Pages

Saturday, June 22, 2024

Die Quelle von Naroth: Gib Mir Geld

 
That's what I want.
        
When I wrapped up the first session of Die Quelle von Naroth, I was struggling to pay for the training that I was due. That problem continued well into this session. For a couple of hours, I was trapped in a cycle of being unable to defeat any monsters until I could level up, but unable to level up until I could afford it.
     
You can persuade or fight the guards to get out of town.
       
I ended up solving the issue by leaving Dandall before finishing the dungeon. What I had regarded as an impassable guard at the city exit was in fact a guard open to persuasion. I successfully talked him into letting me out of the city. This takes the player to a non-interactive map (with background sounds of wind and bird calls) with a menu of six cities to visit: Dandall (the starting city), Kospan, Kloster, Arpolis, Lapolin, and Schloß. I tried a few of them and encountered more difficult creatures in their dungeons than I had fled in Dandall.
        
The "outdoor" map.
     
At some point, I realized that Kloster means "monastery" in German. An NPC in Dandall had told me that Benedictinus at the monastery was seeking someone to clear the basement of hostile creatures. I stopped randomly exploring and headed directly there.
    
The monastery was a walled compound with four towers in the corner. Each had a staircase leading to the underground area. In the middle building, I met Benedictinus, who confirmed the quest and asked us to retrieve the Book of Wisdom from the basement.
        
Exploring my second city.
     
Some of the enemies in the dungeon were easier than those remaining in Dandall; some were not. It was during this session that I came to appreciate how much a difference enemy equipment makes. Just because you can handle four ogres wearing leather and wielding short swords doesn't mean you can handle four ogres wielding broadswords and wearing platemail. "Duh," you might say, but in most games, enemies of a particular type are always at a uniform difficulty. The orcs and goblins in Pool of Radiance always have the same equipment. Naroth thus offers a more nuanced encounter system.
          
16 kobolds don't sound so hard; 16 kobolds with longbows and platemail sound hard.
        
For a while, I bounced back and forth between the Kloster dungeon and the Dandall dungeon. I'd defeat two medusas and two ogres in the former only to get smashed by 10 goblins. Back in Dandall, I'd defeat some soldiers and spiders only to get destroyed by four ogres. None of these encounters were getting me any money, and I had annotated almost a dozen places I couldn't pass at my current level. The dam finally broke when I defeated a couple of soldiers in Kloster and got a longsword and plate armor, my first weapon/armor upgrade since the first couple hours of the game. Around the same time, I found a chest with 1,000 gold pieces that, combined with what I already had and some sale items, got me three levels. 
       
The most welcome sight in the world.
     
The Kloster dungeon went down to a second level, where a long hallway ended at a wall with three recesses, two of them holding gems. I had to find a gem in a chest on the first level, guarded by two druids. After I put the gem in the third recess, the wall opened, leading to an area with a chest with 500 gold and another chest with the Book of Wisdom. I returned the book to Benedictinus for a reward of a magic wand, a two-handed sword, and another suit of platemail. Selling the items that this equipment replaced bought me another couple of levels. 
     
The recess in the wall.
      
Back in Dandall, I pushed through a previously-unwinnable battle with 4 well-equipped ogres to find the golden key that Aurelius asked us to find. Rather than give it to him, I used it to open a locked door in the same dungeon and loot the same treasure chest that he was going for. It had a magic (two-handed) sword, a suit of magic armor, and 3,500 gold pieces. The key was consumed when I opened the door, so when I returned to Aurelius, he had nothing new to say.
      
My first magic weapon.
      
With that, I was finally able to catch up with my earned training. In fact, after selling excess stuff, I was over 3,000 gold pieces ahead. Everyone reached Level 5. My cleric has four spells: "Healing I," "Healing II," "Healing III," and "Group Healing." My mage has "Magic Missile," "Magic Cloud," "Fainting Spell," "Escape," and "Panic." "Escape" would seem to be a way out of combat if you're losing. I haven't had much luck with "Fainting Spell" or "Panic" so far, and I mostly just use the mage for the first two damage spells.
     
Ilende checks out her healing options in battle with some ogres.
       
With my new levels, I tried to clear out the Kloster dungeon for good, but there are a couple of parties--principally, a group of 4 trolls and a group of 16 kobolds with longbows and platemail--that I can't defeat. I also still can't defeat the two stupid trolls in the Dandall dungeon. I'll just have to save them all for later.
     
Before moving on to another city, I should mention that at some point, I noticed there was a yellowed piece of paper in my inventory. I don't remember where I got it. When I looked at it, it read:
      
The piece of paper contains three drawings, the contours of which are, however, quite faded and the motifs are no longer recognizable. There is a text under the drawings: "We have acquired the items pictured above and used their magic to destroy the source. Afterwards, as ordered, we hid the items in safe places. I am sending you a messenger with this message, while my men and I are already carrying out a new errand. Sincerely, Gonzales."
     
I'm guessing this refers to the game's backstory, in which the magical Well of Naroth ("the source") was destroyed through unknown means. [Ed. As stepped pyramids points out below, the translation should be "used their magic to destroy the well," rather than "source," making the connection explicit.]  I don't think I found any artifact that the note refers to.
   
We moved on to Kospan, which has the same types of shops and services as Dandall, if not as many. I was greeted in one house by a man named Langsan. He assumed that someone from Arpolis had sent me to retrieve a book of poetry, which Langsan will only trade for the Book of Time and the Book of Life. When I checked at the inn, "Langsan" was not an option to ask about but "Gonzales" was. The innkeeper didn't have anything to say about him, unfortunately. I'll have to mention that name in Dandall's two inns.
         
This new dungeon has a lot of doors and pressure plates.
      
One door led to a dungeon, where I just barely survived six goblins with broadswords. The opening area had a lot of locked doors, some opened by pressure plates, some by keys in nearby chests. I was beginning to wonder why I was even here when I opened a chest and found the Book of Time. I guess I'm after that Book of Poetry.
    
Short entry, but I'm just getting back from a vacation (saw Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Arches, Canyonlands, Mesa Verde) which, I'm proud to say, resulted in no delays on The CRPG Addict thanks to pre-scheduling entries.
   
Time so far: 7 hours

26 comments:

  1. Glad to see you overcame the money issue. Having different equipments and resulting fighting strengths for the same type of opponent is definitely an original addition.

    And yes, your publishing schedule / rhythm through and after all this time is impressive and something to be justifiably proud of, especially combined with your university job and trips like the one you just did.

    A bit OT, but since you mention it: Many NPs in the Western US are definitely something I still want to see. Through many documentaries, movies, series etc. one sometime feels one knows a place already, but like with other places I'm certain nothing comes close to seeing the real thing in person. Sounds like a great tour.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Welcome back! I know it’s a bit of a birdwalk from the post itself, but did Yellowstone live up to its hype? My wife and I are visiting (via the west side of the park) in a little over a week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yellowstone was my least favorite, I'm sorry to say, but less because of the park and more because of the crushing number of visitors, even on a Tuesday. I hadn't budgeted enough time for traffic. My favorite parts were Lamar Valley (northwest corner, where we saw the most wildlife) and the waterfall hikes on the Yellowstone River. I found the whole geyser area far too crowded, hot, and unimpressive.

      The good news is that Grand Teton was beautiful, far less crowded, and only about half an hour from the south gate of Yellowstone. I highly recommend taking the ferry across Jenny Lake and doing the hikes on the other side.

      Delete
    2. Mistake: Lamar Valley is in the northEAST corner.

      Delete
    3. My wife and I are visiting the Grand Tetons in August and I'm planning on doing exactly that, among other things. My family did the north Cascade hike many times when I was a child and I'm looking forward to doing it again.

      Delete
    4. AlphabeticalAnonymousJune 23, 2024 at 2:15 PM

      I feel as though there are lots of 'twinned' US National Parks with an overpopular, overcrowded park near an almost equally excellent, but comparatively empty, park. Yellowstone vs Grand Tetons, Zion vs Bryce Canyon, Yosemite vs Sequoia, etc. They're all great if you can get off the main drags, but the crowds definitely detract.

      Regardless: glad to hear you hit some highlights!

      Delete
    5. I adore Canyonlands and Arches; we used to drive up there from Albuquerque and go rock climbing, mountain biking, and hiking. Good times...

      Delete
    6. Hetch Hetchy is another (nearly deserted) one near Yosemite that really deserves more love than it gets.

      Delete
  3. I imagine that the note uses the word "Quelle", which can be translated as both "(water) well" and "source". (The same metaphor exists in English, although we tend to use "wellspring".)

    Enemy equipment varying in such a significant way is nice to see. Around this time it was becoming more common for enemies to be what you might call "fully simulated" (i.e. they play by the same rules as player characters). A nice change of pace from "this goblin is red, which means it hits harder".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are right. I got lazy being able to translate entire paragraphs at a time.

      Delete
  4. > six cities to visit: Dandall (the starting city), Kospan, Kloster, Arpolis, Lapolin, and Schloß. [...] At some point, I realized that Kloster means "monastery" in German

    And "Schloß" (now spelled "Schloss" in current German) means "castle", fyi.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What's the difference between a schloss and a burg?

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    3. I would say: A "Burg" primarily served as military fortification, while a "Schloss" was used as luxurious residence.

      Delete
    4. I think this is a modern distinction, but it's pretty much like Terry said.

      Delete
    5. Roughly speaking, Burgen were mostly build until the end of the medieval ages in the form of heavily build fortresses. While Schlösser are more open and sometimes completely unfortified buildings mostly for show and convenience from later ages. With the beginning of the Renaissance classic Burg fortifications became useless against cannons and even later feudal strife was getting less an issue. So nobles would often modify their old fashioned Burg to a more convenient and inviting Schloss or build a new more beautiful and representative Schloss somewhere else.

      Delete
    6. Sorry about that non-comment...

      As the others have said: a Schloss has connotations of being more open, representative, palatial. A Schloss will rarely have a dedicated defensive wall. Think of the archetypical Bavarian castles of Ludwig II, Schloss Neuschwanstein or Schloss Herrenchiemsee. Or Friedrich II's Sanssouci. Versailles near Paris is "Schloss Versailles" in German.

      A Burg, in contrast, is primarily military and defensive. Krak des Chevaliers would always be a Burg, never a Schloss.

      Delete
    7. That makes sense. Burg more like Haut-Koenigsbourg, Schloss more like Versailles.

      Delete
    8. Yes, those are very good examples. Of course there is "Schloss Burg", which is called a Schloss, lies in the town of Burg, and is really more of a Burg than a Schloss. I guess Burg Burg sounded stupid.

      Delete
    9. Where I live, Schloss Marienburg is close by (in fact, I saw it today on a bike tour). It's a little bit of both (hence the name, I guess) but the Burg aspect of it is mainly for show. The popular Netflix show Maxton Hall uses it for filming as "Maxton Hall".
      But I guess I had something like it in mind when I named the location "Schloss" in this game.

      Delete
    10. "Schloss" I think overlaps more with "palace". It's "castle" in the sense of, like, a Disney Princess castle - a big, fortified building where the king lives. "Burg" is closer to the traditional medieval castle - a fortified enclave with multiple buildings, one of which might be bigger and extra-fortified, where the king lives.

      Delete
  5. The 'world map' looks like colonized cow dung.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is definitely aggressively brown, isn't it?

      Delete
  6. Really liking the varied equiment. Really makes you think about engaging. Ah yea kobolds might be trashy but, plate and bows ouch.

    Reminds me of a friend GM who pitched a dozen kobolds as a side attraction to a more mid leveled DND fight. They were promptly ignored until the entire battery of lv1 kobold sorcerors unleashed a magic missile on the same target.

    Seems a solid game, all around! Glad you found the route I to claiming your training. Sounds possible to brick your party here

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was always impressed by the 7-day jam game Smart Kobold (http://www.zincland.com/7drl/kobold/). You play has a really high level warrior (you can brush off dozens of attacks, you've got an item to see from afar and through walls, another to detect & disarm traps 100% of the time, you never miss the kobolds and always kill them in one hit) and you "just" need to clear a kobold lair. Spoiler in the title, you'll most likely lose.

      If you like traditional roguelikes, I recommand it, it can be finished (winning or losing) in less than 15 minutes.

      Delete

I welcome all comments about the material in this blog, and I generally do not censor them. However, please follow these rules:

1. DO NOT COMMENT ANONYMOUSLY. If you do not want to log in or cannot log in with a Google Account, choose the "Name/URL" option and type a name (you can leave the URL blank). If that doesn't work, use the "Anonymous" option but put your name of choice at the top of the entry.

2. Do not link to any commercial entities, including Kickstarter campaigns, unless they're directly relevant to the material in the associated blog posting. (For instance, that GOG is selling the particular game I'm playing is relevant; that Steam is having a sale this week on other games is not.) This also includes user names that link to advertising.

3. Please avoid profanity and vulgar language. I don't want my blog flagged by too many filters. I will delete comments containing profanity on a case-by-case basis.

4. I appreciate if you use ROT13 for explicit spoilers for the current game and upcoming games. Please at least mention "ROT13" in the comment so we don't get a lot of replies saying "what is that gibberish?"

5. Comments on my blog are not a place for slurs against any race, sex, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, or mental or physical disability. I will delete these on a case-by-case basis depending on my interpretation of what constitutes a "slur."

Blogger has a way of "eating" comments, so I highly recommend that you copy your words to the clipboard before submitting, just in case.

I read all comments, no matter how old the entry. So do many of my subscribers. Reader comments on "old" games continue to supplement our understanding of them. As such, all comment threads on this blog are live and active unless I specifically turn them off. There is no such thing as "necro-posting" on this blog, and thus no need to use that term.

I will delete any comments that simply point out typos. If you want to use the commenting system to alert me to them, great, I appreciate it, but there's no reason to leave such comments preserved for posterity.

I'm sorry for any difficulty commenting. I turn moderation on and off and "word verification" on and off frequently depending on the volume of spam I'm receiving. I only use either when spam gets out of control, so I appreciate your patience with both moderation tools.