|
I guess I got thrown off by the line where they were saying that the city where winter never comes was abandoned for many years but lots of people are coming back to it. I thought Kuldahar, the city under a giant magical tree in Icewind Dale, was abandoned for several years between Icewind Dale 1 and 2. Neverwinter was never abandoned for years, was it? I guess I should have asked the thread for a vote on what to do with the Manual of Bodily Health. I'll do that next time. I know your powergamer hearts are already beating arrhythmically, I wouldn't want to push you over the edge.
|
#
?
Jan 29, 2012 23:21
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 14:26 |
|
|
Vorgen posted:I know your powergamer hearts are already beating arrhythmically, I wouldn't want to push you over the edge. There is a sadness in me in that I actually get a bit upset in that you didn't give it to the main character ...
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2012 00:05
|
|
|
Junior G-man posted:There is a sadness in me in that I actually get a bit upset in that you didn't give it to the main character ... Yeah pretty much this, every time I get a Tome/Manual of X in any game ever I always give to my main character. Vorgen's case is worse because the characters get rotated a lot 
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2012 00:12
|
|
|
Actually our wild mage already has Constitution >16, so it would have been equally a waste there.
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2012 00:13
|
|
|
NihilCredo posted:Actually our wild mage already has Constitution >16, so it would have been equally a waste there. Buffer for CON draining attacks.
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2012 00:16
|
|
|
By the time we get to face those kind of undead I think Syvishtara's tactics will have already shifted to "wrap yourself in defensive buffs and never get actually hit ('cause if you do you go down in two rounds, tops)".
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2012 00:32
|
|
|
You can never have to many stat boosts.
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2012 00:50
|
|
|
Pangolin Poetry posted:no, you definitely get bonuses to saves from stats. save vs. spells, for examples, gets buffed by having a WIS of 15 It sure as hell doesn't mention it in the manual. Not that I'm doubting you. Con should logically give you a bonus on save vs. death, but second edition was weird so... maybe?
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2012 02:10
|
|
|
Vorgen posted:I guess I should have asked the thread for a vote on what to do with the Manual of Bodily Health. I'll do that next time. I know your powergamer hearts are already beating arrhythmically, I wouldn't want to push you over the edge. I only care because giving it to Xan did nothing for him. 6 and under gives negatives to HP, and 15 up gives bonuses. 7 to 14 is the same, so boosting him to 8 was completely worthless. Also just to clarify here, in BG2 Con doesn't affect any saving throws, it is only for HP. ShiningForceHero fucked around with this message at 02:15 on Jan 30, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2012 02:12
|
|
|
The small races get bonuses to saving throws based on constitution. Dwarves and Halflings get bonuses to death, wand and spells; Gnomes get bonuses to Wand and Spells. The bonus goes up to +5 at con 18. I don't recall whether they show up in the character sheet, but they do exist. Edit - Oh, another thing: WIS has no effect in saving throws. The game manual mentions something like that at some point, and it is an actual rule in 2nd edition, but it wasn't implemented in the BG series. Snicker-Snack fucked around with this message at 03:45 on Jan 30, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2012 03:31
|
|
|
Vorgen posted:Neverwinter was never abandoned for years, was it?
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2012 04:19
|
|
|
Ok, well, I totally misread that then. Please forgive me, thread.
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2012 04:53
|
|
|
Vorgen posted:Ok, well, I totally misread that then. Please forgive me, thread. Never.  
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2012 05:59
|
|
|
caleramaen posted:It sure as hell doesn't mention it in the manual. Not that I'm doubting you. Con should logically give you a bonus on save vs. death, but second edition was weird so... maybe? Yes it is in the manual.
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2012 08:26
|
|
|
Imoen posted:Here it is: I'm going to dress you in all bright colors, especially in a lot of pink. We can even dye your hair pink if that'll help, paint your fingernails pink, anything to get you over this "life's not worth living" attitude!
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2012 09:16
|
|
|
Syvishtara and co, the gaudiest loving adventuring party around! And yeah, giving Xan the Tome made me wince. Someone like Kivan would have gained from it. Really it's made more difficult because you don't know for sure who we'll be taking through the rest of the game(s). Usually your Mage PC would only have 16, so 17 would give you one spare to lose in a certain plot event in BG2. But as you're already on 18... eh. I suppose it's not that important.
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2012 11:46
|
|
|
Longinus00 posted:Yes it is in the manual. The BGII manual? It certainly doesn't. The section about saving throws in there says saves improve with level, and they are modified by magic items, armor, and spells. It says nothing about stats contributing to saving throws. I know there are a lot of little rules not covered not covered in the manual, which is why I said it was likely Pangolin Poetry was right. That's not even counting what mods have changed as well.
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2012 17:25
|
|
|
Syvishtara had 17 CON, I lost one when my familiar died, so now I'm down to 16. I'm really sorry about wasting a tome, and in penance for my non-optimal gaming decision I will go dye Xan pink in the next update.
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2012 17:40
|
|
|
Xan was too scared to read the Tome. It might've killed him. He only pretended to have read it to try get in your pants. He's hiding it, and he'll return it to you sheepishly next update. (This is for your own good Vorgen)  And no, I'm not really serious, although I also winced pretty hard when you wasted that tome.
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2012 18:03
|
|
|
Vorgen posted:Syvishtara had 17 CON, I lost one when my familiar died, so now I'm down to 16. I'm really sorry about wasting a tome, and in penance for my non-optimal gaming decision I will go dye Xan pink in the next update. It's okay vorgen, not everyone is up to the rigorous task of being a minmaxer.
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2012 18:35
|
|
|
Vorgen posted:I will go dye Xan pink in the next update. Shame it won't do anything for his personality.
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2012 18:41
|
|
|
Snicker-Snack posted:Edit - Oh, another thing: WIS has no effect in saving throws. The game manual mentions something like that at some point, and it is an actual rule in 2nd edition, but it wasn't implemented in the BG series.  well, I'm fairly certain that one of the various fix packs puts this back in.
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2012 19:04
|
|
|
caleramaen posted:The BGII manual? It certainly doesn't. The section about saving throws in there says saves improve with level, and they are modified by magic items, armor, and spells. It says nothing about stats contributing to saving throws. I know there are a lot of little rules not covered not covered in the manual, which is why I said it was likely Pangolin Poetry was right. That's not even counting what mods have changed as well. It's mentioned in the wisdom table under "Mag Def Adj" and in the description of spells like Charm Person. IIRC, the BG1 manual also mentions that "MagDefAdj" is a bonus against some spells that affect the mind. Regardless, it wasn't actually implemented in the game, so it's moot. quote:well, I'm fairly certain that one of the various fix packs puts this back in. I'm pretty positive neither the g3 fixpack and or the bg2 tweak pack put it in. Maybe some other mod does it, but for it to work as the bg1 manual implies they'd probably have to do something like manually flag a bunch of spells and effects to give the saving throw a bonus. It's probably the reason the original designers didn't bother. Snicker-Snack fucked around with this message at 05:29 on Jan 31, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2012 02:14
|
|
|
I just wanted to say this is an absolutely awesome LP, which got me to buy BG I & II from GOG as I can't find my old CD's, and download the Big World Project. The latter is of course impossible to get to work properly in under 30 minutes (might just be my retardation), but I'll get it running someday.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2012 11:45
|
|
|
Ubern00b posted:I just wanted to say this is an absolutely awesome LP, which got me to buy BG I & II from GOG as I can't find my old CD's, and download the Big World Project. The latter is of course impossible to get to work properly in under 30 minutes (might just be my retardation), but I'll get it running someday. I've never successfully gotten it to work in any less than three hours, not counting mod downloads.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2012 03:52
|
|
|
I got a new computer. Its faster. I had to take some time to wipe the drool off the keyboard, but I should have a new update about 12 hours from now.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2012 06:00
|
|
|
Vorgen posted:I got a new computer. Its faster. I had to take some time to wipe the drool off the keyboard, but I should have a new update about 12 hours from now. Oh god, don't tell me you had to reinstall the whole Big World Project again. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2012 08:32
|
|
|
JGBeagle posted:Oh god, don't tell me you had to reinstall the whole Big World Project again. No, I'm running it on a Virtual Machine, so I was just able to transfer it from the old laptop to the new laptop. That's what the virtual machine is for! I just screwed up the install on the virtual machine the first time, so I had to do that. But never again! Virtualbox don't let me down!
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2012 08:35
|
|
|
Hooray this thread again  Glad to see you're back though.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2012 09:45
|
|
|
Hey you guys wanna see my setup for making these Let's Plays? Here is a screenshot of how I've got everything laid out. Also, the current Let's Play folder is 1.2 gb in size. Vorgen fucked around with this message at 16:47 on Feb 6, 2012 |
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2012 16:42
|
|
|
Oh, you write as you play. Doesn't that make the game a lot more tedious ? I personally figured you screenshotted conversations and wrote them out later.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2012 16:45
|
|
|
I do screenshot conversations, then run OCR on them and edit the resulting file. Then I paste it the text into the file which will become the forum post. I have a lot of scripts set up to automatically upload the images and put them into my clipboard, to crop images to different sizes, and to parse the completed text file and archive all the images. And run character recognition, as I mentioned already. I have another text file with all the repeating character images in it so that I don't have to re-upload everybody's face every conversation too. I don't want to write things later because I might forget what I did or miss something. Especially during fights I pause it and write out those summaries that I do exactly as things happen. I don't view it as tedious, in fact it is like a whole new game. I've played this game many times through already, but I've never sat down and paused it and seriously thought about what I should do much. I usually tried to go by instinct. But this way feels more like a turn-based strategy game than the real-time game style I've played it as before. It goes slower but I appreciate the time it takes to think.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2012 16:53
|
|
|
I like the behind the scenes look. It might be especially useful for people who may want to contribute in the future. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2012 18:01
|
|
|
 19 Eleint, 1369 Just as I decide to relax with the sirens on this beach for a while, it begins to rain. Great.  Well, Safana's treasure is found, our quest is done. The tops of the cliffs here are still unexplored, so we make a quick pass across them. We don't find anything to threaten us. We follow the faint trail south of here, and when we pass the lighthouse again we know no one will harm us. We declare this Lighthouse area to be cleared of all threats!  Now it is sime to go after something I heard Minsc mention way back in the day when we were going after Dynaheir - the Caves of Kozah. He talked about them as if they were dangerous, but wouldn't say why. I think it is time to find out.  We travel the full 8 hours without seeing anything or anyone. The trip was rather eerie, actually. Where are the hordes out for blood? Where are the assassins that should be stalking us? Maybe they're there, and we just don't see them, whem, phlem? It doesn't matter. We must forge on ahead. There is nothing else to do. Don't look back. Don't even think of it. Just go straight. Straight forward.  Ok, so sometimes forging straight ahead is not an option. Just keep moving. Go left. Spiders!  Kivan shouts out that there is one huge spider and one giant spider. I yell out in return, asking what the difference is. Kivan responds by asking me if I'm retarded. Our first volley hits the giant spider as it fires off some sticky threads at Imoen. They work.  Or maybe that was the huge spider? Whatever. I prepare a spell. Everyone is keeping away from the spider except for Xan. He looks visibly poisoned, but he pops an antidote and all is well.  I cast my spell, a patented Azragan's Channeling prepared through Nahal's Reckless Dweomer, and suddenly I... know things.  We should go east. Our destiny lies first there. And then north. It is so clear to me now.  But first we must kill these spiders of unusual size. One of the spiders hisses out some more webs, angled at Safana.  The webs hit, and then Xan manages to both kill a spider and knock it unconscious at the same time. He lets out a little "Oh."  It doesn't improve his mood though. The other spider takes his cue from that, and turns away from fighting Xan and I. He goes towards Safana. But Kivan sees to that.  We have successfully survived a spider attack. This is good. Now, we must go to the caravan. I intone these truths to my party in my best oracle impression. They do seem impressed.    Yes, I'd like to hear this story. I rarely return to this memory, Syvishtara. In both the waking wod and the reverie, I am trying to avoid it. But all things must be brought to the light sooner of later, however painful it is, or they will be forgotten. *sigh* I was very young then, perhaps even younger than you are now. The death of my sire was a terrible shock on its own, and the subsequent death of my sibling, who found his doom in Icewind Dale, added to it. After these events, I lost the will to live. Nothing was important, so when I realized that someone from my House had to step forward and claim the blade, I volunteered without thinking. Nevertheless, it was a terrifying experience, standing in a ray of blue fire and waiting for the uncertain death. You see, drawing the blade can easily result in the claimant's death, if the sword finds him unworthy. I have survived, but the reflection of this day haunts me still. Why were you found worthy, I wonder? I was already well versed in magic lore, and ready to protect Evereska to the last, with my life, if need be. I was also too young to commit any dark deeds to my name. Probably that affected the sword's decision. After all, a moonblade is only a semi-intelligent being, and I suppose a small child of a prominent House would claim it without any great risk to his health. But these are just my guesses; I will never know the true reason. *sigh* We should be moving, Syvishtara.Yes, we should. We must go to the caravan. A solemn doom awaits us there.  *At precisely that moment, a strong gust of wind uncovers your head and sends your hair flying. Before you can do anything to push it back, Xan catches the whole mass in his palm. He stares at it for a long moment, forgetting himself completely, as he gently twists your tresses between his fingers. Then he grimaces briefly, and tucks the locks under your cloak*What was he grimacing for? Was he remembering when I was a man? You know, I hardly do anymore, myself. We head towards the caravan, and the growing sound of ... flies.  Who is this Brage you speak of? Before this curse befell him, he was Captain of the Guard in Nashkel. I am his cousin, Laryssa. For all the bonds of love and blood, save him from his present agony if there be a way to do so. There. Don't worry, lady. We'll try and save Brage for you, 'kay? Please! I'd be most grateful for any help you can give him!She leaves then, and hot on her heels is Brage himself!  For some reason I feel a strange kinship with this man, and his words resonate within my mind. I know what it is. I know of what he speaks. It is my new friend, my dearest companion, my heart-mate. It is the shadow I cast behind me. It is my tool, my salvation, and my secret joy. It am become it, and it becomes me. Death. The end of night, where the light shines unto mine eyes and I can see clearly once again! What hath I wrought?! 'Tis horrible, HORRIBLE!! I will welcome the block that must await me at Nashkel! How could I live with what I've done! Please, thy must guide me to the town that I might pay for my crimes! I fear I can keep my senses for only so long, and I must not be allowed to do this again! Too many good people have lost their lives to me! Please... The mention of it gave him back his reason; immediately he demanded it to be dealt out to him in a lawful fashion, for the reason that he had caused it... This man is almost as entangled with death as we are, Syvishtara. We'll see you back safe as we can, though I don't see how killing you will help those that have died. We shall take you to the temple of Helm in hopes that you may be healed. I fear I can do nothing for those I've wronged whether I live or die, and I still know not what led me to this. It's like a foul presence in my mind! I can only imagine that I have finally succumbed to battle fatigue. Take my weapon, that I might not harm another! Use it if thy wish, though I'd rather it be destroyed. Innocent blood on everything! I'd only just acquired the sword. Such a waste this has been. Take me to Nashkel, I can bear this no longer.There is nothing else to do but to do as he says. Off to Nashkel we go. Gameplay note: Literally. It skips to this cutscene.   Calm yourself Brage. Helm sees all that he wishes, and knows much of what you do not. It was your hands indeed that did many a foul deed, but it was not your will alone. Intent is vital, and yours was influenced without your knowledge. Justice will be done, but with atonement, not punishment. But my crimes... my family... I don't want to go on! If you are returned to the garrison, yours will be the only willful killing that has occurred about this matter. It would be a waste of your life which, fractured though it is, can still contribute much. Helm will see you through. As for our intrepid friends here, I shall exceed he reward offered by Oublek. After all, it was the same task of bringing Brage to justice. The Temple is in your debt for the return of its lost son. See, aren't you glad you listened to my idea to bring him here, instead of turning him in for the bounty? Now we've gotten double the reward money! Heh. Yeah, you're right, Imoen. Glad I took *your* advice. I don't think I like the way ya said that... Thank you again for your help.Gameplay note: We get 500 gold and +1 reputation! Yay! We also get the attentions of Branwen....   Your traveling garb could do with a good measure of cleaning, comrade. Should we come by a good inn with hot water abounding, I shall arrange it for you.I try to give some last words to Brage.  We sleep there overnight, and in the morning Brage is mopping the floors like it is the difference between life and death. Perhaps, for him, it is. Imoen identifies the sword he gave us, and the truth is revealed.  The sword is cursed, I'm sure of it. No sane person, eh? There is nothing to do but sell the bloody thing. It is a good thing we do - it doubles our cash!  We leave the Temple of Helm, even though it is night, and set off into the tiny town. The graveyard in front of the temple seems to always have an interesting inscription for us.  We go to the general store and unload the mule. It gives us another 500-odd gold. We still need to go back to the Caves of Kozah for the other destiny I saw for us, but since we are already on the central road, there is something else we should do first... poo poo!  Kivan kills the first bandit immediately, but more just show up. I panic and cast Mirror Image.  Imoen kills the second bandit, to the northwest.  Safana realizes that her piddly little throwing daggers are actually useless against the bandits, so she pulls the cloak around her that she claimed from the pirate treasure.  Safana's sultry voice saying that she will do anything sounds much more menacing coming from a snout with fangs. She looks like she can indeed do anything to anyone.  But before she has a chance to do so, Kivan schools another bandit in the art of archery.  And Imoen does the same.  In the midst of charging into the bandit lines, Safana takes a hit. It looks bad.  I continue to panic, following up Mirror Images with a Wild Horde. Now I feel safe.  As my bunnies warp in inside a dozen flashes of light, Kivan drops another bandit. I begin to hear a strange whispering in the back of my mind.  The whisperings become louder chant-like music as Safana rips the throat out of her first victim.  My bunnies were even getting in on the action!  Three more bandits drop, each by an arrow from Kivan, by the time Safana rips the head off of her second victim.  Up in the northeast, Xan finishes his own lone, deadly dance.  Safana beats my bunnies in killing the last of the bandits.  And as my bunnies begin to disappear in the same flashes of light in which they came, the music in my mind ends abruptly.  I don't think so. We have grown more skillful as of late, and both your magic and your blade protect me. Don't worry, things will work themselves out. Yes, things will be perfect when we are lying in our graves. Death brings everything into balance. We are trapped. No, I am. You will probably live through all this, while I will not. And if I do, what is the point? There will be the next mission, and others will follow, until my spirit finally finds itself where it belongs - confined in the moonblade I currently keep. Why do you bring the subject up now? You have known it all along, haven't you? I have, but much has changed. When I call to mind earlier days, I see myself calm and content with my fate. Duty was above all for me then; now it is different. All these years, I have traveled alone; now I have you as my companion and my friend. I am not sure if it is a right thing, however. I have grown attached to you; your safety is above everything for me, including my duty and my mission, and I fear it might be more than this. I am becoming more and more convinced I have committed a grave mistake. But I am rambling. Lead on, Syvishtara.What he said is touching and yet sad. I do not want to rope anyone into following me that doesn't want to go, but then again I do enjoy his company. He fights well and his moonblade is quite powerful. And I do hope that I can win his heart. Yes, I admit it. I want to romance this morose elf, while I still can. I might not be a woman forever, but while I am I can work it!  Do you fear anything, Syvishtara?Gameplay note: Ok, this is getting eerie. I swear I have never done the Xan romance before and didn't know what I was getting into, but I always seem to find appropriate responses to fit exactly into the character I'm trying to paint for Syvishtar/a. The writers of the Xan romance must have had similar ideas to me of what CHARNAME would be going through. I am scared that more of my companions will die. *There is a far-off expression on his face.* There is no better death than dying to save the one I... *Xan stops abruptly* Yes, you are right: it may happen. And probably will.Kivan cleans up the place, and binds together the 14 scalps we collect. Then we keep going north. We are on an important mission, after all.  Imoen is my best friend in all the world, and I support her in everything.  Besides, hey, it might work! Gameplay note: Ok, all those in favor of making Let The Bodies Hit The Floor Kivan's official theme song, say aye!
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2012 19:33
|
|
|
So I finally decided to give GWP a try. Is there a way of downloading all the hundreds of mods automatically? The official PDF and the guide on forums mentions downloading them manually, which is something I really don't want to do.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2012 19:34
|
|
|
Vorgen posted:Hey you guys wanna see my setup for making these Let's Plays? Here is a screenshot of how I've got everything laid out. Now this is interesting. It's much more efficient that anything I have ever tried to do. I'm only missing an Escher-like reference of that image link in the text to the right. Also, I have a question. Why the hell aren't you using LPix.com to upload your pics? EDIT: I just realized that this is the first time I post in the thread, so: Great LP Vorgen! Fat Samurai fucked around with this message at 19:45 on Feb 6, 2012 |
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2012 19:42
|
|
|
Aye! It is the only song that could theme the Medieval Machine Gun.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2012 20:08
|
|
|
Aye! Listen to the whispers, Syvishtara. Embrace them! Make them your own, even as your servant makes them real with his archery. It is Right, it is who you were born to be...
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2012 20:52
|
|
|
Slaan posted:Aye! It is the only song that could theme the Medieval Machine Gun. I can only agree, if anything Kivan should be portrayed more like a half insane and utterly deadly ranger out for revenge. Rather then focusing on his "I'm so sad, also I'm an elf, random elven poetry" personality from the mod.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2012 21:15
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 14:26 |
|
|
Tzarnal posted:I can only agree, if anything Kivan should be portrayed more like a half insane and utterly deadly ranger out for revenge. Rather then focusing on his "I'm so sad, also I'm an elf, random elven poetry" personality from the mod. Agreed. Take your sad face elfses and shove 'em, modders - we've got bandits' poo poo to wreck!
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2012 21:44
|
|