Tweet
I thought 10 !CSW and 15 !CCW were more than enough to safely get out of a Quickband DL 8, but what a horrible mistake! Mîm had teamed up with a young gold dragon - that battle alone cost _all_ of the !CCW and most !CSW! Even with Shrugging Off Attacks I could hardly quaff fast enough to even out the damage he was dealing. Quickband berserkers can neither use scrolls nor wands nor staves, so hardly an opportunity to evade his attacks. I could have spend Rage Points for a leap of up to ten spaces, but then I would have lost the rage speed bonus and the dragon would have come round the corner. I hardly dare inspect my equipment after all the acid and disenchantment that Mîm hurled at Talmar...
No scrolls means no WoR in the dungeon, so after the battle I zapped my (now destroyed) rod of Locate Doors and Stairs and found two staircases nearby (berserkers can learn to spend two RP on an up shaft or up staircase to return to the town at once). Venturing even further into unknown terrain? Well, I've just defeated Mîm, and the other guys here were hardly even near as dangerous for a CL 27 berserker. Then... a young chromatic dragon. Cost me one or two of my precious !CSW. Shouldn't have underestimated my intrinsic Aggravate Monsters. Okay, better return to the secured area. Who is this "p"? Probably a remnant of that group of wimpy novice rogues. I'll let him score a few hits to get enough rage for the Climbing ability. Well, that p turned out to be a black knight who drained about 1/8 of my HP per turn. One black knight down, only about three !CSW left. Now, I knew from the beginning that it wouldn't be safe to wander a "very good" DL8 with only a handful of !CSW, but could it become even more dramatic?
Enter a young chromatic dragon.
That's the last thing I needed, especially when below full health! One poison breath or several confusion breath and I might be done for! He indeed started breathing, but "only" things I resisted. Another !CSW gone. It's no use, I've got to run.
The Young chromatic dragon breathes lightning.
No, fight on! You will be in LOS for too many turns! Okay, one more step towards the dragon (I completely forgot about my bolts of Slay Evil).
The Young chromatic dragon breathes ice. LOW HITPOINT WARNING!
RUN!!! With trembling fingers I pressed the direction keys to get out of this small, yet all too big room. Round the first corner. Still at speed +3? Maybe I can outrun the thing! Round the next corner. Slammed a door shut. Your rage is fading. But I need that speed bonus! Down a long corridor. Okay, sacrifice the rage for a Leap of ten spaces. Now through a cavern. Over there I can turn round the corner, shut the door and go through the last room.
It casts an orb of darkness.
A dark elf priest and an ogre mage! And I'm not even halfway through the cavern! Better not stay for a fight, especially with the dragon still following me. Of course, they started firing spells in my back - I could almost hear them argue who should get the greater part of my former possessions. Then the ogre mage surrounded me with traps. You are splashed with acid! I don't care! After that, the dark elf priest became overconfident and entered melee range. One turn and he was done for - and I got a rage point, which might provide the decisive speed bonus! By that time the dragon had reached the entrance to the cavern. Luckily the breath was rather weak at that distance. But then... Struck by a bolt of lightning! One of the traps was a rune! How fast do they recharge? The lifesaving corner was so close! A few unnerving seconds later I reached it and slammed the door shut, ran along a corridor to the last room before the staircase. Over some vegetation that was blocking my view. And there he stood. A fire giant! But they do not wield magic, do they? I made straight for the door to the very last corridor with the staircase. No one in the way, and 60 or so HP left! Then the giant entered LOS. And hit Talmar with a rock! LOW HITPOINT WARNING! Of course, that was their ranged attack! Three more steps with the giant on my heels. Another rock! LOW HITPOINT WARNING! Not - so - close - before - the escape!! The last three steps...
You enter a maze of up stairs. So relieved! I would have used Climbing, but getting hit alone only gets you one RP at most. Luckily there was an energy vortex on DL 7 which proved good enough a sparring partner to get me two RP. Back to the safety of the town!
No scrolls means no WoR in the dungeon, so after the battle I zapped my (now destroyed) rod of Locate Doors and Stairs and found two staircases nearby (berserkers can learn to spend two RP on an up shaft or up staircase to return to the town at once). Venturing even further into unknown terrain? Well, I've just defeated Mîm, and the other guys here were hardly even near as dangerous for a CL 27 berserker. Then... a young chromatic dragon. Cost me one or two of my precious !CSW. Shouldn't have underestimated my intrinsic Aggravate Monsters. Okay, better return to the secured area. Who is this "p"? Probably a remnant of that group of wimpy novice rogues. I'll let him score a few hits to get enough rage for the Climbing ability. Well, that p turned out to be a black knight who drained about 1/8 of my HP per turn. One black knight down, only about three !CSW left. Now, I knew from the beginning that it wouldn't be safe to wander a "very good" DL8 with only a handful of !CSW, but could it become even more dramatic?
Enter a young chromatic dragon.
That's the last thing I needed, especially when below full health! One poison breath or several confusion breath and I might be done for! He indeed started breathing, but "only" things I resisted. Another !CSW gone. It's no use, I've got to run.
The Young chromatic dragon breathes lightning.
No, fight on! You will be in LOS for too many turns! Okay, one more step towards the dragon (I completely forgot about my bolts of Slay Evil).
The Young chromatic dragon breathes ice. LOW HITPOINT WARNING!
RUN!!! With trembling fingers I pressed the direction keys to get out of this small, yet all too big room. Round the first corner. Still at speed +3? Maybe I can outrun the thing! Round the next corner. Slammed a door shut. Your rage is fading. But I need that speed bonus! Down a long corridor. Okay, sacrifice the rage for a Leap of ten spaces. Now through a cavern. Over there I can turn round the corner, shut the door and go through the last room.
It casts an orb of darkness.
A dark elf priest and an ogre mage! And I'm not even halfway through the cavern! Better not stay for a fight, especially with the dragon still following me. Of course, they started firing spells in my back - I could almost hear them argue who should get the greater part of my former possessions. Then the ogre mage surrounded me with traps. You are splashed with acid! I don't care! After that, the dark elf priest became overconfident and entered melee range. One turn and he was done for - and I got a rage point, which might provide the decisive speed bonus! By that time the dragon had reached the entrance to the cavern. Luckily the breath was rather weak at that distance. But then... Struck by a bolt of lightning! One of the traps was a rune! How fast do they recharge? The lifesaving corner was so close! A few unnerving seconds later I reached it and slammed the door shut, ran along a corridor to the last room before the staircase. Over some vegetation that was blocking my view. And there he stood. A fire giant! But they do not wield magic, do they? I made straight for the door to the very last corridor with the staircase. No one in the way, and 60 or so HP left! Then the giant entered LOS. And hit Talmar with a rock! LOW HITPOINT WARNING! Of course, that was their ranged attack! Three more steps with the giant on my heels. Another rock! LOW HITPOINT WARNING! Not - so - close - before - the escape!! The last three steps...
You enter a maze of up stairs. So relieved! I would have used Climbing, but getting hit alone only gets you one RP at most. Luckily there was an energy vortex on DL 7 which proved good enough a sparring partner to get me two RP. Back to the safety of the town!
Comment