Interesting video examination of how to play a paladin in BG
BelgarathMTH
Member Posts: 5,653
Through a post he made over on the Bioware boards, I discovered this series of short videos @algi has on YouTube examining how to play a correct AD&D paladin in BG based on the Paladin's Handbook. It turns out that the game doesn't enforce half of what you're supposed to be doing and how you're supposed to be playing.
I found it a fascinating view, and it has completely changed my idea of what a paladin should be in BG. I haven't been doing it right, not even close.
I'd like to invite friends from this forum to watch the (short) videos, and discuss.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XGsBuyfDkA&index=1&list=PLf41g7oETc4COOSsCq9nOEd8h3k8n67Z7
I found it a fascinating view, and it has completely changed my idea of what a paladin should be in BG. I haven't been doing it right, not even close.
I'd like to invite friends from this forum to watch the (short) videos, and discuss.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XGsBuyfDkA&index=1&list=PLf41g7oETc4COOSsCq9nOEd8h3k8n67Z7 11
Comments
0:50 "Paladins can only be paladins!"
Didn't know that
Very interesting youtube video series. While I still can't warm up to this class at all, he did a great job at roleplaying it right. Hopefully we see more of him in the future, after he's done with the Paladin. I'd certainly subscribe to him when he's doing a Druid playthrough this detailed.
I am the perpetrator of these videos. Thanks for posting my videos and for the kind words. I had no idea this forum exists, so I just found it with some detective work, when I saw the views coming.
According to my plan on the 18th I upload the last episode of the first "season" (with the end of Chapter I) and then I take a break from the Ethos videos. I plan on making the next season better, so if anyone has any suggestion what should I change that will make these videos more enjoyable or interesting or less annoying, I'm open to suggestions. I already decided that I will try to waste less time, for example I won't use a teaser, because it's very annoying, especially watching the videos back to back. I also won't open the next video in a new tab, but the same one. (There is only one thing I can't do: lose my accent.
Another problem will come sometime later, but it's never too early to think about it: As I see it, I will probably violate my code, because
Thanks again!
Regarding your pilgrimage, you could go to the area you mentioned and leave the rest of your party by the road.
Alternatively, you could decide to go alone into an undead crypt to cleanse it (and cleanse yourself in the process); the Ulcaster School would be a good fit for that, assuming you haven't already been there. I'm pretty sure you can go inside the school and leave your party outside while you do what needs to be done.
The game mechanics of handling money rewards is going to come up throughout the series. Sometimes I wish it were different, doesn't seem right sometimes that you get handed 1000's of gold pieces. How would you effectively carry it? How are you going to handle gem rewards out of curiosity?
The problem is the dialogue. The same thing as Silke's quest that Garrick tried to give me. The game doesn't give me the option to say: "I will do this quest and BTW thanks for the money", only the option to say: "Oh, money, I love money, yes, money! I will be rich!!!" (Not an accurate quote.) The dialogue with Duke Eltan is a special case, because if I follow the acceptable options while try to accept the quest, I get into an infinite loop.
And this concludes the my first batch of Ethos videos (which I call a 'season' in my self-importance), but I promise Algina will return with Chapter II of Baldur's Gate to have even more fun adventures where most of my playtime is taken up by paperwork, following how much money the paladin owns and how much was her income for the month.
I've used that justification before to let Imoen do her thing. But I still don't feel good about it when playing any lawful good character, not just a paladin. After all, when party members start getting shiny new equipment from the shops, unless you've used intelligence as a dump stat, you're bound to realize something's up. Where did the money come from to pay for all that? You are basically spending 24/7 with these five people. It's not like they go out on adventures without you, or have paying part time jobs somewhere else.
So, for my paladin play, or any of my lawful good or even neutral good playing, no stealing is a rule written in stone.
I think it's okay to collect the "spoils of war", if you were attacked by bandits, an assassin, an evil wizard, or if you killed a troop of monsters. Everything they have in their encampments, buildings, or dungeons was likely ill-gotten, and should be taken and used for good cause after their deaths, if you don't know who the original owners were, which you usually don't.
But chests in public buildings and homes are off-limits. I don't even take things from barrels on the streets, because I assume that people wouldn't leave valuables out there unless there were a law against stealing things that people store outside around their homes. The town guard should be watching for that, and besides, good people don't steal because they have consciences and they know it's wrong.
As for tithing, I've come up with an easy formula that I can live with. On every tenth day in the game, I must tithe my level times 100 gold. If I do not have my level times 100 gold, I must owe it and pay it as soon as I can. At the completion of a dungeon or major quest, I owe 100 gold as an offering of gratitude to my god. By "major", I mean plot-related quests such as finishing the Nashkel Mines, exterminating the bandits in the bandit camp, or killing Davaeorn in the Cloakwood. I may donate more if my conscience dictates, but I won't donate less.
As a practical matter of just playing the game, I can't really make up what five other people would do with their share of our money, which wouldn't be an issue in p&p, because each of those people would be represented by an actual player. For the computer game, I pool all the money, and purchase what we need for all six people out of that pool, minus my tithes. My paladin is the leader of my party (or any character I play is the leader), so the five npc's do not object to this system, since anyone in the party who needs something can take the money out of the group account and buy it, as long as the other five agree that it will help the whole party (which they always will in a single player game). And it greatly simplifies the accounting for income vs. tithing and then equipment expenses.
This is just the type of video that I most enjoy watching. One where a player has a clear picture of who their character is, and plays the game within that role. I really enjoy hearing other peoples thoughts as they endeavor to keep true to their character within the confines of what the game offers them to work with.
Thank you for posting these videos @Algi I look forward to watching more of your work in the future.
Thank you for creating this thread and bringing Algi’s work to my attention @BelgarathMTH
@BelgarathMTH I mostly agree, but you have to take in account that I'm at the end of Chapter I right now with maybe a week in (times passes way slower in the game than I thought it would). As the CPH writes, I pay tithe every month, so I didn't even have the opportunity to notice anything. And everything will have consequences in the future. In my last playthrough I experienced dramatic things, and following the ethos will make thins even more dramatic.
And most of these 12 videos will have followups later. There will be times when being honest will cost the party dearly and there will be times when Imoen's services will be needed very much. I think I will switch to tell the story in a chronological fashion instead of thematic, because that might make more sense in the future.
So, yes, that quote at the beginning of the video, about the paladin being responsible for Imoen, that's one of the rules of the Ethos I won't violate.