The Temple: Getting to the bottom of things (Upper levels - Chapter 3)
'Broken bones, lost limbs, death. This is all but nothing compared to what damage this place can do to your mind.' Lord Grey,
A Man and his Dungeon
About time the heroes of true and only evil enter the third level. The difficulty of the random encounters rises significantly here and I suggest to avoid resting in these parts unless you want to be ambushed by up to three Ettins for massive XP (and pain). They are the mean spirited, two headed relatives of hill giants. Like this fellow.
Those guys will wipe the floor with your party if they get a surprise round. So golden rule: always save before resting (or go upstairs if you're in ironman mode).
But there are other, less unforgiving obstacles in our path. Spoiled pudding for example.
They and another blob enemy type called ‘ochre jelly’ got the quiet annoying habit to multiply when hit with something other than magic and blunt weapons. At least Punkaid gets his 3 turns of fame. The group is later on attacked by strange shadowy figures.
The most irritating thing about them is that they are almost impossible to spot. Unfortunate for them Magedude, though a scholar by nature also has a surprisingly short temper.
There are more shadows down the hallway packed together with some ogres. Screamer casts her new 'charm monster' spell for research purposes and is immediately rewarded. While a charmed ogre takes care of the shadows our front line fighters can deal with the serious business further south.
But like in any war, there are always survivors.
We release sleeping beauty from her curse on our travels. By the looks of it we are some one hundred years too late though. Still, not bothering with minor details (and some venom poisoning), we are greatly rewarded. Specifically by the best elven armor we found so far.
More tasty jelly ahead! I find something strangely aesthetic about the following screenshot.
Our next fight is of a more serious nature. Three Umber Hulks move in to make a kill but not without each casting confusion spells. Tumblefingers and Punkaid fall victim to this most foul magic.
To make up for this temporal loss in our ranks, Magedude casts 'suggestion' on one of the Umber Hulks. He will make a fine asset in our team for the rest of the battle.
Confusion can cause many things like that the characters will just standing around doing nothing, like it seems in our case. Not taking any risk however, Screamer does something rather unorthodox: she casts 'hideous laughter' (there is some name attached to this spell but I couldn't be arsed to look it up now) that forces the victim on the floor for a couple of turns. Just enough time for the confusion spell to wear off. Our Umby, as Magedude calls him, rams the other Umber Hulk to the left, Johnny takes right.
Johnny catches some minor flesh wounds but all in all the fight is resolved pretty smoothly.
Time for some rest!
…and more retarded random encounters by the way. At least the gargoyles are not as bad as the 5+ hill giants that killed the whole group in less than 3 turns last time we tried.
As our heroes venture further into the dungeon, Johnny is distracted by what he falsely believe to be puppies.
Suspiciously tame they are unlike these hairy fellows.
We are up against some were-things again meaning that this will again take a little longer. There are also some gargoyles that are coming down from the ceiling in case we get bored. Screamer summons a Fungi for backup but the darn thing keeps on attacking the werejackals for 0 damage.
Screamer persuades one of the gargoyles to our side who takes the beating for us from the werecreatures. Screamer is impressed by the gargoyle's stubbornness to survive. She offers him a full time place in our party once the battle is over.
Oh well, if we can't get you then we'll get your XP. This is how RPGs roll, I'm afraid.
We encounter another wave of goblins and wonder where the colors of creativity went during this slaughter. Magedude finds some nice replacement.
Of course, we know by now that goblins are but mere distractions from the real threat…
or threats for this matter.
One more charm spell coming up!
Let me assure you that screenshots couldn't possibly capture the joy that comes from watching two very big dudes beating the crap out of one another. To make sure that we can react on the next encounters with maximum efficiency (and let Screamer stay in the leading position since the leader is always most likely to be engaged in a triggered conversation), we use the formation button for the very first time (the dotted triangle in the lower right corner). Creating a formation is fairly easy compared to the effort necessary to contain it. Just drag & drop the PCs to whenever you thing they fit best. You can also save different formations in the numbered slots above if you really need to.
Tumblefingers spots a secret door while Screamer and Magedude are discussing tactics. As she opens it out of curiosity, she catches a glimpse of a very strange man. Strange because he is standing yet seems to be asleep somehow.
It would be really rude to wake him up so promptly now wouldn't it? Let's see what he’s carrying in his big pockets. Some scrolls and a very expensive looking amulet make Tumblefingers lusts for more. But as she's about to remove the golden rings from his fingers he suddenly awakens and attacks! Totally unprovoked! Johnny, quiet the gentleman knows what to do with people who harass the ladies but is suddenly struck by some kind of energy that emits from the attacker’s body. Magedude (thanks to no small part to his headband of extreme intellect) is easy to realize that creature, whoever it was, must be a mutant, created by magical radiation and therefore a threat to society. It must be put down for good before the contamination can spread. Thankfully, Tumblefingers is right on it and frees the poor thing from its misery with a well placed critical sneak attack. That's what you get for interfering with a lady's work.
Who that man was before the mutation took place? We shall never know. It's not like his name would be carved in pretty much all of his equipment. *cough*
Speaking of which, Magedude finds a sword on the corpse that emits an unpleasant aura of goodness. We let the priests from the St. Cuthbert church do an analysis.
Oh, that sounds nice, if it wasn't a 'goods only' weapon that is. But it is hard to overlook that everyone in the party is filled with joy as they hear the offer for this fine piece of equipment. 72.000 gold pieces! That is a hefty retirement sum. Tumblefingers says that there should be more sleeping men in this campaign.
Back to the third level where we meet some more prisoners. It appears that Johnny wasn't the only one to fall into the 'marry my horrible daughter for XP' trap.
Fun Facts: You can actually ask them for the latest rumors if you don't release them as a little intended joke.
Our next encounter that is set against us involves the terrible Leucrottas. They are magical beings that can weaken your characters with powerful curses before tearing them to shreds. Killing them before they are done casting their spells is a good course of action (they cast quiet a bunch before they actually start attacking).
It doesn't start too well. Johnny is paralyzed early with a hold person spell but manages to escape in the next turn. The rest of the team keeps on missing this agile beast.
We initialize the standard procedures. Magedude casts web, just in case, Screamer and Punkaid provide the party with buffs and Johnny, well, Johnny just does his thing like always.
Wonder how much its skin is worth.
The fighters bravely enter the web. Not a very smart thing to do for Punkaid since his strength has been decreased to a meager 5 or so.
Thankfully, Johnny looks easier to swallow but isn't really.
Another day, another victory.
Please, settle down and listen, dear reader, as I'm about to tell you the tale of a simple dwarf, trapped between two devilish women. It all begins with a dangerous lamia in a neighboring room plus some very angry flora.
The mushrooms are not particularly threatening but they release a cloud that will blind anyone close by which can be dangerous at times. You should worry more about the catwoman though as she's a bit too eager throwing charm spells at every opportunity. Johnny, who was always the credulous type, quickly succumbs to her prowess. Screamer fascinates him with a song that will keep in at bay for now.
Magedude brings some havoc to the seductive mistress but not that much due to her spell resistance.
Scremer casts another hideous laughter thing and Johnny falls to the ground. I've never looked up how many rounds a charm person spell lasts and this seems to be the right time to do it. It's about 1500 turns. Johnny would have to laugh very, very long before this spells expires.
During the time I wasted looking up numbers, the catwoman kept on casting charm on Punkaid but failed miserably thanks to his good will saving throws. I'm about to send him in to confront her directly as something really bad happens. That blasted idiot gets himself charmed as well (and while he's at it, bashes Magedude who stands right next to him). The only two melee fighters in the group are now turned against us. We're so dead right now; it's almost not funny anymore. In her great despair, Screamer casts a fear spell on Punkaid who heedlessly runs into our web and gets trapped.
Punkaid uses the time he can't do anything by drinking all his potions of bull's strength and hitting Johnny when he stands up. Johnny, still overpowered by the spell, turns to the rest of the group and picks Tumblefingers as a target. This would normally be the time when I hit the big fat reload button as there seems to be no possible way that I can still win this mess. Then, all of a sudden, an idea occurs to me. Doesn't Screamer know the charm person spell as well? I open her menu. Yes, it's there and even one charge left! (Tutorial: Since I haven't explained it 'til now, bards, similar to sorcerers, don't memorize spells like wizards do. Instead they get a specific amount of 'charges' for every spell level they have. Screamer, for example, can cast three level 2 spells, two level 3 spells and so forth without having to selectively memorizing them)
Thanks to Johnny's crappy will saving throw we welcome him back to our team. Screamer might have turned him into a mindless thrall but hey, it's not like it wasn't that way in the first place. We turn him into non-lethal mode and let him beat Punkaid silly for his weakness for furry woman (and for wasting all those good potions).
With Johnny back on our side, nothing can possibly stop us.
That's for trying to outwit a high level bard you daft cow! (uh... cat)
More rest followed by more enemies.
Irritating since they're hard to hit but not really dangerous from their damage output. Besides, a little shock therapy might be just the think to make Johnny think straight again.
More secrets!
We meet a half elf who attacks us on sight. After a few hits the situation starts to change and it would be a lot for the worst if it wasn't for Tumblefingers broad knowledge about scum of all kinds.
She makes two more or less shocking revelations: what appeared to be a decently attractive half elf turns out to be a still decently attractive half orc and that she's the leader of the guard tower brigands that we've fought way back. She's dead meat after that, leaving behind a very nice ring of invisibility for Tumblefingers.
Fun Facts: If your PC fails his sense motive check they will let her go by default even if your party is evil which strikes me as kinda strange.
Finally, we discover our main target. It’s the fallen wizard Falrinth.
He gives away that he really possesses the orb and that its powers can be reawakened by magic ornaments. Like the one our party has already found (Screamer has already forgotten where). Good old F. is not a person who likes to share though so a duel seems inventible.
Bug report: Oh, a lot of those in this fight. Most importantly, if F. gets a chance for an attack of opportunity, he will continue to prickle his target until it is either dead or you click the mouse buttons which will make him stop in his tracks. The second thing to consider is a secret door to the south end of the room. When pushed, F. will try to retreat there and get stuck which wouldn't be so bad if he wouldn't become almost impossible to aim at as well. You should try to engage him from multiple directions. Everything that will prevent him from retreating to the south if possible. His flaming hand spells also don't deal any damage for some odd reasons.
Even without the bugs this is one of the easier encounters so far although F. tries to impose our heroes with nice looking special effects.
He and his little imp (already dead in this screenshot) don't take any lethal damage and must be killed with coup de grace. Just wait until F.'s invisibility wears of than hit him with anything you've got. Case dismissed. Searching his room reveals a secret chest which conceals what we seek: the golden orb of death although someone has removed the stones it appears.
Curiously, Screamer takes it into her hands but fades out all of a sudden.
Whoo, red sky. This crack is good. Wait a minute, is there something hanging in the clouds?
Yeah, looks familiar.
Hey, it's the skull again! How is it going, man?
Whoa, man! Private space! Private space!
Heh heh, secret hole. *chukles*
Now that has certainly expanded her mind but Magedude wants to ask the priest in Hommlet for his professional opinion on this nevertheless.
It turns out that there is a small shaft nearby that leads back to the guard towers. So we could have skipped this whole episode...altogether...all the time. It's better not to dwell on such a thought. Most of the gang has now reached 9th level so the win/lose is balanced out albeit barely. Let's go to the holy place.
The more our folks hear about the orb, the more it becomes doubtful that they are going to give it away at all. We always wanted to see how a priest of the fire temple will react to denial. Right after the commercial break. Stay tuned.
