In my opinion a gnome fighter/illusionist will be able to defeat Sarevok just as or even more easily than a dwarven defender. He will have lower hit points and slightly worse thaco but he will have 4x mirror image and 2x stoneskin to outweigh that.
You don't need to be a dwarf to interact with Arkanis and Reevor, they aren't xenophobic towards humans. Everything else makes sense though (except the dwarf gear being the only set of gear for Charname to use in Siege of Dragonspear, that isn't true), about narrowing down the possibility that Charname was fighter classed. Sorry, I strongly believe Charname was human, because Gorion claimed in the note that revealed Charname's heritage that he was once a friend and lover to Charname's mother, and romantic relationships between a human and dwarf are far less common than human and elf relationships.
You don't need to be a dwarf to interact with Arkanis and Reevor, they aren't xenophobic towards humans. Everything else makes sense though (except the dwarf gear being the only set of gear for Charname to use in Siege of Dragonspear, that isn't true), about narrowing down the possibility that Charname was fighter classed. Sorry, I strongly believe Charname was human, because Gorion claimed in the note that revealed Charname's heritage that he was once a friend and lover to Charname's mother, and romantic relationships between a human and dwarf are far less common than human and elf relationships.
I will point out that the letter was a lie. We get a 'word of god' explanation in Throne of Bhaal that Charname's mother was a priestess of Bhaal who was killed by Gorion when she tried to sacrifice Bhaalspawn babies. This makes Gorion's letter seem like it was a white lie to spare his ward the mental pain and suffering that would come from the truth.
Actually it is revealed also in SoD that this priestess had a harper lover, so both things are true. If I remember she was not killed by Gorion, but by some archer during the attack on the temple.
You don't need to be a dwarf to interact with Arkanis and Reevor, they aren't xenophobic towards humans. Everything else makes sense though (except the dwarf gear being the only set of gear for Charname to use in Siege of Dragonspear, that isn't true), about narrowing down the possibility that Charname was fighter classed. Sorry, I strongly believe Charname was human, because Gorion claimed in the note that revealed Charname's heritage that he was once a friend and lover to Charname's mother, and romantic relationships between a human and dwarf are far less common than human and elf relationships.
I will point out that the letter was a lie. We get a 'word of god' explanation in Throne of Bhaal that Charname's mother was a priestess of Bhaal who was killed by Gorion when she tried to sacrifice Bhaalspawn babies. This makes Gorion's letter seem like it was a white lie to spare his ward the mental pain and suffering that would come from the truth.
Well said, I forgot about that. However, that doesn't automatically make Charname a dwarf either way, there are very few dwarves who worship a human god, an evil human god, at that. Even duergar stick to their pantheon. But what's stopping you from using your imagination?
As a matter of fact, Charname is whoever you want him to be. Some class choices have more sense than others, but still, Gorion's Ward can be anyone.
It is true that SoD introduces some gear that gives dwarfs more profit than other races, but there is also gear that gives halflings better bonuses (and there are no halflings joineable NPCs in SoD). I vaguely recall something that gave shapeshifters some bonuses, and neither dwarfs nor halflings can't be druids. And there is no shapeshifter among joineable NPCs. I don't think that gear argument is viable at all.
Now, there is a matter of Gorion's affair with Bhaal priestess. In the temple in SoD, the priestess tells us that there was a harper who had an affair with one of priestess, but no names were stated, I believe. In ToB, when we learn of how Gorion's became Charname's father, the dialouge we see wasn't convincing me that these two were lovers at all. Gorions don't mention her as her "lover", but as "priestess". Charname's mother just states that he killed her, your mother.
Gorion claims, in the charname's letter, than they were lovers, but I think it leaves us with following possibilities: 1) They never were lovers and Gorion choose to hide the terrible truth by telling comforting lie. 2) They were lovers only to a certain point in their lives. 3) They were lovers all the way, but charname's mother still priorotized her duty towards Bhaal before Gorion.
Given those possibilities and the fact that we have different informations from different sources, I'll stay by charname being whoever I want him - or her - to be. How it's correlated to this discussion? Simple. There was bigger chance that Gorion's eventual lover would be Human, Elf or Half-Elf than any of the shorter races. But then again, we only speak of a chance - affair between Human and Dwarf, or Human and Halfling are still possible. And there is possibility that Gorion never was the Priestess' lover, so the "chance" problem dissapears. And so, I think Gorion's Ward can be any playable race.
As a matter of fact, Charname is whoever you want him to be. Some class choices have more sense than others, but still, Gorion's Ward can be anyone.
It is true that SoD introduces some gear that gives dwarfs more profit than other races, but there is also gear that gives halflings better bonuses (and there are no halflings joineable NPCs in SoD). I vaguely recall something that gave shapeshifters some bonuses, and neither dwarfs nor halflings can't be druids. And there is no shapeshifter among joineable NPCs. I don't think that gear argument is viable at all.
Now, there is a matter of Gorion's affair with Bhaal priestess. In the temple in SoD, the priestess tells us that there was a harper who had an affair with one of priestess, but no names were stated, I believe. In ToB, when we learn of how Gorion's became Charname's father, the dialouge we see wasn't convincing me that these two were lovers at all. Gorions don't mention her as her "lover", but as "priestess". Charname's mother just states that he killed her, your mother.
Gorion claims, in the charname's letter, than they were lovers, but I think it leaves us with following possibilities: 1) They never were lovers and Gorion choose to hide the terrible truth by telling comforting lie. 2) They were lovers only to a certain point in their lives. 3) They were lovers all the way, but charname's mother still priorotized her duty towards Bhaal before Gorion.
Given those possibilities and the fact that we have different informations from different sources, I'll stay by charname being whoever I want him - or her - to be. How it's correlated to this discussion? Simple. There was bigger chance that Gorion's eventual lover would be Human, Elf or Half-Elf than any of the shorter races. But then again, we only speak of a chance - affair between Human and Dwarf, or Human and Halfling are still possible. And there is possibility that Gorion never was the Priestess' lover, so the "chance" problem dissapears. And so, I think Gorion's Ward can be any playable race.
I'll give it to you on the items, halflings are like dwarves in that regard. They also get 1 NPC in Candlekeep. I'd say that for a thief playthrough, they match the biography pretty well too. But I still hand it to dwarves as having the most things in their favor.
And indeed, Gorion's Ward can be any playable race. I'm just arguing that all of the factors come together to point at 'dwarf' the most.
Elves are still SLIGHTLY shorter than humans, per normal, of course. And half-elves would be something in the middle, though leaning more towards a human physique.
Relatively. If Charname wasn't a shorty, why say relatively? That line makes no sense for humans, elves or half-elves.
So I give you post 3/4 beers, for making me consider halflings as a good fit for a thief run.
When I was playing classic BG, I did so in Polish, and I don't recall her saying "relatively" ("względnie" in PL). It might be added in BG:EE so that it wouldn't look stupid when playing dwarf or halfling. I do remember finding the line silly when playing the classic BG.
I think I'll still stay by my view on Charname. There are things that are pointing at dwarves, but there are also thing that do something opposite. For example, no romance option in original BG2 could be pursued with dwarf as a charname. Why then adding them to the game? It's the same argumentation as with dwarven gear, but this time not in dwarf PC's favour.
Relatively. If Charname wasn't a shorty, why say relatively? That line makes no sense for humans, elves or half-elves.
So I give you post 3/4 beers, for making me consider halflings as a good fit for a thief run.
When I was playing classic BG, I did so in Polish, and I don't recall her saying "relatively" ("względnie" in PL). It might be added in BG:EE so that it wouldn't look stupid when playing dwarf or halfling. I do remember finding the line silly when playing the classic BG.
I think I'll still stay by my view on Charname. There are things that are pointing at dwarves, but there are also thing that do something opposite. For example, no romance option in original BG2 could be pursued with dwarf as a charname. Why then adding them to the game? It's the same argumentation as with dwarven gear, but this time not in dwarf PC's favour.
Well given that much of the evidence comes from EEs, you could argue that vanilla Charname was likely a human or half-elf, and EE Charname was likely a dwarf.
Comments
In my opinion a gnome fighter/illusionist will be able to defeat Sarevok just as or even more easily than a dwarven defender. He will have lower hit points and slightly worse thaco but he will have 4x mirror image and 2x stoneskin to outweigh that.
It is true that SoD introduces some gear that gives dwarfs more profit than other races, but there is also gear that gives halflings better bonuses (and there are no halflings joineable NPCs in SoD). I vaguely recall something that gave shapeshifters some bonuses, and neither dwarfs nor halflings can't be druids. And there is no shapeshifter among joineable NPCs. I don't think that gear argument is viable at all.
Now, there is a matter of Gorion's affair with Bhaal priestess. In the temple in SoD, the priestess tells us that there was a harper who had an affair with one of priestess, but no names were stated, I believe. In ToB, when we learn of how Gorion's became Charname's father, the dialouge we see wasn't convincing me that these two were lovers at all. Gorions don't mention her as her "lover", but as "priestess". Charname's mother just states that he killed her, your mother.
Gorion claims, in the charname's letter, than they were lovers, but I think it leaves us with following possibilities:
1) They never were lovers and Gorion choose to hide the terrible truth by telling comforting lie.
2) They were lovers only to a certain point in their lives.
3) They were lovers all the way, but charname's mother still priorotized her duty towards Bhaal before Gorion.
Given those possibilities and the fact that we have different informations from different sources, I'll stay by charname being whoever I want him - or her - to be. How it's correlated to this discussion? Simple. There was bigger chance that Gorion's eventual lover would be Human, Elf or Half-Elf than any of the shorter races. But then again, we only speak of a chance - affair between Human and Dwarf, or Human and Halfling are still possible. And there is possibility that Gorion never was the Priestess' lover, so the "chance" problem dissapears. And so, I think Gorion's Ward can be any playable race.
And indeed, Gorion's Ward can be any playable race. I'm just arguing that all of the factors come together to point at 'dwarf' the most.
Especially as Imoen does say Relatively. If Charname wasn't a shorty, why say relatively? That line makes no sense for humans, elves or half-elves.
So I give you post 3/4 beers, for making me consider halflings as a good fit for a thief run.
Half-orcs, on the other hand...
I think I'll still stay by my view on Charname. There are things that are pointing at dwarves, but there are also thing that do something opposite. For example, no romance option in original BG2 could be pursued with dwarf as a charname. Why then adding them to the game? It's the same argumentation as with dwarven gear, but this time not in dwarf PC's favour.