Baldur's Gate II - Serious Roleplaying Question (Spoilers)
BaldursCat
Member Posts: 432
Okay, I'll preface this by saying I'm a rubbish gamer, my tactics are pretty much on-the-fly and I'm the screw it up. reload queen (yeah yeah, if anyone wants to teach me how to do this properly feel free) but the joy I get from playing this game is actually RPing it to the best of my abilities so I'm wondering how everyone justifies dropping Minsc and Jaheira from their parties before rescuing Imoen.
The way I see it, aside from Charname these two characters are Immy's continuity and if you're seriously RPing this game, given what she goes through she's going to want to see some familiar faces when you finally liberate her from Spellhold so how do you justify dumping them before you get there (especially when both of them both have very good reasons for revenge - Khalid & Dynaheir).
The way I see it, aside from Charname these two characters are Immy's continuity and if you're seriously RPing this game, given what she goes through she's going to want to see some familiar faces when you finally liberate her from Spellhold so how do you justify dumping them before you get there (especially when both of them both have very good reasons for revenge - Khalid & Dynaheir).
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Hence, in such a game neither I nor Imoen have created a particularly strong bond to Jaheira. Minsc on the other hand I almost always keep with me.
Anyway, because I'd never met them, Minsc and Jaheira were just two randoms sitting in a cell. They gave me versions of our history together that didn't match up with what I had actually done, so I assumed they were dopplegangers or some other sort of trap to prevent my escape and just left them there. Then I made my escape (alone).
Interestingly enough, when I did an evil playthrough of BG1, Edwin and Viconia were the only ones to survive the last battle. Even better, Shar-Teel killed Angelo in a one-on-one battle (I wasn't even thinking about it at the time, I just needed someone to deal with him and she was closest). Too bad she was cut down by Sarevok afterwards. Oh well.
Actually, I usually kill Minsc in BG1, so he shouldn't even show up for me in BG2.
For me the big problem is that I always find myself getting caught up in a bunch of side-quests before I go and rescue Imoen because I want to get up a few levels and get some decent equipment. But if I was RPing properly my character would set off as soon as she got the money together.
That's what I'm trying on my current playthrough but I've got a bad feeling it means we are going to be hopelessly underpowered and our quest will be vain.
I still have Jaheira with me but in the end I decided to leave Minsc in Umar at Valygar's cabin. I'm sure he and Boo will be happy there. The funny thing is I went from six in the party to four in a day as I released Keldorn and then Nalia was abducted when we reached Umar; I don't usually have her in the party beyond doing her first quest because her whining annoys me, though she does get less whiny the longer you keep her.
I did like all your justifications for ditching them though. I especially like the amnesia route.
I sent Yoshimo on his way and after Imoen was taken I recruited Nalia to do her story and then proceeded to cycle through other npc stories till I felt I was ready to proceed with the main story, got Yoshi and then went to Spellhold. Imoen stayed for the rest of the story after that.
Remember also that Charname and co. don't know that Irenicus is still at large and still a big bad after he gets taken into custody. You could conceive of a goodly Charname convincing Jaheira and Minsc to lay their grudges to rest, believing that Irenicus has already been brought to justice. Again, when you later discover the plot thickening, if you feel morally obligated to get back in touch with old friends, do so!
I know most people despise the BG novelizations, but I was always particularly fond of the scenario in which Minsc becomes a hard-working, blissfully unaware employee at the Copper Coronet >.<
You could also use your cosmic awareness as the player to create a situation in which your old friends suffer an accident and don't make it out to Athkatla alive, despite their best efforts....but this is grim and cruel from a roleplaying perspective, so metagaming like that is always my last resort.
Again, this is all assuming that your Charname -does- have some history with these characters, which is not a requirement. And if you're worried about Imoen, I think it's completely fair to assume that the one comfort she really wants/needs is her surrogate big bro/sis, Charname.
Actually, I've always faced a similar dilemma when playing BG2. I feel that I form a sort of "bond" with the other NPCs that I escape Irenicus' lair with (including Yoshimo). Not only that, but shortly after escaping, I find myself trapped in another circus (figuratively and literally) and meet a pitiful lost soul named Aerie, and I feel a sense of responsibility for her. So the game has barely begun, and already there's FOUR party members that I don't want to part with (excluding Imoen who is kidnapped at this point). Not long after that I meet a desperate warrior-princess named Nalia, and while I try to tell myself that I'm only going to keep her along until her quest is done, by the end I can't bring myself to shun this grief-stricken orphan either.
So I've barely begun exploring Athkatla and already my party composition is pretty much set. This hangs around my neck like an albatross almost the whole rest of the game. On one hand, if I keep my party the way it is, it may not be as strong as I want (for example, I'd much rather have Jan than Yoshimo) and I miss out on a lot of other quests (namely Anomen's and Keldorn's). On the other hand, if I dismiss any of the above NPCs for others that I just meet, I feel a sense of longing for the ones I dismiss, and it hinders how much I enjoy the game going forward.
Good - I CARE TOO MUCH ABOUT YOU GUUUUUYYYYSSS but not enough about these other people I'll recruit.
Neutral - Here, you're out. On your way!
Evil - Screw you, you never did anything for me, look at where we are! You're on your own.
But Minsc... why would ya ever leave him and Boo behind?! He's the only groundling worth his bread and Boo is a minature giant space hamster!
However:
1) Just because the player might personally be all fuzzy bunny about saving Imoen, doesn't mean that the character is. They could just as easily be about killing Irenicus and not caring about Imoen and her plight or how she is going to feel once she is rescued.
2) Charname might be concerned that he has the most efficient squad to take out an obviously powerful and intractable enemy such that keeping Imoen's 'Pals' along for the ride might fall a bit below the mark in importance
3) Who's to say that Minsc and Jaheira aren't forming their own parties to make a multi-pronged attack?
4) Just because you travel together, doesn't mean that you like each other that much.
5) Minsc can pluck the nerves at the best of times. And Jaheira constantly pining on about Khalid can really bring someone down.
6) Jaheira has a perfectly valid reason for leaving the party at a certain point regardless of the reasons for being there in the first place.
Just to name a few reasons.
your character could have a bunch of reasons heres a few of the top of my head:
1)maybe you feel guilty about there losses and dont want them to be part of the journey fearing it may cause them more harm
2)maybe you feel the task is hopeless and want to spare them your fate
3)maybe you dont want a harper in your group because you fear ulterior motives
4)maybe your allergic to hamsters!
but yeh i feel theres lots of good reasons to justify it remember just because they arent in charnames party doesnt mean they arent charnames friend or that they are completely out of contact with them