I always side with the Shadow Thieves as they seem to be more trustworthy, but I actually prefer the Alternatives solution of destroying both the Thieves and Vampires and have the church take you to Spellhold
That depends on who my current PC is. And I don't mean only alignment, but their character as a whole. Some always go with thieves, some always go with vampires, and for two of them it's more or less a toss of a coin.
I've sided with Bodhi a few times - I mostly RP it as my character being sort of intrigued/charmed by her, as I imagine she could be very persuasive when she wanted to - but as my characters are almost always good, most of the time it ends up feeling like more needless slaughter than they'd put up with.
I always side with the Shadow Thieves as they seem to be more trustworthy, but I actually prefer the Alternatives solution of destroying both the Thieves and Vampires and have the church take you to Spellhold
Man, that sounds too easy. I like watching my good aligned party members cringe when we see the torture chamber in the Shadow Thief Guildhouse, but knowing that doing anything to stop it will probably result in losing Imoen forever.
I guess I just find moral dilemmas to be delicious.
As I often play as a thief, I don't have a choice - I automaticly am rejected by Bodhi. But even if I could choose the side, I would choose the Shadow Thieves. C'mon, you are just a meal to those vampires. And meal doesn't get along with predator.
OT On the side note, when I played the game for the first time, I've killed the ship captain (forgot his name) on the island (I've really hated that guy. He was such a douche). So I totally missed whole city of Sahuagins and went straight to Underdark.
Completely depends on my mood;)/PC/alignment, granted i have more "good" playthroughs and as a result i am pretty sure i have chosen the ST more then Bodhi, but as mentioned it varries from playthrough to playthrough:) Looking forwards to a evil bg1ee playthough tho..
I've tried both, but more often then not I sided with the Vampires. No real RP reasons or anything (my first play-through, I sided with the Thieves and that WAS RP), but maybe just out of familiarity, and because I liked the way that story arc played out. I have never played the game(s) with any kind of mods, so I can't speak on the benefits of playing one side or the other in that regard.
Vampires - "Wow, these guys are completely treacherous, snake-like, and douchebags."
Eggzactly!
That's why i picked them :]
Other than that, my characters are usually pale like a ghost and obsessed with undeath since it is the ultimate victory over mortality and destiny's whims.
I tend to play creepy chars and freakshows, so i joined the creeps
I guess I can't help it. I happily throw myself into danger out of curiosity. I'm that person that presses the big red button, hoping for awesome. Of course I pick the vampires, even though they're clearly evil and I already know they will betray me. Safety is the opposite of a real adventure.
Thanks for this thread. It never actually occurred to me to side with the vampires. I mean the option is there but there's just too many reasons *not* to, at least when playing good- or neutral-aligned characters. I think I will try it next time.
I actually just finished a BG2 + ToB playhrough with my first evil character, and took the Bodhi route over the shadow thiefs. I was pleasently suprised; killing Aran Linvale was highly enjoyable and not having to deal with vampires and their blasted level drain (particularly annoying when affecting casters, uugh!) was a nice change.
I actually think I'll use the Bohdi route from now on even with my good characters; although she is very, very creepy (you actually have a dialogue choice to call her that to her face at one point!) she is rather thoughtful with providing alternate quests for the somewhat more... squeamish
LOL. Darn. My earlier diatribe against vamps and how much I hate them notwithstanding, you Bodhi supporters are getting me to want to try a Bodhi run, despite myself.
I think my problem with vamps has to do with my own darkside, which I normally ruthlessly repress. A sexy vamp might be the one thing that could get me to give in to my darker impulses. In youth, I was a huge Anne Rice fan, and I fantasized about being a vamp. Then, when I got old enough to gain the wisdom to embrace my mortality, I had a "what the hell was I thinking!" kind of change in myself, that got me to despising vamps and everything they stand for.
I've played both sides and do things as I see fit depending on the character. In the case of my most recent playthrough as a druid my justification for siding with the shadow thieves is that to truly preserve the balance of power between good and evil unnatural abominations like vampires must be destroyed. Plus you know her lackies keep trying (unsuccessfully I might add) to kill me. So its kind of personal by the point I attack her lair for the first time.
Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer.
If you have that in mind, the reasonable option is Bodhi. You know she's with Irenicus. You know that the deal will go sour and you'll most likely have to battle the vamps anyway, but hey, there are a lot of roleplaying opportunities and I think that having an attitude that screams "I'm THE Offspring of the God of Murder, I'm not afraid of siding with some pansy vampires for fun, profit and info" is really cool regardless of the PC's alignment.
I think that as far as alignment goes, neutral/good doesn't equal siding with the thieves. In one of my playthroughs with an evil PC, I killed every single shadow thief after siding with them and completing all the quests involving them.
I think it's brilliant that no matter which way you go the reason for your choice doesn't have to be straightforward. You are given a lot of freedom and the roleplaying is more satisfying that way.
When Bodhi recruits you she explicitely tells you it's to terrorize. Well, I always play goody-two-shoes because there's enough terror in the real world and in Faerun as it is. What nags me though, is Aran Linvail has these torture chambers. I just don't visit them, pretend they're not there, or I couldn't progress the game at all past chapter 2. Maybe I'm just a hypocrite ;-).
after playing bg2 for the first time siding with shadow thieves, siding with bodhi seems like playing a willing fool. especially if i'm evil, hit to the pride is even worse :P
that said, bodhi makes more sense for evil playthrough but what @communard said- if you side with bodhi you destroy both organizations in the end. (and killing aran is pleasurable indeed).
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I guess I just find moral dilemmas to be delicious.
Plus I just like her. I was really intrigued about what her deal with Irenicus was.
But even if I could choose the side, I would choose the Shadow Thieves.
C'mon, you are just a meal to those vampires. And meal doesn't get along with predator.
OT
On the side note, when I played the game for the first time, I've killed the ship captain (forgot his name) on the island (I've really hated that guy. He was such a douche). So I totally missed whole city of Sahuagins and went straight to Underdark.
Looking forwards to a evil bg1ee playthough tho..
No real RP reasons or anything (my first play-through, I sided with the Thieves and that WAS RP), but maybe just out of familiarity, and because I liked the way that story arc played out.
I have never played the game(s) with any kind of mods, so I can't speak on the benefits of playing one side or the other in that regard.
That's why i picked them :]
Other than that, my characters are usually pale like a ghost and obsessed with undeath since it is the ultimate victory over mortality and destiny's whims.
I tend to play creepy chars and freakshows, so i joined the creeps
I actually think I'll use the Bohdi route from now on even with my good characters; although she is very, very creepy (you actually have a dialogue choice to call her that to her face at one point!) she is rather thoughtful with providing alternate quests for the somewhat more... squeamish
I think my problem with vamps has to do with my own darkside, which I normally ruthlessly repress. A sexy vamp might be the one thing that could get me to give in to my darker impulses. In youth, I was a huge Anne Rice fan, and I fantasized about being a vamp. Then, when I got old enough to gain the wisdom to embrace my mortality, I had a "what the hell was I thinking!" kind of change in myself, that got me to despising vamps and everything they stand for.
So yeah, maybe I should give Queen Bodhi a try.
If you have that in mind, the reasonable option is Bodhi. You know she's with Irenicus. You know that the deal will go sour and you'll most likely have to battle the vamps anyway, but hey, there are a lot of roleplaying opportunities and I think that having an attitude that screams "I'm THE Offspring of the God of Murder, I'm not afraid of siding with some pansy vampires for fun, profit and info" is really cool regardless of the PC's alignment.
I think that as far as alignment goes, neutral/good doesn't equal siding with the thieves. In one of my playthroughs with an evil PC, I killed every single shadow thief after siding with them and completing all the quests involving them.
I think it's brilliant that no matter which way you go the reason for your choice doesn't have to be straightforward. You are given a lot of freedom and the roleplaying is more satisfying that way.
- Experience
- Stuff (I guess)
- I just hate vampires
that said, bodhi makes more sense for evil playthrough but what @communard said- if you side with bodhi you destroy both organizations in the end. (and killing aran is pleasurable indeed).