RPG Progress Report

[Ack]

Might & Magic Book One

When I last left off, I had just gotten going. Fights were a struggle, gear was shit, and the party was composed entirely of a bunch of level 1 scrubs. Most encounters ended with me being curb stomped by whatever nasty critter wandered into my path, and in the few instances where I would win a fight, I'd slink back into town to save my progress and hopefully buy a new piece of gear that might help the ass kicking be slightly less painful.

Upon my return to the game, the ass kickings continued, but not nearly as badly as before. The first fight of the night netted me a large shield, and I immediately equipped that on Ack, giving the small shield to Key to ensure her survivability. I also took what little money I had made and purchased Noise the padded armor. It's the shittiest armor in the game...which makes sense, as the shittiest character can only wear it. Noise, you disgust me.

But back to the grind. Slowly but surely I continued my fight to gear up and feel more comfortable. Money went towards food and ensuring things like Elkin getting a crossbow. Unfortunately, said crossbow was short lived. Three fights later, I pulled a great bow out of some enemy loot, and Elkin instantly became party MVP (sorry, Key. You're still number one in my book). Elkin sits in the back row and shoots all the nastier enemies I need taken down quickly while the rest deal with whatever problems are in front of them. This also let me sell the crossbow back, and with the loot I had made, I was able to purchase a short sword and ring mail for Prfsnl, thus giving her the best gear from Sorpigal.

Since I had managed to build up my party a bit, I decided it was time to look around the area. Lucky me, I stumbled across a secret area while exploring a mountain range near the town. This secret area contained a chest with smelling salts, ropes and hooks, and a bag of trash, along with some gold. As the good people of Sorpigal are apparently really, really big into environmentalism, I learned I could sell it for 50 gold. Hell, the entire collection netted me 92 gold, and upon returning I discovered that the chest respawned every time I went to town and came back!

If you're thinking that such money making opportunities are beneath me, you do not know me.

I did the run several times to build up my finances and bought everyone the best gear available in Sorpigal: short swords for all who could wield them, the best possible armor in the town for each class, and even a staff for Noise, even though she doesn't deserve it! With my new gear, I marched back out into the wilderness...and got my ass kicked again by monsters, but less than I used to. With a little pocket change and the ability to live through some fights, I was able to build myself up, first to level 2 and eventually to level 3 for everyone in the party.

Now that I had some power, I wanted to push further, which meant it was time to travel to the dreaded Portsmith. Why dread Portsmith? Because it's the town that made me go with an all female party. Memories of the failing health of my male heroes still haunt me. Yes, I'm traumatized. Anyway, I made the trek with little issue, only running into one group of enemies that I was able to thrash with little issue.

In Portsmith I discovered Scimitars for Ack, Marurun, Prfsnl, and Elkin as a backup weapon to the great bow. Since Key can only use blunt weapons due to being a Cleric, she was still stuck with a club; no longer, as I bought her a nice mace to beat things with. Only the best for the party Cleric, folks. Also, large shields were for sale, so I bought them for everyone who could use one. Noise got nothing, because Noise has only managed to figure out how to hit things with a stick. I then marched back to Sorpigal, because it's a good central location to base the party, and because it was also a closer save point to my next destination, the town of Algary in the southeastern swamps.

The trip to Algary was a little more treacherous, not because the path is longer, but because it requires you step through the swamp in a place you don't realize, and because I had a couple of encounters along the way. Yet those encounters actually proved to be worthwhile, as I found a suit of plate mail. Ack changed into the sturdiest base armor in the game, and I managed to get into town. I sold all the excess I had and explored the shops, though there was little available that I wanted. However, Algary sells basic platemail at 1000 gold a pop, so if I'm desperate, I just might come back later to deck out Marurun.

With that, I returned to Sorpigal and spent my money getting some of my party members up to level 4. I surveyed my gear, happy to now be over that initial hump. I checked levels and experience rates. I went and restocked my food supply. And then I realized that I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to do next. So I did what every good RPG has taught me as a sureproof means of finding what the hell I'm supposed to do.

I went to the bar.

After listening for rumors that were nonexistent, I paid for a beer and tipped heavily. The bartender suggested I explore a certain area below the city and talk to a wizard down there, so I guess that will be my next destination.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Aaaawwww! You bought me a ring! I never knew how much you cared.

Great update, Ack! Have I stole some sh*t yet?

[Ack]

Hahaha, not yet, but the quest has only just begun.

That said, you are my designated chest opener, so whenever I find loot, you get first dibs.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Designated chest opener, huh?! I see how you really feel, and I bet that’s why you bought me that ring!!

[MrPopo]

After listening for rumors that were nonexistent, I paid for a beer and tipped heavily. The bartender suggested I explore a certain area below the city and talk to a wizard down there, so I guess that will be my next destination.

And thus begins Ack's journey. When I said this was the predecessor of the modern open world RPG I mean it; much of the plot advancement comes through what one would consider side quests and rumors. Following up on those things will get you to the breadcrumbs of the overarching main quest of the game.

[Ack]

Yeah, I'm guessing I should hit up the bars in all three towns to start with and see what shakes loose.

[marurun]

I'm gonna have to try extra hard to kill stuff for you now that I'm on the backburner for being kitted out.

[Ack]

I'm gonna have to try extra hard to kill stuff for you now that I'm on the backburner for being kitted out.

Relax, you're barely on the back burner. In fact, you're next in line for plate mail. That's the only difference between you and Ack, and while your HP isn't where I want it to be, you form the second half of the critical front line.

[MrPopo]

I'm gonna have to try extra hard to kill stuff for you now that I'm on the backburner for being kitted out.

Relax, you're barely on the back burner. In fact, you're next in line for plate mail. That's the only difference between you and Ack, and while your HP isn't where I want it to be, you form the second half of the critical front line.

At least until maru gets another level or two and gets healing magic.

[Ack]

Might & Magic Book One

Over the weekend, I spent a lot of time decompressing with this game. This will be a long post.

When I left off, the bartender had just suggested I head down into the Sorpigal basement to talk to a guy, so off I went. Dungeons and caves are dark, but both cleric and wizard spells include Light, so I used that as opposed to wasting time on torches. The one downside is that I have to recast any time I rest, which at level 3/4 is usually every fight. A few forced fights also stood in my way, but I managed to battle my way through and find the wizard hiding beyond. He gave me a scroll and told me to take it to a guy in Erliquin.

At first I made several unsuccessful attempts to walk to Erliquin, but the monsters on the roads kicked my ass. Out of frustration, I bumped into a wall in Sorpigal and discovered a leprechaun who was willing to teleport me. Huh. Well, that's freaking weird, but I took it. In Erliquin, I delivered the scroll and was then told to take it to Dusk. Since Dusk is kinda sorta in the middle of a desert, getting to it would be a pain in the ass, so I held off and decided to grind a bit.

I snuck my way back to the area north of Sorpigal and wandered around, getting into fights with critters I could take and grabbing whatever money and gear they dropped. Soon enough, I found a wrecked caravan and found some kind of Merchant's Pass on it. As it turns out, this is necessary to enter the castles, so I stuck it on Elkin in the back and headed down to Sorpigal, where I sold the gear I had found and managed to get the rest of the party up to level 4. Hey, since it's a new level, I decided to try my luck around Erliquin again, so back to the leprechaun I went.

Just north of Erliquin is Castle Blackstone South, and with the Merchant's Pass, I was able to enter. I made sure not to touch any treasure (I had a couple of bad incidents over the weekend trying to take it...yeah, didn't win those fights) and managed to find a prisoner hidden away in a back corner, which I freed. I also talked to the local king, and he sent me on a quest for...garlic. Huh. I had spotted some back in the shop in Sorpigal or Portsmith, so I left and booked it back to my home base. With garlic acquired, I got some decent experience and asked for wolfsbane. Same deal, same process, a few thousand more experience, and a quest for belladonna. Boom, done, and I now had enough experience to get about half the party to level 5.

There are two experience tracks in the first Might & Magic: Knights, Robbers, and Clerics on the fast track, while Wizards, Archers, and Paladins are on the slow one. Spell levels increase every odd level for Clerics and Wizards, so Key could now cast level 3 magic. I needed Noise to be able to cast level 3 for Fly though, so instead I figured it was time to go explore other areas. I first fooled around a bit in the cave near Sorpigal, but the conveyors there sent me into pools of acid with nasty results. Instead, I opted to visit Algary in the swamp and check out a cave directly north of it.

This particular cave has an interesting gimmick: you have 16 locked rooms, several of which have numbers ranging between 10-16. The rest have a polyhedral that you can choose 1-9 on. The same number isn't used twice, and looking it over, I realized the goal was not unlike a giant Sudoku puzzle, where all columns and rows must add up to the same number. I did the math problem outside of the game and came back in with my answer. Once in place...nothing seemed to happen, so I explored the corners and found a lever. When activated with the correct numbers in place, the lever granted everyone a permanent +2 to intelligence along with gems, gold, and experience. I headed back to town, and oh yeah, that was enough to get the rest of the party to level 5! I cast Fly and took myself to Dusk.

Dusk has magic armor, and I hadn't been buying much beyond food lately, so I went to hog heaven buying up and upgrading gear. Ack got plate mail +1, so the plate mail went to Marurun. Ack and Marurun grabbed Long Swords +1, while Key, Elkin, and Prfsnl all had their armor updated to the +1 variety. With gearing up handled as much as I could afford at the time, I then hit up the bar and was told after tipping well that the guy I needed was in a maze in the back of town. This maze unfortunately happens to be in magical darkness, so I hugged a wall until I found the guy I was looking for. He told me to find the magic twins in Portsmith and Algary, so off I flew.

The first twin is in Portsmith, and I wandered around aimlessly until I found a secret wall that he was hiding behind. The second in Algary was out in the open by the docks, which the bartender was kind enough to tell me. The two gave me a partial code, but when combined, I realized it was coordinates. I headed to the place they had designated in map section C-1 and found a Ruby Whistle! ...and had no idea what to do with it, so I went back to wandering around and exploring.

First, I decided to release more prisoners from castles, so I traveled up to Castle Blackridge North and then Castle White Wolf. I also took a quest from the king of White Wolf to visit the Warrior's Fortress. This required a little planning, but after heading out from Sorpigal, I managed to make my way to the fortress entrance and then fly to Portsmith to head up to the castle. The second quest was to find Lord Kilburn. With no idea where to go, I decided to get back to exploring and stumbled across a forest along the beach in the area. The dense forest was a pain, but once there I discovered some ruins, and lo and behold, a prompt to blow the ruby whistle! I tried a couple of times before finally discovered that 2 blasts is what it takes to open things up. Once inside, I quickly discovered I was also too weak to survive, so I headed back out and opted to travel back to Dusk.

I had a little more money, so I purchased another Long Sword +1 and a Crossbow +1 for Prfsnl. I still wasn't where I needed to be to get that Platemail +1 for Marurun, but the Large Shields +1 that I passed around to the party were good enough in my book. I then wandered outside of Dusk up to the ruined Castle Dragadune. Initially this place seemed like a dead end, but I soon learned that bones under my feet signified secret doors, and I found another prisoner to free, a magic clover that gave everyone a permanent +4 to luck, and a magic fountain that exchanges gold for experience...no thanks to that, but at least I know where it is. I also learned how to go up higher in the ruins but decided against it.

From there, it was back to Sorpigal and the cave there, which I decided to give a second shot. This time I found a button that shut off the conveyors, and with my new gear and spells, I managed to slay the enemies within. There is a back corridor which has a nasty habit of putting you in fights, but you can actually pass the main spots with a jump spell, so I made it through and found a wizard who gave me some experience, gold, and a bronze key. I kept the key and left, resting up at Sorpigal and then picking up more levels, putting half the party at level 6.

With further exploration, I ended up finding Lord Kilburn, who gave me a map to the desert. I then returned to Castle White Wolf and turned in the quest, getting another one to discover the secret of Portsmith. But first, hey, money! I hit up Dusk again and finalized that gear, putting Marurun in a nice and shiny platemail +1. I then opted to return to the hidden fortress using the ruby whistle.

Inside I learned I could take the fights I encountered, even though one nasty battle with a bunch of werewolves and werebears left me worse for wear. But I still pushed through to the end and found...minotaurs. A fuck ton of minotaurs. They kicked my ass, so I'll have to return later once I'm stronger.

With that done, I headed to Portsmith to see if I could learn the secret. I don't know if it's something above ground or below, so I headed into the dungeons beneath Portsmith and worked my way through a bunch of locked doors. Once there, I found a magic pool that permanently boosted Might, another that gave me gold, still more that diseased and poisoned me, and hey, a magic pool that did a "reversal" of some kind. Not know what that meant, I headed back out and took damage at the intersection...

...the reversal is everyone swapping gender. The party is made up of Males now. Hell. Sorry, Key.

I decided to continue exploring in Dusk and headed there next, discovered an object that boosts everyone's Speed as well as a lot of traps that want to kill me. Yeah, I'm good. With that done, I decided to wander. First, I found a lion statue that demands a password I do not have down in the southeast. Second, I found a bunch of trees I could climb but nothing in them. Third, I wandered through the desert and was nearly killed by giant scorpions. I explored more around Erliquin. I headed into the swamp to slay creatures there. I found an arena beneath Sorpigal and won a few fights. I finally managed to claw my way up to level 7 with everyone. I even managed to find some Bracers of AC 4 that I equipped on Noise, so he no longer has a pitiful AC of 2.

Now I'm not sure what to do next. The big quest will likely require I fight those minotaurs, but they stomped me handily last time. I guess I could focus on more side quests and continue to build up levels. I need a medusa head for one king, I still haven't found the secret of Portsmith, and the other king I found requires I visit some kind of forest I have no idea how to get to. The bars seem useless now, as all their info seems to relate to that quest with the scroll that I started with. I've found some kind of gauntlet to run near Eliquin too, but I haven't been able to beat it yet as it makes me fight a ton of enemies in a row without letting me rest.

I guess next up is to try hunting down that Medusa. Or maybe I'll explore the desert a bit more while avoiding those giant scorpions...