@Eudaemonium One of the posters (AndrewFoley) just happens to have written most of the new NPC's dialogs so he probably knows even better than the beta testers what happens/can happen following different paths...
Yeah, but this would require me to put stock in authorial intent. XD (j/k)
To be honest I think BG2 is lack of evil characters... I thought the first new NPC you would add in BG2 is evil assassin. And I still think that evil assassin is worth considering...
One comment just. Exposing unnecessary own life to risk is a sin. He was a very tempting person to attack and everybody knows it. This bullet glass is not about faith but about putting the God for a test
"Then he led him to Jerusalem and set him on the parapet of the Temple. 'If you are Son of God,' he said to him, 'throw yourself down from here, for scripture says: He has given his angels orders about you, to guard you, and again: They will carry you in their arms in case you trip over a stone.' But Jesus answered him, 'Scripture says: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' Having exhausted every way of putting him to the test, the devil left him, until the opportune moment." Luke, Chapter 4, 9-13
So, she's really HEXXAT (see the 1st post here), officially.
And because she's Kaeloree's favorite of the new BGII:EE NPCs and because Kaeloree prefers neutral or chaotic neutral, I tend to think she'll be neutral, so that she can suit all the parties (not only evil but also good ones).
Or maybe she's Lawful Evil and just a unique exception to what Kaeloree/@LiamEsler prefers. That might explain why he chose to say that he usually plays Neutral or Chaotic Neutral. (Armchair psychology for the win!)
@bengoshi: It would really help if you stuck to established facts for the OP rather than make things up based on guesswork - Hexxat's alignment hasn't been confirmed, and if we're extrapolating from dev comments Philip Daigle tweeted "We have a fourth NPC planned that may be relevant to your interests" when asked specifically about an evil thief (Jan. 21).
And who claimed she had to fit in with Good parties? I didn't see that mentioned anywhere on the AMA.
Just to be entirely clear, my comment on Reddit --
"while I do occasionally play evil aligned characters, I prefer neutral or chaotic neutral. Mostly because the alignment system bothers me, and I prefer to play nuanced, complex characters. "
Does not say I prefer neutral or chaotic characters, it says I prefer to play chaotic or neutral characters. Some of my favorite characters are hopelessly evil, and some are terrifyingly good. Don't read too much into it.
I think the backstory on her is likely to be she is a thief type who was personally trained by Tiax when she was an orpahn - Tiax did not beat her as a child but was content to pat her bowed head as she followed him around diligently combing his halfling feet and constantly begging him to remember her when he ascended to rule - however she was booted from the temple with Tiax when he became angry at a rival cleric and had him eaten by his pet ghoul so Tiax ran away and she was left to her own devices but of course she will reframe Tiax from his righteous rage in the Lab fight and of course then they can join the party however she will of course backstab Tiax the next time you rest since she is disappointed he does not recall her grown up and denies that he was ever booted from a temple...
kind of a bother having mixed and matched parties though - like if you try to make a longterm team of Viconna and Keldorn eventually Keldorn will go whack on her leave the party and blow her into chunks with his +5 sword... hopefuly she is not going all hate on people.... I actually never tried keeping Dorn in the party all game to see if he attacks or is attacked by anyone- but I do recall if you tried to keep the two original pairs Xzar +Montaron and Jareeia + stutter elf they would eventually auto-leave the party and kill each other... that was in BG unenhanced though no idea if that happens in enhanced- I never tried it as it was a bother to have to go back to the last save and reorganize the party.... I guess I could have just played through it but that was before the bag/scrol case so you nee the mules...
» show previous quotes No. No I don't. I seriously fail to see what is so captivating about Minsc. Dumb benevolent brute who has an affinity for furry animals? He's a cliché. Not to mention a bully who tries to kill you if you don't help him, like you owe him something. ..................
there is nothing new under the sun show me a plot twist character flaw or strange relationship or betrayal and it has already been done... every kind of relationship in game of thrones was already done some way in old plays or tragedies... still cool reading though.... ok well sometimes plodding... there is a ton of cult religious eastern stuff about being a god perfecting yourself or discovery planescape is hardly original either... Tolkien stuff was done before too poison dragons that was done like 1000 years ago...
I think the backstory on her is likely to be she is a thief type who was personally trained by Tiax when she was an orpahn - Tiax did not beat her as a child but was content to pat her bowed head as she followed him around diligently combing his halfling feet and constantly begging him to remember her when he ascended to rule - however she was booted from the temple with Tiax when he became angry at a rival cleric and had him eaten by his pet ghoul so Tiax ran away and she was left to her own devices but of course she will reframe Tiax from his righteous rage in the Lab fight and of course then they can join the party however she will of course backstab Tiax the next time you rest since she is disappointed he does not recall her grown up and denies that he was ever booted from a temple...
kind of a bother having mixed and matched parties though - like if you try to make a longterm team of Viconna and Keldorn eventually Keldorn will go whack on her leave the party and blow her into chunks with his +5 sword... hopefuly she is not going all hate on people.... I actually never tried keeping Dorn in the party all game to see if he attacks or is attacked by anyone- but I do recall if you tried to keep the two original pairs Xzar +Montaron and Jareeia + stutter elf they would eventually auto-leave the party and kill each other... that was in BG unenhanced though no idea if that happens in enhanced- I never tried it as it was a bother to have to go back to the last save and reorganize the party.... I guess I could have just played through it but that was before the bag/scrol case so you nee the mules...
Okay, this is something vaguely related that has been bothering me. People are always saying things like 'Keldorn and Viconia go at it and Viconia gets blown up by the +5 sword of holy death.' When two characters start fighting do people seriously just stand there and watch? They don't join in on whichever side they think is the most justified? What kind of party is this, that blithely stands by and watches two of its members slaughter each other for no good reason?
right they leave the party so you can not control them - your remaining party members can attack them but then of course they will attack you and you will have to kill them and you can not rez them and put them back in the party- but yes if I recall right Keldorn and vicona start a conversation keldorn leaves- I forgot maye viconna does not leave- then keldorn kills her - I can not exactly remember if he can rejoin the party then - I actually think he can... mmm I can only recall him +5 mince meating Vicona... that is a good question I wonder if I had it set on easy if she would be able to get a rez as she is not hacked to spare ribs.... anyhow really terrible acttually reminds me of cqb.... but yeah the thing is the rest of the party just stood there dumb and the two green circles- viv and keldorn- killed each other like with shank and the other level 1 thug you run into in the bridge district- nothing you can do but kill one or the other- you can not make them be friends again...
Yeah, the party members fight to the death and whoever wins can rejoin you. So rather than letting Viconia get hacked up why don't you all just murder Keldorn, is basically what I am asking? You will lose one of them regardless, so you might as well weigh in on whichever side you prefer.
I usually do this with Monty/Xzar-Jaheira/Khalid depending on my alignment, since if I leave them to it I usually only end up with 1 person left standing. Also Kivan/Viconia, but always on Vicky's side since Kivan is a racist bigot.
Well the game is brilliant- better than the lame attempt at a DnD universe of that failed online DnD game in the Eberon Golem land setting I tried for a week or so.... however... it has this rather silly alignment mechanic limitation in that you can be lawful good and just steal a bit here or there- or worse - backstab some poor soul ( this happened in my party a few times Viconna killed some guy when I turned away ans was shopping next thing I know shw had bashed in the head of some racist anti drow hater...) so you can in effect master the game rules and play with a mixed party as long as you like- when in real life or even in a well run dnd game the Kill Daddy Dwarf CE axemen and the Goody Goody Pali would be at odds eventually and split off from the party or kill each other ( as far as I can remember you can have the CE Bezerker Dwarf and the LG Aier or Keldorn in the same party forever- where as a CN mad Amoen and a LG Aeire will kill each other which is kind of ironic)
so yeah - actually I will not be mad if the Neutrally Evilly Hexter Girl stabby Girl is all sullen and suddenly busts out of the party and puts a knife into Imoen the altruistic thief or the socialist people's poet Young ones thief... girl (forgot her name- I hated her whine and never had her in the party) I guess it would be nice if the BG Enhanced team could just fore warn me that that would happen so I will make a save every hour or so.... I did not mix the evil/good party together for long in BGEnhanced-
Can someone confirm or deny- Does the party in Enhanced still auto leave and then kill each other like in the Original?
And can a Enhancement master confirm or deny or likely assume that the same Dissension in the party will take place? ==== ala Keldorn Viconna kill each other (I think ranger Valgar kills viccona to and soes not Minsc end up Killing Edwin as well? in BG2)
But to answer your question I had this - never close the circle eliminate your options fixation - therefore I would never kill any party member or have them killed by each other - so would reloaded and seperated when the Keldorn Vicona war started... although I think I did maybe a second time through decide to just kill Valgar as my new barbarian character had taken to the Katana Celestial Power Gamer sword and he then lost his utility...
Anyway with the proper raomance and reaching out to her hurt and abused inner child (Hexcatt was obviously abused in the Cyric temple and before as a skinny waif orphan - you can have her work through her pain and supply her with a cathartic goodness) however since the game is now well past the 90s and America and most big selling games are anti-heroic, amoral, godless, and indoctrinations to socialism, birth control, devilish witch craft, and homoerotic multi-sexual partner mores- it stands to reason that this time rather than NOT sexing up the romance to make for a long-term continuing romance - you instead must upon meeting her at the first rest stop grease each other up with oil flasks and cure her pain with the freedom love of the most devout Lil Kim and Lil Wayne adherent - then through that and more constant sex at every rest point - basically every time you rest you have to go through a long sex talk- you will enlighten her Karma Sutra style to become Chaotic Sexy Neutral Good.
She is a vampire and the evil sister of Jander Sunstar. You will find her if you want to planetravel (to find HaerDalis, or in the planarspere) with low Wis/Int (you are to stupid to travel in a staight line) in the world of Ravenloft. You can even find the eye of Vecna there.
So it sucks to be a Mage/Cleric/druid/Paladin if you want her in your team. (work around bij wearing the ring of Folly when you travel)
Close, its the Head of Vecna you need to quest for.
She is a vampire and the evil sister of Jander Sunstar. You will find her if you want to planetravel (to find HaerDalis, or in the planarspere) with low Wis/Int (you are to stupid to travel in a staight line) in the world of Ravenloft. You can even find the eye of Vecna there.
So it sucks to be a Mage/Cleric/druid/Paladin if you want her in your team. (work around bij wearing the ring of Folly when you travel)
Close, its the Head of Vecna you need to quest for.
I wouldn't touch her with a stick if she was an evil assassin. As good as this sound story wise (Roleplay) it's a combination i wouldn't go for in game. Backstabbing is alright but the most annoying encounters, you won't be able to do much of this. Add in difficulty enhancing mods (I don't play without) and it gets really hard to land a backstab.
Now for the skill points. An assassin already get less points than a pure classed rogue, and you will have to focus on hide in shadow/Move silent to be able to enjoy her kit to begin with. A normal thief has more points and can focus on open locks / disarm traps (Without doubt the most important rogue skills in the game) and not lose out on too much, you can give them a bow and let them stand behind until they have gathered enough skills (They will reach this faster than the assassin) and some nice gear.
Dual class.. Dual class.. Dual class. You can say whatever you want about powergaming and stuff, but giving her the option to dual class to a cleric / mage / whatever would increase the use of her and more people would be able to enjoy her. I would personally love to see her as a human pure class thief, with high enough wisdom to dual class to a cleric.
Evil would fit much better into the game from a roleplay view, but neutral would open her up to many people who play good and never touch evil parties.
So at the end of the day it comes down to.
Alignment Pure class Vs Kit Dual class as an option?
And the way they solve this (or have already done) will in the end show us how many people will actually use her.
And i'm not going to sugar coat this whole name thing. Her name is bloody horrible and it's by far the worst named NPC i have seen in any RPG game. Even the funky ones in Planescape Torment had better names than her.
And i'm not going to sugar coat this whole name thing. Her name is bloody horrible and it's by far the worst named NPC i have seen in any RPG game. Even the funky ones in Planescape Torment had better names than her.
I bet when you romance her it's all about her insecurity towards her name. I can see it now.
Here's something that might be of interest to those trying to find out more about Hexxat. After a little web-searching, I found a novel published in 2003 called Darkstar Rising by Susan K. Hamilton, which refers to a constellation called "The Great Wolf," with a star named "Hexxat" as its eye. The following paragraph (from p. 131) is the only other reference to that name in the book:
"When Hexxat burns redder than blood, Evil stalks in the land it had shunned, and the power of the White One grows. There shall come a Child of Stars who brings hope to the despairing. Shadows cling close to the Child of Stars yet her path walks with the Gods. Few know the way and they are forbidden to follow. There shall be starlight fire in her hands . . ."
Coincidence? Or did the writer for the BG2:EE Hexxat perhaps draw upon this novel for inspiration?
Here's something that might be of interest to those trying to find out more about Hexxat. After a little web-searching, I found a novel published in 2003 called Darkstar Rising by Susan K. Hamilton, which refers to a constellation called "The Great Wolf," with a star named "Hexxat" as its eye. The following paragraph (from p. 131) is the only other reference to that name in the book:
"When Hexxat burns redder than blood, Evil stalks in the land it had shunned, and the power of the White One grows. There shall come a Child of Stars who brings hope to the despairing. Shadows cling close to the Child of Stars yet her path walks with the Gods. Few know the way and they are forbidden to follow. There shall be starlight fire in her hands . . ."
Coincidence? Or did the writer for the BG2:EE Hexxat perhaps draw upon this novel for inspiration?
Child of Stars, and we all thought @Dee was joking when he said Hexxat was an alien.
I wouldn't touch her with a stick if she was an evil assassin. As good as this sound story wise (Roleplay) it's a combination i wouldn't go for in game. Backstabbing is alright but the most annoying encounters, you won't be able to do much of this. Add in difficulty enhancing mods (I don't play without) and it gets really hard to land a backstab.
Now for the skill points. An assassin already get less points than a pure classed rogue, and you will have to focus on hide in shadow/Move silent to be able to enjoy her kit to begin with. A normal thief has more points and can focus on open locks / disarm traps (Without doubt the most important rogue skills in the game) and not lose out on too much, you can give them a bow and let them stand behind until they have gathered enough skills (They will reach this faster than the assassin) and some nice gear.
Dual class.. Dual class.. Dual class. You can say whatever you want about powergaming and stuff, but giving her the option to dual class to a cleric / mage / whatever would increase the use of her and more people would be able to enjoy her. I would personally love to see her as a human pure class thief, with high enough wisdom to dual class to a cleric.
Evil would fit much better into the game from a roleplay view, but neutral would open her up to many people who play good and never touch evil parties.
So at the end of the day it comes down to.
Alignment Pure class Vs Kit Dual class as an option?
And the way they solve this (or have already done) will in the end show us how many people will actually use her.
And i'm not going to sugar coat this whole name thing. Her name is bloody horrible and it's by far the worst named NPC i have seen in any RPG game. Even the funky ones in Planescape Torment had better names than her.
1. Human assassin is still able to dual class.
2. In BG2 we have 2 thiefs which keep leveling, but one of them betray you in half of a game. The second one is multiclass. At the end of SoA and in ToB an assassin (if not dual classed) will have more skills than any other thief NPC.
3. In BG2 we have 7 good NPCs, 6 neutral NPC (one of them can be upgraded to good one), and 4 evil NPCs (which on of them you get in ToB, so we can say that we have 3 evil characters by most of the game, and one those 3 can be upgraded to neutral, and the one which comes in ToB can be upgraded to good). There is lack of evil characters... And which of the thief's class seems be the most evil... the assassin
I wouldn't touch her with a stick if she was an evil assassin. As good as this sound story wise (Roleplay) it's a combination i wouldn't go for in game. Backstabbing is alright but the most annoying encounters, you won't be able to do much of this. Add in difficulty enhancing mods (I don't play without) and it gets really hard to land a backstab.
Now for the skill points. An assassin already get less points than a pure classed rogue, and you will have to focus on hide in shadow/Move silent to be able to enjoy her kit to begin with. A normal thief has more points and can focus on open locks / disarm traps (Without doubt the most important rogue skills in the game) and not lose out on too much, you can give them a bow and let them stand behind until they have gathered enough skills (They will reach this faster than the assassin) and some nice gear.
Dual class.. Dual class.. Dual class. You can say whatever you want about powergaming and stuff, but giving her the option to dual class to a cleric / mage / whatever would increase the use of her and more people would be able to enjoy her. I would personally love to see her as a human pure class thief, with high enough wisdom to dual class to a cleric.
Evil would fit much better into the game from a roleplay view, but neutral would open her up to many people who play good and never touch evil parties.
So at the end of the day it comes down to.
Alignment Pure class Vs Kit Dual class as an option?
And the way they solve this (or have already done) will in the end show us how many people will actually use her.
And i'm not going to sugar coat this whole name thing. Her name is bloody horrible and it's by far the worst named NPC i have seen in any RPG game. Even the funky ones in Planescape Torment had better names than her.
1. Human assassin is still able to dual class.
2. In BG2 we have 2 thiefs which keep leveling, but one of them betray you in half of a game. The second one is multiclass. At the end of SoA and in ToB an assassin (if not dual classed) will have more skills than any other thief NPC.
3. In BG2 we have 7 good NPCs, 6 neutral NPC (one of them can be upgraded to good one), and 4 evil NPCs (which on of them you get in ToB, so we can say that we have 3 evil characters by most of the game, and one those 3 can be upgraded to neutral, and the one which comes in ToB can be upgraded to good). There is lack of evil characters... And which of the thief's class seems be the most evil... the assassin
1.) Yes a human assassin is able to dual class. But the assassin is a much weaker kit to dual class than the other thief kits. You'll have to wait for a higher level for the backstab multiplier, and having enough thief skills.
2.) At the end of SoA an assassin will be just about as useless as most other rogue classes. What is important is the early-mid game and then they will lack in having enough skills to do everything they want. Not only do they get less points to spend than a normal rogue/Swashbuckler, but they also have to focus their points in hide shadow and move silent, pushing them even further back.
3.) I agree that from a story and roleplay point an Evil assassin would probably be the best choice. The thing i wanted to say was that there are many people out there that don't play evil parties or characters, and most people play good parties. So a neutral character even if it would ruin the story a bit, would still see much more use than a evil one. It'll be Mazzy all over again. Wonderful proficiency for a halfling, but when it comes to actual gameplay it makes you cry as there aren't that many great short bows or swords. And both of those are piercing damage and there are some monsters out there (Golems) you can't hurt.
Comments
"Then he led him to Jerusalem and set him on the parapet of the Temple. 'If you are Son of God,' he said to him, 'throw yourself down from here, for scripture says: He has given his angels orders about you, to guard you, and again: They will carry you in their arms in case you trip over a stone.' But Jesus answered him, 'Scripture says: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' Having exhausted every way of putting him to the test, the devil left him, until the opportune moment." Luke, Chapter 4, 9-13
that would make her truely evil
And who claimed she had to fit in with Good parties? I didn't see that mentioned anywhere on the AMA.
"while I do occasionally play evil aligned characters, I prefer neutral or chaotic neutral. Mostly because the alignment system bothers me, and I prefer to play nuanced, complex characters.
Does not say I prefer neutral or chaotic characters, it says I prefer to play chaotic or neutral characters. Some of my favorite characters are hopelessly evil, and some are terrifyingly good. Don't read too much into it.
I've updated the original post to eliminate all misunderstandings regarding Hexxat's alignment.
kind of a bother having mixed and matched parties though - like if you try to make a longterm team of Viconna and Keldorn eventually Keldorn will go whack on her leave the party and blow her into chunks with his +5 sword... hopefuly she is not going all hate on people.... I actually never tried keeping Dorn in the party all game to see if he attacks or is attacked by anyone- but I do recall if you tried to keep the two original pairs Xzar +Montaron and Jareeia + stutter elf they would eventually auto-leave the party and kill each other... that was in BG unenhanced though no idea if that happens in enhanced- I never tried it as it was a bother to have to go back to the last save and reorganize the party.... I guess I could have just played through it but that was before the bag/scrol case so you nee the mules...
No. No I don't. I seriously fail to see what is so captivating about Minsc. Dumb benevolent brute who has an affinity for furry animals? He's a cliché.
Not to mention a bully who tries to kill you if you don't help him, like you owe him something. ..................
there is nothing new under the sun show me a plot twist character flaw or strange relationship or betrayal and it has already been done... every kind of relationship in game of thrones was already done some way in old plays or tragedies... still cool reading though.... ok well sometimes plodding... there is a ton of cult religious eastern stuff about being a god perfecting yourself or discovery planescape is hardly original either... Tolkien stuff was done before too poison dragons that was done like 1000 years ago...
I usually do this with Monty/Xzar-Jaheira/Khalid depending on my alignment, since if I leave them to it I usually only end up with 1 person left standing. Also Kivan/Viconia, but always on Vicky's side since Kivan is a racist bigot.
so yeah - actually I will not be mad if the Neutrally Evilly Hexter Girl stabby Girl is all sullen and suddenly busts out of the party and puts a knife into Imoen the altruistic thief or the socialist people's poet Young ones thief... girl (forgot her name- I hated her whine and never had her in the party) I guess it would be nice if the BG Enhanced team could just fore warn me that that would happen so I will make a save every hour or so.... I did not mix the evil/good party together for long in BGEnhanced-
Can someone confirm or deny- Does the party in Enhanced still auto leave and then kill each other like in the Original?
And can a Enhancement master confirm or deny or likely assume that the same Dissension in the party will take place? ==== ala Keldorn Viconna kill each other (I think ranger Valgar kills viccona to and soes not Minsc end up Killing Edwin as well? in BG2)
But to answer your question I had this - never close the circle eliminate your options fixation - therefore I would never kill any party member or have them killed by each other - so would reloaded and seperated when the Keldorn Vicona war started... although I think I did maybe a second time through decide to just kill Valgar as my new barbarian character had taken to the Katana Celestial Power Gamer sword and he then lost his utility...
Anyway with the proper raomance and reaching out to her hurt and abused inner child (Hexcatt was obviously abused in the Cyric temple and before as a skinny waif orphan - you can have her work through her pain and supply her with a cathartic goodness) however since the game is now well past the 90s and America and most big selling games are anti-heroic, amoral, godless, and indoctrinations to socialism, birth control, devilish witch craft, and homoerotic multi-sexual partner mores- it stands to reason that this time rather than NOT sexing up the romance to make for a long-term continuing romance - you instead must upon meeting her at the first rest stop grease each other up with oil flasks and cure her pain with the freedom love of the most devout Lil Kim and Lil Wayne adherent - then through that and more constant sex at every rest point - basically every time you rest you have to go through a long sex talk- you will enlighten her Karma Sutra style to become Chaotic Sexy Neutral Good.
Now for the skill points. An assassin already get less points than a pure classed rogue, and you will have to focus on hide in shadow/Move silent to be able to enjoy her kit to begin with. A normal thief has more points and can focus on open locks / disarm traps (Without doubt the most important rogue skills in the game) and not lose out on too much, you can give them a bow and let them stand behind until they have gathered enough skills (They will reach this faster than the assassin) and some nice gear.
Dual class.. Dual class.. Dual class. You can say whatever you want about powergaming and stuff, but giving her the option to dual class to a cleric / mage / whatever would increase the use of her and more people would be able to enjoy her. I would personally love to see her as a human pure class thief, with high enough wisdom to dual class to a cleric.
Evil would fit much better into the game from a roleplay view, but neutral would open her up to many people who play good and never touch evil parties.
So at the end of the day it comes down to.
Alignment
Pure class Vs Kit
Dual class as an option?
And the way they solve this (or have already done) will in the end show us how many people will actually use her.
And i'm not going to sugar coat this whole name thing. Her name is bloody horrible and it's by far the worst named NPC i have seen in any RPG game. Even the funky ones in Planescape Torment had better names than her.
Child of Stars, and we all thought @Dee was joking when he said Hexxat was an alien.
2. In BG2 we have 2 thiefs which keep leveling, but one of them betray you in half of a game. The second one is multiclass. At the end of SoA and in ToB an assassin (if not dual classed) will have more skills than any other thief NPC.
3. In BG2 we have 7 good NPCs, 6 neutral NPC (one of them can be upgraded to good one), and 4 evil NPCs (which on of them you get in ToB, so we can say that we have 3 evil characters by most of the game, and one those 3 can be upgraded to neutral, and the one which comes in ToB can be upgraded to good). There is lack of evil characters... And which of the thief's class seems be the most evil... the assassin
2.) At the end of SoA an assassin will be just about as useless as most other rogue classes. What is important is the early-mid game and then they will lack in having enough skills to do everything they want. Not only do they get less points to spend than a normal rogue/Swashbuckler, but they also have to focus their points in hide shadow and move silent, pushing them even further back.
3.) I agree that from a story and roleplay point an Evil assassin would probably be the best choice. The thing i wanted to say was that there are many people out there that don't play evil parties or characters, and most people play good parties. So a neutral character even if it would ruin the story a bit, would still see much more use than a evil one. It'll be Mazzy all over again. Wonderful proficiency for a halfling, but when it comes to actual gameplay it makes you cry as there aren't that many great short bows or swords. And both of those are piercing damage and there are some monsters out there (Golems) you can't hurt.