Gold Box SSI's Gold Box Series Thread

Well things are going pretty well for me. I've cleared the thieves from the mansion and now I'm at the kobold caves. I got wiped my first time through, because I was too eager to cast my first fireball and I left my mage open to get thrashed by an ogre. My positive experiences with printing up the manuals have inspired me to purchase grid paper and crayons. It looks like I'm going to be playing and mapping old-ass crpgs now Thanks codex for making me a faggot.

 

I think I've come to a burnout point on POR. I'm enjoying the dungeons and the encounters, but the trash combat is to frequent and too much. I'm sure this is partially my fault, because my half elf c/f/m has his shit cranked up to 11 (or 18 rather). Is there an iteration that focuses more on fixed encounters and has less trash combat? I'll finish up this party one day, but jesus I need a break from the constant armies of shitters

 

There is actually a fixed amount of random encounters in PoR (outside the overland map). They are not random in quantity, only at which time and in which sequence you meet them.
How far did you get?

 

The reason is because that's how it actually worked in AD&D.

It was AD&D 2nd Edition that prohibited an Elf Fighter/ Mage from casting spells in armor.

An Elf Fighter/Magic-User was always able to cast spells while wearing armor. Just like the Elf class in B/X D&D.

 

Yeah and even in 2nd edition it was possible as long as the armor worn was elven chain mail or it's Drow equivalent because elf blacksmiths made it so that it didn't interfere with arcane energies or something.

 

I much prefered that solution. At least it's more logical than that a an Elf Fighter/Mage in plate can cast spells, but a Human Fighter/Mage in plate can't.

 

Well, Elves are already well over 100 years old when they start the campaign, so the Elf Fighter/Magic-User has already spent decades learning the arts of magic and swordplay and how to blend them together.

Makes as much sense as anything else in AD&D.

 

You're not obligated to enjoy any video game. It's a game (duh).

If you want a relatively 'light' experience, you might try Champions of Krynn--the plot holds together better, or Gateway to the Savage Frontier, where it's harder to run into infinite mobs and the base encounters are much smaller. You could also try Curse of the Azure Bonds, where the monsters change faster, though the non-starting games require a little more knowledge of Gold Box combat.

You could also try restarting with a lower-attribute party (use the defaults for example), or drop some of your more useless party members and try to beat the game with fewer than six characters--since the algorithm scales to party size, you'll be up against fewer monsters, meaning fewer endless fights against 40 orcs. I've beaten it using only a c/f/m and an f/m/t (though you have to get lucky at the end). The cluebook says four characters who can fight well, 2 clerics, 2 mages, and 1 thief, so how about c/f, f/c/m, f/m, and f/t?

 

I might try to suck it up and truck through some more. I've gotten just past the Kobolds, and I've been popping in and out of the graveyard and the pyramid. Didn't occur to me til late last night that I haven't bothered to find the nomad tribe. Got no leads as to where they are located. Krynn and other games sound so tempting, what with the added classes, features, and interface improvements. Still Pool has been a real exploration of old crpg design conventions that makes me find modern crpgs wanting. Seriously considering going to early Wizardry, M&M, or U5 after this. It's such a shame that most open world games don't demand reading comprehension but instead become a game of connect-the-quest-markers-to-find-the-highlighted-text-macguffin. The way that you have to pay attention to directions and look out for clues to find what you're after, in some ways, creates a richer game-world than the picturesque railroads of modern games. I think this is partially connected to abstraction vs simulation. I read about it in CRPG addict's Uukrul review..

 

Yeah, old games were much more abstract and "gamey" compared to today's interactive movies and follow-the-quest-compass games.

In PoR some areas will have more enemies the longer you wait. I only learnt this quite recently, but it explains why my memories of the Graveyard are so contradictory.

 

Most of my core classes have hit level 3. While I'm not burned out with the game, I've started trying to push forward at a more wreckless pace. I don't have ANY place fully mapped/explored and I probably won't bother unless I have to.

My most recent highlight was climbing down kutos well. There Is the ugliest fuckin NPC I have ever seen. DAMN GUYS IM SERIOUS. When his portrait flashed on the screen, it actually made me shout out in alarm.

I think his name was Norris, some sort of bandit leader. Did I mention he was ugly? JESUS.

The interesting thing about the well is that... There's nothing down there ... except Norris and his merry band. An entire 16x16 location dedicated to one encounter. This encounter can trigger in multiple ways/locations (I discovered this because Norris killed my party multiple times). There is at least 2 rooms which give the encounter- or if you wander around too long/rest Norris will show his ugly face. You get hints you are being stalked. The encounter is always the same- Norris with lizardmen at his flanks form the front line ,with those FUCKIN kobold campers in the back row. Even with 2 guys who could cast sleep I couldn't do it. Those little shits always seem to move first and stunlock my casters in volleys of rape. Even when I could get a snooze off I could only hit 3 of them due to the line formation.

Got lucky 4th attempt, the trick was to avoid Norris's rooms all together and let him find you. I camped out in a hallway for about 3 hours before he found me. Same enemies, but due to the narrow nature of the hallway, the formation got cramped and my sleep spells could now hit 5-6 kobolds. Most of my front liners got KOd by Norris and his lizard goons, but I won.


The idea of dedicating an entire map to one encounter is interesting. It would be a cool idea for a final boss. Put in some more options for the player, with stronger effects (C&C I guess) to influence the set piece encounter.

 

I found something somewhere that mentioned a hidden treasure in the well. No idea if it's true or hoax. I found a stash there already but I'm not sure if that was all.

 

Norris has a treasure stash down in the well, but it's not hidden. If you found a stash there, you've likely found all there is to find.

 

Norris died the way he lived- UGLY

 

I totally One-Cruel-Blowed that ugly nigga

 

I seem to recall he actually looked quite handsome in the Amiga version. I think they used the "Kenny Rogers" portrait as a base for that version.

 

Aight hoes, I've pushed further by wrapping up the graveyard, befriending the nomads and cumming in the pirate captain's decapitated skull. Having fun again, but ahead lies the pyramid, lizards, and some keep ,to which I must be an envoy.

Edit: be sure to loot pirate captain's body. He has some super sweet gear

Edit2: binged my way through to the storming the gate part. Really tempted to use a guide just to avoid all the pointless battles with HP bloated giants. I'm gonna assume I'm close to the end battle.

 

For comparison, this might be Norris from the Amiga version (notice that the outfit is the same):

 

Definetely better looking, although not excactly Kenny Rogers.

 

Starting POR for the first time, bought 2 six packs for this occasion.

 

Fuckin rules!

 

This castle is fucking miserable. I'm at that point where I'm too close to the end to quit, but the battles are overstaying their welcome.

 

Don't forget The Magic Candle

 

Back to your time machine.. back I say!

 

So close to the end. Just gotta get out of this maze then I'm balls deep in tyranthraxus