New to BG2 and D&D

[Bruce]

Hello folks. As I stated I am brand new to game and just wanted to get some tips to get me started off on the right foot.
Should I read manual first to learn the rules of the game and D&D? I did go through the tutorial in game which seemed to be kinda brief for a game this huge.
Or should I dive right in?
Is this game the best you guys have played?
Thanks for any comments.

[J'aran]

Hiya Bruce. Welcome to this forum, and welcome to the wonderful world of D&D and Baldur's Gate.

Yes, it would be a good idea to read the manual, if you're new to D&D the rules can be a bit confusing at first. And the tutorial doesn't elaborate on things like stats, THAC0, AC and saving throws, which are the basic attributes of your character, and thus very important in the game. You don't have to read it beforehand, just keep it handy and if you encounter something during gameplay that makes you wonder "how's this work then?", you should look it up.

An important rule of thumb: for THAC0, AC (=Armor Class) and saving throws, less is better. For all other numerics concerned with your character, it's the other way around; more is better.

And of course, if you have any specific questions that you can't solve with the manual, there's always someone here who can help you.

[ZFR]

My advice actually:

PLAY BALDURS GATE 1 FIRST AND ITS EXPANSION TALES OF THE SWORD COAST....

important because:
1... It is simpler... and by this i mean quests and general storyline of the game is more straightforward... this will therefore be of very very very big help to you to learn the rules.... it will give you excellent practice... it will give you an excellent insifght about races, classes, allignments and so on... really.. not to mention the game is really really really great...
2... The storyline... trust me trust me the storyline of baldurs gate is 75% of the fun... if you play bg2 without bg1 you will have trouble getting the storyline grasp.... also bg2 has a lot of references to bg1.. you will meet a lot of old friends enemies...

welcome to the boards and to baldurs gate... one the best best best games... if you have any questions to be answered regarding bg1 or bg2 i will be glad to answer
have fun

[Nifft the Nimble]

I played BG2 without BG1 and enjoyed it... there were references I didn't laugh at, but I understood that when my character got the choice to say "Hey, don't I know you?" it was probably someone who I'd had a good experience helping if I was GOOD, and had probably harmed in some way if I was EVIL.

If you want to get more of the "backstory", take Minsc and Jaheira with you. They'll react and fill you in on stuff as you go along.

However, the story of BG2 is plenty interesting without knowing anything about BG1. It's rich and the characters are pretty well developed.

My advice is: get a LOT of practice hitting the Q key to quick save, then just try stuff. It's fun to explore, especially if you're not worried about losing a couple of hours worth of "work" [img]smile.gif[/img]

-- Nifft

[Bruce]

Thanks for all the info. You guys rock!

[PeeWee]

Hiyas,

Things to consider when making a character.

Do you like magic or melee(fighten up close)

Some races have innate abilities, penalties, and bonuses.

The back of the manaul is your friend- the charts. Look at it when you have time and ask about it here if you can't figure it out.

You get bonuses for attacks. High strength gives you higher bonuses when meleeing. High dex gives you MORE AC and higher missle attack bonuses. High stre also gives you a higher weight allowance. Again, this is in the back of the manual.

Also, it's somewhat important to choose the alignment of your character that fits you. There are abilities given that are a lil different for each alignment. I didn't know this right off. You will pick up npcs to add to your party that are of different alingments and they all don't get along, so...just keep that in mind too. I wouldn't want that to bite you in the butt later on.

For spell casters, there are regular casters and special "kits". I'd pick a regular character to play with.

High int of 18-19 is great for mages. Wis is for priests and druids.

This affects your spells you get later on. In a recent clarification, I was disappointed that certain stats of the npcs hindered them learning better things. I'm also on my first game.

Another tid-bit, save often in different slots. If you ever get stumped in one area, this gives you enough freedom to use a prior save.

Explore all areas and pause for fights. We'll be here to help.

Have fun.