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SiliconScout
05-29-2015, 01:23 AM
So first I want to say that I recently joined a permadeath guild to see if I could breathe some life back into the game for myself. Figured I would give it a shot and see what it had to offer.

Today was the first time I almost died and it WAS awesome. My toon is only 5ht level (holding 6th) and he's planned to be an 18/2 Pally/Ftr Nothing really special but without twink gear or a friendly loan and being a premium player it's been some effort to get him where he is now. I haven't had the luck to be able to group with anyone in the guild as I almost always find someone questing higher levels right now but that's OK, with the occasional hire it's been at times boring but generally just fine.

No ship buffs, no crafted/twink gear, no money, no "toys" ... well let's say it's been a new experience for me, well rather an old one that I nearly forgot about. Add in that you have to delete the toon if he dies and it's added a WHOLLY NEW dimension to the game for me. At any rate today I ran the Sacred Helm on elite, at level with a level 4 hire that was just about outta time. Let's just say it's the first encounter I have had with Champs on a toon like this .. and well I learned something.... I posted this on the guild forum but I thought I might include it here in hopes that it inspires someone else out there looking for a new way to play the game and rekindle that feeling to accomplishment and fun that DDO used to have.

Also I apologize for the toon name in advance .. it's what happens when your 7 year old daughter asks if she can name your toon and you agree to let her.... word to the wise, try and talk her out of it.

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Couldn't believe I was wandering around in those bloody sewers yet again. I may not have been in Stormreach all that long but if there's one thing I know it's that Her residents need to eat more fibre. Seriously!

The only reason I was even in there was because it looked like Greezix had managed to allow Shaaga to get his hands on that bloody helmet again. I managed to grab the damnable thing twice already this week, both times I was sure Shaaga was dead but the buggers got more lives than a room full of cats it would appear. I chatted up Maloren on the matter and he figures it is all the Cleric's down there, they might have some magic that can keep his soul on this plane... or something ... honestly all I heard was blah blah blah Gods, blah blah mysterious, blah blah ... Kill all the Clerics. At any rate I "convinced" him to come with me this time and make damned sure the job was done. What can I say he's decent company and comes cheap, the man just wants cash up front and never a share of the loot so I am not about to complain.

We were moving through that complex pretty much as smoothly as we had before, Shaaga seems to be able to drum up recruits pretty quickly, that or his Clerics have a lot more mojo than either of us expect. At any rate it was fairly smooth. They seemed a little tougher this time through, likely because Shaaga's got to have a book on me by now. The old One-Two still works just fine though, granted it's the old One-Two-Three-Seven but whatever, if it ain't broke don't fix it.

We did manage to run up against one particular warrior, he was a lot tougher than the rest and gave me a hell of a run for my money. Truth be told I just got complacent really, wasn't paying as close attention as I should have. Once he was down and the hallway cleared I got a pretty good look at him. He wasn't all that much bigger than the rest but his gear was adventure quality and even in death he held a more noble bearing. I really shoulda spotted that to be honest but Maloren patched me up double quick and though I had a couple of notches in the old shield it was still serviceable enough.
After that we slowed it down a little but still it was all smooth sailing. At least it was until I bumped into that Ogre Shaman. Ok fine I didn't even see the shaman, but I sure got a good look at the monster Ogre he hired to protect his hide.

I guess the short work I made of the previous two inspired him to open up the purse strings. Even at a great distance you could see its muscles were hard as stone not the typical slack bulk that Ogres usually have. He carried the biggest club I have ever seen and it was shod in thick bands of iron. Watching it pace around Maloren and I knew we would have to be careful with it. So I launched a couple of daggers its way, not sure if I really hit it or not, but I did at least get its attention. As it charged up on us I managed to trip it just as it crested the hill and gave it three or four good pokes. you can imagine my surprise when my blade bent nearly in two! Those first two shots for sure were solid hits but I don't know if I even managed to break the beasts skin!

It swept itself onto its feet quick enough and launched a quick one-two of its own. I dodged the first one outright and managed to duck under the second. I actually remember thinking at the time that it was too slow to fight me and that this was going to be an easy fight after all! Stupid .. stupid ego... Yeah as you might have guessed the first two were feints and it slapped me with a two handed backhand that sent me flying and **** near killed me outright. It was all I could do to get on my feet and start backing the hell out of there as quick as I could.

"Time's up, gotta go" I yelled to Maloren and took off back towards the entrance, he managed to slap a bit of healing magic into me on the way by and it steadied my legs enough to get moving properly.
It didn't take long to realize that we weren't going to be able to run from that fight, we were just too slow and that's when Maloren, brave and foolish Maloren turned from me and stepped into the beasts path chanting prayers to his god to strike down the Ogre. By the time I realized what had happened it was too late to help him, looked like the Ogre took a couple of holy bolts or some such and in return had pasted Maloren all over the hallway. All I could do at that point was make sure his sacrifice was not in vain.

So I kept running, I am NOT proud of it but it's the truth. I ran until my legs were jelly and it felt like my lungs were going to burst but I got out of that hell hole. Crawled outta that sewer looking like a rat and feeling like the muck I had to crawl through to get there.

So there you are, that's why I am sitting here in the Rusty Nail Drinking this horse **** they call Ale and smelling even worse that it does. Not to worry though I plan to head back there. I hear Molin's for hire again back from some questing in the Cerulean hills once I get myself cleaned up I think I am going to track him down and see if we can't get that damnable helmet and end this once and for all. If not for the promise I gave that slimy kobold then for Maloren, it's the least I can do.

-ToughScout McPufferson

Vallin
05-29-2015, 07:10 AM
So first I want to say that I recently joined a permadeath guild to see if I could breathe some life back into the game for myself. Figured I would give it a shot and see what it had to offer...



Great story - sounds like an epic bunch of fun. I enjoyed your writing!

Vallin.

moomooprincess
05-29-2015, 07:27 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-L0NpaErkk

The Night Chicago Died by Paperlace

Probably WAY before your time.

SiliconScout
05-29-2015, 09:52 AM
Great story - sounds like an epic bunch of fun. I enjoyed your writing!

Vallin.

Thanks! It really was fun. At first I was thinking turd I don't want to run all the way down here again .. then I remembered that it was permadeath and it went from annoying to sheer panic!

SiliconScout
05-29-2015, 09:53 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-L0NpaErkk

The Night Chicago Died by Paperlace

Probably WAY before your time.

I wouldn't say WAY before my time but I think I would have been 2 or 3 when this came out! LOL

Severlin
05-29-2015, 10:05 AM
Two things:

~ I enjoy when players relate experiences like this.

~ I now have "Daddy was a cop..." stuck in my head.

Sev~

der_kluge
05-29-2015, 11:53 AM
My friends and I tried PD couple of summers ago. It was intense. We researched it, joined a guild (on Thelanis, I think), that had PD rules we could live by, and while I think we only played with one other person, the three of us mostly quested together. I recall the rest of the guild being a bit higher level than we were.

I had a ranger, I think there was a paladin, and I forget what my other friend had.

Part 1 of the Baudry's chain was the most intense questing I think I'd ever done. Let me set the scene:
We're seconds away from completion.
The room if full of kobolds.
The crate is on fire.
The kobold shamans have filled the place with fog clouds. So we can barely see.
Then my friend goes down. Unconscious.
I'm held, or stuck in a web, I can't remember.
I yell to the paladin to heal him, instead he heals a nearby shaman out of confusion, curses himself, and manages to get a heal on the down party member at -9 hit points.
Timer hits zero, and we beat the quest. We are dumbfounded.

It took 5 minutes for our hearts to stop beating fast.

Later on, my ranger died at the hands of a double-agent wizard hireling who killed me with a grease spell right as we opened the door to a room full of kobolds.

I still do have a dwarven cleric in that guild, who yet remains alive.

bigtaff
05-29-2015, 12:22 PM
I only play PD now. (Mortal Voyage - Argo). It has almost changed DDO into a brand new game for me.
Things matter, party members matter.
Just fun all around and much more reminiscent of table top D&D

SiliconScout
05-29-2015, 02:00 PM
Two things:

~ I enjoy when players relate experiences like this.

~ I now have "Daddy was a cop..." stuck in my head.

Sev~

Thanks! It took me a while to dip into the Permadeath pool and now that I am in it I am wondering why I didn't try it sooner. I still play non-perma death toons occasionally but lately it's been 85% on my permadeath one. Figured if I could share some of the fun it might be the nudge others need to give it a whirl.

Jetrule
05-29-2015, 02:02 PM
Well written... ToughScout :D

SiliconScout
05-29-2015, 04:50 PM
Well written... ToughScout :D
Yeah thanks ... personally I think it's a little rough but hey it's all there!

And don't judge me!! LOL The first name she wanted was PuffyPants McPufferson. I vetoed that one and so she went with "ToughScout" and submitted when I did a bathroom run. The Scout part was because I am a long time Boy Scout leader... the Tough part I think came from the fact that I said he was going to be a warrior and needed a name that said he was tough.

*sigh* Honestly it's growing on me a little ... makes me smile when I see it at any rate.

Xerio
05-29-2015, 05:20 PM
nice story, sounds like fun. Maybe I'll roll out a new toon give it a go

Uska
05-29-2015, 05:39 PM
Seems using a hire is even worse than buying gear or pots I would disallow them in permadeath myself

Uska
05-29-2015, 05:41 PM
I wouldn't say WAY before my time but I think I would have been 2 or 3 when this came out! LOL

Not me and my little brother about drove me crazy playing the 45 over and over

SiliconScout
05-29-2015, 06:19 PM
Seems using a hire is even worse than buying gear or pots I would disallow them in permadeath myself

The guild I am in does allow them ... to be honest gears and pots would be FAR more useful. In this case though he managed to grab aggro just long enough for me to get away though. One thing that is important is that you can't park them, you have to keep them with you and lately they seem to love to stir up trouble!

cdbd3rd
05-29-2015, 06:39 PM
<snip>

The Night Chicago Died by Paperlace

....


Hadn't heard that in years, and it got me wandering off to Google to find what happened to them.

Imagine my surprise, they're still gigging! (2 original members)

http://paperlace.org/


(I had the 45 til I let my sitter's kid 'borrow' it, and it somehow could never be found later. Reminds me how I then 'borrowed' his Ohio Players LP) :rolleyes:

http://cdn.discogs.com/0o9sO4uLO7zldNI3RqaZ5oDPRWg=/fit-in/300x300/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb()/discogs-images/R-493029-1313963220.jpeg.jpg.... Yeah, I know. Digressing.... :o

Uska
05-29-2015, 07:47 PM
Hadn't heard that in years, and it got me wandering off to Google to find what happened to them.

Imagine my surprise, they're still gigging! (2 original members)

http://paperlace.org/


(I had the 45 til I let my sitter's kid 'borrow' it, and it somehow could never be found later. Reminds me how I then 'borrowed' his Ohio Players LP) :rolleyes:

http://cdn.discogs.com/0o9sO4uLO7zldNI3RqaZ5oDPRWg=/fit-in/300x300/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb()/discogs-images/R-493029-1313963220.jpeg.jpg.... Yeah, I know. Digressing.... :o

Another one my brother drove me nuts with he also loved Wildfire I was more into the Who, Alice Cooper and the like.

Uska
05-29-2015, 07:49 PM
The guild I am in does allow them ... to be honest gears and pots would be FAR more useful. In this case though he managed to grab aggro just long enough for me to get away though. One thing that is important is that you can't park them, you have to keep them with you and lately they seem to love to stir up trouble!

Not being able to park them is better I tried PD bit people were never on when I was but it was fun for the bit I did it

Pnumbra
05-30-2015, 11:56 AM
That was a good read. Thanks for the story; I could actually visualize the encounter.

SiliconScout
06-02-2015, 10:50 AM
That was a good read. Thanks for the story; I could actually visualize the encounter.

Thanks. I went back in there last night, this time with good Kendra Estleton at my side and we were able to exact our revenge on the Ogre that pasted poor Maloren, funny enough it was a Champ again. This time I managed to trip him, then we he got up I blinded him (lucky proc on my Deception bastard sword) and he went down quick without ever doing the triple hunk smash that just about did me in.

Rest of the run went fairly smoothly except for the Minotaur, Kendra somehow managed to set off a barrel as did the Minotaur and the double explosion just about took us both out. Luckily I made my save on the second one, I don't think the Minotaur made either though and he went down quick.

Final fight was tricky because three of the archers were champs and one of them was hitting with extra force damage and also making me vulnerable so with all the arrows flying it was getting pretty hairy. I had to back out of the room and try and take them on one at a time with a thrower.

I am thinking that is the one thing that I am liking about perma-death. My gear is middle of the road at best, I am level 7 (was 5 at the time) now and a lot of my gear is still ML 3 and 4. Knowing death is the end and being so under-geared you have to adjust your tactics. Hard part really was realizing that AND changing those tactics on the fly before it was too late.

All in all the first time in a LONG time I have actually had fun in a Shaagh's Helm run and I can promise the one I took on that Elite run won't be going anywhere on that toon. It'll either be on his head or in his bank until the day he dies!