Let's Play: The Bard's Tale - Tales of the Unknown

You see, my problem is this: It has been 15 years or more since I last played The Bard's Tale, but I am sure as hell that I didn't play it that way back then.

I know I made myself a party
- Warrior
- Paladin
- Monk
- Bard
- Conjurer
- Magician
(or something like that)

Then I went to Garth and bought me some weapons and stuff and started roaming the city in daylight. I was never under the impression that the game was too tough to survive with my first 6 members.

Maybe it's a difference between the C64 and Apple2GS version...

I couldn't find my way around the city at all, I never even found my way out of it. But I was still trying to enjoy Bard's Tale, still trying to see what everyone else was seeing in the game, but dying from random encounters in the city? Over and over? Not fun. I never even thought to farm new recruits for gold...

I don't doubt that Bard's Tale was important at its release but it's awfully dated now, isnt't it?

Enjoying the story telling though! Loving it actually, so glad you get to suffer through it an not me :P

Carry on!

That's probably because the entirety of the game takes place inside the city. Its been magically sealed off by the Evil Wizard or some such to prevent heroes coming to save the city from the outside world. Which is why the party is made up of losers who get their teeth knocked in by Thieves and naked Barbarians.

Also I never read any of the documentation, apparantly... I could have sworn though... Was it BT2 or 3 that allowed that or am I confusing games?

Note: I did try to use the map, I found it unhelpful.

Umm...that allowed what?

In Bard's Tale 2, you have seven cities and a connecting "overworld", the wilderness, plus associated dungeons.

Bard's Tale 3 took the quantity to ridiculous levels as it incorporated dimensional travel.

leaving the city... Sorry, guess it wasn't clear. I thought you could leave the city in the first BT. But I must of being thinking of the latter.

I played BT a long time ago, but tried its sequels for the first time in 1998 when I bought the Ultimate RPG Archives (for Wasteland). I ended up trying the lot, most were as bad as I remembered CRPGs being...

Fair enough, but there were plenty of good, less inscrutable, less "beat you up", PC RPGs before Fallout. Like the SSI Gold Box games, for example.



Next update: Some progress! And death (but that's to be expected now)

Orpheus is dead?! FUCK. Well, I feel a little better since apparently this game revolves around letting people die off all the time...but still. Dr. O, man. We hardly knew ye.

We're gonna need to come up with more characters.

A hunter named Kaneda and a magician named Tetsuo.

I actually think it may be possible the I can get to a set of characters that "sticks" before needing new suggestions. We'll see. But I'll definitely be grateful once I finally get a magician in the party so I have another character who can do something from the back row.

Pants: Well, looks like it's time to recruit some new members. Doctor Orpheus' (may he rest in peace) idea of luring people in with the promise of free equipment seemed to work well last time.

Grissom: I think it's clear that we're looking for a particular type of adventurer.

Truckles: Meatshields?

Pants and Grissom: Meatshields

Pants: I'll make it known that we're looking to interview applicants to fill positions in the adventuring group Fight an 'eal.

Truckles: Just don't put it in song.

Pants: [frowning] Boo.



Grissom: Alena, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Alena: Well, I'm a princess from the far-off town of Santeem.

Truckles, Grissom, and Pants stare at Alena quizzicially

Alena: Many call me a tomboy due to my interest in fighting and combat. Some might call me reckless, but I prefer to think of myself as headstrong. I believe in constant training in order to...
...why are you guys staring at me?

Truckles: P-princess?

Alena: Look, I can't help it that the game designers are so sexist they figured a woman would never be going on an adventure, but yes, despite my portrait I am indeed a female!

Pants: Uh, ok. Sure. Uh, sorry.



Grissom: Tell us a bit about your motivations for adventuring.

Chomsky: I believe that power, unless justified, is inherently illegitimate. Thus Mangar, who has proclaimed himself ruler of this city, would have to show that his elevated position is justified. Since he has failed to meet this burden, his authority should be dismantled. This belief stems from my fundamentally libertarian socialist values which exemplify the rational and morally consistent extension of original unreconstructed classical liberal and radical humanist ideas to an industrial context. Specifically I believe that society should be highly organized and based on democratic control of communities and work places.

Pants: Uh...

Chomsky: I also like linguistics and hitting things.



Grissom: What do you hope to get out of adventuring with us?

Giacomo: Let me make clear that Giacomo is not in this for the battles and killing. Don't get me wrong - I can certainly hold my own in combat, but it is not my passion.

Truckles: What is your passion?

Giacomo: The ladies. Giacomo is all about pleasuring the ladies.

Grissom: But... you're a paladin. Doesn't your deity want you to be chaste and pure?

Giacomo: My deity says that I should give of myself. And believe you me, when it comes to the ladies... I give it to them!

Pants: I am so with you on this Giacomo. Getting the women is why I got into barding! Though, even though I've heard that chicks dig a musician, I haven't been too successful in reeling them in with my songs.

Giacomo: Oh pantsless one, you have much to learn.

I'm not sure that any of this trio is a Doc O, but between the three, there's really something there!

Extra points for getting Giacomo in mid-blink.

This thread = Red Hedgehog Awesome Show, Great Job!

Also,

The official beer of Fight an' 'eal?

My roommate got a six-pack of that at some point. I'm not sure he realized it was named after a video game. (He's a gamer himself, but way less of a retro gamer than myself.) He didn't like it so I got to have all of it; it was quite good, actually.

Oh my god, I think I have some new characters, if any die off now...

A Dwarven/Human Hunter named John Locke.

A Half-Elven Magician named Raistlin.

A Half-Orc Warrior named William Wallace.

An Elven Magician named Shodan.

*cough* Enough for now.

Hahahaha, oh god, this is good stuff.

WHAT.
Raist is a human, thankyouverymuch.

If any thing, there should be a human wizard named fizban. to go with the beard and all that.

/is getting an hourglass tattoo

Trap sprung.

/dragonlance hardcore

Well, I wanted a little diversity in race. ;-P

It's not like I wanted a gnome rogue named Tasslehoff Burrfoot.

EDIT: Or Hasslehoff.

SCNR


EDIT: I just realized how much "Pants" fits...

That is awesome.


By the end of tonight (or maybe later today if there's a lull in work), one of the six will die. Who will it be?

If it's Alena, I will cry.

Towards the end of the adventure you have to do a Survivor-style walk of remembrance where everyone says nice things about their fallen comrades on the way to the last boss.

Yeah, I'd prefer you guys would min-max. It would make my life a lot easier. Of course, I haven't yet told you what races were best to min-max for. I was going to wait until I'd had at least one member of each class in my party (since we've already hit each race so I can do both in one swoop).

Man, this was like one of my first "must-do" ideas when I got the idea for this LP.