Keria and Kord head to Baldur's Gate
Zeno_42
Member Posts: 137
It occurred to me recently while writing up and rendering characters on my web site that two of my characters had back stories that fit very, very well for Baldur's Gate. And since I haven't run through BG in years, I figured it was time for another go.
I've got a few quest and NPC mods going, but the biggest new one for me is Talents of Faerun (minus the stat and race mods).
There's bigger write-ups and renderings of both these characters, their backstories, and how they fit into BG on my website (ZenosZiggurat). Below is the short-and-sweet.
Keira and Kord head to Baldur's Gate
Keira - CG Half-Elf Thief (Shadowdancer)
The protagonist. A half-elf who doesn't quite know what her parentage is beyond that it appears to come with more than a little influence over the shadows. Somewhat of a thrill-seeker who has grown up getting into trouble with Imoen and coming to Kord to get out of it.
Kord - LG Half-Orc Fighter (Berserker)
Another orphan. Grew up with Winfred, then joined the Candle Keep guard when old enough. Essentially big brother to Keira and Imoen, and tries very hard *not* to be a stereotypical Orc. But has that Orcish rage lurking underneath when someone *really* gets under his skin.
Imoen as Keira's partner in crime, and Kord's "baby sister". Will dual to Mage early to honor Gorion.
Jaheira as team-mom
Khalid as the the team diplomat who smooths out conflicts
And an open slot for folks like Minsc and Branwen to come and go with quests, until it probably ultimately gets filled by Yeslick. Although Drake NPC, Branwen, and Coran are also all possibilities. I'll just have to see who ends up gelling with the others the best.
Young Keira and Imoen up to no good
Imoen teasing Kord on his first day in the guard
Teen Keira and Kord hanging out
And off they go!
I've got a few quest and NPC mods going, but the biggest new one for me is Talents of Faerun (minus the stat and race mods).
There's bigger write-ups and renderings of both these characters, their backstories, and how they fit into BG on my website (ZenosZiggurat). Below is the short-and-sweet.
Keira and Kord head to Baldur's Gate
Keira - CG Half-Elf Thief (Shadowdancer)
The protagonist. A half-elf who doesn't quite know what her parentage is beyond that it appears to come with more than a little influence over the shadows. Somewhat of a thrill-seeker who has grown up getting into trouble with Imoen and coming to Kord to get out of it.
Kord - LG Half-Orc Fighter (Berserker)
Another orphan. Grew up with Winfred, then joined the Candle Keep guard when old enough. Essentially big brother to Keira and Imoen, and tries very hard *not* to be a stereotypical Orc. But has that Orcish rage lurking underneath when someone *really* gets under his skin.
Imoen as Keira's partner in crime, and Kord's "baby sister". Will dual to Mage early to honor Gorion.
Jaheira as team-mom
Khalid as the the team diplomat who smooths out conflicts
And an open slot for folks like Minsc and Branwen to come and go with quests, until it probably ultimately gets filled by Yeslick. Although Drake NPC, Branwen, and Coran are also all possibilities. I'll just have to see who ends up gelling with the others the best.
Young Keira and Imoen up to no good
Imoen teasing Kord on his first day in the guard
Teen Keira and Kord hanging out
And off they go!
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Tweaked my portraitfor Minsc to get a bit more of the brighter BG vibe - my defaults are geared more towards IWD:
Keira and Minsc do river parkour:
Keria and Kord have finished up the mines with Branwen helping out, and then headed back up to Bergerost to take care of business there. Tranzig went down in a single Keira backstab. So much for that fight. They said their farewells to Branwen, and then took Drake up on his offer to help hunt down Bassilus. He actually made the fight harder by jumping before we could lay the family to rest, but it didn't make that much difference in the end. Not sure how well Drake will work out with this crew. A little hot-headed, a little sour. But the other recent adventurers they met were Kivan and Rasaad, Kivan they weren't at all sure they could trust his judgement given his blood feud with Tazok. And Rasaad just didn't gel well with Keira or Kord personality wise. So we'll see. Perhaps they'll meet Ajantis and see how that works out before bandit hunting.
Kord is a beast all by himself, as expected. And - surprisingly enough - Keira is having no trouble holding on to second place despite being a single class shadow-dancer. Once her stealth got good enough to repeatably hide-in-plain-sight to both shed attackers and set up backstabs she quickly became a major contributor. Particularly in picking off dangerous mages and such. I've never been one to pay much attention to backstabbing, but her effectiveness is making me rethink that.
Yeslick has fit in with the group very well, slotting in as the grand-father figure opposite Jaheira. A source of far more laid back and gentle advice. He's also been pretty handy with the hammer. Maybe not quite as ridiculously overpowered as an archer-specced Kivan, but I like the cohesion of the group better with him.
The action scenes are so hard to get.
1) Keira - two weapon, short swords/scimitars/wakizashis. Set to "aggressive thief" script - so in general at the start I just click to have her move behind the largest threat and she auto-backstabs from there. If in trouble she can use shadowstep or hide to shed attention, potions or Bhaal powers to heal herself, and then move behind somebody backstab again, and get back to the fray.
2) Kord - generally 2H weapons, but with sword and shield as a backup when there's lots of archers around. Runs in, kicks butt, pops berserk if we're in trouble or we have to deal with charms/stuns/etc.
3) Khalid - specced as an archer with longsword backup. Job is generally "make the most threatening spellcaster a pincushion"
4) Jaheira - specced for club and shield. She has a sling, but rarely uses it. Starts off with spells if circumstances call for it, otherwise charges in with Kord. May be called upon to dispel/deal with magic threats instead.
5) Imoen - specced for bow. Thief->Mage. Generally pulls the same assignment as Khalid, but may prefer spellcasting over plinking with a shortbow depending on the opposition.
6) Yeslick - specced for hammer and/or flail and shield. Generally charges in with Kord, but may toss out a buff or two at the beginning and may be called upon to react to magical threats with dispel/etc.
Items pretty well spread out, with Kord/Keira/Yeslick/Jaheira heavier on the AC items since they're more often in the thick of things.
Obviously in big boss fights, mage fights, etc. I may deviate, but for most combats all I have to do is pick the initial deployment/targets and toss out a spell or two if needed. Possibly issue a tactical retreat to avoid AOE's and let the enemy come to me instead.
They tried to retreat from the library:
Got cornered, and imprisoned:
Then escaped to fight their way through catacombs:
Now its back to the city to have it out with the Iron Throne once and for all!
Charging into battle:
Keira taking her shot from behind:
Recovering after victory (which I imagined to be harder fought than it actually was):
Keira and Kord complete BG1
Kord: NG (LG not available) half-orc berserker, 19/18/19/9/3/18: long sword, sword+shield, spear and crossbow.
Keira: CG half-elf shadowdancer, 18/18/18/9/10/18: short sword and short bow, +30 pt added to Hide in Shadows. 🥷
After beating Shank and sleeping, the couple started the epic fight with Candlekeep rats! 🐀🐀🐀😸
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/82793/bwahaha-awesome-candlekeeps-rats-on-lob
Irenicus, they're coming for *you*!
Keira - CG Half-Elf Thief (Shadowdancer)
S 13, D 19, C 15, I 14, W 12, Ch 14
Keira is now a little older, a little wiser, and a lot more capable with her shadow powers. Her stats have also grown a bit from tomes and such in BG & SoD. And she is absolutely hellbent on recovering her "sister" and making sure Irenicus never interferes in her life again. Figuring out what to do with her Bhaal connection is secondary for the moment.
Kord - LG Half-Orc Fighter (Berserker)
S 19, D 12, C 16, I 13, W 13, Ch 13
Kord has also grown up and filled out a little. He's now 24, battle-hardened, and has seen a lot more of the world than his first days out of Candlekeep. He's still the more idealistic of the two, but its now more of an aspirational idealism than a naive faith. He's seen too much to think the world really works that way, he just wants it to. He has also grown stronger through use of tomes.
He's pretty determined now. He was a born protector, and someone is messing with his *family*. He *will* get Imoen back, and then Irenicus *will* regret it.
Thanks! Important change in my gameplay: I restarted with Keira as Bounty Hunter (instead of Shadow Dancer). I wanna play the beginning honestly, beating basic LoB monsters with my duo of level 1 without cheesy tactics. However, Shadowdancer of levels 1-4 totally sucks on LoB difficulty.
Also, I changed weapon proficiencies for Kord: 2 pips for long swords and 2 pips for sword+shield. It makes Kord+Keira a very efficient fighting duo in open areas.
Tactics: Keira put up to 7 traps and special snares, then go to attract monsters, special snares slow down enemies. Kord, changing to berserk, goes into melee ⚔️ while Keira uses her shortbow. 🏹