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Completed Let's Play Forgotten Realms: Unlimited Adventures- Module B4 The Lost City

Deuce Traveler

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Forgotten Realms: Unlimited Adventures is aptly named as it is the forgotten Gold Box creation tool from SSI, which didn't come with significant modules itself, but has had some outstanding ones built through the fan community.

Since this is a prestigious site for quality CRPGs no one else remembers, it is time for this game to have its moment in the sun. I'm a huge BECMI Dungeons and Dragons fan, but most of the modules are based upon Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. However, I was lucky enough to discover a website that hosted BECMI adventure modules converted into an Advanced Dungeons and Dragons format.

I give you BECMI module B4: The Lost City

screen-shot-2011-12-01-at-9-58-48-am.png


Lost in the desert! The only hope for survival lies in a ruined city rising out of the sands. Food, water, and wealth await heroic adventures inside and ancient pyramid ruled by a strange race of masked beings. Who are the Cyndiceans and what is the secret of their hungry god, Zargon? Will the heroes prevail, or will they find themselves the next sacrifice?

I decided to go with this module because I've played through a few of the author Ray Dyer's FRUA conversions of older adventure modules. I very nearly went with Expedition to Barrier Peaks by Nol Drek, but I don't know how good of a module designer he is just yet. Castle Amber by Ray Dyer is another possibility down the road.

The party will consist of six characters, and I'm looking for a few brave Codexers such as Jaesun or Excidium or GarfunkeL

You can create a character in one of three ways.

1. Sweat-Shop Method) Run the FRUA module yourself and create a character using the random reroller, but not manually adjusting scores. In the save folder of your game there will be a file with your character name and .cch extension. We'll talk in a private discussion so you can e-mail it to me, or you can just post an image of it here on the thread. Jaesun's instructions on how to get FRUA to run along with the modules is here: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...ealms-unlimited-adventures-frua-thread.61909/

2. Lunch Break Method) Go to the AD&D ability score generator on Molly's World and choose Method 5. Roll up to 6 times and choose the best scores. Tell me what you have along with your preferred character class and character race and gender and I'll create the character in FRUA for you.

http://www.mollyworld.com/ADD/chargen.shtml

3.) Too Busy/Don't Care Method: Below, I copy and pasted the randomly generated characters at the back of the PDF version of B4: The Lost City. They are statted for BECMI, but I'll convert to AD&D when I create them in FRUA.

CLASS AC hp S I W D C Ch gp Weapon/Armor
Cleric 3 5 9 11 14* 14 11 13 90 mace/chain mail + shield
Cleric 5 4 12 8 17* 8 11 10 110mace/chain mail + shield
Cleric 4 6 13* 9 13* 10 14 11 80 mace/chain mail + shield
Dwarf 5 7 14* 11 11 8 15 8 90 sword/chain mail + shield
Dwarf 4 7 16* 11 6* 9 14 9 110 sword/chain mail + shield
Elf 3 5 13* 14 9 13 9 12 120 sword/chain mail + shield
Spell: magic missile
Elf 4 6 12 16 10 11 13 15 100 sword/chain mail + shield
Spell: sleep
Fighter 4 6 17* 10 6* 10 12 9 90 sword/chain mail + shield
Fighter 2 7 14* 11 10 12 12 13 100 sword/plate mail + shield
Fighter 4 8 15* 10 11 10 14 9 80 sword/chain mail + shield
Halfling 4 6 16* 11 7* 9 15 10 90 sword/chain mail + shield
Halfling 3 7 13* 12 11 13 13 12 90 sword/chain mail + shield
Magic-User 8 2 12 13 9 13 10 12 110 dagger/none
Spell: sleep
Magic-User 9 4 6* 15 12 9 12 8 80 dagger/none
Spell: magic missile
Magic-User 9 3 7* 16 8* 10 11 14 80 dagger/none
Spell: sleep
Thief 5 3 14* 12 10 16 9 10 80 sword/leather armor
Thief 6 4 10 9 10 15 9 13 100 sword/leather armor
Thief 6 4 12 10 8* 13 13 9 130 sword/leather armor

The more effort you put into it, the better your stats. But who wants to live forever anyway. If you have absolutely ridiculous ability scores (such as 94 total points or higher), I'll ask you to regenerate the character.

Finally, I'll need a name for each character. Portraits and backgrounds are optional. Keep in mind you will start off as caravan guards going through the desert at the start of the game. When combat starts, each player needs to tell me their primary action and an alternate set of actions in case the situation changes. For instance, a melee combatant may decide to step a few feet in front of the spellcasters and 'guard', which means he'll wait and strike any NPC that comes within sword distance, but otherwise hold action. He might declare as an alternate action to attack the enemy spellcaster if the opportunity presents itself without a target of opportunity against him. That way if the enemy moves before him and 'guard' is no longer a good option, I'll move him up to attack the enemy rear lines.

I'll move the combat along if the LP is dragging at anytime, however. I'm going to make this a hybrid, so it'll play somewhat like a typical Let's Play of a video game and somewhat like a tabletop RPG session. If we lose a player from inactivity we'll take an alternate as soon as the opportunity provides itself. Again, maximum of six players at a time.

The OSRIC rules are close to AD&D first edition and can be found here: http://www.knights-n-knaves.com/osric/

The FRUA rules complete with possible combat actions can be found here: http://frua.wikia.com/wiki/Game_Manual
 

Deuce Traveler

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Grab the Codex by the pussy Divinity: Original Sin Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture
My last attempt at bringing a PnP RPG to the Codex as a Let's Play crashed and burned, so this is a more suitable attempt, I think. If this fails I will instead do an Oblivion Let's Play so I can enjoy the wailing and gnashing of teeth. For my own soul and sanity I hope I will not have to make through with that threat.
 

Azira

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Ah, FRUA. I spent many hours with that beauty. :hero:

Ahoy! I went by the lunch-break method, and managed to roll a pretty sweet fighter in my sixth attempt:
Str 18
Dex 14
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 9
Cha 7
That couldn't have gone better! :bro: Let him be a dwarf, and give him a big manly beard. Oh, and make him a man. I don't want him to be considering a chain mail skirt when he should be looking for a shirt. Let him be known as Magnus, the irascible.

Edited for clarity as to how I want the stats sorted.
 

Deuce Traveler

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Ah, FRUA. I spent many hours with that beauty. :hero:

Ahoy! I went by the lunch-break method, and managed to roll a pretty sweet fighter in my sixth attempt:
18
14
14
10
9
7
That couldn't have gone better! :bro: Let him be a dwarf, and give him a big manly beard. Oh, and make him a man. I don't want him to be considering a chain mail skirt when he should be looking for a shirt. Let him be known as Magnus, the irascible.

Magnus the Irascible needs to roll a d100, also as he is a melee fighter. Strength feats for melee fighters are enhanced over their other counterparts ranging from 18/01 to 18/00.
 

Azira

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I did just now. Not too impressive though, lowest tier, IIRC? I only rolled once, as it'd seem cheap to roll six times. :salute:
 

octavius

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Midge the Dwarf Female Fighter/Thief.
This font and colour scheme looks bloody awful, so you may want to change them for the sake of sanity and common aestethics:



HxEdhFN.jpg
 

Azira

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Wow. Insane stats there. 93 total score. I don't mind though. The more d0rfs in the party the merrier, especially if you outshine my warrior. :salute:
 

Deuce Traveler

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I'll roll up Jaesun The Gay Paladin a bit later. Anyone have a list of what Paladin Orders there are?

You don't need one or can make one up. I just like them for backstory and because I find the historical crusaders and other knightly orders fascinating. They aren't official D&D canon in many places except perhaps Forgotten Realms and their cousins the Solamnic Knights in Dragonlance.

Azira , those stats are nothing. If you use FRUA you'll find crazier. I'm for it since I want to encourage FRUA play.
 

octavius

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Wow. Insane stats there. 93 total score. I don't mind though. The more d0rfs in the party the merrier, especially if you outshine my warrior. :salute:

Well, I rolled eight characters, one for each gender and alignment combination, and picked the best one. That's how I roll my AD&D characters, to get decent but not maxed out characters.
FRUA also gives better stats than the GB games did.

EDIT:
Deuce, if you think the character has too good stats, pick the first male Dwarf Fighter/Thief I rolled instead:
Lawful Neutral
STR 15
INT 13
WIS 16
DEX 17
CON 16
CHA 12
HP 9
 

Deuce Traveler

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Wow. Insane stats there. 93 total score. I don't mind though. The more d0rfs in the party the merrier, especially if you outshine my warrior. :salute:

Well, I rolled eight characters, one for each gender and alignment combination, and picked the best one. That's how I roll my AD&D characters, to get decent but not maxed out characters.
FRUA also gives better stats than the GB games did.

EDIT:
Deuce, if you think the character has too good stats, pick the first male Dwarf Fighter/Thief I rolled instead:
Lawful Neutral
STR 15
INT 13
WIS 16
DEX 17
CON 16
CHA 12
HP 9

Or Azira can load up FRUA and reroll his character there, then post the image onto this thread. ;) He'll have peer pressure since you know Jaesun is going to do it.
 

Monstrous Bat

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Ah, FRUA. I've still got to play these modules one day... someday...

Well, anyway, here's my character:
ckit_000_zpsbadcba84.png

How much role-playing stuff (backgrounds, personality etc.) do you want me to write for him?
 

Deuce Traveler

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We are looking pretty good. We have:

Magnus the Irascible, Dwarven Fighter
Jaesun the Gay, Human Paladin
Midge, Dwarven Fighter/Thief
Qastur, Human Mage

We might need another cleric to round out the group followed by another mage or fighter, but people should play what they want to play. If I don't have any more takers we'll just start with four and see who comes in later.
 

Dr. Doom

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Totally random cleric :D

Myass
Alignment..(always hated the alignment system): choose for me
STR:9
DEX:13
WIS:14
INT:16
CON:13
CHA:9
 
Self-Ejected

Excidium

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Oh shit, I didn't have internet access for a while, just saw this now. Here is the character I rolled:

Ho21sz.jpg


Good shit. I swear that 18 int is legit. :M

I'll send you the char file via PM, then you memorize Sleep and buy her a shitload of darts when you start. Oh and a staff because her icon has a staff :larp: and it's useful for the cruel blows if she runs out of darts.
 

Deuce Traveler

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Meet our dwarven and human heroes, everyone:

Magnus the Irascible, Dwarven Fighter
Jaesun the Gay, Human Paladin
Midge, Dwarven Fighter/Thief
Qastur, Human Mage
Myass, the Human Cleric
Abigail the Human Mage

Party order is Jaesun, Magnus, Midge, Qastur, Abigail, and Myass to protect the rear. Myass keeps the jokes coming. When I finished the character, FRUA asked me 'Save MYASS'?

They imagine themselves heroically standing up to ancient evils like so:
tumblr_mk8h3nA03F1s9sjz9o1_500.jpg


They are about to find out that often, battles oft look like this:
Netherdeep_Cover_LowRez.jpg


Time to find out what kind of adventurers these will be.

Ray Dyer's version of B4: The Lost City opens with a series of quotes such as "For our ashes glory comes too late" and "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!".

You have journeyed to the vast desert, the farthest extreme of the Westlands region of the Realm. Here, vast caravans of only the most brave merchants and stalwart guards ply the trackless waste in order to trade with the far west. Days ago, you group of adventurers joined a desert caravan. Halfway across the desert a terrible sandstorm struck, separating you from the rest of the caravan. When the storm died down you found yourself alone. The caravan was nowhere in sight. The desert was unrecognizable as the dunes had been blown into new patterns. You were lost.

Magruder.jpg


You headed west, the same direction as the caravan was headed before the storm. Days passed. Your mounts died and you soon drank the last of your water. The end of the desert was not in sight. The second day after your water ran out, you stumbled upon a number of stone blocks sticking out of the sand dune. Investigation showed that the sand covered the remains of a tall stone wall. On the other side of the stone wall was a ruined city. The stone blocks of the city had toppled and cracked with the passing of time. Sand had covered most of the buildings. The stones that remained had been scoured smooth by the blowing sands. In the center of the city towered a step pyramid. It had five step-like tiers, each twenty feet high. The bottom-most tier was almost completely covered by sand. On top of the tallest tier were three thirty-foot tall statues. The statue on the left was a strong, bearded man holding a balance in one hand and a lightning bolt in the other. The middle one was of a winged child with twin snakes wrapped around his body. The child held a wand in one hand and a handful of coins in the other. The statue on the right was of a beautiful woman. In her hands she held a sheaf of wheat and a sword.

B4TheLostCityPg1.jpg


Exploring further, the adventurers moved to the south side of the pyramid. On the south side of the pyramid , a ramp with stairs led from the ground to the top of the highest tier. A quick search of the ruin revealed no source of food or water so you decided to climb the pyramid. In the side of the ramp, level with the floor of the top tier, you found a secret door. The slab of stone that hid the secret entrance to the pyramid is now held open by the dead body of a hobgoblin. The body has a large crossbow bolt sunk deep in his chest. The hobgoblin has been dead for several weeks.

LostCity01.png


Beyond the stone slab is a ten-foot wide passage leading into the pyramid. The passage floor is covered with dust. Total, oppressive silence closes in on you. You stand at the entrance of a great tomb. Several pairs of footprints can be seen leading inwards. In a niche in the wall opposite the secret door, you find an unloaded crossbow. The highest tier of the pyramid is a single forty-foot square room. The room smells old and musty. The dust on the floor has been disturbed, though no special detail can be made out. Three huge bronze cylinders reach from the floor to the ceiling in the middle of the room. In the center of each cylinder is a bronze door. Each door has a handle that can be used to pull the door open.

The door you entered swings shut behind your last companion.

Although the door behind the party shut, I can still go through it all the way back to the fallen hobgoblin. The module won't let me leave the pyramid.

You cannot leave now. Your meager supplies would never last long enough to find civilization. You must either find supplies inside the pyramid or resign yourselves to death.

Likewise, a search of the passage does not give me a weapon or armor despite the corpse of the hobgoblin having a bolt in it and a previous description of an abandoned crossbow. o_O
We have two choices to make here. Do I prop open the door behind me that leads to the desert? Do I take the left-most door, center door, or right-most door?

When Midge approaches the center door he does an examination: There is blood here, and not entirely dried... something was wounded here recently.

The left and right doors seem clear of similar signs. The party has no items except 35 gold pieces each.
 

Jaesun

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Just FYI: "There is nothing of interest around the body, and all its equipment has been taken." from the PnP Module.

Someone search the Bronze doors, perhaps the thief?
 
Self-Ejected

Excidium

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When Midge approaches the center door he does an examination: There is blood here, and not entirely dried... something was wounded here recently.
So there's a trap in the center cylinder door. Or maybe they're all trapped, and that blood means the center trap has already been sprung so it's safe. Hmmm

If this was pnp, me and my 4 hit points would be sitting some good 10 feet away while Midge does *her stuff. :M
 

Monstrous Bat

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Just FYI: "There is nothing of interest around the body, and all its equipment has been taken." from the PnP Module.

Someone search the Bronze doors, perhaps the thief?
Dosen't make much sense since the image with the dead hobgoblin (which, if I understood correctly, was taken from the original module book) showed that the hobgoblin is holding a sword and is obviously wearing some kind of armor...

The trap on the central door was obviously triggered recently, either by the hobgoblin or someone else. Since apparently nobody has gotten around to reset the crossbow trap (which was sprung several weeks ago), I think it's reasonable to assume that the trap on the door hasn't been reset either. So I say we go for the central door.

That been said...
If this was pnp, me and my 4 hit points would be sitting some good 10 feet away while Midge does his stuff. :M
So would mine :M

(Also, Midge is a she.)
 

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