Ways to improve RP and difficulty
Ragnarr
Member Posts: 24
Hi,
Any good rules of thumb to improve BG saga RP and difficulty challenge?
What I really mean is: I am not looking for hardcore seetings type of things, but more something like - no max HP on levelling up, core rules, etc. Simple and easy tips to improve the overall experience without breaking the game or making it too hard.
Thanks!
Any good rules of thumb to improve BG saga RP and difficulty challenge?
What I really mean is: I am not looking for hardcore seetings type of things, but more something like - no max HP on levelling up, core rules, etc. Simple and easy tips to improve the overall experience without breaking the game or making it too hard.
Thanks!
2
Comments
don't rest more frequently than once in 24h
No saving before crucial decisions/no reloading on "undesired" dialogue outcomes
No reloading pickpocket failures/observed crimes
You will roleplay your alignment, meaning you will pick appropriate dialogue choices, even if you know it will lock you out of stuff, or carry otherwise negative consequences. This may be hard with neutral tho because it'll be easy to cheat yourself.
You will pick party members appropriate for your alignment (imoen doesn't count). When you're evil, some "I'm just using them" thing may be allowed to some extent, but as a good alignment character you'd likely never side with the likes of dorn, viconia or edwin for example.
No quicksave spam. Alternatively you could even go for only saving in an inn is allowed.
You will not save/load spell scribing, a failed scroll is gone, as it's meant to be
You won't take in party members for the sole purpose of stripping them of their stuff
As already mentioned, minimize resting, you can limit it to inns and "safe" wilderness
You will accept a permadead npc character
Just some things
There are some superb mods available that will completely change the way you play and what you can get out of the game.
Choose weapons randomly. Roll dice (or use a virtual dice-roller) to decide what everyone will use, and then stick with that through the saga.
Mandate that specialist mages must memorize X spells per level from their chosen school. 1 per level is pretty easy, but something like 50% of all spells must be from the chosen school or two spells per level must be from the chosen school can make specialists really feel specialized. You really start to notice the tradeoffs. (You'll have to come up with some sort of house rule for schools like Enchantment that don't have any higher-level spells.)
For the latter, you could have generalist mages declare a "preferred school" and have them memorize one spell per level from that school, (versus two for the specialist). And maybe limit the number of spells from the opposition school they can memorize, (but not make it zero entirely). This makes specialists feel super-specialized and generalists still feel kind-of-specialized, and lets mages like Imoen / Nalia get in on the fun in BG2.
Mandate that every character in the party must equip a cursed item. You can take the easy way out, (Claw of Kazgaroth, Big-fisted Belt), the medium way out, (Helm of Opposite Alignment, Girdle of Masculinity/Femininity, Backbiter), or the hard way out (Gloves of Misplacement, Two-handed Sword +3 Berserking), depending on how brave you're feeling.
Don't wear any metal armor / shields / helmets until after you've solved the Iron problems.
2-handed weapons only. No dual-wielding, no shields.
Don't wear helmets, period. Learn to fear criticals.
I wrote journal entries before every rest, where I'd speak as though I was the character, and I would write about what had happened that day. A particularly hefty journal entry was when he made it to the FAI for the first time. I remember he found it pretty difficult to include everything that happened in the past 12 or so hours - Gorion dying, Imoen running away from Candlekeep, somehow getting roped into tagging along behind a necromancer and a thief, having his life threatened by the likes of Shank, Carbos, and Tarnesh in a span of two days, and now being completely lost as to where to go next.
It really, really helped me get into the character, so I highly recommend giving that a shot. Even if you don't like writing much, a few jot notes in the journal here and there where the character describes his or her day can really help set the tone of the playthrough.
I plan on playing the game this way for pretty much every playthrough I do in the future. It was a ton of fun. Simple things like the Marl fight in Feldepost's Inn become so much more real and intriguing as you try and recount them through the writings of your character.
Funny how something as simple as an editable in-game journal can completely change how a game is played.
(I'm doing this in my current game right now.)
In BG you get a Quarterstaff +1 for free in Beregost, +2 in Cloakwood and +3 in Ulgoth's Beard. In BG2 Quarterstaff +1 is th first magic item you find, and there's a +4(!) version available in Adventurer's Mart. And in ToB there's the Staff of the Ram which does just absurd amounts of damage and you can +6 it. Oh, and it has a chance to stun with no save.
The "problem" with quarterstaves is that while you can get high enchantments on them relatively easily, their low base damage means those high-enchantment quarterstaves still lag their lower-enchantment 2-handed peers in damage output.
Take the +4(!) quarterstaff in Adventurer's Mart. It deals 7.5 average damage, which is only as much as a 2-handed sword +2. Lilarcor is available just as easily, deals 8.5 average damage, and carries a useful secondary effect, to boot (immunity to confusion and charm). Harmonium Halberd (also purchasable in the Adventurer's Mart) also deals 8.5 average damage, plus it gives +1 strength which guarantees at least +1 damage more (assuming you have 17+ strength already) and will also often bring a +1 THACO boost, too.
The other "problem" with quarterstaves is that they rarely have useful combat improvements-- elemental damage to cut through stoneskins or status effect immunities, especially. Most of their enhancements tend to be of the "extra spells" or "use this item to cast a spell" variety.
Which isn't to say that they're bad weapons. The Staff of the Ram is one of the best weapons in the game, though that's obviously ToB-only. Even before that, Staves are cheap, they don't break during the iron shortage, they deal blunt damage which is useful against skeletons / jellies / clay golems, and they have an amazing speed factor which is important if you're going to be kiting aggressively.
But by and large I'd say they're the third-best 2-handed weapon, behind 2-handed swords and halberds and ahead only of Spears. I'd say they're the 2-handed equivalent of Maces or Bastard Swords.
Regular dagger: 2.5 DPS
Regular 2-handed sword: 5.5 DPS
Dagger +5: 7.5 DPS
2-handed sword +5: 10.5 DPS
Dagger +5 with Grandmastery: 12.5 DPS
2-handed sword +5 with Grandmastery:15.5 DPS
Dagger +5 with Grandmastery and 22 Strength: 22.5 DPS
2-handed sword with Grandmastery and 22 Strength: 25.5 DPS
So the 2-handed sword goes from doing 120% more damage at "level 0" to doing just 13.3% more damage when everything is "maxed out". And the dagger takes only one hand, leaving the other for another weapon or a shield...
Obviously individual weapon differences are still important though. No one actually runs around with a +5 dagger or a +5 two-handed sword, especially since neither exists.
What would he/she really want to do first?? Run and hide. Take a ship to Cormyr. Find out as much information as possible. Hang out with some more experienced allies [Jaheira-Khalid] until events begin to make sense. Or be proactive and get ahead of the game. Usually I find myself in somewhat of a state of shock until settling down to clear the Nashkel mines.
One difficult RP quandary is how to explain anything approaching a completionist run. Why in the world would adventuring all over the map seem like a good idea after the early need for Gold is greatly eased by the reward from Bassileus quest. A certain amount makes sense -- to lay low for awhile after the fame accrued from clearing out Mulahey's operation, to throw his nemesis out of his reckoning. But that only goes so far IMO.
Questions to consider: How much general knowledge of the Sword Coast area, Amn and Waterdeep has Charname gathered during his/her Candlekeep years. Have those years been passive, angst-filled boredom or some sort of disciplined upbringing with training regimens devised by Gorion. Has he/she displayed any unusual level of general aptitude suggesting a unique destiny or is the whole Baalspawn nature something utterly strange that is sort of exploding from within.
This really comes to the forefront after encountering Elminster in Baldurs Gate City. Do his references to Charname's lineage have real weight or is the protagonist [and other party members] still clueless about what is really going on. If so, what alternative idea does he have about his situation. Perhaps he thinks he is a classic hidden heir to a throne that threatens to upset certain balances of power should he emerge into public life??
An HP restriction on Level-Up I sometimes use is to take random result anytime the character in question has triggered the Near Death script since his/her last Level-Up [due to weakened Constitution for a period of time]. And for any resurrected character to take random HP the rest of game.
Enjoy!
My preferred Baldur’s Gate restrictions:
No character is allowed to use weapons for which they have any proficiency points. Exceptions:
- Thieves may use melee weapons in which they have proficiency (but not specialisation!).
- Special darts (stun and poison darts) may be used by anyone with any number of proficiency points in darts.
- When fighting monsters for which specific weapons have bonuses against, it is okay to fight with these weapons even when one has proficiency or specialisation in it (except for the hammer 'The Knee-capper’. For small enemies (650XP and below) you shouldn't use it with proficiency points).
- When fighting Karoug it's okay to use weapons in which one has any number of proficiency points.
To pay for their privilege, thieves are not allowed to backstab mages.
No purchased special ammo. Use only the special ammo you can find in the wild.
No Web, Sleep, Horror, Silence, Glitterdust or Hold Person spells. You may however cast these from scrolls. Thus you can use these scrolls as 'special sauce’, just like potions.
You may at most use the Command spell only once (successfully) against any given foe.
No ranged weapons may be used against spell casters. This includes magically concocted ranged weapons such as Melfs Minute Meteors, but not the less powerful spell 'Magical Stone' (are there others?)..
No magic missile spell against spell casters.
Wizards may only be slain after all their minions have perished.
No Fireballs against humans.
No Dorn beyond his quest line.
No dual wielding fighters.
No short duration prebuffing before fights.
Disallowed items:
- all wands, except the Wand of Magic Missile.
- Gauntlets of Dexterity.
- Gauntlets of Ogre Power.
- Rings of the princess or similar items.
- Ankheg plate.
- Drizzt's equipment (except if you actually kill him!).
- Chesley Crusher.
- The Stupifier unnerfed (on Android).
- Dagger of Venom may not be used against spell casters.
Magical items may not be sold (too rich too soon). As an exemption, items obtained through Pick Pocketing may be sold.
If you ever need to kite an enemy for more than a short time, run away and come back later.
The following enemies gives too much XP bonus and are therefore disallowed from being slain: Dread Wolves, Winter Wolves, Ghasts, Sirenes, Polar Bears, Golems, Basilisks, the Revenant, the undeads around Durlags Tower (except the two at the bridge). They may however be attacked late game, but still only as little as possible.
Try to think twice before completing a quest: do you really want **2000** XP for saving Melicamp the Chicken? Or 500 XP for handing over a short sword to that halfling in Bereghost? Or 900 XP for talking down Marl? (I haven't visited Feldepost Inn yet - for that reason). Skip finalising such quests till later in the game where the extra XP doesn't matter. Stay low level - stay tense!
Highest level of armor allowed for each chapter:
Chapter 1: Leather,
Chapter 2: Leather,
Chapter 3: Studded leather, Hide armor,
Chapter 4: Chainmail,
Chapter 5: Splint mail,
Chapter 6: Plate mail,
Chapter 7: Full plate mail (Ankheg is never allowed).
No equipment swapping during battle (potions, scrolls, ammunition exempted).
No potion stacking using the same type of potion in a stack.
No sleeping before half of NPCs are tired (and no fake travel to make them tired
When specialist mages reach level 3, they must dedicate half of their spell slots (rounded down) to spells that belong to their specialist school. The highest spell level the caster has access to is exempted from this rule.
Once one of your party members reaches 5000 XP, you may only level up a party member when all members are ready to level up. After that, the next level up will have to wait until the condition is met again, and so on.
You may morf to maps to pick up the NPCs you want.
You may change the class of one NPC.
You may NOT change character’s proficiency points.
For one NPC, you may swap one stat for another.
You may fix the HP of NPCs that had unfortunate level up rolls before they joined you.
You may not change NPC thieves’ thieving skill points. Those are part of their personality.