Slappy's Possible Journey

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Dear All, thanks for the feedback. Unfortunatley for some reason I can't post any messages on the original 'Slappy's Impossible Journey' posts so I've started a new one.

Weighing up what everyone said on that earleir post it seems:

- level drain could be a problem
- Barabrians and Wizard slayers both fit the anti-magic stance for roleplaying purposes.
- avoid any magic users, but use weapons, potions, temples, and scrolls.
- Some debate about cleric/druid 'magic' not really being magic as it's a holy thing.
- Multiplayer would be easier to maximise the party mix as neccessary.
- Dwarves and halflings seem to get the same saving throw bonuses.
- regeneratons items would be a real plus.
- buy lots of restoration and healing spells, potions etc.

OK, so based on that lot, I'll think I'll try a Barbarian Dwarf. This fits the role play and provides protection againt level drain and some magic while enraged. It seems the best compromise of all the appropriate types (Wizard Slayers not really enough bonuses, Undead Hunters not enough magic protection, Monks not really roleplaying for this situation). I will also try to survive without any Druids or Clerics (but am getting scared already and might review this if it's gets impossible). I'll get all of the regenration items and spend money on potions etc that would normally be spent on staffs and bracers for my wizards. I'll stick to the NPC's rather than multiplayer (just for the conversations and sub quests). And I'll ask you all to pray for me fellow adventures.....

A couple of other things from reading the boards today. I'll get some of the fighters to specialise in Halbrads and other long-reach weapons so that they can fight more succesfully from the second row. I'll also consider getting a fully charged wand of Magic missles for the thief to disrupt enemy wizards spell casting (I'll argue with myself about weather this is using magic or just another tool).

One final thought, scrolls have been mentioned but I won't have anyone to cast them! Doh, except restoration and protection scrolls for some reason.

P.S. Lol to the idea of a party of Half Orc Barbarian brothers. It would be great to see if the BG2 game could actually handle the roleplaying implications of this. The in-party conversations would also be memorable - hey maybe that's an idea for an on-going post on the 'what nots' board. Over to you Ragusa.......

PPS I've now started the game (the delay in posting was due to the problems I mentioned) does anyone want to see updates of how the non-magic party gets on?

 

I for one am finding this very interesting! If you have the time keep us updated, but if not, well you'll be playing and that's good use of time as well

 

Of course, Undead Hunters are immune to level drain, and Wizard Slayers get increasingly more immunity to magic as they progress.

And (I'm pretty sure) that the more constitution you have, the better saving throws you have.

 

Part 1
OK, I’ve gone for a Barbarien. I don’t like thieves much, thought a Monk didn’t really fit with the role playing angle and decided that Wizard Slayers are a bit rubbish (1% magic resistance per level and 10% spell failure per hit don’t seem much of a bonus). So Barbarians distrust magic (role playing) and the rage provides quite a few bonus protections against magic users and vampires. I did consider a berserker but the rage doesn’t really last for long enough. For race I went with a Dwarf to get some saving throws bonus while keeping to the spirit of a barbarian (I was very tempted to be a halfling again but thought that was stretching the role-play).

So off we go and rescue Minsc and Jaheira (I haven’t decided about druids yet and couldn’t leave anyone behind in Iranicus’ dungeon). We make short work of everything we meet (I’m dual wielding hammers, the others are backing me up with bows and slings). For the first time, I manage to take out the wee nasty beasty that guards the sewers without breaking a sweat. The Golems prove to be a bit more of a problem though and the party takes a bit of a beating. Anyway, through the portal and find Yoshimo, I’ll need a thief so he’s in. All goes well ‘till I get to the exit area and realise I haven’t found all of the keys and have missed the armoury/forge and a few other bits. Time to backtrack….

Initial impressions, I like these barbarians though I hadn’t realise that it took some time to get into a rage and that you could be interrupted (grrrr). I’ve only had a few magic users to contend with and they’ve been easy. I am a bit worried about the need for healing through. I’ve also noticed that I’ve been given some innate magic abilities. Maybe I should use shadowkeeper to change them to defensive abilities. Choosing hammers is a bit of a risk too but I was planing ahead for Crom Faeyr…..

 

Give him the Easthaven Defender flail (right name?!) when you can afford it you´ll be amazed ....

[This message has been edited by Ragusa (edited April 02, 2001).]

 

well i've been told not to post to the other thread so i will repeat myself here...lol

In the town you cannot cast magic without the cowled wizards attacking you but you can heal etc... so i dont think clerics and druids count as magic... just my thoughts

 

i don't think innate abilities count as magical either cause it doesn't rely on magic with the cleric and druid thing i think that its true that they don't use magic but request of their god but still its up to slappy im thinking of starting a similar quest

 

Hey Kitiara, what do you call it hten if it isn't magic?
I mean, wounds that heal in 6 seconds aren't seen every day... (Well in BG2 they are...)
So I say it's magic. You can even summon fire elemantals and stuff, just like a mage can...

 

its like, divine intervention. its not created by hours of study (like with a mage) its just 'hey god, can you do <spell>' and the god says 'OK!'

This is my 20th post!!!! NO MORE LITTLE EYE!!!!!


[This message has been edited by FenixStrife (edited April 04, 2001).]

 

Just to answer this thread - yeah my thoughts are druid and clerics still cast magic - but it is a different kind. From a roleplaying perspective I guess magic haters would be far more comfortable with magic that is coming from a God rather than a jumped up mage (I played a Sorcerer last time and a Mage in Bg1 and Planescape so don't flame me please).

Anyway, I'll post a Journal update soon but, for those who can't wait, I'm trying to go with no druids or clerics. If it gets too difficult later on, I'll pick up Jaheira and restrict her to defensive and healing spells only. I have already used healing spell from my character's inate abilities and Minsc's limited spell ability (though to be honest they are so weak as to be not worth the effort).

As a final thought, it looks like you almost have to use some magic - healing from a temple is still a type of magic. And before you jump in - it looks like there aren't enough potions of healing to last and it takes long to heal naturely.

Doh.

 

Part 2
To keep with the no-magic (of any kind) theme I had to dump Jaheira. After spending a long time crying over the loss of the ‘love of my life’ I went and recruited Korgan. Then doing my best to avoid speaking to any other NPCs (so as to max their level if I don need them later) I set off on the D’Arnise quest. I expected this to be easier than normal as it is fighter based and I have nothing but fighters. This didn’t seem to be the case, in fact, I’d say it was the hardest of my three run-throughs. Mainly due to the lack of healing available (I used up all of my potions) but also due to only having 4 people (me, Minsc, Korgan and Yoshimo). Normally I have a full squad with two spell casters at this point. Anyway, I got the job done and then found out how useless the keep appears to be as a stronghold (mind you, aren’t they all).

Next job was to pop back to the Harpers and drop of the poisoned bloke who to my surprise, has stayed alive. And to think I have worried on the previous run-throughs that I had to choose between rushing to the D’Arnise and rushing to the Harpers. Anyway, finished off the basic Harper quest (trying desperately to avoid chatting and tears with Jaheria) and then did Korgan’s book and gang quests. Both were remarkably easy and I’m beginning to think no one needs magic. I even managed to kill Lucette (the silly Harper who attacks Xhan) for the first time. However, I am noticing that I need to visit the temples much more frequently. More worryingly, they seem to be selling out of heath potion….

Part 3
Progress has not been too bad. I’ve cleared out the Slavers and the Circus (which was much easier than previous attempts). Korgan is beginning to grow on me (I wasn’t too impressed initially). I’m also being pleasantly surprised by my encounters with Mages. They are going down very quickly. Minsc always hits with his Elven bow +4 and Yoshimo hits enough with his rapid firing (3 shots per round) short bow. As long as me and Korgan go for them immediately they go down before then can cause trouble. Some have caused a little concern with confusion type spells but the Dwarven saving throw plus some magic helmets are dealing with that. It does mean my tactics now lack subtlety – basically just charge. I am still worrying that everywhere seems to be selling out of healing potions. Fortunately, my Barbarian seems to be healing himself over time (Don’t know why – is it a barbarian feature or maybe the helm of Balduran.

 

It's not the helmet. When you enrage with a Barbarian or Draw upon Holy Might you increase your COnstitution to the point where you start to regenerate naturally. If you have 19 base, add 2 for DUHM and 4 for the rage - you get 25 - pretty fast regeneration (can't recall the exact figures).

 

Hey Slappy, when do we get an update on your yourney? Did something go wrong? Input, input!

 

OK - by (nearly) popular request....

Part 4
Started the unseeing eye quest and picked up Keldorn. Had a bit of trouble with the party of adventures. Mainly because both mages seemed to get a mantle type spell off on contingency so I couldn’t stop them casting all sorts of nasty stuff. Still gave them a good kicking although I did loose Korgan. Fortunately, I now have a rod of resurrection (and to my surprise anyone can use it). Upstairs to the Wizards tower hidden in the sewers and no problems polishing everyone off. Took pity on Hagan Das (I know that's not his real name but it's what I think of whenever I try and spell it) and, having never had in the party before, let him join (but put armour on him to disable magic). Did the planar/theatre quest fairly easily (much to my surprise). Barbarian rages and equivalent for Minsc and Korgan really helped. Finished the quest then dumped Das. Back to the eye. Practically ran through this time (helped immensely by the shield of Balduran (from the extras patch). (Begin to worry that I might be becoming a power gamer). Got pulled back down to earth though when I tried to beat the lych in the sewers. Tried three times, killed him lots but he keeps coming back and eventually everyone gets killed (despite countless saving throws against spells). Oh well, I never have beaten him. Maybe I’ll come back and give him a good kicking in a few levels time.

Part 5
Getting used to using temples to heal but am worried for the longer term – those long trek quests away from civilisation. I managed to find some relief though after I used Yoshimo to pickpocket Ribald’s ring of regeneration. Keldorn needed to see his wife (aww shame) so I’ve been killing time finishing off quests that I didn’t think a Paladin would like (Thieves conspiracy) and silly little ones that don’t need much muscle (temple stuff). Also started the planer sphere quest and picked up Valygar. Have just brought Defender of Easthaven on a recommendation from here and now I realise why it was suggested AC+1 plus 20% protection from most damage type. When this is added to the Barbarian’s natural protection bonuses – who needs shields. Unfortunately, I also had to use shadowkeeper to patch Minsc’s stats. For some reason the game had given him a wizard’s thaco. Finally, Korgan is getting miffed about our rising reputation (winge winge winge). Can’t decide whether to drop him (role-play chaotic good) and go with Mazzy instead or fudge a few things to drop the party rep and keep him as the ultimate tank (powerplay). I must admit to being interested in him as I’ve heard so much about how good he is but haven’t seen it yet (never had him before). Oh well don’t have to decide just yet.

I'll post again when I've got everything sorted on the PC following some memory and hard disks upgrades (quick everyone time to make some jokes...)

 

Just another quick thought. I've been getting tempted to replay Torment, BG1 and IWD again. I've also thought about my next BG2 party and realised I could do a party of Slappies (or is that Slappi). From various BG games I now have a pure fighter, Barbarian, Cleric and Sorcerer - scary.

What I really need those is the ability to clone myself in real life to find time for all this. Anyone developed a practical human cloning system I can use?

 

Slappy! Naughty, naughty! Did you stop this try because it wouldn't work? Did you start playing P:T or IWD as you mentioned? Did you just stop posting because noone answered and seemed to care? Did your upgrading took so long? Or did you start a party of slappy's (I recal you mentioning then recently...) Enlighten me!! (the rest doesn't seem to care... )

[This message has been edited by Igneous (edited May 06, 2001).]

 

Hmm Slappy ... I also had the idea of an allstar party for ToB consisting of my halfling cavalier Donaldus, dc fighter-thief Radek of Boktor, dwarven Berserker Alobar Steelfist and Ragusa himself, a dc fighter-mage.

They should wreak havoc on the realms ... however, before I´ll do that I´ll try an all evil party and another romance with Viccy

 

Yep sorry, not to post. I haven't had any luck with the cloning and have started another Planescape game. As well as getting back into Silent Hunter (from 1996!) and Panzer Elite and downloading the DSotSC add-on for BG1 and trying to finish off Thief 2....you get the picture. Have started playing BG2 again though and have kept a journal so here goes:

Part 6
Have pretty much decided to use Mazzy and keep a good and happy party. Korgan’s swan song will be the planer sphere quest. This started off OK with the first two groups being very easy. The halfling mages relied a lot on confusion & domination type spells but in a rage and with various helmets not to mention good saving throws this wasn’t much of a bother. Only Yoshimo was affected. The rest of the level was also pretty easy (even the demons) with two exceptions. The first I was expecting – the two cowled wizards. I used Yoshimo and Valygar to backstab both of them in the hope it would disrupt them. Unfortunately they both got off a number of protection spells. I hacked away for ages but they just kept summoning monster as support. The party took a lot of damage and basically just had to hang on until their protection ran out. Still not too bad I just need to resurrect Yalygar and Minsc at the end of the fight. I’ve wondered if I made a bit of a silly mistake. Checking the manual the protection from magical weapons doesn’t protect against normal weapons – so I must remember to try a non magical weapon when they seem to be immune. The other foes that proved difficult where the iron golems in the engine room. I was surprised by this as I don’t remember them being tricky before. Although it did seem like there was more golems than normal. The main problem was the gas cloud that they cast which affects you when you get up close for melee. Anyway, they went down without any further deaths. So back to surface and off to save Mazzy.

PS Ragusa, the all Slappi party is becoming very tempting. However, I think I'll start it in BG1 and play it through and also leave a bit of room for a a romance. Alhough thinking about 2 of the slappies are BG2 classes so can't be transfered to BG1. Hmmm

 

Part 7
I found and rescued Mazzy so have let Korgan go. I am a little bit worried as Korgan was obviously much better in the front line than Mazzy. I’ve had to rearrange things so that Mince is now at the front alongside me using a shield. I suppose now is a good time to update you on the party format. Me as a Barbarian dual wielding with boots of speed and all the cloaks, helmets and rings of protection I can find. Minsc alongside with a good shield and full plate. Keldorn just behind using +5 crossbows or the cross bow of speed. Alongside him I Valygar using the +4 longbow. At the back is Mazzy and Yoshimo, both with short bows. When the fight breaks down into a scrap, Keldorn, Mazzy and Valygar will all step forward and use swords. All of us are about level 12. Longer term I’m looking to use Mazzy to specialise in Halberds. Strange choice I know but it seems a bit of a laugh plus I have never used any of the Halberds and so am interested.

Anyway, I breezed through the shade lord quest. It was almost too easy though my Barbarian took a bit of a pounding when he got jumped by a few Bone Golems. After putting up the tribute to Mazzy’s fallen comrades I decided to take the shadow dragon on without resting first. It was probably the best battle I have had yet in BG2. It ebbed and flowed but the dragon held the advantage. Finally it came down to just me and him (fortunately none of the party had been chunked and so I knew I could resurrect them later). The dragon was down to near death status and I was barely walking with just 11-hp left and then the ugly bugger finally got me. Blast. Anyway, I reloaded and let everyone rest. I surrounded the dragon and got everyone prepared with hide in shadows, strength potions, rages, etc and off we went. Again it was quite tough but my boys (and Mazzy) did me proud, nearly bringing a tear to my eye. They kicked that damn Shadow Dragon and no one got killed (though badly bruised and cut). Who needs mages – pah. As an extra bonus I see my Barbarian can wear the shadow scale armour and so has dropped his AC by one (it all helps).

[This message has been edited by Slappy (edited May 10, 2001).]

 

Part 8
Hmmm, wasn’t sure what to do next: could go and rescue Imoen or maybe do a bit more Dragon hunting in the Windspear hills, or tackle the Liches I missed in my last game, or give the lads (and Mazzy) a nice restful trip to Tradmeet. Oh well, Liches it is (mainly because I haven’t actually been given the Trademeet quest yet and can’t seem to find the bloke). Anyway, as I was in the City Gate district I set off after the first Liche. He proved very tricky and I had three who needed to be resurrected. He managed to get off a couple of improved mantle and invulnerability spells so I had to sit it out and take the punishment before I could get to him. Fortunately, they are very slow so retreat and recover a bit is an option.

Still killing him gave me the Morning Star sword (or whatever it’s called). I’ve heard that this works wonders against liches and so should help on the next one. I soon found the one in the Bridge District with the gold torso and again found him very difficult. I had to retreat and recoup while he chased after me, especially as the sword’s sunray spell (or whatever it is) did nothing. Bah, my fault for using something like a mage’s spell. Still, once his spell protection ran out he went down easily and I didn’t lose anyone in the party. These battles are making me toy with the idea of buying the +4 staff from the Adventurer’s Mart. At least that was I can still hit them when they get the improved mantle spell defence up. Oh well I’ll find the other two liches first and see how things go. I could probably do with the extra experience before facing the Red Dragon. I’ve also pretty much decided to leave Imoen ‘til last so that I don’t have to have a spell casting in the group.