it might be because Jherek is the highest damage dealer, but sometimes he is targeted even before he's dealt any damage.
For example, this is something that happened the other day. The party (with Katya and Jherek up front) enter a room with several skeleton archers. All of the archers immediately target Jherek. He is dead before the party can even cross the room to fight the skeletons. So I reload.
This time, I send in Katya alone. All of the skeletons target her. Then I send in Jherek and the others to attack while Katya is drawing their fire. The skeletons all switch targets to Jherek (before he's even had a chance to cross the room and start attacking!), and kill him. I reload again.
This time, I send in Katya alone again. All the skeletons target her again. I send in the rest of the party, but leave Jherek behind. The skeletons continue to target Katya alone while she and the others destroy the skeletons, while Jherek safely remains in the hallway.
So I can't figure it out. None of the theories I've come up with fit.
"The enemies are programmed to target whoever does the most damage." But if this were true, why do they target Jherek before he's even rolled a hit yet? Unless they can somehow sense he potentially could deal the most damage?
"The enemies are programmed to target whoever has the worst AC." But then why aren't they all dog-piling on Ryan, who is only AC 8?
"The enemies are programmed to target whoever they see first." Then they should only target Katya and not switch over to Jherek five seconds later.
It really makes me wish the game had an actual tanking mechanic, something that would allow Katya to 'pull' the aggro toward her, like in an MMORPG.
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Post by Jherek Everfull on Jan 11, 2018 13:02:50 GMT -8
Maybe it’s Karmic retribution for being evil?
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Post by Daos on Jan 13, 2018 18:00:42 GMT -8
As far as I know, alignment plays almost no role at all in the game. Just one or two dialogue choices and certain spells work or don't work (e.g., Smite Evil, Protection from Evil, etc.). I went ahead and googled it, and still can't find anything concrete on how the aggro system works. Everyone agrees monsters aggro the first person they see, but have no explanation for why they change targets. Anyway... Last we left off, the party had just arrived at the third level of the Black Wolf Temple. They enter a large chamber full of undead. The party slowly picks them off in small, easy to handle groups by only moving inches on the map at a time. Ryan's ability to turn undead helps keep them from being overwhelmed, as well. (I remember in the expansion pack, this particular strategy doesn't work anymore. If one enemy sees you, then every enemy in the room aggros you, even if you don't see them yet. So I might as well take advantage of this while I can) (Also, much to my amusement, I learn that one of Ryan's combat lines is "To the pain!") This is around the point that magical loot becomes so ubiquitous that finding some is no longer noteworthy. For instance, the party picks up two more morning stars +1 and just toss them in Jherek's sack to sell later. I also have them pick up any high quality mundane weapons, but ignore the regular quality ones. Eventually I'll get to the point where even picking up HQ weapons is not worth my time. Trying the room to the north, the party encounters a mummy, a shadow and several lesser shadows. Although victorious in the end, the party burns through all of their healing and both Katya and Jherek are left in single digit HP. So after looting the sarcophagi present for potions, scrolls and the like, the party rests again. It is now Day 11, Hour 23. The room to the south is even harder, with some zombies and chosen zombies (which are apparently zombies that cannot be harmed with mundane weapons), and a couple more imbued wights. By this point, Lillian is nearly out of magical arrows. After cleaning up, the party loots more potions, scrolls and gems. Also, Jherek hits level 4 as a fighter. The next room is a tough one. There's a skeletal mage, several skeletal knights and a couple of skeletal archers. I lure them out of the room, one or two at a time. The mage is the real challenge. Ryan gets a silence spell off, but only after it gets a stinking cloud. Theron is hit and goes down, nauseous. Fortunately, everyone else was either out of range or pass their save. It takes awhile, but eventually they are all defeated. Another Bracers of AC 8 are found on the mage. I give them to Ladonna. The party then breaches the final room. Standing there, alone, next to a single open sarcophagus is some kind of spirit, clad in black armor. It is Kresselack, the Black Wolf. I immediately recognize his voice. Tony Jay! I forgot he was in this game. He was such a great voice actor, RIP. In fact, I'd rather just have you all listen to his performance than describe it myself. So the party agrees to Kresselack's request and backtrack out of the temple. They return to the cave full of yeti, and this time find a woman there. It is Lysan, a barmaid the party encountered back in Kuldahar. Lysan tries to act dumb, but Katya remembers her and calls her out (and senses she is evil). Lysan admits that the Black Wolf Temple is an abomination to her goddess and she intends to deal with it. But she also lets slip out that she thinks Kuldahar and the magical warmth the tree provides the village, is also an abomination and she intends to destroy it. The party needs little prompting after this. A battle breaks out, but it isn't too hard, thanks to Ladonna. All of her magic is useless against undead, but Lysan and her yeti minions are not undead. She uses a charm spell to turn Lysan to the party's side, then a few Horror spells to keep the yeti at bay. The party finishes off the yeti, and when the charm spell ends, Katya smites Lysan and the party quickly finishes her off. With the cleric dead, a few nearby shadows appear and praises the party for saving them. It turns out it was Lysan who was awakening all of the dead and forcing them to attack the villagers. The party returns to Kresselack and tell him that the priestess of Auril is no more. In thanks, he allows them to loot his sarcophagus. But Katya reminds him he agreed to tell the party who is responsible for the evil that plagues Kuldahar. Kresselack admits he has no idea, but hey, thanks for the help anyway. The party earns 13,000 XP! Inside his coffin, they also find his plate mail and helmet (mundane, but black, so they look pretty cool), his great sword (known as Kresselack's Sword, it is +1 and gives 10% cold resistance), and a +2 long sword called Turodahel that gives you a +1 to INT. That last one goes to Katya. She also gets his black armor, but I give the black helmet to Jherek. The party returns to Kuldahar, finding the Vale of Shadows is now quiet once again. When they reach Arundel, they inform him that the evil in the vale was not the cause of the plight of the town--at least, not the one the archdruid was searching for. Arundel has a new idea. There was once an artifact known as Heartstone that used to reside in his shrine. It would allow one to scry on anyone or anything. One day, an initiate druid stole the Heartstone and ran off into the mountains with it, because he grew impatient with his lessons and wanted real power immediately. Later, rumors of a temple to some strange cult sprang up from that area. Arundel suggests they go there and, if they can find the Heartstone, return it. Then he can find the answers the party seek. The party earns 10,350 XP. More levels, all around! Current Party Status:Ladonna (Enchanter 5) Ryan (Mage 4/Cleric 4) Theron (Illusionist 4/Thief 5) Katya (Paladin 5) Jherek (Fighter 4/Thief 5) Lillian (Bard 6) And that ends the party's first real adventure. We're about half-way through chapter one now. I really liked that adventure. I mean, it kind of sucked that the first real quest featured almost exclusively undead. This is not a party built for that. The only bludgeoning weapon the party had turned out to be Ryan's mace, largely because FOR SOME REASON SLING BULLETS ARE CLASSIFIED AS PIERCING! Plus, Illusion and Enchantment spells are useless against undead. So it was pretty tough. Had this adventure been later in the game, it would probably have been easier. But nevertheless, I liked the story. The party comes charging in, killing all the undead they see--because they're undead, so they must be evil, right? But it turns out the ones in the vale were being controlled by an evil priestess while the ones in the temple were guarding it from the party's unlawful invasion. In the end, the party wipes out all of the temples' guardians, leaving it exposed to the evil priestess. And after defeating the evil priestess, Kresselack is all, "Later, suckers!" There were so many subversions in this. Nice plot twists that keep you guessing on who is in the right. It's the sort of thing I might have in one of my own games--exploring the idea whether adventurers can just go kicking down the door and slaying everything they see as justified because they are 'fighting evil.' The plot also really latched on to the idea that most undead are not evil, but rather neutral in alignment. That necromancy was not inherently bad, and in fact, healing and raising spells were considered necromantic. These were ideas dropped after 2E, but I always liked the nuance they added to things. Basically, this is a storyline that could not exist in a modern D&D game, so that was neat. Anyway--next time! Temple of the Forgotten God!
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Post by Daos on Jan 15, 2018 20:49:46 GMT -8
Time for some shopping! After the party sells all of their loot, they find themselves with around 11,000 GP or so. First stop is Orrick's Tower. However, I'm super disappointed to find he doesn't sell any third level spells. This is bad, because Ladonna has access to that level now, but no spells to cast from it. Seems like a waste to go into the next adventure with no third level spells at all. So instead, we pick up some magical gear. First, Jherek pickpockets an Amulet of Metaspell Influence from Orrick. That goes to Ryan, as we can always use another blasting spell. We also buy two items legitimately. One is a Girdle of Gond that goes to Jherek. The other was the Clasp of Bron's Cloak, which goes to our tank, Katya. Next, we go to the Root Cellar Tavern to let the barkeeper to let him know what happened to Lysan. He finds it hard to believe she was really a cleric of Auril, but agrees to hand over some belongings she had left behind. They include a scroll of Cure Critical Wounds, a scroll of Cure Serious Wounds, a scroll of Protection From Fire, and the Mantle of the Coming Storm. The first three go to Ryan, the last goes to Katya. Finally, we hit up Oswald's Skyship to pick up some potions. Jherek also pickpockets a Necklace of Missiles, which I give to Ladonna. That should help make up for her last of third level spells, and ensure she won't be useless if we run into more undead. With that, the party rests at the inn, then heads to the Temple of the Forgotten God. It takes about a day to get there, so we are now at Day 15, Hour 1. Just as they reach the entrance, a verbeeg (a 10' tall giant) comes running up. At first it seems to attack, but it yells out in Common, "Out of way, out of way!" Despite this, Ladonna steps in his path and asks him what he's running from. The verbeeg, who calls himself 'Red Toe' explains he is running from the 'bad priests' before they kill him. Ladonna pushes for details. It seems Red Toe and other verbeeg were guards at this temple for some 'nice priests.' But then the 'bad priests' came and started killing everyone. Red Toe played dead so the bad priests ignored him, then slipped away while they were distracted elsewhere. Ladonna tries to get additional information from him, but he's done talking and pushes her aside, eager to get the hell out of dodge. Well, at least he didn't mention anything about undead. The party enters the temple and buffs up. Lillian casts Strength on Katya and Cat's Grace on Jherek, and as a result, the latter now has better AC by one point than Katya. Hopefully that keeps him alive a bit longer. Early on in the temple, we run into an acolyte of the Forgotten God who accuses us of being aligned with the bad priests. He calls two verbeeg to assist and attack. I have Katya and Jherek each take on one verbeeg, Ladonna charm the acolyte, and the rest fire projectiles. But Jherek quickly dies, so I reload. Round 2, this time I have everyone fight one verbeeg (meleers and archers) while I send the charmed acolyte to face the second one. By the time acolyte dies, we've killed the first verbeeg and then can focus our attention on the second. Katya and Jherek still take quite a bit of damage, though, and we already wind up using Lay on Hands, three CMWs and one CLW just to get them decent again. Yikes. This is going to be challenging. The party finds corpses littering the halls of both blue robed acolytes and verbeeg. But some are still alive and they attack on sight. Again, the verbeeg are the real challenge. Even Katya is having trouble staying alive against them. They deal massive damage when they hit, and no AC is perfect. After fighting a few more, plus a couple of acolytes, Ryan winds up using all of his healing and some of his scrolls just to top off the front-liners. The party finds a crossbow +1, a Badge of the Brave (which goes to Lillian), and some books in a library that tell the history of the north and of the drow. The party uses up the last of Ryan's healing scrolls just to reach the end of the first level. Katya and Jherek both still have a couple of potions each, but I'd rather save them, so the party rests here to regain their spells and HP back. I have a feeling this is going to be a looong slog. But I am developing some strategies to help. Having Ryan use Silence on the acolytes makes them pretty harmless. The real challenge are the verbeeg. Ladonna's Horror spells can help keep them from overwhelming us, but they have an annoying habit of frequently making their saves. Ryan's blasting spells help, too, and I've had Theron load up on Chromatic Orbs (they cause blindness now, which helps), as well. Ladonna's Wand of Magic Missiles is nearly gone (about 5 charges left). She still has the Necklace of Missiles, but it's risky using it. The game does not show the AoE, so I sort of have to eyeball it. Get it wrong, and it could miss entirely...or wipe out the party instead. Anyway, next time: Level 2 of the Forgotten God Temple!
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Post by Daos on Jan 17, 2018 19:32:40 GMT -8
Back at it! The party, now refreshed and healed up, head to the second floor. It's one long corridor. Most of the occupants are dead, but there are still some verbeeg and acolytes remaining. The acolytes, alone, are not much of a threat. Theron, Ryan and Lillian, all targeting them at once with bows and slings, can easily take out one by constantly disrupting their spells. Two acolytes, though, is trickier. Because one of them is sure to get some spells off, and they seem to enjoy debilitating and crowd control spells like Curse, Hold Person and Dispel Magic. The first one is mildly annoying, the second one can be dangerous if it hits Katya or Jherek, and the third one undoes all the buffs I've put up (Strength on Katya, Armor on Ladonna, Cat's Grace on Jherek, etc.). (Also, side note, Dispel Magic is a third level spell. So these 'acolytes' are level 5, at minimum. I guess it's a testament of how high powered Forgotten Realms is that a 5th level cleric is considered an 'acolyte.') Anyway, the party is pushed to their limits. Ladonna keeps verbeeg from swarming with Horror spells, while Theron keeps them blinded with Chromatic Orbs so they can't hit as often (because when they do hit, ouch, it hurts). Ryan tries to use Silence on the acolytes, but they keep passing their saves. Stinking Cloud buys a bit more time. Eventually they are all defeated, but it consumes nearly all of the party's spells, and takes all of Ryan's healing to get them back on their feet. Some goodies picked up, after Theron disarms all the traps include The Snow Maiden's Reaver, a cool (sorry) bastard sword. Unfortunately, nobody in the party is skilled with it. I also find a suit of studded leather +1, shadowed. It gives a bonus to stealth and 5% MR, which is a big deal. I could give it to Jherek, although it will drop his AC several points. Instead, I give it to Theron. Granted, I have to take it off him every time he wants to cast a spell, but I've discovered that unlike Baldur's Gate, the game remains paused if you open the inventory screen, so that's not a problem any more. Finally, the party advances to the third floor, where the Heartstone is held. Or rather...where it was once held. The room is filled with dead verbeeg and acolytes, but no artifact. It appears someone beat us to it. However, there is one body that stands out--a person wearing the colors and icon of Talona, goddess of poison and disease. Well, that's unsettling. Jherek finds a strange vial on them of an unidentified liquid. Considering the source, it's probably poison, so the party handles it with care. Nothing left to do but report back to Arundel. After selling some loot, the party only has around 7,600 GP, which isn't enough to buy anything fancy, so they just stock up on ammo and a few healing potions. Then they head to Arundel and report what happened. He identifies the contents of the Talonite's vial--a specific type of snake venom. But the venom loses potency after a few days, so he reasons it must have been obtained somewhere nearby. The only place in the region that has poisonous creatures would be Dragon's Eye. As if the name itself was not warning enough, the archdruid goes ahead and warns the party it is quite dangerous there. They earn 19,500 XP and Ryan hits level 5 as a cleric. After a rest at the inn, they prepare to set out for Dragon's Eye. Next time: Chapter 2!
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