How was your first experience with Baldur's Gate?

Rafner

I figured it would fun and interesting to hear about the misshaps and goodies that took place when you took your first steps on the Sword Coast or in Amn.

I don't remember exactly when it was, but Throne of Bhaal had been released and I bought a box which contained both Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal. The reason was that I had gotten the demo of the game with one of those demo discs you got with various gaming magazines back in the days, and well, I thought it was fun. I had never ever played the original Baldur's Gate.

So I installed the game and made a character. A mage in this case. I had no experience with D&D and the only other RPG I had played was Fallout, so I didn't know what ability stats to use. I also didn't understand that you could reroll scores so I went with the first one I got, which was something like 74-75. I figured you had to be wise and smart to be a Mage so I maxed those stats out and just randomly put out points in the rest. I mean strength, dexterity and constitution are all for warriors anyway. And charisma, ha! That wouldn't help you kill any orcs (I was like 13 or 14 you see).

Anyway, I finished my character. Played through all of Shadows of Amn with a party that was basically made up of the first characters you meet on your journey (damn you for betraying me Yoshimo!). I had one of the best gaming experiences in my life and became a BG fan for life.

jackjack

Growing up, I was that kid who loved D&D but simply didn't have enough like-minded friends to play PnP, so instead I read sourcebooks and pretended I could someday experience what said books promised. CRPGs were the only way I could actually play. My DnD CRPG experience, by the time BG was released, included Pool of Radiance, Menzoberranzan, Al Qadim, both Ravenloft games and of course, Eye of the Beholder 1 & 2. I used to think SSI was the greatest thing to happen to my computer.
Then came Baldur's Gate.
Put simply, I was blown away. For my money, Baldur's Gate trumped all I'd played before it.
I rolled a 77 point Bard, (no kits in those days), with 16 Charisma and 8 Strength. I loved starting out at Level 1 and feeling like a truly unprepared babe in the woods. I actually enjoyed how weak I was. I loved fleeing from the terrifying prospect of facing bears and wolves in hand-to-paw combat. I relished the cries of dying Gibberlings as they fell beneath my inept blades. I loved the wide-open nature of the game. I felt like I could go anywhere, do whatever I wanted, and I appreciated the real consequences for my actions. When I met the different NPCs, I invariably loved them and typically thought of them as true companions, (okay, even then, I hated Imoen). For more than 15 years, I have, like an itinerant junkie, continued to wander the Sword Coast, in search of that first "high". And I'll probably never stop.

atcDave

Like JackJack I had played the previous AD&D CRPGs. Although I had played PNP for many years before that (I started when 1E was new, and much of my group had played the old white book D&D).

I didn't buy BG immediately when it was new, it looked like too much real time stuff which always puts me off. But a friend explained auto-pause to me, so I bought a used copy. It contained TotSC too, I didn't even know that was originally a separate box for a while! But once I started playing I was hooked immediately. Really the most completely exciting CRPG I ever played. Well, I guess Ultima, Phantasie and Gold Box games all kept me up late many nights too. But BG is the only game that's kept me up until dawn after I got married! Even though the original version was buggy and crashed constantly! Man I like EE...

Heindrich

I never played D&D, though I did enjoy Fantasy fiction and games, and played Warhammer Fantasy/40K on table-top, before the computer games became kinda mainstream.

I first noticed Baldur's Gate last June, when I first became aware of GoG, from which I bought a digital version of the Avernum saga, an epic RPG series that I loved. I noticed that in the same category, but even better rated, was Baldur's Gate 2, which was on sale at the time. So I thought "well if it's better than Avernum 3, it must be good!", and took a punt on it.

I was confused in the extreme as I rolled a sorcerer for my first character, and didn't recognise Minsc, Imoen etc, or understand why I start the game being tortured! So I came to this forum to ask the first of many noobie questions.

Following the guidance of the community here, I decided to start with BG 1 first. I got to Ch5 with BG 1 Vanilla when I realised that I messed up Imoen's thief skills, and can't go on without cheating. So I used the opportunity to reload altogether with BG EE.

It's been a bumpy road, but that Charname, who started his career running from random wolves, accidentally killing the whole party when he first used Fireball and Lightning, has since defeated Aec'Letec and Sarevok. I then imported him into BG 2 Vanilla, with which I began an LP. Now, over 200 hrs later, I have just killed Draconis, the cheesiest bastard I've had to fight thus far. With some luck, I shall complete my first full saga playthrough in the next day or two, depending on how tough the final battles will be and how many times I'm gonna need to reload, lol.

Twani

When I was a little girl, I would sit on my uncle and mom's lap as they played first edition D&D (they'd let me roll the dice for them to keep me amused, though apparently I liked to stick the dice in my mouth >.>). As I got to around seven or so, I was allowed to play with their adult friends. My characters were very simple, yet for some reason the DM took a liking to me (and probably thought it would be scary for a young child if their character died) and so they were always overpowered (I remember getting to play a cambion in a normal Planescape game, for some reason... I liked playing male characters in PNP even back then).

Fast forward to my early teens, and my uncle got Baldur's Gate for the computer. I used to sit around and watch him play computer games all the time- Heroes of Might and Magic and Civilization were the big ones I remember (maybe Railroad Tycoon?). I remember watching him playing it and thinking 'you know, I bet I could play that!'. So when he was off at work doing important adult stuff, I would rush home from school and jump to his computer (I lived with my uncle, as well as my mom ) and start playing.

I died a lot. Even though I knew the AD&D rules, I was used to playing characters that er, were blessed by the random number generator, let's just say- as well as games that were a bit more social rather then fighting. I don't remember what my first character was, but I just remember them dying horribly repeatedly and me giving up on them. I eventually confessed what I was doing to my uncle, and rather then being angry about me using his computer, he was just amused. He got me my own computer, and we played multiplayer together. Then, I survived a bit more. And a bit more. And a bit more...

And eventually, I finished the game. I bought TotSC when it came out (and shared my copy with my uncle >.>) and eagerly explored the Sword Coast. I bought BGII when it first came out, and ToB when it did (as well as the Icewind Dale games and Planescape: Torment). By the time ToB came out, my uncle I think had moved on to gameboy games (is that around the right time period? I seem to remember him playing Pokemon around then), but I was still addicted to Black Isle/Bioware RPGs.

I used to, under a different name, hang out on the Attic (the Baldur's Gate fanfiction site, as it was back then). I used to hang out on the BG1/2 forums, and once, got in to a long trolling argument with David Gaider about how Bhaal's plane should have been in Gehenna rather then the Abyss (I still to this day am horribly embarrassed about it- I acted like one of those worst trolls, all RAWR MY OPINION IS THE ONLY OPINION THAT IS RIGHT I WILL NOT LISTEN TO A WORD YOU SAY AND ONLY QUOTE YOU TO DISTORT YOUR OPINIONS RAWRGHHH). I tried to make a mod around fifteen different times (this time, I think I might be successful!). There have been years when I've forgotten about Baldur's Gate and moved on to- I don't know, Morrowind successfully took a year of my life and never gave it back, as did the Mass Effect series... but I always end up coming back, in the end. I mod and I play and I amuse myself horribly.

My story sort of sucks.

Belanos

I have to echo a couple of previous posts. I had played the Pool of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds and The Secret of the Silver blades games, several times in fact, as well as Eye of the Beholder 1. But they were nothing compared to Baldur's Gate 1/TotSC when I started playing it. I picked it up in a bargain bin at some store having never even heard about it before, but since it was a D&D game I decided to give it a try. I just loved that sense of immersion I got with the game, having these little characters stomping through the countryside. While the previous games were a lot of fun to play, they didn't offer the same sort of "in that world" feeling I got with Baldur's Gate. Now here I am 15 years later and I'm still enjoying the series.

element

well it was my first foray into both D&D and CRPGs Id liked games but I didn't even have access to pc at the time one day though my friend showed it to me when I went to his house and after a little playing I just thought it was awesome needless to say I visited a lot more after that years later when I had access to a computer I finaly picked up my own copy. Im perhaps not so fervent as other fans here but I find myself coming back to the series time and again its one of my go to games when I want a good old rpg to play along with a few others like vtm bloodlines

badbromance

It ended at the stairs to the FAI as well as many more afterwards... But it was awesome when I finally beat Tarnesh.

Those were the days...

Bigfish

1998. My brother bought the game and we installed it. First character was a F/M/T using Magus's portrait from Chrono Trigger. Got ambushed when transitioning from the coastway to the cross roads by about a dozen bandits and was quickly killed.

Good times.

Mitchfork

Baldur's Gate came packaged with a Win 2000 PC that my parents bought for the family. Lots of good memories of it.

I had some friends (twins) that played the game too, but their disc 3 was scratched so bad the computer couldn't read it. I loaned them mine for a while just to get past that part of the game (I think the Nashkell maps were on that disc?), but I never saw it again. They actually returned me the scratched disc and claimed it was mine. I'm still kind of mad about it.

jackjack

Trusting twins is usually a path running alongside the road to ruin. Lesson learned!

avocado

My first experience with baldur's gate is still in the works
The first play through is preceded by hours and hours of study of the in game universe, even though I know experience is better than study when it comes to things like this, due to a combination of OCD and wanting the perfect first play through.

I'll eventually start a guy I don't scrap within the first hour

broonofmidori

My first character was a mage. I remember having Imoen Monty and the Xzar in my group. I got jumped by a group of hobgoblins while trying to rest. It was like 5 of them, with bows. I was like "Oh shoot, they're going to kill me in one turn."(mage only had, maybe, 6 hit points). So, a little panicked as I was... I cast... color spray!!!

To my chagrin my party was dazed!(or asleep, whatever the actual effect is). And, let's just say I didn't make it out a live. It was a fun learning experience on how to use/place certain spells, lol.

Vetril

My first character was a necromancer; I was like, 13.
I left Candlekeep and found two gibberlings that attacked me, so killed one with Larloch's lesser drain while it was still running towards me. The other got in range and killed me with one hit.
My second character was an elf thief. I picked up Montaron, Xzar, Jaheira and Khaleed and immediately entered the Nashkel mines. I was level 2. It didn't end well.

Heindrich

avocado said:

My first experience with baldur's gate is still in the works
The first play through is preceded by hours and hours of study of the in game universe, even though I know experience is better than study when it comes to things like this, due to a combination of OCD and wanting the perfect first play through.

I'll eventually start a guy I don't scrap within the first hour

@avocado

I do that... kinda.

Because although I am not a powergamer, and set myself certain challenges and restrictions, I do want to do as well as reasonably possible, even for a first playthrough. Thus I've read up on spells (usually one level above whatever my most competent mage can cast) and asked plenty of questions on this forum as I played. I've also enjoyed learning about the lore, and would read up on things like Drow, Beholders, Mindflayers, Aboleths etc... as I came across them ingame.

However... Be careful to not overdo it. I have been very careful to avoid spoilers, there are threads that I participated in, and then totally avoided, encase spoilers came up in subsequent related discussions. A huge part of the enjoyment of BG is the plot, and the many surprises it holds for the first-timer. You can never recover the innocence of a first time playthrough, so don't ruin it before you've even started. Make the most of it.

Aozgolo108

My dad originally bought Baldur's Gate for himself, but being primarily a player of turn-based RPGs he quickly lost interest because he didn't quite comprehend the real-time with pause mechanic and assumed there was no pause, at least not where you could issue commands. So I kind of inherited/claimed the game and tried it out, the first few times I too didn't take advantage of the pause feature and how I managed to get to Beregost is BEYOND even me. It wasn't too much longer I was pausing like a champ though, but being a rather young teenager at that point I didn't read very much into the story at all, and though I eventually beat the game perhaps 1 year later I couldn't recall much of the story.

Nonnahswriter

Twani said:

(maybe Railroad Tycoon?)

Now I wanna play Railroad Tycoon... Man, that game takes me back. (Maybe I'll actually learn how to play this time instead of create nonsensical choo-choo-train worlds...?)

Anyway. On-topic!

My mother got me into Baldur's Gate. As a little kid, I would wander in and out of the office and watch her play Shadows of Amn on the computer. Eventually, though, as I got older, I decided to give it a try.

I honestly can't remember most of my original adventures--two characters, a female cleric/mage and a male fighter/mage. I beat all of SoA with my male Charname, but I got stuck on my female track. I'm hoping to remake her in the EE editions, but ever since, I've always loved cleric/mages. So much spellcasting! So much fun!

We never owned the original Baldur's Gate, so when I heard that Overhaul was creating an Enhanced Edition, I pounced on it. I recreated my fighter/mage and took a swing. There was a sort of...magic to it, watching the game from the very beginning. I actually got to see and interact with Candlekeep, not see it in a dream sequence and wonder what the heck Imoen was talking about. I actually got to meet Khalid before Irenicus butchered him on the table. I got to meet the mysterious Dynheir that Minsc so desperately wished to avenge. And oh man, putting a face to the name of Sarevok, your lifelong enemy whom I'd hardly even heard of in my own dreams, and beating him into the ground... It was glorious.

CrevsDaak

Nonnahswriter said:

Twani said:

(maybe Railroad Tycoon?)

Now I wanna play Railroad Tycoon... Man, that game takes me back. (Maybe I'll actually learn how to play this time instead of create nonsensical choo-choo-train worlds...?)

Anyway. On-topic!

My mother got me into Baldur's Gate. As a little kid, I would wander in and out of the office and watch her play Shadows of Amn on the computer. Eventually, though, as I got older, I decided to give it a try.

I honestly can't remember most of my original adventures--two characters, a female cleric/mage and a male fighter/mage. I beat all of SoA with my male Charname, but I got stuck on my female track. I'm hoping to remake her in the EE editions, but ever since, I've always loved cleric/mages. So much spellcasting! So much fun!

We never owned the original Baldur's Gate, so when I heard that Overhaul was creating an Enhanced Edition, I pounced on it. I recreated my fighter/mage and took a swing. There was a sort of...magic to it, watching the game from the very beginning. I actually got to see and interact with Candlekeep, not see it in a dream sequence and wonder what the heck Imoen was talking about. I actually got to meet Khalid before Irenicus butchered him on the table. I got to meet the mysterious Dynheir that Minsc so desperately wished to avenge. And oh man, putting a face to the name of Sarevok, your lifelong enemy whom I'd hardly even heard of in my own dreams, and beating him into the ground... It was glorious.

Of all the games I played in my old iMac, the only ones where I did not kept on dying where Zoo Tycoon and Majesty.
I could hardly get out of Candlekeep, Shank and Carbos....... Did their job pretty well, and I did not knew english!

lelag200

These threads can get long and I don't know if many if anybody will read all the way to the bottom, but I did so I'll share my story.

I think my dad said the original BG was given to him while he was in Vegas at some convention. He and my mom love fantasy books and a few particular pc fantasy games (he plays Might and Magic 6: Mandate of Heaven to this very day, his favorite game) and it was free so he brought it home. It was 1999, so I was 9 and I starting playing. The earliest thing I remember was not the character creation or Candlekeep. Somehow it was the temple in Beregost. I remember sitting there listening to the sirens sing and gazing into the orb that was pulsating. I thought I had found a really special place! I don't remember much of what I did in the game, as that was almost 15 years ago.

Then came the day I was walking through target, I think I was 14 or 15 and I saw the SOA/TOB combo and thought, "how did I not hear about this a long time ago!?!" So I bought it (right before spring break) and I literally played the whole break long from sunrise to sunset every day. I remember laughing at the loading script that said something like, "Remember while your characters do not have to eat, YOU do! We do not want to lose any valuable players" It was extremely funny and relevant because I was really hungry from playing all day long without any thought of food. I eventually finished the series with my original Wizard Slayer, minimal cheese, no cheats, just a lot of reloading and experiencing the challenge that I have come to love in this game. I still love it.

stranger

I had played Pen & Paper D&D with my step-brother and step-father, so I was not new to the Forgotten Realms setting. I just liked the fact that this game was not so restricting, I could go where I wanted even if it meant I might get killed. Unlike BG2/NWN/IWD1/2 where it felt like I was on a set path. I would always lose interest in those games quite fast. BG1 however, I always come back to it, I am sure there is much of this game I have not explored.

BelgarathMTH

@lelag200, Might and Magic 6 is one of my favorite games, too, and I still play it from time to time. I'm probably of a similar age to your dad. (I'm 48.)

lelag200

@BelgarathMTH Yup, he is 52 this year and every time I see him playing it I can't believe he is still into it (not that it isn't an excellent game, but I myself can only go through 2 play-throughs before I need a few months break from it). I'd be willing to bet he has played through M&M6 200+ times, 300+ if you include the 7th, 8th, and 9th. He is so efficient now at building a party that I would call him the Grandmaster of the game.

jackjack

M&M remains that series of games I wish I'd always gotten into.

Adul

I think I was 11 or so when the BG1 was released and when I had first gotten hold of a pirated copy (for which I had since atoned for manyfold). Of course, I remember that wolves were pretty much the scariest thing in the world and I avoided them like wildfire. Also, I didn't really speak any English but I simply had to know what the game was about so I had my mom translate some of the chapter texts and dream sequences and she—being the paragon of patience that she is—complied. Heh, I think BG was a more effective language teacher than the ones my school had hired.

I also recall when BG2 was coming out I was so hyped. I was convinced that it would be the greatest thing ever, and, surprisingly, it was. The release of BG2 is still the only instance I can think of where I had an astonishingly high expectation for an upcoming game and it didn't disappoint me in the slightest.

I had a classmate who was also a Baldur's Gate fan and he came over when he heard I had acquired a copy of BG2. We installed the thing, started it up, and navigated through Irenicus' dungeon. And we would speculate wildly as to what was going on and where we were supposed to be. I remember that he was convinced we were under Candlekeep and I disagreed because it looked nothing like it.

Man, such great memories. These games were my childhood and I don't mind that at all.

abbadaba

I don't have any quaint childhood memories of BG. It was a game I heard lots about and always meant to try but as a teenager in the late 90ies I was too busy playing a text based MUD, quake 2, half life, final fantasy games, & diablo 2. I first played it sometime around 2004 didn't get that far and eventually played through the series a couple years later. Loved every minute of it.

I am 30 now with two young children and have been playing the Enhanced Editions. If you have little ones around single player games that are designed to be paused every six seconds are perfect!

Nearly 8 years later I forgot all the map layouts and where the loot was and essentially had a blind play through. I brought an elf swashbuckler through the entire series and had a blast. Now I'm working my way through BP2 with SCS installed.

ChildofBhaal599

my first game was the summer the year before the EE was announced and Mass Effect 3 was released. I was a huge Bioware fan back then from Mass Effect which made me try Dragon Age Origins and loved it too, then because I loved them both I tried Baldur's Gate. I never touched DnD before so I actually spent a lot of time on google, but by the end I felt like I knew the basics well. It wasn't until the EE that I began to understand magic though, as it is just so complex. I actually gave up on mages all the way to my first time in TOB, which was after EE released. my first attempt was interupted by ME3 is the problem, and after that I spent a months not actually playing anything. I was not in the mood to play games after that ending, but to keep me off the ending a little there was also the recently announced EE. Strange how suddenly something becomes relevant again after you let it into your life.

my game depression lasted until about the time the EE released. the extended cut opened up old wounds when it failed to satisfy me and pro longed the ordeal for me after having returned to normal in the time before. i bought the EE and gave it another try, this time making it through the saga, unlike my first attempts that ended in SOA. yes there were multiple not just the one that ended with ME3. one ended when I went to the planar sphere too early without a save to go back to. I am still not good at magic at this point either, and had no mage until Imoen returned. somehow I made it through the saga with lots of reloads, and even almost beat ascension with only Imoen as a caster (never beat the final battle) let's just say I ctrl y the battle after spending the day on it

there in TOB I learned a lot about magic as I was forced to learn it for ascension. it would have been impossible without it. my current game is going a lot better as I actually studied spells and think I have an expert level understanding of most important spells. i have ascension installed again and plan to beat the final battle this time, but not only do I have that but I have SCS and insane difficulty. things go well and I have a good feeling about this attempt. this makes me wish I actually had PnP friends, but it seems I have been born a little late for that (I am 18) so it isn't such a big thing amongst the younger people anymore. they can all have their COD and battlefield though, I will stick to my RPGs

dustbubsy

A one-disc version of BG came free with my mum's first ever PC. I think I was 10 or 11. Here's some things I remember:

-The disc had an image of a dragon/wyvern flying over Baldur's Gate. It was very cool.
- I was desperate to enter Baldur's Gate, but I could never get past the Nashkel Mines so I just sort of hung around the Bridge Area, doing the Tenya quest and weeping.
- I was convinced the final boss of the Nashkel Mines was a dragon, because of what one of the miners says, and the TSR opening movie with the dragon. Still can't believe it was a flatulent half-orc all along.
- Creating a multiplayer game of 6 identical dwarf fighters and killing everything in Candlekeep, apart from Gorion of course.
- Not exactly realizing what the "Courtesan"s in Beregost were. One of them says something about angels, so I thought they were something religious. God knows what I would've thought of the Undercellar...

Later when my dad got a PC I actually got the real game, and was able to get a lot further, but only thanks to DSimpson's GameFAQs walkthrough. I remember I actually printed it out so I could read it on holiday one time.

jackjack

dustbubsy said:

Later when my dad got a PC I actually got the real game, and was able to get a lot further, but only thanks to DSimpson's GameFAQs walkthrough. I remember I actually printed it out so I could read it on holiday one time.

That…is a lot of paper.

lelag200

@Rafner
This was a brilliant thread idea, thanks for thinking of it

Nahkriinaak

It was a dark and dreary night. I had just stumbled into my apartment after a night of drinking gasoline and snorting crushed birth control pills off the pavement, and as I collapsed in my living room, crying alone in the dark, a voice reached out from the shadows.
"It is time."
I sat up and dried my eyes, and a box hovered in through the window, illuminating the room in its glorious light.
"No tears. Only dreams now."
And as the box opened, I knew my life was saved. How could I not have seen? How could I have been so blind? Could I not see that the troubles of this world were to school my mind and prepare it to become a soul?
As my hand took hold of the mouse, and I created my CHARNAME, I knew nothing would ever be the same. Aches I didn't know I had dissipated, I grew 5 inches, and Neera spoke to me.
"You are saved."

Baldur's Gate is the second coming of Jesus, and it brought me from the brink of darkness.
Thank you Baldur's Gate.

Loub

Nahkriinaak said:

I I grew 5 inches

Just where did you grow 5 inches?