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 The Eye of the Beholder series is a trilogy of first-person dungeon crawler RPGs, in the vein of 1987's Dungeon Master. They're officially liscenced AD&D games published by Strategic Simulations, Inc (SSI) using 2nd edition rules. The first two games were first released in 1991, with the third coming in 1993. All three were released for DOS and PC-98. The first two have Amiga versions, and the original has console versions by Capcom for SNES and Sega CD. That latter version adds more cutscenes to the game, complete with voice acting. I will be playing the DOS versions that are buyable from GOG. After this LP got to the third game, they also became available on Steam. The first task of each game is to make a party of four characters. The sequels also allow importing from the previous game and come with quick start save files. Each game also has recruitable NPCs and a maximum party size of 6. You can even have those NPCs replace your own characters, which is what I plan to do in this LP. It'll work like this: 1. As soon as I can get four new recruits in a game, drop any remaining members of the previous party. 2. Finish each game with a certain NPC party. No particular rules about what happens before/between then. This won't result in the most powerful parties, but they'll be adequate to finish the games. Spoiler Policy There's not really a whole lot to spoil in these games. My only request will be to not discuss enemies that aren't listed in the manuals. If it Any outside Forgotten Realms lore is fine with me. LP Beach Crosspost Table of Contents  Eye of the BeholderIntro Character Generation Station 1: Rocks Fall, Nobody Dies 2: Sewer of the Dead 3: Curated Fishman rear end 4: Walking Through Webs 5: Dwarf Plot Dump 6: Putting All Our Eggs in One Basket 7: Ate Nine 8: Magic Stones, Swords, and Darts 9: Moss, Mantis Men, Meetings, Mind Flayers 10: End of the Beholder Bonus Update  Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of DarkmoonIntro 1: Pilgrimage 2: Cata-Cata-Cata-Comb 3: Assembling a New Party 4: Nightmarish 5: Burglary and Vandalism 6: Tour of Insect Nests 7: Mouths to Feed 8: Hand-Eye Coordination 9: Bulette Buffet 10: Dozens of Daemons 11: Mirrors, Mirrors, on the Walls 12: Imprisoned Giants 13: Fire Breath and Dran's Death  Eye of the Beholder III: Assault on Myth DrannorIntro 1: Boning Down in the Cemetery 2: Draining, Training, Trailing 3: Out on the Town 4: Pages by the Mages from Those Ages 5: Acwelemental 6: A Temple in Shambles 7: The Dark Fraud Alpha3KV fucked around with this message at 00:20 on May 21, 2022 |
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Jul 5, 2021 00:05
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| # ? Apr 18, 2024 02:18 |
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 The first game was also one of the very first RPGs I played at a young age.  As an aside, the SNES version used different box art from the others. I bet you'll never guess what kind of monster the final boss is! You can watch the voice-acted Sega CD version of the intro here   The plot is very basic.   It seems that their meeting is being... beheld.    The party, which may or may not resemble the one you create, is given this letter to read in the manual:  Time to gear up.     I'm kind of amused by the cleric praying rather than getting any type of equipment.    That's right, we're starting with a sewer level, baby!  Uh oh, looks like the heroes are about to be the victims of some major orb poo poo. This line is excluded from the Sega CD version.  The only way out is through now. Alpha3KV fucked around with this message at 21:58 on Sep 16, 2021 |
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Jul 5, 2021 00:05
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Character Generation Station I intend to have the final party be made of recruitable NPCs. In this case the ones who can be revived from their bones found throughout the game. You can get an early peek at them here. Before that, we'll need to create an initial party to get through the first quarter of the game before anybody else can be recruited. That's where you all come in. Dwarf Stat adjustments: CHA -2, CON +1, DEX -1  Notes: Can read dwarven writing, though you can recruit a dwarf the very instant you enter the part where that's relevant. Elf Stat adjustments: CON -1, DEX +1  Notes: Supposedly have a hit bonus with bows and one-handed swords. Cannot be revived after death. They can also read Drow writing found in the third quarter of the game, at exactly one spot. Gnome Stat adjustments: INT +1, WIS -1  Notes: Limited to level 9 cleric. They also get a bonus to hit kobolds and can read kobold runes, both of which only appear in the first level. Half-Elf Stat adjustments: None  Notes: Unlike full elves, I'm fairly sure they can't read Drow writing. Halfling Stat adjustments: DEX +1, STR -1, WIS -1  Notes: Have a hit bonus with slings, if the manual is accurate (it may well not be). Limited to fighter 9 and cleric 8, which is the lowest racial level limit. Human Stat adjustments: None  Notes: No dual-classing in this series. Gender affects portrait selection and nothing else.    Those last 3 faces are usable by both genders. Different characters cannot use the same portrait. As with all of SSI's AD&D games, there is nothing preventing you from doing this with every character:  Alignment Thieves cannot be lawful good. Rangers can only have good alignments. Paladins must be lawful good, and are mutually exclusive with evil characters. That's the only real effect alignment has. Names have a limit of 10 characters. What I need: Elf Cleric Single-class warrior who is not an elf. Alpha3KV fucked around with this message at 00:16 on May 21, 2022 |
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Jul 5, 2021 00:05
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Clearly we're going to need a Dwarven Fighter, gotta stick with the classics. How hard do the AD&D racial level limits bite you in the rear end here? Are you likely to bump against those limits at some point?
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Jul 5, 2021 01:09
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Go with a Gnome Cleric so you have a good excuse to get rid of them at the first opportunity. Use that first unisex portrait for someone, as well. That purple robe rules.
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Jul 5, 2021 01:31
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I’ve gained an appreciation for these old first person RPGs and dungeon crawlers through LPs on here. So I will enjoy seeing more of those like yours here, indeed. Take an Elf Thief/Mage, with that second portrait on the third row, that’s my suggestion.
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Jul 5, 2021 01:35
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I have no strong preference on our minions, but SOMEONE has gotta use the Dave Grohl male portrait
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Jul 5, 2021 01:59
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Elf Thief-Mage Dwarf Cleric Halfling Fighter
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Jul 5, 2021 02:16
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Gnome Cleric, green hat gnome(?) portrait. Might as well get the most use out of em while their thing is relevant :v
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Jul 5, 2021 02:21
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I just edited in something rather important I forgot: Names are limited to 10 characters, though nobody's given any yet. I had a thought of naming them after the Ninja Turtles, since they're sewer heroes. I did get a name from my crosspost on LPBeach, which I'll consider since that's honestly more engagement than I expected from there. Since nobody's suggested alignments or a paladin, I might make them evil for the hell of it.
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Jul 5, 2021 04:20
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Name them Redshirt 1, Redshirt 2 and Redshirt 3.
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Jul 5, 2021 05:12
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My aunt had Darkmoon on her computer when I was very young and I'd always try to play it when I was there and die extremely rapidly. That and Civilization were the games she had that I was extremely fascinated by but completely unable to play successfully. Once I was a few years older I had Civilization pretty well figured out, but to this day I have no idea how to get through more than about the first ten minutes of Darkmoon. My usual selection when I made a new party included Mr "I'm Definitely an Evil Wizard (Just Look at Me)" here:  As well as this mysterious purple person:  And, to maintain the theme, the fortune teller in blue:  and Ms Timid here:  And definitely, at no time, not ever, this loving astronaut:  Get the gently caress out of here, you're in the wrong game. But looking at them now I've gone in a completely different direction.     We've got Paul F Tompkins, a pirate, and a pair of roguishly charming ne'er-do-wells. I don't have an opinion on any of the decisions that actually matter to gameplay, but that's my vote for party portraits (and in the first case, name).
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Jul 5, 2021 05:21
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I’m gonna throw the possible names of Hewson, Dwieye, and Llewelyn out there as well, in case suggestions are still needed.
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Jul 5, 2021 05:38
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I played EoB on the original dos and had a spectacular time. One interesting tidbit that I remember from the manual is that there is an apology from the developer in regards to the lack of music. There is only one music track in the entire game. In a similar vein, the Sega CD version of EoB had music by Yuzo Koshiro, who is a prolific composer that made the legendary tracks for Streets of Rage for the Genesis.
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Jul 5, 2021 05:59
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A party of all elves, so that you can justify replacing them when permadeath sets in.
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Jul 5, 2021 06:42
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Alpha3KV posted:
Alpha3KV posted:I had a thought of naming them after the Ninja Turtles, since they're sewer heroes.  LEONERDO, CG Gnome Fighter  RAFAIL, LG Elf Ranger  MOCHACCINO, CN Human Cleric  REMBRANDT, LE Half-Elf Thief-Mage
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Jul 5, 2021 06:43
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Comrade Koba posted:
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Jul 5, 2021 08:34
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For some reason the MYSTERIOUS PURPLE MAGE's image always parses weird in my head, as, unless I focus on it, my brain reads the visible lower face as a giant pair of kissy lips.
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Jul 5, 2021 11:52
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Where are all the bearded dwarven women?
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Jul 5, 2021 14:06
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I had the French version of EoB3 many years ago and really enjoyed it. I didn't get to play 1 or 2 until years later, but I enjoyed them all equally. I've never understood why 3 is the black sheep. I'd also like to take this opportunity to suggest the All-Seeing Eye utility to make this easier to play.
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Jul 5, 2021 16:27
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After looking at suggestions, I think I have my party composition. I altered things a bit to give unique multi-class combinations that future recruits won't have: Dwarf Fighter Half-elf Cleric/Ranger Elf Fighter/Mage/Thief Gnome Cleric/Thief (the first to be replaced). Still considering names and portraits.
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Jul 5, 2021 21:33
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The Dwarf should have the Dave Grohl portrait, and be named Dave Grohl.
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Jul 8, 2021 21:36
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Dave, Grohl, Gave and Drohl.
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Jul 8, 2021 21:53
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PurpleXVI posted:How hard do the AD&D racial level limits bite you in the rear end here? Are you likely to bump against those limits at some point? Sorry for the delayed response to this. Racial level limits are only truly relevant for halfling fighters (level 9) and clerics of any "shorty" race (Halfling 8, Gnome 9, Dwarf 10). EOB1 has level limits of 10 for cleric and 11 for all other classes. 8-9 is about what your party members would be after doing everything without any intentional grinding. EOB2 has several more racial level limits at 12 in a game with a limit of 13. It is still the only one where that might cause any type of issue for me since its recruitable clerics are both dwarves, but I'll manage. EOB3 increases all racial level limits by 3. It has a limit of 20, but 15 is already higher than any character is likely to reach without grinding. Anyway, I've created the party and should probably have the first real update posted sometime this weekend.
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Jul 9, 2021 06:58
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I never thought about just using NPCs. Extremely interested!
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Jul 9, 2021 15:28
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My Dad got me a shady PC copy of this from Hong Kong on a business trip (back in the 90s). Huge photocopied manual and all. Never got very far, so curious to see a Goon go in with proper knowledge and rip it open. The real-time (ish?) combat always drove me up the wall.
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Jul 9, 2021 15:34
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It's a part of old 2.5d rpgs I like to call square dancing rpgs. All the EOBs, Land of Lore, Dungeon Masters 1 & 2, and a few other games I can't think of right now. I'm still quick on the numpad & arrow keys because of these games.
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Jul 9, 2021 15:56
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Fun fact. Lands of Lore was developed by the same people that made EOB 1 and 2, after they lost the D&D license.
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Jul 10, 2021 02:02
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Tylana posted:My Dad got me a shady PC copy of this from Hong Kong on a business trip (back in the 90s). Huge photocopied manual and all. Never got very far, so curious to see a Goon go in with proper knowledge and rip it open. The SNES version of this is a trip since you have to manually navigate all the combat and movement with just your crappy d-pad :puke: I actually got this game at a garage sale for free when I was like, 8. Trying to understand 2ED D&D with no manual or foreknowledge of the series was some hell, let me tell you.
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Jul 10, 2021 03:22
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dervinosdoom posted:It's a part of old 2.5d rpgs I like to call square dancing rpgs. All the EOBs, Land of Lore, Dungeon Masters 1 & 2, and a few other games I can't think of right now. same ugh time to download dungeon master 2 again. i loved that game. Our mac could barely run it but that sort of made it easier because you could basically buffer spells and get like eight fireballs off at once
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Jul 10, 2021 03:45
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sb hermit posted:Fun fact. Lands of Lore was developed by the same people that made EOB 1 and 2, after they lost the D&D license. Another fun fact: There is a port of EoB1 for Game Boy Advance that has tactical RPG elements from an overhead view. I know because I have a copy, and I'm not sure if that's really great or really awful. It might be a 'between madness and genius lies ????' situation.
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Jul 10, 2021 06:03
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Kite Pride Worldwide posted:The SNES version of this is a trip since you have to manually navigate all the combat and movement with just your crappy d-pad :puke: On a somewhat related note, it's possible to play the Sega CD version with a mouse by using ScummVM. I'm pretty sure that's not transferable and the engine is different in ways some people might find important, but it's an option.
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Jul 10, 2021 06:06
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Alpha3KV posted:On a somewhat related note, it's possible to play the Sega CD version with a mouse by using ScummVM. I'm pretty sure that's not transferable and the engine is different in ways some people might find important, but it's an option. Not entirely proud of this, but I have a CDX and I bought a mouse for this game only. The only other games that I own for it are the Lunar games and NHL '94, which do not support the mouse. Fake Edit: Just remembered that I have Dungeon Master II. That also obviously uses the mouse.
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Jul 10, 2021 06:09
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JustJeff88 posted:Another fun fact: There is a port of EoB1 for Game Boy Advance that has tactical RPG elements from an overhead view. I know because I have a copy, and I'm not sure if that's really great or really awful. It might be a 'between madness and genius lies ????' situation. It’s really not even a port so much as it is a… reimagining. I’ll probably be going back to it and trying to LP it again at some point. girl dick energy fucked around with this message at 12:32 on Jul 10, 2021 |
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Jul 10, 2021 12:30
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girl dick energy posted:I tried to LP it, once upon a time. Best I can tell you is that it sure is a game! Ambitious, in a way it couldn’t really live up to with the shoestring budget it clearly had, running off a very simplified version of 3.5e. Basically the entire budget probably went into getting the license. For some reason, it's just such a jarring shift from the classic 1st-person exploration mode to the tactical map. I've played plenty of games like early Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest where the travel view and the combat view were in two different universes, but something about this EoB 'port' is just incredible to me. Can anyone name any other games that jump from 1st to 3rd person like that? I can't.
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Jul 10, 2021 16:31
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JustJeff88 posted:For some reason, it's just such a jarring shift from the classic 1st-person exploration mode to the tactical map. I've played plenty of games like early Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest where the travel view and the combat view were in two different universes, but something about this EoB 'port' is just incredible to me. Can anyone name any other games that jump from 1st to 3rd person like that? I can't. it's a bit of a stretch, but I would say the dungeon portions of the early ultimas did that (I only played 3 and 4, but I'm sure 5 also had that aspect). You would traverse the dungeon in first person, then switch to 3rd person for battles.
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Jul 10, 2021 16:37
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dismas posted:same I don't know if it works on the Mac version, but I always ran with the no torham mod so you could choose all 4 champions! I mean if you want Torham, he's there.
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Jul 10, 2021 17:02
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JustJeff88 posted:For some reason, it's just such a jarring shift from the classic 1st-person exploration mode to the tactical map. I've played plenty of games like early Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest where the travel view and the combat view were in two different universes, but something about this EoB 'port' is just incredible to me. Can anyone name any other games that jump from 1st to 3rd person like that? I can't. Yes, actually, and it's still D&D! Specifically, the Gold Box series by SSI, based on the 1st edition rules. The game boy version of EoB is like a visitor from an alternate timeline where the gold box games kept on going right into 3e. Now where's the universe with Gold Box 4e goddamit
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Jul 10, 2021 18:29
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I’m looking at GBA EotB again and good lord. There are some incredible bugs in that game, and because nobody really cares enough to dig in deep and fully decompile it, there are probably a ton more. The best armor in the game is a set of +1 half-plate that mistakenly has the weight and downsides of padded armor. You need to regularly unequip and reequip your gear in combat because sometimes the bonuses fall off for no reason. If you put on and take off a certain ring enough times, you can use it to underflow your stats to 255. Many items just straight up don’t do anything. Several skills literally have no use. Fixed “ambush” encounters can be countered by walking backwards into the location. The max level is 7 instead of 10. The final boss is still a monster that’s expected to be “extremely tough but doable” for a level 10 party. Many of the prebuilt characters are illegal in bizarre ways. It’s a loving goldmine, and that’s just a few examples.
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Jul 10, 2021 18:49
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girl dick energy posted:I’m looking at GBA EotB again and good lord. There are some incredible bugs in that game, and because nobody really cares enough to dig in deep and fully decompile it, there are probably a ton more. okay but that all sounds like the best kind of amazing bullshit 
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Jul 10, 2021 19:07
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