Can't get the Book of Wisdom for free, even if I have Heroic (20) reputation

Ank

What the title says, I can't get the Book of Wisdom involved in the Marek and Lothander quest from the Lady's House for free, even though I have a high enough reputation (Heroic, 20). Also, the quest Jared and the Mountain Bear, in which a guy asks you to kill a bear just across a bridge, gave me the average reward (for 8-14 reputation) instead of the Boots of the North.

ThacoBell

Its not based on rep. Your charisma is too low.

DreadKhan

...you bother with the boots map?

And yeah, you might try a higher cha next time.

Sylvus_Moonbow

Yup, yup! Charisma is very important in the game, don't make it a min stat next time.

Ank

Thanks, I was almost sure it was based on reputation. I'm playing a ranger/cleric multi, with 12 charisma (after using the Book of charisma), I actually thought it was pretty high (I also thought charisma had 0 impact on dialogues, quests or anything other than store prices, so...).

Grond0

In BG1 most encounters are determined by a reaction adjustment that is affected by both reputation and charisma. Typically the reward available changes when that adjustment gets to +5 or greater. The adjustment for charisma of 18 is +5, which is why you get a magic dagger for returning bolts in Candlekeep if you have charisma of 18.

Reputation gives a positive reaction if over 13, going up to +4 for reputation of 20. In your case you thus got +4 for reputation, but nothing for charisma of 12 - so you were just short of the requirement to get the boots / book. If you'd boosted your charisma, e.g. by Helm of Glory or nymph cloak, or got someone in the party with a higher charisma to talk for you, you would have got the better rewards.

Edit: incidentally, if you want to check your current reaction status in the EE, this is reported in the abilities section of the character record.

Zaghoul

Rogues can be helpful with these types of issues. Just sayin.

Grond0

There are indeed other alternative ways to get your goodies if you want to bypass the reward system:
1) Evil and proud of it - cut them down and take what you want from their cold, dead hands (reputation takes a hit).
2) Evil, but want to hide it - charm them and get them to attack something nearby with their bare hands.
3) Could be evil, but not quite sure - pickpocket them (note not all items can be acquired by this method).
4) Chaos is cool - by-pass level restrictions to gate in a fiend (or try and try again until a wild mage does it for you with a spell surge) and watch as they decimate the population of the surrounding area.

Pokota

Did you remember to retrieve the Water Elemental Bowl from the fishermen for the Umberlee Acolyte earlier? She does owe you a favor if you help her without thought of reward.