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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Deuce Traveler" data-source="post: 5876373" data-attributes="member: 34958">I think that I understand the system better.  There are probably set encounters, such as the battle with the ogre and the harpies, which I do recall from before.  However, the other encounters are random, and have a chance of happening for each step I take in the wilderness.  It was typical of encounters of the time to occur in a 1 in 6 chance, and so every time my charactes make a move deeper into the forest we also have a 1 in 6 chance of an encounter.  Because these encounters have been so different from my first time through, I believe that there is a second random roll made by the program to determine what is encountered.  Hence in the first go I fought goblins, and now I have yet to encounter any goblins, but have deterred an attack from a wild boar and fought some giant bats.We continue in a westerly direction until we receive another notice. "Before you the trail splits into three separate trails, one heading to the northwest; one going due west; the third running southwest.  Each trail, your map shows you, will lead to the Rock.  But it doesn't show what dangers you will face on the trail. One of your friends muses, 'The forest to the north is Sylvanhome, but these trails divide other, smaller woods. To the northwest is Western Bough, and the southwest is Rendwood. Behind us and to the south is the Greenweald. We stand amid four great forests, mostly untouched by mankind.' Your other companions shake their heads and look for a good campsite."I'm able to rest again.  So despite having no shields, we've gotten lucky in comparison to the last time I played.  Previously, I had more random encounters that I could not avoid, so this whole gambit through the forests was more terrifying.  I rest, restoring the one healing spell that (un)reason had cast before.  Then we break camp and choose to go straight west instead of taking either of the other branching paths."The trees of the Western Bough rise up on your right, tall and beautiful in their autumn shades. Likewise, Rendwood on your left is full of color: red and yellow leaves, brown trunks covered in green moss. The blue of wildflowers, deep black shadows."<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qYrRMlo828A/T4O5itCJD0I/AAAAAAAAAS0/LjOroTKAc_w/w277-h167-n-k/Rock17.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />I move on to the west again, and surprisingly avoid more random encounters for quite awhile.  Until I reach this event: "Abruptly, the ground caves in beneath Col Pladoh! You leap forward to help your friend from the earth."  This was an odd random event, and Col Pladoh takes two hit points of damage from what seems to be a sinkhole.  I look around, but there doesn't seem to be any other threats in the area or hidden treasure in the hole.  Shrugging our shoulders, we move on."After about three and a half miles, the Western Bough rolls away to the north; one half mile away, across a flat plain, stand tall mountains with snow-capped peaks shining in the sun. Your trail turns south and west, Following the edge of the Rendwood and heading for a narrow strip of flatland between the woods and the mountains."  The text paints some descriptive, vivid scenery.  We push west once more until we hit a fixed encounter.<img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-7iwDEvzqysM/T4O48RQ9DFI/AAAAAAAAARw/51MwesnFbC4/w389-h258-k/Rock18.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />"You travel for another mile when, suddenly, ten strange looking humanoid creatures clamber clumsily out of the brush ahead of you. With awkward swiftness they form a line across the trail, blocking you path.  They look like living rainbows, their tall and thin bodies striped with red, blue, green, orange, yellow, brown, black and white. Those closer to the trees of the Rendwood are harder to see; they seem to blend right in with the forest. They wear loincloths and carry long daggers. Each has a very small sack tied to his waist. One of the creatures holds up his broad hand. In halting common he says in a rasping voice, 'This place is ours. Strangers pass only by the leave of the lord of shade. Surrender your weapons and come with us. You cannot escape the judgement of the 'Omnerubesk.'"  I decide against surrender and retreat, which leads us with only one viable option.  We attack."No sooner do you start to move, than five of the chameleon men vanish and reappear behind you. Weapons at the ready, the two groups close in on you."We are in trouble, and this is by far the largest battle yet.  The creatures only have an AC of 10, but they seem to have two hit dice, as each has 10 hit points.  There are 10 of them, five on each side of the party.  On the left side we have Fergus, Scott DeWar and (un)reason setting up a blocking melee wall.  (Un)reason is out of position, as he should have been on the right side, helping Glasseye, who is facing off with his bow against another five of the chameleon men.  Instead of using a melee weapon, I have Glasseye open up right away with his bow.  He only injures one for two hit points of damage.  One of the chameleon men on the right rushes past him to attack Queenie, but luckily misses.  Fenris went next, but missed the chameleon man in front of him.  I have Scott DeWar move up to back him up and he misses, too, but helps create a blocking wall.  Even though Queenie is face to face with a chameleon man, I have her cast sleep into the western line of attackers since she can get four of them in the area of effect, and hopefully her companions can protect her in exchange.<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/--7avsGW4Ujs/T4O48qVblxI/AAAAAAAAAR0/Rd1GGGQKBss/w389-h258-k/Rock19.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />We get lucky and she knocks out all four.  Col Pladoh is up next, and I use another sleep spell on the eastern flank to knock out four more.  We have now changed a battle we should have lost into a fight we cannot lose.  There are only two awake chameleon men left.  (Un)reason misses the one that is awake on the western side, but Glasseye wipes out the one threatening Queenie on the eastern side.  The one remaining fighting chameleon man returns (un)reasons attack, bringing him, our only healer, down and bleeding.I have Queenie and Col Pladoh start coup de gracing unconscious chameleon men before they can get back up, while Fenris and Scott DeWar close in on the chameleon man that just took down (un)reason. Scott DeWar nearly kills the chameleon man with a 9 hit point bash.  (Un)reason is still dying, so I use up one of Queenie's turns to bandage him before he dies. Fenris kills the last awoken chameleon man, so the party begins the systematic and morbid elimination of the rest of the sleeping ones.  I leave the only weapons, the enemy spears, on the ground since they are comparable to the party's maces.  I'm now in trouble.  Col Pladoh only has 1 hit point left and our only cleric is down.  Then I remember Fenris is a paladin and he performs Lay on Hands on (un)reason to bring him back to 2 hit points.  The screen gives me a little bonus, too, as it reads "In each of the chameleon man's pouch you find twenty electrum coins, ten gold coins and two platinum coins. " A pretty good haul.  I use up two cure light wounds spells to bring Col Pladoh and (un)reason back to full health, then continue west.  I hope our luck holds on random encounters, because our heroes are nearly out of magic.  If we encounter more chameleon men, we're dead.  I wonder if we made the right decision in fighting.  We would have lost if we didn't have two magic-users with sleep spells.  I could try to rush back to the previous campsite and recover spells, but it seems the game only allows you to use a campsite once, so it would be a waste of a trip through hostile land.  We push west.<img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-tJskEshwjfo/T4O481lfaDI/AAAAAAAAAR4/90wDpI2S2uI/w386-h258-k/Rock20.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />"The land on both sides of the trail is hard and rocky. Jagged boulders and sharp stones litter the ground. The trail remains smooth, however, and you have no trouble moving along it."I follow a trail highlighted by worn green grass until I come to a stone bridge over a river.  The last time I played this I decided to leave the trail and was ambushed by another party of chameleon men and was killed.  Following the trail resulted in no ambushes, which is a good thing in our tender state.  "A swift-flowing river crosses your trail, spanned by a bridge made of dull gray stone.  An arch made of the same stone stands at the mouth of the bridge.  Old runes are carved into the arch.  The runes are ancient, yet somehow familiar.  Beyond the bridge the trail leads into a small stand of trees, which blocks your view of the terrain beyond."  The game gives me a chance to decipher the runes.  <img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QbQAka6N9tQ/T4O49rJ11cI/AAAAAAAAAR8/Gm7JFwzwcsM/w392-h258-k/Rock21.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />I try to translate with Scott DeWar, but he is unable, meaning the script is not dwarven.  Col Pladoh can't read it either, so it is not in a human or magical tongue.  Having no elves, halflings or gnomes in the party, I give up and try to cross. "Col Pladoh points to the water, where bubbling pools have appeared and seem to be quickly taking the shape of angry, roiling pillars."  We decide to make a dash for it before the water-shaped columns attack us. "Behind you, the pillars have risen impossibly high, and have taken on a serpentine appearance. As your last companion steps foot off the bridge, though, the pillars instantly dissolve back into swirling eddies on the surface of the river."  Seems like it was a good thing we ran.  We move west towards the woods when a band of elves stops us.  "In the distance, across the plains, you spot a band of humanoids dressed in green cloaks. Looking closely, you believe them to be elves, each wielding a bow and likely also a sword. They do not seem to have noticed your party. At least not yet."  I decide to greet them, figuring them to be good-aligned.  "As your two bands draw closer, you see that they are indeed elves.  Their party is slightly larger than your own, and each watches you and your companions with the wary eyes of battle-hardened warriors."  Battle-hardened warriors with fancy hats.<img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-_z7iUbRX5fU/T4O4-4xJQTI/AAAAAAAAASU/FqAfEauoMas/w386-h257-k/Rock22.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />"'Greetings, strangers in this land', offers their leader.  You reply appropriately and the elf asks your business this day."  I have the choice to tell the truth or lie.  I would have liked a choice to say that we were exploring or just passing through, instead of the whole truth.  I decide to tell the truth."'The Rock, eh?  It has been many years since anyone has traveled to that place.' The elf leader sighs heavily as if foreseeing a terrible blight.  'Fare you well, travelers, for I sense that you would seek the Rock for just reasons.  I pray I do not misjudge you.'"  With that he leaves without so much as a warning of what we might face.  But he's right.  We plan to seek the Rock for the just reasons of plundering its secrets in order to get paid by an eccentric crank in an expensive manor. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />  Another step takes me to a site where I can camp, so I have the party load up on much needed spells, before continuing into the forest."You travel into the thinning tree line, entering the rugged foothills or the Barkel mountains. The trail sometimes winds or slopes upward, slowing you down, but the going is still fairly easy."<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-PtIzRlGU2Jg/T4O4-jzDieI/AAAAAAAAASM/QQvb6AXbxaY/w395-h258-k/Rock23.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />"After a few minutes of moving through this rugged landscape, you hear the quiet movement of someone or something else in the rocks about forty yards to your right.  There is definitely something moving.  Something that doesn't want to be seen."  I decide to investigate.  "You carefully clamber up the rocks, watching carefully for whatever it is that is trailing you. There, to your left... one of your companions readies a weapon, but stays his hand for the moment. You move a bit more, but pause listening for your quarry to move again.  After about five minutes, you see a short, stocky figure dashing for the cover of large boulders."  I decide to call out to him rather than attack.  "The figure, you now clearly see him to be a dwarf, stops abruptly, thrusting his arms into the air. 'Don't shoot,' he cries. 'I'm coming out!' The dwarf steps out from around the few remaining boulders between you and him. He looks you over nervously. 'I am Dunnak Ironhammer, of the Clan of the Krayzen Mountains. I had to be sure I'd be alright if I showed myself.' Dunnak plops down on the edge of a rock and draws out his waterskin. 'Share a drink with me?'" I agree to a swig. "You share a drink with Dunnak, and he relaxes noticeably.  Shaking his head he settles down to talk with you. 'So, you're adventuring in the hills, eh? As am I, as am I. Nothing like dropping a few goblins and looting their purses to settle a full day's work.  How's your haul coming in? Many kills lately, or are the creature's getting a bit smarter?'" I change the disturbing conversation to the Rock.  "Dunnak says only, 'I've never been there, but I heard going there is a bad idea.'" I then make some small talk. "You answer the dwarf and he seems satisfied without inquiring any further. The discussion continues on different subjects and Dunnak drinks more as the tensions recede further. After a few minutes the dwarf asks, 'How about a friendly game? A weapon throwing contest? I'll put up a gemstone if you can offer ten pieces of gold.'" Curious, I agree. "Dunnak draws a long, sleek dagger and prepares to compete against your party's champion.  The dwarf faces off the distances, then asks who will be competing against him."  I'm not sure if it matters, but we don't have anyone with throwing weapons.  I pick Glasseye to compete because of the ranger's skill in ranged attacks. "Glasseye prepares a throwing weapon and lines up alongside Dunnak.  They throw, and then throw, and then throw.  Dunnak wins and extends his hands for the ten pieces of gold Glasseye wagered." Glasseye pays up. "Dunnak smiles and pockets the coins, then settles down to drink and talk some more."  Out of options, we tell the dwarf goodbye. "The dwarf waves good-bye and slips off into the boulders." This was a lengthy and complex sequence.  Dunnak is a fixed encounter, and I was unable to beat him in the throwing contest in my last playthrough.  I wonder if I should have focused on a strength-based character instead of a dexterity-based one.  Either way, Dunnak was a fun and quirky dwarf.  If a bit disturbing, murderous and all around sociopathic.  Good thing we weren't a peaceful, yet cheery band of travelling goblin minstrels.  He would have murdered us in our sleep for our lutes and coppers.<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-zyTdwarAnhA/T4O4_boEk7I/AAAAAAAAASQ/bU8emOCTpKg/w437-h287-k/Rock24.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /></blockquote>

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