Champions of Krynn - The Next Groggy Adventure Thing

Started by BanzaiCat, October 23, 2016, 05:35:54 PM

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BanzaiCat

14. Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls of XP

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I remembered this secret door at the south end of the inner sanctum...I think this will take us right out into Throtl.



I'm hoping that our 'relief' of the temple means Throtl is a safe haven now and we can move through the streets with impunity.



Yep, we're able to get out without being harassed.



Two MIDI-induced footsteps later and we're at the Outpost.



Tithe! Tithe! Give to the church! Goodbye, blood money!

First, we head over to the Training Hall.



BC becomes a 2nd level Knight. He cannot advance to level 3 yet. Want to guess why? He has 9,999 experience points. Guess how many he needs to get to 3rd level?

Yep! 10,000 experience points. UGH, this game!!

Anyway, moving on for the moment...



Good on MIRTH. But he's in the same boat as BC...and I've just realized something.

You can't advance more than two levels at a time in this game. I might have screwed the pooch here. Instead of letting you keep enough XP to advance two levels, it cuts you down to one point shy of what you need to get to that next level.

So, basically, the game has robbed MIRTH of over 2,000 XP. I hope that won't be a problem later in the game, but it's kind of lame too because the Throtl missions are ongoing and there's no real hard or fast break like there was in Phlan (Pool of Radiance), where you clear a block, go back to town, level up, rinse and repeat.

Oh well. I'm not going back and playing through all that again. I just hope that screw up on my part doesn't cause issues down the road. I'm going to have to check the XP levels constantly from here on out.











I think I'm going to go with Stinking Cloud for BBMIKE. The other spells are useless (at least, in my mind they are; your mileage may vary).



That's it. All leveled up and now 1 friggin' XP away from leveling up...AGAIN.

I might have to go off into the wilderness and find some hapless woodland creatures to beat up on to level up again.

But first, we have to head to the Armory to sell off crap/identify crap.

Pooling our funds, you can now see our current treasure level.



If necessary, I can appraise some of the gems or jewelry to get us where we need to be.



An easy way of not wasting money on identifying magic items is to just go through your inventory and offer to sell things. If they offer you 1,250 steel pieces for a shield, which normally they'd offer you something like zero steel pieces, you know you have a Magic ItemTM on your hands!



This one happens to be a Shield +1.



Additional identifications reveal a Flail +1 and a couple of Potions of Healing (one of Extra Healing) for SIR SLASH.

That's about it for the items...we've sold off a few suits of armor and identified a few magic items. We next head over to the Commandant's office.



Nice. I love vague directions. I guess we'll return to Throtl soon enough.



After returning to the Inn where we save our game (I'd already memorized spells there a moment ago), we head back out.

I want to wander around a while in the hopes of getting that 1 measly XP bump, but I'm not sure if there's random encounters or not...surely, there must be!

And my prayers are answered...err, sorta.



Nah, thanks, we're good here.



It doesn't take long before we run into some monsters.

Since we get initiative, I take the time to spread my guys out into a battle line. I have no idea what's coming until I have AIRBOY do his Yell ability.



Great! Goblins. No sweat. Hill Giant? Sweat!

HILL GIANT
One of the smaller of the giant races, they are brutish hulks possessing low intelligence and tremendous strength.




When the Giant hits our line, both SIR SLASH and METALDOG hit him. Of course, the Knight totally misses. The Hill Giant then pummels SIR SLASH for 11HP.

I have BBMIKE cast his new Stinking Cloud spell, in the hopes of taking out the Giant. All it does is make his tent-sized lungs cough, though.



At least it's there; if any Goblins are dumb enough to move into it, likely the cloud will nullify them.

BC manages to rectify himself by hitting the Hill Giant for 16HP (!). The monster still has 4HP though...and is just as dangerous at 1 HP as full HP.

BC then gets another turn in quick order, and hits the monster for 17HP (!). Maybe I should stop complaining about him not hitting things...the Hill Giant goes down in a heap of filthy. Woot!



Unfortunately, the Gobbos decide to go around the cloud and come at us from the right side. That's not too big a deal; I shift our lines accordingly, staying in Guarded mode, and when they hit our lines, two of them go down immediately.



A wounded SIR SLASH takes down one of the Goblins quickly after that.

BC, meanwhile, sweeps two Goblins...and misses them both.

What ya gonna do...? Sigh.

METALDOG takes out another Goblin, leaving three of them. I move MIRTH in, whom gets wounded – not because a guarding Goblin hits him, but because I hit the wrong key and MIRTH moves away, inviting a free attack.

Oops.

I move MIRTH back in and he sweeps all three Gobbos, killing all of them. Way to go!



We get 488 XP for that little dance party, which should put us over the top for those next levels.



Holy CRAP, what was that Giant carrying?!? Treasure time!

And after that, we return to the Outpost for Level Up Time!









I'm going to choose Stinking Cloud for METALDOG, also.



SIR SLASH now has access to three Hold Person spells!



And that is that. We will move back to Throtl in the next chapter.

Sir Slash

WA-HOO! Level Three Clerics get all the Hot Chicks. Don't look at me like that.... Clerics need love too. Hey BC, I really like the way my armor and trousers match but my head looks a little flat. Anything you can do about that?
"Take a look at that". Sgt. Wilkerson-- CMBN. His last words after spotting a German tank on the other side of a hedgerow.

airboy

Hey Sir Slash.  I found a picture of your last good dream experience!

Sir Slash

"Take a look at that". Sgt. Wilkerson-- CMBN. His last words after spotting a German tank on the other side of a hedgerow.

BanzaiCat

15. We're Going Back to Throtl...Throtl...Throtl...

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Having done what is necessary back at the Outpost, we head back on the short road to Throtl, and enter the ruins like we own the place.



It's weird not getting jumped by monsters as we move through the now-silent halls and streets of the ruined city. Because there's no traffic to get in our way, it doesn't take long before we find the secret door to the Inner Temple.



We retrace our steps and then cross into the northwestern part of the Temple, where we figure the bad guys were evacuating from.

I'm hoping we're on the right path, and that perhaps the game will throw me a frikkin' bone, here-



I guess we're on the right track. Carry on.



It's just a small patrol of five Baaz Draconians.



In the first round, BC cuts one down, MIRTH misses, and METALDOG fells a second creature.



Also, AIRBOY pisses them off a lot.

BC gets nicked for a couple of HP, but otherwise the party is unscathed. We get 125 XP for the encounter, plus 25 steel pieces.

A short distance away, we come across a scene of bad guys in the final stages of scattering to the four winds.



I should try Parlay. I mean, we're going to kill them severely, but since we're Good-aligned (technically) we should give them a chance to give up peacefully.



Well, ain't THAT a fine how-d'you-do.

Fair enough...sure, it allowed them to close in with us, but I prefer to think of it as getting THEM to within OUR weapon range!



It's just six Zombies and one evil Cleric.

Since BBMIKE has initiative, I have him cast Sleep, which doesn't work on the Cleric.

Next comes AIRBOY. We need to nullify that Cleric as a spellcaster this first round, so I have him wind up his hoopak and toss something painful at the bad guy. And, he misses.

MIRTH has a go at their undead front line.



He easily brings one down.

SIR SLASH comes next, and you'd think he'd be able to Turn a few of the Zombies...but he fails. Nothing happens. So far this 'easy' encounter is going any way but easy.

BC and METALDOG both bring down a Zombie each.

The worst thing is, we're not able to hit the Cleric, so he gets a spell off – Cause Disease.

He casts it on MIRTH, and it fails to do anything.

Seems like this Curate went to the same school as DIRTEN. That's an old Pool of Radiance AAR joke, by the way.



Both MIRTH and SIR SLASH fail to hit the evil Cleric, so I have to resort to having BBMIKE cast his one and only Magic Missile spell to hurt the Cleric so he won't cast any spells this round. Fortunately, BBMIKE gets the spell off and hurts the bad guy, just before the bad guy gets his turn. Angrily, he swings his weapon at MIRTH, and misses.

It takes a bit but we finally bring down the evil Cleric and his undead minions. No doubt a few looks are thrown at SIR SLASH and his Pug-Metal gawd hybrid beliefs, wondering what it is they have against undead, exactly.



Afterwards, we find some arrows and a potion of some sort, but they'll have to remain a mystery for a moment as we press on to find some stairs leading down into the darkness ahea-



But before we do, here's a recap of the party.

1) BANZAI-CAT Human Level 3 Knight of the Crown (10,850 XP, need 18,500 for Level 4)
2) MIRTH Hill Dwarf Level 4 Ranger (10,934 XP, need 20,001 for Level 5)
3) METALDOG Half Elf Level 4 Fighter/Level 3 White Mage (10,378 XP, need 18,001 for Level 5 Fighter and 20,000 for Level 4 White Mage)
4) SIR SLASH Human (Pug Hybrid) Level 3 Mishakal Cleric (8,433 XP, need 15,250 for Level 4)
5) AIRBOY Kender Level 4 Thief (5,934 XP, need 10,001 for Level 5)
6) BBMIKE Human Level 3 White Mage (16,334 XP, need 20,000 for Level 4)

We interrupt this recap to bring you back to our regularly-scheduled dungeon clearing, already in progress.



Ah, another lovely vacation spot!

Advancing a few steps into these underground catacombs, we suddenly find ourselves in the middle of a well-planned defense.



There are several enemy Fighters and a couple of Mages, too.

The Mages are high priority targets; as such, BC strikes down one Mage with one blow.

Unfortunately, the other is more resistant to our efforts. METALDOG's Sleep spell doesn't affect the remaining Mage, nor does a Hold Person spell that SIR SLASH casts. That leaves BBMIKE to cast his Magic Missile, which injures the evil Mage.



And, of course, AIRBOY makes everyone angry by shouting insults surrounding their heritage and upbringing.



However, the next round, between METALDOG casting another Sleep spell and SIR SLASH casting another Hold Person spell, all of the bad guys are left helpless before our mighty coup-de-grassy...err...might!

We take a few steps back after the fight (which nets us less than 200 XP and only a few minor and unimportant additions to our inventories) so we can re-memorize spells, before we head back in deeper into these catacombs.

Sir Slash

I'm thinking that 'Cause Disease' spell cast on Mirth-dwarf didn't have an effect because of that Herpes medication he's been taking. And all that drinking he did back at the outpost.  :clap:
"Take a look at that". Sgt. Wilkerson-- CMBN. His last words after spotting a German tank on the other side of a hedgerow.

mirth

The truth is that my character is the cause of most disease in this universe.
"45 minutes of pooping Tribbles being juggled by a drunken Horta would be better than Season 1 of TNG." - SirAndrewD

"you don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire" - Bawb

"Can't 'un' until you 'pre', son." - Gus

JasonPratt

^^ This is going to be one of those Fizban plot-twists, isn't it?


Hey, did Airboy always have a microphone to help ticc off the enemy?
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

BanzaiCat

#143
16. Temple Your Expectations, Folks...

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With the demise of the last Draco ambush, we move on.



Soon we come across a door that leads to some inner sanctum – I'm guessing, anyway, as it looks like the hall goes around outside of this central area. As this is a temple, there's no doubt there's something quite disgusting, evil, and twisted going on in here – far worse than what takes place in CNN's programming management offices.



I decide to have SIR SLASH cast his one and only Bless spell, to help slightly with all of our THAC0s and I think saving throws as well. Hey, +1 is +1, ya know?



Oh...goodie.

More doors!

There's an inner sanctum to the inner sanctum, apparently.

Before we can even get to the damned door, though...



Another Random EncounterTM for our amusement!



Five Skeletons and four Hobbos jump us from out of the shadows.

It doesn't take much to beat them down...one Skeleton falls to our weapons, while the other four are Turned when SIR SLASH holds his holy symbol aloft in one hand, with the other held equally high and portraying the holy hand symbol of his order...



and invokes the chant of his religion...

No more living trapped inside / In her way I'll surely die / In the eye of the tornado, blow me away

The words invoked, and a cloudy, lightning-filled maelstrom forms above our heads...



...and through it, parting nature's fury with his eternal power, appears SIR SLASH's metal gawd, fingers dancing across his holy instrument to bring forth his unrelenting fury upon the Undead...



The Skeletons evaporate like light and airy hits of the seventies, while the Hobbos die in a more conventional way. But not before they hit METALDOG twice (of course!) for about 10HP worth of damage.

Sigh.

No biggie, we just encamp and SIR SLASH casts Cure Light Wounds on him. Strangely, this heals all 10HP.

Who am I to question SIR SLASH's metal gawd?

All hail the Mustaine, slayer of unholy life!



How rude, the door is locked!

What do we do to locked doors?

I knew you'd say that.





Our breaking-and-entering efforts are rewarded by...



But of course we are.

Baaz aren't too big a deal, but I'm worried they might just be a distraction, or a means of plinking a few HPs and spells from us before the 'real' encounter begins.



In any case, there are six of the boogers here. They fall quickly, but get their licks in, and METALDOG on top of that 'loses' his weapon in one of them when they turn to stone. I must not forget to re-equip it.

He still manages to kill another Baaz with his bare hands, though...not bad!



Famous last words!



That lackadaisical attitude is just what we need to re-prep for a big battle, I think!

It gives us a chance to encamp (yes, right there in the inner sanctum), cast a few Cure Light Wounds, re-memorize spells, and re-cast Bless again (just in case).

Okay, let's see if we're ready for this one...



Unholy ritual being conducted...or college psychology department meeting...check...



Said ritual is done incorrectly or by incompetent oafs...check...

Oh, and it clears out some of the bad guys...double check...



No! It's my worst fear ever!

We've come across a SJW gathering! They quickly blame us for their own incompetence!!

CHECK!

That's all the boxes checked. Let's say we begin a battle, eh?



This one's a little hairy. There's no less than three Mages and three Clerics, all of whom can make our day very unpleasant.

BBMIKE gets initiative, so that means it's Sleep time, kids!

Unfortunately it only puts one Cleric and one Mage to sleep. Of course.

METALDOG's Sleep spell does the same thing...only puts half of the spellcasters to sleep that I aimed at. Since they're so spread out, that's bad news.

And of course, one of the un-Sleep'd Mages casts a damn Magic Missile, hitting SIR SLASH, juuuust before his turn...so he can't cast spells this round.

Damn game.

I bring SIR SLASH around to the flank, where he brings his mace down into the head of the Mage there, one that's not sleeping. He does 9HP of damage, bringing the spell-flinger down quickly.

One of the evil Clerics then casts Hold Person, and gets both SIR SLASH and METALDOG. So they're both out, and likely will be felled by the Baaz on that side of the line, too.



I'm going to have to risk BC's neck by moving him into that gap; he's going to be open to a backstab attack by one of the Baaz, but it can't be helped. I need to take out those spellcasters!

The good news is he gets through without a scratch. The bad news is, of course, he misses.

And even better, BBMIKE casts a Sleep spell that catches BC. I had to risk it, though...one of the Clerics was in the middle of casting a spell and I needed to try to put him out of commission before he could get it off.

He's down for the count now, so it's up to the others.



BBMIKE, out of spells, bandages BC, while AIRBOY winds his Hoopak up and takes out one of the sleeping bad guys. Next a Cleric takes a swing at MIRTH, and then initiative goes right back to AIRBOY (must be a new round!). AIRBOY then takes out the other sleeping Mage.



We're down to three Baaz (two of whom are asleep, which is fortunate as so too are METALDOG and SIR SLASH) and one Cleric. I have BBMIKE equip Darts, which I don't like to do because you cannot end combat until they're un-equipped. Still, he needs to do something other than just stand there and look pretty, so he hurls one of them at the Cleric, and of course misses.

Next, the evil Cleric begins casting a spell, and next initiative goes to MIRTH. Here's his chance to heroically interrupt the spellcaster...and he misses.

Of course.

It doesn't matter much, because the Cleric casts Cure Disease, which doesn't affect MIRTH (must have made a saving throw vs. useless spells, I guess).

Finally, MIRTH connects (after two misses) with the Cleric and kills him. BBMIKE equips a dagger and heads in to cut down the sleeping Baaz (heroically of course). This causes the final Baaz to flee in panic, and of course both AIRBOY and MIRTH miss with their free attacks as it runs away into a corner. Now we have to chase after him and kill him from a distance, dammit.



Fortunately it only takes two rounds to bring that last cowering Baaz down.



We get a pretty decent treasure reward.



Plus, some kind of experience point bonus to boot.



It looks like we've addressed the problems here, and the Temple is free of evil influences.



But there's still the northwest part of this inner area to explore, just to be sure we didn't miss anything. Plus those Baaz that ran in and then ran out...could they possibly be running to warn someone of our presence?

I need to think seriously about returning to civilization to level these guys up. For example, MIRTH has just over 12,000 experience points, but he's only a level 2 Ranger. According to the advancement tables for this game, he needs 10,001 XP to be a 4th level Ranger.

Yeah...I think we'll have to chance a return before coming back to drill deeper into this mess.

mirth

"45 minutes of pooping Tribbles being juggled by a drunken Horta would be better than Season 1 of TNG." - SirAndrewD

"you don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire" - Bawb

"Can't 'un' until you 'pre', son." - Gus

bbmike

#145
I'm really good at putting other people to sleep.
"My life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplace of existence."
-Sherlock Holmes

"You know, just once I'd like to meet an alien menace that wasn't immune to bullets."
-Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart

"There's a horror movie called Alien? That's really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you!"
-The Doctor

"Before Man goes to the stars he should learn how to live on Earth."
-Clifford D. Simak

BanzaiCat

It's been a while, but I have one more chapter stored up. I just haven't had time to deploy it in the last few months.

Once that chapter is posted, I'll get back to playing and continuing this AAR. I haven't had much in the way of inspiration to do anything particularly witty, unfortunately.

mirth

"45 minutes of pooping Tribbles being juggled by a drunken Horta would be better than Season 1 of TNG." - SirAndrewD

"you don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire" - Bawb

"Can't 'un' until you 'pre', son." - Gus

Sir Slash

I wasn't asleep. I was just checking my Twitter page.
"Take a look at that". Sgt. Wilkerson-- CMBN. His last words after spotting a German tank on the other side of a hedgerow.

JasonPratt

...um, we're already two chapters past that one, BC. Maybe three.

We've groundhogged.
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!