I'm kinda the opposite. Because I roleplay more than powergame (in singleplayer games anyway), I tend to create a character I like, and then stick with it. I also don't normally replay singleplayer games, but BG is good enough to break that norm. I love arcane magic, so my next playthrough is gonna be even more arcane heavy. lol
That said, Kensai is gonna feel very different to Fighter/Mage in BG 1.
Also, who was your BG1 party? If you went with the canon party, I would actually recommend trying out some other good characters (and two neutral) Ajantis (especially if you are a paladin... I'd keeper him into a different kit) Coran (best archer, fun voice set) Xan (will make you expand your magic repertoire, and is really funny) Branwen (badass cleric!) Yeslick (no-nonsense dwarf fighter/cleric with a funny voice. good mentor-figure) Kivan (grrrrrrr. Miserable Dirty Harry Archer out for revenge) Alora (super-fun halfling thief) Garrick (foppish incompetent bard)
I started a "Vengeance!!!!!!!!!" with the BG1 NPC Project mod installed where all the characters are the ones you find in the main plot or the ones looking for revenge on The Iron Throne: Charname (you killed my father... prepare to die) Imoen (you killed my buddy's father... prepare to die) Branwen (Tranzig turned her to stone, she's gonna mess him up) Kivan (Tazok killed his wife, now time to destroy him) Yeslick (imprisoned by Rieltar) Xan (imprisoned by Muhaley)
They all have a bone to pick, so I think it would be fun to mess up Sarevok and his lackeys with this party.
I forgot to mention, I am currently playing a multiplayer game with fellow forumites as a sorcerer, which of course is very different to F/M or Kensai/Mage. But I can't help it, I love my arcane casters! lol
As for paladins... I've played paladin-type characters in the past in other games... But BG Paladins seem to be very much 'holy warriors' dedicated to particular deities, and I have a problem roleplaying 'religious extremists' :P
Don't get me wrong, I loved Keldorn, Anomen and Aerie, who all demonstrate great religious fervour. And I guess 'religious extremism' isn't so extreme when the gods are so clearly real! So maybe I'll wrap my head around it one day... But there are occasions where worrying about appeasing a deity complicates roleplay.
Also, who was your BG1 party? If you went with the canon party, I would actually recommend trying out some other good characters (and two neutral) Ajantis (especially if you are a paladin... I'd keeper him into a different kit) Coran (best archer, fun voice set) Xan (will make you expand your magic repertoire, and is really funny) Branwen (badass cleric!) Yeslick (no-nonsense dwarf fighter/cleric with a funny voice. good mentor-figure) Kivan (grrrrrrr. Miserable Dirty Harry Archer out for revenge) Alora (super-fun halfling thief) Garrick (foppish incompetent bard)
I started a "Vengeance!!!!!!!!!" with the BG1 NPC Project mod installed where all the characters are the ones you find in the main plot or the ones looking for revenge on The Iron Throne: Charname (you killed my father... prepare to die) Imoen (you killed my buddy's father... prepare to die) Branwen (Tranzig turned her to stone, she's gonna mess him up) Kivan (Tazok killed his wife, now time to destroy him) Yeslick (imprisoned by Rieltar) Xan (imprisoned by Muhaley)
They all have a bone to pick, so I think it would be fun to mess up Sarevok and his lackeys with this party.
I did indeed use the canon party in BG 1. I had Xzar and Montaron briefly (safety in numbers!), but they got killed pretty shortly after by Jaheira and Khalid the first time I visited Beregost. I also picked up Neera and Kivan briefly before replacing them with Minsc and Dyanheir.
Abandoning Neera made me feel pretty bad "I thought we were friends?!" and Kivan was a badass in the short period that I had him, so I want to have both of them for the next playthrough.
I am also tempted by Rassad, since I'll never use Dorn and Hexxat, I'd like to use Neera and Dorn to experience as much as the EE content as I can. However, since Jin is already kinda useless in BG 1 as a Kensai, I figured it'd probably be a bad idea to drag along another useless character (Rassad) for BG 1. So Rassad will have to wait for the future.
I should mention that I didn't play with any concrete no-reload rules for BG 1 in my first playthrough, so I reloaded for permadeaths. Next playthrough I will probably only safeguard Imoen in BG 1 (cos she's central to BG 2), so my exact party composition will depend on if I can keep everyone alive. lol
I also haven't worked out if it's possible yet, but I may try to implement my 'rotation policy' that I established in my BG 2 LP in my next playthrough... That would allow me to use Yeslick and Ajantis for a while, which are the other 2 BG 1 NPCs I regretted not using the first time around.
btw, pretty much everyone worships a god on Faerun. Paladins fight for the ideals of a couple gods. People like to say they are NOT knights, but there are many similarities. You don't really have to be a religious extremist. You just need to HATE EVIL, lol.
okay, cuz I watched some of your LP and I liked it. It didn't seem like you had played the entire series before, which was fun.
I'd actually recommend you play a different character than an arcane user, but if you enjoy it, why not? I just hope you don't get bored! The dual class will probably be more of a pure caster than a mage with buffs though, so that will be cool!
Do you dual class Imoen in BGEE? In my last game I made her a multi illusionist/thief with eekeeper Good stuff, made her interesting. Never really played with many thieves before hand
I forgot to mention, I am currently playing a multiplayer game with fellow forumites as a sorcerer, which of course is very different to F/M or Kensai/Mage. But I can't help it, I love my arcane casters! lol
As for paladins... I've played paladin-type characters in the past in other games... But BG Paladins seem to be very much 'holy warriors' dedicated to particular deities, and I have a problem roleplaying 'religious extremists' :P
Don't get me wrong, I loved Keldorn, Anomen and Aerie, who all demonstrate great religious fervour. And I guess 'religious extremism' isn't so extreme when the gods are so clearly real! So maybe I'll wrap my head around it one day... But there are occasions where worrying about appeasing a deity complicates roleplay.
Don't know if I'd call Aerie an extremist; I mean she never tries to convert anyone and she's always more interested in what other people believe. I think she describes her own beliefs as being a hodge-podge of elf, gnome and human. Of course, obviously she chooses a deity whose ethics are broadly in line with her own anyway, and I don't think she's an actual member of any church or organization so there are fewer demands on her than there are for some other priests or paladins. But I think in general so long as you say your prayers and don't do anything that goes completely against a gods creed you're alright.
okay, cuz I watched some of your LP and I liked it. It didn't seem like you had played the entire series before, which was fun.
Do you dual class Imoen in BGEE? In my last game I made her a multi illusionist/thief with eekeeper Good stuff, made her interesting. Never really played with many thieves before hand
I didn't consider myself a total noob though, cos I did complete BG EE in a fairly completionist manner, and thus understood the core mechanics of the game, like how to scribe scrolls, rest, reputation, THAC0, AC etc... I had already got past the most noobie stage through BG 1, though, clearly, I had a LOT more to learn at the beginning of my LP. Hence why the random deaths like against the first Yuan-ti Mage I came across, and the Drow pit gladiator duel in Ust Natha.
I didn't dual-class Imoen, it seemed easier to keep her as a pure thief for my first playthrough, and RP-wise, I am not sure if it's necessary. If u ignore technicalities like Thief levels, you can imagine that Imoen picked up her mage skills in the months between the defeat of Sarevok and the abduction by Irenicus. You can also imagine that Imoen's powers developed as a result of Irenicus' tortures.
Don't know if I'd call Aerie an extremist; I mean she never tries to convert anyone and she's always more interested in what other people believe. I think she describes her own beliefs as being a hodge-podge of elf, gnome and human. Of course, she follows a deity whose ethics are broadly in line with her own anyway, and I don't think she's an actual member of any church or organization so there are fewer demands on her than there are for some other priests or paladins.
@Coutelier I suppose you're right, I only grouped Aerie with Anomen and Keldorn because she mentions religion in a few banters, and her battlecry of "In Baervan's name, it shall be done." I guess praying before a battle, or asking for divine intervention, is totally normal in a world where divine assistance is pretty commonplace. lol
Actually I don't recall any religious extremism by any NPCs, in terms of forceful attempt at conversion. The only case I can recall in the entire game is when a religious discussion in the Ust Natha tavern quickly escalated violently as the followers of Lolth slaughtered a Drow who followed a god the name of which I cannot remember.
Don't know if I'd call Aerie an extremist; I mean she never tries to convert anyone and she's always more interested in what other people believe. I think she describes her own beliefs as being a hodge-podge of elf, gnome and human. Of course, she follows a deity whose ethics are broadly in line with her own anyway, and I don't think she's an actual member of any church or organization so there are fewer demands on her than there are for some other priests or paladins.
@Coutelier I suppose you're right, I only grouped Aerie with Anomen and Keldorn because she mentions religion in a few banters, and her battlecry of "In Baervan's name, it shall be done." I guess praying before a battle, or asking for divine intervention, is totally normal in a world where divine assistance is pretty commonplace. lol
Baervar is obviously very important to her; he and Chiktikka Fastpaws helped her through some pretty tough times after all. I guess she's some sort of chosen... I don't know what the actual word they use is. She's been granted priestly powers without actually being part of any clergy (actual priests of Baervar have to wear brown with green caps; Baervar obviously decided with all she's been through, she didn't have to suffer that humiliation). A little bit Joan of Arc, I suppose, and those kind of saintly figures. But overall Aerie seems quite liberal in most cases.
Actually I don't recall any religious extremism by any NPCs, in terms of forceful attempt at conversion. The only case I can recall in the entire game is when a religious discussion in the Ust Natha tavern quickly escalated violently as the followers of Lolth slaughtered a Drow who followed a god the name of which I cannot remember.
Drow on other other hand, at least those who follow Lloth, are very far on the right. Some gods are more laid back than others I suppose, and Lloth definitely needs to switch to decaf.
@Heindrich1988, congratulations! I thoroughly enjoyed reading your summary of your adventures in this thread, and I have very much enjoyed all the videos I've watched.
What a grand feeling it is to "live through" the epic trilogy adventure of Baldur's Gate from start to finish! I've found that it can be just as much fun to read other people's stories as it is to play through it myself.
now I want to do a blind run through the whole thing. I don't know ToB or BG1 that well, so I'm just gonna wing it. I'm so jealous of you Heindrich, I wish I could experience SoA for the first time again
I think I'm going to install a million mods to add content that I've never seen before. Just gotta find the right ones. If you want to try something different, but only use minimal mods, then I highly recommend Rogue Rebalancing. You can install just that and it will add some cool stuff without making the game unrecognizable. Good if you want to play some kind of thief or bard character.
Jin is gonna stick with Aerie. Using my old BG EE save, I picked up Neera and again rested until Neera's questline triggered and played through her BG EE content. I think I can roleplay Jin having a crush on her, but their personalities (and alignments) are way too different for it to develop in a sustainable way. Neera really is Chaotic, and not just cos of her wild surges, and Jin's main attribute is arguably Lawful. lol
Anyway the concept with my Youtube channel always was to showcase different adventures of Jin, much like Tord's Lilly Black channel. Thus although Jin's abilities and profession may change inbetween different games, his personality will remain relatively constant. So as long as I am roleplaying 'Sima Jin', he will always pick Aerie, who easily suits him the best.
I'd be interested to see how Neera's romance develops in BG 2EE, but I'll probably do that with a totally different character. Maybe that Takeo I mentioned before.
Comments
I'm kinda the opposite. Because I roleplay more than powergame (in singleplayer games anyway), I tend to create a character I like, and then stick with it. I also don't normally replay singleplayer games, but BG is good enough to break that norm. I love arcane magic, so my next playthrough is gonna be even more arcane heavy. lol
That said, Kensai is gonna feel very different to Fighter/Mage in BG 1.
Also Heindrich, I think you would also really like a paladin. The kits are all amazingly flavorful and great fun.
Ajantis (especially if you are a paladin... I'd keeper him into a different kit)
Coran (best archer, fun voice set)
Xan (will make you expand your magic repertoire, and is really funny)
Branwen (badass cleric!)
Yeslick (no-nonsense dwarf fighter/cleric with a funny voice. good mentor-figure)
Kivan (grrrrrrr. Miserable Dirty Harry Archer out for revenge)
Alora (super-fun halfling thief)
Garrick (foppish incompetent bard)
I started a "Vengeance!!!!!!!!!" with the BG1 NPC Project mod installed where all the characters are the ones you find in the main plot or the ones looking for revenge on The Iron Throne:
Charname (you killed my father... prepare to die)
Imoen (you killed my buddy's father... prepare to die)
Branwen (Tranzig turned her to stone, she's gonna mess him up)
Kivan (Tazok killed his wife, now time to destroy him)
Yeslick (imprisoned by Rieltar)
Xan (imprisoned by Muhaley)
They all have a bone to pick, so I think it would be fun to mess up Sarevok and his lackeys with this party.
I forgot to mention, I am currently playing a multiplayer game with fellow forumites as a sorcerer, which of course is very different to F/M or Kensai/Mage. But I can't help it, I love my arcane casters! lol
As for paladins... I've played paladin-type characters in the past in other games... But BG Paladins seem to be very much 'holy warriors' dedicated to particular deities, and I have a problem roleplaying 'religious extremists' :P
Don't get me wrong, I loved Keldorn, Anomen and Aerie, who all demonstrate great religious fervour. And I guess 'religious extremism' isn't so extreme when the gods are so clearly real! So maybe I'll wrap my head around it one day... But there are occasions where worrying about appeasing a deity complicates roleplay.
I did indeed use the canon party in BG 1. I had Xzar and Montaron briefly (safety in numbers!), but they got killed pretty shortly after by Jaheira and Khalid the first time I visited Beregost. I also picked up Neera and Kivan briefly before replacing them with Minsc and Dyanheir.
Abandoning Neera made me feel pretty bad "I thought we were friends?!" and Kivan was a badass in the short period that I had him, so I want to have both of them for the next playthrough.
I am also tempted by Rassad, since I'll never use Dorn and Hexxat, I'd like to use Neera and Dorn to experience as much as the EE content as I can. However, since Jin is already kinda useless in BG 1 as a Kensai, I figured it'd probably be a bad idea to drag along another useless character (Rassad) for BG 1. So Rassad will have to wait for the future.
I should mention that I didn't play with any concrete no-reload rules for BG 1 in my first playthrough, so I reloaded for permadeaths. Next playthrough I will probably only safeguard Imoen in BG 1 (cos she's central to BG 2), so my exact party composition will depend on if I can keep everyone alive. lol
I also haven't worked out if it's possible yet, but I may try to implement my 'rotation policy' that I established in my BG 2 LP in my next playthrough... That would allow me to use Yeslick and Ajantis for a while, which are the other 2 BG 1 NPCs I regretted not using the first time around.
btw, pretty much everyone worships a god on Faerun. Paladins fight for the ideals of a couple gods. People like to say they are NOT knights, but there are many similarities. You don't really have to be a religious extremist. You just need to HATE EVIL, lol.
@booinyoureyes
No... I started with BG 1 Vanilla, gave up in chapter 5 cos I messed up quite a lot of stuff, and started again from the beginning with BG EE.
I then imported Jin's BG EE endgame save into BG 2 Vanilla (BG 2 EE wasn't released yet) to begin my BG 2 playthrough and LP.
I'd actually recommend you play a different character than an arcane user, but if you enjoy it, why not? I just hope you don't get bored! The dual class will probably be more of a pure caster than a mage with buffs though, so that will be cool!
Do you dual class Imoen in BGEE? In my last game I made her a multi illusionist/thief with eekeeper
Of course, that's why it's a 'blind' playthrough
I didn't consider myself a total noob though, cos I did complete BG EE in a fairly completionist manner, and thus understood the core mechanics of the game, like how to scribe scrolls, rest, reputation, THAC0, AC etc... I had already got past the most noobie stage through BG 1, though, clearly, I had a LOT more to learn at the beginning of my LP. Hence why the random deaths like against the first Yuan-ti Mage I came across, and the Drow pit gladiator duel in Ust Natha.
I didn't dual-class Imoen, it seemed easier to keep her as a pure thief for my first playthrough, and RP-wise, I am not sure if it's necessary. If u ignore technicalities like Thief levels, you can imagine that Imoen picked up her mage skills in the months between the defeat of Sarevok and the abduction by Irenicus. You can also imagine that Imoen's powers developed as a result of Irenicus' tortures.
I suppose you're right, I only grouped Aerie with Anomen and Keldorn because she mentions religion in a few banters, and her battlecry of "In Baervan's name, it shall be done." I guess praying before a battle, or asking for divine intervention, is totally normal in a world where divine assistance is pretty commonplace. lol
Actually I don't recall any religious extremism by any NPCs, in terms of forceful attempt at conversion. The only case I can recall in the entire game is when a religious discussion in the Ust Natha tavern quickly escalated violently as the followers of Lolth slaughtered a Drow who followed a god the name of which I cannot remember.
What a grand feeling it is to "live through" the epic trilogy adventure of Baldur's Gate from start to finish! I've found that it can be just as much fun to read other people's stories as it is to play through it myself.
I'm glad u enjoyed it
I think I'm going to install a million mods to add content that I've never seen before. Just gotta find the right ones. If you want to try something different, but only use minimal mods, then I highly recommend Rogue Rebalancing. You can install just that and it will add some cool stuff without making the game unrecognizable. Good if you want to play some kind of thief or bard character.
Viconia actually kinda fits many good parties, so I hear.
Jin is gonna stick with Aerie. Using my old BG EE save, I picked up Neera and again rested until Neera's questline triggered and played through her BG EE content. I think I can roleplay Jin having a crush on her, but their personalities (and alignments) are way too different for it to develop in a sustainable way. Neera really is Chaotic, and not just cos of her wild surges, and Jin's main attribute is arguably Lawful. lol
Anyway the concept with my Youtube channel always was to showcase different adventures of Jin, much like Tord's Lilly Black channel. Thus although Jin's abilities and profession may change inbetween different games, his personality will remain relatively constant. So as long as I am roleplaying 'Sima Jin', he will always pick Aerie, who easily suits him the best.
I'd be interested to see how Neera's romance develops in BG 2EE, but I'll probably do that with a totally different character. Maybe that Takeo I mentioned before.