Apeman42

It Begins!

Per popular opinion and the fact that I don’t usually play them so it’ll be fresh, we’re going with an Argonian.

When our journey begins, our hero Polishes-His-Spear is shaken awake by a fetching and shirtless dark elf. Most Dunmer spit on and even enslave Pol’s people, a fact which has his tail curling in anxiety, but Jiub has been a surprisingly decent fellow during this tumultuous voyage. Pol is sure that one day those abs will do great things, maybe even change the world.

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The guard arrives to snap Pol out of thoughts about Jiub’s abs, escorting hm off the ship and onto the dock. Here Pol explains to the hapless Imperial that no, he is in fact an Argonian and not a half-dragon, as in further fact, no one in Tamriel is known to have successfully fucked a dragon since the First Era.

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Inside the census office, Polishes-His-Spear gives his information to an old man who presumably works here. After Hist school, Pol wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life. Swayed by an Imperial recruiter’s speeches that one could “join the legion and see the world”, Pol signed on for a tour. To be fair, he did get some lovely views of the Abecean Sea before the ship dumped him in the port in remote High Rock where he’d been stationed. For three years, Pol drilled in Imperial maneuvers by day for action he would never see, and threw darts and drank amongst the local farmers and hedge wizards by night. Amongst the innately-wizardly Bretons, Pol discovered he himself had a fair proclivity for magic, but he could never get the hang of destruction. Pol prefers touching himself. With his spells.

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After an incident on the ship ride home from his tour involving pirate kidnapping, a fancy captain’s hat, and a case of mistaken identity with the Imperial Navy, Pol spent the next year seeing more of the world in the form of an Imperial prison. Pulled from his cell and shoved on a ship, Pol has now just as suddenly been shoved from in here from the ship and is now out of breath from recounting this hastily-written backstory to the clerk.

The clerk hands him release papers, stating that a simple “Morndas” would have sufficed. Pol is directed through to the next office, but before he goes, a sudden impulse grips Pol. Though he has never been much of a swindler or a sneak-thief himself, he recalls a trick from a past life. Taking this vision from the Hist as a sign, and reasoning that desperate times call for desperate measures, Pol sweeps a platter and some valuable crockery to the floor and is chastened by the guard, then pockets it as the guard turns and walks away.

After liberating some more valuable crockery and silver in the next room, Pol sets upon and eats every scrap of food he finds, ravenous from the journey. Though he’s never been much for cooking before, Pol notices that the more he eats, the more he seems to feel in tune with the cuisine of Vvardenfell. Perhaps if he continues to sample the local fare, he might produce some fantastic soups and brews. Pol files this thought away for later, but vows to quietly continue exploring the path of the gourmand in the meantime.

Pol hears something rustling as the wind blows through a barrel in the courtyard and discovers a basic healing ring. Pocketing it, he heads through and has his papers stamped. Here he learns that his release comes with an obligation. Drafted back into Imperial service, he is to deliver a package to one Caius Cosades in Balmora, to the north. We are advised to take something called a silt strider as transport, and to ask for Cosades at the South Wall Cornerclub. Skeptical of this unconventional release, Pol is nonetheless happy to be out of a cell and willing to do quite a bit to stay that way.

With that, Pol steps out into Seyda Neen and breaths deep of Vvardenfell air and freedom!

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Gah, who the fuck are you?

I don’t want to spam the community, but would anyone be interested in me continuing this? Morrowind is the kind of game that it might be both fun and helpful to journal a playthrough of.

Anything particular to be aware of in regards to Argonian equipment restrictions? I know my beloved Boots of Blinding Speed will be sadly out of reach, so maybe I’ll want Resto and/or enchanting to make it up with my own Fortify Speed?

Anyone know if Unarmored would be applying for feet and head (unless I find an open helm)?

With my busted processor finally replaced, I’m back to Dragon Age Origins. My first playthrough - somehow I’d completely missed it back in the day. Damn, they got a lot of actors with geek cred doing the voice work in this one. So far Aeryn Sun is my witch waifu, Captain Janeway is her mom, and Tuvok is leaving an enclave of wood elves.

I’ve had Amnesia in my Steam library for ages, so I could definitely give it another go sometime. I think I got the Evil Within games free on Epic at some point too, so if those are roughly in the RE-style sphere, that might be good to check out next.

I’ve had it for a while myself, but I happen to be replaying it now. Does punch build pop the heads off enemies like blunt weapons do?

I’m doing a hammer-wielder who also tosses in some combat netrunning like a battlemage, and it makes me giggle every time a head goes flying.

I grabbed The Binding of Isaac Rebirth Complete bundle for about $5, Dragon Age Origins for $3, and FFXII: The Zodiac Age for $15. That last one’s not as good a deal, but it is still somehow a historic low per the price tracker I use, and I decided I needed Balthier in my life again.

I tried Hardcore22v2 and it was definitely not for me. Made even the first mission with Jackie kind of a shitshow when added to everything else. Also had to turn off reinforcements during quests from ENC, at least in act 1.

I removed that trio, and am instead trying Gunsensical and a handful of additional mods recommended by the author. It looks like this accomplishes a similar goal of making combat more lethal on both sides without being as extreme about it.

Also discovered Flashback Fixer, to make you as invincible as you wanna be during Johnny’s memories, scripted car shootouts, and other such scenes where you’re so gimped by the story that it could be impossible to continue with mods beefing up combat.

Not at all content or game balance related like most of these, but I also have to shout out Arasaka Cyberarms. You can make one or both arms cyber in several different styles, and then pick one of like 2 dozen colors too. Also has options for flashier mantis blades and monowire.

In case anyone checks back on this, I’ll list a few I’ve found that I’m trying out.

Dark Future, as cecilkorik mentioned, is a survival/basic needs mod, that gives a reason to eat, drink, shower, chill and sleep regularly. It can integrate with Lizzie’s Braindances to restore Nerve (a new DF stat) when you watch a recreational BD.

I’m trying Night City Alive together with They Will Remember for more dynamic random world encounters. Still hoping to find something that adds more of a set of scripted random event scenes, but this should be a start to a less dead/empty Night City.

I’m going to try a combination of Hardcore22v2, Enemies of Night City, and Guns Redone for more exciting combat, and Trauma Team International for when that inevitably kills me. It seems TTI can integrate with 1st Night City Bank and its debt collectors, which sounds like it also provides a way to stash eddies for if you die with lapsed TT coverage.

smh, I already installed like a quarter of the ones in that first pack because I didn’t read the link to the pack on any of the individual pages.

I’ve definitely got the others. Dark Future was nice on my last playthrough for some immersion. Makes it feel like less of a rush from one gig to the next.

I rediscovered Tales of Maj’eyal and have been burning through so many dead characters trying to remember how to play and catch up with the changes since I last played like 7 years ago.

While there is a certain degree of resource management, there are very few true consumables you have to worry about saving for later. Most abilities and items are more based around cooldowns. That and the detailed talent trees give it a delightfully tactical edge over a lot of other traditional grid roguelikes to me.

Update: I know there aren’t romances at all until Deadfire, but I’m already mourning the fact that I can’t romance Eder. He already seduced me, Obsdian, let him have me.

For all its flaws, one thing I absolutely loved in that game was flinging people and goblins off cliffs and walls. So satisfying.

Abelard, upvote this man for his excellent taste.

I just started Pillars of Eternity again last night.

I’d played before up to like the big port city where you can find paladin girl, but the RTWP just wasn’t clicking with me.

Now that they added turn based, I’m giving it another go with my Moon Godling Chanter. Reny Daret’s ghost is a fucking beast.

Ooh, Wildermyth looks pretty tempting too…

I haven’t bought anything yet, but I’ve been compiling a short list of mostly DRPG games like the old Might and Magics that I’ve been playing, specifically ones that’ll work on the Deck nicely. It’s a genre I loved when I was younger that’s been rather missing from my modern collection.

• Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord and/or
• Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls
• Legends of Amberland II
• Operencia: The Stolen Sun
• Songs of Conquest (not a DRPG, but a great-looking spiritual successor to Heroes of Might and Magic 3.)

And then on GoG, I might pick up a few real old ones, like Lands of Lore and/or Wizards & Warriors, but I don’t think those will be good for steam deck even through Heroic.