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Making your own team in Baldur's Gate.

SionIVSionIV Member Posts: 2,689
Do you ever make your own team when you play Baldur's Gate?

If someone ask what the difference is between Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate, most people will start with saying that in IWD you create your own team, and in Baldur's Gate you have NPC's that join you. But do any of you create your own team in Baldur's Gate as well?

I've completed the Baldur's Gate trilogy so many times with the NPC's that I know most of their dialogues, have done all the romances and know their ending slide in ToB by heart. It's interesting how you change the way you play the game as you get more experienced with it. I used to play mostly solo back in the days, a few years later I didn't enjoy playing solo anymore and picked up a few NPC's, mostly 4-5 but never a full 6 man team. Now the last year I've started to make my own teams (ala Icewind Dale) and give my characters their own background and history.

Right now I have two no-reload games that I'm jumping between, my Cavalier game where I'm using NPC's, and my Undead Hunter where I've created my own team. I happen to enjoy Undead Hunters and Clerics, so I've made yet another Lathander Team that focuses on destroying the undead. I also edited their colors in BG:EE keeper, so that everyone have the Priest of Lathander color setup.

1.) Undead Hunter, Male, Half-Elf. ** Bastard Sword, ** Sword and Shield Style.
2.) Undead Hunter, Female, Half-Elf. ** Two Handed Sword, ** Two Handed Weapon Style.
3.) Priest of Lathander, Male, Dwarf. * Sling, * Sword and Shield Style.
4.) Fighter/Thief, Female, Halfling. ** Crossbow, ** Quarter Staff.
5.) Skald, Female, Human. * Dart, * Dagger.

I don't mind my CHARNAME being a bit more powerful stat wise (he is a bhaalspawn), but I try to make the others a bit more realistic, compared to the normal NPC's you find.

Priest of Lathander, Male, Dwarf. (85)

STR - 17
DEX - 12
CON - 17
INT - 11
WIS - 18
CHA - 9

Fighter/Thief, Female, Halfling. (83)

STR - 15
DEX - 19
CON - 16
INT - 10
WIS - 9
CHA - 12

Undead Hunter, Female, Half-Elf. (92)

STR - 16
DEX - 18
CON - 17
INT - 11
WIS - 13
CHA - 17

Anyone else make their own teams? They don't have any dialogues, which can be a bit bland, but with a good imagination and fantasy, you're able to make your team come alive, without the dialogues popping up on your screen. It's also nice that you get all your characters from the start, so you don't have to spend time trying to reach them.



GoturalAbelJuliusBorisov

Comments

  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    I alternate between creating my own characters and using the original NPCs. The former lets me try out lots of new things, while the latter is a bit more familiar and more colorful.
    SionIVGoturalJuliusBorisov
  • VitorVitor Member Posts: 288
    I always play with NPCs... In truth, I wanted that Icewind Dale had joinable NPCs :/
    GoturalJuliusBorisov
  • SionIVSionIV Member Posts: 2,689
    Vitor said:

    I always play with NPCs... In truth, I wanted that Icewind Dale had joinable NPCs :/

    There is : http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.phpoption=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=174&Itemid=122

    If you haven't tried it out yet?
    VitorsemiticgoddessGoturalJuliusBorisov
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    Icewind Dale II also has an NPC mod. The gnome they have is adorable.
    SionIV
  • GoturalGotural Member Posts: 1,229
    I did it in the past and I plan to do it again in the future when SoD will come out.
    I think it is a very cool thing to do with a lot of possibilities that aren't possibles otherwise, it lets you try some nices combos.

    At the moment I am planning a full 6 man party to go through the whole sage with SCS - Insane - Tactics - Ascension - etc- in the new Legacy of Bhaal mode, it will be super fun !
    I know I will play a F/M/T and a Bard (still undecided for the kit, it depends on Rogue Rebalancing) but I am still thinking about the rest of the team.
    SionIVJuliusBorisov
  • GoturalGotural Member Posts: 1,229

    I usually make my own team in BG2, but using the story NPCs. I just edit them to be whatever I want them to be, so I can enjoy powergaming and RP/story both at the same time.

    This has to be the best idea ever.
    JuliusBorisov
  • SionIVSionIV Member Posts: 2,689
    edited December 2015

    I usually make my own team in BG2, but using the story NPCs. I just edit them to be whatever I want them to be, so I can enjoy powergaming and RP/story both at the same time.

    I sometimes do this to change their classes, I don't normally touch their stats. I turn Mazzy into a paladin or Fighter/Rogue, Viconia into a Rogue/Cleric and Valygar into a Fighter -> Rogue.
  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,211
    Gotural said:

    This has to be the best idea ever.

    If you're more interested, check out the thread I made for it.
    GoturalJuliusBorisov
  • GallowglassGallowglass Member Posts: 3,356
    SionIV said:

    Do you ever make your own team when you play Baldur's Gate?

    Each to their own, but I've never found this an attractive idea.

    Obviously I've done IWD with a self-made team, but I find that I much prefer BG for two main reasons. Firstly, I enjoy the interaction with NPC companions, and secondly, I've found that I quite enjoy the added challenge of figuring out how to build a strong team out of those available rather than the optimised selection of classes and abilities which I could roll for myself. Both of these factors help to make my BG companions feel much more "real" to me than a self-made team in IWD. But YMMV.
  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,211
    It's definitely always up to you what you do. But personally, I just find the constraints of the NPC class/stat setups to be too limiting in the long run. Maybe it's because I've played this for 10 years, but I've just basically gone through all the combinations. Customizing the NPCs to be what I want opens up a whole new dimension of party possibilities.

    I do definitely agree though that the NPC banter is very entertaining, and I don't want to miss it; hence me "grafting" custom characters onto the game NPCs, getting the best of both worlds.
    SionIVGoturalEmpyrialJuliusBorisov
  • SkatanSkatan Member, Moderator Posts: 5,352
    Never tried a full 6-man party of selfmade CHARNAMEs, but I've played single MP-games with 1-3 made characters. I had a thing for twins for a while, and liked to create a pair of charnames. Sometimes they were identical and sometimes they were slightly opposite. A really interresting run was with a wildmage and sorceress: the wildmage was the protagonist; wild, reckless, chaotic but charismatic. Her sister was calm, neutral and followed her sister while trying to guide her through the path of goodness. Also played another pair or twin siblings, a stalker and an archer. That time though, it was because I just couldn't decide which one I wanted to play next, so I created both at the same time. They had identical stats, background and even similar portraits I found through google.
    JuliusBorisovEmpyrial
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    Gotural said:


    At the moment I am planning a full 6 man party to go through the whole sage with SCS - Insane - Tactics - Ascension - etc- in the new Legacy of Bhaal mode, it will be super fun !

    I'd like to mention, @Gotural, that right now, BGEE doesn't support the Legacy of Bhaal (Nightmare) mode, it can work only in BG2EE. It's a wonderful idea, but I guess we have to wait till the next patch for BGEE, to be able to start this run through the saga.
    Gotural
  • GoturalGotural Member Posts: 1,229
    True. I'm waiting for SoD to come out :smile:
    JuliusBorisov
  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,211
    edited December 2015
    Gotural said:


    At the moment I am planning a full 6 man party to go through the whole sage with SCS - Insane - Tactics - Ascension - etc- in the new Legacy of Bhaal mode, it will be super fun !

    Can we just keep calling it Hard as Bhaals? Please? Pretty please?
    Kilivitz
  • DragonKingDragonKing Member Posts: 1,977
    My team.

    me
    Viconia
    Sendai
    Phaere
    Adalon
    Neera
    semiticgoddess
  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 5,975
    I say that I make my own team at least 85% of the time, I don't even read npc dialogues anymore and I play this game like a complete robot, plus I am a silly power gamer and basically I just play to see either how much money I can have at the end of the game, or how fast I can do every quest possible while uncovering all the fog of war, and then when I get to the end of ToB im curious to see how powerful I have made them, and lucky for me, im really lazy when I play, so at times my pcs will die just the same, so I think its all good, although at the moment im playing a single player game right now with complete canon npcs, and when I hit SoA I plan to continue the canon run and see how bamf I can make them at the end of ToB
    FinneousPJ
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