Shadowkeeper?

Ertai is right. I forgot the one for intelligence.

Sorry !

Ramon

[Charlie]

Brilliant, helpful replies..as always...Thanks everyone.

I couldn't get the bloody thing to work so it again called for brothers help, it's done now but I'm not sure if I'm happy to be honest. I can't help but feel I've cheated myself (personal thoughts here) a little bit and the character isn't quite all mine. I'm still seriously thinking of finishing BG1 and actually collecting the tomes etc and earning the stat's outright.

Trouble is I'm so itching to go through BG2 with a Thief...First time through BG2 I felt limited in what I wanted to do thieving wise, and I also felt slightly fraudulent taking Yoshimo through the game...I also missed out on a bit of the "real plot" there.

Ramon,

Yes, I've gone with a Fighter/Thief. I rolled him up in BG1...my best ever stat's, naturally rolled (never done an unnatural one anyway) and after tuning between abilities came away with -

STR - 18/93
DEX - 19
CON - 17
INT - 13
WIS - 13
CHA - 16

Do you think I should have juggled the bottom three stat's differently? Maybe making cha 18 at the expense of wis & int. Or maybe levelled those three at 14 each. Wis/Int are of no use anyway to this class are they? So maybe that's a mistake. Oh well that's how he stays now anyway. I think in the death and for reasons listed below I'll probably take your advice and carry on with BG1 full through. I've yet to do ToTSC and DSoTSC and it will also tie that loose end up. I'm in Beregost atm btw. I decided at the very start to play this game "pure" accepting 1 point on lev up and if I got caught thieving and killing then my reputation drops and no re-loads. I immediately dualled Imoen over to a mage at the start to tie in with BG2. Bummer in the thieving department and I'm too scared to start stealing too much until I get better at it. Adds an extra element of "heart in mouth" if your rep's dropping like a lead balloon, but you just gotta, gotta know what's in there. Do I...don't I...aarrhh...I wanna know what's in that box soooo baad. Decisions eh. Great way to play if you're bent on accepting the consequences of your actions.

And this draws me back to the start, I think the trouble I've got with it at the moment is this. After I'd made the adjustment to strength and loaded the game, I immediately went to the stat's screen...I just kept looking at it and it wouldn't look right for me. I just started thinking "this ain't my bloke". As much as I might struggle with BG1 in anticipation of getting to BG2. I think I'd struggle through BG2 knowing that I hadn't struggled through with this character in BG1. No character bonding maybe....who knows.

I think that Shadowkeeper is a brilliant tool and when I've achieved what I want to achieve in the game at its base level, then I will definitely use it to experiment with. I'm not knocking anyones use of it, no way. The thing that is important is to enjoy yourself. If the use of this tool enhances your game then you crack on mate...I won't knock you.

Father Bronze.

You make some really relevant points there Father. I don't know the answer to any of them unfortunately. I've never used a kitted person and I've never dualled. I stick with basic stuff, I've only ever played a fighter infact.

The proficiency thing is a point that particularly interests me. I was a bit peeved that my bloke can only assign two points to a proficiency. WHY?
My thoughts on this are thus - My character almost exclusively uses a 2H Sword or a Longbow. Yes he will adjust when a creature demands it, but his primary arms are as above. He has two slots in each weapon and when I eventually gain another proficiency point I must/can assign it to a weapon that I've never used. I would think that using a weapon for so long should entitle you to be more proficient in that weapon. This really bugs me as Elves are supposed to be intelligent. Why can't they learn to swing a weapon a little better, why do they suddenly get a mental weapon block? If it's a dual thing, well, that don't make sense. You can dual a 5 point proficient in something fighter over to a Thief. Can anyone tell me the reasoning behind this at all?
I think that this is one area that I'd cosider using SK for.

I'm pleased I've got this SK thing now, I'll definitely be having some fun with it. I've learned a lot today, very productive....Thanks.

[Charlie]

Ertai, cheers. I took a long time to type that and your post weren't there. I asked that Q in the BG1 forum earlier and wanted those spoils.....result

WEll, I was once a cheat-addict. I could not kill any hard things ( I thought) so I insta-killed them..*sob* once, I went on a rampage through Atkatla, insta-killing anyone I saw..*sniff* that was when I knew I have had enough! I took Debug=1 out of the run file, and my life has never been better! ( no, I didnt buff out my chars stats, nor did I take off exp cap, I'm so happy for myself!)

Hi Charlie,

a very impressive character you got yourself
there. But, yes, I do think that you could have assigned your attribute points a little bit more effectively , that is lowering the intelligence score to ten and raising charisma a point or two and wisdom to 14 or
better 15. One of the weaknesses of the 2nd edition rule set is that for attribute scores
between 10-14 in all categories except for strength and charisma there is virtually no effect of the score being at the upper or lower end of that range if it is not the class's main attribute. At a wisdom of 15 your character would start to gain a bonus to his saving throws against mind-affecting spells plus a bonus to lore.

I understand very well what you are saying about bondage , eeer, make that bonding, to your character by playing with it from the beginning of BG I on. I also tend to develop a rather sentimental and emotional relationship to my pc and beyond: for me these feelings extend to all members of my original party. Problem is, that that has restricted my use of the new npcs in BG II quite a bit and made me rush to free Imoen asap, which resulted in having to do all out of town sidequests later on when most of them
were not as challenging anymore, as well as in problems with the romance with Jaheira -
most people do not realize that this game is much more linear than it seems.

Btw, you do know that the effects of the tomes are only transferable to BG II if used on your pc and not on npcs, don't you ? Well,
I did not and being team-orientated, see above, ... well, let's just say that that led to my frist use of Sk.

Please, keep me informed of the heroic deeds
of your fighter/thief, will you ? What is his name ?

Have fun !

So long,

Ramon

[Father Bronze]

Don't worry Caliton. In my beginning years of PnP D&D, my brother and I made super characters and proceeded to work our way through the Monster Manual. We killed Asmodius, Tiamat, and all sorts of others. Yeah, we needed to re-roll every once in a while , but we were POWERFUL.

About a year later, I was sick of the power trip and wanted to play a more realistic style. I started my characters at level 1 and went looking for swords. I didn't even try taking on a band of goblins by myself, but rather strategized with the party. It was a much more enjoyable experience.

I understand the appeal of using Power-PC's, but I enjoy strict role-palying more often than not (Lawful Good main party leader won't let the thief steal from shopkeepers). I have never removed the experience cap -- had no need to. I do make some changes to make my characters more unique/interesting and I don't have too many qualms over it.

The game is what you make it and can be enjoyed on many levels.

[Charlie]

Hi Ramon.

Not quite so impressive as it would seem. Int' and Wis' are 12 and 12, not 13/13 as listed, so maybe my statistical jiggery pokery is even further off the mark than first thought. I was unaware that Wis' affects this character, oddly enough it was wis/int that were very high and I reduced them to add to Dex/Con. Still it's done now so that's that.

BG1 Tomes...Same as you there, gave all but Str' to other members..Doh. I too grow attatched to my characters and this worked against Imoen in BG2. She went missing fairly early and was substituted. It took me so long to get the money that I grew attatched to my "new" guys and when I eventually picked her back up, well she was surplus to requirements by then and I dumped her. Next time I'll pick her straight up as I want to see her in use as a mage. I think I'll also use the original character pictures from BG1 as I wasn't too keen on the main people totally changing in looks for BG2. Picking her up early won't affect any quest possibilities will it?

I feel a bit out of place as a thief in some respects and so far I've returned all my quest items as requested, even the belt to the Dwarf at the Friendly Farm Inn. That won't last too long though. This bloke I've called Shadowfern, again, trees/nature spring to mind for the Elves...hence fern and shadow for the thieving side of things. Heroic...unlikely, although he's sure to get an "A" for effort. Optimistic in tandem with the fundamentally flawed will probably be nearer the mark.

Ramon, you're a clued up guy. What's the thing with the proficiency allocation for Elves? I can't see the logic in it.

Best wishes.

Charlie.

hehe...how can u get attatched to Imoen, she realy anoys me so does Aerie and Nalia. I only use Aerie cause she is useful. I see my party more as tools for my PC to use to get what and where he wants rather than as comrades. The only character I will not stop useing no matter how useless he maybe is Minsc I think he's great a real character. I also like Hear'Dalis, he is a bit of a character but I just don't find him terribly useful so he goes after I've done his quest. I prefur to play a mulitplayer game and use 2 or 3 of my own creations and just bring the non-pcs in as needed. If I take a good fighter and a powerful magic user and a thief i can handle all areas except healing which is why I use Aerie. I wish I could get Branwen back form BG1 she was the best cleric. Viconia maybe good but I prefur Aerie because she is also able to act as a support caster, mainy deffensive stuff while my sorcerer does all the damage.

[Xanthul]

Hey Charlie, even if Wis/Int are 12, your roll is 94, and with a very nice strength. I could say that its a VERY VERY GOOD ROLL. Rolls similar to these are easy to get with rangers, but with a fighter thief it isnt that easy. Congratulations man !! I suggest you to play Bg1 with this great character, so you can give him a background and a story. Characters like this are fun to play, and im sure you´ll have feeling with him !!

GREETINS

Charlie, drop your Int to 10, as there is no difference for a fighter/thief. Below that, lore suffers. Charisma isn't vital, as you soon find a ring which raises it to 18. Up WIS to 18 for a +4 bonus to spells and CON to 18 as you get 1 extra hit-point per level until 10 for being a fighter.