Edwin + guild war with evil party (spoilers I guess)

iAmGoatBoy

So I've been playing through BGII enhanced with an evil/neutral party and stupidly, I've managed to get locked out of siding with Bodhi's vampires in the guild war by completing the Mae'Var quest line for the shadow thieves, and I don't have a save from before I did that. I'm not that far into the game story-wise but I've done a LOT of chapter one side quests, as well as character quests for Dorn, Hexxat, Jaheira and Edwin so having to restart would be very annoying. So, I've got two major questions:

1: Is there any huge difference in siding with the Shadow Thieves over Bodhi's vampires in the guild war and am I compromising my "evil" playthrough by siding with the Shadow Thieves?

2: Is it possible to recruit Edwin to your party without becoming aligned with the Shadow Thieves and thus frozen out by Bodhi?

kryptix

I didn't know that maevar locks you out... I remember yoshimo pushing you towards both maevar and bodhi but haven't used him in forever...

Other than locking you out of keldorn and mazzy I don't think bodhi's line changes much.

iAmGoatBoy

I don't know if it's the Mae'Var quest line specifically that locked me out, but when I met Bodhi at the graveyard, she said she wouldn't work with me as I'm "too dedicated a thief" for her to trust, or words to that effect, which I assume is due to me becoming guildmaster of Mae'Var's old guildhouse.

Flow

If your PC is a thief then she will not help you.

iAmGoatBoy

Ahhh thanks, yeah my char is a swashbuckler so that's the answer

Erinne

Is your PC a thief? I'm pretty sure Bodhi doesn't recruit thieves (regardless if you've done the Mae'var quest yet or not), because the game designers didn't want to lock you out of your stronghold. Other than that, I think the only way you get locked out of siding with Bodhi is if you actually hand over the money to Gaelan Bayle. On my evil playthrough (with a bard PC), I did the Mae'var questline and sided with the vampires afterwards no problem.

However, I don't think siding with the Shadow Thieves is going to compromise your playthrough in any way. You'll probably be getting slightly different loot from the Chapter 3 quests, but there should be no major differences.

EDIT: Damn, ninja'd

Eudaemonium

I should note that its only pure-thieves. Multi- or Dual-Classed thieves can still side with Bodhi.

This proved an issue for me when my F/T sided with Bodhi *after* getting the thief stronghold. It meant I had to eternally pay tribute to an organisation I'd already destroyed.

Montresor_SP

Also, a dual-classed thief who hasn't yet reactivated his or her original class is seen as a pure thief and can't side with Bodhi.

CrevsDaak

Oh, shit, I will have to side my evil party AGAIN with those Shadow bazterdz Thieves!!!