Lerrahud - stats -966666 (SoA)

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I accept the challenge thrown down in a guantlet by Nobleman - to get through SOA solo with a straight Fighter whose stats are all 6's except for a STR-9.

Name - Lerrahud
Race - Human
Alignment - Chaotic Good

Quick and dirty background. Lerrahud has no clue from under which rock he originally crawled. Somehow, he survived until he was age 15 (though he had little idea about numbers past 20 [ten fingers and ten toes you know.]). A rather clumsy child, Lerrahud had somehow managed to overcome the numerous cuts, scrapes, bruises and bone breaks of his youth though at the expense of his already below average looks. His lack of social contact limits his ability to carry on conversations more detailed than point and swap bartering (so his dialog choices will be fairly limited I assume.) How he came to Irenicus' lab in the first place - who knows or cares - it starts the story - okay? 8-)

After Imoen's release, he turns her loose, lets Jaheira and Minsc free for no XP (hey, there's that 3 INT), and winds up with Splint, a helm and a Long Sword from the table and chest in the Guardian Golem room. Alone in Irenicus' dungeon with no idea where to go.

Irenicus Dungeon - Literally ran past/through the mephit room. Killed it when it followed him. -6 HP. (GOD then directed him to go turn the switch off - might need this room as an escape route and Lerrahud already paid the price for his low INT once.) Basically told the puzzle djinn to screw off - no encounter, no XP. First encounter with goblins in the hallway nearly killed Lerrahud. He was left with only 2 of 28 hp. Damn ranged weapons. In the middle of the battle, he is pleased to obtain a Composite Long Bow only to find he can't use it due to its STR-18 requirement. Still, he picks up the arrows - big toothpicks maybe?. Running back to the Guardian Golem/weapon room just off the beginning room, he closes the door and sleeps until he is healed - (Day 8 hour 18). [Note: I reloaded and replayed the start, picking up a short sword rather than a long sword and this works better for Lerrahud. Obviously, the biggest problems - no healing potions to start with, can't break open anything, can carry maybe a short bow in addition to wearing armor and a helm as well as his weapon. restart meant it is now Day 6 Hour 12)

Sewage Golem room - Mineral Mephit made hits in a ratio or 6:1 against Lerrahud. Also, a damn goblin was attracted by the sounds of battle and now it was two to one with the goblin using a bow and arrow - UNFAIR! Scratch one Lerrahud. Reload. This time, closed door to Sewage Golem room after entering but before fighting. Picked up the LS+1 from the table and began to fight. 3 successive 20s and the Mineral Mephit had met its match. (Day 6 Hour 18)

Lerrahud notes that even picking up a healing potion nearly makes him exceed his weight allowance. Exiting the Sewage Golem room, who meets him outside the door - yep, the bow and arrow gobllin. Lure him in, close the door, fight mano a mano.

Ran past goblin ambush into Rielev's room. Closed door. Helped Rielev pass on to next world. Aha - healing potions. Dropped extra weapon being carried in case of breakage - 1 poung leeway! Slept. (Day 7 Hour 2)

------more as events warrant------


[This message has been edited by Kailynne Johanne (edited October 08, 2001).]

 

You are amazing. When does Earl grey come by and try and beat it. Go get them tiger! I hope you get money, loads of money and buy the girdle of giant strenght. lots of potions and great weapons.

Perhaps the hardest part is the first dungeon.

Find the Dexterity belt too. Against mindflayers I think you should invest in a few potions of geneous. Find yourself a pair of boots of speed. hmmmm.

Challenging yet not boring and drowned in reloads. I hope you enjoy yourself Kailynne

[This message has been edited by Nobleman (edited October 08, 2001).]

 

Dexterity belt??? When? Where? Did I miss something? (Methinks he meant Gauntlets of Dex)

Hey KJ you think 9 strength is bad, try 6!

[This message has been edited by Big B (edited October 08, 2001).]

 

6 in strenght for fighters? when? where?

I think you meant it was impossible.


EDITED TO THE POST BELOW: Well that was really, really obvious to notice.

[This message has been edited by Nobleman (edited October 08, 2001).]

 

Ok not for a fighter, but for my bard, Marcus Dirago.

 

Hee! Hats off to you, that'll be a tough challenge but my money's on it being do-able. I agree with Nobleman, the early part of the game's going to be hardest. You should find enough gear to compensate you for the low stats by the mid-to-late game.

 

Assssssrgh. Damn computer just blew up.... Had to restart the game after reformatting and reinstalling... Lost the dwarven skald game... This one is so close to the beginning, I just restarted it... Basically the same thing happened except the days are a little different.

--so on we go...
Ran past Otyugh. Found that running straight at archers, past non-archers gives Lerrahud a chance to even the odds when confronting groups of goblins.

Tried to take out the Cambion six times. Either the trap before the room or the Cambion himself took out Lerrahud. Decided that that 2-handed magic weapon was not necessary or that desirable at this point in time. Reload.

Headed to the Room before the Dryads. Got the Helm of Baldruan! Met Dryads, agreed to acorns to Nymph queen.

Took portal to second level. Turned down Yoshimo's offer of assitance. Swigged down only oil of speed and ran at portals, ignoring the flying mephits. Swing at portal, take damage from mephit, swing again, more damage, my turn to damage portal, repeat until portal is dead, move to next portal. Took 3 potions of extra healing to finish this. No potions left.

Goblins and two more mephits. No problem. Got duegar in carpeted hall to kill themselves by exposing myself and then backing off. They tripped the traps and died painfully. Rested as their crossbows did serious damage to me in this hide and seek game. Snuck along wall, turned the two wand keys I had into wands - reached statue chair and found a ring. Need to identify it. Can't.

Back down wall to south hallway, headed out. Took out the Thief-preist first, then the two assasins. Outside!!!! I made it outside!!!

((Note - I was surprised at the few tough spots - the Cambion, the mephit portal, and deciding to jsut take damage going over a few traps were the tough parts, or tripping them to get treasure.))

Sold stuff at Adventurer's Mart. Went to Circus Tent - failed first djinn test, passed second by looking at empty hands and saying/thinking, "I have nothing." Inside, ignored Ogre as it did not attack me. Went straight ahead up the stairs. Chose to run upwards when confronted by werewolves on second floor. Third floor, more werewolves, nowhere to go. So,if I am going to die, I'll take out the only humanoid I see. No damage to myself and illusion dispelled! I am truly surprised! Picked up a ring off the dead gnome. Allowed Aerie to identify it for me as the price of saving her (in party, identify, out of party). Twas the Ring of Human Influence! One stat problem solved!

--------more to come -------------
Got to go sleep now - both character and player. More tomorrow after classes, work and rebuilding this computer after the crash.
Library - one by one or two, drew out the goblins. Slew them all. Two mephits were a pain - lost HPs and had to drink healing potions to recover.

Duegar - YESSSS!!! Got them all. Even Illyich (sp?) Now wearing Chinmail +2, Mail of the Dead. Advantage here - got lots of available weight back. Can go back now and pick up the gems and potions I left behind cause I couldn't carry them.

------more as events warrant------

[This message has been edited by Kailynne Johanne (edited October 08, 2001).]

 

ver very well done here, kailynne. extremely entertaining, and surprising at points that most people think are a snap. hats off to you

 

Amazing.... I often wondered what would happen if you started a character with REALLY crappy stats. Worse, if you SOLOED him. Do the message board readers a favor though -- if Lerrahud dies, DO ressurrect him! Users all over appreciate his story, plus the odds are always against you, so....

 

Thanks guys. Tiamat - I have already reloaded him a couple times. I did write that, didn't I?

More soon.

 

Well, if we can't have the skalds, I guess this thread will have to do, eh? 8) Are you a masochist or what man? Good luck! Keep this coming.

[This message has been edited by drm (edited October 09, 2001).]

 

Beastmaster was taken down as follows: Used bow to weaken winter wolf, then sword to finish him off. Bow took out gibberlings after luring them into the pits area - hope that Lehtinan made a gold piece or two off the action (I'll get my share of that take later!) Panther chased me around the pits area as fast as I could run. Had no choice but to turn and use sword - big damage, needed rest and repair. Anomen obliged with prayers and healing for a small pittance (threw away 2 chainmails as compensation). Exposed Tabitha and Beastmaster. They chased me out past the pits, faced Tabitha alone in the hallway. Got lucky, held my own, pussy died. Rushed Beastmaster as didn't want to trade arrows at a 1:3 disadvantage! He is not as good a swordsman as I - well, no corpse is! Used his bow to take out the remaining Copper Coronet Guards one at a time - darn gladiators couldn't or didn't.

Biggest challenge yet - not any particular fight but transporting the goods to sell. Luckily, it's only a short distance from the pits to the bar. Used Draw Upon Holy Might to carry the Plate Mail to sell as I can't wear it. Also had to drop everything else to carry more than a chainmail, a sword and nearly anything else. Numerous trips like this. Sold it all. Rested.

Went to Bridge District. Rumors of flesh being taken from people. Flesh - hides-umm, tanners fool with hides. Checked it out, the danged tanner was flaying people's hides. He escaped, I got experience. (Also got repeatedly killed trying to take out the Rune Assassins with him and by the trapped bed and cabinet on the second floor. May check back there again later - with more hp.)

Waylaid between districts and surprisingly won! Used Bhaalspawn ability to cast Horror - took on 4 of 6. Disrupted thug/mage casting with bow shots. ran from other thug. Eventually got in enough shots on thug to cause him to lose his morale. Charged the thug/mage after disrupting his casting again. Down he went - oops, a second thug/mage - but he's horrified, so I whacked him to death first. Thug regained his morale, took him out with bow shot - got last one with three sword hits. Whew! damn, these are the guys with the body you need to carry. Search and loot, search and loot. Alright, found an oil of speed. Drew upon Holy Might picked up body, left loot armor and ran for the Docks. Made it all the way to half a screen away from the Harper's Compound before I became encumbered and couldn't move any further. Dropped own gear and struggled slowly to the doorguard. Gave him the body. Level up!

Retrieved own gear. Met Renal. Met Mae Var. Back to Harper's Compound - got Prebek quest. En route, met Xvar, got Montaron quest. Rested and crossed fingers.

Went outside to head back to Graveyard to return the teddy bear but got waylaid again. The Thug Captain chased me all over the District.Run, shoot, run, shoot. Finally, he fell looking like a dead porcupine trying to be a feathered creature. His three compatriots havd the bad form to try to gang up on me with their crossbows. Well, repeat the lure, shoot trick didn't work as well and I had to duck into the Temple for some quick healin' by God. Back out and shoot, shoot, shoot, run, run, run... eventually, it ended. Took a while to remember where the Captain had fallen and retrieve and sell all their gear - every gp counts when you are not a stud and need to augment yourself equipment-wise.

At Prebek's got lucky.All opponents became horrified at my clumsiness and stupidity at assaulting them alone (maybe they were actually just laughing too hard so it looked like horror). Took out both mages with Tuigan bow. Chased down minions with sword - why waste the arrows. Man those little buggers could run fast. Looted - however, this not being able to get into any locked chests and cabinets is a real pain. Took a couple of trips to carry all the loot to a street vendor.

Back to Harper's Compoud. Retrieve bird and looted second floor witout incident. Returned bird to Xvar. More xp and decent loot. Now at about 12,000gp. Need a few more for that belt over at the Adventurer's Mart that will turn me from a whine, wimpy fancy boy into a man's man strength-wise...

--------more to come -------------
Player's Note - I am beginning to get the hang of this run, shoot, run tactic. It requires a lot more patience than I remembered. And the bit about undress, lug loot a distance, drop it all, retrieve first pile, repeat is tiring also. But, that may be coming to an end.

Interestingly, fouund out that Lerrahud ain't even smart enough to figure out how to use a Wand of Missiles found on the body of Xvar. Had to quaff a potion of Mind Focusing to stick it in a quick slot - "ta make me smartuh." I guess this will wind up being a bug if I can use it after the potion wears off as it is already equipped.

 

Patience is a virtue


SPOILER INSIDE!
Not to dictate anything, but a mere suggestion. You might benefit from the Astral Prison (Haer Dalis' Quest) or find the path that kills Renal bloodscalp. Both places house the boots of speed. You said hit and run didn't you? I think the first quest is the sensible choice so get a few potions of con and speed and rule the realms my friend

BTW. The story is short and explains the events and the troubles surrounding it. Since the board is flooded with stories that might be a good Idea. good Luck in the future Lerrahud!

[This message has been edited by Nobleman (edited October 09, 2001).]

 

To make this a real succes and not only funny in the first two chapters, my question is if you will use items that set yuor abilies very high. That's the problem with Gauntlets of Dexterity, Strength, etc. They not higher the stats by some points but set them to 18 or 19. So when you ahve this items it doesn't matter if your base strength and dex etc are so low.

When you decide to use the Gauntlets of Dexterity and the Girdle of ... Giant Strength and the ring for wisdom, suddenly your stats are not 966666 anymore but 20,18,6,6,18,6. As fighter, of couse Constitution is important and still low but most important are Strength and Dex, and when you get high stats on that coz of some items, it would spoil the idea. So my advice is not to use these items, there are other good Gauntlets and Girldles for fighters in the game. I would like if you completed the game with the same low stats.

 

Headbanger makes a good point, one that actually occured to me last night as I put my head on my pillow - and right after purchasing the Girdle of Giant Strength. While the Ring of Human Influence will probably make little diffeence overall (except for the occasional use of the Charm spell or as a store item price influence), the Girdle can definitely change the tenor of the game... The same question, to an extent, is raised by such items as Boots of Speed mentioned by Nobleman.

Obviously, if I could limit the effect of the Girdle to carrying around gear, then it would solve the benefits of STR in combat problem, but it really raises another question - does simply not being able to carry lots of loot place a limit on your ability to obtain/purchase decent weapons and thus fight effectively? Isn't that limit already in force through the limited number of inventory slots? REmember this character doesn't have the Bag of Holding or an ammo belt. The obvious tendency is to answer - YES. You can't carry it all to sell it, so you are then limited to what you can carry AND with a STR of 9, that is NOT much at all - the entire weight limit for STR 9 is only 50lbs. Heck, five potions of extra healing, even in a Potion Pouch, have serious weight consequences on what he CAN carry already. On the other hand, was that intended as part of the initial "challenge"? I never even considered this question until just before sleeping last night.

Another point to consider, the stat-increasing items are not "Cheats" or exploits in any "normal" sense in a "non-challenge" game.

To some, albeit limited, extent, the "challenge" has already been answered. It is barely possible to survive Chapter 1, escaping Irenicus' dungeon, with just a couple of reloads, some good (or lucky) rolls, and exploiting the fog of war tactic/cheat to an extent to lure away a single opponent one at a time. After Chapter 1, if better weapons, stat-enhancements and other items ARE allowed, then the game theoretically gets easier. (Even a Wizardslayer can improve his equipment throughout the game - and he generally isn't operating under the burden of such limited STR in addition to his class-imposed limits.)

Another consideration is that these are not permanent stat increases. Remove the items and the stats return to their base. Also, these items are vulnerable to being destroyed by Hakeshar attacks (though I grant that is not something routinely encountered in the game). So, if you can obtain and use the stat-increasing items, then shouldn't any non-Wizaardslayer be able use them to survive?

I mean, hasn't a Wizard Slayer been solo'd already? And a WS can't use any potions or magic items except for armor and weapons.

I have already run up against the low INT stat as a limiting factor - I found that I cannot use the Wand of Missiles without first chugging down an INT-increasing potion. This was what I suspected when I saw the Wand "grayed out" with no charges-remaining number after the potion to equip it wore off. Testing the theory out was a waste of the potion it turns out - except that it did provide information not otherwise avaiable to me/the PC.

One last thing, this character is NOT a Wizardslayer. That is already a game-play limiting class that I specifically chose not to play. My character is a straight fighter with none of the class-specific advantages of a Wizardslayer. To add the restrictions of that class to this character without receiving any of that class's benefits is a truly serious restriction that I was not sure I would be able to overcome when I began this game. For a comparison in terms of difficulty, reread Elmonster's tale and note how the player/character exploited prior-game knowledge, started with super-stats AND made liberal use of summoned allies. Now, that is not an insult the fellow who wrote and played Elmonster, just a point of comparison with respect to ranking the difficulty level of THIS game as it has been played so far. Elmonster's 19 INT, for instance, allowed him to learn an unlimited number of spells. My PC cannot carry an unlimited number of weapons, whether swords, arrows or whatever until, at least, after getting a Bag of Holding and then, that item's advantage is limited in combat if it's a question of changing armor.

So,in my mind, if anyone wants a REAL CHALLENGE, try the 966666 Wizardslayer challenge.

There are obviously two sides to this question as far as the "challenge" goes. I will probably not answer/decide this one today - at least not by myself. I am leaning towards allowing the use of whatever I can afford honestly - this feeling has somewhat crystallized as I have been writing this reply - is it noticeable?

Ideas? Opinions? Criticisms?

[This message has been edited by Kailynne Johanne (edited October 09, 2001).]

 

I think that's totally fair. The question was whether you could get such a handicapped character to survive, and everyone knew from the start that the hardest part would be the early game.

Besides, it's still a small handicap if you have to spend all your slots on belt of strength, gauntlets of dex, ring of charisma, and so on. It means you don't have those slots available for other items, whereas the standard soloist with high stats does.

 

Where may the "ring for wisdom" be obtained from, Headbanger?

 

Trying to put this all into perspective, I offer the following...

Here is a list of all the items I could find that adjust basic stats/abilites - other than potions.

Basic outfitting - weight considerations
Strength - 9 allows 50lbs total weight carried for all items

Equipment weights (in pounds) for non-magical items
Plate Mail - 50.....Chainmail - 40
LongSword - 4.....Short Sword - 3
Shields - 2-7........Robes - 0-4
Helms - 1-6..........Boots - 0-4
Girdles - 0-2.........Guantlets - 0-2

Basic-Stat modifying items - with respect to fighter class
Armor - none.....Shields - none.....Robes - none
Boots of Speed - not really basic, but increases movement rate (but not combat rate)

Weapons
Blade of Roses +3 - CHA +3
Mauler's Arm +2 (mace) - STR = 18 (while wielded only)
Tuigan Bow - 3 shots/round
Sing of Seeking - STR + ?
Crom Faeyr - STR =25 (requires Hammer of Thunderbolts that itself requires STR-18 to use, Girdle of Frost Giant Str, and Guantlets of Ogre Power, two of which are strength modifying items)

Rings -
Human Influence - CHA = 18
Regeneration - affects healing rate

Girdles
Hill Giant Strength - 19
Stone Giant Strength - 20
Frost Giant Strength - 21
Fortitude - CON = 18, but only once/day for 8 hours

Gauntlets
Ogre Power - STR = 18/00
Dexterity - DEX = 18

Helms
Glory - +1 CHA
Balduran - +5 hp THACO +1
Ioun Stones - various (hp and regeneration rate)

So the max stats attainable through item manipulation are:
STR - 25 but Crom Faeyr must be weided
DEX - 18
CON - 18 but only once/day for 8 hours
CHA - 22 if Helm of Glory, Ring of Human Influence and Blade of Roses are all simultaneously worn/weilded

 

Thanks for the explanation. It is indeed hard to survive Irenicus his dungeon but as Nobleman (he played a solo wizardslayer but with better stats) already said this is the hardest part of the game. So the rest would be easier. I would like if you tried to continue the game without items that SET stats higher, but able to use items that higher the stats by 1 or two. I hope you will continue the game with that, it would be great to read what happens then, how that would be. Indeed, I didn't think about weight you can carry. That would mean no plate.... what armor can you wear then? The weight of a full plate is 35 lbs iirc? That can indeed be a problem too, so mayeb you are restricted to normal plate or scale?... at least the doomplate is great and only weights 27 lbs. But you can't have anything in your inventory, that sucks

 

I couldn't agree more with Tjekanefir!!

Those restriction you put on, only lead to more reloads. Not a better gameplay. The challenge I offered was meant as an encouragement to play a character who could really develop during the game. One who would rise to the occasion and one who would be fun to hear of.

The solo wizard has been soloed, but done so with maximum stats almost. with low stats it IS still possible. There are no arbitrary deadlock to prevent it. Perhaps traps that are poisonous. And what a stupid way to die. Hence the whole concept of soloing with a wizardslayer 966666 is more a reflection of a persons patience and willingness to put a huge amout of time into reloading and fighting. Not at all a "fun" challenge as such.

So my conclusion is to just play and make him as strong as possible. Tjek has mentioned every gaming orientated disadvantages. And I think it would indeed be worth hearing of. Especially his character development is a major part in any roleplaying situations.

[This message has been edited by Nobleman (edited October 09, 2001).]