Part 5: Third Floor’s The Charm?
mahel042: “So what awaits us on the third floor?”
Emptyeye: “Actually, um…not a whole heck of a lot if this is anything to go by. There’s that elevator again, but other than that..looks like whoever made this map didn’t even finish this floor.”
(LIVEBLOG NOTE: In Wizardry I, the only floors you actually have to visit are 1, 4, 9 and 10. The main reason for exploring the others is to get sweet loot, specifically weapons. The further down you go, the tougher the enemies; the tougher the enemies, the greater the potential prizes.)
Rocky: “Awesome! We can be potential celebrities for finishing this map!”
Nyperold: “And killing stuff! Don’t forget that!”
Emptyeye: “Nyperold…I have to admire your focus on your goal, if nothing else.”
The group made their way to the third floor, and were set upon by Were Bears. Nyperold was the first to feel their wrath.
Were Bear: “ROAAAAAARGH!” *Swipe*
Nyperold: “Gack!….hnnng….at…”
Xanatos: “My God man, he’s poisoned and paralyzed!”
The battle was eventually won, but not without Emptyeye being poisoned as well.
Xanatos: “Dialko! Latumofis! Latumofis!”
Nyperold: “Whew, thanks. That was…not all that much fun.”
Xanatos: “Tell me about it. I have my answer to ‘What can I do on the front lines?’ And the answer is ‘not much’.”
(LIVEBLOG NOTE: The three warriors of the group consistently hit an enemy two to three times per round. Xanatos gets only one hit per round, at least for now.)
The group continued exploring the floor…
All: “Ahhhhhh! Uhh!”
Emptyeye: “That pit hurt.”
Rocky: “At least it wasn’t filled with Deadly-poison-tipped spikes.”
Emptyeye: “True enough.”
More exploration commenced, and the group retreated from battle for the very first time.
mahel042: “That is an absolutely huge group of Were Bears. And Vorpal Bunnies? I want no part of this.”
Nyperold: “But…”
Everyone Else: “NO!”
Exploring and filling out the last parts of the map, the group came upon a nasty surprise…
Ninjas: “Surprise! Hiya! Huah!”
All: “Ahhh! Ouch! Gah!”
In the end, the group all survived, though not without two of its members being poisoned again. They made sure to not give the Ninjas another chance to kill them.
Back in town, Zudak made another shopping trip…
Zudak: “Guys, check out my new staff! It’s STUDLY!” *Flex! Pose!*
The rest of the group hemmed and hawed at the purchase.
Emptyeye: “Look, I’m happy that you like your purchase and all…”
mahel042: “…yeah, we don’t wanna dampen your enthusiasm or anything…”
Zudak: “…but…?”
Emptyeye: “…well, it’s just that…you do realize you’re not really suited for frontline combat, right? That if you’re ever actually in a position to use that staff…well, we’re probably screwed?”
Zudak: “But….but it’s STUDLY!” *Pose!* *Flex!*
Nyperold: *Amused sigh*
The group then made a quick excursion down to the fourth floor. Quick as in “one battle”, since half the party, including Xanatos, ended up paralyzed at the hands of fourth floor foes. This necessitated a trip back to town and the Temple of Cant.
(LIVEBLOG NOTE: The Temple of Cant is one area of Town I haven’t talked about yet. It’s where you can do to get various status effects cured for a fee that’s dependent on your character level. These include Poison, Paralysis, and Death. Maybe. Hopefully I’ll never have to speak of that last one again though.)
After Xanatos was cured…
Xanatos: “Dialko! Dialko!”
Emptyeye: “Well, that was…interesting. I suppose we should just be grateful we’re all alive. Maybe more training is in order?”
Finally, Willy managed to get some decent coinage from castoffs at least.
Willy: “That, my friends, is a fine suit of Body Armor!”
Emptyeye: “Cool..but do we actually need it? I’ve already got something better.”
Nyperold: “I’ve got Plate Mail, which is comparable.”
mahel042: “As do I.”
Xanatos: “I already have some Body Armor.”
Rocky: “And I can’t wear it.”
Zudak: “Me neither.”
Emptyeye: “Looks like it’s yours, my bespectacled friend.”
Willy: “Well…I can’t use it either…guess I can sell it off.”
And everyone went their separate ways to rest.
Next Time: Who knows?
Bodacious Bonus Commentary!
- I have no idea what I even meant with this sentence: “Finally, Willy managed to get some decent coinage from castoffs at least.” My first thought is that I typoed the last word and meant “At last”, and the more I think about it, the more I think that’s what I wanted to say. At first, I didn’t think it was that, because “at least” would have been made redundant by “finally”, but I then realized that I meant “Finally” as in “lastly”, rather than “at last”.
- Whether I consciously intended it or not, mahel042 is emerging as the level-headed one of the group–here, he prudently decided that a Were Bear/Vorpal Bunny combo is not worth fighting.
- From a gameplay standpoint, I was really lucky that being surprised by Ninjas only resulted in two people getting poisoned, rather than killed outright.
- On the third floor–which, again, there is little reason to visit except to try and earn items–there are signs at the intersections saying “Turn right”, “Turn left” or “Turn around.” These all, ultimately, lead into a pit, which drops the HP of your group. There’s also a little Burma Shaveesque set of signs that lead into a pit. The Nethack link in the part right after the group falls into a pit is a reference to a particularly nasty part of Nethack. Nethack is a Roguelike, and the primary characteristics of Roguelike are that you only get one life through the game, and pretty much everything is randomly generated. Thus, at any new step you unlock (Including your first), if you’re unprepared, you can potentially come across “You fell into a pit! The pit was spiked! The spikes were poisoned! The poison was deadly…” and you die. Wizardry is, at least, marginally more merciful than that.
Loading tweets...