Note that as a Walk-through there will be spoilers, but TOEE is such a linear game that I doubt those will matter much. All comments are of course welcome.
The University: A Party History
The faculty lounge was perhaps best described as overstuffed. It boasted a rich supply of overfull bookcases crammed with overlarge books. The many smaller tables and desks were covered to overflowing with papers, many of them crammed full of overly-colorful prose detailing over-exaggerated tales of daring. The overly-padded chairs themselves groaned (in some cases literally) with the effort of containing many fine examples of over-fed and sadly under-exercised over the hill Wizards.
Achepee Likecraft, Dean of that Which Man was Not Meant to Know, snorted his way to consciousness, roaring ?The puddings! The terrible puddings!?
?Yes, they were a bit off weren?t they,? agreed Mistress Schellie, recently appointed Chair of the Department of Unhealthy Obsessions, ?I shall have words with the cook.?
Dean Likecraft shook his head with what he hoped to be a leonine growl rather than an asthmatic wheeze. ?No! No?the temple. I feel stirrings from the temple.?
?The Temple of Lost Possibilities?? inquired Senior Projective Skeptic Lewis, looking up from his research.
?No, it was??
?The Temple of the Dark Dragons of Dagerhoth and Friends?? asked Mistress Anais Neen, Chief Researcher of Magics Perhaps Best Not Mentioned.
?No, not that, it was??
?The Temple Of Large Iron Skinned Demons With Sharp Pointy Teeth and A Taste for Bottoms?? nervously asked Exmass Carrol, Reader of Unremembered Writings.
?No!? exploded Likecraft, ?No! It was the Temple of Elemental Evil! The great bloody Temple of Elemental Evil! You know! Evil!?
?Never heard of it? said Mistress Schellie, and went back to her reading.
Thus failing to arouse serious concern (or indeed concern of any kind) among his fellow University faculty, Dean Likecraft was forced to pull together a group of his own graduate students and send them off to the Druids of the Gnarly Woods (as advised by the chair of the Department of Unhelpful Portents) to begin their inquiries. Dean Likecraft selected the students on the basis of their nerve, their pluck, their talent, their moxie?most importantly; he selected students in desperate need of comfy post-graduate postings. Their mission; to seek out, explore, and destroy the Temple of Elemental Evil!
Dramatis Personae:
Hemmingway, Neutral Evil male dwarf, Wizard, Str:14 / Dex:14 / Con:16 / Int:14 / Wis:9 / Cha:6, starting feat: Glaive, familiar: Toad (?Lunch?), starting AC:16 w/ Mage Armor, starts w/ 10 HP. Hemmingway, an unusual Dwarf with a taste for Necromancy, agreed to go on this mission in the hope of securing a position in the Department of Unwholesome Magics (Tentacle Division). Smart enough to know that his unpleasant personality and complete lack of interpersonal skills are serious drawbacks but not quite wise enough to do anything about it, Hemingway?s primary role in the party is to act as a blocker. In the early game he will rely on scrolls of color spray, burning hands, chill touch, etc. He will eventually use Skill Focus: Concentration and Combat Casting to cast defensively from the front lines.
Wolf, Chaotic Neutral Female Halfling, Str:6 / Dex:18 / Con: 16 / Int:13 / Wis:8 / Cha:8, starting feat: Dodge, familiar: Toad (?Squeak?), starting AC:19 w/ Mage Armor + 1 Dodge Bonus, starts w/ 10 HP. Wolf is a deeply disturbed and disturbing Halfling with a talent for magic and the instincts of the street urchin she once was. She has never belonged anywhere save the University, and feels a strong need for a ?home? to return to after her travels. She hopes to one day take a teaching position within the Department of Poorly Conceived Secrets. Wolf will act as the party?s secondary blocker, relying almost entirely on touch and fan spell scrolls for her offensive punch. With an effective AC of 20 versus the first attack she faces in each round and very good saves, she should prove a tough target for early foes, even tougher after level three brings her mirror image and blur.
Heinlein, Neutral Good Male Human Wizard, Str:9, Dex:10, Con:10, Int:16, Wis:8, Cha:16, starting feats: Persuasive, Negotiator. Familiar; Snake (?Wiggles?). A charming liar and friendly rogue, Heinlein had hoped to make a soft nest for himself at the University and never leave. It was the Department of Comforting Illusions for him and no mistake. Unfortunately his famous powers of persuasion seemed to be just what this little student?s mission called for, and so, well, off he was sent. Heinlein will take the typical caster?s combat role, with a mix of offensive spells and buffs. Outside of combat Owl?s Wisdom, Eagle?s Grace and Fox?s Cunning together with a Circlet of Persuasion will make him a more than adequate ?face? for the team.
Lee, True Neutral Female Elf Wizard, 9/18/10/16/8/8, Starting Feat: Skill Focus (Search), familiar: Cat (?Azhrarn?). Lee is both quiet and reserved for an Elf, caring little for anything other than the pure pursuit of knowledge. A scholar to the bone, she knows that she belongs in the University, and hopes one day to sit as chair of the Department of Absurd Facts. Her combat role is typical ranged support; she will also develop some limited ?thief? skills.
Zelazny, Lawful Neutral Human Wizard, 8/10/13/18/10/8, Starting Feats: Skill Focus (Appraise), Self-Sufficient, familiar: Raven (?Quoth?). Zelazny is widely regarded as a rising star at the academy, gifted with a rare intelligence and talent for magic. The son of a traveling merchant, he has spent his life buying and selling across the face of Oerth. Zelazny hopes one day to take his place in the great seat of the Arch-Dean. His very highly developed Appraise and Survival skills will help keep the party well supplied and avoid unwanted random encounters, both vital roles.
The University II
The following papers have been gathered together through the joint efforts of the Reader of Writings as of yet Un-written and the Reader of Unremembered Writings. They represent a consensus view of the probable course of the mission of the University?s recently dispatched student investigative team. The reliability, accuracy, indeed the very existence of any of the texts quoted herein can not be guaranteed by the collators of this report, who would just as soon not be associated with it in any way.
From the collected letters of Zelazny:
My dearest father,
How goes the trade with Highport? Still a demand for spices? If you can find a market for giant frog?s blood, I?ve found a swamp full of the wretched things. I can?t imagine why you would be interested in the details of outfitting an expedition of Wizards. We do certainly engage in a great deal of trade, but none of it in the trade goods on which the family business thrives.
The Druids of the Gnarly Woods appeared to be singularly unhelpful, sending us on a petty errand to the tiny village of Hommlet and offering no information on the location of this Temple whatsoever. Still, orders are orders. Our contact in Hommlet in turn asked us to investigate bandit activity in the ?Moathouse,? a small fort sitting in the middle of a nearby swamp. By an amazing stroke of luck, that fort was historically an outpost of the very temple we seek! The Portents department may deserve more credit than I at first gave it.
Of course we couldn?t head out immediately. ?Ill-supplied is ill-fated? as you always say. A quick trip to the local church of Cuthbert allowed us to fill our packs with healing salves, inks and parchment. Barter took care of all our needs and netted us a handsome profit; we exchanged the scribing of a few score scrolls of Read Magic and other cantrips for the goods and a nice payment in gold besides. How such a miserable little village maintains such a fine church I have no idea. On the march back to the local inn we found ourselves in a minor tussle with a goblin and encountered a morose shepherd whom Lee assures me is an elf-friend. Not remarkable I know, but he gave us a pair of Boots of Elvenkind in exchange for our goblin slaying, not a bad profit.
Once checked in at the inn (having uncovered a minor league card-cheat to pay our way; ?Trade, don?t buy? as you always say) we quickly scribed a few dozen scrolls of useful combat spells. We also traded spell books; ?Knowledge shared is knowledge doubled?.
That was it really. We chose the spells that seemed useful and had a good night?s sleep. Spells memorized and packs full, we shall head out for this Moathouse as soon as I post you this note.
Best of profit in the next leg of your journey, and give my love to mum,
Your dutiful son,
-Zelazny
Game Mechanics:
With Zelazny?s starting Appraise skill of 12, Calmert will pay 9 gp and a few silver for a scroll it costs 6 gp and no xp to scribe. By assigning Scribe Scroll to a hotkey, it?s possible to quadruple your starting gold in a minute or two of clicking. For less law-abiding parties, going upstairs, stealing the scrolls in the book case, then scribing enough scrolls of read magic to identify them would be much faster. Once the party built up a few thousand in gold I took them back to the inn, stopping to slay the goblin and pick up the boots. Between slaying the goblin and uncovering Furnook, the party had enough experience for some serious scribing. Everyone got 10 scrolls of Sleep and Magic Missile. The front liners also got 5 each of Color Spray, Mage Armor, and Protection from Evil. Finally, everyone exchanged key spells. The front liners memorized Protection from Evil and Reduce Person, everyone else loaded up on Sleep spells, and the team was ready to go. Next: Moathouse Part One.
The University III:
An excerpt from the diaries of Hemmingway, Necromancer:
They looked shocked when I started slitting throats in the courtyard. Soft, all save the mad girl. When the first bandit woke up and charged us they had to kill him, and after that there was no more nonsense about what to do with our ?helpless? enemies. Our time in the Moathouse was good, good for all of us. We became harder, learned how to fight as a team. The mad girl led, shrunk down to the size of a cat and layered with every protective enchantment we had. She danced and leapt on full defense, almost nothing could touch her. We came in from behind, me with my glaive and the odd spell, the others with endless streams of magic. Good times. In the end we killed dozens. Men, half-men, even the undead.
The undead were terrifying. I have seen those who wield divine magic destroy or command hoards of these creatures with an upraised hand. Not an option for us. Not yet. When we spied the things Heinlein wanted to flee, to leave them to their shambling. The man is a fool. Whoever created them might have used them to block our retreat, or called them down on us as we rested. Too dangerous. Heinlein had this much right; the enchantments that so easily bested the living of this place would be useless against the dead. Zelazny had the answer. We retreated to the spider tower and built up a stock of summoning scrolls, then returned. The mindless ones wasted their time feasting upon our minions while we picked them off one at a time with evocations and sheets of flame. A few saw past our ruse (or perhaps simply wandered in among us) and some slimes we?d failed to notice picked a bad time to awaken, but I and the mad girl dealt with those. Burnt human flesh smells like roast pork. Made me hungry. Didn?t mention that to the others.
The chambers of the master of this place were guarded by more humans, and not a wizard among them. Only so much meat after we were done, and not one of mine objected to the killing. They were learning. The master was tougher, a skilled divine magic user. We fed him summoned beasts and blasted him so fast and often he had time only for a single spell. He tried to surrender, but as the others started to listen to his babblings the mad girl hit him with another arcane bolt. Killed him.
I like her.
Game Mechanic Notes:
An all arcane party has a very different time in the Moathouse than a party with even a couple of solid melee artists, particularly when facing the undead. Sleep spells and color spray can take down most opponents, especially if a few summon monster 1 & 2 spells are used to block their approach until they fail their saves. A high dexterity Halfling makes for an incredible blocker; she will get hit, but between Protection from Evil, Mage Armor, Reduce Person and Full Defense she won?t get hit often. At third level after the fight with the gnolls I added Blur, Cat?s Grace, False Life and Mirror Image to the mix. False Life is a particularly good spell, a kind of poor man?s Stoneskin. Very few early opponents do more than 10-12 hp of damage even on a critical; False Life can suck up most of that and keep your mage going. Fox?s Cunning is also an underated combat spell, allowing you to occasionally take out targets that would otherwise have made their saves.
Scribing has changed under the patch; as far as I can tell, you now cast spells from scrolls at the same level as you scribed them. The University team is now in the temple, casting four magic missiles per volley from scrolls. This means that it may be a good idea to upgrade your scroll collection on every second or third level up. On the downside I tested another party with a cleric; you can no longer scribe scrolls with your cleric or druid and then have your wizards copy those scrolls.
The University IV
From Zaxis? ?The History of The Naughty Nursemaid, and also Some Trifling Events at a Temple?:
The elf wiped the soot from her face with a damp cloth, and offered a tentative smile to the human. The human, a handsome male, was carefully re-organizing a pack filled with potions and scrolls.
?Smile Heinlein,? said the elf gently, ?we?ve won.?
?Yes. Yes, as always, we?ve won.?
?You?d prefer the alternative??
Grinning slightly now, his eyes focusing, the human shook his head.
?No.?
?Would you like some jerky??
The two ate quietly as their companions looted the body of the priest. The battle in the Temple of Fire had been fierce, yet surprisingly one sided. The wizards of the University had entered the temple warded against fire and blade. Simple stealth had allowed the elf to successfully scout out the chamber, and the probing of a spell had revealed the hidden beasts. Wards of cold flame were quickly erected around the quintet, and three minor beasts of living flame were called between the wizards and their foes. A Storm of Ice awoke the temple guardians, and was followed by more of the same. The beasts of the temple threw themselves hopelessly against the wizard?s minions, and the salamanders poured fireballs down upon the party, all to no avail. What Storms of Ice began, Cones of Cold completed.
The temple guardians died without landing a single blow.
Heinlein handed a few scrolls to Lee.
?I feel useless down here. You scout, Zelazny plans and conjures, Wolf blocks and Hemmingway takes down anyone who gets past Zelazny?s pets. I?don?t have much of a role here.?
The elf smiled again, then slashed at the human with her sword. The human yelped; the electrical current flowing through the blade could burn into him despite his wards. The elf stopped the blow centimeters from the human?s chest.
?Stop whinging Heinlein. You enchanted this blade for me. You do your share of the scribing, and one of those elementals answered to you. You released ice and cold against the salamanders with the rest of us. Humans are supposed to learn quickly; you know you play your part.?
Heinlein grinned again. ?Maybe I wanted to hear you say it.?
The elf nodded, and the two joined their companions in planning for the next chamber.
Game Mechanics:
The party has completed most of the temple and is now working on the nodes, all without reloads or deaths. Haven?t had much time for the game, but some notes on buffs and scrolls that might be useful:
Many buffs can eventually be replaced by the appropriate items. Before you?ve done your craft-a-thon, Mage Armor, False Life, Cat?s Grace and Bear?s Endurance make a nice default combo. Mage Armor and False Life have long durations, and once cast should last until you?re ready to rest again. Cat?s Grace and Bear?s Endurance are shorter lived, and will probably have to be re-cast once or twice between rests; carry back up scrolls. Shorter duration buffs are annoying to keep re-casting, and won?t come into play that often. I?m just applying them to the front line blockers when needed. Where possible, scout first, then buff (ending with the shortest duration buffs), then call up a few minions, and finally initiate combat with area of effect attacks. Fire Elementals make a good minion choice; your fireballs won?t hurt them. Protection from Energy and Stone Skin are star players once available, and Protection from Energy (Fire) does stack with Fire Shield (Cold Flames). Between the two your wizards will be able to mostly ignore fireball tossing foes. As to when to use short duration buffs and minions, scouting is your friend. Generally, Protection from Energy can be cast as soon as you enter an area, as long as you are willing to renew it once it runs out. Using back up scrolls with a radial menu spell is a little tricky; have one character memorize and cast the spell normally. After that, scroll castings will use whatever options the original caster selected. This method can also be used to cheaply mass produce summoned monsters, as a Summon Monster I scroll can be used to duplicate a Summon Monster IV or V; forcing yourself to stick to using the appropriate scroll to call the appropriate level of monster boosts the challenge.
Gaseous Form wins the medal for most disappointing buff. A weak version of stone skin that doesn?t block magic weapons or spells and doesn?t allow for attacks, I?d recommend avoiding it. You?re better off with something like a Displacement + Mirror Image combo on top of your longer term protective spells.
I?m still not sure what the heck is happening with scrolls. Most of the time the level seems to default to the level of the scriber; other times it seems to be the minimal level at which the spell could be cast. It looks like a scroll scribed by a character that has a copy of that same scroll in his inventory will be cast at the level of the scroll it?s stacking with. Another good reason to sell off your old scrolls before scribing after LU.
Scrolls of Stone Skin cost 450 gold each to scribe, making them more expensive to use than casting the spell normally but cheaper than a charge from a ToEE Wand of Stone Skin. On the other hand, Stone Skin is a very useful medium duration buff. I chose to carry back up scrolls of Stone Skin.
Last, as scrolls do not invite attacks of opportunity in ToEE, a good and varied supply means that Concentration becomes much less important.
Edited by BobTokyo, 23 June 2004 - 09:26 AM.
