tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post635415631715568746..comments2024-03-28T07:54:57.566-04:00Comments on The CRPG Addict: Game 82: Curse of the Azure Bonds (1989)CRPG Addicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comBlogger170125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-43391168199967156812019-10-26T15:51:26.261-04:002019-10-26T15:51:26.261-04:00Just running through the old Gold Box games, and j...Just running through the old Gold Box games, and just got to Curse and your blog reminded me of having to ditch characters. I can't remember if I ditched just the Half-Elf Cleric/Fighter/Magic-User or if the Elf Fighter/Magic-User/Thief went as well.<br /><br />Anyway, since I'm just having fun, I took a stab at editing their levels so that I could keep them, and here's something nice: in Curse (so far) it appears that the level cap is enforced with something like "Race = Half-Elf AND Cleric.Level = 5". As soon as it's edited up to 6 then you can train normally for future levels. Especially helpful for Magic-Users since editing up the one level doesn't give you your free spell.<br /><br />I originally played Pool and Curse pretty close to their publish dates, I guess, on an IBM XT (640k of RAM!) with CGA (four color) graphics and two low-density 5.25" floppy drives. The six floppies in the box then expanded out onto 12 of my own floppies for actual play, and it took me over 20 minutes (timed it once) of pushing and pulling disks in both drives to actually get the game started, and about 6-10 to load each different 16x16 level. I even played Secret of the Silver Blades on that computer, but I think by that time I had a massive 60MB hard drive.Gawain N. E. Lavershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18357350569801157928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-56688719651610208082016-11-18T15:33:24.636-05:002016-11-18T15:33:24.636-05:00Huh. After all these years, I now understand why w...Huh. After all these years, I now understand why when I tried to go back and play Pool of Radiance, after starting with Curse of the Azure Bonds, that it seemed like the hardest game ever, making me quit before winning a single fight. If only I had not been like 10 years old and assumed raising everything to the maximum was the best thing to do.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-40414272503073379212016-03-02T22:01:37.404-05:002016-03-02T22:01:37.404-05:00Well...I guess that's a "big tip" if...Well...I guess that's a "big tip" if your idea of having fun with a game is to make it as easy as possible while exploiting the game's mechanics. Personally, I'd rather roleplay a slightly more challenging party. Also, this suggestion wouldn't work for importing characters to later games, since elves have level caps on all classes.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-59964158857269657492016-03-02T18:28:20.336-05:002016-03-02T18:28:20.336-05:00I'll give you a big tip if you are new to this...I'll give you a big tip if you are new to this game. Make your party with 5 Elves (Fighter/Magic User/Thief) and one Human (Cleric). Max the stats on your characters. Change the Cleric to a Magic User after he hits level 10. While difficult initially, you will have a much more powerful party after you grind their levels up. Go to Zhentil Keep right after Tilverton to level up around the magic shop. You will get armor and weapons too. The 3rd floor of Shadowdale is dangerous unless your guys are at a high level, but the points payout is really rewarding. Save often! CDMIInoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-64705970155085631772016-02-21T22:58:54.808-05:002016-02-21T22:58:54.808-05:00I did run into this bug in my play through. And th...I did run into this bug in my play through. And that's with the newish GOG version of the game, too. Most of the stones happily increase up to 18, but do nothing for you if you're already 18. The strength one was different, and bugged out at 100, causing irreparable damage. Luckily I caught it quickly, and reloaded. Alternately the Gold Box Companion could patch that up, if you need it.Quirkzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16409671254311123117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-37658055594355220242016-02-20T11:09:10.875-05:002016-02-20T11:09:10.875-05:00You'll get your revenge on Thultanthar (more c...You'll get your revenge on Thultanthar (more commonly known as Shade or the Empire of Shade) roughly 14 years from now in Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrendtide.Ariviahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02562344254598570078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-68329927992073554792016-02-20T11:06:51.325-05:002016-02-20T11:06:51.325-05:00The Purple Dragons do plenty of spying, actually. ...The Purple Dragons do plenty of spying, actually. So do the War Wizards, and then the personal servants of most nobles or important folk (Azoun IV, Filfaeril, and Vangerdahast being the most notable at this point.<br /><br />Strictly speaking, the Palace Guards met in this are a group under the Purple Dragons; but most everyone official in Cormyr will be wearing a purple dragon icon as that is the symbol of the kingdom.Ariviahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02562344254598570078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-76829451352471929772016-02-14T19:28:02.631-05:002016-02-14T19:28:02.631-05:00Seriously, this game is more than 20 years old.
Y...Seriously, this game is more than 20 years old.<br /><br />You needn't worry that your post came in a mere couple of years after Chet plays it.Kenny McCormickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01553499727945099493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-44332699512338325832016-02-14T17:32:40.190-05:002016-02-14T17:32:40.190-05:00I wish I was around to comment when this was origi...I wish I was around to comment when this was originally posted. While there are certainly some interesting parties you could win the game with, for most players 5 of the 6 characters are close to no-brainers.<br /><br />You need at least one human cleric. It would be a very difficult game without them.<br /><br />You want at least one pure magic-user, probably also a human though an elf can work too if you don't care about future level restrictions.<br /><br />As was mentioned, a dwarf fighter/thief if much better than any pure thief. Their backstab will be very effective and add an interesting dimension to combat.<br /><br />And you'll want at least two human melee warriors from some mix of fighter, paladin, and ranger. This kind of violates my thesis because that's 6 possible combinations, but they mostly play the same way so it doesn't make much difference.<br /><br />That leaves one spot to get creative with.asimpkinsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-16941301324181258392015-09-14T05:52:57.425-04:002015-09-14T05:52:57.425-04:00Has anyone more info about random encounters (exce...Has anyone more info about random encounters (except maybe in PoR) scaling with party attributes?<br />I think the problem here is that compared to P&P RPG the CRPGs are so combat heavy that almost everyone in the party needs good to great hit points (and constitution) and dexterity. The fighters need also high strength and the mages and clerics high major attributes INT and WIS for more spells and higher (or no) lvl caps. Unfortunately the games are comparably low on uses for thieves (although with humanoids one can leverage the backstabbing with fighter/thieves even in PoD quite a bit) or e.g. Charisma for facilitating encounters.<br /><br />High HP and DEX are especially important for the games with the highest lvl characters and many magic or breath-weapon using opponents, PoD and DQoKJRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16342993408695554146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-25106891642750555662015-07-16T09:46:29.916-04:002015-07-16T09:46:29.916-04:00I find that random rolls can give me some interest...I find that random rolls can give me some interesting stats, maybe not the best, but interesting. In Secret of the Silver Blades I learned to at least ramp up the hit points, especially for multi-class characters, so that they could survive. JJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-40055629215869690732015-07-16T01:41:48.265-04:002015-07-16T01:41:48.265-04:00Eh? You're the Anonymous from 2.5 years ago?Eh? You're the Anonymous from 2.5 years ago?Kenny McCormickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01553499727945099493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-89464290649977525932015-07-16T00:23:47.029-04:002015-07-16T00:23:47.029-04:00On games where you roll and can adjust, I tend to ...On games where you roll and can adjust, I tend to roll for high overall points, and then feel free to exchange a point here for a point there to better suit the character I'm imagining. I never give the character more total points than the initial roll, but I don't feel like it's cheating to redistribute. (For D&D games with 18xx strength I'll use a random-number generator to decide what to set the xx to if I've increased from 17 to 18 strength. This is probably overly fussy, but it feels fair-ish to me.)Quirkzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16409671254311123117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-30618275467584507142015-07-15T23:19:48.884-04:002015-07-15T23:19:48.884-04:00I definitely experience a bit of character creatio...I definitely experience a bit of character creation anxiety for games that roll stats. I try to make characters as the devs intended - I don't want to make the game easier, and I don't like stat blocks that look obviously artificial for reasons of immersion.<br /><br />I'll usually do one of two things: <br /><br />Work out what a median character roll looks like and then mod my character to match.<br /><br />Or<br /><br />Work out the median stat block for NPCs/pre-gens and mod my character to match.Tristan Gallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16769219573533545742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-22393433764648305312015-07-15T19:40:57.875-04:002015-07-15T19:40:57.875-04:00I'm ashamed and honest enough to admit that I ...I'm ashamed and honest enough to admit that I just set every attribute to their maximum so that I never need to take a second look at those statistics and figure out if anybody will need a Bracelet of Ogre Strength or some sh!t like that.<br /><br />Which is probably why I might like playing on tabletop since I can't cheat like that.Kenny McCormickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01553499727945099493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-71733943319872606292015-07-15T10:15:13.515-04:002015-07-15T10:15:13.515-04:00When I roll up characters in a "goldbox"...When I roll up characters in a "goldbox" game, I do not like to modify the statistics except maybe for hitpoints. I roll the attributes and try to find the most interesting set. JJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-74503360414336477752015-07-15T09:59:53.126-04:002015-07-15T09:59:53.126-04:00I appreciate that. I use names from history myself...I appreciate that. I use names from history myself. JJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-10065471261332535392015-05-14T18:35:38.040-04:002015-05-14T18:35:38.040-04:00Maybe I'll cover it in a post sometimes. I cer...Maybe I'll cover it in a post sometimes. I certainly do SOME work trying to get advantages for my characters, but to me role-playing always beats advantageous statistics. I'd never play <i>The Bard's Tale</i> without a bard, for instance, and if I have a choice of NPCs, I'd rather keep an interesting one around than always go with the most powerful. Sometimes it's more fun to play with a handicap than to charge through the game with the most powerful party you can assemble.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-28950320638155833832015-05-10T04:49:58.676-04:002015-05-10T04:49:58.676-04:00Care to expand on your dislike of mix/maxing?
I l...Care to expand on your dislike of mix/maxing?<br /><br />I like having options during character creation, which invariably leads to planning how development plays out. Sometimes you need to pick feats in a specific order, make sure you have sufficient ability scores for perks etc.<br /><br />What bothers me is when I have 60 slots for equipment spread across my party, and every time I find a new item or crafting ingredient, I have to pore over all my items to determine whether or not I can come up with a slightly better build. In reality I don't do this, because it's fiddly and annoying.Tristan Gallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16769219573533545742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-25092388399881211062015-05-09T22:25:27.785-04:002015-05-09T22:25:27.785-04:00I share your disdain for min/maxing, but the Gold ...I share your disdain for min/maxing, but the Gold Box games go too far in the other direction by making non-human races essentially useless after the second game.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-37109201619108116952015-05-09T15:37:54.844-04:002015-05-09T15:37:54.844-04:001. Calculating THAC0 & AC in D&D was SIMPL...1. Calculating THAC0 & AC in D&D was SIMPLE?<br />2. You guys only tried out that special house-rule to remove racial/class restrictions in 2008?Kenny McCormickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01553499727945099493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-5340915873314330162015-05-08T09:38:24.014-04:002015-05-08T09:38:24.014-04:00As a player, I didn't mind the level caps on r...As a player, I didn't mind the level caps on races. I'm one of the few that liked the early D&D rules because they were simple and didn't slow down gameplay or encourage min/maxing and rule lawyers. Also IMO the world needs to revolve around humans, or the campaign starts to lose its grounding. <br /><br />Anyway, with the attribute bonuses, saving throw benefits, and infravision that the other races get, why would anyone play a human if all other things were equal?<br /><br />I had a DM once that removed most of the race restrictions and allowed a player to play as any humanoid. The other players liked it because they got to min/max more effectively, but I hated it. Everyone started playing weird crap like half-dragons and quicklings. It was no longer D&D as I perceived it - it was a Twilight movie.Paulnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-86324235087730620162014-10-12T19:24:04.730-04:002014-10-12T19:24:04.730-04:00No, this didn't happen to me.No, this didn't happen to me.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-73043511422564599732014-10-12T17:04:12.971-04:002014-10-12T17:04:12.971-04:00Is the item Ioun stone pale blue bugged for you to...Is the item Ioun stone pale blue bugged for you too ? Im playing Curse of GoldBox, it's version 1.3, when i *unequip* it, it bugs character's strength bringing it to 100 which is a bogus value as it's not "recognized" by the game, you loose THAC0 bonus and damage bonus and even maximum weight is screwed up. Suppahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-80956548993990855672014-09-06T02:28:48.804-04:002014-09-06T02:28:48.804-04:00The problem is that both are subject to personal b...The problem is that both are subject to personal believe, so no point in arguing ;-) fireballhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01094871771537115267noreply@blogger.com