Bridge District Murders (minor spoilers)

[Dundee Slaytern]

You still left out the question of,

Have you asked the merchant to identify the Hide?

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by Dundee Slaytern: You still left out the question of, Have you asked the merchant to identify the Hide?

You're right, Dundee, I have not asked the merchant to identify the Hide yet. I will do that after finishing the Astral Prison and see what happens then.

[Link]

Er, Cerek, that was suggested a couple of posts ago by numerous people you know The 'witch' dialogue doens't take you anywhere, true, but as it is involved in the quest, I wasn't sure whether or not it was important.

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by Link: Er, Cerek, that was suggested a couple of posts ago by numerous people you know The 'witch' dialogue doens't take you anywhere, true, but as it is involved in the quest, I wasn't sure whether or not it was important.

Yes, Link, I realize that. But I had already started quest to rescue Haer'Dalis by then, and now it seems he needs to be rescued from an Astral Prison.

Actually, I've been looking forward to the Astral Prison Quest ever since leaving Chateau Irenicus because it has two items my bard really needs - the Melodic Chain Mail and a pair of Boots of Speed. I actually wanted to start that quest before the Murder Mystery, but I also knew that clearing out the Tanner's House - while challenging - doesn't take that long.

The reason I ranted a couple of posts ago is because people were still saying "Talk to Rampah (or beggar/street urchin/etc) and talk to Rose too". I stated in my opening post that I had already taken both of these steps to begin the Murder Mystery Quest, but I still had people saying "You need to talk to Rampah and Rose".

I didn't mean to get "testy", it just seemed like some people weren't even reading the posts I had made up to that point.

Anyway, I've entered the Astral Prison and defeated the bounty hunters (with a lot less hassle than I anticipated. I should be able to finish the Prison either tonight or tomorrow, because none of the other fights are terribly hard until I get to the Head Warden Cambion. I plan to try my very first Tenser's Transformation in that battle. Once I get back to the Prime Material Plane, I will go back to the merchant and have him Identify the Hide - then we will see if my Bridge District Murder Quest is really "buggered" or not.

[Sir Goulum]

If you get stuck on the premliminary stuff, you can just attack the tanner. It does the same, I think.

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by Sir Goulum: If you get stuck on the premliminary stuff, you can just attack the tanner. It does the same, I think.

Welcome Back, Sir G. Long time, no see.

Yes, I could just attack the tanner, but as I mentioned a couple of times before, that goes against the principles of this particular character. I even regret killing the old man's pet Carrion Crawler under the Copper Coronet just to get a sword I wasn't even going to use.

So, from a roleplaying standpoint, attacking the tanner without provocation isn't an option.

[Link]

I very much respect you and your roleplaying, Cerek, as I really can't be up to it to play in character all too much. In the end, I like the storyline better than any limitations I put on myself and/or my character.

And about your rant; I know people who rant a lot more direct than you do Cerek the Calmth might even be an understatement [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img]

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by Link: I very much respect you and your roleplaying, Cerek, as I really can't be up to it to play in character all too much. In the end, I like the storyline better than any limitations I put on myself and/or my character. And about your rant; I know people who rant a lot more direct than you do Cerek the Calmth might even be an understatement [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img]

Ahhhh.....thanks for the compliment, Link. I appreciate it. I admit that - in my first BGII game - I didn't roleplay nearly as well. I was playing a Chaotic Neutral Wizard Slayer (which would allow me to do pretty much whatever I wanted to), but I still did things in the game the character normally wouldn't do just to gain extra treasure or experience (like taking the "ransom payment" for the lady in the Bridge District so that I could eventually get the Big Metal Unit in ToB).

As for my bard, I'm definitely having fun roleplaying him. I have the Multiple Stronghold option installed, but I can't see him being interested in the Thieve's Guild or the Planar Sphere. He might be interested in De'Arnise keep (just because of the prestige that goes with it), but I don't anticipate him seeking any other strongholds. On the other hand, my FIRST PC to play with the Multiple Stronghold option is an assassin. He most definitely DOES want to have all the strongholds, because that will increase his wealth and power. He wants to be one of the most powerful figures in Akthahla and having control of all the strongholds is one way to ensure he has a hand in almost anything that happens.

My roleplaying even led to some interesting situations in my PnP days. I had a ranger/barbarian duo that I used to play a lot. They always traveled and adventured together. One afternoon, my roommate set up a quick encounter for them. We were exploring and found a cave full of Stone Giants. Naturally, my ranger and barbarian both attacked the giants quickly and without mercy - only to have the "father" return home after we just finished killing his family and start wailing over the death of his loved ones. THAT'S when I remembered that Stone Giants are NEUTRAL - not evil. Needless to say, my ranger felt horrible about acting out of ignorance and attacking without provocation.

Several levels later, I was playing the ranger and barbarian in a game under a different DM. We were escorting a caravan and came upon a group of Stone Giants as we negotiated our way through a narrow mountain pass. The DM was all ready to start rolling the dice for initiatives and "to hit" rolls, until I announced that my ranger REFUSED to attack the giants.
[img]graemlins/jawdrop.gif[/img]
{hehe} The look on the DM's face was priceless. The caravan was trying to build/establish a trade route between two major cities. When I refused to attack the Stone Giants and destroy their home, the DM had to change his game around and re-route the Trade Route. [img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img]

Several days ago, one of the newer members posted that it was easiest to roleplay your PC the first time through BGII, but after that it was harder to do, because you would "justify" your characters actions in any way necessary to get the treasure or experience you wanted. I disagree. The first time through is generally when players are the greediest and want everything for their character. For me, it is much easier this time to say "OK, if I have to threaten the tanner in order to proceed, I'll simply skip this particular quest."

[Link]

Originally posted by Cerek the Barbaric: Several days ago, one of the newer members posted that it was easiest to roleplay your PC the first time through BGII, but after that it was harder to do, because you would "justify" your characters actions in any way necessary to get the treasure or experience you wanted. I disagree. The first time through is generally when players are the greediest and want everything for their character. For me, it is much easier this time to say "OK, if I have to threaten the tanner in order to proceed, I'll simply skip this particular quest."

I can understand both your opinions on the matter but IMHO both ideas are debatably close(st) to the definition of roleplaying. On the one hand you've got a newbie player, who does NOT know the consequences of his actions. This way, he does not know about any treasures, experience gain, or anything to come. Therefore the consequences are truly unexpected, and he just has to deal with the results.
On the other hand, your opinion is roleplaying as well. You know the outcome of the battle, you know the treasures that are available, but purely from the viewpoint of your character you decide whether or not to actually take that treasure, kill that monster, etc.

I think it's just a matter of different having a different opinion [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by Cerek the Barbaric: quote: Originally posted by Dundee Slaytern: You still left out the question of, Have you asked the merchant to identify the Hide?

You're right, Dundee, I have not asked the merchant to identify the Hide yet. I will do that after finishing the Astral Prison and see what happens then. [/QUOTE]Well that did the trick. When I went back to the tanner and informed him that I knew about the elephant hide as well as the distinctive smell left at the scene of the crime, he realized the charade was up and his guards attacked while he made his escape. I dealt with his cronies and associates easily enough (in fact, a lot easier than I remembered the fight being from my last game). I then reported my findings back to the Guard Captain and recieved ample reward for my efforts. [img]graemlins/cool.gif[/img]