Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

Let's Play Dark Queen of Krynn - The fifth prophecy

Erebus

Arcane
Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
4,763
1 - Introduction
2 - If you want something done at all...
3 - Caves, draconians, slaves, fireballs and perverted women
4 - This orgy is over
5 - Under the sea
6 - Evil sahuagin plot
7 - Pacifying the ocean
8 - Arrival on Taladas
9 - Climbing
10 - More climbing
11 - Falling, finding the right wall, meeting a fabulous wizard and leaving
12 - Looking for the Hulderfolk
13 - Trolled by elves
14 - Romance and action
15 - Dragonstrike
16 - Exploring the tombs
17 - Undeads, secret doors and cryptic prophecies
18 - The fifth prophecy



So yeah, I've finally decided to try writing a LP. Feel free to place bets as to how long it'll take for me to get bored with it, cancel my newly-created Photobucket account and never mention writing a LP again.

Anyway, let's get started !


1.png


Wait, Micromagic ? Who's that ? I don't remember...

2.png


:yeah:

Instant incline.

3.png


Yep, we're going to play the third and last Dragonlance Gold Box game. In fact, I believe it's also the last Gold Box game ever published, though I'm not completely sure about that.

Don't worry : while there are some links between the stories of the first and the second Dragonlance games, the third one is pretty much independent. Previous events will barely be referenced to once or twice.

Champions of Krynn is the first CRPG I ever played (on an Amstrad 1512 with no hard drive and CGA graphics). The combat is quite entertaining, but, as far as the story, characters and setting are concerned, it's the least memorable of the three.

Death Knights of Krynn is a much better game, which I only discovered recently. It's absolutely worth playing (as long as you're enough of an oldfag to enjoy Gold Box games, obviously). It's notable for having many optional quests, whereas the other two barely have any.

But the Gold Box game we're going to be playing this time, is :

4.png


In case you don't know much about the Dragonlance setting, I'll include a brief description :

Long ago, on a world named Krynn, a lot of important stuff happened that nobody cares about. Then, a dude called the Kingpriest of Istar started having delusions of grandeur and demanded the help of Paladine, the greater god of good, to purge the world of evil. Paladine and all the other gods answered his prayer by throwing a fiery mountain at him and his city ; then, they went away and sulked for several centuries, like the perfectly mature deities they were. Clerical magic no longer existed.

Less than a decade before the beginning of our story, Takhisis, the greater goddess of evil, decided that now was a good time to come back to Krynn. She whipped up armies, woke up evil dragons, granted spells again and created dragon-men called draconians.

Paladine, probably realizing that this was a D&D story, reacted to that by sending a group of adventurers on a quest to find mystical artefacts.

To make a long story short, the adventurers succeeded, all the gods came back, the good dragons came back, one of the adventurers - a wizard called Raistlin - joined Takhisis but later betrayed her, preventing her from entering Krynn herself. The whole thing was called the War of the Lance.

A few years after that, Raistlin - now extremely powerful - put into motion a plan that would make him the one and only god of Krynn. However, he gave up when he realized that his plan would leave him the god of a lifeless world. He sacrificed himself to keep Takhisis in the Abyss (getting her to Krynn was part of his plan).


5.png


Moar like the BDSM Queen of Krynn, amirite ? :P

Yeah, that's Takhisis right there, with Raistlin as her sub. In the books (the Twins trilogy, probably the most readable Dragonlance books once you're over 17), the ending suggested that he was granted eternal rest as a reward for his sacrifice (well, not really eternal since he was brought back in a later book, but the less said about that, the better).

Anyway, this version of his fate is obviously cooler. And sexier. :)

6.png


For this LP, I'll bring back the team I used in CoK and DKoK. Since I discovered DKoK only recently, I was used to creating new characters for DQK. Being able to import PCs from DKoK means they'll have a bit more experience and much better equipment (except for the fact that they'll have much fewer magic arrows).

KundryStats.png


Kundry.png
Another day, another stupid plot by the forces of evil. I wonder what... hey ! check me out ! I no longer look like I was designed by a 10-year-old using MS Paint !


Unlike other Gold Box games, DQK doesn't allow you to design the icons of your PCs. Instead, it makes you choose among about 60 icons. Feel free to rage about the decline !

As a ranger (there's honestly no reason to take a single-classed fighter in this game), Kundry is the best warrior of the team. She carries the only Dragonlance (the party found another one in CoK, but had to give it away at the end of the game) and a Mace of Disruption.
Dragonlances are very powerful against (surprise) dragons. Ironically enough, they barely play any role at all in the novels about the War of the Freaking Lance. The most impressive feat they're involved in (that we get to see) is when two dozen knights use them to slaughter two dragons that had been entranced by a spell and were largely immobilized. In the game, however, they're the real thing : the damage they inflict to dragons is equal to the HP of the user !

SilivStats.png


LadySilivrin.png
Têtebleu ! Corbleu ! Par la malepeste ! Je ferai boire l'acier par la cervelle à ces marauds de draconiens !

That's... That's good, really, but could you say it in english ?

LadySilivrin.png
Uh... Give me some time... and a dictionary.


Silivrin is the other main warrior of the team. As a knight, she can wear very good armor (it would normally make her fairly slow, but I've given her boots of speed). She also has a chance to command the NPCs that will join our party (they're otherwise controlled by the AI). She wears a belt of giant strength, as you can probably tell...
There are three kinds of knights ; from the lower-ranking to the higher-ranking : knights of the crown, of the sword and of the rose. Knights of the crown gain levels faster, but they have no magic ; knights of the rose gain levels slower, but they have a decent amount of clerical spells ; knights of the sword are somewhere between the two. I'll keep Silivrin as a knight of the sword until she can no longer gain levels (around level 18), at which point I'll have to make her a knight of the rose.

MelandrisStats.png


Melandris.png
If the plot is anything like the previous two games, the plan of the forces of evil is going to be something simple, like : 1) Conjure up huge armies out of thin air, and 2) Slaughter everybody.


Clerics are absolutely necessary in this game : potions of healing are almost nowhere to be found and resting hadn't become the cure-everything-in-8-hours it is nowadays. As far as combat is concerned, however, they're not juggernauts as in the NWN games or even decent warriors as in the BG games : they just suck. Their strength score is limited and they have very few spells of any use during combat (Hold Person was pretty good in the previous games, but enemies didn't have very good saving throws back then). So single-classed clerics are a pretty poor idea. Being half-ranger makes Melandris much more useful.

FaerlinStats.png


Faerlin.png
Mishakal be with us... even though we're going to kill countless hundreds... again...


Your clerics receive minor bonuses (extra spells, increased Thaco...) depending on their deity. I choose Mishakal for both of them, as she increases the efficiency of healing spells.
It wasn't so important in the previous games, but you need to be really careful about the races you choose for your non-human PCs : they're limited to a maximum level (usually around 10, which is absurdly low in this game) in many classes.
I tend to favor magic-heavy parties, which why Faerlin is half-wizard, even though the last two members of the party are single-classed wizards.

SayaliStats.png


Sayali.png
Tell me we're going to meet more exciting creatures than all the filthy undeads of the previous game, please please please please pleeaaasee !!!


Single-classed wizards are good in part because they give an early access to the most powerful spell of the game : the Delayed Blast Fireball.
There are two kinds of wizards : the good White Robes and the neutral Red Robes. They don't have access to the same spells exactly. For instance, Power Word : Kill is limited to White Robes such as Sayali.

ElorinStats.png


Elorin.png
This introduction is boring, couldn't we have skipped to a part where I turn people into living torches ? And, speaking of killing stuff, tell me again why I can't cast Wail of the Banshee and Finger of Death ?


Necromancy is restricted to the evil Black Robes... in PnP, anyway. In this game, it simply doesn't exist : even though we'll meet plenty of evil wizards, they use spells our PCs also have access to.


Anyway, that's it for the intro ! Next time, we'll get to the actual story (what there is of it).
 
Last edited:

lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,158
Ah, Dragonlance, I read some of the books, the setting was a bit cliché but great :love:

Until I saw the really horrible, terrible ending they gave to the series, so much derp (the anti-paladins, the Chaos god being even more evil than the goddes of evil herself, several of the main characters from the whole series being killed off-screen...) :rage: And that thing about the "colored-by-alignment" wizards was a bit silly if you thought about it (in fact, Raistlin himself accidentally "bugged" the trial to reveal his alignment, when he did something he was not supposed to do). I just have a question though: Can you kill kenders here? If so, kill ALL of them, these kleptomaniac fuckers don't deserve to live.
 

Erebus

Arcane
Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
4,763
lightbane said:
Until I saw the really horrible, terrible ending they gave to the series, so much derp

Weis and Hickman went back to the series several years after Dragons of Summer Flame, with a horribly asspulled retcon that I can't bring myself to describe.

I just have a question though: Can you kill kenders here?

Nope. We'll meet only one kender (guess who ?) and we obviously can't kill him.
 

Erebus

Arcane
Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
4,763
Let's get this glorious adventure on the road, shall we ?


A1.png


"As you pass through the city gates, a guard hails you and politely requests indentification."
"You show him the letter from Laurana as he bows respectfully. 'The general requests your presence at the palace, at your convenience.' You continue into the city."

A2.png


The basic cities found in the game cannot actually be explored. They just offer a list of the useful places you can visit. The palace is the place we'll receive our mission, but first, we need to rest and memorize spells :

A3.png


Kundry.png
I wonder if it's because we're famous ?

Melandris.png
Maybe. Identifying magical objects is the only thing we still seem to be paying for, these days.

A4.png


Let's ready our firepower...

A5.png


Laurana (aka Lauralanthalasa, aka the Golden General) is one of the Heroes of the Lance, but don't ask me to name a single impressive thing she's done, aside from falling the most obvious trap ever in the third novel of the original trilogy.

Melandris.png
Who cares about her brains, man ?

Faerlin.png
Every day of your life is a glorious illustration of everything Mishakal holds dear, Melandris.

Let's hear what the blonde elven girl has to say :

" 'Ah, my champions, I am honored by your presence. Come and sit with me. There is a chill in the air this morning. I am afraid I have distressing news to share with you.' "

A6.png


"It has been but a short time since you so valiantly helped us crush the draconian army. Yet, such is the nature of these creatures that to sever the head from the beast only invites it to grow another. My emissaries have reported that some draconian scum may have survived and are again gathering to the south. We must know if this true. Every day we wait is foolhardy, for the danger may be growing."
"But the good people of Palanthas deserve the hard-won peace they now enjoy. From time to time, I still see the shadows of old fear fleeting across their faces. I will not add to their trouble by letting this unproven rumor reach their ears. That's why I implore you, brave heroes, to hasten to Caergoth, and discover what truth there is in these fearful reports."

A7.png


Elorin.png
Now that we have been given our pretext, can we go and kill things, please ?

Kundry.png
We might stay away from civilization for a while, so there's a place I'd like to visit first.

A8.png


Many cups of wine later, our heroic party finally remembers to GTFO and starts adventuring.

A9.png


LadySilivrin.png
Laurana's still hiring blind and deaf people to serve as scouts, I see. They wouldn't notice an army of draconians if they were being gang-raped by one.

Sayali.png
I wonder if we'll...

LadySilivrin.png
No !

A10.png


A11.png


A12.png


Faerlin.png
I pray we find survivors to help.

Kundry.png
I suspect a prayer for the dead would be more appropriate.

A13.png


"Before you lies the smoldering ruins of Caergoth. Everything is blasted and burned. Once sturdy buildings are sagging and melted ; their stone runs like candle wax. The sickening odor of burnt carrion floats on the gentle breeze as vultures circle through the smoke."
"Then you notice the fuming pools of acid in the streets. Draconians have been here. The only consolation is that some of them paid for this abomination with their lives."

(Some draconians turn into acid when they're killed.)

LadySilivrin.png
Let's look around and see what we can do.

A14.png


Elorin.png
Can't I just throw a fireball in that direction ?

Melandris.png
You're being paranoid. Maybe they're giant birds that are shy yet friendly, like the eagles in Lord of the Rings.

A15.png


A16.png


Melandris.png
I still think my theory was more original.

A17.png


As you can see, dragons are not exactly the solitary menaces that you can find in other games. Their HP are not especially impressive (some human opponents have more), their fangs and claws inflict decent but not overpowering damages, they don't have a fear aura or a magic resistance.
One thing is truly dangerous about them : their breath weapon. That's especially true of blue and green dragons. Blue dragons breathe lightning bolts that inflict 80 points of damage if save is failed, enough to kill one of my wizards (and, just like the spell, the lightning can bounce against a wall and hit the same target twice). Green dragons breathe poison clouds over a rather large area ; the damages they inflict are more variable, but can be fairly high.

A18.png


Unfortunately for the closest blue dragon, Kundry is the first to act in this fight.

A19.png


Elorin casts a Delayed Blast Fireball. It inflicts more damage than a normal fireball and, despite what the name may suggest, it's actually just as fast to cast as a Magic Missile or a Power Word, meaning the enemy doesn't have the time to hurt the wizard while he's casting and thus disrupt the spell.

A20.png


The DBF doesn't kill the second blue dragon, but the beast is severely wounded and Silivrin has no problem finishing it. A Magic Missile is cast at the green dragon and Melandris attacks it, but it's not enough to kill it. The dragon has time to use its breath weapon, which hits Silivrin for more than 30 points of damage and Melandris for more than 70 points ! Fortunately, the rest of the party isn't wounded.

A21.png


One last Magic Missile is enough to end the fight.

Melandris.png
My lungs ! They're burning ! I don't want to die ! I don't...

Kundry.png
Stop being a drama queen, I'm sure Cure Light Wounds works on lung damage too.

Sayali.png
So what do we do now ?

LadySilivrin.png
Well, we go back and warn Laurana, obviously. That's what she told us and I'm fairly sure no one else will tell her about this if we don't.

Elorin.png
For fuck's sake, who cares ? What kind of adventure would it be if warning the authorities did anything to solve the problem ?!

Faerlin.png
Still, we should...

A long debate and several days of travelling later :

A22.png


Elorin.png
Told ya.

LadySilivrin.png
Fuck this, I'm no longer paying tithes to anybody.

A23.png


On the plus side, this little trip allows Sayali and Elorin to level up. Sayali learns Power Word : Kill, a very useful spell against very annoying enemies that we'll meet in a later update.

Back to Caergoth :

A24.png


Kundry.png
Must be the ship the dragons mentioned.

Melandris.png
And it hasn't moved in the week it took us to tell the Blonde General that the city was nothing but rubble ?

Kundry.png
We're the ones who move the plot forward, you should be used to it by now.

A25.png


This isn't even a biowarean choice : the result is exactly the same.

A26.png


A27.png


Melandris.png
Last night ? Don't you mean last week ?

Kundry.png
Hush.

The captain tells us journal entry number 59 :

"Hundreds of draconians invaded, pillaging the town and impounding the entire fleet of ships. Only those who could steer the ships were spared, everyone else escaped or else was slaughtered."
"Once they took what they wanted, a horde of blue dragons leveled the buildings and incinerated anyone trying to take refuge. The monsters then sailed out to sea, leaving this village a charred ruin."
"I can wait no longer ! I must set sail and follow the loathsome beasts. My sister, Crysia, is among those kidnapped !"

Faerlin.png
I wonder what the draconians want with a fleet of ships ?

Elorin.png
I don't know, but throwing fireballs at ships full of draconians sounds like a new and exciting experience to me. Let's join this guy and go after them !

A28.png



Until next time !
 

Erebus

Arcane
Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
4,763
We're hot on the trail of ships-stealing, villagers-abducting draconians (if by "hot on the trail", you mean "10 days behind").

B1.png


B2.png


LadySilivrin.png
Not much of a choice, really.

"You quickly row ashore with Captain Daenor. Soon you discover the area around the wreck is littered with human footprints... along with the tracks of draconians."
"You follow the trail up the beach to a cave halfway up the cliff wall."

Daenor will be a member of the party while we explore these caves. Here are his stats :

B3.png


Melandris.png
A paladin merchant captain ? What kind of bullshit is that ?

Despite being level 30, Daenor will be mostly useless in combat, especially when he's controlled by the AI.

Entering the caves...

B4.png


Elorin.png
You sound pretty sure, Kundry. Did you get the occasion to smell draconians from really up close ? Was it tasteful ?

Sayali.png
Did it feel good ? I mean, really good ? Because I...

Kundry.png
...Why do I keep adventuring with the two of you ?

B5.png


Elorin.png
Good thing you're a ranger, or who knows what else you might not have noticed ?

Kundry.png
You're the ones who distracted me with your stupid insinuations !


This is pretty much the one time in the game where a thief can use his special abilities (other than backstabbing). He can disarm the trap and thus avoid the (quite easy) fight that ensues if it triggers.
Thieves are a pretty poor class in this game. Backstabbing is undoubtedly powerful, but you won't get that many occasions to use it during a fight.

B6.png


Our first encounter of the game with draconians.

There are five kinds of draconians ; from least powerful to most powerful : baaz (the first fight in CoK is against four of them), kapak, bozak, sivak and aurak. We won't meet baaz or kapak in this game.

B7.png


Here's what we have to deal with. The blue-green draconians are bozaks ; they used to be able to cast lightning bolts in previous games but are now limited to magic missiles and stinking clouds ; they explode when they're killed. The grey draconians are sivaks, fighters with no special powers in combat. The yellow ones are auraks.

B8.png


Here's what we have to deal with after Elorin has thrown a DBF at them. The lone Bozak survived because it was protected by the wall. The auraks are still there because they have three lives.
In its first state, an aurak can use magic such as lightning bolt and ice storm. In its second state, it's limited to physical attacks. In its third state, it no longer moves or attacks, and will explode after a while (in the previous game, it could still move, which made it difficult for the PCs to avoid the explosion.)

B9.png


A fireball takes care of most of the rest. A single Aurak manages to reach the party, but is quickly deprived of its second life.

B10.png


Then we just have to wait for the auraks to explode so the fight can end.

B11.png


We find some steel coins (they replace gold coins in the Dragonlance setting), but we don't take them, since money's pretty useless in this game (worse than useless, actually, since carrying too many coins will slow down your PCs).

Let's go back to exploring this place.

B12.png


Wandering around, a stinking smell draws us to a few other draconians.

B13.png


Faerlin.png
What do we do ?

LadySilivrin.png
Let's not waste our time with them.

Sayali.png
Yeah, they smell too bad...

B14.png


B15.png


Melandris.png
Is there some kind of party around here ?

Faerlin.png
Aside from us, you mean ?

Melandris.png
Hilarious...

B16.png


Kundry.png
I... think we're interrupting something...

Sayali.png
Lemme join in! Lemme join in ! Lemme join in !

B17.png


LadySilivrin.png
Wait, what ?

Melandris.png
You don't even have the same artist !

B18.png


B19.png


More enemies than in the previous fight, but a DBF takes care of many of them.

B20.png


The movement rate of draconians is twice as high as the movement rate of my PCs, allowing them to close in quickly if given a chance.

Faerlin cast a magic missile at one of the draconians, but its magic resistance cancels the spell. Magic resistance doesn't seem to follow the 2nd Edition rules : the higher the level of the caster, the less likely it is a spell will be cancelled by magic resistance.

B21.png


Auraks manage to hit us with two lightning bolts.

B22.png


When an Aurak "rises in a new form", it means it's reached its third state. At that point, obviously, you need to get your PCs away from it ASAP.

B23.png


Auraks in their third state no longer attack, but PCs near them will receive magic damages.

B24.png


Once the other draconians have been killed and your PCs have moved away from the Auraks about to explode, there's nothing left to do but wait.

After the fight has ended, we don't chase immediately after Crysia. As usual in CRPGs, time is not an issue ! Exploring the caves in the opposite direction, we find a pile of stones and rubbles blocking the way almost completely.

B25.png


There's no sound to be heard on the other side. Our party crawls through the opening and finds...

B26.png


Elorin.png
Eat my Delayed Blast Fireball, beholder !

Kundry.png
Stop that, you idiot !

Elorin.png
What ?

Kundry.png
First of all, beholders are completely immune to magic in this game. Second of all, a real beholder would have attacked us already. I'd bet my dragonlance this is a Gas Spore.

Elorin.png
A what now ?

Kundry.png
For Mishakal's sake, have you never played Pen and Paper D&D ? A gas spore is a monster that looks like a beholder but is actually harmless unless you strike it. Then it explodes.

Elorin.png
What kind of deranged mind would invent such a thing ?

Kundry.png
Beholders themselves, I guess. It'd make sense that they'd want people to hesitate before attacking them.


There's nothing useful to find here, so we leave to explore another part of the caves.

B28.png


B29.png


LadySilivrin.png
I have a feeling these idiots are standing guard over something.

B30.png


Starting the fight right next to the enemy means we can't use our offensive spells as freely as we otherwise would.

B31.png


The warriors of the party attack the draconians that can't be hit by area spells without also hurting some of the PCs.

Elorin.png
And while they take care of the menial work, I slaughter the rest by... by... no... how can this be ? I... I'm out of Delayed Blast Fireballs !

Sayali.png
Tee hee... I'm not ! Boom !

B32.png


A fireball will hit everything in the combat screen, except for the three squares in each corner.

These draconians aren't any harder to slaughter than the ones we met previously.

B33.png


It's always amusing to see Auraks or Bozaks hurt their allies in their death throes.

B34.png


"Captain Daenor easily breaks their chains."

Faerlin.png
It's good to see we were in time to do more than just kill draconians.

Elorin.png
Meh.

B35.png


" 'Thank you, thank you, kind champions. Those monsters destroyed our beautiful town and then herded us on board a ship like cattle. They forced Aolan, a great sailor, to steer the ship, and to sail straight across the ocean. We told them there was nothing there, that they were mad. Then they struck us and told us not to ask questions.' "
" 'While the monsters were busy fighting among themselves, Aolan steered the ship onto the rocks, hoping to give us a chance to escape. But fate was cruel, the ship did not think immediately. The monsters were able to drag us ashore and into these accursed caves. As for Aolan, they rewarded his brave act by slitting his throat. He died a hero."
" 'These monsters speak freely in front of us. They constantly complain about not being able to complete their great journey to the other side of the world. They say the Dark Queen will be very displeased with them. I hope she strikes them all dead !"
"As for that wench, Crysia, I know her well. The traitor ! They chose her from among us, and soon we saw her caring and grooming these disgusting monsters. Now they allow her to move around freely, as if she were one of them. She deserves to be sent to the Abyss, where she can spend eternity with her consorts."

Kundry.png
Stop drooling, Sayali.

Sayali.png
...Sorry.

B36.png


Melandris.png
Looks like somebody's in denial.

" 'Believe what you will,' replies the mayor."

B37.png


"The villagers arm themselves with some of the slain draconians' weapons. They leave, prepared to deal with any monsters that may stand in their way."

Faerlin.png
Shouldn't we escort them ?

Melandris.png
They'll be fine. They just have to follow the trail of destruction we've left behind us back to the entrance of the caves.

Elorin.png
Besides, I'm not going anywhere until I've been allowed to rest and memorize my DBFs again.

Sayali.png
And I want to leave Crysia the time to have one last orgy before we slaughter the rest of the draconians. I'm neutral good, after all.

B38.png


B39.png


Kundry.png
Wake up, ladies and androgynes, we have company !

B40.png


Elorin.png
Couldn't you just kill them all by yourself instead of disturbing us ?

Kundry.png
Couldn't you throw regular fireballs more often so as not to run out of super-fireballs so quickly ?

Elorin.png
What ? No !

Kundry.png
Then I'm not going to play the devoted watchdog just so you can keep memorizing your favorite spell.



In the next update... more caves !
 

lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,158
You know, I'm not a graphics whore but this game looks nice. Also...

For Mishakal's sake, have you never played Pen and Paper D&D ? A gas spore is a monster that looks like a beholder but is actually harmless unless you strike it. Then it explodes.

Munchkin: "But they still give you xp, right? Then use ranged attacks."

"As for that wench, Crysia, I know her well. The traitor ! They chose her from among us, and soon we saw her caring and grooming these disgusting monsters. Now they allow her to move around freely, as if she were one of them. She deserves to be sent to the Abyss, where she can spend eternity with her consorts."

What if she had no other choice? I mean, "do it or die!!" is a very good incentive to collaborate...
 

Erebus

Arcane
Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
4,763
Once we're done resting, it's time to go after Crysia.

C1.png


C2.png


As it turns out, she's not gone very far.

C3.png


Kundry.png
That's going to hu... Wait, Dispel Magic ? You can dispel a fireball that's being thrown at you ?

Elorin.png
Well, it's never been possible before, but we might as well try since we're given the chance.

The fireball is dispelled before hitting the party.

Elorin.png
When did this become 3rd Edition ?

C4.png


LadySilivrin.png
Something tells me we're going to be chasing her for quite a while...

Melandris.png
Let's take care of her boyfriends.

C5.png


Not very different from the groups of draconians we met preced... wait, Dark Wizard ? Uh oh...

C6.png


There he is ! Or is it a she ? It looks rather female to me, but the clothes worn by wizards are seldom very masculine.

Putting aside the gender issue, Dark Wizards are gigantic pains in the ass. Like many enemy spellcasters, they have access to the Delayed Blast Fireball and can really damage your party if they're given the chance. Fortunately, the PCs were not in sight of this one and, rather than move his/her lazy and/or cowardly ass a few steps to the right, the wizard simply cast Haste on the draconians.

Haste is a very powerful buff, but I'll save it for especially difficult fights, since it ages the targets by one year.

Melandris.png
Good. One more year isn't much for an elf, but I wouldn't want to be surrounded by old hags.

Of course, Haste isn't going to make these draconians much more dangerous, since most of them can't even reach me right now.

C7.png


Also, boom.

C8.png


The warriors of the party attack the Auraks who couldn't be hit by the DBF, in order to prevent them from casting spells.

C9.png


It doesn't work completely, but a few wounds won't prevent us from slaughtering the draconians. Soon enough, only one enemy is left :

C10.png


You might think that a lone wizard is easy prey, but that's not the case here. The reason Dark Wizards are so freaking annoying is that they're extremely well protected : Mirror Image, Globe of Invulnerability, Fire Shield (cold flames), Protection against Normal Missiles... Most offensive spells are useless against them (even the DBF never seems to work). Hand-to-hand attacks are a desperate solution, since the Fire Shield will hurt the attacker twice as much as the damage suffered by the wizard. Magic arrows can work, but we have far too few.

Cone of Cold is one of the best way to kill a Dark Wizard. However, if you can get close enough, there's an even surest way :

C11.png


Sayali.png
Please die.

Elorin.png
Damn, I wish I could do that.

Once the fight is over, it's time to follow Crysia.

C12.png


C13.png


Kundry.png
What the hell ? Piercers ?!

Faerlin.png
Looks like gas spores aren't the only silly yet annoying monsters to be found in these caves.

C14.png


Boring beetles really deserve their names, as they're probably the weakest enemies to be found in the game and have no special ability whatsoever.

C15.png


Ice Storm is not a spell you often have a reason to use until you've run out of better ones. Given the high levels of our spellcasters, even normal fireballs are much better.

Not very long after the one-sided fight against the beetles, we meet :

C16.png


LadySilivrin.png
A random encounter. What joy...

C17.png


Spiders are dangerous because of their poisonous bite. It's not the kind of sissy poison that more recent games have made us used to. If a PC fails his save after being hit by a poisoned attack, he's dead (though he can be revived by a Neutralize Poison spell).

Two lightning bolts take care of two of the spiders. The warriors of the party slaughter the last one.

C18.png


Sayali.png
Damn, these draconians must be really good !

Kundry.png
Are you sure you shouldn't be a princess in a NWN module ?

Going south...

C19.png


Melandris.png
Not again !

C20.png


Elorin.png
Look, gas spores ! Throw away your weapon or it might nick one of them and they'll explode !

Kundry.png
Shut up.

C21.png


Beholders, along with Dark Wizards and another kind of monster that we'll meet much later, are the most annoying enemies in the game. They're completely immune to magic, have a fairly decent amount of HP and can use their desintegration ray, petrification ray and death ray in a single round.

C22.png


The fight doesn't go so well. Two of my PCs fail to save against fear rays.

LadySilivrin.png
I... I... I need to go back to Palanthas and make my report to Laurana right now !

Faerlin.png
And I've just remembered my decision to join a monastic order and spend the rest of my like in complete seclusion !

Another of my PCs is turned to stone and another is killed before the battle is finally won.

It's an habit of mine to always reload when some of my PCs are killed, except during the ending battles (and unless I'm playing Torment...). So we go back in time and our second meeting with the beholders goes much better :

C23.png


After the fight, we resume our search for the woman we heard. There's but a single direction to follow, but we walk for quite a while without discovering anything.

C24.png


C25.png


C26.png


Sayali.png
Finally ! I was getting so bored !

The special power of umber hulks, as you probably know, is that their eyes look so weird that they can have the effect of a spell of confusion. As is the case in many fights, defeating them can be more or less difficult depending on the first initiative roll.

C27.png


No problem this time. A DBF kills three of them right from the start and the surviving two die shortly after.

C28.png


LadySilivrin.png
I hope we're getting close to whoever it is we heard.

C29.png


C30.png


"The old woman's eyes light up. 'You're not monsters ! You're people ! Oh, thank Paladine ! I escaped from the monsters yesterday and fled into these lower caves, hoping to find a way out. But the draconians pale in comparison to the monsters that fill these caverns and I was afraid to go further. I found this wand and this necklace on a body I stumbled upon. With them, I was able to send many of these foul creatures back to the Abyss. If the draconians are no longer a threat, I'm sure I can find my way to the mouth of the cave. There is a small village not far from here and I can take refuge there. Farewell, my friends.' "
"She turns to leave, but then adds : 'Oh, here, why don't you take this.' She removes the necklace and hands it to you. 'You certainly look like you can handle yourself, but you may be able to use this.' "

It's a necklace of missiles. The spellcasters of the team already carry several wands, but more firepower doesn't hurt.

LadySilivrin.png
All right, enough delays, let's get back on tracks !

This place is a dead end. After resting, we go back the way we came from and then go east.

C31.png


Looking around, we find the burnt remains of a spider. Daenor believes it's the work of his sister, which would mean we're on the right track this time.

A bit later :

C32.png


"Choking back tears, Daenor cradles the old man's head. 'Sensilan, my old friend. It's all right now, it's almost over. Soon, you'll be back at the town.' "
" 'Daenor, it gives me great pleasure to see your face again. But it is too late for me, I only have a few minutes left. Oteef and I tried to escape, but we became lost in the labyrinth. I pray he has made it to safety. Daenor, have you found Crysia ?' "
" The captain bows his head in grief. 'Yes, we have found her. She is with... them.' "
"Sensilan clutches his hand. 'Daenor, Crysia is caught in a powerful charm spell. She will flee from you and fight on the side of evil.' The old man begins to cough violently. He wipes the blood from his mouth and continues : 'When you find her, you must break the spell or she will be lost forever.' "
"The old man begins to cough again and then he is still. His head slumps against Daenor's chest. The captain begins to sob quietly."

As you see, tragic deaths that your mightiest healing spells mysteriously cannot prevent are nothing new in CRPGs.

C33.png


Obviously, the story told by Sensilan doesn't hold water. Who among the idiots we've met and slaughtered could have cast a permanent charm spell on a mage such as Crysia ? How ? Why ? It makes no sense whatsoever.

What really happened is obvious : realizing that Daenor couldn't handle the truth, Sensilan, like the true bro that he was, spent the last minutes of his life feeding him some bullshit story to put his mind at rest. :salute:

Anyway, let's get back to tracking down the "charmed" sister. Kundry finds some footprints that probably belong to her and, shortly after that :

C34.png


Sayali.png
Then shouldn't you leave her alone ?

C35.png


Kundry.png
Finally ! I couldn't take much more of these stinking caves !

Faerlin.png
Same here, but we're obviously not going to leave them without a fight...

After casting Bless and Prayer, we enter a larger area.

C36.png


Sayali.png
Wow, she's moved on to dragons already ? I've never admired anyone like this girl !

C37.png


Melandris.png
Taladas ? What's that ?

Faerlin.png
It's the other continent of Krynn.

Melandris.png
There's another continent on Krynn ?

Faerlin.png
Yeah... it's just not mentioned very often...

C38.png


Kundry.png
All right, there's dragon on the menu !

C39.png


Two blue dragons and a black one here.

C40.png


One blue dragon and two black ones a bit higher.

Since this is the last fight of this part of the game, I intended to raise the difficulty level to maximum in order to face more of a challenge, but I completely forgot about it when the time came. I'll try to remember it for the last fight of the next part of the game.

There are five different difficulty levels. As far as I know, they only alter the HP of the enemies. What I'm showing you is the third level (the one selected by default).

C41.png


The warriors of the party are the first to act this time. They're just close enough to the dragons to reach them.

C42.png


With her dragonlance, Kundry has no problem slaying one of the blue dragons with her first attack. However, Silivrin and Melandris can't inflict enough damage to kill another one in a single round.

C43.png


Elorin.png
I'll show you how to kill dragons !

Melandris.png
Wait, you stupid bitch, we're right next to them !

C44.png


LadySilivrin.png
Aaah ! My beautiful long hair !

C45.png


Black dragons are a much lesser threat, especially since they'd rather cast magic missiles than use their breath weapon or their claws and fangs.

C46.png


Blue dragons are usually smart enough to use their breath weapon as early as they can. I'm not quite clear as to how often they can use it, since I usually try to kill them as soon as possible.

C47.png


A magic missile takes care of the last blue dragon. After that, finishing the black dragons is a simple matter.

C48.png


Let's go after Crysia.

C49.png


C50.png


C51.png


Sayali.png
If I had a possessive brother like him, I'd want to lose him too...

We gladly leave the caves :

C52.png


After telling his crew to set sail for Taladas, Daenor writes a note and sends it by messenger bird.

C53.png


LadySilivrin.png
Yeah, I too know what she's going to do : fucking nothing !


That's it for this part of the game, which I have to admit is not an especially exciting one.

In the next update, we'll find ourselves in a much more enjoyable setting. We'll also say good-bye to the plot, which we won't meet again for quite a while.
 

Crooked Bee

(no longer) a wide-wandering bee
Patron
Joined
Jan 27, 2010
Messages
15,048
Location
In quarantine
Codex 2013 Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire MCA Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
Awesome LP. Entertaining and informative. Too bad Playground has declined to the point where LPs of classic cRPGs only have three to four people commenting on 'em. You'd think here in particular things would be different, eh? /end rant

Erebus said:
Also, boom.

:salute:

Piercers, beholders, dark wizards... I must admit I never played this game, but now I'll be sure to.
 

GarfunkeL

Racism Expert
Joined
Nov 7, 2008
Messages
15,463
Location
Insert clever insult here
You're a pussy for reloading like that :smug:

And yeah, I often wondered why some of the dungeon designers created huge-ass places and then didn't fill them with much loot/encounters or anything. Not in all GB games, mind you, but it does happen.
 

lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,158
Sure there are lots of dragons here... Not that it's necessarily a bad thing, unlike other, more recent games :M
 

Erebus

Arcane
Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
4,763
Crooked Bee said:
Awesome LP. Entertaining and informative.

Thanks, it's very nice of you.

I must admit I never played this game, but now I'll be sure to.

While Death Knights of Krynn doesn't look as good, it's also really worth a try.

GarfunkeL said:
You're a pussy for reloading like that :smug:

Yeah, I know. :P

In this series, I started reloading instead of casting Raise Dead when I realized the spell lessened the constitution of the target by one point.
But since then, I've grown to hate the Raise Dead spell simply because it's absurd and I've taken the habit of reloading even in games where death has no long-lasting consequence.

lightbane said:
Sure there are lots of dragons here...

In some later fights, we'll get to fight more than 10 of them.
 

Elwro

Arcane
Joined
Dec 29, 2002
Messages
11,746
Location
Krakow, Poland
Divinity: Original Sin Wasteland 2
Re: Let's Play Dark Queen of Krynn - This orgy is over

Erebus said:
Champions of Krynn is the first CRPG I ever played (on an Amstrad 1512 with no hard drive and CGA graphics).
You're the first person I know of also to have possessed this fine computer. Those were the days.... yours also had two 360k drives? I even managed to run Eye of the Beholder on it... but only through character creation (that 512kb of RAM was painful).
 

Erebus

Arcane
Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
4,763
Re: Let's Play Dark Queen of Krynn - This orgy is over

Elwro said:
yours also had two 360k drives?

It had two 5 1/4 inch disk drives, but I really don't remember the details.
Computers with hard drives, EGA graphics and 3 1/2 inch disk drives were already quite common at the time, so there were many games I couldn't play, but I still had fun with the ones that would work on the 1512.
 

Azira

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Nov 3, 2004
Messages
8,519
Location
Copenhagen, Denmark
Codex 2012
Bah! Hard drives, disk drives and fancy-schmancy EGA graphics? You young'uns were having it easy I tells ya!

Gimme my ol'e trusty ZX spectrum 81 with monochrome graphics, no sound, cassette tape storage unit and "erasor" type keyboard.

Only much later did I upgrade to the ZX Spectrum, and later the ZX Spectrum 128.

Ah, I fondly remember tweaking a tiny screw in the cassette drive so I could properly load games that had been copied on other tape recorders. Tuning by ear until the loading sounds were clear and the computer would "understand" them.
Not the fancy "just stick your floppy disk in the disk-drive and load" crap. Don't get me started on that. At least I started out with the proper 8 inch disks, then the decline hit with 5 and a quarter and finally 3 inch "floppy" disks. Pah.

grumpy-old-man.jpg


In other news, keep up this LP, I'm thoroughly enjoying it! :thumbsup: :love:
 

Erebus

Arcane
Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
4,763
DwarvenFood said:
I always thought that the lady on the first screen was Kitiara, and not Takhisis.

You get to meet Kitiara (and Lord Soth) in Death Knights of Krynn.

As far as official Dragonlance characters are concerned, you also meet Caramon, Tanis and Tasslehoff in Champions of Krynn.
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom