Throne of Bhaal Interview

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(Originally posted by Darien)

Jonric, over at RPGVault, has written up an excellent interview with Kevin Martens, Lead Designer on BGII: Throne of Bhaal. They talked about several different aspects of the game covering topics such as storyline, the implementation of 3rd edition rules, and new items and spells.

Jonric: How does Throne of Bhaal mesh with Shadows of Amn? Is it an extension of the original story, a series of side quests or a mix of both?

Kevin Martens: As far as playing the Add-On Section goes, we have several options:
1) You can import from your final save in Shadows of Amn. Like BG1, this is just before the end encounter. All of the equipment that you've loaded yourself out with for the final battle will be imported over into Throne of Bhaal. Alternately, you can do the final battle and the game will flow directly in Throne of Bhaal from the end movie of Shadows of Amn.

2) We have tons of importation options. You can import from any other Shadows of Amn save games. If you left something behind or have not yet finished Shadows of Amn, you can still import into Throne of Bhaal. You can also import any of your created characters into the game. Any characters that are below two million XP will be bumped up and be given a bag of holding full of appropriately powerful goodies. We insure that you will be at an appropriate level to be able to face the new challenges in the Add-On section regardless of where you've imported from.

3) You can start a new game in Throne of Bhaal - you can go through the character creation just like in Shadows of Amn, including new options like the Wild Mage, which is also available from the start of Shadows of Amn. You will build a two million XP character who will also be given tons of spells and items appropriate to his or her class and/or level.

4) All of these import or new game options give you access, in your new stronghold, to all of the Shadows of Amn characters who are not dead. There is also a new joinable-NPC who you meet in your new stronghold.

In short, you have options. Approximately half of the expansion takes place in Shadows of Amn, although it is also accessible in Throne of Bhaal. So, anyone who's worried about items or tying up loose ends should take some time there and gather up everything you want to take with you before moving on. If you're not interested in this, we always make sure that you have enough good loot to make it through the game, regardless of what you have when you start the Add-On section.

Read the rest of the interview here.