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 What the heck is this? The Age of Decadence is an isometric role-playing game developed by Iron Tower Studio, a small indie team that prides itself on creating hardcore RPGs. Work began on the game in March 2004, but a full release didn't happen until October 2015. I discovered the game on Steam about two years ago, played it, died a bunch, then put it away out of frustration. This year I gave it another shot, and after much trial and error (and combing through guides), I discovered it was a drat good game. It's not perfect: the graphics are a bit rough and the combat is clunky as hell. What shines is everything else -- the story, the characters, the extensive dialogue trees, character customization, choices -- I can't say how many times you'd need to replay the game to see absolutely everything, but it'd be a lot. Every quest has some point to it, even if it's not apparent in the beginning, and many decisions you make have big consequences. Sadly, like most niche games by indie devs, it's not a well-known title, which is a shame. That's why I'm going to LP it. So, what's it about? Centuries ago, the Empire and the kingdom of Qantaar waged a magical war that devastated the known world, leaving a few broken city-states ruled by noble houses as the remnants of civilization. Today, various factions struggle for dominance among the ashes while progress relies on the discovery of arcane artifacts and ancient knowledge. Greed, betrayal, and ignorance are the norm. There's much, much more to it, but we'll learn more throughout the LP. To show off the maximum content, there will be one main playthrough and several "side" playthroughs focusing on some of the different factions and quests we can take. Oh, and if you're one of the few who played this game, then refrain from spoilers, please. Does that mean goon participation? To an extent -- if I asked for input on every decision, the LP would take over a year to finish. Still, I'll let the thread vote on some of the major choices. Speaking of which: tell me if our main character is male or female, and give me a name -- a Roman name, to be precise. TABLE OF CONTENTS Part I: That's a lot of numbers Part II: Did I mention I don't like the combat? Part III: Seriously, gently caress Teron Part IV: Town of motherfuckers Part V: The worst NPC Part VI: Greed is good Part VII: Making friends through blatant cheating Part VIII: Well, that was easy Part IX: Murder, Inc. Part X: A series of unfortunate events Part XI: You asked for this Part XII: Blood for the blood god Part XIII: I'll take that. And that. And that. And that... Part XIV: It's a Maad world Part XV: The library of Saross Part XVI: Jehovah's Witnesses, 5th century AD edition Part XVII: Return of the worst NPC Part XVIII: The Abyss Part XIX: Please stop talking Part XX: Never trust a wizard Part XXI: Loose ends Part XXII: Everyone involved in this plot sucks Part XXIII: Traveling salesman Part XXIV: The greatest battle Part XXV: A jarring heist Part XXVI: Candygram Part XXVII: Love potion Part XXVIII: Exploring Ganezzar Part XXIX: Class warfare Part XXX: Bad omens Part XXXI: Second star to the right Part XXXII: Is that a giant spear in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? Part XXXIII: The birthplace of the Gods Part XXXIV: The power of money compels you Part XXXV: Errand boy Part XXXVI: Winners do drugs Part XXXVII: Just following orders Part XXXVIII: Legatus at last Part XXXIX: Hindsight is 20/20 Part XL: I made a mistake Part XLI: The temple of Thor-Agoth Part XLII: Alternative endings Part XLIII: The compact must be honored rudecyrus fucked around with this message at 17:10 on Oct 16, 2020 |
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Jan 12, 2020 00:28
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Ah, I love this game. It really is a shame it didn't get more exposure/players. As for the character, I'll say... Female. Named Cassia
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Jan 12, 2020 00:45
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I've never heard of this game before, and I'm eager to see you show it off! I do love good character/story driven games! I'm voting for a female character - I often find that a little more interesting. And Octavia would be a fine name.
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Jan 12, 2020 00:47
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From the last LP and my own run through, the combat in AoD is pretty rough unless you really know what you're doing. Luckily, you can talk your way out of combat for basically the entire game.Buzzsaw Roomba posted:I've never heard of this game before, and I'm eager to see you show it off! I do love good character/story driven games! I'm good with these choices
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Jan 12, 2020 02:34
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Buzzsaw Roomba posted:I'm voting for a female character - I often find that a little more interesting. And Octavia would be a fine name. THIS.
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Jan 12, 2020 03:05
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I'm sorry but Male and Biggus Dickus
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Jan 12, 2020 03:08
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Female named Incontinentia Buttocks.
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Jan 12, 2020 04:26
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Male Markus Duplicitus
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Jan 12, 2020 06:14
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Female and Cleopatroa De Arc
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Jan 12, 2020 06:39
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NewMars posted:Ah, I love this game. It really is a shame it didn't get more exposure/players. As for the character, I'll say... I'm fine with this.
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Jan 12, 2020 07:35
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Buzzsaw Roomba posted:I've never heard of this game before, and I'm eager to see you show it off! I do love good character/story driven games! This.
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Jan 12, 2020 08:09
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I place a vote for Male OCTAVIUS
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Jan 12, 2020 08:16
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Buzzsaw Roomba posted:I've never heard of this game before, and I'm eager to see you show it off! I do love good character/story driven games! I second this.
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Jan 12, 2020 09:19
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Buzzsaw Roomba posted:I've never heard of this game before, and I'm eager to see you show it off! I do love good character/story driven games! This sounds good to me too. (That makes six votes for Octavia, so we need two more. That's how it works, right?)
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Jan 12, 2020 11:15
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I'm also fine with Octavia so I'll change my vote to this.
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Jan 12, 2020 13:31
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Female ....and the old Roman favorite, Sans Testicles (ˈsænz ˈtɛstɪkliz)
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Jan 12, 2020 14:08
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Male, named Roman.
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Jan 12, 2020 18:29
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Glad to see the game being lp'd again after my lp. Recommend everyone who likes this to check out Colony Ship, the devs' next game that has a demo coming out soon! http://irontowerstudio.com/colony-ship-news
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Jan 12, 2020 19:32
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Looks like we have a clear winner -- Octavia it is. I'll try and get the next update done by tomorrow.
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Jan 13, 2020 00:45
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Excited to see an LP of this. The story never quite appealed to me once I got into it, but I really liked what they were trying, and do kind of want to see it from whatever angle we go in as.
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Jan 13, 2020 02:02
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Played through this game several times myself, and yeah the diversity and quality is impressive as heck. Excited to see what you show off for the LP.
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Jan 13, 2020 02:34
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I for one actually liked the combat (yes, because it is hard). The stories were really interesting as well though.
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Jan 13, 2020 13:01
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Part I: That's a lot of numbers The game begins with a quote from a dark fantasy novel, so you know what we're in for.  Soundtrack: In A Dead World The main menu has this ominous tune, setting the tone for the rest of the game.  And here's the opening message we get when we click on "New Game." None of it is an exaggeration -- it's very easy to die, and combat is the worst way to progress. Even if you avoid combat entirely, failed skill checks can mean an instant game over. We're advised to start with training to learn the combat system, but I'll explain it later.  Soundtrack: Daratan The character creation screen has a much less foreboding track. The music is arguably one of the best parts of The Age of Decadence, which is good because the graphics and customization options can be described as "bare-bones." We can choose our skin color (out of three), our face (out of six, which, except for tattoos, are muddy and mostly similar), our hair (out of eight for men and five for women), hair color (out of six), beard (out of seven) or circlet (out of three). All of this customizing is moot because we don't have a portrait. What's more interesting is the "Background" section. Note that this doesn't mean "class" -- it determines what opening vignette we'll play, what guild we'll work for (if any), and our reputation with the seven factions vying for power. The factions are:  House Aurelian survived the Great War mostly intact due to keeping its forces in the outlying colonies. Led by General (now Lord) Gaelius, House Aurelian controls Maadoran, the largest city in what remains of the world. Naturally, the other Houses want Gaelius dead. House Crassus dedicated its resources to sciences and arcane research. According to legend, it was instrumental in conducting the Great Ritual that summoned the High Lords to defeat the Qantari. After the death of the Magi, House Crassus fell back on religion, calling for the worship and restoration of the gods as the rulers of men. House Daratan was once the most powerful Noble House, but was all but destroyed during the War. Now, what remains controls the small town of Teron, a backwater with little to recommend it. Despite this, Lord Antidas is committed to restoring House Daratan, no matter the cost. The Boatmen of Styx were the Emperor's guard in the old days, specializing in infiltration and assassination. After the collapse, they reformed into an assassin's guild, taking the name of their old regiment. You'd think having a band of killers operating openly would lead to outrage, but scruples have fallen by the wayside. The Commercium sprang up after the apocalypse when the heads of the merchant guilds centralized into a single organization that monopolizes all trade. As you'd expect, it's full of greedy assholes willing to do anything to line their pockets with gold, but it's also the easiest faction to work for, so it evens out. Formed from the remnants of the Imperial Army, the Imperial Guards act as peacekeepers, keeping the Noble Houses in check. Powerful and influential, their ultimate goal is the restoration of the Empire, as unlikely as that seems right now. The Forty Thieves are a large and tenacious guild made up of smugglers, thieves, and other ne'er-do-wells, tracing its origins back to the early days of the Empire. The name is said to come from the forty kingpins of the forty largest towns coming together to coordinate their criminal network.Some of the backgrounds have low reputation with the factions, meaning you can't join them. For example, everyone hates thieves (except the Boatmen and the Thieves, natch), while the assassin background has low rep with the Imperial Guards (because they see you as a disruptive coward who wouldn't win a real fight). Most backgrounds have positive or neutral rep, so it's not a big concern. As for the backgrounds, some are self-explanatory while others are more murky. Praetor is essentially a knight-diplomat working for House Daratan, which is interesting because most of the backgrounds are low-class. Grifter is sort of like a Thief but guildless and more dialog-orientated, while Drifter is a blank slate and for players who want complete freedom when making a character. Mercenary is the combat-oriented background and should only be chosen by players who want a death wish. Of them all, Merchant is probably the best for beginners because you can get through the game without fighting once. However, for the main playthrough I'll be choosing Loremaster. It's an easy start, I can join any faction I want, and my skills let me understand pre-war technology and see content I'd miss otherwise. But what are skills, you ask?  These. These are skills. Before your eyes roll off the page, I'll explain. The numbers at the top are Stats you see in every RPG and serve basically the same function with a few additions: Strength determines maximum carry weight, starting combat skill points (CoP), and damage modifiers. Dexterity influences Attack and Defense values, CoP, action points (AP), and sequence in combat. Constitution determines Hit Points, Defense value, and resistance to poison and other environmental hazards. Note that HP remains static throughout the game. Perception influences Attack value, starting skill values for ranged weapons, the pool for civil skill points (CiP), accuracy modifiers for all weapons, and helps you spot hidden things in the environment. Intelligence determines the CiP pool and the number of bonus skill points you receive for completing quests. Charisma influences the CiP pool and modifies your reputation. All of these stats can be checked in dialogue or other interactions. Now, onto skills. To keep it brief (too late), you have eight weapon skills and two defense skills. Concentrate on beefing up ONE weapon skill, maybe two in the late game. Block and Dodge don't overlap, so choose whichever is higher and forget the other one. Critical Strike is interesting because it determines the chance of causing bleeding on a critical hit (which can be a powerful status effect), but it's also used in dialogue to get an instant kill. You'll understand later. Civil skills are the most important set and where we'll be dumping the majority of our points. Keep in mind the game rewards specialization -- having a bunch of 2s and 3s will get us nowhere. Notice some of the skills are highlighted, which is the game's way of saying "Hey, you might wanna go with these." Lockpick and Traps, for instance, are useful for us because we'll be exploring ruins where those things would be common. Sneak and Steal? Not so much (although some points in Sneak lets us get loot we wouldn't find normally). Impersonate is used a handful of times and is therefore garbage. We have three dialogue skills: Etiquette, Persuade, and Streetwise. Of the three, Streetwise is most useful, with Persuade a close second. Etiquette is pointless and only comes up when talking to nobles. Alchemy lets us make poisons, bombs, potions and other stuff that's handy in combat and a few other situations. Crafting allows the forging of better weapons and armor, plus it's often used in conjunction with Lore when examining ancient artifacts and machinery. Speaking of Lore, it's possibly the most worthwhile skill of all. Without it, the greater backstory is lost and the obscure knowledge we discover is more or less nonsense. Trading is good in some dialogue checks and getting better prices, but otherwise you can leave it.  Here's the character I'll be using with adjusted stats and skills. I'm keeping five CiP in the pool to use later. With all of that out of the way, let's finally play this drat game!  Soundtrack: Teron   So, we live in Teron, a dying town in the middle of nowhere, and we're apprenticed to somebody named Feng. Think of it as humble beginnings.  Here we are! Instructions for controls are in the upper left, although they don't tell you everything.  For example, hitting Tab marks any interactable objects in the player's immediate vicinity. An eye means it can be examined, while a hand means it can be picked up or used.  Like so! Only there's nothing useful here.   In fact, the place is filled with worthless crap. Feng is something of a fraud -- most of the "artifacts" he sells are secretly junk.   There are some hidden gems, though. Examining these documents gives us +1 to Lore and Lockpick, respectively.   Other than that, it's a whole lotta nothing. Anyway, let's go talk to Feng.    : What if it actually is a valuable artifact? : Artifacts? I've been stuck in this shithole you call a town for the last twenty years. Year after year, farmers and diggers bring me everything they find, hoping for a lucky break. They bring me bracelets, cheap pottery, rusty old locks, pipes, chamber pots, even deformed skulls. The sad truth is that this town doesn't have anything of value, which is probably the only reason why Antidas is still in charge.Wow, way to poo poo on our town, Feng.  : Why did you stay then?: Weren't you listening? Every year peasants bring me junk to appraise. Good business. : You said he had a trinket?: I think the word "map" was mentioned. Go and take a look. If it's something good, bring it to me.: I will go there right away, Master.We're instantly whisked away to the inn.     : Please forgive this uneducated trader, mistress Octavia, but who are the High Lords? I will be presenting this map to Lord Antidas tomorrow, and I'd like to impress His Lordship with some bits of knowledge.: According to the legends, the High Lords were our allies in the war between our glorious Empire and the ruthless Qantari. While their nature is debatable, most loremasters agree that it was definitely supernatural. This map bears the seal of Thor-Agoth or Toragoth, as he was also known. Our first skill check! Sometimes the game checks two skills, like here. If the skill is green with "success" after it, it means a guaranteed pass. Otherwise, cross your fingers and hope like crazy. : Of course not, mistress. Please, take the map and study it properly.: And the money? I'm sure you know what the standard research fee is.We pass, and now we'll get some coin out of it.  Success also means getting a funky-looking metal sphere.  Ugh. Might as well see what this prospector has. : Sure. An easy lore check lets us know his "artifacts" are junk.  He does have a genuine glowing skull, which turns out to be extremely dangerous. : Why?: The old magic is like fire. Fire can keep you warm, cook your food, and help you forge weapons and tools, but it can also burn down your house or a forest, the moment you lose control, which we don't have to begin with. Not anymore.  He also has this... thing. Whatever it is, it's unusual. Let's try to bluff him. : [streetwise] Junk. Worthless junk.: [failure] Junk? The very fact that I'm standing here before you should attest to the quality of this charm.Dammit. I didn't put any points into Streetwise, so the check fails. : How much do you want for it? Well, maybe we can haggle for a better price. : [failure] The jewels alone are worth at least three hundred. There is no way I'm letting it go for less than five hundred.gently caress this, I'm leaving. : I'll think about it. Hey, I didn't promise poo poo. I'm starting to come around to Feng's point of view.   At least we got some coin and skill points out of this. Next time: We murder a random guy in cold blood to "secure our future." rudecyrus fucked around with this message at 00:38 on Feb 11, 2020 |
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Jan 14, 2020 01:16
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AoD's combat isn't so hard if you commit to being good at it and also, very importantly, you must remember to fight as absolutely loving dirty as possible at all times, no exceptions.
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Jan 14, 2020 20:22
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I like to think of combat as ... negotiation by other means. And you never give a sucker an even break.
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Jan 14, 2020 23:13
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I hadn't heard of this game before. Color me intrigued, it looks like the kind of thing I gravitate towards.
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Jan 14, 2020 23:22
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Part II: Did I mention I don't like the combat? The next morning, Feng informs us the map is nothing special. Oh well.   : Secure my future?  And he wants us to kill some guy named Cassius. Great! We're free to do whatever at this point, so let's go over some game mechanics.  Hitting "I" brings up the inventory. Currently, we have two daggers, a sword, some alchemical ingredients, a few ingots of bronze and iron, the map, and the sphere. I'll cover the alchemy and crafting tabs later. On the right is our carry weight, damage, armor Damage Resistance (DR), and other stats. Let's see what happens if I equip a dagger.  Our damage and Critical Strike (CS) rating goes up, but Attack goes down because I didn't put any skill points in daggers. Still, I'm sticking with it for now because it uses little AP.  Pressing "M" opens the map. We can fast travel by clicking on the names, but Teron is small enough to traverse in a few seconds.  "C" opens the character screen, where we can distribute skill points. SP are split into three categories, two of which I've mentioned: CoP are received by winning fights, CiP through solving problems with talking and other non-violent means, while general SP is picked up by finishing quests and advancing the story. The latter can be used to level up any skill. General Reputation is a bit harder to explain, but certain actions increase the numbers -- for example, killing Cassius for Feng raises Loyalty. Some interactions can be passed by having high enough numbers, just like Skills. Traits & Ranks are titles we can get as we progress. Most are flavor, but there are a few with gameplay applications.  "J" opens the journal, which contains quests, lore, a list of factions and major characters, plus any important items. Like our goofy sphere. Enough of that, let's head to the inn.   As you can see, it's a classy establishment.  There's a lot we can do here, but first, let's talk to the fellow in the loremaster garb.  Welp, we're a dutiful apprentice with no qualms about murder, so let's get this over with. : Lord Antidas has sent me to escort you. Follow me. [lure him to an abandoned house] : Master Feng thinks you've made a mistake accepting Lord Antidas' invitation so... hastily. He asked me to correct it.  I don't think insulting our master is the wisest move. Still, let's hear him out. : I'm listening.   Cassius, I'm going to kill you just for making me read all of that. We have a high enough CS to off him outright, but I have to show off combat, so... : This is going to be fun.Lies. Blatant lies. By the way, we can't do a critical strike in dialogue unless we have a dagger in the inventory. Hooray!  Soundtrack: Combat I So, combat. I don't like combat in Age of Decadence. In fact, I don't like combat in most turn-based RPGs, because it's bunch of number crunching and I just want to kill the drat enemy. To-hit chance? Action points? Tactics? I haven't got time for that poo poo! Regardless, I'll do my best to explain. We can move to any of the blue squares during our turn and attack within the green squares. Red squares are blocked. In the upper right is our Attack and Defense ratings. At the bottom is our HP, AP, equipped weapon, how much damage said weapon inflicts and how much AP an attack uses (in this case, 2).  Mousing over Cassius shows us our to-hit chance (THC), CS chance, and Armor Damage Chance (ADC). THC is determined by our attack rating minus the opponent's defense rating, plus 50 percent.  We do 2 points of damage, with 1 absorbed by his armor. Daggers (at least, in the beginning) are poo poo for damage, but the small AP cost means a lot of attacks.  We get lucky here and inflict Bleeding. Bleeding takes away a set amount of HP per turn, plus the effect stacks, meaning you can lay the hurt down with the right type of weapon. Oh right, weapons. There are a shitload of weapons in this game, each with different AP costs, bonuses, hardiness ratings and passive traits. Daggers have an increased chance of a Critical Strike on aimed attacks, swords are more likely to cause Bleeding, axes can do increased CS damage, hammers can lower DR, spears can interrupt attempts to get close, bows can Cripple (which means movement penalties), crossbows can Stagger (-3 AP), and throwing weapons can bypass armor completely. "What are aimed attacks?" I hear you say. I'm glad you asked! Right-clicking on the weapon (something I don't show here) brings up a bunch of attack options, such as Power or Aimed. Some options use more AP but cause more damage or some other effect. Cassius started the encounter with Flurry, a dagger-only attack that hits multiple times with low damage. Aimed attacks have their own effects: aiming at the head can inflict an Attack penalty and even knock out an enemy on a CS, while aiming at the torso can lower DR. There's a ton of effects and weapon-specific special attacks that I won't go over, but if they come up in the LP, I'll explain. Honestly, the best strategy in combat is to fight like a dirty rat. Use nets, bolas, bombs, poison, anything and everything to inflict maximum damage in the shortest amount of time. The game doesn't give a poo poo if you fight honorably, so don't.  Cassius succumbs to blood loss. Time to loot his body!  We take everything except his clothes. Hey, let the poor guy have some dignity. We'll melt down the dagger to get some iron.  Let's inform Feng. Hopefully, this was worth it.  : Cassius is no longer a problem.  Geez, we kill a guy for him and Feng is still being a condescending dick. : What are you talking about? : Count me in. : Where are you from, Feng? : I've never head of Zhin.: The locals are convinced that their Empire had conquered what they call the known world. I can assure you that is not the case, although they did do their best to turn it into a wasteland.: Why did you come here? If you have the loremaster background or high Charisma, Feng opens up. Otherwise, he tells you it was so long ago he can't remember. : Couldn't you refuse?: You don't refuse such high honor and live. Even a fool like me knew that.: What happened next? : There is more to life than this. : Because we are not animals. Our thoughts, our minds are capable of so much more... : The men who built the Empire were different. They did something with their lives. I think there's a difference between someone hunting for subsistence and a rich noble conquering nations, but whatever.   Feng, how many people have you killed       Hmm. Seems unlikely, but we'll file this away if it becomes important later (it will become important later).  For listening to his life story, Feng increases our Streetwise and Trading skills, plus we get a few CiP. : Let me ask something else.This takes us back to the topic screen. : Do you think it will ever get better?   : Do you have anything else for me to do?  Carrinas is the commander of the local garrison. We'll meet him and the other guild leaders in other playthroughs. For now, we'll remain a free agent. Time to explore Teron!  Outside Feng's house are some vines.   With enough Dexterity, we can climb onto the roof...  ...which is filled with trash. Does Feng own anything valuable?  We can lockpick the hatch, however. There's no real reason to do this with our background, but we get some CiP for the trouble.  Next to Feng's is the blacksmith.   : I was thinking of crafting a weapon or two myself. How do I go about it? : Can you sell me some materials? : Sharpening stones? : Tiny crystals?Getting some Solid Snake vibes from our PC.   He also sells weapon and armor schematics for 50 and 75 gold, respectively. We'll buy the one for swords.  There are arms and armor for sale, but good luck with those prices. We're better off crafting our own stuff. Time to thank this helpful guy by breaking into his house.    The door and first window are locked, but the second pays off.   Here's why I put points into Sneak.    The chest holds a pretty nice axe for this stage of the game.    There's also some documents that raise our Crafting skill!  High Perception lets us find some metal ingots. There's nothing else here, so time to bug out.  Here's what the crafting tab of the inventory looks like. With the right materials and schematics, we can make anything, provided we have enough levels in Crafting. Right now we can only make bronze stuff, but that'll change soon. We can also melt down weapons and armor to get back metal, albeit only a little at our level. Let's head back to the inn. There's an interesting conversation happening right now.  Story time!     The cut-off bit says, "go forth and call up these allies. All the resources of the Empire are at your disposal!" Also, this sounds like a bad idea.   A really bad idea.  A really, really bad idea.   "blood and fire." : Do you really believe in demons? Do you believe they are the reasons the Empire fell? : But surely there is more to the story? What about the Qantari themselves? Were they really bloodthirsty savages as the stories say?  : What can you tell me about these Lords that came with Ibn Hadad?  Remember those names. Anyway, this whole story reeks of bullshit. There may have been magic involved, but nothing like what this guy says. Plus, he's a racist. Next time: Thieving, sneaking, and dying. rudecyrus fucked around with this message at 00:40 on Feb 11, 2020 |
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Jan 17, 2020 09:19
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Looking forwards to the inevitable death tally counter this game will have. Got it on sale, never played, looking forwards to seeing how it goes!
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Jan 17, 2020 09:30
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You seem to be getting a LOT of skill points for free. Is each one not really worth much? What's the cap for each skill?
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Jan 17, 2020 13:58
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Xander77 posted:You seem to be getting a LOT of skill points for free. Is each one not really worth much? What's the cap for each skill? each skill has ten ranks. going from level one to level two in a skill costs five points, and the cost goes up by five for each level afterwards (if i recall correctly)
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Jan 17, 2020 14:12
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lol feng is such an rear end in a top hat
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Jan 17, 2020 15:33
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Feng would have us bumped off in a heartbeat if he thought we threatened his cushy gig. If we're going to do some serious loremasterin', we might want to look for another town to do it in.
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Jan 17, 2020 17:32
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The intro of this game really does a great job beating into you that this world is unfair and you'll need every piece of bullshit just to survive.
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Jan 17, 2020 19:31
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drkeiscool posted:each skill has ten ranks. going from level one to level two in a skill costs five points, and the cost goes up by five for each level afterwards (if i recall correctly) You're half right. Going from level 1 to level 2 costs five points, then it goes up by ten every other level.
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Jan 17, 2020 20:17
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Mechanical Ape posted:Feng would have us bumped off in a heartbeat if he thought we threatened his cushy gig. If we're going to do some serious loremasterin', we might want to look for another town to do it in.
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Jan 17, 2020 20:32
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This seems familiar. Has someone lpd this game before? This game seems neat and I’m in for the lp.
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Jan 17, 2020 20:41
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Honestly, as cutthroat as Feng is, it does sound like he retains some fondness for us. Something in the tone of what he's saying, plus the fact he'll just tell you this stuff if you're his apprentice. I also appreciate how he's written overall.
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Jan 17, 2020 23:27
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NinetySevenA posted:This seems familiar. Has someone lpd this game before? There was a really good one a while back with Julius of the 40 thieves and Brutus the stabby man.
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Jan 18, 2020 00:21
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Part III: Seriously, gently caress Teron : Do you have time for a few questions? Woof. Alright, let's go through these... : Hear anything interesting? As you can tell, the innkeeper is a fountain of information. : What do you think of Lord Antidas?  He's also an unrepentant suck-up. : What can you tell me about House Daratan?   Totally unlike Antidas, I'm sure. : What can you tell me about prospectors?    : Why are there so few towns?   : Do you think it will ever get better?   Oh, good. Meru's crucifixion-happy.  tl;dr: Everything sucks. Anyway, let's get a room.  For 100 imperials, this had better be the best room in the place!  The nice thing about renting a room is it gives us a handy place to store stuff we don't need right now.  Time to sneak around and steal valuables! I won't show off everything here, as it's generally going into rooms and lockpicking chests. We don't have a high enough Steal skill to grab everything, but we get enough. The game is pretty lenient at this point -- getting caught just means being kicked out of the room.  The sole exception is this chest. It's trapped, and traps can be deadly even this early. Let's try to disarm it -- how hard could it be?  Oh. Whoops. Death Count: 1  Never mind that. Let's talk to this guy instead.  : I'd like to learn about alchemy. : If I know what to do with it? Ew.  : So, uh, what can I make?  : Can I heal myself during a fight? No, you can't heal during a fight. This is a hardcore RPG, motherfuckers!   We'll buy the reagents. Every little bit helps!  Here's a dress I, ah, acquired. Do I look pretty, goons?   Here's the trading plaza, where we'll offload our ill-gotten gains.   We'll become familiar with the Commercium in another playthrough.  Hey, that sounds pretty sweet. Forget what Feng said, we're joining the Imperial Guards!   you know what forget it  While strolling through the graveyard (as we do), we meet this dude. : What do you mean? Christ, everyone's an rear end in a top hat. : Pleasure then. And everyone has a scam. This had better be worth it...  If by "rare quality" he means grifters and murderous loremasters, then I agree.   My man, have you left this graveyard recently? Teron is one bad day away from becoming worm food.  MAKE TERON GREAT AGAIN     Yeah, thanks for wasting my time. *grumble grumble*  Yo, maybe you could get off your rear end and bury this body?  Yuck. At least we get a grappling hook out of this.  Near the palace is this crowd.   "zeal. And for a moment more the spell holds, the crowd subdued in the face of his conviction. But only for a moment." Methinks we've found one of Meru's zealots.   We could throw a stone at the preacher, but let's see what happens.  "I think we've heard enough, old fool," the heckler again. He spits his contempt at the old man's feet then turns, smirking, and pushes his way out through the crowd. At this, the crowd begins to disperse, grinning and making jokes. He makes the mistake of talking down to his audience and everyone leaves.  High intelligence gives us an opportunity to get in the preacher's good graces.    : Who are these Gods you speak of? Where did they come from? : Why did the Gods leave? Why haven't we seen them? If they wish to help us, why did they leave us to starve and struggle? : You spoke of false Lords... : Tell me of Lord Meru.  Sounds like we need to visit Ganezzar. For now, we need to get back to business...        ...like observing what a backwards shithole Teron is.  Weren't we going to show our map to Antidas? Let's get that over with.  The easiest option is to talk our way in.  This is Dellar. Dellar will be a constant pain in the rear end, save for one playthrough. : Master Feng has sent me to see Lord Antidas.    uuugggghh   : What else can you tell me?  : Can you give me any men?    : I'll think about it.Thanks to Biggus Dickus, we can't go in. We could try and solve those problems he mentioned... or we can find another way.  We'll try the palisade route.  How about the grappling hook?  Hey! Luckily, our DEX and STR are high enough.  Did I mention failing the checks from this point results in instant death?   It may seem suicidal, but we're going for the guard house.   Heading west...  poo poo poo poo poo poo go back I strongly advise against killing the guards unless you've got high charisma and good persuasion skills -- Antidas will call you out for it, and if you can't convince him? Game over. The back of the guardhouse might be safer.  It's not, but we can get some loot for our trouble.   Another option: impersonating a guard. Since we have no points in Impersonate, it's time to go upstairs.  Yet another option: pretend to be a servant. We'll try the tower from this level.  nope We make our way back outside and investigate the ground floor.  nope! The only option open to us is going to the east side of the compound...  ...climbing onto the roof...   ...and hastily picking the window lock.  Into the dining room!  Thank god no one glances under the table.  Time to check out the display room.   I really need to put some levels into Traps. We might juuuust make it...  ... Death Count: 2  A perception of 7 gets us out of this mess.   A combined score of 11 not only opens the door, it allows us to find a hidden chest.   We can't read the scroll at the moment. Looks like the only way out is downstairs.  DELLAR!   Never mind swearing loyalty; it's time to show Antidas the drat map.   "crumbling towns, still fighting each other like savages."   Antidas really likes to hear himself talk.   At long last, we have our long-term goal: find the temple of Thor-Agoth. : I want to learn more about your House, my Lord. Seriously, gently caress Teron. Next time: Digging for artifacts and killing a bunch of people. rudecyrus fucked around with this message at 00:42 on Feb 11, 2020 |
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Jan 21, 2020 06:23
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| # ? Jun 2, 2023 05:18 |
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The one thing this game does really well is selling that yes, everything has crumbled, there are no adults coming, and everyone is scamming/lying to you so you should have no shame in stealing everything not nailed down.
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Jan 21, 2020 09:52
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