I really could live without ...
Permidion_Stark
Member Posts: 4,861
... Xvarts.
It's probably a bit late now but couldn't we get rid of them and replace them with goblins? At least then they would offer some kind of threat because some of them could be armed with bows.
I always hate going to the Xvart village, partly because it feels like you are fighting a whole bunch of Smurfs and partly because it is such a ridiculously easy fight. I always get a sense of guilt at the end of it: I feel like I have engaged in ethnic cleansing.
It's probably a bit late now but couldn't we get rid of them and replace them with goblins? At least then they would offer some kind of threat because some of them could be armed with bows.
I always hate going to the Xvart village, partly because it feels like you are fighting a whole bunch of Smurfs and partly because it is such a ridiculously easy fight. I always get a sense of guilt at the end of it: I feel like I have engaged in ethnic cleansing.
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Soon enough all the Xvart Fan Club will be here with Pitchforks and Torches :-D
As a serious point though, I think a lot of the filler monsters in bg1 are quite annoying in that they are worth no experience even in large nembers can be quite a threat.
Xvart village is boring, but main because there is no loot. I think kobold commandos are much more annoying and pointless at only 35xp for a seriously challenging creature.
...I'm only half kidding. After the first few playthroughs, when I had the time to just sit down and think, it bothers me quite a lot that the game is OK with killing of entire villages as long as they are not human/elves/halflings. I would like to at least have the option to talk to the guards of Xvart's village, and ask for them to grant me a passage to the upper portion of the map. I see no reason for my true neutral PC to commit genocide simply because the village was blocking the only way to some areas.
I don't go there anymore, and if I do, I sneak through with hide-in-shadow, and/or invisibility potions... or I just cluaconsole the party to the part of the map I want to reach.
I would be ready to do some chore for them, (maybe steal honey from the bears? ;P ) , or pay a small amount of cash.
There is a precedence - near the gnoll fortress, some gnolls halt you and demand you pay a toll for passing through their land. If you refuse, they attack you, if you pay, they leave you well alone.
I usually pay.
What?
It IS their bloody land, and I'm the intruder there. Don't judge me for my true neutral morals! :P
I love fighting hordes of creatures, but we are not enough strong is bg1 to fight hordes of Ogre Berzerker, Ogre mages and bugbears. So, we can destroy hordes of Xvart, Tasoli, Skeleton, Gibberling, Kobold, Zombie Goblin, etc. ^^
''Within the Dungeons & Dragons universe, Xvarts are bald, blue-skinned humanoids with orange eyes. They are 3 feet (0.9 m) tall and usually wear loose cloth doublets. Xvarts live in hilly, cavernous regions, and are usually of chaotic evil / chaotic neutral alignment.
In 4th edition, Xvarts were originally gnomes enslaved and experimented on by the fomorians. They escaped to the Plane of Shadow thanks to a pact with a coven of hags, where they mutated further, their skin becoming deep blue in order to blend better with the shadows of the plane. Since then, many have spread back to the Feywild and Abeir-Toril.''
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xvart ('true' References on this website also)
Of course, by the time Nexlit shows up, it's kind of too late. You've already killed his entire village, after all. And then the bear shows up...
It might be nice to have a conversation with them, but it would also be a bit out of character. The world of the game doesn't account for open-minded adventurers.
...Though now I think of it, have we ever seen a female or child of any 'monster race' ? I'm sure I'd have noticed cuddly little kobold cubs if I ever came across any. :P
True that Xvarts don't have any solid looking houses like, e.g., halfling have, but to me, it looked like a nomadic camp, which made sense - when you are small and blue and most of dominant species around are big and hate your guts, living in one place where you could be easily found is not the best idea.
At this point I'd like to emphasize that I do remember that bands of Xvarts would attack me randomly in wilderness, and I have no problem dispatching of them there. I just feel there's a difference between fighting aggressors (Xvarts) in no-man's land, and fighting people who are defending their own home from aggressors (me).
And what about the kobolds in the Nashkel mines? They're usually chaotic evil just like xvarts, but maybe they're being forced to do the bidding of their dark masters and maybe there should be a quest to liberate them from the yoke of slavery so you could empty the mine without having to kill them.
Also, killing things to take their stuff? Shame on you, Maude. ;P (thumbs up for people who get the reference)
@Shin True, but you can't reason with, or even talk to spiders. I will just quote another fandom's catchphrase:
"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings"
and rest my case.
Every so often, I have my party fight X number of weak creatures. It helps them understand how powerful they are, as that can become difficult after 30+ sessions of relatively balanced battles. Xvarts are around for early experience. Beyond that, they are a reminder; and an amusing one, at that. I don't feel bad about engaging in an "ethnic cleansing" of such a wild, weak, and loud species.
Actually, it's often based on "impurity" and difference of religion. I really shouldn't have to feel like Hitler just because I am killing a race of monsters that attack me on sight while I'm in a fantasy world aka a video game.
So you believe that all people who play any Grand Theft Auto games are psychotic and evil? Isn't that an ignorant assumption? In real life, I am not the Lawful Good crusader that I often play in video games.
I never mentioned a love of genocide or dislike of impurity. I also never mentioned that hatred is cool.
You believe that every genocide in the world is based on the following video game quote from me: "I don't feel bad about engaging in an "ethnic cleansing" of such a wild, weak, and loud species."
I responded with:
"Actually, it's often based on "impurity" and difference of religion. I really shouldn't have to feel like Hitler just because I am killing a race of monsters that attack me on sight while I'm in a fantasy world aka a video game."
As in, (from what I've read in history books at least) genocide has more in common with a difference of philosophy/religion and "impurities" than it does with a "wild, weak, and loud species."
If you are going to try and assassinate my character by comparing me to Hitler and passively referring to me as a hateful, genocidal, and evil person, I'd really appreciate it if you at least took the time to read my posts in their entirety as opposed to just taking bits and pieces in order to make it seem like for every action I take in a video game, I must take an equal action in real life.
It's a shame how some people such as yourself are unable or unwilling to separate the fantasy world of gaming from the real world that we live in.
You're resorting to ad hominem attacks in order to deflect and misdirect attention from your clearly sick, sadistic thoughts.. This is yet another sign of your violent and vicious nature. I will have no part of some insult battle, good sir... Just let me help you man.. All I want is to help you. It's not your fault
Taken from another thread: And you have just revealed that you are a bottom-feeding troll with the sole purpose in life of griefing others. I will not be contacting you in the future, and should that not be mutual I will be reporting you for harassment.