Let's Sail The River of Time - 21 (Rat Diplomacy)

[WarHamster]

Ten farthings make up one thaler, ten thalers make up a farthing.

Minor nitpick, but you must mean ten thalers make up a ducat.

Nonetheless, great LP. Moar!

 

[lightbane]

I like how these npcs look so... Natural and well-done compared with the forced, shitty trash that's the entire cast of Dragon Age.

Offtopic question: Bee, do you know the German language or something? Just asking.

 

[Brother None]

Ten farthings make up one thaler, ten thalers make up a farthing.

Minor nitpick, but you must mean ten thalers make up a ducat.

Brainfreeze moment there.

I don't want to put too much lore information in the posts since most of my knowledge of the TDE setting is incomplete and old, plus it can get boring, but I like putting some extra colour and explanations in there both for fans and novices. Slipups aside, I hope I don't get too much wrong and get some angry TDE fans on my ass.

Never actually played a Novadi in the PnP, gotta admit.

 

[abnaxus]

Ardo & Forgrimm have pretty good voice-over in English, luckily.

I've been told that the German voice-actors for the main party members in the game are the professional dubbers for the actors Brad Pitt, Jessica Alba and Leonardo DiCaprio... must've been very expensive.

 

[Brother None]

To help readers understand the tourism a bit more, here's a map. We docked at the mooring, before heading to the harbor, through the West Gate to the Small Market Place, then the Barracks, backtracking to the Market Place and Temple of Praios, then to the South Gate, and back to the Tavern. Now let's finish our tour so we can move on the actual plot (sort of).

We head into the undercroft, which actually isn't that interesting right now as I can't head into the Thieves' Guild yet (I'm not a thief, and have none in my non-existent party).

Another Corbett? How odd. The kids at the market place were Corbetts. And we're right beneath the market place now. In fact, she's standing at the wishing well.

What do you want? Get lost!

In my country we would cut out your tongue for that.

Don't be so unfriendly! What are you doing here?

Nothing, what do you think? I?m standing here and waiting! Buzz off!

Waiting for what?

For my son ... and now, go away!

The most interesting accessible feature of the undercroft is the arena. There's two onlookers to the left, the two dwarves to the right sell goods and heal you. The man with the axe is the master of the arena, a good man by the name of Wolfgrimm. Wish I could recruit him, but no such luck.

Who are you betting on? The stake is one ducat.

The combatants at the moment are Crippler Reto and Kanor the Wild Boar!

Hmmmm

Kanor the Wild Boar

Go Kanor!

FFFFFFFFFF

The bets here are basic 50/50 propositions as far as I can tell. Unless you want to play around with quick-save/loading, there's no profit to be made.

Hmmpfh.

I want to make another bet!

Easy, easy! The fighters have to rest first. A fight like this is not like a walk in a park!

If you want to see a fight, you have to get into the ring yourself.

I can fight here?

But of course! If you don't want to bet on anyone else, you can try your own luck in the ring! And who knows... perhaps I have the future Champion standing in front of me at this moment?

That sounds interesting!

There are rules of course. We are not street fighters here! Ha ha ha!

It's 2 ducats for the first fight. If you win, you can double that. And when you win, your next opponent will be.. uhhh... somewhat stronger.

Your stake increases with every new opponent you fight. If you win, you double your money!

We fight one on one. Friends stay out of the ring!

During the fight there is only one rule: There are no rules! We have no sissy stuff here... the stronger man wins. That's all that counts. The first one down loses.

Well? Are you man enough, or do I have a little chicken standing before me?

Am I a bad enough dude to become champion of the arena fighters? A good way to make money, and as he says, there are no rules inside the ring, so one is free to use magic. You can't die in the ring but you'll lose your stake if you lose. Honestly, a well-built fighter class can get pretty far right off the bat, but as a mage I'll just cast Fastness of Body and try the first fight.

Of course I'll enter the ring!

The opponent is Stonenoggin Barakor. The stake is 2 ducats!

The onlookers talk of Barakor. He's a better fighter than the likes of Crippler Reto and Kanor the Wild Boar!

Here's the money!

Then show us what you've got!

Into the ring we go.

Come on, you little squirt! I'll show you that you have no business being in a ring!

Are you just gonna talk all day, or can you fight as well?

Yeaargh, you'll regret it!

Barakor is pretty easy, just a level one fighter I'd guesstimate. The difficulty goes up fast.

That was some fight! You really are good, I take off my hat to you!

Here are your winnings!

4 ducats - thank you very much!

Compete against the next of my fighters. The prize money is higher ... What do you say? Or do you have to rest first?

I'll return to this later.

Now, let's sidetrack a bit, to aid the quartermaster in tracking down the Bickerbold family (the wanted poster he gave us last update, remember?) First time I played this game I just assumed I'd run into them in the course of the game, an old RPG standard, but you're supposed to read the poster and figure out "the clues", but honestly there's not much to figure out.

Right. The towpath is the main path following the river, outside of the city.

Following it north we reach the Mellow Ox. Olbin gave us a package to deliver here.

Welcome to the 'Mellow Ox'! How may I help you?

I have a delivery for you from Olbin.

Ah, at last! Thank you. Please accept this for your trouble.

1 thaler, 3 farthings, easy money.

No clues along the towpath here. Heading south.

Why, hello there.

Love the way the skeleton crawls up from the ground. Let's talk to Odo.

He's drunk. That should only make this easier.

[Combat] Hey! Aren?t you that wanted guy, Odo Bickerbold?

Yeess, who told you that? Well, at least you won't live to tell it to anyone else! Ha ha ...

He's got a broken bottle! C'mon! Dude came at me with a bottle! If he'd come at me with his bare hands, that'd be different. Now I have to kill him.

Reduced to cinders. You'll probably have noticed all the effect icons near the portraits during combat. Amongst the most common ones are the shield (for spell protection boost) and broken bones (when you're wounded). The icon next to the skeleton indicates he's a summoned creature, and how long he has left. The two icons next to Bodo's mug are Lightning Find You (a spell I don't have, but the skeleton does), which blinds him, giving him an attack penalty, and Corpofrigo Cold Shock, which gives various penalties to offensive and defensive abilities.

Smoking!

Proof of his demise. Back to quartermaster Bornhelm we go.

I've completed the task.

Oh, really?

Here is proof of Odo Bickerbold's demise.

Not bad. Any more out there?

Here's the wanted poster for the middle brother, Bodo Bickerbold... a real monster. Take him prisoner or put an end to his disgraceful deeds forever!

Each poster just adds a crime. Since the last brother was dumb enough to hang around the scene of the crime, let's search around the Temple.

But first, a few upgrades to my main spells, Ignifaxus, Skeletarius and Fastness of Body. One thing I love about the TDE system is that while your level determines some upper limitations to your skills, you can invest leveling points you gained at any time.

What a dumbass.

You'd better got out of here ...

[Combat] Bodo Bickerbold? I've been looking for you!

Oh, really? It's your bad luck that you found me. Die!

Took this one down solo. The Bickerbolds are basic fighters and not much tougher than Barakor was, though each one is better equipped than the last.

I get a nice 5 thaler reward for Bodo, and then the quartermaster sends me out for the oldest, Godo. Added to the list of crimes is "the robbery and murder of a merchant outside the Mellow Ox."

Man these guys are dumb.

You are Godo Bickerbold - your days as an outlaw are over! [Combat]

*laughs* Well, this should be fun!

He goes down as hard as his brothers.

A woman!? Truly this land is lost to Rastullah's gaze.

The wanted posters give no clue to her location, just adding "inciting her sons to commit various crimes." I don't recall how I found her, I just wandered around the town looking for suspicious people...

Like so.

Would you like to buy flowers?

Spare me your act - you're Ma Bickerbold! And you're coming to the guardhouse with me! [Attack]

Y'know, I haven't actually arrested any of them, so far.

Well, now, I don't think I'll follow you!

Mostly because they're too dumb to surrender.

She's no tougher than her sons.

Nice!

I finally head north towards the mage's tower. Along the way, I run into this poisoned girl.

What happened?

... but I just wanted ... ugh ... just wanted a prince ... I thought ... at the mage tower ... at the pond ... how naïve I was ...

I don't understand

... the big frog ... I ... I kissed it ... I ... ugh ...

... poor girl. Hold on, I'll try to find some Golmoon Tea. That should help.

Before we help her, I must see what she is talking about, with this big frog at the pond

Along the way we pass the Field of Boron (Boron is the God of the dead) and a small village that is of no interest right now.

My future master has an impressive tower to his name. We shall return here later. But first, I find the frog near the pond. It ribbits at me.

Dare I? ... I must know!

hmmm ... [lick toad]

By Rastullah!

I have recovered! If this is what that poor girl is going through, I must help her!

Golmoon Tea is one of the most basic aids for treating poisons.

Thanks ... without your help I would surely be ... I don't even want to think about it. Because of such silliness.

I'm glad you're feeling better.

Here, please take this as a gift. It's all I have.

No, I can't accept that. Please go home, lie down and have a rest.

Yes, I'll do that. Thank you again ...

Before we close this update, there's more to the outskirts of Nadoret. As a side note, here's where I switched off high resolution textures, though not much else. It's perhaps most noticeable in the in-conversation closeups. The outskirts include a mill and tollhouse that are of no interest to us (at least right now).

To the north is the dark forest. The game autosaves if you approach it and for good reasons. The animals in this forest will relentlessly attack you and tear you to shreds. Even high-level characters are likely to succumb to their attacks, as they inflict wounds even if they don't do much damage, and four wounds knocks you out just as much as losing all your HP, in this game.

Laurelin lives to the east. He's a trainer and merchant, and your teacher if you have a nature background (elf or dwarven geode or prospector). He's not of much interest to us, except...

Sanya bha, talar!

What leads you to me?

Who are you?

Only one who wanders between the worlds of humans and Elves. I will be happy to instruct you in the arts of nature and archery.

[Learn] I'd like to learn something.

Good ...

Thunderbolt is a pretty handy extra combat spell. Whereas Ignifaxus is better against light armored or burn-susceptible opponents, Thunderbolt has high armor-penetration and is really good against heavily armored goons (or giant crabs).

Trolls!

You there... stop!

Yes. Go 'way! Nothing here for midget man...

Correct. Road end here.

Trolls aren't too intelligent but they're not overly agressive, in the TDE setting. Still, you do not want to pick a fight with them.

But the road continues behind your tree.

Balls of steel, this one.

Yeah. Uhh ... hm....Road go on, yes... But... uhh ...

... road only for Troll! Is Troll road!

Can't argue with that.

I said you can't argue with that, Sayyid. Second option.

And finally, we turn to our actual reason for being here.

 

[Jaedar]

I tried playing this but it didn't capture me. The LP is a good read though

 

[Monocause]

Just started playing as a Charlatan. Seeing as how you've finished the game as one, BN, any non-spoiler general tips? I heard there were quite a few useless skills in DS1, how about ROT? Something about character development that I should know so that I don't unintentionally gimp my character beyond recovery? I hope that social skills are useful in this game beyond getting some free cash / XP here and there?

 

[abnaxus]

Do Charlatans get the Mage or Thief origin? Because with Phex miracles that class would be very overpowered.

 

[Monocause]

Do Charlatans get the Mage or Thief origin? Because with Phex miracles that class would be very overpowered.

Spoiler

I'm supposed to find some guy in the caverns below Nadoret. Judging from the general theme I suppose that's the thief one

 

[Brother None]

Do Charlatans get the Mage or Thief origin? Because with Phex miracles that class would be very overpowered.

Thief, but they do not get to be deonts of Phex, only the other thief classes do.

Seeing as how you've finished the game as one, BN, any non-spoiler general tips? I heard there were quite a few useless skills in DS1, how about ROT? Something about character development that I should know so that I don't unintentionally gimp my character beyond recovery? I hope that social skills are useful in this game beyond getting some free cash / XP here and there?

Social skills are useful but primarily suppplementary. That said, they will occassionally help you get past fights or discover alternate paths. Each social skill is useful except for etiquette, which is used rarely and never to much benefit. Sneak and etiquette are really the two useless skills, all others have some use sooner or later.

Charlatan and rogues in general have a bit of a tough time in TRoT as you'll be saddled with a rogue in your party for a good part of the game, there's not much choice but a two-rogue party early on. I'd advise against the temptation to just let him get on with rogueing, instead try to maximize his combat skills and train up your own rogue skills.

Charlatans kind of excell in three paths: magic, thieving and social skills. I personally invested primarily in thieving and social, which left less for magic. That's the one thing I'd warn again: stretching yourself too thin. Don't take on too many spells, specialize in a few. The really specialized classes like mercenary or fighter have leveling points to spare but you have to be a bit mindful of where you put points.

I'd also advised ranged combats for charlatans. I used close combat myself (with the Double Lily, love that weapon), and it was ok once I got that super-expensive robe on the character, but she still got knocked out a lot. They don't make tough fighters, generally, while specialized bow/throw skills can be surprisingly useful and worthwhile to invest in.

 

[drexciya]

Do Charlatans get the Mage or Thief origin? Because with Phex miracles that class would be very overpowered.

Thief, but they do not get to be deonts of Phex, only the other thief classes do.

Seeing as how you've finished the game as one, BN, any non-spoiler general tips?

Charlatans kind of excell in three paths: magic, thieving and social skills. I personally invested primarily in thieving and social, which left less for magic. That's the one thing I'd warn again: stretching yourself too thin. Don't take on too many spells, specialize in a few. The really specialized classes like mercenary or fighter have leveling points to spare but you have to be a bit mindful of where you put points.

I'd also advised ranged combats for charlatans. I used close combat myself (with the Double Lily, love that weapon), and it was ok once I got that super-expensive robe on the character, but she still got knocked out a lot. They don't make tough fighters, generally, while specialized bow/throw skills can be surprisingly useful and worthwhile to invest in.

I mostly agree with your comments. A charlatan makes a good ranged fighter/thief, but I wouldn't skimp on the magic side of things.

The "Armor" spell (Armatrutz - I've played the German version) gives your character a relatively high damage resistance. They have better armor values than the fighter types because of this spell! With the "Tumble" (Ausweichen) ability both Fayris as well as a Charlatan character are relatively hard to hit. Cuano was rather annoying, since he's such a worthless character in general. Poor melee skills and poor armor value. If you're a bit careless he dies a lot. His only saving grace are his special Phex abilities. That saved the day in one special encounter.

I'm also rather fond of the Attribute spells. They can be used as a buff or as a way to increase stats to make some attribute checks. You have to spread them over your characters to make them useful. Note that these spells are much cheaper than increasing your attributes. That's very expensive so you have to be very careful there.

On attributes, you must have some sort of plan, since certain abilities, especially the enhanced Combat skills, require specific attribute values. That killed the melee option for my Charlatan, since you cannot get Courage to 15, necessary for the ultimate Dagger\Rapier Melee ability (Todesstoss).

 

[abnaxus]

Best for Cano is giving him the demonic armour and the Iryan leather pieces and a ring of endurance. That way he'll be able to queue two Mortal Blows = instant death for pretty much everything.

If he didn't have melee penalties, he would be overpowered. Considering the main quest isn't very combat heavy, Cano is pretty important unless your main character is a rogue or thief. For the optional combat heavy quests you can leave him at the ship anyway.

 

[Brother None]

Yeah wound-causing attack skills are generally really powerful, especially against specific enemies (like ogres). That said, he'll still drain all his stamina like a shot from a cannon and be extra vulnerable with the demon armor, so still relatively useless. I have no big fondness of Cano, especially as a high-level character.

Sneak and etiquette are really the two useless skills, all others have some use sooner or later.

Oh shi-. I mean "sneak, etiquette and treat poisons". Once anyone in the party has clarum purum treat poisons becomes completely useless.

 

[Brother None]

We've spent a lot of time just randomly faffing about, but it's time to complete our training.

What the hell kind of welcome is that?

Bah! Bah! 'Barging in' ... what a load of nonsense! The door was wide open! So it's your own fault!

What's all the racket down here? I had asked for peace and quiet!

Now that looks like a proper mage.

Oh, I see... we have a guest!

You must be Master Tergion Brookbeard. It's an honor to meet you. I have here a letter that explains everything ...

Then please excuse my novice's manners and show me the letter.

Ah ... yes ... interesting. So you're here to complete your training.

Yes, that's right.

As a student of metamagic, you will no doubt be very useful to me. Hmm...

Well... I accept you as an apprentice ... but only if you show me that you can use what you have learned up until now efficiently.

A challenge, at last! Perhaps he will have might fight demons, or send me out to identify rare herbs, or - even better - order me to find and annihilate that snivelling worm of hardbormaster, Orbert.

I'm ready to be tested!

Excellent! Follow me.

Let us see what he has in store for us.

Your first test awaits you in the storeroom behind me.

Excellent! Perhaps he has trapped a mecker dragon there for me to subdue. Or a witch to force occult secrets from. Or...

You'll be locked in there and all lights will be extinguished. If you have any torches with you, please give them to me now.

A key is hidden in the room... Your task is to find it so that you can leave the storeroom again.

Don't be frightened by the darkness - use your magic to bring forth light.

Very well, I'll try.

About as basic a test of magic as you can get, really.

I cast light in the darkness!

And find the key in the very first chest I check.

Good, good. Very good. A 'Light in the Darkness' has lived up to its name! You have passed your first test!

You are now officially accepted as my pupil.

My novice Hesindiana will show you your quarters. You can rest there and put away your belongings.

Later you can come to my study at the top of the tower and we can start with your... emm... lessons.

And he uses transversalis teleport to leave. He's so powerful he doesn't even use stairs.

Apologies that I was so gruff earlier. The problems with the neighboring farmers recently have robbed me of my patience.

Follow me! Your room is right over here.

A nice little room. I've seen no room belonging to Hesindiana in the tower so I guess she's sleeping here too

The chest contains some fairly basic and useless supplies. We talk to Hesindiana again.

Master Brookbeard has also come by a female novice now. That should be a barrel of fun!

Female? Uhhh...
Checking the dialog files, there doesn't seem to be a "male" counterpart to the above line. The scant bugs this game has all seem to be related to its localization.

Don't get me wrong. I'm very happy that you're here. It's just that ... the Master already has so little time, how will he be able to cope with two novices?

Whinge whinge. If I want your opinion I'll give it to you, dear.

Can I ask you a personal question?

Yes, go right ahead. I have no objection.

She's actually a lot more curt with non-mage characters.

What exactly do you do as the Master's apprentice?

I have to wash his robes, clean, cook, carry books from his study down to the laboratory, and from the laboratory back up to the study, and ... oh, yes, procure 'things' for his experiments.

Hah! For a moment I was concerned about Brookbeard's lax ethics, but he is obviously manipulating this girl to do the work that only women are fit for. Speaking of fit, though, she's not half bad...

Such selflessness. It's quite impressive. You must have so many suitors!

Oh, those are duties. That's all. There are far nicer things on Ethra ... if you get my drift ...

Hah, like a puppet dangling from my strings. Still, must stay focused on the task at hand.

Of course. The study of arcane lore and the quest for knowledge cast a warm light on the drudgery of everyday life.

That would be true if Master Brookbeard had more time for teaching.

Is Master Brookbeard always so busy? I wonder what he is actually studying.

I've asked myself the same thing many times. Sometimes it can get a little scary if something doesn't go according to plan. Yet I'll never understand the villagers' fear.

If they speak of things they have no knowledge of, burn them. This is how things should be.

Who inhabited this tower originally?

Well, I don't know all that much about it, either. This tower used to be the dwelling of an old elementalist, who was devoted to researching the sphere of fire. He is said to have perished in the great flood of 284 before Hal.

The master's tower displays quite a bit of magical power. Here is a broom cleaning the floor by itself.

A captured rock goblin. No doubt being used for some experiment.

The room marked "bathroom" contains a tub with a pearl morfu in it. I don't like the implications of that.

Onwards and upwards.

Ah, your timing is perfect! Come closer...

...you know, I have been busy researching a new spell for dozens of divine cycles... well... my work is close to completion!

It doesn't exactly fit in with your area of expertise... but the task I have in mind for you does, I believe.

I'm all ears, Master. What part will I be playing in this?

I need your help. A farmer died recently - and it seems he was attacked by a Blood Wolf. The essence of the wolf's raging fury must still be present in his remains.

The poor soul was buried here in our local Boron's Field. That's where you can get his bones for me. The Boron Deont is an old fox, however, and he protects his graveyard very vigilantly.

Since he knows Hesindiana and me, you are the only one who can do this. I'll teach you another spell to help you with this task. Tell me when you are ready.

He judges right that a Novadi trained mage is unlikely to have many qualms about digging up a dead man's bones. First I have some questions for him...

Master. There's something else I wanted to ask you.

What type of experiment are you carrying out?

Well, let me put it this way: It deals with matters I cannot - and may not - let you in on... not at this time anyway. I hope you can understand that.

He barely shows more respect for me than he does for that woman Hesindiana. So be it, though.

I don't, actually, but that isn't going to change anything.

The harbormaster doesn't seem to like you very much. He threatened to set the bailiffs on you.

Yes, he's not exactly a friend of mine. I sometimes wonder if he has any feelings about anyone or anything at all ...besides his harbor district, of course.

Don't you worry that your secretiveness might someday be your undoing?

If by that remark you are referring to the superstitious villagers and the Deont Thimorn, I can only tell you that those fantasy stories already existed long before my time. In this case, I suppose my function is that of a... catalyst.

I don't know who Deont Thimorn is. The Boron deont, I'd guess.

We can object to desecrating a grave but obviously I will not...

I'm ready. We can start.

Fine, first the spell itself. I'm teaching you the 'Lightning Find You' spell.

Now watch closely: Point to the target with the index and middle fingers of your left hand and say the words Oculis orbatus sis. The spell creates a dazzling flash of lightning in the mind of the target. The target is blinded and - more importantly - disoriented.

Now go and get a shovel from Hesindiana in the warehouse so you can dig up the bones I need. Don't let that Deont catch you!

By Rastullah's grace, I have indeed grasped this spell immediately. If he can teach me any spell at this speed, this is indeed a worthwhile endeavor.

We head down to Hesindiana.

The Master has sent me to fetch a shovel. Can you tell me where it is?

Hm ... oh yes, the shovel! Silly me, it's right behind me leaning against the crates. Just take it.

Anything else I can do for you?

I'm sure I could think of something. But duty calls. Farewell.

Hurray, a shovel! Truly we are progressing.

There is the deont. You can persuade him or use the spell, but first, let's ask him about this pagan idol of his.

May Boron be with you. Forgive my lack of trust in you, but may I ask what brings you to this sacred place?

"May Boron be with you" is one weird ass blessing.

Your Reverence, please tell me something about your deity.

About Boron? Well... Boron, one of the Twelfgods, is commonly worshipped as the God of Sleep, of Forgetfulness and - last but not least - of Death. His symbol is the raven, and his holy plants are ebony, the mahogany tree, and the black lotus.

He bestows death on human beings, so that their souls do not starve and wither under the burden of memory. His messenger, the divine raven Golgari, carries their souls over the Neversea to him in the afterlife and presides over their further fate.

All the deeds of a human being, good and bad, are weighed on Rethon, the soul scales. It is on Rethon that the decision is made whether souls shall pass into one of the Twelfgod paradises - or be doomed to eternal damnation.

One thing he doesn't mention but you'll see referenced throughout the game is Golgari, the soul raven, who is tasked to carry the souls of the dead over the Neversea. "Hearing Golgari's wings" means being close to death.

Anyway, let's attempt a bit of fast talking.

[Fast Talk] Forgive me if I have disturbed the tranquility of this place. I am here to remember the dead killed by the savage wolves.

[Success] in that case I welcome you to this modest Boron's Field. I'm pleased to have an honest soul like you in this place. Then I can prepare for my next devotions with my mind at rest. May Boron be with you.

Fooled him! This leaves us free to dig up the body.

Only bones remain. Which is odd considering he died recently, but I guess the wolves chewed him up good. We head back.

What is this?!

Aaahh!

Hesindiana is rushing to my aid. Who knows what these peasants want.

Speak of the devil!

And you shall see its tail!

And just what is the meaning of this little assembly?!

We're here to burn down this cursed tower! Yessiree!

Idiot! Why don't you tell the warlock our whole plan while you're at it! That's none of his business, he's one of them!

And what a great plan it is.

Why on Ethra would you want to burn down the tower? Have you lost your minds?!

They fear what they don't understand.

What ...? Oh, dear, another one of those ...

We've watched these godless goings-on long enough! Now we're going to put an end to it!

Man these people are dumb. Let's give them one chance to get out of here.

[Intimidate] Don't do anything stupid. We won't allow you to carry out your plan!

[Success] We ... I ...

I don't like it ... maybe it would be better if we ... I mean ...

Take your torches and disappear before I lose my temper.

I just remembered ... I uh ... have something to do ...

And they run off. Good riddance, though it might have been better to burn them down as an example.

They won't cause any more trouble for a while at least.

Come on, we should go and report to the Master.

Hesindiana joins me as a temporary character. That's cool. I wonder if - with her aid - I can try fighting the first wave of enemies in the Dark F...

Oh. All five wolves ganged up on Sayyid and tore him to shreds in the blink of an eye. Good fun.

So. Back to Brookbeard, then.

You are back! Did you succeed in your task?

Here are the bones, Master!

Excellent! Didn't I say you had potential?

Good. So, I'm going to my laboratory now to continue with my experiment.

Shouldn't I come with you?

I can understand why you're interested in this experiment. However, I will need to concentrate fully on what I am doing - so I think it would be better if you're not there.

I see. Good luck, Master.

I'll go in and prepare everything for you, Master...

No, Hesindiana! No one but I may enter my laboratory... is that clear?!

... but ... Master, I...

I do not wish to be disturbed... and now excuse me please. I have much to do.

Served.

The Master Transversalises away.

Humph. As soon as things get interesting, the likes of us get left out.

I would have liked to have been there. Well, then, at least we can talk to each other a bit ...

Talk? I have a better idea than that...

... why don't you tell me something about yourself ...

Suddenly, a quake shakes the tower!!!

... what the ... a tremor?!

The Master!

We rush down. I can outrun her because I upped the walk/run/sneak speed on the PC. It's kind of necessary to play (or at least to replay) this game.

We find Master Brookbeard hunched over in front of the door the his lab, which is closed.

Phew! ... now that was... a close call. Too close.

Master, what happened?! The whole tower shook!

My... my... experiment failed. The amount of essence of anger in the bones was probably not sufficient to complete the formula.

Should have distilled essence of Codex instead.

Good that the two of you hurried over here. I have a new task for you - for both of you.

I'm ready. What is it, Master?

To slay the wolf that killed the farmer whose bones you brought to me.

It is imperative that we obtain this Blood Wolf's concentrated lifeblood if my experiment is to be successful.

If I had been allowed to help you, the experiment would surely not have...

No insubordination here, please... Only I can conduct this experiment, and I alone! The two of you will hunt the wolf together.

But how will we find this special wolf? It's not going to look any different from the others.

However, I cannot send you to fight this terrible beast unarmed, Sayyid ibn Nasreddin. I will teach you another spell: The 'Culminatio Ball of Lightning'.

You must commit this spell to your memory well: Fix your gaze on your target and close your eyes. Say the magic words, Fulgur globosum te vulneret and then instantly open your eyes wide.

Two blazing spheres will then be released from your eyes - and join together to form a ball of lightning. When the ball reaches its target, it will explode in a crackling shower of sparks.

Hell yeah, another free spell. Culminatio is a potentially high-damage spell (it uses a D20 for damage points, so occasionally it'll do very little damage too), but expensive and with a long casting time.

Now you are sufficiently armed to face the Wolf. Nevertheless, stay alert! The wolves will be drawn to the artifact constantly.

Well, let's go look for that blood wolf then!

Master Brookbeard's artifact may work a bit too well. Wolves attack the moment we leave the tower.

Well, at least this artifact seems to work. Or on healthy wolves, at least ...

More wolves, but getting closer to our goal (the dark forest).

There's a couple of dead men, belonging to a caravan, near the entrance to the dark forest. What were they going to do in the dark forest anyway?

Trying to rest a bit here but Brookbeard was right in that single wolves keep appearing and attacking, making the skeleton and Hesindiana - over who I have no direct control - waste valuable AE.

Good god! These lads were really badly mangled! Just look at all those bite marks.

Hm ... these guys do look a little shady, though. I wonder where they were heading with their oxen.

They probably had no idea that the Blood Wolf preys hereabouts. They would have taken a different path otherwise.

Maybe we should venture a look at their load, it might clear up a few things. Let's see ...

Exotic items and foodstuffs. Oh yes - and this letter ... it's signed ""SB"".

Can I take a look?

Here you are. But let's find the Blood Wolf before the Master grows impatient ...

The four different "training" stories iintersect. For instance, rogues and nature (elves or prospector/geode dwarves) will encounter Hesindiana here, alone, on this very same mission. Rogues also have to burglar a warehouse, while guards will catch anonymous rogues burglaring that warehouse in their night patrol.

We'll have to read the letter later. The blood wolf appears, with a bit of a pack with her. The skeleton mage just collapsed because I forgot to renew the casting before heading up here. Woops.

About to test out Culminatio on the blood wolf.

Excellent!

Mopped up the rest of the wolves.

What do you know, we have the blood! The Master will be proud of us.

The letter. I have no real clue what it's about. Warrior background characters will know a bit more, as these characters were stopped at the southern tollgate before the harbor master forces you to let them through. Rogue characters also know they're related to Orbert. Mages and nature characters are left a bit more in the dark.

Ignorance is no reason not to loot the corpses though. A few fairly valuable goods. The Kosh bunting tongues are worth 10D at least.

Back at the tower...

Do you have the blood?

No "hello" or "how are you". Straight to business, this man.

Yes, here it is, Master.

Excellent!

I must say, I'm impressed. That was no easy task...

Before I go back to my experiment, I would like to give you something... follow me.

Doesn't bother to grab it either, he just levitates it over.

When they leave the tower, all my students receive a magic item - more or less a testimonial to their apprenticeship here.

I hope it will prove useful to you.

Thank you, Master.

As a student of metamagic, you were surely able to learn much of interest here, hm?

Please excuse me now. I really must return to my experiment. If you wish to gain more magic knowledge, just use the Book of Spellcasting in my study.

Each "finish your training" mission unlocks the local trainer for the class. In my case, the codex cantiones.

Soulsplitter is the parting gift. It's about as good a weapon as the fighting staff (the -1/-1 bonus is inferior to the fighting staff's 0/1 bonus, those bonuses being applied to attack and parry values, but it does more damage), but the AE+10 bonus is invaluable.

The Codex. I take the opportunity to learn some new spells.

And the collection of leveling points I have to max out a bunch of my most-often-used spells, as well as up a few skells (though Sayyid will mostly focus on magic).

This is also an opportunity to show why Skeletarius is a damn good summoning spell. The skeletons have high RS (damage resistance) which makes them useful as tanks, but the flexibility is what makes this spell really good: with an uneven bonus (the number below the quickbar icon), you summon a skeleton mage, with an even bonus, a skeleton warrior. My max bonus is currently even, but I can adapt the bonus at any time depending on if I need a mage or warrior. The summoned creature becomes more powerful depending on the bonus.

Hesindiana is outside the room for a tearful, sloppy goodby.

I assume that you'll be leaving now to discover the big, wide world, am I right?

It's really too bad. We were a pretty good team, don't you think?

Yes, you're right. I have a score to settle with those river pirates and ... I have a debt to repay to someone. You ... could accompany me if you like.

Always trying to take our wimminz.

I would like that. Very much, in fact ... but it's really not possible. I'm needed here, and my studies are far from complete. Maybe one day ...

One day when my level has far outpaced yours? As if...

Well then ... maybe you?ll come to visit now and then. I would be pleased to see you again, in any event.

Dammit where is my steamy campfire lovescene?!!?!

Adieu! Take good care of yourself! And the Master!

To wild adventures! To be truthful, I have no idea where to head to next. But I have become convinced these lands have the potential to teach me much. I should explore for a while before returning home. We shall see what the future brings.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Ugh those endless waves of wolves. Iirc the further you go into the forest, the more of them appear.

She's actually a lot more curt with non-mage characters.

Yup, she was oh so cold in my rogue playthrough. I didn't know you could actually flirt with her if you're a mage. And what if you're playing a female, does that influence her attitude in any way?

For instance, rogues and nature (elves or prospector/geode dwarves) will encounter Hesindiana here, alone, on this very same mission.

Right, I believe it was one of the last missions for the thieves guild.

Hurray, a shovel! Truly we are progressing.

Who knows what these peasants want... And they run off.

Heh, I also talked them out of it on my playthrough. They sure are easy to intimidate.

 

[Cenobyte]

I like those special training quests for the different classes. They usually fit to the class and have some funny references to popular cliches.

Ugh those endless waves of wolves. Iirc the further you go into the forest, the more of them appear.

Jop, but you aren't supposed to cross this forest yet.

 

[Monocause]

The magician's robe from the travel chest looks better and has better stats than metamage's starting one.

Anyway, figured I'd start over, picked an elementalist, then swapped to the metamage as Skeletarius is infinitely better. I wouldn't recommend playing a Charlatan to a newbie, as enticing as it may seem. It'll take some time to grasp the character system well and as BN said with a charlatan you'll have to be careful with your XP.

Some things that bug me:

1) Cano sucks hard indeed. How far into the game do I have to go to get another party member? I've been thinking to teach lockpicking to Fayris and ditch him entirely. And the VA, God damn. I could play a better suave part on a huge hangover than whoever voiced Cano (and got paid for it).

2) What does (1D) mean? Is it "1d6"? When browsing recipes it shows as 1d6.

3) How do DC rolls work in this game? When pickpocketing, for example, I have information about "difficulty raised by X" followed by rolls for three stats that pickpocket is reliant on. What does it mean, however? Do I roll against my own stats, enemy stats? I couldn't notice what did I need to succeed.

4) How would you guys rate the usefulness of the crafting system? Should I bother spending points? I couldn't find many of the components so far which meant that I had to purchase them.

 

[Brother None]

Ugh those endless waves of wolves. Iirc the further you go into the forest, the more of them appear.

Jop, but you aren't supposed to cross this forest yet.

Obviously, but even at a later stage it's tough to fight through. I tried it near the endgame and it was still nearly impossible. It's because - unlike other enemies in this game - the Dark Forest creatures are programmed to gang up on your weakest party member, and just finish them off one by one. Add a bunch of wound-causing creatures (boars and stuff), and it's a toughie.

The magician's robe from the travel chest looks better and has better stats than metamage's starting one.

Only slightly better stats. I didn't think it looked appropriate but I picked up the black mage's robe for a more appropriate look.
/LARP

1) Cano sucks hard indeed. How far into the game do I have to go to get another party member? I've been thinking to teach lockpicking to Fayris and ditch him entirely. And the VA, God damn. I could play a better suave part on a huge hangover than whoever voiced Cano (and got paid for it).

Cano's one of the worst VAs in the game which is a shame as he is so central to the plot.

It takes quite some time to get another companion, I'm afraid

Spoiler

Until around level 7-8

This game doesn't have a big spread in followers. If you don't want to worry about Cano, I'd suggest training him in thrown weapons or crossbow and keeping him at range. He really is very skilled as a thief and social skills guy, it kind of makes up for his combat ineptitude. The rest of the party should be able to keep up the slack.
Also, use his Phex deont skills. Starscatter and stardust are really useful in combat, starscatter recharging really fast, and Divine Intervention should always be active when available. A Better Offer is pretty good too

2) What does (1D) mean? Is it "1d6"?

Yes.

3) How do DC rolls work in this game? When pickpocketing, for example, I have information about "difficulty raised by X" followed by rolls for three stats that pickpocket is reliant on. What does it mean, however? Do I roll against my own stats, enemy stats? I couldn't notice what did I need to succeed.

For every talent check you roll three D20 against the three attributes tied to the talent. Your talent points can be used to correct failed rolls (except when you roll a 20, which is a fumble): so if you have DE/AG/IN 15 15 15, and try to pass a talent check for those three, and roll 13, 18 and 8, you'd need a talent of at least 3 to make it past the check. Low rolls can not be used to correct high rolls, each attribute has to be passed separately. TP spent this way can not be respent on another attribute roll in the same attempt, so if you need to correct 3 and 2 over two rolls you'd need 5 TP.

Difficulty raised is basically subtracted from your talent score. So if I have lockpicking 5 but the difficulty of the lock is 10, I'm at -5. It's a bit more complex than that but that's the basics.

In the PnP points left over after the rolls are factored in for "how well" you succeeded, so if you have 8 pickpocket but only use 3 points the rest represents your mastery of this particular attempt. TRoT doesn't use that except for spells (SP* is basically this overskill, a lot of spells work quite a bit better if you have a lot of talent points left).

4) How would you guys rate the usefulness of the crafting system? Should I bother spending points? I couldn't find many of the components so far which meant that I had to purchase them.

Quite useful. Not necessarily early on, but if you keep an eye out for craft chests (which contain valuable crafting items) and regularly pick up herbs and skin animals, by mid/late-game you'll be producing potions and valuable items. In particular, I greatly benefited from being able to craft poisoned/incendiary ammo (I don't think you can buy those), as well as light plate armor late in the game. Certain craftable items (stag beetle dagger, for example) take fairly cheap ingredients and turn them into an expensive result, a good way to make cash if you need it.

That said, crafting is easily left to companions, which is why I was so easily tempted to take the "Artisan skill penalty", which frees up 90 skill points and basically represents no disadvantage, since I can just have Forgrimm master blacksmith and - heck -if need be alchemy with his extra leveling points.

 

[Cenobyte]

Ugh those endless waves of wolves. Iirc the further you go into the forest, the more of them appear.

Jop, but you aren't supposed to cross this forest yet.

Obviously, but even at a later stage it's tough to fight through. I tried it near the endgame and it was still nearly impossible. It's because - unlike other enemies in this game - the Dark Forest creatures are programmed to gang up on your weakest party member, and just finish them off one by one. Add a bunch of wound-causing creatures (boars and stuff), and it's a toughie.

Yeah, but later on there's a much easier and less painful way how to cross the forest. I think I just gave up on trying to force my way through the forest and followed this other route

 

[Brother None]

I don't think the developers seriously considered anyone trying any other route but that one. But it is actually possible to either run through the forest or fight your way through, it's just really, really dumb.

PS:

Yup, she was oh so cold in my rogue playthrough. I didn't know you could actually flirt with her if you're a mage. And what if you're playing a female, does that influence her attitude in any way?

Dunno. Presumably she's polite but not flirtatious. Unless Radon Labs is Equal Rights Sensitive like BioWare.

 

[ghostdog]

Yup, she was oh so cold in my rogue playthrough. I didn't know you could actually flirt with her if you're a mage. And what if you're playing a female, does that influence her attitude in any way?

Dunno. Presumably she's polite but not flirtatious. Unless Radon Labs is Equal Rights Sensitive like BioWare.

... and Troika. (but their equal rights extended only to F+F romance )




The game looks promising (more promising than the prequel) and the LP even more so.






PS: A little suggestion : Try not to have the same person talking multiple times (with portrait and all I mean). I think it's better to make some paragraphs bigger or if they get too big, interrupt them with a comment or a pic of said dialog. This would make the structure more compact.

 

[Brother None]

PS: A little suggestion : Try not to have the same person talking multiple times (with portrait and all I mean). I think it's better to make some paragraphs bigger or if they get too big, interrupt them with a comment or a pic of said dialog. This would make the structure more compact.

I've just been following the way TRoT formatted it. I think they split it up into smaller chunks compared to Drakensang: TDE because of voice acting (and possibly not scaring off gamers with tl;dr paragraphs). But yeah, that's a good suggestions, so cool.

 

[abnaxus]

If the main character is a female mage, Hesindiana will act very catty and jealously.

1) Cano sucks hard indeed. How far into the game do I have to go to get another party member? I've been thinking to teach lockpicking to Fayris and ditch him entirely. And the VA, God damn. I could play a better suave part on a huge hangover than whoever voiced Cano (and got paid for it).

Don't bother with having someone else learn Lockpicking. A mage will learn "Foramen Foraminor" , the open lock spell later on. Fayris comes with Disarm traps so that's a base that's covered... it might be worthwile to have her take over Pickpocketing since she comes with high Dexterity & Intuition (not to mention she can cast spells that buff these attributes).

Pickpocketing is rather important in the game... some NPCs carry a lot of goodies and even things that can offer alternative ways to solve quests.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Dunno. Presumably she's polite but not flirtatious. Unless Radon Labs is Equal Rights Sensitive like BioWare.

If the main character is a female mage, Hesindiana will act very catty and jealously.

Thanks. Here's what I found on the Drakensang 2 Wiki:

Wenn man einen männlichen Hauptcharakter einer akademischen Profession wählt, so menschelt es während der Ausbildung sehr zwischen dem Hauptcharakter und Hesindiane. Jedoch bleibt der Flirt im weiteren Spielverlauf ohne Folgen, bzw. wird auch nicht weitergeführt.
Spielt man hingegen einen weiblichen Hauptcharakter einer akademischen Profession, so zeigt sich Hesindiane ausgesprochen abweisend und kaltschultrig. Hier scheinen Konkurrenzängste im Vordergrund zu stehen, oder Eifersucht auf eine (besser aussehende) Rivalin.

 

[Brother None]

Pickpocketing is rather important in the game... some NPCs carry a lot of goodies and even things that can offer alternative ways to solve quests.

I'm not with you there. Almost all NPCs carry useless junk and half a D, and the only quests I can think of that use pick pocket are

Spoiler

Getting the false gold to convince ship mate Zuttar and pick pocketing the golden pirate emblem off of Thunderfist. There's some where you can pick pocket an item off an NPC rather than fight/dialog it from him (getting the book off the kid in the tollport, getting the rapier off the pirate in Hammerberg) but that's hardly worth much investment

I wouldn't say pick pocketing is useless. But important? Nah.