Erebus
Arcane
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2008
- Messages
- 4,771
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 !
Wait, Micromagic ? Who's that ? I don't remember...
Instant incline.
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 :
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).
Moar like the BDSM Queen of Krynn, amirite ?
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.
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).
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 !
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 ?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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 !
Wait, Micromagic ? Who's that ? I don't remember...
Instant incline.
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 :
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).
Moar like the BDSM Queen of Krynn, amirite ?
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.
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).
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 !
That's... That's good, really, but could you say it in english ?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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