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Elminster in BG and BG2

SamuelVargSamuelVarg Member Posts: 598
in Archive (General Discussion)
In BG you meet Elminster in Chapter 1, 3, 4 and 5 as far as I know.
1 on the road to Friendly Arm Inn.
3 when you return to Naschel.
4 at the Friendly Arm Inn.
5 when you enter Baldurs Gate.

Have anyone encountered him at any other time?

In BG2 you only see him under a pseudonyme and later on in ToB in a quick talk before you take on the Throne.

To bad we se him so few times in BG2.

Comments

  • AllbrotherAllbrother Member Posts: 262
    I liked this just for the Edwin quote

    Back to the topic, I really didn't miss him at all in BG2
    There are much more interesting wizards there
  • ajwzajwz Member Posts: 4,122
    Elminster's cameos piss me off
  • smeagolheartsmeagolheart Member Posts: 7,964
    edited January 2013
    EnterHaerDalis said:

    Wow, the Forgotten Realms wiki has him listed as a Fighter, Rogue, Cleric and a Wizard. My passion ends with 3rd edition but Quad Class seems pretty epic lol

    Apparently you can also play him as an NPC in D&D online. Oh and how can I open this thread and not quote Edwin

    "Elminster this, Elminster that. Give me 2000 years and a pointy hat and I'll kick his arse!"

    Apparently Elminster: The Making of a Mage (January 2000) details why he dipped his toes into so many classes.

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

    edit:
    Anyone else want to point and call him "El Minister" whenever they see his name or is it just me?
  • TJ_HookerTJ_Hooker Member Posts: 2,438
    ajwz said:

    Elminster's cameos piss me off

    I don't know if I'd go so far as to say it pissed me off, but I do find his cameo, along with those of a couple other characters, to feel kinda forced and unnecessary. Like they're just there as fanservice.
  • davendaven Member Posts: 112
    Elminster is a badass.
  • ajwzajwz Member Posts: 4,122
    daven said:

    Elminster is a badass.

    eh shoots his guns and doesn't afraid of anything.
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,317
    daven said:

    Elminster is a badass.

    This is a fact.
  • UnknownQuantityUnknownQuantity Member Posts: 242
    EnterHaerDalis said:

    Wow, the Forgotten Realms wiki has him listed as a Fighter, Rogue, Cleric and a Wizard. My passion ends with 3rd edition but Quad Class seems pretty epic lol

    Apparently you can also play him as an NPC in D&D online. Oh and how can I open this thread and not quote Edwin

    "Elminster this, Elminster that. Give me 2000 years and a pointy hat and I'll kick his arse!"

    In the books he was all of those and he was a woman for a while as well. It was all part of his learning/growing on his path to revenge.
  • The_New_RomanceThe_New_Romance Member Posts: 839
    He's also an Archmage according to my 3E FRCS. Prestige Elminster for the win!
  • IkMarcIkMarc Member Posts: 552
    Has anyone ever managed to kill him in BG???
  • ZanathKariashiZanathKariashi Member Posts: 2,869
    edited January 2013
    He's also legit...if dual classing was fully implemented (you can actually have 1 class from each pool), you too could pretend to be Elminster....though you'd need 1 hell of a roll.


    Yeah...Elminster is a walking LotR rip off. He's for most intents and purposes Gandalf the Red, who is also a fallen king with a broken sword that later gets reforged.
  • MadhaxMadhax Member Posts: 1,416
    IkMarc said:

    Has anyone ever managed to kill him in BG???

    Hell yeah. He's worth quite a chunk of experience. Check out the solo blackguard run someone posted in general recently, that guy killed Elminster in each of every possible encounter for some serious XP gain.

  • EnterHaerDalisEnterHaerDalis Member Posts: 813
    Madhax said:

    IkMarc said:

    Has anyone ever managed to kill him in BG???

    Hell yeah. He's worth quite a chunk of experience. Check out the solo blackguard run someone posted in general recently, that guy killed Elminster in each of every possible encounter for some serious XP gain.

    keep in mind this was before Overhaul released any meaningful patches... it was essentially a bug

    Try that now and he either turns you into a chicken or summons cows to fall on your head insta death style
  • ZanathKariashiZanathKariashi Member Posts: 2,869
    Ok that is totally wrong. Elminister was totally killable in BG1...they're changing WAY too much stuff. How many more "features" will they remove?? And replace with buggy exploits that didn't exist previously.
  • SCARY_WIZARDSCARY_WIZARD Member Posts: 1,438
    ZanathKariashi said:

    He's also legit...if dual classing was fully implemented (you can actually have 1 class from each pool), you too could pretend to be Elminster....though you'd need 1 hell of a roll.


    Yeah...Elminster is a walking LotR rip off. He's for most intents and purposes Gandalf the Red, who is also a fallen king with a broken sword that later gets reforged.

    UnknownQuantity said:

    In the books he was all of those and he was a woman for a while as well. It was all part of his learning/growing on his path to revenge.

    Tiresias?! Gandagoresias?

    I love him anyways.
    What always surprised me was how CHARNAME and Imoen (as well as possibly, I don't know, anybody else you might have picked up?) don't know it's Elminster that you meet on the road to the Friendly Arm Inn. Granted, CHARNAME and Imoen are probably shaken up about some recent events, and Montaron and Xzar are...well, Montaron and Xzar...but it always struck me as odd.
  • EnterHaerDalisEnterHaerDalis Member Posts: 813
    Damn the more I read about Elminster the scandalous he seems to me...he started as a thief!! These are quotes from the FR wiki

    "Elminster became a brigand and a thief at the ripe age of twelve"

    "After many adventures, Elminster was visited by Mystra, the Goddess of All Magic. She tarried with him and left the awestruck Elminster with the message that he should learn of magic and worship her. Soon thereafter, while he was still a young adult, Mystra transformed Elminster into a woman named Elmara to strengthen his bond with magic and to know what it is to be a woman."
  • KankKank Member Posts: 38
    Daelric said:

    Forget the Elminster cameos! How about the Cadderly appearance at Candlekeep? Huh? :) Yeah... go Cleric Quintet! Yeah.. :) Cadderly

    It's really cool that someone else was excited to see Cadderly. The Cleric Quintet was amazing. Dwarven brothers with kitchen armor (Wearing pots and fighting with pans).. how can you go wrong! ;D

    Elminster? Never overly cared for him. He always felt like the kind of character a person played forever in an actual game.. and then wrote ENDLESS FAN FICTION about how awesome they are. Yes, I know Ed Greenwood's works are above fan fiction. Elminster actually had a sort of space station in the Spelljammer setting. Ugh..

  • CalmarCalmar Member Posts: 688
    edited January 2013
    IkMarc said:

    Has anyone ever managed to kill him in BG???

    Yeah :D

    http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/10715/i-killed-elminster/p1
    http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/11981/no-country-for-old-men
  • cyberarmycyberarmy Member Posts: 128
    Possible BG2 spoilers!

    Elminister's story is kind of great tough. A very solid journey on becoming a great mage, some of the mage duels in his book are just awesome (especially the shapeshifting contest :)) favored of Mystra he really is!
    And Edwin's BG2 plot, i burst into tears and laughter when he transformed himself into a woman XD Bitching that much about Elminister is dangerous, he has a wicked sense of humor after 2000 years ^_^
  • ZanathKariashiZanathKariashi Member Posts: 2,869
    Hell, Edwin's epilogue...'nuff said.
  • DeeDee Member Posts: 10,447
    Elminster and Gandalf are both conceptually drawn from Merlin, not each other. That said, the trope of the "ageless wizard who gives advice to young adventurers and tries not to meddle in mortal affairs" is a common one; Elminster and Gandalf just happen to be among the most well-known.

    I'm reading the books now, and I'm really enjoying the "rise to power" story that he's got going. I also appreciate the fact that at no point is he described as being in any way attractive. Even when he's a woman, he's an awkwardly shaped woman with that same beak-shaped nose. It's a nice shift from where novel protagonists usually go.
  • cyberarmycyberarmy Member Posts: 128
    edited January 2013
    ZanathKariashi said:

    Hell, Edwin's epilogue...'nuff said.


    Hehe and it's even better in Dragon Age Origins where there isa a NPC as an inn keeper in Denerim named Edwina who is a bitter woman :D
  • CalmarCalmar Member Posts: 688
    Aosaw said:

    I'm reading the books now, and I'm really enjoying the "rise to power" story that he's got going. I also appreciate the fact that at no point is he described as being in any way attractive. Even when he's a woman, he's an awkwardly shaped woman with that same beak-shaped nose. It's a nice shift from where novel protagonists usually go.

    Wow, I didn't expect that. I was thinking he'd of course turn into a hot babe... Seems you toppled my unjust assumtions about the Elminster books.
  • DeeDee Member Posts: 10,447
    They really are a great read. I picked up the collector's edition from a used book store a few weeks ago, and I couldn't be happier with the purchase.

    (This is also coming from someone who usually really doesn't like D&D fiction; make of that what you will.)
  • SamuelVargSamuelVarg Member Posts: 598
    To my question in the beginning:

    has anyone met Elminster except in chapter 1, 3, 4 and 5 in BG?
  • smeagolheartsmeagolheart Member Posts: 7,964
    I met him last week at Walmart. I snapped this photo.

    El Minister
    image

    (sorry couldn't resist)
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