[SixOfSpades]

Originally posted by JayS: But it it possible to have her count as undead on some counts and non-undead on others? Undead not get saves against Sunrays damage, so Bodhi would be taking 20d6 damage from it with no chance of defending against it. 2 Sunrays could finish off Bodhi. Undead-Slaying weapons would still have a 1/20 chance of slaying Bodhi, despite a PMS (which lowers saves to -20). Repulse Undead and possibly Turn Undead still make her run away in fear. SSS would be doing 9d6 damage and blindness for 6 rounds, if Bodhi made her save. Instead of implementing anti-Undead resistence, it is much easier to just make Bodhi count as non-undead.

Yes, having Bodhi count as non-Undead is much, much easier, which is why Weimer did it that way. I, on the other hand, would work to diminish the number and power of the various anti-Undead stuff (Azuredge, Daystar, and MoD in particular) that BioWare crammed into the game to make absolutely certain that new players wouldn't get bogged down against Bodhi. Seriously, Undead critters seriously got the short end of the stick in the original game, and it makes a heck of a lot more sense to me to down the Unti-Undead stuff down instead of cranking Bodhi and Undead up to compensate for it.

What are these attacks that cannot be defended against? The only one I can think off is cloud of bats....

Even one spell that violates the laws of magic is enough to make the creature that casts it illegal. The only other spells in the game that are not part of at least 1 School of magic are the ToB HLA spells, and all of those can be blocked by other methods (Dragon's Breath by Fire Resistance, Energy Blades by PfMW, etc....). Well, okay, you can't exactly block Improved Alacrity, but at least the enemies use it too.

The storyline leaves out a lot of blanks of Bodhi's past and history, just a Irenicus was a potent archmage, maybe Bodhi was a potent fighter?

Quite possible, especially considering that in the original game, melee combat was all that Bodhi did. I will tie this into my "If I Designed Improved Bodhi" idea later on.

How do you know this [that it took the PC years to develop any special abilities from the Bhaal essence]? Maybe Bodhi has been a vampire for years, there is no detailed in-game history of Bodhi as a vampire. That allows for a lot of flexibility considering Bodhi's powers.

If we are to judge by everybody's [Irenicus's, Bodhi's, Saemon's, Yoshimo's] verbal reactions to your continued longevity after Jon steals your soul, you would appear to have about a tenday or so to live. That Jon himself expects you to topple over within the week is particularly telling. From this data, we may infer that Jon and Bodhi suffered similar physical consequences from having their souls stripped, and therefore must have acted within a similar timespan. Now, I don't mean to say that they must have angered the Seldarine a tenday ago at most--there are, of course, extenuating circumstances. Bodhi survived without a soul through Undeath (obviously), while Jon apparently sustained himself through sheer dedication, ambition, and overdeveloped sense of vengeance ("It's going to get you into trouble someday...."). Considering these factors, I estimate that at the start of the game, it has been no more than a year or so since Brother and Sister first attacked the Tree of Life. This means that Bodhi can have been a Vampire for no more than one year--which, in turn, means that she's hardly any more than a Fledgling Vampire herself.
But if that's the case, then Bodhi must be incredibly weak, which hardly befits a boss enemy of her stature and reputation. The game is at odds with itself on this issue, that's neither your fault nor mine. One way to overcome this dilemma is as follows: When the Seldarine stripped Jon & Bodhi of everything Elven, it is mentioned that they became Human. A curious outcome (and well remarked-upon by Kelsey), and with important results; Humans are ridiculed by the other races for their ridiculously short lifespans, yet are quietly envied for they way they make up for it with their drive, ambition, and willpower. Humans build empires, explore continents, develop new spells, etc., faster than any other race--and since the Elven credo is pretty much diametrically opposed to that sense of manifest destiny, Jon and Bodhi must have felt quite a rush of new determination. With that long-winded explanation behind us, we may conclude that Bodhi gains levels really quickly, and after "regaining her Elven Fighter levels," sets her sights on taking out the Shadowmaster of Athkatla--a pursuit which would guarantee her lots of kills and thus even more EXP....thus, finally, making her a brute-force melee fighter worthy of being a tough Chapter 6 boss.
[ADD:]Adding to her strange "Human" characteristics is the acquisition of the soul of a Human Bhaalspawn, which we might assume will intensify Bodhi's driving will. Some traces of Imoen's soul are already visible in Chap. 6 Bodhi: Where Imoen is one of the few Bhaalspawn who can survive being killed, Bodhi's grip is similarly tenacious: "No! It's mine! This life is mine!" Weimer might give her other traces of Imoen in the ability to cast (cast!) minor Wizard spells.

Besides, I find CHARNAME way more silly than Bodhi. Bodhi history is left out, you directly control CHARNAME, who can attain legendary levels on his own in about 1-2 weeks.

See above.

[ 08-24-2004, 06:13 AM: Message edited by: SixOfSpades ]