And another thing

[I wish my name was Baggins]

Has anyone ever tried to see how long they could make it in the game without ever leveling any of their characters up? It seem to me that those of us who have played and beaten this game repeatedly are always looking for a new way to challenge the game...this idea has merit to me what do ya'll think

[RoSs_bg2_rox]

I think it would be a great idea, would this be a solo game? Or a group game but you weren't allowed to level-up any characters? I think it would be challenging, but you could certainly get to at least Cloakwood, as long as it wasn't no reloads....

[Armen]

i vaguely remember someone posting here a while ago along the lines of finding the game too hard and asking for advice - usual advice followed until someone realised that s/he hadn't levelled up at all - i think they were at cloakwood or thereabouts

i might have just made that up of course

[Neomi]

LOL, that's classic. I think in my first game I didn't notice the little gold plus sign. There aren't too many areas where a level 1 mage with 3 HP can last very long. I would be extremely impressed with anyone that kept a party of 1st and 2nd level characters alive until the cloakwood.

Although, as I recall, the starting level of the various NPCs is based on the experience of the PC at the time when they join the party, right? But does this mean the actual number of experience POINTS you have or the LEVEL you've attained. Because if it's strictly based on POINTS then you could theoretically pick up higher level NPCs as you go along and use them to get a "1st level" character through the entire game.

[RoSs_bg2_rox]

Yes but you could pick up all of your NPC's without doing a lot of killing at all.

[Neomi]

Originally posted by RoSs_bg2_rox: Yes but you could pick up all of your NPC's without doing a lot of killing at all.

Agreed. That is why, if one wanted to play through the entire game without leveling anyone up, you would need to be shrewd with your choice of companions and pick up the ones you want to have at the end, close to the end of the game (and thereby at a higher starting level).

This type of game reminds me of the "nobleman" class (not a new kit, but a new way to use one of the existing classes) that someone suggested a long time ago. Basically, the idea is to create a character that is essentially a non-participant other than for dialog purposes, and to use the NPCs to get that character through the game. The character would have the lowest stat scores possible to qualify for a certain class, and would avoid combat at all costs. You might only allow them to wear magic jewelry and robes and they certainly would not carry a weapon. I wish I could remember who suggested this class so that I could give credit where credit is due.

[RoSs_bg2_rox]

Neomi, that would be quite cool, and also very possible, if you think about it, it would just be like doing a 1/2/3/4/5 player party, but with a tag along who you must keep out the way of everything. Sounds interesting.

[Lord]

AND ANOTHER THING!

I'm thinking of finishing up Baldur's Gate Trivia 3 soon...Six's quiz made me want to do it quicker. Terror is coming soon (except for Six [img]tongue.gif[/img] ). Get prepared, cuz I'm not sure how pretty I wanna make this one.

[Neomi]

Ok, so I did a quick search of the forums and I found these two threads:

http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/no...c;f=2;t=018378

http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/no...c;f=2;t=019680

I am now inspired to create a character in BG1 who shall remain a 1st level fighter (nobleman specialty) through the entire saga. He will be named Humperdink (from The Princess Bride) and will have the following stats:

Neutral Evil Human Fighter (greedy self-serving b@$^@&d)
STR 9
DEX 9
CON 9
INT 9
WIS 9
CHR 9 (I thought about making this 18, since he's supposedly a leader but decided against it)

- He will not level up despite accumulating experience points.
- He will be limited to wearing magical cloaks, robes, bracers, rings, belts, and boots. No armor.
- He will have proficiency in mace (think scepter), dagger, staff, and crossbow (for hunting) and will not obtain specialization or mastery in any weapon. He will avoid combat if at all possible.
- He will only engage in conversation with other nobles (interaction with commoners, merchants, barmaids, etc are below his station) unless directly approached or needed for plot purposes.
- He will only sleep at Inns that can provide the highest accomodations and will camp outside only under the most dire circumstances.

Realistically, this may be a very difficult thing to accomplish, since he will go through the game with very few HP. I may try to see if I can do BG1 with the "no leveling up of any character" policy as detailed above but if it gets too tedious I may decide to at least level up the NPCs. Humperdink, however, will remain a 1st level fighter.

When I get to SOA, should I shadowkeep him back to level 1 or go with whatever he starts at?

[I wish my name was Baggins]

now this is what I am talking about...way to go Neomi