Dilemma n°1: Gearing up in Candlekeep
Vicissitude
Member Posts: 47
I've been considering doing a series of threads about decisions we have to make throughout the game, not necessarily plot points.
The idea is that we have different ways of thinking which, in turn, beget different moral standpoints. I'm interested in how a single event can be analyzed multiple ways. Opportunity costs and pragmatism will also be factors in these discussions, so it's basically telling what is your thought process for whatever dilemma I pose. If my endeavor pleases you, I'll keep making threads. Needless to say there will be spoilers ahead! Now that's out of the way, let's jump into it!
My first example will be your first mission, as in “Find Gorion”. Here's the journal entry:
Gorion, my foster father, has informed me that we must immediately leave Candlekeep and set out on a journey. He has given me some gold, and I must purchase supplies for the road, including weapons and armor.
Now, if you pay attention, there's sort of a contradiction. On one hand, it's explicitly said that you're in a big hurry. On the other hand, you're asked to gear up extensively which costs money you don't necessarily have. Unless you roll a nice gold start, you're very likely to be broke. Let's assume you don't roll well and that you're gear-dependent (if you're a warrior for instance), you'll have to spend time gathering coins so you're properly ready. This leads you to make a choice:
A – Hear out the sense of hurry and rush to buy whatever basics you can spare before you return to Gorion asap. This way, the prologue is only a few minutes long. This will give you the bare minimum equipment which is dangerous. This also implies that you'll skip side quests because you're out of time. Notably, you'll have to turn down the Gatewarden who might give you valuable advice (well, Obe will) for whatever comes next. Ironically, he was asked by Gorion to give you lessons, the same Gorion that tells you that time is of the essence! I'll quote the Gatewarden when you decline his offer:
"Are ye sure, little one? It would be best ye took the time to learn it now rather than curse yer ignorance later. Gorion himself arsked me to do this deed and I'll not offer it to ye twice."
B – Disregard the warning that you should hurry and fulfil the quests plus accepting the training so you're all set. However, by doing so, you're likely to meet one of your assassins or both. This, again, leads you to make yet another choice: Rush to Gorion as soon as the first attempt is made or keep working to be properly geared up regardless. If you decide to abort your stroll in Candlekeep after meeting Carbos or Shank, you're choosing B. If not, you're choosing C.
C – If you keep doing all side quests no matter the assassination attempts and the many warnings that you should hurry (Firebead gives you another one if you return his scroll, for instance), congratulations! You're one persistent son of a... god.
Now it's up to you! What's the right thing to do and why?
The idea is that we have different ways of thinking which, in turn, beget different moral standpoints. I'm interested in how a single event can be analyzed multiple ways. Opportunity costs and pragmatism will also be factors in these discussions, so it's basically telling what is your thought process for whatever dilemma I pose. If my endeavor pleases you, I'll keep making threads. Needless to say there will be spoilers ahead! Now that's out of the way, let's jump into it!
My first example will be your first mission, as in “Find Gorion”. Here's the journal entry:
Gorion, my foster father, has informed me that we must immediately leave Candlekeep and set out on a journey. He has given me some gold, and I must purchase supplies for the road, including weapons and armor.
Now, if you pay attention, there's sort of a contradiction. On one hand, it's explicitly said that you're in a big hurry. On the other hand, you're asked to gear up extensively which costs money you don't necessarily have. Unless you roll a nice gold start, you're very likely to be broke. Let's assume you don't roll well and that you're gear-dependent (if you're a warrior for instance), you'll have to spend time gathering coins so you're properly ready. This leads you to make a choice:
A – Hear out the sense of hurry and rush to buy whatever basics you can spare before you return to Gorion asap. This way, the prologue is only a few minutes long. This will give you the bare minimum equipment which is dangerous. This also implies that you'll skip side quests because you're out of time. Notably, you'll have to turn down the Gatewarden who might give you valuable advice (well, Obe will) for whatever comes next. Ironically, he was asked by Gorion to give you lessons, the same Gorion that tells you that time is of the essence! I'll quote the Gatewarden when you decline his offer:
"Are ye sure, little one? It would be best ye took the time to learn it now rather than curse yer ignorance later. Gorion himself arsked me to do this deed and I'll not offer it to ye twice."
B – Disregard the warning that you should hurry and fulfil the quests plus accepting the training so you're all set. However, by doing so, you're likely to meet one of your assassins or both. This, again, leads you to make yet another choice: Rush to Gorion as soon as the first attempt is made or keep working to be properly geared up regardless. If you decide to abort your stroll in Candlekeep after meeting Carbos or Shank, you're choosing B. If not, you're choosing C.
C – If you keep doing all side quests no matter the assassination attempts and the many warnings that you should hurry (Firebead gives you another one if you return his scroll, for instance), congratulations! You're one persistent son of a... god.
Now it's up to you! What's the right thing to do and why?
Post edited by Vicissitude on
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Comments
If you grab what you can and leave in a few minutes, you'll meet Imoen on the road at the exact same time as if you had done all the chores, loitered around breaking into unwatched chests, and had a nap.
Sure, Gorion says it's urgent. But charname is young, and who at that age really listens to their parents? So, not convinced by the urgency in Gorion's voice (sure, whatever, dad), and decidedly disappointed in the spending money he has given me, I decide to raise a little more coin to get better gear. I do so until I run into my first assassination attempt, at which point I'm now convinced that Gorion's warning is no joke, and I hurry to get out of there.
For a good charname this means one last run to the inn to buy stuff that may save my life. An evil charname will do one last run through the inn, breaking open chests in desperation in order to get as much money as possible, but I RP that I'm doing so in a real hurry.
If I am attempting to RP this section of the game I tell myself that all the fetching and carrying and training quests happen in the days leading up to Gorion telling me that we have to leave in a hurry. If I am playing a mage I can even convince myself that the encounters with Shank and Carbos don't immediately cause Gorion to decide we must leave. This I find is necessary because I have usually used all my spells killing them so I want to rest an rememorise my spells before setting off into the unknown.
I think the answer is pretty much the same for every flaw/oddity/inconsistency withing the game: it's a video game, whatever doesn't add up needs your imagination to make up for it.
We compensate on a regular basis without even knowing it sometimes. Heck, haven't you noticed the game freezes whenever you enter a conversation? Yet, the dialogue goes on. Meanwhile, if someone was walking that's too bad for him, he'll to wait until the end of the conversation before he finishes stepping. Oh and the water stops flowing too. How odd is that for a disconnect between dialogue and mechanics? Well, we just pretend it didn't happen.
Of course the game will give you Imoen regardless of how much time to take to leave Candlekeep, it's up to you to imagine she wouldn't have been there if you hadn't hurried up and vice versa. It's open to interpretation, which is why it's interesting.
To be fair, there are other (good) explanations.
First, he might not be interested in wealth. He does fit the profile if you think about it. Although he's not a monk with a clear vow of poverty, I can easily picture him living in small quarters with lots of books on the shelves and dust everywhere. No fancy clothes, no Mercedes waiting in the garage, just the basic stuff so he can study in peace. Just because he doesn't pile up coins doesn't mean he failed as a wizard, don't you think?
Second, it's possible he uses the money he has for Candlekeep. The game does hint that he has authority withing these walls which might call for a sense of responsibility. He might have been a bit short on money after spending a fair amount of gold for whatever reason before you need him, like bad timing. He's altruistic enough to do such things.
The reason is that it is always night when you run into the ambush, no matter what time you left, despite the fact it isn't that far from Candlekeep. Leaving at dusk actually makes more sense story-wise anyway.
If you are playing a thief you can actually get some XP by going down into the training area and opening a couple of chests there. If I am soloing as a thief I always do it to get as much starting XP as I can.
Also, if you're a LN mage or LN multi-classed mage with Find Familiar, you can use your ferret to pickpocket your teammates' stuff. Easy way to get a free plate mail, a +1 small shield, a wand of flame strike, a couple of potions and a few other knickknacks. It also works as CN (?) or TN (?) but the rabbit in particular has a really low pickpocket score so it takes an annoyingly long time for that bunny to do the job!
That would actually be a good mini-mod right there - add a single scroll of Find Familiar somewhere in Candlekeep, so starting mages can get it right out of the chute.
For a sorcerer I wouldn't take it myself, but even there I can see an argument for doing so - particularly if you're not intending to do the Nashkel mines for a while to open up access to Nimbul's scroll.
It does drop your Con.