I think there have to be limits.
Astarion as a Paladin or Shadowheart as a Light Cleric just break things to me. Still, I'm happy if Larion let us decide those limits for ourselves rather than imposing them on us.
What videogames have you been playing? version 1.22: What's with that plural?
- Thread starter Gori the Grey
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Astarion as a Paladin or Shadowheart as a Light Cleric just break things to me. Still, I'm happy if Larion let us decide those limits for ourselves rather than imposing them on us.
EgonSpengler
Deity
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I agree. My main interest is in the roleplaying aspects. I'm not a min-maxer, but of course I do need my party to at least be good enough in a fight. Other than leaving Gale in camp just because he's a Wizard, I've chosen characters to accompany me based on their personalities and stories: Shadowheart, Lae'zel, and Karlach. I almost never use Shadowheart's Domain Spells and abilities (we're just not a stealthy group), so I'm thinking she's an obvious choice for respeccing, although I haven't decided into what. I like Lae'zel as my tank and Karlach as the bruiser.
Thorgalaeg
Deity
Shadowheart abandoned me when I rescued the flying lesbian without her, when I returned to the camp she got furious and left , idon't know exactly why. 
I've been playing Attila: Total War, which has been surprisingly fun. It's much more difficult than Rome II, which is a good thing. Playing on Hard difficulty as suggested for those familiar with the series, as Western Rome (who would've guessed based on my avatar?).
The year is 413, and the Hilarius Invasion of Ireland has just ended. Hilarius was our best general, the only survivor of the barbarian invasions of the past 18 years. Stilicho died in a failed attempt to quell some barbarians invading from Germany. Hilarius was involved in Britain, which he evacuated in 400, being fortunate to evade a siege of Eboracum (York). Later he would play a prominent role in quelling the restive German frontier, and a supporting role in stabilizing Dalmatia.
In 410, he returned to Britain, which had spent the past decade divided between the Picts and the Romano-British, and quickly helped re-establish it as a Roman province. Some Hibernian (Irish) tribes had launched a war on Rome in support of the free British, so he decided to do what no Caesar had ever done and make Ireland a Roman province. Emperor Honorious thought it a brilliant idea; once the most difficult part of being Emperor was accomplished - surviving the first few years without the Praetorian Guard's very sharp swords ending your tenure - the best way to secure your legacy was to conquer a new province, and few had done that in recent centuries, perhaps in part due to their short average tenure.
Things started going wrong almost immediately. The Irish fortifications were strong, and the winters harsh. After much struggle, about a year and a half later, the major population centers were Roman, and the remaining Irish army forced to retreat. But the joke was on Hilarius. The Irish retreated to the countryside, regrouped, and besieged the just-barely-Roman main city. In an attempt to break out of the besieged city, Hilarius would meet his fate.
Not that it ended well for the Free Irish either; a few months later another Roman army sailed over from Wales, and that army was able to definitively put an end to Irish resistance. There were still troubles in Britain; some independent-minded Romano-British had revolted, and a large Pictish invasion had occurred, and ever with reinforcements from Italy, it had been a struggle to defend it while Hilarius was in Ireland. With Ireland finally Roman, and a Pictish army defeated in Wales, peace was made with the tribes north of Hadrian's wall, with only a revolt around Lindum (Lincoln) still ongoing.
And not a moment too soon, for it was at this time that the Huns invaded. It wasn't a huge surprise; they'd already invaded almost everybody else. But it sounded like that expedition to the east to help Constantinople against the Sassanids might have to be delayed...
The year is 413, and the Hilarius Invasion of Ireland has just ended. Hilarius was our best general, the only survivor of the barbarian invasions of the past 18 years. Stilicho died in a failed attempt to quell some barbarians invading from Germany. Hilarius was involved in Britain, which he evacuated in 400, being fortunate to evade a siege of Eboracum (York). Later he would play a prominent role in quelling the restive German frontier, and a supporting role in stabilizing Dalmatia.
In 410, he returned to Britain, which had spent the past decade divided between the Picts and the Romano-British, and quickly helped re-establish it as a Roman province. Some Hibernian (Irish) tribes had launched a war on Rome in support of the free British, so he decided to do what no Caesar had ever done and make Ireland a Roman province. Emperor Honorious thought it a brilliant idea; once the most difficult part of being Emperor was accomplished - surviving the first few years without the Praetorian Guard's very sharp swords ending your tenure - the best way to secure your legacy was to conquer a new province, and few had done that in recent centuries, perhaps in part due to their short average tenure.
Things started going wrong almost immediately. The Irish fortifications were strong, and the winters harsh. After much struggle, about a year and a half later, the major population centers were Roman, and the remaining Irish army forced to retreat. But the joke was on Hilarius. The Irish retreated to the countryside, regrouped, and besieged the just-barely-Roman main city. In an attempt to break out of the besieged city, Hilarius would meet his fate.
Not that it ended well for the Free Irish either; a few months later another Roman army sailed over from Wales, and that army was able to definitively put an end to Irish resistance. There were still troubles in Britain; some independent-minded Romano-British had revolted, and a large Pictish invasion had occurred, and ever with reinforcements from Italy, it had been a struggle to defend it while Hilarius was in Ireland. With Ireland finally Roman, and a Pictish army defeated in Wales, peace was made with the tribes north of Hadrian's wall, with only a revolt around Lindum (Lincoln) still ongoing.
And not a moment too soon, for it was at this time that the Huns invaded. It wasn't a huge surprise; they'd already invaded almost everybody else. But it sounded like that expedition to the east to help Constantinople against the Sassanids might have to be delayed...
The First Roman-Hunnic War has concluded.
It was not an easy fight. The Huns sacked a Roman city in modern-day Austria, as Roman legions marched to Rome from Macedonia and Africa, with others being raised in Italy. They followed this up by sacking Verona, bypassing our gateway to Italy, with its upgraded garrison, in Aquileia.
But Roman steel, while useless for catching the hordes on the steppe, had its bite when defending cities. Two of the four Hunnic hordes that had invaded Italy were defeated just north of the Po, the others turning their tails and fleeing, only to be defeated by our Illyrian allies.
But there was a fifth Hunnic horde, in Dalmatia. It launched a comically inept siege of the provincial capital, failing to bring enough boulders to fire at the wall and running out just before the walls collapsed. Roman archers dutifully defended the dubious walls, and rained down fire on all eight of the Hunnic siege towers and ladders, burning them all. The Huns proceeded to batter down the gate with raw iron, causing a melee just inside the gates as both sides battled for control.
In the end, the Huns were too numerous, even when they ran out of arrows as well as boulders, took the city, and burned it to the ground. Not such a comically inept siege when that was their revenge for it.
The inept siegers proceeded to retreat to the steppe, where they were rejoined by a cadre of new hordes, tailed by Roman spies. Our armies took up defensive positions around the Empire's perimeter, including a hastily raised mercenary garrison in Germania. There was no perfect defense; leave any approach open, and the Huns would gladly take it, but try to defend them all, and none would be strong enough; worst case, the Huns could punch through one and keep going.
In the end, they seemed to favor Dalmatia once more, which was far from recovering from their first attempt.
The Emperor and Senate weighed the options, mindful also of an escalating Sassanid offensive to conquer Egypt, and opportunities to take back lost territories in Tripolitania, as well as potentially Albion (Scotland). In the end, tribute was paid to both the Huns - who accepted less than they'd demanded the year before - and the Sassanids, for peace. This was the end of the year 416, the fourth year of the war.
We soon found out part of why the Huns were willing to settle. It wasn't just that they got gold and didn't have to risk their hordes; they proceeded to raze our Illyrian allies' settlement to the ground - a settlement that prior to the peace treaty a legion had been helping defend.
Our best general, Anicius Avitus, who had been trapped in a city surrounded by Huns, had his life saved from near-certain demise by the timing of our peace, and his legion, our best as well, also escaped near-certain doom. But it was a bitter victory to see the fate of our allies' lands once Roman steel was no longer involved.
--------------
Attila is shaping up to be one of my favorite Total War games. As Western Rome, your economy starts in tatters, your enemies numerous, and your armies are insufficient, and due to infrastructure decay the aqueducts need maintenance to improve sanitation and reduce the likelihood of plagues. Oh, and your populace is primed to revolt; ignore bread and circuses (but especially bread) at your own risk. There are simply too many competing priorities to address them all at the same time.
I also really like that war is sometimes very much not the answer. Troops are expensive. Of course the migrating tribes will give you wars, but you can pick your battles in a figurative, and sometimes literal, sense. I retreated from Britain in 400 after realizing it was too expensive to defend, and it has been a money pit since going back in 410; a nice easy conquest in a couple years it has not been. Currently it generates about 1100 gold per turn in tax revenue, while the armies stationed there cost 10,700 gold per turn in upkeep - almost ten times as much. Even if we reduce the garrison by half, likely reasonable to provide semi-effective defense without an offensive ambition, the island would be profoundly unprofitable. Part of this is previous wars' destruction reducing economic output, but the bottom line is there's no way the Empire has become stronger by not simply abandoning Britain. Which, fun fact, is exactly what Rome historically did.
Simply keeping a fleet to guard the Channel, as we did for those ten years, would have been a much more economical approach.
We also conquered Egypt after Eastern Rome lost it, and while it's more prosperous - 1700 gold per turn in income - our average expense per turn is about 5000 gold. A full-strength army always has to be there, and usually we keep a navy in Alexandria while the army is quelling whatever the latest threat is - from the south, east, or until a recent expedition established a client state in Libya, west. There's a certain cachet to controlling the Pyramids (and an in-game bonus), but our economists are highly skeptical that the funds couldn't have been better allocated.
It was not an easy fight. The Huns sacked a Roman city in modern-day Austria, as Roman legions marched to Rome from Macedonia and Africa, with others being raised in Italy. They followed this up by sacking Verona, bypassing our gateway to Italy, with its upgraded garrison, in Aquileia.
But Roman steel, while useless for catching the hordes on the steppe, had its bite when defending cities. Two of the four Hunnic hordes that had invaded Italy were defeated just north of the Po, the others turning their tails and fleeing, only to be defeated by our Illyrian allies.
But there was a fifth Hunnic horde, in Dalmatia. It launched a comically inept siege of the provincial capital, failing to bring enough boulders to fire at the wall and running out just before the walls collapsed. Roman archers dutifully defended the dubious walls, and rained down fire on all eight of the Hunnic siege towers and ladders, burning them all. The Huns proceeded to batter down the gate with raw iron, causing a melee just inside the gates as both sides battled for control.
In the end, the Huns were too numerous, even when they ran out of arrows as well as boulders, took the city, and burned it to the ground. Not such a comically inept siege when that was their revenge for it.
The inept siegers proceeded to retreat to the steppe, where they were rejoined by a cadre of new hordes, tailed by Roman spies. Our armies took up defensive positions around the Empire's perimeter, including a hastily raised mercenary garrison in Germania. There was no perfect defense; leave any approach open, and the Huns would gladly take it, but try to defend them all, and none would be strong enough; worst case, the Huns could punch through one and keep going.
In the end, they seemed to favor Dalmatia once more, which was far from recovering from their first attempt.
The Emperor and Senate weighed the options, mindful also of an escalating Sassanid offensive to conquer Egypt, and opportunities to take back lost territories in Tripolitania, as well as potentially Albion (Scotland). In the end, tribute was paid to both the Huns - who accepted less than they'd demanded the year before - and the Sassanids, for peace. This was the end of the year 416, the fourth year of the war.
We soon found out part of why the Huns were willing to settle. It wasn't just that they got gold and didn't have to risk their hordes; they proceeded to raze our Illyrian allies' settlement to the ground - a settlement that prior to the peace treaty a legion had been helping defend.
Our best general, Anicius Avitus, who had been trapped in a city surrounded by Huns, had his life saved from near-certain demise by the timing of our peace, and his legion, our best as well, also escaped near-certain doom. But it was a bitter victory to see the fate of our allies' lands once Roman steel was no longer involved.
--------------
Attila is shaping up to be one of my favorite Total War games. As Western Rome, your economy starts in tatters, your enemies numerous, and your armies are insufficient, and due to infrastructure decay the aqueducts need maintenance to improve sanitation and reduce the likelihood of plagues. Oh, and your populace is primed to revolt; ignore bread and circuses (but especially bread) at your own risk. There are simply too many competing priorities to address them all at the same time.
I also really like that war is sometimes very much not the answer. Troops are expensive. Of course the migrating tribes will give you wars, but you can pick your battles in a figurative, and sometimes literal, sense. I retreated from Britain in 400 after realizing it was too expensive to defend, and it has been a money pit since going back in 410; a nice easy conquest in a couple years it has not been. Currently it generates about 1100 gold per turn in tax revenue, while the armies stationed there cost 10,700 gold per turn in upkeep - almost ten times as much. Even if we reduce the garrison by half, likely reasonable to provide semi-effective defense without an offensive ambition, the island would be profoundly unprofitable. Part of this is previous wars' destruction reducing economic output, but the bottom line is there's no way the Empire has become stronger by not simply abandoning Britain. Which, fun fact, is exactly what Rome historically did.
Simply keeping a fleet to guard the Channel, as we did for those ten years, would have been a much more economical approach.
We also conquered Egypt after Eastern Rome lost it, and while it's more prosperous - 1700 gold per turn in income - our average expense per turn is about 5000 gold. A full-strength army always has to be there, and usually we keep a navy in Alexandria while the army is quelling whatever the latest threat is - from the south, east, or until a recent expedition established a client state in Libya, west. There's a certain cachet to controlling the Pyramids (and an in-game bonus), but our economists are highly skeptical that the funds couldn't have been better allocated.
Since part of my new seminar was sent, I did play a new Victoria II game.
But I simply got bored. It took 15 years to annex all of southern Italy and have all current Greece (+ Cyprus). That's a bit over 1/8 of the time the game gives you. And it felt pretty pointless, since while it would be easy to annex most or all of the ottoman empire, (I was #4-#5 Great Power by that point), it's just not inviting as a game.
Maybe I will try Victoria III, when I get a new computer.
But I simply got bored. It took 15 years to annex all of southern Italy and have all current Greece (+ Cyprus). That's a bit over 1/8 of the time the game gives you. And it felt pretty pointless, since while it would be easy to annex most or all of the ottoman empire, (I was #4-#5 Great Power by that point), it's just not inviting as a game.
Maybe I will try Victoria III, when I get a new computer.
Starfield’s 1,000 Planets May Be One Giant Leap for Game Design
The stakes are high for Bethesda’s newest role-playing game. Microsoft needs an Xbox hit, and players are hungry for an expansive and satisfying space adventure.
Starfield’s 1,000 Planets May Be One Giant Leap for Game Design
The stakes are high for Bethesda’s newest role-playing game. Microsoft needs an Xbox hit, and players are hungry for an expansive and satisfying space adventure.
Smellincoffee
Trekkie At Large
Was playing Stardew Valley this weekend, trying to see how fast I can complete the community center. Doesn't look like it's going to happen before fall year 2, unfortunately. Tried a game of Civ 4 last night for the first time in AGES, because the steam version was on sale. Playing as Persia, founded Judaism, thought the Americans were nearby and were Hindu -- so I decided to do a little regime change. Unfortunately, when I arrived with my troops I realized that the blue-colored civ I'd sent my army to was not the Americans, but my fellow Jews the Khmer. Whoopsie. The Americans are all the way across the continent, and are of no territorial threat to me whatsoever. Whoopsie.
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