For New Players: Everything you needed to know about alignment
sandmanCCL
Member Posts: 1,389
Seen a whole bunch of threads asking questions about alignment crop up the last few days. Here's all you need to know about alignment in a nutshell.
The first thing you need to know is that alignment has nothing to do with gameplay. In BG1, there is one sword that requires you to be good-aligned, and then you have the best robes for wizards all being alignment-determined which you can wear (though they all do the exact same thing.) Other than that, your alignment affects your starting reputation. Lawful Good starts with 12, Chaotic Evil starts with 8, and everything else is somewhere in between. I think Ajantis, the game's paladin, will try to kill you if you're evil as well but I'm not sure about that because I usually whack him myself.
THAT IS LITERALLY ALL IT DOES FOR YOU.
If you make your guy lawful good and go around the countryside burninating all the peasants, guess what. You'll still be lawful good on your character sheet. You'll just have no reputation, which is the real morality scale used in this game.
1-2 = so evil, good NPCs quit your party
3-7 = evil. good NPCs begin whining.
8-12 reputation = neutral
12-18 = good. evil NPCs start to whine
19-20 = so good, evil NPCs quit your party
It's also worth noting town guards attack you if you have 3 or less reputation. Stuff also costs you more money each reputation point below 10 that you are, and shops give you a discount the higher your reputation is.
Last thing worth noting is Paladins and Rangers can lose their powers and basically become a really gimped fighter if their reputation drops too low. If you are unsure of how to keep your reputation high (it's easier to keep it higher than lower but new players make mistakes like killing Flaming Fist guards and the like), do not play a Ranger or Paladin. In the original game, if your reputation went below 8, you lost your powers. Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition is a little more forgiving. I believe Paladins do not become fallen until going to 6 or below and Rangers do not fall til 4 or below.
If you have any other questions, post them here so we can keep this a coherent, single FAQ for anything dealing with alignment.
ADDITIONAL INPUT as provided through this thread.
@Time4Tiddy said:
Your reputation also affects certain story elements. Each chapter beginning with Chapter 2, depending on whether you are "good"/high rep, or "evil"/low rep, you'll get a dream scene and a special ability. You cannot swap the abilities once you get them.
Without saying more about plot or story, be aware the good abilities tend to be focused on healing while the evil abilities are understandably, evil.
Some chapters are shorter and it can be easy to miss the dream scene for that chapter if you never rest/sleep. Beginning in Chapter 2, make sure you always rest until you get the special cutscene before you resolve that chapter.
@jessewq said:
If your main character is a mage-type, then your alignment also affects what familiar you get if you cast the "Find Familiar" level 1 spell.
The first thing you need to know is that alignment has nothing to do with gameplay. In BG1, there is one sword that requires you to be good-aligned, and then you have the best robes for wizards all being alignment-determined which you can wear (though they all do the exact same thing.) Other than that, your alignment affects your starting reputation. Lawful Good starts with 12, Chaotic Evil starts with 8, and everything else is somewhere in between. I think Ajantis, the game's paladin, will try to kill you if you're evil as well but I'm not sure about that because I usually whack him myself.
THAT IS LITERALLY ALL IT DOES FOR YOU.
If you make your guy lawful good and go around the countryside burninating all the peasants, guess what. You'll still be lawful good on your character sheet. You'll just have no reputation, which is the real morality scale used in this game.
1-2 = so evil, good NPCs quit your party
3-7 = evil. good NPCs begin whining.
8-12 reputation = neutral
12-18 = good. evil NPCs start to whine
19-20 = so good, evil NPCs quit your party
It's also worth noting town guards attack you if you have 3 or less reputation. Stuff also costs you more money each reputation point below 10 that you are, and shops give you a discount the higher your reputation is.
Last thing worth noting is Paladins and Rangers can lose their powers and basically become a really gimped fighter if their reputation drops too low. If you are unsure of how to keep your reputation high (it's easier to keep it higher than lower but new players make mistakes like killing Flaming Fist guards and the like), do not play a Ranger or Paladin. In the original game, if your reputation went below 8, you lost your powers. Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition is a little more forgiving. I believe Paladins do not become fallen until going to 6 or below and Rangers do not fall til 4 or below.
If you have any other questions, post them here so we can keep this a coherent, single FAQ for anything dealing with alignment.
ADDITIONAL INPUT as provided through this thread.
@Time4Tiddy said:
Your reputation also affects certain story elements. Each chapter beginning with Chapter 2, depending on whether you are "good"/high rep, or "evil"/low rep, you'll get a dream scene and a special ability. You cannot swap the abilities once you get them.
Without saying more about plot or story, be aware the good abilities tend to be focused on healing while the evil abilities are understandably, evil.
Some chapters are shorter and it can be easy to miss the dream scene for that chapter if you never rest/sleep. Beginning in Chapter 2, make sure you always rest until you get the special cutscene before you resolve that chapter.
@jessewq said:
If your main character is a mage-type, then your alignment also affects what familiar you get if you cast the "Find Familiar" level 1 spell.
Post edited by sandmanCCL on
2
Comments
Also, given how hit or miss the reputation changes currently is, I'd avoid a paladin or ranger, just in case. Also the higher your reputation, the more you lose when committing an evil act (and vice-versa). With exception to Drizzt who always has a high rep penalty for killing.
Without saying more about plot or story, be aware the good abilities tend to be focused on healing while the evil abilities are understandably, evil.
Some chapters are shorter and it can be easy to miss the dream scene for that chapter if you never rest/sleep. Beginning in Chapter 2, make sure you always rest until you get the special cutscene before you resolve that chapter.
http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail58.html