Is scs playable without mage ? I always have one, but now i try something new And create an arcane less party.
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Scs without mage ?
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What do you always do?
Whether you are human, halfling or half-orc, lawful good, true neutral or chaotic evil, what are the inconsequential little things you always do no matter what character you are playing?
Me, I always give Poe, the young bard on the Firewine Bridge, 10GP for telling a rousing tale (and then always feel slightly miffed that he won't talk to me later because he is working on something new).
Me, I always give Poe, the young bard on the Firewine Bridge, 10GP for telling a rousing tale (and then always feel slightly miffed that he won't talk to me later because he is working on something new).
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Things You Can't Avoid Doing
I thought this would be a fun board to make.
Let's talk about things that you always find yourself doing everytime you do a playthrough.
My personal favorite?
Killing the entire Temple of Umberlee in Baldur's Gate. And sometimes, just to put a cherry on that sundae I kill the entire Umberlee Temple in Brynnlaw too.
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Unpopular opinions
An idea has come to me to make a thread where we can share unpopular opinions about things in BG and other IE games.
1. Cernd is far from being useless NPC.
In fact, he has tons of high-level druid spells and if CHARNAME is not a druid, than by not having a second class Cernd offers a lot of variety in lvl 6-7 spells if compared to Jaheira. If use the high-level druid spells right, almost any fight in SoA becomes a lot easier.
2. Darts can be a good choice as a ranged weapon for a fighter.
Thalantyr's shop in BG1 has tons of useful darts, Sorcerous Sundries make it even better. There's an unlimited +3 dart on the first level of the Watcher's Keep, available not long after escaping from the Irenicus dungeon. Darts provide 3 APR and with addition APR from specialization and fighter class your darts stay a wonderful weapon from the Candlekeep and to the Hell.
3. 2 thieves in a party is not too much.
I prefer to focus on setting traps and dispelling illusions with one of them and to hide in shadows for backstabs with another. Also, there're Open Locks and Disarm Traps skills. There're always multi-class options available. For example, your character can be a multiclass fighter/thief with amazing backstabs while Tiax or Jan Jansen is focused on setting traps to the place you lure your enemies to. Or maybe a half-orc assassin for backstabs and poison weapon and Hexxat for other thieving skills.
4. Mazzy's relatively low starting STR is not a problem.
She has innate Strength spell, there're lots of STR-enhancing items in BG2, so that leaves you with a shorty fighter (and thus all saving throws bonuses) who has a chance to become GM in any weapon you like (or choose a standard short bow proficiency providing 5 APR with the Tuigan bow).
5. Keep trying using every and each consumables in any fight if you have any.
You won't believe how easier it will become if your fighters nearly always have 22-23 STR for fights and get their saving throws improved drastically. Wands will often be enough to defeat even bosses.
Carry on! Share the things that are relatively not popular among BG fans.
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Any new EEs on the way?
Hello everyone, has Beamdog said whether or not it plans to make any future EEs? Seems like they must know at this point whether they are going to buy the rights to "enhance" games like Temple of Elemental Evil, Fallout, Arcanum, etc or whether they are now putting their EE days behind them. Hoping for the former but guessing the latter.
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Sleep
Is there a way to install sleep fix that was a part of ToBEX without installing Spell Revisions (sleeping creatures wake up when they are hit)?
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Raising Charname - Minimal Reload Thread (BG1-SoD-BG2 Spoilers)
Hello, since we have an official no-reload thread managed by @Ygramul , I thought we could use an official minimal reload thread to go along with it. This thread will be for people like me who lose their no-reload status, but would like to continue sharing their runs.
The main spirit of a good minimal reload is that, first, you only reload if Charname dies. Under no other circumstance can you reload and still consider it a minimal reload. If you think there should be an exception to this rule, it's okay, but just explain that you reloaded and why.
The second element of a good minimal reload, is that you keep a counter at the bottom of your posts of how many times you have reloaded, and preferably keep a list of why Charname died and where.
The last thing is that you should share your game build, that is, tell what mods you have if any, and give full disclosure about difficulty settings and the like.
So, those are the "rules", but they are flexible as long as you explain your reasoning why you "bent" or "broke" the "rules".
So, without further ado, here is my current run.
I am using version 2.0 without any mods, Core Rules.
I first lost my no-reload status during Neera's encounter. It has been changed and re-scripted to make it much more difficult. I kind of got sore and made some sour-grapes posts about that in the no-reload thread. Sorry about that. I've calmed down and accepted that I am playing a BG game that has a lot of changes in it that I don't know about yet, and some dying to those changes is inevitable.
After I decided to keep playing and not accept that first death as legitimate, I now have had Charname die without any question of the fairness of the death. I was just plain careless and stupid. I tried to tank an ettercap in a "you have been waylaid..." encounter in the Cloakwood. I got poisoned. I tried to use Bhaalspawn Slow Poison, and it got interrupted. I then tried to drink an antidote, but my aura wasn't clear, so it was far too late. End of no-reload, no argument possible. ;)
One thing I really like about 2.0 is that you can see in a single screenshot of the quest journal exactly where I am in the game now without my having to explain it.
[spoiler]![]()
[/spoiler]
Reloads: 2 - Neera's encounter, ettercap random encounter in the Cloakwood
Come on, all minimal reloaders! Let's share our runs, even with very short posts showing the quest journal and a reload counter, and make this a thing in our forums! Who will be the first to do a complete minimal reload of the entire trilogy including SoD, with fewer than 5-10 reloads?
[/spoiler]
Reloads: 2 - Neera's encounter, ettercap random encounter in the Cloakwood
Come on, all minimal reloaders! Let's share our runs, even with very short posts showing the quest journal and a reload counter, and make this a thing in our forums! Who will be the first to do a complete minimal reload of the entire trilogy including SoD, with fewer than 5-10 reloads?
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BG Prologue Comic Strips
I just happened upon this project: https://tapas.io/series/MoG
Seems like it aims to be a full graphic novelisation of BG1, but so far it's just a prologue of Charname's life in Candlekeep. It's really well done and I thought people might be interested here.
Seems like it aims to be a full graphic novelisation of BG1, but so far it's just a prologue of Charname's life in Candlekeep. It's really well done and I thought people might be interested here.
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Misheard quotes!
This discussion was created from comments split from: Small things amuse small minds.
Because I thought it deserved its own thread! Post what you used to think the characters in BG were saying.
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The career of Boo
This truly is one of the best banters in the entire saga! :-D
![1zg55bm7whmo.jpg]()
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The Anonymous Cheese And Cheating Poll
I couldn't find a poll like this (recent or otherwise). I've seen a few similar but not one that cuts to the matter at hand. It's anonymous, so your secrets are safe. I'm genuinely curious, so let's find out. In order from most pure to least.
Edit: Can't seem to edit the poll. The first should should say "unless CHARNAME dies."
Edit: Can't seem to edit the poll. The first should should say "unless CHARNAME dies."
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How to get vanilla SoA/ToB to fit a full screen?
EDIT: Nevermind, I fixed it. I just went into BGConfig and changed the resolution. Lol.
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A Ranking of the Divine Spells? (Now discussing LEVEL 7 spells)
About a week ago @bbear started a thread in which he ranked the game's arcane spells in terms of usefulness, and placed them into three tiers: top, mid and bottom.
Here's the link:
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/30792/top-tier-mid-tier-bottom-tier-level-1-9-arcane-spells-talking-about-7th-lvl-right-now/p1
The thread sparked some interesting discussion and is turning into a good resource IMO.
I was wondering if there are people here who consider themselves well versed in divine magic, and who would be willing to rank the divine spells per level in the manner bbear is doing for arcane magic. Starting at level 1, and after a a few days moving on to level 2, etc. Other users can then give their views on each level-based ranking.
I for one am very interested. At the moment I'm playing a cleric/thief multi, and though I know which spells more or less work for me, I'm also convinced that I'm not making the most out of my divine spells... simply because I haven't tried them all out or because my playstyle leans toward using certain spells whereas another playstyle is served by other spells.
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Battle Recap: The Bandits Call For Help Better
Apologies if this is the wrong place to post. I'm running my first 100% SCS playthrough, with an ideologically-diverse party (6 different alignments--currently at 5, but will switch Imoen out for Alora when possible). The Better Calls for Help feature led to an epic fight against the entire bandit camp (which I failed to take screenshots of during, unfortunately).
Cast:
Maerian, immensely strong but kind of dumb half-orc Bhaalspawn fighter/cleric
Imoen, her lithe and witty childhood friend
Khalid, thrust into the role of the grownup in the room, for which he is entirely unsuited
Branwen, bloody-minded amazon
Edwin, Maerian's advisor on all things arcane and grand strategy besides, as all others are too foolish, lackwitted, or simply crazy
Xzar, the simply crazy one
Part I: Flight From The Camp
Branwen picked the last few sticky strands of magical web from her face. Pulling a stained cloth from her belt, she wiped Ashideena's still-sparking head, then her ankheg-shell armor, clean from the hobgoblin brains bespattering them. "Is anyone hurt?" she called out.
"Y-y-yes, if you please," Khalid replied from the corner of the tent. "S-several of the c-cold arrows struck me."
Branwen strode over to the fighter, pausing to look with disgust at Xzar, who was busy cutting a grisly souvenir from each of the corpses he was looting, and placed her hand on Khalid's frostbitten arm. As she chanted, her hand glowed and the wounds subsided.
Meanwhile, Imoen lay sprawled back across Tazok's erstwhile seat on the raised dais, leafing through the scrolls she'd found in the chest. "Man, these guys really don't like each other," she said to Maerian, passing over the one she'd been reading. "What's this one? I can't even read--"
Edwin snatched the new scroll from her hand. "That's because it's a spell, you fool! Do you want to blow this tent to kingdom come, or turn us all into frogs?" He looked around at the other five adventurers, muttering "Although the latter might be a distinct improvement."
"I heard that," Imoen replied. "Anyway, speaking of blowing the tent up, we should be going before the other bandits get suspicious. We made a fair bit of noise in here."
Maerian heaved herself to her feet. "Let's move, then. Taurg--The Black Talon leader was just outside when we came in."
Indeed, as the motley group of adventurers filed out, they found a dozen bows nocked and pointed at them. Taurgosz Khosann stood at the foot of the stairs, brandishing his warhammer and backed by a phalanx of Black Talon elites and a rabble of bandits. "I think we're cooked," Imoen whispered to Maerian. "There are a couple more behind us too."
"Nonsense," whispered Edwin, as the Black Talon's leader shouted an accurate description of the group. "Watch this." Muttering a few words, Edwin flung what looked like a handful of shining dust at the gathered bandits, then elbowed Maerian in the heavily-muscled shoulder. "Go, now!"
The dust seemed magically drawn to the bandits' eyes, though Taurgosz shook it off his beard with a mighty toss of his head, and raised his hammer to block the descending blow from Maerian's mace. The bandits who could still see moved to cut the adventurers off from the open ground to their left.
A moment later, however, a ball of webbing soared from Xzar's open hand, exploding around the remaining bandits. Khalid, Branwen, Imoen, and the two wizards followed at a run, making for the woods behind the great tent. With one final swing, which clanged harmlessly off the Tenhammer's breastplate, Maerian beat a retreat as well.
Ahead of the group, two bandits stood to block the path. They were no Black Talons, however--a slash from Varscona sent the first sprawling, while Ashideena hammered the other into the bushes. The adventurers hurdled them, fleeing deeper into the woods, and didn't stop until they had made a wide circuit around the camp and returned to Peldvale.
Part II: Rest
The group sat around the campfire that night by the lake. Tents pitched on the high ground, they had refreshed themselves with a swim upon arrival, and Imoen had taken the short walk south to invite one of the Lake Poets to join them. Now, regaled with songs purporting to tell of their own adventures in the Nashkel mines, and of others' adventures in Durlag's Tower and the Firewine ruins, they discussed plans for revenge on the remaining bandits.
“If only we had more firepower,” Imoen said. “I have that necklace we got in Nashkel, but can’t you guys throw fire too?”
Xzar looked glum, and Edwin retorted “That is advanced level magic. Not even a wizard as brilliant as I can know every spell. But no need, we have enough tools at our disposal to turn the rest of them into experiments for our friend here. Listen to my plan…”
Some forty minutes later, the group did have to admit that Edwin’s plan had a strong chance of success. The spellcasters retired to their tents to study and pray for the spells they needed for the next day’s battle, while Imoen and Khalid remained by the dying embers of the fire.
“Do you ever worry,” asked Imoen, “about how much Maerian listens to those two?” She gestured to the wizards’ tents.
“I-it d-does concern me,” Khalid admitted. “T-they are n-not exactly in the mold of Gorion, m-m-morally speaking. And the number of his fellows Edwin has slain without a second thought…”
“Well, one of them was that loudmouthed Drow sorceror,” Imoen replied. “I just hope she keeps listening to us too, and doesn’t let Xzar dissect that man-chicken before we can try to turn him back.” Inside Imoen’s tent, Melicamp clucked softly in agreement.
Part III: The Return
The next day, the group packed their camp up bright and early, and set off through the forest for the bandits’ camp. After long hours trudging through the woods, it was almost a relief to see the top of Tazok’s tent rising above the nearby trees. Edwin raised his hand to halt the group, and whispered to Imoen. “Go turn yourself invisible in the shadows or whatever you do, and tell us if any of their patrols are lurking here.”
Imoen shrugged off the wizard’s tone and slipped into the woods. She was back in a minute, raising four hooked fingers in the air. Edwin and Xzar nodded, but Maerian looked confused.
“Four Black Talons,” Imoen clarified.
“Excellent,” Edwin said. “They are dispersed throughout the woods. Probably hunted for us all last night and today. Let’s get this group. Branwen, you and Xzar forward.” With a magic word, he seemed to split in four, each copy pointing toward the bandits in the woods.
The priestess of Tempus and the necromancer crept through the woods. As quietly as they each could, they called upon their respective magic. Too late did the bandits hear them and turn to face the bushes, as the magical webbing sprouted around them. The two who dodged the webs found their limbs stiffening of their own accord. “Now!” Edwin called, and the other four adventurers began to rain arrows and sling bullets on the helpless bandits.
But as soon as the first missiles clanged off the trapped men’s armor, it became clear that it was the adventurers who had walked into a trap. From the bushes behind the clearing came a hail of answering arrow fire, including the steaming cold bolts of the Black Talons. “Confound it!” shouted Edwin, along with a stream of magic words, and sent a flurry of his blinding dust in the direction of the arrows.
“L-let m-me settle them,” Khalid said, drawing Varscona and rushing toward the target of Edwin’s dust. As he drew nearer, however, he saw Ardenor Crush approaching at the head of a squad of four Chill hobgoblins, past the blinded bandits.
“Got you alone, have I?” the hobgoblin leader growled. And indeed he had, for in the other direction Taurgosz Khosann had emerged from the woods and was striding to face Maerian, while the bandits behind him opened fire on the two wizards. Xzar’s magical shield deflected several arrows, and two of Edwin’s copies vanished. “Forget the trapped ones, go!” Edwin shouted, and let fly a magic missile at the Tenhammer.
“H-help!” Khalid called back to the group, as the hobgoblins spread out to surround him, then rushed him as one. As Varscona clanged off Ardenor Crush’s shield, he heard the mad necromancer’s howling voice, and beat a hasty retreat. Just in time, as another wave of sticky web ensnared the hobgoblins, followed by a sling stone that took one of them straight in the chest. Khalid set aside his shield, drew his longbow, and began firing into the squirming web-covered figures.
Meanwhile, Taurgosz and the bandits were undeterred by Edwin’s magic missiles, and advanced steadily on Maerian. Ignoring several arrows, she stood her ground, pointing at the bandits and calling for divine aid. Just in time, it arrived, as Taurgosz’s companions found themselves frozen in place. The Tenhammer grinned. “So be it—your mace against my hammer.” His first blow rocked Maerian back, but the half-orc kept her footing and struck back.
Branwen was still in the woods, and her sling stones and Imoen’s arrows had brought down two of the trapped Black Talons, as well as one of another squad of Chill that had rushed unheeding into the webs. But now the webs were parting as the magic faded, and six of the surviving bandits raised their bows and aimed at the pair of adventurers. She shouted back to Edwin for help.
Edwin was focused on the battle between Maerian and Taurgosz, but heard Branwen’s call. Turning to face the formerly-webbed bandits, he hurled a magical imprecation loud enough for all to hear. Hearing it, three of the bandits paled and began to flee for the safety of the woods behind them.
“That evens the odds enough,” shouted Branwen, and leapt forward to engage the remaining bandits. As her hammer struck the first down, however, disaster struck. Xzar, trying to be helpful, had turned and sent another ball of webbing into the clearing, which pinned Branwen along with 3 of the 5 remaining bandits. The last two, grinning, approached the helpless cleric. “Kick her in the head ‘til she’s dead,” laughed one, as they dealt her punishing blows with their broadswords. In a moment, though, the webs swallowed them up too. Imoen kept up her rate of arrow fire, trying to kill the bandits before others worked free and laid Branwen low.
Khalid was also facing long odds—immobilized as he was, Ardenor Crush was still well-armored, and Khalid’s arrows had struck more web than flesh. Now a couple of the hobgoblins had worked free, and Khalid needed to draw his sword again and engage them, which gave time for still more hobgoblins to arrive from the camp. At last, one of their poisoned arrows found its way through his armor, and he fell back, reaching desperately into the potion case in his pack for an antidote. But the hobgoblins were free, and now arrows rained upon the adventurers. Xzar, about to cast another web, fell back in pain, pierced by one through the thigh.
On the adventurers’ right, Taurgosz Khosann had the advantage over Maerian, who finally had to step back and quaff a healing potion. But he was wearing her down, and she could not hope to survive without help. As the Black Talon leader raised his hammer to smash the potion from her lips, however, Edwin turned and fired bolts of magical force, which arrested his progress just for the crucial moment. Maerian took up her mace with renewed vigor and struck him such a blow that the magic of the mace overcame him, and he seized up, stunned. Another set of magical missiles and a well-aimed hit from the half-orc, and it was Khosann who fell insensible to the dirt. With the bandits still frozen in place, Maerian hurried to Khalid’s aid.
Again a misunderstanding almost cost the adventurers, as Imoen also was trying to help, this time with a fireball from her necklace. As Maerian fell upon the hobgoblins, laying about with her mace, the world exploded in fire around them all. Ardenor’s followers fell screaming, and the hobgoblin leader himself was badly hurt, but the ring on Maerian’s finger seemed to swallow most of the fire that surrounded her, and she escaped with minor burns. At that, Ardenor turned and fled, only to finally be cut down by Khalid’s bow.
The rest of the battle was a slaughter, as the remaining bandits were either trapped in Xzar’s webs or frozen by Maerian’s magic, and killed with ease. At last the exhausted adventurers fell back to the edge of the forest, too wary even to loot the bodies until they had healed, maneuvered around, and ensured that no further ambushes remained.
“Your plan, it had some flaws,” Xzar groused to Edwin. “I do not believe you meant for us to fight them all at once. In fact, quite the opposite.”
“We won, didn’t we?” Edwin shot back. “And none of us died, though we had no artillery save our thief’s bauble.”
Imoen put her hand on Edwin’s shoulder. “Good on you if you save the day.”
Branwen nodded. “I am proud to stand among such fierce warriors.”
Khalid looked around at the now-peaceful woods. “Now that the bandits are gone, I am much more at ease in the forest.”
Cast:
Maerian, immensely strong but kind of dumb half-orc Bhaalspawn fighter/cleric
Imoen, her lithe and witty childhood friend
Khalid, thrust into the role of the grownup in the room, for which he is entirely unsuited
Branwen, bloody-minded amazon
Edwin, Maerian's advisor on all things arcane and grand strategy besides, as all others are too foolish, lackwitted, or simply crazy
Xzar, the simply crazy one
Part I: Flight From The Camp
Branwen picked the last few sticky strands of magical web from her face. Pulling a stained cloth from her belt, she wiped Ashideena's still-sparking head, then her ankheg-shell armor, clean from the hobgoblin brains bespattering them. "Is anyone hurt?" she called out.
"Y-y-yes, if you please," Khalid replied from the corner of the tent. "S-several of the c-cold arrows struck me."
Branwen strode over to the fighter, pausing to look with disgust at Xzar, who was busy cutting a grisly souvenir from each of the corpses he was looting, and placed her hand on Khalid's frostbitten arm. As she chanted, her hand glowed and the wounds subsided.
Meanwhile, Imoen lay sprawled back across Tazok's erstwhile seat on the raised dais, leafing through the scrolls she'd found in the chest. "Man, these guys really don't like each other," she said to Maerian, passing over the one she'd been reading. "What's this one? I can't even read--"
Edwin snatched the new scroll from her hand. "That's because it's a spell, you fool! Do you want to blow this tent to kingdom come, or turn us all into frogs?" He looked around at the other five adventurers, muttering "Although the latter might be a distinct improvement."
"I heard that," Imoen replied. "Anyway, speaking of blowing the tent up, we should be going before the other bandits get suspicious. We made a fair bit of noise in here."
Maerian heaved herself to her feet. "Let's move, then. Taurg--The Black Talon leader was just outside when we came in."
Indeed, as the motley group of adventurers filed out, they found a dozen bows nocked and pointed at them. Taurgosz Khosann stood at the foot of the stairs, brandishing his warhammer and backed by a phalanx of Black Talon elites and a rabble of bandits. "I think we're cooked," Imoen whispered to Maerian. "There are a couple more behind us too."
"Nonsense," whispered Edwin, as the Black Talon's leader shouted an accurate description of the group. "Watch this." Muttering a few words, Edwin flung what looked like a handful of shining dust at the gathered bandits, then elbowed Maerian in the heavily-muscled shoulder. "Go, now!"
The dust seemed magically drawn to the bandits' eyes, though Taurgosz shook it off his beard with a mighty toss of his head, and raised his hammer to block the descending blow from Maerian's mace. The bandits who could still see moved to cut the adventurers off from the open ground to their left.
A moment later, however, a ball of webbing soared from Xzar's open hand, exploding around the remaining bandits. Khalid, Branwen, Imoen, and the two wizards followed at a run, making for the woods behind the great tent. With one final swing, which clanged harmlessly off the Tenhammer's breastplate, Maerian beat a retreat as well.
Ahead of the group, two bandits stood to block the path. They were no Black Talons, however--a slash from Varscona sent the first sprawling, while Ashideena hammered the other into the bushes. The adventurers hurdled them, fleeing deeper into the woods, and didn't stop until they had made a wide circuit around the camp and returned to Peldvale.
Part II: Rest
The group sat around the campfire that night by the lake. Tents pitched on the high ground, they had refreshed themselves with a swim upon arrival, and Imoen had taken the short walk south to invite one of the Lake Poets to join them. Now, regaled with songs purporting to tell of their own adventures in the Nashkel mines, and of others' adventures in Durlag's Tower and the Firewine ruins, they discussed plans for revenge on the remaining bandits.
“If only we had more firepower,” Imoen said. “I have that necklace we got in Nashkel, but can’t you guys throw fire too?”
Xzar looked glum, and Edwin retorted “That is advanced level magic. Not even a wizard as brilliant as I can know every spell. But no need, we have enough tools at our disposal to turn the rest of them into experiments for our friend here. Listen to my plan…”
Some forty minutes later, the group did have to admit that Edwin’s plan had a strong chance of success. The spellcasters retired to their tents to study and pray for the spells they needed for the next day’s battle, while Imoen and Khalid remained by the dying embers of the fire.
“Do you ever worry,” asked Imoen, “about how much Maerian listens to those two?” She gestured to the wizards’ tents.
“I-it d-does concern me,” Khalid admitted. “T-they are n-not exactly in the mold of Gorion, m-m-morally speaking. And the number of his fellows Edwin has slain without a second thought…”
“Well, one of them was that loudmouthed Drow sorceror,” Imoen replied. “I just hope she keeps listening to us too, and doesn’t let Xzar dissect that man-chicken before we can try to turn him back.” Inside Imoen’s tent, Melicamp clucked softly in agreement.
Part III: The Return
The next day, the group packed their camp up bright and early, and set off through the forest for the bandits’ camp. After long hours trudging through the woods, it was almost a relief to see the top of Tazok’s tent rising above the nearby trees. Edwin raised his hand to halt the group, and whispered to Imoen. “Go turn yourself invisible in the shadows or whatever you do, and tell us if any of their patrols are lurking here.”
Imoen shrugged off the wizard’s tone and slipped into the woods. She was back in a minute, raising four hooked fingers in the air. Edwin and Xzar nodded, but Maerian looked confused.
“Four Black Talons,” Imoen clarified.
“Excellent,” Edwin said. “They are dispersed throughout the woods. Probably hunted for us all last night and today. Let’s get this group. Branwen, you and Xzar forward.” With a magic word, he seemed to split in four, each copy pointing toward the bandits in the woods.
The priestess of Tempus and the necromancer crept through the woods. As quietly as they each could, they called upon their respective magic. Too late did the bandits hear them and turn to face the bushes, as the magical webbing sprouted around them. The two who dodged the webs found their limbs stiffening of their own accord. “Now!” Edwin called, and the other four adventurers began to rain arrows and sling bullets on the helpless bandits.
But as soon as the first missiles clanged off the trapped men’s armor, it became clear that it was the adventurers who had walked into a trap. From the bushes behind the clearing came a hail of answering arrow fire, including the steaming cold bolts of the Black Talons. “Confound it!” shouted Edwin, along with a stream of magic words, and sent a flurry of his blinding dust in the direction of the arrows.
“L-let m-me settle them,” Khalid said, drawing Varscona and rushing toward the target of Edwin’s dust. As he drew nearer, however, he saw Ardenor Crush approaching at the head of a squad of four Chill hobgoblins, past the blinded bandits.
“Got you alone, have I?” the hobgoblin leader growled. And indeed he had, for in the other direction Taurgosz Khosann had emerged from the woods and was striding to face Maerian, while the bandits behind him opened fire on the two wizards. Xzar’s magical shield deflected several arrows, and two of Edwin’s copies vanished. “Forget the trapped ones, go!” Edwin shouted, and let fly a magic missile at the Tenhammer.
“H-help!” Khalid called back to the group, as the hobgoblins spread out to surround him, then rushed him as one. As Varscona clanged off Ardenor Crush’s shield, he heard the mad necromancer’s howling voice, and beat a hasty retreat. Just in time, as another wave of sticky web ensnared the hobgoblins, followed by a sling stone that took one of them straight in the chest. Khalid set aside his shield, drew his longbow, and began firing into the squirming web-covered figures.
Meanwhile, Taurgosz and the bandits were undeterred by Edwin’s magic missiles, and advanced steadily on Maerian. Ignoring several arrows, she stood her ground, pointing at the bandits and calling for divine aid. Just in time, it arrived, as Taurgosz’s companions found themselves frozen in place. The Tenhammer grinned. “So be it—your mace against my hammer.” His first blow rocked Maerian back, but the half-orc kept her footing and struck back.
Branwen was still in the woods, and her sling stones and Imoen’s arrows had brought down two of the trapped Black Talons, as well as one of another squad of Chill that had rushed unheeding into the webs. But now the webs were parting as the magic faded, and six of the surviving bandits raised their bows and aimed at the pair of adventurers. She shouted back to Edwin for help.
Edwin was focused on the battle between Maerian and Taurgosz, but heard Branwen’s call. Turning to face the formerly-webbed bandits, he hurled a magical imprecation loud enough for all to hear. Hearing it, three of the bandits paled and began to flee for the safety of the woods behind them.
“That evens the odds enough,” shouted Branwen, and leapt forward to engage the remaining bandits. As her hammer struck the first down, however, disaster struck. Xzar, trying to be helpful, had turned and sent another ball of webbing into the clearing, which pinned Branwen along with 3 of the 5 remaining bandits. The last two, grinning, approached the helpless cleric. “Kick her in the head ‘til she’s dead,” laughed one, as they dealt her punishing blows with their broadswords. In a moment, though, the webs swallowed them up too. Imoen kept up her rate of arrow fire, trying to kill the bandits before others worked free and laid Branwen low.
Khalid was also facing long odds—immobilized as he was, Ardenor Crush was still well-armored, and Khalid’s arrows had struck more web than flesh. Now a couple of the hobgoblins had worked free, and Khalid needed to draw his sword again and engage them, which gave time for still more hobgoblins to arrive from the camp. At last, one of their poisoned arrows found its way through his armor, and he fell back, reaching desperately into the potion case in his pack for an antidote. But the hobgoblins were free, and now arrows rained upon the adventurers. Xzar, about to cast another web, fell back in pain, pierced by one through the thigh.
On the adventurers’ right, Taurgosz Khosann had the advantage over Maerian, who finally had to step back and quaff a healing potion. But he was wearing her down, and she could not hope to survive without help. As the Black Talon leader raised his hammer to smash the potion from her lips, however, Edwin turned and fired bolts of magical force, which arrested his progress just for the crucial moment. Maerian took up her mace with renewed vigor and struck him such a blow that the magic of the mace overcame him, and he seized up, stunned. Another set of magical missiles and a well-aimed hit from the half-orc, and it was Khosann who fell insensible to the dirt. With the bandits still frozen in place, Maerian hurried to Khalid’s aid.
Again a misunderstanding almost cost the adventurers, as Imoen also was trying to help, this time with a fireball from her necklace. As Maerian fell upon the hobgoblins, laying about with her mace, the world exploded in fire around them all. Ardenor’s followers fell screaming, and the hobgoblin leader himself was badly hurt, but the ring on Maerian’s finger seemed to swallow most of the fire that surrounded her, and she escaped with minor burns. At that, Ardenor turned and fled, only to finally be cut down by Khalid’s bow.
The rest of the battle was a slaughter, as the remaining bandits were either trapped in Xzar’s webs or frozen by Maerian’s magic, and killed with ease. At last the exhausted adventurers fell back to the edge of the forest, too wary even to loot the bodies until they had healed, maneuvered around, and ensured that no further ambushes remained.
“Your plan, it had some flaws,” Xzar groused to Edwin. “I do not believe you meant for us to fight them all at once. In fact, quite the opposite.”
“We won, didn’t we?” Edwin shot back. “And none of us died, though we had no artillery save our thief’s bauble.”
Imoen put her hand on Edwin’s shoulder. “Good on you if you save the day.”
Branwen nodded. “I am proud to stand among such fierce warriors.”
Khalid looked around at the now-peaceful woods. “Now that the bandits are gone, I am much more at ease in the forest.”
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If I have a mage in team, which dual class should I go for?
Just asking, because everyone suggests mage double class for powerplay, but I didn't see suggested anywhere flavoured dual class that could be fun playing (apart from kensai thief, that is)
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Small mods you would like to see
This is a thread for people who don't have the faintest idea how to mod themselves to suggest minor mods that they would like to see.
I will get the ball rolling ...
I have always found the Melicamp quest really frustrating and it is the one place I will reload even if I am in theory doing a no reload run. Currently you get 2,000 XP and +1 reputation if Thalantyr's Antichickenator spell succeeds and nothing if it fails. This feels really unfair. Surely seeing a guy who has been polymorphed into a chicken dying in the process of being returned to human form should be worth some experience? So what I would I like to see is a mod that gives you 1,000 XP and -1 reputation if Thalantyr's Antincheckenator spell fails and Melicamp dies.
Anyway, that's what I would like to see. Are there any other minor tweaks people are longing for?
I will get the ball rolling ...
I have always found the Melicamp quest really frustrating and it is the one place I will reload even if I am in theory doing a no reload run. Currently you get 2,000 XP and +1 reputation if Thalantyr's Antichickenator spell succeeds and nothing if it fails. This feels really unfair. Surely seeing a guy who has been polymorphed into a chicken dying in the process of being returned to human form should be worth some experience? So what I would I like to see is a mod that gives you 1,000 XP and -1 reputation if Thalantyr's Antincheckenator spell fails and Melicamp dies.
Anyway, that's what I would like to see. Are there any other minor tweaks people are longing for?
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The Baldur's Gate Wolfwere Circus
During the events at the Isle of Balduran, the party gets infected with lycanthropy. You have 25 days to cure it, or else everyone in the party but the hero will be transformed into a greater wolfwere, probably bringing your adventure to an end.
Probably.
The details of this infection have snagged a number of players over the years, there are reports across the internet of problems people have had with it...primarily the fact that you're given 25 days, but the ship ride back to Ulgoth's Beard takes 22 days, so if you slept 9 times before leaving the island, everybody transforms instantly as you land on the docks. I wanted to see this myself so I did it on purpose, and yeah. It's kind of terrible but also a fun detail...most modern games would never do anything like this and just handwave it away. You can't put the player in a "walking dead" scenario, right?
But anyway. I was curious what would happen if I just ran from the wolfweres and tried to escape. So I did, and I succeeded. I ran all the way back to the Friendly Arm Inn by myself as fast as my legs would take me. Sorry Minsc, Dynaheir, Branwen, Coran and Imoen...I guess you're out there tearing up Ulgoth's Beard but that's none of my business.
Their portraits in the party list were still grey, though. That meant they should be revivable, right? But wait, they're not dead, they're werewolves...?
It turns out the way the game turns your party into werewolves (or wolfweres) is that it kills them, and then spawns a greater wolfwere in the spot they were standing. And that 25 day lycanthropy timer is still expired.
So naturally when I paid a visit to Gellana Mirrorshade and paid to revive all my dead friends...they immediately died again, and spawned another wolfwere in their place. Even though they're all still back at Ulgoth's Beard terrorizing the docks.
And you can do this again and again, keep reviving them and spawning more...
![jf6gwSK.jpg]()
(I set up a teleport field in the hopes that they wouldn't crowd me before I could revive them again. Didn't work the best.)
But then I had another thought.
See, I had collected every party member in the game and deposited them in the Friendly Arm Inn.
![b7ef765.jpg]()
What happens if I recruit more party members?
It turns out...well, they're party members. And the script says that if the 25 days are up, all party members turn into werewolves, no exceptions.
![XutBtKU.jpg]()
Even though none of them were ever at the Isle of Balduran and never got infected to begin with.
They give you that nice "joining up" speech again, "oh I've missed you, do you want to go on more adventures together?" "Sure, let's go!" *immediately explodes into gore*
![D2HBsGz.jpg]()
It's really hard to talk to everyone, or even most of them, before you get completely surrounded by wolfweres and killed. Again I set up a teleport field to keep them moving around, and at least once I cast invisibility on myself to get some breathing room. It's still nuts.
![nQYwIWL.jpg]()
So ends my goofy foray into wolfwere nonsense.
Probably.
The details of this infection have snagged a number of players over the years, there are reports across the internet of problems people have had with it...primarily the fact that you're given 25 days, but the ship ride back to Ulgoth's Beard takes 22 days, so if you slept 9 times before leaving the island, everybody transforms instantly as you land on the docks. I wanted to see this myself so I did it on purpose, and yeah. It's kind of terrible but also a fun detail...most modern games would never do anything like this and just handwave it away. You can't put the player in a "walking dead" scenario, right?
But anyway. I was curious what would happen if I just ran from the wolfweres and tried to escape. So I did, and I succeeded. I ran all the way back to the Friendly Arm Inn by myself as fast as my legs would take me. Sorry Minsc, Dynaheir, Branwen, Coran and Imoen...I guess you're out there tearing up Ulgoth's Beard but that's none of my business.
Their portraits in the party list were still grey, though. That meant they should be revivable, right? But wait, they're not dead, they're werewolves...?
It turns out the way the game turns your party into werewolves (or wolfweres) is that it kills them, and then spawns a greater wolfwere in the spot they were standing. And that 25 day lycanthropy timer is still expired.
So naturally when I paid a visit to Gellana Mirrorshade and paid to revive all my dead friends...they immediately died again, and spawned another wolfwere in their place. Even though they're all still back at Ulgoth's Beard terrorizing the docks.
And you can do this again and again, keep reviving them and spawning more...
(I set up a teleport field in the hopes that they wouldn't crowd me before I could revive them again. Didn't work the best.)
But then I had another thought.
See, I had collected every party member in the game and deposited them in the Friendly Arm Inn.
What happens if I recruit more party members?
It turns out...well, they're party members. And the script says that if the 25 days are up, all party members turn into werewolves, no exceptions.
Even though none of them were ever at the Isle of Balduran and never got infected to begin with.
They give you that nice "joining up" speech again, "oh I've missed you, do you want to go on more adventures together?" "Sure, let's go!" *immediately explodes into gore*
It's really hard to talk to everyone, or even most of them, before you get completely surrounded by wolfweres and killed. Again I set up a teleport field to keep them moving around, and at least once I cast invisibility on myself to get some breathing room. It's still nuts.
So ends my goofy foray into wolfwere nonsense.
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An omen and moira evil charnames
Why would any evil charname actually choose vengeance?
I'm struggling to find a reasonable justification for a character to actually go evil path in anomen personal quest. What I mean is:
- you got no proof about who killed moira
- the father is not trustworthy
- authorities cooperate with you without seeming to hide any details
Why would an evil character given these premises actually go vengeance route? Add on top of this that you can enter dark estate independently from the quest so a robbery justification is not that good
I'm struggling to find a reasonable justification for a character to actually go evil path in anomen personal quest. What I mean is:
- you got no proof about who killed moira
- the father is not trustworthy
- authorities cooperate with you without seeming to hide any details
Why would an evil character given these premises actually go vengeance route? Add on top of this that you can enter dark estate independently from the quest so a robbery justification is not that good
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How to see the readings of the hidden parameter luck in my character? BGEE
Good day )
I don’t know asked this question or not.
Is there any way to see the luck parameter of my character that he received when creating?
I don’t know asked this question or not.
Is there any way to see the luck parameter of my character that he received when creating?
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Luck: What it is and how it works
This article discusses luck in the games. Most of the information here has been provided by @semiticgod.
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What is luck?
Luck is a game stat, like strength or AC. It affects the performance of all the creatures in combat and also when performing some other actions. Luck can be positive (+1, +2, etc.), negative (-1, -2, etc.), or neutral (0). Positive luck means better performance, negative luck means worse performance. Neutral luck has no effect.The confusion
Over the years there has been a lot of confusion about how luck works in the Infinity engine games. The concept of luck is never explained in the games or their manuals, and most of the information they provide about luck is either wrong or misleading. Apart from that there are several inconsistencies in the mechanics of the games:- Luck is the name of a stat, but it’s also the name of two effects. An effect is a change in a game stat. The two luck effects change the value of the luck stat, but they do it in different ways. One luck effect stacks and the other doesn’t. The luck effect obtained from the Luck spell, Chant, and the Lucky Scimitar in IWD does not stack. However, the luck obtained from other sources does.
- Luck is also the name of a spell. Casting the Luck spell creates a luck effect in the target (the effect that doesn't stack). This effect improves the luck stat of the target. However, the Luck spell also gives several other bonuses (to saving throws and thieving skills) which are unrelated to the luck stat.
- In the Icewind Dale series luck works a bit differently than in the Baldur's Gate series.
How does it work?
Luck affects many aspects of the game:- Attack rolls.
- Physical damage dealt.
- Magical damage taken. In this context magical damage means any damage except the base damage of a weapon. That includes damage from spells, wands, abilities, weapon elemental damage, etc.
- Reaction times.
- Thief skills.
- Effectiveness of the spell Mirror image.
Attack and damage rolls
The luck of a character is added to each of his attack rolls and physical damage rolls, and subtracted from each magical damage roll when he is attacked. But remember, this is AD&D, it’s always more complicated. Just adding a bonus to your roll would be too “simple”. And who wants something simple when you can have exactly the same thing, but twice as complicated? Well, you, me, the rest of the world… but not the AD&D creators, for sure. So this is the whole story: Each time a die is rolled and a luck modification applies, the modification is added or subtracted from the roll, but without exceeding the roll natural limits. What? You didn’t understand that? Don’t worry, neither did I the first 200 times. Let's see: The "natural limits" of a roll are its maximum and minimum values. For instance, the natural limits of a d20 roll are 1 and 20. A luck modification cannot make the roll go beyond these maximum and minimum values. An example might help: Flint the warrior has a +2 luck bonus. He attacks twice with his long sword (1d6 damage). The first time he attacks he rolls a 15. Adding the luck bonus, his effective attack roll is 17 (hit). He rolls a 3 in his damage roll. The luck bonus means he actually inflicts 5 damage (we assume there aren’t other bonuses/penalties). The second time he rolls a 19 in his attack roll. The luck bonus would make that a 21, but since 21 is outside the natural limits of a d20 roll (1-20), it actually makes it a 20 (hit). By the way, he does NOT get a critical hit (unless he already had a critical with 19, of course). Then he rolls a 6 in his damage roll. Again, the luck bonus would make that an 8, but since 8 is outside the natural limits of a d6 (1-6), the result stays at 6, i.e., he only inflicts 6 points of damage. Now a 5th level mage casts a Fire Ball on our poor Flint (and he fails his save throw). That’s 5d6 points of damage. The rolls of those 5 dice are: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Without his luck bonus, Flint would take 1+2+3+4+5 = 15 points of damage. However, the luck bonus reduces the damage he takes. The 5 becomes a 3, the 4 becomes a 2, the 3 becomes a 1. But again, the luck effect cannot modify a roll beyond its natural limits (1-6 in this case), so the the 2 just becomes a 1 and the 1 remains unchanged. The result is that he takes 1+1+1+2+3 = 8 points of damage.Reaction times
When you give a character the command to attack an enemy, it takes him some time to react and start to move. This delay is variable, it ranges between 0 and 0.5 seconds. Positive luck increases the chance of having a short delay (or no delay at all). Negative luck increases the chance of having a long delay. The following picture illustrates the difference between the maximum delay (Jaheira, to the left) and no delay at all (Minsc, to the right):
Thieving skills
Luck affects the chances of success when setting, finding and disarming traps, opening locks, stealth. It doesn't affect the chances of success when detecting illusions and picking pockets. For the abilities affected, each point of positive luck roughly increases the chances of success by 1% (negative luck has the opposite effect). You can read a more detailed and accurate description here.Mirror image
When a mage protected by the spell Mirror image is attacked, his attacker can either hit the mage or one of the images. The chances of each outcome depend on the luck of the mage. The higher his luck, the higher the chances that his attacker hits one of the images, and vice versa.IWD series (IWD and IWD2)
Apart from the mechanics explained above, in the IWD series luck also affects critical hit and critical miss chances (so in our previous example our warrior does make a critical when he rolls 19). That's especially useful because hammers, halberds, spears, arrows, and axes deal triple damage rather than double damage on critical hits.How do you get lucky (or unlucky)?
This is a list of the sources of luck (positive or negative) in all the games (except Planescape:Torment, I don't have information about that one). Some of these sources only affect luck itself, others create other effects as well.All games
- Fatigue: -1 luck when the character becomes fatigued. An extra -1 for every extra four hours without resting.
- Intoxication: Penalty to luck and bonus to morale. The penalty goes from -2 to -12 and the bonus from +2 to +12, both depending on the amount of drink taken and the constitution of the character. The negative effects of the penalty always outweigh the benefits of the bonus. Slow Poison and Heal cure it.
All games bar IWD2 (i.e.: BG1, BG2, SoD and IWD)
- Luck spell: +1 luck, +1 to saves, +5% thief skills.
- Chant: +1 luck, +1 to saves, +1 to healing rolls (Staff of Curing, Mass Cure spell, etc.)
BG series: BG, BG2 and SoD
- Bard Song (unkitted): +1 luck at level 1, +2 at level 15, +3 at level 20.
- Blade song: +1 luck (doesn't scale with level).
Baldur's Gate
- Rabbit's Foot (Alora): +2 luck, +2 AC, +10% thief skills.
Baldur's Gate II
- Wish spell: Two of its effects affect luck:
- One intoxicates enemies, giving them a -12 luck penalty for 200 rounds. It bypasses magic resistance and offers no saving throw. It is dispellable and can be blocked by Spell Immunity: Enchantment and possibly Minor Globe of Invulnerability, as it is a level 3 Enchantment spell. Slow Poison and Heal cure it.
- The other effect gives -5 luck for 60 seconds party-wide.
IWD series: IWD and IWD2
- Chaos of battle (Priest of Tempus ability): 10% chance of a luck bonus between +1 and +5, depending on level.
Icewind Dale
- Lucky Scimitar: +1 luck.
- Tymora's Melody: +1 luck, +3 to saving throws, +5% thief skills.
Icewind Dale 2
- Luck spell: +1 luck.
- Tymora's Melody: +1 luck, +3 to saving throws, +2 to thief skills, Alchemy, and Knowledge (Arcana).
- Tymora's Loop (extremely rare random drop): +3 luck.
- Young Ned's Knucky: +2 to Luck, +2 to saving throws.
- Breaking the mirror in the Ice Temple: -20 luck.
- Chant: Unknown.
Stacking luck effects
As stated above, there are two luck effects, one which stacks and one which doesn’t.- Luck effect 1: Obtained from the Luck spell, Chant, and the Lucky Scimitar in IWD. It does not stack with itself, but it does stack with luck effect 2.
- Luck effect 2: Obtained from other sources. It stacks with itself and with luck effect 1, with one exception: bard songs. Bard songs don't stack with themselves, although they do stack with different songs. For example, two jester songs don't stack, but a jester song and a blade song do.
I’m trying to understand the concept of luck in the game, but most of the information I’ve found is confusing or contradictory. I’ve compiled information from the manuals and the forums trying to clarify it:
Manuals
Survival Guide:- While the [bard] song is playing, the party’s morale and luck are higher.
- A character can continue to operate at peak efficiency for 24 hours in game-time (2 hours realtime). After that, the characters will start to complain and their attributes begin to suffer. For every four hours beyond this 24-hour mark, the player will receive a –1 luck penalty (–1 to all rolls).
- Intoxicated characters gain a morale bonus, but receive a luck penalty.
- Luck spell: The recipient of this spell is lucky in everything they do for the next 3 rounds, receiving a 5% bonus to any actions. This includes Saving Throws, to-hit rolls, thieving skills, etc.
- Fatigued characters suffer a –1 penalty to luck; every four hours after becoming fatigued, this penalty increases by one. […] Luck affects every d20 roll your character makes.
- THAC0 and Armor Class: The d20 roll can also be modified by circumstances such as spells, special abilities, and luck.
- Luck spell: This spell’s recipient is lucky in everything they do for 3 rounds. They receive a +1 bonus to all actions, including Saving Throws, to-hit rolls, thieving skills, and anything else requiring a d20 roll. Contradictory: Thieving skills don't use d20 rolls.
- Stuff that affects luck:
- Bard song: Unspecified bonus.
- Intoxication: Unspecified penalty.
- Fatigue: -1 penalty for every four hours fatigued.
- Luck spell: 5% bonus to all actions (?). Alternatively, +1 bonus to all actions.
- Effects of luck:
- -1 to all rolls for each -1 penalty.
- Affects Saving Throws, to-hit rolls, thieving skills, etc.
- Affects d20 rolls.
Forum
These are summaries of the most interesting posts I've read. They're not quotes, so I hope I got them right:- @lunar: Luck adjusts damage rolls. When casting offensive spells which involve dice rolling your luck bonus is added to each die roll, up to the maximum die roll result.
- @JuliusBorisov: A luck bonus reduces the damage taken from magic and elemental damage by one point per die, down to a minimum of 1.
- @Semiticgod: There are two different effects called luck, and they work in more or less different ways.
- @Ark_Tolei: Luck doesn’t affect damage (dealt or taken).
Conclusion
My completely uneducated guess is that the key to understanding this is this post by semiticgod. If I get that right (and I probably don’t) the source of the confusion is the fact that the word “luck” is used in the game to describe two different effects rather than one. These two effects work similarly in some aspects and differently in others, hence the contradictions and the confusion. What do you think?↧