What was the first character you ever made?

Lammas

I just started thinking about the fact that 20 years ago I was all over clerics in both BG1 and BG2 but never even touch the class these days. Heck, after I made the switch multiple of my followup playthroughs didn't even have a divine caster in my party I've always preferred playing humans but when I started out I made a few dwarwes first without knowing anything of their saving bonuses, I just liked the idea. I might have tried a thief as my very first character but he probably didn't even clear Nashkel mines if I did so I'm not counting that.

My first character was a Dwarf Cleric. Knowing myself he probably had pretty optimal stats 18/17/16/10/18/10 but of that I can't be sure. He wielded a warhammer which was my favorite weapon class BG1 and BG2 until I decided not to be a clergyman anymore. I remember I was delighted when I found the dwarf only throwing hammer in BG2 because throwing weapons for whatever reason have a special place in my heart (the whatever reason probably being that I used to throw knives as a kid). I never knew about shorty saves but that does explain why he was so darn resilient.

For those curious I tried monk after that and then settled on Kensai/Mage dual for the longest time until now in EE switched to Blade. I remeber trying druid at some point but it just wasn't fun for me being the nature hippie as main character. Always human except now on Blade I'm going half-elf for the resistances and the paperdoll is not hard on my eyes either.

So, remember what you started out with? New players with only one or a few characters are of course very welcome to join too.

Artona

I really can't remember, but I do remember my father's character - dwarven warrior called Kahdor. He had standard canon party and was using axes. Watching my dad play BG was my first experience with the game.
I *think* my first character was human father, and I'm almost sure that human fighter was my first character that managed to finish the game. I used the first portait in the game, with that bald dude.

Lammas

Hehe, I almost always used that bald dude too on my human characters. I think my first dwarf used Kagains portrait. When I later learned it's his portrait my future dwarves used the bald dude too if I was planning on taking Kagain.

Xanatos

My first character was a ranger, because I assumed it was the 'archer' class and I always used bows in video games I'd played at that point (including the xbox baldurs gate) even if thats not entirely correct on the original baldur's gate. I probably tanked my INT and CHA to boost the other stats as much as I could. I was pretty young when I stumbled across the game and never finished it, whether it was patience, understanding of dice mechanics or what. I revisited the game much later in life, and took a Cavalier playthrough to completion though. Probably close to 15 years between the two events.

sarevok57

im pretty sure i remember the first character i ever made back in 1999 i believe, it was a himan fighter, who had 18/91+ strength ( perhaps even 18/00, not 100% sure ) and the rest of my stats had no idea so i just dumped them evenly in the rest ( so all my other stats were 13s and 14s ) so big strength, and garbage everywhere else

and then i started in the game world and was just blown away on how good it looked, those pre-rendered areas just looked so cool ( at least back in '99) and then i remember going to the inn to buy weapons and things and i saw the "bastard sword" and thought; whoa there is swearing in this game? ( because back in those days "taboo" things like that were still very rare) and why is it called bastard? ( took me many MANY years later to find out why it was called that )

Very_BigSword

First game was in Vanilla, evil half elf fighter/cleric called Father Jack. Used the sideburn guy portrait with green tartan looking hat. Always got drunk before resting in an inn for RP purposes. Specialised in slings and blunt weapons functioning as group healer and buff/AC tank alongside Kagain.

The main motivation for going evil was to enable undead control. Too bad I did not realise that the multiclass and XP cap greatly limited the ability to do it. Too bad I did not realise that dwarf was a much better racial choice for the role. Was still a fun play through.

smyth25

My first game was actually SOA, and I distinctly remember it because my first character was a vanilla druid with only 3 strength, dexterity, and constitution, who was bamed ‘Gingee’ in reference to Shrek. Somehow my 7/8 year old self managed to carry it all the way to TOB...

My first playthrough of BG1 was actually the EE, and I think my first character was a sorcerer... a bit of a fall from grace from my first character (PST pun not intended).

drfunkenstein

First BG character was a human fighter, used the bald guy pic, and since sometimes I draw a blank on names, went with what he looked like. Hamhock.

BelgarathMTH

My first character in 1999 was a half-elven cleric-mage. I used Garrick's portrait, although I didn't know who Garrick was. I played (badly) all the way up to the final battle with Sarevok, and I couldn't beat it no matter what I tried. I frustration quit and didn't come back to play again for a long time. I thought Imoen's default line was "I'm so cold," because I kept trying to use her in melee.

I remember I always dumped my charisma down to 3 to get the intelligence and wisdom that I needed for my cleric-mage. I had a lot of problems with morale breaks, and thought that was normal. I couldn't see any significant penalty for low charisma, and I always had my character in front because I thought I was supposed to. I used leather armor because I thought it looked the best, and I didn't use helmets because I thought they looked bad. "What's a critical hit? That doesn't sound all that important. I'm sure AC 6 will be fine."

I thought it was good rp to have Imoen steal stuff in Beregost and play that my character, who wouldn't approve, just didn't know about it. But then, I didn't know how to do it without witnesses, and didn't understand a thing about game mechanics, and I remember Jaheira suddenly shouting "Better leadership!" and leaving my party with Khalid. Reload # 98. Note to self: no more stealing.

I remember not being able to get past Tarnesh until I finally got some lucky rolls, and I almost rage quit the game at that point. I thought it was bad game design and very unfair to put a fifth level mage against two first level characters right where the game had told me to go. I must have reloaded two dozen times trying to beat him.

ThacoBell

Human paladin. Named either Aiden or Alarion. My dad actually enforced the paladin class on me. Maybe he thought that if I played a murder hobo in a game, then I'd be one in real life.

Dordledum

Human paladin for me too, using the blonde guy in plate portrait. Also played BG2 first, back in 2002.

sarevok57

BelgarathMTH said:

My first character in 1999 was a half-elven cleric-mage. I used Garrick's portrait, although I didn't know who Garrick was. I played (badly) all the way up to the final battle with Sarevok, and I couldn't beat it no matter what I tried. I frustration quit and didn't come back to play again for a long time. I thought Imoen's default line was "I'm so cold," because I kept trying to use her in melee.

I remember I always dumped my charisma down to 3 to get the intelligence and wisdom that I needed for my cleric-mage. I had a lot of problems with morale breaks, and thought that was normal. I couldn't see any significant penalty for low charisma, and I always had my character in front because I thought I was supposed to. I used leather armor because I thought it looked the best, and I didn't use helmets because I thought they looked bad. "What's a critical hit? That doesn't sound all that important. I'm sure AC 6 will be fine."

I thought it was good rp to have Imoen steal stuff in Beregost and play that my character, who wouldn't approve, just didn't know about it. But then, I didn't know how to do it without witnesses, and didn't understand a thing about game mechanics, and I remember Jaheira suddenly shouting "Better leadership!" and leaving my party with Khalid. Reload # 98. Note to self: no more stealing.

I remember not being able to get past Tarnesh until I finally got some lucky rolls, and I almost rage quit the game at that point. I thought it was bad game design and very unfair to put a fifth level mage against two first level characters right where the game had told me to go. I must have reloaded two dozen times trying to beat him.

ah, this reminds me when i didn't know what reputation was, ah good times

when i finally got to the point where i had team mates, i killed a flaming fist guy that i wasn't supposed to kill ( i believe it was the guy on the bridge right before you hit bg the city ) so i killed him, and he dropped the holy grail ( or at least it was to me because i could never afford it ) or armor; plate mail, so reputation dropped, but i had this sweet sweet armor

ironically to my dismay my reputation was now 4, making things halariously expensive to buy, the good guys on my team weren't liking it, but hey, still kicking butt with that plate mail, so whatevs.....

but then, oh boy, but then.... after a few more hours of game time ( im actually surprised it took this long ) i never recovered that fallen reputation and coincedently it caught up to me.... the flaming fist mercenaries came after me and slaughtered my whole group like lambs, it was good times haha

Lammas

Haha. Funny thing is I knew about the buried ankheg armor before I even played the game because of the gaming magazine I was ordering at the time. I looked the article up again when I was somewhat through the game and was like, damn, free plate mail +2 right there? That was a big deal once I had figured that armor class is kind of a big thing in the game when it comes to faceing monsters and other adversaries.

In one patch they had removed both the plate and the ring of wizardry and I felt a lot more helpless. To be honest I'm surprised they are where they used to be in EE.

Jhaycen

Technically, my first character was a male Paladin named Orion. He lasted just long enough for me to hear the narrator in the intro cinematic say that I was raised “under the tutelage of the sage Gorion.” Then it was back to character creation to roll up the same character, but with a name that wasn’t the same as my foster-father’s minus the G.

Monotremata

For BG??? It was probably a ranger as thats what Ive almost always played in both PNP and PC DND games.. Dont think Ive played any other class in BG/BG2/NWN unless it was an NPC..

Now if we're talking pen and paper... Was more than likely an Elf or a plain old Fighter after I finally got the red basic D&D boxed set ages ago...

d3ltoro

First charname I ever made was an human enchanter because I hade just been reading David Eddings The Belgariad and thought it sounded cool. I did not survive long. Just felt hopeless so made a Palading which I completed the game with. Never felt so proud completing a video game before.

DJKajuru

BG1: A human bard called Thallen. Ended the game at level 7 (about 40k xp) , final battle was hard as fu$#.
BG2: Human paladin whom I gave my name , Bruno(hey , I was 12!) . It took me ages to go past level 8.

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Balrog99

Mine was a human ranger named Hanslow Tinderbow. I used Kivan's portrait (which I still think is one of the best portraits ever!). Two pips in longbow and two in large swords. I wound up winning with him but it took a while because I was also playing as a mage and a paladin and constantly switching between them. Even way back then I couldn't stick with the same Charname for long without starting up someone else!

I remember finally saving up enough money to buy a composite longbow and thinking, wow this guy really kicks ass! It was a royal pain with the arrow stacking limitations of vanilla though. Most of the rest of my party was just hauling around arrows for him...

dunbar

Let's see, back in 199whateveritwas I simply created my standard PnP character, a human fighter wielding a bastard sword.
I pretty much went with the first stat roll because it was so awesome (compared to PnP - actually it was rubbish by BG standards).
I spent what seemed like hours in Candlekeep learning the ropes (BG was the first computer game I ever bought).
When I eventually left C/keep I was immediately lumbered with a whining child who was only useful for helping me learn the mechanics of party management.
In my first fight my lovely new bastard sword broke.
When, battered and bruised, I eventually arrived at the FAI where I could meet some friends and get some help some bloke in rags kicked what was left of my arse back down the steps and my game was over.

Twenty years later I'm still playing the game - and still get my arse kicked on a regular basis.

Daevelon

Half-elf fighter/mage. I was so young and naive... Accepted average stats (now i roll for hours).

Dragonwizard

My first ever Character was an elven Archer in BG2, because I only owned BG2 back in the days. The very first character I finished ToB with was a human sorcerer and my first BG:EE char has been a dwarven bounty hunter and right know I am on a trilogy run with a half-orc shaman.
Hell yeah I like diversity in my chars.

Pingwin

I'm pretty sure that my first character was an elf fighter mage using two handed swords and longbows. Can't really remember anything else about those early days of BG1 apart from lots of reloading when leveling up to try to get decent HP rolls.

Bubb

I played BG2 before BG1. I rolled Glor, an elf mage who used Jaheria's new portrait. I was young and barely knew how to play the game, so in my infinite wisdom I kept summoning and getting familiars killed. I finally stopped when I had 1 CON left, realizing that my familiar dying was an instant game over at that point.

Let me tell you, the final fight with Irenicus where he instantly kills any character under 60 HP with Power Word: Cheese was very frustrating.

Zaghoul

I'm gonna straight up say I haven't idea one. I could describe in detail the first PnP characters I made 40 years ago but not for BG. Go figure.

Sikorsky

My first one was human-fighter with pips in large swords. I remember that I have 18 in S,D,C and CH with Str 18/100 and very low in WIS and INT(I was very suprise when first met Mindflyres). I exported him to BGII and change his kit to Berserker and choose the two-weapon style with katanas. I was Drizzt fan at the time and choose katanas only becouse 1-10 damage. I remember that I couldn't belive that one handed weapon can deal damage like two-handed ones. My first character was also the first that I completed whole saga.

Artona

Zaghoul said:

I'm gonna straight up say I haven't idea one. I could describe in detail the first PnP characters I made 40 years ago but not for BG. Go figure.

If OP doesn't mind little offtop - please do tell.
My first character was Clint Eastwood style gunslinging marshal in polish postapo RPG Neuroshima. He got quickly killed by his teammates.

Zaghoul

I spose it's the same principle so - Now this was late 70's stuff mind you, 1st Ed AD&D. We played the earlier games after a bit. A LG Human Magic -User (only illusionists were specialists back then) named after Ged/ Sparrowhawk from The Earthsea Trilogy by LeGuin He had a hawk for his familiar. After I knew more understood why my older brother thought 18 wis was good as well as Int (will based/enchantment ST's). Quartersatff

We all played two characters at the same time so the other was a H/E CN F/C named Mablung from The Silmarillion by Tolkien. It always bugged me ended up with only a 17 strength on the roll. He did have psionic ability though (2 in a hundred chance with his 18 wis) . Long Sword and bow.

We played though the Keep on the Borderlands (Caves of Chaos) then took on the Slave Lord series where my F/C who had donned the Helm of alignment change from the Caves of Chaos went on to turn on the rest of the good party by betraying them to the Slave Lords. That was a knock down drag out session I'm tellin ya. Took us a while to recover from that betrayal as a playing group, but hey I was was being true to NE at least. My brother the DM didn't take kindly to me ruining this new game he brought back from Duke University, so would not let me play my F/C anymore.

I can remember still the thrill of coming up against my first kobold (and their giant rats for pets) and orc, picturing them and the surrounds like they were very real. Everything seemed so new and wonderful back then so probably why I remember them.

Seda

Mi primer personaje fue un guerrero enano con espada a dos manos llamado Tomasito, me quedé en Candelero...
Luego remonté otra partida con todos los jugadores creados por mi y todos eran multiclase. Llegué hasta Candelero...
A día de hoy me he propuesto pasarme el juego con un bardo como personaje principal, pero me fascina la creación de personaje y tras avanzar bastante en el juego, vuelvo a la creación de personaje...
Pero este año lo terminaré seguro y después el 2 e Icewindale.
Por lo menos ahora me conozco las normas del juego por completo ☺

Seda

En BG 2 empezó mi pasión por los bardos y lleve 1 semielfo que era un buen ladronzuelo.
En juegos de tablero de más pequeño enano guerrero y de más mayor bardo semielfo.

carfax19

It was a human warrior, true neutral, 16/13/14/11/11/10, 2x proficiency in great swords, spears and blunt weapons.