Let's Play Sandrah Saga - A Baldur's Gate Adventure

RelentlessImp · # ¿ Jul 14, 2021 19:31

I see I made the right choice to install the Sandrah mod for a few likeable additions and not take Sandrah at all after Gorion's death. Now that I've seen this, however, I am seriously considering completely reinstalling and wiping away all traces of this mod...

Adbot · # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 04:13

RelentlessImp · # ¿ Jul 14, 2021 23:55

Black Robe posted:

It's too late. Your computer is infected. You have to exorcise your hard drive.

Cythereal posted:

You can't leave. She won't let you.

I have a young priest, an old priest, and a priestess of the Old Gods chanting benedictions over my hard drive while the new install occurs. To avoid all the problems, I moved the Sandrah Saga install into a separate directory, just in case her presence befouls any attempts to be rid of her. Also because the Sandrah Saga install works perfectly, which is rare; should this new one function properly, I will be performing all the exorcisms in every religion, dead and extant, to be rid of it.

Speaking of which I should probably do an EET LP once I have the new install working to show off all the new stuff, and the mod stuff, without the Beast tainting it.

RelentlessImp · # ¿ Jul 17, 2021 06:50

Vichan posted:

Excellent idea, I think we could all use a palate cleanser at this point!

So I was streaming a test run of the new install after excising Sandrah and decided to go to Ulcaster Ruins...

...I've never seen so many dead dogs.

(I also clipped the whole fight; I use a lot of console commands when exploring on test runs, but almost never CTRL+Y and CTRL+R unless I'm just too drat frustrated to reload. Here it is.)

PS: Cythereal, I just finished the BG1 portion of the test playthrough with Valerie for 98% of it. She's easily one of the most enjoyable companion mods I've ever picked up.

RelentlessImp fucked around with this message at 07:21 on Jul 17, 2021

RelentlessImp · # ¿ Jul 17, 2021 21:42

biscuits and crazy posted:

Is that the same Tenya from the fishermen sidequest? The Priestess of Umberlee?

It certainly is. You get your very own 12 year old girl Chaotic Neutral Cleric companion (who I change into a Ranger/Cleric usually and give the Hands of Takkok as she has 9 Strength otherwise). Thankfully, the dialogue written for her writes her as an actual preteen, one that's a bit lost and confused, having only the teachings of the Bitch Queen, Umberlee, to fall back on, and finding that it isn't always 100% appropriate. She also has a few unique interactions with the Temple of Umberlee in Baldur's Gate, and a unique quest to learn how to use the Bowl of Water Elemental Summoning (which, like Boo, goes into her first quickslot and can't be removed both before and after). She has absolutely hilariously adorable banters with Imoen, as well. She's easily a contender for one of my absolute favorite NPC mods. I did have a 'wait, did I just take a 12 year old girl into a Brothel' moment in the Undercellars, though, which she has an interjection for. Thankfully you don't explain to her what a whorehouse is, but I'm sure if Sandrah was there she would have given Tenya the entire spiel.

RelentlessImp fucked around with this message at 21:48 on Jul 17, 2021

RelentlessImp · # ¿ Jul 25, 2021 15:05

Vichan posted:

I've said it before but you can tell that Kevin Michael Richardson really enjoys portraying Sarevok with the way he's hamming it up.

Kevin Michael Richardson and David Warner both seem like they had a lot of fun playing Sarevok and Irenicus, respectively. Some of their lines are seared into the memory of anyone who's played these games, for certain. Such as, "Face ME! Face the NEW LORD OF MURDER!" and "Ahhh, the Child of Bhaal has awoken. It is time for more... experiments." Definitely the fact that the games are only partially voice acted helped that along; they saved the voice acting for the important stuff (Jan Jansen notwithstanding). Also Michael Dorn, aka Worf of Star Trek fame, voicing Bhaal/The Instinct in the BG2 Chapter 4/BGT/EET Chapter... 16? dream sequence.

Vichan posted:

Excuse me while my mage-playing rear end has a little gasp of envy at this goddamned mask holy poo poo. +4 spells per level? Now I wish I hadn't let Tome and Blood change them all to only provide +1/level at most to work with its Sorcerer revamp... I also have Longest Road installed, looking forward to seeing what I can do with Joneleth once I get there. Surprised they didn't give it Improved Alacrity as well, unless that's what the "Haste effect" is.

RelentlessImp fucked around with this message at 15:18 on Jul 25, 2021

RelentlessImp · # ¿ Jul 28, 2021 15:44

Jen'lig is the best. I wonder how much effort it'd take to rip her out of the Sandrah Saga, eliminate all references to Sandrah, and make her a stand-alone NPC...

RelentlessImp · # ¿ Aug 6, 2021 01:44

The Pfizer vaccine is weird. Everyone I know who's gotten it wound up needing 1-2 days of sleeping. I was looking forward to it after my second shot, but all I wound up with was a sore arm for a few days. I felt cheated.

RelentlessImp · # ¿ Aug 7, 2021 01:11

So there is something that can stop Sandrah. I was starting to wonder.

RelentlessImp · # ¿ Aug 28, 2021 13:20

Vichan posted:

God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?

Excuse me? Excuse me? Sandrah, you already had a lot to answer for, but turning badass Cleric/Mage ToB Aerie back into a simpering, mewling child desperate for a knight in shining armor? This... if everything up to this point hadn't made me remove Sandrah, this would have been the last straw. Aerie had the most amazing character arc in BG2->ToB, romance or not, Haer'Dalis or not, going from frightened child to goddess of death and destruction in gameplay while turning into a brave, heroic adventurer who could stand on her own two feet story-wise. And using her wings as a basis, the wings she had gotten over?

Aerie could solo her way through Throne of Bhaal and you turned her into... into this? Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.

RelentlessImp fucked around with this message at 13:23 on Aug 28, 2021

RelentlessImp · # ¿ Aug 29, 2021 12:50

Zulily Zoetrope posted:

I still don't know what we're supposed to think of the Cowled Wizards "losing Mystra's blessing" and immediately quitting to join a bigger, eviler gang of wizards.

This bit actually has precedent in Forgotten Realms lore. When you severely abuse magic, Mystra will straight up cut you off from the Weave. This is where Shadow Adepts come from, utilizing a dark reflection of the Weave emanating from, and controlled by, Shar. Any number of spellcasters who have been stripped of the Weave turn to Shar or Vhaeraun (who, among other things, is the Drow patron of Shadow Magic) and start utilizing the Shadow Weave instead, which led to the formation of "shadow cults"; there were even a large number of them in the Council of Elders of Halruua at one point, intending to overthrow worshipers of Mystra.

Of course, the Shadow Weave has its disadvantages that put them at odds with those who utilize the Weave. You can't use the Shadow Weave to cast any spells that create light of any kind, and any spells using the Shadow Weave of the evocation or transmutation schools are weakened, while enchantment, illusion and necromancy are stronger. The biggest advantage is that Shadow Adepts aren't affected by Wild Magic or Dead Magic Zones, as those only impact Mystra's Weave (though antimagic fields still stop it). Also the two different Weaves had problems affecting each other, such as a Weave user had problems dispelling a Shadow Weave user's spells, and vice versa; and the other biggest advantage was that magic items created using the Shadow Weave had the same benefits (and penalties) as their spells, which meant you could roll into a Dead Magic Zone wielding Shadow Weave-created magic items and have them fully functional.

RelentlessImp fucked around with this message at 12:57 on Aug 29, 2021

RelentlessImp · # ¿ Aug 29, 2021 14:04

Cythereal posted:

For what it's worth, when I wrote Valerie my take on the Cowled Wizards was that they aren't necessarily evil, and many of the rank and file like Valerie sincerely believe that they're doing an unpleasant but important job of protecting Amn from evil magic - while her BG2 material will probably never be released, I wrote in that the Cowled Wizards massacred by Irenicus at Waukeen's Promenade were actually a strike team forming up to investigate the circus and deal with Kalah when Irenicus blew up a chunk of the city. The problem is that most if not all of the Cowled Wizards' leadership is as venal, corrupt, and power-hungry as every other political leader in Amn, and would-be reformers like Valerie are intentionally squashed, exiled, or sent on suicide missions.

You keep teasing us with all this talk about Valerie's BG2 content and it makes me sad. I may just be a fangirl though. :P

RelentlessImp · # ¿ Aug 29, 2021 16:25

Wizardcorp posted:

- I feel bad for Haiass. I'm pretty sure this was originally a standalone mod that never got updated for EE by the original authors, so the Sandrah version is the only one available on newer editions. I guess now he can get it on with whatever Pelligram is...

Actually, Haiass is being actively maintained by Miloch over on SHS, with the last non-Sandrah update being April 6, 2020.

RelentlessImp · # ¿ Sep 5, 2021 17:22

"I am a good swimmer but I have no intention to practice it in the ocean of your drooling." is a surprisingly good one-liner that you'd expect to see in a big-budget action film. A bit wordy for Arnold, but Clive Barker or Jason Statham or Tom Holland as Spider-Man could pull it off.

Also, over in the Other Thread, I've finally put together an InstallSequence for Project Infinity that makes all the mods play nice with each other, if anyone wants to have their own megamod install without Sandrah. You can find it here, but it requires you to download the mods manually. Once done, all you have to do is hit the little "I" next to "Set-InstallSequence" to import, then hit Install; doesn't matter what order they're in in your own copy of Project Infinity, the installer follows the InstallSequence. (You also have to edit Faiths_and_Powers/lib/default_kit_spheres.tpa and comment out Line 82 for it to run properly.)

RelentlessImp fucked around with this message at 14:44 on Sep 7, 2021

RelentlessImp · # ¿ Sep 6, 2021 18:43

Did she credit Classic Adventures' creators at all? Oh who am I kidding, it's Roxanne, course she didn't. EDIT: Oh of course, some of that appears to also be part of Planescape: Torment.

RelentlessImp fucked around with this message at 21:31 on Sep 6, 2021

RelentlessImp · # ¿ Sep 7, 2021 14:45

Mans posted:

Why are literal Gods doing this poo poo

Faerunian gods do stupid poo poo all the time. Not this level of stupid poo poo, but.

RelentlessImp · # ¿ Sep 15, 2021 13:52

I can't swear to it having not actually played my way through Planescape: Torment, but the art design for a lot of these areas look a lot like PS:T's art design. Others look a lot like IWD2's art design.

RelentlessImp · # ¿ Sep 18, 2021 16:41

vilkacis posted:

This seems like poo poo you should maybe have been doing 20 levels and one divinity ago. I really don't have anything to add here, it's just dull and unworthy of a post-ToB character.

This is a common theme in D&D, so I'm unwilling to lay the blame on Roxanne here. AD&D's most epic campaign ended with you killing Lolth (who had all of 80-something HP). Never has there been an actual published adventure for high-level play that didn't treat your player characters as if they were actual loving demigods, as you become in literally every edition of D&D except 5e. Even printed adventures that go to level 20 don't ever treat your PCs as anything above level 10 at most. (For the most egregious example I've ever seen, see my review of Savage Tide here.)

There's a reason people tend to make a divide between "Dungeons & Dragons" and "Dungeons & Logistics"; after a certain level, you almost have to stop playing Dungeons & Dragons and start playing Dungeons & Logistics, because your ability to affect the world around you is so broad-reaching that it's close to being stupid for you to continue as an adventurer.

Even novels written about high-level D&D characters (Elminster, Drizzt) never seem able to move past "basic adventurer" style stories, even when the being in question rivals deities in power and scope. (In fairness to Salvatore, his Cleric Quintet managed to touch on high-level spellcasters briefly.)

So really, Roxanne is just following in the finest tradition of written D&D adventures: Back to loving Basic, even if you're a goddamned Immortal.

Adbot · # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 04:13

RelentlessImp · # ¿ Sep 25, 2021 19:29

Vichan posted:

https://twitter.com/thexpaw/status/1441126290237509634

This worries me a lot. I might be in big trouble if I lose my 2.5 install.

Make a copy of your game folder, now. Let it do the update, then put Steam into Offline mode and copy the modded game folder back into place, and launch through Steam. Et voila, you've bypassed it. Keep the copy for when you put Steam back online and if it updates.

(PS: It should also launch fine from the modded game folder when you double-click on "Baldur.exe".)