Self imposed rules
PaladinsareLG9
Member Posts: 2
I'm wondering what other players use to keep the game more interesting / challenging. I've been playing BG for (God help me) a couple of decades now but I wanted it to feel more like a PnP experience. So some of the self imposed rules I have are:
1. I play on core rules but only take random HP increases every other level. On even level ups I roll randomly and odd max. This keeps me from being overly disappointed if I get a bad roll.
2. If a companion dies but are not whacked I raise them but they are out of the game. If they have a counterpart they are also out of the game to assist in that NPC's 'recovery'.
3. 40 arrows or 60 bullets max per character. This makes me have to engage enemies close up even at low levels which is quite fun.
4. I don't swap armor around. A suit of armor fits one character only.
I've got a bunch more but want to hear from you all.
1. I play on core rules but only take random HP increases every other level. On even level ups I roll randomly and odd max. This keeps me from being overly disappointed if I get a bad roll.
2. If a companion dies but are not whacked I raise them but they are out of the game. If they have a counterpart they are also out of the game to assist in that NPC's 'recovery'.
3. 40 arrows or 60 bullets max per character. This makes me have to engage enemies close up even at low levels which is quite fun.
4. I don't swap armor around. A suit of armor fits one character only.
I've got a bunch more but want to hear from you all.
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Comments
That, and I play with mods that increase difficulty.
In BG2 I typically don't use insect/simulacrum spells and never use HLAs until after defeating Irenicus.
However, I want to try out some new class kits. Currently going through the game as a Blade (since some of y'all convinced me it's better than a Skald) and I like that I have to be more careful and think ahead. It's not just "put webs and fireballs in mage slot." I'm actually learning to use buff spells as well, which I usually just cast with a Fighter/Cleric.
Edit: I also always rewrite the biography when creating a character. That way the new Charname feels like a more unique character: having had a different upbringing.
Depending on how I've imagined the character in my head, I might:
never steal from a house
avoid every fight possible through dialogue
initiate every fight possible through dialogue
turn down certain kinds of quests
etc.
Some are more challenging than others, but the skies' the limit.
-No resting allowed until somebody is fatigued, except at Inns. No "rest until healed" either - time is money! Spells memorised have to last for one or more maps depending on travel times, if I can't manage I have to run back to an inn. This encourages me to use wands, scrolls, pots instead of hoarding.
-No reload if companion gets chunked.
-stat re-allocation, but no stat reroll
-only reload from inns or certain safe areas when inns aren't available (i.e. start room of Candlekeep dungeon)
-only reload on main character death, NPC permadeaths are real
-no cheesing combat encounters: no offscreen AoE ambushing, no aggro and draw, etc.
-mostly playing to alignment, if good/lawful no stealing even if you can get away with it
-no abusing the XP system -- i.e. scroll XP boosting, soloing for a short term
-playing through the areas of the game somewhat as intended, not bee-lining to some easy to get OP gear
About all I can think of now, I'm sure there's a few more.
-core and max hp on level
-no wand/scroll-heavy playstyle
-always human, no dual-classing ever
-8 hours rest only
-no cheesing that brings the game to a halt (like waiting for a gnoll to d20 drizzt)
-allowed to cheat-outline traps because they're lame as hell and i know the general locations of them all anyway
-allowed to kill tazok, semaj and angelo separately at the final fight because they and the auto-traps are unbearable when sarevok is going meatgrinder mode
-spellcaster run allowed infinite alacrity because it makes the gameplay much faster and fun. enemies cheat by sometimes having uninterruptable spellcasting anyway so this is payback
-drizzt, shandalar, albert, alectec, karoug, daer'ragh, demonknight and ithtyl calantryn must die every playthrough
Scrolls can only be scribed in alphabetical order
In general, I feel like most people only stay true to their alignment to the extent it benefits them. As soon as going another route would yield better rewards, they're quick to make an exception. I've definitely been guilty of this as well. It can be outright painful to forgo pickpocketing the halfling in Ulgoth's for his ring of free action or gnoll-cheesing Drizzt, but when I manage not to, there's a sense of moral satisfaction I cannot quite rationalize.
So for instance before I installed SCS, I would try not pre-casting anything before going into battle, because "my characters couldn't have known they were about to get into battle." I pre-cast now since enemies do the same on SCS.
No cheesing also means no abusing webs and fireballs for instance, although after having like literally a dozen unused explosive oils/potions in my potion case and 3-4 wands of fire in my inventory, I started using them much more liberally, just not via kiting and stuff. I just reached the maze at the end and still have almost a whole character's inventory full with wands... I should probably increase the game's difficulty settings further to really force me to use all that stuff. Also have tons of powerful potions left over. Same with scrolls.
No unrealistic meta-gaming also means no constant resting, especially if my character is up to an important task. E.g. I just had to make the difficult choice of resting in the maze because the fight with the greater doppelgängers and Sarevok left me quite depleted. I justified it by thinking that Sarevok probably has to rest as well!
Oh, I make an exception for thievery though. Imoen's gotta clear out every house she can find. She just can't help it. :P And for that I do abuse the fact that opening a "guarded" container then quickly exiting the room allows you to escape punishment even if you waltz right back in to do the same thing for the next container.
I keep it interesting simply by embracing roleplaying a specific character for each runthough, and trying to metagame as little as possible. As opposed to having a specific plan for party setup or quest order, I try to just naturally follow what my character would do, only reload when charname dies,, and kind of surpise myself with what the results are.
I'll just make a new character, say a Chaotic evil Human Berserker, I'll say to myself "prideful, violent, unhinged, doesn't like to be controlled, etc. etc." (or whatever) and try to give a little bit of a backstory or motivation. That's it...2 weeks later, I'm hunting sirens with Imoen, Neera has petrified herself, I rebuffed Khalid and Jaheira, and I still haven't gone south of Beregost. Wasn't planning that, but that's just how this playthrough is going.
I'm also trying to go through the saga with every class (including most kit/dual-class combos), so it's nice to have a kinda random playthrough each time.
Okay, so I sometimes stretch it to include having a lock-pick or pcik-pocket fail, too.
Or other things.
Other than that, I'm very strict with it.
Those are mostly rules of people who have been playing for ages and want extra challenges or entertainment. There's no "better" or "less valid" way to play, this is not a competition. So, enjoy the game in whichever way you see fit, and if you ever get bored with it, you can find inspiration here how to spice it up again
Besides, limiting reloads is already quite a challenge if you haven't played the game for 20 years.
Some staple rules are:
-no min max no power gaming. Always core difficult sometimes max HP rolls (neera for example)
-try to roleplay as much as possible. for example when i play druids,rangers i will not fight animals.
-no cheese no metagaming knowledge
-roll the dice and live with it. I do switch some points in charackter creation but no 18,18,18,3,3 stats.
I always try to make the attributes like NPCs or a real human being.
-I view NPCs as real human beings in my rp
-dont rotate gear and armor, why should i wear the armor of another person?
-specific gear for specific npcs... minsc no plate armor for example.
- A lot of the high level arcane stuff is just outright insane imo, like Time Stop. I hate it when enemies like liches use this one against me: breaking a sweat, huge eyes staring at the combat log in fear and loathing, gnashing my teeth, seconds turn to minutes, all the while terrified of which horrible thing that guy might pull off next... never used that one myself. Never even tried and probably never will. I see how this one's probably super easy and strong, but that kind of brutal tension is just something I wouldn't even wish for my worst enemies. Btw: do liches use combat logs
- in a similar vein I avoid all those friendly fire AoE damage spells like Fireball, Skull Trap or all those X-Cloud thingys. Okay, I mainly do it to keep myself (or the AI) from blowing myself up in the thick of battle, but I also never use them in these situations where it might be perfectly easy and safe. Opening some door in a dungeon, throwing some Cloudkill into the next room while your party chills out far away from the danger zone? Lame. This also makes some encounters like that bandit crew in the Athkatla sewers a lot more challenging.
- Haste: after first realizing how strong that one is, I basically used it all the time. Now I see that rest-spamming after every other fight just because Aerie's feet hurt is also pretty lame. So my second party never used haste and kept away from the rest button as much as possible in general. First playthrough? Spent easily way more than 120+ days in chapters 2 and 3 before heading to Spellhold, even if I saved all the hard stuff like dragons, liches or beholders for later. Second playthrough? Arrived in Brynnlaw after merely 2 months, but I had finished just about EVERYTHING beforehand, well, minus Twisted Rune and Watcher's Keep post level 1... and on a sidenote I also learned that Slow can be a perfectly decent replacement spell even if enemies often save against it.
Or when it comes to character generation: if you really want to minmax your stats (I admit I do it all the time), cool, go ahead, but don't just take all those juicy "max" advantages, but also live with the consequences of your "min" disadvantages. Want to dump charname's charisma to 3? Why not, but don't just "sail around" that one by picking one of those 17 charisma companions as party leader. Be the leader yourself. Talk to the people. See how all those commoners want to vomit when they see you. Watch potential companions show the finger to your ugly face. Let the merchants charge you extra, because hey, simply entering their store you might just scare their other customers away^^ my next charname might become some 5 int dumb-dumb, I'd welcome some fun suggestions on how to stay true to that one...
Love the additions to this thread. Yeah, this made me realize that I'm the same, even though I don't have a strict no-haste rule. I'll definitely burn haste scrolls and potions, but almost never memorize on mages. Mainly because it does encourage rest-spamming. And the game experience feels alot more fun without rest spamming.
-One, and only one time in the entire game, use of Raise Dead. Only at Song of the Morning Temple.
-With CONstitution penalty -2.
-Need to carry the body.
-Arrows 3x20, only in the proper stack. No mule. Proper gear.
-Rest in Inn. Or, only if "Fatigue" status. 8 hours.
-Group leveling. Wait to level each member at the same time.
-Average HP + CON bonus (If Cleric, I take 4 HP. If Edwin, I take 2 HP, + 2 CON bonus = 4)
-No fast travels. Areas by areas. Avoid nothing.
-Never memorize twice the same spell.
-Can fail to learn scrolls.
-If companions are archers. Then alright. But not charname.
-No abusive roll during character creation, except more points in CHARISMA (just to unlock quests).
For exemple, Ajantis roll is 88. And this character have this highest total of all companions. Median number is 82. So, good stats must be at maximum:
STR: 16
DEX: 18
CON: 10
INT: 14
WISD: 16
CHAR: 15
total: 89
After all, character is Bhaalspawn. No need for some random guy.
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H.A.R.D.C.O.R.E R.O.L.E P.L.A.Y.I.N.G
yes, also no ankheg, winter wolf pelt...
But those stupid things only appears in Enhanced Edition.
This is one of the most common cheat people use. And even, if this one look pretty innocent to others cheesing strategies; abusing pauses is terribly powerful.
Remember ambush ? When you get surrounded by bandits-archers ?
Even no-reload players admit that in this precise (and unique) case, they sometimes reload if the fight turn bad.
Well, if yourself are AUTO-PAUSING, it means you're doing the same ALL THE TIME, in EVERY SITUATIONS AND FIGHTS.
-During the entire game, you'll automatically start the fight.
-You'll inflict damages to opponent before they even look at you.
-Mages and casters of any kind will be interrupt in most case...
Look. You're playing with a party of 4 (including yourself). You have auto-pause when ennemies on sight.
The ennemies are a group of 5 + 1 caster.
Before even starting the fight, you can put down 2 or 3 of them and badly injured the others.
Cast sleep or Command, shooting arrows...
In your group of 4, half have 2 APR. One have 1 APR. The last one 3/2.
You will start with 8 attacks in advance.
If every attacks inflict (let's pretend 6 damages), then 8x6 = 48 HP
And this number is a small one.
Interesting that you mention containers. For me they're one of the great additions made by the Enhanced Edition. Everyone can decide what to do about it, they're not forced on anyone. You, for example, can decide not to use them. I on the other hand love them, because I prefer to find my challenges in strategy and roleplaying restrictions, not inventory management.
Making tough decisions to KEEP SOMETHING OR TO THROW IT AWAY is one of them.
No need to think about anything vital for your survive if you just have to put everything inside an infinite bag. Especially if this bag completely annihilate any notions of weight.
Traveling without any disadvantage to be overload is not role-playing for me.
"yee, let's ride the Sword Coast over and over. I don't care, I have a magic bag, to carry thousands of potions in it. And another for every stones, gems, scrolls. And a belt with infinite arrows"
Have you ever heard this question: "What 3 things would you take on a desert island ?"
For me, this is role-playing.
Thinking carefully about what you have. Especially when what you have; you won it.
Looting dead ennemies is much more strategical. You have to make choices. Things, that you cannot carry with you. Because, no empty space for it. Because it's too heavy. Some of your companions are tougher. Their strength make them more valuable to your group.
It's a pain sometimes. You have to let things behind.
Losing someone of your group also mean: What from his stuff do I really need to carry myself now ?
Imagine, you're on a warzone. It's a very important point for every soldier. My gear. How to preserve it. How to make the best use of it. How to be cautious.
Believe me, when you travel from Beregost to the Cloakwood mines; after running out of arrows, it's such a relief to get some arrows on the dead body of a kobold.
Well, if you can travel with billions of arrows and other stuff. You probably never think about it.
Eh. I've played both ways. I have had no-reload or minimal reload runs where I had to travel back from Cloakwood or Durlag's Tower with so many dead party members that I had to decide what to take and what to leave behind, had to sell stuff that I was actually using to be able to pay for Raise Dead, then traveled back with severely underequipped companions, got waylaid by the circle of 10 bandit archers and had to go back to Raise someone again, selling more essential stuff... only to arrive at Durlag's and find out I had left some of the equipment on the floor instead of hiding it in a container, so that a few really important things had vanished again...
Let's just say it was a challenge, and it was interesting to think about how to overcome it, but to do this all the time would kill the fun for me. Things like "Imagine in a warzone IRL" don't do it for me, as I find it hard where to draw the line with realism. To me, a magical container isn't less "realistic" than a potion that instantly restores health or a spell that makes me invisible to sneak past my enemies.
Also, if we're talking about realism in inventory management, a scroll or a ring takes up as much inventory space as a full plate mail.
I'm not saying I disagree with your choices, more power to you I guess, I just say it's important to remember that there are so many different ways to play, all of them have their justification, and there is no better or less valid way to play.
The first reason we play games is to have fun, after all, and everyone has different ideas of what fun means, just as some people prefer to lie in the sun during a holiday and others climb mountains.
Also, I guess your claim of "those stupid things exist only in Enhanced Edition" made me want to point out their positive sides, because I love the Enhanced Editions and want to defend them
I think all additions are great if they give you the choice to either use them or not.
But this is not the first time that this question come to my mind.
Before I go further with you;
are you in some way relative to Beamdog, or any content to Baldur's Gate ?
I mean, are you working for them ?
No. First and foremost I'm a member of this forum, who likes these games. My opinions are entirely my own.
Secondly, I belong to the volunteers of the moderation team of this forum. We don't work for Beamdog, we don't get paid and we're not in any way obligated to advertise the games or whatever.
But my love for these games is why I joined the forum in the first place, so if I read opinions about the Enhanced Editions that I disagree with (and that everyone is free to express, of course), I add my own opinion with an explanation why I think differently. By that I don't mean to say that you're wrong or not allowed to say that, just that I have a different perspective.
If you're on PC or use the full site version on mobile, you can recognize moderators by their grey background. Developers or those who are both have a blue background in their posts.
You can also see it when you click on somebody's name to see their profile. Where it says "member", it says "member, moderator" or "member, developer" etc.
Still, the conclusion remains: Opinions voiced are the person's, unless a post or message is clearly declared as moderation.
I am truly thankful to Beamdog for revamping this game and getting me interested in fantasy role-playing. I am now spending my free time planning character designs, team compositions etc and find it way too much fun than an FPS or Open-world RPG.
I can understand if people have been playing the original saga for a decade or two and find the EE to be "cash grab" or "not respecting the intended design", or whatever criticism they want to make, and that's their opinion. But I don't agree with calling a game design as "stupid".
Certain game mechanics are viewed QoL by some, and an "easy way out" by others. I don't think there are any forced mechanics that make the game easier. It's mostly optional like containers, AI difficulty, HP rolls, Auto-Pause etc.
W.r.t the topic, my only imposed rule is there are no rules, and as long as I am having fun, anything goes