So I had a great chaotic neutral party going, 2 fighters, 1 rogue/fighter, 1 wizard, 1 cleric/sorcerer, 1 ranger/rogue, 1 druid and 1 cleric. We considering allying ourselves with 1 of the temples, but, decided we would just rather raid them. No one would miss the temples and we came here for the riches (still never found that rainbow rock). So there we went, raiding each temple, selling the loot we find we could not use, and doing a few quests here and there if it benefitted us. Didnt have time to solve every single villagers petty problems. Took a break from the temple, traveled to Verbobonc and ended up slaying a drow raiding party and a dragon. Not finding much else in Verbobonc and not able to afford the castle yet, we decided to head back to the temple. We all really wanted the castle. It would give my cleric a place to store his extra undead slaves, my wizard a place to leave his thralls, and a good place for everyone else to display their treasure they've acquired. Down 3 floors into the temple, we found a secret passage with a wizard who was not very friendly to us. Half way through the battle, he fled. Typical, no one wants to fight us to the end these days. After my rogue/fighter did a thorough search of the room we found a hidden area with a chest and a very strange gold skull within it. Our party leader took it and got a strange vision of a passage opening up above. Not ready to head there yet, we continued clearing out the lower floors. After clearing about half the 4th floor of the temple, our wizard teleported us back to Hommlet to sell our loot and take a couple days of rest. We went back to the temple and the our leader remembered the passage. We decided to check it out. The cleric found a strange note just next to the stairs, and while it was cryptic, due to her wisdom she was able to make some sense to it. We went down the stairs. Again my rogue/fighters keen sense found a secret passage behind a tapestry in the main chamber of this sealed floor. Taking a few turns, we came upon another tapestry with a gem encrusted throne and an old woman in front of it. Not taking chances, but also feeling very greedy, the rogue/fighter snuck up to the throne and swipped the gems... And then it was game over! Got a few nice stories at the end but I was a bit...dissapointed. I love there are ways to beat the story by "out-smarting" the boss, but...I was so not expecting that lol. Never got to clear the rest of the temple, and besides the 3 criminals, drow, and dragon, I wonder if I missed anything in Verbobonc. Great game though!
But did you time yourself completing it! I think Toee having so many endings related to actions and alignment choices is much of the reason I have played it so many times. What I found Kind of Anti-Climatic was the horrid 'final battle' music which I switched right away...no wonder nobody went down there
