Story about 4 insectoid mages

[Sir Tawmis]

@Sir Tawmis
Interesting blog!
You're right. Placing pictures on the left or right side mixed into a text looks great. But the pictures here at this board are placed in the middle of the page, I found no way to move them to the left or right side. And I'm sure I can't write the story "around" the pictures here, as you can do on your own created page. So if I only can place one picture centered, why should it be so (very) small ?

Thanks about the blog comment!

But my point is - if I am REALLY into a story - suddenly having it halted by this enormous image, which looks great, but then I have to scroll down to get "back into" the story - that moment of yanking the reading out of the story, by forcing them to break away from the story - is going to interrupt the flow. Smaller images (I am not saying 4x4 or anything ridiculously small), allow the reader to see the smaller image, but not have to scroll down past this huge 1024x768 image, to get to the next chunk of story!

That's my feedback, do with it as you will! As Darklord pointed out, this is YOUR story! Do with it as YOU will! I was just giving feedback of my own since you asked.

[Sir Tawmis]

Just read the latest segment! I am liking where this is going.

Only thing I would love to see more of is the actual dialogue of the other characters. Like when you mention Coldblood points out the statue is missing it's eyes. I would have loved to hear exactly what Coldblood said. Dialogue is an excellent way to develop character personalities and traits; which I think the story will need since all four of the characters are the same race, and appear to all be spell casters. So finding a way to make each of them stick out would be a nice thing. Also maybe some more distinctive descriptions of each of them; does one of them have a green shell, with yellow spots? Another one with light blue? I would love to see these characters come more alive!

[Orthocone]

@Sir Tawmis
My people does not talk much. We use short commands and gestures to tell us what to do . Talking is not that important for us.

Maybe in the future the relationship of the four changes from "follower" to "comrades" and "friends" Then they may have longer discussions about their weaknesses and hopes and things the see. But on the first level they are like all other Insectoids. Calm and reserved. I planned this changing in relationship already (within the next two levels). Please be patient. No lifeform can change its soul and way of life like a switch from one second to the other.

[Orthocone]

Our meditation ends. We stand up. We're ready to move on.

"Heal my sight"....

It seems we need something to fill the holes in the stony face. In the past the necessary things were always hidden near by the place they're neede. So we start searching. One way leads to another pit. I can close it with a lever. So it is no problem. For a moment I think about the pits. We had some bad experience. But what, if some of the pits harbor useful things? Maybe essential things.

Snails. Again. How can the survive here? What do they eat if there is no prisoner? It's another mystery we can't solve now. We kill the snails. Ther are some items and a gate. It was easy to open but it was a bit tricky to find out how to leave the room. Inside the room we find a clue crystal. It this one eye ot the face?

Once we're outside this little cell we walk back. But then I stop at the lever. I pull it again. The pit opens. I turn around and stare down into the darkness of the pit. I feel my followers getting nervous. Maybe they know what I'm thinking now. Jump down or not. Risk and success or foolishness and death. What's right here? No one can help me. I must decide.

I don't hesitate any longer. I decide to jump down. I'm sure the others will follow me. May the Big Winged One be with us!

We landed in a room. We were wounded again. But this time I expected it. if you know it will hurt, you can overcome it. What we've not expected was a sudden attack from behind. A Snail. We killed it fast without problems, but Four Eyes was bitten. Again we learn things about pits. They're not always empty. That's not good. There is a gate we can't open because the lever is outside the room on a wall. But there is this light again. We can escape. Or not?

First we rest. Then we take the things that are lying here. A tattered cloak. It makes Evasion better. Good. There is no more to do no so we enter the light. Again we re-appear close to the pit. Pits seems to be interesting. Dangerous, but interesting.

Back at the face we found out the blue gem fits perfectly. But we need a second one. So we walked the other way. Behing a gate we saw some big living mushrooms we also know : Herders. They attack us immediatly and we destroy the all. We find parts of them we can eat. It seems food is not a problem any longer.

In their room we find some herbs. Plants that can be used for healing, curing and other goood things. Unfortunatly we have no mortar and pestle and no flasks. I hope we can find them later. We find a second blue gem here. There is a new kind of switch in the wall. I press it and we hear a rumbling. What was that? We look around.

We found a secret room! There was a dagger in it. A good weapon, especially for me. I like daggers. This dagger also seem to add power to my accuracy. Fantastic. Some herbs were found to.

Again we return to the face. We insert the second gem and the gate opens. Good.

Suddenly I feel a horrible pain in my left side. I looked and see a skeleton in armour. It attacks us with a spear. Damned. We immediaty retreat. The pile of bones follows us. Now we cast test the power of our magic! A Fireblast followed by Shock and Ice Blast hit the skeleton warrior. The bones of it were shaken. But it is not destroyed. Four Eyes tried Poison Cloud but it has no effect. I was afraid of this. How can a skeleton be affected by poison? It has no flesh. A second Shock from Ironskin destroyed the undead creature.

We have no time to be happy; suddenly our bodys are shaken. We fall on our knees. What's that? Suddenly a strong wave of power flows through or bodys. Then the the pain is gone.

Suddenly we hear the voice of the Big Winged One in our heads.

"You have done well. I will reward you. Stay on your way and you will be the heroes you want to be!"

We look up. Our bodies are stronger. We have new knowledge. We are on a higher level of existence now. In our youth our elders told us stories of this but very few of us live long enough to receive this honor. And no Insectoid knows what happens if one have earned all knowledge and power the Big Winged One has to offer. There is a legend though, that the one, who reaches the knowlede of the Big Winged One, will take her place and free her. Free her so she can enter the next level of her existance. A next level unthinkable for us.

After a rest we return to the door. Coldblood suddenly grabs the gems from the face. At first I want to stop her but I'm too late. But nothing happens. The door is still open. I trun to her She says "The gems are so beautiful." I see a desire in her eyes I've never seen. I'm astonished. Four Eyes collects torches and Coldblood loves beautiful gems. That's strange. No Insectoid ever thought about the others. No Insectoid ever collected anything. We have only one duty : To give our best for the community of the Insectoids.

I must think about it. Maybe there can be another way.

We follow the new corridor. At the end is a iron door. A door we've never seen up to now. A scroll close by reads :

Great treasure are behind these doors. Use your wits and always look carefully around.

We do so and find two loose rocks. The iron door opens and we find a wand that rises ones magic power. I give it to Ironskin. A few minutes later we walk around a corner. There we see it! A huge blue glowing crystal! It seems to be the source of that eerie noise we heard in many parts of this floor. A second scroll says that it can be used for healing and ressurrection. Great! Fantastic! That's just what we need.

An the end of the hallway we found stairs. Stairs down to the next level We expected this.

It was not hard up here. There was no real danger. No problem was left unsolved. But what lies ahead somewhere down in the new part of Mt. Grimrock? First we rest. Then we'll find it out.

[Orthocone]

<Spoiler> Frustration of a player.

I really don't know what to do. My party can't reach the end. I had a little more time yesterday, so I played about 6 hours. I don't want to give away a secret, but I tried it a few times.

Problem 1 :
If I develop offensiv magic early, I'll be killed because I'm too slow without acceptable protection.

Problem 2 :
If I develop Staff Defence to 14 (Light Armor for the front row) and Spellpower to 10 for all (Power Caster 25 % faster), I can't develop offensiv power.

Problem 3 :
I think every mage in such a group needs the basic spells of all elements. But that leads to

Problem 4 :
You do not earn enough levels to develop a mage party as necessary (IMO of course).

In the games I sometimes needed four rounds with all (!) mages to kill a spider. I was attacked by 3 of them (after I triggered the secret stairway) and I survived this fight only with tons of luck and one backrow mage who was closed to death with no spell points left. The last spider died within his last poison cloud.

I'm sorry, I can't act without mistakes. With only a few HP, every wrong move, every wrong mouse-click can lead to death. I can't look for the right moves in a hall do avoid crossfire, think about the perfect way back to a secure location and hit the right spell icons simultaniously.

I found out some problems of the game (I think you know them, but for me they're new) :
- If I cast a spell and retreat to fast my party is damaged. I don't know why.
- You must wait some time if you open a gate with an enemy behind. If you cast too early (even if the door seems open) the spell backfires. On the other hand you must be very quick. A crab, f.e. hit one of my mage for 58 and a second for 39 Points of damage with one attack. If you miss the small chain with the next click, the front row mages are dead.
- Why can a slime spew through bars and I can't shoot back with arrows? I understand I can't use melee weapons but why not arrows ?

So that's what I did the last 2 hours yesterday : Open, cast, close, sleep (or resurrect at the next crystal). You can repeat this dozends of times. I hope you can imagine that this is not fun. I know for sure that I won some combats only because I knew of the problems. I could prepare myself. I knew where to go, I knew what to do. Below level 6 this benefit ends.

O.K., you can argue now that it was my own decision to start such a special party without knowing the game to the end. But I posted it here somewhere else. It must be possible to solve a game with any party the game offers to create. I have tons of experience with about hundred (I really don't know) RPG's since Ultima II. But that hectic pace with so many clicks is not mine.

There must be a Pause-key in the future. You sometimes really need it. There must be a chance for the player to gather this thoughts for a moment in a difficult situation. There must be a chance to use healing potions or create other potions you need during combat. It's impossible now. The whole party stops fighting if you need to create an Energy Potion with one character, because one man can't click every button at everytime. I can't.

The only chance to bring this to an end is to play the game on "Easy". Believe me or not : I never was forced to do this in the past. I feel an overwhelming reluctance to do this.

A game should be fun not stress.

Sorry for this. But I really needed to write down my feelings about this game (at this moment).

[Darklord]

Sorry to hear you are stuggling.

If you play with an unbalanced party the game will be harder. If you want an easier play through I'd suggest a couple of Fighters/Rogues or one of each up front.

The game has been completed by others on hard with a single mage, so it can be done.

Daniel.

[Dr.Disaster]

Problem 1 :
If I develop offensiv magic early, I'll be killed because I'm too slow without acceptable protection.

Playing mages only means very slow going at the beginning. That's absolutly normal. Things get better once you reached certains landmark points like "Combat Caster" or learned their stronger/ranged elemental attacks.

Problem 2 :
If I develop Staff Defence to 14 (Light Armor for the front row) and Spellpower to 10 for all (Power Caster 25 % faster), I can't develop offensiv power.

Do NOT go for Staff Defence, it's a complete waste of skill points!
Mages have rather low health in general thus they can't take a lot of hit's, no matter what kind of armor you'll put on them.
Go for +Evasion/+Dexterity gear on your front row mages. If your mages are hit often you need to improve on your movement skills.

Problem 3 :
I think every mage in such a group needs the basic spells of all elements. But that leads to

Problem 4 :
You do not earn enough levels to develop a mage party as necessary (IMO of course).

Do NOT train a mage in all elements! You simply can't collect enough points to do that in a normal play-thru PLUS an element's damage potential is related to the skill points invested. Having a mage with only 2 to 4 points spent to get the initial elemental attacks is useless because those spells will never be able to dish out any decend damage. Stay with the element you choose for a mage and that element alone.

I'm sorry, I can't act without mistakes. With only a few HP, every wrong move, every wrong mouse-click can lead to death. I can't look for the right moves in a hall do avoid crossfire, think about the perfect way back to a secure location and hit the right spell icons simultaniously.

Well that is the challenge one has to face when playing mages only ...

I found out some problems of the game (I think you know them, but for me they're new) :
- If I cast a spell and retreat to fast my party is damaged. I don't know why.

I'm pretty sure that's the same issue with casting in front of a not fully opened door.
You cast and move at (almost) the same time. While moving you inhabit 2 squares for a short period of time, the square you leave and the square you enter. Now when casting an elemental spell that only affects the square in front of you has not been finished the effect will move along with your party and due to my 2-square-theory hit the square you leave but still inhabit.

- Why can a slime spew through bars and I can't shoot back with arrows? I understand I can't use melee weapons but why not arrows ?

Slimes do an Area-of-Effect attack, which i can accept but "not being able to shoot / throw / cast thru bars" is something i wonder too. I would expect to hit the bars now and then when shooting/throwing/casting stuff at them (like in Dungeon Master) but hitting them always? That's like hitting bullseye all the way! No ranged attacker is that perfect, even if he's called Robin Hood. We should bring that up as an improvement suggestion.

So that's what I did the last 2 hours yesterday : Open, cast, close, sleep (or resurrect at the next crystal). You can repeat this dozends of times. I hope you can imagine that this is not fun. I know for sure that I won some combats only because I knew of the problems. I could prepare myself. I knew where to go, I knew what to do. Below level 6 this benefit ends.

By the time you reach level 6 most of your mages should know their ranged elemental attacks and all should be able to cast 25% faster then usual. All my mages had 24 points into their elemental skill and 10 into Spellcraft when they got there, so it's doable.

[Orthocone]

The game has been completed by others on hard with a single mage, so it can be done.

Daniel.

If I reload every time I die then it is possible, I'm sure. But that's not the way I play. I survive or start a new run. And if I find out the game will not let me find a chance to win my way, it dies.

Only playing mages is easy possible, if they'd have healing spells.

To create a potion quickly during a combat you first need to open the inventory (which reduces the sight significally), then 2. Open Mortar. 3 Take empty flask 4. Take herb. 5 Take potion 6. Give it to the one who needs it. 7 Open this inventory and 8. Drink it. During this time you cannot do anything else. The fighting pauses. The enemy can easily cause much damage. If you say pausing a game isn't like reality, you're right. One can think so. But then you must find a way to let the other 3 characters, who do not create the potion, continue fighting during this process. Maybe through a "repeat last action"-button. The other way might be to let the characters find more flask, so that every mage can have one Healing, one Energy and one Cure Poison in their backback.

Maybe I'm wrong and I made a mistake, but I tried to give the characters a filled flask to use it like a weapon during combat. But they don't drink it then. That could help, too.

[Orthocone]

@ Dr. Disaster

Thank's for your hints. Maybe they can help. Maybe my thoughts building up these mages were wrong.

Oh dear.

But be sure : Even if I mutter a lot sometimes, I'll never give up until I'm sure there is no way .

I will continue my story after I'm sure I find a way to play the group with a bigger part of fun and a smaller part of stress.

[Darklord]

I think playing with just Mages is quite a bit more challenging than other party build's especially for a first play through! (or past level 6 as you were saying)

Good luck!

Daniel.