28 replies to this topic

[mr2131]

I finally got bull-headed enough to go back and play my way through the DSotSC encounters. I had to CLUA my way through the Forest Dragon encounter, as per a previous discussion. Cuccy ended up with the mace when he went off to whereever he goes off to. That cave complex seems to go on and on forever. It took me two days of real time, to complete that particular dungeon crawl. I ran into a woman named Jules who asked me to find her missing pearl necklace. She claims to have lost it somewhere between Nashkell and Beregost. No soap on finding it for her. Other that that, things went pretty well.

Question though, when am I supposed to start the NTotSC quests? An earlier post suggested that I needed to wait until after the TotSC adventures had been completed.

Mark

[Sir BillyBob]

Jules lost her necklace just north of Cuchy. An orc has it (read it's description to make sure you have the right one).

NTotSC is mostly done around Ulgoth's Beard. However, the main plot line does start before you go to Candlekeep. Talk to the pyscho chick (my bachelor brother claims they all are ) outside the Sorcerous Sundries in Baldur's Gate's first area. She will give you a quest to find something in the crypts.

Otherwise, all the new areas are up around the Beard, so you need to go there first. You can do some before hand but they may be hard. Exit out the top left corner of the area of farmer Wenric and his merry band of zombies.

Also, Duke Eltan will give you a quest when he talks about investigating the Iron Throne.

[mr2131]

Jules lost her necklace just north of Cuchy.  An orc has it (read it's description to make sure you have the right one).

NTotSC is mostly done around Ulgoth's Beard.  However, the main plot line does start before you go to Candlekeep.  Talk to the pyscho chick (my bachelor brother claims they all are ) outside the Sorcerous Sundries in Baldur's Gate's first area.  She will give you a quest to find something in the crypts.

Otherwise, all the new areas are up around the Beard, so you need to go there first.  You can do some before hand but they may be hard.  Exit out the top left corner of the area of farmer Wenric and his merry band of zombies.

Also, Duke Eltan will give you a quest when he talks about investigating the Iron Throne.

No Soap on the Necklace. I killed a flock of Orcs and cleared the damned screen, but I didn't find a pearl necklace belonging to Jules. There's a strong possibility that I killed the damned Orc and sold the necklace before I ran into Jules. I walked into a huge clump of Orcs and Orogs outside of the cave entrance before I picked up Cuccy.

I know about the map to the north of the Zombie field. Tough fight with a flock of spell casting Orcs. Seemingly unsolvable trap guarding the entrance to what seems to be some kind of underground complex. Calls for a key that isn't easy to locate. Getting tired of the Meteor Swarm spell the trap triggers. Bloody thing can kill you from half way across the map.

The Northern Citadel complex seems equally unsolveable. I spent an hour or so, wandering from place to place checking every clickable object and talking to everything and everybody that would sit still long enough for me to talk tho them. Eventually, I clicked on the wrong object and ended up making everybody in the complex hostile. I bailed on that little foray, without bothering to save. At the moment, It's like I never went there. To be honest, I still have no clue as to what I was supposed to be doing there.

Mark

Edited by mr2131, 22 March 2005 - 03:16 PM.

[Sir BillyBob]

Mark,

I do have a readme posted here somewhere with a walkthrough included.

The orcs in the Dead Wood? That door needs a special key that is not a key (sounds like some Confusious thing). What you actually need is a dagger and a ring. You will get them much later in the game.

The orc with the necklace will only appear after you have talked to Jules. He should be just north of where you met Cuchy and the mutt, er wolf.

Spoiler for the Citadel:

No one will talk to you unless Duke Eltan has given you the quest. Go into the castle and talk to Satos. He will introduce the three other who were also hired to help out (not that they ever do). Go outside and talk to the captain of the guard, Eldod. What a jerk.

Go out the north doorway to a room with some monks and one of the guards. Talk to him. Go upstairs and talk to everyone, specially Elenore (or whatever her name is). With the right dialog, she will give you a scroll you can use later to solve the mystery.

Go back down to Satos and out the East door way. This room looks like a store. Talk to the guy in the back and also to Utor if you want (the begger looking guy). Go down stairs. Talk to Shelton.

Come back up the stairs to watch the paladin fight the Tiax wannabe. Go back out to Satos.

The southern doorway leads to a temple of Helm. You can't do anything here other than notice that the altar is locked. So what? That is for later.

Go back to Satos and through the northern door. If you go back upstairs, the bottom right room now has the captain of the guard in it. By now you know that several guardsmen don't trust him and one flat out accuses him of murder.

Talking to Eldod will only make him leave. However, if you cast the Restoration scroll on him that Elenore gave you, he is freed from the charm spell that was cast on him. Go back to Satos.

If you didn't cast Restoration, Eldod came in here and killed Satos. If you did cast the spell, you can tell Satos what had happened. Either way, you will get a key to the crypts at the north part of the outdoor area. Go there.

Inside is the ogre magi that had charmed Eldod into killing everyone. This is where it gets fun. If Eldod healed, he and some of the other mercenaries will help you fight the ogre magi and his team. If Eldod is still under his control, he will help them fight you. There is also a chance that some of the mercenaries will help the ogre magi but I haven't gotten the dialog paths to work that way for me.

If you are successful and Satos is alive, he will welcome you to wander the citadel. Go talk to Avery, the leader of the temple. He will tell you that no one there has the key to the altar. It was given to a friend of the citadel's founder. The friend is an ice salamander (what kind of friend is that?).

To get the key, you will need to clear out the north coast of the fire salamanders so that a fishermen hanging out in the Gate can go home. He can take you out to the island.

However, the ice salamander will not give you the key until you destroy the cult of the black hand.

[mr2131]

Mark,

I do have a readme posted here somewhere with a walkthrough included.

The orcs in the Dead Wood?  That door needs a special key that is not a key (sounds like some Confusious thing).  What you actually need is a dagger and a ring.  You will get them much later in the game.

The orc with the necklace will only appear after you have talked to Jules.  He should be just north of where you met Cuchy and the mutt, er wolf.

Spoiler for the Citadel:

No one will talk to you unless Duke Eltan has given you the quest.  Go into the castle and talk to Satos.  He will introduce the three other who were also hired to help out (not that they ever do).  Go outside and talk to the captain of the guard, Eldod.  What a jerk.

Go out the north doorway to a room with some monks and one of the guards.  Talk to him.  Go upstairs and talk to everyone, specially Elenore (or whatever her name is).  With the right dialog, she will give you a scroll you can use later to solve the mystery.

Go back down to Satos and out the East door way.  This room looks like a store.  Talk to the guy in the back and also to Utor if you want (the begger looking guy).  Go down stairs.  Talk to Shelton.

Come back up the stairs to watch the paladin fight the Tiax wannabe.  Go back out to Satos.

The southern doorway leads to a temple of Helm.  You can't do anything here other than notice that the altar is locked.  So what?  That is for later.

Go back to Satos and through the northern door.  If you go back upstairs, the bottom right room now has the captain of the guard in it.  By now you know that several guardsmen don't trust him and one flat out accuses him of murder.

Talking to Eldod will only make him leave.  However, if you cast the Restoration scroll on him that Elenore gave you, he is freed from the charm spell that was cast on him.  Go back to Satos.

If you didn't cast Restoration, Eldod came in here and killed Satos.  If you did cast the spell, you can tell Satos what had happened.  Either way, you will get a key to the crypts at the north part of the outdoor area.  Go there.

Inside is the ogre magi that had charmed Eldod into killing everyone.  This is where it gets fun.  If Eldod healed, he and some of the other mercenaries will help you fight the ogre magi and his team.  If Eldod is still under his control, he will help them fight you.  There is also a chance that some of the mercenaries will help the ogre magi but I haven't gotten the dialog paths to work that way for me.

If you are successful and Satos is alive, he will welcome you to wander the citadel.  Go talk to Avery, the leader of the temple.  He will tell you that no one there has the key to the altar.  It was given to a friend of the citadel's founder.  The friend is an ice salamander (what kind of friend is that?).

To get the key, you will need to clear out the north coast of the fire salamanders so that a fishermen hanging out in the Gate can go home.  He can take you out to the island.

However, the ice salamander will not give you the key until you destroy the cult of the black hand.

Well, that explains the problem with the Orc mages and their blasted trap. Or should I say blasting?

I'll head back to the Citadel to give it a second go. That and I'm going to see if I can figure out where the walk-through is hiding. Probably in plain sight, I've just been too lazy to look.

I had an entire week off for Spring Break, and got very little done. Between filling out applications for various school districts, struglgling to pay our due to Uncle Sam, and our monthly financial panic, let's say I was preoccupied. W's tax cuts certainly did nothing to help my little family. The wife likens our finances to trying to cover a king-sized bed with a baby blanket.

Mark

[cujo]

Mark,

I do have a readme posted here somewhere with a walkthrough included.

Well, that explains the problem with the Orc mages and their blasted trap. Or should I say blasting?

I'll head back to the Citadel to give it a second go. That and I'm going to see if I can figure out where the walk-through is hiding. Probably in plain sight, I've just been too lazy to look.

I had an entire week off for Spring Break, and got very little done. Between filling out applications for various school districts, struglgling to pay our due to Uncle Sam, and our monthly financial panic, let's say I was preoccupied. W's tax cuts certainly did nothing to help my little family. The wife likens our finances to trying to cover a king-sized bed with a baby blanket.

Mark

Hi Mark,

The areas you are having problems with is part of Northern Tales. The walkthrough was posted with version 1.0 and the thread can be found here.

That blasting trap also took me by surprise, it killed 3 of my party members. And the Citadel quest can take a while because there are so many people you have to talk to in the right order but you'll find it out soon enough.

[mr2131]

Hi Mark,

The areas you are having problems with is part of Northern Tales.  The walkthrough was posted with version 1.0 and the thread can be found here.

That blasting trap also took me by surprise, it killed 3 of my party members.  And the Citadel quest can take a while because there are so many people you have to talk to in the right order but you'll find it out soon enough.

Hey Cujo,

Tell me about it. The first time I ran into it, it killed everybody except Jaheira. A couple of reboots later, I thought I was being smart. I moved my whole party to the other side of the map and had Imoen read a protection from magic scroll. Then I ran her over to the trap and clicked on it. Everybody went down except Imoen and Jaheira again. Thanks for the link. I've downloaded it and will read it through. At the moment I am diagraming encounters and dialogs. At some point, probably shortly after hell freezes over, I'm going to need some real help.

Mark

[cujo]

Exactly the reason why I didn't tell people about it when I first went through NTotSC. The farmer told me about the area, so I went there finally killed all them Orcs, rested and healed the party, and click on it. I also tried to do the "smart" thing by standing away from it, and even tried running away after I clicked on it.

I hope more people can appreciate this nice little surprise.

[Sir BillyBob]

Until you have those two "keys" don't click on the crypt.

By the way, the author of this actual has the trap send a fireball to each member of the team. So the best way to stay alive is to seperate from each other. Being together anywhere on the map just makes you toast. Probably one of the nastiest traps in all the games.

[mr2131]

Until you have those two "keys" don't click on the crypt.

By the way, the author of this actual has the trap send a fireball to each member of the team.  So the best way to stay alive is to seperate from each other.  Being together anywhere on the map just makes you toast.  Probably one of the nastiest traps in all the games.

I noticed. I managed to get myself sidetracked in Baldur's Gate running down some of the peripheral quests. Stumbled my way into some of The Grey Clan material. So far, it seems pretty neat. It's bloody amazing how much content there is to distract you in this beast. Before I forget, you mentioned a psycho chick, (Whether or not they're all psycho depends on where they are on the lunar cycle when you're talking to 'em. ) The only chick I ran into outside of the Sorceror's Sundries was that Priestess of Leira that you run into again in the Blade and Stars. What exactly where you supposed to say to her to trigger a quest?

Cujo,

I agree. everybody needs to have their party flambe'd at least once. It builds character.

Mark

Edited by mr2131, 24 March 2005 - 03:48 PM.

[Sir BillyBob]

You have to not understand her or understand the whole mist thing she babbles about. Tell her to go away or that you understand clearly will piss her off and you won't get the quest. Uncertain answers are what she wants. She will give you the quest then.

I forgot that she was also in the inn. I have a different dialog for her so the inn should not be any help on the quest. I guess I should see about removing her from there. Or maybe not, her strange answers may make leaving her there even more entertaining.

[mr2131]

Oh. Well that quest is down the tubes for this go round. I either pissed her off or some other variant, because she didn't quest me. Good to know for sure though. I waded through hordes of Grey Clan people last night. Not real heavy on the dialog, but great carnage, and one very peculiar encounter. My final battle last night seemed definitely anti-climatic.

Now, where the hell was I . . . .

Mark

Edited by mr2131, 25 March 2005 - 05:29 AM.

[Ascension64]

I waded through hordes of Grey Clan people last night. Not real heavy on the dialog, but great carnage, and one very peculiar encounter. My final battle last night seemed definitely anti-climatic.

I thought that way too, but hell, TGC is supposed to be for Tutu anyway...back to the topic at hand...

[Sir BillyBob]

Yeah, I would like it to be fixed so there isn't a compatibility issue with DSotSC (the Friendly Arm Inn area problem) but if you do the mods in the correct order at the correct time sequence, things work out.

Mark, did you piss her off and she left or did she stay and just ignores you? If she left, you have a problem with the biggest quest in the game. Well, maybe not, you already discovered where the book really is (remember the three demons?) so you could still solve Haebal's quest. However, if I remember right, he won't give you the quest unless you killed the monk (Hasdar) standing next to pyscho woman. So you may have to CTRL-Y him if she has already left. He will not talk to you if you don't complete her quest.

There are little lock-step issues like this all through NTotSC. I wish the author had made some of the quests a little more forgiving in how to get them solved. Being forced to talk to each person in a certain order is really annoying at times.

[mr2131]

Yeah, I would like it to be fixed so there isn't a compatibility issue with DSotSC (the Friendly Arm Inn area problem) but if you do the mods in the correct order at the correct time sequence, things work out.

Mark, did you piss her off and she left or did she stay and just ignores you?  If she left, you have a problem with the biggest quest in the game.  Well, maybe not, you already discovered where the book really is (remember the three demons?) so you could still solve Haebal's quest.  However, if I remember right, he won't give you the quest unless you killed the monk (Hasdar) standing next to pyscho woman.  So you may have to CTRL-Y him if she has already left.  He will not talk to you if you don't complete her quest.

There are little lock-step issues like this all through NTotSC.  I wish the author had made some of the quests a little more forgiving in how to get them solved.  Being forced to talk to each person in a certain order is really annoying at times.

TGC seemed to work just fine with this install. Got lucky I guess. She's gone. I don't remember her reply, but she walked off. If that was supposed to lead to a major quest for the mod, the lead in definitely needs to be rewritten. There's no indication that this is anything other than the encounter with the crazy lady in the Inn.

On a related front, has anybody tracked down exactly what needs to be changed to make Exnem work with CTB? I really enjoy the Exnem Items. (Yes, I love cheese, and I'm not even from Wisconsin, so there. )

Mark

Edited by mr2131, 25 March 2005 - 11:15 AM.

[Sir BillyBob]

I posted a question about it over in the mod making forums but never got a single answer. I have a BGT-BP-CtB game right now that I am trying to fix Exnem on. It seems to be that there is a limit to the number of random treasure groups (rows actually) in the rndtrea.2da file. I have it now written so that Exnem knows if CtB is already installed and it will change it's random treasure items so they don't conflict with the CtB items.

For example, RNDTRE06.ITM is a random treasure added to some creatures to give you Exnem potions or scrolls. RNDTRE06.ITM is also used by CBisson for his random treasures. The game comes with RNDTRE01 through RNDTRE05. So both of us are trying to add the same item to creatures. To fix this, I have the TP2 file rename Exnem's RNDTRE06 to RNDTRE15 which is the next available number after CB's items. I also have the TP2 add the updated items to creatures if CtB is installed, and the regular items to creatures if it isn't installed. Everything should work, right?

Wrong, I checked by bringing in an orc while I was still at Candlekeep. CTRL-Y the sucker and guess what I found? A scroll of Symbol of Death. Cool, a 9th level spell scroll on a stupid orc! And you thought Exnem was cheese. So, it isn't working yet. I haven't gotten back to messing with it because I don't know what else to try.

I need the great Pooba Hlid or many Horred to answer this one. It may be that I have to actually rebuild the ITM files for the higher numbers. Don't know why since they are empty items but WTH? So in the meantime, I am working on my TC project instead.

Keep tracking down the issues with NTotSC, I have a game directory stashed with BH and the DSotSC/NTotSC mods installed so I can keep working on fixes if you find them.

[mr2131]

I posted a question about it over in the mod making forums but never got a single answer.  I have a BGT-BP-CtB game right now that I am trying to fix Exnem on.  It seems to be that there is a limit to the number of random treasure groups (rows actually) in the rndtrea.2da file.  I have it now written so that Exnem knows if CtB is already installed and it will change it's random treasure items so they don't conflict with the CtB items.

For example, RNDTRE06.ITM is a random treasure added to some creatures to give you Exnem potions or scrolls.  RNDTRE06.ITM is also used by CBisson for his random treasures.  The game comes with RNDTRE01 through RNDTRE05.  So both of us are trying to add the same item to creatures.  To fix this, I have the TP2 file rename Exnem's RNDTRE06 to RNDTRE15 which is the next available number after CB's items.  I also have the TP2 add the updated items to creatures if CtB is installed, and the regular items to creatures if it isn't installed.  Everything should work, right?

Wrong, I checked by bringing in an orc while I was still at Candlekeep.  CTRL-Y the sucker and guess what I found?  A scroll of Symbol of Death.  Cool, a 9th level spell scroll on a stupid orc!  And you thought Exnem was cheese.  So, it isn't working yet.  I haven't gotten back to messing with it because I don't know what else to try.

I need the great Pooba Hlid or many Horred to answer this one.  It may be that I have to actually rebuild the ITM files for the higher numbers.  Don't know why since they are empty items but WTH?  So in the meantime, I am working on my TC project instead.

Keep tracking down the issues with NTotSC, I have a game directory stashed with BH and the DSotSC/NTotSC mods installed so I can keep working on fixes if you find them.

Thanks for looking into the Exnem issue. Why does it seem that that the easy solution to a problem is always wrong? Sorry if I put you to any extra grief.

On the BG front. I just got done polishing off Sarevok. Went back into BG. (Not like I had that much choice. Looks like the crazy lady quest is completely fubared for this time round. The old monk still refuses to talk with me. From here I'll check into as much of the DSotSC and NSotSC material as I can access. Putting the game to bed at a little past midnight. My party is hitting the hay at the The Three Old Kegs, nice Inn, here's to hoping the ale is good and Keiria's willing to play us a tune.

Mark

[Sir BillyBob]

Go stand near the monk and set this global:

SetGlobal("TalkedToElnaedraPB","GLOBAL",1)

He should come over to talk to you. Normally this part of the quest happens after you come back from Candlekeep because you would tell her that the book wasn't there.

Maybe I could have her respawn after Candlekeep even if she left the first time? Of course if you had pissed her off and she left, logically why would she want to talk to you again? I'll figure something out with her.

[mr2131]

Go stand near the monk and set this global:

SetGlobal("TalkedToElnaedraPB","GLOBAL",1)

He should come over to talk to you.  Normally this part of the quest happens after you come back from Candlekeep because you would tell her that the book wasn't there.

Maybe I could have her respawn after Candlekeep even if she left the first time?  Of course if you had pissed her off and she left, logically why would she want to talk to you again?  I'll figure something out with her.

Crap, If I'd waited a bit and read my forum before setting off . . . .

I managed to screw something up pretty badly. I tried to short circuit the book quest. I took the book from the T'anari in the cave. I brought the book, first to Hasdar, no response. (damn) I brought the book to Haebal, (Hairball would probably be more apt) no response. (DAMN) I killed Hairball and took the key from his body. Then I grabbed the dead wizard and took him back to the Demons, no response. (DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) By this this time I was royally annoyed, so I killed the damned T'anari and company. None of the other T'anari in the complex responded, so I left. I rested my party on the Cloudpeaks map and CTD. (********************) I've tried to move to other maps and going through and getting rid of the stuff I picked up, nothing works. As soon as I go to rest, my computer locks up solid.

On a related front, wasn't able to find either of the lead ins to the Fishing Village quest. I cleared the Fields of the Dead screen, but absolutely no progress on finding the keys to the various crypts. All-in-all, a pretty damed frustrating evening.

Sorry, I needed to vent. As soon as I can figure out how to get around this CTD issue, I'll try and get moving again.

Mark

Edited by mr2131, 26 March 2005 - 08:03 PM.

[Sir BillyBob]

Okay, fishing village. It is north of the Beard. I assume you have already been there? If not, find the fisherman in Baldur's Gate (Nadalin, I think). He will tell you about not being able to fish anymore. He doesn't reveal the area, I don't remember who does or if you just need to leave the Beard to see it. Anywho, clear out the sirines next to his boat and all fire salamanders (inside the cave also).

Talk to the skipper in the village and also Nadalin so he knows he can go home. You will not be able to go to the ice salamander island without solving the Citadel quest (which I think you had already hosed).

CTD issues. If it is on more than one area, it could be an item that needs to reappear or recharge (something that disappears with use but returns after resting). I can't think of any new items like this. The other known problem for these crashes is a memmorized spell that is corrupt (simply a bad spell). You would have to unselect that spell from your memorized list so it won't try to add it back.

a CTD on one screen only usually means that the resting monster spawn has a bad creature listed. So I would need to know if this is really the problem with your game. Does it just crash on Cloudpeaks or on any area? At an inn and/or outside?