new game

[Armen]

probably of interest to nobody right but the forum looks lonely

after a bit of casual thought for a game that i won't abandon i've come up with the following:

BG1 NPCs only:
Minsc - will keep throughout -only melee option
Jahiera - briefly (died in chateau irenicus when mad with grief she went berserkly fighting and then stod on a trap)
Imoen - etc...

PC:
Mage (Conjurer) -> cleric

the plan is to go for Imoen as soon as possible (i usually delay as long as i can) and then to dual to cleric when i have a significant encounter with a god in a later chapter dream sequence

i also pledge to not use
traps
improved kitthix (and any of the improved weapons)
rings of invisibility
shield of balduran
deliberate spirit troll respwaning

i guess that's about it

[Armen]

going well so far - halfway through the asylum maze and am cleric(5) - i got up to 12 mage before i dualled (threw 100K XP away so i could dual at the right time too...)

i've been liking not worrying too much about power and not collecting all the best stuff - i did do the first troll in nalia's keep to get the easy booty and the ring plus the easy bits of the sewers (for the cloak, the rod and the wand) but that was it

quest wise i've just done the umar hills village quests and the slavers

oh, and i diverted to get the helm of charm protection as minsc was constantly getting charmed by vampires but that's it . . .

even one (improved) mind flayer is hard work with this party i've learned so the next-ish chapter might be tricky

learning point: getting ring of free action reminded me that it stops boots of speed working - this lead to the realisation that arbane's sword's free action*doesn't* - pretty nifty

[Kezardin]

Going along nicely, Armen - and it sounds like you're enjoying yourself too

[Armen]

i am

sad news is that Imoen got irreversibly killed by one of the monster paintings traps - it was a surprise when it happened but then i thought 'you know what? i can live with that' so it's just minsc and PC

in related trying-to-manage-with-just-a-low-to-mid-level-cleric news, i learn that greater command is not only party-unfriendly, it's caster unfriendly - good job minsc was able to rush up and kill the sleeping sahaguin while i dozed - good spell though especially as i won't be able to use the wand of cloudkill for some time yet . . . i've only got two slots though so if i'm going to make a dent in these (improved) guys i'll have to rest a lot or think of something else - a frontal assault on even one leaves us both stunned and, very shortly after, dead (i usually have a bunch of HLAs a reflection shield, invisibility on tap and two charged wands of cloudkill at this point!)

UPDATE: looks like priestess and avatar could be a bit of a problem . . .

i think the difficulty of the next chapter will depend on whether i can summon skele warriors - i fear that i won't be able to

[Armen]

ok - it took a bunch of reolads and three resurections to even sneak round the outside of of the city of caverns taking out as few groups as possible

currently working out on the batting cages at the start of the next chapter

[Armen]

done the main gnome quest - Minsc is level 13 and i have my first level 6 cleric spell

on my first experimental trip to the western tunnels i tried to cheese the beholders there with Sanctuary and Blade Barrier but they dispelled (or removed) it and then i died - slowly, cautiously, and laboriously will have to be the way i think

[Kezardin]

As a long time member of C.R.A. (Chronic Restarters Anonymous) I hope your 'quest' is succesful

[Armen]

noooo

i cleared the western tunnels, tidied up the enemies outside the city, spoke to aldalon, entered the city, had the conversation to start the first main UD quest, left, dealt with the party (all of which took a fair old time), returned to the city, rested, went to the interecption site

nothing

no sola, nothing

went back to the city, and he's on the platform doing his 'i am preoccupied go away chat' - rested for another 24 hours (i'm only supposed to have 12) - nothing

goddammit!

my last hard save without the problem is before i did the western tunnels



if anyone has any ideas before i go back several hours (or make myself a kenasi->thief) i'd all ears . . .

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

What about autosaves?

[Armen]

last autosave was leaving the city on the way to discovering the problem - hard saves were earlier

thanks though