Feminina O'Ladybrain posted: " Spoilers for some companions and side quests in Baldur's Gate Well, I don't know where I was, but I got a lot done. Fought a bunch of tough gnolls, got loot, went back to Nashkel cuz Neera died. Went back. Found Brage. Talked him into getting" Play First. Talk Later.
Spoilers for some companions and side quests in Baldur's Gate
Butch:
Well, I don't know where I was, but I got a lot done. Fought a bunch of tough gnolls, got loot, went back to Nashkel cuz Neera died. Went back. Found Brage. Talked him into getting help. Thank Naked Zeus I identified his sword before playing with it. Sold it. I'm sure that will be fine. Went BACK. Found some dude named Charleston Nib at a dig site. Did all that. Left the idol alone.
PHEW! All in one place!
And now that place is done.
Got a nice belt. Got a nice halberd. Imoen levelled AGAIN. How come she's getting all the XP?
Charm person is the best thing ever. Sorry, Charm Person OR MAMMAL. I can charm mammals.
I think I'm going to charm a squirrel just for fun.
Feminina:
Dude, I don't know where you were either, because none of that rings a single bell.
We're managing to magpie in completely different directions!
Here's what I did: poked around, got in some fights, and learned that no, companions will NOT give you two warnings before leaving. You get one warning, some period of time to act on it (probably some number of in-game days, though I wasn't counting), and then they just leave.
Then I tried to reload, all "Kivan, man, don't be like that, we'll go do your thing! We'll go there right now!"
But even the travel time it took to get to where he wanted to go was apparently too much, because he left anyway as soon as we got there. (Dude, we're RIGHT HERE! We're doing it right now! But my pleas were to no avail.)
I contemplated reloading further back, but in the end, I didn't care enough about him to have to redo a bunch of stuff we did between when he first mentioned it and then, so I guess I'll just have to see what happens to him when he goes to face those bandits alone. He was pretty good in a fight, and now I'm down one person which sucks, because we finally found those ogres that someone wanted us to fight weeks and weeks ago, but I'll go pick up Kagain or someone and we'll get by.
The point is: take your companions fairly seriously when they start to mutter about needing to get on with their quests.
Butch:
Damn, man. That sucks. Glad I was five feet away from Minsc's girlfriend. This game is unforgiving.
Dude, I am right in the middle of the damn map! I'm right between Nashkel and the gnoll stronghold! Right there! I'm one click away from the place with the dryad and the two lunkheads. One click! There's no way you missed this!
Brage? The dude in the Nashkel army who went nuts and killed his family and we got that quest ages ago?
The guy with the idol, I don't know.
But dude, you had to have tripped over this place!
It's right-
Oh fuck it, you know what? I found a map of the whole map with names of everything. Can we just share that map so we can say "I'm in [place]?"
Feminina:
I know the name 'Brage,' I remember we're supposed to be looking for him, but I have definitely not encountered him so far.
I'd almost think the game randomly sticks different map sections in different places just to mess with people trying to blog, but that's probably a bit more complicated than they would have bothered with.
Butch:
No, there's one map. Just one.
Want it? It's spoiler free. Then we can be on the same page.
Feminina:
Sure, although it's kind of you to assume I'll be able to know where I am now based on a bunch of similar icons whose names I didn't know when I went there, even if they do have names on them now.
Butch:
I know you well enough to know that any map I send you will be read with the same clarity as Stevie Wonder sees rainbows, but here goes:
Anyway, what I did last night was "Xvart Village," which is down at the bottom between Nashkel and the Gnoll Stronghold, just north of "Dryad Falls" where you've been, so damned if I know how you missed all this.
If you look up top there, I found Viconia in the upper right corner of "Peldvale," near "Bandit Camp," which is the bandit camp. I found my paladin and fish guy at "Fishing Village" which is just one click north of the Friendly Arms inn.
There you go.
Better bookmark that map.
Please note: The dig with the idol I mentioned is NOT at "archeological site." I have no idea that that is. Haven't been there.
Feminina:
Oh, you know what, I did see a Xvart village at one point pretty early on. I felt bad when I realized I was just murdering them all around their campfires like that. They were just defending their home! I'm a monster.
I might have run into something after the village that was too tough for us, or maybe I just felt too monstrous, and I think I moved on to other maps without completely exploring that area. Apparently I'll have to go back.
I believe I was on the Shipwreck's Coast last night. It's full of ogres and things.
Butch:
Oh, I might have been in the place one north of that....anyway, I'm near there. Fisherman's lake, maybe. Somewhere. I'll check, later.
This map is not helping.
Anyway, I'm somewhere around that part of the map.
Where did your guy want to go? Bandit Camp? That's the main quest bit, that is.
Oh, that's why the map isn't helping. I just logged in to the game to make sure I was saying the right things. After going back and forth from TV to laptop comparing maps, I googled and, what do you know, the "enhanced edition" we're playing on has a different map from the original, which is what I sent you.
Heh. Of course.
I'm over there. Near a lighthouse.
We're doomed.
Go find Brage.
Wait, you can handle ogres? I can't handle ogres.
Feminina:
AHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHA of course the edition we're playing has a different map.
Whatever. It doesn't matter where we are. Neither time nor space have any meaning. All things will be revealed in the course of wandering around aimlessly.
And yes, I believe Kivan wanted to go look for the bandit camp, which I believe is directly tied to the main quest, although since I didn't go, I can't be sure it wasn't a DIFFERENT bandit camp. I will always wonder, when I finally get there, whether it would have made a big difference to do it with him.
Ah well. Perhaps you will eventually meet him and go there with him and tell me.
It turns out we can handle a group of ogres if they don't all come at once, although Kivan not being there didn't help at all. Thanks for nothing, jerk! Just because you have some sense of urgency and are suffering from the delusion that time has meaning.
Butch:
Dude, ogres are still things that take one whack and Imoen disappears. What level are you? Do you have neat stuff? I have limited neat stuff, though I did just find a girdle that helps against crushing damage. Granted, everyone is laughing at me for wearing magic spanx, but hey. It is what it is.
When it says "You've been ambushed by whatever and must defend yourself," and it's an ogre, I'm all "I do not have to defend myself, I can run like holy hell."
Feminina:
We're all 5th and 6th right now, I think. Getting tougher. We have some neat stuff...Imoen has a +2 short sword, and Jeheira and I both have rings that let us memorize extra spells. I have boots of cat sense or something, there are several +1 weapons between us, and I think Khalid has a magic shield. So we're working on it. Plus I finally managed to learn magic missile off a scroll, which is always handy for a mage.
Butch:
HA! You didn't have magic missile?
You: OK! We can go kick ass!
Jaheira: Aren't you level 17?
You: Yes.
J: Don't you already know Kaweh's Kurse of Killing KEverything? Named after the great Kawah who couldn't spell and liked silent Ks?
You: Yes.
J: So why did you need magic missile?
You: Dude. It's magic missile. I'm a mage.
J: Seems legit.
Feminina:
I didn't have the chance! I started with some random spells (OK, probably not completely random, but some the game provided) and that wasn't one of the options.
But yeah, I could totally see even the most powerful mage thinking "you know what, I never learned this little pinprick spell that's on the Final Wizard Exam before they let you into the Ultimate Mage Academy -- better pick it up now."
You just know all the other wizards are going to laugh at you if you don't know it.
Butch:
What have you been doing? Just tossing glitter dust around?
Feminina:
Ha! Pretty much.
I have a sling (+1!), and if I can maneuver correctly I can do burning hands or color spray to decent effect, but these risk injuring my companions unless I get out in front, and if I'm out in front I regularly get beaten to death by something, so often I'll just stand in back hurling sling bullets. I have been pretty useless in a lot of fights, especially the ones where something comes charging at us and the archers shoot it down before it even gets close.
I've managed to pick up sleep and charm person, so we'll see what those can do. Though charm person, at least, didn't work at all on an ogre. Maybe he just made his save and I'll get the next one.
Butch:
HA!
Khalid: W-W-W-Why are we following this mage?
Jahiera: She won season seven of "RuPaul's Drag Race."
Khalid: S-S-S-Seems legit.
Charm Person is the fucking best. It only works on person sized creatures, though. I did learn that "Flinds," whatever those are, are "person sized," which helped.
Do note that attacking a charmed thing undoes the spell, so make sure anyone who is programmed to peg said thing with arrows stops before the spell. I had a thing where someone got charmed while an arrow was in the air, so he was charmed for a nanosecond or two. Also, watch out for those area effect spells when you have a charmed dude running around or you'll wind up with an uncharmed dude right quick.
Feminina:
Ah, of course. Ogres are not person-sized.
Now I'm remembering the 'charm arrows' in Divinity! Always seemed odd you could hit someone with a small knife on a stick and make them like you, but that's magic for you.
Or the 'charm bombs' you could throw into a crowd...those were the BEST.
I honestly don't know why Khalid and Jaheira are hanging out with me. Honoring Gorion's memory, I suppose.
Butch:
Oh those bombs! Those WERE the best!
Have we found out what their connection is to Gorion? I missed that.
Feminina:
They just said he was a dear friend. They seem to have known him well enough to know what he'd like ("Gorion would be proud of you!" when we do something good, or "Gorion would not approve!" when I recruited Dorn to the party), although maybe they're just saying that because that's how they feel themselves.
Butch:
Fairly vague, that.
Strange friends, you ask me. Maybe things will be revealed later.
Feminina:
Yes, and since the investigation in the mine, they haven't said anything about having any particular goals, other than hanging out with me, apparently. Why is that?
Butch:
I honestly forget.
I remember the second game a lot more. I'm very curious to see how you feel about how their storyline ends up in the second game.
You're into the second game, yes?
Feminina:
I mean, not yet, but I have every confidence I will play it when I'm done with this one.
Butch:
That was a remarkably literal answer.
Very curious to see how you feel.
Man, I want to play right now but it's HALF DAY WEDNESDAY and I have annoying shit to do like "laundry" and "make a grocery list."
This game really is a time sink. I lose track to time far more than I have in recent games. I think daylight savings time has something to do with it. I'm all "OK, kids have finished dinner, it's 530, I'll just pay for half an hour or so...." then, Mrs. McP is out of the shower and in her pajamas and I'm all "Why are you like that? The sun just set it must be....Oh. It's 745. Heh. Well, I'll stop once I clear out these gnolls. And those kobolds. And this whole next section."
Feminina:
Yes, I also lose track of time very easily.
"Let me just see what's around this hill...oh, kobolds, that's not a problem, I'll just fight them...might as well see what's behind them on the map...oh, more kobolds..."
Repeat.
Just like real D&D! It's so hard to stop in the middle of something!
Butch:
Except when you're playing games, you don't have that ultimate way of keeping track of time:
When the pizza is gone.
Video games. No guardrails.
Feminina:
It's true. I mean, you COULD eat pizza while playing a video game, but it's a lot harder than in tabletop. Having to keep both hands on the controller really limits one.
Butch:
I'm so limited I can't even drink when I play.
I salute you in your ability to do so.
Feminina:
That's certainly a skill I'm putting on my resume.
Butch:
You have a job. I don't.
It's all so clear to me now.....
Feminina:
Now that you mention it, it IS clear! I am constantly being driven by the unconscious need to practice job-related skills, which I feel I may at ANY MOMENT be called upon to demonstrate in the workplace!
At least, it is my fervent hope I will someday be called upon to demonstrate my drinking-and-video-games skills in the workplace.
No comments:
Post a Comment