"Holy Rollers", a force of righteous butt-kicking!

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This party idea comes from NonSequiter, who commented on my idea for a party that I've dubbed the "Holy Rollers" for their religious zeal and desire to do Good. My original picks were for Keldorn, Anomen and Mazzy, with the other slots left open. NonSequiter suggested Minsc and Aerie to finish out the party, with a thief/mage as the PC. So here we go.

1 - Party Theme

I think these characters fit the theme very well. With the exception of Aerie, all are very vocal about wanting to kick evil-butt, with Aerie filling in as the holy roller that whines a lot (though we know she wants to kick evil-butt inside).

2 - Party Interaction

These guys all have a lot to say... sometimes too much: Anomen and Aerie, I'm looking at you. Keldorn is stoic, yet supportive. Mazzy is enthusiastic. Minsc is... well, Minsc. These three can be entertaining. Anomen and Aerie, OTOH, can bring things down quickly due to heavy romance dialog that is not really very fun a lot of times. High maintanence are these holy rollers, but we can't deny that it adds a lot of depth to the story. The intra-party banter should be fairly constant and entertaining with this group. There is also a romance no matter what gender the PC is.

3 - Party Balance

The muscle is there, with Keldorn, Minsc and Anomen there for heavy hitting without steroids. Mazzy will need some improvements if she wants to dish it out on the front line, but there are plenty of those to go around. There are plenty of fighter configurations available here. Thief skills will be covered by our light-fingered hero. Mage duties also fall on our hero, with Aerie there as support. I'm visualizing Aerie as the primary caster with the PC as secondary, but it could fall either way I suppose, which could be convenient at times. Clerical duties are covered by Anomen and Aerie, so nobody should complain about lack of healing and buffs in this party.

4 - Equipment Allocation

Kel and Minsc have 2H swords covered, with Kel getting Carsomyr by default. Minsc has so many great weapon choices: 2H swords, dual-wielding maces, axes and long swords. Mazzy I'm thinking can keep her short bow, but needs to switch from short swords to kitana and maybe hammers. Mazzy should keep a shield though, to take advantage of the good shields in the game. Anomen gets maces and hammers, like usual, MoD and Crom Feyr most likely. I'm considering saving Crom for Mazzy though, giving MoD to Anomen and letting him be more cleric than fighter, plus the strength bonus will be good for Mazzy's self esteem. Aerie I'm envisioning will get the standard mage items: RoV, SotM, etc... I'm open to suggestions for this though. I'm always conflicted about how Aerie should be equipped. The PC I'm thinking should use kitanas, the Dak'kon's Zerth blade to be specific for the bonus spells. It still allows for backstabbing also. The standard T/M AC treatments also, then switching to elven chains late in SoA.

Please feel free to expand or correct anything you see fit to. I'm going to start a game and work on putting this party together. I'm especially interested in what you guys think should be the equipment allocation for this group.

 

NPCS:
I would seriously consider Nalia instead of Aerie. She is a poor thief (but useable with the right rings and potions), but is the BEST good mage in the game. By the time you get Imoen, Nalia will be 1+ levels ahead plus would have learnt tons more spells. This would give you a full-time cleric (Anomen) and a full-time mage (Nalia). Rather, than 1 cleric and 2x multi-class mages.

PC:
The PC could provide a more offensive role. Fighter/Mage or, even better, a Cleric/Ranger. The druid has the best anti-mage spells in the game and as a Cleric/Ranger you get access to these. Dual-wield hammers and you are rocking.

Minsc:
Definitely have him dual-wield maces. There are some fantastic ones in the game and the extra attack will do more damage than using one big sword.

 

If you're powergaming, do as bard suggests and take Nalia. If you're roleplaying, I have to admit that Aerie is a much sweeter and nicer good person than Nalia.

Also, I usually have Minsc dual-wielding axes (although it takes him to about level 12 to get the proficiency to do it effectively).

 

If you don't want a romance, just play a non-romanceable race.

 

This party is designed from a roleplaying perspective, so I would say that it has the priority over powergaming. However, sometimes you have to take game mechanics and such into consideration. I haven't taken Nalia very far, so I am not familiar with how good of a mage she can become. I will take it into consideration.

As for equipping Minsc, I would live to develop several proficiencies for him. There are a few good maces, but I find the axes and longswords to be better still, so I would want Minsc to have access to all of these weapons categories. I agree that dual wielding is preferable to a single 2H sword, but I like the idea of him using the Silver Sword after it's aquired.

Since this is a heavy roleplaying group, I think having a romance would be a positive addition to the value of the game.

Any other thoughts or suggestions?

 

I'm playing with a similarly themed party right now. I went as Paladin as I could get though. So I've got:

Undeadhunter PC
Keldorn
Anomen
Mazzy
Imoen

and to finish it up I downloaded Nethaniel, who's neat, even if there is that little problem with healing him. I haven't actually reacuired Imoen yet and playing without a mage can be trying at times. But it's fun non the less. Sometimes having a little unbalance in your party can make it more challenging.

 

I have to ask why don't you have Imoen in your group. First shes your sister second she is a pretty powerful mage with some theiving abilities. Plus she is also Nuetral Good. Plus you can have her dual weild Katana's and adds some good oomph to the party. Did mention she is your sister. Also have heard the song Holy Roller by Mother Love Bone. Its really good I suggest you check it out.

 

I agree, Imoen is a great character to have around. But for the "Holy Rollers"? She's a bit irreverent and probably doesn't quite fit the mould.

@ Rogue: Thanks for the acknowledgement, but I was more or less giving a rubber stamp to what you had already suggested. Your breakdown of the party seems pretty solid - someone (probably Minsc) might benefit from a point or two in Halberd when you've got his Two-Handed Sword/Style on two stars, as the Wave Halberd is fairly useful in places and is another +4 weapon for getting through SoA (and very useful in the Marching Mountains in ToB or the Fire room in the Planar Sphere).

The only other thing I'd suggest would be considering a dual-class hero, going from one of the thief kits (prob. swashbuckler or just straight thief for maximum skills) at about level 8 to mage. That way, you have all the key thief skills you need (locks, trap detection and disarming) AND rapid advancement with the PC as your main magic-user. I realise that's a power-gaming idea, but possibly fits better with the party theme - the PC gives up their larcenous ways and becomes a mage.

Just a couple of ideas.

 

@NS - It's a good idea, dualing the thief, but I would dual the thief after you stop receiving random hit points per level. Would I then keep Aerie? I wouldn't need Nalia or Imoen, really. I probably wouldn't actually NEED a 6th character, so XP would go up faster, but if I did want a 6th member, I'm almost leaning toward Jaheira now, at least if the PC was a dual thief/mage. Having only 1 arcane caster would make that roll a little more challenging, because it's easy for wizards to gang up on people. Jaheira could then be a little more druid than fighter, which could actually be quite interesting, as I usually play her as a fighter with some added druid conveniences. She's always jabbering on about balance too, so it fits the theme. Plus she would replace Aerie as the romance for a male PC.

At this point, the party would look like so:

PC dual thief(9)/mage
Keldorn
Anomen
Mazzy
Minsc
Jaheira (optional)

 

I'd still stick with Aerie - having a back-up caster and second healer (who can flit around and heal during combat) is exceptionally handy, and although Jaheira can double as a healer and a front-liner, you already have plenty of melee options, and Aerie can be surprisingly effective in melee combat (with Mauler's Arm or Skullcrusher). Aerie fits the role of defensive spellcaster very well in this party, but I agree that you could make do without her as you'd have everything else you need. The extra slot could be used for other NPCs' character quests without dropping any of the out-and-proud Righteous Five (and for a long-deserved a$%-whipping for Edwin, should you include him and Minsc). Also, if you're going to dual at 9th, you may want to consider a Bounty Hunter-Mage, as this will give you some extra talents and enough skill points to offset the penalty that kit receives.

I'm not so sure that Jaheira fits the theme of the party as well - the Holy Rollers are most definitely all for righteous smiting and/or butt-kicking for goodness, and a balance-obsessed druid just seems a little off (although Jaheira certainly does tend strongly towards goodness). Personally, I'd probably keep Aerie in for her skills, interaction with Minsc and the romance, but Jaheira would not be truly out of place and would give you another offensive caster/healer/fighter to use as well as the Harper Quests, romance and Harper's Pin. Just because you're not subtle about being good, doesn't mean Jaheira would tell you to go jump.

[ July 15, 2004, 04:39: Message edited by: NonSequitur ]

 

Very good points, and you won me over with the out-and-proud Righteous Five statement (I'm guessing it's a Queer Eye reference?).

I'm considering leaving Aerie out to leave a spot open for more XP and NPC quests. Then, when I rescue Immy, I take her into the group for roleplaying reasons. I mean, would the Holy Rollers ever think of making her go on her own? I think not. The PC I'm not sure about now, though. It would prolly have to be some sort of multi or dual-class thief to make up for thieving skills while waiting for Immy. I don't really think another thief/mage would be what I want though. Maybe a bard would be appropriate? To sing our own praises and all that

 

Yeah, that'd work. The only reason I could see for them not taking her along is that she's the soulless spawn of a dead evil god, but then again, so is the PC by that point. Also, the Righteous Five was more of a reference to The Five in ToB, it's just that there's nothing clandestine about these ones.

You should probably rush to Spellhold to rescue Imoen, and pick up Yoshimo before you go. Just do the quests that don't require a thief (like the Druid Grove & Trademeet, Planar Prison) and you won't have to have him sucking up valuable XP. It will be tough without a mage until then, but a bard will suffice for the spells you really need until then and you can do that quests that don't *really* require a mage first.

When you lose Yoshimo, you get Imoen. Plus, when you get back to a Temple of Ilmater in Athkatla, you get yourself 200,000 XP for the party. In that scenario, you can pretty much take whatever PC you want - a bard would work, although I'd recommend the Blade kit (his/her song is marginal, but a Holy Roller wouldn't being picking too many pockets, I'd imagine). Blades can do just about everything you need - fight as a back-up, cast, talk, and is just the sort of charismatic figure that could lead such a group, since sometimes a bit more subtlety is needed than what Keldorn, Mazzy or Anomen can provide.

 

@NS - I think I finally have a clear view of who the Holy Rollers are. I think I will go ahead with the Blade, that was good advice. As far as Immy goes, I would think that the Holy Rollers would consider getting her soul back to be a perfect cause for ones as holy as them.

The biggest pain with this party is getting Kel and Mazzy, as they have fairly large quests attached to them. Unseeing eye isn't too hard if you pick up the Shield of Balduran, but early in the game any dragon is pretty tough, so I will probably have to wait to kill the shadow dragon in the Temple Ruins. Otherwise, everything should go pretty smoothly. If worse comes to worse, I'll pick up Nalia for some marginal thief skills and some spell slinging.

The Holy Rollers will officially start tomorrow. Maybe I'll take notes and keep a post on it.