Well, this day was not as epic as the last one. Mostly, I hung around and did various quests in Tarant, then I headed for Black Root, which is a town torn between the feudal kingdom of Cumbria and the rapidly modernizing Tarant.
When I spoke to the Mayor, he tried to get me do find his lost dagger, but I was having none of it, so I showed him a newspaper (Did I forget to mention there are little front-page newspapers in the game a la Sim City? Nice touch, by the way) that urged Tarant to declare war on Caladon, the magic-technology kingdom. The mayor panics and decides to pay Cumbrian taxes after all. Hooray for Despotism!
Anyway, there is one other quest of note: Mrs. Cameron's son has not returned home in a while, and she wants you to visit his workshop in the forests to make sure he is okay. It seems rather simple, but that quest can prove to be a major timesink (though it is worth it).
I will save the story of that quest for Day Four.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Arcanum: Day 2
Alright, this day was much more eventful. After exploring the crash site and dispatching a bunch of creatures, I did the Arbalah curse quest. Then I went on to explore Shrouded Hills. It was quite fun. I especially enjoyed the quest where you help Doc Roberts stop a bank robbery. The best part of it is that you can then turn around and rob the bank yourself! Here is the screenshot to prove it.
She will only believe you if you have a gun in your hand, however.
To find out more about the ring, I talked to Ristezze the Importer. He told me the ring was made by P. Schulyer & Sons, a jewel company located in Tarant.
I must admit that I did use some foreknowledge and placed a point or two into the Persuasion skill so that I could deal peacefully with the ruffians charging a toll on the bridge because that fight is quite hard early in the game and they will tell you about the Thieves Guild.
I then moseyed on over to the Toone mine where I talked to Percival Toone. He mentioned that the ghost of his mother was haunting the mine; he then asked me to go into the mine and see what was happening. Whohoo! My first dungeon!
As dungeons go, the mine was short and easy. When I found the ghost, all she mentioned was 'Sarah'. I reported back to Percival. He then told me that Sarah was the name of his sister, and that she now lives in Dernholm but would not say where that is. To find out, I just talked to a random person in the street (Shrouded Hill is full of nameless NPCs) and that person pointed out Dernholm's location on my map.
I then traveled to Dernholm. What a dump! Anyway, the only two quests of note right now are collecting taxes from Blackroot and talking with Sarah Toone. Sarah says her brother has sold the rights to the mine to a merchant company in Tarant. I agreed to help her reclaim the rights.
Well, since a few quests involve Tarant, I went there. I wandered around the city doing various quests and finally came upon P. Schuyler & Sons. In the front of the building, I met Magus who is seeking an audience with the Schuyler's because they may have information on his lost clan. Unfortunately, it seems that no one gets in to see the Schuyler's. The man upfront is mostly unhelpful until I threaten him, which gets him talking, and he gives me the cellar key and flees. Well, down we go!
The cellars are overflowing with zombies! If you hurry through and let too many gang up on you, it can be quite a challenging fight.
Well, after two levels of that, I finally come to a dwarven tomb complete with undead dwarves! They don't become hostile, though. Moving on I finally meet the elusive P. Schuyler & Sons, a family of necromancers/jewel merchants (don't ask). Unfortunately, Magnus is seething with rage over the defilement of the dwarven corpses, and he pushes us into battle. Since I think he is a useful companion, I decided to go along with it. It is a shame, really; the Schuyler's did not seem all that evil. I can see how Necromancers would be misunderstood and be the subject of vicious rumors, so I understand their desire to be left alone. The only thing that bugs me is what were they doing with those dwarven zombies? They did not attack me, so I assume they were not meant as security. They seemed to be working in a workshop. I guess they were making jewels for the Schuylers.
Anyway, a letter in one of the drawers reveals the identity of the Boy: Gilbert Bates, Arcanum's Vanderbilt. His house is the giant mansion in the north of town. I have to do a little quest for the guard to be let in; it is no big deal. I finally get to talk to GB, and he tells me that the gnome who gave me the ring was actually a beardless dwarf. Apparently, ol' Gilbert had spent several years of his youth with the dwarves. This dwarf was his best friend, Stennar Rockcutter. Bates then sends me to their mines to find out what happened to his clan.
That is enough adventuring for one day.
She will only believe you if you have a gun in your hand, however.
To find out more about the ring, I talked to Ristezze the Importer. He told me the ring was made by P. Schulyer & Sons, a jewel company located in Tarant.
I must admit that I did use some foreknowledge and placed a point or two into the Persuasion skill so that I could deal peacefully with the ruffians charging a toll on the bridge because that fight is quite hard early in the game and they will tell you about the Thieves Guild.
I then moseyed on over to the Toone mine where I talked to Percival Toone. He mentioned that the ghost of his mother was haunting the mine; he then asked me to go into the mine and see what was happening. Whohoo! My first dungeon!
As dungeons go, the mine was short and easy. When I found the ghost, all she mentioned was 'Sarah'. I reported back to Percival. He then told me that Sarah was the name of his sister, and that she now lives in Dernholm but would not say where that is. To find out, I just talked to a random person in the street (Shrouded Hill is full of nameless NPCs) and that person pointed out Dernholm's location on my map.
I then traveled to Dernholm. What a dump! Anyway, the only two quests of note right now are collecting taxes from Blackroot and talking with Sarah Toone. Sarah says her brother has sold the rights to the mine to a merchant company in Tarant. I agreed to help her reclaim the rights.
Well, since a few quests involve Tarant, I went there. I wandered around the city doing various quests and finally came upon P. Schuyler & Sons. In the front of the building, I met Magus who is seeking an audience with the Schuyler's because they may have information on his lost clan. Unfortunately, it seems that no one gets in to see the Schuyler's. The man upfront is mostly unhelpful until I threaten him, which gets him talking, and he gives me the cellar key and flees. Well, down we go!
The cellars are overflowing with zombies! If you hurry through and let too many gang up on you, it can be quite a challenging fight.
Well, after two levels of that, I finally come to a dwarven tomb complete with undead dwarves! They don't become hostile, though. Moving on I finally meet the elusive P. Schuyler & Sons, a family of necromancers/jewel merchants (don't ask). Unfortunately, Magnus is seething with rage over the defilement of the dwarven corpses, and he pushes us into battle. Since I think he is a useful companion, I decided to go along with it. It is a shame, really; the Schuyler's did not seem all that evil. I can see how Necromancers would be misunderstood and be the subject of vicious rumors, so I understand their desire to be left alone. The only thing that bugs me is what were they doing with those dwarven zombies? They did not attack me, so I assume they were not meant as security. They seemed to be working in a workshop. I guess they were making jewels for the Schuylers.
Anyway, a letter in one of the drawers reveals the identity of the Boy: Gilbert Bates, Arcanum's Vanderbilt. His house is the giant mansion in the north of town. I have to do a little quest for the guard to be let in; it is no big deal. I finally get to talk to GB, and he tells me that the gnome who gave me the ring was actually a beardless dwarf. Apparently, ol' Gilbert had spent several years of his youth with the dwarves. This dwarf was his best friend, Stennar Rockcutter. Bates then sends me to their mines to find out what happened to his clan.
That is enough adventuring for one day.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Arcanum: Day 1
NOTE: This 'day' actually happened three days ago, but my recollection of it is still good.
Arcanum is an RPG (role-playing game) in the spirit of the Fallout series (which should not be surprising since several members of the staff worked on Fallout 1). It was developed by the now-defunct Troika Games, a company that also made the Temple of Elemental Evil, a CRPG adaptation of the classic Dungeons & Dragons module, and Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. While they only made three games, many CRPG connoisseurs believe that Troika should have a seat next to Black Isle and Origin in the halls of CRPG greatness. Arcanum was their initial product, and it is the only one to feature an original setting.
The game takes place in the world of Arcanum (bet you did not see that one coming, eh), which is a typical semi-medieval fantasy world in the initial stages of an Industrial Revolution. The world is wedged between the two conflicting forces of magic & technology. This magic-steampunk setting is a refreshing vacation from the high-fantasy or high-technology settings of most other RPGs, and the setting is one of the things that people like about this game.
Another strength is the effects on the player of the conflict between magic and technology. If you have a lot of magic skills, spells and scrolls (and maybe potions too) will be more effective, but technological devices (guns, contraptions, etc.) will have a tendency to malfunction with sometimes deadly results. If you have a lot of technological skills, technology will be more effective, but spells will have a tendency to malfunction on you.
Anyway, enough with the intro. Let's move on to the game itself! When I start a new game, I am asked to choose a pre-made character or make one myself. Since I want to have control, I decide to create a new character. The first screen (shown below) lets me choose my gender, race (human, dwarf, elf, half-elf, gnome, halfling, half-orc or half-ogre) and background.
While it is not surprising that different races have different base statistics, it is somewhat surprising that gender also affects starting statistics.
As you can see, females have a -1 penalty to Strength and a +1 to Constitution. Females are also limited to four races (human, half-elf, elf and half-orc). I guess that the other races just aren't as enlightened as these four and do not allow their women to go adventuring.
Picking a background just gives you a mix of bonuses and penalties that can help you fine tune the character you want. Some backgrounds will give you a useful item; some will affect your starting amount of gold pieces (the unit of currency in Arcanum); some will affect your attributes; many will do more than one of these things.
Anyway, I decided to straddle the magic-technology divide by creating a well-rounded fighter. Here is the character I created.
On the next screen, I was able to raise or lower my attributes or starting skills. Arcanum is a classless game; this means that if you want to play a fighter, you cannot just pick a fighter class; you have to allocate points to attributes and skills that would be useful to fighters. Arcanum uses the same point system for an attribute, skill, technological discipline or spell. So when you are given extra points to spend, you can raise one of your eight attributes, raise a skill, or learn a new spell or technological discipline. There are eight attributes, sixteen skills (with five levels of proficiency per skill), eight technological disciplines (with seven choices per discipline) and sixteen schools of magic (with five different spells per discipline). Technological disciplines seem to function as a crafting system that allows you to create certain items given the right ingredients. Spells are self-explanatory.
I assign my points as follows.
The next screen is a shop screen where you can purchase items with your starting gold. Since I had 400 gold (the default I think), I purchased a Quality Sword and a Jacket (that had better AC than the suit I was wearing).
The opening cinematic shows the IFS Zephyr, a zeppelin, on which my character has booked passage.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, two orcs with primitive flying machines attack the Zephyr, causing it to crash.
When my character regains consciousness, he lifts some wreckage to see a dying gnome. The gnome mumbles something about an evil being and tells me to "find the boy a give him back his ring." The gnome then hands me the ring and dies as the opening cinematic ends.
When I get into the actual game, I encounter Virgil, who appears to be a member of a religion he calls Panarii. He appears to be a new convert and does not know much about it, but he says that my survival of the crash shows that I am the reincarnation of some ancient Elven hero who is supposed to fight some evil. Anyway, he joins me and tells me we need to find his superior, Elder Joachim, who is in Shrouded Hills, a village not far from here.
This concludes the first day of Arcanum. I played this right before I went to bed, so I did have much playtime. Plus, my fingers are getting tired. Anyway, the next day's session will be much longer.
The game takes place in the world of Arcanum (bet you did not see that one coming, eh), which is a typical semi-medieval fantasy world in the initial stages of an Industrial Revolution. The world is wedged between the two conflicting forces of magic & technology. This magic-steampunk setting is a refreshing vacation from the high-fantasy or high-technology settings of most other RPGs, and the setting is one of the things that people like about this game.
Another strength is the effects on the player of the conflict between magic and technology. If you have a lot of magic skills, spells and scrolls (and maybe potions too) will be more effective, but technological devices (guns, contraptions, etc.) will have a tendency to malfunction with sometimes deadly results. If you have a lot of technological skills, technology will be more effective, but spells will have a tendency to malfunction on you.
Anyway, enough with the intro. Let's move on to the game itself! When I start a new game, I am asked to choose a pre-made character or make one myself. Since I want to have control, I decide to create a new character. The first screen (shown below) lets me choose my gender, race (human, dwarf, elf, half-elf, gnome, halfling, half-orc or half-ogre) and background.
While it is not surprising that different races have different base statistics, it is somewhat surprising that gender also affects starting statistics.
As you can see, females have a -1 penalty to Strength and a +1 to Constitution. Females are also limited to four races (human, half-elf, elf and half-orc). I guess that the other races just aren't as enlightened as these four and do not allow their women to go adventuring.
Picking a background just gives you a mix of bonuses and penalties that can help you fine tune the character you want. Some backgrounds will give you a useful item; some will affect your starting amount of gold pieces (the unit of currency in Arcanum); some will affect your attributes; many will do more than one of these things.
Anyway, I decided to straddle the magic-technology divide by creating a well-rounded fighter. Here is the character I created.
On the next screen, I was able to raise or lower my attributes or starting skills. Arcanum is a classless game; this means that if you want to play a fighter, you cannot just pick a fighter class; you have to allocate points to attributes and skills that would be useful to fighters. Arcanum uses the same point system for an attribute, skill, technological discipline or spell. So when you are given extra points to spend, you can raise one of your eight attributes, raise a skill, or learn a new spell or technological discipline. There are eight attributes, sixteen skills (with five levels of proficiency per skill), eight technological disciplines (with seven choices per discipline) and sixteen schools of magic (with five different spells per discipline). Technological disciplines seem to function as a crafting system that allows you to create certain items given the right ingredients. Spells are self-explanatory.
I assign my points as follows.
The next screen is a shop screen where you can purchase items with your starting gold. Since I had 400 gold (the default I think), I purchased a Quality Sword and a Jacket (that had better AC than the suit I was wearing).
The opening cinematic shows the IFS Zephyr, a zeppelin, on which my character has booked passage.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, two orcs with primitive flying machines attack the Zephyr, causing it to crash.
When my character regains consciousness, he lifts some wreckage to see a dying gnome. The gnome mumbles something about an evil being and tells me to "find the boy a give him back his ring." The gnome then hands me the ring and dies as the opening cinematic ends.
When I get into the actual game, I encounter Virgil, who appears to be a member of a religion he calls Panarii. He appears to be a new convert and does not know much about it, but he says that my survival of the crash shows that I am the reincarnation of some ancient Elven hero who is supposed to fight some evil. Anyway, he joins me and tells me we need to find his superior, Elder Joachim, who is in Shrouded Hills, a village not far from here.
This concludes the first day of Arcanum. I played this right before I went to bed, so I did have much playtime. Plus, my fingers are getting tired. Anyway, the next day's session will be much longer.
Introduction
Welcome to My Game Blogging Blog! In the spirit of Blogging Ultima, this blog will mostly feature me blogging my way through games. I will then discuss the game and what I did or did not like. My first game will be Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magicks Obscura, an RPG from the early 2000's. Enjoy!
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