Non-archetype builds

abacus

So, I'd guess that anyone who has completed a few runs has experimented with most of the conventional builds: Elven archer... full-plated dwarf with axe/hammer... Half-Orc barbarian... Gnome illusionist-multi... Halfling thief... And so on.

Has anyone ever played around with outside-the-box builds though?
Or have any fun ideas for same?

A few starters from me:

A gnomish fighter with a Balduran fetish (wearing helm, plate, sword & shield of same).

A dwarf who grew up wishing he was an elf - elven chain, elven court bow, cloak of elvenkind...

A studious half-orc cleric with feeble combat stats.

*Obviously this is intended to be a role-play heavy discussion.*

Silverstar

I once tried playing an orange-haired Dwarf Berserker dual wielding axes and wearing no armour, basically a Slayer from the Warhammer universe. I'm not sure whether or not I can say it went well; I died very often but since Slayers are supposed to die in glorious battle, I kinda achieved the goal. Anyway, it got annoying and I never finished the playthrough. After getting incinerated by a red dragon I figured it was mission complete and let him stay dead.

Kamigoroshi

For my next playthrough, I'm planning to play as an illiterate sorcerer who possesses an Intelligence score of 8... or even less than that. Naturally, being illiterate means that he won't be able to use scrolls and wands. And on top of that I'm also prohibit him of using either the stat tomes or the mad machine.

Of course, I'd have to EE Keeper that one to make it work. But man, I'm really into this whole idea. >:D

abacus

Silverstar said:

I once tried playing an orange-haired Dwarf Berserker dual wielding axes and wearing no armour, basically a Slayer from the Warhammer universe. I'm not sure whether or not I can say it went well; I died very often but since Slayers are supposed to die in glorious battle, I kinda achieved the goal. Anyway, it got annoying and I never finished the playthrough. After getting incinerated by a red dragon I figured it was mission complete and let him stay dead.

Please tell me you called him Gotrek!

Silverstar

abacus said:

Silverstar said:

I once tried playing an orange-haired Dwarf Berserker dual wielding axes and wearing no armour, basically a Slayer from the Warhammer universe. I'm not sure whether or not I can say it went well; I died very often but since Slayers are supposed to die in glorious battle, I kinda achieved the goal. Anyway, it got annoying and I never finished the playthrough. After getting incinerated by a red dragon I figured it was mission complete and let him stay dead.

Please tell me you called him Gotrek!

Heh, nah. I've never seen the appeal in playing someone else's character, especially when they hold very centric positions in their IP. I wouldn't want to play Anakin in a Star Wars rpg either. Plus I'd have to drag along that whiney Felix fellow.

ReadingRambo

I made a cleric ranger dwarf with ee keeper. He was based on a Warcraft dwarf shaman. I had always wanted a dwarf shaman back when I played WoW, but quit a bit before they were introduced. So I got to play one in BG without having to pay a subscription or put in the long hours of a MMO.

Metalloman

I'm wondering how bad that gnome fighter will feel when he'll realize that in Amn he will never have the cloak to complete the set... would you roleplay that sadness?

abacus

Yeah, I suppose Keeper would have to feature quite heavily here... (It might even let me acquire a certain cloak)... The racial restrictions make it tricky to get a halfling necromancer.

deltago

A sorcerer who specializes in hand to hand combat (spells like shocking grasp, tensers and the like) made easier with dragon discipline.

I am currently doing a playthrough with a Undead hunter called Lady Balduran, who like your Gnome is going to be decked out with all the Balduran items.

Swashingbuckling priest of umberlee (or Tymora if good) is always fun.

Archer/cleric with slings.

Metalloman

@abacus: well, as you've said that these kind of CHARNAME are intended mosty for a roleplay reason, other than the challenge itself, so I could agree about using EEKeeper for class creation and tuning, but for the rest I think that the specifically created CHARNAME should face every single difficulty and limit of that run, even the lack of the cloak, in a roleplay manner.
Imagine an enthusiast and fanatic gnome that suddenly becomes sad after the definitive realization: even becoming the new Lord of Murder will not fade that sad feeling... he will forever be the gnomish sad lord of murder. T^T

abacus

@Metalloman - maybe create a basic cloak (no enchantment or maybe a mild curse), and rename it Cloak of Balduran... In game description says it's basically a rag with BALDURAN scrawled on it in chalk...

CrevsDaak

Lol, this reminds me of a PC that used the best stuff in the game no matter what, so powergamerish...
But my last female PC, Valhalla (a (Fallen) Valkyrie) was planned as a F/M/C to use the Wings helmet and an armor and a sword, nothing more, just that very good and few stuff, but I didn't re roll her stats much so I decided to make her a fighter. I'll play with her as a Fallen Valkyrie in the beta 1.2.2031 with her as a F/M/C with CRTL+8.

Corvino

How about a cripplingly shy bard, trying out adventuring to meet people?

FinneousPJ

Pretty much all my CHARNAMEs fit this.

Metalloman

This reminds me of a certain Kobold bard...

KidCarnival

My bard is the archetype "jack of all trades, master of none", but focussed on the second half. He obsesses over everything someone else can do better and rages with envy.

Metalloman

Now the term "ragequit" becomes "ragebard" XD

booinyoureyes

Halfling Berserker FTW!!!

I have a fondness for dwarven rogues, and made one in IWD2

Also when it comes to weapons and reces, I have Mazzy wielding Carsomyr in one of my games (keepered her to Undead Hunter). I think its fun to see the tiny races use huge weapons I'll give her a Halberd my next playthrough

Silverstar

booinyoureyes said:

I think its fun to see the tiny races use huge weapons I'll give her a Halberd my next playthrough

One of the many lovely things about Vanguard is how the weapons do not scale to the races. I have a halfling with a composite longbow there that is like 1,5 times the size of the character, dual wielding longswords that looks like two-handed swords in relation to the halfling. Oh how I'll miss that game.

Wanderon

booinyoureyes said:

Halfling Berserker FTW!!!

I have a fondness for dwarven rogues, and made one in IWD2

Also when it comes to weapons and reces, I have Mazzy wielding Carsomyr in one of my games (keepered her to Undead Hunter). I think its fun to see the tiny races use huge weapons I'll give her a Halberd my next playthrough

I have a Halfling Beserker - Stubby Shinslicer currently in Chap 2 BG2 - just recently became Lord of the Keep dual weilding Long & short swords and he is kicking knees all over Amn!

Arizael

I am gonna roll(read keeper) half-orc cavalier with low INT and WIS scores, but high CHA. Trying to do good, but effectively just running around making mess and surviving thanks to sheer luck ;-)

abacus

Arizael said:

I am gonna roll(read keeper) half-orc cavalier with low INT and WIS scores, but high CHA. Trying to do good, but effectively just running around making mess and surviving thanks to sheer luck ;-)

Like Don Quixote with an underbite!

KidCarnival

Metalloman said:

Now the term "ragequit" becomes "ragebard" XD

Oh, my jester doesn't quit. He waits for his stronger allies to finish the task (battle, burglary, whatever), then kills them and all witnesses and brags how he alone saved the day. Blaming the death of his allies on their stupidity to stand in his way when doing whatever heroic thing he did - in the heat of the battle, he can't babysit a bunch of helpless peasants; he casts COMETS on EVERYTHING. For example in the bandit camp. And, of course, blaming the death of innocent bystanders on the villain he just defeated. That mage drowned all the slaves, the jester avenged them. That slaver fireballed the children, the jester avenged them.

jackjack

I'll take a moment to promote a wonderful decision by @Hexxactly
He is playing a drunken Jester, and went so far as to try and modify his character to have a permanent intoxication effect. When that didn't work, @AstroBryGuy gave him an enchanted bottle of booze as a mod. I've since stolen the idea and downloaded the item myself.

Nonnahswriter

I ran an elf barbarian once in the Black Pits... She was the antithesis of the "carefree-perfect" elf. Hell, the half-orc cleric of Lathander had more smarts than her. Speaking of which, that cleric had the worst combat rolls ever and I picked a portrait specifically for a young, innocent-looking boy. The only thing that made him half-orc were the horns... Probably would've made a better tiefling. But hey.

KidCarnival

jackjack said:

I'll take a moment to promote a wonderful decision by @Hexxactly
He is playing a drunken Jester, and went so far as to try and modify his character to have a permanent intoxication effect. When that didn't work, @AstroBryGuy gave him an enchanted bottle of booze as a mod. I've since stolen the idea and downloaded the item myself.

@jackjack: Link please! I need this to make Gannicus for my Spartacus Black Pits run.

jackjack

@KidCarnival
This should take you directly to the proper post. If not, it is about halfway down on page 19.
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/comment/450510/#Comment_450510
Look for BOOZE.ITM in the post by @AstroBryGuy.
Edit: the link would probably be useful, eh?

KidCarnival

@jackjack: Thanks! Might not work quite as well as I thought though; Gannicus is ridicolously lucky when drunk, this item would decrease luck... Hm, might have to ask for a modified version once I get around to that run.