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Creating a new CHARNAME. Roleplay build suggestions?

Ok, this topic is for anybody who is like me and sometimes hits a brick wall when creating a new character.

If you have any favourite builds feel free to post them here. No power-gaming builds please.

My favourites have to be:

'Child of Bhaal'
Lawful Evil
Assassin
Weapon Specialisation: single weapon, dagger (also using throwing daggers)

'Gorion's Ward'
Lawful Good
Mage
Weapon Specialisation: Staff, two handed weapon fighting.

I think most people have tried those above, and they do indeed hold the most RP potential in my opinion.

Lately, I have been toying around with a 'Spike Spiegel' build.

True Neutral,
Bounty Hunter/Swashbuckler (Bounty Hunter for roleplay reasons, but I am aware this character is starting to look like a certain Yoshimo)

Weapon specialisation: Crossbow? This is a difficult one.

With regards to RP it could work in how the PC seems to become a mercenary right out of Candlekeep and catches a good number of crooks for gold.

Anyhow, suggestions? Let's see some creativity!
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Comments

  • CaptRoryCaptRory Member Posts: 1,660
    My first recommendation would be to play a class you've never tried before. Just to shake it up and unlock a new stronghold experience in the 2nd game.

    That said I love a Cavalier using 2h Swords.
  • EntropyXIIEntropyXII Member Posts: 656
    @CaptRory - Ahhh, the good old Cavalier. My very first BG1 character was a 2 handed paladin which I took to BG2.
  • CaptRoryCaptRory Member Posts: 1,660
    My first was a vanilla bard =3 Used flails, longswords, and longbows.
  • francofranco Member Posts: 507
    I've recently built

    Chaotic Good
    Blade
    Weapon Specialization: longsword, bow, single weapon style

    having much fun.
  • KidCarnivalKidCarnival Member Posts: 3,747
    I like a neutral evil jester with Stupifier and Darts of Stunning, played as a trickster who doesn't have the physical strength to take on most enemies in melee without an "unfair advantage". Add Blindness, Charm Person, Glitterdust. In a way, I played my jester like Ashur from Spartacus Blood and Sand - out for himself, able to talk his way out of many situations, but compared to most fighters, he needs to play dirty to get the upper hand.
  • DJKajuruDJKajuru Member Posts: 3,300
    Well , my favorite builds focused on RP are:

    1 -Neutral blade , with high intelligence and charisma. Sometimes will often act cold and coordinate the party , and try to talk his way out of situations.

    2 - Chaotic Good abjurer . Memorizes at least one abjuration spell from each level, will defend those he feels are victim of prejudice , such as Viconia or Aerie. Will use his abjuration spells as to disable enemy mages.
  • SouthpawSouthpaw Member Posts: 2,026
    My first BGEE playthrough was with a "Child of Bhaal", how you name it.
    Lawful Evil human Assassin:
    base attributes 17/18/15/16/10/15
    (good roll, not powergame-y, house rule of having max 1x18, 1x17 and 1x16 at char creation)
    Crossbows + daggers. (Later single weapon prof & short swords)
    Pumped trap setting to 95% and then focused on stealth.
    Mainly ranged at first, utilizing poison, traps and careful planning - playing him as a hidden killer that snipes his prey and then lures it into an ambush (traps).
    At levels 8+, stealth starts being useful/possible. With the Dagger of Venom.

    Ran a party with Imoen (Thief->Mage), Viconia and Dorn. Later including Kagain for last 2 chapters. Very fun and sometimes very interesting with kiting and laying traps and ambushes for the enemies.


    Now I am playing a Swashbuckler+Dorn duo (trying to), a monk and a Cleric->Mage dualclass CHARNAME (at lvl 7) plus Thieves and Fighters only (being the only caster in the group is...quite interesting)
  • mrdeluxemrdeluxe Member Posts: 98
    First off, let me just say that I'm currently playing a True Neutral Bounty Hunter as well, and I love it!

    It's a very different approach compared to my usual: running screaming bloody murder and cut them in twain with my axe: I have to think more tactically and pace myself, but is extremely satisfying. It's also cool as heck, picturing a mercenary, accepting quests for cash through Faerun, with his trusty companions by his side, with a crossbow over the shoulder and a short sword on his hip.

    And I love to quickly throw a snare in from of my character while one of the BG1 assassins walks towards the party, listening to his threats and then watch him die, or very nearly so, from the trap. Take that, Tarnesh!


    It's a little difficult to me to invest in a character that I can't relate to. That's why I always play human males, usualy fighters or rogues.

    But a fun thing to do is to go the completely other way: play a female halfling or dwarf. Maybe a kensai with GM in spears?

    Or play as a very specific character, and do everything in the shoes of that character: one of my playthroughs (I gave up on it because it was too damn easy) I played as Thor, from the comics: A dual Berserker Cleric with single-weapon style and GM in War Hammer, using the Call Lightning/Bold of Glory spell profusely.

    I'm also thinking of playing as Tyrion Lannister, but I have a tough time creating the character. He would make a good jester, but you can't be a bard and one of the short races. He's smart, but you can't be a mage and a halfling, must be a gnome for that. He's definitely not a cleric, but he has relatively high wisdom… Maybe a fighter/illusionist gnome with proficiency in axes, with low STR, CON and high INT and CHA?
  • FinneousPJFinneousPJ Member Posts: 6,455
    A religious zealot Quarterstaff specialist, Kensai -> Cleric.
  • mrdeluxemrdeluxe Member Posts: 98
    edited May 2013
    Your mother, whom you never knew, was infected with lycanthropy. Gorion met her during his time with the Harpers (maybe Jaheira knew CHARNAME's mom? Maybe from the same druid clan?) and fell in love with her.

    On her deathbed, Gorion promised your mother he would take care of you, knowing that you would grow up infected as well. He planned to tell you about it, explain everything to you, but he never had the change. It was when you first watched your foster father being killed by an armored figure in the night that you transformed for the first time, due to grief. You spend the night in your werewolf form, being discovered in the morning, after you transformed back into your human form, by your childhood friend, Imoen, who saw everything.

    EDIT: And for a challenge, play "naked": No armor whatsoever: no boots, bracers, helmets or rings, because these would be destroyed once you transformed into a werewolf. You could use an amulet and a cloak, perhaps.
  • RemenissionsRemenissions Member Posts: 102
    that would be a good idea mrdeluxe, but in tob it comes out and says the situation of how gorion found you and who your mother is :/
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    @mrdeluxe, Tyrion as presented in Game of Thrones looks to me like a rogue/fighter combo. Early on, he can barely swing a sword, but he develops at least some comfort with sword and shield by the time he leads battle. He seems very crafty, and good at sneaking around and escaping, thus the rogue levels.

    I'd say fighter/thief or thief>fighter works pretty well.

    He's never shown to have the least aptitude for magic or religion.

    We could do a whole thread on what classes Game of Throne characters would be - in fact, I seem to remember one.
  • mrdeluxemrdeluxe Member Posts: 98

    that would be a good idea mrdeluxe, but in tob it comes out and says the situation of how gorion found you and who your mother is :/

    Damn you Throne of Bhaal! (never gotten that far into ToB…)
  • mrdeluxemrdeluxe Member Posts: 98

    @mrdeluxe, Tyrion as presented in Game of Thrones looks to me like a rogue/fighter combo. Early on, he can barely swing a sword, but he develops at least some comfort with sword and shield by the time he leads battle. He seems very crafty, and good at sneaking around and escaping, thus the rogue levels.

    I'd say fighter/thief or thief>fighter works pretty well.

    He's never shown to have the least aptitude for magic or religion.

    True, In fact he is visibly anti-religious at some points "The Drowned God wants his enemies drowned. Why are all the gods such vicious c****? Where is the god of t*** and wine?"

    And, yes, he has survived a couple of battles (although he himself would say he's not that much of a fighter), but his strengths are clearly his wits "My mind is my weapon […] and a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge." He has also shown great power of persuasion (Convincing the Mountain Clans or rallying the troops at the Battle of the Blackwater. In fact, he relies much more in his ability to talk his way out of things than sneaking or fighting. I think a bard of some sort would be the best fit for him, but due to the class restrictions, maybe a mage to make use of his high intelligence, even though he never shown much interest in magic (but it is a completely different universe we're talking)

    Or he's just a fighter with low STR, and mediocre DEX and CON and very high INT and CHA (However, I seem to recall an odd passage at the first book where Tyrion does a backflip and lands on his hands, so maybe he has high dexterity after all)


    His alignment is a whole different matter, though.
  • KidCarnivalKidCarnival Member Posts: 3,747
    As a swashbuckler, he'd be a dexterous trickster with high charisma. And compared to people like Littlefinger, he's also not much of a backstabber.
  • SouthpawSouthpaw Member Posts: 2,026
    Tyrion Lannister?
    Swashbuckler half-man(ling) thief. Not good with backstabbing, but very resourceful, witty and 'can make use of traps'.
    The suggestion making him a Jester sounds more like him. Or maybe a Gnome T/M...
  • EntropyXIIEntropyXII Member Posts: 656
    How would you make Jaime Lannister? That's something i've been thinking about.

    Paladin/Fallen-Paladin/Fighter

    True Neutral/Chaotic Neutral?

    This is one i'm struggling to figure out.
  • SouthpawSouthpaw Member Posts: 2,026
    Lawful Evil/Neutral Evil Human Warrior.
  • EntropyXIIEntropyXII Member Posts: 656
    I wouldn't say he was evil. Chaotic Neutral if anything. I don't want to go into GoT spoilers, but there was that thing he did which gave him his nickname that he hates, which can be seen as a truly selfless act.
  • mrdeluxemrdeluxe Member Posts: 98
    edited May 2013
    Jaime Lannister is a Lawful Neutral Fighter (Fallen-Paladin's a good choice). He is definitely *not* evil, but immensely faithful. Even the most "evil-ish" things he has done, he did it out of "lawfulness" to love or family. In fact, and not wanting to go into spoilers for the books, we will learn much more about Jamies' motives as the story progresses.

    The characters from ASoIaF are really hard to place in D&D Aligments. Some are straightfoward (slight spoilers for the show):

    Joffrey's a textbook Chaotic Evil and Arya a Chaotic Good sliding into True Neutral as the story progresses. Ned Stark is Lawful Evil to a fault. Littlefinger maybe Neutral Evil? Varys perhaps True Neutral or Lawful Neutral, depending on his end-game.

  • EntropyXIIEntropyXII Member Posts: 656
    Ned Stark Lawful Evil? I don't see that. He is very Lawful Neutral. Honor above all.
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    I want to keep talking about this, but it's a hijack for this particular thread. Let's start a new one.
  • The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • mrdeluxemrdeluxe Member Posts: 98

    Ned Stark Lawful Evil? I don't see that. He is very Lawful Neutral. Honor above all.

    Ups! I mean't Lawful Good.
  • EntropyXIIEntropyXII Member Posts: 656
    If only I could dual-class monk/bounter hunter. Perfect Spike Spiegel Build -sigh-
  • QuartzQuartz Member Posts: 3,853
    Bards and Druids are both excellent choices as both classes tend to end up being a "sixth character" who just sort of brings up whatever the party is lacking (especially Bards). As the main character, who is obviously always going to be the same character, you can't go wrong with that tactic and furthermore those classes are a blast to play.
  • EntropyXIIEntropyXII Member Posts: 656
    @Quartz - I would love to give the Bard another shot. I have mentioned a few times on this forum how annoyed I was to discover Haer'dalis has 2 specialisation stars in short sword on my first ever Blade run. it left a bitter taste in my mouth. Provided different Bard kits are added in future patches I just might give it a shot.

    I don't like the idea of being a jester personally, and the description of the Skald is also a bit strange: "A Nordic bard"...... Nordic? In the Forgotten Realms?

    If I give into my pettiness i'll give them a shot. I'm still holding out for the Bladesinger (Bard) kit.
  • OzzyBotkinsOzzyBotkins Member Posts: 396
    Think Of Imoen as your BFF
    you two grew up together, How much did did she influence you over Gorien
    Did Imoen get you into trouble when you were both young
    Maybe start off as a Human Fighter or Mage or Cleric
    you duel to a thief when Imoen duels to mage
  • KidCarnivalKidCarnival Member Posts: 3,747
    Skalds should be a dwarven kit.
  • QuartzQuartz Member Posts: 3,853

    @Quartz - I would love to give the Bard another shot. I have mentioned a few times on this forum how annoyed I was to discover Haer'dalis has 2 specialisation stars in short sword on my first ever Blade run. it left a bitter taste in my mouth. Provided different Bard kits are added in future patches I just might give it a shot.

    I don't like the idea of being a jester personally, and the description of the Skald is also a bit strange: "A Nordic bard"...... Nordic? In the Forgotten Realms?

    If I give into my pettiness i'll give them a shot. I'm still holding out for the Bladesinger (Bard) kit.

    Kits are severely overrated. Play a regular Bard if you want, why not? In the end, it's more important to just enjoy yourself rather than powergame.

    I could never enjoy Blade because of Haer'Dalis, same as you. I feel like a Haer'Dalis rip-off whenever I play a Blade, because that guy is just too perfect for it. Skald is interesting but I often found myself just singing constantly because it's so ridiculously powerful that it would be foolishness to do anything else. And like you said, Nordic bard WTH? Jester and Bard are the only two left at that point, and Jesters have that silly ability to sit around invisible and slowly kill everything. Soooo yeah I usually end up playing just plain Bard myself, as well.
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