If Abdel Adrian never existed...
EntropyXII
Member Posts: 656
....what do you believe is the most 'canon' CHARNAME in Baldur's Gate?
Personally, I cannot stand Abdel Adrian and I think his character is incredibly out of place in the saga. Some may hate me for saying that - but it is only an opinion.
I personally go would go for:
My favourite Lawful Evil Assassin who embraces his destiny as the new Lord of Murder. Starting as Lawful Neutral (Gorion taught him well) but taking the alignment change to evil whilst in hell as he is tempted by his fate.
Starting as Lawful Neutral allows the 'canon' party to make sense when transferring to Baldur's Gate. It also allows you to take a neutral ground and not end up alienating some of the more interesting party members throughout the series. As you become evil you can take advantage of the more powerful and interesting NPC's such as Sarevok.
To me, it feels like Baldur's Gate was written to be played this way.
Anyhow, what do you guys think? Any alternatives?
EXII
Personally, I cannot stand Abdel Adrian and I think his character is incredibly out of place in the saga. Some may hate me for saying that - but it is only an opinion.
I personally go would go for:
My favourite Lawful Evil Assassin who embraces his destiny as the new Lord of Murder. Starting as Lawful Neutral (Gorion taught him well) but taking the alignment change to evil whilst in hell as he is tempted by his fate.
Starting as Lawful Neutral allows the 'canon' party to make sense when transferring to Baldur's Gate. It also allows you to take a neutral ground and not end up alienating some of the more interesting party members throughout the series. As you become evil you can take advantage of the more powerful and interesting NPC's such as Sarevok.
To me, it feels like Baldur's Gate was written to be played this way.
Anyhow, what do you guys think? Any alternatives?
EXII
4
Comments
As to how a "true canon" charname would be, I think he/she should be a human or half-elf (because of how old you're supposed to be when the story begins).
And as far as class goes, anything that fits a character who grew up in Candlekeep would fit the bill. A Mage or Sorcerer sounds just right (you being Gorion's apprentice), as does a Bard (can you think of a better place for a Loremaster to grow up in?) but a Fighter, Paladin or Thief are also okay. Cleric requires a little stretching (though plausible).
Classes like Monk, Ranger, Druid, Barbarian and Blackguard require a lot of rationalization, to the point where it's easier to just ignore the necessary contrivance and go along with it, in the name of good fun.
Not that I'd be in favor of limiting race/class choices because of that. I just think that if it were necessary to establish a canon charname, I'd go for a less contrived background.
About the only part where it falls apart is with a barbarian/berzerker. But... you can sort of fudge it anyway.
So BG2 assumes the travel companions were Imoen, Minsc, Dynaheir, Khalid and Jaheira. This suggests, if the game tries to keep it balanced, charname is a cleric, as this is the basic class not present. I don't really feel it's the "canon charname to end all canon charnames" tho. A bard would probably be my choice; if kitted, a skald who read about many epic adventures in the huge library and was inspired by them, which later leads to his/her own epic tale and closes a circle.
With Minsc, Khalid and Jaheira as capable frontliners; Minsc, Khalid and Imoen as capable ranged fighters... a fighter type makes the least sense to me. Luckily, no-one ever implied this as canon by writing a novel or anything.
I imagine a Cleric who ultimately chooses to ascend would be in a lot of trouble once he/she meets his former god... I'd be pissed if someone relied on my power primarily as a way to end up smoking cigars and sipping martinis right next to me in the Gods of Faerun poker table.
Even if you advanced said God's cause up to that point, that'd mean you're now either competing with Him/Her on the portfolio field or promoting a different cause (if you turn Evil, for example). It's an awkward situation either way.
As for class, the canon companions have pretty much all the bases covered. Meaning that pretty much any other class (or multiclass) would work. I'd agree with what Kilivitz said about classes given the Candlekeep background.
In BG2 there are 3 female romances vs 1 male romance. So I'd lean towards the canon protagonist being male.
Chaotic Good originally (he seems like a slacker at times, favoring personal freedom, but I do think Gorion would've raised him under Harper Ideals, so a good alignment is likely), and is SORELY tested by events to come.
And canonically, he turns down godhood (to protect the status quo of the Realms)...so...I'd think he wouldn't be evil, since evil would JUMP at the chance for ultimate power, and good or neutral would likely give it up, since the solar tells you straight up, if you refuse they'll bind the power in the higher planes to keep it from the wrong hands, and that seems the best outcome (absolute power corrupts absolutely and all that). I'd probably end up just saying he's still chaotic good, just wizened and a little cynical from the whole experience but glad to have his remaining companions all the same and finally free to live his own life without being a puppet to destiny.