Peaceful Protest: The BGEE Pacifist's Challenge
Endarire
Member Posts: 1,512
Greetings, all!
In my first times through Baldur's Gate a decade or more ago, I realized something very important:
It's possible to gain EXP and levels from things besides combat. Specifically, certain quests could be completed without the party killing anyone; Thieves could open locks and disarm traps for EXP; and Mages could scribe scrolls into their repertoire and gain EXP.
Why?
In a game that's primarily about killing and looting to get ahead, how far can you get without your party actually killing anyone? What treasure could you collect? What level would you be? How does the playstyle change?
Rules, Please!
1: The very most important rule: YOUR PARTY MEMBERS MAY NEVER KILL ANY CREATURE, EVER!
The very most important corollary to rule one: THIS CHALLENGE DOES NOT PREVENT ENEMIES FROM BEING KILLED!
Casual onlookers may be confused as to what this means. In short, your party can't kill creatures, but enemies can still kill themselves. AoE traps and area attacks in general are your friends, if you have the right defenses or resources to survive them.
A strict interpretation of this rule means no minions (summonlings/called creatures/illusionary duplicates of creatures/mind controlled beings) can kill anyone since they're party controllable; however, I think charming and dominating people is funny and is in line with the pacifistic attitude of this challenge. It's not directly your fault that everyone who hates you also hates your new best friends.
Traps created by your party, like a Thief's Spiked Traps and the spell skull trap are also NOT allowed to kill anyone.
2: Your party members can still participate in combat, just nonlethally.
This means you can use crowd control effects like sleep and color spray and web. You can still have up every buff you like, including fire shield, spell turning, or any damage reflecting abilities since the enemies are hurting themselves on your defenses.
A strict interpretation of rule two means your party can't attack, but I prefer 'minimal attacking.' I allow for pulling creatures, such as with ranged attacks. (So far I've not needed this.)
Also, guards (like in Candlekeep and at the Friendly Arm Inn) will attack enemies trying to hurt you if you didn't aggro them.
3: No New Game Plus via Importing
Using the Import function for characters to get yourself more items/EXP/better stats than normal is forbidden. Just to make that clear.
What else do you recommend?
1: Thieves and Mages are the best way to go.
Thieves and Mages, conveniently, have useful noncombat options and nonviolent ways of gaining EXP. A Mage/Thief has both (and probably has greater long-term survivability), but requires more EXP to level.
2: Go solo most the time.
Extra party members will usually just absorb your EXP, but there are times when having extra thieving or casting or inventory space will help. And yes, you can still invite NPCs in, take their stuff, and dismiss them.
3: You need nonviolent ways of generating money.
Pickpocketing/Stealing immediately came to mind, and is useful situationally. You need to know what targets have items worth stealing, and where you're allowed to steal. (The High Hedge shopkeeper has no 'steal' option in his inventory, and probably for good balance reasons.)
Exploration helps much (and is worth EXP to nix locks and traps). There's enough clutter in the various inns, towns, and civilized settings to remind me of stealing every fork I could for cash in The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.
There are plenty of good items ripe for the taking if you know where to look. Durlag's Tower has plenty of good loot if you're skilled enough to reach it.
4: You need nonviolent ways of gaining items.
Pickpocketing is your friend. Using color spray or sleep or charm person or the like isn't enough to you to steal items from a living creature.
5: There are nonlethal ways of gaining EXP.
Candlekeep in the Prolog has at least 200 EXP worth of nonviolent quests. (If you're a Mage, strongly consider keeping Firebeard's scroll of Identify to scribe into your repertoire! It's only a 40 EXP loss compared to quest completion.)
One of Beregost's inns has a 900 EXP reward waiting for the right dialog options.
Durlag's Tower has a 4000 EXP reward for choosing the right dialogs (or more, as of 1.2, if you click the quest giver enough times upon redeeming the quest.)
6: Your familiar is helpful.
I prefer being a True Neutral character due to the higher open locks ability of the rabbit. And just having a familiar means more HP for you. Woot!
7: Higher DEX is your friend!
Being an Elf means you can have the highest DEX of the starting races, and among the highest Thief skills. You also get charm and sleep resistance, and can start as a Mage/Thief multiclass. Woot!
On a similar note, any ability that increases your DEX also increases your thieving skills. Any ability that decreases your DEX also decreases your thieving skills.
8: Temporary enhancements help. Much.
DEX boosters, thief skill boosters, Mage buffs... Invest in what you need to succeed!
Potions of Master Thievery exist to boost your ability to deal with locks and pickpocketing. Check out High Hedge and Durlag's Tower Basement 1.
9: One man's cheese is another man's treasure.
Reloading often is expected in this challenge, especially if you don't know the areas, or you're trying to steal frequently.
The concept of 'metagaming' in Baldur's Gate never occured to me until I read the forums. Thus, I believe in being forewarned and therefore, prepared.
Save in multiple slots. Often.
Hide at night. Your stealth skills are higher during the night, reduced slightly inside (to about 1/3), and reduced to about 1/2 when in daylight.
Oh yes: If in doubt, research the viability of something. The Internet helps, as does personal experimentation. Remember, if you kill something (or you die), you'll need to reload anyway and your progress won't be saved. You're on your honor.
What sort of character do you advise for this challenge?
True Neutral Elf Multiclass Thief/Mage
18 STR
19 DEX
16 CON
18 INT
3 WIS
10 CHA
(I recommend no less than 84 points.)
Proficiencies
Proficiency-wise, I chose Shortbow and Scimitar. (It doesn't matter that much.) Alternatively, sword & shield style gets you some extra AC.
Thief Skills
I maximized Pickpocket since Invisibility covers stealth, and my familiar (a Rabbit) can handle traps initially.
Mage Spells
Choose color spray and find familiar as your starting spells, and prepare find familiar.
In my first times through Baldur's Gate a decade or more ago, I realized something very important:
It's possible to gain EXP and levels from things besides combat. Specifically, certain quests could be completed without the party killing anyone; Thieves could open locks and disarm traps for EXP; and Mages could scribe scrolls into their repertoire and gain EXP.
Why?
In a game that's primarily about killing and looting to get ahead, how far can you get without your party actually killing anyone? What treasure could you collect? What level would you be? How does the playstyle change?
Rules, Please!
1: The very most important rule: YOUR PARTY MEMBERS MAY NEVER KILL ANY CREATURE, EVER!
The very most important corollary to rule one: THIS CHALLENGE DOES NOT PREVENT ENEMIES FROM BEING KILLED!
Casual onlookers may be confused as to what this means. In short, your party can't kill creatures, but enemies can still kill themselves. AoE traps and area attacks in general are your friends, if you have the right defenses or resources to survive them.
A strict interpretation of this rule means no minions (summonlings/called creatures/illusionary duplicates of creatures/mind controlled beings) can kill anyone since they're party controllable; however, I think charming and dominating people is funny and is in line with the pacifistic attitude of this challenge. It's not directly your fault that everyone who hates you also hates your new best friends.
Traps created by your party, like a Thief's Spiked Traps and the spell skull trap are also NOT allowed to kill anyone.
2: Your party members can still participate in combat, just nonlethally.
This means you can use crowd control effects like sleep and color spray and web. You can still have up every buff you like, including fire shield, spell turning, or any damage reflecting abilities since the enemies are hurting themselves on your defenses.
A strict interpretation of rule two means your party can't attack, but I prefer 'minimal attacking.' I allow for pulling creatures, such as with ranged attacks. (So far I've not needed this.)
Also, guards (like in Candlekeep and at the Friendly Arm Inn) will attack enemies trying to hurt you if you didn't aggro them.
3: No New Game Plus via Importing
Using the Import function for characters to get yourself more items/EXP/better stats than normal is forbidden. Just to make that clear.
What else do you recommend?
1: Thieves and Mages are the best way to go.
Thieves and Mages, conveniently, have useful noncombat options and nonviolent ways of gaining EXP. A Mage/Thief has both (and probably has greater long-term survivability), but requires more EXP to level.
2: Go solo most the time.
Extra party members will usually just absorb your EXP, but there are times when having extra thieving or casting or inventory space will help. And yes, you can still invite NPCs in, take their stuff, and dismiss them.
3: You need nonviolent ways of generating money.
Pickpocketing/Stealing immediately came to mind, and is useful situationally. You need to know what targets have items worth stealing, and where you're allowed to steal. (The High Hedge shopkeeper has no 'steal' option in his inventory, and probably for good balance reasons.)
Exploration helps much (and is worth EXP to nix locks and traps). There's enough clutter in the various inns, towns, and civilized settings to remind me of stealing every fork I could for cash in The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.
There are plenty of good items ripe for the taking if you know where to look. Durlag's Tower has plenty of good loot if you're skilled enough to reach it.
4: You need nonviolent ways of gaining items.
Pickpocketing is your friend. Using color spray or sleep or charm person or the like isn't enough to you to steal items from a living creature.
5: There are nonlethal ways of gaining EXP.
Candlekeep in the Prolog has at least 200 EXP worth of nonviolent quests. (If you're a Mage, strongly consider keeping Firebeard's scroll of Identify to scribe into your repertoire! It's only a 40 EXP loss compared to quest completion.)
One of Beregost's inns has a 900 EXP reward waiting for the right dialog options.
Durlag's Tower has a 4000 EXP reward for choosing the right dialogs (or more, as of 1.2, if you click the quest giver enough times upon redeeming the quest.)
6: Your familiar is helpful.
I prefer being a True Neutral character due to the higher open locks ability of the rabbit. And just having a familiar means more HP for you. Woot!
7: Higher DEX is your friend!
Being an Elf means you can have the highest DEX of the starting races, and among the highest Thief skills. You also get charm and sleep resistance, and can start as a Mage/Thief multiclass. Woot!
On a similar note, any ability that increases your DEX also increases your thieving skills. Any ability that decreases your DEX also decreases your thieving skills.
8: Temporary enhancements help. Much.
DEX boosters, thief skill boosters, Mage buffs... Invest in what you need to succeed!
Potions of Master Thievery exist to boost your ability to deal with locks and pickpocketing. Check out High Hedge and Durlag's Tower Basement 1.
9: One man's cheese is another man's treasure.
Reloading often is expected in this challenge, especially if you don't know the areas, or you're trying to steal frequently.
The concept of 'metagaming' in Baldur's Gate never occured to me until I read the forums. Thus, I believe in being forewarned and therefore, prepared.
Save in multiple slots. Often.
Hide at night. Your stealth skills are higher during the night, reduced slightly inside (to about 1/3), and reduced to about 1/2 when in daylight.
Oh yes: If in doubt, research the viability of something. The Internet helps, as does personal experimentation. Remember, if you kill something (or you die), you'll need to reload anyway and your progress won't be saved. You're on your honor.
What sort of character do you advise for this challenge?
True Neutral Elf Multiclass Thief/Mage
18 STR
19 DEX
16 CON
18 INT
3 WIS
10 CHA
(I recommend no less than 84 points.)
Proficiencies
Proficiency-wise, I chose Shortbow and Scimitar. (It doesn't matter that much.) Alternatively, sword & shield style gets you some extra AC.
Thief Skills
I maximized Pickpocket since Invisibility covers stealth, and my familiar (a Rabbit) can handle traps initially.
Mage Spells
Choose color spray and find familiar as your starting spells, and prepare find familiar.
10
Comments
Str 18
Dex 18
Con 18
Int 19
Wis 17
Cha 3
Dora was not a popular child - it seemed the whole of Candlekeep was predisposed against her for some reason that she could not understand. It could be that her desperate attempts to impress made her sound like she thought she was better than everyone else (but she was!) It could be that curiosity, that had her peeking into every nook and cranny, especially the locked and trapped ones - they were the most interesting! Possibly it was her unfortunate kleptomania, a habit she just could not shed. But maybe there was some dark and sinister secret in her family's history that Gorion thought he was hiding from her, but a smart girl like Dora could see that he was hiding something. Whichever way she looked at it though, people just did not like her, and as accomplished as she was at everything else, she just could not master the basics of social grace, and get along with anyone but here wearied foster father.
Finally, Gorion sensed that all was not well in Candlekeep, and now that Dora had grown, it might be time to find a new environment, perhaps where people did not know us, and finally she might get that chance to make a friend and learn etiquette!
So after running her final chores around the keep, it is off to see the wild new world, only disaster!!! Ambushed by a party of brigands, Gorion is slain and Dora is running for her life, all alone in the world. And while it seemed like that other kid from Candlekeep was going to sneak out and follow along, Dora could not be responsible for another death on her conscience. No, Imoen was sent back to look after old Winthrop.
So now, all alone, Dora will follow the last piece of advice Gorion gave her and hear to the Friendly Arm Inn, wherever that was (North somewhere?) to find his friends, and let them at least know of his passing. But she had taken his lessons to heart. He seemed particularly keen that Dora learn to do no harm, that no living thing should be harmed by her hand. She suspected this might be something to do with the family history he would not talk about, but they way he would not talk, she suspected there must be something really nasty, and it might be Dora's responsibility to right a great many wrongs. She had a duty - she had to be better than everyone else, and set an example to follow, showing that violence is not the only way, we can and should be better than that. If only she was better able to talk to people, and help them understand…
Taking Cleric/Thief for a much easier early game with Sanctuary. I will probably lose out in the long run to better Mage buffs, I think think invisibility gets a much better duration, for example, but I get sanctuary at level 1! Eventually the thiefling should have stealth to get by without the diving help, but I am not sure there is enough XP to see that in just BG1. So much quest xp comes from quests that involve killing (such as Mirianne's letter near the start) that I am doubting I will even reach 5/5 by the end of the game - if I make it that far.
My main early goal is to buy the stealth armor from the Beregost smithy, which is where Cha as a dump start really starts to bite
Currently level 2/3, where most of the xp came from Marl/Firebead, and a quick run find the farmer's son North of the Friendly Arm Inn. I'm planning a tour of any xp I can find in the sword coast without shedding blood before heading down the mine to see Mulahey, who I believe I can pass without killing, but may need to stongarm a little first so grabbing as much of an advantage as I can.
Looking ahead, Daevorn could be a big problem, playing solo and no pacifist option at that point. Beyond that, I am worried about saving dukes at the coronation, and then hopefully we can see what we are made of in a final showdown with big brother.
I am planning to initiate no violence, and always respond by running away. I may need to bribe my way past bandits I am used to slaughtering without a care. I am trying to not seek loopholes in the pacifist principle by letting others do my slaughtering - the goal is a real minimal body count. (Plus all 8 Tomes ;~)
Time to see what's out there…
Calling all the fans of other people's playthroughs: @lolien @Blackraven @CrevsDaak @BelgarathMTH @Elrandir @booinyoureyes @kcwise - if you come here, others will follow as well. Just not to let it vanish in the hundreds of threads:)
I tried with a No-reload + SCS and other difficulty mods, and I died pretty early (since I tried not to kill at all, like @JLee did on his playthrough).
The 2 most challenging sections for me were the Ducal Palace (of course) and, surprisingly, fighting Mulahey. It took so many reloads to fight him without getting boxed in by the skellies and kobolds.
I did it with a solo illusionist/thief. I think Mage/Thief is a great choice for the challenge as you will be hiding/invisible for much of the game. I can't remember for sure, but think I was level 5/6 by the time I finished.
@CrevsDaak I could not imagine trying that challenge no-reload + SCS! I applaud you for attempting it!
After several attempts I realized this was not going to work, and managed to go through the motions fast enough that I could l sanctuary before the skellies/kobolds completely boxed me in, so ran for the exit b the slimes.
My plan was to play without ever memorizing a 'red' spell, although I have no taken 'hold person' as an absolute emergency fall back - still not worked out what to do about Mulahey though. I think it is clear I am going to have to dispose of him in some way, but that is no reason to strike at his accompanying army. In character, I think the answer is to call down the judgement of the gods with a wand of flame strike - if the gods deem him unworthy, he shall perish, and who is Dora to challenge the gods? (time will tell
So now I need to find a wand of flame strike…
I think I have exhausted every avenue for peaceful xp this side of defeating Mulahey, except one. I am 4/4 Cleric/Thief with 6169xp per class - a long way from level up however I look at it, but it is time to venture into Durlag's tower. I am hoping for rich pickings to sell and buy a wand from Ulgoth's Beard (if I remember correctly) and with luck and a fair wind, may be able to set off the 4 wards guarding the seal in the basement. Sadly, that is as far as old Durlag will let me go without initiating violence, so that is the best I can hope for. With that and the xp from the upper levels (plus one point of wisdom!) I may reach 5/5 before returning for Mulahey, but this is going to be a lot of frustrated (repeated) runs past the same foes.
So far, Sanctuary has been the great enabler allowing me to go everywhere and do everything - big xp awards have come from delivering quests only achievable under sanctuary. However, the reliable xp comes from locks (and soon traps) but in frequent smaller doses. I think the sanctuary quest xp dominates.
I am still saving for the armor to better enable hiding, but it does not look like I will reach a high enough level to enjoy pick pockets - which is looking increasingly important. The other problem, playing solo, is a lack of slots for loot. I have picked up the scroll case and potion case, but I see no way to retrieve the gem bag from Neera. (I tried many reload pick-pockets without success.) Currently Neera and one of her assassins are parked in the Jovial Juggler. Although he was happy to pursue her there, he shows no further interest, and neither seem intent on following me when I leave, so another dead end.
Resting is another issue, as the various assassins make finding a safe bed for the night a little more exciting. Nashkel is out at the moment, and will be even worse once Mulahey is defeated. The options in Beregost are narrowing too.
So while I am resigned to a painful end to Mulahey, I would be interested to hear of any peaceful alternatives we might think of.
As for a pacifist avoiding striking the undead - I think it is not so much the hurting a living thing that gives Dora pause, but that the act of striking diminishes her, that she could not find a creative solution in balance with the world. Whether the thing she strikes is animate or inanimate is not the issue. Of course, we are quite prepared to turn undead - especially as all they do at the moment is run away. Should she reach a level where undead are destroyed by turning, she will have another moral decision to face, although I think I am comfortable with turning even then. That is simply the nature of the word manifesting itself in earnest, returning itself to balance without a crass physical intervention. As a cleric, she must have some faith in her mission and place in the world after all.
Mulahey, Daeveron, Dopplegangers at the palace, and Sarevok are the only necessary kills in the game.
...at least as far as I could determine from my game.
Pooling resource from previous trips, cunning stashed in a barrel no-one else would think to examine in Beregost, Dora finally raises enough funds to buy a Wand of the Heavens from Ulgoth's Beard, and so expose Mulahey to the judgement of the gods - who indeed found him wanting. It turns out he was carrying papers and a ring that Dora wanted quite badly too, but even though it was the gods that meted out judgement, Dora is greatly troubled at having acted as their channel. Nightly, she is haunted by nightmares of Mulahey, dead, yet not quite, and a bone dagger, inviting her to more and bloodier violence. She must refuse, but those nightmares are troubling none the less…
So Durlag brought me a thief level which was surprisingly difficult to take - where to put my next 25 points? I don't quite have the trap skills to handle Durlag's at the moment, but am probably good for the rest of the game. Do I max out my trap and lock skills to be sure, or is it time to start on pick pockets, or stealth? (currently 80/85 on locks/traps). Starting on a second skill set now feels futile, as I am not sure if I will secure another thief level before the end of the game. I am gambling on one more, but certainly not two, so any secondary skill is not going to become reliable.
In the end, I picked the pockets, which is now at 50%. Stealth I will now buy the armor from the Thunderhammer smithy, and hope that is good enough. Don't think I can pick-pocket the boots as I am pretty sure that encounter always starts hostile, so that is probably as good as I will get, but hopefully good enough for my needs. When we reach the Gate, I know there will be a dex book which will be good for another 5% on many thief skills, and hopefully potions will cover the remaining cases where default skills are not quite enough.
Definitely feeling the pinch from dump-starting charisma, although reporting the defeat of Mulahey has brought my rep up to 18 and prices are almost reasonable. It did take the rep improvement to finally afford the shadow armor though.
This run is different, and quite a bit of fun. I have never soloed before, so coping with limited carrying capacity (shorted raids) is something I am having to adapt to, but also the game runs much more quickly having only one character to manage. Even faster as I am ducking out of fights, and generally running past enemies under sanctuary. The downside is that as I never dispatch an enemy, the maps are staying full of hazard and there are no real comfort zones to rest. I suspect the Cloakwood mines will be quite challenging, but first I must visit the bandit camp...
It may be theoretically possible to get through BG2 SoA without a single kill on your character sheet, but I gave up trying because I found no practical way of avoiding the slayer dream, during which you will get two kills on your character sheet.
Some observations:
1) Flesh to Stone and Stone to Flesh
In my pacifist run I had the rule that it is acceptable to petrify another creature, if it is necessary to complete a quest, if the petrification is only temporary.
If, for example, a quest giver sends you to kill some people, you can cast Flesh to Stone on those people, return to the quest giver, get the quest reward, then return to those people and cast Stone to Flesh on them. That way, you can spare their lives. If you cast Stone to Flesh via Projected Image/Simulacrum/Helm of Vhailor, you don't even get a kill count.
2) Imprisonment and Freedom
Imprisonment and Freedom would work, too, but you would have to be a Sorcerer (since there are no Imprisonment scrolls in BG2) and you would have to somehow have managed to gain enough XP to reach caster level 18, which is unlikely in a pacifist run without cheesy XP farming tactics, and you would probably have to postpone casting Freedom until you have access to Freedom scrolls, or or you would probably have to use even more cheesy XP farming tactics to have a second level 9 spell pick available.
Imprisonment is also an interesting spell, because it lets you seperate creatures from quest items without having to kill those creatures. Imprison the beholder in the Twisted Rune headquarters - he'll lose one of his eyestalks. Use the eyestalk to open the exit. Free the beholder again. Have a clear conscience.
3) Cloak of Fear
Everybody affected by this level 4 divine spell has a chance to drop items, this includes items that you couldn't pickpocket. You can't pickpocket the Cloak of Non-Detection from Sorcerous Amon, but he will drop it if you cast Cloak of Fear often enough.
4) Evil 'Turn Undead'
More useful than good Turn Undead, since you have no chance of destroying undead. It also makes them friendly enough to pickpocket them, once you are of high enough level to control them.
####
Some questions for pacifists:
What is your position on charming people, knowing that those people will get attacked for being your new friends?
What is your position on using confusion type spells and effects, knowing that a probable outcome of using them is that people will kill each other?
What is your position on using protective spells and items like Fireshield, (Minor) Spell Turning, Shield of Reflection, Shield of Balduran, knowing that if you would use other protections (like (Minor) Spell Deflection) people would not die because of your protections?
My position on charming people would depend on the pacifist I'm playing as. For instance, if we're talking a pacifist druid, then no, I would be against things that would cause any death. My devious, dashing, Chaotic Neutral M/T, however, would simply be a pacifist as a way of avoiding direct combat that could harm him. He fights with speed and his mind, not brute strength.
Or, go hardcore and charm/dominate them all, and have them sit in the corner, but you might need a snappy cloak for that.
I still say killing undead (sorry @Anduin !) and constructs is 100% acceptable. MAYBE Slimes (sorry @Kamigoroshi !) too. Non-living isn't killable.
She reluctantly memorized Hold Person when struggling badly with Mulahey, but managed through that without needing to cast it. Similarly, she has now memorized silence in case she must disable Daevorn, but is praying to not need it.
As a cleric, her view on turning is that is something granted by her god, in keeping with the balance of the world, so she will have no qualms about using that in BG1, where her level will not actually destroy any undead. I becomes a more interesting question should she progress into BG2 - roleplaying the character continuing from BG1 she should be happy turning, which may start destroying undead. Out of character, that violates an abstract principle of my pacifist run, but I may just go with the role-play. It is all a matter of how we choose to define our fun.
I am really enjoying reading about Halizurex pacifist run which is quite the opposite of mine, wreaking a trail of utter destruction as he tours the Sword Coast. So I don't think there is one 'true' notion of pacifist. As with any other player imposed rules, it is simply the rules that make sense to the player, riffing off the theme.
One question I am still wondering hard about, if I get that far, is how to handle the coronation. Do I directly engage the dopplegangers myself? Do I simply add non-violent support and buffing for the ducal staff to solve the problem? I doubt I can heal the dukes fast enough to just wait the encounter out, and I am required to, at a minimum, let harm come to the dopplegangers through my own inaction. Unlike Mulahey, Daevorn and ultimately Sarevok though, there are other actors present at the scene who may act on my behalf.
I actually consider this a more evil run through! Even monsters would be left to the mercy of othwr monsters...
@DreadKhan We have feelings. Every Zombie had a mom and a Dad once two, you know...
For the greater doppelgangers, try buffing the soldiers and healing the Dukes. Belt is pretty tough, he should be your first choice to aide. Of course, its sophistry either way at this point, since you are still indirectly killing, but depends on your goal.
To be clear, not trying to troll you, just stating opinions that could be useful.
Treevus "Cleanfingers":
Class: Mage/Thief
Race: Elf
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Portrait: That derpy elf that I'm pretty sure almost no one ever uses. You know the one. Deder's.
Abilities:
STR 9
DEX 19
CON 16
INT 18
WIS 15
CHA 17
TR: 94 (This was exactly the roll I wanted. And no, I didn't expect to get it. Got the roll in about 40 minutes while watching the first episode of Firefly. Really surprised I didn't roll past it.)
Skills:
Short Sword: * (Purely for self defense, as he won't be getting into any melees.
Single Weapon Style: * (Will switch between this and bucklers, depending on what bucklers I get)
Spells: Armor, Charm, Identify, and Sleep
Bio: Treevus "Cleanfingers" is a neat freak. Obsessed with keeping his hands clean at all times, (the source of his nickname) he's sworn to never fight, though he will defend himself if absolutely necessary. Apart from his obsession with cleanliness, he's your standard dashing rogue with a real brain. While he's not weak, the elf is not possessed of a great deal of physical strength. What he lacks in brawn, however, he more than makes up for elsewhere. Brilliant, faster than wind, sturdy enough to take a blow to the gut from a hamster wielding psycho, wise enough to impress the priests of Candlekeep, and charming enough to have found his way into more than one attractive traveler's bed at Winthrop's, he's the quintessential mage/thief. He's never found his way into a fight before, but he's fully ready for it, he believes. He knows what he would need to do and he's ready. What he needs to do of course being charm or sleep the enemy and run like hell. The question is... Is he as ready as he believes?...
Even if it's the vanilla portrait, the introduction of every character should start with a portrait. It helps to understand him better. I always look at the portrait when read the biography.
Moreover, I like Deder's portrait. One of my favourite from the whole series.