Baldur's Gate Solo Cavalier Run - Part 2 ermahGerd!

[Lector87]

Sorry, just gotta be the Pungeon Master.

I always hate dealing with Mind Flayers, just because of that stupid intelligence draining attack.

I have a few potions of genius on hand, just in case, but resting between encounters has worked so far.

[Triaxx]

Potion of genius... I never even thought about those. That's actually brilliant.

[Lector87]

Also in Category: Unfinished Business

Spoiler: Lady Gerd Wyrmbane

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[Lector87]

Whoops-a-daisy. Looks like Lady Gerd shouldn't have neglected the minor quests for the inhabitants of Neera's Hidden Refuge.

Spoiler: yep, I'm sure I can take this turn of events completely at face value

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[Keltest]

I mean, theyre Red Wizards, so even if they weren't involved, they still deserve it just for being Red Wizards.

[Lector87]

I mean, theyre Red Wizards, so even if they weren't involved, they still deserve it just for being Red Wizards.

All the same, leaving Neera outside the lair might be the prudent choice - both because this is supposed to be a solo playthrough, and because I can't imagine her making prudent choices, or holding fire when necessary.

Unless the drama is worth it?

[Lector87]

Gerd put paid to the wretched Thayvians, and picked up her next level in the process.

Spoiler: oh yes, and she took care of the stronghold quests on the side

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Next stop, the Planar Sphere!

[Lector87]

Entering the Planar Sphere, Lady Gerd pretty much immediately sent herself straight to Hell - or the Abyss, to be precise.

Spoiler: they really should put labels on these controls

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Fighting her way through the Sphere involved tussling with, among other things, a war band of cannibal halflings - which is still a less serious crime against sanity than the existence of kender.

Defeating the master of the Sphere (who is both an ancient necromancer AND possessed, apparently?) she discovered that she now has to go out into the Abyss and rip the heart out of a demon.

Lady Gerd really loves her job.

Spoiler: Holy Diver! / You've been down too long in the midnight sea

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[Lector87]

The Abyss - Cleared!

Spoiler: two out of five stars, less abyssal than advertised

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True! -nervous - very, very dreadfully nervous Lady Gerd has been and is; but why will you say that she is mad? The disease has sharpened her senses - not destroyed - not dulled them. Above all is the sense of hearing acute. She hears all things in the heaven and in the earth. She hears many things in hell. How, then, is she mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily - how calmly she can achieve level 22...

Spoiler: Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen her. You should have seen how wisely she proceeded

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[Triaxx]

Fools rush in where Deva's fear to tread.

[Lector87]

The Planar Sphere Core - Cleared!

Spoiler: From what I’ve tasted of desire / I hold with those who favor fire.

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On her way to stick her fleshy lump of thumping something into a random orifice, Gerd encountered Tolgerias of the Cowled Wizards, who REALLY should have known better.

Spoiler: go ahead, threaten the lady carrying around three Tanar'ri hearts

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After that, she gat herself back to the Material Plane and gave Edgelord Grandpa his closure.

Spoiler: Edgelord Jr. still emo

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Level 23, and a catalog of favored armaments:

Spoiler: the flail is for clay golems

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Druid Grove time!

[Triaxx]

Ah yes, the Druid Grove and the two most annoying NPC's in history. Cernd and the evil druid chick... whatsherface. Faldurus, Farengar, Falion, FLydia... something like that. (Been playing too much Skyrim I think.)

[Lector87]

Ah yes, the Druid Grove and the two most annoying NPC's in history. Cernd and the evil druid chick... whatsherface. Faldurus, Farengar, Falion, FLydia... something like that. (Been playing too much Skyrim I think.)

I would say that BG2 is by far the superior RPG, except for not being able to Fus-Ro-Dah obnoxious NPCs off a cliff. That's, like, at least half of Skyrim's appeal.

[Keltest]

I would say that BG2 is by far the superior RPG, except for not being able to Fus-Ro-Dah obnoxious NPCs off a cliff. That's, like, at least half of Skyrim's appeal.

Yeah, but you cant turn them into squirrels in Skyrim. Looking at you, Noober.

[Triaxx]

Ah, but I can turn them into Sweetrolls and eat them. That said, yes, BG2 is a vastly better RPG, but Skyrim's far more fun to run around smacking things with a sword in. (Also I'm playing with mods that make Ascension look like a milk run.)

[Lector87]

The Druid Grove - Cleared!

Spoiler: always happy to purge a scourge

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After engaging in some light scourge-purging, troll-trouncing, and rakshasa-wrangling, Gerd returned to Trademeet to receive a proper heroine's welcome.

Spoiler: The Two Heroes of Trademeet: Lady Gerd and Her Massive Ego

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Now it looks like we got some kinda Montague/Capulet situation 'round these parts.

Also, this...

Spoiler: sounds promising, and definitely not horribly creepy

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[Lector87]

Oh yeah, this is going to be GREAT.

Spoiler: They're gonna kill that poor woman, man!

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[Lector87]

Okay, that could have gone worse, I guess.

Spoiler: she got better

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I think that does it for all major tasks besides Kangaxx and Watcher's Keep, before I move the main story forward by paying off Gaelan Bayle. Anything I've forgotten?

[Lector87]

Lady Gerd WANTED to fight Kangaxx fair and square, but he kept dropping an instakill spell as soon as he entered his second phase, and no amount of magic resistance seemed to block it!

(Death Count: 18)

So she cheesed him with a Protection from Undead Scroll. Craven, but effective.

Spoiler: pretty sure I got a Ring of Gaxx in a Kellogg's cereal box as a kid

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Gerd is sporting a new look because suddenly the game can't find my custom portrait! I thought this one fit the "Red Dragon" thing she's going for these days.

Also, in the Load/Save screens, none of the saves show the minimap or any character portraits? Très étrange!

Spoiler: my game is haunted send the ghost busters

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[Mordokai]

It's an appropriately badass portrait

That said, I still preferred the former one More cute, though I know that's kinda opposite what Gerd is at this point.

[Lector87]

It's an appropriately badass portrait

That said, I still preferred the former one More cute, though I know that's kinda opposite what Gerd is at this point.

I'm sure she's going just going through a "bad-girl" phase, like all the youth these days. Listening to The Runaways, hanging out with drow behind the bleachers, that sort of thing.

But! She's still Lawful Good at heart. She just needs to mature a little more. The dye job and the attitude will soon be nothing more than a slightly embarrassing memory.

(flips through baby album, slightly forced smile on face)

[Mordokai]

I'm sure she's going just going through a "bad-girl" phase, like all the youth these days. Listening to The Runaways, hanging out with drow behind the bleachers, that sort of thing.

But! She's still Lawful Good at heart. She just needs to mature a little more. The dye job and the attitude will soon be nothing more than a slightly embarrassing memory.

(flips through baby album, slightly forced smile on face)

Unless you choose to fail the Hell test(s)... which would be ten different kinds of awesome/interesting

I never did that personally, but to anybody who did... is there any penalty/change in gameplay?

[Triaxx]

Total loss of Paladin powers, making you a second rate fighter for the remainder of TOB.

[Lector87]

Watcher's Keep, Level 2 - Cleared!

Spoiler: Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors

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Lady Gerd was shocked, shocked I tell you, when the Chromatic Demon turned on her as soon as it was released. WHAT A TWIST.

Spoiler: Ah, curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!

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Moving down into the next level, she discovered a magical maze infested with a veritable plethora of devils, demons, and assorted infernal spawn to smite with her righteous blade.

Speaking of righteous blades...

Spoiler: strange rocks standing in dungeons distributing swords is no basis for a system of government

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Other acquisitions: a journal of ominous hints, some material for a shiny new suit (but only before labor day), a deck of many suckers, a Backstab Quintuple Damage death, and a Level 26!

Spoiler: time for a nice relaxing game of solitaire

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(Death Count: 19)

Lady Gerd found her way to what she's pretty sure is the gate to the next level, but she only has 2 out of 3 of the Macguffin Stones. Time to retrace her steps...if she can...

[Lector87]

So I'm pretty sure that Gerd is just gaining a level for every 5 minutes she spends in Watcher's Keep.

Spoiler: is leveling up even news anymore?

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[Lector87]

Spoiler: answer: probably not

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[Lector87]

Spoiler: pretty sure you're not supposed to hit Level 30 before ToB

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[Caelestion]

Isn't Watcher's Keep part of ToB in the first place? :)

[LibraryOgre]

Isn't Watcher's Keep part of ToB in the first place? :)

It's in between... you can do it in either.

[Lector87]

It's in between... you can do it in either.

Technically WK released with ToB, though I think installing the expansion also added it to the map in SoA. Regardless, blasting through WK before you've even been to Spellhold is probably unusual.

I love RPGs where you can stumble across high-level content from the get-go. Crushing a foe is much more satisfying if that same foe sent you running scared earlier in the playthrough. I feel a design principle formulating...

For character progression to be satisfying, a player should:

1. Encounter a high-level enemy early in the game, so that beating them later on feels like a real accomplishment.

2. Encounter a low-level enemy late in the game, so that the player can delight in crushing them with ease.

If a player's challenges consistently match their progression, they get no sense of growth - the level of tension is unchanging. But if progression can be "broken" - by encountering an enemy outside their current level, or by finding ways to become overpowered early on - then the player gets a concrete feel for their own strength, compared to the world around them.