The Bard's Tale: Mangar's Tower, part one

 

At last, Mangar's Tower! We have to go through the Scarlet Bard's wine cellar and sewers to get here, but that's okay, teleportation makes the trip quick.

A Stairs down B Message C Combat D Mercenaries E Teleport F Trap G Dwarves H Maze Masters I Magic Mouth J Spinner K Evil Eyes L Master Magicians M Ghosts N Samurai

Dwarves 80 Mercenaries 220 Samurai 1024 Seekers 2304 Dwarf Kings 2304 Samurai Lords 2304 Magicians 2304-2560 Conjurors 2304-2560 Wizards 2304-2560 Sorcerers 2304-2560 Lurkers 2560 Fire Giants 2560 Berserkers 2560 Azure Monks 2560 Hydras 2560 Green Dragons 2560 Wraiths 2560 Shadows 2560 Ivory Monks 2560 Weretigers 2560 White Dragons 2560 Ice Giants 2816 Phantoms 2816 Ogre Lords 2816 Eye Spies 2816 Xorns 2816 Body Snatchers 2816 Fred 2816 Lesser Demons 2816 Ghouls 2816 Evil Eyes 3072 Ghosts 3072 Master Magicians 3328 Maze Masters 3584

 

Teleport / phase door works here. I might not be able to magic myself everywhere in the tower, but I can always leave.

We also get our first taste of demons - lesser demons, who inflict aging on hit and are heavily damaged by the Wizard class's demon-targeting magic. Repel Undead doesn't work on all of the monsters that you might expect; Phantoms and Body Snatchers seem to be immune, even though the latter look like zombies. But overall, the random monsters are easy, and so are the fixed encounters. At first.

The only threat these guys pose is that I might die of old age without using turbo!

A clue in the southwest quadrant

  

A moderately annoying plain of darkness, dotted with lava, antimagic, and traps

 

These minibosses are not to be taken lightly.

Doors, spinners, and antimagic. Fun!

Surprise! 34 spellcasters. We are so dead.

 

On a reload, the Evil Eyes are beaten with a song of Lucklaran playing beforehand. Honestly, this is probably a better exploring song than Traveller's Tune at this point. And with over 17,000XP/character awarded, this is a pretty decent grinding spot, though ghouls in the catacombs are less risky.

The Magic Mouth marks the way up to the next floor

Overall, this is a mostly pointless floor. There's good experience in the spinner room, but apart from that you lose nothing by just teleporting past it.

 

Floor 2: 

A Stairs down B Message C Combat D Trap E Basilisks F Spinner G Hobbits H Silver Circle I Mind Shadow J SP recharge spot K Smoke L Soul Sucker M Bandersnatches N Samurai O Stasis field P Ghouls Q Stairs up

Hobbits 60 Samurai 1024 Lurkers 2560 Fire Giants 2560 Berserkers 2560 Azure Monks 2560 Hydras 2560 Green Dragons 2560 Wraiths 2560 Shadows 2560 Ivory Monks 2560 Weretigers 2560 White Dragons 2560 Magicians 2560-2816 Conjurors 2560-2816 Wizards 2560-2816 Sorcerers 2560-2816 Ice Giants 2816 Phantoms 2816 Ogre Lords 2816 Eye Spies 2816 Xorns 2816 Body Snatchers 2816 Fred 2816 Lesser Demons 2816 Ghouls 2816 Evil Eyes 3072 Ghosts 3072 Mimics 3072 Golems 3072 Vampires 3072 Basilisks 3072 Grey Dragons 3072 Master Ninjas 3072 Bone Crushers 3072 Demons 3072 Warrior Elites 3072 War Giants 3072 Mind Shadow 3328 Bandersnatches 3328 Soul Sucker 3584

Teleport and phase door still work.

A basilisk in the dark kills my summoned demon instead of stoning us!

Ahab picked up a very cool breath weapon!

It's an Interplay reference, but not a tough fight.

 

Another TPK, at the tendrils of a Soul Sucker

Surprise! Stasis field! But you can teleport out of this one.

Some notes:

• Demons are the nastiest creature you can encounter randomly here. They attack in groups and roast your party with group-hitting spells. Getting hit by multiple casts on round 1 is a likely kill or two, and there's nothing you can do to stop this from happening, though a Lucklaran beforehand reduces the odds of this.
• Vampires are less deadly, but a hit from them drains levels. When this happens I don't bother trying to salvage the party; I just keep exploring the map unto death and then reload. 
• Scribe and Viila can summon regular demons now, and they're great. They don't always use their magic spell, but when they do, it outclasses the damage of even Mind Blade. And when they don't, their melee damage is fantastic.
• One clue is found in the northern side of he map: The Spectre Snare can catch a foe and bind him lest his spirit go...
• A Silver Circle is found within a set of dark, concentric rings in the northwest quadrant.
• The southern side of the map is a grid of maze blocks, with regular old stairs going up hidden in one of them. Lava spots and spinners make life interesting/annoying.

 

Some of the loot included useful magic items:

• Speedboots. I think these make running away succeed more often - needs some testing to be sure. But these could possibly be the best item I've found yet.
• Kiel's Compass is usable for unlimited free Locate spells, and it even works in antimagic zones.
• Frost Horn does heavy group-targeting damage, and is reusable, but only by the bard. Unlike the Fire Horn, this is multi-use.
• Dragon Shield also does heavy group-targeting damage.
• The Lorehelm is a helm spellcasters can wear and offers free casts of Sorcerer Sight. Which is modest, but helps save some SP!
• Arc's Hammer does good damage and casts Lesser Revelation, which provides light and reveals secret doors. Again, useful for saving some SP, especially considering how often your light gets extinguished.

 

To be continued!