I've heard many people say/write (in passing) that Jan is "much better" than Imoen.

Would anyone care to enlighten me as to why this is so?

From a RP perspective, shouldn't another Bhaalspawn be better than a gnome?

Gnomes rule.

Seriously, Jan better than Imoen is purely opinion. I think a lot of people like Jan is because A) he's a gnome (my reason!), B) he's a multi-class character which means he can level Thief and Illusionist together. Imoen is a dual-classed Mage.

[ 09-17-2002, 11:31 PM: Message edited by: Annheiser ]

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Probably because he gets more lvls while imoen is taken from u

Agreed.

Seriously though, Jan can improve his thieving skills throughout the game, and can fit into evil parties where its tough to find a thief, as well as knowing thousands upon thousands of one-liners about.....you guessed it, turnips. ;)

Jan is mean to Keldorn, that's why I don't like him.
Imoen seems to get along with everyone.

<font color="lightblue">Jan is a better thief because he levels in both classes at once, Imoen is a better mage because all the XP she gets is devoted to the mage class, and thus she can reach a higher mage level than Jan. </font>

If you're looking for a thief to do all the thieving things like pickpocket, backstab etc than I suppose Jan makes a better one than Imoen.

BUT (and a big but)...

1. Imoen will level up better as a mage (since she is dual-classed) whereas Jan has to split his points between the 2 classes. Looking at the long-term, Imoen will be a better mage than Jan.

2. Jan is an illusionist, so he can't learn some spells.

3. Jan's INT is 16 (iirc) while Imoen's is 17. No big deal, nothing that a potion of genius or mind focusing can't fix though.

4. Imoen is good enougn a thief to detect traps, disarm them and pick locks which are arguably the essetial thief skills in the game. Pickpocketing & backstabbing are not that critical imho.

Purely from the RP point of view, you ought to have Imoen in your party when you.. hm.. encounter her. spoilers ahead:
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She's your sister, do not forget this. And also, I hit BG I with her, she proved herself to render decent help, and she's so cheerful! By the way, Baldurdash fixpack fixes her thieving abilities, so they become sufficient. And, finally, personally I would prefer a party of no ugly races (such as half-ogres, gnomes, dwarves, halflings etc), and this is the most important thing about the decisions Imoen vs. Jan.

I think it's just a matter of opinion....

actually, in the game I'm currently in, I intend to go for the best of both worlds, and SK Imoen into a single class Swashbuckler (what she basically was in BG 1) as soon as I get her back...

<font color="gold">I prefer Jan. He is much cooler then dull Imoen, and suits much better as a Thief. He is very good with his crossbow, so he can be used as a ranged warrior. He also is CN, so he can fit into all parties, while Imoen is CG, and doesnt match so good with evil parties. [img]smile.gif[/img] </font>