Baldur's Gate: The Thread

[Calemyr]

Edit: think of Edwin. Edwin is the perfect evil character. We only know he's evil because we can hear his internal monologue. If we couldn't, he would be a perfectly nice if somewhat pretentious person. He gladly pretends to follow the PC's lead as long as it furthers his own agenda.

Oh, I followed the point, I just thought I'd spell it out. Sarcasm and subtlety are as sharp as spheres out here on the net.

But the best part of Edwin - the best part - is the fact that he's actually saying his internal monologue out loud. I know there's at least one conversation when you can call him out on that fact and he's absolutely caught of guard by the revelation.

Okay, I feel dumb, but how do I add mods (like Unfinished Business) to BG2:EE? I have Windows 8 and got it on Steam, if that helps.

I used Beamdog's setup, so it may be different, but you need to go a few levels deeper than the install directory. I believe it's structured like "/Baldur's Gate EE/0084/Data". The exact name and numbers are probably wrong, but you should see the pattern. You want to copy the files to that Data folder and run it from there.

Not all WeiDu mods are compatible with EE. EE is multilingual, which means it keeps seperate Tlk files for each language in separate folders (original just put it in the base install folder). UB is one I'm quite certain is EE compatible, so it should work fine as long as you put it in the right folder.

[LibraryOgre]

Unfortunately, I don't have them. I did try drinking those magic-resistance potions, but to no avail.

The protection from magic scrolls are used by "gifting" the protection from magic to a wizard or cleric... suddenly, they're weak fighters.

[Sylthia]

Are there any non-evil lesbian romance mod options compatible with Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition?

[Feytalist]

Oh, I followed the point, I just thought I'd spell it out. Sarcasm and subtlety are as sharp as spheres out here on the net.

But the best part of Edwin - the best part - is the fact that he's actually saying his internal monologue out loud. I know there's at least one conversation when you can call him out on that fact and he's absolutely caught of guard by the revelation.

Fair enough. I mostly just used it as a jumping board for my own mini-rant

Yeah, I just love Edwin's characterisation to bits. But it's also one way you as the PC can play evil.

Whereas I like there being [lie] responses; while *I* might decide my character is lying, I like for the game to know it, too. If the game is taking "I only ever wanted you, Ravel" seriously, and not as a thing I'm saying to make Ravel give me stuff, then it rather changes the nature of the man, doesn't it?

Yeah, I get it. It's a decent way for the game to give you more RP options, given the limitations of the format. Torment at least gives you the choice of saying the same thing twice; either as truth, or as a lie.

Sometimes though I just get irritated with the game telling me "you can lie here, now".

Although. It's been shown that belief can change the nature of a man (is that a spoiler? I have no idea anymore). But is it the belief of the player, or the game?

Now that I think of it a lot of people's alignment sucks. Jaheira certainly doesn't behave like a True Neutral. Neither does Faldorn.

Word. 2nd ED wasn't the greatest with alignments. At least by their characterisation, we can see Jaheira as NG (although a very bitter NG), and Faldorn as NE.

[Sylthia]

Are there any non-evil lesbian romance mod options compatible with Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition?

Another question as well: can I dual class Hexxat if I use EE:Keeper to bump up her stats a bit? I don't really need a vanilla thief in BG2, but could use her as a Fighter/Thief or Mage/Thief. Or is being pure Thief somehow tied to her character?

[LibraryOgre]

Yeah, I get it. It's a decent way for the game to give you more RP options, given the limitations of the format. Torment at least gives you the choice of saying the same thing twice; either as truth, or as a lie.

Sometimes though I just get irritated with the game telling me "you can lie here, now".

Although. It's been shown that belief can change the nature of a man (is that a spoiler? I have no idea anymore). But is it the belief of the player, or the game?

I wanted there to be a simple option... "Press Ctrl and make your selection to lie".

Word. 2nd ED wasn't the greatest with alignments. At least by their characterisation, we can see Jaheira as NG (although a very bitter NG), and Faldorn as NE.

I think it's partially that 2e was shackled to 1e's alignment, and a lot more thought had gone into who and what druids were in the 20 years from AD&D 1e to Baldur's Gate.


So, unrelated question: Does BG2 include Heirophant powers for druids?

[Calemyr]

Another question as well: can I dual class Hexxat if I use EE:Keeper to bump up her stats a bit? I don't really need a vanilla thief in BG2, but could use her as a Fighter/Thief or Mage/Thief. Or is being pure Thief somehow tied to her character?

Don't remember if she's eligible for dual classing (stats or no stats), though I think you can finagle it with EEKeeper with a little creativity. She's kind of an odd case, really. Like a lot of characters, her identity is tied to her profession. Make Minsc anything but a ranger and things start making less sense - even less sense than they usually do when big guy is in the room. She'd certainly make sense as any variation of thief (assassin, swashbuckler, shadowdancer, bounty hunter, fighter/thief), or even as a bard. Heck, she'd be a pretty badass bard, honestly - she's a great example of knowledge equaling power. Especially if you make her a Skald and head-canon the bard song to be her orchestrating party tactics rather than magical humming...

Short version is, she's basically Indiana Jones, just a somewhat ruthlessly practical one. She wouldn't work as a cleric or a mage, but as any thief, bard, or fighter-thief she'd remain consistent with her characterization.

So, unrelated question: Does BG2 include Heirophant powers for druids?

Nope. Druids get three kits (more can be added via mods, though):
1) Shapeshifter, where they can shapeshift into a werewolf/greater werewolf form. Not bad, just not great. The loss of any access to armor really hurts, though.
2) Avenger, which sacrifices any armor above leather and 2 points of str and con to gain an enhanced set of shapeshift options and a few good arcane spells.
3) Totemic Druid, which sacrifices shapeshifting to summon more powerful animal companions.

[Winthur]

Make Minsc anything but a ranger and things start making less sense - even less sense than they usually do when big guy is in the room.

Minsc managed to become a Ranger despite having insufficient Wisdom to pass for one and his fighting methods involve yelling very loudly and bashing. Have you ever taken off the best plate mail you could find off Minsc just so he could go scouting with his sneak skill? (I mean, I did, but it was never necessary in anything but my Ironman playthroughs) He could easily be changed to a Berserker.

[Calemyr]

Minsc managed to become a Ranger despite having insufficient Wisdom to pass for one and his fighting methods involve yelling very loudly and bashing. Have you ever taken off the best plate mail you could find off Minsc just so he could go scouting with his sneak skill? (I mean, I did, but it was never necessary in anything but my Ironman playthroughs) He could easily be changed to a Berserker.

Minsc could have been a berserker, yes. He would have made a lot of sense as such. But change him now and dialogue about his role as a ranger, his off-beat reverence for nature, and his odd choice as an animal companion all start to stick out. Make Cernd anything but a druid and you break a lot dialogue as well.

And, by the way, yes. I do on occasion use Minsc for stealth. He presents an awful lot of power you can sneak into places, let him armor up (if you can find a quiet spot), and then go off like a claymore mine. The invisibility spell works for this, too, but why waste a spell slot when you can have it for free?

As for his wisdom score, I believe that's explained this way: he HAD a sufficient score, but the grievous head injuries received when the gnolls ambushed them and took Dynaheir, combined with emotional strain of failing his dijemma (or however that's spelled), have left him permanently addled (a fairly large penalty to wisdom). Think of it as a more drastic life-changing event than Anomen's knighthood test, with all the stat changes that entails.

[LibraryOgre]

Don't remember if she's eligible for dual classing (stats or no stats), though I think you can finagle it with EEKeeper with a little creativity. She's kind of an odd case, really. Like a lot of characters, her identity is tied to her profession. Make Minsc anything but a ranger and things start making less sense - even less sense than they usually do when big guy is in the room.

I think he works fine as a barbarian, especially since he doesn't take advantage of a ranger's TWF, usually.

Short version is, she's basically Indiana Jones, just a somewhat ruthlessly practical one. She wouldn't work as a cleric or a mage, but as any thief, bard, or fighter-thief she'd remain consistent with her characterization.

I maintain the perfect characterization for Indiana Jones is an AD&D thief of 4th level or greater.

Nope. Druids get three kits (more can be added via mods, though):
1) Shapeshifter, where they can shapeshift into a werewolf/greater werewolf form. Not bad, just not great. The loss of any access to armor really hurts, though.
2) Avenger, which sacrifices any armor above leather and 2 points of str and con to gain an enhanced set of shapeshift options and a few good arcane spells.
3) Totemic Druid, which sacrifices shapeshifting to summon more powerful animal companions.

Ugh. I like druids, but ever since they decided they needed to be ecoterrorists instead of leaders, it's gotten annoying.

[Sylthia]

Don't remember if she's eligible for dual classing (stats or no stats), though I think you can finagle it with EEKeeper with a little creativity. She's kind of an odd case, really. Like a lot of characters, her identity is tied to her profession. Make Minsc anything but a ranger and things start making less sense - even less sense than they usually do when big guy is in the room. She'd certainly make sense as any variation of thief (assassin, swashbuckler, shadowdancer, bounty hunter, fighter/thief), or even as a bard. Heck, she'd be a pretty badass bard, honestly - she's a great example of knowledge equaling power. Especially if you make her a Skald and head-canon the bard song to be her orchestrating party tactics rather than magical humming...

Short version is, she's basically Indiana Jones, just a somewhat ruthlessly practical one. She wouldn't work as a cleric or a mage, but as any thief, bard, or fighter-thief she'd remain consistent with her characterization.



Nope. Druids get three kits (more can be added via mods, though):
1) Shapeshifter, where they can shapeshift into a werewolf/greater werewolf form. Not bad, just not great. The loss of any access to armor really hurts, though.
2) Avenger, which sacrifices any armor above leather and 2 points of str and con to gain an enhanced set of shapeshift options and a few good arcane spells.
3) Totemic Druid, which sacrifices shapeshifting to summon more powerful animal companions.

I'll probably go ahead and make Hexxat a Fighter/Thief. Does anyone know if all the Evil characters side quests can be wrapped up before going to get Imoen? I'm thinking if doing a pseudo evil run as I do that portion of chapters 2&3.

[Calemyr]

I'll probably go ahead and make Hexxat a Fighter/Thief. Does anyone know if all the Evil characters side quests can be wrapped up before going to get Imoen? I'm thinking if doing a pseudo evil run as I do that portion of chapters 2&3.

All the new characters have plot that goes well into Throne of Bhaal, so you won't run out of material for Dorn and Hexxat. Edwin and Korgan you can easily pull of before hitting the Asylum, Viconia doesn't have much of anything beyond her romance in the first place. You could finish Hexxat's SoA stuff before Spellhold. Dorn's too, but the major thrust of it doesn't come into play until level 10.

One trick with evil characters is a helm called the helm of opposite alignment, a cursed item that (unsurprisingly) flips alignment. It's a handy thing for Dorn, Korgan, or Viconia (and Hexxat if you make her a fighter/thief, bard, or get her the "use anything" high level ability). The character then stops being a pain in the ass at high rep. The item isn't actually placed in the game, so you have to cheat to get it, however, but at least it's an in-game mechanic to support the behavior. Of course, you could also just mod it so that people never quit over reputation, which is certainly easier but you'll still have to hear them whine about high rep.

[LibraryOgre]

Man, I'd forgotten how frustrating it is to not be able to use mage items as a bard...

[Winthur]

Man, I'd forgotten how frustrating it is to not be able to use mage items as a bard...

You get to use scrolls and wands, at least, AFAIK? No real need for anything else, and there's Elven Chain Mails later on in the game to ease the pain (including the pretty handy Aslyferund's).

And of course Vhailor's Helm->Simulacrum. You can make the Simulacrum sing, even! And you both can sing! And the song bonus is doubled.

[Sylthia]

I'll probably dump Edwin and Korgan once I've used them. I might use Vicky a bit, but I've already used her extensively in past playthroughs. I'll have to restrain myself from always falling back on the same few characters.

So my preliminary final team might look something like
Rhea, the Ranger/Cleric
Rasaad
Neera or Kelsey (can't commit to uncharted NPC territory)
Imoen (I DO always use her, but since I try to do most of the side-quests before going to Spellhold, it's mostly to clear out the game with)
Hexxat, Keeper'd to Fighter/Thief (maybe, I'll see if she grows on me or not)
Rotating for side-quests, maybe finish with Haer'dalis (I've never really used him, but would like to try)

I really wish there was a mod to let you have more than 6 in the party.

Not sure what I want to do Romance-wise. Are there any non-evil lesbian romance mod options compatible with Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition?

[Calemyr]

Not sure what I want to do Romance-wise. Are there any non-evil lesbian romance mod options compatible with Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition?

Not really my speed (my Scions tend to be male), but I remember running across a few in my searches. None of them looked all that good, though. Chloe is a kensei who is the child of a wind god (giving her 25 dex). She'll romance a female Scion or Imoen. Heard her dismissed as a diva on Solufein levels, but never really looked into it. I'll look for some options after work.

[Morty]

A half-deity with a natural 25 in dexterity is two big, bright red flags from where I'm sitting.

[LibraryOgre]

A half-deity with a natural 25 in dexterity is two big, bright red flags from where I'm sitting.

...isn't your PC a half-deity?

[Morty]

Yes, and the key difference is that they're the main character of the series.

[Sylthia]

...isn't your PC a half-deity?

And yet we don't get 25 in any of our stats.

[Calemyr]

Not getting very far, here. I only found one that had content in ToB:
Dace: Human female bounty hunter, CN (thinks alignments are nonsense), has ToB support and will romance anyone of any race or gender.

[Sylthia]

Not getting very far, here. I only found one that had content in ToB:
Dace: Human female bounty hunter, CN (thinks alignments are nonsense), has ToB support and will romance anyone of any race or gender.

Thanks.

I seem to be having trouble triggering Minsc's Boo quest. I installed Unfinished Business and am hanging out in the Docks and have left and come back a few times, but nothing's happening.

[Winthur]

Not really my speed (my Scions tend to be male), but I remember running across a few in my searches. None of them looked all that good, though. Chloe is a kensei who is the child of a wind god (giving her 25 dex). She'll romance a female Scion or Imoen. Heard her dismissed as a diva on Solufein levels, but never really looked into it. I'll look for some options after work.

To tell the truth, Chloe does not benefit as much from all the Dex as someone like a ranged fighter would, and her other physical stats, strength and constitution, don't give her many benefits at all. She gets like a bonus -2 AC from Dex (hardly relevant to anything after a while), she can't use ranged weapons so that point is moot - aside from the fact that her Dexterity is deity-tier, it doesn't actually do that much in-game. Chloe can't dual-class, either. And since most players tend to reroll their characters until they have 18 in every relevant stats + decent score in the other ones, you could argue Chloe is just a massive sword freak with a godlike power. Sorta like a Newtype.

But even then, Chloe is not worth installing. She's not exactly Saerileth Tier in terms of sheer badness, but her girlfriend-conversations with Imoen are rainbow-vomit inducing. And she one-ups Jan when he attempts to tie her into another charade. The way she is just obviously smarter and better than everyone is just silly. And also that one cringeworthy conversation with Minsc about being a lesbian. And if you or Imoen ever romance her, you're likely to need to converse with her pretty much every time you press the Rest button. They really overdid it with the dialogue, wanting to cram in a ton of content and make the NPC central to the universe.

[Sylthia]

Still no luck triggering Minsc's Boo sidequest. I've been hanging around the Docks and leaving and coming back several times. I was hoping to knock this quest out early. Are there other requirements for the quest besides being in the Docks?

[Calemyr]

Still no luck triggering Minsc's Boo sidequest. I've been hanging around the Docks and leaving and coming back several times. I was hoping to knock this quest out early. Are there other requirements for the quest besides being in the Docks?

Far as I know, there's no other stated requirement. Try to explore as much of the Docks map as possible, especially along the waterfront.

[Winthur]

Still no luck triggering Minsc's Boo sidequest. I've been hanging around the Docks and leaving and coming back several times. I was hoping to knock this quest out early. Are there other requirements for the quest besides being in the Docks?

Maybe the issue is with the game's internal clock? Leave the game (unpaused, I believe?) in the docks for a while and go make some tea, read War and Peace or do some exercise. Come back and then try.

[Morty]

To tell the truth, Chloe does not benefit as much from all the Dex as someone like a ranged fighter would, and her other physical stats, strength and constitution, don't give her many benefits at all. She gets like a bonus -2 AC from Dex (hardly relevant to anything after a while), she can't use ranged weapons so that point is moot - aside from the fact that her Dexterity is deity-tier, it doesn't actually do that much in-game. Chloe can't dual-class, either. And since most players tend to reroll their characters until they have 18 in every relevant stats + decent score in the other ones, you could argue Chloe is just a massive sword freak with a godlike power. Sorta like a Newtype.

Huh, I thought such godlike Dexterity gave a better AC bonus. I just love those inconsistent AD&D attributes.

But even then, Chloe is not worth installing. She's not exactly Saerileth Tier in terms of sheer badness, but her girlfriend-conversations with Imoen are rainbow-vomit inducing. And she one-ups Jan when he attempts to tie her into another charade. The way she is just obviously smarter and better than everyone is just silly. And also that one cringeworthy conversation with Minsc about being a lesbian. And if you or Imoen ever romance her, you're likely to need to converse with her pretty much every time you press the Rest button. They really overdid it with the dialogue, wanting to cram in a ton of content and make the NPC central to the universe.

Yuck. But it's standard fare with NPC mods. Unfortunately, a lot of modders either don't have much of a writing flair, so their NPCs stay quiet, or they have too much of it, and they never shut up.

[Calemyr]

Huh, I thought such godlike Dexterity gave a better AC bonus. I just love those inconsistent AD&D attributes.

Dex has diminishing returns on AC. 18 dex is worth -4 AC. 25 dex is worth -6 AC. If Chloe were an archer (or you give her throwing weapons), that dex would mean a lot more. Since she normally only uses the defensive bonus of it, however, it's not worth nearly as much as it appears.

Yuck. But it's standard fare with NPC mods. Unfortunately, a lot of modders either don't have much of a writing flair, so their NPCs stay quiet, or they have too much of it, and they never shut up.

Embarrassingly enough, when I was much younger I liked Saerileth. Up until I played her mod, all the romances I'd seen in the game (vanilla and mod) felt like the Scion was simply a therapist who was sleeping with his patients. It was really nice to have a potential romance that wasn't all about working through the love interest's personal anguish. Plus the whole abstinence-until-marriage thing, which was another rarity that made a nice change. Even the age thing didn't bother me too much, because in comparative historical eras 15 is a marriageable age. Looking back on it, though, it was pretty overblown and more than a little creepy. Plus she turned my Azure Edge Axe into a small pile of crimson ash. But, at the time, I was so sick of the cliche dating-the-therapist format of romance mods that it was a really nice change for a while.

I've seen a few good ones since. Kelsey isn't without his own problems, but he doesn't make the game or even the romance all about those problems. "Yes, I've got a spooky wizard girl chasing me in the hopes of pulling out my brain and experimenting on it to find the 'cast fireball' button, and that sucks. Your situation sucks to. Together, our respective situations don't have to suck quite as much." As I've said, I don't go for female Scions as a rule, but he's the only male LI I've ever found worth the time (Rasaad might be, though). The fact that he can romance Imoen means he can find a worthy spot in a male Scion's party too. Fade and Tyris Flare both have their own personal issues as well, but their romances are far more about the... well... romance. About the relationship and interactions between them and the Scion rather than "Waah! I've lost my wings!" or "Waah! My husband's dead!*" or "Waah! I'm afraid to love!" and patiently talking them through their assorted mental blocks. Actually, I hear Fade finally has her ToB content. And access to the Shadowdancer kit if you're playing BG2EE. I may have to track down the mischievous tiefling again...

* Yeah, I'm going to hell for that one, aren't I?

[Sylthia]

I looked at Hexxat's Romance on YouTube, and it seemed rather flat. It gives pretty much no backstory, and is only "I like you, but we shouldn't get together" about a dozen times. It also seems pretty short compared to the vanilla romances. Is there even a side quest to go along with it?

[Calemyr]

I looked at Hexxat's Romance on YouTube, and it seemed rather flat. It gives pretty much no backstory, and is only "I like you, but we shouldn't get together" about a dozen times. It also seems pretty short compared to the vanilla romances. Is there even a side quest to go along with it?

Don't know the details about Hexxat's romance, but Hexxat's tied to a rather lengthy series of tombs you have to raid to find certain artifacts. Hexxat is working for someone who can grant her a wish she desperately wants fulfilled, but just what that wish is doesn't get discussed until it's about to get granted in ToB. The dungeons are interesting and have some cool gear and Hexxat herself brings a lot of unique factors to the table.