This is sorta BG1 and BG2 together so listen up...

I've been talking to my friend who also plays BG2 as much as I do. He recently created a character (fighter) with 19 to just about every statistic except for like wisdom and intelligence. I told him that this was cheating, because normal characters aren't able to get 19 in any stat (unless they're elves, for example). He said that since BG1 had magical books that upped their stats by 1, it was legit. I still say it's cheating (I'm a purist, btw) What do you guys call it?

I would call it cheating. Unless he imported the character from BGI it is cheating in my book. But ultimately it is not important what i think. If he likes to play that way that is his business.

JR

Damned i lost cousin Jan's techno gloves

Well, in BG1 there arn't any tomes that increase your strength or dexterity (as far as I know). The only attributes that there are tomes for are charisma, wisdom and constitution. So if he put up his str and dexterity then yeah, he is cheating. But Jesus, if he paid the outrageous amount of money that software retails for these days he's entitled to play however he wants.

Wrong. Those tomes are there, at least the book of strength, still fresh in my memory. Can't recall the tome to raise your dexterity, but I think it's in the game as well...

Theres a tome for every stat, and two for intelligence and wisdom (i think)

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In bg1 there were a book for every statistic:
The book of strength under candlekeep;
The book of dexterity in the thieves guild in baldurs gate city;
the book of con, in a cave near sirines´ beach;
the book of int, in a wizard´s toewer in bg city;
two books of wis, one in the temple of tymora in bg city, the other under candlekeep;
the book of car in the gnoll stronghold.

If you have TotSC there is another Book of Wisdom, great if you play a cleric as you can end up with 21 Wis!

When I first started BG (and later TotSc) I decided to roleplay rather than powerplay. I rolled once and only once (to give the idea of being born with a unique set of stats. The role I got sucked. I still played. It was painful at first, but as I progressed, I got fairly powerful. I never achieved the godlike status of others, nor will I ever, with the character I created. I didn't do this in BG2, as I wanted to powerplay, to see how the game went. Powerplay is great fun and watching your characters deal out serious damage is neat. Yet, if I went to play the whole saga through (which I might yet), I am determined to play as I did that first time. Powerplay is fun, but roleplay is somehow a more fulfilling experience. You feel less removed from your character (as in, how many people on this board have godlike stats if you follow my logic) and when they die its way more frustrating and upsetting, as you could almost place yourself in a similar mould and see yourself dying too. Powerplaying is not that much fun, if it was then the developers would have given all the Npc's godlike stats...

i prefer BG1 for roleplaying and BG2 for power gaming. The story of Bg1 is better for me, starting as a child trying to avoid a war while discovering all the truth about yourself.

Bg2 is funny for the power you can achieve, but the story has fewer surprises. I´m waiting for ToB.

i prefered the bg1 story myself, its more mysterieus.

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http://www.ranchoweb.com/images/bg2guy/drow2.gif

Those who watch their backs meet death from the front- Dreamer128 Demonslayer of the OHF.

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In planescape you get extra xp for high int, i now that your saving throws improve in bg2 but anything else?



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http://www.ranchoweb.com/images/bg2guy/drow2.gif

Those who watch their backs meet death from the front- Dreamer128 Demonslayer of the OHF.

How many of us have high stats? How many of us are children of gods? It is all in how you look at it...It is still roleplaying, and no, I would not say that giving yourself 19s is cheating...assuming you follow a simple rule, at least, this is how I feel. If you found the tomes in BG1 and used them, then by all means, you can create a BG2 character with that stat...I simply imported my character, but I can see how it could be frustrating since they came out with new kits with the new game. You can give your character the same stats you finished bg1 with (switched around a little if nesessary if you want a different class, but never increased in total points, and nothing above 18, or 19 with the tome) This way it is like your character simply had a change of profession during the time between games. This is what my friend did, and I think it is fair. I actually reduced my stats for BG2, since at the end of BG1 TotSC got boring, and I upped them all with shadowkeeper, sigh, I felt guilty and lowered them to their correct values. It just goes to show how powergaming just isn't as satisfying.

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"Not everything ends the way you think it should"

How many of us are children of the gods? WelL if your a christian the answer would be, oohhh....well.... all of us actually....

sigh, everybodys a comedian

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"Not everything ends the way you think it should"