Lets Play: Avernum [NSF56k] [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

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NEO|Phyte

2009-07-08, 10:49 PM

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Intro1.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Intro2.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Intro3.png

As one might guess from the intro pictured in the above spoiler, Avernum is an RPG wherein you play a party of humans recently banished to Avernum, a massive series of caverns far below the surface. Being the adventurous types, you set out to find a way back to the surface, if such a thing exists. However, we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves here.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Characters/Defaultparty.png
The standard party. Details on party as follows:
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Characters/Defaultphilip.png
Philip for your general beating of things with sticks.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Characters/DefaultMelissa.png
Melissa with a double major in melee and ranged combat .

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Characters/DefaultRosalia.png
Rosalia for being team healer with a minor in beating things with sticks.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Characters/DefaultMycroft.png
Mycroft for being full of arcane might, with a minor in throwing rocks at people when he runs out of magic juice.

Now, while the default classes are decent enough, they are NOT as awesome as they could be. Philip, for instance, has points in both melee weapons AND pole weapons. While being skilled with multiple weapons types could be handy in cases where your weapons can break and you might have to make due with some rusty stuff you were planning on selling, Avernum doesn't have weapon breakage that I've encountered. It's best to decide at the start if you want to use swords or spears, and stick with the related skill.

Speaking of skills, you'd probably like to know what everything does, which means it's time to explain the various skills. Due to a combination of me not wanting to type everything out and Avernum including fancy artwork to go with its descriptions, this will be taking the form of pictures.
Skills:
These are the things you actually spend your points on during character creation/training
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Skills/Strength.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Skills/Dexterity.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Skills/Intelligence.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Skills/Endurance.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Skills/MeleeWeapons.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Skills/PoleWeapons.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Skills/Bows.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Skills/ThrownMissiles.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Skills/Hardiness.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Skills/Defense.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Skills/Assassination.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Skills/MageSpells.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Skills/PriestSpells.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Skills/ArcaneLore.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Skills/PotionMaking.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Skills/ToolUse.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Skills/CaveLore.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Skills/FirstAid.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Skills/Luck.png

The so-called Useful Skills:
These are more of stats than skills, and are directly effected by your skills.
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Stats/Health.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Stats/SpellEnergy.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Stats/PoisonResistance.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Stats/MagicResistance.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Stats/Willpower.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Stats/ResistElements.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Stats/ItemLore.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Stats/RuneReading.png

Traits:
These are optional traits you can add to characters. Any one person can have up to 2 of these. Good traits incur XP penalties, bad traits give XP bonuses. Generally, the better (or worse) the trait, the larger the difference in XP.
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Traits/GreatRenown.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Traits/Beastmaster.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Traits/NimbleFingers.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Traits/StrongWill.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Traits/Toughness.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Traits/FastonFeet.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Traits/GoodEducation.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Traits/NaturalMage.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Traits/EliteWarrior.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Traits/DivinelyTouched.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Traits/CursedatBirth.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Traits/SicknessProne.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Traits/Sluggish.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Traits/BrittleBones.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Traits/CompletelyInept.png

Mage Spells:
Everyone starts with level 1 of every spell they have enough skill to cast. Further spells have to be found and/or purchased.
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Mage/BoltofFire.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Mage/Light.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Mage/CallBeast.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Mage/BindFoe.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Mage/Haste.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Mage/Slow.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Mage/IceLances.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Mage/UnlockDoors.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Mage/CreateIllusions.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Mage/FarSight.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Mage/FightningSpray.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Mage/DispelBarrier.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Mage/SummonAid.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Mage/BeastCeremony.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Mage/Fireblast.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Mage/ArcaneSummon.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Mage/ArcaneShield.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Mage/ArcaneBlow.png

Priest Spells:
Everyone starts with level 1 of every spell they have enough skill to cast. Further spells have to be found and/or purchased.
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Priest/Healing.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Priest/Curing.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Priest/BattleRage.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Priest/Shielding.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Priest/RepelSpirit.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Priest/Smite.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Priest/SummonShade.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Priest/SafeTravel.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Priest/UnshackleMind.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Priest/MassHealing.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Priest/MassCuring.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Priest/Sanctuary.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Priest/DivineFire.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Priest/ControlFoes.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Priest/ReturnLife.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Priest/DivineWarrior.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Priest/DivineRestoration.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Priest/DivineHost.png

So now, the question(s) of the ages:
What do we name our intrepid heroes?
What do our heroes look like?
These are our portrait options, they have matching sprites, but only the portraits were contained such that I could show them without having to chop up the various spritesheets.
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Portraits/faces.png
And now, the last and most important question (As name and appearance can be changed after the fact):
Do we use default classes (I can get the skill allotments of the other classes if desired) or custom classes, and if custom, what do we want who to be good at?

chiasaur11

2009-07-08, 10:58 PM

Foglio art?

Awesome.

Of course, this makes one of our guys a gimmee.

Othar Tryggvassen, gentleman adventurer!

Gralamin

2009-07-08, 11:27 PM

Foglio art?

Awesome.

Of course, this makes one of our guys a gimmee.

Othar Tryggvassen, gentleman adventurer!

Seconded. Probably make him look like 3rd row, 3rd guy from the left.

Alex Knight

2009-07-08, 11:44 PM

Thirded. Add in Agatha, Gil, and Dupree.

chiasaur11

2009-07-08, 11:48 PM

Man, I totally need to read through the Girl Genius archives.

Terraoblivion

2009-07-08, 11:53 PM

Nah, Agatha, Gil and Zeetha. Dupree is cool and all, but she would clearly work for Hawthorne and even if not i am not sure Agatha and Gil would work with her. I cannot really think of good appearances for them though.

kpenguin

2009-07-09, 02:34 AM

This is Avernum 1, right? So, no sliths or nephils?

Custom classes > Default Classes

I'd say we get someone good with melee, someone good with bows, a priest, and a mage.

Murska

2009-07-09, 04:09 AM

All-magic party is usually rather imbalanced and utterly destroys everything in sight so yeah, let's go, unless we want to go for a singleton, for two tanks, mage and a priest with one of the tanks having missile weapons skill and pole weapons while the other is pure health machine with swords.

Maybe add the swordguy skills like Tool Use since it's not like the magic users will have skill points to spare(or if they do, they oughta go for knowledge :smalltongue:)

EDIT: Also for traits, Fast on Feet is awesome. Divinely Touched is useful but very costly... Elite Warrior is good enough. But most importantly for magicians, Natural Mage allows for armour, which is VERY good.

Anteros

2009-07-09, 07:21 AM

Murska

2009-07-09, 08:45 AM

I never managed to get that deep into the Avernum games, but I did play all the way through the entire Exile series...

You definately want at least one fighter to be your meat shield...I generally started out with a well rounded party, and branched everyone more into magic as I progressed.

Also, if it's like Exile, there's no real reason you can't pump skills like Knowledge on your fighters. Sure, it's not thematically correct, but it does help you conserve skill points for your casters.

You can, but I usually only give the first few cheap points of knowledge to everyone. Tool Use is something that WILL need a lot of points, and the fighters will need a lot of the main stats(STR, END, DEX) while the magic users mostly pump INT.

Pronounceable

2009-07-09, 08:50 AM

NEO|Phyte

2009-07-09, 11:08 AM

Name Pool:
Othar
Agatha
Gil
Dupree
Zeetha

Party Suggestions:
Two melee (one swords, other spears), one priest, one mage (ending up with two priestmages)
"Standard" melee/ranged/priest/mage
Spear/missile hybrid, sword tank, priest, mage
Well-rounded party, branching everyone into magic later

I've got some house/yardwork that needs doing, will see about getting the ball rolling (and reading the Girl Genius archives, so I have some sort of idea what I'm getting into here) when I'm done with that. There will be dice rolling to decide who/what the party is in the event of there not being some form of consensus when I return.

Murska

2009-07-09, 11:22 AM

Othar is good. And maybe Dupree. But sparky sparks really don't fit in as adventurers.
...
Never use premade classes in Avernums.

Two front liners: one melee, one pole. Priest and mage to become priestmages as you go.

Forget missiles. If you want ranged, use mage spells. Also forget first aid, worthless all the way to 4th game.

And yes, use front liners for lore skills. A priest mage is expensive to make.

Edit, for NINJAS!: Endurance is quite unnecessary till later in the series. And tool use should be concentrated on one guy while lores should be spread out.

Endurance = Health and since we aren't playing an optimized party, hopefully, we oughta get hit at times. Then again, I've played Avernums only from 2 onwards. I agree with First Aid being completely useless, I never ever used it a single time. Same with potion making(didn't use it) but it might be useful at some strategies.

Lore skills should imho be spread around since the first points are cheaper. Tool Use should obviously be on one character since it can't be shared. About turning both magic users into priestmages... Hmm, I specialized each since the moment I started having, say, mage spells on more than one dude, the button 'use mage spell' didn't automatically use my best mage. :smallannoyed:

But it's not my problem this time. The more magic users you have, the easier the game will be, in my opinion. Ranged user is useful since there is plenty ranged equipment with nice bonuses and damage with only a little investment needed and they don't block any other equipment slots. You don't want to waste mana on fireballing that 2hp kobold on the ledge with some javelins, do you?

Oh, and of course, magic users should start with the maximum amount of spells available straight off so put enough points in their specific attributes to get all the spells you can. This should go without saying but eh. :smallsmile:

NEO|Phyte

2009-07-10, 10:41 AM

Lore skills should imho be spread around since the first points are cheaper. Tool Use should obviously be on one character since it can't be shared. About turning both magic users into priestmages... Hmm, I specialized each since the moment I started having, say, mage spells on more than one dude, the button 'use mage spell' didn't automatically use my best mage. :smallannoyed:
If it has an autoselect dude with actual skill feature, it must come disabled by default, that or it was introduced in a later Avernum than the first.

IN ANY EVENT, it is time to get started on this, which means dice will be rolled. Watch this space for edits showing our intrepid band of people.

JMobius

2009-07-10, 11:22 AM

Ah boy. I will impressed if we get very far into this game; it is looooing :smallwink:

FWIW, I second the vote for sword+spear meatshields, and then two (eventual) priestmages

NEO|Phyte

2009-07-10, 11:13 PM

And lo, after much procrastination and at least one false start, I have part 1 of the Lets Play, in which something unexpected occurs.

The roving band of misfits:
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Characters/Party.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Characters/startZeetha.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Characters/startGil.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Characters/startAgatha.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Characters/startDupree.png

The story!
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Intro1.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Intro2.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Intro3.png
The intro again, in case you forgot it.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Part%201/01.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Part%201/03.png
We're alive! And not being molested by monsters! Though there IS that guy waiting for us...

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Part%201/05.png
In a shocking turn of events, he's here to greet us, and tell us where we can find information and supplies. How nice. He also mentions something about a guy trying to take the portal back, which "Acacia" apparently saw. But first things first, supplies!

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Part%201/07.png
Stuff! Specifically, a healing potion, a bronze longsword, and 200 gold. Time to go get that information.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Part%201/09.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Part%201/10.png
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Part%201/11.png
For the less-than-fully-informed, Nephilim are catfolk. As for Thairl here, cheery fellow, but a bit of a defeatist. Seems to think there's no way out of Avernum. We'll show him!

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Part%201/12.png
Let us return to the surface!

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Part%201/13.png
...Or not. All right, we might be here a while, let's get to know the place.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Part%201/14.png
We meet Tor the newbie supplier's wife, who tells us about where Avernum sends ITS trash. Sounds like a nice place to spend a vacation.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Part%201/15.png
We find Acacia and ask her about that guy that tried escaping through the portal, and learn about some fun-sounding crystals.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Part%201/16.png
We also met Warrick, who is looking for Anastasia. I managed to not get a shot of the initial conversation where she explains WHY and stuff, so this shall be a mystery to haunt us forever.

In any event, we've talked with everyone that seemed important, so now it's time to get down to business!

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Part%201/17.png
Avernum has a sight-based theft system. If nobody actively SEES you take it, barring some scripted shenanigans, nobody cares. For extra fun, ownership isn't tracked, so you could break into a shop's back room, steal the owner's priceless gold ring, and proceed to sell it back to them.

Picking and/or bashing locks is, for some reason, not a crime, so you can do it right in front of everybody. Don't have any lockpicks yet, so Dupree's been busy bashing doors. Success rate isn't the highest in most cases, but it's not like there's any negative side effe-
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Part%201/18.png
Crap. Crapcrapcrapiforgottosaveaftergettingstarted.
We can fix this, just need to get to the healer!

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Part%201/20.png
CRAP!

There WOULD be a montage here of me stealing junk and selling it to raise funds, but there wasn't really much TOO steal out of the three places in easy walking distance, plus I sorta forgot to get pictures of stuff. In any event, I had to resort to the OTHER adventuring fundraiser.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Part%201/21.png
Hello, goblins!

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Part%201/22.png
This was SUPPOSED to be a shot of 5 goblins eating death raylightning spray from Agatha, but apparently Print Screen didn't register until AFTER the goblins all fell over.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Part%201/23.png
Money was raised, and Dupree lives again!
So now that THAT has been resolved, we're going to more or less pretend it never happened, and leave Fort Avernum for the first time to begin our grand adventure. Where will we go? What adventures will we find? Will anyone manage to dethrone Dupree's remarkable display of door-assisted suicide? Will I manage to not procrastinate as hard next update? I have no idea!

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/NEO-Phyte/LP/Part%201/19.png

Gralamin

2009-07-11, 02:05 AM

Good job there, NEO, That will teach you to save :smalltongue:

The lack of Othar is sad, but I suppose we can live with this group.