Started as Mage and ran into an issue.

featherless

I had played this game back in 1999-2000 and I am coming back to it just a couple days back so I am relearning many of the rules. I am quite familiar with dnd 3.5 but not adnd.

I had in mind to dual-class but then realized that I should not have started as a mage first. I am playing with a group of other friends and we have gotten far enough that starting over is almost not an option.

I don't want to play a pure mage. Is there some option somehow to either had a good mage/x dual class or change my mage class to something else? (perhaps tweaking the game data so that I will be a different class with same exp)

If there is no option then I will just have to deal with playing pure mage.

lunar

You can dual class into a cleric, thief or fighter. If you have at least 15 int, and 17 wis (for cleric) 17 dex (for thief) or 17 strength (for fighter) oh also you need to be a human.

But you are right, mages are generally dualled into, not from, unless you have a solid role playing theme. But a lvl 7 or 9 mage dualled into a fighter can be fun too. He will be a very capable fighter with useful magical tricks up his sleeve, he can stoneskin, mirror image, haste himself etc. But he will have very low hit points when compared to a pure fighter.

Dualling from a fighter to mage is the popular powergamer choice. You start off with fighter extra strength like the coveted 18/00, have big fighter hit points and actually benefit from 18 con, specialise or gain mastery in your weapon of choice, then dual into mage. You will still attain the highest lvl of mage (in most cases, unless you dual too late) and on top of that, have like x3 hitpoints of the regular mage, a massive strength score, and mastery with very good weapons. The regular mage will be a wimpy copy-cat when compared.

If you are playing multiplayer with friends, simply create another character and play with it, you can set its current xp to your old character's via cheat console command 'Set Current xp'

Or you can edit your savegame or character with the program EEkeeper. But changing a whole class is a bit difficult. My advice is, set your levels to zero, hit point to 1, and delete all of your weapon proficiencies. But keep your xp total. Change your class to, say, fighter with kensai kit. When you load up your game, your character will level up, becuase he still has good chunk of xp, and he will level up from zero to lvl 1 first, and then all the way to its xp value allows, gaining affromented kit and class bonuses, proficiencies, and hit points as usual.

moody_mage

You can change your character to whatever you need using EEKeeper. If you weren't comfortable with the rules enough to make the required changes using an editor if you zip and load your export character file, give an outline of what you would like then I'm sure we can fix it for you.

http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/16497/ee-keeper-updated-to-v1-0-2/p1

featherless

Thanks for the replies.

Mage/Cleric? Could be interesting, I might look into those options in a later game.

EE keeper and import options both sound like something I would want to do. As far as importing, does it matter that my character is the main character? I don't think you can remove/replace for an imported character right?

EE keeper. If I do use this, like lunar mentioned (to rethink and restate your process), I would first set level to 0, then remove proficiencies (also skills?), set desired class, then load the game? Are there any caveats I need to look out for just in case?

moody_mage

That should be all you need to do. Change level to 0, remove weapon proficiencies, there are no further skills in BG and you don't have to worry about thief abilities.

You'll likely need to change your wizard spells per day back to zero as well.

You can export > edit > import any character.

Blackraven

@featherless, I don't know what level you are, or what your Mage's stats are, but dualling into Fighter, Thief or Cleric is actually very nice because you basically get a single class non-Mage character that's able to cast spells from scrolls you would otherwise sell, and to use wands. Also, any loss of hitpoints will be generally offset by a Familiar should you be the Bhaalspawn in your multiplayer game.

I've got a game going where I dualed my lvl 3 Mage into a Fighter on RP grounds: penniless, with very limited knowledge of the arcane and with no tutor nor a safe environment to study the arcane arts further, he decided to train himself as a fighter and become a sellsword.
I haven't used lots of scrolls yet (I remember a Sleep on the Kobolds in Mulahey's lair), but I did successfully use the Wand of Paralyzation on SCS Bassilus for instance, making that battle a walk in the park. The few spells my Mage->Fighter can cast from his spellbook are mainly out-of-battle spells like Friends for store discounts, or Identify, and Knock (not yet found that scroll though).
Of course, the same advantages apply to Mage->Thief (to whom the use of scrolls and wands is like a lite version of their epic level Use Any Item Ability), and to Mage->Cleric.