The Adventurer's Lounge: Guidance and Support for Candlekeep Annex Participants- Newbie or Veteran

Talamir

Talamir

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Interesting that the stun/free action interaction topic came up recently... I had a very smooth sailing no reload run end today much earlier than I'd expected (Bandit Camp) when Venkt stunned my MC with SCS Chromatic Orb (the irony is I was this close to getting him outfitted with Minor Spell Deflection but passed because the previous run through BG1 I ended up rarely ever needing it). To be fair I didn't have access to lvl 4 cleric spells with my highest lvl cleric being 6; MC was buffed with a potion of Freedom and other goodies but I'm 99% sure the Fixpack tweak to Free Action only impacts the divine spell and not similar buffs from other sources.

This got me thinking hard about whether I do want to install that Fixpack option; I actually downloaded the mod and realized:

1. it's been over a decade since I last dl'ed that baby!
2. DLing this reminded me I miss a lot of things about the classic games; at least I had a mod option (EEUITWEAKS/EEUITWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #4040 // Spell Books -> Kilivitz's Classic Spellbooks) to revert the spellbook UI to classic appearance, which is a huge improvement over EE's default spellbook (it's nice to be able to tell whether a spell has been cast or not without straining my eyes). Now if only EE/Beamdog gets its act together and fixes creature collison/clumping ... ARRRRRGH.
3. I was reminded what a valuable contribution and good work the crew at G3 have been doing for well over a decade

After all that, after reading the 2e description of the spell and thinking about how it should work, I decided (for now!) not to install this tweak to Free Action... in spite of the loss of the run (and possible similar results in the future). I do have access to a small number of Chaotic Commands scrolls from temples in my EET install; I think MSD and/or dishing out coin for those before critical battles might have to be the way I roll until higher levels, though I wouldn't be surprised if I kick myself for such a decision at some point in the future. :)
 
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Alesia_BH

Alesia_BH

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Makes sense!

The change is consistent with D&D rules. And it is consistent with developer intent, as per David Gaider’s remarks. It’s also eminently playable. My use of the tweak is 95% a personal history thing. At this point, the only issues I have with it gameplay wise are:

1) It makes PW:S even more terrifying in solo play.

2) It overpowers Halflings since they get non-dispellable, non-aura based at will immunity to stun via Mazzy’s sword, while no one else does. With the restored behavior the playing field is leveled a bit since everyone can use the RoFA.

Fyi, in BG1 the Greenstone Amulet is my go-to option for protection against stun
 
Alesia_BH

Alesia_BH

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Hey, all! I have a mystery for you to ponder.

Over on Reddit someone posted a screenshot from Mass Effect. They wanted to know what these things are:
IMG_2444.jpeg

The most popular theory was that they’re references to the markers from Dead Space. That’s wrong. The defining feature of the markers from Dead Space was the helical structure. Neither of these are helixes. The one on the left almost looks like a crude helix, but it’s not. It’s the same shape as the one on the right. It’s just turned to the side.

Here’s my theory: they’re sculptures by Sir Sarles. Mass Effect has multiple BG references, from Chiktikka vas Paus to the space hamster. We know Sir Sarles’s sculptures looked like crude lumps of metal, because the church mistakes the chunk of illithium alloy for a completed Sir Sarles work. The fact that one is presented sideways is an indication that no one really understands these things, just like with Sir Sarles’s pieces.

What do we think? Are these Sir Sarles works? I’m not sure but it’s eminently plausible in my view
 
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Talamir

Talamir

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Alesia_BH said:
Hey, all! I have a mystery for you to ponder.

Over on Reddit someone posted a screenshot from Mass Effect. They wanted to know what these things are:
View attachment 10356
The most popular theory was that they’re references to the markers from Dead Space. That’s wrong. The defining feature of the markers from Dead Space was the helical structure. Neither of these are helixes. The one on the left almost looks like a crude helix, but it’s not. It’s the same shape as the one on the right. It’s just turned to the side.

Here’s my theory: they’re sculptures by Sir Sarles. Mass Effect has multiple BG references, from Chiktikka vas Paus to the space hamster. We know Sir Sarles’s sculptures looked like crude lumps of metal, because the church mistakes the chunk of illithium alloy for a completed Sir Sarles work. The fact that one is presented sideways is an indication that no one really understands these things, just like with Sir Sarles’s pieces.

What do we think? Are these Sir Sarles works? I’m not sure but it’s eminently plausible in my view
Click to expand...

It's obvious that one of them is the real illithium, the other is the fake. By the way, isn't that Kelddath Ormlyr? *swipes one to melt down for vampires, heads for exit*
 
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m7600

m7600

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I don't know if anyone has brought this up in the past (probably, but I'm too lazy to check), but the Egyptian theme of the vampires in Baldur's Gate 2 is almost certainly a nod towards Anne Rice's books (particularly Queen of the Damned). It's also likely that there's a nod towards goth culture more generally, which has Egyptian references all over the place (i.e., the comic character Death who wears an Ankh necklace, the cover art for the album Vision Thing by Sisters of Mercy, etc.)
 
Enuhal

Enuhal

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Alesia_BH said:
Noted!

The change in mechanics curbed my enthusiasm for the PoE full saga play last time. I could get over that, but there's still the matter of my inexperience with PoE2

Here's an idea. We could set up a thread. You and I could start in PoE. Enuhal, who wants to play PoE2, could start there. We'd all get to play the parts we're interested in right now, and Enuhal's run could serve as a primer for me on PoE2.

Of course, anyone else who wants to join can. I feel like we could find an additional player or two. Not sure.
Click to expand...

@Alesia_BH @Serg_BlackStrider
Regarding the plan of a PoE/Deadfire thread: I know you're propably both not ready for that yet (since Alena still has the SoA finale and the entirety of ToB to do), but since I've finished by last BG run and don't really want to start a new one right now, I have been getting very interested in starting Deadfire (in fact, I've already started some testing to see if playing on PotD is an option for me (it is, though it took me about 10 reloads to find a working strategy for the starting island) and I've even started a small practice run in the meantime so I've got something to do while listening to podcasts, though that one has ended in death by now (I blame my lack of game knowledge - don't trust the quest level indicators, and don't trust the wiki!). Would you be upset if I already started a thread and started posting a little bit right now?
 
Serg_BlackStrider

Serg_BlackStrider

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Sure thing go ahead, @Enuhal! I'm currently at the final stage of PF:K, but with my playing pace and considering that I'm on a vacations right now till September, I guess, it will take something like a month to finish it, so there aren't any reasons to wait for me to join. Looking forward to follow your run and maybe will be able to give you some insights! :)
 
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