Assassin->Mage Playthrough - Need Advice
Ancalagon44
Member Posts: 252
Hey guys,
An idea for a playthrough popped into my head this morning. I wanted to share it with you guys and then I need some advice - specifically on alignment.
Some spoilers below, you have been warned!
Okay so my idea was, what about a "humourous" playthrough in which the protagonist is a selfish, evil Assassin who really takes after his father - in other words, a cold blooded murder. However, at the same time, he appears to be a very charming and agreeable fellow. People die - a lot - in his presence, but somehow blame can never be pinpointed on him.
So, it would be a solo runthrough, except where he needs a bit of help. Here is the kicker though - every NPC who appears in BG1, and who does not appear in BG2, must die an "accidental death". He is the spawn of the God of Murder after all, and does actually want to take his father's place. He could add them to the party, give them a cursed weapon, and then send them into battle, for instance. Retreating to a safe distance to watch the fun perhaps.
Because the purpose of the playthrough would be more about the hilarity of the creative deaths rather than the difficulty, it would be a Core difficulty as many reloads as you like playthrough.
My question was actually about the characters alignment. You see, to me, he seems Neutral Evil. He is selfish in the extreme, and would use and all means to get what he wants - notably to become the next Lord of Murder. At the beginning of BG1, he would not be aware of what he is, but he would know he is a compulsion to murder.
However, selecting Neutral Evil presents a conundrum in that other characters are not supposed to be aware that he really is a cold blooded murdering bastard. People should die around him but he should have plausible deniability. "It wasn't my fault that she picked up that Halberd that she isn't proficient in and charge that Ogre".
Thoughts on this playthrough? Is this something you guys would want to read or follow?
EDIT: Would probably dual him to mage in BG2 at some point, either at Levels 13, 17 or 21. Would be nice to have UAI.
Oh and metagaming totally allowed. I'm normally an extreme powergamer, so this would be the most RP playthrough I would have ever done. But, I don't see the point in not using metagaming knowledge.
An idea for a playthrough popped into my head this morning. I wanted to share it with you guys and then I need some advice - specifically on alignment.
Some spoilers below, you have been warned!
Okay so my idea was, what about a "humourous" playthrough in which the protagonist is a selfish, evil Assassin who really takes after his father - in other words, a cold blooded murder. However, at the same time, he appears to be a very charming and agreeable fellow. People die - a lot - in his presence, but somehow blame can never be pinpointed on him.
So, it would be a solo runthrough, except where he needs a bit of help. Here is the kicker though - every NPC who appears in BG1, and who does not appear in BG2, must die an "accidental death". He is the spawn of the God of Murder after all, and does actually want to take his father's place. He could add them to the party, give them a cursed weapon, and then send them into battle, for instance. Retreating to a safe distance to watch the fun perhaps.
Because the purpose of the playthrough would be more about the hilarity of the creative deaths rather than the difficulty, it would be a Core difficulty as many reloads as you like playthrough.
My question was actually about the characters alignment. You see, to me, he seems Neutral Evil. He is selfish in the extreme, and would use and all means to get what he wants - notably to become the next Lord of Murder. At the beginning of BG1, he would not be aware of what he is, but he would know he is a compulsion to murder.
However, selecting Neutral Evil presents a conundrum in that other characters are not supposed to be aware that he really is a cold blooded murdering bastard. People should die around him but he should have plausible deniability. "It wasn't my fault that she picked up that Halberd that she isn't proficient in and charge that Ogre".
Thoughts on this playthrough? Is this something you guys would want to read or follow?
EDIT: Would probably dual him to mage in BG2 at some point, either at Levels 13, 17 or 21. Would be nice to have UAI.
Oh and metagaming totally allowed. I'm normally an extreme powergamer, so this would be the most RP playthrough I would have ever done. But, I don't see the point in not using metagaming knowledge.
3
Comments
I think you can do better than having your party members do blatantly ridiculous things like attacking ogres with weapons they don't know how to use, at least without explanation. It'll be more fun if you make up stories about how you tricked each of them into getting themselves killed, preferably with more elaborate stories for NPCs who have high INT or WIS.
I'll have to think about some more plausible deniability deaths. Having the ability to cast Domination or even Charm Person would help in this regard I guess.
Regarding alignment, you could also choose LE and portrait him as a scheeming, devious, but very smart character who knows how to use society's laws and regulations to his full benefit. Hiding behind laws when needed, finding loopholes and slightly circumventing them when possible.
And regarding coming up with funny deaths, you could play it out as if your charname pit different NPC's against eachother. Like having a thief pickpocket a good character then having someone like Ajantis see it and feeling 'forced' to kill the thief NPC. Then you pit the other crew against Ajantis because he killed the thief. It would be quite devious indeed to sow that kind of distrust and chaos within your own party.
Having Minsc killing a team member by letting Charname agitate him 'til he goes completely berzerk and looses control could be another way.
Sending someone in, say a cleric, with sanctuary or a thief with invis to 'scout', then perhaps your charname just happens to dispel that sanctuary(invis and suddenly your party member finds him/herself completely sorrounded. Your charname and the rest of the party have to watch in despair while the party member is torn into pieces by the enemies.
Damn I have a full work day ahead of me!
I thought of names for him - either Redrum or Laahb. Probably Laahb.
The thing is, the following characters would have to survive (that I can think of)
Minsc
Jaheira
Khalid
Dynaheir
Safana
Xzar
Montaron
Drizzt
Imoen
Ajantis
Unless I just disregard canon and murder them anyway....
My RP justification is that I am the protagonist's patron. When he was 15, I started whispering to him. I told him he was destined for greater things, and all he needed to do was listen to me and do some things in return.
After he leaves Candlekeep, the Death List below will be provided to him. Every name on that list needs to die such that blame will be pointed elsewhere (or nowhere).
The Death List
Alora
Branwen
Eldoth
Kagain
Kivan
Shar-Teel
Skie
Xan
Yeslick
@joluv And Neera, Dorn, Rasaad and Baeloth. This playthrough will allow me to experience their quests, which is quite cool.
I've also decided that Minsc will be on the safe list, even in BG2.
Well I needed a way to explain why certain people should die and certain people should not die.
EDIT: I've been thinking about dual classing, and I think I'm going to dual at level 13. I don't want to spend half of the game without my assassin abilities. Hopefully I can gain a lot of experience quickly after dualling. Scrolls will help.
"Heed my words, and I will lead you to glory", the voice in my head had said. Hard to believe that was 5 years ago now.
It had started as a whisper. I thought it was just my mind playing tricks on me. But, the whispers grew louder. More insistent. I couldn't ignore them. It was just one voice, whispering to me, telling me how important I was. That I was destined for more than just Candlekeep.
I learned to trust the voice. Everything it said came true, after a fashion. The voice said I could become as powerful as a god. All I had to do was follow its directions. So I did. I listened, and I waited.
Eventually, events forced me out of the relative safety of Candlekeep - Gorion's murder and the attempt on my own life. I felt... sadness at Gorion's death. He was.... the closest thing I had to a father. Although what I felt for him could hardly be described as love, one develops a certain familiarity with people one has known a long time. Besides, he had a lot of knowledge I wished to learn from him. He never did approve of my interest in the darker arts, such as poison, but neither could he say no to my requests for knowledge. I knew how to twist my words to get what I wanted.
That night, I had a vision from the Voice. In it, the names of 9 people flashed before my eyes. The Voice spoke, booming inside my head louder than thunder.
"Each name on that list needs to die. But, your hands need to be clean. Make sure nobody will suspect you of any involvement in their deaths. You must travel alone, save for those who are to die, and 3 others - Neera, Dorn and Rassad. Only those may assist you, and only for a short while.
Gather resources. Gather allies. Use who you need. Discard who you do not. Make the people love you with the deeds they know about, while serving your true master with the deeds they do not know about."
I awoke the next morning, and my path was clear. I could not travel with Imoen, but I needed some of her gear. I implored her for it, telling her how in danger I was. I managed to convince her how desperate I was, and she gave me her belongings. Fool.
I travelled to the Friendly Arm Inn as Gorion had suggested, and met Jaheira there. What an insufferable know-it-all! Good thing the Voice has forbidden me from travelling with her. She mentioned the Nashkel mine - seems as good a place as any to head to.
I reached Beregost, and who should I find? Kagain, a name on my Death List. And Neera, one who I may travel with. I had previously accepted a task to kill some spiders - I was hoping he might get bitten, that I may "accidentally" drop the antidote and break the bottle. However, Neera, irritatingly enough, cast a single colour spray that knocked all of the spiders unconscious immediately. I took it with good grace and we promptly dispatched the spiders.
However, I was to have the last laugh. Before leaving Beregost, I noticed a faint crack on Kagain's axe. I smiled a knowing smile to myself, but said nothing. We headed for the high hedge, to fetch a short sword belonging to some idiot halfling. On the way there, I managed to "accidentally" shoot an arrow at a cave bear. Kagain rushed to defend us by attacking the bear, and oh what a pity, his axe broke. He was left with its pieces in his hand. I saw a look of horror on his hand, and nearly laughed! But I managed to keep my silence as the cave bear bashed Kagain's head in with one blow. Poor Kagain. Neera was shocked, but I convinced her to carry on the fight. We finished off the cave bear together. Neera was weeping gently, and I did my best to console her. Meanwhile, inside, I was smiling like a loon, knowing I had ticked the first one off the list.
Comment from me:
I was going to try think of a more creative way for Kagain to die, but, opportunity presented itself, and I took it.
(A pretty insane stat roll as well.)