Evil party conundruum
the_spyder
Member Posts: 5,018
Ok, so yet another "Evil" run for me. I think I know the answer to this one but am looking for some out of the box thinking. It is always possible (likely??) that I missed something.
My Charname is a human necromancer. He is currently traveling around with Dorn, Viconia, Shar Teel (now a thief), Kagain and Edwin. Of these, Dorn, Viconia and Shar Teel are required and I won't remove them from my group. These are my favorites and I can't do without any of them for an 'Evil' party.
My normal mode of operation is a six man team and I prefer not to split up duets. Also, with my reputation plummeting and that not likely to change, I'd kind of prefer to stick with like minded (evil) party members.
However, Charname does NOT want another arcane caster in the group, or at least not another wizard/sorcerer. So Edwin HAS to go. Nor do I want to pick up Baeloth. I don't personally dislike either of these characters, in fact quite to the contrary. However from a role playing perspective, Charname will not brook a second (potentially more powerful) wizard/sorcerer in the group. And from a game play perspective, I simply won't gimp a NPC simply to make that happen.
I've never actually played with Eldoth so that is a possibility, but don't particularly want Skie and she is hardly an appropriate replacement for Kagain in any event.
That really only leaves Tiax.
I am a BIG Tiax fan and I personally have very little to say bad about him (though I might be in the minority), but I am still on the fence with THAT party. Shar Teel is coming along nicely as party thief and I really don't need another. Viconia is focusing primarily on offensive magic, so I suppose I could use a second cleric, but it certainly isn't necessary.
I suppose I could pick up Xzar and Monty and merely convert Xzar to cleric. That might work as then Monty could replace Kagain and I'd simply go more stealthy?
I also suppose that I could merely go a 5 man team, but that just seems wrong to me.
So, have I missed anything? Any other suggestions than what is listed above? And of the list above, what do people recommend?
My Charname is a human necromancer. He is currently traveling around with Dorn, Viconia, Shar Teel (now a thief), Kagain and Edwin. Of these, Dorn, Viconia and Shar Teel are required and I won't remove them from my group. These are my favorites and I can't do without any of them for an 'Evil' party.
My normal mode of operation is a six man team and I prefer not to split up duets. Also, with my reputation plummeting and that not likely to change, I'd kind of prefer to stick with like minded (evil) party members.
However, Charname does NOT want another arcane caster in the group, or at least not another wizard/sorcerer. So Edwin HAS to go. Nor do I want to pick up Baeloth. I don't personally dislike either of these characters, in fact quite to the contrary. However from a role playing perspective, Charname will not brook a second (potentially more powerful) wizard/sorcerer in the group. And from a game play perspective, I simply won't gimp a NPC simply to make that happen.
I've never actually played with Eldoth so that is a possibility, but don't particularly want Skie and she is hardly an appropriate replacement for Kagain in any event.
That really only leaves Tiax.
I am a BIG Tiax fan and I personally have very little to say bad about him (though I might be in the minority), but I am still on the fence with THAT party. Shar Teel is coming along nicely as party thief and I really don't need another. Viconia is focusing primarily on offensive magic, so I suppose I could use a second cleric, but it certainly isn't necessary.
I suppose I could pick up Xzar and Monty and merely convert Xzar to cleric. That might work as then Monty could replace Kagain and I'd simply go more stealthy?
I also suppose that I could merely go a 5 man team, but that just seems wrong to me.
So, have I missed anything? Any other suggestions than what is listed above? And of the list above, what do people recommend?
3
Comments
"Life is glorious"
And he wouldn't fit into my party anyway, primarily because everyone else in the group is competent.
And who says that I would tolerate his ahem..... methods?
Have you considered using Safana? sure she is "only" CN, but come on, from RP pov, she is the closest you can get to being evil (just think of poor Coran in BG2...). also she is pretty good NPC to have around, and since you`re missing some sort of secondry mage, you can dual her to on upon entring the city (you`ll need to get a certin tome for her 16 Int), or, if you dont mind using EEkeeper, you can do it right away. she wont be as strong as your PC, but she will really fit in to your group.
All of that said, Tiax is still a very useful party member. Sanctuary lets him effectively search for and disable traps while "invisible" (enemies wont attack him.) And if you give him a strength spell or a strength boosting item, call upon righteous might, and the staff of striking he will deal absurd amounts of damage with a backstab.
I know you only want evil character but you might consider Faldorn aswell. She'd make a good addition to that group and is effectively an evil character. The only thing keeping her from evil is the druid alignment restrictions that were partially done away with in later editions. In anything after 2nd edition she'd definitely be Neutral Evil.
@namelesstwo I will have to give Safana some thought. She might be useful as a bridge until I can get to Tiax or someone else I guess. I didn't necessarily want two dedicated thieves, but then again???
@GoodSteve - I did not know that about Eldoth. So that is definitely something to consider. I had hoped to experiment with a bard and Garrick is right out, so I thought Eldoth. But if it is going to create party strife, maybe not.
Faldorn is another that I gave thought too. In fact, I had always thought she WAS evil. it was because of her alignment that I recently discounted her. Will she leave if rep hits 1 like other neutrals? My rep is already at 5 or so and so just about any hit will cause that to be a problem.
It might be worth it to grab Safana now (I am in Nashkal) and have her hang until Cloakwood where I can pick up Faldorn. If she works out? Great. If not, then Tiax isn't that far away I guess.
In any event, what I have been doing over the weekend is playing with a 5 man band and occasionally picking up strags like Neera just to do their story line. I didn't get as far as I would like this weekend, but it seems to be working OK.
If you really want her early, level 3 is doable as there are multiple ways to deal with the enemies during her quest.
Here it has been Imoen, Kagain, Garrick, Branwen, Neera and me into Nashkel Mines, then converted Imoen into a Mage to replace her with Safana on day 24.
But it's all good. Loads of ways to play the game and have fun.
@the_spyder Unless you avoid the NW area of BG (the Silvershield estate), you'll have to do Eldoth's quest and bring Skie along. Of course, you could always leave her in a building and remove her from the party.
I think Faldorn would be a good choice. She's basically an evil biatch anyway, and is a non-arcane caster.
You could also get Branwen, but I normally got a more good than evil vibe from her.
The other option is to pick up Garrick and just pretend he's too stupid to notice how evil everyone around him is. Hey... it worked for Silke, right?
I just played BG:EE using a mod that relocates Tiax's starting location to Beregost, and the guy is a beast! Not only can he satisfy a party's thieving needs (assuming that you install the mod that allows you to get him early and distribute thief skills as you prefer), but he's also a competent cleric (although he's probably more useful as a backup cleric, since he has low wisdom and levels up slowly as a multi-class), has some decent stats (16 dext and con), and can summon a ghast to fight alongside you once per day. A ghast can be a very useful ally - they're sturdy, can freeze opponents when they hit, and immune to poison and gaze attacks, which makes them ideal for tanking spiders and bassilisks. Plus, the guy's personality is a hoot! (I've also read that Shar-Teel actually shows him some admiration, which she certainly doesn't do for any other male character)
Out of all the options that have been proposed, I would recommend taking Tiax - even if you don't necessarily need the extra thieving ability, the guy can still come in handy.
Tiax, you 'lil monkey-spanker. I guess women really do go for the bad boys, lol.
Although, I have to say that Tiax is not the only male character Shar-Teel likes
Minsc: Boo does not like you... away with you.
Shar'Teel: Hahahaha... you're so funny for a man... thats why I'm gonna kill you last.
Dex 15
Con 11
Int 10
Wis 16
Cha 15
She also can summon a Dread Wolf once a day, and since she's not multiclass can reach a higher level as druid than Jaheira, giving her access to Insect Plague.
Minsc isn't the one she likes.
Boo is the only one who could warm her icy heart ❤
I tried so hard, my dear, to show that you're my every dream
Yet you're afraid each thing I do is just some evil scheme
A memory from your lonesome past keeps us so far apart
Why can't I free your doubtful mind and melt your cold, cold heart?