Gold Box SSI's Gold Box Series Thread

[Cael]

Any tips for beginning combat in PoR? I can't seem to hit anyone unless I cast a sleep spell first, and I can only cast two sleep spells before needing to rest, and resting is usually interrupted. It looks like it'll be awhile before I get the 1000 gold pieces needed to train. I've got a few platinum pieces, but I never saw any mention of a bank or any currency exchange in the manual.

Sorry, I would usually save these kinds of banal "help me" requests for the shoutbox, but, uh, you know.

Have more than one mage helps. You have 6 characters. Have at least 2 mages.

 

[Butter]

Hold Person and Sleep are the two best spells in Pool of Radiance. Fireball and Ice Storm take over in Curse of the Azure Bonds.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Hold Person and Sleep are the two best spells in Pool of Radiance. Fireball and Ice Storm take over in Curse of the Azure Bonds.

Stinking Cloud is good too. It will disable whatever is in it that fails a save and then will give you a blocking zone afterwards.

 

[Glop_dweller]

Any tips for beginning combat in PoR? I can't seem to hit anyone unless I cast a sleep spell first, and I can only cast two sleep spells before needing to rest, and resting is usually interrupted. It looks like it'll be awhile before I get the 1000 gold pieces needed to train. I've got a few platinum pieces, but I never saw any mention of a bank or any currency exchange in the manual.

Sorry, I would usually save these kinds of banal "help me" requests for the shoutbox, but, uh, you know.

When enemies are close, but still out of melee range, setting the [melee fighting] PCs to Guard will give them the first strike when approached by melee attackers. Also setting fighters such that they are within reach of a passing enemy can see them attack these enemies as they pass by or retreat; attacks of opportunity. Fighter PCs can sweep; sweeping is when they attack a weak lower level enemy and it dies from the hit; the attack will continue further on to the next adjacent enemy—where if it also dies from the hit, the attack continues onward to the next enemy, and so on. Potentially killing up to eight enemies with the single attack. In practice this is generally possible with kobolds.

Thieves potentially backstab if they attack from directly opposite the direction of the previous attacker's strike (on the same target). Combatants turn to face their attacker; an attack from the left side of a target will allow a thief to backstab them from their right side.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Fighter PCs can sweep; sweeping is when they attack a weak lower level enemy and it dies from the hit; the attack will continue further on to the next adjacent enemy—where if it also dies from the hit, the attack continues onward to the next enemy, and so on. Potentially killing up to eight enemies with the single attack. In practice this is generally possible with kobolds.

Isn't sweep capped by fighter level or something along those lines? Like max targets = level?

 

[Cael]

Sweep hits all creatures less than 1HD around you, IIRC.

And yes, Stinking Cloud is ungodly broken in GB games. This is mainly because they equated nauseous with complete disable. Even dragons die to it, and it is one of the most reliable ways of killing dragons in FR games (even Freezefire).

 

[Glop_dweller]

Fighter PCs can sweep; sweeping is when they attack a weak lower level enemy and it dies from the hit; the attack will continue further on to the next adjacent enemy—where if it also dies from the hit, the attack continues onward to the next enemy, and so on. Potentially killing up to eight enemies with the single attack. In practice this is generally possible with kobolds.

Isn't sweep capped by fighter level or something along those lines? Like max targets = level?

I think so. The manual doesn't really say (AFAIK).

I would have thought (surely did think at some point) that the targets also had to be lower level than the fighter—but I don't see that anywhere in the manuals, so it might not be so.
*In practice this seems like it would be the same as the level cap; same level no sweep, higher level sweeps of 1,2,3,4,etc...

From PoR:

From Curse:

 

[Butter]

Sweep is 1 single HD target per character level.

 

[ProphetSword]

Sweep is capped by fighter level, so you don't even get it until level 2. To hit 8 enemies, you would need to be level 8, and by that point you shouldn't be fighting weak creatures with less than a hit die anymore...but if you are, you would probably be better served by having your spellcasters deal with them.

Fun fact: Stinking Cloud is best used on enemy spellcasters. Even if they make the saving throw, the coughing still prevents them from casting spells and the spell continues to affect them for a full round after they leave the cloud. (Note: Enemies with spell resistance can avoid this, so its hit or miss when dealing with drow elves).

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Platinum is 5gp, 2 electrum is 1gp, 10 silver is 1gp, 100 copper is 1 gp. It's important because coins have weight so you want to convert up and after a point dump all the crap.

On the subject of currency in D&D/AD&D: in original D&D, 50 CP = 10 SP = 1 GP = 1/5 PP (with electrum optionally being worth either 2 GP or 1/2 GP), while in AD&D 1st edition 200 CP = 20 SP = 2 EP = 1 GP = 1/5 PP
Holmes D&D retained the original coinage system, but B/X D&D adopted 100 CP = 10 SP = 2 EP = 1 GP = 1/5 PP, which was carried into both BECMI D&D and AD&D 2nd edition.

According to the manuals for Pool of Radiance and Curse of the Azure Bonds, they followed the AD&D (1st edition) system, where a silver piece is worth one-twentieth of a gold piece rather than one-tenth as with every other version of D&D/AD&D, and therefore one gold piece is worth 200 copper pieces. Not sure if that was ever changed following the release of AD&D 2nd edition in mid-1989, since the Gold Box games remained on 1st edition rules generally.

 

[octavius]

For max THAC0 and damage output, use Elves with 18-19 Dex and Longbows. Hire a Hero as frontliner; he can Sweep four Kobolds or Goblins a round. Don't worry about the XP loss for your own characters, since there's more than enough in the game.
Also, Sweep dones't work if attacking due to Guard, or if the character gets two APR.

You don't need to convert money for buying things, only to reduce encumbrance. So you can use use 200 platinum to pay for training, for example.

 

[The Limper]

Yep, Longbows are your best friend in all low level AD&D games. (Except Dark Sun of course where your STR is equivalent to a Giant.)

 

[Poseidon00]

I want to like these Gold Box games, a lot. But I have yet to get beyond the first few battles any time I try. I think I will get all the QoL features I can, assuming any exist, and try my hand at the Dragonlance ones again. Always liked their 2e rule implementation.

 

[rojay]

I want to like these Gold Box games, a lot. But I have yet to get beyond the first few battles any time I try. I think I will get all the QoL features I can, assuming any exist, and try my hand at the Dragonlance ones again. Always liked their 2e rule implementation.

Combat gets more complicated as you gain levels and maybe the tedium of low-level combat is the issue for you.

If so, definitely stick with it. Just don't beat your head against a wall if you don't enjoy the combat because there's a lot of combat in these games.

 

[mediocrepoet]

I want to like these Gold Box games, a lot. But I have yet to get beyond the first few battles any time I try. I think I will get all the QoL features I can, assuming any exist, and try my hand at the Dragonlance ones again. Always liked their 2e rule implementation.

Combat gets more complicated as you gain levels and maybe the tedium of low-level combat is the issue for you.

If so, definitely stick with it. Just don't beat your head against a wall if you don't enjoy the combat because there's a lot of combat in these games.

Yeah, they're from the Golden Age when RPGs knew that monsters were bags of XP and loot, no one gave a shit about their feelings or dark and torturous back story.

 

[octavius]

The good old days when "Orc lives are XP".

 

[Cael]

Yep, Longbows are your best friend in all low level AD&D games. (Except Dark Sun of course where your STR is equivalent to a Giant.)

I am not too sure about the GB games. I find them to be too close ranged for longbows to be effective, other than in random encounters in the wilderness.

 

[Glop_dweller]

Many indoor encounters begin with the combatants many turns apart; all this time can be used to land arrows in the enemies, especially spell casters. I ALWAYS have longbows on my fighters, for swapping to when their enemies are (or move) out of melee range. Countless times this has saved many party members from death for a well placed arrow stopping a spell, or preventing melee attacks upon PCs with few or even single hitpoints left.
If you have several archers, then they can all redirect their attacks at a single target when the need arises, regardless of where they are—so long as within range, and line of sight. With two attacks per round, they can quickly pick off paralyzed opponents without entering a cloud spell, or spending turn(s) closing in on the targets for melee kills.

In a few cases the enemy scores damage upon melee attackers during and because of their attack; best in these cases to have a ranged attack in reserve.

 

[octavius]

Yep, Longbows are your best friend in all low level AD&D games. (Except Dark Sun of course where your STR is equivalent to a Giant.)

I am not too sure about the GB games. I find them to be too close ranged for longbows to be effective, other than in random encounters in the wilderness.

Huh? There's no friendly fire or LOS in the GB games, and the AI will target whatever is closest, so there's no problem having two frontliners and the rest archers and spell casters. At low levels nothing is more effective than an Elf with a Longbow.

 

[Cael]

Yep, Longbows are your best friend in all low level AD&D games. (Except Dark Sun of course where your STR is equivalent to a Giant.)

I am not too sure about the GB games. I find them to be too close ranged for longbows to be effective, other than in random encounters in the wilderness.

Huh? There's no friendly fire or LOS in the GB games, and the AI will target whatever is closest, so there's no problem having two frontliners and the rest archers and spell casters. At low levels nothing is more effective than an Elf with a Longbow.

Most times, your first 3 guys will be hard up against the bad guys. The back row guys will just go: Sleep!

No need to use bows then.

 

[octavius]

Again, that assumes you rest spam, since Sleep spells are not unlimited.

 

[Cael]

Again, that assumes you rest spam, since Sleep spells are not unlimited.

There is nothing wrong with rest spam when the game allows it. But when you have 3-4 mages, you don't really need to rest spam that much.

 

[octavius]

When you have 3-4 archers with longbows you don't need to cast Sleep that much either.

 

[Cael]

When you have 3-4 archers with longbows you don't need to cast Sleep that much either.

Not when 1-2 of those are almost always in melee range of enemies and therefore can't use the longbows.

 

[Glop_dweller]

If you have four mages... what do you do when an enemy silences your fighter; worse... charms the fighter to then attack them? Aside from the loss of defender, and the incoming melee attacks, the silence follows the fighter around, and affects everyone near them.