Skip to content

Biographies

GenderNihilismGirdleGenderNihilismGirdle Member Posts: 1,353
edited April 2016 in General Discussion (Spoiler Warning!)
I'm curious as to what people do with/whether people do anything with the biographies by race/class as they show up in the game!
  1. Biographies58 votes
    1. I tend to leave biographies as-is
      68.97%
    2. I tend to write my own biographies
        8.62%
    3. I tend to edit default biographies with little details here and there
      15.52%
    4. Other
        6.90%

Comments

  • GenderNihilismGirdleGenderNihilismGirdle Member Posts: 1,353
    For me personally, I tend to take the default bios and swap in details from the setting, since I'm a pen and paper FR nerd.

    As an example: for my current mega-playthrough (BG1 -> ToSC -> SoD -> BG2 -> ToB) I decided to keep the human mage bio as-is but change one detail: charname's mother is from Calimport instead of Silverymoon, and I imagine her as having been a Chultan who is a third+ generation citizen of Calimshan (i.e. identifies more with the Chultan neighbourhoods of Calimport than ancestral Chultan lands/tribes) rather than an ethnically Calishite human.

    Just one word changed, but that one word plus picking a dark brown skin tone and dark hair and it adds some geeky verisimilitude for me!
  • znancekivellznancekivell Member Posts: 58
    I feel the same way. I generally keep the bio as is, unless I'm playing a multi/dual class, and edit small details in order to bring the biography more in line with how I envision the character. There are specific cases, such as playing a Shapeshifter, were I'll edit the entire first half of the biography, but otherwise just some small changes is usually sufficient.
  • SilverstarSilverstar Member Posts: 2,207
    Edit slightly for BG/BGII main characters.

    Write entirely own for ID/IDII characters if I have a particular character concept in mind.

    But I usually only bother at all if there's any chance I'll show my character(s) to someone else or play in multi-player. In the latter case, I always take the time.
  • DJKajuruDJKajuru Member Posts: 3,300
    For instance, I'm currently playing with a Blade , which is a kit that doesn't sing. So I made sure to edit that part where they teach you how to sing and explained that my character is an artist who can swing blades and throw daggers in a performatic form.
  • ButtercheeseButtercheese Member Posts: 3,766
    I do come up with my own stories, but I don't actually write them down in game, with the exception of Icewind Dale.
  • deltagodeltago Member Posts: 7,811
    I don't touch it, I don't read it, I just play the game.
  • justfeelinathomejustfeelinathome Member Posts: 353
    edited April 2016
    I did change them back when I played NWN, but didn't do so since. I mainly used it as a tool to explain strange/unexpected class+race combinations, to feel more connected to, say the Half-Orc mage Balga-Uur.

    Maybe I should start again, since looking back it feel like i added some flavor that way to my games...
  • KcoQuidamKcoQuidam Member Posts: 181
    I'm lazy as hell and don't change anything in the default bio (Sometimes I just delete all in other games). Most of time I just imagine my character biography in my head with somes change when the story plot point some detail I haven't thought before.
  • EnialusMeliamneEnialusMeliamne Member Posts: 399
    With Icewind Dale, I usually assembled a collective team description for why everyone was there, then added a bio for each character (similar to the default parties of IWDII thematically). For Baldur's Gate, it really depends on my mood at the time that I rolled the character. For my latest character, I purged the canned bio, and started from scratch. Sometimes, I've modified the canned one to fit my idea of the character.
  • BillyYankBillyYank Member Posts: 2,768
    I tend to develop a backstory in my head, but I usually don't bother typing it into the game.
  • mysterymeepmysterymeep Member Posts: 33
    I usually just take it as it comes, but reading the thread, it might be fun to edit a little more, even if just a little.
  • GenderNihilismGirdleGenderNihilismGirdle Member Posts: 1,353
    The way the poll is going so far, it seems as though nearly twice the other options combined just leave it as-is! Somehow I didn't expect that going in, but it's neat to know!

    I guess that means the default background writing for any eventual IWD or BG sequels Beamdog puts out better be top-notch lol
  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164
    edited April 2016
    To quote my character, to change my biography would be "a waste of my talents"
  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,212
    Never really cared about the biographies. Too much work for something that is invisible unless you specifically search for it, and has no bearing whatsoever on the game. If I want RP to go with my party, it's all in my head even without writing it down.

    I suppose multiplayer is the only real time I could see biographies be useful, not that I ever have or ever will play MP.
  • SilverstarSilverstar Member Posts: 2,207
    GenderNihilismGirdle said:

    I guess that means the default background writing for any eventual IWD or BG sequels Beamdog puts out better be top-notch lol

    I think they did well with the non-vanilla class biographies. They're in the style and size of the original ones. Would've been nice if more of the rather spesific kits had their own entries too though.
  • znancekivellznancekivell Member Posts: 58
    Silverstar said:

    Would've been nice if more of the rather specific kits had their own entries too though.


    Agreed!
  • mysterymeepmysterymeep Member Posts: 33
    The one loss I do see is that instead of the multiclass background I remember from vanilla, multiclasses seem to just have the background of one of their classes.
  • JumboWheat01JumboWheat01 Member Posts: 1,028
    I like to edit the background to some degree, generally keeping the same feel while making it more personalized to my character.
  • znancekivellznancekivell Member Posts: 58
    mysterymeep said:

    The one loss I do see is that instead of the multiclass background I remember from vanilla, multiclasses seem to just have the background of one of their classes.

    Yeah, that's always a bit of a let down. As someone who likes the RP in his RPG's, the character biography is near and dear to me, having to edit the whole first paragraph whenever I play a multiclass is a pain. But worth it.
  • GenderNihilismGirdleGenderNihilismGirdle Member Posts: 1,353
    It's funny to me that even "Other" beats out "I write my own bios"
  • GenderNihilismGirdleGenderNihilismGirdle Member Posts: 1,353
    dunbar said:

    I write my own bios a) to remind myself of what ridiculous idea inspired me to build that character in the first place and b) as I tend to have more than one game running at once, help me get my head around that character when I pick the game up again.

    I tend to do one at a time but I am now recalling that when I was a fresh-faced yout', I also had lots of games going and wrote full bios (or edited more of the bios than a couple details) more often than I now do...that was probably part of why!
  • GenderNihilismGirdleGenderNihilismGirdle Member Posts: 1,353
    I spoke too soon, bio-writing is just edging out Other now lol
Sign In or Register to comment.

2025 Overhaul Games, a division of Beamdog. © 2025 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Baldur's Gate, Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Forgotten Realms, Baldur's Gate, Wizards of the Coast and their logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC in the U.S.A. and other countries, and are used with permission. Hasbro and its logo are trademarks of Hasbro, Inc. and are used with permission. © 1998 BioWare Corp. All Rights Reserved. BioWare, the BioWare Infinity Engine and the BioWare logo are trademarks of Bioware Corp. Black Isle Studios and the Black Isle Studios logo are trademarks of Interplay Entertainment Corp. Atari and the Atari logo are trademarks owned by Atari Interactive, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.