Minsc Musing's

unfortunate_one

I have always had problems with Minsc being a Ranger. In fact, he doesn't even have the stats for one.
In BG, I always saw him as a Paladin who had fallen. I think I even ShadowKeeper'ed him into one. Bash to the head cost him his charisma, some wisdom and a few marbles. All this made him the tank that he is.

When BG II came around and I saw him all duel-wield'ed out, I almost freaked. Minsc with two long swords? Hell no, he is two handed sword , hack first ask questions later, kind of guy.

All things considered, I believe he should be a Fighter with the berserker class.
Pretty sure the devs can't mess with the NPCs, just thought I'd share.

ElectricMonk

Fallen Paladin, I don't see that. Berserker, absolutely. I think it's his story and his personality that define him though, not his stats. He doesn't act like a ranger in my opinion. He acts like a fighter with a tendency to lose control and go berserk, the fact that he has a soft heart doesn't somehow make him any less a fighter and more a ranger, nor does his story of being from Rasheman, and his stats are just the icing on this argument, there's just nothing about him that says ranger except the word itself on his character sheet. When I tried out the lvl1 NPCs mod on a BGT playthrough some time ago, I did change him into a berserker across both games (with consistent points in 2-handed swords).

But, as you mentioned in your final line, this is something that the devs will almost certainly not change...

Tanthalas

Well, Minsc is a Ranger because of Boo basically, hard to explain how a Berserker could reach such empathy with an animal. His illegal Wisdom stat can be explained by the blow to the head.

Cadros

I thought that most npc were based on campaigns that the bioware employees had been playing. Also Boo provides the necessary wisdom for spell casting that aside the minor quirks of each npc that are no legal for the pc at creation add flavour without harming balance to any great degree.

Zeckul

I'm pretty sure some of his voice-acted lines mention that he's a ranger (in ToB?). Therefore however this might make sense, it'll likely be impossible to change this.

Tanthalas

He has that line that is something like:

"We are all heroes, you, Boo and I! Hamsters and Rangers everywhere, rejoice!! Squueeeaak! Squuueeeaaak!"

lansounet

Yeh that's his reputation increase line IIRC

ElectricMonk

Yeah he definitely says that, and yes he does have an empathy of sorts with an animal (of sorts), boo - who may or may not be a miniature giant space hamster. I wasn't suggesting/hoping that they should change his class, just agreeing that he could have originally been a fighter, which might have made more sense. It wouldn't necessarily make sense for them to implement it now, as everyone knows of Minsc as a ranger.

And as far as his blow to the head explaining his wisdom score, I suppose that same blow to the head could explain why a fighter (in an alternative scenario) had befriended a small rodent with the belief that it was a wise miniature giant space hamster, we can't be entirely sure how much say Boo had in the matter, and you don't have to be a ranger to convince a hamster to stick around when you feed it every day...

Winthal

Rangers are still warriors, just like fighters or paladins, you have to remember that characters are first and foremost themselves as people, and a "class" is really more like a summary of what they've been up to, their career, what they excel at etc. - mostly for gaming purposes - rather than something they *are*. Minsc has had ranger training from back in Rashemen, he learned to traverse the deserts and protect others from wildlife and other dangers, thus making him an excellent body guard for Dynaheir. Classes are quite arbitrary, if BG used a classless system, Minsc would just be Minsc, a big strong guy wielding two handed swords with protective instincts, a good heart, and a love for small furry rodents - and he'd probably know his way round a desert.

unfortunate_one

I am all for the NPCs not having to stick to stat restrictions. I would rather Minsc be a berserker with the charm animal than have to stick to Ranger restrictions just because of Boo.

I do believe Shadow Keeper can fix this.
I do believe this is my only nit pick I have about the game. Might be why we are all so pumped up about playing the game again.

e3r4t5yn

Dex. 15 with leather armor is too few for close combat fighter.

Synergetic

This sums it all up

http://www.minscandboo.com/quotes2/This_behaviour_must_not_continue.WAV

Schneidend

unfortunate_one said:

I am all for the NPCs not having to stick to stat restrictions. I would rather Minsc be a berserker with the charm animal than have to stick to Ranger restrictions just because of Boo.

I do believe Shadow Keeper can fix this.
I do believe this is my only nit pick I have about the game. Might be why we are all so pumped up about playing the game again.

There's nothing to "fix." Minsc is a Ranger because he's a bloody Ranger. The only reason he has a berserk ability is because he's a member of a Rashemi berserker lodge. He was originally one of the dev's pnp D&D characters, where he was a Ranger. The end.

Lemernis

There's a whole backstory to Minsc and Dynaheir:

"Minsc proudly announces that he is a berserker warrior from the nation of Rasheman in the utter east. He is currently undertaking his dejemma, a ritual journey to manhood, and is seeking adventure and glory in battle. It is also his honor to be the bodyguard of a young Wychalarn of Rasheman named Dynaheir, and if anyone tries to harm her, he will beat sense into their heads until they reconsider. He is unsure as to why she has led them to the Sword Coast, but his loyalty is unquestioning. If he serves her well and distinguishes himself in battle, he hopes to be accepted into the Ice Dragon berserker lodge upon return to their homeland. So far, Minsc considers his most notable experience in the world abroad to be the acquisition of his animal companion 'Boo,' a creature that he claims is a miniature giant space hamster. Apparently such things do exist in the Realms, but Minsc has surely taken too many blows to the head. He seems a good-natured fellow, but is all too willing to indulge his berserker nature.

Minsc is able to go Berserk as a special ability."

"Dynaheir has very little to say. She is apparently from the far-eastern nation of Rasheman, and has come to the west with a bodyguard known as Minsc. Minsc is on his "dejemma", a right of passage, and it appears that she may be involved in something similar. Of this, she will only state that great things are foretold for the Sword Coast. She seems very sure of herself, is possessed with an old-world sensibility, and is very demanding of her companions. She has expressed concerns about the sanity of her bodyguard, though she has an obvious respect for him and will not go far from his side.

Dynaheir has the special ability Slow Poison."

Rasheman: http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Rashemen

Runescarred Berserker: http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Runescarred_Berserker

Dynaheir: http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Dynaheir

Minsc: http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Minsc

Lemernis

Runescarred Berserker: http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Runescarred_Berserker

This is a prestige class from 3.0 that matches what Minsc is about, and it is a Barbarian.

Barbarian and Berserker do seem more fitting classes for Minsc, honestly. I have no problem with him being a ranger, though.

Permidion_Stark

I must admit that I keep forgetting that Minsc is a ranger and the last time I started SoA I couldn't understand why he had two points in dual-wielding but specialised in two-handed sword. I managed to convince myself that the blow to his head had made him choose the wrong proficiencies.

Kitteh_On_A_Cloud

Schneidend said:

unfortunate_one said:

I am all for the NPCs not having to stick to stat restrictions. I would rather Minsc be a berserker with the charm animal than have to stick to Ranger restrictions just because of Boo.

I do believe Shadow Keeper can fix this.
I do believe this is my only nit pick I have about the game. Might be why we are all so pumped up about playing the game again.

There's nothing to "fix." Minsc is a Ranger because he's a bloody Ranger. The only reason he has a berserk ability is because he's a member of a Rashemi berserker lodge. He was originally one of the dev's pnp D&D characters, where he was a Ranger. The end.

I agree with @Schneidend. Minsc is Minsc. He's good as he is right now. Also, who is to say he doesn't have a broader empathy for animals in general? I always imagined him as a guy who'd have no problems into gaining the trust of animals. I always imagined him as the guy being covered in birds during lunch time, happily sharing his food with them.

Djimmy

Minsc looks too solid to be insane or something like that. In my opinion, he is a genius of some sort, combat or whatever.

Bjjorick

lol, rangers befriend animals, and minsc has a very close animal friend. You have to realize that minsc was a ranger til he hit his head, now he just tries to act like one, so he's the best of both worlds. It's a little odd, but don't think of it from a game play mechanics point of view, but a story/plot/humor point of view and it makes perfect sense.

Minsc is also a public service annoucement. Always always always wear a helmet or minature giant space hamsters will start to talk to you. You also won't be able to cast good spells anymore. (