Do you ever "improve" a starting character, as if he's gone through BG1?

[Klorox]

Just wondering. I'm on the fence with this one.

On one hand, I think to myself, "Ya know Klorox, you've beaten BG1 so many times over, why shouldn't a game you feel like playing in BG2 reflect this?"

On the other hand, I think to myself, "Yeah, but this new Fighter/Thief hasn't gone through BG1, and if you want him to have those bonuses, you really should play the entire game over again."

Which way do you go?

BTW, for the record, if you complete BG1 and TotSC, your starting XP willbe higher (161,000 vs. the standard 89,000), and you'll have +1 to all of your stats, except WIS which has a +3.

[Desuma Malevois]

Shadowkeeper is my friend! It takes me long enough to finish a game of BG2 anyway, without having to 'experience" BG1 again for the umpteenth time, so I'm perfectly content to SK in not only the stat increases and extra experience, but also items like the Golden Pantaloons and the Claw of Kazgaroth, which end up appearing in Chateau Irenicus.

[Kyrvias]

I do that as well. Hey, it's technically not cheating since, well, you *were* going to do that anyway.

[Iron Greasel]

If rerolling a thousand times is not cheating, neither is that. Go for it.

[timothy trotter]

bg 1 is better anyway, so i reckon play it!

[True_Moose]

Yes. I've finished BG1 enough times. Besides, I think it adds to the character as being more than just your average adventurer.

[SixOfSpades]

In BG1, everybody starts the game dozens of times, to experience all the different classes. Come BG2, everybody starts the game HUNDREDS of times, to play with all the kits. And there's no way I'm going to drag a character all the way through BG1 just to have really good stats in BG2. So it's VERY rare that I don't boost my character's stats and EXP to approximate a run through ToSC, especially if I've got Improved Ilyich to contend with.

[Armen]

always - seriously, i always do this and while i'm doing it i shadowkeeper my stats up to my characters' best roll too rather than rolling rolling rolling . . . its' always me kinda me sort of reincarnated i guess

[Telepath]

I never do it...

The "reroll a thousand times" is another thing I'm uncomfortable with. We had a rule in my old AD&D gang... when we started a new character we were allowed to roll three times, select one of the three sets, and change three of the stats a maximum of three up/down while retaining the same overall stat value. It's quite boring to start out with a character with all stats maxed.

[SixOfSpades]

Originally posted by Telepath: We had a rule in my old AD&D gang... when we started a new character we were allowed to roll three times, select one of the three sets, and change three of the stats a maximum of three up/down while retaining the same overall stat value.

Yeah, I think if I were DMing a game, I would do something similar, except I would impose penalties for min/maxing: Raising a stat to 17 costs two points from other stats, raising to 18 costs three points, etc. It's the whole aspect of "dump stats" that I hate, the ludicrousness of a Paladin with 18s in STR, DEX, CON, WIS, CHA, and 3 INT.

I don't mind rolling over & over & over, as that's my way: Roll as many times as you want, but don't you dare move any points from one stat into another. I find it makes me appreciate good stats more, makes me actually feel lucky when I score great physical abilities without having to endure embarrasingly low INT or CHA or whatnot.