BG1 Survivors (Wild Mage TuTu run)

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This is the list of people who's dead. Don't read unless you've read latest posts!
(Updated 28/6)

Spoiler

Deaths
Montaron - killed by an ogrillon.
Xzar - slain by bandits.
Minsc - killed in a single blow by Krumm.
Jaheira - killed by Caldo.
Khalid - killed by Krumm.
Imoen - winter wolf.
Garrick - winter wolf.
Kivan - yup, winter wolf.
Ajantis - Kobold Commando/regular kobold.
Kagain - bounty hunter party outside Nashkel mines.
Shar-Teel - ankheged in the face.
Xan - ankheged in the ankles (or whatever).
Indira - skeleton dagger to the throat.
Branwen - ganged up by three ghats.
Eldoth - double bandit critical.
Dynaheir - Hobgoblin Elite/dread wolf.
Tiax - gnoll dude in Bandit Camp.
Safana - mage guy (Melf's Acid Arrow aftershock).

The premise is simple. A Wild Mage, with BG1TuTu, going on a semi-ironman game: No reloading unless the PC dies. I've imposed a second rule, to enhance the "Survivors" aspect of the game: Every time an NPC dies, I MUST kick them out of the party so they cannot be raised. Let's see how long it is before I run out of companions...

My character's name is Nahal (as in "Nahal's Reckless Dweomer"), and his stats are 9/15/16/18/12/14. He's CN; which accounts for his soon-to-be wide range of companions, and his annoying habit of kicking people out after they die. His proficiency is in darts. I have the BG1NPC mod, Finch, and Indira installed.

BG1 TuTu adds some undesirable characteristics into BG1, such as a slew of new spells, and the choice of EIGHT level one spells for beginning mages. Being hardcore, I WIPED THEM ALL FROM NAHAL'S MEMORY except three (18 Int) - Reckless Dwomer, Larloch's, and Colour Spray. I'm also not going to use any BG2 spells for any of the characters (of course, with the exception of the Wild Mage series of spells, because they're fun and not game-breaking).

Since everyone's played the game, I'm going to skip the boring bits and jump straight to conflict...

After leaving Candlekeep, we picked up Xzar and Monty and the gang continued to the FAI without any trouble, facing only a few diseased gibberlings that Xzar (expending a Larloch's), Monty and Imoen dealt with easily. We ignored Eldoth (BG1 NPC mod), hoping to pick up Khalid and Jaheira. Soon, we faced our first challenge: Tarnesh, whose Horror spell and deadly Magic Missile is the bane of many would-be adventurers. Nahal has a Colour Spray and a Reckless Dweomer prepared...

First, we sent Imoen to pick up the Ring of Wizardry, which Nahal took (of course), but that did not factor into the battle as I didn't metagame. Then, when the battle began, Nahal shot a Colour Spray - but alas! His level is too high! Monty lunged at him with a blade; Imoen with her arrows, and Xzar fired off his second Larloch's Minor Drain. Somebody's attack disrupted his Mirror Image, and with a lucky critical hit from Imoen, Tarnesh lay dead. We gathered the loot and Nahal attempted to scribe the spells, succeeding in MM and Burning Hands but failing at Armour.

After picking up Khalid and Jaheira, we stayed the night, and headed for Beregost. Nahal now has two Dweomers, a Colour Spray, and a Larloch's memorized. We only faced a Dire Wolf along the way, but we managed to run the hell away from it without trouble.

In Beregost, I mentally prepared ourselves for the second great challenge: Silke, whose deadly Lightning Bolt has been the bane of many would-be adventurers. Before the battle, Nahal used a Dweomer to cast Improved Chaos Shield on himself. When the battle began, Xzar and Nahal fired two Larloch's, and the rest attacked normally. She began to retreat; but we surrounded her. She began casting her deadliest spell - Lightning Bolt - but fortunately, before the battle finished, Khalid managed to finish her off with a seven-HP attack. Again, minimal casulties.

Feeling a bit frustrated at our success, and having a deathwish, we decided to enter the Red Sheaf and face Karlat - whose mighty axe has been the bane of maybe would-be adventurers. It is worth noting that I have the Finch NPC mod installed, and she aided me in this battle.

Nahal opened with a Dweomer Larloch, which sadly turned Karlat invisible. He soon attacked, exposing himself, and the party of six + Finch rounded on him together. He managed to critical on Monty, leaving him with only 1HP, but he drank a potion and patched himself up. The dramatic battle continued, and then Nahal score a critical hit with his shiny new quarterstaff +1, followed by a critical hit from Finch. Karlat began panicking and tried to flee, but Jaheira ended the battle with a mighty critical of her own, killing him. No member dead, only Xzar slightly wounded.

I find it excessively ironic that I start this party with a death wish, yet have the most success with it with any party thus far. Let's hope somebody dies in the subsequent ogrillon battle...

After dealing with Marl in Feldeposts', the group had a nice rest, and then continued on. Two mighty ogrillons blocked their path. Jaheira opened with an Entangle, with Xzar and Imoen launching spell and arrow. It soon broke free, however, and made its way towards Montaron, bringing down its powerful fist. Montaron died in a single punch, and Xzar lamented greatly (ish). Khalid and Jaheira rounded on it, and it soon died; but the second was approaching. Nahal shot a Larloch's at him, and Khalid scored a critical hit, chunking him. With the ogrillon's death, Jaheira levelled up, and as promised, we kicked Monty out of the party. May he rest in peace! We went back to town to pick up Garrick, though I forgot to check in with the quest-lady. Next time.

We then faced a Flaming Fist official, who refused to believe we weren't bandits. So, Nahal Colour Sprayed him in the face and we kicked him in the head till he was dead. We got a nice armour, and everyone had armour upgrades thanks to it (Khalid's old armour went to Jaheira's old armour went to Garrick).

The gang dealt with the hobgoblins relatively easily after a few reloads (Nahal died), but after looting their bodies, we came across a team of four bandits. Xzar died under their arrows, but the rest of us killed them in revenge. Poor Xzar...he's one of my favourite NPCs. We kicked him out of the party, and continued on. Next stop: Nashkel...

I'm taking bets as to who dies next: Imoen, Khalid, Jaheira, or Garrick? Only time will tell.

 

That was a fun read. Good luck on your adventure! I came >< close to beating Tutu with my wild mage (regular play). But I was looking forward to a new release of the Stuff of the Magi mod. The modder who resurrected the mod changed the gear to allow for multi and dual-class mages.

So I rerolled and beat BGTutu with a half-elf cleric/wild mage (thanks Shadowkeeper designers!). Wild mage is lots and lots of fun. The only downside to my combo is my cleric spells are susceptible to surges.

 

I'll have to try the Iron Man method someday. I'd probably be out of party members very fast because I have a tendency to be quite reckless. Reload does tend to encourage that. Perhaps I'd learn to be more patient and put my spells to better use if I didn't have the reload option.

Then again, I'm not sure how long I'd be able to stick to that method. I reload the game just to try to save Melicamp. He exploded on me three times in a row and I gave up after that.

 

Interesting one, Deathmage; I'll be following this one closely. As an aside, you used 'bane of many would-be adventurers' in reference to all three main early challenges!

@Carnifex: I know what you mean with Melicamp- it is pretty sucky that you get no EXP if the game's random number generator decides it doesn't like you.

 

Great idea! Having surges on Heal spells too must be fun!

I know. That's because it's totally true. The three of them have killed many, many PCs in their time...
The next bane, I think, shall be the Kobold Commandoes, Mulahey, the Dudes Outside The Mine, and the deadly Nimbul.

Updates shall be forthcoming after this week's exams, of which I have three...or if I decide to procrastinate! Huzzah!

Personally, I think that Garrick, with his piddly 6HP, will be the next to die. I'm uncertain if I should do the mines or the Gnolls first...hopefully, someone will die on the way so I can pick up Xan...

By the way, I actually explored a wilderness area for a few times, and once my whole party got wiped out by skeletons after Nahal got Wild Surged into a sex change! Sadly, I wasn't able to run away and continue my adventures as Nahalla, because he...she then got shot to death herself, and had to reload an earlier save (before we dealt with Silke).

 

Very interesting read, I too will be keeping an eye on this one

Oh and my money is on Jaheira dying next

 

That Tarnesh and his horror spell is an unbelievable pain in the bum if you're on your own, or just with Imoen. And Silke's lightning bolt...
(I'm on a run currently, though I'm just at the start of the Candlekeep catacombs. Not an ironman run, mind you).
It is good fun being low level, especially if you go back to BG after completing ToB and suddenly find things like wolves and low level spells a real threat.

 

Arriving in Nashkel at night, the party went to the inn first. Nahal had, at this point, a Larloch's and a Dweomer left. I wasn't too conerned about Neira - she's never been a significant problem for my party. Accordingly, she went down easily. Nahal opened with a Larloch's, but then got hit by Rigid Thinking and decided to wander around the inn aimlessly. Jaheira got hit by Hold Person, but Khalid landed some very good hits in, Garrick disrupted her Spiritual Weapon, and Imoen gave a fatal shot in the end. All in all, a very easy kill.

We then picked up Minsc, and decided to hit the stronghold first. The first wilderness was no trouble - we ran into a few xvarts that we easily dealt with (Garrick ran out of bolts, though). However, in the second area, everything went to hell.

Being people of kind hearts, we of course helped the dryad. It seemed that we have underestimated the idiotic fury of the brothers: as soon as battle begun, Krumm whacked Minsc with a 11-HP attack, KILLING HIM. Nahal shot a Larloch's, then a Dweomer'd Magic Missile - a bad idea. The wild surge was "Roll four more times": Gold Vanishes (damn!), Berries in my Pocket (Goodberries), Dizzy, and Silence.

For the rest of the battle, Nahal launched spells in vain; they all failed probably due to Dizzy (he saved vs spell against Silence). The battle continued. Bastard Krumm landed a hit on Jaheira, killing her (!), although Khalid managed to kill Caldo soon afterward. Garrick stopped singing the bardsong and jumped into melee with his blade, and Krumm landed two hits on Khalid - killing him as well! In the end, a lucky stab from Garrick killed Krumm dead.

One battle, three dead, and we only got some XP, a reputation, and a potion for our troubles. This is not going well at all. We're going to turn back to Nashkel now - hope everything goes well...

Well, we tried to rest after the battle, and Nahal got the Gorion Dream (didn't get it previously at the inn for some reason), and received CLW. The rest was awakened by a Gnoll Elite, so we ran away. Along the way a bear joined in the hunt, but we successfully fled from that too.

Getting to the carnival took a few reloads (because we got waylaid and Nahal died), but we got there without trouble in the end. Then I remembered that we had to pick up a Stone-to-Flesh, so zipped back to Nashkel. We sold some jewellry, brought some darts (for Nahal) and bolts, then went over to the carnival, where we rescued Branwen. Here, I discovered that my idiocy shall be my bane - habitually, from playing BG2 too much, I'VE FORGOTTEN TO LOOT KHALID'S PLATE MAIL! AAAAAARGH!!!!

Anyways. Knowing that the mines will be a foolish venture without any warriors, we went back to Beregost and picked up Kagain and then Kivan without any trouble. The newly formed group travelled to the Burning Wizard, where they rested, and prepared themselves for the mines...

Kagain has 15HP, Kivan and Branwen are level 2 and have 16 and 17HP, respectively. I bought shields for Kagain and Branwen even though Kagain dual-wields with BG1NPC in order to ensure his chances of survival. We also checked in with Marianne, and I gave the Ring of Prot +1 to Kagain.

(I was thinking about Ajantis and/or Shar-Teel too; but Ajantis is next to ankhegs, and Shar-Teel has low HP. She's too uber to be wasted on the mines, anyway, I'm planning on picking her up when I'm higher levelled.)
(I can't believe I forgot the stupid plate mail...Taerom sells them for 900GP! x_x)
(Made some changes to the first post.)

 

Ouch! That was a pretty nasty fight there. I don't remember the pair being all that hard myself either, so those deaths must have come as quite a shock.

Looks like no-one won the 'who will die next contest'.

 

That's a rough patch of luck. It reminds me why I love my reloads so!

 

This is very interesting indeed! And it is such a shame you lose three members in such a relatively easy little fight. Such things can happen in real life, even a seasoned warrior can be killed by a weak opponent in the blink of an eye, if not careful or is unlucky, and they do stay dead. It adds realism and excitement to your game, no doubt.

You may want to avoid needless challenges in the future. Three deaths for one lousy antidote potion and reputation point is not really worth it.

Worst case scenario:a burst wild surge which kills the ENTIRE party, except you. Happened to me more than once (though ofcourse I reloaded) so be careful with playing Nahal's Reckless Dweomers.

 

You've inspired me to give up my slightly cheesy Cleric/Wild Mage and start again as a purebred, single-class Wild Mage. I want to play with the canonical party, though, so I play differently. Anybody croaks I reload. Sort of a perfectionist game.

 

Can someone tell me why I'm doing this again?

Okay. So with our band of new heroes, I'm feeling pretty bold and whatnot, and so decided that - off adventuring we go! We decided to head back to High Hedge first, so Nahal could pick up some new spells. One protagonist death and reload later, we ran into a group of skeletons. Nahal cast a Larloch's (IIRC), and then the most holy crap of holy crap happened. A freaking nabassu happened. So, we decided to run the hell away. Fortunately, the skeletons were too busy dealing with it to give chase, and we soon ran into Perdue's gnolls. Nahal Colour Sprayed them in the face and they fell over and were easy pickings for the rest of the group.

At Thalantyrs, we bought Charm Person and Mirror Image. Fortunately, Nahal managed to learn both. We then headed southbound, and came across some skeletons. One Dweomer later, we had a group of squirrels on our side. Well. The party managed to rip up the skeletons, and we continued on our way. At this point, Immy levelled up: I plumped some points into find traps.

Going south, we came into some hobgoblins, which would've been easy targets for us had they not had a ghoul with them (why did they anyway?!). So, we ran the hell away, and came across some dire wolves, and a wolf, who all decided to join in the hunt. We ran, ran, ran, to the wilderness south of Nashkel (I decided to do the gnolls first), and came across some skeletons that just HAPPENED to be standing there, so we kept running away to the next wilderness area instead.

I swear this area is cursed or something. Listen.
The party came across a dire wolf, but we managed to pelt it to the ground with slings and arrows (a Hamlet reference!). But then, we ran into two winter wolves.

This should be bad news for anyone who's recently played BG1, but sadly, that is not I. In BG2, winter wolves only existed in the Copper Coronet. The following mental conversation took place:
"RUN AWAY! ...wait, they're just standing there. What are they doing?"
"Is this a glitch? Oh well. Shoot 'em!"
"HOLY CRAP I FORGOT ABOUT THAT ICE BLAST"
"CRAP IMOEN DIED"
"That's it. Revenge!"
"OMGWTF GARRICK"
"KIVAN NOOOOOOOO"
... ...
"KAGAIN STOP RUNNING AWAY COME BACK HERE!"
"Branwen, you stop the wolf!"
"Eat dart, winter bastard!"
... ...
"...at least I got a level up."

Poor, poor, poor, poor, poor, poor, POOR Imoen. May she forever rest in peace. I love ya, little sister.
Looks like it's time for Safana and Shar-Teel to step up to the job.

 

Heh, it'll soon be a solo game at the rate you are going through companions! Kobold Commandos could be a real pain for your party.

I wondered when you would get the surge for a demon. Just as well it was in the outdoors and not in some important area where you couldn't flee!

 

The party, needing warriors and rogues (again), travelled up Beregost and picked up Tiax, who was relocated due to the BG1NPC mod. Then, still wanting to save Shar-Teel for higher levels, we decided to check out Ajantis. The hobgobbos were bulldozed over by the party (and Tiax's ghoul, who was VERY useful), and we reached Ajantis without encountering any ankhegs. Then, the party FINALLY set off towards the mines. Note that we're a party of five: Me, Branwen, Kagain, Ajantis, and Tiax.

The first and second levels were relatively eventless. I'm very surprised to say that Tiax was actually the most useful party member: he could scout very well, his slingshot was unerring, and his ghoul was useful in taking care of problems. On the third level, we faced a VERY scary situation where Branwen and Ajantis died; and Kagain subsequently died in a kobold strike overnight; but fortunately Nahal died. Phew...the second time round, we were more cautious, and managed to reach the bottom area without much problem. Tiax proved his worth once again by casting Command Word: Die on the two spiders, allowing the rest of us to thrack them up. The intrepid adventurers continued on; and a Kobold Commando stood in the way. It shot a flaming arrow to Ajantis, hitting him in the eye, and he screamed in pain as another kobold arrow killed him. We avenged him, however, and tearfully said our farewells as we looted his valuables.

Getting to Mulahey's was dramatic (Kagain nearly got shot to death by the commando), but ultimately uneventful. Inside, however, things started to get bad. Nahal shot a Dweomer Colour Spray at the kobolds, and got fear, so everyone save Tiax started running around. Fortunately, Tiax had Remove Fear memorize (you go, kid!) and managed to calm Branwen and Nahal down - Kagain was still running around. Then, Mulahey talked to us and attacked. Nahal shot another Dweomer Spray at the kobold group, and the skeletons started chasing Kagain. Tiax summoned a ghoul, Branwen did her Spiritual Hammer thing, and the two of them pounded Mulahey into fine Cyricist dust. The kobolds were easy to deal with, and though the skeletons almost killed Kagain, we survived well in the end. We picked up Xan, looted Mulahey's stuff, and continued on our merry way. Branwen levelled up, and got access to wonderful level two spells. I gave her the Ring of Holiness as well.

We went back to Nashkel, and after talking to Berrun, Kagain levelled up. Things are beginning to look good. Nimbul was easy; Tiax cast a Command Word Die and everyone killed him. Kagain would have liked the 20 throwing axes he carried, but they were 100 pounds (!)...

Anyways, the party poked around in the wilderness a bit, then I remember there was an adventuring party outside the mines. The battle took a few reloads because Nahal died, but in the end, Tiax summoned his ghoul, Branwen cast Hold Person, the cleric chick blew her own teammates up, and KAGAIN DIED. Yes, Kagain died. Poor guy. The worst part is, he was a second away from gulping down that potion. Being true to myself, we kicked him out, looted the platemail, and went back to Nashkel. Tiax levelled up in this fight.

We're on a lookout for warriors AGAIN. Now, we're doing odd ended quests in hopes of getting us higher levelled, taking advantage of our smaller party size.

Branwen is, btw, a very decent warrior. With her shiny new plate mail and Kagain's Ring of Protection, her AC is a whopping -1, and with the Spiritual Hammer she can get pretty poundy. But the funny thing? Xan is the best warrior in our party, because he has a THAC0 of 17 - the lowest. I distinctly remember the Moonblade being +1, not +3. In any case, he's been doing some serious damage, once criticalling for 30 damage. Crazy Xan! It's slightly unpowering, but then again he's only got 7HP, heh...

With Branwen in level 3 with her -1AC, 25HP, and multiple shots of Hold Person, things are definitely beginning to look up. Maybe Branwen will even survive to the end!

The two clerics thing is working quite well for us, and Nahal's now got two CLW's. Tiax is surprisingly useful. Fighting a ironman game is fun - it forces me to use strategy...

I'm seriously beginning to run low on warriors. Can anyone offer suggestions? Also, we've got about 4K gold now, but have no idea what to buy. Suggestions for that would be welcome too.

We did a few oddended quests (Firebead, Perdue, belt guy), and Nahal's on level three now. Nothing much's happened except for my Shar-Teel fight, which was highly amusing.

First, I figured that Branwen was the best fighter in the party. I mean, we wouldn't want Shar-Teel to go after Xan now, would we? (even though he's got the best THAC0). So, being clever, I thought "Ah-ha!" and stuck the Belt of Gender Change on Branwen.

...except Shar-Teel went after Nahal instead. Crap.

Well, some creative tactics had to be used. Nahal has level two spells now, and cast Mirror Image. She hit me anyway. I cast Dweomer MM, she's shielded. I'm beaten. Rest, try again. She wanted to fight again, I said "Not now", and she walked off and disappeared. Crap.

So then I did something rather cheap. I walked Nahal into some basilisks. Hey, I'm cheap, okay?

One reload later, Nahal tried to launch a few Dweomers at her. The first one was "Change Caster to Target" (??); the second DROPPED A FREAKING COW ON HER HEAD. For twenty damage. She lost, and joined the party. Victory!

However, she's only level two, which is annoying to say the least. And also, only 17HP. I hope she lasts.
Just after joining, she whined at me because I was too good (Rep 14), and now she's giving me a day to prove that I'm in fact an evil bugger. I guess I gotta find some random commoner to kill somewhere...

 

Heh heh, it is not suprising that front-line warriors are generally first to bite the dust. And clerics prove to be the most durable as they get the best armor/shields and do not rush into melee that often.

I am quite suprised that you found Xan is a useful melee fighter. With that CON and HP I never allowed him to melee and wasted his shiny and cool moonblade. I am thinking on making him a fighter/mage this time and use him though, he is already a f/m in my BG2 mod game and I think this suits him better than a lousy enchanter. Afterall, elite elven warriors are cool spellswords, powerful fighter/mages in their own right.

OMG you indeed started to run out of available NPCs. Hmm, Eldoth may be an useful addition, if you have made him a Jester via NPC kits mod. Jester suits his character very well, and a banter with Bentley also hints that his songs tend to create chaos instead of soothing spirits. And, invisibility+jester song is a very useful and safe combo to pull off, you should try it. Shar Teel is a good fighter with low CON, once again with NPC kits you can make her a berserker or barbarian. Berserk or Rage can even the odds in the middle of a losing fight. (though berserk can also end up killing her when the battle is over )

With the gold, you may stock on healing potions (another mod also enables a small quantity of extra healing potions to be sold in big temples) I think you mage's survival is not that important so arch-magi robs can wait forever.

 

Indeed, clerics tend to be very survivable. You could do with getting Yeslick on board, but he is unfortunately still some time away.

I'm considering making Xan a F/M next time I play- there's something about him (probably the moonblade) that makes me feel as though he should be standing in the thick of it.

Not sure what to suggest for your money- potions would be good if you use them a lot, but you can also get some decent gear from Thunderhammer if you continue saving up. Perhaps a wand? One of monster summoning could help even the odds in some battles, especially useful in tying up archers at very little risk to your characters.

You didn't give the Girdle of Piercing back to the guy in the Friendly Arm, did you? You need all the survivability you can get!

 

Unfortunately, I did. I totally forgot what it was...
Maybe I could pickpocket/kill him? Should've chose him to kill instead of a random commoner, bah.

Tiax, btw, is becoming more and more useful with the advent of Level 2 spells. There may be something to that little guy after all, especially since his ghoul is so amazingly useful that it's almost game-breaking. OTOH, Tiax has pretty pathetic stats, so I guess it balances out.

Yeslick is a good idea, and he should be a suitable frontliner too. I'm really running out of them - if Shar-Teel bites the dust next, I might have to make a dash for Coran. In fact, I think I've expended just about every half-decent frontliner character in the game. Drat. I guess I'll have to use Indira, then.

@Silverstar: I dunno, Eldoth doesn't seem that "Jestery" to me. He's just not funny...more evil. I really like his character, though. In my new evil party, he's proving to be quite a decent archer, especially with his custom poison arrows.

Who's going to die next? My money's on Xan, with his 7HP. Keep in mind, however, that he's an elf with Armour up permanently; reducing his AC to 3. Only time will tell.

 

Xan is doomed!

Yeslick is useful as a support tank - I have him use Bassilus' +2 hammer. Coran's a beast. With his 20 dex, he's like a machine gun. Thing is, I usually play a fighter, so use my PC as the main tank. You're in a bit of an awkward spot, from that perspective.

 

Very interesting game Deathmage

Have you considered adding some backstabbing support to your party? You could get Safana and Alora. Who needs frontline fighters when you can end the battle without the enemy knowing what happened

Oh and Shar-Teel will die next.