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Post by Daos on Mar 22, 2018 20:24:12 GMT -8
The party enters the first level of Solonar Tower and find a massive shrine to the elven gods. There's a single ghost elf there, a woman calling herself Denaini. She explains she is an acolyte and also sheds some further light on what happened at the tower. Apparently Larrel wasn't trying to destroy the tower, but save it, by casting a mythal. This is an immensely powerful spell that can shape the land around it. Think of something like a 10th level spell. But something must have gone wrong, because the mythal drained everyone in the tower, elf and goblin and orc alike, of their life energy, turning them to shades. Some went mad, but a few kept enough of their sanity to talk still. Denaini asks us a favor. Her fellow priests higher up in the tower have lost their minds, and she wants us to put them to rest for good. Katya objects to killing them, but the acolyte insists they are already dead, she just wants us to give them peace. So we agree. We ascend to the second floor and find a group of shadowed elf acolytes and clerics performing some kind of prayer ritual. They turn to attack as soon as they notice us. The fight isn't too hard, although Katya has to lay hands on herself afterward. Searching the room afterward, we find a few potions and a magical hammer. But nobody is proficient with hammers, so that will go in Jherek's pack to sell later. Next up on the third floor are even more shadowed elves. Not just acolytes and several clerics, but a priest, too. They actually wind up overwhelming us a bit, throwing tons of debuffs at us at once, including Silence and Entangle. We're forced to retreat back to level 2, wait for the spells to wear off, and then head back up again. After finishing all of them off, Katya levels up and we find some good gear, including a Ring of Strength and a Symbol of Solonar Thelandira. The former grants a +1 STR/-1 DEX and the other gives +2 to hit with projectiles. I give both to Lillian. This means she has STR 12, so she can properly use that magic bow of hers without the use of a Strength spell first. I also find a scroll of Minor Globe of Invulnerability, and I go ahead and give that to Lillian, as well. The party ascends to the top of the tower, which is a series of rooms. We check each one. Sometimes there are enemies inside, sometimes not. But all have treasure. We get plenty of potions and clerical scrolls, a scroll of Remove Curse (which went to Lillian), a Ring of Sanctuary (which went to Ryan), and a Symbol of Sehanine Moonbow (which went to Theron). We also found a barrel of holy water. Yes, you read that right. An entire barrel. There's also another piece of broken machinery here. Also, Lillian levels up! With that, the party descends all the way back down to the first floor. I'm kind of impressed with how well we did. Everyone is in decent health and we still have healing left over. We tell Denaini the priests have been put to rest, and earn 24,000 XP. As a reward, she gives us Edley's Sling, which goes to Ryan. We also give her the barrel of holy water, and she uses it to purify the pools in her shrine. This not only nets us 52,500 XP, and gives us Sune's Laurel of Favor (which goes to Ladonna), but we get to see the pools fill with pure water, making the place feel a little less desolated. It almost feels...peaceful. Current Party Levels: Ladonna (Enchanter 9) Ryan (Mage 7/Cleric 7) Theron (Illusionist 7/Thief 8) Katya (Paladin 8) Jherek (Fighter 7/Thief 8) Lillian (Bard 10) Next time: Corellon Tower!
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Post by Daos on Mar 24, 2018 22:34:27 GMT -8
We return to the main tower, stock back up on ammo and sell any loot, then rest again. It is now Day 48, Hour 14. The party heads up to Corellon Tower. On the first level, we come across a bunch of shadowed elves. Most are swordsmen, but there are a few archers, a mage and an officer. The party winds up splitting into groups, with Katya and Jherek taking on most of the swordsmen, while the rest of the group uses missile and magical attacks to take down the mage and archers. After winning, there's some light healing, and we also find a Composite Long Bow of the Hand. It's slightly better than the bow Lillian has now...in terms of accuracy and damage. It doesn't have the extra attack per round, though, and it requires a STR of 15. So I think we'll just sell it. The second level is far, far tougher. In addition to the archers, swordsmen and multiple officers, there is also a cleric and a wizard. The wizard gets in a few good spells, including Ice Storm and Haste off before we can kill him. However, he also uses a Web spell that ensnares half of his own party. The party wins, but Ryan has to use the rest of his healing spells to top us off. Among the loot we find another piece of broken machinery and several arcane scrolls, including Stoneskin (!!!) and Cloudkill which go to Ryan, and Otiulke's Resilient Sphere which I give to Lillian. I'm particularly excited about Stoneskin, as that is a great defense spell and Ryan has always had the worst AC in the group. The third floor is pretty easy. A circle of rooms, a handful of soldiers (only one or two at a time, though), that the party quickly cuts through. The loot is mostly potions and scrolls, but one interesting item of note was some Arrows of the Hand for Lillian and a new sword for Katya, maybe? I'm not sure which sword Katya should use. For accuracy and damage, they are identical (+2), but the one she's been using inflicts confusion 25% of the time while the new one gives her a +1 to DEX while using it (which would bump her up to 16, giving her another point of AC). Both of those are pretty good, but as she's built as a tank, I'm leaning toward the AC boost. What do you all think? Also, Ryan levels up as a mage. The top level is what appears to be a dead arboretum. An elf there named Valestis explains that the mythal drained the life of all the plants and animals here, as well as the people in the tower. He now sits and waits in hopes that the life will return someday. There's nothing we can really do to help, but he asks if we find any seeds, fresh water or animals, to bring them to him. We descend back to the bottom, restock supplies and rest up. It is now Day 49, Hour 10 and we have two towers remaining to get through. Current Party Levels: Ladonna (Enchanter 9) Ryan (Mage 8/Cleric 7) Theron (Illusionist 7/Thief 8) Katya (Paladin 8) Jherek (Fighter 7/Thief 8) Lillian (Bard 10) Next time: Sheverash Tower!
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Post by notARobot on Mar 25, 2018 8:23:37 GMT -8
I'm not sure which sword Katya should use. For accuracy and damage, they are identical (+2), but the one she's been using inflicts confusion 25% of the time while the new one gives her a +1 to DEX while using it (which would bump her up to 16, giving her another point of AC). Both of those are pretty good, but as she's built as a tank, I'm leaning toward the AC boost. What do you all think? I'd stick with the confusion sword, personally. One-in-four are some pretty nice odds (especially given that she's one of the party's two primary meleers, and almost certainly gets in more than four successful attacks in pretty much every combat). And I seem to recall you saying that her and Jherek's ACs are already decently far down into the negatives, which makes me think that one more point of improvement there is venturing into the territory of diminishing returns. If you're really on the fence about it, maybe you could equip the +1 DEX sword for a while, see how that effects the frequency with which she needs to heal, and base your decision on that?
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Post by Ezeze on Mar 25, 2018 8:44:26 GMT -8
Does Confusion make enemies hit their friends?
If so, I'd take that one. You know what's better than having a high AC?
Not getting hit at all.
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Post by Daos on Mar 25, 2018 8:54:02 GMT -8
When someone is confused, they randomly stand around and do nothing, wander off or attack allies.
The thing is, though, it's been a really long time since I've seen Katya inflict confusion on someone. I've only ever seen it work on fairly mundane enemies, like lizardfolk, orcs and goblins. It doesn't seem to work on anything more powerful than that. It hasn't triggered at all since I've reached the Severed Hand. Not sure if it's coincidence or the enemies just have really high saving throws now or maybe undead (which are the enemies in the Hand technically are) are immune.
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Post by Daos on Mar 25, 2018 20:18:34 GMT -8
The party enters Sheverash Tower. Here we meet Kaylessa, the former weapons master of the Hand. She explains that Larrel is a lich of some kind now, and quite mad. His 'sending' wanders the tower, speaking nonsense. That must have been what we saw attack that squirrel when we first arrived. Apparently all the broken machine parts we've collected belong to the astrolabe at the top of Labelas Tower, where Larrel resides. Kaylessa has a piece, too, but she is only willing to fork it over if we 'put to rest' all of her soldiers that are still in the tower. Hmm, this sounds familiar. Okay, so be it. We'd have to kill them all anyway to get to the top. We ascend to the second floor and there are quite a few archers and swordsmen, but nothing too troubling. Ladonna summons some skeletons to assist and Katya and Jherek tank, one on either side of the room. Afterward, Ryan offers light healing and Theron levels up as an illusionist. The third floor is trickier. The elves have set up cover to shoot at us from behind. Lillian manages to protect Ryan with a Protection from Missiles spell, which allows him to drop a Fireball on the elves. When the fight is over, there's more light healing. We also find a scroll of Beltyn's Burning Blood which goes to Ryan and more Hand arrows which go to Lillian. We also see a bridge that seems to connect to Labelas Tower. Nice. But we aren't done here yet. There's another floor above us. Ascending, we find the top of the tower open to exposed air. There are three doors. I sent Katya to open one, but for some reason all three of them open at once. Inside each door are a pair of wraith spiders. Katya tanks two, Jherek another two, and Ladonna summons a pack of giant beetles to distract the last pair. Nobody takes any hits or gets poisoned, so that's a plus. After the fight, Katya finds a book that explains this is where the elves trained their hippogriffs. They are likely all dead now, due to the mythal. Or maybe they flew away and escaped. Who can say? We backtrack down to the first level and tell Kaylessa what we did. We are rewarded 52,500 XP, but before she hands over the machine part, she has one final request--allow her to die in battle, as well. She then attacks. The party quickly puts her down. She drops Boots of Speed (which go to Jherek) and Kaylessa's Bow, which is nice but requires a STR of 15 to wield and doesn't give an extra attack, so again, we'll stick with Lillian's current bow. The party returns to the main tower, rests, and rebuffs. It is now Day 50, Hour 5. They return to the bridge they found earlier. The bridge is guarded by several shadowed elves, including a couple of spellcasters. Unfortunately, one of them manages to charm Katya which proves a problem. Although we're able to take out the other elves without her, she continues attacking the party and we can't fight back without inflicting damage on her, too. I don't have any way of dispelling it, so I have Ladonna try charming and dire charming her, but she makes both saves (oh, so now she's making her saves!). Eventually, a Hold Person keeps her still long enough for the party to move out of her aggro range. When the hold wears off, we just wait for the charm to end. Current Party Levels: Ladonna (Enchanter 9) Ryan (Mage 8/Cleric 7) Theron (Illusionist 8/Thief 8) Katya (Paladin 8) Jherek (Fighter 7/Thief 8) Lillian (Bard 10) Next time: Labelas Tower!
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Post by Daos on Mar 26, 2018 18:21:30 GMT -8
The party crosses the bridge and enters Lebelas Tower. Although we were on the third level of Sheverash Tower, this bridge takes us to the second level of Lebelas Tower for some reason. Maybe the bridge is sloped? (Didn't seem that way.) Who knows? As soon as we enter the tower, we're beset upon by more shadowed elves, including spellcasters. Both Ryan and Katya fall victim to confusion spells. Ladonna manages to take Ryan out with a Color Spray to avoid hurting him, but of course Katya made her save (why does she only save against Ladonna's spells?). The party is able to keep away from her, though, and she eventually snaps out of it. We find numerous spell scrolls, including Greater Malison (goes to Ladonna), Protection From Normal Missiles (also goes to Ladonna) and Improved Invisibility (goes to Theron). Finally, I've been waiting forever to get Theron an invisibility spell. Figures I'd get the improved version before the regular one. Now he won't have to rely on invisibility potions to open doors and chests while stealthed. Katya finds a journal that appears to belong to Larrel's daughter, Evayne. It explains that Larrel believes the dwarves betrayed them because the orcs and goblins were carrying dwarven weaponry, but she is going to visit them to prove him wrong. We also find a Robe of the Hand. Its stats are much better than Ladonna's robe, but it has a DEX-2 penalty. That drops Ladonna's DEX to 7, which is just the bare minimum before she suffers penalties, so it's all good. We ascend to the third floor, which is a massive library, the likes of which a Beast might use to woo a Beauty. The librarian, a ghostly elf named Custhantos, shushes us whenever we speak. But he is willing to let us check out a book. We choose one called "Mythal Theroy." Seems relevant to what we're dealing with right now. The party ascends to the fourth level and finds Larrel--the real one. Unlike the shadowed elves, this one is solid...but also clearly undead. He also rambles nonsense, unable to say anything particularly coherent. Also nearby is Gelarith, another shadowed elf, who is trying to fix the astrolabe with no luck. We turn over the four pieces of machinery to him, and he's able to get it working again. For some reason, this stabilizes Larrel's mind, and we can talk to him again. We fill him in on why we've come and hand over the Heartstone Gem. Then we get a cutscene. Larrel makes his feelings of the dwarves quite clear. When we bring up his daughter, he practically flies into a rage, accusing the dwarves of murdering her and swearing he would rather remain in the tower, unliving forever, if that is what it would take to make the dwarves suffer. He offers to teleport us to Dorn's Deep, but instead we ask him to send us to Kuldahar to restock our supplies. Also, we get several level ups from this. Ryan levels as a cleric, Theron and Jherek as thieves, and Lillian, as well. Heck, Lillian is now so high leveled she doesn't even roll for HP anymore. Current Party Levels: Ladonna (Enchanter 9) Ryan (Mage 8/Cleric 8) Theron (Illusionist 8/Thief 9) Katya (Paladin 8) Jherek (Fighter 7/Thief 9) Lillian (Bard 11) Next time: Dorn's Deep!
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Post by Daos on Mar 28, 2018 22:17:07 GMT -8
Now back in Kuldahar, the party sells their loot and does some shopping. Except...there's actually not a lot left to buy. Most of the cool magical items left are actually worse than the gear we have now. Which I suppose is pretty impressive in itself. I do wind up buying two things. The first is a Pemby's Wand of Magic Missiles, that I give to Ladonna. Kind of disappointed it only had 15 charges, though: The other item is a Shimmer Sash, which goes to Katya. This boosts her AC up to -9. While at the magic shop, I also give the book on Mythal Theroy over to Orrick. Not only does that earn us 24,000 XP, but he gifts up with a Mithran's Cloak, which goes to Lillian. We then rest at the inn, rebuff our spells, and head out. It's time for Chapter 4! It takes us 3 days and 8 hours to get there, as Dorn's Deep is much closer than the Severed Hand is. It is now Day 54, Hour 10. Before we can even enter the cave entrance, we're ambushed by a group of Neo Orogs. They claim we are trespassing on their territory. Hmm...and it was Neo Orogs that attacked Kuldahar. Seems this means we are on the right track. They are no danger and we easily cut them down before entering the cave. We move to the left and find a small cavern filled with more Neo Orogs. Again, they are a cake walk although a few get a couple of lucky hits on Katya despite her AC -9, so there is some light healing afterward. Nothing else of note. Backtracking, this time we go south and then east. We run into lots of blue mushrooms. But some of them are Myconids (mushroom men), and they sort of pop out when you aren't expecting it. I've always liked Myconids. They're so creepy and cool looking. Unfortunately, one gets Katya with its spores and she goes berserk. Luckily, Ryan now has the spell of Exaltation, which cures her of it before she can hack Jherek to pieces. We then find another cavern, this one filled with elite orcs. They are, if anything, even less of a threat than the Neo Orogs were. Further in, we come across a massive statue of an elf and dwarf sitting at dual thrones--just like in Larrel's vision. A trio of ettins are nearby and attack. The party defeats them, but both Katya and Jherek take quite a bit of damage. Ryan is able to heal them up, though. (Click to enlarge) We find a big furnace of some kind, and there is a human mage there named Bandoth. He is not...the friendliest of people. But he is willing to barter. I pick up a scroll of Feeblemind for Ladonna, but also note he has scrolls of Conjure Fire Elemental, Conjure Water Elemental, Conjure Earth Elemental and Summon Shadows. I don't have enough gold for all of these yet, and so far Ladonna is the only one who can even use 5th level spells so far anyway. But I definitely want to return here to collect these. Bandoth says he has useful information about the place, but only if we go retrieve his missing apprentice, that he went to search for razorvine. Wait, does that stuff even grow in this dimension? We come across a very large cavern and decide to rest up outside. Then we rebuff and head in. It is Day 55, Hour 6. Inside are four ettins. We manage to pick them off, two by two. Ryan and Lillian and Theron blast them with spells, and Ladonna summons some elite goblins to distract them (they go down in one hit, though). Jherek takes quite a beating and almost dies, but Ryan heals him up afterward. There are a lot of human sized corpses in here. On one of them, we find a bottle of razorvine extract. Welp... We head back to Bandoth and give him the bottle. We get 42,000 XP and he tells us about a secret door further down in the dungeon. Ladonna levels up, and I use the last bit of gold we have to buy her Conjure Fire Elemental. So that will be fun. Bandoth also gives us some more information on the place. Apparently the entire stronghold was overrun a long time ago by orcs. Hmm, just like the Severed Hand? We also ask him about Larrel's daughter, but he doesn't know much. He does say he once read something about an elven woman showing up to help the dwarves in their time of need. By the way, here's a question: Do you all think I should do the DLC (Heart of Winter and Trial of the Luremaster) as well, or just do the main campaign? We're about at the point where we are strong enough to do them, if you all want to. Let me know. Current Party Levels: Ladonna (Enchanter 10) Ryan (Mage 8/Cleric 8) Theron (Illusionist 8/Thief 9) Katya (Paladin 8) Jherek (Fighter 7/Thief 9) Lillian (Bard 11) Next time: Deeper into Dorn's Deep!
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Post by Nuke on Mar 30, 2018 16:50:03 GMT -8
I never played it this far, didn't even know there was DLC for it
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Post by Daos on Mar 30, 2018 17:08:53 GMT -8
Yep, although I don't really remember what either of them were about. I think Heart of Winter may...have been about a white dragon? But it's been so long, I might be mixing it up with something else.
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Post by Daos on Apr 2, 2018 22:51:29 GMT -8
I just realized that Jherek's Ring of Freedom was stopping his Boots of Speed from working. So I gave the ring to Katya instead. We enter a clearly man-made (or probably dwarf made) complex, and are beset upon almost immediately by drow and neo orogs. This is a problem. There are two mages, and they both keep throwing magic missiles at Jherek (and only Jherek) again and again, killing him. Since the nearest temple to raise him is three days away, I have to reload. Eventually we prevail, but require heavy healing afterward. We fight our way through what looks like a conference or maybe banquet hall, taking down orcs and neo orogs the whole way. Ryan disables a bunch with Stinking Cloud so they don't overwhelm the party. Eventually we come across another party of drow, and these ones are even tougher, despite having no spellcasters among them. One of them annoying keeps ignoring Katya and Jherek to go after the squishies. Luckily, despite drow's ridiculous MR, Theron manages to paralyze him with a Chromatic Orb before he can do too much damage. Jherek levels up as a fighter, at least. But we're out of healing and in bad shape. So we rest up. It is now Day 56, Hour 4. On the bright side, the drow use magical gear exclusively. It's all +1 stuff, so beneath us, but we can sell it for a pretty copper later. We find another meeting hall, this one surrounded by statues of dwarves. Sure enough, we spot the secret door that Bandoth mentioned. But we aren't ready yet. There's still more of this level to explore. Moving on, we find what looks like a barracks of sorts with more orcs and neo orogs. They are of no threat at all. However, we come across a large group of drow that are far more formidable. Ladonna starts us off by sending a fire elemental in...and they squash it flat in seconds. Damn. So, not off to a great start. Ryan throws a fireball and some magic missiles, but most of them do nothing at all. Ladonna summons some undead and the drow ignore them entirely. Eventually, though, we kill them all. They have some pretty nice loot. One was wearing Mithral Field Plate Armor +2. I give it to Katya, which gives her AC -11. Wait, is that even possible?! We also find a Axe of Caged Souls which is technically better than what Jherek currently has (a +2 Defender) but do I really want to give up that AC bonus? It's so hard to keep him alive as it is. His AC is -8 with the Defender, but -6 without it. Hmm... I wonder what the odds are that we'll run into more cadaverous undead? Current Party Levels: Ladonna (Enchanter 10) Ryan (Mage 8/Cleric 8) Theron (Illusionist 8/Thief 9) Katya (Paladin 8) Jherek (Fighter 8/Thief 9) Lillian (Bard 11) Next time: Krilag's Caves!
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Post by Daos on Apr 4, 2018 21:28:50 GMT -8
The party finds a cave leading into a large area of tunnels. We first run into an umber hulk. But rather than attack us, it speaks to us...in Common. This is strange enough that the party stays their hand. He explains he is...or rather, was, a transmuter that worked for the Red Wizards of Thay. He was betrayed by his creations--the Neo Orogs--and transformed into an umber hulk. He tells us the Neo Orog leader is in this area, and if we kill him and retrieve the badge he carries, this will not only disrupt the drow's plans, but he'll fill us in on more ways to fight this evil. The Red Wizards are generally pretty evil, but this one at least seem sincere in his guilt and desire to attone. The party moves deeper into the tunnels and comes across a trio of ettins. We take them down easily enough, although Jherek gets wholloped pretty badly and Ryan has to use the rest of his healing just to get him up to moderately wounded. Man, even with that Defender Axe, he just can't stay in one piece very long. Further in, we come across a dead body. On it is a journal that more or less hints that there is a secret entrance to get down deeper into this place, which we already know about. There is also a Charged Battle Axe. Ah, man. Another magical axe? Should Jherek use that one then? Keep all three and switch as the situation calls for it? We manage to find the Neo Orog chieftain, and a fight quickly breaks out. Theron throws a Slow spell at them, while Ladonna uses Horror. So they aren't much of a threat. When the battle ends, Theron and Ryan level up as mages. They can now cast level 5 spells. Man, I wish I had the gold to go and buy those other Conjure Elemental spells. Anyway, we find the badge and a note from someone named "RBP" that sounds like the chieftain's boss and references six badges altogether. The writer also invokes the name of Illmater. Wait, what? The party decides this is as good a spot as any to rest up, and it is now Day 57, Hour 1. We return to the umber hulk who thanks us and tells us if we can get all six badges, we can reach the source of the evil. He then lumbers off before he loses his identify further. Well, guess now we can head for that secret door. Current Party Levels: Ladonna (Enchanter 10) Ryan (Mage 9/Cleric 8) Theron (Illusionist 9/Thief 9) Katya (Paladin 8) Jherek (Fighter 8/Thief 9) Lillian (Bard 11) Next time: Dwarven Puzzle Room!
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Post by notARobot on Apr 4, 2018 21:51:53 GMT -8
Oh man, illusionist level 9! That means Theron now has access to fifth level spells. If this were real D&D, he could potentially cast Advanced Illusion, Demishadow Monsters, Dream/Nightmare, Major Creation, Seeming, Shadow Door, and Shadow Magic! I'm willing to bet most of these spells fail to appear in IWD, however...it seems like this game (and CRPGs more generally) seriously nerf illusion magic to the point where it's clearly the weakest school. Oh well, maybe he can at least pick up Hold Monster or Monster Summoning III or Teleport or something.
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Post by Daos on Apr 4, 2018 22:32:50 GMT -8
I can confirm that of all of those spells you listed, the only ones to appear in this game are Demishadow Monsters, Hold Monster and Monster Summoning III.
Yeah, there are very few illusion spells in any D&D videogames, probably because it's difficult to code them in because they are so versatile.
Unfortunately, Theron has no level 5 spells at all right now. I'd like to get him Conjure Earth Elemental once I get some gold.
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Post by notARobot on Apr 4, 2018 23:07:15 GMT -8
...not even Shadow Door? I coulda sworn that was in Baldur's Gate II, so it's not like the engine can't support it...
It's bad enough Illusion is the only school of magic where specialists get three opposition schools instead of two in 2e D&D.
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