POLL: Canon BG2 Party (some SoA spoilers)

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I read the SoA one and believe me, it has nothing to do with the game. I don't think Phillip Adams bothered to do any research concerning the background of any character of the game. It reads that he just got handed a paragraph printout like this:

To: PAdams
Re: Baldur's Gate 2 book

Abdel - Fighter, Hero
Jaheira - Druid
Minsc - Ranger
Imoen - Thief/Mage
Yoshimo - Thief
Irenicus - Bad Guy

Now write me something quick on this. I need a draft for the printer's on Wednesday!

 

I guess there's no reason to buy this book then

 

i tried readong one of those books, and jaheira was this scared damsel in distress stereotype. that gives you some idea of how off the character represtentation is. On top of that, the writing isn't that good, and the storyline sucks.

Funny that klorx mentions the tales of the sword coast party, because that protagonist is a single classed fighter named ABDEL!


maybe the protagonist is supposed to be a single classed human fighter. or maybe thats just such a simple character that its used ALL THE TIME as the default. even back in basic d&d, when making a character, the book walks you through making a fighter.

 

Playing any game, the fighter class is the best one to begin with. You just grab a weapon and start smashing stuff.

 

kuemper you are so right about how easy it is to be a figther.

Maybe you suppose to dual to another class like Imoen did in BG2. Does anyone know off hand what Abdel stats were with the TotSC installed?

Dex 17+ Dual to a Thief
Int 17+ Dual to a Mage
Wis 17+ Dual to a Cleric

It wouldn't surprise me if Adel had a 17+ in wisdom. With that score he could be a cleric and with Imoen as a T/M they would cover the four basic classes.

 

Abdel had ridiculously low Wisdom, like 6 or so. He had very high strength and constitution, like 18 each, and, oddly enough, charisma (also 18!). :hmmm:

Edit: This means the Abdel who's the default fighter in BGII can't be the same person, because his stats are 18(70)/13/18/11/9/11.

 

I have to say if they actually restricted BG series to a book than we would probably be limited to what sex, race, class we could select from. I actually enjoyed being able to create my own character.

One thing I have to say though is that I will miss all the 2e rules in BG1 and BG2 if they ever come out with BG3.

 

Western Paladin in ToTSC Abdel had the following stats.

Str 19
Dex 19
Con 19
Int 11
Wis 10
Cha 18

 

I can't see neither Viconia neither Aerie in the canon party. Because these are options for a romance, and since Jaheira takes that spot (it is more absolutely normal to be that way, she was with you from the beginning), there is no place for the other two. And I don't understand why Aerie is better than Viconia (some of you think this way). At least Viconia is an old aquaintence. And, as other people mentioned, you have a silly quest in the tent with Aerie, while there is an entire chapter in drow's home, the Underdark.
For me Edwin is the one who fits perfectly, because of his pact with the PC to be in his service for a year.

 

Abdel's stats in BG1 are 18/19/19/7/6/18, pretty good I think considering intelligence and wisdom aren't that important (at least in this game)

For my last canon NPC I would go with Aerie, I like her better and she is also much more powerful than Viconia.

 

LOTS OF SPOILERS AHEAD

@Abdel: my version of TotSC had "Abdel" with a 7 Int and a 6 Wis, and used the Kivan portrait (as opposed to the BG2 Abdel, with the generic blond fighter portrait).

And then there's Tal's personal favorite subject: the Athans BG novels. I would guess the mentally challenged Abdel given in the TotSC mission packs showed the game designers' opinion of Athans' work.

In any case, the game departs in many, many ways from the novel. Once on a lark I thought I'd try a run-through from BG to ToB based on the novels (which I skimmed through at a Barnes and Noble; not worth buying), but stopped close to the end of BG, as I got to a point where I was relying on cheese and lots of strategic shopping to make it past key battles (which from any kind of RP perspective would make no sense, given Abdel's complete inability in the novel to demonstrate any kind of strategic thinking whatsoever).

Basically, the Athans Abdel would make Conan look like Napoleon: he's the epitome of the physically imposing, impulsive but utterly unimaginative muscle-bound fantasy type.

That being said, an Abdel based on the novel would have maxed out Str and Con, and possibly maxed out Dex, as his whole Bhaal legasy seems to be reflected in physical abilities that become more and more superhuman as the novels progress. Athans says Abdel is a smart fighter now and then, but that's not demonstrated in any other part of his life, so Int and Wis can be mid to low. Cha would probably be slightly higher than average, as he's supposed to have alot of presence, but he apparently lacks any leadership ability whatsoever. Oh, and in the novel he only uses regular chain mail, regular broadsword, and a posibly magic dagger that he loses (his prefered distance weapon is a thrown dagger), but sticking to a no magic items policy probably doesn't make sense in the game. The consensus is that Abdel is Neutral Good, but Chaotic Stupid is more likely...

In BG, you could kind of emulate the novel if you: 0) max points in large swords and maybe put the others in dagger; 1) pretend Imoen doesn't exist; 2) kill a few gibberlings and join with Montaron and Xzar; 3) go directly to the Friendly Arms and add Jaheira and Khalid to the party, killing one person at the tavern in the process (the guy who tries to kill you when you enter the FAI makes a good sub); 4) go directly to Nashkel and shop for potions at the carnival (using Montaron to steal things all the while); 5) go to the mines, where X and M confront J and K and run off (they work for Sarevok, who will pointlessly kill them in the novel in the next scene), and where you accidentally almost kill K, causing J to run off and get captured by Mulahey (you can't do this in the game, so just bring J and K along); 6) go ape and kill lots of kobolds and Mulahey, saving Xan (and J, and later healing K); 7) go directly to Beregost to kill Tranzig (something different happens in the novel, but this is the only way in the game to get to the bandit camp); 8) at some point on the way to the bandit camp, K is killed by some strange ooze things that don't exist in the game, so either get him killed by, say ghouls if you can find them on the way, or have the oozes at the exit to Mulahey's pad kill him; 9) sneak up to the bandit camp, kill one bandit, and have Xan use stealth (2 invis potion + insulation potion) to sneak into Tazok's place, steal the documents, and sneak out; 10) go to the Cloakwood (supposedly with Korax as a guide, but that's impossible in the game), where you ignore all encounters except those of the spider map, where you (thankfully, as you are only ~2nd level at this point!) can kill lots of spiders for XP; 11) Xan is beheaded by a spider (the sword spider in Centeol's layer works well) and you kill Centeol (and finally get a decent weapon); 12) now it's just you and J, go directly to the Cloakwood mines, add Yeslick to the party, and kill Daveorn; 13) drop Y off somewhere and head to Baldur's Gate; 14) talk to Scar, infiltrate the Seven Sun's, rescue Jhasso; 15) talk to Duke Eltan, who sends you to Candlekeep (in the game, you will have to run into the Iron Throne and out again first); 16) get thrown into jail at Candlekeep and sent into the catacombs (in the novel, you try to fight the guard, but that just gets you killed in the game, so give up); 17) go back to BG, talk to Tamoko at some point, and do the minimum amount of work to get into the castle (in the novel you can go directly and accuse Sarevok, and Angelo is even on your side); 18) J is killed (tho later raised) in the fight in the castle; 19) Solo it the rest of the way to kill Sarevok (in the novel, you are accompanied by Angelo and a bunch of fighters, but good luck here, as you are a solo fighter at level 5 or 6, with a minimum number of magic items).

In SoA: 0) perhaps import Abdel as a berserker (his Bhaal spirit is often expressed through a kind of berserk rage, without the Slayer transformation) 1) get out of Irenicus' dungeon with Jahiera, Minsc, Imoen, and Yoshimo (ignore the Khalid episode); 2) Irenicus takes Imoen *and* Jahiera (not quite sure how you do this in the game), and dump Yoshimo and Minsc off at the Copper Coronet (where Minsc becomes a bouncer, where Gaylan Bayle is a bartender, and where Bodhi is the owner!); 3) soloing, get your 15,000 as quickly as possible to join with Bohdi (in the novel you go directly to killing Aran Linvail, and have an affair with Bohdi besides!); 4) kill Linvail, take the boat with Saemon (don't forget to take Jahiera); 5) make it past Spellhold, and somehow end up in the Underdark with J, Imoen, and Yoshimo (as this is of course impossible, either pick up Y before going to Spellhold so he dies betraying you, or forget him altogether: he'll die soon anyway, killed by Imoen transformed into the Slayer); 6) have Adalon transform you into drow (the underdark is very different, and Imoen sleeps with Phaere) and bring back her eggs; 7) go back to Athkatla, kill Bohdi, get the Lanthorn (your party into ToB is now Abdel, Jaheira, and Imoen); 8) go to Suldenesselar, and kill Irenicus doing the minimum number of quests; 9) go to hell, chose all the good paths, and kill Irenicus again...

In ToB: again, minimum number of quests; 1) kill Ilasera; 2) add Sarevok to the party and deal with Gromnir; 3) kill Yaga Shura (in the novel, all this happens before leaving Saradush, but possibly in the game you could bring the full party along to complete Yaga Shura); 4) leaving Imoen behind, go after Abizigal, perhaps have J die fighting Draconis and Sarevok die against Abizigal (in the novel, J is carried off by a dragon as you fight Yaga Shura outside Saradush and then eaten, and Sarevok dies killing off Abizigal and the rest of the dragons as you lie unconscious: btw, by this point you have superhuman physical abilities, including regeneration and immunity to normal weapons as per hell trials); 5) have Sendai kill Imoen (in the novel, Sendai is an assassin who breaks into Balthazar's tower and kills Imoen in her sleep); 6) now completely solo, defeat Balthazar (in the novel, he lets you kill him after defeating you, when he realizes only you can go to the pocket plane to confront Melissan); 7) kill Melissan, and give up your divinity.

Man, what a long post...

 

Lol I don't know it was that bad

 

What was created first the books or the game? If it was the books than the game simply added a lot of quest not mentioned in the books. Maybe in the books Minsc became a companion, being one of the fighters that went with you to kill Saverok?

I am going my own path and taking along the 5 characters that can be picked up in both BG1 and BG2.

 

They would have been written at the same time, but the game came first. Probably Athans got some preliminary info about characters, locations, and events while the game was under production. If you view the game as canon rather than the books (which absolutely makes sense, as the games are lightyears better than the books, which suck), then you would think that Athans got pretty much everything wrong. Again, the description above is what you might try to do if for some absurd reason you wanted to follow the book in a game run through. But if you want to have fun playing the game, avoid the books at all costs...

 

I wouldn't say that the PC only used Imoen, Dynahier, Minsc, Jahiera and Khalid. I say that they changed a couple of times, as the PC know Viconia, Ajantis, Edwin, Safana, Tiax, Quayle, and Garrick from earlier, and I don't think that was from flashy moments only.

 

Know of them perhaps. Met them on your rise to glory, certainly. You're allowed to say things like "Aren't you dead?" to the majority of them, but all except Immy, Minsc, and Jaheira try to downplay their association with you. Edwin blows you off and treats you like so much armpit hair, so he obviously wasn't around long enough to observe your prowess. And Viconia only makes mention of you saving her before (presumably that incident with the Flaming Fist) but nothing beyond that.

I would imagine that you met a great many people in your travels along the Sword Coast that you did not allow to join you for one reason or another. And considering you were the big news in the region ("Look, Krystin honey, it's the Heroes of the Sword Coast. They're the real deal."), I would imagine everybody within a hundred-mile radius of Baldur's Gate knows who you are. At most, I'd call their minimal recall a minor nod to those who took NPCs other than the "canon" NPCs. After all, if you'd traveled with them and shared danger together, I would imagine they'd have more to say than "Oh, it's you again."