Hell, if your CHARNAME is male you probably made out in one of those hidden places at one point.
Ah because if it's femele she could not?
The odds are not in favor of a lesbian/bi-curious makeout session between the only two girls of that age in Candlekeep, no.
Statistically, the most likely outcome is a straight PC and a straight Imoen. Even if a Female CHARNAME is into the ladies, the chance that Imoen is also into the ladies is highly improbable.
He could have noticed, and he could have not. That's just it. No coincidences required. If you're a sinister little brat and the Bane-worshiper in hiding teaches you to be an acolyte and later a blackguard, and instructs you to always practice in private, the chances of being caught go to nil. This is an old fortress we're talking about, with some rooms and houses nobody even uses. You grew up there, and had the mischievous Imoen as a constant companion. By now, the two of you know plenty of places to hide. Hell, if your CHARNAME is male you probably made out in one of those hidden places at one point.
Further, your character can figure out how to be an Evil Cleric of Whoever, a DRUID, or a Thief capable of stealing Elminster's beard right off his face, and apparently he either didn't spot this or doesn't particularly care.
And, as it's been pointed out, becoming a Blackguard could be more of an awakening on the part of the PC. Perhaps, due to your special nature, you've been visited by dark gods in your prayers, or Bhaal himself unlocked this potential through dreams as he does with innate powers later in the game.
@Schneidend ok then, i think we can safely conclude that it was Imoen's fault :P
@Schneidend ok then, i think we can safely conclude that it was Imoen's fault :P
Of course she is! I tend to picture Imoen as this big troublemaker that wrangles my PC into trouble constantly, ensuring his face is stuck in a permanent -.- around her. But, then, puberty hits, and she's the only girl around. Huehuehuehue...
sry but it's not far from playing a vampire or githyanki PC, the drow are part of the monster mannual in D&D, you could play as one but only in specific adventures,and it's a whole different game compared to that of a human in the same compaign.
a drow that has nothing to do with the rest of the drow,that has never seen the underdark is not a drow,but guess what? there is no way for guards and common folk to know. the normal reaction upon a drow spotted close to the city gates(of a human city) would be:shoot him first,check the corpse for information later.
@karpasz what do you have against Svifneblins eh? what did they ever do to you? Just because they come from under the ground does not make them evil like the Drow :P
"Relations with other races Deep gnome relations with other races are colored by the impression of most surface-dwelling races that deep gnomes, like the duergar or drow, are a cruel and vindictive relative of their surface cousins."
@karpasz what do you have against Svifneblins eh? what did they ever do to you? Just because they come from under the ground does not make them evil like the Drow :P
"Relations with other races Deep gnome relations with other races are colored by the impression of most surface-dwelling races that deep gnomes, like the duergar or drow, are a cruel and vindictive relative of their surface cousins."
Uh, did you read the next sentence? "This is, in fact, untrue, and while often suspicious and sullen, deep gnomes are a largely agreeable people."
Of course, if read within context, a vast majority of surface folks will treat every UD-race with disrespect and hatred. Drow, svirfneblins are pretty much out.
@LadyRhian Which book (if any) would I find 2e information on Deep Gnomes. The wiki is always a bit tainted by the arrival of new editions etc. Best to see how hated my little Svirfneblins were back in the day.
Saying that, regardless of hatred I would still want one. :P
@Ichigo The Complete Guide to Gnomes and Halflings is probably your best bet. It covers each sub-race of Gnomes, including which stones they consider sacred (I am pretty sure Svirfneblin is Ruby.)
@LadyRhian: You're probably right there, but what's to say that the common peasant even knows what an Orc, Half-Orc or Dwarf looks like. In a Human's eye, a Dwarf would look more grotesque than a Half-Orc would.
Sure, if they had heard the stories about Dwarves, and had a detailed description of their looks, they would know they dealt with someone that was most likely on the good side of things, but Dwarves aren't that common.
@Thels I figure, people get this- Dwarves are short people wo live in the mountains with long beards, even the women. Gnomes are even shorter, but have big noses and live in the forests. Halflings are short, talkative and cheerful, live in villages and have "normal" noses (for values of normal, so to speak). Elves are taller and thinner than humans and have pointy ears (I doubt most people would have seen an Avariel). If the elf has black skin and white hair, it's evil, run away and let powerful people kill it. Amything else that's human sized and ugly is a monster, run away if you can.
@LadyRhian: Well, I guess we differ on opinion, there. I have my doubts about every simple peasant or merchant or barkeep being that educated in the races that are present in the realm, especially if you consider that most half-orcs can pass for ugly humans.
@Thels Most areas in the realms are not so isolated or secure that they haven't seen either orcs, kobolds or some other kind of monster. And Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, Halflings and such can and do live in human areas. One of the modules for the Forgotten Realms, N5 "Under Ilefarn", has Dwarves and Elves living among humans in a village of maybe 75-100 people. (A Dwarf is one of the Smiths, and there is an entire family of elves who are magic users. Other Demi-humans are traveling merchants, so its fairly unlikely that a human, even living in this fairly small village, would not have grown up knowing what a Dwarf, Elf or other humanoid looks like.
I must admit that I'm not too knowledged about FR. I usually play in settings where Dwarves, Elves and the like live in their own districts, and spotting a Dwarf or Elf on sight would be a sight to behold. This might not apply to Faerun, but if they're that commonplace, then why even bother including them?
PS. Elves aren't taller than humans. You're thinking of Tolkien elves. D&D elves are quite a bit shorter than that.
Still, while Half-Orcs would probably receive quite a bit of glare, and a lot of people wouldn't be happy about them, they wouldn't be outright hunted down. And to a merchant, his gold would be as good as any.
@Thels Depends on the setting. Not all elves are short. Drow tend to be shorter than humans, but I think most FR elves are about the same size as humans. It says in the 2e FR Campaign setting that FR elves are the same height as humans, but thinner. (You can see it here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/75851781/2e-FR-Campaign-Setting on page 9)
@LadyRhian: Yeah, I am aware that Faerun elves are the same height as humans, whereas for most other settings elves are actually quite a bit shorter than humans. Still, they're not taller.
But that was just a minor detail I noticed. Not worth nitpicking over.
@g314 I think that's a pretty unclear majority, though I suspect that if you were to sample "players" rather than "people who care enough about the game to be on these forums" then we'd see a stronger majority for Drow. Pure speculation.
@Moomintroll, as I see it, there are some people who want something and some people who don't. If they're unfavorable, they shouldn't deny others to enjoy that feature. And I'm talking in general, not just about playable Drows. I oppose FORCING people to do something. You see, I'm also a city-building fan, and lately they're forcing people to play their games online (ahem - EA - ahem), so there are issues there. But options???
Back to topic, as I said before I'm personally neutral on this matter, since I'm not interested in playing as a Drow, but I can't find a good reason not to include them anyway. Nor do I understand such opposition. You're afraid that [insert issue here]? Don't play as a Drow (or a Duergar, what about them?). Simple as that Other games made it playable, and I can't remember they were too powerful, so I don't see why BG shouldn't include them. Mind you, I support including other sub-races as well.
There's a few reasons why I believe that drow wouldn't fit... (not sure if this was mentioned or not) but it wouldn't make sense within the story either. Drow are not evil by nature (some think) but others think they are. This would cause alot of issues within the world where people will hunt you just for being Drow. And remember, "Gorion's Ward" as you are, you don't become famous until AFTER you save Baldur's Gate. Would ANY of the Dukes there take you seriously or believe anything you say? What about Gorion, would he even SAVE a Drow over a different child? What about the mother? If plot point A is true (That he was your mother's lover) would he actually be a lover to a Drow woman? I've seen a bit here that people say that good drow exist. Who? Drizzt? HE'S DRIZZT lol, hardly anything you can compare to.
@g314, the "don't want don't use" is already beaten, just look back the answers for this, cos at each 5 posts, someone that want drows used this argue (that's pretty weak).
@Thels, would be nice, Bhaal in fact fucked every female from every race (maybe we should find a mustard jelly bhaalspawn during the campaign). And any son of Bhaal always keep the mother traits of race, so would be not impossible, and the game doesn't have specific plots that involve Aasimars that would make need of a review for the entire scripts of BG and BG2.
So it's possible, although some places, as the lvl 3 of wacher keep, Cespenar butler, the avatar of amaunator on the sewers of the temple district, the hight priest of amaunator on the lost temple of amaunator near Umar Hills and any lower/higher planes being or ppl direct linked to them would need a script to recognize the Aasamir aura to give sense for the existence of the race.
A Tiefling/Cambion would have to face the same hardness that a drow, a little more in some places, a little less in others, and would not be fair to add Aasimar option and not Tiefling/Cambion option.
So, if the devs assume the commitment of rewrite and review BG and BG2 scripts, adapting the bhaalspawn saga for a drow main char (otherwise the addition would be a negligence with BG/BG2), a little more work to allow Aasimar/Tieflings would be nice also. After all it's just 20 years after the time of troubles, all the gods where walking on the earth just 20 year ago, what turn very reasonable that many infernal/celestial beings where walking alongside their lords.
But lemme just reinforce, do it right or don't do it at all, we must remember BG is on the top already, and any change can at the best one chance of reach expectations and thousands of disappoint.
Comments
Statistically, the most likely outcome is a straight PC and a straight Imoen. Even if a Female CHARNAME is into the ladies, the chance that Imoen is also into the ladies is highly improbable.
So the PC tried to win Imoen's love but she playfully shot him down, trickster that she is.
With a broken heart, and while languishing in damnation and despair, he hears a voice in his head... /insert evil deity voice here
Damn you Imoen, look what you caused!
And thus the mystery of the pc's blackguard powers and blackguarding equipment is solved.
Now about the drow...
a drow that has nothing to do with the rest of the drow,that has never seen the underdark is not a drow,but guess what? there is no way for guards and common folk to know. the normal reaction upon a drow spotted close to the city gates(of a human city) would be:shoot him first,check the corpse for information later.
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Deep_gnome
"Relations with other races
Deep gnome relations with other races are colored by the impression of most surface-dwelling races that deep gnomes, like the duergar or drow, are a cruel and vindictive relative of their surface cousins."
"This is, in fact, untrue, and while often suspicious and sullen, deep gnomes are a largely agreeable people."
Saying that, regardless of hatred I would still want one. :P
Sure, if they had heard the stories about Dwarves, and had a detailed description of their looks, they would know they dealt with someone that was most likely on the good side of things, but Dwarves aren't that common.
PS. Elves aren't taller than humans. You're thinking of Tolkien elves. D&D elves are quite a bit shorter than that.
Still, while Half-Orcs would probably receive quite a bit of glare, and a lot of people wouldn't be happy about them, they wouldn't be outright hunted down. And to a merchant, his gold would be as good as any.
But that was just a minor detail I noticed. Not worth nitpicking over.
Back to topic, as I said before I'm personally neutral on this matter, since I'm not interested in playing as a Drow, but I can't find a good reason not to include them anyway. Nor do I understand such opposition. You're afraid that [insert issue here]? Don't play as a Drow (or a Duergar, what about them?). Simple as that Other games made it playable, and I can't remember they were too powerful, so I don't see why BG shouldn't include them. Mind you, I support including other sub-races as well.
@Thels, would be nice, Bhaal in fact fucked every female from every race (maybe we should find a mustard jelly bhaalspawn during the campaign). And any son of Bhaal always keep the mother traits of race, so would be not impossible, and the game doesn't have specific plots that involve Aasimars that would make need of a review for the entire scripts of BG and BG2.
So it's possible, although some places, as the lvl 3 of wacher keep, Cespenar butler, the avatar of amaunator on the sewers of the temple district, the hight priest of amaunator on the lost temple of amaunator near Umar Hills and any lower/higher planes being or ppl direct linked to them would need a script to recognize the Aasamir aura to give sense for the existence of the race.
A Tiefling/Cambion would have to face the same hardness that a drow, a little more in some places, a little less in others, and would not be fair to add Aasimar option and not Tiefling/Cambion option.
So, if the devs assume the commitment of rewrite and review BG and BG2 scripts, adapting the bhaalspawn saga for a drow main char (otherwise the addition would be a negligence with BG/BG2), a little more work to allow Aasimar/Tieflings would be nice also. After all it's just 20 years after the time of troubles, all the gods where walking on the earth just 20 year ago, what turn very reasonable that many infernal/celestial beings where walking alongside their lords.
But lemme just reinforce, do it right or don't do it at all, we must remember BG is on the top already, and any change can at the best one chance of reach expectations and thousands of disappoint.