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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
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