Weird Arcanum tales thread!

Since I can't be bothered to dig out the "Magnus the great swimmer" thread, I think I'll start a new one. We all have something to tell about our adventures in Arcanum, stories that even Franklyn Payne would be jealous of. After all, Payne was a game character and couldn't make a good use out of game bugs :lol: . So if you have a story about some funny/useful/infuriating bug you have encountered, feel free to tell us. Here's mine:

TREASURE IN THE CHEST
I walk into Bangellian deeps, stumble into some beast (Wargunn I think) dispatch it, and see a chest right behind it (still not sure if the chest is supposed to be there at all). I open the chest, expecting to find a handful of useless stuff or in the best case a couple of worthy magic items. I open the chest- and its full! Staves, a Dread armor, some 20 scrolls including resurrect and disintegrate, money- standard contents of a magick trader chest. Needless to say, I never had any problem with money in that game ever since.

ENDLESS GRENADE.
Joining Pollock's gang, I went to their big dumb half-ogre leader to see what kind of work he has for me. He wanted me to kill his rival, Damian Maug. Fine, I said, and got some tech stuff from Pollock to make my work easier. Among the things I got, was a smoke grenade.
I don't use smoke grenades, only stun ones and those that do direct damage. So I went to a junk dealer to sell it. To my surprise, after the grenade was sold, I looked into my inventory- and it was still there! I sold it again- and still it came back to me! I threw it away- and found it in my inventory again. I put it into a slot on my belt- and had it both there and in the inventory. Yet another way to make money slowly, but surely and absolutely for free!

 

Eventually, I grew tired of playing my battlemage character and decided to try technology. I ended up choosing a gunfighter and was doing pretty good. Then I got to make the Looking Glass Rifle and was pretty surprised. I had heard that in the unpatched game, the LGR did 40-40 Damage and Fatigue, but when I made it in my patched game, it still had those stats. Needless to say, I was pretty happy.

 

That IS bizarre. He always gives my techboy an explosive grenade. :-?

I posted this at the Sierra boards a while ago, but it's still my favorite "bizarre Arcanum happenings" story:

I started a new game, went to Tarant, took Virgil to the train station to go pick up Doggie. Next thing I know Virgil's beating the snot out of that female Halfling City Dweller, you know, the one who's the Thieves Guild job guru. It seems she tried to pick his pocket and failed, and Virgil took exception.

That has NEVER happened to me before. I mean, she's tried to pickpocket us before in other games, and sometimes I think she's succeeded, but this is definitely the first time Virgil got pissed off enough to retaliate.

I thought it was just hilarious. :bg:

Anyway, I helped Virgil put her down and we continued to Ashbury, where we were (appropriately enough) attacked by the male Halfling City Dweller. I wonder if this is going to be a running theme in this game, attacked by crazed halflings in every city....

 

I had this happening to me too. The female halfling from the Thieves guild may attack you if you come into the train station running I tihnk. I've once seen her running like hell towards me- and stopping and walking back as soon as I stopped. The same with Torian Kel, he seems to always attack me if I run into his room instead of walking.
The halfling in Ashbury is indeed a weird case. When I play evil characters, he behaves. When I'm good, he attacks me on sight. Did anyone ever check that little bully's alignment?

 

I don't think she attacks, but rather if you enter the station at a certain angle or pass a certain trigger point (I know, whatever) she rushes up to pickpocket you, then returns to her original set point. I think she critically failed her pickpocket attempt and caused Virgil to go hostile on her. (Good Virgil. Sit. Stay.)

I've never had Torian Kel attack me though. I've always got Always Run on, so I don't know what would cause it. :???:

 

I'm not sure, but the halfling in Ashbury may turn against you if he is near when you fight the mechanical arahnid in the inventor's house (an maybe only if you attack it first?).

 

Nope, I have had PCs atacked by that demented, suisidal idiot who have not even been on the street where the inventors house is.