No looting playthrough?

Nihilus

How feasible would it be for you to play BG:EE, BG2:EE or IWD:EE relying on only the rewards and bought items (bought with the gold you have been rewarded)? No looting chests and the like, and certainly no looting your enemies' corpses. Can it be done? Or is it too easy?

semiticgoddess

BG:EE and IWD:EE might be a problem, since so much gold is generated by loot, and magic items tend not to appear in quest rewards. You'd be very constrained in your spending patterns. Doable, I'm sure, with great planning, but it would be a pretty big limitation.

BG2:EE wouldn't be quite as rough. Chateau Irenicus would certainly be troublesome, as you'd be without items until much later, but quests later on would even it out. There are many quests with modest gold rewards that would let you buy nonmagical equipment. Quests also grant many magical items, including Ilbratha, Ardulia's Fall, Kondar, Lilarcor, the Short Sword of Backstabbing, the Purifier, and the Flail of Ages.

A lot of it depends on your party makeup. Warriors and mages would struggle a fair amount, as their best resources, weapons and scrolls, are abundant in loot but not many other places. Druids, clerics, and thieves would not suffer quite the same impact.

deltago

It is feasible as long as you allow yourself to loot plot (letters in the Nashkel mines for example, the key to unlock Jaheria's cage, etc) or even quest (the ogre's belt, perdue's short sword etc). A higher Charisma will also help generate better quest rewards to either sell or use.

PK2748

Why are you in a Dungeon or fighting a Dragon if you're not looting?

SethDavis

to teach it/them who's boss

Tuth

I remember that during one of my playthroughs of Baldur's Gate I decided that I won't take any armor from killed enemies. I just wanted to add a bit of realism, since taking off someone's armor and wearing it yourself seems a bit horrifying and I can't think of an excuse for doing so, apart from gameplay reasons.

The inspisration for this was the game Gothic, where you can't take the armor off of someone - you have to buy it, or obtain it by other means (joining to the particular group for example). It works well for that game and getting a decent armor feels like that you've achieved something.

I almost managed to finish the game like that, I remember stopping somewhere close to ending chapter 5 and going to Candlekeep. I generally enjoyed the playthrough itself. I'm thinking of playing that way again in the future. Taking no loot at all however might be an interesting challenge.

dunbar

I tried that in real life once: Go to work, get paid, buy groceries. Go back to work, get paid, pay the rent. Go back to work again, get paid, pay the bills - boring.

Yamcha

custom party of monks and sorcerers. No loot ? Who cares

With enough meta game knowledge it should be fairly easy, even with a normal party composition.

GemHound

Well, you will have to make exceptions with for example Mulahey's holy symbol.

Nihilus

Sure, vital quest items are natural exceptions. Maybe you can also "loot" items to return them to their rightful owners. The idea is to role-play a goody two shoes (a paladin is the most obvious choice) who feels living like a scavenger is beneath him/her.

jesterdesu

As chaotic good ranger I only loot dungeons and places that won't miss it (enemies I've killed etc). It feels better from an rp perspective. I wouldn't for example pick pocket or kill an npc, or raid every chest in an inn.

BillyYank

For the time period reflected by this game (late middle ages - early modern), someone who objected to taking treasure and equipment from defeated enemies would be seen as really weird.

jesterdesu

BillyYank said:

For the time period reflected by this game (late middle ages - early modern), someone who objected to taking treasure and equipment from defeated enemies would be seen as really weird.

Yup. Though the looting and murdering sprees most players go on would undoubtedly end badly irl.

PK2748

jesterdesu said:

BillyYank said:

For the time period reflected by this game (late middle ages - early modern), someone who objected to taking treasure and equipment from defeated enemies would be seen as really weird.

Yup. Though the looting and murdering sprees most players go on would undoubtedly end badly irl.

Ever hear of the Crusades?

jesterdesu

PK2748 said:

jesterdesu said:

BillyYank said:

For the time period reflected by this game (late middle ages - early modern), someone who objected to taking treasure and equipment from defeated enemies would be seen as really weird.

Yup. Though the looting and murdering sprees most players go on would undoubtedly end badly irl.

Ever hear of the Crusades?

I think that proves my point.

SethDavis

They didn't end badly at the time, did they?

semiticgoddess

Well, it didn't go badly for the winners. For a while, at least.

jesterdesu

The conflict is still going on...

jesterdesu

I take this whole idea quite far actually, probably further than most. I only generally have rangers and thieves in the party, all enter stealth whilst exploring and before area transition. I only ever kill what I have to for a quest, or what I feel needs to be removed for the greater good and I only do quests I agree with morally... Example, the basilisks... I only kill those near the mage and the mage himself, I don't commit basilisk genocide for the xp. Further example, rescuing Dyanheir, I sneak through stronghold and give her a potion of invisibility. If stealth breaks at a bad moment I use the wand of sleep and slip away.

Tuth

That's almost like a pacifist run, though. The ultimate challenge - no loot, minimal kill playthrough, sounds very interesting.

jesterdesu

Tuth said:

That's almost like a pacifist run, though. The ultimate challenge - no loot, minimal kill playthrough, sounds very interesting.</blockquote

I think its a role play run for me. I wouldn't run around looting and killing in real life (or if I somehow found myself in the forgotten realms)!

Some of the insane poverty runs do look fun though... Only monk or sorcerer need apply.

semiticgoddess

@jesterdesu: More classes can do insane solo poverty runs than just monks and sorcerers. I've done SoA with a Kensai->Druid and Conjurer->Cleric, and ToB with a Wild Mage. A Cleric/Thief should be able to handle the whole saga. Should be the same for a Fighter/Druid or Fighter/Cleric.

jesterdesu

I'm sure its possible with any character if you have enough patience. Though I only enjoy it with a monk or sorcerer as it fits their classes better in my mind and it isn't actually too difficult. That said I reckon a druid might be a fun candidate too... Especially shapeshifter.