Some D2 Fun

[ShadowHM]

Hi

For those of you who *might* like to fire up D2 for a run, I would like to pass along an informal team game rule-set that has been rather a lot of fun for me. It has been run as a tourney over at the Amazon Basin - hence the scoring rubric, but it need not have any such competitive side to it. It is just fun to do.

It takes an hour of game time (plus any set-up discussions) and requires no other gear/dedicated time slots/pre-existing characters.

The Quest: Escort Baby to visit that evil demon Andariel.

The Structure: Three new characters start the game – two will be the escorts for Baby.

• Baby must walk/run the entire trip.
  
• Baby must wear no gear, drink no potions, take no waypoints and use no town portals. Baby may, however, make use of Shrines and Wells.
  
• Baby does not fight. Baby may, however, herd monsters and call Boss Mods.
  
• Baby does not collect gear for the other players.
  
• Baby spends no skill points but may spend attribute points.
  
• The escorts play untwinked. (This means that no gear can be donated/used from outside the ‘Quest’ game.) There are no restrictions otherwise on the escorts.
  
• The game is over when Baby dies or one hour is up, whichever comes sooner.
  

Scoring:

• One point for every clvl Baby has at the end of the game. (i.e. if Baby dies at clvl 10, 10 points are scored.)
  
• One point for every main area Baby sets foot in on the path to Andariel. (No points for side trips to other areas. No points for finding waypoints. The Quest is to get Baby to Andariel.)
  

Hence, points awarded for getting as far as each area as follows:

1. The Blood Moor
   
2. The Cold Plains
   
3. The Stony Field
   
4. The Underground Passage
   
5. The Dark Wood
   
6. The Black Marsh
   
7. The Tamoe Highlands
   
8. The Monastery Gate
   
9. The Outer Cloister
   
10. The Barracks
    
11. The Jail 1
    
12. The Jail 2
    
13. The Jail 3
    
14. The Inner Cloister
    
15. The Cathedral
    
16. The Catacombs 1
    
17. The Catacombs 2
    
18. The Catacombs 3
    
19. The Catacombs 4
    

A five point bonus if Baby survives to Andariel’s death. Note: Baby must stay in the Catacombs level 4 while the escorts tackle the Demon Andariel, should the team go for the bonus points.
Hints/Suggestions:

• Have Baby be your timekeeper. Use the /time command as you depart the Rogue Encampment, and check every now and again.
  
• Baby should drop all starter items on the ground in the Rogue Encampment and then use the /nopickup command to prevent accidental pick-ups.
  
• Setting Throw as the default skill(s) will prevent accidental monster touching.
  
• If one of the Escorts dies or you are nearing the end of the allotted hour of play, a streak by Baby is permissible. i.e. Baby can make a run for the next area(s) to see how far he/she can get before dying
  
• Side quests are permissible, if the escorts wish. For example, a side trip to kill Blood Raven is allowed, if the escorts want to have mercenaries. Baby, however, cannot return to town to claim one. It will be your call on whether the time spent to do this is worth it.
  

I just did one of these yesterday, with YogiBaar and Zyr. I got to play Baby this time. Zyr fell in the Cathedral, Yogi fell in the Catacombs 2, and I got to do one glorious streak (aided by one Health Shrine) all the way to the feet of Andariel before a Fallen got me.

[Occhidiangela]

Is that what you wanted to play the other night when I had to get off the PC?

Looks like fun. Is this HC?

Occhi

Hi

For those of you who *might* like to fire up D2 for a run, I would like to pass along an informal team game rule-set that has been rather a lot of fun for me. It has been run as a tourney over at the Amazon Basin - hence the scoring rubric, but it need not have any such competitive side to it. It is just fun to do.

It takes an hour of game time (plus any set-up discussions) and requires no other gear/dedicated time slots/pre-existing characters.

The Quest: Escort Baby to visit that evil demon Andariel.

The Structure: Three new characters start the game – two will be the escorts for Baby.

• Baby must walk/run the entire trip.
  
• Baby must wear no gear, drink no potions, take no waypoints and use no town portals. Baby may, however, make use of Shrines and Wells.
  
• Baby does not fight. Baby may, however, herd monsters and call Boss Mods.
  
• Baby does not collect gear for the other players.
  
• Baby spends no skill points but may spend attribute points.
  
• The escorts play untwinked. (This means that no gear can be donated/used from outside the ‘Quest’ game.) There are no restrictions otherwise on the escorts.
  
• The game is over when Baby dies or one hour is up, whichever comes sooner.
  

Scoring:

• One point for every clvl Baby has at the end of the game. (i.e. if Baby dies at clvl 10, 10 points are scored.)
  
• One point for every main area Baby sets foot in on the path to Andariel. (No points for side trips to other areas. No points for finding waypoints. The Quest is to get Baby to Andariel.)
  

Hence, points awarded for getting as far as each area as follows:

1. The Blood Moor
   
2. The Cold Plains
   
3. The Stony Field
   
4. The Underground Passage
   
5. The Dark Wood
   
6. The Black Marsh
   
7. The Tamoe Highlands
   
8. The Monastery Gate
   
9. The Outer Cloister
   
10. The Barracks
    
11. The Jail 1
    
12. The Jail 2
    
13. The Jail 3
    
14. The Inner Cloister
    
15. The Cathedral
    
16. The Catacombs 1
    
17. The Catacombs 2
    
18. The Catacombs 3
    
19. The Catacombs 4
    

A five point bonus if Baby survives to Andariel’s death. Note: Baby must stay in the Catacombs level 4 while the escorts tackle the Demon Andariel, should the team go for the bonus points.
Hints/Suggestions:

• Have Baby be your timekeeper. Use the /time command as you depart the Rogue Encampment, and check every now and again.
  
• Baby should drop all starter items on the ground in the Rogue Encampment and then use the /nopickup command to prevent accidental pick-ups.
  
• Setting Throw as the default skill(s) will prevent accidental monster touching.
  
• If one of the Escorts dies or you are nearing the end of the allotted hour of play, a streak by Baby is permissible. i.e. Baby can make a run for the next area(s) to see how far he/she can get before dying
  
• Side quests are permissible, if the escorts wish. For example, a side trip to kill Blood Raven is allowed, if the escorts want to have mercenaries. Baby, however, cannot return to town to claim one. It will be your call on whether the time spent to do this is worth it.
  

I just did one of these yesterday, with YogiBaar and Zyr. I got to play Baby this time. Zyr fell in the Cathedral, Yogi fell in the Catacombs 2, and I got to do one glorious streak (aided by one Health Shrine) all the way to the feet of Andariel before a Fallen got me.

[ShadowHM]

Is that what you wanted to play the other night when I had to get off the PC?

Looks like fun. Is this HC?

Occhi

Yes, indeed it was ! I managed to find another volunteer and went ahead with it anyway. But I had been hoping that I could corral you for a run at it. It has been great fun seeing what low-level skill combinations can be used to press ahead with speed and abandon and still survive. FWIW, so far, all teams have chosen Barbarians for Baby, since that class gets the best life per attribute point spent ratio. For results and a bit of information about the runs so far, there is a thread here.

The AB Tourney is played in HC, but I omitted that part of the description here, just because some who do fire up the game for a try at it might not be HC-enabled anymore. Frankly, it makes no difference to the play; it just minimizes any temptation to exit/re-join.