Preparing a return to Targos...

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As noted in another thread, reading this forum recently has been inspiring enough that I’m planning to run through IWD 2 again after at least 3 – 4 years since I last played. The great part about this, since the ole noggin aint what it used to be, is that I only vaguely remember the story and expect that I’ll find the game to be pretty fresh (IIRC, I played 2 times before, once in normal mode, once in “insane difficulty” mode, or whatever it’s called—HoW?).

That said, the party creation process is at least half the fun, and certainly has a lot to say about how the game plays out, how difficult things are, how much fun it is. I’m not looking to do a crazy, everyone can cast 9th level spells kind of party. I like for everyone to have their own niche in the group. But I do very much like the idea of having a primary and backup character for both the healing and arcane arts. So here’s the group I’m considering at the moment, at least what I’ve got so far. I might be a little fuzzy on some of the details related to cleric disciplines, and I’ve not settled on everything yet, so any feedback ya’ll want to provide is welcome.

Primary Role – Race and Class – Primary Weapons
• Pri. Healer – Dwf Cleric – Mace/Shield
• Sec. Healer – Aasimar Pal2/ClericX – LSword/Shield
• Pri. Mage – Elven Wizard – Staff/Shortbow
• Sec. Mage (Dipl) – Human Ftr2/BardX – Longbow
• Scout – Hlf RangerX/RogueX – Axe/Shortsword (TWF)

As far as niche goes, the Dwarven cleric is the quintessential priest of the group. The paladin cleric is the priestly holy warrior (heavier on the priest, lighter on the warrior than a full Paladin). The Elven wizard is my heavy artillery character, decent with a bow, but no one else can touch his spellcasting abilities. The fighter/bard is the jack of all trades character, party diplomat, and a halfway decent arcane caster himself. Also a good guy to have around during those long marches, as he can provide good party entertainment at the evening campfire. The ranger rogue is, of course, our sneaky scout character, the member who is usually out in front of the group, keeping them from dangers they never even saw coming.

For the final character, I’m sort of at a loss, here’s what I’m considering:
• Tank – BarbX/FtrX – Greatsword
• Mobile Damage Dealer – Monk – Fists o’ Doom
• Nature Priest – Druid – Wields ?

I’m leaning toward the tank character as I really don’t have any other total melee powerhouses in the group. This is someone who has dedicated his life to the discipline of steel, and understands the complexities of swordplay like few others ever will. The monk is probably next on my list, primarily because this is such a unique class that always provides for some interesting strategic possibilities. The druid is really just because I don’t happen to have anyone who is particularly attuned to nature, and I generally try to have such a character in my parties, but I think this is a fairly unlikely option at this point (unless someone can make a good argument for why I should include this character).

Also, just curious what mods you guys recommend I add to the game? I’m completely unfamiliar with what’s been built for IWD2.

 

Your party will be OK. I would go for a pure damage dealing tank, if I were you. A Fighter 4 / Barbarian X wielding some sort of two handed weapon.

Your next question would be what Cleric domains to use for your dwarf and your aasimar. Conventional wisdom would say that your dwarf should be a Battleguard of Tempus so he can get Axe proficiency for free but all the cleric domains are cool in their own way.

As far as mods go, the only one that matters is Weimers Ease of Use which contains a number of options such as infinitely stackable ammunition. I recommend getting that and choosing the options you like the look of.

Have fun.

 

Both your healers can act as tanks.

Your wizard will have to earn his spells by finding scrolls, he will often reach a casting level before finding a scroll of this level, so some places in his spellbook will be empty.
It's not bad but many players can't bear this, so I want to warn you about this beforehand.

Don't take fighter levels too early for your bard.

I'd start the ranger/rogue as rogue for the extra skillpoints and develop mainly rogue levels for deadly sneak attacks.

As for your 6th character:

I recommend a fighter4/barbarian with as high strength as possible.

Druids are great because of call lightning, static charge and bear shapeshifts. Barkskin can help your whole party and they have also some cool summons.
But you already have 3 healers (clerics and bard) in your party.

I'd consider trading character2 for a human druid and using an aasimar paladin3/fighter or pure paladin as a tank.

But any party with a pure mage and a pure cleric should be strong enough to beat the game.

 

Thanks for the replies. They've definitely left me with a few things to chew on. I'll let you know how it all pans out!

 

Are you planning on doing HoF mode? If so, strongly consider making all the characters Drow/Deep Gnome, for the MR. If it is normal-only, MR isn't as vital, so pick ECL 0 races for the casters, but ECL2/3 races for the tank and scout. This will bump the casters ahead a little in level.

The following suggestions assume normal mode only...

Second character: Eww. The two paladin levels add hardly any fighting ability, but take away quite a bit of casting ability. You'll have trouble with your stats too, if you try to max WIS and CHA and STR and CON... even fighter 2/cleric X would be better. A second pure cleric is the strongest powergaming choice here, but if that feels boring make a fighter 4/cleric X. (4th level fighters can pick the weapon spec feat)

Third characterure sorc is superior to pure mage; on-the-fly spellcasting is vastly more versatile, and you don't have to worry about scrolls.

Fourth character, the diplomat: Bards are crap; take a look at their spell advancement. I suggest a human paladin/rogue/sorc mix:
paladin provides BAB and divine grace ability, great synergy with high sorc CHA
rogue provides skill points, evasion, and a little bit of sneak attack damage (I am assuming ID2 implements sneak attack with bow but I'm not 100% sure)
sorcerer so he can be useful when he's not firing arrows or practicing diplomacy.
There are a few different ways you could build him, depending on how much you want to emphasize his bow and diplomacy versus how much you want to emphasize his spellcasting. I'll assume 17 levels in normal mode:

paladin 1/rogue 2/sorc 14
paladin 2/rogue 3/sorc 12
paladin 3/rogue 4/sorc 10

The third one might seem weak but in fact a sorc 10 is a better caster than a bard 15.

One minor problem with this build is that paladins don't accept monetary rewards and don't like to bargain with evil creatures or practice deception. You can have another character do the talking when it is time to collect rewards. Or you could try:

fighter 3/rogue 3/sorcerer 10/paladin 1
fighter 2/rogue 3/sorcerer 10/paladin 2
fighter 2/rogue 2/sorcerer 12/paladin 1
fighter 1/rogue 2/sorcerer 12/paladin 2

Add the paladin level(s) last, when there aren't any significant quests that they'll interfere with.


5th character: drow, to make your spellcasters better

6th character: deep gnome is the obvious tank choice even though they have -2 STR.

 

JT,

Your take is certainly a divergence from anything I likely would have come up with myself. Honetly, it feels a bit "power gamey" for my taste, but it does add some interesting possibilities.

I definitely plan to play "normal" mode this time around. I went through HoF mode once, and thought it was rather silly--everything was so ridiculously powerful that it just took me out of game. Facing Goblins that could probably give a lesser diety a hard time just didn't work for me. So no Bizarro world D&D for me this time.

The idea behind this character was to create a holy warrior, or in this case, something like a paladin, but with increased casting power. The boost to saves from Divine grace is nice, as is immunity to fear and aura of courage. Also, because he’s a paladin he’ll eventually wield the holy avenger sword (or whatever it’s called in this game). I’m not too worried about the casting loss, because I’ll already have another full progression cleric in the group. And as I mentioned in my initial post, I want each character to have his own unique niche. That’s why I’m perfectly fine losing a few levels of caster with this guy. He was designed to be somewhat less of a healer, with slight boost as a warrior and a few other skill unique to the group (divine grace, resist fear, aura of courage). Aasimar seemed a logical choice for the race. And as far as stats go, I don’t expect this guy to have maxed stats—having all characters with 2 or 3 18s just seems a bit much.

This I might consider changing, largely because I’m being reminded of the difficulty of finding wizard scrolls in the game, which is a downer. The primary reason I steered away from the sorcerer originally is because they’re so dogone powerful, am I’m wanting to keep the challenge in the game. But I think I’m with you on this one at this point.

I guess I’ll agree to disagree on this one. I used to feel the way you do, but that was before I had played the bard much. Every time I run a bard (whether in P&P or in a CRPG) I seem to appreciate them more. I don’t take a bard because I’m looking for someone to rain down fire from the sky—that’s what the wizard or sorcerer is for. They are a support character, jack of all trades type. Their spells are quite useful is used properly. As a caster, I tend to use a bard as a buffer and backup healer. Spells like displacement, haste, stoneskin, etc will always be useful.

With a couple of levels of fighter he gets a good boost on his feats will become quite the deadly bowman. Plus, he’ll have diplomacy skills that your build could only dream of. Plus, I never take 2 sorcerers (tempting as that might be). I like to think of sorcerers as a rare breed, and the likelihood of having two of them that just happen to be adventuring in my party seems pretty slim—exercises in restraint to keep the game fun…

Again, I may take you up on this, though I remember playing a drow previously and finding the light blindness a bummer.

Don’t think I’ve ever tried this race before—isn’t he an ECL 3 guy? Might be fun to try out.

 

If you never tried deep gnomes you could use them in the role they do best - as a high-AC-decoy! You don't have to make a super-special multiclass build to acieve that. Just make a DG monk with maximized dex and wis. This will give you a char thats really good at his thing - to stand in the middle of the enemies and take beating and he can scout somewhat without having to be afraid of being caught. His damaging abilities will be ok, but still far beyond your tanks so he won't dominate the party, just make life easier for the others.
Don't be dissapointed if this character isn't too useful in the first chapter. He needs some levels to start shine and should be really useful in the middle and end of normal mode. (he can even make it through HOF with some good buffing!!!)

And if you start having problems with the sorcerer being too powerful you can always choose some "fun, but not always too powerful"-spells. That makes him more balanced but still fun to play with.

BTW. Don't be worried about the D&D 3ED lesser damage of small monks. IWD2 don't use size modifiers.

[ July 25, 2006, 15:06: Message edited by: Mudde ]

 

I personally would not give fighter levels for your Bard. If this character is to be used for his/her singing, then those fighter levels will not really be useful in battle. I would personally make it three Rogue levels (extra D6 sneak attack) and make this character your scout and thief (the Bards Roguish abilities will add to this). As the thief, I would also change the race to a Halfling, who gets nice racial skill bonuses (undocumented, but they are there) for the thieving skills.

It would then allow you to have two characters as interesting builds.

For example, a Half-Orc Barbarian X/Druid X. As you can be in a rage while shapechanged, this could be one of the more unusual tank builds. You also get unique spells, including Barkskin, which will give you higher ACs.

For HoF mode, though, I agree somewhat with JT. HoF mode IS powergaming - you would need to rethink your party. The most important thing in HoF is to have at least 1 high AC decoy character, otherwise the whole party will get obliterated.

 

I had a pure bard in my party and didn't regret it. You don't need fighter levels to fight effective.

The problem with a deep gnome is that he'll always be behind in levels, he still will be level1 when the others are already level3.

Deep gnomes are nearly invulnerable with their natural AC bonus, mirror image, blur and magic resistance, but your battleguard will do far more damage in damage than a deep gnome warrior.

An advantage of ECL tanks is that they lower the avarage party level, allowing the overpowered sorcerers and other spellcasters to advance faster because of the dynamic fighting XP calculation.

If you want a deep gnome meatshield I'd create a pure barbarian with 13-14 dex and take the heavy armor feat.
Since favoured class is illusionist mixing in 4 fighter level isn't worth it. (unless you want your DG level even slower to have your spellcasters level faster.) If you develop fighter and barbarian levels evenly you will be able to specialize, but you won't get the damage reduction for your barbarian.

If you want a deep gnome monk keep him pure and max out dex, wis and con.
At higher levels you can send him into the middle of your enemies and throw fireballs at him, evasion and magic resistance will keep him unharmed. He can keep enemy spellcasters from casting with his quivering qualm. Since he gets both a dex and wis bonus to AC the missing armor won't matter.
But he'll do even less damage than the barbarian and be very weak at the beginning, he'll be nearly useless for the first half of the game. Monk powers come with levels, the ECL penalty will keep him from gaining the deadly quivering qualm or 1d20 damage fists.


I disagree with da rock in three points:

1) I prefer pure bards.
2) Barbarian rage is useless once you have bull's strength or champion's strength.
3) Your party is far stronger than needed for beating HoF mode if you really want to replay it.

 

Well, actually, if you really want the ultimate deep gnome meatshield, then you need to make the J.U.P.P version which is something like Deep Gnome Monk / Dreadmaster. I think the theory behind this is to use the various cleric buffs in combination with the special Banite bonus you get later in the game.

 

@Harbourboy
For normal mode you don't need any of jukkas gnomes (he have some different possibilities). A DG monk is more than enough.
A pure DG-monk with maximized dex and wis can survive the whole HOF (needs AC at least 72) with a druid (12 lvls) and a bard (11 lvls) and an arcane caster in the party (and of course the right equipment).
If you're interested I can tell you that the theory is that the maximum obtainable AC is 88 (87 according to the guide but I know how you can squeeze in one more) and you don't have any use of AC above 72 , so you need good AC (that peaks at 72) but not totally optimized.

 

Holy min-max batman! I’d be interested to see how that 88AC shakes out.

At any rate, after considering the excellent comments from everyone, and, of course, filtering them back through my_own_personal_preference_meter™--this is actually decision making tool I picked up at Target, found it on sale!...okay, not really--I think this is the party I’ve settled on:

• Tank – Aasimar Paladin 2-3/FighterX – Longsword/Shield (I could easily replace fighter levels with cleric levels, or keep a full paladin progression, but I specifically don’t want this character to be a caster, as this is too much of a diversion from the ‘blademaster’ concept I’m going for)
• Primary Healer – Dwf Battleguard of Tempus – Battle Axe/Shield – I think everyone sees the value of this build
• Secondary Healer – Half Elven DruidX/Ftr 2 – Longbow
Note: I’m guessing that some will try to discourage me from taking the fighter levels, since it slows caster progression, but I consider this my secondary healer, and don’t mind taking the small hit. The fighter levels open up weapon options, will allow 4 attacks per round (eventually) and 2 additional combat feats which I’ll use to pump archery. So this ends up being a powerful druid with a strong connection with her bow. I’ll probably take the fighter levels first, to represent that her bow slinging started before she developed her keen link with nature (what can I say, I’ve power-gamed plenty in my time; it’s the character development, roleplaying, and story that keep me coming back these days).
• Pri. Mage – Wild Elven Sorcerer – Staff/Short Bow (You all talked me into dropping the wizard in lieu of a sorcerer, and Wild Elf (favored class: sorcerer) just seemed appropriate)
• Sec Mage – Human Barbarian1/BardX – Greatsword – There’s been some “controversy” around the bard option, but I’m one of those who happens to find great value/enjoyment in having one of these guys around. I replaced the original 2 fighter levels with a single barbarian level, and focused on greatsword in lieu of longbow—just seems to complement the revised party better. I’ll still eventually get 6th level spells with this character, and will offer some decent buffs to the party, while also being quite brutal with a large blade. I’m seriously considering making this character a Half-Orc, for flavor reasons mainly. How many smooth talking Half-Orc Barbarian/Bards do you see people building? Not many, I’d guess.
• Scout – Tiefling RangerX/RogueX – (??/shortsword TWF) Deep Gnome is a possibility here also, but I’m concerned about XP penalties—not sure I want too many levels in ranger). The original concept was to make this guy a halfling, but I decided to ditch that idea to add another +ECL race in the group. This guy and the tank will certainly have their differences. I’ll probably start out wielding a couple of shortswords, and depending on what I find, replace the primary weapon with something else—a nice rapier would be cool, but I’m not sure how many rapiers are available in this game. Weapon Finesse will be a priority with this character.


There is still some room for tweaking between now and whenever I actually get some time on my PC tonight at home. Last night I actually got the game re-installed—even located my original IWD 2 CDs with minimal effort! The Wiemer’s ease-of-use mod adds some nice enhancements, I included roughly 50% of them.

I spent a little time playing with character creation, but that’s as far as I got. With luck, I’ll actually get my party created tonight and kill a few goblin invaders!

Thanks again for all the opinions!

 

Sounds great. Another benefit of having a Bard is that there are a few nice Bard-only items that you can find along the way, so that character will be able to make use of them.

By the way, it is apparently "theoretically" possible to have AC over 100, but this requires exploitation of several game engine mechanics and would essentially be cheating.

 

This isn't a problem; because of the way the xp system works, he's pushing the rest of the party forward just as much as his ECL pushes himself backwards. And a decoy doesn't need levels as much as other characters, like spellcasters, do. For example:

Take a party of six level 8 humans and instead turn two of them into deep gnomes--the four humans will be level 9 and the two deep gnomes will be level 6. We had a few threads about this "feature" early in the year.

 

It looks like a really nice party you've got there! It has a little of everything. Should be fun to play.

@Harbourboy
To achieve an AC higher than 88 you must either use several bard lvl11-songs or replay the game after beating both normal and HOF.
If you want to get 88 AC you just use the jupp-ultimate AC build but take away 10 lvls of cleric (-1AC since you use ghost armor instead of Divine Shell) and add them as monk-lvls (which gives +2AC).

 

Warning: the post that follows is long!

In order to enrich my IWD 2 experience, I decided to write bio's for each of my characters to give them some depth, and help me to better roleplay their actions over the course of the game. For me, this makes for a much more enjoyable gaming experience (and is a halfway decent alternative to the entertaining banter found in the BG series).

Since several of you helped me to decide on what ultimately became my party, I thought I'd share their bios with you. I did mention this was long, right?

Triug “Triumphantine” (aka Phan) – Male Half-Orc Barbarian1/BardX – Chaotic Good
A tale of unrelenting survival in the face adversity and tragedy is the tale of Triug, the Half-Orc who put the odds to shame. You may have heard of him by his traveling name, Triumphantine, Minstrel of the Lady, a bard of some fame in the realms. But what the name does not tell is of the struggle of one born into a world in which he did not have a place—that is, until he forged one for himself. Raised by his father, Gretch the Bloodtaker—Orc Chieftain of Clan Daorg, Triug never knew his mother. It is said that Gretch hated his son just as fiercely as he loved him, and for that, Triug was regularly beaten—often within an inch of his life. But Gretch, in some distorted manifestation of mercy, or perhaps pity, had not the heart to kill his son. Always while he was beaten, Triug would sing a song of the humans, a melody he knew not where he had learned:

Stand strong my son, even though the world should hate ye
Stand strong my son, for tomorrow shall bring ye joy

That song was often all Triug had to cling to, and treated no better than a slave, cling to it, he did. With each sunrise it enabled him to carry on. Until one fated day, when Triug was nearing his 13th year, Gretch the Bloodtaker, Scourge of the Lost Marches, imparted his ultimate act of mercy. He forced his son to leave Clan Daorg, giving a small sum of money, a powerful blade, and his blessing.

And so it was that Triug made his way to the world of civilized men, subject to untold indignities and trials, all of which he endured in stride, hopeful that tomorrow would be brighter. And in this way he persevered, even prevailed, finding his voice and his mentor, Nathanielle Lyresong, renowned bard of Eavesorn Lakes. It was in this time that Triumphantine, Minstrel of the Lady of Light brought his lute and his booming baritone voice to the world, causing damsels to swoon and confounding conventional wisdom about the savagery and brutality of Orc-kind.

Phan has accomplished much in his 19 years of life, but he is still young, with a great deal yet to learn, a great deal yet to prove. So when his companion, the Tiefling Niev, brought news of a call for aid from the town of Targos, he could not make his way to the harbormaster quickly enough to charter passage!

***

Niev “Silentblade” – Tiefling Ranger2/RogueX – Chaotic Neutral
Kiara de’Chantille – Aasimar Paladin3/FighterX – Lawful Good
Tales of those carrying the blood of angels, and even fiends, are not unknown in the realms. But almost unheard of is one of celestial blood calling “brother” one of fiendish blood. So it is with Niev and Kiara, born of Mistress Lacelle. Lacelle was a devoted wife to Sir Rael de’Chantille, Lord of Moorshone Manor. Rael’s mortal enemy, an assassin known as Elias Cuur, had long been smitten by Lacelle’s beauty. When she accepted Rael’s hand in marriage, Elias was beside himself with envy and jealousy. Mad with rage, he plotted to ruin their happiness. He kidnapped Lacelle, bringing her to his makeshift shack deep in the swamps. There he indulged his lustful wants with his captive. Rael, with the aid of 3 of his most trusted knights and confidants, soon tracked Elias and Lacelle. A vicious battle ensued, but Elias, cunning as he was, managed an escape. Soon after, Lacelle learned she was with child, and gave birth to Niev de’Chantille. But Niev, it was clear, was not a son of Rael. Niev bore the markings of a fiend, subtle as they were, characteristics that were unmistakably passed down by Elias Cuur, a Tiefling scoundrel. Sir Rael de’Chantille, a man of unparalleled virtue, chose to raise Niev as his own. Rael and Lacelle vowed to tell no one of their dark secret.

Soon after, Kiara was born. Like her father, an Aasimar, she bore hints of her celestial heritage. The Chantille family lived peacefully and joyously for many a year, but it was not to last. For Elias Cuur had no intention of accepting defeat. He plotted during those long years, waiting for the day he would make his next stand against Rael, intent that this time his enemy’s suffering would be unequalled. Elias struck not against Rael, but against Lacelle, painfully ending her life with a strong dose of viper poison. It was when Rael first laid eyes on his beloved’s corpse, half eaten by the acidic toxins, that Elias struck from the shadows and battled his nemesis for the final time. Kiara, only 5 years old, fled in fear. Niev, nearly 7 years old, ran to aid his father. Niev watched helplessly as the assassin’s blades buried themselves in Rael’s throat, killing him.

Desperate, Niev grasped for Rael’s sword, ready to die in his father’s name, but could barely lift it, much less wield it. Niev prepared to accept his fate. Elias, standing face to face with his son for the first time, knew him for who he was, and did not kill him. Instead, he took the boy and raised him—his only tie to a woman he had desperately loved. In time, Niev all but forgot his life as a noble, and accepted Elias as his father—though their relationship was tenuous at best. In the years that Niev traveled with his true father he learned the sneaksman’s trade, how to take care of himself in the wilds of nature.

Elias’ sins eventually caught up with him, as such things have a way of doing. Rael’s most loyal knights, who had tracked the assassin for many years, finally had their day of vindication. They had fought him before, and were ready for him this time. There was no escaping the knights’ blades that day, and so it was that Elias Cuur was slain.

Niev remembered the men, who had often served as bodyguards, even friends, in his childhood, and understood their actions. He raised not his blades, for he could not fault them. Instead, he coldly walked away. The knights knew not to follow. There would be no homecoming, only vengeance.

Kiara’s life was very different from her brothers. After her parents’ death, she remained in Moorshone Manor, becoming the ward of Sir Trayis, Rael’s most trusted. Sir Trayis trained Kiara as a paladin, indoctrinating her in the teachings of Helm, the Watcher. She learned the highest tenets of morality and virtue, and to do right in all things. This training included a healthy dose of swordcraft, for doing right often requires confronting wrong.

Kiara was 16 when Sir Trayis returned with the news of Elias’ death, and her brother’s refusal to return home. She vowed to herself that she would seek him out and learn whether his contempt extended also to her. Just days after her 17th birthday she gathered what belongings she could carry, and set out in search of Niev—leaving only a note for Sir Trayis that she had gone, pleading with him not to follow her. One year later, Kiara found Niev.

Niev, at first, received her with cold suspicion. But even his hardened demeanor could not long stand up against the joy of seeing his long lost sister. They had become about as different as two people might, and now they were aware of their conflicting heritages, but they were family. And that was enough. They vowed to stick together, to guard each others’ backs. To some extent, the pair rubbed off on one another. Kiara never lost sight of her devotion to Helm, but in the presence of her brother’s contagious cynicism and contempt, she soon lost the heart to continue such lofty pursuits as knighthood. Niev, out of respect for his sister, vowed to never again murder out of cold blood—the one sin she swore she would kill her brother for.

Recently, while in Luskan, they met a kindly Half-Orc who was being chastised at the hands of 6 thugs. Their harsh words quickly turned to violence. Such an injustice was more than Kiara could bear, so she and her brother went to the Half-Orc’s aid, and together they scared off the thugs, undoubtedly saving the man’s life. They learned him to be Triumphantine, a bard of promise, and they became fast friends.

Months after their meeting, even Niev cannot not deny the Half-Orc’s charm, and boy does he love it when Triumphantine sings and plays. Niev is fiercely protective of his sister, and does not take well to Triumphantine’s apparent flirtations with her, advances his sister seems not to mind.

***

Vothe – Male Half-Elven Fighter2/DruidX – Neutral Good
There is none closer to Phan than his mentor, Nathanielle Lyresong. But Vothe, the Half-Elven druid of Eavesorn Woods, is a close second. The three have adventured together on many occasions, and whenever Nathanielle has been called away on “business,” Phan has been left in Vothe’s charge.

Vothe is quiet and reserved; many would even call him a pushover. But those who have tried to cross him have learned differently. His skill with a bow has rarely met an equal, and his fierce devotion to nature has been known to bring out the animal within.

Over a year ago Nathanielle was called to join an expedition to a plane of great evil and chaos, a place known as the Abyss. For the next 6 months, Vothe and Phan were nearly inseparable in Eavesorn Woods. But Phan longed for the city so, at last, he went to Luskan alone... or so he thought. Vothe had no intention of letting Phan stray too far, calling upon friends of nature—birds, rodents, and other city dwelling creatures—to keep an eye on the boy. So when Phan learned of Targos’ peril, Vothe soon knew of it also. He also knew of the severity of Targos’ need.

Vothe traveled on the wisps of the wind to rejoin his young friend, to ensure Phan would not face such peril alone. Once reunited, Vothe claimed he had only come to check on the boy, but Phan knew otherwise. His resentment at being watched was short lived, though, and he embraced his friend with open arms. Later that day Vothe was introduced to Phan’s newest companions, Niev and Kiara.

“Indeed it is good that I’ve come,” Vothe chortled, eyeing the trio with obvious misgivings. Their combined ages, he reasoned, barely equaled his own. “You children shall need a chaperone.”

***

Maraph’en – Female Wild Elf Sorcerer – Chaotic Good
Renespr – Male Dwarven Battleguard of Tempus – Chaotic Good
Maraph’en, the Wild Elven sorceress has long traveled as companion to the Dwarven Battleguard, Renespr, a pairing as unlikely as any. Their bond is their shared devotion to Tempus, God of Warfare, and they have found that together they can accomplish much in His name. Hailing from Easthaven, one of the 10 towns, they have found many likeminded brethren of their faith. There, Renespr has excelled as a Battleguard of Tempus, a priest who likens combating the wicked to a form of worship. Maraph’en’s special talents have also been embraced with open arms by the priests.

But none of the priests have bonded with Maraph’en in quite the way Renespr has. They hold one another in the highest regard, but one is not impressed by the other. They travel as equals, and Renespr enjoys his companions’ sassy mouth nearly as much as he openly claims to disdain it.

Renespr was recently sent by his order to embark on his “Watch”—a test given to only a small number of Battleguards where they might obtain the esteemed title of High Battleguard. Essentially, a Battleguard on his Watch is expected to roam the land and prove his worth to Tempus in glorious battle. He is not to return to his order until he feels he is worthy of judgment, or in some cases, is called back to be judged. Judgment happens but once, and is final.

Sometimes a Battleguard is allowed a companion. It was believed that, together, Maraph’en and Renespr would bring great glory to the God of Warfare, so she was allowed to travel at his side.

So they made their way to Luskan, where mercenaries are sure to find opportunity to test their blades. Since arriving, they have taken a handful of small jobs and earned a small bit of coin, but these ventures have been nothing of the magnitude the pair seeks out. Until yesterday, when they learned of a desperate call from the town of Targos, calling all adventures to their aid.

The opportunity was far and away better than anything they’d found in Luskan, so they jumped at the chance to lend their blades and their magic. They chartered passage on a ship called the Welcome Wench, and as a consequence, met up with the Half-Orc Bard Triumphantine and his companions—who also mean to sail to Targos on the Wench. Tonight the 6 adventures plan to meet over drinks and discuss a partnership in Targos. Funny how life is. Renespr and Maraph’en left the 10 towns to find adventure. But adventure, it seems, has called them back....

***

Once the 6 had formed a legitimate adventuring band, they figured a name was in order. All but Renespr and Maraph’en agreed with Phan’s proposal, Triumphantine’s March; they insisted on Renespr’s Watch. The dispute was settled in as civilized a manner as one could hope in a tavern disagreement: a game of cards played over tall mugs of Gnomish Bitter Black Ale. Phan was as underestimated there as he ever was, and much to Renespr’s dismay, disbelief and protest—a deal’s a deal, after all—Triumphantine’s March came to be.

Whether in it for fame or gold or glory, to protect the greater balance or to earn divine blessing, the group believes that together, their particular mix of skills and talents will propel them to success in Targos. They are, all of them, oblivious to the trials that lie ahead. So tonight they will drink, talk, and enjoy life. For at week’s end they board a ship bound for destiny.

 

Great stuff, Marceror. That's a good example of how you can really rolepay Icewind Dale II.

 

quite impressive.

 

After 4 1/2 years hibernating....

A bit of a self-necro post, but after all of the above hoopla, I actually never got very far with this party back in 2006. I got the IWD2 bug recently, so I decided to dust off this party last night (technically I had to recreate them from scratch on my current PC).

They recently arrived in Targos, and helped turn the situation around in the docks. They are currently in Targos town learning what more they can about the situation in order to prepare themselves for the imminent attack at the palisade. They are all level 2 now.

It's not an uber powergaming party, but I'm sure they'll hold their own. It's amazing that after nearly 5 years of not playing this game how fresh it all seems. More than fresh, actually. I'm having completely refamiliarize myself with this game's particular implementation of D&D rules. It uses a sort of a pseudo-3.0 rendition of the rules, and with all the various P&P versions floating around, not to mention CRPG game implementations that I've encountered in recent years... it's like I'm basically figuring things out from scratch. All part of the fun.

And a final note, damn the writing in this game is well done. I had forgotten. Even without inter-party banter, this game is quite immersive due largely to the top notch writing. They sure don't make 'em like this anymore.

 

All of my party members are currently ECL 5, and I am having an absolute ball with this party. Our major accomplishments so far are the clearing of the Targos docks, defending the Targos palisade and retaking the Shaengarn (sp?) bridge. Next we will travel to the recently discovered goblin base to see what good we can do there.

* Triumphantine, my Half-Orc barbarian1/bard 4 is *deadly* with a halberd, with his 20 base strength + strength boosts (from rage, bull's strength, etc). He is proving a very effective diplomat, in spite of his Orcish appearance. He's about as lovable as an Orc comes.

* Kiara de'Chantille, my Aasimar Paladin3 of Helm/Fighter1 is a very effective tank with her sword and board style of fighting, as is Renespr, the 5th level Dwarven Cleric of Tempus, with axe and shield.

* The Tiefling Ranger1/Rogue3 Niev, Kiara's half brother, is deadly with his twin blades, and is already a highly effective scout/infiltrator.

* Vothe, the Human Fighter1/Druid 4 is quite the bow slinger, especially with rapidshot.

* Maraph`en, the Elven Sorceress is already has some effective spells at her disposal, though she has yet to really shine. Still, she's also pretty good with a bow with her high dex and is growing into an effective evocation focused caster.

The spellcasters aren't particularly effective yet as casters, but this is normal at low levels. But the party as a whole really knows how to bring the pain. Because I have created backgrounds for each of the characters, I really get to role play their personalities, and imagine the social dynamics of the party. Good stuff!