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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Dwarf in the Playground
     
    RedWizardGuy

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    Feb 2011

    Default Baldur's Gate Trilogy Let's Play/Read

    Hello, everyone!

    Baldur's Gate 3 looms on the horizon, only a few scant months away from its official release date! With that being the case, I've finally decided that now is the time to cross something off my bucket list: Actually playing through the original series of games. Though I've never actually gone through all of them, through the power of cultural osmosis I am aware of a few of the plot points. I imagine "Throne of Bhaal" is named such for a reason, after all, but I don't have any real first hand experience with it. I am, however, familiar with the second edition AD&D ruleset, so I'm not going into this totally blind mechanics-wise.

    With that being said, this isn't going to be a 100% faithful run-through of the original games. This will be using the Enhanced Edition of the games, and I've had one of my much more Baldur's Gate knowledgeable friends add what he calls a few 'tweaks' to the games that make them play better.

    Most notably, is that this playthrough will be using the Baldur's Gate Trilogy modification, which will be mashing the first and second games together, as well as all their expansions and the Siege of Dragonspear together into a single game running on the BG2:EE engine.

    There have also been a few tweaks added here and there that he claims makes the game more playable, like higher stacks of ammunition and stacking gems and scrolls. Supposedly nothing game breaking.

    With that being said, let's introduce our protagonist!

    Spoiler: Character Creation
    Show


    Corrin, a young man and faithful of the Church of Helm. He's spent his life in Candlekeep under the tutelage of Gorion, a powerful wizard. Thanks to his father's influence and teachings, he's managed to become quite proficient in seeing through illusions and cutting through defensive magics, giving Gorion a glimmer of hope in his future success on the journey to come.

    As you can see, he's rolled extremely high stats at 93 stat total. I will admit to a little shenaniganery as I swapped the original 18 intelligence with the 10 in dexterity, because...I mean, c'mon.


    I will be uploading each part of this as I play through the game. I'm not sure how long each part will be, but hopefully long enough to instill some interest without overstaying their welcome. I've heard each of these games on their own are long ones, so hopefully I'll get through this before BG3 itself releases!

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Dwarf in the Playground
     
    RedWizardGuy

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    Feb 2011

    Default Re: Baldur's Gate Trilogy Let's Play/Read

    Spoiler: Chapter 1
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    We begin our tale in Candlekeep, where we've spent our childhood as a ward of the mage Gorion, amidst the dusty tomes and dustier scholars of the library-fortress. However, one day, our father has come to us and, without much in the way of explanation, has ordered that we must leave the safety of the fortress and that I am to buy supplies for the journey, thrusting a hundred and ten gold into our hand for the shopping trip.

    Going inside the Candlekeep Inn, we discover that Winthrop, the innkeeper, both has a "sense of humor" and is also an arms dealer. A dangerous combination if ever I've seen one, but who am I to judge?



    After weathering the latest in what passes for Candlekeep standup comedy, I procure a Two-Handed Sword, some Splint Mail armor and -



    Helmets apparently protect you against critical hits in this game! Definitely worth the single gold piece it costs. The helmless hero may be iconic, but in a game with an unfeeling, uncaring dungeon master, the helmetless hero is also dead.

    Glancing around the rest of the inn, I encounter a mage by the name of Firebead Elvenhair.



    Apparently he wants us to fetch his Scroll of Identify from a man named Tethtoril somewhere in the keep. Easy enough, and he also mentions something about an Iron Crisis. Unfortunately, he doesn't elaborate on that, but it sounds like the seed of a future quest to me! I take a quick peak around the rest of the inn, and though every gamer instinct in my body yells at me to loot all the drawers in the upstairs bedrooms, I suppress such urges. I'm a paladin, not a thief.

    I should wait until I have a thief companion, then come back and rob the upstairs.

    Suitably armed and armored, I head outside and meet with a woman named Phlydia.



    She's apparently misplaced a book somewhere. Not exactly a glamorous quest, but I suppose every epic tale begins with a first step.

    Exploring eastward, we come across a small building called the 'Priest's Quarters'. Being a young, curious rapscallion such as myself, I take it upon myself to do a little bit of exploring and step inside, only to be met with a very friendly man named Shank. Wait, that doesn't sound like a nice name...



    We ask him who he is and what he's doing here, and he responds by brandishing steel! Unfortunately for him, we brought a bigger knife.



    The man literally explodes from the force of our...sword. But not before managing to give us a shallow cut. Searching his body provides us with no answers. Shaken at what was presumably our first lethal engagement, we leave the building and speak to a man in a bright yellow robe named Parda, telling him of the attempt on our life. He encourages us to find Gorion quickly, and I must admit to some degree of agreement.

    But first, we have a book to find! And a scroll! What is impending assassination to side quests?

    Just east of the Priest's Quarters, we speak to a man named Dreppin, who immediately tells us that Phlydia's book was left in the hay bales behind him, scratching that assignment off our list in short order. The section of clickable hay is relatively small, and I'm already starting to get pixel hunting flashbacks of old Sierra adventure games.

    Following the road south, I encounter a man by the name of Jondalar. He apparently wants to teach me a little bit of combat, at the behest of my father. Unfortunately, there's no option to tell him that I've already slain a man in battle, and he proceeds to breath the fourth wall and starts talking about hostile creatures having red circles beneath them. Very strange man.

    The second our battle begins, however, a previously unseen assailant appears with a bow and begins firing at me! Most unkind.



    It takes only a few seconds for Jondalar to surrender, however, as he was expecting a staff and I brought a mancleaver with me. He leaves, telling me to speak to a 'Gatewarden' to get experience with fighting as a group. I imagine it's much the same as fighting alone, but with more people. Instead, behind him I speak to a dwarf named Reevor, who tasks me with killing rats. Finally, a worthy opponent - our battle shall be legendary!



    It was, in fact, not legendary. Though I do find it amusing that I essentially exploded the last rat for 40 damage. That rat, in particular, had earned my ire. Returning to Reevor has him giving me a whopping 5 gold pieces for the trouble, though I feel even that is overly generous.

    Further down, we encounter Hull. Hull somehow forgot to arm himself for guard duty, and tasks us with retrieving his sword from the barracks. He also informs us of an antidote in his locker that Dreppin needs for a cow. This tutorial area is rather dense with the side quests, no? We agree, and head out to find the barracks. En route, the Gatewarden mentioned previously intercepts us and tells us he's got a demonstration of mass combat prepared. Before I know it, I'm in battle with a group of illusory creatures!



    We battle our way through waves of enemies that can't actually harm us, but does give me a chance to practice using some other character abilities like Magic Missile or Turn Undead. Useful stuff. After having my fill of combat, I head back out to find Hull's sword and that antidote.

    Entering the Bunkhouse, instead of finding some guards and Hull's belongings, I'm instead accosted by a man named Carbos, asking my identity.



    Sensing no good intentions from this man, I question his intentions rather than confirm my identity. That doesn't help me, however, and soon battle is joined with yet another assassin! No mere illusion, Carbos is fully capable of causing me harm... But an immediate 16 damage ends his threat without fuss. Two assassins in one day, however, have convinced me that Gorion may be right in that it's time to leave. Leaving the Bunkhouse, a tutor named Karan speaks to me and I inform them of the second assassin. They helpfully reply that I should probably get out of here. Way ahead of you on that one.

    Just north of the Bunkhouse is our actual destination, the Barracks, where we slip inside and find Hull's sword and the antidote he mentioned. I once again refrain from stealing anything else in here, despite my kleptomaniac gamer brain screaming at me otherwise. Hull is less than grateful to get his sword back, but does give us 10 gold for the trouble. Circling back north, we also speak to Dreppin, who informs us that his cow is sick...and then talking to him again, he thanks us for bringing the antidote. No reward, but a bit of experience and some nice fuzzy feelings. Then we find Phlydia again and return her book. She gives us a lynx eye gym in return! Score!

    Exploring the interior area of the keep brings us upon a small quintet of scholars singing a song. It's hard to catch it all, but not for the chat log. "The Lord of Murder shall perish, but in his doom he shall spawn a score of mortal progeny. Chaos will be sewn from their passage. So sayeth the wise Alaundo."

    Eh. I'm sure it's nothing. Shortly after finding them, Tethtoril speaks to us and hands us Firebead's Identify Scroll, and tells us to return it to the mage and then find Gorion and head out. I think at last it's time for us to finally heed the tutor's warnings and do just that. Firebead rewards us with a potion of healing and a Protection from Evil spell, and using the rewards we've gained through side quests, I speak to Winthrop one last time and buy a shortbow and a bunch of arrows. With that, I try to find Gorion.

    Instead, I find Imoen.



    Imoen is apparently our Childhood Friend™, and is also so far the only other character who's had a portrait. I suspect she is a future party member. Unfortunately, my only responses capable at the moment make me sound like an arrogant jackass, so I end up calling her 'Little one' like I'm not implied to still be a teenager at this point, myself. I promise her that I'll ask Gorion to bring her with. I don't.

    Instead, I tell Gorion that I'm ready to go, and out the gate we head. As we leave, he tells me that if anything should happen to him, I should make my way to the Friendly Arm Inn, and find some people named Khalid and Jaheira, and that they'll be able to help me. If Gorion was waving any more death flags around, I'd think he was calling in an airplane. Maybe the game will subvert my expectations and



    Ah. Crap.


    And there's chapter 1 complete! Mostly just tutorial stuff, but I feel it'll be useful going forward.

    Let me know what you guys think of this format, and whatever I can do to make things a little better going forward.

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Lord Torath's Avatar

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    Default Re: Baldur's Gate Trilogy Let's Play/Read

    Is there an option or a mod or something that works with Enhanced Edition and makes helmets invisible? Because while I like the protection from crits, I also like to see my face on occasion. There was a mod for the original games that did that, I remember. Is there anything like that for EE?
    Warhammer 40,000 Campaign Skirmish Game: Warpstrike
    My Spelljammer stuff (including an orbit tracker), 2E AD&D spreadsheet, and Vault of the Drow maps are available in my Dropbox. Feel free to use or not use it as you see fit!
    Thri-Kreen Ranger/Psionicist by me, based off of Rich's A Monster for Every Season

  4. - Top - End - #4
    Troll in the Playground
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    Default Re: Baldur's Gate Trilogy Let's Play/Read

    Quote Originally Posted by Lord Torath View Post
    Is there an option or a mod or something that works with Enhanced Edition and makes helmets invisible? Because while I like the protection from crits, I also like to see my face on occasion. There was a mod for the original games that did that, I remember. Is there anything like that for EE?
    This is a component in Tweaks Anthology.
    Quote Originally Posted by Eldariel View Post
    Mordekaiser for president.

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