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Black Pits Roleplay

HeindrichHeindrich Member, Moderator Posts: 2,959
in General Discussion (Spoiler Warning!)
I like to roleplay my Baldur's Gate and rationalise things as much as possible. I've run into a problem with the Black Pits... You level up awfully quickly! I mean progress in normal BG is pretty fast as well. You start as a total wet-behind-the-ears noobie who runs from wolves, to rivalling Elminster for power within a year or so.... but still it feels like an epic journey.

However in Black Pits u make the same progress in a fairly short sequence of battles...

I wonder if anyone else considered this or have come up with any good roleplaying reasoning?

Maybe I should just think less... XD

Comments

  • KidCarnivalKidCarnival Member Posts: 3,747
    Imagine you don't have a battle per day. There are other parties - for example, the tier 1 final battle. These guys have to fight their way up to be considered worthy of a spectacle, too, and will have your "main event" slot on some days - the "primus", in Roman arena terms.
    Then, Baeloth also has to find and capture beasts for you - and the other groups. Again, days - and maybe weeks - will pass. What you play is just the "interesting" part, not all the time you sit backstage and possibly watch your future opponents earn their reputation.
  • HeindrichHeindrich Member, Moderator Posts: 2,959
    @KidCarnival

    I did actually think of this rationale... but man that would be depressing wouldn't it? To justify the kinda progress you achieve, you'd need to be a slave for years! And I picked a party who all have some sort of emotional/nostalgic significance! lol

    Incidentally, does perma-death occur as normal in BP? It just occurred to me that unlike in a normal playthrough, I can't replace perma-dead characters with new NPCs...
  • KidCarnivalKidCarnival Member Posts: 3,747
    There is no perma-death. If you die in the arena, you'll be fully restored after the fight. You also don't lose gear; it will appear as a stack of loot after the battle (in BG2, I have a total blackout for BG1 at the moment, but I believe the restored character will wear it).

    If you find the prospect of years in slavery too depressing and your party might off themselves in that time... maybe think that Baeloth, a mad drow sorcerer, could go wild with Time Stop or a similar spell (or has a slave/ally who does). You would be in a zone of magical time compression or something. (Scifi: Alternative universe/dimension where time works differently. Fantasy: A wizard did it!)
  • SkaffenSkaffen Member Posts: 709
    Yep, it's pretty fast, you reach 3 mio XP by end of tier 1 which is equal to end SoA...

    How about: the mysterious figure behind the arena spectacle is using wish or similar magic behind the scenes to boost your experience and thus performance for his own purposes. Fattening up the goose and all that! First of all to profit from the spectators, betting and so on, but since it's Thay maybe some more nefarious agenda is at work as well. Maybe creating a huge public spectacle with this stellar rising band of adventurers to distract from another sinister plot going on in secret...

    Or maybe you should just think less... :)
  • MetallomanMetalloman Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 3,975
    KidCarnival said:

    (Scifi: Alternative universe/dimension where time works differently. Fantasy: A wizard did it!)

    no need of sci-fi: Forgotten Realms settings considers different dimensions (planes) and even parallel universes. ;P
  • KidCarnivalKidCarnival Member Posts: 3,747
    Metalloman said:

    KidCarnival said:

    (Scifi: Alternative universe/dimension where time works differently. Fantasy: A wizard did it!)

    no need of sci-fi: Forgotten Realms settings considers different dimensions (planes) and even parallel universes. ;P
    Scifi just uses the trope due to the lack of wizards. Why take the second best option if there are wizards? XD

    *echem* Technomages *echem*
  • golingarfgolingarf Member Posts: 157
    Well really this is a generalized problem with D&D, and the black pits just demonstrates a fairly exacerbated case of it. In a D&D game, if you meet a character who's level 6 and 41 years old and stick with him for a year, he will be level 12 and 42 years old. If you meet a level 6 elf who's 410 years old, in a year he'll be level 12 and 411 years old. There is no fixing this.

    If you care to know, in the silly part of my brain that wants to roleplay this hack-and-slash minigame, I imagine my party has amnesia, and I didn't even give them names, only nicknames - anything else would have been a little too sad, and perhaps also required a little too much effort. So I suppose you could say that they are all really epic level, but the slave rings wiped their minds, and as they fight it's gradually reminding them of their former, forgotten abilities.
  • lunarlunar Member Posts: 3,460
    golingarf said:



    If you care to know, in the silly part of my brain that wants to roleplay this hack-and-slash minigame, I imagine my party has amnesia, and I didn't even give them names, only nicknames - anything else would have been a little too sad, and perhaps also required a little too much effort. So I suppose you could say that they are all really epic level, but the slave rings wiped their minds, and as they fight it's gradually reminding them of their former, forgotten abilities.

    I like this idea a lot. Makes sense to me. Thank you!

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