Newcomer to Baldur's Gate

Are there any sites or manuals to explain how to play this game? Is there a special order in which what areas are to be searched? How do I get the mages and priest to cast spells? I'm soooo dumb!!!!! Dah Please help Thanx

Yeah, your on a wonderful site now for info...Go to the home page, and start looking at the downloads, and help topics, etc...you'll eventually end up where you want to, even links to other sites are found here...

[Sherpa Doug]

You should have gotten a paper booklet with the game. Read it. It is small and won't take long. Beyond that, play it like real life. Don't steal unless you have to. Don't fight unless attacked. It does generally pay to be nosey though. After you get the feel of the game you may want to re-start with a new character. Starting with a mage is or an evil character is hard.

[Memnoch]

Start by familiarizing yourself with the interface. Wander around the keep and talk to all the monks. That entire chapter 1 is designed to help you through it. As Sherpa said once you're a bit more used to the game you can start a new character. Don't worry too much about success for now. You'll be an expert before long.

Also start with a single class character (cleric or fighter is best because you automatically get a thief and a mage is a weakling where you need it least). Not only do you get to practice with the interface with margin for error (8hp if you have a cleric, 10 if you have a fighter, not counting bonus hps for a good Constitution score) but you also get a magic wand with your first NPC to aid you in the first major battle.

Just a tip(i didnt realise this at first),but when creating your character at the begining you can re-roll(that button)to get more overall points for creating your base stats'.Apparently it is possible to get:
18/00
18
18
18
18
18
or 19's even(im not sure),but its all based on dice rolls.
18/00 is supposed to be better than 18/90 ....i've no idea why,but spend 5 minutes rolling the dice at the start to get some good stats'.
My current cleric/ranger has 18/00 strength (a lucky roll),but importantly has good scores in his other stats too.
Make sure you allocate points to your character's primary strength......for instance:
Mage-intelligence
clerics and priests-wisdom
bard-charisma/wisdom
cleric/ranger-wisdom/constitution/strength/dexterity(everything)
thief-dexterity.
For instance wisdom and intelligence effect your 'lore' rating(ability to identify objects).
Intelligence effects your ability to learn spells(to write them).
Charisma effects how nice people are towards you-they may give you more things.
Strength effects how hard you hit and how mutch weight you can carry.
Oh ....i've run out of words.

[Memnoch]

Purplesage, what do you think the odds are on rolling 18s for everything (108 in total)?

Pretty bloody high, if you ask me

Hehe! I dont want to raise anyone's hopes,.....Damn near impossible.
I had 4 18's recently,and it may take a bit longer than 5 mins too.

[Avenger]

Actually, its only possible to get a 99 total ability score. so your best would look like:

STR 18/00
DEX 18
CON 18
INT 15
WIS 15
CHA 15

I dont know where or how i found this out, so i could be wrong. But i makes sense, becasue as purplesage said, 108 is a little high !

P.s. someone let me know if i am wrong please !

[IamOpus]

The only sure way of getting huge stats is by using an editor, or using the import "trick" with the attribute tomes which appear in the game. That depends on how you want to play the game, and there have been many discussions on the merits of "powergaming" with a supercharacter who has 25 in all stats and can chunk Sarevok with both hands behind their back as compared with having one roll for your halfling fighter who winds up with 7 strength and can't pull the skin off a bowl of custard. I'm somewhere in the middle, but you paid for your game and that means you can play it any way you want, so long as you're happy.