Let's Play: Baldur's Gate Trilogy. With loads of mods.

[Johnny Blade]

Chapter 14: For Reevor!

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Back in Beregost, we collected our pay. 250 from Officer Vai, and 5000 from the temple, as promised.



Yes. Leave it to Jaheira to create an amicable atmosphere. Still, the priest remained friendly.

"There is a man, Pelltar, who has been staying with us for a few nights, hailing from the village of Restenford. It is not far from here, but with tensions between Amn and Baldur's Gate rising, it has been left to its own devices for some time. Apparently with most unfortunate consequences, since our honored guest is looking for adventurers such as you."

We decided to see what he had to say.



Pelltar: "Wonderful. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Pelltar, resident mage of the village of Restenford. I think the Dawnmaster already told you that we have some problems that would need the attention of people such as yourselves?"
Elorian: "Nothing specific."
Pelltar: "Ah, I believe I can't actually tell you much myself. I am usually staying in my estate and don't interact with the people much, as my work leaves me only little time. I was only sent because I know the mayor of Beregost. Since he couldn't help us, I'm now looking for adventurers for hire."
Elorian: "Well, that we are. We'd need at least some information, though."
Xan: "Yes. For example, doesn't your, ah, village--"
Pelltar: "Restenford."
Xan: "Yes. Doesn't it have any guards? Why are we needed?"
Pelltar: "Oh, actually, even without the Flaming Fist, the village is quite well-guarded. It's just that the threats we face are too much for them to handle. One thing I can tell you, for example, is that there have been many bandits in the area."
Xan: "Oh, wonderful. Why do I get the feeling that I will soon regret ever joining this group?"
Branwen: "Ah, grow some backbone, mage. It sounds like a task well worth the time and blood of a warrior."
Elorian: "Ah...excuse them. You mentioned bandits? Restenford wouldn't happen to have an ore mine or be a stop for iron merchants?"
Pelltar: "Actually, our little village is indeed often frequented by hardware dealers, especially in recent times."
Elorian: "Consider us hired. Uh...right, guys?"
Jaheira: "Of course. Weakening the bandits before directly assaulting them is only sensible."
Pelltar: "I must, of course, tell you that there are more problems, although I can't tell you any specifics."
Imoen: "Oh, don't ya worry 'bout that. We'll solve those, too. We're heroes, ya know?"
Xan: "I knew it. We're doomed."


Well, our doom didn't await us on our way to Restenford. Two days, and no dragon swooped down on us. Neither did a gate to the Abyss open and spew forth demons.

When we arrived, Pelltar quickly showed us his home, which also served as a magic school and the local library - looks like he's a bit more hospitable than our friend Thalantyr. Anyway, besides tea, he couldn't offer us much, so we just decided to look around a bit and see what the people had to say.



Branwen: "Elorian, I hope you know that this is not the kind of problem we should concern ourselves with when there are worthy foes waiting."
Elorian: "Sorry, but this is something of a sacred mission of mine. I've been taught to fight the rodent menace wherever it rears its head."
Imoen: "For Reevor?"
Elorian: "For Reevor. To the bait seller!"
Xan: "Yes, let's do it for...Reevor."
Elorian: "He's Candlekeep's janitor, in case you want to know. Not a friend of rats."
Xan: "Oh, yes, do it for the janitor. At least he'll be proud of us, never mind that our dawdling puts the entire sword coast at risk."

Of course, during this conversation, we had already arrived at the bait seller's house.



At the old guard house - the interior of which was actually in quite good condition - we did indeed find the wretched vermin and went right to the business at hand, going down into the cellar through a half-open trap door under some rubble as we heard some scratching sounds.



Well, turned out those weren't rats but several undead instead. Not that it would've made much of a difference.



Khalid: "Huh. This looks n-not quite like a guard house's c-cellar. Just like the room above didn't really look burned out."
Elorian: "Yeah, and that rock over there? Pretty sure it's fake. Looks like someone used this as a hide-out."
Xan: "Am I truly the only one who has noticed the undead?"
Elorian: "Not really. Why, you got any revelations where they're coming from?"
Xan: "Of course not. It will probably be impossible to find out without knowing if they were created by the one who called this place his home or if they drove him out. Or worse. At least I doubt that there's anyone here to answer our queries with anything but an attempt to eat us alive."
Branwen: "Not our business anyway. We're here to solve problems, not to gaze at the navels of rancid ghouls."

And a solution we found, to the undead as well as to the vermin problem.



Turns out "For Reevor!" is a pretty fun battlecry. We even got Khalid to use it, and he's not really the type for yelling.

Sadly, Zahrdahl wasn't quite as enthusiastic about our flawless victory.



Well, at least thankful. Somewhat. As we were about to leave, he had a request to make.

Zahrdahl: "Hey, I've been thinking. Since you'll be looking around to solve all of the town's problems and all, maybe you could tell me about all that. Would be good gossip."
Elorian: "Yeah, why not. See you, then."
Zahrdahl: "Yes. Thank you. Good night, good people."

Imoen: "Huh. Wouldn't have taken him for the gossiping type."

Before doing anything gossip-worthy, though, we just went on our way to the nearest inn to get rid of the stench undead- and rat-infested underground corridors can leave you with and catch some sleep.

Commentary:

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So, Secret of Bone Hill, part one. Part two won't be covered in thy LP, actually, at least not in the main updates.

I'll be rewriting a lot of the mod's dialogue - not because it's bad, but because the mod's official setting is an island you get teleported to, which is a bit weird. Apparently, Pelltar can cast higher level spells, but decides to use this to teleport to Beregost and wait for some mercenaries intrepid heroes instead of fixing everything himself.

Oh, there's also the part where Restenfurth is officially not in the Forgotten Realms but in Greyhawk. Best to just ignore that, although it gets pretty hard (read: impossible) in the second part of the mod. Which, as said, won't be a concern here. For the sake of this Let's Play, it's a little village east of Beregost.




As for the actual content of the mod, the first part offers a nice little series of random quests that I'll be going through in - probably - the next two days.
And overpowered equipment:

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I like the idea of giving Firkraag a Simulacrum; that should be a decent difficulty buff.

Hm...I wonder if that would work. Two Firkraags would risk getting into each other's way, after all. It would befit his vanity, though.

Maybe something like a Fire Elemental with spells and other upgrades.

And yeah, it's true, when making AI casters play for real, you need pretty solid party yourself. Like, with the party composition you outlined, it'd pretty much befall you to do the arsekickery and if you're a non-caster...

Well, I did have Safana in the party, and my Bhaalspawn was a Mage/Thief, so I could at least make the fight at the entrance manageable by safely killing one of the two mages. But still, it wasn't easy.

EDIT: No, wait...I'm mixing things up here. My Bhaalspawn was a simple Bounty Hunter, Mage/Thief was that one time I tried playing an evil party.
Rest of the party was Khalid, Jaheira, Imoen, Safana and Kagain (ditched for Yeslick).

By the way, for Clerics, I'm suggesting Viconia. My favorite NPC.

I assume you mean for both BG1 and BG2?

Also, I have a Friendship mod for her installed. I don't know what exactly this allows you to do, though. (Besides, you know, befriending her.)
And it was buggy as hell the one time I tried it, but that entire installation was kinda...eccentric.

[Zid]

Reading through this Let´s play have made me want to play through BG again, but with the mods you use. I´ve never used a BG mog before. Is there anywhere I can find information on how to download and install these mods?

[Johnny Blade]

Well, I use the Big World Project.
Even if you don't use it, be sure to use the .pdfs you can download there to avoid conflicts due to wrong installation orders.

Supporting topics can be found here.

Note that I heavily altered the installation batch file that it uses. There's good documentation detailing how to do this, though, included in the standard Big World downloads.
Of course, I could upload mine somewhere. I think it should still work.


In general, most - almost all, actually - mods use Weidu (bottom of the page), which is rather self-explanatory.

[Ikialev]

just wanted to warn that two dragons simultaneously always crashed my copmuter.

[Johnny Blade]

Hm...it worked for me, but that was on another, better PC. Well, easy enough to find out if it works...um, later.

Thanks for the heads-up, though. Wouldn't want to script a fight like that only to find out that it kills the game.


On another note, since I'll be dual-classing Imoen sooner or later and will have to write her learning magic into this LP some more, what type of mage do you all think she should become?

I'm personally leaning towards Wild Mage, but Illusionist and Generalist are options, too.

[Morty]

Go Wild Mage. And don't prepare anything but Nahal's Reckless Dweomer in 1st level slots.

[Aricandor]

+1 Wild Mage! Nahal's all the way!

[Ikialev]

Wild Mage, it's fun. And dweomers can make your magic missiles become fireballs, so do it.

[Johnny Blade]

Well, Wild Mage it is, then.


There may be no update today, by the way, since I'll have to redo part of the mod.
There's no bug involved, though, just...let's call it human failure.

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There's this NPC who will only ever appear in my little commentary parts because he's the most hilariously bad modder cameo of all time.

He also gives you a quest, and I don't know how important it is to finish that one.


He has very high magic resistance. He holds a Staff of the Magi.


Yeah, that's right. He's basically permanently invisible.

EDIT: I'll give it a last try with several high-level scrolls first, though.

EDIT II.: Managed to fix it by altering the .CRE file and cheating a copy of the sucker in. But seriously, how do things like these even happen? Especially jarring since this is a problem I've never had before.

[Morty]

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I don't know what is this mod about of course, but I can hardly imagine how could giving Staff of The Magi to a quest-giver seem like a good idea in any case.

[Johnny Blade]

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Well, as I said, hilariously bad cameo.

Also, no update yet because my boiler died on me yesterday. Fixing that is kinda taking priority right now. There's no problem with the game anymore, though.

[Ikialev]

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And which mod would that be? I need to see this with my own eyes.

and it would be kind of reasonable if this character had a script set for talking to you on sight.

[Johnny Blade]

Chapter 15: Setting Off

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We went to one of the local inns for the night. I and Branwen were alone soon, with Khalid and Jaheira basically going straight to their room as soon as we had paid for the night - can't blame them after several nights in tents which generally are detrimental to things like privacy - and Xan leaving soon after to spend some time with his spellbook. Imoen stayed a little longer, but soon decided to try to get Xan's help with a few spells she had tried to teach herself.

Branwen: "Heh...and I thought hunting rats was a waste of time, and then we stumble into an old cave full of undead. You seem to have a talent for finding trouble."
Elorian: "Yes, trouble and I, we always seem to find each other. I think this time it was trouble who took the initiative, though. I really thought we'd be hunting rats."
Branwen: "Regardless, at least those rats didn't turn out to be merchants like the 'smugglers' Tranzig had promised me. Bah, to think I believed that stinking little weasel!"
Elorian: "You worked for Tranzig?"
Branwen: "For exactly one of his little raids. He had told us we'd be hunting down outlaws. Not the most noble task, but not a disgrace in the eyes of Tempus, either. And I needed the money. But when I realized what we were doing, I of course confronted the lying bastard. I thought he'd run away when none of the cowards he had brought spoke for him, but then he suddenly cast a spell, creating several copies of himself. I could only hope to hit the right one, but I didn't, and then he produced a scroll and started casting the spell that turned me into stone. I had given him the advantage, and he used it, as you know."
Elorian: "Well, at least you didn't give it to him twice, right? Anyway, I guess you'll be quite happy to go after the bandits that Tranzig worked for now?"
Branwen: "I bear no one a grudge besides Tranzig and myself for allowing all this. I already had my revenge. Still, 'tis a worthy undertaking, and even if you hadn't saved me from being a statue for all time, I'd help you with it."
Elorian: "Honestly, I don't think you'd be much use as a statue."
Branwen: "Uh...? Ha! Perhaps as a battering ram. But you know what I meant to say."
Elorian: "I do. And it's appreciated."

Well, we both went to our respective rooms soon after, so we could go after something a bit more imposing than a few rats the next day. Like the gnolls that had been attempting surprisingly coordinated raids, as one of the other guests had told us.

Getting up very early, we decided to listen around some more, and came across the local druid.



He actually had a lot to tell us. Apparently, there had been undead seen in an old castle ruin nearby, which he asked us to eradicate. He also mentioned the gnolls, who according to him had lived in the hills outside the village for a while and only recently gotten aggressive, and a young ranger in the nearby Reddy Forest that was helping him build a shrine that he hadn't heard back from in a while. Well, since we'd be exploring the area anyway, we could as well try to find him. Jaheira was, of course, especially interested in helping them out here.

"Elorian, I know that this is not our main concern here, but I suggest that we help him with the shrine as good as we can. These people can gain much from living in balance with nature, and a proper shrine would illustrate this well, probably better than the often hidden actions of a druid."

Now, that, plus the bandit issue, gave us a few things to do, so we headed out to explore the area north of Restenford. After two hours spent running around in the increasingly barren landscape, we somehow managed to bump into exactly who we had been looking for, although he didn't know of his luck at the time.



And there went Jaheira, ruining our new bandit friend's fun. Even worse for him was, of course, that we had already seen his man before this little chat. They, however, hadn't seen Branwen and Xan cast a few spells to aid us or me sneaking up on their leader.
So when he ordered them to attack, the result was obvious.



As we had suspected, he carried a few letters with him, all sent by Tazok, none of them giving us any insights beyond the half-orc's name, Krellus, and the obvious.

Khalid: "So, we know a bit m-more about the scope of this bandit threat. As I already said before, I hope you do p-plan to go for this Tazok s-soon."
Elorian: "Sure. With the gold we get for our help here and Bassilus' bounty, we should be able to equip ourselves well enough."
Khalid: "Well, h-hopefully. Either way, we c-can't allow Tazok to move his camp. And with s-several of his men dead, he will c-consider this."

Khalid being less cautious than me felt weird, but I knew he was right. Tazok had mentioned an operation that he needed his current camp for, but we didn't know how long this would last. We'd have to make our move soon.


First, however, we tended to the local problems as we had promised, starting by either killing or driving off the last few of Krellus' men. We even found the remains of a robbed caravan.



Judging by the goods we found in the wagons and scattered throughout the cave, the orcs had been allowed to keep everything but hardware and weapons. Not really surprising.


Anyways, with one of our tasks taken care off, we went on our way to the hills to pay the gnolls a visit, much to the chagrin of Xan, who still considered going after a threat the entire guard of Restenford couldn't handle suicidal.

Well, we'd see about that.

Commentary:

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Actually, you find absolutely nothing among the bandit leader's remains that points to Tazok.


Also, sorry about the delays, but I've had a few busy, annoying days. I should get Secret of Bone Hill done tomorrow or Friday, though.

Also:

And which mod would that be? I need to see this with my own eyes.

Ask and ye shall receive. (Still Secret of Bone Hill, as you'll see.)


That Other Update: Sir BillyBob the Mind-Bogglingly Amazing. Totally Part of the Let's Play's Canon, I Tell You.

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Before checking out the gnolls, however, we followed a sudden afflatus back to Restenford. Passing one of the nearby farms, we noticed a half-elf standing triumphantly over a pile of dead orcs. The orcs, we had seen earlier, but the half-elf was new. Most likely, he had been invisible before to avoid distracting us from our mission, as a man as imposing and charismatic as him could do that even to one such as Xan:

"There is an aura of poise and confidence about this man that makes me envious, but also consider the possibility that maybe, we are not all doomed. Just most of us."

Naturally, we had to talk to this man.



We were all too glad to report our findings. After bringing him a cold ale so he would maybe be willing to let us hear more of his fascinating life and thoughts.



"And, son - this is a fine ale right here. Excellent work."
"Thank you, Sir BillyBob. You're too kind."
"I know."

He knew. And we knew he knew. For 'tis the truth.


Of course, talking to such a man, and then seeing him live on a humble farm instead of a palace made of solid gold leaves you with only one question. At least one question besides "Why can't I be like him?".

I decided to ask him that one question.



That gave us all a lot to think about, and since we didn't want to keep him from being even more awesome any longer, we, with a heavy heart, decided to take our leave.

As we left, one of his cows suddenly started singing.

"Billy Bob!", it sang, "Billy Bob!
Is the very biggest heart throb!
Melting ice, with his smile!
Kills orc bandits just like flies!
Look out, here comes Sir BillyBob!"

All the while, Sir BillyBob was farting a melody to this wonderful song, demonstrating that the body is the greatest instrument by hitting every note.


Jaheira: "It smells like a field of roses."
Elorian: "Not even the gods can have roses like this. Not even the gods."


This night, Imoen and Branwen both demanded single bedrooms, and I could hear a fight between Khalid and Jaheira as I lay in my bed, pondering the meaning of each word Sir BillyBob had spoken to me.

Meet Sir BillyBob. I'm actually rather convinced that this whole cameo is not played for laughs, especially since he is absurdly powerful. Several HLAs, including Use Any Item, 9th level spells, and besides that Staff of the Magi, his equipment includes: Robe of Vecna, Amulet of Power, something that makes him unkillable.
There's also the subtle foreshadowing.

[nooblade]

Do elves go bald?

I guess that could be just his human side, but now I'm wondering about the question. It would probably help if I fully understood what caused human baldness. Maybe you could just suppose that elves all have "perfect" genes, but then you'd be mucking into areas of thought that dictate that half-elves are sterile...

Did I unintentionally set this question up just so I could say that Sir BillyBob is probably sterile?

[chiasaur11]

Is that a modified picture of Shawn Connery?

Wow. If that isn't intentional parody...

(If it is, it should have more Celebrity Jeopardy references.)

[Johnny Blade]

Chapter 16: Life with Suicidal Lunatics.

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As our regrettably fearless leader had foolishly promised the wizard who had brought us to this forsaken settlement with its remarkable appeal to all sorts of malefactors, we would attempt to confront a tribe of gnolls strong enough to challenge the local guard. And do so on their turf.

Naturally, we couldn't even charge happily into our demise without stirring up some more of the local miscreants.



And this continued until the time to set up camp came, an occasion that the loud brutish one used to demonstrate her utter madness by thanking her god for granting her a day of peril and slaughter.



And with that, a similarly wonderful evening started, which I mainly spent trying to teach the brash young girl a few of the fundamentals of the art so she wouldn't be as likely to unwittingly open a gate to the Abyss while trying to cast a cantrip while doing my best to ignore the gnats that had apparently singled out my blood as the most delectable.


The next day, we took up our search for the gnolls again, only to come upon a cave which obviously served as the home of several dangerous predators, judging by the scattered corpses decorating the entrance, a sight that caused even the two most reasonable ones to display an apparent death wish.

Khalid: "This is most worrying. None of the p-predators I would expect here should normally d-do this."
Jaheira: "Indeed. Judging by the wounds of these men and the smell, there's a pack of wolves responsible for this, but one that is far too strong and vicious for the good of this region."

Naturally, it was quickly decided to make another problem ours. After all, who cares about an impending war when you can risk your lives killing crazy wolves?

Luckily, one quick spell put those to sleep, leaving it to my valiant companions to do the honors.



Somehow, seeing our leader butcher defenseless canines seemingly made the barbarous woman's blood boil.



Soon afterwards, things again took a turn for the worse when the druid made out gnoll tracks.
Our leader, as usually inspired by a sudden fit of insanity, scouted ahead. Soon, he reappeared near the pass leading up to where I could only suspect was an army and gnolls waiting and waved us nearer.

Jaheira: "How many?"
Elorian: "I don't know. Judging by the fires and the sounds, I'd say about fifty. But there are a few guards nearby, so I couldn't take a look."

Fifty. And he said this like normal people would talk about molehills in their garden.

'Oh, yes, there are some, but it started to rain when I went to take a look so I don't know how many there are.'

I made one last attempt at talking some sense into him, knowing how futile this endeavor was.

Xan: "Fifty Gnolls are, as you should already know, way too many for a small group like ours. So, for once, let us just retreat and don't doom us all to end as the meal of some dog-faced marauders."
Elorian: "Hm...well, it won't be easy, I guess. Jaheira, do you think you can cover that pass with some entangling vines?"
Jaheira: "Of course I can. Just one second."

And then he dropped the last pretense of sanity.

Elorian: "Well then...HEY YOU UGLY CURS OVER THERE! I'VE GOT YOUR MOMMA IN MY KENNEL!"

Xan: "What...did...you...just...do!?"
Elorian: "Tactics."

Tactics. And he said this with a genuine smirk on his face. Luckily, his sudden insanity had allowed him to hatch a plan idiotic enough to be indeed appropriate for the enemy at hand.



Even so, they would obviously have overwhelmed it, if not for a magical wand I had found earlier. I would have liked to save it for something actually important, but as it was, I wouldn't get another chance if I wouldn't use this one.



Against all odds and logic itself, we prevailed.



Of course, this group wouldn't be the hopeless lot of maniacs if we hadn't further tested our luck by pressing on only to run into the next wave of gnolls.



And then the leader of the gnolls we had just defeated. Who turned out to be an ogre mage, a wicked beast possessing power considerable enough to kill any of us. And possessed by an annoying tendency to grandiloquent blather.

"Ahaha...you have slaughtered my minion gnolls, yes? Ah, the raids have yielded enough. I hope you have enjoyed your victory, little pink things, because now you die!"



Thanks mainly to luck and healing potions, none of us did, and when I cast a potent sleeping spell on the brute, it turned out to be a complete waste of arcane energy as his eyes closed just as he collapsed.



As the ogre mage lay dying, I looked at him, realizing that this victory would only serve to goad the lunatics I have foolishly chosen to travel with into further suicide missions.

Knowing I am doomed, I can only hope that our next overpowering foes don't stink as abominably as these gnolls.


I expect a horde of otyughs.

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So, I hope Raistlin is content with my portrayal of Xan.


(That borderline case of fishing for compliments aside, there's nothing I have to say right now. The party's running around killing stuff. It's fun, but yeah, that's it.)

Wow. If that isn't intentional parody...

Note how our protagonist had only one option during this conversation. I mean, maybe Sir BillyBob really made fun of other modders' cameos here, but it really doesn't look like that to me.

[Johnny Blade]

Chapter 17: The Actual Secret of Bone Hill.

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With the gnolls taken care of - Xan wouldn't even talk to me for hours afterwards - we went on to take care of the undead-infested ruin, Bone Hill, next - which I believe tempted Xan to break his silence in order to remind us that we were just dooming ourselves when we could at least die doing something more significant.

Of course, our journey there didn't pass without any events, as we first paid a visit to Martin, the ranger building a shrine for Almax in Reddy Forest, who was quite relieved to hear that the druid sent us.



Of course, we were also asked to deliver a letter to Almax. Well, we'd be going back to Restenford soon anyway. Of course, I for once shared Xan's suspicions when he said that this likely wouldn't be the last errand we'd be asked to run.

Soon after, we also found out that we hadn't taken care of all the murderous wolves in the area.



Elorian: "And I didn't even say anything yet..."
Jaheira: "This is hardly the time for this, Elorian. This woman obviously needs our help."
Locinda: "Oh, never mind. As long as you don't turn out to be werewolves, you can make all the bad jokes and crude innuendo you want."
Elorian: "Any requests?"
Locinda: "A healing potion?"
Elorian: "Well, not what I was hoping for, but here you go."
Locinda: "Thank you. That's the first good thing to happen to me here. Of course, that you neither tried to eat nor rob me makes you the friendliest souls I've yet come across in this area."
Elorian: "Well, most of the unfriendly ones should be taken care of by now. You know, bandits, gnolls, crazed wolves."
Locinda: "Wait...did you have something to do with that?"
Elorian: "Yeah. We're adventurers."
Imoen: "Heroes!"
Xan: "Insane."
Locinda: "Ah. Well, I think I'll just remember you as good people that may be heroic or insane, then. Well, anyway, I'm expected in Restenford. Can you tell me where that is from here?"

We could.

The forest continued to be a lively place, with us meeting both a man who gave us interesting further information about Bone Hill for obviously completely altruistic reasons...



...and a mage that made Xan look sanguine by comparison.



Imoen: "Uh...do all mages that don't just go crazy end up like that?"
Xan: "Only those who learn more than just spells."
Imoen: "Well, I'ma stick to dusty ol' tomes of arcane lore and the like then. Maybe you shoulda done the same..."



Tolvar: "Oh, yes. And who do you suppose would take a failure like me?"
Imoen: "Well, that Pelltar guy seemed nice. I'm sure he'd teach you something."
Khalid: "And the g-guard would certainly appreciate a mage in times like these, too, even if he'd need some t-tutelage first."
Tolvar: "Hm...yes, I think I'll do that. Better than staying here, at least. I just wish it'd been me to have this idea. But being who I am, how could I?"
Jaheira: "How, indeed. You being who you are, I am in fact surprised that you haven't starved to death because you somehow got the idea that your way of eating is a disgrace to the world. Blast it, boy, you need to get this out of your head."
Branwen: "And you need to see some actual battle, too. You must fight your cowardice so you can truly learn to be a warrior as well. One cannot become a fighter without seeing a fight."

He just shrugged in response, but still thanked us all before going on his way to Restenford.

We probably should have ensured that he'd arrive there without being killed by one of the oddly aggressive local wolves or just sitting down to die again, but we had an appointment with some hobgoblins and undead.

Outside the ruin at Bone Hill, it turned out that we also had one with a few bounty hunters.



Well, looks like you need better plans to avoid professional murderers, especially when they have divine magic to help them. Of course, maybe Xan's whispering was slightly detrimental to my credibility as well.

Be that as it may, the battle turned out rather manageable. At least that's what I was told, since I personally was quickly taken out by a spell that made me freeze in my steps.



Being unable to move even my eyes, I could only watch the bounty hunter I had charged and her death at Jaheira's hands.
Meanwhile, as I was told later, Imoen managed to do to the Cyricist what had been done to me by paralyzing her with a magical dart, while Xan burned the one who had taken me out of the fight with the very same wand that had already served us well at the gnoll camp.



Among the spoils, we found a good magical staff for Jaheira, but nothing about the Iron Throne that had been mentioned. Khalid remembered the name, but could only tell us that it was a merchant company which, unsurprisingly, dealt mainly in iron and whatever one could turn it into. So, probably accomplices of Tazok.

Well, we'd be getting to this soon enough, but for now, we had a ruin to storm.



The fight continued inside, with a dozen hobgoblins awaiting us directly inside. After that, however, there were small scattered groups at best and lone guards quite frequently.



We found their leader in one of the central rooms upstairs. As Imoen and I snuck up behind him, we were both exchanging rather bewildered looks. What we had here was, oddly enough, a human wizard.

Who also happened to be horribly bad at deception, if that truly is what he attempted.



As we went down to the dungeons, where the undead supposedly were, Jaheira quickly made sure that I hadn't somehow misplaced my brains.

Jaheira: "You are of course fully aware that his purpose is not an innocent one."
Elorian: "Sure."
Jaheira: "So, we are getting ready for a fight after we have retrieved the horn he mentioned, fully intending to use it against him if possible."
Elorian: "Sure."
Imoen: "Gee, and he seemed so nice to me. What are those Overlords anyway?"
Khalid: "A l-local group of criminals. Mainly run by a few old nobles that have lost their land due to attempting t-treason and p-plan to take it back by whatever means."

Like an army of hobgoblins and undead. After already having taken care of the former, we found the leader of the latter in the dungeon.



Jaheira: "I believe 'the Guardian of this Keep' may expect us to die down here."
Elorian: "I have never felt so betrayed."

Well, it was over quickly enough, with the wraith being quickly laid to a permanent rest by Khalid and Jaheira.



His minions were quick to follow.

We further explored the dungeons, eventually finding a system of old caverns through a breach in the walls. No horn was to be found, but a statue telling us that it was dedicated to the dead god Amaunator and would reward us for cleansing this place by destroying the evil that had recently befallen it.

We got right to it.

The remaining evildoer was rather surprised to see us alive, and considering that we had decimated his troops somewhat, he really should have just given up. Well, he didn't.



He left behind a bloody mess, an enchanted dagger for me, a spellbook that Imoen quickly claimed as hers, although Xan would be allowed to take a few looks, and a journal detailing his plans to attack Restenford soon.
His plan basically consisted of hiring a lot of hobgoblins and reanimating many corpses. Which, all things considered, was actually quite promising.

Well, we went down to the statue of Amaunator again to collect our reward.



Which turned out to be an enchanted helmet, no horn, and so I was left wondering if there ever had been one as we made our way back to Restenford.

Commentary:

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There's some more stuff you can do down in the caverns under the ruins, like releasing some undead dude from an eternity of, well, undeath by casting a Restore spell on him (there are several scrolls directly next to him) and defeat a beholder. I did the undead thing and left the rest alone since I'm getting enough XP for everyone anyway.

I also decided not to give many screenshots of the whole place because we'll be seeing that same castle a few times, due to mapping being hard, time-consuming and generally not the focus of many mods.

Anyways, SoBH will be wrapped up tomorrow.


And yes, those two mages are called Tolvar and Telvar. I'm not sure if there are any people called Tilvar, Tulvar or Talvar in this mod.

[chiasaur11]

Note how our protagonist had only one option during this conversation. I mean, maybe Sir BillyBob really made fun of other modders' cameos here, but it really doesn't look like that to me.

That really seemed to boost the idea to me.

Silly name, sending the player on a quest he could easily do himself, no choice but to stand in awe of the questgiver's awesomeness, namedropping major figures...

It could be a parody or not, but the Sean Connery pic seals the deal for me.

[Johnny Blade]

Well, I'm really not sure. Either way, it's pretty funny.

[Morty]

Showing a part of the adventure from Xan's point of view was a neat idea. A good way to spice up a rather boring(in a Let's Play) part of the game. And The Secret of Bone Hill doesn't look like a very good mod to me.

[Johnny Blade]

Chapter 18: Wrapping It Up.

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As Xan had feared and Jaheira insisted on, we had to run another errand for Almax the druid.

After taking care of this, though, we were basically done in Restenford. Or so we thought, until we met Zahrdahl again, who immediately asked about all the things we had done since we last met him and was very interested in information about which of the locals had given us information about the presence of hobgoblins and undead at Bone Hill. Because they could be good sources of gossip, as he told us.
Imoen still didn't believe him.

"Come on, Lori. I told ya he's not the type for gossipin'. And now he runs up to us like that and wants information 'bout those that helped us uncover the planned attack on Restenford but doesn't care about, well, all the other stuff. You really think he does that just to make himself a bit more interesting?"

This time, everyone was much more willing to listen to her, and so we visited the inn we had stayed in another visit.




So, we went back to tell Zahrdahl about that group of half-ogres that had abducted and eaten several farmhands we had somehow forgotten to tell him about before.
He wasn't as interested as before, and indeed seemed quite terse, but we gave Imoen enough time to enter through the window to search upstairs.



She didn't take long, and soon joined us again.

Imoen: "So, what did I miss?"
Elorian: "Oh, we were just telling Zahrdahl about those half-ogres."
Imoen: "Ooohh...those. Yeah. Well, I've got an even better story we forgot earlier!"
Elorian: "Do tell..."
Imoen: "Was going to. So, Zahrdahl, remember those guys the wizard in Bone Hill mentioned in his journal? The Overlords? They're mentioned in another journal as well."
Jaheira: "Really...? I wonder whose."
Imoen: "The bait seller's!"
Elorian: "The bait seller's!? My, what a surprise."
Branwen: "The people here won't like that. And I don't like it, either."




We didn't.



And so we had another story to tell Pelltar, who was rather shocked by it all and quickly took us to the mayor to tell him everything again, with special emphasis on Bone Hill and Zahrdahl, obviously. They soon decided to send messengers to all the local nobles to give words about the Overlords, who, despite not quite living up to their name, were considered a credible threat, and got right to it, seeing us off with a good amount of gold coins, a set of enchanted glasses to divine the nature of magic items, and a few of Pelltar's scrolls.

No grand send-off, but we had achieved what we wanted. Well, at least most of us felt this way.

Xan: "Finally we can leave this dismal provincial backwater and resume attempting to solve much more urgent problems."
Branwen: "Ah, shut it, mage. 'Twas a task worthy of our time and a fine test of our abilities."
Khalid: "It was, but I must agree that there are m-more important problems waiting."



And with the money we had made in Restenford and before, we'd be ready to address them. Tazok should soon get his chance to repay us for ruining several of his operations.

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Well...in fact, there's usually another quest, but that one is just too silly and time-consuming. So there'll be another not-quite-canon update about this tomorrow or on Sunday.

And The Secret of Bone Hill doesn't look like a very good mod to me.

Yeah, it's not. It isn't bad either, though. You just have to know what parts to skip.
Also, flawed as it is, it's at least something for the early stages. Almost all other quest mods start after the Cloakwood Mines or later.


On another note about the mod: The whole thing is an adaptation of a first edition D&D module. I have no idea how faithful it is to the original - although I'd suspect very much so, cameo aside, considering that it actually takes place in Greyhawk - so you can't really blame the modder for the lackluster story.
For the sloppy coding in later parts though, well...

[Johnny Blade]

Okay, so I wanted to write at least two updates this weekend. And then it turned out that being without heating for a few days in December isn't good for one's health and being ill isn't good for one's Let's Play.

Secret of Bone Hill's bugs may have been a small obstacle, too...


So, no real update, but let's take a look at the final quest of Secret of Bone Hill's first part, where the mod really comes crashing down...


Something that could have been an update if this Let's Play was fundamentally different:
Smooth Criminals

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So, with everything taken care of, you decide to go to Pelltar for a few friendly words and an interplanar Teleport back to Faerun - this mod supposedly takes place in Greyhawk, remember...

Of course, things never are that easy, and the local Captain of the Guard comes running just when you're about to be returned to Beregost.



So, what happened?



Gelpas then quickly decides that you are indeed trustworthy and asks you to solve everything. (You agree.)



And then, another man with great timing storms in.



So, more bandits. You go and kill them.

They really turn invisible a lot. I think this quest can yield upwards of 25 Potions of Invisibility. Oh, and all of them have enchanted weapons. +2 stuff.



Besides said potions and a small armory, one also carries a note.



Obviously, they were sent by demons. Or dragons. Who else would write something about his own "clutches"?

Anyway, you can then go back to Pelltar and research what the Hand of Glory is.



Note that it mentions looking up history journals.

Why would you do that? Because one of the guards is supposed to tell you about thefts that happened "a few years ago" before that. Which I did afterwards, but whatever.



He also tells you about the thefts themselves and how losing the black pearl that was mentioned earlier could get him hanged.

Anyways, on to the hanging tree near the gate.

Which, as it turns out, has its own guards.



I wonder who that recently hanged man was...



Yes, it's Reynard! The same one that was hanged several years ago.



Question: How is that possible?

Answer 1: They DO have witches!
Answer 2: They just hang him every week because he was such a big meanie.
Answer 3: The interplanar teleport spell that brought the party to Restenford really did a good number on the space-time continuum.
Answer 4: Duh. Bad writing.



Make your choice.

Anyways... Since we're also trying to find out about the Glorious Hand. And since the forces of magic are very specific when it comes to the bandits one can make artifacts out of (apparently...I blame this on the original adventure or D&D in general, not the mod), Reynard must have something to do with it. (The historians saw it coming!)

The guard then tells you that a colleague of his named Ravella, who stands out since she's the only female guard in the mod, was responsible for guarding Reynard.

You can meet her the next day to quickly find out that she's not very good at this.



So, you go to dig up a corpse to confirm the story.



Okay, make that two corpses. After that, you decide to check out the lighthouse. Sadly, you can't - it's somehow locked and can't be opened.

So, to the sewers instead. The entrance is guarded by three comically inept thieves that of course have two potions of invisibility each.

There's not much going on in the sewers besides Otyughs who can't reach you and could be killed by some cheesy tactics for 10000 easy XP if you really want to.



The next couple of Otyughs isn't so easily avoided.



Note that at that point, I had already killed one of them. And a rat that accompanied them. A fun fight for that level. Especially if you somehow can't summon undead yet, since Otyughs have the nasty habit of infecting you with all sorts of diseases.



Well, that could have hurt.

Anyway, apparently, those otyughs were tamed, as you find the stolen goods (sans black pearl) and a conveniently placed note here.



The next part is basically just going through motions. You return the stuff, confirm that the map/note shows the burglar's targets, and get some information about the lighthouse keeper, who apparently hasn't been seen for some time. (Years or days, depending on what side of the rift you were on tomorrow, I guess.)

So, you go to the lighthouse, and get attacked by the thief behind all this. (He has several Potions of Invisibility.)



He dies and leaves you: The black pearl, downright insane loot (Ring of Regeneration, anyone? Shadow Armor? Crossbow of Speed +3?), and the Glorious Hand:



Well, I think it's generally agreed upon that the part about it being a hand is indeed accurate.

Oh, it also turns out that Sirius and his cronies were hired to spread terror all over so the Overlords, the invisible big bads of this part of the mod who apparently are (in the mod's canon, not mine ) some elven nobles bent on taking the island Restenford's on over.
So, he made an item that would allow him to steal a pearl. And that was a big deal, so the Overlords sent a few morons that thought it would be a good idea to ask anyone about the thing and then kill them in case they weren't Sirius to retrieve it. Smooth.

(To be truthful, I think leveling the place with an army of hobgoblins and undead was a slightly better idea. Slightly.)


And with that, you can tell Pelltar what was going on, after which he will happily defy all cosmic laws once more and teleport you back from Greyhawk to the Realms.


What you of course can't see is that I had to do the whole thing three times due to bugs.



The upside is that you can skip it.

[Malachite]

Looks like you're having fun - I'm still struggling with archers firing arrows of cold at the bandit camp

Could I ask what kind of level you're doing some of these things at? I suspect I'm a little under strength fro the quests I'm attempting at the moment.

[Johnny Blade]

Looks like you're having fun - I'm still struggling with archers firing arrows of cold at the bandit camp

Well, Secret of Bone Hill really got to me for a second. It's weird, really, because the first part is usually bug-free, some problems with dialogues aside.

Could I ask what kind of level you're doing some of these things at? I suspect I'm a little under strength fro the quests I'm attempting at the moment.

When Secret of Bone Hill started, everyone was at around 7.000 XP, except Khalid and Jaheira whom I gave a 2.000 XP boost when I picked them up.
After Secret of Bone Hill, they all have about 9.000 more (meaning level 4-5), but I'll take a bit of that away again. I think 10.000 should be okay for the bandits.

[Johnny Blade]

Right then, back to our protagonists, who officially never heard about Manos, the Hand of Glory.


Chapter 19: Damsels in Distress.

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The way back turned out to be a lot more interesting than we thought when we, traveling a bit off the road now that Pelltar wasn't with us, came across several petrified creatures, ranging from mice to humans, none of which were still in the reach of one of the Stone to Flesh scrolls Branwen had insisted on buying back in Beregost right before we confronted Tranzig.
Well, besides a squirrel, which looked a bit bemused when it became flesh again.

Xan: "I cannot believe we just wasted a scroll of such value on a...a squirrel."
Imoen: "You got something to say against that?"
Xan: "Certainly not. And by the time I will, it will be too late, I suppose."
Jaheira: "Rodents aside, I must say this worries me. This is not an area known for basilisk activity, but they could certainly survive here."
Elorian: "Could be a mage, too, couldn't it?"
Branwen: "You don't really think you have to ask, do you?"
Xan: "Given how this group has a special...talent, if you will, for running into the most perilous hazards, I would not be surprised at all if both a mad wizard and several basilisks were in the vicinity."

Well, Khalid and I decided to explore the area, aided by magic protecting against ending up as a more statues to beautify the area.

At first, it looked like Jaheira's guess was the right one.



Of course, then Xan was proven right when I spotted an old gnome, dancing inmidst a circle of petrified people and animals as well as some very much alive basilisks, giggling and actually petting the beasts. Luckily, neither he nor his pets were really attentive, and so I was in position when Khalid approached him.



Lovely. Getting a dagger into his kidney sent him running, though, and he chose a way that Khalid could easily intercept.







The basilisks, their most fearsome weapon neutralized, didn't fare much better.

Looking at the work of the gnome and his pets, none of us said a thing. Well, at least until...

Branwen: "Give me one of those scrolls."







Sadly, the rest was beyond help, so we moved on. And ran into a few fellow adventurers. Presumably.



Elorian: "Well, I'm sure that the likes of you would know all about gibberlings, so I will not dare to argue with your assessment."
Kirian: "Certainly we do. As any real adventurer would know, gibberlings attack anyone with abandon, so we do have some experience dealing with them."
Elorian: "How odd. See, my memories tell me that they do indeed flee sometimes, at least when they are clearly outmatched. I guess that weren't the special gibberlings only a true adventurer gets to see, then?"
Kirian: "Oh, you are possibly quite right, if you have only encountered those that attack unwary travelers in groups of three or four, not a real tribe on the prowl for human flesh. Of course, you only encounter the latter in a tad more dangerous areas, so naturally, you wouldn't know."

It was getting quite enjoyable, but before I could ready a reply, some of the locals joined us.



Kirian: "My, looks like you get a chance to prove yourselves. We'll be watching this fight. I don't feel like getting dog smell on my clothes today."

Sadly, our audience somehow disappeared during the fight and was nowhere to be found when we were done. Pity, I really would have liked to know if we'd proven ourselves.

So, we just continued on our way towards Beregost. The next people we met on it weren't quite as confrontational.



Skodd: "Sadly, we can't offer you a reward, for all was taken from us."
Elorian: "None necessary. Just remember the names Elorian, Imoen, Jaheira, Khalid, Branwen and Xan."
Imoen: "We're heroes."
Skodd: "We certainly will. Now, we must be off. Thank you once again."

Off they went, and as soon as they were out of earshot, something odd happened.



We did. On the way, something about the situation caught Imoen's attention.

Imoen: "Psst...hey, Lori. Never woulda pictured Xan actually listening to some woodland creature that runs up to him, eh?"
Elorian: "Yeah, not really."
Imoen: "Yeah, it's so...elfy. Guess it's just what elves do, huh? Required elfing. Hey, you should do something like that."
Elorian: "Something elfy?"
Imoen: "Yup."
Elorian: "Well, I suppose I could follow nature's messenger a bit more prancingly and frolicsome. Just let me go and pick a flower for my hair."

And so I learned how a doe looks cutting you a critical look.

The flower in my hair, by the way, quickly turned out to be somewhat inappropriate.



Jaheira: "Ah, citing the laws a few have made to suit them to defend an affront against nature such as slavery. Clearly the sign of an illness of the mind that only a good oaken staff can cure."
Elorian: "Well, it might not be in our might to change what is legal in Calimshan, but the thing is, we are in a forest near the Sword Coast right now, and even if you three should somehow turn out to be important down there in Calimport, nobody will ever find out what happened to you. If something happens to you."
Skodd: "We will defend what is rightfully ours."
Branwen: "You will die, honorless pigs!"

Both Branwen and the slaver turned out to be right right, although the battle was hard and the outcome could easily have been a different one.



Especially when a new side, a few tasloi with a tamed ettercap who had apparently been nearby, appeared, only to quickly decide that we would need to be killed first.



Eventually, though, all slavers and tasloi lay dead to our feet, with everyone in our group and the three elven women still alive.



On our way to the Friendly Arm, a few things became obvious.
First, I need a moonblade.
Second, our three distressed damsels were from Evereska.
Third, Xan has pretty good hearing.

Xan: "Elorian, as you may have noticed, the three women we have saved from their gruesome fate are quite, how should I say..."
Elorian: "Taken with you. Hard not to notice."
Xan: "They have asked me to accompany them to Evereska, our shared home. And even though it is my duty to investigate what has caused the iron shortage, my greater duty is to the people to Evereska. So I am obliged to escort these three women, at least for as long as it takes me to get a lucky bandit's arrow into my back. You may call it...required elfing."
Elorian: "May I, Xan? Well, at least that lucky bandit probably won't sneak up on you."
Xan: "Please. It is not hard to move quieter than Imoen talks when she thinks she whispers. Anyway, I hope you understand why I have to leave you."
Elorian: "Yes, of course. I guess you four will need to buy some provisions at the Friendly Arm, though?"
Xan: "Of course, we will. No need to starve to death when there are highwaymen and monsters that can do it much quicker."


Well, at the Friendly Arm, our little farewell party for Xan fell a bit flat when we could only get him to drink one mead, although that was enough to make him tipsy.

The next morning, we parted ways.

Khalid: "So this is it, then? F-farewell, Xan, my friend."
Jaheira: "And good luck on your journeys."
Branwen: "And fun, if you know what I mean."
Xan: "I would never...but this is not the time to argue. Just let me say, as I doubt that we will ever meet again, our life being full of risks and our souls belonging to different gods, that despite the many reckless endeavors we have survived only by luck, one of which I has brought this situation about, traveling with you was quite enjoyable."
Elorian: "Thanks. You try to avoid your certain doom for a while, all right?"
Xan: "I will certainly try."
Imoen: "I'm gonna miss you, y'know?"
Xan: "Ah, yes. I have taken the liberty to add some notes to Tarnesh's spellbook so you may remember me and not set the entire Sword Coast ablaze."


A few thanks and goodbyes later, both groups were on their respective ways, with Xan, Siene, Diala and Minuwiel heading home while we went off to buy some supplies at the High Hedge so we could better prove our Evereskan friend's prophecies of doom wrong.

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Not too much happening, plot-wise, in this update, but I thought Xan's departure deserved its own.


The quest is added by the BG1 NPC Project. You usually get to keep him but this seemed like a good way of writing him out of the group, which I would have done sooner or later anyway.

Of course, I was somewhat worried when that Ettercap ambushed the group. One of those alone can kill a low-level warrior, and the fight isn't that easy as it is, although it yielded a few nice enchanted darts for Imoen.

Anyways, tomorrow we meet Xan's replacement and visit Tazok.

Also, should I keep Branwen or get another cleric? Options are still the same. Although, with Jaheira leveling up at a ridiculous speed, I don't actually need one, so I'd also throw the names Garrick, Kagain and Ajantis into this.

[Starbuck_II]

That Bonehill castle looks like that castle Nalia lives in BG 2.

[SilentDragoon]

I'm almost 100% sure it is, and the author just didn't want to script/draw up an entirely new location. It seems like it fits in alright, and fortunately isn't generic L-shaped cave number 2 so no objections here.

[Johnny Blade]

Yeah, it is.

But you can't really blame that on the modder. Mapping isn't easy, and Secret of Bone Hill does have original maps. They often look somewhat barren, but at least Restenford isn't a Beregost clone.

And there really is only one other set of maps that could have been used here, which is the castle ruin from Icewind Dale's Trials of the Luremaster expansion. Which is used in Secret of Bone Hill's second part - although not for a ruin, oddly enough.

[SilentDragoon]

I'd have to play to see how it sync'd up, but three other possible locations would be the BG2 Tutorial, pieces of PS:T like the Saerileth mod did, and a combination of the pieces of Spellhold. That said, I wasn't knocking on the author in my previous post, as when I tried to make the extremely easy to fashion NWN modules from straight forward tilesets it ended up looking pretty bad, so its for the best that they pull it from somewhere else.
Hmm... still came out as a poorly phrased back hand compliment.. I'll just quit while I'm behind.

[Morty]

I say you keep Branwen. With the extended banter, she's quite interesting. And I guess Imoen and later Dynaheir will take the mage-y duties from now on?
As for other NPCs, Garrick might be neat to have but he's a bard.