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Vorgen posted:
That's odd, I didn't think this had been completed. As for the voting on Minsc, I'm disappointed but not surprised. Well, I suppose this early on there's always a chance that he'll get gibbed by a flaming arrow or something...
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Sep 12, 2011 17:09
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CODE RED FURRY ALERT 
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vilkacis posted:That's odd, I didn't think this had been completed. What the frilly gently caress. Sturgeon's Law in action, folks. I've come across maybe 4 mod characters who aren't horrifically embarrassing, and for every semi-decent one, there's a Saerileth, or a Chloe, or a Keldorn romance, or an Imoen add-on where she goes into detail about how Irenicus raped her oh god make it stop  .
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Sep 12, 2011 17:44
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Which ones do you (kind of) like, then? You have to tell us. The Keto character fairly decent, I thought, as was Tashia the Sorcerer (quite bland though). That's... That's about all I remember. Also, I vote for just going out into the wilderness and seeing what trouble you can get yourself into. But since that doesn't seem to be in the cards, I'm voting for 2, 1, 3, in that order. The golem thing sounds pretty hilariously powerful, at least against non-bosses, since it's immune to nonmagical weapons. Actually, maybe too powerful to be fun. On the other hand, I'm nowhere near as infatuated with Minsc as everyone else seems to be.
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Sep 12, 2011 18:19
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I think Solaufein, Valen and Kelsey are generally considered the best done NPC mods. It's telling that two of those are actually modifications of characters already in the game.
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Sep 12, 2011 19:25
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Basically, my criteria for a decent mod character are: they're not blatant wish fulfillment on the part of the writer, they aren't Super Special Snowflakes, and they don't have a tragic backstory/mega-angst/enough baggage for an ocean liner. With that in mind, I'd call Keto my favorite. It's a shame there's not any ToB content for her, because I think she was really well done. And actually funny, as opposed to "lol I'm random and whimsical, love me!" Kelsey's pretty good, and I found Gavin to be reasonably un-embarrassing as well. I actually really dislike the Solaufein mod, but I'll refrain from  out for the sake of the thread.
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Sep 12, 2011 19:37
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Yeah, I'd heard Solaufein's a bit of a mess of weird snowflake syndrome and seriously terrible poetry as well. But you're right, let's get off this derail.
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Sep 12, 2011 19:48
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One last question for you, Vorgen... did you receive a lot of error messages or breaks during the installation script that required you to find and install certain files and mods manually or did it run through its entirety fairly smooth?
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Sep 12, 2011 20:56
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Isn't the point of this LP to see as much modded content as possible, including the horrible characters? I think it would be best to keep rotating characters so we get to see a lot of them. Even if they are badly written and annoying, keep them for a while (say, two or three updates) so we get to laugh at them. Then drop them off once they get boring and hire someone new.
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Sep 12, 2011 20:58
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markus_cz posted:Isn't the point of this LP to see as much modded content as possible, including the horrible characters? This. This is the way we should do this. If we only stick with the canon party, no matter how changed, the experience isn't that much different from a standard version of BG. There's a solution available here...we rotate through the characters and then bring BACK certain fan favorites like Viconia and Minsc, but we should be willing to give them time off so we can look at the new people too.
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Sep 12, 2011 21:02
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I remember Kelsey and Soulafein being pretty good. But then again, I remember thinking the Illyich mod was somewhat reasonable, and looking at it now I'm just 
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Sep 12, 2011 23:01
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I say... leave two spots for old favorites that we want to have all the time (Minc and... Viconia? Or Imoen?), rotate the remaining three.
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Sep 12, 2011 23:08
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quote:One of the mods is the BG1 NPC Banterpack mod that makes most NPCs talk to each other throughout the length of Baldurs Gate. markus_cz posted:I say... leave two spots for old favorites that we want to have all the time (Minc and... Viconia? Or Imoen?), rotate the remaining three. Imoen is cool enough to stand still until you come back if my memory serves me correctly, which makes her ideal for ditching for a few updates if need be. Many other characters will wander off and it's always a gamble to see if they'll show up where they say they'll be, if indeed they say they're going to be anywhere at all. I'm pretty sure if you dismiss Khalid and Jaheira they'll simply vanish from the game and you'll never see them again. On top of that, Imoen's not really that complicated a character, especially in BG1. Imoen's dialog is almost algebraic equation even when Bioware's writing her, so I've got very little hope for fan dialog being any better. Arguably, Minsc isn't a complicated character either, but I stand by my above comment that you'd need to be dead 3 days to fail at funny with him.
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Sep 12, 2011 23:21
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Coolguye posted:Noted, but I hope you'll understand my skepticism about how much worth that'll add. Probably be great for Minsc and other screwball characters like Tiax, though. You'd basically have to have a lobotomy to be whiff jokes with them, considering the setting. I think the BG1 NPC mod makes it so that any party member can be sent to a tavern or told to stay where they are. I remember something like that when I used it with BG1 Tutu a few years back.
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Sep 12, 2011 23:24
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jng2058 posted:This. This is the way we should do this. If we only stick with the canon party, no matter how changed, the experience isn't that much different from a standard version of BG. I agree with this plan.
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Sep 13, 2011 01:47
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hairrorist posted:One last question for you, Vorgen... did you receive a lot of error messages or breaks during the installation script that required you to find and install certain files and mods manually or did it run through its entirety fairly smooth? During the download phase of the process there were a number of files that I had to hunt down manually, and eventually I even gave up on finding a few of those and just went on without them. But after that things went smoothly
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Sep 13, 2011 02:11
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Did you install the romance options of the BG1 NPC Banter mod? If so we should decide whether or not we want to experience fan-written "romance". If it's the BG1 NPC Project than I think the options for male protagonists are Shar-Teel,  Branwen, and Dynaheir.
Servetus fucked around with this message at 13:45 on Sep 13, 2011 |
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Sep 13, 2011 13:42
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No pedophilia, incest or super special sad backgrounds for those. How bad could they be?
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Sep 13, 2011 13:51
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Fair enough, any issues we run into will probably be issues of dialogue and characterization.
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Sep 13, 2011 14:13
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Psalmanazar posted:No pedophilia, incest or super special sad backgrounds for those. How bad could they be? Shar-Teel is one of the hardest core misandrists in the history of video games. I don't buy for a second that a relationship of either orientation involving her isn't a minefield.
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Sep 13, 2011 14:54
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 10 Mirtul, 1369 After realizing just what would be required of us to end the Iron Crisis (demons in the mines!), I have some second thoughts and sit down to discuss things with my companions. After much deliberation, we all agree that we need to gather together as many resources as possible - perhaps to buy more spells for myself, or better armor or weapons for others. We decide to head back to Beregost and take care of the odd jobs around that way, then come back to Nashkel and solve the demon problem later. Will Scarlet mentions a wizard living just west of Beregost, at High Hedge, who might be able to give us some equipment, so we decide to stop by there first.  However, 10 hours into the trip, we are waylaid by a pair of wolves.  They don't imemdiately seem to be hostile, but the Half Ogre that appears behind us does.  By the time we kill him, the two wolves have run off, never to be seen again.  Hmm. Weird. Jaheira sure likes the place, though. We continue on our journey.  When we arrive, it is dark, and we begin walking towards the large building in the area. We almost totally miss an elf standing in the trees. Turns out his name is Kivan.   We're adventurers, on the lookout for evil to smite. A strange coincidence; I have a quest similar to your own. I have been hunting the bandits in the region for the past few months. Perhaps if we worked together we would fare better. What say you to that? Grasshopper, we do not need a man in the party. Moreover an elf who looks like he has not eaten a decent meal in days, but presumes that nobleness shines out of his rear end! I hunt better alone, but in this fight I would welcome an ally. However, if you are not interested in joining the forces, I would not insist on traveling with you. We'll help you against the bandits, but only if you tell us why you've spent months hunting them. Their leader, an ogre named Tazok, took the life of someone very dear to me. Thanks for being honest. You can join our party. I hope that we will work well together.We haven't even fought ten battles together, but Shar-Teel's attitude is really getting on my nerves. Has she forgotten that I am both a man and an elf? And what's this grasshopper bullshit? I have half a mind to turn her into slush, but one look at Imoen stops me. Instead I take her aside for a 'little talk.' drat it, you lose one well-fought duel to an oafish lout of a man and you get attached. I almost hate to say it but you've earned my respect. Our paths must run apart for a while. If I should need your help again, though, we should rendezvous at the Jovial Juggler in Beregost. I will do so, but I hope to rejoin you soon. I do not yet hold my debt repayed [sic].Whatever. Gameplay note: Shar-Teel fans do not despair. Before I leave Beregost again I will visit the Jovial Juggler and we can customize our party to our heart's content before we head out. We will probably run into several more NPCs before Beregost is finished, and so the Jovial Juggler might be pretty crowded by that time. We'll have a lot of choice. Now lets look at Kivan. He is an early-levels favorite for me simply because of the huge importance that ranged combat plays in the early game. The elf is a freakin' machine gun. Lets take a look at his record.  He's got extraordinary strength (18/17), which means he'd be great with a composite longbow. Good DEX too, and acceptable CON. Just enough WIS to be a ranger, and that's what he is, the Archer ranger kit. Also note that he is already level 2. This is a side-effect of the Level 1 NPCs mod that takes away xp from him until he has approximately the same amount that Syvishtar has, while letting him keep his level. This is the first time it gave us a level 2 guy, but it may do this again in the future. This guy is pretty amazing.  I once started (and abandoned) an elf-only run of an earlier version of the Big World Project. Kivan was the greatest asset of that group. He comes with studded leather, a longbow, 20 arrows, some (totally useless) bracers, and a spear.   He has proficiencies to match, except he also has 2 points in two-weapon style as rangers always do. Too bad you can't dual-wield spears in this game. Or any game. Where's the spear-love, gaming industry? Kivan also comes with two ranger abilities.  Charm animal does what it says, and I think Animal Empathy does the same thing almost. We can test it out in the field. After picking up our new friend and exchanging a few pleasantries, we continue on to High Hedge. We are interrupted once again, however, by the loudest thief ever.   Huh, this guy throws a hissy fit 'cause a few words broke the silence of the woods? I wanna see him in Puffguts' kitchens on the night of the Midsummer feast! He'd probably lose his mind and start screaming or somethin'. Heh, he'd fit right in! Of course you can't hear a word you're thinking. You have to say it out loud, first. Okay, okay, here's the plan: There's a big-time mage living just over that rise. Magic items scattered all over the place, I'm betting... Trouble is, he's got these two hideous flesh monsters guarding him and no shadows where I can lurk! Brute force is useless against the monsters, everything is useless. There must be a way to outwit the witless but damned if I know how... Ah hell, I guess I'd be better off just finding a halfling village somewhere to pick on. This dive is all yours. I have met the mage, Thalantyr, before. He is a good man, and I will not stand for an assault on him. It is worthwhile to visit him, however, and perhaps trade with him, Syvhishtar. He will be interested in magical items, if we ever have them in surplus. He's got plenty of scratch, I'll give him that.We go into the High Hedge and immediately speak to the mage there.  I hoped for a warmer welcome for my company, Thalantyr. You once offered me your roof, or have you forgotten? Elf! The name is Kivan, if I am not mistaken. Bah! That's a proper treatment for you, if you stand in the corner with your cowl covering your face. But I never thanked you properly... Come, come, I'll show you what I have done with the spear you broke on these bothersome bandits who tried to force their way in. I am quite happy with the way the enchantment has turned out. I don ot craft weapons, mind you. Bah! It's a gift. Take it, take it, elf.Gameplay note: And with that, our party gets its first MAGICAL WEAPON!  Great for rooting some pesky bugger who is coming after your Archer before moving back further and plinking his rear end to death. Plink! Plink! Plink! That's the sound that Kivan makes when he's owning. Did I mention that I really liked the guy? As a powerful mage, Thalantyr's opinion of me is very important to me. Maybe some day he can become a member of my party and Scribe out all the spells he knows to me. So I check it with my ability.  Unfriendly Neutral. That's just about even, at 50. With enough treasure we can bring it up to Close and then he's mine! I load myself up with necklaces and try to woo him in a totally non-gay way.  Ouch. He must be too high-level for our sweet-as silver necklace collection. Oh well, we can try to find higher-level necklaces that will catch his discerning eye. I wonder how his flesh golem feels about the gems Imoen has collected? I load myself up with them and then try to Show Friendship to the golem.   What?! All this hoarding and there's nothing it wants from me? I'm offended, quite frankly offended. In revenge, I sell all the gems for cash! When I'm done, I have enough money (150 gp) to buy half of a level 1 spell. Sighing, I leave for Beregost. On the way out, however, we are attacked by a Huge Spider.  It is a tough little bugger but doesn't hurt us any. We continue on to Beregost. A quick 8 hours later we are back in the City of Several Streets.  I ask Will how we could best find this Tulbor fellow that turned the other dude into a slime, and he suggests going to look in all the Inns. That sounds like a great idea, so we start with the Inn in the northern building cluster. On the way over, we talk to a few of the locals.    OH. This isn't an Inn. Looks like a pretty nice house, though.  I motion for Imoen to go talk nice to the people here.  My apologies! I must have the wrong address. I will leave immediately. And well you should! If my husband were to catch you here, it would surely be the end of you!Imoen gives me a look like I'm completely psycho and that we should leave immediately. So we do. We continue to explore until Imoen starts up a conversation with a little girl standing in the street.  Imoen disappears into the house before I can even say anything. Why is she going to give me those looks and then just do the same thing anyway?  I beg your pardon, my lady? You heard me perfectly. At least have the decency to wipe your shoes before going upstairs. *sigh*With little else to do, Imoen goes upstairs.  We just talked to your wife and she said... Oh, don't try that one on me! We know all perfectly well that *she* is hiding it! Tell her it's getting her nowhere. We have to sell it! Why are you telling me that? Ha! Guess the whole street knows it already. Is it shameful to sell possessions because you don't have enough money? It's not my fault the horse stepped on my foot. Now, please! I want to rest a bit. Goodbye. Could we help you in any way? Yes. Go down to her and tell her to stop hiding it! Goodbye.Imoen goes back downstairs to talk to Mrs. Dudley again.  You seem to be missing something. Can we help you in any way? I won't say anything further. Go back to him and leave me in peace.Imoen comes back outside and talks to the girl again.  I indeed did "talk" to your parents... Seems they are missing something? Ye-es... Did they tell you that? What did they say? They didn't tell me, to be honest. I figured it out from what they said. Do you know anything about it? Mom said we need some money to pay for the house... But we lost the necklace that could be sold. Ah, so it's a *necklace*! Well, I have the impression that both your mom and dad think the other one is hiding it... Do you have an idea where it could be? Me? No... no, why should I?Imoen frowns a bit and then goes back into the house without even looking at me. I follow inside.  Your daughter mentioned you are missing a necklace. Did she tell you that? *sigh* Poor girl. Her father doesn't think of what he is doing to her. He doesn't think of what he is doing to *us*, by hiding that pearl necklace! Can I help you in any way? No, I don't think so. I am sorry, I don't mean to offend you, but even our friends couldn't talk any sense into him... I do apologize for my unfriendly behavior. I imagined that you were his friends when you came in the first time. I thank you for your offer of help, but please leave us alone now. If it's only money that you miss, maybe I could give you some? Ah... no, no, thank you. We have enough money. At least we *would* have... Never mind. It is not your problem.Imoen and I have a short conference. I'm rather shocked about her offer to give the people money, but she just shrugs. She says these people's problems simply interest her. I suggest we go back upstairs to talk to the Mr. Dudley again.  From talking to your wife I got the impression that she thinks that *you* are hiding the necklace! That's ridiculous! Why should I do that? It is actually hers, to be precise, old family jewelry... *sigh* It's not easy for a man to admit that he is not capable of providing for his family any longer. She agreed to sell the pearls. Really brave woman she is, my Margareth! But *sigh* she somehow changed her mind, and now it's gone. Haven't talked to her for over a week now! This situation is unbearable. Please, leave an old man with is sorrow. Good day to you. If it's only money you are missing, maybe I could give you some? Ah? Oh, thank you for that... er, kind offer. But she would never accept that, my Margareth... No, she wouldn't.I give a look to Imeon, who rolls her eyes. We both go back downstairs to talk to Mrs. Dudley.  Your husband told us the missing necklace belongs to you. Did he? Well, at least he seems to remember... Although that doesn't help, if he doesn't *give* it to me! But he said that he has no reason to hide it... And that you agreed on selling it too, but then you changed your mind. *I* changed my mind? *I* changed by mind? One evening we discussed the necessity of selling my... *sob* my grandmother's necklace, and the next morning he hid it! We will lose the house because we can't pay our last debt on it. I really don't blame him that he's no longer capable of earning as much as he did. I haven't talked to that stubborn husband of mine for several days now. I... I can't take this any longer... *sob* Please, leave me in peace... I have the impression we are running in circles here. There must be a different solution to this. Poor Annie... What will become of her... *sob*Imoen and I look at each other. We are pretty sure we know who the perp is by this time. We go back outside.  Annie, from what your mom said, I have the strong impression "someone" took the necklace from its place that particular night... Don't you think it's time to give it back to your mom? But I.. I.. *sob* I don't *want* the necklace to be sold! It's the last piece we have from Grandma and I.. I.. I thought they would find another way and I *sob* I took it when they were sleeping and now they are so angry and everything is so bad... *sob* Oh, poor child. Hush, everything will be all right. Hiding the necklace doesn't help, Annie. Go inside and give it back. Some things have to be done, even if it hurts. May.. *sob* Maybe you are right. Oh, I hope mom won't be too angry!Annie goes inside the house, and I motion for everyone to follow to see the grand finale.  Yes. It's a wonder how childishly some adults behave. Imoen gives me a dirty look and speaks up. I really want to see you people happy. Do you have an honest buyer for your necklace? Well, we will go to someone we know in private... It's always not so good to do money business with people you know, but it's... Good gracious, do you want to tell every detail of our money misery? We are very grateful for what you did for us, but we need some time to discuss the proceedings further... I do apologize, but it was a very anxious time we had. I am sorry to interfere so much with your private problems, but I actually am looking for a nice pearl necklace for a, er... friend. Would you sell the necklace to me for... let's say 600 gp? 600 gp?! That is... that is much more than we would get from the other seller. Thank you very much, this is a very honorable offer. Yet we do not want to trouble you that much. We... Margareth, what are you saying? Didn't you hear what was said? Why shouldn't we sell it now? We couldn't buy it back from Edgar anyhow. Honey, please. I am not so stupid as to think... Margareth, come aside for a short moment. *whisperwhisper* ...money directly and... *mumblemumble* ...you never know whether Edgar... *whisperwhisper*... Yes, but *whisperwhisper*... Margareth, please *whisperwhisper*... Annie, hm? Well *whisperwhisper* *sob* You are so right, my dear. But only *whisperwhisper*... You are the wisest of all, my lovely wife. That is exactly how we will do it. All right, amicable helper. We finally decided to accept your offer, but not for the 600 you offered. Five hundred, it will be. This is still a very generous trade for us, and we are very well aware of the fact that you know that... *ahem*. Ah, it seems I don't have enough money right now. I will come back later!I rush everybody back outside and have a very serious whispered conversation with Imoen. I tell her that we're poor, but she doesn't seem to care. I tell her that we need weapons, not jewelry, right now, but she doesn't seem to care either. All she says back to me is "What about little ol' Annie?" I don't really have a response to that. Apparently we now owe some people 500 gold! I'm never letting Imoen go into another house again. Gameplay note: We will undoubtedly get xp and a rep increase for completing this quest when we have enough money. But this post is getting to be 300 lines long now so I'm going to stop it here. I'll immediately continue on with exploring Beregost, but since we can't pay the cash right now you guys can also concurrently debate whether or not we should. Also, you can begin to debate how much you like or dislike Kivan. And you know, for being a Beregost local and a bard, Will Scarlet O'Hara has been pretty silent during this whole event. Doesn't he have opinions? Desires? Secret wishes? Talking to him does nothing either. Vorgen fucked around with this message at 11:19 on Sep 14, 2011 |
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Sep 13, 2011 14:57
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Kivan!  (But why'd they have to change his portrait? What was wrong with the old one?)
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Sep 13, 2011 15:07
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Servetus posted:Did you install the romance options of the BG1 NPC Banter mod? If so we should decide whether or not we want to experience fan-written "romance". If it's the BG1 NPC Project than I think the options for male protagonists are Shar-Teel, I'm pretty sure I installed everything and the kitchen sink, as long as it was compatible together. I think that includes romances with those NPCs. Out of them, I'd prefer Dynaheir, since we're almost certain to be stuck with her due to Minsc fanboyism  .
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Sep 13, 2011 15:09
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Vorgen posted:Did someone seriously replace the original portrait by a Photoshopped photo of himself? 
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Sep 13, 2011 15:47
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Fighting Trousers posted:Kivan! It wasn't ~tragic and brooding~ enough. Seriously. I hate NPC modders. e: Though since it sounds like it installed Solaufein, you should definitely take him along when you get there so you can deal with the bullshit fight that he comes with because he's made by the most combat-spergin' Baldur's Gate modder out there.
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Sep 13, 2011 15:48
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You'll be wiping your rear end with 500 gp before you're level 5. As long as the XP reward is triple digits it's a fine trade from a mechanical perspective - the rep point is just gravy.
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Sep 13, 2011 16:06
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Vorgen posted:but since we can't pay the cash right now you guys can also concurrently debate whether or not we should. I say we should. For it is the right thing to do. 
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Sep 13, 2011 16:08
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sneak peak update: Will Scarlet O'Hara is down. I repeat, Will Scarlet O'Hara is down.
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Sep 13, 2011 16:23
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Fighting Trousers posted:Kivan!
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Sep 13, 2011 17:35
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 11 Mirtul, 1369 Somehow Imoen convinced me that the best way to find Tulbor is to conduct a house-to-house search. So despite my, and her, earlier misgivings about doing this, we do it anyways. In the next house we search, we catch a kid about do something.  No Tulbor though, so we go to the next house.  And strangely enough, two seconds later, "Daddy" does come in!  No time to do anything but defend ourselves. Arrows and spells go flying. Jaheira in particular leads with Sunscorch. Daddy immediately starts laying out the serious hurt, smashing down his mighty weapon on Jaheira, on Kivan, and on Will Scarlet. Will can't take it and drops to the ground. Kivan manages to drink a healing potion, but Jaheira gets scared and doesn't. A few seconds later Daddy takes her out as well.  Khalid and Haiass try to get the monster's attention but it turns on Imoen next, knocking her down to 1 hit point. She gets scared and runs. There's no room to maneuver in this killbox. My Azragan's hits, but I have no idea what it does to him.  Khalid screams out "Jah... Jaheira... no. NO!" and redoubles his attack. Kivan shoots steadily, pumping arrows into the monstrosity. I prepare another spell, but it's too late. Khalid gets the killing blow.  On the corpse of "Daddy" I find a magical two-handed sword, and a magical pair of gauntlets. I'll have to identify these later.  I tell Imoen and Khalid to search the room to the west, and give a significant look to Kivan. He looks at the corpses on the floor, and then back to me. He understands what must be done. Together, we attack the demon child.  We push the corpse underneath a nearby table. Something that the demon child had said bothers me in the back of my mind, and I sit staring into the fireplace for... some time. When Imoen and Khalid come back into the room, I realize what it is. "He called to mommy. Mommy is upstairs. What kind of demon-spawn would marry that thing that just killed our friends?" We look at each other. Imoen passes her ice arrows wordlessly to Kivan, who stoically equips them. Khalid passes a spare healing potion to Imoen, and they both drink. "We know what we must do. And we know we must never, ever, ever tell anyone," I say. Khalid nods wordlessly. He goes upstairs first.  Mommy is there. Mommy begins praying to whatever dark god she serves. We attack as one.  I say a silent prayer to the magic for the fellow elf Kivan as his expertly-placed ice arrows disrupt Mommy's profane prayer.  Imoen goes in close with her short sword. Kivan and I attack in our ancestral idiom. Khalid and my cat viciously swipe at Mommy. Haiass, trapped behind the balustrade, whines eagerly for a chance to taste her blood. Eventually, we take her down.  I begin to giggle as I whisper to myself. "We killed Daddy, we killed Mommy, so they wouldn't kill us first." It has a nice rhythm, so I repeat it several more times as I'm examining the corpse of Mommy. Mommy's got some nice boots.  Mommy was also carrying a magical quarterstaff in her obscene hands. Including Will's ring, I have four different magical objects to study when we have some time. When we have some rhyme. When we have some time to rhyme, thyme, slime, mine, whine. Imoen touches my arm, startling me. She says the Song of the Morning Temple is just to the east of town. She says we're going there. We head out, pout, spout. We walk out onto the street and head east, and I hear a short conversation ahead of me.  Your company is a w-welcome part of this group. We must not waste time on idle chatter.Gameplay note: Something I wish they would have kept in for BGII is the little comments that the characters say to each other when they're not in combat, like Khalid and Kivan's short conversation above. That was not a conversation window, they just did that as they were walking down the street. Especially hilarious is getting Viconia and Xan in a party together. She constantly taunts him with drow-related cruelty and he brushes her off like she's some kind of retarded child. The Song of the Morning Temple is to the east of Beregost on the world map, but it takes 0 hours to get there, so basically they just ran out of room on the map.  Walking up to the temple makes me feel better. I am suffused with a sensation of peace, of perspective, as if everything will be well. I sigh once, and feel more focused. I walk into the temple with hope. Temple of Lathander mood music Gameplay note: I really like this temple. Its quite pretty, and the sirines are a nice touch. Even though its not as lavish as the Temple of Lathander in Amn, I like it better.  Fair is your temple and full of hope, priest. And have you forsaken hope, my son? I have hope, but it lies beyond this plane, Keldath Ormlyr. Gaze upon the sun as it rises, elf. It is born anew every morn - here and everywhere in this world... on this plane. Rejoice, for you are blessed by its rays.We have 180 gold, enough to raise Jaheira, but not Will. Jaheira seems to not appreciate dying.  She does, however, seem to appreciate the Boots of the Forgotten Ones. With them she can memorize 7 spells. She chooses 6 Cure Light Wounds and one Bless. We ask the priest if we can spend the night in the temple, and he graciously agrees. I overhear a conversation as we are getting ready for bed.  Oh, well, yeah... sorry 'bout that, Kivan! I don't mean to intrude, or anything... but... um... what's that pendant on your neck? A ranger's insignia, Imoen. Uhm? What? *sighs* It is customary for a ranger to choose an animal to identify himself as he walks the land. I would carve or paint it as my mark to let others know my trail. This will help others to discover my fate if I become lost or will tell a weary traveler who had done him the kindness of equippiing a road cabin with food and firewood. Interesting. Yours looks like an eagle to me. Falcon, to be more precise. It is not an unusual choice for a foolish youngster who dreams of valor and great feats. You think you were a bit of a dreamer in your youth? Anyhow, it looks pretty, this carving. Rogues should get one, too! Actually, I remember there was a legend of a thief who left an imprint of a crimson cloak as his signature! Hmm, what would I choose for a sigil? Oh, I know! Guess, Kivan, what will be my sign? A sly red fox?I grin to myself. Imoen might get some ranger action. That night, I dream a dark, disturbing dream. I awake feeling refreshed, invigorated, with new purpose. Gameplay note: I also have a new ability!  This is part of the Revised Bhaalpowers mod by aVENGER. It's cooler than Larloch's Minor Drain, the original power we would have gotten at this time, because it scales with level. This is also the eeeevil Bhaalspawn power. We got it because our reputation was below average, because we killed the demon child. I do not regret it. I know now what I must do. Whatever it takes. With a vigor, I set about identifying items, the staff first.  When I realize what the staff can do, I am first repulsed by it. But then I think of it in the new context of power. It could be useful, in the right situation. Very useful. I will use this staff myself. I look at the ring next.  I realize that only Will can use this. I consider the pros and cons of leaving him dead and selling the ring for cash, or raising him and letting him use it. I will consider this further. Next day, I examine the sword.  When I finish identifying its properties, my mouth just drops open. This is huge! This is an army-destroying, destiny-making weapon. It just needs the right wielder, as a two-handed sword. Someone like Shar-Teel, or another. I must find someone to wield this sword for me in battle. I quickly turn to the gauntlets last.  This too! These are the weapons of my champion. A warrior wearing the Gauntlets of Ogre Power and wielding the Flame of the North would be unstoppable! Oh, if only Shar-Teel wasn't such a psychotic bitch... Gameplay note: Ok guys, we hit the jackpot this time! And it only took the lives of 2 of our comrades. What do you think we should do next? Should we knight Shar-Teel with this amazing equipment and let her reave in our name? Should we kick this Will Scarlet guy to the curb and sell his ring, or save up to rez him? There are still at least four more NPCs available to recruit in Beregost. I plan to go through the town and collect them all, sending them to the Jovial Juggler. Then we can have a popularity contest for the composition of our new party. But that might be in one or two updates from now.
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Sep 13, 2011 19:35
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Well, that kind of combat capability is too powerful to skip. So go get Shar-Teel, at least until you find a better warrior type to give the gear to.
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Sep 13, 2011 19:46
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Gauntlets of Ogre Power posted:Strength: +2 bonus (+100 exceptional) It's been long enough since I played 2nd edition AD&D that I've forgotten the rules for 18/## strength scores. What would these gloves do if worn by Minsc, whose STR is already around 18/50 or so? I vote to raise Will once we have another 20 gold (shouldn't be hard to come by -- just go find a couple of bandits to scalp if you have to). Once we get everyone to level 2 we should have enough hitpoints not to have people dropping from a single blow anymore. And yeah, give the gauntlets and sword to Shar-Teel for now until we pick up Minsc. Then give them to him, then to whoever we pick up as our party's beatstick once we send Minsc to the Also, that poison quarterstaff seems surprisingly powerful, too: 30% of maximum hit points in damage? That means it'll scale even to bosses. And a +3 to hit is nothing to sneeze at, either. And correct me if I'm wrong, but was there or was there not no mention whatsoever of a saving throw in the quarterstaff description? Seems like a pretty crucial omission, if I'm right...
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Sep 13, 2011 20:15
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SoA level gear as drops in early BG1 quests? Seriously?  Also, I loving hate Item Revisions. The description of that ring is pretty bad and if that's any indication of Will's content, just dump the little fucker in the gutter and sell his stuff.
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Sep 13, 2011 20:18
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A few hints for those of you trying to play along at home: Use the installer from: http://www.shsforums.net/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=752 You -must- have 7-zip installed. Any other archiving utility will cause errors during the installation. During installation, you will receive error messages about archives not being downloaded. This is PROBABLY untrue and stems from file name typos in the installer. Simply copy the file name from "The mod itelf (filename.wut)" field and rename the downloaded file in the Big World Setup Downloads folder to use the correct name. It's usually just a "-" instead of a "_" or vice versa. Make sure the "do not install foreign mods" box is checked in the installer for obvious reasons. You will also run into a section where you'll be informed that some mods failed to extract. Carefully follow the instructions it gives you and it will sequentially open each file that needs to be manually extracted into your BGII - SOA directory. This should result in a fairly simple install process that just takes forever to download. hairrorist fucked around with this message at 20:42 on Sep 13, 2011 |
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Sep 13, 2011 20:36
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vilkacis posted:SoA level gear as drops in early BG1 quests? Seriously? Yeah when people talk about BG1 being difficult and ranged being king it's pretty much on the explicit assumption you don't find 18/00 strength gauntlets and a +3 sword that does 3d6 damage per hit with a permanent frost aura. Before chapter 3 no less. gently caress. gently caress! For reference, the only other weapon that comes CLOSE to that in the entirety of the vanilla game is the longsword Varscona, which is just a +2 longsword with an extra d6 of cold damage. And THAT was plenty of an army destroying yadda yadda what Vorgen said. I tried Big World and didn't like it because there was just too much stuff in it, however impressive it was as a collective achievement. But this just confirms to me it's broke to poo poo. That staff would be useful if it dropped halfway through BG2. Christ. Willie Tomg fucked around with this message at 20:40 on Sep 13, 2011 |
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Sep 13, 2011 20:37
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Kick the useless bard and save the equipment for a warrior worthy of their awesome- which would be Minsc. The gauntlets are for Boo I think.
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Sep 13, 2011 20:49
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If some random encounter drops something ridiciously overpowered that makes large parts of the game a joke, I don't think anyone would object just shoving it into storage until the point where it fits the campaign powerlevel or just selling it for cash. Part of the LP is the challenge, I feel, and if that is negated because RNG dropped item with infinite Cloudkills or whatnot, it kinda makes stuff boring. I don't think that the current items are really a problem tho, since even with the sword and gauntlets, whoever wields them still drops fast for couple bad dicerolls.
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Sep 13, 2011 20:50
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vilkacis posted:SoA level gear as drops in early BG1 quests? Seriously? http://web.archive.org/web/20091026001919/http://geocities.com/sixospades/review/tactics2.htm
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Sep 13, 2011 20:57
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Willie Tomg posted:For reference, the only other weapon that comes CLOSE to that in the entirety of the vanilla game is the longsword Varscona, which is just a +2 longsword with an extra d6 of cold damage. And THAT was plenty of an army destroying yadda yadda what Vorgen said. It's not even that - unmodded Varscona is a +2 long sword with +1 cold damage. I don't think BG1 even has a single regular +3 weapon outside the expansion, which only has a couple of "plain" ones with no special abilities. So yeah, those two weapons you just found at level 1 utterly outclass the poo poo I had to delve into the deepest pits of the Durlag's Tower basements to obtain.  (BG1 had the Dagger of Venom, though, which I remember being pretty nasty, but it's offset somewhat by the fact that the base damage for daggers is poo poo.)
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Sep 13, 2011 21:21
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vilkacis posted:It's not even that - unmodded Varscona is a +2 long sword with +1 cold damage. Boots that give extra "high level" (for BG1) priest spells. A spear that can hold enemies for four rounds. A staff that has a considerable chance to do unavoidable 1/3'rd max hitpoints damage on top of an extra d6 of damage WITH NO SAVING THROW. To hell with future mage battles, that staff is a loving dragonslayer and it just got handed to Vorgen in a random house Beregost. I mean the sword is pretty obviously powerful but that. loving. staff. I'm seeing that on an F/M/T build and just shaking my drat head all over. Celestial Fury was one of the most boner-inducing munchkin-tastic weapons well into Throne of Bhaal and even that sword was just a +3 with stun and a chance to save. How do you so clearly spend so much time working on a mod and spend so little time thinking how it might totally gently caress up the entire game. Willie Tomg fucked around with this message at 22:06 on Sep 13, 2011 |
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Sep 13, 2011 21:51
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I guess what I'm trying to say here is leave Ben Stiller dead, because you just got handed viable endgame loot and I don't mean Undercity endgame I mean The Literal Throne Of Bhaal endgame, so the least you could do in the name of keeping it sorta interesting is not take the guy who also gives the people holding that loot an extra attack per round before most of them get their second character level.
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Sep 13, 2011 21:57
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