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In Progress Let's Play Knights of the Chalice (with Codexers)!

What'll it be?


  • Total voters
    20
  • Poll closed .

Norfleet

Moderator
Joined
Jun 3, 2005
Messages
12,250
So, here are the options that got multiple nominations and seconds...and that I could locate anywhere, either from non-removal, or because I have it already. Let's hear what it'll be this round!

And remember: I don't abandon. This thing goes to the end, whether that end is glorious (and possibly incredibly boring) victory, horrible defeat, or a big fiery ball visible from space.
 

Norfleet

Moderator
Joined
Jun 3, 2005
Messages
12,250
So it looks like KotC is winning. Barring an upset, I guess that what it's gonna be. I test-fired the game to make sure everything would function and how the chargen works, and we are go for launch.

As a Codexian party LP, it appears we will require victimsvolunteers. We have 3 classes to choose from, and 4 slots to fill. I am inclined to go with a tank, a healer, a wizard, and one undefined caster (apparently we don't get a rogue). Volunteers, specify which slot you wish to fill and your general buildstats. And how much you want me to cheese your stats rolls. Also, on whether you guys want me to then ironman this, or if you'd rather see the end of the game rather than everyone's horrible death, seeing as I haven't actually played.

Also, I can't seem to figure out how to rename the thread when the time comes. It's clearly been done, there's an LP where someone updates the title with each update, but I can't figure out how.
 

Hirato

Purse-Owner
Patron
Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Messages
3,930
Location
Australia
Codex 2012 Codex USB, 2014 Shadorwun: Hong Kong
I put on my robe and wizard hat and roll 18 INT... And then I cast magic missile at the darkness!
:yeah:
(I'll leave the rest up to you, but I would advise low charisma (let healer boy do the talking) and high wisdom and dex)


As for the iron man thing. If you can replace existing characters with new ones, go partial ironman - ie if they die replace with with a new codexer.
Otherwise, don't
 

Norfleet

Moderator
Joined
Jun 3, 2005
Messages
12,250
I have NO idea if that is possible, I haven't actually played yet.
 

Azira

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Nov 3, 2004
Messages
8,518
Location
Copenhagen, Denmark
Codex 2012
Knight here. :salute: Go for dual-wielding short-swords. Properly enchanted, they can provide a beastly damage-output. :smug:

As for the build, dual-wielding is reliant on dex, so that stat has priority. The other stats will be prioritised as follows:
Str>con>int>wis>cha.
 

Norfleet

Moderator
Joined
Jun 3, 2005
Messages
12,250
One more victim remaining: The Misc Caster slot needs filling with either another wizard or a cleric.
 

Norfleet

Moderator
Joined
Jun 3, 2005
Messages
12,250
THE BOREFEST BEGINS! I bet you thought it wouldn't.
0001.jpg

0002.jpg

0003.jpg

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Chargen in this game is quite the pain in the neck: You basically are stuck taking them as rolled - numerous mashes of the reset button were required to generate the actual party.

0005.jpg

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We receive our initial main quest.

0008.jpg

A sidequest! Upon clicking accept, a battle immediately starts and the party is instantly killed. Yes, we didn't even get to move or do anything. Rocks fall. Everyone dies. I search for the next 20 minutes in an attempt to find a way to position the party in some kind of useful, non-sitting-duck formation prior to doing anything. Apparently, there isn't one. Everyone is just stuck standing there in a moronblob the moment any battle starts.

We rearrange the order of the partymembers to produce a somewhat less asinine formation, and get a slightly better start:
0009.jpg

This time we get to move first. Azira immediately smites his enemy and moves against the wall to avoid being surrounded. And to not block the line of fire.

0010.jpg

Hirato lobs a Magic Missile at the Darkness. The attack is ineffective. He ducks behind a corner.

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Blood moves next, unleashing a barrage of magic stones that kills both of the remaining enemies. All enemies are now dead, this time without them ever getting to move.

0012.jpg

Victoly!

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Huzzah.

0014.jpg

I debate whether or not to save/reload cheese this, but decide not to bother. We can always do that later, right? We reload our ammos and head downstairs.

0015.jpg

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ENTIRELY AVOID COMBAT IN KOTC

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Thus begins another insanely luck-based battle. Naturally, we want no part of this clusterfuck. We take cover in the stairwell (not shown) and wait for the NPCs to decide what to do. After about a dozen attempts where the NPC guards mill around like headless chickens and get themselves slaughtered, often without dispatching a single opponent, followed by an Alamo-like stand in the stairwell (Spoiler: The Mexicans win), the umpteenth attempt...

0017.jpg

Wow, the idiots managed to actually form a coherent line of battle this time. This has to be a first. Hirato ventures forth to take a potshot, since without all that heavy armor, he is pretty fast.

0018.jpg

Despite their brief accidental attempt at an actual line of battle, it doesn't last. Formation collapses, and the guards are all slaughtered in the next turn. We arrive in time to finish off the opponent in a final barrage of potshots.

0019.jpg

Victoly!

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Loot. Pillaging the corpses reveals some plate armor, a shield, and a new masterwork uglystick for Arpad, a pointy stick for Blood (not really an upgrade, but it gives a bonus vs. charging vs. nothing at all), a crossbow for Hirato (now he's not entirely useless after casting his two or three magic missiles), a chain shirt for Azira (AC improvement due to uncapping dex bonus), and a bunch of vendortrash, which we pawn off at the vendor upstairs. The vendor will also apparently let us pillage the supply room if we find a ring thingy from some cave in the southwest. LEVEL UP!

0021.jpg

Searching the outside before we leave reveals some random stuffies.

0022.jpg

Centipedes? In my bathroom? It's more likely than you think. We kill it. This is much easier now that we aren't level 1.

0023.jpg

Worldmap! Where to next? Do we pursue our mainquest with all the urgency that the dialogue implied it deserved? Or do we pursue it with all the urgency it actually deserves, and go search for loot instead?

Would some mod be so kind as to rename the thread title? That's possible, right?
 

Norfleet

Moderator
Joined
Jun 3, 2005
Messages
12,250
Nawp. You got to pick a feat (picked TWF-related stuffies), got some more HPs, casters gained a new (not really useful) spell, Hirato's utility increases by 50%, and the business of killing the centipede in the bathroom became somewhat more tactical instead of "instantly dying in one hit".
 
Self-Ejected

Ulminati

KamelĂĄsĂĄ!
Patron
Joined
Jun 18, 2010
Messages
20,317
Location
DiNMRK
Loot everything that isn't nailed down. If you can pry it loose with a crowbar, it isn't nailed down.
 

Norfleet

Moderator
Joined
Jun 3, 2005
Messages
12,250
UPDATAN!
Treating the opening main quest with all the urgency it naturally deserves, our party sets off in to the cave in the opposite direction in search of loot, and the key to more loot.
0024.jpg

We encounter from what I recall from Dark Sun is a giant bug.

0025.jpg

We prepare to deploy into the corner, but the bug proves to be both very fast. And very squishy. It drops dead in a single critical hit. Boom! Headshot!

0026.jpg

Reaching the cave, we immediately encounter some bears. They do not immediately attack. So hey, we try diplomacy: We can always kill them later. They will trade zombie meat for a resting spot (so Hirato won't spend the rest of the mission useless). We go in search of Zombie Meat.

0027.jpg

More centipedes? Hirato creates an Azira of Unusual Size.

0028.jpg

Giant Azira pulverizes a giant centipede. You'd think that you wouldn't have to stab a giant centipede when you're also a giant. I mean, how does one normally kill a regular-sized centipede as a regular-sized human? Yeah, you squish it with your mighty boot.

0029.jpg

Giant Azira rampage continues. Arpad is bitten and takes a nap. Good thing we have two healers. Hirato is useless again.

0030.jpg

Awakened from his nap, Arpad charges and kills the last bug.
0031.jpg

Victoly!

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Two giant spiders show up to greet us after we squish the bugs. We refrain from asking any obvious stupid questions, because, I mean, what would you have done?

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0034.jpg

Looks legit. It's not as if we weren't going to kill everything anyway, but hey.

0035.jpg

Zombie meat located!

0036.jpg

We perform turn undead. Alas, it fails to outright explode instantly, but it cowers.

0037.jpg

Another one appears. It too, cowers before us.

0038.jpg

Hirato shoots the zombie in the knee. Unfortunately, this is not Skyrim. The zombie does not become a guard. In fact, the attack is entirely useless, just like Hirato.

0039.jpg

Hirato tries stabbing them instead. This proves similarly useless, although at least it wastes less ammo. A zombie wakes up, but we restun it.

0040.jpg

We finish off a zombie after much pummelling, since most of our weapons suck against them, and start pummelling the other one. They remain mostly passive, requiring only one more restun. Hirato sits in his corner uselessly.

0041.jpg

Quest complete! Hirato is useful again!
Several things were discovered during this update:
1. As it turns out, clerics cannot effectively use shields: The use of a shield disables casting. I don't remember this particular thing from NWN, but fair enough. Arpad's shield proves to be useless and gets filed into the vendortrash.
2. As it turns out, clerics can't use pointy sticks, either. As a two-handed weapon, it disables casting similar to a shield. This is definitely a peculiar interpretation of the ruleset, seeing as you would still have a hand free if you merely HOLD the weapon in one hand, given that you aren't going to be actually USING it anyway, as you cannot both cast a spell and attack. At least we didn't sell the old weapon yet.
 

Tigranes

Arcane
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
Whoa, I missed this.

I love how KOTC trolls you from the very first screen, by presenting you with a terrible situation: 3 classes, 4 character slots. SOMEONE MUST BE OVERREPRESENTED.
 

Norfleet

Moderator
Joined
Jun 3, 2005
Messages
12,250
It's not quite so bad. Cleric is the obvious pick. One cannot have too many clerics, right? Cleric and Rogue are your Swiss Army Knife classes. Honestly, you could build a balanced party out of nothing but Clerics and Rogues of various builds. Except Rogues aren't in the game.

And so, it's time for UPDATAN!
With Hirato reloaded again, we continue to explore that east passage.
0042.jpg

See, I told you those guys looked legit.

0043.jpg

Hirato makes himself useful by sleeping a spider. BOOM! Headshot.

The spider leaves behind a strangely humanoid corpse. With a skull.
0044.jpg

The second spider gets more of the same. Hirato, having expended the last of his usefulness, returns to uselessness.

0045.jpg

We stun and start bashing the remaining skellingtons. Azira's stabby swords prove relatively useless, putting him on par with the utility value Hirato now has.

0046.jpg

Our clerics bash the remaining skellingtons. Hirato and Azira sit out in the corner of uselessness.
0047.jpg

Victoly! With enough to level up, we go back up topside and reload Hirato's utility value.

Continuing down that passageway, we find this.
0048.jpg

The obligatory overly-talkative hostile NPC. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO COMPLETELY AVOID COMBAT IN KOTC.

0049.jpg

Hirato demonstrates how popular he is. Enemies will walk through corridors of doom JUST to get at him. That guy doesn't last long like that.

0050.jpg

The Hirato Hate Train continues. Our clerics stun some undead.

0051.jpg

Hirato demonstrates a new toy, enwebbifying the boss NPC. And expending the last of his usefulness in the progress. We continue to bash the undead. Azira goes to work on that summoned elemental, who lacks the stab resistance of the skellingtons.

0052.jpg

We bombard the enemy leader with Magic Stones, seeing as he can't move. It's not super-effective, but he ain't going anywhere.

0053.jpg

The zombie gets loose from the web. We flank him and whomp on him for a bit while Arpad, not visible, engages in some mano-a-mano with the enwebbed boss guy, having run out of magic stones to lob.

0054.jpg

Bloodshifter gets punched out. We heal-teleport him over by Arpad: When a partymember is knocked out, he disappears. If you heal him, he appears next to the healer, even if the place where he fell was nowhere near.

0055.jpg

We club down the Bossman. The lone zombie currently being feebly stabbed by Azira is quickly dispatched after that.

0056.jpg

WIN! We search the area for loot. Discovered are some vendortrash swords, a small mace upgrade, and an armor upgrade for Arpad.

0057.jpg

We also find this locked door. However, since Hirato is now useless, we attempt to head back to base to reload, but blocking the way back, two of those spiders have showed up.

We force combat mode and create a blockade.
0058.jpg

In their zeal to kill the useless Hirato, they charge into flank trap where they can only attack one at a time and are killed. Guess Hirato still has a use after all: Bait. Azira discovers the bugs are annoyingly resistant to stabbing and borrows one of those vendortrash swords to use.

0059.jpg

VICTOLY! We successfully make it back to reload. Hirato useful again.

0060.jpg

Exploring the passage those spiders vacated to try to kill us, we find this pull rope. Never try this in PnP. If you're lucky, you'll get a bucket of ogre piss dumped on your head. But CRPG heroes must pull every switch and push every button! (Preferrably after saving first)

0061.jpg

Snakes. Why does it always have to be snakes? The snake, not expecting someone to pull it, is easily dispatched in a single round before it knows what hit it.

ONWARD! Until next updatan...
 

Norfleet

Moderator
Joined
Jun 3, 2005
Messages
12,250
Well, I would have made it your dump stat if this game *HAD* dump stats, but you got strength as a dump stat instead. Eh. You're a wizard, it's not like you actually use strength for anything...

And an update again.

0062.jpg

We scope out the passage way south of the snake, encountering another spiderbug. Alone, it is not particularly deadly, in spite of its 50+ HP, and it pretty much kills itself, first by charging into a wall of readied attacks and magic missile bombardment, and then, the moment we move to flank, exposing a convoluted route by which it may go after the ever-popular Hirato, it immediately tries to break from the fight to pursue that opening, eating 3 AOOs and dying instantly.

0063.jpg

Exploring the south chamber reveals some eggs. Naturally, we smash them. The chamber is a dead end.

We check the east passage. It looks like it opens into a large room. Combat looks inevitable if we proceed this way. Let's check the other path first.


0064.jpg

Searching the area of the locked door reveals a small chamber south, that we previously bypassed because Hirato needed to reload. Inspecting it reveals only a lone ghoul, which we slay in the opening round, and the key to that locked door.

The locked room contains one vampire, which immediately immolates itself in a barrage of AOOs trying to reach Hirato. Loot is found: 3 arrows of animal slaying and some assorted scrolls for learning, none particularly useful. This place is now a dead end.

Time to search that other branch, I guess. We wallcrawl along the north face, arranging our party order so that Hirato is properly blocked off.
0065.jpg

And, as expected, the obligatory bluster-and-battle NPC.

0066.jpg

We take cover from the enemy bombardment against the wall: They are too fat to reach us from any of the sides, and to attack us from the front, they have to kill the wandering fire elemental we summoned, which is stupid and annoyingly not under our control, but manages to block the path, hit random enemies, and obstruct the line of fire. I am reminded of why I hate summoned mobs in CRPGs. Still, it manages to be somewhat useful. Also, the enemy takes damage when they step into the bowl of fire, which they have to do to attack us from the front. NYAH!

0067.jpg

We survive a bombardment of webs and a fireball. Hirato takes a nap. Those animal slaying arrows become relevant now...

0068.jpg

The Queen exposes itself. The first shot misses. We cast Bless to improve our odds.

0069.jpg

Nuffle favors Azira: BOOM! Headshot!

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With one more round left, we take a shot at the toughest spider, which incidentally happens to be the only one in range. It drops instantly. We revive Hirato. The other spider, sensing that Hirato is accessible, charges into the fire, sets itself on fire, and then dies.

0071.jpg

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VICTOLY! The Party Gains Experience! We level up and loot the bodies. And reload Hirato.

While I am writing this up, the party finds itself under attack by 3 random assholes who apparently spawned out of nowhere. They are weak and die in a single hit, however. Free XP. Some minor vendortrash is looted from their corpses.

The hatch down to the next level is located. Another bunch of random idiots spawns seemingly out of nowhere and attacks us. We kill them, too.

Going down the hatch, we are immediately confronted by these Grimlock guys:
0073.jpg

There are only a few of them and they pose little threat. We slay them.

Exploring deeper, we encounter these guys:
0074.jpg

They do not attack us, so like I always say: Try diplomacy, you always invade them later.
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It appears they have a quest for us.
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Only an adventurer would consider this a reward.

Searching the rest of the caves reveals two downhatches, one in the Thri-kreen territory, and one in a Grimlock cave. The Grimlocks attack us, but they are not very tough and quickly slain. Hirato doesn't even have to do anything.

We can now go down one of two hatches. Which hatch should we check first?
 

Norfleet

Moderator
Joined
Jun 3, 2005
Messages
12,250
Yes, but adventurers are extremely bad at doing things in any kind of order. You know that. Hell, you're stumbling around in a cave picking fights which might possibly be above your level based on the fact that you guys can't even use the loot which drops because of this tendency.
 

Gregz

Arcane
Joined
Jul 31, 2011
Messages
8,489
Location
The Desert Wasteland
This game was so fun, I wish that dude would write a sequel already. :(
 

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