Real Lich Hours 36: The Gauntlet of Shar (Part 1)
Added 2024-08-18 20:11:08 +0000 UTCOnce the Stones of Shar are placed into the Gauntlet of Shar, Thanos will be unstoppable.
Oh my god, we're about to meet a necromancer!
Other Segments:
Sage Advice: Talk about the best counters for Invisibility
Up on a Soapbox: What the hell is a "prestige dungeon"?
Legends and Lore: Recount the Ketheric Thorm tragedy
Comments
The Dark Souls of prestige dungeons is, of course, The Painted World of Ariamis :)
Christopher Williams
2024-12-27 03:22:33 +0000 UTCYeah, I'm on board. -GB
Duckfeed.tv
2024-08-25 18:48:47 +0000 UTCFeeding in on the discussion of “prestige dungeons” I wonder if you’d agree with me that, while far from RPGs, that the Batman Arkham series of games makes great use of the prestige dungeon mechanic. In all the games you have somewhat of an overworld and several large areas of Gotham city that Batman can visit that act as large and varied dungeons… each of which is usually the domain of one of the super-villains that you encounter throughout the game. I believe the second game (Arkham City) is the best example of how prestige dungeons are designed. As each big dungeon acts as as the home base of a particular supervillain (Joker=Steel Mill, Ra’s Al Ghul= Wonder City, Penguin=Museum/Iceberg Lounge…etc) each dungeon is laid out with that particular villain in mind, and challenges are curtailed with that particular villain in mind. Though both things that are told to the player and though environmental storytelling it is explained how these former normal places became shaped by the villain that resides there. This is present throughout the series, and I think it was an excellent way to shape that franchise of games.
Gary Vasut
2024-08-25 18:35:31 +0000 UTCIn regards to prestige dungeons, there are a few that I’m surprised y’all didn’t mention. To me, Hollow Knight is overflowing with great examples, especially Deepnest and the Soul Sanctum. I also think Death’s Gambit had several notable examples; Garde Tum in particular sticks out to me. I’m unsure if either of you have played it or plan to cover it on WOFF (please do) but Lies of P had a few cool examples too, including Estella Opera House and Venigni Works.
Daniel Barclay
2024-08-20 06:24:49 +0000 UTCThe gauntlet of shar was my Capra Demon moment of baldurs gate3 , the game just clicked for me afterwards n i was hooked! Love the show yall keep up the good work!
Alex Brewington
2024-08-19 19:05:43 +0000 UTCMoonrise is where all my explosive barrels from Acts I and II get used. I set up a huge game of fiery dominoes all over the first floor, then hide in the rafters and launch a fireball to get the party started. Usually by the time the framerate gets out of single digits, most everyone I want to die is dead. When the Harpers show up later, there's no fight, they just waltz in.
Autumn M
2024-08-19 14:53:26 +0000 UTCRe: Prestige Dungeons. I think Castle Ravenloft from the 5e Curse of Strahd campaign would count. It's huge, has lots of varied encounters, feels like a plausible castle (in architecture, at least), and has a strong force of personality as its center. Other possibilities include Skyrim's Blackreach, Hyrule Castle in BOTW, Kingsparrow Island in Dishonored, Stilton's Mansion or the Duke's Estate in Dishonored II, Faro's Tomb in Horizon: Forbidden West, and Cenotaph City in Grime. Let me know if I'm way off base with any of these.
Autumn M
2024-08-19 14:50:40 +0000 UTCOn my second play through, I was maining a rogue, so after meeting Balthazar in the gauntlet I of course stealthed and ransacked the two chests in the front of his little lair. I was on my merry way, halfway through the big arena outside, when I heard Balthazar interrupt his evil self-patter with a “now what’s this over here?” He walks over to the looted chest (guess I forgot to shut the lid) and says, "this wasn't like that before." When he realizes he's been robbed, he comes out with a half-outraged, half-just-disappointed, "now who would DO such a thing?!" I LOLed. He sounded like a nimby moaning about graffiti. This, from a man whose primary decor is the body parts and blood of his victims. I suppose Larian couldn't write unique theft dialogue for every NPC, that would be crazy, but they did go so far as to have every voice actor record a generic theft response, it seems. Which is wild. An example of how Larian's obsessive respect for player choice can sometimes lead to narrative dissonance, in the most hilarious way.
Christopher D Wait
2024-08-19 13:06:29 +0000 UTCI love Ketheric Thorm and everything about his story. I think the thing I find the most intriguing is that as a parent, you hear from every other parent on the planet who is worth their salt how they would do anything to protect or save their children. While I 100% agree with the sentiment being a father myself, I like that this story in a way challenges that idea and kinda asks, "can you go too far?". While in our reality that might not actually be the case, for them to put forward something in this game that sort of challenges the idea is cool to me.
Justin Schmidt
2024-08-19 07:41:50 +0000 UTCThis may or may not be what Larian was doing, but boy does it excite me of the complexity of it, if they purposely did.
Joe Binson
2024-08-18 23:13:12 +0000 UTCSome book or document early in the dungeon spoke of the importance of trusting in darkness in order to complete the trial, or some such nonsense. That, combined with a few levers that did nothing except lowering some braziers down to floor level, made me think that the true hidden Trial Of Shar would be to prove how little you are reliant on light by switching off every torch and brazier in the place. I felt clever for "figuring" that out, and subsequently spent way too much time shooting frost spells at torches that were too far away to be put out by hand.
SindrElf
2024-08-18 21:51:53 +0000 UTCNot if you YEET him off the side of [REDACTED].
Joe Binson
2024-08-18 20:15:00 +0000 UTC
