How do you choose your partymembers?
Sjerrie
Member Posts: 1,237
How do you choose your partymembers?
Prompted by my current playthrough, in which I can't really decide who to take along.
Still, genuinely curious.
Shameless plug/cry for help:
Prompted by my current playthrough, in which I can't really decide who to take along.
Still, genuinely curious. Shameless plug/cry for help:
- How do you choose your partymembers?48 votes
- I choose who fits my party best by class and/or stats.27.08%
- I choose who fits my party best by their personality, and stick with them through the game.31.25%
- I choose who fits my party best by their personality, and switch them around when the situation calls for it.18.75%
- I choose whose background fits best into the story, at that point in the game, either canon or head-canon.22.92%
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Comments
However, my ending team is always based around the current class I use. I'm trying to get over the shame and guilt of leaving Imoen behind, because I've never actually done it...
For example, I may say I want Xan, Alora, Yeslick, Garrick and Kivan. I would play a Fighter/Thief or a Thief dualed to a fighter fill the gaps that this party creates.
So, class, alignment, personality in that order (there are always workarounds for 'poor' stats - although npcs with five proficiency points in left-handed tin openers do annoy me).
I almost always wind up going with the canon party of Jaheira/Khalid/Imoen/Minsc/Dynaheir, then Jaheira/Minsc/Imoen-Yoshimo, and either Anomen or Aerie, sometimes both, last slot interchangeable for sidequests. Their alignments are compatible with mine (lawful good), and they fit the story the best.
/badabish/
But really, I also would take a fifth option.
I don't really pick by class, but having a sort of balanced party is a must.
Personality is pretty big, I like them to talk a bit about their past, but not TOO much at one time (I'm looking at you Jan) or talk about everyone, everything, and every event (Saerileth, Yasraena, and all the other mod NPCs that feel like cramming as much dialogue in as they can).
I have a core I stick with and rotate in 1-2.
1. PC F/T
2. Jaheira covers most heals
3. Tashia (before I found Tashia I just ran a PC Sorc) for dedicated heavy mage work
4. secondary Mage and/or secondary Cleric
Then they go in and out by (head)canon.
Also, when I do leave them for good, I don't strip them naked, I give them reasonably good, but not the best equipment (probably to as much as +2 weapons/armor by the end of SoA or during ToB).
1)I prefer to choose companions who have some reasons and motivation to be in my party.
F. e. In BG1 it is chars like Kivan (who wants to kill Tazok) and Yeslik (who has personal grudge against Iron Throne). If companion is a Love interest it can aslo be a reason for him to stay with Charname. It doesn't always work though.
2)I always make balanced party with different classes.
3)Variety. Different races (at least three races in the party. In the beginning of my current BG2 playthrough I already have Minsc, Yoshimo (humans), Aerie (elf) and Jan (gnome) and thinking about the last companion), different genders (I usually prefer 4 males, 2 females party), different personalities and ages.
The party is largely dictated by alignment, finding a fun group that will work within that alignment while supporting the main PC, and finally filtered so there is at least a minimal mix of classes for a balanced party, unless I am playing a deliberately unbalanced theme like 'all melee', or 'all clerics/druids', or 'all shorties'. The range of options to satisfy the constraints is generally not enough to be picky about party members then, although there is more variety available in the first game.
When it comes to romance, I usually go with Aerie (big shock there), sometimes Viconia, or, occasionally, I’ll try a non-Bioware NPC. I rarely romance Jaheira because I find the ending to be completely unappealing, although the romance itself is very good until then, the most layered of the Bioware options.
Those two choices, my character and my choice of romantic partner, determine what class roles I need to fill with NPC’s, and I go from there. I’ll give most classes a try at some point, but I never bother with a druid unless I’m romancing Jaheira.
Somehow by the time I'm facing Sarevok my party is generally the Charname (invariably a Paladin called Hope), Imoen, Edwin, Viconia, Alora and Kagain or Shar-Teel (I pay precisely no attention to alignment and work on the basis that my paladin isn't very particular about the company she keeps).
this probably fits into " I choose who fits my party best by class and/or stats", at least for the class part as i am not a stats fanatic, i roll only slightly over average charnames and i don't lower the difficulty slider before leveling up.
but i also try to RP as i am powergaming trough the game, so for me alignment of the NPCs is really important, as i play mainly bg2 and use only neutral or good charnames, with good or neutral NPCs i allow myself to recruit evil toons only if some RP reason is there. Viconia cause she is an outcast drow in a hostile environment that asks my help, as good oriented party we can not let her burn on the pole, and the path that leads to her alignment change fits with RP. and korgan, as he is evil, but is a mercenary, i have to pay him to have him in my party, so somehow is more a tool than a companion and friend, and i take him very seldom cause to do it is borderline to RP.
this fits in the " I choose who fits my party best by their personality, and stick with them through the game" thing.
sometimes i recruit NPCs that i find in the quests, cernd, mazzi, keldorn, valygar, korgan, just for the quest and sometimes when i am soloing i use jan for some pickpoketing and stealing work (i know that doing so my solo run is not a real solo
this fits in the "and switch them around when the situation calls for it".
and some NPCs were the trusty friends and comrades of my first runs: minsk, jaheira, nalia, imoen, so in some runs they have to be with me, a soa run without "nature's servant awaits" or "Ooo, squirrels, Boo! I know I saw them! Quick, throw nuts!" is not 100% satisfying for me.
and this is emotional investment on NPCs and does not fit in every choice.
what should i vote? i really don't know.
I was in my thirties when BG came out and already had children.
When NPC started treating me like a child, I wanted to kill them.
When Imoen started up with the "ooooh we're going on an adventure," I doubt I would have accepted that level of naivety/infantalism from my (at the time) 5/7/9 yo.
Especially as we had lived outside the UK for a couple of years and, unless they are as thick as two short planks, children learn quickly how to cope with being in different situations and become very resiliant and self confident.
I know it's a RPG, but there are limits.
So I pick the NPC who are probably absolute bastards but don't really tell me what to do.
So the "canon" party is a complete no go area, I'd already grown out of that before the games came out.
So it's probably age, or rather my age, that's the deciding factor.
So it's personality and how that personality interacts with somebody who's never going to see 20yo again and doesn't really want to.
1) Characters that feel intrinsic to the plot e.g. Imoen, Sarevok
2) Characters I like the most e.g. Viconia, Minsc
3) Characters which fit best in the current story e.g. Nalia during Keep missions
As the comments show, there should be more alternatives in the poll.
Story and a balanced (i.e. mixed) party composition usually are key factors for me. Then, I pick them by alignment and personality; I also prefer characters with some reasons to join the party. I might on occasion switch a few in and out, as the story progresses.