The crazy Naked Dancers from the Asylum are looking for a new challenge

[serjeLeBlade]

I can't stop thinking about how challenging, rewarding, and in the end *fun* (which is what really matters) has been taking on Spellhold without any equipment.

Looks like my characters want to do it again

Would anybody please point us to some major quest that could be a real challenge to do starting "naked"?
(Something hard... but not impossible. We're about 1 million xp each by now, so I would say that Watcher's Keep, to say one, is still beyond our abilities).

But it *could* be one of the next some time....

[Littiz]

Ok, you've convinced me, I'll try next time!

[serjeLeBlade]

Originally posted by Littiz
Ok, you've convinced me, I'll try next time!

Don't get me wrong, it is not like it becomes hard or something.
Nothing could make Spellhold "hard", short of a *lot* of work from Weimer....
But the nice things are like, let me guess... If you'll be playing a Kensai, you'll find Malakar and actually be very happy to equip it and feel like fighting to get it was worthwhile.
(As opposite to just putting it in your bag of holding and sell it as soon as possible).
This gives a totally different feeling to the game... (The Improved Illych feeling, to be clearer --- or "when you really
need all of that crap just to survive... not just to sell it in shops")

Next upcoming performance:
escaping (improved) Illithid's prison.

....I notice not many people are interested anyway....
I may stop bothering you if you ask politely

[Littiz]

you place all the items in the Bag of Holding, or something?
When do you "recover" them?

[serjeLeBlade]

Originally posted by Littiz
you place all the items in the Bag of Holding, or something?
When do you "recover" them?

Huh.
Please, elaborate more on your question... I'm not really sure about what you're asking!
Since there's just the two of us talking on this thread, you might as well pm me...

(I have the impression other people are uninterested)

What I was trying to tell ... was like...
your powerful kensai/mage usually gets to spellhold (early to save Immy) but when he picks up Malakar, he's already got a better katana or two, so he just puts Malakar in his bag of holding and sells it for some money asap.

Malakar *is* a powerful item... if you're not wielding CF and Dakkon's ZB already, I mean

Starting every "dungeon" area empty-handed, helps us to re-evaluate the value of powerful (otherwise-considered-useless) items found there.

That's all the big deal in "dancin' naked"

[Eusabian]

@ serjeLeBlade

Wow, I understand the fun of streaking through spellhold but are you acctualy planing on going through the underdark naked? cus that's insane, I mean the illithids and Beholder/orbs, for crying out loud. I really want to know if you manage it, cus if you do my hat is off to you, and than off course i'll have to try it myself lest my heroism be threatened.

Good Luck, and try not to die, since that is the number one consideration in most undertakings.

[Littiz]

Question is, how do you simulate the situation?
Irenicus "took" your equipment? Or Bodhi? Do you consider it lost
forever or simply equip it again after Spellhold?

[serjeLeBlade]

Originally posted by Littiz
Question is, how do you simulate the situation?
Irenicus "took" your equipment? Or Bodhi? Do you consider it lost
forever or simply equip it again after Spellhold?

(scroll down to *2* for the "short and simple" answer)

I do not "simulate" anything.
Think of it, party knows what we're doing.
We're trying to get into an *asylum*.
Pretending to be crazy. Crazy crazy, pretty mad, talkin' with giant hamsters from space and dreamin' about being the Slayer, destroying the world, blasting the realms, just to get in.
Are they going to allow us to keep pretty CF+5 or the Flail of the ages? Guess not.
Can we keep The Staff of the Magi or Improved Khittix?
...But Why!!!
Why not!
We love them.... !!!!
You cruel mediciansl!!!!
(Got it?)

No way.
Doesn't matter if if Irenicus took over the Asylum or not, no one (in possess of his own mind) would allow the mighty charname's party to enter Spellhold fully equipped and obviously ready for battle.
That just wouldn't make any sense.

If we enter the asylum pretending to be a party of "unlisted" fools, it's obvious to me that the guards (are there any guards left in the Asylum?) would take away all of our weapons (or "potentially harmful" devastating artifacts we could happen to have by then....)
Otho Irenicus, if HE's in command, should be going to strip us naked just like the last time...

*2*
It's as simple as that: this time, we know it in advance.

So we just put all of our powewrful stuff in a container somewhere *safe*, like in charname's(any) stronghold, before leaving and trying to infiltrate the asylum.
Then we go get it asap, as soon we're out of Spellhold.
Careful and smart planning (which are satisfactory only if roleplayed correctly) allow to hide all of our stuff somewhere in Brynnlaw, and get it back before moving to the Underdark.
Notice I said "Underdark", not "in Saemon's clutches for some meaningless reason again"

Hope that the explainmentish thing was explaningish enough!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all and everybody happening to read!

[Littiz]

Serje, I have to admit, that makes perfect sense!
You have a new follower

Anyway, I freely take Saemon's path, too...
Of course I know he's betraying, but I pretend to be smarter and keep
myself in track of Irenicus

[JackOfClubs]

Originally posted by serjeLeBlade
Doesn't matter if if Irenicus took over the Asylum or not, no one (in possess of his own mind) would allow the mighty charname's party to enter Spellhold fully equipped and obviously ready for battle.
That just wouldn't make any sense.

Of course, this is only true if you get yourself admitted to spellhold. If you storm the front gate, you presumably expect a quick victory and would want as much fire power as possible on hand. Unfortunately, you never get the chance, for reasons beyond your control...

[serjeLeBlade]

Originally posted by JackOfClubs
Of course, this is only true if you get yourself admitted to spellhold. If you storm the front gate, you presumably expect a quick victory and would want as much fire power as possible on hand. Unfortunately, you never get the chance, for reasons beyond your control...

By no means I could force myself to act like I expect a "quick victory" against the guy that just defeated my party (and slaughtered half of it).
Nor from the Cowled Wizards. Everybody in Athkatla is telling me that freeing someone from the Cowled Wizards' clutches is impossible !
No matter if by now I (the player) *know* that it's going to be an easy battle.
I cannot accept that. The storyline is telling me otherwise and I want to roleplay

@Eusabian: I'm not going to do all the Underdark without equipment! Only the Illythid prison. The one where we are supposed to be *prisoners", you know!

@Littiz: if you really think that you're getting to the Underdark faster by stealing a pirate ship and then sail for a several days trip... instead of walking through a teleport portal... You're welcome!
(I have to admit that way is more fun anyway...)

[ARcheR_S_]

Originally posted by serjeLeBlade

@Eusabian: I'm not going to do all the Underdark without equipment! Only the Illythid prison. The one where we are supposed to be *prisoners", you know!

@Littiz: if you really think that you're getting to the Underdark faster by stealing a pirate ship and then sail for a several days trip... instead of walking through a teleport portal... You're welcome!
(I have to admit that way is more fun anyway...)

Let me start by saying: Ill try the same
Ill put my equipment in a bag of holding and will take some weapons along which arent "tha best" weapons in the game...
In the asylum ill get rid of the equipment, and start gathering there

But I also have some remarks:
1= How do u plan to do the rest of the Underdark without equipment?? (since u lost it at the mindflayers and u didnt know they would steal it........sooooooooo u didnt put ure equipment away beforhand)

2= Why shoudnt u sail with the ship?? Saeman says its faster......AND that it is saver!
Well I can understand that it is saver then fighting the drow...and it can be faster........so taking the ship is logical.


But anyway.....ill try the same, without the perfect equipment

[Screaming Johny]

Maybe when you are taken prisoner you can hide your favorite item the same place Minsc hid Boo when Jon captured him?

Now where can I fit Celestial Fury?

[dmc]

Why do you assume that the Mind Flayers would remove all weapons? It seems to me that you are there to be gladiators. They would either give you basic weaponry and armor or, more likely, let you keep your stuff so long as it did not interfere with their psionics. The "people" you fight have their stuff, at any rate. Thus, I would expect that certain select items would be gone (free action items, the talking sword, etc.), but not all. The only question is whether you should be able to find the stuff after you kill them all. On the one hand, you can say that they would have kept it to figure out how it worked and learn a way around the protections. On the other hand, they might just destroy it out of hand.

[serjeLeBlade]

2= Why shoudnt u sail with the ship?? Saeman says its faster......AND that it is saver!

Ahem... the concept, simply put, is that we do not trust what Saemon says anymore!

About the equipment in the MF city.... I have to admit that I have to pretend that they took it away and placed it somewhere we can retrieve it at the end of the quest... Like in the Elder Brain Treasure Room... Do you know about the elder brain trasure room, don't you?

(And obviously they took it away because we were too strong to be allowed to use weapons against such lowly opponents like umber hulks and kua toas.... those arena fights would have been totally uninteresting otherwise!)

[ARcheR_S_]

Originally posted by serjeLeBlade
Ahem... the concept, simply put, is that we do not trust what Saemon says anymore!

Good point......though sailing away with Saemon and being able too watch him all the time, does seem saver then storming into the Underdark....+ it can be faster this way.
Better to go along with the known danger then the unknown....

Originally posted by serjeLeBlade
(And obviously they took it away because we were too strong to be allowed to use weapons against such lowly opponents like umber hulks and kua toas.... those arena fights would have been totally uninteresting otherwise!)

Its true that the fight in the pit is a complete waste of amusement if u have your equipment
But it is also true that if you dont have a mage or a monk, those fights can become pretty hard (Umberhulks can do some pretty hard damage u know
Especially if u have a low level (saving Immie early and all....)

[Littiz]

Originally posted by serjeLeBlade

@Littiz: if you really think that you're getting to the Underdark faster by stealing a pirate ship and then sail for a several days trip... instead of walking through a teleport portal... You're welcome!
(I have to admit that way is more fun anyway...)

How can you trust that teleporter? Are you really sure about its destination?
I say, better keep an eye on Saemon

[Baldursgate Fan]

Better yet, you can kill him for 18,000 xp.

And have an encore in ToB.