BG Classic Trilogy: The one where I've lost my marbles

[JustKneller]

A while back, I was posting a BG run with a paladin, Beatrix. Everything was going well and then I was hard locked in level 2 of Durlag's due to some weird glitch with the ward stones. I could have scrapped the rest of the tower, but I wouldn't have felt good about that.

I've given it some time, have played some other games, and now I'm having another bash at it with this character. I'm posting my run, but it will be a tad abbreviated, at least for the first game.

The story so far...Beatrix picked up Imoen outside Candlekeep and they head straight to Beregost to hide out after the assassin attempt at the FAI. Beatrix already lost Gorion. She wasn't going to lose Imoen, too.

They did a few jobs around town and some of the easier/nearby wilderness areas. Nowhere really with named NPCs, though. They are level 3 and 4 and can't really take on the heavier hitters yet.

They would take on Ulcaster, but they need magic weapons for the vampiric wolf at the end. They could probably take down Bassilus, but not Zarghal and crew also on the same map. They could take on Zarghal with the Wand of Sleep from High Hedge, but they are about 500gp short for it. They could get there by selling the Ankheg shell they picked up on the way to Baldur's Gate (I know it's locked out, but they tried for RP reasons), but I think I'm going to want to make the armor eventually.

I haven't worked out what to do yet. I'm also a little perplexed with Imoen's levels. I could have sworn I could dual her at level 6 and have maxed out traps and locks. She's definitely not going to get there without level 7. It seems like kind of a wash, though. I'll need to pick up Safana for Ice Island and DT. By the time Imoen gets her levels back, pretty much all the thieving left will be Nashkel Mines, Cloakwood, and the final area.

So it goes. Most of the meat in a trilogy run is in the second game anyway.

 

[JustKneller]

But wait, where's my manners? I forgot introductions.

I should mention the weird self-imposed rules that apply to this run so some of my choices make sense. You can't be a paladin without a code of ethics, so it makes sense that you can't play one without the same, right?

1) Rerolls. I let myself reroll my stats, but only until I had a roll that landed between 87 (Imoen) and 95 (Sarevok) points. Anything in that range is a great roll, obviously, but I wanted to keep myself from trying to roll a "perfect" character, while still staying true to the character's heritage. I think I ended up with a 92.
2) I'm playing the vanilla GOG version, with just the regular patches and unfinished business. Obviously, this means proficiencies get wonky between the two games. However, I'm playing the characters in BG1 as if they had the more specific proficiencies that they would have in BG2. For example, Beatrix starts with Small Sword, Large Sword, Axe, and Blunt Weapons which is played as Dagger, Two-Handed Sword, Axe, and Staff.
3) Some of the proficiencies (in the first game) get a little weird depending on when you pick up the characters (some dramatically change at later pickups). I consider their level 1 proficiencies to be canon and build from there. I'll use Gatekeeper to make corrections.
4) Some of the stats for canon characters gets a little weird between games. Jah gets Dex +3, Minsc gets Dex +1, Viconia gets Wis+3 for example. I'll be using Shadowkeeper to adjust their stats to their BG1 ending stats.
4b) However, I also play by the old PnP rule that a character can only ever use any tome once. So, out of the three Wisdom tomes, one will go to Jah, one might go to Vic, and the last will be used to save the kid. Additionally, I'll give Minsc the Dex tome to cover his extra point.
5) Also per PnP, Paladins are to tithe 10% of their take. Technically it should be to their own church or organization. However, since Beatrix follows Torm and that's not an option in this game, she will be tithing to Lathander/Helm.
6) On top of that, per PnP, Paladins are not allowed to hoard wealth. They are allowed to support their material needs and can even "save up" to buy something useful, but they can't be running around with hundreds of thousands of gold. This is tough to do in this game since gold has no weight and you can accumulate an virtually infinite amount. And then, if you factor in having other party members who have no limits on gold, it gets a little weird. The best solution I have is to simplify this and simply say that we can't "base" anywhere and can only keep what we can carry. I'll also limit gold to the current "purchase goal" of whatever I'm saving up for (or 100gp/level?). I dunno. I'll try to keep it reasonable.
7) Did you know that Paladins in 2e PnP could only have 10 magical items? This includes a single suit of armor, a single shield, and four weapons. A bundle of arrows counts as one, but so does each individual potion. I'll be doing that here. I won't be "muling" extras with NPCs. Anything they carry is for them and my paladin cannot use. I altered this rule a bit. I realized that a full set of gear with a single weapon is 11 slots. So, that's one too many and I wouldn't even be able to use consumables. As such, I've changed it to one magic item for each paper doll slot and each of the three quick slots. This still can get weird in a party. I mean the paladin won't use a stone to flesh scroll on someone because she's full up and will make someone else cast it? That's not very paladin-y. Maybe I need to think about this one some more.
8) Lastly, I'm not grabbing the secret stashes in BG1. It's a bit unfair of an edge in an already powergamey game.

All the tracking for material wealth is turning this into a run where I need a CPA, so I'm simplifying. The party will have no base and can only keep what they can carry. Beatrix will tithe 20%, instead of 10% to an appropriate temple.

So, all that being said, this is Beatrix "the Pure":

Spoiler: Beatrix

 

[JustKneller]

I will better recount the story so far. Also,

After the ambush outside Candlekeep, Beatrix was immediately down on herself for running. Torm, being the god of courage and self-sacrifice, would surely have been disappointed. However, her father told her to run and Torm is also the god of duty and obedience. There was no right answer to this quandary.

The next morning Imoen caught up with Beatrix and the pair set off to the Friendly Arm Inn per her father's instructions. They did not get far before the blade on Beatrix's axe shattered. Fortunately she still had her lucky staff, which should hold them over until she could acquire a more suitable weapon. They traveled to the Friendly Arm Inn, but never went in the inn itself. It was in helping out an old lady on the outskirts that Beatrix had a bad feeling. What if the enemy rifled through Gorion's possessions and found the letter from "E"? Or worse, E was a traitor and their attackers were E's lackeys? They could be waiting for Beatrix to arrive at the inn. She wouldn't chance Imoen's life on another group of assassins. After returning the old lady's ring, the duo immediately went south to Beregost, where they could lose themselves in the small city.

On the way, they picked up new identities. They weren't Beatrix and Imoen, a paladin and rogue from Candlekeep. They were now Trixie and Moe, adventurers and mercenaries for hire. Beatrix wasn't keen on the deception, but none of it was entirely false. Also, if their new personas kept Imoen safe, she could live with that.

In Beregost, they touched base with Firebead, who was happy to support their cover. He put them on Borland, who charitably provided them with humble lodgings while they found their stride. Beatrix had no trouble keeping her "divine vocation" under wraps. An axe was a rather atypical weapon for a knight-to-be, and she would only use her divine magic away from prying eyes. As for her generous contributions to the temple of Lathander, well, Lathander is the patron saint of youth and the women are young people so they could easily just be devout followers. Plus, she only donated in small amounts at a time so as to not arouse attention (apparently, donations don't accumulate for rep gain, you have to donate the rep increase amount all at once).

"Trixie and Moe" established their local presence out of the Jovial Juggler. Their first order of business was to clear the roads between the Friendly Arm Inn and Nashkel and they did so with minimal difficulty. Beatrix would have Imoen hang back and support with her bow while Beatrix held the line. She adamantly instructed Imoen to run back to town, should Beatrix fall into battle. As much as she would have preferred a safer life for Imoen, Beatrix knew the adventuring life would be their best bet to be a hard target.

When the roads were cleared, they discussed their next move over a pint of Luiren's Best at the Juggler. They would have to travel further from town, but Beatrix felt ill-prepared for it. She had seen a magical helm and enchanted axe at Feldepost's. And, the smithy had a suit of full plate mail. All these items cost in the thousands of gold, and at this point, they had barely 500 gold to their name. They had heard rumors of a heft bounty on a mad cleric. Perhaps this would be their next exploit?

 

[JustKneller]

Well, clearing Bassilus' woods was a little easier than I expected. I wasn't worried about Bassilus himself. With a little chat, his undead army crumbled. Then, Imoen interrupted his spellcasting with the wand of missiles she swiped (presumably) from Gorion's room. He went down quickly from there. What I was worried about was Zarghal and his crew. Two archers with biting arrows and all of them were pretty tough for our level. However, Beatrix was lucky and only caught Zarghal's attention at first. She then lured him away where she an Imoen could fight him without his archer friends getting in the way. After that she rushed the archers. It did take two reloads (biting arrows are pretty much guaranteed death in the early game), but the duo overcame.

After that, they went back to Beregost to heal up and collect their reward (tithing their 20%, of course). For the reward on Bassilus, the tithe was enough to bump their reputation a point (apparently donations don't accumulate and you only get the rep if you donate the full amount at once). They had enough money left over to get the magical axe from Feldepost's and have a nice little nest egg to get them most of the way to the cost of plate armor. At this point, they have around 5500gp and the plate armor is down to 6700gp with their rep and Beatrix's charisma.

With an enchanted axe, the party can now take on Ulcaster. But first they did the bodyguard job for Silke (turning against her, obviously) and picked up Garrick. They happened to pick up an Identify spell in Bassilus' woods, which was quite serendipitous. Rather than have Garrick join their party (risking his life), he is providing them with free identifies (which he learned from teh found scroll) in exchange for the duo telling him the tales of their exploits for him to weave into song...all from the safety of the Jovial Juggler.

I could have picked up a Friends spell for Garrick and have him push the price of full plate down even further, but Beatrix wouldn't have that. The though of using magic to take advantage of innocent and good people is abhorrent to her. Instead, she'll earn the coin to pay a fair price for the armor. Next up is Ulcaster.

 

[JustKneller]

The expedition to Ulcaster was a success. Their venture started to get dicey when the vampiric wolf in the school's basement managed to get a hold on Beatrix. At first, it looked like Imoen was running away. However, it was only a feint, as she then snuck back behind the wolf and took it down with a critical backstab. Beatrix was saved and then just needed to wait for the wolf's hold to wear off.

Ulcaster was pretty lucrative for both treasure and XP. Beatrix is level 4 and Imoen is level 5. After tithing, they had enough for both the full plate armor from the smithy and the Helm of Charm Protection from Feldepost's. Beatrix was now level 4. Imoen was now level 5 with 5k to go before level 6.

I think I mentioned this before, but a canon Imoen dual is a little weird, especially with how thief skills change between games. At 20 points a level, dualing at 7 doesn't even let her max out traps and locks, so you're almost better off dualing at probably level 4, just to max one (probably traps) and minimize down time. At 25 points a level (BG2 system), then you can dual at level 6 and max both. The core game duals her at 7, which is miserable to do for BG1 (i.e. the downtime). Considering this is a character that wasn't supposed to make it past to prologue, I don't think they really though it through. I think they just jerry-rigged her to fit into a plot device at the start of BG1. Ok, enough of a rant.

The point is, I need to figure out what I want to do with Imoen. Her traps are currently at 100, so really, I could do it now. I can probably get another 40k through the rest of the map (still haven't done basilisk forest) and get the levels back before Durlag's (the next place I need a thief). I'd have to use Knock for the locked chests and whatnot, but this also lets me skip on Safana completely (I never liked her anyway). I even try DT with just the two of them, though I've never done DT without a cleric (for the healing). Still, it's something different to do.

I don't think there's a point to dualing at 6 or 7. I currently have locks at 35. 6 puts me at 55 and 7 puts me at 75. There will still be plenty of locks in DT that I can't open (though there are thief potions), but I'll have access to Knock anyway, and if I'm using Knock, then I don't need OL as a skill. And, however to the however, there's alll that thief gear in the second game. Between that and potions, you really don't need the levels.

So, my options are:

1) Dual her right now. I'll get my levels back in no time. I'll have to edit her character in BG2 to match how she ended in the first game.
2) Dual her at level 6 (and adjust her BG2 sheet accordingly). This will max her locks and traps for the second game (for when I get her back).
3) Keep it canon and level her at 7 and not fiddle with her sheet in BG2. I'll have to keep Safana around for a loooong time. Or maybe not. If I put off Safana to just before DT and keep it to just the three of them, Imoen will probably be pretty close to getting her levels back by the end of it all (or I can drag Safana to Ice Island and WW Isle to hedge my bets).

I'm kinda leaning towards #1, just to get through the first game painlessly. There's a decent chance that Jan will get a permanent spot in BG2 (I just love that guy), so I'll have a thief for everything else. I dunno. I need to figure it out fast. I'm already 5kxp past where I need to be for option #1.

 

[JustKneller]

Ok, no problem. I dualed her a level 6. My rationale is this. Even though she's listed as Thief 7/Mage X in BG2, she's really a Thief 6 based on her stats (namely, thief skills). She'll still make max mage level by the end of BG1.

I have a number of outdoor areas to go, including basilisk forest. However, I need 120kxp to get her thief levels back, which I don't think I can do before DT or another area that needs a thief.

However, I have another idea that I've never tried before. I can clear the rest of the outdoor areas and save the gnoll stronghold for near last. Then I pick up Dynaheir and Minsc. From there I do Cloudpeaks to get Samuel and have a reason to go to FAI, where I pick up Jah and Khalid. With canon party in tow, I work the MQ until Imoen gets her thief levels back, hopefully before Cloakwood. I can eat the few traps in the Nashkel mines.

The only hiccup is that there's no good story breakpoint once you start the MQ, except maybe near the end where you're wanted for murder, but there's still a sense of urgency at that point.

The other option is to grab Safana and run DT that way (probably with Minsc, Dynaheir, and Branwen).

The other thing to consider is what kit for my paladin once I hit BG2. Cav makes more sense for someone who grew up in Candlekeep, but considering the timing of the choice (imprisonment by an evil sorcerer), an Inquisitor seems especially appropriate. I think Inquisitor is also the power gamer move, though, especially with how much I hate mage battles.

I have time to figure it out, but I don't want to wait to get to that point and end up flipping a coin just to keep the game moving.

 

[Antimatter]

I don't like waiting too long until I regain the first class's skills, so I understand the decision to dual her at lvl 5.

Both Cavalier and Inquisitor can be powerful, although there is some competition if you use Keldorn (so that you don't have the same classes twice).

 

[JustKneller]

I'm not sure I see myself using Keldorn. Maybe it's because I'm a family man, but I always feel the decent thing to do is to send him home.

If I'm choosing in character, and I plan to, I'll definitely have Minsc, Jah, and Yoshi>Imoen. If I'm being honest, as much as I love him, I don't think Beatrix would be a fan of Jan, sad to say. Mazzy would be a solid choice. For the last slot, Nalia might remind Beatrix of a younger version of herself from Candlekeep, but she's a bit of a prat. Aerie is technically an option, but I just can't stand her, if only for her whiny voice. I've never really played with any of these three, but I'm already thinking Mazzy and Nalia are the way to go.

I think the kit choice in this context is going to be my most existential struggle ever in this game. Does she let the imprisonment by Irenicus define her or does she rise above and choose to be the idealistic storybook heroine she quiet possibly is destined to be?

For now, I just really want to get through this first game.

 

[JustKneller]

I should clarify the meaning of the "for all the marbles" bit. I have tried to do a full run of this game many times. I even have three (unfinished) APs in the history on this forum. I have never been able to do it. It's less that the game gets hard and more that I burn out because of the things I don't like about it. To put it diplomatically, this is not my most favorite game in the world. However, RPGs are my wheelhouse, my main genre. Not finishing a run of the BG trilogy is like calling yourself a film buff but never watching Casablanca. It's just not right. This is the run to rule them all. I will finish this run, all the way to the end of ToB. If for some reason I don't, that's the end of it for me. I'll have to formally retire from being an RPGer. Instead, I'll just move on to reading really dry books about WW2 or building ships in a bottle or something. But, I will no longer be able to call myself an RPGer and still look myself in the mirror in the morning.

Anyway...

I recently picked up Dynaheir and the party is on their way to get Minsc. Beatrix and Imoen finished the basilisk forest prior to this and I checked Imoen's xp. There is just no way just the two of them can get the xp needed for Imoen's levels before Durlag's tower, so we'll be taking a party. However, I don't want to pick up Jaheira and Khalid yet since that puts the pressure on to do the main quest and follow that chain of events. They will next be picking up Branwen at the carnival and then Safana at the coast. This will be my TotSC party.

The gnoll stronghold was obviously a cakewalk. Beatrix carved her way through with her axe and I'm not even sure if she even took a hit. They'll slip into Nashkel to get Minsc, but avoid the mayor. From there, the party will clear most of the rest of the outdoor areas (we'll leave Brage and the mines exit for later). After that, it's the TotSC content.

 

[BelgarathMTH]

I'm not sure I see myself using Keldorn. Maybe it's because I'm a family man, but I always feel the decent thing to do is to send him home.

If I'm choosing in character, and I plan to, I'll definitely have Minsc, Jah, and Yoshi>Imoen. If I'm being honest, as much as I love him, I don't think Beatrix would be a fan of Jan, sad to say. Mazzy would be a solid choice. For the last slot, Nalia might remind Beatrix of a younger version of herself from Candlekeep, but she's a bit of a prat. Aerie is technically an option, but I just can't stand her, if only for her whiny voice. I've never really played with any of these three, but I'm already thinking Mazzy and Nalia are the way to go.

I think the kit choice in this context is going to be my most existential struggle ever in this game. Does she let the imprisonment by Irenicus define her or does she rise above and choose to be the idealistic storybook heroine she quiet possibly is destined to be?

For now, I just really want to get through this first game.

I missed getting to know Jan Jansen on my first ever BG2 play because I was rp'ing lawful good, and I wouldn't lie for him to the "police" when I first met him. "Yes, officer, he did try to sell me a Flasher." That was the last I ever saw of Jan Jansen in that run. My loss. Now I rp with my lawful characters that I have a "feeling" I should not rat him out to the cops for some reason, and I always "trust my feelings".

 

[JustKneller]

I missed getting to know Jan Jansen on my first ever BG2 play because I was rp'ing lawful good, and I wouldn't lie for him to the "police" when I first met him. "Yes, officer, he did try to sell me a Flasher." That was the last I ever saw of Jan Jansen in that run. My loss. Now I rp with my lawful characters that I have a "feeling" I should not rat him out to the cops for some reason, and I always "trust my feelings".

It's truly a real dilemma. You start off in Athkatla with a sense that justice is not entirely ethical there. Especially if you hit the government office first and essentially discover that casting Infravision to make your way through the town at night will get you indefinitely committed to a dungeon, but if you chuck some gold at the government, you can dire charm everyone in the streets with reckless abandon (at least by way of the Cowled Wizards). On the meta, I don't think this antagonist was well thought out, but taking it at face value, I can see plenty of wiggle room for even a paladin to not get in the rank and file of the government there.

On the other hand, just because the government is unjust, it doesn't make Jan just by the very nature of being in opposition. Athkatla could simply be just another hive of scum and villainy.

I have been thinking about Jan ever since posting that, though. I haven't seen the dialogue in the scene for a while, but if I can work it out with a good conscience, then I would love to have Jan in Nalia's place, even though Nalia ends up being the stronger mage. A Baldur's Gate run is just not the same without stories about turnips.

 

[JustKneller]

I've reached the point where I'm ready to start on DT. I have picked up Safana and Branwen. Interestingly enough, Branwen is complaining constantly (due to the party's 20 rep), but Safana is not, despite both of them being neutral. I thought I was going to lose Branwen coming back from the spider woods, though. The party hit a random encounter with a greater basilisk and nobody had stone to flesh scrolls. The creature spawned pretty much right next to Branwen. There were a couple of ogres in the encounter as well, which made things a little hairy. Nevertherless, Beatrix rushed the basilisk (she had better saves anyway) and drew its attention, everyone else focused some kind of attack or another on it, and took it down ASAP. The ogres were easy to clean up from there. But, man, wouldn't that be a shame. Branwen finally unpetrified after god knows how long only to get petrified again.

I did run into a little snafu with Safana, though. Her locks are high, but her traps skill is only at 65. That's not good enough for DT and she probably won't pick up a level before going to the lower levels (not that 85 will have us covered either). The merchant outside DT sells potions of perception, though. Looks like they party will be buying him out. They also picked up a potion of power along the way, so that will help. Imoen is still about 15kxp away from getting her levels back (she has traps at 100). So, the party would need to get 90 kxp to get her levels there.

I'm estimating Imoen will get her levels back near the end of DT, which is good enough timing. Then, I can send off Branwen and Safana, pick up Khalid and Jaheira, and have the thief I need for the main quest.

 

[JustKneller]

The party hit UB, picked up a few trinkets at the inn (some spells for the ladies and the cloak of displacement). Then we ran into Shandalar and started Ice Island. This area really puts points in the "Pick an a inquisitor" column.

I actually had an easier time than normal in this area. The first fight (with Andris and friends?) usually takes a few reloads. I only needed one this time. I had Imoen stay just out of line of sight to cast a dispel and strip their near infinite duration cheaty protection rings. Then I sent Dynaheir in for a chat, but she cast invisible once they launched their attack. The rest of the party was in the previous room. Only Andris psychically knew where they were and, when he DD'd in, he was pelted with acid arrow, arrows of biting, and darts of wounding before he DD'd right back out. That was cheaty impressive that he could keep casting spells despite taking poison damage every round from three different sources. Luckily, he ended up in some weird DD loop from the poison damage.

His friends waited in their original room. When Andris went down, the ladies sent in a fireball and skull trap from out of LoS. That took out one of them right off and caused the other to advance on the party's location, but he fell fast at that point.

The reload was from when I tried this the first time. I was a little too slow when Andris DD'd in and he managed to get off a fireball in the middle of the party, killing both Safana and Dynaheir.

Looking at our xp at the end of the first level, I realized I could have played this differently. If I ran Beatrix and Imoen through literally everything outdoor before picking up the others, I would have only needed Safana for Ice Island. I could have then dropped her and picked up someone more palatable and useful like Ajantis for DT. It's no matter, though. BG2 is going to be the real meat and potatoes of this run.

 

[JustKneller]

Well, things took an interesting turn at Durlag's. Beatrix almost ended up pushing daisies in a couple of the fights with the battle horrors and doom guards in the outer yard of DT. Once that was clear, Safana was made invisible to scout out and detrap the upper levels. She saw the basilisks in the tower and some kind of demon sirine on the top floor. It was probably the adventurer in the basement warning how much worse the tower was on the levels below that was the final straw for her. Before the party could actually clear the levels, Safana said she was ready to call it a day and asked to be escorted back to civilization. She bit off more than she could chew with this adventure and would much rather vamp around the high end taverns with noblemen.

Beatrix, being the honorable sort, obliged. The party was now sans a trapspringer. Imoen was not quite up to snuff on her arcane studies to take up the rogue's cowl again, but was close.

Beatrix recalled seeing another paladin patrolling the road north of the Friendly Arm Inn and thought they could use another sword arm anyway. She backtracked and was fortunate to find him still patrolling the area. He was on a quest to stop the bandit raids in the region, but Beatrix offered him the opportunity to tackle a greater evil. Sir Ajantis signed on and the party returned to DT.

As they cleared the upper levels, Imoen had no choice but to take on the role of trapspringer. She was feeling less confident with the locks, but the merchant outside sold potions to help. The upper levels of the tower ended up being no real challenge, but everyone knew the worst would be below.

(Side note, I went to High Hedge after picking up Ajantis to grab a knock spell, but Thalantyr doesn't sell that one. Imoen is going to be potion dependent for locks for a while.)

 

[JustKneller]

The party is about to head to level 3 of DT. I had one reload on the Warder fight on L1 due to Love getting off a skull trap on Beatrix before they could kill it. Otherwise, it was one of my easier runs at this fight. Beatrix was buffed to the 9s and drew all the aggro. Then the mages threw in webs and fireballs. Beatrix's FR was at 120 so the FBs were actually healing her as the Warders damaged her. Minsc backed her up with acid arrows with Ajantis and Branwen covering the rear in case any spiders or ghouls tried to spawn (which has happened before).

I did not fully clear level 2 before moving on. I left Kiel's room alone, therefore not triggering the Dwarven Doom guards and didn't even bother with the bridge room. I should still cap out on xp without clearing everything 100% and virtually all the treasure is just going to be sold for gold, which I have way more than enough of at this point (and you can't take it with you into BG2, obviously). I've done these areas before more times than I can count. There's nothing to prove here.

At this point, I've stopped tithing to the temple. There's just no point to it. DT breaks the game's economy and even if I tithed 50%, I'd still have more money than I would need for the rest of the game. The only things actually worth dragging out of the tower at this point are Bala's Axe (Beatrix has been using axes the whole game), Arla's Dragonsbane, maybe Pellan's Shield, a necklace of missiles, the staff of striking, burning earth, and maybe a wand or two that's left.

 

[JustKneller]

The party is now in the fourth level of DT. After fighting a bunch of paralyzing crypt crawlers and greater ghouls, and now about to go toe-to-toe with a demon knight, it's often around now that (when I'm playing a front-liner) I start to think that maybe I should have played a backliner. If my front liner dies (as a front-liner) it's time to reload. However, if I lose a front-liner in a fight as a back-liner, I can just raise them. From there comes the internal dialogue of what I would play if I was a back-liner. I don't like mages. Clerics are mid on a good day in this game. Bards are a disappointment. And so on...

No, the pure and true paladin is the right choice for this arduous quest. I have to stay on the high road here. I'm taking a break to work out my strategy for the demon knight right now. I read up on it on the wiki, and have an idea. I know that it's a cheaty spellcaster (i.e. it's going to open with a dispel, fireball, and power word stun/kill all in the first round like it has a sequencer or something. However, Minsc with an elixir of speed can take 6 shots per round at the demon knight (and Ajantis can do 4, but I'd have to backtrack for a bow). I believe Minsc has a 50/50 shot to hit the demon. Then, if I he uses arrows of biting, those have a 25% chance to proc (or 35% if Imoen gets off a greater malison). I don't think the demon knight is immune to poison, so that will hopefully keep the bastard from firing more spells. Then, maybe spam some undead or summons to keep him busy while the archers do their thing. This might work.

 

[JustKneller]

Plan A did not work. Despite failing it's save vs. poison and taking poison damage every round, it did not disrupt the demon knight's spellcasting (cheat). That is the game ender right there. If he can cast a dispel (which would strip any fire protections) then a 10d6 fireball (which would kill or seriously harm anyone) then a power word stun (which would definitely work after the fireball) without any way to disrupt, then that's that.

I'm not sure how many castings of this it has, either. It definitely doesn't follow the rules. At level 15 (the demon knight's level), a specialist mage has 6 level three spells (fireball and dispel) and two level 7 spell (stun). However, it cast two stuns in taking out my party on the first pass.

It won't blow spells on summons, though. Plan B was to spam summons from wands. But that was no good. All the summons are rubbish can only hit on a 20, and only do a couple points of damage when they do hit.

I could use the mirror, but I want to take this thing down myself.

Plan C had a theoretical 31% chance for success. The party enters the room. Minsc, under stealth, sneaks by the demon knight, triggering the dialogue and setting it hostile. Branwen summons some skeletons to keep it busy. Imoen and Dynaheir, outside of the demon knight's line of sight throw a few webs in. Three webs between them have a 21% chance of catching the demon knight on any given round. But, we can wait out of sight until it does. Really, though, the webs only buy us an extra round for the second part of the plan. That is, the demon knight will mostly likely make it's save the next round so I can't count on Web to hold it for long. Nevertheless, This buys me two rounds to cast four blindness spells between them. The first round, the demon knight is held by web. The second round, the demon knight is free and casts dispel magic. The third round, it casts a fireball and my mages die, even if they get off the blindness spell.

This plan did not work. Why? After six attempts, I finally got a blindness spell to stick. However, blinding the demon knight also does not keep it from casting spells. You simply cannot disable this bastard. The game will not let you. Even if it worked, magic would be a long shot anyway. With its MR at 85 and save vs. spell at 8, any spell has only 9% chance of sticking, and as we can see, it doesn't do what it's supposed to.

I think there is actually a really really easy way to beat this demon. All you need is Spider's Bane, both rings of fire resistance, the helm that gives +20% fire resistance, and a character with more than 89 hit points (which can only happen if your main is a fighter class and you cheese hp rolls). The dispel magic would be irrelevant, the fireball would do no damage, and the power word stun wouldn't be able to affect the character. Have archers pelt it from a distance while the melee fighter draws aggro if needed and kites. I would have to put the tower aside for now to do this, though. And, I don't want to do that. I want to win this fight now.

 

[JustKneller]

A wise man once said:

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed

I think the demon knight is the straw the broke the camel's back. The system is broken, and so the opposition is set up to cheat to compensate for it. All my winning strategies are cheap cheese. The virtuous path has a relatively low probability of success, and its own virtue is compromised by power word: reload. If I'm feeling this way now, how bad is it going to get once I get to BG2 with all the douchey magery? I tried to take the high road. I really did. But, there really isn't a high road. I can only play by the rules if the opposition does as well. Otherwise, live by the sword, die by the sword.

Spoiler: Thar she blows!

Ahab is, in fact, quite mad. But, it's not his fault. He's simply a character in a video game and really just a 2.5 dimensional extension of the choices made by an entity in what he would consider to be a metaverse. The vexing thing about it is that he can't tell anyone. He simply doesn't have the option to shake Gorion an say, "Hey old man, you're going to die if we leave here! Maybe we should take our chances and stay in the magically protected fortress with all the armed guards and wizards!" He had to carry his secret alone. At least he think he did. Maybe everyone else also knew they weren't really real and were incapable of telling others. They were just existentially trapped behind their "Hey-a, it's me, Imoen!"s and "Ah, my child, I'm glad I found you"s.

Ahab truly didn't want to be here. He knew he was the latest victim of a purgatorial existence that has spanned the last 26 years. As he stood in front of Winthrop's Inn, he briefly thought of the countless other poor bastards who previously stood exactly where he was standing right now and in the same predicament. Gnomes, paladins, half-elves, cleric/mages...pretty much anything but a (lame) bard has all stood here at some point or another. Ahab was a fighter/thief. He couldn't be any kind of cleric since none of the gods were real. No, they were all simply fictional characters in a video game. He couldn't be a mage either. He hated magic because the entity that created him hated magic, too...at least in this world. That only left the fighter and thief vocations. He might as well take up both since he is going to be traveling alone and could use the versatility.

Yes, definitely alone. Many of his predecessors had the misguided notion that they needed to take this journey with other victims. Ahab didn't have such burdensome thoughts. If he thought of them as people, though he didn't, he would think it cruel to drag others through this gauntlet of slipshod game design. As non-people, they ultimately were a liability. Especially with his chosen vocation, he would work more efficiently and effectively alone.

Ahab picked up some studded leather armor and a helmet from Winthrop's, then he rounded the bases of the old keep and swiped what he could as he helped who he could. He didn't consider it to be stealing since all of the swag he took really only existed to be found by him, right? He also picked up a +1 dagger from Fuller. This would be his main weapon for now, but he kept his quarterstaff for sentimental reasons.

After checking all the other perfunctory introductory boxes, Ahab met his fictional foster father on the steps of the library where he always was.

"Come on old man, once more unto the breach, my friend," someone thought.

 

[JustKneller]

Like clockwork, Imoen approached Ahab after that fateful scripted night. Ahab might have pitied her. She was only meant to be another random prologue NPC and now look what she's been dragged into. Ahab was already dreading the logistically absurd character retcon awaiting her in the sequel. At least, he wouldn't have to deal with it. He could have been brash to send her on her way, but she already had a narratively terrible destiny ahead of her. He didn't want to rub salt in that wound. Ahab had an idea. For now, he just needed a place to park her.

Further down the road, Ahab picked up Abbott and Costello Montaron and Xzar. He only did it to gut their inventory and have extra muscle against the mage assassin at the Friendly Arm Inn.

On the way to the inn, he picked up a diamond and two magic rings. Ahab supposed they were meant to be hidden, but they were quite easy to see since he broke the fourth wall. Only one of the rings would be any use to him, and only until he picked up a particular set of armor. The rest he would sell for gold.

Ahab wanted gold and as much as he could get. He definitely had use for some of it, but gold meant something else to him. Like a prisoner etching tally marks on the wall to count their days, gold was the timepiece in his own prison.

The four of them reached the inn and yawned their way through the assassin. Luring him out amongst the inn's guards, the mage couldn't even get off his first spell. A backstab from Ahab and a crit from Montaron was all it took.

Ahab dumped his two evil companions in the common room of the inn and also left Imoen with Bentley. He would be back for her, though. On the other side of the common room were a familiar pair of half-elves. He could have just ignored them and gone on his way. However, something inside (or perhaps outside) of him had to facilitate, on at least a basic level, some modicum of continuity for the schizophrenic story to come. There really was no sense in this world, but Ahab would still connect some of the dots, if only as a symbolic act of rebellion.

Ahab approached the half-elves and prepared to check off another box on his RPG canon bingo card.

 

[JustKneller]

Yeah, yeah, there's something about Ahab that reminds you of his foster father. We can't imagine what that would be. Gorion was a powerful human mage yet was scripted to die in a prologue to an enemy that an actual mage of his level could decimate without breaking a sweat. Whereas Ahab was a halfling rogue fresh out of character creation who was not getting off as easy as Gorion. Maybe it's because they both were resigned to their cruel fate. Perhaps that's the resemblance Khalid and Jah are gleaning.

In any event, the lot marched to Nashkel. Along the way, Ahab picked up a rather prickly belt and some quiet boots. They also passed through Beregost and took care of a few errands there. We considered doing the ground work for setting up base in town and rifling through everyone's possessions for anything good. However, there was nothing urgent. Instead, we took some gems and gold from a dwarf's shop while the dwarf just stood there as if waiting to give Ahab a quest. This will be where Ahab sets up base. There are tons of shelves to organize things and he will eventually be able to get rid of the dwarf and have the place to himself.

We saw our prize at the smithy. The dagger of venom and shadow armor. Right now, they were running for a little over 25k. We only had just over 10k (most of it from selling the ring of wizardry to Bentley). The price for the set should come down to just under 13k after some good deeds and reading an issue of Toril's version of Cosmo. We will be back.

In Nashkel, the group caught their breath while some narrator prattled on about nothing of any value. Ahab picked up the Ankheg armor and pearl inexplicably buried in some farmer's field. We would let Jaheira use it for now, but then liquidate when her time was up. After talking to the mayor, we could have ditched the pair right then, but we have another plan for the canon party. No, they would get their quest, and a little extra to boot.

Rather than rush off to the mines, we decided to pick up Minsc and rescue Dynaheir. The mines weren't going anywhere and this would give the canon party some coalescence to parlay into the next game. Perhaps we should have kept Imoen for this as well? It's ok, she will get to meet everyone later.

We took the path of the most reputation (i.e. Dryad Falls) to the Gnoll Stronghold. The opposition was weak and the quest simple. The party took the scenic route through Bergost to get back to Nashkel in order to drop off the haul. We currently had no way to identify the magic items short of paying the hundred gold. Nothing was that urgent, though, so we're waiting until we have other accommodations.

The mines followed, but there was an unexpected delay. The five took on Greywolf, but he actually gave them a run for their money. Like, a literal run. Jah had to kite him while Khalid burned through all his arrows (and Ahab his throwing knives and Dynaheir her magic missiles). He still wasn't down so Jah had to lead him and toss some stones to finish him. I was hoping Jah's entangle would stick and he would be short work, but he made his save and then put some hurt on Jah and Minsc before he eventually went down.

A brief return to Nashkel followed to heal up and restock. It was then that Ahab had the first of many pretentious dreams, giving him a CLW. Next would be the mine itself. We were looking forward to the end of this part. We were already tired of dragging around these people. But we are a generous god. (Most) of the canon party will get their adventure to substantiate the premise of the sequel. You're welcome.