Floor 1, Part 1: The basics
It looks like our party's all set to whack some dungeon moles. The first floor is easy, since enemies will only get to use magic starting from floor two. In this short update, we'll see our characters learn to open doors, fight enemies, put them to sleep, attack friendlies, wander in the dark, as well as hide in the shadows. Reading is teh hard, so in order to keep updates brief I'll show off leveling up, the first boss fight, the dungeon design, and the first keys we find in the next update.
Anyway, it's time to get started.
Todd, what's a maze?
Upon entering the maze, we're given the options to
Inspect our characters,
Reorder the party, and
Equip whatever we haven't equipped yet.
For starters, let's switch Gaider and Sawyer: our Thief should be more well-hidden in the back row, and Josh has decent enough HP and a decent enough weapon to be useful in melee.
Right behind you, Josh. *winks*
Don't.
Are you sure? *smiles*
I... well, in this case... I guess it's all r--
*whispers* It's an illusion, Josh. Strip it away, and the truth will show.
I... I'd gladly strip this illusion... I mean, strip it... away... MCA-sensei. But it's too... strong.
*sighs and snaps fingers*
Aaah! You ruined it, you freak!
..........
Hey Todd, I think I've just bumped into a door! *anxiously* Has our journey come to an end, Todd?
Shit, I'm at a loss, Pete. There's a reason we only have automatic doors at Bethesda HQ.
Hey Laidlaw, we could use an expert's hand at this.
Sure, what seems to be the problem, guys?
You see... well, it's complicated, man. Let me just show you...
*rubs forehead and makes a sad face*
Don't worry, man! They didn't make me the lead on Dragon Age 2 for nothing. Here, try this.
!!
Majestic!
Man, you're the best. We totally hire you once we're outta here.
So let's see what's behind the door.
No wonder. Imagine suddenly facing a party of evil game developers!
... What do you mean, turn-based?
No wonder it's only six of us playing your game, man.
Small Humanoids don't pose any kind of real threat to us. In other words, they are weak.
Tsk. I see you still haven't learned to fully control your emotions.
...
Josh, your feelings are your weakness.
You're always saying the same things, MCA-sensei. *cries* All these years! The same things! Sometimes I wonder if you're ever going to say something... something new! *turns away*
Next round, there are only two Small Humanoids left standing, and we're unscathed.
Sawyer has three Priest spells currently:
Kalki (lowers the party's AC by one),
Dios (heals 1 to 8 hit points), and
Milwa (there be light!). And yeah, he can only cast 'em three times in total before he has to rest to replenish the spell points. Hardcore!
We don't need no Priest spells for this fight, though.
MCA and Laidlaw both have two Mage spells. Being a Bishop, MCA will be getting Priest spells as well, starting from level four. Currently the spells they have are
Halito (fireball, 1 to 8 points of damage) and
Katino (sleep), the latter being probably the most handy spell at the moment because it targets the entire enemy
group and not just a single enemy.
Let's have MCA cast Katino for the sheer awesomeness of it (and MCA's).
Trrranslation patch.
While the enemy is asleep, it takes twice the normal damage.
Witness the power of the popamole!
It is the internal struggles, when fought and won on their own, that yield the strongest rewards.
Sometimes our reward comes in the form of a treasure chest. More often than not chests are trapped. To disarm a trap, we must first attempt to identify it, and that's what Thieves are for. (Apart from backstabbing, of course.) The success of an identification attempt probably depends on the Luck attribute (just a wild guess). If the Thief gets the type of the trap wrong... let's just say it's not very pleasant. There's also a level two Priest spell,
Calfo, that serves the same purpose, and it also has a slight chance of failing to reveal what the trap really is.
Eh... well... let me a-see...
Looks like a... poison needle!
You sure, Dave?
Yeah, I know my needles. Took up knitting when I was working on the Aerie romance.
Helps me pull myself together in between writing the, you know, emotional scenes. "I...I will show you my body, (char name)" *sobs*
*pats Gaider on the back* It's all right, Dave.
Damn, still makes me cry every time.
Luckily for us, Gaider identified the trap correctly.
As for the kinds of traps, there are nine in total:
ALARM: Brings in surrounding monsters to do battle with your party.
CLERIC'S CRISIS: Paralyzes all clerics and wizards.
CROSSBOW BOLT: Hits whoever is opening the chest.
EXPLODING BOX: Causes shrapnel damage to all party members.
GAS BOMB: Poison bombs all party members with a chance of actually poisoning them.
MAGE'S MISERY: Paralyzes all mages and wizards.
POISON NEEDLE: Hits the opener with a poisoned needle with a chance of actually poisoning them.
STUNNER: Paralyzes the opener.
TELEPORTER: Randomly teleports the party to another part of the level.
Sounds wonderful, doesn't it?
After Gaider has successfully disarmed the trap, we receive a whopping 5 gold.
The next encounter has us face a
friendly group of Undead Kobold.
Your friendly neighbourhood undead? Only in Wizardry!
Too bad we're
evil. Too bad for the Kobolds, I mean. You see, the choice to fight a friendly monster group or let them go influences our alignment, and we want to stay evil. We have to fight.
And fight they did.
Hey, Pete, it's a Draugr!
I know what you're thinking, man. It's not cool. Our lawyers will be in touch.
You... you missed, MCA-sensei?
Did I?
We defeat the Kobolds, receiving 115 exp and 10 gold.
Next up:
Slimes!
Now you know where the Japs got those annoying enemies from (and have been sticking to them ever since).
Being a Thief, Gaider has the ability to
hide in order to prepare a backstab.
Hide in the shadows!
And then (next round)
ambush the hapless Slime.
Slimes are probably the easiest of all the enemies here on floor one. They only have a handful of HP, and can't even scratch us no matter how hard they try.
Sometimes, by the way, Gaider fails his stealth check.
Sorry, bros. Them chocolate donuts must be affecting my shape.
These are normal, not undead Kobolds. They're supposed to be kind of tough, but Laidlaw puts them all to sleep, and they go down easily.
And the experience we get is the nicest we've had so far.
And hey, a trapless chest for a change!
Some slimes reveal themselves to be
Bubbly Slimes. Normally, the enemies only reveal their true name after having hit us at least once.
Looks like... a pressure plate?
A huge button, woohoo!
Turns out it's just a trigger for the above event.
*coughs*
Well, bummer.
There's also a "dark zone" we can enter by "opening" one of the walls concealing a secret door. But... well, we're not really supposed to be exploring it right now. More on that in the next update.
Scruffy Men are another yet unidentified kind of enemy.
They are quite agile, and dodge our attacks easily. Fun fact: they even dodge our attacks while asleep. Just how in the earth?
Turns out it's
Bushwackers. Think swashbucklers wacking around the bush.
We kill two of them, and the last one flees.
And hey, Pete, Todd and Gaider are ready to level-up!
Next time: we level up and the party fights their first boss fight.
)
