The Allure of MAgic

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I have only recently found this site ~ which I am very impressed with since everyone seems really friendly and I haven't seen many 'cheats' posted !

Well, I've done a very brave or foolish thing and thought I'd let you know . . . having played BG II for many many many hours and advanced nicely to a lvl 12 Ranger who was heroic, stoic and damn tough - equipped with the right shield he got tdown to a pretty impressive -8 AC (is that pretty good?)! I've abandoned him for a dweeebie mage who I've started the game again with !!

It was no good - being in the company of so many (obviously) powerful Adepts, Wizards and the like, the appeal of doing it all over with a mage (conjurer) was too big.

Wish me luck - "Blue" is going to need it!

 

If you like to play a mage and still like to enjyo a good AC, why not play a dc/ mc fighter mage? With eleven-chain, good shield and helm he would have an impressive AC + while beeing able to defend himself in melee.
Thieves and mages are probably most interesting to play, so do´t be afraid of the low AC, they have other strengths

 

Mages are good enough as they are !!!
They can use purely magical armor, shields 6 weapons, if need be.
But the brave mage doesn't need that, as he will allow his enemies to approach him only in little charcoaled pieces .
Nonehteless dualling from a fighter (preferredly Kensai (at lvl9), as they can't wear armor anyway) of thief will make the spellweaver more flexible, if at the price of purity.

 

Eeeewww! Dirty, unpure mages!

If you're gonna play 'em, take the good with the bad - Suffer through the relatively weak stages until you are powerful enough to strike terror into any puny fighter!

If you want toe to toe melee protection, look for the Mordenkainen/Tenser spells - they were the closest thing to melee mages that I've ever seen - Tenser's trnasformation, Mord's sword, etc...

 

Oh, you switched over to play a paladinlike melee-prone wizard-slayer now?

 

LOL! No...Still stuffy, arrogant, and overbearing, condescending, etc...Wearing full plate will do that to a guy

But, I played a mage in PnP that enjoyed mixing it up occasionally, so I used to use all those cool melee spells, and tried to make some of my own. Plus, in our campaign, mages could be proficient in swords (ala Gandalf)- but that would be the only proficiency they could have if they chose it. No staves, daggers, slings, etc...

 

That´s why I liked to play the dc fighter-mage... I read Lord of the Ring approx 8 times and I liked that mage Ingold in B. Hambly´s Time-of-the-dark series just as much, so my choice always was: LONGSWORDS for wizards
However, In p&p I alway prefered to play thieves to mages...

 

Never played a thief in PnP...But since playing Imoen as a thief in bg, and Yoshimo et al in BG2 - I definitely see the appeal.

All the sneaking, pinching, backstabbing, hiding in shadows...Wait a minute! It's a lot like being at work!

 

Where do you think the spec for the thief comes from. Just goto any commercial enviroment and there it is.

One thing I can say is I'd like to be able to put a flame arrow into some people at my work.

 

How cruel, I´d be totally happy if I could turn people into a squirrel

 

That reminds me...has anyone ever got polymorph other to work? I tried casting that stupid spell so many times and it never worked. My game hates me.
Critical misses, failed saving throws,
wuss-villains that crit again and again,
getting backstabbed AND critted, getting killed by missile attacks with a -17 AC versus missiles.

AAAAAAAAAARGH!!!

One day I shall rule! AhahaHAHAHAHAHA!
( And then I shall assure that bridges will not ride up so wedge-like)

 

I used polymorph other in the Circus fight, and did turn that nasty gnome into a lovely squirel. Enemies who are at a much higher level than u, would have very high saving throws relative to u. Polymorph some trolls instead
In case u r wondering, if u kill the squirrel the body changes into its original form, so u can still get all the items... The only dilemma is, what if u like squirrels and never dreamt of killing one?

 

Magic works like like David Eddings says: It´s just Word & Will. Did you really want to cast that spell ?

 

I´m messy: I adressed this to Divine, typing to hasty. Possibly I´d really try to play the old senile wizard Rasalgethi spoke of... tss, tss, tss

However, Lo: If you polymorph a troll to a squirrel - do you still need fire or acid to destroy him?

 

To be honest I haven't tried it on a trolls myself, it was something that came to mind while writing the post... It's definetely one of the spells I didn't use all that much, prolly should start polymorphing anything that moves and report u the results
Btw, what's your favorite level 4 spell? I used improved invisibility quite a bit, and to my surprise emotion is actually a pretty good spell, being a ranged spell that doesn't do any damage to your party.. Just laugh at your enemies laughing in despair

 

How bout 'Lower Resistance'?
You need it for practically every late game encounter.
Improved Invisibility's nice. Cast it on a tank or a backstabber for further protection.

 

Divine: polymorph other is THE spell for low level mages against tough fighters. It's mostly a waste against any of the real baddies but whenever you meet mixed party, you can deproblematise the lowly meleeing part and concentrate on the true enemies (mages) .

 

You wanted to say thieves (hidden in shadows, hasted, under Improved invisibility, backstabbing)?

 

Admittedly, they are a pain in the lower back, but not real enemy.
As a robe wearer, I squish them beneath my high-heeled bootlets .