Well, as far as novel is concerned, the Abdel changed the party members... So in chronological order:
1. Gorion
2. Xzar, Montaron, Jaheira, Khalid
3. Jaheira, Khalid, Xan
4. Jaheira
Novel-wise Minsc and Dynaheir were not present, neither Imoen in BG1.
The only hint as to the original character is found in TOTSC default save file.... Has Abdel Human Fighter...
Well, could be anything... 3 warriors, 2 mages, one ex-thief, one druid. So probably most balanced PC would be cleric/thief, since half of the time Jaheira would be busy fighting so need full time cleric that can fight well but can act as a thief once Imoen duals to mage?
Well if you ignore the bastardization of the game known as the novel, you can make a strong case for any class.
I prefer Bard. All those books you are bound to pick up some useless information. Gorion would have been attempting to teach you magic, Fuller and Hull would be teaching you how to use a sword and halberd and you would of been getting into mischief with Imoen.
I think he makes most sense as a fighter mage. It seems like it would be easy for charname to start as a fighter growing up amongst militia men at candlekeep. Similar to Elminster Charname has to dual class to mage in order to compete with the powers of John Irenicus. This actually works out really well as when you meet Irenicus you are around level 7 and a good time to dual class from fighter to mage.
The other class that might make sense is the wizard slayer kit, but it's pretty horrible IMO.
The books were horrible cash in on the BG series. They have nothing to do with the game series, because the books misused the lore of the series in the most idiotic (and blasphemous to BG games fans) way. Were it to happen today, that writer would have been made accountable for his bad writing like it happened to the last book on the BioWare's Mass Effect universe - fans' rage made him rewrite it.
As for the OP, I would say that human is the most likely race of the Bhaalspawn and mage, fighter or cleric as class. Mage because of Gorion - every child wants to be like his father, and Gorion along with the monks did teach the protagonist something extensively. Fighter - because it's the easiest class to start if you're lacking any special skills, and there were lots of wardens to teach the protagonist how to fight. Cleric - because in Candlekeep there were alot of Oghma priests among the monks (Oghma is the god of knowledge). Other classes do not fit as well, except maybe for the sorcerer.
@Aramintai: Did that guy ever actually rewrite the book? i felt it kinda got swept to the wayside once the complete furore over ME3's ending happened. Everyone kind went from 'what happened with thsi tie-in novel?' to 'what happened with this game!!!?'
@Aramintai: Did that guy ever actually rewrite the book? i felt it kinda got swept to the wayside once the complete furore over ME3's ending happened. Everyone kind went from 'what happened with thsi tie-in novel?' to 'what happened with this game!!!?'
I actually don't go to the BSN much after the endings debacle. I think that book discussion quietly died out. Now nobody cares there about anything except for how bad the endings were. But I remember reading there that the writer will rewrite that book, at least partially, because of the lore inconsistencies with the games series. And here: http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Mass_Effect:_Deception It basically says - nobody cares anymore .
I always thought a fighter/mage made a lot of sense. You're bored, you're longing for adventure in the outside world, so you pick up the sword and start training in hopes you could one day leave and take care of yourself. Candlekeep's also a handy place for tomes and scrolls, so you've also found a talent for magic while growing up there. Not to mention that Gorion probably showed you a few tricks.
Ideally I'd want a fighter/sorcerer to keep with the inner-power-from-unknown-source theme, but... I see why that'd be broken gameplay-wise. >_>;;
I made a mistake in the OP by forgetting to mention the novels. I am aware of their existence, but IMO they are horrid bastarizations of some of my favorite party members. In addition abdel Adrian is a dumb name, a dumb character, and doesn't fit my image what so ever. Interested in others opinions not the author of that novel.
Abdel Adrian is, indeed, a very silly name. I never read the non-existent novel, so I have no idea how stupid its bearer may have been, had he existed.
Abdel Adrian is, indeed, a very silly name. I never read the non-existent novel, so I have no idea how stupid its bearer may have been, had he existed.
His character arc in the first non-existent novel mostly involves trying to bang Jaheira while everyone else around him dies horribly. I didn't read any of the others.
His character arc in the first non-existent novel mostly involves trying to bang Jaheira while everyone else around him dies horribly. I didn't read any of the others.
For shame, non-existent Abdel. You're only supposed to do that in the second book!
Lets go through the classes. I would say the "learned that stuff on his travels" thing as a pretty lame excuse because DnD lore wise level 1 in a class means has years of training in it so he knows the basic stuff of the class and the further levels are gained through adventuring and using the stuffs class. If the main char learned all the stuff on his travels which roughly lastet half a year at max it makes no sense that he comes to the same levels as Kalid and Jaheira get in that time. So It should be asumed that mainchar learned all the stuff in Candlekeep:
Fighter: Basic fighter would be no problem. The mainchar was trained by the guards in the time in Candlekeep but the kits are a bit problematic.
Berserker: would be ok and fitting to the Bhalspawn thing because the description doesn't state that the Berseker abilities could only be attained through training.
Barbarian: A bit more problematic, the Barbarians abilities seem to stem more from training and there are quite more diferences to a normal fighter.
Wizard Slayer: The skills are obtained through special training so very unlikely in a place where arcane lore is stored. Could be possible because mainchar got his knowledge out of books because for some reason he was never fond of magic.
Kensai: Also very specific training unlikely to be obtained in Candlekeep and learning it from books seems also unlikely because that kind of special fighting training is kind of hard to obtain from books.
Ranger: Pretty much a no for obvious reasons. Maybe Archer if you see it as a specialized fighter. The divine abilities are obtained late enough to say they where obtained through knowledge from traveling.
Paladin: Maybe with much twisting since Ohgma is the only God with a temple in Candlekeep and while his worshipers might have all alignments, Ohgma has no Paladins. Blackguard would be possible if you say the powers are all from mainchar's origin but this should be very alarming for Gorion.
Priest: Very possible but unlikely that mainchar is a priest of anything other than Ohgma so no kits.
Druid: Even more no than Ranger.
Mage: Very possible for obvious reasons.
Thief: Yes a self trained thief that obtained his knowledge together with Imoen would be very possible but the kits don't fit since they are either focused on killing (Bounty Hunter, Assassin). Swashbuckler if you bent it a bit and say its just a thief with more fighting training.
Bard: I would say it fits somewhat. He could have his gossip and tales from the visitors and books in Candlekeep. The "nordic" part in Skald doesn't fit.
Sorcerrer: Yeah would be possible.
Monk: No there seems to be absolutely no one pursuing this kind of Martial Training in Candlekeep.
I would think that any character with some kind of inherited power would be good. A powerful fighter (Sarevok), a Sorcerer, or a Thief.
But for someone who grew up in Candlekeep you can become anything. Your heritage just make you better then the common class (that, and the fact that most of us are power gamers :P).
To all the people questioning the probability of which class the PC is most likely to be, consider this, you are say 18 years old, never left candlekeep, and suddenly one day, you are on your way to the friendly arm inn, bashing in the skulls of dire wolves and bears. Then you meet up with xar? and montaron, who are clearly evil bastards and you being the sheltered probably homeschooled child you are, accept them into your party? Do you eat the candy they offer you too? In all honesty the PC is likely to be no class from the start... so any class will do.
Its not a class I will ever play in the game but the one that fits the story the most, particularly in BG2 is male human fighter.
If you play a male human fighter, preferably one with low to average int and wis, and lowish cha due to an apparent lack of bathing habits among other things, there will never be any dialogue that doesn't fit your character.
If you play anything else you will have at least occasional wtf moments.
Isn't her husband like, still alive at that point?
Yes. Khalid then gets infected/infested by some ooze monster early, and rather than seek aid by any sort of priest or mage (Or, I dunno, THE DRUID STANDING RIGHT NEXT TO HIM), Abdel straight-up murders him on the spot. This makes Jaheira inexplicably horny.
At least, I'm guessing that, should a book recording these events actually exist, that might be what happened.
I dunno...there's a lot of evidense throughout the game that he's a fighter or possibly a rogue of some type. Ohgma doesn't have pallies, so that's out. Neither does Savras for that matter. Neither does Mystra, Dyneir, or Tymora. Azuth doesn't have a following at Candlekeep. He's lived his entire formative years at Candlekeep...no specialized ranger training there, or druids for that matter. Barbarians are out completely. The monks are Oriental Adventure style monks, not religious monks like at Candlekeep...so...I can't really see it.....Sorcerers don't exist in 2nd Edition, so they're out.
The PC shouldn't be able to become a cleric, due to plot reasons.....though I suppose it's possible they might could, getting their spells via nascent potential rather then worshiping a deity, since they're a special case...still don't really see it.
The PC is mentioned to have done training with the guards before in several places so he definitely has some familarity with weapons and armor, but is mentioned to have constantly skipped out on his studies, but is still mentioned to be quite bright (so not likely a mage at beginning, but potential to become one). He and Imeon have been friends for years though, and it's mention he was in trouble for their various antics several times.
On the other hand, Gorion is a semi-retired Harper, and Harpers have a LOT of Bards in their ranks...and I could definitely see the PC as a Bard, jack of all trades bard, not prancing ninny with a lute bard.
Basically it comes down to thematics. While FR Bards are the hardcore adventuring sort, ready to make their own legends, rather then the pansey, support bards of other realms, it's hard to think of a Bard as the main character, well...at least the BG bards anyway....proper 2nd edition, or god forbid those Jack of all trades, master of FREAK'N EVERYTHING from 3.5, I could definitely see it.
So ultimately...the shoddy implementation of Bards, nixes the Bardic PC.
Fighter, dualed to mage in the sequel after Irenicus showed him first hand that swinging a weapon exclusively will only get a person so far, and high level magic is GREAT!...and then decides combining most of the effective capacity for fighter training, without hindering and adding back-up to your spell-casting potential is FREAK'N AWESOME AS HELL!?
Canon-wise Abdel Adrian is a Fighter, its in one of the old Dragon's.
Those abominations of books do not exist in this dojo.
I am not talking about those-that-we-do-not-speak-of-here, i am talking about Dragon Magazine, plus GHotR.
"Abdel Adrian" is canon. SO either concede, or have them print a brand new copy of "Grand History of the Realms" with a new name in its spot, and have it sent to me.
Canon-wise Abdel Adrian is a Fighter, its in one of the old Dragon's.
Those abominations of books do not exist in this dojo.
I am not talking about those-that-we-do-not-speak-of-here, i am talking about Dragon Magazine, plus GHotR.
"Abdel Adrian" is canon. SO either concede, or have them print a brand new copy of "Grand History of the Realms" with a new name in its spot, and have it sent to me.
Obviously, Mykra knows that and doesn't care. Neither do I. Star Wars episodes 1-3 are canon, but I don't acknowledge their existence. Abdel Adrian is technically the canon Bhaalspawn, but nobody feels like acknowledging him, so don't bother reiterating it.
Canon-wise Abdel Adrian is a Fighter, its in one of the old Dragon's.
Those abominations of books do not exist in this dojo.
I am not talking about those-that-we-do-not-speak-of-here, i am talking about Dragon Magazine, plus GHotR.
"Abdel Adrian" is canon. SO either concede, or have them print a brand new copy of "Grand History of the Realms" with a new name in its spot, and have it sent to me.
Obviously, Mykra knows that and doesn't care. Neither do I. Star Wars episodes 1-3 are canon, but I don't acknowledge their existence. Abdel Adrian is technically the canon Bhaalspawn, but nobody feels like acknowledging him, so don't bother reiterating it.
Comments
1. Gorion
2. Xzar, Montaron, Jaheira, Khalid
3. Jaheira, Khalid, Xan
4. Jaheira
Novel-wise Minsc and Dynaheir were not present, neither Imoen in BG1.
The only hint as to the original character is found in TOTSC default save file.... Has Abdel Human Fighter...
Well, could be anything... 3 warriors, 2 mages, one ex-thief, one druid. So probably most balanced PC would be cleric/thief, since half of the time Jaheira would be busy fighting so need full time cleric that can fight well but can act as a thief once Imoen duals to mage?
I prefer Bard. All those books you are bound to pick up some useless information. Gorion would have been attempting to teach you magic, Fuller and Hull would be teaching you how to use a sword and halberd and you would of been getting into mischief with Imoen.
The other class that might make sense is the wizard slayer kit, but it's pretty horrible IMO.
As for the OP, I would say that human is the most likely race of the Bhaalspawn and mage, fighter or cleric as class. Mage because of Gorion - every child wants to be like his father, and Gorion along with the monks did teach the protagonist something extensively. Fighter - because it's the easiest class to start if you're lacking any special skills, and there were lots of wardens to teach the protagonist how to fight. Cleric - because in Candlekeep there were alot of Oghma priests among the monks (Oghma is the god of knowledge). Other classes do not fit as well, except maybe for the sorcerer.
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Mass_Effect:_Deception
It basically says - nobody cares anymore
Ideally I'd want a fighter/sorcerer to keep with the inner-power-from-unknown-source theme, but... I see why that'd be broken gameplay-wise. >_>;;
This is, of course, assuming the non-existent books follow the pattern of the games, at least to that extent.
Fighter: Basic fighter would be no problem. The mainchar was trained by the guards in the time in Candlekeep but the kits are a bit problematic.
Berserker: would be ok and fitting to the Bhalspawn thing because the description doesn't state that the
Berseker abilities could only be attained through training.
Barbarian: A bit more problematic, the Barbarians abilities seem to stem more from training and there are quite more diferences to a normal fighter.
Wizard Slayer: The skills are obtained through special training so very unlikely in a place where arcane lore is stored. Could be possible because mainchar got his knowledge out of books because for some reason he was never fond of magic.
Kensai: Also very specific training unlikely to be obtained in Candlekeep and learning it from books seems also unlikely because that kind of special fighting training is kind of hard to obtain from books.
Ranger: Pretty much a no for obvious reasons. Maybe Archer if you see it as a specialized fighter. The divine abilities are obtained late enough to say they where obtained through knowledge from traveling.
Paladin: Maybe with much twisting since Ohgma is the only God with a temple in Candlekeep and while his worshipers might have all alignments, Ohgma has no Paladins. Blackguard would be possible if you say the powers are all from mainchar's origin but this should be very alarming for Gorion.
Priest: Very possible but unlikely that mainchar is a priest of anything other than Ohgma so no kits.
Druid: Even more no than Ranger.
Mage: Very possible for obvious reasons.
Thief: Yes a self trained thief that obtained his knowledge together with Imoen would be very possible but the kits don't fit since they are either focused on killing (Bounty Hunter, Assassin). Swashbuckler if you bent it a bit and say its just a thief with more fighting training.
Bard: I would say it fits somewhat. He could have his gossip and tales from the visitors and books in Candlekeep. The "nordic" part in Skald doesn't fit.
Sorcerrer: Yeah would be possible.
Monk: No there seems to be absolutely no one pursuing this kind of Martial Training in Candlekeep.
But for someone who grew up in Candlekeep you can become anything. Your heritage just make you better then the common class (that, and the fact that most of us are power gamers :P).
If you play a male human fighter, preferably one with low to average int and wis, and lowish cha due to an apparent lack of bathing habits among other things, there will never be any dialogue that doesn't fit your character.
If you play anything else you will have at least occasional wtf moments.
At least, I'm guessing that, should a book recording these events actually exist, that might be what happened.
The PC shouldn't be able to become a cleric, due to plot reasons.....though I suppose it's possible they might could, getting their spells via nascent potential rather then worshiping a deity, since they're a special case...still don't really see it.
The PC is mentioned to have done training with the guards before in several places so he definitely has some familarity with weapons and armor, but is mentioned to have constantly skipped out on his studies, but is still mentioned to be quite bright (so not likely a mage at beginning, but potential to become one). He and Imeon have been friends for years though, and it's mention he was in trouble for their various antics several times.
On the other hand, Gorion is a semi-retired Harper, and Harpers have a LOT of Bards in their ranks...and I could definitely see the PC as a Bard, jack of all trades bard, not prancing ninny with a lute bard.
Basically it comes down to thematics. While FR Bards are the hardcore adventuring sort, ready to make their own legends, rather then the pansey, support bards of other realms, it's hard to think of a Bard as the main character, well...at least the BG bards anyway....proper 2nd edition, or god forbid those Jack of all trades, master of FREAK'N EVERYTHING from 3.5, I could definitely see it.
So ultimately...the shoddy implementation of Bards, nixes the Bardic PC.
Fighter, dualed to mage in the sequel after Irenicus showed him first hand that swinging a weapon exclusively will only get a person so far, and high level magic is GREAT!...and then decides combining most of the effective capacity for fighter training, without hindering and adding back-up to your spell-casting potential is FREAK'N AWESOME AS HELL!?
"Abdel Adrian" is canon. SO either concede, or have them print a brand new copy of "Grand History of the Realms" with a new name in its spot, and have it sent to me.