Very good german Podcast about Pool of Radiance:


http://www.stayforever.de/2017/09/pool-of-radiance-folge-69/

What I appreciate about this one is its clear structure. There is no endless running around to see where something may happen. If in doubt, always go to the council.

Yes the level restrictions come from the original pen&paper version of D&D (AD&D 1 edition to be precise), but it wouldn't have been all that hard to ignore them for the computer version (since they where really stupid player-patronizing anyway). Especially for mages the character progression is definitely not linear! There is a rule of thumb for D&D-characters: Fighter-classes progress linear, while spellcasters progress quadratic (no wonder with all that nifty spells they get).

Actually I liked the second game of the series the best, because the story focused more on your characters and the plot was a little different than the usual "Monster and loot be there!" You had an actual reason to go through all those troubles, even if it was a little bit forced.
While paralyzing your whole party may have been a little bit cheap, I think it made the fights a lot more challenging. And with the right tactics (casting hold person yourself, using slings and bows) it was possible to beat those pesky priests.

The third part was a little bit of a let down, at least in the beginning (losing so much). The fourth one was almost too easy, but had a nice epic feel (with lvl 40 chars). I especially liked the part where you crawl around in the carcass of a dead god! Still it almost took me five years to complete... well sort of, because the savegame I have always crashes after the final fight (there is a bonus dungeon I will never see).

I suppose the problem is intrinsically related to D&D, for what I know of it, the character progression isn't lineal, so a level 8 is more than two times better than a level 4.

Still, this game greatly surprised me. Sadly I didn't get the same impression on the second, and the cheap tactics of hordes of priests paralyzing your whole party, so the warriors would get one hit kills.

I have very fond memories of this one: a damp cellar room, sparely lit, a very old computer, late at night (probably past 3 am), stacks of square paper, a game journal with the paragraphs plus notes, excellent music on the radio... and me spelunking with my party of six through the castle of Tyranntraxus (or whatever his name was). Sometimes a fireball right in the face of a horde of mindless minions can be really satisfying.

There is only one thing about this game (or more precisely it's sequels) I could never forgive: The level restriction for the classes. In the first game it was only a few levels that your non-human characters where missing, but in the later games it was ridiculous: While a human mage could reach up to level 30 or 40, the best an elf mage could aspire for was level 9... which equals to a wasted character slot.

Feel free to share anything about Pool of Radiance (1988) here!