It seems, in the Forgotten Realms world, that anyone over level 20 is a rare sight and one of the most powerful people in the world, yet, it is possible to become much more powerful in BGII. I've even seen references of 'powerful' characters as being level 16. What do you folks think? What's with all the ultra-high level characters?

Well, you are a child of Bhaal...

I dont really know. The people just dont bother leveling up, so to speak. Ribald himself is only 16, IIRC.

Well, IIRC, even in the monty-haul Forgotten Realms, 12+ Level characters are 1 in 10,000 or more. Now, that wisdom is not supported by the literature. Waterdeep has (last time I checked) a population that swells above 200K in summer. This means you'd have 20 or so people that powerful in Waterdeep. Well, you can quickly name that many if you just buy a few Waterdeep Mods (don't forget UnderMountain is part of Waterdeep, too).

In *my* game, they are extremely rare, and the highest level characters ever got in a years-long campaign was 13-14th level.

But, BGII looks to address the very powerful persons in the world - namely, Bhaalspawn and their foes. I still think it's a bit overpopulated by folks of 10+ level, but hey, it's a *representation* of the actual world. Surely the slums have more people in them than the few you talk with - imagine it as a representation where all of the "useless" sorts mingling about the streets are simply set aside for ease of gameplay.

And, I like the high levels in SoA/ToB. It's nice to, for once, get a character up to those levels. And, with the story, it makes some sense. It's not like you can't start at first level.

Don't forget how much faster you levelup when you don't have to train all the time and make wisdom rolls (as per the rules).

But, it's also gotten more overpowered over time. The first Hall of Heroes books listed Elminster as a 36th level or so mage. The latest stats I saw on him were 40 level mage / 40th level cleric. I was like WTF.

I'd have to say I like the low level gameplay of Baldur's Gate A LOT more than the clash of Gods that BG2 really is [img]smile.gif[/img] That's also why I prefer the very early stages of BG2, rather than the late game + ToB.

ditto rataxes ditto playing at a very high level gets a little borin you know!

Come on, in less than a year, one can go from level one to level forty. I thought that, in PnP, it took years upon years to achieve that.

Don't get me started on how I hate reaching high levels and getting uber items. Read my OT post to get an idea.

another point... your character is a ballspawn, but the rest of your party probably aren't, yet they level as fast and as high as you do

Ahh, that is a very good point, but think of it, a Bhall Spawn who is, let's say lv.17, walking around with level 3 or 4 party members. Now, that wont fit his style, would it?

WHAT THE HELL IS IIRC???

IIRC = If I Recall Correctly

Cursing is not necessary. For any abbreviation you don't know, visit this link

Isn't the problem that the game system is one in which it is expected that real live people (whatever they are...) or DM, if you will, will make decisions about the game, such as how much XP to award, the threat level etc.

The rewards in BG2 are generally too high and the threat level too low. I find that the "improvements" made to the game (tactics mod etc) make it too difficult for me most of the time - what I'm looking for is slightly higher difficulty, but reduced XP rewards (is escaping from chez Irenicus really worth two level ups?)

I remember the halcyon days of BG1 - a level 1 thief requires 1250XP to level up, it was damn difficult to get. I'd prefer level ranges of 6/7 to 20 for BG2 (including ToB) with appropriate threat levels. More fine tuning of difficulty would be nice as well [img]smile.gif[/img]

Even better would be getting rid of all the magic weapons. Is there anyone in Amn who doesn't have a magic weapon to drop? (which then makes me wonder why there are so many merchants selling unenchanted short swords!)

Amen, Boros, I get so sick of magic items.

If you think about the CON point a mage must sacrifice to make any generic magic item, it makes it exceedingly unlikely there would be too terribly many lying about.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the second edition Ravenloft set b/c magic is so absolutely limited - prior to WoTC taking over and monty hauling it of course.

TL, I agree completely about Ravenloft, and even when you do get that rare magic item (assuming you aren't playing Feast of Goblyns, which was the first mod for the setting and had a forgotten realms style monty hall feel) you were more likely to get screwed over by using it, the number of magic items cursed by Ravenloft is astounding, or the price on using them makes them all but unusable (adjatha the drinker, or the sword of chaos would require a powers check on every hit due to it's life stealing effects)