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JamieTheD
Nov 4, 2011

LPer, Reviewer, Mad Welshman

(Yes, that's a self portrait)
So, since we want a new page, why don't we talk about Previously, On Dark Sun:

Shattered Lands was the story of four heroes who beat a Sorcerer King (or, more accurately, his massive army) after various adventures, because to free Tyr would take the glory away from the Heroes of Tyr (Rikus, Sadira, Agis, and, technically, Tithian), and make bits of the Prism Pentad really awkward (A sword called Dragon's Bane? Uh oh... That could have saved three books worth of bullshit happening!)

However, let's do a bit of comparison here. In Shattered Lands, our heroes:

- Escaped from the Arena of Draj, a thing that does not happen often. Mainly because Tectuktitlay takes that sort of thing extremely personally.
- Killed Dagolar, a mad defiler behind... Gee, slimes, ratmen, zombies, skeletons... He was a pretty busy guy, and I'm pretty sure he gets a few mentions in the Dark Sun Monster Manual Appendix too.
- Killed at least two other wizards of great power, at least one of which was technically immortal. And a spider.
- Stopped an incursion of Psurlons from a lost city.
- United several tribes into an army that beat the snot out of the army of Draj, and its general, Kraxis, who... Was somehow important enough to be part of the end cutscene and its cock-rock, despite not really playing a big role until the final series of balls hard fights?
- Didn't kill Tectuktitlay, and yet are somehow still alive.

The Heroes of Tyr, by this point, have:

- Gotten almost killed by a Gaj.
- Been kicked out of the Veiled Alliance for using Defiling Magic.
- Made at least one promise they have no intention of keeping regarding a magic staff that belongs to Halflings (Not your jolly rumblebelly types, either. Lean anthrophages who know drat well that fighting unfairly is the best way to get good meats)
- Started a polyamorous relationship triangle for bad reasons.
- Killed a Dragon King, somehow "freeing" the City of Tyr by... Well, actually, that part really isn't clear. What is clear is that Sorcerer Kings trying to turn into Dragons have a fatal and easily exploitable weakness that... Never gets spread around.

One of these groups of heroes got five books, and a cameo in a sixth where they continue to be bleedin' idiots. One of these groups would never have a computer game based on either them, or the intellectual property again.

EDIT: I shouldn't be surprised at the latter, because this was the "Low Quality Control" era of SSI's publishing career. To whit...

Spelljammer: Pirates of Realmspace - About as finished as Megatraveller was. This is not a compliment.
Dark Sun: Shattered Lands - Alright game, at least one game breaking bug.
Al-Qadim: The Genie's Curse - Alright game, at least one game breaking bug.
Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager - Somehow managed to be buggier than the 1st installment, despite the same engine.
Menzoberranzan - Was literally unplayable on many computers. Works now.
Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession - See Menzoberranzan.
Skyrealms of Jorune: Alien Logic - Alien logic indeed! Kinda hard to tell if it's buggy or unfinished as a result. :v:
Entomorph: Plague of the Darkfall - I can count on one hand the number of people I've met who knew about Thunderscape/World of Aden. Same engine as Al-Qadim. Some of the same problems.
Ravenloft: Stone Prophet - Third verse, somehow the same as the first two.

JamieTheD fucked around with this message at 20:16 on Jul 1, 2016

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Spermy Smurf
Jul 2, 2004
I was planning on rolling out another bigass update before my weekend disappearance... something came up and I won't be able to do the update until Monday.

Unoriginal One
Aug 5, 2008
Kill XP tends to be pretty anemic in 2nd ed., most of your big gains are going to come from quest rewards.

And good heavens, Stone Prophet. I remember spending a lot of time with that one back in the day. Shame it had this thing where it hard crashed whenever it tried to play a required endgame cutscene.

Come to think of it, I got both it and Ravager out of the same Building 19 $2 bargain bin; probably can't complain too much.


I think the only non-Infinity Engine 2nd ed. AD&D game I played that didn't crash and burn horribly at some point was Gorgon's Alliance(which was hilariously broken in it's own way).

Olesh
Aug 4, 2008

Why did the circus close?

A long, chilling list of animal rights violations.

Unoriginal One posted:

Kill XP tends to be pretty anemic in 2nd ed., most of your big gains are going to come from quest rewards.

And good heavens, Stone Prophet. I remember spending a lot of time with that one back in the day. Shame it had this thing where it hard crashed whenever it tried to play a required endgame cutscene.

Come to think of it, I got both it and Ravager out of the same Building 19 $2 bargain bin; probably can't complain too much.


I think the only non-Infinity Engine 2nd ed. AD&D game I played that didn't crash and burn horribly at some point was Gorgon's Alliance(which was hilariously broken in it's own way).
:goonsay: incoming:

Originally in D&D characters only gained experience by completing adventures and by finding and selling treasure - this is also the reason why magic items have an XP value associated with them. Getting experience from killing monsters was an optional rule that quickly became the de-facto standard, although characters were still expected to get XP through quest rewards as well as finding treasure. Even by the time of AD&D's first edition, characters gained XP through all three methods.

The AD&D first edition DMG points out that treasure has to be sold and converted to a transportable medium (i.e., gold) or safely stored in the player's stronghold to count as experience, and treasure doesn't count for as much if the party is stronger than the things they beat up to get it - the book specifically gives an example of a 10th-level magic-user taking 1,000 GP from 10 kobolds only being "worth" 50 GP/XP because the kobolds pose so little threat. Additionally, the DMG notes that magic items don't provide XP when not sold, since the items are presumably providing value through use instead of as wealth. The DMG also notes that players treat creatures sold for gold pieces the same as any other treasure or valuable goods in terms of how much XP they gain, awkwardly providing an XP incentive to sell captured enemies into slavery.

Second edition AD&D relegated XP from treasure to the status of an optional rule, only leaving in mysterious XP values for magic items that no longer can really be bought or sold in the (then) current edition, and subsequent editions have done away with it entirely - however, XP rewards from monsters did not increase commensurately in 2E AD&D, and it seems like this was done deliberately in order to slow down character advancement across the board and tie character advancement more heavily towards "results-based adventuring", i.e. completing quests and objectives instead of wanton murder.

Spermy Smurf
Jul 2, 2004
Bunch of fuckin nerds ITT.

I suddenly got the urge to start handing out wedgies and smashing people into lockers.

Spermy Smurf fucked around with this message at 23:40 on Jul 1, 2016

Rabidredneck
Oct 30, 2010

Not pleasant when angered.
I played this game and actually beat it despite getting lost numerous times and dealing with several bugs (though I didn't know about bugs at that age. Hell, I didn't know some games needed patches on occasion until later). I don't remember Psionics ever working in wake of the ravager, at least it never seemed to work in my game. Good luck with this.

Spermy Smurf
Jul 2, 2004
  • Find out what the hell blue and white guy were talking about. Protect jann named Magnolia? Zorani getting information about an attack on sultan? Take caravan?
  • Remember the ladder to underground in case I need to find some thieves.
  • Kill Freyrs near pyramid. Where the poo poo is the pyramid?
  • Enter the underground part of the pyramid with key.
  • Go west toward the mountains out of the city?

By popular demand (a vote of 2 to nothing) we are taking a caravan. Lets go see whats up with the Jann and find out who Magnolia is.




So basically get going? Roger that!


I don't see a fuckin caravan.


See? There is an Oasis, but no caravan.



This guy invites me back to his tent... Josie accepts on the premise of no sex until marriage.



Oh, he just wants to talk.




He tells us that the jerkface Jann is named Asim D'rac and he is plotting something. Magnolia left to find proof. I guess I can't protect her if I don't know where she went. Lets talk to other people.


Ooooh a sultan!


Me likey.


A prisoner? Mistress? Concubine?


And the Sultan himself. These tents are huge on the inside!



Oh, their laws... Basically be careful how I talk to them, they're a bunch of jackwads about saying certain things like "you."



I don't remember telling this dude that I'd look for his daughter Magnolia But something I said clearly meant that I would... He then kicks me the poo poo out of his audience.


I get XP for agreeing (somehow) to find his daughter. He told me to talk to his wife. Guess she's not a prisoner.


I ask her what Magnolia looks like.


THAT'S A BOLD FACED LIE YOU WHORE. WHERE IS ASIM D'RAC HUH?


I offended her and Josies animal magnetism is not enough to make her keep talking about Magnolia. Instead I ask about the problems between Magnolia and the Sultan.


She kicks me out as well. These Jann are a bunch of assholes.


I don't know what to do, so I start walking into random tents.


This guy keeps me in a storytelling loop. I legitimately couldn't get away. He told me six stories one pane at a time before I could get out.


This girl tells me the tents are magic, but she doesn't want to teach me because she's a bitch or something.


Wonder what this little bell does...


Ooooh, free XP! I do this three times and take 3 damage. I don't waste magic spells on these things.



I wander around looking for the caravan and spot this dude. He seems rather rude.


He clearly knows me and says his name is Zorani... that rings a bell.
  • Find out what the hell blue and white guy were talking about. Protect jann named Magnolia? Zorani getting information about an attack on sultan? Take caravan?


I yell at him to tell me everything, he doesn't know anything.


I tell him to leave immediately because I actually couldn't kill him.


He drops his tunic. I decide to try it on with Josie to see if the sprite changes.


What the gently caress. I put it on, this guy runs up to me and hands me a note.


Well this seems like fuckin proof right? Maybe I should go tell the sultan.


He yells at me because I (and I quote) "have not even left the area yet!" to find his daughter. So I guess I'm going to leave the area.


This is the end of the road on the bottom right. I can't leave this area to the right. My only exit is back to Tyr.


I arrive. They start some poo poo.



We end the poo poo.


Now I'm at the only place I know I'm actually supposed to go. The storyline has been pretty straightforward to send us down the pyramid thing so I'm going to do that.


  • Find out what the hell blue and white guy were talking about. Protect jann named Magnolia? Zorani getting information about an attack on sultan? Take caravan?
  • Remember the ladder to underground in case I need to find some thieves.
  • Kill Freyrs near pyramid. Where the poo poo is the pyramid?
  • Enter the underground part of the pyramid with key.
  • Go west toward the mountains out of the city?

Spermy Smurf
Jul 2, 2004





This is massive.


There are a bunch of guards wandering around. They wait at a certain place for a set amount of time and then they walk a path, stopping where another group rested a moment ago. They are walking routes to keep out the unwelcomed people. We'll have to find a way around them to not get into a running fight every 3 seconds.



Looks like a garden with alters and a bigass cabinet up top partially cut off north of the woman.

There really isnt much else worth showing. Some openings in the walls that look like tunnels or something, some broken statues and whatnot.


We enter right here where the guards never patrol. Odd, that. You'd think you'd want guards to patrol the entryway.


This grate allows me to interact with it and since I see other grates around I figure I can use them like air ducts.


You loving pussy.




That brought us way over to the bottom right by the cursor. There is a little blue dot, that's us. We are outside of the guards walking path, so we're clear up north.


What the gently caress is this? It came out of the drat tunnel opening that you'll see later. It also hits like a hammer, causes fear, and loving sucked to fight.


Oh it's a Freyr.
  • Kill Freyrs near pyramid. Where the poo poo is the pyramid?



Huh, remind me not to look at those again. Another Freyr came out.



Moving north I find a spot where I can't go left. The guards stop just south of the corner, so I can't make them flip that lever to come get me.


A man walks up to me from the north. He's seen better days.



Well that sounds important, better ask!




He's a loon. Got it.

Two more Freyrs were chasing him and they beat the hell out of me. They sent Jameson and Dory running so my poo poo mages needed to win the fight. We took a lot lot lot of damage, had to spend basically every single spell we could at healing.

I'm tempted to go back to town to heal right now so I can have some offensive spell slots again.


I can't move left, but I can interact with the statue.


Hah, finally. Now I can move left.


Directly into 8 fuckin enemies.


Had to climb the first level of the pyramid to get them. Pictured is Web which was dumb because the dudes in there were magic men.


Area of Silence which is supposed to stop 100% all spells in the sparkly area did absolute dick and Antwoman took 40pts of lightning bolt. It was great.


We stand trimphant. Dory is at 22 hit points. No one else is much better.


I move around the pyramid because I want to see whats on the western wall (hint: More guards and fuckin Freyrs)




The first chance I get I say "Goodbye" because I legitimately don't care. I am praying for a bedroom somewhere on the west.


There's a grate right there. Since it worked last time I'm going for it.


There's a prisoner in the room. Lets free him! Oh, plague. gently caress that.




Well there's the solution right there. I'll shoot you in the face, old man.


Why does he want healing fruit? Didn't we just go over this?


I toss him some berries (because I ate all my healing poo poo) and he goes to sleep strengthened by the food. I get 2000 experience for it.


Just north of the prisoner is a grate.


I'm beginning to like eavesdropping on people.





Okay so now I've got a choice. Fight them all now, or let them go up top and fight them all later PLUS the other baddies. Well that's not even a choice at all.


We bust in like we own the place.


Jameson punches people, the mages sit there uselessly because they don't have any spells left.


Dory... fuckin Dory man. I am taking everything out of her inventory because with 9HP she's gonna die the second I climb up top and fight the enemy woman.

Spermy Smurf
Jul 2, 2004


With zero choice in the matter I go up.




She yells guards and everyone comes running. Even more have spawned across the entire map.




Four fireballs, lightning bolt and then...


Reroll time.


This time when we go up Josie gets the initiative. Wall of Fog seems to be the only smart thing to do. Now only the chick in white can hit us until they walk through the wall.


Jameson one-punches her and she drops.


Jesus christ.


The magic in the garden goes crazy and murders like 3/4 of the enemy. I consider running away.




Fireballs and everything fly around the entire map striking everyone not me.

And then I miss a screenshot or two. Once the magic runs out, enemies come through the wall. I absolutely didn't see one guy getting close and he cranked Jameson with 6 punches for ~15 each.

Jameson dies.

Dory punches back, we rule the day.

I take everything not nailed down and head back...


Antwoman raises Jameson from the dead.



Another nap and we are ready to continue our adventure. Time to sell stuff and head back to the Veiled Alliance to tell them all the cool poo poo I did. You know, stopping the evil from coming. That's got to be worth some cash...

Spermy Smurf fucked around with this message at 18:37 on Jul 5, 2016

POOL IS CLOSED
Jul 14, 2011

I'm just exploding with mackerel. This is the aji wo kutta of my discontent.
Pillbug
Dory for MVP? Is the white cotton that spread over the garden in the early screenshots supposed to be a cloud or what?

Spermy Smurf
Jul 2, 2004
In the fight? That's my wall of fog.

POOL IS CLOSED
Jul 14, 2011

I'm just exploding with mackerel. This is the aji wo kutta of my discontent.
Pillbug
Ohh, poo poo. :doh: I scrolled down and missed the text explaining that.

my dad
Oct 17, 2012

this shall be humorous

RedTonic posted:

Dory for MVP?

Always. :colbert:

Spermy Smurf
Jul 2, 2004
God damnit I hosed up. These stupid god drat NPCs are always running around and getting themselves in dangerous places.

Whatever, I'm rolling with it. Instead of hearing exactly how to do a mission I'm being told to wing it myself. That's fine. I'll manage.

Spermy Smurf
Jul 2, 2004
And I also have another 90 images taken so far. Going to get to a stopping point and then get them all set to post.

I think we've got enough screenshots on this page already huh?

Only 17 more posts to get to a new page!

Spermy Smurf
Jul 2, 2004
Alright, gently caress it. Last post on this page. Post nonsense everyone!




We get experience and a 1d6+3 ninja star for Antwoman. It also does 1d4 burn damage every 1d6 attempts. So basically it's the worst weapon in the known world. Rather than walk up to someone and punch them for four attacks of 1d8+2 I get a single ninja star for a grand total of 13 damage if everything goes well. I mean, it's better than a bow and arrow, but not with the hundreds of +1 and +2 arrows I've been accumulating. My math is probably wrong, but in testing with them they are not very good.




Also he wants us to go get giant snake eggs.


We have 277,000 money. Also note the flail in Dorys hand. It's 1d8+2 weapon that casts disintegrate which has a chance to instakill an enemy. Talk about badass and overpowered...



Lets go tell the guys how awesome we are for diverting disaster and saving the world.


Oh snap, the Draxans are here! Maybe leaving the door wide open was a bad idea?


We kill the initial wave and save two people in the burning room you can barely see in the last screenshot. Now we head southeast.


Run past me, we'll handle this.


Huh, that's a lot of guys that can cast fireball and the fighters behind them will hit for 15 if they connect. They get 3 or 4 swings I think.


Jameson decides to take full advantage of the Haste that I had cast a while ago. He mows through all three spellcasters.


Josie fireballs for ~30ish damage which is great, but very rarely do I get a grouping like that.



Oh yeah the guy in blue. Lets go save him.


Why are they just standing next to him? Waiting for me to get there to trigger a battle maybe?


Yep.


Jameson kills 2 spellcasters immediately.


Two of the enemy move to fight Mathias and the unnamed alliance member in pink. Dory punches for fricken 45-50 damage from the back sometimes.


That door sounded very important, so lets go! No time to waste (other than looting everything that is magical and/or expensive.


I mean, he told us where it was. It's not like Dory did anything special here.


We enter. There is a long hallway with some loot and then....


God damnit. If I don't get initiative I'm going to get fireballed to gently caress.





So that's how it's going to go down huh?



Antwoman gets the initiative which sort of blows because she doesn't have any area spells or walls or anything. Instead she summons a water elemental to hopefully draw some fire.


They try to sneak behind us, but Jameson makes short work. Josie throws up a wall of fog to confound the spellcasters.


They walk through the wall and hit Josie enough that she is knocked unconscious. I also am at a total loss why I can't cast any spells with Antwoman here. She doesn't have any negative effects, it just seems randomly that I can't cast sometimes.


Dory goes down like the bitch she is, but luckily Jameson arrives and punches hard in her absence.



Dory was just knocked unconscious.

So right about now you guys who know the game mechanics are smirking about that badass flail Dory is using. Was using. It must have had a certain number of charges or something because all of a sudden it's gone.

It's gone every time I replay the fight. I start the fight with it, then end without it. God damnit.

Dory goes back to using the +4 dragonsbane and a +2 axe.


There was a chest, so I looted it.


We arrive back at the base and they have reinforcements. Dory blocks the door so Josie summons an earth elemental for them to fight.


The crew smite their enemies. But where the hell is Mathias?


The enemies are cleared out. I find a corpse with some weird stuff on it including a blue robe. That must have been Mathias. Looks like he ran right through the room where we were fighting and halfway down the hallway before dying. rear end in a top hat.


Time for a meeting...


But first I get healing.


Mathias is nowhere to be found, so Romila takes command.




But what is the Urn?





Sure, I'll take over this dangerous mission because it sounds like fun.



So I need to go get 3 more items, plus the Cup already in our possession. Great. Any idea where to start?


You're going to make me READ? Ugh, this is almost enough to make me reload so Mattias is alive.



Only one book has anything useful in it. Notice how it doesn't tell me where the gently caress to start looking?


The other books are about history...



...and the Jann.


I went to another location to look for scrolls to tell me where to begin when I hovered my mouse over a tapestry on the wall. It wasn't nailed down, so I take it. It probably means I need to repair it via the Jann, and seeing how there was Dye sitting on the ground below it...




The old lady gives us the thingy we need to save the world. Mighty nice of her.


So our list is really small now. I am sure I missed some stuff.

  • Find out what the hell blue and white guy were talking about. Protect jann named Magnolia? Zorani getting information about an attack on sultan? Take caravan? Told to go get Magnolia.
  • Remember the ladder to underground in case I need to find some thieves.
  • Go west toward the mountains out of the city?
  • Get giant snake eggs for fuckboi elf.
  • Get the three elemental items of ancient power to prevent the Urn from destroying the world. Fire Ruby, Promeres Hammer, Lyre of Winds.


Everything is screaming "Go out of the city to get the rest of these items" so I am planning on visiting the thieves now. No telling when I'll be back if we are going to go to the mines and a mountain west of the city.




Post nonsense, get a new page please.

Spermy Smurf fucked around with this message at 21:46 on Jul 5, 2016

Spermy Smurf
Jul 2, 2004
Forgot a couple images:


The other Tapestry looks neat too.



And this one has a spot in it that would fit a coal or some kind of ember.

There is a brazier right next to it and I took a coal from it.


So it looks like the tapestries are how I will access the other locations for the elemental items. I probably should have figured that out a lot earlier. Hell, most of you probably put 2 and 2 together already.



That being said: I'm still doing thieves guild first. Then I'm going to the mountains. After that I'll go into the tapestries, but I need to get one tapestry repaired and the only way to do that is to find Magnolia to please the Sultan so the Jann can fix it for me.

Unoriginal One
Aug 5, 2008
While it's usually rods, staves, and wands, there are some weapons that have a limited number of charges too. I forget if the game makes any note of the number of charges an item has remaining, but I wouldn't be all that surprised if it didn't. Fortunately only weapons with big effects like that flail will have them.

As for the spellcaster not being able to cast, it may be because they got hit earlier in the combat round. I forget the exact details of spell disruption mechanics, but I do remember that they work differently in turn-based games like this and the more real-time games like Baldur's Gate. Just another obstacle 2nd ed. casters had to deal with, along with everything and it's uncle's collage roommate having massive saving throws across the board, and magic resistance being absolute and common on the more obnoxious monster types.

As for bows kind of sucking, it's because they kind of suck. Regular bows don't receive much, if any, of a character's Str bonuses; and Dex is used purely for THAC0 purposes. This game might have some of the bows that do allow a character to use their Str bonuses, however, so you'll want to keep an eye out for those.

POOL IS CLOSED
Jul 14, 2011

I'm just exploding with mackerel. This is the aji wo kutta of my discontent.
Pillbug
Reweaving a sweater is hard enough. Reweaving a tapestry that drops you into some sort of elemental dog pit has got to be doctorate level stuff.

JamieTheD
Nov 4, 2011

LPer, Reviewer, Mad Welshman

(Yes, that's a self portrait)

Unoriginal One posted:

As for the spellcaster not being able to cast, it may be because they got hit earlier in the combat round. I forget the exact details of spell disruption mechanics, but I do remember that they work differently in turn-based games like this and the more real-time games like Baldur's Gate. Just another obstacle 2nd ed. casters had to deal with, along with everything and it's uncle's collage roommate having massive saving throws across the board, and magic resistance being absolute and common on the more obnoxious monster types.

It is because they got hit earlier in the combat round. Essentially, you take damage, you can't cast spells that round. No saves that I'm aware of to avoid this. And sadly, yeah, the chatchka is a distinctly underwhelming weapon in the computer games, because there's only one missile slot, regardless of the missile in question, or how many arms you have (If I recall Thri'Kreen of Athas, up to three chatchka can be thrown by your average Kreen, which would possibly have balanced things out. Alas.)

RedTonic posted:

Reweaving a sweater is hard enough. Reweaving a tapestry that drops you into some sort of elemental dog pit has got to be doctorate level stuff.

You forget that we are 2nd Ed DnD heroes, without the Skills And Powers book, so we can do aaaaaanything. Basket weaving? Yup. Filling in a tax form properly? Yup. MacGuyver Chemistry? If you're a Wizard, Cleric, or Rogue, why the heck not?

Also, I am grinning at the temple update, because there was a way to get rid of the infinispawning Feyrs, but buttons in this game and the one before it were always a bit of a cock. Still, props on killing the Templar first, and my, aren't Tyrian Templars more corrupt than usual? I wonder if it could have anything to do with their power source for half their magic (King Kalak) having upped and gotten killed?

Spermy Smurf
Jul 2, 2004
Ah, yeah, Antwoman does take some hits. Mystery solved.

She does pretty good damage with her dual swords though!

Josie does dick for damage. drat thief. Would dual daggers help, or just a single dagger?

Unoriginal One
Aug 5, 2008
Basically nothing can save 2nd ed. Rogue damage. Theoretically, there's backstabbing, but best as I can recall that can only be done from stealth, and once you drop stealth you can't get back in mid-combat. You can bump the dagger up to a shortsword if you want to keep backstab functionality, but if you're not using that at all then just toss her a bow or a longsword; it'll help a bit, but like I said, don't expect much. There's a reason why Rogues require very little XP to level.

As for dual wielding, don't. If you're not a Ranger, then you'll eat huge penalties.

the holy poopacy
May 16, 2009

hey! check this out
Fun Shoe

Unoriginal One posted:

As for dual wielding, don't. If you're not a Ranger, then you'll eat huge penalties.

These games are generous enough that dual wielding is pretty much the way to go. Whatever penalties exist are tiny compared to the sheer amount of damage you can put out.

Spermy Smurf
Jul 2, 2004
158 more images ready to post. The thieves area was very underwhelming. I got a weapon that I am completely unsure of and need your help deciding if I should use it or not.

Spermy Smurf
Jul 2, 2004
Alright, lets get to a new drat page people. ~200 images and counting to be posted.



I see this guy, he wasn't in town before.



That's a big boast for an underling.


He gets pissy, everyone attacks.


Jameson ends him.


And then works on the golems.


Dory has to run outside with Antwoman and kill a Templar who is a big jerkface.


We find a door. It's bolted into the wall and I can't touch it without getting shocked. I guess this is something I will have to deal with later.

POOL IS CLOSED
Jul 14, 2011

I'm just exploding with mackerel. This is the aji wo kutta of my discontent.
Pillbug
New weapons? That's basically barbie dress-up time, gimme gimme gimme.

I haven't seen many thieves' dens in games that felt... Fun. Usually they're very tedious, especially in a random rolls game, since you waste a lot of time searching for traps. Eschalon Book II had a particularly dull one; you access it through a simple puzzle, which promises you that you'll need your wits... But upon entry, it's a series of boring running battles and rounds of searching for floor traps. Not a single puzzle afterwards. Fortunately it's an entirely optional area (unless you want to buy skill-ups in stealth and lock-picking).

Spermy Smurf
Jul 2, 2004

I am walking along and this guy jumps in front of me.


In my haste to murder I misclick from DIE SCUM to "Walk away, bitches."


They walk away, I am unable to force an encounter by shooting them. Ugh. poo poo.


I get to the inn and climb down the ladder.


This is the map. Oh good, make it difficult. Assholes.


There is one dude to talk to and nothing else, so I talk to him.




Anything I can do to help with this?


Well that was easy. What if I was an assassin?


I can't show you the map, so here:



A couple people guarding something right next to the entryway.


Some people along the west wall just sitting there.


A dude in a bed.


More people sleeping...


And a chef cooking a pig.


The closest guy to me is the bed guy who is also Shandel. Lucky us.


He tells me they find jewelry and gold trinkets to sell for provisions. Also tremors have started in the excavated area in the southwest.



I agree to help.


They let me pass.


It looks fine down there.


The screen shakes while this happens.


Multiple baddies? Oh no!


A little haste from Josie...


And Dory gets 3 kills before anyone else can move.


The guard is so impressed.




So here's where I start to screw up. Maybe not, but I am annoyed anyway.



The screen shakes, a guard whispers to Shandel.




The correct answer probably would have been "Whats in it for me?" because this sling sucks and after this is all done he doesn't even talk to me or give me anything.




I piss off the cook/healer then go to find the slot in the wall where the umber hulks broke through.


Do you see it? No? Me either. 20 minutes later I find it.



loving assholes hiding poo poo on me.


We start off next to some loot. Josie checks for traps, disarms it and then the chest refuses to open. No worries, I have a crowbar! I apply the crowbar and the crowbar disappears. God damnit.



There are chests, jewels, and skeletons aplenty to loot.




In the north there are a lot of enemies and one guy that needs rescuing.


The south has a bunch of this poo poo. Ugh.



The far west has a little temple with 8 of these golems in it. I'll save that for last so I can crank my healing stuff just before.


Yeah, I got it. I'm going north first.



I don't know why I bothered to summon that Earth elemental. These things go down to anyone but Josie.




Giant skeleton arises! I probably have a better screenshot elsewhere, I'll post it. Josie can kill these things with one attack so it's pretty funny.


And then a corpse appears for me to loot.


I begin collecting skulls.


If I disarm a trap the chest will not open. So I just start yanking them open with Dory. 10 damage here, 14 damage there... loving 58 damage at the 2nd to last chest I open. God drat that hurt. There are 10 or so chests in the entire level.



Dory reads the book. To be honest I'm surprised she knows how to read. Stolen keys, activate watchers... I am expecting to need keys to stop those golems from coming to life.



It's the worlds worst ambush plus another elemental summoning from Josie. Her level 5 spells really suck. Domination does well, but the enemy is never alive long enough for them to attack their teammates. Like in the first round I dominate an umber hulk. Dory/Jameson/Antwoman kill the rest and leave the one dominated guy that is now on my side. So now what do I do? Just wait for him to do nothing? No, I just murder his rear end so I can continue the game. It's annoying.



Regardless, we get to the guy.



Gee, will there be more ambushes on the way back?



There were 3. I took 6 damage to Josie.

So now I have to go south to the Freyrs. Ugh.



I find a key on a skeleton. Part of a key anyway. A circular key from the looks of it. Remind me to look for circular stuff for this to fit into.


The skeleton has a note. Josie has two different bags full of quest-related notes that I just never throw away.


She also has 2 full bags of skulls so far. That's 12 skeletons.



Antwoman got to summon an Elemental this time. We take some damage this time for sure. Going to need every bit of healing we can...


We get to the dead center of the map finally. We can go straight left to the special room or south and clear it all out for completions sake. I go south.



Shut up. You're not my mom, you can't tell me what to do.


Guess which chest this is? 58 damage chest! It had $3000 worth of gems in it. Ugh. I stop opening chests entirely since they are not worth it and I am going to need to save my HP for the golems.





Josie finds a note. Words of command, klaatu barata nikto, plus something about the keys. Who cares.



A skeleton with a key tells me something. I read it's diary.








I've got to kind of laugh at the exasperation of the priests.



All healed up so I go to the golem room.



That guy has a sword in his back.


Now you all see that circular indent in the front of the chest? It stops the golems from rising. However it doesn't give any experience. When given the option of zero experience or being able to punch things I usually pick punching.


Jose throws up a wall of ice to protect our backs.


And by now I notice that only 4 of the Golems came alive. I thought all 8 would. We take a bit of damage, but who the hell cares. A few more ambushes on the way out and we're good.




We go get healing.



He offers us Grub Pie. Jameson eats some.



Ah poo poo. Should not have done that.


This is all this jagoff will say to me. No one else says anything. I leave, angry.

However the sword I received has the following stats:
1d8+4
Something magical, probably a 1d6 chance at bleed damage maybe?
+4 to AC. This is bad. It makes Jameson from 2 to a 6AC.

Not sure if the sword is worth it, but it does great damage and I'll get to test out the magical ability here once I find some more suckers to kill.


I always give the beggar dude some cash on my way by. He could rent a room for $25 a night, so I don't know what the hell he's still doing out here.



I use the elf to sell stuff because I have a bunch of skeleton skulls and Freyr teeth that he'll buy back.


So now he wants me to get Drake hides in exchange for whatever a Deck of Illusions is. It's a deal.



We have way the gently caress too much money. I found some arrows for $1200 which I bought...

Spermy Smurf
Jul 2, 2004
  • Find out what the hell blue and white guy were talking about. Protect jann named Magnolia? Zorani getting information about an attack on sultan? Take caravan? Told to go get Magnolia.
  • Go west toward the mountains out of the city?
  • Get the three elemental items of ancient power to prevent the Urn from destroying the world. Fire Ruby, Promeres Hammer, Lyre of Winds.
  • Volcano tapestry looks like I can enter it anytime. Fire Ruby likely there.
  • Get giant snake eggs for fuckboi elf.
  • Get drake hides for fuckboi elf


Here is where we stand. I am moving to the west gate toward the mountains and mines.

Unoriginal One
Aug 5, 2008

Gabriel Pope posted:

These games are generous enough that dual wielding is pretty much the way to go. Whatever penalties exist are tiny compared to the sheer amount of damage you can put out.

True, I keep forgetting that most fighting types in this are going to have the kinds of absurd Str scores to render most penalties fairly negligible. The higher starting level doesn't hurt either.

POOL IS CLOSED
Jul 14, 2011

I'm just exploding with mackerel. This is the aji wo kutta of my discontent.
Pillbug
All armor does is help you die slower! Stronger attacks, however, help your enemies die faster! Let's test this thing out.

Spermy Smurf
Jul 2, 2004
Jameson has the weapon equipped with a 1d8+2 club that sometimes does like 16 damage with some spell.

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
So, were you supposed to go down the sewers early, or...?

I like the idea of Bloodletter being a "legendary" sword that actually gets you beaten-up and bloody no matter what you try to fight.

Spermy Smurf
Jul 2, 2004
I don't really know. I found a walkthrough from 2000 that says to do it before going to the Jann, but those two quests don't overlap so I don't understand why. I found an LP on youtube (number 8 and 9 I think) where the guy gets the exact same message and he did the thieves guild way earlier than me.

The guy on youtube hates the sword. gently caress it, Jameson will be a glass cannon with it.



Up next: Fancy new boots and snekmen?

Spermy Smurf
Jul 2, 2004
Trying real hard to get to a new page... 7 more posts after this one.

Here is the current loadout on the fighters. Sorry about the mouse in the way.




Jameson has Bloodletter and another +2 sword. He could use a shield and knock his AC down another 2, but the shield is pretty poo poo. In the last game I had like 5 amazing shields, but I've never even seen another shield so far.

Note that I've dressed him in red pants, red floppy hat, and red cloak. I can't find red shoes anywhere.




Josie has a +2 axe, and a 1d4+2 dagger. I have other +2 weapons, but she does 3-6 damage with anything I equip. Single dagger? 5 damage. Dual +2 daggers? 5 and 3 damage. Two swords? 6 and 3 damage. It's pretty insane.

She also is wearing a helm of domination just in case she can't cast something, she can use that. And a necklace of Protection from Evil, a 10 foot radius spell that improves saves and AC of friendly units.

Josie doesn't wear pants, she just wears a belt around her butt.

I do have questions about her leather bracers. I don't know what to wear.



A and B which I think are the exact same item.


Or C which gives 2 extra AC. Unsure why the price of A and B are 3 or 4x the price of C. I wish I knew what that magic enchantment does on them...



Antwoman has two +2 weapons and that ninja star I talked about a long time ago.




Kug has some decent weapons, clearly the most powerful we own up to this point.


Kug is wearing a bunch of different colors, shoes, hat, cloak, but I can't find oddly colored pants so she is also just wearing a belt instead of pants.

Spermy Smurf
Jul 2, 2004
I have hosed up this jungle quest 4 times in a row now. Time to look at a guide.

I always trigger a quest that I don't want to do because there are 10 different holes in the ground and I cant keep them all straight. And the tunnels, so a bunch of entrances and exits...

Spermy Smurf
Jul 2, 2004
Now I know why I didn't finish this game as a kid. 278 images uploading now, and I still have no idea what the hell happened or how I would know to do half the things that I did. There is zero precedence on a lot of it. What the gently caress.


Someone post to get me on a new drat page, I'm not putting 300 more images on this page.

POOL IS CLOSED
Jul 14, 2011

I'm just exploding with mackerel. This is the aji wo kutta of my discontent.
Pillbug
Yesss, glass cannon Jameson.

The various playable races in Dark Sun are so much more interesting than the standard set of Tolkein knock-offs. I wish more systems and games put time into developing lore that's not just re-warmed Tolkein fanfic.

marshmallow creep
Dec 10, 2008

I've been sitting here for 5 mins trying to think of a joke to make but I just realised the animators of Mass Effect already did it for me

I just want to comment that I hate the Jann, based purely on what I read in this lp.

PotatoManJack
Nov 9, 2009
So I was definitely expecting Freyr to be something a little bit more Egyptian/desert themed considering they were guarding Pyramids, but I guess multi-eyed floating head things works.

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Unoriginal One
Aug 5, 2008
If it helps, the difference between 2 AC and 6 AC isn't that much, as you're getting to the point where anything that would treat a positive AC as anything other than a polite suggestion isn't going to be worth worrying about.


Oh, and I can't recall, but did Dark Sun change anything about how Druids leveled, or do they still use the crazy base 2nd Ed Druid XP tables?

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