When planning my parties, I try to make sure that the gender ratio is even, that is three guys and three girls. Because I can only roleplay my own gender (male) this effectively means only recruiting two guys; the remaining three spots will automatically go to members of the fairer sex.
In the very rare event of having to recruit a third male party member, I usually make him wear the Girdle of Masculinity/Feminity to restore balance.
I really have no logical, well-thought-out reason for this. It might have something to do with personal preferences or the concept of yin and yang. I guess I just think it would be nicer for all parties involved if the level of testosterone was kept at bay. I just cannot stand the idea of a lone girl being forced to share a tent with five grisly, sweaty, ill-humored men.
--unless I'm desperate for experience points, I try to charm hostile animals and send them away from my party so I don't have to kill them.
--I never go evil on the druid quest in SoA, if only because Jaheira doesn't say anything about it if I do POISON THE LAND (and considering all the things she DOES complain about . . . )
--when ordered to kill somebody, I always avoid it if I can just fake it out instead by taking their dagger or helmet or whatever.
--when that rich lady in Baldurs Gate hires me to kill her blackmailer and then tries to weasel out of paying me, I say all right . . . and then steal all the gems in her cabinet.
--I always steal the telescope (and everything else) from the museum in broad daylight. Why? Because I can, with no consequences.
--I also steal the stuff from Oberon's estate, but avoid killing anyone. Then I slaughter everyone in the thieves' guild, take the items back, and return them (even if I just dump them in the front hall).
--Speaking of stealing, when I play Good and loot things I probably shouldn't, I just pretend Imoen or Jan Jansen did it when nobody in the party was looking.
--I avoid that mansion in Beregost with the whole Samantha thing, because I have no business being there, and it's creepy.
--Until I get the bag of holding, I keep stuff I don't really need in a trunk in the Copper Cornet. It's my Special Stash. I tend to keep particular NPCs' outdated stuff in there--Anomen's family shield, Neera's staff, etc.--because it feels wrong to sell them.
--if I'm not romancing Rasaad, I'm letting him leave the party in SoA after his quest, because I like the epilogue with that choice better than if I'd kept him.
--I keep a printout and hand-scrawled map I made years ago of most of the little side quests in Baldur's Gate, with locations of people and things so I don't forget, and check them off every single time I play.
--if I enter somebody's home and there's just a kid there who's like, "Momma said not to talk to strangers! You get out!" I totally do because I like brave kids.
--newest party member picks the corpses. That's the rule.
In response to the topic starter, I think that backstabbing with a staff is actually credible enough in the overall scheme of the game. Stealth in this gameworld is akin to a magical power of invisibility. I think of it as a ninja-like, almost mystical power. Characters can do it in full daylight, for example. If you can sneak up unseen, then to me there's no reason why you can't level a swift and mighty swing of the staff from behind someone.
The real question that I see about backstabbing in general is should one backstab at all under the following conditions: in broad daylight, with little to no cover of any kind, and no avenue to sneak up behind the target.
I could see self-imposing the limitation to backstab only when it is plausible that the character could sneak up from behind undetected. I might start adding that to the roleplaying that I do.
Stealth is certainly not akin to invisibility. The fact that you can do it in a sunlit forest is a game engine limitation. You are technically "hiding in the shadow of a tree" then moving on.
My issue with backstab had nothing to do with the hiding part. Just that part that you strike with a big blunt object, which can do a lot of damage, but not "stab" straight for a vital area that "Backstab" is supposed to do.
It shouldn't be that difficult to kill someone with a pole on one hit and it's even easier when he doesn't see you, think about impaling his spine or neck with your full strength or smacking him in the temple. It just takes more skill than with a blade weapon which is where the more damage feels a bit silly
It shouldn't be that difficult to kill someone with a pole on one hit and it's even easier when he doesn't see you, think about impaling his spine or neck with your full strength or smacking him in the temple. It just takes more skill than with a blade weapon which is where the more damage feels a bit silly
Exactly! Stealth should provide a to hit bonus for sure, but in my mind the extra backstab damage should perhaps be limited when it comes to blunt weapons.
Also raises the question, why is it that you can backstab with a quarterstaff and club, but not a spear or greatsword?
Stealth is certainly not akin to invisibility. The fact that you can do it in a sunlit forest is a game engine limitation. You are technically "hiding in the shadow of a tree" then moving on.
My issue with backstab had nothing to do with the hiding part. Just that part that you strike with a big blunt object, which can do a lot of damage, but not "stab" straight for a vital area that "Backstab" is supposed to do.
Yeah, it definitely is a game engine limitation; although I'm differentiating it from D&D and describing it more specifically as a function of the game world of BG precisely because it lets you do it akin to invisibility and with a staff. But as I said, I kind of like the idea of--at least for RPed games--self-limiting to an undetectable approach from now on. I'll still use a staff because I find that believable. But not strolling up in broad daylight facing the target.
@Lemernis I feel you. I think you actually could do that on a character where this method of stealth makes sense, like a mage/thief or obviously a Shadowdancer
@Lemernis I feel you. I think you actually could do that on a character where this method of stealth makes sense, like a mage/thief or obviously a Shadowdancer
I have the same problem with stealth. I justify it as a magical ability, like the shadowdancer and other special abilities, Like traps, fighter abilities.
@meagloth I wish they had "sneak attack" rather than backstab in Baldur's Gate. Would also be awesome to have "crippling strike" as a high level ability as well.
Actually, believe it or not, the manual does indeed state that for this game the stealth mode is akin to invisibility. Sayeth the BGEE manual (2) p. 60:
Stealth (Hide in Shadows/Move Silently) and Backstab
Thieves can choose to enter Stealth mode—effectively becoming invisible for a time—by selecting the Stealth button. Once invisible, their next attack is a backstab for either x2, x3, or x4 damage, depending on the level of the thief. Note that in order to backstab someone, the thief must be standing behind the target.
Moving around risks detection. In addition, once a thief attacks the stealth mode is ended until successfully activated again. The thief must be out of his enemy’s direct line of sight before he can hide once more.
So I think of this skill as a sneak attack from behind that is undetected by the enemy. As such any weapon should theoretically be fair game, although the engine only allows for certain weapons to be used.
Why staff and not axe, for example?
I guess I can see a staff being wielded deftly enough* for such a strike as opposed to a halberd; so I suppose the weapon restriction against using a halberd for backstabbing makes a little bit of sense.
A club (cudgel) I can certainly see as a sneak attack weapon...
Anyway, it's a little odd what the limitation on weapons for backstabbing came to be for this game.
Excuse my necroposting, but i really like this thread and want to see it updated again. Some more rules i have for myself is racial equipment restrictions.
Halflings is restricted to Small shields and Chainmail and small or short weapons Gnomes is restricted to Medium shields and Splintmail and small or short weapons Dwarfs have no armor or shields restrictions and may use every weapon except two-hand and long swords Elfs is restricted to medium shields and platemail and may use every weapon except heavy blunt weapons Half-elfs have no armor or shield restrictions and may use every weapon Humans have no armor or shield restrictions and may use every weapon Half-Orcs have no armor or shield restrictions and may use every weapon
this way i have some use of all the +1 small shields and armors i found in the game.
I always play female Charnames because they're cuter.
I structure half of my playthroughs on abusing exploits.
Sometimes I intentionally enter a fight unprepared, just to see how I manage. Even though I play no reload or limited reload, the most satisfying fights are the ones where I am fighting at a disadvantage and barely come out alive.
I keep all quest items and odds and ends as souvenirs, either in a bag of holding or a container at my base of operations.
When I played my first game of IWD and saw that my bag didn't import into HoW, I didn't just keeper the bag in, I keepered all the lieutenants badges and other tchotchkes I'd picked up along the way.
I never make a kill or steal from anybody who doesn't deserve it, that includes not harming wild animals. I ignore a fair few quests because of this and will in certain circumstances even murder the quest giver to ensure nobody else does what they're asking. Reputation is for weaklings.
I also tend to leave at least 1 enemy in a group alive where possible (without risking my own skin too much), sometimes more than 1 if a large group, occasionally with a few arrows sticking out of them. I figure they'll perhaps become reformed characters after the lesson I've taught them. I've never been much a fan of genocide tactics.
The fact that I haven't even posted in this thread... So much facepalm worthy.
Odd Things that SapphireIce101 does in BG: 1. All thieves must use bows, only exception is Yoshimo because he starts out with a +1 Katana and can dual-class into a fighter. 2. Give Coran this portrait: http://www.deviantart.com/art/Coran-BG-111033538 by Zoyah 3. Most of the time I make Khalid into a Fighter/Mage/Thief because why not. 4. Make Xan into a Fighter/Enchanter for the lulz. 5. Never use pickpocketing. Like. Ever.
Excuse my necroposting, but i really like this thread and want to see it updated again. Some more rules i have for myself is racial equipment restrictions.
Halflings is restricted to Small shields and Chainmail and small or short weapons Gnomes is restricted to Medium shields and Splintmail and small or short weapons Dwarfs have no armor or shields restrictions and may use every weapon except two-hand and long swords Elfs is restricted to medium shields and platemail and may use every weapon except heavy blunt weapons Half-elfs have no armor or shield restrictions and may use every weapon Humans have no armor or shield restrictions and may use every weapon Half-Orcs have no armor or shield restrictions and may use every weapon
this way i have some use of all the +1 small shields and armors i found in the game.
1. I love having my thread resurrected actually! This was a good one 2. Great set of rules, very much like my own!
I haven't done it in a while, but I used to have my charname and a few of the NPCs (especially Imoen) wear non-magical jewelry if I didn't have a magic item to put in the slot. The term "bling" wasn't in use at the time, but "Bling!"
I have way too many weird habits, but here it goes: - I can't bring myself to stop taking stuff from every container, even when I don't have a thief in my party. - always use the same formation (the "star" with 5 members around the last character), since probably the very first playthrough. I even carried it to the other IE games and Pillars of Eternity. - no reloading when getting waylaid (fight or run), or scribing scrolls. I do however, reload when resting gets disturbed. - use every potion possible if it'll be helpful, usually each character drinks one at the start of the combat. Similarly with spells, each spellcaster has 1 of each spell memorised and I try to use all of them. - no pre-buffing, ever. - reload when someone dies, with the exception of playthroughs where I reload only if Charname dies. - Dwarves, Gnomes and Halflings don't use two-handed weapons (apart form ranged ones) and large swords. - resting only when fatigued, though I noticed that reloading seems to reset the "fatigue timer". - I tend to stop collecting gems and jewelry when I don't have room in the inventory for them and have characters wear the non-magial amulets and rings. - buy only: healing potions and unique equipment (Claw of Kazgaroth, Shadow Armor, etc.). This goes together with taking items from containers, since many needed ones can be found, or taken. - Charname is always the leader, even if he's a mage.
Imoen may never die. I know what she is and I need to keep her essence. If I am good she is always with me. Am I evil then she dies. Then I need her essence.
My romantic interest can never die. Period. Equals reload if it happens.
I make CN characters all the time and decides early on if they stay CN or is corrupted by evil or see the light of good. The trials in hell will do the rest.
I rest a lot in the wild. I am a cheap leader and there might be XP in it as well.
I am always the leader. I am a spawn of a god so what could go wrong? I tend to reload a lot.
1. Generous usage of detect evil, know alignment spells in towns. 2. Generous use of infravision when underground. 3. The two column offset party formation. 4. Pick pocketing fluff characters but not quest characters. 5. Roleplay everything my player character would do and to the best of abilities what joinable npcs would do. 6. Using bucklers, small shields, round shields over large shields. 7. Unequipping weapons when in town. 8. Unarmed melee in bars. 9. Total stats below 70 or much much lower. 10. Specialist mages only learn spells fron their own school. 11. Not clearing all the fog in areas, sticking to the main road unless roleplaying adventurous or sidequesting. 12. Declining sidequests that are not in line with the protagonist alignment. ..... and probably a lot more .....
All those who don't like fog might also want to use the console to explore the entire area. It can be extra handy for those bits you can't quite uncover via normal exploring.
All those who don't like fog might also want to use the console to explore the entire area. It can be extra handy for those bits you can't quite uncover via normal exploring.
That's just so lazy! This is what the Clairvoyance spell is for! (And yes, I do actually use it to clear any remaining fog, after I've first explored the area normally,)
Comments
In the very rare event of having to recruit a third male party member, I usually make him wear the Girdle of Masculinity/Feminity to restore balance.
I really have no logical, well-thought-out reason for this. It might have something to do with personal preferences or the concept of yin and yang. I guess I just think it would be nicer for all parties involved if the level of testosterone was kept at bay. I just cannot stand the idea of a lone girl being forced to share a tent with five grisly, sweaty, ill-humored men.
--I never go evil on the druid quest in SoA, if only because Jaheira doesn't say anything about it if I do POISON THE LAND (and considering all the things she DOES complain about . . . )
--when ordered to kill somebody, I always avoid it if I can just fake it out instead by taking their dagger or helmet or whatever.
--when that rich lady in Baldurs Gate hires me to kill her blackmailer and then tries to weasel out of paying me, I say all right . . . and then steal all the gems in her cabinet.
--I always steal the telescope (and everything else) from the museum in broad daylight. Why? Because I can, with no consequences.
--I also steal the stuff from Oberon's estate, but avoid killing anyone. Then I slaughter everyone in the thieves' guild, take the items back, and return them (even if I just dump them in the front hall).
--Speaking of stealing, when I play Good and loot things I probably shouldn't, I just pretend Imoen or Jan Jansen did it when nobody in the party was looking.
--I avoid that mansion in Beregost with the whole Samantha thing, because I have no business being there, and it's creepy.
--Until I get the bag of holding, I keep stuff I don't really need in a trunk in the Copper Cornet. It's my Special Stash. I tend to keep particular NPCs' outdated stuff in there--Anomen's family shield, Neera's staff, etc.--because it feels wrong to sell them.
--if I'm not romancing Rasaad, I'm letting him leave the party in SoA after his quest, because I like the epilogue with that choice better than if I'd kept him.
--I keep a printout and hand-scrawled map I made years ago of most of the little side quests in Baldur's Gate, with locations of people and things so I don't forget, and check them off every single time I play.
--if I enter somebody's home and there's just a kid there who's like, "Momma said not to talk to strangers! You get out!" I totally do because I like brave kids.
--newest party member picks the corpses. That's the rule.
The real question that I see about backstabbing in general is should one backstab at all under the following conditions: in broad daylight, with little to no cover of any kind, and no avenue to sneak up behind the target.
I could see self-imposing the limitation to backstab only when it is plausible that the character could sneak up from behind undetected. I might start adding that to the roleplaying that I do.
My issue with backstab had nothing to do with the hiding part. Just that part that you strike with a big blunt object, which can do a lot of damage, but not "stab" straight for a vital area that "Backstab" is supposed to do.
Also raises the question, why is it that you can backstab with a quarterstaff and club, but not a spear or greatsword?
Why staff and not axe, for example?
I guess I can see a staff being wielded deftly enough* for such a strike as opposed to a halberd; so I suppose the weapon restriction against using a halberd for backstabbing makes a little bit of sense.
A club (cudgel) I can certainly see as a sneak attack weapon...
Anyway, it's a little odd what the limitation on weapons for backstabbing came to be for this game.
*
Halflings is restricted to Small shields and Chainmail and small or short weapons
Gnomes is restricted to Medium shields and Splintmail and small or short weapons
Dwarfs have no armor or shields restrictions and may use every weapon except two-hand and long swords
Elfs is restricted to medium shields and platemail and may use every weapon except heavy blunt weapons
Half-elfs have no armor or shield restrictions and may use every weapon
Humans have no armor or shield restrictions and may use every weapon
Half-Orcs have no armor or shield restrictions and may use every weapon
this way i have some use of all the +1 small shields and armors i found in the game.
I structure half of my playthroughs on abusing exploits.
Sometimes I intentionally enter a fight unprepared, just to see how I manage. Even though I play no reload or limited reload, the most satisfying fights are the ones where I am fighting at a disadvantage and barely come out alive.
When I played my first game of IWD and saw that my bag didn't import into HoW, I didn't just keeper the bag in, I keepered all the lieutenants badges and other tchotchkes I'd picked up along the way.
Odd Things that SapphireIce101 does in BG:
1. All thieves must use bows, only exception is Yoshimo because he starts out with a +1 Katana and can dual-class into a fighter.
2. Give Coran this portrait:
http://www.deviantart.com/art/Coran-BG-111033538
by Zoyah
3. Most of the time I make Khalid into a Fighter/Mage/Thief because why not.
4. Make Xan into a Fighter/Enchanter for the lulz.
5. Never use pickpocketing. Like. Ever.
That's all I got right now.
2. Great set of rules, very much like my own!
- I can't bring myself to stop taking stuff from every container, even when I don't have a thief in my party.
- always use the same formation (the "star" with 5 members around the last character), since probably the very first playthrough. I even carried it to the other IE games and Pillars of Eternity.
- no reloading when getting waylaid (fight or run), or scribing scrolls. I do however, reload when resting gets disturbed.
- use every potion possible if it'll be helpful, usually each character drinks one at the start of the combat. Similarly with spells, each spellcaster has 1 of each spell memorised and I try to use all of them.
- no pre-buffing, ever.
- reload when someone dies, with the exception of playthroughs where I reload only if Charname dies.
- Dwarves, Gnomes and Halflings don't use two-handed weapons (apart form ranged ones) and large swords.
- resting only when fatigued, though I noticed that reloading seems to reset the "fatigue timer".
- I tend to stop collecting gems and jewelry when I don't have room in the inventory for them and have characters wear the non-magial amulets and rings.
- buy only: healing potions and unique equipment (Claw of Kazgaroth, Shadow Armor, etc.). This goes together with taking items from containers, since many needed ones can be found, or taken.
- Charname is always the leader, even if he's a mage.
My romantic interest can never die. Period. Equals reload if it happens.
I make CN characters all the time and decides early on if they stay CN or is corrupted by evil or see the light of good. The trials in hell will do the rest.
I rest a lot in the wild. I am a cheap leader and there might be XP in it as well.
I am always the leader. I am a spawn of a god so what could go wrong? I tend to reload a lot.
Save once a day items just in case.
1. Generous usage of detect evil, know alignment spells in towns.
2. Generous use of infravision when underground.
3. The two column offset party formation.
4. Pick pocketing fluff characters but not quest characters.
5. Roleplay everything my player character would do and to the best of abilities what joinable npcs would do.
6. Using bucklers, small shields, round shields over large shields.
7. Unequipping weapons when in town.
8. Unarmed melee in bars.
9. Total stats below 70 or much much lower.
10. Specialist mages only learn spells fron their own school.
11. Not clearing all the fog in areas, sticking to the main road unless roleplaying adventurous or sidequesting.
12. Declining sidequests that are not in line with the protagonist alignment.
..... and probably a lot more .....