The IWD2 Belle Sakura Saloon Themed Party

Pole Dancer Impersonator

I will try my best. Smile

Pole Dancer Impersonator

I've found a fix for some of the compatibility issues with Windows 8.1 so I'm probably going to give this another go. I don't think I'll be using Tactics for IWD2 this time since it makes the game a bit too hard if you're not powergaming.

Son of Loki

Awesome. Should be good.

Pole Dancer Impersonator

Thinking of twisting the rules to make Silvery a Monk/Sorceress. Since I no longer use the Tactics mod (only Light of Selune) I won't have to powergame to get through fights.

Son of Loki

I know it's your work, but I can lend a hand with dialogue if you want/need.

Pole Dancer Impersonator

That would be fantastic! You have a real knack for coming up with cool dialogue so I think we can work together on this. Smile

I need some time to set up the game so I'll keep you posted.

EDIT: I'm going to bend the rules a little and make Triactus an Aasimar Paladin (Mystra?)/Bard (not sure how many levels I'll put into Paladin since the increased Cha could work nicely for some smiting) so I'll max Cha, take away some Wis (and maybe Int) in order to increase Str (since I'm thinking he could go for Bastard Swords and some Armoured Arcana in order to use a shield).

I'm also going to skip Greater Spell Penetration for Carabas and pick some spell focus or Power Attack and Cleave instead (I'm not using Tactics anymore).

Last but not least I thought Sil could use a Monk level because of her martial arts training but that would mean spreading the stats around quite a bit... Evasion and using Monk only items can be cool but that would delay spells a bit so I'm not sure. I would have to dump some Con to increase Wis.

I'm not going to change Nakia but I'm considering changing a few things about Zarak and I may take away some Cha (although it can help a fulltime cleric) or Int to increase Str or Con. Zarak is going to be the only guy in fullplate armour anyway.

Son of Loki

Just give me a shout out when you're ready bro and I'll take care of the rest. Writing dialogue for this party will be piss easy.

I am ok with making Zarak a human or Tiefling as well.

Pole Dancer Impersonator

MegaZarak wrote:: Just give me a shout out when you're ready bro and I'll take care of the rest. Writing dialogue for this party will be piss easy.

I am ok with making Zarak a human or Tiefling as well.

I'll take screenshots to document the run. Smile

Tiefling would be cool but it also means a Wis penalty. I like the idea of Zarak as a Cleric because evil clerics get the most badass lines in the game. As a human he would level up faster but stats would be spread around even more. The only advantage would be the possibility to take some Fighter levels for feats (at the cost of better spellcasting which is what you get as a fulltime Cleric).

I could scrap all the dark elves and make Carabas a half orc which would mean less penalties for levelling up but it would also mean having to dump Cha and Wis and Int would take a hit as well. I could also make him a Half Elf and make my life much easier. The only problem is that Tiefling and Drow do look better for the avatar I've been using.

Still, since I got rid of Tactics for IWD2 it means I don't have to powergame too much. I don't need to cripple the party but considering that Drows take forever to catch up with levels I may just go with this new idea and dump some of the stats.

Which portraits would you pick for Zarak as a Human or a Tiefling character?

The IWD2 Belle Sakura Saloon Themed Party - Page 4 Id%20pack

The IWD2 Belle Sakura Saloon Themed Party - Page 4 Id%20pack

Son of Loki

Crap, I had forgotten about the WIS penalty for Tieflings. But IIRC, the tradeoff is +2 DEX, right? It would help with AC, full plate and shield would make Zarak a nice tank.

I don't know about the fighter levels. I'd rather have Zarak as a pure cleric, with offensive instead of healing spells, that would free space for nastier spells like Symbol of Hopelessness and such.

As for the avatar, the red cloaked dude on the last row would fit nicely for human Zarak. Tiefling, I'd go for the dude with the mace next to your avatar from a nameless shithole.

Pole Dancer Impersonator

The bonus with full plate armour is capped anyway so more than 12 points in Dex would be wasted. Besides Dark Elves already have +2 in Dex, in fact they get more points than Tiefling.

I like the guy with the mace which would suit a fulltime Cleric with a mace as a weapon nicely.

I don't want to use Zarak as a healer at all. The idea is to disable the opposition to allow Nakia to score sneak attacks and Carabas to hit them with damage spells.

EDIT: I was mistaken, Tieflings get a penalty to Cha not Wis which makes that a perfectly valid choice for a ClericM

Son of Loki

CHA penalty is fine with me. With that higher DEX Zarak could dual-wield, and maybe half-plate would prove just as effective as full plate? It's been aeons since I played IWD2.

But I'd prefer flail to maces. There's something immensely satisfying in swinging a flail and smashing a skull with it. Twisted Evil

Pole Dancer Impersonator

Dual wielding maces or flails is a bad idea. The penalty would cripple that build and he'd need 15 points in Dex to be able to buy the two feats required for dual wielding (although the Light of Selune mod seems to make it easier you still require Ambidexterity to be any good at it). Barbarians, fighters, paladins, and rangers are proficient with flails but Clerics are not so that would require either taking a level as barbarian (or fighter but you get more out of a single level of barbarian) or picking up the feat at character creation. Humans get an extra feat at the first level so that may be worth some consideration.

Dex is not that great in IWD2 if you're not going to be using ranged weapons or weapon finesse. Medium armours aren't so hot either. In fact the best character when it comes to AC alone would be a weird Deep Gnome Monk multiclass with uber Dex and Wis who would rely on some magic spells or bracers to get some AC bonus.

Heavy armours get better with the Light of Selune mod and they also have the great advantage of cutting down on the necessary buffing. Besides unless you keep casting Cat's Grace your guy in heavy armour wielding a shield will get an AC that will be equivalent to your high Dex character with bracers.

Considering that in the party I'm creating the only guy who can wear some big suit of armour without losing mobility (Monk, Rogue and especially Ranger) is Zarak (divine casters don't get spell failure from armours) there is a strong incentive to get him to wear that type of armour.

The way I see it Nakia will go for light armours, Triactus will probably end up with medium armours (I may pick up some Armoured Arcana down the line), Silvery and Carabas will use the Mage Armor spell and spell like items.

Back to Zarak, a Cleric needs Wis for spells. Dex above 9 to avoid any penalty (not over 12 if you plan on wearing heavy armour, possibly 13 for the Dodge feat). Cha is useful in order to turn undead so if that becomes a dump stat it means this ability is wasted (not such a big deal). Int is not essential to a Cleric (it's not like a Cleric gets many useful skills anyway). Con is always useful but you have to have points left for that. Str is really needed for extra melee efficiency but there is no need to go too high since the higher you go the more incentive you would have to use a two handed weapon instead of a shield. Still that's many points to spread around.

I think I will go for a fulltime Cleric of Bane Tiefling with a flail proficiency and STR 14 DEX 12 CON 16 INT 10 WIS 18 CHA 8. I'm dumping Cha for Con unfortunately. Skillpoints will go into Concentration and whatever is left will go into Intimidation (for RPing reasons). I see him using a flail and a shield mostly (with a sling for ranged combat to take advantage of the shield and retain the strength bonus to damage). It would be possible to lower Con to increase Str for extra damage or to bring Dex to 13 in order to be able to get the Dodge feat. Going over 13 in Dex would be a total waste however. I don't feel comfortable with dumping Cha or Int any lower because that would be completely out of character and these stats are too low already (but if we increase them we can forget about the constitution rating).

Son of Loki

I've already got some dialogues in mind... this'll be fun!

Pole Dancer Impersonator

I need to get this show on the road again.

Son of Loki

Yup... you bloody slacker!

Pole Dancer Impersonator

I started today. Gave Zarak some flail feats and the Black Chimes magic flail from Targos. I will skip any Ranger level with Nakia.

I'm thinking of adding Tri soon. Smile

Son of Loki

Don't forget the screenshots! I must have some muse to write those banters!

Pole Dancer Impersonator

I've edited the first post here to bring in line with the changes I've made.

Here is the gallery I've created for this playthrough: http://postimg.org/my.php?gallery=8p4hrvsc

Let me know if it works for you (they may not show up in the correct order so follow the numbers). Wink

I can't wait to see what great dialogues you can come up with.

Last but not least I think we should start thinking about adding a sixth character down the line. It can probably wait until our heroes get to Sherincal or the Wandering Village.

Son of Loki

Can't see shit, captain. I end up on the login screen.

Pole Dancer Impersonator

The IWD2 Belle Sakura Saloon Themed Party - Page 4 197373

Son of Loki

I'll have a look when my data resets or when I can leech some WiFi. I've got a few ideas already, though.

Black Chimes is a good choice, I always pick it up, well, before my IWD2 discs went MIA.

Sixth character... hmmm... Iku, maybe, or Babystripes? Iku would be an interesting CN nutcase... or Saber, maybe?

Pole Dancer Impersonator

Nice. I look forward to reading what you have in mind. I think we should stick with people from Belle Sakura Saloon though.

That being said I'm going to exploit the system that makes adding lower level characters down the line an XP boost for the party. So I may delay Tri's introduction a little bit (although I would really like to bring him into the game in Targos).

Black Chimes is a nice item. It put a major dent in the party's budget though but with Black Chimes and the Left Hand of Darkness Z has enough magic items for now. I'll need a magic weapon for Nakia and if I can spare the cash I'll pick up Nine Paces for Cara.

Nobody is picking pockets. I think Z and Cara are above that and Nakia is not that sort of Rogue.

Son of Loki

Technically, all my suggestions are BSS members... Iku is just a drifting nutcase, and Saber, well, just has no life, and Babystripes used to be one of us even if she doesn't post anymore.

I know Iku and Saber well so writing dialogues for them would be easy.

Maybe Dragon? The one problem is I don't really know the dude so writing dialogue for him would be harder.

What would be awesome is each one of us writes our banter. Start with something and work off of each other. That would be gold.

Pole Dancer Impersonator

Hell yeah, that would be perfection! Smile

What I meant is that I'd rather save the last spot for an active BSS member.

I need to take a break from Wolfenstein and Mordor to get back to Targos.

Son of Loki

Let me kick things off.

#1 -- "Brohn didn't even see it coming"

"That's what you get for being a drunken bastard."

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